PMID- 27617487
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Atom Transfer Radical Addition of
      Iododifluoroacetate to Alkynyl Carboxylic Acids.
AB  - The first example of copper-catalyzed decarboxylative atom transfer radical
      addition of alkynyl carboxylic acids has been developed with a readily available
      fluoroalkyl halide. This novel protocol has demonstrated a unique
      difunctionalization of nonterminal alkynes with a broad substrate scope and
      excellent functional-group tolerance. Mechanistic investigations revealed that
      the catalytic cycle was initiated by the attack of a difluoroalkyl radical to an
      in situ generated alkynylcopper species.

PMID- 27617488
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Aerobic Cascade Oxidative Coupling/Cyclization for the
      Construction of 1,4-Dihydropyridine Derivatives.
AB  - An efficient copper-catalyzed cascade cyclization reaction for the preparation of
      polysubstituted 1,4-dihydropyridines between N-arylglycine esters and 1,3
      dicarbonyl compounds using molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant has been
      described. Various N-arylglycine esters 1 and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 2 were
      able to undergo the cascade reaction smoothly to afford the desired products 3 in
      satisfactory yields. The cascade reaction has the advantages of good functional
      group tolerance and mild reaction conditions. A possible mechanism has also been
      proposed on the basis of control experiments.

PMID- 27617489
TI  - Aptamer-Based Microfluidic Electrochemical Biosensor for Monitoring Cell-Secreted
      Trace Cardiac Biomarkers.
AB  - Continual monitoring of secreted biomarkers from organ-on-a-chip models is
      desired to understand their responses to drug exposure in a noninvasive manner.
      To achieve this goal, analytical methods capable of monitoring trace amounts of
      secreted biomarkers are of particular interest. However, a majority of existing
      biosensing techniques suffer from limited sensitivity, selectivity, stability,
      and require large working volumes, especially when cell culture medium is
      involved, which usually contains a plethora of nonspecific binding proteins and
      interfering compounds. Hence, novel analytical platforms are needed to provide
      noninvasive, accurate information on the status of organoids at low working
      volumes. Here, we report a novel microfluidic aptamer-based electrochemical
      biosensing platform for monitoring damage to cardiac organoids. The system is
      scalable, low-cost, and compatible with microfluidic platforms easing its
      integration with microfluidic bioreactors. To create the creatine kinase (CK)-MB
      biosensor, the microelectrode was functionalized with aptamers that are specific
      to CK-MB biomarker secreted from a damaged cardiac tissue. Compared to antibody
      based sensors, the proposed aptamer-based system was highly sensitive, selective,
      and stable. The performance of the sensors was assessed using a heart-on-a-chip
      system constructed from human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes
      following exposure to a cardiotoxic drug, doxorubicin. The aptamer-based
      biosensor was capable of measuring trace amounts of CK-MB secreted by the cardiac
      organoids upon drug treatments in a dose-dependent manner, which was in agreement
      with the beating behavior and cell viability analyses. We believe that, our
      microfluidic electrochemical biosensor using aptamer-based capture mechanism will
      find widespread applications in integration with organ-on-a-chip platforms for in
      situ detection of biomarkers at low abundance and high sensitivity.

PMID- 27617490
TI  - Kinetic Isotope Effects as a Probe for the Protonolysis Mechanism of Alkylmetal
      Complexes: VTST/MT Calculations Based on DFT Potential Energy Surfaces.
AB  - Protonolysis by platinum or palladium complexes has been extensively studied
      because it is the microscopic reverse of the C-H bond activation reaction. The
      protonolysis of (COD)PtIIMe2, which exhibits abnormally large kinetic isotope
      effects (KIEs), is proposed to occur via a concerted pathway (SE2 mechanism) with
      large tunneling. However, further investigation of KIEs for the protonolysis of
      ZnMe2 and others led to a conclusion that there is no noticeable correlation
      between the mechanism and magnitude of KIE. In this study, we demonstrated that
      variational transition state theory including multidimensional tunneling
      (VTST/MT) could accurately predict KIEs and Arrhenius parameters of the
      protonolysis of alkylmetal complexes based on the potential energy surfaces
      generated by density functional theory. The predicted KIEs, EaD - EaH values, and
      AH/AD ratios for the protonolysis of (COD)PtIIMe2 and ZnIIMe2 by TFA agreed very
      well with experimental values. The protonolysis of ZnMe2 with the concerted
      pathway has a very flat potential energy surface, which produces a very small
      tunneling effect and therefore a small KIE. The predicted KIE for the stepwise
      protonolysis (SE(ox) mechanism) of (COD)PtIIMe2 was much smaller than that of the
      concerted pathway, but greater than the KIE of the concerted protonolysis of
      ZnMe2. A large KIE, which entails a significant tunneling effect, could be used
      as an experimental probe of the concerted pathway. However, a normal or small KIE
      should not be used as an indicator of the stepwise mechanism, and the interplay
      between experiments and reliable theory including tunneling would be essential to
      uncover the mechanism correctly.

PMID- 27617491
TI  - Utility of Double Inversion Recovery Sequences in MRI.
AB  - Investigators from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester Minnesota investigated the utility
      of three-dimensional (3D) double inversion recovery (DIR) sequences in magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) detection of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) in children
      and young adults with epilepsy. 

PMID- 27617492
TI  - Isolation of the Novel Chiral Insecticide Paichongding (IPP) Degrading Strains
      and Biodegradation Pathways of RR/SS-IPP and SR/RS-IPP in an Aqueous System.
AB  - Chiral insecticide paichongding (IPP) is a member of cis-nitromethylene
      neonicotinoid insecticides used in China. IPP was the promising replacement for
      imidacloprid as a result of its higher activity against imidacloprid-resistant
      insects. Two pairs of enantiomers, RR/SS-IPP and SR/RS-IPP, were separated by
      preparative high-performance liquid chromatography and employed in an aqueous
      system to investigate their biodegradation process. In this study, the strains G1
      13/G1-14 and G2-19 with effective IPP degrading capability were isolated from
      agricultural soils. G1-14 was mutated from G1-13 by ultraviolet light exposure.
      Sequence alignment of 16S rRNA proved that these three strains belonged to the
      genus of Sphingobacterium. The degradation rate of RR/SS-IPP by Sphingobacterium
      sp. G1-13 and G1-14 reached 13 and 30% within 6 and 4 days, respectively. The
      degradation rate of SR/RS-IPP by Sphingobacterium sp. G2-19 could reach 35%
      within 5 days. Degradation intermediates (I1-I6) of enantiomers were detected,
      and two possible biodegradation pathways were proposed on the basis of the
      identification of metabolites.

PMID- 27617493
TI  - How Does Definition of Minimum Break Length Affect Objective Measures of Sitting
      Outcomes Among Office Workers?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Harmful health effects associated with sedentary behavior may be
      attenuated by breaking up long periods of sitting by standing or walking.
      However, studies assess interruptions in sitting time differently, making
      comparisons between studies difficult. It has not previously been described how
      the definition of minimum break duration affects sitting outcomes. Therefore, the
      aim was to address how definitions of break length affect total sitting time,
      number of sit-to-stand transitions, prolonged sitting periods and time
      accumulated in prolonged sitting periods among office workers. METHODS: Data were
      collected from 317 office workers. Thigh position was assessed with an ActiGraph
      GT3X+ fixed on the right thigh. Data were exported with varying bout length of
      breaks. Afterward, sitting outcomes were calculated for the respective break
      lengths. RESULTS: Absolute numbers of sit-to-stand transitions decreased, and
      number of prolonged sitting periods and total time accumulated in prolonged
      sitting periods increased, with increasing minimum break length. Total sitting
      time was not influenced by varying break length. CONCLUSIONS: The definition of
      minimum break length influenced the sitting outcomes with the exception of total
      sitting time. A standard definition of break length is needed for comparison and
      interpretation of studies in the evolving research field of sedentary behavior.

PMID- 27617494
TI  - Thwarting PTEN Expression by siRNA Augments HL-60 Cell Differentiation to
      Neutrophil-Like Cells by DMSO and ATRA.
AB  - Abnormal cell differentiation, in particular suppression of terminal cell
      differentiation, exists in all tumors. Therapeutic interventions to restore
      terminal differentiation ("differentiation therapy") are a very attractive way to
      treat cancer, especially leukemia. A variety of chemicals stimulates
      differentiation of leukemic cells, such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and all
      trans retinoic acid (ATRA). Tumor suppressor genes have a vital role in the
      gateway to terminal cell differentiation. In this study, we inhibited PTEN tumor
      suppressor gene expression by siRNA to investigate the effect of potentiating
      cell survival and inhibiting apoptosis on HL-60 cell differentiation by DMSO and
      ATRA. Our results show that PTEN siRNA increases HL-60 cell differentiation in
      the presence of DMSO and ATRA. At the same time, the presence of siRNA hampers
      accumulation of apoptotic cells during incubation. Our study suggests that
      manipulation of PTEN could hold promise for enhancing efficacy of differentiation
      therapy of acute myelogenous leukemia.

PMID- 27617495
TI  - Formation of triploid plants via possible polyspermy.
AB  - Polyploidization is a common phenomenon in angiosperms, and polyploidy has played
      a major role in the long-term diversification and evolutionary success of plants.
      Triploid plants are considered as the intermediate stage in the formation of
      stable autotetraploid plants, and this pathway of tetraploid formation is known
      as the triploid bridge. As for the mechanism of triploid formation among diploid
      populations, fusion of an unreduced gamete with a reduced gamete is generally
      accepted. In addition, the possibility of polyspermy has been proposed for maize,
      wheat and some orchids, although it has been regarded as an uncommon mechanism of
      polyploid formation. One of the reasons why polyspermy is regarded as uncommon is
      because it is difficult to reproduce the polyspermy situation in zygotes and to
      analyze the developmental profiles of polyspermic zygotes. In the study, we
      produced polyspermic rice zygotes by electric fusion of an egg cell with two
      sperm cells and monitored their developmental profiles. The two sperm nuclei and
      the egg nucleus fused into a zygotic nucleus in the polyspermic zygote, and the
      triploid zygote divided into a two-celled embryo via mitotic division with a
      typical bipolar microtubule spindle. The two-celled proembryos developed and
      regenerated into triploid plants. These results suggest that polyspermic plant
      zygotes have the potential to form triploid embryos, and that polyspermy in
      angiosperms might be a pathway for the formation of triploid plants.

PMID- 27617496
TI  - Dysregulated Erythropoietin, Hepcidin, and Bone Marrow Iron Metabolism Contribute
      to Interferon-Induced Anemia in Hepatitis C.
AB  - Anemia is a complication of interferon-containing hepatitis C treatments. We
      characterized effects of interferon-based therapy on hepcidin and erythropoietin
      (EPO) production, iron metabolism, hemolysis, and hematopoiesis. Standard
      hemopoiesis [reticulocyte hemoglobin (Hb), reticulocyte production index (RPI),
      free Hb, and haptoglobin], iron biochemistry, hepcidin, and EPO levels were
      measured in 10 subjects over 12 weeks. There was a rapid decline in Hb during
      treatment, from a mean pretreatment (t = 0 weeks) Hb of 158.6 to 125.2 g/L at
      week 4 (P = 0.003) and 122.8 g/L at week 12 (P = 0.005). Paradoxically, the RPI
      (a measure of bone marrow responsiveness to EPO) decreased on initiation of
      hepatitis C virus treatment from 0.78% to 0.53% (P = 0.04). Despite worsening
      anemia, there was no significant increase in EPO levels. Hepcidin levels
      increased to >20 nM in 3 subjects from 5.8 to 27.5 nM (P = 0.009) compared with
      9.6 to 12.3 nM (P = 0.5) for the remainder of subjects. Hepcidin levels peaked at
      week 1 before returning to baseline levels at week 4. Subjects who responded with
      a rise in serum hepcidin levels to >20 nM had a significantly greater drop in Hb
      (27.2 g/L, P = 0.008) and reticulocyte Hb (-1.4 g/L, P = 0.013) compared with the
      subjects who did not exhibit any change in hepcidin production. In conclusion,
      30% of subjects treated with interferon exhibited significant transient increase
      in serum hepcidin levels, which was associated with more extreme anemia and
      decreased iron availability as evidenced by decreased reticulocyte Hb. In
      addition, there was a failure to upregulate EPO production in response to anemia
      and hemolysis ( https://clinicaltrials.gov trial NCT01726400).

PMID- 27617497
TI  - You Are What You Eat: The Impact of Nutrition on Alcohol and Drug Use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experimental research has shown that nutrition influences behavioral
      deviance. OBJECTIVES: The current project addresses the impact of nutrition on
      problem alcohol and drug use in a nationally representative sample of US adults.
      METHODS: The study relies on the daily dietary nutrition data and the substance
      use measures in the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
      RESULTS: The findings generally show that macronutrients increase the odds of
      substance use and micronutrients decrease the odds of substance use, especially
      among females. In addition, nutrient imbalance is a particularly strong predictor
      of substance use for both males and females. Depression partially accounts for
      the relationship between dietary nutrition consumption and substance use.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition represents a promising extension of the biosocial
      perspective in substance use disorders.

PMID- 27617498
TI  - CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 Allele and Haplotype Distributions in Four Mestizo Populations
      from Western Mexico: An Interethnic Comparative Study.
AB  - AIMS: Polymorphisms in the CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 genes confer potential risk for
      specific adverse drug reactions and therapeutic effect failure. Their frequencies
      differ among ethnic groups. This study was aimed to describe the distribution of
      CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 alleles and haplotypes in four Mestizo populations from
      Western Mexico and their comparison with the reported data from other ethnic
      groups. METHODS: The CYP2C alleles (CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3, CYP2C19*2, and CYP2C19*3)
      were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length
      polymorphisms analyses using DNA samples from 477 healthy Mestizo individuals of
      Colima (n = 100), Jalisco (n = 147), Michoacan (n = 117), and Nayarit (n = 113).
      RESULTS: Frequencies ranged from 2.2-3.0% and 4.8-8.9% for CYP2C9*3 and CYP2C9*2
      alleles, respectively, and 5.4-12.0% for CYP2C19*2, whereas the CYP2C19*3 allele
      was not found. Haplotype GACA, which harbors the loss-of-function allele
      CYP2C19*2, was the second most frequent (8.7%). Genetic heterogeneity between the
      Western Mexican populations studied here and the global population was evident (p
      < 0.05), except for most American populations and other Mexican Mestizo
      populations. CONCLUSION: Our findings increase the evidence for genetic
      variability at relevant pharmacogenetic loci and could be useful in association
      studies involving drugs that are substrates for CYP2C enzymes in the Western
      Mexican population.

PMID- 27617500
TI  - Kinesio taping or just taping in shoulder subacromial impingement syndrome? A
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To verify effects of kinesio taping (KT) in shoulder subacromial
      impingement syndrome (SIS) when compared to sham taping applied in the same way
      with KT. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were randomized as group 1 (n = 21) KT
      group and group 2 (n = 20) sham-taping group. Taping was applied every three
      days, three times during the study period. We assessed all the patients at
      baseline, at the end of the taping period (12th day), and at one-month post
      intervention. We assessed pain on the 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS). Shoulder
      range of motion (ROM), Constant Scores, and Nottingham Health Profile (NHP)
      scores were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 41 participants, 13 were males (32%) and
      28 were females (68%). The mean age was 45 +/- 15 years (range 20-65 years). We
      documented a significant decrease in VAS for nocturnal pain, and Constant Score
      in both groups. The KT group showed additional significant change in NHP pain and
      physical activity scores. CONCLUSION: KT and sham taping generated similar
      results regarding pain and Constant Scores.

PMID- 27617501
TI  - C3:CH50 ratio as a proposed composite marker for eculizumab monitoring in
      atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome: Preliminary results.
AB  - Treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) by the complement C5
      inhibitor eculizumab (Soliris(r)) is highly effective but unfortunately,
      associated with an economic pressure on the health care systems even in high
      incomes countries. Despite spacing infusions having been proposed as the unique
      solution to minimize this economic impact, no reliable laboratory assays are
      available to tailor such therapy optimization. We aimed to propose and evaluate a
      complement composite marker for eculizumab efficacy monitoring in aHUS. We have
      retrospectively analyzed complement profiles data of eight aHUS patients under
      eculizumab from the International Registry of HUS/Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia
      Purpura, and calculated a novel marker "C3:CH50 ratio" by dividing C3 value by
      CH50 one for each sample during induction and maintenance periods. The results
      significance was compared to the currently used biomarkers for eculizumab
      tailoring. In contrast to the current biomarkers used for eculizumab efficacy
      monitoring like CH50 and soluble or deposit membrane attack complexes, "C3:CH50
      ratio" seems to be the most interesting one since its value at pre-eculizumab
      dosage equaled 0.92 +/- 0.2 while the post-eculizumab one increased significantly
      to reach 24.54 +/- 10.7; P < 0.001. Furthermore, this ratio correlated negatively
      with platelets count (r = -0.722, P = 0.018) while no correlation was found
      within the thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) biomarkers and complement blockade
      for the other parameters that change in pre and post-eculizumab therapy. As far
      as we know, this is the first study that suggests a post-eculizumab parameter
      correlating simultaneously with drug's activity (complement inhibition) and
      disease activity (platelets counts). Nonetheless, the limited number of patients
      enrolled in this study should be considered in larger studies to guide eculizumab
      optimization by indicating the time when subsequent withdrawal or infusion
      spacing is allowed or recommended.

PMID- 27617502
TI  - Effects of zinc and magnesium supplements on postpartum depression and anxiety: A
      randomized controlled clinical trial.
AB  - Postpartum anxiety and depression are prevalent disorders. The authors of this
      study aimed to determine the effects of zinc and magnesium supplements on
      depressive symptoms and anxiety in postpartum women referred to three
      governmental, educational hospitals in Tabriz, Iran during 2014-2015. In this
      triple-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial, the participants were
      randomly assigned to the zinc sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and placebo groups (n =
      33 per group). The intervention groups received a 27-mg zinc sulfate tablet or
      320-mg magnesium sulfate tablet per day for 8 weeks, whereas the control group
      received a placebo tablet each day during the same period. The Edinburgh
      Postnatal Depression Scale and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were
      completed before and 8 weeks after the intervention. Blood samples were drawn
      from each participant to determine serum levels of zinc and magnesium before
      intervention at 48 hours after delivery. Also, a 24-hour dietary questionnaire
      was used during the first and last 3 days of the intervention. Adjusting for
      baseline scores as well as zinc and magnesium serum levels, no significant
      difference was observed between groups 8 weeks after delivery in mean scores of
      depressive symptoms (p = .553), state anxiety (p = .995), and trait anxiety (p =
      .234). This study concluded magnesium and zinc did not reduce postpartum anxiety
      and depressive symptoms.

PMID- 27617512
TI  - Development of the Medical Maximizer-Minimizer Scale.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Medical over- and underutilization are central problems that stand in
      the way of delivering optimal health care. As a result, one important question is
      how people decide to take action, versus not, when it comes to their health. The
      present article proposes and validates a new measure that captures the extent to
      which individuals are "medical maximizers" who are predisposed to seek health
      care even for minor problems, versus "medical minimizers" who prefer to avoid
      medical intervention unless it is necessary. METHOD: Studies 1-3 recruited
      participants using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Study 1 conducted exploratory factor
      analysis (EFA) to identify items relevant to the proposed construct. In Study 2
      confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the identified items, as well
      as tests of internal, discriminant, and convergent validity. Study 3 examined
      test-retest reliability of the scale. Study 4 validated the scale in a non
      Internet sample. RESULTS: EFA identified 10 items consistent with the proposed
      construct, and subsequent CFA showed that the 10 items were best understood with
      a bifactor model that assessed a single underlying construct consistent with
      medical maximizing-minimizing, with 3 of the 10 items cross-loading on another
      independent factor. The scale was distinct from hypochondriasis, distrust in
      medicine, health care access, and health status, and predicted self-reported
      health care utilization and a variety of treatment preferences. CONCLUSIONS:
      Individuals have general preferences to maximize versus minimize their use of
      health care, and these preferences are predictive of health care utilization and
      treatment preferences across a range of health care contexts. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27617513
TI  - Delivery of siRNA Using Lipid Nanoparticles Modified with Cell Penetrating
      Peptide.
AB  - Clinical development of siRNA has been hindered by the lack of an effective
      delivery system. Here, we report the construction of a novel siRNA delivery
      system, sTOLP, which is based on cell penetrating peptide oleoyl-octaarginine (OA
      R8) modified multifunctional lipid nanoparticles. sTOLP nanoparticles are
      composed of a protamine complexed siRNA core, OA-R8, cationic and PEGylated
      lipids, and transferrin as a targeting ligand. sTOLP formulation was optimized
      and characterized in vitro and showed excellent gene silencing activity. In vivo,
      siRNA encapsulated in sTOLP exhibited potent tumor inhibition (61.7%) and was
      preferentially taken up by hepatocytes and tumor cells in HepG2-bearing nude mice
      without inducing immunogenicity or hepatic or renal toxicity. Furthermore, sTOLP
      loaded siRNA had stability in circulation greater than that of free siRNA. These
      data demonstrated potential utility of sTOLP-mediated siRNA delivery in cancer
      therapy.

PMID- 27617514
TI  - Binary Protein Crystals for the Assembly of Inorganic Nanoparticle Superlattices.
AB  - Biomolecules can act as functional templates for the organization of inorganic
      particles. Here we use two protein containers, engineered with opposite surface
      charge, as building blocks for the construction of a new type of biohybrid
      material. Binary structures with crystalline order were obtained, adopting a
      tetragonal lattice. Moreover, the cavity of the engineered protein containers can
      be filled with inorganic nanoparticles. The controlled assembly of these protein
      nanoparticle composites yields highly ordered binary nanoparticle superlattices
      as free-standing crystals, with up to a few hundred micrometers in size. Because
      the structure and lattice parameters of the protein-nanoparticle crystals are
      independent of their nanoparticle cargo, the binary protein material may serve as
      a generally applicable matrix for the assembly of a variety of nanoparticles
      types.

PMID- 27617515
TI  - Hormones and clocks: do they disrupt the locks? Fluctuating estrogen levels
      during menopausal transition may influence clock genes and trigger chronic
      telogen effluvium.
AB  - Chronic telogen effluvium describes the clinical condition noted mostly in middle
      aged women of increased, diffuse scalp hair shedding that is prolonged and often
      presents with a fluctuating course that may continue for years but does not lead
      to visible hair thinning. Despite its description almost 20 years ago, the
      underlying pathologic cause of CTE is yet to be identified. However the
      culmination of research in the field of hair biology and the burgeoning field of
      chronobiology may lead to exciting breakthroughs in our understanding of CTE. In
      this paper the current literature on CTE is reviewed and a hypothesis is put
      forth that CTE may be triggered by hormonal fluctuations and alterations in
      circadian control genes. 

PMID- 27617516
TI  - Tumor stage mycosis fungoides: a single-center study on clinicopathologic
      features, treatments, and patient outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor stage mycosis fungoides (MF) is a subtype of cutaneous T-cell
      lymphoma (CTCL). Tumor stage MF is rarely curable. Treatment is aimed towards
      controlling the disease and minimizing side effects from therapy. OBJECTIVE: To
      characterize clinicopathologic features of tumor stage MF and the impact of
      clinical characteristics and treatment modalities on patient outcome. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review was conducted on 39 patients with tumor stage MF
      followed at Vanderbilt University between July 1995 and July 2010. RESULTS: The
      median age of diagnosis was 61 years (IQR: 54-70). Sixty-nine percent of the
      patients were male (27/39). The median follow-up time was 13.6 months (IQR: 5.5
      35.9). Among the patients younger than 60 years at the time of initial diagnosis
      (n = 19), median overall survival (OS) was 7.0 years (95% CI: 2.1-17.9), compared
      with 3.3 years (95% CI: 2.4-9.3) in patients who were 60 years or older at
      initial diagnosis. Ten patients with T1/T2 stage at diagnosis had median OS of
      5.0 years (95% CI 3.2-7.0). Twenty-eight patients with T3 stage at diagnosis had
      median OS of 5.8 years (95% CI 2.4-14.2). Median OS for patients with large cell
      transformation (LCT) and without LCT was 3.3 and 7.7 years, respectively.
      LIMITATIONS: This is a retrospective study with the bias of a tertiary-care
      referral center. CONCLUSION: Although LCT and older age at diagnosis were not
      statistically significant negative prognostic indicators of OS, there was a trend
      towards statistical significance for LCT. Clinical stage at diagnosis may not
      affect OS in patients who develop tumor stage MF.

PMID- 27617517
TI  - Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire: A case of transient lingual papillitis
      following consumption of an Atomic Fireball.
AB  - Transient lingual papillitis is a benign condition characterized by the
      inflammation of one or more fungiform papillae on the dorsolateral tongue.
      Although it is a common condition that affects more than half of the population,
      few cases have been reported in the dermatological literature. Therefore, it is a
      condition uncommonly recognized by dermatologists though it has a distinct
      clinical presentation that may be easily diagnosed by clinicians familiar with
      the entity. We report an interesting case of transient lingual papillitis in a 27
      year-old healthy woman following the consumption of the hard candy, Atomic
      Fireball. We describe treatment and resolution of the condition, and its
      recurrence following re-exposure to the identified culprit. This report further
      reviews the literature to illustrate the clinical manifestations, etiology,
      differential diagnosis, course, and treatment of this condition. 

PMID- 27617518
TI  - Lhermitte-Duclos Disease in association with Cowden Syndrome.
AB  - Cowden syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic disorder with autosomal dominant
      inheritance, linked to germline mutations in the PTEN tumor suppressor gene on
      chromosome 10. Cowden syndrome often co-exists with Lhermitte-Duclos disease
      (LDD), with LDD included as a major criterion in CD diagnosis. This case involves
      a woman presenting with many of the classic diagnostic criterions and
      associations of CD, as well as with several comorbidities and unique objective
      findings. 

PMID- 27617519
TI  - Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the vulva: report of a patient
      with Masson tumor of the vulva and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia -- also known as
      Masson tumor -- is a rare, benign vascular condition that manifests on the skin
      as a firm, blue-black colored nodule or papule. Lesions range in size from 0.25
      to 5 centimeters in diameter and may be tender or painless. In some individuals,
      nodules appear red colored, mimicking hemangioma or pyogenic granuloma.
      Histologically, intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia is characterized
      by the presence of an organizing thrombus in the vascular lumen with accompanying
      hyperplastic endothelial cell proliferation. Common sites of presentation include
      the head, neck, and extremities. However, albeit rarely, lesions may also appear
      in the genital region. PURPOSE: We describe the clinical and pathologic findings
      of a woman who developed intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the
      vulva. We also review the characteristics of other patients with intravascular
      papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the vulva and summarize the differential
      diagnosis and treatment options for this condition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      features of a woman with intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the
      vulva are presented. Using PubMed, the following terms were searched and relevant
      citations assessed: intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia, IPEH, labia
      majora, Masson hemangioma, Masson pseudoangiosarcoma, Masson tumor, and vulva. In
      addition, the literature on intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia is
      reviewed. RESULTS: A 32-year-old woman presented with a 3 x 2 millimeter
      painless, black colored submucosal papule on her left labia majora. The lesion
      was removed by excisional biopsy. Microscopic examination revealed a re
      canalizing thrombus and a proliferation of erythrocytes within a dilated vascular
      structure. Based on correlation of the clinical presentation and histopathologic
      findings, a diagnosis of intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia was
      established. The patient applied mupirocin 2% ointment to the biopsy site, which
      subsequently healed without complication or recurrence. CONCLUSION: Intravascular
      papillary endothelial hyperplasia -- also known as Masson tumor -- is a rare,
      benign vascular eruption. Cutaneous lesions typically present as red colored or
      blue-black colored nodules ranging in size from 0.25 to 5 centimeters in
      diameter. The most common sites of presentation include the head, neck, and
      extremities. However, albeit rarely, lesions may also appear in the genital
      region. The histologic hallmark of intravascular papillary endothelial
      hyperplasia is an organizing thrombus in the vascular lumen with associated
      hyperplastic endothelial cell proliferation. Lesions often appears similar to
      other neoplastic and non-neoplastic cutaneous tumors, including hemangiomas,
      pyogenic granulomas, and cutaneous angiosarcomas. Therefore, pathologic
      examination is required to confirm the suspected diagnosis and exclude
      malignancy. The condition can usually be treated with simple local excision.

PMID- 27617520
TI  - Plasmablastic lymphoma: an atypical cutaneous presentation of a rare entity.
AB  - Plasmablastic lymphoma is a very rare B-cell lymphoma typically associated with
      immunosuppression: It occurs primarily in the oral cavity, although some cases
      were reported in other organs and tissues.To date, only 10 cases of primary
      cutaneous plasmablastic lymphoma have been described. Clinically, primary
      cutaneous plasmablastic lymphoma presents as non-specific cutaneous lesions
      (purple nodules, erythematous infiltrated plaques). In previously described
      cases, as in this case, histology and immunohistochemistry are required to make
      the diagnosis. Owing to the rarity of this entity, there is no established
      therapy, which makes its management an individualized, patient-based decision. 

PMID- 27617521
TI  - Successful treatment of pityriasis lichenoides chronica with narrow-band
      ultraviolet B therapy in a patient with Keratitis-Ichthyosis-Deafness syndrome: a
      case report.
AB  - Keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID) syndrome is a rare genodermatosis causing
      ichthyosis-like skin lesions, keratitis, and deafness. Herein, we report a
      patient with this rare syndrome in association with pityriasis lichenoides
      chronica, which was succesfully treated with narrow-band ultraviolet B
      phototherapy despite our concerns regarding the increased risk of squamous cell
      carcinoma, hyperpyrexia, and keratitis. 

PMID- 27617522
TI  - Pigmented hidrocystoma of nasal epithelium (PHONE): report of a man with a
      pigmented hidrocystoma of his nose and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hidrocystomas are benign tumors of apocrine or eccrine epithelium.
      They most commonly occur on the head and neck, especially periorbitally. Albeit
      rare, these adnexal tumors may present as pigmented lesions. PURPOSE: To describe
      a patient with a pigmented eccrine hidrocystoma of his nose and to review the
      features of other individuals with pigmented hidrocystoma of the nasal
      epithelium. MATERIAL AND METHODS: PubMed was used to search the follow terms:
      hidrocystoma and pigmented. All papers were reviewed and relevant manuscripts,
      along with their reference citations were evaluated. RESULTS: A 52-year-old man
      who presented with a pigmented eccrine hidrocystoma on his nasal bridge was
      described. The features of three previously described patients with pigmented
      hidrocystoma of the nose were evaluated. The tumors presented as single or
      multiple, less than 2mm, blue papules. Our patient's tumor would intermittently
      bleed, which prompted consideration of a possible basal cell carcinoma. Biopsy
      established the diagnosis showing a cystic lesion lined by eccrine epithelium
      with pigmented secretion within the cyst's lumen. The cyst content stained
      positive with Fontana-Masson stain. Our patient's excisional biopsy resulted in
      excellent cosmetic appearance and complete removal of the benign adnexal tumor.
      CONCLUSION: Pigmented hidrocystomas may be mistaken for other skin lesions, such
      as a pigmented basal cell carcinoma and melanoma. A biopsy readily establishes
      the diagnosis. We respectfully suggest that a hidrocystoma located on the nose
      that is pigmented be referred to as a PHONE: pigmented hidrocystoma of the nasal
      epithelium.

PMID- 27617523
TI  - Milia-like idiopathic calcinosis cutis in a child with Down syndrome.
AB  - Idiopathic calcinosis cutis refers to progressive deposition of crystals of
      calcium phosphate in the skin and other areas of the body, in the absence of any
      inciting factor. Idiopathic calcinosis cutis may sometimes take the form of
      small, milia-like lesions. Most commonly, such milia like lesions are seen in the
      setting of Down syndrome. Herein, we report a 5-year-old girl with multiple
      asymptomatic discrete milia-like firm papules distributed over the face and
      extremities. A diagnosis of milia-like idiopathic calcinosis cutis associated
      with Down Syndrome was provisionally made and was confirmed by histopathology and
      karyotyping. 

PMID- 27617524
TI  - Cutaneous Richter Syndrome mimicking a lower limb cellulitis infection - a case
      report and review of the literature.
AB  - Richter syndrome (RS) is characterized by the development of a high-grade
      lymphoma in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma
      (CLL/SLL). Herein, we present the case of an 85-year-old woman with a 3-year
      history of stable asymptomatic CLL that developed a cutaneous RS. The patient
      presented with painless inflammation in the left leg and foot that was initially
      diagnosed as a cellulitis infection. She was treated accordingly with ceftriaxone
      and clindamycin. However, after completing the antibiotic regimen, not only did
      the inflammation persist, but also superimposed painless nodules gradually
      appeared on the left leg and foot over the course of four months. The
      histopathological examination of the nodules revealed a large B-cell cutaneous
      lymphoma. The patient underwent chemotherapy with CVP, followed by R-CHOP,
      resulting in a reduction of size of the nodules and remission of the
      inflammation. The patient died five months after the diagnosis owing to a
      bacterial pneumonia. We identified in previous reports a total of fifteen cases
      of cutaneous RS. Most cases presented with rapidly growing tumors or multiple
      erythematous nodules, similar to our case. This case of a cutaneous RS mimicking
      a cellulitis infection underlines the importance of a low threshold for
      performing biopsies of suspicious skin lesions in patients with CLL/SLL. 

PMID- 27617526
TI  - Penicillamine-associated cutis laxa and milia en plaque - case report and review
      of cutaneous changes associated with penicillamine.
AB  - Penicillamine-induced skin changes are rare and include: hypersensitivity
      reactions, autoimmune reactions, and cutaneous elastoses. We report a case of a
      73-year-old man with cystinuria taking penicillamine for over 50 years who
      presented with penicillamine-induced cutis laxa and milia en plaque. A brief
      review of penicillamine induced skin changes, specifically cutis laxa and milia
      en plaque, is presented. 

PMID- 27617525
TI  - Criptococosis cutanea primaria en paciente inmunocompetente.
AB  - La criptococosis cutanea es una micosis propia de pacientes inmunodeprimidos,
      sobre todo aquellos con infeccion por el virusde la inmunodeficiencia humana
      (VIH). Sin embargo, existen casos infrecuentes de criptococosis cutanea en
      pacientes inmunocompetentes, que suelen simular otras dermatosis, lo que retrasa
      su diagnostico y tratamiento. Presentamos el caso de un varon pluripatologico de
      79 anos, con ulceras dolorosas en dorso de mano derecha que no respondian a
      tratamientos topicos. A traves del estudio histopatologico y micologico se
      alcanzo el diagnostico de criptococosis cutanea primaria, lograndose la remision
      de las lesiones tras 6 meses de tratamiento con fluconazol. 

PMID- 27617527
TI  - Infantile myofibroma: a firm, round plaque in an infant.
AB  - Infantile myofibroma is a rare fibromatous tumor that is variable in presentation
      and is frequently mistaken for hemangioma or rhabdomyosarcoma. We describe a 14
      month-old boy who presented with multiple, enlarging, firm lesions on the
      shoulder. Biopsy revealed a proliferation of small spindle cells with myxoid and
      hyalinized stroma infiltrating into the superficial adipose tissue. We provide a
      brief review of the clinical presentation, histopathologic features, management,
      and recent advances in our understanding of this rare condition. 

PMID- 27617528
TI  - Micosis fungoide e inhibidores del TNFalpha: ?riesgo o beneficio?
AB  - The growing use of anti-TNF drugs during the last years has reopened the
      discussion about the possible increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma
      in patients with such type of treatments. We present our clinical experience and
      critical opinion about the current situation of such issue regarding cutaneous T
      cell lymphomas.El creciente uso de farmacos anti-TNF durante los ultimos anos ha
      reabierto el debate sobre el posible aumento de riesgo de linfomas no Hodgkin en
      los pacientes con este tipo de tratamientos. Presentamos nuestra experiencia
      clinica y opinion critica sobre la situacion actual de este tema en relacion a
      los linfomas cutaneos de celulas T. 

PMID- 27617529
TI  - Hypotrichosis with juvenile macular dystrophy: Portuguese case.
AB  - Hypotrichosis with juvenile macular dystrophy is a rare congenital disease mainly
      found in the Druze population of Northern Israel. This disorder is caused by the
      CDH3 mutation encoding P-cadherin, which is expressed in retinal pigment
      epithelium and hair follicles. An 11-year-old girl who was born to related
      Portuguese parents, had hypotrichosis since birth and macular dystrophy diagnosed
      at age 5. Fundus examination and fluorescein angiography revealed located macular
      pigmentary abnormalities. No molecular analysis was done. A fundus examination
      should be considered mandatory in the assessment of congenital hypotrichosis. 

PMID- 27617530
TI  - Increasing adherence to topical therapy in psoriasis through use of solution
      medication.
AB  - Patient outcomes and clinical improvement are closely related to topical
      medication adherence, and is especially important in chronic dermatological
      diseases such as psoriasis. About one-fifth of patients undergoing topical
      treatment were dissatisfied with its convenience for various reasons. Providers
      can help increase adherence through selecting the correct medication vehicle,
      involving family members or friends in the patient's mediation application, and
      explaining likely side effects to the patient prior to use of the medication.
      Increased inherence will lead to better psoriasis disease control. 

PMID- 27617531
TI  - Angioqueratomas de fordyce multiplos de vulva associados a cirrose hepatica.
AB  - Fordyce angiokeratoma is a benign skin neoplasm, characterized by erythematous
      violet keratotic papules with mamillated surface, which follows a chronic and
      minimally symptomatic course. However, symptoms can be related such as itching,
      burning, bleeding, dyspareunia; aesthetic and social concerns may prompt request
      for treatment. The condition mainly affects men and usually occurs in the
      scrotum, but rarely may occur in women. A 30-year-old woman with liver cirrhosis
      and portal hypertension is described. Over a period of two years she developed
      multiple angiokeratomas of the vulva, complicated by frequent bleeding.
      Histopathologic analysis of the lesion confirmed the diagnosis of angiokeratoma
      and all lesions were surgically removed. The results of the treatment were very
      satisfactory, with no relapses or complications.Angioqueratoma de Fordyce e uma
      dermatose incomum que compoe o grupo das neoplasias cutaneas benignas,
      caracterizando-se pelo aparecimento de lesoes papuloceratosicas, eritemato
      violaceas de superficie mamilonada, que apresentam curso cronico e
      oligossintomatico. No entanto, outros sintomas podem estar associados, como
      prurido, ardencia, sangramento e dispareunia, alem de problemas esteticos e de
      ordem social. Afeta principalmente homens, acometendo a regiao escrotal, sendo
      raro seu surgimento em mulheres. Relata-se caso de uma paciente com 30 anos de
      idade, portadora de cirrose hepatica e hipertensao portal evoluindo ha 2 anos com
      multiplos angioqueratomas na vulva de sangramento frequente. A analise
      histopatologica confirmou o diagnostico de angioqueratoma e a paciente foi
      submetida a exerese cirurgica das lesoes. Os resultados terapeuticos foram
      satisfatorios, sem recidivas ou complicacoes.

PMID- 27617532
TI  - Visual morphometry and three non-invasive markers in the evaluation of liver
      fibrosis in chronic liver disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Liver fibrosis is traditionally graded into categorical stages with
      cirrhosis as the highest stage. However, cirrhosis stage may vary between
      individuals widely in terms of the amount of fibrosis which is not assessed by
      traditional staging systems. We aimed to utilise visual morphometry to quantify
      the amount of fibrosis in liver biopsy and compare how non-invasive methods of
      quantifying liver fibrosis correlated with histological measures. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Liver biopsy specimens from 115 consecutive chronic liver disease
      patients were assessed by a single pathologist for fibrosis stage by the Clinical
      Research Network and METAVIR systems as well as percentage fibrosis by visual
      morphometry. Liver T1 relaxation times, liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by
      transient elastography and enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) score were compared
      between fibrosis stages. In addition, these parameters were correlated with
      pathologist's visual estimate of percentage fibrosis and their predictive ability
      for advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis assessed by area under receiver operating
      curve (AUROC). RESULTS: All four parameters increased sequentially from fibrosis
      stage F0 to F4 (p<.001 for each). AUROCs for advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis were
      0.931 and 1.000 respectively for pathologist's estimate of fibrosis, 0.707 and
      0.926 for ELF score, 0.763 and 0.972 for T1 and 0.881 and 0.989 for LSM. LSM, ELF
      score and T1 correlated significantly with pathologist's estimate of percentage
      fibrosis. CONCLUSION: Non-invasive markers of fibrosis LSM, ELF and T1 relaxation
      time provide continuous surrogates for categorical histopathological staging of
      fibrosis which can be useful as markers of progression and regression of fibrosis
      on follow-up.

PMID- 27617533
TI  - Diversification of school psychology: Developing an evidence base from current
      research and practice.
AB  - Why is there a need to increase the racial/ethnic diversity of faculty in school
      psychology? Chiefly, school psychologists serve the most racially/ethnically
      diverse population: children in US schools. Therefore, developing a knowledge
      base that is inclusive of this wide range of perspective as well as growing a
      workforce that is reflective of this diversity is essential to effective service
      delivery. To achieve this goal, school psychology trainers must develop evidence
      based, purposeful efforts to recruit and retain racial/ethnic minority students
      in doctoral programs. For these reasons, we called for a special issue on
      diversifying the field of school psychology. The purpose of this special issue is
      to advance the evidence-base in school psychology on how to increase diverse
      scholars and leaders in the profession. Moreover, the goal is to also evaluate
      the status of the profession in effectively recruiting and retaining
      racial/ethnic minority graduate students, mentoring racial/ethnic minority
      students to pursue careers in academia, and promoting faculty development and
      retention of racially and ethnically diverse faculty. Thus, the articles in this
      special issue will address critical areas where trainers can improve recruitment
      and retention strategies that will increase the racial/ethnic diversity of school
      psychology faculty, leaders, and practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617534
TI  - Recruitment and retention of Native American graduate students in school
      psychology.
AB  - There is a clear underrepresentation of Native Americans in the field of school
      psychology. There are a number of factors that have led to this
      underrepresentation, including cultural and historical variables, barriers to
      accessing higher educational opportunities, and lack of financial support. Given
      the importance of having diverse perspectives in the field, as well as the need
      for mental health services and academic supports for Native American children and
      their families, school psychology trainers should consider actively recruiting
      and retaining Native American graduate students to doctoral and specialist
      programs. This article provides specific research-based recommendations for
      recruiting Native American students and strategies for supporting their success
      and matriculation in the program. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617535
TI  - INTRAPAPILLARY PROLIFERATION IN OPTIC DISK PITS: Clinical Findings and Time
      Related Changes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the structural changes of intrapapillary proliferations
      associated with optic disk pits (ODPs) and optic disk pit maculopathy (ODP-M)
      using enhanced depth-spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-EDI-OCT)
      and megahertz optical coherence tomography (MHz-OCT). METHODS: Sixteen eyes of
      patients with ODPs were studied. Papillary and peripapillary areas were
      repeatedly examined with SD-EDI-OCT over time. To evaluate swept-source OCT, some
      of the patients additionally received MHz-OCT-imaging. RESULTS: MHz-OCT or SD-EDI
      images showed the entire form of the pits from opening to bottom in 13 of the 16
      cases. The shape of ODPs varied considerably. In patients with unilateral ODP,
      deep intrapapillary depressions in the optic disk of the contralateral partner
      eye were a prevalent finding. Intrapapillary proliferations were observed in all
      ODP-cases during follow-up. The aspect of intrapapillary and prepapillary tissue,
      septae, and cavities changed over time. This effect was especially pronounced
      inside the ODP while the eye experienced simultaneous ODP-M. CONCLUSION: All
      examined eyes with ODP showed signs of intrapapillary and prepapillary tissue,
      which developed over time. SD-EDI-OCT and MHz-OCT are able to detect
      characteristic ODP-related findings and are a useful means to monitor time
      related changes within intrapapillary and prepapillary tissue related to ODP and
      ODP-M.

PMID- 27617536
TI  - THE EFFECT OF INTERNAL LIMITING MEMBRANE PEELING ON IDIOPATHIC EPIRETINAL
      MEMBRANE SURGERY, WITH A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the effect of internal limiting membrane (ILM) removal on
      epiretinal membrane (ERM) surgery by comparing best-corrected visual acuity
      (BCVA), optical coherence tomography central macular thickness (CMT) changes, ERM
      recurrence, and need for repeat surgery. METHODS: Retrospective study of 251
      consecutive patients (251 eyes) who underwent pars plana vitrectomy for
      idiopathic ERM by a single surgeon with over 1 year of follow-up data. Data were
      collected preoperatively and postoperatively at 3 months, 1 year, 2 years, and at
      the last visit. The ILM was not specifically removed in the earlier group of
      patients and was removed after staining of the ILM in the later group. RESULTS:
      One hundred and forty eyes (55.8%) did not have an ILM peel (non-ILM group), and
      111 eyes (44.2%) did have an ILM peel (ILM group). There were no significant
      differences between groups in age, gender, preoperative BCVA, preoperative
      intraocular pressure, preoperative CMT on optical coherence tomography, and
      cataract status. Total follow-up time for the ILM group was 32.1 months and 45.4
      months for the non-ILM group (P = 0.002). Both groups had improvement in BCVA.
      The ILM group improved by 12 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters
      and the non-ILM group improved by 10.5 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study
      letters. There was no significant difference in the final BCVA (P = 0.18) or
      total change of BCVA (P = 0.48). Cataract status preoperatively did not affect
      the total change of BCVA, but being phakic at the most recent visit was
      associated with a slight loss of visual acuity. Both groups had improvement in
      optical coherence tomography appearance, for the CMT in the ILM group decreased
      by 83 MUm and the CMT in the non-ILM group decreased by 110 MUm. There was no
      significant difference in the final CMT (P = 0.07); however, the non-ILM group
      tended to have a lower final CMT. Some degree of ERM recurrence was detected by
      slit-lamp biomicroscopy in 2 eyes (1.8%) of the ILM group and in 32 eyes (22.9%)
      of the non-ILM group (P <= 0.0001). None of the eyes with ILM removal required
      repeat vitrectomy, whereas 17 eyes (12.1%) of the non-ILM group did require
      vitrectomy, showing that ILM removal had a significant effect on the need for
      repeat vitrectomy (P < 0.0001) between non-ILM versus ILM peel groups.
      CONCLUSION: The rate of recurrent ERM and need for repeat ERM surgery is lower in
      eyes where the ILM is removed with the ERM, whereas BCVA and CMT were similar
      with or without ILM removal. Complete ILM removal around the macula should be
      considered for the treatment of eyes with idiopathic ERMs to reduce the incidence
      of ERM recurrences.

PMID- 27617537
TI  - SERUM LEVELS OF VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR BEFORE AND AFTER INTRAVITREAL
      INJECTION OF RANIBIZUMAB OR CONBERCEPT FOR NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR
      DEGENERATION.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) before and after intravitreal injection of conbercept or ranibizumab for
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal
      vasculopathy patients. METHODS: This study is a prospective, interventional case
      series and involved 28 patients, 18 treated with 0.5 mg of conbercept and 10
      treated with 0.5 mg of ranibizumab. Serum concentrations of VEGF were determined
      by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before the injection and at 1 day, 1 week,
      and 1 month after anti-VEGF treatments. RESULTS: The baseline serum VEGF level of
      the ranibizumab group was 367.11 +/- 311.87 pg/mL, whereas that of the conbercept
      group was 315.06 +/- 170.88 pg/mL (P = 0.653). In the conbercept group, VEGF
      level significantly decreased to 36.32 +/- 72.11 pg/mL at 1 day (P = 0.03) and
      returned to 136.55 +/- 144.62 pg/mL at 1 week (P = 0.03). At 1 month, the
      concentration increased to 334.48 +/- 197.41 pg/mL and showed no significant
      difference compared with the baseline. In the ranibizumab group, the serum VEGF
      levels were 292.42 +/- 239.80 pg/mL, 282.60 +/- 201.36 pg/mL, and 308.83 +/-
      266.89 pg/mL at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after intravitreal injection,
      respectively. There was no significant difference in the ranibizumab group at
      each detection time point (P = 0.45). CONCLUSION: Conbercept significantly
      decreased serum VEGF level 1 day and 1 week after injection, but this effect was
      not sustained for 1 month. In contrast, ranibizumab had no significant effect on
      serum VEGF concentration changes. The reduction in serum VEGF by conbercept may
      affect its systemic safety profile.

PMID- 27617538
TI  - EPIDEMIC OF PATHOLOGIC MYOPIA: What Can Laboratory Studies and Epidemiology Tell
      Us?
AB  - PURPOSE: To systematically review epidemiologic and laboratory studies on the
      etiology of high myopia and its links to pathologic myopia. METHODS: Regular
      Medline searches have been performed for the past 20 years, using "myopia" as the
      basic search term. The abstracts of all articles have been scrutinized for
      relevance, and where necessary, translations of articles in languages other than
      English were obtained. RESULTS: Systematic review shows that there is an epidemic
      of myopia and high myopia in young adults in East and Southeast Asia, with
      similar but smaller trends in other parts of the world. This suggests an
      impending epidemic of pathologic myopia. High myopia in young adults in East and
      Southeast Asia is now predominantly associated with environmental factors, rather
      than genetic background. Recent clinical trials show that the onset of myopia can
      be reduced by increasing the time children spend outdoors, and methods to slow
      the progression of myopia are now available. CONCLUSION: High myopia is now
      largely associated with environmental factors that have caused the epidemic of
      myopia in East and Southeast Asia. An important clinical question is whether the
      pathologic consequences of acquired high myopia are similar to those associated
      with classic genetic high myopia. Increased time outdoors can be used to slow the
      onset of myopia, whereas methods for slowing progression are now available
      clinically. These approaches should enable the current epidemics of myopia and
      high myopia to be turned around, preventing an explosion of pathologic myopia.

PMID- 27617539
TI  - CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF AQUEOUS VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR LEVELS IN
      POLYPOIDAL CHOROIDAL VASCULOPATHY.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level according
      to the clinical and imaging features, and to explore its relationship with the
      responsiveness to anti-VEGF treatment in eyes with polypoidal choroidal
      vasculopathy. METHODS: Aqueous samples were collected from 62 eyes of 62 patients
      with treatment-naive polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Vascular endothelial
      growth factor levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      Baseline best-corrected visual acuity, central macular thickness, subfoveal
      choroidal thickness, greatest linear dimension of the lesion, and the presence of
      hemorrhage were included in the analysis. The effects of 3 monthly intravitreal
      ranibizumab injections on best-corrected visual acuity and central macular
      thickness were assessed. RESULTS: Baseline VEGF level was negatively correlated
      with subfoveal choroidal thickness (r = -0.33, P = 0.01). Other variables had no
      correlation with VEGF level. The mean change in central macular thickness after
      anti-VEGF treatment was -51 +/- 64 MUm, which is positively correlated with VEGF
      concentration (r = 0.30, P = 0.04) and negatively correlated with subfoveal
      choroidal thickness (r = -0.35, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Vascular endothelial
      growth factor level demonstrated a negative correlation with baseline subfoveal
      choroidal thickness and was associated with response to anti-VEGF treatment.
      These findings suggest that VEGF has a variable contribution to the pathogenesis
      of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy depending on choroid thickness.

PMID- 27617540
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 27617541
TI  - LONG-TERM OUTCOMES AND INCIDENCE OF RECURRENCE OF NEOVASCULARIZATION IN TREATED
      EXUDATIVE AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the long-term visual outcome and incidence of recurrence of
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NAMD) treated with intravitreal
      anti-VEGF injections (IVAI). METHODS: One hundred and thirty-two consecutive eyes
      treated with IVAI for NAMD based on an as-needed regimen with a follow-up >=5
      years (mean 7.55, range 5-9.67) were retrospectively reviewed. Main outcome
      measures included visual acuity, yearly number of IVAI, and occurrence of a long
      term remission, defined as no recurrence of NAMD for >=12 consecutive months.
      RESULTS: Mean baseline visual acuity was 20/100. Mean final visual acuity change
      was -3.41 letters. Mean overall IVAI number was 22.8 +/- 17.4 (range 2-71),
      decreasing from 4.6 during Year 1 to 2.21 during Year 8. A significant positive
      correlation was found between the number of IVAI during the first year of
      treatment and the overall number of IVAI during 5 years, 6 years, 7 years, or 8
      years follow-up (r = 0.67-0.70, P <0.0001). Long-term remission occurred at least
      once in 83/132 eyes (63%) and was associated with a better visual outcome (-1.04
      vs. -7.43 letters, P = 0.034). Incidence of yearly remission of NAMD increased
      from 28% during Year 2 to 59% during Year 8, fitting along a single straight line
      (+5.231%/year, R = 0.9511). CONCLUSION: The incidence of recurrence of treated
      NAMD decreases slowly but steadily during follow-up. The number of years of
      follow-up is the main factor to assess the proportion of treated eyes at
      remission at a given moment. Incidence of recurrence of neovascularization during
      year 1 and length of follow-up are significant factors when tailoring an optimal
      long-term follow-up regimen.

PMID- 27617542
TI  - OCULAR PHARMACOLOGY OF CHEMOTHERAPY FOR RETINOBLASTOMA.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic studies of the three
      most important chemotherapy drugs used for intraocular retinoblastoma and the
      contribution of the reported results to optimize treatment. METHODS: Systemic
      review of pharmacokinetic studies identified by a literature search at Pubmed
      using the keywords carboplatin, melphalan, topotecan, intravitreal, ophthalmic
      artery chemosurgery, pharmacokinetics, and retinoblastoma. RESULTS: A total of 21
      studies were reviewed for assessing the preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetics
      of carboplatin, topotecan, and melphalan delivered by intravenous, periocular,
      ophthalmic artery, and intravitreal routes. Some preclinical studies were done
      before translation to the clinics. Others, despite encouraging preclinical data
      as reported for periocular topotecan did not correlate with clinical use. In
      addition, as was the case for melphalan after ophthalmic artery chemosurgery and
      despite nonfavorable preclinical information, some routes of drug delivery are
      clinically effective. Besides topotecan, complete knowledge of the
      pharmacokinetics of melphalan and carboplatin is still lacking. CONCLUSION:
      Pharmacokinetic knowledge of chemotherapy may aid to guide retinoblastoma
      treatment in favor of safety and efficacy. Nonetheless, results obtained in
      preclinical models should be translated with care to the clinics.

PMID- 27617545
TI  - Silicone Oil Removal From the Anterior Chamber.

PMID- 27617546
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27617547
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27617548
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27617549
TI  - [Predictive score of success adapted to our environment to improve results of
      extracorporeal lithotripsy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present a predictive tool of success of ESWL adapted to our
      environment. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, descriptive and analytical
      study of patients with renal and upper ureteral stones whom underwent ESWL with
      DUET MAGNA lithotripter between January 2014 and March 2015. We included 114
      patients in whom demographics and CT scan characteristics were studied.
      Multivariate analysis by logistic regression was performed to establish
      independent predictors of success in ESWL. A ROC curve was used to determine
      success cut-off values of ESWL in each significant variable. The score was
      established based on the numbers of variables under the cut-off value in each
      patient. In every one of these categories, percentage of stone free was
      determined. Finally, the area under the curve of our ESWL treatment success score
      was made. RESULTS: Of 114 patients studied, 58 (51%) were stone free. After
      multivariate study, independent predictors of success with ESWL were tomographic
      density of lithiasis (UH), body mass index (BMI) and stone diameter (mm). Ideal
      cut off points of treatment success in each one of the score parameters were:
      density of lithiasis 900 UH, BMI 27 and lithiasis diameter 11 mm. Percentage of
      stone free was 31.8% for score 0, 37.1% for score 1, 57.5% for score 2 and 88.3%
      for score 3. Area under the curve for the score was 0.723 (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      This score could represent a predictive tool in our environment to predict ESWL
      results. Utilization of this score could limit the use of this therapy only to
      patients with favorable profile (score2-3) improving in this way cost
      effectiveness of this procedure.

PMID- 27617550
TI  - [Treatment of pediatric lithiasis in the lithotripsy and endourology unit of
      "Hospital La Luz". Commented retrospective of our case series].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present article is to summarize the results we obtained
      treating children with urolithiasis over the last 30 years and to perform an
      analysis on the basis of the these results and relevant details according to
      national and international experience. METHODS: Retrospective and descriptive
      statistical analysis of the 30 year experience in our clinics. The study was
      performed with a sample size of 178 children treated with urolithiasis that
      underwent 221 procedures. These procedures include ESWL, ureterorenoscopy (URS)
      and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude in this study
      that ESWL in children was the most appropriate procedure for renal and proximal
      and middle-third ureteral lithiasis. Kidney stones measuring 2 to 3 cm can be
      treated without additional procedures or combined approaches. In contrast cystine
      stones caused the major problems for fragmentation. Moreover, the use of double J
      catheters increased the need for ESWL when catheter calcification occurred and
      endoscopic removal was impossible. The benefits of this method must be
      individually assessed both for the benefit of the temporary placement as well as
      for the expectation of permanence. We conclude that URS is the best choice for
      distal-third ureteral lithiasis and some cases of proximal and middle- third
      ureteral lithiasis. This enables for simultaneous treatments, ureteral dilatation
      and unexpected diagnoses. In particular, rigid ureteroscopy offers adjuvant
      options to ESWL with great therapeutic potential and easy handling. In
      consequence, to our good results and cost-benefit balance using ESWL and rigid
      URS (even combined), the use of flexible URS for renal lithiasis has been
      reduced. In general community units like ours, the combined PCNL has been
      indicated for particular complex cases, and open or laparoscopic surgery was not
      necessary in any case.

PMID- 27617551
TI  - [Diagnosis of urethral stenosis and follow-up after Urethroplasty].
AB  - This article presents a review of the different tests used for the evaluation and
      follow-up of urethral strictures. Because there is no consensus on how to assess
      urethral pathology, we reviewed each of the next follow-up tests: questionnaires,
      uroflowmetry, ultrasound, urethroscopy, urethrogram, CT scan and MRI, outlining
      their benefits and limitations in the diagnosis and follow-up of urethral
      stricture. Urethrogram and urethroscopy are the most commonly used tests, as they
      are those that give us more information on the evaluation of stenosis and for
      surgery planning. Questionnaires and uroflowmetry play a key role in the follow
      up of these patients. Ultrasonography has high sensitivity and specificity for
      evaluating the spongiofibrosis, however it is not done routinely. The CT/MRI is
      recommended in the evaluation of pelvic trauma associated with fractures. 

PMID- 27617552
TI  - Failure of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy in non-muscle-invasive bladder
      cancer: Definition and treatment options.
AB  - Adjuvant intravesical bacillus Calmette- Guerin (BCG) therapy is the standard
      conservative adjuvant treatment and the most effective regimen for patients with
      high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The term "BCG failure" is
      generally used to refer to recurrence or progression following BCG therapy, as
      experienced by many patients. However, the term has been defined inconsistently,
      and several studies have indicated that patients with a particular pattern of BCG
      failure have a worse prognosis. There are many different treatment options for
      patients who experience BCG failure. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the different
      current definitions of BCG failure and the present treatment options available
      for patients with high-risk NMIBC who experience BCG failure. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS:
      Overall, the failure rate in response to BCG is about 40-50%. Most guidelines
      recommend that patients failing BCG should be offered radical cystectomy (RC).
      The significant potential for progression specific to high-risk NMIBC leads some
      clinicians to argue that immediate RC should be considered the preferred first
      line treatment in high-risk patients, bearing in mind that it achieves a long
      term survival rate in excess of 90% with ongoing improvements in morbidity. While
      other salvage intravesical treatments have to be considered oncologically
      inferior to RC, several therapies are now available if the patient is unfit to
      undergo RC or if bladder preservation is the objective, and some agents have
      shown promise in the context of BCG failure. CONCLUSIONS: The definition,
      prediction, and treatment of BCG failure remain topics of debate. Patients with
      BCG failure need carefully selected, individualized therapy in experienced hands.
      Stratification of patients with BCG failure into groups can identify those with a
      better or worse prognosis. RC should be the selected option if a patient
      experiences BCG failure, but several promising intravesical salvage options are
      available for those cases in which the patient is unfit for surgery or bladder
      preservation is preferred. Currently data are still inadequate to allow
      formulation of definitive recommendations, and larger and higher quality studies
      of salvage intravesical therapies are urgently required.

PMID- 27617553
TI  - Low cost silicone renal replicas for surgical training - technical note.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this brief report was to present and evaluate workflow of
      preparation of lowcost individual silicone replicas of kidneys for laparoscopic
      training and surgical simulation of difficult nephron sparing surgeries. METHODS:
      The work flow consists of four steps: 1.Image segmentation; 2.Casting mould
      designing; 3.Manufacturing of casting mould; 4.Silicone replica casting. To
      evaluate the cost and time required to execute the presented method, authors
      prepared 5 silicone models for 5 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic
      kidney tumorectomy due to renal cell cancer. RESULTS: Average times of image
      segmentation, casting mould design, casting mould printing and pouring of silicon
      replicas were 94 min, 22 min, 14 h and 30 min, respectively. Average costs of
      casting mould printing and casting of silicon replica were 14.4$ and 7.4$
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The presented technique is simple to perform and beyond
      basic 3D printer it does not require any other expensive equipment. The final
      silicone model reproduces shape and elasticity of the living organ and has
      similar mechanical strength. These properties of silicone replica in combination
      with the presented technique can be used to prepare other artificial organs,
      ready for a simulation of treatment.

PMID- 27617554
TI  - A new case report of urinary tract infection due to KPC-3-producing klebsiella
      pneumoniae (ST258) in Spain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We describe the characterization of a new isolated in Spain of
      Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 producing KPC-3, carbapenems non-susceptible,
      recovered from a sample of urine from a patient with urinary tract infection and
      no history of carbapenems exposure. METHODS: After the isolation, identification
      of K. pneumoniae was performed by biochemical tests and mass spectrometry. The
      carbapenems susceptibility testing was performed by microdilution and E-test in
      cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton. The study was completed by Rapidec(r) Carba NP.
      In order to determine the genetic basis of resistance to carbapenems we used
      Xpert(r) Carba-R for carbapenemase type and subtype was subsequently analyzed by
      amplification by PCR and sequencing. RESULT: We demonstrated by MLST that the
      strain belonged to the clone of high-risk ST258. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first
      characterization, in our media, of a clinical isolated of K. pneumoniae ST258
      producing KPC-3 and no history of carbapenems exposure.

PMID- 27617556
TI  - Male Pseudohermaphroditism: Ambiguous genitalia.

PMID- 27617555
TI  - [Complete response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in metastatic renal cancer.
      Report of four cases].
AB  - OBJECTIVSE: To describe the complete responses in our patients with metastatic
      renal cancer treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Between June 2007 and December 2014 we treated in our department 43 patients with
      metastatic renal cancer with antiangiogenic drugs. RESULTS: 9.3% (4/43) of the
      patients treated with antiangiogenic drugs obtained complete response according
      to RECIST 1.1 criteria. In 3 of the 4 patients, complete response was obtained
      during the first-line treatment with sunitinib at doses of 50 mgr/day in a 4/2
      scheme and the remaining patient obtained it with second line axitinib at doses
      of 10 mgr/day. CONCLUSIONS: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors can induce complete
      responses in patients with metastatic renal cancer. Discontinuation of treatment
      with tyrosine kinase inhibitors after a complete response may be an option.

PMID- 27617557
TI  - Perirrenal presentation of extranodal Rosai-Dorfman disease.

PMID- 27617558
TI  - Enzalutamide as monotherapy for advanced prostate cancer: why not?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Prostate cancer (PCa) is an androgen-dependent disease. In some
      cases, the tumor progresses despite castration levels of serum testosterone,
      turning into the lethal phenotype of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC),
      still driven by androgens and requiring the androgen receptor as a driver and
      responsible for progression. Enzalutamide, an androgen receptor inhibitor, is
      indicated for the treatment of metastatic CRPC, asymptomatic or mildly
      symptomatic, after failure of androgen deprivation. In both clinical trials that
      led to its approval, Enzalutamide was administered with an LHRH analog, setting
      the "standard of care" for its use. In this article we evaluate the available
      evidence and theory on the use of Enzalutamide as monotherapy. METHODS: Androgen
      deprivation well-known adverse events, together with the fact that its clinical
      benefit is moderate and the evidence strength is weak, and the direct negative
      impact on the common chronic conditions affecting this age-group led to
      investigation of Enzalutamide without LHRH analogs. RESULTS: There are clinical
      trials on Enzalutamide monotherapy for hormone-sensitive prostate cancer with
      favourable outcomes, and there are also two ongoing studies in different advanced
      PCa scenarios, the PROSPER and EMBARK trials. It would be up to now a safe
      alternative, with less toxicity and lower costs. CONCLUSION: It is mandatory to
      validate these early results on the use on Enzalutamide monotherapy for advanced
      prostate cancer, hormone-sensitive or castration resistant, metastatic or not,
      but in the meantime, we wonder, why not?

PMID- 27617559
TI  - A Brief Version of the Unhelpful Thoughts and Beliefs About Stuttering Scales:
      The UTBAS-6.
AB  - Purpose: A significant proportion of adults who stutter experience anxiety in
      social and speaking situations. The Unhelpful Thoughts and Beliefs About
      Stuttering (UTBAS) scales provide a comprehensive measure of the unhelpful
      cognitions associated with social anxiety in stuttering. However, reducing the
      number of UTBAS items would make it ideal as a brief screening instrument.
      Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop a brief version of the
      full UTBAS scales. Method: The 66-item UTBAS scales were completed by 337 adults
      who stutter. Item reduction was used to determine a smaller set of items that
      could adequately reproduce the total score for each full UTBAS scale. Results:
      Item reduction resulted in the inclusion of six items for the brief UTBAS-6
      scales. Decile ranges for scores on the brief UTBAS-6 provide reliable estimates
      of the full UTBAS scores and valuable clinical information about whether a
      psychological assessment is warranted. Conclusions: The brief UTBAS-6 provides a
      reliable and efficient means of screening the unhelpful thoughts and beliefs
      associated with speech-related anxiety among adults who stutter. Referral for a
      psychological assessment is recommended in cases where the UTBAS total score
      falls in or above the fifth decile.

PMID- 27617562
TI  - Is There Inequity in Hospital Care Among Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome
      Who Are Proficient and Not Proficient in English Language?: Analysis of the
      SNAPSHOT ACS Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The provision of equitable acute coronary syndrome (ACS) care in
      Australia and New Zealand requires an understanding of the sources of variation
      in the provision of this care. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare
      the variation in care and outcomes between ACS patients with limited English
      proficiency (LEP) and English proficiency (EP) admitted to Australian and NZ
      hospitals. METHODS: Data were collected from 4387 suspected/confirmed ACS
      patients from 286 hospitals between May 14 and 27, 2012, who were followed for 18
      months. We compared hospital care and outcomes according to the proficiency of
      English using logistic regressions. RESULTS: The 294 LEP patients were older
      (70.9 vs 66.3 years; P < .001) and had higher prevalence of hypertension (71.1%
      vs 62.8%; P = .004), diabetes (40.5% vs 24.3%; P < .001), and renal impairment
      (16.3% vs 11.1%; P = .007) compared with the 4093 EP patients. Once in hospital,
      there was no difference in receipt of percutaneous coronary intervention (57.0%
      vs 55.4%; P = .78) or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (10.5% vs 11.5%; P =
      .98). After adjustment for medical history, there were no significant differences
      (P > .05) between the 2 groups in the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events
      and/or all-cause death during the index admission and from index admission to 18
      months. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that LEP patients admitted to
      Australian or New Zealand hospitals with suspected ACS may not experience
      inequity in hospital care and outcomes.

PMID- 27617563
TI  - Psychometrics of the Zarit Burden Interview in Caregivers of Patients With Heart
      Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of family caregivers who are burdened by the
      caregiving experience is vital to prevention of poor outcomes associated with
      caregiving. The Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), a well-known measure of caregiving
      burden in caregivers of patients with dementia, has been used without being
      validated in caregivers of patients with heart failure (HF). PURPOSE: The purpose
      of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the ZBI in caregivers
      of patients with HF. METHODS: A total of 124 primary caregivers of patients with
      HF completed survey questionnaires. Caregiving burden was measured by the ZBI.
      Reliability was examined using Cronbach's alpha and item-total/item-item
      correlations. Convergent validity was examined using correlations with the Oberst
      Caregiving Burden Scale. Construct validity was demonstrated by exploratory
      factor analysis and known hypothesis testing (ie, the hypothesis of the
      association between caregiving burden and depressive symptoms). RESULTS:
      Cronbach's alpha for the ZBI was .921. The ZBI had good item-total (r = 0.395
      0.764) and item-item (mean r = 0.365) correlations. Significant correlations
      between the ZBI and the Oberst Caregiving Burden Scale (r = 0.466 for the
      caregiving time subscale and 0.583 for the caregiving task difficulty subscale; P
      < .001 for both) supported convergent validity. Four factors were identified (ie,
      consequences of caregiving, patient's dependence, exhaustion with caregiving and
      uncertainty, and guilt and fear for the patient's future) using factor analysis,
      which are consistent with previous studies. Caregivers with high burden scores
      had significantly higher depressive symptoms than did caregivers with lower
      burden scores (7.0 +/- 6.8 vs 3.1 +/- 4.3; P < .01). CONCLUSION: The findings
      provide evidence that the ZBI is a reliable and valid measure for assessing
      burden in caregivers of patients with HF.

PMID- 27617565
TI  - Perceptions and Acceptability of Receiving SMS Self-care Messages in Chinese
      Patients With Heart Failure: An Inpatient Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-care is critical for postdischarge heart failure (HF) patients.
      Short message service (SMS) is a promising way to promote HF self-care.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate knowledge status in Chinese HF
      patients, as well as the acceptance of SMS as a way to improve self-care.
      METHODS: A survey using a self-developed questionnaire was conducted in patients
      with decompensated HF 2 days before discharge. RESULTS: A total of 540 patients
      completed the survey. Among them, only 69.8% and 63.3% of patients were aware of
      their HF status and medication regimen, respectively. A total of 95.6% patients
      were willing to receive SMS. Patient himself/herself, caregiver, or both patient
      and caregiver were almost equally selected as the preferred receiver of SMS.
      Educational and/or reminder SMS was considered "very helpful" by 50.2% of the
      patients as a way of promoting self-care, similar to that of telephone education
      and brochure education. "Take your medicine", "avoid getting flu," and "keep
      follow-up" were regarded as the most important self-care contents, whereas "weigh
      yourself every day" and "restrict fluid intake" were considered the least
      important. CONCLUSION: As a way of promoting HF self-care, SMS intervention
      combining educational and reminder function might be well accepted by HF patients
      in China. The status of HF, medication, weight control, and fluid restriction
      should be emphasized during the practice. Caution should be drawn as the survey
      was not tested elsewhere. Further clinical trials would be conducted to examine
      the effect of SMS intervention on self-care behaviors and outcomes of HF
      patients.

PMID- 27617566
TI  - Assessing Overreaching With Heart-Rate Recovery: What Is the Minimal Exercise
      Intensity Required?
AB  - PURPOSE: Faster heart-rate recovery (HRR) after high to maximal exercise (>=90%
      of maximal heart rate) has been reported in athletes suspected of functional
      overreaching (f-OR). This study investigated whether this response would also
      occur at lower exercise intensity. METHODS: Responses of HRR and rating of
      perceived exertion (RPE) were compared during an incremental intermittent running
      protocol to exhaustion in 20 experienced male triathletes (8 control subjects and
      13 overload subjects led to f-OR) before and immediately after an overload
      training period and after a 1-wk taper. RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated an
      increase in HRR values immediately after the training period, but this change was
      very likely to almost certainly larger in the f-OR group at all running
      intensities (large to very large differences, eg, +16 +/- 7 vs +3 +/- 5
      beats/min, in the f-OR and control groups at 11 km/h, respectively). The highest
      between-groups differences in changes in HRR were reported at 11 km/h (13 +/- 4
      beats/min) and 12 km/h (10 +/- 6 beats/min). A concomitant increase in RPE at all
      intensities was reported only in the f-OR group (large to extremely large
      differences, +2.1 +/- 1.5 to +0.7 +/- 1.5 arbitrary units). CONCLUSION: These
      findings confirm that faster HRR does not systematically predict better physical
      performance. However, when interpreted in the context of the athletes' fatigue
      state and training phase, HRR after submaximal exercise may be more discriminant
      than HRR measures taken after maximal exercise for monitoring f-OR. These
      findings may be applied in practice by regularly assessing HRR after submaximal
      exercise (ie, warm-up) for monitoring endurance athletes' responses to training.

PMID- 27617564
TI  - Caregiver Well-being and Patient Outcomes in Heart Failure: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite evidence from the broader caregiving literature about the
      interdependent nature of the caregiving dyad, few studies in heart failure (HF)
      have examined associations between caregiver and patient characteristics.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to quantitatively synthesize the
      relationships between caregiver well-being and patient outcomes. METHODS: The
      MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched for studies of adult HF
      patients and informal caregivers that tested the relationship between caregiver
      well-being (perceived strain and psychological distress) and patient outcomes of
      interest. Summary effects across studies were estimated using random effects meta
      analysis following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta
      Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 15 articles meeting inclusion
      criteria were included in the meta-analysis. Taking into account differences
      across studies, higher caregiver strain was associated significantly with greater
      patient symptoms (Fisher z = 0.22, P < .001) and higher caregiver strain was
      associated significantly with lower patient quality of life (Fisher z = -0.36, P
      < .001). Relationships between caregiver psychological distress and both patient
      symptoms and quality of life were not significant. Although individual studies
      largely found significant relationships between worse caregiver well-being and
      higher patient clinical event-risk, these studies were not amenable to meta
      analysis because of substantial variation in event-risk measures. CONCLUSIONS:
      Clinical management and research approaches that acknowledge the interdependent
      nature of the caregiving dyad hold great potential to benefit both patients and
      caregivers.

PMID- 27617567
TI  - Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: A Roadmap for Future Research.
AB  - Investigators from the NINDS and the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance sponsored a
      workshop in March 2015, which joined basic scientists and clinicians with
      expertise in various aspects of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), in order to
      assess the current state of TSC research and to set future goals. 

PMID- 27617568
TI  - Layer-by-Layer Assembled Films of Perylene Diimide- and Squaraine-Containing
      Metal-Organic Framework-like Materials: Solar Energy Capture and Directional
      Energy Transfer.
AB  - We demonstrate that thin films of metal-organic framework (MOF)-like materials,
      containing two perylenediimides (PDICl4, PDIOPh2) and a squaraine dye (S1), can
      be fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly (LbL). Interestingly, these LbL films
      absorb across the visible light region (400-750 nm) and facilitate directional
      energy transfer. Due to the high spectral overlap and oriented transition dipole
      moments of the donor (PDICl4 and PDIOPh2) and acceptor (S1) components,
      directional long-range energy transfer from the bluest to reddest absorber was
      successfully demonstrated in the multicomponent MOF-like films. These findings
      have significant implications for the development of solar energy conversion
      devices based on MOFs. 

PMID- 27617569
TI  - Structural basis of haem-iron acquisition by fungal pathogens.
AB  - Pathogenic microorganisms must cope with extremely low free-iron concentrations
      in the host's tissues. Some fungal pathogens rely on secreted haemophores that
      belong to the Common in Fungal Extracellular Membrane (CFEM) protein family, to
      extract haem from haemoglobin and to transfer it to the cell's interior, where it
      can serve as a source of iron. Here we report the first three-dimensional
      structure of a CFEM protein, the haemophore Csa2 secreted by Candida albicans.
      The CFEM domain adopts a novel helical-basket fold that consists of six alpha
      helices, and is uniquely stabilized by four disulfide bonds formed by its eight
      signature cysteines. The planar haem molecule is bound between a flat hydrophobic
      platform located on top of the helical basket and a peripheral N-terminal
      'handle' extension. Exceptionally, an aspartic residue serves as the CFEM axial
      ligand, and so confers coordination of Fe3+ haem, but not of Fe2+ haem. Histidine
      substitution mutants of this conserved Asp acquired Fe2+ haem binding and
      retained the capacity to extract haem from haemoglobin. However, His-substituted
      CFEM proteins were not functional in vivo and showed disturbed haem exchange in
      vitro, which suggests a role for the oxidation-state-specific Asp coordination in
      haem acquisition by CFEM proteins.

PMID- 27617574
TI  - Disruption of the RP-MDM2-p53 pathway accelerates APC loss-induced colorectal
      tumorigenesis.
AB  - Inactivation of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor is
      frequently found in colorectal cancer. Loss of APC function results in
      deregulation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway causing overexpression of
      the c-MYC oncogene. In lymphoma, both p19ARF and ribosomal proteins RPL11 and
      RPL5 respond to c-MYC activation to induce p53. Their role in c-MYC-driven
      colorectal carcinogenesis is unclear, as p19ARF deletion does not accelerate APC
      loss-triggered intestinal tumorigenesis. To determine the contribution of the
      ribosomal protein (RP)-murine double minute 2 (MDM2)-p53 pathway to APC loss
      induced tumorigenesis, we crossed mice bearing MDM2C305F mutation, which disrupts
      RPL11- and RPL5-MDM2 binding, with Apcmin/+ mice, which are prone to intestinal
      tumor formation. Interestingly, loss of RP-MDM2 binding significantly accelerated
      colorectal tumor formation while having no discernable effect on small intestinal
      tumor formation. Mechanistically, APC loss leads to overexpression of c-MYC,
      RPL11 and RPL5 in mouse colonic tumor cells irrespective of MDM2C305F mutation.
      However, notable p53 stabilization and activation were observed only in
      Apcmin/+;Mdm2+/+ but not Apcmin/+;Mdm2C305F/C305F colon tumors. These data
      establish that the RP-MDM2-p53 pathway, in contrast to the p19ARF-MDM2-p53
      pathway, is a critical mediator of colorectal tumorigenesis following APC loss.

PMID- 27617577
TI  - RN1, a novel galectin-3 inhibitor, inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth in
      vitro and in vivo via blocking galectin-3 associated signaling pathways.
AB  - Galectin-3 (Gal-3) has been implicated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
      (PDAC), and its candidacy as a therapeutic target has been evaluated. Gal-3 is
      widely upregulated in tumors, and its expression is associated with the
      development and malignancy of PDAC. In the present study, we demonstrate that a
      polysaccharide, RN1, purified from the flower of Panax notoginseng binds to Gal-3
      and suppresses its expression. In addition, RN1 markedly inhibits PDAC cells
      growth in vitro, in vivo and in patient-derived xenografts. Mechanistically, RN1
      binds to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Gal-3, thereby disrupting
      the interaction between Gal-3 and EGFR and downregulating extracellular-related
      kinase (ERK) phosphorylation and the transcription factor of Gal-3, Runx1
      expression. Inhibiting the expression of Runx1 by RN1, suppresses Gal-3
      expression and inactivates Gal-3-associated signaling pathways, including the
      EGFR/ERK/Runx1, BMP/smad/Id-3 and integrin/FAK/JNK signaling pathways. In
      addition, RN1 can also bind to bone morphogenetic protein receptors (BMPR1A and
      BMPR2) and block the interaction between Gal-3 and the BMPRs. Thus, our results
      suggest that a novel Gal-3 inhibitor RN1 may be a potential candidate for human
      PDAC treatment via multiple targets and multiple signaling pathways.

PMID- 27617576
TI  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition of ovarian cancer cells is sustained by Rac1
      through simultaneous activation of MEK1/2 and Src signaling pathways.
AB  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is regarded as a crucial contributing
      factor to cancer progression. Diverse factors have been identified as potent EMT
      inducers in ovarian cancer. However, molecular mechanism sustaining EMT of
      ovarian cancer cells remains elusive. Here we show that the presence of
      SOS1/EPS8/ABI1 complex is critical for sustained EMT traits of ovarian cancer
      cells. Consistent with the role of SOS1/EPS8/ABI1 complex as a Rac1-specific
      guanine nucleotide exchange factor, depleting Rac1 results in the loss of most of
      mesenchymal traits in mesenchymal-like ovarian cancer cells, whereas expressing
      constitutively active Rac1 leads to EMT in epithelial-like ovarian cancer cells.
      With the aid of clinically tested inhibitors targeting various EMT-associated
      signaling pathways, we show that only combined treatment of mitogen-activated
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) and Src inhibitors can abolish
      constitutively active Rac1-led EMT and mesenchymal traits displayed by
      mesenchymal-like ovarian cancer cells. Further experiments also reveal that EMT
      can be induced in epithelial-like ovarian cancer cells by co-expressing
      constitutively active MEK1 and Src rather than either alone. As the activities of
      Erk and Src are higher in ovarian cancer cells with constitutively active Rac1,
      we conclude that Rac1 sustains ovarian cancer cell EMT through simultaneous
      activation of MEK1/2 and Src signaling pathways. Importantly, we demonstrate that
      combined use of MEK1/2 and Src inhibitors effectively suppresses development of
      intraperitoneal xenografts and prolongs the survival of ovarian cancer-bearing
      mice. This study suggests that cocktail of MEK1/2 and Src inhibitors represents
      an effective therapeutic strategy against ovarian cancer progression.

PMID- 27617575
TI  - Wnt signaling in cancer.
AB  - Wnt signaling is one of the key cascades regulating development and stemness, and
      has also been tightly associated with cancer. The role of Wnt signaling in
      carcinogenesis has most prominently been described for colorectal cancer, but
      aberrant Wnt signaling is observed in many more cancer entities. Here, we review
      current insights into novel components of Wnt pathways and describe their impact
      on cancer development. Furthermore, we highlight expanding functions of Wnt
      signaling for both solid and liquid tumors. We also describe current findings how
      Wnt signaling affects maintenance of cancer stem cells, metastasis and immune
      control. Finally, we provide an overview of current strategies to antagonize Wnt
      signaling in cancer and challenges that are associated with such approaches.

PMID- 27617578
TI  - Upregulation of Flt3 is a passive event in Hoxa9/Meis1-induced acute myeloid
      leukemia in mice.
AB  - HOXA9, MEIS1 and FLT3 are genes frequently upregulated in human acute myeloid
      leukemia. Hoxa9 and Meis1 also cooperate to induce aggressive AML with high Flt3
      expression in mice, suggesting an important role for Flt3 in Hoxa9/Meis1-induced
      leukemogenesis. To define the role of Flt3 in AML with high Hoxa9/Meis1, we
      treated mice with Hoxa9/Meis1-induced AML with the Flt3 inhibitor AC220, used an
      Flt3-ligand (FL-/-) knockout model, and investigated whether overexpression of
      Flt3 could induce leukemia together with overexpression of Hoxa9. Flt3 inhibition
      by AC220 did not delay AML development in mice transplanted with bone marrow
      cells overexpressing Hoxa9 and Meis1. In addition, Hoxa9/Meis1 cells induced AML
      in FL-/- mice as rapid as in wild-type mice. However, FL-/- mice had reduced
      organ infiltration compared with wild-type mice, suggesting some Flt3-dependent
      effect on leukemic invasiveness. Interestingly, leukemic Hoxa9/Meis1 cells from
      sick mice expressed high levels of Flt3 regardless of presence of its ligand,
      showing that Flt3 is a passive marker on these cells. In line with this, combined
      engineered overexpression of Flt3 and Hoxa9 did not accelerate the progression to
      AML. We conclude that the Hoxa9- and Meis1-associated upregulation of Flt3 is not
      a requirement for leukemic progression induced by Hoxa9 and Meis1.

PMID- 27617579
TI  - FKBP12 enhances sensitivity to chemotherapy-induced cancer cell apoptosis by
      inhibiting MDM2.
AB  - The FK506-binding protein 12 (FKBP12) is a cytoplasmic protein and has been
      reported to possess multiple functions in signaling transduction based on its
      interaction with different cellular targets. Here, we report that FKBP12
      interacts with oncoprotein MDM2 and induces MDM2 degradation. We demonstrate that
      FKBP12 degrades MDM2 through binding to MDM2 protein, disrupting MDM2/MDM4
      interaction and inducing MDM2 self-ubiquitination. The FKBP12-mediated MDM2
      degradation was significantly enhanced when the transfected MDM2 was localized in
      the cytoplasm. The endogenous MDM2, when it was induced by p53 subjecting to DNA
      damaging stimuli such as treatment with doxorubicin, was also significantly
      inhibited by FKBP12. This is due to translocation of p53-induced MDM2 from the
      nucleus to the cytoplasm, which facilitates interaction with cytoplasmic FKBP12.
      Furthermore, the enhanced level of MDM2 following p53 activation in nutlin-3
      treated cells was also inhibited by FKBP12. The FKBP12-mediated downregulation of
      MDM2 in response to doxorubicin or nutlin-3 results in continuing and
      constitutive activation of p53, inhibition of XIAP and sensitization of cancer
      cells to apoptosis. These results identify a novel function for FKBP12 in
      downregulating MDM2, which directly enhances sensitivity of cancer cells to
      chemotherapy and nutlin-3 treatment.

PMID- 27617584
TI  - Silicon/Organic Heterojunction for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion
      Photoanode with a Record Photovoltage.
AB  - Silicon (Si) is a good photon absorption material for photoelectrochemical (PEC)
      conversion. Recently, the relatively low photovoltage of Si-based PEC anode is
      one of the most significant factors limiting its performance. To achieve a high
      photovoltage in PEC electrode, both a large barrier height and high-quality
      surface passivation of Si are indispensable. However, it is still challenging to
      induce a large band bending and passivate Si surface simultaneously in Si-based
      PEC photoanodes so far, which hinders their performance. Here, we develop a
      simple Si/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)
      heterojunction with large band banding and excellent surface passiviation for
      efficient PEC conversion. A chemically modified PEDOT:PSS film acts as both a
      surface passiviation layer and an effective catalyst simultaneously without
      sacrificing band bending level. A record photovoltage for Si-based PEC
      photoanodes as high as 657 mV is achieved via optimizing the PEDOT:PSS film
      fabrication process. The density of electron state (DOS) measurement is utilized
      to probe the passivation quality of the organic/inorganic heterojunction, and a
      low DOS is found in the Si/PEDOT:PSS heterojunction, which is in accordance with
      the photovoltage results. The low-temperature solution-processed Si/organic
      heterojunction photoanode provides a high photovoltage, exhibiting the potential
      to be the next-generation economical photoanode in PEC applications.

PMID- 27617585
TI  - Realistic multi-cellular dosimetry for 177Lu-labelled antibodies: model and
      application.
AB  - Current preclinical dosimetric models often fail to take account of the complex
      nature of absorbed dose distribution typical of in vitro clonogenic experiments
      in targeted radionuclide therapy. For this reason, clonogenic survival is often
      expressed as a function of added activity rather than the absorbed dose delivered
      to cells/cell nuclei. We designed a multi-cellular dosimetry model that takes
      into account the realistic distributions of cells in the Petri dish, for the
      establishment of survival curves as a function of the absorbed dose. General
      purpose software tools were used for the generation of realistic, randomised 3D
      cell culture geometries based on experimentally determined parameters (cell size,
      cell density, cluster density, average cluster size, cell cumulated activity). A
      mixture of Monte Carlo and analytical approaches was implemented in order to
      achieve as accurate as possible results while reducing calculation time. The
      model was here applied to clonogenic survival experiments carried out to compare
      the efficacy of Betalutin(r), a novel 177Lu-labelled antibody radionuclide
      conjugate for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, to that of 177Lu-labelled
      CD20-specific (rituximab) and non-specific antibodies (Erbitux) on lymphocyte B
      cells. The 3D cellular model developed allowed a better understanding of the
      radiative and non-radiative processes associated with cellular death. Our
      approach is generic and can also be applied to other radiopharmaceuticals and
      cell distributions.

PMID- 27617580
TI  - Ecotropic viral integration site 1, a novel oncogene in prostate cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed non-cutaneous cancer in men
      in the western world. Mutations in tumor suppressor genes and in oncogenes are
      important for PCa progression, whereas the role of stem cell proteins in prostate
      carcinogenesis is insufficiently examined. This study investigates the role of
      the transcriptional regulator Ecotropic Viral Integration site 1 (EVI1), known as
      an essential modulator of hematopoietic and leukemic stem cell biology, in
      prostate carcinogenesis. We show that in healthy prostatic tissue, EVI1
      expression is confined to the prostate stem cell compartment located at the basal
      layer, as identified by the stem cell marker CD44. Instead, in a PCa progression
      cohort comprising 219 samples from patients with primary PCa, lymph node and
      distant metastases, EVI1 protein was heterogeneously distributed within samples
      and high expression is associated with tumor progression (P<0.001), suggesting
      EVI1 induction as a driver event. Functionally, short hairpin RNA-mediated
      knockdown of EVI1 inhibited proliferation, cell cycle progression, migratory
      capacity and anchorage-independent growth of human PCa cells, while enhancing
      their apoptosis sensitivity. Interestingly, modulation of EVI1 expression also
      strongly regulated stem cell properties (including expression of the stem cell
      marker SOX2) and in vivo tumor initiation capacity. Further emphasizing a
      functional correlation between EVI1 induction and tumor progression, upregulation
      of EVI1 expression was noted in experimentally derived docetaxel-resistant PCa
      cells. Importantly, knockdown of EVI1 in these cells restored sensitivity to
      docetaxel, in part by downregulating anti-apoptotic BCL2. Together, these data
      indicate EVI1 as a novel molecular regulator of PCa progression and therapy
      resistance that may control prostate carcinogenesis at the stem cell level.

PMID- 27617586
TI  - Analysis of Polymorphism rs1900004 in Atonal bHLH Transcription Factor 7 in Saudi
      Patients with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the association between the rs1900004 polymorphism in the
      atonal bHLH transcription factor 7 (ATOH7) gene and primary open angle glaucoma
      (POAG) in Saudi patients. METHODS: Eighty-seven unrelated POAG cases and 94
      unrelated control subjects of Saudi origin were genotyped utilizing a TaqMan(r)
      assay. The association between mutant genotypes and POAG and its related clinical
      indices was investigated. RESULTS: The genotype and allele frequencies of the
      polymorphism in ATOH7 did not show any statistically significant association with
      POAG compared to controls. The minor allele frequency was 0.32 in both cases and
      controls. None of the demographic, systemic diseases nor glaucoma-specific
      clinical indices such as intraocular pressure (IOP), cup/disc ratio, and number
      of antiglaucoma medication, showed any significant association with genotypes.
      Binary logistic regression analysis (adjusted for age and gender) showed that age
      was a marginally significant risk factor for the development of glaucoma
      (adjusted odds ratio = 1.1; 95% confidence interval = 1.079-1.158; p < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The study did not detect any direct link between genotype/allele
      frequency of rs1900004 in ATOH7 and POAG or its related clinical indices such as
      IOP and cup/disc ratio indicating that this polymorphism is not a risk factor for
      POAG in a Saudi cohort.

PMID- 27617589
TI  - Competing Roles of Substrate Composition, Microstructure, and Sustained Strontium
      Release in Directing Osteogenic Differentiation of hMSCs.
AB  - Strontium releasing bioactive ceramics constitute an important class of
      biomaterials for osteoporosis treatment. In the present study, we evaluated the
      synthesis, phase assemblage, and magnetic properties of strontium hexaferrite,
      SrFe12O19, (SrFe) nanoparticles. On the biocompatibility front, the size- and
      dose-dependent cytotoxicity of SrFe against human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs)
      were investigated. After establishing their non-toxic nature, we used the
      strontium hexaferrite nanoparticles (SrFeNPs) in varying amount (x = 0, 10, and
      20 wt %) to consolidate bioactive composites with hydroxyapatite (HA) by multi
      stage spark plasma sintering (SPS). Rietveld refinement of these spark plasma
      sintered composites revealed a near complete decomposition of SrFe12O19 to
      magnetite (Fe3O4) along with a marked increase in the unit cell volume of HA,
      commensurate with strontium-doped HA. The cytocompatibility of SrHA-Fe composites
      with hMSCs was assessed using qualitative and quantitative morphological analysis
      along with phenotypic and genotypic expression for stem cell differentiation. A
      marked decrease in the stemness of hMSCs, indicated by reduced vimentin
      expression and acquisition of osteogenic phenotype, evinced by alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) and collagen deposition was recorded on SrHA-Fe composites in
      osteoinductive culture. A significant upregulation of osteogenic marker genes
      (Runx2, ALP and OPN) was detected in case of the SrHA-Fe composites, whereas OCN
      and Col IA expression were similarly high for baseline HA. However, matrix
      mineralization was elevated on SrHA-Fe composites in commensurate with the
      release of Sr2+ and Fe2+. Summarizing, the current work is the first report of
      strontium hexaferrite as a non-toxic nanobiomaterial. Also, SrHA-based iron oxide
      composites can potentially better facilitate bone formation, when compared to
      pristine HA.

PMID- 27617590
TI  - Probing Molecular Interactions in Functionalized Asymmetric Quaternary Ammonium
      Based Dicationic Ionic Liquids.
AB  - Electronic structure, binding energies, and spectral characteristics of
      functionalized asymmetric dicationic ionic liquids (DILs) composed of quaternary
      ammonium cations substituted with the ethoxyethyl and allyl/3
      phenylpropyl/methoxyethoxyethyl/pentyl functionalities on two different nitrogen
      centers of the dication and the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Tf2N-) anion
      were derived employing the dispersion-corrected density functional theory. DILs
      based on methoxyethoxyethyl-substituted cation reveal stronger binding toward the
      Tf2N- anion. The measured glass transition temperatures are found to be strongly
      dependent on the cation-anion binding facilitated through noncovalent
      interactions with dominant contributions from the electrostatics and hydrogen
      bonding. The manifestations of these interactions to vibrational spectra, in
      particular, to SO2 and CF3 stretchings in the complexes are presented. It has
      been demonstrated that the frequency down (red)-shift of the SO2 stretching in
      these DILs with varying substituent follows the order: methoxyethoxyethyl (35 cm
      1) > allyl (23 cm-1) > pentyl (20 cm-1) > 3-phenylpropyl (5 cm-1), which is
      consistent with the strength of cation-anion binding. The CF3 stretching of the
      anion exhibits the frequency shift in the opposite direction with its hierarchy
      being reversed to that of SO2 stretchings; the largest upshift (blue shift) of 60
      cm-1 was predicted for the DILs composed of 3-phenlpropyl substituted dications.
      The direction of such frequency shift has been rationalized through the
      difference molecular electron density maps in conjunction with the electron
      density at the bond critical point in the quantum theory of atoms in molecules.
      The underlying cation-anion binding has been analyzed through charge distribution
      analysis characterized in terms of molecular electrostatic potential topography.
      Furthermore, the observed decomposition temperatures of DILs are shown to
      correlate well with the maximum surface electrostatic potential parameters in
      quantum theory of atoms in molecules.

PMID- 27617592
TI  - Medicaid and Children's Hospitals-A Vital but Strained Double Helix for
      Children's Health Care.

PMID- 27617593
TI  - Drug Conjugation Affects Pharmacokinetics and Specificity of Kidney-Targeted
      Peptide Carriers.
AB  - Peptides play a crucial role as biological vectors for targeted drug delivery. In
      particular, in cases of specific receptor expression, peptides are highly potent
      carriers for drug targeting approaches. Kidney-targeted peptides require specific
      attention because of the necessity of fine-tuning their behavior with respect to
      extraction and retention in the complex architecture of the kidneys. To enable
      optimal carrier capacity and targeting specificity, this study focuses on
      pharmacokinetic profiles of different kidney-specific peptides and examines the
      impact of drug conjugation. gamma-Scintigraphy was used to compare the
      pharmacokinetics and specificity prior to and after drug conjugation of the model
      drug alpha-lipoic acid. The results revealed that drug conjugation dramatically
      affects the targeting specificity, in the worst case leading to a total loss of
      kidney specificity. Nevertheless, efficient drug transport was achieved with the
      novel kidney carrier (KKEEE)3K, even with a multiple-drug loading of alpha-lipoic
      acid after intraveous and intraperitoneal administration. In contrast to other
      peptidic molecules, (KKEEE)3K demonstrated its significant potential as a
      promising carrier candidate for kidney-targeted drug delivery to proximal tubule
      cells, especially for the treatment of severe kidney diseases.

PMID- 27617588
TI  - Lymphocyte-mediated Immune Regulation in Health and Disease: The Treg and
      gammadelta T Cell Co-conspiracy.
AB  - The significance of lymphocytes functioning to mediate immunological tolerance
      has garnered increasing appreciation during the last several decades. CD4+ CD25+
      alpha/ beta T cells have arguably been the most extensively studied regulatory
      lymphocyte to date, perhaps owing to the dramatic phenotype observed mice and
      humans with mutated Foxp3. However, emerging studies suggest that the lineage of
      regulatory lymphocytes is quite robust. Most notably, while gammadelta T cells
      are more traditionally regarded as mediators of cytotoxic function, they are
      beginning to be regarded as potential negative regulators of immunity. While
      regulatory gamma/delta T cells may possess a degree of transcriptional overlap
      with 'classical Tregs', there remains less clarity in regard to the mechanisms
      driving the suppressive potential of these cells. In this review, I will discuss
      the role of Tregs in establishing tolerance in the steady state as well as
      disease, and how their accumulation and function may be modulated by myeloid
      cells in the local microenvironment. I will also discuss the necessity to extend
      our understanding of the regulatory nature of gammadelta T cells, which may lead
      to the unearthing of novel paradigms of immunity, perhaps most notably with
      respect to cancer.

PMID- 27617594
TI  - Home environments, physical activity, and energy expenditure among low-income
      overweight and obese women.
AB  - Ecologic models of physical activity identify multiple environmental domains that
      influence activity levels, including the home. This study examined aspects of the
      home environment associated with objective measures of physical activity in
      overweight and obese women. Study participants were recruited through three
      federally qualified health centers in rural southwest Georgia as part of a
      randomized controlled trial of a home-environment-focused weight gain prevention
      intervention. Data collected from February 2011 to December 2012 were from 301
      participants who completed baseline interviews and wore accelerometers for 7
      days. Most were African American (83.4%) and obese (50.5%) or morbidly obese with
      body mass index >=40 (35.6%). Mean age was 50.6 years. Participants were highly
      sedentary, with 7.9 hours of non-sedentary time per week, primarily in light
      activity. In a multivariate model, exercise equipment (p = .03), family support
      (p = .02), and full-time employment (p = .03) were positively associated with non
      sedentary time, whereas age (p = .003), living in a more rural area (p = .03),
      and having an exercise space (p = .01) were negatively associated. Home
      environments may be promising targets for programs aimed at increasing activity
      levels among overweight and obese women.

PMID- 27617595
TI  - Low-Concentration Eu2+-Doped SrAlSi4N7: Ce3+ Yellow Phosphor for wLEDs with
      Improved Color-Rendering Index.
AB  - Luminescence property of low-concentration Eu2+-doped SrAlSi4N7:Ce3+ yellow
      phosphor is reported in this paper. Three optical centers Ce1, Ce2, and Eu2 are
      observed in the phosphor. Deconvolution of emission spectrum confirms the three
      centers to be green (530 nm), yellow (580 nm), and red (630 nm), respectively.
      This property promises considerable improvement of color-rendering property of a
      white light-emitting diode (wLED). For example, color-rendering index (CRI) of
      wLED fabricated by combining a blue LED chip and SrAlSi4N7:0.05Ce3+,0.01Eu2+
      phosphor reaches 88. A competitive energy transfer process between Ce1-Ce2 and
      Ce1-Eu2 is confirmed based on Inokuti-Hirayama formula. Ratio of energy transfer
      rate between Ce1-Ce2 and Ce1-Eu2 (WCe1-Eu2/WCe1-Ce2) is calculated to be 2.0.
      This result reveals the effect of Eu2+ concentration on quantity of green and red
      components in SrAlSi4N7:Ce3+,Eu2+ phosphor.

PMID- 27617596
TI  - Why rifampin (rifampicin) is a key component in the antibiotic treatment of
      hidradenitis suppurativa: a review of rifampin's effects on bacteria, bacterial
      biofilms, and the human immune system.
AB  - Combinations of rifampin and clindamycin or rifampin, metronidazole, and
      moxifloxcin have been reported as effective treatments for hidradenitis
      suppurativa (HS) Hurley Stage 1 and Hurley Stage 2.  Clinical trials suggest that
      for stage 1 and mild stage 2 HS, clindamycin 300 mg twice daily and rifampin 300
      mg twice daily for 10 weeks can substantially abate HS in ~80% of cases and remit
      HS in ~50% of cases.  Another study notes use of rifampin-moxifloxacin
      metronidazole given for 6 weeks, dosed as rifampin (10 mg/kg once daily),
      moxifloxacin (400 mg daily), and metronidazole (500 mg thrice daily) with the
      metronidazole stopped at week 6.   Rifampin and moxifloxacin were continued if
      the HS improved and side effects did not occur.  Using this triple antibiotic
      regimen remission occurred in 100% Hurley Stage 1, 80% Hurly Stage 2, and 16.7 %
      of Hurley Stage 3 HS.   The author typically gives HS clindamycin 300 mg and
      rifampin 300 mg, each twice daily, for 10 weeks and assesses if remission has
      occurred.  If the patient has not achieved remission the author continues the
      regimen as long as the patient's clinical status continues to improve without
      side effects.  The reasons why rifampin is so effective against HS have not been
      fully defined and might involve rifampin's (1) antibacterial effects (2) effects
      on bacterial biofilms (3) anti-inflammatory effects (4) effects against
      granulomas (5) and immunomodulatory effects on neutrophils.  It is notable that
      rifampin, although not first line, is an effective treatment for Clostridium
      difficile, a pathogen that arises during treatment with clindamycin.  Thus,
      rifampin enhances safety when rifampin and clindamycin are combined for the
      treatment of HS. 

PMID- 27617597
TI  - Incontinentia Pigmenti presenting as a newborn eruption: two case presentations.
AB  - Linear vesicles or papules in a newborn can be a presenting sign of incontinentia
      pigmenti (IP). In this report, we present two cases of neonates with cutaneous
      manifestations of incontinentia pigmenti. In one case, mild peripheral
      eosinophilia was noted. No extra-cutaneous manifestations were noted otherwise in
      both cases after complete ophthalmological and neurological evaluations. These
      cases serve as a reminder for clinicians to consider IP in newborns presenting
      with linear vesicles or papules. 

PMID- 27617598
TI  - Yellow hair following sequential application of bacitracin zinc and selenium
      sulfide: Report of acquired xanthotrichosis and review of yellow hair
      discoloration.
AB  - BackgroundAcquired yellow hair (xanthotrichosis) can result from the deposition
      of pigmented compounds on the hair shaft or from chemical modification of hair
      pigment and protein molecules.PurposeA white-haired 77-year-old woman who
      developed xanthotrichosis of her scalp hair following the sequential application
      of bacitracin zinc ointment and selenium sulfide 2.5% lotion is described and the
      causes of yellow hair discoloration are reviewed.Materials and methodsThe
      clinical features of a woman with acquired yellow hair discoloration are
      presented. Using PubMed and Google Scholar, the following terms were searched and
      relevant citations were assessed: bacitracin zinc, hair discoloration, selenium
      sulfide, xanthotrichosis, and yellow hair.ResultsYellow hair was observed on the
      scalp in areas treated with the following regimen: prior to bedtime, several
      areas of the scalp were treated with a single application of bacitracin zinc
      ointment. The next morning, selenium sulfide 2.5% lotion was applied and then
      rinsed from the scalp during showering. Yellow hair discoloration was apparent in
      co-treated areas immediately following rinsing; the discoloration gradually faded
      over 2-5 days with regular shampooing.ConclusionsAcquired yellow hair shaft
      discoloration has been reported secondary to multiple etiologies, including
      environmental and occupational exposures, iatrogenic causes (including topical
      and systemic drugs) and protein-calorie malnutrition. To this list, we add yellow
      discoloration of white scalp hair due to application of selenium sulfide
      following topical use of bacitracin zinc in the affected areas as an unexpected
      adverse effect that may occur in individuals with white hair. 

PMID- 27617599
TI  - Cryptococcal cellulitis on the shin of an immunosuppressed patient.
AB  - Cryptococcus neoformans is a common fungus found throughout the environment that
      causes opportunistic disease in immunocompromised individuals. Infection of
      humans with C neoformans usually manifests as lung disease through inhalation of
      spores or meningoencephalitis by involvement of the central nervous system.
      Rarely, dissemination in the form of cutaneous lesions can occur in individuals
      with long term immunosuppression. We present a patient with C. neoformans
      manifesting as cellulitis with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis treated with
      corticosteroids. Because of the mortality associated with disseminated
      cryptococcosis, early identification, especially of atypical cutaneous
      presentations is critical from a dermatological perspective. 

PMID- 27617600
TI  - Myxofibrosarcoma presenting as an exophytic, multi-lobed nodule on the leg.
AB  - Myxofibrosarcoma may present as a dermal or subcutaneous nodule, often on the
      extremity of an elderly patient. We present a case of myxofibrosarcoma on the
      lower leg of a 77-year-old man, which illustrates the deeply infiltrative growth
      pattern of these tumors, as well as the potential for superficial biopsies to
      show lower grade histopathologic features than subsequent excision specimens. 

PMID- 27617601
TI  - Unusual location of median raphe cyst presenting as perianal polyp: a case
      report.
AB  - Median raphe cysts (MRC) are uncommon, benign congenital lesions that may present
      anywhere in the midline between the urinary meatus and the anus, with the shaft
      of the penis and the glans penis being the most common sites. We report a 52-year
      old man with median raphe cyst unusually located in perianal region and treated
      by surgical excision. 

PMID- 27617602
TI  - Pyodermatitis vegetans of the vulva.
AB  - Pyodermatitis vegetans (PV) is a rare inflammatory dermatosis of unknown etiology
      and difficult diagnosis characterized by vesiculopustular, exudative, and
      vegetating plaques usually localized in the axillary, genital, and oral region.
      It bears similarities to pemphigus vegetans but clinical history, histology, and
      immunofluorescence help confirm the diagnosis. Pyodermatitis vegetans is often
      associated with an underlying gastrointestinal disorder, especially ulcerative
      colitis. No standardized treatment plan is available for PV. Its evolution tends
      to follow the progression of the underlying disorder. We report a patient with
      vulvar PV with good response to systemic antibiotics and corticosteroids. 

PMID- 27617603
TI  - Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum: report of a case with a novel gene mutation.
AB  - Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum (PXE) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder
      characterized by progressive calcification and fragmentation of elastic fibers in
      the skin, eyes, and cardiovascular system. PXE is caused by mutations in the
      ABCC6 gene but the specific pathophysiology of this condition remains unknown. We
      present a case of a patient who was diagnosed with PXE after experiencing vision
      loss following minor ocular trauma. Our patient had angioid streaks in her right
      eye, skin laxity of the bilateral dorsal hands, and yellow papules coalescing on
      the posterior neck. The diagnosis of PXE was confirmed by histopathological
      examination. PCR amplification of the patient's ABCC6 gene demonstrated a novel
      gene mutation that is believed to be pathogenic. Patients with PXE are at an
      increased risk of visual and potentially life-threatening cardiovascular
      complications. Early diagnosis provides the patient a greater chance of reducing
      associated morbidity and mortality. 

PMID- 27617604
TI  - Chronic, severe onychocryptosis successfully treated with nail tube splinting in
      a 13-year-old girl with multiple prior failed matricectomies.
AB  - Onychocryptosis, also known as ingrown toenail, is caused by growth of the
      lateral edge of the nail into the nail fold. This results in inflammation of the
      invaded tissue. It is a common problem with ~70% of cases occurring in people
      between the ages of 12-30 years and causes significant discomfort, pain, and
      restriction in activity [1]. There is no standard treatment for onychocryptosis
      and numerous methods have been used, from conservative approaches such as proper
      nail trimming techniques to more invasive surgical procedures. All techniques
      risk the possibility of damage to the nail apparatus, prolonged healing time, and
      recurrence of disease.We describe a successful case of bilateral nail tube
      splinting in a pediatric patient with recurrent, severe onychocryptosis and
      history of multiple matricectomies. 

PMID- 27617606
TI  - An atrophic plaque on the breast six years after breast reconstruction surgery.
AB  - Necrobiosis lipoidica (NL) is a cutaneous disease entity that typically manifests
      as atrophic yellow plaques with telangiectasias on the anterior tibial region.
      Although NL is commonly associated with diabetes mellitus, the role of trauma in
      disease development is less commonly emphasized. The relationship between NL and
      the Kobner phenomenon has been established, as a few cases of NL occurring in
      surgical scars have been reported in the literature. We report the first case of
      NL occurring in a mastectomy scar on the breast in a non-diabetic female, and
      explore the relationship between NL, diabetes mellitus, and trauma. 

PMID- 27617605
TI  - Segmental lesions along blaschko's lines in an elderly man.
AB  - Darier disease (DD) is an autosomal dominant genodermatosis characterized by
      multiple keratotic and crusted papules over seborrheic areas, along with a
      variable involvement of oral mucosa, palmoplantar region, and nails. Segmental
      subtypes (type 1 and 2) are uncommon clinically limited forms of DD that usually
      present at middle age with few cutaneous lesions following Blaschko's lines. We
      report a case of extensive multi segmental DD type 1 that developed in an elderly
      man, an unusual clinical onset of DD that dermatologists should bear in mind. 

PMID- 27617607
TI  - Regorafenib- associated panniculitis.
AB  - Regorafenib is a second-generation multikinase inhibitor that is approved for the
      treatment of metastatic colon cancer and advanced gastrointestinal stromal
      tumors. Hand-foot skin reaction, alopecia, and oral mucositis are well
      established side effects of this medication. Herein, we discuss a 60-year-old
      woman who developed a lobular and septal granulomatous panniculitis after six
      months of therapy with regorafenib. Biopsy demonstrated focal lobular and septal
      granulomatous inflammation admixed with septal fibrosis and lobular
      lymphohistiocytic infiltrate associated with fat necrosis. To our knowledge,
      regorafenib-induced panniculitis has not been previously described. Increased
      awareness of this presentation can facilitate more timely diagnosis and
      treatment. 

PMID- 27617608
TI  - Morbilliform eruption related to eltrombopag: emerging data on the cutaneous
      toxicity of thrombopoietin receptor agonists.
AB  - Eltrombopag is a thrombopoietin mimetic used for the treatment of
      thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia, hepatitis C
      patients undergoing antiviral therapy, and thrombocytopenia secondary to aplastic
      anemia that is refractory to immunosuppressive therapy. We report a case of a 25
      year-old man with a history of aplastic anemia who presented with fever and a
      monomorphic papular rash. Subsequent labs, biopsy, and clinical course favored
      drug-induced cutaneous toxicity, with eltrombopag as the likely culprit.
      Eltrombopag is generally well-tolerated; however, clinicians should be aware of
      the possibility of dose-independent drug-induced cutaneous toxicity with this
      medication. This report reviews the mechanism and use of eltrombopag along with a
      summary of associated adverse cutaneous reactions. 

PMID- 27617609
TI  - Narrowband UVB-induced iatrogenic polymorphous light eruption: a case and
      suggestions to overcome this rare complication.
AB  - Polymorphous light eruption (PMLE) is the most common photodermatosis
      characterized by pruritic papules and papulovesicles, which appear hours to days
      following ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Herein, the authors report successful
      treatment of generalized plaque psoriasis with Goeckerman regimen in a patient
      despite new onset iatrogenic PMLE following narrowband (NB) UVB therapy. Although
      further studies are necessary, this case suggests that the co-existence of
      psoriasis and PMLE should not prevent the use of phototherapy; phototherapy,
      especially as part of the Goeckerman regimen, remains a valuable treatment option
      for psoriasis in patients with PMLE. 

PMID- 27617610
TI  - Unusual manifestation of mucosal plasmacytosis mimicking erythema multiforme.
AB  - Mucosal plasmacytoses constitute a group of idiopathic inflammatory disorders,
      characterized by a dense infiltrate of plasma cells at the mucocutaneous junction
      without any recognizable dermatosis or neoplasm. We report an unusual clinical
      presentation of mucosal plasmacytosis presenting with hemorrhagic crusting of the
      lips, mimicking erythema multiforme. 

PMID- 27617611
TI  - A Violaceous Nodule in a Lung-transplant Patient.
AB  - Posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a rare complication of
      solid organ or allogenic bone marrow transplantation. Cases localized to the skin
      are even rarer, with only around 100 cases recorded in the literature [2]. We
      present a case of 60 year-old-woman, a lung transplant recipient, who presented
      with an asymptomatic violaceous nodule on her left medial calf. Histopathology
      was consistent with PTLD of the B-cell subtype, EBV negative. This case is unique
      in that it was of the B cell subtype of cutaneous PTLD, which has been less
      commonly observed than the T cell subtype. In addition, the case was EBV
      negative, which is rare in B cell cutaneous PTLD. The patient was treated with
      rituximab 600 mg IV weekly for four weeks and cytomegalovirus immune globulin
      (Cytogam) 100 mg/kg once, with resolution of the nodule. 

PMID- 27617612
TI  - Motivating medical students by utilizing dermatology-oriented online quizzes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Online quiz competitions can facilitate extra-classroom interactions
      between faculty and medical students. Owing to decreased class attendance
      nationwide, teaching faculty might revamp their approach to medical education by
      providing online resources and methods for communication. OBJECTIVE: To explore
      if the use of online quizzes and social media can result in improved interactions
      between faculty and students. METHODS: A pilot study conducted from April 7th,
      2015 to June 11th, 2015 at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) among
      participants from the second year medical school class. Ten one-question quizzes
      created using Google Forms were announced over Twitter and email at the rate of
      one quiz per week. The first correct responder of each quiz chose a five-dollar
      coffee shop gift card, movie ticket, or a meeting with a NEOMED faculty person as
      their prize. RESULTS: An average of 23.8% of the second year medical student
      class at NEOMED participated per quiz. A total of 80 individuals (55.9%)
      submitted 340 responses during the competition. LIMITATIONS: This is a single
      center study with a limited sample size. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study
      presents a process evaluation for the use of online quiz competitions amongst
      medical students. Optional online quizzes with small incentives may foster
      motivational competition among medical students, increase online interactions
      with faculty, and serve as study material for exams.

PMID- 27617613
TI  - Lymphangitis occurring after intralesional Candida antigen injection for verruca
      vulgaris.
AB  - Verruca vulgaris is a common dermatological disease with many treatment options
      including destructive modalities and more recently, immunotherapy. Intralesional
      injections of Candida antigen have been described as a safe and effective
      treatment with the most common adverse reactions including local reactions
      (burning, blistering, peeling), local erythema, and pain at the injection site.
      We describe the first reported case of lymphangitis after intralesional Candida
      antigen injection for verruca vulgaris in a healthy 18-year-old woman. The
      lymphangitis rapidly resolved with ibuprofen and cold compresses. Physicians
      should be aware of this potential adverse reaction when using this treatment
      modality and should be familiar with appropriate treatment of subsequent
      lymphangitis. 

PMID- 27617614
TI  - Non-invasive methods to establish the diagnosis of terra firma-forme dermatosis:
      The SMART (Skin Modified by Alcohol Rubbing Test) evaluation and dermoscopy.
AB  - Terra firma-forme dermatosis may mimic a variety of hyper pigmented dermatoses. 
      The diagnosis can be characterized using dermoscopy and confirmed with the SMART
      (Skin Modified by Alcohol Rubbing Test) evaluation.  When terra firma-forme
      dermatosis (Duncan's dirty dermatosis) is clinically suspected, clearance of the
      dermatosis follows rubbing the affected skin with 70% isopropyl alcohol.

PMID- 27617615
TI  - Effective local anesthesia for onabotulinumtoxin A injections to treat
      hyperhidrosis associated with traumatic amputation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injections are an effective treatment
      for controlling hyperhidrosis at sites of amputation. Hyperesthesia associated
      with amputated limbs is a major barrier to performing this procedure under local
      anesthesia. OBJECTIVE: To present a novel method for improving local anesthesia
      with BTX-A injections. Methods & RESULTS: A 29-year-old military veteran with a
      below-the-knee amputation of his right leg was suffering from amputation site
      hyperhidrosis, which was impeding his ability to comfortably wear a prosthesis.
      Prior to presenting to our clinic, the patient received one treatment of BTX-A
      injections to his amputation stump while under general anesthesia for surgical
      repair of trauma-related injuries. In our dermatology clinic, we repeated the
      procedure using topical lidocaine-prilocaine (30 gm total) for local anesthesia.
      This provided effective relief of hyperhidrosis for 6 months, but the procedure
      was very painful (9/10 intensity). We repeated the same procedure 6 months later,
      using ice in addition to topical lidocaine-prilocaine (30 gm) for local
      anesthesia; this resulted in reduced pain (3/10 intensity) for the patient.
      CONCLUSIONS: We suggest using ice in combination with a topical anesthetic as an
      effective method for pain control that avoids general anesthesia in treating
      amputation-associated hyperhidrosis.

PMID- 27617616
TI  - Lesoes vesiculares e prurido intenso em paciente com sifilis
      secundaria:manifestacao clinica atipica.
AB  - Syphilis is an infectious disease with mucocutaneous lesions that are
      characteristic of their stage (primary, secondary, or tertiary). These are not
      always typical and may have other morphologies and unusual symptoms, making
      diagnosis difficult. The report herein is of a healthy woman with vesicular
      lesions associated with intense itching.  The diagnosis of secondary syphilis was
      confirmed with VDRL 1/512 and FTA Abs positive.  Histopathology showed spongiosis
      in the epidermis and infiltrated lymphocytes and plasma cell in the dermis. 
      Clinical improvement occurred after the first dose of benzathine penicillin. In
      the literature, few cases of vesicular lesions in syphilis have been found and
      itching is mentioned as uncharacteristic . Histology showing spongiosis is also
      unusual. 

PMID- 27617617
TI  - There's no place like home: an analysis of migration patterns of dermatology
      residents prior to, during, and after their training.
AB  - Previous studies have established migration patterns between the geographic
      location of physicians' residency programs and their first post-training job. Our
      study explores the patterns of migration of pre-residency education locations
      with residency and post-residency geography. We analyzed responses to an annual
      survey administered between 2008 and 2013 to participants of the board
      examination review courses organized by Galderma Laboratories. Geography of high
      school (HS), medical school (MS), residency, and first job location were highly
      correlated. The Midwest and South retained the most residents from HS (70% each),
      whereas the West retained the lowest percent of residents from HS (33%). The West
      and Northeast exported about half of their HS graduates to the South and MW for
      residency. The South retained the largest proportion of its trainees post
      residency (75%). Our data revealed that both HS and MS locations are closely
      related to residents' ultimate employment locations. This information may be
      useful to training program directors and chairpersons as they manage recruitment
      and retention of trainees and faculty and may inform plans to address geographic
      workforce imbalances. 

PMID- 27617618
TI  - Dominant Versus Nondominant Hand Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Is There Really
      True Dominance?

PMID- 27617619
TI  - Acute Gene Expression Profile of Lung Tissue Following Sulfur Mustard Inhalation
      Exposure in Large Anesthetized Swine.
AB  - Sulfur mustard (HD) is a vesicating and alkylating agent widely used on the
      battlefield during World War I and more recently in the Iran-Iraq War. It targets
      the eyes, skin, and lungs, producing skin burns, conjunctivitis, and compromised
      respiratory function; early acute effects lead to long-term consequences.
      However, it is the effects on the lungs that drive morbidity and eventual
      mortality. The temporal postexposure response to HD within lung tissue raises the
      question of whether toxicity is driven by the alkylating properties of HD on
      critical homeostatic pathways. We have established an anesthetized swine model of
      inhaled HD vapor exposure to investigate the toxic effects of HD 12 h
      postexposure. Large white female swine were anesthetized and instrumented prior
      to exposure to air, 60 (sublethal) or 100 MUg.kg-1 (~LD40) doses of HD (10 min).
      Physiological parameters were continuously assessed. Data indicate that exposure
      to 100 MUg.kg-1 HD lowered arterial blood oxygenation and increased shunt
      fraction and lavage protein compared with those of air-exposed controls and the
      60 MUg.kg-1 dose of HD. Histopathology showed an increased total pathology score
      between the 100 MUg.kg-1 HD group and air-exposed controls. Principal component
      analysis of differentially expressed genes demonstrated a distinct and separable
      response of inhaled HD between air-exposed controls and the 60 and 100 MUg.kg-1
      doses of HD. Canonical pathway analysis demonstrated changes in acute phase
      response signaling, aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling, NRF-2 mediated oxidative
      stress, and zymosterol biosynthesis in the 60 and 100 MUg.kg-1 HD dose group.
      Transcriptional changes also indicated alterations in immune response, cancer,
      and cell signaling and metabolism canonical pathways. The 100 MUg.kg-1 dose group
      also showed significant changes in cholesterol biosynthesis. Taken together,
      exposure to inhaled HD had a significant effect on physiological responses
      coinciding with acute changes in gene expression and lung histopathology. In
      addition, transcriptomics support the observed beneficial effects of N-acetyl-l
      cysteine for treatment of acute inhalation HD exposure.

PMID- 27617620
TI  - The Influence of Pay-To-Play Fees on Participation in Interscholastic Sports: A
      School-Level Analysis of Michigan's Public Schools.
AB  - BACKGROUND: School districts in the United States are turning toward new sources
      of revenue to maintain their interscholastic sports programs. One common revenue
      generating policy is the implementation of participation fees, also known as pay
      to-play. One concern of the growing trend of participation fees is how it impacts
      student participation opportunities. This study looks at how pay-to-play fees are
      impacting participation opportunities and participation rates in the state of
      Michigan. METHODS: Through merging 3 school-level data sets, Civil Rights Data
      Collection, the Common Core of Data, and participation information from MHSAA
      (Michigan High School Athletic Association), bivariate analysis and ordinary
      least squares regression were used in our analysis. RESULTS: Our findings
      indicate that certain types of schools are able to support pay-to-play fees:
      relatively large schools that are located in suburban, white communities, with
      relatively low poverty rates. We also found that participation fees are not
      decreasing the number of sport opportunities for students, participation
      opportunities are higher in schools with fees; but participation rates are
      similar between schools with and without participation fees. CONCLUSIONS:
      Participation fee policy implications are discussed and we offer suggestions for
      future research.

PMID- 27617621
TI  - Immobilized Biocatalyst for Detection and Destruction of the Insensitive
      Explosive, 2,4-Dinitroanisole (DNAN).
AB  - Accurate and convenient detection of explosive components is vital for a wide
      spectrum of applications ranging from national security and demilitarization to
      environmental monitoring and restoration. With the increasing use of DNAN as a
      replacement for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in insensitive explosive
      formulations, there has been a growing interest in strategies to minimize its
      release and to understand and predict its behavior in the environment.
      Consequently, a convenient tool for its detection and destruction could enable
      development of more effective decontamination and demilitarization strategies.
      Biosensors and biocatalysts have limited applicability to the more traditional
      explosives because of the inherent limitations of the relevant enzymes. Here, we
      report a highly specific, convenient and robust biocatalyst based on a novel
      ether hydrolase enzyme, DNAN demethylase (that requires no cofactors), from a
      Nocardioides strain that can mineralize DNAN. Biogenic silica encapsulation was
      used to stabilize the enzyme and enable it to be packed into a model microcolumn
      for application as a biosensor or as a bioreactor for continuous destruction of
      DNAN. The immobilized enzyme was stable and not inhibited by other insensitive
      munitions constituents. An alternative method for DNAN detection involved coating
      the encapsulated enzyme on cellulose filter paper. The hydrolase based
      biocatalyst could provide the basis for a wide spectrum of applications including
      detection, identification, destruction or inertion of explosives containing DNAN
      (demilitarization operations), and for environmental restorations.

PMID- 27617622
TI  - Clinical Characteristics of Voice, Speech, and Swallowing Disorders in
      Oromandibular Dystonia.
AB  - Purpose: To better define the clinical characteristics of idiopathic
      oromandibular dystonia, we studied voice, speech, and swallowing disorders and
      their impact on activities of daily living. Method: Fourteen consecutive patients
      with idiopathic oromandibular dystonia and 14 matched, healthy control subjects
      were included in the study. Results: Dysarthria was the most common disorder and
      its characteristics varied from one patient to another. However, we frequently
      observed a hyperkinetic, dysarthric profile characterized by imprecise
      consonants, a rough voice, changes in intensity, and hypernasality. Dysphagia
      appeared to be slightly less frequent and less disabling than dysarthria. Most
      patients had difficulty swallowing solids, and the oral phase was particularly
      problematic. Dysarthria and dysphagia affected activities of daily living in
      general and the psychological/emotional domain in particular. Conclusions: The
      characteristics of dysarthria in oromandibular dystonia vary significantly from
      one patient to another due to differences in the set of affected muscles, so each
      patient should receive a personalized rehabilitation program. Dysarthria was the
      most prominent symptom, although spasmodic dysphonia was more frequent than
      expected. Further laboratory-based studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms
      and consequences of dysphagia in oromandibular dystonia.

PMID- 27617623
TI  - Generation of Hydrogen from Water: A Pd-Catalyzed Reduction of Water Using
      Diboron Reagent at Ambient Conditions.
AB  - Production of hydrogen from renewable sources, particularly from water, is an
      intensive area of research, which has far-reaching relevance in hydrogen economy.
      A homogeneous catalytic method is presented for producing clean hydrogen gas from
      water, in a reaction of water with a diboron compound as the reductant, under
      ambient reaction conditions. The Pd-catalytic system is stable in water and
      displays excellent recyclability. Hydroxy analogues such as alcohols are
      compatible with the Pd/B2Pin2 system and generate hydrogen gas efficiently. The
      B2Pin2-H2O system, in the presence of palladium, is an excellent catalytic system
      for selective hydrogenation of olefins.

PMID- 27617624
TI  - Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Diaryl Acetamides, Benzofurans, Benzophenones, and
      Xanthenes by Transition-Metal-Free Oxidative Cross-Coupling of sp3 and sp2 C-H
      Bonds.
AB  - A chemo- and regioselective intermolecular sp3 C-H and sp2 C-H coupling reaction
      for C-C bond formation is described to access unsymmetrical diaryl acetamides
      under TM-free conditions from sec- and tert-arylacetamides and nitroarenes using
      tert-butoxide base in DMSO at room temperature. The coupling partners with
      sensitive functionalities such as chloro, bromo, hydroxy, and cyano were also
      amenable to the developed reaction. Synthesized alpha-(2/4-nitroaryl)
      phenylacetamides have been transformed into biologically important benzofurans,
      xanthenes, diaryl indoles, and unsymmetrical benzophenones by novel routes
      without applying a transition metal. Overall, an economical, yet efficient,
      strategy has been devised to access unsymmetrical diarylacetamides with the
      possibility of their further elaboration into a variety of biologically important
      heterocycles. Mechanistic understanding suggests that the reaction proceeds by a
      nucleophilic addition of a phenylacetamide carbanion, which is generated in the
      presence of tert-butoxide base, to the para or ortho (if para is substituted)
      position of nitrobenzene. The formed alpha-(4-nitrocyclohexa-2,4-dien-1-yl)
      phenylacetamide anion intermediate oxidized by a basic solution of DMSO or
      atmospheric oxygen led to the desired sp3 C-H and sp2 C-H coupled alpha-(2/4
      nitroaryl) phenylacetamides.

PMID- 27617625
TI  - Similar Running Economy With Different Running Patterns Along the Aerial
      Terrestrial Continuum.
AB  - PURPOSE: No unique or ideal running pattern is the most economical for all
      runners. Classifying the global running patterns of individuals into 2 categories
      (aerial and terrestrial) using the Volodalen method could permit a better
      understanding of the relationship between running economy (RE) and biomechanics.
      The main purpose was to compare the RE of aerial and terrestrial runners.
      METHODS: Two coaches classified 58 runners into aerial (n = 29) or terrestrial (n
      = 29) running patterns on the basis of visual observations. RE, muscle activity,
      kinematics, and spatiotemporal parameters of both groups were measured during a 5
      min run at 12 km/h on a treadmill. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and peak
      treadmill speed (PTS) were assessed during an incremental running test. RESULTS:
      No differences were observed between aerial and terrestrial patterns for RE,
      VO2max, and PTS. However, at 12 km/h, aerial runners exhibited earlier
      gastrocnemius lateralis activation in preparation for contact, less dorsiflexion
      at ground contact, higher coactivation indexes, and greater leg stiffness during
      stance phase than terrestrial runners. Terrestrial runners had more pronounced
      semitendinosus activation at the start and end of the running cycle, shorter
      flight time, greater leg compression, and a more rear-foot strike. CONCLUSIONS:
      Different running patterns were associated with similar RE. Aerial runners appear
      to rely more on elastic energy utilization with a rapid eccentric-concentric
      coupling time, whereas terrestrial runners appear to propel the body more forward
      rather than upward to limit work against gravity. Excluding runners with a mixed
      running pattern from analyses did not affect study interpretation.

PMID- 27617626
TI  - Current status and diagnostic values of the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid
      cytopathology in a papillary thyroid carcinoma-prevalent area.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most studies validating the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid
      cytopathology (TBSRTC) have been conducted in Western countries. We explored the
      current status of TBSRTC in an area where most thyroid malignancies are papillary
      carcinomas. METHODS: Fine-needle aspirations (FNAs) of thyroid nodules performed
      in 2013 were retrospectively analyzed and the results were compared to final
      pathology on resection. RESULTS: Of 1947 FNAs, 1925 (98.9%) were reported using
      TBSRTC. Among 381 resected lesions, 27.3% of nondiagnostic, 19.6% of benign,
      56.0% of atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined
      significance (AUS/FLUS), 33.3% of follicular neoplasm/suspicious for a follicular
      neoplasm (FN/SFN), 97.7% of suspicious for malignancy, and 100.0% of malignant
      lesions were malignant on pathology. The sensitivity and specificity of FNA using
      TBSRTC were 96.7% and 84.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: TBSRTC works well in an
      area in which papillary thyroid cancer is prevalent; however, it may
      underestimate malignancy rates in AUS/FLUS, benign, and nondiagnostic categories.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 269-274, 2017.

PMID- 27617627
TI  - Competitive Development in Pharmacologic Classes: Market Entry and the Timing of
      Development.
AB  - We examined data on the entry rates of second and later entrants in 43
      pharmacologic classes, as well as the timing of patent filings and development
      milestones for 79 later-in-class drugs. The median time to when a second entrant
      was approved was 2.7 years. A substantial majority of later-in-class drugs had a
      patent filed and were in clinical development prior to the approval of the first
      in-class drug.

PMID- 27617628
TI  - Development of Lymphatic Capillary Network Along the Alveolar Walls of Autopsied
      Human Lungs with Pneumonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited information is available regarding the lymphatic vasculature
      during pneumonia. OBJECTIVE: To characterize lymphatic vasculatures in autopsied
      cadavers with pneumonia. METHODS: Paraffin-embedded lung tissues obtained from 20
      autopsied cadavers with complicated pneumonia and 10 control cadavers without
      pneumonia were used for immunohistochemical analyses using primary antibodies
      against podoplanin, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3),
      CD34, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C, VEGF-D, CD73, and CD163.
      RESULTS: There was no difference in the vascular density of podoplanin+ usual
      lymphatics between the individuals with and without pneumonia. In half of the
      cadavers with pneumonia, however, a network of podoplanin+ cells lying together
      in a side-by-side bead-like arrangement appeared along the alveolar septa;
      however, this was absent in the control cadavers. The podoplanin+ cells in the
      network were characterized by a weaker expression of podoplanin, relative to
      usual lymphatics, and the occasional presence of ductal structures. Although
      podoplanin+ cells were not coexpressed with VEGFR-3, a part of the network was
      connected to CD73+ afferent lymphatics. The network showed an intertwined
      relationship with CD34+ capillaries, suggesting that the network represents
      lymphatic capillaries. The number of CD163+ macrophages was significantly
      increased in individuals with the network than those without the network, while a
      significant decrease in neutrophils was observed. VEGF-C expressed in CD163+
      macrophages and type II epithelial cells was observed in the cadavers with the
      network. CONCLUSION: The development of lymphatic capillary networks along the
      alveolar septa rather than the usual lymphangiogenesis was noted in autopsied
      individuals with pneumonia.

PMID- 27617629
TI  - Lifelong Gender Gap in Risk of Incident Myocardial Infarction: The Tromso Study.
AB  - Importance: It is not clear to what extent the higher incidence of coronary heart
      disease (CHD) in men vs women is explained by differences in risk factor levels
      because few studies have presented adjusted risk estimates for sex. Moreover, the
      increase in risk of CHD in postmenopausal women, possibly hormone related, may
      eventually eliminate the sex contrast in risk, but age-specific risk estimates
      are scarce. Objective: To quantify the difference in risk of incident myocardial
      infarction (MI) between men and women. Design, Setting and Participants:
      Population-based prospective study from Tromso, Norway, comprising 33 997
      individuals (51% women). Median follow-up time during ages 35 to 102 years was
      17.6 years. Incidence rates (IRs) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs, relative risk)
      of MI were calculated in Poisson regression analysis of person-years at risk. The
      data analysis was performed in November 2015. Exposures: Sex, age, birth cohort,
      serum lipid levels, blood pressure, lifestyle factors, diabetes. Main Outcomes
      and Measures: Incident MI. Results: A total of 2793 individuals (886 women)
      received a diagnosis of MI during follow-up in the period 1979 through 2012. The
      IR increased with age in both sexes, with lower rates for women until age 95
      years. Adjusted for age and birth cohort, the overall IRR for men vs women was
      2.72 (95% CI, 2.50-2.96). Adjustment for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and
      total cholesterol levels had the strongest impact on the risk estimate for sex,
      followed by diastolic blood pressure and smoking. However, the sex difference
      remained substantial even after adjustment for these factors (IRR, 2.07; 95% CI,
      1.89-2.26). Men had higher risk throughout life, but the IRRs decreased with age
      (3.64 [95% CI, 2.85-4.65], 2.00 [95% CI, 1.76-2.28], and 1.66 [95% CI, 1.42-1.95]
      for age groups 35-54, 55-74, and 75-94 years, respectively). Adjustment for
      systolic blood pressure, diabetes, body mass index, and physical activity had no
      notable impact. Conclusions and Relevance: The observed sex contrast in risk of
      MI cannot be explained by differences in established CHD risk factors. The gender
      gap persisted throughout life but declined with age as a result of a more
      pronounced flattening of risk level changes in middle-aged men. The minor changes
      in IRs when moving from premenopausal to postmenopausal age in women make it
      unlikely that changes in female hormone levels influence the risk of MI.

PMID- 27617631
TI  - Stereocontrolled Total Synthesis of Muraymycin D1 Having a Dual Mode of Action
      against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - A stereocontrolled first total synthesis of muraymycin D1 (1) has been achieved.
      The synthetic route is highly stereoselective, featuring (1) selective beta
      ribosylation of the C2-methylated amino ribose, (2) selective Strecker reaction,
      and (3) ring-opening reaction of a diastereomeric mixture of a diaminolactone to
      synthesize muraymycidine (epi-capreomycidine). The acid-cleavable protecting
      groups for secondary alcohol and uridine ureido nitrogen are applied for
      simultaneous deprotections with the Boc and tBu groups. Muraymycin D1 (1) and its
      amide derivatives (2 and 3) exhibited growth inhibitory activity against
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MIC50 = 1.56-6.25 MUg/mL) and strong enzyme
      inhibitory activities against the bacterial phosphotransferases (MurX and WecA)
      (IC50 = 0.096-0.69 MUM).

PMID- 27617633
TI  - Toward Dendrite-Free Lithium Deposition via Structural and Interfacial
      Synergistic Effects of 3D Graphene@Ni Scaffold.
AB  - Owing to its ultrahigh specific capacity and low electrochemical potential,
      lithium (Li) metal is regarded as one of the most attractive anode materials for
      next-generation lithium batteries. Nevertheless, the commercialization of Li
      metal-based rechargeable batteries (LiMBs) has been retarded by the
      uncontrollable growth of Li dendrites, as well as the resulting poor cycle
      stability and safety hazards. In this work, a 3D graphene@Ni scaffold has been
      proposed to accomplish dendrite-free Li deposition via structural and interfacial
      synergistic effects. Due to the intrinsic high surface area used to reduce the
      effective electrode current density and the surface-coated graphene working as an
      artificial protection layer to provide high cycle stability as well as suppress
      the growth of Li dendrites, the Coulombic efficiencies of Li deposition on 3D
      graphene@Ni foam after 100 cycles can be sustained as high as 96, 98, and 92% at
      the current densities of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mA cm-2, respectively, which shows
      more excellent cycle stability than that of its planar Cu foil and bare Ni foam
      counterparts. The results obtained here demonstrate that the comprehensive
      consideration of multiaspect factors could be more help to enhance the
      performance of Li metal anode so as to achieve its real application in next
      generation LiMBs.

PMID- 27617635
TI  - Potassium isotopic evidence for a high-energy giant impact origin of the Moon.
AB  - The Earth-Moon system has unique chemical and isotopic signatures compared with
      other planetary bodies; any successful model for the origin of this system
      therefore has to satisfy these chemical and isotopic constraints. The Moon is
      substantially depleted in volatile elements such as potassium compared with the
      Earth and the bulk solar composition, and it has long been thought to be the
      result of a catastrophic Moon-forming giant impact event. Volatile-element
      depleted bodies such as the Moon were expected to be enriched in heavy potassium
      isotopes during the loss of volatiles; however such enrichment was never found.
      Here we report new high-precision potassium isotope data for the Earth, the Moon
      and chondritic meteorites. We found that the lunar rocks are significantly
      (>2sigma) enriched in the heavy isotopes of potassium compared to the Earth and
      chondrites (by around 0.4 parts per thousand). The enrichment of the heavy
      isotope of potassium in lunar rocks compared with those of the Earth and
      chondrites can be best explained as the result of the incomplete condensation of
      a bulk silicate Earth vapour at an ambient pressure that is higher than 10 bar.
      We used these coupled constraints of the chemical loss and isotopic fractionation
      of K to compare two recent dynamic models that were used to explain the identical
      non-mass-dependent isotope composition of the Earth and the Moon. Our K isotope
      result is inconsistent with the low-energy disk equilibration model, but supports
      the high-energy, high-angular-momentum giant impact model for the origin of the
      Moon. High-precision potassium isotope data can also be used as a 'palaeo
      barometer' to reveal the physical conditions during the Moon-forming event.

PMID- 27617636
TI  - Neurocognitive predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in children 6
      months after traumatic brain injury: A prospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Various neurocognitive mechanisms have been proposed to explain the
      development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, the
      neurocognitive mechanisms underlying comorbid PTSD following Traumatic Brain
      Injury (TBI) have not been fully investigated, especially among children. This
      study prospectively examined the influence of theorized neurocognitive deficits
      at 3 months post pediatric TBI on the development of PTSD symptoms 6 months
      postinjury. METHOD: One hundred sixty-six children aged between 6 and 14 years
      were recruited after sustaining a TBI. Their demographic information and injury
      severity were assessed at 2 months postinjury, their neurocognitive outcomes in
      selective attention, sustained attention, verbal learning, working memory, and
      processing speed were assessed at 3 months postinjury, and PTSD symptoms were
      measured at 6 months postinjury. RESULTS: Consistent with the Neurobiological
      Theory of PTSD, sustained attention deficits 3 months postinjury emerged as the
      key predictor for greater future PTSD severity at 6 months, especially following
      a mild TBI. However, contrary to the expectations of the Emotional Processing
      Theory and Dual Representation Theory, verbal learning and working memory
      deficits at 3 months postinjury protected children from the development of PTSD
      symptoms 6 months postinjury. CONCLUSIONS: PTSD involves a complex interplay
      between attention and memory functions post pediatric TBI. When trauma memory is
      relatively intact, difficulties disengaging from distractors contribute to the
      development of PTSD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617634
TI  - Prefrontal Cortex-Mediated Impairments in a Genetic Model of NMDA Receptor
      Hypofunction Are Reversed by the Novel M1 PAM VU6004256.
AB  - Abnormalities in the signaling of the N-methyl-d-aspartate subtype of the
      glutamate receptor (NMDAR) within cortical and limbic brain regions are thought
      to underlie many of the complex cognitive and affective symptoms observed in
      individuals with schizophrenia. The M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR)
      subtype is a closely coupled signaling partner of the NMDAR. Accumulating
      evidence suggests that development of selective positive allosteric modulators
      (PAMs) of the M1 receptor represent an important treatment strategy for the
      potential normalization of disruptions in NMDAR signaling in patients with
      schizophrenia. In the present studies, we evaluated the effects of the novel and
      highly potent M1 PAM, VU6004256, in ameliorating selective prefrontal cortical
      (PFC)-mediated physiologic and cognitive abnormalities in a genetic mouse model
      of global reduction in the NR1 subunit of the NMDAR (NR1 knockdown [KD]). Using
      slice-based extracellular field potential recordings, deficits in muscarinic
      agonist-induced long-term depression (LTD) in layer V of the PFC in the NR1 KD
      mice were normalized with bath application of VU6004256. Systemic administration
      of VU6004256 also reduced excessive pyramidal neuron firing in layer V PFC
      neurons in awake, freely moving NR1 KD mice. Moreover, selective potentiation of
      M1 by VU6004256 reversed the performance impairments of NR1 KD mice observed in
      two preclinical models of PFC-mediated learning, specifically the novel object
      recognition and cue-mediated fear conditioning tasks. VU6004256 also produced a
      robust, dose-dependent reduction in the hyperlocomotor activity of NR1 KD mice.
      Taken together, the current findings provide further support for M1 PAMs as a
      novel therapeutic approach for the PFC-mediated impairments in schizophrenia.

PMID- 27617639
TI  - Phenotypes of Dravet Syndrome.
AB  - Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle studied selective
      heterozygous and homozygous deletions of the voltage gated sodium channel
      (Nav1.1) in parvalbumin (PV) or somato-statin (SST) expressing interneurons. 

PMID- 27617637
TI  - Engagement with the auditory processing system during targeted auditory cognitive
      training mediates changes in cognitive outcomes in individuals with
      schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with schizophrenia who engage in targeted cognitive
      training (TCT) of the auditory system show generalized cognitive improvements.
      The high degree of variability in cognitive gains maybe due to individual
      differences in the level of engagement of the underlying neural system target.
      METHOD: 131 individuals with schizophrenia underwent 40 hours of TCT. We
      identified target engagement of auditory system processing efficiency by modeling
      subject-specific trajectories of auditory processing speed (APS) over time.
      Lowess analysis, mixed models repeated measures analysis, and latent growth curve
      modeling were used to examine whether APS trajectories were moderated by age and
      illness duration, and mediated improvements in cognitive outcome measures.
      RESULTS: We observed significant improvements in APS from baseline to 20 hours of
      training (initial change), followed by a flat APS trajectory (plateau) at
      subsequent time-points. Participants showed interindividual variability in the
      steepness of the initial APS change and in the APS plateau achieved and sustained
      between 20 and 40 hours. We found that participants who achieved the fastest APS
      plateau, showed the greatest transfer effects to untrained cognitive domains.
      CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant association between an individual's ability
      to generate and sustain auditory processing efficiency and their degree of
      cognitive improvement after TCT, independent of baseline neurocognition. APS
      plateau may therefore represent a behavioral measure of target engagement
      mediating treatment response. Future studies should examine the optimal plateau
      of auditory processing efficiency required to induce significant cognitive
      improvements, in the context of interindividual differences in neural plasticity
      and sensory system efficiency that characterize schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27617640
TI  - Dichroism in Helicoidal Crystals.
AB  - Accounting for the interactions of light with heterogeneous, anisotropic,
      absorbing, optically active media is part of the characterization of complex,
      transparent materials. Stained biological structures in thin tissue sections
      share many of these features, but systematic optical analyses beyond the employ
      of the simple petrographic microscopes have not be established. Here, this
      accounting is made for polycrystalline, spherulitic bundles of twisted d-mannitol
      lamellae grown from melts containing light-absorbing molecules. It has long been
      known that a significant percentage of molecular crystals readily grow as
      helicoidal ribbons with mesoscale pitches, but a general appreciation of the
      commonality of these non-classical crystal forms has been lost. Helicoidal
      crystal twisting was typically assayed by analyzing refractivity modulation in
      the petrographic microscope. However, by growing twisted crystals from melts in
      the presence of dissolved, light-absorbing molecules, crystal twisting can be
      assayed by analyzing the dichroism, both linear and circular. The term
      "helicoidal dichroism" is used here to describe the optical consequences of
      anisotropic absorbers precessing around radii of twisted crystalline fibrils or
      lamellae. d-Mannitol twists in two polymorphic forms, alpha and delta. The two
      polymorphs, when grown from supercooled melts in the presence of a variety of
      histochemical stains and textile dyes, are strongly dichroic in linearly
      polarized white light. The bis-azo dye Chicago sky blue is modeled because it is
      most absorbing when parallel and perpendicular to the radial axes in the
      respective spherulitic polymorphs. Optical properties were measured using Mueller
      matrix imaging polarimetry and simulated by taking into account the
      microstructure of the lamellae. The optical analysis of the dyed, patterned
      polycrystals clarifies aspects of the mesostructure that can be difficult to
      extract from bundles of tightly packed fibrils.

PMID- 27617641
TI  - Simulation for Percutaneous Renal Access: Where Are We?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous renal access (PCA) is a challenging step during
      percutaneous nephrolithotomy. The aim of this study is to review the literature
      for different types of simulators described for PCA. METHODS: Databases of
      Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, OvidSP, and Google Scholar were systematically
      searched until May 2016. The studies were analyzed regarding the type of
      simulator (nonbiologic, biologic, live animal, and virtual reality [VR]), type of
      validity (face, content, construct, and predictive), cost-effectiveness, and
      whether these simulators have been used for training and/or assessment of PCA. In
      addition, the study looked at the educational impact of these simulators in terms
      of the transfer of PCA skills to the operating room. RESULTS: Several bench,
      animal, and VR simulators for training in PCA were identified. Only few studies
      were found on assessment of PCA skills. Biological bench models used porcine or
      bovine kidneys wrapped within foam, silicone, chicken carcass, or full-thickness
      skin flap alone. Other biological models used additional subcutaneous fascia,
      muscle, or ribs. Nonbiological models used prototypes, including 3D printing.
      Only one study reported the use of anesthetized live pig for training. The PERC
      MentorTM was the only VR simulator, which has been validated for training and
      assessment of PCA skills. However, none of these studies assessed the educational
      impact of PCA simulators. Furthermore, most of the studies did not address the
      validity and the cost of the simulator. CONCLUSIONS: While several biological and
      nonbiological PCA models exist, there is paucity of literature regarding the
      validity and educational impact of these simulators. The PERC Mentor simulator is
      the sole validated simulator for training and assessment of PCA skills. However,
      it is expensive and there is little evidence of its educational impact.
      Therefore, more research is needed to validate the available simulators and
      assess their educational impact for urology trainees.

PMID- 27617642
TI  - The Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor ARHGEF5 promotes tumor malignancy via
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - Epithelial tumor cells often acquire malignant properties, such as
      invasion/metastasis and uncontrolled cell growth, by undergoing epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, the mechanisms by which EMT contributes to
      malignant progression remain elusive. Here we show that the Rho guanine
      nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) ARHGEF5 promotes tumor malignancy in a manner
      dependent on EMT status. We previously identified ARHGEF5, a member of the Dbl
      family of GEFs, as a multifunctional mediator of Src-induced cell invasion and
      tumor growth. In the present study, ARHGEF5 was upregulated during tumor growth
      factor-beta-induced EMT in human epithelial MCF10A cells, and promoted cell
      migration by activating the Rho-ROCK pathway. ARHGEF5 was necessary for the
      invasive and in vivo metastatic activity of human colorectal cancer HCT116 cells.
      These findings underscore the crucial role of ARHGEF5 in cell migration and
      invasion/metastasis. An in vivo tumorigenesis assay revealed that ARHGEF5 had the
      potential to promote tumor growth via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)
      pathway. However, ARHGEF5 was not required for tumor growth in epithelial-like
      human colorectal cancer HCT116 and HT29 cells, whereas the growth of mesenchymal
      like SW480 and SW620 cells depended on ARHGEF5. Induction of EMT by tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha or Slug in HCT116 cells resulted in the dependence of tumor
      growth on ARHGEF5. In these mesenchymal-like cells, Akt was activated via ARHGEF5
      and its activity was required for tumor growth. Analysis of a transcriptome data
      set revealed that the combination of ARHGEF5 upregulation and E-cadherin
      downregulation or Snail upregulation was significantly correlated with poor
      prognosis in patients with colorectal cancers. Taken together, our findings
      suggest that EMT-induced ARHGEF5 activation contributes to the progression of
      tumor malignancy. ARHGEF5 may serve as a potential therapeutic target in a subset
      of malignant tumors that have undergone EMT. 

PMID- 27617643
TI  - ZEB1 induces EPB41L5 in the cancer mesenchymal program that drives ARF6-based
      invasion, metastasis and drug resistance.
AB  - Onset of the cancer mesenchymal program is closely associated with cancer
      malignancy and drug resistance. Among the different epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT)-associated transcriptional factors, ZEB1 has a key role in
      inducing the mesenchymal phenotypes and stem cell-like properties of different
      breast cancer cells. ARF6 and its effector AMAP1 are frequently overexpressed in
      breast cancer cells, and promote invasion, metastasis and drug resistance.
      EPB41L5 is induced during EMT, and mediates the disruption of E-cadherin-based
      cell-cell adhesion and the promotion of focal adhesion dynamics. Here we show
      that EPB41L5 is an integral component of the ARF6-based pathway, which is induced
      by ZEB1. We found that EPB41L5 is expressed at high levels in malignant breast
      cancer cells and binds to AMAP1. ZEB1 induced EPB41L5 both in cancer cells and
      normal cells. This relationship was recaptured with The Cancer Genome Atlas
      RNASeq data set, and correlated with the poor outcome of the patients. In
      contrast, diversified events, such as tumor growth factor beta1 stimulation,
      expression of SNAI1 and TP53 mutation, can each cause the induction of ZEB1 and
      EPB41L5, depending on the cellular context. Our results demonstrated that the
      ZEB1-EPB41L5 axis is at the core of the cancer mesenchymal program that drives
      ARF6-based invasion, metastasis and drug resistance of significant populations of
      primary breast cancers, and is tightly correlated with the poor outcomes of
      patients. 

PMID- 27617645
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27617644
TI  - Interleukin-27 Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection by Activating STAT1
      and 3, Interleukin-6, and Chemokines IP-10 and MIG.
AB  - Interleukin-27 (IL-27) inhibits the replication of many viruses, but the
      mechanism differs according to virus and cell type. In this study, we observed
      that IL-27 expression was upregulated in herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)
      infected SJL/J mice, which led us to further investigate the role of IL-27 in HSV
      1 infection using epithelial, glioma, and immunological cells as cell models. We
      showed that in all studied cell lines, the IL-27 messenger RNA (mRNA) level was
      upregulated due to the HSV-1 infection. When the cells were primed with IL-27
      before the virus infection, the virus release was prevented, indicating an
      antiviral role of IL-27 in HSV-1 infection. Furthermore, we observed that IL-27
      secretion to the culture medium was reduced in infected epithelial and
      immunological cells, but not in glioma cells. Not surprisingly, HSV-1 induced
      type I, II, and III interferons regardless of cell line, but IL-27 itself caused
      varying interferon responses dependent on cell type. However, common to all cell
      types was the IL-27-stimulated secretion of IL-6 and chemokines IP-10 and MIG. In
      addition, IL-27 stimulation activated STAT1 and STAT3 in HeLa and T98G cells,
      suggesting that IL-27 engages the STAT1/3 pathway, which then leads to the
      upregulation of IL-6, IP-10, and MIG.

PMID- 27617646
TI  - [Editorial: Proliferative Vitreo-Retinopathy].

PMID- 27617647
TI  - [Ocular Hypotension: How the Retina Surgeon Sees the Causes and Therapeutic
      Options].
AB  - Ocular hypotension is a result of a lack of production or a loss of intraocular
      fluid. Intraocular inflammation, drugs, or proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR)
      with overgrowth of the ciliary body can result in reduced secretion of
      intraocular fluid. Loss of intraocular fluid can result from external loss, such
      as in fistulating surgery or trauma, or internally, e.g. from cyclodialysis
      clefts or retinal detachment. In this review, we discuss the causal therapy of
      ocular hypotension: fixation of the ciliary body, removal of ciliary body
      membranes, surgery for PVR, choice of tamponade, possibilities and limitations of
      an iris diaphragm, and pharmacological options. 

PMID- 27617648
TI  - Genetic algorithms-based inversion of multimode guided waves for cortical bone
      characterization.
AB  - Recent progress in quantitative ultrasound has exploited the multimode waveguide
      response of long bones. Measurements of the guided modes, along with suitable
      waveguide modeling, have the potential to infer strength-related factors such as
      stiffness (mainly determined by cortical porosity) and cortical thickness.
      However, the development of such model-based approaches is challenging, in
      particular because of the multiparametric nature of the inverse problem. Current
      estimation methods in the bone field rely on a number of assumptions for pairing
      the incomplete experimental data with the theoretical guided modes (e.g. semi
      automatic selection and classification of the data). The availability of an
      alternative inversion scheme that is user-independent is highly desirable. Thus,
      this paper introduces an efficient inversion method based on genetic algorithms
      using multimode guided waves, in which the mode-order is kept blind. Prior to its
      evaluation on bone, our proposal is validated using laboratory-controlled
      measurements on isotropic plates and bone-mimicking phantoms. The results show
      that the model parameters (i.e. cortical thickness and porosity) estimated from
      measurements on a few ex vivo human radii are in good agreement with the
      reference values derived from x-ray micro-computed tomography. Further, the
      cortical thickness estimated from in vivo measurements at the third from the
      distal end of the radius is in good agreement with the values delivered by site
      matched high-resolution x-ray peripheral computed tomography.

PMID- 27617649
TI  - Preliminary Evidence for Emotion Dysregulation as a Mechanism Underlying Poor
      Sleep Quality in Borderline Personality Disorder.
AB  - Sleep disturbance is common in borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet the
      reasons for this association are not clear. The present study sought to extend
      prior studies by testing emotion dysregulation as a mechanism underlying this
      association. We administered self-report measures of sleep quality (SQ), emotion
      dysregulation, and borderline features to two cross-sectional samples of
      undergraduates (sample 1: N = 293; sample 2: N = 188). In addition to replicating
      prior studies linking BPD features to poor SQ, analyses indicated that BPD
      features related to emotion dysregulation were most strongly correlated with
      poorer global SQ across both samples. Further, bootstrapping techniques revealed
      indirect associations by total score on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation
      Scale (DERS), as well as for several of its facets (lack of strategies, lack of
      emotional clarity, lack of awareness). We discuss the potential clinical
      relevance of emotion dysregulation in the treatment of co-occurring sleep
      problems in BPD.

PMID- 27617650
TI  - Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the Structure of Common Mental Disorders.
AB  - Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) shows high rates of comorbidity with
      mood, anxiety, substance use, and other personality disorders. Previous bivariate
      comorbidity investigations have left NPD multivariate comorbidity patterns poorly
      understood. Structural psychopathology research suggests that two transdiagnostic
      factors, internalizing (with distress and fear subfactors) and externalizing,
      account for comorbidity among common mental disorders. NPD has rarely been
      evaluated within this framework, with studies producing equivocal results. We
      investigated how NPD related to other mental disorders in the internalizing
      externalizing model using diagnoses from a nationally representative sample (N =
      34,653). NPD was best conceptualized as a distress disorder. NPD variance
      accounted for by transdiagnostic factors was modest, suggesting its variance is
      largely unique in the context of other common mental disorders. Results clarify
      NPD multivariate comorbidity, suggest avenues for classification and clinical
      endeavors, and highlight the need to understand vulnerable and grandiose
      narcissism subtypes' comorbidity patterns and structural relations.

PMID- 27617652
TI  - Borderline Personality Disorder and the Effects of Instructed Emotional Avoidance
      or Acceptance in Daily Life.
AB  - This study examined the effects of avoidance- versus acceptance-oriented emotion
      regulation instructions among individuals with borderline personality disorder
      (BPD; n = 48), major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 54), and non-psychiatric
      controls (NPC; n = 50) using ecological momentary assessment. Participants were
      randomly assigned to either accept or avoid negative emotions, and monitored
      their moods, urges, and distress tolerance several times per day over 6 days.
      Avoidance instructions resulted in reduced negative affect and urges for
      maladaptive behaviors uniquely among BPD participants. Together with past
      research, and consistent with treatment approaches emphasizing the short-term use
      of skills to avoid or distract from emotions (e.g., DBT; Linehan, 1993b, 2015),
      these findings suggest that avoidance of negative emotions may have temporary
      benefits for individuals with BPD. Acceptance-oriented strategies may take longer
      or may require more extensive training to be beneficial for emotional functioning
      in everyday life in BPD.

PMID- 27617651
TI  - Neurocognitive Deficits in Borderline Personality Disorder: Associations With
      Childhood Trauma and Dimensions of Personality Psychopathology.
AB  - The present study evaluates the severity of neurocognitive deficits and assesses
      their relations with self-reported childhood trauma and dimensions of personality
      psychopathology in 45 outpatients with borderline personality disorder (BPD)
      matched to 56 non-psychiatric controls. Participants completed a comprehensive
      battery of neurocognitive tests, a retrospective questionnaire on early life
      trauma and a dimensional measure of personality psychopathology. Patients with
      BPD primarily showed deficits in verbal comprehension, sustained visual
      attention, working memory and processing speed. Comorbid posttraumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) and an elevated childhood history of physical trauma were each
      accompanied by more severe neurocognitive deficits. There were no statistically
      significant associations between neurocognitive function and dimensions of
      personality psychopathology. These results suggest that patients with BPD display
      deficits mainly in higher-order thinking abilities that may be exacerbated by
      PTSD and substantial early life trauma. Potential relationships between
      neurocognitive deficits and dimensions of personality psychopathology in BPD need
      further examination.

PMID- 27617653
TI  - Where the Narcissistic Mind Wanders: Increased Self-Related Thoughts are More
      Positive and Future Oriented.
AB  - Narcissism is characterized by a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited
      success, power, beauty, and similar values, which has been discussed as intra
      individual regulation of a grandiose, but vulnerable self-concept. To explore
      where the narcissistic mind wanders, we used an experience-sampling approach in a
      sample with large variability in pathological narcissism inventory scores.
      Multilevel modeling revealed (1) more mind-wandering in participants with higher
      levels of narcissism and (2) a difference in the content of these thoughts (more
      self- and other-related, past and future oriented, negative content). Critically,
      (3) in high levels of narcissism, the self-related thoughts were associated with
      more positive valence and were also more future oriented. The results demonstrate
      the validity of the assumed grandiose, self-absorbed view of oneself in
      narcissism, which includes self-indulgent fantasies of future success. We also
      found additional evidence for negative, past-oriented thoughts in narcissism, a
      dysfunctional pattern reminiscent of rumination, possibly linked to increased
      psychopathological vulnerability in narcissism.

PMID- 27617654
TI  - Coverage of the DSM-IV-TR/DSM-5 Section II Personality Disorders With the DSM-5
      Dimensional Trait Model.
AB  - Section III of DSM-5, for emerging measures and models, includes a five-domain,
      25-trait model, assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5. A primary
      concern with respect to the trait model is its coverage of the DSM-IV-TR
      personality disorder syndromes (all of which were retained in DSM-5). The current
      study considered not only total scale scores of three independent measures of DSM
      IV-TR personality disorders but also the coverage of each diagnostic criterion
      included within six personality disorders: antisocial, borderline, avoidant,
      dependent, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive. Participants were 425
      community adults, all of whom had received mental health treatment (36%
      currently; 75% within the past year). Results provided support for the coverage
      of the diagnostic criteria for the antisocial, borderline, avoidant, dependent,
      and narcissistic personality disorders. Coverage could perhaps be improved for a
      few of the criteria for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

PMID- 27617655
TI  - Prevention of food allergy - Early dietary interventions.
AB  - The prevalence of food allergy has increased over the last 30 years and remains a
      disease, which significantly impacts on the quality of life of children and their
      families. Several hypotheses have been formulated to explain the increasing
      prevalence; this review will focus on the hypothesis that dietary factors may
      influence the development of food allergy. Historically, the prevention of food
      allergy has focused on allergen avoidance. However, recent findings from
      interventional studies have prompted a shift in the mind set from avoidance to
      early introduction of potentially allergenic foods. This review aims to
      facilitate a better understanding of contemporary research studies that make use
      of early introduction of common allergenic foods into infant diets as a
      preventative strategy against the development of food allergy.

PMID- 27617656
TI  - Inverse correlation of soluble programmed cell death-1 ligand-1 (sPD-L1) with
      eosinophil count and clinical severity in allergic rhinitis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: T-cell response outcome is determined by co-stimulatory/inhibitory
      signals. Programmed cell death-1 ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a member of these co
      signaling molecules with known soluble form in human serum. Soluble PD-L1 (sPD
      L1) is also recognized in patients with some types of malignancy or autoimmune
      disorders, though there are few studies on sPD-L1 roles in allergic diseases. The
      purpose of this survey was to evaluate the association between sPD-L1 levels with
      eosinophil count as well as disease severity in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients.
      METHODS: 90 patients with AR were selected. Disease severity was determined by a
      modified Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) classification as
      mild, moderate and severe. Whole blood samples were collected. Then eosinophil
      count and serum sPD-L1 were detected by a hematologic analyzer and a commercial
      ELISA kit. RESULTS: 13 (14.44%), 31 (34.44%), and 46 (51.12%) of patients had
      mild, moderate and severe disease, respectively. The mean levels of sPD-L1 and
      eosinophil count were ascertained 18.38 +/- 14.42 ng/ml and 422.43 +/- 262.26
      cell/MUl. A significant inverse correlation was determined between sPD-L1 levels
      and eosinophil count (r = -0.364, P < 0.001). Moreover, we detected a significant
      negative association between sPD-L1 levels and disease severity (r = -0.384, P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It is deduced that sPD-L1 can be used as a helpful marker to
      determine the severity of AR. Furthermore, this study indicated that sPD-L1 may
      have an inhibitory role in AR development, and its modulation may be considered
      as a useful accessory therapeutic approach for reduction of AR progression.

PMID- 27617657
TI  - Tunable Optical Transparency in Self-Assembled Three-Dimensional Polyhedral
      Graphene Oxide.
AB  - The origami-like self-folding process is an intellectually stimulating technique
      for realizing three-dimensional (3D) polyhedral free-standing graphene oxide (GO)
      structures. This technique allows for easy control of size, shape, and thickness
      of GO membranes, which in turn permits fabrication of free-standing 3D microscale
      polyhedral GO structures. Unlike 2D GO sheets, the 3D polyhedral free-standing GO
      shows a distinct optical switching behavior, resulting from a combination of the
      geometrical effect of the 3D hollow structure and the water-permeable
      multilayered GO membrane that affects the optical paths.

PMID- 27617659
TI  - Posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence: Epidemiology and order of
      onset.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD)
      frequently co-occur; however, epidemiologic studies of temporal associations
      between PTSD and AD are limited. The aims of this study were (a) to investigate
      the bidirectional associations between PTSD and AD and (b) to examine demographic
      and clinical correlates of order-of-onset among individuals with PTSD and AD.
      METHOD: Participants were 11,103 adults (60.6% women; Mage = 48.7 years, SD =
      15.9) from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions
      who endorsed lifetime alcohol consumption and DSM-IV PTSD Criterion A trauma
      exposure (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Cox proportional hazards
      models with time-dependent covariates were used to evaluate bidirectional
      associations between PTSD and AD. Sex differences were assessed using stratified
      analyses. RESULTS: After adjusting for demographic, trauma, and alcohol
      characteristics, PTSD was associated with greater likelihood of subsequent AD
      (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.359, 95% CI = 1.357-1.362), and AD was associated with
      greater likelihood of subsequent PTSD (HR = 1.274, 95% CI = 1.271-1.277).
      Bidirectional associations between PTSD and AD were stronger for women compared
      with men. Among individuals with PTSD and AD, initial onset of PTSD was
      associated with younger age of first potentially traumatic event. Initial onset
      of AD was associated with earlier initiation of alcohol use, earlier onset of
      heavy alcohol use, family history of alcohol problems, and history of generalized
      anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder for women but not men. Initial AD
      was associated with lifetime panic disorder for men and women. CONCLUSIONS:
      Etiology of PTSD and AD is heterogeneous, and order of onset may reflect
      differing risk pathways. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617660
TI  - Trauma, stress, and self-care in clinical training: Predictors of burnout,
      decline in health status, secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and compassion
      satisfaction.
AB  - [Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 9(4) of
      Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (see record 2016
      54155-001). In the article, there was an error in Table 4 of the Results. The
      Outcomes and Predictors columns were not clearly categorized from one another.
      The corrected table is present in the erratum.] Objective: Courtois and Gold
      (2009) have called for the inclusion of trauma in the curriculum for all mental
      health training programs. The present study investigated the impact of trauma
      related content, stress, and self-care (SC) on trainees in such a program.
      Method: The study examined potential risk factors (trauma exposures in training
      [being faced with or reacting to trauma-related field work experiences and course
      content] and perceptions of stress in field and coursework) and protective
      factors (SC effort and importance) in relation to burnout (BO), health status
      (HS), secondary traumatic stress symptoms (STSS), and compassion satisfaction
      (CS) among 195 students in a graduate social work training program. Results: All
      students reported trauma exposures in their field placements and/or coursework,
      including retraumatization experiences that were associated with higher STSS and
      BO. Field stress and SC effort were both consistent predictors across outcomes.
      Higher field stress levels predicted higher BO and STSS, a greater likelihood of
      decline in HS, and lower CS. Lower SC effort was also associated with higher BO
      and STSS, and a greater likelihood of decline in HS, while higher SC effort
      predicted higher CS. Older students, those with traumatized field clients, and
      those whose field work addressed trauma, also reported higher CS. Conclusions:
      These findings suggest that clinical training involving trauma content can be
      both rewarding and stressful, and may evoke distress in some trainees. Given that
      learning about and working with trauma are essential to adequate clinical
      training, the authors suggest adopting a trauma-informed approach within clinical
      training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617662
TI  - Ipilimumab plus nivolumab for advanced melanoma.

PMID- 27617661
TI  - Overall survival in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent serous ovarian
      cancer receiving olaparib maintenance monotherapy: an updated analysis from a
      randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent serous ovarian cancer,
      maintenance monotherapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib significantly improves
      progression-free survival versus placebo. We assessed the effect of maintenance
      olaparib on overall survival in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent serous
      ovarian cancer, including those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations (BRCAm). METHODS:
      In this randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 trial involving 82
      sites across 16 countries, patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent serous
      ovarian cancer who had received two or more courses of platinum-based
      chemotherapy and had responded to their latest regimen were randomly assigned
      (1:1) using a computer-generated sequence to receive oral maintenance olaparib
      (as capsules; 400 mg twice a day) or a matching placebo by an interactive voice
      response system. Patients were stratified by ancestry, time to progression on
      penultimate platinum, and response to most recent platinum. Patients and
      investigators were masked to treatment assignment by the use of unique
      identifiers generated during randomisation. The primary endpoint of the trial was
      progression-free survival. In this updated analysis, we present data for overall
      survival, a secondary endpoint, from the third data analysis after more than 5
      years' follow-up (intention-to-treat population). We did the updated overall
      survival analysis, described in this Article at 77% data maturity, using a two
      sided alpha of 0.95%. As the study was not powered to assess overall survival,
      this analysis should be regarded as descriptive and the p values are nominal. We
      analysed randomly assigned patients for overall survival and all patients who
      received at least one dose of treatment for safety. This trial is ongoing and is
      registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00753545. FINDINGS: Between Aug 28,
      2008, and Feb 9, 2010, 265 patients were randomly assigned to olaparib (n=136) or
      placebo (n=129). 136 patients had deleterious BRCAm. The data cutoff for this
      analysis was Sept 30, 2015. An overall survival advantage was seen with
      maintenance olaparib versus placebo in all patients (hazard ratio [HR] 0.73 [95%
      CI 0.55-0.96]; nominal p=0.025, which did not meet the required threshold for
      statistical significance [p<0.0095]; median overall survival was 29.8 months [95%
      CI 26.9-35.7] for those treated with olaparib vs 27.8 months [24.9-33.7] for
      those treated with placebo), and in patients with BRCAm (HR 0.62 [95% CI 0.41
      0.94] nominal p=0.025; 34.9 months [95% CI 29.2-54.6] vs 30.2 months [23.1
      40.7]). The overall survival data in patients with BRCA wild-type were HR 0.83
      (95% CI 0.55-1.24, nominal p=0.37; 24.5 months [19.8-35.0] for those treated with
      olaparib vs 26.6 months [23.1-32.5] for those treated with placebo). 11 (15%) of
      74 patients with BRCAm received maintenance olaparib for 5 years or more.
      Overall, common grade 3 or worse adverse events in the olaparib and placebo
      groups were fatigue (11 [8%] of 136 patients vs four [3%] of 128) and anaemia
      (eight [6%] vs one [1%]). 30 (22%) of 136 patients in the olaparib group and 11
      (9%) of 128 patients in the placebo group reported serious adverse events. In
      patients treated for 2 years or more, adverse events in the olaparib and placebo
      groups included low-grade nausea (24 [75%] of 32 patients vs two [40%] of five),
      fatigue (18 [56%] of 32 vs two [40%] of five), vomiting (12 [38%] of 32 vs zero),
      and anaemia (eight [25%] of 32 vs one [20%] of five); generally, events were
      initially reported during the first 2 years of treatment. INTERPRETATION: Despite
      not reaching statistical significance, patients with BRCA-mutated platinum
      sensitive recurrent serous ovarian cancer receiving olaparib maintenance
      monotherapy after platinum-based chemotherapy appeared to have longer overall
      survival, supporting the reported progression-free survival benefit. Clinically
      useful long-term exposure to olaparib was seen with no new safety signals. Taken
      together, these data support both the long-term clinical benefit and tolerability
      of maintenance olaparib in patients with BRCA-mutated platinum-sensitive
      recurrent serous ovarian cancer. FUNDING: AstraZeneca.

PMID- 27617663
TI  - Sorafenib plus cisplatin for hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 27617664
TI  - The fourth annual meeting of the American College of Professional Neuropsychology
      (ACPN) poster roster, March 9-10, 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada.

PMID- 27617665
TI  - A Prospective Comparative Study of Arthroscopic Versus Mini-Open Latarjet
      Procedure With a Minimum 2-Year Follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare postoperative pain during the first postoperative week and
      the position of the coracoid bone block at the anterior aspect of the glenoid
      after the arthroscopic and the mini-open Latarjet procedure. The secondary
      purpose was to assess functional results and recurrence after at least 2 years of
      follow-up. METHODS: This comparative prospective study included patients who
      underwent a Latarjet-Bristow procedure for anterior shoulder instability in 2012.
      The Latarjet procedure was performed by a mini-open approach (G1) in one center
      and by an arthroscopic approach (G2) in the other. The main evaluation criterion
      was average shoulder pain during the first postoperative week assessed by the
      patient on a standard 10-cm visual analog scale (0-10). Secondary criteria were
      consumption of analgesics during the first week, the position of the coracoid
      bone block on radiograph and computed tomography scan at the 3-month follow-up
      and clinical outcomes (Western Ontario Score Index and new surgery) after at
      least 2 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients were included, 22 G1
      and 36 G2, 13 women and 45 men, mean age 26.9 +/- 7.7 years. The mean follow-up
      was 29.8 +/- 4.4 months. There was significantly less pain in the arthroscopic
      Latarjet group than in the mini-open group during the first postoperative week
      (2.5 +/- 1.4 vs 1.2 +/- 1.2, P = .002) with comparable consumption of analgesics
      (P > .05). The arthroscopic Latarjet procedure resulted in a more lateral
      coracoid bone block (P = .04) and a better equatorial position than the mini-open
      technique (P = .02). Three patients underwent revision surgery (1 recurrence
      [2.8%], 1 block fracture, 1 screw ablation) in the arthroscopic group, none in
      the mini-open group (P = .54). At the final follow-up, the Western Ontario Score
      Index score was good in all patients (G1: 78.5 +/- 7.5% vs G2: 82.3 +/- 7%, P =
      .03). CONCLUSIONS: This prospective comparative study showed that the
      arthroscopic Latarjet procedure was significantly less painful than the mini-open
      procedure during the first postoperative week. The clinical outcomes were
      comparable after at least 2 years of follow-up. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II,
      prospective comparative study.

PMID- 27617666
TI  - Endo/exo-synergism of cellulases increases with substrate conversion.
AB  - Synergy between cellulolytic enzymes is important for their industrial
      utilization, and numerous studies have addressed the problem of how to optimize
      the composition of enzyme cocktails with respect to this. The degree of synergy
      (DS) may change with substrate conversion, and some studies have suggested a
      maximum in DS early in the process. Here, we systematically investigated
      interrelationships of DS and conversion in a model system covering a wide range
      of experimental conditions. The results did not reveal any correlation between DS
      and contact time, but when plotted against the degree of substrate conversion we
      saw a systematic increase in DS. We suggest that this is linked to a decreasing
      reactivity of the substrate. Hence, synergy became increasingly important as the
      recalcitrance of the remaining substrate grew. Such conversion dependent changes
      in DS appear to be important both in mechanistic studies and attempts to find
      industrial enzymes blends with optimal synergy. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 696
      700. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27617668
TI  - Residual eDNA detection sensitivity assessed by quantitative real-time PCR in a
      river ecosystem.
AB  - Several studies have demonstrated that environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to
      detect the presence of aquatic species, days to weeks after the target species
      has been removed. However, most studies used eDNA analysis in lentic systems
      (ponds or lakes), or in controlled laboratory experiments. While eDNA degrades
      rapidly in all aquatic systems, it also undergoes dilution effects and physical
      destruction in flowing systems, complicating detection in rivers. However, some
      eDNA (i.e. residual eDNA) can be retained in aquatic systems, even those subject
      to high flow regimes. Our goal was to determine residual eDNA detection
      sensitivity using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), in
      a flowing, uncontrolled river after the eDNA source was removed from the system;
      we repeated the experiment over 2 years. Residual eDNA had the strongest signal
      strength at the original source site and was detectable there up to 11.5 h after
      eDNA source removal. Residual eDNA signal strength decreased as sampling distance
      downstream from the eDNA source site increased, and was no longer detectable at
      the source site 48 h after the eDNA source water was exhausted in both
      experiments. This experiment shows that residual eDNA sampled in surface water
      can be mapped quantitatively using qRT-PCR, which allows a more accurate spatial
      identification of the target species location in lotic systems, and relative
      residual eDNA signal strength may allow the determination of the timing of the
      presence of target species.

PMID- 27617669
TI  - Ecologic Momentary Assessment to Accomplish Real-Time Capture of Symptom
      Progression and the Physical and Cognitive Activities of Patients Daily Following
      Concussion.

PMID- 27617670
TI  - Design of New Complexes of Inorganic Salts Based on Lithium and Magnesium
      Hydroxides and Carbonates for Usage as Propellants and Flame Retardants.
AB  - We study the structure and electronic properties of new moieties of Li- and Mg
      based hydroxides and carbonates. DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,p)
      level show superhalogen behavior for the Li(OH)2, Mg(OH)3, Li(HCO3)2 and
      Mg(HCO3)2 clusters, which have adiabatic electron affinity 3.19, 3.89, 5.24, and
      4.64 eV, respectively. Superalkali behavior has been identified for the Li2(OH),
      Li4(OH)3, Li2HCO3, and Li4(HCO3)3 clusters, which have vertical ionization
      potential 4.65, 3.89, 4.48, 5.08, and 4.27 eV, respectively. Calculated
      fragmentation energies along selected channels indicate that some of these
      molecules possess believable propensity as oxidizers for usage as propellants and
      fire suppressors.

PMID- 27617671
TI  - Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Promote Hypercoagulability in Patients With
      Sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with sepsis commonly exhibit a hypercoagulability with high
      risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are
      found to trigger inflammation and coagulation. We aim to determine whether NETs
      promoted the hypercoagulability and early anticoagulation reduced NETs releasing
      during sepsis. METHODS: In this prospective study, septic patients between
      September 2013 and June 2015 were included. Patients of age <18 years, acute
      organ failure, pregnancy, coagulation disorders, receiving anticoagulation before
      admission were excluded. Blood was sampled in 52 sepsis and 10 non-sepsis
      patients and 40 healthy controls, clinical, and hematological parameters were
      collected. The ability of plasma and platelets to prime neutrophils to release
      NETs and contribution of NETs to coagulation were assessed. NETs releasing was
      compared in patients with or without early coagulation, and its correlation with
      the risk of VTE was also evaluated. RESULTS: NETs formation in septic patients
      was significantly higher than controls and non-sepsis patients. Neutrophils from
      septic patients had significantly enhanced NETs releasing compared with those
      from controls or non-sepsis patients. Plasma or platelets obtained from patients
      induced control neutrophils to release NETs. Notably, NETs released by
      neutrophils from septic patients significantly increased the potency of control
      plasma to generate thrombin and fibrin, and this effect was attenuated by
      administration of DNase I. Post-treatment NETs releasing in septic patients
      receiving early anticoagulation within 6 h was significantly lower than patients
      without early anticoagulation. The NETs formation correlated positively with the
      VTE risk, rather than the parameters of inflammation or disease severity.
      CONCLUSIONS: The systemic inflammation during sepsis primes neutrophils to
      release NETs with increased risk of VTE. Early anticoagulation (6 h) reduces NETs
      releasing and may improve the coagulopathy of septic patients.

PMID- 27617672
TI  - Severe Sepsis Outcomes Among Hospitalizations With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have a unique inflammatory
      response to infection given the pathogenesis of these diseases and the common use
      of immunosuppressive therapy. AIMS: The goal of this study is to determine severe
      sepsis outcomes in a subgroup of visits with the comorbidities of inflammatory
      bowel disease. METHODS: The 2012 National Inpatient Sample database was used to
      identify patients with explicitly coded diagnoses of severe sepsis or septic
      shock. Visits with chronic inflammatory bowel disease and other inflammatory
      diagnoses were identified using ICD-9 codes. Sepsis outcomes of interest were
      identified using ICD-9 codes. RESULTS: There were 92,296 visits for severe sepsis
      or septic shock in the analysis. In the control group, the in-hospital mortality
      rate was 26.5%. Ulcerative colitis visits had a higher mortality rate (34.9%)
      while Crohn disease visits had lower mortality (19.6%). After adjusting for
      potential confounders, ulcerative colitis was independently associated with
      higher mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.61, 95% CI 1.35-1.93). Conversely, Crohn
      disease was independently associated with lower mortality (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.63
      0.97). CONCLUSIONS: Sepsis visits with Crohn disease had improved outcomes
      compared with the control group. Conversely, visits with ulcerative colitis had
      markedly worsened sepsis-related outcomes. Further investigation is needed to
      determine the mechanisms underlying these clinical differences.

PMID- 27617673
TI  - Influence of safety motivation and climate on safety behaviour and outcomes:
      evidence from the Saudi Arabian construction industry.
AB  - PURPOSE: Over the last three decades, safety literature has focused on safety
      climate and its role in forecasting injuries and accidents. However, research
      findings regarding the relationships between safety climate and other key outcome
      constructs are somewhat inconsistent. Recent safety climate literature suggests
      that examining the role of safety motivation may help provide a better
      explanation of such relationships. The research presented in this article aimed
      to empirically analyse the relationships among safety motivation, safety climate,
      safety behaviour and safety outcomes within the context of the Saudi Arabian
      construction industry. METHOD: A conceptual model was developed to examine the
      relationships among four main constructs: safety motivation, safety climate,
      safety behaviour and safety outcomes. Based on the survey data collected in Saudi
      Arabia from site engineers and project managers (n = 295), statistical analyses
      were carried out, including confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, and
      structural equation modelling to assess the model and test the hypotheses.
      RESULTS: The main results indicated that safety motivation could positively
      influence safety behaviour through safety climate, which plays a mediating role
      for this mechanism. The results also confirmed that safety behaviour could
      predict safety outcomes within the context of the Saudi Arabian construction
      industry.

PMID- 27617674
TI  - Synthesis of Site-Specific Radiolabeled Antibodies for Radioimmunotherapy via
      Genetic Code Expansion.
AB  - Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) delivers radioisotopes to antigen-expressing cells via
      monoantibodies for the imaging of lesions or medical therapy. The chelates are
      typically conjugated to the antibody through cysteine or lysine residues,
      resulting in heterogeneous chelate-to-antibody ratios and various conjugation
      sites. To overcome this heterogeneity, we have developed an approach for site
      specific radiolabeling of antibodies by combination of genetic code expansion and
      click chemistry. As a proof-of-concept study, model systems including anti-CD20
      antibody rituximab, positron-emitting isotope 64Cu, and a newly synthesized
      bifunctional linker (4-dibenzocyclooctynol-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclotetradecane
      1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid, DIBO-DOTA) were used. The approach consists of three
      steps: (1) site-specific incorporation of an azido group-bearing amino acid
      (NEAK) via the genetic code expansion technique at the defined sites of the
      antibody as a "chemical handle"; (2) site-specific and quantitative conjugation
      of bifunctional linkers with the antibodies under a mild condition; and (3)
      radiolabeling of the chelate-modified antibodies with the appropriate isotope. We
      used heavy-chain A122NEAK rituximab as proof-of-concept and obtained a
      homogeneous radioconjugate with precisely two chelates per antibody, incorporated
      only at the chosen sites. The conjugation did not alter the binding and
      pharmacokinetics of the rituximab, as indicated by in vitro assays and in vivo
      PET imaging. We believe our research is a good supplement to the genetic code
      expansion technique for the development of novel radioimmunoconjugates.

PMID- 27617675
TI  - Preparation of 3-Aryl-2-aminoindoles via Rhodium-Catalyzed Coupling Reaction
      between 2-Arylpyridines and 3-Diazoindolin-2-imines.
AB  - Rhodium-catalyzed coupling reaction of 3-diazoindolin-2-imines with 2
      arylpyridines, 2-phenylpyrimidines, or 1-phenylpyrazoles furnished the
      corresponding 3-aryl-2-aminoindoles in moderate to excellent yields. A variety of
      functional groups were tolerant to the reaction conditions.

PMID- 27617679
TI  - Emissions of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in a Textile Manufacturing Plant
      in China and Their Relevance for Workers' Exposure.
AB  - The manufacturing of high-performance fabrics requires numerous chemical
      treatment steps that involve the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
      (PFASs) to protect apparel against water, stain, and oil penetration. However,
      air and wastewater emissions of PFASs generated during this manufacturing are a
      potential threat to both factory workers and the environment. We investigated the
      occurrence and distribution of PFASs in wastewater, air, airborne particles, and
      settled dust in a textile manufacturing plant in China. PFOA and PFDA or their
      precursor compounds 8:2 FTOH and 10:2 FTOH were the dominant compounds in all
      environmental media tested, revealing that long-chain PFASs were preferably used
      for the manufacturing of functional garments. Besides, PFASs were detected along
      the textile manufacturing chain, indicating that they were used as durable water
      repellents and as surfactants in, for example, coating agents. The workers'
      exposure to FTOHs via air inhalation was up to 5 orders of magnitude higher than
      the background exposure of the general western population. To the best of our
      knowledge, this is the first study providing information regarding the emission
      of PFASs during the manufacturing of textiles via various environmental media.

PMID- 27617677
TI  - Exploring Quantitative Yeast Phenomics with Single-Cell Analysis of DNA Damage
      Foci.
AB  - A significant challenge of functional genomics is to develop methods for genome
      scale acquisition and analysis of cell biological data. Here, we present an
      integrated method that combines genome-wide genetic perturbation of Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae with high-content screening to facilitate the genetic description of
      sub-cellular structures and compartment morphology. As proof of principle, we
      used a Rad52-GFP marker to examine DNA damage foci in ~20 million single cells
      from ~5,000 different mutant backgrounds in the context of selected genetic or
      chemical perturbations. Phenotypes were classified using a machine learning-based
      automated image analysis pipeline. 345 mutants were identified that had elevated
      numbers of DNA damage foci, almost half of which were identified only in
      sensitized backgrounds. Subsequent analysis of Vid22, a protein implicated in the
      DNA damage response, revealed that it acts together with the Sgs1 helicase at
      sites of DNA damage and preferentially binds G-quadruplex regions of the genome.
      This approach is extensible to numerous other cell biological markers and
      experimental systems.

PMID- 27617680
TI  - Lidcombe Program Webcam Treatment for Early Stuttering: A Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - Purpose: Webcam treatment is potentially useful for health care in cases of early
      stuttering in which clients are isolated from specialized treatment services for
      geographic and other reasons. The purpose of the present trial was to compare
      outcomes of clinic and webcam deliveries of the Lidcombe Program treatment
      (Packman et al., 2015) for early stuttering. Method: The design was a parallel,
      open plan, noninferiority randomized controlled trial of the standard Lidcombe
      Program treatment and the experimental webcam Lidcombe Program treatment.
      Participants were 49 children aged 3 years 0 months to 5 years 11 months at the
      start of treatment. Primary outcomes were the percentage of syllables stuttered
      at 9 months postrandomization and the number of consultations to complete Stage 1
      of the Lidcombe Program. Results: There was insufficient evidence of a
      posttreatment difference of the percentage of syllables stuttered between the
      standard and webcam Lidcombe Program treatments. There was insufficient evidence
      of a difference between the groups for typical stuttering severity measured by
      parents or the reported clinical relationship with the treating speech-language
      pathologist. Conclusions: This trial confirmed the viability of the webcam
      Lidcombe Program intervention. It appears to be as efficacious and economically
      viable as the standard, clinic Lidcombe Program treatment.

PMID- 27617682
TI  - Direct Introduction of a Dimesitylboryl Group Using Base-Mediated Substitution of
      Aryl Halides with Silyldimesitylborane.
AB  - The first dimesitylboryl substitution of aryl halides with a silylborane bearing
      a dimesitylboryl group in the presence of alkali-metal alkoxides is described.
      The reactions of aryl bromides or iodides with Ph2 MeSi-BMes2 and Na(OtBu)
      afforded the desired aryl dimesitylboranes in good to high yields and with high
      borylation/silylation ratios. Selective reaction of the sterically less-hindered
      C-Br bond of dibromoarenes provided monoborylated products. This reaction was
      used to rapidly construct a D-pi-A aryl dimesityl borane with a non-symmetrical
      biphenyl spacer.

PMID- 27617678
TI  - HIV Vaccine Design to Target Germline Precursors of Glycan-Dependent Broadly
      Neutralizing Antibodies.
AB  - Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) against the N332 supersite of the HIV
      envelope (Env) trimer are the most common bnAbs induced during infection, making
      them promising leads for vaccine design. Wild-type Env glycoproteins lack
      detectable affinity for supersite-bnAb germline precursors and are therefore
      unsuitable immunogens to prime supersite-bnAb responses. We employed mammalian
      cell surface display to design stabilized Env trimers with affinity for germline
      reverted precursors of PGT121-class supersite bnAbs. The trimers maintained
      native-like antigenicity and structure, activated PGT121 inferred-germline B
      cells ex vivo when multimerized on liposomes, and primed PGT121-like responses in
      PGT121 inferred-germline knockin mice. Design intermediates have levels of
      epitope modification between wild-type and germline-targeting trimers; their
      mutation gradient suggests sequential immunization to induce bnAbs, in which the
      germline-targeting prime is followed by progressively less-mutated design
      intermediates and, lastly, with native trimers. The vaccine design strategies
      described could be utilized to target other epitopes on HIV or other pathogens.

PMID- 27617685
TI  - Unplanned, Postoperative Intubation in Pediatric Surgical Patients: Development
      and Validation of a Multivariable Prediction Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, the independent predictors and outcomes of unplanned
      postoperative intubation (UPI) in pediatric patients after noncardiac surgery are
      yet to be characterized. The authors aimed to identify the incidence and
      predictors of this event and evaluated the effect of this event on postoperative
      mortality. METHODS: Data of 87,920 patients from the American College of Surgeons
      National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric database were analyzed
      and assigned to derivation (n = 58,614; 66.7%) or validation (n = 29,306; 33.3%)
      cohorts. The derivation cohort was analyzed for the incidence and independent
      predictors of early UPI. The final multivariable logistic regression model was
      validated using the validation cohort. RESULTS: Early UPI occurred with an
      incidence of 0.2% in both cohorts. Among the 540 patients who experienced a UPI,
      178 (33.0%) were intubated within the first 72 h after surgery. The final
      logistic regression model indicated operation time, severe cardiac risk factors,
      American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification more than or
      equal to 2, tumor involving the central nervous system, developmental
      delay/impaired cognitive function, past or current malignancy, and neonate status
      as independent predictors of early UPI. Having an early UPI was associated with
      an increased risk of unadjusted, all-cause 30-day mortality, demonstrating an
      odds ratio of 11.4 (95% CI, 5.8 to 22.4). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients who
      experienced an early UPI after noncardiac surgery had an increased likelihood of
      unadjusted 30-day mortality by more than 11-fold. Identification of high-risk
      patients can allow for targeted intervention and potential prevention of such
      outcomes.

PMID- 27617688
TI  - Neural Correlates of Wakefulness, Sleep, and General Anesthesia: An Experimental
      Study in Rat.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Significant advances have been made in our understanding of
      subcortical processes related to anesthetic- and sleep-induced unconsciousness,
      but the associated changes in cortical connectivity and cortical neurochemistry
      have yet to be fully clarified. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were
      instrumented for simultaneous measurement of cortical acetylcholine and
      electroencephalographic indices of corticocortical connectivity-coherence and
      symbolic transfer entropy-before, during, and after general anesthesia (propofol,
      n = 11; sevoflurane, n = 13). In another group of rats (n = 7), these
      electroencephalographic indices were analyzed during wakefulness, slow wave sleep
      (SWS), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. RESULTS: Compared to wakefulness,
      anesthetic-induced unconsciousness was characterized by a significant decrease in
      cortical acetylcholine that recovered to preanesthesia levels during recovery
      wakefulness. Corticocortical coherence and frontal-parietal symbolic transfer
      entropy in high gamma band (85 to 155 Hz) were decreased during anesthetic
      induced unconsciousness and returned to preanesthesia levels during recovery
      wakefulness. Sleep-wake states showed a state-dependent change in coherence and
      transfer entropy in high gamma bandwidth, which correlated with behavioral
      arousal: high during wakefulness, low during SWS, and lowest during REM sleep. By
      contrast, frontal-parietal theta connectivity during sleep-wake states was not
      correlated with behavioral arousal but showed an association with well
      established changes in cortical acetylcholine: high during wakefulness and REM
      sleep and low during SWS. CONCLUSIONS: Corticocortical coherence and frontal
      parietal connectivity in high gamma bandwidth correlates with behavioral arousal
      and is not mediated by cholinergic mechanisms, while theta connectivity
      correlates with cortical acetylcholine levels.

PMID- 27617691
TI  - Integration and Information: Anesthetic Unconsciousness Finds a New Bandwidth.

PMID- 27617692
TI  - Another Brick in (Some Kind of) Wall.

PMID- 27617689
TI  - Neural Correlates of Sevoflurane-induced Unconsciousness Identified by
      Simultaneous Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Electroencephalography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The neural correlates of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness have yet
      to be fully elucidated. Sedative and anesthetic states induced by propofol have
      been studied extensively, consistently revealing a decrease of frontoparietal and
      thalamocortical connectivity. There is, however, less understanding of the
      effects of halogenated ethers on functional brain networks. METHODS: The authors
      recorded simultaneous resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and
      electroencephalography in 16 artificially ventilated volunteers during
      sevoflurane anesthesia at burst suppression and 3 and 2 vol% steady-state
      concentrations for 700 s each to assess functional connectivity changes compared
      to wakefulness. Electroencephalographic data were analyzed using symbolic
      transfer entropy (surrogate of information transfer) and permutation entropy
      (surrogate of cortical information processing). Functional magnetic resonance
      imaging data were analyzed by an independent component analysis and a region-of
      interest-based analysis. RESULTS: Electroencephalographic analysis showed a
      significant reduction of anterior-to-posterior symbolic transfer entropy and
      global permutation entropy. At 2 vol% sevoflurane concentrations, frontal and
      thalamic networks identified by independent component analysis showed
      significantly reduced within-network connectivity. Primary sensory networks did
      not show a significant change. At burst suppression, all cortical networks showed
      significantly reduced functional connectivity. Region-of-interest-based thalamic
      connectivity at 2 vol% was significantly reduced to frontoparietal and posterior
      cingulate cortices but not to sensory areas. CONCLUSIONS: Sevoflurane decreased
      frontal and thalamocortical connectivity. The changes in blood oxygenation level
      dependent connectivity were consistent with reduced anterior-to-posterior
      directed connectivity and reduced cortical information processing. These data
      advance the understanding of sevoflurane-induced unconsciousness and contribute
      to a neural basis of electroencephalographic measures that hold promise for
      intraoperative anesthesia monitoring.

PMID- 27617694
TI  - Morning Exercise: Enhancement of Afternoon Sprint-Swimming Performance.
AB  - CONTEXT: An exercise bout completed several hours prior to an event may improve
      competitive performance later that same day. PURPOSE: To examine the influence of
      morning exercise on afternoon sprint-swimming performance. METHODS: Thirteen
      competitive swimmers (7 male, mean age 19 +/- 3 y; 6 female, mean age 17 +/- 3 y)
      completed a morning session of 1200 m of variedintensity swimming (SwimOnly), a
      combination of varied-intensity swimming and a resistance-exercise routine
      (SwimDry), or no morning exercise (NoEx). After a 6-h break, swimmers completed a
      100-m time trial. RESULTS: Time-trial performance was faster in SwimOnly (1.6% +/
      0.6, mean +/- 90% confidence limit, P < .01) and SwimDry (1.7% +/- 0.7%, P <
      .01) than in NoEx. Split times for the 25- to 50-m distance were faster in both
      SwimOnly (1.7% +/- 1.2%, P = .02) and SwimDry (1.5% +/- 0.8%, P = .01) than in
      NoEx. The first 50-m stroke rate was higher in SwimOnly (0.70 +/- 0.21 Hz, mean
      +/- SD, P = .03) and SwimDry (0.69 +/- 0.18 Hz, P = .05) than in NoEx (0.64 +/-
      0.16 Hz). Before the afternoon session, core (0.2 degrees C +/- 0.1 degrees C
      [mean +/- 90% confidence limit], P = .04), body (0.2 degrees C +/- 0.1 degrees C,
      P = .02), and skin temperatures (0.3 degrees C +/- 0.3 degrees C, P = .02) were
      higher in SwimDry than in NoEx. CONCLUSIONS: Completion of a morning swimming
      session alone or together with resistance exercise can substantially enhance
      sprint-swimming performance completed later the same day.

PMID- 27617693
TI  - Exploiting rRNA operon copy number to investigate bacterial reproductive
      strategies.
AB  - The potential for rapid reproduction is a hallmark of microbial life, but
      microbes in nature must also survive and compete when growth is constrained by
      resource availability. Successful reproduction requires different strategies when
      resources are scarce and when they are abundant1,2, but a systematic framework
      for predicting these reproductive strategies in bacteria has not been available.
      Here, we show that the number of ribosomal RNA operons (rrn) in bacterial genomes
      predicts two important components of reproduction-growth rate and growth
      efficiency-which are favoured under contrasting regimes of resource
      availability3,4. We find that the maximum reproductive rate of bacteria doubles
      with a doubling of rrn copy number, and the efficiency of carbon use is inversely
      related to maximal growth rate and rrn copy number. We also identify a feasible
      explanation for these patterns: the rate and yield of protein synthesis mirror
      the overall pattern in maximum growth rate and growth efficiency. Furthermore,
      comparative analysis of genomes from 1,167 bacterial species reveals that rrn
      copy number predicts traits associated with resource availability, including
      chemotaxis and genome streamlining. Genome-wide patterns of orthologous gene
      content covary with rrn copy number, suggesting convergent evolution in response
      to resource availability. Our findings imply that basic cellular processes adapt
      in contrasting ways to long-term differences in resource availability. They also
      establish a basis for predicting changes in bacterial community composition in
      response to resource perturbations using rrn copy number measurements5 or
      inferences6,7.

PMID- 27617695
TI  - Excitation Wavelength Independence: Toward Low-Threshold Amplified Spontaneous
      Emission from Carbon Nanodots.
AB  - Carbon nanodots (CDs) are known to be a superior type of lasing material due to
      their low cost, low toxicity, high photostability, and photobleaching resistance.
      Significant attention has been paid to synthesizing CDs with high fluorescence
      quantum yields (FLQYs) to achieve higher optical gains. In this report, we reveal
      that excitation wavelength-independent (lambdaex-independent) photoluminescence
      (PL) characteristics, rather than high FLQYs, should be given priority to realize
      CD-based light amplification. CDs with excitation wavelength-dependent (lambdaex
      dependent) PL characteristics and FLQYs as high as 99% and 96% were found not to
      exhibit amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), while those with lambdaex
      independent PL characteristics and FLQYs of only 38% and 82% realized ASE with
      low thresholds. The difficulty of achieving ASE using CDs with lambdaex-dependent
      PL characteristics is likely attributable to their high contents of C-O-H or C-O
      C groups. These groups can induce numerous localized electronic states within the
      n-pi* gap, which could decentralize the excited electrons, thus increasing the
      difficulty of population inversion. In addition, the radiative transition rates
      and stimulated emission cross sections of CDs with lambdaex-independent PL
      characteristics were found to be significantly higher than those of CDs with
      lambdaex-dependent PL characteristics. ASE in a planar waveguide structure, which
      is a practical structure for solid-state lasing devices, was also demonstrated
      for the first time using CDs with lambdaex-independent PL characteristics. These
      results provide simple and effective guidelines for synthesizing and selecting
      CDs for low-threshold lasing devices. 

PMID- 27617696
TI  - Spin-resolved photoemssion study of epitaxially grown MoSe2 and WSe2 thin films.
AB  - Few-layer thick MoSe2 and WSe2 possess non-trivial spin textures with sizable
      spin splitting due to the inversion symmetry breaking embedded in the crystal
      structure and strong spin-orbit coupling. We report a spin-resolved photoemission
      study of MoSe2 and WSe2 thin film samples epitaxially grown on a bilayer graphene
      substrate. We only found spin polarization in the single- and trilayer samples
      not in the bilayer sample-mostly along the out-of-plane direction of the sample
      surface. The measured spin polarization is found to be strongly dependent on the
      light polarization as well as the measurement geometry, which reveals intricate
      coupling between the spin and orbital degrees of freedom in this class of
      material.

PMID- 27617697
TI  - The Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition-Like Process in Glioblastoma: An Updated
      Systematic Review and In Silico Investigation.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of brain cancer due to
      its highly invasive nature that impedes the surgical removal of all tumor cells,
      making relapse inevitable. However, the mechanisms used by glioma cells to invade
      the surrounding tissue are still unclear. In this context, epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) has emerged as a key regulator of this invasive
      state and although the real relevance of this program in malignant glioma is
      still controversial, it has been strongly associated with GBM malignancy. EMT is
      a very complex process regulated by several families of transcriptional factors
      through many signaling pathways that form a network that allows cancer cells to
      acquire invasive properties and penetrate the neighboring stroma, resulting in
      the formation of an advantageous microenvironment for cancer progression and
      metastasis. In this systematic review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms of
      EMT including EMT-factors, drug resistance, miRNA, and new therapeutic
      strategies. In addition, we address controversial questions about mesenchymal
      shift in GBMs with a bioinformatics analysis to show that in terms of epithelial
      and mesenchymal phenotype, the majority of GBMs samples analyzed have a profile
      more mesenchymal than epithelial. If induced, this phenotype can be shifted
      toward an even more mesenchymal phenotype in an EMT-like process in glioma cells.
      A better understanding of the molecular regulation of the EMT during tumor
      spreading will help to provide potential therapeutic interventions to target this
      program when treating GBM.

PMID- 27617698
TI  - A Three-Component Reaction for the Synthesis of 1-Azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-3-enes.
AB  - A novel and simple synthesis of 1-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-3-ene derivatives is
      described. The synthesis is carried out via a simple three-component reaction
      between aryl aldehydes, malononitrile, and hydroxylamine hydrochloride in water.
      Eco-friendliness, excellent product yields, short reaction time, inexpensive and
      readily available starting materials, and interesting reaction and products are
      the main advantages of this method.

PMID- 27617699
TI  - Tetrodotoxin-sensitive Ca2+ Currents, but No T-type Currents in Normal,
      Hypertrophied, and Failing Mouse Cardiomyocytes.
AB  - AIMS: To obtain functional evidence that ICa,T is involved in the pathogenesis of
      cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. We unexpectedly identified ICa(TTX) rather
      than ICa,T, therefore, we adjusted our aim to encompass these findings. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: We investigated (1) Cav3.1 (alpha1G) transgenic (Tg) mice compared
      with nontransgenic (tTA-Ntg); (2) Cav3.1-deficient mice (Cav3.1) compared with
      wild type (Wt) after chemically and surgically induced cardiac remodeling; and
      (3) spontaneous hypertensive rats and thoracic aortic constriction (TAC) rats.
      Whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to measure ICa in ventricular myocytes.
      Cav3.1-Tg expressed ICa,T (-18.35 +/- 1.02 pA/pF at -40 mV) without signs of
      compromised cardiac function. While we failed to detect ICa,T after hypertrophic
      stimuli, instead we demonstrated that both Wt and Cav3.1 mouse exhibit ICa(TTX).
      Using TAC rats, only 2 of 24 VMs showed ICa,T under our experimental conditions.
      Without TTX, ICa(TTX) occurred in VMs from Wt, spontaneous hypertensive rats, and
      TAC rats also. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate for the first time that
      mouse VMs express ICa(TTX). We suggest that future studies should take into
      consideration the measuring conditions when interpreting ICa,T reappearance in
      ventricular myocytes in response to hypertrophic stress. Contamination with
      ICa(TTX) could possibly confuse the relevance of the data.

PMID- 27617700
TI  - Relational Skills and Client Language Predict Outcome in Smoking Cessation
      Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We currently lack insight into the predictive processes of
      Motivational Interviewing (MI) in smoking cessation treatment. More knowledge is
      necessary to be able to further enhance the treatment effect in smoking cessation
      interventions. OBJECTIVES: To examine certain hypothesized active components of
      MI in smoking cessation treatment delivered in an ordinary clinical setting.
      METHODS: Audio-recordings of 106 smoking cessation treatment sessions were
      analyzed using the Motivational Interviewing Sequential Code for Observing
      Process Exchanges (MI-SCOPE) Coder's Manual and the Motivational Interviewing
      Treatment Integrity code (MITI) Manual, version 3.1. The outcome measure was self
      reported 6-month continuous abstinence at 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: Client
      Activation utterances in favor of change were positively associated with smoking
      cessation at follow-up. The combined category of client language expressing a
      Desire or a Need to continue to smoke was negatively predictive of smoking
      cessation. In addition, we found preliminary support for a negative interaction
      effect between counselors' demonstration of the spirit of MI and clients
      Activation utterances in favor of change. Conclusions/Importance: Our data
      suggest that if smoking cessation counselors cultivate client Activation
      utterances in favor of abstinence and softening client utterances expressing
      desire or perceived need to smoke, this could contribute to higher rates of
      treatment success. In addition, counselors' demonstration of the spirit of MI was
      a statistically significant predictor of outcome when the negative interaction
      effect between Activation utterances in favor of change and MI spirit was taken
      into account. These findings should be evaluated in larger studies in the future.

PMID- 27617702
TI  - Homogeneity of Surface Sites in Supported Single-Site Metal Catalysts: Assessment
      with Band Widths of Metal Carbonyl Infrared Spectra.
AB  - Determining and controlling the uniformity of isolated metal sites on surfaces of
      supports are central goals in investigations of single-site catalysts because
      well-defined species provide opportunities for fundamental understanding of the
      surface sites. CO is a useful probe of surface metal sites, often reacting with
      them to form metal carbonyls, the infrared spectra of which provide insights into
      the nature of the sites and the metal-support interface. Metals bonded to various
      support surface sites give broad bands in the spectra, and when narrow bands are
      observed, they indicate a high degree of uniformity of the metal sites. Much
      recent work on single-site catalysts has been done with supports that are
      inherently nonuniform, giving supported metal species that are therefore
      nonuniform. Herein we summarize values of nuCO data characterizing supported
      iridium gem-dicarbonyls, showing that the most nearly uniform of them are those
      supported on zeolites and the least uniform are those supported on metal oxides.
      Guided by nuCO data of supported iridium gem-dicarbonyls, we have determined new,
      general synthesis methods to maximize the degree of uniformity of iridium species
      on zeolites and on MgO. We report results for a zeolite HY-supported iridium gem
      dicarbonyl with full width at half-maximum values of only 4.6 and 5.2 cm-1
      characterizing the symmetric and asymmetric CO stretches and implying that this
      is the most nearly uniform supported single-site metal catalyst.

PMID- 27617703
TI  - H2 Formation on Cosmic Grain Siliceous Surfaces Grafted with Fe+ : A
      Silsesquioxanes-Based Computational Model.
AB  - Cosmic siliceous dust grains are involved in the synthesis of H2 in the inter
      stellar medium. In this work, the dust grain siliceous surface is represented by
      a hydrogen Fe-metalla-silsesquioxane model of general formula: [Fe(H7 Si7 O12-n
      )(OH)n ]+ (n=0,1,2) where Fe+ behaves like a single-site heterogeneous catalyst
      grafted on a siliceous surface synthesizing H2 from H. A computational analysis
      is performed using two levels of theory (B3LYP-D3BJ and MP2-F12) to quantify the
      thermodynamic driving force of the reaction: [Fe-T7H7 ]+ +4H->[Fe-T7H7 (OH)2 ]+
      +H2 . The general outcomes are: 1) H2 synthesis is thermodynamically strongly
      favored; 2) Fe-H / Fe-H2 barrier-less formation potential; 3) chemisorbed H-Fe
      leads to facile H2 synthesis at 20<=T<=100 K; 4) relative spin energetics and
      thermodynamic quantities between the B3LYP-D3BJ and MP2-F12 levels of theory are
      in qualitative agreement. The metalla-silsesquioxane model shows how Fe+ fixed on
      a siliceous surface can potentially catalyze H2 formation in space.

PMID- 27617705
TI  - Predicting Portuguese Psychology Students' Attitudes Toward the Psychological
      Development of Children Adopted by Lesbians and Gay Men.
AB  - The present study seeks to ascertain the attitudes of Portuguese psychology
      students (future psychologists) toward the development of children adopted by
      lesbian and gay parents. Each participant (N = 182) read a vignette describing an
      adoption of a child by lesbian and gay persons. After reading the vignette,
      participants rated four different aspects of the future development of the
      adopted child (psychosocial adjustment, victimization, psychological disturbance,
      and normative sexuality). Furthermore, participants were asked about their
      gender, interpersonal contact with lesbians and gay men, gender role attitudes,
      and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Future psychologists' attitudes toward
      the developmental outcomes of children adopted by lesbians and gay men were
      associated with negative attitudes toward non-heterosexuals, which in turn
      correlated to interpersonal contact with lesbians and gay men and adherence to
      gender conservative values. These results clearly highlight the central role of
      social attitudes and the need for cultural competence training of future
      psychologists that encourages interpersonal contact with non-heterosexuals and
      discourages traditional gender roles and negative attitudes toward lesbian and
      gay men.

PMID- 27617704
TI  - Discovery and Optimization of a Selective Ligand for the Switch/Sucrose
      Nonfermenting-Related Bromodomains of Polybromo Protein-1 by the Use of Virtual
      Screening and Hydration Analysis.
AB  - Bromodomains (BRDs) are epigenetic interaction domains currently recognized as
      emerging drug targets for development of anticancer or anti-inflammatory agents.
      In this study, development of a selective ligand of the fifth BRD of polybromo
      protein-1 (PB1(5)) related to switch/sucrose nonfermenting (SWI/SNF) chromatin
      remodeling complexes is presented. A compound collection was evaluated by
      consensus virtual screening and a hit was identified. The biophysical study of
      protein-ligand interactions was performed using X-ray crystallography and
      isothermal titration calorimetry. Collective data supported the hypothesis that
      affinity improvement could be achieved by enhancing interactions of the complex
      with the solvent. The derived SAR along with free energy calculations and a
      consensus hydration analysis using WaterMap and SZmap algorithms guided rational
      design of a set of novel analogues. The most potent analogue demonstrated high
      affinity of 3.3 MUM and an excellent selectivity profile, thus comprising a
      promising lead for the development of chemical probes targeting PB1(5).

PMID- 27617706
TI  - A critical assessment of the fibula flap donor site.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The free fibula flap has become popular for mandibular
      reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to propose comprehensive functional
      assessments of the donor site. METHODS: Thirty free fibula flaps for mandible
      reconstruction were prospectively enrolled in the study. Objective assessments
      included isokinetic testing of the ankle joint, electromyographic examination of
      the superficial peroneal nerve (SPN), and preoperative and postoperative foot
      scans. The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) was used to
      subjectively assess the donor site. RESULTS: The isokinetic values of the donor
      side showed a significant decrease 1 year postoperatively. The results of the
      electromyographic test of the SPN were categorized as 3 types. The plantar center
      pressure shifted to the heel on the donor side 6 months postoperatively. The
      aesthetic outcome was satisfactory. CONCLUSION: The functional parameters of the
      donor site indeed declined in our assessments. Further refinements in the
      surgical technique are needed to improve the donor site status. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 279-287, 2017.

PMID- 27617707
TI  - Funding is related to the quality, conduct, and reporting of trial reports in
      musculoskeletal physical therapy: A survey of 210 published trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between trial funding and methodological quality,
      the conduct and reporting of trials has been investigated in several medical
      disciplines, but remains unclear in musculoskeletal physical therapy trials. The
      aim of this study was to determine the association between funding and research
      team composition, sample size, quality, and journal impact factor of randomized
      controlled trial reports in musculoskeletal physical therapy. METHODS: A survey
      of 210 trial reports in musculoskeletal physical therapy, which were randomly
      selected from those published in 2011-2013 and indexed on the Physiotherapy
      Evidence Database (PEDro), is performed. Total PEDro score and citation details
      of the trial reports were downloaded from PEDro. Pairs of assessors independently
      extracted information about funding, sample size, and composition of the research
      team. Journal impact factor was downloaded by one reviewer. RESULTS: Trial
      funding was associated with having multiple departments in the research team
      (odds ratio: 1.89, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-3.49), larger sample size
      (median: n = 72 versus n = 50), higher quality (mean PEDro score: 6.06 versus
      5.11), and publication in journals with higher impact factors (median: 2.12
      versus 1.78). CONCLUSION: Trial funding was positively associated with having
      multiple departments represented in the research team, larger sample size, higher
      quality, and publication in higher impact factor journals.

PMID- 27617708
TI  - Complexity vs. Simplicity: The Winner Is?

PMID- 27617709
TI  - Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of
      Internal Industry Documents.
AB  - Early warning signals of the coronary heart disease (CHD) risk of sugar (sucrose)
      emerged in the 1950s. We examined Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) internal
      documents, historical reports, and statements relevant to early debates about the
      dietary causes of CHD and assembled findings chronologically into a narrative
      case study. The SRF sponsored its first CHD research project in 1965, a
      literature review published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which singled
      out fat and cholesterol as the dietary causes of CHD and downplayed evidence that
      sucrose consumption was also a risk factor. The SRF set the review's objective,
      contributed articles for inclusion, and received drafts. The SRF's funding and
      role was not disclosed. Together with other recent analyses of sugar industry
      documents, our findings suggest the industry sponsored a research program in the
      1960s and 1970s that successfully cast doubt about the hazards of sucrose while
      promoting fat as the dietary culprit in CHD. Policymaking committees should
      consider giving less weight to food industry-funded studies and include
      mechanistic and animal studies as well as studies appraising the effect of added
      sugars on multiple CHD biomarkers and disease development.

PMID- 27617710
TI  - A Poroelastic Fluid/Structure-Interaction Model of Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics
      in the Cord With Syringomyelia and Adjacent Subarachnoid-Space Stenosis.
AB  - An existing axisymmetric fluid/structure-interaction (FSI) model of the spinal
      cord, pia mater, subarachnoid space, and dura mater in the presence of
      syringomyelia and subarachnoid-space stenosis was modified to include porous
      solids. This allowed investigation of a hypothesis for syrinx fluid ingress from
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Gross model deformation was unchanged by the addition
      of porosity, but pressure oscillated more in the syrinx and the subarachnoid
      space below the stenosis. The poroelastic model still exhibited elevated mean
      pressure in the subarachnoid space below the stenosis and in the syrinx. With
      realistic cord permeability, there was slight oscillatory shunt flow bypassing
      the stenosis via the porous tissue over the syrinx. Weak steady streaming flow
      occurred in a circuit involving craniocaudal flow through the stenosis and back
      via the syrinx. Mean syrinx volume was scarcely altered when the adjacent
      stenosis bisected the syrinx, but increased slightly when the syrinx was
      predominantly located caudal to the stenosis. The fluid content of the tissues
      over the syrinx oscillated, absorbing most of the radial flow seeping from the
      subarachnoid space so that it did not reach the syrinx. To a lesser extent, this
      cyclic swelling in a boundary layer of cord tissue just below the pia occurred
      all along the cord, representing a mechanism for exchange of interstitial fluid
      (ISF) and cerebrospinal fluid which could explain recent tracer findings without
      invoking perivascular conduits. The model demonstrates that syrinx volume
      increase is possible when there is subarachnoid-space stenosis and the cord and
      pia are permeable.

PMID- 27617711
TI  - Delay discounting in mild cognitive impairment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may make suboptimal
      decisions particularly in complex situations, and this could be due to temporal
      discounting, the tendency to prefer immediate rewards over delayed but larger
      rewards. The present study proposes to evaluate intertemporal preferences in MCI
      patients as compared to healthy controls. METHOD: Fifty-five patients with MCI
      and 57 healthy controls underwent neuropsychological evaluation and a delay
      discounting questionnaire, which evaluates three parameters: hyperbolic
      discounting (k), the percentage of choices for delayed and later rewards (%LL),
      and response consistency (Acc). RESULTS: No significant differences were found in
      the delay discounting questionnaire between MCI patients and controls for the
      three reward sizes considered, small, medium, and large, using both k and %LL
      parameters. There were also no differences in the response consistency, Acc,
      between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MCI perform similarly to
      healthy controls in a delay discounting task. Memory deficits do not notably
      affect intertemporal preferences.

PMID- 27617712
TI  - Glutamate Gated Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Activity of a [NiFe]
      Hydrogenase.
AB  - [NiFe] hydrogenases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the reversible oxidation of
      H2. While electron transfer to and from the active site is understood to occur
      through iron-sulfur clusters, the mechanism of proton transfer is still debated.
      Two mechanisms for proton exchange with the active site have been proposed that
      involve distinct and conserved ionizable amino acid residues, one a glutamate,
      and the other an arginine. To examine the potential role of the conserved
      glutamate on active site acid-base chemistry, we mutated the putative proton
      donor E17 to Q in the soluble hydrogenase I from Pyrococcus furiosus using site
      directed mutagenesis. FTIR spectroscopy, sensitive to the CO and CN ligands of
      the active site, reveals catalytically active species generated upon reduction
      with H2, including absorption features consistent with the Nia-C intermediate.
      Time-resolved IR spectroscopy, which probes active site dynamics after hydride
      photolysis from Nia-C, indicates the E17Q mutation does not interfere with the
      hydride photolysis process generating known intermediates Nia-I1 and Nia-I2.
      Strikingly, the E17Q mutation disrupts obligatory proton-coupled electron
      transfer from the Nia-I1 state, thereby preventing formation of Nia-S. These
      results directly establish E17 as a proton donor/acceptor in the Nia-S <-> Nia-C
      equilibrium.

PMID- 27617715
TI  - Impact of psoriasis flare and remission on quality of life and work productivity:
      a real-world study in the USA.
AB  - Although psoriasis patients often report a negative impact on health-related
      quality of life (HRQoL) and work productivity, less is known about how disease
      burden varies between periods of flare and remission. The aim of this study was
      tocompare HRQoL and work productivity by disease activity level. Data were
      extracted from Adelphi 2011/2013 Disease Specific Programmes, two real world
      surveys of US dermatologists and psoriasis patients. HRQoL was measured using the
      EuroQOL 5-Dimension Health Questionnaire (EQ-5D) and Dermatology Life Quality
      Index (DLQI). Work productivity was measured using the Work Productivity Activity
      index (WPAI). Three levels of disease activity were constructed based on
      physician reports: remission, active not flaring, active, and flaring.
      Multivariable regression analyses explored the relationship between disease
      activity, HRQoL and work productivity, controlling for differences in
      demographics and comorbidities. Out of 681 psoriasis patients 24% were in
      remission, 62% had active disease without flaring, and 15% experienced active
      disease and were currently flaring. Greater disease activity was associated with
      worse HRQoL. EQ-5D scores decreased with more active disease (remission vs.
      active not flaring vs. active and flaring: 0.93 vs. 0.90 vs. 0.82; p<0.05), while
      DLQI scores increased (remission vs. active not flaring vs. active and flaring:
      2.0 vs. 5.00 vs. 8.7; p<0.05). WPAI scores increased with disease activity
      indicating increased productivity loss (remission vs. active not flaring vs.
      active and flaring: 5.9 vs. 14.8 vs. 26.9; p<0.05). The same trends were
      confirmed by multivariable regression analyses. 

PMID- 27617714
TI  - Satisfaction with current psoriasis treatment: misalignment between physician and
      patient perceptions.
AB  - Psoriasis patients often report dissatisfaction with treatment. However, the
      extent to which patients and their treating dermatologists are aligned regarding
      satisfaction with psoriasis therapy is largely unknown. This was explored using
      data derived from the Adelphi 2011/2013 Psoriasis Disease Specific Programmes,
      two real world surveys of US dermatologists and their patients. Physicians and
      patients independently reported their satisfaction with psoriasis control
      (satisfied, dissatisfied). Two levels of satisfaction alignment between physician
      and patient responses were constructed: aligned (same responses) and misaligned
      (different responses). In addition, dermatologists provided patient treatment
      history and disease/symptom severity whereas patients reported data on health
      related quality of life (HRQoL), using the EuroQOL 5-Dimension Health
      Questionnaire (EQ-5D) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and work
      productivity using the Work Productivity Activity index (WPAI). Multivariate
      regressions were employed to examine the relationship between satisfaction
      alignment, overall disease and symptom severity, HRQoL, and work productivity
      controlling for differences in patient demographics and comorbidities.From 627
      paired dermatologist and psoriasis patient records, 512 (81.7%) and 115 (18.3%)
      cases fell into the 'aligned' and 'misaligned' groups, respectively. Compared
      with patients in the aligned group, those in the misaligned group had more
      moderate to severe psoriasis (82.3% vs. 43.7%), moderate to severe itching (45.6%
      vs. 27.8%), pain (23.0% vs. 10.6%), and scaling (54.8% vs. 36.1%), and had lower
      current biologics use (27.0% vs. 42%) (all p<0.05). The misaligned group was
      associated with reduced HRQoL (lower EQ-5D score: 0.86 vs. 0.91; higher DLQI
      score: 7.06 vs. 4.23) and greater work productivity loss (higher WPAI scores:
      18.27 vs. 11.43) (all p<0.05). Multivariate analyses confirmed these results
      (p<0.05). Almost 1 in 5 patients were misaligned with their dermatologist's level
      of satisfaction with their psoriasis treatment; misalignment was associated with
      increased disease and symptom severity, reduced HRQoL, and reduced work
      productivity. 

PMID- 27617716
TI  - Most people with psoriasis or rosacea are not being treated: a large population
      study.
AB  - When left untreated, psoriasis and rosacea can have long-term health and
      psychosocial implications. The purpose of this study was to estimate the
      percentage of Americans with psoriasis or rosacea who are not being treated.
      Patient data from a large claims-based database were analyzed to identify the
      number of patients who are treated for psoriasis or rosacea. The numbers of
      patients treated were compared to the estimated prevalences of these diseases in
      the general population, identified from previously published sources. Of the
      18,632,362 patients in the database, 140,439 (0.75%) were seen for psoriasis and
      165,130 (0.89%) were seen for rosacea. Based on published sources, 3.2% of
      Americans have psoriasis and about 5.0% have rosacea. We therefore estimated that
      77% of people with psoriasis and 82% of people with rosacea are untreated.
      Greater awareness, resources, and community outreach projects are potential tools
      that could eliminate this disparity and increase the quality of life for patients
      with these diseases. 

PMID- 27617717
TI  - Trends in mortality from skin diseases in the United States: skin infectious
      diseases are claiming more lives.
AB  - BackgroundAlthough there has been some excellent work published on the mortality
      from non-neoplastic skin disease In the United States, further analysis of trends
      is limited.MethodsData from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
      for mortality abstracted from Death Certificates was obtained from the WONDER
      (wide-ranging online data for epidemiologic research) system from 1999 to 2014.
      Categorical variables were analyzed with Excel 2013 data analysis software using
      Chi-squared tests whereas regression was performed for trends.ResultsCrude death
      rates were highest in the South, especially in Mississippi and Louisiana. This
      work also confirmed that Blacks or African Americans had higher risk of death
      from skin disease, whereas Hispanic or Latinos had lower risk. Overall mortality
      from non-neoplastic diseases is increasing over time and significant increases in
      mortality from infectious and papulosquamous diseases were observed, whereas
      there appears to be decreasing mortality from dermatitis and miscellaneous skin
      disorders (ICD-10-CM L80-90).ConclusionsMortality is increasing from non
      neoplastic diseases, especially infectious and papulosquamous diseases.
      Demographic factors such age race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity also confer
      differential risk. 

PMID- 27617718
TI  - Dermatology Residents are Prescribing Tanning Bed Treatment.
AB  - Although 90% of dermatologists discourage the use of tanning beds, about half of
      psoriasis patients report using tanning beds and most of these note improvement.
      The purpose of this investigation was to determine if dermatology residents are
      advocating the tanning bed use to their patients. 

PMID- 27617719
TI  - Dermatology Interest Groups in Medical Schools.
AB  - Involvement in a Dermatology Interest Group (DIG) allows students to learn about
      dermatology, partake in service projects, get involved in research, and ask
      questions about the application process for residency programs. In this article,
      we review the activities and member involvement of DIGs from 11 medical schools.
      To our knowledge, this is the first descriptive analysis of DIGs across the
      United States. This comparison of DIGs is not only potentially helpful for
      medical schools interested in establishing a DIG, but it also offers insight into
      how previously established DIGs could improve and have a greater impact both in
      individual medical schools and in the community at-large. 

PMID- 27617720
TI  - 360-degree Evaluations on Physician Performance as an Effective Tool for
      Interprofessional Teams: A critical analysis of physician self-assessment as
      compared to nursing staff and patient evaluations of providers.
AB  - ImportanceThe dynamics of the medical care team, including interactions between
      physicians and nursing staff, has a large role to play in patient care, patient
      satisfaction, and future possible reimbursement determination. In order to
      implement changes to improve this dynamic within the medical team, it is
      imperative that appropriate assessments are completed to determine baseline
      satisfaction of our patients and nursing staff in addition to provider self
      assessment.ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate patient and nursing staff
      satisfaction with regards to provider quality of care in an outpatient academic
      dermatology clinic setting. We also sought out to determine provider insight in
      regards to satisfaction of patient and nursing staff.MethodsOur nursing staff,
      patients, and providers completed a questionnaire. We then compared nursing
      satisfaction data and patient satisfaction data with provider self-assessment to
      determine provider self-awareness.ResultsA total of 23 provider and nurse surveys
      and 562 patient satisfaction surveys were completed. Paired comparison and
      descriptive statistics were utilized to compare patient satisfaction, nursing
      satisfaction, and provider self-assessments.ConclusionsOverall, the results of
      the surveys demonstrated that the nursing staff and patients had high
      satisfaction in their interactions with the dermatology physicians. The
      physicians had appropriate insight into how they were perceived by the nursing
      staff and patients. Attending physicians as compared to resident physicians and
      male physicians as compared to female physicians tended to underrate themselves. 

PMID- 27617721
TI  - Segmental neurofibromatosis and cancer: report of triple malignancy in a woman
      with mosaic Neurofibromatosis 1 and review of neoplasms in segmental
      neurofibromatosis.
AB  - BackgroundSegmental neurofibromatosis, referred to as mosaic neurofibromatosis 1,
      patients present with neurofibromas or cafe au lait macules or both in a
      unilateral segment of the body.PurposeA woman with segmental neurofibromatosis
      and triple cancer (renal cell carcinoma, mixed thyroid carcinoma, and lentigo
      maligna) is described and cancers observed in patients with segmental
      neurofibromatosis are reviewed.MethodsPubMed was used to search the following
      terms, separately and in combination: cancer, malignancy, mosaic, neoplasm,
      neurofibroma, neurofibromatosis, segment, segmental, tumor.ResultsMalignancy (13
      cancers) has been observed in 11 segmental neurofibromatosis patients; one
      patient had three different cancers. The most common neoplasms were of neural
      crest origin {malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (3 patients) and melanoma
      (3 patients)] and gastrointestinal tract origin [colon (1 patient) and gastric (1
      patient)]. Breast cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer, kidney cancer, and
      thyroid cancer each occurred in one patient.ConclusionsSimilar to patients with
      von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis 1, individuals with segmental
      neurofibromatosis also have a genodermatosis-associated increased risk of
      developing cancer. 

PMID- 27617722
TI  - Cosmetic tattoo pigment reaction.
AB  - BackgroundCutaneous reactions to tattoos are most commonly granulomatous or
      lichenoid.PurposeWe describe a woman who developed a lymphocytic reaction
      following a cosmetic tattoo procedure with black dye. The reaction occurred not
      only at the site of the tattoos (eyebrows and eyelash lines), but also in non
      tattooed skin (bilateral malar cheeks).Methods and MaterialsWe reviewed PubMed
      for the following terms: cosmetic, dye, granuloma, granulomatous, lichenoid,
      lymphocytic, perivascular, pigment, pseudolymphoma, reaction, and tattoo. We also
      reviewed papers containing these terms and their
      references.ResultsHistopathologic examination of the left eyebrow and left cheek
      punch biopsies showed predominantly a perivascular lymphocytic reaction secondary
      to exogenous tattoo pigment.ConclusionsPerivascular lymphocytic reaction is an
      uncommonly described complication of tattooing. Our patient had an atypical
      presentation since she had no prior tattoos, became symptomatic only a few days
      after the procedure, reacted to black dye, and involved skin both within and
      outside the confines of the tattoos. Her symptoms and lesions resolved after
      treatment with systemic and topical corticosteroids and oral antihistamines. 

PMID- 27617723
TI  - Widespread cutaneous metastasis from ovarian serous adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Cutaneous metastasis can be rarely first manifestation of internal cancers; these
      usually develop with advanced stage malignancies. Cutaneous metastasis of ovarian
      cancer is rare and the majority of are seen around the pelvic region compatible
      with the localization of the primary ovarian tumor. Herein, we report a patient
      with ovarian cancer with widespread and distant cutaneous metastases showing
      multiple nodules and ulcers. 

PMID- 27617724
TI  - Successful treatment of eosinophilic cellulitis with dapsone.
AB  - A 55-year-old woman presented with a 3-year history of recurrent episodes of
      pruritic cellulitis-like erythematous plaques, mostly located on the limbs.
      Simultaneously, fever, malaise and peripheral eosinophilia were noted. The
      clinical diagnosis of eosinophilic cellulitis (also known as Well's syndrome) was
      supported by the histopathological finding of typical "flame figures". Treatment
      with dapsone was initiated at a dose of 50 mg per day. After one year of follow
      up the patient was relapse-free. Eosinophilic cellulitis is an uncommon,
      recurrent inflammatory skin disease. The management is often a challenge, due to
      the frequent need for long-term therapy. Dapsone is an effective and safe
      treatment option. 

PMID- 27617725
TI  - Kaposi Sarcoma of the eyelid as an initial manifestation of AIDS.
AB  - Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a multifocal systemic disease that originates in the
      vascular endothelium related to Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8). In the early 1980s
      the first series of cases of disseminated Kaposi Sarcoma in HIV infected patients
      were reported. However, with the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy
      (HAART) since 1997, these cases are less frequently observed by clinicians. We
      report the case of a 40-year-old woman, presenting with two asymptomatic purpuric
      nodules localized in the superior and inferior left eyelids, occluding the
      palpebral fissure, which were present for 4 months prior to presentation. The
      eyelid nodules were determined to represent KS, but there were no additional
      cutaneous lesions. Pulmonary and gastric KS involvement was documented.
      Antiretroviral therapy was initiated along with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin.
      The nodules gradually disappeared and her immune status eventually improved.
      Ocular and periorbital involvement of KS associated with HIV-1 infection as the
      initial clinical manifestations is a rare advent. This case is important as it
      illustrates that disseminated KS was not to be predicted by the number or the
      extension of cutaneous lesions. 

PMID- 27617726
TI  - Generalized Bullous Fixed Drug Eruption due to Bromhexine.
AB  - We describe a patient with a generalized bullous form of Fixed Drug Eruption
      (FDE) induced by bromhexine, a commonly used drug for respiratory symptoms. This
      is a rare association and generalized bullous FDE is also very rare. We emphasize
      the importance of patch tests in identifying the culprit drug. 

PMID- 27617727
TI  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis with nail changes and multisystem disease: a case
      report.
AB  - Nail involvement in Langerhans cell histiocytosis is uncommon and is said to
      indicate a poor prognosis. We describe a 2-year-old boy with onycholysis,
      subungual hyperkeratosis, and hemorrhages on his fingernails. He also had
      hepatosplenomegaly and pulmonary involvement. The diagnosis of Langerhans cell
      histiocytosis was made by histopathologic examination of skin and liver.The role
      of nail involvement as an unfavorable prognostic sign is still unclear and this
      paper concludes that nail involvement in Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a
      possible sign of multisystemic involvement. 

PMID- 27617728
TI  - Unilateral indurated plaque in the axilla: a case of metastatic breast carcinoma.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women and is
      also the most common internal malignancy to metastasize to the skin. Rarely,
      cutaneous metastases represent the first indication of breast carcinoma, putting
      dermatologists in an instrumental position to make the diagnosis of breast
      carcinoma. We report the case of a 71-year-old woman with a 10-year history of a
      slowly-enlarging, indurated plaque in the right axilla. Review of symptoms was
      significant only for occasional numbness and tingling that extended from the
      right axilla to the right hand. Biopsy revealed cells infiltrating in a single
      file between the collagen bundles in the dermis and subcutis and
      immunohistochemical staining consistent with a diagnosis of invasive lobular
      carcinoma. Subsequent work up revealed a primary breast lesion and extensive bony
      metastases. 

PMID- 27617729
TI  - Congenital cartilaginous rest of the neck in a boy.
AB  - Congenital cartilaginous rest of the neck is a rarely encountered entity that
      requires surgical excision. In this case report, we describe a 12-year-old boy
      with asymptomatic congenital cartilaginous rest of the neck. We also discuss the
      associated congenital malformations that dermatologists must be aware of when
      caring for patients with this disease. 

PMID- 27617730
TI  - Granuloma faciale treatment with tacrolimus.
AB  - We present a 40-year-old woman with a one-year history of a solitary and
      asymptomatic facial lesion. On physical examination a slightly infiltrated,
      smooth red to brown nodule was seen at the left malar region. A biopsy
      established the diagnosis of granuloma faciale. After two-months therapy with
      topical tacrolimus 0,1%, nodule was resolved. 

PMID- 27617731
TI  - Exposure to teledermatology and resident preparedness for future practice:
      results of a national survey.
AB  - Teledermatology (TD) is an emerging modality for providing remote dermatologic
      care with high diagnostic and management 25 concordance compared to face-to-face
      clinic dermatology. TD training among dermatology residency programs in the
      United 26 States has not been characterized. We disseminated a survey to all
      dermatology residents at ACGME accredited programs in the 27 United States to
      explore the prevalence and distribution of TD training and trainee perceptions of
      TD. One hundred out of a 28 potential 1170 responses (RR 8.5%) were collected
      from residents in every geographic location from all years in training: 67/100 29
      of residents reported that TD was practiced at their institutions, although at
      these sites only 21/100 residents participated in 30 clinical sessions. Residents
      with TD exposure were more likely to feel comfortable managing a TD consult after
      residency 31 (p<0.001), but were not more likely to incorporate teledermatology
      into their future plans. Results of this study provide insight 32 into the impact
      of TD exposure on resident perceptions of TD and demonstrate the need for
      expanding TD training across all 33 dermatology residency programs. 

PMID- 27617732
TI  - A Quick Review of the Cutaneous Findings of the Zika Virus.
AB  - The current outbreak of Zika virus is a growing public health concern, especially
      for pregnant women. Zika virus infection may manifest as a maculopapular skin
      eruption that progresses rostrocaudally, with or without hemorrhagic
      manifestations such as petechiae and gingival bleeding. Recognizing the cutaneous
      findings associated with Zika virus may aid in early diagnosis, particularly in
      individuals at increased risk for the disease. 

PMID- 27617733
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis from cetearyl alcohol in Thrombocid(r) ointment.
AB  - Thrombocid(r) ointment (Lacer, Barcelona, Spain) is widely used in Spain and
      other countries for varicose veins and 22 hematomas. To our knowledge, there are
      no reported cases of allergic contact dermatitis following its use. Herein we
      present 23 two cases of allergic contact dermatitis to Thrombocid(r) ointment,
      owing to cetearyl alcohol. 

PMID- 27617734
TI  - Agminated melanocytic nevus status post dabrafenib therapy for metastatic
      melanoma.
AB  - Agminated melanocytic nevus is an uncommon type of mole, characterized by a local
      group of macular or papular pigmented lesions, well demarcated, without a common
      pigmented background. This pattern has also been associated with Spitz nevi,
      dysplastic melanocytic nevi, and non-melanocytic lesions.We describe the onset of
      an acquired agminated melanocytic nevus after dabrafenib treatment. Our case
      highlights paradoxical MAPK activation in the setting of single-agent BRAF
      blockade and underscores the importance of characterizing the diverse side
      effects of selective BRAF inhibitors. This is the first case, to our knowledge,
      of agminated melanocytic nevus in association with dabrafenib. 

PMID- 27617735
TI  - Medullary Norepinephrine Projections Release Norepinephrine into the
      Contralateral Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis.
AB  - Central norepinephrine signaling influences a wide range of behavioral and
      physiological processes, and the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
      (vBNST) receives some of the densest norepinephrine innervation in the brain.
      Previous work describes norepinephrine neurons as projecting primarily
      unilaterally; however, recent evidence for cross-hemispheric catecholamine
      signaling challenges this idea. Here, we use fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and
      retrograde tracing to characterize cross-hemispheric norepinephrine signaling in
      the vBNST. We delivered stimulations to noradrenergic pathways originating in the
      A1/A2 and locus coeruleus and found hemispherically equivalent norepinephrine
      release in the vBNST regardless of stimulated hemisphere. Unilateral retrograde
      tracing revealed that medullary, but not locus coeruleus norepinephrine neurons
      send cross-hemispheric projections to the vBNST. Further characterization with
      pharmacological lesions revealed that stimulations of the locus coeruleus and its
      axon bundles likely elicit vBNST norepinephrine release through indirect
      activation. These experiments are the first to demonstrate contralateral
      norepinephrine release and establish that medullary, but not coerulean neurons
      are responsible for norepinephrine release in the vBNST.

PMID- 27617739
TI  - Beyond adoption status: Post-adoptive parental involvement and children's reading
      and math performance from kindergarten to first grade.
AB  - In this study, we went beyond adoption status to examine the associations between
      postadoption parental involvement and children's reading and math performance
      from kindergarten to first grade. Secondary data on a sample of adopted children
      and nonadopted children were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
      Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K). Weighted data on the children's
      reading performance were available for 13,900 children (181 were adopted);
      weighted data on the children's math performance were available for 14,128
      children (184 were adopted). Descriptive data showed no group difference in
      reading scores at all 3 Waves but adopted children scored lower than nonadopted
      children in math at Wave 2 (Spring of kindergarten) and Wave 3 (Spring of first
      grade). However, controlling for 6 covariates, latent growth modeling showed that
      adoption status was unrelated to Wave 1 reading and math scores or subsequent
      growth rate. Rather, parents' beliefs on skills needed to succeed in kindergarten
      were a significant predictor of reading and math performance at Wave 1 and
      subsequent growth rates, and parents' educational expectation was a significant
      predictor of growth rate in reading and math. Our findings highlight the
      importance of parental involvement in adopted children's learning. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27617740
TI  - Guilt as a mediator between depressive symptoms and subjective age: A 17-year
      longitudinal study of Israeli ex-prisoners of war.
AB  - This longitudinal study assesses the trajectories of depressive symptoms and
      subjective age and the mediating role of guilt in the association between them.
      Two groups of aging Israeli combat veterans (M age = 57), 128 ex-prisoners of war
      (ex-POWs), and 106 comparable combat veterans (controls), were assessed at 3
      times: 18 (Time 1 [T1]), 30 (Time 2 [T2]), and 35 (Time 3 [T3]) years after the
      war. They filled out self-report questionnaires on depression, guilt, and
      subjective age. Results revealed that significantly more ex-POWs had chronic or
      delayed clinical levels of depressive symptoms than did controls and that chronic
      and delayed depressive symptoms were associated with a higher subjective age at
      T3. Furthermore, the path between depressive symptoms at T1 for predicting
      subjective age at T3 was fully explained by levels of guilt-distress at T2.
      Although the mediation effect was found in both study groups, it was
      significantly stronger among ex-POWs than among controls. These findings suggest
      that not only is depression a long-term sequela of traumatic stress, it is also a
      risk factor for psychological aging among war veterans. Furthermore, guilt
      distress appears to play an important role in advancing subjective age,
      especially among ex-POWs. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617741
TI  - Achieving social justice for children: How can children's rights thinking make a
      difference?
AB  - This article draws on themes from the author's book, Children's Rights: Toward
      Social Justice, that emerge from surveying children's rights issues in different
      childhood contexts; the family, education, child protection, and health services.
      The author has selected five examples of application of children's rights to a
      policy area and identified the implications for policy and practice. There are
      four core rights that cut across all children's rights issues that are mentioned
      before discussing specific areas. First, children, regardless of race, sex,
      language, religion, disability, or class, are entitled to rights. In other words,
      all children should enjoy their rights and should not be discriminated against.
      Second, "the best interests of the child" should be "a primary consideration" in
      actions or decisions concerning children. Third, children have the right to
      survival and development. And fourth, children have the right to be consulted and
      have their views heard in matters that affect them.

PMID- 27617738
TI  - Blood pressure regulation by CD4+ lymphocytes expressing choline
      acetyltransferase.
AB  - Blood pressure regulation is known to be maintained by a neuro-endocrine circuit,
      but whether immune cells contribute to blood pressure homeostasis has not been
      determined. We previously showed that CD4+ T lymphocytes that express choline
      acetyltransferase (ChAT), which catalyzes the synthesis of the vasorelaxant
      acetylcholine, relay neural signals. Here we show that these CD4+CD44hiCD62Llo T
      helper cells by gene expression are a distinct T-cell population defined by ChAT
      (CD4 TChAT). Mice lacking ChAT expression in CD4+ cells have elevated arterial
      blood pressure, compared to littermate controls. Jurkat T cells overexpressing
      ChAT (JTChAT) decreased blood pressure when infused into mice. Co-incubation of
      JTChAT and endothelial cells increased endothelial cell levels of phosphorylated
      endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and of nitrates and nitrites in conditioned
      media, indicating increased release of the potent vasorelaxant nitric oxide. The
      isolation and characterization of CD4 TChAT cells will enable analysis of the
      role of these cells in hypotension and hypertension, and may suggest novel
      therapeutic strategies by targeting cell-mediated vasorelaxation.

PMID- 27617737
TI  - A community-based model of rapid autopsy in end-stage cancer patients.

PMID- 27617742
TI  - Lay Health Worker Intervention Improved Compliance with Hepatitis B Vaccination
      in Asian Americans: Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a lay health worker (LHW)
      telephone intervention on completing a series of hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      vaccinations among foreign-born Asian Americans in the Baltimore-Washington
      Metropolitan area. METHODS: During the period of April 2013 and March 2014, we
      recruited Asian Americans who were 18 years of age and older in the community
      based organizations. Of the 645 eligible participants, 600 (201 Chinese, 198
      Korean, 201 Vietnamese) completed a pretest survey and received hepatitis B
      screening. Based on the screening results, we conducted a randomized controlled
      trial among those unprotected (HBsAg-/HBsAB-) by assigning them either to an
      intervention group (n = 124) or control group (n = 108). The intervention group
      received a list of resources by mails for where to get free vaccinations as well
      as reminder calls for vaccinations from trained LHWs, while the control group
      received only list of resources by mail. Seven months after mailing the HBV
      screening results, trained LHWs followed up with all participants by phone to ask
      how many of the recommended series of 3 vaccinations they had received: none, 1
      or 2, or all 3 (complete). Their self-reported vaccinations were verified with
      the medical records. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine the
      effect of the LHW intervention. Process evaluation was conducted by asking study
      participants in the intervention group to evaluate the performance of the LHWs.
      RESULTS: After seven months, those in the intervention group were more likely to
      have 1 or more vaccines than the control group, compared to the no vaccination
      group (OR = 3.04, 95% CI, 1.16, 8.00). Also, those in the intervention group were
      more likely to complete a series of vaccinations than the control group, compared
      to the no vaccination group (OR = 7.29, 95% CI 3.39, 15.67). The most important
      barrier preventing them from seeking hepatitis B vaccinations was lack of time to
      get the vaccination. The most important promoters to getting vaccinations, among
      those who had vaccinations (n = 89), were our intervention program (70.8%) and
      self-motivation (49.4%). The majority of participants in the intervention group
      received the phone calls from LHWs (93%) and almost all of them got the reminder
      to receive vaccines (98%). CONCLUSION: The LHW intervention was successful at
      increasing HBV vaccinations rates among foreign-born Asian Americans. This study
      suggests that this culturally integrated intervention program may be useful for
      reducing liver cancer disparities from chronic HBV infection in high risk Asian
      Americans. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02760537.

PMID- 27617743
TI  - Gating That Suppresses Charge Recombination-The Role of Mono-N-Arylated
      Diketopyrrolopyrrole.
AB  - Suppressing the charge recombination (CR) that follows an efficient charge
      separation (CS) is of key importance for energy, electronics, and photonics
      applications. We focus on the role of dynamic gating for impeding CR in a
      molecular rotor, comprising an electron donor and acceptor directly linked via a
      single bond. The media viscosity has an unusual dual effect on the dynamics of CS
      and CR in this dyad. For solvents with intermediate viscosity, CR is 1.5-3 times
      slower than CS. Lowering the viscosity below ~0.6 mPa s or increasing it above
      ~10 mPa s makes CR 10-30 times slower than CS. Ring rotation around the donor
      acceptor bond can account only for the trends observed for nonviscous solvents.
      Media viscosity, however, affects not only torsional but also vibrational modes.
      Suppressing predominantly slow vibrational modes by viscous solvents can impact
      the rates of CS and CR to a different extent. That is, an increase in the
      viscosity can plausibly suppress modes that are involved in the transition from
      the charge-transfer (CT) to the ground state, i.e., CR, but at the same time are
      not important for the transition from the locally excited to the CT state, i.e.,
      CS. These results provide a unique example of synergy between torsional and
      vibronic modes and their drastic effects on charge-transfer dynamics, thus
      setting paradigms for controlling CS and CR.

PMID- 27617744
TI  - Enterovirus A71 DNA-Launched Infectious Clone as a Robust Reverse Genetic Tool.
AB  - Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) causes major outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease,
      and is occasionally associated with neurological complications and death in
      children. Reverse genetics is widely used in the field of virology for functional
      study of viral genes. For EV-A71, such tools are limited to clones that are
      transcriptionally controlled by T7/SP6 bacteriophage promoter. This is often time
      consuming and expensive. Here, we describe the development of infectious plasmid
      DNA-based EV-A71 clones, for which EV-A71 genome expression is under
      transcriptional control by the CMV-intermediate early promoter and SV40
      transcriptional-termination signal. Transfection of this EV-A71 infectious DNA
      produces good virus yield similar to in vitro-transcribed EV-A71 infectious RNA,
      6.4 and 5.8 log10PFU/ml, respectively. Infectious plasmid with enhanced green
      fluorescence protein and Nano luciferase reporter genes also produced good virus
      titers, with 4.3 and 5.0 log10 PFU/ml, respectively. Another infectious plasmid
      with both CMV and T7 promoters was also developed for easy manipulation of in
      vitro transcription or direct plasmid transfection. Transfection with either dual
      promoter infectious plasmid DNA or infectious RNA derived from this dual-promoter
      clone produced infectious viral particles. Incorporation of hepatitis delta virus
      ribozyme, which yields precise 3' ends of the DNA-launched EV-A71 genomic
      transcripts, increased infectious viral production. In contrast, the
      incorporation of hammerhead ribozyme in the DNA-launched EV-A71 resulted in lower
      virus yield, but improved the virus titers for T7 promoter-derived infectious
      RNA. This study describes rapid and robust reverse genetic tools for EV-A71. 

PMID- 27617745
TI  - Histone Deacetylase Inhibition Restores Retinal Pigment Epithelium Function in
      Hyperglycemia.
AB  - In diabetic individuals, macular edema is a major cause of vision loss. This
      condition is refractory to insulin therapy and has been attributed to metabolic
      memory. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is central to maintaining fluid
      balance in the retina, and this function is compromised by the activation of
      advanced glycation end-product receptors (RAGE). Here we provide evidence that
      acute administration of the RAGE agonist, glycated-albumin (gAlb) or vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF), increased histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity
      in RPE cells. The administration of the class I/II HDAC inhibitor, trichostatin-A
      (TSA), suppressed gAlb-induced reductions in RPE transepithelial resistance (in
      vitro) and fluid transport (in vivo). Systemic TSA also restored normal RPE fluid
      transport in rats with subchronic hyperglycemia. Both gAlb and VEGF increased
      HDAC activity and reduced acetyl-alpha-tubulin levels. Tubastatin-A, a relatively
      specific antagonist of HDAC6, inhibited gAlb-induced changes in RPE cell
      resistance. These data are consistent with the idea that RPE dysfunction
      following exposure to gAlb, VEGF, or hyperglycemia is associated with increased
      HDAC6 activity and decreased acetyl-alpha-tubulin. Therefore, we propose
      inhibiting HDAC6 in the RPE as a potential therapy for preserving normal fluid
      homeostasis in the hyperglycemic retina. 

PMID- 27617746
TI  - Parallel Mutations Result in a Wide Range of Cooperation and Community
      Consequences in a Two-Species Bacterial Consortium.
AB  - Multi-species microbial communities play a critical role in human health,
      industry, and waste remediation. Recently, the evolution of synthetic consortia
      in the laboratory has enabled adaptation to be addressed in the context of
      interacting species. Using an engineered bacterial consortium, we repeatedly
      evolved cooperative genotypes and examined both the predictability of evolution
      and the phenotypes that determine community dynamics. Eight Salmonella enterica
      serovar Typhimurium strains evolved methionine excretion sufficient to support
      growth of an Escherichia coli methionine auxotroph, from whom they required
      excreted growth substrates. Non-synonymous mutations in metA, encoding homoserine
      trans-succinylase (HTS), were detected in each evolved S. enterica methionine
      cooperator and were shown to be necessary for cooperative consortia growth.
      Molecular modeling was used to predict that most of the non-synonymous mutations
      slightly increase the binding affinity for HTS homodimer formation. Despite this
      genetic parallelism and trend of increasing protein binding stability, these metA
      alleles gave rise to a wide range of phenotypic diversity in terms of individual
      versus group benefit. The cooperators with the highest methionine excretion
      permitted nearly two-fold faster consortia growth and supported the highest
      fraction of E. coli, yet also had the slowest individual growth rates compared to
      less cooperative strains. Thus, although the genetic basis of adaptation was
      quite similar across independent origins of cooperative phenotypes, quantitative
      measurements of metabolite production were required to predict either the
      individual-level growth consequences or how these propagate to community-level
      behavior. 

PMID- 27617748
TI  - Tanshinone IIA Modulates Low Density Lipoprotein Uptake via Down-Regulation of
      PCSK9 Gene Expression in HepG2 Cells.
AB  - Tanshinone IIA, one of the most pharmacologically bioactive phytochemicals
      isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, possesses several biological activities
      such as anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, neuroprotection and hypolipidemic
      activities. In this study, we aim to investigate the hypocholesterolemic effect
      of tanshinone IIA in hepatic cells. We demonstrated that tanshinone IIA
      significantly increased the amount of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and
      LDL uptake activity in HepG2 cells at the post-transcriptional regulation. We
      further demonstrated that tanshinone IIA inhibited the expression of proprotein
      convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) mRNA and mature protein, which may
      lead to an increase the cell-surface LDLR in hepatic cells. We further identified
      a regulatory DNA element involved in the tanshinone IIA-mediated PCSK9 down
      regulation, which is located between the -411 and -336 positions of the PCSK9
      promoter. Moreover, we found that tanshinone IIA markedly increased the nuclear
      forkhead box O3a (FoxO3a) level, enhanced FoxO3a/PCSK9 promoter complexes
      formation and decreased the PCSK9 promoter binding capacity of hepatocyte nuclear
      factor 1alpha (HNF-1alpha), resulting in suppression of PCSK9 gene expression.
      Finally, we found that the statin-induced PCSK9 overexpression was attenuated and
      the LDLR activity was elevated in a synergic manner by combination of tanshinone
      IIA treatment in HepG2 cells. Overall, our results reveal that the tanshinone IIA
      modulates LDLR level and activity via down-regulation of PCSK9 expression in
      hepatic cells. Our current findings provide a molecular basis of tanshinone IIA
      to develop PCSK9 inhibitors for cholesterol management. 

PMID- 27617747
TI  - Uncertainty-Dependent Extinction of Fear Memory in an Amygdala-mPFC Neural
      Circuit Model.
AB  - Uncertainty of fear conditioning is crucial for the acquisition and extinction of
      fear memory. Fear memory acquired through partial pairings of a conditioned
      stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) is more resistant to extinction
      than that acquired through full pairings; this effect is known as the partial
      reinforcement extinction effect (PREE). Although the PREE has been explained by
      psychological theories, the neural mechanisms underlying the PREE remain largely
      unclear. Here, we developed a neural circuit model based on three distinct types
      of neurons (fear, persistent and extinction neurons) in the amygdala and medial
      prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In the model, the fear, persistent and extinction
      neurons encode predictions of net severity, of unconditioned stimulus (US)
      intensity, and of net safety, respectively. Our simulation successfully
      reproduces the PREE. We revealed that unpredictability of the US during
      extinction was represented by the combined responses of the three types of
      neurons, which are critical for the PREE. In addition, we extended the model to
      include amygdala subregions and the mPFC to address a recent finding that the
      ventral mPFC (vmPFC) is required for consolidating extinction memory but not for
      memory retrieval. Furthermore, model simulations led us to propose a novel
      procedure to enhance extinction learning through re-conditioning with a stronger
      US; strengthened fear memory up-regulates the extinction neuron, which, in turn,
      further inhibits the fear neuron during re-extinction. Thus, our models increased
      the understanding of the functional roles of the amygdala and vmPFC in the
      processing of uncertainty in fear conditioning and extinction.

PMID- 27617749
TI  - Real-world adjustments of driver seat and head restraint in Saab 9-3 vehicles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Whiplash-associated disorder (WAD), commonly denoted whiplash injury,
      is a worldwide problem. These injuries occur at relatively low changes of
      velocity (typically <25 km/h) in impacts from all directions. Rear impacts,
      however, are the most common in the injury statistics. Females have a 1.5-3 times
      higher risk of whiplash injury than males.  Improved seat design is the
      prevailing means of increasing the protection of whiplash injury for occupants in
      rear impacts. Since 1997, more advanced whiplash protection systems have been
      introduced on the market, the Saab Active Head Restraint (SAHR) being one of the
      most prominent. The SAHR-which is height adjustable-is mounted to a pressure
      plate in the seatback by means of a spring-resisted link mechanism. 
      Nevertheless, studies have shown that seats equipped with reactive head
      restraints (such as the SAHR) have a very high injury-reducing effect for males
      (~60-70%) but very low or no reduction effect for females. One influencing factor
      could be the position of the head restraint relative to the head, because a
      number of studies have reported that adjustable head restraints often are
      incorrectly positioned by drivers.  The aim was to investigate how female and
      male Saab drivers adjust the seat in the car they drive the most. METHODS: The
      seated positions of drivers in stationary conditions have been investigated in a
      total of 76 volunteers (34 females, 42 males) who participated in the study.
      Inclusion criteria incorporated driving a Saab 9-3 on a regularly basis. RESULTS:
      The majority of the volunteers (89%) adjusted the head restraint to any of the 3
      uppermost positions and as many as 59% in the top position.  The average vertical
      distance between the top of the head and the top of the head restraint (offset)
      increase linearly with increasing statures, from an average of -26 mm (head below
      the head restraint) for small females to an average of 82 mm (head above the head
      restraint) for large males. On average, the offset was 23 mm for females, which
      is within a satisfactory range and in accordance with recommendations; the
      corresponding value for males was 72 mm.  The backset tended to be shorter among
      female volunteers (on average 27 mm) compared to the male volunteers (on average
      44 mm). Moreover, the backset tended to increase with increasing statures.
      CONCLUSIONS: Incorrect adjustment of the head restraint cannot explain the large
      differences found between the sexes in the effectiveness of the SAHR system.

PMID- 27617750
TI  - Effects of Ultratrail Running on Skeletal-Muscle Oxygenation Dynamics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify changes in skeletal-muscle oxygenation and pulmonary O2
      uptake (VO2) after an extreme ultratrail running bout. METHODS: Before (PRE) and
      after (POST) the race (330-km, 24000 D+/-), profiles of vastus lateralis muscle
      oxygenation (ie, oxyhemoglobin [O2Hb], deoxyhemoglobin [HHb], and tissue
      oxygenation index [TOI]) and VO2 were determined in 14 athletes (EXP) and 12
      control adults (CON) during two 4-min constant-load cycling bouts at power
      outputs of 1 (p1) and 1.5 (p1.5) W/kg performed in randomized order. RESULTS: At
      POST, normalized [HHb] values increased (p1, +38.0%; p1.5, +27.9%; P < .05),
      while normalized [O2Hb] (p1, -20.4%; p1.5, -14.4%; P < .05) and TOI (p1, -17.0%;
      p1.5, -17.7%; P < .05) decreased in EXP. VO2 values were similar (P > 0.05). An
      "overshoot" in normalized [HHb]:VO2 was observed, although the increase was
      significant only during p1.5 (+58.7%, P = .003). No difference in the
      aforementioned variables was noted in CON (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: The concentric
      and, particularly, the eccentric loads characterizing this extreme ultratrail
      running bout may have led to variations in muscle structure and function,
      increasing the local muscle deoxygenation profile and the imbalance between O2
      delivery to working muscles and muscle O2 consumption. This highlights the
      importance of incorporating graded training, particularly downhill bouts, to
      reduce the negative influence of concentric and severe eccentric loads to the
      microcirculatory function and to enhance the ability of runners to sustain such
      loading.

PMID- 27617751
TI  - Women with Premenstrual Dysphoria Lack the Seemingly Normal Premenstrual Right
      Sided Relative Dominance of 5-HTP-Derived Serotonergic Activity in the
      Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices - A Possible Cause of Disabling Mood Symptoms.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential quantitative and qualitative
      differences in brain serotonergic activity between women with Premenstrual
      Dysphoria (PMD) and asymptomatic controls. BACKGROUND: Serotonin-augmenting drugs
      alleviate premenstrual mood symptoms in the majority of women with PMD while
      serotonin-depleting diets worsen PMD symptoms, both indicating intrinsic
      differences in brain serotonergic activity in women with PMD compared to
      asymptomatic women. METHODS: Positron-emission tomography with the immediate
      precursor of serotonin, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), radiolabelled by 11C in the
      beta-3 position, was performed in the follicular and luteal phases for 12 women
      with PMD and 8 control women. Brain radioactivity-a proxy for serotonin precursor
      uptake and synthesis-was measured in 9 regions of interest (ROIs): the right and
      left sides of the medial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,
      putamen and caudate nucleus, and the single "whole brain". RESULTS: There were no
      significant quantitative differences in brain 5-HTP-derived activity between the
      groups in either of the menstrual phases for any of the 9 ROIs. However,
      multivariate analysis revealed a significant quantitative and qualitative
      difference between the groups. Asymptomatic control women showed a premenstrual
      right sided relative increase in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex 5-HTP derived
      activity, whereas PMD women displayed the opposite (p = 0.0001). Menstrual phase
      changes in this asymmetry (premenstrual-follicular) correlated with changes in
      self ratings of 'irritability' for the entire group (rs = -0.595, p = 0.006). The
      PMD group showed a strong inverse correlation between phase changes (premenstrual
      follicular) in plasma levels of estradiol and phase changes in the laterality
      (dx/sin) of radiotracer activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal ROI (rs = -0.635;
      0.027). The control group showed no such correlation. CONCLUSION: Absence of
      increased premenstrual right-sided relative 5-HTP-derived activity of the
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortices was found to strongly correlate to premenstrual
      irritability. A causal relationship here seems plausible, and the findings give
      further support to an underlying frontal brain disturbance in hormonally
      influenced serotonergic activity in women with PMD. Because of the small number
      of subjects in the study, these results should be considered preliminary,
      requiring verification in larger studies.

PMID- 27617752
TI  - On the origin of human adipocytes and the contribution of bone marrow-derived
      cells.
AB  - In the last decade, results in both animal models and humans have demonstrated
      that white adipocytes are generated over the entire life-span. This adds to the
      plasticity of adipose tissue and alterations in adipocyte turnover are linked to
      metabolic dysfunction. Adipocytes are derived from precursors present primarily
      in the perivascular areas of adipose tissue but their precise origin remains
      unclear. The multipotent differentiation capacity of bone marrow-derived cells
      (BMDC) has prompted the suggestion that BMDC may contribute to different cell
      tissue pools, including adipocytes. However, data in murine transplantation
      models have been conflicting and it has been a matter of debate whether BMDC
      actually differentiate into adipocytes or just fuse with resident fat cells. To
      resolve this controversy in humans, we recently performed a study in 65 subjects
      that had undergone bone marrow transplantation. Using a set of newly developed
      assays including single cell genome-wide analyses of mature adipocytes, we
      demonstrated that bone marrow contributes with approximately 10 % to the
      adipocyte pool. This proportion was more than doubled in obesity, suggesting that
      BMDC may constitute a reserve pool for adipogenesis, particularly upon weight
      gain. This commentary discusses the possible relevance of these and other recent
      findings for human pathophysiology. 

PMID- 27617756
TI  - Characterization of mussel H2A.Z.2: a new H2A.Z variant preferentially expressed
      in germinal tissues from Mytilus.
AB  - Histones are the fundamental constituents of the eukaryotic chromatin,
      facilitating the physical organization of DNA in chromosomes and participating in
      the regulation of its metabolism. The H2A family displays the largest number of
      variants among core histones, including the renowned H2A.X, macroH2A, H2A.B
      (Bbd), and H2A.Z. This latter variant is especially interesting because of its
      regulatory role and its differentiation into 2 functionally divergent variants
      (H2A.Z.1 and H2A.Z.2), further specializing the structure and function of
      vertebrate chromatin. In the present work we describe, for the first time, the
      presence of a second H2A.Z variant (H2A.Z.2) in the genome of a non-vertebrate
      animal, the mussel Mytilus. The molecular and evolutionary characterization of
      mussel H2A.Z.1 and H2A.Z.2 histones is consistent with their functional
      specialization, supported on sequence divergence at promoter and coding regions
      as well as on varying gene expression patterns. More precisely, the expression of
      H2A.Z.2 transcripts in gonadal tissue and its potential upregulation in response
      to genotoxic stress might be mirroring the specialization of this variant in DNA
      repair. Overall, the findings presented in this work complement recent reports
      describing the widespread presence of other histone variants across eukaryotes,
      supporting an ancestral origin and conserved role for histone variants in
      chromatin.

PMID- 27617758
TI  - Risk Factors for Peri- and Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Very Preterm Neonates.
AB  - Peri- und intraventrikulare Blutungen werden in der internationalen Literatur
      nach Papile LA in 4 Schweregrade klassifiziert 10. Obschon diese Klassifikation
      auf den zu diesem Zeitpunkt gebrauchlichen computertomografischen Befunden
      fubetat, hat sie bis heute ihre Wertigkeit in der internationalen Literatur.
      Diese Blutungsentitat bei sehr unreifen Fruhgeborenen stellt sowohl fur die akute
      Uberlebensprognose als auch fur die langfristige Entwicklung einer der
      wichtigsten Risikofaktoren dar. Zahlreiche klinische Kohortenstudien belegen die
      dargestellten Zusammenhange bis in die aktuelle Literatur hinein bereits seit
      Dekaden 8. Daher war die Erfassung von Risikofaktoren und deren jeweilige
      Aktualisierung fur entsprechende Behandlungsperioden eine Saule der
      neonatologischen Forschung. Diesem Thema widmet sich die in der aktuellen Ausgabe
      die Untersuchung an eine bundesdeutschen Kohorte aus Ulm 15. 

PMID- 27617757
TI  - Immune Cell Profiling of IFN-lambda Response Shows pDCs Express Highest Level of
      IFN-lambdaR1 and Are Directly Responsive via the JAK-STAT Pathway.
AB  - The interferon lambda (IFN-lambda) cytokines have well-known antiviral
      properties, yet their contribution to immune regulation is not well understood.
      Epithelial cells represent the major target cell of IFN-lambda; peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells are generally considered nonresponsive, with the exception of
      plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). In this study we aimed to define the
      potential for discrete subpopulations of cells to directly respond to IFN-lambda.
      Analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes reveals that, while pDCs uniformly
      express the highest levels of IFN-lambda receptor, a small proportion of B cells
      and monocytes also express the receptor. Nevertheless, B cells and monocytes
      respond poorly to IFN-lambda stimulation in vitro, with minimal STAT
      phosphorylation and interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) induction observed. We
      confirm that pDCs respond to IFN-lambda in vitro, upregulating their expression
      of pSTAT1, pSTAT3, and pSTAT5. However, we found that pDCs do not upregulate
      pSTAT6 in response to IFN-lambda treatment. Our results highlight unique aspects
      of the response to IFN-lambda and confirm that while the IFN-lambda receptor is
      expressed by a small proportion of several different circulating immune cell
      lineages, under normal conditions only pDCs respond to IFN-lambda stimulation
      with robust STAT phosphorylation and ISG induction. The difference in STAT6
      responsiveness of pDCs to type I and type III interferons may help explain the
      divergence in their biological activities.

PMID- 27617759
TI  - [Survival, Medical Care and Quality of Life in Children with Trisomy 13 and 18].
AB  - BACKGROUND: While infants with trisomy 13 (T13) and trisomy 18 (T18) are known to
      die early, parents want to know more about life expectancy and quality of life.
      METHODS: 30-year single-center retrospective chart analysis (1980-2010) of
      cytogenetically confirmed T13 and T18 cases. Mothers of infants who had lived 3
      months or longer were approached to judge their infant's quality of life and talk
      about their experiences with medical staff. RESULTS: Data of 18/20 T13 infants
      and 18/21 T18 infants could be retrieved. Median survival times were 5 d for T13
      and 19 d for T18. One T13 and 2T18 children survived past 1 year. Out of 5
      mothers whose infants had survived at least 3 months, 4 described their infant as
      friendly, happy and peaceful. They observed some degree of psychomotor
      development and were in favour of the numerous medical and surgical interventions
      performed. They wished to have had a doctor coordinating these interventions and
      missed an active offer for psychological help. CONCLUSION: While most infants
      with T13 or T18 die as neonates, mothers of infants surviving longer periods of
      time have positive memories about their infants' quality of life.

PMID- 27617755
TI  - Sequence variation between 462 human individuals fine-tunes functional sites of
      RNA processing.
AB  - Recent advances in the cost-efficiency of sequencing technologies enabled the
      combined DNA- and RNA-sequencing of human individuals at the population-scale,
      making genome-wide investigations of the inter-individual genetic impact on gene
      expression viable. Employing mRNA-sequencing data from the Geuvadis Project and
      genome sequencing data from the 1000 Genomes Project we show that the
      computational analysis of DNA sequences around splice sites and poly-A signals is
      able to explain several observations in the phenotype data. In contrast to
      widespread assessments of statistically significant associations between DNA
      polymorphisms and quantitative traits, we developed a computational tool to
      pinpoint the molecular mechanisms by which genetic markers drive variation in RNA
      processing, cataloguing and classifying alleles that change the affinity of core
      RNA elements to their recognizing factors. The in silico models we employ further
      suggest RNA editing can moonlight as a splicing-modulator, albeit less frequently
      than genomic sequence diversity. Beyond existing annotations, we demonstrate that
      the ultra-high resolution of RNA-Seq combined from 462 individuals also provides
      evidence for thousands of bona fide novel elements of RNA processing-alternative
      splice sites, introns, and cleavage sites-which are often rare and lowly
      expressed but in other characteristics similar to their annotated counterparts.

PMID- 27617760
TI  - Risk Factors Associated with Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Preterm Infants with
      <=28 Weeks Gestational Age.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify obstetric and neonatal risk factors associated with the
      development of germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GM-IVH) in high-risk
      preterm neonates. METHODS AND PATIENTS: Data from 279 preterm infants (246
      mothers) with a gestational age<=28+0 weeks admitted to our NICU between January
      2004 and December 2009 were analyzed retrospectively. Occurrence of (GM-IVH) was
      diagnosed by using ultrasound and important clinical variables were extracted
      from the patient charts. Infants were divided into 2 groups: GM-IVH and non-GM
      IVH. To account for multiple gestation, generalized estimation equations (GEE)
      were used for univariate analysis and for the evaluation of independent risk
      factors. RESULTS: A low 5-min APGAR-Score, multiple birth, low arterial blood
      pressure at NICU admission, hypercapnia during the first 72 h of life in life and
      absence of any antenatal corticosteroids were found to be significant independent
      risk factors in the development of GM-IVH. CONCLUSION: Preterm infants with low
      arterial blood pressure, absence of antenatal corticosteroids, low 5-min APGAR
      Score, higher paCO2 within the first 3 days of life and multiple gestation were
      at higher risk to develop GM-IVH. Avoiding these risk factors may help to
      decrease the rate of GM-IVH.

PMID- 27617761
TI  - [Transition of Adolescents with Chronic Neurologic Disorders into Adult Health
      Care].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transition of care from pediatric to adult services is a complex
      process. Factors influencing the success of health care transition of adolescents
      with chronic neurological disorders are poorly understood. METHODS: Young adults
      with chronic neurological disorders who had been cared for in an
      Interdisciplinary Pediatric Center participated in this study. Using the Patient
      Satisfaction Questionnaire Short-form (PSQ-18) we investigated whether
      satisfaction of these patients with their medical care in adult services was
      depending on the severity and complexity of their condition. They were assigned
      to a group of severely disabled patients (group 1; intellectual disability or
      learning disability plus motor handicap or degree of disability>=80, n=11) or a
      group 2 of patients with milder impairment (N=39). We used descriptive and t
      statistics to compare both groups. RESULTS: Patients of group 1 reported slightly
      lower satisfaction with their present medical care in adult services (M=3.25; 95%
      KI=[2.96-3.55]) compared to patients of group 2 (M=3.59; 95%.KI=[3.37-3.81];
      p=0.084). Satisfaction with transition was significantly lower in group 1
      (M=2.65; 95% KI=[2.29-3.01]) than in group 2 (M=3.11; 95% KI=[2.89-3.33],
      p=0.045). The difference of mean values of 0.46 reflects a moderate effect size
      (Hedges' g=0.68). CONCLUSION: Health care transition of adolescent patients with
      chronic neurological disorders is significantly more successful in patients with
      minor impairment compared to patients with severe complex neurological
      conditions.

PMID- 27617762
TI  - Antibiotic Stewardship and Hospital Hygiene in German Paediatric Inpatient
      Facilities: A Qualitative Survey from the Paed IC Working Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotic stewardship (ABS) and hospital hygiene have both been
      identified as key components to increase patient safety in hospital inpatients.
      To set the stage for a new approach in this field, a working group of German
      Pediatric Infectious Disease (PID) Specialists invented the Paed IC Project in
      2012. METHODS: This article summarized the results of a qualitative study using
      telephone interviews, to which 18 German PID specialists were invited. RESULTS:
      All local study coordinators and additional PID specialists from the 11
      paediatric tertiary care inpatient facilities consented to participate. Only 3 of
      18 participants (16.7%) are medical directors of an independent PID department.
      The majority of the participants agreed with the statement, that there is a need
      for a national clinical practice guideline (in Germany) which outlines specific
      paediatric aspects of ABS. In addition, concise internal clinical practice
      guidelines describing the most important PIDs in addition to the Handbook
      "Infections in Children and Adolescents" published by the DGPI were deemed
      necessary. 89% denied having access to any financial reimbursement allocated to
      cover systematic clinical audits. The hospital administration in most
      participating hospitals (72%) does not provide the medical specialties with
      personnel/financial resources to implement an ABS-program as recommended by
      recent guidelines. CONCLUSION: This qualitative study adds important information
      to adjust future strategies for ABS implementation in German paediatric inpatient
      care facilities.

PMID- 27617763
TI  - Teaching Ethics to Pediatric Residents: A Literature Analysis and Synthesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ethics education rarely exists in pediatric resident curricula,
      although ethical conflicts are common in the clinical practice. Ethics education
      can prepare residents to successfully handle these conflicts. AIM: We searched
      for methods in teaching ethics to clinical and especially pediatric residents,
      and identified recurring barriers to ethics teaching and solutions to overcome
      them. DESIGN: Literature from 4 electronic databases with peer-reviewed articles
      was screened in 3 phases and analyzed. The literature included papers referring
      to applied methods or recommendations to teaching ethics to clinical residents,
      and on a second level focusing especially on pediatrics. An analysis and critical
      appraisal was conducted. RESULTS: 3 231 articles were identified. 96 papers were
      included. The applied learning theory, the reported teaching approaches, the
      barriers to teaching ethics and the provided solutions were studied and analyzed.
      CONCLUSIONS: We recommend case-based ethics education, including lectures,
      discussion, individual study; regular teaching sessions in groups, under
      supervision; affiliation to an ethics department, institutional and departmental
      support; ethics rounds and consultations not as core teaching activity; recurring
      problems to teaching ethics, primarily deriving from the complexity of
      residential duties to be addressed in advance; teaching ethics preferably in the
      first years of residency. We may be cautious generalizing the implementation of
      results on populations with different cultural backgrounds.

PMID- 27617764
TI  - Communicating the Improvements Developed from Critical Incident Reports is an
      Essential Part of CIRS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Critical Incident Reporting System (CIRS) is a tool for employees
      to report anonymously of near misses. Its efficiency and improvement of safety is
      proved by many studies. Our department introduced CIRS in 2009 and it is used
      frequently. As the number of reports decreased over time we asked for factors
      responsible for the reduced use. METHODS: All employees had access to CIRS and
      have been trained in several courses of instruction. Accomplished results and
      consequences were published in biannual newsletters. In 2014 we initiated an
      anonymous employee attitude survey to ask for their experience and satisfaction
      with CIRS. RESULTS: 88 near misses were reported since 2009. 44 (50%) reports
      were classified as RS1, 34 (38.6%) as RS2, and 10 (11.4%) as RS3. No RS4 reports
      were notified. Most reports concerned problems with administration of medication
      (n=26; 29.5%) and problems with technical devices (n=18; 20.5%). 75 (83%) of our
      employees participated in the survey. 64 (86.5%) discerned that CIRS is
      anonymous. 31 (41.9%) reported already a near miss. Of note, two-third didn't
      realize an improvement following their report. On the other hand, only half of
      the pollees stated to read the newsletter. CONCLUSION: Even if efficiency and
      advantages of CIRS are proved and undeniable, sufficient and perpetual feedback
      of results and improvements developed by the CIRS team and regular trainings of
      the employees are mandatory for the success of CIRS.

PMID- 27617765
TI  - Hyponatraemia in Paediatric Bronchiolitis - a Harmful Complication not to be
      Ignored.

PMID- 27617768
TI  - Comparison of the Efficiency of Rose Bengal and Methylene Blue as
      Photosensitizers in Photodynamic Therapy Techniques for Enterococcus faecalis
      Inactivation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND: The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the
      efficiency of a photodynamic therapy (PDT) technique employing rose bengal (RB)
      and methylene blue (MB) as photosensitizers (PSs) to reduce the viability of
      Enterococcus faecalis, a well-known pathogen found in root canal systems.
      Currently, in several clinical applications, including in the field of
      endodontics, MB is employed in association with a red laser source for the
      photoinactivation of pathogenic bacteria. METHODS: In this study, MB was used at
      0.01% (31.2 mol/L) in association with a red (660 nm) laser as the excitation
      source in the MB group (MBG). Alternatively, the same test was performed with RB
      (25 mol/L) that was associated with a green (532 nm) light laser source in the RB
      group (RBG). A saline solution (0.9%) was used in the control group. The colony
      forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL) were calculated after 24 h of incubation at
      37 degrees C, and the statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA. RESULTS:
      The results showed a significant reduction in the CFU/mL in the RBG group (0.12 *
      108) compared with the control (2.82 * 108) and MBG groups (2.66 * 108). For the
      concentration and laser intensity employed in the experiments, the MBG group
      repeatedly showed no significant reduction in bacterial counts compared with the
      control. Therefore, the best result regarding the reduction of E. faecalis viable
      cells was obtained with RB as the PS. CONCLUSIONS: PDT may be improved if RB is
      used in association with a green light laser source for the inactivation of E.
      faecalis.

PMID- 27617767
TI  - Dosimetry in x-ray-based breast imaging.
AB  - The estimation of the mean glandular dose to the breast (MGD) for x-ray based
      imaging modalities forms an essential part of quality control and is needed for
      risk estimation and for system design and optimisation. This review considers the
      development of methods for estimating the MGD for mammography, digital breast
      tomosynthesis (DBT) and dedicated breast CT (DBCT). Almost all of the methodology
      used employs Monte Carlo calculated conversion factors to relate the measurable
      quantity, generally the incident air kerma, to the MGD. After a review of the
      size and composition of the female breast, the various mathematical models used
      are discussed, with particular emphasis on models for mammography. These range
      from simple geometrical shapes, to the more recent complex models based on
      patient DBCT examinations. The possibility of patient-specific dose estimates is
      considered as well as special diagnostic views and the effect of breast implants.
      Calculations using the complex models show that the MGD for mammography is
      overestimated by about 30% when the simple models are used. The design and uses
      of breast-simulating test phantoms for measuring incident air kerma are outlined
      and comparisons made between patient and phantom-based dose estimates. The most
      widely used national and international dosimetry protocols for mammography are
      based on different simple geometrical models of the breast, and harmonisation of
      these protocols using more complex breast models is desirable.

PMID- 27617769
TI  - Ultrasonic degradation of sweet potato pectin and its antioxidant activity.
AB  - The effect of ultrasound factors (time, power, and duty cycle) on sweet potato
      pectin molecular weight, neutral sugar composition, pectin structure, and
      antioxidant activity was investigated. Sweet potato pectin dispersions (0.0025,
      0.005 and 0.01g/mL) in deionized water were sonolyzed for 5, 10 and 20min to
      assess effect of sonication time and pectin concentration on sonolysis. For
      further experiments 0.0025g/mL was sonicated under varying ultrasonic power and
      duty cycle levels, subsequently the molecular weight, galacturonic acid content,
      degree of methoxylation and antioxidant activity of sonicated pectin products
      were investigated. Results showed that ultrasound treatment reduced pectin
      molecular weight, while polydispersity did not show clear trend which
      characterized random pectin scission, increasing duty cycle from 20% to 80%
      resulted in approximately threefold reduction in pectin molecular weight,
      increased sonication power from 100W to 400W led to significant increase in
      galacturonic acid content from 72.0+/-1.2% in native pectin to between 85.0+/
      3.2% and 92.0+/-2.7%, the degree of methoxylation significantly reduced from
      12.0+/-3.0% to between 5.25% and 6.28%, sonication led to increase in galactose
      and decrease in rhamnose consistent with debranching of pectin. Moreover,
      sonication lead to increased antioxidant capacity, both 200W and 400W sonicated
      pectin having higher ORAC and FRAP values, with highest pectin concentration
      4mg/mL in ORAC and 0.8mg/ml in FRAP giving substantially high antioxidant
      activity than native and 100W treated pectin. The ORAC value of 400W sonicated
      pectin increased five hold above the native pectin, while it's FRAP value was
      almost three fold higher than native pectin. However, ultrasound did not alter
      pectin primary structure as showed by FTIR and HPAEC results. The results
      indicated that ultrasound offers effective and green process for pectin
      transformation and creation of antioxidant potent pectin products.

PMID- 27617770
TI  - Investigation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy acoustic softening.
AB  - High power ultrasonic vibration is widely used for improving manufacturing
      processes such as machining and metal forming. High frequency mechanical
      vibration affects material properties and friction forces in contacting surfaces.
      Flow stress reduction under superimposed ultrasonic vibration is called as
      acoustic softening. The amount of this parameter should be determined for
      ultrasonic assisted metal forming processes. For determination of this parameter
      for workhorse Ti-6Al-4V alloy, experimental setup was designed and fabricated.
      Then tensile test under longitudinal ultrasonic vibration was performed for
      different ultrasonic powers. Results show that ultrasonic vibration has
      considerable effect on plastic behavior of the alloy and decreases flow stress.
      Also, increasing ultrasonic power leads to higher acoustic softening. Yield
      stress reduction up to 9.52%, ultimate stress reduction up to 4.55% and
      elongation up to 13% were obtained at 340W ultrasonic power. After applying
      ultrasonic vibrations and its termination, hardness of specimens were measured in
      which increase up to 9% was observed.

PMID- 27617771
TI  - Ultrasound assisted intensified recovery of lactose from whey based on
      antisolvent crystallization.
AB  - The current work deals with understanding the fundamental aspects of intensified
      recovery of lactose from paneer (cottage cheese) whey using the anti-solvent
      induced sonocrystallization. Ultrasonic horn (22kHz) with varying power levels
      over the range of 40-120W has been used for initial experiments at 100% duty
      cycle and two different levels of ultrasonic exposure time as 10min and 20min.
      Similar experiments were also performed using ultrasonic bath for the same time
      of exposure but with at two ultrasonic frequencies (22kHz and 33kHz). It was
      observed that the lactose recovery as well as purity increased with an increase
      in ultrasonic power at 100% duty cycle for the case of treatment time as 10min
      whereas the lactose recovery and purity increased only till an optimum power for
      the 20min treatment. In the case of ultrasonic bath, lactose purity increased
      with an increase in the ultrasonic frequency from 22kHz to 33kHz though the
      lactose recovery marginally decreased. Overall, it was observed that the maximum
      lactose recovery was ~98% obtained using ultrasonic horn while the maximum
      lactose purity was ~97%. It was also observed that maximum lactose recovery was
      ~94% for the case of ultrasonic bath while the maximum lactose purity was ~92%.
      The work has enabled to understand the optimized application of ultrasound so as
      to maximize both the lactose yield and purity during the recovery from whey.

PMID- 27617772
TI  - Therapeutic effects of intranigral transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells in
      rat models of Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Stem cell transplantation is a promising tool for the treatment of
      neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD); however, the
      therapeutic routes and mechanisms of mechanical approaches to stem cell
      transplantation must be explored. This study tests the therapeutic effect of
      transplantation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the
      substantia nigra (SN) of the PD rat. 5-Bromo-2-deoxyuridine-labeled rat MSCs were
      transplanted into the SN of the 6-hydroxydopamine-injected side of PD rat brains.
      The behavioral changes in PD rats were examined before and 4 and 8 weeks after
      MSC transplantation. The expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the SN and
      the striatum and the survival and differentiation of MSCs were assessed by
      immunohistochemical and double immunofluorescence techniques. Abnormal behavior
      of PD rats was significantly improved by the administration of bone marrow MSCs,
      and the number of TH-positive cells in the SN and the optical density of TH
      positive fibers in the striatum were markedly increased. Transplanted MSCs can
      survive and migrate in the brain and differentiate into nestin-, neuron-specific
      enolase-, and GFAP-positive cells. Our findings suggest that transplantation of
      rat bone marrow MSCs into the SN of PD rats may provide therapeutic effects. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27617773
TI  - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Facilitates Functional Recovery from ALS
      Cerebral Spinal Fluid-Induced Neurodegenerative Changes in the NSC-34 Motor
      Neuron Cell Line.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The survival of motor neurons is dependent upon neurotrophic factors
      both during childhood and adolescence and during adult life. In disease
      conditions, such as in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the
      mRNA levels of trophic factors like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF),
      insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), and
      vascular endothelial growth factor are downregulated. This was replicated in our
      in vivo experimental system following the injection of cerebral spinal fluid
      (CSF) of sporadic ALS (ALS-CSF) patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the protective
      role of BDNF in a model of sporadic ALS patients. METHODS: The expressions of
      endogenous BDNF, its receptor TrkB, the enzyme choline acetyl transferase (ChAT),
      and phosphorylated neurofilaments were studied in NSC-34 cells. The calcium
      buffering and proapoptotic effects were assessed by calbindin-D28K and caspase-3
      expression, respectively. RESULTS: ALS-CSF considerably depleted the endogenous
      BDNF protein, while its effect on IGF-1 and FGF-2 was inconsequential; this
      indirectly indicates a key role for BDNF in supporting motor neuronal survival.
      The exogenous supplementation of BDNF reversed autocrine expression; however, it
      may not be completely receptor mediated, as the TrkB levels were not restored.
      BDNF completely revived ChAT expression. It may inhibit apoptosis by restoring
      Ca2+ homeostasis, since caspase-3 and calbindin-D28K expression was back to
      normal. The organellar ultrastructural changes were only partially reversed.
      CONCLUSION: Our study provides evidence that BDNF supplementation ameliorates
      most but not all degenerative changes. The incomplete revival at the
      ultrastructural level signifies the requirement of factors other than BDNF for
      near-total protection of motor neurons, and, to an extent, it explains why only a
      partial success is achieved in clinical trials with BDNF in ALS patients.

PMID- 27617776
TI  - There are limits to the effects of task instructions: Making the automatic
      effects of task instructions context-specific takes practice.
AB  - Unlike other animals, humans have the unique ability to share and use verbal
      instructions to prepare for upcoming tasks. Recent research showed that
      instructions are sufficient for the automatic, reflex-like activation of
      responses. However, systematic studies into the limits of these automatic effects
      of task instructions remain relatively scarce. In this study, the authors set out
      to investigate whether this instruction-based automatic activation of responses
      can be context-dependent. Specifically, participants performed a task of which
      the stimulus-response rules and context (location on the screen) could either
      coincide or not with those of an instructed to-be-performed task (whose
      instructions changed every run). In 2 experiments, the authors showed that the
      instructed task rules had an automatic impact on performance-performance was
      slowed down when the merely instructed task rules did not coincide, but,
      importantly, this effect was not context-dependent. Interestingly, a third and
      fourth experiment suggests that context dependency can actually be observed, but
      only when practicing the task in its appropriate context for over 60 trials or
      after a sufficient amount of practice on a fixed context (the context was the
      same for all instructed tasks). Together, these findings seem to suggest that
      instructions can establish stimulus-response representations that have a
      reflexive impact on behavior but are insensitive to the context in which the task
      is known to be valid. Instead, context-specific task representations seem to
      require practice. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617775
TI  - Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the
      formation of episodic associations.
AB  - Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it
      remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation
      of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words,
      people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal
      and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants
      toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of
      episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity
      recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either
      temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without
      a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of
      successful episodic association formation whereby high-frequency EEG activity
      (HFA, 44-100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently
      temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent
      semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of
      episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured
      the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA
      increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a
      concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased
      semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that
      support the formation of novel episodic associations. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27617777
TI  - The Die Is Cast: Precision Electrophilic Modifications Contribute to Cellular
      Decision Making.
AB  - This perspective sets out to critically evaluate the scope of reactive
      electrophilic small molecules as unique chemical signal carriers in biological
      information transfer cascades. We consider these electrophilic cues as a new
      volatile cellular currency and compare them to canonical signaling circulation
      such as phosphate in terms of chemical properties, biological specificity,
      sufficiency, and necessity. The fact that nonenzymatic redox sensing properties
      are found in proteins undertaking varied cellular tasks suggests that
      electrophile signaling is a moonlighting phenomenon manifested within a
      privileged set of sensor proteins. The latest interrogations into these on-target
      electrophilic responses set forth a new horizon in the molecular mechanism of
      redox signal propagation wherein direct low-occupancy electrophilic modifications
      on a single sensor target are biologically sufficient to drive functional redox
      responses with precision timing. We detail how the various mechanisms through
      which redox signals function could contribute to their interesting phenotypic
      responses, including hormesis.

PMID- 27617779
TI  - Abnormal white matter integrity in synthetic cannabinoid users.
AB  - Synthetic cannabinoids have become increasingly popular in the last few years
      especially among adolescents and young adults. However, no previous studies have
      assessed the effects of synthetic cannabinoids on the structure of the human
      brain. Understanding the harms of synthetic cannabinoid use on brain structure is
      therefore crucial given its increasing use. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was
      performed in 22 patients who used synthetic cannabinoids more than five times a
      week for at least 1 year and 18 healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was
      significantly reduced in the cannabinoid group compared to controls in a cluster
      of white matter voxels spanning the left temporal lobe, subcortical structures
      and brainstem. This cluster was predominantly traversed by the inferior fronto
      occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, fornix, cingulum
      hippocampus and corticospinal tracts. Long-term use of synthetic cannabinoids is
      associated with white matter abnormalities in adolescents and young adults.
      Disturbed brain connectivity in synthetic cannabinoid users may underlie
      cognitive impairment and vulnerability to psychosis.

PMID- 27617778
TI  - Inactivation of the melanin concentrating hormone system impairs maternal
      behavior.
AB  - In order to prepare the mother for the demands of pregnancy and lactation, the
      maternal brain is subjected to a number of adaptations. Maternal behaviors are
      regulated by complex neuronal interactions. Here, we show that the melanin
      concentrating hormone (MCH) system is an important regulator of maternal
      behaviors. First, we report that melanin concentrating hormone receptor 1
      knockout (MCHR1 KO) mice display a disruption of maternal behavior. Early
      postpartum MCHR1 KO females exhibit poor nesting, deficits in pup retrieval and
      maternal aggression. In addition, ablation of MCH receptors results in decreased
      milk production and prolactin mRNA levels. Then we show that these results are in
      line with those obtained in wild type mice (WT) treated with the specific MCHR1
      antagonist GW803430. Furthermore, following pups retrieval, MCHR1 KO mice display
      a lower level of Fos expression than WT mice in the ventral tegmental area, and
      nucleus accumbens. With the progression of the lactation period, however, the
      MCHR1 KO mice improve maternal care towards their pups. This is manifested by an
      increase in the pups' survival rate and the decrease in pups' retrieval time
      beyond the second day after parturition. In conclusion, we show that the MCH
      system plays a significant role in the initiation of maternal behavior. In this
      context, MCH may play a role in integrating information from multiple sources,
      and connecting brain reward, homeostatic and regulatory systems.

PMID- 27617780
TI  - Brain functional effects of psychopharmacological treatments in bipolar disorder.
AB  - Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have contributed to the
      understanding of bipolar disorder. However the effect of medication on brain
      activation remains poorly understood. We conducted an extensive literature review
      on PubMed and ScienceDirect to investigate the influence of medication in fMRI
      studies, including both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, which aimed at
      assessing this influence. Although we reported all reviewed studies, we gave
      greater emphasis to studies with the most robust methodology. One hundred and
      forty studies matched our inclusion criteria and forty-seven studies demonstrated
      an effect of pharmacological treatment on fMRI blood oxygen level dependent
      (BOLD) signal in adults and children with bipolar disorder. Out of these studies,
      nineteen were longitudinal. Most of cross-sectional studies suffered from
      methodological bias, due to post-hoc analyses performed on a limited number of
      patients and did not find any effect of medication. However, both longitudinal
      and cross-sectional studies showing an impact of treatment tend to suggest that
      medication prescribed to patients with bipolar disorder mostly influenced brain
      activation in prefrontal regions, when measured by tasks involving emotional
      regulation and processing as well as non-emotional cognitive tasks. FMRI promises
      to elucidate potential new biomarkers in bipolar disorder and could be used to
      evaluate the effect of new therapeutic compounds. Further research is needed to
      disentangle the effect of medication and the influence of the changes in mood
      state on brain activation in patients with bipolar disorder.

PMID- 27617781
TI  - Reciprocal Effects of Positive Future Expectations, Threats to Safety, and Risk
      Behavior Across Adolescence.
AB  - We examined the reciprocal relationships among positive future expectations,
      expected threats to future safety, depression, and individual substance use and
      delinquency using 4 waves of data (N = 248-338) from African American and Latino
      adolescent male participants in the Chicago Youth Development Study. Individual
      positive future expectations and expected threats to safety were assessed at each
      wave and modeled as latent constructs. Individual substance use and delinquency
      were assessed at each wave and represented as ordinal variables ranging from low
      to high. Categorical autoregressive cross-lagged structural models were used to
      examine the hypothesized reciprocal relationships between both aspects of future
      expectations construct and risk behavior across adolescence. Analyses show that
      future expectations has important effects on youth substance use and involvement
      in delinquency, both of which in turn decrease positive expectations and increase
      expectation of threats to future safety across adolescence. Similarly, low
      positive expectations for the future continued to predict increased substance use
      and involvement in delinquency. The expected threats to safety construct was
      significantly correlated with delinquency within time. These effects are observed
      across adolescence after controlling for youth depression and race. Findings
      support the reciprocal effects hypothesis of a negative reinforcing cycle in the
      relationships between future expectations and both substance use and involvement
      in delinquent behavior across adolescence. The enduring nature of these
      relationships underscores the importance of future expectation as a potential
      change mechanism for intervention and prevention efforts to promote healthy
      development; vulnerable racial and ethnic minority male adolescents may
      especially benefit from such intervention.

PMID- 27617782
TI  - An in silico algal toxicity model with a wide applicability potential for
      industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
AB  - The authors modeled the 72-h algal toxicity data of hundreds of chemicals with
      different modes of action as a function of chemical structures. They developed
      mode of action-based local quantitative structure-toxicity relationship (QSTR)
      models for nonpolar and polar narcotics as well as a global QSTR model with a
      wide applicability potential for industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The
      present study rigorously evaluated the generated models, meeting the Organisation
      for Economic Co-operation and Development principles of robustness, validity, and
      transparency. The proposed global model had a broad structural coverage for the
      toxicity prediction of diverse chemicals (some of which are high-production
      volume chemicals) with no experimental toxicity data. The global model is
      potentially useful for endpoint predictions, the evaluation of algal toxicity
      screening, and the prioritization of chemicals, as well as for the decision of
      further testing and the development of risk-management measures in a scientific
      and regulatory frame. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1012-1019. (c) 2016 SETAC.

PMID- 27617783
TI  - [2016 review on catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome].
AB  - The catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) develops in at least 1% of
      patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, either primary or associated with
      systemic lupus erythematosus. CAPS reveals the antiphospholipid syndrome in about
      50% of cases. The CAPS is characterized by rapidly-progressive widespread
      thromboses mainly affecting the microvasculature in the presence of
      antiphospholipid antibodies. In a few days, the patients develop multiorgan
      failure with renal insufficiency with severe hypertension, pulmonary, cerebral,
      cardiac, digestive and/or cutaneous involvement. The vital prognosis is
      frequently engaged. CAPS is often precipitated by infectious diseases, surgical
      procedures and/or withdrawal or modification of the anticoagulation. CAPS overall
      mortality rate has decreased and is currently below 30%. The main differential
      diagnoses are other thrombotic microangiopathies, and heparin-induced
      thrombocytopenia. The treatment of CAPS consists of the association of
      anticoagulation and steroids, plus plasma exchange and/or intravenous
      immunoglobulins. Cyclophosphamide is added only in patients with active systemic
      lupus erythematosus. The potential contribution of some additional therapies
      (rituximab, eculizumab or sirolimus) needs to be assessed. The prevention of CAPS
      is essential and is based upon the adequate management of the perioperative
      period when surgery cannot be avoided, the prompt treatment and the prevention
      with immunization of infections and the education of patients with
      antiphospholipid syndrome, especially for the management of oral anticoagulants.

PMID- 27617784
TI  - Increased Serum Levels of IL-28 and IL-29 and the Protective Effect of IL28B
      rs8099917 Polymorphism in Patients with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.
AB  - Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is thought to result from decreased T helper type 2
      (Th2) responses, leading to the progressive destruction of thyrocytes. IFN
      lambda1, -lambda2, and -lambda3 (also known as IL-29, IL-28A, and IL-28B,
      respectively) are recently described members of the IFN-lambda family and have
      been shown to decrease the production of Th2 cytokines in vitro. However, the
      role and mechanism of IFN-lambda1 in HT remain unknown. The purpose of this study
      was to examine whether IL29 and IL28B gene polymorphisms are susceptibility genes
      for the development of HT. Also, we investigated the effects of IL-29 and IL-28
      serum levels in the pathogenesis of HT. Using the polymerase chain reaction
      restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL28B rs8099917 (IL28 G/T) and IL29 rs30461 (IL29 T/C)
      were studied in 99 patients with HT and 100 healthy controls. Considering the
      allelic distribution of the IL28 G/T polymorphism, a higher frequency of the G
      allele was observed in the control group versus the HT group. Thus, it was
      suggested that the G allele may be protective against HT pathogenesis (OR =
      0.388, 95% CI = 0.217-0.693; p = 0.001). Our findings also demonstrated that
      there was a statistically significant difference in serum IL-28 and IL-29 levels
      between case and control groups (p < 0.001). Increased serum levels of IL-28 and
      IL-29 were found in patients with HT. However, we did not find a relationship
      between the IL29 gene polymorphism and HT. In conclusion, the IL28B gene
      polymorphism and serum IL-28 and IL-29 levels seem to play a role in the
      pathogenesis of HT. 

PMID- 27617785
TI  - Surface Coating by Gold Nanoparticles on Functional Polymers: On-Demand Portable
      Catalysts for Suzuki Reactions.
AB  - We have developed new functionalized polymers capable of being easily coated by
      gold nanoparticles, uniformly distributed on the surface of the polymers, by
      simply adding a gold(III) solution in water to the polymers. The polymer
      supported gold nanoparticle material was used as an efficient portable and
      reusable catalyst for Suzuki reactions in mixed organic-aqueous solvents. 

PMID- 27617786
TI  - Enzymatically prepared redox-responsive hydrogels as potent matrices for
      hepatocellular carcinoma cell spheroid formation.
AB  - Cellular spheroids have been received much attention in the biological and
      biomedical fields, especially as a base material for drug assays, regenerative
      medicine, and tissue engineering. Hydrogels have potential for scalable
      preparation of spheroids because they provide a spatial environment suitable for
      three-dimensional cell cultivation. Herein, the potential use of a redox
      responsive hydrogel as a scaffold for preparation and recovery of spheroids is
      reported. A hydrogel composed of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which can be
      degraded using cysteine as a reducing agent under mild conditions, is prepared by
      mixing an octa-thiolated PEG derivative (8-arm PEG-SH), horseradish peroxidase
      and a small phenolic compound (Glycyl-L-tyrosine). Human hepatocellular carcinoma
      cells (HepG2) are encapsulated in the hydrogel and cellular spheroids formed by
      proliferation within the scaffolds. After seven days of cultivation, the size of
      the HepG2 spheroids reached a diameter between ~40 and 60 MUm, depending on the 8
      arm PEG-SH concentration. Liver-specific functions of the HepG2 spheroids such as
      albumin secretion and urea production are retained at higher levels than those of
      cells prepared from traditional two-dimensional mono layers. These results
      suggest that the system presented here has potential for preparation of cellular
      spheroids for tissue engineering applications.

PMID- 27617787
TI  - Zika Virus Is More Like Rubella Than Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

PMID- 27617790
TI  - Temperature-Dependent Kinetic Prediction for Reactions Described by Isothermal
      Mathematics.
AB  - Most kinetic models are expressed in isothermal mathematics. This may lead
      unaware scientists either to the misconception that classical isothermal kinetic
      models cannot be used for any chemical process in an environment with a time
      dependent temperature profile or, even worse, to a misuse of them. In reality,
      classical isothermal models can be employed to make kinetic predictions for
      reactions in environments with time-dependent temperature profiles, provided that
      there is a continuity/conservation in the reaction extent at every temperature
      time step. In this article, fundamental analyses, illustrations, guiding tables,
      and examples are given to help the interested readers using either conventional
      isothermal reacted fraction curves or rate equations to make proper kinetic
      predictions for chemical reactions in environments with temperature profiles that
      vary, even arbitrarily, with time simply by the requirement of
      continuity/conservation of reaction extent whenever there is an external
      temperature change.

PMID- 27617789
TI  - Disclosure of sperm donation: a comparison between solo mother and two-parent
      families with identifiable donors.
AB  - Disclosure of donor conception to children was compared between solo mother and
      two-parent families with children aged 4-8 years conceived since the removal of
      donor anonymity in the UK. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31
      heterosexual solo mothers and 47 heterosexual mothers with partners to
      investigate their decisions and experiences about identifiable donation and
      disclosure to their children. No significant difference was found in the
      proportion of mothers in each family type who had told their children about their
      donor conception (solo mothers 54.8%; partnered mothers 36.2%). Of those who had
      not told, a significantly higher proportion of solo mothers than partnered
      mothers intended to disclose (P < 0.05). Partnered mothers were more likely than
      solo mothers to feel neutral, ambivalent or negative about having used an
      identifiable donor (P < 0.05), and were less likely to consider children's
      knowledge of their genetic origins as extremely important (P < 0.05). These
      findings are relevant to provision of counselling services as it cannot be
      assumed that parents will tell their children about their origins or their
      entitlement to request the identity of their donor at the age of 18 years.
      Further qualitative research would increase understanding of solo mothers'
      attitudes towards disclosure.

PMID- 27617791
TI  - Dynamic changes of substrate reactivity and enzyme adsorption on partially
      hydrolyzed cellulose.
AB  - The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is a thermodynamically challenging
      catalytic process that is influenced by both substrate-related and enzyme-related
      factors. In this study, a proteolysis approach was applied to recover and clean
      the partially converted cellulose at the different stages of enzymatic hydrolysis
      to monitor the hydrolysis rate as a function of substrate
      reactivity/accessibility and investigate surface characteristics of the partially
      converted cellulose. Enzyme-substrate interactions between individual key
      cellulase components from wild-type Trichoderma reesei and partially converted
      cellulose were followed and correlated to the enzyme adsorption capacity and
      dynamic sugar release. Results suggest that cellobiohydrolase CBH1 (Cel7A) and
      endoglucanases EG2 (Cel5A) adsorption capacities decreased as cellulose was
      progressively hydrolyzed, likely due to the "depletion" of binding sites.
      Furthermore, the degree of synergism between CBH1 and EG2 varied depending on the
      enzyme loading and the substrates. The results provide a better understanding of
      the relationship between dynamic change of substrate features and the
      functionality of various cellulase components during enzymatic hydrolysis.
      Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 503-515. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27617793
TI  - Sensitive determination of THC and main metabolites in human plasma by means of
      microextraction in packed sorbent and gas chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - Cannabis is one of the most available and consumed illicit drug in the world and
      its identification and quantification in biological specimens can be a challenge
      given its low concentrations in body fluids. The present work describes a fast
      and fully validated procedure for the simultaneous detection and quantification
      of ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (?9_THC) and its two main metabolites 11-hydroxy
      ?9_tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-?9- tetrahydrocannbinol
      (THC-COOH) in plasma samples using microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) and
      gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). A small plasma volume
      (0.25mL) pre-diluted (1:20), was extracted with MEPS M1 sorbent as follows:
      conditioning (4 cycles of 250MUL methanol and 4 cycles of 250MUL 0.1% formic acid
      in water); sample load (26 cycles of 250MUL); wash (100MUL of 3% acetic acid in
      water followed by 100MUL 5% methanol in water); and elution (6 cycles of 100MUL
      of 10% ammonium hydroxide in methanol). The procedure allowed the quantification
      of all analytes in the range of 0.1-30ng/mL. Recoveries ranged from 53 to 78%
      (THC), 57 to 66% (11-OH-THC) and 62 to 65% (THC-COOH), allowing the limits of
      detection and quantification to be set at 0.1ng/mL for all compounds. Intra-day
      precision and accuracy revealed coefficients of variation (CVs) lower than 10% at
      the studied concentrations, with a mean relative error within+/-9%, while inter
      day precision and accuracy showed CVs lower than 15% for all analytes at the
      tested concentrations, with an inaccuracy within+/-8%.

PMID- 27617796
TI  - Indirect Interlayer Bonding in Graphene-Topological Insulator van der Waals
      Heterostructure: Giant Spin-Orbit Splitting of the Graphene Dirac States.
AB  - van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures of two-dimensional materials exhibit
      properties and functionalities that can be tuned by stacking order and interlayer
      coupling. Although direct covalent bonding is not expected at the heterojunction,
      the formation of an interface nevertheless breaks the symmetries of the layers,
      and the orthogonal requirement of the wave functions can lead to indirect
      interfacial coupling, creating new properties and functionalities beyond their
      constituent layers. Here, we fabricate graphene/topological insulator vdW
      heterostructure by transferring chemical vapor deposited graphene onto Bi2Se3
      grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Using scanning tunneling
      microscopy/spectroscopy, we observe a giant spin-orbit splitting of the graphene
      Dirac states up to 80 meV. Density functional theory calculations further reveal
      that this splitting of the graphene bands is a consequence of the breaking of
      inversion symmetry and the orthogonalization requirement on the overlapping wave
      functions at the interface, rather than simple direct bonding. Our findings
      reveal two intrinsic characteristics-the symmetry breaking and orthogonalization
      of the wave functions at the interface-that underlines the properties of vdW
      heterostructures.

PMID- 27617797
TI  - Sex differences in nonobstructive coronary artery disease: Recent insights and
      substantial knowledge gaps.
AB  - The existence of sex differences in the epidemiology, presentation, diagnosis,
      and management of coronary artery disease (CAD) has been a subject of growing
      inquiry for the past several decades. The prevailing paradigm is that the
      prevalence of anatomically obstructive disease of the epicardial coronary
      arteries is less common in women than similarly aged men, while nonobstructive
      and microvascular ischemic disease is more prevalent in women. Although both
      "patterns" of coronary atherosclerosis are associated with angina and
      cardiovascular events, the dominant diagnostic and therapeutic tools used in
      cardiology have focused on the male-predominant pattern of anatomically
      obstructive epicardial CAD. This has raised justified concerns about the under
      diagnosis and under-treatment of symptomatic women with nonobstructive CAD.
      However, as recent research has begun to highlight the importance of
      nonobstructive CAD and coronary physiology in men as well as women, adjustments
      to this paradigm and greater attention to nonobstructive CAD are necessary. The
      present article seeks to review key insights as well as substantial knowledge
      gaps regarding sex differences and nonobstructive CAD.

PMID- 27617798
TI  - Combating multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria with structurally
      nanoengineered antimicrobial peptide polymers.
AB  - With the recent emergence of reports on resistant Gram-negative 'superbugs',
      infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria have been
      named as one of the most urgent global health threats due to the lack of
      effective and biocompatible drugs. Here, we show that a class of antimicrobial
      agents, termed 'structurally nanoengineered antimicrobial peptide polymers'
      (SNAPPs) exhibit sub-MUM activity against all Gram-negative bacteria tested,
      including ESKAPE and colistin-resistant and MDR (CMDR) pathogens, while
      demonstrating low toxicity. SNAPPs are highly effective in combating CMDR
      Acinetobacter baumannii infections in vivo, the first example of a synthetic
      antimicrobial polymer with CMDR Gram-negative pathogen efficacy. Furthermore, we
      did not observe any resistance acquisition by A. baumannii (including the CMDR
      strain) to SNAPPs. Comprehensive analyses using a range of microscopy and
      (bio)assay techniques revealed that the antimicrobial activity of SNAPPs proceeds
      via a multimodal mechanism of bacterial cell death by outer membrane
      destabilization, unregulated ion movement across the cytoplasmic membrane and
      induction of the apoptotic-like death pathway, possibly accounting for why we did
      not observe resistance to SNAPPs in CMDR bacteria. Overall, SNAPPs show great
      promise as low-cost and effective antimicrobial agents and may represent a weapon
      in combating the growing threat of MDR Gram-negative bacteria.

PMID- 27617799
TI  - Three Complementary Approaches to Characterize Buprenorphine Misuse.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In France, buprenorphine has been available for opioid maintenance
      therapy since 1996 and since then its misuse has been continuously evaluated by
      the French health authorities. OBJECTIVES: To characterize buprenorphine misuse
      in Languedoc-Roussillon (LR) region, using three different approaches. METHODS:
      Three different data sources were analyzed : (i) spontaneous reports (NotS) of
      buprenorphine misuse or dependence, (ii) a specific periodic survey from
      specialized care centers (OPPIDUM) over 11 years (2002-2012) and (iii) a drug
      reimbursement database (DRB). RESULTS: A total of 209 spontaneous reports were
      collected. The main type of buprenorphine misuse was use by an unintended route
      of administration. The main complications notified were directly related to the
      injection of buprenorphine. NotS enabled the collection of data about severe
      clinical complications or new diversion phenomenon. The OPPIDUM LR survey
      revealed a decrease in the buprenorphine misuse indicator through the study
      period. The DRB analysis identified one subgroup of patients with a buprenorphine
      deviant behavior, characterized by a significantly greater number of dispensing
      episodes, pharmacies, prescribers, daily dose and switch between buprenorphine
      forms (princeps and generic). The DRB analysis provides data on buprenorphine
      diversion in the context of outpatients care. CONCLUSION: The three complementary
      approaches allowed us to characterize buprenorphine misuse in LR area. The three
      approaches are complementary because each data source provides different types of
      information.

PMID- 27617800
TI  - Pilot physiology, cognition and flight performance during flight simulation
      exposed to a 3810-m hypoxic condition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoxia is a physiological state defined as a reduction in the
      distribution of oxygen to the tissues of the body. It has been considered a major
      factor in aviation safety worldwide because of its potential for pilot
      disorientation. Pilots are able to operate aircrafts up to 3810 m without the use
      of supplemental oxygen and may exhibit symptoms associated with hypoxia.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of 3810 m on physiology, cognition and
      performance in pilots during a flight simulation. METHODS: Ten healthy male
      pilots engaged in a counterbalanced experimental protocol comparing a 0-m
      normoxic condition (NORM) with a 3810-m hypoxic condition (HYP) on pilot
      physiology, cognition and flight performance. RESULTS: Repeated-measures analysis
      of variance demonstrated a significant (p <= 0.05) time by condition interaction
      for physiological and cognitive alterations during HYP. A paired-samples t test
      demonstrated no differences in pilot performance (p >= 0.05) between conditions.
      CONCLUSION: Pilots exhibited physiological and cognitive impairments; however,
      pilot performance was not affected by HYP.

PMID- 27617801
TI  - Hodgkin lymphoma of the maxillary sinus: A diagnostic trap?

PMID- 27617802
TI  - Citrobacter freundii as a test platform for recombinant cellulose degradation
      systems.
AB  - : Cellulosic biomass represents a huge reservoir of renewable carbon, but
      converting it into useful products is challenging. Attempts to transfer cellulose
      degradation capability to industrially useful micro-organisms have met with
      limited success, possibly due to poorly understood synergy between multiple
      cellulases. This is best studied by co-expression of many combinations of
      cellulases and associated proteins. Here, we describe the development of a test
      platform based on Citrobacter freundii, a cellobiose-assimilating organism
      closely related to Escherichia coli. Standard E. coli cloning vectors worked well
      in Cit. freundii. Expression of cellulases CenA and Cex of Cellulomonas fimi in
      Cit. freundii gave recombinant strains which were able to grow at the expense of
      cellulosic filter paper or microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) in a mineral
      medium supplemented with a small amount of yeast extract. Periodic physical
      agitation of the cultures was highly beneficial for growth at the expense of
      filter paper. This provides a test platform for the expression of combinations of
      genes encoding biomass-degrading enzymes to develop effective genetic cassettes
      for degradation of different biomass streams. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE
      STUDY: Biofuels have been shown to be the best sustainable and alternative source
      of fuel to replace fossil fuels. Of the different types of feedstocks used for
      producing biofuels, lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant. Converting this
      biomass to useful products has met with little success. Different approaches are
      being used and microbial platforms are the most promising and sustainable method.
      This study shows that Citrobacter freundii is a better test platform than
      Escherichia coli for testing various combinations of cellulases for the
      development of microbial systems for biomass conversion.

PMID- 27617803
TI  - A Novel Parkinson's Disease Drug Candidate with Potent Anti-neuroinflammatory
      Effects through the Src Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Numerous drug treatments are available for Parkinson's disease (PD), an age
      related neurodegenerative disease, but most cause serious side effects.
      Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies that halt disease progression and allow
      for long-term administration are urgently needed. Neuroinflammation critically
      contributes to the pathogenesis of PD. Here, we report the discovery and
      optimization of phloroglucinol derivatives, a novel class of anti
      neuroinflammatory compounds. Structural modifications of the hit compound 3
      methyl-1-(2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)butan-1-one produced 43 derivatives, including a
      preclinical candidate (compound 21), that exhibited potent in vitro anti
      neuroinflammatory effects, good blood-brain barrier penetration, and desirable
      safety margins in mice at a median lethal dose (LD50) >5000 mg/kg. Its in vivo
      efficacy was demonstrated in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-
      and MPTP/probenecid (prob)-induced subacute and chronic PD models, respectively,
      and alpha-synuclein transgenic mice. Mechanistic studies revealed
      neuroinflammation inhibition by targeting Src/phosphatase and tensin homologue
      deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN)/Akt signaling might be promising. We highlighted
      the potential usefulness of phloroglucinol derivatives in PD treatment.

PMID- 27617804
TI  - Usefulness of Microfat Grafting in Patients With Repaired Cleft Lip.
AB  - In many patients, the volume of the upper lip is deficient after cleft lip repair
      operation. However, there is no well-established procedure to correct this volume
      deficiency. In the present study, the authors attempted to increase the overall
      three-dimensional volume of the upper lip in repaired cleft lip patients with
      upper lip volume deficiency through autogenous microfat grafting. Thirty patients
      with upper lip volume deficiency after cleft lip repair underwent fat grafting in
      the upper lip from November 2007 to March 2015. Among these patients,
      postoperative outcome was evaluated in 15 patients using 2 methods for the
      evaluation. One method involved measuring the change in the shape of lips using
      pre- and postoperative photographs, and the other involved investigating the
      levels of satisfaction with the surgical results by distributing a scoring
      questionnaire to patients, doctors, and the general public. The ratio of upper
      lip protrusion relative to the lower lip increased by 46.71% on average after
      operation, and the sum of the vermilion heights increased by 31.68% on average.
      In the survey of satisfaction levels, patients, plastic surgeons, and the general
      public gave mean scores of 3.80, 3.91, and 4.03, respectively. When volume
      deficiency of the upper lip is present in repaired cleft lip patients, correction
      using autogenous microfat grafting is believed to be effective.

PMID- 27617805
TI  - Basic Research and Clinical Application of Pterygoplatione Fossa Projection on
      Lateral Nasal Wall.
AB  - Infection, neoplasms, and tumor-like lesion in pterygoplatione fossa (PPF) are
      common in Chinese people. Owing to its deep anatomic location, surgery through
      this region is difficult. Maxillary sinus pathway is widely used, but the obvious
      disadvantage of destroying maxillary sinus even disfigurement cannot be avoided.
      This study provides a new method to locate PPF by choosing some landmarks
      situated at lateral wall of nasal cavity as reference points to obtain credible
      and detailed information for clinical management. The authors measured the
      location of anterior wall, posterior wall, and medial wall of PPF in the planes
      of middle nasal concha osseous extremity, inferior nasal concha osseous
      extremity, and middle nasal meatus. In addition, the authors measured the
      distance and the angle between the upper and lower bound of the PPF and the
      apertura sinus maxillaris. All PPF and landmarks of 196 patients were well
      demonstrated on computed tomographic angiography images. The new location method
      is stable and direct. As for the shape of PPF, the line connecting anterior wall
      in different planes is curve, convex backward, and concave frontward.
      Pterygoplatione fossa tapers gradually. The authors also found that with the
      traditional method, after entering the maxillary sinus, the needle should be
      inserted <26 mm when aimed at the upper bound and 30 mm in women and 31 mm in men
      when aimed at the lower bound.

PMID- 27617809
TI  - Efficacy of Standard Costochondral Grafting in Patients With Bilateral
      Craniofacial Microsomia.
AB  - Craniofacial microsomia remains the second most common craniofacial deformity
      after cleft lip and palate. Mandibular pathology has been classically scored from
      type I to type III by the modified Pruzansky-Kaban classification. The authors
      report a case of a 5-year-old patient with Goldenhar syndrome and bilateral type
      III craniofacial macrosomia. The patient had absence of bilateral glenoid fossas,
      condyles, coronoids, and rami as well as hypoplasia of the symphysis,
      parasymphysis, and mandibular body. Reconstruction was performed using 2
      costochondral rib autografts to reconstruct a ramus and assist in the development
      of a neo-glenoid fossa at the cranial base. An additional portion of costal rib
      graft was used to augment the deficient symphysis. The patient was placed in
      class III occlusion postoperatively using maxillo-mandibular fixation screws and
      heavy elastics. The bone grafts healed without complications with no evidence of
      ankylosis, nonunion, or resorption to date. For the most severe forms of
      craniofacial microsomia, costochondral grafting remains an effective initial
      technique for lengthening the hypoplastic mandible and providing a foundation for
      future distraction.

PMID- 27617816
TI  - Parry-Romberg Syndrome on a Major French Revolution Leader: Mirabeau, 1791.

PMID- 27617824
TI  - Coronary Stenting to Treat Dyspnea in a Patient With Severe Lung Disease: A
      Teachable Moment.

PMID- 27617823
TI  - Using Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI to Quantify the Pulmonary Ventilation
      Distribution.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Ventilation heterogeneity is impossible to detect with
      spirometry. Alternatively, pulmonary ventilation can be imaged three
      dimensionally using inhaled 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To date, such
      images have been quantified primarily based on ventilation defects. Here, we
      introduce a robust means to transform 129Xe MRI scans such that the underlying
      ventilation distribution and its heterogeneity can be quantified. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Quantitative 129Xe ventilation MRI was conducted in 12 younger (24.7 +/-
      5.2 years) and 10 older (62.2 +/- 7.2 years) healthy individuals, as well as in 9
      younger (25.9 +/- 6.4 yrs) and 10 older (63.2 +/- 6.1 years) asthmatics. The
      younger healthy population was used to establish a reference ventilation
      distribution and thresholds for six intensity bins. These bins were used to
      display and quantify the ventilation defect region (VDR), the low ventilation
      region (LVR), and the high ventilation region (HVR). RESULTS: The ventilation
      distribution in young subjects was roughly Gaussian with a mean and standard
      deviation of 0.52 +/- 0.18, resulting in VDR = 2.1 +/- 1.3%, LVR = 15.6 +/- 5.4%,
      and HVR = 17.4 +/- 3.1%. Older healthy volunteers exhibited a significantly right
      skewed distribution (0.46 +/- 0.20, P = 0.034), resulting in significantly
      increased VDR (7.0 +/- 4.8%, P = 0.008) and LVR (24.5 +/- 11.5%, P = 0.025). In
      the asthmatics, VDR and LVR increased in the older population, and HVR was
      significantly reduced (13.5 +/- 4.6% vs 18.9 +/- 4.5%, P = 0.009). Quantitative
      129Xe MRI also revealed altered ventilation heterogeneity in response to
      albuterol in two asthmatics with normal spirometry. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative
      129Xe MRI provides a robust and objective means to display and quantify the
      pulmonary ventilation distribution, even in subjects who have airway function
      impairment not appreciated by spirometry.

PMID- 27617829
TI  - Understanding Malnutrition of Tribal Children in India: The Role of Women's
      Empowerment.
AB  - Child malnutrition is considered to be the key risk factor for illness during
      adolescence and is responsible for about one-third of child deaths globally.
      Historically tribal communities have lagged behind the general population in
      terms of most socioeconomic aspects, and one such aspect is the nutritional
      status of children. The present study analyzes regional variations in child
      malnutrition and its association with women's empowerment in the tribal
      communities of India. The investigation is based on secondary data compiled from
      India's third National Family Health Survey (NFHS). Both bivariate and
      multivariate techniques were used to analyze data. We found a conditional inverse
      association between child malnutrition and women's empowerment in tribal
      communities. It is conditional in the sense that women's empowerment is effective
      when other factors supposed to influence nutritional status are proactive. Policy
      prescriptions are discussed.

PMID- 27617830
TI  - Electric Field Actuation of Tough Electroactive Hydrogels Cross-Linked by
      Functional Triblock Copolymer Micelles.
AB  - Multiresponsive polyelectrolyte hydrogels with extraordinary toughness have great
      potential in soft device applications. Previously we have demonstrated a series
      of tough and multiresponsive hydrogels by using multifunctional triblock
      copolymer (Pluronic F127 diacrylate, F127DA) micelles to cross-link cationic
      polyelectrolyte chains into 3D network. Herein, we further synthesize negatively
      charged hydrogels comprising 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propylsulfonic acid (AMPS)
      monomers by using F127DA micelles as cross-linkers. Similar to the positive
      nanomicelle (NM) hydrogels, the negative NM hydrogels exhibited a compressive
      strength up to 59 MPa with a fracture strain up to 98%, and tensile fracture
      strain higher than 2000%. These charged hydrogels were actuated by electric field
      when immersed in salt solutions. The effects of electrolyte concentration,
      electric field strength, and ionic monomer content on the electric actuation
      behavior of these electroactive hydrogels (EAHs) have been systematically
      investigated. It is concluded that the electroactive hydrogels show a fast
      actuation rate with a bending angle up to 87 degrees  at 120 s and the bending
      angle was cyclically reversed upon changing bias direction without a large
      decrease. This study demonstrates that such tough and multiresponsive
      electroactive hydrogels may have great potential in sensors, actuators, switches,
      and artificial muscles.

PMID- 27617831
TI  - Human Perceptions Mirror Realities of Carnivore Attack Risk for Livestock:
      Implications for Mitigating Human-Carnivore Conflict.
AB  - Human-carnivore conflict is challenging to quantify because it is shaped by both
      the realities and people's perceptions of carnivore threats. Whether perceptions
      align with realities can have implications for conflict mitigation: misalignments
      can lead to heightened and indiscriminant persecution of carnivores whereas
      alignments can offer deeper insights into human-carnivore interactions. We
      applied a landscape-scale spatial analysis of livestock killed by tigers and
      leopards in India to model and map observed attack risk, and surveyed owners of
      livestock killed by tigers and leopards for their rankings of threats across
      habitats to map perceived attack risk. Observed tiger risk to livestock was
      greatest near dense forests and at moderate distances from human activity while
      leopard risk was greatest near open vegetation. People accurately perceived
      spatial differences between tiger and leopard hunting patterns, expected greater
      threat in areas with high values of observed risk for both carnivores. Owners'
      perception of threats largely did not depend on environmental conditions
      surrounding their village (spatial location, dominant land-use or observed
      carnivore risk). Surveys revealed that owners who previously lost livestock to
      carnivores used more livestock protection methods than those who had no prior
      losses, and that owners who had recently lost livestock for the first time
      expressed greater interest in changing their protection methods than those who
      experienced prior losses. Our findings suggest that in systems where realities
      and perceptions of carnivore risk align, conservation programs and policies can
      optimize conservation outcomes by (1) improving the effectiveness of livestock
      protection methods and (2) working with owners who have recently lost livestock
      and are most willing to invest effort in adapting protection strategies to
      mitigate human-carnivore conflict. 

PMID- 27617833
TI  - Redescription of the Advertisement Call of Five Species of Thoropa (Anura,
      Cycloramphidae), Including Recordings of Rare and Endangered Species.
AB  - Frogs of the genus Thoropa comprise six endemic Brazilian species on the Eastern
      side of the country. Little is known about their natural history, especially
      about their acoustic communication. Therefore, aiming to provide an overview of
      their vocalizations, we analyzed and redescribed male advertisement calls of
      three living and two possibly extinct species. The smaller species, T.
      petropolitana and T. lutzi, produce simple calls (one single note) with a higher
      frequency range than the remaining larger ones. On the other hand, the larger
      species present complex calls, with more than one note: T. megatympanum calls
      have three notes, T. taophora calls have four notes, and T. miliaris calls varies
      from three to six notes. Population snout-vent length negatively correlated with
      peak of dominant frequency as expected. However, highlighted differences between
      two populations of T. lutzi, which could indicate need of further taxonomic
      evaluation of those lineages. Peculiar morphology, such as the absence of vocal
      sacs and slits, may have contributed to their call variation and highly banded
      frequency structure. If the observed population differences reflect species-level
      differences, T. lutzi may be classified as a critically endangered species, as T.
      petropolitana. Furthermore, we provided a suggestion to an unusual behavior in
      frogs: calling with the mouth open in the smaller species of the genus. 

PMID- 27617832
TI  - Dexmedetomidine Injection during Strabismus Surgery Reduces Emergence Agitation
      without Increasing the Oculocardiac Reflex in Children: A Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Dexmedetomidine is known to reduce the incidence of emergence
      agitation, which is a common complication after inhalational anesthesia like
      sevoflurane or desflurane in children. However, the dose of dexmedetomidine used
      for this purpose is reported variously and the most effective dose is not known.
      In this study, we tried to find the most effective dose of dexmedetomidine to
      reduce the incidence of emergence agitation in children undergoing strabismus
      surgery without the complications like oculocardiac reflex (OCR) or postoperative
      vomiting. METHODS: We randomized 103 pediatric patients aged 2-6 years and
      undergoing elective strabismus surgery into four groups. Anesthesia was induced
      with sevoflurane and maintained with desflurane. At the start of induction,
      dexmedetomidine, delivered at 0.25, 0.5, or 1 MUg/kg, or saline was infused
      intravenously in the D0.25, D0.5, D1 groups, respectively. The primary outcome
      measure was the incidence of emergence agitation and the secondary outcome
      measure was the incidence of intraoperative OCR, postoperative vomiting, and
      desaturation events. RESULTS: The incidence of emergence agitation was 60, 48,
      44, and 21% (P = 0.005) and the incidence of intraoperative OCR was 36, 36, 36,
      and 37% (P = 0.988) in the control, D0.25, D0.5, and D1 groups, respectively.
      And, postoperative vomiting rate and desaturation events were low in the all
      groups. CONCLUSION: Dexmedetomidine decreased the incidence of emergence
      agitation without increasing intraoperative oculocardiac reflex. Dexmedetomidine
      delivered at 1 MUg/kg was more effective at reducing emergence agitation than
      lower doses in children undergoing strabismus surgery under desflurane
      anesthesia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Research Information Service KCT0000141.

PMID- 27617834
TI  - Characterization of Potent SMAC Mimetics that Sensitize Cancer Cells to TNF
      Family-Induced Apoptosis.
AB  - Members of the Inhibitor of APoptosis (IAP) protein family suppress apoptosis
      within tumor cells, particularly in the context of immune cell-mediated killing
      by the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily cytokines. Most IAPs are opposed
      endogenously by the second mitochondrial activator of caspases (SMAC), which
      binds to selected baculovirus IAP repeat (BIR) domains of IAPs to displace
      interacting proteins. The development of SMAC mimetics as novel anticancer drugs
      has gained impetus, with several agents now in human clinical trials. To further
      understand the cellular mechanisms of SMAC mimetics, we focused on IAP family
      members cIAP1 and cIAP2, which are recruited to TNF receptor complexes where they
      support cell survival through NF-kappaB activation while suppressing apoptosis by
      preventing caspase activation. We established fluorescence polarization (FP)
      assays for the BIR2 and BIR3 domains of human cIAP1 and cIAP2 using fluorochrome
      conjugated SMAC peptides as ligands. A library of SMAC mimetics was profiled
      using the FP assays to provide a unique structure activity relationship (SAR)
      analysis compared to previous assessments of binding to XIAP. Potent compounds
      displayed mean inhibitory binding constants (Ki) of 9 to 27 nM against the BIR3
      domains of cIAP1 and cIAP2, respectively. Selected compounds were then
      characterized using cytotoxicity assays in which a cytokine-resistant human tumor
      cell line was sensitized to either TNF or lymphotoxin-alpha (LT-alpha).
      Cytotoxicity correlated closely with cIAP1 and cIAP2 BIR3 binding activity with
      the most potent compounds able to reduce cell viability by 50%. Further testing
      demonstrated that active compounds also inhibit RIP1 binding to BIR3 of cIAP1 and
      cIAP2 in vitro and reduce steady-state cIAP1 protein levels in cells. Altogether,
      these data inform the SAR for our SMAC mimetics with respect to cIAP1 and cIAP2,
      suggesting that these IAP family members play an important role in tumor cell
      resistance to cytotoxicity mediated by TNF and LT-alpha. 

PMID- 27617836
TI  - Correction: Costs and Cost-Effectiveness of Hypertension Screening and Treatment
      in Adults with Hypertension in Rural Nigeria in the Context of a Health Insurance
      Program.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157925.].

PMID- 27617835
TI  - Statistical Analysis of Tract-Tracing Experiments Demonstrates a Dense, Complex
      Cortical Network in the Mouse.
AB  - Anatomical tract tracing methods are the gold standard for estimating the weight
      of axonal connectivity between a pair of pre-defined brain regions. Large
      studies, comprising hundreds of experiments, have become feasible by automated
      methods. However, this comes at the cost of positive-mean noise making it
      difficult to detect weak connections, which are of particular interest as recent
      high resolution tract-tracing studies of the macaque have identified many more
      weak connections, adding up to greater connection density of cortical networks,
      than previously recognized. We propose a statistical framework that estimates
      connectivity weights and credibility intervals from multiple tract-tracing
      experiments. We model the observed signal as a log-normal distribution generated
      by a combination of tracer fluorescence and positive-mean noise, also accounting
      for injections into multiple regions. Using anterograde viral tract-tracing data
      provided by the Allen Institute for Brain Sciences, we estimate the connection
      density of the mouse intra-hemispheric cortical network to be 73% (95%
      credibility interval (CI): 71%, 75%); higher than previous estimates (40%). Inter
      hemispheric density was estimated to be 59% (95% CI: 54%, 62%). The weakest
      estimable connections (about 6 orders of magnitude weaker than the strongest
      connections) are likely to represent only one or a few axons. These extremely
      weak connections are topologically more random and longer distance than the
      strongest connections, which are topologically more clustered and shorter
      distance (spatially clustered). Weak links do not substantially contribute to the
      global topology of a weighted brain graph, but incrementally increased
      topological integration of a binary graph. The topology of weak anatomical
      connections in the mouse brain, rigorously estimable down to the biological limit
      of a single axon between cortical areas in these data, suggests that they might
      confer functional advantages for integrative information processing and/or they
      might represent a stochastic factor in the development of the mouse connectome.

PMID- 27617837
TI  - Perceived Symptom Experience in Head and Neck Cancer Patients with Lymphedema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphedema frequently develops as a long-term effect from cancer
      and/or its treatment, including head and neck cancer (HNC). There is a
      substantial lack of understanding regarding the symptoms and experiences related
      to head and neck lymphedema. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to
      explore HNC patients' experiences of lymphedema, with emphasis on physical
      findings and associated symptom burden. DESIGN: This was a qualitative,
      descriptive study. A purposive sample of 20 HNC patients who completed lymphedema
      therapy participated in semistructured, face-to-face interviews. Thematic content
      analysis was utilized to assess data. RESULTS: Participants delineated the time
      when lymphedema onset presented and the sites of involvement. Most participants
      first noticed external or internal lymphedema/swelling within three months
      following either surgery or radiation therapy. Participants described a broad
      array of concurrent symptoms and functional deficits, including altered
      sensations, altered functions, neck-shoulder musculoskeletal/skin impairments,
      and psychosocial symptoms. DISCUSSION: HNC patients experienced multiple physical
      and psychosocial symptoms during the time they experienced lymphedema.
      CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians need to inquire about tissue swelling and associated
      symptoms early in the post-treatment period to initiate lymphedema management
      strategies in a timely manner and facilitate reduction of long-term symptom
      burden and functional deficits.

PMID- 27617839
TI  - Impact of Fatigue on Maintenance of Upright Posture: Dynamic Assessment of
      Sagittal Spinal Deformity Parameters After Walking 10 Minutes.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. OBJECTIVE:
      To assess global and regional spinal sagittal radiographic parameters in adults
      with loss of lumbar lordosis ("flatback") before and after walking 10 minutes.
      SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: While routine activities of daily living may
      exacerbate functional disability of spinal sagittal-plane deformity, there is
      limited understanding of how sagittal parameters and compensatory mechanisms are
      affected by activity. METHODS: Consecutive adults with "flatback" at a single
      institution who previously had full-length standing spinal radiographs before and
      after walking 10 minutes were reviewed. Changes in spinal deformity sagittal
      parameters before and after walking were evaluated for two groups: Compensated
      Sagittal Deformity ("Compensated": sagittal vertical axis [SVA] <=4 cm and pelvic
      tilt [PT] >20 degrees ) and Decompensated Sagittal Deformity ("Decompensated":
      SVA>4 cm and PT>20 degrees ). Intra-group radiographic comparisons were performed
      with paired Student t tests. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-seven patients (143
      females, 14 males; average age 67.9 +/- 5.9 yr) met inclusion criteria. Initial
      average SVA was 1.7 +/- 1.2 cm for "Compensated" and 11.5 +/- 6.4 cm for
      "Decompensated." After walking 10 minutes, significant deteriorations in average
      SVA were observed for all "Decompensated" patients and 84.6% of "Compensated"
      patients. For both groups, this was accompanied by significant decreases in PT
      and LL and increases in PI-LL (P <0.01). Thoracic kyphosis increased after
      walking for only "Decompensated" (P <0.01). For "Compensated," the change in SVA
      was determined by decreases in PT and LL, while changes in SVA for
      "Decompensated" were correlated to worsening of all sagittal parameters.
      CONCLUSION: After walking, compensatory mechanisms to maintain sagittal balance
      in adults with spinal deformity are less pronounced than when the patient
      initially presents. This results in significant sagittal decompensation,
      irrespective of the initial SVA. As we postulate that loss of compensatory
      mechanisms is due to fatigue on pelvic and spinal extensor muscles, sagittal
      parameters can be re-evaluated with radiographs obtained after patients walk 10
      minutes to unmask a hidden sagittal imbalance in compensated deformities. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: 3.

PMID- 27617843
TI  - Synthesis of 2-Ethenylcyclopropyl Aryl Ketones via Intramolecular SN2-like
      Displacement of an Ester.
AB  - The efficient synthesis of trans-2-ethenylcyclopropyl aryl ketones via an
      intramolecular SN2-like displacement of an allylic ester is reported. A novel 1,5
      acyl shift process is also observed that contributes to the product mixture.
      Theoretical calculations provide a rationale for the observed product ratio.

PMID- 27617842
TI  - Anticonvulsant effect of argan oil on pilocarpine model induced status
      epilepticus in wistar rats.
AB  - Argan oil (AO) is rich in oleic and linoleic acids, polyphenols, sterols, and
      tocopherols. This composition gives it numerous beneficial pharmacological
      effects such as hypolipemiant, hypotensive, and antiproliferative. Oxidative
      stress is a mechanism of cell death induced by seizures and status epilepticus
      (SE). This study aims at investigating AO effects on (i) latency to first
      seizure, seizure severity, weight loss, mortality rate, (ii) lipid peroxidation
      level, nitrite level, and catalase activity in the hippocampus after SE induced
      by pilocarpine (PC). Wistar rats (1-month old) were daily administered by oral
      gavage with AO (1 ml/100 g/day) or with NaCl 0.9% during 2 months before
      receiving PC (400 mg/kg). After the PC injection, all groups were observed for 24
      h. The catalase activity, the lipid peroxidation, and nitrite concentrations were
      measured using spectrophotometric methods. AO pretreatment increased the latency
      to first seizures, decreased the weight loss, and reduced mortality rate after
      SE. AO pretreatment produces significant decrease of the lipid peroxidation and
      nitrite levels. On the contrary, AO increased the catalase activity in rat
      hippocampus after seizures. For the first time, our results suggest that AO
      pretreatment is capable of attenuating seizure severity and oxidative stress in
      the hippocampus of Wistar rats. This indicates that AO may exhibit a
      neuroprotection against the temporal lobe epilepsy. Further investigations are in
      progress to confirm this pharmacological property.

PMID- 27617840
TI  - Clinical and Biological Risk Factors for Neuropsychological Impairment in Alcohol
      Use Disorder.
AB  - The effects of alcoholism on cognitive and motor functioning are heterogeneous.
      While the role of some factors (patterns of alcohol consumption, eating habits or
      associated liver disease) has been hypothesized, the origins of this
      heterogeneity remain difficult to establish. The goals of the present study were
      thus to identify the clinical and biological risk factors for alcohol-related
      neuropsychological impairments and to determine the threshold beyond which these
      risk factors can be considered significant. Thirty alcoholic patients and 15
      healthy controls had a blood test and underwent a neuropsychological examination.
      Alcohol severity measures, and liver, thiamine and malnutrition variables, were
      included in logistic regression models to determine the risk factors for
      cognitive and motor impairments (executive functions, visuospatial abilities,
      verbal episodic memory, ataxia), as well as those related to the severity of
      patients' overall neuropsychological profile (moderate or severe impairments).
      Liver fibrosis was found to be a risk factor for executive impairments and also
      for ataxia, when it was associated with long-term alcohol misuse and symptoms of
      withdrawal. Altered thiamine metabolism was solely predictive of verbal episodic
      memory impairments. This combination of biological abnormalities was associated
      with a profile of moderate neuropsychological impairments. Malnutrition was
      associated with a profile of more severe impairments. Malnutrition, altered liver
      function and thiamine metabolism explain, at least partially, the heterogeneity
      of alcohol-related neuropsychological impairments. Our findings could allow
      clinicians to identify patients at particular risk of severe neuropsychological
      impairments before the onset of irreversible and debilitating neurological
      complications. 

PMID- 27617844
TI  - Neuropathic pain following traumatic spinal cord injury: Models, measurement, and
      mechanisms.
AB  - Neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) is notoriously difficult to
      treat and is a high priority for many in the SCI population. Resolving this issue
      requires animal models fidelic to the clinical situation in terms of injury
      mechanism and pain phenotype. This Review discusses the means by which
      neuropathic pain has been induced and measured in experimental SCI and compares
      these with human outcomes, showing that there is a substantial disconnection
      between experimental investigations and clinical findings in a number of
      features. Clinical injury level is predominantly cervical, whereas injury in the
      laboratory is modeled mainly at the thoracic cord. Neuropathic pain is primarily
      spontaneous or tonic in people with SCI (with a relatively smaller incidence of
      allodynia), but measures of evoked responses (to thermal and mechanical stimuli)
      are almost exclusively used in animals. There is even the question of whether
      pain per se has been under investigation in most experimental SCI studies rather
      than simply enhanced reflex activity with no affective component. This Review
      also summarizes some of the problems related to clinical assessment of
      neuropathic pain and how advanced imaging techniques may circumvent a lack of
      patient/clinician objectivity and discusses possible etiologies of neuropathic
      pain following SCI based on evidence from both clinical studies and animal
      models, with examples of cellular and molecular changes drawn from the entire
      neuraxis from primary afferent terminals to cortical sensory and affective
      centers. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27617845
TI  - Leveraging Industry-Academia Collaborations in Adaptive Biomedical Innovation.
AB  - Despite the rapid pace of biomedical innovation, research and development (R&D)
      productivity in the pharmaceutical industry has not improved broadly.
      Increasingly, firms need to leverage new approaches to product development and
      commercial execution, while maintaining adaptability to rapid changes in the
      marketplace and in biomedical science. Firms are also seeking ways to capture
      some of the talent, infrastructure, and innovation that depends on federal R&D
      investment. As a result, a major transition to external innovation is taking
      place across the industry. One example of these external innovation initiatives
      is the Sanofi-MIT Partnership, which provided seed funding to MIT investigators
      to develop novel solutions and approaches in areas of interest to Sanofi. These
      projects were highly collaborative, with information and materials flowing both
      ways. The relatively small amount of funding and short time frame of the awards
      built an adaptable and flexible process to advance translational science.

PMID- 27617846
TI  - Activity Profiles and the Associations With Weight Status in Population Studies
      of Young Children: Are There Gender Differences?
AB  - PURPOSE: Profiling activity behaviors in young children is important to
      understand changes in weight status over time. The purpose of this study is to
      identify activity profiles from self- and parental-reported Physical Activity
      (PA) and Sedentary Behavior (SB) variables by gender, and determine if the
      identified profiles are predictive of weight change from age 9-13 years. METHODS:
      Cluster analysis was used to generate activity profiles for the National
      Longitudinal Study of 8570 9-year-old children (Growing Up in Ireland). RESULTS:
      5.4% of boys were found to be obese. Four cohesive activity profiles were
      identified for boys, with 7.3% of boys in the least active group identified as
      obese compared with 4.1% in the most active group. The odds of a normal weight 9
      year-old boy in the least active profile becoming overweight or obese at age 13
      were over twice those in most active profile (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.9, 3.5). No
      coherent activity profiles were identified for girls. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      suggests that self- and parental-reported data can identify meaningful activity
      profiles for boys, which are predictive of weight changes over time. Future
      research should consider potential gender differences in self- and parental
      reported PA and SB variables.

PMID- 27617847
TI  - Automatic Detection of Pitching and Throwing Events in Baseball With Inertial
      Measurement Sensors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Throwing loads are known to be closely related to injury risk. However,
      for logistic reasons, typically only pitchers have their throws counted, and then
      only during innings. Accordingly, all other throws made are not counted, so
      estimates of throws made by players may be inaccurately recorded and
      underreported. A potential solution to this is the use of wearable
      microtechnology to automatically detect, quantify, and report pitch counts in
      baseball. This study investigated the accuracy of detection of baseball pitching
      and throwing in both practice and competition using a commercially available
      wearable microtechnology unit. METHODS: Seventeen elite youth baseball players
      (mean +/- SD age 16.5 +/- 0.8 y, height 184.1 +/- 5.5 cm, mass 78.3 +/- 7.7 kg)
      participated in this study. Participants performed pitching, fielding, and
      throwing during practice and competition while wearing a microtechnology unit.
      Sensitivity and specificity of a pitching and throwing algorithm were determined
      by comparing automatic measures (ie, microtechnology unit) with direct measures
      (ie, manually recorded pitching counts). RESULTS: The pitching and throwing
      algorithm was sensitive during both practice (100%) and competition (100%).
      Specificity was poorer during both practice (79.8%) and competition (74.4%).
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that the microtechnology unit is
      sensitive to detect pitching and throwing events, but further development of the
      pitching algorithm is required to accurately and consistently quantify throwing
      loads using microtechnology.

PMID- 27617849
TI  - Substrate-Assisted Catalysis in Polyketide Reduction Proceeds via a Phenolate
      Intermediate.
AB  - SimC7 is a polyketide ketoreductase involved in biosynthesis of the angucyclinone
      moiety of the gyrase inhibitor simocyclinone D8 (SD8). SimC7, which belongs to
      the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily, catalyzes reduction of
      the C-7 carbonyl of the angucyclinone, and the resulting hydroxyl is essential
      for antibiotic activity. SimC7 shares little sequence similarity with
      characterized ketoreductases, suggesting it might have a distinct mechanism. To
      investigate this possibility, we determined the structures of SimC7 alone, with
      NADP(+), and with NADP(+) and the substrate 7-oxo-SD8. These structures show that
      SimC7 is distinct from previously characterized polyketide ketoreductases,
      lacking the conserved catalytic triad, including the active-site tyrosine that
      acts as central acid-base catalyst in canonical SDR proteins. Taken together with
      functional analyses of active-site mutants, our data suggest that SimC7 catalyzes
      a substrate-assisted, two-step reaction for reduction of the C-7 carbonyl group
      involving intramolecular transfer of a substrate-derived proton to generate a
      phenolate intermediate. 

PMID- 27617850
TI  - Selective Covalent Targeting of Anti-Apoptotic BFL-1 by Cysteine-Reactive Stapled
      Peptide Inhibitors.
AB  - Anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family proteins block cell death by trapping the critical
      alpha-helical BH3 domains of pro-apoptotic members in a surface groove. Cancer
      cells hijack this survival mechanism by overexpressing a spectrum of anti
      apoptotic members, mounting formidable apoptotic blockades that resist
      chemotherapeutic treatment. Drugging the BH3-binding pockets of anti-apoptotic
      proteins has become a highest-priority goal, fueled by the clinical success of
      ABT-199, a selective BCL-2 inhibitor, in reactivating apoptosis in BCL-2
      dependent cancers. BFL-1 is a BCL-2 homolog implicated in melanoma, lymphoma, and
      other cancers, and remains undrugged. A natural juxtaposition of two unique
      cysteines at the binding interface of the NOXA BH3 helix and BFL-1 pocket
      informed the development of stapled BH3 peptides bearing acrylamide warheads to
      irreversibly inhibit BFL-1 by covalent targeting. Given the frequent proximity of
      native cysteines to regulatory binding surfaces, covalent stapled peptide
      inhibitors provide a new therapeutic strategy for targeting pathologic protein
      interactions. 

PMID- 27617852
TI  - National Quality Forum Colon Cancer Quality Metric Performance: How Are Hospitals
      Measuring Up?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of care at high-performing hospitals on the
      National Quality Forum (NQF) colon cancer metrics. BACKGROUND: The NQF endorses
      evaluating >=12 lymph nodes (LNs), adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) for stage III
      patients, and AC within 4 months of diagnosis as colon cancer quality indicators.
      Data on hospital-level metric performance and the association with survival are
      unclear. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of 218,186 patients with resected
      stage I to III colon cancer in the National Cancer Data Base (2004-2012). High
      performing hospitals (>75% achievement) were identified by the proportion of
      patients achieving each measure. The association between hospital performance and
      survival was evaluated using Cox shared frailty modeling. RESULTS: Only hospital
      LN performance improved (15.8% in 2004 vs 80.7% in 2012; trend test, P < 0.001),
      with 45.9% of hospitals performing well on all 3 measures concurrently in the
      most recent study year. Overall, 5-year survival was 75.0%, 72.3%, 72.5%, and
      69.5% for those treated at hospitals with high performance on 3, 2, 1, and 0
      metrics, respectively (log-rank, P < 0.001). Care at hospitals with high metric
      performance was associated with lower risk of death in a dose-response fashion [0
      metrics, reference; 1, hazard ratio (HR) 0.96 (0.89-1.03); 2, HR 0.92 (0.87
      0.98); 3, HR 0.85 (0.80-0.90); 2 vs 1, HR 0.96 (0.91-1.01); 3 vs 1, HR 0.89 (0.84
      0.93); 3 vs 2, HR 0.95 (0.89-0.95)]. Performance on metrics in combination was
      associated with lower risk of death [LN + AC, HR 0.86 (0.78-0.95); AC + timely
      AC, HR 0.92 (0.87-0.98); LN + AC + timely AC, HR 0.85 (0.80-0.90)], whereas
      individual measures were not [LN, HR 0.95 (0.88-1.04); AC, HR 0.95 (0.87-1.05)].
      CONCLUSIONS: Less than half of hospitals perform well on these NQF colon cancer
      metrics concurrently, and high performance on individual measures is not
      associated with improved survival. Quality improvement efforts should shift focus
      from individual measures to defining composite measures encompassing the overall
      multimodal care pathway and capturing successful transitions from one care
      modality to another.

PMID- 27617851
TI  - Chemical Targeting of a G-Quadruplex RNA in the Ebola Virus L Gene.
AB  - In the present study, our bioinformatics analysis first reveals the existence of
      a conserved guanine-rich sequence within the Zaire ebolavirus L gene. Using
      various methods, we show that this sequence tends to fold into G-quadruplex RNA.
      TMPyP4 treatment evidently inhibits L gene expression at the RNA level. Moreover,
      the mini-replicon assay demonstrates that TMPyP4 effectively inhibits the
      artificial Zaire ebolavirus mini-genome and is a more potent inhibitor than
      ribavirin. Although TMPyP4 treatment reduced the replication of the mutant mini
      genome when G-quadruplex formation was abolished in the L gene, its inhibitory
      effect was significantly alleviated compared with wild-type. Our findings thus
      provide the first evidence that G-quadruplex RNA is present in a negative-sense
      RNA virus. Finally, G-quadruplex RNA stabilization may represent a new
      therapeutic strategy against Ebola virus disease. 

PMID- 27617854
TI  - Reply to Letter: "Long-term Survival Based on the Surgical Approach to Lobectomy
      for Clinical Stage I Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer: Comparison of Robotic, Video
      assisted Thoracic Surgery, and Thoracotomy Lobectomy".

PMID- 27617853
TI  - Living or Brain-dead Donor Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A
      Multicenter, Western, Intent-to-treat Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An intent-to-treat analysis of overall survival (ITT-OS) of cirrhotic
      patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) listed for living donor liver
      transplantation (LDLT) or brain-dead donor liver transplantation (BDLT) across 5
      French liver transplant (LT) centers. BACKGROUND: Comparisons of HCC outcomes
      after LDLT and BDLT measured from time of transplantation have yielded
      conflicting results. METHODS: Records from 861 cirrhotic patients with HCC
      consecutively listed for either LDLT (n = 79) or BDLT (n = 782) from 2000 to 2009
      were analyzed for ITT-OS using a Cox model; and tumor recurrence using 2
      competitive risk models. RESULTS: Tumor staging was similar between groups. In
      total, 162 patients dropped out (20.7%), all from Group BDLT (P < 0.0001). The
      postoperative mortality rate and the retransplantation rate were similar between
      LDLT and BDLT. At 5 years, no statistically significant difference was found in
      ITT-OS between LDLT and BDLT groups (73.2% vs 66.7%; P = 0.062). LDLT waitlist
      inclusion (hazard ratio: 0.61 (0.39-0.96); P = 0.034) and a time-of-listing MELD
      score >= 25 (hazard ratio: 1.93 (1.15-3.26); P = 0.014) were independent
      predictors of ITT-OS. Similar 5-year post-LT OS rates (73.2% and 73.0% for Group
      LDLT and Group BDLT, respectively; P = 0.407) and HCC recurrence rates (10.9% and
      11.2% for Group LDLT and Group BDLT, respectively; P = 0.753) were found. Upon
      explant analysis, tumors exceeding the Milan criteria, macroscopic vascular
      invasion, and AFP score>2 were independent predictors of recurrence, whereas LT
      type was not. CONCLUSIONS: LDLT improves ITT-OS, and it is not a risk factor for
      tumor recurrence. Therefore, LDLT and BDLT should be equally encouraged in
      countries where both are available.

PMID- 27617855
TI  - Prognostic Significant or Not? The Positive Circumferential Resection Margin in
      Esophageal Cancer: Impact on Local Recurrence and Overall Survival in Patients
      Without Neoadjuvant Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the
      circumferential resection margin (CRM) in esophageal cancer on survival and
      recurrence in patients without pretreatment. BACKGROUND: Whereas the infiltration
      of the proximal or distal resection margin is associated with poor survival and
      higher recurrence, studies looking at the role of the circumferential resection
      margin on survival and local recurrence after esophagectomy are conflicting.
      METHODS: Influence of CRM infiltration according to the College of American
      Pathologists (CAP) and Royal College of Pathologists (RCP) on long-term survival
      of 180 patients with resected pT3 tumors and without neoadjuvant therapy was
      analyzed. RESULTS: A positive CRM was found in 76 (42.4%) patients according to
      RCP and 44 (24.4%) patients according to CAP. The CRM status had neither
      according to CAP nor according to RCP a significant impact on overall survival (P
      = 0.317 and 0.655, respectively), local recurrence (P = 0.716 and 0.900,
      respectively), or distant tumor relapse (P = 0.303 and 0.471,
      respectively).Lymphatic tumor spread found in 129 (71.7%) patients was an
      independent prognosticator (P = 0.002). In 137 (76.1%) patients who had a
      transthoracic esophagectomy a CRM infiltration was significantly lower according
      to CAP compared with 43 (23.9%) patients who had a transhiatal esophagectomy (P =
      0.026). CONCLUSIONS: CRM was found to have no impact on survival and recurrence
      in esophageal cancer. Therefore, the possible impact of neoadjuvant pretreatment
      in locally advanced tumors should be considered with caution in terms of an
      improved resectability.

PMID- 27617856
TI  - The Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Following Nonobstetric Surgery During
      Pregnancy: Estimates From a Retrospective Cohort Study of 6.5 Million
      Pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the risk of adverse birth
      outcomes for women who underwent nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy compared
      with those who did not. BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that nonobstetric
      surgery occurs during 1% to 2% of pregnancies. However, there is limited evidence
      quantifying risks to the mother or pregnancy of such surgery. METHODS: We
      examined maternity admissions using hospital administrative data collected
      between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2012, and identified pregnancies wherein
      nonobstetric surgery occurred. We used logistic regression models to determine
      the adjusted relative risk, attributable risk, and number needed to harm of
      nonobstetric surgical procedures for adverse birth outcomes. RESULTS: We
      identified 6,486,280 pregnancies. In 47,628 of these pregnancies, nonobstetric
      surgery had occurred. We found that nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy was
      associated with a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes, although the
      attributable risk was generally low. We estimated that every 287 surgical
      operations were associated with 1 additional stillbirth, every 31 operations
      associated with 1 additional preterm delivery, every 39 operations associated
      with 1 additional low birth weight baby, every 25 operations associated with 1
      additional caesarean section, and every 50 operations associated with 1
      additional long inpatient stay. CONCLUSIONS: Although we have no means of
      disentangling the effect of the surgery from the effect of the underlying
      condition, we found that the risk associated with nonobstetric surgery was
      relatively low, confirming that surgical procedures during pregnancy are
      generally safe. We believe that our findings improve upon previous research, and
      are useful reference points for any discussion of risk with prospective patients.

PMID- 27617857
TI  - The postdoctoral apprenticeship.
AB  - Much has been written already about whether the scientific machine is churning
      out too many PhDs and postdocs when there are a limited number of academic jobs
      and the competition for funding and space in competitive journals is intense. But
      gratifyingly, there exists a vast array of other scientific careers. We need to
      mentor and advise trainees about the diverse and rewarding professional
      opportunities that are available beyond the postdoctoral apprenticeship period.

PMID- 27617858
TI  - Aging promotes acquisition of naive-like CD8+ memory T cell traits and enhanced
      functionalities.
AB  - Protective T cell memory is an acquired trait that is contingent upon the
      preservation of its constituents and therefore vulnerable to the potentially
      deleterious effects of organismal aging. Here, however, we have found that long
      term T cell memory in a natural murine host-pathogen system can substantially
      improve over time. Comprehensive molecular, phenotypic, and functional profiling
      of aging antiviral CD8+ memory T cells (CD8+ TM) revealed a pervasive remodeling
      process that promotes the gradual acquisition of distinct molecular signatures,
      of increasingly homogeneous phenotypes, and of diversified functionalities that
      combine to confer a CD8+ TM-autonomous capacity for enhanced recall responses and
      immune protection. Notably, the process of CD8+ TM aging is characterized by a
      progressive harmonization of memory and naive T cell traits, is broadly amenable
      to experimental acceleration or retardation, and serves as a constitutional
      component for the "rebound model" of memory T cell maturation. By casting CD8+ TM
      populations within the temporal framework of their slowly evolving properties,
      this model establishes a simple ontogenetic perspective on the principal
      organization of CD8+ T cell memory that may directly inform the development of
      improved diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic modalities.

PMID- 27617859
TI  - Optogenetic defibrillation terminates ventricular arrhythmia in mouse hearts and
      human simulations.
AB  - Ventricular arrhythmias are among the most severe complications of heart disease
      and can result in sudden cardiac death. Patients at risk currently receive
      implantable defibrillators that deliver electrical shocks to terminate
      arrhythmias on demand. However, strong electrical shocks can damage the heart and
      cause severe pain. Therefore, we have tested optogenetic defibrillation using
      expression of the light-sensitive channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in cardiac
      tissue. Epicardial illumination effectively terminated ventricular arrhythmias in
      hearts from transgenic mice and from WT mice after adeno-associated virus-based
      gene transfer of ChR2. We also explored optogenetic defibrillation for human
      hearts, taking advantage of a recently developed, clinically validated in silico
      approach for simulating infarct-related ventricular tachycardia (VT). Our
      analysis revealed that illumination with red light effectively terminates VT in
      diseased, ChR2-expressing human hearts. Mechanistically, we determined that the
      observed VT termination is due to ChR2-mediated transmural depolarization of the
      myocardium, which causes a block of voltage-dependent Na+ channels throughout the
      myocardial wall and interrupts wavefront propagation into illuminated tissue.
      Thus, our results demonstrate that optogenetic defibrillation is highly effective
      in the mouse heart and could potentially be translated into humans to achieve
      nondamaging and pain-free termination of ventricular arrhythmia.

PMID- 27617860
TI  - Interruption of progerin-lamin A/C binding ameliorates Hutchinson-Gilford
      progeria syndrome phenotype.
AB  - Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic
      disease that is caused by a silent mutation of the LMNA gene encoding lamins A
      and C (lamin A/C). The G608G mutation generates a more accessible splicing donor
      site than does WT and produces an alternatively spliced product of LMNA called
      progerin, which is also expressed in normal aged cells. In this study, we
      determined that progerin binds directly to lamin A/C and induces profound nuclear
      aberrations. Given this observation, we performed a random screening of a
      chemical library and identified 3 compounds (JH1, JH4, and JH13) that efficiently
      block progerin-lamin A/C binding. These 3 chemicals, particularly JH4, alleviated
      nuclear deformation and reversed senescence markers characteristic of HGPS cells,
      including growth arrest and senescence-associated beta-gal (SA-beta-gal)
      activity. We then used microarray-based analysis to demonstrate that JH4 is able
      to rescue defects of cell-cycle progression in both HGPS and aged cells.
      Furthermore, administration of JH4 to LmnaG609G/G609G-mutant mice, which
      phenocopy human HGPS, resulted in a marked improvement of several progeria
      phenotypes and an extended lifespan. Together, these findings indicate that
      specific inhibitors with the ability to block pathological progerin-lamin A/C
      binding may represent a promising strategy for improving lifespan and health in
      both HGPS and normal aging.

PMID- 27617861
TI  - NLRC4 suppresses melanoma tumor progression independently of inflammasome
      activation.
AB  - Members of the NLR family can assemble inflammasome complexes with the adaptor
      protein ASC and caspase-1 that result in the activation of caspase-1 and the
      release of IL-1beta and IL-18. Although the NLRC4 inflammasome is known to have a
      protective role in tumorigenesis, there is an increased appreciation for the
      inflammasome-independent actions of NLRC4. Here, we utilized a syngeneic
      subcutaneous murine model of B16F10 melanoma to explore the role of NLRC4 in
      tumor suppression. We found that NLRC4-deficient mice exhibited enhanced tumor
      growth that was independent of the inflammasome components ASC and caspase-1.
      Nlrc4 expression was critical for cytokine and chemokine production in tumor
      associated macrophages and was necessary for the generation of protective IFN
      gamma-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Tumor progression was diminished when WT
      or caspase-1-deficient, but not NLRC4-deficient, macrophages were coinjected with
      B16F10 tumor cells in NLRC4-deficient mice. Finally, examination of human primary
      melanomas revealed the extensive presence of NLRC4+ tumor-associated macrophages.
      In contrast, there was a paucity of NLRC4+ tumor-associated macrophages observed
      in human metastatic melanoma, supporting the concept that NLRC4 expression
      controls tumor growth. These results reveal a critical role for NLRC4 in
      suppressing tumor growth in an inflammasome-independent manner.

PMID- 27617862
TI  - COUP-TFII regulates satellite cell function and muscular dystrophy.
AB  - Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe and progressive muscle-wasting
      disease caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Although dystrophin
      deficiency in myofiber triggers the disease's pathological changes, the degree of
      satellite cell (SC) dysfunction defines disease progression. Here, we have
      identified chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP
      TFII) hyperactivity as a contributing factor underlying muscular dystrophy in a
      dystrophin-deficient murine model of DMD. Ectopic expression of COUP-TFII in
      murine SCs led to Duchenne-like dystrophy in the muscles of control animals and
      exacerbated degenerative myopathies in dystrophin-deficient mice. COUP-TFII
      overexpressing mice exhibited regenerative failure that was attributed to
      deficient SC proliferation and myoblast fusion. Mechanistically, we determined
      that COUP-TFII coordinated a regenerative program through combined regulation of
      multiple promyogenic factors. Furthermore, inhibition of COUP-TFII preserved SC
      function and counteracted the muscle weakness associated with Duchenne-like
      dystrophy in the murine model, suggesting that targeting COUP-TFII is a potential
      treatment for DMD. Together, our findings reveal a regulatory role of COUP-TFII
      in the development of muscular dystrophy and open up a potential therapeutic
      opportunity for managing disease progression in patients with DMD.

PMID- 27617864
TI  - Imaging Energy Transfer in Pt-Decorated Au Nanoprisms via Electron Energy-Loss
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - Driven by the desire to understand energy transfer between plasmonic and
      catalytic metals for applications such as plasmon-mediated catalysis, we examine
      the spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectra (EELS) of both pure Au
      nanoprisms and Pt-decorated Au nanoprisms. The EEL spectra and the resulting
      surface-plasmon mode maps reveal detailed near-field information on the coupling
      and energy transfer in these systems, thereby elucidating the underlying
      mechanism of plasmon-driven chemical catalysis in mixed-metal nanostructures.
      Through a combination of experiment and theory we demonstrate that although the
      location of the Pt decoration greatly influences the plasmons of the nanoprism,
      simple spatial proximity is not enough to induce significant energy transfer from
      the Au to the Pt. What matters more is the spectral overlap between the intrinsic
      plasmon resonances of the Au nanoprism and Pt decoration, which can be tuned by
      changing the composition or morphology of either component.

PMID- 27617863
TI  - ABC transporters and NR4A1 identify a quiescent subset of tissue-resident memory
      T cells.
AB  - Immune surveillance in tissues is mediated by a long-lived subset of tissue
      resident memory T cells (Trm cells). A putative subset of tissue-resident long
      lived stem cells is characterized by the ability to efflux Hoechst dyes and is
      referred to as side population (SP) cells. Here, we have characterized a subset
      of SP T cells (Tsp cells) that exhibit a quiescent (G0) phenotype in humans and
      mice. Human Trm cells in the gut and BM were enriched in Tsp cells that were
      predominantly in the G0 stage of the cell cycle. Moreover, in histone 2B-GFP
      mice, the 2B-GFP label was retained in Tsp cells, indicative of a slow-cycling
      phenotype. Human Tsp cells displayed a distinct gene-expression profile that was
      enriched for genes overexpressed in Trm cells. In mice, proteins encoded by Tsp
      signature genes, including nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (NR4A1)
      and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, influenced the function and
      differentiation of Trm cells. Responses to adoptive transfer of human Tsp cells
      into immune-deficient mice and plerixafor therapy suggested that human Tsp cell
      mobilization could be manipulated as a potential cellular therapy. These data
      identify a distinct subset of human T cells with a quiescent/slow-cycling
      phenotype, propensity for tissue enrichment, and potential to mobilize into
      circulation, which may be harnessed for adoptive cellular therapy.

PMID- 27617865
TI  - Parkinson's disease in Jordan: Barriers and motivators to exercise.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perceived barriers to engaging in exercise in people with Parkinson's
      disease (PD) are becoming more defined in countries such as the UK and the US.
      This, however, may vary by culture and environment. This study aimed to explore
      the perceptions of exercise and barriers that may affect participation in people
      with PD from Jordan. METHODS: Two focus groups and seven individual interviews
      were conducted with people with PD. Additionally, individual interviews were
      conducted with two neurologists. Conversations were digitally recorded and
      transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis and validated via
      researcher triangulation and peer checking. RESULTS: Most of the PD participants
      lacked previous participation in any disease-specific exercises. Several barriers
      were perceived by PD participants for such lack of participation. Barriers
      included difficulty of diagnosis, lack of informational support provided by
      neurologists, lack of referral to physiotherapy services, disease-specific
      issues, and setting-related issues. Neurologists indicated a number of barriers
      in counseling their PD patients on exercise including lack of time and lack of
      health system resources. Motivators to participate in future exercise included
      outcome expectations and family support. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the study shed
      light into large areas of unmet needs of supporting exercise and physiotherapy
      for people with PD in developing countries as per Jordan. For better patient
      outcomes, findings of the study suggest that it is crucial to raise awareness
      among all PD-related stakeholders on the benefits of early referrals to
      physiotherapy and early engagement in exercise programs.

PMID- 27617866
TI  - Size effects of solvent molecules on the phase behavior and effective interaction
      of colloidal systems with the bridging attraction.
AB  - There has been much recent research interest towards understanding the phase
      behavior of colloidal systems interacting with a bridging attraction, where the
      small solvent particles and large solute colloidal particles can be reversibly
      associated with each other. These systems show interesting phase behavior
      compared to the more widely studied depletion attraction systems. Here, we use
      Baxter's two-component sticky hard sphere model with a Percus-Yevick closure to
      solve the Ornstein-Zernike equation and study the size effect on colloidal
      systems with bridging attractions. The spinodal decomposition regions,
      percolation transition boundaries and binodal regions are systematically
      investigated as a function of the relative size of the small solvent and large
      solute particles as well as the attraction strength between the small and large
      particles. In the phase space determined by the concentrations of small and large
      particles, the spinodal and binodal regions form isolated islands. The locations
      and shapes of the spinodal and binodal regions sensitively depend on the relative
      size of the small and large particles and the attraction strength between them.
      The percolation region shrinks by decreasing the size ratio, while the binodal
      region slightly expands with the decrease of the size ratio. Our results are very
      important in understanding the phase behavior for a bridging attraction colloidal
      system, a model system that provides insight into oppositely charged colloidal
      systems, protein phase behavior, and colloidal gelation mechanisms.

PMID- 27617867
TI  - A novel infusion-drainage device to assess lower urinary tract function in neuro
      imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the applicability and precision of a novel infusion
      drainage device (IDD) for standardized filling paradigms in neuro-urology and
      functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of lower urinary tract (LUT)
      function/dysfunction. SUBJECTS/PATIENTS AND METHODS: The IDD is based on
      electrohydrostatic actuation which was previously proven feasible in a prototype
      setup. The current design includes hydraulic cylinders and a motorized slider to
      provide force and motion. Methodological aspects have been assessed in a
      technical application laboratory as well as in healthy subjects (n=33) and
      patients with LUT dysfunction (n=3) undergoing fMRI during bladder stimulation.
      After catheterization, the bladder was pre-filled until a persistent desire to
      void was reported by each subject. The scan paradigm comprised automated,
      repetitive bladder filling and withdrawal of 100 mL body warm (37  degrees C)
      saline, interleaved with rest and sensation rating. Neuroimaging data were
      analysed using Statistical Parametric Mapping version 12 (SMP12). RESULTS: Volume
      delivery accuracy was between 99.1+/-1.2% and 99.9+/-0.2%, for different flow
      rates and volumes. Magnetic resonance (MR) compatibility was demonstrated by a
      small decrease in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), i.e. 1.13% for anatomical and
      0.54% for functional scans, and a decrease of 1.76% for time-variant SNR.
      Automated, repetitive bladder-filling elicited robust (P = 0.05, family-wise
      error corrected) brain activity in areas previously reported to be involved in
      supraspinal LUT control. There was a high synchronism between the LUT stimulation
      and the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes in such areas.
      CONCLUSION: We were able to develop an MR-compatible and MR-synchronized IDD to
      routinely stimulate the LUT during fMRI in a standardized manner. The device
      provides LUT stimulation at high system accuracy resulting in significant
      supraspinal BOLD signal changes in interoceptive and LUT control areas in
      synchronicity to the applied stimuli. The IDD is commercially available, portable
      and multi-configurable. Such a device may help to improve precision and
      standardization of LUT tasks in neuro-imaging studies on supraspinal LUT control,
      and may therefore facilitate multi-site studies and comparability between
      different LUT investigations in the future.

PMID- 27617868
TI  - Predictability and Vector Analysis of Laser In Situ Keratomileusis for Residual
      Errors in Eyes Implanted With Different Multifocal Intraocular Lenses.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate potential differences in predictability, efficacy, and
      safety of corneal excimer laser to correct residual myopia, hyperopia, and
      astigmatism in eyes previously implanted with multifocal intraocular lenses using
      distinct optical surfaces and platforms for multifocality. METHODS: This
      prospective comparative study included 37 eyes submitted to laser in situ
      keratomileusis correction for residual errors after implantation of either an
      apodized diffractive-refractive (Restor) or a full-diffractive (Tecnis)
      multifocal intraocular lens. Data analysis included investigation of
      predictability, efficacy, and safety of excimer laser surgery to correct residual
      errors. A double-angle plot, using vector analysis, was also created to evaluate
      predictability of astigmatism correction. RESULTS: At 6-month follow-up,
      statistical analyses revealed a significant improvement when comparing
      preoperative (0.51 +/- 0.25 and 0.44 +/- 0.18) and postoperative values (0.17 +/-
      0.10 and 0.09 +/- 0.07) of uncorrected distance visual acuity (P < 0.0001 and
      <0.0001), preoperative (0.92 +/- 0.61 and 1.02 +/- 0.45) and postoperative values
      (0.33 +/- 0.23 and 0.19 +/- 0.17) of manifest refractive spherical equivalent (P
      = 0.0006 and <0.0001), and preoperative (-1.08 +/- 0.70 and -0.65 +/- 0.42) and
      postoperative values (-0.25 +/- 0.28 and -0.14 +/- 0.21) of astigmatism (P <
      0.0001 and <0.0001) in eyes implanted with Restor and Tecnis, respectively.
      Vector analysis revealed a predictable correction of astigmatism in all groups.
      Ninety-two percent of total eyes achieved a manifest refractive spherical
      equivalent within +/-0.5 of emmetropia. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal excimer laser
      refractive surgery seems to be equally effective to correct different residual
      errors, including astigmatism, in eyes implanted with intraocular lenses with
      various platforms for multifocality.

PMID- 27617869
TI  - Evaluation of Serum Superoxide Dismutase Activity, Malondialdehyde, and Zinc and
      Copper Levels in Patients With Keratoconus.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between
      antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) as
      a lipid peroxidation marker, and some trace elements such as zinc (Zn) and copper
      (Cu) levels in patients with keratoconus. METHODS: A total of 58 patients with
      keratoconus and 53 control subjects with similar age and sex were evaluated in
      this study. The modified Krumeich keratoconus classification was used to divide
      the patients into 4 stages. Serum SOD activity, MDA, and zinc and copper levels
      were compared between the patient and control groups. RESULTS: The median serum
      SOD activity, MDA, and Zn and Cu levels were 27.2 (42.4-13.7) U/mL, 10.2 (11.9
      8.5) nmol/mL, 87.9 (104.6-76.5) MUmol/L, and 103.2 (117.9-90.3) MUmol/L in the
      keratoconus group and 26.2 (32.5-14.4) U/mL, 8.8 (11.4-7.1) nmol/mL, 100.5 (121.1
      81.8) MUmol/L, and 98.4 (120.3-83.4) MUmol/L in the control group, respectively.
      There was a statistically significant difference between the MDA and Zn levels of
      the keratoconus group and control subjects but not between the respective SOD
      activities or Cu levels (P = 0.016, P = 0.031, P = 0.440, and P = 0.376,
      respectively). We found no significant difference between the keratoconus group
      stages for serum SOD activity, serum MDA, and Zn and Cu levels (P > 0.05), and
      there was also no significant correlation between the keratoconus group stages
      and serum SOD activity, serum MDA, and Zn and Cu levels (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      There is imbalance in the systemic oxidant/antioxidant status where Zn deficiency
      also plays a role in patients with keratoconus.

PMID- 27617870
TI  - Surgical Management of Limbal Dermoids Using Anterior Corneal Buttons From
      Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty Donor Tissue as Patch
      Grafts.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the surgical and clinical outcomes of anterior lamellar
      keratoplasty using anterior corneal buttons from Descemet stripping automated
      endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) donor tissue. METHODS: Retrospective data from 8
      patients with unilateral limbal dermoids, treated between February 2011 and
      January 2016 at National Taiwan University Hospital, were analyzed. Donor corneas
      for DSAEK were divided into anterior and posterior lamellae using a 350-MUm
      microkeratome. Anterior corneal buttons were stored for up to 4 weeks in storage
      media before being used as patch grafts for anterior lamellar keratoplasty.
      RESULTS: Corneoscleral integrity was preserved in all cases. Three of the 8
      patients showed improved best-corrected visual acuity after surgery. Three
      patients' astigmatism reduced by more than 0.75 diopters. All 8 patients had
      satisfactory cosmesis after surgery. Neovascularization at the graft-host
      junction and graft edema was noted in 1 patient and was treated using bevacizumab
      injection and topical steroid. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior corneal buttons obtained
      from DSAEK can be used as patch grafts for surgical management of limbal
      dermoids. This procedure achieved satisfactory cosmetic and visual outcomes in
      our study. This procedure may potentially allow one corneal tissue to be received
      by multiple patients.

PMID- 27617871
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27617872
TI  - Sex Chromosome Analysis of Postmortem Corneal Endothelium After Sex-Mismatch
      Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the origin of corneal endothelial cells (host or donor)
      present on grafts at various time points after Descemet membrane endothelial
      keratoplasty (DMEK), using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of sex
      chromosomes on post mortem corneas with sex mismatch between the donor and host.
      METHODS: Corneoscleral buttons of 6 post mortem DMEK eyes of 4 patients, operated
      for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy, with an average postoperative time of 2.6 (+/
      1.8) years (range, 7 months-4.5 years), of 2.5 (+/-1.7) years (range, 7 months-4
      years), were processed for FISH detection of XX (female) or XY (male)-labeling
      signals in corneal endothelial cells in the central area of the DMEK graft. Two
      male patients underwent bilateral DMEK with grafts from female donors, and 2
      female patients underwent unilateral DMEK and received a graft from a male donor.
      RESULTS: FISH consistently showed the presence of donor endothelial cells across
      the graft area, with signaling of sex chromosomes opposite to the sex of the
      host. CONCLUSIONS: Donor endothelial cells may survive up to 4.5 years after
      DMEK. If so, the lower incidence of allograft rejection in DMEK may not be
      explained by early host cell replacement. Potential host cell migration may be
      limited by donor/recipient cell-cell contact inhibition.

PMID- 27617873
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27617874
TI  - Visualization of Tear Clearance Using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence
      Tomography and Polymethylmethacrylate Particles.
AB  - We previously reported 2 new methods, anterior segment optical coherence
      tomography (AS-OCT) and polymethylmethacrylate particles suspended in fluorescein
      solution (PPF), for the evaluation of tear clearance and rapid tear flow after
      blinking (tear Krehbiel flow). Here, we investigated age-related OCT tear
      clearance and tear film thickness (TFT) and the potential correlation of OCT tear
      clearance and PPF velocity indicative of tear Krehbiel flow. Normal subjects
      separated into young and older groups received 5 MUL of saline solution into the
      lower conjunctival sac, and an image of the central lower eyelid tear meniscus
      was captured by AS-OCT immediately and 30 seconds after natural blinking. Tear
      meniscus height (TMH) and tear meniscus area (TMA) were measured, and their
      percentage decrease was defined as OCT clearance rate. A Spectralis OCT Anterior
      Segment Module captured the central corneal tear film layer for TFT measurements.
      OCT clearance rates were significantly higher in young versus older subjects (P =
      0.0002). When all subjects were analyzed, age was significantly and negatively
      correlated with TMH clearance rate (r = -0.4928, P = 0.0003) and TMA clearance
      rate (r = -0.4596, P = 0.0008). TFT values were significantly and negatively
      correlated with age (r = -0.6662, P < 0.0001). A second experiment examined tear
      Krehbiel flow by measuring PPF velocity in frontal and medial gaze positions. The
      medial gaze position showed significantly increased PPF velocity compared with
      the frontal gaze position (P = 0.006). Significant and positive correlations were
      found between OCT clearance rates and PPF velocity (TMH rate: r = 0.2926, P =
      0.0392; TMA rate: r = 0.3274, P = 0.0205). AS-OCT and PPF might be novel
      techniques for quantitative evaluation of tear clearance and Krehbiel flow.

PMID- 27617875
TI  - Applications of Biomaterials in Corneal Endothelial Tissue Engineering.
AB  - When corneal endothelial cells (CECs) are diseased or injured, corneal
      endothelium can be surgically removed and tissue from a deceased donor can
      replace the original endothelium. Recent major innovations in corneal endothelial
      transplantation include replacement of diseased corneal endothelium with a thin
      lamellar posterior donor comprising a tissue-engineered endothelium carried or
      cultured on a thin substratum with an organized monolayer of cells. Repairing
      CECs is challenging because they have restricted proliferative ability in vivo.
      CECs can be cultivated in vitro and seeded successfully onto natural tissue
      materials or synthetic polymeric materials as grafts for transplantation. The
      optimal biomaterials for substrata of CEC growth are being investigated.
      Establishing a CEC culture system by tissue engineering might require multiple
      biomaterials to create a new scaffold that overcomes the disadvantages of single
      biomaterials. Chitosan and polycaprolactone are biodegradable biomaterials
      approved by the Food and Drug Administration that have superior biological,
      degradable, and mechanical properties for culturing substratum. We successfully
      hybridized chitosan and polycaprolactone into blended membranes, and demonstrated
      that CECs proliferated, developed normal morphology, and maintained their
      physiological phenotypes. The interaction between cells and biomaterials is
      important in tissue engineering of CECs. We are still optimizing culture methods
      for the maintenance and differentiation of CECs on biomaterials.

PMID- 27617876
TI  - "Toward a Bright Future for Corneal Research and Practice in Japan and Abroad,"
      21st Annual Meeting of the Kyoto Cornea Club, November 27 and 28, 2015.

PMID- 27617878
TI  - Synthesis and anthelmintic activity of coumarin-imidazole hybrid derivatives
      against Dactylogyrus intermedius in goldfish.
AB  - With an intention to find more potent anti-parasite agents, four bromoalkane
      substituted coumarin derivatives (1-4) and twenty coumarin-imidazole hybrid
      derivatives were synthesized and screened for their anthelmintic activity and the
      acute toxicity. Anti-parasites results confirmed that most coumarin derivatives
      retained their anthelmintic activity against Dactylogyrus intermedius at the dose
      range from 1 to 10mg/L. Among the candidates, compound 23 showed the best
      anthelmintic activity than other compounds against D. intermedius infestation
      with EC50 value of 0.85mg/L. The structure-activity relationship analysis
      confirmed that the anthelmintic activities of derivatives were determined by the
      length of 'linker' (R1substitute position) and the substitute group in R2
      position. The active data confirmed that six carbon atoms length of 'linker' and
      benzimidazole substitute group can increased the anthelmintic activity of
      compound, significantly. On the basis of these results, compound 23 can be used
      as a potential lead compound for the development of commercial drug against D.
      intermedius.

PMID- 27617879
TI  - Common Sense: Use All Proven Pain Methods in a Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent
      Opioid Abuse.

PMID- 27617877
TI  - Bilateral Alterations in Corneal Nerves, Dendritic Cells, and Tear Cytokine
      Levels in Ocular Surface Disease.
AB  - This review summarizes the recent literature regarding corneal imaging in human
      subjects using in vivo confocal microscopy. It also covers the recent literature
      on corneal immune cells, nerves, and tear cytokine levels in ocular surface
      diseases as well as corneal immune privilege. The significance of interactions
      between corneal immune cells and nerves in health, neurotrophic keratopathy, and
      infectious keratitis is discussed. Furthermore, bilateral alterations of immune
      cells and nerves in clinically unilateral corneal diseases and the link to
      changes of tear cytokines or neuropeptide levels in contralateral eyes are
      described. Recent studies reported increased density and morphologic changes of
      corneal dendritic cells in ocular surface disease that correlated with a decrease
      in subbasal nerve and corneal nerve density, suggesting potential interactions
      between the immune and nervous systems in the cornea. Although the relevance of
      tear cytokines is poorly understood, tear cytokines might have an important role
      in the pathogenesis of ocular surface diseases. In humans and experimental animal
      models, alterations in immune cells, cytokines, and immunomodulatory neuropeptide
      levels in contralateral eyes might mediate the incidence of bilateral infectious
      keratitis and loss of immune privilege of the cornea in bilateral corneal
      transplantation or neurotrophic keratopathy cases. The discovery of bilateral
      alterations of immune cells and nerves in ocular surface diseases is considered
      the missing link between the immune and nervous systems in the cornea, and
      demonstrates how studies of animal models and humans aid our understanding of
      human corneal disease phenomena.

PMID- 27617880
TI  - Multiscale Characterization of Engineered Cardiac Tissue Architecture.
AB  - In a properly contracting cardiac muscle, many different subcellular structures
      are organized into an intricate architecture. While it has been observed that
      this organization is altered in pathological conditions, the relationship between
      length-scales and architecture has not been properly explored. In this work, we
      utilize a variety of architecture metrics to quantify organization and
      consistency of single structures over multiple scales, from subcellular to tissue
      scale as well as correlation of organization of multiple structures.
      Specifically, as the best way to characterize cardiac tissues, we chose the
      orientational and co-orientational order parameters (COOPs). Similarly, neonatal
      rat ventricular myocytes were selected for their consistent architectural
      behavior. The engineered cells and tissues were stained for four architectural
      structures: actin, tubulin, sarcomeric z-lines, and nuclei. We applied the
      orientational metrics to cardiac cells of various shapes, isotropic cardiac
      tissues, and anisotropic globally aligned tissues. With these novel tools, we
      discovered: (1) the relationship between cellular shape and consistency of self
      assembly; (2) the length-scales at which unguided tissues self-organize; and (3)
      the correlation or lack thereof between organization of actin fibrils, sarcomeric
      z-lines, tubulin fibrils, and nuclei. All of these together elucidate some of the
      current mysteries in the relationship between force production and architecture,
      while raising more questions about the effect of guidance cues on self-assembly
      function. These types of metrics are the future of quantitative tissue
      engineering in cardiovascular biomechanics.

PMID- 27617881
TI  - FSees: Customized Enumeration of Chemical Subspaces with Limited Main Memory
      Consumption.
AB  - In the search for new marketable drugs, new ideas are required constantly.
      Particularly with regard to challenging targets and previously patented chemical
      space, designing novel molecules is crucial. This demands efficient and
      innovative computational tools to generate libraries of promising molecules. Here
      we present an efficient method to generate such libraries by systematically
      enumerating all molecules in a specific chemical space. This space is defined by
      a fragment space and a set of user-defined physicochemical properties (e.g.,
      molecular weight, tPSA, number of H-bond donors and acceptors, or predicted
      logP). In order to enumerate a very large number of molecules, our algorithm uses
      file-based data structures instead of memory-based ones, thus overcoming the
      limitations of computer main memory. The resulting chemical library can be used
      as a starting point for computational lead-finding technologies, like similarity
      searching, pharmacophore mapping, docking, or virtual screening. We applied the
      algorithm in different scenarios, thus creating numerous target-specific
      libraries. Furthermore, we generated a fragment space from all approved drugs in
      DrugBank and enumerated it with lead-like constraints, thus generating 0.5
      billion molecules in the molecular weight range 250-350.

PMID- 27617883
TI  - Neurocognitive functioning in children with developmental dyslexia and attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Multiple deficits and diagnostic accuracy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the neurocognitive functioning of
      children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD). METHOD: Four groups of children between the ages of 8 and 10
      years participated in the study: typically developing children (TDC; N = 34),
      children with DD-only (N = 32), children with ADHD-only (N = 32), and children
      with DD+ADHD (N = 18). RESULTS: Children with DD and ADHD exhibited significant
      weaknesses on almost all neurocognitive measures compared with TDC. Large effect
      sizes were observed for naming speed and phonological awareness. The comorbid
      group showed deficits consistent with both DD and ADHD without additional
      impairments. Results from binary logistic regression and receiver-operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve analyses suggested that some neurocognitive measures
      revealed an adequate sensitivity for the clinical diagnosis of both
      neurodevelopmental disorders. Specifically, naming speed and phonological
      awareness were the strongest predictors to correctly discriminate both disorders.
      CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the results lend support to the multiple cognitive
      deficit hypothesis showing a considerable overlap of neurocognitive deficits
      between both disorders.

PMID- 27617884
TI  - The Relationship Between Speech Production and Speech Perception Deficits in
      Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Purpose: This study investigated the possible relationship between hypokinetic
      speech production and speech intensity perception in patients with Parkinson's
      disease (PD). Method: Participants included 14 patients with idiopathic PD and 14
      matched healthy controls (HCs) with normal hearing and cognition. First, speech
      production was objectified through a standardized speech intelligibility
      assessment, acoustic analysis, and speech intensity measurements. Second, an
      overall estimation task and an intensity estimation task were addressed to
      evaluate overall speech perception and speech intensity perception, respectively.
      Finally, correlation analysis was performed between the speech characteristics of
      the overall estimation task and the corresponding acoustic analysis. The
      interaction between speech production and speech intensity perception was
      investigated by an intensity imitation task. Results: Acoustic analysis and
      speech intensity measurements demonstrated significant differences in speech
      production between patients with PD and the HCs. A different pattern in the
      auditory perception of speech and speech intensity was found in the PD group.
      Conclusions: Auditory perceptual deficits may influence speech production in
      patients with PD. The present results suggest a disturbed auditory perception
      related to an automatic monitoring deficit in PD.

PMID- 27617885
TI  - Corrigendum to "Cortical thickness and VBM in young women at risk for familial
      depression and their depressed mothers with positive family history" [Psychiatry
      Res.: Neuroimaging 252 (2016) 1-9].

PMID- 27617886
TI  - Probing the Photosensitizing and Inhibitory Effects of Dissolved Organic Matter
      by Using N,N-dimethyl-4-cyanoaniline (DMABN).
AB  - Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can act as a photosensitizer and an inhibitor in
      the phototransformation of several nitrogen-containing organic contaminants in
      surface waters. The present study was performed to select a probe molecule that
      is suitable to measure these antagonistic properties of DOM. Out of nine studied
      nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds, 4-cyanoaniline, N,N-dimethyl-4
      cyanoaniline (DMABN), sotalol (a beta-blocker) and sulfadiazine (a sulfonamide
      antibiotic) exhibited a marked photosensitized transformation that could be
      substantially inhibited by addition of phenol as a model antioxidant. The
      photosensitized transformation of DMABN, the selected probe compound, was
      characterized in detail under UV-A and visible irradiation (lambda > 320 nm) to
      avoid direct phototransformation. Low reactivity of DMABN with singlet oxygen was
      found (second-order rate constant <2 * 107 M-1 s-1). Typically at least 85% of
      the reactivity of DMABN could be inhibited by DOM or the model antioxidant
      phenol. The photosensitized transformation of DMABN mainly proceeded (>72%)
      through demethylation yielding N-methyl-4-cyanoaniline and formaldehyde as
      primary products. In solutions of standard DOM extracts and their mixtures the
      phototransformation rate constant of DMABN was shown to vary nonlinearly with the
      DOM concentration. Model equations describing the dependence of such rate
      constants on DOM and model antioxidant concentrations were successfully used to
      fit experimental data.

PMID- 27617882
TI  - Formation and Biological Targets of Quinones: Cytotoxic versus Cytoprotective
      Effects.
AB  - Quinones represent a class of toxicological intermediates, which can create a
      variety of hazardous effects in vivo including, acute cytotoxicity,
      immunotoxicity, and carcinogenesis. In contrast, quinones can induce
      cytoprotection through the induction of detoxification enzymes, anti-inflammatory
      activities, and modification of redox status. The mechanisms by which quinones
      cause these effects can be quite complex. The various biological targets of
      quinones depend on their rate and site of formation and their reactivity.
      Quinones are formed through a variety of mechanisms from simple oxidation of
      catechols/hydroquinones catalyzed by a variety of oxidative enzymes and metal
      ions to more complex mechanisms involving initial P450-catalyzed hydroxylation
      reactions followed by two-electron oxidation. Quinones are Michael acceptors, and
      modification of cellular processes could occur through alkylation of crucial
      cellular proteins and/or DNA. Alternatively, quinones are highly redox active
      molecules which can redox cycle with their semiquinone radical anions leading to
      the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) including superoxide, hydrogen
      peroxide, and ultimately the hydroxyl radical. Production of ROS can alter redox
      balance within cells through the formation of oxidized cellular macromolecules
      including lipids, proteins, and DNA. This perspective explores the varied
      biological targets of quinones including GSH, NADPH, protein sulfhydryls [heat
      shock proteins, P450s, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), glutathione S-transferase (GST),
      NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1, (NQO1), kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1
      (Keap1), IkappaB kinase (IKK), and arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR)], and DNA. The
      evidence strongly suggests that the numerous mechanisms of quinone modulations
      (i.e., alkylation versus oxidative stress) can be correlated with the known
      pathology/cytoprotection of the parent compound(s) that is best described by an
      inverse U-shaped dose-response curve.

PMID- 27617888
TI  - Rotational gait patterns in children and adolescents following tension band
      plating of idiopathic genua valga.
AB  - Literature suggests that children and adolescents with idiopathic genua valga
      present with considerable gait deviations in frontal and transverse planes,
      including altered frontal knee moments, reduced external knee rotation, and
      increased external hip rotation. This study aimed to evaluate gait parameters in
      these patients after surgical correction using tension band plating (TBP). We
      prospectively evaluated 24 consecutive, skeletally immature patients, who
      received full-length standing radiographs and three-dimensional gait analysis
      before and after correction, and compared the results observed to a group of 11
      typically developing peers. Prior to TBP the cohort showed significantly
      decreased (worse) internal frontal knee moments compared to the control group.
      After axis correction the mean and maximum knee moments changed significantly
      into normalized knee moments (p < 0.0001). In the transverse plane, only the foot
      progression angle (p = 0.020) changed significantly following intervention. Post
      correction knee moments were similar to controls (p = 0.175), but the patient
      cohort exhibited a significantly decreased knee external rotation (p = 0.004) and
      increased external hip rotation (p < 0.001) during gait. In addition, the effect
      of transverse plane changes on knee moments in patients with restored, straight
      limb axis was calculated. Hence, patients with restored alignment but persistence
      of decreased external knee rotation demonstrated significantly greater knee
      moments than those without rotational abnormalities (p = 0.001). This study found
      that frontal knee moments during gait normalized in children with idiopathic
      genua valga after surgery. However, decreased external knee rotation and
      increased external hip rotation during gait persisted in the study cohort.
      Despite radiological correction, decreased external rotation during gait was
      associated with increases in medial knee loading. Surgical correction for
      children with genua valga but normal knee moments may be detrimental, due to
      redistribution of dynamic knee loading into the opposite joint compartment. (c)
      2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop
      Res 35:1617-1624, 2017.

PMID- 27617887
TI  - Emotional Implications of Weight Stigma Across Middle School: The Role of Weight
      Based Peer Discrimination.
AB  - This study considered the emotional consequences of weight stigmatization in
      early adolescence by examining the effects of weight-based peer discrimination
      across middle school. Sampled across 26 urban middle schools, 5,128 youth (52%
      girls) with complete body mass index data at sixth or 7th grade were included:
      30% Latino, 21% White, 14% East/Southeast Asian, 14% Multiethnic, 12% African
      American/Black, and 9% from other specific ethnic groups. About one third of the
      sample reported at least one weight-discrimination incident at 7th grade.
      Controlling for sixth-grade adjustment, perceptions of weight-based peer
      discrimination at 7th grade were stronger predictors of body dissatisfaction,
      social anxiety, and loneliness (and somatic symptoms for girls but not boys) at
      8th-grade than 7th-grade body mass index. Moreover, heavier body stature during
      the 1st year in middle school was associated with increased body dissatisfaction
      by the end of middle school in part due to weight-related disrespectful,
      exclusionary, and demeaning treatment by peers. Weight-based peer discrimination
      helps us understand one of the stigmatizing mechanisms underlying the relation
      between heavy body stature and the progression of emotional problems in early
      adolescence.

PMID- 27617889
TI  - Epidemiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Study in
      Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Globally, the annual incidence and prevalence of amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis (ALS) are estimated at 1.9 and 4.5 per 100,000 population,
      respectively. This study is aimed at describing the epidemiology of ALS in Israel
      in a real-world setting. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed using the
      databases of Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), a 2-million-member health
      maintenance organization in Israel. The study included all MHS adults diagnosed
      with ALS between 1997 and 2013. In 2013, characteristics of ALS patients were
      compared to those of age-sex-matched patients without ALS. Survival after ALS
      diagnosis was assessed until death and until tracheostomy or death (follow-up
      through 2014). RESULTS: In 2013 (n = 158), the prevalence of ALS was 8.1 per
      100,000 population in MHS. In 1997-2013, a total of 375 ALS patients were
      diagnosed, corresponding to an average annual incidence of 1.8 per 100,000
      population in MHS. The median survival from diagnosis to death was 3.5 years (95%
      CI 2.9-4.1), with approximately 28% surviving at least 10 years. Median
      tracheostomy-free survival was 2.5 years (95% CI 2.1-2.9). CONCLUSIONS: Results
      suggest that there is a relatively high prevalence of ALS in Israel. Further
      research is needed to investigate factors that may contribute to the survival of
      patients with ALS in Israel.

PMID- 27617890
TI  - [Lung neuroendocrine large-cell carcinoma in young women - An unusual
      presentation].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lung neuroendocrine large-cell carcinoma (LNELCC) is a rare tumour
      with a poor prognosis. There are very few guidelines for LNELCC treatment but a
      better knowledge of its biology could improve the treatment and prognosis of this
      malignancy. OBSERVATIONS: We present the cases of 2 patients who presented
      initially with early stage carcinoid tumours treated with surgery. Both patients
      had further new neuroendocrine disease diagnosed because of intermittent
      carcinoid syndrome, predominantly occurring at the same time as menstruation.
      They were then diagnosed with metastatic LNELCC. They were treated with first
      line cisplatin-etoposide and second-line octreotide based on the protocol used
      for treatment of gastro-intestinal neuroendocrine tumours. They both had a good
      prognosis with no disease progression to date. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical
      characteristics of these cases raise several questions about the pathophysiology
      of LNELCC and may suggest potential new treatment options. The unusual clinical
      presentation and good prognosis may be explained either by the second-line
      treatment choice or by potential molecular or hormonal biomarkers. There is a
      need to investigate these potential biomarkers further since they could be new
      therapeutic targets.

PMID- 27617891
TI  - Imaging and Intracellular Tracking of Cancer-Derived Exosomes Using Single
      Molecule Localization-Based Super-Resolution Microscope.
AB  - Exosomes are small membrane vesicles secreted by cells and enriched with plenty
      of proteins. Considering their significant roles in different physical activities
      and potential value for diagnostic drug delivery, researchers have put great
      efforts in in vitro tracking and content analysis of exosomes. Recently, the
      emergence of different kinds of super-resolution microscopy provides powerful
      tools for exosome study. Here, we demonstrate the application of single-molecule
      localization based super-resolution imaging technique in the imaging and tracking
      of cancer-derived exosomes. In the experiment, first, cancer-derived exosomes are
      extracted from the culture media of tumor cells. Then the exosome membrane
      receptors are labeled with photoswitchable probes, which allow super-resolution
      imaging of these membrane receptors via photoactivated localization microscopy
      (PALM) or stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM). By using human
      breast cancer cell-derived exosomes, we demonstrated simultaneous dual-color
      PALM/STORM imaging of two kinds of membrane receptors on the exosome membrane.
      Moreover, the successful labeling and imaging of exosomes make it possible to
      observe the interaction between cancer-derived exosomes and normal cells.
      Meanwhile, we realized the colocalization of cancer-derived exosomes and
      lysosomes in recipient cells with PALM/STORM imaging. Since exosomes play a vital
      role in intercellular communications, we anticipate that the presented PALM/STORM
      based imaging and tracking of exosomes holds a great potential in the
      investigation of the mechanism of exosome-mediated cancer metastasis.

PMID- 27617892
TI  - Cytokine Effects on Mechano-Induced Electrical Activity in Atrial Myocardium.
AB  - : The role of cytokines as regulators of stretch-related mechanisms is of special
      importance since mechano-sensitivity plays an important role in a wide variety of
      biological processes. Here, we elucidate the influence of cytokine application on
      mechano-sensitivity and mechano-transduction. The atrial myocardial stretch
      induces production of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-13, IL-17A, and IL-18 with
      exception of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-1beta, and vascular
      endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B). Positive ionotropic effect was specific for
      VEGF-B, negative ionotropic effects were specific for TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2,
      IL-6, IL-13, IL-17A and IL-18, while IL-1alpha doesn't show direct ionotropic
      effect. The IL-2, IL-6, IL-17A, IL-18, and VEGF-B cause elongation of the APD, in
      comparison with the reduced APD caused by the IL-13. The TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and
      IL-18 influences L-type Ca2+ channels, IL-2 has an inhibitory effect on the fast
      Na+ channels while IL-17A and VEGF-B were specific for Kir channels. With
      exception of the IL-1alpha, IL-2, and VEGF-B, all analyzed cytokines include
      nitric oxide dependent signaling with resultant combined effects on mechano-gated
      and Ca2+ channels. The relationships between these pathways and the time
      dependence of their activation are of important considerations in the evaluation
      of cytokine-induced electrical abnormality, specific for cardiac dysfunctions. In
      general, the discussion presented in this review covers research devoted to
      counterbalance between different cytokines in the regulation of stretch-induced
      effects in rat atrial myocardium. ABBREVIATIONS: APs: action potentials; APD25:
      action potential durations to 25% of re-polarization; APD50: action potential
      durations to 50% of repolarization; APD90: action potential durations to 90% of
      repolarization; MGCs: mechanically gated channels.

PMID- 27617893
TI  - Reactions of Ruthenium Complexes Containing Pentatetraenylidene Ligand.
AB  - Two ruthenium acetylide complexes [Ru]-C=C-C=C-C(OR)(C3 H5 )2 (2, R=H and 2 a,
      R=CH3 ; [Ru]=Cp(PPh3 )2 Ru) each with two cyclopropyl rings were synthesized from
      TMS-C=C-C=C-C(OH)(C3 H5 )2 (1; TMS=trimethylsilyl). Treatments of 2 and 2 a with
      allyl halide in the presence of KPF6 afforded the vinylidene complexes 3 and 3 a,
      respectively. When NH4 PF6 was used, instead of KPF6 , additional ring-opening
      reaction took place on one of the three-membered ring. Treatment of [Ru]Cl with
      1,3-butadiyne (6), bearing an epoxide ring, afforded acetylide complex 7 with a
      furyl ring. Treatment of 2 a with Ph3 CPF6 presumably afforded
      pentatetraenylidene complex {[Ru]=C=C=C=C=C(C3 H5 )2 }[PF6 ] (10), which was not
      isolated. Additions of various alcohols in a solution of 10 generated a number of
      disubstituted allenylidene complexes {[Ru]=C=C=C(OR)-C=C(C3 H5 )2 }[PF6 ] (11).
      Treatment of 11 with K2 CO3 afforded the acetylide complex 12 bearing a carbonyl
      group, characterized by single X-ray diffraction analysis. Addition of a primary
      amine to 10 caused cleavage of the farthermost C=C bond and several allenylidene
      complexes {[Ru]=C=C=C(Me)(NHR)}[PF6 ] (18) were isolated.

PMID- 27617894
TI  - Zika Virus Is More Like Rubella Than Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Reply.

PMID- 27617900
TI  - The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Is an International Authority: Who Are Our
      Partners and Allies?

PMID- 27617901
TI  - Two- and Three-Centered Hydrogen Bonds Involving Organic Fluorine Stabilize
      Conformations of Hydrazide Halo Derivatives: NMR, IR, QTAIM, NCI, and Theoretical
      Evidence.
AB  - The presence of two- and three-centered hydrogen bonds (HB) of the type H(N)...X
      C and C?O...H(N)...X-C, respectively, involving organic fluorine in the
      synthesized hydrazide halo derivatives have been convincingly established by
      extensive multidimensional NMR studies. The stabilized conformation of the
      molecules involving two- and three-centered HBs derived by NMR studies have been
      further confirmed by density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations, such as
      quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), noncovalent interaction (NCI), and
      relaxed potential energy scan.

PMID- 27617902
TI  - Big Versus Small Data and the Generalizability of the Rate of Computed Tomography
      Overuse in Minor Head Injury.

PMID- 27617903
TI  - Bioactive Lupane and Hopane Triterpenes from Lepisanthes senegalensis.
AB  - Two lupane and hopane caffeates (1 and 4) and two hopane coumarates (2 and 3)
      along with eight known compounds (5-12) were isolated from stems and roots of
      Lepisanthes senegalensis. Their structures were established on the basis of
      spectroscopic techniques. The structure of compound 2 was confirmed by single
      crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Triterpenes 1 and 4-6 showed cytotoxicity
      against the NCI-H187 cell line with IC50 values of 31.5, 28.5, 16.2, and 4.0 uM,
      respectively. However, these compounds also showed cytotoxicity against Vero
      cells, with IC50 values of 75.5, 16.6, 8.9, and 5.0 uM, respectively. In
      addition, compound 6 exhibited a moderate antimalarial activity with an IC50
      value of 4.5 uM.

PMID- 27617904
TI  - Fam60A plays a role for production stabilities of recombinant CHO cell lines.
AB  - Recombinant CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cell lines producing therapeutic proteins
      often lose their production capability during long-term cultivation. To ensure
      that CHO production cell lines can be up-scaled to high-volume bioreactors, labor
      intensive stability studies of several months have to be performed to deselect
      clones that are losing productivity over time. The ability to predict whether
      clones will produce recombinant proteins at constant high levels, for example,
      through determination of biomarkers such as expression of specific genes, plasmid
      integration sites, or epigenetic patterns, or even to improve CHO host cell lines
      to increase the probability of the generation of stable clones would be highly
      beneficial. Previously, we reported that the lack of a telomeric region of
      chromosome 8 correlates with increased productivities and higher production
      stabilities of monoclonal antibody expressing CHO cell lines (Ritter A, Voedisch
      B, Wienberg J, Wilms B, Geisse S, Jostock T, Laux H. 2016a. Biotechnol Bioeng
      113(5):1084-1093). Herein, we describe that the knock-out of the gene Fam60A,
      which is one of the genes located within the telomeric region of chromosome 8, in
      CHO-K1a cells leads to the isolation of significantly more clones with higher
      protein production stabilities of monoclonal antibodies during long-term
      cultivation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 701-704. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27617905
TI  - Evolutionary game theory using agent-based methods.
AB  - Evolutionary game theory is a successful mathematical framework geared towards
      understanding the selective pressures that affect the evolution of the strategies
      of agents engaged in interactions with potential conflicts. While a mathematical
      treatment of the costs and benefits of decisions can predict the optimal strategy
      in simple settings, more realistic settings such as finite populations, non
      vanishing mutations rates, stochastic decisions, communication between agents,
      and spatial interactions, require agent-based methods where each agent is modeled
      as an individual, carries its own genes that determine its decisions, and where
      the evolutionary outcome can only be ascertained by evolving the population of
      agents forward in time. While highlighting standard mathematical results, we
      compare those to agent-based methods that can go beyond the limitations of
      equations and simulate the complexity of heterogeneous populations and an ever
      changing set of interactors. We conclude that agent-based methods can predict
      evolutionary outcomes where purely mathematical treatments cannot tread (for
      example in the weak selection-strong mutation limit), but that mathematics is
      crucial to validate the computational simulations.

PMID- 27617907
TI  - Isolated Mesoporous Microstructures Prepared by Stress Localization-Induced Crack
      Manipulation.
AB  - Cracks observed in brittle materials are mostly regarded as defects or failures.
      However, they can be a valuable tool when implemented in a controlled way. Here,
      we introduce a strategy to control the crack propagation of mesoporous
      micropatterns (prisms and pyramids), which leads to the isolation of well-defined
      microstructures. Mesoporous micropatterns were fabricated by the soft imprinting
      technique with wet TiO2 nanoparticle (NP) pastes, followed by sintering to remove
      organic components. Since the volume of the paste significantly shrinks during
      the sintering step, stress is localized at the edge of micropatterns, in good
      agreement with finite element method simulations, creating well-defined cracks
      and their propagation. It was demonstrated that the degree of stress localization
      is determined by the thickness of residual layers, NP size, and heating rate.
      After controlled crack propagation and delamination of microparticles from the
      substrates, mesoporous microwires and microparticles were successfully produced
      and functionalized from the isolated mesoporous prisms and pyramids. The method
      proposed in this study for controlled crack manipulation and delamination opens a
      door for straightforward and economical fabrication of well-defined mesoporous
      microparticles.

PMID- 27617909
TI  - Initial Experience: Alleviation of Pain with Percutaneous CT-Guided Cryoablation
      for Recurrent Retroperitoneal Soft-Tissue Sarcoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the pain-alleviating effect of computed tomography (CT)
      guided percutaneous cryoablation for recurrent retroperitoneal soft-tissue
      sarcomas (RPSs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 19 men and 20 women (median
      age, 50.3 y) with recurrent malignant RPS who underwent percutaneous cryoablation
      were reviewed retrospectively. A total of 50 tumors were treated by cryoablation,
      including a single tumor in 29 patients, 2 tumors in 9, and 3 tumors in 1.
      Adverse events and analgesic outcomes were compared as a function of tumor size
      (< 10 cm and >= 10 cm). Efficacy was assessed based on modified Response
      Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors and progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS:
      Grade 1/2 adverse events included fever (n = 17), emesis (n = 7), frostbite (n =
      5), and local pain (n = 4). The median follow-up period and PFS were 18.5 months
      (range, 12-42 mo) and 13.4 months +/- 6.2, respectively. At the end of follow-up,
      13 patients had died and 26 were living. The mean severe local pain scores on
      pretreatment day 1 and posttreatment days 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 were 7.49,
      7.40, 6.51, 5.81, 5.35, 5.04, and 5.44, respectively, and significant differences
      versus pretreatment (P < .001) were reported for posttreatment days 5-25.
      Immediate relief occurred more frequently in the small-tumor group (4 of 7;
      57.1%; P = .018), whereas delayed relief occurred more frequently in the large
      tumor group (17 of 22; 77.3%; P = .030). CONCLUSIONS: Minimally invasive
      percutaneous cryoablation improves local pain and is a feasible treatment for
      recurrent RPSs.

PMID- 27617912
TI  - Development of N-Substituted Hydroxamic Acids with Pyrazolone Leaving Groups as
      Nitrosocarbonyl Precursors.
AB  - A novel class of nitrosocarbonyl precursors, N-substituted hydroxamic acids with
      pyrazolone leaving groups (NHPY), has been synthesized. Under physiological
      conditions, these compounds generate nitrosocarbonyl intermediates, which upon
      hydrolysis release nitroxyl (azanone, HNO) in excellent yields. The amount and
      rate of nitrosocarbonyl generation are dependent on the nature of the pyrazolone
      leaving groups and significantly on the structural properties of the NHPY donors.
      Pyrazolones have been found to be efficient nitrosocarbonyl traps, undergoing an
      N-selective nitrosocarbonyl aldol reaction. This trapping reaction has been used
      to confirm the involvement of nitrosocarbonyl intermediates in NHPY aqueous
      decomposition. In addition, NHPY compounds are shown to generate nitrosocarbonyls
      efficiently under mild basic conditions in organic solvent and may therefore also
      enjoy synthetic utility.

PMID- 27617908
TI  - The emerging landscape of circular RNA in life processes.
AB  - Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel class of non-coding RNA that assumes a
      covalently closed continuous conformation. CircRNAs were previously thought to be
      the byproducts of splicing errors caused by low abundance and the technological
      limitations. With the recent development of high-throughput sequencing
      technology, numerous circRNAs have been discovered in many species. Recent
      studies have revealed that circRNAs are stable and widely expressed, and often
      exhibit cell type-specific or tissue-specific expression. Most circRNAs can be
      generated from exons, introns, or both. Remarkably, emerging evidence indicates
      that some circRNAs can serve as microRNA (miRNA) sponges, regulate transcription
      or splicing, and can interact with RNA binding proteins (RBPs). Moreover,
      circRNAs have been reported to play essential roles in myriad life processes,
      such as aging, insulin secretion, tissue development, atherosclerotic vascular
      disease risk, cardiac hypertrophy and cancer. Although circRNAs are ancient
      molecules, they represent a newly appreciated form of noncoding RNA and as such
      have great potential implications in clinical and research fields. Here, we
      review the current understanding of circRNA classification, function and
      significance in physiological and pathological processes. We believe that future
      research will increase our understanding of the regulation and function of these
      novel molecules.

PMID- 27617913
TI  - Gender Differences and Correlated Factors of Heroin Use Among Heroin Users.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gender differences in illicit drug use are becoming increasingly
      recognized. However, there are few studies concerning differences between male
      and female heroin users in China. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to explore gender
      differences in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, drug-related
      behaviors, and treatment history among a heroin-using population in China.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in four cities in December 2013. A
      total of 788 participants were recruited from several types of sites in each
      city: compulsory detoxification centers, methadone maintenance treatment clinics,
      and detention facilities. The data were collected via a self-administered
      questionnaire. Analysis of variance, chi-square test, and multivariate logistic
      regression analyses were conducted to examine gender differences in socio
      demographic characteristics, drug-related behaviors, and treatment history.
      RESULTS: Female heroin users were more likely to be unemployed, have more
      education, and use heroin with their spouse/companion (p <.05). Male heroin users
      were more likely to be in detention facilities and MMT clinics, and relapse when
      they felt hopeless (p <.05). Conclusions/Importance: Although there were some
      similarities between male and female heroin users, significant gender differences
      do exist in some aspects of socio-demographic characteristics and heroin use. The
      data provide evidence that interventions aimed at preventing the initiation of
      heroin use and reducing relapse should take gender into account.

PMID- 27617914
TI  - Loving transgressions: Queer of color bodies, affective ties, transformative
      community.
AB  - This introductory article considers the importance of queer woman of color
      theorizations of affect in thinking more fully the recent interdisciplinary turn
      to affect. The affective turn has vitally invited culture and feminist critics to
      interrogate emotion beyond the individual to examine the political and cultural
      production of emotion. Even as women of color are often associated with excessive
      affect, the theoretical contributions women of color make to the field of affect
      studies are often overlooked. Our introduction and this special issue more
      broadly examine how this solipsism shapes projects invested in critical knowledge
      production, as well as the stakes of centering a queer woman of color genealogy.
      For instance, we argue for the importance of retaining U.S. third-world feminist
      concepts-like interpellation, oppositional consciousness, and the generative
      force of negative affects-even as they fall out of favor within affect studies.
      Centering theory that emerges from the vexed spaces of queer women of color lived
      experiences generates a vital interdisciplinary conversation that contributes to
      the ongoing political task of mobilizing affect for social action as a critical
      praxis. In the articles that follow we see this critical praxis at work in the
      form of community organizing, music, poetry, and performance art.

PMID- 27617916
TI  - Governance of malaria prevention: How decision-makers' and pregnant women's
      sensemaking contribute to unintended consequences.
AB  - Although malaria in pregnancy predisposes women to increased perinatal mortality
      and morbidity, complex issues underlie its persistence. To develop a better
      understanding of the factors affecting women's access to Intermittent Preventive
      Treatment in Benin, we used the theoretical lens of "sensemaking" to clarify
      policymakers', health professionals', and women's perspectives concerning
      preventive policies and barriers to access. Several assumptions were found to
      underlie Benin's malaria preventive policy that contribute to the unintended
      effect of deterring pregnant women in poverty from accessing preventive
      treatment. Health system dysfunctions including drug shortages and deficiencies
      in health care professionalism exacerbate the unintended effect.

PMID- 27617918
TI  - Classical/Non-classical Polyoxometalate Hybrids.
AB  - Two polyanions [SeI V2 PdII4 WVI14 O56 H]11- and [SeI V4 PdII4 WVI28 O108 H12 ]12
      are the first hybrid polyoxometalates in which classical (Group 5/6 metal based)
      and non-classical (late transition-metal based) polyoxometalate units are joined.
      Requiring no supporting groups, this co-condensation of polyoxotungstate and
      isopolyoxopalladate constituents also provides a logical link between POM-PdII
      coordination complexes and the young subclass of polyoxopalladates. Solid-state,
      solution, and gas-phase studies suggest interesting specific reactivities for
      these hybrids and point to several potential derivatives and functionalization
      strategies.

PMID- 27617920
TI  - Going Viral.

PMID- 27617919
TI  - Perceptions About the Present and Future of Surgical Simulation: A National Study
      of Mixed Qualitative and Quantitative Methodology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Assess expert opinion on the current and future role of simulation in
      surgical education. DESIGN: Expert opinion was sought through an externally
      validated questionnaire that was disseminated electronically. PARTICIPANTS: Heads
      of Schools of Surgery (HoS) (and deputies) and Training Program Directors (TPD)
      (and deputies). RESULTS: Simulation was considered a good training tool (HoS:
      15/15, TPD: 21/21). The concept that simulation is useful mostly to novices and
      for basic skills acquisition was rejected (HoS: 15/15, TPDs: 21/21; HoS: 13/15,
      TPDs: 18/21). Further, simulation is considered suitable for teaching
      nontechnical skills (HoS: 13/15, TPDs: 20/21) and re-enacting stressful
      situations (HoS: 14/15, TPDs: 15/21). Most respondents also felt that education
      centers should be formally accredited (HoS: 12/15, TPDs: 16/21) and that
      consultant mentors should be appointed by every trust (HoS: 12/15, TPDs: 19/21).
      In contrast, there were mixed views on its use for trainee assessment (HoS: 6/15,
      TPDs: 14/21) and whether it should be compulsory (HoS: 8/15, TPDs: 11/21).
      CONCLUSION: The use of simulation for the acquirement of both technical and
      nontechnical skills is strongly supported while views on other applications
      (e.g., assessment) are conflicting. Further, the need for center accreditation
      and supervised, consultant-led teaching is highlighted.

PMID- 27617922
TI  - Screening of FDA-Approved Drugs for Treatment of Emerging Pathogens.
AB  - The current outbreaks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebolavirus
      (EboV) have revealed a gap in the development and availability of drugs to treat
      these infections. To date, there are no approved treatments for patients infected
      with MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a virus that continues to infect new patients
      and that has now spread from the Middle East to Asia. Despite a downward trend in
      the number of new EboV cases in West Africa, new infections are still occurring,
      and many patients continue to suffer from this illness. People infected with MERS
      and Ebola viruses receive only supportive care in hopes of recovery.
      Investigation into repurposing drugs approved by the FDA is gaining interest. To
      identify better treatment strategies, several groups have used drug screens to
      repurpose FDA-approved drugs as inhibitors of MERS-CoV and EboV. 

PMID- 27617923
TI  - Forces and Structures of the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Entry Mechanism.
AB  - This paper discusses physical and structural aspects of the mechanisms herpes
      simplex virus (HSV) uses for membrane fusion. Calculations show that herpes
      simplex virus glycoprotein D has such avidity for its receptors that it can hold
      the virion against the plasma membrane of a neuron strongly enough for
      glycoprotein B (gB) to disrupt both leaflets of the bilayer. The strong electric
      field generated by the cell potential across perforations at this disruption
      would break the hydrogen bonds securing the gB fusion loops, leading to fusion of
      the plasma and viral membranes. This mechanism agrees with the high stability of
      the tall trimeric spike structure of gB and is consistent with the probable
      existence of a more compact initial conformation that would allow it to closely
      approach the plasma membrane. The release of the fusion domains by disruption of
      hydrogen bonds is shared with the endocytotic entry pathway where, for some cell
      types not punctured by gB, the virus is able to induce inward forces that cause
      endocytosis and the fusion loops are released by acidification. The puncture
      fusion mechanism requires low critical strain or high tissue strain, matching
      primary tropism of neural processes at the vermillion border. In support of this
      mechanism, this paper proposes a functional superstructure of the antigens
      essential to entry and reviews its consistency with experimental evidence. 

PMID- 27617924
TI  - Border Control in Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Inhibiting Viral Entry.
AB  - A new era has begun in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with
      powerful yet expensive therapies. New treatments are emerging that target the
      entry step of HCV and could potentially block reinfection after liver transplant.
      These treatments include antibodies, which target the virus or host receptors
      required by HCV. Additionally, several new and previously approved small-molecule
      compounds have been described that target unique aspects of HCV entry. Overall,
      the blocking entry represents an attractive strategy that could yield powerful
      combination therapies to combat HCV. 

PMID- 27617925
TI  - Targeting Viral Entry for Treatment of Hepatitis B and C Virus Infections.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections remain major
      health problems worldwide, with 400-500 million chronically infected people
      worldwide. Chronic infection results in liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular
      carcinoma, the second leading cause of cancer death. Current treatments for HBV
      limit viral replication without efficiently curing infection. HCV treatment has
      markedly progressed with the licensing of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for HCV
      cure, yet limited access for the majority of patients is a major challenge.
      Preventative and curative treatment strategies, aimed at novel targets, are
      needed for both viruses. Viral entry represents one such target, although
      detailed knowledge of the entry mechanisms is a prerequisite. For HBV, the recent
      discovery of the NTCP cell entry factor enabled the establishment of an HBV cell
      culture model and showed that cyclosporin A and Myrcludex B are NTCP-targeting
      entry inhibitors. Advances in the understanding of HCV entry revealed it to be a
      complex process involving many factors, offering several antiviral targets. These
      include viral envelope proteins E1 and E2, virion-associated lipoprotein ApoE,
      and cellular factors CD81, SRBI, EGFR, claudin-1, occludin, and the cholesterol
      transporter NPC1L1. Small molecules targeting SR-BI, EGFR, and NPC1L1 have
      entered clinical trials, whereas other viral- and host-targeted small molecules,
      peptides, and antibodies show promise in preclinical models. This review
      summarizes the current understanding of HBV and HCV entry and describes novel
      antiviral targets and compounds in different stages of clinical development.
      Overall, proof-of-concept studies indicate that entry inhibitors are a promising
      class of antivirals to prevent and treat HBV and HCV infections. 

PMID- 27617926
TI  - Flavivirus Entry Inhibitors.
AB  - Many flaviviruses are significant human pathogens that are transmitted by
      mosquitoes and ticks. Although effective vaccines are available for yellow fever
      virus, Japanese encephalitic virus, and tick-borne encephalitis virus, these and
      other flaviviruses still cause thousands of human deaths and millions of
      illnesses each year. No clinically approved antiviral therapy is available for
      flavivirus treatment. To meet this unmet medical need, industry and academia have
      taken multiple approaches to develop antiflavivirus therapy, among which
      targeting viral entry has been actively pursued in the past decade. Here we
      review the current knowledge of flavivirus entry and its use for small molecule
      drug discovery. Inhibitors of two major steps of flaviviral entry have been
      reported: (i) molecules that block virus-receptor interaction; (ii) compounds
      that prevent conformational change of viral envelope protein during virus-host
      membrane fusion. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of targeting
      viral entry for treatment of flavivirus infection as compared to targeting viral
      replication proteins. 

PMID- 27617927
TI  - Profiling Kinase Activity during Hepatitis C Virus Replication Using a Wortmannin
      Probe.
AB  - To complete its life cycle, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) induces changes to
      numerous aspects of its host cell. As kinases act as regulators of many pathways
      utilized by HCV, they are likely enzyme targets for virally induced inhibition or
      activation. Herein, we used activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), which allows
      for the identification of active enzymes in complex protein samples and the
      quantification of their activity, to identify kinases that displayed differential
      activity in HCV-expressing cells. We utilized an ABPP probe, wortmannin-yne,
      based on the kinase inhibitor wortmannin, which contains a pendant alkyne group
      for bioconjugation using bioorthogonal chemistry. We observed changes in the
      activity of kinases involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway,
      apoptosis pathways, and cell cycle control. These results establish changes to
      the active kinome, as reported by wortmannin-yne, in the proteome of human
      hepatoma cells actively replicating HCV. The observed changes include kinase
      activity that affect viral entry, replication, assembly, and secretion, implying
      that HCV is regulating the pathways that it uses for its life cycle through
      modulation of the active kinome. 

PMID- 27617928
TI  - Magnetic molecularly imprinted composite for the selective solid-phase extraction
      of p-aminosalicylic acid followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with
      ultraviolet detection.
AB  - A new method for the selective extraction of p-aminosalicylic acid from aqueous
      and urine samples has been developed using magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer
      nanoparticles before determination by high-performance liquid chromatography. The
      Fe3 O4 nanoparticles were first prepared through the chemical coprecipitation of
      Fe2+ and Fe3+ and then coated with a vinyl shell. Subsequently, a layer of
      molecularly imprinted polymers was grafted onto the vinyl-modified magnetic
      nanoparticles by precipitation polymerization. FTIR spectroscopy, scanning
      electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and thermogravimetric
      analysis were applied to characterize the sorbent properties. Moreover, the
      predominant parameters affecting the magnetic solid phase extraction such as
      sample pH, sorption and elution times, the amount of sorbent, and composition and
      volume of eluent were investigated thoroughly. The maximum sorption capacity of
      the imprinted polymer toward p-aminosalicylic acid was 70.9 mg/g, which is 4.5
      times higher than that of the magnetic nonimprinted polymer. The magnetic
      molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles were applied for the selective
      extraction of p-aminosalicylic acid from aqueous and urine samples and
      satisfactory results were achieved. The results illustrate that magnetic
      molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles have a great potential in the
      extraction of p-aminosalicylic acid from environmental and biological matrices.

PMID- 27617929
TI  - Self-repair promotes microtubule rescue.
AB  - The dynamic instability of microtubules is characterized by slow growth phases
      stochastically interrupted by rapid depolymerizations called catastrophes. Rescue
      events can arrest the depolymerization and restore microtubule elongation.
      However, the origin of these rescue events remains unexplained. Here we show that
      microtubule lattice self-repair, in structurally damaged sites, is responsible
      for the rescue of microtubule growth. Tubulin photo-conversion in cells revealed
      that free tubulin dimers can incorporate along the shafts of microtubules,
      especially in regions where microtubules cross each other, form bundles or become
      bent due to mechanical constraints. These incorporation sites appeared to act as
      effective rescue sites ensuring microtubule rejuvenation. By securing damaged
      microtubule growth, the self-repair process supports a mechanosensitive growth by
      specifically promoting microtubule assembly in regions where they are subjected
      to physical constraints.

PMID- 27617930
TI  - Protein kinase C controls lysosome biogenesis independently of mTORC1.
AB  - Lysosomes respond to environmental cues by controlling their own biogenesis, but
      the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we describe a protein
      kinase C (PKC)-dependent and mTORC1-independent mechanism for regulating lysosome
      biogenesis, which provides insights into previously reported effects of PKC on
      lysosomes. By identifying lysosome-inducing compounds we show that PKC couples
      activation of the TFEB transcription factor with inactivation of the ZKSCAN3
      transcriptional repressor through two parallel signalling cascades. Activated PKC
      inactivates GSK3beta, leading to reduced phosphorylation, nuclear translocation
      and activation of TFEB, while PKC activates JNK and p38 MAPK, which phosphorylate
      ZKSCAN3, leading to its inactivation by translocation out of the nucleus. PKC
      activation may therefore mediate lysosomal adaptation to many extracellular cues.
      PKC activators facilitate clearance of aggregated proteins and lipid droplets in
      cell models and ameliorate amyloid beta plaque formation in APP/PS1 mouse brains.
      Thus, PKC activators are viable treatment options for lysosome-related disorders.

PMID- 27617931
TI  - EB1 interacts with outwardly curved and straight regions of the microtubule
      lattice.
AB  - EB1 is a microtubule plus-end tracking protein that recognizes GTP-tubulin dimers
      in microtubules and thus represents a unique probe to investigate the
      architecture of the GTP cap of growing microtubule ends. Here, we conjugated EB1
      to gold nanoparticles (EB1-gold) and imaged by cryo-electron tomography its
      interaction with dynamic microtubules assembled in vitro from purified tubulin.
      EB1-gold forms comets at the ends of microtubules assembled in the presence of
      GTP, and interacts with the outer surface of curved and straight tubulin sheets
      as well as closed regions of the microtubule lattice. Microtubules assembled in
      the presence of GTP, different GTP analogues or cell extracts display similarly
      curved sheets at their growing ends, which gradually straighten as their
      protofilament number increases until they close into a tube. Together, our data
      provide unique structural information on the interaction of EB1 with growing
      microtubule ends. They further offer insights into the conformational changes
      that tubulin dimers undergo during microtubule assembly and the architecture of
      the GTP-cap region.

PMID- 27617933
TI  - Hepatitis E in decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis.

PMID- 27617935
TI  - Do non-melanoma skin cancer survivors use tanning beds less often than the
      general public?
AB  - Purpose Indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk of non-melanoma skin
      cancers (NMSC), yet little is known about indoor tanning habits of individuals
      with a history of NMSC. Methods We examined self-reported history of NMSC and
      tanning bed use among non-Hispanic white respondents in the 2010 National Health
      Interview Survey (NHIS), a cross-sectional population-based survey designed to be
      representative of the civilian US population. We computed weighted population
      estimates and standard errors using the Taylor series linearization method. We
      then evaluated chi-square tests of independence and conducted weighted logistic
      regression analyses to evaluate if NMSC status was a predictor of indoor tanning.
      Results In our analytic sample of 14,400 non-Hispanic white participants,
      representing 145,287,995 in the population, 543 participants (weighted proportion
      = 3.45%) self-reported a history of NMSC or "skin cancer type not known." In
      multivariate analyses, non-melanoma skin cancer survivors were no less likely to
      use tanning beds in the last 12 months than skin cancer free controls (OR = 0.70,
      95% CI: 0.34-1.43, p = 0.33). Conclusions Non-melanoma skin cancer survivors
      should be educated on their increased risk of recurrence and other skin cancers
      and in particular the role of indoor tanning in skin tumorigenesis. 

PMID- 27617934
TI  - Comparing the efficacies of alginate, foam, hydrocolloid, hydrofiber, and
      hydrogel dressings in the management of diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg
      ulcers: a systematic review and meta-analysis examining how to dress for success.
AB  - Diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers are chronic wounds frequently
      encountered by dermatologists. Choosing appropriate wound dressings can
      effectively promote wound healing and potentially reduce morbidity and financial
      burden experienced by patients. The objective of our systematic review and meta
      analysis was to evaluate wound healing efficacies of synthetic active dressings
      in diabetic foot ulcer and venous leg ulcer management. For data collection,
      PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and clinicaltrials.gov online databases
      were searched from database inception to 10 May 2015. Fixed and random effects
      modeling were used to calculate pooled risk ratios for complete ulcer healing
      from pairwise dressing comparisons. The results of our review showed moderate
      quality level evidence that hydrogels were more effective in healing diabetic
      foot ulcers than basic wound contact dressings (RR 1.80 [95% CI, 1.27-2.56]). The
      other dressing comparisons showed no statistically significant differences
      between the interventions examined in terms of achieving complete diabetic foot
      ulcer healing. Non-adherent dressings were more cost-effective than hydrofiber
      dressings for diabetic foot ulcers in terms of mean total cost per patient of the
      dressings themselves. All venous leg ulcer pairwise dressing comparisons showed
      equivalent dressing efficacies in terms of promoting complete ulcer healing.
      Overall, most synthetic active dressings and traditional wound dressings are
      equally efficacious in treating diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers. For
      treating diabetic foot ulcers, hydrogels are more efficacious than basic wound
      contact dressings, and non-adherent dressings are more cost-effective than
      hydrofiber dressings. Ultimately, dressing choice should be tailored to the wound
      and the patient. 

PMID- 27617936
TI  - Generalized eruptive histiocytosis associated with a novel fusion in LMNA-NTRK1.
AB  - Non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis (NLCH) is a histiocyte disorder comprised of
      dermal dendritic histiocytes with a characteristic staining pattern. Erdheim
      Chester disease (ECD) is a subset of NLCH in which patients experience bone pain
      with corresponding changes on imaging. In addition, these patients show other
      evidence of systemic involvement, which can also be identified with imaging. This
      disease can occasionally present with cutaneous findings. We present a case of
      generalized eruptive histiocytosis (GEH), misdiagnosed as ECD, found to have an
      NTRK1 gene rearrangement. This is the first report of an NTRK1 kinase fusion with
      NLCH. The implication is unclear and further studies are warranted. 

PMID- 27617932
TI  - Regional glutamine deficiency in tumours promotes dedifferentiation through
      inhibition of histone demethylation.
AB  - Poorly organized tumour vasculature often results in areas of limited nutrient
      supply and hypoxia. Despite our understanding of solid tumour responses to
      hypoxia, how nutrient deprivation regionally affects tumour growth and
      therapeutic response is poorly understood. Here, we show that the core region of
      solid tumours displayed glutamine deficiency compared with other amino acids. Low
      glutamine in tumour core regions led to dramatic histone hypermethylation due to
      decreased alpha-ketoglutarate levels, a key cofactor for the Jumonji-domain
      containing histone demethylases. Using patient-derived (V600E)BRAF melanoma
      cells, we found that low-glutamine-induced histone hypermethylation resulted in
      cancer cell dedifferentiation and resistance to BRAF inhibitor treatment, which
      was largely mediated by methylation on H3K27, as knockdown of the H3K27-specific
      demethylase KDM6B and the methyltransferase EZH2 respectively reproduced and
      attenuated the low-glutamine effects in vitro and in vivo. Thus, intratumoral
      regional variation in the nutritional microenvironment contributes to tumour
      heterogeneity and therapeutic response.

PMID- 27617937
TI  - Recurrent adult onset Henoch-Schonlein Purpura: a case report.
AB  - Henoch-Schonlein purpura is an immunoglobulin A (IgA)-immune complex mediated
      leukocytoclastic vasculitis that classically manifests with palpable purpura,
      abdominal pain, arthritis, and hematuria or proteinuria. The condition is much
      more predominant in children (90% of cases) and commonly follows an upper
      respiratory infection. We present a case of recurrent Henoch-Schonlein purpura
      (HSP) complicated by nephritis in an adult female initially categorized as IgA
      nephropathy (IgAN). We review the pathophysiologic basis of HSP nephritis as the
      variant of HSP accompanied by renal involvement and its pathogenetic commonality
      with IgA nephropathy.

PMID- 27617938
TI  - Treatment of rosacea with topical ivermectin cream: a series of 34 cases.
AB  - Rosacea is a highly prevalent, chronic inflammatory disease. The use of topical
      ivermectin cream has recently been described in the treatment of rosacea in three
      clinical trials. We report our experience in a series of 34 patients treated with
      topical ivermectin cream. The results are a reflection of the reality of clinical
      practice and the perception of patients of the treatment. We also evaluate the
      efficacy in cases of mild rosacea and erythematotelangiectatic rosacea which have
      not been studied in trials. 

PMID- 27617939
TI  - Fluoroscopy-induced radionecrosis.
AB  - Complications from radiation exposure during fluoroscopic guidance of cardiac
      catheterization may occur. With repeated procedures, the risk for cutaneous
      injuries increases. Herein, we describe a 59-year-old man with extensive coronary
      artery disease, who had undergone multiple revascularization procedures and
      developed a non-healing ulcer on his left inferior scapula. The patient's medical
      history, physical exam findings, and histopathology gave clues to a case of
      radiation-induced dermatitis and necrosis. 

PMID- 27617940
TI  - Nilontinib induced keratosis pilaris atrophicans.
AB  - Keratosis pilaris (KP) is a disorder of follicular keratinization that is
      characterized by keratin plugs in the hair follicles with surrounding erythema. A
      46-year-old man with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) was started on nilotinib,
      a second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Two months later the patient
      noticed red bumps on the skin and patchy hair loss on the arms, chest, shoulders,
      back, and legs. Cutaneous reactions to nilotinib are the most frequent non
      hematologic adverse effects reported. However, it is important to distinguish KP
      like eruptions from more severe drug hypersensitivity eruptions, which can
      necessitate discontinuing the medication. Also, it is important to classify the
      cutaneous eruptions in patients on TKI according to the morphology instead of
      labeling them all as "chemotherapy eruption" to be able to better manage these
      adverse effects. 

PMID- 27617941
TI  - Epithelioid angiosarcoma of the skin. A malignant tumor mimicking many different
      neoplasms.
AB  - Epithelioid angiosarcomas are rare malignant mesenchymal tumors. The main problem
      of these tumors is the complicate clinical and histological diagnosis. We report
      a case with an immunohistochemical panel. We propose the use of CD31 in the
      immunohistochemical panel of an undifferenciated tumor with epithelioid features,
      because it appears to be the only endothelial marker these tumors constantly
      express. 

PMID- 27617942
TI  - Mucin in the dermis: a case of tender tumors.
AB  - We present an original case report of a 45-year-old woman with a five-month
      history of sporadic, tender, nodules present on the right upper abdomen,
      bilateral dorsal wrists, right upper arm, and left flank. Biopsy revealed a mild
      perivascular infiltrate, increased dermal mucin, and no significant increase in
      fibroblasts. Presentation and histology were most consistent with nodular lichen
      myxedematosus (NLM), a rare primary mucinosis. Only four previous cases are
      reported in the literature to our knowledge. Management of NLM and other subtypes
      of lichen myxedematosus is not well described. Our patient failed systemic
      steroids and was unable to tolerate hydroxychloroquine, but subsequently improved
      with oral methotrexate. This suggests that methotrexate may be of benefit for
      NLM. 

PMID- 27617943
TI  - Frictional alopecia of the distal legs: case series and review.
AB  - BackgroundAcquired alopecia of the lower legs may occur secondary to friction due
      to socks, footwear, or both on the lower extremities. There is scant literature
      that reports on this phenomenon.Methods and MaterialsWe describe 5 patients who
      presented with alopecia of their lower legs induced by socks, footwear, or both.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: We reviewed PubMed for the following terms: ankle
      alopecia, friction alopecia, frictional alopecia, lower extremity alopecia, non
      scarring leg alopecia, and sock alopecia. We also reviewed papers containing
      these terms and their references.ResultsAcquired frictional alopecia of the lower
      extremities is often an asymptomatic condition found incidentally on physical
      examination. The condition can persist for many years despite removal of the
      source of friction.ConclusionThe incidence of acquired frictional alopecia of the
      lower extremities may be greater than reflected in previously published reports.
      It is a non-scarring subtype of alopecia that was noted as an incidental finding
      during the patient's dermatology appointment.

PMID- 27617944
TI  - Primary periungual leiyomyosarcoma.
AB  - Primary superficial leiomyosarcoma is a very uncommon malignant tumor which
      occurs most commonly the lower limbs. We report one case of unusual topography of
      this tumor. An 81-year-old female patient presented with a 2 year history of a
      periungual tumor of the left index finger. The histopathological and
      immunohistochemical examination of a biopsy specimen was compatible with the
      diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma. There was no evidence of metastatic disease. An
      amputation of the index was performed. 

PMID- 27617945
TI  - Erythematous papules over the neck: a diagnostic conundrum.
AB  - Syringomas are common appendageal neoplasms, manifested as skin-colored papules,
      most commonly distributed over the periorbital region. We describe a patient with
      syringoma localized over the neck and upper chest. 

PMID- 27617946
TI  - A case of pachydermodactyly in a seventeen year old associated with repetitive
      minor trauma.
AB  - A boy presented initially to a Rheumatology clinic with a three year history of
      asymptomatic swelling of the third to fourth proximal interphalangeal (PIP)
      joints bilaterally. A presumptive diagnosis of seronegative arthritis was made.
      Sulfasalazine was commenced without improvement and resulted in mood disturbance.
      Blood tests including ESR, lupus anticoagulant, rheumatoid factor and CCP
      antibodies were unremarkable. Hand radiographs were normal. MRI showed oedema
      within soft tissues around PIP joints. His care was transferred to the
      Rheumatology unit in our hospital and the rheumatological diagnosis was revised;
      sulfasalazine was stopped and skin biopsy organised. Onward referral to
      Dermatology was made. Examination revealed symmetrical swelling and thickening of
      soft tissues on PIP joints with no evidence of joint synovitis. He denied
      habitual behaviour but was noted to rub his fingers subconsciously. With this as
      a cause of repetitive minor trauma, a clinical diagnosis of pachydermodactyly was
      made. Skin biopsy was supportive showing a dermis with coarse collagen.
      Pachydermodactyly is rare. This case highlights the importance of prompt
      recognition to avoid invasive and excessive diagnostic procedures as well as
      unnecessary immunosuppression. 

PMID- 27617947
TI  - External ear nodule revealing a disseminated Kaposi disease.
AB  - Kaposi disease (KD) is an angiogenetic tumor process, characterized by its
      various clinical aspects. Its pathogenesis is multifactorial and it was
      attributed to HHV-8 infection. We report an original case of disseminated KD
      revealed by solitary lesion of external ear in a patient treated by
      corticosteroids for bullous pemphigoid. 

PMID- 27617948
TI  - Top-cited psoriasis authors in 4 high-impact dermatology journals: 2000-2012.
AB  - Psoriasis is a largely researched topic with abundant potential for publication
      in dermatologic journals. We used the Thomson Reuters' Web of Science citation
      database using the search term "psoriasis" in the titles of any literature
      published in 4 high-impact dermatology journals. We compiled a ranking of the top
      25 cited first authors and top 25 cited authors overall on the subject of
      psoriasis between 2000-2012. We hope our analysis highlights the achievements of
      our colleagues and predecessors. 

PMID- 27617949
TI  - Active tuberculosis in a psoriasis patient treated with tumor necrosis factor
      inhibitors despite an initial negative tuberculin skin test and no known risk
      factors.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors are becoming more common in the treatment
      of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. These medications have a low
      incidence of serious adverse events and are generally considered safe; however,
      they do make patients more susceptible to tuberculosis (TB) infection both
      through latent reactivation and primary infection. We describe a case of a
      patient who had an initial negative tuberculin skin test (TST), began TNF
      inhibitor therapy, and then 11 years later was diagnosed with active TB. After
      the initial screening, the patient did not have any subsequent screenings for TB
      and no apparent change to his TB risk status. TB is still common in many areas of
      the United States and travel is not necessary to be exposed. Patients on TNF
      inhibitors that develop active TB have increased morbidity and mortality than
      those who are not. It is necessary that dermatologists limit the risk of TB to
      patients by screening them before initiation and annually when they are on the
      TNF inhibitor. 

PMID- 27617950
TI  - Uremic pruritus treated successfully with the Goeckerman Program.
AB  - Uremic pruritus (UP) is a common condition among patients with chronic kidney
      disease (CKD) on hemodialysis (HD). We report 19 a case of severe UP recalcitrant
      to conventional therapy including topical corticosteroids, anti-histamines, and
      phototherapy, 20 which was treated successfully with the Goeckerman regimen
      consisting of topical coal tar, topical corticosteroids, and broadband 21 UVB (BB
      UVB). Little is known about the pathophysiology of UP, and there is currently no
      consensus or evidence-based 22 treatments for UP. Although further studies are
      necessary, Goeckerman therapy may be a promising treatment option when 23
      available for severe UP intractable to conventional therapies. 

PMID- 27617952
TI  - UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HEALTH SYSTEM SCHOOL OF MEDICINE DEPARTMENT OF
      DERMATOLOGY.

PMID- 27617951
TI  - Zebrafish for modeling skin disorders.
AB  - The experimental advantages of zebrafish make this model system highly amenable
      to the field of dermatology. Zebrafish skin development is similar to humans and
      its genome is ~70% orthologous to the human genome. Its external developmental
      process allows for genetic manipulation and analysis of embryogenesis within a
      short time frame with all important internal organs and skin compartments formed
      within 6 days. Zebrafish models of cutaneous human diseases offer insight into
      pathogenesis and a unique platform for testing of potential therapies. This
      review details the specific advantages of zebrafish and highlights its use in
      dermatological research. 

PMID- 27617953
TI  - Cytotoxic Ceanothane- and Lupane-Type Triterpenoids from the Roots of Ziziphus
      jujuba.
AB  - Ziziphus jujuba, a plant in the family Rhamnaceae, is used in several Asian
      countries as a food and traditional medicine. Fifteen new ceanothane-type (1-15)
      and three new lupane-type triterpenoids (16-18) were isolated from the roots of
      Z. jujuba, as well as 12 previously known triterpenoids (19-30). Their structures
      were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic and HR mass spectrometric data
      analysis. Compounds 12 and 13 were found to possess a rare E-ring gamma-lactone
      structure, and 14 was assigned as the first 2,28-dinorlupane derivative isolated
      as a natural product. Twenty-five of the isolates were examined for cytotoxicity
      against human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells, and compounds 6-8, 14, 17,
      23, 25, 29, and 30 showed cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 1.9 to 5.9
      MUM.

PMID- 27617954
TI  - Influence of the Selectivity Filter Properties on Proton Selectivity in the
      Influenza A M2 Channel.
AB  - The homotetrameric M2 proton channel of influenza A plays a crucial role in the
      viral life cycle and is thus an important therapeutic target. It selectively
      conducts protons against a background of other competing cations whose
      concentrations are up to a million times greater than the proton concentration.
      Its selectivity is largely determined by a constricted region of its open pore
      known as the selectivity filter, which is lined by four absolutely conserved
      histidines. While the mechanism of proton transport through the channel has been
      studied, the physical principles underlying the selectivity for protons over
      other cations in the channel's His4 selectivity filter remain elusive.
      Furthermore, it is not known if proton selectivity absolutely requires all four
      histidines with two of the four histidines protonated and if other titratable
      amino acid residues in lieu of the histidines could bind protons and how they
      affect proton selectivity. Here, we elucidate how the competition between protons
      and rival cations such as Na+ depends on the selectivity filter's (1) histidine
      protonation state, (2) solvent exposure, (3) oligomeric state (the number of
      protein chains and thus the number of His ligands), and (4) ligand composition by
      evaluating the free energies for replacing monovalent Na+ with H3O+ in various
      model selectivity filters. We show that tetrameric His4 filters are more proton
      selective than their trimeric His3 counterparts, and a dicationic His4 filter
      where two of the four histidines are protonated is more proton-selective than
      tetrameric filters with other charge states/composition (different combinations
      of His protonation states or different metal-ligating ligands). The [His4]2+
      filter achieves proton selectivity by providing suboptimal binding conditions for
      rival cations such as Na+, which prefers a neutral or negatively charged filter
      instead of a dicationic one, and three rather than four ligands with oxygen
      ligating atoms.

PMID- 27617958
TI  - Probe-Based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy for Imaging TRAIL-Expressing
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Monitor Colon Xenograft Tumors In Vivo.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can serve as vehicles for therapeutic
      genes. However, little is known about MSC behavior in vivo. Here, we demonstrated
      that probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) can be used to track MSCs
      in vivo and individually monitor tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis
      inducing ligand (TRAIL) gene expression within carcinomas. METHODS: Isolated
      BALB/c nu/nu mice MSCs (MSCs) were characterized and engineered to co-express the
      TRAIL and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) genes. The number of MSCs co
      expressing EGFP and TRAIL (TRAIL-MSCs) at tumor sites was quantified with pCLE in
      vivo, while their presence was confirmed using immunofluorescence (IF) and
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The therapeutic effects of TRAIL
      MSCs were evaluated by measuring the volumes and weights of subcutaneous HT29
      derived xenograft tumors. RESULTS: Intravital imaging of the subcutaneous
      xenograft tumors revealed that BALB/c mice treated with TRAIL-MSCs exhibited
      specific cellular signals, whereas no specific signals were observed in the
      control mice. The findings from the pCLE images were consistent with the IF and
      qPCR results. CONCLUSION: The pCLE results indicated that endomicroscopy could
      effectively quantify injected MSCs that homed to subcutaneous xenograft tumor
      sites in vivo and correlated well with the therapeutic effects of the TRAIL gene.
      By applying pCLE for the in vivo monitoring of cellular trafficking, stem cell
      based anticancer gene therapeutic approaches might be feasible and attractive
      options for individualized clinical treatments.

PMID- 27617959
TI  - Forsythoside A Inhibits BVDV Replication via TRAF2-Dependent CD28-4-1BB Signaling
      in Bovine PBMCs.
AB  - Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), the causative agent of bovine viral
      diarrhea/mucosal disease (BVD/MD), is an important pathogen of cattle and other
      wild animals throughout the world. BVDV infection typically leads to an impaired
      immune response in cattle. In the present study, we investigated the effect of
      Forsythoside A (FTA) on BVDV infection of bovine peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells (PBMCs). We found that Forsythoside A could not only promote proliferation
      of PBMCs and T cells activation but also inhibit the replication of BVDV as well
      as apoptosis induced by BVDV. FTA treatment could counteract the BVDV-induced
      overproduction of IFN-gamma to maintain the immune homeostasis in bovine PBMCs.
      At same time, FTA can enhance the secretion of IL-2. What's more, BVDV promotes
      the expression of CD28, 4-1BB and TRAF-2, which can be modulated by FTA. Our data
      suggest that FTA protects PBMCs from BVDV infection possibly via TRAF2-dependent
      CD28-4-1BB signaling, which may activate PBMCs in response to BVDV infection.
      Therefore, this aids in the development of an effective adjuvant for vaccines
      against BVDV and other specific FTA-based therapies for preventing BVDV
      infection. 

PMID- 27617960
TI  - Evidence of Flicker-Induced Functional Hyperaemia in the Smallest Vessels of the
      Human Retinal Blood Supply.
AB  - Regional changes in blood flow are initiated within neural tissue to help fuel
      local differences in neural activity. Classically, this response was thought to
      arise only in larger arterioles and venules. However, recently, it has been
      proposed that a) the smallest vessels of the circulation make a comparable
      contribution, and b) the response should be localised intermittently along such
      vessels, due to the known distribution of contractile mural cells. To assess
      these hypotheses in human neural tissue in vivo, we imaged the retinal
      microvasculature (diameters 3-28 MUm) non-invasively, using adaptive optics,
      before and after delivery of focal (360 MUm) patches of flickering visible light.
      Our results demonstrated a definite average response in 35% of all vessel
      segments analysed. In these responding vessels, the magnitude of proportional
      dilation (mean +/- SEM for pre-capillary arterioles 13 +/- 5%, capillaries 31 +/-
      8%, and post-capillary venules 10 +/- 3%) is generally far greater than the
      magnitudes we and others have measured in the larger retinal vessels, supporting
      proposition a) above. The dilations observed in venules were unexpected based on
      previous animal work, and may be attributed either to differences in stimulus or
      species. Response heterogeneity across the network was high; responses were also
      heterogeneous along individual vessels (45% of vessel segments showed
      demonstrable locality in their response). These observations support proposition
      b) above. We also observed a definite average constriction across 7% of vessel
      segments (mean +/- SEM constriction for capillaries -16 +/- 3.2%, and post
      capillary venules -18 +/- 12%), which paints a picture of dynamic redistribution
      of flow throughout the smallest vessel networks in the retina in response to
      local, stimulus-driven metabolic demand. 

PMID- 27617961
TI  - The PU.1-Modulated MicroRNA-22 Is a Regulator of Monocyte/Macrophage
      Differentiation and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - MicroRNA-22 (miR-22) is emerging as a critical regulator in organ development and
      various cancers. However, its role in normal hematopoiesis and leukaemogenesis
      remains unclear. Here, we detected its increased expression during
      monocyte/macrophage differentiation of HL-60, THP1 cells and CD34+ hematopoietic
      stem/progenitor cells, and confirmed that PU.1, a key transcriptional factor for
      monocyte/macrophage differentiation, is responsible for transcriptional
      activation of miR-22 during the differentiation. By gain- and loss-of-function
      experiments, we demonstrated that miR-22 promoted monocyte/macrophage
      differentiation, and MECOM (EVI1) mRNA is a direct target of miR-22 and MECOM
      (EVI1) functions as a negative regulator in the differentiation. The miR-22
      mediated MECOM degradation increased c-Jun but decreased GATA2 expression, which
      results in increased interaction between c-Jun and PU.1 via increasing c-Jun
      levels and relief of MECOM- and GATA2-mediated interference in the interaction,
      and thus promoting monocyte/macrophage differentiation. We also observed
      significantly down-regulation of PU.1 and miR-22 as well as significantly up
      regulation of MECOM in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Reintroduction of
      miR-22 relieved the differentiation blockage and inhibited the growth of bone
      marrow blasts of AML patients. Our results revealed new function and mechanism of
      miR-22 in normal hematopoiesis and AML development and demonstrated its potential
      value in AML diagnosis and therapy.

PMID- 27617964
TI  - Using Broken Windows Theory as the Backdrop for a Proactive Approach to Threat
      Identification in Health Care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Historically, health care has relied on error management techniques
      to measure and reduce the occurrence of adverse events. This study proposes an
      alternative approach for identifying and analyzing hazardous events. Whereas
      previous research has concentrated on investigating individual flow disruptions,
      we maintain the industry should focus on threat windows, or the accumulation of
      these disruptions. This methodology, driven by the broken windows theory, allows
      us to identify process inefficiencies before they manifest and open the door for
      the occurrence of errors and adverse events. METHODS: Medical human factors
      researchers observed disruptions during 34 trauma cases at a Level II trauma
      center. Data were collected during resuscitation and imaging and were classified
      using a human factors taxonomy: Realizing Improved Patient Care Through Human
      Centered Operating Room Design for Threat Window Analysis (RIPCHORD-TWA).
      RESULTS: Of the 576 total disruptions observed, communication issues were the
      most prevalent (28%), followed by interruptions and coordination issues (24%
      each). Issues related to layout (16%), usability (5%), and equipment (2%)
      comprised the remainder of the observations. Disruptions involving communication
      issues were more prevalent during resuscitation, whereas coordination problems
      were observed more frequently during imaging. CONCLUSIONS: Rather than solely
      investigating errors and adverse events, we propose conceptualizing the
      accumulation of disruptions in terms of threat windows as a means to analyze
      potential threats to the integrity of the trauma care system. This approach
      allows for the improved identification of system weaknesses or threats, affording
      us the ability to address these inefficiencies and intervene before errors and
      adverse events may occur.

PMID- 27617962
TI  - Calibration and Validation of a Wrist- and Hip-Worn Actigraph Accelerometer in 4
      Year-Old Children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To determine time spent at different physical activity intensities,
      accelerometers need calibration. The aim of this study was to develop and cross
      validate intensity thresholds for the Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer for wrist and
      hip placement in four-year-old children. METHODS: In total 30 children (49
      months, SD 3.7) were recruited from five preschools in Stockholm. Equipped with
      an accelerometer on the wrist and another on the hip, children performed three
      indoor activities and one free-play session while being video recorded.
      Subsequently, physical activity intensity levels were coded every 5th second
      according to the Children's Activity Rating Scale. Receiver Operating
      Characteristic (ROC) curves was used to develop wrist and hip intensity
      thresholds, the upper threshold for sedentary, and lower threshold for moderate
      to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), for the vertical axis (VA) and for the
      vector magnitude (VM). A leave-one-out method was used to cross-validate the
      thresholds. RESULTS: Intensity thresholds for wrist placement were <= 178 (VA)
      and <= 328 (VM) for sedentary and >= 871 (VA) and >= 1393 (VM) counts/5 seconds
      for MVPA. The corresponding thresholds for hip placement were <= 43 (VA) and <=
      105 (VM) for sedentary and >= 290 (VA) and >= 512 (VM) for MVPA. The quadratic
      weighted Kappa was 0.92 (95% CI 0.91-0.93) (VA) and 0.95 (95% CI 0.94-0.96) (VM)
      for the wrist-worn accelerometer and 0.76 (98% CI 0.74-0.77) and 0.86 (95% CI
      0.85-0.87) for the hip-worn. CONCLUSION: Using wrist placement and the VM when
      measuring physical activity with accelerometry in 4-year-old children is
      recommended.

PMID- 27617963
TI  - Improving Incident Reporting Among Physician Trainees.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preventable medical harm is a leading cause of death in the United
      States. Incident reporting systems have been identified as the primary method to
      capture medical error and harm. Incidents are rarely reported, particularly among
      physician trainees. METHODS: We conducted a single-center, quasi-experimental
      study to examine the effect of education on the importance of and how to file an
      incident report for physician trainees on reporting rates. Trainees were provided
      laminated plastic instructions, and reporting was reinforced with weekly patient
      safety rounds. In addition, trainees completed anonymous surveys preintervention
      and postintervention to determine barriers to reporting. A chi test compared the
      number of reports preintervention and postintervention. RESULTS: For 6 months, 73
      resident physicians participated in the study. Median incident reports entered by
      trainees increased from 1 report per month during the preintervention period to
      10 reports per month after the intervention (P = 0.005). The most common barriers
      to reporting incidents before intervention were not knowing how to report
      (72.6%), what to report (56.2%), and lack of time (42.5%). A total of 13.7%
      reported fear of retaliation. Most incident reports were due to delay in patient
      care (40.9%) and medical errors (33.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Real-time education and
      regular reinforcement increased incident reporting among resident physicians.
      This educational approach may increase incidence reporting in other institutions.

PMID- 27617965
TI  - Variations in Patient Safety Climate in Chinese Hospitals.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patient safety climate is associated with patient outcomes in
      hospitals around the world. A better understanding of how safety climate varies
      within and across hospitals will help identify improvement opportunities. We
      examined variations in safety climate by work area and job category in Chinese
      hospitals. METHODS: We administered the Chinese Hospital Survey on Patient Safety
      Climate in 2011 to workers in 6 hospitals in China, with completed surveys from
      1464 (86% response). We calculated the percent positive response for survey items
      and dimensions among hospitals and compared this across work areas and job
      categories using general linear models. RESULTS: Overall, 68% of responses
      suggested the presence of a positive safety climate. The percent positive
      responses were highest for organizational learning (86.1%) and unit management
      support for safety (84.5%) and lowest for staffing (30.6%) and error reporting
      (44.5%). Workers in surgical units, intensive care units, operating rooms, and
      emergency departments were slightly more negative regarding overall safety
      climate than those in medical and ancillary units. Physicians reported worse
      perceptions than nurses or other hospital workers on all dimensions except for
      unit management support for safety and communication and peer support.
      CONCLUSIONS: The perceived problem with staffing in Chinese hospitals was
      consistent with other studies. The lack of positive responses for error reporting
      may indicate a lack of awareness of the importance of learning from and reporting
      minor events and near misses. Variations within and across hospitals in safety
      climate suggest that improvement interventions should be tailored to individual
      units and professional groups.

PMID- 27617966
TI  - Anti-Ephrin Type-B Receptor 2 (EphB2) and Anti-Three Prime Histone mRNA
      EXonuclease 1 (THEX1) Autoantibodies in Scleroderma and Lupus.
AB  - In a pilot ProtoArray analysis, we identified 6 proteins out of 9483 recognized
      by autoantibodies (AAb) from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). We further
      investigated the 6 candidates by ELISA on hundreds of controls and patients,
      including patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), known for high sera
      reactivity and overlapping AAb with SSc. Only 2 of the 6 candidates, Ephrin type
      B receptor 2 (EphB2) and Three prime Histone mRNA EXonuclease 1 (THEX1), remained
      significantly recognized by sera samples from SSc compared to controls (healthy
      or with rheumatic diseases) with, respectively, 34% versus 14% (P = 2.10-4) and
      60% versus 28% (P = 3.10-8). Above all, EphB2 and THEX1 revealed to be mainly
      recognized by SLE sera samples with respectively 56%, (P = 2.10-10) and 82% (P =
      5.10-13). As anti-EphB2 and anti-THEX1 AAb were found in both diseases, an
      epitope mapping was realized on each protein to refine SSc and SLE diagnosis. A
      15-mer peptide from EphB2 allowed to identify 35% of SLE sera samples (N = 48)
      versus only 5% of any other sera samples (N = 157), including SSc sera samples.
      AAb titers were significantly higher in SLE sera (P<0.0001) and correlated with
      disease activity (p<0.02). We could not find an epitope on EphB2 protein for SSc
      neither on THEX1 for SSc or SLE. We showed that patients with SSc or SLE have AAb
      against EphB2, a protein involved in angiogenesis, and THEX1, a 3'-5'
      exoribonuclease involved in histone mRNA degradation. We have further identified
      a peptide from EphB2 as a specific and sensitive tool for SLE diagnosis. 

PMID- 27617969
TI  - Functions, Regulation, and Therapeutic Implications of the ATR Checkpoint
      Pathway.
AB  - The ATR (ATM and rad3-related) pathway is crucial for proliferation, responding
      to DNA replication stress and DNA damage. This critical signaling pathway is
      carefully orchestrated through a multistep process requiring initial priming of
      ATR prior to damage, recruitment of ATR to DNA damage lesions, activation of ATR
      signaling, and, finally, modulation of ATR activity through a variety of post
      translational modifications. Following activation, ATR functions in several vital
      cellular processes, including suppression of replication origin firing, promotion
      of deoxynucleotide synthesis and replication fork restart, prevention of double
      stranded DNA break formation, and avoidance of replication catastrophe and
      mitotic catastrophe. In many cancers, tumor cells have increased dependence on
      ATR signaling for survival, making ATR a promising target for cancer therapy.
      Tumor cells compromised in DNA repair pathways or DNA damage checkpoints, cells
      reliant on homologous recombination, and cells with increased replication stress
      are particularly sensitive to ATR inhibition. Understanding ATR signaling and
      modulation is essential to unraveling which tumors have increased dependence on
      ATR signaling as well as how the ATR pathway can best be exploited for targeted
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 27617967
TI  - Infant Directed Speech Enhances Statistical Learning in Newborn Infants: An ERP
      Study.
AB  - Statistical learning and the social contexts of language addressed to infants are
      hypothesized to play important roles in early language development. Previous
      behavioral work has found that the exaggerated prosodic contours of infant
      directed speech (IDS) facilitate statistical learning in 8-month-old infants.
      Here we examined the neural processes involved in on-line statistical learning
      and investigated whether the use of IDS facilitates statistical learning in
      sleeping newborns. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while newborns
      were exposed to12 pseudo-words, six spoken with exaggerated pitch contours of IDS
      and six spoken without exaggerated pitch contours (ADS) in ten alternating
      blocks. We examined whether ERP amplitudes for syllable position within a pseudo
      word (word-initial vs. word-medial vs. word-final, indicating statistical word
      learning) and speech register (ADS vs. IDS) would interact. The ADS and IDS
      registers elicited similar ERP patterns for syllable position in an early 0-100
      ms component but elicited different ERP effects in both the polarity and
      topographical distribution at 200-400 ms and 450-650 ms. These results provide
      the first evidence that the exaggerated pitch contours of IDS result in
      differences in brain activity linked to on-line statistical learning in sleeping
      newborns. 

PMID- 27617968
TI  - Changes in Men's Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Knowledge and Behavior as a
      Result of Program Exposure: Findings From the Workplace POWERPLAY Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine changes in physical activity
      and healthy eating knowledge and behaviors associated with the level of exposure
      to POWERPLAY, a men-centered workplace health promotion program. METHODS: This
      study is based on a quasi-experimental prepost design. Using a computer assisted
      telephone interview survey, data regarding program exposure and physical activity
      and health eating knowledge and behaviors were collected from men (N = 103) in 4
      workplaces. RESULTS: Exposure scores were calculated and participants were
      categorized as having low (n = 54) or high exposure (n = 49) to POWERPLAY.
      Compared with the low exposure group, those reporting high exposure scored
      significantly higher on physical activity knowledge (F (1, 99) =14.17, P < .001,
      eta2 = .125) and health eating knowledge (F (1, 99) =14.37, P = .001, eta2 =
      .111). The high exposure group also reported significantly more minutes walked
      place to place (F (2, 206) = 3.91, P = .022, eta2 = .037) and on minutes walked
      for leisure (F (2, 230) = 3.08, P = .048, eta2 = .026). CONCLUSIONS: POWERPLAY
      shows significant promise as a workplace health promotion approach and may have
      an even greater impact when program exposure is augmented with environmental and
      policy changes.

PMID- 27617970
TI  - Evolution in the Cycles of Life.
AB  - The life cycles of eukaryotes alternate between haploid and diploid phases, which
      are initiated by meiosis and gamete fusion, respectively. In both ascomycete and
      basidiomycete fungi and chlorophyte algae, the haploid-to-diploid transition is
      regulated by a pair of paralogous homeodomain protein encoding genes. That a
      common genetic program controls the haploid-to-diploid transition in
      phylogenetically disparate eukaryotic lineages suggests this may be the ancestral
      function for homeodomain proteins. Multicellularity has evolved independently in
      many eukaryotic lineages in either one or both phases of the life cycle.
      Organisms, such as land plants, exhibiting a life cycle whereby multicellular
      bodies develop in both the haploid and diploid phases are often referred to as
      possessing an alternation of generations. We review recent progress on
      understanding the genetic basis for the land plant alternation of generations and
      highlight the roles that homeodomain-encoding genes may have played in the
      evolution of complex multicellularity in this lineage.

PMID- 27617972
TI  - Robust Yet Fragile: Expression Noise, Protein Misfolding, and Gene Dosage in the
      Evolution of Genomes.
AB  - The complex manner in which organisms respond to changes in their gene dosage has
      long fascinated geneticists. Oddly, although the existence of dominance implies
      that dosage reductions often have mild phenotypes, extra copies of whole
      chromosomes (aneuploidy) are generally strongly deleterious. Even more
      paradoxically, an extra copy of the genome is better tolerated than is
      aneuploidy. We review the resolution of this paradox, highlighting the roles of
      biochemistry, protein aggregation, and disruption of cellular microstructure in
      that explanation. Returning to life's curious combination of robustness and
      sensitivity to dosage changes, we argue that understanding how biological
      robustness evolved makes these observations less inexplicable. We propose that
      noise in gene expression and evolutionary strategies for its suppression play a
      role in generating dosage phenotypes. Finally, we outline an unappreciated
      mechanism for the preservation of duplicate genes, namely preservation to limit
      expression noise, arguing that it is particularly relevant in polyploid
      organisms.

PMID- 27617973
TI  - Sperm Meets Egg: The Genetics of Mammalian Fertilization.
AB  - Fertilization is the culminating event of sexual reproduction, which involves the
      union of the sperm and egg to form a single, genetically distinct organism.
      Despite the fundamental role of fertilization, the basic mechanisms involved have
      remained poorly understood. However, these mechanisms must involve an ordered
      schedule of cellular recognition events between the sperm and egg to ensure
      successful fusion. In this article, we review recent progress in our molecular
      understanding of mammalian fertilization, highlighting the areas in which genetic
      approaches have been particularly informative and focusing especially on the
      roles of secreted and cell surface proteins, expressed in a sex-specific manner,
      that mediate sperm-egg interactions. We discuss how the sperm interacts with the
      female reproductive tract, zona pellucida, and the oolemma. Finally, we review
      recent progress made in elucidating the mechanisms that reduce polyspermy and
      ensure that eggs normally fuse with only a single sperm.

PMID- 27617975
TI  - Construction of Highly Catalytic Porous TiOPC Nanocomposite Counter Electrodes
      for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.
AB  - Developing low-cost, durable, and highly catalytic counter electrode (CE)
      materials based on earth-abundant elements is essential for dye-sensitized solar
      cells (DSSCs). In this study, we report a highly active nanostructured
      compositional material, TiOPC, which contains titanium, oxygen, phosphorus, and
      carbon, for efficient CE in I3-/I- electrolyte. The TiOPC nanocomposites are
      prepared from carbon thermal transformation of TiP2O7 in an atmosphere of
      nitrogen at high temperature, and their catalytic performance is regulated by
      changing the carbon content in the nanocomposites. The TiOPC with appropriate
      24.6 wt % carbon and porous structure exhibits an enhanced electrocatalytic
      activity in the reduction of I3-, providing a short-circuit current density of
      16.64 mA cm-2, an open-circuit potential of 0.78 V, and an energy conversion
      efficiency of 8.65%. The photovoltaic performance of TiOPC CE-based DSSC is even
      superior to that of a Pt CE-based cell (13.80 mA cm-2, 0.79 V, and 6.66%). The
      enhanced catalytic activity of TiOPC is attributed to the presence of predominant
      Ti-O-P-C structure along with the continuous conductive carbon network and the
      porous structure.

PMID- 27617971
TI  - Transition Metals and Virulence in Bacteria.
AB  - Transition metals are required trace elements for all forms of life. Due to their
      unique inorganic and redox properties, transition metals serve as cofactors for
      enzymes and other proteins. In bacterial pathogenesis, the vertebrate host
      represents a rich source of nutrient metals, and bacteria have evolved diverse
      metal acquisition strategies. Host metal homeostasis changes dramatically in
      response to bacterial infections, including production of metal sequestering
      proteins and the bombardment of bacteria with toxic levels of metals. In
      response, bacteria have evolved systems to subvert metal sequestration and
      toxicity. The coevolution of hosts and their bacterial pathogens in the battle
      for metals has uncovered emerging paradigms in social microbiology, rapid
      evolution, host specificity, and metal homeostasis across domains. This review
      focuses on recent advances and open questions in our understanding of the complex
      role of transition metals at the host-pathogen interface.

PMID- 27617977
TI  - Letter from the editor.

PMID- 27617979
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27617980
TI  - Expanding the Range of Diagnosable Autoimmune Encephalopathies and
      Encephalomyelopathies.

PMID- 27617976
TI  - The small unicellular diazotrophic symbiont, UCYN-A, is a key player in the
      marine nitrogen cycle.
AB  - Microbial dinitrogen (N2) fixation, the nitrogenase enzyme-catalysed reduction of
      N2 gas into biologically available ammonia, is the main source of new nitrogen
      (N) in the ocean. For more than 50 years, oceanic N2 fixation has mainly been
      attributed to the activity of the colonial cyanobacterium Trichodesmium1,2. Other
      smaller N2-fixing microorganisms (diazotrophs)-in particular the unicellular
      cyanobacteria group A (UCYN-A)-are, however, abundant enough to potentially
      contribute significantly to N2 fixation in the surface waters of the oceans3-6.
      Despite their abundance, the contribution of UCYN-A to oceanic N2 fixation has so
      far not been directly quantified. Here, we show that in one of the main areas of
      oceanic N2 fixation, the tropical North Atlantic7, the symbiotic cyanobacterium
      UCYN-A contributed to N2 fixation similarly to Trichodesmium. Two types of UCYN
      A, UCYN-A1 and -A2, were observed to live in symbioses with specific eukaryotic
      algae. Single-cell analyses showed that both algae-UCYN-A symbioses actively
      fixed N2, contributing ~20% to N2 fixation in the tropical North Atlantic,
      revealing their significance in this region. These symbioses had growth rates
      five to ten times higher than Trichodesmium, implying a rapid transfer of UCYN-A
      fixed N into the food web that might significantly raise their actual
      contribution to N2 fixation. Our analysis of global 16S rRNA gene databases
      showed that UCYN-A occurs in surface waters from the Arctic to the Antarctic
      Circle and thus probably contributes to N2 fixation in a much larger oceanic area
      than previously thought. Based on their high rates of N2 fixation and
      cosmopolitan distribution, we hypothesize that UCYN-A plays a major, but
      currently overlooked role in the oceanic N cycle.

PMID- 27617981
TI  - Effects of Combined Vigorous Interval Training Program and Diet on Body
      Composition, Physical Fitness, and Physical Self-Perceptions Among Obese
      Adolescent Boys and Girls.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of a five-week intervention combining
      vigorous interval training (VIT) with diet among twenty-four obese adolescents.
      Fourteen girls and ten boys (aged 14-15) schooled in a pediatric rehabilitation
      center participated. METHODS: The VIT intensity was targeted and remained above
      80% of maximal heart rate (HR) and over six kilocalories per minute. Pre- and
      postintervention measures were body composition (BMI, weight, body fat
      percentage), physical self-perceptions (PSP), physical fitness (6-min walking
      distance and work) and its associated physiological responses (HRpeak and blood
      lactate concentration). A series of two-way analyses of variance or covariance
      controlling for weight loss were used to examine the changes. RESULTS:
      Significant improvements were found in body composition, physical fitness and PSP
      (endurance, activity level, sport competence, global physical self-concept and
      appearance). In addition, boys presented higher levels of perceived strength and
      global physical self-concept than girls. Finally, there was a significant
      increase in perceived endurance, sport competence, and global physical self
      concept in girls only. CONCLUSION: This five-week VIT program combined with diet
      represents an effective means for improving body composition, physical fitness,
      and PSP in obese adolescents, the effects on PSP being larger among girls.

PMID- 27617982
TI  - Catechins Variously Affect Activities of Conjugation Enzymes in Proliferating and
      Differentiated Caco-2 Cells.
AB  - The knowledge of processes in intestinal cells is essential, as most xenobiotics
      come into contact with the small intestine first. Caco-2 cells are human
      colorectal adenocarcinoma that once differentiated, exhibit enterocyte-like
      characteristics. Our study compares activities and expressions of important
      conjugation enzymes and their modulation by green tea extract (GTE) and
      epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) using both proliferating (P) and differentiated
      (D) caco-2 cells. The mRNA levels of the main conjugation enzymes were
      significantly elevated after the differentiation of Caco-2 cells. However, no
      increase in conjugation enzymes' activities in differentiated cells was detected
      in comparison to proliferating ones. GTE/EGCG treatment did not affect the mRNA
      levels of any of the conjugation enzymes tested in either type of cells.
      Concerning conjugation enzymes activities, GTE/EGCG treatment elevated
      glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity by approx. 30% and inhibited catechol-O
      methyltransferase (COMT) activity by approx. 20% in differentiated cells. On the
      other hand, GTE as well as EGCG treatment did not significantly affect the
      activities of conjugation enzymes in proliferating cells. Administration of
      GTE/EGCG mediated only mild changes of GST and COMT activities in enterocyte-like
      cells, indicating a low risk of GTE/EGCG interactions with concomitantly
      administered drugs. However, a considerable chemo-protective effect of GTE via
      the pronounced induction of detoxifying enzymes cannot be expected as well. 

PMID- 27617983
TI  - Three Pairs of New Isopentenyl Dibenzo[b,e]oxepinone Enantiomers from Talaromyces
      flavus, a Wetland Soil-Derived Fungus.
AB  - Three pairs of new isopentenyl dibenzo[b,e]oxepinone enantiomers, (+)-(5S)
      arugosin K (1a), (-)-(5R)-arugosin K (1b), (+)-(5S)-arugosin L (2a), (-)-(5R)
      arugosin L (2b), (+)-(5S)-arugosin M (3a), (-)-(5R)-arugosin M (3b), and a new
      isopentenyl dibenzo[b,e]oxepinone, arugosin N (4), were isolated from a wetland
      soil-derived fungus Talaromyces flavus, along with two known biosynthetically
      related compounds 5 and 6. Among them, arugosin N (4) and 1,6,10-trihydroxy-8
      methyl-2-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-dibenz[b,e]oxepin-11(6H)-one (CAS: 160585-91-1, 5)
      were obtained as the tautomeric mixtures. The structures of isolated compounds
      were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis. In addition, the absolute
      configurations of these three pairs of new enantiomers were determined by quantum
      chemical ECD calculations. 

PMID- 27617984
TI  - Boronic Acid Group: A Cumbersome False Negative Case in the Process of Drug
      Design.
AB  - Herein we present, an exhaustive docking analysis considering the case of
      autotaxin (ATX). HA155, a small molecule inhibitor of ATX, is co-crystallized. In
      order to further extract conclusions on the nature of the bond formed between the
      ligands and the amino acid residues of the active site, density functional theory
      (DFT) calculations were undertaken. However, docking does not provide
      reproducible results when screening boronic acid derivatives and their binding
      orientations to protein drug targets. Based on natural bond orbital (NBO)
      calculations, the formed bond between Ser/Thr residues is characterized more
      accurately as a polar covalent bond instead of a simple nonpolar covalent one.
      The presented results are acceptable and could be used in screening as an active
      negative filter for boron compounds. The hydroxyl groups of amino acids are
      bonded with the inhibitor's boron atom, converting its hybridization to sp3. 

PMID- 27617985
TI  - A Systematic Review on the Implication of Minerals in the Onset, Severity and
      Treatment of Periodontal Disease.
AB  - Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease with high prevalence in adults
      that leads to destruction of the teeth-supporting tissues. Periodontal therapy
      has been traditionally directed at reduction of the bacterial load to a level
      that encourages health-promoting bacteria and maintenance of oral-hygiene. The
      role of nutrition in different chronic inflammatory diseases has been the subject
      of an increasing body of research in the last decades. In this sense, there has
      been an important increase in the volume of research on role of nutrition in
      periodontitis since the diet has known effects on the immune system and
      inflammatory cascades. Minerals play a key role in all these processes due to the
      multiple pathways where they participate. To clarify the role of the different
      minerals in the establishment, progression and/or treatment of this pathology, a
      systemically review of published literature cited in PubMed until May 2016 was
      conducted, which included research on the relationship of these elements with the
      onset and progression of periodontal disease. Among all the minerals, calcium
      dietary intake seems important to maintain alveolar bone. Likewise, dietary
      proportions of minerals that may influence its metabolism also can be relevant.
      Lastly, some observations suggest that all those minerals with roles in immune
      and/or antioxidant systems should be considered in future research. 

PMID- 27617986
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Comparison of Scutellarin and Paeoniflorin in Sham-Operated and
      Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury Rats after
      Intravenous Administration of Xin-Shao Formula.
AB  - Xin-Shao formula is a folk remedy widely used in China to prevent and cure
      stroke. Cerebral ischemic reperfusion (I/R) injury often takes place during the
      treatment of stroke. Information about the pharmacokinetic behavior of the remedy
      under cerebral I/R injury conditions is lacking. The present study aimed to
      compare the pharmacokinetic properties of scutellarin and paeoniflorin, two major
      bioactive components of Xin-Shao formula, under physiological state in cerebral
      I/R injury rats. Neurobehavioral dysfunction was evaluated and cerebral infarcted
      volume was measured in middle cerebral artery occlusion I/R injury (MCAO) rats.
      Plasma samples were collected at various time points after a single dose
      (intravenous, i.v.) of Xin-Shao formula. The levels of plasma scutellarin and
      paeoniflorin at the designed time points were determined by a UPLC-MS/MS method,
      and drug concentration versus time plots were constructed to estimate
      pharmacokinetic parameters. Increase in terminal elimination half-life (t1/2z)
      and mean residence time (MRT(0-t)) of scutellarin as well as elevation in area
      under the plasma drug concentration-time curve from 0 h to the terminal time
      point (AUC(0-t)) and maximum plasma drug concentration (Cmax) of paeoniflorin,
      along with decreased clearance of paeoniflorin and scutellarin as well as reduced
      apparent volume of distribution (Vz) of paeoniflorin, were observed in MCAO rats,
      compared with those in sham-operated animals. The elimination of scutellarin and
      paeoniflorin were reduced in cerebral I/R injury reduced rats. 

PMID- 27617987
TI  - Isolation of alpha-Amylase Inhibitors from Kadsura longipedunculata Using a High
      Speed Counter-Current Chromatography Target Guided by Centrifugal Ultrafiltration
      with LC-MS.
AB  - In this study, a high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) separation
      method target guided by centrifugal ultrafiltration with high-performance liquid
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (CU-LC-MS) was proposed. This method was used to
      analyze alpha-amylase inhibitors from Kadsura longipedunculata extract. According
      to previous screening with CU-LC-MS, two screened potential alpha-amylase
      inhibitors was successfully isolated from Kadsura longipedunculata extract using
      HSCCC under the optimized experimental conditions. The isolated two target
      compounds (with purities of 92.3% and 94.6%) were, respectively, identified as
      quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside (1) and protocatechuic acid (2) based on the MS, UV, and
      1H-NMR spectrometry data. To verify the inhibition of screened compounds, the
      inhibitory activities of quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside (1) and protocatechuic acid (2)
      on alpha-amylase were tested, and it demonstrated that the experimental IC50
      values of quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside (1) and protocatechuic acid (2) were 28.8 and
      12.5 MUmol/L. These results proved that the hyphenated technique using CU-LC-MS
      and HSCCC was a rapid, competent, and reproductive method to screen and separate
      potential active compounds, like enzyme inhibitors from the extract of herbal
      medicines. 

PMID- 27617988
TI  - Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluation of 1-[(2-Substituted
      phenyl)carbamoyl]naphthalen-2-yl Carbamates.
AB  - Series of thirteen 1-[(2-chlorophenyl)carbamoyl]naphthalen-2-yl carbamates and
      thirteen 1-[(2-nitrophenyl)carbamoyl]naphthalen-2-yl carbamates with
      alkyl/cycloalkyl/arylalkyl chains were prepared and characterized. Primary in
      vitro screening of the synthesized compounds was performed against Staphylococcus
      aureus, two methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains, Mycobacterium marinum, and
      M. kansasii. 1-[(2-Chlorophenyl)carbamoyl]naphthalen-2-yl ethylcarbamate and 1
      [(2-nitrophenyl)carbamoyl]naphthalen-2-yl ethylcarbamate showed
      antistaphylococcal (MICs = 42 uM against MRSA) and antimycobacterial (MICs = 21
      uM) activity against the tested strains comparable with or higher than that of
      the standards ampicillin and isoniazid. In the case of bulkier carbamate tails (R
      > propyl/isopropyl), the activity was similar (MICs ca. 70 uM). Screening of the
      cytotoxicity of both of the most effective compounds was performed using THP-1
      cells, and no significant lethal effect was observed (LD50 >30 uM). The structure
      activity relationships are discussed. 

PMID- 27617990
TI  - Chemical Composition, Antibacterial Properties and Mechanism of Action of
      Essential Oil from Clove Buds against Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - The essential oil of clove has a wide range of pharmacological and biological
      activities and is widely used in the medicine, fragrance and flavoring
      industries. In this work, 22 components of the essential oil obtained from clove
      buds were identified. Eugenol was the major component (76.23%). The essential oil
      exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923
      with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.625 mg/mL, and the
      antibacterial effects depended on its concentration and action time. Kill-time
      assays also confirmed the essential oil had a significant effect on the growth
      rate of surviving S. aureus. We hypothesized that the essential oil may interact
      with the cell wall and membrane first. On the one hand it destroys cell wall and
      membranes, next causing the losses of vital intracellular materials, which
      finally result in the bacterial death. Besides, essential oil penetrates to the
      cytoplasmic membrane or enters inside the cell after destruction of cell
      structure, and then inhibits the normal synthesis of DNA and proteins that are
      required for bacterial growth. These results suggested that the effects of the
      clove essential oil on the growth inhibition of S. aureus may be at the molecular
      level rather than only physical damage. 

PMID- 27617989
TI  - Comparison of Protein N-Homocysteinylation in Rat Plasma under Elevated
      Homocysteine Using a Specific Chemical Labeling Method.
AB  - Elevated blood concentrations of homocysteine have been well established as a
      risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and neuropsychiatric diseases, yet the
      etiologic relationship of homocysteine to these disorders remains poorly
      understood. Protein N-homocysteinylation has been hypothesized as a contributing
      factor; however, it has not been examined globally owing to the lack of suitable
      detection methods. We recently developed a selective chemical method to label N
      homocysteinylated proteins with a biotin-aldehyde tag followed by Western
      blotting analysis, which was further optimized in this study. We then
      investigated the variation of protein N-homocysteinylation in plasma from rats on
      a vitamin B12 deficient diet. Elevated "total homocysteine" concentrations were
      determined in rats with a vitamin B12 deficient diet. Correspondingly, overall
      levels of plasma protein N-homocysteinylation displayed an increased trend, and
      furthermore, more pronounced and statistically significant changes (e.g., 1.8
      fold, p-value: 0.03) were observed for some individual protein bands. Our results
      suggest that, as expected, a general metabolic correlation exists between "total
      homocysteine" and N-homocysteinylation, although other factors are involved in
      homocysteine/homocysteine thiolactone metabolism, such as the transsulfuration of
      homocysteine by cystathionine beta-synthase or the hydrolysis of homocysteine
      thiolactone by paraoxonase 1 (PON1), may play more significant or direct roles in
      determining the level of N-homocysteinylation. 

PMID- 27617991
TI  - Bioprinting and Differentiation of Stem Cells.
AB  - The 3D bioprinting of stem cells directly into scaffolds offers great potential
      for the development of regenerative therapies; in particular for the fabrication
      of organ and tissue substitutes. For this to be achieved; the lineage fate of
      bioprinted stem cell must be controllable. Bioprinting can be neutral; allowing
      culture conditions to trigger differentiation or alternatively; the technique can
      be designed to be stimulatory. Such factors as the particular bioprinting
      technique; bioink polymers; polymer cross-linking mechanism; bioink additives;
      and mechanical properties are considered. In addition; it is discussed that the
      stimulation of stem cell differentiation by bioprinting may lead to the
      remodeling and modification of the scaffold over time matching the concept of 4D
      bioprinting. The ability to tune bioprinting properties as an approach to
      fabricate stem cell bearing scaffolds and to also harness the benefits of the
      cells multipotency is of considerable relevance to the field of biomaterials and
      bioengineering. 

PMID- 27617992
TI  - Characterization of French Coriander Oil as Source of Petroselinic Acid.
AB  - Coriander vegetable oil was extracted from fruits of French origin in a 23%
      yield. The oil was of good quality, with a low amount of free fatty acids (1.8%)
      and a concurrently high amount of triacylglycerols (98%). It is a rich source of
      petroselinic acid (C18:1n-12), an important renewable building block, making up
      73% of all fatty acids, with also significant amounts of linoleic acid (14%),
      oleic acid (6%), and palmitic acid (3%). The oil was characterized by a high
      unsaponifiable fraction, comprising a substantial amount of phytosterols (6.70
      g/kg). The main sterol markers were beta-sitosterol (35% of total sterols),
      stigmasterol (24%), and Delta7-stigmastenol (18%). Squalene was detected at an
      amount of 0.2 g/kg. A considerable amount of tocols were identified (500 mg/kg)
      and consisted mainly of tocotrienols, with gamma-tocotrienol as the major
      compound. The phospholipid content was low at 0.3%, of which the main
      phospholipid classes were phosphatidic acid (33%), phosphatidylcholine (25%),
      phosphatidylinositol (17%), and phosphatidylethanolamine (17%). About 50% of all
      phospholipids were non-hydratable. The beta-carotene content was low at 10 mg/kg,
      while a significant amount of chlorophyll was detected at about 11 mg/kg. An iron
      content of 1.4 mg/kg was determined through element analysis of the vegetable
      oil. The influence of fruit origin on the vegetable oil composition was shown to
      be very important, particularly in terms of the phospholipids, sterols, and
      tocols composition. 

PMID- 27617993
TI  - Chemical and Antioxidant Properties of Wild Edible Mushrooms from Native
      Nothofagus spp. Forest, Argentina.
AB  - This study addresses issues regarding chemical and bioactive properties of nine
      wild edible mushrooms from native Nothofagus forest from Patagonia, Argentina.
      Macronutrients, sugars, fatty acids, tocopherols, organic acids, phenolic
      compounds and antioxidant properties were determined. Protein was found in high
      levels and varied between 3.35 g/100 g dw in Cyttaria hariotii and 22.29 g/100 g
      dw in Lepista nuda. All of them presented mannitol and trehalose as main sugars.
      Mannitol was significantly higher in Ramaria patagonica, although absent in
      Fistulina endoxantha, whereas trehalose predominated in Aleurodiscus vitellinus,
      Hydropus dusenii, Cortinarius magellanicus, C. hariotii, Grifola gargal and L.
      nuda, ranging from 1.15 to 10.26 g/100 g dw; it was absent in R. patagonica. The
      major fatty acid found was linoleic acid, followed by oleic acid and palmitic
      acid. All species presented oxalic and fumaric acids, while some also had malic,
      quinic and citric acids. Tocopherols composition was variable. Cortinarius
      magellanicus presented significantly higher contents of both alpha-tocopherol and
      beta-tocopherol. R. patagonica presented the best results in all the antioxidant
      activity assays (EC50 values <= 1 mg/mL) and the highest content of phenolic
      compounds presenting gallic, p-hydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric and cinnamic acids.
      This study constitutes the first report on chemical composition and nutritional
      value of most of these edible mushroom species. Furthermore, it provides
      important information necessary to characterize and define the use of these
      species as gastronomic delicacies, functional foods and sources of bioactive
      compounds. 

PMID- 27617994
TI  - Synthesis and Anti-HIV-1 Activity Evaluation for Novel 3a,6a-Dihydro-1H
      pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrazole-4,6-dione Derivatives.
AB  - The search for new molecular constructs that resemble the critical two-metal
      binding pharmacophore and the halo-substituted phenyl functionality required for
      HIV-1 integrase (IN) inhibition represents a vibrant area of research within drug
      discovery. As reported herein, we have modified our recently disclosed 1-[2-(4
      fluorophenyl)ethyl]-pyrrole-2,5-dione scaffolds to design 35 novel compounds with
      improved biological activities against HIV-1. These new compounds show single
      digit micromolar antiviral potencies against HIV-1 and low toxicity. Among of
      them, compound 9g and 15i had potent anti-HIV-1 activities (EC50 < 5 MUM) and
      excellent therapeutic index (TI, CC50/EC50 > 100). These two compounds have
      potential as lead compounds for further optimization into clinical anti-HIV-1
      agents. 

PMID- 27617995
TI  - (+)-Podocarpic Acid as Chiral Template in the Synthesis of Aphidicolane,
      Stemodane and Stemarane Diterpenoids ?.
AB  - In this review the synthetic work in the field of aphidicolane, stemodane and
      stemarane diterpenoids, in which readily available (+)-podocarpic acid (4) was
      used as chiral template for the construction of their polycyclic structures, is
      described as it developed along the years. In the frame of this work (+)
      podocarpic acid (4) was a very useful tool in a model study leading to the
      syntheses of tetracyclic ketones 7 and 8, models of key intermediates 5a and 6 in
      the syntheses of (+)-aphidicolin (1) and (+)-stemodin (2a), respectively. (+)
      Podocarpic acid (4) was also converted into (+)-2-deoxystemodinone (2d), allowing
      confirmation of the stemodane diterpenoids absolute configuration, into (+)
      aphidicol-15-ene (36) and into Stemodia chilensis tetracyclic diterpenoid (+)-19
      acetoxystemodan-12-ol (2f), allowing confirmation of its structure. (+)
      Podocarpic acid (4) was then extensively used in the work which led to the
      synthesis of (+)-stemar-13-ene (57) and (+)-18-deoxystemarin (3b). Finally, (+)-4
      was converted into (+)-2-deoxyoryzalexin S (66), which made it possible to
      demonstrate that the structure of (+)-66 could not be attributed to a Chilean
      Calceolaria isolated diterpenoid to which this structure had been assigned. 

PMID- 27617996
TI  - LC-MS Supported Studies on the in Vitro Metabolism of both Enantiomers of
      Flubatine and the in Vivo Metabolism of (+)-[(18)F]Flubatine-A Positron Emission
      Tomography Radioligand for Imaging alpha4beta2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.
AB  - Both enantiomers of [(18)F]flubatine are promising radioligands for neuroimaging
      of alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) by positron emission
      tomography (PET). To support clinical studies in patients with early Alzheimer's
      disease, a detailed examination of the metabolism in vitro and in vivo has been
      performed. (+)- and (-)-flubatine, respectively, were incubated with liver
      microsomes from mouse and human in the presence of NADPH (beta-nicotinamide
      adenine dinucleotide 2'-phosphate reduced tetrasodium salt). Phase I in vitro
      metabolites were detected and their structures elucidated by LC-MS/MS (liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry). Selected metabolite candidates were
      synthesized and investigated for structural confirmation. Besides a high level of
      in vitro stability, the microsomal incubations revealed some species differences
      as well as enantiomer discrimination with regard to the formation of
      monohydroxylated products, which was identified as the main metabolic pathway in
      this assay. Furthermore, after injection of 250 MBq (+)-[(18)F]flubatine
      (specific activity > 350 GBq/MUmol) into mouse, samples were prepared from brain,
      liver, plasma, and urine after 30 min and investigated by radio-HPLC (high
      performance liquid chromatography with radioactivity detection). For structure
      elucidation of the radiometabolites of (+)-[(18)F]flubatine formed in vivo,
      identical chromatographic conditions were applied to LC-MS/MS and radio-HPLC to
      compare samples obtained in vitro and in vivo. By this correlation approach, we
      assigned three of four main in vivo radiometabolites to products that are
      exclusively C- or N-hydroxylated at the azabicyclic ring system of the parent
      molecule. 

PMID- 27617997
TI  - Synthesis and Cytotoxic Activity on Human Cancer Cells of Novel
      Isoquinolinequinone-Amino Acid Derivatives.
AB  - A variety of aminoisoquinoline-5,8-quinones bearing alpha-amino acids moieties
      were synthesized from 3-methyl-4-methoxycarbonylisoquinoline-5,8-quinone and
      diverse l- and d-alpha-amino acid methyl esters. The members of the series were
      evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against normal and cancer cell lines by
      using the (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT)
      assay. From the current investigation, structure-activity relationships
      demonstrate that the location and structure of the amino acid fragment plays a
      significant role in the cytotoxic effects. Moderate to high cytotoxic activity
      was observed and four members, derived from l-alanine, l-leucine, l
      phenylalanine, and d-phenylalanine, were selected as promising compounds by their
      IC50 ranging from 0.5 to 6.25 MUM and also by their good selectivity indexes
      (>=2.24). 

PMID- 27617998
TI  - NO-Releasing Enmein-Type Diterpenoid Derivatives with Selective Antiproliferative
      Activity and Effects on Apoptosis-Related Proteins.
AB  - A series of nine enmein-type ent-kaurane diterpenoid and furoxan-based nitric
      oxide (NO) donor hybrids (10a-i) were designed and synthesized from commercially
      available oridonin (1). These hybrids were evaluated for their antiproliferative
      activity against Bel-7402, K562, MGC-803, and CaEs-17 human cancer cell lines and
      L-02 normal liver cells. The antiproliferative activity against tumor cells was
      stronger than the lead compound 1 and parent molecule 9 in most cases.
      Especially, compound 10f showed the strongest activity against human
      hepatocarcinoma Bel-7402 cell line with an IC50 of 0.81 MUM and could also
      release 33.7 MUmol/L NO at the time point of 60 min. Compounds 10a-i also showed
      cytotoxic selectivity between tumor and normal liver cells with IC50 ranging from
      22.1 to 33.9 MUM. Furthermore, the apoptotic properties on Bel-7402 cells
      revealed that 10f could induce S phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis at low
      micromolar concentrations. The effects of 10f on apoptosis-related proteins were
      also investigated. The potent antiproliferative activities and mechanistic
      studies warrant further preclinical investigations. 

PMID- 27617999
TI  - A Highly Efficient and Reusable Palladium(II)/Cationic 2,2'-Bipyridyl-Catalyzed
      Stille Coupling in Water.
AB  - A water-soluble PdCl2(NH3)2/cationic 2,2'-bipyridyl system was found to be a
      highly efficient catalyst for Stille coupling of aryl iodides and bromides with
      organostannanes. The coupling reaction was conducted at 110  degrees C in water,
      under aerobic conditions, in the presence of NaHCO3 as a base to afford
      corresponding Stille coupling products in good to high yields. When
      aryltributylstannanes were employed, the reactions proceeded smoothly under a
      very low catalyst loading (as little as 0.0001 mol %). After simple extraction,
      the residual aqueous phase could be reused in subsequent runs, making this Stille
      coupling economical. In the case of tetramethylstannane, however, a greater
      catalyst loading (1 mol %) and the use of tetraethylammonium iodide as a phase
      transfer agent were required in order to obtain satisfactory yields. 

PMID- 27618000
TI  - Improvement in Flavonoids and Phenolic Acids Production and Pharmaceutical
      Quality of Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) by Ultraviolet-B Irradiation.
AB  - Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum Linnaeus) is aromatic herb that has been utilized
      in traditional medicine. To improve the phytochemical constituents and
      pharmaceutical quality of sweet basil leaves, ultraviolet (UV)-B irradiation at
      different intensities (2.30, 3.60, and 4.80 W/m2) and durations (4, 6, 8, and 10
      h) was applied at the post-harvest stage. Total flavonoid content (TFC) and total
      phenolic content (TPC) were measured using spectrophotometric method, and
      individual flavonoids and phenolic acids were identified using ultra-high
      performance liquid chromatography. As a key enzyme for the metabolism of
      flavonoids, chalcone synthase (CHS) activity, was measured using a CHS assay.
      Antioxidant activity and antiproliferative activity of extracts against a breast
      cancer cell line (MCF-7) were evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl
      (DPPH) assays and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium
      bromide) assays, respectively. UV-B irradiation at an intensity of 3.60 W/m2
      increased TFC approximately 0.85-fold and also increased quercetin (0.41-fold),
      catechin (0.85-fold), kaempferol (0.65-fold) rutin (0.68-fold) and luteolin (1.00
      fold) content. The highest TPC and individual phenolic acid (gallic acid,
      cinnamic acid and ferulic acid) was observed in the 3.60 W/m2 of UV-B treatment.
      Cinnamic acid and luteolin were not detected in the control plants, production
      being induced by UV-B irradiation. Production of these secondary metabolites was
      also significantly influenced by the duration of UV-B irradiation. Irradiation
      for 8-h led to higher TFC, TPC and individual flavonoids and phenolic acids than
      for the other durations (4, 8, and 10-h) except for cinnamic acid, which was
      detected at higher concentration when irradiated for 6-h. Irradiation for 10-h
      significantly decreased the secondary metabolite production in sweet basil
      leaves. CHS activity was induced by UV-B irradiation and highest activity was
      observed at 3.60 W/m2 of UV-B irradiation. UV-B treated leaves presented the
      highest DPPH activity and antiproliferative activity with a half-maximal
      inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 56.0 and 40.8 ug/mL, respectively, over
      that of the control plants (78.0 and 58.2 ug/mL, respectively). These
      observations suggest that post-harvest irradiation with UV-B can be considered a
      promising technique to improve the healthy-nutritional and pharmaceutical
      properties of sweet basil leaves. 

PMID- 27618001
TI  - Effects of Culture Substrate Made of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid)
      Microgels on Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells.
AB  - Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based polymers and gels are widely known and
      studied for their thermoresponsive property. In the biomaterials category, they
      are regarded as a potential cell culture substrate, not only because of their
      biocompatibility, but also their special character of allowing controlled
      detachment of cells via temperature stimulus. Previous research about PNIPAM
      based substrates mostly concentrated on their effects in cell adhesion and
      proliferation. In this study, however, we investigate the influence of the PNIPAM
      based substrate on the differentiation capacity of stem cells. Especially, we
      choose P(NIPAM-AA) microgels as a culture dish coating and mesenchymal stem cells
      (MSCs) are cultured on top of the microgels. Interestingly, we find that the
      morphology of MSCs changes remarkably on a microgel-coated surface, from the
      original spindle form to a more stretched and elongated cell shape. Accompanied
      by the alternation in morphology, the expression of several osteogenesis-related
      genes is elevated even without inducing factors. In the presence of full
      osteogenic medium, MSCs on a microgel substrate show an enhancement in the
      expression level of osteopontin and alizarin red staining signals, indicating the
      physical property of substrate has a direct effect on MSCs differentiation. 

PMID- 27618002
TI  - Immobilization of alpha-Amylase from Anoxybacillus sp. SK3-4 on ReliZyme and
      Immobead Supports.
AB  - alpha-Amylase from Anoxybacillus sp. SK3-4 (ASKA) is a thermostable enzyme that
      produces a high level of maltose from starches. A truncated ASKA (TASKA) variant
      with improved expression and purification efficiency was characterized in an
      earlier study. In this work, TASKA was purified and immobilized through covalent
      attachment on three epoxide (ReliZyme EP403/M, Immobead IB-150P, and Immobead IB
      150A) and an amino-epoxide (ReliZyme HFA403/M) activated supports. Several
      parameters affecting immobilization were analyzed, including the pH, temperature,
      and quantity (mg) of enzyme added per gram of support. The influence of the
      carrier surface properties, pore sizes, and lengths of spacer arms (functional
      groups) on biocatalyst performances were studied. Free and immobilized TASKAs
      were stable at pH 6.0-9.0 and active at pH 8.0. The enzyme showed optimal
      activity and considerable stability at 60  degrees C. Immobilized TASKA retained
      50% of its initial activity after 5-12 cycles of reuse. Upon degradation of
      starches and amylose, only immobilized TASKA on ReliZyme HFA403/M has comparable
      hydrolytic ability with the free enzyme. To the best of our knowledge, this is
      the first report of an immobilization study of an alpha-amylase from
      Anoxybacillus spp. and the first report of alpha-amylase immobilization using
      ReliZyme and Immobeads as supports. 

PMID- 27618003
TI  - Synthesis and Antimicrobial Characterization of Half-Calycanthaceous Alkaloid
      Derivatives.
AB  - A total of 29 novel tetrahydropyrroloindol-based calycanthaceous alkaloid
      derivatives were synthesized from indole-3-acetonitrile in good yields. The
      synthesized compounds were evaluated against nine strains of bacteria and a wide
      range of plant pathogen fungi. Bioassay results revealed that majority of the
      compounds displayed similar or higher in vitro antimicrobial activities than the
      positive control. The biological activities also indicated that substituents at
      R4 and R5 significantly affect the activities. Notably, compound c4 was found to
      be most active among the tested calycanthaceous analogues and might be a novel
      potential leading compound for further development as an antifungal agent. The
      results could pave the way for further design and structural modification of
      calycanthaceous alkaloids as antimicrobial agents. 

PMID- 27618004
TI  - Chemical Analysis of Dietary Constituents in Rosa roxburghii and Rosa sterilis
      Fruits.
AB  - Both Rosa roxburghii and R. sterilis, belonging to the Rosaceae, are endemic
      species in Guizhou Province, China. The fruits of these two species are mixed
      used as functional food in the region. Aiming to elucidate the phytochemical
      characteristics of R. roxburghii and R. sterilis fruits, the essential oils and
      constituents in a methanol extract have been analyzed and compared by GC-MS and
      UFLC/Q-TOF-MS, respectively. As a result, a total of 135 volatile compounds were
      identified by GC-MS and 91 components were different between R. roxburghii and R.
      sterilis fruits; a total of 59 compounds in methanol extracts were identified by
      UFLC/Q-TOF-MS, including 13 organic acids, 12 flavonoids, 11 triterpenes, nine
      amino acids, five phenylpropanoid derivatives, four condensed tannins, two
      stilbenes, two benzaldehyde derivatives and one benzoic acid derivative; and nine
      characteristic compounds were found between R. roxburghii and R. sterilis fruits.
      This systematic study plays an important role for R. roxburghii and R. sterilis
      fruits in the product development. 

PMID- 27618005
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Effects and Mechanisms of Action of Coussaric and Betulinic
      Acids Isolated from Diospyros kaki in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated RAW 264.7
      Macrophages.
AB  - Diospyros kaki Thunb. is widely distributed in East Asian countries, its leaves
      being mainly used for making tea. In this study, coussaric acid (CA) and
      betulinic acid (BA), both triterpenoid compounds, were obtained from D. kaki leaf
      extracts through bioassay-guided isolation. CA and BA showed anti-inflammatory
      effects via inhibition of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathway,
      providing important information on their anti-inflammatory mechanism.
      Furthermore, they markedly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2
      (PGE2) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages,
      and suppressed tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and
      interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) levels. Furthermore, they decreased protein
      expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. Pre-treatment
      with CA and BA inhibited LPS-induced NF-kappaB. We further examined the effects
      of CA and BA on heme oxygenase (HO)-1 expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages: BA
      induced HO-1 protein expression in a dose-dependent manner, while CA had no
      effect. We also investigated whether BA treatment induced nuclear translocation
      of Nrf2. BA inhibited LPS-induced NF-kappaB-binding activity, as well as pro
      inflammatory mediator and cytokine production (e.g., NO, PGE2, TNF-alpha, IL
      1beta, IL-6), by partial reversal of this effect by SnPP, an inhibitor of HO-1.
      These findings further elucidate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of CA and BA
      isolated from D. kaki. 

PMID- 27618006
TI  - Impact of Biohybrid Magnetite Nanoparticles and Moroccan Propolis on Adherence of
      Methicillin Resistant Strains of Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Biofilm bacteria are more resistant to antibiotics than planktonic cells.
      Propolis possesses antimicrobial activity. Generally, nanoparticles containing
      heavy metals possess antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties. In this study, the
      ability of adherence of Methicillin Resistant Strains of Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) to catheters treated with magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs), produced by
      three methods and functionalized with oleic acid and a hydro-alcoholic extract of
      propolis from Morocco, was evaluated. The chemical composition of propolis was
      established by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the fabricated
      nanostructures characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM), Mossbauer spectroscopy and Fourrier transform infrared
      spectroscopy (FTIR). The capacity for impairing biofilm formation was dependent
      on the strain, as well as on the mode of production of MNPs. The co-precipitation
      method of MNPs fabrication using Fe(3+) and Na2SO3 solution and functionalized
      with oleic acid and propolis was the most effective in the impairment of
      adherence of all MRSA strains to catheters (p < 0.001). The adherence of the
      strain MRSA16 was also significantly lower (p < 0.001) when the catheters were
      treated with the hybrid MNPs with oleic acid produced by a hydrothermal method.
      The anti-MRSA observed can be attributed to the presence of benzyl caffeate,
      pinocembrin, galangin, and isocupressic acid in propolis extract, along with
      MNPs. However, for MRSA16, the impairment of its adherence on catheters may only
      be attributed to the hybrid MNPs with oleic acid, since very small amount, if any
      at all of propolis compounds were added to the MNPs. 

PMID- 27618007
TI  - BL-038, a Benzofuran Derivative, Induces Cell Apoptosis in Human Chondrosarcoma
      Cells through Reactive Oxygen Species/Mitochondrial Dysfunction and the Caspases
      Dependent Pathway.
AB  - Chondrosarcoma is a highly malignant cartilage-forming bone tumor that has the
      capacity to invade locally and cause distant metastasis. Moreover, chondrosarcoma
      is intrinsically resistant to conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The
      novel benzofuran derivative, BL-038 (2-amino-3-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-6-(4
      methoxyphenyl)benzofuran-4-yl acetate), has been evaluated for its anticancer
      effects in human chondrosarcoma cells. BL-038 caused cell apoptosis in two human
      chondrosarcoma cell lines, JJ012 and SW1353, but not in primary chondrocytes.
      Treatment of chondrosarcoma with BL-038 also induced reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) production. Furthermore, BL-038 decreased mitochondrial membrane potential
      (MMP) and changed mitochondrial-related apoptosis, by downregulating the anti
      apoptotic activity members (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL) and upregulating pro-apoptotic members
      (Bax, Bak) of the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family of proteins, key regulators of
      the apoptotic machinery in cells. These results demonstrate that in human
      chondrosarcoma cells, the apoptotic and cytotoxic effects of BL-038 are mediated
      by the intrinsic mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway, which in turn causes
      the release of cytochrome c, the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and the
      cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), to elicit apoptosis response.
      Our results show that the benzofuran derivative BL-038 induces apoptosis in
      chondrosarcoma cells. 

PMID- 27618009
TI  - Subchondral Bone Plate Changes More Rapidly than Trabecular Bone in
      Osteoarthritis.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder, characterised by focal
      loss of cartilage and increased subchondral bone remodelling at early OA stages
      of the disease. We have investigated the temporal and the spatial relationship
      between bone remodelling in subchondral bone plate (Sbp) and trabecular bone (Tb)
      in Dunkin Hartley (DH, develop OA early) and the Bristol Strain 2 (BS2, control
      which develop OA late) guinea pigs. Right tibias were dissected from six male
      animals of each strain, at 10, 16, 24 and 30 weeks of age. Micro-computed
      tomography was used to quantify the growth plate thickness (GpTh), subchondral
      bone plate thickness (SbpTh) and trabecular bone thickness (TbTh), and bone
      mineral density (BMD) in both Sbp and Tb. The rate of change was calculated for
      10-16 weeks, 16-24 weeks and 24-30 weeks. The rate of changes in Sbp and Tb
      thickness at the earliest time interval (10-16 weeks) were significantly greater
      in DH guinea pigs than in the growth-matched control strain (BS2). The magnitude
      of these differences was greater in the medial side than the lateral side (DH:
      22.7 and 14.75 um/week, BS2: 5.63 and 6.67 um/week, respectively). Similarly,
      changes in the BMD at the earliest time interval was greater in the DH strain
      than the BS2, again more pronounced in the disease prone medial compartment (DH:
      0.0698 and 0.0372 g/cm3/week, BS2: 0.00457 and 0.00772 g/cm3/week, respectively).
      These changes observed preceded microscopic and cellular signs of disease as
      previously reported. The rapid early changes in SbpTh, TbTh, Sbp BMD and Tb BMD
      in the disease prone DH guinea pigs compared with the BS2 control strain suggest
      a link to early OA pathology. This is corroborated by the greater relative
      changes in subchondral bone in the medial compared with the lateral compartment. 

PMID- 27618008
TI  - Physiological and Pathogenic Roles of Prolyl Isomerase Pin1 in Metabolic
      Regulations via Multiple Signal Transduction Pathway Modulations.
AB  - Prolyl isomerases are divided into three groups, the FKBP family, Cyclophilin and
      the Parvulin family (Pin1 and Par14). Among these isomerases, Pin1 is a unique
      prolyl isomerase binding to the motif including pSer/pThr-Pro that is
      phosphorylated by kinases. Once bound, Pin1 modulates the enzymatic activity,
      protein stability or subcellular localization of target proteins by changing the
      cis- and trans-formations of proline. Several studies have examined the roles of
      Pin1 in the pathogenesis of cancers and Alzheimer's disease. On the other hand,
      recent studies have newly demonstrated Pin1 to be involved in regulating glucose
      and lipid metabolism. Interestingly, while Pin1 expression is markedly increased
      by high-fat diet feeding, Pin1 KO mice are resistant to diet-induced obesity, non
      alcoholic steatohepatitis and diabetic vascular dysfunction. These phenomena
      result from the binding of Pin1 to several key factors regulating metabolic
      functions, which include insulin receptor substrate-1, AMPK, Crtc2 and NF-kappaB
      p65. In this review, we focus on recent advances in elucidating the physiological
      roles of Pin1 as well as the pathogenesis of disorders involving this isomerase,
      from the viewpoint of the relationships between signal transductions and
      metabolic functions. 

PMID- 27618010
TI  - Advances and Future Applications of Augmented Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.
AB  - Peripheral nerve injuries remain a significant source of long lasting morbidity,
      disability, and economic costs. Much research continues to be performed in areas
      related to improving the surgical outcomes of peripheral nerve repair. In this
      review, the physiology of peripheral nerve regeneration and the multitude of
      efforts to improve surgical outcomes are discussed. Improvements in tissue
      engineering that have allowed for the use of synthetic conduits seeded with
      neurotrophic factors are highlighted. Selected pre-clinical and available
      clinical data using cell based methods such as Schwann cell, undifferentiated,
      and differentiated stem cell transplantation to guide and enhance peripheral
      nerve regeneration are presented. The limitations that still exist in the utility
      of neurotrophic factors and cell-based therapies are outlined. Strategies that
      are most promising for translation into the clinical arena are suggested. 

PMID- 27618011
TI  - Comparative Study of Ultrasonication-Induced and Naturally Self-Assembled Silk
      Fibroin-Wool Keratin Hydrogel Biomaterials.
AB  - This study reports the formation of biocompatible hydrogels using protein
      polymers from natural silk cocoon fibroins and sheep wool keratins. Silk fibroin
      protein contains beta-sheet secondary structures, allowing for the formation of
      physical cross-linkers in the hydrogels. Comparative studies were performed on
      two groups of samples. In the first group, ultrasonication was used to induce a
      quick gelation of a protein aqueous solution, enhancing the ability of Bombyx
      mori silk fibroin chains to quickly entrap the wool keratin protein molecules
      homogenously. In the second group, silk/keratin mixtures were left at room
      temperature for days, resulting in naturally-assembled gelled solutions. It was
      found that silk/wool blended solutions can form hydrogels at different mixing
      ratios, with perfectly interconnected gel structure when the wool content was
      less than 30 weight percent (wt %) for the first group (ultrasonication), and 10
      wt % for the second group (natural gel). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
      and temperature modulated DSC (TMDSC) were used to confirm that the
      fibroin/keratin hydrogel system was well-blended without phase separation.
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to investigate the
      secondary structures of blended protein gels. It was found that intermolecular
      beta-sheet contents significantly increase as the system contains more silk for
      both groups of samples, resulting in stable crystalline cross-linkers in the
      blended hydrogel structures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force
      microscopy (AFM) were used to analyze the samples' characteristic morphology on
      both micro- and nanoscales, which showed that ultrasonic waves can significantly
      enhance the cross-linker formation and avoid phase separation between silk and
      keratin molecules in the blended systems. With the ability to form cross-linkages
      non-chemically, these silk/wool hydrogels may be economically useful for various
      biomedical applications, thanks to the good biocompatibility of protein molecules
      and the various characteristics of hydrogel systems. 

PMID- 27618012
TI  - Identifying Virulence-Associated Genes Using Transcriptomic and Proteomic
      Association Analyses of the Plant Parasitic Nematode Bursaphelenchus mucronatus.
AB  - Bursaphelenchus mucronatus (B. mucronatus) isolates that originate from different
      regions may vary in their virulence, but their virulence-associated genes and
      proteins are poorly understood. Thus, we conducted an integrated study coupling
      RNA-Seq and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) to
      analyse transcriptomic and proteomic data of highly and weakly virulent B.
      mucronatus isolates during the pathogenic processes. Approximately 40,000
      annotated unigenes and 5000 proteins were gained from the isolates. When we
      matched all of the proteins with their detected transcripts, a low correlation
      coefficient of r = 0.138 was found, indicating probable post-transcriptional gene
      regulation involved in the pathogenic processes. A functional analysis showed
      that five differentially expressed proteins which were all highly expressed in
      the highly virulent isolate were involved in the pathogenic processes of
      nematodes. Peroxiredoxin, fatty acid- and retinol-binding protein, and
      glutathione peroxidase relate to resistance against plant defence responses,
      while beta-1,4-endoglucanase and expansin are associated with the breakdown of
      plant cell walls. Thus, the pathogenesis of B. mucronatus depends on its
      successful survival in host plants. Our work adds to the understanding of B.
      mucronatus' pathogenesis, and will aid in controlling B. mucronatus and other
      pinewood nematode species complexes in the future. 

PMID- 27618013
TI  - Synthesis and Characterization of Some New Bis-Pyrazolyl-Thiazoles Incorporating
      the Thiophene Moiety as Potent Anti-Tumor Agents.
AB  - A new series of 1,4-bis(1-(5-(aryldiazenyl)thiazol-2-yl)-5-(thiophen-2-yl)-4,5
      dihydro-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)benzenes 3a-i were synthesized via reaction of 5,5'-(1,4
      phenylene)bis(3-(thiophen-2-yl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carbothioamide) (1)
      with hydrazonoyl halides 2a-i. In addition, reaction of 1 with ethyl
      chloroacetate afforded bis-thiazolone derivative 8 as the end product. Reaction
      of compound 8 with methyl glyoxalate gave bis-thiazolone derivative 10. The
      structures of the newly synthesized compounds were established on the basis of
      spectroscopic evidences and their alternative syntheses. All the synthesized
      compounds were evaluated for their anti-tumor activities against hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines, and the results revealed promising activities of
      compounds 3g, 5e, 3e, 10, 5f, 3i, and 3f with IC50 equal 1.37 +/- 0.15, 1.41 +/-
      0.17, 1.62 +/- 0.20, 1.86 +/- 0.20, 1.93 +/- 0.08, 2.03 +/- 0.25, and 2.09 +/-
      0.19 MUM, respectively. 

PMID- 27618015
TI  - Six2 Is a Coordinator of LiCl-Induced Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis.
AB  - The metanephric mesenchyme (MM) cells are a subset of kidney progenitor cells and
      play an essential role in mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), the key step
      of nephron generation. Six2, a biological marker related to Wnt signaling
      pathway, promotes the proliferation, inhibits the apoptosis and maintains the un
      differentiation of MM cells. Besides, LiCl is an activator of Wnt signaling
      pathway. However, the role of LiCl in cellular regulation of MM cells remains
      unclear, and the relationship between LiCl and Six2 in this process is also
      little known. Here, we performed EdU assay and flow cytometry assay to,
      respectively, detect the proliferation and apoptosis of MM cells treated with
      LiCl of increasing dosages. In addition, reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and
      Western-blot were conducted to measure the expression of Six2 and some maker
      genes of Wnt and bone-morphogenetic-protein (BMP) signaling pathway. Furthermore,
      luciferase assay was also carried out to detect the transcriptional regulation of
      Six2. Then we found LiCl promoted MM cell proliferation at low-concentration (10,
      20, 30, and 40 mM). The expression of Six2 was dose-dependently increased in low
      concentration (10, 20, 30, and 40 mM) at both mRNA and protein level. In
      addition, both of cell proliferation and Six2 expression in MM cells declined
      when dosage reached high-concentration (50 mM). However, Six2 knock-down
      converted the proliferation reduction at 50 mM. Furthermore, Six2 deficiency
      increased the apoptosis of MM cells, compared with negative control cells at
      relative LiCl concentration. However, the abnormal rise of apoptosis at 30 mM of
      LiCl concentration implies that it might be the reduction of GSK3beta that
      increased cell apoptosis. Together, these demonstrate that LiCl can induce the
      proliferation and apoptosis of MM cells coordinating with Six2. 

PMID- 27618018
TI  - Property Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity Evaluation of BiGdO3
      Nanoparticles under Visible Light Irradiation.
AB  - BiGdO3 nanoparticles were prepared by a solid-state reaction method and applied
      in photocatalytic degradation of dyes in this study. BiGdO3 was characterized by
      X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron
      microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and
      transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that BiGdO3 crystallized
      well with the fluorite-type structure, a face-centered cubic crystal system and a
      space group Fm3m 225. The lattice parameter of BiGdO3 was 5.465 angstrom. The
      band gap of BiGdO3 was estimated to be 2.25 eV. BiGdO3 showed a strong optical
      absorption during the visible light region. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity
      of BiGdO3 was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of direct dyes in aqueous
      solution under visible light irradiation. BiGdO3 demonstrated excellent
      photocatalytic activity in degrading Direct Orange 26 (DO-26) or Direct Red 23
      (DR-23) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation of DO-26
      or DR-23 followed the first-order reaction kinetics, and the first-order rate
      constant was 0.0046 or 0.0023 min(-1) with BiGdO3 as catalyst. The degradation
      intermediates of DO-26 were observed and the possible photocatalytic degradation
      pathway of DO-26 under visible light irradiation was provided. The effect of
      various operational parameters on the photocatalytic activity and the stability
      of BiGdO3 particles were also discussed in detail. BiGdO3/(visible light)
      photocatalysis system was confirmed to be suitable for textile industry
      wastewater treatment. 

PMID- 27618014
TI  - Moving Past Anti-VEGF: Novel Therapies for Treating Diabetic Retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working age adults, and
      is projected to be a significant future health concern due to the rising
      incidence of diabetes. The recent advent of anti-vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) antibodies has revolutionized the treatment of diabetic retinopathy
      but a significant subset of patients fail to respond to treatment. Accumulating
      evidence indicates that inflammatory cytokines and chemokines other than VEGF may
      contribute to the disease process. The current review examines the presence of
      non-VEGF cytokines in the eyes of patients with diabetic retinopathy and
      highlights mechanistic pathways in relevant animal models. Finally, novel drug
      targets including components of the kinin-kallikrein system and emerging
      treatments such as anti-HPTP (human protein tyrosine phosphatase) beta antibodies
      are discussed. Recognition of non-VEGF contributions to disease pathogenesis may
      lead to novel therapeutics to enhance existing treatments for patients who do not
      respond to anti-VEGF therapies. 

PMID- 27618016
TI  - Ion Channels in Brain Metastasis.
AB  - Breast cancer, lung cancer and melanoma exhibit a high metastatic tropism to the
      brain. Development of brain metastases severely worsens the prognosis of cancer
      patients and constrains curative treatment options. Metastasizing to the brain by
      cancer cells can be dissected in consecutive processes including epithelial
      mesenchymal transition, evasion from the primary tumor, intravasation and
      circulation in the blood, extravasation across the blood-brain barrier, formation
      of metastatic niches, and colonization in the brain. Ion channels have been
      demonstrated to be aberrantly expressed in tumor cells where they regulate
      neoplastic transformation, malignant progression or therapy resistance. Moreover,
      many ion channel modulators are FDA-approved drugs and in clinical use proposing
      ion channels as druggable targets for future anti-cancer therapy. The present
      review article aims to summarize the current knowledge on the function of ion
      channels in the different processes of brain metastasis. The data suggest that
      certain channel types involving voltage-gated sodium channels, ATP-release
      channels, ionotropic neurotransmitter receptors and gap junction-generating
      connexins interfere with distinct processes of brain metastazation. 

PMID- 27618017
TI  - Analysis of Large Seeds from Three Different Medicago truncatula Ecotypes Reveals
      a Potential Role of Hormonal Balance in Final Size Determination of Legume
      Grains.
AB  - Legume seeds are important as protein and oil source for human diet.
      Understanding how their final seed size is determined is crucial to improve crop
      yield. In this study, we analyzed seed development of three accessions of the
      model legume, Medicago truncatula, displaying contrasted seed size. By comparing
      two large seed accessions to the reference accession A17, we described mechanisms
      associated with large seed size determination and potential factors modulating
      the final seed size. We observed that early events during embryogenesis had a
      major impact on final seed size and a delayed heart stage embryo development
      resulted to large seeds. We also observed that the difference in seed growth rate
      was mainly due to a difference in embryo cell number, implicating a role of cell
      division rate. Large seed accessions could be explained by an extended period of
      cell division due to a longer embryogenesis phase. According to our observations
      and recent reports, we observed that auxin (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) ratio
      could be a key determinant of cell division regulation at the end of
      embryogenesis. Overall, our study highlights that timing of events occurring
      during early seed development play decisive role for final seed size
      determination. 

PMID- 27618019
TI  - Biased and Unbiased Methods for the Detection of Off-Target Cleavage by
      CRISPR/Cas9: An Overview.
AB  - The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated
      protein 9 endonuclease (Cas9) derived from bacterial adaptive immune systems is a
      revolutionary tool used in both basic and applied science. It is a versatile
      system that enables the genome of different species to be modified by generating
      double strand breaks (DSBs) at specific locations. However, all of the
      CRISPR/Cas9 systems can also produce DSBs at off-target sites that differ
      substantially from on-target sites. The generation of DSBs in locations outside
      the intended site can produce mutations that need to be carefully monitored,
      especially when using these tools for therapeutic purposes. However, off-target
      analyses of the CRISPR/Cas9 system have been very challenging, particularly when
      performed directly in cells. In this manuscript, we review the different
      strategies developed to identify off-targets generated by CRISPR/cas9 systems and
      other specific nucleases (ZFNs, TALENs) in real target cells. 

PMID- 27618020
TI  - Downregulation of FOXP1 Inhibits Cell Proliferation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
      by Inducing G1/S Phase Cell Cycle Arrest.
AB  - Forkhead box P1 (FOXP1) belongs to a family of winged-helix transcription factors
      that are involved in the processes of cellular proliferation, differentiation,
      metabolism, and longevity. FOXP1 can affect cell proliferation and migratory
      ability in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vitro. However, little is known
      about the mechanism of FOXP1 in the proliferation of HCC cells. This study aimed
      to further explore the function of FOXP1 on the proliferation of HCC cells as
      well as the relevant mechanism involved. Western blot analysis, tumor xenograft
      models, and flow cytometry analysis were performed to elucidate the function of
      FOXP1 in the regulation of cell proliferation in human HCC. We observed that
      silencing FOXP1 significantly suppressed the growth ability of HCC cells both in
      vitro and in vivo. In addition, knockdown of FOXP1 induced G1/S phase arrest, and
      the expression of total and phosphorylated Rb (active type) as well as the levels
      of E2F1 were markedly decreased at 24 h; however, other proteins, including
      cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and 6 and cyclin D1 did not show noticeable
      changes. In conclusion, downregulation of FOXP1 inhibits cell proliferation in
      hepatocellular carcinoma by inducing G1/S phase cell cycle arrest, and the
      decrease in phosphorylated Rb is the main contributor to this G1/S phase arrest. 

PMID- 27618022
TI  - Experimental Dissection of Metalloproteinase Inhibition-Mediated and Toxic
      Effects of Phenanthroline on Zebrafish Development.
AB  - Metalloproteinases are zinc-dependent endopeptidases that function as primary
      effectors of tissue remodeling, cell-signaling, and many other roles. Their
      regulation is ferociously complex, and is exquisitely sensitive to their
      molecular milieu, making in vivo studies challenging. Phenanthroline (PhN) is an
      inexpensive, broad-spectrum inhibitor of metalloproteinases that functions by
      chelating the catalytic zinc ion, however its use in vivo has been limited due to
      suspected off-target effects. PhN is very similar in structure to phenanthrene
      (PhE), a well-studied poly aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) known to cause toxicity in
      aquatic animals by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). We show that
      zebrafish are more sensitive to PhN than PhE, and that PhN causes a superset of
      the effects caused by PhE. Morpholino knock-down of the AhR rescues the effects
      of PhN that are shared with PhE, suggesting these are due to PAH toxicity. The
      effects of PhN that are not shared with PhE (specifically disruption of neural
      crest development and angiogenesis) involve processes known to depend on
      metalloproteinase activity. Furthermore these PhN-specific effects are not
      rescued by AhR knock-down, suggesting that these are bona fide effects of
      metalloproteinase inhibition, and that PhN can be used as a broad spectrum
      metalloproteinase inhibitor for studies with zebrafish in vivo. 

PMID- 27618023
TI  - Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) and Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Workshop 2016: Scientific
      Opportunities and Logistics for Cancer Clinical Trial Incorporation.
AB  - Despite the identification of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and cell-free DNA
      (cfDNA) as potential blood-based biomarkers capable of providing prognostic and
      predictive information in cancer, they have not been incorporated into routine
      clinical practice. This resistance is due in part to technological limitations
      hampering CTC and cfDNA analysis, as well as a limited understanding of precisely
      how to interpret emergent biomarkers across various disease stages and tumor
      types. In recognition of these challenges, a group of researchers and clinicians
      focused on blood-based biomarker development met at the Canadian Cancer Trials
      Group (CCTG) Spring Meeting in Toronto, Canada on 29 April 2016 for a workshop
      discussing novel CTC/cfDNA technologies, interpretation of data obtained from
      CTCs versus cfDNA, challenges regarding disease evolution and heterogeneity, and
      logistical considerations for incorporation of CTCs/cfDNA into clinical trials,
      and ultimately into routine clinical use. The objectives of this workshop
      included discussion of the current barriers to clinical implementation and recent
      progress made in the field, as well as fueling meaningful collaborations and
      partnerships between researchers and clinicians. We anticipate that the
      considerations highlighted at this workshop will lead to advances in both basic
      and translational research and will ultimately impact patient management
      strategies and patient outcomes. 

PMID- 27618024
TI  - Increased Serum Levels of Anti-Carbamylated 78-kDa Glucose-Regulated Protein
      Antibody in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the presence and titer of anti
      carbamylated 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (anti-CarGRP78) antibody in serum
      from controls, and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE) and primary Sjogren syndrome (pSS). Thirty-three RA patients,
      20 SLE patients, 20 pSS patients, and 20 controls were enrolled from our
      outpatient clinic. GRP78 was cloned and carbamylated. Serum titers of anti-
      cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP), anti-GRP78, and anti-CarGRP78 were
      measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. No differences in serum
      titers of anti-GRP78 antibody in patients with RA, SLE, or pSS compared with the
      controls were observed. Serum levels of anti-carGRP78 antibody in patients with
      RA, but not SLE or pSS, were significantly higher compared with the controls
      (OD405 0.15 +/- 0.08 versus 0.11 +/- 0.03, p = 0.033). There was a positive
      correlation between the serum levels of anti-GRP78 antibody, but not anti
      CarGRP78 antibody, with the levels of anti-CCP antibody in patients with RA. Both
      anti-GRP78 and anti-carGRP78 antibodies failed to correlate with C-reactive
      protein levels in patients with RA. In conclusion, we demonstrated the presence
      of anti-CarGRP78 antibody in patients with RA. In addition, the serum titer of
      anti-CarGRP78 antibody was significantly elevated in patients with RA compared
      with the controls. Anti-CarGRP78 antibody could also be detected in patients with
      SLE or pSS. 

PMID- 27618025
TI  - Secondary Metabolites of the Endophytic Fungus Lachnum abnorme from Ardisia
      cornudentata.
AB  - Fractionation of an EtOAc-soluble fraction of the solid fermentate of an
      endophytic fungus, Lachnum abnorme Mont. BCRC 09F0006, derived from the endemic
      plant, Ardisia cornudentata Mez. (Myrsinaceae), resulted in the isolation of
      three new chromones, lachnochromonins D-F (1-3), one novel compound, lachabnormic
      acid (4), along with nine known compounds (5-13). Their structures were
      elucidated by spectroscopic analyses. Alternariol-3,9-dimethyl ether (6) was
      given the correct data as well as 2D spectral analyses for the first time. This
      is the first report of the isolation of one unprecedented compound 4 from Lachnum
      genus, while all known compounds were also found for the first time from Lachnum.
      The effects of some isolates (3, 4, 7-9, 10, and 13) on the inhibition of nitric
      oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 murine
      macrophages were also evaluated. Several compounds exhibited weak inhibitory
      activity on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated NO production in RAW 264.7
      macrophages. 

PMID- 27618021
TI  - Pharmacogenomics in Pediatric Oncology: Review of Gene-Drug Associations for
      Clinical Use.
AB  - During the 3rd congress of the European Society of Pharmacogenomics and
      Personalised Therapy (ESPT) in Budapest in 2015, a preliminary meeting was held
      aimed at establishing a pediatric individualized treatment in oncology and
      hematology committees. The main purpose was to facilitate the transfer and
      harmonization of pharmacogenetic testing from research into clinics, to bring
      together basic and translational research and to educate health professionals
      throughout Europe. The objective of this review was to provide the attendees of
      the meeting as well as the larger scientific community an insight into the
      compiled evidence regarding current pharmacogenomics knowledge in pediatric
      oncology. This preliminary evaluation will help steer the committee's work and
      should give the reader an idea at which stage researchers and clinicians are, in
      terms of personalizing medicine for children with cancer. From the evidence
      presented here, future recommendations to achieve this goal will also be
      suggested. 

PMID- 27618027
TI  - Cellular Metabolomics Revealed the Cytoprotection of Amentoflavone, a Natural
      Compound, in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Injury of Human Umbilical Vein
      Endothelial Cells.
AB  - Amentoflavone is one of the important bioactive flavonoids in the ethylacetate
      extract of "Cebaiye", which is a blood cooling and hematostatic herb in
      traditional Chinese medicine. The previous work in our group has demonstrated
      that the ethylacetate extract of Cebaiye has a notable antagonistic effect on the
      injury induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells (HUVECs). The present investigation was designed to assess the effects and
      possible mechanism of cytoprotection of amentoflavone via metabolomics. Ultra
      performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry
      (UPLC/QTOF-MS) coupled with multivariate data analysis was used to characterize
      the variations in the metabolites of HUVECs in response to exposure to LPS and
      amentoflavone treatment. Seven putative metabolites (glycine, argininosuccinic
      acid, putrescine, ornithine, spermidine, 5-oxoproline and dihydrouracil) were
      discovered in cells incubated with LPS and/or amentoflavone. Functional pathway
      analysis uncovered that the changes of these metabolites related to various
      significant metabolic pathways (glutathione metabolism, arginine and proline
      metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism and glycine, serine and threonine
      metabolism), which may explain the potential cytoprotection function of
      amentoflavone. These findings also demonstrate that cellular metabolomics through
      UPLC/QTOF-MS is a powerful tool for detecting variations in a range of
      intracellular compounds upon toxin and/or drug exposure. 

PMID- 27618028
TI  - Early Prediction of Therapy Response to Abiraterone Acetate Using PSA Subforms in
      Patients with Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic ability of early changes
      of total prostate specific antigen (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA), [-2]proPSA and the
      Prostate Health Index (PHI) following initiation of Abiraterone-therapy in men
      with castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). In 25 patients, PSA-subforms
      were analyzed before and at 8-12 weeks under therapy as prognosticators of
      progression-free-survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Comparing patients
      with a PFS < vs. >=12 months by using Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon Tests, the relative
      median-change of tPSA (-0.1% vs. -86.8%; p = 0.02), fPSA (12.1% vs. -55.3%; p =
      0.03) and [-2]proPSA (8.1% vs. -59.3%; p = 0.05) differed significantly. For men
      with <= vs. >15 months of OS there was a non-significant trend for a difference
      in the relative-median-change of fPSA (17.0% vs. -46.3%; p = 0.06). In Kaplan
      Meier analyses, declining fPSA and [-2]proPSA were associated with a longer
      median PFS (13 months, 95% confidence interval (CI): 9.6-16.4 vs. 10 months, 95%
      CI: 3.5-16.5; p = 0.11), respectively. Correspondingly, decreasing fPSA and [
      2]proPSA values indicated an OS of 32 months (95% CI: not reached (NR)) compared
      to 21 months in men with rising values (95% CI: 7.7-34.3; p = 0.14),
      respectively. We concluded that the addition of fPSA- and [-2]proPSA-changes to
      tPSA-information might be further studied as potential markers of early
      Abiraterone response in mCRPC patients. 

PMID- 27618026
TI  - Development of Novel Immunotherapies for Multiple Myeloma.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) is a disorder of terminally differentiated plasma cells
      characterized by clonal expansion in the bone marrow (BM). It is the second-most
      common hematologic malignancy. Despite significant advances in therapeutic
      strategies, MM remains a predominantly incurable disease emphasizing the need for
      the development of new treatment regimens. Immunotherapy is a promising treatment
      modality to circumvent challenges in the management of MM. Many novel
      immunotherapy strategies, such as adoptive cell therapy and monoclonal
      antibodies, are currently under investigation in clinical trials, with some
      already demonstrating a positive impact on patient survival. In this review, we
      will summarize the current standards of care and discuss major new approaches in
      immunotherapy for MM. 

PMID- 27618030
TI  - Digital PCR Panel for Sensitive Hematopoietic Chimerism Quantification after
      Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Accurate and sensitive determination of hematopoietic chimerism is a crucial
      diagnostic measure after allogeneic stem cell transplantation to monitor
      engraftment and potentially residual disease. Short tandem repeat (STR)
      amplification, the current "gold standard" for chimerism assessment facilitates
      reliable accuracy, but is hampered by its limited sensitivity (>=1%). Digital PCR
      (dPCR) has been shown to combine exact quantification and high reproducibility
      over a very wide measurement range with excellent sensitivity (routinely <=0.1%)
      and thus represents a promising alternative to STR analysis. We here aimed at
      developing a whole panel of digital-PCR based assays for routine diagnostic. To
      this end, we tested suitability of 52 deletion/insertion polymorphisms (DIPs) for
      duplex analysis in combination with either a reference gene or a Y-chromosome
      specific PCR. Twenty-nine DIPs with high power of discrimination and good
      performance were identified, optimized and technically validated. We tested the
      newly established assays on retrospective patient samples that were in parallel
      also measured by STR amplification and found excellent correlation. Finally, a
      screening plate for initial genotyping with DIP-specific duplex dPCR assays was
      designed for convenient assay selection. In conclusion, we have established a
      comprehensive dPCR system for precise and high-sensitivity measurement of
      hematopoietic chimerism, which should be highly useful for clinical routine
      diagnostics. 

PMID- 27618029
TI  - Virtual Screening Approaches towards the Discovery of Toll-Like Receptor
      Modulators.
AB  - This review aims to summarize the latest efforts performed in the search for
      novel chemical entities such as Toll-like receptor (TLR) modulators by means of
      virtual screening techniques. This is an emergent research field with only very
      recent (and successful) contributions. Identification of drug-like molecules with
      potential therapeutic applications for the treatment of a variety of TLR
      regulated diseases has attracted considerable interest due to the clinical
      potential. Additionally, the virtual screening databases and computational tools
      employed have been overviewed in a descriptive way, widening the scope for
      researchers interested in the field. 

PMID- 27618032
TI  - A MicroRNA that Regulates TLR-Mediated Fibrosis.
AB  - Hepatic damage can be caused by an array of factors which, if sustained, can lead
      to hepatic fibrosis.[...]. 

PMID- 27618033
TI  - Prognostic Value of Serum Caspase-Cleaved Cytokeratin-18 Levels before Liver
      Transplantation for One-Year Survival of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Cytokeratin (CK)-18 is the major intermediate filament protein in the liver and
      during hepatocyte apoptosis is cleaved by the action of caspases; the resulting
      fragments are released into the blood as caspase-cleaved cytokeratin (CCCK)-18.
      Higher circulating levels of CCCK-18 have been found in patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than in healthy controls and than in cirrhotic
      patients. However, it is unknown whether serum CCCK-18 levels before liver
      transplantation (LT) in patients with HCC could be used as a prognostic biomarker
      of one-year survival, and this was the objective of our study with 135 patients.
      At one year after LT, non-survivors showed higher serum CCCK-18 levels than
      survivors (p = 0.001). On binary logistic regression analysis, serum CCCK-18
      levels >384 U/L were associated with death at one year (odds ratio = 19.801; 95%
      confidence interval = 5.301-73.972; p < 0.001) after controlling for deceased
      donor age. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of
      serum CCCK-18 levels to predict death at one year was 77% (95% CI = 69%-84%; p <
      0.001). The new finding of our study was that serum levels of CCCK-18 before LT
      in patients with HCC could be used as prognostic biomarker of survival. 

PMID- 27618034
TI  - Glycerin-Induced Conformational Changes in Bombyx mori Silk Fibroin Film
      Monitored by (13)C CP/MAS NMR and 1H DQMAS NMR.
AB  - In order to improve the stiff and brittle characteristics of pure Bombyx mori (B.
      mori) silk fibroin (SF) film in the dry state, glycerin (Glyc) has been used as a
      plasticizer. However, there have been very limited studies on the structural
      characterization of the Glyc-blended SF film. In this study, (13)C Cross
      Polarization/Magic Angle Spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP/MAS NMR) was
      used to monitor the conformational changes in the films by changing the Glyc
      concentration. The presence of only 5 wt % Glyc in the film induced a significant
      conformational change in SF where Silk I* (repeated type II beta-turn and no
      alpha-helix) newly appeared. Upon further increase in Glyc concentration, the
      percentage of Silk I* increased linearly up to 9 wt % Glyc and then tended to be
      almost constant (30%). This value (30%) was the same as the fraction of Ala
      residue within the Silk I* form out of all Ala residues of SF present in B. mori
      mature silkworm. The 1H DQMAS NMR spectra of Glyc-blended SF films confirmed the
      appearance of Silk I* in the Glyc-blended SF film. A structural model of Glyc-SF
      complex including the Silk I* form was proposed with the guidance of the
      Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation using 1H-1H distance constraints obtained from
      the 1H Double-Quantum Magic Angle Spinning (DQMAS) NMR spectra. 

PMID- 27618035
TI  - Polyphenols and Sunburn.
AB  - Polyphenols are antioxidant molecules found in many foods such as green tea,
      chocolate, grape seeds, and wine. Polyphenols have antioxidant, anti
      inflammatory, and antineoplastic properties. Growing evidence suggests that
      polyphenols may be used for the prevention of sunburns as polyphenols decrease
      the damaging effects of ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation on
      the skin. This review was conducted to examine the evidence for use of topically
      and orally ingested polyphenols in prevention of sunburns. The PubMed database
      was searched for studies that examined polyphenols and its effects on sunburns.
      Of the 27 studies found, 15 met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies were
      conducted on human subjects and eight on animals (mice and rats). Eleven studies
      evaluated the effects of topical polyphenols, two studies examined ingested
      polyphenols, and two studies examined both topical and ingested polyphenols.
      Polyphenol sources included the following plant origins: green tea, white tea,
      cocoa, Romanian propolis (RP), Calluna vulgaris (Cv), grape seeds, honeybush, and
      Lepidium meyenii (maca). Eight studies examined green tea. Overall, based on the
      studies, there is evidence that polyphenols in both oral and topical form may
      provide protection from UV damage and sunburn, and thus are beneficial to skin
      health. However, current studies are limited and further research is necessary to
      evaluate the efficacy, mechanism of action, and potential side effects of various
      forms and concentrations of polyphenols. 

PMID- 27618036
TI  - Susceptibility and Immune Defence Mechanisms of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
      (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) against Entomopathogenic Fungal Infections.
AB  - Insects infected with entomopathogenic fungi, experience physiological changes
      that influence their growth and immune defence. The potential of nine isolates of
      entomopathogenic fungi was evaluated after determining percent germination and
      relative conidial hydrophobicity. However, nutritional indices were evaluated
      after immersing eighth-instar Rhynchophorus ferrugineus larvae into each isolate
      suspension (1 * 107 conidia/mL). The results showed that isolates B6884 and M9374
      had 44.51% and 39.02% higher conidial hydrophobicity compared with isolate I03011
      (least virulent). The results of nutritional index assays revealed a significant
      reduction in growth indices after infection with different isolates. Compared
      with control, B6884 and M9374 greatly decreased larval growth by reducing the
      efficacy of conversion of ingested food (36%-47%) and Efficacy of conversion of
      digested food (50%-63%). Furthermore, only isolate B6884 induced 100% mortality
      within 12 days. Compared with control, isolate I03011, possessing the lowest
      conidial hydrophobicity, only reduced 0.29% of the efficacy of conversion of
      ingested food (ECI) and 0.48% of the efficacy of conversion of digested food
      (ECD). Similarly, transcriptomic analysis of genes related to the Red palm weevil
      (RPW) immune response, including pathogen recognition receptors (C-type lectin
      and endo-beta-1,4-glucanse), signal modulator (Serine protease-like protein),
      signal transductors (Calmodulin-like protein and EF-hand domain containing
      protein) and effectors (C-type lysozyme, Cathepsin L., Defensin-like protein,
      Serine carboxypeptidase, and Thaumatin-like protein), was significantly increased
      in larval samples infected with B6884 and M9374. These results suggest that for
      an isolate to be virulent, conidial hydrophobicity and germination should also be
      considered during pathogen selection, as these factors could significantly impact
      host growth and immune defence mechanisms. 

PMID- 27618031
TI  - Molecular Imaging of Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaques in Animal Models.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is characterized by intimal plaques of the arterial vessels that
      develop slowly and, in some cases, may undergo spontaneous rupture with
      subsequent heart attack or stroke. Currently, noninvasive diagnostic tools are
      inadequate to screen atherosclerotic lesions at high risk of acute complications.
      Therefore, the attention of the scientific community has been focused on the use
      of molecular imaging for identifying vulnerable plaques. Genetically engineered
      murine models such as ApoE(-/-) and ApoE(-/-)Fbn1C1039G(+/-) mice have been shown
      to be useful for testing new probes targeting biomarkers of relevant molecular
      processes for the characterization of vulnerable plaques, such as vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1, VEGFR-2, intercellular adhesion
      molecule (ICAM)-1, P-selectin, and integrins, and for the potential development
      of translational tools to identify high-risk patients who could benefit from
      early therapeutic interventions. This review summarizes the main animal models of
      vulnerable plaques, with an emphasis on genetically altered mice, and the state
      of-the-art preclinical molecular imaging strategies. 

PMID- 27618039
TI  - Single-Side Two-Location Spotlight Imaging for Building Based on MIMO Through
      Wall-Radar.
AB  - Through-wall-radar imaging is of interest for mapping the wall layout of
      buildings and for the detection of stationary targets within buildings. In this
      paper, we present an easy single-side two-location spotlight imaging method for
      both wall layout mapping and stationary target detection by utilizing multiple
      input multiple-output (MIMO) through-wall-radar. Rather than imaging for building
      walls directly, the images of all building corners are generated to speculate
      wall layout indirectly by successively deploying the MIMO through-wall-radar at
      two appropriate locations on only one side of the building and then carrying out
      spotlight imaging with two different squint-views. In addition to the ease of
      implementation, the single-side two-location squint-view detection also has two
      other advantages for stationary target imaging. The first one is the fewer multi
      path ghosts, and the second one is the smaller region of side-lobe interferences
      from the corner images in comparison to the wall images. Based on Computer
      Simulation Technology (CST) electromagnetic simulation software, we provide
      multiple sets of validation results where multiple binary panorama images with
      clear images of all corners and stationary targets are obtained by combining two
      single-location images with the use of incoherent additive fusion and two
      dimensional cell-averaging constant-false-alarm-rate (2D CA-CFAR) detection. 

PMID- 27618038
TI  - Characteristics of Three Thioredoxin Genes and Their Role in Chilling Tolerance
      of Harvested Banana Fruit.
AB  - Thioredoxins (Trxs) are small proteins with a conserved redox active site WCGPC
      and are involved in a wide range of cellular redox processes. However, little
      information on the role of Trx in regulating low-temperature stress of harvested
      fruit is available. In this study, three full-length Trx cDNAs, designated
      MaTrx6, MaTrx9 and MaTrx12, were cloned from banana (Musa acuminata) fruit.
      Phylogenetic analysis and protein sequence alignments showed that MaTrx6 was
      grouped to h2 type with a typical active site of WCGPC, whereas MaTrx9 and
      MaTrx12 were assigned to atypical cys his-rich Trxs (ACHT) and h3 type with
      atypical active sites of GCAGC and WCSPC, respectively. Subcellular localization
      indicated that MaTrx6 and MaTrx12 were located in the plasma membrane and
      cytoplasm, respectively, whereas MaTrx9 showed a dual cytoplasmic and chloroplast
      localization. Application of ethylene induced chilling tolerance of harvested
      banana fruit, whereas 1-MCP, an inhibitor of ethylene perception, aggravated the
      development of chilling injury. RT-qPCR analysis showed that expression of
      MaTrx12 was up-regulated and down-regulated in ethylene- and 1-MCP-treated banana
      fruit at low temperature, respectively. Furthermore, heterologous expression of
      MaTrx12 in cytoplasmic Trx-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain increased
      the viability of the strain under H2O2. These results suggest that MaTrx12 plays
      an important role in the chilling tolerance of harvested banana fruit, possibly
      by regulating redox homeostasis. 

PMID- 27618037
TI  - In Vitro Assessment of the Expression and T Cell Immunogenicity of the Tumor
      Associated Antigens BORIS, MUC1, hTERT, MAGE-A3 and Sp17 in Uterine Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While immunotherapy moved to the forefront of treatment of various
      cancers, it remains underexplored for uterine cancer. This might be due to the
      small patient population with advanced endometrial carcinoma and uterine sarcoma.
      Data about immunotherapeutic targets are scarce in endometrial carcinoma and
      lacking in uterine sarcoma. METHODS: Expression of five tumor-associated antigens
      (TAA) (BORIS, MUC1, hTERT, MAGE-A3 and Sp17) was validated in uterine tumor
      samples by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or quantitative reverse-transcriptase
      polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). TAA immunogenicity was analyzed by
      determining spontaneous T cell responses towards overlapping peptide pools
      covering the whole TAA in patient blood. RESULTS: At mRNA level, MAGE-A3 and Sp17
      were overexpressed in a minority of patients and BORIS was moderately
      overexpressed (26% in endometrial carcinoma and 62% in uterine sarcoma). hTERT
      was overexpressed in the vast majority of tumors. On protein level, MUC1 was
      upregulated in primary, recurrent and metastatic EMCAR and in metastatic US
      tumors. hTERT protein was highly expressed in both normal and malignant tissue.
      Spontaneous TAA-specific T cell responses were detected in a minority of
      patients, except for hTERT to which T cell responses occurred more frequently.
      CONCLUSIONS: These data point to MUC1 and hTERT as most suitable targets based on
      expression levels and T cell immunogenicity for use in immunotherapeutic
      regimens.

PMID- 27618040
TI  - Sparse Reconstruction for Temperature Distribution Using DTS Fiber Optic Sensors
      with Applications in Electrical Generator Stator Monitoring.
AB  - This paper presents an image reconstruction method to monitor the temperature
      distribution of electric generator stators. The main objective is to identify
      insulation failures that may arise as hotspots in the structure. The method is
      based on temperature readings of fiber optic distributed sensors (DTS) and a
      sparse reconstruction algorithm. Thermal images of the structure are formed by
      appropriately combining atoms of a dictionary of hotspots, which was constructed
      by finite element simulation with a multi-physical model. Due to difficulties for
      reproducing insulation faults in real stator structure, experimental tests were
      performed using a prototype similar to the real structure. The results
      demonstrate the ability of the proposed method to reconstruct images of hotspots
      with dimensions down to 15 cm, representing a resolution gain of up to six times
      when compared to the DTS spatial resolution. In addition, satisfactory results
      were also obtained to detect hotspots with only 5 cm. The application of the
      proposed algorithm for thermal imaging of generator stators can contribute to the
      identification of insulation faults in early stages, thereby avoiding
      catastrophic damage to the structure. 

PMID- 27618041
TI  - Color Change of Phenol Red by Integrated Smart Phone Camera as a Tool for the
      Determination of Neurotoxic Compounds.
AB  - The use of a cell phone as a detection system is easy, simple and does not
      require trained personnel, which is in contrast to standard laboratory
      instruments. This paper deals with immobilization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
      in a gelatin matrix, and phenol red, as an indicator of AChE activity, is used in
      order to establish a method that is easily compatible with a camera device. AChE
      splits acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid, which changes the pH of a
      medium, resulting in a phenol red color change. The coloration changed in
      presence of an AChE inhibitor. Measurements were performed on 3D-printed, tube
      shaped holder, and digital photography, with subsequent analysis of red-green
      blue (RGB), served for assay purposes. Calibration of AChE inhibitors, tacrine
      and galantamine, was performed, with limit of detection equal to 1.1 nM and 1.28
      uM, respectively. Interferences were also measured, resulting in a proof-of
      method stability. The method was further successfully validated for the standard
      Ellman's assay, and verified on murine plasma samples spiked with inhibitors. 

PMID- 27618042
TI  - A Study of Dispersion Compensation of Polarization Multiplexing-Based OFDM-OCDMA
      for Radio-over-Fiber Transmissions.
AB  - Chromatic dispersion from optical fiber is the most important problem that
      produces temporal skews and destroys the rectangular structure of code patterns
      in the spectra-amplitude-coding-based optical code-division multiple-access (SAC
      OCDMA) system. Thus, the balance detection scheme does not work perfectly to
      cancel multiple access interference (MAI) and the system performance will be
      degraded. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is the fastest
      developing technology in the academic and industrial fields of wireless
      transmission. In this study, the radio-over-fiber system is realized by
      integrating OFDM and OCDMA via polarization multiplexing scheme. The electronic
      dispersion compensation (EDC) equalizer element of OFDM integrated with the
      dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) is used in the proposed radio-over-fiber
      (RoF) system, which can efficiently suppress the chromatic dispersion influence
      in long-haul transmitted distance. A set of length differences for 10 km-long
      single-mode fiber (SMF) and 4 km-long DCF is to verify the compensation scheme by
      relative equalizer algorithms and constellation diagrams. In the simulation
      result, the proposed dispersion mechanism successfully compensates the dispersion
      from SMF and the system performance with dispersion equalizer is highly improved.

PMID- 27618043
TI  - Dispersion Curve Engineering of TiO2/Silver Hybrid Substrates for Enhanced
      Surface Plasmon Resonance Detection.
AB  - As surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based biosensors are well translated into
      biological, chemical, environmental, and clinical fields, it is critical to
      further realize stable and sustainable systems, avoiding oxidation susceptibility
      of metal films-in particular, silver substrates. We report an enhanced SPR
      detection performance by incorporating a TiO2 layer on top of a thin silver film.
      A uniform TiO2 film fabricated by electron beam evaporation at room temperature
      is an effective alternative in bypassing oxidation of a silver film. Based on our
      finding that the sensor sensitivity is strongly correlated with the slope of
      dispersion curves, SPR sensing results obtained by parylene film deposition shows
      that TiO2/silver hybrid substrates provide notable sensitivity improvement
      compared to a conventional bare silver film, which confirms the possibility of
      engineering the dispersion characteristic according to the incidence wavelength.
      The reported SPR structures with TiO2 films enhance the sensitivity significantly
      in water and air environments and its overall qualitative trend in sensitivity
      improvement is consistent with numerical simulations. Thus, we expect that our
      approach can extend the applicability of TiO2-mediated SPR biosensors to highly
      sensitive detection for biomolecular binding events of low concentrations, while
      serving a practical and reliable biosensing platform. 

PMID- 27618044
TI  - A Network Coding Based Hybrid ARQ Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Sensor
      Networks.
AB  - Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UASNs) have attracted increasing interest in
      recent years due to their extensive commercial and military applications.
      However, the harsh underwater channel causes many challenges for the design of
      reliable underwater data transport protocol. In this paper, we propose an energy
      efficient data transport protocol based on network coding and hybrid automatic
      repeat request (NCHARQ) to ensure reliability, efficiency and availability in
      UASNs. Moreover, an adaptive window length estimation algorithm is designed to
      optimize the throughput and energy consumption tradeoff. The algorithm can
      adaptively change the code rate and can be insensitive to the environment change.
      Extensive simulations and analysis show that NCHARQ significantly reduces energy
      consumption with short end-to-end delay. 

PMID- 27618046
TI  - Real-Time Robust Tracking for Motion Blur and Fast Motion via Correlation
      Filters.
AB  - Visual tracking has extensive applications in intelligent monitoring and guidance
      systems. Among state-of-the-art tracking algorithms, Correlation Filter methods
      perform favorably in robustness, accuracy and speed. However, it also has
      shortcomings when dealing with pervasive target scale variation, motion blur and
      fast motion. In this paper we proposed a new real-time robust scheme based on
      Kernelized Correlation Filter (KCF) to significantly improve performance on
      motion blur and fast motion. By fusing KCF and STC trackers, our algorithm also
      solve the estimation of scale variation in many scenarios. We theoretically
      analyze the problem for CFs towards motions and utilize the point sharpness
      function of the target patch to evaluate the motion state of target. Then we set
      up an efficient scheme to handle the motion and scale variation without much time
      consuming. Our algorithm preserves the properties of KCF besides the ability to
      handle special scenarios. In the end extensive experimental results on benchmark
      of VOT datasets show our algorithm performs advantageously competed with the top
      rank trackers. 

PMID- 27618045
TI  - Pretreated Butterfly Wings for Tuning the Selective Vapor Sensing.
AB  - Photonic nanoarchitectures occurring in the scales of Blue butterflies are
      responsible for their vivid blue wing coloration. These nanoarchitectures are
      quasi-ordered nanocomposites which are constituted from a chitin matrix with
      embedded air holes. Therefore, they can act as chemically selective sensors due
      to their color changes when mixing volatile vapors in the surrounding atmosphere
      which condensate into the nanoarchitecture through capillary condensation. Using
      a home-built vapor-mixing setup, the spectral changes caused by the different air
      + vapor mixtures were efficiently characterized. It was found that the spectral
      shift is vapor-specific and proportional with the vapor concentration. We showed
      that the conformal modification of the scale surface by atomic layer deposition
      and by ethanol pretreatment can significantly alter the optical response and
      chemical selectivity, which points the way to the efficient production of sensor
      arrays based on the knowledge obtained through the investigation of modified
      butterfly wings. 

PMID- 27618047
TI  - Study of Intrinsic Dissipation Due to Thermoelastic Coupling in Gyroscope
      Resonators.
AB  - This paper presents analytical models, as well as numerical and experimental
      verification of intrinsic dissipation due to thermoelastic loss in tuning-fork
      resonator. The thermoelastic analytical governing equations are created for
      resonator vibrating at drive-mode and sense-mode, and thermoelastic vibration
      field quantities are deduced. Moreover, the theoretical values are verified that
      coincided well with finite element analysis (FEM) simulation results. Also, the
      comparison of vibration field quantities is made to investigate the effect of
      different conditions on resonator thermoelastic vibration behavior. The
      significant parameters of thermoelastic damping and quality factor are
      subsequently deduced to analyze the energy dissipation situation in the vibration
      process. Meanwhile, the corresponding conclusions from other studies are used to
      verify our theoretical model and numerical results. By comparing with the
      experimental quality factor, the numerical values are validated. The combination
      of the theoretical expressions, numerical results and experimental data leads to
      an important insight into the achievable quality factor value of tuning-fork
      resonator, namely, that the thermoelastic damping is the main loss mechanism in
      the micro-comb finger structure and the quality factor varies under different
      vibration modes. The results demonstrate that the critical geometry dimensions of
      tuning-fork resonator can be well designed with the assistance of this study. 

PMID- 27618048
TI  - An Optimized Hidden Node Detection Paradigm for Improving the Coverage and
      Network Efficiency in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks.
AB  - Successful transmission of online multimedia streams in wireless multimedia
      sensor networks (WMSNs) is a big challenge due to their limited bandwidth and
      power resources. The existing WSN protocols are not completely appropriate for
      multimedia communication. The effectiveness of WMSNs varies, and it depends on
      the correct location of its sensor nodes in the field. Thus, maximizing the
      multimedia coverage is the most important issue in the delivery of multimedia
      contents. The nodes in WMSNs are either static or mobile. Thus, the node
      connections change continuously due to the mobility in wireless multimedia
      communication that causes an additional energy consumption, and synchronization
      loss between neighboring nodes. In this paper, we introduce an Optimized Hidden
      Node Detection (OHND) paradigm. The OHND consists of three phases: hidden node
      detection, message exchange, and location detection. These three phases aim to
      maximize the multimedia node coverage, and improve energy efficiency, hidden node
      detection capacity, and packet delivery ratio. OHND helps multimedia sensor nodes
      to compute the directional coverage. Furthermore, an OHND is used to maintain a
      continuous node- continuous neighbor discovery process in order to handle the
      mobility of the nodes. We implement our proposed algorithms by using a network
      simulator (NS2). The simulation results demonstrate that nodes are capable of
      maintaining direct coverage and detecting hidden nodes in order to maximize
      coverage and multimedia node mobility. To evaluate the performance of our
      proposed algorithms, we compared our results with other known approaches. 

PMID- 27618049
TI  - A Tagless Indoor Localization System Based on Capacitive Sensing Technology.
AB  - Accurate indoor person localization is essential for several services, such as
      assisted living. We introduce a tagless indoor person localization system based
      on capacitive sensing and localization algorithms that can determine the location
      with less than 0.2 m average error in a 3 m * 3 m room and has recall and
      precision better than 70%. We also discuss the effects of various noise types on
      the measurements and ways to reduce them using filters suitable for on-sensor
      implementation to lower communication energy consumption. We also compare the
      performance of several standard localization algorithms in terms of localization
      error, recall, precision, and accuracy of detection of the movement trajectory. 

PMID- 27618050
TI  - Planar Microwave Sensor for Theranostic Therapy of Organic Tissue Based on Oval
      Split Ring Resonators.
AB  - Microwave sensors in medical environments play a significant role due to the
      contact-less and non-invasive sensing mechanism to determine dielectric
      properties of tissue. In this work, a theranostic sensor based on Split Ring
      Resonators (SRRs) is presented that provides two operation modes to detect and
      treat tumor cells, exemplary in the liver. For the detection mode, resonance
      frequency changes due to abnormalities are evaluated, and in the treatment mode,
      microwave ablation is performed. The planar sensor structure can be integrated
      into a needle like a surgery tool that evokes challenges concerning size
      limitations and biocompatibility. To meet the size requirements and provide a
      reasonable operating frequency, properties of oval shaped SRRs are investigated.
      By elongating the radius of the SRR in one direction, the resonance frequency can
      be decreased significantly compared to circular SRR by a factor of two below 12
      GHz. In order to validate the detection and treatment characteristics of the
      sensor, full wave simulations and measurements are examined. Clear resonance
      shifts are detected for loading the sensor structures with phantoms mimicking
      healthy and malignant tissue. For treatment mode evaluation, ex vivo beef liver
      tissue was ablated leading to a lesion zone 1.2 cm * 1 cm * 0.3 cm with a three
      minute exposure of maximum 2.1 W. 

PMID- 27618051
TI  - Channel-Based Key Generation for Encrypted Body-Worn Wireless Sensor Networks.
AB  - Body-worn sensor networks are important for rescue-workers, medical and many
      other applications. Sensitive data are often transmitted over such a network,
      motivating the need for encryption. Body-worn sensor networks are deployed in
      conditions where the wireless communication channel varies dramatically due to
      fading and shadowing, which is considered a disadvantage for communication.
      Interestingly, these channel variations can be employed to extract a common
      encryption key at both sides of the link. Legitimate users share a unique
      physical channel and the variations thereof provide data series on both sides of
      the link, with highly correlated values. An eavesdropper, however, does not share
      this physical channel and cannot extract the same information when intercepting
      the signals. This paper documents a practical wearable communication system
      implementing channel-based key generation, including an implementation and a
      measurement campaign comprising indoor as well as outdoor measurements. The
      results provide insight into the performance of channel-based key generation in
      realistic practical conditions. Employing a process known as key reconciliation,
      error free keys are generated in all tested scenarios. The key-generation system
      is computationally simple and therefore compatible with the low-power micro
      controllers and low-data rate transmissions commonly used in wireless sensor
      networks. 

PMID- 27618052
TI  - Real-Time Tracking Framework with Adaptive Features and Constrained Labels.
AB  - This paper proposes a novel tracking framework with adaptive features and
      constrained labels (AFCL) to handle illumination variation, occlusion and
      appearance changes caused by the variation of positions. The novel ensemble
      classifier, including the Forward-Backward error and the location constraint is
      applied, to get the precise coordinates of the promising bounding boxes. The
      Forward-Backward error can enhance the adaptation and accuracy of the binary
      features, whereas the location constraint can overcome the label noise to a
      certain degree. We use the combiner which can evaluate the online templates and
      the outputs of the classifier to accommodate the complex situation. Evaluation of
      the widely used tracking benchmark shows that the proposed framework can
      significantly improve the tracking accuracy, and thus reduce the processing time.
      The proposed framework has been tested and implemented on the embedded system
      using TMS320C6416 and Cyclone III kernel processors. The outputs show that
      achievable and satisfying results can be obtained. 

PMID- 27618053
TI  - An Indoor Pedestrian Positioning Method Using HMM with a Fuzzy Pattern
      Recognition Algorithm in a WLAN Fingerprint System.
AB  - With the rapid development of smartphones and wireless networks, indoor location
      based services have become more and more prevalent. Due to the sophisticated
      propagation of radio signals, the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) shows
      a significant variation during pedestrian walking, which introduces critical
      errors in deterministic indoor positioning. To solve this problem, we present a
      novel method to improve the indoor pedestrian positioning accuracy by embedding a
      fuzzy pattern recognition algorithm into a Hidden Markov Model. The fuzzy pattern
      recognition algorithm follows the rule that the RSSI fading has a positive
      correlation to the distance between the measuring point and the AP location even
      during a dynamic positioning measurement. Through this algorithm, we use the RSSI
      variation trend to replace the specific RSSI value to achieve a fuzzy
      positioning. The transition probability of the Hidden Markov Model is trained by
      the fuzzy pattern recognition algorithm with pedestrian trajectories. Using the
      Viterbi algorithm with the trained model, we can obtain a set of hidden location
      states. In our experiments, we demonstrate that, compared with the deterministic
      pattern matching algorithm, our method can greatly improve the positioning
      accuracy and shows robust environmental adaptability. 

PMID- 27618054
TI  - Experimental Study on Rebar Corrosion Using the Galvanic Sensor Combined with the
      Electronic Resistance Technique.
AB  - In this paper, a new kind of carbon steel (CS) and stainless steel (SS) galvanic
      sensor system was developed for the study of rebar corrosion in different pore
      solution conditions. Through the special design of the CS and SS electronic
      coupons, the electronic resistance (ER) method and zero resistance ammeter (ZRA)
      technique were used simultaneously for the measurement of both the galvanic
      current and the corrosion depth. The corrosion processes in different solution
      conditions were also studied by linear polarization resistance (LPR) and the
      measurements of polarization curves. The test result shows that the galvanic
      current noise can provide detailed information of the corrosion processes. When
      localized corrosion occurs, the corrosion rate measured by the ER method is lower
      than the real corrosion rate. However, the value measured by the LPR method is
      higher than the real corrosion rate. The galvanic current and the corrosion
      current measured by the LPR method shows linear correlation in chloride
      containing saturated Ca(OH)2 solution. The relationship between the corrosion
      current differences measured by the CS electronic coupons and the galvanic
      current between the CS and SS electronic coupons can also be used to evaluate the
      localized corrosion in reinforced concrete. 

PMID- 27618055
TI  - RSS-Based Method for Sensor Localization with Unknown Transmit Power and
      Uncertainty in Path Loss Exponent.
AB  - The localization of a sensor in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has now gained
      considerable attention. Since the transmit power and path loss exponent (PLE) are
      two critical parameters in the received signal strength (RSS) localization
      technique, many RSS-based location methods, considering the case that both the
      transmit power and PLE are unknown, have been proposed in the literature.
      However, these methods require a search process, and cannot give a closed-form
      solution to sensor localization. In this paper, a novel RSS localization method
      with a closed-form solution based on a two-step weighted least squares estimator
      is proposed for the case with the unknown transmit power and uncertainty in PLE.
      Furthermore, the complete performance analysis of the proposed method is given in
      the paper. Both the theoretical variance and Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) are
      derived. The relationships between the deterministic CRLB and the proposed
      stochastic CRLB are presented. The paper also proves that the proposed method can
      reach the stochastic CRLB. 

PMID- 27618056
TI  - Drift Reduction in Pedestrian Navigation System by Exploiting Motion Constraints
      and Magnetic Field.
AB  - Pedestrian navigation systems (PNS) using foot-mounted MEMS inertial sensors use
      zero-velocity updates (ZUPTs) to reduce drift in navigation solutions and
      estimate inertial sensor errors. However, it is well known that ZUPTs cannot
      reduce all errors, especially as heading error is not observable. Hence, the
      position estimates tend to drift and even cyclic ZUPTs are applied in updated
      steps of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). This urges the use of other motion
      constraints for pedestrian gait and any other valuable heading reduction
      information that is available. In this paper, we exploit two more motion
      constraints scenarios of pedestrian gait: (1) walking along straight paths; (2)
      standing still for a long time. It is observed that these motion constraints
      (called "virtual sensor"), though considerably reducing drift in PNS, still need
      an absolute heading reference. One common absolute heading estimation sensor is
      the magnetometer, which senses the Earth's magnetic field and, hence, the true
      heading angle can be calculated. However, magnetometers are susceptible to
      magnetic distortions, especially in indoor environments. In this work, an
      algorithm, called magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) and compensation is designed
      by incorporating only healthy magnetometer data in the EKF updating step, to
      reduce drift in zero-velocity updated INS. Experiments are conducted in GPS
      denied and magnetically distorted environments to validate the proposed
      algorithms. 

PMID- 27618057
TI  - Distributed Particle Filter for Target Tracking: With Reduced Sensor
      Communications.
AB  - For efficient and accurate estimation of the location of objects, a network of
      sensors can be used to detect and track targets in a distributed manner. In
      nonlinear and/or non-Gaussian dynamic models, distributed particle filtering
      methods are commonly applied to develop target tracking algorithms. An important
      consideration in developing a distributed particle filtering algorithm in
      wireless sensor networks is reducing the size of data exchanged among the sensors
      because of power and bandwidth constraints. In this paper, we propose a
      distributed particle filtering algorithm with the objective of reducing the
      overhead data that is communicated among the sensors. In our algorithm, the
      sensors exchange information to collaboratively compute the global likelihood
      function that encompasses the contribution of the measurements towards building
      the global posterior density of the unknown location parameters. Each sensor,
      using its own measurement, computes its local likelihood function and
      approximates it using a Gaussian function. The sensors then propagate only the
      mean and the covariance of their approximated likelihood functions to other
      sensors, reducing the communication overhead. The global likelihood function is
      computed collaboratively from the parameters of the local likelihood functions
      using an average consensus filter or a forward-backward propagation information
      exchange strategy. 

PMID- 27618058
TI  - Target Tracking Using SePDAF under Ambiguous Angles for Distributed Array Radar.
AB  - Distributed array radar can improve radar detection capability and measurement
      accuracy. However, it will suffer cyclic ambiguity in its angle estimates
      according to the spatial Nyquist sampling theorem since the large sparse array is
      undersampling. Consequently, the state estimation accuracy and track validity
      probability degrades when the ambiguous angles are directly used for target
      tracking. This paper proposes a second probability data association filter
      (SePDAF)-based tracking method for distributed array radar. Firstly, the target
      motion model and radar measurement model is built. Secondly, the fusion result of
      each radar's estimation is employed to the extended Kalman filter (EKF) to finish
      the first filtering. Thirdly, taking this result as prior knowledge, and
      associating with the array-processed ambiguous angles, the SePDAF is applied to
      accomplish the second filtering, and then achieving a high accuracy and stable
      trajectory with relatively low computational complexity. Moreover, the azimuth
      filtering accuracy will be promoted dramatically and the position filtering
      accuracy will also improve. Finally, simulations illustrate the effectiveness of
      the proposed method. 

PMID- 27618059
TI  - A Small U-Shaped Bending-Induced Interference Optical Fiber Sensor for the
      Measurement of Glucose Solutions.
AB  - The study proposes a small U-shaped bending-induced interference optical fiber
      sensor; this novel sensor is a probe-type sensor manufactured using a mechanical
      device, a heat source, optical fiber and a packaging module. This probe-type
      sensor overcomes the shortcomings of conventional optical fibers, including being
      difficult to repair and a tendency to be influenced by external forces. We
      manufactured three types of sensors with different curvature radiuses.
      Specifically, sensors with three radiuses (1.5 mm, 2.0 mm, and 3.0 mm) were used
      to measure common water and glucose solutions with concentrations of between 6%
      and 30% (the interval between concentrations was 4%). The results show that the
      maximal sensitivity was 0.85 dB/% and that the linearly-dependent coefficient was
      0.925. The results further show that not only can the small U-shaped bending
      induced interference optical fiber sensor achieve high sensitivity in the
      measurement of glucose solutions, but that it can also achieve great stability
      and repeatability. 

PMID- 27618060
TI  - Sediment Sampling in Estuarine Mudflats with an Aerial-Ground Robotic Team.
AB  - This paper presents a robotic team suited for bottom sediment sampling and
      retrieval in mudflats, targeting environmental monitoring tasks. The robotic team
      encompasses a four-wheel-steering ground vehicle, equipped with a drilling tool
      designed to be able to retain wet soil, and a multi-rotor aerial vehicle for
      dynamic aerial imagery acquisition. On-demand aerial imagery, properly fused on
      an aerial mosaic, is used by remote human operators for specifying the robotic
      mission and supervising its execution. This is crucial for the success of an
      environmental monitoring study, as often it depends on human expertise to ensure
      the statistical significance and accuracy of the sampling procedures. Although
      the literature is rich on environmental monitoring sampling procedures, in
      mudflats, there is a gap as regards including robotic elements. This paper closes
      this gap by also proposing a preliminary experimental protocol tailored to
      exploit the capabilities offered by the robotic system. Field trials in the south
      bank of the river Tagus' estuary show the ability of the robotic system to
      successfully extract and transport bottom sediment samples for offline analysis.
      The results also show the efficiency of the extraction and the benefits when
      compared to (conventional) human-based sampling. 

PMID- 27618061
TI  - Fuzzy C-Means Clustering and Energy Efficient Cluster Head Selection for
      Cooperative Sensor Network.
AB  - We propose a novel cluster based cooperative spectrum sensing algorithm to save
      the wastage of energy, in which clusters are formed using fuzzy c-means (FCM)
      clustering and a cluster head (CH) is selected based on a sensor's location
      within each cluster, its location with respect to fusion center (FC), its signal
      to-noise ratio (SNR) and its residual energy. The sensing information of a single
      sensor is not reliable enough due to shadowing and fading. To overcome these
      issues, cooperative spectrum sensing schemes were proposed to take advantage of
      spatial diversity. For cooperative spectrum sensing, all sensors sense the
      spectrum and report the sensed energy to FC for the final decision. However, it
      increases the energy consumption of the network when a large number of sensors
      need to cooperate; in addition to that, the efficiency of the network is also
      reduced. The proposed algorithm makes the cluster and selects the CHs such that
      very little amount of network energy is consumed and the highest efficiency of
      the network is achieved. Using the proposed algorithm maximum probability of
      detection under an imperfect channel is accomplished with minimum energy
      consumption as compared to conventional clustering schemes. 

PMID- 27618062
TI  - Fuzzy Sets in Dynamic Adaptation of Parameters of a Bee Colony Optimization for
      Controlling the Trajectory of an Autonomous Mobile Robot.
AB  - A hybrid approach composed by different types of fuzzy systems, such as the Type
      1 Fuzzy Logic System (T1FLS), Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic System (IT2FLS) and
      Generalized Type-2 Fuzzy Logic System (GT2FLS) for the dynamic adaptation of the
      alpha and beta parameters of a Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) algorithm is
      presented. The objective of the work is to focus on the BCO technique to find the
      optimal distribution of the membership functions in the design of fuzzy
      controllers. We use BCO specifically for tuning membership functions of the fuzzy
      controller for trajectory stability in an autonomous mobile robot. We add two
      types of perturbations in the model for the Generalized Type-2 Fuzzy Logic System
      to better analyze its behavior under uncertainty and this shows better results
      when compared to the original BCO. We implemented various performance indices;
      ITAE, IAE, ISE, ITSE, RMSE and MSE to measure the performance of the controller.
      The experimental results show better performances using GT2FLS then by IT2FLS and
      T1FLS in the dynamic adaptation the parameters for the BCO algorithm. 

PMID- 27618063
TI  - Human Movement Recognition Based on the Stochastic Characterisation of
      Acceleration Data.
AB  - Human activity recognition algorithms based on information obtained from wearable
      sensors are successfully applied in detecting many basic activities. Identified
      activities with time-stationary features are characterised inside a predefined
      temporal window by using different machine learning algorithms on extracted
      features from the measured data. Better accuracy, precision and recall levels
      could be achieved by combining the information from different sensors. However,
      detecting short and sporadic human movements, gestures and actions is still a
      challenging task. In this paper, a novel algorithm to detect human basic
      movements from wearable measured data is proposed and evaluated. The proposed
      algorithm is designed to minimise computational requirements while achieving
      acceptable accuracy levels based on characterising some particular points in the
      temporal series obtained from a single sensor. The underlying idea is that this
      algorithm would be implemented in the sensor device in order to pre-process the
      sensed data stream before sending the information to a central point combining
      the information from different sensors to improve accuracy levels. Intra- and
      inter-person validation is used for two particular cases: single step detection
      and fall detection and classification using a single tri-axial accelerometer.
      Relevant results for the above cases and pertinent conclusions are also
      presented. 

PMID- 27618064
TI  - A Study of LoRa: Long Range & Low Power Networks for the Internet of Things.
AB  - LoRa is a long-range, low-power, low-bitrate, wireless telecommunications system,
      promoted as an infrastructure solution for the Internet of Things: end-devices
      use LoRa across a single wireless hop to communicate to gateway(s), connected to
      the Internet and which act as transparent bridges and relay messages between
      these end-devices and a central network server. This paper provides an overview
      of LoRa and an in-depth analysis of its functional components. The physical and
      data link layer performance is evaluated by field tests and simulations. Based on
      the analysis and evaluations, some possible solutions for performance
      enhancements are proposed. 

PMID- 27618065
TI  - Therapeutic Potential of Gramicidin S in the Treatment of Root Canal Infections.
AB  - An intrinsic clindamycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, the most common single
      species present in teeth after failed root canal therapy, often possesses
      acquired tetracycline resistance. In these cases, root canal infections are
      commonly treated with Ledermix((r)) paste, which contains demeclocycline, or the
      new alternative endodontic paste Odontopaste, which contains clindamycin;
      however, these treatments are often ineffective. We studied the killing activity
      of the cyclic antimicrobial peptide gramicidin S (GS) against planktonic and
      biofilm cells of tetracycline-resistant clinical isolates of E. faecalis. The
      high therapeutic potential of GS for the topical treatment of problematic teeth
      is based on the rapid bactericidal effect toward the biofilm-forming,
      tetracycline-resistant E. faecalis. GS reduces the cell number of planktonic
      cells within 20-40 min at a concentration of 40-80 MUg/mL. It kills the cells of
      pre-grown biofilms at concentrations of 100-200 MUg/mL, such that no re-growth is
      possible. The translocation of the peptide into the cell interior and its
      complexation with intracellular nucleotides, including the alarmon ppGpp, can
      explain its anti-biofilm effect. The successful treatment of persistently
      infected root canals of two volunteers confirms the high effectiveness of GS. The
      broad GS activity towards resistant, biofilm-forming E. faecalis suggests its
      applications for approval in root canal medication. 

PMID- 27618066
TI  - 1H and (15)N NMR Analyses on Heparin, Heparan Sulfates and Related
      Monosaccharides Concerning the Chemical Exchange Regime of the N-Sulfo
      Glucosamine Sulfamate Proton.
AB  - Heparin and heparan sulfate are structurally related glycosaminoglycans (GAGs).
      Both GAGs present, although in different concentrations, N-sulfo-glucosamine
      (GlcNS) as one of their various composing units. The conditional fast exchange
      property of the GlcNS sulfamate proton in these GAGs has been pointed as the main
      barrier to its signal detection via NMR experiments, especially 1H-(15)N HSQC.
      Here, a series of NMR spectra is collected on heparin, heparan sulfate and
      related monosaccharides. The N-acetyl glucosamine-linked uronic acid types of
      these GAGs were properly assigned in the 1H-(15)N HSQC spectra. Dynamic nuclear
      polarization (DNP) was employed in order to facilitate 1D spectral acquisition of
      the sulfamate (15)N signal of free GlcNS. Analyses on the multiplet pattern of
      scalar couplings of GlcNS (15)N has helped to understand the chemical properties
      of the sulfamate proton in solution. The singlet peak observed for GlcNS happens
      due to fast chemical exchange of the GlcNS sulfamate proton in solution. Analyses
      on kinetics of alpha-beta anomeric mutarotation via 1H NMR spectra have been
      performed in GlcNS as well as other glucose-based monosaccharides. 1D 1H and 2D
      1H-(15)N HSQC spectra recorded at low temperature for free GlcNS dissolved in a
      proton-rich solution showed signals from all exchangeable protons, including
      those belonging to the sulfamate group. This work suits well to the current grand
      celebration of one-century-anniversary of the discovery of heparin. 

PMID- 27618068
TI  - Preparation of Temozolomide-Loaded Nanoparticles for Glioblastoma Multiforme
      Targeting-Ideal Versus Reality.
AB  - Temozolomide (TMZ) is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for
      glioblastoma multiforme, but the required high administration dose is accompanied
      by side effects. To overcome this problem and to further improve TMZ's efficacy,
      targeted delivery of TMZ by using polymeric nanoparticles has been explored. We
      synthesised the PLGA-PEG-FOL copolymer and attempted encapsulation of TMZ into
      PLGA-PEG-FOL nanoparticles using the emulsion solvent evaporation method and the
      nanoprecipitation method. Conjugation of PEG and FOL to PLGA has been reported to
      be able to increase the delivery of TMZ to the brain as well as targeting the
      glioma cells. However, despite making numerous modifications to these methods,
      the loading of TMZ in the nanoparticles only ranged between 0.2% and 2%, and the
      nanoparticles were between 400 nm and 600 nm in size after freeze-drying. We
      proceed with determining the release profile of TMZ in phosphate buffered saline
      (PBS). Our initial data indicated that TMZ was slowly released from the
      nanoparticles. The metabolite of TMZ rather than the parent compound was detected
      in PBS. Our study suggests that while PLGA-PEG-FOL can be used as a polymeric or
      encapsulation material for central delivery of TMZ, a practical and cost
      effective formulation method is still far from reach. 

PMID- 27618067
TI  - Targeting TRPM2 in ROS-Coupled Diseases.
AB  - Under pathological conditions such as inflammation and ischemia-reperfusion
      injury large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated which, in
      return, contribute to the development and exacerbation of disease. The second
      member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) melastatin subfamily, TRPM2, is
      a Ca(2+)-permeable non-selective cation channel, activated by ROS in an ADP
      ribose mediated fashion. In other words, TRPM2 functions as a transducer that
      converts oxidative stress into Ca(2+) signaling. There is good evidence that
      TRPM2 plays an important role in ROS-coupled diseases. For example, in monocytes
      the influx of Ca(2+) through TRPM2 activated by ROS contributes to the
      aggravation of inflammation via chemokine production. In this review, the focus
      is on TRPM2 as a molecular linker between ROS and Ca(2+) signaling in ROS-coupled
      diseases. 

PMID- 27618069
TI  - TRPV3 in Drug Development.
AB  - Transient receptor potential vanilloid 3 (TRPV3) is a member of the TRP
      (Transient Receptor Potential) super-family. It is a relatively underexplored
      member of the thermo-TRP sub-family (Figure 1), however, genetic mutations and
      use of gene knock-outs and selective pharmacological tools are helping to provide
      insights into its role and therapeutic potential. TRPV3 is highly expressed in
      skin, where it is implicated in skin physiology and pathophysiology, thermo
      sensing and nociception. Gain of function TRPV3 mutations in rodent and man have
      enabled the role of TRPV3 in skin health and disease to be particularly well
      defined. Pre-clinical studies provide some rationale to support development of
      TRPV3 antagonists for therapeutic application for the treatment of inflammatory
      skin conditions, itch and pain. However, to date, only one compound directed
      towards block of the TRPV3 receptor (GRC15300) has progressed into clinical
      trials. Currently, there are no known clinical trials in progress employing a
      TRPV3 antagonist. 

PMID- 27618070
TI  - A Saponification Method for Chlorophyll Removal from Microalgae Biomass as Oil
      Feedstock.
AB  - Microalgae oil is an optimal feedstock for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and
      biodiesel production, but its high levels of chlorophyll limit its large-scale
      application. To date, few effective approaches have been developed to remove
      chlorophyll from microalgae oil. The main purpose of this study was to present a
      preprocessing method of algae oil feedstock (Scenedesmus) to remove chlorophyll
      by saponification. The results showed that 96% of chlorophyll in biomass was
      removed. High quality orange transparent oil could be extracted from the
      chlorophyll reduced biomass. Specifically, the proportion of neutral lipids and
      saturation levels of fatty acids increased, and the pigments composition became
      carotenoids-based. The critical parameters of chlorophyll reduced biodiesel
      conformed to the standards of the USA, China and EU. Sodium copper chlorophyllin
      could be prepared from the bleaching effluent. The results presented herein offer
      a useful pathway to improve the quality of microalgae oil and reduce the cost of
      microalgae biodiesel. 

PMID- 27618071
TI  - The Brown Alga Stypopodium zonale (Dictyotaceae): A Potential Source of Anti
      Leishmania Drugs.
AB  - This study evaluated the anti-Leishmania amazonensis activity of a lipophilic
      extract from the brown alga Stypopodium zonale and atomaric acid, its major
      compound. Our initial results revealed high inhibitory activity for intracellular
      amastigotes in a dose-dependent manner and an IC50 of 0.27 MUg/mL. Due to its
      high anti-Leishmania activity and low toxicity toward host cells, we fractionated
      the lipophilic extract. A major meroditerpene in this extract, atomaric acid, and
      its methyl ester derivative, which was obtained by a methylation procedure, were
      identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Both compounds
      inhibited intracellular amastigotes, with IC50 values of 20.2 MUM (9 MUg/mL) and
      22.9 MUM (10 MUg/mL), and selectivity indexes of 8.4 MUM and 11.5 MUM. The
      leishmanicidal activity of both meroditerpenes was independent of nitric oxide
      (NO) production, but the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) may be at
      least partially responsible for the amastigote killing. Our results suggest that
      the lipophilic extract of S. zonale may represent an important source of
      compounds for the development of anti-Leishmania drugs. 

PMID- 27618072
TI  - Dichotocejpins A-C: New Diketopiperazines from a Deep-Sea-Derived Fungus
      Dichotomomyces cejpii FS110.
AB  - Three new diketopiperazines, dichotocejpins A-C (1-3), together with eight known
      analogues (4-11), were isolated from the culture of the deep-sea sediment derived
      fungus Dichotomomyces cejpii FS110. Their structures, including absolute
      configurations, were elucidated by a combination of HRESIMS, NMR, X-ray
      crystallography, and ECD calculations. Compounds 4-6, 10-11 showed significant
      cytotoxic activities against MCF-7, NCI-H460, HepG-2, and SF-268 tumor cell
      lines. Compound 1 exhibited excellent inhibitory activity against alpha
      glucosidase with an IC50 of 138 MUM. 

PMID- 27618074
TI  - Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in OECD Countries.
AB  - Climate change is a major challenge facing public health. National governments
      play a key role in public health adaptation to climate change, but there are
      competing views on what responsibilities and obligations this will-or should
      include in different nations. This study aims to: (1) examine how national-level
      public health adaptation is occurring in Organization for Economic Cooperation
      and Development (OECD) countries; (2) examine the roles national governments are
      taking in public health adaptation; and (3) critically appraise three key
      governance dimensions of national-level health adaptation-cross-sectoral
      collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning-and
      identify practical examples suited to different contexts. We systematically
      reviewed publicly available public health adaptation to climate change documents
      and webpages by national governments in ten OECD countries using systematic web
      searches, assessment of self-reporting, and content analysis. Our findings
      suggest national governments are primarily addressing infectious disease and heat
      related risks posed by climate change, typically emphasizing capacity building or
      information-based groundwork initiatives. We find national governments are taking
      a variety of approaches to public health adaptation to climate change that do not
      follow expected convergence and divergence by governance structure. We discuss
      practical options for incorporating cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical
      coordination and national health adaptation planning into a variety of contexts
      and identify leaders national governments can look to to inform their public
      health adaptation planning. Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement and
      subsequent increased momentum for adaptation, research tracking adaptation is
      needed to define what health adaptation looks like in practice, reveal insights
      that can be taken up across states and sectors, and ensure policy orientated
      learning.

PMID- 27618073
TI  - Body Pain Intensity and Interference in Adults (45-53 Years Old): A Cross
      Sectional Survey in Chongqing, China.
AB  - Culture and national care models matter both in reporting and treatment of pain
      status. However, most findings on body pain intensity and interference in adults
      are from Western studies, with little reliable evidence from China. This study
      aimed to assess body pain intensity and interference and its associations with
      demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, and health behaviors in adults. A
      cross-sectional survey was performed to collect data from 1224 adults, who were
      recruited via multistage stratified random sampling. The SF-36 quality-of-life
      instrument was used to investigate body pain intensity and interference. Ordinal
      logistic regression analysis was used in this study. Our results showed that
      64.1% of the participants (males: 687; females: 537) reported body pain, and
      45.7% of the participants reported body pain interference. Middle-aged
      respondents who were female, were unmarried/divorced or separated/widowed, had a
      negative relationship with their family, had poor sleep quality, and were not
      satisfied with their current living conditions had a higher body pain intensity
      rating (ordered logistic regression/six-level pain intensity criterion; odds
      ratios, p < 0.05). Respondents who were unmarried/divorced or separated/widowed,
      with a low education level, were unemployed, had lower incomes, had a negative
      relationship with their family, and were not satisfied with their current living
      conditions had a higher body pain interference rating (ordered logistic
      regression/five-level pain interference criterion; odds ratios, p < 0.05). In
      conclusion, an estimated 64.1% of middle-aged adults reported body pain, and
      45.7% of middle-aged adults reported body pain interference. These results
      provide a clue for possible interventions for improving body pain intensity and
      interference in adults, especially among middle-aged people. These factors should
      be taken into consideration in the prevention of pain, pain management and
      treatment planning in order to help relieve the stress of pain among adults.

PMID- 27618075
TI  - Impact of Diagnostic Practices on the Self-Reported Health of Mothers of Recently
      Diagnosed Children with ASD.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Obtaining a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for a
      child is a pivotal point in developing the treatment plan for the child but can
      also be regarded as highly stressful by parents. The current study examined the
      impact of different aspects of the diagnosis process on the self-reported mental
      health of mothers of children undergoing a diagnosis for ASD in a cross-sectional
      cohort design. METHODS: One-hundred-fifty-eight mothers of consequently diagnosed
      children with ASD participated. The severity of the children's ASD and their
      intellectual functioning was assessed within twelve months of the diagnosis, and
      the mothers completed a psychometric assessment battery including the Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale, General Health Questionnaire, and Questionnaire on
      Resources and Stress. RESULTS: The actual time from first reporting a problem to
      obtaining a diagnosis, and the speed of the diagnostic process from first to last
      appointment, were both negatively related to patenting stress. In contrast,
      mothers' perceptions of the speed and helpfulness of the process were negatively
      related to levels of anxiety and depression. The number of professionals involved
      in the process and the perceived coherence of the diagnosis were also negatively
      related to aspects of mothers' functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Care is needed to help
      mothers through the diagnostic process with regard to their own functioning.
      Providing information and help sources throughout the process, while keeping the
      number of professionals involved to a minimum, may improve the parent perception
      of the process and reduce the negative impacts of the diagnosis on the family as
      a whole.

PMID- 27618076
TI  - Public Health Impact and Economic Costs of Volkswagen's Lack of Compliance with
      the United States' Emission Standards.
AB  - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued a notice of
      violation against Volkswagen (VW) for installing a defective device in certain
      models of diesel cars to circumvent emission tests for nitrogen oxides (NOx). We
      quantified the health and economic impacts of extra NOx emissions attributable to
      non-compliant vehicles in the U.S. using the EPA's Co-Benefits Risk Assessment
      model. We estimated that the total extra NOx emitted over one year of operation
      would result in 5 to 50 premature deaths, 687 to 17,526 work days with restricted
      activity, and economic costs of $43,479,189 to $423,268,502, based on various
      assumptions regarding emission scenarios and risks. This study highlights the
      potential impacts of VW vehicles' lack of compliance on the health and well-being
      of the U.S.

PMID- 27618079
TI  - Economic Burden of Hospitalizations for Heat-Related Illnesses in the United
      States, 2001-2010.
AB  - Understanding how heat waves affect morbidity and mortality, as well as the
      associated economic costs, is essential for characterizing the human health
      impacts of extreme heat under a changing climate. Only a handful of studies have
      examined healthcare costs associated with exposures to high temperatures. This
      research explores costs associated with hospitalizations for heat-related illness
      (HRI) in the United States using the 2001 to 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample
      (NIS). Descriptive statistics of patient data for HRI hospitalizations were
      examined and costs of hospitalizations were reported using the all-payer
      inpatient cost-to-charge ratio. Costs were examined using a log-gamma model with
      patient and hospital characteristics included as fixed effects. Adjusted mean
      costs were then compared across racial groups. The mean costs of HRI
      hospitalizations were higher among racial/ethnic minorities compared to Whites,
      who accounted for almost 65% of all HRI hospitalizations. Observed differences in
      costs based on income, insurance, and gender were also significant. These results
      suggest that these populations are suffering disproportionately from health
      inequity, thus, they could shoulder greater disease and financial burdens due to
      climate change. These findings may have important implications in understanding
      the economic impact public health planning and interventions will have on
      preventing hospitalizations related to extreme heat.

PMID- 27618080
TI  - The Effects of Intensive Nutrition Education on Late Middle-Aged Adults with Type
      2 Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Many patients with type 2 diabetes find it difficult to maintain good
      glycemic control. Undesirable glycemic control occurs greatly due to deficiencies
      of nutritional knowledge and difficulty in obtaining dietary prescriptions. The
      late middle-aged and elder individuals are the main populations that are affected
      by type 2 diabetes. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether
      intensive nutrition education would make benefits for late middle-aged patients
      with type 2 diabetes. METHOD: 196 patients between 50 to 65 years old meeting
      type 2 diabetes criteria and eligible for the program were included in a single
      blinded, 30-day centralized management of an education program in China.
      Participants in the program were randomly divided into a usual nutrition
      education group or an intensive nutrition education group. The usual nutrition
      education group was used as a control group and received only basic health advice
      and principles of diabetic diets at the beginning and the end of the study.
      Participants in the intensive nutrition education group were arranged to receive
      intensive nutritional lectures about diabetes for 30 days. The primary outcomes
      were the changes in weight, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG),
      2-h postprandial plasma glucose (PG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total
      glycerin (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL
      c), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c). RESULTS: After 30 days of
      intervention, FPG, PG, and HbA1c in the treatment group decreased significantly
      than the control group (p < 0.05). HbA1c reduced significantly by 0.6% in the
      intervention group. No significant differences in the change of blood lipids were
      observed between groups. However, TG, TC, and HDL-c made improvements compared
      with the baseline in the experimental group. Both groups had a reduction in
      weight and BMI within groups, especially in intensive nutrition education group.
      However, there was no statistical significance between groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intensive nutrition education has significant effects on blood glucose control in
      late middle-aged adults with type 2 diabetes. Intensive education can cultivate
      good diet habits and increase physical activity, which are important for diabetes
      patients in the short and long terms. These findings may contribute to improving
      education methodology and nutrition therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27618077
TI  - Role of Deficient Mismatch Repair in the Personalized Management of Colorectal
      Cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the third most common type of cancer in
      developed countries and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide.
      Personalized management of CRC has gained increasing attention since there are
      large inter-individual variations in the prognosis and response to drugs used to
      treat CRC owing to molecular heterogeneity. Approximately 15% of CRCs are caused
      by deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) characterized by microsatellite instability
      (MSI) phenotype. The present review is aimed at highlighting the role of MMR
      status in informing prognosis and personalized treatment of CRC including
      adjuvant chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy
      to guide the individualized therapy of CRC.

PMID- 27618081
TI  - Cotton Dust Exposure and Respiratory Disorders among Textile Workers at a Textile
      Company in the Southern Part of Benin.
AB  - The textile industry sector occupies a prominent place in the economy of Benin.
      It exposes workers to several occupational risks, including exposure to cotton
      dust. To assess the effect of exposure to cotton dust on the health of workers,
      this study was initiated and conducted in a Beninese cotton industry company. The
      objective of the study was to evaluate the respiratory disorders among the
      textile workers exposed to cotton dust and the cross-sectional study involved 656
      subjects exposed to cotton dust and 113 non-exposed subjects. The methods used
      are mainly based on a survey using a questionnaire of organic dust designed by
      the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH); and on the measures
      of lung function parameters (FEV1 and FVC). The main results of the different
      analyzes revealed that subjects exposed to cotton dust have more respiratory
      symptoms than unexposed subjects (36.9% vs. 21.2%). The prevalence of chronic
      cough, expectorations, dyspnoea, asthma and chronic bronchitis are 16.8%, 9.8%,
      17.3%, 2.6%, and 5.9% respectively among the exposed versus 2.6%, 0.8%, 16.8%, 0%
      and 0.8% among the unexposed subjects. The prevalence of byssinosis is 44.01%.The
      prevalence of symptoms is dependent on the sector of activity and the age of the
      subject. These results should encourage medical interventions and technical
      prevention especially since the textile industry occupies an important place in
      the Benin's economy.

PMID- 27618082
TI  - Medical Waste Disposal Method Selection Based on a Hierarchical Decision Model
      with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Relations.
AB  - Although medical waste usually accounts for a small fraction of urban municipal
      waste, its proper disposal has been a challenging issue as it often contains
      infectious, radioactive, or hazardous waste. This article proposes a two-level
      hierarchical multicriteria decision model to address medical waste disposal
      method selection (MWDMS), where disposal methods are assessed against different
      criteria as intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations and criteria weights are
      furnished as real values. This paper first introduces new operations for a
      special class of intuitionistic fuzzy values, whose membership and non-membership
      information is cross ratio based ]0, 1[-values. New score and accuracy functions
      are defined in order to develop a comparison approach for ]0, 1[-valued
      intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. A weighted geometric operator is then put forward
      to aggregate a collection of ]0, 1[-valued intuitionistic fuzzy values. Similar
      to Saaty's 1-9 scale, this paper proposes a cross-ratio-based bipolar 0.1-0.9
      scale to characterize pairwise comparison results. Subsequently, a two-level
      hierarchical structure is formulated to handle multicriteria decision problems
      with intuitionistic preference relations. Finally, the proposed decision
      framework is applied to MWDMS to illustrate its feasibility and effectiveness.

PMID- 27618078
TI  - The Current Status of the Disease Caused by Enterovirus 71 Infections:
      Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Molecular Epidemiology, and Vaccine Development.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infections have a major public health impact in the Asia
      Pacific region. We reviewed the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and molecular
      epidemiology of EV71 infection as well as EV71 vaccine development. Previous
      studies were found using the search terms "enterovirus 71" and "epidemiology" or
      "pathogenesis" or "molecular epidemiology" or "vaccine" in Medline and PubMed.
      Articles that were not published in the English language, manuscripts without an
      abstract, and opinion articles were excluded from the review. The reported
      epidemiology of cases caused by EV71 infection varied from country to country;
      seasonal variations in incidence were observed. Most cases of EV71 infection that
      resulted in hospitalization for complications occurred in children less than five
      years old. The brainstem was the most likely major target of EV71 infection. The
      emergence of the EV71 epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region has been associated
      with the circulation of different genetic lineages (genotypes B3, B4, C1, C2, and
      C4) that appear to be undergoing rapid evolutionary changes. The relationship
      between the gene structure of the EV71 virus and the factors that ensure its
      survival, circulation, and evasion of immunity is still unknown. EV71 infection
      has emerged as an important global public health problem. Vaccine development,
      including the development of inactivated whole-virus live attenuated, subviral
      particles, and DNA vaccines, has been progressing.

PMID- 27618083
TI  - Household Air Pollution Intervention Implications: Findings from Qualitative
      Studies and a Field Trial of Clean Cookstoves in Two Rural Villages in India.
AB  - Exposure to household air pollution is estimated to be the 3rd largest
      contributor to the global burden of disease and the largest contributor in South
      Asia. Unacceptability of improved cook stoves by the intended user has been
      identified as a crucial factor hindering uptake and sustained use. We conducted a
      qualitative study to understand the socio-cultural factors that influence
      acceptance of improved cookstoves and conducted a systematic field trial in two
      rural villages in Maharashtra, India. The qualitative study used semi-structured
      in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. We included women primarily
      responsible for household cooking, their husbands, senior women in their
      households, and community health workers. We also conducted kitchen observations.
      The results indicated low awareness and knowledge of the health risks associated
      with traditional cookstove use although high prevalence of household air
      pollution (HAP) exposure symptoms among all groups. Women were resigned to using
      traditional cookstoves although they did not like them. The field trial findings
      were dominated by responses concerned with convenience and health advantages. We
      identify important issues to be considered when introducing an improved cookstove
      programme that will increase acceptability and potentially sustained used of
      improved cookstoves.

PMID- 27618084
TI  - Mortality and Burden of Disease Attributable to Cigarette Smoking in Qingdao,
      China.
AB  - In China, smoking is the leading preventable cause of deaths by a disease.
      Estimating the disease burden attributable to smoking contributes to an
      evaluation of the adverse impact of smoking. To aid in policy change and
      implementation, this study estimated the population-attributable fractions (PAFs)
      of smoking, the all-cause mortality and the loss of life expectancy attributable
      to smoking in 2014 of Qingdao. PAFs were calculated using the smoking impact
      ratio (SIR) or current smoking rate (P) and relative risk (RR). We determined the
      smoking-attributable mortality by multiplying the smoking-attributable fraction
      by the total mortality. This study used the method of an abridged life table to
      calculate the loss of life expectancy caused by smoking. Smoking caused about
      8635 deaths (6883 males, 1752 females), and accounted for 16% of all deaths; 22%
      in males and 8% in females. The leading causes of deaths attributable to smoking
      were lung cancer (38%), ischemic heart disease (19%) and chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD, 12%). The PAF for all causes was 22%; 30% in males and
      10% in females. Tobacco use may cause a reduction of about 2.01 years of the loss
      of life expectancy; 3 years in males and 0.87 years in females. The findings
      highlight the need for taking effective measures to prevent initiation and induce
      cessation.

PMID- 27618085
TI  - Disadvantaged Parents' Engagement with a National Secondhand Smoke in the Home
      Mass Media Campaign: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - Mass media campaigns can be effective in tobacco control but may widen health
      inequalities if they fail to engage disadvantaged smokers. This qualitative study
      explored how parents with young children living in disadvantaged circumstances
      engaged with a national campaign which aimed to raise awareness of the importance
      of smokefree homes. Individual semi-structured interviews were carried out with
      17 parents before and after the Scottish 2014 "Right Outside" mass media
      campaign. A conceptual framework exploring meaningful exposure (recall and
      understanding), motivational responses (protecting children from secondhand smoke
      (SHS)) and opportunities to act (barriers) was used to thematically analyse the
      findings. Campaign recall and engagement, and motivation to protect children were
      high. Parents identified with the dramatized scenario and visual impact of SHS
      harm to children in the TV advertisement. Some reported changed smoking
      practices. However, supervising young children in limited accommodation when
      caring alone constrained opportunities to smoke outside. Instead, parents
      described actions other than smoking outside that they had taken or were planning
      to take to create smokefree homes. Mass media campaigns using emotive, real-life
      circumstances can be effective in engaging parents about SHS. However, the
      behavioural impact may be limited because of difficult home environments and
      circumstances.

PMID- 27618086
TI  - Developing Responsive Indicators of Indigenous Community Health.
AB  - How health is defined and assessed is a priority concern for Indigenous peoples
      due to considerable health risks faced from environmental impacts to homelands,
      and because what is "at risk" is often determined without their input or
      approval. Many health assessments by government agencies, industry, and
      researchers from outside the communities fail to include Indigenous definitions
      of health and omit basic methodological guidance on how to evaluate Indigenous
      health, thus compromising the quality and consistency of results. Native Coast
      Salish communities (Washington State, USA) developed and pilot-tested a set of
      Indigenous Health Indicators (IHI) that reflect non-physiological aspects of
      health (community connection, natural resources security, cultural use,
      education, self-determination, resilience) on a community scale, using
      constructed measures that allow for concerns and priorities to be clearly
      articulated without releasing proprietary knowledge. Based on initial results
      from pilot-tests of the IHI with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
      (Washington State, USA), we argue that incorporation of IHIs into health
      assessments will provide a more comprehensive understanding of Indigenous health
      concerns, and assist Indigenous peoples to control their own health evaluations.

PMID- 27618087
TI  - Evaluation of a Home-Based Environmental and Educational Intervention to Improve
      Health in Vulnerable Households: Southeastern Pennsylvania Lead and Healthy Homes
      Program.
AB  - This evaluation examined whether participation in a home-based environmental
      educational intervention would reduce exposure to health and safety hazards and
      asthma-related medical visits. The home intervention program focused on
      vulnerable, low-income households, where children had asthma, were at risk for
      lead poisoning, or faced multiple unsafe housing conditions. Home visitors
      conducted two home visits, two months apart, consisting of an environmental home
      assessment, Healthy Homes education, and distribution of Healthy Homes supplies.
      Measured outcomes included changes in participant knowledge and awareness of
      environmental home-based hazards, rate of children's asthma-related medical use,
      and the presence of asthma triggers and safety hazards. Analysis of 2013-2014
      baseline and post-intervention program data for a cohort of 150 families revealed
      a significantly lower three-month rate (p < 0.05) of children's asthma-related
      doctor visits and hospital admissions at program completion. In addition, there
      were significantly reduced reports of the presence of home-based hazards,
      including basement or roof leaks (p = 0.011), plumbing leaks (p = 0.019), and use
      of an oven to heat the home (p < 0.001). Participants' pre- and post- test scores
      showed significant improvement (p < 0.05) in knowledge and awareness of home
      hazards. Comprehensive home interventions may effectively reduce environmental
      home hazards and improve the health of asthmatic children in the short term.

PMID- 27618088
TI  - Effect of a Nutritional Intervention in Athlete's Body Composition, Eating
      Behaviour and Nutritional Knowledge: A Comparison between Adults and Adolescents.
AB  - The objective of the present study is to evaluate and compare the effect of a
      nutritional intervention between adolescent and adult. In a before and after
      quasi-experimental clinical study, 32 athletes (21 adults, age range 20-32 years;
      11 adolescents, age range: 12-19 years) participated in a nutritional counselling
      consisting of four consultations separated by an interval of 45 to 60 days. The
      athlete's eating behaviour, body composition and nutrition knowledge were
      evaluated at the beginning and at the end of the protocol. Both groups increased
      lean body mass and nutritional knowledge. Adolescents increased their mid-arm
      muscle circumference and improved meal frequency, and daily water intake.
      Athletes of both groups improved their ingestion of vegetables and fruits and
      decreased the ingestion of sweets and oils. Adolescents showed a higher
      prevalence of individuals that remained within or approached to the
      recommendations of sweets. This is the first study to evaluate and compare the
      effect of a nutritional intervention between adolescent and adult athletes body
      composition, eating behaviour and nutritional knowledge. The nutritional
      counselling has been effective in promoting beneficial changes on the athlete's
      eating behaviour, nutritional knowledge and body composition, however, some
      healthy changes were only experienced by adolescents, especially in the frequency
      of meals and the intake of sweets. 

PMID- 27618089
TI  - The Diet Quality of Competitive Adolescent Male Rugby Union Players with Energy
      Balance Estimated Using Different Physical Activity Coefficients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of the current study were to comprehensively assess the
      dietary intakes and diet quality of a sample of Australian competitive adolescent
      rugby union players and compare these intakes with National and Sports Dietitians
      Association (SDA) Recommendations for adolescent athletes. A secondary aim
      investigated applying different physical activity level (PAL) coefficients to
      determine total energy expenditure (TEE) in order to more effectively evaluate
      the adequacy of energy intakes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: Anthropometrics
      and dietary intakes were assessed in 25 competitive adolescent male rugby union
      players (14 to 18 years old). Diet was assessed using the validated Australian
      Eating Survey (AES) food frequency questionnaire and diet quality was assessed
      through the Australian Recommended Food Score. RESULTS: The median dietary
      intakes of participants met national recommendations for percent energy (% E)
      from carbohydrate, protein and total fat, but not carbohydrate intake when
      evaluated as g/day as proposed in SDA guidelines. Median intakes of fibre and
      micronutrients including calcium and iron also met national recommendations.
      Overall diet quality was classified as 'good' with a median diet quality score of
      34 (out of a possible 73); however, there was a lack of variety within key food
      groups including carbohydrates and proteins. Non-core food consumption exceeded
      recommended levels at 38% of the daily total energy intake, with substantial
      contributions from takeaway foods and sweetened beverages. A PAL coefficient of
      1.2-1.4 was found to best balance the energy intakes of these players in their
      pre-season. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent rugby players met the percent energy
      recommendations for macronutrients and attained an overall 'good' diet quality
      score. However, it was identified that when compared to specific recommendations
      for athletes, carbohydrate intakes were below recommendations and these players
      in their pre-season reported high consumption of non-core foods, particularly
      sugar sweetened drinks and low intakes of vegetables.

PMID- 27618090
TI  - Short- and Long-Term Effects of Wholegrain Oat Intake on Weight Management and
      Glucolipid Metabolism in Overweight Type-2 Diabetics: A Randomized Control Trial.
AB  - Glycemic control and weight reduction are primary goals for the management of
      overweight and obese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Effective management cannot
      be achieved without an appropriate diet. Our study aimed to evaluate the short-
      and long-term effects of oat intake and develop a reasonable dietary plan for
      overweight T2DM patients. A randomized control trial, registered under
      ClinicalTrials.gov (Identification code: NCT01495052), was carried out among
      adult T2DM patients. A subgroup of 298 overweight subjects was selected and
      received a 30-day centralized intervention and 1-year free-living follow-up.
      Participants were randomly allocated to one of the following four groups. The
      usual care group (n = 60) received no intervention; the healthy diet group (n =
      79) received a low-fat and high-fiber diet ("healthy diet"); the 50 g-oats group
      (n = 80) and 100 g-oats group (n = 79) received the "healthy diet" with the same
      amount of cereals replaced by 50 g and 100 g oats respectively. Anthropometric,
      blood glycemic and lipid variables were measured. For the 30-day intervention,
      significant differences in the changes of FPG (fasting plasma glucose), PPG
      (postprandial plasma glucose), HbA1c (glycosylated hemoglobin), HOMA-IR
      (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance), TC (total cholesterol), TG
      (total triglycerides), and LDL-c (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) were
      observed among the four groups. Compared to the healthy diet group, the 50 g-oats
      group had a bigger reduction in PPG (mean difference (MD): -1.04 mmol/L; 95% CI: 
      2.03, -0.05) and TC (MD: -0.24 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.47, -0.01); the 100 g-oats
      group had a bigger reduction in PPG (MD: -1.48 mmol/L; 95% CI: -2.57, -0.39),
      HOMA-IR (MD: -1.77 mU.mol/L2; 95% CI: -3.49, -0.05), TC (MD: -0.33 mmol/L; 95%
      CI: -0.56, -0.10) and LDL-c (MD: -0.22 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.41, -0.03). In the 1
      year follow-up, greater effects in reducing weight (MD: -0.89 kg; 95% CI: -1.56, 
      0.22), HbA1c (MD: -0.64%; 95% CI: -1.19, -0.09) and TG (MD: -0.70 mmol/L; 95% CI:
      -1.11, -0.29) were observed in the 100 g-oats group. In conclusion, short- and
      long-term oat intake had significant effects on controlling hyperglycemia,
      lowering blood lipid and reducing weight. Our study provided some supportive
      evidence for recommending oat as a good whole grain selection for overweight
      diabetics. 

PMID- 27618091
TI  - Supplemental Protein during Heavy Cycling Training and Recovery Impacts Skeletal
      Muscle and Heart Rate Responses but Not Performance.
AB  - The effects of protein supplementation on cycling performance, skeletal muscle
      function, and heart rate responses to exercise were examined following
      intensified (ICT) and reduced-volume training (RVT). Seven cyclists performed
      consecutive periods of normal training (NT), ICT (10 days; average training
      duration 220% of NT), and RVT (10 days; training duration 66% of NT). In a
      crossover design, subjects consumed supplemental carbohydrate (CHO) or an equal
      amount of carbohydrate with added protein (CP) during and following each exercise
      session (CP = +0.94 g/kg/day protein during ICT; +0.39 g/kg/day during RVT). A 30
      kilometer time trial performance (following 120 min at 50% Wmax) was modestly
      impaired following ICT (+2.4 +/- 6.4% versus NT) and returned to baseline levels
      following RVT (-0.7 +/- 4.5% versus NT), with similar responses between CHO and
      CP. Skeletal muscle torque at 120 deg/s benefited from CP, compared to CHO,
      following ICT. However, this effect was no longer present at RVT. Following ICT,
      muscle fiber cross-sectional area was increased with CP, while there were no
      clear changes with CHO. Reductions in constant-load heart rates (at 50% Wmax)
      following RVT were likely greater with CP than CHO (-9 +/- 9 bpm). Overall it
      appears that CP supplementation impacted skeletal muscle and heart rate responses
      during a period of heavy training and recovery, but this did not result in
      meaningful changes in time trial performance. 

PMID- 27618092
TI  - Water and Beverage Consumption among Children Aged 4-13 Years in Lebanon:
      Findings from a National Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - This study evaluates total water intake (TWI) from plain water, beverages and
      foods among Lebanese children and compares TWI to dietary reference intakes
      (DRIs). In a national cross-sectional survey, data on demographic, socioeconomic,
      anthropometric, and physical activity characteristics were obtained from 4 to 13
      year-old children (n = 752). Food and beverage consumption patterns were assessed
      using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. TWI was estimated at 1651 mL/day,
      with beverages contributing 72% of the TWI compared to 28% from foods. Beverages
      with the highest contribution to TWI included plain water, fruit juice and soda.
      A significantly higher proportion of 9-13-year-old children failed to meet the
      DRIs compared to 4-8 years old (92%-98% vs. 74%). Gender differentials were
      observed with a significantly higher proportion of boys meeting the DRIs compared
      to girls. The water to energy ratio ranged between 0.84 and 0.87, which fell
      short of meeting the desirable recommendations. In addition, children from higher
      socioeconomic status had higher intakes of water from milk and bottled water,
      coupled with lower water intakes from sodas. The study findings show an alarming
      high proportion of Lebanese children failing to meet TWI recommendations, and
      call for culture-specific interventions to instill healthy fluid consumption
      patterns early in life. 

PMID- 27618094
TI  - Evidence Synthesis and Translation for Nutrition Interventions to Combat
      Micronutrient Deficiencies with Particular Focus on Food Fortification.
AB  - Over two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. Food
      fortification is a prominent nutrition intervention to combat such deficiencies;
      however, its effectiveness, risks, and ethical implications vary depending on the
      contexts associated with the deficiency it is addressing and the circumstances
      with its implementation. The aim of this research was to analyse the profile of
      nutrition interventions for combating micronutrient deficiency with particular
      focus on food fortification reported in existing systematic reviews (SRs),
      guidelines and policy statements, and implementation actions for nutrition. A
      review of secondary data available from online databases of SRs, guidelines and
      policy statements, and implementation actions, categorised as either "nutrition
      specific interventions" (NSpI) or "nutrition-sensitive interventions" (NSeI), was
      conducted. Currently, there is evidence available for a diversity of food
      fortification topics, and there has been much translation into action. Indeed,
      food fortification and micronutrient supplementation interventions and NSpI more
      broadly dominate the profile of interventions for which there were SRs,
      guidelines, and policy statements available. The findings demonstrate that,
      although there is a rational linear relationship between evidence synthesis and
      translation in formulating policy and actions to combat micronutrient
      deficiencies, the various nutrition interventions available to help combat
      micronutrient deficiencies are not equally represented in the evidence synthesis
      and translation processes. Effective and safe policies and actions to combat
      micronutrient deficiencies require decisions to be informed from a body of
      evidence that consists of evidence from a variety of interventions. Into the
      future, investment in making available a higher number of SRs, guidelines and
      policy statements, and actions of NSeI is indicated. 

PMID- 27618093
TI  - Polydextrose: Physiological Function, and Effects on Health.
AB  - Polydextrose (PDX) is a non-digestible oligosaccharide used widely across most
      sectors of the food industry. It is a randomly linked glucose oligomer containing
      small amounts of sorbitol and citric acid. The random bonds in PDX prevent
      mammalian digestive enzymes from readily hydrolyzing the molecule and it has a
      reported energy value of 1 kcal/g. These properties have led to the acceptance in
      many countries that PDX provides similar physiological effects as other dietary
      fibers and has shown prebiotic potential. Dietary intervention with prebiotics
      has been shown to selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of one or a
      limited number of intestinal bacteria associated with several physiological
      benefits on health. Therefore, the objective of this review was a survey of the
      literature on the effect of supplementation with PDX in health, and to list the
      benefits for maintaining health and/or reducing the development of diseases. 

PMID- 27618096
TI  - Evaluation of an Innovative Method for Calculating Energy Intake of Hospitalized
      Patients.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate a multi-component method for capturing
      nutrient intake, which used observation, photography, and an innovative computer
      program. To assess reliability and accuracy, multiple responsible employees (REs)
      independently conducted nutrient intake assessments on simulated meals; each RE's
      results relating to energy intake were compared to those from the other REs and
      to those obtained by pre- and post-meal weighing of the food items. System
      efficiency was assessed by having REs perform independent assessments on the same
      set of simulated meals using either the new or traditional hospital method for
      which the REs had to document each food item served and then find the items in a
      computer database-steps that were automated in the new method. Interrater
      reliability for energy intake estimated on clinic wards was excellent (intraclass
      correlation coefficient = 0.975, 95% CI 0.958 to 0.992) and there was a high
      level of agreement between the REs' estimates and the true values determined by
      food weighing; per the method of Bland and Altman the mean difference between the
      two types of estimates was 0.3 kcal (95% CI, -8.1 to 8.7 kcal) with limits of
      agreement of -79.5 kcal to 80.1 kcal. Compared to the traditional method, energy
      intake assessments could be completed using the multi-component method in less
      than a third of the time. These results indicate the multi-component method is an
      accurate, reliable, and efficient method of obtaining energy intake assessments
      for hospitalized patients. 

PMID- 27618095
TI  - Anticancer Efficacy of Polyphenols and Their Combinations.
AB  - Polyphenols, found abundantly in plants, display many anticarcinogenic properties
      including their inhibitory effects on cancer cell proliferation, tumor growth,
      angiogenesis, metastasis, and inflammation as well as inducing apoptosis. In
      addition, they can modulate immune system response and protect normal cells
      against free radicals damage. Most investigations on anticancer mechanisms of
      polyphenols were conducted with individual compounds. However, several studies,
      including ours, have indicated that anti-cancer efficacy and scope of action can
      be further enhanced by combining them synergistically with chemically similar or
      different compounds. While most studies investigated the anti-cancer effects of
      combinations of two or three compounds, we used more comprehensive mixtures of
      specific polyphenols and mixtures of polyphenols with vitamins, amino acids and
      other micronutrients. The mixture containing quercetin, curcumin, green tea,
      cruciferex, and resveratrol (PB) demonstrated significant inhibition of the
      growth of Fanconi anemia head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and dose-dependent
      inhibition of cell proliferation, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9
      secretion, cell migration and invasion through Matrigel. PB was found effective
      in inhibition of fibrosarcoma HT-1080 and melanoma A2058 cell proliferation, MMP
      2 and -9 expression, invasion through Matrigel and inducing apoptosis, important
      parameters for cancer prevention. A combination of polyphenols (quercetin and
      green tea extract) with vitamin C, amino acids and other micronutrients (EPQ)
      demonstrated significant suppression of ovarian cancer ES-2 xenograft tumor
      growth and suppression of ovarian tumor growth and lung metastasis from IP
      injection of ovarian cancer A-2780 cells. The EPQ mixture without quercetin (NM)
      also has shown potent anticancer activity in vivo and in vitro in a few dozen
      cancer cell lines by inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis, MMP-2 and -9
      secretion, invasion, angiogenesis, and cell growth as well as induction of
      apoptosis. The presence of vitamin C, amino acids and other micronutrients could
      enhance inhibitory effect of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on secretion of
      MMPs. In addition, enrichment of NM with quercetin (EPQ mix) enhanced anticancer
      activity of NM in vivo. In conclusion, polyphenols, especially in combination
      with other polyphenols or micronutrients, have been shown to be effective against
      multiple targets in cancer development and progression, and should be considered
      as safe and effective approaches in cancer prevention and therapy. 

PMID- 27618097
TI  - Effects of Folic Acid on Secretases Involved in Abeta Deposition in APP/PS1 Mice.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. Amyloid-beta
      protein (Abeta) is identified as the core protein of neuritic plaques. Abeta is
      generated by the sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) via
      the APP cleaving enzyme (alpha-secretase, or beta-secretase) and gamma-secretase.
      Previous studies indicated that folate deficiency elevated Abeta deposition in
      APP/PS1 mice, and this rise was prevented by folic acid. In the present study, we
      aimed to investigate whether folic acid could influence the generation of Abeta
      by regulating alpha-, beta-, and gamma-secretase. Herein, we demonstrated that
      folic acid reduced the deposition of Abeta42 in APP/PS1 mice brain by decreasing
      the mRNA and protein expressions of beta-secretase [beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme
      1 (BACE1)] and gamma-secretase complex catalytic component-presenilin 1 (PS1)-in
      APP/PS1 mice brain. Meanwhile, folic acid increased the levels of ADAM9 and
      ADAM10, which are important alpha-secretases in ADAM (a disintegrin and
      metalloprotease) family. However, folic acid has no impact on the protein
      expression of nicastrin (Nct), another component of gamma-secretase complex.
      Moreover, folic acid regulated the expression of miR-126-3p and miR-339-5p, which
      target ADAM9 and BACE1, respectively. Taken together, the effect of folic acid on
      Abeta deposition may relate to making APP metabolism through non-amyloidogenic
      pathway by decreasing beta-secretase and increasing alpha-secretase. MicroRNA
      (miRNA) may involve in the regulation mechanism of folic acid on secretase
      expression. 

PMID- 27618099
TI  - Effective Botulinum Toxin Injection Guide for Treatment of Temporal Headache.
AB  - This study involved an extensive analysis of published research on the morphology
      of the temporalis muscle in order to provide an anatomical guideline on how to
      distinguish the temporalis muscle and temporalis tendon by observing the surface
      of the patient's face. Twenty-one hemifaces of cadavers were used in this study.
      The temporalis muscles were dissected clearly for morphological analysis between
      the temporalis muscle and tendon. The posterior border of the temporalis tendon
      was classified into three types: in Type I the posterior border of the temporalis
      tendon is located in front of reference line L2 (4.8%, 1/21), in Type II it is
      located between reference lines L2 and L3 (85.7%, 18/21), and in Type III it is
      located between reference lines L3 and L4 (9.5%, 2/21). The vertical distances
      between the horizontal line passing through the jugale (LH) and the temporalis
      tendon along each of reference lines L0, L1, L2, L3, and L4 were 29.7 +/- 6.8 mm,
      45.0 +/- 8.8 mm, 37.7 +/- 11.1 mm, 42.5 +/- 7.5 mm, and 32.1 +/- 0.4 mm,
      respectively. BoNT-A should be injected into the temporalis muscle at least 45 mm
      vertically above the zygomatic arch. This will ensure that the muscle region is
      targeted and so produce the greatest clinical effect with the minimum
      concentration of BoNT-A.

PMID- 27618098
TI  - A Tricky Trait: Applying the Fruits of the "Function Debate" in the Philosophy of
      Biology to the "Venom Debate" in the Science of Toxinology.
AB  - The "function debate" in the philosophy of biology and the "venom debate" in the
      science of toxinology are conceptually related. Venom systems are complex
      multifunctional traits that have evolved independently numerous times throughout
      the animal kingdom. No single concept of function, amongst those popularly
      defended, appears adequate to describe these systems in all their evolutionary
      contexts and extant variations. As such, a pluralistic view of function,
      previously defended by some philosophers of biology, is most appropriate. Venom
      systems, like many other functional traits, exist in nature as points on a
      continuum and the boundaries between "venomous" and "non-venomous" species may
      not always be clearly defined. This paper includes a brief overview of the
      concept of function, followed by in-depth discussion of its application to venom
      systems. A sound understanding of function may aid in moving the venom debate
      forward. Similarly, consideration of a complex functional trait such as venom may
      be of interest to philosophers of biology.

PMID- 27618101
TI  - Beyond Ribosomal Binding: The Increased Polarity and Aberrant Molecular
      Interactions of 3-epi-deoxynivalenol.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a secondary fungal metabolite and contaminant mycotoxin
      that is widely detected in wheat and corn products cultivated around the world.
      Bio-remediation methods have been extensively studied in the past two decades and
      promising ways to reduce DON-associated toxicities have been reported. Bacterial
      epimerization of DON at the C3 carbon was recently reported to induce a
      significant loss in the bio-toxicity of the resulting stereoisomer (3-epi-DON) in
      comparison to the parental compound, DON. In an earlier study, we confirmed the
      diminished bio-potency of 3-epi-DON using different mammalian cell lines and
      mouse models and mechanistically attributed it to the reduced binding of 3-epi
      DON within the ribosomal peptidyl transferase center (PTC). In the current study
      and by inspecting the chromatographic behavior of 3-epi-DON and its molecular
      interactions with a well-characterized enzyme, Fusarium graminearum Tri101
      acetyltransferase, we provide the evidence that the C3 carbon epimerization of
      DON influences its molecular interactions beyond the abrogated PTC binding.

PMID- 27618100
TI  - Early Activation of MAPK p44/42 Is Partially Involved in DON-Induced Disruption
      of the Intestinal Barrier Function and Tight Junction Network.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON), produced by the plant pathogens Fusarium graminearum and
      Fusarium culmorum, is one of the most common mycotoxins, contaminating cereal and
      cereal-derived products. Although worldwide contamination of food and feed poses
      health threats to humans and animals, pigs are particularly susceptible to this
      mycotoxin. DON derivatives, such as deepoxy-deoxynivalenol (DOM-1), are produced
      by bacterial transformation of certain intestinal bacteria, which are naturally
      occurring or applied as feed additives. Intestinal epithelial cells are the
      initial barrier against these food- and feed-borne toxins. The present study
      confirms DON-induced activation of MAPK p44/42 and inhibition of p44/42 by MAPK
      inhibitor U0126 monoethanolate. Influence of DON and DOM-1 on transepithelial
      electrical resistance (TEER), viability and expression of seven tight junction
      proteins (TJ), as well as the potential of U0126 to counteract DON-induced
      effects, was assessed. While DOM-1 showed no effect, DON significantly reduced
      TEER of differentiated IPEC-J2 and decreased expression of claudin-1 and -3,
      while leaving claudin-4; ZO-1, -2, and -3 and occludin unaffected. Inhibition of
      p44/42 counteracted DON-induced TEER decrease and restored claudin-3, but not
      claudin-1 expression. Therefore, effects of DON on TEER and claudin-3 are at
      least partially p44/42 mediated, while effects on viability and claudin-1 are
      likely mediated via alternative pathways.

PMID- 27618103
TI  - Telomerase Activation in Hematological Malignancies.
AB  - Telomerase expression and telomere maintenance are critical for cell
      proliferation and survival, and they play important roles in development and
      cancer, including hematological malignancies. Transcriptional regulation of the
      rate-limiting subunit of human telomerase reverse transcriptase gen (hTERT) is a
      complex process, and unveiling the mechanisms behind its reactivation is an
      important step for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
      Here, we review the main mechanisms of telomerase activation and the associated
      hematologic malignancies. 

PMID- 27618104
TI  - Mechanisms and Physiological Roles of the CBL-CIPK Networking System in
      Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-CBL-interacting protein kinase (CIPK) network is
      one of the vital regulatory mechanisms which decode calcium signals triggered by
      environmental stresses. Although the complicated regulation mechanisms and some
      novel functions of CBL-CIPK signaling network in plants need to be further
      elucidated, numerous advances have been made in its roles involved in the abiotic
      stresses. This review chiefly introduces the progresses about protein
      interaction, classification and expression pattern of different CBLs and CIPKs in
      Arabidopsis thaliana, summarizes the physiological roles of CBL-CIPK pathway
      while pointing out some new research ideas in the future, and finally presents
      some unique perspectives for the further study. The review might provide new
      insights into the functional characterization of CBL-CIPK pathway in Arabidopsis,
      and contribute to a deeper understanding of CBL-CIPK network in other plants or
      stresses. 

PMID- 27618106
TI  - Clinical Utility of Positron Emission Tomography Magnetic Resonance Imaging (PET
      MRI) in Gastrointestinal Cancers.
AB  - Anatomic imaging utilizing both CT (computed tomography) and MRI (magnetic
      resonance imaging) limits the assessment of cancer metastases in lymph nodes and
      distant organs while functional imaging like PET (positron emission tomography)
      scan has its limitation in spatial resolution capacity. Hybrid imaging utilizing
      PET-CT and PET-MRI are novel imaging modalities that are changing the current
      landscape in cancer diagnosis, staging, and treatment response. MRI has shown to
      have higher sensitivity in soft tissue, head and neck pathology, and pelvic
      disease, as well as, detecting small metastases in the liver and bone compared to
      CT. Combining MRI with PET allows for detection of metastases that may have been
      missed with current imaging modalities. In this review, we will examine the
      clinical utility of FDG PET-MRI in the diagnosis and staging of gastrointestinal
      cancers with focus on esophageal, stomach, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. We
      will also explore its role in treatment response and future directions associated
      with it. 

PMID- 27618102
TI  - Current Technologies and Recent Developments for Screening of HPV-Associated
      Cervical and Oropharyngeal Cancers.
AB  - Mucosal infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for a growing
      number of malignancies, predominantly represented by cervical cancer and
      oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Because of the prevalence of the virus,
      persistence of infection, and long latency period, novel and low-cost methods are
      needed for effective population level screening and monitoring. We review
      established methods for screening of cervical and oral cancer as well as
      commercially-available techniques for detection of HPV DNA. We then describe the
      ongoing development of microfluidic nucleic acid-based biosensors to evaluate
      circulating host microRNAs that are produced in response to an oncogenic HPV
      infection. The goal is to develop an ideal screening platform that is low-cost,
      portable, and easy to use, with appropriate signal stability, sensitivity and
      specificity. Advances in technologies for sample lysis, pre-treatment and
      concentration, and multiplexed nucleic acid detection are provided. Continued
      development of these devices provides opportunities for cancer screening in low
      resource settings, for point-of-care diagnostics and self-screening, and for
      monitoring response to vaccination or surgical treatment. 

PMID- 27618107
TI  - Modelling the Effect of Diet Composition on Enteric Methane Emissions across
      Sheep, Beef Cattle and Dairy Cows.
AB  - Enteric methane (CH 4 ) is a by-product from fermentation of feed consumed by
      ruminants, which represents a nutritional loss and is also considered a
      contributor to climate change. The aim of this research was to use individual
      animal data from 17 published experiments that included sheep ( n = 288), beef
      cattle ( n = 71) and dairy cows ( n = 284) to develop an empirical model to
      describe enteric CH 4 emissions from both cattle and sheep, and then evaluate the
      model alongside equations from the literature. Data were obtained from studies in
      the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia, which measured enteric CH 4 emissions from
      individual animals in calorimeters. Animals were either fed solely forage or a
      mixed ration of forage with a compound feed. The feed intake of sheep was
      restricted to a maintenance amount of 875 g of DM per day (maintenance level),
      whereas beef cattle and dairy cows were fed to meet their metabolizable energy
      (ME) requirement (i.e., production level). A linear mixed model approach was used
      to develop a multiple linear regression model to predict an individual animal's
      CH 4 yield (g CH 4 /kg dry matter intake) from the composition of its diet. The
      diet components that had significant effects on CH 4 yield were digestible
      organic matter (DOMD), ether extract (EE) (both g/kg DM) and feeding level above
      maintenance intake: CH 4 (g/kg DM intake) = 0.046 (+/-0.001) * DOMD - 0.113 (+/
      0.023) * EE - 2.47 (+/-0.29) * (feeding level - 1), with concordance correlation
      coefficient ( CCC ) = 0.655 and RMSPE = 14.0%. The predictive ability of the
      model developed was as reliable as other models assessed from the literature.
      These components can be used to predict effects of diet composition on enteric CH
      4 yield from sheep, beef and dairy cattle from feed analysis information. 

PMID- 27618108
TI  - Monty Roberts' Public Demonstrations: Preliminary Report on the Heart Rate and
      Heart Rate Variability of Horses Undergoing Training during Live Audience Events.
AB  - Effective training of horses relies on the trainer's awareness of learning theory
      and equine ethology, and should be undertaken with skill and time. Some trainers,
      such as Monty Roberts, share their methods through the medium of public
      demonstrations. This paper describes the opportunistic analysis of beat-to-beat
      (RR) intervals and heart rate variability (HRV) of ten horses being used in Monty
      Roberts' public demonstrations within the United Kingdom. RR and HRV was measured
      in the stable before training and during training. The HRV variables standard
      deviation of the RR interval (SDRR), root mean square of successive RR
      differences (RMSSD), geometric means standard deviation 1 (SD1) and 2 (SD2),
      along with the low and high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) were calculated. The
      minimum, average and maximum RR intervals were significantly lower in training
      (indicative of an increase in heart rate as measured in beats-per-minute) than in
      the stable ( p = 0.0006; p = 0.01; p = 0.03). SDRR, RMSSD, SD1, SD2 and the LF/HF
      ratio were all significantly lower in training than in the stable ( p = 0.001; p
      = 0.049; p = 0.049; p = 0.001; p = 0.01). When comparing the HR and HRV of horses
      during Join-up ((r)) to overall training, there were no significant differences
      in any variable with the exception of maximum RR which was significantly lower (
      p = 0.007) during Join-up ((r)) , indicative of short increases in physical
      exertion (canter) associated with this training exercise. In conclusion, training
      of horses during public demonstrations is a low-moderate physiological, rather
      than psychological stressor for horses. The physiological stress responses
      observed within this study were comparable or less to those previously reported
      in the literature for horses being trained outside of public audience events.
      Furthermore, there is no evidence that the use of Join-up ((r)) alters HR and HRV
      in a way to suggest that this training method negatively affects the
      psychological welfare of horses. 

PMID- 27618109
TI  - Investigation into Deep Brain Stimulation Lead Designs: A Patient-Specific
      Simulation Study.
AB  - New deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode designs offer operation in voltage and
      current mode and capability to steer the electric field (EF). The aim of the
      study was to compare the EF distributions of four DBS leads at equivalent
      amplitudes (3 V and 3.4 mA). Finite element method (FEM) simulations (n = 38)
      around cylindrical contacts (leads 3389, 6148) or equivalent contact
      configurations (leads 6180, SureStim1) were performed using homogeneous and
      patient-specific (heterogeneous) brain tissue models. Steering effects of 6180
      and SureStim1 were compared with symmetric stimulation fields. To make relative
      comparisons between simulations, an EF isolevel of 0.2 V/mm was chosen based on
      neuron model simulations (n = 832) applied before EF visualization and
      comparisons. The simulations show that the EF distribution is largely influenced
      by the heterogeneity of the tissue, and the operating mode. Equivalent contact
      configurations result in similar EF distributions. In steering configurations,
      larger EF volumes were achieved in current mode using equivalent amplitudes. The
      methodology was demonstrated in a patient-specific simulation around the zona
      incerta and a "virtual" ventral intermediate nucleus target. In conclusion, lead
      design differences are enhanced when using patient-specific tissue models and
      current stimulation mode. 

PMID- 27618105
TI  - Functional Annotations of Paralogs: A Blessing and a Curse.
AB  - Gene duplication followed by mutation is a classic mechanism of
      neofunctionalization, producing gene families with functional diversity. In some
      cases, a single point mutation is sufficient to change the substrate specificity
      and/or the chemistry performed by an enzyme, making it difficult to accurately
      separate enzymes with identical functions from homologs with different functions.
      Because sequence similarity is often used as a basis for assigning functional
      annotations to genes, non-isofunctional gene families pose a great challenge for
      genome annotation pipelines. Here we describe how integrating evolutionary and
      functional information such as genome context, phylogeny, metabolic
      reconstruction and signature motifs may be required to correctly annotate
      multifunctional families. These integrative analyses can also lead to the
      discovery of novel gene functions, as hints from specific subgroups can guide the
      functional characterization of other members of the family. We demonstrate how
      careful manual curation processes using comparative genomics can disambiguate
      subgroups within large multifunctional families and discover their functions. We
      present the COG0720 protein family as a case study. We also discuss strategies to
      automate this process to improve the accuracy of genome functional annotation
      pipelines. 

PMID- 27618110
TI  - Deep Brain Stimulation: In Search of Reliable Instruments for Assessing Complex
      Personality-Related Changes.
AB  - During the last 25 years, more than 100,000 patients have been treated with Deep
      Brain Stimulation (DBS). While human clinical and animal preclinical research has
      shed light on the complex brain-signaling disturbances that underpin e.g.,
      Parkinson's disease (PD), less information is available when it comes to complex
      psychosocial changes following DBS interventions. In this contribution, we
      propose to more thoroughly investigate complex personality-related changes
      following deep brain stimulation through refined and reliable instruments in
      order to help patients and their relatives in the post-surgery phase. By pursuing
      this goal, we first outline the clinical importance DBS has attained followed by
      discussing problematic and undesired non-motor problems that accompany some DBS
      interventions. After providing a brief definition of complex changes, we move on
      by outlining the measurement problem complex changes relating to non-motor
      symptoms currently are associated with. The latter circumstance substantiates the
      need for refined instruments that are able to validly assess personality-related
      changes. After providing a brief paragraph with regard to conceptions of
      personality, we argue that the latter is significantly influenced by certain
      competencies which themselves currently play only a tangential role in the
      clinical DBS-discourse. Increasing awareness of the latter circumstance is
      crucial in the context of DBS because it could illuminate a link between
      competencies and the emergence of personality-related changes, such as new-onset
      impulse control disorders that have relevance for patients and their relatives.
      Finally, we elaborate on the field of application of instruments that are able to
      measure personality-related changes. 

PMID- 27618111
TI  - Protandim Protects Oligodendrocytes against an Oxidative Insult.
AB  - Oligodendrocyte damage and loss are key features of multiple sclerosis (MS)
      pathology. Oligodendrocytes appear to be particularly vulnerable to reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) and cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF),
      which induce cell death and prevent the differentiation of oligodendrocyte
      progenitor cells (OPCs). Here, we investigated the efficacy of sulforaphane
      (SFN), monomethyl fumarate (MMF) and Protandim to induce Nrf2-regulated
      antioxidant enzyme expression, and protect oligodendrocytes against ROS-induced
      cell death and ROS-and TNF-mediated inhibition of OPC differentiation. OLN-93
      cells and primary rat oligodendrocytes were treated with SFN, MMF or Protandim
      resulting in significant induction of Nrf2-driven (antioxidant) proteins heme
      oygenase-1, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH): quinone
      oxidoreductase-1 and p62/SQSTM1, as analysed by Western blotting. After
      incubation with the compounds, oligodendrocytes were exposed to hydrogen
      peroxide. Protandim most potently promoted oligodendrocyte cell survival as
      measured by live/death viability assay. Moreover, OPCs were treated with
      Protandim or vehicle control prior to exposing them to TNF or hydrogen peroxide
      for five days, which inhibited OPC differentiation. Protandim significantly
      promoted OPC differentiation under influence of ROS, but not TNF. Protandim, a
      combination of five herbal ingredients, potently induces antioxidants in
      oligodendrocytes and is able to protect oligodendrocytes against oxidative stress
      by preventing ROS-induced cell death and promoting OPC differentiation. 

PMID- 27618113
TI  - Protein-Based Graphene Biosensors: Optimizing Artificial Chemoreception in
      Bilayer Lipid Membranes.
AB  - Proteinaceous moieties are critical elements in most detection systems, including
      biosensing platforms. Their potential is undoubtedly vast, yet many issues
      regarding their full exploitation remain unsolved. On the other hand, the
      biosensor formats with the higher marketability probabilities are enzyme in
      nature and electrochemical in concept. To no surprise, alternative materials for
      hosting catalysis within an electrode casing have received much attention lately
      to demonstrate a catalysis-coated device. Graphene and ZnO are presented as ideal
      materials to modify electrodes and biosensor platforms, especially in protein
      based detection. Our group developed electrochemical sensors based on these
      nanomaterials for the sensitive detection of cholesterol using cholesterol
      oxidase incorporated in stabilized lipid films. A comparison between the two
      platforms is provided and discussed. In a broader sense, the not-so-remote
      prospect of quickly assembling a protein-based flexible biosensing detector to
      fulfill site-specific requirements is appealing to both university researchers
      and industry developers. 

PMID- 27618114
TI  - Plasma Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Concentration and Alveolar Nitric Oxide
      as Potential Predictors of Disease Progression and Mortality in Idiopathic
      Pulmonary Fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Declining lung function signifies disease progression in idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration
      is associated with declining lung function in 6 and 12-month studies. Alveolar
      nitric oxide concentration (CANO) is increased in patients with IPF, however its
      significance is unclear. This study investigated whether baseline plasma VEGF
      concentration and CANO are associated with disease progression or mortality in
      IPF. METHODS: 27 IPF patients were studied (maximum follow-up 65 months).
      Baseline plasma VEGF concentration, CANO and pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were
      measured. PFTs were performed the preceding year and subsequent PFTs and data
      regarding mortality were collected. Disease progression was defined as one of:
      death, relative decrease of >=10% in baseline forced vital capacity (FVC) %
      predicted, or relative decrease of >=15% in baseline single breath diffusion
      capacity of carbon monoxide (TLCO-SB) % predicted. RESULTS: Plasma VEGF
      concentration was not associated with progression-free survival or mortality.
      There was a trend towards shorter time to disease progression and death with
      higher CANO. CANO was significantly higher in patients with previous declining
      versus stable lung function. CONCLUSION: The role of VEGF in IPF remains
      uncertain. It may be of value to further investigate CANO in IPF.

PMID- 27618115
TI  - Adherence to Glaucoma Medications Over 12 Months in Two US Community Pharmacy
      Chains.
AB  - This study determined the degree of adherence to medications for glaucoma among
      patients refilling prescriptions in community pharmacies. METHODS: Data
      abstracted from the dispensing records for 3615 adult patients (18 years or
      older, predominantly over 45) receiving glaucoma medications from two retail
      pharmacy chains (64 stores in total) were analyzed. From a 24-month historic data
      capture period, the 12-month levels of adherence were determined using standard
      metrics, the proportion of days covered (PDC) and the medication possession ratio
      (MPR). The overall 12-month mean PDC was only 57%, and the mean MPR was 71%.
      Using a criterion by which 80% coverage was considered satisfactory adherence,
      only 30% had satisfactory overall 12-month PDC coverage, and only 37% had
      satisfactory overall 12-month MPR coverage. Refill adherence increased with age
      and was highest in the 65-and-older age group (p < 0.001). Differential adherence
      was found across medication classes, with the highest satisfactory coverage seen
      for those taking alpha2-adrenergic agonists (PDC = 36.0%; MPR = 47.6%) down to
      those taking direct cholinergic agonists (PDC = 25.0%; MPR = 31.2%) and
      combination products (PDC = 22.7%; MPR = 31.0%). Adherence to glaucoma
      medications in the community setting, as measured by pharmacy refill data, is
      very poor and represents a critical target for intervention. Community
      pharmacists are well positioned to monitor and reinforce adherence in this
      population.

PMID- 27618112
TI  - Neutrophils and Granulocytic MDSC: The Janus God of Cancer Immunotherapy.
AB  - Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating blood cell type in humans, and are
      the first white blood cells recruited at the inflammation site where they
      orchestrate the initial immune response. Although their presence at the tumor
      site was recognized in the 1970s, until recently these cells have been neglected
      and considered to play just a neutral role in tumor progression. Indeed, in
      recent years neutrophils have been recognized to play a dual role in tumor
      development by either assisting the growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and
      metastasis or by exerting tumoricidal action directly via the secretion of
      antitumoral compounds, or indirectly via the orchestration of antitumor immunity.
      Understanding the biology of these cells and influencing their polarization in
      the tumor micro- and macro-environment may be the key for the development of new
      therapeutic strategies, which may finally hold the promise of an effective
      immunotherapy for cancer. 

PMID- 27618116
TI  - Individual Differences in the Post-Illumination Pupil Response to Blue Light:
      Assessment without Mydriatics.
AB  - Melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells play an important role in the non
      image forming effects of light, through their direct projections on brain
      circuits involved in circadian rhythms, mood and alertness. Individual
      differences in the functionality of the melanopsin-signaling circuitry can be
      reliably quantified using the maximum post-illumination pupil response (PIPR)
      after blue light. Previous protocols for acquiring PIPR relied on the use of
      mydriatics to dilate the light-exposed eye. However, pharmacological pupil
      dilation is uncomfortable for the participants and requires ophthalmological
      expertise. Hence, we here investigated whether an individual's maximum PIPR can
      be validly obtained in a protocol that does not use mydriatics but rather
      increases the intensity of the light stimulus. In 18 participants (5 males, mean
      age +/- SD: 34.6 +/- 13.6 years) we evaluated the PIPR after exposure to
      intensified blue light (550 uW/cm2) provided to an undilated dynamic pupil. The
      test-retest reliability of the primary PIPR outcome parameter was very high, both
      between day-to-day assessments (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) = 0.85),
      as well as between winter and summer assessments (ICC = 0.83). Compared to the
      PIPR obtained with the use of mydriatics and 160 uW/cm2 blue light exposure, the
      method with intensified light without mydriatics showed almost zero bias
      according to Bland-Altman plots and had moderate to strong reliability (ICC =
      0.67). In conclusion, for PIPR assessments, increasing the light intensity is a
      feasible and reliable alternative to pupil dilation to relieve the participant's
      burden and to allow for performance outside the ophthalmological clinic. 

PMID- 27618118
TI  - Structural Properties of Cruciferin and Napin of Brassica napus (Canola) Show
      Distinct Responses to Changes in pH and Temperature.
AB  - The two major storage proteins identified in Brassica napus (canola) were
      isolated and studied for their molecular composition, structural characteristics
      and the responses of structural features to the changes in pH and temperature.
      Cruciferin, a complex of six monomers, has a predominantly beta-sheet-containing
      secondary structure. This protein showed low pH unstable tertiary structure, and
      distinctly different solubility behaviour with pH when intact in the seed
      cellular matrix. Cruciferin structure unfolds at pH 3 even at ambient
      temperature. Temperature-induced structure unfolding was observed above the
      maximum denaturation temperature of cruciferin. Napin was soluble in a wider pH
      range than cruciferin and has alpha-helices dominating secondary structure.
      Structural features of napin showed less sensitivity to the changes in medium pH
      and temperature. The surface hydrophobicity (S0) and intrinsic fluorescence of
      tryptophan residue appear to be good indicators of cruciferin unfolding, however
      they were not the best to demonstrate structural changes of napin. These two
      storage proteins of B. napus have distinct molecular characteristics, therefore
      properties and functionalities they provide are contrasting rather than
      complementary. 

PMID- 27618117
TI  - Inhibition of Bacterial RNase P RNA by Phenothiazine Derivatives.
AB  - There is a need to identify novel scaffolds and targets to develop new
      antibiotics. Methylene blue is a phenothiazine derivative, and it has been shown
      to possess anti-malarial and anti-trypanosomal activities. Here, we show that
      different phenothiazine derivatives and pyronine G inhibited the activities of
      three structurally different bacterial RNase P RNAs (RPRs), including that from
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with Ki values in the lower MUM range. Interestingly,
      three antipsychotic phenothiazines (chlorpromazine, thioridazine, and
      trifluoperazine), which are known to have antibacterial activities, also
      inhibited the activity of bacterial RPRs, albeit with higher Ki values than
      methylene blue. Phenothiazines also affected lead(II)-induced cleavage of
      bacterial RPR and inhibited yeast tRNA(Phe), indicating binding of these drugs to
      functionally important regions. Collectively, our findings provide the first
      experimental data showing that long, noncoding RNAs could be targeted by
      different phenothiazine derivatives.

PMID- 27618119
TI  - Interaction Effect between Elevated CO2 and Fertilization on Biomass, Gas
      Exchange and C/N Ratio of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).
AB  - The effects of elevated CO2 and interaction effects between elevated CO2 and
      nutrient supplies on growth and the C/N ratio of European beech (Fagus sylvatica
      L.) saplings were studied. One-year-old beech saplings were grown in a greenhouse
      at ambient (385 ppm) and elevated CO2 (770 ppm/950 ppm), with or without
      fertilization for two growing seasons. In this study, emphasis is placed on the
      combined fertilization including phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen with two
      level of elevated CO2. The fertilized plants grown under elevated CO2 had the
      highest net leaf photosynthesis rate (Ac). The saplings grown under elevated CO2
      had a significantly lower stomatal conductance (gs) than saplings grown under
      ambient air. No interaction effect was found between elevated CO2 and
      fertilization on Ac. A interaction effect between CO2 and fertilization, as well
      as between date and fertilization and between date and CO2 was detected on gs.
      Leaf chlorophyll content index (CCI) and leaf nitrogen content were strongly
      positively correlated to each other and both of them decreased under elevated
      CO2. At the end of both growing seasons, stem dry weight was greater under
      elevated CO2 and root dry weight was not affected by different treatments. No
      interaction effect was detected between elevated CO2 and nutrient supplies on the
      dry weight of different plant tissues (stems and roots). However, elevated CO2
      caused a significant decrease in the nitrogen content of plant tissues. Nitrogen
      reduction in the leaves under elevated CO2 was about 10% and distinctly higher
      than in the stem and root. The interaction effect of elevated CO2 and
      fertilization on C/N ratio in plants tissues was significant. The results led to
      the conclusion that photosynthesis and the C/N ratio increased while stomatal
      conductance and leaf nitrogen content decreased under elevated CO2 and nutrient
      limited conditions. In general, under nutrient-limited conditions, the plant
      responses to elevated CO2 were decreased. 

PMID- 27618120
TI  - Early Workplace Intervention to Improve the Work Ability of Employees with
      Musculoskeletal Disorders in a German University Hospital-Results of a Pilot
      Study.
AB  - Health promotion is becoming increasingly important in work life. Healthcare
      workers seem to be at special risk, experiencing musculoskeletal disorders (MSD);
      their situation is strongly influenced by demographic changes. The aim of this
      study is to evaluate the feasibility and outcome of a worksite intervention. In a
      one-group pretest-posttest design, 118 employees of a hospital were recruited
      from 2010 to 2011. The raised parameters were satisfaction with the program, work
      ability (Work Ability Index), and sickness absence (provided by human resource
      management). Patient-reported questionnaire data was raised at baseline (t1) and
      after three months (t2). Sickness leave was evaluated in the period six months
      prior to and six months after the intervention. Means, frequencies, standardized
      effect sizes (SES), analysis of variance, and regression analysis were carried
      out. Participants were found to be highly satisfied. Work ability increased with
      moderate effects (SES = 0.34; p < 0.001) and prognosis of gainful employment (SES
      = -0.19; p <= 0.047) with small effects. Days of MSD-related sickness absence
      were reduced by 38.5% after six months. The worksite intervention program is
      transferable to a hospital setting and integration in occupational health
      management is recommended. The use of a control group is necessary to demonstrate
      the effectiveness. 

PMID- 27618121
TI  - Justice and Equity Implications of Climate Change Adaptation: A Theoretical
      Evaluation Framework.
AB  - Climate change affects human health, and climate change adaptation aims to reduce
      these risks through infrastructural, behavioral, and technological measures.
      However, attributing direct human health effects to climate change adaptation is
      difficult, causing an ethical dilemma between the need for evidence of strategies
      and their precautionary implementation before such evidence has been generated.
      In the absence of conclusive evidence for individual adaptation strategies,
      alternative approaches to the measurement of adaptation effectiveness need to be
      developed. This article proposes a theoretical framework and a set of guiding
      questions to assess effects of adaptation strategies on seven domains of health
      determinants, including social, economic, infrastructure, institutional,
      community, environmental, and cultural determinants of health. Its focus on
      advancing gender equity and environmental justice concurrently with the
      implementation of health-related adaptation could serve as a template for
      policymakers and researchers. 

PMID- 27618122
TI  - Review of Positive Psychology Applications in Clinical Medical Populations.
AB  - This review examines the application of positive psychology concepts in physical
      health care contexts. Positive psychology aims to promote well-being in the
      general population. Studies identifying character strengths associated with well
      being in healthy populations are numerous. Such strengths have been classified
      and Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) have been created to further develop
      these strengths in individuals. Positive psychology research is increasingly
      being undertaken in health care contexts. The review identified that most of this
      research involves measuring character strengths and their association with health
      outcomes in patients with a range of different conditions, similar to the
      position in positive psychology research on non-clinical populations. More
      recently, PPIs are beginning to be applied to clinical populations with physical
      health problems and this research, although relatively scarce, is reviewed here
      for cancer, coronary heart disease, and diabetes. In common with PPIs being
      evaluated in the general population, high quality studies are scarce. Applying
      PPIs to patients with serious health conditions presents significant challenges
      to health psychologists. They must ensure that patients are dealt with
      appropriately and ethically, given that exaggerated claims for PPIs are made on
      the internet quite frequently. This is discussed along with the need for more
      high quality research. 

PMID- 27618124
TI  - Phosphine-Triggered Selectivity Switch in Silver-Catalyzed o
      Alkynylbenzohydroxamic Acid Cycloisomerizations.
AB  - A silver-catalyzed cycloisomerization reaction of a series of o
      alkynylbenzohydroxamic acids is reported. Several 5-exo-dig and 6-endo-dig modes
      of cyclization were observed with the nitrogen or oxygen atoms of the amide group
      acting as nucleophiles. The selectivity was strongly dependent on the silver salt
      used and on the presence of triphenylphosphine as an additive. Indeed, while the
      use of Ag2O at room temperature allowed the isolation of isobenzofuran-1-one
      oximes (7 compounds, 48-92% yield), [Ag(Im)]n with the concomitant addition of 2
      equiv of PPh3 led to a switch in selectivity and to a family of isoindolin-1-ones
      (10 compounds, 59-87%).

PMID- 27618126
TI  - A new method of measuring shoulder hand behind back movement: Reliability, values
      in symptomatic and asymptomatic people, effect of hand dominance, and side-to
      side variability.
AB  - Shoulder hand behind back (HBB) range of motion (ROM) is a useful measure of
      impairment and treatment outcome. The purpose of this repeated measures study was
      to identify inter- and intra-rater reliability, of a new simplified method of
      measuring HBB ROM. Two experienced raters measured HBB ROM with a bubble
      inclinometer on 25 people (aged 42-75 years, 14 female) with unilateral shoulder
      dysfunction and 25 age- and gender-matched asymptomatic subjects on two different
      occasions. Statistical analysis included calculation of intra-class correlation
      coefficients (ICCs), minimal detectable change (MDC), standard error of
      measurement (SEM), Pearson correlation coefficient (r), coefficient of
      determination (R(2)), and the lower bound score. Mean HBB ROM was 108.6 degrees 
      (SD = 16.3) and 23.9 degrees  (SD = 10.5) on the pain-free and symptomatic side,
      respectively. Both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were high (ICC >
      0.80). For asymptomatic people the SEM was at most 3 degrees  and MDC was 8
      degrees  with a strong correlation between the dominant and nondominant sides (r
      > 0.72). The mean absolute values and lower bound scores were at most 10.2
      degrees  and 26.0 degrees , respectively. These results indicate that this new
      and novel method of measuring HBB ROM is accurate, has good inter- and intra
      rater reliability, and provides normal values for between-limb ROM variability. 

PMID- 27618123
TI  - Revisiting the Corticomotor Plasticity in Low Back Pain: Challenges and
      Perspectives.
AB  - Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a recurrent debilitating condition that costs
      billions to society. Refractoriness to conventional treatment, lack of
      improvement, and associated movement disorders could be related to the extensive
      brain plasticity present in this condition, especially in the sensorimotor
      cortices. This narrative review on corticomotor plasticity in CLBP will try to
      delineate how interventions such as training and neuromodulation can improve the
      condition. The review recommends subgrouping classification in CLBP owing to
      brain plasticity markers with a view of better understanding and treating this
      complex condition. 

PMID- 27618127
TI  - Stereoselective Domino Carbocyclizations of gamma- and delta-Cyano-N
      tosylhydrazones with Alkenylboronic Acids with Formation of Two Different
      C(sp(3))-C(sp(2)) Bonds on a Quaternary Stereocenter.
AB  - A novel strategy for the synthesis of functionalized carbocycles is defined,
      through the cascade carbocyclization of alkenylboronic acids with delta- or gamma
      cyano-N-tosylhydrazones. In the reaction, two C(sp(3))-C(sp(2)) bonds are formed
      on the former hydrazonic carbon generating an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter,
      and leading to cyclic ketones featuring an alkenyl side chain with complete
      diastereoselectivity. The processes are conducted under very simple experimental
      conditions, only in the presence of K2CO3, in 1,4-dioxane as solvent and under
      microwave irradiation, and have been applied for the synthesis of a wide
      structural variety of fused cyclopentanones and cyclohexanones. Moreover, the
      versatility of this methodology has been demonstrated in the structural
      modification of androsterone.

PMID- 27618125
TI  - Altered membrane properties and firing patterns of external globus pallidus
      neurons in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease.
AB  - In mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD), striatal neuron properties are
      significantly altered. These alterations predict changes in striatal output
      regions. However, little is known about alterations in those regions. The present
      study examines changes in passive and active membrane properties of neurons in
      the external globus pallidus (GPe), the first relay station of the indirect
      pathway, in the R6/2 mouse model of juvenile HD at presymptomatic (1 month) and
      symptomatic (2 month) stages. In GPe, two principal types of neurons can be
      distinguished based on firing properties and the presence (type A) or absence
      (type B) of Ih currents. In symptomatic animals (2 month), cell membrane
      capacitance and input resistance of type A neurons were increased compared with
      controls. In addition, action potential afterhyperpolarization amplitude was
      reduced. Although the spontaneous firing rate of GPe neurons was not different
      between control and R6/2 mice, the number of spikes evoked by depolarizing
      current pulses was significantly reduced in symptomatic R6/2 animals. In
      addition, these changes were accompanied by altered firing patterns evidenced by
      increased interspike interval variation and increased number of bursts. Blockade
      of GABAA receptors facilitated bursting activity in R6/2 mice but not in control
      littermates. Thus, alterations in firing patterns could be caused by changes in
      intrinsic membrane conductances and modulated by synaptic inputs. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618128
TI  - Pharmaceuticals Licensing and Reimbursement in the European Union, United States,
      and Japan.
AB  - This article describes recent developments in licensing and reimbursement
      policies in the EU, US, and Japan, examines causes of changes and compares
      differences and projects trends. With respect to licensing, the European
      Medicines Agency (EMA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Japan's
      Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) are committed to rigorous
      evaluation of pharmaceuticals in advance of market access with feedback from
      postmarket experience. The EMA is exploring integrated adaptive pathways for
      licensing, with formal pilot tests to provide a practical proof of concept. The
      FDA is augmenting traditional licensing procedures through reforms including
      Breakthrough Product Designation. The PMDA is implementing reforms to foster
      innovation and earlier patient access through its Sakigake strategy and licensing
      reforms on regenerative medicines. With respect to reimbursement, several
      generalizations emerge. Relative to US counterparts, EU payers typically set
      higher standards for evidence of effectiveness as a condition of reimbursement,
      impose tougher limits on reimbursement by indication, and drive harder deals in
      negotiations over prices.

PMID- 27618129
TI  - Mixtures, Metabolites, and Mechanisms: Understanding Toxicology Using Zebrafish.
AB  - For more than 60 years, zebrafish have been used in toxicological studies. Due to
      their transparency, genetic tractability, and compatibility with high-throughput
      screens, zebrafish embryos are uniquely suited to study the effects of
      pharmaceuticals and environmental insults on embryonic development, organ
      formation and function, and reproductive success. This special issue of Zebrafish
      highlights the ways zebrafish are used to investigate the toxic effects of
      endocrine disruptors, pesticides, and heavy metals.

PMID- 27618130
TI  - Histological and Transcriptomic Changes in Male Zebrafish Testes Due to Early
      Life Exposure to Low Level 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin.
AB  - We have shown that zebrafish (Danio rerio) are an excellent model for evaluating
      the link between early life stage exposure to environmental chemicals and disease
      in adulthood and subsequent unexposed generations. Previously, we used this model
      to identify transgenerational effects of dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p
      dioxin [TCDD]) on skeletal development, sex ratio, and reproductive capacity.
      Transgenerational inheritance of TCDD toxicity, notably decreased reproductive
      capacity, appears to be mediated through the male germ line. Thus, we examine
      testicular tissue for structural and gene expression changes using histology,
      microarray, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT
      PCR). Histological analysis revealed decreased spermatozoa with concurrent
      increase in spermatogonia, and decreased germinal epithelium thickness in TCDD
      exposed males compared with controls. We also identified altered expression of
      genes associated with testis development, steroidogenesis, spermatogenesis,
      hormone metabolism, and xenobiotic response. Altered genes are in pathways
      involving lipid metabolism, molecular transport, small molecule biochemistry,
      cell morphology, and metabolism of vitamins and minerals. These data will inform
      future investigations to elucidate the mechanism of adult-onset and
      transgenerational infertility due to TCDD exposure in zebrafish.

PMID- 27618133
TI  - Odd-parity currents induced by dynamic deformations in graphene-like systems.
AB  - Reduced (3  +  1)-dimensional Dirac systems with inter-pseudo-spin and inter
      valley scattering are employed to investigate current responses to (chiral) gauge
      fields in graphene-like systems. From (chiral) current-(chiral) current
      correlation functions, we derive the current responses. Except for electric
      currents induced by external gauge fields, we find the inter-valley scattering
      can break the topological nature of odd-parity currents. Given the proper
      conditions, this property can help us realize valley-polarized electric currents.
      Through the dynamic deformations generating the chiral gauge fields, we find the
      vortex-like currents while their profiles can be tuned by superposition of some
      deformations. In particular, we find a more manageable approach to realize the
      topological electric current by choosing a linear dynamic deformation.

PMID- 27618134
TI  - Is negative multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging really able to exclude
      significant prostate cancer? The real-life experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the histopathological results after radical prostatectomy
      (RP) in patients that had normal preoperative multiparametric magnetic resonance
      imaging (mpMRI), in order to determine whether they had significant or
      insignificant disease. Moreover, we evaluated the influence of the expertise of
      the radiologist on the results. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively included
      patients who underwent RP in our centre and who had a preoperative negative
      mpMRI. The MRIs were considered negative when no suspicious lesion was seen or
      when the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 1 score was <7. We
      used Pathological tumour-node-metastasis staging and Gleason score on pathology
      reports, and whole-mount sections to calculate tumour volume. RESULTS: We
      identified 101 patients from 2009 to 2015. Final pathology showed that 16.9% had
      extraprostatic extension, 13.8% had primary Gleason pattern 4 (4 + 3 and above),
      47.5% had secondary Gleason pattern 4 or 5, and 55.9% and 20.6% had a main tumour
      volume of >=0.5 and >=2 mL, respectively. When limiting the analysis to expert
      reading only, the numbers improved: only one patient (3.4%) had extraprostatic
      extension (P < 0.05), one patient (3.4%) had primary Gleason pattern 4 (P =
      0.05), and 64.7% and 5.9% had a main tumour volume of >=0.5 and >=2 mL,
      respectively (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: A negative MRI does not guarantee the
      absence of significant prostate cancer.

PMID- 27618135
TI  - Novel mutation in TCAP manifesting with asymmetric calves and early-onset joint
      retractions.
AB  - A 29-year-old man, born from consanguineous parents, started with toe walking and
      frequent falls during his second year of life. He developed weakness in lower
      limbs during the first decade that subsequently extended to upper limbs. On
      examination, the patient had weakness in proximal muscles of all four limbs and
      in the tibialis anterior muscle. In addition, he had bilateral Achilles and
      patellar contractures, bilateral scapular winging, asymmetric calves and a
      positive Beevor sign, an upward movement of the umbilicus on contraction of
      rectus femoris due to weakness in the lower part. The muscle biopsy showed
      dystrophic changes and lobulated fibers. Genetic analysis through a next
      generation sequencing panel of genes related to neuromuscular disorders revealed
      a novel homozygous nonsense mutation (p.Tyr85*) in the TCAP gene. Subsequent
      western blot assay showed a complete telethonin deficiency. Our observation
      expands the phenotypic spectrum of TCAP mutations and indicates that telethonin
      deficiency should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients
      presenting with asymmetric calves and early joint retractions.

PMID- 27618136
TI  - Mitochondrial dysfunction in myofibrillar myopathy.
AB  - Myofibrillar myopathies (MFM) are characterised by focal myofibrillar destruction
      and accumulation of myofibrillar elements as protein aggregates. They are caused
      by mutations in the DES, MYOT, CRYAB, FLNC, BAG3, DNAJB6 and ZASP genes as well
      as other as yet unidentified genes. Previous studies have reported changes in
      mitochondrial morphology and cellular positioning, as well as clonally-expanded,
      large-scale mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions and focal respiratory chain
      deficiency in muscle of MFM patients. Here we examine skeletal muscle from
      patients with desmin (n = 6), ZASP (n = 1) and myotilin (n = 2) mutations and MFM
      protein aggregates, to understand how mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to
      the underlying mechanisms causing disease pathology. We have used a validated
      quantitative immunofluorescent assay to study respiratory chain protein levels,
      together with oxidative enzyme histochemistry and single cell mitochondrial DNA
      analysis, to examine mitochondrial changes. Results demonstrate a small number of
      clonally-expanded mitochondrial DNA deletions, which we conclude are due to both
      ageing and disease pathology. Further to this we report higher levels of
      respiratory chain complex I and IV deficiency compared to age matched controls,
      although overall levels of respiratory deficient muscle fibres in patient
      biopsies are low. More strikingly, a significantly higher percentage of
      myofibrillar myopathy patient muscle fibres have a low mitochondrial mass
      compared to controls. We concluded this is mechanistically unrelated to desmin
      and myotilin protein aggregates; however, correlation between mitochondrial mass
      and muscle fibre area is found. We suggest this may be due to reduced
      mitochondrial biogenesis in combination with muscle fibre hypertrophy.

PMID- 27618137
TI  - Clinical features of the pathogenic m.5540G>A mitochondrial transfer RNA
      tryptophan gene mutation.
AB  - Mitochondrial DNA disease is one of the most common groups of inherited
      neuromuscular disorders and frequently associated with marked phenotypic and
      genotypic heterogeneity. We describe an adult patient who initially presented
      with childhood-onset ataxia without a family history and an unremarkable
      diagnostic muscle biopsy. Subsequent multi-system manifestations included basal
      ganglia calcification, proteinuria, cataract and retinitis pigmentosa, prompting
      a repeat muscle biopsy that showed features consistent with mitochondrial
      myopathy 13 years later. She had a stroke with restricted diffusion change in the
      basal ganglia and internal capsule at age 44 years. Molecular genetic testing
      identified a previously-reported pathogenic, heteroplasmic mutation in the
      mitochondrial-encoded transfer RNA tryptophan (MT-TW) gene which based on family
      studies was likely to have arisen de novo in our patient. Interestingly, we
      documented an increase in the mutant mtDNA heteroplasmy level in her second
      biopsy (72% compared to 56%), reflecting the progression of clinical disease.

PMID- 27618139
TI  - Significant Decrease in Plasma Levels of D-Dimer, Interleukin-8, and Interleukin
      12 After a 12-Month Treatment with Rosuvastatin in HIV-Infected Patients Under
      Antiretroviral Therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Statins have shown anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory properties
      in both general and HIV-infected population, but their effect on plasma D-dimer
      levels is controversial and it has not been investigated to date in HIV-positive
      patients. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of rosuvastatin on D
      dimer and other serum inflammation markers among these subjects. METHODS:
      Prospective, cohort study of HIV-1-infected adult patients receiving a stable
      combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), who started a lipid-lowering therapy
      with rosuvastatin (10 mg daily) and were followed up for at least 12 months. The
      primary endpoint was the change at month 12 in the median plasma concentration of
      D-dimer. The secondary endpoints included the variation in median plasma levels
      of these inflammatory biomarkers: interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-10 (IL-10),
      and interleukin-12 (IL-12). RESULTS: Sixty-two patients were enrolled in the
      study, and the endpoints were available for 54 subjects. After 12 months, a
      significant decrease in median plasma concentration of D-dimer was observed (
      21.4%; interquartile range [IQR], -35.5; -4.2; p = .029). With regard to the
      inflammatory biomarkers, a significant decrease in median levels of IL-8 (-24.6%;
      IQR, -30.8; -1.8; p = .012) and IL-12 (-18.7%; IQR, -25.8; +2.5; p = .033) was
      also observed. Rosuvastatin led to a significant reduction in serum lipid values
      and showed a good tolerability profile. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that a 12
      month treatment with rosuvastatin associated with an effective cART can
      significantly decrease the plasma levels of D-dimer, IL-8, and IL-12, and suggest
      a potential role for this statin to reduce activated coagulation and systemic
      inflammation among HIV-infected persons.

PMID- 27618140
TI  - Acute Optogenetic Modulation of Cardiac Twitch Dynamics Explored Through
      Modeling.
AB  - Optogenetic approaches allow cellular membrane potentials to be perturbed by
      light. When applied to muscle cells, mechanical events can be controlled through
      a process that could be termed "optomechanics." Besides functioning as an optical
      on/off switch, we hypothesized that optomechanical control could include the
      ability to manipulate the strength and duration of contraction events. To explore
      this possibility, we constructed an electromechanical model of the human
      ventricular cardiomyocyte while adding a representation of channelrhodopsin-2
      (ChR2), a light-activated channel commonly used in optogenetics. Two hybrid
      stimulus protocols were developed that combined light-based stimuli with
      traditional electrical current (all-or-none) excitation. The first protocol
      involved delivery of a subthreshold optical stimulus followed 50-90 ms later by
      an electrical stimulus. The result was a graded inhibition of peak cellular
      twitch force in concert with a prolongation of the intracellular Ca2+ transient.
      The second protocol was comprised of an electrical stimulus followed by a long
      light pulse (250-350 ms) that acted to prolong the cardiac action potential (AP).
      This created a pulse duration-dependent prolongation of the intracellular Ca2+
      transient that in turn altered the rate of muscle relaxation without changing
      peak twitch force. These results illustrate the feasibility of acute,
      optomechanical manipulation of cardiomyocyte contraction and suggest that this
      approach could be used to probe the dynamic behavior of the cardiac sarcomere
      without altering its intrinsic properties. Other experimentally meaningful
      stimulus protocols could be designed by making use of the optomechanical
      cardiomyocyte model presented here.

PMID- 27618141
TI  - Rule induction performance in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's
      dementia: examining the role of simple and biconditional rule learning processes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rule induction tests such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
      require executive control processes, but also the learning and memorization of
      simple stimulus-response rules. In this study, we examined the contribution of
      diminished learning and memorization of simple rules to complex rule induction
      test performance in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or
      Alzheimer's dementia (AD). METHOD: Twenty-six aMCI patients, 39 AD patients, and
      32 control participants were included. A task was used in which the memory load
      and the complexity of the rules were independently manipulated. This task
      consisted of three conditions: a simple two-rule learning condition (Condition
      1), a simple four-rule learning condition (inducing an increase in memory load,
      Condition 2), and a complex biconditional four-rule learning condition-inducing
      an increase in complexity and, hence, executive control load (Condition 3).
      RESULTS: Performance of AD patients declined disproportionately when the number
      of simple rules that had to be memorized increased (from Condition 1 to 2). An
      additional increment in complexity (from Condition 2 to 3) did not, however,
      disproportionately affect performance of the patients. Performance of the aMCI
      patients did not differ from that of the control participants. In the patient
      group, correlation analysis showed that memory performance correlated with
      Condition 1 performance, whereas executive task performance correlated with
      Condition 2 performance. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the reduced
      learning and memorization of underlying task rules explains a significant part of
      the diminished complex rule induction performance commonly reported in AD,
      although results from the correlation analysis suggest involvement of executive
      control functions as well. Taken together, these findings suggest that care is
      needed when interpreting rule induction task performance in terms of executive
      function deficits in these patients.

PMID- 27618143
TI  - Trichloroethylene-Induced DNA Methylation Changes in Male F344 Rat Liver.
AB  - Trichloroethylene (TCE), a common environmental contaminant, causes
      hepatocellular carcinoma in mice but not in rats. To understand the mechanisms of
      the species-specific hepatocarcinogenecity of TCE, we examined the methylation
      status of DNA in the liver of rats exposed to TCE at 0 or 1000 mg/kg b.w. for 5
      days using MeDIP-chip, bisulfite sequencing, COBRA, and LC-MS/MS. The related
      mRNA expression levels were measured by qPCR. Although no global DNA methylation
      change was detected, 806 genes were hypermethylated and 186 genes were
      hypomethylated. The genes with hypermethylated DNA were enriched in endocytosis,
      MAPK, and cAMP signaling pathways. We further confirmed the hypermethylation of
      Uhrf2 DNA and the hypomethylation of Hadhb DNA, which were negatively correlated
      with their mRNA expression levels. The transcriptional levels of Jun, Ihh, and
      Tet2 were significantly downregulated, whereas Cdkn1a was overexpressed. No mRNA
      expression change was found for Mki67, Myc, Uhrf1, and Dnmt1. In conclusion, TCE
      induced DNA methylation changes in rats appear to suppress instead of promote
      hepatocarcinogenesis, which might play a role in the species-specific
      hepatocarcinogenecity of TCE.

PMID- 27618142
TI  - Equity and practice issues in colorectal cancer screening: Mixed-methods study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate overall colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates,
      patterns in the use of types of CRC screening, and sociodemographic
      characteristics associated with CRC screening; and to gain insight into
      physicians' perceptions about and use of fecal occult blood testing [FOBT] and
      colonoscopy for patients at average risk of CRC. DESIGN: Mixed-methods study
      using cross-sectional administrative data on patient sociodemographic
      characteristics and semistructured telephone interviews with physicians. SETTING:
      Toronto, Ont. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 50 to 74 years and physicians in family
      health teams in the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of CRC screening by type; sociodemographic
      characteristics associated with CRC screening; thematic analysis using constant
      comparative method for semistructured interviews. MAIN FINDINGS: Ontario
      administrative data on CRC screening showed lower overall screening rates among
      those who were younger, male patients, those who had lower income, and recent
      immigrants. Colonoscopy rates were especially low among those with lower income
      and those who were recent immigrants. Semistructured interviews revealed that
      physician opinions about CRC screening for average-risk patients were divided:
      one group of physicians accepted the evidence and recommendations for FOBT and
      the other group of physicians strongly supported colonoscopy for these patients,
      believing that the FOBT was an inferior screening method. Physicians identified
      specialist recommendations and patient expectations as factors that influenced
      their decisions regarding CRC screening type. CONCLUSION: There was considerable
      variation in CRC screening by sociodemographic characteristics. A key theme that
      emerged from the interviews was that physicians were divided in their preference
      for FOBT or colonoscopy; factors that influenced physician preference included
      the health care system, recommendations by other specialists, and patient
      characteristics. Providing an informed choice of screening method to patients
      might result in higher screening rates and fewer disparities. Changes in policy
      and physician attitudes might be needed in order for this to occur.

PMID- 27618144
TI  - Ponatinib Induces a Persistent Molecular Response and Graft-versus-Host
      Disease/Graft-versus-Leukemia Effect in a Patient with Philadelphia-Positive
      Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with a T315I Mutation following Early Relapse after
      Allogeneic Transplant.
AB  - We describe the case of a patient with a Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with dasatinib plus steroids as the first
      line therapy who achieved a molecular complete remission and then underwent a
      matched, unrelated donor allogeneic transplant. Five months after the transplant,
      he experienced a disease relapse with an T315I mutation, which was resistant to
      salvage chemotherapy. Once the details of the T315I mutation were acquired, we
      initiated ponatinib treatment at a standard dosage and observed a rapid decrease
      of minimal residual disease (MRD) at molecular assessment. The bone marrow
      evaluation after 2, 3, 6, 10 and 13 months was negative for MRD. After starting
      ponatinib, the patient experienced a skin graft-versus-host disease (GVHD),
      whereas no occurrence of GVHD was observed after transplant, suggesting that the
      efficacy of ponatinib could be related not only to the direct antileukemic
      effect, but also to its ability to promote an indirect graft-versus-leukemia
      effect. Ponatinib was well tolerated but a thyroid dysfunction mimicking a
      cardiovascular toxicity was observed and solved with hormonal substitutive
      treatment.

PMID- 27618145
TI  - Objective Measure of Nasal Air Emission Using Nasal Accelerometry.
AB  - Purpose: This article describes the development and initial validation of an
      objective measure of nasal air emission (NAE) using nasal accelerometry. Method:
      Nasal acceleration and nasal airflow signals were simultaneously recorded while
      an expert speech language pathologist modeled NAEs at a variety of severity
      levels. In addition, microphone and nasal accelerometer signals were collected
      during the production of /palphapalphapalphapalpha/ speech utterances by 25
      children with and without cleft palate. Fourteen inexperienced raters listened to
      the microphone signals from the pediatric speakers and rated the samples for the
      severity of NAE using direct magnitude estimation. Mean listener ratings were
      compared to a novel quantitative measurement of NAE derived from the nasal
      acceleration signals. Results: Correlation between the nasal acceleration energy
      measure and the measured nasal airflow was high (r = .87). Correlation between
      the measure and auditory-perceptual ratings was moderate (r = .49). Conclusion:
      The measure presented here is quantitative and noninvasive, and the required
      hardware is inexpensive ($150). Future studies will include speakers with a wider
      range of NAE severity and etiology, including cleft palate, hearing impairment,
      or dysarthria. Further development will also involve validation of the measure
      against airflow measures across subjects.

PMID- 27618146
TI  - Development, Evaluation, and Comparison of Land Use Regression Modeling Methods
      to Estimate Residential Exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide in a Cohort Study.
AB  - We used a network of 135 NO2 passive diffusion tube sites to develop land use
      regression (LUR) models in a UK conurbation. Network sites were divided into four
      groups (32-35 sites per group) and models developed using combinations of 1-3
      groups of "training" sites to evaluate how the number of training sites
      influenced model performance and residential NO2 exposure estimates for a cohort
      of 13 679 participants. All models explained moderate to high variance in
      training and independent "hold-out" data (Training adj. R2: 62-89%; Hold-out R2:
      44-85%). Average hold-out R2 increased by 9.5%, while average training adj. R2
      decreased by 7.2% when the number of training groups was increased from 1 to 3.
      Exposure estimate precision improved with increasing number of training sites
      (median intralocation relative standard deviations of 19.2, 10.3, and 7.7% for 1
      group, 2-group and 3-group models respectively). Independent 1-group models gave
      highly variable exposure estimates suggesting that variations in LUR sampling
      networks with relatively low numbers of sites (<=35) may substantially alter
      exposure estimates. Collectively, our analyses suggest that use of more than 60
      training sites has quantifiable benefits in epidemiological application of LUR
      models.

PMID- 27618149
TI  - Dietary Associations with a Breast Cancer Risk Biomarker Depend on Menopause
      Status.
AB  - We investigated how timing influences the role of diet in breast cancer risk with
      a cross-sectional study of pre-malignant change in breast tissue. Women with an
      elevated risk of developing breast cancer (33 premenopausal and 32
      postmenopausal) completed the National Cancer Institute's food frequency
      questionnaire and underwent random periareolar fine-needle aspiration for
      evaluation of cytologic atypia, an established risk biomarker. Fatty acid
      composition of breast adipose was measured in 32 (49%) subjects. We found that
      premenopausal and postmenopausal women had similar diets, but the associations
      between atypia and intake of total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and soy
      differed by menopause status (both P interaction < 0.001). Total n-3 PUFA intake
      was inversely associated with atypia among premenopausal women (P < 0.0001), but
      not among postmenopausal women (P = 0.91); associations were similar for soy (P =
      0.0003 and P = 0.48, respectively). This pattern of dietary interaction with
      menopause was mirrored in tissue fatty acids (P interaction < 0.05), wherein 1)
      higher levels of linolelaidic acid (an industrially-produced trans fat) and 2)
      lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid (the predominant long-chain n-3 PUFA) in
      breast adipose were associated with atypia in premenopausal (both P < 0.05) but
      not postmenopausal women (both P > 0.37). Dietary associations with breast cancer
      risk are stronger prior to menopause.

PMID- 27618147
TI  - Substrate specificity characterization for eight putative nudix hydrolases.
      Evaluation of criteria for substrate identification within the Nudix family.
AB  - The nearly 50,000 known Nudix proteins have a diverse array of functions, of
      which the most extensively studied is the catalyzed hydrolysis of aberrant
      nucleotide triphosphates. The functions of 171 Nudix proteins have been
      characterized to some degree, although physiological relevance of the assayed
      activities has not always been conclusively demonstrated. We investigated
      substrate specificity for eight structurally characterized Nudix proteins, whose
      functions were unknown. These proteins were screened for hydrolase activity
      against a 74-compound library of known Nudix enzyme substrates. We found
      substrates for four enzymes with kcat /Km values >10,000 M-1  s-1 : Q92EH0_LISIN
      of Listeria innocua serovar 6a against ADP-ribose, Q5LBB1_BACFN of Bacillus
      fragilis against 5-Me-CTP, and Q0TTC5_CLOP1 and Q0TS82_CLOP1 of Clostridium
      perfringens against 8-oxo-dATP and 3'-dGTP, respectively. To ascertain whether
      these identified substrates were physiologically relevant, we surveyed all
      reported Nudix hydrolytic activities against NTPs. Twenty-two Nudix enzymes are
      reported to have activity against canonical NTPs. With a single exception, we
      find that the reported kcat /Km values exhibited against these canonical
      substrates are well under 105 M-1  s-1 . By contrast, several Nudix enzymes show
      much larger kcat /Km values (in the range of 105 to >107 M-1  s-1 ) against
      noncanonical NTPs. We therefore conclude that hydrolytic activities exhibited by
      these enzymes against canonical NTPs are not likely their physiological function,
      but rather the result of unavoidable collateral damage occasioned by the enzymes'
      inability to distinguish completely between similar substrate structures.
      Proteins 2016; 84:1810-1822. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618148
TI  - Effects of Serum Triglycerides on Prostate Cancer and Breast Cancer Risk: A Meta
      Analysis of Prospective Studies.
AB  - Epidemiological studies show conflicting results regarding the link between serum
      triglyceride and the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer. Therefore, we
      performed a meta-analysis of prospective studies to clarify this association. We
      searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), and the China
      National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database to identify relevant
      prospective studies of the relationship between serum triglyceride and prostate
      cancer and breast cancer risk. Study-specific estimates adjusting for potential
      confounders were combined to evaluate a summary relative risks (RRs) and 95%
      confidence intervals (95% CIs) using a fixed- or random-effects model. A total of
      11 prospective studies (619,410 subjects and 15,691 incident prostate cancer
      patients) and 8 prospective studies (590,878 subjects and 12,177 incident breast
      cancer patients) were respectively included in our meta-analysis to assess the
      associations of serum triglyceride with prostate cancer and breast cancer risk.
      The pooled adjusted RR estimates for prostate cancer and breast cancer for the
      highest versus the lowest exposure levels of serum triglycerides were 0.95 (95%
      CI: 0.87-1.04) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.87-1.00), respectively. Additionally, a dose
      response analysis revealed that serum levels of triglycerides were not associated
      with the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer. We found that serum
      triglyceride was not related to the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer.

PMID- 27618151
TI  - Sporoderm-Broken Spores of Ganoderma lucidum Inhibit the Growth of Lung Cancer:
      Involvement of the Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway.
AB  - The sporoderm-broken spores of Ganoderma lucidum (SBGS) and their extracts
      exhibited a wide range of biological activities. In the present study, we prepare
      ethanol/ethanol extract (E/E-SBGS) and ethanol/aqueous extract (E/A-SBGS) from
      SBGS and examine their antitumor activities against human lung cancer. Our
      results showed that E/E-SBGS, not E/A-SBGS, inhibited the survival and migration
      of lung cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. E/E-SBGS arrested cell cycle at
      G2/M phase and triggered apoptosis by decreasing the expression and activity of
      cell cycle regulators, cyclin B1 and cdc2, as well as anti-apoptotic proteins,
      Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl. Consequently, colony formation of lung cancer cells was
      markedly blocked by E/E-SBGS at subtoxic concentrations. Oral administration of
      both E/E-SBGS and SBGS significantly suppressed tumor volume and tumor weight
      without gross toxicity in mice. Mechanism study showed that E/E-SBGS dose
      dependently suppressed the activation of Akt, the mammalian target of rapamycin
      (mTOR) and their downstream molecules S6 kinase and 4E-BP1 in treated tumor
      cells. Taken together, these results indicate that the ethanol extract of
      sporoderm-broken spores of G. lucidum suppresses the growth of human lung cancer,
      at least in part, through inhibition of the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway,
      suggesting its potential role in cancer treatments.

PMID- 27618150
TI  - A Phenolic Extract Obtained from Methyl Jasmonate-Treated Strawberries Enhances
      Apoptosis in a Human Cervical Cancer Cell Line.
AB  - In the present study, we evaluated the effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA)
      treatment on strawberry phenolic composition. Strawberry extracts contain a
      mixture of phenolic compounds possessing several biological properties. We
      demonstrated that these extracts were more effective in inducing apoptosis in
      HeLa cells compared to phenolic preparations derived from untreated strawberries.
      Treatment of strawberries with 0.5% MeJA resulted in increased polyphenols
      content (from 7.4 to 8.6 mM quercetin equivalents) and antioxidant properties
      (from 3.9 to 4.6 mM quercetin equivalents). The identification and quantification
      of phenolic compounds by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in the
      strawberry extracts showed that cyanidin glucoside, pelargonidin glucoside, and
      ellagic glucoside acid were significantly higher in strawberries treated with
      MeJA. Phenolic extracts from MeJA-treated strawberries significantly decreased
      the cell viability in HeLa cells, compared to extracts derived from untreated
      fruits. We hypothesized that the enhanced apoptotic activity of MeJA-treated
      strawberries was due to a synergistic or additive effect of different phenolic
      compounds present in the extract, rather than the activity of a single molecule.

PMID- 27618152
TI  - Antitumoral Effect of Hibiscus sabdariffa on Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma and
      Multiple Myeloma Cells.
AB  - Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite therapeutic improvements,
      some cancers are still untreatable. Recently there has been an increasing
      interest in the use of natural substances for cancer prevention and treatment.
      Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) is a plant, belonging to Malvaceae family, widespread in
      South Asia and Central Africa. HS extract (HSE) used in folk medicine, gained
      researchers' interest thanks to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and
      chemopreventive properties. In the present study, we initially assessed HSE
      effect on a panel of human tumor cell lines. Then we focused our study on the
      following that are most sensitive to HSE action cell lines: Multiple Myeloma (MM)
      cells (RPMI 8226) and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) cells (SCC-25). In both
      RPMI 8226 and SCC-25 cells, HSE impaired cell growth, exerted a reversible
      cytostatic effect, and reduced cell motility and invasiveness. We evaluated the
      involvement of MAPKs ERK1/2 and p38 in HSE effects by using specific inhibitors,
      U0126 and SB203580, respectively. For both SCC-25 and RPMI 8226, HSE cytostatic
      effect depends on p38 activation, whereas ERK1/2 modulation is crucial for cell
      motility and invasiveness. Our results suggest that HSE may be a potential
      therapeutic agent against MM and OSCC.

PMID- 27618153
TI  - Emu Oil Combined with LyprinolTM Reduces Small Intestinal Damage in a Rat Model
      of Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis.
AB  - Chemotherapy-induced mucositis is characterized by inflammation and ulcerating
      lesions lining the alimentary tract. Emu Oil and LyprinolTM have independently
      demonstrated their therapeutic potential in intestinal inflammatory disorders,
      including mucositis. We investigated Emu Oil and LyprinolTM in combination for
      their further potential to alleviate chemotherapy-induced mucositis in rats. Rats
      were gavaged with (1 ml) water, Olive Oil, Emu Oil + Olive Oil, LyprinolTM +
      Olive Oil or Emu Oil + LyprinolTM from Days 0 to 7, injected with saline
      (control) or 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) on Day 5 and euthanized on Day 8.
      Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (indicative of acute inflammation), histological
      severity scores, and intestinal architecture were quantified. Myeloperoxidase
      activity was significantly increased in the jejunum and ileum following 5-FU,
      compared to saline controls. Both Olive Oil and Emu Oil + LyprinolTM
      significantly reduced jejunal MPO levels (1.8-fold and 1.7-fold, respectively),
      whereas only Emu Oil + LyprinolTM significantly decreased ileal MPO levels,
      relative to 5-FU controls. All oil treatments decreased histological severity
      scores in the jejunum and ileum, and normalized crypt depth in the mid small
      intestine, relative to 5-FU controls. Emu Oil combined with LyprinolTM partially
      reduced acute small intestinal inflammation. Isolating bioactive constituents of
      these naturally sourced oils could provide a more targeted strategy to protect
      against intestinal mucositis.

PMID- 27618155
TI  - Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty With Fourth-Generation Ceramic-on-Ceramic:
      Analysis of Complications in 939 Consecutive Cases Followed for 2-10 Years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delta ceramics may be the bearing of choice for younger and active
      patients due to its improved toughness and wear characteristics, provided there
      is no risk of fracture. However, ceramic fracture is the most serious
      complication related to this type of bearing. Although millions of Delta ceramics
      have been implanted worldwide, short to midterm results have been scarcely
      reported in the literature. The purpose of this study was to report the
      complication rate at short to midterm follow-up associated with the bearing
      surface used in a series of primary total hip arthroplasties with Delta ceramic
      on-ceramic bearings performed in a single institution. METHODS: A total of 939
      cases (880 patients) undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty with fourth
      generation Delta ceramic-on-ceramic bearings were retrospectively reviewed. They
      were followed for an average of 5.3 years (2-10 years). RESULTS: One hip
      experienced a liner fracture, 2 cups presented early loosening due to friction
      between the acetabular screw and the backside of the liner, one femoral ball head
      had a fracture; one case of squeaking was reported, which is impending revision.
      Considering revision or impending revision in relationship with the bearing
      surface as the end point, the mean survival rate was 99.3% (confidence interval
      95%, 98.3%-99.7%) at 2-10 years. CONCLUSION: This study showed a low rate of
      ceramic fracture compared with others; however, it was much higher than the
      complication rate presented by the manufacturers. The complications observed were
      directly related to technical errors that surgeons should avoid when using this
      type of surface.

PMID- 27618154
TI  - Bioassay-Guided Fractionation and In Vitro Antiproliferative Effects of Fractions
      of Artemisia nilagirica on THP-1 cell line.
AB  - ABSTACT Artemisia nilagirica (Clarke) is a widely used medicinal herb in Indian
      traditional system of medicine. Therefore, the present study was designed to
      evaluate the effects of A. nilagirica extracts/fractions on inhibition of
      proliferation and apoptosis in a human monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cell line. The
      crude extracts (A. nilagirica ethyl acetate extract [ANE] and A. nilagirica
      methanolic extract [ANA]) showed cytotoxic activity toward THP-1 cells with the
      IC50 values of 38.21 +/- 7.37 and 132.41 +/- 7.19 ug/ml, respectively. However,
      the cytotoxic activity of active fractions (ANE-B and ANM-9) obtained after
      column chromatography was found to be much more pronounced than their parent
      extracts. The IC50 values of ANE-B and ANM-9 were found to be 27.04 +/- 2.54
      ug/ml and 12.70 +/- 4.79 ug/ml, respectively, suggesting greater susceptibility
      of the malignant cells. Cell cycle analysis and terminal deoxynucleotidyl
      transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) assay revealed that
      inhibition of cell growth by A. nilagirica fractions on THP-1 cells was mediated
      by apoptosis. Active fractions of A. nilagirica increased the expression levels
      of caspase-3, -7, and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), a critical member of the
      apoptotic pathway. These results suggested that active fractions of A. nilagirica
      may play a promising role in growth suppression by inducing apoptosis in human
      monocytic leukemic cells via mitochondria-dependent and death receptor-dependent
      apoptotic pathways.

PMID- 27618156
TI  - Are Chronic Periodontitis and Gingivitis Associated with Dementia? A Nationwide,
      Retrospective, Matched-Cohort Study in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic periodontitis and gingivitis are associated with various
      diseases; however, their impact on dementia is yet to be elucidated. This study
      is aimed at investigating the association between chronic periodontitis and
      gingivitis, and the risk of developing dementia. METHODS: A total of 2,207
      patients, with newly diagnosed chronic periodontitis and gingivitis between
      January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2000, were selected from the National Health
      Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, along with 6,621 controls matched for sex
      and age. After adjusting for confounding factors, Cox proportional hazards
      analysis was used to compare the risk of developing dementia during the 10-year
      follow-up period. RESULTS: Of the study subjects, 25 (1.13%) developed dementia
      compared to 61 (0.92%) in the control group. Cox proportional hazards regression
      analysis revealed that the study subjects were more likely to develop dementia
      (hazard ratio (HR) 2.085, 95% CI 1.552-4.156, p < 0.001). After adjusting for
      sex, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and
      comorbidities, the HR for dementia was 2.54 (95% CI 1.297-3.352, p = 0.002).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic periodontitis and gingivitis have a higher
      risk of developing dementia. However, further studies on other large or national
      data sets are required to support the current findings.

PMID- 27618157
TI  - Immobilization of Lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens on Porous Polyurea and Its
      Application in Kinetic Resolution of Racemic 1-Phenylethanol.
AB  - A porous polyurea (PPU) was prepared through a simple protocol by reacting
      toluene diisocyanate with water in binary solvent of water-acetone. Its amine
      group was determined through spectrophotometric absorbance based on its
      iminization with p-nitrobenzaldehyde amines. PPU was then used as a novel polymer
      support for enzyme immobilization, through activation by glutaraldehyde followed
      by immobilization of an enzyme, lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens (PFL), via
      covalent bonding with the amine groups of lipase molecules. Influences of
      glutaraldehyde and enzyme concentration and pH in the process were studied. The
      results revealed that the activity of the immobilized PFL reached a maximum at GA
      concentration of 0.17 mol/L and at pH 8. Immobilization rate of 60% or higher for
      PFL was obtained under optimized condition with an enzyme activity of 283 U/mg.
      The porous structure of PPU, prior to and after GA activation and PFL
      immobilization, was characterized. The activity of the immobilized PFL at
      different temperature and pH and its stability at 40  degrees C as well as its
      reusability were tested. The immobilized enzyme was finally used as
      enantioselective catalyst in kinetic resolution of racemic 1-phenylethanol (1
      PEOH), and its performance compared with the free PFL. The results demonstrate
      that the enzyme activity and stability were greatly improved for the immobilized
      PFL, and highly pure enantiomers from racemic 1-PEOH were effectively achieved
      using the immobilized PFL. Noticeable deactivation of PFL in the resolution was
      observed by acetaldehyde in situ formed. In addition, the immobilized PFL was
      readily recovered from the reaction system for reuse. A total of 73% of the
      initial activity was retained after 5 repeated reuse cycles. This work provides a
      novel route to preparation of a polyurea porous material and its enzyme
      immobilization, leading to a novel type of immobilized enzyme for efficient
      kinetic resolution of racemic molecules.

PMID- 27618158
TI  - Differences in Cytokine Production during Aging and Its Relationship with
      Antimicrobial Peptides Production.
AB  - Aging is a major health issue due to the increased susceptibility of elderly
      people to infectious, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases. Innate immunity is
      an important mechanism to avoid primary infections; therefore, decreasing of its
      activity may lead to development of infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are
      effector molecules of innate immunity that can eliminate microbial invaders. The
      role that cytokines play in the regulation of these innate immune mechanisms
      needs to be explored. Serum determinations of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines were
      performed in order to evaluate their association with AMPs human beta-defensin
      (HBD)-2 and LL-37 in young adults, elder adults, and elder adults with recurrent
      infections. Our results showed differences in interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-6 among
      the different groups. Inverse correlations in serum cytokine levels and HBD-2
      production were identified for IL-10, IL-2, IL-4, tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      and IL-6. Also inverse correlations were identified for IL-10, IL-4, and
      cathelicidin (LL-37). Such results could impact the development of
      immunomodulators that promote AMP production to prevent and/or contain infectious
      diseases in this population.

PMID- 27618159
TI  - Simplifying the assessment of human breast cancer by mapping a micro-scale
      heterogeneity index in optical coherence elastography.
AB  - Surgical treatment of breast cancer aims to identify and remove all malignant
      tissue. Intraoperative assessment of tumor margins is, however, not exact; thus,
      re-excision is frequently needed, or excess normal tissue is removed. Imaging
      methods applicable intraoperatively could help to reduce re-excision rates whilst
      minimizing removal of excess healthy tissue. Optical coherence elastography (OCE)
      has been proposed for use in breast-conserving surgery; however, intraoperative
      interpretation of complex OCE images may prove challenging. Observations of
      breast cancer on multiple length scales, by OCE, ultrasound elastography, and
      atomic force microscopy, have shown an increase in the mechanical heterogeneity
      of malignant breast tumors compared to normal breast tissue. In this study, a
      micro-scale mechanical heterogeneity index is introduced and used to form
      heterogeneity maps from OCE scans of 10 ex vivo human breast tissue samples.
      Through comparison of OCE, optical coherence tomography images, and corresponding
      histology, malignant tissue is shown to possess a higher heterogeneity index than
      benign tissue. The heterogeneity map simplifies the contrast between tumor and
      normal stroma in breast tissue, facilitating the rapid identification of possible
      areas of malignancy, which is an important step towards intraoperative margin
      assessment using OCE.

PMID- 27618161
TI  - Cryopreservation-Altered Expression of RNA and Protein Markers in Biological
      Specimens.
AB  - The preservation of DNA, RNA, and protein markers in biological specimens is
      essential for initial diagnosis, subsequent verification, and comparison, as well
      as for archival retention of pathological materials in modern molecular
      diagnostics and precision medicine. Considerable attention has been paid to the
      methods of collection, handling, and preparation of specimens for initial
      testing, but insufficient attention to the long-term specimen preservation for
      later verification, comparison, and archival retention. In the present study, we
      have investigated the changes of expressions of RNAs and proteins in Hep-G2 cell
      specimens after cryopreservation at -80 degrees C and in liquid nitrogen. Storage
      temperature and different cryoprotective agent (CPA) solutions not only affect
      cell viability but also more importantly the retention of various molecular
      markers after storage as detected by western blot and real-time fluorescent
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction. While the presence of CPAs increased the
      survival rates of cells after cryopreservation as expected, there was no
      consistent trend observed with regard to the RNA expression measurements. The
      data have significant implications with regard to the accuracy and interpretation
      of acquired data from specimens that have been cryopreserved without RNA and
      protein stabilization and point to the need for rethinking the assumptions,
      strategies, and criteria of optimizing biological specimen cryopreservation in
      molecular diagnostics.

PMID- 27618166
TI  - Genetic and epigenetic control of transfer cell development in plants.
AB  - The inter-cellular translocation of nutrients in plant is mediated by highly
      specialized transfer cells (TCs). TCs share similar functional and structural
      features across a wide range of plant species, including location at plant
      exchange surfaces, rich in secondary wall ingrowths, facilitation of nutrient
      flow, and passage of select molecules. The fate of endosperm TCs is determined in
      the TC fate acquisition stage (TCF), before the structure features are formed in
      the TC differentiation stage (TCD). At present, the molecular basis of TC
      development in plants remains largely unknown. In this review, we summarize the
      important roles of the signaling molecules in different development phases, such
      as sugars in TCF and phytohormones in TCD, and discuss the genetic and epigenetic
      factors, including TC-specific genes and endogenous plant peptides, and their
      crosstalk with these signaling molecules as a complex regulatory network in
      regulation of TC development in plants.

PMID- 27618162
TI  - Kidney Outcomes 5 Years After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: The TRIBE-AKI Study.
AB  - Importance: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after pediatric cardiac surgery is
      associated with high short-term morbidity and mortality; however, the long-term
      kidney outcomes are unclear. Objective: To assess long-term kidney outcomes after
      pediatric cardiac surgery and to determine if perioperative AKI is associated
      with worse long-term kidney outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This
      prospective multicenter cohort study recruited children between ages 1 month to
      18 years who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery and survived
      hospitalization from 3 North American pediatric centers between July 2007 and
      December 2009. Children were followed up with telephone calls and an in-person
      visit at 5 years after their surgery. Exposures: Acute kidney injury defined as a
      postoperative serum creatinine rise from preoperative baseline by 50% or 0.3
      mg/dL or more during hospitalization for cardiac surgery. Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Hypertension (blood pressure >=95th percentile for height, age, sex, or
      self-reported hypertension), microalbuminuria (urine albumin to creatinine ratio
      >30 mg/g), and chronic kidney disease (serum creatinine estimated glomerular
      filtration rate [eGFR] <90 mL/min/1.73 m2 or microalbuminuria). Results: Overall,
      131 children (median [interquartile range] age, 7.7 [5.9-9.9] years) participated
      in the 5-year in-person follow-up visit; 68 children (52%) were male. Fifty-seven
      of 131 children (44%) had postoperative AKI. At follow-up, 22 children (17%) had
      hypertension (10 times higher than the published general pediatric population
      prevalence), while 9 (8%), 13 (13%), and 1 (1%) had microalbuminuria, an eGFR
      less than 90 mL/min/1.73 m2, and an eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2,
      respectively. Twenty-one children (18%) had chronic kidney disease. Only 5
      children (4%) had been seen by a nephrologist during follow-up. There was no
      significant difference in renal outcomes between children with and without
      postoperative AKI. Conclusions and Relevance: Chronic kidney disease and
      hypertension are common 5 years after pediatric cardiac surgery. Perioperative
      AKI is not associated with these complications. Longer follow-up is needed to
      ascertain resolution or worsening of chronic kidney disease and hypertension.

PMID- 27618169
TI  - [Conceptual and Cognitive Restructuring?]
AB  - Objective: In the treatment of patients with alcohol dependence it is next to
      physical detoxification under protected conditions to promoting abstinence
      motivation. Further the need of crisis interventions is derived from the clinical
      practise. To be able to become fairer to all groups of treatment as well as the
      different demands, the addiction admission station was restructured. Methods: Pre
      post-evaluation. Results: It was found that the door was closed up significantly
      less often after the restructuring. In the residence time structure an increase
      appeared in the descriptive values with the more than 7-day stays. Conclusions:
      It is to be able to hold successfully the optional closed door highly
      significantly more often open.

PMID- 27618167
TI  - Challenges Enrolling Children Into Traumatic Brain Injury Trials: An
      Observational Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In preparation for a clinical trial of therapeutic agents for
      children with moderate-to-severe blunt traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in
      emergency departments (EDs), we conducted this feasibility study to (1) determine
      the number and clinical characteristics of eligible children, (2) determine the
      timing of patient and guardian arrival to the ED, and (3) describe the
      heterogeneity of TBIs on computed tomography (CT) scans. METHODS: We conducted a
      prospective observational study at 16 EDs of children <= 18 years of age
      presenting with blunt head trauma and Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 3-12. We
      documented the number of potentially eligible patients, timing of patient and
      guardian arrival, patient demographics and clinical characteristics, severity of
      injuries, and cranial CT findings. RESULTS: We enrolled 295 eligible children at
      the 16 sites over 6 consecutive months. Cardiac arrest and nonsurvivable injuries
      were the most common characteristics that would exclude patients from a future
      trial. Most children arrived within 2 hours of injury, but most guardians did not
      arrive until 2-3 hours after the injury. There was a substantial range in types
      of TBIs, with subdural hemorrhages being the most common. CONCLUSION: Enrolling
      children with moderate-to-severe TBI into time-sensitive clinical trials will
      require large numbers of sites and meticulous preparation and coordination and
      will prove challenging to obtain informed consent given the timing of patient and
      guardian arrival. The Federal Exception from Informed Consent for Emergency
      Research will be an important consideration for enrolling these children.

PMID- 27618170
TI  - [Negotiating the Space Between Openness and Rejection - Mental Health Nurses'
      Attitudes Towards Risk Behaviour of their Patients - A Qualitative Study].
AB  - Objective Personal recovery as a key concept in mental health requests that
      people with severe mental illness need support in taking positive risks,
      especially from mental health nurses as key players in this context. In German
      speaking countries, studies regarding positive risk-taking seem scarce. Attitude
      as a concept of social psychology seems to be important to this topic, because it
      strongly influences the human behavior. Therefore, this study examines the
      attitudes of mental health nurses in outpatient settings towards their patients
      taking positive risks and their perception of the institutional position
      regarding this issue. Methods Four focus group interviews were conducted and
      analyzed using a descriptive content-analysis approach. Results Three main
      categories were identified: the concept of risk, the nurses' ambivalence and the
      institutions' ambivalence. Nurses seem to generally connote risk negatively.
      Their attitudes towards positive risks can be described as ambivalent,
      oscillating between openness and aversion and their institutions perceive it
      similarly. Conclusion Results from other studies can be confirmed. Nurses expect
      clear position from their institution regarding positive risk-taking and
      increased support. Guidelines are missing in practice.

PMID- 27618171
TI  - [Dealing with Parenthood among Mental Health Service Users During Inpatient
      Treatment: Mental Health Professionals' Perspectives to Barriers and
      Facilitators].
AB  - Study aims To gain insight into mental health professionals' subjective
      perceptions of parenthood among psychiatric patients during inpatient treatment.
      Methods 31 problem-centered semi-structured interviews with psychiatric
      professionals were conducted and analyzed by content analysis methods. Results
      From participants' perspectives, parenthood issues are mainly relevant during
      hospital admission when child care has to be secured. Participants reported the
      following barriers: sickness aspects, fears of patients, lack of time and
      professional knowledge on parenthood issues in clinical care. Discussion
      Structural barriers which hinder consideration of parenthood issues beyond
      hospital admission should be reduced.

PMID- 27618172
TI  - [Emergency Doctor Training for Psychiatric Emergencies: Evaluation of an
      Interactive Training Program].
AB  - Aim Emergency physicians are often confronted with psychiatric emergencies, but
      are not well trained for it and often feel unable to cope sufficiently with them.
      The aim of this investigation was to examine whether multisensoric training may
      improve learning effects in the training of emergency physicians with regard to
      psychiatric emergencies. Method Participation in a multi-modal, multi-media
      training program with video case histories and subsequent evaluation by
      questionnaire. Results 66 emergency physicians assessed their learning effects.
      75 % or 73 % rated it as "rather high" or "very high". In particular, in
      comparison with classical training/self-study 89 % assessed the effects in
      learning as "rather high" or "very high" . Conclusion This training receives a
      high level of acceptance. Using videos, learning content may be provided more
      practice-related. Thus, emergency physicians are able to develop a greater
      understanding of psychiatric emergencies.

PMID- 27618173
TI  - [Quality Indicators for Integrated Care in Patients with Schizophrenia - Results
      from a Feasibility Study].
AB  - Objective The study aimed to evaluate the applicability of a set of quality
      indicators to assess models of integrated care for patients with a diagnosis of
      schizophrenia. We report first values for these indicators in routine care in
      Germany. Methods The study is based on a cohort of adult patients with
      schizophrenia insured by one large German statutory health insurance company,
      which were assessed two times and gave consent to evaluate their routine claims
      data. The study tried to use 12 basic and 22 quality indicators from claims data.
      Results It was possible to estimate most structural indicators using available
      data, but only half of the quality indicators. This means that while assessment
      of quality indicators is feasible in general, routine claims data needs to be
      supplemented by additional (primary) data. Four of the calculated quality
      indicators had clear targets or red-flag values, which were not met in our cohort
      in all four indicators. None of the patients had an outpatient mental health
      related contact within one week (target > 90 %). The readmission rate within 30
      days (21 %) was twice as high as the proposed red-flag value of 10 %. Similar
      figures were seen for antipsychotic polypharmacy (25 %, red-flag value > 10 %)
      and the proportion of patients with compulsory treatment (15 %) exceeded the red
      flag value by 5 %. Conclusion The study shows that it is possible to measure
      quality indicators, but also demonstrates considerable limitations. There is a
      need to validate indicators in routine care.

PMID- 27618174
TI  - [Psychometric Properties of the Self- and Observer-Ratings ADHD-SR and Wender
      Reimherr-Interview in the Assessment of ADHD Symptoms in Old Age].
AB  - Objective and Methods The aim of the study was to explore the psychometric
      properties of the ADHD self-rating ADHD-SR and the observer-rating Wender
      Reimherr-Interview WRI for the assessment of ADHD symptoms in old age by using a
      sample of 324 subjects between 60 and 99 years. Results In the sample of older
      people the psychometric properties of the ADHD-SR and the WRI were adequate.
      Evidence for construct validity is provided through the WRI. Results of logistic
      analysis's showed a good discrimination of ADHD for both, the ADHD-SR (89.5 %
      correct classification; OR = 25.91) and the WRI (86.1 % correct classification;
      OR = 4.7); specificity ranged between 81 % and 94 %. Conclusion The study shows
      that both, the ADHD-SR and the WRI, are reliable and valid as tools for the
      assessment of ADHD in older adults.

PMID- 27618175
TI  - [Facing Strangeness: Perceptions of Men Whose Partners Became Mentally Ill After
      Delivering a Baby].
AB  - Objective This study explores men's perceptions of their partners' postpartum
      psychiatric disorders and their experiences of acute mental health care. Methods
      Interviews were conducted with 13 men who had experienced postpartum psychiatric
      disorders of their partners. Data were analysed using grounded theory
      methodology. Results Fathers were affected by their partners' postpartum
      psychiatric disorder and inpatient treatment. The core category found is the
      experience of strangeness. The men were faced with a changed partner, an unknown
      disorder and a confusing mental health care system. Conclusion Fathers wanted to
      support their partners but felt rarely noticed by mental health care providers.
      Increased awareness of fathers' needs, such as being informed and involved in
      their partner's care planning, is recommended to promote the whole family system.

PMID- 27618176
TI  - [Regional Budgets in Psychiatry: An Alternative to Hospital per Diem Charges and
      the New Reimbursement System? - A Case Study from the District of Dithmarschen].
AB  - Objective The study looked at the impact that the switch from a reimbursement
      system with hospital per diem charges to a regional budget had on treatment.
      Methods Routine data from two clinics over a period of ten years were evaluated.
      Results Treatment took place in day clinics and on an outpatient basis to an
      increased extent after the change. Conclusion The change in reimbursement system
      was the cause of the change in treatment. Since similar effects can also be
      expected when switching from the new reimbursement system for psychiatry and
      psychosomatic medicine to a regional budget system, regional budgets are a
      reasonable alternative.

PMID- 27618178
TI  - Gain-of-Function Alleles in Caenorhabditis elegans Nuclear Hormone Receptor nhr
      49 Are Functionally Distinct.
AB  - Nuclear hormone receptors (NHRs) are transcription factors that regulate numerous
      physiological and developmental processes and represent important drug targets.
      NHR-49, an ortholog of Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 (HNF4), has emerged as a key
      regulator of lipid metabolism and life span in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis
      elegans. However, many aspects of NHR-49 function remain poorly understood,
      including whether and how it regulates individual sets of target genes and
      whether its activity is modulated by a ligand. A recent study identified three
      gain-of-function (gof) missense mutations in nhr-49 (nhr-49(et7), nhr-49(et8),
      and nhr-49(et13), respectively). These substitutions all affect the ligand
      binding domain (LBD), which is critical for ligand binding and protein
      interactions. Thus, these alleles provide an opportunity to test how three
      specific residues contribute to NHR-49 dependent gene regulation. We used
      computational and molecular methods to delineate how these mutations alter NHR-49
      activity. We find that despite originating from a screen favoring the activation
      of specific NHR-49 targets, all three gof alleles cause broad upregulation of NHR
      49 regulated genes. Interestingly, nhr-49(et7) and nhr-49(et8) exclusively affect
      nhr-49 dependent activation, whereas the nhr-49(et13) surprisingly affects both
      nhr-49 mediated activation and repression, implicating the affected residue as
      dually important. We also observed phenotypic non-equivalence of these alleles,
      as they unexpectedly caused a long, short, and normal life span, respectively.
      Mechanistically, the gof substitutions altered neither protein interactions with
      the repressive partner NHR-66 and the coactivator MDT-15 nor the subcellular
      localization or expression of NHR-49. However, in silico structural modeling
      revealed that NHR-49 likely interacts with small molecule ligands and that the
      missense mutations might alter ligand binding, providing a possible explanation
      for increased NHR-49 activity. In sum, our findings indicate that the three nhr
      49 gof alleles are non-equivalent, and highlight the conserved V411 residue
      affected by et13 as critical for gene activation and repression alike. 

PMID- 27618179
TI  - Longitudinal Investigation into Genetics in the Conservation of Metabolic
      Phenotypes in Danish and Chinese Twins.
AB  - Longitudinal twin studies on long term conservation of individual metabolic
      phenotypes can help to explore the genetic and environmental basis in maintaining
      metabolic homeostasis and metabolic health. We performed a longitudinal twin
      study on 12 metabolic phenotypes from Danish twins followed up for 12 years and
      Chinese twins traced for 7 years. The study covered a relatively large sample of
      502 pairs of Danish adult twins with a mean age at intake of 38 years and a total
      of 181 Chinese adult twin pairs with a mean baseline age of 39.5 years. Bivariate
      twin models were fitted to the longitudinal measurements taken at two time points
      (at baseline and follow-up) to estimate the genetic and environmental
      contributions to phenotype variation and correlation at and between the two time
      points. High genetic components in the regulation of intra-individual phenotype
      correlation or stability over time were estimated in both Danish (h2>0.75 except
      fasting blood glucose) and Chinese (h2>0.72 except blood pressure) twins;
      moderate to high genetic contribution to phenotype variation at the two time
      points were also estimated except for the low genetic regulation on glucose in
      Danish and on blood pressure in Chinese twins. Meanwhile the bivariate twin
      models estimated shared environmental contributions to the variance and
      covariance in fasting blood glucose in Danish twins, and in systolic and
      diastolic blood pressure, low and high density lipoprotein cholesterol in Chinese
      twins. Overall, our longitudinal twin study on long-term stability of metabolic
      phenotypes in Danish and Chinese twins identified a common pattern of high
      genetic control over phenotype conservation, and at the same time revealed
      population-specific patterns of genetic and common environmental regulation on
      the variance as well as covariance of glucose and blood pressure. 

PMID- 27618180
TI  - Adoptive Immunotherapy in Postoperative Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adoptive immunotherapy (AI) has been applied in the treatment of non
      small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, but the value of postoperative AI has
      been inconclusive largely as a result of the small number of patients included in
      each study. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to address this
      issue for patients with postoperative NSCLC. METHODS: Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane
      Library were searched for randomized controlled trials comparing adoptive
      immunotherapy with control therapies in postoperative NSCLC patients. The primary
      endpoint was overall survival. Hazard ratio (HR) was estimated and 95% confidence
      intervals (CI) were calculated using a fixed-effect model. RESULTS: Compared with
      control therapies, analyses of 4 randomized controlled trials (472 patients)
      showed a significant benefit of adoptive immunotherapy on survival (hazard ratio
      [HR] 0.61, 95% CI 0.45-0.84, p = 0.002), and a 39% reduction in the relative risk
      of death (no evidence of a difference between trials; p = 0.16, I2 = 42%). In
      subgroup analyses by treatment cycles and treatment regimen, significant OS
      benefit was found in combination therapy of AI with chemotherapy, regardless of
      whether or not the treatment cycles were more than 10 cycles. CONCLUSION:
      Adoptive immunotherapy has the potential to improve overall survival in
      postoperative NSCLC. The findings suggest this is a valid treatment option for
      these patients. Further randomized clinical trials are urgently needed.

PMID- 27618181
TI  - Prevalence and Predictors of Depression among Pregnant Women in Debretabor Town,
      Northwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression during pregnancy is a major health problem because it is
      prevalent and chronic, and its impact on birth outcome and child health is
      serious. Several psychosocial and obstetric factors have been identified as
      predictors. Evidence on the prevalence and predictors of antenatal depression is
      very limited in Ethiopia. This study aims to determine prevalence and associated
      factors with antenatal depression. METHODS: Community based cross-sectional study
      was conducted among 527 pregnant women recruited in a cluster sampling method.
      Data were collected by face-to-face interviews on socio-demographic, obstetric,
      and psychosocial characteristics. Depression symptoms were assessed using the
      Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The List of Threatening Experiences
      questionnaire (LTE-Q) and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSS-3) were used to
      assess stressful events and social support, respectively. Data were entered into
      Epi-info and analyzed using SPSS-20. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses
      were carried out. RESULTS: The prevalence of antenatal depression was found to be
      11.8%. Having debt (OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.33, 5.85), unplanned pregnancy (OR =
      2.39, 95% CI = (1.20, 4.76), history of stillbirth (OR = 3.97, 95% CI =
      (1.67,9.41), history of abortion (OR = 2.57, 95% CI = 1.005, 6.61), being in the
      third trimester of pregnancy (OR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.07,2.72), presence of a
      complication in the current pregnancy (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.66,6.53), and
      previous history of depression (OR = 3.48, 95% CI = 1.71,7.06) were factors
      significantly associated with antenatal depression. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of
      antenatal depression was high, especially in the third trimester. Poverty, unmet
      reproductive health needs, and obstetric complications are the main determinants
      of antenatal depression. For early detection and appropriate intervention,
      screening for depression during the routine antenatal care should be promoted.

PMID- 27618183
TI  - Different Respiratory Rates during Resuscitation in a Pediatric Animal Model of
      Asphyxial Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - AIMS: Actual resuscitation guidelines recommend 10 respirations per minute (rpm)
      for advanced pediatric life support. This respiratory rate (RR) is much lower
      than what is physiological for children. The aim of this study is to compare
      changes in ventilation, oxygenation, haemodynamics and return of spontaneous
      circulation (ROSC) rates with three RR. METHODS: An experimental model of
      asphyxial cardiac arrest (CA) in 46 piglets (around 9.5 kg) was performed.
      Resuscitation with three different RR (10, 20 and 30 rpm) was carried out.
      Haemodynamics and gasometrical data were obtained at 3, 9, 18 and 24 minutes
      after beginning of resuscitation. Measurements were compared between the three
      groups. RESULTS: No statistical differences were found in ROSC rate between the
      three RR (37.5%, 46.6% and 60% in the 10, 20 and 30 rpm group respectively P =
      0.51). 20 and 30 rpm groups had lower PaCO2 values than 10 rpm group at 3 minutes
      (58 and 55 mmHg vs 75 mmHg P = 0.08). 30 rpm group had higher PaO2 (61 mmHg) at 3
      minutes than 20 and 10 rpm groups (53 and 45 mmHg P = 0.05). No significant
      differences were found in haemodynamics or tissue perfusion between
      hyperventilated (PaCO2 <30 mmHg), normoventilated (30-50 mmHg) and hypoventilated
      (>50 mmHg) animals. PaO2 was significantly higher in hyperventilated (PaO2 153
      mmHg) than in normoventilated (79 mmHg) and hypoventilated (47 mmHg) piglets
      (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the hypothesis that higher RR achieves
      better oxygenation and ventilation without affecting haemodynamics. A higher RR
      is associated but not significantly with better ROSC rates.

PMID- 27618185
TI  - Rapid Bacterial Detection via an All-Electronic CMOS Biosensor.
AB  - The timely and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases is one of the greatest
      challenges currently facing modern medicine. The development of innovative
      techniques for the rapid and accurate identification of bacterial pathogens in
      point-of-care facilities using low-cost, portable instruments is essential. We
      have developed a novel all-electronic biosensor that is able to identify bacteria
      in less than ten minutes. This technology exploits bacteriocins, protein toxins
      naturally produced by bacteria, as the selective biological detection element.
      The bacteriocins are integrated with an array of potassium-selective sensors in
      Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor technology to provide an inexpensive
      bacterial biosensor. An electronic platform connects the CMOS sensor to a
      computer for processing and real-time visualization. We have used this technology
      to successfully identify both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria commonly
      found in human infections. 

PMID- 27618184
TI  - Combined Analysis of Variation in Core, Accessory and Regulatory Genome Regions
      Provides a Super-Resolution View into the Evolution of Bacterial Populations.
AB  - The use of whole-genome phylogenetic analysis has revolutionized our
      understanding of the evolution and spread of many important bacterial pathogens
      due to the high resolution view it provides. However, the majority of such
      analyses do not consider the potential role of accessory genes when inferring
      evolutionary trajectories. Moreover, the recently discovered importance of the
      switching of gene regulatory elements suggests that an exhaustive analysis,
      combining information from core and accessory genes with regulatory elements
      could provide unparalleled detail of the evolution of a bacterial population.
      Here we demonstrate this principle by applying it to a worldwide multi-host
      sample of the important pathogenic E. coli lineage ST131. Our approach reveals
      the existence of multiple circulating subtypes of the major drug-resistant clade
      of ST131 and provides the first ever population level evidence of core genome
      substitutions in gene regulatory regions associated with the acquisition and
      maintenance of different accessory genome elements.

PMID- 27618186
TI  - The haptic pleasures of ground-feel: The role of textured terrain in motivating
      regular exercise.
AB  - This paper explores the role that somatic or bodily touch-based experience of
      ground surface textures plays in securing a commitment to health-giving exercise
      practices, and argues that ground-feel is a neglected and underrated dimension of
      how environments co-constitute health. Past work has largely either overlooked
      ground-feel or positioned rough ground solely as a barrier to bodily movement.
      This research, however, informed by mobile and video ethnographies of walking and
      mountain biking in Scotland, elaborates a number of ways in which the experience
      of textured terrain can produce sensory and emotional experiences that motivate
      regular exercise. The possibility of positive tactile as well as visual
      experiences of landscapes, including uneven as well as smooth surfaces, ought
      then to be taken more seriously in designing everyday outdoor environments that
      encourage the energetic movement of bodies. A key challenge is to identify the
      optimal mix of textured and smooth ground surfaces to encourage increased
      energetic engagement for the widest range of users.

PMID- 27618187
TI  - Lactate metabolism is associated with mammalian mitochondria.
AB  - It is well established that lactate secreted by fermenting cells can be oxidized
      or used as a gluconeogenic substrate by other cells and tissues. It is generally
      assumed, however, that within the fermenting cell itself, lactate is produced to
      replenish NAD+ and then is secreted. Here we explore the possibility that
      cytosolic lactate is metabolized by the mitochondria of fermenting mammalian
      cells. We found that fermenting HeLa and H460 cells utilize exogenous lactate
      carbon to synthesize a large percentage of their lipids. Using high-resolution
      mass spectrometry, we found that both 13C and 2-2H labels from enriched lactate
      enter the mitochondria. The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) inhibitor oxamate
      decreased respiration of isolated mitochondria incubated in lactate, but not of
      isolated mitochondria incubated in pyruvate. Additionally, transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) showed that LDHB localizes to the mitochondria. Taken together,
      our results demonstrate a link between lactate metabolism and the mitochondria of
      fermenting mammalian cells.

PMID- 27618188
TI  - How the glycosyltransferase OGT catalyzes amide bond cleavage.
AB  - The essential human enzyme O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT),
      known for modulating the functions of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins through
      serine and threonine glycosylation, was unexpectedly implicated in the
      proteolytic maturation of the cell cycle regulator host cell factor-1 (HCF-1).
      Here we show that HCF-1 cleavage occurs via glycosylation of a glutamate side
      chain followed by on-enzyme formation of an internal pyroglutamate, which
      undergoes spontaneous backbone hydrolysis.

PMID- 27618189
TI  - The role of protein dynamics in the evolution of new enzyme function.
AB  - Enzymes must be ordered to allow the stabilization of transition states by their
      active sites, yet dynamic enough to adopt alternative conformations suited to
      other steps in their catalytic cycles. The biophysical principles that determine
      how specific protein dynamics evolve and how remote mutations affect catalytic
      activity are poorly understood. Here we examine a 'molecular fossil record' that
      was recently obtained during the laboratory evolution of a phosphotriesterase
      from Pseudomonas diminuta to an arylesterase. Analysis of the structures and
      dynamics of nine protein variants along this trajectory, and three rationally
      designed variants, reveals cycles of structural destabilization and repair,
      evolutionary pressure to 'freeze out' unproductive motions and sampling of
      distinct conformations with specific catalytic properties in bi-functional
      intermediates. This work establishes that changes to the conformational
      landscapes of proteins are an essential aspect of molecular evolution and that
      change in function can be achieved through enrichment of preexisting
      conformational sub-states.

PMID- 27618192
TI  - Further Characterization of Genetically Distinct Groups of Acidovorax citrulli
      Strains.
AB  - Bacterial fruit blotch of cucurbits (BFB) is caused by the gram-negative
      bacterium Acidovorax citrulli, whose populations can be distinguished into two
      genetically distinct groups, I and II. Based on visual assessment of BFB severity
      on cucurbit seedlings and fruit after inoculation under greenhouse conditions,
      group I A. citrulli strains have been reported to be moderately to highly
      virulent on several cucurbit hosts, whereas group II strains have exhibited high
      virulence on watermelon but low virulence on other cucurbits. Additionally, group
      I strains are recovered from a range of cucurbit hosts, while group II strains
      are predominantly found on watermelon. The goal of this research was to develop
      tools to characterize and rapidly distinguish group I and II A. citrulli strains.
      We first sought to determine whether quantification of A. citrulli colonization
      of cucurbit seedling tissue reflects the differences between group I and II
      strains established by visual assessment of BFB symptom severity. Spray
      inoculation of melon seedlings with cell suspensions containing approximately 1 *
      104 CFU/ml resulted in significantly higher (P = 0.01) population growth of M6
      (group I; mean area under population growth curve [AUPGC] = 43.73) than that of
      AAC00-1 (group II; mean AUPGC = 39.33) by 10 days after inoculation. We also
      investigated the natural spread of bacterial cells and the resulting BFB
      incidence on watermelon and melon seedlings exposed to three group I and three
      group II A. citrulli strains under mist chamber conditions. After 5 days of
      exposure, the mean BFB incidence on melon seedlings exposed to representative
      group II A. citrulli strains was significantly lower (25 and 3.98% in experiments
      1 and 2, respectively) than on melon seedlings exposed to representative group I
      strains (94.44 and 76.11% in experiments 1 and 2, respectively), and on
      watermelon seedlings exposed to representative group I and II strains (70 to
      93.33%). Finally, we developed a polymerase chain reaction assay based on the
      putative type III secretion effector gene, Aave_2166, to rapidly distinguish
      group I and II A. citrulli strains. This assay will be important for future
      epidemiological studies on BFB.

PMID- 27618193
TI  - Phenomic Approaches and Tools for Phytopathologists.
AB  - Plant phenomics approaches aim to measure traits such as growth, performance, and
      composition of plants using a suite of noninvasive technologies. The goal is to
      link phenotypic traits to the genetic information for particular genotypes, thus
      creating the bridge between the phenome and genome. Application of sensing
      technologies for detecting specific phenotypic reactions occurring during plant
      pathogen interaction offers new opportunities for elucidating the physiological
      mechanisms that link pathogen infection and disease symptoms in the host, and
      also provides a faster approach in the selection of genetic material that is
      resistant to specific pathogens or strains. Appropriate phenomics methods and
      tools may also allow presymptomatic detection of disease-related changes in
      plants or to identify changes that are not visually apparent. This review focuses
      on the use of sensor-based phenomics tools in plant pathology such as those
      related to digital imaging, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, spectral imaging,
      and thermal imaging. A brief introduction is provided for less used approaches
      like magnetic resonance, soft x-ray imaging, ultrasound, and detection of
      volatile compounds. We hope that this concise review will stimulate further
      development and use of tools for automatic, nondestructive, and high-throughput
      phenotyping of plant-pathogen interaction.

PMID- 27618190
TI  - A chemical-inducible CRISPR-Cas9 system for rapid control of genome editing.
AB  - CRISPR-Cas9 has emerged as a powerful technology that enables ready modification
      of the mammalian genome. The ability to modulate Cas9 activity can reduce off
      target cleavage and facilitate precise genome engineering. Here we report the
      development of a Cas9 variant whose activity can be switched on and off in human
      cells with 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-HT) by fusing the Cas9 enzyme with the hormone
      binding domain of the estrogen receptor (ERT2). The final optimized variant,
      termed iCas, showed low endonuclease activity without 4-HT but high editing
      efficiency at multiple loci with the chemical. We also tuned the duration and
      concentration of 4-HT treatment to reduce off-target genome modification.
      Additionally, we benchmarked iCas against other chemical-inducible methods and
      found that it had the fastest on rate and that its activity could be toggled on
      and off repeatedly. Collectively, these results highlight the utility of iCas for
      rapid and reversible control of genome-editing function.

PMID- 27618194
TI  - Management of knee osteoarthritis. Current status and future trends.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) affects a large number of the population, and its incidence
      is showing a growing trend with the increasing life span. OA is the most
      prevalent joint condition worldwide, and currently, there is no functional cure
      for it. This review seeks to briefly overview the management of knee OA
      concerning standardized pharmaceutical and clinical approaches, as well as the
      new biotechnological horizons of OA treatment. The potential of biomaterials and
      state of the art of advanced therapeutic approaches, such as cell and gene
      therapy focused primarily on cartilage regeneration are the main subjects of this
      review. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 717-739. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618195
TI  - Overweight and Obesity in Young Adulthood and the Risk of Stroke: a Meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A systematic review assessing the association between overweight and
      obesity in young adulthood and stroke risk is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a
      meta-analysis to evaluate the association between overweight and obesity in young
      adulthood and stroke risk. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed and Embase
      databases for related studies of human subjects in the English language. Two
      investigators independently selected original studies in a 2-step process. Fixed-
      and random-effects models were used to calculate pooled relative risks (RRs) and
      95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analyses were also performed. RESULTS:
      Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled adjusted RR of stroke was
      1.36 (95% CI: 1.28-1.44) for overweight in young adulthood and 1.81 (95% CI: 1.45
      2.25) for obesity in young adulthood. In subgroup analyses, overweight and
      obesity in young adulthood increased the risk of stroke in most groups, except
      for the group of stroke subtype. For ischemic stroke, the adjusted RR was 1.40
      (95% CI: 1.24-1.58) for overweight in young adulthood and 1.78 (95% CI: 1.003
      3.16) for obesity in young adulthood, whereas adjusted RR for hemorrhagic stroke
      was 1.25 (95% CI: .83-1.90) for overweight in young adulthood and 1.80 (95% CI:
      .97-3.35) for obesity in young adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and obesity in
      young adulthood are associated with an increased risk of stroke, probably,
      independent of other cardiovascular risk factors. The risk effect gradually
      increases with increasing body weight.

PMID- 27618196
TI  - Gender Differences in Exclusion Criteria for Recombinant Tissue-Type Plasminogen
      Activator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gender differences in the use of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen
      activator (r-tPA) in stroke are complicated. In this study, we investigated
      gender differences using r-tPA exclusion criterion in a stroke population.
      METHODS: We analyzed the data from ischemic stroke patients aged 18 years or
      older from the Greenville Health System stroke registry on r-tPA administration
      between January 2010 and December 2013. We identified exclusion criterion and
      used specific clinical factors to determine gender differences in stroke patients
      receiving r-tPA. RESULTS: Of the 633 patients who were eligible to receive r-tPA,
      less than half received r-tPA (n = 241) whereas 422 were not able to receive r
      tPA. Of the 241 patients who received r-tPA, 49.4% were female and 50.6% were
      male. Of the 422 patients who did not receive r-tPA, more women (235) were
      excluded from r-tPA than men (187) (P < .05). There were no gender differences in
      warning signs and contraindications in female versus male stroke patients (P >
      .005). There were however gender differences in age group as more women (38%; n =
      235) were more likely to be excluded if they are more than 80 years old than men
      (19%, n = 187). CONCLUSIONS: Within a large stroke population, exclusion criteria
      for r-tPA in women and men were similar with regard to race, initial National
      Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, warning signs, and contraindications,
      but were different in the age group population exclusion criterion for
      intravenous r-tPA. We observed that intracerebral hemorrhage and match on
      computed tomography perfusion/magnetic resonance imaging or visible infarct
      greater than one third of the middle cerebral artery distribution were absolute
      criteria for exclusion.

PMID- 27618198
TI  - Prediction of Infarct Lesion Volumes by Processing Magnetic Resonance Apparent
      Diffusion Coefficient Maps in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC) maps in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the volume of acute
      cerebral infarction (ACI). METHODS: A total of 207 ACI patients were selected in
      our study. The cerebral infarction (CI) volume in the initial diffusion-weighted
      imaging examination, minimum ADC value, relative apparent diffusion coefficient
      (rADC) value, and mean ADC value were measured. The correlations between age,
      smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, clinical
      stage, the lowest ADC value, the mean ADC value, and the mean rADC value with CI
      volume were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. A receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of the ADC
      value in the ACI volume. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the
      distribution of the CI volume in ACI patients (P <.05). A significant difference
      was found in the signal intensity and percentage distribution of ADC map in
      patients of different CI groups with different CI volumes (P <.05). The signal of
      the ADC map was positively correlated with the CI volume. The mean ADC and rADC
      values had significant differences between different CI volumes (all P <.05).
      Logistic regression analysis revealed that the mean ADC value was significantly
      correlated with the CI volume (P <.05). Analysis of the ROC curve showed that the
      quantitative value of ADC has a diagnostic value for the ACI volume. CONCLUSION:
      This study has shown that the signal intensity change on the ADC map in MRI and
      quantitative analysis of the ADC value can be used as a reference for predicting
      the ACI volume.

PMID- 27618197
TI  - Time to Computerized Tomography Scan, Age, and Mortality in Acute Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Time to computerized tomography (CT) is important to institute
      appropriate and timely hyperacute management in stroke. We aimed to evaluate
      mortality outcomes in relation to age and time to CT scan. METHODS: We used
      routinely collected data in 8 National Health Service trusts in East of England
      between September 2008 and April 2011. Stroke cases were prospectively identified
      and confirmed. Odds ratios (ORs) for unadjusted and adjusted models for age
      categories (<65, 65-74, 75-84, and >=85 years) as well as time to CT categories
      (<90 minutes, >=90 to <180 minutes, >=180 minutes to 24 hours, and >24 hours) and
      in-hospital and early (<7 days) mortality outcomes were calculated. RESULTS: Of
      the 7693 patients (mean age 76.1 years, 50% male) included, 1151 (16%) died as
      inpatients and 336 (4%) died within 7 days. Older patients and those admitted
      from care home had a significantly longer time from admission until CT (P <
      .001). Patients who had earlier CT scans were admitted to stroke units more
      frequently (P < .001) but had higher in-patient (P < .001) and 7-day mortality (P
      < .001). Whereas older age was associated with increased odds of mortality
      outcomes, longer time to CT was associated with significantly reduced mortality
      within 7 days (corresponding ORs for the above time periods were 1.00, .61 [95%
      confidence interval {CI}: .39-.95], .39 [.24-.64], and .16 [.08-.33]) and in
      hospital mortality (ORs 1.00, .86 [.64-1.15], .57 [.42-.78] and .71 [.52-.98]).
      CONCLUSIONS: Older age was associated with a significantly longer time to CT.
      However, using CT scan time as a benchmarking tool in stroke may have inherent
      limitations and does not appear to be a suitable quality marker.

PMID- 27618200
TI  - Photochemical Synthesis of Both Strained and Macrocyclic (1,7)Naphthalenophanes.
AB  - Naphthalenophanes are a special type of cyclophanes. While in the past (1,5)-,
      (1,6)-, and (1,8)naphthalenophanes were successfully prepared by using the photo
      dehydro-Diels-Alder (DDA) reaction, access to (1,7)naphthalenophanes by this
      method was hitherto unknown. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to prepare
      these compounds by thermal DDA, we found that the photoinitiated variant (PDDA)
      represents a very efficient method to [k](1,7)naphthalenophanes 13. The scope
      ranged from highly strained (k = 11, 12) to macrocyclic products (k = 22, 24).
      The extraordinary reactivity could be explained by folded ground-state geometries
      of diketones 12 used as reactants of the PDDA. Furthermore, we calculated the
      ring-strain energies with the help of an isodesmic reaction and evaluated
      structural and spectroscopic (NMR) consequences of ring strain.

PMID- 27618199
TI  - Prolonged Corrected QT Interval as a Predictor of Clinical Outcome in Acute
      Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate changes of corrected QT (QTc)
      interval during acute ischemic stroke and its correlation with high-sensitivity
      troponin I (hsTnI), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), neurological outcome, and 1
      year mortality. METHODS: We registered electrocardiogram in 69 patients
      immediately after admission to the intensive care unit and then after 24 and 48
      hours. Computed tomography was performed on admission to determine brain infarct
      size and localization. Neurological outcome was assessed by modified Rankin scale
      (mRS) at discharge. RESULTS: Forty-five (65.2%) patients had prolonged QTc at
      baseline; only 18 (26.1%) patients had prolonged QTc after 48 hours. Baseline QTc
      was not associated with neurological outcome (P = .27). However, prolonged QTc
      after 48 hours was associated with worse mRS at discharge (4.5 [4.0-6.0] versus
      2.0 [1.0-3.0]; P < .0001). Patients who deceased during hospitalization (n = 7
      [10.1%]) as compared with survivors had more frequently prolonged QTc after 48
      hours (38.9 versus 0%; P < .0001), higher level of hsTnI (48.4 [36.1-75.0] versus
      8.6 [3.4-26.5]; P = .003), and BNP (334 [224-866] versus 109 [30-190]; P = .014).
      In univariate analysis, 1-year mortality was associated with prolonged QTc after
      48 hours, hsTnI, and BNP. In multivariate analysis, only BNP remained to be
      associated with 1-year mortality (odds ratio 3.41, 95% confidence interval 1.06
      11.03). CONCLUSIONS: QTc interval in patients with acute ischemic stroke is a
      dynamic parameter. Prolonged QTc after 48 hours, but not baseline QTc, correlated
      with neurological outcome and 1-year mortality. Patients with prolonged QTc had
      higher level of hsTnI.

PMID- 27618201
TI  - Aminoglycoside-stimulated readthrough of premature termination codons in selected
      genes involved in primary ciliary dyskinesia.
AB  - Translational readthrough of premature termination codons (PTCs) induced by
      pharmacological compounds has proven to be an effective way of restoring
      functional protein expression and reducing symptoms in several genetic disorders.
      We tested the potential of different concentrations of several aminoglycosides
      (AAGs) for promoting PTC-readthrough in 5 genes involved in the pathogenesis of
      primary ciliary dyskinesia, an inherited disorder caused by the dysfunction of
      motile cilia and flagella. The efficiency of readthrough stimulation of PTCs
      cloned in dual reporter vectors was examined in 2 experimental settings: in vitro
      (transcription/translation system) and ex vivo (transiently transfected
      epithelial cell line). PTC-readthrough was observed in 5 of the 16 mutations
      analyzed. UGA codons were more susceptible to AAG-stimulated readthrough than
      UAG; no suppression of UAA was observed. The efficiency of PTC-readthrough in
      vitro (from less than 1% to ~28% of the translation from the corresponding wild
      type constructs) differed with the AAG type and concentration, and depended on
      the combination of AAG and PTC, indicating that each PTC has to be individually
      tested with a range of stimulating compounds. The maximal values of PTC
      suppression observed in the ex vivo experiments were, depending on AAG used, 3-5
      times lower than the corresponding values in vitro, despite using AAG
      concentrations that were 2 orders of magnitude higher. This indicates that, while
      the in vitro system is sufficient to examine the readthrough-susceptibility of
      PTCs, it is not sufficient to test the compounds potential to stimulate PTC
      readthrough in the living cells. Most of the tested compounds (except for G418)
      at their highest concentrations did not disturb ciliogenesis in the cultures of
      primary respiratory epithelial cells from healthy donors.

PMID- 27618202
TI  - Communicating the results of criterion referenced prediction measures: Risk
      categories for the Static-99R and Static-2002R sexual offender risk assessment
      tools.
AB  - This article describes principles for developing risk category labels for
      criterion referenced prediction measures, and demonstrates their utility by
      creating new risk categories for the Static-99R and Static-2002R sexual offender
      risk assessment tools. Currently, risk assessments in corrections and forensic
      mental health are typically summarized in 1 of 3 words: low, moderate, or high.
      Although these risk labels have strong influence on decision makers, they are
      interpreted differently across settings, even among trained professionals. The
      current article provides a framework for standardizing risk communication by
      matching (a) the information contained in risk tools to (b) a broadly applicable
      classification of "riskiness" that is independent of any particular offender risk
      scale. We found that the new, common STATIC risk categories not only increase
      concordance of risk classification (from 51% to 72%)-they also allow evaluators
      to make the same inferences for offenders in the same category regardless of
      which instrument was used to assign category membership. More generally, we argue
      that the risk categories should be linked to the decisions at hand, and that risk
      communication can be improved by grounding these risk categories in evidence
      based definitions. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618203
TI  - Revised scoring and improved reliability for the Communication Patterns
      Questionnaire.
AB  - The Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ; Christensen, 1987) is a widely
      used self-report measure of couple communication behavior and is well validated
      for assessing the demand/withdraw interaction pattern, which is a robust
      predictor of poor relationship and individual outcomes (Schrodt, Witt, &
      Shimkowski, 2014). However, no studies have examined the CPQ's factor structure
      using analytic techniques sufficient by modern standards, nor have any studies
      replicated the factor structure using additional samples. Further, the current
      scoring system uses fewer than half of the total items for its 4 subscales,
      despite the existence of unused items that have content conceptually consistent
      with those subscales. These characteristics of the CPQ have likely contributed to
      findings that subscale scores are often troubled by suboptimal psychometric
      properties such as low internal reliability (e.g., Christensen, Eldridge, Catta
      Preta, Lim, & Santagata, 2006). The present study uses exploratory and
      confirmatory factor analyses on 4 samples to reexamine the factor structure of
      the CPQ to improve scale score reliability and to determine if including more
      items in the subscales is warranted. Results indicate that a 3-factor solution
      (constructive communication and 2 demand/withdraw scales) provides the best fit
      for the data. That factor structure was confirmed in the replication samples.
      Compared with the original scales, the revised scales include additional items
      that expand the conceptual range of the constructs, substantially improve
      reliability of scale scores, and demonstrate stronger associations with
      relationship satisfaction and sensitivity to change in therapy. Implications for
      research and treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618205
TI  - little sister: An Afro-Temporal Solo-Play.
AB  - little sister: An Afro-Temporal Solo-Play is at once a memory-scape and a mytho
      biography set to poetry, movement, and mixed media. A performance poem spanning
      from the Antebellum South to present-moment Chicago, it tells the story of a
      nomadic spirit named little-she who shape-shifts through the memories and
      imaginings of her sister, the narrator. Through the characters little-she and the
      narrator, the solo-performance explores embodied ways to rupture and relieve the
      impact of macro forms of violence in the micro realm of the everyday. To this
      end, little sister witnesses and disrupts the legacy of violence in the lives of
      queer Black women through a trans-temporal navigation of everyday encounters
      within familial, small groups and intimate partner spaces.

PMID- 27618204
TI  - Bioactive Formylated Flavonoids from Eugenia rigida: Isolation, Synthesis, and X
      ray Crystallography.
AB  - Two new flavonoids, rac-6-formyl-5,7-dihydroxyflavanone (1) and 2',6'-dihydroxy
      4'-methoxy-3'-methylchalcone (2), together with five known derivatives, rac-8
      formyl-5,7-dihydroxyflavanone (3), 4',6'-dihydroxy-2'-methoxy-3'
      methyldihydrochalcone (4), rac-7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-6-methylflavanone (5), 3'
      formyl-2',4',6'-trihydroxy-5'-methyldihydrochalcone (6), and 3'-formyl-2',4',6'
      trihydroxydihydrochalcone (7), were isolated from the leaves of Eugenia rigida.
      The individual (S)- and (R)-enantiomers of 1 and 3, together with the
      corresponding formylated flavones 8 (6-formyl-5,7-dihydroxyflavone) and 9 (8
      formyl-5,7-dihydroxyflavone), as well as 2',4',6'-trihydroxychalcone (10), 3'
      formyl-2',4',6'-trihydroxychalcone (11), and the corresponding 3'-formyl-2',4',6'
      trihydroxydihydrochalcone (7) and 2',4',6'-trihydroxydihydrochalcone (12), were
      synthesized. The structures of the isolated and synthetic compounds were
      established via NMR, HRESIMS, and electronic circular dichroism data. In
      addition, the structures of 3, 5, and 8 were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction crystallography. The isolated and synthetic flavonoids were evaluated
      for their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities against a panel of
      microorganisms and solid tumor cell lines.

PMID- 27618206
TI  - Associations Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Overweight With Academic
      Performance in 12-Year-Old Brazilian Children.
AB  - : Obesity has been associated with poor academic achievement, while
      cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has been linked to academic success. PURPOSE: To
      investigate whether CRF is associated with academic performance in Brazilian
      students, independently of body mass index (BMI), fatness and socioeconomic
      status (SES). METHODS: 392 5th and 6th grade students (193 girls) (12.11 +/- 0.75
      years old) were evaluated in 2012. Skinfold thickness measures were performed,
      and students were classified according to BMI-percentile. CRF was estimated by a
      20-meter shuttle run test, and academic achievement by standardized math and
      Portuguese tests. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to explore
      the association between academic performance and CRF, adjusted for SES, skinfold
      thickness or BMI-percentile. RESULTS: Among girls CRF was associated with higher
      academic achievement in math (beta = 0.146;p = .003) and Portuguese (beta =
      0.129;p = .004) in crude and adjusted analyses. No significant association was
      found among boys. BMI was not associated with overall academic performance. There
      was a weak negative association between skinfold thickness and performance in
      mathematics in boys (beta =- 0.030;p = .04), but not in girls. CONCLUSION: The
      results highlight the importance of maintaining high fitness levels in girls
      throughout adolescence a period commonly associated with reductions in physical
      activity levels and CRF.

PMID- 27618207
TI  - Shape-Memory and Self-Healing Effects in Mechanosalient Molecular Crystals.
AB  - The thermosalient crystals of terephthalic acid are extraordinarily mechanically
      compliant and reversibly shape-shift between two forms with different crystal
      habits. While the transition of form II to form I is spontaneous, the transition
      of form I to form II is latent and can be triggered by applying local mechanical
      stress, whereby crystals leap several centimeters in air. This mechanosalient
      effect (mechanically stimulated motility) is due to sudden release of strain that
      has accrued in the crystal of form I, which is a metastable structure at ambient
      conditions. High-speed optical analysis and serial scanning electron microscopy
      reveal that the mechanical effect is due to rapid reshaping of crystal domains on
      a millisecond time scale triggered by mechanical stimulation. Mechanically pre
      deformed crystals taken over the thermal phase transition exhibit memory effects
      and partially regain their shape, while cracked, sliced, or otherwise damaged
      crystals tend to recover their macroscopic integrity by restorative action of
      intermolecular pi-pi interactions in a manner which resembles the behavior of
      shape-memory and self-healing polymers. These observations provide additional
      evidence that the thermo-/photo-/mechanosalient effects are macroscopic
      manifestations of martensitic-type transitions in molecular solids.

PMID- 27618209
TI  - Atypical modes of bacterial histidine kinase signaling.
AB  - The environment of a cell has a profound influence on its physiology, development
      and evolution. Accordingly, the capacity to sense and respond to physical and
      chemical signals in the environment is an important feature of cellular biology.
      In bacteria, environmental sensory perception is often regulated by two-component
      signal transduction systems (TCSTs). Canonical TCST entails signal-induced
      autophosphorylation of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) followed by phosphoryl
      transfer to a cognate response regulator (RR) protein, which may affect gene
      expression at multiple levels. Recent studies provide evidence for systems that
      do not adhere to this archetypal TCST signaling model. We present selected
      examples of atypical modes of signal transduction including inactivation of HK
      activity via homo- and hetero oligomerization, and cross-phosphorylation between
      HKs. These examples highlight mechanisms bacteria use to integrate environmental
      signals to control complex adaptive processes.

PMID- 27618215
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27618214
TI  - Mott transitions in the periodic Anderson model.
AB  - The periodic Anderson model (PAM) is studied within the framework of dynamical
      mean-field theory, with particular emphasis on the interaction-driven Mott
      transition it contains, and on resultant Mott insulators of both Mott-Hubbard and
      charge-transfer type. The form of the PAM phase diagram is first deduced on
      general grounds using two exact results, over the full range of model parameters
      and including metallic, Mott, Kondo and band insulator phases. The effective low
      energy model which describes the PAM in the vicinity of a Mott transition is then
      shown to be a one-band Hubbard model, with effective hoppings that are not in
      general solely nearest neighbour, but decay exponentially with distance. This
      mapping is shown to have a range of implications for the physics of the problem,
      from phase boundaries to single-particle dynamics; all of which are confirmed and
      supplemented by NRG calculations. Finally we consider the locally degenerate, non
      Fermi liquid Mott insulator, to describe which requires a two-self-energy
      description. This is shown to yield a number of exact results for the associated
      local moment, charge, and interaction-renormalised levels, together with a
      generalisation of Luttinger's theorem to the Mott insulator.

PMID- 27618216
TI  - Functional Impairment in Miro Degradation and Mitophagy Is a Shared Feature in
      Familial and Sporadic Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Mitochondrial movements are tightly controlled to maintain energy homeostasis and
      prevent oxidative stress. Miro is an outer mitochondrial membrane protein that
      anchors mitochondria to microtubule motors and is removed to stop mitochondrial
      motility as an early step in the clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria. Here,
      using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons and other
      complementary models, we build on a previous connection of Parkinson's disease
      (PD)-linked PINK1 and Parkin to Miro by showing that a third PD-related protein,
      LRRK2, promotes Miro removal by forming a complex with Miro. Pathogenic
      LRRK2G2019S disrupts this function, delaying the arrest of damaged mitochondria
      and consequently slowing the initiation of mitophagy. Remarkably, partial
      reduction of Miro levels in LRRK2G2019S human neuron and Drosophila PD models
      rescues neurodegeneration. Miro degradation and mitochondrial motility are also
      impaired in sporadic PD patients. We reveal that prolonged retention of Miro, and
      the downstream consequences that ensue, may constitute a central component of PD
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 27618217
TI  - Glycolytic Metabolism Plays a Functional Role in Regulating Human Pluripotent
      Stem Cell State.
AB  - The rate of glycolytic metabolism changes during differentiation of human
      embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotency.
      However, the functional contribution of glycolytic metabolism to the pluripotent
      state is unclear. Here we show that naive hESCs exhibit increased glycolytic
      flux, MYC transcriptional activity, and nuclear N-MYC localization relative to
      primed hESCs. This status is consistent with the inner cell mass of human
      blastocysts, where MYC transcriptional activity is higher than in primed hESCs
      and nuclear N-MYC levels are elevated. Reduction of glycolysis decreases self
      renewal of naive hESCs and feeder-free primed hESCs, but not primed hESCs grown
      in feeder-supported conditions. Reduction of glycolysis in feeder-free primed
      hESCs also enhances neural specification. These findings reveal associations
      between glycolytic metabolism and human naive pluripotency and differences in the
      metabolism of feeder-/feeder-free cultured hESCs. They may also suggest methods
      for regulating self-renewal and initial cell fate specification of hESCs.

PMID- 27618220
TI  - Ozone Therapy and Its Use in Medicine: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

PMID- 27618221
TI  - What's in a Context? Tenses and Tensions in Evidence-Based Medicine.

PMID- 27618218
TI  - Adventitial MSC-like Cells Are Progenitors of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and
      Drive Vascular Calcification in Chronic Kidney Disease.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cells reside in the vascular wall, but their
      role in vascular regeneration and disease is poorly understood. Here, we show
      that Gli1+ cells located in the arterial adventitia are progenitors of vascular
      smooth muscle cells and contribute to neointima formation and repair after acute
      injury to the femoral artery. Genetic fate tracing indicates that adventitial
      Gli1+ MSC-like cells migrate into the media and neointima during athero- and
      arteriosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice with chronic kidney disease. Our data indicate
      that Gli1+ cells are a major source of osteoblast-like cells during calcification
      in the media and intima. Genetic ablation of Gli1+ cells before induction of
      kidney injury dramatically reduced the severity of vascular calcification. These
      findings implicate Gli1+ cells as critical adventitial progenitors in vascular
      remodeling after acute and during chronic injury and suggest that they may be
      relevant therapeutic targets for mitigation of vascular calcification.

PMID- 27618223
TI  - Neurodegenerative Disorders and Periodontal Disease: Is There a Logical
      Connection?

PMID- 27618222
TI  - Anthropologists in Global Health Experiments.
AB  - Can global health experiments be part of more flexible systems of knowledge
      generation, where different bodies of knowledge come together to provide
      understanding not only of the outcomes of new interventions but also of the
      mechanisms through which they affect people's well-being and health? Building
      past work in which they tried to transform how global health experiments are
      carried out and inspired by the articles in this special issue, the authors of
      this commentary argue that strategic collaboration is needed to break the
      hegemony of randomized controlled trials in designing global health technologies.
      More open-ended experiments are possible if anthropologists team up with
      innovative researchers in biomedicine to develop new conceptual models and to
      adopt novel observational techniques and 'smart' trials that incorporate
      ethnography to unravel complex interactions between local biologies, attributes
      of health systems, social infrastructures, and users' everyday lives.

PMID- 27618225
TI  - Programmed death ligand 1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: A prognostic
      marker and therapeutic target for liver cancer?

PMID- 27618224
TI  - Angiogenic Rg1 /Sr-Doped TiO2 Nanowire/Poly(Propylene Fumarate) Bone Cement
      Composites.
AB  - A new approach is provided for preparing radiopaque and angiogenic poly(propylene
      fumarate) (PPF) bone cements by integrating Sr-doped n-TiO2 nanowires and
      ginsenoside Rg1 suitable for treating osteonecrosis. High aspect ratio radiopaque
      TiO2 -nanowires are synthesized by strontium doping in supercritical CO2 for the
      first time, showing a new phase, SrTiO3 . PPF is synthesized using a
      transesterification method by reacting diethyl fumarate and propylene glycol,
      then functionalized using maleic anhydride to produce terminal carboxyl groups,
      which are subsequently linked to the nanowires. The strong interfacial adhesion
      between functionalized PPF and nanowires is examined by scanning electron
      microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal
      analysis, and mechanical testing. An angiogenic modulator, ginsenoside Rg1 , is
      integrated into the bone cement formulation with the mechanical properties,
      radiopacity, drug release, and angiogenesis behavior of the formed composites
      explored. The results show superior radiopacity and excellent release of
      ginsenoside Rg1 in vitro, as well as a dose-dependent increase in the branching
      point numbers. The present study suggests this new methodology provides
      sufficient mechanical properties, radiopacity, and angiogenic activity to be
      suitable for cementation of necrotic bone.

PMID- 27618226
TI  - Physiological Profile of Male Competitive and Recreational Surfers.
AB  - Furness, J, Hing, W, Sheppard, JM, Newcomer, S, Schram, B, and Climstein, M.
      Physiological profile of male competitive and recreational surfers. J Strength
      Cond Res 32(2): 372-378, 2018-Surfing consists of both high- and low-intensity
      paddling of varying durations, using both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. Surf
      specific physiological studies lack adequate group sample sizes, and V[Combining
      Dot Above]O2peak values are yet to determine the differences between competitive
      and recreational surfers. The purpose of this study was therefore to provide a
      comprehensive physiological profile of both recreational and competitive surfers.
      This multisite study involved 62 male surfers, recreational (n = 47) and
      competitive (n = 15). Anthropometric measurements were conducted followed by dual
      energy x-ray absorptiometry, anaerobic testing and finally aerobic testing.
      V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak was significantly greater in competitive surfers
      than in recreational surfers (M = 40.71 +/- 3.28 vs. 31.25 +/- 6.31 ml.kg.min, p
      < 0.001). This was also paralleled for anaerobic power (M = 303.93 vs. 264.58 W)
      for competitive surfers. Arm span and lean total muscle mass was significantly (p
      <= 0.01) correlated with key performance variables (V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak
      and anaerobic power). No significant (p >= 0.05) correlations were revealed
      between season rank and each of the variables of interest (V[Combining Dot
      Above]O2peak and anaerobic power). Key performance variables (V[Combining Dot
      Above]O2peak and anaerobic power) are significantly higher in competitive
      surfers, indicating that this is both an adaptation and requirement in this
      cohort. This battery of physiological tests could be used as a screening tool to
      identify an athlete's weaknesses or strengths. Coaches and clinicians could then
      select appropriate training regimes to address weaknesses.

PMID- 27618228
TI  - Cyclic Tensile Strain Reduces TNF-alpha Induced Expression of MMP-13 by Condylar
      Temporomandibular Joint Cells.
AB  - To investigate whether the disproportionate degradation of mandibular condyle
      cartilage in arthritic juvenile temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is related to
      distinctive responses of TMJ-derived cells to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha), and whether mechanical loading affects this response. The effect of TNF
      alpha (0.1-10 ng/ml) was tested on juvenile porcine TMJ cells isolated from the
      condyle, fossa, and disc, grown in 3D agarose gels. Expression of anabolic and
      catabolic factors was quantified by RT-qPCR and/or immunohistochemistry. Condylar
      cells were stimulated for 12 h with TNF-alpha (10 ng/ml), followed by 8 h of 6%
      cyclic tensile strain, and gene expression of MMPs was quantified. TNF-alpha (10
      ng/ml) reduced the expression of the matrix proteins collagen types I and II
      after 6 h of incubation. Aggrecan gene expression was increased in the presence
      of 0.1 ng/ml TNF-alpha. The fossa and disc cells responded to TNF-alpha with an
      increased expression of the aggrecanase ADAMTS4. TNF-alpha enhanced MMP-13 gene
      and protein expression only by condylar cells. Mechanical loading reduced this
      effect. Cells isolated from the different cartilaginous structures reacted
      differently to TNF-alpha. Since the disc and fossa contain a very low level of
      proteoglycans in comparison to the condyle, the role played by ADAMTS4 in
      degradation of the fossa and disc might be limited. TNF-alpha induced MMP-13
      expression by condylar cells might be involved in the degradation of the juvenile
      condyle. Since this expression was reduced by mechanical loading, functional
      loading with oral physiotherapy or orthodontic activators may help to reduce the
      catabolic effect of TNF-alpha. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1287-1294, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618227
TI  - Hindbrain A2 noradrenergic neuron adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein
      kinase activation, upstream kinase/phosphorylase protein expression, and
      receptivity to hormone and fuel reporters of short-term food deprivation are
      regulated by estradiol.
AB  - Estradiol (E) mitigates acute and postacute adverse effects of 12 hr-food
      deprivation (FD) on energy balance. Hindbrain 5'-monophosphate-activated protein
      kinase (AMPK) regulates hyperphagic and hypothalamic metabolic neuropeptide and
      norepinephrine responses to FD in an E-dependent manner. Energy-state information
      from AMPK-expressing hindbrain A2 noradrenergic neurons shapes neural responses
      to metabolic imbalance. Here we investigate the hypothesis that FD causes
      divergent changes in A2 AMPK activity in E- vs. oil (O)-implanted ovariectomized
      female rats, alongside dissimilar adjustments in circulating metabolic fuel
      (glucose, free fatty acids [FFA]) and energy deficit-sensitive hormone
      (corticosterone, glucagon, leptin) levels. FD decreased blood glucose in oil (O)-
      but not E-implanted ovariectomized female rats and elevated and reduced glucagon
      levels in O and E, respectively. FD decreased circulating leptin in O and E, but
      increased corticosterone and FFA concentrations in E only. Western blot analysis
      of laser-microdissected A2 neurons showed that glucocorticoid receptor type II
      and very-long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 3 protein profiles were amplified in FD/E
      vs. FD/O. A2 total AMPK protein was elevated without change in activity in FD/O,
      whereas FD/E exhibited increased AMPK activation along with decreased upstream
      phosphatase expression. The catecholamine biosynthetic enzyme dopamine-beta
      hydroxylase (DbetaH) was increased in FD/O but not FD/E A2 cells. The data show
      discordance between A2 AMPK activation and glycemic responses to FD; sensor
      activity was refractory to glucose decrements in FD/O but augmented in FD/E
      despite stabilized glucose and elevated FFA levels. E-dependent amplification of
      AMPK activity may reflect adaptive conversion to fatty acid oxidation and/or
      glucocorticoid stimulation. FD augmentation of A2 DbetaH protein profiles in FD/O
      but not FD/E animals suggests that FD may correspondingly regulate NE synthesis
      vs. metabolism/release in the absence vs. presence of E. Mechanisms underlying
      translation of E-contingent A2 neuron responses to FD into regulatory signaling
      remain to be determined. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618229
TI  - Muscle Activation in World-Champion, World-Class, and National Breaststroke
      Swimmers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the muscle-activation patterns and coactivation with the
      support of kinematics in some of the world's best breaststrokers and identify
      performance discriminants related to national elites at maximal effort. METHODS:
      Surface electromyography was collected in 8 muscles from 4 world-class (including
      2 world champions) and 4 national elite breaststroke swimmers during a 25-m
      breaststroke at maximal effort. RESULTS: World-class spent less time during the
      leg recovery (P = .043), began this phase with a smaller knee angle (154.6
      degrees  vs 161.8 degrees ), and had a higher median velocity of 0.18 m/s during
      the leg glide than national elites. Compared with national elites, world-class
      swimmers showed a difference in the muscle-activation patterns for all 8 muscles.
      In the leg-propulsion phase, there was less triceps brachii activation (1 swimmer
      6% vs median 23.0% [8.8]). In the leg-glide phase, there was activation in rectus
      femoris and gastrocnemius during the beginning of this phase (all world-class vs
      only 1 national elite) and a longer activation in pectoralis major (world
      champions 71% [0.5] vs 50.0 [4.3]) (propulsive phase of the arms). In the leg
      recovery phase, there was more activation in biceps femoris (50.0% [15.0] vs
      20.0% [14.0]) and a later and quicker activation in tibialis anterior (40.0%
      [7.8] vs 52.0% [6.0]). In the stroke cycle, there was no coactivation in tibialis
      anterior and gastrocnemius for world champions. CONCLUSION: These components are
      important performance discriminants. They can be used to improve muscle
      activation patterns and kinematics through the different breaststroke phases.
      Furthermore, they can be used as focus points for teaching breaststroke to
      beginners.

PMID- 27618230
TI  - Viscoelastic Properties of Human Tracheal Tissues.
AB  - The physiological performance of trachea is highly dependent on its mechanical
      behavior, and therefore, the mechanical properties of its components. Mechanical
      characterization of trachea is key to succeed in new treatments such as tissue
      engineering, which requires the utilization of scaffolds which are mechanically
      compatible with the native human trachea. In this study, after isolating human
      trachea samples from brain-dead cases and proper storage, we assessed the
      viscoelastic properties of tracheal cartilage, smooth muscle, and connective
      tissue based on stress relaxation tests (at 5% and 10% strains for cartilage and
      20%, 30%, and 40% for smooth muscle and connective tissue). After investigation
      of viscoelastic linearity, constitutive models including Prony series for linear
      viscoelasticity and quasi-linear viscoelastic, modified superposition, and
      Schapery models for nonlinear viscoelasticity were fitted to the experimental
      data to find the best model for each tissue. We also investigated the effect of
      age on the viscoelastic behavior of tracheal tissues. Based on the results, all
      three tissues exhibited a (nonsignificant) decrease in relaxation rate with
      increasing the strain, indicating viscoelastic nonlinearity which was most
      evident for cartilage and with the least effect for connective tissue. The three
      term Prony model was selected for describing the linear viscoelasticity. Among
      different models, the modified superposition model was best able to capture the
      relaxation behavior of the three tracheal components. We observed a general (but
      not significant) stiffening of tracheal cartilage and connective tissue with
      aging. No change in the stress relaxation percentage with aging was observed. The
      results of this study may be useful in the design and fabrication of tracheal
      tissue engineering scaffolds.

PMID- 27271872
TI  - Effects of Treatment of Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia on Graft Survival and
      Mortality in Kidney Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND Hyperuricemia is very common after renal transplantation. It is
      associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and graft loss. To
      date, however, treatment is only recommended in symptomatic disease. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS We included 503 adult patients who underwent kidney transplantation at
      the Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin in this retrospective study. Patients were
      followed up for up to 120 months. All-cause mortality, graft survival, changes in
      level of serum uric acid (SUA), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
      were analyzed. RESULTS At 12 months post-transplantation, 225 patients had a
      serum uric acid (SUA) level >7 mg/dl: 52 patients were treated with allopurinol,
      37 with benzbromarone, and 136 patients received no medication for hyperuricemia
      (control). At 12 months, eGFR did not differ between groups (p=0.15) but treated
      patients had higher SUA levels (p<0.001) compared to the control group. SUA
      lowering treatment was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality
      (p=0.013) and graft loss (p=0.014) compared to controls. At 120 months, patients
      in the treatment group had lower SUA levels (p=0.001) and higher eGFR (p<0.001)
      compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS Treatment of asymptomatic
      hyperuricemia was associated with a substantial benefit in patient and graft
      survival. 

PMID- 27618231
TI  - Pretreatment of donor islets with papain improves allograft survival without
      systemic immunosuppression in mice.
AB  - Although current immunosuppression protocols improve the efficacy of clinical
      allogenic islet transplantation, T cell-mediated allorejection remains
      unresolved, and major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) play a crucial role in
      this process. Papain, a cysteine protease, has the unique ability to cleave the
      extracellular domain of the MHC class I structure. We hypothesized that
      pretreatment of donor islets with papain would diminish the expression of MHC
      class I on islets, reducing allograft immunogenicity and contributing to
      prolongation of islet allograft survival. BALB/c islets pretreated with papain
      were transplanted into C57BL/6J mice as an acute allorejection model. Treatment
      with 1 mg/mL papain significantly prolonged islet allograft survival. In vitro,
      to determine the inhibitory effect on T cell-mediated alloreactions, we performed
      lymphocyte proliferation assays and mixed lymphocyte reactions. Host T cell
      activation against allogenic islet cells was remarkably suppressed by
      pretreatment of donor islet cells with 10 mg/mL papain. Flow cytometric analysis
      was also performed to investigate the effect of papain treatment on the
      expression of MHC class I on islets. One or 10 mg/mL papain treatment reduced MHC
      class I expression on the islet cell surface. Pretreatment of donor islets with
      papain suppresses MHC class I-mediated allograft rejection in mice and
      contributes to prolongation of islet allograft survival without administration of
      systemic immunosuppressants. These results suggest that pretreatment of human
      donor islets with papain may reduce the immunogenicity of the donor islets and
      minimize the dosage of systemic immunosuppressants required in a clinical
      setting.

PMID- 27618233
TI  - ACSM Clinician Profile.

PMID- 27618234
TI  - Fighting Muscle Cramps With Two Spices and One Hot Fruit.

PMID- 27618236
TI  - Elbow Injury in the Throwing Athlete.

PMID- 27618237
TI  - Clinical Pearl Procedure: Reducing an Anterior Shoulder Dislocation on the
      Sideline.

PMID- 27618238
TI  - National Collegiate Athletic Association Football and Conditioning Deaths-A
      Positive Progress Report.

PMID- 27618239
TI  - Subspine Hip Impingement: An Unusual Cause of Hip Pain in an Elite Weightlifter.
AB  - Anterior hip pain can be difficult to diagnose due to the many pathologies and
      overlapping pain patterns that exist in the hip region. Clinical findings of pain
      at the anterior inferior iliac spine with passive hip flexion, proximal
      quadriceps pain and weakness, and painful impingement tests of the hip may be
      indicative of subspine hip impingement. This report describes the diagnosis and
      treatment of anterior hip pain, including subspine impingement and
      femoroacetabular impingement in an elite weightlifter. This case also describes
      how with the correct diagnosis and treatment, the athlete returned to play to her
      previous level of sport 11 months after a complex hip injury. 

PMID- 27618240
TI  - Muscular Calf Injuries in Runners.
AB  - Calf pain is a common complaint among runners of all ages but is most frequent in
      masters athletes. This article focuses on injuries to the triceps surae or true
      'calf muscles.' The most common calf injury is a tear of the medial gastrocnemius
      muscle (Tennis Leg) but other structures including the lateral gastrocnemius,
      plantaris and soleus also may be the cause of muscular pain. This article looks
      at the presentation, evaluation, and treatment of these injuries. We also
      highlight some examples of musculoskeletal ultrasound which is a valuable tool
      for rapid diagnosis of the cause and extent of injury. 

PMID- 27618241
TI  - Elbow Injuries in the Young Throwing Athlete.
AB  - Baseball pitchers and other throwing athletes place their elbows under tremendous
      stresses, making them vulnerable to a number of unique injuries. Skeletally
      immature throwers in particular are at a greater risk for growth plate and other
      bony injuries, due to the relative strengths of these tissues and the kinematics
      involved in throwing. Care should be taken to fully evaluate these injuries based
      on the particular history and presentation to properly direct treatment and
      rehabilitation. Patients, as well as other athletes, coaches, and families, also
      should be made aware of the significant risk factors for these injuries,
      especially those regarding pitch limits, proper mechanics, and sufficient rest. 

PMID- 27618242
TI  - Etiological Foundation for Practical Strategies to Prevent Exercise-Related Foot
      Blisters.
AB  - This work outlines the etiological factors for exercise-related foot blisters and
      the pertinent prevention strategies related to these causes. Blisters result from
      shear forces within the epidermis causing cell necrosis. The extent of skin shear
      is influenced by friction at the skin and other interfaces, various skin
      characteristics, bony movement, and the shear modulus of the foot ware. The
      number of shear cycles is another factor in the development of blisters. Key
      preventative strategies include limiting the number of shear cycles, avoiding
      moisture and particulate accumulation next to the skin, frequent use of skin
      lubricants, elimination of pressure points through proper fitting and broken in
      shoes and callous removal, use of low shear modulus insoles, and induction of
      skin adaptations through proper training. Other methods requiring further
      research, but with theoretical support, include the use of taping and low
      friction patches over high-friction areas, and double-layered or toe socks. 

PMID- 27618243
TI  - Softball Pitching and Injury.
AB  - The windmill softball pitch generates considerable forces about the athlete's
      shoulder and elbow. The injury pattern of softball pitchers seems to be primarily
      overuse injury, and they seem not to suffer the same volume of injury that
      baseball pitchers do. This article will explore softball pitching techniques,
      kinetics and kinematics of the windmill pitch, epidemiology of softball pitchers,
      and discuss possible etiologies of softball pitching injuries. 

PMID- 27618244
TI  - Development and Prevention of Running-Related Osteoarthritis.
AB  - Studies investigating the effect of running on risk for developing osteoarthritis
      at weight-bearing joints have reported with conflicting results. Generally,
      moderate-level running is not likely detrimental to joint health. However, many
      factors may be associated with the increased risk of developing osteoarthritis in
      runners. Factors often implicated in the development of osteoarthritis comprise
      those that increase joint vulnerability and those which increase joint loading.
      It is therefore suggested that running has different effects on different people.
      Efforts should be made to identify those with joint vulnerability and joint
      loading, and measures should be taken to have those factors and/or their running
      programs modified to run safely. Further investigations are needed to examine the
      effect of running on joint health under different conditions to confirm the
      association between exposure to risk factors and development of osteoarthritis,
      as well as to validate the effectiveness of measures for preventing running
      related osteoarthritis. 

PMID- 27618245
TI  - Two-Dimensional Video Analysis of Youth and Adolescent Pitching Biomechanics: A
      Tool For the Common Athlete.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis is the gold standard for analyzing the
      biomechanics of the baseball pitching motion. Historically, 3D analysis has been
      available primarily to elite athletes, requiring advanced cameras, and
      sophisticated facilities with expensive software. The advent of newer technology,
      and increased affordability of video recording devices, and smartphone/tablet
      based applications has led to increased access to this technology for
      youth/amateur athletes and sports medicine professionals. Two-dimensional (2D)
      video analysis is an emerging tool for the kinematic assessment and observational
      measurement of pitching biomechanics. It is important for providers, coaches, and
      players to be aware of this technology, its application in identifying causes of
      arm pain and preventing injury, as well as its limitations. This review provides
      an in-depth assessment of 2D video analysis studies for pitching, a direct
      comparison of 2D video versus 3D motion analysis, and a practical introduction to
      assessing pitching biomechanics using 2D video analysis. 

PMID- 27618246
TI  - AMSSM Position Statement on Cardiovascular Preparticipation Screening in
      Athletes: Current Evidence, Knowledge Gaps, Recommendations and Future
      Directions.
AB  - Cardiovascular screening in young athletes is widely recommended and routinely
      performed prior to participation in competitive sports. While there is general
      agreement that early detection of cardiac conditions at risk for sudden cardiac
      arrest and death (SCA/D) is an important objective, the optimal strategy for
      cardiovascular screening in athletes remains an issue of considerable debate. At
      the center of the controversy is the addition of a resting electrocardiogram
      (ECG) to the standard preparticipation evaluation using history and physical
      examination. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) formed a
      task force to address the current evidence and knowledge gaps regarding
      preparticipation cardiovascular screening in athletes from the perspective of a
      primary care sports medicine physician. The absence of definitive outcomes-based
      evidence at this time precludes AMSSM from endorsing any single or universal
      cardiovascular screening strategy for all athletes, including legislative
      mandates. This statement presents a new paradigm to assist the individual
      physician in assessing the most appropriate cardiovascular screening strategy
      unique to their athlete population, community needs, and resources. The decision
      to implement a cardiovascular screening program, with or without the addition of
      ECG, necessitates careful consideration of the risk of SCA/D in the targeted
      population and the availability of cardiology resources and infrastructure.
      Importantly, it is the individual physician's assessment in the context of an
      emerging evidence-base that the chosen model for early detection of cardiac
      disorders in the specific population provides greater benefit than harm. AMSSM is
      committed to advancing evidenced-based research and educational initiatives that
      will validate and promote the most efficacious strategies to foster safe sport
      participation and reduce SCA/D in athletes. 

PMID- 27618247
TI  - Model Building of Antibody-Antigen Complex Structures Using GBSA Scores.
AB  - Structure prediction of antibody-antigen complexes, which involves molecular
      docking to generate decoys that are ranked using a scoring function, is an
      important approach in the design of antibody drugs and biosensors. However, it is
      not easy to evaluate the stability of protein-protein complexes, using a single
      scoring function. Here, we developed a prediction method of antibody-antigen
      complex structures using the docking engine "surFit" and a scoring function (GBSA
      score) that combined the generalized Born (GB) energy and the hydration energy
      based on the solvent-accessible surface area (SA). We chose 95 antibody-antigen
      structural datasets for self-docking and generated many decoy structures using
      the surFit program. The GBSA scores were computed for all of the decoys, and the
      area under the curve (AUC) of the GBSA scores yielded a higher value (0.972) than
      the values obtained by the original surFit scores (0.873) and the ZRANK scores
      (0.953). To improve the accuracy of prediction, molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulations were performed for several decoy structures that had good GBSA
      scores. Consequently, average GBSA scores from MD trajectories can reduce the
      number of non-native decoys that have GBSA scores competitive with the near
      native ones.

PMID- 27618248
TI  - Effect of Retraining Approach-Avoidance Tendencies on an Exercise Task: A
      Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Promoting regular physical activity (PA) and lessening sedentary
      behaviors (SB) constitute a public health priority. Recent evidence suggests that
      PA and SB are not only related to reflective processes (eg, behavioral
      intentions), but also to impulsive approach-avoidance tendencies (IAAT). This
      study aims to test the effect of a computerized IAAT intervention on an exercise
      task. METHODS: Participants (N = 115) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3
      experimental conditions, in which they were either trained to approach PA and
      avoid SB (ApPA-AvSB condition), to approach SB and avoid PA (ApSB-AvPA
      condition), or to approach and avoid PA and SB equally often (active control
      condition). The main outcome variable was the time spent carrying out a moderate
      intensity exercise task. RESULTS: IAAT toward PA decreased in the ApSB-AvPA
      condition, tended to increase in the ApPA-AvSB condition, and remained stable in
      the control condition. Most importantly, the ApPA-AvSB manipulation led to more
      time spent exercising than the ApSB-AvPA condition. Sensitivity analyses
      excluding individuals who were highly physically active further revealed that
      participants in the ApPA-AvSB condition spent more time exercising than
      participants in the control condition. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide
      preliminary evidence that a single intervention session can successfully change
      impulsive approach tendencies toward PA and can increase the time devoted to an
      exercise task, especially among individuals who need to be more physically
      active. Potential implications for health behavior theories and behavior change
      interventions are outlined.

PMID- 27618249
TI  - Quality of life and pain relief in men with metastatic castration-resistant
      prostate cancer on cabazitaxel: the non-interventional 'QoLiTime' study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine health-related quality of life (QoL) in men with metastatic
      castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) on cabazitaxel. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Men with mCRPC receiving cabazitaxel (25 mg/m2, every 3 weeks) and 10
      mg/day oral prednis(ol)one were enrolled (2011-2014) in the non-interventional
      prospective 'QoLiTime' study. Primary outcome was change in QoL (European
      Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire
      30-item) with respect to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response after four
      cycles of cabazitaxel. Secondary outcomes included occurrence of adverse events
      (AEs). RESULTS: Of 527 men, 348 received four cycles of cabazitaxel and 266 had
      the necessary PSA level measurements. After four cycles, 92 (34.6%) men had a PSA
      level decrease >=50% (responders). QoL remained stable throughout the study (P =
      0.62). Change in QoL did not differ between responders and non-responders (P =
      0.69). Change in PSA level and global health status between baseline and four
      cycles showed an inversely proportional relationship (correlation coefficient 
      0.14; 95% confidence interval -0.26 to -0.01; P = 0.03), with increasing PSA
      level corresponding to lower health status. Responders showed no change in
      physical functioning vs baseline (-1.75, P = 0.12); non-responders showed a
      reduction vs baseline (-7.00, P < 0.001) and responders (P = 0.05). Responders
      showed an improvement in pain vs baseline (-7.61, P = 0.05) and vs non-responders
      (P = 0.01). AEs occurred in 292 patients (55.4%), most commonly anaemia (16.5%),
      fatigue (12.3%) and diarrhoea (11.8%). Neutropenia and febrile neutropenia were
      reported in 3.8% and 3.6% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prostate
      specific antigen level response was associated with stable physical functioning
      and improvement in pain. Symptom increases were seen in areas typical of
      chemotoxicity, but QoL was maintained.

PMID- 27618251
TI  - Dynamic Ellipsometric Porosimetry Investigation of Permeation Pathways in
      Moisture Barrier Layers on Polymers.
AB  - The quality assessment of moisture permeation barrier layers needs to include
      both water permeation pathways, namely through bulk nanoporosity and local
      macroscale defects. Ellipsometric porosimetry (EP) has been already demonstrated
      a valuable tool for the identification of nanoporosity in inorganic thin film
      barriers, but the intrinsic lack of sensitivity toward the detection of
      macroscale defects prevents the overall barrier characterization. In this
      contribution, dynamic EP measurements are reported and shown to be sensitive to
      the detection of macroscale defects in SiO2 layers on polyethylene naphthalate
      substrate. In detail, the infiltration of probe molecules, leading to changes in
      optical properties of the polymeric substrate, is followed in time and related to
      permeation through macroscale defects. 

PMID- 27618253
TI  - Mechanical Thrombectomy for Stroke: How Distal Can We Go?

PMID- 27618250
TI  - An Inherited Genetic Variant in CEP72 Promoter Predisposes to Vincristine-Induced
      Peripheral Neuropathy in Adults With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy is a major toxicity of vincristine, yet no strategies exist
      for identifying adult patients at high-risk. We used a case-control design of 48
      adults receiving protocol therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who
      developed vincristine-induced neuropathy (NCI grade 2-4) during treatment, and 48
      matched controls who did not develop grade 2-4 neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy
      was prospectively graded by National Cancer Institute (NCI) criteria. CEP72
      promoter genotype (rs924607) was determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping. Frequency of the CEP72 T/T
      genotype was higher in cases (31% vs. 10%, P = 0.0221) and the incidence of
      vincristine-induced neuropathy (grades 2-4) was significantly higher in patients
      homozygous for the CEP72 T/T genotype. 75% of the 20 patients homozygous for the
      CEP72 T allele developed grade 2-4 neuropathy, compared to 44% of patients with
      CEP72 CC or CT genotype (P = 0.0221). The CEP72 polymorphism can identify adults
      at increased risk of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy.

PMID- 27618254
TI  - Physical therapist screening and differential diagnosis for traumatic-onset elbow
      pain: A case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Elbow pain can originate from many sources yet have
      similar signs and symptoms, thereby presenting differential diagnostic
      challenges. The elbow is commonly injured, thus requiring all clinicians to
      possess excellent diagnostic skills. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 24-year-old woman
      slipped and fell on her outstretched left hand, experiencing immediate elbow
      pain. The same day radiographs were deemed negative by her orthopedist, who
      referred her to physical therapy with the diagnoses of elbow sprain and
      contusion. Immediately after examining the patient, the physical therapist
      consulted with the referring orthopedist. The decision to consult was based on:
      the mechanism of injury, pain severity out of proportion to the referred
      diagnoses, significantly limited ROM, abnormal joint end feels, exquisite pain
      with tactile and tuning fork bony palpation, and positive elbow extension test.
      OUTCOMES: The treating physical therapist shared the above-noted findings with
      the orthopedist, who overruled and recommended continuing the original
      prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication and physical therapist
      treatment for four weeks. The physical therapist's updated plan of care at four
      weeks noted the patient's continued reports of pain, functional limitations, and
      disability. A magnetic resonance image (MRI) was then ordered, revealing a radial
      head fracture. DISCUSSION: A thorough history and examination by the physical
      therapist led to clustering of signs and symptoms, allowing for the development
      of a differential diagnosis list which included occult radial head fracture. All
      clinicians should be prepared to screen for complex conditions. Timely diagnosis
      and improved outcomes for clinically complex patients are increasingly necessary
      in contemporary healthcare reimbursement models.

PMID- 27618255
TI  - Pair correlation microscopy reveals the role of nanoparticle shape in
      intracellular transport and site of drug release.
AB  - Nanoparticle size, surface charge and material composition are known to affect
      the uptake of nanoparticles by cells. However, whether nanoparticle shape affects
      transport across various barriers inside the cell remains unclear. Here we used
      pair correlation microscopy to show that polymeric nanoparticles with different
      shapes but identical surface chemistries moved across the various cellular
      barriers at different rates, ultimately defining the site of drug release. We
      measured how micelles, vesicles, rods and worms entered the cell and whether they
      escaped from the endosomal system and had access to the nucleus via the nuclear
      pore complex. Rods and worms, but not micelles and vesicles, entered the nucleus
      by passive diffusion. Improving nuclear access, for example with a nuclear
      localization signal, resulted in more doxorubicin release inside the nucleus and
      correlated with greater cytotoxicity. Our results therefore demonstrate that drug
      delivery across the major cellular barrier, the nuclear envelope, is important
      for doxorubicin efficiency and can be achieved with appropriately shaped
      nanoparticles.

PMID- 27618256
TI  - The omega-SQUIPT as a tool to phase-engineer Josephson topological materials.
AB  - Multi-terminal superconducting Josephson junctions based on the proximity effect
      offer the opportunity to tailor non-trivial quantum states in nanoscale weak
      links. These structures can realize exotic topologies in several dimensions, for
      example, artificial topological superconductors that are able to support Majorana
      bound states, and pave the way to emerging quantum technologies and future
      quantum information schemes. Here we report the realization of a three-terminal
      Josephson interferometer based on a proximized nanosized weak link. Our
      tunnelling spectroscopy measurements reveal transitions between gapped (that is,
      insulating) and gapless (conducting) states that are controlled by the phase
      configuration of the three superconducting leads connected to the junction. We
      demonstrate the topological nature of these transitions: a gapless state
      necessarily occurs between two gapped states of different topological indices, in
      much the same way that the interface between two insulators of different
      topologies is necessarily conducting. The topological numbers that characterize
      such gapped states are given by superconducting phase windings over the two loops
      that form the Josephson interferometer. As these gapped states cannot be
      transformed to one another continuously without passing through a gapless
      condition, they are topologically protected. The same behaviour is found for all
      of the points of the weak link, confirming that this topology is a non-local
      property. Our observation of the gapless state is pivotal for enabling phase
      engineering of different and more sophisticated artificial topological materials.

PMID- 27618257
TI  - Quantifying losses and thermodynamic limits in nanophotonic solar cells.
AB  - Nanophotonic engineering shows great potential for photovoltaics: the record
      conversion efficiencies of nanowire solar cells are increasing rapidly and the
      record open-circuit voltages are becoming comparable to the records for planar
      equivalents. Furthermore, it has been suggested that certain nanophotonic effects
      can reduce costs and increase efficiencies with respect to planar solar cells.
      These effects are particularly pronounced in single-nanowire devices, where two
      out of the three dimensions are subwavelength. Single-nanowire devices thus
      provide an ideal platform to study how nanophotonics affects photovoltaics.
      However, for these devices the standard definition of power conversion efficiency
      no longer applies, because the nanowire can absorb light from an area much larger
      than its own size. Additionally, the thermodynamic limit on the photovoltage is
      unknown a priori and may be very different from that of a planar solar cell. This
      complicates the characterization and optimization of these devices. Here, we
      analyse an InP single-nanowire solar cell using intrinsic metrics to place its
      performance on an absolute thermodynamic scale and pinpoint performance loss
      mechanisms. To determine these metrics we have developed an integrating sphere
      microscopy set-up that enables simultaneous and spatially resolved quantitative
      absorption, internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and photoluminescence quantum yield
      (PLQY) measurements. For our record single-nanowire solar cell, we measure a
      photocurrent collection efficiency of >90% and an open-circuit voltage of 850 mV,
      which is 73% of the thermodynamic limit (1.16 V).

PMID- 27618258
TI  - Measuring broadband magnetic fields on the nanoscale using a hybrid quantum
      register.
AB  - The generation and control of fast switchable magnetic fields with large
      gradients on the nanoscale is of fundamental interest in material science and for
      a wide range of applications. However, it has not yet been possible to
      characterize those fields at high bandwidth with arbitrary orientations. Here, we
      measure the magnetic field generated by a hard-disk-drive write head with high
      spatial resolution and large bandwidth by coherent control of single electron and
      nuclear spins. We are able to derive field profiles from coherent spin Rabi
      oscillations close to the gigahertz range, measure magnetic field gradients on
      the order of 1 mT nm-1 and quantify axial and radial components of a static and
      dynamic magnetic field independent of its orientation. Our method paves the way
      for precision measurement of the magnetic fields of nanoscale write heads, which
      is important for future miniaturization of these devices.

PMID- 27618259
TI  - Removal of Nitrate by Photocatalytic Denitrification Using Nonlinear Optical
      Material.
AB  - Removal of nitrate from water has been receiving growing attention in water
      treatment. In this study, we report the photocatalytic denitrification (PCDN) by
      nonlinear optical (NLO) material, i.e. lithium niobate (LiNbO3). The
      hydrothermally synthesized LiNbO3 powder could achieve efficient denitrification
      in water, evidenced by 98.4% nitrate removal and 95.8% nitrogen selectivity at
      reaction time of 120 min and pH-neutral condition. Based on the first-order
      kinetics of PCDN, the kinetic constant for LiNbO3 is almost three times as that
      of conventional TiO2 (P25) under the same conditions. As suggested by the hole
      scavenger experiments, the LiNbO3 should proceed with photocatalytic reduction of
      nitrate through direct heterogeneous interaction with electrons at the conduction
      band of LiNbO3. This may represent a different mechanism from P25, where nitrate
      is mainly reduced by CO2*- radicals generated by the holes at the valence band.
      The unique second harmonic generation (SHG) effects of NLO materials enable them
      to produce more electrons and minimize the electron-hole recombination, which
      improves the efficiency and stability of the PCDN process. The current study
      provides a proof-of-concept demonstration of NLO photocatalytic material for more
      effective nitrate removal in water treatment.

PMID- 27618260
TI  - From therapeutic antibodies to chimeric antigen receptors (CARs): making better
      CARs based on antigen-binding domain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A variety of approaches are being pursued to improve the safety and
      antitumor potency of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. However,
      most engineering efforts have thus far been focused on its intracellular
      signaling domain, while its extracellular antigen-binding domain has received
      less attention. Areas covered: Herein, the authors summarize the current
      knowledge of CAR T-cell therapy. Accordingly, they focus on its antigen-binding
      domain, discuss key considerations for selecting an optimal single-chain variable
      fragment (scFv) when designing a CAR, and suggest potential directions aimed at
      developing the next-generation CARs. Expert opinion: The extracellular region of
      CARs can play a decisive role in their safety and efficacy. Instead of directly
      translating an available therapeutic mAb to a scFv-based CAR construct, the
      authors suggest that various CAR-displayed scFvs with different affinity,
      specificity and binding epitopes against an individual target molecule should be
      generated and evaluated side-by-side. Incorporating new antibody formats that
      possess characteristics superior to those of scFvs may be one way to engineer
      safer and more effective CARs. The authors expect that further CAR engineering
      will enable us to target more antigens involved in hematological and solid
      malignancies with minimal side effects to serve unmet clinical needs.

PMID- 27618261
TI  - Multi-locus Analyses Reveal Four Giraffe Species Instead of One.
AB  - Traditionally, one giraffe species and up to eleven subspecies have been
      recognized [1]; however, nine subspecies are commonly accepted [2]. Even after a
      century of research, the distinctness of each giraffe subspecies remains unclear,
      and the genetic variation across their distribution range has been incompletely
      explored. Recent genetic studies on mtDNA have shown reciprocal monophyly of the
      matrilines among seven of the nine assumed subspecies [3, 4]. Moreover, until
      now, genetic analyses have not been applied to biparentally inherited sequence
      data and did not include data from all nine giraffe subspecies. We sampled
      natural giraffe populations from across their range in Africa, and for the first
      time individuals from the nominate subspecies, the Nubian giraffe, Giraffa
      camelopardalis camelopardalis Linnaeus 1758 [5], were included in a genetic
      analysis. Coalescence-based multi-locus and population genetic analyses identify
      at least four separate and monophyletic clades, which should be recognized as
      four distinct giraffe species under the genetic isolation criterion. Analyses of
      190 individuals from maternal and biparental markers support these findings and
      further suggest subsuming Rothschild's giraffe into the Nubian giraffe, as well
      as Thornicroft's giraffe into the Masai giraffe [6]. A giraffe survey genome
      produced valuable data from microsatellites, mobile genetic elements, and
      accurate divergence time estimates. Our findings provide the most inclusive
      analysis of giraffe relationships to date and show that their genetic complexity
      has been underestimated, highlighting the need for greater conservation efforts
      for the world's tallest mammal.

PMID- 27618262
TI  - Sexually Antagonistic Male Signals Manipulate Germline and Soma of C. elegans
      Hermaphrodites.
AB  - Males and females pursue different reproductive strategies, which often bring
      them into conflict-many traits exist that benefit one sex at a cost to another
      [1]. Decreased female survival following mating dramatically demonstrates one
      aspect of this phenomenon [2-5]. Particularly intriguing is the evidence that
      secreted compounds can shorten lifespan of members of the opposite sex in
      Drosophila [6] and Caenorhabditid nematodes [7] even without copulation taking
      place. The purpose of such signals is not clear, however. While it is possible
      that they could limit subsequent mating with competitors or hasten post
      reproductive demise, thus decreasing competition for resources, they are also
      likely to harm unmated individuals. Why would a system exist that reduces the
      vigor of potential mates prior to mating? Addressing this question could provide
      insights into mechanisms and evolution of sexual conflict and reveal sensory
      inputs that regulate aging. Here, we describe two distinct ways in which
      Caenorhabditis elegans males cause faster somatic aging of hermaphrodites but
      also manipulate different aspects of their reproductive physiology. The first,
      mediated by conserved ascaroside pheromones, delays the loss of germline
      progenitor cells. The second accelerates development, resulting in faster sexual
      maturation. These signals promote male reproductive strategy and the effects
      harmful to hermaphrodites appear to be collateral damage rather than the goal.

PMID- 27618264
TI  - Knowledge-Sharing Networks in Hunter-Gatherers and the Evolution of Cumulative
      Culture.
AB  - Humans possess the unique ability for cumulative culture [1, 2]. It has been
      argued that hunter-gatherer's complex social structure [3-9] has facilitated the
      evolution of cumulative culture by allowing information exchange among large
      pools of individuals [10-13]. However, empirical evidence for the interaction
      between social structure and cultural transmission is scant [14]. Here we examine
      the reported co-occurrence of plant uses between individuals in dyads (which we
      define as their "shared knowledge" of plant uses) in BaYaka Pygmies from Congo.
      We studied reported uses of 33 plants of 219 individuals from four camps. We show
      that (1) plant uses by BaYaka fall into three main domains: medicinal, foraging,
      and social norms/beliefs; (2) most medicinal plants have known bioactive
      properties, and some are positively associated with children's BMI, suggesting
      that their use is adaptive; (3) knowledge of medicinal plants is mainly shared
      between spouses and biological and affinal kin; and (4) knowledge of plant uses
      associated with foraging and social norms is shared more widely among campmates,
      regardless of relatedness, and is important for camp-wide activities that require
      cooperation. Our results show the interdependence between social structure and
      knowledge sharing. We propose that long-term pair bonds, affinal kin recognition,
      exogamy, and multi-locality create ties between unrelated families, facilitating
      the transmission of medicinal knowledge and its fitness implications.
      Additionally, multi-family camps with low inter-relatedness between camp members
      provide a framework for the exchange of functional information related to
      cooperative activities beyond the family unit, such as foraging and regulation of
      social life.

PMID- 27618263
TI  - Membrane Binding by CHMP7 Coordinates ESCRT-III-Dependent Nuclear Envelope
      Reformation.
AB  - In addition to its role in membrane abscission during cytokinesis, viral budding,
      endosomal sorting, and plasma membrane repair [1], the endosomal sorting complex
      required for transport-III (ESCRT-III) machinery has recently been shown to seal
      holes in the reforming nuclear envelope (NE) during mitotic exit [2, 3]. ESCRT
      III also acts during interphase to repair the NE upon migration-induced rupture
      [4, 5], highlighting its key role as an orchestrator of membrane integrity at
      this organelle. While NE localization of ESCRT-III is dependent upon the ESCRT
      III component CHMP7 [3], it is unclear how this complex is able to engage nuclear
      membranes. Here we show that the N terminus of CHMP7 acts as a novel membrane
      binding module. This membrane-binding ability allows CHMP7 to bind to the ER, an
      organelle continuous with the NE, and it provides a platform to direct NE
      recruitment of ESCRT-III during mitotic exit. CHMP7's N terminus comprises tandem
      Winged-Helix domains [6], and, by using homology modeling and structure-function
      analysis, we identify point mutations that disrupt membrane binding and prevent
      both ER localization of CHMP7 and its subsequent enrichment at the reforming NE.
      These mutations also prevent assembly of downstream ESCRT-III components at the
      reforming NE and proper establishment of post-mitotic nucleo-cytoplasmic
      compartmentalization. These data identify a novel membrane-binding activity
      within an ESCRT-III subunit that is essential for post-mitotic nuclear
      regeneration.

PMID- 27618265
TI  - Cell Class-Lineage Analysis Reveals Sexually Dimorphic Lineage Compositions in
      the Drosophila Brain.
AB  - The morphology and physiology of neurons are directed by developmental decisions
      made within their lines of descent from single stem cells. Distinct stem cells
      may produce neurons having shared properties that define their cell class, such
      as the type of secreted neurotransmitter. The relationship between cell class and
      lineage is complex. Here we developed the transgenic cell class-lineage
      intersection (CLIn) system to assign cells of a particular class to specific
      lineages within the Drosophila brain. CLIn also enables birth-order analysis and
      genetic manipulation of particular cell classes arising from particular lineages.
      We demonstrated the power of CLIn in the context of the eight central brain type
      II lineages, which produce highly diverse progeny through intermediate neural
      progenitors. We mapped 18 dopaminergic neurons from three distinct clusters to
      six type II lineages that show lineage-characteristic neurite trajectories. In
      addition, morphologically distinct dopaminergic neurons are produced within a
      given lineage, and they arise in an invariant sequence. We also identified type
      II lineages that produce doublesex- and fruitless-expressing neurons and examined
      whether female-specific apoptosis in these lineages accounts for the lower number
      of these neurons in the female brain. Blocking apoptosis in these lineages
      resulted in more cells in both sexes with males still carrying more cells than
      females. This argues that sex-specific stem cell fate together with differential
      progeny apoptosis contribute to the final sexual dimorphism.

PMID- 27618266
TI  - Neural Representations Integrate the Current Field of View with the Remembered
      360 degrees  Panorama in Scene-Selective Cortex.
AB  - We experience our visual environment as a seamless, immersive panorama. Yet, each
      view is discrete and fleeting, separated by expansive eye movements and
      discontinuous views of our spatial surroundings. How are discrete views of a
      panoramic environment knit together into a broad, unified memory representation?
      Regions of the brain's "scene network" are well poised to integrate retinal input
      and memory [1]: they are visually driven [2, 3] but also densely interconnected
      with memory structures in the medial temporal lobe [4]. Further, these regions
      harbor memory signals relevant for navigation [5-8] and adapt across overlapping
      shifts in scene viewpoint [9, 10]. However, it is unknown whether regions of the
      scene network support visual memory for the panoramic environment outside of the
      current field of view and, further, how memory for the surrounding environment
      influences ongoing perception. Here, we demonstrate that specific regions of the
      scene network-the retrosplenial complex (RSC) and occipital place area (OPA)
      unite discrete views of a 360 degrees  panoramic environment, both current and
      out of sight, in a common representational space. Further, individual scene views
      prime associated representations of the panoramic environment in behavior,
      facilitating subsequent perceptual judgments. We propose that this dynamic
      interplay between memory and perception plays an important role in weaving the
      fabric of continuous visual experience.

PMID- 27618267
TI  - Catastrophic Declines in Wilderness Areas Undermine Global Environment Targets.
AB  - Humans have altered terrestrial ecosystems for millennia [1], yet wilderness
      areas still remain as vital refugia where natural ecological and evolutionary
      processes operate with minimal human disturbance [2-4], underpinning key regional
      and planetary-scale functions [5, 6]. Despite the myriad values of wilderness
      areas-as critical strongholds for endangered biodiversity [7], for carbon storage
      and sequestration [8], for buffering and regulating local climates [9], and for
      supporting many of the world's most politically and economically marginalized
      communities [10]-they are almost entirely ignored in multilateral environmental
      agreements. This is because they are assumed to be relatively free from
      threatening processes and therefore are not a priority for conservation efforts
      [11, 12]. Here we challenge this assertion using new comparable maps of global
      wilderness following methods established in the original "last of the wild"
      analysis [13] to examine the change in extent since the early 1990s. We
      demonstrate alarming losses comprising one-tenth (3.3 million km2) of global
      wilderness areas over the last two decades, particularly in the Amazon (30%) and
      central Africa (14%). We assess increases in the protection of wilderness over
      the same time frame and show that these efforts are failing to keep pace with the
      rate of wilderness loss, which is nearly double the rate of protection. Our
      findings underscore an immediate need for international policies to recognize the
      vital values of wilderness and the unprecedented threats they face and to
      underscore urgent large-scale, multifaceted actions needed to maintain them.

PMID- 27618268
TI  - Bub3-Bub1 Binding to Spc7/KNL1 Toggles the Spindle Checkpoint Switch by Licensing
      the Interaction of Bub1 with Mad1-Mad2.
AB  - The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) ensures that sister chromatids do not
      separate until all chromosomes are attached to spindle microtubules and bi
      oriented. Spindle checkpoint proteins, including Mad1, Mad2, Mad3 (BubR1), Bub1,
      Bub3, and Mph1 (Mps1), are recruited to unattached and/or tensionless
      kinetochores. SAC activation catalyzes the conversion of soluble Mad2 (O-Mad2)
      into a form (C-Mad2) that binds Cdc20, BubR1, and Bub3 to form the mitotic
      checkpoint complex (MCC), a potent inhibitor of the anaphase-promoting complex
      (APC/C). SAC silencing de-represses Cdc20-APC/C activity allowing poly
      ubiquitination of Securin and Cyclin B, leading to the dissolution of sister
      chromatids and anaphase onset [1]. Understanding how microtubule interaction at
      kinetochores influences the timing of anaphase requires an understanding of how
      spindle checkpoint protein interaction with the kinetochore influences spindle
      checkpoint signaling. We, and others, recently showed that Mph1 (Mps1)
      phosphorylates multiple conserved MELT motifs in the Spc7 (Spc105/KNL1) protein
      to recruit Bub1, Bub3, and Mad3 (BubR1) to kinetochores [2-4]. In budding yeast,
      Mps1 phosphorylation of a central non-catalytic region of Bub1 promotes its
      association with the Mad1-Mad2 complex, although this association has not yet
      been detected in other organisms [5]. Here we report that multisite binding of
      Bub3 to the Spc7 MELT array toggles the spindle checkpoint switch by permitting
      Mph1 (Mps1)-dependent interaction of Bub1 with Mad1-Mad2.

PMID- 27618269
TI  - Long-Term Outcomes After ICU Admission Triage in Octogenarians.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe ICU admission triage and outcomes in octogenarians.
      DESIGN: Multicenter prospective observational study. SETTING: Three nonuniversity
      hospitals and three university hospitals in Norway. PATIENTS: Patients 80 years
      old or older who were referred for ICU admission from November 2013 to October
      2014. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 355 included
      patients, 105 (29.6%) were refused ICU treatment. Risk factors for ICU refusal in
      patients considered "too ill/old" were advanced age and low functional status.
      Risk factors for ICU refusal in patients considered "too well" were advanced age,
      male sex, university hospital admission, comorbidity, and low Simplified Acute
      Physiology Score 3. Overall ICU survival was 71.6%. Hospital and 1-year survival
      were 56.0% and 40.0% in the ICU-admitted, 65.2% and 50.0% in the nonadmitted
      patients considered too well, and 32.7% and 11.5% in patients considered too
      ill/old, respectively. The adjusted Kaplan-Meier curves showed significantly
      lower survival for nonadmitted patients considered too ill/old than for ICU
      admitted patients and nonadmitted patients considered too well. At follow-up,
      triage patients had lower health-related quality of life than an age- and sex
      matched control group in the domains of self-care, usual care, and anxiety and
      depression, and a lower EuroQol visual analog scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: Overall,
      29.6% of the patients were refused ICU treatment. The adjusted survival analyses
      showed a significantly higher survival for ICU-admitted octogenarians than for
      nonadmitted patients who were considered too ill/old, indicating a benefit of ICU
      admission. Overall, the follow-up of triage patients showed lower health-related
      quality of life than an age- and sex-matched control population.

PMID- 27618271
TI  - Methemoglobinemia Caused by Portable Dialysis in the Critically Ill.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the root cause of a series of methemoglobinemia cases in a
      medical ICU. RESULTS: We report a sentinel case of methemoglobinemia that was
      associated with dialysis sessions using a portable dialysis unit in our hospital.
      This led to the identification of four additional patients who developed
      methemoglobinemia while undergoing portable dialysis. We determined that these
      episodes were caused by inadequate clearance of chloramine from the tap water
      used for portable dialysis. Introduction of larger capacity carbon filters into
      the portable dialysis systems resulted in no further cases of methemoglobinemia
      at our institution. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should be aware of municipal tap
      water as a potential cause of methemoglobinemia and monitor for excessive levels
      of oxidants in dialysis water sources. The capacity of the hemodialysis equipment
      to clear chloramine can vary as a function of external factors. Using a reliable
      test method to identify chloramines in the water prior to entering the
      hemodialysis equipment is essential.

PMID- 27618270
TI  - Improving ICU-Based Palliative Care Delivery: A Multicenter, Multidisciplinary
      Survey of Critical Care Clinician Attitudes and Beliefs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Addressing the quality gap in ICU-based palliative care is limited by
      uncertainty about acceptable models of collaborative specialist and generalist
      care. Therefore, we characterized the attitudes of physicians and nurses about
      palliative care delivery in an ICU environment. DESIGN: Mixed-methods study.
      SETTING: Medical and surgical ICUs at three large academic hospitals.
      PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred three nurses, intensivists, and advanced practice
      providers. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Clinicians completed written surveys
      that assessed attitudes about specialist palliative care presence and integration
      into the ICU setting, as well as acceptability of 23 published palliative care
      prompts (triggers) for specialist consultation. Most (n = 225; 75%) reported that
      palliative care consultation was underutilized. Prompting consideration of
      eligibility for specialist consultation by electronic health record searches for
      triggers was most preferred (n = 123; 41%); only 17 of them (6%) felt current
      processes were adequate. The most acceptable specialist triggers were metastatic
      malignancy, unrealistic goals of care, end of life decision making, and
      persistent organ failure. Advanced age, length of stay, and duration of life
      support were the least acceptable. Screening led by either specialists or ICU
      teams was equally preferred. Central themes derived from qualitative analysis of
      65 written responses to open-ended items included concerns about the roles of
      physicians and nurses, implementation, and impact on ICU team-family
      relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Integration of palliative care specialists in the ICU
      is broadly acceptable and desired. However, the most commonly used current
      triggers for prompting specialist consultation were among the least well
      accepted, while more favorable triggers are difficult to abstract from electronic
      health record systems. There is also disagreement about the role of ICU nurses in
      palliative care delivery. These findings provide important guidance to the
      development of collaborative care models for the ICU setting.

PMID- 27618272
TI  - Prognostic Factors for Long-Term Mortality in Critically Ill Patients Treated
      With Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Long-term survival for patients treated with prolonged mechanical
      ventilation is generally poor; however, patient-level factors associated with
      long-term mortality are unclear. Our objective was to systematically review the
      biomedical literature and synthesize data for prognostic factors that predict
      long-term mortality in prolonged mechanical ventilation patients. DATA SOURCES:
      We searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library from 1988 to 2015 for studies on
      prolonged mechanical ventilation utilizing a comprehensive strategy without
      language restriction. STUDY SELECTION: We included studies of adults 1) receiving
      mechanical ventilation for more than or equal to 14 days, 2) admitted to a
      ventilator weaning unit, or 3) received a tracheostomy for acute respiratory
      failure. We analyzed articles that used a multivariate analysis to identify
      patient-level factors associated with long-term mortality (>= 6 mo from when the
      patient met criteria for receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation). DATA
      EXTRACTION: We used a standardized data collection tool and assessed study
      quality with a customized Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. We abstracted the strength of
      association between each prognostic factor and long-term mortality. Individual
      prognostic factors were then designated as strong, moderate, weak, or
      inconclusive based on an a priori previously published schema. DATA SYNTHESIS: A
      total of 7,411 articles underwent relevance screening; 419 underwent full article
      review. We identified 14 articles that contained a multivariate analysis. We
      abstracted 19 patient-level factors that showed association with long-term
      mortality. Six factors demonstrated strong strength of evidence for association
      with the primary outcome: age, vasopressor requirement, thrombocytopenia,
      preexisting kidney disease, failed ventilator liberation, and acute kidney injury
      +/- hemodialysis requirement. All factors, except preexisting kidney disease and
      failed ventilator liberation, were measured at the time the patients met criteria
      for prolonged mechanical ventilation. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the magnitude of the
      public health challenge posed by the prolonged mechanical ventilation population,
      only 14 articles in the biomedical literature have tested patient-level factors
      associated with long-term mortality. Further research is needed to inform optimal
      patient selection for prolonged mechanical ventilation.

PMID- 27618274
TI  - Evaluating Pulmonary Function: An Assessment of PaO2/FIO2.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: PaO2/FIO2 is used commonly for diagnosis of lung injury (acute
      respiratory distress syndrome and transfusion-related acute lung injury), for
      assessment of pulmonary disease course and therapy, and in pulmonary
      transplantation for evaluation of donor lungs and clinical outcome. It was
      developed for convenience, without formal mathematical and graphic assessment to
      validate its suitability for these purposes. DESIGN: We examined, mathematically
      and graphically, the relationship of PaO2/FIO2 to FIO2 at constant normal and
      several degrees of increased intrapulmonary shunting (QS/QT), assessing the
      impact of intra- and extrapulmonary factors on the relationship and thus the
      reliability of PaO2/FIO2. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The relationship of
      PaO2/FIO2 varies at all shunt fractions but most with QS/QT from 0.1 to 0.3 with
      FIO2 approximately greater than 0.4. At higher QS/QT, the relationship is more
      constant and changes less with FIO2 more than 0.4. Hemoglobin concentration and
      arterial-venous oxygen content difference have large effects that can confound
      interpretation of PaO2/FIO2. Barometric pressure has a substantial effect; PCO2,
      base excess, and respiratory quotient have small effects. CONCLUSIONS: At high
      QS/QT with FIO2 more than 0.4, the relationship of PaO2/FIO2 to FIO2 is
      relatively constant. However, with QS/QT of 0.1-0.3, PaO2/FIO2 changes
      substantially with FIO2. Understanding the important effects of nonpulmonary
      factors (especially hemoglobin concentration and arterial-venous oxygen content
      difference) should enhance appropriate clinical use, interpretation of PaO2/FIO2,
      and interpretation of previous publications and future studies (especially those
      seeking to assess effects of anemia or transfusion on lung function). The ratio
      of PaO2/FIO2 is a good tool for some, but not many clinical circumstances, and is
      insufficiently robust for most research applications.

PMID- 27618273
TI  - Storytelling in the Early Bereavement Period to Reduce Emotional Distress Among
      Surrogates Involved in a Decision to Limit Life Support in the ICU: A Pilot
      Feasibility Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Surrogate decision makers involved in decisions to limit life support
      for an incapacitated patient in the ICU have high rates of adverse emotional
      health outcomes distinct from normal processes of grief and bereavement.
      Narrative self-disclosure (storytelling) reduces emotional distress after other
      traumatic experiences. We sought to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and
      tolerability of storytelling among bereaved surrogates involved in a decision to
      limit life support in the ICU. DESIGN: Pilot single-blind trial. SETTING: Five
      ICUs across three hospitals within a single health system between June 2013 and
      November 2014. SUBJECTS: Bereaved surrogates of ICU patients. INTERVENTIONS:
      Storytelling and control conditions involved printed bereavement materials and
      follow-up assessments. Storytelling involved a single 1- to 2-hour home or
      telephone visit by a trained interventionist who elicited the surrogate's story.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcomes were feasibility (rates of
      enrollment, intervention receipt, 3- and 6-mo follow-up), acceptability (closed
      and open-ended end-of-study feedback at 6 mo), and tolerability (acute mental
      health services referral). Of 53 eligible surrogates, 32 (60%) consented to
      treatment allocation. Surrogates' mean age was 55.5 (SD, 11.8), and they were
      making decisions for their parent (47%), spouse (28%), sibling (13%), child (3%),
      or other relation (8%). We allocated 14 to control and 18 to storytelling, 17 of
      18 (94%) received storytelling, 14 of 14 (100%) and 13 of 14 (94%) control
      subjects and 16 of 18 (89%) and 17 of 18 (94%) storytelling subjects completed
      their 3- and 6-month telephone assessments. At 6 months, nine of 13 control
      participants (69%) and 16 of 17 storytelling subjects (94%) reported feeling
      "better" or "much better," and none felt "much worse." One control subject (8%)
      and one storytelling subject (6%) said that the study was burdensome, and one
      control subject (8%) wished they had not participated. No subjects required acute
      mental health services referral. CONCLUSION: A clinical trial of storytelling in
      this study population is feasible, acceptable, and tolerable.

PMID- 27618275
TI  - Suppression of T Cell Autophagy Results in Decreased Viability and Function of T
      Cells Through Accelerated Apoptosis in a Murine Sepsis Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: While type 1 programmed cell death (apoptosis) of T cells leads to
      immunosuppression in sepsis, a crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy (type 2
      programmed cell death) has not been shown. The aim of this study is to elucidate
      the details of the interaction between autophagy and immunosuppression. DESIGN:
      Laboratory investigation in the murine sepsis model. SETTING: University
      laboratory. SUBJECTS: Six- to 8-week-old male mice. INTERVENTIONS: We
      investigated the kinetics of autophagy in T cells from spleen in a cecal ligation
      and puncture model with green fluorescent protein-microtubule-associated protein
      light chain 3 transgenic mice. We analyzed apoptosis, mitochondrial homeostasis
      and cytokine production in T cells, and survival rate after cecal ligation and
      puncture using T cell-specific autophagy-deficient mice. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: We observed an increase of autophagosomes, which was assessed by flow
      cytometry. However, an autophagy process in CD4 T cells during sepsis was
      insufficient including the accumulation of p62. On the other hand, a blockade of
      autophagy accelerated T cell apoptosis compared with the control mice, augmenting
      the gene expression of Bcl-2-like 11 and programmed cell death 1. Furthermore,
      mitochondrial accumulation in T cells occurred via a blockade of autophagy during
      sepsis. In addition, interleukin-10 production in CD4 T cells from the cecal
      ligation and puncture-operated knockout mice was markedly increased.
      Consequently, deficiency of autophagy in T cells significantly decreased the
      survival rate in the murine sepsis model. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that
      blocking autophagy accelerated apoptosis and increased mortality in concordance
      with the insufficient autophagy process in CD4 T cells in the murine sepsis
      model, suggesting that T cell autophagy plays a protective role against apoptosis
      and immunosuppression in sepsis.

PMID- 27618276
TI  - Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score Is Superior to the Obstetric-Specific Sepsis in
      Obstetrics Score in Predicting Mortality in Septic Obstetric Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Mortality prediction scores have been used for a long time in ICUs;
      however, numerous studies have shown that they over-predict mortality in the
      obstetric population. With sepsis remaining a major cause of obstetric mortality,
      we aimed to look at five mortality prediction scores (one obstetric-based and
      four general) in the septic obstetric population and compare them to a
      nonobstetric septic control group. SUBJECT AND DESIGN: Women in the age group of
      16-50 years with an admission diagnosis or suspicion of sepsis were included. In
      a multicenter obstetric population (n = 797), these included all pregnant and
      postpartum patients up to 6 weeks postpartum. An age- and gender-matched control
      nonobstetric population was drawn from a single-center general critical care
      population (n = 2,461). Sepsis in Obstetric Score, Acute Physiology and Chronic
      Health Evaluation II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Sequential Organ
      Failure Assessment, and Multiple Organ Dysfunction Scores were all applied to
      patients meeting inclusion criteria in both cohorts, and their area under the
      receiver-operator characteristic curves was calculated to find the most accurate
      predictor. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 146 septic patients were
      found for the obstetric cohort and 299 patients for the nonobstetric control
      cohort. The Sepsis in Obstetric Score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health
      Evaluation II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Sequential Organ Failure
      Assessment, and Multiple Organ Dysfunction Scores gave area under the receiver
      operator characteristic curves of 0.67, 0.68, 0.72, 0.79, and 0.84 in the
      obstetric cohort, respectively, and 0.64, 0.72, 0.61, 0.78, and 0.74 in the
      nonobstetric cohort, respectively. The Sepsis in Obstetric Score performed
      similarly to all the other scores with the exception of the Multiple Organ
      Dysfunction Score, which was significantly better (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The
      Sepsis in Obstetric Score, designed specifically for sepsis in obstetric
      populations, was not better than general severity of illness scoring systems.
      Furthermore, the Sepsis in Obstetric Score performance was no different in an
      obstetric sepsis population compared to a nonobstetric sepsis population. The
      Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score is a simple organ-based score, and this result
      supports the use of organ-based outcome predictors in ICU even in an obstetric
      sepsis population.

PMID- 27618277
TI  - Relative Bradycardia in Patients With Septic Shock Requiring Vasopressor Therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Tachycardia is common in septic shock, but many patients with septic
      shock are relatively bradycardic. The prevalence, determinants, and implications
      of relative bradycardia (heart rate, < 80 beats/min) in septic shock are unknown.
      To determine mortality associated with patients who are relatively bradycardic
      while in septic shock. DESIGN: Retrospective study of patients admitted for
      septic shock to study ICUs during 2005-2013. SETTING: One large academic referral
      hospital and two community hospitals. PATIENTS: Adult patients with septic shock
      requiring vasopressors. INTERVENTION: None. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome was 28
      day mortality. We used multivariate logistic regression to evaluate the
      association between relative bradycardia and mortality, controlling for
      confounding with inverse probability treatment weighting using a propensity
      score. RESULTS: We identified 1,554 patients with septic shock, of whom 686 (44%)
      met criteria for relative bradycardia at some time. Twenty-eight-day mortality in
      this group was 21% compared to 34% in the never-bradycardic group (p < 0.001).
      Relatively bradycardic patients were older (65 vs 60 yr; p < 0.001) and had
      slightly lower illness severity (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, 10 vs 11; p
      = 0.004; and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, 27 vs 28; p =
      0.008). After inverse probability treatment weighting, covariates were balanced,
      and the association between relative bradycardia and survival persisted (p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Relative bradycardia in patients with septic shock is
      associated with lower mortality, even after adjustment for confounding. Our data
      support expanded investigation into whether inducing relative bradycardia will
      benefit patients with septic shock.

PMID- 27618280
TI  - Biocompatible astaxanthin as novel contrast agent for biomedical imaging.
AB  - Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a hybrid imaging modality with high resolution and
      sensitivity that can be beneficial for cancer staging. Due to insufficient
      endogenous photoacoustic (PA) contrast, the development of exogenous agents is
      critical in targeting cancerous tumors. The current study demonstrates the
      feasibility of marine-oriented material, astaxanthin, as a biocompatible PA
      contrast agent. Both silicon tubing phantoms and ex vivo bladder tissues are
      tested at various concentrations (up to 5 mg/ml) of astaxanthin to quantitatively
      explore variations in PA responses. A Q-switched Nd : YAG laser (lambda = 532 nm)
      in conjunction with a 5 MHz ultrasound transducer is employed to generate and
      acquire PA signals from the samples. The phantom results presented that the PA
      signal amplitudes increase linearly with the astaxanthin concentrations
      (threshold detection = 0.31 mg/ml). The tissue injected with astaxanthin yields
      up to 16-fold higher PA signals, compared with that with saline. Due to
      distribution of the injected astaxanthin, PAI can image the margin of astaxanthin
      boles as well as quantify their volume in 3D reconstruction. Further
      investigations on selective tumor targeting are required to validate astaxanthin
      as a potential biocompatible contrast agent for PAI-assisted bladder cancer
      detection.

PMID- 27618278
TI  - The neurobiology of self-face recognition in depressed adolescents with low or
      high suicidality.
AB  - This study sought to test whether the neurobiology of self-processing
      differentiated depressed adolescents with high suicidality (HS) from those with
      low suicidality (LS) and healthy controls (HC; N = 119, MAGE = 14.79, SD = 1.64,
      Min = 11.3, Max = 17.8). Participants completed a visual self-recognition task in
      the scanner during which they identified their own or an unfamiliar adolescent
      face across 3 emotional expressions (happy, neutral or sad). A 3-group (HS, LS,
      HC) by 2 within-subject factors (2 Self conditions [self, other] and 3 Emotions
      [happy, neutral, sad]) GLM yielded (a) a main effect of Self condition with all
      participants showing higher activity in the right occipital, precuneus and
      fusiform during the self- versus other-face conditions; (b) a main effect of
      Group where all depressed youth showed higher dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
      activity than HC across all conditions, and with HS showing higher cuneus and
      occipital activity versus both LS and HC; and (c) a Group by Self by Emotion
      interaction with HS showing lower activity in both mid parietal, limbic, and
      prefrontal areas in the Happy self versus other-face condition relative to the LS
      group, who in turn had less activity compared to HC youth. Covarying for
      depression severity replicated all results except the third finding; In this
      subsequent analysis, a Group by Self interaction showed that although HC had
      similar midline cortical structure (MCS) activity for all faces, LS showed higher
      MCS activity for the self versus other faces, whereas HS showed the opposite
      pattern. Results suggest that the neurophysiology of emotionally charged self
      referential information can distinguish depressed, suicidal youth versus
      nonsuicidal depressed and healthy adolescents. Neurophysiological differences and
      implications for the prediction of suicidality in youth are discussed. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27618281
TI  - Effectiveness of alitretinoin in severe chronic hand eczema: PASSION, a real
      world observational study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Severe chronic hand eczema (CHE) has a debilitating effect on quality of
      life (QoL). PASSION evaluated the effectiveness of oral alitretinoin on QoL and
      work productivity in patients with severe CHE following prescribing guidelines.
      METHODS: A non-interventional, open-label, observational, multicentre study
      conducted in Germany in fulfilment of German guidelines. Patients (n = 631) were
      treated with once-daily alitretinoin for <=24 weeks under standard daily practise
      conditions. Effectiveness was assessed by Physician Global Assessment (PGA), QoL
      Assessment (EQ-5D) and work impairment. Tolerability and safety were assessed by
      adverse event (AE) monitoring. RESULTS: In total, 279 (44.2%) patients dropped
      out before Week 24. Of the 631 patients enrolled, 29.8% achieved a PGA rating of
      clear/almost clear at Week 24. Mean (standard deviation) EQ-5D utility and EQ-5D
      visual analogue scale scores at baseline were 0.76 (0.25) and 53.6 (23.55),
      respectively, and increased to 0.94 (0.12) and 80.8 (19.23) at Week 24,
      indicating improved QoL. At baseline, 49.4%/29.1% of patients reported
      strong/very strong workplace impairment, respectively, and decreased to
      8.5%/1.4%, respectively, at Week 24. AEs were reported in 116 (18.4%) patients.
      No new safety signals were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Alitretinoin produced marked
      improvement in the QoL and work productivity of patients with severe CHE.

PMID- 27618279
TI  - Transdiagnostic neural markers of emotion-cognition interaction in psychotic
      disorders.
AB  - Deficits in working memory (WM) and emotion processing are prominent impairments
      in psychotic disorders, and have been linked to reduced quality of life and real
      world functioning. Translation of knowledge regarding the neural circuitry
      implementing these deficits into improved diagnosis and targeted treatments has
      been slow, possibly because of categorical definitions of disorders. Using the
      dimensional Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, we investigated the
      clinical and practical utility of transdiagnostic behavioral and neural measures
      of emotion-related WM disruption across psychotic disorders. Behavioral and
      functional MRI data were recorded while 53 participants with psychotic disorders
      and 29 participants with no history of psychosis performed a modified n-back task
      with fear and neutral distractors. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that
      psychotic symptoms entered after diagnosis accounted for unique variance in fear
      versus neutral accuracy and activation in the ventrolateral, dorsolateral, and
      dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, but diagnostic group entered after psychotic
      symptoms did not. These results remained even after controlling for negative
      symptoms, disorganized symptoms, and dysphoria. Finally, worse accuracy and
      greater prefrontal activity were associated with poorer social functioning and
      unemployment across diagnostic groups. Present results support the
      transdiagnostic nature of behavioral and neuroimaging measures of emotion-related
      WM disruption as they relate to psychotic symptoms, irrespective of diagnosis.
      They also provide support for the practical utility of these markers in
      explaining real-world functioning. Overall, these results elucidate key aspects
      of the RDoC construct of WM maintenance by clarifying its transdiagnostic
      importance and clinical utility in psychotic disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618283
TI  - Investigation into the Surface Chemistry of Li4Ti5O12 Nanoparticles for Lithium
      Ion Batteries.
AB  - Elucidating surface chemistry of Li4Ti5O12 anode material plays a critical role
      in solving gas evolution in Li4Ti5O12-based lithium ion batteries. Herein, we
      propose a CO2 cycloaddition reaction to study the surface chemistry of Li4Ti5O12
      nanoparticles. Through the reaction, bare Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles were
      demonstrated to have extensive Lewis-acid sites, that is, dangling Ti bonds or
      hydroxyl groups. Lewis-acid site is considered to be able to initiate the
      decomposition of electrolyte solvents and may also serve as one of the main
      reasons for gas evolution. TiNx coating layer is used to cover up the Lewis-acid
      site and is able to decrease yield of the cycloaddition reaction to some extent.
      These findings may provide a simple yet very effective way to evaluate surface
      chemistry and gas evolution in other lithium ion batteries, not limited to
      Li4Ti5O12-based batteries.

PMID- 27618284
TI  - Financial Loss for Inpatient Care of Medicaid-Insured Children.
AB  - Importance: Medicaid payments tend to be less than the cost of care. Federal
      Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments help hospitals recover such
      uncompensated costs of Medicaid-insured and uninsured patients. The Patient
      Protection and Affordable Care Act reduces DSH payments in anticipation of fewer
      uninsured patients and therefore decreased uncompensated care. However, unlike
      adults, few hospitalized children are uninsured, while many have Medicaid
      coverage. Therefore, DSH payment reductions may expose extensive Medicaid
      financial losses for hospitals serving large absolute numbers of children.
      Objectives: To identify types of hospitals with the highest Medicaid losses from
      pediatric inpatient care and to estimate the proportion of losses recovered
      through DSH payments. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cross
      sectional analysis evaluated Medicaid-insured hospital discharges of patients 20
      years and younger from 23 states in the 2009 Kids' Inpatient Database. The dates
      of the analysis were March to September 2015. Hospitals were categorized as
      freestanding children's hospitals (FSCHs), children's hospitals within general
      hospitals, non-children's hospital teaching hospitals, and non-children's
      hospital nonteaching hospitals. Financial records of FSCHs in the data set were
      used to estimate the proportion of Medicaid losses recovered through DSH
      payments. Main Outcomes and Measures: Hospital financial losses from inpatient
      care of Medicaid-insured children (defined as the reimbursement minus the cost of
      care) were compared across hospital types. For our subsample of FSCHs, Medicaid
      insured inpatient financial losses were calculated with and without each
      hospital's DSH payment. Results: The 2009 Kids' Inpatient Database study
      population included 1485 hospitals and 843 725 Medicaid-insured discharges.
      Freestanding children's hospitals had a higher median number of Medicaid-insured
      discharges (4082; interquartile range [IQR], 3524-5213) vs non-children's
      hospital teaching hospitals (674; IQR, 258-1414) and non-children's hospital
      nonteaching hospitals (161; IQR, 41-420). Freestanding children's hospitals had
      the largest median Medicaid losses from pediatric inpatient care (-$9 722 367;
      IQR, -$16 248 369 to -$2 137 902). Smaller losses were experienced by non
      children's hospital teaching hospitals (-$204 100; IQR, -$1 014 100 to $14 700])
      and non-children's hospital nonteaching hospitals (-$28 310; IQR, -$152 370 to
      $9040]). Disproportionate Share Hospital payments to FSCHs reduced their Medicaid
      losses by almost half. Conclusions and Relevance: Estimated financial losses from
      pediatric inpatients covered by Medicaid were much larger for FSCHs than for
      other hospital types. For children's hospitals, small anticipated increases in
      insured children are unlikely to offset the reductions in DSH payments.

PMID- 27618285
TI  - Item analyses of memory differences.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although performance on memory and other cognitive tests is usually
      assessed with a score aggregated across multiple items, potentially valuable
      information is also available at the level of individual items. METHOD: The
      current study illustrates how analyses of variance with item as one of the
      factors, and memorability analyses in which item accuracy in one group is plotted
      as a function of item accuracy in another group, can provide a more detailed
      characterization of the nature of group differences in memory. Data are reported
      for two memory tasks, word recall and story memory, across age, ability,
      repetition, delay, and longitudinal contrasts. RESULTS: The item-level analyses
      revealed evidence for largely uniform differences across items in the age,
      ability, and longitudinal contrasts, but differential patterns across items in
      the repetition contrast, and unsystematic item relations in the delay contrast.
      CONCLUSION: Analyses at the level of individual items have the potential to
      indicate the manner by which group differences in the aggregate test score are
      achieved.

PMID- 27618282
TI  - Stage-Specific Demethylation in Primordial Germ Cells Safeguards against
      Precocious Differentiation.
AB  - Remodeling DNA methylation in mammalian genomes can be global, as seen in
      preimplantation embryos and primordial germ cells (PGCs), or locus specific,
      which can regulate neighboring gene expression. In PGCs, global and locus
      specific DNA demethylation occur in sequential stages, with an initial global
      decrease in methylated cytosines (stage I) followed by a Tet methylcytosine
      dioxygenase (Tet)-dependent decrease in methylated cytosines that act at
      imprinting control regions (ICRs) and meiotic genes (stage II). The purpose of
      the two-stage mechanism is unclear. Here we show that Dnmt1 preserves DNA
      methylation through stage I at ICRs and meiotic gene promoters and is required
      for the pericentromeric enrichment of 5hmC. We discovered that the functional
      consequence of abrogating two-stage DNA demethylation in PGCs was precocious
      germline differentiation leading to hypogonadism and infertility. Therefore,
      bypassing stage-specific DNA demethylation has significant consequences for
      progenitor germ cell differentiation and the ability to transmit DNA from parent
      to offspring.

PMID- 27618286
TI  - l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease: Are neuroinflammation and
      astrocytes key elements?
AB  - Inflammation in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a new concept that has gained ground
      due to the potential of mitigating dopaminergic neuron death by decreasing
      inflammation. The solution to this question is likely to be complex. We propose
      here that the significance of inflammation in PD may go beyond the nigral cell
      death. The pathological process that underlies PD requires years to reach its
      full extent. A growing body of evidence has been accumulated on the presence of
      multiple inflammatory signs in the brain of PD patients even in very late stages
      of the disease. Because neuron-microglia-astrocyte interactions play a major role
      in the plasticity of neuronal response to l-DOPA in post-synaptic neurons, we
      focused this review on our recent results of l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in rodents
      correlating it to significant findings regarding glial cells and
      neuroinflammation. We showed that in the rat model of PD/l-DOPA-induced
      dyskinesia there was an increased expression of inflammatory markers, such as the
      enzymes COX2 in neurons and iNOS in glial cells, in the dopamine-denervated
      striatum. The gliosis commonly seem in PD was associated with modifications in
      astrocytes and microglia that occur after chronic treatment with l-DOPA. Either
      as a cause, consequence, or promoter of progression of neuronal degeneration,
      inflammation plays a role in PD. The key aims of current PD research ought to be
      to elucidate (a) the time sequence in which the inflammatory factors act in PD
      patient brain and (b) the mechanisms by which neuroinflammatory response
      contributes to the collateral effects of l-DOPA treatment.

PMID- 27618288
TI  - Investigation of alterations in multifractality in optical coherence tomographic
      images of in vivo human retina.
AB  - Optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables us to monitor alterations in the
      thickness of the retinal layer as disease progresses in the human retina.
      However, subtle morphological changes in the retinal layers due to early disease
      progression often may not lead to detectable alterations in the thickness. OCT
      images encode depth-dependent backscattered intensity distribution arising due to
      the depth distributions of the refractive index from tissue microstructures.
      Here, such depth-resolved refractive index variations of different retinal layers
      were analyzed using multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, a special class
      of multiresolution analysis tools. The analysis extracted and quantified
      microstructural multifractal information encoded in normal as well as diseased
      human retinal OCT images acquired <italic<in vivo</italic<. Interestingly,
      different layers of the retina exhibited different degrees of multifractality in
      a particular retina, and the individual layers displayed consistent multifractal
      trends in healthy retinas of different human subjects. In the retinal layers of
      diabetic macular edema (DME) subjects, the change in multifractality manifested
      prominently near the boundary of the DME as compared to the normal retinal
      layers. The demonstrated ability to quantify depth-resolved information on
      multifractality encoded in OCT images appears promising for the early diagnosis
      of diseases of the human eye, which may also prove useful for detecting other
      types of tissue abnormalities from OCT images.

PMID- 27618287
TI  - Bioactive 4-Oxoheptanedioic Monoamide Derivatives of Proteins and
      Ethanolaminephospholipids: Products of Docosahexaenoate Oxidation.
AB  - Oxidative stress causes lipid-derived oxidative modification of biomolecules that
      has been implicated in many pathological states. Phospholipids containing
      polyunsaturated fatty acids are major targets of free radical-initiated
      oxidation. Phospholipids that incorporate docosahexaenoate (DHA) are highly
      enriched in important neural structures including the brain and retina, where DHA
      comprises 40% and 60% of total fatty acids, respectively. Oxidative fragmentation
      of 2-docosahexaenoyl-1-palmityl-sn-glycerophosphocholine generates esters of 4
      hydroxy-7-oxohept-5-enoic acid (HOHA) and 4-keto-7-oxohept-5-enoic acid (KOHA)
      with 2-lysophosphatidylcholine, HOHA-PC, and KOHA-PC. Covalent HOHA adducts that
      incorporate the primary amino groups of proteins and ethanolamine phospholipids
      in carboxyethylpyrrole (CEP) derivatives were detected immunologically with anti
      CEP antibodies in human tumors, retina, and blood. Now, we generated an anti
      OHdiA antibody to test the hypothesis that KOHA adducts, which incorporate the
      primary amino groups of proteins or ethanolamine phospholipids in 4-oxo
      heptanedioic (OHdiA) monoamide derivatives, are present in vivo. However, whereas
      the anti-CEP antibody is highly specific and does not cross-react with the OHdiA
      monoamide epitope, the anti-OHdiA monoamide antibody cross-reacted with CEP
      epitopes making it of little value as an analytical tool for OHdiA monoamides but
      suggesting the possibility that OHdiA monoamides would exhibit receptor-mediated
      biological activity similar to that of CEP. An LC-MS/MS method was developed that
      allows quantification of OHdiA derivatives in biological samples. We now find
      that KOHA-PC forms OHdiA monoamide adducts of proteins and ethanolamine
      phospholipids and that OHdiA-protein levels are significantly higher than OHdiA
      ethanloamine phospholipid levels in blood from healthy human subjects, 0.45 MUM
      and 0.18 MUM, respectively (n = 3, and p = 0.027). OHdiA monoamide epitopes are
      angiogenic, causing TLR2-dependent adhesion and tube formation by human umbilical
      vein endothelial cells. OHdiA monoamide epitopes are only slightly less potent
      than CEP epitopes that contribute to the pathological angiogenesis of age-related
      macular degeneration and tumor growth.

PMID- 27618289
TI  - Scattering correction through a space-variant blind deconvolution algorithm.
AB  - Scattering within biological samples limits the imaging depth and the resolution
      in microscopy. We present a prior and regularization approach for blind
      deconvolution algorithms to correct the influence of scattering to increase the
      imaging depth and resolution. The effect of the prior is demonstrated on a three
      dimensional image stack of a zebrafish embryo captured with a selective plane
      illumination microscope. Blind deconvolution algorithms model the recorded image
      as a convolution between the distribution of fluorophores and a point spread
      function (PSF). Our prior uses image information from adjacent z-planes to
      estimate the unknown blur in tissue. The increased size of the PSF due to the
      cascading effect of scattering in deeper tissue is accounted for by a depth
      adaptive regularizer model. In a zebrafish sample, we were able to extend the
      point in depth, where scattering has a significant effect on the image quality by
      around 30???m.

PMID- 27618290
TI  - [Acute retention of urine secondary to a congenital diverticulum of the bladder].
AB  - Bladder diverticula in children are mostly congenital, frequently associated with
      vesicoureteral reflux. Their positive diagnosis is based primarily on retrograde
      urethrocystography. One complication of this condition is acute urinary
      retention. We report the case of a 4-month-old infant who presented acute
      retention of urine secondary to bilateral congenital bladder diverticulum and
      review the literature on this subject.

PMID- 27618293
TI  - Selective Separation of Metal Ions via Monolayer Nanoporous Graphene with
      Carboxyl Groups.
AB  - Graphene-coated plastic substrates, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are
      regularly used in flexible electronic devices. Here we demonstrate a new
      application of the graphene-coated nanoporous PET membrane for the selective
      separation of metal ions in an ion exchange manner. Irradiation with swift heavy
      ions is used to perforate graphene and PET substrate. This process could create
      graphene nanopores with carboxyl groups, thus forming conical holes in the PET
      after chemical etching to support graphene nanopores. Therefore, a monolayer
      nanoporous graphene membrane with a PET substrate is constructed successfully to
      investigate its ionic selective separation. We find that the permeation ratio of
      ions strongly depends on the temperature and H+ concentration in the driving
      solution. An electric field can increase the permeation ratio of ions through the
      graphene nanopores, but it inhibits the ion selective separation. Moreover, the
      structure of the graphene nanopore with carboxyl groups is resolved at the
      density functional theory level. The results show the asymmetric structure of the
      nanopore with carboxyl groups, and the analysis indicates that the ionic
      permeation can be attributed to the ion exchange between metal ions and protons
      on the two sides of graphene nanopores. These results would be beneficial to the
      design of membrane separation materials made from graphene with efficient online
      and offline bulk separation.

PMID- 27618291
TI  - [Duodenal duplication revealed by acute pancreatitis].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Duodenal duplications are rare congenital malformations whose
      revealing signs are highly variable and nonspecific. OBSERVATION: We report the
      case of a female infant who presented with neonatal acute pancreatitis
      complicated by recurrent ascites, profound hypoalbuminemia responsible for
      pleural and pericardial effusions, revealing a duodenal duplication cyst. The
      unusual and original clinical presentation as well as the difficulty detecting
      the duplication radiologically delayed the diagnosis. A prolonged medical
      treatment with octreotide, albumin infusions, and exclusive parenteral nutrition
      led to an almost total disappearance of the ascites before surgery. The outcome
      was favorable after surgical removal of the duplication with 1 year of follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of duodenal duplication can be difficult and it may be
      necessary to repeat the ultrasound examinations. Surgical resection is delicate,
      especially when there is an abundant pancreatic ascites. Therefore, an adequate
      prolonged medical treatment to reduce this ascites is recommended before the
      surgery.

PMID- 27618294
TI  - Epidemiology, Virology, and Pathogenesis of the Zika Virus: From Neglected
      Tropical Disease to a Focal Point of International Attention.
AB  - Over the past year, the Zika virus, an arthropod-borne Flavivirus, has
      transitioned from a relatively unknown tropical disease to the cause of a public
      health emergency. The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes species of mosquito
      as well as by sexual intercourse. Although the symptoms of acute Zika virus
      infection are usually mild and self-limited, it causes fetal microcephaly in
      pregnant women, and is associated with an increased risk of Guillain-Barre
      syndrome. The risk of microcephaly from Zika virus infection is estimated to be
      highest in women who are infected during the first trimester of pregnancy. The
      Zika virus has been shown to have significant neurotrophism in vivo and in vitro,
      although further study is needed to characterize its mechanisms of pathogenesis.
      Zika virus has previously caused two known outbreaks in the Pacific region prior
      to the current epidemic in South and Central America, and the current epidemic
      has affected at least 440,000 to 1,300,000 people. The population of the vector
      for the current epidemic, Aedes aegypti, varies seasonally in the United States,
      however there have been few documented cases of local spread of the Zika
      infection in the United States and it is unclear whether epidemic spread of Zika
      will occur within the United States.

PMID- 27618295
TI  - Keeping the Zika Virus Out of the Assisted Reproductive Technology Laboratory.
AB  - The Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic spreading through South and Central America, as
      well as several U.S. territories has created worldwide concern as the linkage
      between ZIKV infection and microcephaly has been established. Both travel
      associated and sexually transmitted cases have put couples who live in nonendemic
      areas at risk of falling victim to effects of Zika. The presence of ZIKV within
      reproductive tissues may pose a significant threat to patients seeking fertility
      services and to safety of the tissues currently housed in assisted reproductive
      technology (ART) laboratories. There are still many unanswered questions
      regarding the mechanism of ZIKV sexual transmission. Just as strict guidelines
      have been set regarding the screening and handling of human immunodeficiency
      virus, hepatitis C virus, and hepatitis B virus-positive patient tissues, similar
      recommendations are needed to prevent contamination and inadvertent transmission
      within the ART laboratory.

PMID- 27618300
TI  - Toward a Differential Diagnosis of Hidden Hearing Loss in Humans.
AB  - Recent work suggests that hair cells are not the most vulnerable elements in the
      inner ear; rather, it is the synapses between hair cells and cochlear nerve
      terminals that degenerate first in the aging or noise-exposed ear. This primary
      neural degeneration does not affect hearing thresholds, but likely contributes to
      problems understanding speech in difficult listening environments, and may be
      important in the generation of tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. To look for signs of
      cochlear synaptopathy in humans, we recruited college students and divided them
      into low-risk and high-risk groups based on self-report of noise exposure and use
      of hearing protection. Cochlear function was assessed by otoacoustic emissions
      and click-evoked electrocochleography; hearing was assessed by behavioral
      audiometry and word recognition with or without noise or time compression and
      reverberation. Both groups had normal thresholds at standard audiometric
      frequencies, however, the high-risk group showed significant threshold elevation
      at high frequencies (10-16 kHz), consistent with early stages of noise damage.
      Electrocochleography showed a significant difference in the ratio between the
      waveform peaks generated by hair cells (Summating Potential; SP) vs. cochlear
      neurons (Action Potential; AP), i.e. the SP/AP ratio, consistent with selective
      neural loss. The high-risk group also showed significantly poorer performance on
      word recognition in noise or with time compression and reverberation, and
      reported heightened reactions to sound consistent with hyperacusis. These results
      suggest that the SP/AP ratio may be useful in the diagnosis of "hidden hearing
      loss" and that, as suggested by animal models, the noise-induced loss of cochlear
      nerve synapses leads to deficits in hearing abilities in difficult listening
      situations, despite the presence of normal thresholds at standard audiometric
      frequencies. 

PMID- 27618302
TI  - Lebetin 2, a Snake Venom-Derived Natriuretic Peptide, Attenuates Acute Myocardial
      Ischemic Injury through the Modulation of Mitochondrial Permeability Transition
      Pore at the Time of Reperfusion.
AB  - Cardiac ischemia is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. It is now well
      established that natriuretic peptides can attenuate the development of
      irreversible ischemic injury during myocardial infarction. Lebetin 2 (L2) is a
      new discovered peptide isolated from Macrovipera lebetina venom with structural
      similarity to B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). Our objectives were to define the
      acute cardioprotective actions of L2 in isolated Langendorff-perfused rat hearts
      after regional or global ischemia-reperfusion (IR). We studied infarct size, left
      ventricular contractile recovery, survival protein kinases and mitochondrial
      permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening in injured myocardium. L2 dosage was
      determined by preliminary experiments at its ability to induce cyclic guanosine
      monophosphate (cGMP) release without changing hemodynamic effects in normoxic
      hearts. L2 was found to be as effective as BNP in reducing infarct size after the
      induction of either regional or global IR. Both peptides equally improved
      contractile recovery after regional IR, but only L2 increased coronary flow and
      reduced severe contractile dysfunction after global ischemia. Cardioprotection
      afforded by L2 was abolished after isatin or 5-hydroxydecanote pretreatment
      suggesting the involvement of natriuretic peptide receptors and mitochondrial
      KATP (mitoKATP) channels in the L2-induced effects. L2 also increased survival
      protein expression in the reperfused myocardium as evidenced by phosphorylation
      of signaling pathways PKCepsilon/ERK/GSK3beta and PI3K/Akt/eNOS. IR induced
      mitochondrial pore opening, but this effect was markedly prevented by L2
      treatment. These data show that L2 has strong cardioprotective effect in acute
      ischemia through stimulation of natriuretic peptide receptors. These beneficial
      effects are mediated, at least in part, by mitoKATP channel opening and
      downstream activated survival kinases, thus delaying mPTP opening and improving
      IR-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. 

PMID- 27618303
TI  - Growth factors as clinical biomarkers of prognosis and diagnosis in psychiatric
      disorders.
AB  - The psychiatric disorders are one of the most disabling illnesses in the world
      and represent a major problem for public health. These disorders are
      characterized by neuroanatomical or biochemical changes and it has been suggested
      that such changes may be due to inadequate neurodevelopment. Diverse alterations
      in the gene expression and/or serum level of specific growth factors have been
      implicated in the etiology, symptoms and progression of some psychiatric
      disorders. Herein, we summarize the latest information regarding the role of
      brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), epidermal growth factor (EGF),
      fibroblast growth factor (FGF), Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), neuroregulin
      1 (NGR-1), erythropoietin (EPO), vascular growth factor (VEGF), transforming
      growth factor beta (TGF-beta), nerve growth factor (NGF) and others cytokines in
      the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, depression, bipolar and anxiety disorders.
      Focusing on the role of these growth factors and their relationship with the main
      impairments (cognitive, emotional and social) of these pathologies. Some of these
      signaling molecules may be suitable biological markers for diagnosis and
      prognosis in cognitive, mood and social disabilities across different mental
      disorders.

PMID- 27618304
TI  - The Value of Online Algorithms to Predict T-Cell Ligands Created by Genetic
      Variants.
AB  - Allogeneic stem cell transplantation can be a curative treatment for
      hematological malignancies. After HLA-matched allogeneic stem cell
      transplantation, beneficial anti-tumor immunity as well as detrimental side
      effects can develop due to donor-derived T-cells recognizing polymorphic peptides
      that are presented by HLA on patient cells. Polymorphic peptides on patient cells
      that are recognized by specific T-cells are called minor histocompatibility
      antigens (MiHA), while the respective peptides in donor cells are allelic
      variants. MiHA can be identified by reverse strategies in which large sets of
      peptides are screened for T-cell recognition. In these strategies, selection of
      peptides by prediction algorithms may be relevant to increase the efficiency of
      MiHA discovery. We investigated the value of online prediction algorithms for
      MiHA discovery and determined the in silico characteristics of 68 autosomal HLA
      class I-restricted MiHA that have been identified as natural ligands by forward
      strategies in which T-cells from in vivo immune responses after allogeneic stem
      cell transplantation are used to identify the antigen. Our analysis showed that
      HLA class I binding was accurately predicted for 87% of MiHA of which a
      relatively large proportion of peptides had strong binding affinity (56%). Weak
      binding affinity was also predicted for a considerable number of antigens (31%)
      and the remaining 13% of MiHA were not predicted as HLA class I binding peptides.
      Besides prediction for HLA class I binding, none of the other online algorithms
      significantly contributed to MiHA characterization. Furthermore, we demonstrated
      that the majority of MiHA do not differ from their allelic variants in in silico
      characteristics, suggesting that allelic variants can potentially be processed
      and presented on the cell surface. In conclusion, our analyses revealed the in
      silico characteristics of 68 HLA class I-restricted MiHA and explored the value
      of online algorithms to predict T-cell ligands that are created by genetic
      variants. 

PMID- 27618305
TI  - Understanding the Structure and Properties of Cholinium Amino Acid Based Ionic
      Liquids.
AB  - The molecular structure of novel ionic liquids based on cholinium amino acids
      (ChAA-ILs) has been analyzed. The polarization charge density for all ion pairs
      has been examined as a function of the hydrophobicity of the anion. The COnductor
      like Screening MOdel sigma-profiles and sigma-potentials have been obtained and
      used to interpret the chemical behavior of ChAA-ILs. Some physicochemical
      properties such as density and viscosity have been estimated using the COnductor
      like Screening MOdel for Realistic Solvation method. Furthermore, the effects of
      polarization on the molecular structure, physicochemical properties, and
      hydrophobicities have been evaluated. Finally, the results obtained have been
      compared with experimental data.

PMID- 27618306
TI  - Internet Addiction and Relationships with Insomnia, Anxiety, Depression, Stress
      and Self-Esteem in University Students: A Cross-Sectional Designed Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Internet addiction (IA) could be a major concern in
      university medical students aiming to develop into health professionals. The
      implications of this addiction as well as its association with sleep, mood
      disorders and self-esteem can hinder their studies, impact their long-term career
      goals and have wide and detrimental consequences for society as a whole. The
      objectives of this study were to: 1) Assess potential IA in university medical
      students, as well as factors associated with it; 2) Assess the relationships
      between potential IA, insomnia, depression, anxiety, stress and self-esteem.
      METHODS: Our study was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey conducted
      among 600 students of three faculties: medicine, dentistry and pharmacy at Saint
      Joseph University. Four validated and reliable questionnaires were used: the
      Young Internet Addiction Test, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Depression
      Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS 21), and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES).
      RESULTS: The average YIAT score was 30 +/- 18.474; Potential IA prevalence rate
      was 16.8% (95% confidence interval: 13.81-19.79%) and it was significantly
      different between males and females (p-value = 0.003), with a higher prevalence
      in males (23.6% versus 13.9%). Significant correlations were found between
      potential IA and insomnia, stress, anxiety, depression and self-esteem (p-value <
      0.001); ISI and DASS sub-scores were higher and self-esteem lower in students
      with potential IA. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying students with potential IA is
      important because this addiction often coexists with other psychological
      problems. Therefore, interventions should include not only IA management but also
      associated psychosocial stressors such as insomnia, anxiety, depression, stress,
      and self-esteem.

PMID- 27618307
TI  - Macrophage Depletion Attenuates Extracellular Matrix Deposition and Ductular
      Reaction in a Mouse Model of Chronic Cholangiopathies.
AB  - Chronic cholangiopathies, such as primary and secondary sclerosing cholangitis,
      are progressive disease entities, associated with periportal accumulation of
      inflammatory cells, encompassing monocytes and macrophages, peribiliary
      extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and ductular reaction (DR). This study
      aimed to elucidate the relevance of macrophages in the progression of chronic
      cholangiopathies through macrophage depletion in a 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4
      dihydrocollidine (DDC) mouse model. One group of mice received a single i.p.
      injection of Clodronate encapsulated liposomes (CLOLipo) at day 7 of a 14 day DDC
      treatment, while control animals were co-treated with PBSLipo instead. Mice were
      sacrificed after 7 or respectively 14 days of treatment for immunohistochemical
      assessment of macrophage recruitment (F4/80), ECM deposition (Sirius Red,
      Laminin) and DR (CK19). Macrophage depletion during a 14 day DDC treatment
      resulted in a significant inhibition of ECM deposition. Porto-lobular migration
      patterns of laminin-rich ECM and ductular structures were significantly
      attenuated and a progression of DR was effectively inhibited by macrophage
      depletion. CLOLipo co-treatment resulted in a confined DR to portal regions
      without amorphous cell clusters. This study suggests that therapeutic options
      selectively directed towards macrophages might represent a feasible treatment for
      chronic cholestatic liver diseases. 

PMID- 27618309
TI  - Experience-dependent spatial expectations in mouse visual cortex.
AB  - In generative models of brain function, internal representations are used to
      generate predictions of sensory input, yet little is known about how internal
      models influence sensory processing. Here we show that, with experience in a
      virtual environment, the activity of neurons in layer 2/3 of mouse primary visual
      cortex (V1) becomes increasingly informative of spatial location. We found that a
      subset of V1 neurons exhibited responses that were predictive of the upcoming
      visual stimulus in a spatially dependent manner and that the omission of an
      expected stimulus drove strong responses in V1. Stimulus-predictive responses
      also emerged in V1-projecting anterior cingulate cortex axons, suggesting that
      anterior cingulate cortex serves as a source of predictions of visual input to
      V1. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that visual cortex forms an
      internal representation of the visual scene based on spatial location and
      compares this representation with feed-forward visual input.

PMID- 27618310
TI  - L1-associated genomic regions are deleted in somatic cells of the healthy human
      brain.
AB  - The healthy human brain is a mosaic of varied genomes. Long interspersed element
      1 (LINE-1 or L1) retrotransposition is known to create mosaicism by inserting L1
      sequences into new locations of somatic cell genomes. Using a machine learning
      based, single-cell sequencing approach, we discovered that somatic L1-associated
      variants (SLAVs) are composed of two classes: L1 retrotransposition insertions
      and retrotransposition-independent L1-associated variants. We demonstrate that a
      subset of SLAVs comprises somatic deletions generated by L1 endonuclease cutting
      activity. Retrotransposition-independent rearrangements in inherited L1s resulted
      in the deletion of proximal genomic regions. These rearrangements were resolved
      by microhomology-mediated repair, which suggests that L1-associated genomic
      regions are hotspots for somatic copy number variants in the brain and therefore
      a heritable genetic contributor to somatic mosaicism. We demonstrate that SLAVs
      are present in crucial neural genes, such as DLG2 (also called PSD93), and affect
      44-63% of cells of the cells in the healthy brain.

PMID- 27618311
TI  - Global dynamics of selective attention and its lapses in primary auditory cortex.
AB  - Previous research demonstrated that while selectively attending to relevant
      aspects of the external world, the brain extracts pertinent information by
      aligning its neuronal oscillations to key time points of stimuli or their
      sampling by sensory organs. This alignment mechanism is termed oscillatory
      entrainment. We investigated the global, long-timescale dynamics of this
      mechanism in the primary auditory cortex of nonhuman primates, and hypothesized
      that lapses of entrainment would correspond to lapses of attention. By examining
      electrophysiological and behavioral measures, we observed that besides the lack
      of entrainment by external stimuli, attentional lapses were also characterized by
      high-amplitude alpha oscillations, with alpha frequency structuring of neuronal
      ensemble and single-unit operations. Entrainment and alpha-oscillation-dominated
      periods were strongly anticorrelated and fluctuated rhythmically at an ultra-slow
      rate. Our results indicate that these two distinct brain states represent
      externally versus internally oriented computational resources engaged by large
      scale task-positive and task-negative functional networks.

PMID- 27618314
TI  - Synthetic gene design-The rationale for codon optimization and implications for
      molecular pharming in plants.
AB  - Degeneracy in the genetic code allows multiple codon sequences to encode the same
      protein. Codon usage bias in genes is the term given to the preferred use of
      particular synonymous codons. Synonymous codon substitutions had been regarded as
      "silent" as the primary structure of the protein was not affected; however, it is
      now accepted that synonymous substitutions can have a significant effect on
      heterologous protein expression. Codon optimization, the process of altering
      codons within the gene sequence to improve recombinant protein expression, has
      become widely practised. Multiple inter-linked factors affecting protein
      expression need to be taken into consideration when optimizing a gene sequence.
      Over the years, various computer programmes have been developed to aid in the
      gene sequence optimization process. However, as the rulebook for altering codon
      usage to affect protein expression is still not completely understood, it is
      difficult to predict which strategy, if any, will design the "optimal" gene
      sequence. In this review, codon usage bias and factors affecting codon selection
      will be discussed and the evidence for codon optimization impact will be reviewed
      for recombinant protein expression using plants as a case study. These
      developments will be relevant to all recombinant expression systems; however,
      molecular pharming in plants is an area which has consistently encountered
      difficulties with low levels of recombinant protein expression, and should
      benefit from an evidence based rational approach to synthetic gene design.
      Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 492-502. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618313
TI  - Crystal Structure of the FGFR4/LY2874455 Complex Reveals Insights into the Pan
      FGFR Selectivity of LY2874455.
AB  - Aberrant FGFR4 signaling has been documented abundantly in various human cancers.
      The majority of FGFR inhibitors display significantly reduced potency toward
      FGFR4 compared to FGFR1-3. However, LY2874455 has similar inhibition potency for
      FGFR1-4 with IC50 less than 6.4 nM. To date, there is no published crystal
      structure of LY2874455 in complex with any kinase. To better understand the pan
      FGFR selectivity of LY2874455, we have determined the crystal structure of the
      FGFR4 kinase domain bound to LY2874455 at a resolution of 2.35 A. LY2874455, a
      type I inhibitor for FGFR4, binds to the ATP-binding pocket of FGFR4 in a DFG-in
      active conformation with three hydrogen bonds and a number of van der Waals
      contacts. After alignment of the kinase domain sequence of 4 FGFRs, and
      superposition of the ATP binding pocket of 4 FGFRs, our structural analyses
      reveal that the interactions of LY2874455 to FGFR4 are largely conserved in 4
      FGFRs, explaining at least partly, the broad inhibitory activity of LY2874455
      toward 4 FGFRs. Consequently, our studies reveal new insights into the pan-FGFR
      selectivity of LY2874455 and provide a structural basis for developing novel FGFR
      inhibitors that target FGFR1-4 broadly. 

PMID- 27618315
TI  - Congratulations to the 2016 Editorial Fellows.

PMID- 27618312
TI  - Haploinsufficiency for Core Exon Junction Complex Components Disrupts Embryonic
      Neurogenesis and Causes p53-Mediated Microcephaly.
AB  - The exon junction complex (EJC) is an RNA binding complex comprised of the core
      components Magoh, Rbm8a, and Eif4a3. Human mutations in EJC components cause
      neurodevelopmental pathologies. Further, mice heterozygous for either Magoh or
      Rbm8a exhibit aberrant neurogenesis and microcephaly. Yet despite the requirement
      of these genes for neurodevelopment, the pathogenic mechanisms linking EJC
      dysfunction to microcephaly remain poorly understood. Here we employ mouse
      genetics, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses to demonstrate that
      haploinsufficiency for each of the 3 core EJC components causes microcephaly via
      converging regulation of p53 signaling. Using a new conditional allele, we first
      show that Eif4a3 haploinsufficiency phenocopies aberrant neurogenesis and
      microcephaly of Magoh and Rbm8a mutant mice. Transcriptomic and proteomic
      analyses of embryonic brains at the onset of neurogenesis identifies common
      pathways altered in each of the 3 EJC mutants, including ribosome, proteasome,
      and p53 signaling components. We further demonstrate all 3 mutants exhibit
      defective splicing of RNA regulatory proteins, implying an EJC dependent RNA
      regulatory network that fine-tunes gene expression. Finally, we show that genetic
      ablation of one downstream pathway, p53, significantly rescues microcephaly of
      all 3 EJC mutants. This implicates p53 activation as a major node of
      neurodevelopmental pathogenesis following EJC impairment. Altogether our study
      reveals new mechanisms to help explain how EJC mutations influence neurogenesis
      and underlie neurodevelopmental disease.

PMID- 27618317
TI  - Unicentric versus Multicentric Castleman Disease.

PMID- 27618316
TI  - CT for Assessment of Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism in Multiple Stages of
      Single-Ventricle Palliation: Challenges and Suggested Protocols.
AB  - The total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC), or Fontan procedure, diverts systemic
      venous blood directly into the pulmonary arteries and is the palliative surgery
      of choice for patients with a wide variety of congenital heart diseases with
      single-ventricle physiologic characteristics. Pulmonary embolism and thrombosis
      are known complications and are among the major causes of morbidity and mortality
      in patients after TCPC. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is usually performed for
      postoperative evaluation of patients after single-ventricle repair; however,
      screening for thrombosis or embolism with MR imaging is not always feasible
      because of the emergent nature of the clinical presentation or because of
      artifacts from metallic devices or coils. Computed tomographic (CT) angiography
      is an effective method for diagnosing pulmonary embolism in children. However,
      because of altered hemodynamics after single-ventricle palliation, there are
      unique challenges in achieving optimal opacification of the pulmonary arteries
      and Fontan circuit that can result in nondiagnostic CT angiographic studies or
      erroneous image interpretation. Radiologists should be familiar with the multiple
      stages of single-ventricle palliation, understand the technique for performing
      pulmonary CT angiography at each stage, and recognize common pitfalls in
      obtaining and interpreting pulmonary CT angiographic images in patients who have
      undergone single-ventricle repair. Online supplemental material is available for
      this article. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618318
TI  - Castleman Disease of the Thorax: Clinical, Radiologic, and Pathologic
      Correlation: From the Radiologic Pathology Archives.
AB  - Castleman disease is a complex lymphoproliferative disease pathologically divided
      into two subtypes, the hyaline vascular variant (HVV) and the plasma cell variant
      (PCV). The HVV is the most common, is thought to represent a benign neoplasm of
      lymph node stromal cells, and is treated with surgical resection. It is most
      commonly found in the mediastinum, where it classically appears as a unicentric,
      avidly enhancing mass at computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging.
      This appearance can mimic other avidly enhancing mediastinal masses, and
      location, clinical history, laboratory data, and nuclear medicine single photon
      emission CT (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) studies can help
      narrow the differential diagnosis. Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD), which in
      the majority of cases is composed of the PCV, is an aggressive
      lymphoproliferative disorder associated with human herpesvirus infection,
      interleukin 6 dysregulation, and other systemic disorders. While it can be
      difficult to differentiate MCD from lymphoma, the presence of avidly enhancing
      lymph nodes can suggest the diagnosis. The purpose of this article is to review
      the clinical, immunologic, and pathologic findings associated with both
      unicentric Castleman disease and MCD and discuss how the imaging findings
      correlate with the pathophysiology of the disease. 

PMID- 27618319
TI  - Pulmonary Alveolar Microlithiasis: AIRP Best Cases in Radiologic-Pathologic
      Correlation.
AB  - Editor's Note.-RadioGraphics continues to publish radiologic-pathologic case
      material selected from the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP)
      "best case" presentations. The AIRP conducts a 4-week Radiologic Pathology
      Correlation Course, which is offered five times per year. On the penultimate day
      of the course, the best case presentation is held at the American Film Institute
      Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Md. The AIRP faculty
      identifies the best cases, from each organ system, brought by the resident
      attendees. One or more of the best cases from each of the five courses are then
      solicited for publication in RadioGraphics. These cases emphasize the importance
      of radiologic-pathologic correlation in the imaging evaluation and diagnosis of
      diseases encountered at the institute and its predecessor, the Armed Forces
      Institute of Pathology (AFIP). 

PMID- 27618320
TI  - Tumors and Tumorlike Conditions of the Anal Canal and Perianal Region: MR Imaging
      Findings.
AB  - Tumors and tumorlike conditions of the anus and perianal region originate from
      the anal canal and anal margin or result from direct extension of tumors from
      adjacent organs. The anatomy of the anal canal is complex, and its different
      histologic characteristics can lead to diverse pathologic conditions. The anal
      canal extends from the anorectal junction to the anal verge. The World Health
      Organization classification of anal canal tumors includes (a) anal
      intraepithelial neoplasia, the precursor of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and
      (b) invasive tumors. Invasive tumors are further classified on the basis of cell
      type as epithelial tumors (SCC, adenocarcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, small
      cell carcinoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma), nonepithelial tumors, carcinoid
      tumors, melanoma, and secondary tumors (direct spread from rectal, cervical, or
      prostate carcinoma). The anal margin, or perianal skin, lies outside the anal
      verge and encompasses a radius of 5 cm from the anal verge. Tumors in the anal
      margin are classified according to the World Health Organization classification
      of skin tumors. Anal margin tumors include SCC, anal intraepithelial neoplasia,
      also known as Bowen disease, adenocarcinoma and its precursor Paget disease,
      basal cell carcinoma, and verrucous carcinoma (Buschke-Lowenstein tumor), which
      is a rare variant of SCC. Imaging plays an important role in the evaluation,
      staging, and follow-up of patients with anal and perianal tumors. However,
      because of the overlap in imaging features among these diverse entities, a
      definitive diagnosis is best established at histopathologic examination.
      Nevertheless, familiarity with the pathogenesis, imaging features, and treatment
      of these tumors can aid radiologic diagnosis and guide appropriate patient
      treatment. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618321
TI  - Malignancy after Solid Organ Transplantation: Comprehensive Imaging Review.
AB  - Life expectancies for solid organ recipients as well as graft survival rates for
      these patients have improved over the years because of advanced immunosuppressive
      therapies; however, with chronic use of these drugs, posttransplant malignancy
      has become one of the leading causes of morbidity for them. The risk of
      carcinogenesis in transplant recipients is significantly higher than for the
      general population and cancers tend to manifest at an advanced stage.
      Posttransplant malignancies are thought to develop by three mechanisms: de novo
      development, donor-related transmission, and recurrence of a recipient's
      pretransplant malignancy. Although nonmelanoma skin cancer, Kaposi sarcoma,
      posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder, anogenital cancer, and lung cancer
      are malignancies that are thought to arise de novo, malignant melanoma and
      cancers that arise in the renal allograft are frequently donor related.
      Hepatocellular carcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas have a greater tendency to
      recur in liver transplant recipients. An altered or deranged immune system caused
      by chronic immunosuppression is considered to be one of the major contributing
      factors to carcinogenesis. The proposed pathogenic mechanisms for oncogenesis
      include impaired immunosurveillance of neoplastic cells, weakened immune activity
      against oncogenic viruses, and direct carcinogenic effects of immunosuppressive
      agents. Imaging plays an important role in screening, follow-up, and long-term
      surveillance in patients with malignancies because key imaging features can guide
      in their timely diagnosis. However, some benign entities such as transplant
      related renal fibrosis, biliary necrosis, and infectious nodules in the lungs
      mimic malignancies and require pathologic confirmation. Management strategies
      that can improve malignancy-related morbidity and mortality in transplant
      recipients include prevention of risk factors, appropriate modulation of
      immunosuppressive agents, prophylaxis against infection-related malignancies, and
      use of intensive targeted screening programs. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618322
TI  - CT-guided Perineural Injections for Chronic Pelvic Pain.
AB  - Chronic pelvic pain is a disabling condition that affects a large number of men
      and women. It may occur after a known inciting event, or it could be idiopathic.
      A common cause of pelvic pain syndrome is neuropathy of the pelvic nerves,
      including the femoral and genitofemoral nerves, ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric
      nerves, pudendal nerve, obturator nerve, lateral and posterior femoral cutaneous
      nerves, inferior cluneal nerves, inferior rectal nerve, sciatic nerve, superior
      gluteal nerve, and the spinal nerve roots. Pelvic neuropathy may result from
      entrapment, trauma, inflammation, or compression or may be iatrogenic, secondary
      to surgical procedures. Imaging-guided nerve blocks can be used for diagnostic
      and therapeutic management of pelvic neuropathies. Ultrasonography (US)-guided
      injections are useful for superficial locations; however, there can be
      limitations with US, such as its operator dependence, the required skill, and the
      difficulty in depicting various superficial and deep pelvic nerves. Magnetic
      resonance (MR) imaging-guided injections are radiation free and lead to easy
      depiction of the nerve because of the superior soft-tissue contrast; although the
      expense, the required skill, and the limited availability of MR imaging are major
      hindrances to its widespread use for this purpose. Computed tomography (CT)
      guided injections are becoming popular because of the wide availability of CT
      scanners, the lower cost, and the shorter amount of time required to perform
      these injections. This article outlines the technique of perineural injection of
      major pelvic nerves, illustrates the different target sites with representative
      case examples, and discusses the pitfalls. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618323
TI  - White Matter Diseases with Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation.
AB  - White matter diseases include a wide spectrum of disorders that have in common
      impairment of normal myelination, either by secondary destruction of previously
      myelinated structures (demyelinating processes) or by primary abnormalities of
      myelin formation (dysmyelinating processes). The pathogenesis of many white
      matter diseases remains poorly understood. Demyelinating disorders are the object
      of this review and will be further divided into autoimmune, infectious, vascular,
      and toxic-metabolic processes. Autoimmune processes include multiple sclerosis
      and related diseases: tumefactive demyelinating lesions, Balo concentric
      sclerosis, Marburg and Schilder variants, neuromyelitis optica (Devic disease),
      acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalopathy
      (Hurst disease). Infectious processes include Lyme disease (neuroborreliosis),
      progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, and human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) encephalopathy. Vascular processes include different types of small-vessel
      disease: arteriolosclerosis, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, cerebral autosomal
      dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy
      (CADASIL), primary angiitis of the central nervous system, Susac syndrome, and
      neurolupus. Toxic-metabolic processes include osmotic myelinolysis, methotrexate
      leukoencephalopathy, and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. The
      imaging spectrum can vary widely from small multifocal white matter lesions to
      confluent or extensive white matter involvement. Understanding the pathologic
      substrate is fundamental for understanding the radiologic manifestations, and a
      systematic approach to the radiologic findings, in correlation with clinical and
      laboratory data, is crucial for narrowing the differential diagnosis. ((c))RSNA,
      2016. 

PMID- 27618324
TI  - Neuroimaging Findings in Patients with Mucopolysaccharidosis: What You Really
      Need to Know.
AB  - Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) is an inherited metabolic disease and a member of the
      group of lysosomal storage disorders. Its hallmark is a deficiency of lysosomal
      enzymes involved in the degradation of mucopolysaccharides, also known as
      glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). The products of GAG degradation accumulate within
      lysosomes and in the extracellular space, thereby interfering with the
      degradation of other macromolecules. This process leads to chronic degeneration
      of cells, which in turn affects multiple organs and systems. There are seven
      distinct types of MPS (I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, and IX), which are divided into
      subtypes according to the deficient enzyme and the severity of the clinical
      picture. Although clinical manifestations vary considerably among the different
      types of MPS, the central nervous system (CNS) is characteristically affected,
      and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the method of choice to evaluate brain and
      spinal cord abnormalities. Enlarged perivascular spaces, white matter lesions,
      hydrocephalus, brain atrophy, cervical spinal canal stenosis with or without
      spinal cord compression and myelopathy, and bone abnormalities in the skull and
      spine (dysostosis multiplex) are typical imaging findings described in the
      literature and reviewed in this article. The differential diagnosis of MPS is
      limited because the constellation of imaging findings is highly suggestive. Thus,
      radiologists should be aware of its typical neuroimaging findings so they can
      recognize cases not yet diagnosed, exclude other metabolic diseases, monitor CNS
      findings over time, and assess treatment response. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618325
TI  - Current Concepts in the Molecular Genetics and Management of Thyroid Cancer: An
      Update for Radiologists.
AB  - Substantial improvement in the understanding of the oncogenic pathways in thyroid
      cancer has led to identification of specific molecular alterations, including
      mutations of BRAF and RET in papillary thyroid cancer, mutation of RAS and
      rearrangement of PPARG in follicular thyroid cancer, mutation of RET in medullary
      thyroid cancer, and mutations of TP53 and in the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase
      (PI3K)/AKT1 pathway in anaplastic thyroid cancer. Ultrasonography (US) and US
      guided biopsy remain cornerstones in the initial workup of thyroid cancer.
      Surgery is the mainstay of treatment, with radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy
      reserved for differentiated subtypes. Posttreatment surveillance of thyroid
      cancer is done with US of the thyroid bed as well as monitoring of tumor markers
      such as serum thyroglobulin and serum calcitonin. Computed tomography (CT),
      magnetic resonance imaging, and fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
      tomography/CT are used in the follow-up of patients with negative iodine 131
      imaging and elevated tumor markers. Certain mutations, such as mutations of BRAF
      in papillary thyroid carcinoma and mutations in RET codons 883, 918, and 928, are
      associated with an aggressive course in medullary thyroid carcinoma, and affected
      patients need close surveillance. Treatment options for metastatic RAI-refractory
      thyroid cancer are limited. Currently, Food and Drug Administration-approved
      molecularly targeted therapies for metastatic RAI-refractory thyroid cancer,
      including sorafenib, lenvatinib, vandetanib, and cabozantinib, target the
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and RET kinases. Imaging plays an
      important role in assessment of response to these therapies, which can be
      atypical owing to antiangiogenic effects. A wide spectrum of toxic effects is
      associated with the molecularly targeted therapies used in thyroid cancer and can
      be detected at restaging scans. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618326
TI  - Liver MR Imaging in Children: Current Concepts and Technique.
AB  - Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is increasingly being used for comprehensive
      evaluation of liver diseases in children because of the lack of radiation and
      better lesion detection and characterization. Liver examination involves routine
      sequences such as T2-weighted, balanced steady-state free precession, and in
      phase and out-of-phase sequences. Dynamic imaging is an essential component of
      liver examination to characterize focal lesions and involves capturing snapshots
      of the passage of contrast material in the arterial, portal venous, equilibrium,
      and sometimes hepatobiliary phases, generally by using T1-weighted three
      dimensional gradient-echo sequences. Optimal arterial phase imaging is important
      for detection and characterization of hypervascular lesions. In the equilibrium
      phase, the concentration of contrast material is similar in the microvasculature
      and the extracellular interstitial space. Some superficial, spreading,
      inflammatory lesions are better seen on equilibrium phase images. Meticulous
      attention to intravenous access and use of an appropriate timing method are
      critical for successful dynamic imaging. Commonly used contrast media for liver
      imaging include gadolinium-based extracellular contrast agents and hepatobiliary
      contrast agents. A portion of hepatobiliary contrast agents such as gadoxetate
      and gadobenate is taken up by hepatocytes and excreted through bile.
      Hepatobiliary phase images acquired after hepatobiliary contrast agent
      administration are increasingly used to characterize liver lesions in children,
      such as focal nodular hyperplasia. Interpretation of liver MR images involves
      synthesis of information acquired from evaluation of background hepatic
      parenchyma, detection of lesions, and evaluation of signal intensity
      characteristics on images obtained with various sequences to arrive at a
      diagnosis or reasonable differential diagnoses. Understanding the appropriate
      technique, sequences, and contrast media when performing pediatric liver MR
      imaging is important for high diagnostic yield. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618327
TI  - Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor of the Kidney: AIRP Best Cases in Radiologic
      Pathologic Correlation.
AB  - Editor's Note.-RadioGraphics continues to publish radiologic-pathologic case
      material selected from the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP)
      "best case" presentations. The AIRP conducts a 4-week Radiologic Pathology
      Correlation Course, which is offered five times per year. On the penultimate day
      of the course, the best case presentation is held at the American Film Institute
      Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Md. The AIRP faculty
      identifies the best cases, from each organ system, brought by the resident
      attendees. One or more of the best cases from each of the five courses are then
      solicited for publication in RadioGraphics. These cases emphasize the importance
      of radiologic-pathologic correlation in the imaging evaluation and diagnosis of
      diseases encountered at the institute and its predecessor, the Armed Forces
      Institute of Pathology (AFIP). 

PMID- 27618328
TI  - Multidetector CT of Mandibular Fractures, Reductions, and Complications: A
      Clinically Relevant Primer for the Radiologist.
AB  - After the nasal bones, the mandible is the second most common site of facial
      fractures, and mandibular fractures frequently require open reduction. In the
      trauma injury setting, multidetector computed tomography (CT) has become the
      cornerstone imaging modality for determining the most appropriate treatment
      management, fixation method, and surgical approach. Multidetector CT is also used
      to assess the adequacy of the reduction and evaluate potential complications in
      the postoperative period. For successful restoration of the mandible's form and
      function, as well as management of posttraumatic and postoperative complications,
      reconstructive surgeons are required to have a detailed understanding of
      mandibular biomechanics, occlusion, and anatomy. To provide added value in the
      diagnosis, treatment planning, and follow-up of mandibular fractures,
      radiologists should be aware of these concepts. Knowledge of the techniques
      commonly used to achieve occlusal and anatomic reduction and of the rationale
      behind the range of available treatment options for different injury patterns
      from isolated and nondisplaced fractures to multisite and comminuted fractures
      also is essential. This article focuses on the use of multidetector CT for pre-
      and postoperative evaluation of mandibular fractures and outlines fundamental
      concepts of diagnosis and management-beginning with an explanation of common
      fracture patterns and their biomechanical underpinnings, and followed by a review
      of the common postoperative appearances of these fractures after semirigid and
      rigid fixation procedures. Specific considerations regarding fractures in
      different regions of the tooth-bearing and non-tooth-bearing mandible and the
      unique issues pertaining to the edentulous atrophic mandible are reviewed, and
      key features that distinguish major from minor complications are described.
      ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618329
TI  - Role of Catheter-directed Thrombolysis in Management of Iliofemoral Deep Venous
      Thrombosis.
AB  - The treatment for iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is challenging, as the
      use of anticoagulation alone can be insufficient for restoring venous patency and
      thus lead to prolongation of acute symptoms and an increased risk of chronic
      complications, including venous insufficiency and postthrombotic syndrome (PTS).
      In these cases, earlier and more complete thrombus removal can ameliorate acute
      symptoms and reduce long-term sequelae. Endovascular therapies involving the use
      of pharmacologic, mechanical, and combined pharmacomechanical modalities have
      been developed to achieve these goals. The most frequently used of these
      techniques, catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), involves the infusion of a
      thrombolytic agent through a multiple-side-hole catheter placed within the
      thrombosed vein to achieve high local doses and thereby break down the clot while
      minimizing systemic thrombolytic agent exposure. Randomized controlled trial
      results have indicated decreased PTS rates and improved venous patency rates in
      patients treated with CDT compared with these rates in patients treated with
      anticoagulation. The use of newer pharmacomechanical techniques, as compared with
      conventional CDT, reduces procedural times and thrombolytic agent doses and is
      the subject of ongoing investigations. Endovascular thrombus removal techniques
      offer a means to improve venous valvular function and decrease the risk of
      debilitating long-term complications such as PTS and are a promising option for
      treating patients with iliofemoral DVT. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618330
TI  - Invited Commentary on "Role of Catheter-directed Thrombolysis in Management of
      Iliofemoral Deep Venous Thrombosis".

PMID- 27618331
TI  - Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: Multimodality Imaging Approach with Clinical
      Pathologic Correlation.
AB  - Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a common medical problem, with almost 1
      million cases diagnosed annually. Historically, PID has been a clinical diagnosis
      supplemented with the findings from ultrasonography (US) or magnetic resonance
      (MR) imaging. However, the diagnosis of PID can be challenging because the
      clinical manifestations may mimic those of other pelvic and abdominal processes.
      Given the nonspecific clinical manifestations, computed tomography (CT) is
      commonly the first imaging examination performed. General CT findings of early-
      and late-stage PID include thickening of the uterosacral ligaments, pelvic fat
      stranding with obscuration of fascial planes, reactive lymphadenopathy, and
      pelvic free fluid. Recognition of these findings, as well as those seen with
      cervicitis, endometritis, acute salpingitis, oophoritis, pyosalpinx,
      hydrosalpinx, tubo-ovarian abscess, and pyometra, is crucial in allowing prompt
      and accurate diagnosis. Late complications of PID include tubal damage resulting
      in infertility and ectopic pregnancy, peritonitis caused by uterine and/or tubo
      ovarian abscess rupture, development of peritoneal adhesions resulting in bowel
      obstruction and/or hydroureteronephrosis, right upper abdominal inflammation
      (Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome), and septic thrombophlebitis. Recognition of these
      late manifestations at CT can also aid in proper patient management. At CT,
      careful assessment of common PID mimics, such as endometriosis, adnexal torsion,
      ruptured hemorrhagic ovarian cyst, adnexal neoplasms, appendicitis, and
      diverticulitis, is important to avoid misinterpretation, delay in management, and
      unnecessary surgery. Correlation with the findings from complementary imaging
      examinations, such as US and MR imaging, is useful for establishing a definitive
      diagnosis. ((c))RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27618332
TI  - Invited Commentary on "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease," with Response from Dr Revzin
      and Colleagues.

PMID- 27618333
TI  - Bright Red Rectal Bleeding: The Bottom Line from Neonates to Older Adults:
      Gastrointestinal Imaging.

PMID- 27618334
TI  - Definition of Confidence Interval.

PMID- 27618336
TI  - Assessment of Risk Factors for a Sustainable "On-Table Extubation" Program in
      Pediatric Congenital Cardiac Surgery: 5-Year Experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To delineate risk factors for failure of extubation in the operating
      room among pediatric cardiac surgery patients. DESIGN: Prospective, observational
      study. SETTING: Single center, tertiary care, teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS:
      The study comprised 448 congenital cardiac surgery patients who were enrolled for
      intended extubation in the pediatric cardiac operating room over 5 years.
      INTERVENTIONS: The airways of enrolled patients were extubated in the operating
      room if predetermined suitability criteria were met. If the criteria were not
      met, patients were transferred to the intensive care unit with an endotracheal
      tube in situ. Patients whose airways were extubated successfully were followed up
      to determine specifically whether reintubation or use of noninvasive ventilation
      was necessary post-procedure. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The airways of 92%
      (412) patients were extubated in the operating room. Incidence of reintubation in
      the intensive care unit was 2.4%. There were 4 mortalities in the whole group. A
      100% success rate for operating room extubation was achieved for patients in Risk
      Adjusted Congenital Heart Surgery category 1, and patients undergoing adult
      congenital cardiac disease surgery and redo sternotomy. The airways of 85% of
      patients with preoperative pulmonary hypertension were extubated in the operating
      room. Statistical analysis was applied to identify risk factors present in the
      group that made extubation in the operating room unachievable. CONCLUSIONS:
      Extubation in the operating room was successful in a majority of patients
      undergoing cardiac surgery. Multivariate analysis identified weight<5 kg, age<1
      year, cardiopulmonary bypass time>120 minutes, and presence of significant
      noncardiac structural anomalies as significant factors affecting extubation in
      the operating room, with an adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 10
      (2.7-37), 7.2 (2-22), 5.5 (1.7-17.7), and 3.3 (1.2-9.3), respectively. Pulmonary
      hypertension, redo sternotomy, higher Risk Adjusted Congenital Heart Surgery
      category, and aortic clamp time>60 minutes did not achieve significance in the
      multivariate analysis as risk factors for extubation in the operating room.

PMID- 27618337
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis UvrB Is a Robust DNA-Stimulated ATPase That Also
      Possesses Structure-Specific ATP-Dependent DNA Helicase Activity.
AB  - Much is known about the Escherichia coli nucleotide excision repair (NER)
      pathway; however, very little is understood about the proteins involved and the
      molecular mechanism of NER in mycobacteria. In this study, we show that
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis UvrB (MtUvrB), which exists in solution as a monomer,
      binds to DNA in a structure-dependent manner. A systematic examination of MtUvrB
      substrate specificity reveals that it associates preferentially with single
      stranded DNA, duplexes with 3' or 5' overhangs, and linear duplex DNA with
      splayed arms. Whereas E. coli UvrB (EcUvrB) binds weakly to undamaged DNA and has
      no ATPase activity, MtUvrB possesses intrinsic ATPase activity that is greatly
      stimulated by both single- and double-stranded DNA. Strikingly, we found that
      MtUvrB, but not EcUvrB, possesses the DNA unwinding activity characteristic of an
      ATP-dependent DNA helicase. The helicase activity of MtUvrB proceeds in the 3' to
      5' direction and is strongly modulated by a nontranslocating 5' single-stranded
      tail, indicating that in addition to the translocating strand it also interacts
      with the 5' end of the substrate. The fraction of DNA unwound by MtUvrB decreases
      significantly as the length of the duplex increases: it fails to unwind duplexes
      longer than 70 bp. These results, on one hand, reveal significant mechanistic
      differences between MtUvrB and EcUvrB and, on the other, support an alternative
      role for UvrB in the processing of key DNA replication intermediates. Altogether,
      our findings provide insights into the catalytic functions of UvrB and lay the
      foundation for further understanding of the NER pathway in M. tuberculosis.

PMID- 27618340
TI  - Copper Catalysis for Selective Heterocoupling of Terminal Alkynes.
AB  - A Cu-catalyzed selective aerobic heterocoupling of terminal alkynes is disclosed,
      which enables the synthesis of a broad range of unsymmetrical 1,3-diynes in good
      to excellent yields. The results disprove the long-held belief that homocouplings
      are exclusively favored in the Glaser-Hay reaction.

PMID- 27618339
TI  - The Effect of Maximal- and Explosive-Strength Training on Performance Indicators
      in Cyclists.
AB  - Cycling economy (CE), power output at maximal oxygen uptake (WVO2max), and
      anaerobic function (ie, sprinting ability) are considered the best physiological
      performance indicators in elite road cyclists. In addition to cardiovascular
      function, these physiological indicators are partly dictated by neuromuscular
      factors. One technique to improve neuromuscular function in athletes is through
      strength training. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a 20-wk
      maximal- and explosive-strength-training intervention on strength (maximal
      strength, explosive strength, and bike-specific explosive strength), WVO2max, CE,
      and body composition (body mass, fat and lean mass) in cyclists. Fifteen
      competitive road cyclists were divided into an intervention group (endurance
      training and strength training: n = 6; age, 38.0 +/- 10.2 y; weight, 69.1 +/- 3.6
      kg; height, 1.77 +/- 0.04 m) and a control group (endurance training only: n = 9;
      age, 34.8 +/- 8.5 y; weight, 72.5 +/- 7.2 kg; height, 1.78 +/- 0.05 m). The
      intervention group strength-trained for 20 wk. Each participant completed 3
      assessments: physiology (CE, WVO2max, power at 2 and 4 mmol/L blood lactate),
      strength (isometric midthigh pull, squat-jump height, and 6-s bike-sprint peak
      power), and body composition (body mass, fat mass, overall leanness, and leg
      leanness). The results showed significant between- and within-group changes in
      the intervention group for maximal strength, bike-specific explosive strength,
      absolute WVO2max, body mass, overall leanness, and leg leanness at wk 20 (P <
      .05). The control group showed no significant within-group changes in measures of
      strength, physiology, or body composition. This study demonstrates that 20 wk of
      strength training can significantly improve maximal strength, bike-specific
      explosive strength, and absolute WVO2max in competitive road cyclists.

PMID- 27618341
TI  - Evaluating the DSM-5 Section III personality disorder impairment criteria.
AB  - The majority of research on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) Section III alternative model for personality
      disorders (PDs) has addressed the dimensional traits proposed in Criterion B,
      while limited research has evaluated Section III functional impairment criteria.
      The current study evaluated Section III impairment specific to the 6 personality
      disorder diagnoses included in the Section III model in a sample of 347
      undergraduates. We evaluated the factor structure of disorder-specific
      impairment; their associations with other measures of impairment, Section III
      traits, and Section II PD symptoms; as well as the incremental utility of
      impairment above and beyond traits in predicting Section II PD symptoms. Factor
      analyses indicated limited support for the 2 domain and 4 subfacet levels of
      impairment, but showed some support for disorder-specific impairment.
      Furthermore, disorder-specific impairment was associated with other measures of
      functional impairment, Section II PD symptoms, and Section III traits with a
      generally good degree of convergence. However, these findings showed a lack of
      discriminant validity, suggesting a lack of utility in measuring disorder
      specific impairment, as opposed to more broadly evaluating an individual's level
      of functional impairment. Finally, impairment only added incremental utility to
      traits in predicting Section II Avoidant PD. By and large, these findings
      suggested mixed support for disorder-specific impairment as presented in
      Criterion A and raised additional questions regarding the utility of impairment
      when paired with dimensional personality traits. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618343
TI  - A Clarion Call for Social Work Attention: Brothers and Sisters of Persons With
      Acquired Brain Injury in the United States.
AB  - This article presents a clarion call for increased social work attention to the
      needs of siblings of persons with acquired brain injury (ABI) in the United
      States. The article overviews how siblings are psychosocially affected, how they
      provide care to the injured brothers and sisters, and how they personally develop
      as a result of their experiences. The article highlights the fact that social
      workers and other professionals often overlook the needs of siblings of persons
      with ABI and makes an appeal for social workers to advance clinical practice and
      research to benefit this often neglected population.

PMID- 27618342
TI  - Comparing the dependability and associations with functioning of the DSM-5
      Section III trait model of personality pathology and the DSM-5 Section II
      personality disorder model.
AB  - Two competing models of personality psychopathology are included in the fifth
      edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American
      Psychiatric Association, 2013); the traditional personality disorder (PD) model
      included in Section II and an alternative trait-based model included in Section
      III. Numerous studies have examined the validity of the alternative trait model
      and its official assessment instrument, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID
      5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2012). However, few studies have
      directly compared the trait-based model to the traditional PD model empirically
      in the same dataset. Moreover, to our knowledge, only a single study (Suzuki,
      Griffin, & Samuel, 2015) has examined the dependability of the PID-5, which is an
      essential component of construct validity for traits (Chmielewski & Watson, 2009;
      McCrae, Kurtz, Yamagata, & Terracciano, 2011). The current study directly
      compared the dependability of the DSM-5 traits, as assessed by the PID-5, and the
      traditional PD model, as assessed by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4
      (PDQ-4+), in a large undergraduate sample. In addition, it evaluated and compared
      their associations with functioning, another essential component of personality
      pathology. In general, our findings indicate that most DSM-5 traits demonstrate
      high levels of dependability that are superior to the traditional PD model;
      however, some of the constructs assessed by the PID-5 may be more state like. The
      models were roughly equivalent in terms of their associations with functioning.
      The current results provide additional support for the validity of PID-5 and the
      DSM-5 Section III personality pathology model. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618338
TI  - Structural and mechanistic insights into human splicing factor SF3b complex
      derived using an integrated approach guided by the cryo-EM density maps.
AB  - Pre-mRNA splicing in eukaryotes is performed by the spliceosome, a highly complex
      macromolecular machine. SF3b is a multi-protein complex which recognizes the
      branch point adenosine of pre-mRNA as part of a larger U2 snRNP or U11/U12 di
      snRNP in the dynamic spliceosome machinery. Although a cryo-EM map is available
      for human SF3b complex, the structure and relative spatial arrangement of all
      components in the complex are not yet known. We have recognized folds of domains
      in various proteins in the assembly and generated comparative models. Using an
      integrative approach involving structural and other experimental data, guided by
      the available cryo-EM density map, we deciphered a pseudo-atomic model of the
      closed form of SF3b which is found to be a "fuzzy complex" with highly flexible
      components and multiplicity of folds. Further, the model provides structural
      information for 5 proteins (SF3b10, SF3b155, SF3b145, SF3b130 and SF3b14b) and
      localization information for 4 proteins (SF3b10, SF3b145, SF3b130 and SF3b14b) in
      the assembly for the first time. Integration of this model with the available
      U11/U12 di-snRNP cryo-EM map enabled elucidation of an open form. This now
      provides new insights on the mechanistic features involved in the transition
      between closed and open forms pivoted by a hinge region in the SF3b155 protein
      that also harbors cancer causing mutations. Moreover, the open form guided model
      of the 5' end of U12 snRNA, which includes the branch point duplex, shows that
      the architecture of SF3b acts as a scaffold for U12 snRNA: pre-mRNA branch point
      duplex formation with potential implications for branch point adenosine
      recognition fidelity.

PMID- 27618344
TI  - The Decarboxylation of alpha,beta-Unsaturated Acid Catalyzed by Prenylated FMN
      Dependent Ferulic Acid Decarboxylase and the Enzyme Inhibition.
AB  - Ferulic acid decarboxylase (Fdc1) is able to catalyze the decarboxylation of
      alpha,beta-unsaturated acids using a novel cofactor, prenylated flavin
      mononucleotide (PrFMN). Using density functional theory calculations, we here
      have investigated the Fdc1 reaction mechanism with the substrate of alpha
      methylcinnamic acid. It is demonstrated that Fdc1 employs a 1,3-dipolar
      cycloaddition mechanism involving four concerted steps, where the Glu282 acts as
      a crucial proton donor to protonate the alpha carbon (Calpha). The last step, the
      decomposition of a pyrrolidine species, is rate-limiting with an overall barrier
      of 18.9 kcal mol-1. Furthermore, when alpha-hydroxycinnamic acid is used, the
      Glu282 is found to have another face to transport the hydroxyl proton to the
      Cbeta atom to promote the tautomerization from enol intermediate to ketone
      species leading to the inhibition of the Fdc1 enzyme. The PrFMN roles are also
      discussed in detail.

PMID- 27618345
TI  - Reliability of Heart Rate Variability in Children: Influence of Sex and Body
      Position During Data Collection.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine which body position and indices present better reliability of
      heart rate variability (HRV) measures in children and to compare the HRV analyzed
      in different body positions between sexes. METHOD: Twenty eutrophic prepubertal
      children of each sex participated in the study. The RR intervals were recorded
      using a portable heart rate monitor twice a day for 7 min in the supine, sitting,
      and standing positions. The reproducibility was analyzed using the intraclass
      correlation coefficient (ICC; two way mixed) and within-subject coefficient of
      variation (CV).Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to compare the
      sexes. RESULTS: High levels of reproducibility were indicated by higher ICC in
      the root-mean-square difference of successive normal RR intervals (RMSSD: 0.93
      and 0.94) and Poincare plot of the short-term RR interval variability (SD1: 0.92
      and 0.94) parameters for boys and girls, respectively, in the supine position.
      The ICCs were lower in the sitting and standing positions for all HRV indices. In
      addition, the girls presented significantly higher values than the boys for SDNN
      and absolute high frequency (HF; p < .05) in the supine position. CONCLUSIONS:
      The supine position is the most reproducible for the HRV indices in both sexes,
      especially the vagal related indices.

PMID- 27618346
TI  - The people behind the Journal really matter.

PMID- 27618347
TI  - 'Air-raising': An air-fluid level in the right subphrenic region.

PMID- 27618348
TI  - A man with HIV and papules and nodules on the knees.

PMID- 27618349
TI  - An abnormal peripheral blood smear and altered mental status.

PMID- 27618350
TI  - Correction: Pancreatectomy and islet cell autotransplantation.
AB  - The article "Total pancreatectomy and islet cell autotransplantation: Definitive
      treatment for chronic pancreatitis" (Arce KM, Lin YK, Stevens T, Walsh RM,
      Hatipoglu BA. Cleve Clin J Med 2016; 83:435-442) incorrectly stated that Paul
      Lacy and David Scharp performed research at the University of Washington at
      Seattle. They did their work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

PMID- 27618351
TI  - Are there alternatives to surgery for Zenker diverticulum?

PMID- 27618352
TI  - Erythrocytosis due to presumed polycythemia vera.

PMID- 27618353
TI  - Managing irritable bowel syndrome: The low-FODMAP diet.
AB  - A diet low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and
      polyols (FODMAPs) has been found to significantly reduce symptoms of irritable
      bowel syndrome (IBS). The diet is best implemented in two phases: initial strict
      elimination of foods high in FODMAPs, then gradual reintroduction based on
      symptoms. Further study of this diet's effect on intestinal microbiota is needed.

PMID- 27618354
TI  - Diet in the pathophysiology and management of irritable bowel syndrome.

PMID- 27618355
TI  - Gout and African Americans: Reducing disparities.
AB  - African Americans are more likely to suffer from gout and are less likely to
      receive optimal treatment for it. Physicians should be aware of risk factors for
      gout and professional guidelines for treating acute attacks and high uric acid
      levels, and should help develop strategies to reduce disparities in healthcare
      delivery. 

PMID- 27618356
TI  - Dual antiplatelet therapy for acute coronary syndromes: How long to continue?
AB  - For patients with an acute coronary syndrome event, current guidelines recommend
      dual antiplatelet therapy for at least 12 months after drug-eluting stent
      placement. However, several clinical trials have assessed whether continuing dual
      antiplatelet therapy beyond 12 months is beneficial. We review the pros and cons
      of extending dual antiplatelet therapy. 

PMID- 27618357
TI  - The modular nature of the beta-barrel assembly machinery, illustrated in Borrelia
      burgdorferi.
AB  - Diderm bacteria have an outer membrane that provides defense against
      environmental factors including antibiotics. Understanding the process of outer
      membrane biogenesis is, therefore, of critical importance in order to envisage
      new treatments of these bacterial pathogens. Borrelia burgdorferi is the pathogen
      responsible for Lyme disease. Its outer membrane contains integral, beta-barrel
      proteins as well as swathes of externally exposed lipoproteins. Previous work has
      demonstrated that the beta-barrel assembly machine (BAM complex) in B.
      burgdorferi and other Spirochetes shares several similarities with the BAM
      complex in other bacterial lineages, such as the Proteobacteria that includes
      Escherichia coli. However, Iqbal et al. () have identified the inner membrane
      protein TamB as a subunit of the BAM complex in Spirochetes. This latest study
      highlights the modular nature of the BAM complex, and suggests that in some
      bacterial lineages the BAM complex and translocation and assembly module (the
      TAM) function as a single unit.

PMID- 27618358
TI  - Investigation of ferromagnetic resonance and magnetoresistance in anti-spin ice
      structures.
AB  - In this work, we report experimental and theoretical investigations performed in
      anti-spin ice structures, composed by square lattice of elongated antidots,
      patterned in nickel thin film. The magnetic vortex crystal state was obtained by
      micromagnetic simulation as the ground state magnetization, which arises due to
      the magnetic stray field at the antidot edges inducing chirality in the
      magnetization of platters among antidots. Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and
      magnetoresistance (MR) measurements were utilized to investigate the vortex
      crystal magnetization dynamics and magnetoelectric response. By using FMR, it was
      possible to detect the spin wave modes and vortex crystal resonance, in good
      agreement with dynamic micromagnetic simulation results. The vortex crystal
      magnetization configuration and its response to the external magnetic field, were
      used to explain the isotropic MR behaviour observed.

PMID- 27618359
TI  - Impact of Cost-Sharing Mechanisms on Patient-Borne Medication Costs.

PMID- 27618360
TI  - Prognostic Significance of Cereblon Expression in Patients With Multiple Myeloma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To personalize the treatment approach for patients with multiple
      myeloma (MM), molecular markers such as cereblon (CRBN) are currently the focus
      of investigation. The aim of the present study was to test the prognostic
      significance of CRBN expression in MM patients ineligible for autologous stem
      cell transplantation (ASCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data from 92 previously
      untreated patients were analyzed. The distribution according to the International
      Staging System score was 26.1%, 30.4%, and 43.5% with a score of 1, 2, and 3,
      respectively. Thalidomide- and bortezomib-based combinations were used in 83.7%
      and 16.3% of the patients, respectively. RESULTS: A treatment response (complete
      remission, very good partial remission, partial remission) was achieved in 83.7%
      of the patients and correlated with high CRBN expression (P = .006), mainly in
      the patients treated with thalidomide (P = .028). Low CRBN expression affected
      progression-free survival (PFS; P = .017) but not overall survival (OS) in
      patients treated with thalidomide and had no influence on OS in the bortezomib
      group. In the Cox regression model, low CRBN expression was the most important
      prognostic parameter that influenced PFS in the thalidomide-treated patients (P =
      .012). CONCLUSION: CRBN expression is of prognostic value in MM patients
      ineligible for ASCT treated with thalidomide as an immunomodulatory drug. With
      low expression indicating a possible suboptimal treatment outcome, measurement of
      CRBN expression might serve as additional prognostic tool in the personalized
      treatment approach.

PMID- 27618361
TI  - Indolent Lymphomas That Present With Clinically Aggressive Features: A Subset of
      Low-Grade Lymphomas With a Behavior Inconsistent With the Histologic Diagnosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The expected presentation for low-grade lymphomas consists of
      disseminated lymphadenopathy with no constitutional symptomsk, and with bone
      marrow involvement, normal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), low proliferative rate as
      determined by Ki-67, and positron emission tomography (PET) scan with low
      standardized uptake values (SUVs) < 14. However, it is not unusual for some cases
      to present with 1 or more clinically aggressive features. Because the clinical
      behavior of such patients has not been investigated, there are no data regarding
      their expected outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: For these cases, we use the term
      "clinically discordant indolent histology" (CDIH), which we define as any
      follicular grade 1-2, grade 3-A, or small lymphocytic lymphoma that meets at
      least 1 or more of the following conditions at the time of diagnosis:
      constitutional symptoms, LDH elevation, PET SUV > 14, unusual areas of
      involvement for indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (bone, pleura, central
      nervous system, soft tissue, lung), Ki-67 > 30%, necrotic areas seen on computed
      tomography scan, or discrete space-occupying lesions in the liver or spleen. We
      have reviewed our NHL database with the objective of identifying such cases so we
      could compare them with those with the expected presentation of indolent NHLs.
      RESULTS: Patients with CDIH have a less favorable overall survival and failure
      free survival, and a higher rate of transformation to a higher-grade histology.
      CONCLUSIONS: CDIH functionally behaves as aggressive NHL despite the fact that
      under the microscope the lymphomas resemble typical indolent NHLs. These cases
      seem to fare better when treated with a regimen containing doxorubicin-rituximab.

PMID- 27618362
TI  - Evaluation of the Impact of Renal Failure on Correlation and Concordance Between
      2 Free Light Chain Assays.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Free light chain (FLC) assays are essential for diagnosis and follow
      up of plasma cell dyscrasia. Two assays are available: Freelite (Binding Site)
      and N Latex FLC (Siemens). The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of
      renal failure on concordance and correlation between the 2 FLC assays. METHODS:
      FLC measurements using both assays were performed on 1215 fresh serum samples
      from patients with or without monoclonal gammopathy and renal failure.
      Concordance and correlation were evaluated using Passing-Bablock regression,
      Pearson correlation coefficient, and the Cohen kappa coefficient, taking into
      account the renal failure stage (evaluated with Chronic Kidney Disease
      Epidemiology Collaboration formulae) and evaluation of treatment response in
      patients' follow-up. RESULTS: A good correlation was demonstrated between both
      assays, irrespective of the renal failure stage (Pearson correlation coefficient
      > 0.90). For FLC ratio interpretation, there remained 7.6% to 20.8% discordances
      between the 2 methods throughout the whole range of renal impairment. To evaluate
      FLC evolution in patient follow-up, 41 patients were selected with at least 6
      consecutive serum samples being collected during the study period: we observed a
      concordant evolution of FLC concentrations between both assays. However, few
      discrepancies were observed with 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Despite adjusted
      reference ranges for Freelite FLC ratio, there are approximately 12.5%
      discrepancies in interpretation of FLC ratio between the 2 available assays. They
      are not linked to renal failure stage and neither of the assays performed better
      than the other: results must be interpreted taking into account clinical data and
      the same assay must be used for patient follow-up.

PMID- 27618363
TI  - Prevalence and Prognostic Impact of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in
      Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: Data from the GISSI-HF Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common comorbidity
      in patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to assess its prevalence,
      characterization and long-term prognostic impact in the GISSI-HF population.
      METHODS: The study randomized 6,975 ambulatory HF patients to either n-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids or placebo. We performed a retrospective analysis of
      clinical characteristics and outcomes of the 1,533 patients diagnosed with COPD
      (22%). RESULTS: COPD was associated with a worse clinical presentation and an
      increased burden of comorbidities. At a median follow-up of 3.9 years, COPD was
      found to be an independent predictor of both predefined primary study end points,
      including all-cause mortality (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.15-1.43, p < 0.0001) and all
      cause mortality or hospitalization for cardiovascular reasons (HR 1.19, 95% CI
      1.10-1.30, p < 0.0001). Both cardiovascular (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.05-1.36, p =
      0.007) and noncardiovascular mortality (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.26-1.94, p < 0.0001)
      were significantly increased in COPD-HF patients, as well as hospitalizations for
      any reason (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.14-1.34, p < 0.0001), for cardiovascular reasons
      (HR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06-1.27, p = 0.002) and for HF (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.14-1.43, p <
      0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: COPD is an independent predictor of mortality and
      hospitalizations in ambulatory HF patients. Increased awareness and improved
      management of COPD may reduce the burden of this morbidity to patients with HF.

PMID- 27618365
TI  - Phenolic profile, antioxidant capacity of five Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd
      provenances and their allelopathic effects on Trigonella foenum-graecum L. and
      Lens culinaris L. seeds.
AB  - The aim of this work was to evaluate some secondary metabolites, antioxidant
      activity of methanolic leaf extracts of five Ziziphus spina-christi provenances
      (INRGREF, Tozeur, Degueche, Nafta and Kebelli) and their allelopathic effects on
      Trigonella foenum-graecum and Lens culinaris. Leaves were collected during 2013
      and 2014. Total phenols, flavonoids, tannins and antioxidant activity were
      evaluated using the Folin ciocalteux, Aluminum trichloride, vanillin and
      scavenging activity on 22-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical methods,
      respectively. Total phenols, tannins and flavonoids were present, at levels of
      57.41 mg GAE/g DW, 31.98 mg RE/g DW and 14.68 MUg CE/g DW, respectively. The high
      antioxidant activity (0.086 MUg/mL) was noted in kebelli provenance (2013). The
      highest germination, plumule and radicle lengths of tested species were observed
      in INRGREF provenance. Z. spina-christi leaf extracts may be suggested in foods
      and pharmaceutical industries. Leaf extracts could also provide a natural
      herbicide with a positive impact on the environment.

PMID- 27618367
TI  - Modeling Human Glaucoma: Lessons from the in vitro Models.
AB  - Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, is a degenerative disease
      characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss and optic nerve atrophy.
      Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is a main risk factor for onset and
      progression of the disease. Since increased IOP is the only modifiable risk
      factor, relevant models for glaucoma would comprise RGC and optic nerve damage
      triggered by ocular hypertension. Animal models of glaucoma have greatly
      contributed to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of this pathology,
      and they have also facilitated the development of new pharmacological
      interventions. Although animal models of glaucoma have provided valuable
      information about the disease, there is still no ideal model for studying
      glaucoma due to its complexity. There is a recognized demand for in vitro models
      that can replace or reduce the need for animal experiments. Several in vitro
      models have emerged as a great opportunity in the field of glaucoma research,
      helping to clarify the mechanisms involved in disease progression. Several types
      of equipment have been developed to expose cells and tissue cultures to elevated
      pressures. Herein, we discuss the methodology used to increase pressure, the main
      findings, and the relevance of in vitro models for the study of the
      pathophysiology of glaucoma.

PMID- 27618368
TI  - The Relationship of Knowledge of Osteoporosis and Bone Health in Postmenopausal
      Women in Silesia Osteo Active Study.
AB  - The Silesia Osteo Active Study was designed to assess osteoporosis-related
      knowledge and its relationships with skeletal status in an epidemiological
      population-based program. Participants were chosen randomly from postmenopausal
      women over 55 yr. The study group consisted of 388 patients (mean age 65 +/- 7).
      All participants fulfilled medical and socioeconomic questionnaires and test
      concerning osteoporosis-related knowledge. They underwent proximal femur and
      lumbar spine densitometry. The mean level of osteoporosis knowledge was 7.3 +/-
      2.0 for 10 questions. Osteoporosis knowledge seems to have no influence on
      densitometry results in the population; nevertheless it improves femoral neck
      (FN) density in those without prior personal experience of osteoporosis (r =
      0.15; p < 0.05). Higher knowledge of osteoporosis was connected with osteoporosis
      in family, hormone replacement therapy or smoking history, and higher educational
      degree. The level of knowledge was significantly better in younger than in older
      participants (7.4 vs 6.7; p < 0.01). Osteoporosis (T-score < -2.5) was
      established in 6.4%, 2%, and 33% for FN, total hip, and spine, respectively. As a
      conclusion, current study revealed a positive influence of the knowledge of
      osteoporosis on FN density in postmenopausal women without prior personal
      experience of the disease.

PMID- 27618369
TI  - Challenges in the Use of Cross-Sectional Data to Quantify Growth and
      Deterioration of Bone Structure During Advancing Age.

PMID- 27618370
TI  - What Is Your Superpower As a Trauma Nurse?

PMID- 27618366
TI  - Galeterone and VNPT55 disrupt Mnk-eIF4E to inhibit prostate cancer cell migration
      and invasion.
AB  - Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) accounts for a high
      percentage of prostate cancer mortality. The proprietary compound galeterone
      (gal) was designed to inhibit proliferation of androgen/androgen receptor (AR)
      dependent prostate cancer cell in vitro and in vivo and is currently in phase III
      clinical development. Additionally, clinical studies with gal revealed its superb
      efficacy in four different cohorts of patients with mCRPC, including those
      expressing splice variant AR-V7. Preclinical studies with gal show that it also
      exhibits strong antiproliferative activities against AR-negative prostate cancer
      cells and tumors through a mechanism involving phosphorylation of eIF2alpha,
      which forms an integral component of the eukaryotic mRNA translation complex.
      Thus, we hypothesized that gal and its new analog, VNPT55, could modulate
      oncogenic mRNA translation and prostate cancer cell migration and invasion. We
      report that gal and VNPT55 profoundly inhibit migration and invasion of prostate
      cancer cells, possibly by down-regulating protein expression of several EMT
      markers (Snail, Slug, N-cadherin, vimentin, and MMP-2/-9) via antagonizing the
      Mnk-eIF4E axis. In addition, gal/VNPT55 inhibited both NF-kappaB and Twist1
      transcriptional activities, down-regulating Snail and BMI-1 mRNA expression,
      respectively. Furthermore, profound up-regulation of E-cadherin mRNA and protein
      expression may explain the observed significant inhibition of prostate cancer
      cell migration and invasion. Moreover, expression of self-renewal proteins, beta
      catenin, CD44, and Nanog, was markedly depleted. Analysis of gal/VNPT55-treated
      CWR22Rv1 xenograft tissue sections also revealed that observations in vitro were
      recapitulated in vivo. Our results suggest that gal/VNPT55 could become promising
      agents for the prevention and/or treatment of all stages of prostate cancer.

PMID- 27618371
TI  - STN Working Groups Connect, Commit, and Collaborate to Advance Key Initiatives.

PMID- 27618372
TI  - Underreporting of Concussions and Concussion-Like Symptoms in Female High School
      Athletes.
AB  - Underreporting of concussions and concussion-like symptoms in athletes continues
      to be a serious medical concern and research focus. Despite mounting worry,
      little evidence exists examining incidence of underreporting and documenting
      characteristics of head injury in female athletes participating in high school
      sports. This study examined the self-reporting behaviors of female high school
      athletes. Seventy-seven athletes participated, representing 14 high school
      sports. Nearly half of the athletes (31 participants) reported a suspected
      concussion, with 10 of the 31 athletes refraining from reporting symptoms to
      training staff after injury. Only 66% reported receiving concussion education.
      Concussion education appeared to have no relationship with diagnosed concussion
      rates in athletes, removing athletes from play, or follow-up medical care after
      injury. In conclusion, female high school athletes underreport signs and symptoms
      of concussions. Concussion education should occur at higher rates among female
      athletes to influence reporting behaviors. 

PMID- 27618374
TI  - Demographic, Clinical, and Health System Characteristics Associated With Pain
      Assessment Documentation and Pain Severity in U.S. Military Patients in Combat
      Zone Emergency Departments, 2010-2013.
AB  - Emergency department (ED) pain assessment documentation in trauma patients is
      critical to ED pain care. This retrospective, cross-sectional study used trauma
      registry data to evaluate U.S. military combat zone trauma patients injured
      between 2010 and 2013 requiring >= 24-hr inpatient care. Study aims were to
      identify the frequency of combat zone ED pain assessment documentation and
      describe pain severity. Secondary aims were to construct statistical models to
      explain variation in pain assessment documentation and pain severity.Pain scores
      were documented in 60.5% (n = 3,339) of the 5,518 records evaluated. The
      proportion of records with ED pain scores increased yearly. Pain assessment
      documentation was associated with documentation of ED vital signs, comprehensive
      facility, more recent year, prehospital (PH) heart rate of 60-100 beats/min, ED
      Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15 vs. 14, blunt trauma, and lower injury severity
      score (ISS).Pain severity scores ranged from 0 to 10; mean = 5.5 (SD = 3.1);
      median = 6. Higher ED pain scores were associated with Army service compared with
      Marine Corps, no documented PH vital signs, higher PH pain score, ED respiratory
      rate < 12 or >16, moderate or severe ISS compared with minor ISS, treatment in a
      less-equipped facility, and injury in 2011 or 2012 vs. 2010. The pain severity
      model explained 20.4% of variance in pain severity.Overall, frequency of pain
      assessment documentation in combat-zone EDs improved yearly, but remained
      suboptimal. Pain severity was poorly predicted by demographic, clinical, and
      health system variables available from the trauma registry, emphasizing the
      importance of individual assessment. 

PMID- 27618373
TI  - Pilot Study: A Pediatric Pedestrian Safety Curriculum for Preschool Children.
AB  - To evaluate and implement the WalkSafe Pre-Kindergarten Pedestrian Safety
      Curriculum. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design without a control group
      was used to measure children's pedestrian safety knowledge. Knowledge assessments
      consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions were administered pre-
      and post-curriculum implementation by classroom teachers. Knowledge assessments
      gauged prekindergarten students' knowledge of pedestrian safety activities prior
      to safety curriculum implementation and, again, after the students received the
      curriculum. A total of 605 children (aged 3- to 5-year) from 38 prekindergarten
      classrooms in 16 randomly selected elementary schools participated in the
      pedestrian safety education pilot program. Subjects were of multiethnic and
      diverse backgrounds from the Miami-Dade County Public School District. Of the 605
      educated subjects, 454 children completed both pre- and posttests. A
      statistically significant difference was found between pretest knowledge (M =
      5.49, SD = 1.54) and posttest knowledge (M = 6.64, SD = 1.35) assessment scores
      across all 454 subjects, t(452) = -16.22, p < .001, 95% CI [-1.29, -1.01].
      Previous studies have shown that classroom-based training of children as young as
      4 years old can yield significant improvements in traffic safety knowledge. The
      statistical findings of the WalkSafe Pre-Kindergarten Pedestrian Safety
      Curriculum revealed statistically significant improvements in pedestrian safety
      knowledge of these young children. Future research efforts will focus on
      longitudinal behavioral changes in these students and an increase in pedestrian
      safety behaviors (e.g., utilization of crosswalks or sidewalks). 

PMID- 27618376
TI  - Progressive Mobility Protocol Reduces Venous Thromboembolism Rate in Trauma
      Intensive Care Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.
AB  - The intensive care unit (ICU) trauma population is at high risk for complications
      associated with immobility. The purpose of this project was to compare ICU trauma
      patient outcomes before and after implementation of a structured progressive
      mobility (PM) protocol. Outcomes included hospital and ICU stays, ventilator
      days, falls, respiratory failure, pneumonia, or venous thromboembolism (VTE). In
      the preintervention cohort, physical therapy (PT) consults were placed 53% of the
      time. This rose to more than 90% during the postintervention period. PT consults
      seen within 24 hr rose from a baseline 23% pre- to 74%-94% in the 2 highest
      compliance postintervention months. On average, 40% of patients were daily
      determined to be too unstable for mobility per protocol guidelines-most often
      owing to elevated intracranial pressure. During PM sessions, there were no
      adverse events (i.e., extubation, hypoxia, fall). There were no significant
      differences in clinical outcomes between the 2 cohorts regarding hospital and ICU
      stays, average ventilator days, mortality, falls, respiratory failure, or
      pneumonia overall or within ventilated patients specifically. There was, however,
      a difference in the incidence of VTE between the preintervention cohort (21%) and
      postintervention cohort (7.5%) (p = .0004). A PM protocol for ICU trauma patients
      is safe and may reduce patient deconditioning and VTE complications in this high
      risk population. Multidisciplinary commitment, daily protocol reinforcement, and
      active engagement of patients/families are the cornerstones to success in this
      ICU PM program. 

PMID- 27618375
TI  - Risk Factors for Complications of Traumatic Injuries.
AB  - Complications in hospitalized trauma patients are major causes of morbidity and
      mortality. The aims of this study were to identify the in-hospital trauma
      patients' complications and identify the risk factors for complications in this
      population. A retrospective analysis was conducted in a sample from a Brazilian
      hospital. The sample consisted of 407 patients, 194 (47.66%) of whom had records
      of complications. The most common complications were infections (41.80%). The
      risk factors related to the complications were age, length of hospital stay,
      external causes, and injury severity. The complications were frequent in this
      sample, and the risk for complications was characterized by multiple factors. 

PMID- 27618377
TI  - One Rural Hospital's Experience Implementing the Society for Healthcare
      Epidemiology of America Guidelines to Decrease Central Line Infections.
AB  - In an effort to take advantage of the Highmark Quality Blue Initiative ()
      requiring information from hospitals detailing their central line-associated
      blood stream infections (CLABSIs) surveillance system, quality improvement
      program, and statistics regarding the CLABSI events, this institution
      investigated the latest evidence-based recommendations to reduce CLABSIs.
      Recognizing the baseline rate of 2.4 CLABSIs per 1,000 central line days and its
      effect on patient outcomes and medical costs, this hospital made a commitment to
      improve their CLABSI outcomes. As a result, the facility adopted the Society for
      Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) guidelines. The purpose of this article
      is to review the CLABSI rates and examine the prevention strategies following
      implementation of the SHEA guidelines. A quantitative, descriptive retrospective
      program evaluation examined the hospital's pre- and post-SHEA implementation
      methods of decreasing CLABSIs and the subsequent CLABSI rates over 3 time
      periods. Any patient with a CLABSI infection admitted to this hospital July 2007
      to June 2010 (N = 78). CLABSI rates decreased from 1.9 to 1.3 over the study
      period. Compliance with specific SHEA guidelines was evaluated and measures were
      put into place to increase compliance where necessary. CLABSI rates at this
      facility remain below the baseline of 2.4 for calendar year 2013 (0.79), 2014
      (0.07), and 2015 (0.33). 

PMID- 27618378
TI  - Implementation and Evaluation of a Team Simulation Training Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Care of the trauma patient requires a well-coordinated intensive
      effort during the golden hour to optimize survival. PURPOSE: We hypothesized that
      this program would improve knowledge, satisfaction, self-confidence, and
      simulated team performance. METHODS: A pre-, post-test design with N = 7 BSN
      nurses, 21 years of age, less than 2 years of intensive care unit and nursing
      experience. SETTING: Trauma intensive care unit, single-center academic Level 1
      trauma center. RESULTS: Improvement was shown in perception of team structure
      (paired t test 13.71-12.57; p = .0001) and communication (paired t test 14.85
      12.14; p = .009). Improvement was shown in observed situation monitoring (paired
      t test 17.42-25.28; p = .000), mutual support (paired t test 12.57-18.57; p =
      .000), and communication (paired t test 15.42-25.00; p = .001). A decrease was
      shown in attitudes of mutual support (paired t test 25.85-19.71; p = .04) and
      communication (paired t test 26.14-23.00; p = .001). Mean satisfaction scores
      were 21.5 of a possible 25 points. Mean self-confidence scores were 38.83 out of
      a possible 40 points. DISCUSSION: Simulation-based team training improved
      teamwork attitudes, perceptions, and performance. Team communication demonstrated
      significant improvement in 2 of the 3 instruments. Most participants agreed or
      strongly agreed that they were satisfied with simulation and had gained self
      confidence.

PMID- 27618379
TI  - Utility of Repeat Head Computed Tomography for Intracranial Hemorrhage After
      Trauma and Importance of Direct Patient Care.
AB  - At many institutions, it is common practice for trauma patients with traumatic
      intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) to receive routine repeat head computed tomographic
      (CT) scans after the initial CT scan, regardless of symptoms, to evaluate
      progression of the injury. The purpose of this study was to assess quantifiable
      risk factors (age, anticoagulation, gender) that could place patients at greater
      risk for progression of injury, thus requiring surgical intervention (craniotomy,
      craniectomy) for which serial CT scanning would be useful. From January 2014 to
      June 2015, a total of 211 patients presented with traumatic ICH and 198 were
      eligible for inclusion. Twenty-six patients required operative intervention for
      ICH. One of 26 patients went to the operating room as a result of repeat head CT
      scans without associated mental status change, change in neurological
      examination, or associated symptoms such as nausea or vomiting. Significant
      changes in patient management due to routine repeat CT scans were not observed.
      There were no statistically significant risk factors identified to place patients
      at higher risk for progression of disease. The data from this analysis emphasized
      the importance of nursing care in identifying and relaying changes in patient
      condition to the trauma team. 

PMID- 27618380
TI  - ATCN Europe.

PMID- 27618381
TI  - Leading Through Influence.

PMID- 27618382
TI  - Pilot Study: A Pediatric Pedestrian Safety Curriculum for Preschool Children.

PMID- 27618383
TI  - Progressive Mobility Protocol Reduces Venous Thromboembolism Rate in Trauma
      Intensive Care Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

PMID- 27618384
TI  - Methylation of glucocorticoid receptor gene promoter modulates morphine
      dependence and accompanied hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction.
AB  - Previous studies demonstrated that dysfunction of the hypothalamus-pituitary
      adrenal (HPA) axis played an important role in morphine dependence. Nonetheless,
      the molecular mechanism underlying morphine-induced HPA axis dysfunction and
      morphine dependence remains unclear. In the current study, 5'-aza-2'
      deoxycytidine (5-aza), an inhibitor of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), was used
      to examine the effects of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) promoter 17 methylation on
      chronic morphine-induced HPA axis dysfunction and behavioral changes in rats and
      the underlying mechanism. Our results showed that chronic but not acute morphine
      downregulated the expression of nuclear GR protein and GR exon 17 variant mRNA,
      and upregulated the methylation of GR 17 exon promoter in the hippocampus of
      rats. Meanwhile, 5-aza per se had no effect on observed molecular and behavior
      change. In contrast, pretreatment of 5-aza into rat hippocampus reversed chronic
      morphine-induced hypermethylation of GR 17 promoter and decrease in GR
      expression. Moreover, pretreatment of 5-aza attenuated chronic morphine-enhanced
      HPA axis reactivity and the naloxone-precipitated somatic signs in morphine
      dependent rats. Our results suggest that chronic morphine induced
      hypermethylation of GR 17 promoter, which then downregulated the expression of
      hippocampal GR, and was thus involved in chronic morphine-induced dysfunction of
      the HPA axis and the modulation of morphine dependence. Moreover, chronic
      morphine-induced hypermethylation of GR 17 promoter may be at least partially due
      to the increase in hippocampal DNMT 1 expression and its binding at GR 17
      promoter in the rat hippocampus. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618385
TI  - Is it time to extend criteria for hepatic resection in the treatment of
      hepatocellular carcinoma?

PMID- 27618386
TI  - Effects of Velocity Loss During Resistance Training on Performance in
      Professional Soccer Players.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the effects of 2 resistance-training (RT) programs that used
      the same relative loading but different repetition volume, using the velocity
      loss during the set as the independent variable: 15% (VL15) vs 30% (VL30).
      METHODS: Sixteen professional soccer players with RT experience (age 23.8 +/- 3.5
      y, body mass 75.5 +/- 8.6 kg) were randomly assigned to 2 groups, VL15 (n = 8) or
      VL30 (n = 8), that followed a 6-wk (18-session) velocity-based squat-training
      program. Repetition velocity was monitored in all sessions. Assessments performed
      before (Pre) and after training (Post) included estimated 1-repetition maximum
      (1RM) and change in average mean propulsive velocity (AMPV) against absolute
      loads common to Pre and Post tests, countermovement jump (CMJ), 30-m sprint
      (T30), and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (YIRT). Null-hypothesis significance
      testing and magnitude-based-inference statistical analyses were performed.
      RESULTS: VL15 obtained greater gains in CMJ height than VL30 (P < .05), with no
      significant differences between groups for the remaining variables. VL15 showed a
      likely/possibly positive effect on 1RM (91/9/0%), AMPV (73/25/2%), and CMJ
      (87/12/1%), whereas VL30 showed possibly/unclear positive effects on 1RM
      (65/33/2%) and AMPV (46/36/18%) and possibly negative effects on CMJ (4/38/57%).
      The effects on T30 performance were unclear/unlikely for both groups, whereas
      both groups showed most likely/likely positive effects on YIRT. CONCLUSIONS: A
      velocity-based RT program characterized by a low degree of fatigue (15% velocity
      loss in each set) is effective to induce improvements in neuromuscular
      performance in professional soccer players with previous RT experience.

PMID- 27618387
TI  - Quality by Design risk assessments supporting approved antibody products.

PMID- 27618389
TI  - The Efficacy of Massage in Reducing Nodule Formation After Poly-L-Lactic Acid
      Administration for Facial Volume Loss: A Randomized, Evaluator-Blinded Clinical
      Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of nodule formation following poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA)
      injections for facial volume loss is well known. Traditionally, post-treatment
      massage according to the 5-5-5 rule (5 times per day for 5 minutes for 5 days)
      has been applied to mitigate this risk. However, such a regimen may be onerous
      for patient compliance. Using currently accepted injection technique and product
      dilution, the efficacy of massage for nodule prevention has never been formally
      evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of massage in reducing the
      incidence of nodule formation post-PLLA injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After
      obtaining informed consent, 20 subjects with facial lipoatrophy were enrolled in
      this randomized, evaluator-blinded clinical trial. Each subject was treated with
      1 vial of PLLA each month for 3 months. Vials were diluted with 1 mL of 1%
      lidocaine and 7 ml of bacteriostatic water, shaken with a vortex and refrigerated
      for 24 to 48 hours before injection. Ten subjects were instructed to massage the
      treated areas according to the 5-5-5 rule and 10 subjects did not perform any
      massage post-treatment. Six-month follow-up data were collected for treatment
      efficacy and adverse events. RESULTS: No nodules were reported by subjects or
      detected by the blinded evaluator regardless of massage status. Significant
      improvements in facial lipoatrophy were detected 1, 3, and 6 months after the
      final treatment session and were not statistically different between the 2
      groups. CONCLUSION: Using currently recommended guidelines for product
      preparation and injection, the application of massage post-PLLA facial treatment
      does not have a significant impact on nodule formation or treatment efficacy.

PMID- 27618388
TI  - Examining the Language Phenotype in Children With Typical Development, Specific
      Language Impairment, and Fragile X Syndrome.
AB  - Purpose: One aspect of morphosyntax, finiteness marking, was compared in children
      with fragile X syndrome (FXS), specific language impairment (SLI), and typical
      development matched on mean length of utterance (MLU). Method: Nineteen children
      with typical development (mean age = 3.3 years), 20 children with SLI (mean age =
      4.9 years), and 17 boys with FXS (mean age = 11.9 years) completed the Test of
      Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI; Rice & Wexler, 2001), and other cognitive and
      language assessments. Quantitative comparisons on finiteness marking and
      qualitative comparisons of unscorable (i.e., nontarget) TEGI responses were
      conducted. Results: Children with typical development and FXS performed better on
      finiteness marking than children with SLI. Although unscorable responses were
      infrequent, boys with FXS produced more unscorable responses than children with
      typical development and SLI. Conclusions: Although boys with FXS have language
      deficits, they performed similarly to MLU-matched typically developing children
      on finiteness marking. This language profile differs from children with SLI, who
      present with a delay-within-a-delay profile with finiteness marking delays that
      exceed delays in MLU. Unscorable responses produced by the boys with FXS may
      reflect pragmatic deficits, which are prominent in this population. Assessment
      procedures should be carefully considered when examining language in boys with
      FXS.

PMID- 27618390
TI  - Commentary on Tricks and Tips for Manual Dermabrasion.

PMID- 27618391
TI  - Autologous Fat Transfer for Breast Augmentation: A Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of autologous fat transfer for breast augmentation is still
      controversial due to ongoing concerns regarding its efficacy and safety, most
      notably, concerns about breast cancer risk and detection. OBJECTIVE: To summarize
      the current knowledge on the safety and efficacy of autologous fat transfer for
      breast augmentation with focus on clinical techniques, outcome, and
      complications. METHODS: A thorough search of the literature was conducted using
      the terms autologous fat transfer, autologous fat grafting, and breast
      augmentation in the Medline and Embase databases, and relevant English and German
      language articles were included. RESULTS: Findings were categorized in a step-by
      step approach to the fat grafting procedure divided into technique (harvesting,
      processing, and injection), postoperative care, graft viability enhancement,
      outcome, complications, and breast cancer risk. CONCLUSION: Autologous fat
      transfer for breast augmentation is not yet standardized. Therefore, outcomes
      vary widely depending on the surgeon's expertise. The majority of reported
      complications are of low morbidity, and based on available data, the procedure
      has a good long-term safety profile. Although there is no evidence that fat
      grafting increases breast malignancy risk, long-term follow-up is required.

PMID- 27618392
TI  - Single Hair Grafts of the Hairline to Aesthetically Restore Eyebrows by
      Follicular Unit Extraction in Asians.

PMID- 27618393
TI  - Cisplatin and Cetuximab Treatment for Metastatic Cutaneous Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common
      form of skin cancer and metastasizes in 2% to 5% of cases. OBJECTIVE: Systematic
      evaluation of published cases of metastatic cSCC (mSCC) treated with cisplatin or
      cetuximab from 1989 to 2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search was
      performed to identify cases of mSCC treated with cisplatin or cetuximab. Patient
      demographics, tumor characteristics, response rates, and disease-free survivals
      were extracted. RESULTS: A total of 60 cases of mSCC treated with cisplatin and 9
      cases treated with cetuximab reported in the literature from 1989 to 2014 were
      included in the analysis. Patients treated with cetuximab obtained a complete
      response of 67%, an overall response of 78%, and a median disease-free survival
      of 25 (range 3-48) months. Patients treated with cisplatin obtained a complete
      response of 22%, an overall response of 45%, and a median disease-free survival
      of 14.6 (range 3-112) months. CONCLUSION: Head-to-head prospective clinical
      studies between cetuximab and cisplatin are needed to determine which is more
      efficacious. In addition, prospective tumor registries and randomized controlled
      trials should be developed in order to establish the ideal systemic regimen in
      cSCC.

PMID- 27618394
TI  - A Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Low-Level Laser Therapy in the
      Treatment of Hair Loss.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is currently in use to stimulate hair
      growth and is quickly gaining in popularity due to the ease of use and absence of
      side effects. In 2015 alone, the number of LLLT devices with the Food and Drug
      Administration clearance has doubled. OBJECTIVE: To consolidate evidence and
      establish which data are still required for the widespread acceptance of LLLT for
      hair loss therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A thorough search of the PubMed
      database was conducted to obtain studies investigating LLLT for androgenetic
      alopecia in men and women. RESULTS: Nine trials were identified for comb and
      helmet/cap devices, five of which were randomized controlled trials. Data
      comparison across LLLT trials and with traditional hair loss therapy (minoxidil,
      finasteride) was not straight forward because there was a lack of visual
      evidence, sample sizes were low, and there were large variations in study
      duration and efficacy measurements. CONCLUSION: There are a number of unanswered
      questions about the optimum treatment regimen, including maintenance treatment
      and the long-term consequences of LLLT use. Moving forward, protocols should be
      standardized across trials. Moreover, it is recommended that future trials
      include visual evidence and trial duration be expanded to 12 months.

PMID- 27618398
TI  - Soluble Perfluorocyclobutyl Aryl Ether-Based Polyimide for High-Performance
      Dielectric Material.
AB  - High durability of low-k value is a desired property for dielectrics serving
      under humid conditions, because absorbing a small amount of moisture by the
      material can considerably increase the k value so as to result in function
      deterioration. Aiming to develop a dielectric polymer with superior durability of
      low-k value and high thermal stability, a perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) biphenyl
      ether-based polyimide, PFCBBPPI, was synthesized. This polymer possesses a Tg of
      310.3  degrees C and a 5% weight loss temperature of 510.5  degrees C. PFCBBBPPI
      exhibited an extremely low water uptake of 0.065 +/- 0.018%, representing the
      best water resistance in polyimides. The increasing percentage in k value was
      below 2% for PFCBBPPI film exposed to moisture under various humidity conditions
      for 6 h. PFCBBPPI film equilibrated at 75% R.H. for 2 weeks still kept its k
      value below 2.50, remarkably outperforming the Kapton film. The remarkable water
      resistance and resulting high durability of low-k property displayed by PFCBBPPI
      are originated from the hydrophobic nature and small free volume fraction of the
      polymer, as confirmed by contact angle test and positron annihilation lifetime
      spectroscopy results. The outstanding moisture resistance and overall performance
      of PFCBBPPI make it a suitable candidate for dielectric applications under both
      dry and humid conditions.

PMID- 27618397
TI  - Physical Activity Status in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: Results From
      the Cross-Sectional EUROASPIRE Surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study aim was to assess the physical activity levels as well as
      the intention to become physically active in patients with stable coronary heart
      disease (CHD) with a special focus on the association with their risk profile.
      METHODS: Analyses are based on the cross-sectional EUROASPIRE IV surveys.
      Information was available on 8966 patients in EUROASPIRE III and on 7998 patients
      in EUROASPIRE IV. Physical activity level according to patients risk profile and
      their medical management was assessed, the intention to become physically active
      was investigated and a time trend analysis was performed. RESULTS: A better
      cardiovascular risk profile as well as receiving physical activity advice or
      weight loss advice was associated with better physical activity levels. The
      physical activity status improved significantly over time, the proportion of
      patients reporting vigorous physical activity for at least 20 minutes >= 3
      times/week increased from 14.1% to 20.2% (P < .001). Similarly, a significantly
      greater proportion of patients are in the maintenance stage (36.6% vs. 27.4%) and
      a smaller proportion in the precontemplation stage (43.2% vs. 52.3%). CONCLUSION:
      Although an increase was seen in the proportion of patients being adequately
      physical active, physical activity levels remain suboptimal in many CHD patients.

PMID- 27618395
TI  - Valproate Attenuates Nitroglycerin-Induced Trigeminovascular Activation by
      Preserving Mitochondrial Function in a Rat Model of Migraine.
AB  - BACKGROUND Migraine is a chronic disease that interferes with life quality and
      work productivity. Valproate shows protective effects against migraine, yet the
      underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the potential
      effect of valproate on migraine using a rat model of nitroglycerin-induced
      trigeminovascular activation, as well as to explore the underlying mechanism.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS Intraperitoneal injection of nitroglycerin was conducted to
      induce trigeminovascular activation in rats. To explore the protective effect of
      valproate, a low dose (100 mg/kg) or a high dose (200 mg/kg) of valproate was
      intraperitoneally injected into rats, and then the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine
      and nitric oxide in the peripheral blood were examined. The mtDNA copy number and
      the protein levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma
      coactivator 1alpha, mitochondrial transcription factor A, and peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-gamma in the spinal trigeminal nucleus were
      detected to evaluate the biogenesis of mitochondria. The mitochondrial energy
      metabolism was determined by the mitochondrial membrane potential and the levels
      of adenosine triphosphate, cytochrome C oxidase, and reactive oxygen species.
      RESULTS Valproate attenuated nitroglycerin-induced trigeminovascular activation
      in rats, with reduced scratching behavior and restored 5-hydroxytryptamine and
      nitric oxide levels. Moreover, the mitochondrial energy metabolism and the
      biogenesis of mitochondria were preserved by valproate in nitroglycerin-treated
      rats. CONCLUSIONS The protective effect of valproate against migraine may be
      achieved through the modulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and function. Our
      study provides evidence for the potential use of valproate in the treatment of
      migraine. 

PMID- 27618396
TI  - Characterization of a new Gsx2-cre line in the developing mouse telencephalon.
AB  - In this study, we generated a transgenic mouse line driving Cre and EGFP
      expression with two putative cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) (i.e., hs687 and
      hs678) upstream of the homeobox gene Gsx2 (formerly Gsh2), a critical gene for
      establishing lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE) identity. The combination of these
      two CRMs drives transgene expression within the endogenous Gsx2 expression
      domains along the anterior-posterior neuraxis. By crossing this transgenic line
      with the RosatdTomato (Ai14) reporter mouse line, we observed a unique
      recombination pattern in the lateral ventral telencephalon, namely the LGE and
      the dorsal half of the medial GE (MGE), but not in the septum. We found robust
      recombination in many cell types derived from these embryonic regions, including
      olfactory bulb and amygdala interneurons and striatal projection neurons from the
      LGE, as well as cortical interneurons from the MGE and caudal GE (CGE). In
      summary, this transgenic mouse line represents a new tool for genetic
      manipulation in the LGE/CGE and the dorsal half of MGE.

PMID- 27618399
TI  - Earlier springs are causing reduced nitrogen availability in North American
      eastern deciduous forests.
AB  - There is wide agreement that anthropogenic climate warming has influenced the
      phenology of forests during the late twentieth and early twenty-first
      centuries(1,2). Longer growing seasons can lead to increased photosynthesis and
      productivity(3), which would represent a negative feedback to rising CO2 and
      consequently warming(4,5). Alternatively, increased demand for soil resources
      because of a longer photosynthetically active period in conjunction with other
      global change factors might exacerbate resource limitation(6,7), restricting
      forest productivity response to a longer growing season(8,9). In this case,
      increased springtime productivity has the potential to increase plant nitrogen
      limitation by increasing plant demand for nitrogen more than nitrogen supplies,
      or increasing early-season ecosystem nitrogen losses(10,11). Here we show that
      for 222 trees representing three species in eastern North America earlier spring
      phenology during the past 30 years has caused declines in nitrogen availability
      to trees by increasing demand for nitrogen relative to supply. The observed
      decline in nitrogen availability is not associated with reduced wood production,
      suggesting that other environmental changes such as increased atmospheric CO2 and
      water availability are likely to have overwhelmed reduced nitrogen availability.
      Given current trajectories of environmental changes, nitrogen limitation is
      likely to continue to increase for these forests, possibly further limiting
      carbon sequestration potential.

PMID- 27618400
TI  - Post-Synthesis Modification of the Aurivillius Phase Bi2SrTa2O9 via In Situ
      Microwave-Assisted "Click Reaction".
AB  - A new strategy for the functionalization of layered perovskites is presented,
      based on the in situ post-synthesis modification of a prefunctionalized phase by
      copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC). The microwave-assisted
      protonation and grafting of an alkyne alcohol provides the alkyne-functionalized
      precursor within a few hours, starting from Bi2SrTa2O9. The subsequent microwave
      assisted in situ "click reaction" allows the post-synthesis modification of the
      precursor within ~2 h, providing a layered perovskite functionalized by an
      alcohol-grafted 1,4-disubstituted-1H-1,2,3-triazole. Two compounds are described
      here, bearing an aliphatic and an aromatic substituent, which illustrates the
      general application of the method. This work opens new perspectives for the
      functionalization of layered perovskites, going beyond mere insertion/grafting
      reactions, and thus broadens the design possibilities and the range of
      applications of these hybrid systems.

PMID- 27618401
TI  - Nurses' Satisfaction With Using Nursing Information Systems From Technology
      Acceptance Model and Information Systems Success Model Perspectives: A
      Reductionist Approach.
AB  - Nursing information systems can enhance nursing practice and the efficiency and
      quality of administrative affairs within the nursing department and thus have
      been widely considered for implementation. Close alignment of human-computer
      interaction can advance optimal clinical performance with the use of information
      systems. However, a lack of introduction of the concept of alignment between
      users' perceptions and technological functionality has caused dissatisfaction, as
      shown in the existing literature. This study provides insight into the alignment
      between nurses' perceptions and how technological functionality affects their
      satisfaction with Nursing Information System use through a reductionist
      perspective of alignment. This cross-sectional study collected data from 531
      registered nurses in Taiwan. The results indicated that "perceived usefulness in
      system quality alignment," "perceived usefulness in information quality
      alignment," "perceived ease of use in system quality alignment," "perceived ease
      of use in information quality alignment," and "perceived ease of use in service
      quality alignment" have significantly affected nurses' satisfaction with Nursing
      Information System use. However, "perceived usefulness in service quality
      alignment" had no significant effect on nurses' satisfaction. This study also
      provides some meaningful implications for theoretical and practical aspects of
      design.

PMID- 27618402
TI  - Design and Development of a Proactive Rapid Response System.
AB  - Timely identification of patient deterioration can prompt intervention and
      prevent the escalation of care and unplanned intensive care admissions. However,
      both personal experience and professional literature reveals that staff nurses in
      the acute care setting may not notice subtle signs of patient deterioration or
      may be reluctant to activate the rapid response system. To overcome these
      barriers, a proactive rapid response system with early warning signs was created
      and studied. Using a quasi-experimental design, data were collected from two
      medical-surgical nursing units at one large tertiary medical center over a 6
      month period. One unit used the new rapid response system and early warning sign
      criteria with real-time data entry and trigger activation. A second unit served
      as the control and relied on the nurse for rapid response system activation.
      Findings revealed that the use of the newly developed rapid response system
      demonstrated significantly greater sensitivity to subtle signs of patient
      deterioration and prompted early evaluation and intervention.

PMID- 27618404
TI  - Microbial Genomics of Ancient Plagues and Outbreaks.
AB  - The recent use of next-generation sequencing methods to investigate historical
      disease outbreaks has provided us with an unprecedented ability to address
      important and long-standing questions in epidemiology, pathogen evolution, and
      human history. In this review, we present major findings that illustrate how
      microbial genomics has provided new insights into the nature and etiology of
      infectious diseases of historical importance, such as plague, tuberculosis, and
      leprosy. Sequenced isolates collected from archaeological remains also provide
      evidence for the timing of historical evolutionary events as well as geographic
      spread of these pathogens. Elucidating the genomic basis of virulence in
      historical diseases can provide relevant information on how we can effectively
      understand the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases today and in the
      future.

PMID- 27618405
TI  - Optimal slices of the healthcare spending pie: can traditional comparative
      effectiveness research address resource allocation?

PMID- 27618403
TI  - Ischemia reduces inter-alpha inhibitor proteins in the brain of the ovine fetus.
AB  - Hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury is a major cause of neurological abnormalities
      in the perinatal period. Inflammation contributes to the evolution of HI brain
      injury. Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins (IAIPs) are a family of proteins that are
      part of the innate immune system. We have reported that endogenous IAIPs exhibit
      developmental changes in ovine brain and that exogenous IAIP treatment reduces
      neuronal death in HI neonatal rats. However, the effects of HI on endogenous
      IAIPs in brain have not been previously examined. In this study, we examined the
      effects of ischemia-reperfusion on endogenous IAIPs levels in fetal sheep brain.
      Cerebral cortex, cerebellum, cervical spinal cord, choroid plexus, and CSF were
      snap frozen from sham control fetuses at 127 days gestation and after 30-min of
      carotid occlusion and 4-, 24-, and 48-h of reperfusion. IAIP levels were
      determined by Western immunoblot. IAIP expressions of the 250 kDa Inter-alpha
      inhibitor (IaI) and 125 kDa Pre-alpha inhibitor (PaI) in cerebral cortex and PaI
      in cerebellum were reduced (p < 0.05) 4-h after ischemia compared with controls
      and returned toward control levels 24- and 48-h after ischemia. CSF PaI and IaI
      were reduced 48 h after ischemia. We conclude that IAIPs in cerebral cortex and
      cerebellum are reduced by brain ischemia, and return toward control levels
      between 24 and 48 h after ischemia. However, changes in CSF IAIPs were delayed,
      exhibiting decreases 48 h after ischemia. We speculate that the decreases in
      endogenous IAIPs reflect increased utilization, potentially suggesting that they
      have endogenous neuroprotective properties. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
      Develop Neurobiol 77: 726-737, 2017.

PMID- 27618406
TI  - Deviance and exit: The organizational costs of job insecurity and moral
      disengagement.
AB  - This study examines why and when employees might respond to job insecurity by
      engaging in workplace deviance and developing intentions to leave-2 activities
      that are costly for organizations. Drawing on social exchange theory and the
      theory of moral disengagement, we propose that job insecurity increases workplace
      deviance and intentions to leave by encouraging employees to morally disengage.
      We further propose that the strength of the positive association between job
      insecurity, moral disengagement, and these outcomes is contingent upon 2 aspects
      of the situation-employees' perceived employment opportunities outside the
      organization and the quality of the exchange relationship they have developed
      with their supervisors (leader-member exchange, or LMX). Two time-lagged studies
      of Chinese workers provide support for the hypothesized 1st-stage moderated
      mediation model. Specifically, the indirect effect of job insecurity on
      organizational and interpersonal deviance and intentions to leave via moral
      disengagement was positive and significant when individuals had more employment
      opportunities or when LMX was lower but not when they had fewer employment
      opportunities or when LMX was higher. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618407
TI  - Better together? Examining profiles of employee recovery experiences.
AB  - Employees are exposed to a wide variety of job demands that deplete personal
      resources and necessitate recovery. In light of this need, research on work
      recovery has focused on how distinct recovery experiences during postwork time
      relate to employee well-being. However, investigators have largely tested the
      effects of these experiences in isolation, neglecting the possibility that
      profiles of recovery experiences may exist and influence the recovery process.
      The current set of studies adopted a person-centered approach using latent
      profile analysis to understand whether unique constellations of recovery
      experiences-psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, control, and problem
      solving pondering-emerged for 2 samples of full-time employees. In Study 1, which
      involved a single-time-point assessment, we identified 4 unique profiles of
      recovery experiences, tested whether job demands (i.e., time pressure, role
      ambiguity) and job resources (i.e., job control) differentiated profile
      membership, and evaluated whether each profile uniquely related to employee well
      being outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion, engagement, somatic complaints). In
      Study 2, which involved 2 time points, we replicated 3 of the 4 profiles observed
      in Study 1, and tested 2 additional antecedents rated by employees' supervisors:
      leader-member exchange and supervisor support for recovery. Across both studies,
      unique differences emerged in regard to antecedents and outcomes tied to recovery
      experience profile membership. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618408
TI  - The effects of predictor method factors on selection outcomes: A modular approach
      to personnel selection procedures.
AB  - Past reviews and meta-analyses typically conceptualized and examined selection
      procedures as holistic entities. We draw on the product design literature to
      propose a modular approach as a complementary perspective to conceptualizing
      selection procedures. A modular approach means that a product is broken down into
      its key underlying components. Therefore, we start by presenting a modular
      framework that identifies the important measurement components of selection
      procedures. Next, we adopt this modular lens for reviewing the available evidence
      regarding each of these components in terms of affecting validity, subgroup
      differences, and applicant perceptions, as well as for identifying new research
      directions. As a complement to the historical focus on holistic selection
      procedures, we posit that the theoretical contributions of a modular approach
      include improved insight into the isolated workings of the different components
      underlying selection procedures and greater theoretical connectivity among
      different selection procedures and their literatures. We also outline how
      organizations can put a modular approach into operation to increase the variety
      in selection procedures and to enhance the flexibility in designing them.
      Overall, we believe that a modular perspective on selection procedures will
      provide the impetus for programmatic and theory-driven research on the different
      measurement components of selection procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618409
TI  - Initiating and utilizing shared leadership in teams: The role of leader humility,
      team proactive personality, and team performance capability.
AB  - The present study was designed to produce novel theoretical insight regarding how
      leader humility and team member characteristics foster the conditions that
      promote shared leadership and when shared leadership relates to team
      effectiveness. Drawing on social information processing theory and adaptive
      leadership theory, we propose that leader humility facilitates shared leadership
      by promoting leadership-claiming and leadership-granting interactions among team
      members. We also apply dominance complementary theory to propose that team
      proactive personality strengthens the impact of leader humility on shared
      leadership. Finally, we predict that shared leadership will be most strongly
      related to team performance when team members have high levels of task-related
      competence. Using a sample composed of 62 Taiwanese professional work teams, we
      find support for our proposed hypothesized model. The theoretical and practical
      implications of these results for team leadership, humility, team composition,
      and shared leadership are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618410
TI  - Increasing pro-environmental behaviors by increasing self-concordance: Testing an
      intervention.
AB  - Globally, there is a clear need to change our behavior to mitigate climate
      change. Many people, however, will not find the need for mitigation important
      enough to make their behavior more environmentally sustainable. Three studies
      supported the hypothesis that it is possible to overcome this issue by connecting
      these behaviors to goals that are important to people, even if such goals are
      unrelated to climate change or the environment in general. Study 1 (N = 305
      working adults) showed that stronger self-concordance of behavior related to
      energy sustainability was related to a greater chance of signing a petition for
      increasing renewable energy sources. Next, 2 experimental studies (Study 2: N =
      412 working and nonworking adults, and Study 3: N = 300 working adults) showed
      that increasing self-concordance of environmentally sustainable behaviors by
      asking people to cognitively connect either sustainable energy use (Study 2) or
      commuting behaviors (Study 3) to their personal goals increased intentions to
      engage in these behaviors compared to a control condition (Study 2 and Study 3)
      and compared to persuasion attempts based on climate change mitigation (Study 3).
      These findings occurred even after controlling for political orientation and
      environmental concerns. This research has significant practical implications for
      workplaces, particularly for those in which employees or managers place a low
      priority on environmental and climate change considerations. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27618411
TI  - Help or hindrance? Day-level relationships between flextime use, work-nonwork
      boundaries, and affective well-being.
AB  - Flexible working time arrangements are becoming increasingly popular around the
      globe, but do they actually benefit employees? To address this question, we take
      a differentiated look at employees' day-specific use of flextime and its effect
      on the intersection of work and nonwork life. Specifically, we examined whether
      links between day-specific flextime use and affective well-being at work and at
      home can be explained by level of goal completion and the subjective boundaries
      around one's work and private life domains (i.e., the strength of work-nonwork
      boundaries). During 2 consecutive workweeks, 150 bank employees from various
      functions (Study 1) and a heterogeneous sample of 608 employees (Study 2)
      reported their day-specific use of flextime, boundary strength at work and home,
      and affective well-being in the evening and the next day. Multilevel structural
      equation modeling of 2,223 (Study 1) and 3,164 (Study 2) observations revealed
      that flextime use was associated with stronger boundaries at home in both studies
      and stronger boundaries at work in Study 2. Stronger boundaries were, in turn,
      positively associated with affective well-being, both in the same evening and the
      next day. Study 2 further revealed that day-specific nonwork goal completion
      mediated the positive association between daily flextime use and boundary
      strength at work. However, whereas occasional flextime use had unequivocal
      positive consequences, chronic flextime use undermined the completion of work
      goals. Overall, findings suggest that flextime use benefits employees when used
      in moderation. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618412
TI  - High Voltage LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4/Li4Ti5O12 Lithium Ion Cells at Elevated Temperatures:
      Carbonate- versus Ionic Liquid-Based Electrolytes.
AB  - Thanks to its high operating voltage, the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) spinel represents
      a promising next-generation cathode material candidate for Lithium ion batteries.
      However, LNMO-based full-cells with organic carbonate solvent electrolytes suffer
      from severe capacity fading issues, associated with electrolyte decomposition and
      concurrent degradative reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface,
      especially at elevated temperatures. As promising alternatives, two selected
      LiTFSI/pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethane-sulfonyl)imide room temperature ionic
      liquid (RTIL) based electrolytes with inherent thermal stability were
      investigated in this work. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) profiles of the
      investigated LiTFSI/RTIL electrolytes display much higher oxidative stability
      compared to the state-of-the-art LiPF6/organic carbonate based electrolyte at
      elevated temperatures. Cycling performance of the LNMO/Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) full-cells
      with LiTFSI/RTIL electrolytes reveals remarkable improvements with respect to
      capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
      images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicate maintained pristine
      morphology and structure of LNMO particles after 50 cycles at 0.5C. The
      investigated LiTFSI/RTIL based electrolytes outperform the LiPF6/organic
      carbonate-based electrolyte in terms of cycling performance in LNMO/LTO full
      cells at elevated temperatures.

PMID- 27618413
TI  - Renoprotective effect of virgin coconut oil in heated palm oil diet-induced
      hypertensive rats.
AB  - Virgin coconut oil, rich in antioxidants, was shown to attenuate hypertension.
      This study aimed to investigate the effects of virgin coconut oil on blood
      pressure and related parameters in kidneys in rats fed with 5-times-heated palm
      oil (5HPO). Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups. Two
      groups were fed 5HPO (15%) diet and the second group was also given virgin
      coconut oil (1.42 mL/kg, oral) daily for 16 weeks. The other 2 groups were given
      basal diet without (control) and with virgin coconut oil. Systolic blood pressure
      was measured pre- and post-treatment. After 16 weeks, the rats were sacrificed
      and kidneys were harvested. Dietary 5HPO increased blood pressure, renal
      thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), and nitric oxide contents, but
      decreased heme oxygenase activity. Virgin coconut oil prevented increase in 5HPO
      induced blood pressure and renal nitric oxide content as well as the decrease in
      renal heme oxygenase activity. The virgin coconut oil also reduced the elevation
      of renal TBARS induced by the heated oil. However, neither dietary 5HPO nor
      virgin coconut oil affected renal histomorphometry. In conclusion, virgin coconut
      oil has a potential to reduce the development of hypertension and renal injury
      induced by dietary heated oil, possibly via its antioxidant protective effects on
      the kidneys.

PMID- 27618414
TI  - Diabetes Impairs the Aldehyde Detoxifying Capacity of the Retina.
AB  - PURPOSE: We studied whether the accumulation of advanced lipoxidation end
      products (ALEs) in the diabetic retina is linked to the impairment of lipid
      aldehyde detoxification mechanisms. METHODS: Retinas were collected from
      nondiabetic and diabetic rats and processed for conventional and quantitative RT
      PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and aldehyde dehydrogenase
      (ALDH) activity assays. The effect of the ALDH1a1 inhibitor, NCT-501, on ALE
      accumulation and cell viability in cultured Muller glia also was investigated.
      RESULTS: The rat retina expressed a range of lipid aldehyde detoxifying ALDH and
      aldo-keto reductase (AKR) genes. In diabetes, mRNA levels were reduced for 5 of 9
      transcripts tested. These findings contrasted with those in the lens and cornea
      where many of these enzymes were upregulated. We have reported previously
      accumulation of the acrolein (ACR)-derived ALE, FDP-lysine, in retinal Muller
      glia during diabetes. In the present study, we show that the main ACR-detoxifying
      ALDH and AKR genes expressed in the retina, namely, ALDH1a1, ALDH2, and AKR1b1,
      are principally localized to Muller glia. Diabetes-induced FDP-lysine
      accumulation in Muller glia was associated with a reduction in ALDH1a1 mRNA and
      protein expression in whole retina and a decrease in ALDH1a1-immunoreactivity
      specifically within these cells. No such changes were detected for ALDH2 or
      AKR1b1. Activity of ALDH was suppressed in the diabetic retina and blockade of
      ALDH1a1 in cultured Muller glia triggered FDP-lysine accumulation and reduced
      cell viability. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that downregulation of ALDH
      and AKR enzymes, particularly ALDH1a1, may contribute ALE accumulation in the
      diabetic retina.

PMID- 27618416
TI  - Myopia and Outdoor Exposures.

PMID- 27618415
TI  - Development of Experimental Myopia in Chicks in a Natural Environment.
AB  - PURPOSE: The hypothesis that outdoor exposure might protect against myopia has
      generated much interest, although available data find only modest clinical
      efficacy. We tested the effect of outdoor rearing on form-deprivation myopia in
      chicks, a myopia model markedly inhibited by high-intensity indoor laboratory
      lighting. METHODS: Unilaterally goggled cohorts of White Leghorn chicks were
      maintained in a species-appropriate, outdoor rural setting during daylight hours
      to the extent permitted by weather. Control chicks were reared indoors with
      incandescent lighting. Besides ocular refraction and ultrasound, we determined
      dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) content in retina and
      vitreous and measured mRNA expression levels of selected clock and circadian
      rhythm-related genes in the retina/RPE. RESULTS: Myopia developed in the goggled
      eyes of all cohorts. Whereas outdoor rearing lessened myopia by 44% at 4 days, a
      protective effect was no longer evident at 11 days. Outdoor rearing had no
      consistent effect on retinal or vitreous content of dopamine or DOPAC. Conforming
      to prior data on form-deprivation myopia, retina and vitreous levels of DOPAC
      were reduced in goggled eyes. Compared with contralateral eyes, the retinal
      expression of clock and circadian rhythm-related genes was modestly altered in
      myopic eyes of chicks reared indoors or outdoors. CONCLUSIONS: Outdoor rearing of
      chicks induces only a partial decrease of goggle-induced myopia that is not
      maintained, without evidence that retinal dopamine metabolism accounts for the
      partial myopia inhibition under these outdoor conditions. Although modest,
      alterations in retinal gene expression suggest that studying circadian signals
      might be informative for understanding refractive mechanisms.

PMID- 27618417
TI  - Histamine-Induced Dilation of Isolated Porcine Retinal Arterioles: Role of
      Endothelium-Derived Hyperpolarizing Factor.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although endothelium-dependent nitric oxide (NO)-mediated dilation of
      retinal arterioles has been well described, the role of endothelium-derived
      hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in the retinal arteriolar response remains unclear.
      In the current study, we examined the contribution of EDHF to the retinal
      arteriolar dilation to the inflammatory agent histamine and investigated the
      signaling mechanisms underlying this vasomotor activity. METHODS: Porcine retinal
      arterioles were isolated, cannulated, and pressurized without flow for functional
      study by using video microscopic techniques. The immunohistochemical staining was
      performed to determine histamine receptor subtypes. RESULTS: Histamine (0.1-30
      MUM) produced concentration-dependent dilation of retinal arterioles in a manner
      sensitive to H1- and H2-receptor antagonists chlorpheniramine and famotidine,
      respectively. Histamine-induced vasodilation was almost abolished after
      endothelial removal. In the intact vessels, vasodilation to histamine was
      partially inhibited by the inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (indomethacin), NO
      synthase (NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, L-NAME), or Ca2+ -activated K+ (KCa)
      channels (apamin plus charybdotoxin). Combination of the above inhibitors
      abolished histamine-induced vasodilation. Residual vasodilation in the presence
      of indomethacin and L-NAME was further reduced by the cytochrome P450 enzyme
      inhibitor sulfaphenazole but not by the gap junction inhibitor carbenoxolone or
      the hydrogen peroxide scavenger catalase. Immunohistochemical signals for H1- and
      H2-receptor expression were found only in the endothelium. CONCLUSIONS: The
      endothelium plays an essential role in the dilation of porcine retinal arterioles
      to histamine via H1- and H2-receptor activation. The EDHF derived from cytochrome
      P450 contributed in part to this vasodilation via KCa channel activation, in
      addition to the endothelial release of NO and prostanoids.

PMID- 27618418
TI  - Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Injury-Psychological Readiness to
      Return to Sport scale to Persian language.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to develop and provide validation statistics for
      the Persian Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport scale (I-PRRS)
      following a cross-sectional and prospective cohort study design. The I-PRRS was
      forward/back-translated and culturally adapted into Persian language. The Persian
      I-PRRS was administered to 100 injured athletes (93 male; age 26.0 +/- 5.6 years;
      time since injury 4.84 +/- 6.4 months) and 50 healthy athletes (36 male; mean age
      25.7 +/- 6.0 years). The Persian I-PRRS was re-administered to 50 injured
      athletes at 1 week to examine test-retest reliability. There were no floor or
      ceiling effects confirming the content validity of Persian I-PRRS. The internal
      consistency reliability was good. Excellent test-retest reliability and agreement
      were demonstrated. The statistically significant difference in Persian I-PRRS
      total scores between the injured athletes and healthy athletes provides an
      evidence of discriminative validity. The Persian I-PRRS total scores were
      positively correlated with the Farsi Mood Scale (FARMS) total scores, showing
      construct validity. The principal component analysis indicated a two-factor
      solution consisting of "Confidence to play" and "Confidence in the injured body
      part and skill level". The Persian I-PRRS showed excellent reliability and
      validity and can be used to assess injured athletes' psychological readiness to
      return to sport among Persian-speaking populations. 

PMID- 27618419
TI  - Medical Devices and Adolescents: Points to Consider.

PMID- 27618421
TI  - Encephalomyelitis Associated With Dengue Fever.

PMID- 27618420
TI  - Process improvement for the safe delivery of multidisciplinary-executed
      treatments-A case in Y-90 microspheres therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a safe and robust workflow for yttrium-90 (Y-90)
      radioembolization procedures in a multidisciplinary team environment. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: A generalized Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC)-based
      approach to process improvement was applied to a Y-90 radioembolization workflow.
      In the first DMAIC cycle, events with the Y-90 workflow were defined and
      analyzed. To improve the workflow, a web-based interactive electronic white board
      (EWB) system was adopted as the central communication platform and information
      processing hub. The EWB-based Y-90 workflow then underwent a second DMAIC cycle.
      Out of 245 treatments, three misses that went undetected until treatment
      initiation were recorded over a period of 21 months, and root-cause-analysis was
      performed to determine causes of each incident and opportunities for improvement.
      The EWB-based Y-90 process was further improved via new rules to define reliable
      sources of information as inputs into the planning process, as well as new check
      points to ensure this information was communicated correctly throughout the
      process flow. RESULTS: After implementation of the revised EWB-based Y-90
      workflow, after two DMAIC-like cycles, there were zero misses out of 153 patient
      treatments in 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: The DMAIC-based approach adopted here allowed
      the iterative development of a robust workflow to achieve an adaptable, event
      minimizing planning process despite a complex setting which requires the
      participation of multiple teams for Y-90 microspheres therapy. Implementation of
      such a workflow using the EWB or similar platform with a DMAIC-based process
      improvement approach could be expanded to other treatment procedures, especially
      those requiring multidisciplinary management.

PMID- 27618422
TI  - Corticosteroid Fludrocortisone Acetate Targets Multiple End Points in Zebrafish
      (Danio rerio) at Low Concentrations.
AB  - Synthetic corticosteroids may pose an environmental risk to fish. Here, we
      describe multiend point responses of adult zebrafish (8 months old) upon 21-day
      exposure to a commonly prescribed corticosteroid, fludrocortisone acetate (FLU),
      at concentrations between 0.006 and 42 MUg/L. No remarkable reproductive impacts
      were observed, while physiological effects, including plasma glucose level and
      blood leukocyte numbers were significant altered even at 42 ng/L. Ovary
      parameters and transcriptional analysis of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-liver
      axis revealed negligible effects. Significant alterations of the circadian rhythm
      network were observed in the zebrafish brain. Transcripts of several biomarker
      genes, including per1a and nr1d1, displayed strong transcriptional changes, which
      occurred at environmental relevant concentrations of 6 and 42 ng/L FLU.
      Importantly, the development and behavior of F1 embryos were significant changed.
      Heartbeat, hatching success and swimming behavior of F1 embryos were all
      increased even at 6 and 42 ng/L. All effects were further confirmed by exposure
      of eleuthero-embryos. Significant transcriptional changes of biomarker genes
      involved in gluconeogenesis, immune response and circadian rhythm in eleuthero
      embryos confirmed the observations in adult fish. Hatching success, heartbeat,
      and swimming activity were increased at 81 ng/L and higher, as with F1 embryos.
      These results provide novel insights into the understanding of potential
      environmental risks of corticosteroids.

PMID- 27618423
TI  - Multidisciplinary Team Meetings in Cancer Care: We Could and Should do Better
      Than This.

PMID- 27618424
TI  - Radiotherapy-associated Pemphigus - a Rare Cause of Grade 4 Skin Toxicity.

PMID- 27618425
TI  - Advances in nutrition.

PMID- 27618430
TI  - Morphological variations of the deltoid ligament of the medial ankle.
AB  - Morphological variations of the deltoid ligament were investigated in this study,
      with the aim of classifying the different types on the basis of their components.
      Sixty ankles from 39 cadavers were dissected. The origin and insertion sites of
      the deltoid ligament were identified, and its length, width, and thickness were
      measured. The deltoid ligament was divided into two layers, superficial and deep,
      which respectively comprised four components (tibionavicular, tibiospring,
      tibiocalcaneal, and superficial posterior tibiotalar ligaments) and two
      components (anterior tibiotalar and deep posterior tibiotalar ligaments). The
      tibiospring and tibiocalcaneal ligaments were found in 100% of the specimens,
      while the prevalence rates of other components lay within the range 63.3-96.7%.
      The tibionavicular and deep posterior tibiotalar ligaments were the thinnest and
      thickest, respectively, while the other ligaments had similar thicknesses. The
      deltoid ligament was classified into types I-IV according to the combinations of
      these components: all components were present in type I (48.3%), the
      tibionavicular ligament was absent in type II (36.7%), only the superficial
      posterior tibiotalar ligament was absent in type III (6.7%), and only the
      anterior tibiotalar ligament was absent in type IV (8.3%). In conclusion, these
      results improve knowledge of the morphological and morphometric characteristics
      of the deltoid ligament and thus provide helpful information for surgical
      procedures in this region. Clin. Anat. 29:1059-1065, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618431
TI  - MicroRNA-223 Increases the Sensitivity of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Stem
      Cells to TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis by Targeting HAX-1.
AB  - Drug resistance remains a significant challenge in the treatment of triple
      negative breast cancer (TNBC). Recent studies have demonstrated that this drug
      resistance is associated with a group of cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs),
      which are believed to determine the sensitivity of tumor cells to cancer
      treatment. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that play significant
      roles in normal and cancer cells. MiR-223 reportedly acts as a tumor suppressor
      in a range of cancers. However, the role of miR-223 in TNBC, especially in triple
      negative breast cancer stem cells (TNBCSCs), remains unknown. Here, we found that
      miR-223 expression was down-regulated in CD44+CD24-/low TNBCSCs compared with non
      CSCs. Furthermore, we found that miR-223 overexpression resensitized TNBCSCs to
      tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced
      apoptosis. The HAX-1 gene, which is located in the mitochondria and functions as
      an anti-apoptotic protein, was found to be directly regulated by miR-223 in MDA
      MB-231 cells. We demonstrated that miR-223 overexpression promoted TRAIL-induced
      apoptosis through the mitochondria/ROS pathway. In conclusion, our results
      suggest that miR-223 increases the sensitivity of TNBCSCs to TRAIL-induced
      apoptosis by targeting HAX-1. Our findings have improved our understanding of the
      role of miR-223 in TNBC and may contribute to TNBC treatment. 

PMID- 27618434
TI  - Independent and combined effects of maternal smoking and solid fuel on infant and
      child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the independent and combined risks of infant and child
      mortality associated with maternal smoking and use of solid fuel in sub-Saharan
      Africa. METHODS: Pooled weighted data on 143 602 under-five children in the most
      recent demographic and health surveys for 15 sub-Saharan African countries were
      analysed. The synthetic cohort life table technique and Cox proportional hazard
      models were employed to investigate the effect of maternal smoking and solid
      cooking fuel on infant (age 0-11 months) and child (age 12-59 months) mortality.
      Socio-economic and other confounding variables were included as controls.
      RESULTS: The distribution of the main explanatory variable in households was as
      follows: smoking + solid fuel - 4.6%; smoking + non-solid fuel - 0.22%; no
      smoking + solid fuel - 86.9%; and no smoking + non-solid fuel - 8.2%. The highest
      infant mortality rate was recorded among children exposed to maternal smoking +
      solid fuel (72 per 1000 live births); the child mortality rate was estimated to
      be 54 per 1000 for this group. In full multivariate models, the risk of infant
      death was 71% higher among those exposed to maternal smoking + solid fuel (HR =
      1.71, CI: 1.29-2.28). For ages 12 to 59 months, the risk of death was 99% higher
      (HR = 1.99, CI: 1.28-3.08). CONCLUSIONS: Combined exposures to cigarette smoke
      and solid fuel increase the risks of infant and child mortality. Mothers of under
      five children need to be educated about the danger of smoking while innovative
      approaches are needed to reduce the mortality risks associated with solid cooking
      fuel.

PMID- 27618435
TI  - Carbon Nitride Supramolecular Hybrid Material Enabled High-Efficiency
      Photocatalytic Water Treatments.
AB  - Surface defects in relation to surface compositions, morphology, and active sites
      play crucial roles in photocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitride (g
      C3N4) material for highly reactive oxygen radicals production. Here, we report a
      high-efficiency carbon nitride supramolecular hybrid material prepared by
      patching the surface defects with inorganic clusters. Fe (III) {PO4[WO(O2)2]4}
      clusters have been noncovalently integrated on surface of g-C3N4, where the
      surface defects provide accommodation sites for these clusters and driving forces
      for self-assembly. During photocatalytic process, the activity of supramolecular
      hybrid is 1.53 times than pure g-C3N4 for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB)
      and 2.26 times for Methyl Orange (MO) under the simulated solar light. Under the
      mediation of H2O2 (50 mmol L-1), the activity increases to 6.52 times for RhB and
      28.3 times for MO. The solid cluster active sites with high specific surface area
      (SSA) defect surface promoting the kinetics of hydroxide radicals production give
      rise to the extremely high photocatalytic activity. It exhibits recyclable
      capability and works in large-scale demonstration under the natural sunlight as
      well and interestingly the environmental temperature has little effects on the
      photocatalytic activity.

PMID- 27618437
TI  - Mechanochemical Sensing of Single and Few Hg(II) Ions Using Polyvalent
      Principles.
AB  - Sensitivity of biosensors is set by the dissociation constant (Kd) between
      analytes and probes. Although potent amplification steps can be accommodated
      between analyte recognition and signal transduction in a sensor to improve the
      sensitivity 4-6 orders of magnitude below Kd, they compromise temporal
      resolution. Here, we demonstrated mechanochemical sensing that broke the Kd limit
      by 9 orders of magnitude for Hg detection without amplifications. Analogous to
      trawl fishing, we introduced multiple Hg binding units (thymine (T)-T pairs) in a
      molecular trawl made of two poly-T strands. Inspired by dipsticks to gauge
      content levels, mechanical information (force/extension) of a DNA hairpin
      dipstick was used to measure the single or few Hg2+ ions bound to the molecular
      trawl, which was levitated by two optically trapped particles. The multivalent
      binding and single-molecule sensitivity allowed us to detect unprecedented 1 fM
      Hg ions in 20 min in field samples treated by simple filtrations.

PMID- 27618436
TI  - The 9aaTAD Transactivation Domains: From Gal4 to p53.
AB  - The family of the Nine amino acid Transactivation Domain, 9aaTAD family,
      comprises currently over 40 members. The 9aaTAD domains are universally
      recognized by the transcriptional machinery from yeast to man. We had identified
      the 9aaTAD domains in the p53, Msn2, Pdr1 and B42 activators by our prediction
      algorithm. In this study, their competence to activate transcription as small
      peptides was proven. Not surprisingly, we elicited immense 9aaTAD divergence in
      hundreds of identified orthologs and numerous examples of the 9aaTAD species'
      convergence. We found unforeseen similarity of the mammalian p53 with yeast Gal4
      9aaTAD domains. Furthermore, we identified artificial 9aaTAD domains generated
      accidentally by others. From an evolutionary perspective, the observed easiness
      to generate 9aaTAD transactivation domains indicates the natural advantage for
      spontaneous generation of transcription factors from DNA binding precursors. 

PMID- 27618438
TI  - Gallotannin-Enriched Extract Isolated from Galla Rhois May Be a Functional
      Candidate with Laxative Effects for Treatment of Loperamide-Induced Constipation
      of SD Rats.
AB  - Several natural products containing tannins are used as traditional medicines for
      treatment of constipation; however, their pharmacological mechanism is not well
      understood. The laxative effects of gallotannin-enriched extract isolated from
      Galla Rhois (GEGR) were investigated using a constipation model induced by
      loperamide (Lop) injection. After analysis for antioxidant activity of GEGR,
      alterations in the excretion parameters, histological structure, mucin secretion,
      and related protein levels were measured in the transverse colon of Sprague
      Dawley (SD) rats with Lop-induced constipation following treatment with 250, 500
      and 1,000 mg/ml of GEGR. The number and weight of feces increased significantly
      by 48-79% and 128-159%, respectively, in the Lop+GEGR treated group relative to
      the Lop+vehicle treated group, while food intake and water consumption were
      maintained at a constant level. The thickness of mucosa, muscle and flat luminal
      surface, as well as the number of goblet cells and crypt of lieberkuhn were
      enhanced in the Lop+GEGR treated group. Moreover, mucin secretion increased
      significantly in a dose dependent manner in the Lop+GEGR treated group.
      Furthermore, the downstream signaling pathway of the muscarinic acetylcholine
      receptors (mAChR) M2 and M3 was recovered by GEGR treatment, although the
      expression level varied. The levels of Galpha expression and inositol
      triphosphate (IP3) concentration were also recovered in the Lop+GEGR treated
      group relative to the Lop+vehicle treated group. The results of the present study
      provide strong evidence that tannins distributed in various medicinal plants are
      important candidates for improving chronic constipation induced by Lop treatment
      in animal models. 

PMID- 27618440
TI  - Ownership and Use of Insecticide-Treated Nets among People Living in Malaria
      Endemic Areas of Eastern Myanmar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myanmar has the highest burden of malaria in the Greater Mekong.
      However, there is limited information on ownership and use of insecticide-treated
      nets (ITNs) in areas of Myanmar most severely affected by malaria. We describe
      ownership and use of ITNs among people in the malaria-endemic eastern parts of
      Myanmar and factors associated with ITN use. METHODS: A cross-sectional household
      survey using a multi-stage cluster design was conducted in malaria-endemic
      townships in eastern Myanmar during the high malaria season of August to
      September, 2014. An effective ITN was defined as 1) a long-lasting insecticide
      treated net obtained within the past three years, or 2) any net treated with
      insecticide within the past year. RESULTS: In 4,679 households, the average
      number of ITNs per household was higher in rural compared to urban areas (0.6 vs.
      0.4, p <0.001) as well as the proportion of households owning at least one ITN
      (27.3% vs. 15.5%, p<0.001). The proportion of households in which all members
      slept under an ITN was also higher in rural compared to urban areas (15.3% vs
      6.9%, p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, rural households (adjusted odds ratio
      [aOR] 1.78, 95% CI: 1.43-2.21, p<0.001), households in which respondents knew
      malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes (aOR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.10-1.65, p = 0.004),
      and in which respondents knew malaria can be prevented by ITN use (aOR 1.86, 95%
      CI: 1.28-2.70, p<0.001) were more likely to have all members sleep under an ITN.
      Compared to the lowest socio-economic quintile, households in the richest
      quintile were less likely to have all members sleep under an ITN (aOR 0.47; 95%
      CI: 0.33-0.66, p<0.001). Households in which the main income earner was a skilled
      worker or a businessman were less likely to have all members sleep under an ITN
      (aOR, 0.70, 95% CI: 0.52-0.96, p<0.025) compared to those headed by farmers or
      fishermen. Households in which all children slept under an ITN were more likely
      to be in rural areas (aOR 1.58, 95% CI: 1.19-2.09, p = 0.002) and have a
      household head who knew malaria can be prevented by ITN use (aOR 2.13, 95% CI:
      1.30-3.50, p = 0.003). Children were less likely to have slept under an ITN in
      houses headed by skilled workers or businessmen (aOR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.33-0.75, p =
      0.001) or unskilled workers (aOR 0.66, 95% CI: 0.49-0.89, p = 0.006) compared to
      households with farmers or fishermen. Higher socio-economic level was associated
      with lower ITN use by children (aOR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.36-0.88, p = 0.012, highest
      vs. lowest quintile). CONCLUSIONS: The study found ownership of ITNs was low in
      Myanmar in comparison to the goal of one for every two household members. Use of
      ITNs was low even when present. Findings are of concern given the study areas
      were part of enhanced efforts to reduce artemisinin-resistant malaria.
      Nonetheless, groups vulnerable to malaria such as individuals in rural settings,
      lower socio-economic households, and workers in high mosquito exposure jobs, had
      higher rates of ITN ownership. Malaria knowledge was linked to effective ITN use
      suggesting that distribution campaigns should be complemented by behavior change
      communications.

PMID- 27618441
TI  - Ultrasonic Technology for Management of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax.
AB  - To manage primary spontaneous pneumothorax, we use an alternative technique for
      bleb resection and we induce pleurodesis with an ultrasonic-driven scalpel. This
      technique was successfully performed in nine consecutive patients with primary
      spontaneous pneumothorax with small (<20 mm) and limited number of blebs (<2) and
      without significant underlying lung disease. After identification of air leakage,
      the jaws of the instrument were clamped onto the bleb and included a margin of
      normal lung. Power level 3 energy was applied to resect the bleb and to seal the
      parenchyma. Finally, the parietal pleura was partially scarified using the same
      instrument to achieve pleurodesis. Histologic findings showed complete sealing of
      the resection line by coagulative tissue.

PMID- 27618439
TI  - Comprehensive Evaluation and Implementation of Improvement Actions in Butcher
      Shops.
AB  - Foodborne pathogens can cause acute and chronic diseases and produce a wide range
      of symptoms. Since the consumption of ground beef is a risk factor for infections
      with some bacterial pathogens, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of butcher
      shops, implemented improvement actions for both butcher shops and consumers, and
      verified the impact of those actions implemented. A comprehensive evaluation was
      made and risk was quantified on a 1-100 scale as high-risk (1-40), moderate-risk
      (41-70) or low-risk (71-100). A total of 172 raw ground beef and 672
      environmental samples were collected from 86 butcher shops during the evaluation
      (2010-2011) and verification (2013) stages of the study. Ground beef samples were
      analyzed for mesophilic aerobic organisms, Escherichia coli and coagulase
      positive Staphylococcus aureus enumeration. Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7, non
      O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and Listeria monocytogenes were
      detected and isolated from all samples. Risk quantification resulted in 43
      (50.0%) high-risk, 34 (39.5%) moderate-risk, and nine (10.5%) low-risk butcher
      shops. Training sessions for 498 handlers and 4,506 consumers were held. Re
      evaluation by risk quantification and microbiological analyses resulted in 19
      (22.1%) high-risk, 42 (48.8%) moderate-risk and 25 (29.1%) low-risk butcher
      shops. The count of indicator microorganisms decreased with respect to the 2010
      2011 period. After the implementation of improvement actions, the presence of L.
      monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and stx genes in ground beef decreased. Salmonella
      spp. was isolated from 10 (11.6%) ground beef samples, without detecting
      statistically significant differences between both study periods (evaluation and
      verification). The percentage of pathogens in environmental samples was reduced
      in the verification period (Salmonella spp., 1.5%; L. monocytogenes, 10.7%; E.
      coli O157:H7, 0.6%; non-O157 STEC, 6.8%). Risk quantification was useful to
      identify those relevant facts in butcher shops. The reduction of contamination in
      ground beef and the environment was possible after training handlers based on the
      problems identified in their own butcher shops. Our results confirm the
      feasibility of implementing a comprehensive risk management program in butcher
      shops, and the importance of information campaigns targeting consumers. Further
      collaborative efforts would be necessary to improve foodstuffs safety at retail
      level and at home. 

PMID- 27618444
TI  - Dielectric Response of Cytoplasmic Water and Its Connection to the Vitality of
      Human Red Blood Cells: I. Glucose Concentration Influence.
AB  - The vitality of red blood cells depends on the process control of glucose
      homeostasis, including the membrane's ability to "switch off" d-glucose uptake at
      the physiologically specific concentration of 10-12 mM. We present a
      comprehensive study of human erythrocytes suspended in buffer solutions with
      varying concentrations of d-glucose at room temperature, using microwave
      dielectric spectroscopy (0.5 GHz-50 GHz) and cell deformability characterization
      (the Elongation ratio). By use of mixture formulas the contribution of the
      cytoplasm to the dielectric spectra was isolated. It reveals a strong dependence
      on the concentration of buffer d-glucose. Tellingly, the concentration 10-12 mM
      is revealed as a critical point in the behavior. The dielectric response of
      cytoplasm depends on dipole-matrix interactions between water structures and
      moieties, like ATP, produced during glycolysis. Subsequently, it is a marker of
      cellular health. One would hope that this mechanism could provide a new vista on
      noninvasive glucose monitoring.

PMID- 27618443
TI  - Oligomerization of SCFTIR1 Is Essential for Aux/IAA Degradation and Auxin
      Signaling in Arabidopsis.
AB  - The phytohormone auxin is a key regulator of plant growth and development.
      Molecular studies in Arabidopsis have shown that auxin perception and signaling
      is mediated via TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA co-receptors that assemble as part of the
      SCFTIR1/AFB E3 ubiquitin-ligase complex and direct the auxin-regulated
      degradation of Aux/IAA transcriptional repressors. Despite the importance of
      auxin signaling, little is known about the functional regulation of the TIR1/AFB
      receptor family. Here we show that TIR1 can oligomerize in planta via a set of
      spatially clustered amino acid residues. While none of the residues identified
      reside in the interaction interface of the TIR1-Aux/IAA degron, they nonetheless
      regulate the binding of TIR1 to Aux/IAA substrate proteins and their subsequent
      degradation in vivo as an essential aspect of auxin signaling. We propose
      oligomerization of TIR1 as a novel regulatory mechanism in the regulation of
      auxin-mediated plant patterning and development.

PMID- 27618445
TI  - Impacts of Climate Change on Native Landcover: Seeking Future Climatic Refuges.
AB  - Climate change is a driver for diverse impacts on global biodiversity. We
      investigated its impacts on native landcover distribution in South America,
      seeking to predict its effect as a new force driving habitat loss and population
      isolation. Moreover, we mapped potential future climatic refuges, which are
      likely to be key areas for biodiversity conservation under climate change
      scenarios. Climatically similar native landcovers were aggregated using a
      decision tree, generating a reclassified landcover map, from which 25% of the
      map's coverage was randomly selected to fuel distribution models. We selected the
      best geographical distribution models among twelve techniques, validating the
      predicted distribution for current climate with the landcover map and used the
      best technique to predict the future distribution. All landcover categories
      showed changes in area and displacement of the latitudinal/longitudinal centroid.
      Closed vegetation was the only landcover type predicted to expand its
      distributional range. The range contractions predicted for other categories were
      intense, even suggesting extirpation of the sparse vegetation category. The
      landcover refuges under future climate change represent a small proportion of the
      South American area and they are disproportionately represented and unevenly
      distributed, predominantly occupying five of 26 South American countries. The
      predicted changes, regardless of their direction and intensity, can put
      biodiversity at risk because they are expected to occur in the near future in
      terms of the temporal scales of ecological and evolutionary processes.
      Recognition of the threat of climate change allows more efficient conservation
      actions. 

PMID- 27618449
TI  - Unsupervised detection of cancer driver mutations with parsimony-guided learning.
AB  - Methods are needed to reliably prioritize biologically active driver mutations
      over inactive passengers in high-throughput sequencing cancer data sets. We
      present ParsSNP, an unsupervised functional impact predictor that is guided by
      parsimony. ParsSNP uses an expectation-maximization framework to find mutations
      that explain tumor incidence broadly, without using predefined training labels
      that can introduce biases. We compare ParsSNP to five existing tools (CanDrA,
      CHASM, FATHMM Cancer, TransFIC, and Condel) across five distinct benchmarks.
      ParsSNP outperformed the existing tools in 24 of 25 comparisons. To investigate
      the real-world benefit of these improvements, we applied ParsSNP to an
      independent data set of 30 patients with diffuse-type gastric cancer. ParsSNP
      identified many known and likely driver mutations that other methods did not
      detect, including truncation mutations in known tumor suppressors and the
      recurrent driver substitution RHOA p.Tyr42Cys. In conclusion, ParsSNP uses an
      innovative, parsimony-based approach to prioritize cancer driver mutations and
      provides dramatic improvements over existing methods.

PMID- 27618450
TI  - G-quadruplex structures mark human regulatory chromatin.
AB  - G-quadruplex (G4) structural motifs have been linked to transcription,
      replication and genome instability and are implicated in cancer and other
      diseases. However, it is crucial to demonstrate the bona fide formation of G4
      structures within an endogenous chromatin context. Herein we address this through
      the development of G4 ChIP-seq, an antibody-based G4 chromatin
      immunoprecipitation and high-throughput sequencing approach. We find ~10,000 G4
      structures in human chromatin, predominantly in regulatory, nucleosome-depleted
      regions. G4 structures are enriched in the promoters and 5' UTRs of highly
      transcribed genes, particularly in genes related to cancer and in somatic copy
      number amplifications, such as MYC. Strikingly, de novo and enhanced G4 formation
      are associated with increased transcriptional activity, as shown by HDAC
      inhibitor-induced chromatin relaxation and observed in immortalized as compared
      to normal cellular states. Our findings show that regulatory, nucleosome-depleted
      chromatin and elevated transcription shape the endogenous human G4 DNA landscape.

PMID- 27618451
TI  - The rules and impact of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in human cancers.
AB  - Premature termination codons (PTCs) cause a large proportion of inherited human
      genetic diseases. PTC-containing transcripts can be degraded by an mRNA
      surveillance pathway termed nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). However, the
      efficiency of NMD varies; it is inefficient when a PTC is located downstream of
      the last exon junction complex (EJC). We used matched exome and transcriptome
      data from 9,769 human tumors to systematically elucidate the rules of NMD
      targeting in human cells. An integrated model incorporating multiple rules beyond
      the canonical EJC model explains approximately three-fourths of the non-random
      variance in NMD efficiency across thousands of PTCs. We also show that dosage
      compensation may sometimes mask the effects of NMD. Applying the NMD model
      identifies signatures of both positive and negative selection on NMD-triggering
      mutations in human tumors and provides a classification for tumor-suppressor
      genes.

PMID- 27618448
TI  - Meta-analysis identifies common and rare variants influencing blood pressure and
      overlapping with metabolic trait loci.
AB  - Meta-analyses of association results for blood pressure using exome-centric
      single-variant and gene-based tests identified 31 new loci in a discovery stage
      among 146,562 individuals, with follow-up and meta-analysis in 180,726 additional
      individuals (total n = 327,288). These blood pressure-associated loci are
      enriched for known variants for cardiometabolic traits. Associations were also
      observed for the aggregation of rare and low-frequency missense variants in three
      genes, NPR1, DBH, and PTPMT1. In addition, blood pressure associations at 39
      previously reported loci were confirmed. The identified variants implicate
      biological pathways related to cardiometabolic traits, vascular function, and
      development. Several new variants are inferred to have roles in transcription or
      as hubs in protein-protein interaction networks. Genetic risk scores constructed
      from the identified variants were strongly associated with coronary disease and
      myocardial infarction. This large collection of blood pressure-associated loci
      suggests new therapeutic strategies for hypertension, emphasizing a link with
      cardiometabolic risk.

PMID- 27618453
TI  - Effect of an Institutional Triaging Algorithm on the Use of Multidetector CT for
      Patients with Blunt Abdominopelvic Trauma over an 8-year Period.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the effect of an institutional clinical triaging algorithm on
      the rate of multidetector computed tomography (CT) utilization in blunt
      abdominopelvic trauma (BAPT) over an 8-year period at an urban level 1 trauma
      center. Materials and Methods Adult patients (n = 13 096; mean age, 42 years; age
      range, 15-95 years) admitted with BAPT from January 1, 2006, to December 31,
      2013, were included. Patients with BAPT were divided into two groups: those
      admitted before (referred to as the prealgorithm group, from January 1, 2006, to
      June 30, 2010) and after (referred to as the postalgorithm group, from July 1,
      2010, to December 31, 2013) the implementation of an institutional clinical
      triaging algorithm. The following parameters were recorded from abdominopelvic CT
      study reports for the pre- and postalgorithm groups: number of abdominopelvic CT
      examinations at admission, number of abdominopelvic CT examinations with positive
      BAPT-related findings, injury severity score, length of hospital stay, and number
      of mortalities. The unpaired t test and chi2 analysis were used to determine
      significant differences. Results The percentage of patients admitted for BAPT who
      underwent an abdominopelvic CT study was 76.7% (5900 of 7688) in the prealgorithm
      group and 44.6% (2413 of 5408) in the postalgorithm group, a 32.1% decrease in
      use of CT (P < .001). The mean injury severity score increased from 10.1 +/- 9.1
      (standard deviation) to 13.3 +/- 11.9 after implementation of the algorithm in
      patients admitted for BAPT who underwent abdominopelvic CT examination (P <
      .001). The percentage of abdominopelvic CT examinations with BAPT-related
      findings increased from 17.1% (1007 of 5900) to 19.8% (479 of 2413) (P = .003).
      There was a significant difference in average length of stay, from 4.8 days +/-
      7.0 to 4.2 days +/- 6.2 (P < .001). Mortality decreased from 3.1% (242 of 7688)
      to 2.7% (148 of 5408) after implementation of the algorithm (P = .19). Conclusion
      The implementation of a clinical triaging algorithm resulted in decreased use of
      multidetector CT in patients who presented with BAPT to the emergency department.
      (c) RSNA, 2016.

PMID- 27618454
TI  - Expanding Aminoglycoside Resistance Enzyme Regiospecificity by Mutation and
      Truncation.
AB  - Aminoglycosides (AGs) are broad-spectrum antibiotics famous for their
      antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well
      as mycobacteria. In the United States, the most prescribed AGs, including
      amikacin (AMK), gentamicin (GEN), and tobramycin (TOB), are vital components of
      the treatment for resistant bacterial infections. Arbekacin (ABK), a
      semisynthetic AG, is widely used for the treatment of resistant Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Asia. However, the
      rapid emergence and development of bacterial resistance are limiting the clinical
      application of AG antibiotics. Of all bacterial resistance mechanisms against
      AGs, the acquisition of AG-modifying enzymes (AMEs) by bacteria is the most
      common. It was previously reported that a variant of a bifunctional AME, the 6'-N
      AG acetyltransferase-Ie/2"-O-AG phosphotransferase-Ia [AAC(6')-Ie/APH(2")-Ia],
      containing a D80G point mutation and a truncation after amino acid 240 modified
      ABK and AMK at a new position, the 4'''-amine, therefore displaying a change in
      regiospecificity. In this study, we aimed to verify the altered regiospecificity
      of this bifunctional enzyme by mutation and truncation for the potential of
      derivatizing AGs with chemoenzymatic reactions. With the three variant enzymes in
      this study that contained either mutation only (D80G), truncation only (1-240),
      or mutation and truncation (D80G-1-240), we characterized their activity by
      profiling their substrate promiscuity, determined their kinetics parameters, and
      performed mass spectrometry to determine how and where ABK and AMK were
      acetylated by these enzymes. We found that the three mutant enzymes possessed
      distinct acetylation regiospecificity compared to that of the bifunctional
      AAC(6')-Ie/APH(2")-Ia enzyme and the functional AAC(6')-Ie domain
      [AAC(6')/APH(2")-1-194].

PMID- 27618456
TI  - Peer-delivered services: Current trends and innovations.
AB  - In this special issue entitled Peer-Delivered Services: Current Trends and
      Innovations, we provide further information about the growing peer workforce, as
      well as new and innovative developments in peer-delivered services. In order to
      do that, we must first define our terms: We consider peer-delivered services to
      be a broad umbrella of services designed and delivered by individuals with a
      "lived experience" of mental or substance use challenges. We offer new
      information to the field in this special issue about peer support and how peer
      support specialists have evolved to address unmet needs and to attend to social
      determinants that affect wellness and recovery. We also address the challenges
      that a relatively new workforce and service innovation can present, as well as
      directions for continued research, evaluation, and growth. Our intention in this
      special issue is to examine the who, what, where, and how of peer support
      specialist services as they currently exist in the United States.

PMID- 27618455
TI  - Bronchial complications after lung transplantation are associated with primary
      lung graft dysfunction and surgical technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After lung transplantation, bronchial complications are one of the
      major concerns for surgeons and physicians. In the era of evolving
      immunosuppressive regimens and surgical approaches, we have reassessed risk
      factors for bronchial complications after lung transplantation. METHODS: We
      undertook a retrospective study of all consecutive lung transplantations
      performed at a single center from 2004 to 2014. We monitored the incidence of
      symptomatic bronchial complications. Demographic data of donors and recipients
      were also studied. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of 3 subsequent
      immunosuppressive regimens (including the use of induction therapy), and of a
      technical modification of bronchial anastomosis on the incidence of airway
      complications. RESULTS: We performed 270 consecutive lung transplantations during
      the study period. On multivariate analysis, bronchial complications were not
      directly associated with the different immunosuppressive regimens. In subgroup
      analysis, when comparing different immunosuppressive regimens, primary graft
      dysfunction within 72 hours (odds ratio [OR] = 2.55; p = 0.08), lung infection
      within the first month (OR = 2.96; p = 0.039), diabetes before transplantation
      (OR = 2.66; p = 0.11) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 2.20; p =
      0.04) appeared as major risk factors (c-index = 0.77 on multivariate analysis).
      The use of a modified bronchial suture technique was associated with fewer
      bronchial complications (OR = 0.47; p = 0.059) (c-index = 0.71 on multivariate
      analysis). CONCLUSIONS: The mode of immunosuppression had no influence on airway
      complications. We were able to reproduce the beneficial effect of a modified
      suture technique.

PMID- 27618457
TI  - Promoting health and wellness through peer-delivered services: Three innovative
      state examples.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article provides examples of the development, implementation, and
      funding of peer-delivered health and wellness services in three states. Health
      and wellness services are critical to addressing the health disparities facing
      people living with mental health and substance use disorders served by the public
      behavioral health care system. METHODS: Information was compiled from the
      authors' experiences as champions in three states (Georgia, Michigan, and New
      Jersey) and the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, as
      well as documents from and discussions with local state and national sources.
      RESULTS: Key issues for the implementation and expansion of peer-delivered health
      and wellness services include defining the model to be disseminated, providing
      training to prepare the peer workforce, accessing funding for implementation, and
      establishing clear expectations to sustain the services and maintain quality over
      time. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Peer-delivered health and
      wellness services can help address the health disparities facing people who are
      living with mental health and substance use disorders through a variety of
      innovative models tailored to local needs and circumstances. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27618447
TI  - Trans-ancestry meta-analyses identify rare and common variants associated with
      blood pressure and hypertension.
AB  - High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and
      premature death. However, there is limited knowledge on specific causal genes and
      pathways. To better understand the genetics of blood pressure, we genotyped
      242,296 rare, low-frequency and common genetic variants in up to 192,763
      individuals and used ~155,063 samples for independent replication. We identified
      30 new blood pressure- or hypertension-associated genetic regions in the general
      population, including 3 rare missense variants in RBM47, COL21A1 and RRAS with
      larger effects (>1.5 mm Hg/allele) than common variants. Multiple rare nonsense
      and missense variant associations were found in A2ML1, and a low-frequency
      nonsense variant in ENPEP was identified. Our data extend the spectrum of allelic
      variation underlying blood pressure traits and hypertension, provide new insights
      into the pathophysiology of hypertension and indicate new targets for clinical
      intervention.

PMID- 27618458
TI  - The peer support workforce: Results of a national survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Given the burgeoning role of peer specialists in the mental health
      workforce, more information is needed about their work roles, tasks, settings,
      training, compensation, and work satisfaction. METHOD: Using both purposive and
      snowball sampling, the authors recruited a national sample of individuals
      employed as peer specialists and a variety of other peer provider positions. They
      conducted an online survey to query respondents about various aspects of their
      work life. A total of 608 participants completed the survey, of which 597
      responses were usable for these analyses. RESULTS: Results suggest that
      individuals in the United States identifying themselves as peer specialists (or
      similar titles) work in a wide variety of settings and spend the majority of
      their work time providing direct peer support. However, a significant number of
      individuals also reported performing nondirect peer support tasks such as
      administrative work, teaching skills, and systems-level advocacy. Average
      compensation ranged from $10 to $20 per hour. Peer specialists reported a
      significant amount of satisfaction with their work but still perceive a lack of
      recognition for their roles. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Results
      of this survey provide critical information about the job characteristics of peer
      specialists and data that should be informative for mental health authorities as
      they address the needs of this workforce. However, our findings also suggest that
      ambiguity remains regarding the roles, tasks, and training of peer specialists,
      which could benefit from further study that would help to clarify the unique role
      of these professionals within the mental health arena. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618459
TI  - Peer-supported economic empowerment: A financial wellness intervention framework
      for people with psychiatric disabilities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: People with psychiatric disabilities experience substantial economic
      exclusion, which hinders their ability to achieve recovery and wellness. The
      purpose of this article is to describe a framework for a peer-supported economic
      empowerment intervention grounded in empirical literature and designed to enhance
      financial wellness. METHOD: The authors followed a 3-step process, including (a)
      an environmental scan of scientific literature, (b) a critical review of relevant
      conceptual frameworks, and (c) the design of an intervention logic framework
      based on (a) and (b), the programmatic experience of the authors, and input from
      peer providers. RESULTS: We identified 6 peer provider functions to support
      individuals with psychiatric disabilities to overcome economic inclusion
      barriers, achieve financial wellness goals, and lessen the psychosocial impact of
      poverty and dependency. These include (a) engaging individuals in culturally
      meaningful conversations about life dreams and financial goals, (b) inspiring
      individuals to reframe self-defeating narratives by sharing personal stories, (c)
      facilitating a financial wellness action plan, (d) coaching to develop essential
      financial skills, (e) supporting navigation and utilization of financial and
      asset-building services, and (f) fostering mutual emotional and social support to
      achieve financial wellness goals. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:
      Financial wellness requires capabilities that depend on gaining access to
      financial and asset-building supports, and not merely developing financial
      skills. The proposed framework outlines new roles and competencies for peer
      providers to help individuals build essential financial capabilities, and address
      social determinants of mental health and disability. Research is currently
      underway to pilot-test and refine peer-supported economic empowerment strategies.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618460
TI  - Effectiveness of peer-delivered Center for Independent Living supports for
      individuals with psychiatric disabilities: A randomized, controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to examine the effectiveness of peer
      delivered core services of Centers for Independent Living (CILs), which include
      advocacy, information and referral, skills training, and peer support. METHOD:
      Ninety-nine individuals with a schizophrenia-spectrum or affective disorder who
      identified at least 3 needs were recruited from mental health centers and
      randomly assigned to be contacted by a certified peer specialist at a local CIL
      (CIL condition) or services as usual (SAU condition). Data on community
      participation, recovery, empowerment, quality of life, and needs were obtained at
      baseline and 6 and 12 months postbaseline, along with responses to open-ended
      questions about supports received. RESULTS: Participation in CIL supports was
      very limited. No differences were found in repeated measures analyses (Time *
      Condition). Post hoc analyses did show some positive results for those in the CIL
      condition. More than half of CIL participants described obtaining a substantive
      support in at least 1 area, and almost half of these resulted in some tangible
      new resource. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Engagement in CIL
      supports was very limited, as were outcomes. Nonetheless, numerous examples of
      supports across a broad range of areas were reported along with examples of how
      needs were met. CIL supports, which are widely available around the United
      States, may offer a unique philosophy and approach for addressing the needs of
      individuals with psychiatric disabilities and are deserving of additional study.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618461
TI  - A randomized trial of individual peer support for adults with psychiatric
      disabilities undergoing civil commitment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Given the proliferation of peer-delivered services and its growing but
      insufficient empirical base, we undertook a randomized trial to examine the
      effects of such services on individuals with severe psychiatric disabilities
      undergoing a civil commitment. METHOD: We recruited n = 113 individuals who were
      civilly committed for inpatient treatment. Randomly assigned experimental
      participants were paired with a trained peer specialist to receive intensive 1-on
      1 support to assist them with both their recovery and the conditions of their
      mandated court-ordered services. Individuals in the control group were invited to
      receive other supportive, peer-delivered services, such as social and group
      educational activities, but excluding individual peer support. We assessed a
      variety of outcomes including social supports, quality of life, recovery,
      symptoms, and functioning. RESULTS: Mounting a randomized trial in this setting
      and with participants who were court-ordered for inpatient treatment proved
      challenging in terms of recruitment, service provision, retention in the
      intervention, and attrition from the research. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed
      no significant differences in outcomes by study condition. As-treated analyses
      comparing high- and low-use peer support groups with control group participants
      found significant differences favoring peer support recipients in quality of life
      and functioning but no differences in other study outcomes. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Difficulties with ensuring the quality of the peer
      support in this study may be in part responsible for our failure to see more
      definitive and -positive results. As the peer support specialist profession
      evolves, an understanding of its effective ingredients and mechanisms must be
      elucidated to allow for more-rigorous studies. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618462
TI  - Early stages of development of a peer specialist fidelity measure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Research on peer specialists (individuals with serious mental illness
      supporting others with serious mental illness in clinical and other settings) has
      not yet included the measurement of fidelity. Without measuring fidelity, it is
      unclear whether the absence of impact in some studies is attributable to
      ineffective peer specialist services or because the services were not true to the
      intended role. This article describes the initial development of a peer
      specialist fidelity measure for 2 content areas: services provided by peer
      specialists and factors that either support or hamper the performance of those
      services. METHOD: A literature search identified 40 domains; an expert panel
      narrowed the number of domains and helped generate and then review survey items
      to operationalize those domains. Twelve peer specialists, individuals with whom
      they work, and their supervisors participated in a pilot test and cognitive
      interviews regarding item content. RESULTS: Peer specialists tended to rate
      themselves as having engaged in various peer service activities more than did the
      supervisors and individuals with whom they work. A subset of items tapping peer
      specialist services "core" to the role regardless of setting had higher ratings.
      Participants stated the measure was clear, appropriate, and could be useful in
      improving performance. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Although
      preliminary, findings were consistent with organizational research on performance
      ratings of supervisors and employees made in the workplace. Several changes in
      survey content and administration were identified. With continued work, the
      measure could crystalize the role of peer specialists and aid in research and
      clinical administration. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618463
TI  - Patterns and predictors of engagement in peer support among homeless veterans
      with mental health conditions and substance use histories.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patterns and predictors of engagement in peer support services were
      examined among 50 previously homeless veterans with co-occurring mental health
      conditions and substance use histories receiving services from the Veterans
      Health Administration supported housing program. METHOD: Veteran peer specialists
      were trained to deliver sessions focusing on mental health and substance use
      recovery to veterans for an intended 1-hr weekly contact over 9 months.
      Trajectories of peer engagement over the study's duration are summarized. A mixed
      effects log-linear model of the rate of peer engagement is tested with three sets
      of covariates representing characteristics of the veterans. These sets were
      demographics, mental health and substance use status, and indicators of community
      participation and support. RESULTS: Data indicate that veterans engaged with
      peers about once per month rather than the intended once per week. However,
      frequency of contacts varied greatly. The best predictor of engagement was time,
      with most contacts occurring within the first 6 months. No other veteran
      characteristic was a statistically significant predictor of engagement. Older
      veterans tended to have higher rates of engagement with peer supporters.
      CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Planners of peer support services
      could consider yardsticks of monthly services up to 6 months. Peer support
      services need a flexible strategy with varying levels of intensity according to
      need. Peer support services will need to be tailored to better engage younger
      veterans. Future research should consider other sources of variation in
      engagement with peer support such as characteristics of the peer supporters and
      service content and setting. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618464
TI  - The role of the peer specialists: Unanswered questions.
AB  - TOPIC: This article raises questions regarding defining the role of peer
      specialists and related employment practices. PURPOSE: The questions raised may
      be used to guide future research. SOURCES USED: Areas needing further
      investigation were identified through personal and professional experience,
      discussions with colleagues, and a review of published literature on peer
      workers. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Questions are raised
      regarding the definition of "peerness"; the variety and contradictions in
      definitions of the role of the peer specialist; existing and potential avenues
      for career advancement; credentialing standards; the design, implementation, and
      evaluation of existing and effective peer support service models, including
      integration of peer workers in other service models; and best practices for
      supporting the well-being of peer workers and their nonpeer colleagues. More and
      higher quality research data are needed in order to inform and contribute to the
      use and support of peer specialists in promoting positive system transformation.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618465
TI  - Collaborative learning: A next step in the training of peer support providers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This column explores how peer support provider training is enhanced
      through collaborative learning. PURPOSE: Collaborative learning is an approach
      that draws upon the "real life" experiences of individual learners and
      encompasses opportunities to explore varying perspectives and collectively
      construct solutions that enrich the practice of all participants. SOURCES USED:
      This description draws upon published articles and examples of collaborative
      learning in training and communities of practice of peer support providers.
      CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Similar to person-centered practices
      that enhance the recovery experience of individuals receiving services,
      collaborative learning enhances the experience of peer support providers as they
      explore relevant "real world" issues, offer unique contributions, and work
      together toward improving practice. Three examples of collaborative learning
      approaches are provided that have resulted in successful collaborative learning
      opportunities for peer support providers. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618466
TI  - Cumulative High-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion Rate and Need for Surgical
      Intervention of Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance Cytology
      Diagnosed Patients: A Prospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tauhe study aimed to study the rate of atypical squamous cells of
      undetermined significance (ASCUS) that progressed to high-grade squamous
      intraepithelial lesions (HGSIL), as well as the number of patients who finally
      necessitated a surgical intervention during follow-up. METHODS: A prospective
      study was conducted on patients admitted for colposcopy during 2007-2012. We
      exclusively included those who presented with newly ASCUS diagnosis, while
      patients with a history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) were
      excluded. Primary end points were the cumulative rate of HGSIL during follow-up
      and the rate of surgical procedures performed because of such lesions. RESULTS:
      There were 134 ASCUS cases included. Overall, there were 48 (35.8%) surgical
      excision procedures performed to treat or eliminate HGSIL during the follow-up
      period. According to the final histopathology of surgical specimens, the
      cumulative rate of CIN2 or higher cervical lesions was 28.4% (n = 38).
      CONCLUSION: The cumulative rate of CIN2+ during follow-up period was almost 30%
      for patients with ASCUS, with the necessity for interventional treatment being
      even higher.

PMID- 27618469
TI  - Pd-Catalyzed Site-Selective Mono-allylic Substitution and Bis-arylation by
      Directed Allylic C-H Activation: Synthesis of anti-gamma-(Aryl,Styryl)-beta
      hydroxy Acids and Highly Substituted Tetrahydrofurans.
AB  - An efficient palladium-catalyzed site-selective arylation of gamma-vinyl-gamma
      lactone by aryl boronic acid has been developed. gamma-Vinyl-gamma-lactone 1a has
      been contemplated as allyl electrophile donor for allylic arylation via pi-allyl
      palladium intermediate using 1.5 equiv of aryl boronic acid 2. Using 3.0 equiv of
      the latter resulted in mono-arylation by allylic substitution and subsequent site
      selective second arylation by directed allylic C-H activation giving
      stereoselectively anti-gamma-(aryl,styryl)-beta-hydroxy acids. Presence of O2 was
      crucial for the second arylation via Pd(II) catalysis. Thus, a good synergy of
      dual catalysis by Pd(0) and Pd(II) was observed. This methodology has been
      elaborated to synthesize highly substituted tetrahydrofurans including aryl
      Hagen's gland lactone analogues via intramolecular iodoetherification.

PMID- 27618467
TI  - Mother-Infant Face-to-Face Interaction: The Communicative Value of Infant
      Directed Talking and Singing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Across culture, healthy infants show a high interest in infant
      directed (ID) talking and singing. Despite ID talking and ID singing being very
      similar in physical properties, infants differentially respond to each of them.
      The mechanisms underpinning these different responses are still under discussion.
      METHODS: This study explored the behavioral (n = 26) and brain (n = 14) responses
      from 6- to 8-month-old infants to ID talking and ID singing during a face-to-face
      mother-infant interaction with their own mother. Behavioral response was analyzed
      from offline video coding, and brain response was estimated from the analysis of
      electrophysiological recordings. RESULTS: We found that during ID talking,
      infants displayed a significantly higher number of visual contacts,
      vocalizations, and body movements than during ID singing. Moreover, only during
      ID talking were the number of visual contacts and vocalizations positively
      correlated with the number of questions and pauses in the mother's speech.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that ID talking provides infants with specific
      cues that allow them not only to react to mother stimulation, but also to act
      toward them, displaying a rudimentary version of turn-taking behavior. Brain
      activity partially supported that interpretation. The relevance of our results
      for bonding is discussed.

PMID- 27618471
TI  - Contrast Loading Increases Upper Body Power Output in Junior Volleyball Athletes.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined the acute effects of contrast loading on mechanical
      power output during bench-press throws in junior volleyball players. METHOD:
      Eleven males (age: 16.5 +/- 0.5 years) performed a contrast loading and a control
      protocol. The contrast protocol included the execution of 3 bench-throws with a
      30% load of 1RM, after 3 min a conditioning set of 5 bench-throws with a 60% load
      of 1RM and after 3 and 5 min two more sets of 3 bench-throws with a 30% load of
      1RM. The control protocol included the execution of 3 sets of 3 bench-throws with
      a 30% load of 1RM at the same time points as in the contrast protocol without the
      execution of the conditioning set. RESULTS: Mechanical power with a 30% load was
      higher (p < .05) 3 and 5 min following the conditioning set at the contrast
      protocol compared with the control protocol (8.7 +/- 7.5 and 10.4 +/- 3.4%,
      respectively). High correlations (p < .05) were obtained between participant's
      relative maximal strength (r = .87) and power (r = .82) and the increases in
      power output. CONCLUSION: Contrast loading increases upper body power output
      produced with a light load by junior athletes. The potential for increased upper
      body performance is more evident in stronger or more powerful individuals.

PMID- 27618470
TI  - Response moderation models for conditional dependence between response time and
      response accuracy.
AB  - It is becoming more feasible and common to register response times in the
      application of psychometric tests. Researchers thus have the opportunity to
      jointly model response accuracy and response time, which provides users with more
      relevant information. The most common choice is to use the hierarchical model
      (van der Linden, 2007, Psychometrika, 72, 287), which assumes conditional
      independence between response time and accuracy, given a person's speed and
      ability. However, this assumption may be violated in practice if, for example,
      persons vary their speed or differ in their response strategies, leading to
      conditional dependence between response time and accuracy and confounding
      measurement. We propose six nested hierarchical models for response time and
      accuracy that allow for conditional dependence, and discuss their relationship to
      existing models. Unlike existing approaches, the proposed hierarchical models
      allow for various forms of conditional dependence in the model and allow the
      effect of continuous residual response time on response accuracy to be item
      specific, person-specific, or both. Estimation procedures for the models are
      proposed, as well as two information criteria that can be used for model
      selection. Parameter recovery and usefulness of the information criteria are
      investigated using simulation, indicating that the procedure works well and is
      likely to select the appropriate model. Two empirical applications are discussed
      to illustrate the different types of conditional dependence that may occur in
      practice and how these can be captured using the proposed hierarchical models.

PMID- 27618472
TI  - Impact of Fatigue on Positional Movements During Professional Rugby Union Match
      Play.
AB  - PURPOSE: In team sports, fatigue is manifested by a self-regulated decrease in
      movement distance and intensity. There is currently limited information on the
      effect of fatigue on movement patterns in rugby union match play, particularly
      for players in different position groups (backs vs forwards). This study
      investigated the effect of different match periods on movement patterns of
      professional rugby union players. METHODS: Global positioning system (GPS) data
      were collected from 46 professional match participations to determine temporal
      effects on movement patterns. RESULTS: Total relative distance (m/min) was
      decreased in the 2nd half for both forwards (-13%, +/-8%, ES = very likely large)
      and backs (-9%, +/-7%, ES = very likely large). A larger reduction in high
      intensity-running distance in the 2nd half was observed for forwards (-27%, +/
      16%, ES = very likely medium) than for backs (-10%, +/-15%; ES = unclear).
      Similar patterns were observed for sprint (>6 m/s) frequency (forwards -29%, +/
      29%, ES = likely small vs backs -13% +/-18%, ES = possibly small) and
      acceleration (>2.75 m/s2) frequency (forwards -27%, +/-24%, ES = likely medium vs
      backs -5%, +/-46%, ES = unclear). Analysis of 1st- and 2nd-half quartiles
      revealed differing pacing strategies for forwards and backs. Forwards display a
      "slow-positive" pacing strategy, while the pacing strategy of backs is "flat."
      CONCLUSIONS: Forwards suffered progressively greater performance decrements over
      the course of the match, while backs were able to maintain performance intensity.
      These findings reflect differing physical demands, notably contact and running
      loads, of players in different positions.

PMID- 27618473
TI  - Fine Control over Site and Substrate Selectivity in Hydrogen Atom Transfer-Based
      Functionalization of Aliphatic C-H Bonds.
AB  - The selective functionalization of unactivated aliphatic C-H bonds over
      intrinsically more reactive ones represents an ongoing challenge of synthetic
      chemistry. Here we show that in hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) from the aliphatic C
      H bonds of alkane, ether, alcohol, amide, and amine substrates to the cumyloxyl
      radical (CumO*) fine control over site and substrate selectivity is achieved by
      means of acid-base interactions. Protonation of the amines and metal ion binding
      to amines and amides strongly deactivates the C-H bonds of these substrates
      toward HAT to CumO*, providing a powerful method for selective functionalization
      of unactivated or intrinsically less reactive C-H bonds. With 5-amino-1-pentanol,
      site-selectivity has been drastically changed through protonation of the strongly
      activating NH2 group, with HAT that shifts to the C-H bonds that are adjacent to
      the OH group. In the intermolecular selectivity studies, trifluoroacetic acid,
      Mg(ClO4)2, and LiClO4 have been employed in a orthogonal fashion for selective
      functionalization of alkane, ether, alcohol, and amide (or amine) substrates in
      the presence of an amine (or amide) one. Ca(ClO4)2, that promotes deactivation of
      amines and amides by Ca2+ binding, offers, moreover, the opportunity to
      selectively functionalize the C-H bonds of alkane, ether, and alcohol substrates
      in the presence of both amines and amides.

PMID- 27618474
TI  - Expression of glutamine synthetase in hepatocyte progenitor cells derived from
      canal of Hering.

PMID- 27618475
TI  - Smith-Modified Sgarbossa Criteria and Paced Rhythms: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the incidence of left bundle branch blocks (LBBBs) and paced
      rhythms electrocardiograms (ECGs) increase in the aging global population, the
      need for rapid and accurate diagnosis of ST-elevation myocardial infarction
      (STEMI) or STEMI equivalents in patients with these rhythms becomes more
      imperative. The Sgarbossa and Smith-modified Sgarbossa criteria have been
      documented to enhance the diagnosis of STEMI in the setting of LBBBs. However,
      there is a growing body of literature that suggests that these criteria can also
      be applied for the diagnosis of STEMI in patients with paced rhythms. CASE
      REPORT: We present the case of an 84-year old man who was on admission for
      cellulitis when he developed acute respiratory distress. An ECG revealed findings
      that were consistent with positive Smith-modified Sgarbossa criteria, upon which
      the diagnosis of STEMI was made. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF
      THIS?: Although the sensitivity and specificity of these criteria in paced
      rhythms is not well documented, if a patient meets these criteria in an
      appropriate clinical setting, cardiac catheterization laboratory activation by an
      emergency physician could be appropriate.

PMID- 27618476
TI  - A Novel Tool for Assessment of Emergency Medicine Resident Skill in Determining
      Diagnosis and Management for Emergent Electrocardiograms: A Multicenter Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reading emergent electrocardiograms (ECGs) is one of the emergency
      physician's most crucial tasks, yet no well-validated tool exists to measure
      resident competence in this skill. OBJECTIVES: To assess validity of a novel tool
      measuring emergency medicine resident competency for interpreting, and responding
      to, critical ECGs. In addition, we aim to observe trends in this skill for
      resident physicians at different levels of training. METHODS: This is a multi
      center, prospective study of postgraduate year (PGY) 1-4 residents at five
      emergency medicine (EM) residency programs in the United States. An assessment
      tool was created that asks the physician to identify either the ECG diagnosis or
      the best immediate management. RESULTS: One hundred thirteen EM residents from
      five EM residency programs submitted completed assessment surveys, including 43
      PGY-1s, 33 PGY-2s, and 37 PGY-3/4s. PGY-3/4s averaged 74.6% correct (95%
      confidence interval [CI] 70.9-78.4) and performed significantly better than PGY
      1s, who averaged 63.2% correct (95% CI 58.0-68.3). PGY-2s averaged 69.0% (95% CI
      62.2-73.7). Year-to-year differences were more pronounced in management than in
      diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Residency training in EM seems to be associated with
      improved ability to interpret "critical" ECGs as measured by our assessment tool.
      This lends validity evidence for the tool by correlating with a previously
      observed association between residency training and improved ECG interpretation.
      Resident skill in ECG interpretation remains less than ideal. Creation of this
      sort of tool may allow programs to assess resident performance as well as
      evaluate interventions designed to improve competency.

PMID- 27618477
TI  - Rare Cause of Facial Palsy: Case Report of Tick Paralysis by Ixodes Holocyclus
      Imported by a Patient Travelling into Singapore from Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ticks are blood-sucking arachnids that feed on all classes of
      vertebrates, including humans. Ixodes holocyclus, also known as the Australian
      Paralysis Tick, is capable of causing a myriad of clinical issues in humans and
      companion animals, including the transmission of infectious agents, toxin
      mediated paralysis, allergic and inflammatory reactions, and mammalian meat
      allergies in humans. The Australian Paralysis Tick is endemic to Australia, and
      only two other exported cases have been reported in the literature. CASE REPORT:
      We report the third exported case of tick paralysis caused by I. holocyclus,
      which was imported on a patient into Singapore. We also discuss the clinical
      course of the patient, the salient points of management, and the proper removal
      of this tick species. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: With
      increasing air travel, emergency physicians need to be aware of and to identify
      imported cases of tick paralysis to institute proper management and advice to the
      patient. We also describe the tick identification features and proper method of
      removal of this tick species.

PMID- 27618478
TI  - Long circulation nanostructured lipid carriers for gambogenic acid: formulation
      design, characterization, and pharmacokinetic.
AB  - 1. GNA-PEG-NLC and GNA-NLC were prepared by emulsification and low-temperature
      solidification methods. The optimized GNA-PEG-NLC and GNA-NLC were not only found
      to have small mean size (146.33 +/- 2.11 and 144.07 +/- 1.44) nm, high Zeta
      potential (-25.10 +/- 1.35 and -28.03 +/- 0.29) mV, but also great entrapment
      efficiency (79.07 +/- 1.11 and 84.65 +/- 0.98%). TEM proved that particles were
      nearly spherical with smooth surface shape. Furthermore, in vitro release
      revealed a burst release initially, followed by a sustained profiles up to 48 h,
      and the cumulative drug release of GNA-PEG-NLC and GNA-NLC was 65.90 +/- 2.34%
      and 69.25 +/- 1.77%, respectively. 2. In pharmacokinetic, GNA-PEG-NLC exhibited
      prolonged MRT and higher AUC values compared with GNA-NLC and GNA solution.
      Moreover, the tissue distribution demonstrated a high uptake of GNA-PEG-NLC in
      stomach. 3. These results indicated that PEG-NLC is a promising delivery system
      for GNA, which could prolong drug circulation time in body and thus improved its
      bioavailability.

PMID- 27618480
TI  - Stress-induced cellular responses and cell death mechanisms during inflammatory
      cholangiopathies.
AB  - Various cellular responses including apoptosis, necrosis, autophagy and cellular
      senescence are involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory cholangiopathies,
      such as primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
      and biliary atresia (BA). For example, dysregulated autophagy may play a role in
      abnormal expression of mitochondrial antigens and following autoimmune
      pathogenesis in bile duct lesions in PBC. Recently, new types of regulated cell
      death including necroptosis, parthanatos, pyroptosis, immunogenic cell death are
      the subject of numerous reports and they may play roles in pathogenesis of liver
      diseases, such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Although there have been few
      studies on these new types of regulated cell death in inflammatory
      cholangiopathies, so far, they may play important roles in the pathophysiology of
      inflammatory cholangiopathies. Further studies on new types of regulated cell
      death are mandatory, since they could be targets of new therapeutic approaches
      for these diseases.

PMID- 27618479
TI  - Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens in Hospitalized Syrian Children.
AB  - Since 2013, wounded and ill children from Syria have received treatment in
      Israel. Screening cultures indicated that multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens
      colonized 89 (83%) of 107 children. For 58% of MDR infections, the pathogen was
      similar to that identified during screening. MDR screening of these children is
      valuable for purposes of isolation and treatment.

PMID- 27618481
TI  - 'Click'-xylosides as initiators of the biosynthesis of glycosaminoglycans:
      Comparison of mono-xylosides with xylobiosides.
AB  - Different mono-xylosides and their corresponding xylobiosides obtained by a chemo
      enzymatic approach featuring various substituents attached to a triazole ring
      were probed as priming agents for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) biosynthesis in the
      xylosyltransferase-deficient pgsA-745 Chinese hamster ovary cell line. Xylosides
      containing a hydrophobic aglycone moiety were the most efficient priming agents.
      Mono-xylosides induced higher GAG biosynthesis in comparison with their
      corresponding xylobiosides. The influence of the degree of polymerization of the
      carbohydrate part on the priming activity was investigated through different
      experiments. We demonstrated that in case of mono-xylosides, the cellular uptake
      as well as the affinity and the catalytic efficiency of beta-1,4
      galactosyltransferase 7 were higher than for xylobiosides. Altogether, these
      results indicate that hydrophobicity of the aglycone and degree of polymerization
      of glycone moiety were critical factors for an optimal priming activity for GAG
      biosynthesis.

PMID- 27618483
TI  - Thiaphosphiranes and Their Complexes: Systematic Study on Ring Strain and Ring
      Cleavage Reactions.
AB  - A computational study on energies and geometries of a representative set of
      thiaphosphirane derivatives 1a-e and their W(CO)5 (W) and BH3 (B) complexes is
      reported. A particular focus was put on ring-opening reactions of kappaP- (2) and
      kappaS-complex isomers (3). Concerning the ring strain energy, a general trend
      was observed for compounds 1a,d, 2Wa,d, and 2Ba,d: (i) substituted rings are less
      strained than the parent compounds, and (ii) kappaP-complexation with a W(CO)5
      group (2Wa,d) significantly increases the ring strain (5.63 and 4.38 kcal/mol)
      which is exceeded in the case of kappaP-BH3 complexation (2Ba,d) (7.14 and 7.22
      kcal/mol). To unveil the thermal endocyclic bond weakness, a variety of bond
      strength related descriptors such as bond distance, relaxed force constants k0,
      Bader's quantitative theory of atoms-in-molecules parameters such as the electron
      density rho(r) and its Laplacian at bond critical points, and several bond order
      quantities (Wiberg bond index, Mayer bond order, and Lowdin bond order) were
      calculated. Heterolytic ring-opening reactions were investigated, revealing some
      general trends: (i) the strongest donor substituent at carbon significantly
      lowers relative energies for both the P-C and C-S bond cleavage products as well
      as the corresponding transition states, (ii) kappaP-complexes are more stable
      than the corresponding kappaS-complexes, for cyclic and acyclic species, and
      (iii) P-to-S haptotropic shifts in P-C bond cleavage products are disfavored
      processes, whereas it is more favored for C-S bond cleavage products. Other
      rearrangement products, being within energetic reach, were located on the
      potential energy surface. Two deserve particular mention as one stems from a
      combined H2 elimination and C-S bond cleavage of 2Bb and the other represents a
      first case of peribicyclic reaction leading to 7B'.

PMID- 27618452
TI  - The genetics of blood pressure regulation and its target organs from association
      studies in 342,415 individuals.
AB  - To dissect the genetic architecture of blood pressure and assess effects on
      target organ damage, we analyzed 128,272 SNPs from targeted and genome-wide
      arrays in 201,529 individuals of European ancestry, and genotypes from an
      additional 140,886 individuals were used for validation. We identified 66 blood
      pressure-associated loci, of which 17 were new; 15 harbored multiple distinct
      association signals. The 66 index SNPs were enriched for cis-regulatory elements,
      particularly in vascular endothelial cells, consistent with a primary role in
      blood pressure control through modulation of vascular tone across multiple
      tissues. The 66 index SNPs combined in a risk score showed comparable effects in
      64,421 individuals of non-European descent. The 66-SNP blood pressure risk score
      was significantly associated with target organ damage in multiple tissues but
      with minor effects in the kidney. Our findings expand current knowledge of blood
      pressure-related pathways and highlight tissues beyond the classical renal system
      in blood pressure regulation.

PMID- 27618484
TI  - Imaging Hydrological Processes in Headwater Riparian Seeps with Time-Lapse
      Electrical Resistivity.
AB  - Delineating hydrologic and pedogenic factors influencing groundwater flow in
      riparian zones is central in understanding pathways of water and nutrient
      transport. In this study, we combined two-dimensional time-lapse electrical
      resistivity imaging (ERI) (depth of investigation approximately 2 m) with
      hydrometric monitoring to examine hydrological processes in the riparian area of
      FD-36, a small (0.4 km2 ) agricultural headwater basin in the Valley and Ridge
      region of east-central Pennsylvania. We selected two contrasting study sites,
      including a seep with groundwater discharge and an adjacent area lacking such
      seepage. Both sites were underlain by a fragipan at 0.6 m. We then monitored
      changes in electrical resistivity, shallow groundwater, and nitrate-N
      concentrations as a series of storms transitioned the landscape from dry to wet
      conditions. Time-lapse ERI revealed different resistivity patterns between seep
      and non-seep areas during the study period. Notably, the seep displayed strong
      resistivity reductions (~60%) along a vertically aligned region of the soil
      profile, which coincided with strong upward hydraulic gradients recorded in a
      grid of nested piezometers (0.2- and 0.6-m depth). These patterns suggested a
      hydraulic connection between the seep and the nitrate-rich shallow groundwater
      system below the fragipan, which enabled groundwater and associated nitrate-N to
      discharge through the fragipan to the surface. In contrast, time-lapse ERI
      indicated no such connections in the non-seep area, with infiltrated rainwater
      presumably perched above the fragipan. Results highlight the value of pairing
      time-lapse ERI with hydrometric and water quality monitoring to illuminate
      possible groundwater and nutrient flow pathways to seeps in headwater riparian
      areas.

PMID- 27618482
TI  - Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Cascade MKK7-MPK6 Plays Important Roles in Plant
      Development and Regulates Shoot Branching by Phosphorylating PIN1 in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Emerging evidences exhibit that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/MPK)
      signaling pathways are connected with many aspects of plant development. The
      complexity of MAPK cascades raises challenges not only to identify the MAPK
      module in planta but also to define the specific role of an individual module. So
      far, our knowledge of MAPK signaling has been largely restricted to a small
      subset of MAPK cascades. Our previous study has characterized an Arabidopsis
      bushy and dwarf1 (bud1) mutant, in which the MAP Kinase Kinase 7 (MKK7) was
      constitutively activated, resulting in multiple phenotypic alterations. In this
      study, we found that MPK3 and MPK6 are the substrates for phosphorylation by MKK7
      in planta. Genetic analysis showed that MKK7-MPK6 cascade is specifically
      responsible for the regulation of shoot branching, hypocotyl gravitropism,
      filament elongation, and lateral root formation, while MKK7-MPK3 cascade is
      mainly involved in leaf morphology. We further demonstrated that the MKK7-MPK6
      cascade controls shoot branching by phosphorylating Ser 337 on PIN1, which
      affects the basal localization of PIN1 in xylem parenchyma cells and polar auxin
      transport in the primary stem. Our results not only specify the functions of the
      MKK7-MPK6 cascade but also reveal a novel mechanism for PIN1 phosphorylation,
      establishing a molecular link between the MAPK cascade and auxin-regulated plant
      development.

PMID- 27618485
TI  - A G-Rich Motif in the lncRNA Braveheart Interacts with a Zinc-Finger
      Transcription Factor to Specify the Cardiovascular Lineage.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an emerging class of transcripts that can
      modulate gene expression; however, their mechanisms of action remain poorly
      understood. Here, we experimentally determine the secondary structure of
      Braveheart (Bvht) using chemical probing methods and show that this ~590 nt
      transcript has a modular fold. Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of mouse
      embryonic stem cells, we find that deletion of 11 nt in a 5' asymmetric G-rich
      internal loop (AGIL) of Bvht (bvhtdAGIL) dramatically impairs cardiomyocyte
      differentiation. We demonstrate a specific interaction between AGIL and cellular
      nucleic acid binding protein (CNBP/ZNF9), a zinc-finger protein known to bind
      single-stranded G-rich sequences. We further show that CNBP deletion partially
      rescues the bvhtdAGIL mutant phenotype by restoring differentiation capacity.
      Together, our work shows that Bvht functions with CNBP through a well-defined RNA
      motif to regulate cardiovascular lineage commitment, opening the door for
      exploring broader roles of RNA structure in development and disease.

PMID- 27618487
TI  - A Reversible Association between Smc Coiled Coils Is Regulated by Lysine
      Acetylation and Is Required for Cohesin Association with the DNA.
AB  - Cohesin is a ring-shaped protein complex that is capable of embracing DNA. Most
      of the ring circumference is comprised of the anti-parallel intramolecular coiled
      coils of the Smc1 and Smc3 proteins, which connect globular head and hinge
      domains. Smc coiled coil arms contain multiple acetylated and ubiquitylated
      lysines. To investigate the role of these modifications, we substituted lysines
      for arginines to mimic the unmodified state and uncovered genetic interaction
      between the Smc arms. Using scanning force microscopy, we show that wild-type Smc
      arms associate with each other when the complex is not on DNA. Deacetylation of
      the Smc1/Smc3 dimers promotes arms' dissociation. Smc arginine mutants display
      loose packing of the Smc arms and, although they dimerize at the hinges, fail to
      connect the heads and associate with the DNA. Our findings highlight the
      importance of a "collapsed ring," or "rod," conformation of cohesin for its
      loading on the chromosomes.

PMID- 27618486
TI  - The DNA Damage Transducer RNF8 Facilitates Cancer Chemoresistance and Progression
      through Twist Activation.
AB  - Twist has been shown to cause treatment failure, cancer progression, and cancer
      related death. However, strategies that directly target Twist are not yet
      conceivable. Here we reveal that K63-linked ubiquitination is a crucial
      regulatory mechanism for Twist activation. Through an E3 ligase screen and
      biochemical studies, we unexpectedly identified that RNF8 functions as a direct
      Twist activator by triggering K63-linked ubiquitination of Twist. RNF8-promoted
      Twist ubiquitination is required for Twist localization to the nucleus for
      subsequent EMT and CSC functions, thereby conferring chemoresistance. Our
      histological analyses showed that RNF8 expression is upregulated and correlated
      with disease progression, EMT features, and poor patient survival in breast
      cancer. Moreover, RNF8 regulates cancer cell migration and invasion and cancer
      metastasis, recapitulating the effect of Twist. Together, our findings reveal a
      previously unrecognized tumor-promoting function of RNF8 and provide evidence
      that targeting RNF8 is an appealing strategy to tackle tumor aggressiveness and
      treatment resistance.

PMID- 27618489
TI  - Direct Interaction of c-Myc with Smad2 and Smad3 to Inhibit TGF-beta-Mediated
      Induction of the CDK Inhibitor p15(Ink4B).

PMID- 27618488
TI  - CRISPR-Cas Systems Optimize Their Immune Response by Specifying the Site of
      Spacer Integration.
AB  - CRISPR-Cas systems defend prokaryotes against viruses and plasmids. Short DNA
      segments of the invader, known as spacers, are stored in the CRISPR array as
      immunological memories. New spacers are added invariably to the 5' end of the
      array; therefore, the first spacer matches the latest foreign threat. Whether
      this highly polarized order of spacer insertion influences CRISPR-Cas immunity
      has not been explored. Here we show that a conserved sequence located immediately
      upstream of the CRISPR array specifies the site of new spacer integration.
      Mutation of this sequence results in erroneous incorporation of new spacers into
      the middle of the array. We show that spacers added through polarized acquisition
      give rise to more robust CRISPR-Cas immunity than spacers added to the middle of
      the array. This study demonstrates that the CRISPR-Cas system specifies the site
      of spacer integration to optimize the immune response against the most immediate
      threat to the host.

PMID- 27618491
TI  - Mapping the Landscape of a Eukaryotic Degronome.
AB  - The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) for protein degradation has been under
      intensive study, and yet, we have only partial understanding of mechanisms by
      which proteins are selected to be targeted for proteolysis. One of the obstacles
      in studying these recognition pathways is the limited repertoire of known
      degradation signals (degrons). To better understand what determines the
      susceptibility of intracellular proteins to degradation by the UPS, we developed
      an unbiased method for large-scale identification of eukaryotic degrons. Using a
      reporter-based high-throughput competition assay, followed by deep sequencing, we
      measured a degradation potency index for thousands of native polypeptides in a
      single experiment. We further used this method to identify protein quality
      control (PQC)-specific and compartment-specific degrons. Our method provides an
      unprecedented insight into the yeast degronome, and it can readily be modified to
      study protein degradation signals and pathways in other organisms and in various
      settings.

PMID- 27618492
TI  - Neuroprotection by central nervous system remyelination: Molecular, cellular, and
      functional considerations.
AB  - Oligodendrocytes and their myelin sheaths play an intricate role in axonal health
      and function. The prevalence of white matter pathology in a wide variety of
      central nervous system disorders has gained attention in recent years.
      Remyelination has therefore become a major target of therapeutic research, with
      the aim of protecting axons from further damage. The axon-myelin unit is
      elaborate, and demyelination causes profound changes in axonal molecular domains,
      signal transmission, and metabolism. Remyelination is known to restore some of
      these changes, but many of its outcomes remain unknown. Understanding how
      different aspects of the axon-myelin unit are restored by remyelination is
      important for making effective, targeted therapeutics for white matter
      dysfunction. Additionally, understanding how subtle deficits relate to axonal
      function during demyelination and remyelination may provide clues into the impact
      of myelin on neuronal circuits. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge
      of the neuroprotective effects of remyelination, as well as gaps in our
      knowledge. Finally, we propose systems with unique myelin profiles that may serve
      as useful models for investigating remyelination efficacy. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618490
TI  - RNA Polymerase Pausing during Initial Transcription.
AB  - In bacteria, RNA polymerase (RNAP) initiates transcription by synthesizing short
      transcripts that are either released or extended to allow RNAP to escape from the
      promoter. The mechanism of initial transcription is unclear due to the presence
      of transient intermediates and molecular heterogeneity. Here, we studied initial
      transcription on a lac promoter using single-molecule fluorescence observations
      of DNA scrunching on immobilized transcription complexes. Our work revealed a
      long pause ("initiation pause," ~20 s) after synthesis of a 6-mer RNA; such
      pauses can serve as regulatory checkpoints. Region sigma 3.2, which contains a
      loop blocking the RNA exit channel, was a major pausing determinant. We also
      obtained evidence for RNA backtracking during abortive initial transcription and
      for additional pausing prior to escape. We summarized our work in a model for
      initial transcription, in which pausing is controlled by a complex set of
      determinants that modulate the transition from a 6- to a 7-nt RNA.

PMID- 27618493
TI  - IDL6-HAE/HSL2 impacts pectin degradation and resistance to Pseudomonas syringae
      pv tomato DC3000 in Arabidopsis leaves.
AB  - Plant cell walls undergo dynamic structural and chemical changes during plant
      development and growth. Floral organ abscission and lateral root emergence are
      both accompanied by cell-wall remodeling, which involves the INFLORESCENCE
      DEFICIENT IN ABSCISSION (IDA)-derived peptide and its receptors, HAESA (HAE) and
      HAESA-LIKE2 (HSL2). Plant cell walls also act as barriers against pathogenic
      invaders. Thus, the cell-wall remodeling during plant development could have an
      influence on plant resistance to phytopathogens. Here, we identified IDA-like 6
      (IDL6), a gene that is prominently expressed in Arabidopsis leaves. IDL6
      expression in Arabidopsis leaves is significantly upregulated when the plant is
      suffering from attacks of the bacterial Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst)
      DC3000. IDL6 overexpression and knockdown lines respectively decrease and
      increase the Arabidopsis resistance to Pst DC3000, indicating that the gene
      promotes the Arabidopsis susceptibility to Pst DC3000. Moreover, IDL6 promotes
      the expression of a polygalacturonase (PG) gene, ADPG2, and increases PG activity
      in Arabidopsis leaves, which in turn reduces leaf pectin content and leaf
      robustness. ADPG2 overexpression restrains Arabidopsis resistance to Pst DC3000,
      whereas ADPG2 loss-of-function mutants increase the resistance to the bacterium.
      Pst DC3000 infection elevates the ADPG2 expression partially through HAE and
      HSL2. Taken together, our results suggest that IDL6-HAE/HSL2 facilitates the
      ingress of Pst DC3000 by promoting pectin degradation in Arabidopsis leaves, and
      Pst DC3000 might enhance its infection by manipulating the IDL6-HAE/HSL2-ADPG2
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 27618494
TI  - Patient-Specific Simulation of Cardiac Blood Flow From High-Resolution Computed
      Tomography.
AB  - Cardiac hemodynamics can be computed from medical imaging data, and results could
      potentially aid in cardiac diagnosis and treatment optimization. However,
      simulations are often based on simplified geometries, ignoring features such as
      papillary muscles and trabeculae due to their complex shape, limitations in image
      acquisitions, and challenges in computational modeling. This severely hampers the
      use of computational fluid dynamics in clinical practice. The overall aim of this
      study was to develop a novel numerical framework that incorporated these
      geometrical features. The model included the left atrium, ventricle, ascending
      aorta, and heart valves. The framework used image registration to obtain patient
      specific wall motion, automatic remeshing to handle topological changes due to
      the complex trabeculae motion, and a fast interpolation routine to obtain
      intermediate meshes during the simulations. Velocity fields and residence time
      were evaluated, and they indicated that papillary muscles and trabeculae strongly
      interacted with the blood, which could not be observed in a simplified model. The
      framework resulted in a model with outstanding geometrical detail, demonstrating
      the feasibility as well as the importance of a framework that is capable of
      simulating blood flow in physiologically realistic hearts.

PMID- 27618495
TI  - Associations of Perceived and Objectively Measured Neighborhood Environmental
      Attributes With Leisure-Time Sitting for Transport.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examined associations of perceived and objectively
      measured neighborhood environmental attributes with leisure-time sitting for
      transport among middle-to-older aged Japanese adults. METHOD: Data were collected
      using a postal survey of 998 adults aged 40 to 69 years. Generalized linear
      modeling with a gamma distribution and a log link was used to examine
      associations of perceived (International Physical Activity Questionnaire
      Environmental module) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-derived built
      environment attributes with self-reported leisure-time sitting for transport.
      RESULTS: Mean leisure-time sitting time for transport was 20.4 min/day. After
      adjusting for potential confounders, perceived higher residential density, GIS
      measured higher population density, better access to destinations, better access
      to public transport, longer sidewalk length, and higher street connectivity, were
      associated significantly with lower sitting time for transport. CONCLUSION:
      Residents living in neighborhoods with attributes previously found to be
      associated with more walking tended to spend less time sitting for transport
      during leisure-time. The health benefits of walkability-related attributes may
      accrue not only through increased physical activity, but also through less
      sedentary time.

PMID- 27618496
TI  - Food Industry Funding of Nutrition Research: The Relevance of History for Current
      Debates.

PMID- 27618497
TI  - Evaluation of a New Brain Tissue Probe for Cerebral Blood Flow Monitoring in an
      Experimental Pig Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bedside monitoring of cerebral blood flow (CBF) may provide new
      insights into the pathophysiology of brain injury, allow early detection of
      secondary ischemia, and help guide therapy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a new brain
      tissue probe for serial CBF monitoring using near-infrared spectroscopy and
      indocyanine green dye dilution (NeMo Probe) compared with the existing thermal
      diffusion probe (QFlow 500 Probe). METHODS: In 7 pigs, the NeMo Probe and QFlow
      500 Probe were inserted into the subcortical white matter. Parallel measurements
      were recorded during (1) baseline, (2) hypotension, (3) hypertension, and (4)
      hyperventilation. Thereafter, protocol points 1 through 4 were repeated once. The
      Spearman correlation (rs), Bland-Altman plot, concordance rate, and coefficient
      of variation were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There was poor
      agreement between 56 pairs of absolute CBF values (rs = 0.52, P < .001). The mean
      bias was 10.7 mL.100 g.min with limits of agreement of -33.0 to 54.3 mL.100
      g.min. The analysis of 49 pairs of changes in CBF showed a good correlation (rs =
      0.83, P < .001), and the concordance rate was 93.3%. The coefficient of variation
      from repeated measurements under comparable physiological conditions was 51.6%
      for the QFlow 500 Probe and 12.9% for the NeMo Probe. CONCLUSION: Absolute CBF
      values obtained with the NeMo Probe and QFlow 500 Probe cannot be interpreted as
      equivalent. However, the NeMo Probe provides acceptable trending ability and
      reproducibility from repeated measurements, whereas the reproducibility of the
      QFlow 500 Probe was poor. Future clinical studies are warranted to evaluate the
      NeMo Probe in the setting of acute brain injury. ABBREVIATIONS: CBF, cerebral
      blood flowCBV, cerebral blood volumeICG, indocyanine greenICP, intracranial
      pressureMAP, mean arterial pressuremttICG, mean transit time of indocyanine
      greenNIRS, near-infrared spectroscopy.

PMID- 27618499
TI  - Gait analysis: clinical facts.
AB  - Gait analysis is a well-established tool for the quantitative assessment of gait
      disturbances providing functional diagnosis, assessment for treatment planning,
      and monitoring of disease progress. There is a large volume of literature on the
      research use of gait analysis, but evidence on its clinical routine use supports
      a favorable cost-benefit ratio in a limited number of conditions. Initially gait
      analysis was introduced to clinical practice to improve the management of
      children with cerebral palsy. However, there is good evidence to extend its use
      to patients with various upper motor neuron diseases, and to lower limb
      amputation. Thereby, the methodology for properly conducting and interpreting the
      exam is of paramount relevance. Appropriateness of gait analysis prescription and
      reliability of data obtained are required in the clinical environment. This paper
      provides an overview on guidelines for managing a clinical gait analysis service
      and on the principal clinical domains of its application: cerebral palsy, stroke,
      traumatic brain injury and lower limb amputation. 

PMID- 27618500
TI  - The mixed randomized trial: combining randomized, pragmatic and observational
      clinical trial designs.
AB  - Clinical trial designs often fail to deliver data that jointly satisfy evolving
      demands of both regulatory and reimbursement authorities. We propose a new multi
      tiered trial design to integrate efficacy and effectiveness, and address the
      evolving needs of authorities. The mixed randomized trial allocates patients
      first to trial arm - randomized controlled, pragmatic (randomized) or
      observational - and then to treatment group - experimental, placebo, active
      comparator, best available therapy or standard of care. Trial arms may be
      staggered over time to reflect the current state of randomized and non-randomized
      data of the experimental drug, and thereby still prioritize safety. At the same
      time, the mixed randomized trial allows for the collection of real-world data in
      a randomized setting, and thereby reduces selection bias.

PMID- 27618498
TI  - Respiratory toxicity and immunotoxicity evaluations of microparticle and
      nanoparticle C60 fullerene aggregates in mice and rats following nose-only
      inhalation for 13 weeks.
AB  - C60 fullerene (C60), or buckminsterfullerene, is a spherical arrangement of 60
      carbon atoms, having a diameter of approximately 1 nm, and is produced naturally
      as a by-product of combustion. Due to its small size, C60 has attracted much
      attention for use in a variety of applications; however, insufficient information
      is available regarding its toxicological effects. The effects on respiratory
      toxicity and immunotoxicity of C60 aggregates (50 nm [nano-C60] and 1 MUm [micro
      C60] diameter) were examined in B6C3F1/N mice and Wistar Han rats after nose-only
      inhalation for 13 weeks. Exposure concentrations were selected to allow for data
      evaluations using both mass-based and particle surface area-based exposure
      metrics. Nano-C60 exposure levels selected were 0.5 and 2 mg/m3 (0.033 and 0.112
      m2/m3), while micro-C60 exposures were 2, 15 and 30 mg/m3 (0.011, 0.084 and 0.167
      m2/m3). There were no systemic effects on innate, cell-mediated, or humoral
      immune function. Pulmonary inflammatory responses (histiocytic infiltration,
      macrophage pigmentation, chronic inflammation) were concentration-dependent and
      corresponded to increases in monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 (rats) and
      macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha (mice) in bronchoalveolar lavage
      (BAL) fluid. Lung overload may have contributed to the pulmonary inflammatory
      responses observed following nano-C60 exposure at 2 mg/m3 and micro-C60 exposure
      at 30 mg/m3. Phenotype shifts in cells recovered from the BAL were also observed
      in all C60-exposed rats, regardless of the level of exposure. Overall, more
      severe pulmonary effects were observed for nano-C60 than for micro-C60 for mass
      based exposure comparisons. However, for surface-area-based exposures, more
      severe pulmonary effects were observed for micro-C60 than for nano-C60,
      highlighting the importance of dosimetry when evaluating toxicity between nano-
      and microparticles.

PMID- 27618502
TI  - Perinuclear Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody with a Large Portion Being Anti
      beta-Glucuronidase, May Have Played a Causative Role in the Pathogenesis of
      Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

PMID- 27618501
TI  - Switching from twice-daily glargine or detemir to once-daily degludec improves
      glucose control in type 1 diabetes. An observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Degludec is an ultralong-acting insulin analogue with a flat
      and reproducible pharmacodynamic profile. As some patients with type 1 diabetes
      (T1D) fail to achieve 24-h coverage with glargine or detemir despite twice-daily
      injections, we studied the effect of switching T1D patients from twice-daily
      glargine or detemir to degludec. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective
      observational study, T1D patients on twice-daily glargine or detemir were
      enrolled. At baseline and 12 weeks after switching to degludec, we recorded
      HbA1c, insulin dose, 30-day blood glucose self monitoring (SMBG) or 14-day
      continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), treatment satisfaction (DTSQ), fear of
      hypoglycemia (FHS). We included 29 patients (mean age 34 +/- 11 years; diabetes
      duration 18 +/- 10 years). After switching to degludec, HbA1c decreased from 7.9
      +/- 0.6% (63 +/- 6 mmol/mol) to 7.7 +/- 0.6% (61 +/- 6 mmol/mol; p = 0.028). SMBG
      showed significant reductions in the percent and number of blood glucose values
      <70 mg/dl and in the low blood glucose index (LBGI) during nighttime. CGM showed
      a significant reduction of time spent in hypoglycemia, an increase in daytime
      spent in target 70-180 mg/dl, and a reduction in glucose variability. Total
      insulin dose declined by 17% (p < 0.001), with 24% reduction in basal and 10%
      reduction in prandial insulin. DTSQ and FHS significantly improved. CONCLUSION:
      Switching from twice-daily glargine or detemir to once daily degludec improved
      HbA1c, glucose profile, hypoglycemia risk and treatment satisfaction, while
      insulin doses decreased. ClinicalTrials.govNCT02360254.

PMID- 27618503
TI  - Enhancing Trainee Satisfaction with IBD Education.

PMID- 27618504
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27618505
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27618506
TI  - Invasive non-native plants have a greater effect on neighbouring natives than
      other non-natives.
AB  - Human activity is creating a global footprint by changing the climate, altering
      habitats and reshuffling the distribution of species. The movement of species
      around the globe has led to the naturalization and accumulation of multiple non
      native species within ecosystems, which is frequently associated with habitat
      disturbance and changing environmental conditions. However, interactions among
      species will also influence community composition, but little is known about the
      full range of direct and indirect interactions among native and non-native
      species. Here, we show through a meta-analysis of 1,215 pairwise plant
      interactions between 274 vascular plant species in 21 major habitat types that
      interactions between non-native plants are asymmetrical with interactions between
      non-native and native plants. Non-native plants were always bad neighbours, but
      the negative effect of non-natives on natives was around two times greater than
      the effect of non-natives on other non-natives. In contrast, the performance of
      non-native plants was five times higher in the presence of a neighbouring native
      plant species than in the presence of a neighbouring non-native plant species.
      Together, these results demonstrate that invaded plant communities may accumulate
      additional non-native species even if direct interactions between non-natives
      species are negative. Put another way, invasions may be more likely to lead to
      more invasions, requiring more active management of ecosystems by promoting
      native species restoration to undermine invasive positive feedback and to assist
      native species recovery in invaded ecosystems.

PMID- 27618508
TI  - Biokinetics and tissue response to ultrananocrystalline diamond nanoparticles
      employed as coating for biomedical devices.
AB  - Although Ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) has been proposed as a coating
      material for titanium biomedical implants, the biological effects and toxicity of
      UNCD particles that could eventually detach have not been studied to date. The
      biokinetics and biological effects of UNCD compared to titanium dioxide (TiO2 )
      nanoparticles was evaluated in vivo using Wistar rats (n = 30) i.p. injected with
      TiO2 , UNCD or saline solution. After 6 months, blood, lung, liver, and kidney
      samples were histologically analyzed. Oxidative damage by membrane
      lipidperoxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances-TBARS), generation of
      reactive oxygen species (superoxide anion- O2-), and antioxidant enzymes
      (superoxide dismutase-SOD, catalase-CAT) was evaluated in lung and liver.
      Histologic observation showed agglomerates of TiO2 or UNCD in the parenchyma of
      the studied organs, though there were fewer UNCD than TiO2 deposits. In addition,
      TiO2 caused areas compatibles with foci of necrosis in the liver and renal
      hyaline cylinders. Regarding UNCD, no membrane damage (TBARS) or mobilization of
      enzymatic antioxidants was observed either in lung or liver samples. No
      variations in O2- generation were observed in lung (Co: 35.1 +/- 4.02 vs. UNCD:
      48 +/- 9.1, p > 0.05). Conversely, TiO2 exposure caused production of O2- in
      alveolar macrophages and consumption of catalase (p < 0.05). The studied
      parameters suggest that UNCD caused neither biochemical nor histological
      alterations, and therefore may prove useful as a surface coating for biomedical
      implants. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl
      Biomater, 105B: 2408-2415, 2017.

PMID- 27618509
TI  - Cardiovascular Risk Assessment: A Systematic Review of Guidelines.
AB  - Background: Many guidelines exist for screening and risk assessment for the
      primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in apparently healthy persons.
      Purpose: To systematically review current primary prevention guidelines on adult
      cardiovascular risk assessment and highlight the similarities and differences to
      aid clinician decision making. Data Sources: Publications in MEDLINE and CINAHL
      between 3 May 2009 and 30 June 2016 were identified. On 30 June 2016, the
      Guidelines International Network International Guideline Library, National
      Guideline Clearinghouse, National Library for Health Guidelines Finder, Canadian
      Medical Association Clinical Practice Guidelines Infobase, and Web sites of
      organizations responsible for guideline development were searched. Study
      Selection: 2 reviewers screened titles and abstracts to identify guidelines from
      Western countries containing recommendations for cardiovascular risk assessment
      for healthy adults. Data Extraction: 2 reviewers independently assessed rigor of
      guideline development using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and
      Evaluation II instrument, and 1 extracted the recommendations. Data Synthesis: Of
      the 21 guidelines, 17 showed considerable rigor of development. These
      recommendations address assessment of total cardiovascular risk (5 guidelines),
      dysglycemia (7 guidelines), dyslipidemia (2 guidelines), and hypertension (3
      guidelines). All but 1 recommendation advocates for screening, and most include
      prediction models integrating several relatively simple risk factors for either
      deciding on further screening or guiding subsequent management. No consensus on
      the strategy for screening, recommended target population, screening tests, or
      treatment thresholds exists. Limitation: Only guidelines developed by Western
      national or international medical organizations were included. Conclusion:
      Considerable discrepancies in cardiovascular screening guidelines still exist,
      with no consensus on optimum screening strategies or treatment threshold. Primary
      Funding Source: Barts Charity.

PMID- 27618510
TI  - Effects on Organic Photovoltaics Using Femtosecond-Laser-Treated Indium Tin
      Oxides.
AB  - The effects of femtosecond-laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on
      an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface applied to an organic photovoltaic (OPV) system
      were investigated. The modifications of ITO induced by LIPPS in OPV devices
      result in more than 14% increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) and short
      circuit current density relative to those of the standard device. The basic
      mechanisms for the enhanced short-circuit current density are attributed to
      better light harvesting, increased scattering effects, and more efficient charge
      collection between the ITO and photoactive layers. Results show that higher PCEs
      would be achieved by laser-pulse-treated electrodes. 

PMID- 27618507
TI  - Detection of extracellular matrix modification in cancer models with inverse
      spectroscopic optical coherence tomography.
AB  - In cancer biology, there has been a recent effort to understand tumor formation
      in the context of the tissue microenvironment. In particular, recent progress has
      explored the mechanisms behind how changes in the cell-extracellular matrix
      ensemble influence progression of the disease. The extensive use of in vitro
      tissue culture models in simulant matrix has proven effective at studying such
      interactions, but modalities for non-invasively quantifying aspects of these
      systems are scant. We present the novel application of an imaging technique,
      Inverse Spectroscopic Optical Coherence Tomography, for the non-destructive
      measurement of in vitro biological samples during matrix remodeling. Our findings
      indicate that the nanoscale-sensitive mass density correlation shape factor D of
      cancer cells increases in response to a more crosslinked matrix. We present a
      facile technique for the non-invasive, quantitative study of the micro- and nano
      scale structure of the extracellular matrix and its host cells.

PMID- 27618511
TI  - Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Droplets for Biosensors.
AB  - By utilizing a microfluidics approach, we prepared uniformly sized cholesteric
      liquid crystal (CLC) droplets from MLC-2132 doped with a chiral dopant (S)-4
      cyano-4'-(2-methylbutyl)biphenyl (CB15). We studied the helical structures and
      reflecting color patterns of high- and low-dopant CLC droplets coated with
      poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). One central large
      spot with reflecting color in the CLC droplets (initially coated with PVA for
      planar anchoring) changed to many small spots with the same reflecting color
      (chicken-skin pattern) when an SDS aqueous solution was introduced to increase
      the homeotropic anchoring power. These small spots subsequently merged into
      several spots (flashlight pattern) with time. The CLC droplets coated with
      poly(acrylic acid)-b-poly(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-oxyundecyl acrylate) (PAA-b-LCP)
      (CLCPAA droplets) were pH-responsive. Their helical structure and the reflecting
      color pattern changed because of protonation (at low pH) and deprotonation (at
      high pH) of the carboxylic group of PAA, which causes the planar (tangential) and
      perpendicular (homeotropic) orientations, respectively. The CLCPAA droplets
      immobilized with glucose oxidase (GOx) and cholesterol oxidase (ChO) (CLCPAA-GOx
      and CLCPAA-ChO droplets, respectively), for glucose and cholesterol detection,
      exhibited high sensitivity (0.5 and 2.5 MUM for the CLCPAA-GOx and CLCPAA-ChO
      droplets, respectively), good selectivity, and fast response (<=4 s). Further
      optimization will enhance their performance as biosensors. With this novel
      approach, detection is possible by observing the coloring pattern of CLC
      droplets, without the crossed polarizers that are necessary for nematic LC
      biosensor systems.

PMID- 27618512
TI  - An Integral-Direct Linear-Scaling Second-Order Moller-Plesset Approach.
AB  - An integral-direct, iteration-free, linear-scaling, local second-order Moller
      Plesset (MP2) approach is presented, which is also useful for spin-scaled MP2
      calculations as well as for the efficient evaluation of the perturbative terms of
      double-hybrid density functionals. The method is based on a fragmentation
      approximation: the correlation contributions of the individual electron pairs are
      evaluated in domains constructed for the corresponding localized orbitals, and
      the correlation energies of distant electron pairs are computed with multipole
      expansions. The required electron repulsion integrals are calculated directly
      invoking the density fitting approximation; the storage of integrals and
      intermediates is avoided. The approach also utilizes natural auxiliary functions
      to reduce the size of the auxiliary basis of the domains and thereby the
      operation count and memory requirement. Our test calculations show that the
      approach recovers 99.9% of the canonical MP2 correlation energy and reproduces
      reaction energies with an average (maximum) error below 1 kJ/mol (4 kJ/mol). Our
      benchmark calculations demonstrate that the new method enables MP2 calculations
      for molecules with more than 2300 atoms and 26000 basis functions on a single
      processor.

PMID- 27618513
TI  - In unison: First- and second-order information combine for integration of shape
      information.
AB  - The modulation of orientation around radial frequency (RF) patterns and RF
      textures is globally processed in both cases. This psychophysical study
      investigates whether the combination-a textured RF path obtained by applying an
      RF texture to an RF contour-is processed like a texture or a contour when making
      judgements about shape. Unlike RF textures, the impression of a closed flow was
      not required for global integration of textured RF paths, suggesting that these
      paths were processed as second-order, or contrast-defined contours. Luminance
      defined (LD) RF paths were shown to globally integrate but with thresholds
      approximately half of those for the proposed second-order textured paths. The
      next experiment investigated whether this benefit was due to LD stimuli
      possessing double the amount of information (first- and second-order
      information). A mixed three-part contour composed of two different second-order
      texture components and an LD component was then employed to determine how the
      different cues combined. The mixed path thresholds matched predictions derived
      from a linear combination of first- and second-order cues. The conclusion is that
      the shape of isolated contours is processed using both first- and second-order
      information equally and that the contribution of texture is to carry additional
      second-order signal.

PMID- 27618514
TI  - Depth discrimination from occlusions in 3D clutter.
AB  - Objects such as trees, shrubs, and tall grass consist of thousands of small
      surfaces that are distributed over a three-dimensional (3D) volume. To perceive
      the depth of surfaces within 3D clutter, a visual system can use binocular stereo
      and motion parallax. However, such parallax cues are less reliable in 3D clutter
      because surfaces tend to be partly occluded. Occlusions provide depth
      information, but it is unknown whether visual systems use occlusion cues to aid
      depth perception in 3D clutter, as previous studies have addressed occlusions for
      simple scene geometries only. Here, we present a set of depth discrimination
      experiments that examine depth from occlusion cues in 3D clutter, and how these
      cues interact with stereo and motion parallax. We identify two probabilistic
      occlusion cues. The first is based on the fraction of an object that is visible.
      The second is based on the depth range of the occluders. We show that human
      observers use both of these occlusion cues. We also define ideal observers that
      are based on these occlusion cues. Human observer performance is close to ideal
      using the visibility cue but far from ideal using the range cue. A key reason for
      the latter is that the range cue depends on depth estimation of the clutter
      itself which is unreliable. Our results provide new fundamental constraints on
      the depth information that is available from occlusions in 3D clutter, and how
      the occlusion cues are combined with binocular stereo and motion parallax cues.

PMID- 27618515
TI  - 1-800 Imaging: Building Partnerships Between Primary Care and Medical Imaging.

PMID- 27618516
TI  - Exercise using mung bean bag improves balance in healthy young adults.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise using a mung
      bean bag (MB) for balance ability. Thirty-nine healthy female young adults (aged
      18-25 years with normal body mass index) were randomly assigned into three groups
      (n for each group = 13): control group, firm surface (FS) exercise group, and MB
      exercise group. The FS and MB groups were trained with static and dynamic balance
      exercises (20 minutes * 3 times/week * 6 weeks). Participants' balance abilities
      were measured using a Balance Master 4 times: at pre-training (baseline) and at
      the second, fourth, and sixth weeks post-training. Three tests were assessed:
      unilateral stance test, modified clinical test for sensory integrations on
      balance (mCTSIB), and limits of stability (LOS) test. The MB group significantly
      improved unilateral stance balance in both eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions,
      whereas the FS group improved only in the eyes-closed condition. No significant
      difference was found across groups in the mCTSIB parameters. Only the FS group
      significantly improved LOS parameters. These results suggest the MB exercise
      could be used to improve unilateral stance balance, but not the LOS or mCTSIB, in
      healthy young adults.

PMID- 27618517
TI  - Metabolic syndrome in drug naive patients with substance use disorder.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: Metabolic syndrome is a combination of
      insulin resistance, impaired glucose regulation, dyslipidemia, hypertension,
      microalbuminuria and obesity and this increases the risk for diabetes, myocardial
      infarction and thus increases the risk of mortality. Substance dependence is
      considered as a prominent risk factor for metabolic syndrome, but not much work
      has been done in this field. Thus this study is aimed to know the prevalence of
      metabolic syndrome in drug naive substance users. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total
      of 50 consecutive indoor drug naive patients with substance dependence (as per
      ICD 10) were included. Metabolic syndrome was assessed as per WHO criteria for
      metabolic syndrome. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 17.0
      software and Chi square test was applied. RESULTS: Of the 50 subjects (46% used
      alcohol; 26% used opioid and 28% were multiple substance users), a total of 20%
      of the subjects met the WHO criteria for metabolic syndrome and all of them were
      only alcoholics. Commonest abnormalities were low HDL (48%), raised SBP/DBP
      (26%/22%) and TG's (18%). Age, weight, height, DBP and BMI were significant
      predictors of metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: Metabolic syndrome is a common
      entity seen in patients with substance abuse, especially in patients with alcohol
      use disorder, as seen in our study.

PMID- 27618518
TI  - Abnormalities in Functional Connectivity in Collegiate Football Athletes with and
      without a Concussion History: Implications and Role of Neuroactive Kynurenine
      Pathway Metabolites.
AB  - There is a great need to identify potential long-term consequences of contact
      sport exposure and to identify molecular pathways that may be associated with
      these changes. We tested the hypothesis that football players with (Ath-mTBI) (n
      = 25) and without a concussion history (Ath) (n = 24) have altered resting state
      functional connectivity in regions with previously documented structural changes
      relative to healthy controls without football or concussion history (HC) (n =
      27). As a secondary aim, we tested the hypothesis that group differences in
      functional connectivity are moderated by the relative ratio of neuroprotective to
      neurotoxic metabolites of the kynurenine pathway. Ath-mTBI had significantly
      increased connectivity of motor cortex to the supplementary motor area relative
      to Ath and HC. In contrast, both Ath-mTBI and Ath had increased connectivity
      between the left orbital frontal cortex and the right lateral frontal cortex, and
      between the left cornu ammonis areas 2 and 3/dentate gyrus (CA2-3/DG) of the
      hippocampus and the middle and posterior cingulate cortices, relative to HC. The
      relationship between the ratio of plasma concentrations of kynurenic acid to
      quinolinic acid (KYNA/QUIN) and left pregenual anterior cingulate cortex
      connectivity to multiple regions as well as KYNA/QUIN and right CA2-3/DG
      connectivity to multiple regions differed significantly according to football and
      concussion history. The results suggest that football exposure with and without
      concussion history can have a significant effect on intrinsic brain connectivity
      and implicate the kynurenine metabolic pathway as one potential moderator of
      functional connectivity dependent on football exposure and concussion history.

PMID- 27618519
TI  - Diffusion Hypoxia and/or Primary Mitochondrial Failure?

PMID- 27618520
TI  - Alteration of TGF-beta-ALK-Smad signaling in hyperoxia-induced bronchopulmonary
      dysplasia model of newborn rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a main chronic lung disease
      commonly occurs in preterm infants. BPD is characterized by impaired
      alveolarization and vascularization of the developing lung. Transforming growth
      factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling pathway is known to play an important role
      during lung vascular development. In the present study, we examined whether the
      regulation of TGF-beta-ALK-Smad signaling pathway influence on the disruption of
      pulmonary vascular development in newborn rats as hyperoxia-induced BPD model.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Newborn rats were continuously exposed to 21% or 85% O2
      for 7 days, and subsequently kept in normoxic condition for another 14 days. Lung
      tissues harvested at each time point were evaluated for the expression of TGF
      beta1, ALK1, ALK5, phosphorylated Smad1/5, phosphorylated Smad2/3, VEGF, and
      endoglin, as accessed by both biochemical and immunohistological analyses.
      RESULTS: Double-fluorescence immunohistochemical staining indicated these
      molecules were mainly expressed in pulmonary endothelial cells. The expression of
      TGF-beta1 and ALK5 mRNA and protein were significantly increased in D5 hyperoxia
      group, while that of ALK1 mRNA and protein were significantly decreased. The
      level of phosphorylated Smad1/5 was significantly decreased in D7 hyperoxia
      group, whereas that of phosphorylated Smad2/3 was oppositely increased. In
      addition, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA was
      increased at D1 with subsequent decrease in D7 hyperoxia group. There was no
      significantly difference in endoglin expression in entire experimental period.
      CONCLUSION: These results indicate that exposure to hyperoxia altered the balance
      between TGF-beta-ALK1-Smad1/5 and TGF-beta-ALK5-Smad2/3 pathways in pulmonary
      endothelial cells, which may ultimately lead to the development of BPD.

PMID- 27618521
TI  - Antidepressants and benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A panic attack is a discrete period of fear or anxiety that has a
      rapid onset, reaches a peak within 10 minutes and in which at least four of 13
      characteristic symptoms are experienced, including racing heart, chest pain,
      sweating, shaking, dizziness, flushing, stomach churning, faintness and
      breathlessness. Panic disorder is common in the general population with a
      lifetime prevalence of 1% to 4%. The treatment of panic disorder includes
      psychological and pharmacological interventions. Amongst pharmacological agents,
      antidepressants and benzodiazepines are the mainstay of treatment for panic
      disorder. Different classes of antidepressants have been compared; and the
      British Association for Psychopharmacology, and National Institute for Health and
      Care Excellence (NICE) consider antidepressants (mainly selective serotonin
      reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)) as the first-line treatment for panic disorder, due
      to their more favourable adverse effect profile over monoamine oxidase inhibitors
      (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). In addition to antidepressants,
      benzodiazepines are widely prescribed for the treatment of panic disorder.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the evidence for the effects of antidepressants and
      benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults. SEARCH METHODS: The Specialised
      Register of the Cochrane Common Mental Disorders Group (CCMDCTR) to 11 September
      2015. This register includes relevant randomised controlled trials from the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (1950-), Embase
      (1974-) and PsycINFO (1967-). Reference lists of relevant papers and previous
      systematic reviews were handsearched. We contacted experts in this field for
      supplemental data. SELECTION CRITERIA: All double-blind randomised controlled
      trials allocating adult patients with panic disorder to antidepressants or
      benzodiazepines versus any other active treatment with antidepressants or
      benzodiazepines. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently
      checked eligibility and extracted data using a standard form. Data were entered
      in RevMan 5.3 using a double-check procedure. Information extracted included
      study characteristics, participant characteristics, intervention details,
      settings and outcome measures in terms of efficacy, acceptability and
      tolerability. MAIN RESULTS: Thirty-five studies, including 6785 participants
      overall (of which 5365 in the arms of interest (antidepressant and
      benzodiazepines as monotherapy)) were included in this review; however, since
      studies addressed many different comparisons, only a few trials provided data for
      primary outcomes. We found low-quality evidence suggesting no difference between
      antidepressants and benzodiazepines in terms of response rate (risk ratio (RR)
      0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67 to 1.47; participants = 215; studies =
      2). Very low-quality evidence suggested a benefit for benzodiazepines compared to
      antidepressants in terms of dropouts due to any cause, even if confidence
      interval (CI) ranges from almost no difference to benefit with benzodiazepines
      (RR 1.64, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.63; participants = 1449; studies = 7). We found some
      evidence suggesting that serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are better
      tolerated than TCAs (when looking at the number of patients experiencing adverse
      effects). We failed to find clinically significant differences between individual
      benzodiazepines. The majority of studies did not report details on random
      sequence generation and allocation concealment; similarly, no details were
      provided about strategies to ensure blinding. The study protocol was not
      available for almost all studies so it is difficult to make a judgment on the
      possibility of outcome reporting bias. Information on adverse effects was very
      limited. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The identified studies are not sufficient to
      comprehensively address the objectives of the present review. The majority of
      studies enrolled a small number of participants and did not provide data for all
      the outcomes specified in the protocol. For these reasons most of the analyses
      were underpowered and this limits the overall completeness of evidence. In
      general, based on the results of the current review, the possible role of
      antidepressants and benzodiazepines should be assessed by the clinician on an
      individual basis. The choice of which antidepressant and/or benzodiazepine is
      prescribed can not be made on the basis of this review only, and should be based
      on evidence of antidepressants and benzodiazepines efficacy and tolerability,
      including data from placebo-controlled studies, as a whole. Data on long-term
      tolerability issues associated with antidepressants and benzodiazepines exposure
      should also be carefully considered.The present review highlights the need for
      further higher-quality studies comparing antidepressants with benzodiazepines,
      which should be conducted with high-methodological standards and including
      pragmatic outcome measures to provide clinicians with useful and practical data.
      Data from the present review will be included in a network meta-analysis of
      psychopharmacological treatment in panic disorder, which will hopefully provide
      further useful information on this issue.

PMID- 27618523
TI  - Fate and control of pathogenic and spoilage micro-organisms in orange blossom
      (Citrus aurantium) and rose flower (Rosa centifolia) hydrosols.
AB  - AIM: Hydrosols are hydrodistillation products used in food and cosmetic
      industries, perfumery, pharmacy and aromatherapy. The ability of preservatives to
      control previously reported bacterial proliferation and spoilage was evaluated.
      All tested preservatives were authorized for food and cosmetic application.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Major pathogens of concern for foods and cosmetics were
      poorly able to grow in rose and orange blossom hydrosols when inoculated and
      incubated at 30 degrees C. Commercial antimicrobials, such as isothiazolinone,
      chlorphenesin and paraben solutions, benzyl alcohol and sodium benzoate at pH =
      5.0, controlled the growth of Pseudomonas and Burkholderia sp. strains
      representative of the natural microbiota of both hydrosols for >90 days at 30
      degrees C, only at concentrations close to the authorized limits. Concentrations
      of some of the tested preservatives that controlled growth at 5 degrees C were
      lower than at 30 degrees C. CONCLUSION: Pathogenic micro-organisms likely
      represent a low risk in rose flower and orange blossom hydrosol. However, the
      oligotrophic character of hydrosols and the antimicrobial properties of their
      essential oils do not prevent microbiological spoilage by the naturally present
      microbiota. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: In the absence of aseptic
      conditions and microbial inactivation process, only preservatives can stabilize
      hydrosols for a several-month storage. Several effective preservatives have been
      identified.

PMID- 27618524
TI  - Beaming of Helical Light from Plasmonic Vortices via Adiabatically Tapered
      Nanotip.
AB  - We demonstrate the generation of far-field propagating optical beams with a
      desired orbital angular momentum by using a smooth optical-mode transformation
      between a plasmonic vortex and free-space Laguerre-Gaussian modes. This is
      obtained by means of an adiabatically tapered gold tip surrounded by a spiral
      slit. The proposed physical model, backed up by the numerical study, brings about
      an optimized structure that is fabricated by using a highly reproducible
      secondary electron lithography technique. Optical measurements of the structure
      excellently agree with the theoretically predicted far-field distributions. This
      architecture provides a unique platform for a localized excitation of plasmonic
      vortices followed by its beaming.

PMID- 27618527
TI  - The Relationship Between Maximal Strength and Reactive Strength.
AB  - Maximum- and reactive-strength qualities both have important roles in athletic
      movements and sporting performance. Very little research has investigated the
      relationship between maximum strength and reactive strength. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the relationship between maximum-strength (isometric
      midthigh-pull peak force [IMTP PF]) and reactive-strength (drop-jump reactive
      strength index [DJ-RSI]) variables at 0.3-m, 0.4-m, 0.5-m, and 0.6-m box heights.
      A secondary aim was to investigate the between- and within-group differences in
      reactive-strength characteristics between relatively stronger athletes (n = 11)
      and weaker athletes (n = 11). Forty-five college athletes across various sports
      were recruited to participate in the study (age, 23.7 +/- 4.0 y; mass, 87.5 +/-
      16.1 kg; height, 1.80 +/- 0.08 m). Pearson correlation results showed that there
      was a moderate association (r = .302-.431) between maximum-strength variables
      (absolute, relative, and allometric scaled PF) and RSI at 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 m
      (P <= .05). In addition, 2-tailed independent-samples t tests showed that the
      RSIs for relatively stronger athletes (49.59 +/- 2.57 N/kg) were significantly
      larger than those of weaker athletes (33.06 +/- 2.76 N/kg) at 0.4 m (Cohen d =
      1.02), 0.5 m (d = 1.21), and 0.6 m (d = 1.39) (P <= .05). Weaker athletes also
      demonstrated significant decrements in RSI as eccentric stretch loads increased
      at 0.3-m through 0.6-m box heights, whereas stronger athletes were able to
      maintain their reactive-strength ability. This research highlights that in
      specific sporting scenarios, when there are high eccentric stretch loads and fast
      stretch-shortening-cycle demands, athletes' reactive-strength ability may be
      dictated by their relative maximal strength, specifically eccentric strength.

PMID- 27618532
TI  - Capturing Rare Conductance in Epithelia with Potentiometric-Scanning Ion
      Conductance Microscopy.
AB  - Tight junctions (TJs) are barrier forming structures of epithelia and can be
      described as tightly sealed intercellular spaces. Transport properties have been
      extensively studied for bicellular TJs (bTJs). Knowledge of the barrier functions
      of tricellular junctions (tTJs) are less well understood, due largely to a lack
      of proper techniques to locally measure discrete tTJ properties within a much
      larger area of epithelium. In this study, we use a nanoscale pipet to precisely
      locate tTJs within epithelia and measure the apparent local conductance of tTJs
      with a technique termed potentiometric scanning ion conductance microscopy (P
      SICM). P-SICM shows the ability to differentiate transport through tTJs and bTJs,
      which was not possible with previous techniques and assays. We describe P-SICM
      investigations of both wild type and tricellulin overexpression Madin-Darby
      Canine Kidney (strain II, MDCKII) cells.

PMID- 27618526
TI  - Alcohol Policies and Suicide: A Review of the Literature.
AB  - Both intoxication and chronic heavy alcohol use are associated with suicide.
      There is extensive population-level evidence linking per capita alcohol
      consumption with suicide. While alcohol policies can reduce excessive alcohol
      consumption, the relationship between alcohol policies and suicide warrants a
      critical review of the literature. This review summarizes the associations
      between various types of alcohol policies and suicide, both in the United States
      and internationally, as presented in English-language literature published
      between 1999 and 2014. Study designs, methodological challenges, and limitations
      in ascertaining the associations are discussed. Because of the substantial
      between-states variation in alcohol policies, U.S.-based studies contributed
      substantially to the literature. Repeated cross-sectional designs at both the
      ecological level and decedent level were common among U.S.-based studies. Non
      U.S. studies often used time series data to evaluate pre-post comparisons of a
      hybrid set of policy changes. Although inconsistency remained, the published
      literature in general supported the protective effect of restrictive alcohol
      policies on reducing suicide as well as the decreased level of alcohol
      involvement among suicide decedents. Common limitations included measurement and
      selection bias and a focus on effects of a limited number of alcohol policies
      without accounting for other alcohol policies. This review summarizes a number of
      studies that suggest restrictive alcohol policies may contribute to suicide
      prevention on a general population level and to a reduction of alcohol
      involvement among suicide deaths.

PMID- 27618533
TI  - Exploring high-affinity binding properties of octamer peptides by principal
      component analysis of tetramer peptides.
AB  - To investigate the binding properties of a peptide sequence, we conducted
      principal component analysis (PCA) of the physicochemical features of a tetramer
      peptide library comprised of 512 peptides, and the variables were reduced to two
      principal components. We selected IL-2 and IgG as model proteins and the binding
      affinity to these proteins was assayed using the 512 peptides mentioned above.
      PCA of binding affinity data showed that 16 and 18 variables were suitable for
      localizing IL-2 and IgG high-affinity binding peptides, respectively, into a
      restricted region of the PCA plot. We then investigated whether the binding
      affinity of octamer peptide libraries could be predicted using the identified
      region in the tetramer PCA. The results show that octamer high-affinity binding
      peptides were also concentrated in the tetramer high-affinity binding region of
      both IL-2 and IgG. The average fluorescence intensity of high-affinity binding
      peptides was 3.3- and 2.1-fold higher than that of low-affinity binding peptides
      for IL-2 and IgG, respectively. We conclude that PCA may be used to identify
      octamer peptides with high- or low-affinity binding properties from data from a
      tetramer peptide library.

PMID- 27618534
TI  - Opposite Effects of mGluR1a and mGluR5 Activation on Nucleus Accumbens Medium
      Spiny Neuron Dendritic Spine Density.
AB  - The group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1a and mGluR5) are important
      modulators of neuronal structure and function. Although these receptors share
      common signaling pathways, they are capable of having distinct effects on
      cellular plasticity. We investigated the individual effects of mGluR1a or mGluR5
      activation on dendritic spine density in medium spiny neurons in the nucleus
      accumbens (NAc), which has become relevant with the potential use of group I
      mGluR based therapeutics in the treatment of drug addiction. We found that
      systemic administration of mGluR subtype-specific positive allosteric modulators
      had opposite effects on dendritic spine densities. Specifically, mGluR5 positive
      modulation decreased dendritic spine densities in the NAc shell and core, but was
      without effect in the dorsal striatum, whereas increased spine densities in the
      NAc were observed with mGluR1a positive modulation. Additionally, direct
      activation of mGluR5 via CHPG administration into the NAc also decreased the
      density of dendritic spines. These data provide insight on the ability of group I
      mGluRs to induce structural plasticity in the NAc and demonstrate that the group
      I mGluRs are capable of producing not just distinct, but opposing, effects on
      dendritic spine density. 

PMID- 27618536
TI  - Vitamin D pathway regulatory genes encoding 1alpha-hydroxylase and 24-hydroxylase
      are dysregulated in sinonasal tissue during chronic rhinosinusitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many inflammatory respiratory
      disease states. However, serum vitamin D concentrations may not reflect tissue
      specific availability. In this study we sought to assess the local expression of
      genes essential in vitamin D regulation in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). METHODS:
      A cross-sectional study of adult patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery was
      performed. Patients were defined as having CRS with polyps (CRSwNP) or without
      polyps (CRSsNP), or normal sinus mucosa. Sinus mucosal biopsies were assessed
      using quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine expression of genes
      encoding the vitamin D receptor (VDR), 25-hydroxylase (CYP2R1), 1alpha
      hydroxylase (CYP27B1), and 24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1). Expression levels correlated
      with serum 25(OH)D [sum 25(OH)D2  and 25(OH)D3 ], the 22-item Sinonasal Outcome
      Test (SNOT-22), and Nasal Symptom Score (NSS). Separate analyses were performed
      for patients grouped by tissue eosinophilia. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were
      assessed (age 49.47 +/- 18.14 years, 48.4% female), including 8 CRSsNP, 10
      CRSwNP, and 13 controls. CRSsNP and CRSwNP mucosa exhibited decreased CYP27B1
      compared with controls (0.0437 [Interquartile range (IQR) 0.0999] vs 0.3260 [IQR
      2.9384] vs 0.6557 [IQR 1.1005], p = 0.039), whereas CYP24A1 was upregulated
      (0.8522 [IQR 1.3170] vs 1.2239 [IQR 4.4197] vs 0.1076 [IQR 0.1791], p = 0.025).
      CYP24A1 was upregulated in both non-eosinophilic CRS and eosinophilic CRS (1.1337
      [IQR 2.3790] vs 0.9555 [IQR 3.2811] vs 0.1076 [IQR 0.1791], p = 0.033).
      Significant correlations were observed between NSS and CYP2R1 (r = -0.432, p =
      0.022), CYP24A1 (r = 0.420, P = 0.026), and VDR (r = 0.425, p = 0.024), although
      no correlations with serum 25(OH)D were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The local
      regulation of vitamin D in sinonasal tissue during CRS may be independent of
      serum 25(OH)D levels. Vitamin D may be dysregulated at multiple levels, with
      decreased transcription of the metabolic gene CYP27B1 and increased transcription
      of the catabolic gene CYP24A1 observed.

PMID- 27618541
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel hydrogen sulfide releasing nicotinic
      acid derivatives.
AB  - Twelve novel hybrids of slowly releasing hydrogen sulfide donor ADT-OH combined
      with nicotinic acid were synthesized. All of their structures had been confirmed
      by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS spectra. The target compounds were evaluated for their
      neuroprotective effects on hippocampal neuron HT22 cells against glutamate
      induced injury at the concentrations of 1-100MUM with MTT assay, and their
      toxicity on HT22 cells untreated by glutamine at the concentration of 100MUM. The
      active compound was further investigated for its effect on ischemic infarct
      volume by intraperitoneal injection at 3h after ischemia in mice models of
      permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO). The results showed that all
      the compounds significantly protected HT22 cells from glutamate-induced damage at
      most of the experimental concentrations, and had no or little neurotoxicity on
      normal HT22 cells at the high concentration. More importantly, compound A6
      significantly reduced infarct volume in the pMCAO model. These results suggested
      that compound A6 may be promising for further evaluation for the intervention of
      cerebral ischemic injury.

PMID- 27618543
TI  - A meta-analytical integration of over 40 years of research on diversity training
      evaluation.
AB  - This meta-analysis of 260 independent samples assessed the effects of diversity
      training on 4 training outcomes over time and across characteristics of training
      context, design, and participants. Models from the training literature and
      psychological theory on diversity were used to generate theory-driven
      predictions. The results revealed an overall effect size (Hedges g) of .38 with
      the largest effect being for reactions to training and cognitive learning;
      smaller effects were found for behavioral and attitudinal/affective learning.
      Whereas the effects of diversity training on reactions and attitudinal/affective
      learning decayed over time, training effects on cognitive learning remained
      stable and even increased in some cases. While many of the diversity training
      programs fell short in demonstrating effectiveness on some training
      characteristics, our analysis does reveal that successful diversity training
      occurs. The positive effects of diversity training were greater when training was
      complemented by other diversity initiatives, targeted to both awareness and
      skills development, and conducted over a significant period of time. The
      proportion of women in a training group was associated with more favorable
      reactions to diversity training. Implications for policy and directions for
      future research on diversity training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618544
TI  - A meta-analytic review of collaborative inhibition and postcollaborative memory:
      Testing the predictions of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis.
AB  - The retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis (Basden, Basden, Bryner, & Thomas,
      1997) is the most widely cited theoretical explanation for why the memory
      performance of collaborative groups is inferior to the pooled performance of
      individual group members remembering alone (i.e., collaborative inhibition). This
      theory also predicts that several variables will moderate collaborative
      inhibition. This meta-analysis tests the veracity of the theory by systematically
      examining whether or not these variables do moderate the presence and strength of
      collaborative inhibition. A total of 75 effect sizes from 64 studies were
      included in the analysis. Collaborative inhibition was found to be a robust
      effect. Moreover, it was enhanced when remembering took place in larger groups,
      when uncategorized content items were retrieved, when group members followed free
      flowing and free-order procedures, and when group members did not know one
      another. These findings support the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis as a
      general theoretical explanation for the collaborative inhibition effect. Several
      additional analyses were also conducted to elucidate the potential contributions
      of other cognitive mechanisms to collaborative inhibition. Some results suggest
      that a contribution of retrieval inhibition is possible, but we failed to find
      any evidence to suggest retrieval blocking and encoding specificity impact upon
      collaborative inhibition effects. In a separate analysis (27 effect sizes),
      moderating factors of postcollaborative memory performance were examined.
      Generally, collaborative remembering tends to benefit later individual retrieval.
      Moderator analyses suggest that reexposure to study material may be partly
      responsible for this postcollaborative memory enhancement. Some applied
      implications of the meta-analyses are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618545
TI  - Psychological correlates of habitual diet in healthy adults.
AB  - There are 3 motivations for studying the psychological correlates of habitual
      diet. First, diet is a major but modifiable cause of morbidity and mortality, and
      dietary interventions could be improved by knowing the psychological
      characteristics of consumers of healthy/unhealthy diets. Second, animal studies
      indicate that diet can impair cognition, stress responsiveness, and affective
      processing, but it is unclear whether this also happens in humans. Third, certain
      psychological traits are associated with obesity, but it is not known whether
      these precede and thus contribute to weight gain. Although many psychological
      correlates of diet have been identified, the literature is highly dispersed, and
      there has been no previous comprehensive narrative review. Organized here by
      psychological domain, studies linking diet with individual differences in
      perception, cognition, impulsivity, personality, affective processing, mental
      health, and attitudes, beliefs and values-in healthy adults-are reviewed.
      Although there is a growing literature on the psychological correlates of
      fruit/vegetable intake-the core of a healthy diet-consumers of unhealthy diets
      have characteristics that probably make them less responsive to education-based
      interventions. Diet may be a causal contributor to depression, and diet is
      consistently linked to impulsivity and certain personality traits. There are
      inconsistent and less explored links to perceptual, affective and cognitive
      processes, with several emerging parallels to the animal literature. Impulsivity
      and personality traits common to obese individuals also occur in lean consumers
      of unhealthy diets, suggesting these may contribute to weight gain. Diet
      psychology correlates remain understudied even though this could significantly
      benefit human health. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618546
TI  - Comprehensive Conformational and Rotational Analyses of the Butyl Group in Cyclic
      Cations: DFT Calculations for Imidazolium, Pyridinium, Pyrrolidinium, and
      Piperidinium.
AB  - The flexibility and conformational variety of the butyl group in cations of ionic
      liquids (ILs) play an important role in dictating the macroscopic and microscopic
      properties of ILs. Here we calculate potential energy surfaces for the dihedral
      angles of the butyl group in four different types of cyclic cations, imidazolium,
      pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, and piperidinium, using the density functional theory
      method. The calculation results highlight the role of the butyl group in these
      cations by comparison of five-membered and six-membered rings, and of aromatic
      and alicyclic rings, in terms of stable conformations and rotational barriers. A
      striking result is that the butyl group rotation in pyrrolidinium induces
      pseudorotation of the ring whereas such a phenomenon does not occur in
      piperidinium. This difference is thought to be because of the relationship in
      rotational activation energy between the butyl group (10-40 kJ mol-1) and the
      ring (<6 kJ mol-1 for pyrrolidinium and 40-50 kJ mol-1 for piperidinium). The
      calculated stable conformers are compared with the ones observed in crystals
      recorded in the Cambridge Structural Database. Although conformers with lower
      calculated energy generally have higher chances to be experimentally observed,
      roughly independent of the cation structure, some calculated conformers deviate
      from this trend and show very low population. It is found that not only low
      energy but also high rotational activation energy (i.e., long lifetime) is
      required to observe conformers in crystalline states. In the last part of this
      article, to identify conformers in real systems, the applicability of the
      calculated Raman bands of cations with different butyl group conformations is
      discussed.

PMID- 27618547
TI  - Effects of Long-Term Periodic Submergence on Photosynthesis and Growth of
      Taxodium distichum and Taxodium ascendens Saplings in the Hydro-Fluctuation Zone
      of the Three Gorges Reservoir of China.
AB  - Responses of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and pond cypress (Taxodium
      ascendens) saplings in photosynthesis and growth to long-term periodic
      submergence in situ in the hydro-fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Dam
      Reservoir (TGDR) were studied. Water treatments of periodic deep submergence (DS)
      and moderate submergence (MS) in situ were imposed on 2-year-old bald cypress and
      pond cypress saplings. The effects of periodic submergence on photosynthesis and
      growth were investigated after 3 years (i.e. 3 cycles) compared to a control
      (i.e. shallow submergence, abbreviated as SS). Results showed that pond cypress
      had no significant change in net photosynthetic rate (Pn) in response to periodic
      moderate and deep submergence in contrast to a significant decrease in Pn of bald
      cypress under both submergence treatments, when compared to that of SS. Ratios of
      Chlorophyll a/b and Chlorophylls/Carotenoid of pond cypress were significantly
      increased in periodic moderate submergence and deep submergence, while bald
      cypress showed no significant change. Diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree
      height of both species were significantly reduced along with submergence depth.
      Relative diameter and height growth rates of the two species were also reduced
      under deeper submergence. Moreover, bald cypress displayed higher relative
      diameter growth rate than pond cypress under deep submergence mainly attributed
      to higher productivity of the larger crown area of bald cypress. When subjected
      to deep subergence, both species showed significant reduction in primary branch
      number, while in moderate submergence, bald cypress but not pond cypress showed
      significant reduction in primary branch number. These results indicate that both
      bald cypress and pond cypress are suitbale candidates for reforestation in the
      TGDR region thanks to their submergence tolerance characteristics, but bald
      cypress can grow better than pond cypress under deep submergence overall. 

PMID- 27618548
TI  - Predicting Outcome in Internet-Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Major
      Depression: A Large Cohort Study of Adult Patients in Routine Psychiatric Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the effectiveness of therapist-guided internet-based
      cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) for treating depression has been well
      documented, knowledge of outcome predictors and risk factors associated with
      lower treatment response is limited, especially when the treatment has been
      conducted within a naturalistic clinical setting. Identification of such factors
      is important for clinicians when making treatment recommendations. METHODS: Data
      from a large cohort (N = 1738) of adult outpatients having been treated with ICBT
      for depression at an outpatient psychiatric clinic were analysed. A multilevel
      modelling approach was used to identify patient and treatment variables
      associated with the speed of recovery during treatment using weekly measurements
      of the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale Self-Rated (MADRS-S). OUTCOMES:
      Adhering to the treatment, perceiving it as credible and working full-time
      emerged as predictors of a faster pace of recovery and were also associated with
      a lower level of depression at the end of treatment. Higher pre-treatment
      depression and sleep problems were associated with a greater improvement rate,
      but predicted higher depression after treatment. Having a history of psychotropic
      medication was associated with both slower improvement and higher post-treatment
      depression. CONCLUSION: Perceived credibility of ICBT is a strong predictor of
      treatment response. Assessing patient beliefs and expectations may be a useful
      aid for clinicians when identifying those who are more or less likely to benefit
      from ICBT. Helping patients improve expectations prior to treatment may be an
      important goal for clinicians during the initial assessment phase.

PMID- 27618549
TI  - Dynamic Organization of Hierarchical Memories.
AB  - In the brain, external objects are categorized in a hierarchical way. Although it
      is widely accepted that objects are represented as static attractors in neural
      state space, this view does not take account interaction between intrinsic neural
      dynamics and external input, which is essential to understand how neural system
      responds to inputs. Indeed, structured spontaneous neural activity without
      external inputs is known to exist, and its relationship with evoked activities is
      discussed. Then, how categorical representation is embedded into the spontaneous
      and evoked activities has to be uncovered. To address this question, we studied
      bifurcation process with increasing input after hierarchically clustered
      associative memories are learned. We found a "dynamic categorization"; neural
      activity without input wanders globally over the state space including all
      memories. Then with the increase of input strength, diffuse representation of
      higher category exhibits transitions to focused ones specific to each object. The
      hierarchy of memories is embedded in the transition probability from one memory
      to another during the spontaneous dynamics. With increased input strength, neural
      activity wanders over a narrower state space including a smaller set of memories,
      showing more specific category or memory corresponding to the applied input.
      Moreover, such coarse-to-fine transitions are also observed temporally during
      transient process under constant input, which agrees with experimental findings
      in the temporal cortex. These results suggest the hierarchy emerging through
      interaction with an external input underlies hierarchy during transient process,
      as well as in the spontaneous activity. 

PMID- 27618551
TI  - Prayer Camps and Biomedical Care in Ghana: Is Collaboration in Mental Health Care
      Possible?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experts have suggested that intersectoral partnerships between prayer
      camps and biomedical care providers may be an effective strategy to address the
      overwhelming shortage of mental health care workers in Africa and other low
      income settings. Nevertheless, previous studies have not explored whether the
      prayer camp and biomedical staff beliefs and practices provide sufficient common
      ground to enable cooperative relationships. Therefore, we sought to examine the
      beliefs and practices of prayer camp staff and the perspective of biomedical care
      providers, with the goal of characterizing interest in-and potential for
      intersectoral partnership between prayer camp staff and biomedical care
      providers. METHODS: We conducted 50 open-ended, semi-structured interviews with
      prophets and staff at nine Christian prayer camps in Ghana, and with staff within
      Ghana's three public psychiatric hospitals. We used the purposive sampling method
      to recruit participants and the constant comparative method for qualitative data
      analysis. RESULTS: Prayer camp staff expressed interest in collaboration with
      biomedical mental health care providers, particularly if partnerships could
      provide technical support introducing medications in the prayer camp and address
      key shortcomings in their infrastructure and hygienic conditions. Nevertheless,
      challenges for collaboration were apparent as prayer camp staff expressed strong
      beliefs in a spiritual rather than biomedical explanatory model for mental
      illness, frequently used fasting and chained restraints in the course of
      treatment, and endorsed only short-term use of medication to treat mental illness
      expressing concerns that long-term medication regimens masked underlying
      spiritual causes of illness. Biomedical providers were skeptical about the
      spiritual interpretations of mental illness held by faith healers, and were
      concerned by the use of chains, fasting, and the lack of adequate living
      facilities for patients in prayer camps; many, however, expressed interest in
      engaging with prayer camps to expand access to clinical care for patients
      residing in the camps. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate that biomedical care
      providers are interested in engaging with prayer camps. Key areas where
      partnerships may best improve conditions for patients at prayer camps include
      collaborating on creating safe and secure physical spaces and delivering
      medication for mental illness to patients living in prayer camps. However, while
      prayer camp staff are willing to engage biomedical knowledge, deeply held beliefs
      and routine practices of faith and biomedical healers are difficult to reconcile
      Additional discussion is needed to find the common ground on which the scarce
      resources for mental health care in Ghana can collaborate most effectively.

PMID- 27618552
TI  - Glioma-induced inhibition of caspase-3 in microglia promotes a tumor-supportive
      phenotype.
AB  - Glioma cells recruit and exploit microglia (the resident immune cells of the
      brain) for their proliferation and invasion ability. The underlying molecular
      mechanism used by glioma cells to transform microglia into a tumor-supporting
      phenotype has remained elusive. We found that glioma-induced microglia conversion
      was coupled to a reduction in the basal activity of microglial caspase-3 and
      increased S-nitrosylation of mitochondria-associated caspase-3 through inhibition
      of thioredoxin-2 activity, and that inhibition of caspase-3 regulated microglial
      tumor-supporting function. Furthermore, we identified the activity of nitric
      oxide synthase 2 (NOS2, also known as iNOS) originating from the glioma cells as
      a driving stimulus in the control of microglial caspase-3 activity. Repression of
      glioma NOS2 expression in vivo led to a reduction in both microglia recruitment
      and tumor expansion, whereas depletion of microglial caspase-3 gene promoted
      tumor growth. Our results provide evidence that inhibition of the denitrosylation
      of S-nitrosylated procaspase-3 mediated by the redox protein Trx2 is a part of
      the microglial pro-tumoral activation pathway initiated by glioma cancer cells.

PMID- 27618556
TI  - Conscientious objection to abortion provision: Why context matters.
AB  - Conscientious objection to abortion - a clinician's refusal to perform abortions
      because of moral or religious beliefs - is a limited right, intended to protect
      clinicians' convictions while maintaining abortion access. This paper argues that
      conscientious objection policies and debates around the world generally do not
      take into account the social, political, and economic pressures that profoundly
      influence clinicians who must decide whether to claim objector status. Lack of
      clarity about abortion policies, high workload, low pay, and stigma towards
      abortion providers can discourage abortion provision. As the only legal way to
      refuse to provide abortions that are permitted by law, conscientious objection
      can become a safety valve for clinicians under pressure and may be claimed by
      clinicians who do not have moral or religious objections. Social factors
      including stigma also shape how stakeholders and policy-makers approach
      conscientious objection. To appropriately limit the scope of conscientious
      objection and make protection of conscience more meaningful, more information is
      needed about how conscientious objection is practised. Additionally, abortion
      trainings should include information about conscientious objection and its
      limits, reproductive rights, and creating an enabling environment for abortion
      provision. Policy-makers and all stakeholders should also focus on creating an
      enabling environment and reducing stigma.

PMID- 27618553
TI  - Evidence of innate lymphoid cell redundancy in humans.
AB  - Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have potent immunological functions in experimental
      conditions in mice, but their contributions to immunity in natural conditions in
      humans have remained unclear. We investigated the presence of ILCs in a cohort of
      patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). All ILC subsets were
      absent in patients with SCID who had mutation of the gene encoding the common
      gamma-chain cytokine receptor subunit IL-2Rgamma or the gene encoding the
      tyrosine kinase JAK3. T cell reconstitution was observed in patients with SCID
      after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), but the patients still had
      considerably fewer ILCs in the absence of myeloablation than did healthy control
      subjects, with the exception of rare cases of reconstitution of the ILC1 subset
      of ILCs. Notably, the ILC deficiencies observed were not associated with any
      particular susceptibility to disease, with follow-up extending from 7 years to 39
      years after HSCT. We thus report here selective ILC deficiency in humans and show
      that ILCs might be dispensable in natural conditions, if T cells are present and
      B cell function is preserved.

PMID- 27618558
TI  - Qualitative Caring and Quantitative Results: 90-90-90.

PMID- 27618555
TI  - The Multivesicular Bodies (MVBs)-Localized AAA ATPase LRD6-6 Inhibits Immunity
      and Cell Death Likely through Regulating MVBs-Mediated Vesicular Trafficking in
      Rice.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that multivesicular bodies (MVBs)/endosomes-mediated
      vesicular trafficking may play key roles in plant immunity and cell death.
      However, the molecular regulation is poorly understood in rice. Here we report
      the identification and characterization of a MVBs-localized AAA ATPase LRD6-6 in
      rice. Disruption of LRD6-6 leads to enhanced immunity and cell death in rice. The
      ATPase activity and homo-dimerization of LRD6-6 is essential for its regulation
      on plant immunity and cell death. An ATPase inactive mutation (LRD6-6E315Q) leads
      to dominant-negative inhibition in plants. The LRD6-6 protein co-localizes with
      the MVBs marker protein RabF1/ARA6 and interacts with ESCRT-III components OsSNF7
      and OsVPS2. Further analysis reveals that LRD6-6 is required for MVBs-mediated
      vesicular trafficking and inhibits the biosynthesis of antimicrobial compounds.
      Collectively, our study shows that the AAA ATPase LRD6-6 inhibits plant immunity
      and cell death most likely through modulating MVBs-mediated vesicular trafficking
      in rice.

PMID- 27618560
TI  - A Supramolecular Ice Growth Inhibitor.
AB  - Safranine O, a synthetic dye, was found to inhibit growth of ice at millimolar
      concentrations with an activity comparable to that of highly evolved antifreeze
      glycoproteins. Safranine inhibits growth of ice crystals along the
      crystallographic a-axis, resulting in bipyramidal needles extended along the
      <0001> directions as well as and plane-specific thermal hysteresis (TH) activity.
      The interaction of safranine with ice is reversible, distinct from the previously
      reported behavior of antifreeze proteins. Spectroscopy and molecular dynamics
      indicate that safranine forms aggregates in aqueous solution at micromolar
      concentrations. Metadynamics simulations and aggregation theory suggested that as
      many as 30 safranine molecules were preorganized in stacks at the concentrations
      where ice growth inhibition was observed. The simulations and single-crystal X
      ray structure of safranine revealed regularly spaced amino and methyl
      substituents in the aggregates, akin to the ice-binding site of antifreeze
      proteins. Collectively, these observations suggest an unusual link between
      supramolecular assemblies of small molecules and functional proteins.

PMID- 27618557
TI  - MST1/MST2 Protein Kinases: Regulation and Physiologic Roles.
AB  - The MST1 and MST2 protein kinases comprise the GCK-II subfamily of protein
      kinases. In addition to their amino-terminal kinase catalytic domain, related to
      that of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein kinase Ste20, their most
      characteristic feature is the presence near the carboxy terminus of a unique
      helical structure called a SARAH domain; this segment allows MST1/MST2 to
      homodimerize and to heterodimerize with the other polypeptides that contain SARAH
      domains, the noncatalytic polypeptides RASSF1-6 and Sav1/WW45. Early studies
      emphasized the potent ability of MST1/MST2 to induce apoptosis upon being
      overexpressed, as well as the conversion of the endogenous MST1/MST2 polypeptides
      to constitutively active, caspase-cleaved catalytic fragments during apoptosis
      initiated by any stimulus. Later, the cleaved, constitutively active form of MST1
      was identified in nonapoptotic, quiescent adult hepatocytes as well as in cells
      undergoing terminal differentiation, where its presence is necessary to maintain
      those cellular states. The physiologic regulation of full length MST1/MST2 is
      controlled by the availability of its noncatalytic SARAH domain partners.
      Interaction with Sav1/WW45 recruits MST1/MST2 into a tumor suppressor pathway,
      wherein it phosphorylates and activates the Sav1-bound protein kinases
      Lats1/Lats2, potent inhibitors of the Yap1 and TAZ oncogenic transcriptional
      regulators. A constitutive interaction with the Rap1-GTP binding protein RASSF5B
      (Nore1B/RAPL) in T cells recruits MST1 (especially) and MST2 as an effector of
      Rap1's control of T cell adhesion and migration, a program crucial to immune
      surveillance and response; loss of function mutation in human MST1 results in
      profound immunodeficiency. MST1 and MST2 are also regulated by other protein
      kinases, positively by TAO1 and negatively by Par1, SIK2/3, Akt, and cRaf1. The
      growing list of candidate MST1/MST2 substrates suggests that the full range of
      MST1/MST2's physiologic programs and contributions to pathophysiology remains to
      be elucidated.

PMID- 27618559
TI  - Preserving of Postnatal Leptin Signaling in Obesity-Resistant Lou/C Rats
      following a Perinatal High-Fat Diet.
AB  - Physiological processes at adulthood, such as energy metabolism and insulin
      sensitivity may originate before or weeks after birth. These underlie the concept
      of fetal and/or neonatal programming of adult diseases, which is particularly
      relevant in the case of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to
      determine the impact of a perinatal high fat diet on energy metabolism and on
      leptin as well as insulin sensitivity, early in life and at adulthood in two
      strains of rats presenting different susceptibilities to diet-induced obesity.
      The impact of a perinatal high fat diet on glucose tolerance and diet-induced
      obesity was also assessed. The development of glucose intolerance and of
      increased fat mass was confirmed in the obesity-prone Wistar rat, even after 28
      days of age. By contrast, in obesity-resistant Lou/C rats, an improved early
      leptin signaling may be responsible for the lack of deleterious effect of the
      perinatal high fat diet on glucose tolerance and increased adiposity in response
      to high fat diet at adulthood. Altogether, this study shows that, even if during
      the perinatal period adaptation to the environment appears to be genetically
      determined, adaptive mechanisms to nutritional challenges occurring at adulthood
      can still be observed in rodents. 

PMID- 27618561
TI  - Characterization of a Biomimetic Mesophase Composed of Nonionic Surfactants and
      an Aqueous Solvent.
AB  - We have investigated the physical and biomimetic properties of a sponge (L3)
      phase composed of pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E5), a nonionic
      surfactant, an aqueous solvent, and a cosurfactant. The following cosurfactants,
      commonly used for solubilizing membrane proteins, were incorporated: n-octyl-beta
      d-glucopyranoside (beta-OG), n-dodecyl-beta-d-maltopyranoside (DDM), 4-cyclohexyl
      1-butyl-beta-d-maltoside (CYMAL-4), and 5-cyclohexyl-1-pentyl-beta-d-maltoside
      (CYMAL-5). Partial phase diagrams of these systems were created. The L3 phase was
      characterized using crossed polarizers, diffusion of a fluorescent probe by
      fluorescence recovery after pattern photobleaching (FRAPP), and freeze fracture
      electron microscopy (FFEM). By varying the hydration of the phase, we were able
      to tune the distance between adjacent bilayers. The characteristic distance (db)
      of the phase was obtained from small angle scattering (SAXS/SANS) as well as from
      FFEM, which yielded complementary db values. These db values were neither
      affected by the nature of the cosurfactant nor by the addition of membrane
      proteins. These findings illustrate that a biomimetic surfactant sponge phase can
      be created in the presence of several common membrane protein-solubilizing
      detergents, thus making it a versatile medium for membrane protein studies.

PMID- 27618562
TI  - Major and minor crRNA annealing sites facilitate low stringency DNA protospacer
      binding prior to Type I-A CRISPR-Cas interference in Sulfolobus.
AB  - The stringency of crRNA-protospacer DNA base pair matching required for effective
      CRISPR-Cas interference is relatively low in crenarchaeal Sulfolobus species in
      contrast to that required in some bacteria. To understand its biological
      significance we studied crRNA-protospacer interactions in Sulfolobus islandicus
      REY15A which carries multiple, and functionally diverse, interference complexes.
      A range of mismatches were introduced into a vector-borne protospacer that was
      identical to spacer 1 of CRISPR locus 2, with a cognate CCN PAM sequence. Two
      important crRNA annealing regions were identified on the 39 bp protospacer, a
      strong primary site centered on nucleotides 3 - 7 and a weaker secondary site at
      nucleotides 21 - 25. Multiple mismatches introduced into remaining protospacer
      regions did not seriously impair interference. Extending the study to different
      protospacers demonstrated that the efficacy of the secondary site was greatest
      for protospacers with higher G+C contents. In addition, the interference effects
      were assigned specifically to the type I-A dsDNA-targeting module by repeating
      the experiments with mutated protospacer constructs that were transformed into an
      S. islandicus mutant lacking type III-Balpha and III-Bbeta interference gene
      cassettes, which showed similar interference levels to those of the wild-type
      strain. Parallels are drawn to the involvement of 2 annealing sites for microRNAs
      on some eukaryal mRNAs which provide enhanced binding capacity and specificity. A
      biological rationale for the relatively low crRNA-protospacer base pairing
      stringency among the Sulfolobales is considered.

PMID- 27618563
TI  - 2016 US lymphoid malignancy statistics by World Health Organization subtypes.
AB  - Collectively, lymphoid neoplasms are the fourth most common cancer and the sixth
      leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The authors provide
      contemporary lymphoid neoplasm statistics by subtype based on the 2008 World
      Health Organization classifications, including the most current US incidence and
      survival data. Presented for the first time are estimates of the total numbers of
      US lymphoid neoplasm cases by subtype as well as a detailed evaluation of
      incidence and survival statistics. In 2016, 136,960 new lymphoid neoplasms are
      expected. Overall lymphoma incidence rates have declined in recent years, but
      trends vary by subtype. Precursor lymphoid neoplasm incidence rates increased
      from 2001 to 2012, particularly for B-cell neoplasms. Among the mature lymphoid
      neoplasms, the fastest increase was for plasma cell neoplasms. Rates also
      increased for mantle cell lymphoma (males), marginal zone lymphoma, hairy cell
      leukemia, and mycosis fungoides. Like incidence, survival for both mature T-cell
      lymphomas and mature B-cell lymphomas varied by subtype and by race. Patients
      with peripheral T-cell lymphomas had among the worst 5-year relative survival
      (36%-56%, depending on race/sex), while those with mycosis fungoides had among
      the best survival (79%-92%). For B-cell lymphomas, 5-year survival ranged from
      83% to 91% for patients with marginal zone lymphoma and from 78% to 92% for those
      with hairy cell leukemia; but the rates were as low as 47% to 63% for patients
      with Burkitt lymphoma and 44% to 48% for those with plasma cell neoplasms. In
      general, black men had the lowest survival across lymphoid malignancy subtypes.
      These contemporary incidence and survival statistics are useful for developing
      management strategies for these cancers and can offer clues regarding their
      etiology. CA Cancer J Clin 2016. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27618564
TI  - A new linoleiyl arabinopyranoside from the bark of Bauhinia racemosa Lam and a
      new flavonoidal glycoside from the leaves of Cordia dichotoma Linn.
AB  - Phytochemical investigation is very valuable for the ethnomedicinally important
      plants Bauhinia racemosa Lam (BR) and Cordia dichotoma Linn (CD) used for the
      cure of variety of ailments. This study was thus designed for phytochemical
      investigation of BR bark and CD leaves. Phytoconstituents were isolated from the
      methanolic extracts of the plants by column chromatography using silica gel as
      stationary phase. The structures had been established on the basis of their
      physicochemical and spectral data, i.e. IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR and MS. Elution
      of the columns with different solvents furnished six compounds (1-6) from the
      methanolic extract of BR bark and three compounds (7-9) from the methanolic
      extract of CD leaves which were structurally elucidated. The present
      phytochemical investigation reported several new compounds useful in increasing
      the existing knowledge of phytoconstituents from BR bark and CD leaves which is
      very valuable, as these drugs are used in the Indian traditional systems of
      medicine. 

PMID- 27618565
TI  - Malignant Transformation of Vaginal Endometriosis - A Review of Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study aimed to examine all available evidence regarding primary
      vaginal cancer arising from endometriosis from an evidence-based perspective.
      METHODS: A literature search in Medline and EMBASE databases was conducted. The
      following key words were employed: 'vaginal cancer' AND 'endometriosis malignant
      transformation' OR 'endometriosis'. RESULTS: A total of 23 eligible studies were
      identified and included in the present review providing information for 37
      patients. Endometrioid adenocarcinoma (17 cases) was the most common histological
      subtype followed by endometrial stromal sarcoma (6 cases). The majority of
      patients received cancer-directed surgery while adjuvant treatment was commonly
      employed for patients with sarcomas. CONCLUSION: Vaginal cancer arising from
      endometriosis is exceedingly rare. The mainstay of treatment is surgical
      excision. Mean follow-up of patients was relative short. Tumor recurrence was
      often observed, and the outcome was less favorable for patients with non
      epithelial tumors.

PMID- 27618566
TI  - Polydeoxyribonucleotide Treatment in Genital Lichen Sclerosus in Males.
AB  - It has been reported that treatment with polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) in males
      affected by lichen sclerosus significantly improves the overall conditions of
      treated patients. It confirms that PDRN has a potent cytoprotective action as in
      other pathological conditions. We believe that multicentric randomized clinical
      trials are necessary for testing the benefits of this promising agent.

PMID- 27618569
TI  - Effect of Substituents on the Stability of Sulfur-Centered Radicals.
AB  - High-level ab initio calculations have been used to calculate the standard and
      inherent radical stabilities (RSEs) of a test set of 41 sulfur-centered radicals,
      chosen for their relevance in fields as diverse as combustion, atmospheric
      chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Radical stability was shown to be
      profoundly affected by substituents, varying over a 30 kcal mol(-1) range for the
      test set studied. Like carbon-centered radicals, substituent effects on sulfur
      centered radical stabilities result from the competition between the stabilizing
      effect of electron delocalization by lone pair donation and pi-acceptance, and
      the destabilizing effect of sigma withdrawal. However, in contrast to carbon
      centered radicals, the heavier thiyl radicals are better able to undergo
      resonance and lone-pair donor interactions with heavier substituents. In
      particular, sulfur-containing lone pair donor and pi-acceptor substituents have
      the greatest stabilizing effect, whereas sigma-withdrawing substituents such as
      carbonyls and pyridines are the least stabilizing. The stabilities predicted
      using the standard definition and Zavitsas's inherent RSEZ scheme are shown to be
      in surprisingly good agreement with one another for most species tested. The RSEZ
      values have also been shown to be capable of making chemically accurate estimates
      of bond energies by comparing our calculated values with 34 currently available
      experimental ones. 

PMID- 27618570
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27618571
TI  - Surgical Management of Septic Arthritis.
AB  - Lameness related to synovial infection needs to be addressed promptly because
      rapid degradation of the synovial homeostasis results in permanent cartilage
      alterations detrimental to complete recovery. Diagnosis is based on clinical
      signs, synovial fluid analysis, and imaging. Commonly affected joints are the
      fetlock, carpus, tarsus, and stifle; shoulder, elbow, and hip may also be
      infected. Knowing the source of infection is essential in cases of remote septic
      arthritis. Antimicrobials should be administered; local delivery systems may be
      used. Therapy relies on the removal of inflammatory mediators. Pain management is
      critical throughout the surgical procedures and the recovery period.

PMID- 27618572
TI  - Pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one metabolism mediated by aldehyde oxidase is
      blocked by C2-substitution.
AB  - 1. We have previously described C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one
      derivatives as cell permeable inhibitors of the KDM4 and KDM5 subfamilies of JmjC
      histone lysine demethylases. 2. Although exemplar compound 1 exhibited moderate
      clearance in mouse liver microsomes, it was highly cleared in vivo due to
      metabolism by aldehyde oxidase (AO). Similar human and mouse AO-mediated
      metabolism was observed with the pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one scaffold and
      other C8-substituted derivatives. 3. We identified the C2-position as the
      oxidation site by LC-MS and 1H-NMR and showed that C2-substituted derivatives are
      no longer AO substrates. 4. In addition to the experimental data, these
      observations are supported by molecular modelling studies in the human AO protein
      crystal structure.

PMID- 27618573
TI  - Reconstruction of Zika Virus Introduction in Brazil.
AB  - We estimated the speed of Zika virus introduction in Brazil by using confirmed
      cases at the municipal level. Our models indicate a southward pattern of
      introduction starting from the northeastern coast and a pattern of movement
      toward the western border with an average speed of spread of 42 km/day or 15,367
      km/year.

PMID- 27618574
TI  - Measures of Diet Quality across Calendar and Winter Holiday Seasons among Midlife
      Women: A 1-Year Longitudinal Study Using the Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour
      Recall.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic seasonal bias may confound efforts to estimate usual
      dietary intake and diet quality. Little is known about dietary quality over the
      winter holiday season. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to test for
      differences in intakes of energy, percentage of energy from macronutrients,
      fruits and vegetables, and diet quality measured using the Healthy Eating Index
      2010 (HEI-2010) by calendar and winter holiday seasons. DESIGN: Longitudinal
      cohort design. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Data were derived from the Life in All
      Seasons study. Two cohorts of women aged 40 to 60 years (N=52) from the greater
      Grand Forks, ND, area were followed for 1 year each between July 2012 and July
      2014. Each woman completed an online diet recall using the Automated Self
      Administered 24-Hour Recall every 10 days during the year, with a 92% response
      rate. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Effects of calendar and winter holiday seasons on
      intakes of energy, percent energy from macronutrients, HEI-2010 total and
      component scores, and grams per day of individual fruits and vegetables were
      tested using mixed linear models. RESULTS: The mean total HEI-2010 score was
      60.1+/-1.4. There were seasonal differences in some HEI-2010 component scores,
      but not in total scores. More lettuce or mixed lettuce salad was consumed during
      summer than during winter (P=0.034), and more fresh tomatoes were consumed during
      summer and fall compared with winter (P=0.001). More corn, berries, peaches and
      nectarines, and melons (P<0.001) were consumed during summer. There was no
      seasonal difference in reported intakes of energy (P=0.793). The total HEI-2010
      score for dietary intake observed over the winter holiday season was lower than
      the rest of the year (P<0.001). Reported energy intake was not different
      (P=0.228). CONCLUSIONS: In this population, diet quality is significantly lower
      during the winter holiday period, but mostly consistent by season. Multiple
      recalls in any season can give a reasonable representation of usual overall diet
      quality throughout the year.

PMID- 27618575
TI  - Do Cinnamon Supplements Have a Role in Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes? A
      Narrative Review.
AB  - Cinnamon (Cinnamomum sp) has been suggested to help patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2DM) achieve better glycemic control, although conclusions from meta
      analyses are mixed. To evaluate whether the use of cinnamon dietary supplements
      by adults with T2DM had clinically meaningful effects on glycemic control, as
      measured by changes in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a
      comprehensive PubMed literature search was performed. Eleven randomized
      controlled trials were identified that met our inclusion criteria that enrolled
      694 adults with T2DM receiving hypoglycemic medications or not. In 10 of the
      studies, participants continued to take their hypoglycemic medications during the
      cinnamon intervention period. Studies ranged from 4 to 16 weeks in duration;
      seven studies were double-blind. Cinnamon doses ranged from 120 to 6,000 mg/day.
      The species of cinnamon used varied: seven used Cinnamomum cassia or Cinnamomum
      aromaticum, one used Cinnamomum zeylanicum, and three did not disclose the
      species. Because of the heterogeneity of the studies, a meta-analysis was not
      conducted. All 11 of the studies reported some reductions in FPG during the
      cinnamon intervention, and of the studies measuring HbA1c very modest decreases
      were also apparent with cinnamon, whereas changes in the placebo groups were
      minimal. However, only four studies achieved the American Diabetes Association
      treatment goals (FPG <7.2 mmol/L [130 mg/dL] and/or HbAlc <7.0). We conclude that
      cinnamon supplements added to standard hypoglycemic medications and other
      lifestyle therapies had modest effects on FPG and HbA1c. Until larger and more
      rigorous studies are available, registered dietitian nutritionists and other
      health care professionals should recommend that patients continue to follow
      existing recommendations of authoritative bodies for diet, lifestyle changes, and
      hypoglycemic drugs.

PMID- 27618576
TI  - Dietary Behaviors among Public Health Center Clients with Electronic Benefit
      Transfer Access at Farmers' Markets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although increasing access to electronic benefit transfer (EBT) at
      farmers' markets has become a popular strategy for encouraging healthy eating,
      its relationships to a number of dietary behaviors in low-income populations are
      not well understood. OBJECTIVE: To describe the frequency of and relationships
      between EBT access, fruit and vegetable intake, and sugar-sweetened beverage
      (SSB) consumption among public health center (PHC) clients with access to EBT at
      farmers' markets during 2011-2012. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING:
      Low-income participants recruited from the waiting rooms of five multipurpose
      PHCs operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Fruit and vegetable and SSB consumption (number per week). STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS: Data from the 2012 Los Angeles County Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey were analyzed using multivariable regressions, with EBT access at farmers'
      markets as the primary independent variable. Covariates included EBT use,
      transportation behaviors, neighborhood attributes, and sociodemographic
      characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 1,503 adults participated in the survey
      (response rate=69%). Of these, 529 reported receiving EBT benefits. Among these
      benefits recipients, 64% were women, 54% were aged 25 to 44 years, 62% were
      black, and 75% were unemployed or part-time employed. In multivariable regression
      analyses, EBT access at farmers' markets was positively associated with higher
      fruit and vegetable consumption; however, an association to SSB consumption was
      not demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: EBT access at farmers' markets is related to
      higher fruit and vegetable consumption among PHC clients in Los Angeles County.
      However, the finding of no association to SSB consumption raises important
      questions about the need for strategies to discourage EBT recipients' purchase of
      foods of minimal nutritional value in other venues that accept nutrition
      assistance program benefits.

PMID- 27618577
TI  - Berberine-loaded Janus nanocarriers for magnetic field-enhanced therapy against
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Berberine, an bioactive isoquinolin alkaloid from traditional Chinese herbs, is
      considered to be a promising agent based on its remarkable activity against
      hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the clinical application of this nature
      compound had been hampered owing to its properties such as poor aqueous
      solubility, low gastrointestinal absorption, and reduced bioavailability.
      Therefore, we developed Janus magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Fe3 O4 
      mSiO2 NPs) consisting of a Fe3 O4 head for magnetic targeting and a mesoporous
      SiO2 body for berberine delivery. A pH-sensitive group was introduced on the
      surface of mesoporous silica for berberine loading to develop a tumor
      microenvironment-responsive nanocarrier, which exhibited uniform morphology, good
      superparamagnetic properties, high drug-loading amounts, superior endocytic
      ability, and low cytotoxicity. Berberine-loaded Fe3 O4 -mSiO2 NPs exerted
      extraordinarily high specificity for hepatocellular carcinoma cells, which was
      due to the pH-responsive berberine release, as well as higher endocytosis
      capacity in hepatocellular carcinoma cells rather than normal liver cells. More
      importantly, an external magnetic field could significantly improve antitumor
      activity of Ber-loaded Fe3 O4 -mSiO2 NPs through enhancing berberine
      internalization. Taken together, our results suggest that Janus nanocarriers
      driven by the magnetic field may provide an effective and safe way to facilitate
      clinical use of berberine against hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 27618578
TI  - A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Behavioral Voice Therapy for Dysphonia Related
      to Prematurity of Birth.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Dysphonia is a potential complication of prematurity. Preterm
      children may sustain iatrogenic laryngeal damage from medical intervention in the
      neonatal period, and further, adopt compensatory, maladaptive voicing behaviors.
      This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effects of a voice therapy protocol on
      voice quality in school-aged, very preterm (VP) children. METHODS: Twenty-seven
      VP children with dysphonia were randomized to an immediate intervention group (n
      = 7) or a delayed-intervention, waiting list control group (n = 14). Following
      analysis of these data, a secondary analysis was conducted on the pooled
      intervention data (n = 21). Six participants did not complete the trial. RESULTS:
      Change to voice quality was measured via pre- and posttreatment assessments using
      the Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice. The intervention group did
      not demonstrate statistically significant improvements in voice quality, whereas
      this was observed in the control group (P = 0.026). However, when intervention
      data were pooled including both the immediate and delayed groups following
      intervention, dysphonia severity was significantly lower (P = 0.026) in the
      treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: Dysphonia in most VP children in this cohort was
      persistent. These pilot data indicate that some participants experienced
      acceptable voice outcomes on spontaneous recovery, whereas others demonstrated a
      response to behavioral intervention. Further research is needed to identify the
      facilitators of and barriers to intervention success, and to predict those who
      may experience spontaneous recovery.

PMID- 27618579
TI  - Carbazole-Substituted Iridium Complex as a Solid State Emitter for Two-Photon
      Intravital Imaging.
AB  - A tris-cyclometalated iridium complex that bears two ligands functionalized by
      peripheral carbazole groups combines an intense solid state emission and a
      significant two-photon absorption cross section in the near-infrared. After
      incorporation into a physiological micellar suspension, it can be used for the
      intravital two-photon fluorescence microscopy of cerebral vasculature.

PMID- 27618580
TI  - The Role of Program Directors in Treatment Practices: The Case of Methadone Dose
      Patterns in U.S. Outpatient Opioid Agonist Treatment Programs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe changes in characteristics of directors of outpatient
      opioid agonist treatment (OAT) programs, and to examine the association between
      directors' characteristics and low methadone dosage. DATA SOURCE: Repeated cross
      sectional surveys of OAT programs in the United States from 1995 to 2011. STUDY
      DESIGN: We used generalized linear regression models to examine associations
      between directors' characteristics and methadone dose, adjusting for program and
      patient factors. DATA COLLECTION: Data were collected through telephone surveys
      of program directors. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The proportion of OAT programs with an
      African American director declined over time, from 29 percent in 1995 to 16
      percent in 2011. The median percentage of patients in each program receiving <60
      mg/day declined significantly, from 48.5 percent in 1995 to 29 percent in 2005
      and 23 percent in 2011. Programs with an African American director were
      significantly more likely to provide low methadone doses than other programs.
      This association was even stronger in programs with an African American director
      who served populations with higher percentages of African American patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Demographic characteristics of OAT program directors (e.g., their
      race) may play a key role in explaining variations in methadone dosage across
      programs and patients. Further research should investigate the causal pathways
      through which directors' characteristics affect treatment practices. This may
      lead to new, multifaceted managerial interventions to improve patient outcomes.

PMID- 27618582
TI  - A case of rat bite fever in a 12-year-old boy.

PMID- 27618581
TI  - Bipartite Community Structure of eQTLs.
AB  - Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and expression quantitative trait locus
      (eQTL) analyses have identified genetic associations with a wide range of human
      phenotypes. However, many of these variants have weak effects and understanding
      their combined effect remains a challenge. One hypothesis is that multiple SNPs
      interact in complex networks to influence functional processes that ultimately
      lead to complex phenotypes, including disease states. Here we present CONDOR, a
      method that represents both cis- and trans-acting SNPs and the genes with which
      they are associated as a bipartite graph and then uses the modular structure of
      that graph to place SNPs into a functional context. In applying CONDOR to eQTLs
      in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we found the global network
      "hub" SNPs were devoid of disease associations through GWAS. However, the network
      was organized into 52 communities of SNPs and genes, many of which were enriched
      for genes in specific functional classes. We identified local hubs within each
      community ("core SNPs") and these were enriched for GWAS SNPs for COPD and many
      other diseases. These results speak to our intuition: rather than single SNPs
      influencing single genes, we see groups of SNPs associated with the expression of
      families of functionally related genes and that disease SNPs are associated with
      the perturbation of those functions. These methods are not limited in their
      application to COPD and can be used in the analysis of a wide variety of disease
      processes and other phenotypic traits.

PMID- 27618584
TI  - Single NMR image super-resolution based on extreme learning machine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The performance limitation of MRI equipment and higher resolution
      demand of NMR images from radiologists have formed a strong contrast. Therefore,
      it is important to study the super resolution algorithm suitable for NMR images,
      using low costs software to replace the expensive equipment-updating. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Firstly, a series of NMR images are obtained from original NMR images
      with original noise to the lowest resolution images with the highest noise. Then,
      based on extreme learning machine, the mapping relation model is constructed from
      lower resolution NMR images with higher noise to higher resolution NMR images
      with lower noise in each pair of adjacent images in the obtained image sequence.
      Finally, the optimal mapping model is established by the ensemble way to
      reconstruct the higher resolution NMR images with lower noise on the basis of
      original resolution NMR images with original noise. Experiments are carried out
      by 990111 NMR brain images in datasets NITRC, REMBRANDT, RIDER NEURO MRI, TCGA
      GBM and TCGA-LGG. RESULTS: The performance of proposed method is compared with
      three approaches through 7 indexes, and the experimental results show that our
      proposed method has a significant improvement. DISCUSSION: Since our method
      considers the influence of the noise, it has 20% higher in Peak-Signal-to-Noise
      Ratio comparison. As our method is sensitive to details, and has a better
      characteristic retention, it has higher image quality upgrade of 15% in the
      additional evaluation. Finally, since extreme learning machine has a celerity
      learning speed, our method is 46.1% faster.

PMID- 27618583
TI  - C/EBP-beta Is Differentially Affected by PPARalpha Agonists Fenofibric Acid and
      GW7647, But Does Not Change Apolipoprotein A-I Production During ER-Stress and
      Inflammation.
AB  - Increasing apolipoproteinA-I (apoA-I) production may be anti-atherogenic. Thus,
      there is a need to identify regulatory factors involved. Transcription of apoA-I
      involves peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor-alpha (PPARalpha) activation,
      but endoplasmic reticulum (ER) -stress and inflammation also influence apoA-I
      production. To unravel why PPARalpha agonist GW7647 increased apoA-I production
      compared to PPARalpha agonist fenofibric acid (FeAc) in human hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HepG2) and colorectal adenocarcinoma (CaCo-2) cells, gene expression
      profiles were compared. Microarray analyses suggested CCAAT/enhancer-binding
      protein-beta (C/EBP-beta) involvement in the FeAc condition. Therefore, C/EBP
      beta silencing and isoform-specific overexpression experiments were performed
      under ER-stressed, inflammatory and non-inflammatory conditions. mRNA expression
      of C/EBP-beta, ATF3, NF-IL3 and GDF15 were upregulated by FeAc compared to GW7647
      in both cell lines, while DDIT3 and DDIT4 mRNA were only upregulated in HepG2
      cells. This ER-stress related signature was associated with decreased apoA-I
      secretion. After ER-stress induction by thapsigargin or FeAc addition,
      intracellular apoA-I concentrations decreased, while ER-stress marker expression
      (CHOP, XBP1s, C/EBP-beta) increased. Cytokine addition increased intracellular
      C/EBP-beta levels and lowered apoA-I concentrations. Although a C/EBP binding
      place is present in the apoA-I promoter, C/EBP-beta silencing or isoform-specific
      overexpression did not affect apoA-I production in inflammatory, non-inflammatory
      and ER-stressed conditions. Therefore, C/EBP-beta is not a target to influence
      hepatic apoA-I production. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 754-763, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618585
TI  - Preliminary results of a new approach for three-dimensional reconstruction of
      Dynamic AngioThermography (DATG) images based on the inversion of heat equation.
AB  - Dynamic AngioThermography (DATG) is a contact-plate technique capable of
      producing a digital representation of breast vascularity. The inception and
      growth of a tumor are associated with neoangenesis, which may result in a
      demonstrable alteration in the regional blood flow, while in normal health
      conditions the vascularity remains unchanged throughout life. DATG, if included
      in the clinical evaluation for breast cancer, could potentially improve the
      accuracy of the diagnosis of this disease. Conventional DATG is limited, however,
      in that it is a projection (i.e. two-dimensional) imaging technique that does not
      provide any information on the depth and its effect on the pattern of the
      perfusion revealed by this technique. In fact, the blood pattern is detected by
      projecting temperature signals on the plate, thus acquiring a digital two
      dimensional image. In this article we propose a new approach for extracting
      information on depth through the inversion of the Fourier heat equation. The idea
      is to extract the information along the third axis while acquiring and analyzing
      the temporal sequence during the process of image formation. The method
      implemented has been tested on a dedicated "electric phantom" and in one in vivo
      experiment. In spite of the limits of these preliminary tests, the experimental
      results have shown that this method makes it possible to obtain a 3D
      representation of the vascularity. Although it appears to be promising, further
      validation and characterization of our technique are required. 

PMID- 27618586
TI  - A Validated Open-Source Multisolver Fourth-Generation Composite Femur Model.
AB  - Synthetic biomechanical test specimens are frequently used for preclinical
      evaluation of implant performance, often in combination with numerical modeling,
      such as finite-element (FE) analysis. Commercial and freely available FE packages
      are widely used with three FE packages in particular gaining popularity: abaqus
      (Dassault Systemes, Johnston, RI), ansys (ANSYS, Inc., Canonsburg, PA), and febio
      (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT). To the best of our knowledge, no study
      has yet made a comparison of these three commonly used solvers. Additionally,
      despite the femur being the most extensively studied bone in the body, no freely
      available validated model exists. The primary aim of the study was primarily to
      conduct a comparison of mesh convergence and strain prediction between the three
      solvers (abaqus, ansys, and febio) and to provide validated open-source models of
      a fourth-generation composite femur for use with all the three FE packages.
      Second, we evaluated the geometric variability around the femoral neck region of
      the composite femurs. Experimental testing was conducted using fourth-generation
      Sawbones(r) composite femurs instrumented with strain gauges at four locations. A
      generic FE model and four specimen-specific FE models were created from CT scans.
      The study found that the three solvers produced excellent agreement, with strain
      predictions being within an average of 3.0% for all the solvers (r2 > 0.99) and
      1.4% for the two commercial codes. The average of the root mean squared error
      against the experimental results was 134.5% (r2 = 0.29) for the generic model and
      13.8% (r2 = 0.96) for the specimen-specific models. It was found that composite
      femurs had variations in cortical thickness around the neck of the femur of up to
      48.4%. For the first time, an experimentally validated, finite-element model of
      the femur is presented for use in three solvers. This model is freely available
      online along with all the supporting validation data.

PMID- 27618587
TI  - Holding Resilience in Trust: Working Systemically With Families Following an
      Acquired Brain Injury.
AB  - The conceptualization of resilience following acquired brain injury needs to
      remain sensitive to the complex nature and enduring dimensions of trauma, loss,
      and stress. It is essential that a systemic and dynamic view be maintained with a
      focus on the key adaptation tasks that families face: grieving, restructuring,
      identity redefinition, and growing through adversity. These tasks are explored in
      a case example illustrating how these challenges reemerge across the life cycle.
      The key theme in this contribution is that resilience is a fluid property, a
      potential that practitioners and service systems can listen for, support,
      strengthen, and hold in trust.

PMID- 27618588
TI  - How Much Walking Should be Advocated for Good Health in Adolescent Girls?
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is currently not known how much walking should be advocated for
      good health in adolescent girls. The aim of this study was therefore to recommend
      health referenced standards for step defined physical activity relating to
      appropriate health criterion/indicators in a group of adolescent girls. METHOD:
      Two hundred and thirty adolescent girls aged between 12 to 15 years volunteered
      to take part in the study. Each participant undertook measurements (BMI, waist
      circumference, % body fat, and blood pressure) to define health status. Activity
      data were collected by pedometer and used to assess daily step counts and
      accumulated daily activity time over 7 consecutive days. RESULTS: Individuals
      classified as 'healthy' did not take significantly more steps.day-1 nor spend
      more time in moderate intensity activity than individuals classified as at health
      risk or with poor health profiles. CONCLUSION: 'Healthy' adolescent girls do not
      walk significantly more in term of steps.day-1 or time spent in activity than
      girls classified as 'unhealthy.' This could suggest that adolescent girls may not
      walk enough to stratify health and health related outcomes and as a result the
      data could not be used to inform an appropriate step guideline for this
      population.

PMID- 27618589
TI  - Improving Discharge Instructions in a Pediatric Emergency Department: Impact of a
      Quality Initiative.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective communication between physician and patient is essential to
      optimize care after discharge from the emergency department (ED). Written
      discharge care instructions (DCI) complement verbal instructions and have been
      shown to improve communication and patient management. In 2012, Centers for
      Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a quality measure (OP-19) that assesses
      compliance with key elements considered essential for high-quality written DCI.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a QI intervention on improving quality of
      written DCI in a pediatric emergency department (PED). METHODS: A QI initiative
      was conducted at a tertiary PED with greater than 60,000 annual visits. Based on
      Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services OP-19 measure and group consensus, 8
      elements were defined a priori as requisites for good quality DCI. These elements
      are:Providers reviewed a random sample of DCI of patients. Proportion of DCI that
      had each element documented was compared between preintervention phase (PRE) and
      postintervention phase (POST). RESULTS: Three hundred twenty-nine DCI (PRE) and
      1434 DCI (POST) were reviewed. The POST DCI showed statistically significant
      improvement for each of the 8 elements. The bundle measure (proportion containing
      all 8 elements) increased from 23% (PRE) to 79% (POST) (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      The ED DCI improved in all 8 elements after a QI intervention. A detailed DCI at
      ED discharge enhances the patient's ability to comply with postdischarge
      treatment plan. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of improving
      DCI on ED return rates and other outcomes.

PMID- 27618591
TI  - Image-Guided Resuscitation With Limited Transthoracic Echocardiogram in Pediatric
      Trauma Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Limited transthoracic echocardiogram (LTTE) has been shown to be a
      useful tool in guiding resuscitation in adult trauma patients. Our hypothesis is
      that image-guided resuscitation in pediatric trauma patients with LTTE is
      feasible. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on highest level
      pediatric trauma alerts (age 18 years or younger) at our level I trauma center
      during a 6-month period. Patients were divided into 2 groups as follows: those
      who had LTTE performed (LTTE group) and those who did not have LTTE performed
      (non-LTTE group). RESULTS: A total of 31 charts were reviewed; 4 patients were
      excluded because they died on arrival to the emergency department. Fourteen
      patients had LTTE performed (LTTE group); 13 patients did not have LTTE performed
      (non-LTTE group). There was no difference in mechanism of injury, age, injury
      severity score, weight, or intensive care unit admission between the groups. The
      LTTE group received significantly less intravenous fluid than the non-LTTE group
      (1.2 vs 2.3 L, P = 0.0013).Within the LTTE group, 8 patients had "full" inferior
      vena cava (IVC) and 6 patients had "empty" IVC. There was no difference in injury
      severity score between these subgroups (P = 0.1018). Less fluid was given in the
      group labeled with full IVC [1.1 L (0.8-1.2)] than the group with empty IVC [2.4
      L (1.7-2.6)], P = 0.0005. Four of the 6 patients with "empty" IVC had a confirmed
      source of bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: Limited transthoracic echocardiogram can limit
      the amount of unnecessary crystalloid resuscitation given to pediatric trauma
      patients who are not hypovolemic.

PMID- 27618592
TI  - A National Analysis of Pediatric Trauma Care Utilization and Outcomes in the
      United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: More childhood deaths are attributed to trauma than all other causes
      combined. Our objectives were to provide the first national description of the
      proportion of injured children treated at pediatric trauma centers (TCs), and to
      provide clarity to the presumed benefit of pediatric TC verification by comparing
      injury mortality across hospital types. METHODS: We performed a population-based
      cohort study using the 2006 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids
      Inpatient Database combined with national TC inventories. We included pediatric
      discharges (<=16 y) with the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth
      Revision code(s) for injury. Descriptive analyses were performed evaluating
      proportions of injured children cared for by TC level. Multivariable logistic
      regression models were used to estimate differences in in-hospital mortality by
      TC type (among level-1 TCs only). Analyses were survey-weighted using Healthcare
      Cost and Utilization Project sampling weights. RESULTS: Of 153,380 injured
      children, 22.3% were admitted to pediatric TCs, 45.2% to general TCs, and 32.6%
      to non-TCs. Overall mortality was 0.9%. Among level-1 TCs, raw mortality was 1.0%
      pediatric TC, 1.4% dual TC, and 2.1% general TC. In adjusted analyses, treatment
      at level-1 pediatric TCs was associated with a significant mortality decrease
      compared to level-1 general TCs (adjusted odds ratio, 0.6; 95% confidence
      intervals, 0.4-0.9). CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide the first national evidence
      that treatment at verified pediatric TCs may improve outcomes, supporting a
      survival benefit with pediatric trauma verification. Given lack of similar
      survival advantage found for level-1 dual TCs (both general/pediatric verified),
      we highlight the need for further investigation to understand factors responsible
      for the survival advantage at pediatric-only TCs, refine pediatric accreditation
      guidelines, and disseminate best practices.

PMID- 27618593
TI  - Acupuncture for Chronic Severe Functional Constipation: A Randomized Trial.
AB  - Background: Acupuncture has been used for chronic constipation, but evidence for
      its effectiveness remains scarce. Objective: To determine the efficacy of
      electroacupuncture (EA) for chronic severe functional constipation (CSFC).
      Design: Randomized, parallel, sham-controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov:
      NCT01726504). Setting: 15 hospitals in China. Participants: Patients with CSFC
      and no serious underlying pathologic cause for constipation. Intervention: 28
      sessions of EA at traditional acupoints or sham EA (SA) at nonacupoints over 8
      weeks. Measurements: The primary outcome was the change from baseline in mean
      weekly complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBMs) during weeks 1 to 8.
      Participants were followed until week 20. Results: 1075 patients (536 and 539 in
      the EA and SA groups, respectively) were enrolled. The increase from baseline in
      mean weekly CSBMs during weeks 1 to 8 was 1.76 (95% CI, 1.61 to 1.89) in the EA
      group and 0.87 (CI, 0.73 to 0.97) in the SA group (between-group difference, 0.90
      [CI, 0.74 to 1.10]; P < 0.001). The change from baseline in mean weekly CSBMs
      during weeks 9 to 20 was 1.96 (CI, 1.78 to 2.11) in the EA group and 0.89 (CI,
      0.69 to 0.95) in the SA group (between-group difference, 1.09 [CI, 0.94 to 1.31];
      P < 0.001). The proportion of patients having 3 or more mean weekly CSBMs in the
      EA group was 31.3% and 37.7% over the treatment and follow-up periods,
      respectively, compared with 12.1% and 14.1% in the SA group (P < 0.001).
      Acupuncture-related adverse events during treatment were infrequent in both
      groups, and all were mild or transient. Limitations: Longer-term follow-up was
      not assessed. Acupuncturists could not be blinded. Conclusion: Eight weeks of EA
      increases CSBMs and is safe for the treatment of CSFC. Additional study is
      warranted to evaluate a longer-term treatment and follow-up. Primary Funding
      Source: Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
      through the Twelfth Five-Year National Science and Technology Pillar Program.

PMID- 27618595
TI  - Allgrove syndrome with prominent neurological symptoms. Case Report.
AB  - We report a young woman with the clinical picture of Allgrove syndrome in whom
      neurological symptoms are prominent. It usually presents in the first decade of
      life with a deficiency of tears, recurrent vomiting and dysphagia due to
      achalasia, severe hypoglycemic seizures and shock due to adrenal insufficiency.
      Neurological symptoms such as hyperreflexia, dysarthria, hypernasal speech,
      ataxia, sensory impairment, muscle weakness, and mental retardation are extremely
      slow to develop and manifest at a later age. Diagnosis was based on clinical
      presentation and laboratory findings. She is the first patient from the Czech
      Republic with genetic confirmation of Allgrove syndrome. This patient is one of
      about 100 cases described in the literature and one of the few patients with all
      the main typical clinical features.

PMID- 27618594
TI  - Estimation of contrast agent bolus arrival delays for improved reproducibility of
      liver DCE MRI.
AB  - Delays between contrast agent (CA) arrival at the site of vascular input function
      (VIF) sampling and the tissue of interest affect dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)
      MRI pharmacokinetic modelling. We investigate effects of altering VIF CA bolus
      arrival delays on liver DCE MRI perfusion parameters, propose an alternative
      approach to estimating delays and evaluate reproducibility. Thirteen healthy
      volunteers (28.7  +/-  1.9 years, seven males) underwent liver DCE MRI using dual
      input single compartment modelling, with reproducibility (n  =  9) measured at 7
      days. Effects of VIF CA bolus arrival delays were assessed for arterial and
      portal venous input functions. Delays were pre-estimated using linear regression,
      with restricted free modelling around the pre-estimated delay. Perfusion
      parameters and 7 days reproducibility were compared using this method, freely
      modelled delays and no delays using one-way ANOVA. Reproducibility was assessed
      using Bland-Altman analysis of agreement. Maximum percent change relative to
      parameters obtained using zero delays, were  -31% for portal venous (PV)
      perfusion, +43% for total liver blood flow (TLBF), +3247% for hepatic arterial
      (HA) fraction, +150% for mean transit time and  -10% for distribution volume.
      Differences were demonstrated between the 3 methods for PV perfusion (p  = 
      0.0085) and HA fraction (p  <  0.0001), but not other parameters. Improved mean
      differences and Bland-Altman 95% Limits-of-Agreement for reproducibility of PV
      perfusion (9.3 ml/min/100 g, +/-506.1 ml/min/100 g) and TLBF (43.8 ml/min/100 g,
      +/-586.7 ml/min/100 g) were demonstrated using pre-estimated delays with
      constrained free modelling. CA bolus arrival delays cause profound differences in
      liver DCE MRI quantification. Pre-estimation of delays with constrained free
      modelling improved 7 days reproducibility of perfusion parameters in volunteers.

PMID- 27618596
TI  - Baicalin supplementation reduces serum biomarkers of skeletal muscle wasting and
      may protect against lean body mass reduction in cancer patients: Results from a
      pilot open-label study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Muscle wasting in patients with cancer has been linked to an
      increased activity of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) and higher circulating
      levels of activin-A (ActA), a negative growth factor for muscle mass. Baicalin is
      a natural flavonoid that can reduce skeletal muscle atrophy in animal models of
      cancer cachexia by inhibiting NF-kappaB. This pilot open-label study assessed the
      effects of baicalin supplementation (50 mg daily for 3 months) in cancer patients
      who showed involuntary weight loss >5% over the past 6 months. METHODS: A total
      of 20 patients were investigated. Participants were evaluated at baseline and at
      the end of the 3-month study period for the following endpoints: 1) changes from
      baseline in serum NF-kappaB and ActA levels; and 2) change from baseline in lean
      body mass (LBM). RESULTS: We observed significant reduction in both NF-kappaB
      (p<0.05) and ActA (p<0.05) serum levels from baseline to 3 months. At 3 months,
      patients also showed a significant mean increase in LBM (+0.8 kg, p<0.05 compared
      with baseline). CONCLUSION: Our pilot open-label data suggest that baicalin
      supplementation is potentially useful for contrasting lean body mass reduction in
      cancer patients with involuntary weight loss, an effect which is likely mediated
      by the inhibition of negative growth factors for muscle mass.

PMID- 27618598
TI  - Flavour and identification threshold detection overview of Slovak adepts for
      certified testing.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: During certification process of sensory assessors of Slovak
      certification body we obtained results for basic taste thresholds and lifestyle
      habits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 500 adult people were screened during experiment
      with food industry background. For analysis of basic and non basic tastes, we
      used standardized procedure of ISO 8586-1:1993. RESULTS: In flavour test
      experiment, group of (26-35 y.o) produced the lowest error ratio (1.438), highest
      is (56+ y.o.) group with result (2.0). Average error value based on gender for
      women was (1.510) in comparison to men (1.477). People with allergies have the
      average error ratio (1.437) in comparison to people without allergies (1.511).
      Non-smokers produced less errors (1.484) against the smokers (1.576). Another
      flavour threshold identification test detected differences among age groups (by
      age are values increased). The highest number of errors made by men in metallic
      taste was (24%) the same as made by women (22%). Higher error ratio made by men
      occurred in salty taste (19%) against women (10%). Analysis detected some
      differences between allergic/non-allergic, smokers/non-smokers groups.

PMID- 27618597
TI  - Evaluation of the analgesic effect of morphine on models of acute nociceptive
      pain in rats with a central noradrenergic system lesion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Stimulation of some noradrenergic system receptors demonstrates a
      synergistic anti-nociceptive effect with the opioid system at the level of
      peripheral tissues, spinal cord, and supraspinal structures. Furthermore, opioids
      stimulate the noradrenergic descending pathways originating from the substantia
      nigra by presynaptic inhibition of the GABA neuron ends. It is thus important to
      determine whether a disruption to the adrenergic transmission obtained via DPS-4
      administration to neonatal rats impacts the perception of noxious stimuli
      mediated by 5-HT3-serotonin receptors at the level of spinal cords or higher
      tiers of the central nervous system. DESIGN & SETTING: The studies were conducted
      with neonatal and adult rats, males of the Wistar strain in which a central
      noradrenergic system lesion was induced with DSP-4 on days 1 and 3 of life. Next,
      the evaluation of the analgesic effect of morphine was performed on 8- to 10-week
      old animals using the following models of acute nociceptive pain: the hot plate
      test and the tail immersion test as models of acute nociceptive pain induced by a
      thermal stimulus, and the paw withdrawal test as a model of nociceptive pain
      caused by a mechanical stimulus. RESULTS: Morphine was found to produce a longer
      lasting analgesic effect in the tail immersion test in the control group than in
      rats. Similarly, in the paw withdrawal test, this substance generated a strong
      analgesic effect (with over 200% of analgesia) in the control group, whereas its
      action in the rats with DSP-4 lesions was statistically significant. Morphine
      induced analgesia at about 13-14% in the control rats when examined with the hot
      plate test. CONCLUSIONS: The disruption to the central noradrenergic system in an
      early stage of development resulted in a reduction of the analgesic effect of
      morphine in the models of acute pain in which the mechanisms of supraspinal
      perception are involved.

PMID- 27618599
TI  - Hypopituitarism and goitre as endocrine manifestation of Langerhans cell
      histiocytosis (LCH). Case Report.
AB  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) in adults is a rare disorder of unknown
      etiology characterized by monoclonal proliferation of Langerhans cells. It
      belongs to dendritic cell disorders and occurs in 1-2 adults per million. The
      most common endocrine manifestation of classical LCH is associated with the
      posterior pituitary, with clinical symptoms of diabetes insipidus. Less than 80
      reported cases of LCH involving the thyroid gland have been published so far. We
      present the case of a 39 years old woman with 10 years history of diabetes
      insipidus and secondary amenorrhoea, which appeared after second delivery. She
      was suspected for lymphocytic inflammation of pituitary and she was administered
      steroid treatment. She was also treated symptomatically with desmopressin, L
      thyroxine, estrogen and progestagen replacement therapy due to diabetes
      insipidus, secondary hypothyroidism and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. In
      September 2014, she noticed a painless, firm tumour of the neck. Ultrasound (US)
      examination demonstrated bilateral, solid, hypoechogenic thyroid nodules. The
      result of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was not diagnostic. Due to rapid
      progression and US image of the tumour, she was referred for surgery. In
      postoperative histopathology tumour cells were positive for CD1a and S-100
      protein, therefore diagnosis of LCH was established. Postoperatively, the results
      of thoracic computed tomography scan, abdominal US and bone scintigraphy revealed
      no evidence of multifocal disease. We have not observed any disease recurrence in
      the patient after a year of follow-up in postoperative course. This case
      illustrates diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties in patient with LCH.

PMID- 27618600
TI  - Internalization property of intestinal bacteria in colon cancer and HIV/AIDS
      patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bacteria from the intestinal tract of Slovak and American HIV/AIDS
      patients and Slovak colon cancer patients were tested for the capacity to be
      internalized by cells of the HL-60 cell line as well as by normal human
      lymphocytes. They were anticipated to possess a specific characteristic, i.e. a
      vigorous ability to be internalized by HL-60 cells and human lymphocytes. This
      assumption was confirmed by gentamicin protection assay. RESULTS: Internalization
      of bacteria from HIV/AIDS patients frequently resulted in partial (patients SKM1,
      SKM22) or complete lysis (patients SKK1-1, SKM12) of HL-60 cells. In comparison
      with intramucosal bacteria isolated from patients with colorectal cancer (TSG,
      883, 660, 838, 536, MZRa), their capacity to internalize HL-60 cells was found to
      be 15-20 times higher (USP15/7, USP1/4, USP3/3, SK725/5). Partial lysis (patients
      USP15/7, USP3/3 and SKM22) and complete lysis (patients USP1/4, SKK1-1/1, SKM1/6,
      SKM12/5) were detected also after internalization of bacteria by normal human
      lymphocytes. Compared to the amount of intracellular bacteria isolated from
      patients with HIV/AIDS, the ability of bacteria from patients with colorectal
      cancer to internalize normal human lymphocytes was significantly lower (10-15
      times), yet still higher than that of bacteria isolated from healthy people.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results present the ability of bacteria of colon cancer patients
      and HIV/AIDS patients to internalize HL-60 cells and normal human lymphocytes.
      The findings underline the potentially important function of bacteria in the
      induction of colorectal cancer and immunodeficiency. The particularly high
      detection ability of bacteria from HIV/AIDS patients to internalize normal human
      cells emphasizes their potentially important role in the process of AIDS.

PMID- 27618601
TI  - Irradiation as a hazard for mucociliary clearance.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In this paper we study effects of irradiation to pulmonary tissue on
      a micro and ultrastructural level to get insights into the dynamics of
      morphological changes and associated post-radiative physiological conditions.
      METHODS: Animal and human pulmonary tissue with and without radiation damage was
      subject to light, transmission, scanning and polarization microscopy and
      morphometric evaluation. RESULTS: The present investigations on the influence of
      irradiation on experimental and human lung tissue demonstrate that complex
      changes are induced in the cells which are essential for mucociliary clearance.
      These changes are a shortage of alveolar macrophages, cell apoptosis,
      proliferation of collagen ligament in the barrier of gaseous exchange, retraction
      of endothelial lining of capillaries and significant broadening of the gaseous
      exchange barrier, resulting in serious damage for the O2 and CO2 exchange.
      CONCLUSIONS: These changes at microscopic, cellular, and ciliary level trigger
      conditions for various diseases of the respiratory system, which is further
      assessed by a simultaneous computer aided estimation of ciliary function. With
      the concurrent world-wide increase of respiratory diseases, these findings are
      important knowledge for the clinical practice.

PMID- 27618602
TI  - Long-term effect of rituximab in a case with late-onset Rasmussen's encephalitis
      with anti-ganglioside IgGQ1b and anti-GAD antibodies positivity. Case Report.
AB  - Rasmussen's encephalitis is a rare autoimmune encephalitis usually involving one
      brain hemisphere, presenting with refractory epileptic seizures, and neurological
      and cognitive decline. Only 10% of cases start later in adolescence/adulthood.
      The only effective treatment for refractory seizures in childhood is
      hemispherectomy. For late-onset cases with mild neurological deficit the
      hemispherectomy is usually postponed because of its severe consequences.
      Immunotherapy shows some temporal effect for seizure control and slowing the
      brain atrophy, mainly in late onset Rasmussen's encephalitis. We report a patient
      with late onset Rasmussen's encephalitis with anti-ganglioside IgGQ1b and anti
      GAD antibodies positivity, who failed immunotherapy with cytostatics,
      immunoglobulins and steroids. Anti-ganglioside IgGQ1b antibodies are typically
      associated with a Miller-Fisher variant of Guillain-Barre syndrome and
      Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis. The association with Rasmussen's
      encephalitis was not described before. Patient's neurological deficit was mild
      and hemispherectomy was refused. The treatment with rituximab, an anti-CD20+
      monoclonal antibody, led to 36-month control of seizures without any signs of
      progression of neurological deficit and MRI brain atrophy. Although the treatment
      is associated with long term B-cells depletion, patient doesn't suffer from any
      clinically relevant infection. The biological treatment with monoclonal
      antibodies might be the way to stabilize patients with Rasmussen's encephalitis,
      mainly late-onset, to prevent them from harmful and devastating hemispherectomy.

PMID- 27618603
TI  - Malignant insulinoma: Report of 6 patients and literature review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with malignant insulinoma always present with symptoms of
      severe hypoglycemia and have poor life expectancy. In addition, inoperable
      metastatic malignant insulinomas are very difficult to manage. The aim of this
      report is to present our successful experiences in diagnosis and treatment of
      this disease in 6 patients. PATIENTS/METHODS: Six patients (male 2, female 4)
      with malignant insulinomas were admitted into our hospital. Their clinical
      histories, including clinical presentations, endocrine evaluations, radiological
      images, pathological examination and treatments, were reviewed. RESULTS: The
      diagnosis of malignant insulinoma combined with liver metastases was confirmed in
      all patients by endocrine evaluation and radiological images. Patients 1-3
      underwent surgical management. The primary and metastasized tumors were
      completely resected. After successful surgery, no hypoglycemia recurred. Patients
      4-6 did not undergo surgery because of systemic disease and poor health. Instead,
      they were administrated with diazoxide 50 mg Three Times a Day (TID), with final
      doses up to 200-300 mg TID. These 3 patients had good responses to diazoxide
      administration. After treatment, the frequency and severity of hypoglycemia were
      improved significantly. All 6 patients had better life quality than previously
      expected. CONCLUSION: Combination of surgical and medical approaches can improve
      life quality and prolong survival of patients with malignant insulinomas.

PMID- 27618604
TI  - Neuronal excitability changes depend on the time course of cellular edema induced
      by water intoxication in young rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine whether the functional state of
      neurons is affected by the duration of the induced cellular edema and by the age
      of animals tested. The cellular edema was induced by water intoxication and
      neuronal functions were tested by the standard method of electrical stimulation
      of neurons of the cerebral cortex. METHODS: water intoxication was induced by
      standard method of fractionated hyperhydration. Excitability of cortical neurons
      was tested by cortical stimulation with the intensity required to induce cortical
      afterdischarge (AD). Animals were divided into three experimental groups (B, C,
      D) and three control groups (AB, AC, AD). Experimental groups differed in age of
      water intoxication (12 or 25 days) and age of excitability testing (25 or 35
      days). Changes in the duration of AD (seconds) were statistically evaluated.
      RESULTS: Duration of cortical afterdischarges (AD) in the control groups was at
      the level literature data. In all experimental groups (B, C, D), excitability of
      cortical neurons was markedly inhibited. AD was possible to induce only in some
      of the animals and its average duration was significantly shorter than in control
      groups. CONCLUSION: This inhibitory effect can be explained by persistent
      impairment of astrocyte-to-neuron communication, which plays a key role in the
      process of formation of structural and functional changes during cellular edema.
      Some of the functional manifestations of the developing edema are influenced by
      the age of experimental animals. At least some events of this process are not
      influenced by the age of experimental animals.

PMID- 27618605
TI  - No definitive evidence for a connection between autoimmune thyroid diseases and
      stress in women.
AB  - The purpose of this literature review was to examine the available clinical
      studies performed during the last 15 years to identify if there is a causal
      relationship between the onset and course of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs)
      and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis/sympathetic-adrenomedullary
      system (SAM) (dys)function in women. Using the PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus
      databases, a comprehensive search was performed, and 14 articles were finally
      identified. The majority of selected studies suggested a causal connection
      between Graves' Disease (GD) and stress, as well as between Hashimoto Thyroiditis
      (HT), with its variant postpartum thyroiditis, and stress. However, due to
      heterogeneity in the protocols, mainly based on the theoretical side effects of
      stress on the immune-neuroendocrine system, and the different modalities used to
      establish the impact of stress on individuals, no definitive conclusions could be
      reached to explain the mechanisms by which stress contributes to the onset of
      AITDs in women and to determine whether stress management could help in modifying
      the course of AITDs.

PMID- 27618606
TI  - Pomegranate and licorice juices modulate metformin pharmacokinetics in rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Food or drinks may significantly alter the pharmacokinetics and
      pharmacodynamics of drugs which may lead to adverse events. A drug such as
      metformin is widely used to regulate plasma glucose level and pomegranate and
      licorice have been identified to help in type-2 diabetes management. However, the
      interactions of the latter on metformin pharmacokinetics were not studied.
      Therefore, we aimed here to study the impact of pomegranate and licorice on
      metformin pharmacokinetics in rats. METHODS: Juices were given to rats for two
      days and half an hour before metformin (20 mg/kg) oral administration. Blood
      samples, then, were collected at different time intervals, processed and analyzed
      using validated reliable HPLC method. Plasma profile and pharmacokinetic
      parameters were calculated for each group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Pre
      administration of pomegranate significantly reduced metformin maximum plasma
      concentration from 1410 to 1031 ng/ml. On the other hand, pre-administration of
      licorice significantly delayed metformin reaching its maximum plasma
      concentration. In conclusion, pre-administration of pomegranate may potentially
      reduce efficacy of metformin while licorice might delay metformin action. Thus,
      both juices should be cautiously administrated with metformin, the mainstay drug
      for type-2 diabetes mellitus management.

PMID- 27618607
TI  - Pulmonary dysfunction in patients after cervical spinal cord injury: serial
      follow-up measurement within the first year post-injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Respiratory complications are most common cause of
      morbidity/mortality in patients with cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) due to
      respiratory muscle weakness and lower diaphragm position resulting in limited
      availability of inspiration, reduced thorax mobility and limited forced
      expiration. Differences in respiratory dysfunctions (RDs) in patients with motor
      complete versus incomplete cSCI were assessed. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal
      study, serial measurement. SETTING: University hospital and ambulatory
      departments. METHODS: Twenty two patients with acute cSCI were recruited.
      Neurological level of injury and severity according to ISNCSCI were used as
      criteria for recruitment. Patients were divided into two groups - motor complete
      and incomplete. Standardized pulmonary function tests (PFT) were used -
      spirometry and respiratory muscle strength (RMS) measurement. Motor score of key
      muscles assessments for upper (UEMS) and lower (LEMS) limbs were used. Tests were
      performed in 5 measurement sessions starting on (medians) 14.5 days (M1), then
      6.7 weeks, 3.2 months, 6.3 months and 1.0 year (M5). RESULTS: Significant
      differences in measurement sessions M2-M5 between groups in forced vital capacity
      (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), expiratory reserve volume
      (ERV), maximal static inspiratory/expiratory pressures (MIP, MEP) and UEMS were
      proved. Consequently, prominent differences in courses of particular parameters
      were found. No intergroup changes in UEMS were found during study. CONCLUSIONS:
      Obvious differences in parameters of spirometry, respiratory muscles and limb
      muscles strength between motor complete and incomplete group were found. Carefull
      monitoring of RDs by functional assessments (i.e., PFT and UEMS/LEMS tests)
      within one year after SCI seems to be clinically important.

PMID- 27618608
TI  - The role of early cortisol level in the assessment of the radicality of resection
      in central Cushing's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To increase radicality and avoid surgical complications new
      treatment options are under investigation. One of the promising possibilities is
      to assess early morning cortisol levels on the first and second postoperative
      day. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We enrolled 34 patients (9 males, 25 females)
      diagnosed with Cushing's disease. Blood samples to determine cortisol level were
      taken always at 06:00 and sent to the lab. The samples were taken on the first
      and second postoperative day. For all patients, standard four-handed, a bi
      nostril endoscopic endonasal technique was used. Endocrinological follow-up (6-34
      months) was performed using morning cortisol sampling. RESULTS: In total, 36
      patients (88%) were disease-free post-surgery. In the group with early
      postoperative levels of morning cortisol of less than 463 nmol/L, only 2 of 29
      patients (7%) exceeded the final morning level of cortisol at follow-up. In
      patients with early postoperative cortisol levels between 17 nmol/l and 234
      nmol/l all subjects showed normal postoperative cortisol levels. DISCUSSION: In
      30 of 34 patients (88%), the level of cortisol was within normal limits. The
      prediction importance of early measurement of cortisol is 93% for patients with
      early postoperative cortisol levels of less than 463 nmol/L. The prediction
      importance of early measurement of cortisol is 100% for patients with early
      postoperative cortisol levels from 17 to 234 nmol/L. CONCLUSION: The monitoring
      of early morning cortisol levels seems to be an important tool in the management
      of central Cushing's disease.

PMID- 27618609
TI  - Why acupuncture in pain treatment?
AB  - Acupuncture is one of the branches of Chinese Traditional Medicine dating back
      almost 5 000 years. The expansion of China's trade and business relations with
      other Asian countries brought about the spreading of acupuncture in 7th Century.
      Nowadays, acupuncture is an interdisciplinary clinical field of Medicine dealing
      with treatment, diagnostics and prevention of mainly functional disorders, algic,
      allergic and addictive conditions of various etiology, localization and
      intensity. It draws from the millennia of experience of Oriental Medicine as well
      as contemporary knowledge of morphology, physiology and neurophysiology. The
      acupuncture method is based on influencing the body functions in a precise way by
      controlled irritation of particular active meridian points using special needles,
      heat (moxibustion), pressure (acupressure), underpressure (cupping), electricity
      (electroacupuncture), light (laser therapy), ultrasound (sonopuncture), static or
      pulsating electromagnetic field (magnetic therapy) and solutions
      (pharmacopuncture).The use of acupuncture as a method of pain relief in Modern
      Western Medicine is based on a wide range of clinical trials, and there is no
      doubt that it has significant effect in the treatment of acute and chronic pain
      classification. The introduction of gate-control theory and endogenous opioids
      facilitated the recognition of acupuncture in pain treatment.

PMID- 27618610
TI  - Pharmaceutical Industry Interactions With Nonprescribing Clinicians: A Complex
      Web of Influence.

PMID- 27618611
TI  - Gene replacements and insertions in rice by intron targeting using CRISPR-Cas9.
AB  - Sequence-specific nucleases have been exploited to create targeted gene knockouts
      in various plants(1), but replacing a fragment and even obtaining gene insertions
      at specific loci in plant genomes remain a serious challenge. Here, we report
      efficient intron-mediated site-specific gene replacement and insertion approaches
      that generate mutations using the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway using
      the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR
      associated protein 9 (Cas9) system. Using a pair of single guide RNAs (sgRNAs)
      targeting adjacent introns and a donor DNA template including the same pair of
      sgRNA sites, we achieved gene replacements in the rice endogenous gene 5
      enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) at a frequency of 2.0%. We also
      obtained targeted gene insertions at a frequency of 2.2% using a sgRNA targeting
      one intron and a donor DNA template including the same sgRNA site. Rice plants
      harbouring the OsEPSPS gene with the intended substitutions were glyphosate
      resistant. Furthermore, the site-specific gene replacements and insertions were
      faithfully transmitted to the next generation. These newly developed approaches
      can be generally used to replace targeted gene fragments and to insert exogenous
      DNA sequences into specific genomic sites in rice and other plants.

PMID- 27618612
TI  - Prospective Study on the Intraoperative Blood Loss in Patients with Cleft Palate
      Undergoing Furlow's Double Opposing Z-Palatoplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood loss during cleft palate surgery has been investigated in
      previous research, but there is no report regarding blood loss when performing
      Furlow's double opposing Z-plasty (DOZ). In the present study, we evaluated
      intraoperative blood loss in patients with cleft palate who underwent the DOZ
      procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Intraoperative blood loss was prospectively
      investigated in 59 patients undergoing palatoplasty with DOZ by a single surgeon
      between August 2012 and July 2013. Demographic factors and clinical status,
      including cleft type and palatal gap, were recorded. Blood loss was evaluated by
      measuring the change in weight of a suction bottle, suction line, and gauze
      balls. RESULTS: Mean blood loss was 16.61 +/- 10.33 mL, which accounted for 5% of
      total blood volume. Male sex, older age, severe cleft type, larger palatal gap,
      relaxed incision, and increased operative time contributed to greater blood loss.
      The amount of intraoperative bleeding could be predicted by the following
      equation: Blood loss = -5.64 + 6.18 (male patients) + 7.58 (severe type cleft) +
      0.88 X age (months) + 0.84 X palatal gap (mm). CONCLUSIONS: We found that the DOZ
      technique causes mild blood loss, but bleeding amount tended to increase in older
      male patients with a severe cleft and a larger palatal gap. The use of relaxed
      incisions during palatoplasty and prolonged operation times also contributed to
      greater blood loss.

PMID- 27618613
TI  - Microarchitecture and Biomechanical Evaluation of BoneCeramic Grafted Alveolar
      Defects during Tooth Movement in Rat.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: BoneCeramic can regenerate bone in alveolar defects, but it remains
      unknown whether it is feasible to move a tooth through BoneCeramic grafting
      sites. The objective of this study was to investigate three-dimensional real-time
      bone responses and micromechanical properties in the grafting sites during
      orthodontic tooth movement. METHODS: Sixty 5-week-old rats were randomly assigned
      into three groups to receive BoneCeramic, natural bovine cancellous bone
      particles (Bio-Oss), and no graft, respectively, after the extraction of the left
      maxillary first molar. After 4 weeks, the maxillary left second molar was moved
      into the extraction for 28 days. Dynamic bone microstructures and root resorption
      were evaluated using in vivo micro-computed tomography and histology. Stress
      distribution of tooth roots and biomechanical properties of corresponding bone
      tissue were examined by finite element methods and nanoindentation. Mixed-model
      analysis of variance was performed to compare the difference among time points
      with Bonferroni post hoc tests at the significance level of P < .05. RESULTS: The
      BoneCeramic group had the least amount of tooth movement and root resorption
      volume and craters, highest bone volume fraction, trabecular number, mean
      trabecular thickness, microhardness, and elastic modulus, followed by Bio-Oss and
      the control group. The highest stress accumulated in the cervical region of the
      mesial roots. CONCLUSION: BoneCeramic has better osteoconductive potential and
      biomechanical properties and induces less root resorption compared with Bio-Oss
      grafting and naturally recovered extraction site.

PMID- 27618616
TI  - Celebrating the PA profession's 50th anniversary.

PMID- 27618614
TI  - Simonart's Band: Its Effect on Cleft Classification and Recommendations for
      Standardized Nomenclature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Accurate classification of cleft lip plays an important role in
      communication, treatment planning, and comparison of outcomes across centers.
      Although there is reasonable consensus in defining cleft types, the presence of
      Simonart's band can make classification challenging. Our objective was to survey
      cleft care providers to determine what all consider to be Simonart's band, how
      its presence effects cleft lip classification, and to provide recommendations for
      standardized nomenclature. DESIGN: A multiple-choice survey was e-mailed to 1815
      members of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association, assessing each
      respondent's definition of Simonart's band and its effect on cleft
      classification. Cleft classification was drawn from the ICD system diagnosis
      billing codes. Descriptive analysis was performed. RESULTS: Three hundred seventy
      three providers completed the survey (20.5% response), the majority of whom were
      surgeons (61.5%); 87.1% agreed with the definition that a Simonart's band is "any
      soft tissue bridge located at the base of the nostril or more internally, between
      the segmented ridges." However, only 41.8% felt that the presence of a Simonart's
      band rendered a cleft lip incomplete; 54.4% felt that an alveolar cleft was the
      defining difference between a complete and an incomplete cleft lip. When asked to
      define the child with a cleft involving the upper lip that extends into the naris
      but interrupted by a soft tissue bridge located only at the base of the nostril
      or more internally, without a cleft of the alveolar ridge and palate, 61.4%
      classified this as an incomplete cleft lip, 32.7% as a complete cleft lip, and
      5.9% as an unspecified cleft lip. CONCLUSIONS: Responses revealed wide
      discrepancy in the classification of cleft phenotypes and in the interpretation
      of the significance of anatomical components in the classification of a cleft
      lip. We discuss the difficulty in aligning classification based on unclear
      definition of terms and variable anatomic parameters. We highlight this issue in
      the face of a need for comparability in clinical evidence-based practices. To
      ensure precision and uniformity in cleft classification, we recommend that use of
      the term "Simonart's band" be abandoned while incorporating a notation of the
      integrity of the nasal sill into the LAHSHAL system. We propose a uniform
      definition of incomplete versus complete cleft lip, wherein a cleft lip will be
      classified as complete in the presence or absence of narrow bands of tissue
      present at the base of the nasal sill or more internally.

PMID- 27618618
TI  - Correction: On the Apportionment of Population Structure.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160413.].

PMID- 27618617
TI  - Gender Differences in Appropriate Shocks and Mortality among Patients with
      Primary Prophylactic Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators: Systematic Review
      and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some but not all prior studies have shown that women receiving a
      primary prophylactic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) have a lower
      risk of death and appropriate shocks than men. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of
      gender on the risk of appropriate shock, all-cause mortality and inappropriate
      shock in contemporary studies of patients receiving a primary prophylactic ICD.
      DATA SOURCE: PubMed, LIVIVO, Cochrane CENTRAL between 2010 and 2016. STUDY
      SELECTION: Studies providing at least 1 gender-specific risk estimate for the
      outcomes of interest. DATA EXTRACTION: Abstracts were screened independently for
      potentially eligible studies for inclusion. Thereby each abstract was reviewed by
      at least two authors. DATA SYNTHESIS: Out of 680 abstracts retained by our search
      strategy, 20 studies including 46'657 patients had gender-specific information on
      at least one of the relevant endpoints. Mean age across the individual studies
      varied between 58 and 69 years. The proportion of women enrolled ranged from 10%
      to 30%. Across 6 available studies, women had a significantly lower risk of first
      appropriate shock compared with men (pooled multivariable adjusted hazard ratio
      0.62 (95% CI [0.44; 0.88]). Across 14 studies reporting multivariable adjusted
      gender-specific hazard ratio estimates for all-cause mortality, women had a lower
      risk of death than men (pooled hazard ratio 0.75 (95% CI [0.66; 0.86]). There was
      no statistically significant difference for the incidence of first inappropriate
      shocks (3 studies, pooled hazard ratio 0.99 (95% CI [0.56; 1.73]). LIMITATIONS:
      Individual patient data were not available for most studies. CONCLUSION: In this
      large contemporary meta-analysis, women had a significantly lower risk of
      appropriate shocks and death than men, but a similar risk of inappropriate
      shocks. These data may help to select patients who benefit from primary
      prophylactic ICD implantation.

PMID- 27618619
TI  - Investigating the Effect of Different Treatments with Lactic Acid Bacteria on the
      Fate of Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus Infection in Galleria
      mellonella Larvae.
AB  - The use of Galleria mellonella as a model host to elucidate microbial
      pathogenesis and search for novel drugs and therapies has been well appreciated
      over the past years. However, the effect of microorganisms with functional appeal
      in the specific host remains scarce. The present study investigates the effect of
      treatment with selected lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with probiotic potential, as
      potential protective agents by using live or heat-killed cells at 6 and 24 h
      prior to infection with Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus or as
      potential therapeutic agents by using cell-free supernatants (CFS) after
      infection with the same pathogens. The employed LAB strains were Lactobacillus
      pentosus B281 and Lactobacillus plantarum B282 (isolated from table olive
      fermentations) along with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (inhabitant of human
      intestinal tract). Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted while the pathogen's
      persistence in the larval hemolymph was determined by microbiological analysis.
      It was observed that the time (6 or 24 h) and type (live or heat-killed cells) of
      challenge period with LAB prior to infection greatly affected the survival of
      infected larvae. The highest decrease of L. monocytogenes population in the
      hemolymph was observed in groups challenged for 6 h with heat-killed cells by an
      average of 1.8 log units compared to non challenged larvae for strains B281 (p
      0.0322), B282 (p 0.0325), and LGG (p 0.0356). In the case of S. aureus infection,
      the population of the pathogen decreased in the hemolymph by 1 log units at 8 h
      post infection in the groups challenged for 6 h with heat-killed cells of strains
      B281 (p 0.0161) and B282 (p 0.0096) and by 1.8 log units in groups challenged
      with heat-killed cells of LGG strain (p 0.0175). Further use of CFS of each LAB
      strain did not result in any significant prolonged survival but interestingly it
      resulted in pronounced decrease of L. monocytogenes in the hemolymph at 24 h and
      48 h after infection by more than 1 log unit (p < 0.05) depending on the strain.
      The results of the present work support the broader use of G. mellonella larvae
      as a low cost in vivo tool for screening for probiotic properties. 

PMID- 27618620
TI  - Diurnal Cortisol Patterns and Dexamethasone Suppression Test Responses in Healthy
      Young Adults Born Preterm at Very Low Birth Weight.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early life stress, such as painful and stressful procedures during
      neonatal intensive care after preterm birth, can permanently affect
      physiological, hormonal and neurobiological systems. This may contribute to
      altered programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) and provoke
      changes in HPAA function with long-term health impacts. Previous studies suggest
      a lower HPAA response to stress in young adults born preterm compared with
      controls born at term. We assessed whether these differences in HPAA stress
      responsiveness are reflected in everyday life HPAA functioning, i.e. in diurnal
      salivary cortisol patterns, and reactivity to a low-dose dexamethasone
      suppression test (DST), in unimpaired young adults born preterm at very low birth
      weight (VLBW; <1500 g). METHODS: The participants were recruited from the
      Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults cohort study. At mean age 23.3
      years (2.1 SD), 49 VLBW and 36 controls born at term participated in the study.
      For cortisol analyzes, saliva samples were collected on two consecutive days at
      0, 15, 30 and 60 min after wake-up, at 12:00 h, 17:00 h and 22:00 h. After the
      last salivary sample of the first study day the participants were instructed to
      take a 0.5 mg dexamethasone tablet. RESULTS: With mixed-effects model no
      difference was seen in overall diurnal salivary cortisol between VLBW and control
      groups [13.9% (95% CI: -11.6, 47.0), P = 0.31]. Salivary cortisol increased
      similarly after awakening in both VLBW and control participants [mean difference 
      2.9% (29.2, 33.0), P = 0.85]. Also reactivity to the low-dose DST (awakening
      cortisol ratio day2/day1) was similar between VLBW and control groups [-1.1% (
      53.5, 103.8), P = 0.97)]. CONCLUSIONS: Diurnal cortisol patterns and reactivity
      to a low-dose DST in young adulthood were not associated with preterm birth.

PMID- 27618621
TI  - ABO blood group antigen mismatch has an impact on outcome after allogeneic
      peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.
AB  - ABO blood group antigen incompatibility (ABO mismatch) is not an obstacle to
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). However, the impact on clinical
      outcome after allo-SCT remains controversial. We analyzed 512 patients after
      allogeneic peripheral blood SCT (allo-PBSCT) for an association of ABO mismatch
      with transfusion requirements, myeloid and platelet engraftment, the incidence of
      GvHD, relapse, transplant-related mortality (TRM), and overall survival (OS). A
      total of 260 patients underwent ABO-mismatched transplantation and the control
      group consisted of 252 patients with ABO-matched allo-PBSCT. We found a
      significant association between major-0 ABO mismatch (group 0 recipient/group A,
      B, or AB donor) and increased red blood cell (RBC) and platelet transfusion
      requirements (both P<.001) as well as delayed platelet engraftment (P<.001).
      Minor-A (group A recipient/group 0 donor) and minor-AB (group AB recipient/group
      0, A, or B donor) ABO mismatch was significantly associated with an increased TRM
      after allo-PBSCT (P=.001 and P=.02). In multivariate analysis performed using Cox
      regression, minor ABO mismatch appeared as independent risk factor for TRM after
      allo-PBSCT. No association was found for ABO mismatch with the incidence of GvHD,
      relapse, and OS. Our results suggest that ABO blood group mismatch has a
      significant impact on the outcome and that minor-A and minor-AB ABO mismatch
      represents a risk factor for increased TRM after allo-PBSCT.

PMID- 27618622
TI  - Corrigendum: The Chemical Shift Baseline for High-Pressure NMR Spectra of
      Proteins.

PMID- 27618624
TI  - Sucrose esters improve the colloidal stability of nanoethosomal suspensions of (
      )-epigallocatechin gallate for enhancing the effectiveness against UVB-induced
      skin damage.
AB  - Nanoethosomal suspensions, composed of phospholipids, ethanol, and water, are
      novel lipid carriers. These suspensions have been reported to enhance the
      permeation of drugs into the skin as a result of the interdigitation effect of
      ethanol on the lipid bilayer of liposomes and by increasing the fluidity of
      lipids in the stratum corneum. The physical stability of the nanoethosomal
      suspension is still a critical research problem until now. This study
      investigated the commercial palm sucrose esters to improve the colloidal
      stability of nanoethosomal suspensions. The results indicated that palm sucrose
      esters (PSE) were effective for stabilizing nanoethosomal suspension of (-)
      epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea. A PSE concentration of 0.15% was
      optimal for a nanoethosomal suspension which gave mean diameter 75.5 +/- 3.5 nm,
      zeta potential -30.8 +/- 3.2 mV and polydispersity index 0.207 +/- 0.017.
      Moreover, the effectiveness of stabilization was influenced by the degree of
      esterification of the sucrose esters: the sucrose polyesters could prolong the
      stability of nanoethosomes loaded with EGCG to a year, but the sucrose monoesters
      only provided less than 6 months of stabilization. EGCG nanoethosomal suspension
      stabilized by sucrose polyesters shows better inhibition effectiveness against
      UVB-induced skin damage than native EGCG. The nanoethosomal suspension has the
      potential for its utilization as skin care and other products. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 2416-2425,
      2017.

PMID- 27618625
TI  - Improved Theory of Difference Vibrational Spectroscopy and Application to Water.
AB  - Measuring difference spectrum of two closely related systems is a versatile
      experimental method to highlight the difference in the two systems. However, the
      computation of a minuscule difference between two spectra by molecular dynamics
      (MD) simulation is far more challenging than that of each spectrum in terms of
      statistical convergence. Therefore, we have proposed a theory of difference
      spectra, which accelerates the calculation of difference spectra by several
      orders of magnitude [ Sakaguchi, S. et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2014 , 140 , 144109 ].
      The present paper reports our subsequent advances in the computational method to
      greatly improve its accuracy, numerical stability, and applicability. The present
      method of computation based on the nonequilibrium MD simulation allows for
      general molecular models including polarizable ones without sacrificing its
      computational efficiency. The improved method was applied to polarizable liquid
      water and yielded difference spectra of infrared, Raman, and vibrational sum
      frequency generation spectroscopies. The present method enables us to analyze
      various difference spectra of large molecular systems using MD simulation.

PMID- 27618626
TI  - Typhoidal Salmonellae: Use of Multi-Locus Sequence Typing to Determine Population
      Structure.
AB  - Enteric fever is an invasive infection predominantly caused by Salmonella
      enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A. The pathogens have evolved from other
      nontyphoidal salmonellaeto become invasive and host restricted. Emergence of
      antimicrobial resistance in typhoidal salmonellae in some countries is a major
      therapeutic concern as the travelers returning from endemic countries carry
      resistant strains to non endemic areas. In order to understand the epidemiology
      and to design disease control strategies molecular typing of the pathogen is very
      important. We performed Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) of 251 S. Typhi and 18
      S. Paratyphi strains isolated from enteric fever patients from seven centers
      across India during 2010-2013to determine the population structure and prevalence
      of MLST sequence types in India. MLST analysis revealed the presence of five
      sequence types (STs) of typhoidal salmonellae in India namely ST1, ST2 and ST3
      for S. Typhi and ST85 and ST129 for S. Paratyphi A.S. Typhi strains showed
      monophyletic lineage and clustered in to 3 Sequence Types-ST1, ST2 and ST3 and S.
      Paratyphi A isolates segregated in two sequence types ST85 and ST129
      respectively. No association was found between antimicrobial susceptibility and
      sequence types. This study found ST1 as the most prevalent sequence type of S.
      Typhi in India followed by ST2, which is in concordance with previous studies and
      MLST database. In addition a rare sequence type ST3 has been found which is
      reported for the first time from the Indian subcontinent. Amongst S. Paratyphi A,
      the most common sequence type is ST129 as also reported from other parts of
      world. This distribution and prevalence suggest the common spread of the sequence
      types across the globe and these findings can help in understanding the disease
      distribution. 

PMID- 27618630
TI  - Investigating the Control of Chlorophyll Degradation by Genomic Correlation
      Mining.
AB  - Chlorophyll degradation is an intricate process that is critical in a variety of
      plant tissues at different times during the plant life cycle. Many of the
      photoactive chlorophyll degradation intermediates are exceptionally cytotoxic
      necessitating that the pathway be carefully coordinated and regulated. The
      primary regulatory step in the chlorophyll degradation pathway involves the
      enzyme pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO), which oxidizes the chlorophyll
      intermediate pheophorbide a, that is eventually converted to non-fluorescent
      chlorophyll catabolites. There is evidence that PAO is differentially regulated
      across different environmental and developmental conditions with both
      transcriptional and post-transcriptional components, but the involved regulatory
      elements are uncertain or unknown. We hypothesized that transcription factors
      modulate PAO expression across different environmental conditions, such as cold
      and drought, as well as during developmental transitions to leaf senescence and
      maturation of green seeds. To test these hypotheses, several sets of Arabidopsis
      genomic and bioinformatic experiments were investigated and re-analyzed using
      computational approaches. PAO expression was compared across varied environmental
      conditions in the three separate datasets using regression modeling and
      correlation mining to identify gene elements co-expressed with PAO. Their
      functions were investigated as candidate upstream transcription factors or other
      regulatory elements that may regulate PAO expression. PAO transcript expression
      was found to be significantly up-regulated in warm conditions, during leaf
      senescence, and in drought conditions, and in all three conditions significantly
      positively correlated with expression of transcription factor Arabidopsis
      thaliana activating factor 1 (ATAF1), suggesting that ATAF1 is triggered in the
      plant response to these processes or abiotic stresses and in result up-regulates
      PAO expression. The proposed regulatory network includes the freezing,
      senescence, and drought stresses modulating factor ATAF1 and various other
      transcription factors and pathways, which in turn act to regulate chlorophyll
      degradation by up-regulating PAO expression. 

PMID- 27618631
TI  - Antimicrobial Resistance: Is the World UNprepared?
AB  - Long Blurb: On September 21st 2016 the United Nations General Assembly convenes
      in New York, United States to tackle a looming and seemingly inevitable global
      challenge with the potential to threaten the health and wellbeing of all people:
      antimicrobial resistance. In an Editorial, the PLOS Medicine Editors reflect on
      the challenge of coordinating the response to antimicrobial resistance in order
      to ensure the viability of current antimicrobials and the development of new
      therapies against resistant pathogens. Short Blurb: In this month's Editorial,
      the PLOS Medicine Editors reflect on the upcoming United Nations General Assembly
      meeting which convenes to discuss the global challenge of antimicrobial
      resistance.

PMID- 27618632
TI  - Clinical neuropsychology in South Korea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Clinical neuropsychology in South Korea, albeit its relatively short
      history, has advanced dramatically. We review a brief history and current status
      of clinical neuropsychology in South Korea. METHOD: The history, the educational
      pathway, the training pathway, the certification process, and careers in clinical
      neuropsychology in South Korea are reviewed. RESULTS: We have reviewed the
      neuropsychological services, including assessment and treatment, research on
      neurological and psychiatric populations, and neuropsychology education and the
      requirements related to education, training, and board examinations of those
      providing neuropsychological services in South Korea. We also describe how the
      Korean Society for Neuropsychology Research, the first and only meeting for
      neuropsychologists in the country established in 1999, has played a major role in
      how clinical neuropsychology is practiced and developed as a professional field
      in South Korea. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical neuropsychology in South Korea has achieved
      major progress over just a quarter of a century, and its future is promising in
      light of the increasing demand for neuropsychological services and advances in
      neuroscience in the country. Challenges that the community of clinical
      neuropsychologists are currently facing in South Korea, including formalizing
      neuropsychological curriculum and training programs and developing advanced
      credentialing procedures, are discussed.

PMID- 27618633
TI  - Predictive Parameters Identifying Men Eligible for a Sole MRI/Ultrasound Fusion
      Guided Targeted Biopsy without an Additional Systematic Biopsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evaluating the predictive factors that enable identifying men in which
      a sole MRI/ultrasound (MRI/US) fusion-guided targeted biopsy (TB) detects the
      maximal prostate cancer (PCa) risk group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective
      analysis of 251 consecutive patients who received a sensor-based, real-time
      MRI/US TB in combination with a 10-core systematic biopsy (SB) between August
      2013 and July 2015. Univariate and multivariate binary regression analyses were
      performed to evaluate the predictors for equal/superior detection of the PCa risk
      group by TB compared to SB. RESULTS: TB detected PCa in 63% (157/251); SB
      detected PCa in 70% (176/251); a combination of TB and SB detected PCa in 77%
      (193/251) of cancer patients. Fifty percent (291/584) of TB cores and 22%
      (539/2,486) of SB cores showed PCa. Predictors for equal/superior performance of
      a sole TB were lesion size (maximal diameter; OR 1.050, 95% CI 1.002-1.101, p =
      0.043), suspicious digital rectal examination (DRE; OR 2.448, 95% CI 1.062-5.645,
      p = 0.036) and free/total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ratio (f/t PSA ratio)
      <=0.15 (OR 0.916, 95% CI 0.867-0.967, p = 0.002) on univariate regression
      analysis and f/t PSA ratio <=0.15 (OR 0.916, 95% CI 0.867-0.967, p = 0.002) on
      multivariate regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The maximal axial diameter of the
      Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System-lesion and f/t PSA ratio and a
      suspicious DRE are possible selection criteria for men eligible for a sole MRI/US
      fusion-guided targeted prostate biopsy.

PMID- 27618635
TI  - Diffusion Hypoxia and/or Primary Mitochondrial Failure?-Reply.

PMID- 27618634
TI  - Health information sharing on Facebook: An exploratory study on diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasingly, people are using Facebook (FB) to share health
      information. However, little is known about the type of information sharing and
      its potential health consequences in the Arabic speaking world. This study
      attempts to fill this knowledge gap for diabetes mellitus (DM). METHOD: We
      conducted a retrospective qualitative FB content analysis using predefined
      eligibility criteria. The analysis was restricted to diabetes related groups in
      the Arabic speaking world. The data were collected between June 2010 and December
      2015. A total of 55 groups were screened of which seven met the eligibility
      criteria. RESULTS: We found 6107 posts in Arabic related to DM of which 1551
      posts were included for further analysis. There were 458 (30%) FB posts from
      Egypt with no posts from Somalia, Yemen, Comoros, and Djibouti. The majority of
      the posts, 863 (56%), were from females. The focus of the posts was on sharing
      personal experiences (n=423, 27%), raising awareness (n=210, 3.5%), providing
      spiritual support (n=162, 10.4%), sharing latest research (n=147, 9.5%), and
      providing education (n=110, 7.1%) on DM. A large number of the posts by people in
      40-60 year age group were around finding out diagnosis related information due to
      limited access to care in their home countries. CONCLUSION: Patients with DM are
      increasingly sharing their health information with other FB users. This study
      will help inform future research with regard to health information sharing and
      designing appropriate interventions to harness the power of social media in
      improving public health.

PMID- 27618636
TI  - Low rates of pregnancy screening in adolescents before teratogenic exposures in a
      national sample of children's hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescents with cancer engage in sexual behaviors and are exposed to
      teratogenic chemotherapy. There are no data regarding pregnancy screening
      patterns for adolescents before chemotherapy exposure. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      study of leukemia and emergency room (ER) admissions in the Pediatric Health
      Information System from 1999 to 2011 was conducted. Females who were 10 to 18
      years old and 1) had newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute
      myeloid leukemia (AML) or 2) had ER visits with computed tomography (CT) of the
      abdomen/pelvis were included. The exposure was a hospital visit with either
      chemotherapy or an abdominal/pelvic CT scan. The main outcome was a pregnancy
      test billed on the same day or before the teratogenic exposure within the same
      index admission. Log-binomial regressions were used to compute prevalence ratios
      and 95% confidence intervals comparing pregnancy screening in the leukemia and ER
      cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 35,650 admissions were identified. The proportion of
      visits with an appropriately timed pregnancy test was 35%, 64%, and 58% in the
      ALL (n = 889), AML (n = 127), and ER cohorts (n = 34,634), respectively. Patients
      with ALL were significantly less likely to have a pregnancy test than the ER
      cohort (adjusted prevalence ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.65-0.78), but
      there was no significant difference between the AML and ER cohorts (adjusted
      prevalence ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.27). There was
      substantial hospital-level variation in pregnancy screening patterns.
      CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with acute leukemia and ER visits have low rates of
      pregnancy screening before teratogenic exposures. Standardized practice
      guidelines for pregnancy screening among adolescents may improve screening rates.
      Cancer 2016;122:3394-3400. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27618638
TI  - Catalytic Enantioselective Carbon-Oxygen Bond Formation: Phosphine-Catalyzed
      Synthesis of Benzylic Ethers via the Oxidation of Benzylic C-H Bonds.
AB  - Benzylic alcohols and ethers are common subunits in bioactive molecules, as well
      as useful intermediates in organic chemistry. In this Communication, we describe
      a new approach to the enantioselective synthesis of benzylic ethers through the
      chiral phosphine-catalyzed coupling of two readily available partners, gamma-aryl
      substituted alkynoates and alcohols, under mild conditions. In this process, the
      alkynoate partner undergoes an internal redox reaction. Specifically, the
      benzylic position is oxidized with good enantioselectivity, and the alkyne is
      reduced to the alkene.

PMID- 27618637
TI  - Modeling Viral Spread.
AB  - The way in which a viral infection spreads within a host is a complex process
      that is not well understood. Different viruses, such as human immunodeficiency
      virus type 1 and hepatitis C virus, have evolved different strategies, including
      direct cell-to-cell transmission and cell-free transmission, to spread within a
      host. To what extent these two modes of transmission are exploited in vivo is
      still unknown. Mathematical modeling has been an essential tool to get a better
      systematic and quantitative understanding of viral processes that are difficult
      to discern through strictly experimental approaches. In this review, we discuss
      recent attempts that combine experimental data and mathematical modeling in order
      to determine and quantify viral transmission modes. We also discuss the current
      challenges for a systems-level understanding of viral spread, and we highlight
      the promises and challenges that novel experimental techniques and data will
      bring to the field.

PMID- 27618639
TI  - Improving homework performance among children with ADHD: A randomized clinical
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evidence indicates that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
      Disorder (ADHD) experience acute and prolonged academic impairment and
      underachievement including marked difficulty with completing homework. This study
      is the first to examine the effects of behavioral, psychostimulant, and combined
      treatments on homework problems, which have been shown to predict academic
      performance longitudinally. METHOD: Children with ADHD (ages 5-12, N = 75, 71%
      male, 83% Hispanic/Latino) and their families were randomly assigned to either
      behavioral treatment (homework-focused parent training and a daily report card;
      BPT + DRC) or a waitlist control group. Children also participated in a
      concurrent psychostimulant crossover trial conducted in a summer treatment
      program. Children's objective homework completion and accuracy were measured as
      well as parent-reported child homework behaviors and parenting skills. RESULTS:
      BPT + DRC had large effects on objective measures of homework completion and
      accuracy (Cohen's ds from 1.40 to 2.21, ps < .001). Other findings, including
      unimodal medication and incremental combined treatment benefits, were not
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral treatment focused on homework problems
      results in clear benefits for children's homework completion and accuracy (the
      difference between passing and failing, on average), whereas long-acting
      stimulant medication resulted in limited and largely nonsignificant acute effects
      on homework performance. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618640
TI  - Efficacy of a family-focused intervention for young drivers with attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Teenage drivers diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) are at significant risk for negative driving outcomes related to
      morbidity and mortality. However, there are few viable psychosocial treatments
      for teens with ADHD and none focus on the key functional area of driving. The
      Supporting the Effective Entry to the Roadway (STEER) program was evaluated in a
      clinical trial to investigate whether it improved family functioning as a
      proximal outcome and driving behavior as a distal outcome. METHOD: One hundred
      seventy-two teenagers with ADHD, combined type, were randomly assigned to STEER
      or a driver education driver practice program (DEDP). RESULTS: Relative to
      parents in the DEDP condition, parents in STEER were observed to be less negative
      at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up but not at 12-month follow-up, and there
      were no significant differences for observed positive parenting. Relative to
      teens in the DEDP condition, teens in STEER reported lower levels of risky
      driving behaviors at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up, but not at 12-month
      follow-up. Groups did not differ on objective observations of risky driving or
      citations/accidents. CONCLUSIONS: The STEER program for novice drivers with ADHD
      was effective in reducing observations of negative parenting behavior and teen
      self-reports of risky driving relative to DEDP; groups did not significantly
      differ on observations of positive parenting or driving behaviors. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27618641
TI  - In-session caregiver behavior predicts symptom change in youth receiving trauma
      focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Involving caregivers in trauma-focused treatments for youth has been
      shown to result in better outcomes, but it is not clear which in-session
      caregiver behaviors enhance or inhibit this effect. The current study examined
      the associations between caregiver behaviors during Trauma-Focused Cognitive
      Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and youth cognitive processes and symptoms. METHOD:
      Participants were a racially diverse sample of Medicaid-eligible youth (ages 7
      17) and their nonoffending caregivers (N = 71 pairs) who received TF-CBT through
      an effectiveness study in a community setting. Caregiver and youth processes were
      coded from audio-recorded sessions, and outcomes were measured using the Child
      Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; UPID) at 3, 6, 9,
      and 12 months postintake. RESULTS: Piecewise linear growth curve modeling
      revealed that during the trauma narrative phase of TF-CBT, caregivers' cognitive
      emotional processing of their own and their child's trauma-related reactions
      predicted decreases in youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms over
      treatment. Caregiver support predicted lower internalizing symptoms over follow
      up. In contrast, caregiver avoidance and blame of the child predicted worsening
      of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms over follow-up. Caregiver
      avoidance early in treatment also predicted worsening of externalizing symptoms
      over follow-up. During the narrative phase, caregiver blame and avoidance were
      correlated with more child overgeneralization of trauma beliefs, and blame was
      also associated with less child accommodation of balanced beliefs. CONCLUSIONS:
      The association between in-session caregiver behaviors and youth symptomatology
      during and after TF-CBT highlights the importance of assessing and targeting
      these behaviors to improve clinical outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27618643
TI  - Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Persons with Medically Unexplained
      Symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Research on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older persons
      with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) is scarce, and, in contrast with
      younger patients, interactions with chronic somatic diseases are more complex.
      DESIGN: In the current study we compared HRQoL between older persons with MUS and
      older persons with medically explained symptoms (MES). Our study sample consisted
      of 118 older MUS-patients and 154 older MES-patients. SETTING/MEASUREMENTS: The
      diagnosis of MUS was ascertained by the general practitioner and confirmed by a
      geriatrician within a multidisciplinary diagnostic assessment. Additional
      characteristics, including the HRQoL (Short Form-36), were assessed during a home
      visit. MES-patients received two home visits to assess all measures. Multiple
      linear regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, education, cognitive
      functioning, and psychiatric diagnoses, were performed to assess the relationship
      between group (MUS/MES) and HRQoL. Analyses were repeated with additional
      adjustments for somatization and hypochondriacal cognitions. RESULTS: Older
      patients with MUS had a significantly lower level of HRQoL compared with older
      patients with MES. Even after adjustments, the presence of MUS was still
      associated with both a lower physical and mental HRQoL. These associations
      disappeared, however, after additional adjustments for somatization and
      hypochondriacal cognitions. Within the subgroup of MUS-patients, higher levels of
      hypochondriac anxiety and of somatization were significantly associated with both
      lower physical and mental HRQoL. CONCLUSIONS: Associations between HRQoL and late
      life MUS disappear when corrected for somatization and hypochondriacal
      cognitions, which is in line with the DSM-5 classification of somatic symptom
      disorder. Appropriate psychological treatment seems needed to improve HRQoL in
      older MUS-patients.

PMID- 27618642
TI  - Consensus conference on the appropriateness of palivizumab prophylaxis in
      respiratory syncytial virus disease.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus infection represents a clinical burden among young
      children under 24 months. Palivizumab is the only drug licensed in Italy for the
      prevention of serious lower respiratory tract disease requiring hospitalization
      caused by respiratory syncytial virus in children at high risk. However
      recommendations for palivizumab prophylaxis are heterogeneous. Not all the
      published documents agree about the clinical indications of palivizumab; this
      could lead to different clinical practices and concerns about the appropriateness
      of prophylaxis. These issues and the lack of evidence about palivizumab
      prophylaxis efficacy in specific medical conditions brought on the idea of a
      consensus conference on the current recommendations for the management and
      prevention of bronchiolitis, in order to share useful indications. The goal was
      to perform a review of the evidence regarding the efficacy and the safety of
      palivizumab and give recommendations in order to harmonize its use. A structured
      and validated method to conduct the consensus process was adopted. The consensus
      conference recommends palivizumab prophylaxis in infants born before 29 weeks and
      younger than 12 months at the start of the epidemic season. According to evidence
      from literature and experts' opinion, palivizumab prophylaxis is not recommended
      in preterm infants of gestational age >=29 weeks, without co-morbidity (i.e.,
      cardiac, bronchopulmonary diseases). The experts identified some clinical rare
      conditions for which the decision of prophylaxis should be entrusted to the
      specialists. The evaluation of the appropriateness of palivizumab prophylaxis in
      the single patient should be documented by the specialists. Pediatr Pulmonol.
      2016;51:1088-1096. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618644
TI  - Executive Function and Personality Predict Instrumental Activities of Daily
      Living in Alzheimer Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous research shows that executive function (EF) and personality
      independently predict functional decline. Our objective was to determine whether
      personality traits predict independence with instrumental activities of daily
      living (IADLs), after accounting for executive dysfunction, in a mixed sample of
      patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease
      (AD). METHODS: In a cross-sectional analysis at a university medical center, 63
      healthy older adults (median age: 67.6 years; 71% women) and 119 patients (median
      age: 75.0 years; 58% women) with varying degrees of AD (probable AD: 85; possible
      AD: 3; amnestic MCI: 31) were studied. Standardized neuropsychological measures,
      NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and informant-report Lawton and Brody IADL
      scales were used. All participants underwent neuropsychological evaluation,
      including administration of self- and informant-report NEO-FFI. Patients
      additionally underwent neurologic examination, and their informants completed the
      Lawton and Brody IADL scale. RESULTS: When testing the association between EF and
      personality on IADLs in the patient sample, conceptual card sorting, informant
      report Openness, and informant-report Conscientiousness all significantly
      predicted IADLs, after accounting for age, education, and depression. In
      addition, a significant interaction showed that low Conscientiousness and
      executive dysfunction, in combination, can predict impairment of IADLs.
      CONCLUSION: Personality has a unique association with IADLs in patients with AD
      pathology that is not explained by EF. The findings confirm prior speculation
      that personality, in addition to cognitive dysfunction, is a risk factor for
      functional decline. Early identification of vulnerable individuals may allow for
      intervention to prolong functional independence.

PMID- 27618645
TI  - Dissociation in Rating Negative Facial Emotions between Behavioral Variant
      Frontotemporal Dementia and Major Depressive Disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Features of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) such as
      executive dysfunction, apathy, and impaired empathic abilities are also observed
      in major depressive disorder (MDD). This may contribute to the reason why early
      stage bvFTD is often misdiagnosed as MDD. New assessment tools are thus needed to
      improve early diagnosis of bvFTD. Although emotion processing is affected in
      bvFTD and MDD, growing evidence indicates that the pattern of emotion processing
      deficits varies between the two disorders. As such, emotion processing paradigms
      have substantial potentials to distinguish bvFTD from MDD. DESIGN AND
      PARTICIPANTS: The current study compared 25 patients with bvFTD, 21 patients with
      MDD, 21 patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia, and 31 healthy
      participants on a novel facial emotion intensity rating task. Stimuli comprised
      morphed faces from the Ekman and Friesen stimulus set containing faces of each
      sex with two different degrees of emotion intensity for each of the six basic
      emotions. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Analyses of covariance uncovered a
      significant dissociation between bvFTD and MDD patients in rating the intensity
      of negative emotions overall (i.e., bvFTD patients underrated negative emotions
      overall, whereas MDD patients overrated negative emotions overall compared with
      healthy participants). In contrast, AD dementia patients rated negative emotions
      similarly to healthy participants, suggesting no impact of cognitive deficits on
      rating facial emotions. CONCLUSIONS: By strongly differentiating bvFTD and
      MDDpatients through negative facial emotions, this sensitive and short rating
      task might help improve the early diagnosis of bvFTD.

PMID- 27618647
TI  - Prevalence of DSM-5 Mild Neurocognitive Disorder in Dementia-Free Older Adults:
      Results of the Population-Based LIFE-Adult-Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The DSM-5 introduces mild neurocognitive disorder (miNCD) as a
      syndrome that recognizes the potential clinical importance of acquired cognitive
      deficits being too mild to qualify for diagnosis of dementia. We provide new
      empirical data on miNCD including total, age-, and sex-specific prevalence rates;
      number and types of neurocognitive domains being impaired; and diagnostic overlap
      with the well-established mild cognitive impairment (MCI) concept. DESIGN: Cross
      sectional results of an observational cohort study (LIFE-Adult-Study). SETTING:
      General population. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1,080 dementia-free individuals,
      aged 60-79 years. MEASUREMENTS: We calculated weighted point prevalence rates
      with confidence intervals (95% CI) for miNCD and analyzed diagnostic overlap
      between miNCD and MCI by calculating overall percentage agreement and Cohen's
      kappa coefficient. RESULTS: Weighted total prevalence of miNCD was 20.3% (95% CI:
      17.8-23.0). Prevalence was similar in both sexes, but significantly higher in
      older age. Two-thirds (66.2%) of the individuals with miNCD showed impairment
      restricted to only one out of six possible neurocognitive domains. Learning and
      memory was the most frequently (38.3%) impaired domain in all miNCD-cases,
      followed by social cognition (26.1%). Analysis of diagnostic overlap with MCI
      yielded an overall agreement of 98.6% and a kappa of 0.959. CONCLUSIONS: By
      considering all six predefined neurocognitive domains, our study observed a
      substantial proportion of dementia-free older adults having miNCD. Provision of
      information on the underlying etiology/ies may be of prime importance in future
      studies aiming at evaluating the clinical relevance of the miNCD syndrome.

PMID- 27618646
TI  - The Depressed Frail Phenotype: The Clinical Manifestation of Increased Biological
      Aging.
AB  - Depression in later life is a severe public health problem, associated with
      higher rates of mortality, suicide, and dementia. Effectiveness of treatment is
      limited by the failure to deconstruct the heterogeneity of the illness and
      because diagnostic criteria, pathophysiological models, and treatment algorithms
      for depression are primarily based on studies of younger adults even though
      symptoms of the illness and physiology of the patient change with age. Thus,
      understanding how aging interacts with depressive illness may elucidate
      endophenotypes of late-life depression with different clinical manifestations and
      underlying mechanisms that can then be targeted with more personalized approaches
      to treatment. This paper proposes a model for the critical confluence between
      depression and frailty, a high-risk morbidity and mortality syndrome of later
      life. This model hypothesizes that characteristics of frailty in adults with late
      life depression represent the clinical manifestation of greater biological aging
      and their presence in the context of a depressive illness exposes elders to
      deleterious trajectories. Potential common biological substrates that may result
      in the manifestation of the depressed frail phenotype including mitochondrial
      functioning, dopaminergic neurotransmission, and inflammatory processes and
      implications for the assessment and treatment of adults with late-life depression
      are discussed. As society continues to live longer, the preservation of the
      quality of these added years becomes paramount, and the combined impact of
      depression and frailty on the preservation of this quality warrants the attention
      of clinical researchers and physicians.

PMID- 27618648
TI  - Independent and joint associations of physical activity and fitness with
      fibromyalgia symptoms and severity: The al-Andalus project.
AB  - We examined independent and joint associations of objectively measured physical
      activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) with pain, fatigue and the overall impact
      of fibromyalgia in 386 fibromyalgia women aged 51.2 +/- 7.6 years. Levels of PA
      (light, moderate and vigorous) and PF were measured with triaxial accelerometry
      and the Senior Fitness Test, respectively. We used the Short-Form health survey
      36 pain sub-scale and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory to assess pain and
      multiple dimensions of fatigue, respectively. The impact of fibromyalgia was
      studied with the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR). Both, total PA
      and global PF were independently associated with pain pressure threshold, SF-36
      pain, reduced activity, reduced motivation and FIQR total score (all, P <=
      0.027). The associations between total PA and symptoms were weaker than those
      observed between global PF and symptoms. Overall, unfit patients with low PA
      showed a worse profile that fit patients with high PA (all, P <= 0.001). In
      summary, PA and PF are independently associated with pain, fatigue and the
      overall impact of fibromyalgia in women. Although PF presented greater
      associations with symptoms, the results suggest that both being physically active
      and keep adequate fitness levels might be convenient for fibromyalgia women.

PMID- 27618649
TI  - HAUSP deubiquitinates and stabilizes N-Myc in neuroblastoma.
AB  - The MYCN proto-oncogene is amplified in a number of advanced-stage human tumors,
      such as neuroblastomas. Similar to other members of the MYC family of
      oncoproteins, MYCN (also known as N-Myc) is a transcription factor, and its
      stability and activity are tightly controlled by ubiquitination-dependent
      proteasome degradation. Although numerous studies have demonstrated that N-Myc is
      a driver of neuroblastoma tumorigenesis, therapies that directly suppress N-Myc
      activity in human tumors are limited. Here we have identified ubiquitin-specific
      protease 7 (USP7; also known as HAUSP) as a regulator of N-Myc function in
      neuroblastoma. HAUSP interacts with N-Myc, and HAUSP expression induces
      deubiquitination and subsequent stabilization of N-Myc. Conversely, RNA
      interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of USP7 in neuroblastoma cancer cell
      lines, or genetic ablation of Usp7 in the mouse brain, destabilizes N-Myc, which
      leads to inhibition of N-Myc function. Notably, HAUSP is more abundant in
      patients with neuroblastoma who have poorer prognosis, and HAUSP expression
      substantially correlates with N-Myc transcriptional activity. Furthermore, small
      molecule inhibitors of HAUSP's deubiquitinase activity markedly suppress the
      growth of MYCN-amplified human neuroblastoma cell lines in xenograft mouse
      models. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a crucial role of HAUSP in
      regulating N-Myc function in vivo and suggest that HAUSP inhibition is a
      potential therapy for MYCN-amplified tumors.

PMID- 27618650
TI  - The long noncoding RNA Chaer defines an epigenetic checkpoint in cardiac
      hypertrophy.
AB  - Epigenetic reprogramming is a critical process of pathological gene induction
      during cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling, but the underlying regulatory
      mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here we identified a heart-enriched long
      noncoding (lnc)RNA, named cardiac-hypertrophy-associated epigenetic regulator
      (Chaer), which is necessary for the development of cardiac hypertrophy.
      Mechanistically, Chaer directly interacts with the catalytic subunit of polycomb
      repressor complex 2 (PRC2). This interaction, which is mediated by a 66-mer motif
      in Chaer, interferes with PRC2 targeting to genomic loci, thereby inhibiting
      histone H3 lysine 27 methylation at the promoter regions of genes involved in
      cardiac hypertrophy. The interaction between Chaer and PRC2 is transiently
      induced after hormone or stress stimulation in a process involving mammalian
      target of rapamycin complex 1, and this interaction is a prerequisite for
      epigenetic reprogramming and induction of genes involved in hypertrophy.
      Inhibition of Chaer expression in the heart before, but not after, the onset of
      pressure overload substantially attenuates cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction.
      Our study reveals that stress-induced pathological gene activation in the heart
      requires a previously uncharacterized lncRNA-dependent epigenetic checkpoint.

PMID- 27618656
TI  - Predictors and outcomes of moderately severe acute pancreatitis - Evidence to
      reclassify.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: After the creation of the moderately severe acute
      pancreatitis (MSAP) category in the Revised Atlanta Classification in 2012,
      predictors to identify these patients early have not been identified. The MSAP
      category includes patients with (peri)pancreatic necrosis, fluid collections, and
      transient organ failure in the same category. However, these outcomes have not
      been studied to determine whether they result in similar outcomes to merit
      inclusion in the same severity. METHODS: Retrospective, review of 514
      consecutive, direct admissions for acute pancreatitis from 2010 to 2013.
      Multivariate logistic regression identified predictors of MSAP. RESULTS:
      Persistent SIRS was the best prognostic marker of MSAP with AUC 0.72. The
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value,
      and accuracy for persistent SIRS to predict MSAP are: 55%, 88%, 40%, 93%, and
      84%. Patients with necrosis had significantly longer length of stay (LOS) (p =
      0.0001) and higher rates of ICU admission (p = 0.02) compared with patients with
      transient organ failure. Compared to those with acute fluid collections, patients
      with necrosis had longer LOS (p < 0.0001), higher rates of ICU admission (p =
      0.0005), required more interventions (p = 0.001), and demonstrated higher
      mortality (0.003). DISCUSSION: Moderately severe pancreatitis can be
      distinguished from mild pancreatitis on the basis of persistent SIRS but cannot
      be accurately distinguished from severe pancreatitis in the first 48 h
      (Peri)pancreatic necrosis demonstrates significantly more morbidity compared to
      the other components of MSAP of fluid collections and transient organ failure.

PMID- 27618657
TI  - Efficacy of pancreatic exocrine replacement therapy for patients with
      unresectable pancreatic cancer in a randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weight loss in pancreatic cancer is associated with maldigestion due
      to pancreatic duct obstruction. Pancreatic exocrine replacement therapy (PERT)
      may significantly improve fat and protein absorption. OBJECTIVES: This
      prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial assessed
      whether PERT could reduce or prevent weight loss in patients with unresectable
      pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Sixty seven patients with unresectable pancreatic
      cancer were randomized to receive enteric coated PERT, consisting of 6-9 capsules
      of pancreatin (457.7 mg/capsule), or placebo. Patients took two capsules each
      three times daily during main meals and one capsule each up to three times daily
      when having between-meal snacks. The primary endpoint was the percentage change
      in body weight at eight weeks. RESULTS: The mean percentage change in body weight
      (1.49% [1.12 kg] vs. 2.99% [1.63 kg], P = 0.381) and the mean percent change in
      Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) score (8.85% vs. 15.69%,
      p = 0.18) did not differ significantly between the PERT and placebo groups. There
      was no improvement in quality of life and overall survival did not differ
      significantly between the PERT and placebo groups (5.84 months vs 8.13 months, p
      = 0.744). CONCLUSIONS: PERT did not reduce weight loss in patients with
      unresectable pancreatic cancer. Larger randomized trials are needed to identify
      those patients who may benefit from PERT. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      Number NCT01587534.

PMID- 27618651
TI  - Fetal brain lesions after subcutaneous inoculation of Zika virus in a pregnant
      nonhuman primate.
AB  - We describe the development of fetal brain lesions after Zika virus (ZIKV)
      inoculation in a pregnant pigtail macaque. Periventricular lesions developed
      within 10 d and evolved asymmetrically in the occipital-parietal lobes. Fetal
      autopsy revealed ZIKV in the brain and significant cerebral white matter
      hypoplasia, periventricular white matter gliosis, and axonal and ependymal
      injury. Our observation of ZIKV-associated fetal brain lesions in a nonhuman
      primate provides a model for therapeutic evaluation.

PMID- 27618658
TI  - Pacing Strategy During 24-Hour Ultramarathon-Distance Running.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe pacing strategy in a 24-h running race and its interaction
      with sex, age group, athletes' performance group, and race edition. METHODS: Data
      from 398 male and 103 female participants of 5 editions were obtained based on a
      minimum 19.2-h effective-running cutoff. Mean running speed from each hour was
      normalized to the 24-h mean speed for analyses. RESULTS: Mean overall performance
      was 135.6 +/- 33.0 km with a mean effective-running time of 22.4 +/- 1.3 h.
      Overall data showed a reverse J-shaped pacing strategy, with a significant
      reduction in speed from the second-to-last to the last hour. Two-way mixed ANOVAs
      showed significant interactions between racing time and both athlete performance
      group (F = 7.01, P < .001, etap2 = .04) and race edition (F = 3.01, P < .001,
      etap2 = .02) but not between racing time and either sex (F = 1.57, P = .058, etap
      2 < .01) or age group (F = 1.25, P = .053, etap2 = .01). Pearson product-moment
      correlations showed an inverse moderate association between performance and
      normalized mean running speed in the first 2 h (r = -.58, P < .001) but not in
      the last 2 h (r = .03, P = .480). CONCLUSIONS: While the general behavior
      represents a rough reverse J-shaped pattern, the fastest runners start at lower
      relative intensities and display a more even pacing strategy than slower runners.
      The "herd behavior" seems to interfere with pacing strategy across editions, but
      not sex or age group of runners.

PMID- 27618652
TI  - Neonatal gut microbiota associates with childhood multisensitized atopy and T
      cell differentiation.
AB  - Gut microbiota bacterial depletions and altered metabolic activity at 3 months
      are implicated in childhood atopy and asthma. We hypothesized that
      compositionally distinct human neonatal gut microbiota (NGM) exist, and are
      differentially related to relative risk (RR) of childhood atopy and asthma. Using
      stool samples (n = 298; aged 1-11 months) from a US birth cohort and 16S rRNA
      sequencing, neonates (median age, 35 d) were divisible into three microbiota
      composition states (NGM1-3). Each incurred a substantially different RR for
      multisensitized atopy at age 2 years and doctor-diagnosed asthma at age 4 years.
      The highest risk group, labeled NGM3, showed lower relative abundance of certain
      bacteria (for example, Bifidobacterium, Akkermansia and Faecalibacterium), higher
      relative abundance of particular fungi (Candida and Rhodotorula) and a distinct
      fecal metabolome enriched for pro-inflammatory metabolites. Ex vivo culture of
      human adult peripheral T cells with sterile fecal water from NGM3 subjects
      increased the proportion of CD4+ cells producing interleukin (IL)-4 and reduced
      the relative abundance of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ cells. 12,13-DiHOME, enriched in NGM3
      versus lower-risk NGM states, recapitulated the effect of NGM3 fecal water on
      relative CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ cell abundance. These findings suggest that neonatal gut
      microbiome dysbiosis might promote CD4+ T cell dysfunction associated with
      childhood atopy.

PMID- 27618659
TI  - Intersectionality and Shared Decision Making in LGBTQ Health.

PMID- 27618660
TI  - Molecular Insights into the Mechanism of Calmodulin Inhibition of the EAG1
      Potassium Channel.
AB  - The human EAG1 potassium channel belongs to the superfamily of KCNH voltage-gated
      potassium channels that have roles in cardiac repolarization and neuronal
      excitability. EAG1 is strongly inhibited by Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM) through a
      mechanism that is not understood. We determined the binding properties of CaM
      with each one of three previously identified binding sites (BDN, BDC1, and BDC2),
      analyzed binding to protein stretches that include more than one site, and
      determined the effect of neighboring globular domains on the binding properties.
      The determination of the crystal structure of CaM bound to BDC2 shows the channel
      fragment interacting with only the C lobe of calmodulin and adopting an unusual
      bent conformation. Based on this structure and on a functional and biochemical
      analysis of mutants, we propose a model for the mechanism of inhibition whereby
      the local conformational change induced by CaM binding at BDC2 lies at the basis
      of channel modulation.

PMID- 27618661
TI  - From Nanodiscs to Isotropic Bicelles: A Procedure for Solution Nuclear Magnetic
      Resonance Studies of Detergent-Sensitive Integral Membrane Proteins.
AB  - Nanodiscs and isotropic bicelles are promising membrane mimetics in the field of
      solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of integral membrane
      proteins (IMPs). Despite varied challenges to solution NMR studies of IMPs, we
      attribute the paucity of solution NMR structures in these environments to the
      inability of diverse IMPs to withstand detergent treatment during standard
      nanodisc and bicelle preparations. Here, we present a strategy that creates small
      isotropic bicelles from IMPs co-translationally embedded in large nanodiscs using
      cell-free expression. Our results demonstrate appreciable gains in NMR spectral
      quality while preserving lipid-IMP contacts. We validate the approach on the
      detergent-sensitive LspA, which finally allowed us to perform high-quality triple
      resonance NMR experiments for structural studies. Our strategy of producing
      bicelles from nanodiscs comprehensively avoids detergent during expression and
      preparation and is suitable for solution NMR spectroscopy of lipid-IMP complexes.

PMID- 27618662
TI  - Activation by Allostery in Cell-Wall Remodeling by a Modular Membrane-Bound Lytic
      Transglycosylase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - Bacteria grow and divide without loss of cellular integrity. This accomplishment
      is notable, as a key component of their cell envelope is a surrounding
      glycopeptide polymer. In Gram-negative bacteria this polymer-the peptidoglycan
      grows by the difference between concurrent synthesis and degradation. The
      regulation of the enzymatic ensemble for these activities is poorly understood.
      We report herein the structural basis for the control of one such enzyme, the
      lytic transglycosylase MltF of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Its structure comprises
      two modules: an ABC-transporter-like regulatory module and a catalytic module.
      Occupancy of the regulatory module by peptidoglycan-derived muropeptides effects
      a dramatic and long-distance (40 A) conformational change, occurring over the
      entire protein structure, to open its active site for catalysis. This discovery
      of the molecular basis for the allosteric control of MltF catalysis is
      foundational to further study of MltF within the complex enzymatic orchestration
      of the dynamic peptidoglycan.

PMID- 27618663
TI  - Structure and Dynamics of PD-L1 and an Ultra-High-Affinity PD-1 Receptor Mutant.
AB  - The immune checkpoint receptor PD-1 and its ligand, PD-L1, have emerged as key
      regulators of anti-tumor immunity in humans. Recently, we reported an ultra-high
      affinity PD-1 mutant, termed high-affinity consensus (HAC) PD-1, which shows
      superior therapeutic efficacy in mice compared with antibodies. However, the
      molecular details underlying the action of this agent remain incompletely
      understood, and a molecular view of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions in general is only
      beginning to emerge. Here, we report the structure of HAC PD-1 in complex with PD
      L1, showing that it binds PD-L1 using a unique set of polar interactions.
      Biophysical studies and long-timescale molecular dynamics experiments reveal the
      mechanisms by which ten point mutations confer a 35,000-fold enhancement in
      binding affinity, and offer atomic-scale views of the role of conformational
      dynamics in PD-1/PD-L1 interactions. Finally, we show that the HAC PD-1 exhibits
      pH-dependent affinity, with pseudo-irreversible binding in a low pH setting akin
      to the tumor microenvironment.

PMID- 27618664
TI  - Karyopherin-beta2 Recognition of a PY-NLS Variant that Lacks the Proline-Tyrosine
      Motif.
AB  - Karyopherin-beta2 or Transportin-1 binds proline-tyrosine nuclear localization
      signals (PY-NLSs) in its cargos. PY-NLSs are described by structural disorder,
      overall positive charge, and binding epitopes composed of an N-terminal
      hydrophobic or basic motif and a C-terminal R-X2-5P-Y motif. The N-terminal tail
      of histone H3 binds Kapbeta2 with high affinity but does not contain a
      recognizable PY-NLS. The crystal structure of the Kapbeta2-H3 tail shows residues
      11-27 of H3 binding to the PY-NLS site of Kapbeta2. H3 residues 11TGGKAPRK18 bind
      the site for PY-NLS Epitope 1 (N-terminal hydrophobic/basic motif), which is most
      important for Kapbeta2-binding. H3 residue Arg26 occupies the PY-NLS Epitope 2
      position (usually arginine of R-X2-5P-Y) but PY-NLS Epitope 3 (proline-tyrosine
      motif) is missing in the H3 tail. Histone H3 thus provides an example of a PY-NLS
      variant with no proline-tyrosine or homologous proline-hydrophobic motif. The H3
      tail uses a very strong Epitope 1 to compensate for loss of the often-conserved
      proline-tyrosine epitope.

PMID- 27618665
TI  - Structural Insights into the Association of Hif1 with Histones H2A-H2B Dimer and
      H3-H4 Tetramer.
AB  - Histone chaperones are critical for guiding specific post-transcriptional
      modifications of histones, safeguarding the histone deposition (or
      disassociation) of nucleosome (dis)assembly, and regulating chromatin structures
      to change gene activities. HAT1-interacting factor 1 (Hif1) has been reported to
      be an H3-H4 chaperone and to be involved in telomeric silencing and nucleosome
      (dis)assembly. However, the structural basis for the interaction of Hif1 with
      histones remains unknown. Here, we report the complex structure of Hif1 binding
      to H2A-H2B for uncovering the chaperone specificities of Hif1 on binding to both
      the H2A-H2B dimer and the H3-H4 tetramer. Our findings reveal that Hif1 interacts
      with the H2A-H2B dimer and the H3-H4 tetramer via distinct mechanisms, suggesting
      that Hif1 is a pivotal scaffold on alternate binding of H2A-H2B and H3-H4. These
      specificities are conserved features of the Sim3-Hif1-NASP interrupted
      tetratricopeptide repeat proteins, which provide clues for investigating their
      potential roles in nucleosome (dis)assembly.

PMID- 27618666
TI  - High-Energy Ball Milling as Green Process To Vitrify Tadalafil and Improve
      Bioavailability.
AB  - In this study, the suitability of high-energy ball milling was investigated with
      the aim to vitrify tadalafil (TD) and improve its bioavailability. To achieve
      this goal, pure TD as well as binary mixtures composed of the drug and Soluplus
      (SL) were coprocessed by high-energy ball milling. Modulated differential
      scanning calorimetry (MDSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that
      after such coprocessing, the crystalline form of TD was transformed into an
      amorphous form. The presence of a single glass transition (Tg) for all the
      comilled formulations indicated that TD was dispersed into SL at the molecular
      level, forming amorphous molecular alloys, regardless of the drug concentration.
      The high values of Tg determined for amorphous formulations, ranging from 70 to
      147  degrees C, foreshow their high stability during storage at room temperature,
      which was verified by XRD and MDSC studies. The stabilizing effect of SL on the
      amorphous form of TD in comilled formulations was confirmed. Dissolution tests
      showed immediate drug release with sustained supersaturation in either simulated
      gastric fluid of pH 1.2 or in phosphate buffer of pH 7.2. The beneficial effect
      of both amorphization and coamorphization on the bioavailability of TD was found.
      In comparison to aqueous suspension, the relative bioavailability of TD was only
      11% for its crystalline form and 53% for the crystalline physical mixture,
      whereas the bioavailability of milled amorphous TD and the comilled solid
      dispersion was 128% and 289%, respectively. Thus, the results provide evidence
      that not only the presence of polymeric surfactant but also the vitrification of
      TD is necessary to improve bioavailability.

PMID- 27618668
TI  - Independent practice associations: Advantages and disadvantages of an alternative
      form of physician practice organization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Value-based purchasing (VBP) favors provider organizations large
      enough to accept financial risk and develop care management infrastructure.
      Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) are a potential alternative for
      physicians to becoming employed by a hospital or large medical group. But little
      is known about IPAs. METHODS: We selected four IPAs that vary in location,
      structure, and strategy, and conducted interviews with their president and
      medical director, as well as with a hospital executive and health plan executive
      familiar with that IPA. RESULTS: The IPAs studied vary in size and
      sophistication, but overall are performing well and are highly regarded by
      hospital and health plan executives. IPAs can grow rapidly without the cost of
      purchasing and operating physician practices and make it possible for physicians
      to remain independent in their own practices while providing the scale and care
      management infrastructure to make it possible to succeed in VBP. However, it can
      be difficult for IPAs to gain cooperation from hundreds to thousands of
      independent physicians, and the need for capital for growth and care management
      infrastructure is increasing as VBP becomes more prevalent and more demanding.
      CONCLUSIONS: Some IPAs are succeeding at VBP. As VBP raises the performance bar,
      IPAs will have to demonstrate that they can achieve results equal to more highly
      capitalized and tightly structured large medical groups and hospital-owned
      practices. IMPLICATIONS: Physicians should be aware of IPAs as a potential option
      for participating in VBP. Payers are aware of IPAs; the Medicare ACO program and
      health insurer ACO programs include many IPAs.

PMID- 27618669
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27618667
TI  - Amelioration of experimental colitis after short-term therapy with glucocorticoid
      and its relationship to the induction of different regulatory markers.
AB  - The clinical benefits of short-term therapy with glucocorticoids (GC) in patients
      with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are widely known. However, the effects of
      this treatment towards the re-establishment of the regulatory network in IBD are
      not fully explored. We have evaluated the immunological effects of the
      abbreviated GC therapy in experimental colitis induced by 3% dextran sulphate
      sodium in C57BL/6 mice. Treatment with GC improved disease outcome, constrained
      circulating leucocytes and ameliorated intestinal inflammation. The control of
      the local inflammatory responses involved a reduction in the expression of
      interferon-gamma and interleukin-1beta, associated with augmented mRNA levels of
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (alpha and gamma) in intestine.
      Furthermore, there was a reduction of CD4+ T cells producing interferon-gamma,
      together with an increased frequency of the putative regulatory population of T
      cells producing interleukin-10, in spleen. These systemic alterations were
      accompanied by a decrease in the proliferative potential of splenocytes of mice
      treated in vivo with GC. Notably, treatment with GC also led to an increase in
      the frequency of the regulatory markers GITR, CTLA-4, PD-1, CD73 and FoxP3, more
      prominently in spleen. Taken together, our results pointed to a role of GC in the
      control of leucocyte responsiveness and re-establishment of a regulatory system,
      which probably contributed to disease control and the restoration of immune
      balance. Finally, this is the first time that GC treatment was associated with
      the modulation of a broad number of regulatory markers in an experimental model
      of colitis.

PMID- 27618671
TI  - Structural Basis for Negative Allosteric Modulation of GluN2A-Containing NMDA
      Receptors.
AB  - NMDA receptors mediate excitatory synaptic transmission and regulate synaptic
      plasticity in the central nervous system, but their dysregulation is also
      implicated in numerous brain disorders. Here, we describe GluN2A-selective
      negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) that inhibit NMDA receptors by stabilizing
      the apo state of the GluN1 ligand-binding domain (LBD), which is incapable of
      triggering channel gating. We describe structural determinants of NAM binding in
      crystal structures of the GluN1/2A LBD heterodimer, and analyses of NAM-bound LBD
      structures corresponding to active and inhibited receptor states reveal a
      molecular switch in the modulatory binding site that mediate the allosteric
      inhibition. NAM binding causes displacement of a valine in GluN2A and the
      resulting steric effects can be mitigated by the transition from glycine bound to
      apo state of the GluN1 LBD. This work provides mechanistic insight to allosteric
      NMDA receptor inhibition, thereby facilitating the development of novel classes
      NMDA receptor modulators as therapeutic agents. 

PMID- 27618672
TI  - Structural Bases of Noncompetitive Inhibition of AMPA-Subtype Ionotropic
      Glutamate Receptors by Antiepileptic Drugs.
AB  - Excitatory neurotransmission plays a key role in epileptogenesis.
      Correspondingly, AMPA-subtype ionotropic glutamate receptors, which mediate the
      majority of excitatory neurotransmission and contribute to seizure generation and
      spread, have emerged as promising targets for epilepsy therapy. The most potent
      and well-tolerated AMPA receptor inhibitors act via a noncompetitive mechanism,
      but many of them produce adverse side effects. The design of better drugs is
      hampered by the lack of a structural understanding of noncompetitive inhibition.
      Here, we report crystal structures of the rat AMPA-subtype GluA2 receptor in
      complex with three noncompetitive inhibitors. The inhibitors bind to a novel
      binding site, completely conserved between rat and human, at the interface
      between the ion channel and linkers connecting it to the ligand-binding domains.
      We propose that the inhibitors stabilize the AMPA receptor closed state by acting
      as wedges between the transmembrane segments, thereby preventing gating
      rearrangements that are necessary for ion channel opening. 

PMID- 27618673
TI  - Genetic Background Limits Generalizability of Genotype-Phenotype Relationships.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified numerous loci that
      influence risk for psychiatric diseases. Genetically engineered mice are often
      used to characterize genes implicated by GWASs. These studies are based on the
      assumption that observed genotype-phenotype relationships will generalize to
      humans, implying that the results would at least generalize to other inbred mouse
      strains. Given current concerns about reproducibility, we sought to directly test
      this assumption. We produced F1 crosses between male C57BL/6J mice heterozygous
      for null alleles of Cacna1c and Tcf7l2 and wild-type females from 30 inbred
      laboratory strains. We found extremely strong interactions with genetic
      background that sometimes supported diametrically opposing conclusions. These
      results do not negate the invaluable contributions of mouse genetics to
      biomedical science, but they do show that genotype-phenotype relationships cannot
      be reliably inferred by studying a single genetic background, and thus constitute
      a major challenge to the status quo. VIDEO ABSTRACT. 

PMID- 27618674
TI  - Strategies and Tools for Combinatorial Targeting of GABAergic Neurons in Mouse
      Cerebral Cortex.
AB  - Systematic genetic access to GABAergic cell types will facilitate studying the
      function and development of inhibitory circuitry. However, single gene-driven
      recombinase lines mark relatively broad and heterogeneous cell populations.
      Although intersectional approaches improve precision, it remains unclear whether
      they can capture cell types defined by multiple features. Here we demonstrate
      that combinatorial genetic and viral approaches target restricted GABAergic
      subpopulations and cell types characterized by distinct laminar location,
      morphology, axonal projection, and electrophysiological properties.
      Intersectional embryonic transcription factor drivers allow finer fate mapping of
      progenitor pools that give rise to distinct GABAergic populations, including
      laminar cohorts. Conversion of progenitor fate restriction signals to
      constitutive recombinase expression enables viral targeting of cell types based
      on their lineage and birth time. Properly designed intersection, subtraction,
      conversion, and multi-color reporters enhance the precision and versatility of
      drivers and viral vectors. These strategies and tools will facilitate studying
      GABAergic neurons throughout the mouse brain. 

PMID- 27618676
TI  - Dual Function of NRP1 in Axon Guidance and Subcellular Target Recognition in
      Cerebellum.
AB  - Subcellular target recognition in the CNS is the culmination of a multiple-step
      program including axon guidance, target recognition, and synaptogenesis. In
      cerebellum, basket cells (BCs) innervate the soma and axon initial segment (AIS)
      of Purkinje cells (PCs) to form the pinceau synapse, but the underlying
      mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrate that neuropilin-1
      (NRP1), a Semaphorin receptor expressed in BCs, controls both axonal guidance and
      subcellular target recognition. We show that loss of Semaphorin 3A function or
      specific deletion of NRP1 in BCs alters the stereotyped organization of BC axon
      and impairs pinceau synapse formation. Further, we identified NRP1 as a trans
      synaptic binding partner of the cell adhesion molecule neurofascin-186 (NF186)
      expressed in the PC AIS during pinceau synapse formation. These findings identify
      a dual function of NRP1 in both axon guidance and subcellular target recognition
      in the construction of GABAergic circuitry. 

PMID- 27618675
TI  - Distributed and Mixed Information in Monosynaptic Inputs to Dopamine Neurons.
AB  - Dopamine neurons encode the difference between actual and predicted reward, or
      reward prediction error (RPE). Although many models have been proposed to account
      for this computation, it has been difficult to test these models experimentally.
      Here we established an awake electrophysiological recording system, combined with
      rabies virus and optogenetic cell-type identification, to characterize the firing
      patterns of monosynaptic inputs to dopamine neurons while mice performed
      classical conditioning tasks. We found that each variable required to compute
      RPE, including actual and predicted reward, was distributed in input neurons in
      multiple brain areas. Further, many input neurons across brain areas signaled
      combinations of these variables. These results demonstrate that even simple
      arithmetic computations such as RPE are not localized in specific brain areas
      but, rather, distributed across multiple nodes in a brain-wide network. Our
      systematic method to examine both activity and connectivity revealed unexpected
      redundancy for a simple computation in the brain. 

PMID- 27618678
TI  - Rheumatoid nodule presenting as a buccal submucosal nodule: A rare presentation
      of a common disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid nodules are a common manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis
      but buccal rheumatoid nodules are extremely rare. The purpose of this study was
      to report a rare case of a rheumatoid buccal nodule and a review of the
      literature. METHODS AND RESULTS: This case is about a 79-year-old woman with
      rheumatoid arthritis who was taking methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine,
      presenting with an enlarging left buccal submucosal mass. An incisional biopsy
      showed features consistent with that of a rheumatoid nodule. The mass was managed
      expectantly and the patient was taken off methotrexate with a marked reduction in
      the size of the nodule. CONCLUSION: Submucosal rheumatoid nodules of the oral
      cavity are an extremely rare manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis but should be
      considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with a history of rheumatoid
      arthritis presenting with submucosal masses. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Head
      Neck 39: E12-E14, 2017.

PMID- 27618677
TI  - Antipsychotic-like Effects of M4 Positive Allosteric Modulators Are Mediated by
      CB2 Receptor-Dependent Inhibition of Dopamine Release.
AB  - Muscarinic receptors represent a promising therapeutic target for schizophrenia,
      but the mechanisms underlying the antipsychotic efficacy of muscarinic modulators
      are not well understood. Here, we report that activation of M4 receptors on
      striatal spiny projection neurons results in a novel form of dopaminergic
      regulation resulting in a sustained depression of striatal dopamine release that
      is observed more than 30 min after removal of the muscarinic receptor agonist.
      Furthermore, both the M4-mediated sustained inhibition of dopamine release and
      the antipsychotic-like efficacy of M4 activators were found to require intact
      signaling through CB2 cannabinoid receptors. These findings highlight a novel
      mechanism by which striatal cholinergic and cannabinoid signaling leads to
      sustained reductions in dopaminergic transmission and concurrent behavioral
      effects predictive of antipsychotic efficacy. 

PMID- 27618679
TI  - A Novel Peptide Derived From Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Potently Inhibits
      Angiogenesis and Corneal Neovascularization.
AB  - The recombinant protein TK1-2, which consists of two kringle domains of tissue
      type plasminogen activator (t-PA), inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth. in
      this study, we examined the anti-angiogenic activities of peptides derived from
      kringle 2 domain of t-PA to identify the functional core sequence. Seven peptides
      were constructed from the kringle 2 sequence, based on the structure and
      characteristics of amino acid residues, and were analyzed for their inhibitory
      effects on endothelial cells (ECs). Among them, TP-7 (derived from a beta-sheet
      motif) potently inhibited proliferation, tube formation, and migration of ECs in
      a dose-dependent manner, whereas truncation of 3-9 amino acid residues from
      either N or C terminus of TP-7 abrogated its inhibitory effects on ECs. TP-7 also
      potently inhibited angiogenesis in a Matrigel plug assay in vivo. Moreover, TP-7
      dose-dependently suppressed corneal neovascularization induced by an acute
      chemical burn in a rat model. At the molecular level, TP-7 inhibited VEGF- or
      bFGF-induced phosphorylation of FAK and ERK1/2 and drastically disrupted VEGF- or
      bFGF-induced formation of stress fibers and focal adhesion complexes. In
      addition, TP-7 markedly suppressed attachment and spreading of ECs on a collagen
      type I or fibronectin matrix. Adhesion of ECs to immobilized TP-7 increased dose
      dependently, which was disrupted strongly by pretreatment with soluble TP-7 and
      slightly by an integrin alpha2beta1-blocking antibody. These results suggest that
      TP-7 is a potent anti-angiogenic peptide in part affecting the integrin
      alpha2beta1-dependent pathway and that it can be used for treatment of corneal
      neovascularization by targeting VEGF and non-VEGF pathways. J. Cell. Biochem.
      118: 1132-1143, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27618680
TI  - Physical Activity in an Underserved Population: Identifying Technology
      Preferences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims to identify patterns of use and preferences related
      to technology platforms that could support physical activity (PA) programs in an
      underserved population. METHODS: A 29-item questionnaire was administered at 5
      health and wellness sites targeting low income communities in Chicago. Frequency
      tables were generated for Internet, cell phone, and social media use and
      preferences. Chi-squared analysis was used to evaluate differences across age and
      income groups. RESULTS: A total of 291 individuals participated and were
      predominantly female (69.0%). Majority reported incomes less than $30,000 (72.9%)
      and identified as African American/Black/Caribbean (49.3%) or Mexican/Mexican
      American (34.3%). Most participants regularly used smartphones (63.2%) and the
      Internet (75.9%). Respondents frequently used Facebook (84.8%), and less commonly
      used Instagram (43.6%), and Twitter (20.0%). Free Internet-based exercise
      programs were the most preferred method to increase PA levels (31.6%), while some
      respondents (21.0%) thought none of the surveyed technology applications would
      help. CONCLUSION: Cell phone, Internet, and social media use is common among the
      surveyed underserved population. Technology preferences to increase PA levels
      varied, with a considerable number of respondents not preferring the surveyed
      technology platforms. Creating educational opportunities to increase awareness
      may maximize the effectiveness of technology-based PA interventions.

PMID- 27618681
TI  - Early Identification of Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest With No
      Chance of Survival and Consideration for Organ Donation.
AB  - Background: In patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), care
      requirements can conflict with the need to promptly focus efforts on organ
      donation in patients who are pronounced dead. Objective: To evaluate objective
      criteria for identifying patients with OHCA with no chance of survival during the
      first minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation to enable prompt orientation
      toward organ donation. Design: Retrospective assessment using OHCA data from 2
      registries and 1 trial. Setting: France (Paris Sudden Death Expertise Center
      [SDEC] prospective cohort [2011 to 2014] and PRESENCE multicenter cluster
      randomized trial [ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01009606] [2009 to 2011]) and the United
      States (King County, Washington, prospective cohort [2006 to 2011]). Patients:
      1771 patients from the Paris SDEC 1-year cohort (2011 to 2012) and 5192 from the
      validation cohorts. Measurements: Evaluation of 3 objective criteria (OHCA not
      witnessed by emergency medical services personnel, nonshockable initial cardiac
      rhythm, and no return of spontaneous circulation before receipt of a third 1-mg
      dose of epinephrine), survival rate at hospital discharge among patients meeting
      these criteria, performance of the criteria, and number of patients eligible for
      organ donation. Results: In the Paris SDEC 1-year cohort, the survival rate among
      the 772 patients with OHCA who met the objective criteria was 0% (95% CI, 0.0% to
      0.5%), with a specificity of 100% (CI, 97% to 100%) and a positive predictive
      value of 100% (CI, 99% to 100%). These results were verified in the validation
      cohorts. Ninety-five (12%) patients in the Paris SDEC 1-year cohort may have been
      eligible for organ donation. Limitation: Several patients had unknown outcomes.
      Conclusion: Three objective criteria enable the early identification of patients
      with OHCA with essentially no chance of survival and may help in decision making
      about the organ donation process. Primary Funding Source: French Ministry of
      Health.

PMID- 27618682
TI  - Multi-center analysis of the effect of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      subtype and minimal residual disease on allogeneic stem cell transplantation
      outcomes.
AB  - This study aims to provide a detailed analysis of allogeneic stem cell
      transplantation (allo-SCT) outcomes in a large T-cell acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia (T-ALL) cohort with a specific emphasis on the effects of pre-transplant
      minimal residual disease (MRD) and disease subtype, including the aggressive
      early-thymic precursor (ETP) subtype. Data from 102 allo-SCT patients with a
      diagnosis of T-ALL from three centers were retrospectively analyzed. Patients
      were grouped into four T-ALL subtypes: ETP, early, cortical and mature. At 3
      years, overall survival (OS), PFS, non-relapse mortality and cumulative incidence
      (CI) progression were 35, 33, 11 and 55%, respectively. Patients transplanted in
      first complete remission (CR1) had a 3-year OS of 62% versus those transplanted
      in CR2 or greater (24%) (hazards ratio 1.6, P=0.2). Patients with MRD positivity
      at the time of transplant had significantly higher rates of progression compared
      with those with MRD negativity (76 vs 34%, hazards ratio 2.8, P=0.006). There was
      no difference in OS, PFS or cumulative incidence (CI) progression between disease
      subtypes, including ETP (n=16). ETP patients transplanted in CR1 (n=10) had OS of
      47%, comparable to other disease subtypes, suggesting that allo-SCT can overcome
      the poor prognosis associated with ETP. MRD status at transplant was highly
      predictive of disease relapse, suggesting novel therapies are necessary to
      improve transplant outcomes.

PMID- 27618683
TI  - Striving to cure adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma: a role for allogeneic stem cell
      transplant?
AB  - Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL) is an aggressive HTLV-1-related malignancy,
      rare outside of regions where the retrovirus is endemic. Although the use of
      antiviral therapy has improved outcomes, particularly for indolent forms of ATL,
      response to combination chemotherapy is poor and outcomes for aggressive subtypes
      remains dismal. Consolidation with allogeneic stem cell transplant (alloSCT) has
      an increasing role in the management of ATL in eligible patients, offering
      favourable long-term remission rates. However, relatively high-transplant-related
      mortality and issues with donor recruitment for certain ethnicities remain
      problematic. In this review, we discuss the rationale for and issues surrounding
      alloSCT in ATL in the context of conventional and emerging therapies.

PMID- 27618685
TI  - Evolution of an atypical de-epoxidase for photoprotection in the green lineage.
AB  - Plants, algae and cyanobacteria need to regulate photosynthetic light harvesting
      in response to the constantly changing light environment. Rapid adjustments are
      required to maintain fitness because of a trade-off between efficient solar
      energy conversion and photoprotection. The xanthophyll cycle, in which the
      carotenoid pigment violaxanthin is reversibly converted into zeaxanthin, is
      ubiquitous among green algae and plants and is necessary for the regulation of
      light harvesting, protection from oxidative stress and adaptation to different
      light conditions(1,2). Violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) is the key enzyme
      responsible for zeaxanthin synthesis from violaxanthin under excess light. Here
      we show that the Chlorophycean VDE (CVDE) gene from the model green alga
      Chlamydomonas reinhardtii encodes an atypical VDE. This protein is not homologous
      to the VDE found in plants and is instead related to a lycopene cyclase from
      photosynthetic bacteria(3). Unlike the plant-type VDE that is located in the
      thylakoid lumen, the Chlamydomonas CVDE protein is located on the stromal side of
      the thylakoid membrane. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that CVDE evolved from an
      ancient de-epoxidase that was present in the common ancestor of green algae and
      plants, providing evidence of unexpected diversity in photoprotection in the
      green lineage.

PMID- 27618686
TI  - Proline Starvation Induces Unresolved ER Stress and Hinders mTORC1-Dependent
      Tumorigenesis.
AB  - The role of essential amino acids in metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells is
      now well established, whereas the role of non-essential amino acids (NEAAs) in
      malignancy remains less clear. Here, we have identified an important role for the
      NEAA proline in the tumorigenic potential of a subset of cancer cells. By
      profiling a large panel of cancer cell lines, we observed that proline
      consumption and expression of proline biosynthesis enzymes were well correlated
      with clonogenic and tumorigenic potential. Moreover, proline starvation or
      inhibition of proline biosynthesis enzymes impaired clonogenic/tumorigenic
      potential. Cancer cells exhibiting dependency on exogenous proline displayed
      hyperactivation of the mTORC1-mediated 4EBP1 signaling axis, as well as
      unresolved ER stress. Exogenous proline alleviated ER stress and promoted
      cellular homeostasis and clonogenicity. Increased dependence on proline may
      therefore define a specific vulnerability in some cancers that can be exploited
      by proline depletion.

PMID- 27618688
TI  - Microplastic in Aquatic Ecosystems.
AB  - The contamination of marine and freshwater ecosystems with plastic, and
      especially with microplastic (MP), is a global ecological problem of increasing
      scientific concern. This has stimulated a great deal of research on the
      occurrence of MP, interaction of MP with chemical pollutants, the uptake of MP by
      aquatic organisms, and the resulting (negative) impact of MP. Herein, we review
      the major issues of MP in aquatic environments, with the principal aims 1) to
      characterize the methods applied for MP analysis (including sampling, processing,
      identification and quantification), indicate the most reliable techniques, and
      discuss the required further improvements; 2) to estimate the abundance of MP in
      marine/freshwater ecosystems and clarify the problems that hamper the
      comparability of such results; and 3) to summarize the existing literature on the
      uptake of MP by living organisms. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps, suggest
      possible strategies to assess environmental risks arising from MP, and discuss
      prospects to minimize MP abundance in aquatic ecosystems.

PMID- 27618684
TI  - First report of pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation activities in
      the eastern mediterranean region from 1984 to 2011: on behalf of the pediatric
      cancer working committee of the eastern mediterranean blood and marrow
      transplantation group.
AB  - To describe the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) activities for
      children in the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) region, data on transplants performed
      for children less than 18 years of age between 1984 and 2011 in eight EM
      countries (Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and
      Tunisia) were collected. A total of 5187 transplants were performed, of which
      4513 (87%) were allogeneic and 674 (13%) were autologous. Overall, the
      indications for transplantation were malignant diseases in 1736 (38.5%) and non
      malignant in 2777 (61.5%) patients. A myeloablative conditioning regimen was used
      in 88% of the allografts. Bone marrow (BM) was the most frequent source of stem
      cells (56.2%), although an increasing use of PBSC was observed in the last
      decade. The stem cell source of autologous HSCT has shifted over time from BM to
      PBSC, and 80.9% of autologous HSCTs were from PBSCs. The donors for allogeneic
      transplants were matched-related in 94.5% of the cases, and unrelated
      transplants, mainly cord blood (99%) in 239 (5.5%) cases. This is the first
      report to describe the pediatric HSCT activities in EM countries. Non-malignant
      disorders are the main indication for allogeneic transplantation. Frequency of
      alternate donor transplantation is low.

PMID- 27618689
TI  - Effect of osteoporosis on fixation of osseointegrated implants in rats.
AB  - The effect of osteoporosis on implant osseointegration has been widely
      investigated, whereas osteoporosis may also newly occur in patient with
      previously osseointegrated implant. This study was designed to investigate the
      effect of osteoporosis on implant fixation in rats after successful
      osseointegration had been obtained. Seventy female Sprague-Dawley rats were
      included, and each animal received two titanium implants in the distal metaphysis
      of femur bilaterally. Eight weeks later, ten rats were sacrificed to confirm the
      establishment of implant osseointegration. All left rats were randomly subjected
      to bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) or sham operation. Three, six, and twelve weeks
      later, implant osseointegration, peri-implant bone tissue, and biomechanical
      properties of implant were analyzed. Right femurs with implants were used for
      micro-CT and histological analysis, and left femurs with implants were used for
      biomechanical test. Micro-CT, histology, and biomechanical test confirmed the
      destructive effect of OVX on previously osseointegrated implant in rats; when
      compared to sham-operated rats, peri-implant bone volume, trabecular
      architecture, bone-to-implant contact ratio, as well as biomechanical parameters
      decreased progressively within 12 weeks. Results also indicated that the effect
      of OVX on undisturbed bone (proximal tibiae) was much stronger than that on peri
      implant bone. Osteoporosis produced a progressive negative effect on previously
      osseointegrated implant in distal femora of rats during 12 weeks. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 2426-2432,
      2017.

PMID- 27618687
TI  - A resilience intervention involving mindfulness training for transplant patients
      and their caregivers.
AB  - Solid organ and stem cell transplant patients and their caregivers report a
      substantial level of distress. Mindfulness-based stress reduction has been shown
      to alleviate distress associated with transplant, but there is limited experience
      in this population with other mindfulness-based interventions, or with combined
      transplant patient and caregiver interventions. We evaluated a novel, 6-week
      mindfulness-based resilience training (MBRT) class for transplant patients and
      their caregivers that incorporates mindfulness practice, yoga, and neuroscience
      of stress and resilience. Thirty-one heart, liver, kidney/pancreas, and stem cell
      transplant patients and 18 caregivers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona participated.
      Measures of stress, resilience, depression, anxiety, health-related quality of
      life, positive and negative affect, and sleep were completed at baseline, 6
      weeks, and 3 months postintervention. At 6 weeks and 3 months, patients
      demonstrated significant (P<.005) improvements from baseline in measures of
      perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and negative affect. Quality-of-life
      mental component (P=.006) and positive affect (P=.02) also improved at follow-up.
      Most participants adhered to the program, were satisfied with class length and
      frequency, and reported improved well-being as a result of the class. MBRT holds
      promise as an intervention to enhance resilience and manage stress for transplant
      patients and their caregivers.

PMID- 27618690
TI  - PDGF-BB Promotes Type I IFN-Dependent Vascular Alterations and Monocyte
      Recruitment in a Model of Dermal Fibrosis.
AB  - Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can result in
      extensive tissue damage in the skin and, in advanced cases, internal organs.
      Vasculopathy, aberrant immune activation, and tissue fibrosis are three hallmarks
      of the disease that have been identified, with vasculopathy and aberrant immunity
      being amongst the earliest events. However, a mechanistic link between these
      processes has not been established. Here, we have identified a novel role of
      platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)/PDGFRbeta activation in combination
      with dermal injury induced by bleomycin as a driver of early, aberrant expression
      of interferon stimulatory genes (ISGs) and inflammatory monocyte infiltration.
      Activation of PDGFRbeta in combination with bleomycin-induced dermal injury
      resulted in increased dermal thickness, vascular density, monocyte/macrophage
      infiltration, and exacerbation of tissue injury. Many of these features were
      dependent on IFNAR-signaling, and an increase in the number of interferon-beta
      (IFN-beta) producing monocytes cells was found in the skin lesions. Taken
      together, these results identify a novel link between PDGFRbeta activation, and
      Type I IFN-driven vascular maintenance and monocyte/macrophage cell recruitment,
      and provide a potential explanation linking key features of SSc that were
      previously thought to be unrelated. 

PMID- 27618692
TI  - Lung Cancer in Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema: A Systematic Review and
      Meta-Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) have been
      suggested to have an increased risk of lung cancer. We conducted a systematic
      review of all published data and performed a meta-analysis to define the
      characteristics of lung cancer that develops in CPFE. METHOD: We searched Pubmed,
      Embase, and Cochrane to find original articles about lung cancer and CPFE
      published prior to September 2015. All titles/abstracts were reviewed by two
      radiologists to identify articles that used predefined selection criteria.
      Summary estimates were generated using a random-effect model and odds ratios
      (ORs) to develop squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) were calculated. Kaplan-Meier
      survival curves were obtained for the survival of patients with CPFE and non
      CPFE. RESULTS: Nine original articles that assessed 620 patients were included in
      this review. In the pooled data, patients were older age (70.4 years), almost all
      were heavy smokers (53.5 pack years), and males were predominant (92.6%). SqCC
      was the most common type (42.3%), followed by adenocarcinoma (34.4%). Compared
      with lung cancer population with an otherwise normal lung, the OR to develop SqCC
      in CPFE was 9.06 (95% CI, 6.08-13.5). The ORs in CPFE compared with lung cancers
      that developed in lungs with fibrosis or emphysema were also higher. The median
      survival for CPFE patients with lung cancer (19.5 months) was significantly
      shorter than in non-CPFE (53.1 months). CONCLUSIONS: Lung cancer in CPFE, most
      commonly SqCC, presents in elderly heavy smokers with a male predominance. The
      median survival for CPFE patients with lung cancer is 19.5 months.

PMID- 27618693
TI  - Schizophrenia Patients Demonstrate Both Inter-Voxel Level and Intra-Voxel Level
      White Matter Alterations.
AB  - Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) are the most frequently used
      metrics to investigate white matter impairments in mental disorders. However,
      these two metrics are derived from intra-voxel analyses and only reflect the
      diffusion properties solely within the voxel unit. Local diffusion homogeneity
      (LDH) is a newly developed inter-voxel metric which quantifies the local
      coherence of water molecule diffusion in a model-free manner. In this study, 94
      schizophrenia patients and 91 sex- and age-matched healthy controls underwent
      diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) examinations. White matter integrity was assessed
      by FA, MD and LDH. Group differences in these metrics were compared using tract
      based spatial statistics (TBSS). Compared with healthy controls, schizophrenia
      patients exhibited reduced FA and increased MD in the corpus callosum, cingulum,
      internal capsule, fornix and widespread superficial white matter in the frontal,
      parietal, occipital and temporal lobes. We also found decreased LDH in the corpus
      callosum, cingulum, internal capsule and fornix in schizophrenia. Our findings
      suggest that both intra-voxel and inter-voxel diffusion metrics are able to
      detect impairments in the anisotropic white matter regions, and intra-voxel
      diffusion metrics could detect additional impairments in the widespread isotropic
      white matter regions in schizophrenia. 

PMID- 27618694
TI  - Racial Discrimination and Alcohol Use: The Moderating Role of Religious
      Orientation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An outgrowth of research has established a relationship between
      racial discrimination and alcohol use, as well as factors that moderate this
      association. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to determine if
      religious orientation moderates the relationship between perceived racial
      discrimination and alcohol use. METHODS: This study utilized a cross-sectional
      data collection strategy to examine the relationship among discrimination,
      religious orientation, and alcohol use among undergraduate students (N = 349) at
      a midsize southeastern university. Data was collected in 2014. Participants
      completed a demographic questionnaire, the General Ethnic Discrimination Scale,
      the Extrinsic/Intrinsic Religious Orientation Scale-Revised and the Drinking and
      Drug Habits Questionnaire. RESULTS: Analyses using hierarchical linear regression
      indicate a significant interaction effect (lifetime discrimination * extrinsic
      religious orientation) on problem drinking. Additional moderation analyses reveal
      a significant interaction effect between lifetime discrimination and the
      extrinsic-personal religious orientation on problem drinking. CONCLUSIONS:
      Results suggest that an extrinsic religious orientation, and particularly, an
      extrinsic-personal religious orientation, moderates the relationship between
      lifetime discrimination and problem drinking, suggesting that turning to religion
      for comfort and protection, rather than for the superficial purpose of
      seeing/making friends at church, may buffer against the deleterious effects of
      discrimination-specifically, engaging in problem drinking to cope with the stress
      of discrimination. Limitations, directions for future research, and clinical
      implications are discussed.

PMID- 27618691
TI  - Latency Entry of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Is Determined by the Interaction of Its
      Genome with the Nuclear Environment.
AB  - Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) establishes latency in trigeminal ganglia (TG)
      sensory neurons of infected individuals. The commitment of infected neurons
      toward the viral lytic or latent transcriptional program is likely to depend on
      both viral and cellular factors, and to differ among individual neurons. In this
      study, we used a mouse model of HSV-1 infection to investigate the relationship
      between viral genomes and the nuclear environment in terms of the establishment
      of latency. During acute infection, viral genomes show two major patterns:
      replication compartments or multiple spots distributed in the nucleoplasm (namely
      "multiple-acute"). Viral genomes in the "multiple-acute" pattern are
      systematically associated with the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein in
      structures designated viral DNA-containing PML nuclear bodies (vDCP-NBs). To
      investigate the viral and cellular features that favor the acquisition of the
      latency-associated viral genome patterns, we infected mouse primary TG neurons
      from wild type (wt) mice or knock-out mice for type 1 interferon (IFN) receptor
      with wt or a mutant HSV-1, which is unable to replicate due to the synthesis of a
      non-functional ICP4, the major virus transactivator. We found that the inability
      of the virus to initiate the lytic program combined to its inability to
      synthesize a functional ICP0, are the two viral features leading to the formation
      of vDCP-NBs. The formation of the "multiple-latency" pattern is favored by the
      type 1 IFN signaling pathway in the context of neurons infected by a virus able
      to replicate through the expression of a functional ICP4 but unable to express
      functional VP16 and ICP0. Analyses of TGs harvested from HSV-1 latently infected
      humans showed that viral genomes and PML occupy similar nuclear areas in infected
      neurons, eventually forming vDCP-NB-like structures. Overall our study designates
      PML protein and PML-NBs to be major cellular components involved in the control
      of HSV-1 latency, probably during the entire life of an individual.

PMID- 27618695
TI  - A Valuable but Demanding Time Family Life During Advanced Cancer in an Elderly
      Family Member.
AB  - This study explores experiences of elderly patients with cancer and their family
      members with regard to what is important and difficult in the family
      relationships during the palliative phase. Family group interviews were conducted
      with 26 families. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
      Three themes emerged: "Ensuring a positive final time together," "Avoiding
      tension and conflict," and "Concealing thoughts, feelings, and needs." The main
      theme, "A valuable but demanding time," indicates that although families find
      this phase of life challenging, they emphasize the importance of ensuring that
      this time is spent together in a positive way as a family.

PMID- 27618696
TI  - Analysis of Potential Ischemic Effect of Intravitreal Bevacizumab on Unaffected
      Retina in Treatment-Naive Macular Edema Due to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: A
      Prospective, Interventional Case-Series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To study potential ischemic effects of intravitreal Bevacizumab (IVB)
      on unaffected retina in treatment-naive eyes with macular edema secondary to
      branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and contralateral eyes secondary to systemic
      absorption. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Prospective, interventional series included 27
      treatment-naive eyes with BRVO and macular edema. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Eyes with
      diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, vasculitides, papilledema or systemic neurologic
      condition. Subjects underwent complete ophthalmological examination including
      fluoroscein angiography (FA), optical coherence tomography (OCT) and multifocal
      electroretinogram (mf-ERG). All subjects received single 1.25 mg/0.05ml IVB
      injection. Two observers measured all parameters; inter-observer agreements were
      expressed as kappa values. Paired t-test was used to compare values at baseline
      and follow-up. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS for Windows, Version
      14.0. (Chicago, SPSS Inc.) Presenting mean CFT (central foveal thickness) was
      499.5(+/-229.7) MUm, mean BCVA (best corrected visual acuity) was 0.64(+/-0.41)
      logMAR. At last follow-up, mean CFT was 267.9(+/-159.3) MUm (P<0.001), 95% CI
      [127.18, 422.32]; mean BCVA was 0.28(+/-0.24) logMAR. Respectively, mean N1 and
      P1 amplitudes of mfERG in 'unaffected quadrant' at presentation were -6.10(+/
      4.00) nV/deg2 and 17.17(+/-11.54)nV/deg2; and -5.33(+/-1.30)nV/deg2 and 15.29(+/
      4.69)nV/deg2 at final follow-up (P = 0.631 and 0.197, respectively), (95% CIs [
      0.93, 1.42] and [-4.22, 1.08] respectively). In fundus quadrant of fellow eyes
      corresponding to unaffected quadrant in treated eyes, mean N1 and P1 amplitudes
      at presentation were -5.39(+/-1.56)nV/deg2 and 15.89(+/-3.89)nV/deg2; and 
      5.39(+/-1.90)nV/deg2 and 15.9(+/-5.52)nV/deg2 (P = 0.380 and 0.208), (95% CIs [
      0.57, 1.28] and [-4.1, 1.1]) at last follow-up, respectively. LIMITATIONS: This
      study analysed the effects with a single injection of bevacizumab. However,
      whether ischemic adverse effects will emerge with repeated IVB injections as a
      consequence of cumulative dosing needs further investigation. The setting of our
      study being a tertiary care centre, the numbers of fresh BRVO cases without prior
      intervention were limited. Thus, the limitations of our study include a small
      sample size with a small follow-up period. No major ocular/systemic adverse event
      was observed in the study period. CONCLUSION: No evidence of progressive
      ischaemia attributable to single bevacizumab treatment was observed in this
      study. However, a larger prospective study involving subjects with cumulative
      dosing of bevacizumab and a longer follow-up could provide a better understanding
      of the potential ischaemic effects of bevacizumab or other anti-VEGF agents.

PMID- 27618697
TI  - Routine mini-laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Outcome in 200 patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In order to improve the outcome of classical laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy (CLC), surgeons have attempted to minimize tissue trauma. The aim
      of this study is to describe the technique of mini-laparoscopic cholecystectomy
      (MLC) and to report the outcome of this approach when used as a routine
      procedure. METHODS: Since January 2012, all consecutive patients undergoing MLC
      were included in this study. Operative and perioperative data were prospectively
      collected. Additionally, cost analysis was performed. RESULTS: From 2012 to 2015,
      200 MLC were performed (F/M: 132/68, mean age 45+/-16 years). Mean operative
      duration was 97+/-32min for the first 50 patients and 75+/-25min for the
      subsequent 150 patients (P<0.0001). Modifications in the number or size of
      trocars were necessary in nine of the first 50 procedures and in seven of the
      subsequent 150 procedures (P=0.003). Perioperative morbidity included gallbladder
      perforation (n=28) or moderate (<50mL) bleeding (n=6). Postoperative morbidity
      was 4%. The mean global cost for a MLC procedure was 1757+/-1855 euros. This cost
      decreased from 2946+/-3115 euros in the first 50 patients to 1390+/-1278 euros in
      the subsequent 150 patients (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: Mini-laparoscopy can be used
      for routine elective cholecystectomy. This approach is associated with low
      morbidity and good cosmetic results.

PMID- 27618698
TI  - Does enhanced recovery reduce postoperative ileus after colorectal surgery?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: While enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been proven to
      improve results in colorectal operations with regard to morbidity and duration of
      hospital stay, its impact on recovery of bowel motility is poorly documented. The
      aims of this study were to assess the impact of ERAS on bowel motility recovery,
      and to assess the consequences of the definition of postoperative ileus on its
      reported incidence in the literature. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a single
      center prospective observational study of consecutive patients who underwent
      colorectal resection with anastomosis over a period of 17 months. Global
      resumption of intestinal transit (GROT) was defined as passage of stool combined
      with alimentary tolerance of solid food. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-one
      patients were included. A median of 14 items (range: 13-16) was complied out of
      19 observable items in the protocol. Median time to passage of flatus (MTPF) was
      2 days and the GROT was 3 days. The time interval to MTPF as well as to GROT
      decreased as adherence to the ERAS protocol increased (respectively P<0.001,
      r2=0.11 and P=0.04, r2=0.06). The incidence of postoperative "ileus" varied from
      1.5% to 61.8% depending on the interval chosen to define ileus (cut-off from 1 to
      7 days). Adherence to>=85% of the items in the ERAS protocol protected patients
      from "prolonged ileus", i.e., lasting>=4 days (OR=0.35; 95% CI=0.15 to 0.83).
      CONCLUSION: The implementation of and compliance with an ERAS protocol allowed a
      reduction in the time to GROT. There is a need for a consensual definition of
      postoperative ileus.

PMID- 27618699
TI  - Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays now a major role in patients with
      colorectal cancer regarding tumor staging, surgical planning, therapeutic
      decision, assessment of tumor response to chemoradiotherapy and surveillance of
      rectal cancer, and detection and characterization of liver or peritoneal
      metastasis of colorectal cancers. Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) is a functional
      imaging tool that is now part of the standard MRI protocol for the investigation
      of patients with colorectal cancer. DW-MRI reflects micro-displacements of water
      molecules in tissues and conveys high degrees of accuracy to discriminate between
      benign and malignant colorectal conditions. Thus, in addition to morphological
      imaging, DW-MRI has an important role to accurately detect colorectal neoplasms
      and peritoneal implants, to differentiate benign focal liver lesions from
      metastases and to detect tumor relapse within fibrotic changes. This review
      provides a comprehensive overview of basic principles, clinical applications and
      future trends of DW-MRI in colorectal cancers.

PMID- 27618700
TI  - Robotic-assisted Roux-en-Y cystojejunostomy for pancreatic pseudocyst (with
      video).

PMID- 27618701
TI  - Floating stoma: An alternative strategy in the context of damage control surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Floating stoma (FS) is a strategy to be considered in the context
      of damage control surgery (DCS). The purpose of this study is to describe the
      technique used and the results of a series of patients where FS was used.
      METHODS: Case series of relaparotomized patients at two emergency services in
      Temuco, Chile (2005-2014). In all of them, once drainage of septic focus or
      damage was controlled, the abdomen was left open with a Bogota bag (BB) and FS.
      Outcome variables were FS indications, morbidity, time to first replacement of
      BB, definitive maturation of the stoma (DMS), time to withdraw the BB and
      mortality. RESULTS: FS was performed in 46 patients with a mean age of 49.3+/
      21.1 years; 63% were female. The indication of FS was abdominal sepsis by
      secondary peritonitis (69.6%), abdominal trauma (17.4%), and mesenteric ischemia
      (13.0%). Morbidity was 37.0%. Median time to first replacement of BB, DMS and
      time to withdraw the BB were 84hours, 3.5 days and 49 days, respectively.
      Mortality was 19.6%. CONCLUSION: FS is a temporary resource reserved for special
      surgical cases. It is associated with morbidity and mortality inherent with the
      severity of the patients on whom it can be used.

PMID- 27618703
TI  - Inferior vena cava resection without prosthesis replacement for vena cava sarcoma
      (with video).

PMID- 27618702
TI  - Xenograft biologic mesh in parietal and general surgery: Technical assessment and
      review of clinical effectiveness and safety data.
AB  - STUDY AIM: To describe the main technical characteristics of biologic prostheses
      used for parietal reinforcement and to present the state of the art on their
      risk/benefit ratio. METHODS: We conducted a technical analysis of manufacturer
      specifications of the biologic prostheses that are currently available in France
      accompanied by a literature review by selecting meta-analyses and systematic
      reviews, randomized controlled trials and publications of health technology
      rating agencies. RESULTS: Biological implants for parietal reinforcement are
      mainly intended for use in a contaminated environment where the use of synthetic
      prostheses is contra-indicated. We identified fourteen systematic reviews and
      meta-analyses and one randomized controlled trial. Six ongoing clinical trials
      were identified as well as two clinical trials that had been interrupted. In the
      current state of knowledge, there are no high-level evidence data on the
      therapeutic contribution of biologic prostheses that allow prioritization of the
      various biologic prostheses according to their characteristics or their different
      manufacturing processes. CONCLUSION: Pending the results of current randomized
      controlled trials to validate the indications and an eventual specific
      reimbursement, indications for the use of biologic parietal reinforcement
      prostheses seems to be limited to rare clinical situations and only after
      collegial discussion.

PMID- 27618704
TI  - Modulation of shark prey capture kinematics in response to sensory deprivation.
AB  - The ability of predators to modulate prey capture in response to the size,
      location, and behavior of prey is critical to successful feeding on a variety of
      prey types. Modulating in response to changes in sensory information may be
      critical to successful foraging in a variety of environments. Three shark species
      with different feeding morphologies and behaviors were filmed using high-speed
      videography while capturing live prey: the ram-feeding blacktip shark, the ram
      biting bonnethead, and the suction-feeding nurse shark. Sharks were examined
      intact and after sensory information was blocked (olfaction, vision,
      mechanoreception, and electroreception, alone and in combination), to elucidate
      the contribution of the senses to the kinematics of prey capture. In response to
      sensory deprivation, the blacktip shark demonstrated the greatest amount of
      modulation, followed by the nurse shark. In the absence of olfaction, blacktip
      sharks open the jaws slowly, suggestive of less motivation. Without lateral line
      cues, blacktip sharks capture prey from greater horizontal angles using increased
      ram. When visual cues are absent, blacktip sharks elevate the head earlier and to
      a greater degree, allowing them to overcome imprecise position of the prey
      relative to the mouth, and capture prey using decreased ram, while suction
      remains unchanged. When visual cues are absent, nurse sharks open the mouth
      wider, extend the labial cartilages further, and increase suction while
      simultaneously decreasing ram. Unlike some bony fish, neither species switches
      feeding modalities (i.e. from ram to suction or vice versa). Bonnetheads failed
      to open the mouth when electrosensory cues were blocked, but otherwise little to
      no modulation was found in this species. These results suggest that prey capture
      may be less plastic in elasmobranchs than in bony fishes, possibly due to
      anatomical differences, and that the ability to modulate feeding kinematics in
      response to available sensory information varies by species, rather than by
      feeding modality.

PMID- 27618705
TI  - What is the most efficient respiratory organ for the loricariid air-breathing
      fish Pterygoplichthys anisitsi, gills or stomach? A quantitative morphological
      study.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the morphometric respiratory
      potential of gills compared to the stomach in obtaining oxygen for aerobic
      metabolism in Pterygoplichthys anisitsi, a facultative air-breathing fish. The
      measurements were done using stereological methods. The gills showed greater
      total volume, volume-to-body mass ratio, potential surface area, and surface-to
      volume ratio than the stomach. The water-blood diffusion barrier of the gills is
      thicker than the air-blood diffusion barrier of the stomach. Taken together, the
      surface area, the surface-to-volume ratio and the diffusion distance for O2
      transfer from the respiratory medium to blood yield a greater diffusing capacity
      for gills than for the stomach, suggesting greater importance of aquatic
      respiration in this species. On the other hand, water breathing is energetically
      more expensive than breathing air. Under severe hypoxic conditions, O2 uptake by
      the stomach is more efficient than by the gills, although the stomach has a much
      lower diffusing capacity. Thus, P. anisitsi uses gills under normoxic conditions
      but the stomach may also support aerobic metabolism depending on environmental
      conditions.

PMID- 27618706
TI  - Influence of cladogenesis on feeding structures in drums (Teleostei: Sciaenidae).
AB  - Drums (family Sciaenidae) are common in tropical to temperate coastal and
      estuarine habitats worldwide and present a broad spectrum of morphological
      diversity. The anatomical variation in this family is particularly evident in
      their feeding apparatus, which may reflect the partitioning of adult foraging
      habitats. Adult and early life history stage sciaenids may display
      ecomorphological patterns in oral and pharyngeal jaw elements but because
      sciaenids are hierarchically related, the morphological variation of the feeding
      apparatus cannot be analyzed as independent data. Morphological patterns have
      been identified in three sciaenid genera from the Chesapeake Bay but it is not
      known if these patterns are present in other genera of the family and if such
      patterns are constrained by phylogenetic history. In this study, phylogenetic
      comparative methods were applied to two sets of oral jaw data obtained from
      growth series of 11 species of cleared and double-stained Chesapeake Bay
      sciaenids and alcohol-preserved museum specimens representing 65 of the 66
      recognized genera to determine the magnitude of phylogenetic dependence present
      in the structure of the oral jaws using a recent molecular phylogeny of the
      family. Pagel's lambda, a measure of phylogenetic signal, was low for pelagic
      sciaenids in premaxilla, lower jaw, and ascending process lengths, indicating
      influence of selective forces on the condition of these traits. Conversely, for
      benthic sciaenids, phylogenetic signal was high for lower jaw and ascending
      process lengths, indicating significant phylogenetic constraint for their
      condition in these taxa. Pagel's lambda was intermediate for premaxilla length in
      benthic sciaenids, suggesting that the length of the premaxilla is influenced by
      a mix of selective forces and phylogenetic constraint. Although the
      ecomorphological patterns identified in the oral jaws of scaienids are not
      entirely free of phylogenetic dependence, selective forces related to foraging
      are likely driving the evolution of these structures.

PMID- 27618707
TI  - Autoimmune Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Astrocytopathy: A Novel
      Meningoencephalomyelitis.
AB  - Importance: A novel astrocytic autoantibody has been identified as a biomarker of
      a relapsing autoimmune meningoencephalomyelitis that is immunotherapy responsive.
      Seropositivity distinguishes autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)
      meningoencephalomyelitis from disorders commonly considered in the differential
      diagnosis. Objective: To describe a novel IgG autoantibody found in serum or
      cerebrospinal fluid that is specific for a cytosolic intermediate filament
      protein of astrocytes. Design, Setting, and Participants: Retrospective review of
      the medical records of seropositive patients identified in the Mayo Clinic
      Neuroimmunology Laboratory from October 15, 1998, to April 1, 2016, in blinded
      comprehensive serologic evaluation for autoantibody profiles to aid the diagnosis
      of neurologic autoimmunity (and predict cancer likelihood). Main Outcomes and
      Measures: Frequency and definition of novel autoantibody, the autoantigen's
      immunochemical identification, clinical and magnetic resonance imaging
      correlations of the autoantibody, and immunotherapy responsiveness. Results: Of
      103 patients whose medical records were available for review, the 16 initial
      patients identified as seropositive were the subject of this study. Median age at
      neurologic symptom onset was 42 years (range, 21-73 years); there was no sex
      predominance. The novel neural autoantibody, which we discovered to be GFAP
      specific, is disease spectrum restricted but not rare (frequency equivalent to
      Purkinje cell antibody type 1 [anti-Yo]). Its filamentous pial, subventricular,
      and perivascular immunostaining pattern on mouse tissue resembles the
      characteristic magnetic resonance imaging findings of linear perivascular
      enhancement in patients. Prominent clinical manifestations are headache, subacute
      encephalopathy, optic papillitis, inflammatory myelitis, postural tremor, and
      cerebellar ataxia. Cerebrospinal fluid was inflammatory in 13 of 14 patients
      (93%) with data available. Neoplasia was diagnosed within 3 years of neurologic
      onset in 6 of 16 patients (38%): prostate and gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas,
      myeloma, melanoma, colonic carcinoid, parotid pleomorphic adenoma, and teratoma.
      Neurologic improvement followed treatment with high-dose corticosteroids, with a
      tendency of patients to relapse without long-term immunosuppression. Conclusions
      and Relevance: Glial fibrillary acidic protein-specific IgG identifies a
      distinctive, corticosteroid-responsive, sometimes paraneoplastic autoimmune
      meningoencephalomyelitis. It has a lethal canine equivalent: necrotizing
      meningoencephalitis. Expression of GFAP has been reported in some of the tumor
      types identified in paraneoplastic cases. Glial fibrillary acidic protein peptide
      specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are implicated as effectors in a transgenic mouse
      model of autoimmune GFAP meningoencephalitis.

PMID- 27618708
TI  - Construction of Taiwanese Adult Reference Phantoms for Internal Dose Evaluation.
AB  - In the internal dose evaluation, the specific absorbed fraction (SAF) and S-value
      are calculated from the reference phantom based on Caucasian data. The
      differences in height and weight between Caucasian and Asian may lead to
      inaccurate dose estimation. In this study, we developed the Taiwanese reference
      phantoms. 40 volunteers were recruited. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) were
      obtained, and the contours of 15 organs were drawn. The Taiwanese reference man
      (TRM) and Taiwanese reference woman (TRW) were constructed. For the SAF
      calculation, the differences in the self-absorption SAF (self-SAF) between the
      TRM, TRW, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) adult phantom were less than
      10% when the difference in organ mass was less than 20%. The average SAF from
      liver to pancreas of TRM was 38% larger than that of the ORNL adult phantom, and
      the result of TRW was 2.02 times higher than that of the ORNL adult phantom. For
      the S-value calculation, the ratios of TRW and ORNL adult phantom ranged from
      0.91 to 1.57, and the ratios of TRM and ORNL adult phantom ranged from 1.04 to
      2.29. The SAF and S-value results were dominantly affected by the height, weight,
      organ mass, and geometric relationship between organs. By using the TRM and TRW,
      the accuracy of internal dose evaluation can be increased for radiation
      protection and nuclear medicine. 

PMID- 27618710
TI  - Response to "Complexity vs. Simplicity: The Winner Is?" Mechanism-Based
      Classifiers Provide More Than Just Classification.

PMID- 27618709
TI  - DenHunt - A Comprehensive Database of the Intricate Network of Dengue-Human
      Interactions.
AB  - Dengue virus (DENV) is a human pathogen and its etiology has been widely
      established. There are many interactions between DENV and human proteins that
      have been reported in literature. However, no publicly accessible resource for
      efficiently retrieving the information is yet available. In this study, we mined
      all publicly available dengue-human interactions that have been reported in the
      literature into a database called DenHunt. We retrieved 682 direct interactions
      of human proteins with dengue viral components, 382 indirect interactions and
      4120 differentially expressed human genes in dengue infected cell lines and
      patients. We have illustrated the importance of DenHunt by mapping the dengue
      human interactions on to the host interactome and observed that the virus targets
      multiple host functional complexes of important cellular processes such as
      metabolism, immune system and signaling pathways suggesting a potential role of
      these interactions in viral pathogenesis. We also observed that 7 percent of the
      dengue virus interacting human proteins are also associated with other infectious
      and non-infectious diseases. Finally, the understanding that comes from such
      analyses could be used to design better strategies to counteract the diseases
      caused by dengue virus. The whole dataset has been catalogued in a searchable
      database, called DenHunt (http://proline.biochem.iisc.ernet.in/DenHunt/).

PMID- 27618711
TI  - Radial Soundwave for Sesamoidopathy in Athletes: A Pilot Study.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of radial soundwave
      therapy (RSW) for the management of sesamoiditis, symptomatic bipartite
      sesamoids, and avascular necrosis in athletic patients. The data from 10 patients
      undergoing RSW for sesamoiditis were retrospectively studied. Three treatments at
      2.4 Bar and 13 Hz, for a total of 2500 pulses in each session, were administered
      to the affected sesamoid approximately 1 week apart. The Roles and Maudsley score
      and the visual analog scale (VAS) were used to assess disability and pain. An
      overall improvement was seen in reported pain after RSW. The pretreatment VAS
      score was 5.9 +/- 1.7 and the post-treatment VAS score improved to 2.3 +/- 2.4 (p
      = .0001). The activity pretreatment Roles and Maudsley score was 3.1 +/- 0.3 and
      the post-treatment score was 1.5 +/- 0.7 (p = .00003). All but 1 of the patients
      (90%) reported some or complete relief of pain. The mean time to return to
      activity was 10.1 +/- 15.6 weeks, although this value was biased by 1 patient
      requiring 1 year to return to activity. Eliminating this patient, the average
      time to return to activity was 5.4 +/- 5.6 weeks. Three patients in the cohort
      did not have to stop their desired activity at all, including 1 gymnast and 1
      runner. Of these 3 patients, 2 (20% of all patients) reported complete relief of
      pain (VAS score of 0) after treatment. The third patient experienced a
      significant decrease in pain, with the VAS score, improving from 7 to 1. The
      results of the present study have demonstrated that RSW can be a viable treatment
      of certain symptomatic sesamoid pathologies and can be considered a valid
      alternative to surgery.

PMID- 27618712
TI  - Synthesis of freestanding single-crystal perovskite films and heterostructures by
      etching of sacrificial water-soluble layers.
AB  - The ability to create and manipulate materials in two-dimensional (2D) form has
      repeatedly had transformative impact on science and technology. In parallel with
      the exfoliation and stacking of intrinsically layered crystals, atomic-scale thin
      film growth of complex materials has enabled the creation of artificial 2D
      heterostructures with novel functionality and emergent phenomena, as seen in
      perovskite heterostructures. However, separation of these layers from the growth
      substrate has proved challenging, limiting the manipulation capabilities of these
      heterostructures with respect to exfoliated materials. Here we present a general
      method to create freestanding perovskite membranes. The key is the epitaxial
      growth of water-soluble Sr 3Al 2O 6 on perovskite substrates, followed by in situ
      growth of films and heterostructures. Millimetre-size single-crystalline
      membranes are produced by etching the Sr 3Al 2O 6 layer in water, providing the
      opportunity to transfer them to arbitrary substrates and integrate them with
      heterostructures of semiconductors and layered compounds.

PMID- 27618714
TI  - Post-deepwater horizon blowout seafood consumption patterns and community
      specific levels of concern for selected chemicals among children in Mobile
      County, Alabama.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of the study was to characterize risk pertaining to seafood
      consumption patterns following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, among school
      children (K to 4th grade) residing in close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico in
      Mobile County, Alabama. METHODS: Responses on seafood consumption pattern
      including the type of seafood and intake rate during the pre and post oil spill
      periods, from parents of 55 school children from three schools located <20mile
      radius from the Gulf of Mexico shoreline (coastal group) were compared with those
      from parents of 55 children from three schools located >=20miles away from the
      shoreline (inland group). We also estimated levels of concern (LOCs) in seafood
      for selected chemicals found in crude oil including heavy metals, and polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS), the
      primary compound in dispersants. RESULTS: The coastal group ate more seafood
      consisting primarily of crustaceans (62% vs. 42%, p=0.04) and fin fish (78% vs.
      58%, p=0.02) from the Gulf of Mexico compared to the inland group, while the
      inland group ate more fin fish not found in the Gulf of Mexico (62% vs. 33%,
      p<0.01). In the post-oil spill time period, both groups substantially reduced
      their consumption of sea food. On average, the coastal group ate >=2 seafood
      meals per week, while the inland group ate <=1 meal per week; these frequency
      patterns persisted in the post oil-spill period. Comparison of the estimated LOCs
      with contaminant levels detected in the seafood tested by the Food and Drug
      Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, post-oil
      spill, found that the levels of PAHs, arsenic, and DOSS in seafood were 1-2
      orders of magnitude below the LOCs calculated in our study. Levels of methyl
      mercury (MeHg) in the seafood tested pre- and post- oil spill were higher than
      the estimated LOCs suggesting presence of higher levels of MeHg in seafood
      independent of the oil spill. CONCLUSION: In sum, the study found higher than
      average seafood consumption among children along the Mobile coastal area when
      compared to the inland children and the National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey (NHANES) estimates. Risk characterization based on the LOCs indicated no
      increase in risk of exposure despite higher seafood consumption rates among the
      study population compared to the general population.

PMID- 27618715
TI  - Understanding the Mismatch Between Coaches' and Players' Perceptions of Exertion.
AB  - : A mismatch between the training exertion intended by a coach and the exertion
      perceived by players is well established in sports. However, it is unknown
      whether coaches can accurately observe exertion of individual players during
      training. Furthermore, the discrepancy in coaches' and players' perceptions has
      not been explained. PURPOSE: To determine the relation between intended and
      observed training exertion by the coach and perceived training exertion by the
      players and establish whether on-field training characteristics, intermittent
      endurance capacity, and maturity status explain the mismatch. METHODS: During 2
      mesocycles of 4 wk (in November and March), rating of intended exertion (RIE),
      rating of observed exertion (ROE), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were
      monitored in 31 elite young soccer players. External and internal training loads
      were objectively quantified with accelerometers (PlayerLoad) and heart-rate
      monitors (TRIMPmod). Results of an interval shuttle-run test (ISRT) and age at
      peak height velocity (APHV) were determined for all players. RESULTS: RIE, ROE,
      and RPE were monitored in 977 training sessions. The correlations between RIE and
      RPE (r = .58; P < .01) and between ROE and RPE (r = .64; P < .01) were moderate.
      The mean difference between RIE and RPE was -0.31 +/- 1.99 and between ROE and
      RPE was -0.37 +/- 1.87. Multilevel analyses showed that PlayerLoad and ISRT
      predicted RIE and ROE. CONCLUSION: Coaches base their intended and observed
      exertion on what they expect players will do and what they actually did on the
      field. When doing this, they consider the intermittent endurance capacity of
      individual players.

PMID- 27618716
TI  - Ectopic bone formation during tissue-engineered cartilage repair using autologous
      chondrocytes and novel plasma-derived albumin scaffolds.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aims of this study were twofold: first, to evaluate the production
      of cartilaginous tissue in vitro and in vivo using a novel plasma-derived
      scaffold, and second, to test the repair of experimental defects made on ears of
      New Zealand rabbits (NZr) using this approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Scaffolds
      were seeded with chondrocytes and cultured in vitro for 3 months to check in
      vitro cartilage production. To evaluate in vivo cartilage production, a
      chondrocyte-seeded scaffold was transplanted subcutaneously to a nude mouse. To
      check in vivo repair, experimental defects made in the ears of five New Zealand
      rabbits (NZr) were filled with chondrocyte-seeded scaffolds. RESULTS: In vitro
      culture produced mature chondrocytes with no extracellular matrix (ECM).
      Histological examination of redifferentiated in vitro cultures showed
      differentiated chondrocytes adhered to scaffold pores. Subcutaneous
      transplantation of these constructs to a nude mouse produced cartilage, confirmed
      by histological study. Experimental cartilage repair in five NZr showed
      cartilaginous tissue repairing the defects, mixed with calcified areas of bone
      formation. CONCLUSION: It is possible to produce cartilaginous tissue in vivo and
      to repair experimental auricular defects by means of chondrocyte cultures and the
      novel plasma-derived scaffold. Further studies are needed to determine the
      significance of bone formation in the samples.

PMID- 27618717
TI  - Three dimensional versus standard miniplate fixation in management of mandibular
      fractures: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aims of the present study were to 1) evaluate clinical outcomes
      between standard and three-dimensional (3D) miniplate fixation in the management
      of mandibular fractures and 2) determine which fixation method is the best option
      for the treatment of mandibular fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive
      electronic search language without date was performed in July 2015. Inclusion
      criteria were studies in humans, including randomized controlled trials,
      controlled clinical trials, and retrospective studies, with the aim of comparing
      the two techniques. In addition, the incidence of complications was evaluated.
      RESULTS: Seventeen publications were included: nine randomized controlled trials,
      three controlled clinical trials, and five retrospective studies. The meta
      analyses showed statistically significant differences for the incidence of
      hardware failure, malocclusion, and postoperative trismus. There were no
      significant differences in the incidence of postoperative infection, wound
      dehiscence, non-union/malunion, and paresthesia. The cumulative odds ratio was
      0.48, meaning that the use of 3D miniplates in the fixation of mandibular
      fractures decreases the risk of the event (postoperative complication) by 52%.
      CONCLUSION: The results of this meta-analysis showed that the use of 3D
      miniplates was superior to the two-miniplate technique in reducing the incidence
      of postoperative complications in the management of mandibular fractures.

PMID- 27618718
TI  - Delayed open reduction and single screw internal fixation as a treatment option
      in cases of failed non-surgical treatment of bilateral condylar head fractures
      with fragmentation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To share our experience in the open reduction and single screw internal
      fixation of delayed bilateral condylar head fractures with fragmentation and
      evaluate its feasibility and outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved 6
      males and 1 female. All patients had multiple injuries at different body sites
      and failed non-surgical treatment of bilateral condylar head fractures. The mean
      period between the injury and the operation was 5.7 (4-8) weeks. According to the
      preoperative computer-aided design, and the clinical manifestations, the fracture
      fragments were reduced and fixed with a single screw. A helical CT scan was
      requested postoperatively to check the reduction of the fragments and the
      location of the screws. Mean follow-up duration was 9.7 (8-14) months. RESULT:
      The malocclusion was corrected after operation. The intraoperative passive mouth
      opening was 3.93 +/- 0.19 cm. The mouth opening was 3.43 +/- 0.35 cm in 3 months
      follow-up, and more than 3 transverse fingers at the last follow up. No one had a
      progressive limitation of the mouth opening in 8-14 months of follow up.
      CONCLUSIONS: The strategy of open reduction and single screw internal fixation of
      bilateral condylar head fracture with fragmentation of mandible is feasible and
      effective. It is a treatment option in the rare delayed cases of failed non
      surgical treatment.

PMID- 27618719
TI  - A systematic review of soft-to-hard tissue ratios in orthognathic surgery. Part
      III: Double jaw surgery procedures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the soft-to-hard tissue ratios in profile
      view in bimaxillary orthognathic surgical corrections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      systematic review of studies published in different languages was performed by
      searching the Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Lilacs, Scopus, and Science
      Direct databases up to August 2015. Additional studies were identified by
      reference analyses. The methodological quality was evaluated using the instrument
      developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project and the Level of
      Evidence using the Level of Evidence scale from the Oxford Centre for Evidence
      based Medicine. RESULTS: The search identified 16 articles; one of which was
      included from the manual reference search. The analysis of bias revealed weak
      methodological quality for all the studies included (LOE IV). The studies were
      retrospective and presented widely varying ratios. In sagittal movements Sn:ANS
      showed consistency in the evaluations with 60%-90% ratios in five articles. Pn:A
      presented 66%-90% when V-Y suturing is executed and Ls:U1 ratio was 60%-100% in 6
      articles. In vertical direction, poor data are available, considering Sn:A
      between 54% and 91% in 3 articles and Ls:U1 between 66% and 97% in 3 articles.
      The Mla-to-point B ratio in sagittal movements was 100% in six articles and Pg-to
      sPg demonstrated a relationship between 90% and 100% in 8 articles. CONCLUSION:
      Soft-to-hard tissue ratios varied greatly in literature. The results for the
      mentolabial angle and soft Pogonion changes were apparently more uniform. The low
      LOE of the studies prevented a more in-depth analysis.

PMID- 27618720
TI  - Surgical guide for the remodelling of the orbito-naso-frontal bandeau in
      craniosynostosis surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Craniosynostoses affecting the forehead sutures can not only cause
      brain damage, but can also have an esthetic impact, because of the associated
      orbito-naso-frontal deformations. Reshaping the orbito-naso-frontal bandeau
      (ONFB) is difficult to appreciate perioperatively and should ideally be
      customized to each child. The aim of this study was to develop a template to
      guide the surgeon preoperatively towards an ideal customized remodelling of the
      ONFB. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A previous study conducted on computed tomography
      scans obtained from healthy children allowed us to conclude that the whole ONFB
      shape could be accurately described just by the distance measured between the
      fronto-zygomatic sutures (FZD), independently of age and gender. Our customizable
      template relies on this measurement. RESULTS: A re-usable template, built around
      three supports adjustable to a wide range of FZD, was designed using the CAD 3D
      Rhinoceros(r) software and machined in stainless steel 316L. The prototype was
      used for three children with good preliminary results. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:
      The use of a customizable surgical template allows the surgeon to perform
      accurate and ideal perioperative remodeling of the ONFB in children suffering
      from craniosynostosis affecting the forehead sutures. Our prototype is currently
      the only one to be adjustable according to the FZD. The utility of this device
      will be assessed in a future prospective clinical study.

PMID- 27618722
TI  - Molecular Characterization of Down Syndrome Embryonic Stem Cells Reveals a Role
      for RUNX1 in Neural Differentiation.
AB  - Down syndrome (DS) is the leading genetic cause of mental retardation and is
      caused by a third copy of human chromosome 21. The different pathologies of DS
      involve many tissues with a distinct array of neural phenotypes. Here we
      characterize embryonic stem cell lines with DS (DS-ESCs), and focus on the neural
      aspects of the disease. Our results show that neural progenitor cells (NPCs)
      differentiated from five independent DS-ESC lines display increased apoptosis and
      downregulation of forehead developmental genes. Analysis of differentially
      expressed genes suggested RUNX1 as a key transcription regulator in DS-NPCs.
      Using genome editing we were able to disrupt all three copies of RUNX1 in DS
      ESCs, leading to downregulation of several RUNX1 target developmental genes
      accompanied by reduced apoptosis and neuron migration. Our work sheds light on
      the role of RUNX1 and the importance of dosage balance in the development of
      neural phenotypes in DS.

PMID- 27618721
TI  - Identification of RSK and TTK as Modulators of Blood Vessel Morphogenesis Using
      an Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Vascular Differentiation Assay.
AB  - Blood vessels are formed through vasculogenesis, followed by remodeling of the
      endothelial network through angiogenesis. Many events that occur during embryonic
      vascular development are recapitulated during adult neoangiogenesis, which is
      critical to tumor growth and metastasis. Current antiangiogenic tumor therapies,
      based largely on targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway, show
      limited clinical benefits, thus necessitating the discovery of alternative
      targets. Here we report the development of a robust embryonic stem cell-based
      vascular differentiation assay amenable to small-molecule screens to identify
      novel modulators of angiogenesis. In this context, RSK and TTK were identified as
      angiogenic modulators. Inhibition of these pathways inhibited angiogenesis in
      embryoid bodies and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Furthermore,
      inhibition of RSK and TTK reduced tumor growth, vascular density, and improved
      survival in an in vivo Lewis lung carcinoma mouse model. Our study suggests that
      RSK and TTK are potential targets for antiangiogenic therapy, and provides an
      assay system for further pathway screens.

PMID- 27618725
TI  - Drug-induced liver and skin reactions: In need of a consensus definition.

PMID- 27618723
TI  - Improved Human Erythropoiesis and Platelet Formation in Humanized NSGW41 Mice.
AB  - Human erythro-megakaryopoiesis does not occur in humanized mouse models,
      preventing the in vivo analysis of human hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)
      differentiation into these lineages in a surrogate host. Here we show that stably
      engrafted KIT-deficient NOD/SCID Il2rg-/-KitW41/W41 (NSGW41) mice support much
      improved human erythropoiesis and platelet formation compared with irradiated NSG
      recipients. Considerable numbers of human erythroblasts and mature thrombocytes
      are present in the bone marrow and blood, respectively. Morphology, composition,
      and enucleation capacity of de novo generated human erythroblasts in NSGW41 mice
      are comparable with those in human bone marrow. Overexpression of human
      erythropoietin showed no further improvement in human erythrocyte output, but
      depletion of macrophages led to the appearance of human erythrocytes in the
      blood. Human erythropoiesis up to normoblasts and platelet formation is fully
      supported in NSGW41 mice, allowing the analysis of human HSC differentiation into
      these lineages, the exploration of certain pathophysiologies, and the evaluation
      of gene therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 27618726
TI  - Surgical preparation of nasal defects to enhance the implant-retained facial
      prostheses: A case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Skin cancers requiring nasal resection may be surgically
      reconstructed and/or prosthetically reconstructed. Singular surgical
      reconstruction may be ideal for smaller defects in which the nasal bone and
      cartilaginous portions of the nose are maintained, but surgical reconstruction
      falls short of providing acceptable aesthetic results for more extensive nasal
      defects. Prosthetic rehabilitation, or a combination of surgical and prosthetic
      rehabilitation, is more appropriate for larger defects, but prosthesis retention
      can be challenging when adhesives are required on adjacent mobile and secreting
      skin. METHODS: We report 2 cases of patients with extensive nasal defects who
      were successfully rehabilitated with nasal prostheses. The nasal defects were
      surgically optimized with immediate preparation of the surgical margins,
      placement of a split-thickness skin graft (STSG) within the nasal cavities and
      exposed maxillary sinuses, and immediate placement of osseointegrated implants.
      RESULTS: Excellent prosthetic retention can be achieved without the need for
      adhesives. A skin graft-lined defect has minimal secretions and allows for
      improved defect cleansing. CONCLUSION: The success of a nasal prosthesis depends
      on appropriate surgical management of the defect, and, thus, collaboration
      between the various surgical and prosthetic teams is essential. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: E4-E11, 2017.

PMID- 27618724
TI  - The aPKC-CBP Pathway Regulates Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in an Age-Dependent
      Manner.
AB  - While epigenetic modifications have emerged as attractive substrates to integrate
      environmental changes into the determination of cell identity and function,
      specific signals that directly activate these epigenetic modifications remain
      unknown. Here, we examine the role of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC)-mediated
      Ser436 phosphorylation of CBP, a histone acetyltransferase, in adult hippocampal
      neurogenesis and memory. Using a knockin mouse strain (CbpS436A) in which the
      aPKC-CBP pathway is deficient, we observe impaired hippocampal neuronal
      differentiation, maturation, and memory and diminished binding of CBP to CREB in
      6-month-old CbpS436A mice, but not at 3 months of age. Importantly, elevation of
      CREB activity rescues these deficits, and CREB activity is reduced whereas aPKC
      activity is increased in the murine hippocampus as they age from 3 to 6 months
      regardless of genotype. Thus, the aPKC-CBP pathway is a homeostatic compensatory
      mechanism that modulates hippocampal neurogenesis and memory in an age-dependent
      manner in response to reduced CREB activity.

PMID- 27618727
TI  - Incident Type 2 Diabetes in a Large Australian Cohort Study: Does Physical
      Activity or Sitting Time Alter the Risk Associated With Body Mass Index?
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the combined effects of body mass index (BMI), physical
      activity (PA) and sitting on incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among
      Australian adults. METHODS: A sample of 29,572 adults aged >=45 years from New
      South Wales, Australia, completed baseline (2006-2008) and follow-up (2010)
      questionnaires. Incident T2DM was defined as self-reported, physician-diagnosed
      diabetes at follow-up. BMI was categorized as normal/overweight/obese. PA was
      tertiled into low/medium/ high. Sitting was dichotomized as higher/lower sitting
      (>= 8 hours/day or < 8 hours/day). Odds ratios (OR) were estimated for developing
      T2DM using logistics regression for individual and combined risk factors, and
      data stratified by BMI categories. RESULTS: During a mean 2.7 (SD: 0.9) years of
      follow-up, 611 (2.1%) participants developed T2DM. In fully adjusted models, BMI
      was the only independent risk factor for incident T2DM. In stratified analyses,
      the association between BMI and T2DM did not differ significantly across sitting
      or PA categories. Overweight/obese individuals with high PA and lower sitting had
      higher odds of incident T2DM than normal counterparts with low PA and higher
      sitting. CONCLUSIONS: High PA/low sitting did not attenuate the risk of T2DM
      associated with overweight/obesity. Maintaining a healthy weight, by adopting
      healthy lifestyle behaviors, is critical for T2DM prevention.

PMID- 27618728
TI  - Acupuncture With Electrical Stimulation as a Treatment for Severe Chronic
      Constipation.

PMID- 27618730
TI  - Lewis Acid Induced Switch of Torquoselectivity in the Nazarov Cyclization of
      Activated Dienones Bearing a Chiral Sulfoxide.
AB  - A Nazarov cyclization of activated dienones bearing a dihydropyran as an electron
      donating group (EDG) and a chiral sulfoxide group as an electron-withdrawing
      group (EWG) and chiral inductor is described. The direction of the
      torquoselectivity depends highly on the nature of the Lewis acid promoter. This
      diastereodivergent strategy furnishes both trans stereoisomers from a common
      precursor. The potential of the Nazarov cyclization products was highlighted by
      further synthetic elaboration.

PMID- 27618729
TI  - Patient-provider communication and hormonal therapy side effects in breast cancer
      survivors.
AB  - Side effects from hormonal therapy (HT) for breast cancer treatment occur
      frequently and are associated with worse quality of life and HT non-adherence.
      Whether improved patient-physician communication is associated with patients'
      reporting of side effects is unknown. We undertook this study to assess factors
      associated with women's reports of HT side effects. Between December 2012 and
      April 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of breast cancer patients
      undergoing HT in an urban medical center. Descriptive statistics, univariate
      analyses, and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate associations. Of the
      100 participants, 67% reported having HT side effects. However, when prompted, an
      additional 9% reported experiencing specific HT-related symptoms. Despite very
      high communication scores, one-third of participants reported they had not
      discussed side effects with providers. Multivariate analysis showed that after
      controlling for age, education, race, and medication beliefs, women who had
      difficulty asking providers for more information were more likely to report side
      effects (odds ratio 8.27, 95% confidence interval 1.01-69.88). Although HT side
      effects often occur and are bothersome, patient-provider discussions about side
      effects remain suboptimal. Providers should actively ask patients about
      medication side effects so that they can be addressed to improve quality of life
      and potentially, medication adherence.

PMID- 27618732
TI  - Approximation of clogging in a leachate collection system in municipal solid
      waste landfill in Osecna (Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic).
AB  - The research was focused on approximation of clogging in a leachate collection
      system in municipal solid waste landfill in Osecna, situated near the location
      Osecna, region Liberec, Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic, by analysis of
      numerical experiment results. To approximate the clogging of the leachate
      collection system after fifteen years of landfill operation (1995-2009) were
      successfully tested modified De Zeeuw-Hellinga transient drainage theory. This
      procedure allows application of the reduction factors to express clogging of the
      leachate collection system in Osecna landfill. The results proved that the
      modified De Zeeuw-Hellinga method with reduction factors can serve as a good tool
      for clogging approximation in a leachate collection system in Osecna landfill.

PMID- 27618733
TI  - Evaluation of the Match External Load in Soccer: Methods Comparison.
AB  - PURPOSE: To test the interchangeability of 2 match-analysis approaches for
      external-load detection considering arbitrary selected speeds and metabolic power
      (MP) thresholds in male top-level soccer. METHODS: Data analyses were performed
      considering match physical performance of 60 matches (1200 player cases) of
      randomly selected Spanish, German, and English first-division championship
      matches (2013-14 season). Match analysis was performed with a validated
      semiautomated multicamera system operating at 25 Hz. RESULTS: During a match,
      players covered 10,673 +/- 348 m, of which 1778 +/- 208 m and 2759 +/- 241 m were
      performed at high intensity, as measured using speed (>=16 km/h, HI) and
      metabolic power (>=20 W/kg, MPHI) notations. High-intensity notations were nearly
      perfectly associated (r = .93, P < .0001). A huge method bias (980.63 +/- 87.82
      m, d = 11.67) was found when considering MPHI and HI. Very large correlations
      were found between match total distance covered and MPHI (r = .84, P < .0001) and
      HI (r = .74, P < .0001). Player high-intensity decelerations (>=-2 m/s2) were
      very largely associated with MPHI (r = .73, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: The speed
      and MP methods are highly interchangeable at relative level (magnitude rank) but
      not absolute level (measure magnitude). The 2 physical match-analysis methods can
      be independently used to track match external load in elite-level players.
      However, match-analyst decisions must be based on use of a single method to avoid
      bias in external-load determination.

PMID- 27618731
TI  - Simulated Regionalization of Heart and Lung Transplantation in the United States.
AB  - We simulated the impact of regionalization of isolated heart and lung
      transplantation within United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) regions. Overall,
      12 594 orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) patients across 135 centers and 12
      300 orthotopic lung transplantation (OLT) patients across 67 centers were
      included in the study. An algorithm was constructed that "closed" the lowest
      volume center in a region and referred its patients to the highest volume center.
      In the unadjusted analysis, referred patients were assigned the highest volume
      center's 1-year mortality rate, and the difference in deaths per region before
      and after closure was computed. An adjusted analysis was performed using
      multivariable logistic regression using recipient and donor variables. The
      primary outcome was the potential number of lives saved at 1 year after
      transplant. In adjusted OHT analysis, 10 lives were saved (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 9-11) after one center closure and 240 lives were saved (95% CI 209
      272) after up to five center closures per region, with the latter resulting in
      1624 total patient referrals (13.2% of OHT patients). For OLT, lives saved ranged
      from 29 (95% CI 26-32) after one center closure per region to 240 (95% CI 224
      256) after up to five regional closures, but the latter resulted in 2999
      referrals (24.4% of OLT patients). Increased referral distances would severely
      limit access to care for rural and resource-limited populations.

PMID- 27618734
TI  - Mucosal and cutaneous human papillomaviruses in head and neck squamous cell
      papillomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conflicting data exist regarding the contribution of human
      papillomavirus (HPV) to the development of head and neck squamous cell
      papillomas. METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded papillomas were tested for
      28 mucosal and 79 cutaneous HPVs using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based
      methods. RESULTS: Eighty-three papillomas (43 oropharyngeal, 31 oral, 6
      laryngeal, and 3 nasopharyngeal) were analyzed. Twenty-four samples (28.9%)
      harbored mucosal HPVs: 3 oropharyngeal (6.9%), 15 oral (48.3%), 4 laryngeal
      (66.7%), and 2 nasopharyngeal papillomas (66.7%). Eighty-one cases were also
      tested for cutaneous HPVs, detected in 16 lesions (19.7%): 11 (13.5%) harbored
      only cutaneous types, and 5 (6.2%) were positive for both cutaneous and mucosal
      HPVs. Among these 81 cases, prevalence of mucosal and/or cutaneous HPV infection
      was 43.2%. CONCLUSION: HPV DNA detection in a fraction of head and neck
      papillomas supports the role of HPV in their development. However, other markers
      need to be considered to confirm the association of HPV infection with these
      lesions. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 254-259, 2017.

PMID- 27618735
TI  - Assessing Muscle-Strength Asymmetry via a Unilateral-Stance Isometric Midthigh
      Pull.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the within-session reliability of bilateral- and
      unilateral-stance isometric midthigh-pull (IMTP) force-time characteristics
      including peak force (PF), relative PF, and impulse at time bands (0-100, 0-200,
      0-250, and 0-300 milliseconds) and to compare isometric force-time
      characteristics between right and left and dominant (D) and nondominant (ND)
      limbs. METHODS: Professional male rugby league and multisport male college
      athletes (N = 54; age, 23.4 +/- 4.2 y; height, 1.80 +/- 0.05 m; mass, 88.9 +/-
      12.9 kg) performed 3 bilateral IMTP trials and 6 unilateral-stance IMTP trials (3
      per leg) on a force plate sampling at 600 Hz. RESULTS: Intraclass correlation
      coefficients (ICCs) and coefficients of variation (CVs) demonstrated high within
      session reliability for bilateral and unilateral IMTP PF (ICC = .94, CV = 4.7
      5.5%). Lower reliability measures and greater variability were observed for
      bilateral and unilateral IMTP impulse at time bands (ICC = .81-.88, CV = 7.7
      11.8%). Paired-sample t tests and Cohen d effect sizes revealed no significant
      differences for all isometric force-time characteristics between right and left
      limbs in male college athletes (P >.05, d <= 0.32) and professional rugby league
      players (P > .05, d <= 0.11); however, significant differences were found between
      D and ND limbs in male college athletes (P < .001, d = 0.43-0.91) and
      professional rugby league players (P < .001, d = 0.27-0.46). CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrated high within-session reliability for unilateral-stance IMTP PF,
      revealing significant differences in isometric force-time characteristics between
      D and ND limbs in male athletes.

PMID- 27618736
TI  - Challenges and Opportunities in Protease-Activated Receptor Drug Development.
AB  - Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are a unique class of G protein-coupled
      receptors (GPCRs) that transduce cellular responses to extracellular proteases.
      PARs have important functions in the vasculature, inflammation, and cancer and
      are important drug targets. A unique feature of PARs is their irreversible
      proteolytic mechanism of activation that results in the generation of a tethered
      ligand that cannot diffuse away. Despite the fact that GPCRs have proved to be
      the most successful class of druggable targets, the development of agents that
      target PARs specifically has been challenging. As a consequence, researchers have
      taken a remarkable diversity of approaches to develop pharmacological entities
      that modulate PAR function. Here, we present an overview of the diversity of
      therapeutic agents that have been developed against PARs. We further discuss PAR
      biased signaling and the influence of receptor compartmentalization,
      posttranslational modifications, and dimerization, which are important
      considerations for drug development.

PMID- 27618737
TI  - Strategies to Develop Inhibitors of Motif-Mediated Protein-Protein Interactions
      as Drug Leads.
AB  - Protein-protein interactions are fundamental for virtually all functions of the
      cell. A large fraction of these interactions involve short peptide motifs, and
      there has been increased interest in targeting them using peptide-based
      therapeutics. Peptides benefit from being specific, relatively safe, and easy to
      produce. They are also easy to modify using chemical synthesis and molecular
      biology techniques. However, significant challenges remain regarding the use of
      peptides as therapeutic agents. Identification of peptide motifs is difficult,
      and peptides typically display low cell permeability and sensitivity to enzymatic
      degradation. In this review, we outline the principal high-throughput
      methodologies for motif discovery and describe current methods for overcoming
      pharmacokinetic and bioavailability limitations.

PMID- 27618738
TI  - Changing Provider Behavior in the Context of Chronic Disease Management: Focus on
      Clinical Inertia.
AB  - Widespread acceptance of evidence-based medicine has led to the proliferation of
      clinical practice guidelines as the primary mode of communicating current best
      practices across a range of chronic diseases. Despite overwhelming evidence
      supporting the benefits of their use, there is a long history of poor uptake by
      providers. Nonadherence to clinical practice guidelines is referred to as
      clinical inertia and represents provider failure to initiate or intensify
      treatment despite a clear indication to do so. Here we review evidence for the
      ubiquity of clinical inertia across a variety of chronic health conditions, as
      well as the organizational and system, patient, and provider factors that serve
      to maintain it. Limitations are highlighted in the emerging literature examining
      interventions to reduce clinical inertia. An evidence-based framework to address
      these limitations is proposed that uses behavior change theory and advocates for
      shared decision making and enhanced guideline development and dissemination.

PMID- 27618739
TI  - Don't Worry, Be Happy: Endocannabinoids and Cannabis at the Intersection of
      Stress and Reward.
AB  - Cannabis enables and enhances the subjective sense of well-being by stimulating
      the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which plays a key role in modulating the
      response to stress, reward, and their interactions. However, over time, repeated
      activation of the ECS by cannabis can trigger neuroadaptations that may impair
      the sensitivity to stress and reward. This effect, in vulnerable individuals, can
      lead to addiction and other adverse consequences. The recent shift toward
      legalization of medical or recreational cannabis has renewed interest in
      investigating the physiological role of the ECS as well as the potential health
      effects, both adverse and beneficial, of cannabis. Here we review our current
      understanding of the ECS and its complex physiological roles. We discuss the
      implications of this understanding vis-a-vis the ECS's modulation of stress and
      reward and its relevance to mental disorders in which these processes are
      disrupted (i.e., addiction, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder,
      schizophrenia), along with the therapeutic potential of strategies to manipulate
      the ECS for these conditions.

PMID- 27618740
TI  - Selective and differential interactions of BNN27, a novel C17-spiroepoxy steroid
      derivative, with TrkA receptors, regulating neuronal survival and
      differentiation.
AB  - Nerve growth factor (NGF) holds a pivotal role in brain development and
      maintenance, been also involved in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative
      diseases. Here, we provide evidence that a novel C17-spiroepoxy steroid
      derivative, BNN27, specifically interacts with and activates the TrkA receptor of
      NGF, inducing phosphorylation of TrkA tyrosine residues and down-stream neuronal
      survival-related kinase signaling. Additionally, BNN27 potentiates the efficacy
      of low levels of NGF, by facilitating its binding to the TrkA receptors and
      differentially inducing fast return of internalized TrkA receptors into neuronal
      cell membranes. Furthermore, BNN27 synergizes with NGF in promoting axonal
      outgrowth, effectively rescues from apoptosis NGF-dependent and TrkA positive
      sympathetic and sensory neurons, in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo in NGF null mice.
      Interestingly, BNN27 does not possess the hyperalgesic properties of NGF. BNN27
      represents a lead molecule for the development of neuroprotective TrkA receptor
      agonists, with potential therapeutic applications in neurodegenerative diseases
      and in brain trauma.

PMID- 27618742
TI  - Olesoxime favors oligodendrocyte differentiation through a functional interplay
      between mitochondria and microtubules.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by episodes
      of immune attacks and oligodendrocyte death leading to demyelination and
      progressive functional deficits. New therapeutic strategies are needed to
      stimulate the spontaneous regenerative process observed in some patients.
      Spontaneous myelin repair relies on the mobilization and differentiation of
      endogenous oligodendrocyte progenitors at the lesion site. Olesoxime, a
      cholesterol-like compound, has been shown to favor oligodendrocyte maturation in
      culture and promote myelin regeneration in rodents. Here, we study the mode of
      action of this compound and show that it binds to oligodendrocyte mitochondria,
      leading to their hyperfilamentation. This is accompanied by a reduction of basal
      superoxide levels, and accumulation of End Binding Protein 1 (EB1) at growing
      ends of microtubules. In parallel, we demonstrate that Reactive Oxygen Species
      (ROS) scavengers also promote oligodendrocyte differentiation, together with
      increasing mitochondrial filamentation and EB1-dependent microtubule
      polymerization. Altogether, our data uncover the mechanisms by which olesoxime
      promotes oligodendrocyte maturation. They also reveal that a bidirectional
      relationship between mitochondria hyperfilamentation and ROS level modulation
      controls oligodendrocyte maturation. This study identifies new cellular
      mechanisms to target for the development of regenerative treatments for MS.

PMID- 27618741
TI  - Chronic exposure to KATP channel openers results in attenuated glucose sensing in
      hypothalamic GT1-7 neurons.
AB  - Individuals with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) are often exposed to recurrent episodes of
      hypoglycaemia. This reduces hormonal and behavioural responses that normally
      counteract low glucose in order to maintain glucose homeostasis, with altered
      responsiveness of glucose sensing hypothalamic neurons implicated. Although the
      molecular mechanisms are unknown, pharmacological studies implicate hypothalamic
      ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP) activity, with KATP openers (KCOs)
      amplifying, through cell hyperpolarization, the response to hypoglycaemia.
      Although initial findings, using acute hypothalamic KCO delivery, in rats were
      promising, chronic exposure to the KCO NN414 worsened the responses to subsequent
      hypoglycaemic challenge. To investigate this further we used GT1-7 cells to
      explore how NN414 affected glucose-sensing behaviour, the metabolic response of
      cells to hypoglycaemia and KATP activity. GT1-7 cells exposed to 3 or 24 h NN414
      exhibited an attenuated hyperpolarization to subsequent hypoglycaemic challenge
      or NN414, which correlated with diminished KATP activity. The reduced sensitivity
      to hypoglycaemia was apparent 24 h after NN414 removal, even though intrinsic
      KATP activity recovered. The NN414-modified glucose responsiveness was not
      associated with adaptations in glucose uptake, metabolism or oxidation. KATP
      inactivation by NN414 was prevented by the concurrent presence of tolbutamide,
      which maintains KATP closure. Single channel recordings indicate that NN414
      alters KATP intrinsic gating inducing a stable closed or inactivated state. These
      data indicate that exposure of hypothalamic glucose sensing cells to chronic
      NN414 drives a sustained conformational change to KATP, probably by binding to
      SUR1, that results in loss of channel sensitivity to intrinsic metabolic factors
      such as MgADP and small molecule agonists.

PMID- 27618744
TI  - Wearable Solid-State Supercapacitors Operating at High Working Voltage with a
      Flexible Nanocomposite Electrode.
AB  - The proposed approach for fabricating ultralight self-sustained electrodes
      facilitates the structural integration of highly flexible carbon nanofibers,
      amino-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (AM-MWNT), and MnO2 nanoflakes for
      potential use in wearable supercapacitors. Because of the higher orientation of
      AM-MWNT and the sublimation of terephthalic acid (PTA) in the carbonization
      process, freestanding electrodes could be realized with high porosity and
      flexibility and could possess remarkable electrochemical properties without using
      polymer substrates. Wearable symmetric solid-state supercapacitors were further
      assembled using a LiCl/PVA gel electrolyte, which exhibit a maximum energy
      density of 44.57 Wh/kg (at a power density of 337.1 W/kg) and a power density of
      13330 W/kg (at an energy density of 19.64 Wh/kg) with a working voltage as high
      as 1.8 V. Due to the combination of several favorable traits such as flexibility,
      high energy density, and excellent electrochemical cyclability, the presently
      developed wearable supercapacitors with wide potential windows are expected to be
      useful for new kinds of portable electric devices.

PMID- 27618743
TI  - Analysis of the Three-Tiered Treatment Model for Emergency Medical Rescue
      Services After the Lushan Earthquake.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the 3-tiered treatment model for medical treatment after an
      earthquake. METHODS: Based on the practices of the national emergency medical
      rescue services in the Lushan earthquake zone, the 3-tiered treatment
      classification approach was retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Medical rescue
      teams assembled and reported quickly to the disaster areas after the earthquake.
      The number of injured people had reached 25,176 as of April 30; of these, 18,611
      people were treated as outpatients, 6565 were hospitalized, and 977 were
      seriously or severely injured. CONCLUSIONS: The 3-tiered treatment model was the
      main approach used by rescue services after the Lushan earthquake. Primary and
      secondary treatments were of the highest importance and formed the basis of the
      Lushan model of earthquake rescue and treatment. (Disaster Med Public Health
      Preparedness. 2018; 12: 301-304).

PMID- 27618745
TI  - Hypofractionated re-irradiation of large-sized recurrent breast cancer with
      thermography-controlled, contact-free water-filtered infra-red-A hyperthermia: a
      retrospective study of 73 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evaluation of the efficacy and toxicity of a new setup of
      thermographically controlled water-filtered infra-red-A (wIRA) superficial
      hyperthermia (HT) combined with hypofractionated re-irradiation (re-RT) to treat
      large-sized breast cancer recurrences. METHODS: Records of 73 heavily pre
      irradiated patients with 103 treatment regions, treated from September 2009 to
      July 2015 were retrospectively analysed. Sixty-four patients with macroscopic
      disease were treated with 94 regions including 46 patients with lymphangiosis
      carcinomatosa. Hypofractionated RT consisted of 4 Gy once per week up to a total
      dose of 20 Gy delivered within 1-4 min after wIRA-HT. Heating of tumour nodules
      and diffusely spreading cancer lesions was performed under real-time
      thermographic temperature monitoring, maintaining the maximum skin temperature in
      the ROI between 42  degrees C and 43  degrees C, achieving intratumoural
      temperatures up to a depth of 2 cm between 39.5  degrees C and 42  degrees C.
      Seventeen patients received re-re-irradiation (re-re-RT) using the same HT/RT
      treatment schedule. RESULTS: Response rates in patients with macroscopic disease:
      61% CR, 33% PR, 5% NC and 1% PD. Local control throughout life time after CR of
      macroscopic disease: 59%. All nine patients with microscopic disease had CR and
      local control throughout lifetime. Only grade 1 toxicities were observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Application of thermographically controlled wIRA-HT combined with
      extremely low-dose re-irradiation provides good local control throughout lifetime
      of heavily pre-treated breast cancer recurrences. The twin wIRA radiator provides
      a sufficiently homogeneous heat deposition for the treatment of larger areas. The
      time lag between HT and re-RT is substantially reduced. The possibility of re-re
      RT opens new therapeutic options for the future.

PMID- 27618746
TI  - Treatment of mixed features in bipolar disorder.
AB  - Mood episodes with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
      Edition (DSM-5)-defined mixed features are highly prevalent in bipolar disorder
      (BD), affecting ~40% of patients during the course of illness. Mixed states are
      associated with poorer clinical outcomes, greater treatment resistance, higher
      rates of comorbidity, more frequent mood episodes, and increased rates of
      suicide. The objectives of the current review are to identify, summarize, and
      synthesize studies assessing the efficacy of treatments specifically for BD I and
      II mood episodes (ie, including manic, hypomanic, and major depressive episodes)
      with DSM-5-defined mixed features. Two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 6
      post-hoc analyses were identified, all of which assessed the efficacy of second
      generation antipsychotics (SGAs) for the acute treatment of BD mood episodes with
      mixed features. Results from these studies provide preliminary support for SGAs
      as efficacious treatments for both mania with mixed features and bipolar
      depression with mixed features. However, there are inadequate data to
      definitively support or refute the clinical use of specific agents. Conventional
      mood stabilizing agents (eg, lithium and divalproex) have yet to have been
      adequately studied in DSM-5-defined mixed features. Further study is required to
      assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of treatments specifically for BD
      mood episodes with mixed features.

PMID- 27618747
TI  - The genome of Strongyloides spp. gives insights into protein families with a
      putative role in nematode parasitism.
AB  - Parasitic nematodes are important and abundant parasites adapted to live a
      parasitic lifestyle, with these adaptations all aimed at facilitating their
      survival and reproduction in their hosts. The recently sequenced genomes of four
      Strongyloides species, gastrointestinal parasites of humans and other animals,
      alongside transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of free-living and parasitic
      stages of their life cycles have revealed a number of protein families with a
      putative role in their parasitism. Many of these protein families have also been
      associated with parasitism in other parasitic nematode species, suggesting that
      these proteins may play a fundamental role in nematode parasitism more generally.
      Here, we review key protein families that have a putative role in Strongyloides'
      parasitism - acetylcholinesterases, astacins, aspartic proteases, prolyl
      oligopeptidases, proteinase inhibitors (trypsin inhibitors and cystatins),
      SCP/TAPS and transthyretin-like proteins - and the evidence for their key, yet
      diverse, roles in the parasitic lifestyle.

PMID- 27618749
TI  - Building on 50 Years of Excellence Where Chemistry Meets Life Science.

PMID- 27618748
TI  - Clinical Score Predicting Long-Term Survival after Repeat Resection for Recurrent
      Adrenocortical Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive malignancy typically
      resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. Surgery, even in the setting of locally
      recurrent or metastatic disease, remains the only potentially curative option.
      However, the subset of patients who will benefit from repeat resection in this
      setting remains ill defined. The objective of this study was to propose a
      prognostic clinical score that facilitates selection of patients for repeat
      resection of recurrent ACC. STUDY DESIGN: Patients who underwent curative-intent
      repeat resection for recurrent ACC at 1 of 13 academic medical centers
      participating in the US ACC Study Group were identified. End points included
      morbidity, mortality, and overall survival. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients underwent
      repeat curative-intent resection for recurrent ACC (representing 21% of 265
      patients who underwent resection for primary ACC) from 1997 to 2014. Median age
      was 52 years. Sites of resected recurrence included locoregional only (54%), lung
      only (14%), liver only (12%), combined locoregional and lung (4%), combined liver
      and lung (4%), and other distant sites (12%). Thirty-day morbidity and mortality
      rates were 40% and 5.4%, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that the
      presence of multifocal recurrence, disease-free interval <12 months, and
      extrapulmonary distant metastases were independent predictors of poor survival. A
      clinical score consisting of 1-point each for the 3 variables demonstrated good
      discrimination in predicting survival after repeat resection (5-year: 72% for 0
      points, 32% for 1 point, 0% for 2 or 3 points; p = 0.0006, area under the curve =
      0.78). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival after repeat resection for recurrent ACC
      is feasible when 2 of the following factors are present: solitary tumor, disease
      free interval >12 months, and locoregional or pulmonary recurrence.

PMID- 27618750
TI  - Management of Rectal Cancer Without Radical Resection.
AB  - The basis of the current treatment of rectal cancer is a radical total mesorectal
      excision of the rectum, and although this provides excellent oncological control,
      it is associated with morbidity and functional problems in cancer survivors.
      Organ-preservation alternatives are local excision alone for very early tumors,
      chemoradiation followed by either local excision of a small tumor remnant or,
      when there is a complete clinical response, a nonoperative watch-and-wait
      approach. The functional advantage of these alternatives is clear, but there is
      some concern about the oncological risk. Although the available studies suggest
      that with adequate selection and follow-up this risk is small, the evidence is
      still weak. Because of patients' high interest in preserving quality of life,
      clinicians should cautiously move ahead and offer the option of organ
      preservation to patients in a controlled setting while awaiting further evidence.

PMID- 27618751
TI  - The End of Nihilism: Systemic Therapy of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and many
      other parts of the world. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 85-90% of
      lung cancers. Historically, the expected survival of patients with advanced
      disease has been estimated in months. In recent years, however, lung cancer has
      come to be seen as a treatable disease with multiple therapeutic options.
      Enormous advances in the understanding of its pathways and mechanisms have
      enabled personalized therapy in NSCLC. The evolving approach to therapy focuses
      on genomic profiling of the tumors to find molecular targets and develop specific
      agents for individualized therapy. In addition, maintenance therapy has emerged
      as a valid approach, and the choice of chemotherapy now varies by histology. Most
      recently, immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has shown promising results,
      with impressive durations of response and a tolerable toxicity profile. Together,
      these discoveries have improved overall survival substantially in patient
      populations that have access to these advancements. We review the clinical data
      surrounding these impressive improvements.

PMID- 27618752
TI  - Precision Medicine in Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Leukemias: Lessons from
      Sequential Mutations.
AB  - Precision medicine can be simply defined as the identification of personalized
      treatment that matches patient-specific clinical and genomic characteristics.
      Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, significant advances
      have been made in our understanding of the genetic makeup of diseases, especially
      cancers. The identification of somatic mutations that can drive cancer has led to
      the development of therapies that specifically target the abnormal proteins
      derived from these mutations. This has led to a paradigm shift in our treatment
      methodology. Although some success has been achieved in targeting some genetic
      abnormalities, several challenges and limitations exist when applying precision
      medicine concepts in leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. We review the
      current understanding of genomics in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and
      leukemias and the limitations of precision-medicine concepts in MDS.

PMID- 27618753
TI  - Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: Screening, Surveillance, and Management.
AB  - Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a growing problem with a rapidly rising
      incidence. Risk factors include gastroesophageal reflux disease, central obesity,
      and smoking. The prognosis of EAC remains poor because it is usually diagnosed
      late, and many efforts have been made to improve prevention, early detection, and
      treatment. Acid suppression, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and
      statins may play a role in chemoprevention. Screening for Barrett's esophagus
      (BE), the only known precursor lesion of EAC, is indicated for individuals with
      increased risk. Endoscopic surveillance of patients with BE likely improves
      overall outcomes. Endoscopic ablation and resection is highly effective for
      treating dysplastic BE and early EAC, whereas esophagectomy is indicated for
      patients with locally advanced disease. This review covers epidemiology, staging,
      screening, and prevention of EAC as well as endoscopic and surgical management.

PMID- 27618754
TI  - Investigation of the mechanical properties and failure modes of hybrid natural
      fiber composites for potential bone fracture fixation plates.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanical feasibility of a
      hybrid Glass/Flax/Epoxy composite material for bone fracture fixation such as
      fracture plates. These hybrid composite plates have a sandwich structure in which
      the outer layers are made of Glass/Epoxy and the core from Flax/Epoxy. This
      configuration resulted in a unique structure compared to prior composites
      proposed for similar clinical applications. In order to evaluate the mechanical
      properties of this hybrid composite, uniaxial tension, compression, three-point
      bending and Rockwell Hardness tests were conducted. In addition, water absorption
      tests were performed to investigate the rate of water absorption for the
      specimens. This study confirms that the proposed hybrid composite plates are
      significantly more flexible axially compared to conventional metallic plates.
      Furthermore, they have considerably higher ultimate strength in tension,
      compression and flexion. Such high strength will ensure good stability of bone
      implant construct at the fracture site, immobilize adjacent bone fragments and
      carry clinical-type forces experienced during daily normal activities. Moreover,
      this sandwich structure with stronger and stiffer face sheets and more flexible
      core can result in a higher stiffness and strength in bending compared to tension
      and compression. These qualities make the proposed hybrid composite an ideal
      candidate for the design of an optimized fracture fixation system with much
      closer mechanical properties to human cortical bone.

PMID- 27618756
TI  - Guidance signalling regulates leading edge behaviour during collective cell
      migration of cardiac cells in Drosophila.
AB  - Collective cell migration is the coordinated movement of cells, which organize
      tissues during morphogenesis, repair and some cancers. The motile cell membrane
      of the advancing front in collective cell migration is termed the Leading Edge.
      The embryonic development of the vertebrate and Drosophila hearts are both
      characterized by the coordinated medial migration of a bilateral cluster of
      mesodermal cells. In Drosophila, the cardioblasts form cohesive bilateral rows
      that migrate collectively as a unit towards the dorsal midline to form the dorsal
      vessel. We have characterized the collective cell migration of cardioblasts as an
      in vivo quantitative model to study the behaviour of the Leading Edge. We
      investigated whether guidance signalling through Slit and Netrin pathways plays a
      role in cell migration during heart development. Through time-lapse imaging and
      quantitative assessment of migratory behaviour of the cardioblasts in loss-of
      function mutants, we demonstrate that both Slit and Netrin mediated signals are
      autonomously and concomitantly required to maximize migration velocity,
      filopodial and lamellipodial activities. Additionally, we show that another Slit
      and Netrin receptor, Dscam1, the role of which during heart development was
      previously unknown, is required for both normal migration of cardioblasts and
      luminal expansion. Leading edge behaviour analysis revealed a dosage dependent
      genetic interaction between Slit and Netrin receptors suggesting that downstream
      signalling through these receptors converge on a common output that increases
      leading edge activity of the cardioblasts. Finally, we found that guidance
      signalling maintains the balance between epithelial and mesenchymal
      characteristics of the migrating cardioblasts.

PMID- 27618757
TI  - Amino acid digestibility of different rye genotypes in caecectomised laying hens.
AB  - This study investigated the variability of amino acid (AA) digestibility of rye
      grains in laying hens. Relationships between AA digestibility and physical
      properties (thousand seed weight, test weight, falling number, and extract
      viscoelasticity), chemical composition (proximate nutrients, non-starch
      polysaccharides, AA, minerals, and inositol phosphates), gross energy
      concentration, and in vitro solubility of nitrogen (N) of the grains were also
      examined. Twenty rye genotypes were grown under standardised agronomic and
      environmental conditions as part of a collaborative research project known as
      "GrainUp". Each genotype was added to a basal diet at 500 g/kg at the expense of
      maize starch to produce 20 rye diets. The experimental design comprised four
      Latin Squares (6 * 6) distributed over two runs, resulting in 12 experimental
      periods. Caecectomised laying hens (LSL-Classic) were individually kept in
      metabolism cages. Excreta were collected quantitatively for 4 d, and AA
      digestibility of the rye genotypes was determined using a regression approach.
      The digestibility of AA was generally low but varied significantly among the 20
      rye genotypes, especially for Lys (digestibility range 35-59%), Met (57-75%), Thr
      (34-54%), and Trp (36-71%). Nevertheless, physical and chemical characteristics
      as well as the in vitro solubility of N correlated in only a few cases with AA
      digestibility. Multiple linear regression was used to calculate equations to
      predict AA digestibility based on the analysed characteristics. However, their
      explanatory power, as judged by the adjusted R(2), was not sufficiently precise
      for practical application (below 0.6 for most AA). In conclusion, the AA
      digestibility of rye grain is generally low and varies significantly between crop
      genotypes. Equations based on its physical and chemical characteristics are not
      sufficiently precise to be useful for feed formulation. 

PMID- 27618758
TI  - The expanded use of targeted temperature management: Time for reappraisal.

PMID- 27618755
TI  - Drosophila FoxL1 non-autonomously coordinates organ placement during embryonic
      development.
AB  - Determining how organs attain precise positioning within an organism is a crucial
      facet of developmental biology. The Fox family winged-helix transcription factors
      are known to play key roles in development of multiple organs. Drosophila FoxL1
      (aka Fd64A) is dynamically expressed in embryos but its function is completely
      uncharacterized. FoxL1 is expressed in a single group of body wall - muscles in
      the 2nd and 3rd thoracic segments, in homologous abdominal muscles at earlier
      stages, and in the hindgut mesoderm from early through late embryogenesis. We
      show that FoxL1 expression in T2 and T3 is in VIS5, which is not a single muscle
      spanning the entire thorax, as previously published, but is, instead, three
      individual muscles, each spanning a single thoracic segment. We generate
      mutations in foxL1 and show that, surprisingly, none of the tissues that express
      FoxL1 are affected by its loss. Instead, loss of foxL1 results in defects in
      salivary gland positioning and morphology, as well as defects in the migration of
      hemocytes, germ cells and Malpighian tubules. We also show that FoxL1-dependent
      expression of secreted Sema2a in T3 VIS5 is required for normal salivary gland
      positioning. Altogether, these findings suggest that Drosophila FoxL1 functions
      like its mammalian counterpart in non-autonomously orchestrating the behaviors of
      surrounding tissues.

PMID- 27618760
TI  - A comparative proteomic analysis of Salmonella typhimurium under the regulation
      of the RstA/RstB and PhoP/PhoQ systems.
AB  - In pathogenic bacteria, the two-component regulatory systems (TCSs) play
      important roles in signal transduction and regulation of their pathogenesis.
      Here, we used quantitative proteomic methods to comparatively analyze functional
      networks under the control of the RstA/RstB system versus the PhoP/PhoQ system in
      Salmonella typhimurium. By comparing the proteomic profile from a wild-type
      strain to that from a DeltarstB strain or a DeltaphoPQ strain under a condition
      known to activate these TCSs, we found that the levels of 159 proteins
      representing 6.92% of the 2297 proteins identified from the DeltarstB strain and
      341 proteins representing 14.9% of the 2288 proteins identified from the
      DeltaphoPQ strain were significantly changed, respectively. Bioinformatics
      analysis revealed that the RstA/RstB system and the PhoP/PhoQ system coordinated
      with regard to the regulation of specific proteins as well as metabolic
      processes. Our observations suggested that the regulatory networks controlled by
      the PhoP/PhoQ system were much more extensive than those by the RstA/RstB system,
      whereas the RstA/RstB system specifically regulated expression of the
      constituents participating in pyrimidine metabolism and iron acquisition.
      Additional results also suggested that the RstA/RstB system was required for
      regulation of Salmonella motility and invasion.

PMID- 27618759
TI  - Transient Asymptomatic Pulmonary Opacities Occurring during Osimertinib
      Treatment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Osimertinib is an EGFR inhibitor licensed for the treatment of EGFR
      mutant, T790M-positive NSCLC. Previously unreported, frequent transient
      asymptomatic pulmonary opacities were noted in patients during osimertinib
      therapy at the University of Colorado. METHODS: Computed tomography imaging and
      clinical notes on patients with NSCLC who had been treated with osimertinib at
      the University of Colorado were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Transient
      asymptomatic pulmonary opacities developed in seven of 20 patients (35%) while
      they were receiving osimertinib. The radiological patterns seen included ground
      glass opacities with or without nodular consolidation. The median time to
      development of the first lesion was 8.7 weeks (range 1.6-43 weeks), the median
      time to resolution during continued osimertinib was 6 weeks (range 1-11 weeks).
      CONCLUSIONS: Transient asymptomatic pulmonary opacities may be a previously
      unrecognized, benign feature associated with osimertinib therapy that may be
      mistaken for isolated pulmonary progression or the beginning of more severe
      pneumonitis. If new-onset pulmonary lesions, especially those associated with
      ground-glass appearances, are asymptomatic and localized and there is no evidence
      of disease progression elsewhere, it may be reasonable to continue treatment with
      osimertinib and monitor the lesions for resolution.

PMID- 27618761
TI  - Tumor-secreted products repress B-cell lymphopoiesis in a murine model of breast
      cancer.
AB  - Growing cancers are known to modify immune responses through suppressive
      mechanisms manifested within the local tumor microenvironment. Accumulating
      evidence indicates that secreted tumor products can also influence on distant
      immunological compartments, including myelopoiesis in the bone marrow. However,
      it is unknown if a similar effect can occur to regulate B-cell lymphopoiesis in
      breast cancer. Examining the MMTV-PyMT murine model of breast cancer, we show a
      complete block in bone marrow B-cell lymphopoiesis, which is dependent on tumor
      burden. We also observed an increase in the total number of splenic B cells and
      an elevated frequency of marginal zone B cells. By using in vitro assays of B
      cell lymphopoiesis, we show that tumor-secreted molecules directly inhibit B-cell
      progenitor proliferation and favor maturation. These data demonstrate a profound
      sensitivity of B-cell lymphopoiesis to the accumulation of ectopically produced
      molecules during tumor growth in PyMT.

PMID- 27618762
TI  - Differential effects of social isolation in adolescent and adult mice on behavior
      and cortical gene expression.
AB  - Intact function of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function relies on proper
      development of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal populations and on integral
      myelination processes. Social isolation (SI) affects behavior and brain circuitry
      in adulthood, but previous rodent studies typically induced prolonged (post
      weaning) exposure and failed to directly compare between the effects of SI in
      adolescent and adulthood. Here, we assessed the impact of a 3-week SI period,
      starting in mid-adolescence (around the onset of puberty) or adulthood, on a wide
      range of behaviors in adult male mice. Additionally, we asked whether adolescent
      SI would differentially affect the expression of excitatory and inhibitory
      neuronal markers and myelin-related genes in mPFC. Our findings indicate that mid
      adolescent or adult SI increase anxiogenic behavior and locomotor activity.
      However, SI in adolescence uniquely affects the response to the psychotomimetic
      drug amphetamine, social and novelty exploration and performance in reversal and
      attentional set shifting tasks. Furthermore, adolescent but not adult SI
      increased the expression of glutamate markers in the adult mPFC. Our results
      imply that adolescent social deprivation is detrimental for normal development
      and may be particularly relevant to the investigation of developmental
      psychopathology.

PMID- 27618763
TI  - Metabolic activation of amygdala, lateral septum and accumbens circuits during
      food anticipatory behavior.
AB  - When food is restricted to a brief fixed period every day, animals show an
      increase in temperature, corticosterone concentration and locomotor activity for
      2-3h before feeding time, termed food anticipatory activity. Mechanisms and
      neuroanatomical circuits responsible for food anticipatory activity remain
      unclear, and may involve both oscillators and networks related to temporal
      conditioning. Rabbit pups are nursed once-a-day so they represent a natural model
      of circadian food anticipatory activity. Food anticipatory behavior in pups may
      be associated with neural circuits that temporally anticipate feeding, while the
      nursing event may produce consummatory effects. Therefore, we used New Zealand
      white rabbit pups entrained to circadian feeding to investigate the hypothesis
      that structures related to reward expectation and conditioned emotional responses
      would show a metabolic rhythm anticipatory of the nursing event, different from
      that shown by structures related to reward delivery. Quantitative cytochrome
      oxidase histochemistry was used to measure regional brain metabolic activity at
      eight different times during the day. We found that neural metabolism peaked
      before nursing, during food anticipatory behavior, in nuclei of the extended
      amygdala (basolateral, medial and central nuclei, bed nucleus of the stria
      terminalis), lateral septum and accumbens core. After pups were fed, however,
      maximal metabolic activity was expressed in the accumbens shell, caudate, putamen
      and cortical amygdala. Neural and behavioral activation persisted when animals
      were fasted by two cycles, at the time of expected nursing. These findings
      suggest that metabolic activation of amygdala-septal-accumbens circuits involved
      in temporal conditioning may contribute to food anticipatory activity.

PMID- 27618764
TI  - Lipid membrane-mediated attraction between curvature inducing objects.
AB  - The interplay of membrane proteins is vital for many biological processes, such
      as cellular transport, cell division, and signal transduction between nerve
      cells. Theoretical considerations have led to the idea that the membrane itself
      mediates protein self-organization in these processes through minimization of
      membrane curvature energy. Here, we present a combined experimental and numerical
      study in which we quantify these interactions directly for the first time. In our
      experimental model system we control the deformation of a lipid membrane by
      adhering colloidal particles. Using confocal microscopy, we establish that these
      membrane deformations cause an attractive interaction force leading to reversible
      binding. The attraction extends over 2.5 times the particle diameter and has a
      strength of three times the thermal energy (-3.3 kBT). Coarse-grained Monte-Carlo
      simulations of the system are in excellent agreement with the experimental
      results and prove that the measured interaction is independent of length scale.
      Our combined experimental and numerical results reveal membrane curvature as a
      common physical origin for interactions between any membrane-deforming objects,
      from nanometre-sized proteins to micrometre-sized particles.

PMID- 27618766
TI  - Myoclonus epilepsy in mitochondrial disorders.
AB  - Mitochondrial disorders is a group of clinical entities associated with
      abnormalities of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC), which carries out the
      oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) of ADP into ATP. As the MRC is the result of
      genetic complementation between two separate genomes, nuclear and mitochondrial,
      OXPHOS failure can derive from mutations in either nuclear-encoded, or
      mitochondrial-encoded, genes. Epilepsy is a relatively common feature of
      mitochondrial disease, especially in early-onset encephalopathies of infants and
      children. However, the two most common entities associated with epilepsy include
      MERRF, for Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers, and AHS, or Alpers
      Huttenlocher syndrome, also known as hepatopathic poliodystrophy. Whilst MERRF is
      a maternally inherited condition caused by mtDNA mutations, particularly the
      8344A>G substitution in the gene encoding mt-tRNALys, AHS is typically caused by
      recessive mutations in POLG, encoding the catalytic subunit of polymerase gamma,
      the only mtDNA polymerase in humans. AHS is the most severe, early-onset,
      invariably fatal syndrome within a disease spectrum, which also include other
      epileptogenic entities, all due to POLG mutations and including Spino-cerebellar
      Ataxia and Epilepsy (SCAE). This review reports the main clinical, neuroimaging,
      biochemical, and molecular features of epilepsy-related mitochondrial syndrome,
      particularly MERRF and AHS.

PMID- 27618765
TI  - Reconfiguration of parietal circuits with cognitive tutoring in elementary school
      children.
AB  - Cognitive development is shaped by brain plasticity during childhood, yet little
      is known about changes in large-scale functional circuits associated with
      learning in academically relevant cognitive domains such as mathematics. Here, we
      investigate plasticity of intrinsic brain circuits associated with one-on-one
      math tutoring and its relation to individual differences in children's learning.
      We focused on functional circuits associated with the intraparietal sulcus (IPS)
      and angular gyrus (AG), cytoarchitectonically distinct subdivisions of the human
      parietal cortex with different roles in numerical cognition. Tutoring improved
      performance and strengthened IPS connectivity with the lateral prefrontal cortex,
      ventral temporal-occipital cortex, and hippocampus. Crucially, increased IPS
      connectivity was associated with individual performance gains, highlighting the
      behavioral significance of plasticity in IPS circuits. Tutoring-related changes
      in IPS connectivity were distinct from those of the adjacent AG, which did not
      predict performance gains. Our findings provide new insights into plasticity of
      functional brain circuits associated with the development of specialized
      cognitive skills in children.

PMID- 27618769
TI  - Prostate cancer: More cycles of docetaxel improve survival.

PMID- 27618768
TI  - Insights into ascending aortic aneurysm pathogenesis using in vivo and ex vivo
      imaging systems in angiotensin II-infused mice.

PMID- 27618767
TI  - Patterns and predictors of severe postpartum anemia after Cesarean section.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postpartum anemia is associated with maternal and perinatal
      morbidity. Population-level data may inform guideline development for postpartum
      anemia screening. Our objectives were to evaluate the associations between
      potential predictors (predelivery anemia and postpartum hemorrhage [PPH]) with
      severe postpartum anemia after Cesarean section. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Data
      were collected from 70,939 hospitalizations for Cesarean section performed at
      Kaiser Permanente Northern California facilities between 2005 and 2013. Severe
      postpartum anemia was defined as a hemoglobin (Hb) level of less than 8 g/dL
      before hospital discharge. Using multivariable logistic regression, we assessed
      the associations between predelivery anemia and PPH with severe postpartum
      anemia. Distributions of these characteristics among women with severe postpartum
      anemia were evaluated. RESULTS: The overall rate of severe postpartum anemia was
      7.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.1%-7.4%). Severe postpartum anemia was
      strongly associated with a predelivery Hb level between 10 and 10.9 g/dL
      (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.4; 95% CI, 4.89-5.91), predelivery Hb level of less
      than 10 g/dL (aOR, 30.6; 95% CI, 27.21-34.6), and PPH (aOR, 8.45; 95% CI, 7.8
      9.16). The proportions of women with severe postpartum anemia were highest for
      those experiencing PPH but no predelivery anemia (12.2%; 95% CI, 11.0%-13.6%) and
      those who did not incur PPH nor predelivery anemia (10.7%; 95% CI, 9.6%-12.0%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that PPH and predelivery anemia are strong
      independent risk factors for severe postpartum anemia. Optimization of patients'
      Hb before delivery may reduce the incidence of severe anemia after Cesarean
      section.

PMID- 27618770
TI  - Incontinence: Results of the RELAX study extension.

PMID- 27618771
TI  - Kidney cancer: Sunitinib resistance is futile.

PMID- 27618773
TI  - Bladder cancer: Two molecular subtypes identified.

PMID- 27618772
TI  - Management of stage I testicular germ cell tumours.
AB  - Clinical stage I testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are highly curable
      neoplasms. The treatment of stage I testicular cancer is complex and requires a
      multidisciplinary approach. Standard options after radical orchiectomy for
      seminoma include active surveillance, radiation therapy or 1-2 cycles of
      carboplatin, and options for nonseminoma include active surveillance,
      retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) or 1-2 cycles of bleomycin plus
      etoposide plus cisplatin (BEP). All the options should be discussed with each
      patient and treatment choices should be made by shared decision making as
      virtually all patients with clinical stage I TGCT can be cured of their disease.
      Long-term survival of men with stage I disease is ~99% and care must be taken to
      limit the long-term risks of treatment. Orchiectomy is curative in the majority
      of patients. The management of clinical stage I TGCT remains controversial among
      experts at high-volume centres throughout the world. The main controversy is
      whether to overtreat a substantial number of patients with stage I disease to
      prevent relapse, or to observe and treat only patients who experience disease
      relapse as adjuvant treatment and surveillance strategy both bring curative
      outcome. Thus, a summary of the available evidence in stage I disease and
      recommendations for disease management from a high-volume centre such as Indiana
      University might be of interest to treating clinicians.

PMID- 27618775
TI  - Prediction of post translation modifications at the contact site between
      Anaplasma phagocytophilum and human host during autophagosome induction using a
      bioinformatic approach.
AB  - Autophagy is crucial for maintaining physiological homeostasis, but its role in
      infectious diseases is not yet adequately understood. The binding of Anaplasma
      translocated substrate-1 (ATS1) to the human Beclin1 (BECN1) protein is
      responsible for the modulation of autophagy pathway. ATS1-BECN1 is a novel type
      of interaction that facilitates Anaplasma phagocytophilum proliferation, leading
      to intracellular infection via autophagosome induction and segregation from the
      lysosome. Currently, there is no report of post translational modifications
      (PTMs) of BECN1 or cross-talk required for ATS-BECN1 complex formation.
      Prediction/modeling of the cross-talk between phosphorylation and other PTMs (O
      beta-glycosylation, sumoylation, methylation and palmitoylation) has been
      attempted in this study, which might be responsible for regulating function after
      the interaction of ATS1 with BECN1. PTMs were predicted computationally and
      mapped onto the interface of the docked ATS1-BECN1 complex. Results show that
      BECN1 phosphorylation at five residues (Thr91, Ser93, Ser96, Thr141 and Ser234),
      the interplay with O-beta-glycosylation at three sites (Thr91, Ser93 and Ser96)
      with ATS1 may be crucial for attachment and, hence, infection. No other PTM site
      at the BECN1 interface was predicted to associate with ATS1. These findings may
      have significant clinical implications for understanding the etiology of
      Anaplasma infection and for therapeutic studies.

PMID- 27618774
TI  - Protease-activated receptor-1 deficiency protects against streptozotocin-induced
      diabetic nephropathy in mice.
AB  - Endogenously administered activated protein C ameliorates diabetic nephropathy
      (DN) in a protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1)-dependent manner, suggesting that
      PAR-1 activation limits the progression of DN. Activation of PAR-1 in fibroblast
      like cells, however, induces proliferation and extracellular matrix production,
      thereby driving fibrotic disease. Considering the key role of mesangial
      proliferation and extracellular matrix production during DN, PAR-1 may in fact
      potentiate diabetes-induced kidney injury. To determine the net effect of PAR-1
      in DN, streptozotocin-induced DN was studied in wild type and PAR-1 deficient
      mice. Subsequent mechanistic insight was obtained by assessing profibrotic
      responses of mesangial and tubular epithelial cells in vitro, following PAR-1
      stimulation and inhibition. Despite having similar glucose levels, PAR-1
      deficient mice developed less kidney damage after induction of diabetes, as
      evidenced by diminished proteinuria, plasma cystatin C levels, expansion of the
      mesangial area, and tubular atrophy. In vitro, PAR-1 signaling in mesangial cells
      led to increased proliferation and expression of matrix proteins fibronectin and
      collagen IV. Conversely, a reduction in both proliferation and fibronectin
      deposition was observed in diabetic PAR-1 deficient mice. Overall, we show that
      PAR-1 plays an important role in the development of DN and PAR-1 might therefore
      be an attractive therapeutic target to pursue in DN.

PMID- 27618776
TI  - Genomics of Alzheimer's disease: Value of high-throughput genomic technologies to
      dissect its etiology.
AB  - Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disorder
      in western countries, is clinically defined by progressive worsening in cognitive
      functions along with function and behavioral impairment. This ultimately results
      in complete incapacity and death. AD is a clinically and pathologically
      heterogeneous disease, and this is reflected by the numerous genetic findings
      that point to several diverse molecular mechanisms and pathways. Linkage, genome
      wide association and next-generation sequencing studies have led to the
      identification of more than 20 novel susceptibility loci for AD. While these
      observations have significantly increased the knowledge of pathogenic mechanisms
      and potential therapeutic targets, a large part of the genetic component
      underlying AD is still unexplained. This review will summarize and discuss the
      major genetic findings and their potential impact on AD diagnosis and prediction
      of prognosis.

PMID- 27618778
TI  - Therapeutic lymphangiogenesis after myocardial infarction: vascular endothelial
      growth factor-C paves the way.

PMID- 27618779
TI  - Speech dysprosody but no music 'dysprosody' in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease is characterized not only by bradykinesia, rigidity, and
      tremor, but also by impairments of expressive and receptive linguistic prosody.
      The facilitating effect of music with a salient beat on patients' gait suggests
      that it might have a similar effect on vocal behavior, however it is currently
      unknown whether singing is affected by the disease. In the present study, fifteen
      Parkinson patients were compared with fifteen healthy controls during the singing
      of familiar melodies and improvised melodic continuations. While patients' speech
      could reliably be distinguished from that of healthy controls matched for age and
      gender, purely on the basis of aural perception, no significant differences in
      singing were observed, either in pitch, pitch range, pitch variability, and
      tempo, or in scale tone distribution, interval size or interval variability. The
      apparent dissociation of speech and singing in Parkinson's disease suggests that
      music could be used to facilitate expressive linguistic prosody.

PMID- 27618777
TI  - Utility of the dual-specificity protein kinase TTK as a therapeutic target for
      intrahepatic spread of liver cancer.
AB  - Therapies for primary liver cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related
      death worldwide, remain limited. Following multi-omics analysis (including whole
      genome and transcriptome sequencing), we were able to identify the dual-specific
      protein kinase TTK as a putative new prognostic biomarker for liver cancer.
      Herein, we show that levels of TTK protein are significantly elevated in
      neoplastic tissues from a cohort of liver cancer patients, when compared with
      adjacent hepatic tissues. We also tested the utility of TTK targeted inhibition
      and have demonstrated therapeutic potential in an experimental model of liver
      cancer in vivo. Following lentiviral shRNA knockdown in several human liver
      cancer cell lines, we demonstrated that TTK boosts cell growth and promotes cell
      spreading; as well as protects against senescence and decreases autophagy. In an
      experimental animal model, we show that in vitro knockdown of TTK effectively
      blocks intrahepatic growth of human HCC xenografts. Furthermore, we note that, in
      vivo silencing of TTK, by systemically delivering TTK siRNAs to already tumor
      bearing liver, limits intrahepatic spread of liver cancer cells. This
      intervention is associated with decreased tumor aggressiveness, as well as
      increased senescence and autophagy. Taken together, our data suggest that
      targeted TTK inhibition might have clinical utility as an adjunct therapy in
      management of liver cancer.

PMID- 27618780
TI  - Impact of lymph node occult metastases in stage I non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC): what is the evidence?

PMID- 27618781
TI  - Percutaneous radiofrequency facet capsule denervation as an alternative target in
      lumbar facet syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous radiofrequency denervation of the medial dorsal branch
      is often used in chronic low back pain of intervertebral facet etiology, which is
      sometimes difficult to perform and recurrence of pain often ensues. We theorized
      that shifting the target of RF coagulation to the facet joint capsule would
      provide an easier target and a longer-lived pain relieving response. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled trial where 120 patients diagnosed
      with CLBP of a confirmed facet origin were randomly divided into three equal
      groups, the first was submitted to percutaneous radiofrequency coagulation of the
      facet joint capsule, the second underwent percuataneous denervation of the medial
      dorsal branch and the third did not receive radiofrequency lesioning. All the
      three groups received local injection of a mixture of local anesthetic and
      steroid. Cases were followed for up to 3 years. RESULTS: 87(72.5%) patients were
      females. By 3 months' post procedure, improvement in VAS was significantly better
      than pretreatment levels in all groups (p<0.05). The control group lost
      improvement by 1-year follow-up (p=0.017). At 2 years' follow-up, the joint
      capsule denervation group maintained significant improvement (p=0.033) whereas
      the medial branch denervation group lost its significant effect (p=0.479). By the
      end of follow-up period, only joint capsule denervation group kept significant
      improvement (p=0.026). CONCLUSION: In CLBP of facet origin, shifting the target
      of percutaneous radiofrequency to the facet joint capsule provides an easier
      technique with an extended period of pain relief compared to the medial dorsal
      branch of the facet joint.

PMID- 27618782
TI  - Neurological outcomes following iatrogenic vascular injury during posterior
      atlanto-axial instrumentation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iatrogenic vascular injury is a feared complication of posterior
      atlanto-axial instrumentation. A better understanding of clinical outcome and
      management options following this injury will allow surgeons to better care for
      these patients. The object of the study was to systematically review the
      neurologic outcomes after iatrogenic vascular injury during atlanto-axial
      posterior instrumentation. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of the
      Medline database following PRISMA guidelines. In our analysis, we included any
      retrospective cohort studies, prospective cohort studies, case reports, cases
      series, or systematic reviews with patients who had undergone posterior atlanto
      axial fusion via screw rod constructs (SRC) or transarticular screws (TAS) that
      reported a patient with an injury to an arterial vessel directly attributable to
      the surgical procedure. RESULTS: Sixty cases of vascular injury were reported in
      2078 (2.9%) patients over 27 publications. The average age for this patient
      population was 55.7+/-17.9. Vascular injury following posterior C1/2
      instrumentation resulted in ipsilateral stroke in 10.0% (n=6/60) and non
      persistent neurologic deficit in 6.7% (n=4/60) of cases with the deficit being
      permanent (not including death) in 1.7% (n=1/60) of cases. Four patients (6.7%)
      died. Arteriovenous fistula or pseudoaneurysm occurred in 8.3% (n=5/60) and 3.3%
      (n=2/60) of cases, respectively. Eight patients (13.3%) underwent endovascular
      repair of the injury with no permanent deficit. CONCLUSION: Neurological
      morbidity after iatrogenic vascular injury during posterior C1/2 fixation is
      higher than previously reported in literature. Some patients may benefit from
      endovascular treatment. Surgeons should be aware of normal and anomalous
      vertebral artery anatomy to avoid this potentially catastrophic complication.

PMID- 27618783
TI  - Patterns and predictors of freezing of gait improvement following rasagiline
      therapy: A pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Freezing of gait (FoG) is a challenging clinical symptom in
      Parkinson's disease with variable improvements in FoG with rasagiline. In this
      prospective, uncontrolled, pre-/post- treatment pilot study, we explore the
      clinical variables that contribute to this variability and those that predict
      improvement. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Frequency and duration of FoG, along with
      other standardized scales, were evaluated in 18 optimally medicated PD
      participants with intractable FoG, prior to and after completion of a 90-day
      course of 1mg daily rasagiline. Gait tasks were video-recorded and analyzed by
      two independent reviewers. After evaluating the simple main effect, hierarchical
      cluster analysis was used to identify subgroups for treatment responsiveness.
      Bidirectional elimination stepwise regression analysis was conducted to identify
      which clinical variables predicted reduction in frequency of FoG events post
      treatment. RESULTS: There were no overall pre-/post- treatment improvements, a
      result driven by a heterogeneous response to treatment. Three subgroups were
      identified: improved (n=6) with a 136% and 162% reduction in FoG count and
      duration; worsened (n=5) with 154% and 141% increase in FoG count and duration;
      and no change (n=3). The final predictive model had good explanatory power
      (adjusted-R2=0.9898, p<0.01), explaining 99% of the variance between the improved
      and worsened groups. In this model, lower UPDRS gait scores, higher LEDD dose,
      lower anxiety scores, lower FOG-Q scores, and higher UPDRS scores for lower
      extremity rigidity and rise from chair, predicted FoG-related rasagiline benefit.
      CONCLUSION: Using both objective and subjective measures for FoG, the current
      pilot study identified a set of clinical variables that may elucidate the
      heterogeneous FoG-responsiveness following rasagiline treatment and aid in
      predicting improvement.

PMID- 27618785
TI  - Honeycomb-like Ordered Assembly of DNA Induced by Flexible Binuclear
      Ruthenium(II)-Polypyridyl Complexes.
AB  - A series of binuclear ruthenium(II)-polypyridyl complexes of the type [Ru2 (N-N)4
      (BPIMBp)]4+ , in which N-N is 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy; 1), 1,10-phenanthroline
      (phen; 2), dipyrido[3,2-d:2',3-f] quinoxaline (dpq; 3), dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]
      phenanzine (dppz; 4), and 1,4'-bis[(2-pyridin-2-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)methyl]-1,1'
      biphenyl (BPIMBp) is a bridging ligand, have been synthesized and characterized.
      These complexes are charged (4+) cations and flexible due to the -CH2 group of
      the bridging ligand and possess terminal ligands with variable intercalative
      abilities. The interaction of complexes 1-4 with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) was
      explored by using UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, steady-state emission, emission
      quenching with K4 [Fe(CN)6 ], ethidium bromide displacement assay, Hoechst
      displacement assay, and viscosity measurements and revealed a groove-binding mode
      for all the complexes through a spacer and an intercalative mode for complexes 3
      and 4. A decrease in the viscosity of DNA revealed bending and coiling of DNA, an
      initial step toward aggregation. Interestingly, a distinctive honeycomb-like
      ordered assembly of the DNA-complex species was visualized by fluorescence
      microscopy in the solution state. The use of SEM and AFM confirmed the disordered
      self-organization of the DNA-complex adduct on evaporation of the solvent. The
      small orderly nanosized DNA aggregates were confirmed by means of circular
      dichroism, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and TEM. These complexes are
      moderately cytotoxic against three different cell lines, namely, MCF-7, HeLa, and
      HL-60.

PMID- 27618786
TI  - Improved survival for rectal cancer compared to colon cancer: the four cohort
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide.
      This study was undertaken to evaluate survival outcomes and changes of disease
      outcomes of CRC patients over the last decades. METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      of CRC patients in Christchurch was performed in four patient cohorts at 5 yearly
      intervals; 1993-94, 1998-99, 2004-05 and 2009. Data on cancer location, stage,
      surgical and oncological treatment and survival were collected. Univariate,
      multivariate and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were performed. RESULTS: There
      were 1391 patients (355, 317, 419 and 300 per cohort), 1037 colon and 354 rectal
      cancers, respectively. For colon cancer, right-sided cancers appeared more common
      in later cohorts (P = 0.01). There was a significant decrease in the number of
      permanent stomas for colon cancer patients (P = 0.001). There was an analogous
      trend for rectal cancers (P = 0.075). More CRC patients with stage IV disease
      were treated surgically (P = 0.001) and colon cancer stages I and II tended to
      have increased survival if operated by a colorectal surgeon (P = 0.06). Oncology
      referrals have increased remarkably (P = 0.001). Overall 56% of patients were
      alive at 5 years however rectal cancer patients had significantly better 5-year
      survival than those with colon cancer (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION: This four cohort
      study shows that modern CRC survival continues to improve and is comparable to
      international standards. Furthermore, rectal cancer patients have a better 5-year
      survival than colon cancer patients. The improved survival with early stage colon
      cancers operated on by specialist colorectal surgeons needs further exploration.

PMID- 27618784
TI  - mTOR regulates the expression of DNA damage response enzymes in long-lived Snell
      dwarf, GHRKO, and PAPPA-KO mice.
AB  - Studies of the mTOR pathway have prompted speculation that diminished mTOR
      complex-1 (mTORC1) function may be involved in controlling the aging process. Our
      previous studies have shown diminished mTORC1 activity in tissues of three long
      lived mutant mice: Snell dwarf mice, growth hormone receptor gene disrupted mice
      (GHRKO), and in this article, mice deficient in the pregnancy-associated protein
      A (PAPPA-KO). The ways in which lower mTOR signals slow aging and age-related
      diseases are, however, not well characterized. Here, we show that Snell, GHKRO,
      and PAPPA-KO mice express high levels of two proteins involved in DNA repair, O-6
      methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1
      (NDRG1). Furthermore, we report that lowering mTOR enhances MGMT and NDRG1
      protein expression via post-transcriptional mechanisms. We show that the CCR4-NOT
      complex, a post-transcriptional regulator of gene expression, is downstream of
      the mTORC1 pathway and may be responsible for the upregulation of MGMT and NDRG1
      in all three varieties of long-lived mice. Our data thus suggest a novel link
      between DNA repair and mTOR signaling via post-transcriptional regulation
      involving specific alteration in the CCR4-NOT complex, whose modulation could
      control multiple aspects of the aging process.

PMID- 27618788
TI  - Constructing a Nonfluorescent Conformation of AIEgen: A Tetraphenylethene
      Embedded in the Calix[4]arene's Skeleton.
AB  - Two novel 1,1-diphenylmethylidene decorated calix[4]arenes, (Calix-DPE(OCH3 )4
      and Calix-DPE(OH)4 ), were designed and prepared. The tetraphenylethene (TPE)
      unit is embedded in the calix[4]arenes skeleton, so the conformation of
      tetraphenylethene unit is significantly affected by the conformation of
      calix[4]arene. Unlike the Calix-DPE(OCH3 )4 , the Calix-DPE(OH)4 does not show
      the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomena in solution or the crystal state
      because of the presence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding, which leads to a cone
      conformation for the calix[4]arene skeleton in which the embedded phenyl rings of
      the TPE have to take an almost perpendicular configuration to the C=C bond. This
      result provides direct evidence that the maximal cross-chromophore pi-conjugation
      within the tetraphenylethene is one of the prerequisites of switching on its AIE.
      This offers the possibility of switching the emission of TPE by conformation
      changes.

PMID- 27618787
TI  - HER2-HER3 dimer quantification by FLIM-FRET predicts breast cancer metastatic
      relapse independently of HER2 IHC status.
AB  - Overexpression of HER2 is an important prognostic marker, and the only predictive
      biomarker of response to HER2-targeted therapies in invasive breast cancer. HER2
      HER3 dimer has been shown to drive proliferation and tumor progression, and
      targeting of this dimer with pertuzumab alongside chemotherapy and trastuzumab,
      has shown significant clinical utility. The purpose of this study was to
      accurately quantify HER2-HER3 dimerisation in formalin fixed paraffin embedded
      (FFPE) breast cancer tissue as a novel prognostic biomarker.FFPE tissues were
      obtained from patients included in the METABRIC (Molecular Taxonomy of Breast
      Cancer International Consortium) study. HER2-HER3 dimerisation was quantified
      using an improved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) histology-based
      analysis. Analysis of 131 tissue microarray cores demonstrated that the extent of
      HER2-HER3 dimer formation as measured by Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)
      determined through FLIM predicts the likelihood of metastatic relapse up to 10
      years after surgery (hazard ratio 3.91 (1.61-9.5), p = 0.003) independently of
      HER2 expression, in a multivariate model. Interestingly there was no correlation
      between the level of HER2 protein expressed and HER2-HER3 heterodimer formation.
      We used a mathematical model that takes into account the complex interactions in
      a network of all four HER proteins to explain this counterintuitive
      finding.Future utility of this technique may highlight a group of patients who do
      not overexpress HER2 protein but are nevertheless dependent on the HER2-HER3
      heterodimer as driver of proliferation. This assay could, if validated in a group
      of patients treated with, for instance pertuzumab, be used as a predictive
      biomarker to predict for response to such targeted therapies.

PMID- 27618789
TI  - Early detection and integrated care for adolescents and young adults with severe
      psychotic disorders: rationales and design of the Integrated Care in Early
      Psychosis Study (ACCESS III).
AB  - AIM: The Integrated Care in Early Psychosis (ACCESS III) Study examined the
      efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a combined intervention consisting of
      strategies to improve early detection and quality of care (integrated care
      including therapeutic assertive community treatment) in adolescents and young
      adults in the early phase of a severe psychotic disorder from 2011 to 2014.
      METHODS: This is a prospective, single-centre, 1-year cohort study comparing an
      intervention condition (early detection plus integrated care, n = 120) to the
      historical control condition (standard care, SC, n = 105) for adolescents and
      young adults aged 12-29 years suffering from a severe, early-phase psychotic
      disorder (i.e. within 2 years of treatment). RESULTS: Primary outcome is the rate
      of combined symptomatic (i.e. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
      criteria) and functional (i.e. Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF) >= 60
      points criterion) remission over at least 6 months at study endpoint. Secondary
      outcome comprises the comparison of the reduction in the duration of untreated
      psychosis within the 4-year study duration between integrated care and SC, course
      of psychopathology, functioning, quality of life, satisfaction with care, cost
      and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in comparison to a historical control
      group. CONCLUSION: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study assessing
      the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a combined intervention consisting of
      early detection strategies and strategies to improve quality of care in both
      adolescents and young adults with early-phase psychosis. The results will be
      published in 2016.

PMID- 27618791
TI  - Targeting metabolic peculiarities: a potentially novel therapeutic approach for
      KRAS-mutant lung cancer?

PMID- 27618790
TI  - Synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held deteriorates during age-related
      hearing loss.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held was assessed by whole
      cell patch clamp recordings from auditory neurons in mature (2-4 months) and aged
      (20-26 months) mice. Synaptic transmission is degraded in aged mice, which may
      contribute to the decline in neural processing of the central auditory system
      during age-related hearing loss. The changes in synaptic transmission in aged
      mice can be partially rescued by improving calcium buffering, or decreasing
      action potential-evoked calcium influx. These experiments suggest potential
      mechanisms, such as regulating intraterminal calcium, that could be manipulated
      to improve the fidelity of transmission at the aged endbulb of Held. ABSTRACT:
      Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is associated with changes to the auditory
      periphery that raise sensory thresholds and alter coding, and is accompanied by
      alterations in excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, and intrinsic
      excitability in the circuits of the central auditory system. However, it remains
      unclear how synaptic transmission changes at the first central auditory synapses
      during ARHL. Using mature (2-4 months) and old (20-26 months) CBA/CaJ mice, we
      studied synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held. Mature and old mice showed
      no difference in either spontaneous quantal synaptic transmission or low
      frequency evoked synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held. However, when
      challenged with sustained high frequency stimulation, synapses in old mice
      exhibited increased asynchronous transmitter release and reduced synchronous
      release. This suggests that the transmission of temporally precise information is
      degraded at the endbulb during ARHL. Increasing intraterminal calcium buffering
      with EGTA-AM or decreasing calcium influx with omega-agatoxin IVA decreased the
      amount of asynchronous release and restored synchronous release in old mice. In
      addition, recovery from depression following high frequency trains was faster in
      old mice, but was restored to a normal time course by EGTA-AM treatment. These
      results suggest that intraterminal calcium in old endbulbs may rise to abnormally
      high levels during high rates of auditory nerve firing, or that calcium-dependent
      processes involved in release are altered with age. These observations suggest
      that ARHL is associated with a decrease in temporal precision of synaptic release
      at the first central auditory synapse, which may contribute to perceptual
      deficits in hearing.

PMID- 27618793
TI  - 89. Tagung der Norddeutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft vom, 16.-18. September
      2016 in Hamburg.

PMID- 27618792
TI  - Combined treatment of prednisone and aspirin, starting before ovulation
      induction, may improve reproductive outcomes in ANA-positive patients.
AB  - LABELED PROBLEM: Antinuclear antibody (ANA) could cause reproductive failure. But
      treatment for women with antinuclear antibody was controversial. METHODS: One
      hundred and thirty-three ANA+ women with one-time in vitro fertilization (IVF)
      implantation failure were divided into two groups randomly. The study group
      comprised 60 sero-positive for antinuclear antibody. These patients were treated
      with prednisone (10 mg/day) and aspirin (100 mg/day) starting 3 months before
      induction of ovulation in 60 IVF cycles. Seventy-three patients were included in
      untreated group. RESULTS: Fertilization rate, pregnancy rate, and implantation
      rate were significantly higher in treatment group, while abortion rate was
      markedly higher in non-treatment group by randomized controlled trial. Same
      conclusions were also proved between cycles of 60 ANA+ women with therapy and
      their former cycles without any treatment. CONCLUSION: Combined treatment of
      prednisone for immunosuppression and aspirin as an antithrombotic agent, starting
      3 months before ovulation induction, may improve reproductive outcomes in ANA+
      patients.

PMID- 27618794
TI  - A High-Throughput Fluorescence Assay to Determine the Activity of Tryptophan
      Halogenases.
AB  - Biocatalytic halogenation with tryptophan halogenases is hampered by severe
      limitations such as low activity and stability. These drawbacks can be overcome
      by directed evolution, but for screening large mutant libraries, a facile high
      throughput method is required. Therefore, we developed a quantitative halogenase
      assay based on a Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling towards the formation of a
      fluorescent aryltryptophan. The technique was optimized for application in crude
      E. coli lysate without intermediary purification steps, and was used for
      quantitatively monitoring the formation of halogenated tryptophans with high
      specificity by facile fluorescence screening in microtiter plates. This novel
      screening approach was exploited to engineer a thermostable tryptophan 6
      halogenase. Libraries were constructed by error-prone PCR and selected for
      improved thermal resistance simply by fluorogenic cross-coupling. Our method led
      to an enzyme variant with substantially increased thermal stability and 2.5-fold
      improved activity.

PMID- 27618795
TI  - Labrenzia salina sp. nov., isolated from the rhizosphere of the halophyte
      Arthrocnemum macrostachyum.
AB  - A novel, halophilic, motile, rod-shaped, Gram-staining-negative and non-endospore
      forming bacterium, designated Cs25T, was isolated from the rhizosphere of the
      halophyte Arthrocnemum macrostachyum growing in a tidal flat. Strain Cs25T was
      observed to be catalase-negative and oxidase-positive, and to hydrolyse
      hypoxanthine. Growth occurred from 15 to 40  degrees C, at pH 7.0-10.0 and with 1
      11 % (w/v) NaCl. Q-10 was identified as the dominant ubiquinone, and the major
      cellular fatty acids were C18 : 1omega7c, 11-methyl C18 : 1omega7c, C20 :
      1omega7c and C18 : 0. The polar lipids comprised
      phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine,
      sulphoquinovosyldiacylglyceride, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and
      phosphatidylethanolamine. The 16S rRNA gene showed 99.19, 98.6 and 98.59 %
      sequence identity with Labrenzia alba DSM 18320T, L. aggregata DSM 13394T and L.
      marina DSM 17023T, respectively. Based on the phenotypic and molecular features
      and DNA-DNA hybridization data, it is concluded that strain Cs25T represents a
      novel species for which the name Labrenzia salinasp. nov. is proposed. The type
      strain is Cs25T (=DSM 29163T=CECT 8816T).

PMID- 27618797
TI  - Morphology and Electric Conductance Change Induced by Voltage Pulse Excitation in
      (GeTe)2/Sb2Te3 Superlattices.
AB  - Chalcogenide superlattice (SL) phase-change memory materials are leading
      candidates for non-volatile, energy-efficient electric memory where the electric
      conductance switching is caused by the atom repositioning in the constituent
      layers. Here, we study the time evolution of the electric conductance in
      [(GeTe)2/(Sb2Te3)1]4 SLs upon the application of an external pulsed electric
      field by analysing the structural and electrical responses of the SL films with
      scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and scanning probe lithography (SPL). At a low
      pulse voltage (1.6-2.3 V), a conductance switching delay of a few seconds was
      observed in some SL areas, where the switch to the high conductance state (HCS)
      is accompanied with an SL expansion under the strong electric field of the SPM
      probe. At a high pulse voltage (2.5-3.0 V), the HCS current was unstable and
      decayed in a few seconds; this is ascribed to the degradation of the HCS crystal
      phase under excessive heating. The reversible conductance change under a pulse
      voltage of opposite polarity emphasised the role of the electric field in the
      phase-transition mechanism.

PMID- 27618796
TI  - Thorough QT study of the effect of intravenous amisulpride on QTc interval in
      Caucasian and Japanese healthy subjects.
AB  - AIM: The D2 /D3 antagonist amisulpride has shown promising efficacy against
      postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) at low doses. We investigated whether
      intravenous amisulpride has an effect on the QTc interval in a formal Thorough QT
      study (TQT). METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo and positive
      controlled, four-way crossover study. Forty healthy Caucasian and Japanese
      subjects were included to receive a single administration of 5 mg and 40 mg of
      i.v. amisulpride or a single oral dose of moxifloxacin or placebo per period.
      RESULTS: The therapeutic dose of 5 mg amisulpride was associated with a slight,
      transient increase in mean DeltaDeltaQTcF, from 2.0 ms prior to dosing to a peak
      of 5 ms (90% CI: 2.8, 7.1 ms) at 8 min, decreasing to 2.1 ms at 30 min after
      dosing. The supra-therapeutic dose of 40 mg given at twice the infusion rate was
      associated with prolongation in DeltaDeltaQTcF peaking at 23.4 ms (90% CI: 21.3,
      25.5 ms) at the end of infusion (8 min), returning below 10 ms within 1.5 h.
      Assay sensitivity was confirmed; DeltaDeltaQTcF had increased by 12.3 ms (90% CI
      10.1, 14.6 ms) at 4 h post-dose. The PK-PD relationship revealed no differences
      between Caucasian and Japanese subjects (p-value > 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: Amisulpride
      has a plasma concentration-dependent effect on the QTc interval. The proposed
      therapeutic dose for management of PONV does not lead to a prolongation of QTcF
      above the threshold of regulatory concern, while such effect could not be
      excluded for the supratherapeutic dose.

PMID- 27618798
TI  - Using a hypothetical scenario to assess public preferences for colorectal
      surveillance following screening-detected, intermediate-risk adenomas: annual
      home-based stool test vs. triennial colonoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess public preferences for colorectal cancer (CRC) surveillance
      tests for intermediate-risk adenomas, using a hypothetical scenario. METHODS:
      Adults aged 45-54 years without CRC were identified from three General Practices
      in England (two in Cumbria, one in London). A postal survey was carried out
      during a separate study on preferences for different first-line CRC screening
      modalities (non- or full-laxative computed tomographic colonography, flexible
      sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy). Individuals were allocated at random to receive a
      pack containing information on one first-line test, and a paragraph describing
      CRC surveillance recommendations for people who are diagnosed with intermediate
      risk adenomas during screening. All participants received a description of two
      surveillance options: annual single-sample, home-based stool testing (consistent
      with Faecal Immunochemical Tests; FIT) or triennial colonoscopy. Invitees were
      asked to imagine they had been diagnosed with intermediate-risk adenomas, and
      then complete a questionnaire on their surveillance preferences. RESULTS: 22.1 %
      (686/3,100) questionnaires were returned. 491 (15.8 %) were eligible for
      analysis. The majority of participants stated a surveillance preference for the
      stool test over colonoscopy (60.8 % vs 31.0 %; no preference: 8.1 %; no
      surveillance: 0.2 %). Women were more likely to prefer the stool test than men
      (66.7 % vs. 53.6 %; p = .011). The primary reason for preferring the stool test
      was that it would be done more frequently. The main reason to prefer colonoscopy
      was its superiority at finding polyps. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of participants
      stated a preference for a surveillance test resembling FIT over colonoscopy.
      Future research should test whether this translates to greater adherence in a
      real surveillance setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised
      Controlled Trial Number registry, ISRCTN85697880 , prospectively registered on
      25/04/2013.

PMID- 27618799
TI  - Effectiveness of a culturally attuned Internet-based depression prevention
      program for Chinese adolescents: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression prevention among adolescents is crucial for reducing the
      global disease burden. Internet-based depression prevention approaches are found
      to be effective but they were mostly evaluated in a Western context. Grasping the
      Opportunity is a Chinese Internet intervention, which was translated and modified
      from CATCH-IT developed in the West. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of
      Grasp the Opportunity in reducing depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents.
      METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, Chinese adolescents aged 13 to 17
      years with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms were recruited from three
      secondary schools in Hong Kong. The participants (n = 257) were randomly assigned
      to receive either intervention or attention control. The primary outcome was the
      improvement in depressive symptoms according to the revised Center for
      Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-R) at the 12-month follow-up.
      Analyses were performed using intention to treat (ITT). RESULTS: The participants
      were randomly assigned to receive the intervention (n = 130) or attention control
      (n = 127). Follow-up data were obtained from 250 (97%) participants. Only 26
      (10%) participants completed the intervention. Compared to the attention control,
      Grasp the Opportunity led to reductions in depressive symptoms at the 12-month
      follow-up with a medium effect size using ITT analysis (mean difference 2.6, 95%
      CI 0.59-5.55, effect size d = 0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Grasp the Opportunity is
      effective in reducing depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents over a long
      follow-up period. Poor completion rate is the major challenge in the study.

PMID- 27618801
TI  - A note on formulas for the Rayleigh wave speed in elastic solids.
AB  - In the present paper, new analytical, numerical and approximate methods have been
      presented for the determination of Rayleigh wave speed in isotropic and
      anisotropic media. The Lagrange's method is used to provide exact expression for
      the roots of the secular equation for Rayleigh waves in isotropic media. Then, a
      simple non-iterative type quadrature method is used to numerically determine the
      Rayleigh wave speed in isotropic and anisotropic media. Further, an approximate
      method is presented to determine the velocity of Rayleigh waves. The discrete
      least square approximation on Chebyshev - Gauss - Lobatto nodes is suggested to
      transform secular equations to quadratic equations, thereby, providing improved
      approximations to the Rayleigh wave speed. The analysis is complemented with
      numerical examples.

PMID- 27618800
TI  - Hydrogen Production and Storage on a Formic Acid/Bicarbonate Platform using Water
      Soluble N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes of Late Transition Metals.
AB  - The synthesis and characterization of two water-soluble bis-N-heterocyclic
      carbene (NHC) complexes of rhodium and iridium is presented. Both compounds are
      active in H2 generation from formic acid and in hydrogenation of bicarbonate to
      formate. The rhodium derivative is most active in both reactions, reaching a TOF
      of 39 000 h-1 and a TON of 449 000 for H2 production. The catalytic hydrogenation
      reactions were carried out in an autoclave system and analyzed using the
      integrated peak areas in the 1 H NMR spectra. Decomposition of formic acid was
      investigated using a Fisher-Porter bottle equipped with a pressure transducer.
      Long-term stability for hydrogen evolution was tested by surveillance of the gas
      flow rate. The procedure does not require any additives like amines or inert gas
      conditions. Density functional theory calculations in agreement with experimental
      results suggest a bicarbonate reduction mechanism involving a second catalyst
      molecule, which provides an external hydride acting as reducing agent.

PMID- 27618802
TI  - Cranial epidural hematomas: A case series and literature review of this rare
      complication associated with sickle cell disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) may experience many
      complications of the central nervous system (CNS) including stroke, silent
      cerebral infarcts, and neuropsychological deficits. Cranial epidural hematoma is
      a rare but potentially serious complication. PROCEDURE: Case series of cranial
      epidural hematomas in children with SCD from three different institutions is
      considered, along with a literature review of cranial epidural hematomas in this
      population. RESULTS: Seven children with SCD with cranial epidural hematomas were
      identified from three different institutions. All patients were male and the age
      at presentation ranged from 10 to 18 years. Two patients presented with headache
      (28.6%), while the rest had no neurologic symptoms at presentation. Four patients
      required urgent neurosurgical intervention (57.1%) and one patient died (14.3%).
      A literature review identified 18 additional cases of cranial epidural hematomas
      in children with SCD. Of these, treatment ranged from supportive care to
      neurosurgical intervention. Twelve patients completely recovered (66.7%), one
      patient had long-term cognitive impairment (5.6%), and four patients died
      (22.2%). Combined with our data, cranial epidural hematomas have a mortality rate
      of 20.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Although rare, cranial epidural hematoma can be fatal and
      should be considered in patients with acute neurological symptoms.

PMID- 27618803
TI  - Sensitivity of breast MRI for ductal carcinoma in situ appearing as
      microcalcifications only on mammography.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate sensitivity of breast magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) for mammographic microcalcifications-only ductal carcinoma in situ
      (DCIS), based on its histopathology and mammographic extent of
      microcalcifications. METHODS: Mammograms were reviewed to measure the extent of
      microcalcifications. Sensitivity of MRI was calculated in the overall study
      population and in groups differing for DCIS nuclear grade, microinvasivity, and
      microcalcifications' extent. RESULTS: Overall sensitivity of MRI was 78.3% for
      dynamic contrast enhanced and 66.7% for diffusion-weighted imaging and did not
      vary with nuclear grade and microinvasivity, while it increased with larger
      extent of microcalcifications (ExpB=1.063-1.046, P=.037-.013). CONCLUSIONS:
      Mammographic extent of microcalcifications positively affects sensitivity of
      breast MRI.

PMID- 27618804
TI  - An algorithmic approach to CT of pulmonary arterial disorders.
AB  - A broad spectrum of pulmonary arterial disorders can be diagnosed on computed
      tomography (CT). Comprehensive evaluation of the pulmonary arteries requires
      careful assessment of their configuration, patency, and size. This article
      presents an organized approach to pulmonary arterial disorders on CT, with
      particular attention to characteristic CT findings that aid in accurate diagnosis
      and proper management.

PMID- 27618805
TI  - Duplex Doppler sonography: is there clinical relevance to elevated renal vein
      velocity in kidney transplants?
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to determine a velocity threshold in the main renal vein
      (MRV) of renal transplants and evaluate the cause and clinical significance of
      elevated velocity. METHODS: Maximum MRV velocity from 331 consecutive renal
      transplant Doppler ultrasounds in 170 patients was recorded. A priori, twice the
      median MRV velocity was selected as the threshold for elevation. Ultrasounds were
      divided into "early" and "late" periods based on time after transplantation.
      Charts were reviewed for outcomes associated with elevated MRV velocity.
      Endpoints included graft failure or death. Serum creatinine (Cr) levels among
      groups were compared, and temporal changes in MRV velocity were plotted. RESULTS:
      A >=70 cm/s was chosen as the threshold for elevated MRV velocity. Graft failure
      and complication/intervention rates were higher only in the "late" group with
      elevated MRV velocity. There was no association between elevated MRV velocity and
      death, no predilection for a particular biopsy result, and no difference in Cr
      levels among groups. The majority of elevated velocities occurred during the
      immediate postoperative period and resolved without intervention. CONCLUSIONS:
      Elevated MRV velocity in the early postoperative period is a transient phenomenon
      not correlating with outcome or requiring intervention. In the late period,
      elevated MRV velocity is associated with entities including hydronephrosis,
      perinephric collections, and arteriovenous fistulae.

PMID- 27618806
TI  - Onychomycosis secondary to onychomadesis: an underdiagnosed manifestation.
AB  - Onychomycosis is a rare nail disorder in early childhood, while onychomadesis is
      a periodic idiopathic, non-inflammatory disease that affects the nail matrix and
      is common in children especially in those who suffer from viral infections. In
      this study, we investigated recent cases of onychomycosis subsequent to periods
      of onychomadesis in children. Sixteen young children (six males, 10 females) with
      a mean age of 36.5 months were diagnosed with onychomadesis, and 13 of the
      patients had a history of viral infection prior to nail changes. Direct
      microscopy of nail scaling was positive in 11 cases (68.8%), and culture was
      positive in the same number of cases. Four Candida species were isolated: Candida
      glabrata was the most frequent, found in eight cases (72.7%), while C. albicans,
      C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis, each were encountered in a single case. All
      children were treated successfully with or without topical bifonazole therapy.

PMID- 27618807
TI  - Inhibitory effects of dietary soyasaponin on 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene-induced
      contact hypersensitivity in mice.
AB  - Soyasaponins (SSs) abundant in soybean have anti-inflammatory activities;
      however, their therapeutic effects on allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) remain
      unknown. To assess the effects of SS-enriched diets on ACD, we used a mouse model
      of contact hypersensitivity (CHS). Mice were fed low-dose or high-dose SS
      containing diets for 3 weeks prior to CHS induction with 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene
      (DNFB). The low-dose SS diet attenuated DNFB-induced ear swelling and tissue
      oedema, and reduced the number of infiltrating Gr-1-positive myeloid cells. Low
      dose, but not high-dose, SSs decreased chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2)
      and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-1 production in ear
      tissues, compared to a control. Taxonomic 16S rRNA analysis revealed significant
      alterations in faecal microbiota caused by CHS, which were reversed by low-dose
      SSs. The low-dose SS and non-CHS groups clustered together, while the high-dose
      SS group split between CHS and non-CHS clusters. Our results demonstrated that
      low-dose SSs alleviated CHS symptoms by attenuating inflammation and improving
      the intestinal microbiota composition, suggesting that dietary SSs may have
      beneficial effects on ACD.

PMID- 27618808
TI  - Freezing/festination during motor tasks in early-stage Parkinson's disease: A
      prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parkinsonian patients have a tendency to speed up during repetitive
      motor tasks (festination) and to experience sudden motor blocks (freezing). In
      this article, we prospectively studied the appearance and progression of these
      phenomena in 30 early-stage PD patients. METHODS: A total of 30 controls and
      early-stage PD patients were assessed in the "off-drug" condition at baseline and
      2 years later. Freezing of gait was evaluated using a standardized gait
      trajectory with the usual triggers. Patients also performed diadochokinetic tasks
      with 3 different effectors (repetitive, antiphase movements for the hands and
      feet, and repetitive syllable production for the orofacial effector) at
      frequencies ranging from 1 to 7 Hz (in random order). The primary endpoint was
      the occurrence of freezing and festination. RESULTS: At baseline, freezing was
      observed in 6.5% of the trials in PD patients (43% of the patients) and 2.3% of
      the trials in controls, and festination was observed in 5.7% of the trials in
      patients (53% of the patients) and 0.8% of the trials in controls. These
      proportions were slightly higher in patients 2 years later. None of the patients
      presented freezing of gait at baseline, but 2 displayed this condition 2 years
      later. These phenomena occurred more frequently for the limb effectors than for
      the orofacial effector. Freezing and festination were associated with the
      akinetic-rigid subtype, although tremor-dominant patients displayed greater
      rhythm variability outside episodes. CONCLUSION: Freezing and festination of the
      upper and lower limbs are observed soon after the diagnosis of PD and may be
      early biomarkers for disease progression. (c) 2016 International Parkinson and
      Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 27618809
TI  - Determination of specific IgE in pericardial and cerebrospinal fluids in forensic
      casework.
AB  - The aim of this study was to characterize total and specific IgE distribution in
      postmortem serum as well as pericardial and cerebrospinal fluid samples and
      evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of total and specific IgE determination in
      pericardial and cerebrospinal fluids in the forensic setting. Three groups were
      investigated (non-allergic deaths in non-atopic individuals, fatal allergic
      anaphylaxis deaths and non-allergic deaths in individuals without medical
      records). In the first group (non-allergic deaths in non-atopic individuals),
      total IgE concentrations in postmortem serum from femoral blood, pericardial and
      cerebrospinal fluids were lower than 40, 32 and 11kU/l, respectively. No specific
      IgE were identified in any of the sampled fluids. In the second group (fatal
      allergic anaphylaxis deaths), total IgE concentrations in postmortem serum from
      femoral blood ranged from 139kU/l to 818kU/l, in pericardial fluid from 89kU/l to
      622kU/l and in cerebrospinal fluid from 4kU/l to 11kU/l. A positive Phadiatop(r)
      test and specific IgE antibodies >0.35kU/l were found exclusively in postmortem
      serum from femoral blood and pericardial fluid. In the third group (non-allergic
      deaths in individuals without medical records, possibly including atopic
      individuals), total IgE concentrations ranged from 42kU/l to 516kU/l in
      postmortem serum from femoral blood, from 34kU/l to 417kU/l in pericardial fluid
      and from 3kU/l to 12kU/l in cerebrospinal fluid. A positive Phadiatop(r) test and
      specific IgE antibodies >0.35kU/l were found exclusively in postmortem serum from
      femoral blood and pericardial fluid. These results seem to suggest that total and
      specific IgE may be measured in postmortem serum from femoral blood and
      pericardial fluid to estimate total and specific IgE titers at the time of death.
      Conversely, cerebrospinal fluid total and specific IgE measurement in suspected
      IgE mediated fatal anaphylaxis cases is of no value for diagnostic purposes.

PMID- 27618810
TI  - Protocol for a randomized controlled trial testing the impact of feedback on
      familial risk of chronic diseases on family-level intentions to participate in
      preventive lifestyle behaviors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Common disease risk clusters in families due to shared genetics,
      exposure to environmental risk factors, and because many health behaviours are
      established and maintained in family environments. This randomised controlled
      trial will test whether the provision of a family health history (FHH) risk
      assessment tool increases intentions and engagement in health behaviors. Message
      distribution and collective behavior change within family networks will be mapped
      using social network analysis. The relative intervention impact will be compared
      between families from different ethnic backgrounds. METHODS: One hundred and
      fifty mothers (50 Anglo-Australian, 50 Italian-Australian, 50 Vietnamese
      Australian) will be recruited, with four or more other family members across
      three generations, including a child (aged 10-18 years). Each family is randomly
      assigned to intervention or control. At baseline and 6-month follow-up, all
      participants complete surveys to assess dietary and physical activity intentions
      and behaviors, attitudes towards food, and perceived disease risk. Intervention
      families receive a visual pedigree detailing their FHH of diabetes, heart
      disease, breast and bowel cancer, a health education workbook to ascertain
      members' disease risk (i.e. average or above average risk), and screening and
      primary prevention recommendations. After completion of follow-up assessments,
      controls will receive their pedigree and workbook. The primary hypothesis is that
      attitudes and lifestyle behaviors will improve more within families exposed to
      FHH feedback, although the extent of this improvement may vary between families
      from different ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, the extent of improvement in the
      treatment group will be moderated by the level of family disease risk, with above
      average risk leading to greater improvement. A secondary aim will explore
      different family members' roles in message distribution and collective responses
      to risk using social network approaches and to compare network functioning
      between families with different ethnic backgrounds. DISCUSSION: Results will
      guide future health promotion programs aimed at improving lifestyle factors. This
      research will assess whether FHH can motivate families to adopt family-level
      strategies to support health promoting behaviors. Secondary analyses aim to
      identify change agents within the family who are particularly effective in
      shifting normative behaviors. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical
      Trials Registry ACTRN12613001033730 . Retrospectively registered: 17 September,
      2013.

PMID- 27618811
TI  - Mortality and causes of death in a national sample of type 2 diabetic patients in
      Korea from 2002 to 2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the mortality rate (MR), causes of death and
      standardized mortality ratio (SMR) in Korean type 2 diabetic patients from 2002
      to 2013 using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National
      Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC). METHODS: From this NHIS-NSC, we identified 29,807 type
      2 diabetic subjects from 2002 to 2004. Type 2 diabetes was defined as a current
      medication history of anti-diabetic drugs and the presence of International
      Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes (E11-E14) as diagnosis. Specific causes
      of death were recorded according to ICD-10 codes as the following: diabetes,
      malignant neoplasm, disease of the circulatory system, and other causes. RESULTS:
      A total of 7103 (23.8 %) deaths were recorded. The MR tended to increase with
      age. In particular, the ratio of MR for men versus women was the highest in their
      40s-50s. The overall SMR was 2.32 and the SMRs attenuated with increasing age.
      The causes of death ascribed to diabetes, malignant neoplasm, ischemic heart
      disease, cerebrovascular disease, and other causes were 22.0, 24.8, 6.2, 11.2 and
      31.3 %, respectively. The SMRs according to each cause of death were 9.73, 1.76,
      2.60, 2.04 and 1.89, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The MRs among type 2 diabetic
      subjects increased with age, and diabetic men exhibited a higher mortality risk
      than diabetic women in Korea. Subjects with type 2 diabetes exhibited an excess
      mortality when compared with the general population. Approximately 78.0 % of the
      diabetes-related deaths was not ascribed to diabetes, and malignant neoplasm was
      the most common cause of death among those not recorded as diabetes.

PMID- 27618812
TI  - Protein secondary structure prediction using a small training set (compact model)
      combined with a Complex-valued neural network approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Protein secondary structure prediction (SSP) has been an area of
      intense research interest. Despite advances in recent methods conducted on large
      datasets, the estimated upper limit accuracy is yet to be reached. Since the
      predictions of SSP methods are applied as input to higher-level structure
      prediction pipelines, even small errors may have large perturbations in final
      models. Previous works relied on cross validation as an estimate of classifier
      accuracy. However, training on large numbers of protein chains compromises the
      classifier ability to generalize to new sequences. This prompts a novel approach
      to training and an investigation into the possible structural factors that lead
      to poor predictions. Here, a small group of 55 proteins termed the compact model
      is selected from the CB513 dataset using a heuristics-based approach. In a prior
      work, all sequences were represented as probability matrices of residues adopting
      each of Helix, Sheet and Coil states, based on energy calculations using the C
      Alpha, C-Beta, Side-chain (CABS) algorithm. The functional relationship between
      the conformational energies computed with CABS force-field and residue states is
      approximated using a classifier termed the Fully Complex-valued Relaxation
      Network (FCRN). The FCRN is trained with the compact model proteins. RESULTS: The
      performance of the compact model is compared with traditional cross-validated
      accuracies and blind-tested on a dataset of G Switch proteins, obtaining
      accuracies of ~81 %. The model demonstrates better results when compared to
      several techniques in the literature. A comparative case study of the worst
      performing chain identifies hydrogen bond contacts that lead to Coil <=> Sheet
      misclassifications. Overall, mispredicted Coil residues have a higher propensity
      to participate in backbone hydrogen bonding than correctly predicted Coils.
      CONCLUSIONS: The implications of these findings are: (i) the choice of training
      proteins is important in preserving the generalization of a classifier to predict
      new sequences accurately and (ii) SSP techniques sensitive in distinguishing
      between backbone hydrogen bonding and side-chain or water-mediated hydrogen
      bonding might be needed in the reduction of Coil <=> Sheet misclassifications.

PMID- 27618813
TI  - Aortic stiffening and its impact on left atrial volumes and function in patients
      after successful coarctation repair: a multiparametric cardiovascular magnetic
      resonance study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increased cardiovascular morbidity of adults with late repair of
      aortic coarctation (CoA) has been well documented. In contrast, successful CoA
      repair in early childhood has a generally good prognosis, though adverse vascular
      and ventricular characteristics may be abnormal, which could increase long-term
      risk. This study sought to perform a comprehensive analysis of aortic elasticity
      and left ventricular (LV) function in patients with aortic coarctation (CoA)
      using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). In a subgroup of patients, we
      assessed structure and function of the common carotid arteries to probe for signs
      of systemic vascular remodeling. METHODS: Fifty-one patients (median age 17.3
      years), 13.9 +/- 7.5 years after CoA repair, and 54 controls (median age 19.8
      years) underwent CMR. We determined distensibility and pulse wave velocity (PWV)
      at different aortic locations. In a subgroup, common carotid artery
      distensibility, PWV, wall thickness and wall area were measured. LV ejection
      fraction (EF), volumes, and mass were measured from short axis views. Left atrial
      (LA) volumes and functional parameters (LAEFPassive, LAEFContractile,
      LAEFReservoir) were assessed from axial cine images. RESULTS: In patients
      distensibility of the whole thoracic aorta was reduced (p < 0.05) while PWV was
      only significantly higher in the aortic arch (p < 0.01). Distensibility of the
      descending aorta at the level of the pulmonary arteries and PWV in the descending
      aorta, both correlated negatively with age at CoA repair. LA volume before atrial
      contraction and minimal LA volume were higher in patients (p < 0.05). LAEFPassive
      and LAEFReservoir were reduced (p < 0.05), and LAEFReservoir correlated
      negatively with aortic arch PWV (p < 0.05). LVEF, volumes and mass were not
      different from controls. Carotid wall thickness and PWV were higher in patients
      compared to controls (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients after CoA repair have
      impaired bioelastic properties of the thoracic aorta with impact on LV diastolic
      function. Reduced descending aortic elasticity is associated with older age at
      time of CoA repair. The remodeling of the common carotid artery in our sub-study
      suggests systemic vessel wall changes.

PMID- 27618814
TI  - Epidemiology and outcome of cervical cancer in national institute of Morocco.
AB  - BACKGROUND: On behalf of the medical staff of the National Institute of Oncology
      of Rabat, we conducted a retrospective study to report epidemiology and 5-year
      outcomes of cervical carcinoma in Moroccan women. METHODS: We reviewed all women
      diagnosed with invasive cervical carcinoma in our institute between January 2006
      and December 2006. Outcomes and prognoses are analyzed in patients who received
      at least one treatment. RESULTS: The analysis included 646 women. Median age was
      50 years (23-85 years). Bleeding was the most frequent symptom (95 %). The most
      predominant histology was squamous cell carcinoma (94 %). The majority of
      patients were diagnosed at locally advanced stages (88 %). Among patients who
      received treatment (n = 550), the management was based on concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy in 69.7 % of cases. The median duration of follow-up was 60
      months (range 2-78 months). Overall survival, progression free survival, and
      locoregional recurrence free survival were 63.2, 60.7 and 79.1 % respectively.
      Significant poor prognostic factors in univariate analysis included stage, tumor
      size, lymph node involvement, anemia and absence of response to radiotherapy. The
      prognostic significance of response to radiotherapy and stage were retained in
      multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Cervical cancer in our Institute is diagnosed
      at locally advanced stages. Two third of patients were treated by concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy. Outcome of Moroccan patients are comparable to that of western
      countries. Significant prognostic factors were stage, tumor size, lymph node
      involvement, anemia, and response to radiotherapy. The way to reduce the global
      burden of cervical cancer in our country continues to be the development of
      vaccination and screening programs.

PMID- 27618815
TI  - [Miniplates as augmentation implants in osteosynthesis of complex distal radial
      fractures].
AB  - THE PROBLEM: Dislocated intra-articular fractures of the distal radius are
      operatively treated to achieve anatomical reconstruction of the joint. In complex
      distal radial fractures with multiple joint fragments, fixation with angular
      stable plates alone may be technically challenging. Smaller fragments, such as
      the lip of ulnopalmar joint, are often difficult to control. THE SOLUTION: The
      supplementary application of mini plates, as employed in maxillofacial surgery,
      is a helpful tool for reduction and fixation. RESULT: In this article the
      operative technique, clinical and radiographic results of 4 complex distal intra
      articular radial fractures are presented.

PMID- 27618816
TI  - An optimal velocity for online limb-target regulation processes?
AB  - The utilization of visual information for the control of ongoing voluntary limb
      movements has been investigated for more than a century. Recently, online
      sensorimotor processes for the control of upper-limb reaches were hypothesized to
      include a distinct process related to the comparison of limb and target positions
      (i.e., limb-target regulation processes: Elliott et al. in Psychol Bull 136:1023
      1044. doi: 10.1037/a0020958 , 2010). In the current study, this hypothesis was
      tested by presenting participants with brief windows of vision (20 ms) when the
      real-time velocity of the reaching limb rose above selected velocity criteria.
      One experiment tested the perceptual judgments of endpoint bias (i.e., under- vs.
      over-shoot), and another experiment tested the shifts in endpoint distributions
      following an imperceptible target jump. Both experiments revealed that limb
      target regulation processes take place at an optimal velocity or "sweet spot"
      between movement onset and peak limb velocity (i.e., 1.0 m/s with the employed
      movement amplitude and duration). In contrast with pseudo-continuous models of
      online control (e.g., Elliott et al. in Hum Mov Sci 10:393-418. doi: 10.1016/0167
      9457(91)90013-N , 1991), humans likely optimize online limb-target regulation
      processes by gathering visual information at a rather limited period of time,
      well in advance of peak limb velocity.

PMID- 27618818
TI  - Reevaluation of the superior radial collateral artery in the human upper arm.
AB  - The superior radial collateral artery (SRCA) was described in well-established
      anatomy textbooks published in the 1800s. According to those textbooks, the SRCA
      originates from the brachial artery, passes transversely between the
      coracobrachialis and the humerus, and distributes to the most distal portion of
      the deltoid. The SRCA is not listed in the international standard on anatomical
      terminology, Terminologia Anatomica, or in modern anatomy textbooks. In the
      present study, we reevaluated the anatomical features of the SRCA by cadaveric
      dissection. We found that two kinds of SRCAs were consistently present in the
      upper arm. One was similar to the previous descriptions of the SRCA in terms of
      origin and course, but the distribution was somewhat different. The other was
      similar to the previous descriptions in terms of the distribution, although it
      differed in origin and course. The discrepancy between the description of the
      SRCA in classical textbooks and the actual morphologies of the SRCA presumably
      prompted previous anatomists to question the existence of the SRCA, resulting in
      its absence from anatomical textbooks after a particular time point.

PMID- 27618819
TI  - R0 and yR0 resections for colorectal liver metastases: need for a precise
      definition.

PMID- 27618817
TI  - Mood induction effects on motor sequence learning and stop signal reaction time.
AB  - The neurobiological theory of positive affect proposes that positive mood states
      may benefit cognitive performance due to an increase of dopamine throughout the
      brain. However, the results of many positive affect studies are inconsistent;
      this may be due to individual differences. The relationship between dopamine and
      performance is not linear, but instead follows an inverted "U" shape. Given this,
      we hypothesized that individuals with high working memory capacity, a proxy
      measure for dopaminergic transmission, would not benefit from positive mood
      induction and in fact performance in dopamine-mediated tasks would decline. In
      contrast, we predicted that individuals with low working memory capacities would
      receive the most benefit after positive mood induction. Here, we explored the
      effect of positive affect on two dopamine-mediated tasks, an explicit serial
      reaction time sequence learning task and the stop signal task, predicting that an
      individual's performance is modulated not only by working memory capacity, but
      also on the type of mood. Improvements in explicit sequence learning from pre- to
      post-positive mood induction were associated with working memory capacity;
      performance declined in individuals with higher working memory capacities
      following positive mood induction, but improved in individuals with lower working
      memory capacities. This was not the case for negative or neutral mood induction.
      Moreover, there was no relationship between the change in stop signal reaction
      time with any of the mood inductions and individual differences in working memory
      capacity. These results provide partial support for the neurobiological theory of
      positive affect and highlight the importance of taking into account individual
      differences in working memory when examining the effects of positive mood
      induction.

PMID- 27618820
TI  - Real-World Treatment Patterns among Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer in
      South Korea.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand patient treatment patterns,
      outcomes, and healthcare resource use in cases of metastatic and/or locally
      recurrent, unresectable gastric cancer (MGC) in South Korea. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Thirty physicians reviewed charts of eligible patients to collect de
      identified data. Patients must have received platinum/fluoropyrimidine first-line
      therapy followed by second-line therapy or best supportive care, had no other
      primary cancer, and not participated in a clinical trial following MGC diagnosis.
      Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used
      to describe survival. RESULTS: Of 198 patients, 73.7% were male, 78.3% were
      diagnosed with MGC after age 55 (mean, 61.3 years), and 47.0% were current or
      former smokers. The majority of tumorswere located in the antrum/pylorus (51.5%).
      Metastatic sites most often occurred in the peritoneum (53.5%), lymph nodes
      (47.5%), and liver (38.9%). At diagnosis, the mean Charlson comorbidity indexwas
      0.4 (standard deviation, 0.6). The most common comorbidities were chronic
      gastritis (22.7%) and cardiovascular disease (18.7%). Most patients (80.3%)
      received second-line treatment. Single-agent fluoropyrimidine was reported for
      22.0% of patients, while 19.5% were treated with irinotecan and a
      fluoropyrimidine or platinum agent. The most common physician-reported symptoms
      during second-line treatment were nausea/vomiting (44.7%) and pain (11.3%), with
      antiemetics (44.7%), analgesics (36.5%), and nutritional support (11.3%) most
      often used as supportive care. Two-thirds of inpatient hospitalizations were for
      chemotherapy infusion. Outpatient hospitalization (31.6%) and visits to the
      oncologist (58.8%) were common among second-line patients. CONCLUSION: Most
      patients received second-line treatment, although regimens varied. Understanding
      MGC patient characteristics and treatment patterns in South Korea will help
      address unmet needs.

PMID- 27618822
TI  - Experience of Social Media Support Group for BRCA Carriers.

PMID- 27618821
TI  - An Open-Label, Randomized, Parallel, Phase III Trial Evaluating the Efficacy and
      Safety of Polymeric Micelle-Formulated Paclitaxel Compared to Conventional
      Cremophor EL-Based Paclitaxel for Recurrent or Metastatic HER2-Negative Breast
      Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Genexol-PM is a Cremophor EL-free formulation of low-molecular-weight,
      non-toxic, and biodegradable polymeric micelle-bound paclitaxel. We conducted a
      phase III study comparing the clinical efficacy and toxicity of Genexol-PM with
      conventional paclitaxel (Genexol). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were randomly
      assigned (1:1) to receive Genexol-PM 260 mg/m2 or Genexol 175 mg/m2 intravenously
      every 3 weeks. The primary outcome was the objective response rate (ORR).
      RESULTS: The study enrolled 212 patients, of whom 105 were allocated to receive
      Genexol-PM. The mean received dose intensity of Genexol-PM was 246.8+/-21.3 mg/m2
      (95.0%), and that of Genexol was 168.3+/-10.6 mg/m2 (96.2%). After a median
      follow-up of 24.5 months (range, 0.0 to 48.7 months), the ORR of Genexol-PM was
      39.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 31.2 to 46.9) and the ORR of Genexol was
      24.3% (95% CI, 17.5 to 31.1) (pnon-inferiority=0.021, psuperiority=0.016). The
      two groups did not differ significantly in overall survival (28.8 months for
      Genexol-PM vs. 23.8 months for Genexol; p=0.52) or progression-free survival (8.0
      months for Genexol-PM vs. 6.7 months for Genexol; p=0.26). In both groups, the
      most common toxicities were neutropenia, with 68.6% occurrence in the Genexol-PM
      group versus 40.2% in the Genexol group (p < 0.01). The incidences of peripheral
      neuropathy of greater than grade 2 did not differ significantly between study
      treatments. CONCLUSION: Compared with standard paclitaxel, Genexol-PM
      demonstrated non-inferior and even superior clinical efficacy with a manageable
      safety profile in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

PMID- 27618823
TI  - What Do Parents of Children with Down Syndrome Think about Non-Invasive Prenatal
      Testing (NIPT)?
AB  - This study explores the attitudes of parents of children with Down syndrome
      towards non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and widening the scope of prenatal
      screening. Three focus groups (n = 16) and eleven individual interviews with
      Dutch parents (and two relatives) of children with Down syndrome were conducted.
      Safety, accuracy and earlier testing were seen as the advantages of NIPT. Some
      participants were critical about the practice of screening for Down syndrome, but
      acknowledged that NIPT enables people to know whether the fetus is affected and
      to prepare without risking miscarriage. Many feared uncritical use of NIPT and
      more abortions for Down syndrome. Concerns included the consequences for the
      acceptance of and facilities for children with Down syndrome, resulting in more
      people deciding to screen. Participants stressed the importance of good
      counseling and balanced, accurate information about Down syndrome. Testing for
      more disorders might divert the focus away from Down syndrome, but participants
      worried about "where to draw the line". They also feared a loss of diversity in
      society. Findings show that, while parents acknowledge that NIPT offers a better
      and safer option to know whether the fetus is affected, they also have concerns
      about NIPT's impact on the acceptance and care of children with Down syndrome.

PMID- 27618824
TI  - The Dynamics of a Genetic Counseling Peer Supervision Group.
AB  - Supervision is a practice that is utilized by a variety of practitioners to hone
      their counseling skills. Genetic counselors have embraced the supervision
      process, and some seek out supervision in a group setting with peers. Researchers
      have described the structure and content of genetic counseling peer supervision
      groups, and provided evidence for the benefits of seeking peer supervision. This
      study aimed to describe the interpersonal aspects of one genetic counseling peer
      supervision group, including personality traits and group dynamics, and how those
      factors influenced our experiences within the group. We also describe how the
      process of evaluating these factors impacted us individually and collectively.
      There was consensus that the group was a safe and trusting one, which was united
      by similar goals and mutual respect. Members reported gaining insights about how
      their own personality functioned within the group milieu, and also how the group
      setting impacted them. Based on our experiences, we recommend that other peer
      supervision groups consider similar self-evaluations on a periodic basis, both to
      enhance group functioning and to allow for increased self-awareness and
      professional growth.

PMID- 27618826
TI  - Amiodarone Compared with Lidocaine for Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest with
      Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation on Hospital Arrival: a Nationwide Database
      Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The latest resuscitation guidelines recommend the use of amiodarone in
      adult patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and refractory
      ventricular fibrillation (VF) to improve the rates of return of spontaneous
      circulation. However, there is limited evidence to suggest that amiodarone is
      superior to lidocaine with respect to survival at discharge. The purpose of the
      present study was to evaluate the hypothesis that amiodarone is superior to
      lidocaine with regard to the rate of survival to hospital discharge for OHCA
      patients with VF/pulseless VT (pVT) on hospital arrival. METHODS: Using the
      Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database, we identified 3951
      patients from 795 hospitals who experienced cardiogenic OHCA and had refractory
      ventricular fibrillation on hospital arrival between July 2007 and March 2013.
      The patients were categorized into amiodarone (n = 1743) and lidocaine (n = 2208)
      groups, from which 801 propensity score-matched pairs were generated. RESULTS:
      There was no significant difference in the rate of survival to hospital discharge
      between the amiodarone and lidocaine groups (15.2 % vs. 17.1 %; difference, -1.9
      %; 95 % CI, -5.5 to 1.7) in propensity score-matched analyses. Cox regression
      analyses did not indicate significant in-hospital mortality differences between
      the amiodarone and lidocaine groups for the propensity score-matched groups
      (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95 % CI, 0.94 to 1.17). CONCLUSIONS: The present nationwide
      study suggested that there was no significant difference in the rate of survival
      to hospital discharge between cardiogenic OHCA patients with persistent
      ventricular fibrillation on hospital arrival treated with amiodarone or
      lidocaine.

PMID- 27618825
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Alirocumab in Patients with Heterozygous Familial
      Hypercholesterolemia and LDL-C of 160 mg/dl or Higher.
AB  - PURPOSE: Even with statins and other lipid-lowering therapy (LLT), many patients
      with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH) continue to have elevated
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. ODYSSEY HIGH FH (NCT01617655)
      assessed the efficacy and safety of alirocumab, a proprotein convertase
      subtilisin/kexin type 9 monoclonal antibody, versus placebo in patients with heFH
      and LDL-C >= 160 mg/dl despite maximally tolerated statin +/- other LLT. METHODS:
      Patients were randomized to subcutaneous alirocumab 150 mg or placebo every 2
      weeks (Q2W) for 78 weeks. The primary endpoint was percent change in LDL-C from
      baseline to week 24. RESULTS: Mean baseline LDL-C levels were 196.3 mg/dl in the
      alirocumab (n = 71) and 201.0 mg/dl in the placebo groups (n = 35). Significant
      mean (standard error [SE]) reductions in LDL-C from baseline to week 24 were
      observed with alirocumab (-45.7 [3.5] %) versus placebo (-6.6 [4.9] %), a
      difference of -39.1 (6.0) % (P < 0.0001). Absolute mean (SE) LDL-C levels were
      reduced from baseline by 90.8 (6.7) mg/dl with alirocumab at week 24, with
      reductions maintained to week 78. Treatment-emergent adverse events were
      generally comparable between groups. Injection-site reactions were more frequent
      in the alirocumab group (8.3 %) versus placebo (5.7 %); most were mild in
      severity and did not result in study medication discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: In
      patients with heFH and very high LDL-C baseline levels despite maximally
      tolerated statin +/- other LLT, alirocumab 150 mg Q2W demonstrated significant
      reductions in LDL-C levels with 41 % of patients achieving predefined LDL-C
      goals. Alirocumab was generally well tolerated.

PMID- 27618827
TI  - Organic and mechanical properties of Cervidae antlers: a review.
AB  - There is a resurgence of interest in the study of deer antlers. Recent research
      advocates their potential for use in bone xenografts. Using this working
      hypothesis, we can formulate many questions: do antlers really present unique or
      interesting mechanical properties, and if so, which factors affect these
      properties? Many other issues, including tissue compatibility, could be
      discussed; however, this article will focus on the biomechanical features of
      antlers. This paper reviews some answers found within current published material,
      and could help determine the optimal selection of some antlers for further
      experimental studies and clinical trials. Some general elements like anatomy and
      histology of deer antlers are briefly summarised. This paper will attempt to
      define the fundamental differences between skeletal bone and antler bone in terms
      of their organic and mechanical properties. We will then compare the previously
      published data, which details the mechanical properties of antlers from different
      species of Cervidae, by reviewing several aspects such as: sex; geographical
      situation; morphology; hydration state; and mineral composition. Some findings
      emerge: mechanical properties do not vary with gender or latitude, and the most
      important determining factor appears to be the species, alongside morphology and
      use of antlers. The state of hydration and mineral composition also has an
      influence on the mechanical properties of Cervidae antlers.

PMID- 27618829
TI  - Self controlled case series methods: an alternative to standard epidemiological
      study designs.

PMID- 27618828
TI  - Physical activity profile of 2014 FIFA World Cup players, with regard to
      different ranges of air temperature and relative humidity.
AB  - The present study attempts to assess changes in soccer players' physical activity
      profiles under the simultaneous influence of the different combinations of
      ambient temperature and relative humidity characterising matches of the 2014 FIFA
      World Cup hosted by Brazil. The study material consisted of observations of 340
      players representing 32 national teams taking part in the tournament. The
      measured indices included total distances covered; distances covered with low,
      moderate, or high intensity; numbers of sprints performed, and peak running
      speeds achieved. The analysis was carried out using FIFA official match data from
      the Castrol Performance Index system. Ultimately, consideration was given to a
      combination of three air temperature ranges, i.e. below 22  degrees C, 22-28 
      degrees C, and above 28  degrees C; and two relative humidity ranges below 60 %
      and above 60 %. The greatest average distance recorded (10.54 +/- 0.91 km)
      covered by players at an air temperature below 22  degrees C and a relative
      humidity below 60 %, while the shortest (9.83 +/- 1.08 km) characterised the same
      air temperature range, but conditions of relative humidity above 60 % (p <=
      0.001). Two-way ANOVA revealed significant differences (p <= 0.001) in numbers of
      sprints performed by players, depending on whether the air temperature range was
      below 22  degrees C (40.48 +/- 11.17) or above 28  degrees C (30.72 +/- 9.40),
      but only where the relative humidity was at the same time below 60 %. Results
      presented indicate that the conditions most comfortable for physical activity on
      the part of players occur at 22  degrees C, and with relative humidity under 60
      %.

PMID- 27618832
TI  - Incident reporting: rare incidents may benefit from national problem solving.

PMID- 27618830
TI  - Anti-HMGCR antibodies demonstrate high diagnostic value in the diagnosis of
      immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy following statin exposure.
AB  - Anti-HMGCR antibodies represent a characteristic serological feature of statin
      exposed and statin-unexposed patients with immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy
      (IMNM). We assessed anti-HMGCR antibodies in patients with suspected IMNM
      following statin exposure and patients with other autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
      We evaluated the presence of anti-HMGCR autoantibodies in sera samples from 13
      statin-exposed patients who were suspected of having IMNM, 38 patients with
      different inflammatory and autoimmune rheumatic diseases and 29 healthy subjects.
      The autoantibodies were evaluated by two assays: a new chemiluminescence QUANTA
      Flash HMGCR kit utilizing BIO-FLASH system and QUANTA Lite(r) HMGCR ELISA kit.
      Twelve samples from patients with suspicion for IMNM were found positive for anti
      HMGCR antibodies by both assays. Only one of the 13 samples that were found
      positive by ELISA was negative by CIA. A very good qualitative correlation (kappa
      = 0.95; 95 % CI 0.85-1.0) and quantitative agreement (Spearman's rho 0.87; P
      value < 0.0001; 95 % CI 0.62-0.96) were found between these two assays. All
      samples from healthy subjects and from the disease-controlled patient cohort were
      negative for anti-HMGCR antibodies. In comparison with ELISA results, the CIA
      exhibited high sensitivity and specificity values of 92.3 and 100 %,
      respectively. Receiver operating characteristic analysis for CIA and ELISA
      yielded area under the curve values of 0.99. The presence of anti-HMGCR
      antibodies may be a useful biomarker of IMNM in statin-exposed patients. There is
      a good correlation between the two anti-HMGCR antibody assays evaluated in the
      present study.

PMID- 27618831
TI  - Clinical association of mixed connective tissue disease and granulomatosis with
      polyangiitis: a case report and systematic screening of anti-U1RNP and anti-PR3
      auto-antibody double positivity in ten European hospitals.
AB  - We report here the case of a 50-years-old man treated for mixed connective tissue
      disease (MCTD) positive for anti-U1 ribonucleoprotein (U1RNP) antibodies who
      secondarily developed a granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) associated with
      anti-proteinase 3 anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (PR3-ANCA). We then
      evaluated the frequency of the association between anti-U1RNP and anti-PR3-ANCA
      antibodies by a systematic retrospective study in ten European hospitals.
      Overall, out of 11,921 samples analyzed for both auto-antibodies, 18 cases of
      anti-U1RNP and anti-PR3-ANCA double positivity were found and only one patient
      presented with both MCTD and GPA symptoms. Our retrospective analysis indicates
      that anti-U1RNP and anti-PR3-ANCA antibodies double positivity is infrequent and
      very rarely associated with both MTCD and GPA. Our observation describes for the
      first time the coexistence of MTCD and severe GPA in a Caucasian patient.
      Association of anti-U1RNP and ANCA antibodies was rarely reported in the
      literature. Eleven cases of MCTD and ANCA vasculitis have been reported to date,
      with only two cases with anti-PR3-ANCA association, and only one vasculitis. The
      seven other cases reported in the literature presented with an association of
      MCTD and microscopic polyangiitis which appears to be a more frequent
      presentation than MTCD associated with GPA.

PMID- 27618834
TI  - Real-time MRI for precise and predictable intra-arterial stem cell delivery to
      the central nervous system.
AB  - Stem cell therapy for neurological disorders reached a pivotal point when the
      efficacy of several cell types was demonstrated in small animal models.
      Translation of stem cell therapy is contingent upon overcoming the challenge of
      effective cell delivery to the human brain, which has a volume ~1000 times larger
      than that of the mouse. Intra-arterial injection can achieve a broad, global, but
      also on-demand spatially targeted biodistribution; however, its utility has been
      limited by unpredictable cell destination and homing as dictated by the vascular
      territory, as well as by safety concerns. We show here that high-speed MRI can be
      used to visualize the intravascular distribution of a superparamagnetic iron
      oxide contrast agent and can thus be used to accurately predict the distribution
      of intra-arterial administered stem cells. Moreover, high-speed MRI enables the
      real-time visualization of cell homing, providing the opportunity for immediate
      intervention in the case of undesired biodistribution.

PMID- 27618833
TI  - Follow-up and evaluation of the pregnancy outcome in women of reproductive age
      with Graves' disease after 131Iodine treatment.
AB  - The aims of the present study were to analyze the outcomes of pregnancy, after
      131I treatment, in patients of reproductive age with Graves' hyperthyroidism and
      to investigate the effects, if any, of the 131I treatment on the mothers and
      newborns. From 2009 to 2014, 257 pregnant female patients with Graves'
      hyperthyroidism in the outpatients at the Department of Nuclear Medicine and 166
      healthy pregnant women from the Department of Obstetrics at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial
      Hospital were included in our study. They were divided into a 131I therapy group
      (n = 130) and an anti-thyroid drug (ATD) group (n = 127) according to their
      therapy before conception. The neonatal gender, rate of preterm birth, body
      weight ratio and occurrence of low birth weight [except for higher rates of
      abortion (odds ratio; OR = 2.023) and cesarean delivery (OR = 1.552) in patients
      with Graves' hyperthyroidism] showed no statistically significant differences
      from those of the healthy group (P > 0.05). The level of intrauterine growth
      restriction did not differ between the Graves' hyperthyroidism group and the
      healthy group (8 vs 2, 3.0% vs 1.2%). The outcomes of pregnancy among the 131I
      therapy group, ATD group and healthy group also showed no significant
      differences. Of the patients treated with 131I, no significant differences were
      observed in the outcomes of their pregnancies, whether they received
      propylthiouracil (PTU), levothyroxine or no additional drug treatment during
      pregnancy. Women with hyperthyroidism who were treated with 131I therapy could
      have normal delivery if they ceased 131I treatment for at least six months prior
      to conception and if their thyroid function was reasonably controlled and
      maintained using the medication: anti-thyroid drug and levothyroxine before and
      during pregnancy.

PMID- 27618835
TI  - Progressive myoclonus epilepsy associated with neuroserpin inclusion bodies
      (neuroserpinosis).
AB  - Familial encephalopathy with neuroserpin inclusion bodies (FENIB) is a
      conformational proteinopathy characterised by neuronal inclusion bodies composed
      of the serine protease inhibitor (SERPIN), neuroserpin. Presenting clinically as
      a familial dementia-epilepsy syndrome, the molecular mechanism of the pathogenic
      abnormalities in neuroserpin has been characterised at atomic resolution. There
      is a remarkable genotype-phenotype correlation between the degree of molecular
      destabilisation of the several variants of the neuroserpin protein, their
      propensity to self-associate and the age of onset of the dementia-epilepsy
      complex. As with other serpinopathies there appears to be a mix of cell
      autonomous toxicity, due to neuronal accumulation of neuroserpin, and non-cell
      autonomous toxicity, caused by loss of protease inhibition, in this case the
      dysregulated protease is likely to be tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). FENIB
      should be considered in cases of progressive myoclonic epilepsy and dementia
      particularly where there is family history of neuropsychiatric disease.

PMID- 27618836
TI  - Gut microbiota, metabolome and immune signatures in patients with uncomplicated
      diverticular disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The engagement of the gut microbiota in the development of symptoms
      and complications of diverticular disease has been frequently hypothesised. Our
      aim was to explore colonic immunocytes, gut microbiota and the metabolome in
      patients with diverticular disease in a descriptive, cross-sectional, pilot
      study. DESIGN: Following colonoscopy with biopsy and questionnaire phenotyping,
      patients were classified into diverticulosis or symptomatic uncomplicated
      diverticular disease; asymptomatic subjects served as controls. Mucosal
      immunocytes, in the diverticular region and in unaffected sites, were quantified
      with immunohistochemistry. Mucosa and faecal microbiota were analysed by the
      phylogenetic platform high taxonomic fingerprint (HTF)-Microbi.Array, while the
      metabolome was assessed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. RESULTS: Compared with
      controls, patients with diverticula, regardless of symptoms, had a >70% increase
      in colonic macrophages. Their faecal microbiota showed depletion of Clostridium
      cluster IV. Clostridium cluster IX, Fusobacterium and Lactobacillaceae were
      reduced in symptomatic versus asymptomatic patients. A negative correlation was
      found between macrophages and mucosal Clostridium cluster IV and Akkermansia.
      Urinary and faecal metabolome changes in diverticular disease involved the
      hippurate and kynurenine pathways. Six urinary molecules allowed to discriminate
      diverticular disease and control groups with >95% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with colonic diverticular disease show depletion of microbiota members with anti
      inflammatory activity associated with mucosal macrophage infiltration. Metabolome
      profiles were linked to inflammatory pathways and gut neuromotor dysfunction and
      showed the ability to discriminate diverticular subgroups and controls. These
      data pave the way for further large-scale studies specifically aimed at
      identifying microbiota signatures with a potential diagnostic value in patients
      with diverticular disease.

PMID- 27618838
TI  - Association of rosuvastatin and delirium in severe sepsis with acute respiratory
      distress syndrome.

PMID- 27618839
TI  - Endovascular repair of the ascending aorta: the last frontier?

PMID- 27618837
TI  - Wnt signalling modulates transcribed-ultraconserved regions in hepatobiliary
      cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Transcribed-ultraconserved regions (T-UCR) are long non-coding RNAs
      which are conserved across species and are involved in carcinogenesis. We studied
      T-UCRs downstream of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in liver cancer. DESIGN:
      Hypomorphic Apc mice (Apcfl/fl) and thiocetamide (TAA)-treated rats developed
      Wnt/beta-catenin dependent hepatocarcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA),
      respectively. T-UCR expression was assessed by microarray, real-time PCR and in
      situ hybridisation. RESULTS: Overexpression of the T-UCR uc.158- could
      differentiate Wnt/beta-catenin dependent HCC from normal liver and from beta
      catenin negative diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced HCC. uc.158- was overexpressed
      in human HepG2 versus Huh7 cells in line with activation of the Wnt pathway. In
      vitro modulation of beta-catenin altered uc.158- expression in human malignant
      hepatocytes. uc.158- expression was increased in CTNNB1-mutated human HCCs
      compared with non-mutated human HCCs, and in human HCC with nuclear localisation
      of beta-catenin. uc.158- was increased in TAA rat CCA and reduced after treatment
      with Wnt/beta-catenin inhibitors. uc.158- expression was negative in human normal
      liver and biliary epithelia, while it was increased in human CCA in two different
      cohorts. Locked nucleic acid-mediated inhibition of uc.158- reduced anchorage
      cell growth, 3D-spheroid formation and spheroid-based cell migration, and
      increased apoptosis in HepG2 and SW1 cells. miR-193b was predicted to have
      binding sites within the uc.158- sequence. Modulation of uc.158- changed miR-193b
      expression in human malignant hepatocytes. Co-transfection of uc.158- inhibitor
      and anti-miR-193b rescued the effect of uc.158- inhibition on cell viability.
      CONCLUSIONS: We showed that uc.158- is activated by the Wnt pathway in liver
      cancers and drives their growth. Thus, it may represent a promising target for
      the development of novel therapeutics.

PMID- 27618840
TI  - On the complexity of scoring acute respiratory distress syndrome: do not forget
      hemodynamics!
AB  - Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains associated with a poor outcome
      despite recent major therapeutic advances. Forecasting the outcome of patients
      suffering from such a syndrome is of a crucial interest and many scores have been
      proposed, all suffering from limits responsible for important discrepancies.
      Authors try to elaborate simple, routine and reliable scores but most of them do
      not consider hemodynamics yet acknowledged as a major determinant of outcome.
      This article aims at reminding the approach of scoring in ARDS and at deeply
      describing the most recently published one in order to highlight their main
      pitfall, which is to forget the hemodynamics. 

PMID- 27618842
TI  - The effect of head-related filtering and ear-specific decoding bias on auditory
      attention detection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We consider the problem of Auditory Attention Detection (AAD), where
      the goal is to detect which speaker a person is attending to, in a multi-speaker
      environment, based on neural activity. This work aims to analyze the influence of
      head-related filtering and ear-specific decoding on the performance of an AAD
      algorithm. APPROACH: We recorded high-density EEG of 16 normal-hearing subjects
      as they listened to two speech streams while tasked to attend to the speaker in
      either their left or right ear. The attended ear was switched between trials. The
      speech stimuli were administered either dichotically, or after filtering using
      Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs). A spatio-temporal decoder was trained
      and used to reconstruct the attended stimulus envelope, and the correlations
      between the reconstructed and the original stimulus envelopes were used to
      perform AAD, and arrive at a percentage correct score over all trials. MAIN
      RESULTS: We found that the HRTF condition resulted in significantly higher AAD
      performance than the dichotic condition. However, speech intelligibility,
      measured under the same set of conditions, was lower for the HRTF filtered
      stimuli. We also found that decoders trained and tested for a specific attended
      ear performed better, compared to decoders trained and tested for both left and
      right attended ear simultaneously. In the context of the decoders supporting
      hearing prostheses, the former approach is less realistic, and studies in which
      each subject always had to attend to the same ear may find over-optimistic
      results. SIGNIFICANCE: This work shows the importance of using realistic binaural
      listening conditions and training on a balanced set of experimental conditions to
      obtain results that are more representative for the true AAD performance in
      practical applications.

PMID- 27618843
TI  - Role for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with resected small cell lung cancer.

PMID- 27618841
TI  - Prevalence of medication discrepancies in patients with cirrhosis: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cirrhosis patients are prescribed multiple medications for their
      liver disease and comorbidities. Discrepancies between medicines consumed by
      patients and those documented in the medical record may contribute to patient
      harm and impair disease management. The aim of the present study was to assess
      the magnitude and types of discrepancies among patient-reported and medical
      record-documented medications in patients with cirrhosis, and examine factors
      associated with such discrepancies. METHODS: Fifty patients who attended a
      hospital hepatology outpatient clinic were interviewed using a questionnaire
      composed of mixed short-response and multiple-choice questions. Patients'
      reported medication use was compared with documentation in the hospital medical
      records and pharmacy database. Medication adherence was assessed using the 8
      question (c)Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). The multivariate
      logistic regression model was constructed using clinically relevant and/or
      statistically significant variables as determined by univariate analysis. All p
      values were 2-sided (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (54.0 %) had
      >=1 discrepancy between reported and documented medicines. Patients with >=1
      discrepancy were older (p = 0.04) and multivariate analysis identified taking >=5
      conventional medicines or having a 'low' or 'medium' adherence ranking as
      independent predictors of discrepancy (adjusted OR 11.0 (95 % CI 1.8-67.4), 20.7
      (95 % CI 1.3-337.7) and 49.0 (95 % CI 3.3-718.5) respectively). Concordance was
      highest for liver disease medicines (71.9 %) and lowest for complementary and
      alternative medicines (14.5 %) and respiratory medicines (0 %). CONCLUSION: There
      is significant discrepancy between sources of patient medication information
      within the hepatology clinic. Medication reconciliation and medicines-management
      intervention may address the complex relationship between medication
      discrepancies, number of medications and patient adherence identified in this
      study.

PMID- 27618844
TI  - Effectiveness of External Electric Field Treatment of Conjugated Polymers in Bulk
      Heterojunction Solar Cells.
AB  - External electric field treatment (EFT) on P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction (BHJ)
      devices was recently found to be a viable approach for improving the power
      conversion efficiencies (PCEs) through modulating the blend nanomorphology.
      However, its effectiveness over the broad family of polymer-fullerene blends
      remains unclear. Herein, we investigate the effects of external EFT on various
      polymer-fullerene blends with distinct morphologies stemming from the difference
      in molecular structure of the polymers (i.e., semicrystalline vs amorphous) in a
      bid to establish a clear morphology-function-charge dynamics relationship to the
      photovoltaic performance. Our findings reveal that EFT promotes self-organization
      of the semicrystalline thiophene-based conjugated polymers (i.e., P3HT and P3BT)
      while it was ineffective for the amorphous polymers (i.e., PTB7 and PCPDTBT) even
      at the maximum applied E-field of 8 kV cm-1. Transient absorption spectroscopy
      shows an improvement in the initial charge-carrier and polaron formation from
      delocalized excitons in the E-field treated semicrystalline blends compared to
      their untreated reference samples. Interfacial trap-assisted monomolecular and
      trap-free bimolecular recombination at nanosecond-microsecond time scale in the E
      field treated P3BT:PC60BM devices are significantly suppressed. Importantly, our
      findings shed new light and provide guidelines on the effectiveness of utilizing
      external EFT to enhance the PCEs of a larger family of conjugated polymer-based
      BHJ OSCs.

PMID- 27618845
TI  - Degradable Polyphosphoester-Protein Conjugates: "PPEylation" of Proteins.
AB  - Pharmacokinetic properties determine the efficacy of protein therapeutics. The
      covalent attachment of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) extends the half-life of such
      biologicals to maintain a therapeutically effective concentration over a
      prolonged period of time and improves administration and compliance. A major
      obstacle of these polymer-protein conjugates is the chemical stability of the PEG
      preventing its metabolism and leading to side effects. Instead, we propose the
      PPEylation, that is, the conjugation of degradable poly(phosphoester)s (PPE) to
      proteins, in order to generate fully biodegradable polymer-protein conjugates.
      The structure of the PPEylated protein conjugates was verified with mass
      spectrometry and size exclusion chromatography. They were compared to structural
      analogues, except classical, PEGylated proteins, and exhibit comparable
      bioactivity, but avoiding any nondegradable polymer in the conjugate. We proved
      the degradation of the protective polymer shell surrounding the conjugate in
      aqueous environments at physiological conditions by online triple detection size
      exclusion chromatography and gel electrophoresis. We believe that this research
      will provide an attractive alternative for future drug design with implications
      for the clinical use of biologicals.

PMID- 27618846
TI  - The Sensory Environment and Participation of Preschool Children With Autism
      Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Sensory processing is recognized as impacting participation for preschool
      children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Little research exists to examine
      the impact of the sensory environment on the participation patterns of children
      with ASD, specifically from a contextual standpoint. The researchers in this
      study examined the viewpoint of teachers and occupational therapists on the
      sensory-related environmental barriers to participation within the preschool
      context. Qualitative descriptive methodology was used for data collection and
      analysis. Thirteen preschool teachers and occupational therapists were
      interviewed. Sensory aspects of the environment both inhibited and enhanced
      participation. Physical and temporal components of the environment are identified
      as being the most influential. Modifications of the environment are identified as
      increasing participation. It is important to consider the sensory aspects of the
      environment, in addition to the sensory processing patterns of the person in
      assessment and intervention planning within the preschool environment.

PMID- 27618848
TI  - Psychometric Properties of the Functional Capacity Card Sort for Caregivers of
      People With Dementia.
AB  - Caregiver appraisal influences care decisions and may place the person with
      dementia at risk. The Functional Capacity Card Sort (FCCS) was developed to
      determine caregiver appraisal. The objective of this study was to examine FCCS
      psychometric properties and utility, using data from a cross-sectional study (N =
      86). The FCCS had moderately positive association (convergent validity) with a
      related activities of daily living (ADL) index (r = .43, p < .0001), weak
      negative association (discriminant validity) with an unrelated neuropsychiatric
      symptom index (r = -.14, p = .16), and strong caregiver agreement (interrater
      reliability) in ranking cards from high to low function, Kendall's W(5, 72) =
      0.83, p = .0001. When compared with occupational therapy assessment, the FCCS
      distinguished caregiver concordant estimation (17%), underestimation (22%), and
      overestimation (61%) of function. The FCCS is a valid and reliable tool used in
      conjunction with formal assessment to identify caregiver over- or
      underestimation, which has implications for patient safety and caregiver
      education.

PMID- 27618847
TI  - Participation in Out-of-Home Environments for Young Children With and Without
      Developmental Disabilities.
AB  - This study examines caregivers' perceptions of participation patterns and
      environmental supports and barriers for young children with and without
      developmental disabilities within their child care/preschool and community
      settings. The Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) was
      completed by 151 parents of Singaporean children (0-7 years old) with and without
      developmental disabilities. Setting-specific summary and item-level scores of
      these children were compared using ANCOVA, Mann-Whitney U, and Pearson chi-square
      tests. Children with developmental disabilities had significantly lower
      participation and environment summary scores in both settings as compared with
      children without developmental disabilities (p < .05; [Formula: see text] = 0.03
      0.31). Group differences were also evident at the item level, particularly when
      comparing the percentage of parents who desire change in their child's activity
      participation. Adequate financial support, public awareness, programs, and
      services have been identified as environmental factors that are potentially
      important to parents of children with developmental disabilities.

PMID- 27618850
TI  - Ascribing Meaning to Occupation: An Example From Healthy, Working Mothers.
AB  - Ascribing meaning to occupation is a multifaceted process. Understanding this
      process is illusive, yet fundamental to theory and practice. The objective is to
      describe the meaning that mothers ascribe to their occupations. A secondary
      analysis was conducted with data from a convenience sample of 35 Israeli mothers,
      ages 25 to 45 years. Data were collected using the Occupational Performance
      History Interview as part of a larger study. Interviews were transcribed verbatim
      and content analysis applied. Two main categories emerged: the meaning of
      "giving" (investing values) and the meaning of "receiving" (ensuring needs are
      met). Values such as responsibility require mothers to do occupations they find
      less desirable than others associated with the mothering role. The study
      illustrates how values and needs are intertwined to contribute to the meaning of
      occupation. Moreover, meaningful occupations can be undesirable but doing them
      arises from the values that drive mothers to fulfill this role.

PMID- 27618849
TI  - Clinical Presentation of Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease: A Scoping Review.
AB  - Up to 40% of all individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) are estimated to
      experience anxiety that interferes with daily functioning. This article describes
      research regarding the presentation of anxiety in PD and the influence anxiety
      has on participation in this population. A scoping review identified 1,635
      articles, of which 49 met the inclusion criteria. This review identified that
      anxiety in PD is often associated with a range of clinical correlates related to
      demographic and clinical characteristics (age, gender, disease stage, duration,
      progression), motor symptoms (tremor, bradykinesia, dystonia, freezing of gait,
      symptom severity), treatment-related complications (on/off fluctuations, on with
      dyskinesia, unpredictable off), and non-motor symptoms (sleep abnormalities,
      fatigue, cognitive impairment, depression). These findings can be used to
      increase clinicians' awareness toward the specific clinical correlates linked to
      anxiety in PD so that mental health concerns can be detected and addressed more
      readily in practice.

PMID- 27618851
TI  - Predictors of incomplete immunization coverage among one to five years old
      children in Togo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incompleteness of vaccination coverage among children is a major
      public health concern because itcontinues to sustain a high prevalence of vaccine
      preventable diseases in some countries. In Togo, very few data on the factors
      associated with incomplete vaccination coverage among children have been
      published. We determined the prevalence of incomplete immunization coverage in
      children aged one to five years in Togo and associated factors. METHODS: This was
      a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the 2010 Multiple Indicator
      Cluster Surveys (MICS4) conducted in 2010 among children aged 1 to 5 years in
      Togo. This survey was conducted over a period of two months from September to
      November, 2010. RESULTS: During Togo'sMICS4 survey, 2067 children met the
      inclusion criteria for our study. Female children accounted for 50.9 %
      (1051/2067) of the sample and 1372 (66.4 %) lived in rural areas. The majority of
      children (92.2 %; 1905/2067) lived with both parents and 30 % of the head of
      households interviewed were not schooled (620/2067). At the time of the survey,
      36.2 % (750/2067) of the children had not received all vaccines recommended by
      Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). In multivariate analysis, factors
      associated with incompleteness of immunization at 1 year were: health region of
      residences (Maritime aOR = 0.650; p = 0.043; Savanes: aOR = 0.324; p <0.001), non
      schooled mother (aOR = 1.725; p = 0.002),standard of living (poor: aOR = 1.668; p
      = 0.013; medium: aOR = 1.393; p = 0.090) and the following characteristics of the
      household heads: sex (aOR = 1.465; p = 0.034), marital status (aOR = 1.591; p =
      0.032), education level(non-educated: aOR = 1.435; p = 0.027. CONCLUSION: The
      incomplete immunization coverage among children in Togo remains high. It is
      necessary to strengthen health promotion among the population in order to improve
      the use of immunization services that are essential to reduce morbidity and
      mortality among under five years old children.

PMID- 27618852
TI  - Histological and Histometric Characterization of Myocardial Fibrosis in End-Stage
      Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Clinical-Pathological Study of 30 Explanted
      Hearts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although noninvasively detected myocardial fibrosis (MF) has clinical
      implications in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the extent, type, and distribution
      of ventricular MF have never been extensively pathologically characterized. We
      assessed the overall amount, apex-to-base, circumferential, epicardial
      endocardial distribution, pattern, and type of MF in 30 transplanted hearts of
      end-stage, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS: Visual and
      morphometric histological analyses at basal, midventricular, and apical levels
      were performed. Overall MF ranged from 23.1% to 55.9% (mean=37.3+/-8.4%).
      Prevalent types of MF were as follows: replacement in 53.3%, interstitial
      perimyocyte in 13.3%, and mixed in 33.3%. Considering left ventricular base-to
      apex distribution, MF was 31.9%, 43%, and 46.2% at basal, midventricular, and
      apical level, respectively (P<0.001). Circumferential distributions (mean
      percentage of MF within the section) were as follows: anterior 11.9%,
      anterolateral 15.8%, inferolateral 7.0%, inferior 24.3%, anteroseptal 11%,
      midseptal 10.7%, and posteroseptal 11.4%; circumferential distributions for
      anterior and inferior right ventricular walls were 3.4% and 4.5%, respectively.
      Epicardial-endocardial distributions were as follows: trabecular 26.1% and
      subendocardial 20.2%, midwall 33.4%, and subepicardial 20.3%. Main patterns
      identified were as follows: midwall in 33.3% of the hearts, transmural in 23.3%,
      midwall-subepicardial in 23.3%, and midwall-subendocardial in 20%. CONCLUSIONS:
      In end-stage, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients undergoing transplantation,
      more than one-third of the left ventricular myocardium was replaced by fibrosis,
      mainly of replacement type. MF preferentially involved the left ventricular apex
      and the midwall. Inferior and anterior walls and septum were maximally involved,
      whereas inferolateral and right ventricular were usually spared. These
      observations reflect the complex pathophysiology of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
      and may provide clues for the timely recognition of disease progression by
      imaging techniques capable of quantifying MF.

PMID- 27618853
TI  - Early Follow-Up After a Heart Failure Exacerbation: The Importance of Continuity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although early follow-up for heart failure (HF) is recommended, the
      time window and which physicians should do the follow-up are unclear. We explored
      whether (1) follow-up within 14 days and (2) physician continuity influence
      outcomes within 30 days of a HF exacerbation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Retrospective
      cohort of all adults in Alberta, Canada, with a first discharge from a hospital
      or an emergency department where HF was the most responsible diagnosis between
      April 2002 and November 2013, analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models with
      time-varying covariates. Of 39 249 adults (mean age,76.1 years), 21 848 (55.7%)
      received follow-up from a familiar physician, 3938 (10.0%) saw an unfamiliar
      physician, and 13 463 (34.3%) had no outpatient visits in the first 14 days after
      a hospitalization or emergency department visit for HF. The risk of death or
      hospitalization within 30 days was lower in patients who saw a familiar physician
      (16.9%; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR],0.94;95%confidence interval [CI],0.89-0.99)
      than inthose who sawan unfamiliar physician (20.0%;aHR,1.05;95%CI,0.97-1.15) or
      those with no outpatient visits (22.0%;aHR,1.00 [referent]). The composite of
      death or emergency department visit or hospitalization within 30 days was also
      less common with familiar physician follow-up (25.2%;aHR,0.86;95%CI,0.82-0.89)
      compared withunfamiliar physicians (26.9%;aHR,0.93;95%CI,0.87-0.996) or those
      with no outpatient follow-up within 14 days (47.5%;aHR,1.00 [referent]).
      CONCLUSIONS: Outpatient follow-up within 14 days after HF exacerbation requiring
      hospitalization or emergency department visit is associated with better outcomes,
      particularly if the follow-up is with a familiar physician.

PMID- 27618854
TI  - Effects of Sacubitril/Valsartan in the PARADIGM-HF Trial (Prospective Comparison
      of ARNI with ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart
      Failure) According to Background Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the PARADIGM-HF trial (Prospective Comparison of ARNI with ACEI to
      Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure), the
      angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril/valsartan was more effective
      than the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitorenalapril in patients with heart
      failure and reduced ejection fraction. We examined whether this benefit was
      consistent irrespective of background therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined
      the effect of study treatment in the following subgroups: diuretics (yes/no),
      digitalis glycoside (yes/no), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (yes/no),and
      defibrillating device (implanted defibrillating device, yes/no). We also examined
      the effect of study drug according to beta-blocker dose (>=50% and <50% of target
      dose) and according to whether patients had undergone previous coronary
      revascularization. We analyzed the primary composite end point of cardiovascular
      death or heart failure hospitalization, as well as cardiovascular death. Most
      randomized patients (n=8399)were treated with a diuretic (80%) and beta-blocker
      (93%); 47% of those taking a beta-blocker were treated with >=50% of the
      recommended dose. In addition, 4671 (56%) were treated with a mineralocorticoid
      receptor antagonist, 2539 (30%) with digoxin, and 1243 (15%) had a defibrillating
      device; 2640 (31%) had undergone coronary revascularization. Overall, the
      sacubitril/valsartan versus enalapril hazard ratio for the primary composite end
      point was 0.80 (95% confidence interval,0.73-0.87;P<0.001) and for cardiovascular
      death was0.80 (0.71-0.89;P<0.001). The effect of sacubitril/valsartan was
      consistent across all subgroups examined. The hazard ratio for primary end point
      ranged from 0.74 to 0.85 and for cardiovascular death rangedfrom 0.75 to 0.89,
      with no treatment-by-subgroup interaction. CONCLUSIONS: The benefit of
      sacubitril/valsartan, over an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, was
      consistent regardless of background therapy and irrespective of previouscoronary
      revascularization or beta-blocker dose. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01035255.

PMID- 27618856
TI  - V122I TTR Cardiac Amyloidosis in Patients of African Descent: Recognizing a
      Missed Disease or the Dog That Didn't Bark?

PMID- 27618855
TI  - Afro-Caribbean Heart Failure in the United Kingdom: Cause, Outcomes, and ATTR
      V122I Cardiac Amyloidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been reported that subjects of African descent present with
      heart failure at a younger age and because of different causes than whites. We
      present contemporary data from UK Afro-Caribbean patients in London. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: All patients with heart failure presenting to St George's Hospital Heart
      Failure clinic between 2005 and 2012 were included (n=1392). Patients were
      predominantly white (71%) and male (67%), and median age at presentation was 73
      years (range, 18-100 years). In 211 Afro-Caribbean patients, the most common
      cause of heart failure was nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy in 27.5% (whites,
      19.9%; P<0.001). Lower rates of ischemic cardiomyopathy were observed (13% versus
      41%; P<0.001). The fourth most common cause of heart failure in Afro-Caribbeans
      was cardiac amyloidosis (11.4%). The prevalence may have been even higher as not
      all patients were tested for amyloidosis. Patients with ATTR V122I had the worst
      prognosis compared with other causes of Afro-Caribbean heart failure and white
      patients. To better understand this condition, we analyzed data from the largest
      international cohort of ATTR V122I patients, followed up at the UK National
      Amyloidosis Center (n=72). Patients presented with cardiac failure (median age,
      75 [range, 59-90] years). Median survival was 2.6 years from diagnosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: In London, the cause of heart failure varies depending on ethnicity
      and affects age of presentation and outcomes. In Afro-Caribbean patients, ATTR
      V122I is an underappreciated cause of heart failure, and cardiomyopathy is often
      misattributed to hypertension. As promising TTR therapies are in development,
      increased awareness and proactive detection are needed.

PMID- 27618857
TI  - The long road to steady state in gas exchange: metabolic and ventilatory
      responses to hypercapnia and hypoxia in Cuvier's dwarf caiman.
AB  - Animals with intermittent lung ventilation and those exposed to hypoxia and
      hypercapnia will experience fluctuations in the bodily O2 and CO2 stores, but the
      magnitude and duration of these changes are not well understood amongst
      ectotherms. Using the changes in the respiratory exchange ratio (RER; CO2
      excretion divided by O2 uptake) as a proxy for changes in bodily gas stores, we
      quantified time constants in response to hypoxia and hypercapnia in Cuvier's
      dwarf caiman. We confirm distinct and prolonged changes in RER during and after
      exposure to hypoxia or hypercapnia. Gas exchange transients were evaluated in
      reference to predictions from a two-compartment model of CO2 exchange to quantify
      the effects of the levels of hypoxia and hypercapnia, duration of hypercapnia (30
      300 min) and body temperature (23 versus 33 degrees C). For hypercapnia, the
      transients could be adequately fitted by two-phase exponential functions, and
      slow time constants (after 300 min hypercapnia) concurred reasonably well with
      modelling predictions. The slow time constants for the decays after hypercapnia
      were not affected by the level of hypercapnia, but they increased (especially at
      23 degrees C) with exposure time, possibly indicating a temporal and slow
      recruitment of tissues for CO2 storage. In contrast to modelling predictions,
      elevated body temperature did not reduce the time constants, probably reflecting
      similar ventilation rates in transients at 23 and 33 degrees C. Our study reveals
      that attainment of steady state for gas exchange requires considerable time and
      this has important implications for designing experimental protocols when
      studying ventilatory control and conducting respirometry.

PMID- 27618858
TI  - Stress and food deprivation: linking physiological state to migration success in
      a teleost fish.
AB  - Food deprivation is a naturally occurring stressor that is thought to influence
      the ultimate life-history strategy of individuals. Little is known about how food
      deprivation interacts with other stressors to influence migration success.
      European populations of brown trout (Salmo trutta) exhibit partial migration,
      whereby a portion of the population smoltifies and migrates to the ocean, and the
      rest remain in their natal stream. This distinct, natural dichotomy of life
      history strategies provides an excellent opportunity to explore the roles of
      energetic state (as affected by food deprivation) and activation of the
      glucocorticoid stress response in determining life-history strategy and survival
      of a migratory species. Using an experimental approach, the relative influences
      of short-term food deprivation and experimental cortisol elevation (i.e. intra
      coelomic injection of cortisol suspended in cocoa butter) on migratory status,
      survival and growth of juvenile brown trout relative to a control were evaluated.
      Fewer fish migrated in both the food deprivation and cortisol treatments;
      however, migration of fish in cortisol and control treatments occurred at the
      same time while that of fish in the food deprivation treatment was delayed for
      approximately 1 week. A significantly greater proportion of trout in the food
      deprivation treatment remained in their natal stream, but unlike the cortisol
      treatment, there were no long-term negative effects of food deprivation on
      growth, relative to the control. Overall survival rates were comparable between
      the food deprivation and control treatments, but significantly lower for fish in
      the cortisol treatment. Food availability and individual energetic state appear
      to dictate the future life-history strategy (migrate or remain resident) of
      juvenile salmonids while experimental elevation of the stress hormone cortisol
      causes impaired growth and reduced survival of both resident and migratory
      individuals.

PMID- 27618859
TI  - Costs and benefits of vertical and horizontal transmission of dengue virus.
AB  - Parasites can be transmitted vertically and/or horizontally, but the costs or
      benefits for the host of infection have only been tested after horizontal
      transmission. Here, we report for the first time, to our knowledge, the survival,
      reproduction and infection of Aedes aegypti during vertical and horizontal
      transmission of dengue virus 2 (DENV-2). Females infected horizontally produced
      more eggs, with a sex ratio skewed towards males, compared with uninfected
      controls. However, there was no significant difference in the number of emerging
      adults or in survival of mothers. In contrast, dengue-infected female offspring
      (vertical transmission) had a shorter lifespan but there were no significant
      differences in the number of eggs or sex ratio, compared with controls. Finally,
      the corroboration of infection revealed that virus infected about 11.5% and 8.8%
      of pools of mothers and of daughters, respectively. These results suggest that
      the mode of infection and the contact with the virus has no reproductive costs to
      female mosquitoes, which may explain why both types of transmission are
      evolutionarily maintained. In addition, we suggest that more attention should be
      paid to the male contribution to virus dissemination within and among populations
      and as reservoirs of the infection for human diseases.

PMID- 27618860
TI  - Continuous arterial PO2 profiles in unrestrained, undisturbed aquatic turtles
      during routine behaviors.
AB  - Mammals and birds maintain high arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PO2 ) values
      in order to preserve near-complete hemoglobin (Hb) oxygen (O2) saturation. In
      diving mammals and birds, arterial O2 follows a primarily monotonic decline and
      then recovers quickly after dives. In laboratory studies of submerged freshwater
      turtles, arterial O2 depletion typically follows a similar pattern. However, in
      these studies, turtles were disturbed, frequently tethered to external equipment
      and confined either to small tanks or breathing holes. Aquatic turtles can alter
      cardiac shunting patterns, which will affect arterial PO2  values. Consequently,
      little is known about arterial O2 regulation and use in undisturbed turtles. We
      conducted the first study to continuously measure arterial PO2  using implanted
      microelectrodes and a backpack logger in undisturbed red-eared sliders during
      routine activities. Arterial PO2  profiles during submergences varied
      dramatically, with no consistent patterns. Arterial PO2  was also lower than
      previously reported during all activities, with values rarely above 50 mmHg (85%
      Hb saturation). There was no difference in mean PO2  between five different
      activities: submerged resting, swimming, basking, resting at the surface and when
      a person was present. These results suggest significant cardiac shunting occurs
      during routine activities as well as submergences. However, the lack of
      relationship between PO2  and any activity suggests that cardiac shunts are not
      regulated to maintain high arterial PO2  values. These data support the idea that
      cardiac shunting is the passive by-product of regulation of vascular resistances
      by the autonomic nervous system.

PMID- 27618861
TI  - Mitochondrial physiology in the skeletal and cardiac muscles is altered in
      torrent ducks, Merganetta armata, from high altitudes in the Andes.
AB  - Torrent ducks inhabit fast-flowing rivers in the Andes from sea level to
      altitudes up to 4500 m. We examined the mitochondrial physiology that facilitates
      performance over this altitudinal cline by comparing the respiratory capacities
      of permeabilized fibers, the activities of 16 key metabolic enzymes and the
      myoglobin content in muscles between high- and low-altitude populations of this
      species. Mitochondrial respiratory capacities (assessed using substrates of
      mitochondrial complexes I, II and/or IV) were higher in highland ducks in the
      gastrocnemius muscle - the primary muscle used to support swimming and diving -
      but were similar between populations in the pectoralis muscle and the left
      ventricle. The heightened respiratory capacity in the gastrocnemius of highland
      ducks was associated with elevated activities of cytochrome oxidase,
      phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase and malate dehydrogenase (MDH). Although
      respiratory capacities were similar between populations in the other muscles,
      highland ducks had elevated activities of ATP synthase, lactate dehydrogenase,
      MDH, hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase and creatine kinase in the left ventricle, and
      elevated MDH activity and myoglobin content in the pectoralis. Thus, although
      there was a significant increase in the oxidative capacity of the gastrocnemius
      in highland ducks, which correlates with improved performance at high altitudes,
      the variation in metabolic enzyme activities in other muscles not correlated to
      respiratory capacity, such as the consistent upregulation of MDH activity, may
      serve other functions that contribute to success at high altitudes.

PMID- 27618863
TI  - Tissue enrichment analysis for C. elegans genomics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over the last ten years, there has been explosive development in
      methods for measuring gene expression. These methods can identify thousands of
      genes altered between conditions, but understanding these datasets and forming
      hypotheses based on them remains challenging. One way to analyze these datasets
      is to associate ontologies (hierarchical, descriptive vocabularies with
      controlled relations between terms) with genes and to look for enrichment of
      specific terms. Although Gene Ontology (GO) is available for Caenorhabditis
      elegans, it does not include anatomical information. RESULTS: We have developed a
      tool for identifying enrichment of C. elegans tissues among gene sets and
      generated a website GUI where users can access this tool. Since a common drawback
      to ontology enrichment analyses is its verbosity, we developed a very simple
      filtering algorithm to reduce the ontology size by an order of magnitude. We
      adjusted these filters and validated our tool using a set of 30 gold standards
      from Expression Cluster data in WormBase. We show our tool can even discriminate
      between embryonic and larval tissues and can even identify tissues down to the
      single-cell level. We used our tool to identify multiple neuronal tissues that
      are down-regulated due to pathogen infection in C. elegans. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      Tissue Enrichment Analysis (TEA) can be found within WormBase, and can be
      downloaded using Python's standard pip installer. It tests a slimmed-down C.
      elegans tissue ontology for enrichment of specific terms and provides users with
      a text and graphic representation of the results.

PMID- 27618862
TI  - Systems metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of
      the carbon-5 platform chemicals 5-aminovalerate and glutarate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The steadily growing world population and our ever luxurious life
      style, along with the simultaneously decreasing fossil resources has confronted
      modern society with the issue and need of finding renewable routes to accommodate
      for our demands. Shifting the production pipeline from raw oil to biomass
      requires efficient processes for numerous platform chemicals being produced with
      high yield, high titer and high productivity. RESULTS: In the present work, we
      established a de novo bio-based production process for the two carbon-5 platform
      chemicals 5-aminovalerate and glutarate on basis of the lysine-hyperproducing
      strain Corynebacterium glutamicum LYS-12. Upon heterologous implementation of the
      Pseudomonas putida genes davA, encoding 5-aminovaleramidase and davB, encoding
      lysine monooxygenase, 5-aminovalerate production was established. Related to the
      presence of endogenous genes coding for 5-aminovalerate transaminase (gabT) and
      glutarate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, 5-aminovalerate was partially converted to
      glutarate. Moreover, residual L-lysine was secreted as by-product. The issue of
      by-product formation was then addressed by deletion of the lysE gene, encoding
      the L-lysine exporter. Additionally, a putative gabT gene was deleted to enhance
      5-aminovalerate production. To fully exploit the performance of the optimized
      strain, fed-batch fermentation was carried out producing 28 g L(-1) 5
      aminovalerate with a maximal space-time yield of 0.9 g L(-1) h(-1). CONCLUSIONS:
      The present study describes the construction of a recombinant microbial cell
      factory for the production of carbon-5 platform chemicals. Beyond a basic proof
      of-concept, we were able to specifically increase the production flux of 5
      aminovalerate thereby generating a strain with excellent production performance.
      Additional improvement can be expected by removal of remaining by-product
      formation and bottlenecks, associated to the terminal pathway, to generate a
      strain being applicable as centerpiece for a bio-based production of 5
      aminovalerate.

PMID- 27618864
TI  - Heme oxygenase-1-mediated neuroprotection in subarachnoid hemorrhage via
      intracerebroventricular deferoxamine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating disease that affects
      over 30,000 Americans per year. Previous animal studies have explored the
      therapeutic effects of deferoxamine (DFX) via its iron-chelating properties after
      SAH, but none have assessed the necessity of microglial/macrophage heme oxygenase
      1 (HO-1 or Hmox1) in DFX neuroprotection, nor has the efficacy of an
      intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration route been fully examined. We
      explored the therapeutic efficacy of systemic and ICV DFX in a SAH mouse model
      and its effect on microglial/macrophage HO-1. METHODS: Wild-type (WT) mice were
      split into the following treatment groups: SAH sham + vehicle, SAH + vehicle, SAH
      + intraperitoneal (IP) DFX, and SAH + ICV DFX. For each experimental group,
      neuronal damage, cognitive outcome, vasospasm, cerebral and hematogenous myeloid
      cell populations, cerebral IL-6 concentration, and mitochondrial superoxide anion
      production were measured. HO-1 co-localization to microglia was measured using
      confocal images. Trans-wells with WT or HO-1(-/-) microglia and hippocampal
      neurons were treated with vehicle, red blood cells (RBCs), or RBCs with DFX;
      neuronal damage, TNF-alpha concentration, and microglial HO-1 expression were
      measured. HO-1 conditional knockouts were used to study myeloid, neuronal, and
      astrocyte HO-1 involvement in DFX-induced neuroprotection and cognitive recovery.
      RESULTS: DFX treatment after SAH decreased cortical damage and improved cognitive
      outcome after SAH yet had no effect on vasospasm; ICV DFX was most
      neuroprotective. ICV DFX treatment after SAH decreased cerebral IL-6
      concentration and trended towards decreased mitochondrial superoxide anion
      production. ICV DFX treatment after SAH effected an increase in HO-1 co
      localization to microglia. DFX treatment of WT microglia with RBCs in the trans
      wells showed decreased neuronal damage; this effect was abolished in HO-1(-/-)
      microglia. ICV DFX after SAH decreased neuronal damage and improved cognition in
      Hmox1 (fl/fl) control and Nes (Cre) :Hmox1 (fl/fl) mice, but not LyzM (Cre)
      :Hmox1 (fl/fl) mice. CONCLUSIONS: DFX neuroprotection is independent of
      vasospasm. ICV DFX treatment provides superior neuroprotection in a mouse model
      of SAH. Mechanisms of DFX neuroprotection after SAH may involve
      microglial/macrophage HO-1 expression. Monitoring patient HO-1 expression during
      DFX treatment for hemorrhagic stroke may help clinicians identify patients that
      are more likely to respond to treatment.

PMID- 27618865
TI  - KBH-1, an herbal composition, improves hepatic steatosis and leptin resistance in
      high-fat diet-induced obese rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: KBH-1 is an herbal mixture of Saururus chinensis, Curcuma longa and
      Polygala tenuifolia. Each herb has been reported to have various pharmaceutical
      activities; however, the synergistic effect of this herbal composition on obesity
      has not yet been determined. We investigated the alleviation effect of KBH-1 and
      its possible molecular mechanism in obesity-induced hepatic steatosis and leptin
      resistance in the hypothalamus. METHODS: We used HepG2 cells, primary neuronal
      cells and a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity rat model to determine the effect
      of KBH-1 in vitro and in vivo on hepatic steatosis and leptin resistance
      accompanied by obesity. To identify the alleviation effect on lipid accumulation,
      HepG2 cells stimulated by FFA were stained with Oil Red O; in addition,
      immunoblotting and qPCR were performed to determine the effect of KBH-1 on the
      activation of proteins and nuclear enzymes in HepG2 cells and the steatotic liver
      of HFD-induced obesity rats. To examine the effect of KBH-1 on the leptin
      resistance of the hypothalamus and its possible molecular mechanism, we examined
      the effect of KBH-1 on the activation of the leptin resistance-related protein in
      primary cultured cortical neuron cells and the hypothalamus of an HFD-induced
      obesity rat model. In addition, we used HPLC analysis to identify the standard
      compound of KBH-1. RESULTS: KBH-1 not only suppressed the lipid deposition in
      HepG2 cells exposed to free fatty acids (FFA) but also significantly down
      regulated major factors in lipogenesis and up-regulated major factors in
      lipolysis. Similarly, in a HFD-induced obesity model, KBH-1 improved hepatic
      steatosis by alleviating the effects on lipogenic genes and kinases. In addition,
      KBH-1 significantly improved the leptin-mediated signals impaired by obesity or
      FFA in the obesity model and primary cultured cortical neuron cells. In addition,
      KBH-1 was analyzed to include six standard compounds using HPLC analysis, among
      these compounds, onji-saponin B and curcumin were potently suppressed the level
      of triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS: KBH-1 exhibits alleviating effects by improving
      hepatic steatosis and leptin resistance by up-regulating the activation of AMPK
      and suppressing the expression of PPARgamma. These findings show the potential of
      KBH-1 as a functional food supplement or preventive agent in the treatment of
      obesity.

PMID- 27618866
TI  - Ten-year experience of esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection of superficial
      esophageal neoplasms in a single center.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) of a superficial
      esophageal neoplasm (SEN) is a technically difficult procedure. We investigated
      the clinical outcomes of ESD to determine its feasibility and effectiveness for
      the treatment of SEN. METHODS: Patients who underwent ESD for SEN between August
      2005 and June 2014 were eligible for this study. The clinical features of
      patients and tumors, histopathologic characteristics, adverse events, results of
      endoscopic resection, and survival were investigated. RESULTS: ESD was performed
      in 225 patients with 261 lesions, including 70 cases (26.8%) of dysplasias and
      191 cases (73.2%) of squamous cell carcinomas. The median age was 65 years
      (range, 44 to 86), and the male to female ratio was 21.5:1. Median tumor size was
      37 mm (range, 5 to 85) and median procedure time was 45 minutes (range, 9 to
      160). En bloc resection was performed in 245 of 261 lesions (93.9%), with
      complete resection in 234 lesions (89.7%) and curative resection in 201 lesions
      (77.0%). Adverse events occurred in 33 cases (12.6%), including bleeding (1.5%),
      perforation (4.6%), and stricture (6.5%). During a median follow-up period of
      35.0 months (interquartile range, 18 to 62), none of the patients showed local
      recurrence. The 5-year overall and disease-specific survival rates were 89.7% and
      100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: ESD is a feasible and effective procedure for
      the treatment of SEN based on our 10-year experience, which showed favorable
      outcomes.

PMID- 27618868
TI  - GOSR2: a progressive myoclonus epilepsy gene.
AB  - GOSR2-associated PME is associated with a homozygous mutation in GOSR2 (c.430G>T,
      p.Gly144Trp), a Golgi vesicle transport gene. The functional effect of this
      mutation is a loss of function that results in failure of the GOSR2 protein to
      localize to the cis-Golgi. The main clinical features of the GOSR2-associated PME
      are early-onset ataxia, areflexia, action myoclonus and seizures, scoliosis,
      elevated creatine kinase levels, relative preservation of cognitive function
      until the late stages of the disease, and relentless disease course. Severe
      photosensitive myoclonus is a common feature. GOSR2-associated PME is a rare
      disease with very few cases reported so far and it can be expected that the
      identification of further patients will contribute to expanding the phenotype and
      genotype of this condition.

PMID- 27618867
TI  - Impact of early diagnosis on functional disability in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To determine whether early diagnosis is beneficial for
      functional status of various disease durations in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
      patients. METHODS: A total of 4,540 RA patients were enrolled as part of the
      Korean Observational Study Network for Arthritis (KORONA). We defined early
      diagnosis as a lag time between symptom onset and RA diagnosis of <= 12 months,
      whereas patients with a longer lag time comprised the delayed diagnosis group.
      Demographic characteristics and outcomes were compared between early and delayed
      diagnosis groups. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the
      impact of early diagnosis on the development of functional disability in RA
      patients. RESULTS: A total of 2,597 patients (57.2%) were included in the early
      diagnosis group. The average Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index
      (HAQ-DI) score was higher in the delayed diagnosis group (0.64 +/- 0.63 vs. 0.70
      +/- 0.66, p < 0.01), and the proportion of patients with no functional disability
      (HAQ = 0) was higher in the early diagnosis group (22.9% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.02). In
      multivariable analyses, early diagnosis was independently associated with no
      functional disability (odds ratio [OR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01
      to 1.40). In a subgroup analysis according to disease duration, early diagnosis
      was associated with no functional disability in patients with disease duration <
      5 years (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.72) but not in patients with longer disease
      duration (for 5 to 10 years: OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.75 to 1.52; for >= 10 years: OR,
      0.92; 95% CI, 0.65 to 1.28). CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis is associated with no
      functional disability, especially in patients with shorter disease duration.

PMID- 27618869
TI  - Savior or not: ADAM17 inhibitors overcome radiotherapy-resistance in non-small
      cell lung cancer.

PMID- 27618870
TI  - Commentary: The Flavonoid Baicalein Rescues Synaptic Plasticity and Memory
      Deficits in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

PMID- 27618871
TI  - Treatment for in-stent restenosis: patient-specific decision rather than
      universal recommendation.

PMID- 27618872
TI  - Proposals for revisions of the classification of lung cancers with multiple
      pulmonary sites: the radiologist's, thoracic surgeon's and oncologist's point of
      view.

PMID- 27618873
TI  - Optimized Liquid Chromatography Nanoelectrospray-High-Resolution Tandem Mass
      Spectrometry Method for the Analysis of 4-Hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone
      Releasing DNA Adducts in Human Oral Cells.
AB  - Metabolic activation of the carcinogenic tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines leads to
      the formation of 4-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (HPB)-releasing DNA adducts.
      We recently developed a liquid chromatography (LC)-tandem mass spectrometry
      (MS/MS) method for the analysis of HPB-releasing DNA adducts in human oral cells.
      However, given the limited amounts of DNA that can be extracted from oral cells,
      higher sensitivity and selectivity are required for the reliable analysis of
      these adducts in future studies. We have developed a new sensitive LC
      nanoelectrospray ionization-high-resolution MS/MS method for the analysis of HPB
      releasing DNA adducts in oral cells. A new procedure was also developed for
      guanine analysis by LC-MS/MS. The detection limit of the developed assay is 5
      amol, and the limit of quantitation is 0.35 fmol HPB on-column, starting with 50
      pg of DNA. The method was tested by analyzing oral samples from 65 smokers,
      including 30 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients and 35 cancer
      free controls. In all smokers, the levels of HPB-releasing DNA adducts averaged
      6.22 +/- 16.18 pmol/mg DNA, with significant interindividual variation being
      consistent with previous reports. The median HPB-releasing DNA adduct level was
      6.6 times greater for those with HNSCC than for smokers without HNSCC (p =
      0.002). The developed highly sensitive and selective method is a valuable tool
      for future measurement of HPB-releasing DNA adducts in tobacco users, which can
      potentially provide critical insights for the identification of individuals at
      risk for cancer.

PMID- 27618874
TI  - Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar infection in Mexican school children:
      genotyping and phylogenetic relationship.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the frequency of Entamoeba histolytica
      and Entamoeba dispar infection in school children in the community of
      Tlaltizapan, in order to understand the dynamics of infection within the school
      and family spheres of this population. Amoebiasis is an unsolved public health
      problem and an endemic disease in Mexico. The incidence rate varies depending on
      the state; the most affected states show the highest numbers of new cases of
      amoebiasis per year. Previously, we reported the molecular frequency of infection
      with E. histolytica and/or E. dispar in other rural communities of the state of
      Morelos. METHODS: Children from 3 schools were studied to estimate the frequency
      of intestinal parasites through microscopic examination of fresh stool samples.
      The number of studied individuals were 309 school children. The molecular
      characterization of E. histolytica or E. dispar was carried out by Polymerase
      Chain Reaction (PCR) using species-specific primers to amplify short tandem
      repeats (STR) in non-coding sequences associated with the tRNA gene; the
      amplified fragments were sequenced and analyzed. RESULTS: Eight different
      genotypes were obtained from E. dispar isolates with the molecular marker NKD3
      D5. None of the cases in which the species E. histolytica was detected developed
      symptoms attributable to an invasive process of disease. Moreover, the
      parasitized condition appeared to have no significant impact on the development
      or nutritional status of affected children. Genotype 1, which corresponds to the
      reference strain E. dispar SAW760, considered a non-pathogenic amoeba, was the
      most prevalent. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison of the genotypes of Entamoeba species
      did not show a correlation between children and their relatives. In this
      community, the species Entamoeba dispar genotype 1 was the most widespread. Based
      on the indicators of growth, development and nutrition status, the studied
      community seems to be reasonably adapted to constant exposure to intestinal
      parasites, since there were no evidences of a serious impact of the parasitized
      condition on the children's health.

PMID- 27618875
TI  - Modulating PCBM-Acceptor Crystallinity and Organic Solar Cell Performance by
      Judiciously Designing Small-Molecule Mainchain End-Capping Units.
AB  - In this article, we report that the bulk-size and electron-donating/electron
      accepting nature of moieties, which are end-capping onto small-molecule donor
      mainchain, not only modulate the donor's absorption, molecular frontier orbitals,
      and phase ordering, but also effectively tune the PC71BM-acceptor phase
      crystallinity. Compared to the electron-deficient trifluoromethyl (SM-CF3) units
      on the diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) small molecule mainchain ends, the electron
      rich methoxyl (SM-OCH3) units ending on the same mainchain help improve the
      PC71BM-acceptor phase short-range ordering. As a result, the -OCH3 capping small
      molecule displays larger short-circuit current density (Jsc) when blended with
      PC71BM (10.72 +/- 0.22 vs. 16.15 +/- 0.53 mA/cm2). However, the electron-donating
      nature of -OCH3 raises the donor HOMO level, which leads to a quite small open
      circuit voltage (Voc) (0.624 vs. 0.881 V). Replacement of the -OCH3 with the
      large and weak electron-donating aromatic carbazolyl (SM-Cz) ones affords the
      small molecule of SM-Cz. The SM-Cz:PC71BM system affords a high Voc of 0.846 V
      and a large Jsc of 13.33 +/- 0.34 mA/cm2 after thermal annealing, and hence gives
      a larger power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.26 +/- 0.13%, which is among the
      top values achieved so far from the DPP molecules. Taken together, these results
      demonstrate that engineering the end-capping units on small-molecule donor
      mainchain can effectively modulate the organic solar cell performance.

PMID- 27618876
TI  - Two new phenolic compounds and antitumor activities of asparinin A from Asparagus
      officinalis.
AB  - Two new phenolic acid compounds, asparoffin C (1) and asparoffin D (2), together
      with four known compounds, asparenyol (3), gobicusin B (4), 1-methoxy-2-hydroxy-4
      [5-(4-hydroxyphenoxy)-3-penten-1-ynyl] phenol (5), and asparinin A (6), have been
      isolated from the stems of Asparagus officinalis. The structures were established
      by extensive spectroscopic methods (MS and 1D and 2D NMR). Compound 6 has obvious
      antitumor activities both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27618877
TI  - Randomized Controlled Trial of a Cognitive Narrative Crisis Intervention for
      Bereavement in Primary Healthcare.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: As there are known risks of retraumatization through
      bereavement crisis interventions, we tailored a new intervention lowering the
      degree of direct emotional activation. However, we need some evidence on the
      effects of depression and psychotraumatic symptoms between 1 and 6 months after a
      loss. METHOD: We conducted a randomized controlled trial with two groups: control
      group (n = 18) and experimental group (n = 11) in two assessments (1 and 6 months
      after loss); both included a semi-structured interview (Socio-Demographic
      Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised
      IES-R). The experimental group had a cognitive-narrative program with four
      sessions: recalling; cognitive and emotional subjectivization; metaphorization;
      and projecting sessions. RESULTS: Participants in the experimental and control
      groups have lower levels of depression and traumatic stress 6 months after a
      loss. Statistically significant results in emotional numbing IES-R sub-scale are
      observed. CONCLUSIONS: A brief narrative-based cost-effective intervention has a
      positive effect on depression, controlling the traumatic stress and time after a
      loss.

PMID- 27618878
TI  - Pulmonary distribution of nanoceria: comparison of intratracheal, microspray
      instillation and dry powder insufflation.
AB  - Particles can be delivered to the respiratory tract of animals using various
      techniques. Inhalation mimics environmental exposure but requires large amounts
      of aerosolized NPs over a prolonged dosing time, varies in deposited dose among
      individual animals, and results in nasopharyngeal and fur particle deposition.
      Although less physiological, intratracheal (IT) instillation allows quick and
      precise dosing. Insufflation delivers particles in their dry form as an aerosol.
      We compared the distribution of neutron-activated 141CeO2 nanoparticles (5 mg/kg)
      in rats after (1) IT instillation, (2) left intrabronchial instillation, (3)
      microspraying of nanoceria suspension and (4) insufflation of nanoceria dry
      powder. Blood, tracheobronchial lymph nodes, liver, gastrointestinal tract, feces
      and urine were collected at 5 min and 24 h post-dosing. Excised lungs from each
      rat were dried at room temperature while inflated at a constant 30 cm water
      pressure. Dried lungs were then sliced into 50 pieces. The radioactivity of each
      lung piece and other organs was measured. The evenness index (EI) of each lung
      piece was calculated [EI = (MUCi/mgpiece)/(MUCi/mglung)]. The degree of EI value
      departure from 1.0 is a measure of deposition heterogeneity. We showed that the
      pulmonary distribution of nanoceria differs among modes of administration. Dosing
      by IT or microspraying resulted in similar spatial distribution. Insufflation
      resulted in significant deposition in the trachea and in more heterogeneous lung
      distribution. Our left intrabronchial instillation technique yielded a
      concentrated deposition into the left lung. We conclude that animal dosing
      techniques and devices result in varying patterns of particle deposition that
      will impact biokinetic and toxicity studies.

PMID- 27618880
TI  - Perceptual and positional saliencies influence children's sequence learning
      differently with age and instructions at test.
AB  - There is growing evidence that, faced with a complex environment, participants
      subdivide the incoming information into small perceptual units, called chunks.
      Although statistical properties have been identified as playing a key role in
      chunking, we wanted to determine whether perceptual (repetitions) and positional
      (initial units) features might provide immediate guidance for the parsing of
      information into chunks. Children aged 5 and 8 years were exposed to sequences of
      3, 4, or 5 colours. Sequence learning was assessed either through an explicit
      generation test (Experiment 1) or through a recognition test (Experiment 2).
      Experiment 1 showed that perceptual and positional saliencies benefited learning
      and that sensitivity to repetitions was age dependent and permitted the formation
      of longer chunks (trigrams) in the oldest children. Experiment 2 suggested that
      children became sensitive to perceptual and positional saliencies regardless of
      age and that the both types of saliencies supported the formation of longer
      chunks in the oldest children. The discussion focuses on the multiple factors
      intervening in sequence learning and their differential effects as a function of
      the instructions used at test to assess sequence learning.

PMID- 27618879
TI  - Seasonal changes in objectively measured sedentary behavior and physical activity
      in Japanese primary school children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent prevalence of obesity in Japanese children is much higher
      compared to 1980. The present study compared daily sedentary behavior (SB) and
      physical activity (PA) between the school year and summer vacation in Japanese
      primary school children. METHODS: Participants were 98 Japanese boys (8.9 +/- 1.8
      years at baseline) and 111 girls (9.1 +/- 1.8 years). SB and PA were measured in
      May (school term) and July/August (summer vacation), 2011. SB and PA were
      assessed using a triaxial accelerometer (Active style Pro HJA-350IT, Omron
      Healthcare) for 7 consecutive days. The average number of minutes spent in SB (no
      more than 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs)), light intensity activity (LPA; more
      than 1.5 to less than 3.0 METs) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA;
      3.0 METs or more), and step counts were calculated for each individual. Moreover,
      the determinants/moderators of changes in SB and PA were examined. RESULTS: Daily
      SB was significantly higher in the summer vacation than in the school year for
      both boys and girls (p < 0.05). Ambulatory and total LPA and MVPA, non-ambulatory
      LPA and step counts were lower in summer vacation in both genders (p < 0.001).
      Moreover, non-ambulatory MVPA was significantly lower in the summer vacation than
      in the school year for girls (p < 0.001). The decrease in non-ambulatory MVPA in
      boys and increase in SB in girls were significantly lower in those who
      participated in sports compared to those who did not (p < 0.040 or p < 0.033).
      The change in SB for boys was significantly associated with having a TV in the
      bedroom (p < 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that primary school
      children in Japan are less active in the summer vacation, as indicated by both
      higher SB and lower LPA and ambulatory MVPA in both genders. Moreover, the
      seasonal change in non-ambulatory MVPA for Japanese children was affected by
      gender. This study also suggests that sports participation and bedroom TV
      ownership may moderate seasonal changes in PA and SB. The results emphasize the
      need to take summer vacation into account when planning interventions aimed at
      decreasing SB or increasing PA in Japanese children.

PMID- 27618881
TI  - Valparaiso's 2014 Fire: Evaluation of Environmental and Epidemiological Risk
      Factors During the Emergency Through a Crowdsourcing Tool.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe and relate the main environmental risk factors in the
      emergency process after a large urban fire in Valparaiso, Chile, in April 2014.
      METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional descriptive study was performed. All
      243 reports from an ad hoc web/mobile website created on the Ushahidi/Crowdmap
      platform were reviewed. Reports were recorded in a new database with dichotomist
      variables based on either the presence or absence of the relevant category in
      each report. RESULTS: Almost one-third of the reports presented data about
      garbage (30%) and chemical toilets (29%). Reports related to water,
      infrastructural damage, and garbage had significant associations with 4
      categories by chi-square test. In the logistic regression model for chemical
      toilets, only the variable of water was significant (P value=0.00; model P value:
      0.00; R2: 11.7%). The "garbage" category confirmed infrastructural damage (P
      value: 0.00), water (P value: 0.028), and vectors (P value: 0.00) as predictors
      (model P value: 0.00; R2: 23.09%). CONCLUSIONS: Statistically significant
      evidence was found for the statistical dependence of 7 out of 10 studied
      variables. The most frequent environmental risk factors in the reports were
      garbage, chemical toilets, and donation centers. The highest correlation found
      was for damaged infrastructure, vectors, and garbage. (Disaster Med Public Health
      Preparedness. 2017;11:239-243).

PMID- 27618882
TI  - The Hypoxia Response Pathways - Hats Off!

PMID- 27618883
TI  - Puzzling and ambivalent roles of malarial infections in cancer development and
      progression.
AB  - Scientific evidence strongly suggests that parasites are directly or indirectly
      associated with carcinogenesis in humans. However, studies have also indicated
      that parasites or their products might confer resistance to tumour growth.
      Plasmodium protozoa, the causative agents of malaria, exemplify the ambivalent
      link between parasites and cancer. Positive relationships between malaria and
      virus-associated cancers are relatively well-documented; for example, malaria can
      reactivate the Epstein-Barr Virus, which is the known cause of endemic Burkitt
      lymphoma. Nevertheless, possible anti-tumour properties of malaria have also been
      reported and, interestingly, this disease has long been thought to be beneficial
      to patients suffering from cancers. Current knowledge of the potential pro- and
      anti-cancer roles of malaria suggests that, contrary to other eukaryotic
      parasites affecting humans, Plasmodium-related cancers are principally
      lymphoproliferative disorders and attributable to virus reactivation, whereas,
      similar to other eukaryotic parasites, the anti-tumour effects of malaria are
      primarily associated with carcinomas and certain sarcomas. Moreover, malarial
      infection significantly suppresses murine cancer growth by inducing both innate
      and specific adaptive anti-tumour responses. This review aims to present an
      update regarding the ambivalent association between malaria and cancer, and
      further studies may open future pathways to develop novel strategies for anti
      cancer therapies.

PMID- 27618884
TI  - New Deferoxamine Glycoconjugates Produced upon Overexpression of Pathway-Specific
      Regulatory Gene in the Marine Sponge-Derived Streptomyces albus PVA94-07.
AB  - Activation of silent biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces bacteria via
      overexpression of cluster-specific regulatory genes is a promising strategy for
      the discovery of novel bioactive secondary metabolites. This approach was used in
      an attempt to activate a cryptic gene cluster in a marine sponge-derived
      Streptomyces albus PVA94-07 presumably governing the biosynthesis of peptide
      based secondary metabolites. While no new peptide-based metabolites were detected
      in the recombinant strain, it was shown to produce at least four new analogues of
      deferoxamine with additional acyl and sugar moieties, for which chemical
      structures were fully elucidated. Biological activity tests of two of the new
      deferoxamine analogues revealed weak activity against Escherichia coli. The gene
      knockout experiment in the gene cluster targeted for activation, as well as
      overexpression of certain genes from this cluster did not have an effect on the
      production of these compounds by the strain overexpressing the regulator. It
      seems plausible that the production of such compounds is a response to stress
      imposed by the production of an as-yet unidentified metabolite specified by the
      cryptic cluster. 

PMID- 27618885
TI  - Three Novel Triterpenoids from Taraxacum officinale Roots.
AB  - Three novel lupane-, bauerane-, and euphane-type triterpenoids (1-3), in addition
      to seven known triterpenoids (4-10)-18beta,19beta-epoxy-21beta-hydroxylupan-3beta
      yl acetate (4), 21-oxolup-18-en-3beta-yl acetate (5), betulin (6), officinatrione
      (7), 11alpha-methoxyolean-12-en-3-one (8), eupha-7,24-dien-3-one (9), and 24
      oxoeupha-7,24-dien-3beta-yl acetate (10)-were isolated from the roots of
      Taraxacum officinale. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of
      spectroscopic analyses using 1D and 2D-NMR spectra and electron ionization mass
      spectrometry (EIMS). The effects of compounds 1-10 on the production of nitric
      oxide (NO) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated mouse peritoneal macrophages
      were evaluated. Compounds 4, 6, and 10 exhibited similar NO inhibitory activities
      to N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine acetate (l-NMMA). These compounds did not exhibit
      cytotoxicity at an effective concentration. The results of present study suggest
      that compounds 4, 6, and 10 have potential as anti-inflammatory disease agents. 

PMID- 27618886
TI  - Triterpenes for Well-Balanced Scar Formation in Superficial Wounds.
AB  - Triterpenes are demonstrably effective for accelerating re-epithelialisation of
      wounds and known to improve scar formation for superficial lesions. Among the
      variety of triterpenes, betuline is of particular medical interest. Topical
      betuline gel (TBG) received drug approval in 2016 from the European Commission as
      the first topical therapeutic agent with the proven clinical benefit of
      accelerating wound healing. Two self-conducted randomized intra-individual
      comparison clinical studies with a total of 220 patients involved in TBG
      treatment of skin graft surgical wounds have been screened for data concerning
      the aesthetic aspect of wound healing. Three months after surgery wound treatment
      with TBG resulted in about 30% of cases with more discreet scars, and standard of
      care in about 10%. Patients themselves appreciate the results of TBG after 3
      months even more (about 50%) compared to standard of care (about 10%). One year
      after surgery, the superiority of TBG counts for about 25% in comparison with
      about 10%, and from the patients' point of view, for 25% compared to 4% under
      standard of care. In the majority of wound treatment cases, there is no
      difference visible between TBG treatment and standard of care after 1 year of
      scar formation. However, in comparison, TBG still offers a better chance for
      discreet scars and therefore happens to be superior in good care of wounds. 

PMID- 27618887
TI  - Arctigenin Inhibits Lung Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer by Regulating Cell
      Viability and Metastatic Phenotypes.
AB  - Arctigenin (ARC) has been shown to have an anti-cancer effect in various cell
      types and tissues. However, there have been no studies concerning metastatic
      colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we investigated the anti-metastatic
      properties of ARC on colorectal metastasis and present a potential candidate
      drug. ARC induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CT26 cells through the
      intrinsic apoptotic pathway via MAPKs signaling. In several metastatic
      phenotypes, ARC controlled epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through
      increasing the expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin and decreasing the
      expressions of mesenchymal markers; N-cadherin, vimentin, beta-catenin, and
      Snail. Moreover, ARC inhibited migration and invasion through reducing of matrix
      metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 expressions. In an experimental metastasis
      model, ARC significantly inhibited lung metastasis of CT26 cells. Taken together,
      our study demonstrates the inhibitory effects of ARC on colorectal metastasis. 

PMID- 27618888
TI  - Construction and Quality Analysis of Transgenic Rehmannia glutinosa Containing
      TMV and CMV Coat Protein.
AB  - Plant viruses, especially tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and cucumber mosaic virus
      (CMV) are serious threats to Rehmannia glutinosa which is a "top grade" herb in
      China. In the present study, TMV- and CMV-resistant Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch.
      plants were constructed by transforming the protein (CP) genes of TMV and CMV
      into Rehmannia glutinosa via a modified procedure of Agrobacterium tumefaciens
      mediated transformation. Integration and expression of TMV CP and CMV CP
      transgenes in 2 lines, LBA-1 and LBA-2, were confirmed by PCR, Southern blot and
      RT-PCR. Both LBA-1 and LBA-2 were resistant to infection of homologous TMV and
      CMV strains. The quality of transgenic Rehmanniae Radix was evaluated based on
      fingerprint analysis and components quantitative analysis comparing with control
      root tubes. These results showed that chemical composition of transgenic
      Rehmanniae Radix were similar to non-transgenic ones, which demonstrated that the
      medical quality and biosafety of transgenic Rehmanniae Radix were equivalent to
      non-transgenic material when consumed as traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM). 

PMID- 27618889
TI  - Structural Modifications of Deoxycholic Acid to Obtain Three Known
      Brassinosteroid Analogues and Full NMR Spectroscopic Characterization.
AB  - An improved synthesis route for obtaining known brassinosteroid analogues, i.e.,
      methyl 2alpha,3alpha-dihydroxy-6-oxo-5alpha-cholan-24-oate (11), methyl 3alpha
      hydroxy-6-oxo-7-oxa-5alpha-cholan-24-oate (15) and methyl 3alpha-hydroxy-6-oxa-7
      oxo-5alpha-cholan-24-oate (16), from hyodeoxycholic acid (4) maintaining the
      native side chain is described. In the alternative procedure, the di-oxidized
      product 6, obtained in the oxidation of methyl hyodeoxycholate 5, was converted
      almost quantitatively into the target monoketone 7 by stereoselective reduction
      with NaBH4, increasing the overall yield of this synthetic route to 96.8%. The
      complete 1H- and (13)C-NMR assignments for all compounds synthesized in this work
      have been made by 1D and 2D heteronuclear correlation gs-HSQC and gs-HMBC
      techniques. Thus, it was possible to update the spectroscopic information of 1H
      NMR and to accomplish a complete assignment of all (13)C-NMR signals for
      analogues 5-16, which were previously reported only in partial form. 

PMID- 27618890
TI  - The Protective Effect of Melittin on Renal Fibrosis in an Animal Model of
      Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction.
AB  - Renal fibrosis is the principal pathological process underlying the progression
      of chronic kidney disease that leads to end-stage renal disease. Melittin is a
      major component of bee venom, and it has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti
      inflammatory properties in various cell types. Thus, this study examined the
      therapeutic effects of melittin on the progression of renal fibrosis using the
      unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model. In addition, the effects of melittin
      on inflammation and fibrosis in renal fibroblast cells were explored using
      transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1). Histological observation revealed
      that UUO induced a considerable increase in the number of infiltrated
      inflammatory cells. However, melittin treatment markedly reduced these reactions
      compared with untreated UUO mice. The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines
      and pro-fibrotic genes were significantly reduced in melittin-treated mice
      compared with UUO mice. Melittin also effectively inhibited fibrosis-related gene
      expression in renal fibroblasts NRK-49F cells. These findings suggest that
      melittin attenuates renal fibrosis and reduces inflammatory responses by the
      suppression of multiple growth factor-mediated pro-fibrotic genes. In conclusion,
      melittin may be a useful therapeutic agent for the prevention of fibrosis that
      characterizes the progression of chronic kidney disease. 

PMID- 27618891
TI  - Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors from Natural Products:
      Discovery of Next-Generation Antihyperglycemic Agents.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition associated with the metabolic impairment
      of insulin actions, leading to the development of life-threatening complications.
      Although many kinds of oral antihyperglycemic agents with different therapeutic
      mechanisms have been marketed, their undesirable adverse effects, such as
      hypoglycemia, weight gain, and hepato-renal toxicity, have increased demand for
      the discovery of novel, safer antidiabetic drugs. Since the important roles of
      the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) for glucose homeostasis in the kidney
      were recently elucidated, pharmacological inhibition of SGLT2 has been considered
      a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Since the
      discovery of the first natural SGLT2 inhibitor, phlorizin, several synthetic
      glucoside analogs have been developed and introduced into the market.
      Furthermore, many efforts to find new active constituents with SGLT2 inhibition
      from natural products are still ongoing. This review introduces the history of
      research on the development of early-generation SGLT2 inhibitors, and recent
      progress on the discovery of novel candidates for SGLT2 inhibitor from several
      natural products that are widely used in traditional herbal medicine. 

PMID- 27618892
TI  - Screening for Neuraminidase Inhibitory Activity in Traditional Chinese Medicines
      Used to Treat Influenza.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To screen for influenza virus neuraminidase inhibition and to provide
      a reference for the clinical treatment of influenza using traditional Chinese
      medicines (TCM). In this study, 421 crude extracts (solubilized with petroleum
      ether, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and aqueous solvents) were obtained from 113 TCM.
      The medicine extracts were then reacted with oseltamivir, using 2'-(4
      methylumbelliferyl)-alpha-D-N-acetylneuraminic acid (MUNANA) as the substrate, to
      determine influenza virus neuraminidase activity using a standard fluorimetric
      assay. It was found that Chinese medicine extracts from Pyrola calliantha,
      Cynanchum wilfordii, Balanophora involucrata and Paeonia delavayi significantly
      inhibited neuraminidase activity at a concentration of 40 MUg/mL. Dose-dependent
      inhibitory assays also revealed significant inhibition. The IC50 range of the TCM
      extracts for influenza virus neuraminidase was approximately 12.66-34.85 MUg/mL,
      respectively. Some Chinese medicines have clear anti-influenza viral effects that
      may play an important role in the treatment of influenza through the inhibition
      of viral neuraminidase. The results of this study demonstrated that plant
      medicines can serve as a useful source of neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors and
      further investigation into the pharmacologic activities of these extracts is
      warranted.

PMID- 27618893
TI  - Synthesis, PASS-Predication and in Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Benzyl 4-O
      benzoyl-alpha-l-rhamnopyranoside Derivatives.
AB  - Benzyl alpha-l-rhamnopyranoside 4, obtained by both conventional and microwave
      assisted glycosidation techniques, was subjected to 2,3-O-isopropylidene
      protection to yield compound 5 which on benzoylation and subsequent deprotection
      of isopropylidene group gave the desired 4-O-benzoylrhamnopyranoside 7 in
      reasonable yield. Di-O-acetyl derivative of benzoate 7 was prepared to get newer
      rhamnopyranoside. The structure activity relationship (SAR) of the designed
      compounds was performed along with the prediction of activity spectra for
      substances (PASS) training set. Experimental studies based on antimicrobial
      activities verified the predictions obtained by the PASS software. Protected
      rhamnopyranosides 5 and 6 exhibited slight distortion from regular 1C4
      conformation, probably due to the fusion of pyranose and isopropylidene ring.
      Synthesized rhamnopyranosides 4-8 were employed as test chemicals for in vitro
      antimicrobial evaluation against eight human pathogenic bacteria and two fungi.
      Antimicrobial and SAR study showed that the rhamnopyranosides were prone against
      fungal organisms as compared to that of the bacterial pathogens. Interestingly,
      PASS prediction of the rhamnopyranoside derivatives 4-8 were 0.49 < Pa < 0.60
      (where Pa is probability 'to be active') as antibacterial and 0.65 < Pa < 0.73 as
      antifungal activities, which showed significant agreement with experimental data,
      suggesting rhamnopyranoside derivatives 4-8 were more active against pathogenic
      fungi as compared to human pathogenic bacteria thus, there is a more than 50%
      chance that the rhamnopyranoside derivative structures 4-8 have not been reported
      with antimicrobial activity, making it a possible valuable lead compound. 

PMID- 27618895
TI  - Bioinformatics Identification of Drug Resistance-Associated Gene Pairs in
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      (Mtb). Due to the extensive use of anti-tuberculosis drugs and the development of
      mutations, the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is
      recognized as one of the most dangerous threats to global tuberculosis control.
      Some single mutations have been identified to be significantly linked with drug
      resistance. However, the prior research did not take gene-gene interactions into
      account, and the emergence of transmissible drug resistance is connected with
      multiple genetic mutations. In this study we use the bioinformatics software
      GBOOST (The Hong Kong University, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China) to
      calculate the interactions of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) pairs and
      identify gene pairs associated with drug resistance. A large part of the non
      synonymous mutations in the drug target genes that were included in the screened
      gene pairs were confirmed by previous reports, which lent sound solid credits to
      the effectiveness of our method. Notably, most of the identified gene pairs
      containing drug targets also comprise Pro-Pro-Glu (PPE) family proteins,
      suggesting that PPE family proteins play important roles in the drug resistance
      of Mtb. Therefore, this study provides deeper insights into the mechanisms
      underlying anti-tuberculosis drug resistance, and the present method is useful
      for exploring the drug resistance mechanisms for other microorganisms. 

PMID- 27618896
TI  - Detection of Natural Resistance-Associated Substitutions by Ion Semiconductor
      Technology in HCV1b Positive, Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents-Naive Patients.
AB  - Naturally occurring resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) can negatively
      impact the response to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) agents-based therapies for
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Herein, we set out to characterize the RASs in
      the HCV1b genome from serum samples of DAA-naive patients in the context of the
      SINERGIE (South Italian Network for Rational Guidelines and International
      Epidemiology, 2014) project. We deep-sequenced the NS3/4A protease region of the
      viral population using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine, and patient
      specific majority rule consensus sequence summaries were constructed with a
      combination of freely available next generation sequencing data analysis
      software. We detected NS3/4A protease major and minor variants associated with
      resistance to boceprevir (V36L), telaprevir (V36L, I132V), simeprevir (V36L), and
      grazoprevir (V36L, V170I). Furthermore, we sequenced part of HCV NS5B polymerase
      using Sanger-sequencing and detected a natural RAS for dasabuvir (C316N). This
      mutation could be important for treatment strategies in cases of previous therapy
      failure.

PMID- 27618894
TI  - Sanguinaria canadensis: Traditional Medicine, Phytochemical Composition,
      Biological Activities and Current Uses.
AB  - Sanguinaria canadensis, also known as bloodroot, is a traditional medicine used
      by Native Americans to treat a diverse range of clinical conditions. The plants
      rhizome contains several alkaloids that individually target multiple molecular
      processes. These bioactive compounds, mechanistically correlate with the plant's
      history of ethnobotanical use. Despite their identification over 50 years ago,
      the alkaloids of S. canadensis have not been developed into successful
      therapeutic agents. Instead, they have been associated with clinical toxicities
      ranging from mouthwash induced leukoplakia to cancer salve necrosis and treatment
      failure. This review explores the historical use of S. canadensis, the molecular
      actions of the benzophenanthridine and protopin alkaloids it contains, and
      explores natural alkaloid variation as a possible rationale for the inconsistent
      efficacy and toxicities encountered by S. canadensis therapies. Current
      veterinary and medicinal uses of the plant are studied with an assessment of
      obstacles to the pharmaceutical development of S. canadensis alkaloid based
      therapeutics. 

PMID- 27618897
TI  - Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Escherichia coli Heat-Labile Toxin B Subunit
      (LTB) with Enterovirus 71 (EV71) Subunit VP1.
AB  - The nontoxic heat-labile toxin (LT) B subunit (LTB) was used as mucosal adjuvant
      experimentally. However, the mechanism of LTB adjuvant was still unclear. The LTB
      and enterovirus 71 (EV71) VP1 subunit (EVP1) were constructed in pET32 and
      expressed in E. coli BL21, respectively. The immunogenicity of purified EVP1 and
      the adjuvanticity of LTB were evaluated via intranasal immunization EVP1 plus LTB
      in Balb/c mice. In order to elucidate the proteome change triggered by the
      adjuvant of LTB, the proteomic profiles of LTB, EVP1, and LTB plus EVP1 were
      quantitatively analyzed by iTRAQ-LC-MS/MS (isobaric tags for relative and
      absolute quantitation; liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) in murine
      macrophage RAW264.7. The proteomic data were analyzed by bioinformatics and
      validated by western blot analysis. The predicted protein interactions were
      confirmed using LTB pull-down and the LTB processing pathway was validated by
      confocal microscopy. The results showed that LTB significantly boosted EVP1
      specific systematic and mucosal antibodies. A total of 3666 differential proteins
      were identified in the three groups. Pathway enrichment of proteomic data
      predicted that LTB upregulated the specific and dominant MAPK (mitogen-activated
      protein kinase) signaling pathway and the protein processing in endoplasmic
      reticulum (PPER) pathway, whereas LTB or EVP1 did not significantly upregulate
      these two signaling pathways. Confocal microscopy and LTB pull-down assays
      confirmed that the LTB adjuvant was endocytosed and processed through endocytosis
      (ENS)-lysosomal-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) system. 

PMID- 27618898
TI  - Cleome rutidosperma and Euphorbia thymifolia Suppress Inflammatory Response via
      Upregulation of Phase II Enzymes and Modulation of NF-kappaB and JNK Activation
      in LPS-Stimulated BV2 Microglia.
AB  - Cleome rutidosperma DC. and Euphorbia thymifolia L. are herbal medicines used in
      traditional Indian and Chinese medicine to treat various illnesses. Reports
      document that they have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities;
      nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms involved in their anti-inflammatory actions
      have not yet been elucidated. The anti-neuroinflammatory activities and
      underlying mechanisms of ethanol extracts of Cleome rutidosperma (CR) and
      Euphorbia thymifolia (ET) were studied using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated
      microglial cell line BV2. The morphology changes and production of pro
      inflammatory mediators were assayed. Gene expression of inflammatory genes such
      as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, interleukin
      (IL)-1beta, and CC chemokine ligand (CCL)-2, as well as phase II enzymes such as
      heme oxygenase (HO)-1, the modifier subunit of glutamate cysteine ligase (GCLM)
      and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1), were further investigated using
      reverse transcription quantitative-PCR (RT-Q-PCR) and Western blotting. The
      effects of CR and ET on mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear
      factor (NF)-kappaB signaling pathways were examined using Western blotting and
      specific inhibitors. CR and ET suppressed BV2 activation, down-regulated iNOS and
      COX-2 expression and inhibited nitric oxide (NO) overproduction without affecting
      cell viability. They reduced LPS-mediated tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-6
      production, attenuated IL-1beta and CCL2 expression, but upregulated HO-1, GCLM
      and NQO1 expression. They also inhibited p65 NF-kappaB phosphorylation and
      modulated Jun-N terminal kinase (JNK) activation in BV2 cells. SP600125, the JNK
      inhibitor, significantly augmented the anti-IL-6 activity of ET. NF-kappaB
      inhibitor, Bay 11-7082, enhanced the anti-IL-6 effects of both CR and ET. Znpp, a
      competitive inhibitor of HO-1, attenuated the anti-NO effects of CR and ET. Our
      results show that CR and ET exhibit anti-neuroinflammatory activities by
      inhibiting pro-inflammatory mediator expression and production, upregulating HO
      1, GCLM and NQO1, blocking NF-kappaB and modulating JNK signaling pathways. They
      may offer therapeutic potential for suppressing overactivated microglia and
      alleviating neurodegeneration. 

PMID- 27618900
TI  - Hybrid SnO2/TiO2 Nanocomposites for Selective Detection of Ultra-Low Hydrogen
      Sulfide Concentrations in Complex Backgrounds.
AB  - In this paper, we present a chemiresistive metal oxide (MOX) sensor for detection
      of hydrogen sulfide. Compared to the previous reports, the overall sensor
      performance was improved in multiple characteristics, including: sensitivity,
      selectivity, stability, activation time, response time, recovery time, and
      activation temperature. The superior sensor performance was attributed to the
      utilization of hybrid SnO2/TiO2 oxides as interactive catalytic layers deposited
      using a magnetron radio frequency (RF) sputtering technique. The unique advantage
      of the RF sputtering for sensor fabrication is the ability to create ultra-thin
      films with precise control of geometry, morphology and chemical composition of
      the product of synthesis. Chemiresistive films down to several nanometers can be
      fabricated as sensing elements. The RF sputtering technique was found to be very
      robust for bilayer and multilayer oxide structure fabrication. The geometry,
      morphology, chemical composition and electronic structure of interactive layers
      were evaluated in relation to their gas sensing performance, using scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), atomic force
      microscopy (AFM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDAX), UV visible
      spectroscopy, and Kelvin probe measurements. A sensor based on multilayer
      SnO2/TiO2 catalytic layer with 10% vol. content of TiO2 demonstrated the best gas
      sensing performance in all characteristics. Based on the pattern relating
      material's characteristics to gas sensing performance, the optimization strategy
      for hydrogen sulfide sensor fabrication was suggested. 

PMID- 27618901
TI  - Identifying Plant Part Composition of Forest Logging Residue Using Infrared
      Spectral Data and Linear Discriminant Analysis.
AB  - As new markets, technologies and economies evolve in the low carbon bioeconomy,
      forest logging residue, a largely untapped renewable resource will play a vital
      role. The feedstock can however be variable depending on plant species and plant
      part component. This heterogeneity can influence the physical, chemical and
      thermochemical properties of the material, and thus the final yield and quality
      of products. Although it is challenging to control compositional variability of a
      batch of feedstock, it is feasible to monitor this heterogeneity and make the
      necessary changes in process parameters. Such a system will be a first step
      towards optimization, quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of processes in
      the emerging biofuel/chemical industry. The objective of this study was therefore
      to qualitatively classify forest logging residue made up of different plant parts
      using both near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy (FTIRS) together with linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Forest
      logging residue harvested from several Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) plantations in
      Alabama, USA, were classified into three plant part components: clean wood, wood
      and bark and slash (i.e., limbs and foliage). Five-fold cross-validated linear
      discriminant functions had classification accuracies of over 96% for both NIRS
      and FTIRS based models. An extra factor/principal component (PC) was however
      needed to achieve this in FTIRS modeling. Analysis of factor loadings of both NIR
      and FTIR spectra showed that, the statistically different amount of cellulose in
      the three plant part components of logging residue contributed to their initial
      separation. This study demonstrated that NIR or FTIR spectroscopy coupled with
      PCA and LDA has the potential to be used as a high throughput tool in classifying
      the plant part makeup of a batch of forest logging residue feedstock. Thus,
      NIR/FTIR could be employed as a tool to rapidly probe/monitor the variability of
      forest biomass so that the appropriate online adjustments to parameters can be
      made in time to ensure process optimization and product quality. 

PMID- 27618902
TI  - Target Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks with Probabilistic Sensors.
AB  - Sensing coverage is a fundamental problem in wireless sensor networks (WSNs),
      which has attracted considerable attention. Conventional research on this topic
      focuses on the 0/1 coverage model, which is only a coarse approximation to the
      practical sensing model. In this paper, we study the target coverage problem,
      where the objective is to find the least number of sensor nodes in randomly
      deployed WSNs based on the probabilistic sensing model. We analyze the joint
      detection probability of target with multiple sensors. Based on the theoretical
      analysis of the detection probability, we formulate the minimum epsilon-detection
      coverage problem. We prove that the minimum epsilon-detection coverage problem is
      NP-hard and present an approximation algorithm called the Probabilistic Sensor
      Coverage Algorithm (PSCA) with provable approximation ratios. To evaluate our
      design, we analyze the performance of PSCA theoretically and also perform
      extensive simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.

PMID- 27618899
TI  - Molecular Mechanisms of Bone Metastasis: Which Targets Came from the Bench to the
      Bedside?
AB  - Bone metastases ultimately result from a complex interaction between cancer cells
      and bone microenvironment. However, prior to the colonization of the bone, cancer
      cells must succeed through a series of steps that will allow them to detach from
      the primary tumor, enter into circulation, recognize and adhere to specific
      endothelium, and overcome dormancy. We now know that as important as the
      metastatic cascade, tumor cells prime the secondary organ microenvironment prior
      to their arrival, reflecting the existence of specific metastasis-initiating
      cells in the primary tumor and circulating osteotropic factors. The deep
      comprehension of the molecular mechanisms of bone metastases may allow the future
      development of specific anti-tumoral therapies, but so far the approved and
      effective therapies for bone metastatic disease are mostly based in bone-targeted
      agents, like bisphosphonates, denosumab and, for prostate cancer, radium-223.
      Bisphosphonates and denosumab have proven to be effective in blocking bone
      resorption and decreasing morbidity; furthermore, in the adjuvant setting, these
      agents can decrease bone relapse after breast cancer surgery in postmenopausal
      women. In this review, we will present and discuss some examples of applied
      knowledge from the bench to the bed side in the field of bone metastasis. 

PMID- 27618903
TI  - A Saliency Guided Semi-Supervised Building Change Detection Method for High
      Resolution Remote Sensing Images.
AB  - Characterizations of up to date information of the Earth's surface are an
      important application providing insights to urban planning, resources monitoring
      and environmental studies. A large number of change detection (CD) methods have
      been developed to solve them by utilizing remote sensing (RS) images. The advent
      of high resolution (HR) remote sensing images further provides challenges to
      traditional CD methods and opportunities to object-based CD methods. While
      several kinds of geospatial objects are recognized, this manuscript mainly
      focuses on buildings. Specifically, we propose a novel automatic approach
      combining pixel-based strategies with object-based ones for detecting building
      changes with HR remote sensing images. A multiresolution contextual morphological
      transformation called extended morphological attribute profiles (EMAPs) allows
      the extraction of geometrical features related to the structures within the scene
      at different scales. Pixel-based post-classification is executed on EMAPs using
      hierarchical fuzzy clustering. Subsequently, the hierarchical fuzzy frequency
      vector histograms are formed based on the image-objects acquired by simple linear
      iterative clustering (SLIC) segmentation. Then, saliency and morphological
      building index (MBI) extracted on difference images are used to generate a pseudo
      training set. Ultimately, object-based semi-supervised classification is
      implemented on this training set by applying random forest (RF). Most of the
      important changes are detected by the proposed method in our experiments. This
      study was checked for effectiveness using visual evaluation and numerical
      evaluation. 

PMID- 27618904
TI  - Risk Assessment for Children Exposed to Beach Sands Impacted by Oil Spill
      Chemicals.
AB  - Due to changes in the drilling industry, oil spills are impacting large expanses
      of coastlines, thereby increasing the potential for people to come in contact
      with oil spill chemicals. The objective of this manuscript was to evaluate the
      health risk to children who potentially contact beach sands impacted by oil spill
      chemicals from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. To identify chemicals of concern,
      the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) monitoring data collected
      during and immediately after the spill were evaluated. This dataset was
      supplemented with measurements from beach sands and tar balls collected five
      years after the spill. Of interest is that metals in the sediments were observed
      at similar levels between the two sampling periods; some differences were
      observed for metals levels in tar balls. Although PAHs were not observed five
      years later, there is evidence of weathered-oil oxidative by-products. Comparing
      chemical concentration data to baseline soil risk levels, three metals (As, Ba,
      and V) and four PAHs (benzo[a]pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene,
      and dibenz[a,h]anthracene) were found to exceed guideline levels prompting a risk
      assessment. For acute or sub-chronic exposures, hazard quotients, computed by
      estimating average expected contact behavior, showed no adverse potential health
      effects. For cancer, computations using 95% upper confidence limits for
      contaminant concentrations showed extremely low increased risk in the 10(-6)
      range for oral and dermal exposure from arsenic in sediments and from dermal
      exposure from benzo[a]pyrene and benz[a]anthracene in weathered oil. Overall,
      results suggest that health risks are extremely low, given the limitations of
      available data. Limitations of this study are associated with the lack of
      toxicological data for dispersants and oil-spill degradation products. We also
      recommend studies to collect quantitative information about children's beach play
      habits, which are necessary to more accurately assess exposure scenarios and
      health risks.

PMID- 27618906
TI  - Addressing Environmental Health Inequalities.
AB  - Environmental health inequalities refer to health hazards disproportionately or
      unfairly distributed among the most vulnerable social groups, which are generally
      the most discriminated, poor populations and minorities affected by environmental
      risks. Although it has been known for a long time that health and disease are
      socially determined, only recently has this idea been incorporated into the
      conceptual and practical framework for the formulation of policies and strategies
      regarding health. In this Special Issue of the International Journal of
      Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH), "Addressing Environmental
      Health Inequalities-Proceedings from the ISEE Conference 2015", we incorporate
      nine papers that were presented at the 27th Conference of the International
      Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in
      2015. This small collection of articles provides a brief overview of the
      different aspects of this topic. Addressing environmental health inequalities is
      important for the transformation of our reality and for changing the actual
      development model towards more just, democratic, and sustainable societies driven
      by another form of relationship between nature, economy, science, and politics.

PMID- 27618905
TI  - Comprehensive Comparison between Empty Nest and Non-Empty Nest Elderly: A Cross
      Sectional Study among Rural Populations in Northeast China.
AB  - This study aimed to comprehensively compare the general characteristics,
      lifestyles, serum parameters, ultrasonic cardiogram (UCG) parameters, depression,
      quality of life, and various comorbidities between empty nest and non-empty nest
      elderly among rural populations in northeast China. This analysis was based on
      our previous study which was conducted from January 2012 to August 2013, using a
      multistage, stratified, random cluster sampling scheme. The final analyzed sample
      consisted of 3208 participants aged no less than 60 years, which was further
      classified into three groups: non-empty nest group, empty nest group (living as a
      couple), and empty nest group (living alone). More than half of the participants
      were empty nest elderly (60.5%). There were no significant statistical
      differences for serum parameters, UCG parameters, lifestyles, dietary pattern,
      and scores of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and World Health
      Organization Quality of Life questionnaire, abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF)
      among the three groups. Empty nest elderly showed no more risk for comorbidities
      such as general obesity, abdominal obesity, hyperuricemia, hyperhomocysteinemia,
      diabetes, dyslipidemia, left atrial enlargement (LAE), and stroke. Our study
      indicated that empty nest elderly showed no more risk for depression, low quality
      of life and comorbidities such as general obesity, abdominal obesity,
      hyperuricemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, diabetes, dyslipidemia, LAE, and stroke
      among rural populations in northeast China.

PMID- 27618907
TI  - Components of Height and Blood Pressure among Ellisras Rural Children: Ellisras
      Longitudinal Study.
AB  - To date, there has been no study done investigating the relationship between the
      components of height and blood pressure (BP) in rural South African children.
      Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between
      height, sitting height (SH), leg length (LL), and SH-to-height ratio (SH/H) with
      BP in Ellisras rural children. All children underwent anthropometric and BP
      measurements using standard procedure. Linear regression was used to assess the
      relationship between height, SH, LL, SH/H, and BP. The regression showed a
      positive significant (p < 0.001) association between systolic BP (SBP) with
      height and SH (beta ranged from 0.127 to 0.134 and 95% CI ranged from 0.082 to
      0.415). Diastolic BP (DBP) also showed a positive significant (p < 0.001)
      association with height and SH (beta ranged from 0.080 to 0.088 and 95% CI ranged
      from 0.042 to 0.259). After having been adjusted for age, gender, body mass
      index, and waist circumference, DBP showed a positive significant (p < 0.05)
      association with height. There was a positive significant association between DBP
      and SBP together with the components of height amongst Ellisras rural children.

PMID- 27618908
TI  - Associations between Dietary Nutrient Intakes and Hepatic Lipid Contents in NAFLD
      Patients Quantified by 1H-MRS and Dual-Echo MRI.
AB  - Dietary habits are crucial in the progression of hepatic lipid accumulation and
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, there are limited studies
      using 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and dual-echo in-phase and out
      phase magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (dual-echo MRI) to assess the
      effects of dietary nutrient intakes on hepatic lipid contents. In the present
      study, we recruited 36 female adults (NAFLD:control = 19:17) to receive
      questionnaires and medical examinations, including dietary intakes,
      anthropometric and biochemical measurements, and 1H-MRS and dual-echo MRI
      examinations. NAFLD patients were found to consume diets higher in energy,
      protein, fat, saturated fatty acid (SFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA).
      Total energy intake was positively associated with hepatic fat fraction (HFF) and
      intrahepatic lipid (IHL) after adjustment for age and body-mass index (BMI) (HFF:
      beta = 0.24, p = 0.02; IHL: beta = 0.38, p = 0.02). Total fat intake was
      positively associated with HFF and IHL after adjustment for age, BMI and total
      energy intake (HFF: beta = 0.36, p = 0.03; IHL: beta = 0.42, p = 0.01). SFA
      intake was positively associated with HFF and IHL after adjustments (HFF: beta =
      0.45, p = 0.003; IHL: beta = 1.16, p = 0.03). In conclusion, hepatic fat content
      was associated with high energy, high fat and high SFA intakes, quantified by 1H
      MRS and dual-echo MRI in our population. Our findings are useful to provide
      dietary targets to prevent the hepatic lipid accumulation and NAFLD. 

PMID- 27618909
TI  - Development of a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess the
      Dietary Intake of a Multi-Ethnic Urban Asian Population.
AB  - Assessing habitual food consumption is challenging in multi-ethnic cosmopolitan
      settings. We systematically developed a semi-quantitative food frequency
      questionnaire (FFQ) in a multi-ethnic population in Singapore, using data from
      two 24-h dietary recalls from a nationally representative sample of 805 Singapore
      residents of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnicity aged 18-79 years. Key steps
      included combining reported items on 24-h recalls into standardized food groups,
      developing a food list for the FFQ, pilot testing of different question formats,
      and cognitive interviews. Percentage contribution analysis and stepwise
      regression analysis were used to identify foods contributing cumulatively >=90%
      to intakes and individually >=1% to intake variance of key nutrients, for the
      total study population and for each ethnic group separately. Differences between
      ethnic groups were observed in proportions of consumers of certain foods (e.g.,
      lentil stews, 1%-47%; and pork dishes, 0%-50%). The number of foods needed to
      explain variability in nutrient intakes differed substantially by ethnic groups
      and was substantially larger for the total population than for separate ethnic
      groups. A 163-item FFQ covered >95% of total population intake for all key
      nutrients. The methodological insights provided in this paper may be useful in
      developing similar FFQs in other multi-ethnic settings. 

PMID- 27618910
TI  - Effects of (+)-Catechin on the Composition, Phenolic Content and Antioxidant
      Activity of Full-Fat Cheese during Ripening and Recovery of (+)-Catechin after
      Simulated In Vitro Digestion.
AB  - (+)-Catechin, the representative catechin in green tea, was incorporated into a
      full-fat cheese (at 125-500 ppm) followed by ripening for 90 days at 8  degrees C
      and digesting for six hours. Determination of pH, proximate composition, total
      phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) after manufacture and
      ripening demonstrated that the addition of (+)-catechin significantly (p <= 0.05)
      decreased the pH of both whey and curd during cheese manufacturing and ripening
      with no significant (p > 0.05) effect on the moisture, protein and fat contents.
      (+)-Catechin increased TPC, as well as AA, though the increase was not
      proportional with increasing the concentration of added (+)-catechin. About 57%
      69% of (+)-catechin was retained in the cheese curd, whereas about 19%-39%
      (depending on the concentration) was recovered from the cheese digesta.
      Transmission electron micrographs showed that the ripened control cheese had a
      homogeneous pattern of milk fat globules with regular spacing entrapped in a
      homogenous structure of casein proteins, whereas the addition of (+)-catechin
      disrupted this homogenous structure. The apparent interaction between (+)
      catechin and cheese fat globules was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy. These associations should be taken into account when incorporating
      antioxidants, such as (+)-catechin, to create functional dairy products, such as
      cheese. 

PMID- 27618911
TI  - Real-Time Protein and Cell Binding Measurements on Hydroxyapatite Coatings.
AB  - Although a lot of in vitro and in vivo assays have been performed during the last
      few decades years for hydroxyapatite bioactive coatings, there is a lack of
      exploitation of real-time in vitro interaction measurements. In the present work,
      real-time interactions for a plasma sprayed hydroxyapatite coating were measured
      by a Multi-Parametric Surface Plasmon Resonance (MP-SPR), and the results were
      compared with standard traditional cell viability in vitro assays. MP-SPR is
      proven to be suitable not only for measurement of molecule-molecule interactions
      but also molecule-material interaction measurements and cell interaction.
      Although SPR is extensively utilized in interaction studies, recent research of
      protein or cell adsorption on hydroxyapatite coatings for prostheses applications
      was not found. The as-sprayed hydroxyapatite coating resulted in 62.4% of
      crystalline phase and an average thickness of 24 +/- 6 MUm. The MP-SPR was used
      to measure lysozyme protein and human mesenchymal stem cells interaction to the
      hydroxyapatite coating. A comparison between the standard gold sensor and
      Hydroxyapatite (HA)-plasma coated sensor denoted a clearly favourable cell
      attachment on HA coated sensor as a significantly higher signal of cell binding
      was detected. Moreover, traditional cell viability and proliferation tests showed
      increased activity with culture time indicating that cells were proliferating on
      HA coating. Cells show homogeneous distribution and proliferation along the HA
      surface between one and seven days with no significant mortality. Cells were
      flattened and spread on rough surfaces from the first day, with increasing
      cytoplasmatic extensions during the culture time. 

PMID- 27618912
TI  - Pathway-specific inhibition of primaquine metabolism by chloroquine/quinine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been some evidence to suggest that the addition of
      chloroquine (CQ) or quinine (QN) to 8-aminoquinoline (8-AQ) treatment regimens
      may increase the therapeutic efficacy of the 8-AQ and simultaneously mitigate
      against its haemolytic toxicity. However, both CQ and QN are considered
      effective, although perhaps moderate inhibitors of CYP2D6, an enzyme now regarded
      as necessary for primaquine (PQ) pharmacologic activity. An understanding of the
      influence of CQ and QN on the metabolism of PQ may shed light on the potential
      mechanisms of the beneficial interaction. METHODS: Differential metabolism of PQ
      enantiomers by recombinant human CYP2D6, monoamine oxidase A (MAO), and
      cryopreserved human hepatocytes in the presence/absence of CQ and QN. RESULTS:
      Both CQ and QN significantly inhibited the activity of CYP2D6. PQ depletion by
      MAO and human hepatocytes was not affected significantly by the presence of CQ
      and QN. CYP2D6-mediated hydroxylation was largely suppressed by both CQ and QN.
      The formation of the primary deaminated metabolites, including carboxyprimaquine
      (CPQ) and cyclized side chain derivative from the aldehyde (m/z 241), was not
      sensitive to the presence of CQ and QN. However, the appearance of the
      glucuronides of CPQ and PQ alcohol were significantly suppressed. CQ and QN also
      inhibited the appearance of the m/z 257 metabolite with a similar pattern,
      suggesting that it may be derived from the CPQ conjugate. The apparent quinone
      imine of CPQ (m/z 289) was only partially suppressed by both QN and CQ, but with
      a differential pattern of inhibition for the two drugs. The m/z 274 (quinone
      imine of a ring-hydroxylated PQ metabolite) and m/z 422 (an apparent glucose
      conjugate of PQ) metabolites in hepatocytes were strongly suppressed by both QN
      and CQ, perhaps a reflection of the 2D6 inhibition by these drugs. The formation
      of the carbamoyl glucuronide of PQ (m/z 480) was not affected by CQ/QN.
      CONCLUSION: The metabolite-specific interactions in the current studies seem at
      variance with earlier reports of the dependence of PQ on CYP2D6 metabolism, and
      enhanced PQ anti-malarial activity/reduced toxicity in the presence of CQ/QN.
      These results suggest a complex picture in which CQ/QN may shift metabolite
      pathway balances towards a profile that retains efficacy, while reducing the
      formation or availability of toxic metabolites to erythrocytes. Alternatively,
      these drugs may alter transport or distribution of PQ metabolites in a fashion
      that reduces toxicity while maintaining efficacy against the parasite.

PMID- 27618913
TI  - A haplotype-based normalization technique for the analysis and detection of
      allele specific expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allele specific expression (ASE) has become an important phenotype,
      being utilized for the detection of cis-regulatory variation, nonsense mediated
      decay and imprinting in the personal genome, and has been used to both identify
      disease loci and consider the penetrance of damaging alleles. The detection of
      ASE using high throughput technologies relies on aligning short-read sequencing
      data, a process that has inherent biases, and there is still a need to develop
      fast and accurate methods to detect ASE given the unprecedented growth of
      sequencing information in big data projects. RESULTS: Here, we present a new
      approach to normalize RNA sequencing data in order to call ASE events with high
      precision in a short time-frame. Using simulated datasets we find that our
      approach dramatically improves reference allele quantification at heterozygous
      sites versus default mapping methods and also performs well compared to existing
      techniques for ASE detection, such as filtering methods and mapping to parental
      genomes, without the need for complex and time consuming manipulation. Finally,
      by sequencing the exomes and transcriptomes of 96 well-phenotyped individuals of
      the CARTaGENE cohort, we characterise the levels of ASE across individuals and
      find a significant association between the proportion of sites undergoing ASE
      within the genome and smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The correct treatment and analysis of
      RNA sequencing data is vital to control for mapping biases and detect genuine ASE
      signals. By normalising RNA sequencing information after mapping, we show that
      this approach can be used to identify biologically relevant signals in personal
      genomes.

PMID- 27618914
TI  - How to select outcome measurement instruments for outcomes included in a "Core
      Outcome Set" - a practical guideline.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In cooperation with the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials
      (COMET) initiative, the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health
      Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) initiative aimed to develop a guideline on how
      to select outcome measurement instruments for outcomes (i.e., constructs or
      domains) included in a "Core Outcome Set" (COS). A COS is an agreed minimum set
      of outcomes that should be measured and reported in all clinical trials of a
      specific disease or trial population. METHODS: Informed by a literature review to
      identify potentially relevant tasks on outcome measurement instrument selection,
      a Delphi study was performed among a panel of international experts, representing
      diverse stakeholders. In three consecutive rounds, panelists were asked to rate
      the importance of different tasks in the selection of outcome measurement
      instruments, to justify their choices, and to add other relevant tasks. Consensus
      was defined as being achieved when 70 % or more of the panelists agreed and when
      fewer than 15 % of the panelists disagreed. RESULTS: Of the 481 invited experts,
      120 agreed to participate of whom 95 (79 %) completed the first Delphi
      questionnaire. We reached consensus on four main steps in the selection of
      outcome measurement instruments for COS: Step 1, conceptual considerations; Step
      2, finding existing outcome measurement instruments, by means of a systematic
      review and/or a literature search; Step 3, quality assessment of outcome
      measurement instruments, by means of the evaluation of the measurement properties
      and feasibility aspects of outcome measurement instruments; and Step 4, generic
      recommendations on the selection of outcome measurement instruments for outcomes
      included in a COS (consensus ranged from 70 to 99 %). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      resulted in a consensus-based guideline on the methods for selecting outcome
      measurement instruments for outcomes included in a COS. This guideline can be
      used by COS developers in defining how to measure core outcomes.

PMID- 27618915
TI  - Antibody profiling identifies novel antigenic targets in spinal cord injury
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent evidence implicates antibody responses as pivotal damaging
      factors in spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced neuroinflammation. To date, only a
      limited number of the antibody targets have been uncovered, and the discovery of
      novel targets with pathologic and clinical relevance still represents a major
      challenge. METHODS: In this study, we, therefore, applied an unbiased, innovative
      and powerful strategy, called serological antigen selection (SAS), to fully
      identify the complex information present within the antibody repertoire of SCI
      patients. RESULTS: We constructed a high-quality cDNA phage display library
      derived from human spinal cord tissue to screen for antibody reactivity in pooled
      plasma samples from traumatic SCI patients (n = 10, identification cohort). By
      performing SAS, we identified a panel of 19 antigenic targets to which the
      individual samples of the plasma pool showed antibody reactivity. Sequence
      analysis to identify the selected antigenic targets uncovered 5 known proteins,
      to which antibody reactivity has not been associated with SCI before, as well as
      linear peptides. Immunoreactivity against 9 of the 19 novel identified targets
      was validated in 41 additional SCI patients and an equal number of age- and
      gender-matched healthy subjects. Overall, we found elevated antibody levels to at
      least 1 of the 9 targets in 51 % of our total SCI patient cohort (n = 51) with a
      specificity of 73 %. By combining 6 of these 9 targets into a panel, an overall
      reactivity of approximately half of the SCI patients could be maintained while
      increasing the specificity to 82 %. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our innovative
      high-throughput approach resulted in the identification of previously unexplored
      antigenic targets with elevated immunoreactivity in more than 50 % of the SCI
      patients. Characterization of the validated antibody responses and their targets
      will not only provide new insight into the underlying disease processes of SCI
      pathology but also significantly contribute to uncovering potential antibody
      biomarkers for SCI patients.

PMID- 27618917
TI  - Seroepidemiology of rickettsial infections in Northeast India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resurgence of scrub typhus was reported in Northeast India in 2010
      after a gap of 67 years since World War II. However, the presence of other
      rickettsial infections remained unknown from this region. A seroepidemiological
      investigation was undertaken in the scrub typhus affected areas from 2013-2015 in
      Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland to assess the exposure to other rickettsial
      diseases besides scrub typhus. METHODS: Samples were collected from people
      residing in scrub typhus reporting areas. Serology was performed by an indirect
      ELISA for the three rickettsial agents' viz., scrub typhus group orientiae
      (STGO), spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) and typhus group rickettsiae
      (TGR). A sample with total net absorbance >=1.000 was considered as positive. An
      entomological survey was also carried out in the affected areas. RESULTS:
      Overall, 1265 human blood samples were collected, of which 30.8% (n=390), 13.8%
      (175) and 4.2% (53) had antibodies against STGO, SFGR and TGR respectively.
      Presence of antibodies against more than one of the rickettsial groups was also
      detected. Among the arthropods collected, chiggers of Leptotrombidium deleinse,
      fleas belonging to Ctenocephalides felis and Pulex irritans, ticks belonging to
      Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis spp. were predominant. Candidatus
      Rickettsia senegalensis was detected in C. felis. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      confirm wide circulation of rickettsial infections and their probable vectors in
      the northeast region of India.Accession numbers: KU163367, KU163368, KU499847,
      KU499848.

PMID- 27618916
TI  - Zhengtian Capsule versus flunarizine in patients with migraine: a multi-center,
      double-blind, double-dummy, randomized controlled, non-inferior clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primary objective of this study was to assess whether Zhengtian
      Capsule was non-inferior to flunarizine in efficacy and safety profile for
      prevention of migraine in adults. METHODS: This was a double-dummy, double-blind,
      multicenter, positive drug (flunarizine), parallel randomized controlled, non
      inferior clinical trial. Patients (n = 360) were randomized in a 1:1 to receive
      either Zhengtian Capsule or flunarizine, including 12 weeks' intervention and 4
      weeks' follow-up. The primary outcome measure was responder rate (defined as the
      percentage of subjects in a treatment group with 50 % or greater reduction in
      attack frequency during treatment compared with the baseline period). The
      secondary outcome measures included migraine attack frequency, the number of
      migraine days, pain evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) score, duration of
      migraine attacks, the times of using analgesics, patient-reported outcome (PRO)
      measure of migraine and the scores of short-form 36 Health Survey Scale (SF-36).
      Weight variation in both groups was also evaluated. Adverse events were monitored
      throughout the trial. RESULTS: Zhengtian Capsule was non-inferior to flunarizine
      in responder rate at week 12 and follow-up period (P = 0.002, P < 0.001). There
      was fewer migraine days in Zhengtian Capsule group at follow-up period compared
      with flunarizine (P = 0.001). For the total duration of migraine attacks, there
      was significant group difference at week 4 which favored the control group (P =
      0.009). For the total score of PRO scale, there was statistical difference
      between the two groups at follow-up period (P = 0.021). There were also group
      differences between the two groups in the dimensions of somatization symptoms at
      week 4 (P = 0.022) and functional status at week 12 and follow-up period (P <
      0.001, P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences between the two
      groups in migraine attack frequency, VAS scores reduction, consumption of acute
      pain drugs and the dimension scores of SF-36 at any time interval of the
      treatment period (P > 0.05). No severe adverse events occurred in the trial.
      Flunarizine was found associated with a weight gain. CONCLUSION: Zhengtian
      Capsule was non-inferior to flunarizine with regard to the primary endpoint. In
      addition, it could reduce migraine days and improve the functional status and
      somatization symptoms of migraine patients with good safety profile. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: This trial was registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Register
      (ChiCTR), ChiCTR-TRC-13004412.

PMID- 27618918
TI  - Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and sequence analysis of DNA gyrase and DNA
      topoisomerase IV in Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A isolates
      with decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We describe the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of 100 typhoidal
      Salmonella isolates recovered from blood cultures and also investigate the
      association of decreased ciprofloxacin susceptibility with mutations in the genes
      coding for DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV in 55 isolates. METHODS: The study was
      conducted between January 2013 and December 2015 at a tertiary care centre in
      north India. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer
      disc diffusion and E-test. Genotypic characterization included the screening of
      mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region of gyrA, gyrB, parC, and
      parE by PCR. DNA sequence analysis was done for 55 isolates. RESULTS: Out of 100
      isolates recovered 80 were S. Typhi, 18 were Paratyphi A and two were Paratyphi
      B. Eighty two percent (66/80) of S. Typhi and 15/18 S. Paratyphi A showed
      decreased ciprofloxacin susceptibility. The most common mutation in gyrA led to a
      change at codon 83 of serine to phenylalanine (n=37) or tyrosine (n=12). Five S.
      Typhi isolates that were resistant to ciprofloxacin (MICs of 12, 16, 24 and 32
      MUg/ml) had a second mutation at codon 87 in the gyrA gene changing aspartate to
      asparagine. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to urgently review the use of
      fluoroquinolones for the management of enteric fever in endemic areas.

PMID- 27618919
TI  - The global challenge and future strategies for keeping the world's aging
      population healthy by vaccination.

PMID- 27618920
TI  - Cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostic tests for human visceral leishmaniasis
      in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of study was to estimate the incremental cost
      effectiveness ratio (ICER) of diagnostic options for visceral leishmaniasis (VL)
      in Brazil. METHODS: Six diagnostic tests were considered: IT LEISH, Kalazar
      Detect, DAT-LPC (DAT made in the Laboratorio de Pesquisas Clinicas), IFAT, PCR
      and direct examination of bone marrow aspirate performed in either an ambulatory
      or a hospital setting. A database was built using the cost and effectiveness. The
      perspective of this study was the Brazilian public healthcare system and the
      results were expressed in costs per correctly diagnosed cases. RESULTS: In a
      favorable hypothetical scenario, DAT-LPC presented the lowest cost (US$4.92) and
      highest effectiveness (99%). Paired analyses showed that IT LEISH was dominant
      compared to IFAT, microscopy and Kalazar Detect and that Kalazar Detect was
      dominant over IFAT and microscopy. PCR was dominant over the bone marrow aspirate
      in the hospital and showed an ICER of 57.76 compared with aspirate in an
      ambulatory setting. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the need for the
      revision of algorithm for VL diagnostic in Brazil. Replacements of IFAT with DAT
      LPC, Kalazar Detect with IT LEISH and bone marrow aspirate performed in a
      hospital setting with PCR are cost-effective public health measures.

PMID- 27618921
TI  - Effect of recombinant malarial antigen on monocyte functionality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recombinant proteins and vaccine candidates of Plasmodium vivax have
      met with limited success. One of the reasons could be their effect on monocytes
      which are important in malaria pathogenesis. Our aim was therefore to investigate
      the effect of selected recombinant malarial proteins on monocytes functions.
      METHODS: Phagocytosis rate and respiratory burst of healthy individuals'
      monocytes treated with antigens were examined. The homing capacity of monocytes
      was studied by examining the mRNA level of chemokine receptors from patients and
      healthy individuals. RESULTS: Phagocytosis rate was reduced in antigen treated
      monocytes whereas nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction was more in apical
      membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) and merozoite surface protein-7 (MSP7) treated than in
      untreated and von Willebrand factor A domain-related protein (WARP) treated
      monocytes. Patient monocytes showed higher mRNA expression for CCR2 and CX3CR1
      and reduced levels for CCR7 and CXCR4. AMA-1 and WARP treated monocytes showed
      lower expression for CCR2, CX3CR1 and CXCR4, but unchanged for CCR7. However,
      with MSP7, all the receptor levels were reduced. CX3CR1 in monocytes from
      activated PBMCs was either unchanged (AMA-1) or increased (MSP7, WARP) while
      remaining receptors were reduced. CONCLUSIONS: These antigens may modulate the
      monocyte functionality and hence may not have desired therapeutic effect.

PMID- 27618922
TI  - Hepatitis C treatment outcomes using interferon- and ribavirin-based therapy in
      Kigali, Rwanda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment data in sub-Saharan Africa are
      limited. This study was to determine HCV sustained virologic response(SVR) at 24
      weeks in patients undergoing HCV therapy in Kigali, Rwanda. METHODS: The paper
      presents data for all patients treated for HCV with ribavirin/interferon at King
      Faisal Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda, from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2014.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: There were 69 evaluable patients. HCV genotype 4(61%,
      42/69) predominated. 24-week SVR was 70%(26/37) by per-protocol and 32%(26/69) by
      intention-to-treat analysis. HCV treatment in Rwanda is feasible. SVR with
      interferon/ribavirin was acceptable in the per-protocol analysis. Transition to
      newer direct acting antivirals is urgently needed in Rwanda and sub-Saharan
      Africa more generally to improve treatment outcomes.

PMID- 27618923
TI  - Predictors of in-hospital mortality and length of stay in community-acquired
      pneumonia: a 5-year multi-centre case control study of adults in a developing
      country.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated predictors of in-hospital mortality and length of
      hospital stay among adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Nigeria in
      order to provide recommendations to improve CAP outcomes in developing countries.
      METHODS: This was a multi-centre case control study of patients >=18 years who
      were admitted with CAP between 2008 and 2012. Case notes of 100 consecutive
      patients who died (cases) and random sample of 300 patients discharged (controls)
      were selected. RESULTS: Mean ages were 55.4+/-19.6 (cases) and 49.3+/-19.2
      (controls). Independent predictors of mortality were CURB-65 score >=3: adjusted
      odds ratio (aOR) 24.3, late presentation: aOR 8.6, co-morbidity: aOR 3.9, delayed
      first dose antibiotics (>4 hours): aOR 3.5, need for supplemental oxygen: aOR
      4.9, multilobar pneumonia: aOR 4.0, non-pneumococcal aetiology: aOR 6.5, anaemia:
      aOR 3.8 and hyperglycemia: aOR 8.6. CURB-65 >=3 predicted mortality with a high
      specificity (96.1%) but low sensitivity (75%); positive predictive value of 88.2%
      and negative predictive value of 90.8%. Care in hospital A and B: aOR 3.3 and 2.2
      respectively, male gender aOR 2.1, co-morbidity aOR 3.0, anaemia aOR 2.1 and
      elevated serum creatinine aOR 6.3 independently predicted length of hospital stay
      >10 days among survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Several modifiable patient-related and
      process-of-care factors predicted in-hospital mortality, and length of hospital
      stay among survivors. Our findings should be used to improve CAP outcomes in
      developing countries.

PMID- 27618924
TI  - Geographical and temporal trends in imported infections from the tropics
      requiring inpatient care at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London - a 15
      year study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Understanding geographic and temporal trends in imported infections
      is key to the management of unwell travellers. Many tropical infections can be
      managed as outpatients, with admission reserved for severe cases. METHODS: We
      prospectively recorded the diagnosis and travel history of patients admitted
      between 2000 and 2015. We describe the common tropical and non-tropical
      infectious diseases and how these varied based on region, reason for travel and
      over time. RESULTS: A total of 4362 admissions followed an episode of travel.
      Falciparum malaria was the most common diagnosis (n=1089). Among individuals who
      travelled to Africa 1206/1724 (70.0%) had a tropical diagnosis. The risk of a
      tropical infection was higher among travellers visiting friends and relatives
      than holidaymakers (OR 2.8, p<0.001). Among travellers to Asia non-tropical
      infections were more common than tropical infections (349/782, 44.6%), but
      enteric fever (117, 33.5%) of the tropical infections and dengue (70, 20.1%)
      remained important. The number of patients admitted with falciparum malaria
      declined over the study but those of enteric fever and dengue did not.
      CONCLUSIONS: Most of those arriving from sub-Saharan Africa with an illness
      requiring admission have a classical tropical infection, and malaria still
      predominates. In contrast, fewer patients who travelled to Asia have a tropical
      diagnosis but enteric fever and dengue remain relatively common. Those visiting
      friends and relatives are most likely to have a tropical infection.

PMID- 27618926
TI  - Downhole Transformation of the Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Biocide Glutaraldehyde:
      Implications for Flowback and Produced Water Quality.
AB  - Hydraulic fracturing fluid (HFF) additives are used to enhance oil and gas
      extraction from unconventional shale formations. Several kilometers downhole,
      these organic chemicals are exposed to temperatures up to 200  degrees C,
      pressures above 10 MPa, high salinities, and a pH range from 5-8. Despite this,
      very little is known about the fate of HFF additives under these extreme
      conditions. Here, stainless steel reactors are used to simulate the downhole
      chemistry of the commonly used HFF biocide glutaraldehyde (GA). The results show
      that GA rapidly (t1/2 < 1 h) autopolymerizes, forming water-soluble dimers and
      trimers, and eventually precipitates out at high temperatures (~140  degrees C)
      and/or alkaline pH. Interestingly, salinity was found to significantly inhibit GA
      transformation. Pressure and shale did not affect GA transformation and/or
      removal from the bulk fluid. On the basis of experimental pseudo-second-order
      rate constants, a kinetic model for GA downhole half-life predictions for any
      combination of these conditions within the limits tested was developed. These
      findings illustrate that the biocidal GA monomer has limited time to control
      microbial activity in hot and/or alkaline shales, and may return along with its
      aqueous transformation products to the surface via flowback and produced water in
      cooler, more acidic, and saline shales.

PMID- 27618925
TI  - A randomized controlled study of 5 and 10 days treatment with
      phenoxymethylpenicillin for pharyngotonsillitis caused by streptococcus group A -
      a protocol study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2014 the Swedish government assigned to The Public Health Agency
      of Sweden to conduct studies to evaluate optimal use of existing antibiotic
      agents. The aim is to optimize drug use and dosing regimens to improve the
      clinical efficacy. The present study was selected following a structured
      prioritizing process by independent experts. METHODS: This phase IV study is a
      randomized, open-label, multicenter study with non-inferiority design regarding
      the therapeutic use of penicillin V with two parallel groups. The overall aim is
      to study if the total exposure with penicillin V can be reduced from 1000 mg
      three times daily for 10 days to 800 mg four times daily for 5 days when treating
      Streptococcus pyogenes (Lancefield group A) pharyngotonsillitis. Patients will be
      recruited from 17 primary health care centers in Sweden. Adult men and women,
      youth and children >=6 years of age who consult for sore throat and is judged to
      have a pharyngotonsillitis, with 3-4 Centor criteria and a positive rapid test
      for group A streptococci, will be included in the study. The primary outcome is
      clinical cure 5-7 days after discontinuation of antibiotic treatment. Follow-up
      controls will be done by telephone after 1 and 3 months. Throat symptoms,
      potential relapses and complications will be monitored, as well as adverse
      events. Patients (n = 432) will be included during 2 years. DISCUSSION: In the
      era of increasing antimicrobial resistance and the shortage of new antimicrobial
      agents it is necessary to revisit optimal usage of old antibiotics. Old
      antimicrobial drugs are often associated with inadequate knowledge on
      pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and lack of optimized dosing regimens based
      on randomized controlled clinical trials. If a shorter and more potent treatment
      regimen is shown to be equivalent with the normal 10 day regimen this can imply
      great advantages for both patients (adherence, adverse events, resistance) and
      the community (resistance, drug costs). TRIAL REGISTRATION: EudraCT number 2015
      001752-30 . Protocol FoHM/Tonsillit2015 date 22 June 2015, version 2. Approved by
      MPA of Sweden 3 July 2015, Approved by Regional Ethical Review Board in Lund, 25
      June 2015.

PMID- 27618927
TI  - Assessment of clinical criteria for sepsis-was the cart put before the horse?

PMID- 27618929
TI  - Autosomal recessive progressive myoclonus epilepsy due to impaired ceramide
      synthesis.
AB  - Autosomal recessive progressive myoclonus epilepsy due to impaired ceramide
      synthesis is an extremely rare condition, so far reported in a single family of
      Algerian origin presenting an unusual, severe form of progressive myoclonus
      epilepsy characterized by myoclonus, generalized tonic-clonic seizures and
      moderate to severe cognitive impairment, with probable autosomal recessive
      inheritance. Disease onset was between 6 and 16 years of age. Genetic study
      allowed to identify a homozygous nonsynonymous mutation in CERS1, the gene
      encoding ceramide synthase 1, a transmembrane protein of the endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER), catalyzes the biosynthesis of C18-ceramides. The mutation
      decreased C18-ceramide levels. In addition, downregulation of CerS1 in
      neuroblastoma cell line showed activation of ER stress response and induction of
      proapoptotic pathways. This observation demonstrates that impairment of ceramide
      biosynthesis underlies neurodegeneration in humans.

PMID- 27618928
TI  - Occupational hazards and health cost of women cotton pickers in Pakistani Punjab.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Farm workers and female cotton pickers are exposed to residual
      impacts of pesticide use in cotton production, in addition to dust, ultraviolet
      radiation, etc. Cotton picking causes various health hazards among cotton pickers
      with varied health cost. A soil bacterium known as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is
      incorporated in cotton seed through genetic modification and it has resistance
      against certain bollworms of cotton. So it is considered that Bt cotton fields
      have less pesticide exposure compared to non-Bt cotton fields. This study was
      designed to examine and compare the impacts and health cost of cotton picking
      among female cotton pickers working in Bt and non-Bt cotton fields. METHODS: The
      study used the data collected from Vehari district of Pakistani Punjab. Health
      hazards and associated health cost of the respondents involved in Bt cotton
      picking were compared with those who harvested non-Bt cotton. Comparative use of
      the personal protective measures among those respondents was also examined.
      Health cost function and its determinants were analyzed using ordinary least
      square method. RESULTS: Findings of the study showed that 61 % cotton pickers
      from Bt cotton households reported one or more health effects of pesticide during
      picking season whereas this percentage for non-Bt cotton households was 66 %.
      Health impacts included skin problems, headache, cough, flu/fever, eye irritation
      and sleeplessness, however, percentage of these health impacts was comparatively
      higher among non-Bt cotton households. Health cost from exposure to pesticide use
      in cotton was US$ 5.74 and 2.91 per season for non-Bt cotton and Bt cotton
      households, respectively. Education, picking in Bt cotton fields and preventive
      measures were significantly related with health cost. CONCLUSION: Cotton pickers
      working in Bt cotton fields are found to have less occupational health hazards
      compared to those working in non-Bt cotton fields. Thus generating awareness
      among cotton pickers for adopting precautionary measures during harvesting and
      the use of Bt cotton seed can result in a decline in the ill-effects of cotton
      picking.

PMID- 27618930
TI  - Evaluating ECG and carboxyhemoglobin changes due to smoking narghile.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate whether increased carboxyhemoglobin
      (COHB) levels and ECG changes, which associated with fatal ventricular
      dysrhythmias, including increased QT, P-wave and T peak (Tp)-Tend (Te)
      dispersion, can be detected after smoking narghile, which is a traditional method
      of smoking tobacco that is smoked from hookah device. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      After local ethics committee approval, this prospective study was conducted using
      healthy volunteer subjects at a "narghile cafe," which is used by people smoking
      narghile in an open area. Before beginning to smoke narghile, all subjects' 12
      lead electrocardiographs (ECG), measurements of COHB levels, and vital signs were
      recorded. After smoking narghile for 30 min, the recording of the 12-lead ECGs
      and the measurements of COHB level and all vital signs were repeated. RESULTS:
      The mean age of subjects was 26.8 +/- 6.2 years (min-max: 18-40), and 28 subjects
      (84.8%) were male. Before smoking narghile, the median value of subjects' COHB
      levels was 1.3% (min-max: 0-6), whereas after smoking, the median value of COHB
      was 23.7% (min-max: 6-44), a statistically significant increase (p < 0.001).
      Analysis of the subjects' ECG changes after smoking narghile showed that
      dispersions of QT, QTc, P-wave and Tp-Te were increased, and all changes were
      statistically significant (p < 0.001 for all parameters). CONCLUSION: Although,
      especially among young people, it is commonly thought that smoking narghile has
      less harmful or toxic effects than other tobacco products. The results of this
      study and past studies clearly demonstrated that smoking narghile can cause
      several ECG changes - including increased QT, P-wave and Tp-Te dispersion - which
      can be associated with ventricular dysrhythmias.

PMID- 27618931
TI  - Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in lung cancer: a new prognostic parameter.

PMID- 27618932
TI  - A mortality score for acute respiratory distress syndrome: predicting the future
      without a crystal ball.

PMID- 27618933
TI  - Narrow-Band Organic Photodiodes for High-Resolution Imaging.
AB  - There are growing opportunities and demands for image sensors that produce higher
      resolution images, even in low-light conditions. Increasing the light input areas
      through 3D architecture within the same pixel size can be an effective solution
      to address this issue. Organic photodiodes (OPDs) that possess wavelength
      selectivity can allow for advancements in this regard. Here, we report on novel
      push-pull D-pi-A dyes specially designed for Gaussian-shaped, narrow-band
      absorption and the high photoelectric conversion. These p-type organic dyes work
      both as a color filter and as a source of photocurrents with linear and fast
      light responses, high sensitivity, and excellent stability, when combined with
      C60 to form bulk heterojunctions (BHJs). The effectiveness of the OPD composed of
      the active color filter was demonstrated by obtaining a full-color image using a
      camera that contained an organic/Si hybrid complementary metal-oxide
      semiconductor (CMOS) color image sensor.

PMID- 27618934
TI  - GeneSCF: a real-time based functional enrichment tool with support for multiple
      organisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-throughput technologies such as ChIP-sequencing, RNA-sequencing,
      DNA sequencing and quantitative metabolomics generate a huge volume of data.
      Researchers often rely on functional enrichment tools to interpret the biological
      significance of the affected genes from these high-throughput studies. However,
      currently available functional enrichment tools need to be updated frequently to
      adapt to new entries from the functional database repositories. Hence there is a
      need for a simplified tool that can perform functional enrichment analysis by
      using updated information directly from the source databases such as KEGG,
      Reactome or Gene Ontology etc. RESULTS: In this study, we focused on designing a
      command-line tool called GeneSCF (Gene Set Clustering based on Functional
      annotations), that can predict the functionally relevant biological information
      for a set of genes in a real-time updated manner. It is designed to handle
      information from more than 4000 organisms from freely available prominent
      functional databases like KEGG, Reactome and Gene Ontology. We successfully
      employed our tool on two of published datasets to predict the biologically
      relevant functional information. The core features of this tool were tested on
      Linux machines without the need for installation of more dependencies.
      CONCLUSIONS: GeneSCF is more reliable compared to other enrichment tools because
      of its ability to use reference functional databases in real-time to perform
      enrichment analysis. It is an easy-to-integrate tool with other pipelines
      available for downstream analysis of high-throughput data. More importantly,
      GeneSCF can run multiple gene lists simultaneously on different organisms thereby
      saving time for the users. Since the tool is designed to be ready-to-use, there
      is no need for any complex compilation and installation procedures.

PMID- 27618937
TI  - New Xanthone from the roots of Swertia cordata (G. Don) Clarke.
AB  - The chloroform extract of Swertia cordata (G. Don) roots was subjected to column
      chromatography, afforded two (one new and one known) xanthones. Both the
      compounds were isolated for the first time from S. cordata. The structures of the
      isolated compounds were established on the basis of melting point,1D (1H NMR &
      13C NMR) and 2D (1H 1H COSY, HSQC & HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, in addition to high
      resolution mass spectrometry.

PMID- 27618935
TI  - Effect of a musical intervention on tolerance and efficacy of non-invasive
      ventilation in the ICU: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (MUSique
      pour l'Insuffisance Respiratoire Aigue - Mus-IRA).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) tolerance is a key factor of NIV
      success. Hence, numerous sedative pharmacological or non-pharmacological
      strategies have been assessed to improve NIV tolerance. Music therapy in various
      health care settings has shown beneficial effects. In invasively ventilated
      critical care patients, encouraging results of music therapy on physiological
      parameters, anxiety, and agitation have been reported. We hypothesize that a
      musical intervention improves NIV tolerance in comparison to conventional care.
      We therefore question the potential benefit of a receptive music session
      administered to patients by trained caregivers ("musical intervention") to
      enhance acceptance and tolerance of NIV. METHODS/DESIGN: We conduct a
      prospective, three-center, open-label, three-arm randomized trial involving
      patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) who require NIV, as assessed by the
      treating physician. Participants are allocated to a "musical intervention" arm
      ("musical intervention" applied during all NIV sessions), to a "sensory
      deprivation" arm (sight and hearing isolation during all NIV sessions), or to the
      control group. The primary endpoint is the change in respiratory comfort
      (measured with a digital visual scale) before the initiation and after 30 minutes
      of the first NIV session. The evaluation of the primary endpoint is performed
      blindly from the treatment group. Secondary endpoints include changes in
      respiratory and cardiovascular parameters during NIV sessions, the percentage of
      patients requiring endotracheal intubation, day-90 anxiety/depression and health
      related quality of life, post-trauma stress induced by NIV, and the overall
      assessment of NIV. The follow-up for each participant is 90 days. We expect to
      randomize a total of 99 participants. DISCUSSION: As music intervention is a
      simple and easy-to-implement non-pharmacological technique, efficacious in
      reducing anxiety in critically ill patients, it appeared logical to assess its
      efficacy in NIV, one of the most stressful techniques used in the ICU. Patient
      centeredness was crucial in choosing the outcomes assessed. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02265458 . Registered on 25 August 2014.

PMID- 27618936
TI  - Asiatic acid influences parasitaemia reduction and ameliorates malaria anaemia in
      P. berghei infected Sprague-Dawley male rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current malaria treatment is either "anti-parasitic", "anti
      infectivity" or both without addressing the pathophysiological derangement (anti
      disease aspect) associated with the disease. Asiatic acid is a natural
      phytochemical with oxidant, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties whose
      effect on malarial and accompanying pathophysiology are yet to be investigated.
      Asiatic acid influence in P. berghei-infected Sprague Dawley rats on
      %parasitaemia and malarial anaemia were investigated. METHODS: Plasmodium berghei
      infected rats (90-120 g) were orally administered with Asiatic acid (5, 10, 20
      mg/kg) and 30 mg/kg chloroquine as a positive control. Changes in %parasitaemia
      and haematological parameters in Asiatic acid administered rats were monitored in
      a 21 day study and compared to controls. RESULTS: All animals developed stable
      parasitaemia (15-20 %) by day 7. Asiatic acid doses suppressed parasitaemia,
      normalised haematological measurements and influenced biophysical characteristics
      changes. Most positive changes were associated with intragastric administration
      of 10 mg/kg Asiatic acid dose. Peak %parasitaemia in Asiatic acid administration
      occurred at days 12 with a shorter time course compared to day 9 for chloroquine
      (30 mg/kg) treatment with a longer time course. CONCLUSIONS: Oral Asiatic acid
      administration influenced %parasitaemia suppression, ameliorated malarial anaemia
      and increased biophysical properties on infected animals. Asiatic acid may be a
      replacement alternative for chloroquine treatment with concomitant amelioration
      of malaria pathophysiology. Due to different action time courses, Asiatic acid
      and chloroquine may be possible candidates in combination therapy.

PMID- 27618938
TI  - Level of implementation of best practice policies for creating healthy food
      environments: assessment by state and non-state actors in Thailand.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the level of implementation of policies for
      healthy food environments in Thailand with reference to international best
      practice by state and non-state actors. DESIGN: Data on the current level of
      implementation of food environment policies were assessed independently using the
      adapted Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) by two groups of actors.
      Concrete actions were proposed for Thai Government. A joint meeting between both
      groups was subsequently held to reach consensus on priority actions. SETTING:
      Thailand. SUBJECTS: Thirty state actors and twenty-seven non-state actors.
      RESULTS: Level of policy implementation varied across different domains and actor
      groups. State actors rated implementation levels higher than non-state actors.
      Both state and non-state actors rated level of implementation of monitoring of
      BMI highest. Level of implementation of policies promoting in-store availability
      of healthy foods and policies increasing tax on unhealthy foods were rated lowest
      by state and non-state actors, respectively. Both groups reached consensus on
      eleven priority actions for implementation, focusing on food provision in public
      sector settings, food composition, food promotion, leadership, monitoring and
      intelligence, and food trade. CONCLUSIONS: Although the implementation gaps
      identified and priority actions proposed varied between state and non-state
      actors, both groups achieved consensus on a comprehensive food policy package to
      be implemented by the Thai Government to improve the healthiness of food
      environments. This consensus is a platform for continued policy dialogue towards
      cross-sectoral policy coherence and effective actions to address the growing
      burden of non-communicable diseases and obesity in Thailand.

PMID- 27618939
TI  - Use of a portable system with ultrasound and blood tests to improve prenatal
      controls in rural Guatemala.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Maternal and neonatal mortality figures remain unacceptably high
      worldwide and new approaches are required to address this problem. This paper
      evaluates the impact on maternal and neonatal mortality of a pregnancy care
      package for rural areas of developing countries with portable ultrasound and
      blood/urine tests. METHODS: An observational study was conducted, with
      intervention and control groups not randomly assigned. SETTING: Rural areas of
      the districts of Senahu, Campur and Carcha, in Alta Verapaz Department
      (Guatemala). The control group is composed by 747 pregnant women attended by the
      community facilitator, which is the common practice in rural Guatemala. The
      intervention group is composed by 762 pregnant women attended under the
      innovative Healthy Pregnancy project. That project strengthens the local prenatal
      care program, providing local nurses training, portable ultrasound equipment and
      blood and urine tests. The information of each pregnancy is registered in a
      medical exchange tool, and is later reviewed by a gynecology specialist to ensure
      a correct diagnosis and improve nurses training. RESULTS: No maternal deaths were
      reported within the intervention group, versus five cases in the control group.
      Regarding neonatal deaths, official data revealed a 64 % reduction for neonatal
      mortality. A 37 % prevalence of anemia was detected. Non-urgent referral was
      recommended to 70 pregnancies, being fetal malpresentation the main reported
      cause. CONCLUSION: Impact data on maternal mortality (reduction to zero) and
      neonatal mortality (NMR was reduced to 36 %) are encouraging, although we are
      aware of the limitations of the study related to possible biasing and the small
      sample size. The major reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality provides
      promising prospects for these low-cost diagnostic procedures, which allow to
      provide high quality prenatal care in isolated rural communities of developing
      countries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This research was not registered because it is an
      observational study where the assignment of the medical intervention was not at
      the discretion of the investigators.

PMID- 27618940
TI  - Commentary: Effects of Age and Initial Risk Perception on Balloon Analog Risk
      Task: The Mediating Role of Processing Speed and Need for Cognitive Closure.

PMID- 27618942
TI  - Health Behavior Change: Moving from Observation to Intervention.
AB  - How can progress in research on health behavior change be accelerated?
      Experimental medicine (EM) offers an approach that can help investigators specify
      the research questions that need to be addressed and the evidence needed to test
      those questions. Whereas current research draws predominantly on multiple
      overlapping theories resting largely on correlational evidence, the EM approach
      emphasizes experimental tests of targets or mechanisms of change and programmatic
      research on which targets change health behaviors and which techniques change
      those targets. There is evidence that engaging particular targets promotes
      behavior change; however, systematic studies are needed to identify and validate
      targets and to discover when and how targets are best engaged. The EM approach
      promises progress in answering the key question that will enable the science of
      health behavior change to improve public health: What strategies are effective in
      promoting behavior change, for whom, and under what circumstances?

PMID- 27618943
TI  - Attitude Strength.
AB  - Attitude strength has been the focus of a huge volume of research in psychology
      and related sciences for decades. The insights offered by this literature have
      tremendous value for understanding attitude functioning and structure and for the
      effective application of the attitude concept in applied settings. This is the
      first Annual Review of Psychology article on the topic, and it offers a review of
      theory and evidence regarding one of the most researched strength-related
      attitude features: attitude importance. Personal importance is attached to an
      attitude when the attitude is perceived to be relevant to self-interest, social
      identification with reference groups or reference individuals, and values.
      Attaching personal importance to an attitude causes crystallizing of attitudes
      (via enhanced resistance to change), effortful gathering and processing of
      relevant information, accumulation of a large store of well-organized relevant
      information in long-term memory, enhanced attitude extremity and accessibility,
      enhanced attitude impact on the regulation of interpersonal attraction,
      energizing of emotional reactions, and enhanced impact of attitudes on behavioral
      intentions and action. Thus, important attitudes are real and consequential
      psychological forces, and their study offers opportunities for addressing
      behavioral change.

PMID- 27618941
TI  - An improved mosquito electrocuting trap that safely reproduces epidemiologically
      relevant metrics of mosquito human-feeding behaviours as determined by human
      landing catch.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reliable quantification of mosquito host-seeking behaviours is
      required to determine the efficacy of vector control methods. For malaria, the
      gold standard approach remains the risky human landing catch (HLC). Here compare
      the performance of an improved prototype of the mosquito electrocuting grid trap
      (MET) as a safer alternative with HLC for measuring malaria vector behaviour in
      Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: Mosquito trapping was conducted at three sites
      within Dar es Salaam representing a range of urbanicity over a 7-month period
      (December 2012-July 2013, 168 sampling nights). At each site, sampling was
      conducted in a block of four houses, with two houses being allocated to HLC and
      the other to MET on each night of study. Sampling was conducted both indoors and
      outdoors (from 19:00 to 06:00 each night) at all houses, with trapping method
      (HLC and MET) being exchanged between pairs of houses at each site using a
      crossover design. RESULTS: The MET caught significantly more Anopheles gambiae
      sensu lato than the HLC, both indoors (RR [95 % confidence interval (CI)]) = 1.47
      [1.23-1.76], P < 0.0001 and outdoors = 1.38 [1.14-1.67], P < 0.0001). The
      sensitivity of MET compared with HLC did not detectably change over the course of
      night for either An. gambiae s.l. (OR [CI]) = 1.01 [0.94-1.02], P = 0.27) or
      Culex spp. (OR [CI]) = 0.99 [0.99-1.0], P = 0.17) indoors and declined only
      slightly outdoors: An. gambiae s.l. (OR [CI]) = 0.92 [0.86-0.99], P = 0.04), and
      Culex spp. (OR [CI]) = 0.99 [0.98-0.99], P = 0.03). MET-based estimates of the
      proportions of mosquitoes caught indoors (P i ) or during sleeping hours (P fl ),
      as well as the proportion of human exposure to bites that would otherwise occurs
      indoors (pi i ), were statistically indistinguishable from those based on HLC for
      An. gambiae s.l. (P = 0.43, 0.07 and 0.48, respectively) and Culex spp. (P =
      0.76, 0.24 and 0.55, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This improved MET prototype is
      highly sensitive tool that accurately quantifies epidemiologically-relevant
      metrics of mosquito biting densities, behaviours and human exposure distribution.

PMID- 27618945
TI  - The Psychology of Close Relationships: Fourteen Core Principles.
AB  - Relationship science is a theory-rich discipline, but there have been no attempts
      to articulate the broader themes or principles that cut across the theories
      themselves. We have sought to fill that void by reviewing the psychological
      literature on close relationships, particularly romantic relationships, to
      extract its core principles. This review reveals 14 principles, which
      collectively address four central questions: (a) What is a relationship? (b) How
      do relationships operate? (c) What tendencies do people bring to their
      relationships? (d) How does the context affect relationships? The 14 principles
      paint a cohesive and unified picture of romantic relationships that reflects a
      strong and maturing discipline. However, the principles afford few of the sorts
      of conflicting predictions that can be especially helpful in fostering novel
      theory development. We conclude that relationship science is likely to benefit
      from simultaneous pushes toward both greater integration across theories (to
      reduce redundancy) and greater emphasis on the circumstances under which existing
      (or not-yet-developed) principles conflict with one another.

PMID- 27618944
TI  - Reinforcement Learning and Episodic Memory in Humans and Animals: An Integrative
      Framework.
AB  - We review the psychology and neuroscience of reinforcement learning (RL), which
      has experienced significant progress in the past two decades, enabled by the
      comprehensive experimental study of simple learning and decision-making tasks.
      However, one challenge in the study of RL is computational: The simplicity of
      these tasks ignores important aspects of reinforcement learning in the real
      world: (a) State spaces are high-dimensional, continuous, and partially
      observable; this implies that (b) data are relatively sparse and, indeed,
      precisely the same situation may never be encountered twice; furthermore, (c)
      rewards depend on the long-term consequences of actions in ways that violate the
      classical assumptions that make RL tractable. A seemingly distinct challenge is
      that, cognitively, theories of RL have largely involved procedural and semantic
      memory, the way in which knowledge about action values or world models extracted
      gradually from many experiences can drive choice. This focus on semantic memory
      leaves out many aspects of memory, such as episodic memory, related to the traces
      of individual events. We suggest that these two challenges are related. The
      computational challenge can be dealt with, in part, by endowing RL systems with
      episodic memory, allowing them to (a) efficiently approximate value functions
      over complex state spaces, (b) learn with very little data, and (c) bridge long
      term dependencies between actions and rewards. We review the computational theory
      underlying this proposal and the empirical evidence to support it. Our proposal
      suggests that the ubiquitous and diverse roles of memory in RL may function as
      part of an integrated learning system.

PMID- 27618947
TI  - In one harness: the interplay of cellular responses and subsequent cell fate
      after quantum dot uptake.
AB  - Rapid growth and expansion of engineered nanomaterials will occur when the
      technology can be used safely. Quantum dots have excellent prospects in clinical
      applications, but the issue of toxicity has not yet been resolved. To enable
      their medical implementation, the effect on, and mechanisms in, live cells should
      be clearly known and predicted. A massive amount of experimental data dedicated
      to nanotoxicity has been accumulated to-date, but it lacks a logical structure.
      The current challenge is to organize existing knowledge into lucid biological and
      mathematical models. In our review we aim to describe the interplay of various
      cell death mechanisms triggered by quantum dots as a consequence of particle
      parameters and experimental conditions. 

PMID- 27618946
TI  - Evaluation of Pre-Transplant Panel Reactive Antibody Levels and Sensitization: A
      Single-Center Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND Sensitization is one of the most important barriers against
      transplantation. Our aim was to evaluate the sensitization status of our patients
      awaiting cadaveric transplantation and to identify factors causing sensitization.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 140 patients on the cadaveric waiting list during
      January 2014 were included in this retrospective cross-sectional study. The
      parametric t-test and the non-parametric chi-square test were used to detect
      differences between PRA-positive and -negative patients. Multivariate analysis
      was used to identify factors associated with PRA positivity. One-way analysis of
      variance was used to compare PRA-negative and -positive results. RESULTS Anti-HCV
      positivity (p=0.040), history of transfusion (p=0.041), and mean number of blood
      product transfused (p=0.047) were significantly related to class 1 PRA
      positivity. History of transfusion (p=0.038) and mean number of blood product
      transfused (p=0.044) were related to class 2 PRA positivity. The multivariate
      analysis indicated that transfusion and more than 5 units of blood product
      transfused were related to either class 1 or class 2 PRA positivity. No
      associations were found between PRA positivity and pregnancy, transplantation,
      age, sex, infection, abortion, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus,
      hepatitis B, or time spent on dialysis and being on the transplantation waiting
      list. CONCLUSIONS Anti-HCV positivity and transfusion are risk factors for
      sensitization. Particular emphasis should be given to sensitization and its
      prevention to reduce waiting time for transplantation. 

PMID- 27618948
TI  - Continuous Development of a Major Incident In-Hospital Victim Tracking and
      Tracing System, Withstanding the Challenges of Time.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the development of the Patient Barcode Registration System
      (PBRS) over time and confirm the usability and feasibility of the system's latest
      version during a large trauma drill. METHODS: The development of a PBRS started
      around 1993 aiming to provide an effective tool for patient registration,
      tracking, and tracing during major incidents. The PBRS uses wristbands with
      barcodes to follow and register patients in the care process. During a large
      trauma drill, 120 patients and 40 relatives were registered and traced in the
      system. Errors in registration, tracking, and tracing of persons were registered.
      RESULTS: Of the 120 patients, no patient data were lost and patients could be
      traced in real time throughout the treatment process by the command team.
      Strategic decisions could be made based on the information provided by the
      system. Patient relatives were easily matched and government agencies received
      regular updates on the number and characteristics of the patients. CONCLUSION:
      The PBRS is a usable, feasible, and sustainable patient tracking and tracing tool
      to be used during the hospital response to major incidents. Lessons learned
      during the last 20 years include the need for continuous updates to withstand the
      challenge of time. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:244-250).

PMID- 27618949
TI  - Prospective associations between televiewing at toddlerhood and later self
      reported social impairment at middle school in a Canadian longitudinal cohort
      born in 1997/1998.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Using a large Canadian population-based sample, this study aimed to
      verify whether televiewing in toddlerhood is prospectively associated with self
      reported social impairment in middle school. METHOD: Participants are from a
      prospective-longitudinal birth cohort of 991 girls and 1006 boys from the Quebec
      Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Child self-reported ratings of
      relational difficulties at age 13 years were linearly regressed on parent
      reported televiewing at age 2 years while adjusting for potential confounders.
      RESULTS: Every additional 1 h of early childhood television exposure corresponded
      to an 11% s.d. unit increase in self-reported peer victimization [unstandardized
      beta = 0.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02-0.04], a 10% s.d. unit increase in
      self-reported social isolation (unstandardized beta = 0.04, 95% CI 0.03-0.05), a
      9% s.d. unit increase in self-reported proactive aggression (unstandardized beta
      = 0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.03) and a 6% s.d. unit increase in self-reported antisocial
      behavior (unstandardized beta = 0.01, 95% CI 0.01-0.01) at age 13 years. These
      results are above and beyond pre-existing individual and family factors.
      CONCLUSIONS: Televiewing in toddlerhood was prospectively associated with
      experiencing victimization and social withdrawal from fellow students and
      engaging in antisocial behavior and proactive aggression toward fellow students
      at age 13 years. Adolescents who experience relational difficulties are at risk
      of long-term health problems (like depression and cardiometabolic disease) and
      socio-economic problems (like underachievement and unemployment). These
      relationships, observed more than a decade later, and independent of key
      potential confounders, suggest a need for better parental awareness of how young
      children invest their limited waking hours.

PMID- 27618951
TI  - Increasing use of radical prostatectomy for locally advanced prostate cancer in
      the USA and Germany: a comparative population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current guidelines do not recommend a preferred treatment modality
      for locally advanced prostate cancer. The aim of the study was to compare
      treatment patterns found in the USA and Germany and to analyze possible trends
      over time. METHODS: We compared 'Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results'
      (SEER) data (USA) with reports from four German federal epidemiological cancer
      registries (Eastern Germany, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein),
      both from 2004 to 2012. We defined locally advanced prostate cancer as clinical
      stage T3 or T4. Exclusion criteria were metastatic disease and age over 79 years.
      RESULTS: We identified 9127 (USA) and 11 051 (Germany) patients with locally
      advanced prostate cancer. The share was 2.1% in the USA compared with 6.0% in
      Germany (P<0.001). In the United States, the utilization of radiotherapy (RT) and
      radical prostatectomy (RP) was comparably high with 42.0% (RT) and 42.8% (RP). In
      Germany, the major treatment option was RP with 36.7% followed by RT with 22.1%.
      During the study period, the use of RP increased in both countries (USA P=0.001
      and Germany P=0.003), whereas RT numbers declined (USA P=0.003 and Germany
      P=0.002). The share of adjuvant RT (aRT) was similar in both countries (USA 21.7%
      vs Germany 20.7%). CONCLUSION: We found distinctive differences in treating
      locally advanced prostate cancer between USA and Germany, but similar trends over
      time. In the last decade, a growing number of patients underwent RP as a possible
      first step within a multimodal concept.

PMID- 27618953
TI  - Homochiral 2D Porous Covalent Organic Frameworks for Heterogeneous Asymmetric
      Catalysis.
AB  - There have been breakthroughs in the development of covalent organic frameworks
      (COFs) with tunability of composition, structure, and function, but the synthesis
      of chiral COFs remains a great challenge. Here we report the construction of two
      dimensional COFs with chiral functionalities embedded into the frameworks by
      imine condensations of enantiopure TADDOL-derived tetraaldehydes with 4,4'
      diaminodiphenylmethane. Powder X-ray diffraction and computer modeling together
      with pore size distribution analysis show that one COF has a twofold
      interpenetrated grid-type network and the other has a non-interpenetrated grid
      network. After postsynthetic modification of the chiral dihydroxy groups of
      TADDOL units with Ti(O(i)Pr)4, the materials are efficient and recyclable
      heterogeneous catalysts for asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes with
      high enantioselectivity. The results reported here will greatly expand the scope
      of materials design and engineering for the creation of new types of functional
      porous materials.

PMID- 27618950
TI  - The very-high-risk prostate cancer: a contemporary update.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of high-risk prostate cancer has evolved considerably over
      the past two decades, yet patients with very-high-risk features may still
      experience poor outcome despite aggressive therapy. We review the contemporary
      literature focusing on current definitions, role of modern imaging and treatment
      alternatives in very-high-risk prostate cancer. METHODS: We searched the MEDLINE
      database for all clinical trials or practice guidelines published in English
      between 2000 and 2016, with the following search terms: 'prostatic neoplasms'
      (MeSH Terms) AND ('high risk' (keyword) OR 'locally advanced' (keyword) OR 'node
      positive' (keyword)). Abstracts pertaining to very-high-risk prostate cancer were
      evaluated and 40 pertinent studies served as the basis for this review. RESULTS:
      The term 'very'-high-risk prostate cancer remains ill defined. The European
      Association of Urology and National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines
      provide the only available definitions, categorizing those with clinical stage T3
      4 or minimal nodal involvement as very high risk irrespective of PSA level or
      biopsy Gleason score. Modern imaging with multiparametric magnetic resonance
      imaging and positron emission tomography-prostate-specific membrane antigen scans
      has a role in pre-treatment assessment. Local definitive therapy by external beam
      radiation combined with androgen deprivation is supported by several randomized
      clinical trials, whereas the role of surgery in the very-high-risk setting
      combined with adjuvant radiation/androgen deprivation therapy is emerging.
      Growing evidence suggest neoadjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy in the context of
      a multimodal approach may be beneficial. CONCLUSIONS: Men with very-high-risk
      tumors may benefit from local definitive treatment in the setting of a multimodal
      regimen, offering local control and possibly cure in well selected patients.
      Further studies are necessary to better characterize the 'very'-high-risk
      category and determine the optimal therapy for the individual patient.

PMID- 27618954
TI  - Endovascular treatment of the ascending aorta: new frontiers for thoracic
      endovascular aneurysm repair?

PMID- 27618952
TI  - The yeast Aft2 transcription factor determines selenite toxicity by controlling
      the low affinity phosphate transport system.
AB  - The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is employed as a model to study the cellular
      mechanisms of toxicity and defense against selenite, the most frequent
      environmental selenium form. We show that yeast cells lacking Aft2, a
      transcription factor that together with Aft1 regulates iron homeostasis, are
      highly sensitive to selenite but, in contrast to aft1 mutants, this is not
      rescued by iron supplementation. The absence of Aft2 strongly potentiates the
      transcriptional responses to selenite, particularly for DNA damage- and oxidative
      stress-responsive genes, and results in intracellular hyperaccumulation of
      selenium. Overexpression of PHO4, the transcriptional activator of the PHO
      regulon under low phosphate conditions, partially reverses sensitivity and
      hyperaccumulation of selenite in a way that requires the presence of Spl2, a Pho4
      controlled protein responsible for post-transcriptional downregulation of the low
      affinity phosphate transporters Pho87 and Pho90. SPL2 expression is strongly
      downregulated in aft2 cells, especially upon selenite treatment. Selenite
      hypersensitivity of aft2 cells is fully rescued by deletion of PHO90, suggesting
      a major role for Pho90 in selenite uptake. We propose that the absence of Aft2
      leads to enhanced Pho90 function, involving both Spl2-dependent and independent
      events and resulting in selenite hyperaccumulation and toxicity.

PMID- 27618955
TI  - The diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid lactate for post-neurosurgical
      bacterial meningitis: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacterial meningitis is not rare in post-neurosurgical patients. If
      patients are not treated promptly, the mortality rate can reach 20 to 50 %. The
      concentration of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactate has been reported to be
      helpful in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis; however, no systematic
      evaluations have investigated CSF from a postoperative perspective. In this
      study, we performed a systematic evaluation and meta-analysis of the efficacy of
      using CSF lactate concentrations in the diagnosis of post-neurosurgical bacterial
      meningitis. METHOD: We retrieved studies that investigated the diagnostic value
      of CSF lactate for the diagnosis of post-neurosurgical bacterial meningitis by
      searching PubMed, EBSCO, the Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov. All these
      databases were searched from inception to November 2015. We used Quality
      Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS), a tool for the quality
      assessment of diagnostic accuracy, to evaluate the quality of the included
      studies. The Meta-DiSc 1.4 and Review Manager 5.3 software programs were used to
      analyze the included studies. Forest plots and summary receiver operating
      characteristics (SROC) curves were also drawn. RESULTS: Five studies, involving a
      total of 404 post-neurosurgical patients, were selected from 1,672 articles
      according to the inclusion criteria. The quality of the five included studies was
      assessed using QUADAS, and the related results are presented in tables. The meta
      analysis revealed the following diagnostic values regarding CSF lactate for post
      neurosurgical bacterial meningitis: a pooled sensitivity of 0.92 (95 % CI 0.85
      0.96), a pooled specificity of 0.88 (95 % CI 0.84-0.92 with significant
      heterogeneity), a diagnostic odds ratio of 83.09 (95 % CI 36.83-187.46), an area
      under the curve (AUCSROC) of 0.9601, an SE(AUC) of 0.0122, a Q* of 0.9046 and an
      SE(Q*) of 0.0179. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis indicated that the CSF lactate
      concentration has relatively high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis
      of post-neurosurgical bacterial meningitis and thus has relatively good efficacy.

PMID- 27618956
TI  - Bugs, genes, and the intensive care unit.

PMID- 27618958
TI  - Incorporation of Eu(III) into Calcite under Recrystallization conditions.
AB  - The interaction of calcite with trivalent europium under recrystallization
      conditions was studied on the molecular level using site-selective time-resolved
      laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS). We conducted batch studies with a
      reaction time from seven days up to three years with three calcite powders, which
      differed in their specific surface area, recrystallization rates and impurities
      content. With increase of the recrystallization rate incorporation of Eu(3+)
      occurs faster and its speciation comes to be dominated by one species with its
      excitation maximum at 578.8 nm, so far not identified during previous
      investigations of this process under growth and phase transformation conditions.
      A long lifetime of 3750 MUs demonstrates complete loss of hydration, consequently
      Eu must have been incorporated into the bulk crystal. The results show a strong
      dependence of the incorporation kinetics on the recrystallization rate of the
      different calcites. Furthermore the investigation of the effect of different
      background electrolytes (NaCl and KCl) demonstrate that the incorporation process
      under recrystallization conditions strongly depends on the availability of Na(+).
      These findings emphasize the different retention potential of calcite as a
      primary and secondary mineral e.g. in a nuclear waste disposal site.

PMID- 27618957
TI  - Chronic Moderate Alcohol Intakes Accelerate SR-B1 Mediated Reverse Cholesterol
      Transport.
AB  - Cholesterol is essential for all animal life. However, a high level of
      cholesterol in the body is strongly associated with the progression of various
      severe diseases. In our study, the potential involvement of alcohol in the
      regulation of high density lipoprotein (HDL) receptor scavenger receptor class B
      and type I (SR-B1)-mediated reverse cholesterol transport was investigated. We
      separated male C57BL/6 mice into four diets: control, alcohol, Control + HC and
      alcohol + HC. The SR-B1 level and 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'
      tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate- high- density lipoprotein (DiI-HDL)
      uptake were also measured in AML12 cells and HL7702 cells treated with alcohol.
      The control + HC diet led to increased hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol
      levels while alcohol + HC led no significant change. Compared with that of the
      control group, the SR-B1 mRNA level was elevated by 27.1% (P < 0.05), 123.8% (P <
      0.001) and 343.6% (P < 0.001) in the alcohol, control + HC and alcohol + HC
      groups, respectively. In AML12 and HL7702 cells, SR-B1 level and DiI-HDL uptake
      were repressed by SR-B1 siRNA or GW9662. However, these effects were reversed
      through alcohol treatment. These data suggest that a moderate amount of alcohol
      plays a novel role in reverse cholesterol transport, mainly mediated by PPARgamma
      and SR-B1.

PMID- 27618959
TI  - The analysis of heterotaxy patients reveals new loss-of-function variants of
      GRK5.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5) is a regulator of cardiac performance
      and a potential therapeutic target in heart failure in the adult. Additionally,
      we have previously classified GRK5 as a determinant of left-right asymmetry and
      proper heart development using zebrafish. We thus aimed to identify GRK5 variants
      of functional significance by analysing 187 individuals with laterality defects
      (heterotaxy) that were associated with a congenital heart defect (CHD). Using
      Sanger sequencing we identified two moderately frequent variants in GRK5 with
      minor allele frequencies <10%, and seven very rare polymorphisms with minor
      allele frequencies <1%, two of which are novel variants. Given their
      evolutionarily conserved position in zebrafish, in-depth functional
      characterisation of four variants (p.Q41L, p.G298S, p.R304C and p.T425M) was
      performed. We tested the effects of these variants on normal subcellular
      localisation and the ability to desensitise receptor signalling as well as their
      ability to correct the left-right asymmetry defect upon Grk5l knockdown in
      zebrafish. While p.Q41L, p.R304C and p.T425M responded normally in the first two
      aspects, neither p.Q41L nor p.R304C were capable of rescuing the lateralisation
      phenotype. The fourth variant, p.G298S was identified as a complete loss-of
      function variant in all assays and provides insight into the functions of GRK5.

PMID- 27618961
TI  - Autosomal dominant cortical tremor, myoclonus and epilepsy.
AB  - The term 'cortical tremor' was first introduced by Ikeda and colleagues to
      indicate a postural and action-induced shivering movement of the hands which
      mimics essential tremor, but presents with the electrophysiological findings of
      cortical reflex myoclonus. The association between autosomal dominant cortical
      tremor, myoclonus and epilepsy (ADCME) was first recognized in Japanese families
      and is now increasingly reported worldwide, although it is described using
      different acronyms (BAFME, FAME, FEME, FCTE and others). The disease usually
      takes a benign course, although drug-resistant focal seizures or slight
      intellectual disability occur in some cases. Moreover, a worsening of cortical
      tremor and myoclonus is common in advanced age. Although not yet recognized by
      the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), this is a well-delineated
      epilepsy syndrome with remarkable features that clearly distinguishes it from
      other myoclonus epilepsies. Moreover, genetic studies of these families show
      heterogeneity and different susceptible chromosomal loci have been identified.

PMID- 27618960
TI  - A dynamic code for economic object valuation in prefrontal cortex neurons.
AB  - Neuronal reward valuations provide the physiological basis for economic
      behaviour. Yet, how such valuations are converted to economic decisions remains
      unclear. Here we show that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) implements
      a flexible value code based on object-specific valuations by single neurons. As
      monkeys perform a reward-based foraging task, individual DLPFC neurons signal the
      value of specific choice objects derived from recent experience. These neuronal
      object values satisfy principles of competitive choice mechanisms, track
      performance fluctuations and follow predictions of a classical behavioural model
      (Herrnstein's matching law). Individual neurons dynamically encode both, the
      updating of object values from recently experienced rewards, and their subsequent
      conversion to object choices during decision-making. Decoding from unselected
      populations enables a read-out of motivational and decision variables not
      emphasized by individual neurons. These findings suggest a dynamic single-neuron
      and population value code in DLPFC that advances from reward experiences to
      economic object values and future choices.

PMID- 27618962
TI  - Insight into Enzymatic Degradation of Corn, Wheat, and Soybean Cell Wall
      Cellulose Using Quantitative Secretome Analysis of Aspergillus fumigatus.
AB  - Lignocelluloses contained in animal forage cannot be digested by pigs or poultry
      with 100% efficiency. On contrary, Aspergillus fumigatus, a saprophytic
      filamentous fungus, is known to harbor 263 glycoside hydrolase encoding genes,
      suggesting that A. fumigatus is an efficient lignocellulose degrader. Hence the
      present study uses corn, wheat, or soybean as a sole carbon source to culture A.
      fumigatus under animal physiological condition to understand how cellulolytic
      enzymes work together to achieve an efficient degradation of lignocellulose. Our
      results showed that A. fumigatus produced different sets of enzymes to degrade
      lignocelluloses derived from corn, wheat, or soybean cell wall. In addition, the
      cellulolytic enzymes produced by A. fumigatus were stable under acidic condition
      or at higher temperatures. Using isobaric tags for a relative and absolute
      quantification (iTRAQ) approach, a total of ~600 extracellular proteins were
      identified and quantified, in which ~50 proteins were involved in
      lignocellulolysis, including cellulases, hemicellulases, lignin-degrading
      enzymes, and some hypothetical proteins. Data are available via ProteomeXchange
      with identifier PXD004670. On the basis of quantitative iTRAQ results, 14 genes
      were selected for further confirmation by RT-PCR. Taken together, our results
      indicated that the expression and regulation of lignocellulolytic proteins in the
      secretome of A. fumigatus were dependent on both nature and complexity of
      cellulose, thus suggesting that a different enzyme system is required for
      degradation of different lignocelluloses derived from plant cells. Although A.
      fumigatus is a pathogenic fungus and cannot be directly used as an enzyme source,
      as an efficient lignocellulose degrader its strategy to synergistically degrade
      various lignocelluloses with different enzymes can be used to design enzyme
      combination for optimal digestion and absorption of corn, wheat, or soybean that
      are used as forage of pig and poultry.

PMID- 27618963
TI  - Fluorescent Indicator Displacement Assay: Ultrasensitive Detection of Glutathione
      and Selective Cancer Cell Imaging.
AB  - This Research Article reports the development of nanohybrid comprising of anionic
      carbon dots (ACD) protected gold nanoparticle (GNP). ACD directly cap GNP through
      its anionic surface functionalization leading to the formation of stable aqueous
      GNP dispersion. This newly developed ACD-GNP nanohybrid has been thoroughly
      characterized by different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. This
      nanohybrid is successfully employed toward the selective sensing of glutathione
      (GSH). The mechanism of GSH sensing by this nanosensor is based on the GSH
      triggered displacement of fluorescent indicator ACD from the GNP surface. Upon
      capping GNP, intrinsic fluorescence of ACD gets quenched. Addition of GSH
      displaces the fluorescent indicator ACD from GNP surface and restores the
      fluorescence signal of ACD. This nanosensor exhibits very high selectivity as
      well as sensitivity toward glutathione over the other biothiols and can detect as
      low as 6 nM of GSH. More importantly, selective imaging of the cancer cells over
      the noncancerous cells was achieved by this ACD-GNP hybrid implying its potential
      applications in biosensing, as well as in cancer diagnosis.

PMID- 27618964
TI  - Public-non-governmental organisation partnerships for health: an exploratory
      study with case studies from recent Ghanaian experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The last few decades have seen a dramatic increase in public-non
      governmental organisation (NGO) partnerships in the health sector of many low-
      and middle- income countries (LMICs) as a means of improving the public's health.
      However, little research has focused to date on the nature, facilitators and
      barriers of these partnerships. METHODS: In-depth qualitative interviews were
      conducted with 17 participants from five different NGOs and their collaboration
      with state partners in the Ghanaian health sector at the national and local
      levels in four regions of the country (Northern, Upper East, Greater Accra, and
      Eastern) to explore the drivers and nature of these partnerships and their
      advantages and disadvantages in the effort to improve the public's health.
      RESULTS: Major findings reveal that: 1) each collaboration between civil society
      organisations (CSOs) and the state in the health sector demands different
      partnerships; 2) partnership types can range from equal, formal contractual,
      decentralized to advocacy ones; 3) commitment by the state and NGOs to work in
      collaboration lead to improved service delivery, reduced health inequities and
      disparities; 4) added value of NGOs lies in their knowledge, expertise, community
      legitimacy, ability to attract donor funding and implementation capacity to
      address health needs in geographical areas or communities where the government
      does not reach and for services, which it does not provide and 5) success factors
      and challenges to be considered, moving forward to promote such partnerships in
      other LMICs. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations are offered for NGOs, governments,
      donors, and future research including studying the organisational effectiveness
      and sustainability of these partnerships to deliver effective and efficient
      health outcomes to recommend universal best practices in health care.

PMID- 27618965
TI  - Commentary: Implementing Pro-Poor Universal Health Coverage.

PMID- 27618966
TI  - Loss of hif-1 promotes resistance to the exogenous mitochondrial stressor
      ethidium bromide in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the leading causes of
      neurological disorders in humans. Mitochondrial perturbations lead to adaptive
      mechanisms that include HIF-1 stabilization, though the consequences of increased
      levels of HIF-1 following mitochondrial stress remain poorly understood. RESULTS:
      Using Caenorhabditis elegans, we show that a hif-1 loss-of-function mutation
      confers resistance towards the mitochondrial toxin ethidium bromide (EtBr) and
      suppresses EtBr-induced production of ROS. In mammals, the PD-related gene DJ-1
      is known to act as a redox sensor to confer protection against antioxidants and
      mitochondrial inhibitors. A deletion mutant of the C. elegans homolog djr-1.1
      also showed increased resistance to EtBr. Furthermore, our data implicates p38
      MAP kinase as an indispensable factor for survival against mitochondrial stress
      in both hif-1 and djr-1.1 mutants. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that EtBr-induced HIF
      1 activates pathways that are antagonistic in conferring protection against EtBr
      toxicity and that blocking HIF-1 activity may promote survival in cells with
      compromised mitochondrial function.

PMID- 27618967
TI  - Prevention of catheter-related bladder discomfort - pudendal nerve block with
      ropivacaine versus intravenous tramadol: study protocol for a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD) is a common distressing
      symptom complex during the postoperative period, especially after urologic
      procedures with a relatively greater size urinary catheter. In this study, we
      will enroll male patients undergoing elective prostate surgery with urinary
      catheterization under general anesthesia, and we will compare the efficacy of
      pudendal nerve block (PNB) and intravenous tramadol in CRBD prevention.
      METHODS/DESIGN: This trial is a prospective, randomized controlled trial that
      will test the superiority of bilateral PNB with 0.33 % ropivacaine compared with
      intravenous tramadol 1.5 mg/kg for CRBD prevention. A total of 94 male patients
      undergoing elective prostate surgery with urinary catheterization after
      anesthesia induction will be randomized to receive either bilateral PNB with 0.33
      % ropivacaine (the PNB group) or intravenous tramadol 1.5 mg/kg (the tramadol
      group) after the completion of surgery. The primary outcome is the incidence of
      CRBD. The most important secondary outcome is the severity of postoperative CRBD,
      and other secondary outcomes include Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score for
      postoperative pain; incidence of postoperative side effects such as postoperative
      nausea/vomiting, sedation, dizziness, and dry mouth; postoperative requirement
      for tramadol as a rescue treatment for CRBD and sufentanil as a rescue analgesic
      for postoperative pain; and NRS score for acceptance of an indwelling urinary
      catheter. DISCUSSION: This trial is planned to test the superiority of PNB with
      0.33 % ropivacaine compared with intravenous tramadol 1.5 mg/kg. It may provide a
      basis for a new clinical practice for the prevention of CRBD. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02683070 . Registered on 11 February 2016.

PMID- 27618968
TI  - Multichannel electrotactile feedback for simultaneous and proportional
      myoelectric control.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Closing the loop in myoelectric prostheses by providing artificial
      somatosensory feedback to the user is an important need for prosthetic users.
      Previous studies investigated feedback strategies in combination with the control
      of one degree of freedom of simple grippers. Modern hands, however, are
      sophisticated multifunction systems. In this study, we assessed multichannel
      electrotactile feedback integrated with an advanced method for the simultaneous
      and proportional control of individual fingers of a dexterous hand. APPROACH: The
      feedback used spatial and frequency coding to provide information on the finger
      positions (normalized flexion angles). A comprehensive set of conditions have
      been investigated in 28 able-bodied subjects, including feedback modalities
      (visual, electrotactile and no feedback), control tasks (fingers and grasps),
      systems (virtual and real hand), control methods (ideal and realistic) and range
      of motion (low and high). The task for the subjects was to operate the hand using
      closed-loop myoelectric control and generate the desired movement (e.g., selected
      finger or grasp at a specific level of closure). MAIN RESULTS: The subjects could
      perceive the multichannel and multivariable electrotactile feedback and
      effectively exploit it to improve the control performance with respect to open
      loop grasping. The improvement however depended on the reliability of the
      feedforward control, with less consistent control exhibiting performance trends
      that were more complex across the conditions. SIGNIFICANCE: The results are
      promising for the potential application of advanced feedback to close the control
      loop in sophisticated prosthetic systems.

PMID- 27618969
TI  - Assessing the relative validity of the Scottish Collaborative Group FFQ for
      measuring dietary intake in adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the relative validity of the latest version of the Scottish
      Collaborative Group (SCG) FFQ (version 6.6) in adults living in Scotland. DESIGN:
      A cross-sectional validation study. Participants completed the self-administered,
      169-item SCG FFQ followed by a 7 d, non-weighed food diary. Energy and energy
      adjusted macronutrients and micronutrients were examined for relative validity
      through Spearman's correlation, the percentage of classification into thirds of
      intake, Cohen's weighted kappa (kappa w) and Bland-Altman analysis. SETTING:
      General population living in Scotland. SUBJECTS: Ninety-six adults aged 18-65
      years. RESULTS: Spearman's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.21 (retinol) to
      0.71 (Mg). A median of 52 % of adults were correctly classified into thirds of
      intake (range: 42 % (PUFA, MUFA and Fe) to 64 % (percentage energy from
      carbohydrates)) and 8 % were grossly misclassified into opposite thirds of intake
      (range: 3 % (carbohydrates, percentage energy from carbohydrates) to 19 %
      (thiamin)). Values of kappa w ranged between 0.20 (PUFA, beta-carotene) to 0.55
      (percentage energy from carbohydrates). In the Bland-Altman analysis, the
      smallest limits of agreement, when expressed as a percentage of the mean intake
      from the FFQ and food diary, were seen for the main macronutrients carbohydrates,
      fat and protein. CONCLUSIONS: As in the previous validation study more than 10
      years ago, the FFQ gave higher estimates of energy and most nutrients than the
      food diary, but after adjustment for energy intake the FFQ could be used in place
      of non-weighed food diaries for most macronutrients and many micronutrients in
      large-scale epidemiological studies.

PMID- 27618970
TI  - Early-life conditions and adult mortality decline in Dutch cohorts born 1812
      1921.
AB  - Mounting evidence suggests that early-life conditions have an enduring effect on
      an individual's mortality risks as an adult. The contribution of improvements in
      early-life conditions to the overall decline in adult mortality, however, remains
      a debated issue. We provide an estimate of the contribution of improvements in
      early-life conditions to mortality decline after age 30 in Dutch cohorts born
      between 1812 and 1921. We used two proxies for early-life conditions: median
      height and early-childhood mortality. We estimate that improvements in early-life
      conditions contributed more than five years or about a third to the rise in
      women's life expectancy at age 30. Improvements in early-life conditions
      contributed almost three years or more than a quarter to the rise in men's life
      expectancy at age 30. Height appears to be the more important of the two proxies
      for early-life conditions.

PMID- 27618971
TI  - Self-control, dietary quality and new frontiers in the study of traits and
      wellness: A commentary on Keller, Hartmann and Siegrist (2016).

PMID- 27618972
TI  - Polyhydroxyalkanoate/carbon nanotube nanocomposites: flexible electrically
      conducting elastomers for neural applications.
AB  - AIM: Medium chain length-polyhydroxyalkanoate/multi-walled carbon nanotube
      (MWCNTs) nanocomposites with a range of mechanical and electrochemical properties
      were fabricated via assisted dispersion and solvent casting, and their
      suitability as neural interface biomaterials was investigated. MATERIALS &
      METHODS: Mechanical and electrical properties of medium chain length
      polyhydroxyalkanoate/MWCNTs nanocomposite films were evaluated by tensile test
      and electrical impedance spectroscopy, respectively. Primary rat mesencephalic
      cells were seeded on the composites and quantitative immunostaining of relevant
      neural biomarkers, and electrical stimulation studies were performed. RESULTS:
      Incorporation of MWCNTs to the polymeric matrix modulated the mechanical and
      electrical properties of resulting composites, and promoted differential cell
      viability, morphology and function as a function of MWCNT concentration.
      CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the feasibility of a green thermoplastic
      MWCNTs nanocomposite for potential use in neural interfacing applications.

PMID- 27618973
TI  - Online training improves paramedics' knowledge of autonomic dysreflexia
      management guidelines.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Single-group pre-/post-test with 3- and 6-month follow-ups.
      OBJECTIVES: To test the effects of the 'ABCs of AD' educational module on
      immediate and longer-term changes in paramedics' knowledge and beliefs about
      using the autonomic dysreflexia clinical practice guidelines (AD-CPGs). SETTING:
      Canada. METHODS: A total of 119 paramedics completed an AD knowledge test and
      measures of attitudes, perceived control, self-efficacy, social pressure from
      patients and health-care professionals, and intentions to use the AD-CPGs before
      and 1 week, 3 months and 6 months after viewing 'ABCs of AD'. RESULTS: There were
      significant improvements in AD knowledge, attitudes and social pressure from
      patients to use the AD-CPGs from baseline to 1 week, 3 months and 6 months post
      viewing (all P<0.001). Self-efficacy and intentions increased 1 week post viewing
      (P<0.001), but returned to baseline levels at 3 and 6 months (P>0.05). There was
      no change in perceived control or social pressure from health-care professionals.
      AD knowledge and beliefs explained 50-61% of the variance in intentions to use
      the AD-CPGs. Attitudes, social pressure from patients and perceived behavioural
      control were significant unique predictors of intentions at all time points
      (P<0.05); AD knowledge was a significant predictor at 6 months only (P=0.048). No
      other predictors were significant. CONCLUSION: 'ABCs of AD' has immediate and
      sustained effects on paramedics' knowledge of attitudes toward and perceived
      pressure from patients to use the AD-CPGs. Updates to paramedic patient care
      guidelines and standards are needed to increase paramedics' perceived control and
      self-efficacy to implement the guidelines, and their intentions to use the AD
      CPGs. SPONSORSHIP: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2011-CIHR- 260877).

PMID- 27618974
TI  - Severe spasticity in lower extremities is associated with reduced adiposity and
      lower fasting plasma glucose level in persons with spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of
      severe lower extremity spasticity on anthropometric dimensions, body composition
      and metabolic profiles in persons with chronic motor complete spinal cord injury
      (SCI). SETTING: Outpatient clinic. METHODS: Fifty-five of the 61 participants
      were divided into two groups (no or mild spasticity group, 28; severe spasticity
      group, 27) based on the assessment of the extensor muscle spasticity according to
      the modified Ashworth scale. Anthropometric dimensions (waist circumference (WC),
      waist-to-height ratio (WtHR)), body composition (fat mass (FM), body fat
      percentage (BFP), fat-free mass (FFM), fat-free mass percentage (FFMP), bone
      mineral density (BMD)) and metabolic profiles (leptin, total cholesterol, low
      density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG),
      fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c)) were compared
      between the two groups with different degree of spasticity. RESULTS: Spasticity
      of the extensor muscle group negatively correlated with BFP (r=-0.458, P<0.001).
      Patients with severe spasticity showed a lower WC and WtHR than those in the no
      or mild spasticity group (P=0.038, P=0.006, respectively). The FM, BFP, leptin
      and FPG of the severe spasticity group were significantly lower than those of the
      patients in the no or mild spasticity group (P=0.003, P<0.001, P<0.001 and
      P=0.037, respectively). However, no differences in BMD, total cholesterol, LDL,
      HDL, TG and HbA1c were observed between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of
      this study suggest that severe spasticity in lower extremities is associated with
      reduced adiposity and lower FPG levels in persons with chronic motor complete
      SCI.

PMID- 27618975
TI  - A pharmacoeconomic study of traditional anticoagulation versus direct oral
      anticoagulation for the treatment of venous thromboembolism in the emergency
      department.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) (deep vein thrombosis
      [DVT] and pulmonary embolism [PE]) are commonly treated as outpatients.
      Traditionally, patients are anticoagulated with low-molecular-weight heparin
      (LMWH) and warfarin, resulting in return visits to the ED. The direct oral
      anticoagulant (DOAC) medications do not require therapeutic monitoring or repeat
      visits; however, they are more expensive. This study compared health costs, from
      the hospital and patient perspectives, between traditional versus DOAC therapy.
      METHODS: A chart review of VTE cases at two tertiary, urban hospitals from
      January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012 was performed to capture historical practice
      in VTE management, using LMWH/warfarin. This historical data were compared
      against data derived from clinical trials, where a DOAC was used. Cost
      minimization analyses comparing the two modes of anticoagulation were completed
      from hospital and patient perspectives. RESULTS: Of the 207 cases in the cohort,
      only 130 (63.2%) were therapeutically anticoagulated (international normalized
      ratio 2.0-3.0) at emergency department (ED) discharge; patients returned for a
      mean of 7.18 (range: 1-21) visits. Twenty-one (10%) were admitted to the
      hospital; 4 (1.9%) were related to VTE or anticoagulation complications. From a
      hospital perspective, a DOAC (in this case, rivaroxaban) had a total cost
      avoidance of $1,488.04 per VTE event, per patient. From a patient perspective, it
      would cost an additional $204.10 to $349.04 over 6 months, assuming no
      reimbursement. CONCLUSIONS: VTE management in the ED has opportunities for
      improvement. A DOAC is a viable and cost-effective strategy for VTE treatment
      from a hospital perspective and, depending on patient characteristics and values,
      may also be an appropriate and cost-effective option from a patient perspective.

PMID- 27618976
TI  - Impact of Phlebotomy Tourniquet Use on Blood Lactate Levels in Acutely Ill
      Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Lactate levels are increasingly used to guide resuscitation efforts.
      Some surgical literature suggests that tourniquet use during phlebotomy falsely
      elevates results, although studies in healthy volunteers have not demonstrated
      this. The purpose of this study was to determine in clinical practice whether
      tourniquet use during the drawing of a lactate results in significantly altered
      levels compared to the result of a level drawn without a tourniquet. METHODS: A
      prospective cohort study was carried out on emergency department patients whose
      clinical presentation led a physician to order a lactate level. Written informed
      consent was obtained from patients or their proxies. Study lactates were obtained
      using a tourniquet during the draw sequence of other laboratory studies. Lactate
      levels for clinical use were drawn per hospital protocol with no tourniquet. The
      time of lactate measurements and patient demographic information were recorded.
      Lactate levels for each patient were compared with the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test.
      RESULTS: 40 patients were consented and enrolled. The median clinical lactate
      level was 1.9 (interquartile range 1.5-2.6), and the median study lactate level
      was 1.9 (interquartile range 1.4-2.7). There was no difference between paired
      lactate values (p=0.95). CONCLUSIONS: Tourniquet use appears to have no impact on
      measured lactate levels. Our findings suggest that current practices at many
      institutions regarding lactate collection are likely too stringent and should be
      changed.

PMID- 27618977
TI  - SGEM Hot Off the Press: hypertonic saline in severe traumatic brain injury: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - As part of the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine's (CJEM) developing social
      media strategy, 1 we are collaborating with the Skeptics' Guide to Emergency
      Medicine (SGEM) to summarize and critically appraise the current emergency
      medicine (EM) literature using evidence-based medicine principles. In the "Hot
      Off the Press" series, we select original research manuscripts published in CJEM
      to be featured on the SGEM website/podcast and discussed by the study authors and
      the online EM community. A similar collaboration is under way between the SGEM
      and Academic Emergency Medicine. What follows is a summary of the selected
      article, the immediate post-publication synthesis from the SGEM podcast,
      commentary by the first author, and the subsequent discussion from the SGEM blog
      and other social media. Through this series, we hope to enhance the value,
      accessibility, and application of important, clinically relevant EM research. In
      this, the second SGEM HOP hosted collaboratively with CJEM, we discuss a
      systematic review evaluating the use of hypertonic saline in the treatment of
      severe traumatic brain injury. 2. 

PMID- 27618978
TI  - The DSM revision process: needing to keep an eye on the empirical ball.
AB  - From DSM-III onward, successive DSM editions have strived to ground the
      diagnostic definitions in empirical evidence. DSM-IV established a three-stage
      process of empirical review, consisting of comprehensive and systematic
      literature reviews, secondary analyses of datasets, and field trials to provide
      reliability and validity data for the most substantial or controversial
      proposals. DSM-IV Work Group members were required to review the empirical
      literature to document explicitly the evidence supporting the text and criteria
      published in DSM-IV. As noted by Kendler and Solomon (2016), in contrast to the
      emphasis on systematic reviews in medicine which is a manifestation of the
      evidence-based medicine movement, such systematic evidence-based reviews have not
      been consistently integrated into the development of DSM-5, raising questions
      about empirical rigor underlying the DSM-5 revision. It is likely that this
      regression in terms of anchoring the revision process in a comprehensive review
      of empirical data stemmed from the emphasis during the DSM-5 revision process on
      trying to move DSM-5 from its categorical descriptive approach towards a more
      etiological dimensional approach. Although such a shift ultimately did not occur,
      the effort spent on trying to achieve a paradigm shift likely came at the expense
      of the hard work of conducting systematic empirical reviews. For the DSM to
      continue to remain credible in the current era of evidence-based medicine, it is
      essential that the developers of future editions of the DSM avoid taking their
      eye off the empirical ball and insure that the manual remains grounded in solid
      empirical evidence.

PMID- 27618979
TI  - Adjuvant immunotherapy in resected early non-small cell lung cancer-battle lost,
      hopefully not the war!

PMID- 27618980
TI  - More and sooner, but not necessarily better.

PMID- 27618983
TI  - An Unusual Cause of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Narghile Smoking.
AB  - BACKGROUND Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is commonly seen during the winter
      season in Turkey due to use of charcoal stoves and water heaters, but narghile
      smoking is a rare cause of CO poisoning. CASE REPORT In this paper, we report a
      CO poisoning case caused by narghile smoking. The patient was admitted to the ED
      with nausea, dizziness, vertigo, and syncope. CONCLUSIONS The diagnosis of CO
      poisoning depends on suspicious anamnesis. The major treatment of CO poisoning is
      oxygen supply. 

PMID- 27618982
TI  - Phenolics from Garcinia mangostana alleviate exaggerated vasoconstriction in
      metabolic syndrome through direct vasodilatation and nitric oxide generation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exaggerated vasoconstriction plays a very important role in the
      hypertension, a major component of metabolic syndrome (MetS). In the current
      work, the potential protective effect of methanol extract of fruit hulls of
      Garcinia mangostana L. on the exaggerated vasoconstriction in MetS has been
      investigated. In addition, the bioactive fraction and compounds as well as the
      possible mechanism of action have been illustrated. METHODS: The effect of
      methanol extract of G. mangostana (GMT) fruit hulls on the vascular reactivity of
      aorta isolated from animals with MetS was investigated through bioassay-guided
      fractionation procedures. GMT was partitioned with chloroform (I) and the
      remaining mother liquor was fractionated on a Diaion HP-20 with H2O, 50 and 100 %
      methanol to give fractions II, III, and IV, respectively. The effect of total
      extract (GMT), bioactive fraction and the bioactive compounds on the
      vasoconstriction were examined in aortae isolated from animals with MetS by
      incubation for 30 min before exposing aortae to cumulative concentrations of
      phenylephrine (PE). The direct relaxant effect was also examined by adding
      cumulative concentrations of the bioactive fraction and its bioactive compounds
      to PE precontracted vessels. In addition, aortic nitric oxide (NO) and reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) production was investigated. RESULTS: Bioassay-guided
      fractionation of GMT revealed isolation of garcimangosone D (1), aromadendrin-8-C
      beta-D-glucopyranoside (2), 2,4,3'-trihydroxy benzophenone-6-O-beta-D
      glucopyranoside (3), maclurin-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (rhodanthenone) (4),
      epicatechin (5), and 2,3',4,5',6-pentahydroxy benzophenone (6). Only compounds 2,
      4, and 5 significantly alleviated the exaggerated vasoconstriction of MetS aortae
      and in the same time showed significant vasodilation of PE pre-contracted aortae.
      To further illustrate the mechanism of action, the observed vasodilation was
      completely blocked by the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, Nomega-nitro-L
      arginine methyl ester hydrochloride and inhibited by guanylate cyclase inhibitor,
      methylene blue. However, vasodilation was not affected by the potassium channel
      blocker, tetraethylammonium or the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin. In
      addition, compounds 2, 4, and 5 stimulated NO generation from isolated aortae to
      levels comparable with acetylcholine. Furthermore, 4 and 5 inhibited reactive
      oxygen species generation in MetS aortae. CONCLUSION: The phenolic compounds 2,
      4, and 5 ameliorated the exaggerated vasoconstriction in MetS aortae through
      vasodilatation-NO generation mechanism.

PMID- 27618981
TI  - Deoxyinosine triphosphate induces MLH1/PMS2- and p53-dependent cell growth arrest
      and DNA instability in mammalian cells.
AB  - Deoxyinosine (dI) occurs in DNA either by oxidative deamination of a previously
      incorporated deoxyadenosine residue or by misincorporation of deoxyinosine
      triphosphate (dITP) from the nucleotide pool during replication. To exclude dITP
      from the pool, mammals possess specific hydrolysing enzymes, such as inosine
      triphosphatase (ITPA). Previous studies have shown that deficiency in ITPA
      results in cell growth suppression and DNA instability. To explore the mechanisms
      of these phenotypes, we analysed ITPA-deficient human and mouse cells. We found
      that both growth suppression and accumulation of single-strand breaks in nuclear
      DNA of ITPA-deficient cells depended on MLH1/PMS2. The cell growth suppression of
      ITPA-deficient cells also depended on p53, but not on MPG, ENDOV or MSH2. ITPA
      deficiency significantly increased the levels of p53 protein and p21
      mRNA/protein, a well-known target of p53, in an MLH1-dependent manner.
      Furthermore, MLH1 may also contribute to cell growth arrest by increasing the
      basal level of p53 activity.

PMID- 27618984
TI  - Pretreatment biopsy for thymic epithelial tumors-does histology subtype matter
      for treatment strategy?

PMID- 27618985
TI  - Assets and challenges facing caregivers when managing malaria in young children
      in rural Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite efforts to improve malaria management for children, a
      substantial gap remains between policy and practice in Uganda. The aim of this
      study was to create quantitative profiles of assets and challenges facing
      caregivers in Butaleja District when managing malaria in children aged 5 years
      and under. The objectives were: (1) to estimate caregivers' assets and challenges
      during an acute episode; and, (2) to ascertain which caregiver attributes
      influenced receipt of an appropriate anti-malarial the most. METHODS: Data from a
      2011 cross-sectional, household survey and ten psychometrically justified scales
      were used to estimate caregivers' assets and challenges. The scales scores were
      simple counts across a series of items, for example, the number of times a
      caregiver answered a knowledge item correctly or the number of times a caregiver
      relied on a credible source for information. Since high scores on six of the
      scales reflected attributes that eased the burden of caregiving, these were
      labelled 'caregiver assets'. Similarly, high scores on four of the measures
      signalled that a caregiver was having trouble managing the malaria episode,
      thereby reflecting deficits, and these were labelled 'caregiver challenges'.
      ANOVAs were used to compare scale scores between caregivers of children who
      received an appropriate anti-malarial versus those who did not. RESULTS: On the
      six asset scales, caregivers averaged highest on knowledge (65 %), followed by
      correct episode management (48 %), use of trustworthy information sources (40 %),
      ability to initiate or redirect their child's treatment (37 %), and lowest on
      possible encounters with health professionals to assist in treatment decisions
      (33 %). Similarly, the average caregiver reported problems with 74 % of the
      issues they might encounter in accessing advice, and 56 % of the problems in
      obtaining the best anti-malarial. Caregivers whose children received an
      appropriate anti-malarial demonstrated greater assets and fewer challenges than
      those whose child did not, with important regional differences existing. Overall,
      no one region performed particularly well across all ten scales. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings from this study suggest that the low use of artemisinin-based
      combination therapy (ACT) in Butaleja for children 5 years and under may result
      from caregivers' high perceived barrier to accessing ACT and low perceived
      benefits from ACT.

PMID- 27618986
TI  - The mutated tegument protein UL7 attenuates the virulence of herpes simplex virus
      1 by reducing the modulation of alpha-4 gene transcription.
AB  - BACKGROUND: UL7, a tegument protein of Herpes Simplex Virus type I (HSV-1), is
      highly conserved in viral infection and proliferation and has an unknown
      mechanism of action. METHODS: A HSV-1 UL7 mutant (UL7-MU) was constructed using
      the CRISPR-cas9 system. The replication rate and plaque morphology were used to
      analyze the biological characteristics of the wild-type (WT), UL7-MU and MU
      complemented P1 viruses. The virulence of the viruses was evaluated in mice. Real
      time RT-qPCR and ChIP assays were used to determine the expression levels of
      relevant genes. RESULTS: The replication capacity of a recombinant virus (UL7-MU
      strain) was 10-fold lower than that of the WT strain. The neurovirulence and
      pathologic effect of the UL7-MU strain were attenuated in infected mice compared
      with the WT strain. In the latency model, the expression of latency-associated
      transcript (LAT) in the central nervous system (CNS) and trigeminal nerve was
      lower in UL7-MU-infected mice than in WT strain-infected mice. The transcription
      level of the immediate-early gene alpha-4 in UL7-MU-infected cells was reduced by
      approximately 2-fold compared with the clear transcriptional peak identified in
      WT strain-infected Vero cells within 7 h post-infection (p.i.). CONCLUSION: By
      modulating the transcription of the alpha-4 gene, UL7 may be involved in
      transcriptional regulation through its interaction with the transcript complex
      structure of the viral genome during HSV-1 infection.

PMID- 27618989
TI  - Failure mechanism of monolayer graphene under hypervelocity impact of spherical
      projectile.
AB  - The excellent mechanical properties of graphene have enabled it as appealing
      candidate in the field of impact protection or protective shield. By considering
      a monolayer graphene membrane, in this work, we assessed its deformation
      mechanisms under hypervelocity impact (from 2 to 6 km/s), based on a serial of in
      silico studies. It is found that the cracks are formed preferentially in the
      zigzag directions which are consistent with that observed from tensile
      deformation. Specifically, the boundary condition is found to exert an obvious
      influence on the stress distribution and transmission during the impact process,
      which eventually influences the penetration energy and crack growth. For similar
      sample size, the circular shape graphene possesses the best impact resistance,
      followed by hexagonal graphene membrane. Moreover, it is found the failure shape
      of graphene membrane has a strong relationship with the initial kinetic energy of
      the projectile. The higher kinetic energy, the more number the cracks. This study
      provides a fundamental understanding of the deformation mechanisms of monolayer
      graphene under impact, which is crucial in order to facilitate their emerging
      future applications for impact protection, such as protective shield from orbital
      debris for spacecraft.

PMID- 27618988
TI  - HSCCC-based strategy for preparative separation of in vivo metabolites after
      administration of an herbal medicine: Saussurea laniceps, a case study.
AB  - This paper reports a novel strategy based on high-speed counter-current
      chromatography (HSCCC) technique to separate in vivo metabolites from refined
      extract of urine after administration of an herbal medicine. Saussurea laniceps
      (SL) was chosen as a model herbal medicine to be used to test the feasibility of
      our proposed strategy. This strategy succeeded in the case of separating four in
      vivo metabolites of SL from the urine of rats. Briefly, after oral administration
      of SL extract to three rats for ten days (2.0 g/kg/d), 269.1 mg of umbelliferone
      glucuronide (M1, purity, 92.5%), 432.5 mg of scopoletin glucuronide (M2, purity,
      93.2%), 221.4 mg of scopoletin glucuronide (M3, purity, 92.9%) and 319.0 mg of
      scopoletin glucuronide (M4, purity, 90.4%) were separated from 420 mL of the rat
      urine by HSCCC using a two-phase solvent system composed of methyl tert-butyl
      ether-n-butanol-acetonitrile-water (MTBE-n-BuOH-ACN-H2O) at a volume ratio of
      10:30:11:49. The chemical structures of the four metabolites, M1 to M4, were
      confirmed by MS and (1)H, (13)C NMR. As far as we know, this is the first report
      of the successful separation of in vivo metabolites by HSCCC after administration
      of an herbal medicine.

PMID- 27618987
TI  - Natural Killer (NK) Cell Functionality after human Spinal Cord Injury (SCI):
      protocol of a prospective, longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natural killer (NK) cells comprise the main components of lymphocyte
      mediated nonspecific immunity. Through their effector function they play a
      crucial role combating bacterial and viral challenges. They are also thought to
      be key contributors to the systemic spinal cord injury-induced immune-deficiency
      syndrome (SCI-IDS). SCI-IDS increases susceptibility to infection and extends to
      the post-acute and chronic phases after SCI. METHODS AND DESIGN: The prospective
      study of NK cell function after traumatic SCI was carried out in two centers in
      Berlin, Germany. SCI patients and control patients with neurologically silent
      vertebral fracture also undergoing surgical stabilization were enrolled.
      Furthermore healthy controls were included to provide reference data. The NK cell
      function was assessed at 7 (5-9) days, 14 days (11-28) days, and 10 (8-12) weeks
      post-trauma. Clinical documentation included the American Spinal Injury
      Association (ASIA) impairment scale (AIS), neurological level of injury,
      infection status, concomitant injury, and medications. The primary endpoint of
      the study is CD107a expression by NK cells (cytotoxicity marker) 8-12 weeks
      following SCI. Secondary endpoints are the NK cell's TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma
      production by the NK cells 8-12 weeks following SCI. DISCUSSION: The protocol of
      this study was developed to investigate the hypotheses whether i) SCI impairs NK
      cell function throughout the post-acute and sub-acute phases after SCI and ii)
      the degree of impairment relates to lesion height and severity. A deeper
      understanding of the SCI-IDS is crucial to enable strategies for prevention of
      infections, which are associated with poor neurological outcome and elevated
      mortality. TRIAL REGISTRATION: DRKS00009855 .

PMID- 27618990
TI  - Non-completion of upper secondary school among female and male young adults in an
      Arctic sociocultural context; the NAAHS study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Education is closely associated with health. Non-completion of upper
      secondary school influences academic achievement, employment, income and personal
      well-being. The purpose of the study is to explore predictors of non-completion
      of upper secondary school among female and male young adults in relation to
      mental health and educational factors in a socio-cultural, Arctic context.
      METHODS: The Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study (NAAHS) is a cross
      sectional, school-based survey that was conducted in 2003-2005. Eighty-three
      percent of the population of 5,877 10th graders participated; 49.1%females, 450
      reported indigenous Sami ethnicity, and 304 reported Laestadian affiliation. Data
      from NAAHS were merged with registry data from the National Education Database
      (NUDB) Norway for 3,987 adolescents who gave their consent for follow-up studies.
      RESULTS: Non-completion of upper secondary school was 36.9 % among females and
      36.6 % among males. Among females, predictors for non-completion were related to
      mental health symptoms, and among males, to residency in the northernmost and
      remote areas and self-reported functional difficulties at school, home and in
      leisure activities due to mental health problems. There was marginal significance
      between ethnicity and non-completion of upper secondary school, measured at 41.3
      % for Sami and 36.8 % for non-Sami, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The gender
      differences found in this study emphasize the need for gender-specific
      interventions in preventing non-completion of upper secondary school. There is a
      need to recognize and treat extensive pro-social behaviour and social problems in
      young females. Young males from remote areas and those who in early adolescence
      struggle with functional impairment due to mental health problems need early
      interventions in lower secondary school. Enhancing parents' and teachers' ability
      to detect symptoms and problems as well as low-threshold health services starting
      in primary school can be effective means. Education, mental health and social
      inclusion are prominent factors for future employment, income and independent
      living for young people. Future research should focus more on gender-specific
      patterns of risk and protective factors for completion of upper secondary school.

PMID- 27618992
TI  - Stability of total phenolic concentration and antioxidant capacity of extracts
      from pomegranate co-products subjected to in vitro digestion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Co-products obtained from pomegranate juice processing contain high
      levels of polyphenols with potential high added values. From value-addition
      viewpoint, the aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of polyphenolic
      concentrations in pomegranate fruit co-products in different solvent extracts and
      assess the effect on the total antioxidant capacity using the FRAP, DPPH and
      ABTS(+) assays during simulated in vitro digestion. METHODS: Pomegranate juice,
      marc and peel were extracted in water, 50 % ethanol (50%EtOH) and absolute
      ethanol (100%EtOH) and analysed for total phenolic concentration (TPC), total
      flavonoids concentration (TFC) and total antioxidant capacity in DPPH, ABTS(+)
      and FRAP assays before and after in vitro digestion. RESULTS: Total phenolic
      concentration (TPC) and total flavonoid concentration (TFC) were in the order of
      peel > marc > juice throughout the in vitro digestion irrespective of the
      extraction solvents used. However, 50 % ethanol extracted 1.1 to 12-fold more
      polyphenols than water and ethanol solvents depending on co-products. TPC and TFC
      increased significantly in gastric digests. In contrast, after the duodenal phase
      of in vitro digestion, polyphenolic concentrations decreased significantly (p <
      0.05) compared to those obtained in gastric digests. Undigested samples and
      gastric digests showed strong and positive relationships between polyphenols and
      the antioxidant activities measured in DPPH, ABTS(+) and FRAP assays, with
      correlation coefficients (r (2)) ranging between 0.930-0.990. In addition, the
      relationships between polyphenols (TPC and TFC) and radical cation scavenging
      activity in ABTS(+) were moderately positive in duodenal digests. CONCLUSION:
      Findings from this study showed that concentration of pomegranate polyphenols and
      the antioxidant capacity during in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion may not
      reflect the pre-digested phenolic concentration. Thus, this study highlights the
      need to provide biologically relevant information on antioxidants by providing
      data reflecting their stability and activity after in vitro digestion.

PMID- 27618993
TI  - Preventive percutaneous coronary intervention and aspiration thrombectomy-updates
      in the management of ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

PMID- 27618991
TI  - Structural differences in gut bacteria communities in developmental stages of
      natural populations of Lutzomyia evansi from Colombia's Caribbean coast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lutzomyia evansi, a phlebotomine insect endemic to Colombia's
      Caribbean coast, is considered to be the main vector of visceral and cutaneous
      leishmaniasis in the region. Although insects of this species can harbor
      pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms in their intestinal microbiota,
      there is little information available about the diversity of gut bacteria present
      in Lutzomyia evansi. In this study, conventional microbiological methods and
      molecular tools were used to assess the composition of bacterial communities
      associated with Lutzomyia evansi guts in immature and adult stages of natural
      populations from the department of Sucre (Caribbean coast of Colombia). METHODS:
      Sand flies were collected from two locations (peri-urban and jungle biotype) in
      the Department of Sucre (Caribbean coast of Colombia). A total of 752 Lutzomyia
      evansi intestines were dissected. In this study, 125 bacterial strains were
      isolated from different culture media (LB Agar, MacConkey Agar). Different
      methods were used for bacterial identification, including ribosomal intergenic
      spacer analysis (RISA) and analysis of the 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequences. The
      genetic profiles of the bacterial populations were generated and temporal
      temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) was used to compare them with
      total gut DNA. We also used PCR and DNA sequence analysis to determine the
      presence of Wolbachia endosymbiont bacteria and Leishmania parasites. RESULTS:
      The culture-dependent technique showed that the dominant intestinal bacteria
      isolated belong to Acinetobacter, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Ochrobactrum,
      Shinella and Paenibacillus in the larval stage; Lysobacter, Microbacterium,
      Streptomyces, Bacillus and Rummeliibacillus in the pupal stage; and
      Staphylococcus, Streptomyces, Brevibacterium, Acinetobacter, Enterobacter and
      Pantoea in the adult stage. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences
      between the fingerprint patterns of the PCR-TTGE bands in bacterial communities
      from immature and adult stages. Additionally, differences were found in bacterial
      community structure in fed females, unfed females, males and larvae. The
      intestinal bacteria detected by PCR-TTGE were Enterobacter cloacae and Bacillus
      thuringiensis, which were present in different life stages of Lu. evansi, and
      Burkholderia cenocepacia and Bacillus gibsonii, which were detected only in the
      larval stage. Wolbachia and Leishmania were not detected in gut samples of
      Lutzomyia evansi. CONCLUSIONS: The analyses conducted using microbiological and
      molecular approaches indicated significant variations in the bacterial
      communities associated with the gut of Lu. evansi, depending on the developmental
      stage and food source. We propose that these elements affect microbial diversity
      in L. evansi guts and may in turn influence pathogen transmission to humans
      bitten by this insect.

PMID- 27618994
TI  - A qualitative study of consumer perceptions and use of traffic light food
      labelling in Ecuador.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse patterns of knowledge, comprehension, attitudes and
      practices regarding the traffic light label placed on processed food packages to
      inform Ecuadorian consumers about levels of added fat, sugar and salt. DESIGN:
      Twenty-one focus group discussions organized by age group, sex and place of
      residence. Interviews with representatives of companies that manufacture or
      market processed foods. Analysis of regulations and structured observations of
      processed food labels. SETTING: Cities and towns in Ecuador's coastal, highland
      and eastern lowland regions. SUBJECTS: One hundred and seventy-eight participants
      in twenty-one focus group discussions and nine key informants. RESULTS: Focus
      group participants knew about the traffic light label and understood the
      information it conveys, but not all changed their attitudes and practices related
      to the purchase and consumption of processed foods. Children, adolescents and
      adult males reported using the information infrequently; adolescents interested
      in health and adult women used the label the most to select products.
      Representatives of companies that manufacture or market processed foods generally
      opposed the policy, stating that the information is misleading. Nevertheless,
      some companies have reduced levels of added fat, sugar or salt in their products.
      CONCLUSIONS: The traffic light label is an effective tool for conveying complex
      information. Its potential contribution to reduce consumption of products with
      high levels of fat, sugar and salt could be enhanced by promoting healthy diets
      among consumers who have not changed purchasing and consumption behaviour, by
      placing the label on front panels and by monitoring the production and marketing
      of processed foods.

PMID- 27618995
TI  - Ameliorating acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery: do high dose
      perioperative statins play a role?

PMID- 27618996
TI  - Postharvest Application of Oligochitosan and Chitosan Reduces Calyx Alterations
      of Citrus Fruit Induced by Ethephon Degreening Treatment.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated whether the postharvest application of
      oligochitosan and chitosan could be used as potential alternatives to 2,4
      dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) treatment to prevent calyx senescence of
      mandarin fruits induced by degreening treatment. The results of scanning electron
      microscopy indicated that the ethephon degreening treatment could accelerate the
      formation of pedicel abscission layers. Treatments with 15 g kg-1 oligochitosan,
      5 g kg-1 chitosan, and 50 mg kg-1 2,4-D significantly suppressed the formation of
      pedicel abscission layers of ethephon degreening fruit and inhibited the browning
      of the calyx. These two treatments delayed the degradation of protopectin,
      cellulose, and lignin. Inhibition of the increase in the abscisic acid (ABA)
      content was also observed in these two treatments. In conclusion, these two
      treatments, particularly 15 g kg-1 oligochitosan, could be potentially used as
      alternatives to 2,4-D to improve calyx alterations induced by the ethephon
      degreening treatment in mandarin fruits.

PMID- 27618998
TI  - Local knowledge held by farmers in Eastern Tyrol (Austria) about the use of
      plants to maintain and improve animal health and welfare.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The sustainable management of animal health and welfare is of
      increasing importance to consumers and a key topic in the organic farming
      movement. Few systematic studies have been undertaken investigating farmers'
      local knowledge related to this issue. Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) is a
      discipline focusing on local knowledge and folk methods in veterinary medicine,
      however most ethnoveterinarian studies primarily address the treatment of animal
      diseases. Very few studies have explored prophylactic methods. METHODS: An
      ethnoveterinary research project in Eastern Tyrol (Austria) was conducted in 2004
      and 2005 to gather information about local knowledge of animal husbandry from 144
      informants, with the emphasis on plants that maintain livestock health and
      welfare. RESULTS: Informants mentioned a total of 87 plants and 22 plant-based
      generic terms in the context of maintaining and improving livestock health and
      welfare. The most important preventive measures for maintaining and improving
      animal health and welfare were practices related to "fodder" and "feeding". In
      this category the plants mentioned could be grouped according to three different
      perceptions about their effect on animals: "Good or bad fodder", "Functional
      fodder" and "Fodder medicine". In addition to fodder, environmental management,
      the human-animal relationship, household remedies and cultural/religious
      activities were also mentioned. When asked about practices in the past that
      maintained animal health and well-being, interviewees mentioned, for example, the
      importance of the diversity of sources that used to be available to obtain feed
      and fodder. CONCLUSIONS: The informants' approach that feeding is central to
      livestock welfare is in line with the standard scientific literature on animal
      health, including in organic farming. Various scientific studies into common
      fodder evaluate the nutritive and dietary value, efficiency and safety of fodder.
      Future studies also have to consider the evaluation of traditional, local fodder
      resources. In fact, the value of 'food as medicine' for humans in the context of
      local knowledge has been widely assessed, but the potential health benefits of
      fodder and nutraceuticals in local and traditional ethnoveterinary methods
      require further attention.

PMID- 27618999
TI  - The bell tolls for indeterminant lung nodules: computer-aided nodule assessment
      and risk yield (CANARY) has the wrong tune.

PMID- 27618997
TI  - De novo sequencing, assembly and analysis of eight different transcriptomes from
      the Malayan pangolin.
AB  - Pangolins are scale-covered mammals, containing eight endangered species.
      Maintaining pangolins in captivity is a significant challenge, in part because
      little is known about their genetics. Here we provide the first large-scale
      sequencing of the critically endangered Manis javanica transcriptomes from eight
      different organs using Illumina HiSeq technology, yielding ~75 Giga bases and
      89,754 unigenes. We found some unigenes involved in the insect hormone
      biosynthesis pathway and also 747 lipids metabolism-related unigenes that may be
      insightful to understand the lipid metabolism system in pangolins. Comparative
      analysis between M. javanica and other mammals revealed many pangolin-specific
      genes significantly over-represented in stress-related processes, cell
      proliferation and external stimulus, probably reflecting the traits and
      adaptations of the analyzed pregnant female M. javanica. Our study provides an
      invaluable resource for future functional works that may be highly relevant for
      the conservation of pangolins.

PMID- 27619001
TI  - Participation of pro- and anti-nociceptive interleukins in botulinum toxin A
      induced analgesia in a rat model of neuropathic pain.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A) shows antinociceptive properties, and
      its clinical applications in pain therapy are continuously increasing. BoNT/A
      specifically cleaves SNAP-25, which results in the formation of a non-functional
      SNARE complex, thereby potently inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters and
      neuropeptides, including those involved in nociception. The aim of the present
      study was to determine the effects of BoNT/A (300pg/paw) on pain-related behavior
      and the levels of glial markers and interleukins in the spinal cord and dorsal
      root ganglia (DRG) after chronic constriction injury (CCI) to the sciatic nerve
      in rats. Glial activity was also examined after repeated intraperitoneal
      injection of minocycline combined with a single BoNT/A injection. Our results
      show that a single intraplantar BoNT/A injection did not influence motor function
      but strongly diminished pain-related behaviors in naive and CCI-exposed rats.
      Additionally, microglial inhibition using minocycline enhanced the analgesic
      effects of BoNT/A. Western blotting results suggested that CCI induces the
      upregulation of the pronociceptive proteins IL-18, IL-6 and IL-1beta in the
      ipsilateral lumbar spinal cord and DRG, but no changes in the levels of the
      antinociceptive proteins IL-18BP, IL-1RA and IL-10 were observed. Interestingly,
      BoNT/A injection suppressed the CCI-induced upregulation of IL-18 and IL-1beta in
      the spinal cord and/or DRG and increased the levels of IL-10 and IL-1RA in the
      DRG. In summary, our results suggest that BoNT/A significantly attenuates pain
      related behavior and microglial activation and restores the neuroimmune balance
      in a CCI model by decreasing the levels of pronociceptive factors (IL-1beta and
      IL-18) and increasing the levels of antinociceptive factors (IL-10 and IL-1RA) in
      the spinal cord and DRG.

PMID- 27619000
TI  - Malaria risk factor assessment using active and passive surveillance data from
      Aceh Besar, Indonesia, a low endemic, malaria elimination setting with Plasmodium
      knowlesi, Plasmodium vivax, and Plasmodium falciparum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As malaria transmission declines, it becomes more geographically
      focused and more likely due to asymptomatic and non-falciparum infections. To
      inform malaria elimination planning in the context of this changing epidemiology,
      local assessments on the risk factors for malaria infection are necessary, yet
      challenging due to the low number of malaria cases. METHODS: A population-based,
      cross-sectional study was performed using passive and active surveillance data
      collected in Aceh Besar District, Indonesia from 2014 to 2015. Malaria infection
      was defined as symptomatic polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed infection in
      index cases reported from health facilities, and asymptomatic or symptomatic PCR
      confirmed infection identified in reactive case detection (RACD). Potential risk
      factors for any infection, species-specific infection, or secondary-case
      detection in RACD were assessed through questionnaires and evaluated for
      associations. RESULTS: Nineteen Plasmodium knowlesi, 12 Plasmodium vivax and six
      Plasmodium falciparum cases were identified passively, and 1495 community members
      screened in RACD, of which six secondary cases were detected (one P. knowlesi,
      three P. vivax, and two P. falciparum, with four being asymptomatic). Compared to
      non-infected subjects screened in RACD, cases identified through passive or
      active surveillance were more likely to be male (AOR 12.5, 95 % CI 3.0-52.1),
      adult (AOR 14.0, 95 % CI 2.2-89.6 for age 16-45 years compared to <15 years),
      have visited the forest in the previous month for any reason (AOR 5.6, 95 % CI
      1.3-24.2), and have a workplace near or in the forest and requiring overnight
      stays (AOR 7.9, 95 % CI 1.6-39.7 compared to workplace not near or in the
      forest). Comparing subjects with infections of different species, differences
      were observed in sub-district of residence and other demographic and behavioural
      factors. Among subjects screened in RACD, cases compared to non-cases were more
      likely to be febrile and reside within 100 m of the index case. CONCLUSION: In
      this setting, risk of malaria infection in index and RACD identified cases was
      associated with forest exposure, particularly overnights in the forest for work.
      In low-transmission settings, utilization of data available through routine
      passive and active surveillance can support efforts to target individuals at high
      risk.

PMID- 27619002
TI  - Mechanisms of beta-amino acid incorporation in polyketide macrolactam
      biosynthesis.
AB  - Macrolactam antibiotics are an important class of macrocyclic polyketides. In
      recent years, the number of identified beta-amino acid-containing macrolactams
      and their biosynthetic gene clusters have greatly expanded. Functional analyses
      of vicenistatin biosynthetic enzymes have revealed conserved biosynthetic
      machinery that incorporates a beta-amino acid starter unit into the polyketide
      skeleton. A VinN-type adenylation enzyme recognizes a specific beta-amino acid
      starter unit and ligates it with a standalone acyl carrier protein (ACP). The
      resulting beta-aminoacyl-ACP is further aminoacylated to yield dipeptidyl-ACP,
      whose terminal aminoacyl moiety is a characteristic feature of polyketide
      biosynthetic intermediates. Structural and mechanistic analyses of enzymes that
      selectively recognize beta-amino acids and dipeptide moieties of polyketide
      intermediates are reviewed.

PMID- 27619003
TI  - Clostridia: a flexible microbial platform for the production of alcohols.
AB  - Solventogenic clostridia are native producers of ethanol and many higher alcohols
      employing a broad range of cheap renewable substrates, such as lignocellulosic
      materials and C1 gases (CO and CO2). These characteristics enable solventogenic
      clostridia to act as flexible microbial platforms for the production of liquid
      biofuels. With the rapid development of genetic tools in recent years, the
      intrinsic intractability of clostridia has been largely overcome, thus,
      engineering clostridia for production of chemicals and fuels has attracted
      increasing interests. Here, we provide an overview of recent progress in the
      production of alcohols based on solventogenic clostridia. Saccharolytic,
      cellulolytic and gas-fermenting clostridia are discussed, with a special focus on
      strategies for metabolic engineering to enable and to improve clostridia for the
      production of higher alcohols.

PMID- 27619004
TI  - Cognitive control modulates preferential sensory processing of affective stimuli.
AB  - Adaptive human behavior crucially relies on the ability of the brain to allocate
      resources automatically to emotionally significant stimuli. This ability has
      consistently been demonstrated by studies showing preferential processing of
      affective stimuli in sensory cortical areas. It is still unclear, however,
      whether this putatively automatic mechanism can be modulated by cognitive control
      processes. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to
      investigate whether preferential processing of an affective face distractor is
      suppressed when an affective distractor has previously elicited a response
      conflict in a word-face Stroop task. We analyzed this for three consecutive
      stages in the ventral stream of visual processing for which preferential
      processing of affective stimuli has previously been demonstrated: the striate
      area (BA 17), category-unspecific extrastriate areas (BA 18/19), and the fusiform
      face area (FFA). We found that response conflict led to a selective suppression
      of affective face processing in category-unspecific extrastriate areas and the
      FFA, and this effect was accompanied by changes in functional connectivity
      between these areas and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast,
      preferential processing of affective face distractors was unaffected in the
      striate area. Our results indicate that cognitive control processes adaptively
      suppress preferential processing of affective stimuli under conditions where
      affective processing is detrimental because it elicits response conflict.

PMID- 27619005
TI  - Impaired motor inhibition in adults who stutter - evidence from speech-free stop
      signal reaction time tasks.
AB  - Idiopathic stuttering is a fluency disorder characterized by impairments during
      speech production. Deficits in the motor control circuits of the basal ganglia
      have been implicated in idiopathic stuttering but it is unclear how these
      impairments relate to the disorder. Previous work has indicated a possible
      deficiency in motor inhibition in children who stutter. To extend these findings
      to adults, we designed two experiments to probe executive motor control in people
      who stutter using manual reaction time tasks that do not rely on speech
      production. We used two versions of the stop-signal reaction time task, a measure
      for inhibitory motor control that has been shown to rely on the basal ganglia
      circuits. We show increased stop-signal reaction times in two independent samples
      of adults who stutter compared to age- and sex-matched control groups. Additional
      measures involved simple reaction time measurements and a task-switching task
      where no group difference was detected. Results indicate a deficiency in
      inhibitory motor control in people who stutter in a task that does not rely on
      overt speech production and cannot be explained by general deficits in executive
      control or speeded motor execution. This finding establishes the stop-signal
      reaction time as a possible target for future experimental and neuroimaging
      studies on fluency disorders and is a further step towards unraveling the
      contribution of motor control deficits to idiopathic stuttering.

PMID- 27619006
TI  - Sterilization Effects of Adult-targeted Baits Containing Insect Growth Regulators
      on Delia antiqua.
AB  - The onion maggot, Delia antiqua, is a devastating pest of liliaceous crops and
      current control measures fail to avert pesticide residues, threats to
      agroecosystem, and costly expenditures. Insect growth regulators (IGRs) are used
      as trypetid pest chemosterilants for their suppression on adult fertility and
      fecundity, but their effects on onion flies are unknown. Here, three IGRs
      (lufenuron, cyromazine, pyriproxyfen) were incorporated into baits to evaluate
      their effects on onion fly survival, fecundity, fertility, susceptibility of
      adults in different ages and offspring development. Lufenuron and cyromazine did
      not affect survival of new-emerged adults, but lufenuron inhibited adult
      fertility without affecting fecundity, and cyromazine reduced fertility and
      fecundity. Differently, pyriproxyfen enhanced fecundity within 10 days after
      treatment, while it reduced adult survival without affecting fertility. The
      fertility of younger adults was affected by lufenuron and cyromazine whereas the
      fecundity was affected with cyromazine and pyriproxyfen. For offspring of onion
      flies treated with lufenuron or cyromazine, most of larvae died within 5 days
      after hatch, but surviving larvae pupated and emerged normally. Pyriproxyfen did
      not affect offspring larval survival or pupation but affected pupal emergence.
      Thus, lufenuron and cyromazine could be potential chemosterilants for onion
      flies.

PMID- 27619007
TI  - Oral intake of added titanium dioxide and its nanofraction from food products,
      food supplements and toothpaste by the Dutch population.
AB  - Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is commonly applied to enhance the white colour and
      brightness of food products. TiO2 is also used as white pigment in other products
      such as toothpaste. A small fraction of the pigment is known to be present as
      nanoparticles (NPs). Recent studies with TiO2 NPs indicate that these particles
      can have toxic effects. In this paper, we aimed to estimate the oral intake of
      TiO2 and its NPs from food, food supplements and toothpaste in the Dutch
      population aged 2 to over 70 years by combining data on food consumption and
      supplement intake with concentrations of Ti and TiO2 NPs in food products and
      supplements. For children aged 2-6 years, additional intake via ingestion of
      toothpaste was estimated. The mean long-term intake to TiO2 ranges from 0.06
      mg/kg bw/day in elderly (70+), 0.17 mg/kg bw/day for 7-69-year-old people, to
      0.67 mg/kg bw/day in children (2-6 year old). The estimated mean intake of TiO2
      NPs ranges from 0.19 MUg/kg bw/day in elderly, 0.55 MUg/kg bw/day for 7-69-year
      old people, to 2.16 MUg/kg bw/day in young children. Ninety-fifth percentile
      (P95) values are 0.74, 1.61 and 4.16 MUg/kg bw/day, respectively. The products
      contributing most to the TiO2 intake are toothpaste (in young children only),
      candy, coffee creamer, fine bakery wares and sauces. In a separate publication,
      the results are used to evaluate whether the presence of TiO2 NPs in these
      products can pose a human health risk.

PMID- 27619008
TI  - Motivational interviewing and the decisional balance procedure for cessation
      induction in smokers not intending to quit.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The decisional balance (DB) procedure examines the pros and cons of
      behavior change and was considered a component in early formulations of
      Motivational Interviewing (MI). However, there is controversy and conflicting
      findings regarding the use of a DB exercise within the treatment of addictions
      and a need to clarify the role of DB as a component of MI. METHODS: College
      tobacco smokers (N=82) with no intentions on quitting were randomly assigned to
      receive a single counseling session of either Motivational Interviewing using
      only the decisional balance component (MIDB), or health education around smoking
      cessation (HE). Assessments were obtained at baseline, immediately post
      treatment, 1week, and 4weeks. RESULTS: Compared to HE, the MIDB sessions scored
      significantly higher on the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI)
      scale (all standardized differences d>1, p<0.001). Unexpectedly, self-report Pros
      of smoking scores increased for MIDB but decreased for HE (MIDB vs HE
      standardized difference d=0.5; 95%CI 0.1 to 1.0, p=0.021). Both groups showed
      significant reductions in smoking rates and increases in motivation to quit, quit
      attempts, and self-reported abstinence, with no significant group differences.
      Changes in the Pros of smoking were correlated with MITI scores, but not with
      cessation outcomes. In contrast, increases in the Cons of smoking and therapeutic
      alliance were predictive of better cessation outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The
      decisional balance exercise as formulated by earlier versions of MI may be
      counter-productive and cautions around its use are warranted. Instead, improved
      cessation outcomes appear associated with increasing perceived benefits of
      quitting and positive therapeutic alliance.

PMID- 27619009
TI  - Associations among impulsivity, trauma history, and alcohol misuse within a young
      adult sample.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Young adult alcohol misuse is associated with numerous long-term
      adverse outcomes. Given the link between impulsivity and alcohol use, we examined
      whether three impulsivity-related traits differentially predicted number of
      drinks per drinking day (DDD). We also examined whether these effects varied for
      those with different trauma histories. METHOD: The current study (n=254) examined
      motor, non-planning, and attentional impulsivity as predictors of DDD. It also
      examined whether impulsivity was differentially predictive of DDD across
      individuals in: a control group (non-trauma exposed), a trauma exposed but non
      PTSD group, and a PTSD group. RESULTS: Regardless of group, more motor
      impulsivity was associated with more DDD. The effect of non-planning impulsivity
      varied according to trauma history. Specifically, more non-planning impulsivity
      predicted more DDD for those without PTSD. Finally, attentional impulsivity was
      not predictive of DDD. CONCLUSIONS: Young adults with high levels of motor
      impulsivity, regardless of trauma history, may be a particularly high-risk group
      in terms of propensity for alcohol use/misuse. Additionally, high levels of non
      planning impulsivity may signify those at greater risk for alcohol misuse, among
      those without PTSD. Motor impulsivity and non-planning impulsivity may serve as
      useful intervention targets in alcohol misuse prevention efforts. Implications
      for future research in this area are discussed.

PMID- 27619010
TI  - PTSD, alcohol dependence, and conduct problems: Distinct pathways via lability
      and disinhibition.
AB  - This study tested the role of affect lability and disinhibition in mediating
      associations between PTSD symptoms and two forms of alcohol-related problems,
      dependence syndrome symptoms (e.g., impaired control over consumption) and
      conduct problems (e.g., assault, risk behaviors). Genotype at the serotonin
      transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) was hypothesized to moderate
      associations between traumatic stress and PTSD symptoms. In addition, the study
      tested whether childhood traumatic stress moderated associations between combat
      trauma and PTSD symptoms. Participants were 270 OIF/OEF/OND veterans. The
      hypothesized model was largely supported. Participants with the low expression
      alleles of 5-HTTLPR (S or LG) exhibited stronger associations between childhood
      (but not combat) traumatic stress and PTSD symptoms. Affect lability mediated the
      associations between PTSD symptoms and alcohol dependence symptoms. Behavioral
      disinhibition mediated associations between PTSD symptoms and conduct related
      problems. Conditional indirect effects indicated stronger associations between
      childhood traumatic stress and lability, behavioral disinhibition, alcohol
      consumption, AUD symptoms, and associated conduct problems via PTSD symptoms
      among those with the low expression 5-HTTLPR alleles. However, interactions
      between combat trauma and either childhood trauma or genotype were not
      significant. The results support the hypothesis that affect lability and
      behavioral disinhibition are potential intermediate traits with distinct
      associations with AUD and associated externalizing problems.

PMID- 27619012
TI  - An Aqueous Symmetric Sodium-Ion Battery with NASICON-Structured Na3 MnTi(PO4 )3.
AB  - A symmetric sodium-ion battery with an aqueous electrolyte is demonstrated; it
      utilizes the NASICON-structured Na3 MnTi(PO4 )3 as both the anode and the
      cathode. The NASICON-structured Na3 MnTi(PO4 )3 possesses two electrochemically
      active transition metals with the redox couples of Ti(4+) /Ti(3+) and Mn(3+)
      /Mn(2+) working on the anode and cathode sides, respectively. The symmetric cell
      based on this bipolar electrode material exhibits a well-defined voltage plateau
      centered at about 1.4 V in an aqueous electrolyte with a stable cycle performance
      and superior rate capability. The advent of aqueous symmetric sodium-ion battery
      with high safety and low cost may provide a solution for large-scale stationary
      energy storage.

PMID- 27619011
TI  - A livelihood intervention to improve economic and psychosocial well-being in
      rural Uganda: Longitudinal pilot study.
AB  - HIV and poverty are inextricably intertwined in sub-Saharan Africa. Economic and
      livelihood intervention strategies have been suggested to help mitigate the
      adverse economic effects of HIV, but few intervention studies have focused
      specifically on HIV-positive persons. We conducted three pilot studies to assess
      a livelihood intervention consisting of an initial orientation and loan package
      of chickens and associated implements to create poultry microenterprises. We
      enrolled 15 HIV-positive and 22 HIV-negative participants and followed them for
      up to 18 months. Over the course of follow-up, participants achieved high chicken
      survival and loan repayment rates. Median monthly income increased, and severe
      food insecurity declined, although these changes were not statistically
      significant (P-values ranged from 0.11 to 0.68). In-depth interviews with a
      purposive sample of three HIV-positive participants identified a constellation of
      economic and psychosocial benefits, including improved social integration and
      reduced stigma.

PMID- 27619013
TI  - The prevalence of malaria in people living with HIV in Yaounde, Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coinfection with malaria and HIV is common in Sub-Saharan Africa. In
      the advent of a decline in the global incidence of malaria, it is important to
      generate updated data on the burden of malaria in people living with HIV
      (PLWHIV). This study was designed to determine the prevalence of malaria in
      PLWHIV in Yaounde, Cameroon, as well determine the association between CD4 (+) T
      cell count and malaria in the study population. METHODS: In a cross sectional
      study performed between April 2015 and June 2016, 355 PLWHIV were enrolled and
      blood samples were collected for analysis. Complete blood count was performed
      using an automated haematology analyser (Mindray(r), BC-2800) and CD4 (+) T cell
      count was performed using a flow cytometer (BD FASCountTM). Giemsa-stained blood
      films were examined to detect malaria parasite. The Pearson's chi-square,
      student's T-test, ANOVA, and correlation analysis were all performed as part of
      the statistical analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of malaria observed in the
      study was 7.3 % (95 % CI: 4.8-10.6). No significant association was observed
      between the prevalence of malaria and age or gender. The prevalence of malaria
      was higher in participants who were not sleeping in insecticide treated bed nets,
      ITNs (p < 0.001); and in participants who were not on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis
      (p = 0.002). The prevalence of malaria (p < 0.001) and malaria parasite density
      (p = 0.005) were observed to be progressively higher in participants with CD4 (+)
      T cell count below 200cells/MUl. Furthermore, the mean CD4 (+) T cell count was
      observed to be lower in participants coinfected with malaria compared to non
      coinfected participants (323.5 vs 517.7) (p < 0.001). In this study, a negative
      correlation was observed between malaria parasite density and CD4 (+) T cell
      count (p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS: A low prevalence of malaria was observed in the
      study population. Some of the factors accounting for the low prevalence of
      malaria in this study population may include the health seeking habit of PLWHIV,
      the use of cotrimoxazole based chemoprophylaxis, and their cautious use of ITNs.

PMID- 27619014
TI  - Conservation and diversification of the transcriptomes of adult Paragonimus
      westermani and P. skrjabini.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paragonimiasis is an important and widespread neglected tropical
      disease. Fifteen Paragonimus species are human pathogens, but two of these,
      Paragonimus westermani and P. skrjabini, are responsible for the bulk of human
      disease. Despite their medical and economic significance, there is limited
      information on the gene content and expression of Paragonimus lung flukes.
      RESULTS: The transcriptomes of adult P. westermani and P. skrjabini were studied
      with deep sequencing technology. Approximately 30 million reads per species were
      assembled into 21,586 and 25,825 unigenes for P. westermani and P. skrjabini,
      respectively. Many unigenes showed homology with sequences from other food-borne
      trematodes, but 1,217 high-confidence Paragonimus-specific unigenes were
      identified. Analyses indicated that both species have the potential for aerobic
      and anaerobic metabolism but not de novo fatty acid biosynthesis and that they
      may interact with host signaling pathways. Some 12,432 P. westermani and P.
      skrjabini unigenes showed a clear correspondence in bi-directional sequence
      similarity matches. The expression of shared unigenes was mostly well correlated,
      but differentially expressed unigenes were identified and shown to be enriched
      for functions related to proteolysis for P. westermani and microtubule based
      motility for P. skrjabini. CONCLUSIONS: The assembled transcriptomes of P.
      westermani and P. skrjabini, inferred proteins, and extensive functional
      annotations generated for this project (including identified primary sequence
      similarities to various species, protein domains, biological pathways, predicted
      proteases, molecular mimics and secreted proteins, etc.) represent a valuable
      resource for hypothesis driven research on these medically and economically
      important species.

PMID- 27619016
TI  - International medical graduates among top US transplant surgeons.

PMID- 27619015
TI  - Sympathetic activity and early mobilization in patients in intensive and
      intermediate care with severe brain injuries: a preliminary prospective
      randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients who experience severe brain injuries are at risk of
      secondary brain damage, because of delayed vasospasm and edema. Traditionally,
      many of these patients are kept on prolonged bed rest in order to maintain
      adequate cerebral blood flow, especially in the case of subarachnoid hemorrhage.
      On the other hand, prolonged bed rest carries important morbidity. There may be a
      clinical benefit in early mobilization and our hypothesis is that early gradual
      mobilization is safe in these patients. The aim of this study was to observe and
      quantify the changes in sympathetic activity, mainly related to stress, and blood
      pressure in gradual postural changes by the verticalization robot (Erigo(r)) and
      after training by a lower body ergometer (MOTOmed-letto(r)), after prolonged bed
      rest of minimum 7 days. METHODS: Thirty patients with severe neurological
      injuries were randomized into 3 groups with different protocols of mobilization:
      Standard, MOTOmed-letto(r) or Erigo(r) protocol. We measured plasma
      catecholamines, metanephrines and blood pressure before, during and after
      mobilization. RESULTS: Blood pressure does not show any significant difference
      between the 3 groups. The analysis of the catecholamines suggests a significant
      increase in catecholamine production during Standard mobilization with
      physiotherapists and with MOTOmed-letto(r) and no changes with Erigo(r).
      CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary prospective randomized study shows that the
      mobilization of patients with severe brain injuries by means of Erigo(r) does not
      increase the production of catecholamines. It means that Erigo(r) is a well
      tolerated method of mobilization and can be considered a safe system of early
      mobilization of these patients. Further studies are required to validate our
      conclusions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered in the ISRCTN registry
      with the trial registration number ISRCTN56402432 . Date of registration:
      08.03.2016. Retrospectively registered.

PMID- 27619018
TI  - Predicting Japanese Kampo formulas by analyzing database of medical records: a
      preliminary observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 90 % of physicians in Japan use Kampo medicine in daily
      practice. However, it is a challenge for physicians who do not specialize in
      Kampo medicine to select a proper Kampo formula out of the 148 officially
      approved formulas, as the decision relies on traditional measurements and
      traditional medicine pattern diagnoses. The present study tries to evaluate the
      feasibility of a decision support system for frequently used Kampo formulas.
      METHODS: Our study included 393 patients who visited the Kampo Clinic at Keio
      University Hospital for the first time between May 2008 and March 2013. We
      collected medical records through a browser-based questionnaire system and
      applied random forests to predict commonly prescribed Kampo formulas. RESULTS:
      The discriminant rate was the highest (87.0 %) when we tried to predict a Kampo
      formula from two candidates using age, sex, body mass index, subjective symptoms,
      and the two essential and predictable traditional medicine pattern diagnoses
      (excess-deficiency and heat-cold) as predictor variables. The discriminant rate
      decreased as the candidate Kampo formulas increased, with the greatest drop
      occurring between three (76.7 %) and four (47.5 %) candidates. Age, body mass
      index, and traditional medicine pattern diagnoses had higher importance according
      to the characteristics of each Kampo formula when we utilized the prediction
      model, which predicted a Kampo formula from among three candidates. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results suggest that our decision support system for non-specialist
      physicians works well in selecting appropriate Kampo formulas from among two or
      three candidates. Additional studies are required to integrate the present
      statistical analysis in clinical practice.

PMID- 27619019
TI  - Reading skills in Persian deaf children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Reading skills are necessary for educational development in children.
      Many studies have shown that children with hearing loss often experience delays
      in reading. This study aimed to examine reading skills of Persian deaf children
      with cochlear implant and hearing aid and compare them with normal hearing
      counterparts. METHOD: The sample consisted of 72 s and third grade Persian
      speaking children aged 8-12 years. They were divided into three equal groups
      including 24 children with cochlear implant (CI), 24 children with hearing aid
      (HA), and 24 children with normal hearing (NH). Reading performance of
      participants was evaluated by the "Nama" reading test. "Nama" provides normative
      data for hearing and deaf children and consists of 10 subtests and the sum of the
      scores is regarded as reading performance score. RESULTS: Results of ANOVA on
      reading test showed that NH children had significantly better reading performance
      than deaf children with CI and HA in both grades (P < 0.001). Post-hoc analysis,
      using Tukey test, indicated that there was no significant difference between HA
      and CI groups in terms of non-word reading, word reading, and word comprehension
      skills (respectively, P = 0.976, P = 0.988, P = 0.998). CONCLUSION: Considering
      the findings, cochlear implantation is not significantly more effective than
      hearing aid for improvement of reading abilities. It is clear that even with
      considerable advances in hearing aid technology, many deaf children continue to
      find literacy a challenging struggle.

PMID- 27619017
TI  - Recombination-driven generation of the largest pathogen repository of antigen
      variants in the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, causative agent of Chagas
      disease, depends upon a cell surface-expressed trans-sialidase (ts) to avoid
      activation of complement-mediated lysis and to enhance intracellular invasion.
      However these functions alone fail to account for the size of this gene family in
      T. cruzi, especially considering that most of these genes encode proteins lacking
      ts enzyme activity. Previous whole genome sequencing of the CL Brener clone of T.
      cruzi identified ~1400 ts variants, but left many partially assembled sequences
      unannotated. RESULTS: In the current study we reevaluated the trans-sialidase
      like sequences in this reference strain, identifying an additional 1779 full
      length and partial ts genes with their important features annotated, and
      confirming the expression of previously annotated "pseudogenes" and newly
      annotated ts family members. Multiple EM for Motif Elicitation (MEME) analysis
      allowed us to generate a model T. cruzi ts (TcTS) based upon the most conserved
      motif patterns and demonstrated that a common motif order is highly conserved
      among ts family members. Using a newly developed pipeline for the analysis of
      recombination within large gene families, we further demonstrate that TcTS family
      members are undergoing frequent recombination, generating new variants from the
      thousands of functional and non-functional ts gene segments but retaining the
      overall structure of the core TcTS family members. CONCLUSIONS: The number and
      variety as well as high recombination frequency of TcTS family members supports
      strong evolutionary pressure, probably exerted by immune selection, for continued
      variation in ts sequences in T. cruzi, and thus for a unique immune evasion
      mechanism for the large ts gene family.

PMID- 27619020
TI  - Parental perceptions and understanding of information provision, management
      options and factors influencing the decision-making process in the treatment of
      children with glue ear.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a common cause of hearing loss
      and possible developmental delay in children, and there are a range of
      'preference sensitive' treatment options. We aimed to evaluate the attitudes and
      beliefs of parents of affected children to treatment options including watchful
      waiting, hearing aids, grommets, and, oral steroids with the intention of
      developing our understanding of decision-making and the factors influencing it,
      sources of parental information, and satisfaction with information provision.
      DESIGN: We recruited a convenience sample of twelve parents of eleven children
      with OME at a single ENT department of a teaching hospital into a qualitative
      research study. The children of the parents interviewed had already been
      recruited into the Oral Steroids for the Resolution of Otitis Media with effusion
      In Children (OSTRICH) study. Semi structured interviews were audio recorded,
      transcribed and then coded using an inductive, thematic approach. RESULTS:
      Parents were satisfied with the verbal provision of information during the
      treatment consultation, although many were keen to receive supplementary printed
      information. Discussion with family and friends helped the decision-making
      process, whereas insufficient information and a paternalistic approach were
      viewed as obstacles. Parents were particularly influenced by the following: the
      immediacy of the treatment option effect, perceived efficacy, perceived risks and
      adverse effects, social implications (especially with hearing aids) and past
      personal and informant experience. CONCLUSIONS: Parents appreciate clinicians
      tailoring information provision to parents' information needs and preferred
      format. Clinicians should also elicit parental attitudes towards the different
      management options for OME and the factors influencing their decisions, in order
      to optimise shared-decision making and ultimately provide a better standard of
      clinical care.

PMID- 27619021
TI  - Incidental radiographic findings of thyroglossal duct cysts: Prevalence and
      management.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To determine the epidemiology of incidental thyroglossal
      duct cysts (TGDC) discovered on imaging studies obtained in the head and neck
      area in children and to discuss subsequent management. METHODS: A retrospective
      chart review was performed at Texas Children's Hospital of all computed
      tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies obtained in the head
      and neck region between July 2011 and July 2014. Images obtained for the purpose
      of evaluating a neck or lingual mass were excluded from the study, as were
      patients with previously known TGDCs. Data including age, sex, location of TGDC,
      size, presence of symptoms, referral to Otolaryngology, and intervention were
      recorded. RESULTS: A total of 60,663 CT and MR studies of the head, brain, sinus,
      neck, and C-spine during this time period were reviewed; of these 69 (0.1%) cases
      contained incidental discovery of probable TGDCs with more males (40) than
      females (29). Ages ranged from 3 days to 17 years old, with the mean age at 5
      years. Locations varied, with majority at base of tongue (83%) followed by hyoid
      (13%) then infrahyoid straps (4%). Sizes ranged from 2 to 28 mm with average size
      at 8 mm. 11 of these patients were referred to an Otolaryngologist; 9 were
      asymptomatic and decision was made to observe, the other two subsequently
      underwent surgical excision secondary to mass effect and dysphagia with
      histologic confirmation of diagnosis. CONCLUSION: TGDCs commonly present as an
      anterior neck mass, however the majority of incidentally discovered TGDCs on
      imaging are located at the base of tongue. Management of these findings should
      include referral to an Otolaryngologist for further evaluation with the decision
      to intervene surgically based on development of clinical symptoms.

PMID- 27619022
TI  - Reliability, validity and normative data of the Italian version of the Bus Story
      test.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the reliability and the validity of the Italian version
      of the Bus Story Test (I-BST), providing normative data in Italian children.
      METHODS: A total of 552 normally developing children (278 males and 274 females)
      aged 3; 6 to 9; 0 years, were enrolled. Test-retest, intra- and inter-rater
      reliability were analysed on a sample of respectively 145, 178 and 178 children.
      Normative data were gathered from all the enrolled children and estimate centiles
      according to the CG-LMS method provided. The children were divided into 11 age
      classes of six months each; percentile scores and standard error measurement were
      analysed in children from age class 4; 0-4; 5 years to age class 8; 6-811 years.
      Age effects on I-BST were analysed. RESULTS: Results showed high test-retest,
      intra- and inter-rater reliability scores. A significant age effect on I-BST
      scores emerged from the ANOVA test analysis; in particular, as age increases, so
      do I-BST scores. CONCLUSION: The I-BST is a reliable and valid tool. The
      availability of normative data for Italian speaking children may help clinicians
      during clinical assessment.

PMID- 27619023
TI  - Charges associated with imaging techniques in evaluation of pediatric hearing
      loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The best imaging study for evaluation of pediatric hearing loss is
      debated and it is well known magnetic resonance imaging is more costly than
      computed tomography. The objective of this study is to evaluate charges of
      computed tomography temporal bone (CTTB) versus magnetic resonance imaging brain,
      internal auditory canal/cerebellopontine angle (MRI IAC/CPA), with and without
      sedation in the pediatric population in order to assess to what extent the
      charges for the procedure are increased. In addition, differences in need for
      sedation and duration of sedation will be evaluated. METHODS: All patients, 0-18
      years that underwent CTTB or MRI IAC/CPA, between January 2013 through December
      2014 within department of otolaryngology. RESULTS: 120 CTTBs (118 non-sedated and
      2 sedated) and 51 MRI IAC/CPAs (32 non-sedated and 19 sedated) were performed.
      Average charge for non-sedated CTTB was $1856. CTTB scan under sedation incurred
      total additional charges of $2385. Average charges for non-sedated MRI IAC/CPA
      was $3770. Technical charges for sedated MRI IAC/CPA was $151 lower ($2858) but
      had additional sedation charges of $2256, a recovery room charge of $250, and
      additional professional fees of $1496 for total charges of $7621. 37% of MRI
      IAC/CPAs needed sedation to be completed in comparison to 1.6% of CTTB.
      CONCLUSION: MRI IAC/CPAs are, on average, twice as costly as CTTBs. Almost 40% of
      patients need sedation to complete MRI IAC/CPA. These considerations may factor
      into decision making when choosing imaging modality in evaluation of pediatric
      hearing loss.

PMID- 27619024
TI  - The suppressive effects of metformin on inflammatory response of otitis media
      model in human middle ear epithelial cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Metformin is a well-known anti-diabetic agent, but its mechanism is
      unclear. Recently, many reports have described the anti-inflammatory effects of
      metformin on various cell types, including human vascular smooth muscle cells and
      endothelial cells. This study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory
      effect of metformin on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation in human
      middle ear epithelial cell lines (HMEECs). METHODS: The effect of pretreatment by
      metformin (0, 1, 2, 4 mM) was evaluated by the inflammatory response in the
      HMEECs exposed to LPS (10 ng/ml). For verifying the suppression effect of
      metformin on the inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)
      was evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and COX-2 protein was
      assessed by western blotting. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was
      measured using 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFHDA) fluorocytometer.
      RESULTS: Stimulation by LPS 10 ng/ml concentration showed 12.4 folds increase the
      expression of TNF-alpha mRNA compared to control on HMEECs. Pretreatment of
      metformin dose dependently suppressed the expression of TNF-alpha mRNA induced by
      LPS (2 mM, p = 0.03). The amount of COX-2 protein production was significantly
      decreased by metformin pretreatment (4 mM, p = 0.01). The production of ROS was
      decreased significantly by pretreatment of metformin (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings suggest that the inflammatory response and oxidative stress
      induced by LPS could be suppressed by metformin in HMEECs. Therefore, metformin
      may have a therapeutic potential for the treatment of the otitis media.

PMID- 27619025
TI  - Allergic sensitization prevalence in a children and adolescent population of
      northeastern Greece region.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of allergic sensitization in a childhood
      and adolescent population, to explore age- and gender-specific variations and
      finally to discover co-sensitivities among allergens. METHODS: A two-stage cross
      sectional survey among school-aged children. The two stages of the study involved
      enrollment of schools and then skin prick testing (SPT) within schools. A total
      of 675 school children were included in the study. Of those, 231 were diagnosed
      with allergic rhinitis (AR), according to the medical history as provided by
      parental-completed questionnaires and positive SPT results. The antigen panel
      consisted of common allergens and more specifically house dust mites-HDM
      (Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus), grass mix, trees
      (olive, cypress and pine), weeds (Parietaria spp.), cat and dog epithelium and
      moulds (Alternaria spp., Cladosporium spp.). The SPT sensitivity was graded
      according to SPT-USA Standards. RESULTS: The overall prevalence rate of AR was
      34.22%. In total, 93 school children (40.3%) were mono- and 138 (59.7%) were poly
      sensitized. Overall, the most prevalent sensitizations in decreasing order were
      to HDM (59.74%), to grasses (48.9%), to Alternaria (34.6%) and to olive (14.71%).
      There were no age- and sex-specific differences, except for Alternaria mould that
      showed a significant prevalence among primary school-aged children and
      predominance in the female gender, by contrast to grass pollen allergy that was
      predominant to males. A 32% of SPT-positive individuals were not aware of their
      allergy, with no statistically significant differences between ages. Co
      sensitivities were detected for grass pollens and pine and olive trees, for
      Alternaria and Cladosporium moulds, for cypress and pine trees, and finally for
      dog and cat danders. CONCLUSIONS: Given data among school-aged children should be
      a baseline from which to monitor disease trends and is considered important for
      the optimal management of AR patients.

PMID- 27619026
TI  - The comparison of bleeding and pain after tonsillectomy in bipolar electrocautery
      vs cold dissection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgeries performed
      in pediatric, it has potential major complications such as pain and bleeding.
      This study aimed to compare the bleeding and pain after tonsillectomy in bipolar
      electrocautery tonsillectomy versus cold dissection. METHODS: This double blind
      clinical trial was conducted on 70 pediatric patients who were candidate of
      tonsillectomy. Patients were divided into two groups of including bipolar cautery
      (BC) and cold dissection (CD). operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and
      postoperative bleeding and pain were evaluated in the current study. RESULTS: In
      both of the CD and BC groups, no significant difference was found in terms of sex
      and age. The average amount of the intraoperative blood loss in BC group was
      14.086 +/- 5.013 ml and in CD group was 26.14 +/- 4.46 ml (p. v = 0.0001). The
      mean time of operation in BC group was 19 +/- 2.89 min and in CD group was 29.31
      +/- 5.29 min (p. v = 0.0001). patients were evaluated in terms of pain on the
      first, third, fifth, and seventh days after the operation. No statistically
      significant difference was found between two groups. Moreover, Compared pain
      scores in all times across two groups, no significant difference was found. In
      terms of postoperative bleeding, none of the patients in both groups had bleeding
      during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that bipolar electrocautery
      tonsillectomy can significantly reduce the operation time and intraoperative
      blood loss; however, postoperative pain and blood loss were similar in both
      techniques. We recommend bipolar electrocautery as the most suitable alternative
      method for tonsillectomy, especially in children.

PMID- 27619027
TI  - Multivariate analysis on unilateral cleft lip and palate treatment outcome by
      EUROCRAN index: A retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study is to evaluate the dental arch relationship and palatal
      morphology of unilateral cleft lip and palate patients by using EUROCRAN index,
      and to assess the factors that affect them using multivariate statistical
      analysis. METHOD: A total of one hundred and seven patients from age five to
      twelve years old with non-syndromic unilateral cleft lip and palate were included
      in the study. These patients have received cheiloplasty and one stage
      palatoplasty surgery but yet to receive alveolar bone grafting procedure. Five
      assessors trained in the use of the EUROCRAN index underwent calibration exercise
      and ranked the dental arch relationships and palatal morphology of the patients'
      study models. For intra-rater agreement, the examiners scored the models twice,
      with two weeks interval in between sessions. Variable factors of the patients
      were collected and they included gender, site, type and, family history of
      unilateral cleft lip and palate; absence of lateral incisor on cleft side,
      cheiloplasty and palatoplasty technique used. Associations between various
      factors and dental arch relationships were assessed using logistic regression
      analysis. RESULT: Dental arch relationship among unilateral cleft lip and palate
      in local population had relatively worse scoring than other parts of the world.
      Crude logistics regression analysis did not demonstrate any significant
      associations among the various socio-demographic factors, cheiloplasty and
      palatoplasty techniques used with the dental arch relationship outcome.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study has limitations that might have affected the results,
      example: having multiple operators performing the surgeries and the inability to
      access the influence of underlying genetic predisposed cranio-facial variability.
      These may have substantial influence on the treatment outcome. The factors that
      can affect unilateral cleft lip and palate treatment outcome is multifactorial in
      nature and remained controversial in general.

PMID- 27619028
TI  - Audiological findings in Noonan syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate audiologic properties of
      patients with Noonan syndrome and compare these findings with those of unaffected
      peers. METHODS: The study included 17 children with Noonan syndrome and 20
      typically developing children without Noonan syndrome. Pure tone and speech
      audiometry, immitancemetric measurement, otoacoustic emissions measurement and
      auditory brainstem response tests were applied to all (n = 37) children. RESULTS:
      Hearing thresholds of children with Noonan syndrome were higher (poorer) than
      those observed unaffected peers, while the hearing sensitivity of the both groups
      were normal limits (p = 0.013 for right, p = 0.031 for left ear). Transient
      evoked otoacoustic emissions amplitudes of the children with Noonan syndrome were
      lower than the children without Noonan syndrome (p = 0.005 for right, p = 0.002
      for left ear). Middle ear pressures and auditory brainstem response values were
      within normal limits and there was no difference between the two groups (p >
      0.05). CONCLUSION: General benefit of the present study is to characterize the
      audiologic findings of children with Noonan syndrome, which is beneficial in
      clinics evaluating children with Noonan syndrome.

PMID- 27619029
TI  - Morphology of nerve endings in vocal fold of human newborn.
AB  - Sensory receptors are distributed throughout the oral cavity, pharynx, and
      larynx. Laryngeal sensitivity is crucial for maintaining safe swallowing, thus
      avoiding silent aspiration. Morphologic description of different receptor types
      present in larynx vary because of the study of many different species, from mouse
      to humans. The most commonly sensory structures described in laryngeal mucosa are
      free nerve endings, taste buds, muscle spindles, glomerular and corpuscular
      receptors. This study aimed at describing the morphology and the distribution of
      nerve endings in premature newborn glottic region. Transversal serial frozen
      sections of the whole vocal folds of three newborns were analyzed using an immuno
      histochemical process with a pan-neuronal marker anti-protein gene product 9.5
      (PGP 9.5). Imaging was done using a confocal laser microscope. Nerve fiber
      density in vocal cord was calculated using panoramic images in software
      Morphometric Analysis System v1.0. Some sensory structures, i.e. glomerular
      endings and intraepithelial free nerve endings were found in the vocal cord
      mucosa. Muscle spindles, complex nerve endings (Meissner-like, spherical,
      rectangular and growing) spiral-wharves nerve structures were identified in
      larynx intrinsic muscles. Nervous total mean density in vocal cord was similar in
      the three newborns, although they had different gestational age. The mean nerve
      fiber density was higher in the posterior region than anterior region of vocal
      cord. The present results demonstrate the occurrence of different morphotypes of
      sensory corpuscles and nerve endings premature newborn glottic region and provide
      information on their sensory systems. 

PMID- 27619030
TI  - Parents' perceptions of tele-audiological testing in a rural hearing screening
      program in South India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tele-diagnostic audiological testing in a hearing screening program
      for infants and young children is a novel practice, and this study is the first
      to explore its application in a rural community. It is important to understand
      parental perceptions and confidence when introducing a new process such as tele
      audiological diagnostic testing in rural areas. METHOD: A questionnaire with 17
      rater-administered items was designed to elicit comments concerning the quality
      of tele-hearing testing and video-conferencing, access to tele-hearing testing,
      and parents' attitudes regarding tele-hearing testing in the village. The
      questionnaire was administered by an audiologist not involved in tele-diagnostic
      testing to avoid bias. RESULTS: Parents perceived tele-hearing testing as equal
      in quality to in-person testing. Technical factors such as good video
      conferencing quality and logistical factors such as ease of access due to
      reasonable travel time to testing facility could have influenced these
      perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: While these results show tele-hearing testing is an
      acceptable alternative, occasional poor signal quality should be addressed prior
      to large-scale implementation.

PMID- 27619031
TI  - Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions in schoolchildren.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) are one of the least studied
      types of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). The purpose of this study was twofold:
      first, to determine the prevalence of SOAEs in schoolchildren, and second to test
      whether there was dependence between the presence or absence of SOAEs in a
      subject and the corresponding level of their transiently evoked OAEs (TEOAEs).
      METHODS: Measurements were made on a group of normally hearing children of age 7
      13 years. A technique which detects synchronized SOAEs (SSOAEs) was used in which
      the response to repetitive clicks (12.5/s) was analyzed in the 60-80 ms time
      window following each click. The matching pursuit method was used to detect
      SSOAEs components above the noise in this window. For comparison, TEOAEs evoked
      by clicks (40/s) were obtained using the standard nonlinear protocol (20 ms time
      window). RESULTS: The prevalence of SOAEs was 37%, and higher in females and
      right ears. There was an average of 2.3 SOAEs per emitting ear. TEOAE levels were
      higher for ears that had SOAEs and were lower for ears that did not have any
      SOAEs. CONCLUSION: Although not all normal human have SOAEs, they appear to
      reflect an important aspect of cochlear function. Their presence is strongly
      related to elevated levels of TEOAEs which are routinely used in audiological
      tests.

PMID- 27619032
TI  - Sleep architecture in Pierre-Robin sequence: The effect of mandibular distraction
      osteogenesis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pierre-Robin Sequence (PRS), a triad of micro/retrognathia,
      glossoptosis, and upper airway obstruction, usually in conjunction with a cleft
      palate is frequently associated with significant morbidity. Mandibular
      distraction osteogenesis (MDO) is an effective treatment modality to address
      retroglossal upper airway obstruction by increasing the anterior-posterior
      diameter of the infant airway. Although MDO has been shown to improve the apnea
      hypopnea index (AHI) in children with PRS, the consequences of MDO on other
      aspects of infant sleep, including hypercapnea, hypoxia, the REM to Non-REM
      ratio, as well as its effect on central and mixed apneas has not been
      investigated with an adequate sample size. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the effect
      of MDO on key components of sleep architecture in infants with PRS. METHODS:
      Charts from 32 infants with PRS that were addressed with MDO at our tertiary-care
      children's hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Of these, 26 infants (57.7%
      male; mean age = 4.1 weeks, SD = 5.0) had pre- and post-operative polysomnograms
      (PSG). Paired samples t-tests were used to compare pre- and post- MDO sleep
      architecture mean score differences. RESULTS: Among the 26 infants, 73.1%
      demonstrated severe pre-MDO sleep apnea (AHI > 10). Several aspects of sleep
      architecture were found to improve post-operatively. Significant improvements
      were found in AHI (30.3 vs. 8.7; t = 4.1, p < 0.001), obstructive apneas (79.3
      vs. 5.8; t = 4.0, p < 0.001), hypopneas (48.1 vs. 22.1; t = 2.2, p = 0.040), time
      spent below 90% SpO2 (3.9% vs. 0.7%; t = 3.3, p = 0.003), and lowest SpO2 nadir
      (75.4% vs. 82.9%; 3.4, p = 0.002). In addition, a marginally significant
      improvement was found for mixed apnea (6.3 vs. 1.6; t = 1.99, p = 0.058).
      CONCLUSION: MDO improves several sleep architecture parameters in this sample of
      infants with PRS. Statistically significant improvement was seen in obstructive
      apneas, hypopneas, AHI, obstructive AHI, and several indicators of hypoxia during
      sleep.

PMID- 27619033
TI  - A novel method for evaluation of oxidative stress in children with OSA.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the role of adenotonsillar hypertrophy and the outcomes
      of adenotonsillectomy (AT) on oxidative stress for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
      in children using a new method; thiol/disulfide homeostasis. METHODS: The study
      is consisted of 45 children with OSA and 38 healthy control subjects with similar
      age and sex. Children 3-12 years of age with OSA, defined as having an
      apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) of 5 or more in an overnight polysomnography,
      underwent adenotonsillectomy. OSA was classified as mild (1 <= AHI<10), moderate
      (10 <= AHI<20) or severe (AHI>=20). Venous blood samples were taken
      preoperatively and one month after surgery. The blood levels of thiol/disulfide
      homeostasis were assessed and compared between patients and control group, before
      and after adenotonsillectomy. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI), mean age and gender
      distribution were similar between the study and control groups. Statistically
      significant higher disulfide levels and ratios were found in the study group
      compared to the control group; in patients with moderate to severe OSA compared
      to mild OSA; in the preoperative period compared to postoperative period (p <
      0.001, for all). CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides preliminary evidence
      between oxidative stress and OSA in children with adenotonsillar.
      Adenotonsillectomy for OSA may result in a dramatic improvement in oxidative
      stress as measured by thiol/disulfide homeostasis.

PMID- 27619034
TI  - Pediatric tracheostomy: Survival and long-term outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate if there were any
      differences in survival and long-term outcomes between pediatric patients with
      and without neurological impairment who underwent tracheostomy. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review of pediatric patients (age 0-15 years) who underwent
      tracheostomy between March 2002 and December 2013 was conducted. Patients were
      categorized into two groups: those who were neurologically impaired (NI)
      (pediatric cerebral performance category, 3-6) and those who were not
      neurologically impaired (NN) (pediatric cerebral performance category, 1-2).
      Survival rates and cumulative incidence of weaning from mechanical ventilation or
      decannulation were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: A total of
      212 patients were included. Among them, 141 were categorized into NI group and 71
      into NN group. Between the two groups, there were no significant differences in
      survival rates and cumulative incidence of weaning from mechanical ventilation.
      In total patients, one-year survival rate was 0.86 (95%CI 0.80-0.90) and five
      year survival rate was 0.71 (0.62-0.78). One-year weaning rate was 0.58 (0.51
      0.65) and five-year weaning rate was 0.66 (0.59-0.74). Decannulation rates were
      significantly lower in NI group than in NN group (p < 0.001). One-year and five
      year decannulation rates were 0.04 (0.01-0.09) and 0.17 (0.10-0.29),
      respectively, in NI group, and 0.20 (0.12-0.33) and 0.54 (0.40-0.69),
      respectively, in NN group. CONCLUSIONS: In children who underwent tracheostomy,
      the decannulation rate was lower in those with neurological impairment compared
      with that in those without neurological impairment. There were no significant
      differences in survival or ventilator weaning between the two groups.

PMID- 27619035
TI  - Numerical modeling of the traction process in the treatment for Pierre-Robin
      Sequence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The goal of this numerical study was to identify the results of
      modulated growth simulation of the mandibular bone during traction in Pierre
      Robin Sequence (PRS) treatment. METHODS: Numerical simulation was conducted in
      the Ansys 16.2 environment. Two FEM (finite elements method) models of a
      newborn's mandible (a spatial and a flat model) were developed. The procedure
      simulated a 20-week traction period. The adopted growth measure was mandibular
      length increase, defined as the distance between the Co-Pog anatomic points used
      in cephalometric analysis. RESULTS: The simulation calculations conducted on the
      developed models showed that modulation had a significant influence on the pace
      of bone growth. In each of the analyzed cases, growth modulation resulted in an
      increase in pace. The largest value of increase was 6.91 mm. The modulated growth
      with the most beneficial load variant increased the basic value of the growth by
      as much as 24.6%, and growth with the least beneficial variant increased by 7.4%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Traction is a simple, minimally invasive and inexpensive procedure.
      The proposed algorithm may enable the development of a helpful forecasting tool,
      which could be of real use to doctors working on Pierre-Robin Sequence and other
      mandibular deformations in children.

PMID- 27619036
TI  - Radiation exposure from videofluoroscopic swallow studies in children with a type
      1 laryngeal cleft and pharyngeal dysphagia: A retrospective review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Radiation exposure is recognized as having long term consequences,
      resulting in increased risks over the lifetime. Children, in particular, have a
      projected lifetime risk of cancer, which should be reduced if within our
      capacity. The objective of this study is to quantify the amount of ionizing
      radiation in care for children being treated for aspiration secondary to a type 1
      laryngeal cleft. With this baseline data, strategies can be developed to create
      best practice pathways to maintain quality of care while minimizing radiation
      exposure. METHODS: Retrospective review of 78 children seen in a tertiary
      pediatric aerodigestive center over a 5 year period from 2008 to 2013 for
      management of a type 1 laryngeal cleft. The number of videofluoroscopic swallow
      studies (VFSS) per child was quantified, as was the mean effective dose of
      radiation exposure. The 78 children reviewed were of mean age 19.9 mo (range 4 mo
      12 years). All children were evaluated at the aerodigestive center with clinical
      symptomatology and subsequent diagnosis of a type 1 laryngeal cleft. Aspiration
      was assessed via VFSS and exposure data collected. Imaging exams where dose
      parameters were not available were excluded. RESULTS: The mean number of VFSS
      each child received during the total course of treatment was 3.24 studies (range
      1-10). The average effective radiation dose per pediatric VFSS was 0.16 mSv
      (range: 0.03 mSv-0.59 mSv) per study. Clinical significance was determined by
      comparison to a pediatric CXR. At our facility a CXR yields an effective
      radiation dose of 0.017 mSv. Therefore, a patient receives an equivalent total of
      30.6 CXR over the course of management. CONCLUSIONS: Radiation exposure has known
      detrimental effects particularly in pediatric patients. The total ionizing
      radiation from VFSS exams over the course of management of aspiration has
      heretofore not been reported in peer reviewed literature. With this study's data
      in mind, future developments are indicated to create innovative clinical pathways
      and limit radiation exposure.

PMID- 27619037
TI  - Evaluation of vitamin D levels in children with primary epistaxis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship
      between 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D 3] values and incidences of primary
      epistaxis among children. METHODS: A total of 42 cases and 55 matched controls
      were included in our study. The study group and control group were well matched
      for age and gender. Age, gender, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)
      with reference to the international normalized ratio (INR), prothrombin time
      (PT), and 25(OH)D 3, parathormone (PTH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), calcium
      (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and phosphorus (P) values were recorded for each
      participant. RESULTS: Serum 25(OH) D values were found to be statistically
      significantly (P = 0.03) lower in children with primary epistaxis than in the
      healthy control group. Our study also revealed that 25(OH) D values were
      considerably (P < 0.001) lower in the group with primary epistaxis and upper
      respiratory tract infections (RTI) than in the group with primary epistaxis
      without upper RTI. Univariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that
      25(OH)D 3 < 20 ng/ml [odds ratio (OR) 1.117, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.019
      1.225); P = 0.019] and serum albumin level [OR 3.499, 95% CI (1072-11,426); P =
      0.038] ratio were significantly related to primary epistaxis. Furthermore,
      multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that 25(OH)D 3 < 20 ng/ml [OR
      1.141, 95% CI (1047-1242); P = 0.003] and serum albumin level [OR 3.340, 95% CI
      (1068-10,446); P = 0.038] ratio were significantly related to primary epistaxis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Many studies have revealed that vitamin D is a preventive and
      therapeutic agent for inflammation and infection, thereby providing benefits for
      children with primary epistaxis. In line with this, our study suggested that a
      patient's vitamin D status could also be important for the prevention of
      childhood primary epistaxis, although further studies are required to validate
      our findings.

PMID- 27619038
TI  - Evaluation of the acoustic (stapedius) reflex test in children and adolescents
      with peripheral facial nerve palsy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The stapedius nerve is one of the branches of the facial nerve in
      the temporal bone. It supplies the stapedius muscle, which is responsible for the
      attenuation reflex that protects the inner ear from loud noises. The stapedius
      (acoustic) reflex (SR) test is useful in identifying the site of facial nerve
      injury. The return of the SR (acoustic) to normal after an injury is a good
      prognostic factor in the treatment of facial nerve palsy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the effect of FNP on the SR (acoustic) response and
      determine the acoustic reflex threshold (ART) levels on the affected side.
      MATERIAL AND METHOD: In this study, 70 patients, 3-7 years old, were screened.
      The study population consisted of 26 boys (37%) and 44 girls (63%). Follow-up
      tests were performed 3-18 months after the initial tests. RESULTS: Most patients
      in the study population had a negative SR (acoustic) response on the affected
      side. In other patients, mean ART values were statistically higher on the
      affected side. There was no statistically significant relationship between a
      reflex response and the time from the onset of facial nerve palsy. DISCUSSION: In
      the available literature, the SR (acoustic) testing is limited in determining
      whether or not the reflex is present without stimulus frequency or ART
      measurements. It is estimated that the reflex response is negative with
      ipsilateral stimulation on the affected side in 35-80% patients. CONCLUSIONS: The
      SR (acoustic) is absent in most patients on the affected side. The ART value was
      statistically higher on the affected side. The SR (acoustic) response was
      statistically time independent.

PMID- 27619039
TI  - Tracheocutaneous fistula closure in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Systematic review of surgical techniques for tracheocutaneous fistula
      closure in children and successful closure or development of adverse events. DATA
      SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. REVIEW METHODS: A
      medical librarian was utilized to perform a systematic review. RESULTS: Fourteen
      studies were identified. Eight studies reported outcomes for primary closure
      alone; one discussed results for secondary closure alone; and five included a
      combination of children who underwent either primary and secondary closure alone.
      No difference between surgical techniques was identified for effectiveness of
      closure (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.10) and major (RR = 1.68, 95% CI: 0.56 to
      5.05) or minor complications (RR = 1.28, 95% CI: 0.50 to 3.27). No mortalities
      were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Both primary and secondary closure techniques for
      persistent tracheocutaneous fistulas in children are effective and associated
      with acceptable rates of complications. Given the available evidence, neither
      approach appears to be superior. Considerations for decision making in surgical
      approach may include family and social considerations, facility resource
      utilization, and cost differential. Further investigation may be directed at
      improving patient selection.

PMID- 27619040
TI  - Demographic data, referral patterns and interventions used for children and
      adolescents with tinnitus and hyperacusis in Denmark.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether children and adolescents with tinnitus and/or
      hyperacusis are seen in Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) clinics and to report the clinical
      data, treatment and referral patterns of these children. To describe the
      population of children and adolescents with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis found in
      Educational- Psychological Advisory services (EPAs) and Centres for special
      Education for Adults (CEAs) and to identify the referral patterns and
      interventions used for the children in each of these settings. METHODS: A
      prospective study within 15 ENT clinics was conducted from June 2014 to February
      2015. All children with a primary complaint of tinnitus and/or hyperacusis was
      reported. No changes in daily practice regarding diagnostics, treatment or
      referral were made. A retrospective case review was undertaken during a five-year
      period from 01/01/2009 to 31/12/2013 in each Danish municipality and region.
      RESULTS: In the prospective ENT study, 12 children were identified and in the
      retrospective CEA/EPA study 69 children were identified. The 12 children seen by
      ENT (8 females and 4 male) had an age range from 5.7 to 14 years. The majority of
      the 69 children seen by CEA/EPA (n = 50, 72.5%) had been diagnosed with tinnitus
      as a primary complaint. Hyperacusis was the primary complaint in 9 cases (12.8%),
      and both tinnitus and hyperacusis were reported in 11 cases (15.7%). The findings
      of this study indicate that a majority of children with tinnitus and/or
      hyperacusis are seen in settings designed for adult audiological rehabilitation.
      Counselling, including explanations and discussion of coping strategies was the
      most commonly reported intervention. Intervention methods corresponding with
      guidelines for tinnitus management in adults were used in 11 cases (15.9%).
      CONCLUSION: Overall only a small number of children with tinnitus and/or
      hyperacusis were identified in this systems, suggesting that either the children
      are seen at general practitioner level or not being referred at all. It may also
      be the case that the incidence of troublesome tinnitus in childhood is lower than
      the epidemiological data proposes. Referral pathways indicate a general
      uncertainty about which services provide acquire sufficient intervention. This
      study indicates that clinicians working at tinnitus services for adults (CEAs)
      collectively have the skills to help older children, and that a service
      development focus should be on the younger children as this point.

PMID- 27619041
TI  - Pediatric thyroid cancer: An update from the SEER database 2007-2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To update the medical literature regarding the incidence, disease
      specific survival, and treatment modalities utilized in pediatric patients
      diagnosed with thyroid carcinomas. STUDY DESIGN: Cross Sectional Analysis of a
      National Database. STUDY SETTING: SEER Database. METHODS: The National Cancer
      Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Database was queried
      for all cases of pediatric thyroid cancer between the years 2007 and 2012.
      Patients ages 0-19 were grouped by histological subtypes and demographic data,
      overall incidence rate, and disease specific survival after surgery and surgery
      with radiation therapy. Fifteen-Year Disease Specific Survival Curves were
      generated and treatment modalities were compared to assess for statistical
      differences at each yearly interval. RESULTS: A total of 1723 pediatric patients
      were identified and the average age-adjusted rate of malignancy was determined to
      be 0.59 per 100,000 patients. The incidence of pediatric thyroid cancer was
      approximately 4.4:1 when comparing females to males, respectively. Papillary
      subtype was the most common (n = 1014, 58.8%), followed by follicular variant
      subtype (n = 397, 23%), follicular subtype (n = 173, 10.1%) and medullary subtype
      (n = 139, 8.1%). As pediatric patients reached fifteen to nineteen years of age,
      the incidence of papillary and follicular variant subtypes increased. Analysis of
      medullary thyroid cancer data revealed that incidence was highest in the zero to
      four age group and declined at later years. Pediatric patients presenting with
      metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma maintained significantly poorer fifteen
      year disease specific survival when compared to other histologic subtypes (p <
      0.05). Intervention with surgery and radiation therapy provided significant
      benefit across all histologic subtypes when evaluating disease specific survival
      at fifteen-years past the initial diagnoses (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric
      thyroid carcinoma remains an uncommon diagnosis despite an annual increase in
      incidence of approximately one percent since the development of the SEER
      database. Overall, pediatric thyroid carcinomas demonstrate an excellent
      prognosis if identified early and appropriate management is available. Caucasian
      female patients have higher incidence of carcinoma diagnoses when compared to
      males. Medullary histologic subtype, especially when metastatic at initial
      diagnoses, demonstrates statistically poorer outcomes when compared to other
      subtypes.

PMID- 27619042
TI  - Velopharyngeal videofluoroscopy: Providing useful clinical information in the era
      of reduced dose radiation and safety.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The state of the art for correcting velopharyngeal insufficiency
      (VPI) is a surgical procedure which is customized according to findings on
      imaging procedures: multiplanar videofluoroscopy (MPVF) and flexible
      videonasopharyngoscopy (FVNP). Recently, the use of MPVF has been challenged
      because of the potential risk of using ionizing radiation, especially in
      children. OBJECTIVE: To study whether using a protocol for performing MPVF can
      effectively decrease radiation dose in patients with VPI while providing useful
      information for planning surgical correction of VPI in combination with FVNP. The
      methodology used for performing the imaging procedures is described as well as
      the effectiveness of the surgical procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty - nine
      patients (Age range = 3-17 years; median = 5.5 years) with VPI resulting from
      multiple etiologies were studied. All patients underwent MPVF and FVNP for
      planning surgical correction of VPI. Radiation dosage data in each case was
      recorded. Forty of the 89 patients also completed a postoperative evaluation.
      Eleven out of the remaining 49 patients have not completed a postoperative
      evaluation and 38 patients are still pending surgical correction. RESULTS:
      Radiation dosage ranged from 1.00 to 8.75 miliSieverts (mSv); Mean = 2.88 mSv; SD
      = 1.575 mSv. Preoperative nasometry demonstrated mean nasalance ranging from 41%
      95%; Mean = 72.30; SD = 4.54. Postoperatively mean nasalance was within normal
      limits in 36 (90%) out of 40 cases, ranging from 21% to 35%; Mean = 28.10; SD =
      5.40. Nasal emission was eliminated postoperatively in all cases. CONCLUSION:
      MPVF provides useful information for planning the surgical procedure aimed at
      correcting VPI. The combination of MPVF and FVNP is a reliable procedure for
      assessing velopharyngeal closure and to surgically correcting VPI with a highly
      successful outcome.

PMID- 27619043
TI  - Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in patients with recurrent tonsillitis and
      elevated anti-streptolysin O titers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with elevated anti-streptolysin O (ASO) titers (ASOT) and
      recurrent tonsillitis episodes are known to be at higher risk for rheumatic heart
      disease (RHD). However, there is no data regarding prevalence of RHD in this high
      risk population. In this study, we aimed to screen ambulatory patients with
      elevated ASOT and recurrent tonsillitis episodes using echocardiography for
      identification of RHD. We hypothesized that prevalence of RHD is higher in this
      patient group compared to general population. METHODS: 102 patients (10.33 +/-
      4.01 years, 50.98% female) who were diagnosed with recurrent tonsillitis and had
      elevated ASOT were included this study. Echocardiographic evaluation was
      performed by an experienced cardiologist. RESULTS: Echocardiographic examination
      revealed definite RHD in 2/102 (1.96%) patients and borderline RHD in 3/102
      (2.94%) patients. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates a high prevalence of RHD in
      patients with recurrent tonsillitis episodes and high ASOT. Screening with
      echocardiography is beneficial to improve the detection rates of subclinical RHD
      in such high-risk populations.

PMID- 27619044
TI  - Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem response in infants
      with perinatal asphyxia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to verify the effects of perinatal
      asphyxia on different parts of the auditory system. METHODS: This was a non
      concurrent cohort study conducted on a fixed population in a tertiary public
      hospital. Participants included 181 infants born at term who underwent the
      transient evoked otoacoustic emission test as a part of a neonatal hearing
      screening program, with a "pass" result in both ears, and by auditory brainstem
      response testing. The infants were divided into 3 groups: G1, 20 infants who had
      perinatal asphyxia; G2, 111 infants with an Apgar score lower than 4 in the first
      minute and/or lower than 6 in the fifth minute (called "low Apgar" at birth); and
      G3, 50 infants with first- and fifth-minute Apgar scores >=7. RESULTS: The signal
      to-noise ratio of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions were greater in G3
      compared with G1 and G2 at 4 kHz frequency for males. An increased latency of
      waves I and III in the auditory brainstem response of male infants in G1 was
      observed. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that alterations occurred in both
      the cochlear and the neural components in male infants who had perinatal
      asphyxia.

PMID- 27619046
TI  - Three dimensional printing: A review on the utility within medicine and
      otolaryngology.
AB  - Three dimensional (3D) printing is a novel technique that has evolved over the
      past 35 years and has the potential to revolutionize the field of medicine with
      its inherent advantages of customizability and the ability to create complex
      shapes with precision. It has been used extensively within the fields of
      orthopedics, dentistry, and craniofacial reconstruction with wide ranging utility
      including, medical modeling, surgical planning and the production of custom
      plates, screws and surgical guides. Furthermore, it has been used for similar
      means in the field of Otorhinolaryngology and also has potential to revolutionize
      the treatment of airway malacia. In fact, 3D printed external tracheal splints
      have already been studied in several pediatric patients with very promising
      results. The emerging field of 3D bioprinting, which integrates tissue
      engineering with 3D printing, may produce a paradigm shift with the potential
      introduction of customized functional biologic replacements. 

PMID- 27619045
TI  - Symptomatic stroke complicating central skull base osteomyelitis following otitis
      media in a 2-year old boy: Case report and review of the literature.
AB  - We describe the youngest case to date of a 2 year old child who developed central
      skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) initially presenting with a fever, vomiting and
      sore throat. An extremely rare complication of mastoiditis following otitis media
      in children is SBO which can present with non-specific symptoms. This report
      describes the first case of symptomatic ischaemic stroke secondary to SBO in an
      immunocompetent child. We review the literature of the management and the
      potential cerebrovascular complications of central SBO in children secondary to
      otolaryngological infection. 

PMID- 27619047
TI  - PANDAS: A systematic review of treatment options.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with
      Streptococcus (PANDAS) is a rare but important condition for pediatric
      otolaryngologists to recognize. Several treatment options exist including
      tonsillectomy, antibiotic treatment/prophylaxis, intravenous immunoglobulin
      (IVIG), and psychiatric medications/therapy. METHODS: A systematic review of the
      PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases was performed searching for articles that
      focused exclusively on the aforementioned treatment modalities in the PANDAS
      population. Review articles, single patient case reports, and studies examining
      the natural history or diagnostic strategies were excluded. RESULTS: Five
      articles regarding tonsillectomy treatments with level of evidence (LOE) 4 were
      found but no clear benefit could be determined. Three articles were selected
      involving the use of antibiotic therapy. One prospective study and one double
      blind randomized control trial (DB RCT) supported the use of antibiotics but a
      separate DB RCT showed no benefit. Two selected articles described the use of
      IVIG: one unblinded RCT and one retrospective study. One prospective study on
      cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) showed benefit in PANDAS. CONCLUSION: There is
      a paucity of high-level studies regarding this rare disorder and no hard
      treatment recommendations can be made. Tonsillectomy should only be performed in
      those who are surgical candidates based on current published guidelines.
      Antibiotics are an option but provide uncertain benefit. CBT remains a low-risk
      option. Studies support the use of IVIG, however more investigation is needed
      prior to widespread adoption of this treatment given its potential risks.

PMID- 27619048
TI  - Audiologic and otologic phenotype in children with Duane's Retraction Syndrome: A
      rare ophthalmologic disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The focus of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, type, and
      severity of hearing impairment in patients with Duane's Retraction Syndrome and
      to relate these measures to patient demographics and other otologic and
      audiologic factors. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective AudGen Database analysis SETTING:
      Tertiary academic referral center PATIENTS: Pediatric patients in AudGenDB with a
      diagnosis of Duane's Retraction Syndrome (DRS). INTERVENTIONS: Appropriate
      audiologic, otologic, and demographic data were recorded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Seventy-nine patients (n = 79) met inclusion criteria. The first encounter with
      available audiometric data or the first encounter with hearing loss were
      documented. Audiograms were stratified by type and severity of hearing loss, and
      common associated medical issues were documented. RESULTS: 57 children had normal
      hearing; 22 had hearing loss. 9 ears had pure conductive hearing loss, 1 had pure
      sensorineural, 14 ears had components of both, and 79 had hearing loss that could
      not be specified. Multivariate regression revealed episodes of chronic otitis and
      craniofacial anomalies are associated with worse hearing loss. CONCLUSION: This
      study presents a detailed characterization of hearing loss in patients with
      Duane's retraction syndrome. Conductive and sensorineural hearing loss are both
      prevalent among these children. Careful and early audiologic evaluation of all
      patients with DRS is important.

PMID- 27619049
TI  - A randomized study of four different types of tympanostomy ventilation tubes -
      One-year follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare four different types of tympanostomy ventilation tubes
      (VT); long-shaft and short-shaft silicone tubes and long-shaft and short-shaft
      fluoroplastic tubes, regarding time to extrusion and events of otorrhea. METHODS:
      A prospective randomized controlled trial in children with bilateral recurrent
      acute otitis media or secretory otitis media; four hundred children were
      randomized to receive one type of VT in the right ear and another type in the
      left ear. Postoperatively the children were assessed every third month by an
      otolaryngologist to monitor the incidence of otorrhea and tube extrusion.
      RESULTS: Out of the 400 children, 22 were excluded during surgery. Mean age was
      35.3 months. A majority (63.8%) were boys. Forty-eight children were lost to
      follow up during the first year. Significantly more short-shaft VTs were extruded
      after 12 months compared to long-shaft VTs, regardless of material. Significantly
      higher incidence of otorrhea was found in the fluoroplastic VT ears compared to
      the silicone ones, regardless of length of tube. CONCLUSION: Long-shaft VTs last
      longer in the eardrum during the first year of treatment. Silicone tubes render a
      reduced risk of otorrhea during the first year of treatment.

PMID- 27619051
TI  - Assessment of common otolaryngological diseases among children in rural primary
      schools in south eastern Nigeria.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite a global improvement in health care delivery, rural areas in
      developing countries still have poor access to specialist care. This study aims
      to assess the occurrences of ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders among rural
      primary school children in south-eastern Nigeria. METHODS: Two rural primary
      schools were selected randomly from one of the rural regions of South Eastern
      State of Nigeria. All the pupils of the schools who gave consent were recruited.
      A structured study proforma investigating the pupils' biodata, otolaryngological
      symptoms, ear, nose and throat examination findings, was used to evaluate each
      pupil in the presence of the teachers. RESULTS: A total of 246 children
      participated in the study. 145(58.9%) were males while 101(41.1%) were females
      with a mean age of 8.5 +/- 2.4 years. The commonest symptoms reported were nasal
      discharge (20%) followed by nasal obstruction (11.1%), itching of the ears
      (11.1%) and sneezing bouts (10%), while 3.7% had subjective hearing impairment.
      The commonest ENT finding was cerumen auris (43%) and this was observed in 43.4%
      of males and 42.4% of females, 11% had abnormal tympanic membranes and 20% had
      grades 3/4 tonsils(Brodsky grading). CONCLUSION: ENT disorders are still common
      in children in the rural areas of developing countries. To avoid the morbidity
      associated with these preventable and easily manageable disorders, community
      health workers should be trained to manage common ENT disorders and mobile
      clinics with scheduled visits made available in areas where ENT services remain
      inaccessible.

PMID- 27619050
TI  - A longitudinal evaluation of hearing and ventilation tube insertion in patients
      with primary ciliary dyskinesia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an autosomal recessive genetic
      disease, which primarily manifests with oto-sino-pulmonary symptoms. Otitis media
      with effusion (OME) is common from early childhood. The existing literature on
      OME management in PCD is conflicting. The goals of the present study were firstly
      to evaluate the long-term hearing in PCD patients and secondly to determine the
      influence of ventilation tube (VT) insertion on hearing and postoperative
      otorrhoea. METHODS: A longitudinal retrospective study extracting the hearing
      level (pure tone average (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz, PTA)) and tympanometry from the
      medical records. Furthermore, the patient files were reviewed for VT insertion
      and postoperative otorrhoea. Postoperative otorrhoea was defined prolonged when
      it lasted for four weeks or longer. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients were identified
      in a 30-year period, age 2-72 years, and 278 audiometries were evaluated. The
      median number of audiometries per patient was 3 (range 1-29) and the median
      follow-up was 60 months (range 0-351 months). The mean PTA was 34 dB HL in
      patients below six years of age and improved significantly (p < 0.0001) with age.
      VT insertion improved hearing; however, 48% of patients with VT insertion
      experienced prolonged otorrhoea. CONCLUSION: In this study of PCD patients the
      hearing improved as a function of age as well as following VT insertion. However,
      VT insertion was also associated with prolonged otorrhoea.

PMID- 27619052
TI  - Intraperitoneal curcumin and vitamin E combination for the treatment of cisplatin
      induced ototoxicity in rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cisplatin ototoxicity is characterized by irreversible,
      progressive, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at high frequencies,
      accompanied by tinnitus. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the protective
      action of curcumin alone or in combination with vitamin E against cisplatin
      induced ototoxicity in animal models. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 42
      rats. Experimental animals were randomized into 6 groups. In the first group,
      intra-peritoneal cisplatin was administered alone. In the second group, intra
      peritoneal cisplatin and curcumin were administered together. In the third group,
      intra-peritoneal cisplatin and vitamin E were administered together. In the
      fourth group, intra-peritoneal cisplatin was administered together with curcumin
      in combination with vitamin E. In the fifth group, intra-peritoneal curcumin was
      administered alone. The sixth group was sacrificed directly without
      administration of any drugs. A distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE)
      test was applied to both ears of all experimental animals. Curcumin was
      administered 1 h before cisplatin treatment continued for three successive days.
      Vitamin E was administered only as a single dose 30 min prior to cisplatin. All
      animals were sacrificed following DPOAE testing on the 5th day of cisplatin
      administration. Histopathological findings included a TUNEL (TdT-mediated
      deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling) assay, and the percentage of
      apoptotic cells was calculated. DPOAE values and the percentage of apoptotic
      cells were compared before and after treatment and between experimental groups.
      RESULTS: In Group 1, DPOAE values were significantly decreased at all frequencies
      (3000 Hz, 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz; P < 0.05). In Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 there was no
      significant difference between the pre- and post-treatment DPOAE results (p >
      0.05). Apoptotic index values were lower in all treatment groups compared to the
      cisplatin group, however the difference was only statistically significant in
      group 3 (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: In rats, cisplatin ototoxicity can be prevented
      with curcumin or curcumin-vitamin E combination.

PMID- 27619054
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Moving science forward by increasing awareness of reporting
      and citation biases: a reply to Vrshek-Schallhorn et al. (2016).

PMID- 27619053
TI  - An insertion in the methyltransferase domain of P. falciparum trimethylguanosine
      synthase harbors a classical nuclear localization signal.
AB  - Many Plasmodium falciparum proteins do not share homology with, and are generally
      longer than their respective orthologs. This, to some extent, can be attributed
      to insertions. Here, we studied a P. falciparum RNA hypermethylase,
      trimethylguanosine synthase (PfTGS1) that harbors a 76 amino acid insertion in
      its methyltransferase domain. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this
      insertion was present in TGS1 orthologs from other Plasmodium species as well.
      Interestingly, a classical nuclear localization signal (NLS) was predicted in the
      insertions of primate parasite TGS1 proteins. To check whether these predicted
      NLS are functional, we developed an in vivo heterologous system using S.
      cerevisiae. The predicted NLS when fused to dimeric GFP were able to localize the
      fusion protein to the nucleus in yeast indicating that it is indeed recognized by
      the yeast nuclear import machinery. We further showed that the PfTGS1 NLS binds
      to P. falciparum importin-alpha in vitro, confirming that the NLS is also
      recognized by the P. falciparum classical nuclear import machinery. Thus, in this
      study we report a novel function of the insertion in PfTGS1.

PMID- 27619055
TI  - Search for protective factors for psychosis - a population-based sample with
      special interest in unaffected individuals with parental psychosis.
AB  - AIM: To find factors that are associated with not having psychotic illness in a
      prospective general population sample, with a special interest in individuals
      with parental psychosis. METHODS: Data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort
      1966 (n = 10 458) and several registers were used to detect individuals with and
      without parental psychosis. Altogether, 594 persons had parent(s) with psychosis
      and 48 of them also had psychosis subsequently. Variables related to pregnancy
      and birth, family and childhood, health and habits in adolescence, school
      performance and physical activity were studied to identify determinants of
      unaffected status among individuals with and without parental psychosis. RESULTS:
      In the parental psychosis group, the unaffected persons had more likely a mother
      who was non-depressed during pregnancy, and who worked outside the home or
      studied than among those who developed psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: Protective factors
      for psychosis were surprisingly few in this sample. These factors were related to
      the mother's non-depressed mood and the mother's work outside the home or
      studies. This could relate to better health and functioning of a mother. This
      work highlights the need for more research on protective factors for psychosis in
      order to identify methods for prevention of psychosis.

PMID- 27619056
TI  - Isolation of Tioman virus from Pteropus giganteus bat in North-East region of
      India.
AB  - Bat-borne viral diseases are a major public health concern among newly emerging
      infectious diseases which includes severe acute respiratory syndrome, Nipah,
      Marburg and Ebola virus disease. During the survey for Nipah virus among bats at
      North-East region of India; Tioman virus (TioV), a new member of the
      Paramyxoviridae family was isolated from tissues of Pteropus giganteus bats for
      the first time in India. This isolate was identified and confirmed by RT-PCR,
      sequence analysis and electron microscopy. A range of vertebrate cell lines were
      shown to be susceptible to Tioman virus. Negative electron microscopy study
      revealed the "herringbone" morphology of the nucleocapsid filaments and enveloped
      particles with distinct envelope projections a characteristic of the
      Paramyxoviridae family. Sequence analysis of Nucleocapsid gene of TioV
      demonstrated sequence identity of 99.87% and 99.99% nucleotide and amino acid
      respectively with of TioV strain isolated in Malaysia, 2001. This report
      demonstrates the first isolation of Tioman virus from a region where Nipah virus
      activity has been noticed in the past and recent years. Bat-borne viruses have
      become serious concern world-wide. A Survey of bats for novel viruses in this
      region would help in recognizing emerging viruses and combating diseases caused
      by them.

PMID- 27619057
TI  - Phylogeography, phylodynamics and transmission chains of bovine viral diarrhea
      virus subtype 1f in Northern Italy.
AB  - Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) type 1 in Italy is characterized by high
      genetic diversity, with at least 20 subtypes. Subtype 1f is endemic in a
      restricted geographic area, meaning that it has local distribution. We
      investigated the population dynamics of BVDV-1f in Northern Italy and
      characterized the transmission chains of a subset of samples from Piedmont and
      Aosta Valley regions. A total of 51 samples from 1966 to 2013 were considered and
      5' UTR sequences were used for phylogeography. A subset of 12 samples was
      selected for Npro gene sequencing and further characterization of the
      transmission chains using both molecular and epidemiological data. Phylogeography
      estimated the root of BVDV-1f tree in Veneto in 1965. Four significant subclades
      included sequences clustering by region: Lombardy (n=3), Lombardy and Emilia
      Romagna (n=7), Piedmont (n=17), Piedmont and Aosta Valley (n=21). The Piedmont
      only subclade has a ladder-like branching structure, while the Piedmont and Aosta
      Valley subclade has a nearly complete binary structure. In the subset, the
      outbreak reconstruction identified one sample from Piedmont as the most probable
      source of infection for the Aosta Valley cases. An ad hoc questionnaire submitted
      to public veterinarians revealed connections between sampled and non-sampled
      farms by means of trades, exhibitions and markets. According to the
      phylogeography, BVDV-1f moved westward, entering from Veneto, and spreading to
      Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna in the early 1990s, and finally to Piedmont and Aosta
      Valley in the first decade of 2000s. Both phylogeographic analyses on the whole
      dataset and on the selection of Npro dataset pointed out that subtype 1f entered
      Aosta Valley from Piedmont. The integration of molecular and epidemiological data
      revealed connections between farms, and such approach should be considered in any
      control plan. In Aosta Valley, the study showed that BVDV1f can be controlled
      only monitoring the introduction of cattle from Piedmont region.

PMID- 27619058
TI  - Complete genome characterisation and phylogenetic position of Tigray hantavirus
      from the Ethiopian white-footed mouse, Stenocephalemys albipes.
AB  - Hantaviruses, well-known human pathogens, have only recently been identified on
      the African continent. Tigray virus (TIGV) was found in Ethiopia in 2012 in a
      Murinae species, Stenocephalemys albipes, but the genetic data obtained at that
      time were too limited to correctly assess its phylogenetic position within the
      hantavirus tree. We used high throughput sequencing to determine the complete
      genome of TIGV, which showed a typical hantavirus organisation. The large (L),
      medium (M), and small (S) genome segments were found to be 6532, 3594 and 1908
      nucleotides long, respectively, and the 5' and 3' termini for all three segments
      were predicted to form the panhandle-like structure typical for bunyaviruses.
      Nucleotide-based phylogenetic analyses revealed that all three coding segments
      cluster in the phylogroup III sensu Guo et al. (2013). However, while TIGV S
      segment is basal to the Murinae-associated hantaviruses, the M and L segments are
      basal to the Soricomorpha-associated hantaviruses. TIGV is the first Murinae
      borne hantavirus showing this inconsistent segmental clustering in the hantavirus
      phylogenetic tree. We finally propose non-exclusive scenarios that could explain
      the original phylogenetic position of TIGV.

PMID- 27619059
TI  - The role of IS26 in evolution of a derivative of the virulence plasmid of
      Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis which confers multiple drug resistance.
AB  - pUO-SeVR1 is a resistance derivative of pSEV, the virulence plasmid specific of
      Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. It was first detected in a Spanish
      isolate involved in gastroenteritis, but closely related plasmids are widespread
      in highly invasive isolates originating from Africa. According to its nucleotide
      sequence, pUO-SeVR1 consists of 110,982bp with a GC content of 53.2%. It confers
      resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents and contains a wealth of mobile
      genetic elements, including 14 copies of IS26 which have played a major role in
      the evolution of the plasmid. An intact copy of IS4321 and remnants of many other
      transposable elements (Tn2, Tn21, Tn1721 and Tn5393) are also detected. Most of
      the pSEV sequence is conserved in pUO-SeVR1 but small deletions, major inversions
      and the insertion of two foreign regions (of 38.7 and 13.6kb, where the
      resistance genes are clustered), have occurred. Plasmids of the IncL/M, IncN and
      IncQ groups could have contributed to the assembly of the resistance regions.

PMID- 27619060
TI  - Fluoxetine prevents the memory deficits and reduction in hippocampal cell
      proliferation caused by valproic acid.
AB  - Valproic acid (VPA), a commonly used antiepileptic drug, has been reported to
      cause cognitive impairments in patients. In a previous study, using a rodent
      model, we showed that VPA treatment impaired cognition which was associated with
      a reduction in the cell proliferation required for hippocampal neurogenesis. The
      antidepressant fluoxetine has been shown to increase hippocampal neurogenesis and
      to reverse the memory deficits found in a number of pathological conditions. In
      the present study we investigated the protective effects of fluoxetine treatment
      against the impairments in memory and hippocampal cell proliferation produced by
      VPA. Male Sprague Dawley rats received daily treatment with fluoxetine (10mg/kg)
      by oral gavage for 21days. Some rats were co-administered with VPA (300mg/kg,
      twice daily i.p. injections) for 14days from day 8 to day 21 of the fluoxetine
      treatment. Spatial memory was tested using the novel object location (NOL) test.
      The number of proliferating cells present in the sub granular zone of the dentate
      gyrus was quantified using Ki67 immunohistochemistry at the end of the
      experiment. Levels of the receptor Notch1, the neurotrophic factor BDNF and the
      neural differentiation marker DCX were determined by Western blotting. VPA
      treated rats showed memory deficits, a decrease in the number of proliferating
      cells in the sub granular zone and decreases in the levels of Notch1 and BDNF but
      not DCX compared to control animals. These changes in behavior, cell
      proliferation and Notch1 and BDNF were prevented in animals which had received
      both VPA and fluoxetine. Rats receiving fluoxetine alone did not show a
      significant difference in the number of proliferating cells or behavior compared
      to controls. These results demonstrated that the spatial memory deficits and
      reduction of cell proliferation produced by VPA can be ameliorated by the
      simultaneous administration of the antidepressant fluoxetine.

PMID- 27619061
TI  - Reduced graphene oxide induces cytotoxicity and inhibits photosynthetic
      performance of the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus.
AB  - Increased use of graphene materials might ultimately lead to their release into
      the environment. However, only a few studies have investigated the impact of
      graphene-based materials on green plants. In this study, the impact of reduced
      graphene oxide (RGO) on the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus was evaluated to
      determine its phytotoxicity. Treatment with RGO suppressed the growth of the
      microalgae. The 72-h IC50 values of RGO evaluated using the logistic and Gompertz
      models were 148 and 151 mg L-1, respectively. RGO significantly inhibited Chl a
      and Chl a/b levels in the algal cells. Chlorophyll a fluorescence analysis showed
      that RGO significantly down-regulated photosystem II activity. The mechanism of
      how RGO inhibited algal growth and photosynthetic performance was determined by
      analyzing the alterations in ultrastructural morphology. RGO adhered to the algal
      cell surface as a semitranslucent coating. Cell wall damage and membrane
      integrity loss occurred in the treated cells. Moreover, nuclear chromatin
      clumping and starch grain number increase were noted. These changes might be
      attributed to the increase in malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species levels,
      which might have exceeded the scavenging ability of antioxidant enzymes
      (including peroxidase and superoxide dismutase). RGO impaired the extra- and
      intra-cellular morphology and increased oxidative stress and thus inhibited algal
      growth and photosynthesis.

PMID- 27619062
TI  - Removal of endocrine disrupting compounds from wastewater by microalgae co
      immobilized in alginate beads.
AB  - Microalgae systems have been found to be efficient for removing microcontaminants
      from wastewater effluents, but the effectiveness of immobilized microalgae for
      removing endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) has not yet been addressed. This
      paper assesses the effect of free and immobilized microalgae on removal
      efficiency for 6 EDCs by mixing them in 2.5 L reactors with treated wastewater.
      The experimental design also included control reactors without microalgae. After
      10 days of incubation, 64 and 89% of the NH4-N and 90 and 96% of total
      phosphorous (TP) had been eliminated in the free microalgae and immobilized
      microalgae reactors, respectively, while the control reactors eliminated only 40%
      and 70% of the NH4-N and TP, respectively. Both the free and immobilized
      microalgae reactors were able to remove up to 80% of most of the studied EDCs
      within 10 days of incubation. Free microalgae were found to increase the kinetic
      removal rate for bisphenol A, 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol, and 4-octylphenol (25%,
      159%, and 41%, respectively). Immobilizing the microalgae in alginate beads
      additionally enhanced the kinetic removal rate for bisphenol AF, bisphenol F, and
      2,4-dichlorophenol. This study shows that the use of co-immobilized microalgae
      based wastewater treatment systems increases the removal efficiency for nutrients
      and some EDCs from wastewater effluents.

PMID- 27619063
TI  - Arsenic mediated modifications in Bacillus aryabhattai and their biotechnological
      applications for arsenic bioremediation.
AB  - The present study reports the arsenic (As) tolerance mechanism of bacteria
      Bacillus aryabhattai (NBRI014). The data explores the intracellular accumulation
      and volatilization of As from the culture medium after 48 h of exposure to 25,000
      mg l-1 arsenate As(V). The study also provides the evidence of presence of ars
      operon in bacteria, which may have played an important role in reducing As
      toxicity. Additionally, we found 7 differentially expressed proteins to be up
      regulated in bacterial cells upon As exposure which may have role in reducing As
      toxicity inside bacterial cells. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
      spectroscopic techniques were useful to describe the structural and compositional
      alterations in bacterial cells after As treatment. It showed the changes in peak
      positions of the spectrum pattern when NBRI014 was grown in medium containing As,
      indicating that these functional groups viz. (amino, alkyl halides and hydroxyl)
      present on bacterial surface, which may be involved in As binding. The above
      results signify that biotechnological application of the isolate NBRI014 could be
      helpful in removal of As from polluted sites.

PMID- 27619064
TI  - Application of a comprehensive extraction technique for the determination of poly
      and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in Great Lakes Region sediments.
AB  - A comprehensive method to extract perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs),
      perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid diesters
      (diPAPs), perfluoroalkyl phosphinic acids (PFPiAs) and perfluoroalkyl phosphonic
      acids (PFPAs) from sediment and analysis by liquid chromatography tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed and applied to sediment cores from three
      small isolated lakes (Plastic Lake, Lake 442, Lake Tettegouche) and Lake Ontario
      in the Great Lakes Region. Recoveries of the target compounds using the optimized
      acetonitrile/sodium hydroxide extraction ranged from 73% to 120%. The greatest
      concentrations of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) were recorded
      in sediment from Lake Ontario (SigmaPFASs 13.1 ng/g), where perfluorooctane
      sulfonic acid (PFOS) contributed over 80% of the total. Concentrations in Lake
      Ontario were approximately 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than the more remote
      lakes subject to primarily atmospheric inputs. Whilst the PFAS contribution in
      Lake Ontario was dominated by PFOS, the more remote lakes contained sediment with
      higher proportions of PFCAs. Trace amounts of emerging PFASs (diPAPs and PFPiAs)
      were found in very recent surface Lake Ontario and remote lake sediments.

PMID- 27619065
TI  - Stability of mineral fibres in contact with human cell cultures. An in situ
      MUXANES, MUXRD and XRF iron mapping study.
AB  - Relevant mineral fibres of social and economic importance (chrysotile UICC,
      crocidolite UICC and a fibrous erionite from Jersey, Nevada, USA) were put in
      contact with cultured diploid human non-tumorigenic bronchial epithelial (Beas2B)
      and pleural transformed mesothelial (MeT5A) cells to test their cytotoxicity.
      Slides of each sample at different contact times up to 96 h were studied in situ
      using synchrotron XRF, MU-XRD and MU-XAS (I18 beamline, Diamond Light Source, UK)
      and TEM investigations. XRF maps of samples treated for 96 h evidenced that iron
      is still present within the chrysotile and crocidolite fibres and retained at the
      surface of the erionite fibres, indicating its null to minor mobilization in
      contact with cell media; this picture was confirmed by the results of XANES pre
      edge analyses. MU-XRD and TEM data indicate greater morphological and
      crystallinity modifications occurring in chrysotile, whereas crocidolite and
      erionite show to be resistant in the biological environment. The contact of
      chrysotile with the cell cultures seems to lead to earlier amorphization,
      interpreted as the first dissolution step of these fibres. The formation of such
      silica-rich fibre skeleton may prompt the production of HO in synergy with
      surface iron species and could indicate that chrysotile may be much more reactive
      and cytotoxic in vitro in the (very) short term whereas the activity of
      crocidolite and erionite would be much more sluggish but persistent in the long
      term.

PMID- 27619066
TI  - Maternal cardiac function at 35-37 weeks' gestation: prediction of pre-eclampsia
      and gestational hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential value of combining maternal factors with
      multiples of the normal median values of maternal cardiovascular parameters at 35
      37 weeks' gestation in the prediction of pre-eclampsia (PE) and gestational
      hypertension (GH). METHODS: In 2764 singleton pregnancies maternal
      characteristics and medical history were recorded; uterine artery pulsatility
      index (UtA-PI), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and maternal cardiovascular
      parameters were measured. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was then
      used to determine if the maternal factors and maternal cardiovascular parameters
      made a significant contribution to predicting PE and GH. The performance of
      screening was determined by the area under receiver-operating characteristics
      curves. RESULTS: In pregnancies that subsequently delivered with PE or GH, total
      peripheral resistance and MAP were higher and maternal cardiac output was lower,
      mainly owing to a decrease in heart rate in PE and a decrease in stroke volume in
      GH. The increases in total peripheral resistance and MAP were inversely related
      to gestational age at delivery. The performance of screening for PE and GH
      achieved by maternal characteristics and medical history was improved by the
      inclusion of MAP, but not by UtA-PI or maternal cardiovascular parameters.
      CONCLUSIONS: In women developing term PE total peripheral resistance and MAP are
      increased and maternal cardiac output is reduced. However, assessment of maternal
      cardiac function at 35-37 weeks' gestation is unlikely to improve the performance
      of screening for PE provided by maternal factors and MAP alone. Copyright (c)
      2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 27619067
TI  - Improving the performance of the PLB index for ligand-binding site prediction
      using dihedral angles and the solvent-accessible surface area.
AB  - Protein ligand-binding site prediction is highly important for protein function
      determination and structure-based drug design. Over the past twenty years, dozens
      of computational methods have been developed to address this problem. Soga et al.
      identified ligand cavities based on the preferences of amino acids for the ligand
      binding site (RA) and proposed the propensity for ligand binding (PLB) index to
      rank the cavities on the protein surface. However, we found that residues exhibit
      different RAs in response to changes in solvent exposure. Furthermore, previous
      studies have suggested that some dihedral angles of amino acids in specific
      regions of the Ramachandran plot are preferred at the functional sites of
      proteins. Based on these discoveries, the amino acid solvent-accessible surface
      area and dihedral angles were combined with the RA and PLB to obtain two new
      indexes, multi-factor RA (MF-RA) and multi-factor PLB (MF-PLB). MF-PLB, PLB and
      other methods were tested using two benchmark databases and two particular ligand
      binding sites. The results show that MF-PLB can improve the success rate of PLB
      for both ligand-bound and ligand-unbound structures, particularly for top choice
      prediction.

PMID- 27619068
TI  - MicroRNA-155 is upregulated in MLL-rearranged AML but its absence does not affect
      leukemia development.
AB  - MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) is an oncogenic miRNA upregulated in various tumor types
      and leukemias and has been suggested as a potential drug target. Based on our
      previous work detecting high miR-155 levels in response to Meis1 overexpression
      in a murine Hox leukemia model, we show here the relationship among HOXA9, MEIS1,
      and miR-155 levels in MLL-translocated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients.
      Using mouse bone marrow cells transformed by MLL-fusion genes expressing
      graduated levels of Meis1, we show a positive correlation between miR-155 and
      Meis1. However, using a miR-155-knockout mouse model, we show that the absence
      and the depletion of miR-155 have no effect on leukemia formation or progression.
      We also show for the first time that miR-155 levels are correlated with MLL
      translocations, but that miR-155 expression is dispensable for the formation of
      AML and has no effect on leukemia progression.

PMID- 27619070
TI  - Thermal control of sequential on-surface transformation of a hydrocarbon molecule
      on a copper surface.
AB  - On-surface chemical reactions hold the potential for manufacturing nanoscale
      structures directly onto surfaces by linking carbon atoms in a single-step
      reaction. To fabricate more complex and functionalized structures, the control of
      the on-surface chemical reactions must be developed significantly. Here, we
      present a thermally controlled sequential three-step chemical transformation of a
      hydrocarbon molecule on a Cu(111) surface. With a combination of high-resolution
      atomic force microscopy and first-principles computations, we investigate the
      transformation process in step-by-step detail from the initial structure to the
      final product via two intermediate states. The results demonstrate that surfaces
      can be used as catalysing templates to obtain compounds, which cannot easily be
      synthesized by solution chemistry.

PMID- 27619069
TI  - Intraspinal microstimulation produces over-ground walking in anesthetized cats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Spinal cord injury causes a drastic loss of motor, sensory and
      autonomic function. The goal of this project was to investigate the use of
      intraspinal microstimulation (ISMS) for producing long distances of walking over
      ground. ISMS is an electrical stimulation method developed for restoring motor
      function by activating spinal networks below the level of an injury. It produces
      movements of the legs by stimulating the ventral horn of the lumbar enlargement
      using fine penetrating electrodes (<=50 MUm diameter). APPROACH: In each of five
      adult cats (4.2-5.5 kg), ISMS was applied through 16 electrodes implanted with
      tips targeting lamina IX in the ventral horn bilaterally. A desktop system
      implemented a physiologically-based control strategy that delivered different
      stimulation patterns through groups of electrodes to evoke walking movements with
      appropriate limb kinematics and forces corresponding to swing and stance. Each
      cat walked over an instrumented 2.9 m walkway and limb kinematics and forces were
      recorded. MAIN RESULTS: Both propulsive and supportive forces were required for
      over-ground walking. Cumulative walking distances ranging from 609 to 835 m
      (longest tested) were achieved in three animals. In these three cats, the mean
      peak supportive force was 3.5 +/- 0.6 N corresponding to full-weight-support of
      the hind legs, while the angular range of the hip, knee, and ankle joints were
      23.1 +/- 2.0 degrees , 29.1 +/- 0.2 degrees , and 60.3 +/- 5.2 degrees ,
      respectively. To further demonstrate the viability of ISMS for future clinical
      use, a prototype implantable module was successfully implemented in a subset of
      trials and produced comparable walking performance. SIGNIFICANCE: By activating
      inherent locomotor networks within the lumbosacral spinal cord, ISMS was capable
      of producing bilaterally coordinated and functional over-ground walking with
      current amplitudes <100 MUA. These exciting results suggest that ISMS may be an
      effective intervention for restoring functional walking after spinal cord injury.

PMID- 27619071
TI  - Associations between corpus callosum size and ADHD symptoms in older adults: The
      PATH through life study.
AB  - Neuroimaging studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have
      revealed deviations of the corpus callosum in children and adolescents. However,
      little is known about the link between callosal morphology and symptoms of
      inattention or hyperactivity in adulthood, especially later in life. Here, we
      investigated in a large population-based sample of 280 adults (150 males, 130
      females) in their late sixties and early seventies whether ADHD symptoms
      correlate with callosal thickness. In addition, we tested for significant sex
      interactions, which were followed by correlation analyses stratified by sex.
      Within males, there were significant negative correlations with respect to
      inattention and hyperactivity in various callosal regions, including the anterior
      third, anterior and posterior midbody, isthmus, and splenium. A thinner corpus
      callosum may be associated with fewer fibers or less myelination of fibers. Thus,
      the observed negative correlations suggest impaired inter-hemispheric
      communication channels necessary to sustain motor control and attention, which
      may contribute to symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity and/or inattention.
      Interestingly, within females, callosal thickness was positively related to
      hyperactivity in a small area within the rostral body, suggesting a sexually
      dimorphic neurobiology of ADHD symptoms. Altogether, the present results may
      reflect a lasting relationship between callosal morphology and ADHD symptoms
      throughout life.

PMID- 27619072
TI  - Prevalence of non-union and delayed union in proximal humeral fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the prevalence of proximal humeral non-union.
      There is disagreement on what constitutes union, delayed union and non-union. Our
      aim was to determine the prevalence of these complications in proximal humeral
      fractures (PHFs) admitted to trauma hospitals. METHODS: The Victorian Orthopaedic
      Trauma Outcomes Registry identified 419 cases of PHFs, of which 306 were
      analysed. Three upper limb orthopaedic surgeons used X-rays to classify fractures
      according to the Neer classification and determine union. Twelve-item Short Form
      Health Survey scores were used to assess patient health and wellbeing. RESULTS:
      Of 306 cases, 49.4% reached union. Median time to union was 100 days (confidence
      interval 90-121). Of these, 17.0% united by 60 days, 8.5% united by 89 days and
      23.9% united after 90 days, demonstrating 'prolonged delayed union'. There were
      25 non-unions with a prevalence of 8.2%, most occurring in two-part surgical neck
      fractures. CONCLUSION: Our cohort of largely displaced PHFs admitted to trauma
      hospitals had a non-union prevalence of 8.2% and an overall delayed union
      prevalence of 32.4%. Consensus is required on definitions of non-union and
      delayed union timeframes.

PMID- 27619073
TI  - Ethical attitudes of nursing students at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical
      Sciences, Iran.
AB  - An ethical attitude denotes motivation and commitment in practice and is an
      important aspect of human communication. Values guide the efforts of human beings
      towards helping those in need, and an ethical attitude revives values and turns
      them into action. As a result, an ethical attitude and a sense of responsibility
      have direct effects on ethical action and ultimately, on the outcome of patient
      care.

PMID- 27619074
TI  - Membrane-bound stem cell factor is the major but not only driver of fibroblast
      induced murine skin mast cell differentiation.
AB  - The maintenance and modulation of cutaneous mast cell (MC) numbers is held to be
      important for skin immune responses to allergens and pathogens. The increase in
      MC numbers in the skin is achieved by proliferation and the differentiation of
      precursor to mature MCs. Fibroblast-derived SCF is thought to be the major skin
      MC growth factor and it potently induces MC proliferation. The mechanisms of
      fibroblast-induced skin MC differentiation, including the role of SCF, however,
      remain insufficiently characterized and understood. Using cocultures of immature
      murine MCs and fibroblasts, we found that the adhesion of immature MCs to
      fibroblasts via VCAM-1 and alpha4 beta7 integrin is very important for subsequent
      differentiation, which is driven by fibroblast membrane-bound SCF and additional
      fibroblast-derived membrane-bound signals. Thus, our results show that fibroblast
      induced MC differentiation is induced by direct cell-cell contact and involves
      both Kit-dependent and Kit-independent pathways. Our findings add to the
      understanding of how immature mast cells mature in murine skin and encourage
      further analyses of the underlying mechanisms, which may result in novel targets
      for the modulation of skin mast cell driven diseases.

PMID- 27619075
TI  - IQ and hemizygosity for the Val158 Met functional polymorphism of COMT in
      22q11DS.
AB  - 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) is a multisystem disorder caused by a
      hemizygous deletion within 22q11.2. Patients with the deletion display a wide
      range of cognitive deficits. The gene catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT)
      resides in the typically deleted region of 22q11.2 and is rendered hemizygous in
      individuals affected by the 22q11DS. COMT is a critical enzyme in the degradation
      of catecholamine neurotransmitters in the brain. A functional polymorphism,
      Val158 Met, has been associated with a variety of neurocognitive outcomes. In
      this study, 159 patients with 22q11DS were analyzed for a potential association
      between intelligence quotient (IQ) and COMT genotype. We performed a univariate
      analysis for overall influence and modified our analysis to focus on possible
      differences between average, borderline, and intellectually impaired patients. No
      correlation between COMT genotype and IQ performance was found. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27619076
TI  - Magneto-Optical Study of Defect Induced Sharp Photoluminescence in LaAlO3 and
      SrTiO3.
AB  - Strongly correlated electronic systems such as Transition Metal Oxides often
      possess various mid-gap states originating from intrinsic defects in these
      materials. In this paper, we investigate an extremely sharp Photoluminescence
      (PL) transition originating from such defect states in two widely used
      perovskites, LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. A detailed study of the PL as a function of
      temperature and magnetic field has been conducted to understand the behavior and
      origin of the transition involved. The temperature dependence of the PL peak
      position for SrTiO3 is observed to be opposite to that in LaAlO3. Our results
      reveal the presence of a spin/orbital character in these transitions which is
      evident from the splitting of these defect energy levels under a high magnetic
      field. These PL transitions have the potential for enabling non-contact thermal
      and field sensors.

PMID- 27619077
TI  - Reply letter to Jinnah "Locus pocus" and Albanese "Complex dystonia is not a
      category in the new 2013 consensus classification": Necessary evolution, no
      magic!

PMID- 27619078
TI  - Rational Design of Multifunctional Dendritic Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles to
      Load Curcumin and Enhance Efficacy for Breast Cancer Therapy.
AB  - Breast cancer is the primary reason for cancer-related death in women worldwide
      and the development of new formulations to treat breast cancer patients is
      crucial. Curcumin (Cur), a natural product, exerts promising anticancer
      activities against various cancer types. However, its therapeutic efficacy is
      hindered as a result of poor water solubility, instability, and low
      bioavailability. The aim of this work is to assess the curative effect of a novel
      nanoformulation, i.e., Cur-loaded and calcium-doped dendritic mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles modified with folic acid (Cur-Ca@DMSNs-FA) for breast cancer
      therapy. The results manifested that Cur-Ca@DMSNs-FA dispersed very well in
      aqueous solution, released Cur with a pH-responsible profile, and targeted
      efficiently to human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Further investigations indicated
      that Cur-Ca@DMSNs-FA effectively inhibited cell proliferation, increased
      intracellular ROS generation, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and
      enhanced cell cycle retardation at G2/M phase, leading to a higher apoptosis rate
      in MCF-7 compared to free Cur. Moreover, the Western blotting analysis
      demonstrated that Cur-Ca@DMSNs-FA were more active than free Cur through
      suppression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, and activation of
      the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway. In addition, hemolysis assay showed
      that the Ca@DMSNs-FA exhibited good biocompatibility. Last, in vivo studies
      indicated that when Cur was encapsulated in Ca@DMSNs-FA, the Cur concentration in
      blood serum and tumor tissues was increased after 1 h intraperitoneal injection.
      In conclusion, Cur-Ca@DMSNs-FA might act as a potential anticancer drug
      formulation for breast cancer therapy.

PMID- 27619079
TI  - An occupation-based, metacognitive approach to assessing error performance and
      online awareness.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Online awareness is the ability to self-monitor, identify and
      self-correct errors while engaged in an activity. Current assessments of online
      awareness involve observing and classifying error behaviour during structured,
      uniform tasks. However, during rehabilitation, practitioners typically work
      towards improving performance in individually meaningful tasks unique to the
      client. This article presents a metacognitive, task analytic approach to
      assessing online awareness involving observation and classification of errors
      during meaningful occupations determined after client-centred goal setting with
      two male clients with severe traumatic brain injury (aged 22 and 23). Study aims
      were to describe the approach, evaluate its feasibility and determine inter-rater
      agreement for error detection and error categorisation by two experienced
      occupational therapists. Furthermore, the error profiles and cognitive
      impairments of the participants on standardised neuropsychological assessment
      were examined to explore the validity of the assessment. METHODS: Individualised
      assessment tasks included snack preparation, budgeting, timetabling, hot-drink
      preparation and use of a computer program, which were administered repeatedly
      over two to three months and audio-visual recordings taken. Independent ratings
      of two trained occupational therapists were compared using exact percent
      agreement. RESULTS: Overall agreement about errors was 76%, for which there was
      65% agreement about error categorisation and 100% agreement about error
      correction. CONCLUSIONS: There was fair inter-rater agreement between two trained
      occupational therapists of error behaviour and error correction when using the
      described occupation-based approach to assessing online awareness. This approach
      has promise, particularly when combined with standardised, neuropsychological
      assessments, for providing an in-depth understanding of error behaviour and
      awareness of errors during meaningful occupations.

PMID- 27619080
TI  - Homolytic, Heterolytic, Mesolytic - As You Like It: Steering the Cleavage of a
      HC(sp3 )-C(sp3 )H Bond in Bis(1H-2,1-benzazaborole) Derivatives.
AB  - A set of (3,3')-bis(1-Ph-2-R-1H-2,1-benzazaborole) compounds, in which R=tBu (Bab
      tBu)2 , R=Dipp (Bab-Dipp)2 or R=tBu and Dipp (Bab-Dipp)(Bab-tBu), was synthesized
      and fully characterized using 1 H, 11 B, 13 C, and 15 N NMR spectroscopy as well
      as single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The central HC(sp3 )-C(sp3 )H bond
      with restricted rotation at the junction of both 1H-2,1-benzazaborole rings
      displayed an intriguing reactivity. It was demonstrated that this bond is easily
      mesolytically cleaved using alkali metals to form the respective aromatic 1Ph-2R
      1H-2,1-benzazaborolyl anions M+ (THF)n (Bab-tBu)- (M=Li, Na, K) and K+ (THF)n
      (Bab-Dipp)- . Furthermore, the central HC(sp3 )-C(sp3 )H bond of bis(1H-2,1
      benzazaborole)s is also homolytically cleaved either by heating or photochemical
      means, giving corresponding 1Ph-2R-1H-2,1-benzazaborolyl radicals (Bab-tBu). and
      (Bab-Dipp). , which rapidly self-terminate. Nevertheless, their formation was
      unambiguously established by NMR analysis of the reaction mixtures containing
      products of the self-termination of the radicals after heating or irradiation.
      (Bab-Dipp). radical was also characterized using EPR spectroscopy. Importantly,
      it turned out that the essentially non-polarized HC(sp3 )-C(sp3 )H bond in (Bab
      tBu)2 is also cleaved heterolytically with 2 equiv of MeLi, giving the mixture of
      Li+ (SOL)n (Bab-tBu)- (SOL=THF or Et2 O) and lithium methyl-substituted borate
      complex Li+ (SOL)n (Bab-tBu-Me)- in a diastereoselective fashion.

PMID- 27619082
TI  - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to measure quantitatively soil carbon
      with emphasis on soil organic carbon. A review.
AB  - Soil organic carbon (OC) measurement is a crucial factor for quantifying soil C
      pools and inventories and monitoring the inherent temporal and spatial
      heterogeneity and changes of soil OC content. These are relevant issues in
      addressing sustainable management of terrestrial OC aiming to enhance C
      sequestration in soil, thus mitigating the impact of increasing CO2 concentration
      in the atmosphere and related effects on global climate change. Nowadays, dry
      combustion by an elemental analyzer or wet combustion by dichromate oxidation of
      the soil sample are the most recommended and commonly used methods for
      quantitative soil OC determination. However, the unanimously recognized
      uncertainties and limitations of these classical laboursome methods have prompted
      research efforts focusing on the development and application of more advanced and
      appealing techniques and methods for the measurement of soil OC in the laboratory
      and possibly in situ in the field. Among these laser-induced breakdown
      spectroscopy (LIBS) has raised the highest interest for its unique advantages.
      After an introduction and a highlight of the LIBS basic principles,
      instrumentation, methodologies and supporting chemometric methods, the main body
      of this review provides an historical and critical overview of the developments
      and results obtained up-to-now by the application of LIBS to the quantitative
      measurement of soil C and especially OC content. A brief critical summary of LIBS
      advantages and limitations/drawbacks including some final remarks and future
      perspectives concludes this review. 

PMID- 27619081
TI  - Metal-doped inorganic nanoparticles for multiplex detection of biomarkers by a
      sandwich-type ICP-MS immunoassay.
AB  - Metal-doped inorganic nanoparticles were synthesized for the multiplex detection
      of biomarkers by a sandwich-type inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
      (ICP-MS) immunoassay. The synthesized Cs-doped multicore magnetic nanoparticles
      (MMNPs) were used not only for magnetic extraction of targets but also for
      ratiometric measurement in ICP-MS. In addition, three different metal/dye-doped
      silica nanoparticles (SNPs) were synthesized as probes for multiplex detection:
      Y/RhBITC (rhodamine B isothiocyanate)-doped SNPs for CRP (cardiovascular
      disease), Cd/RhBITC-doped SNPs for AFP (tumor), and Au/5(6)-XRITC (X-rhodamine-5
      (and-6)-isothiocyanate)-doped SNPs for NSE (heart disease). For quantification,
      the doped metals of SNPs were measured by ICP-MS and then the signal ratio to Cs
      of MMNPs was plotted with respect to the concentration of targets by a
      ratiometry. Limits of detection (LOD) of 0.35 ng/mL to 77 ng mL(-1) and
      recoveries of 83%-125% were obtained for serum samples spiked with the
      biomarkers. Since no sample treatment was necessary prior to the extraction, the
      proposed method provided short analysis time and convenience for the multiplex
      determination of biomarkers, which will be valuable for clinical application.

PMID- 27619084
TI  - Development of routines for simultaneous in situ chemical composition and stable
      Si isotope ratio analysis by femtosecond laser ablation inductively coupled
      plasma mass spectrometry.
AB  - Stable metal (e.g. Li, Mg, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mo) and metalloid (B, Si, Ge)
      isotope ratio systems have emerged as geochemical tracers to fingerprint distinct
      physicochemical reactions. These systems are relevant to many Earth Science
      questions. The benefit of in situ microscale analysis using laser ablation (LA)
      over bulk sample analysis is to use the spatial context of different phases in
      the solid sample to disclose the processes that govern their chemical and
      isotopic compositions. However, there is a lack of in situ analytical routines to
      obtain a samples' stable isotope ratio together with its chemical composition.
      Here, we evaluate two novel analytical routines for the simultaneous
      determination of the chemical and Si stable isotope composition (delta(30)Si) on
      the micrometre scale in geological samples. In both routines, multicollector
      inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) is combined with
      femtosecond-LA, where stable isotope ratios are corrected for mass bias using
      standard-sample-bracketing with matrix-independent calibration. The first method
      is based on laser ablation split stream (LASS), where the laser aerosol is split
      and introduced simultaneously into both the MC-ICP-MS and a quadrupole ICP-MS.
      The second method is based on optical emission spectroscopy using direct
      observation of the MC-ICP-MS plasma (LA-MC-ICP-MS|OES). Both methods are
      evaluated using international geological reference materials. Accurate and
      precise Si isotope ratios were obtained with an uncertainty typically better than
      0.230/00, 2SD, delta(30)Si. With both methods major element concentrations (e.g.,
      Na, Al, Si, Mg, Ca) can be simultaneously determined. However, LASS-ICP-MS is
      superior over LA-MC-ICP-MS|OES, which is limited by its lower sensitivity.
      Moreover, LASS-ICP-MS offers trace element analysis down to the MUg g(-1)-range
      for more than 28 elements due to lower limits of detection, and with typical
      uncertainties better than 15%. For in situ simultaneous stable isotope
      measurement and chemical composition analysis LASS-ICP-MS in combination with MC
      ICP-MS is the method of choice. 

PMID- 27619083
TI  - Review of sample preparation strategies for MS-based metabolomic studies in
      industrial biotechnology.
AB  - Fermentation and cell culture biotechnology in the form of so-called "cell
      factories" now play an increasingly significant role in production of both large
      (e.g. proteins, biopharmaceuticals) and small organic molecules for a wide
      variety of applications. However, associated metabolic engineering optimisation
      processes relying on genetic modification of organisms used in cell factories, or
      alteration of production conditions remain a challenging undertaking for
      improving the final yield and quality of cell factory products. In addition to
      genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic workflows, analytical metabolomics
      continues to play a critical role in studying detailed aspects of critical
      pathways (e.g. via targeted quantification of metabolites), identification of
      biosynthetic intermediates, and also for phenotype differentiation and the
      elucidation of previously unknown pathways (e.g. via non-targeted strategies).
      However, the diversity of primary and secondary metabolites and the broad
      concentration ranges encompassed during typical biotechnological processes means
      that simultaneous extraction and robust analytical determination of all parts of
      interest of the metabolome is effectively impossible. As the integration of
      metabolome data with transcriptome and proteome data is an essential goal of both
      targeted and non-targeted methods addressing production optimisation goals,
      additional sample preparation steps beyond necessary sampling, quenching and
      extraction protocols including clean-up, analyte enrichment, and derivatisation
      are important considerations for some classes of metabolites, especially those
      present in low concentrations or exhibiting poor stability. This contribution
      critically assesses the potential of current sample preparation strategies
      applied in metabolomic studies of industrially-relevant cell factory organisms
      using mass spectrometry-based platforms primarily coupled to liquid-phase sample
      introduction (i.e. flow injection, liquid chromatography, or capillary
      electrophoresis). Particular focus is placed on the selectivity and degree of
      enrichment attainable, as well as demands of speed, absolute quantification,
      robustness and, ultimately, consideration of fully-integrated bioanalytical
      solutions to optimise sample handling and throughput. 

PMID- 27619085
TI  - Boosting model performance and interpretation by entangling preprocessing
      selection and variable selection.
AB  - The aim of data preprocessing is to remove data artifacts-such as a baseline,
      scatter effects or noise-and to enhance the contextually relevant information.
      Many preprocessing methods exist to deliver one or more of these benefits, but
      which method or combination of methods should be used for the specific data being
      analyzed is difficult to select. Recently, we have shown that a preprocessing
      selection approach based on Design of Experiments (DoE) enables correct selection
      of highly appropriate preprocessing strategies within reasonable time frames. In
      that approach, the focus was solely on improving the predictive performance of
      the chemometric model. This is, however, only one of the two relevant criteria in
      modeling: interpretation of the model results can be just as important. Variable
      selection is often used to achieve such interpretation. Data artifacts, however,
      may hamper proper variable selection by masking the true relevant variables. The
      choice of preprocessing therefore has a huge impact on the outcome of variable
      selection methods and may thus hamper an objective interpretation of the final
      model. To enhance such objective interpretation, we here integrate variable
      selection into the preprocessing selection approach that is based on DoE. We show
      that the entanglement of preprocessing selection and variable selection not only
      improves the interpretation, but also the predictive performance of the model.
      This is achieved by analyzing several experimental data sets of which the true
      relevant variables are available as prior knowledge. We show that a selection of
      variables is provided that complies more with the true informative variables
      compared to individual optimization of both model aspects. Importantly, the
      approach presented in this work is generic. Different types of models (e.g. PCR,
      PLS, ...) can be incorporated into it, as well as different variable selection
      methods and different preprocessing methods, according to the taste and
      experience of the user. In this work, the approach is illustrated by using PLS as
      model and PPRV-FCAM (Predictive Property Ranked Variable using Final Complexity
      Adapted Models) for variable selection. 

PMID- 27619086
TI  - Two-dimensional linear discriminant analysis for classification of three-way
      chemical data.
AB  - The two-dimensional linear discriminant analysis (2D-LDA) algorithm was
      originally proposed in the context of face image processing for the extraction of
      features with maximal discriminant power. However, despite its promising
      performance in image processing tasks, the 2D-LDA algorithm has not yet been used
      in applications involving chemical data. The present paper bridges this gap by
      investigating the use of 2D-LDA in classification problems involving three-way
      spectral data. The investigation was concerned with simulated data, as well as
      real-life data sets involving the classification of dry-cured Parma ham according
      to ageing by surface autofluorescence spectrometry and the classification of
      edible vegetable oils according to feedstock using total synchronous fluorescence
      spectrometry. The results were compared with those obtained by using the spectral
      data with no feature extraction, U-PLS-DA (Partial Least Squares Discriminant
      Analysis applied to the unfolded data), and LDA employing TUCKER-3 or PARAFAC
      scores. In the simulated data set, all methods yielded a correct classification
      rate of 100%. However, in the Parma ham and vegetable oil data sets, better
      classification rates were obtained by using 2D-LDA (86% and 100%), compared with
      no feature extraction (76% and 77%), U-PLS-DA (81% and 92%), PARAFAC-LDA (76% and
      86%) and TUCKER3-LDA (86% and 93%). 

PMID- 27619087
TI  - 3D nanoporous gold scaffold supported on graphene paper: Freestanding and
      flexible electrode with high loading of ultrafine PtCo alloy nanoparticles for
      electrochemical glucose sensing.
AB  - Recent advances in on-body wearable medical apparatus and implantable devices
      drive the development of light-weight and bendable electrochemical sensors, which
      require the design of high-performance flexible electrode system. In this work,
      we reported a new type of freestanding and flexible electrode based on graphene
      paper (GP) supported 3D monolithic nanoporous gold (NPG) scaffold (NPG/GP), which
      was further modified by a layer of highly dense, well dispersed and ultrafine
      binary PtCo alloy nanoparticles via a facile and effective ultrasonic
      electrodeposition method. Our results demonstrated that benefited from the
      synergistic effect of the electrocatalytically active PtCo alloy nanoparticles,
      the large-active-area and highly conductive 3D NPG scaffold, and the mechanically
      strong and stable GP electrode substrate, the resultant PtCo alloy nanoparticles
      modified NPG/GP (PtCo/NPG/GP) exhibited high mechanical strength and good
      electrochemical sensing performances toward nonenzymatic detection of glucose,
      including a wide linear range from 35 MUM- to 30 mM, a low detection limit of 5
      MUM (S/N = 3) and a high sensitivity of 7.84 MUA cm(-2) mM(-1) as well as good
      selectivity, long-term stability and reproducibility. The practical application
      of the proposed PtCo/NPG/GP has also been demonstrated in in vitro detection of
      blood glucose in real clinic samples. 

PMID- 27619088
TI  - Electrochemical approach for monitoring the effect of anti tubulin drugs on
      breast cancer cells based on silicon nanograss electrodes.
AB  - One of the most interested molecular research in the field of cancer detection is
      the mechanism of drug effect on cancer cells. Translating molecular evidence into
      electrochemical profiles would open new opportunities in cancer research. In this
      manner, applying nanostructures with anomalous physical and chemical properties
      as well as biocompatibility would be a suitable choice for the cell based
      electrochemical sensing. Silicon based nanostructure are the most interested
      nanomaterials used in electrochemical biosensors because of their compatibility
      with electronic fabrication process and well engineering in size and electrical
      properties. Here we apply silicon nanograss (SiNG) probing electrodes produced by
      reactive ion etching (RIE) on silicon wafer to electrochemically diagnose the
      effect of anticancer drugs on breast tumor cells. Paclitaxel (PTX) and
      mebendazole (MBZ) drugs have been used as polymerizing and depolymerizing agents
      of microtubules. PTX would perturb the anodic/cathodic responses of the cell
      covered biosensor by binding phosphate groups to deformed proteins due to
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK(1/2)) pathway. MBZ induces
      accumulation of Cytochrome C in cytoplasm. Reduction of the mentioned agents in
      cytosol would change the ionic state of the cells monitored by silicon nanograss
      working electrodes (SiNGWEs). By extending the contacts with cancer cells,
      SiNGWEs can detect minor signal transduction and bio recognition events,
      resulting in precise biosensing. Effects of MBZ and PTX drugs, (with the
      concentrations of 2 nM and 0.1 nM, respectively) on electrochemical activity of
      MCF-7 cells are successfully recorded which are corroborated by confocal and flow
      cytometry assays. 

PMID- 27619089
TI  - An effective and economical method for the storage of plasma samples using a
      novel freeze-drying device.
AB  - Biological samples, especially plasma samples, are conventionally stored under
      freezing conditions to maintain sample integrity prior to the detections of
      analytes. However, the storage of samples in a low-temperature environment is
      electric energy consuming, and the preparation of samples prior to analytes
      detection may be complicated. In this work, an effective and economical method
      was proposed to freeze-dry the samples using a novel device to allow subsequent
      storage of samples at ambient temperature. The sample preparations integrated in
      the new method are simple and easy to follow. Analytes were directly extracted
      with the extraction agent before sample injections. This new method was validated
      with quality control (QC) samples of levetiracetam and mycophenolic acid (MPA),
      and it was also applied to the pharmacokinetic (PK) studies of both drugs in
      healthy volunteers. When QC samples were stored and prepared with the new method,
      the detections of analytes were accurate and repeatable, and the analytes
      maintained stability for a long time. The PK studies of levetiracetam and MPA in
      healthy volunteers showed that the PK parameters of analytes stored with the new
      method were consistent with those stored with the conventional method. In
      conclusion, this effective and economical method is a practical option in reality
      and can play a big role in clinical and scientific drug researches. 

PMID- 27619090
TI  - Rapid authentication of Gastrodiae rhizoma by direct ionization mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - In this study, direct ionization mass spectrometry (DI-MS) for rapid
      authentication of Gastrodiae rhizoma (known as Tianma in Chinese), a popular
      herbal medicine, has been developed. This method is rapid, simple and allows
      direct generation of characteristic mass spectra from the raw herbal medicines
      with the application of some solvents and a high voltage. The acquired DI-MS
      spectra showed that gastrodin, parishin B/parishin C and parishin, the major
      active components of Gastrodiae rhizoma, could be found only in genuine
      Gastrodiae rhizoma samples, but not in counterfeit samples, thus allowing rapid
      authentication of Gastrodiae rhizoma. Moreover, wild and cultivated Gastrodiae
      rhizoma could be classified and Gastrodiae rhizoma from different geographical
      locations could be differentiated based on their different intensity ratios of
      characteristic ions or principal component analysis (PCA). This method is simple,
      rapid, reproducible, and can be extended to analyze other herbal medicines. 

PMID- 27619091
TI  - Golf ball-assisted electrospray ionization of mass spectrometry for the
      determination of trace amino acids in complex samples.
AB  - During the electrospray ionization (ESI) process, ions move through a heated
      capillary aperture to be detected on arrival at a mass analyzer. However, the ESI
      process creates an ion plume, which expands into an ion cloud with an area larger
      than that of the heated capillary aperture, significantly contributing to an ion
      loss of 50% due to coulombic repulsion. The use of DC and RF fields to focus ions
      from the ion source into the vacuum chamber has been proposed in the literature,
      but the improvement of ion transmission efficiency is limited. To improve ion
      transmission, in this study we propose a novel method using a home-made golf ball
      positioned between the ion source and the inlet of the mass analyzer to
      hydrodynamically focus the ions passing through the golf ball. The ion plume
      produced by the ESI process passes through the golf ball will reduce the size of
      the ion cloud then be focused and most of them flowed into the mass analyzer.
      Therefore, the sensitivity will be improved, the aim of this investigation is to
      study the enhancing of the signal using golf ball-assisted electrospray
      ionization liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to determine
      20 trace amino acids in complex samples, including tea, urine and serum. The
      results showed that the analytical performance of the determination of the 20
      amino acids in tea, urine and serum samples using the home-made golf ball
      assisted ESI source is better than that of a commercial ESI source. The signal
      intensities of the 20 amino acids were enhanced by factors of 2-2700, 11-2525,
      and 31-342680 in oolong tea, urine and serum analyses, respectively. The
      precision of the proposed method ranged from 1-9%, 0.4-9% and 0.4-8% at low,
      medium and high concentration levels of amino acids, respectively. The home-made
      golf ball-assisted ESI source effectively increased the signal intensity and
      enhanced the ion transmission efficiency and is also an easy, convenient and
      economical device. This technique can be applied to the analysis of trace
      compounds in complex matrices. 

PMID- 27619093
TI  - Quantification of glycine betaine, choline and trimethylamine N-oxide in seawater
      particulates: Minimisation of seawater associated ion suppression.
AB  - A liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS, electrospray ionisation) method
      has been developed for the quantification of nitrogenous osmolytes (N-osmolytes)
      in the particulate fraction of natural water samples. Full method validation
      demonstrates the validity of the method for measuring glycine betaine (GBT),
      choline and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in particulates from seawater. Limits
      of detection were calculated as 3.5, 1.2 and 5.9 pg injected onto column
      (equivalent to 1.5, 0.6 and 3.9 nmol per litre) for GBT, choline and TMAO
      respectively. Precision of the method was typically 3% for both GBT and choline
      and 6% for TMAO. Collection of the particulate fraction of natural samples was
      achieved via in-line filtration. Resulting chromatography and method sensitivity
      was assessed and compared for the use of both glass fibre and polycarbonate
      filters during sample collection. Ion suppression was shown to be a significant
      cause of reduced instrument response to N-osmolytes and was associated with the
      presence of seawater in the sample matrix. 

PMID- 27619092
TI  - Quantitative bioimaging of platinum group elements in tumor spheroids.
AB  - Limited drug penetration into tumor tissue is a significant factor to the
      effectiveness of cancer therapy. Tumor spheroids, a 3D cell culture model system,
      can be used to study drug penetration for pharmaceutical development. In this
      study, a method for quantitative bioimaging of platinum group elements by laser
      ablation (LA) coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is
      presented. Different matrix-matched standards were used to develop a quantitative
      LA-ICP-MS method with high spatial resolution. To investigate drug penetration,
      tumor spheroids were incubated with platinum complexes (Pt(II)acetylacetonate,
      cisplatin) and the palladium tagged photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3
      hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin (mTHPP). Distribution and accumulation of the
      pharmaceuticals were determined with the developed method. 

PMID- 27619094
TI  - Insight of solvent extraction process: Reassessment of trace level
      determinations.
AB  - Solvent extraction is hoary yet modern technique with great scope of research due
      to the various intriguing phenomena in the system. Tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) is
      a well known extractant which has been extensively used for separation of uranium
      matrix prior to elemental profiling. In this paper, one of the impurities namely
      Fe is being considered as it posed a challenge to the separation due to its co
      extraction with TBP along with uranium. In these studies, for the first time, the
      existence of cation-cation inner sphere complexes between the UO2(2+)and Fe(3+)
      ions in both aqueous and organic phases have been establisted in addition to the
      selective separation of iron from uranium sample matrix using only TBP. The data
      from both spectrophotometric and thermophysical studies corroborated one another
      confirming the presence of cation-cation interactions (CCIs). The developed
      solvent extraction with only TBP showed almost no interferences on the iron
      extraction from matrix uranium and other co-ions like aluminum and copper. This
      has been the first time application of pure TBP for selective removal of iron
      from uranium samples. The procedure possessed excellent reproducibility and
      robustness. 

PMID- 27619095
TI  - Surface plasmon resonance-based immunoassay for procalcitonin.
AB  - A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor has been developed for rapid
      immunoassay of procalcitonin (PCT) with high detection sensitivity and
      reproducibility. The 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride
      (EDC)-activated protein A (PrA), diluted in 1% (v/v) 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane
      (APTES) was dispensed on a KOH-treated Au-coated SPR chip, resulting in the
      covalent binding of PrA in 30 min. This "single-step" PrA immobilization strategy
      led to the oriented binding of the anti-PCT antibody (Ab) on a PrA-functionalized
      gold (Au) chip. The leach-proof immobilization procedure is five-fold faster than
      conventional counterparts, enabling high detection specificity and
      reproducibility. The IA detects 4-324 ng mL(-1) of PCT with a limit of detection
      (LOD) and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 4.2 ng mL(-1) and 9.2 ng mL(-1),
      respectively. It was capable of detecting PCT in real sample matrices and patient
      samples with high precision. The Ab-bound SPR chips were stable for more than
      five weeks. 

PMID- 27619096
TI  - Synthesis of improved upconversion nanoparticles as ultrasensitive fluorescence
      probe for mycotoxins.
AB  - Rare earth-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have promising potentials in
      biodetection due to their unique frequency upconverting capability and high
      detection sensitivity. This paper reports an improved UCNPs-based fluorescence
      probe for dual-sensing of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and Deoxynivalenol (DON) using a
      magnetism-induced separation and the specific formation of antibody-targets
      complex. Herein, the improved UCNPs, which were namely NaYF4:Yb/Ho/Gd and
      NaYF4:Yb/Tm/Gd, were systematically studied based on the optimization of reaction
      time, temperature and the concentration of dopant ions with simultaneous phase
      and size controlled NaYF4 nanoparticles; and the targets were detected using the
      pattern of competitive combination assay. Under an optimized condition, the
      advanced fluorescent probes revealed stronger fluorescent properties, broader
      biological applications and better storage stabilities compared to traditional
      UCNPs-based ones; and ultrasensitive determinations of AFB1 and DON were achieved
      under a wide sensing range of 0.001-0.1 ng ml(-1) with the limit of detection
      (LOD) of 0.001 ng ml(-1). Additionally, the applicability of the improved
      nanosensor for the detection of mycotoxins was also confirmed in adulterated oil
      samples. 

PMID- 27619097
TI  - Multi-residue detection of pesticides using a sensitive immunochip assay based on
      nanogold enhancement.
AB  - This paper describes the development of a new multiplex immunoassay for
      simultaneous detection of seven pesticides (triazophos, methyl-parathion,
      fenpropathrin, carbofuran, thiacloprid, chlorothalonil, and carbendazim). Sixteen
      pairs of pesticide antibodies and antigens were screened for reactivity and cross
      reaction. A microarray chip consisting of seven antigens immobilized on a
      nitrocellulose membrane was then constructed. Nanogold was employed for labeling
      and signal amplification to obtain a sensitive colorimetric immunoassay. The
      direct and indirect detection formats were further compared using primary
      antibody-gold and secondary antibody-gold conjugates as tracers. An integrated 7
      plex immunochip assay based on the indirect model was established and optimized.
      The detection limits for the pesticides were 0.02-6.45 ng mL(-1), which meets
      detection requirements for pesticide residues. Naked-eye assessment showed the
      visual detection limits of the assay ranged from 1 to 100 ng mL(-1). Spiked
      recovery results demonstrated that the immunochip assay had potential for multi
      analysis of pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits. The proposed microarray
      methodology is a flexible and versatile tool, which can be applied to other
      competitive multiplex immunoassays for small molecular compounds. 

PMID- 27619098
TI  - Multifunctional nanoprobe for cancer cell targeting and simultaneous
      fluorescence/magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Multifunctional nanoprobes with distinctive magnetic and fluorescent properties
      are highly useful in accurate and early cancer diagnosis. In this study,
      nanoparticles of Fe3O4 core with fluorescent SiO2 shell (MFS) are synthesized by
      a facile improved Stober method. These nanoparticles owning a significant core
      shell structure exhibit good dispersion, stable fluorescence, low cytotoxicity
      and excellent biocompatibility. TLS11a aptamer (Apt1), a specific membrane
      protein for human liver cancer cells which could be internalized into cells, is
      conjugated to the MFS nanoparticles through the formation of amide bond working
      as a target-specific moiety. The attached TLS11a aptamers on nanoparticles are
      very stable and can't be hydrolyzed by DNA hydrolytic enzyme in vivo. Both
      fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging show significant uptake of aptamer
      conjugated nanoprobe by HepG2 cells compared to 4T1, SGC-7901 and MCF-7 cells. In
      addition, with the increasing concentration of the nanoprobe, T2-weighted MRI
      images of the as-treated HepG2 cells are significantly negatively enhanced,
      indicating that a high magnetic field gradient is generated by MFS-Apt1 which has
      been specifically captured by HepG2 cells. The relaxivity of nanoprobe is
      calculated to be 11.5 mg(-1)s(-1). The MR imaging of tumor-bearing nude mouse is
      also confirmed. The proposed multifunctional nanoprobe with the size of sub-100
      nm has the potential to provide real-time imaging in early liver cancer cell
      diagnosis. 

PMID- 27619100
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27619099
TI  - National Partnership for Maternal Safety: Consensus Bundle on Venous
      Thromboembolism.
AB  - Obstetric venous thromboembolism is a leading cause of severe maternal morbidity
      and mortality. Maternal death from thromboembolism is amenable to prevention, and
      thromboprophylaxis is the most readily implementable means of systematically
      reducing the maternal death rate. Observational data support the benefit of risk
      factor-based prophylaxis in reducing obstetric thromboembolism. This bundle,
      developed by a multidisciplinary working group and published by the National
      Partnership for Maternal Safety under the guidance of the Council on Patient
      Safety in Women's Health Care, supports routine thromboembolism risk assessment
      for obstetric patients, with appropriate use of pharmacologic and mechanical
      thromboprophylaxis. Safety bundles outline critical clinical practices that
      should be implemented in every maternity unit. The safety bundle is organized
      into four domains: Readiness, Recognition, Response, and Reporting and Systems
      Learning. Although the bundle components may be adapted to meet the resources
      available in individual facilities, standardization within an institution is
      strongly encouraged.

PMID- 27619101
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27619102
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27619103
TI  - Dexamethasone provoked mitochondrial perturbations in thymus: Possible role of N
      acetylglucosamine in restoration of mitochondrial function.
AB  - Thymus mitochondria play a crucial role in immune function. This study identifies
      the novel protective role of N-Acetylglucosamine (NAG) in dexamethasone (DEX)
      induced mitochondrial perturbations in mice thymus. Mice were induced with DEX
      (5mg/kg) and treated with NAG i.p. (266MUg/kg, 400MUg/kg and 800MUg/kg) for 14
      days, Withanolide A (800MUg/kg) has been used as positive control. Dose dependent
      treatment of NAG against DEX significantly restored the mitochondrial enzyme
      levels (ICDH, KDH, SDH and MDH) and elevated the mitochondrial glutathione
      antioxidants defense (GSH, SOD, GPX and GST) thus improving the ATP status which
      was confirmed by ultrastructural alterations in mitochondria and nucleus using
      TEM studies. Further histopathological studies also revealed that NAG attenuate
      DEX induced thymotoxicity. Finally, the study concludes that dose dependent
      treatment of NAG supports a potential role in preventing DEX induced
      thymotoxicity and NAG acts as a beneficial pharmacological intervention in the
      DEX induced thymic repercussions.

PMID- 27619104
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Pain and Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based
      (MRI-Based) Structural Spine Changes in Low Back Pain Patients After Yoga
      Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND The present study aimed at determining whether 12 weeks of yoga
      practice in patients with chronic LBP and MRI-based degenerative changes would
      result in differences in: (i) self-reported pain, anxiety, and spinal
      flexibility; and (ii) the structure of the discs or vertebrae. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS Sixty-two persons with MRI-proven degenerative intervertebral discs
      (group mean +/-S.D., 36.2+/-6.4 years; 30 females) were randomly assigned to yoga
      and control groups. However, testing was conducted on only 40 subjects, so only
      their data are included in this study. The assessments were: self-reported pain,
      state anxiety, spinal flexibility, and MRI of the lumbosacral spine, performed
      using a 1.5 Tesla system with a spinal surface column. The yoga group was taught
      light exercises, physical postures, breathing techniques, and yoga relaxation
      techniques for 1 hour daily for 3 months. No intervention was given to the
      control group except for routine medical care. A repeated-measures analysis of
      variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analyses (which was Bonferroni-adjusted) was used.
      The Ethics Committee of Patanjali Research Foundation had approved the study
      which had been registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India
      (CTRI/2012/11/003094). RESULTS The yoga group showed a significant reduction in
      self-reported pain and state anxiety in a before/after comparison at 12 weeks. A
      few patients in both groups showed changes in the discs and vertebrae at post
      intervention assessment. CONCLUSIONS Within 12 weeks, yoga practice reduced pain
      and state anxiety but did not alter MRI-proven changes in the intervertebral
      discs and in the vertebrae. 

PMID- 27619105
TI  - Perirenal mass with nephrotic syndrome caused by Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia.

PMID- 27619106
TI  - Carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae as a cause of peritonitis in a peritoneal
      dialysis patient.

PMID- 27619107
TI  - Predictors of Post-concussive Symptoms in Young Children: Injury versus Non
      injury Related Factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A notable minority of children will experience persistent post
      concussive symptoms (PCS) following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), likely
      maintained by a combination of injury and non-injury related factors. Adopting a
      prospective longitudinal design, this study aimed to investigate the relative
      influence of child, family, and injury factors on both acute and persistent PCS
      in young children. METHODS: Participants were 101 children aged 2-12 who
      presented to an Emergency Department, with either mTBI or minor bodily trauma
      (control). PCS were assessed at time of injury, 1 week, and 1, 2, and 3 months
      post-injury. Predictors included injury and demographic variables, premorbid
      child behavior, sleep hygiene, and parental stress. Random effects ordinal
      logistic regression models were used to analyze the relative influence of these
      predictors on PCS at early (acute - 1 week) and late (1-3 month) post-injury
      phases. RESULTS: Presence of mTBI was a stronger predictor of PCS in the early
      [odds ratio (OR)=18.2] compared with late (OR=7.3) post-injury phase. Older age
      at injury and pre-existing learning difficulties were significant predictors of
      PCS beyond 1 month post-injury. Family factors, including higher levels of
      parental stress, higher socio-economic status, and being of Anglo-Saxon descent,
      consistently predicted greater PCS. CONCLUSIONS: Injury characteristics were
      significantly associated with PCS for 3 months following mTBI but the association
      weakened over time. On the other hand, pre-existing child and family factors
      displayed an increasingly strong association with PCS over time. Follow-up for
      these "at-risk" children which also addresses family stress may minimize longer
      term complications. (JINS, 2016, 22, 793-803).

PMID- 27619108
TI  - CVLT-II Forced Choice Recognition Trial as an Embedded Validity Indicator: A
      Systematic Review of the Evidence.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Forced Choice Recognition (FCR) trial of the California Verbal
      Learning Test, 2nd edition, was designed as an embedded performance validity test
      (PVT). To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of classification
      accuracy against reference PVTs. METHODS: Results from peer-reviewed studies with
      FCR data published since 2002 encompassing a variety of clinical, research, and
      forensic samples were summarized, including 37 studies with FCR failure rates
      (N=7575) and 17 with concordance rates with established PVTs (N=4432). RESULTS:
      All healthy controls scored >14 on FCR. On average, 16.9% of the entire sample
      scored <=14, while 25.9% failed reference PVTs. Presence or absence of external
      incentives to appear impaired (as identified by researchers) resulted in
      different failure rates (13.6% vs. 3.5%), as did failing or passing reference
      PVTs (49.0% vs. 6.4%). FCR <=14 produced an overall classification accuracy of
      72%, demonstrating higher specificity (.93) than sensitivity (.50) to invalid
      performance. Failure rates increased with the severity of cognitive impairment.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of serious neurocognitive disorder, FCR <=14 is
      highly specific, but only moderately sensitive to invalid responding. Passing FCR
      does not rule out a non-credible presentation, but failing FCR rules it in with
      high accuracy. The heterogeneity in sample characteristics and reference PVTs, as
      well as the quality of the criterion measure across studies, is a major
      limitation of this review and the basic methodology of PVT research in general.
      (JINS, 2016, 22, 851-858).

PMID- 27619151
TI  - Caloric restriction increases brain mitochondrial calcium retention capacity and
      protects against excitotoxicity.
AB  - Caloric restriction (CR) protects against many cerebral pathological conditions
      that are associated with excitotoxic damage and calcium overload, although the
      mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here we show that CR strongly protects
      against excitotoxic insults in vitro and in vivo in a manner associated with
      significant changes in mitochondrial function. CR increases electron transport
      chain activity, enhances antioxidant defenses, and favors mitochondrial calcium
      retention capacity in the brain. These changes are accompanied by a decrease in
      cyclophilin D activity and acetylation and an increase in Sirt3 expression. This
      suggests that Sirt3-mediated deacetylation and inhibition of cyclophilin D in CR
      promote the inhibition of mitochondrial permeability transition, resulting in
      enhanced mitochondrial calcium retention. Altogether, our results indicate that
      enhanced mitochondrial calcium retention capacity underlies the beneficial
      effects of CR against excitotoxic conditions. This protection may explain the
      many beneficial effects of CR in the aging brain.

PMID- 27619152
TI  - A review of factors explaining variability in fentanyl pharmacokinetics; focus on
      implications for cancer patients.
AB  - Fentanyl is a strong opioid that is available for various administration routes,
      and which is widely used to treat cancer-related pain. Many factors influence the
      fentanyl pharmacokinetics leading to a wide inter- and intrapatient variability.
      This systematic review summarizes multiple studied factors that potentially
      influence fentanyl pharmacokinetics with a focus on implications for cancer
      patients. The use of CYP3A4 inhibitors and inducers, impaired liver function, and
      heating of the patch potentially influence fentanyl pharmacokinetics in a
      clinically relevant way. In elderly patients, current data suggest that we should
      carefully dose fentanyl due to alterations in absorption and metabolism. The
      influence of BMI and gender on fentanyl pharmacokinetics is questionable, most
      probably due to a large heterogeneity in the published studies. Pharmacogenetics,
      e.g. the CYP3A5*3 gene polymorphism, may influence fentanyl pharmacokinetics as
      well, although further study is warranted. Several other factors have been
      studied but did not show significant and clinically relevant effects on fentanyl
      pharmacokinetics. Unfortunately, most of the published papers that studied
      factors influencing fentanyl pharmacokinetics describe healthy volunteers instead
      of cancer patients. Results from the studies in volunteers may not be simply
      extrapolated to cancer patients because of multiple confounding factors. To
      handle fentanyl treatment in a population of cancer patients, it is essential
      that physicians recognize factors that influence fentanyl pharmacokinetics,
      thereby preventing potential side-effects and increasing its efficacy.

PMID- 27619154
TI  - Molecularly imprinted polymer membranes and thin films for the separation and
      sensing of biomacromolecules.
AB  - This review describes recent advances associated with the development of surface
      imprinting methods for the synthesis of polymeric membranes and thin films, which
      possess the capability to selectively and specifically recognize
      biomacromolecules, such as proteins and single- and double-stranded DNA,
      employing "epitope" or "whole molecule" approaches. Synthetic procedures to
      create different molecularly imprinted polymer membranes or thin films are
      discussed, including grafting/in situ polymerization, drop-, dip-, or spin
      coating procedures, electropolymerization as well as micro-contact or stamp
      lithography imprinting methods. Highly sensitive techniques for surface
      characterization and analyte detection are described, encompassing luminescence
      and fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, FTIR
      spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy,
      quartz crystal microbalance analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and surface plasmon
      resonance. These developments are providing new avenues to produce bioelectronic
      sensors and new ways to explore through advanced separation science procedures
      complex phenomena associated with the origins of biorecognition in nature.

PMID- 27619155
TI  - Patterns of contribution to citizen science biodiversity projects increase
      understanding of volunteers' recording behaviour.
AB  - The often opportunistic nature of biological recording via citizen science leads
      to taxonomic, spatial and temporal biases which add uncertainty to biodiversity
      estimates. However, such biases may also give valuable insight into volunteers'
      recording behaviour. Using Greater London as a case-study we examined the
      composition of three citizen science datasets - from Greenspace Information for
      Greater London CIC, iSpot and iRecord - with respect to recorder contribution and
      spatial and taxonomic biases, i.e. when, where and what volunteers record. We
      found most volunteers contributed few records and were active for just one day.
      Each dataset had its own taxonomic and spatial signature suggesting that
      volunteers' personal recording preferences may attract them towards particular
      schemes. There were also patterns across datasets: species' abundance and ease of
      identification were positively associated with number of records, as was plant
      height. We found clear hotspots of recording activity, the 10 most popular sites
      containing open water. We note that biases are accrued as part of the recording
      process (e.g. species' detectability) as well as from volunteer preferences. An
      increased understanding of volunteer behaviour gained from analysing the
      composition of records could thus enhance the fit between volunteers' interests
      and the needs of scientific projects.

PMID- 27619156
TI  - Antimycobacterial Activity and Low Cytotoxicity of Leaf Extracts of Some African
      Anacardiaceae Tree Species.
AB  - Treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is a challenge because of multidrug-resistant and
      extremely drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Plant species
      contain antimicrobial compounds that may lead to new anti-TB drugs. Previous
      screening of some tree species from the Anacardiaceae family revealed the
      presence of antimicrobial activity, justifying further investigations. Leaf
      extracts of 15 Anacardiaceae tree species were screened for antimycobacterial
      activity using a twofold serial microdilution assay against the pathogenic
      Mycobacterium bovis and multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis and rapidly growing
      mycobacteria, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium fortuitum and Mycobacterium
      aurum. The vaccine strain, M. bovis and an avirulent strain, H37Ra M.
      tuberculosis, were also used. Cytotoxicity was assessed using a colorimetric
      assay against Vero kidney, human hepatoma and murine macrophage cells. Four out
      of 15 crude acetone extracts showed significant antimycobacterial activity with
      minimum inhibitory concentration varying from 50 to 100 ug/mL. Searsia undulata
      had the highest activity against most mycobacteria, followed by Protorhus
      longifolia. M. fortuitum was the strongest predictor of activity against
      multidrug-resistant TB (correlation coefficient = 0.65). Bioautography against M.
      aurum and M. fortuitum worked well as indicators of the Rf values of active
      compounds yielding strong zones of inhibition. The leaf extracts of S. undulata
      and P. longifolia had more than ten different antimycobacterial compounds and had
      low cytotoxicity with LC50 values above 100 ug/mL. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley
      & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27619157
TI  - Ethnobotanical study of traditional edible plants used by the Naxi people during
      droughts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since 2009, millions of people have been forced to live under food
      shortage by the continuous drought in Southwestern China. The market was the
      primary source of aid grains, and fears that the market will be unable to provide
      sufficient food make safeguarding food security in the face of climate change
      crucial. Traditional adaptive strategies of pre-market indigenous people are a
      potential source of innovation. We studied three questions among the Naxi people:
      1) What edible plants did they consume during droughts? 2) How did they produce
      enough food? 3) How did they consume these plants? This study investigates and
      documents traditional Naxi food knowledge to safeguard food security during
      drought and facilitate Chinese policy decisions. METHODS: Ethnobotanical
      investigation was conducted through literature review, semi-structured
      interviews, collaborative fieldwork and group discussions in three Naxi villages.
      89 informants (including 35 key informants) were surveyed from 2012 to 2013.
      Significant Index (SI) was adopted to evaluate each edible plant's food supply
      significance. Voucher specimens were collected for taxonomic identification.
      RESULTS: 1) In total, 141 edible plants (38 cultivated and 103 wild) were
      consumed-primarily landrace crops, supplementary edible plants and famine plants.
      2) Naxi people produced sufficient food through widespread food production
      systems, strong landrace crop resilience, and diversity in wild edible plants. 3)
      Through a diverse diet and consuming almost all edible parts of the plant, the
      Naxi used edible plants fully to meet food and nutrition needs during drought.
      CONCLUSIONS: Edible plant diversity is a cornerstone of drought food security.
      Cultivated crops (especially landrace plants) and wild edible plants were both
      important. Naxi people protect edible plant diversity through ecological morality
      and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). National inventories of edible plant
      diversity and studies of the TEK of other Chinese indigenous peoples should be
      undertaken to inform sustainable food policy decisions in China.

PMID- 27619153
TI  - Binaural blood flow control by astrocytes: listening to synapses and the
      vasculature.
AB  - Astrocytes are the most common glial cells in the brain with fine processes and
      endfeet that intimately contact both neuronal synapses and the cerebral
      vasculature. They play an important role in mediating neurovascular coupling
      (NVC) via several astrocytic Ca2+ -dependent signalling pathways such as K+
      release through BK channels, and the production and release of arachidonic acid
      metabolites. They are also involved in maintaining the resting tone of the
      cerebral vessels by releasing ATP and COX-1 derivatives. Evidence also supports a
      role for astrocytes in maintaining blood pressure-dependent change in
      cerebrovascular tone, and perhaps also in blood vessel-to-neuron signalling as
      posited by the 'hemo-neural hypothesis'. Thus, astrocytes are emerging as new
      stars in preserving the intricate balance between the high energy demand of
      active neurons and the supply of oxygen and nutrients from the blood by
      maintaining both resting blood flow and activity-evoked changes therein.
      Following neuropathology, astrocytes become reactive and many of their key
      signalling mechanisms are altered, including those involved in NVC. Furthermore,
      as they can respond to changes in vascular pressure, cardiovascular diseases
      might exert previously unknown effects on the central nervous system by altering
      astrocyte function. This review discusses the role of astrocytes in neurovascular
      signalling in both physiology and pathology, and the impact of these findings on
      understanding BOLD-fMRI signals.

PMID- 27619159
TI  - RGC-32 is expressed in the human atherosclerotic arterial wall: Role in C5b-9
      induced cell proliferation and migration.
AB  - The complement system is an important player in the development of
      atherosclerosis. Previously reported as a cell cycle regulator, RGC-32 is an
      essential effector of the terminal complement complex, C5b-9. In this study, our
      aims were to determine the expression of RGC-32 in the human atherosclerotic
      arterial wall and to delineate the mechanisms through which RGC-32 affects C5b-9
      induced endothelial cell proliferation and migration. We now demonstrate that RGC
      32 is expressed in human aortic atherosclerotic wall and that RGC-32 expression
      increases with the progression of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, silencing of RGC
      32 expression abolished C5b-9-induced human aortic endothelial cell (HAEC)
      proliferation and migration. Of the 279 genes differentially expressed in HAECs
      after RGC-32 silencing, the genes involved in cell adhesion and cell cycle
      activation were significantly regulated by RGC-32. RGC-32 silencing caused a
      significant reduction in the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin D3, Akt, ROCK1, Rho
      GDP dissociation inhibitor alpha and profilin. These data suggest that RGC-32
      mediates HAEC migration through the regulation of RhoA and ROCK1 expression and
      is involved in actin cytoskeletal organization. Thus, RGC-32 has promising
      therapeutic potential with regard to angiogenesis and atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27619160
TI  - The role of cardiac fibroblasts in post-myocardial heart tissue repair.
AB  - The relative resistance of fibroblasts to hypoxia and their remarkable adaptive
      plasticity in response to rapid changes in local tissue microenvironment made
      interstitial cardiac fibroblasts to be a key player in post-myocardial infarction
      myocardial repair. Cardiac fibroblasts are abundantly presented in the
      interstitial and perivascular extracellular matrix. These cells can be rapidly
      mobilized in response to cardiac injury. Inflammatory activation of fibroblasts
      leads to the loss of their quiescent phenotype and inhibition of matrix-producing
      capacity. Acute inflammation that follows the infarct induces production of
      inflammatory mediators, matrix-degrading activity, proliferation, and migration
      of fibroblasts. Fibroblasts migrate to the injured myocardial site where undergo
      transdifferentiation to myofibroblasts in response to anti-inflammatory and
      mitogenic stimuli. They acquire capacity to synthesize matrix and contractile
      proteins. In the infarcted zone, fibroblasts/myofibroblasts actively proliferate,
      expand, and extensively produce and deposit collagen and other matrix proteins.
      The proliferative stage of heart healing transits to the scar maturation stage,
      in which collagen-based scar exhibits formation of intramolecular and
      extramolecular cross-links, deactivation and apoptosis of
      fibroblasts/myofibroblasts. Generally, cardiac reparation is strongly controlled.
      Inability to pass from one repair stage to another in a timely manner can induce
      detrimental events such as expansion of the infarct area due to advanced
      inflammation, cardiac fibrosis and adverse remodeling due to the excessive
      proliferative and profibrotic response, left ventricular hypertrophy,
      arrhythmogenicity, and heart failure.

PMID- 27619158
TI  - Discovery of a Metastatic Immune Escape Mechanism Initiated by the Loss of
      Expression of the Tumour Biomarker Interleukin-33.
AB  - A new paradigm for understanding immune-surveillance and immune escape in cancer
      is described here. Metastatic carcinomas express reduced levels of IL-33 and
      diminished levels of antigen processing machinery (APM), compared to syngeneic
      primary tumours. Complementation of IL-33 expression in metastatic tumours
      upregulates APM expression and functionality of major histocompatibility complex
      (MHC)-molecules, resulting in reduced tumour growth rates and a lower frequency
      of circulating tumour cells. Parallel studies in humans demonstrate that low
      tumour expression of IL-33 is an immune biomarker associated with recurrent
      prostate and kidney renal clear cell carcinomas. Thus, IL-33 has a significant
      role in cancer immune-surveillance against primary tumours, which is lost during
      the metastatic transition that actuates immune escape in cancer.

PMID- 27619161
TI  - Deregulation of the planar cell polarity genes CELSR3 and FZD3 in Hirschsprung
      disease.
AB  - Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a congenital disorder characterized by the absence
      of intrinsic ganglion cells in the lower intestine. Genetic factors in the
      pathogenesis of this disease are under active investigation. As core genes in the
      planar cell polarity pathway, Celsr3 and Fzd3 are believed to play vital roles in
      the development of the murine enteric nervous system. The potential association
      of CELSR3 and FZD3 with the development of HSCR in humans, however, is still
      unknown. We determined the genotypes of eight CELSR3 and FZD3 polymorphisms in
      113 patients. Furthermore, target gene sequencing was used to search for rare
      mutations in the planar cell polarity genes. The mRNA and protein expression of
      CELSR3 and FZD3 were explored in patients with HSCR. Class III beta-tubulin in
      colon tissue samples was examined to elucidate enteric innervation patterns. We
      observed a significant association between the FZD3 rs17059206 polymorphism and
      HSCR susceptibility (p<0.001). In addition, five rare mutations in CELSR3 were
      identified in six patients with HSCR. Upregulation of CELSR3 mRNA expression was
      detected in 80% of aganglionic segments; a similar increase was found for FZD3
      protein expression in 81.8% of aganglionic tissues, compared with the ganglionic
      segments. Immunohistochemical staining on tissue sections revealed obvious excess
      expression of both molecules in the mucosal layer. The neurite patterns were
      highly disorganized in the aganglionic bowel segments, with a marked reduction in
      the prominence of TUJ1 bundles in number, thickness, and length. Our results
      showed that deregulation of the planar cell polarity genes CELSR3 and FZD3 might
      disrupt the enteric innervation pattern and consequently contribute to the
      susceptibility to HSCR.

PMID- 27619162
TI  - Seasonal variation of food security among the Batwa of Kanungu, Uganda.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Climate change is projected to increase the burden of food insecurity
      (FI) globally, particularly among populations that depend on subsistence
      agriculture. The impacts of climate change will have disproportionate effects on
      populations with higher existing vulnerability. Indigenous people consistently
      experience higher levels of FI than their non-Indigenous counterparts and are
      more likely to be dependent upon land-based resources. The present study aimed to
      understand the sensitivity of the food system of an Indigenous African
      population, the Batwa of Kanungu District, Uganda, to seasonal variation. DESIGN:
      A concurrent, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) design was used. Six
      cross-sectional retrospective surveys, conducted between January 2013 and April
      2014, provided quantitative data to examine the seasonal variation of self
      reported household FI. This was complemented by qualitative data from focus group
      discussions and semi-structured interviews collected between June and August
      2014. SETTING: Ten rural Indigenous communities in Kanungu District, Uganda.
      SUBJECTS: FI data were collected from 130 Indigenous Batwa Pygmy households.
      Qualitative methods involved Batwa community members, local key informants,
      health workers and governmental representatives. RESULTS: The dry season was
      associated with increased FI among the Batwa in the quantitative surveys and in
      the qualitative interviews. During the dry season, the majority of Batwa
      households reported greater difficulty in acquiring sufficient quantities and
      quality of food. However, the qualitative data indicated that the effect of
      seasonal variation on FI was modified by employment, wealth and community
      location. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the role social factors play in
      mediating seasonal impacts on FI and support calls to treat climate associations
      with health outcomes as non-stationary and mediated by social sensitivity.

PMID- 27619164
TI  - Factors effecting one-year outcome after mechanical ventilation.

PMID- 27619163
TI  - Cytokine amplification and macrophage effector functions in aortic inflammation
      and abdominal aortic aneurysm formation.
AB  - On April 29, 2015, Son and colleagues published an article entitled "Granulocyte
      macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is required for aortic
      dissection/intramural haematoma" in Nature Communications. The authors observed
      that the heterozygous Kruppel-like transcription factor 6 (KLF6) deficiency or
      absence of myeloid-specific KLF6 led to upregulation of macrophage GM-CSF
      expression, promoted the development of aortic hematoma/dissection, and
      stimulated abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) formation when the vessel wall was
      subjected to an inflammatory stimulus. The additional findings of increased
      adventitial fibrotic deposition, marked infiltration of macrophages, and
      increased expression of matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) and IL-6 were blocked
      with neutralizing GM-CSF antibodies, or recapitulated in normal mice with excess
      GM-CSF administration. The authors concluded that GM-CSF is a key regulatory
      molecule in the development of AAA and further suggested that activation of GM
      CSF is independent of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta)-Smad pathway
      associated with the Marfan aortic pathology. In this perspective, we expand on
      this mechanism, drawing from previous studies implicating a similar essential
      role for IL-6 signaling in macrophage activation, Th17 expansion and aortic
      dissections. We propose a sequential "two-hit" model of vascular inflammation
      involving initial vascular injury followed by recruitment of Ly6C(hi)
      macrophages. Aided by fibroblast interactions inflammatory macrophages produce
      amplification of IL-6 and GM-CSF expression that converge on a common, pathogenic
      Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducers and activations of transcription 3 (STAT3)
      signaling pathway. This pathway stimulates effector functions of macrophages,
      promotes differentiation of Th17 lymphocytes and enhances matrix
      metalloproteinase expression, ultimately resulting in deterioration of vascular
      wall structural integrity. Further research evaluating the impact of
      interventions modulating this common JAK-STAT3 pathway may yield new therapeutic
      interventions for late stages of vascular expansion in inflammation driven aortic
      disease. 

PMID- 27619165
TI  - Outcomes with intravascular ultrasound-guided stent implantation: a meta-analysis
      of randomized trials in the era of drug-eluting stents.

PMID- 27619166
TI  - Detection of single cell heterogeneity in cancer.
AB  - Single cell heterogeneity has already been highlighted in cancer classification,
      diagnosis, and treatment. Recent advanced technologies have gained more ability
      to reveal the heterogeneity on single cell level. In this review, we listed
      various detection targets applied in single cell study, including tumor tissue
      cells, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), disseminated tumor cells (DTCs),
      circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and cancer stem cells
      (CSCs). We further discussed and compared detection methods using these detection
      targets in different fields to reveal single cell heterogeneity in cancer. We
      focused not only on the methods that have already been established and validated,
      but also on newly developed methods. In morphology and phenotype, the methods
      mainly included cell imaging and immune-staining. In genomics and proteomics, the
      main methods were single cell sequencing and single cell western blotting.
      Collectively, from using these methods, we can have a better understanding of the
      single cell variation, as well as what kind of variation it is and how the
      variation works. Our observations imply that study on single cell heterogeneity
      in cancer is an important step to precision medicine. The development of
      technologies in detection of single cell heterogeneity will be sure to improve
      the diagnosis and treatment in cancer.

PMID- 27619169
TI  - The Role of Physical Activity on Weight Gain and Hypertensive Disorders During
      Pregnancy.

PMID- 27619170
TI  - APOC3 induces endothelial dysfunction through TNF-alpha and JAM-1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fatality rate for cardiovascular disease (CVD) has increased in
      recent years and higher levels of triglyceride have been shown to be an
      independent risk factor for atherosclerotic CVD. Dysfunction of endothelial cells
      (ECs) is also a key factor of CVD. APOC3 is an important molecule in lipid
      metabolism that is closely associated with hyperlipidemia and an increased risk
      of developing CVD. But the direct effects of APOC3 on ECs were still unknown.
      This study was aimed at determining the effects of APOC3 on inflammation,
      chemotaxis and exudation in ECs. METHODS: ELISA, qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence,
      flow cytometry and transwell assays were used to investigate the effects of APOC3
      on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). SiRNA-induced TNF-alpha and
      JAM-1 silencing were used to observe how APOC3 influenced the inflammatory
      process in the ECs. RESULTS: Our results showed that APOC3 was closely associated
      with the inflammatory process in ECs, and that this process was characterized by
      the increased expression of TNF-alpha. Inflammatory processes further disrupted
      the tight junctions (TJs) between HUVECs by causing increased expression of JAM
      1. JAM-1 was involved in maintaining the integrity of TJs, and it promoted the
      assembly of platelets and the exudation of leukocytes. Changes in its expression
      promoted chemotaxis and the exudation of ECs, which contributed to
      atherosclerosis. While the integrity of the TJs was disrupted, the adhesion of
      THP-1 cells to HUVECs was also increased by APOC3. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we
      describe the mechanism by which APOC3 causes inflammation, chemotaxis and the
      exudation of ECs, and we suggest that controlling the inflammatory reactions that
      are caused by APOC3 may be a new method to treat CVD.

PMID- 27619172
TI  - Contextual cue exposure effects on food intake in restrained eaters.
AB  - Food cue exposure has been shown to trigger overeating in restrained eaters. To
      explore the difficulties experienced by these individuals in regulating their
      food intake, recent investigations have sought to determine the impact of
      exposure to a low calorie food cue, but with mixed success. This study tested the
      possibility that contextual differences moderate the impact of exposure to such a
      food cue among restrained eaters. To this end, we compared the effect of exposure
      to a low calorie food cue either on its own or together with a high calorie food
      cue. Specifically, we exposed 122 undergraduate women to a low calorie food cue
      (pictures of grapes), or to a high calorie food cue (pictures of cookies), or
      both, and examined the effect of such food-cue exposure on intake of either
      grapes or cookies. Restrained eaters were identified by their scores on the
      Revised Restraint Scale (Herman & Polivy, 1980). In line with predictions
      regarding dieting goal activation, restrained eaters ate less of the given food,
      either grapes or cookies, following exposure to the grapes cue alone than after
      exposure to the grapes+cookies cue. Thus the context in which a low calorie food
      cue is presented (alone, or in combination with a high calorie food cue) may play
      an important role in how much restrained eaters eat. The findings have
      implications for the regulation of food intake in restrained eaters.

PMID- 27619171
TI  - Further evidence of HPA-axis dysregulation and its correlation with depression in
      Autism Spectrum Disorders: Data from girls.
AB  - To further describe Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis activity in
      children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the Diurnal Fluctuation (DF) and
      Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) were investigated in a sample of 39 high
      functioning girls with ASD. Although group mean data conformed to the DF and CAR
      models, over half of the participants showed inverse CAR and over 14% had
      inverted DF cortisol concentrations. Examination of three potential sets of
      predictor factors (physiological, ASD-related, and mood) revealed that only self
      reported Major Depressive Disorder was significantly associated with CAR status,
      and that the girls' concern about dying or suicide was the most powerful
      contributor to the variance in CAR status. These findings add to the literature
      regarding the HPA axis dysfunction in children with ASD.

PMID- 27619173
TI  - Mouse preferential incising force orientation changes during jaw closing muscle
      hyperalgesia and is sex dependent.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mouse incising is controlled by a central pattern generator and
      this activity can change in the presence of pain. The incising frequency and
      maximum force generation decreases with pain. In this study, we used repetitive
      acidic injections in the left masseter muscle of male and female mice to
      determine differences between baseline and jaw muscle pain conditions and the
      effect of sex on preferential incising direction. METHODS: A within subject
      design was used to evaluate data previously acquired using multi-axis force data
      (X, Y and Z) from the 4th baseline recording day and day 7 post-injection (day of
      maximal pain response) for each mouse of each sex. A total of 34 female and male
      (age 3-9months) CD-1 mice were evaluated. After mathematically rotating the X and
      Y axes to align the Y axis to be parallel to the wire struts of the cage top,
      data were analyzed to determine incising direction preference during baseline
      (non-pain) and pain (day 7) conditions and between sex. Radar plots of X-Y, X-Z
      and Y-Z axes depicted the average direction of incising preference between
      baseline and pain conditions for each sex. Statistical differences among groups
      were tested using a mixed model ANOVA. RESULTS: Similar to previous findings,
      female mice had a more robust difference in incising direction preference when
      comparing male and female pain conditions and this was most evident in the X-Z
      axes. The incising frequencies most commonly affected were 5.3, 6.2 and 7.6Hz.
      Male mice varied little in their incising direction preference between the
      baseline and pain conditions. In addition, statistical comparison of ratios of
      the percent of time spent incising in the Z versus X axes for each incising
      frequency found that the incising preference was not different when comparing 5.3
      and 7.6Hz frequencies. Finally, female mice used a novel approach to minimize
      pain while incising by rotating their head and body nearly 180 degrees while
      males did not use this strategy as frequently. CONCLUSIONS: The preferred
      incising direction changes in a jaw muscle pain condition and this information
      can be used to further characterize functional pain in the masticatory muscle
      system. The changes were dependent on the incising frequency generated by the
      central pattern generator for incising.

PMID- 27619174
TI  - Efficacy of a brief web-based intervention with and without SMS to enhance
      healthy eating behaviors among university students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthy eating, such as the regular inclusion of fruits and
      vegetables in one's diet, is essential for maintaining optimal weight, maximizing
      brain and immune system functioning, and reducing the risk for disease. Despite
      its importance, few students meet recommended guidelines for healthy dietary
      behavior. The current study was designed to test the efficacy of two ehealth
      intervention approaches for increasing healthy eating behaviors among university
      students. METHODS: Student volunteers from an introductory psychology class at a
      northeastern US university participated for class credit (n=154). Students were
      randomized to either an assessment only (AO), web-based nutrition intervention
      only (WBO), or web-intervention with daily text-messaging condition (WB+M).
      Participants completed measures of vegetable and fruit consumption and frequency
      of meals with designated healthy food selections at baseline and one-month follow
      up. RESULTS: Only the WB+M intervention significantly increased the likelihood of
      attaining vegetable consumption standards and increased the frequency of
      designated healthy food choice options guidelines at follow-up compared to the AO
      condition. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that delivering a brief web-based
      intervention with daily text messages about personal nutrition and fitness goals
      may support healthier eating patterns among students.

PMID- 27619176
TI  - Nanoscopic Visualization of Soft Matter Using Fluorescent Diarylethene
      Photoswitches.
AB  - The in situ imaging of soft matter is of paramount importance for a detailed
      understanding of functionality on the nanoscopic scale. Although super-resolution
      fluorescence microscopy methods with their unprecedented imaging capabilities
      have revolutionized research in the life sciences, this potential has been far
      less exploited in materials science. One of the main obstacles for a more
      universal application of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy methods is the
      limitation of readily available suitable dyes to overcome the diffraction limit.
      Here, we report a novel diarylethene-based photoswitch with a highly fluorescent
      closed and a nonfluorescent open form. Its photophysical properties, switching
      behavior, and high photostability make the dye an ideal candidate for
      photoactivation localization microscopy (PALM). It is capable of resolving apolar
      structures with an accuracy far beyond the diffraction limit of optical light in
      cylindrical micelles formed by amphiphilic block copolymers.

PMID- 27619175
TI  - Cold tolerance is unaffected by oxygen availability despite changes in anaerobic
      metabolism.
AB  - Insect cold tolerance depends on their ability to withstand or repair
      perturbations in cellular homeostasis caused by low temperature stress. Decreased
      oxygen availability (hypoxia) can interact with low temperature tolerance, often
      improving insect survival. One mechanism proposed for such responses is that
      whole-animal cold tolerance is set by a transition to anaerobic metabolism. Here,
      we provide a test of this hypothesis in an insect model system (Thaumatotibia
      leucotreta) by experimental manipulation of oxygen availability while measuring
      metabolic rate, critical thermal minimum (CTmin), supercooling point and changes
      in 43 metabolites in moth larvae at three key timepoints (before, during and
      after chill coma). Furthermore, we determined the critical oxygen partial
      pressure below which metabolic rate was suppressed (c. 4.5 kPa). Results showed
      that altering oxygen availability did not affect (non-lethal) CTmin nor (lethal)
      supercooling point. Metabolomic profiling revealed the upregulation of anaerobic
      metabolites and alterations in concentrations of citric acid cycle intermediates
      during and after chill coma exposure. Hypoxia exacerbated the anaerobic
      metabolite responses induced by low temperatures. These results suggest that cold
      tolerance of T. leucotreta larvae is not set by oxygen limitation, and that
      anaerobic metabolism in these larvae may contribute to their ability to survive
      in necrotic fruit.

PMID- 27619177
TI  - Development, validation, and application of ELISA for detection of anti-HD105
      antibodies in pre-clinical safety evaluation using monkeys.
AB  - Unwanted immunogenicity of protein therapeutics can result in severe side effects
      and should be assessed in animals before applying the treatment to humans.
      Monkeys are the most relevant choice for pre-clinical toxicity testing of
      antibody-based therapeutics. To assess the immunogenicity of HD105, a novel
      antibody therapeutic that targets both vascular endothelial growth factor and
      Delta-like-ligand 4, a bridging enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed
      as an anti-drug antibody (ADA) assay and validated for use in pre-clinical
      studies using non-human primates. This method was found to have suitable assay
      sensitivity, intra- and inter-assay precision, confirmation, drug tolerance,
      recovery, and sample stability for measuring ADA in monkey serum samples. The
      results showed that ADA elevation occurred following repeated doses of HD105, and
      that ADA production was negatively associated with serum HD105 concentration.
      These results suggest that intravenous administration of HD105 induces production
      of ADA in monkeys and that the detection of ADA may be negatively influenced by
      free HD105 in serum.

PMID- 27619178
TI  - Mechanism of nitrogen removal in wastewater lagoon: a case study.
AB  - Ammonia being a nutrient facilitates the growth of algae in wastewater and causes
      eutrophication. Nitrate poses health risk if it is present in drinking water.
      Hence, nitrogen removal from wastewater is required. Lagoon wastewater treatment
      systems have become common in Canada these days. The study was conducted to
      understand the nitrogen removal mechanisms from the existing wastewater treatment
      lagoon system in the town of Lorette, Manitoba. The lagoon system consists of two
      primary aerated cells and two secondary unaerated cells. Surface samples were
      collected periodically from lagoon cells and analysed from 5 May 2015 to 9
      November 2015. The windward and leeward sides of the ponds were sampled and the
      results were averaged. It was found that the free ammonia volatilization to the
      atmosphere is responsible for most of the ammonia removal. Ammonia and nitrate
      assimilation into biomass and biological growth in the cells appears to be the
      other mechanisms of nitrogen removal over the monitoring period. Factors
      affecting the nitrogen removal efficiency were found to be pH, temperature and
      hydraulic residence time. Also, the ammonia concentration in the effluent from
      the wastewater treatment lagoon was compared with the regulatory standard.

PMID- 27619179
TI  - Cellulose acetate nanofibers coated layer-by-layer with polyethylenimine and
      graphene oxide on a quartz crystal microbalance for use as a highly sensitive
      ammonia sensor.
AB  - A novel approach to the preparation of a sensing coating on a quartz crystal
      microbalance (QCM) to realize rapid and accurate ammonia detection is reported in
      this study. Positively charged polyethylenimine (PEI) and negatively charged
      graphene oxide (GO) were successively assembled on the surfaces of negatively
      charged electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers, using the electrostatic
      layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
      images demonstrated the nanofibrous morphology of the as-prepared CA/PEI/GO
      membrane. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman analyses indicated that
      the PEI and GO were successfully assembled on the surfaces of the CA nanofibers.
      In gas-sensing tests, the CA/PEI/GO-based QCM sensor not only exhibited a low
      detection limit and rapid response, but also performed with good reversibility
      and selectivity with respect to ammonia detection.

PMID- 27619180
TI  - Orientation and biorecognition of immunoglobulin adsorbed on spin-cast poly(3
      alkylthiophenes): Impact of polymer film crystallinity.
AB  - Many of bioelectronic and biosensor applications are based on poly(3
      alkylthiophenes), conducting and solution-processable polymers. The most facile
      approach for the fabrication of such devices relies on biofunctionalization of
      P3AT surfaces with antibodies through adsorption. The success of this approach
      depends critically on antibody orientation that affects its biorecognition. As
      demonstrated here both these features are controlled by the surface structure of
      spin-cast P3ATs. In particular, a multi-technique and multivariate study that
      involved Atomic Force Microscopy, Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction, Angle
      Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay, and
      Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry combined with Principal Component
      Analysis is conducted in order to deduce the crystalline texture of three P3AT
      polymers as well as its effect on orientation of adsorbed rabbit immunoglobulin
      (IgG) molecules. An edge-on crystalline texture is concluded for regioregular
      poly(3-butylthiophene) (RP3BT) and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RP3HT), while
      amorphous morphology is inferred for poly(3-butylthiophene) (P3BT). In addition,
      end-on and head-on orientations similar for all P3ATs were concluded, based on
      the amount of adsorbed rabbit IgG molecules. Examination of amino acids
      characteristic for F(ab')2 and Fc fragments, and dominant in the external regions
      of adsorbed immunoglobulin molecules, points to end-on IgG alignment on RP3BT and
      RP3HT, but not on P3BT. Moreover, the binding of an anti-rabbit IgG antibody on
      the absorbed rabbit IgG is higher (up to 71%) when the biorecognition reactions
      are performed on regioregular rather than regiorandom P3AT surfaces. In
      particular, the highest biorecognition efficiency and IgG orientational order is
      observed for the RP3BT surfaces with the more developed crystallinity.

PMID- 27619181
TI  - beta-Cristobalite (001) surface as 4-formaminoantipyrine adsorbent: First
      principle study of the effect on adsorption of surface modification.
AB  - Silica based materials find applications as excipients and particularly as drug
      delivery agents for pharmaceutical drugs. Their performance can be crucially
      affected by surface treatments, as it can modify the adsorption (and release) of
      these formulations. The role of surface modification on the features of 4
      formaminoantipyrine (FAA) adsorbed on beta-cristobalite (001) surface is studied
      by means of simulations based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT). Starting
      from the results of FAA in interaction with a dehydroxylated surface; a fully
      hydroxylated surface and a functionalized surface with benzalkonium chloride (BC)
      surfactant have been added to study the configurational landscape. Calculations
      suggest that the trend for FAA preferential adsorption on silica surfaces is:
      dehydroxylated>hydroxylated>BC-functionalized. The potential for hydrogen bonding
      causes the main contribution to the bonding while dispersion forces present an
      additional contribution independently of whether the drug is hydrogen-bonded or
      BC-bonded to the surface. Adsorption takes mainly place through nitrogen atoms in
      the heterocyclic ring, the carbonyl and amine functional groups. Associated
      mode's shifts and concurrent changes in bond length are also observed showing
      accordance between electronic and geometrical structure results. BC surfactant
      reduces the number of formed H-bonds and lowers the attractive molecule-surface
      interaction being it useful to prevent particle agglomeration and could favor
      drug release in therapies that requires faster but controlled delivery.

PMID- 27619182
TI  - Co-micellization behavior of triblock copolymers in the presence of hydrophobic
      drug molecules: A simulation study.
AB  - Dissipative particle dynamics simulation of bead-spring chains is applied to
      study co-micellization, micellar and drug loading properties of binary triblock
      copolymer systems to seek a better understanding on selection and utilization of
      polymer mixtures to improve the drug encapsulation efficiency and loading
      capacity. Co-micellization is found to still occur in the presence of drug; pure
      and mixed micelles coexist with some devoid of any drug due to their
      significantly lower aggregation numbers. The drug encapsulation enlarges the
      micelle cores, and may induce a morphology transition from spherical to
      ellipsoidal or rod-like micelles. For the binary mixture of polymer species with
      a considerable difference in chain length, the majority of the shorter chains are
      located near the periphery of the hydrophobic core, because they prefer the loop
      conformation so as to join the micelles in the co-micellization process.
      Increasing the drug concentration causes more chains to become looped to
      facilitate the formation of larger micelles for drug accommodation.

PMID- 27619183
TI  - Controlled delivery of platelet-derived growth factor-BB from injectable
      microsphere/hydrogel composites.
AB  - Platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PGDF-BB) loaded gelatin microspheres with an
      average size of about 2MUm was incorporated into chitosan/silk
      fibroin/glycerophosphate (GP) solutions to prepare composites. The formulated
      composite solutions were able to form into hydrogels in a temperature range
      between 32 and 37 degrees C at a pH of ca.7. They had good fluidity at 25 degrees
      C and showed shear-thinning features at both 25 and 37 degrees C, revealing that
      they are injectable at room temperature. Elastic modulus of some composites at 37
      degrees C was about 10-fold higher than that of chitosan/GP gel, confirming that
      these composites behave like mechanically strong gels. Optimal composites showed
      abilities to administrate PDGF-BB release in an approximately linear manner up to
      5 weeks. The PDGF-BB release could be regulated by the PDGF-BB load and the silk
      fibroin content in the composites in an individual or cooperative way. In vivo
      degradation of composites demonstrated that some of them had markedly enhanced
      degradation endurance as compared to the chitosan/GP gel. PDGF-BB-stimulated DNA
      synthesis in Balb/c 3T3 fibroblasts and PDGF-BB-induced cell migration suggested
      that the bioactivity of released PDGF-BB was well retained.

PMID- 27619184
TI  - Photochemically-assisted synthesis of non-toxic and biocompatible gold
      nanoparticles.
AB  - This contribution describes the photochemically-assisted synthesis of aqueous
      colloidal suspensions of non-toxic and biocompatible spherical gold nanoparticles
      stabilized by branched polyethylenimine, or else Au-np-PEI. The method consists
      on 30min of photoexcitation (254nm, 16W) at room temperature of an aqueous
      diluted solution of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) containing PEI. While the UV
      irradiation forms the [Au(3+)Cl4-]* excited species that succesively transforms
      into zero valent Au, PEI controls the nucleation step of nanoparticles formation.
      Varying the PEI to Au molar ratio permits one to tune the size of nanoparticles
      between 100nm to 8nm. The obtained colloidal suspensions display an intense
      plasmonic absorption band at 520-530nm and positive zeta potentials greater than
      +20mV. The cells viability for in vitro tests performed with human connective
      tissues and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines is over 80% and 90%,
      respectively, when they are incubated with Au-np-PEI formulations (25MUgmL-1).
      The present photochemically-assisted synthesis is advantageous because it is fast
      and does not require for either hazardous or cytotoxic reductant agents and
      additional purification procedures.

PMID- 27619185
TI  - Role of chemical crosslinking in material-driven assembly of fibronectin
      (nano)networks: 2D surfaces and 3D scaffolds.
AB  - Poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) induces the formation of biomimetic fibronectin (FN)
      (nano)networks upon simple adsorption from solutions, a process referred to as
      material-driven FN fibrillogenesis. The ability of PEA to organize FN has been
      demonstrated in 2D and 2.5D environments, but not as yet in 3D scaffolds, which
      incorporate three-dimensionality and chemical crosslinkers that may influence its
      fibrillogenic potential. In this paper we show for the first time that while
      three-dimensionality does not interfere with PEA-induced FN fibrillogenesis,
      crosslinking does, and we determined the maximum amount of crosslinker that can
      be added to PEA to maintain FN fibrillogenesis. For this, we synthesised 2D
      substrates with different amounts of crosslinker (1-10% of ethylene glycol
      dimethacrylate) and studied the role of crosslinking in FN organization using
      AFM. The glass transition temperature was seen to increase with crosslinking
      density and, accordingly, polymer segmental mobility was reduced. The
      organization of FN after adsorption (formation of FN fibrils) and the
      availability of the FN cell-binding domain were found to be dependent on
      crosslinking density. Surface mobility was identified as a key parameter for FN
      supramolecular organization. PEA networks with up to 2% crosslinker organize the
      FN in a similar way to non-crosslinked PEA. Scaffolds prepared with 2%
      crosslinker also had FN (nano)networks assembled on their walls, showing PEA's
      ability to induce FN fibrillogenesis in 3D environments as long as the amounts of
      crosslinker is low enough.

PMID- 27619186
TI  - Evaluation of genipin-crosslinked chitosan hydrogels as a potential carrier for
      silver sulfadiazine nanocrystals.
AB  - In the present study genipin crosslinked chitosan (CHI) hydrogels, which had been
      constructed and reported in our previous studies (Gao et al., 2014 [22]), were
      further evaluated for their advantage as a carrier for silver sulfadiazine (AgSD)
      nanocrystal systems. Firstly, AgSD nanocrystals with a mean particle size of
      289nm were prepared by wet milling method and encapsulated into genipin
      crosslinked CHI hydrogels. AgSD nanocrystals displayed a uniform distribution and
      very good physical stability in the hydrogel network. Swelling-dependent release
      pattern was found for AgSD nanocrystals from hydrogels and the release profile
      could be well fitted with Peppas equation. When AgSD nanocrystals were
      encapsulated in hydrogels their fibroblast cytotoxicity decreased markedly, and
      their antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa were still comparable to unencapsulated AgSD nanocrystals.
      In vivo evaluation in excision and burn cutaneous wound models in mice showed
      that AgSD nanocrystal hydrogels markedly decreased the expression of inflammatory
      cytokine IL-6, but increased the levels of growth factors VEGF-A and TGF-beta1.
      Histopathologically, the wounds treated by hydrogels containing AgSD nanocrystals
      showed the best healing state compared with commercial AgSD cream, hydrogels
      containing AgSD bulk powders and blank hydrogels. The wounds treated by AgSD
      nanocrystal hydrogels were dominated by marked fibroblast proliferation, new
      blood vessels and thick regenerated epithelial layer. Sirius Red staining assay
      indicated that AgSD nanocrystal hydrogels resulted in more collagen deposition
      characterized by a large proportion of type I fibers. Our study suggested that
      genipin-crosslinked CHI hydrogel was a potential carrier for local antibacterial
      nanomedicines.

PMID- 27619187
TI  - Communication between nitric oxide synthase and positively-charged surface and
      bone formation promotion.
AB  - Despite the effects on physiology of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs)
      and bone tissue, biological signal communication between bone implants and them
      is seldom employed as a guidance to create an osteo-inductive interface. Herein,
      the positively-charged surface is constructed on bone implant from the
      perspective of mediation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression to signal
      BMSCs osteo-differentiation. In vitro and in vivo results indicate that the
      proper surface potential on the positively-charged surface affects NOS to express
      a high level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in three NOS isoforms of
      the contacted BMSCs, upregulates their osteogenetic expression, and ultimately
      foster new bone growth. However, an excessively high surface potential produces
      substantial immunomodulatory effects thereby offsetting the aforementioned
      advantages. This study demonstrates that fine-tuning of the positively-charged
      surface and proper utilization of the communication between NOS and bone implants
      promote bone formation.

PMID- 27619188
TI  - Structural and functional characterisation of FOXO/Acan-DAF-16 from the parasitic
      nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis.
AB  - Fork head box transcription factors subfamily O (FoxO) is regarded to be
      significant in cell-cycle control, cell differentiation, ageing, stress response,
      apoptosis, tumour formation and DNA damage repair. In the free-living nematode
      Caenorhabditis elegans, the FoxO transcription factor is encoded by Ce-daf-16,
      which is negatively regulated by insulin-like signaling (IIS) and involved in
      promoting dauer formation through bringing about its hundreds of downstream genes
      expression. In nematode parasites, orthologues of daf-16 from several species
      have been identified, with functions in rescue of dauer phenotypes determined in
      a surrogate system C. elegans. In this study, we identified the FoxO encoding
      gene, Acan-daf-16, from the parasitic nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis, and
      determined the genomic structures, transcripts and functions far more thorough in
      longevity, stress resistance and dauer formation. Acan-daf-16 encodes two
      proteins, Acan-DAF-16A and Acan-DAF-16B, consisting of 555 and 491 amino acids,
      respectively. Both isoforms possess the highly conserved fork head domains. Acan
      daf-16A and Acan-daf-16B are expressed from distinct promoters. The expression
      patterns of Acan-daf-16 isoforms in the C. elegans surrogate system showed that p
      Acan-daf-16a:gfp was expressed in all cells of C. elegans, including the pharynx,
      and the expression of p Acan-daf-16b:gfp was restricted to the pharynx. In
      addition to the same genomic organization to the orthologue in C. elegans, Ce-daf
      16, both Acan-DAF-16 isoforms could restore the C. elegans daf-16(mg54) mutation
      in longevity, dauer formation and stress resistance, in spite of the partial
      complementation of Acan-DAF-16B isoform in longevity. These findings provide
      further evidence of the functional conservation of DAF-16s between parasitic
      nematodes and the free-living nematode C. elegans.

PMID- 27619189
TI  - A spatial model of socioeconomic and environmental determinants of dengue fever
      in Cali, Colombia.
AB  - Dengue fever has gradually re-emerged across the global South, particularly
      affecting urban areas of the tropics and sub-tropics. The dynamics of dengue
      fever transmission are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, as well
      as local demographic and socioeconomic factors. In 2010, the municipality of
      Cali, Colombia, experienced one of its worst outbreaks, however the outbreak was
      not spatially homogeneous across the city. In this paper, we evaluate the role of
      socioeconomic and environmental factors associated with this outbreak at the
      neighborhood level, using a Geographically Weighted Regression model. Key
      socioeconomic factors include population density and socioeconomic stratum,
      whereas environmental factors are proximity to both tire shops and plant
      nurseries and the presence of a sewage system (R2=0.64). The strength of the
      association between these factors and the incidence of dengue fever is spatially
      heterogeneous at the neighborhood level. The findings provide evidence to support
      public health strategies in allocating resources locally, which will enable a
      better detection of high risk areas, a reduction of the risk of infection and to
      strengthen the resilience of the population.

PMID- 27619191
TI  - Combined Ankle-Foot Energetics are Conserved When Distal Foot Energy Absorption
      is Minimized.
AB  - The large, late-stance energy generated by the ankle is believed to be critical
      during gait. However, the distal foot absorbs/dissipates a considerable amount of
      energy during the same phase. Thus, the energy generated by the combined ankle
      foot system is more modest, which raises questions regarding the necessity of
      such a large ankle power and the interplay between foot and ankle energetics.
      This study aimed to evaluate our conservation of energy hypothesis, which
      predicted if distal foot energy absorption/dissipation was reduced, then less
      energy would be generated at the ankle and thus the same combined ankle-foot
      energetics would be achieved. Motion analysis data were collected as healthy
      subjects walked under 2 conditions (Shoes, Footplate). In the Footplate
      condition, the shoe was replaced with a customized, rigid footplate with a rocker
      profile. In support of the hypothesis, there was significantly less positive
      ankle and less negative distal foot work with footplate use, resulting in very
      similar combined ankle-foot work between conditions. These findings suggest that
      there is an interplay between the energy generated by the ankle and absorbed by
      the foot. This interplay should be considered when designing orthotic and
      prosthetic ankle-foot systems and rehabilitation programs for individuals with
      weakened ankle muscles.

PMID- 27619190
TI  - Changes in the immune response after treatment with benznidazole versus no
      treatment in patients with chronic indeterminate Chagas disease.
AB  - Symptomatic chronic Chagas disease affects up to 40% of patients infected with
      Trypanosoma cruzi. The lack of reliable early markers of cure after therapy
      hinders disease management and clinical trials with new drugs. We performed a
      study with 18 months of follow-up to compare changes in immune parameters and T.
      cruzi-specific immune responses as surrogate markers of response to therapy
      between patients treated with benznidazole and untreated patients. This was a
      pilot, open-label, randomised clinical trial of treatment with benznidazole
      versus no treatment in patients with indeterminate chronic T. cruzi infection. In
      both groups we investigated changes in T-cell activation, T-cell subpopulations,
      regulatory T-cell counts, IL6, and sCD14 levels, and T. cruzi-specific immune
      responses (Th1, Th2, and Th17 responses). Fourteen patients were included in the
      study (seven in each group). Median age was 35 years (P25-75 31-43), 57% were
      female, and 93% were Bolivian. Benznidazole was administered at 5mg/kg/day for
      60days. Three patients discontinued benznidazole owing to adverse reactions and
      were not evaluated. At the end of the follow-up period, treated patients showed
      significantly less immune activation and lower regulatory T-cell counts, with an
      increased Th17 and Th1 response. This randomised pilot clinical trial
      administering benznidazole to patients with indeterminate chronic Chagas disease
      brings about changes in the adaptive immunity, leading to a general decrease in
      inflammatory status. This apparently beneficial response could act as the basis
      for monitoring new antiparasitic drugs.

PMID- 27619192
TI  - Proofreading of substrate structure by the Twin-Arginine Translocase is highly
      dependent on substrate conformational flexibility but surprisingly tolerant of
      surface charge and hydrophobicity changes.
AB  - The Tat system transports folded proteins across the bacterial plasma membrane,
      and in Escherichia coli preferentially transports correctly-folded proteins.
      Little is known of the mechanism by which Tat proofreads a substrate's
      conformational state, and in this study we have addressed this question using a
      heterologous single-chain variable fragment (scFv) with a defined structure. We
      introduced mutations to surface residues while leaving the folded structure
      intact, and also tested the importance of conformational flexibility. We show
      that while the scFv is stably folded and active in the reduced form, formation of
      the 2 intra-domain disulphide bonds enhances Tat-dependent export 10-fold,
      indicating Tat senses the conformational flexibility and preferentially exports
      the more rigid structure. We further show that a 26-residue unstructured tail at
      the C-terminus blocks export, suggesting that even this short sequence can be
      sensed by the proofreading system. In contrast, the Tat system can tolerate
      significant changes in charge or hydrophobicity on the scFv surface; substitution
      of uncharged residues by up to 3 Lys-Glu pairs has little effect, as has the
      introduction of up to 5 Lys or Glu residues in a confined domain, or the
      introduction of a patch of 4 to 6 Leu residues in a hydrophilic region. We
      propose that the proofreading system has evolved to sense conformational
      flexibility and detect even very transiently-exposed internal regions, or the
      presence of unfolded peptide sections. In contrast, it tolerates major changes in
      surface charge or hydrophobicity.

PMID- 27619193
TI  - Biologically inspired survival analysis based on integrating gene expression as
      mediator with genomic variants.
AB  - Accurately linking cancer molecular profiling with survival can lead to
      improvements in the clinical management of cancer. However, existing survival
      analysis relies on statistical evidence from a single level of data, without
      paying much attention to the integration of interacting multi-level data and the
      underlying biology. Advances in genomic techniques provide unprecedented power of
      characterizing the cancer tissue in a more complete manner than before, offering
      the opportunity to design biologically informed and integrative approaches for
      survival data analysis. Human cancer is characterized by somatic copy number
      alternation and unique gene expression profiles. However, it remains largely
      unclear how to integrate the gene expression and genetic variant data to achieve
      a better prediction of patient survival and an improved understanding of disease
      progression. Consistent with the biological hierarchy from DNA to RNA, we
      prioritize each survival-relevant feature with two separate scores, predictive
      and mechanistic. For mRNA expression levels, predictive features are those mRNAs
      whose variation in expression levels is associated with survival outcome, and
      mechanistic features are those mRNAs whose variation in expression levels is
      associated with genomic variants. Further, we simultaneously integrate
      information from both the predictive model and the mechanistic model through our
      new approach, GEMPS (Gene Expression as a Mediator for Predicting Survival).
      Applied on two cancer types (ovarian and glioblastoma multiforme), our method
      achieved better prediction power (p-value: 6.18E-03-5.15E-11) than peer methods
      (GE.CNAs and GE.CNAs. Lasso). Gene set enrichment analysis confirms that the
      genes utilized for the final survival analysis are biologically important and
      relevant.

PMID- 27619195
TI  - Corrigendum to "The safety of tracheostomy speaking valve use during sleep in
      children: A pilot study" [Am J Otolaryngol 35(2014) 636-640].

PMID- 27619194
TI  - Mining balance disorders' data for the development of diagnostic decision support
      systems.
AB  - In this work we present the methodology for the development of the EMBalance
      diagnostic Decision Support System (DSS) for balance disorders. Medical data from
      patients with balance disorders have been analysed using data mining techniques
      for the development of the diagnostic DSS. The proposed methodology uses various
      data, ranging from demographic characteristics to clinical examination, auditory
      and vestibular tests, in order to provide an accurate diagnosis. The system aims
      to provide decision support for general practitioners (GPs) and experts in the
      diagnosis of balance disorders as well as to provide recommendations for the
      appropriate information and data to be requested at each step of the diagnostic
      process. Detailed results are provided for the diagnosis of 12 balance disorders,
      both for GPs and experts. Overall, the reported accuracy ranges from 59.3 to
      89.8% for GPs and from 74.3 to 92.1% for experts.

PMID- 27619196
TI  - Childhood trauma, psychosis liability and social stress reactivity: a virtual
      reality study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood trauma is associated with higher risk for mental disorders,
      including psychosis. Heightened sensitivity to social stress may be a mechanism.
      This virtual reality study tested the effect of childhood trauma on level of
      paranoid ideations and distress in response to social stress, in interaction with
      psychosis liability and level of social stress exposure. METHOD: Seventy-five
      individuals with higher psychosis liability (55 with recent onset psychotic
      disorder and 20 at ultra-high risk for psychosis) and 95 individuals with lower
      psychosis liability (42 siblings and 53 controls) were exposed to a virtual cafe
      in five experiments with 0-3 social stressors (crowded, other ethnicity and
      hostility). Paranoid ideation was measured after each experiment. Subjective
      distress was self-rated before and after experiments. Multilevel random
      regression analyses were used to test main effects of childhood trauma and
      interaction effects. RESULTS: Childhood trauma was more prevalent in individuals
      with higher psychosis liability, and was associated with higher level of
      (subclinical) psychotic and affective symptoms. Individuals with a history of
      childhood trauma responded with more subjective distress to virtual social stress
      exposures. The effects of childhood trauma on paranoia and subjective distress
      were significantly stronger when the number of virtual environmental stressors
      increased. Higher psychosis liability increased the effect of childhood trauma on
      peak subjective distress and stress reactivity during experiments. CONCLUSIONS:
      Childhood trauma is associated with heightened social stress sensitivity and may
      contribute to psychotic and affective dysregulation later in life, through a
      sensitized paranoid and stress response to social stressors.

PMID- 27619197
TI  - The effects of curvature and constriction on airflow and energy loss in
      pathological tracheas.
AB  - This paper considers factors that play a significant role in determining
      inspiratory pressure and energy losses in the human trachea. Previous
      characterisations of pathological geometry changes have focussed on relating
      airway constriction and subsequent pressure loss, however many pathologies that
      affect the trachea cause deviation, increased curvature, constriction or a
      combination of these. This study investigates the effects of these measures on
      tracheal flow mechanics, using the compressive goitre (a thyroid gland
      enlargement) as an example. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were
      performed in airways affected by goitres (with differing geometric consequences)
      and a normal geometry for comparison. Realistic airways, derived from medical
      images, were used because idealised geometries often oversimplify the complex
      anatomy of the larynx and its effects on the flow. Two mechanisms, distinct from
      stenosis, were found to strongly affect airflow energy dissipation in the
      pathological tracheas. The jet emanating from the glottis displayed different
      impingement and breakdown patterns in pathological geometries and increased loss
      was associated with curvature.

PMID- 27619198
TI  - The FREED Project (first episode and rapid early intervention in eating
      disorders): service model, feasibility and acceptability.
AB  - AIM: Eating disorders (EDs) are disabling disorders, predominantly affecting
      adolescents and young adults. Untreated symptoms have lasting effects on brain,
      body and behaviour. Care pathway-related barriers often prevent early detection
      and treatment of ED. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and
      acceptability of FREED (First Episode and Rapid Early Intervention for Eating
      Disorder), a novel service for young people (aged 18-25 years) with recent ED
      onset (<=3 years), embedded in a specialist adult National Health Service ED
      service. Specifically, we assessed the impact of FREED on duration of time until
      specialist service contact (DUSC), duration of untreated ED (DUED) and wait-times
      for assessment and treatment compared with patients seen earlier in our service.
      Acceptability of FREED was also assessed. METHODS: Sixty individuals were
      recruited from September 2014 to August 2015. Fifty-one of these were compared
      with 89 patients seen earlier. RESULTS: FREED patients, from areas with minimal
      National Health Service gatekeeping (14/51), had markedly shorter DUSC and DUED
      than controls (DUSC: 12.4 months vs. 16.2 months; DUED 13.0 months vs. 19.1
      months), whereas those with complex gatekeeping (37/51) had shorter DUED (17.7
      months), but longer DUSC (16.9 months) than controls. FREED patients waited
      significantly less time for both assessment and treatment than controls, had
      significantly better treatment uptake and were highly satisfied with the process
      of starting treatment. CONCLUSIONS: FREED is a feasible and acceptable service
      which successfully reduced waiting times. Reductions in DUSC and DUED depend on
      gatekeeping arrangements. More research is required to establish clinical
      outcomes of FREED.

PMID- 27619199
TI  - Differentiation therapy in poor risk myeloid malignancies: Results of companion
      phase II studies.
AB  - Pre-clinical data in non-M3 AML supports the use of differentiation therapy, but
      clinical activity has been limited. Myeloid growth factors can enhance anti
      leukemic activity of differentiating agents in vitro. We conducted companion
      phase II trials investigating sargramostim (GM-CSF) 125MUg/m(2)/day plus 1)
      bexarotene (BEX) 300mg/m(2)/day or 2) entinostat (ENT) 4-8mg/m(2)/week in
      patients with MDS or relapsed/refractory AML. Primary endpoints were response
      after at least two treatment cycles and toxicity. 26 patients enrolled on the BEX
      trial had a median of 2 prior treatments and 24 enrolled on the ENT trial had a
      median of 1. Of 13 response-evaluable patients treated with BEX, the best
      response noted was hematologic improvement in neutrophils (HI-N) seen in 4 (31%)
      patients; none achieved complete (CR) or partial remission (PR). Of 10 treated
      with ENT, there was 1 (10%) partial remission (PR) and 2 (20%) with HI-N. The
      secondary endpoint responses of HI-N with each combination were accompanied by a
      numerical increase in ANC (BEX: 524 to 931 cells/mm(3), p=0.096; ENT: 578 to 1
      137 cells/mm(3), p=0.15) without increasing marrow blasts. Shared grade 3-4 non
      hematologic toxicities included febrile neutropenia, bone pain, fatigue, and
      dyspnea. GM-CSF plus either BEX or ENT are well tolerated in resistant and
      refractory MDS and AML and showed modest clinical and biologic activity, most
      commonly HI-N.

PMID- 27619200
TI  - PD-1/PD-L1 expression in extra-medullary lesions of multiple myeloma.
AB  - Multiple myeloma patients may develop extraosseous involvement in the course of
      the disease making prognosis very poor and new drugs clearly needed. The PD-1/PD
      L1 axis has emerged as a master immune checkpoint in antitumor responses and
      recent studies investigated the role of PD-L1 in multiple myeloma cells; no data
      however are still available about PD-L1 expression in extramedullary
      localizations. We demonstrate PD-L1 expression in 4/12 cases of extraosseous
      myeloma suggesting that these lesions represent a specialized microenvironment.
      We found presence of PD-1+ infiltrating lymphocytes in all observed cases
      supporting the relevance of PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint in extramedullary myeloma. We
      also investigated the correlation in PD1/PD-L1 staining between marrow staining
      and EMP lesions.

PMID- 27619201
TI  - Treatment with MAPKAP2 (MK2) inhibitor and DNA methylation inhibitor, 5-aza dC,
      synergistically triggers apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via
      tristetraprolin (TTP).
AB  - Over 100 putative driver genes that are associated with multiple recurrently
      altered pathways were detected in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), suggesting that
      multiple pathways will need to be inhibited for any therapeutic method to be
      effective. In this context, functional modification of the RNA regulating
      protein, tristetraprolin (TTP) that regulates approximately 2500 genes represents
      a promising strategy in HCC therapy. Since overexpression of TTP induces cell
      death in all cell types, it would be useful to target the regulator of TTP. In
      this study, we applied an inhibitor to MAPKAP2 (MK2) that suppresses TTP
      function. Importantly, cBIOportal for HCC genomics shows that expression level of
      the MK2 gene correlates with clinical outcome of HCC. We show that upon treatment
      with MK2 inhibitor, all 5 HCC cell lines, namely HepG2, Huh7, Hep3B, HLE and HLF,
      reduced cell growth, especially HepG2 and Hep3B cells underwent apoptosis.
      Simultaneously, TTP target genes such as c-Myc, IER3 or AKT-1 were downregulated.
      Depletion of the TTP gene rescued cells from apoptosis and restored the TTP
      target mRNA expression in the presence of MK2 inhibitor. Furthermore, MK2 was
      activated in primary HCC that express TTP at high level. The TTP gene was induced
      upon treatment with DNA methylation inhibitor, 5-aza dC or interferon in three
      other cell lines, Huh7, HLE or HLF. Upon treatment with MK2 inhibitor and 5-aza
      dC or interferon these cells underwent apoptosis. The depletion of TTP in these
      cells partially rescued them from apoptosis, suggesting that the MK2/TTP pathway
      plays a role in proliferation and maintenance of HCCs. Notably, under the same
      conditions human hepatocyte cells (THLE-2) did not undergo apoptosis. These data
      also suggest that MK2 inhibitor with 5-aza dC or interferon may be a useful tool
      for therapy against HCC.

PMID- 27619202
TI  - Real-time Functional Analysis of Inertial Microfluidic Devices via Spectral
      Domain Optical Coherence Tomography.
AB  - We report the application of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD
      OCT) technology that enables real-time functional analysis of sorting
      microparticles and cells in an inertial microfluidic device. We demonstrated high
      speed, high-resolution acquisition of cross-sectional images at a frame rate of
      350 Hz, with a lateral resolution of 3 MUm and an axial resolution of 1 MUm
      within the microfluidic channel filled with water. We analyzed the temporal
      sequence of cross-sectional SD-OCT images to determine the position and diameter
      of microspheres in a spiral microfluidic channel under various flow rates. We
      used microspheres with known diameters to validate the sub-micrometer precision
      of the particle size analysis based on a scattering model of spherical
      microparticles. An additional investigation of sorting live HT-29 cells in the
      spiral microfluidic channel indicated that the distribution of cells within in
      the microchannel has a close correspondence with the cells' size distribution.
      The label-free real-time imaging and analysis of microscale particles in flow
      offers robustness for practical applications with live cells and allows us to
      better understand the mechanisms of particle separations in microfluidic sorting
      systems.

PMID- 27619204
TI  - The people's NHS: time for a new hypothesis?

PMID- 27619203
TI  - Screening for pre-eclampsia using sFlt-1/PlGF ratio cut-off of 38 at 30-37 weeks'
      gestation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) to placental
      growth factor (PlGF) ratio cut-off of 38 for the prediction of pre-eclampsia (PE)
      in routine assessment in singleton pregnancies at 30-37 weeks' gestation.
      METHODS: This was a prospective observational study in women attending a third
      trimester ultrasound scan at 30-37 weeks as part of routine pregnancy care. Serum
      sFlt-1 and PlGF were measured and their ratio was calculated. We estimated the
      detection rate (DR), false-positive rate (FPR), positive predictive value (PPV)
      and negative predictive value (NPV) of sFlt-1/PlGF ratio >38 for the prediction
      of delivery with PE at < 1, < 4 and >= 4 weeks after assessment. RESULTS: The
      study population of 12 305 singleton pregnancies was examined at a median of 32.4
      (range, 30.0-36.9) weeks and included 14 (0.11%), 77 (0.63%) and 227 (1.84%)
      cases that subsequently delivered with PE at < 1, < 4 or >= 4 weeks' after
      assessment, respectively. The DR, FPR, PPV and NPV of sFlt-1/PlGF ratio > 38 in
      the prediction of delivery with PE at < 1 week were 78.6%, 4.5%, 1.9% and 99.97%,
      respectively; the values for delivery with PE at < 4 weeks were 76.6%, 4.1%,
      10.4% and 99.85% and for delivery with PE >= 4 weeks were 20.7%, 4.3%, 8.3% and
      98.47%. CONCLUSION: In routine screening of singleton pregnancies, the
      performance of a sFlt-1/PlGF ratio > 38 is modest for the prediction of delivery
      with PE at < 1 and at < 4 weeks after assessment and poor for the prediction of
      delivery with PE at >= 4 weeks after assessment. A sFlt-1/PlGF ratio > 38
      predicted 79% of cases delivering with PE at < 1 week after assessment, at a FPR
      of 4.5%; consequently, a policy of hospitalizing patients with a ratio > 38 would
      potentially lead to unnecessary hospitalization in 4.5% of pregnancies and a
      ratio of <= 38 would falsely reassure one fifth of women who will deliver with PE
      within 1 week of assessment. Copyright (c) 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley &
      Sons Ltd.

PMID- 27619205
TI  - Neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior
      among Latino adults in Massachusetts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: U.S. Latinos experience high rates of cardio-metabolic diseases and
      have high rates of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Understanding the
      environmental factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviors
      among Latinos could inform future interventions. The purpose of this study is to
      explore the neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and
      sedentary behavior in a sample of U.S. Latino adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional
      study of 602 Latino adults in Lawrence, MA. Survey assessments of physical
      activity, sedentary behavior, and neighborhood environment were verbally
      administered. The neighborhood environment scale assessed violence, safety,
      aesthetic quality, walkability, availability of healthy foods, social cohesion,
      and activities with neighbors. RESULTS: After controlling forage, gender,
      education, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status, two variables were
      associated with the outcomes of interest. Living in more walkable neighborhoods
      was associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in adequate levels of
      physical activity (>150 min per week, as recommended by the American College of
      Sports Medicine (ACSM)) (OR = 1.403, p = .018); and greater frequency of
      activities with neighbors was associated with greater sedentary behavior (beta =
      .072, p = .05). CONCLUSIONS: There were different neighborhood environment
      correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in this Latino community.
      Focusing on a greater understanding of the distinct social and physical
      environmental correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior may provide
      important insights for reducing CVD risk and health disparities among Latinos.

PMID- 27619207
TI  - [In memoriam of Professor Dr. Dr. Michael Wannenmacher].

PMID- 27619208
TI  - Assessment of tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in oral fluid as biomarkers
      of cancer risk: A population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smoke-free laws are expected to reduce smoking habits and exposure to
      secondhand smoke. The objective of this study was the measurement of tobacco
      specific carcinogens (TSNAs) in oral fluid to assess the most suitable biomarker
      of cancer risk associated with tobacco smoke. METHODS: TSNAs, N'
      nitrosonornicotine (NNN), 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)
      and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), as well as nicotine and
      cotinine were measured in oral fluid samples from 166 smokers and 532 non-smokers
      of the adult population of Barcelona, Spain. A simple method with an alkaline
      single liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane/isopropanol was used and
      lower limits of quantification for cotinine, NNN, NNK and NNAL were set at
      0.10ng/mL, 1.0, 2.0 and 0.50pg/mL respectively. The NNN/cotinine ratio was also
      calculated. RESULTS: NNN was the most abundant TSNA present in oral fluid with a
      significant difference between smokers and non-smokers (mean concentrations of
      118 and 5.3pg/mL, respectively, p<0.001). NNK and NNAL were detectable in fewer
      samples. NNN and cotinine concentrations had a moderate correlation within both
      groups (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of 0.312, p<0.001 in smokers and
      0.279, p=0.022 in non-smokers). NNN/cotinine ratio was significantly higher
      (p<0.001) in non-smokers than in smokers, in line with equivalent findings for
      the NNAL/cotinine ratio in urine. CONCLUSIONS: TSNAs are detectable in oral fluid
      of smokers and non-smokers. NNN is the most abundant, in line with its
      association with esophageal and oral cavity cancers. The NNN/cotinine ratio
      confirms the relative NNN increase in second hand smoke. Findings provide a new
      oral fluid biomarker of cancer risk associated with exposure to tobacco smoke.

PMID- 27619209
TI  - Lethal and sublethal responses in the clam Scrobicularia plana exposed to
      different CO2-acidic sediments.
AB  - One of the main impacts expected in CO2 leakage scenarios from carbon capture and
      storage in sub-seabed geological structures is the acidification of the
      environment. In the present work, laboratory-scale experiments were performed to
      investigate the effects of seawater acidification (pH 7.0, 6.5, 6.0, and control)
      in native clams (Scrobicularia plana) over 21 days of exposure. For this purpose,
      a battery of biomarkers (GSI, EROD, GST, GPX, LPO, and DNA damage) were analysed
      in the digestive glands of individuals collected on days 7, 14 and 21. Seawater
      acidification significantly affected the average life span of S. plana, and both
      the biomarkers analysed and the multivariate analysis approach demonstrated that
      seawater acidification induced a strong oxidative stress response in the clam.
      Oxidative stress overwhelmed the capacity of S. plana to defend its cells against
      it, resulting in DNA damage. Furthermore, the decline in the population of S.
      plana in their natural habitat could lead to a reduction in available food
      resources for avifauna, ichthyofauna, and for the local economy because this clam
      is a commercial species in the south of Europe.

PMID- 27619210
TI  - The impacts of As accumulation under different pH levels: Comparing Ruditapes
      decussatus and Ruditapes philippinarum biochemical performance.
AB  - Marine bivalves have been used to assess environmental As contamination and the
      effects of seawater acidification when both factors are acting alone, but limited
      information is available regarding the impacts of both factors acting in
      combination. The aim of this study was to compare physiological (glycogen) and
      biochemical (lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-S
      transferase and alkaline phosphatase) responses in both native (Ruditapes
      decussatus) and introduced (R. philippinarum) clams, when exposed to the combined
      effects of pH (7.8, control; 7.3) and As concentrations (0 and 4mg/L). The
      combined effect of As and pH on the health risks associated with clam consumption
      was also analyzed. Results revealed that both species were able to accumulate As
      under both pH levels, although higher As concentrations where observed under low
      pH. Thus, predicted pH decrease will potentiate health risks associated with the
      consumption of such species, since less amount of clams exposed to As is needed
      for an adult to exceed the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI). Low pH, As
      exposure and the combination of both factors did not negatively affect the native
      species, since clams were able to maintain their physiological and biochemical
      performance among all conditions. On the other hand, R. philippinarum was
      negatively affected by As exposure at control pH (7.8), inducing
      biotransformation and antioxidant defense mechanisms against As toxicity. R.
      philippinarum exposed and non-exposed to As presented similar responses under low
      pH although at this condition the introduced species accumulated twice the amount
      of As than R. decussatus.

PMID- 27619206
TI  - LPS-Induced Macrophage Activation and Plasma Membrane Fluidity Changes are
      Inhibited Under Oxidative Stress.
AB  - Macrophage activation is essential for a correct and efficient response of innate
      immunity. During oxidative stress membrane receptors and/or membrane lipid
      dynamics can be altered, leading to dysfunctional cell responses. Our aim is to
      analyze membrane fluidity modifications and cell function under oxidative stress
      in LPS-activated macrophages. Membrane fluidity of individual living THP-1
      macrophages was evaluated by the technique two-photon microscopy. LPS-activated
      macrophage function was determined by TNFalpha secretion. It was shown that LPS
      activation causes fluidification of macrophage plasma membrane and production of
      TNFalpha. However, oxidative stress induces rigidification of macrophage plasma
      membrane and inhibition of cell activation, which is evidenced by a decrease of
      TNFalpha secretion. Thus, under oxidative conditions macrophage proinflammatory
      response might develop in an inefficient manner.

PMID- 27619211
TI  - Non-lethal heat shock increases tolerance to metal exposure in brine shrimp.
AB  - Pollution and temperature increase are two of the most important stressors that
      aquatic organisms are facing. Exposure to elevated temperatures and metal
      contamination both induce heat shock proteins (HSPs), which may thus be involved
      in the induced cross-tolerance in various organisms. This study aimed to test the
      hypothesis that exposure to a non-lethal heat shock (NLHS) causes an increased
      tolerance to subsequent metal exposure. Using gnotobiotic cultures of the brine
      shrimp Artemia franciscana, the tolerance to Cd and Zn acute exposures was tested
      after a prior NLHS treatment (30min exposure to 37 degrees C). The effects of
      NLHS and metal exposure were also assessed by measuring 70kDa-HSPs production,
      along with the analysis of epigenetic markers such as DNA methylation and histone
      H3 and histone H4 acetylation. Our results showed that heat-shocked Artemia had
      increased acute tolerance to Cd and Zn. However, different patterns of HSPs were
      observed between the two metal compounds and no epigenetic alterations were
      observed in response to heat shock or metal exposure. These results suggest that
      HSP production is a phenotypically plastic trait with a potential role in
      temperature-induced tolerance to metal exposure.

PMID- 27619212
TI  - Arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium: Toxicity, levels in breast milk and the risks
      for breastfed infants.
AB  - Metals are ubiquitous in nature, being found in all environmental compartments,
      and have a variety of applications in human activities. Metals are transferred by
      maternal blood to the fetus via the placenta, and exposure continues throughout
      life. For the general population, exposure comes mainly from water and food
      consumption, including breast milk. In this paper, we reviewed studies on the
      toxicity of arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium, the toxic metals of most concern
      to human health, focusing on the potential risks to newborns and infants. A total
      of 75 studies published since 2000 reporting the levels of these metals in breast
      milk were reviewed. Lead was the metal most investigated in breast milk (43
      studies), and for which the highest levels were reported (up to 1515ug/L).
      Arsenic was the least investigated (18 studies), with higher levels reported for
      breast milk (up to 149ug/L) collected in regions with high arsenic concentrations
      in water (>10ug/L). Data from 34 studies on mercury showed that levels in breast
      milk were generally higher in populations with high fish consumption, where it
      may be present mainly as MeHg. Cadmium levels in breast milk were the lowest,
      with means <2ug/L in most of the 29 studies reviewed. Results of risk assessments
      indicated that the intake of arsenic, lead and mercury by infants through
      breastfeeding can be considered a health concern in most regions of the world.
      Although the potential risks to infants are mostly outweighed by the benefits of
      breast milk consumption, it is essential that contaminants be continuously
      monitored, especially in the most critical regions, and that measures be
      implemented by health authorities to reduce exposure of newborns and infants to
      these metals, and thus avoid unnecessary health risks.

PMID- 27619214
TI  - Involvement of the optic nerve in mutated CSF1R-induced hereditary diffuse
      leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids (HDLS)
      is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterized by cerebral white matter
      degeneration and caused by mutations in the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor
      (CSF1R) gene. Involvement of the optic nerves in hereditary diffuse
      leukoencephalopathy is rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 30-year
      old Chinese woman with HDLS, who carried a heterozygous c.2345 G > A (p.782Arg >
      His) mutation in exon 18 of CSF1R. She developed a gradual decline in motor
      ability, as well as cognitive and visual function, over the course of 4 months.
      Brain T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery-weighted magnetic resonance imaging
      revealed high signal lesions in the bilateral frontoparietal and periventricular
      deep white matter. Optical coherence tomography showed that the right
      peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer was atrophic in the temporal quadrant
      while the left peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer was thin in the temporal
      superior quadrant. CONCLUSIONS: A diagnosis of HDLS should be considered in
      patients with white matter lesions and optic nerves injury upon magnetic
      resonance imaging that mimics progressive multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27619213
TI  - BODIPY-Conjugated Xyloside Primes Fluorescent Glycosaminoglycans in the Inner Ear
      of Opsanus tau.
AB  - We report on a new xyloside conjugated to BODIPY, BX and its utility to prime
      fluorescent glycosaminoglycans (BX-GAGs) within the inner ear in vivo. When BX is
      administered directly into the endolymphatic space of the oyster toadfish
      (Opsanus tau) inner ear, fluorescent BX-GAGs are primed and become visible in the
      sensory epithelia of the semicircular canals, utricle, and saccule. Confocal and
      2-photon microscopy of vestibular organs fixed 4 h following BX treatment, reveal
      BX-GAGs constituting glycocalyces that envelop hair cell kinocilium, nerve
      fibers, and capillaries. In the presence of GAG-specific enzymes, the BX-GAG
      signals are diminished, suggesting that chondroitin sulfates are the primary GAGs
      primed by BX. Results are consistent with similar click-xylosides in CHO cell
      lines, where the xyloside enters the Golgi and preferentially initiates
      chondroitin sulfate B production. Introduction of BX produces a temporary block
      of hair cell mechanoelectrical transduction (MET) currents in the crista,
      reduction in background discharge rate of afferent neurons, and a reduction in
      sensitivity to physiological stimulation. A six-degree-of-freedom pharmacokinetic
      mathematical model has been applied to interpret the time course and spatial
      distribution of BX and BX-GAGs. Results demonstrate a new optical approach to
      study GAG biology in the inner ear, for tracking synthesis and localization in
      real time.

PMID- 27619216
TI  - Trait Mindfulness, Problem-Gambling Severity, Altered State of Awareness and Urge
      to Gamble in Poker-Machine Gamblers.
AB  - In Australia, poker-machine gamblers represent a disproportionate number of
      problem gamblers. To cultivate a greater understanding of the psychological
      mechanisms involved in poker-machine gambling, a repeated measures cue-reactivity
      protocol was administered. A community sample of 38 poker-machine gamblers was
      assessed for problem-gambling severity and trait mindfulness. Participants were
      also assessed regarding altered state of awareness (ASA) and urge to gamble at
      baseline, following a neutral cue, and following a gambling cue. Results
      indicated that: (a) urge to gamble significantly increased from neutral cue to
      gambling cue, while controlling for baseline urge; (b) cue-reactive ASA did not
      significantly mediate the relationship between problem-gambling severity and cue
      reactive urge (from neutral cue to gambling cue); (c) trait mindfulness was
      significantly negatively associated with both problem-gambling severity and cue
      reactive urge (i.e., from neutral cue to gambling cue, while controlling for
      baseline urge); and (d) trait mindfulness did not significantly moderate the
      effect of problem-gambling severity on cue-reactive urge (from neutral cue to
      gambling cue). This is the first study to demonstrate a negative association
      between trait mindfulness and cue-reactive urge to gamble in a population of
      poker-machine gamblers. Thus, this association merits further evaluation both in
      relation to poker-machine gambling and other gambling modalities.

PMID- 27619215
TI  - The effect of surgical and non-surgical weight loss on N-terminal pro-B-type
      natriuretic peptide and its relation to obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary
      function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity is a major risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea, impaired
      pulmonary function and heart failure, but obesity is also associated with
      paradoxically low levels of serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT
      proBNP). In subjects with severe obesity undergoing weight loss treatment, we
      assessed the associations between changes in severity of obstructive sleep apnea,
      pulmonary function and serum NT-proBNP levels. METHODS: One-year non-randomized
      controlled clinical trial. Participants, 69.6 % women, mean (SD) age 44.6 (10.8)
      years and body mass index (BMI) 45.1 (5.6) kg/m(2), underwent gastric bypass
      surgery (n = 76) or intensive lifestyle intervention (n = 63), resulting in 30
      (8) % and 8 (9) % weight loss, respectively. The reference group included 30
      normal weight, healthy, gender and age matched controls. Sleep recordings,
      arterial blood gases, pulmonary function and blood tests were assessed before and
      1 year after the interventions. RESULTS: NT-proBNP concentrations increased
      significantly more after surgery than after lifestyle intervention. The post
      intervention values in both groups were significantly higher than in a normal
      weight healthy reference group. In the whole study population changes (?) in NT
      proBNP correlated significantly with changes in both BMI (r = -0.213) and apnea
      hypopnea index (AHI, r = -0.354). ?NT-proBNP was, independent of age, gender and
      ?BMI, associated with ?AHI (beta -0.216, p = 0.021). ?AHI was, independent of
      ?BMI, significantly associated with changes in pO2 (beta -0.204), pCO2 (beta
      0.199), forced vital capacity (beta -0.168) and forced expiratory volume first
      second (beta -0.160). CONCLUSIONS: Gastric bypass surgery was associated with a
      greater increase in NT-proBNP concentrations than non-surgical weight loss
      treatment. Reduced AHI was, independent of weight loss, associated with increased
      NT-proBNP levels and improved dynamic lung volumes and daytime blood gases.
      Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00273104, retrospectively
      registered Jan 5, 2006 (study start Dec 2005).

PMID- 27619217
TI  - Formal derivation of qualitative dynamical models from biochemical networks.
AB  - As technological advances allow a better identification of cellular networks,
      large-scale molecular data are swiftly produced, allowing the construction of
      large and detailed molecular interaction maps. One approach to unravel the
      dynamical properties of such complex systems consists in deriving coarse-grained
      dynamical models from these maps, which would make the salient properties emerge.
      We present here a method to automatically derive such models, relying on the
      abstract interpretation framework to formally relate model behaviour at different
      levels of description. We illustrate our approach on two relevant case studies:
      the formation of a complex involving a protein adaptor, and a race between two
      competing biochemical reactions. States and traces of reaction networks are first
      abstracted by sampling the number of instances of chemical species within a
      finite set of intervals. We show that the qualitative models induced by this
      abstraction are too coarse to reproduce properties of interest. We then refine
      our approach by taking into account additional constraints, the mass invariants
      and the limiting resources for interval crossing, and by introducing information
      on the reaction kinetics. The resulting qualitative models are able to capture
      sophisticated properties of interest, such as a sequestration effect, which arise
      in the case studies and, more generally, participate in shaping the dynamics of
      cell signaling and regulatory networks. Our methodology offers new trade-offs
      between complexity and accuracy, and clarifies the implicit assumptions made in
      the process of qualitative modelling of biological networks.

PMID- 27619218
TI  - Nurses' competence in kinaesthetics : A concept development.
AB  - AIM: This study was carried out to systematically describe nurses' competence in
      kinaesthetics. BACKGROUND: In elderly care the kinaesthetics program for nurses
      has been taught for over 25 years; however, the competence that nurses should
      gain through kinaesthetics training from a theoretical perspective has not yet
      been systematically described. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The method was modelled
      after the three phases of the hybrid model of concept development by Schwartz
      Barcott and Kim (2000). In the theoretical phase a working definition was
      established and a literature review conducted. We searched the online databases
      PubMed and CINAHL and the reference lists up to February 2016. In the empirical
      phase experts defined the attributes during a workshop in October 2013. In the
      analytical phase the results from the theoretical and empirical phase were
      combined in order to define antecedents, attributes and consequences of the
      concept. RESULTS: The concept of nurses' competence in kinaesthetics includes two
      antecedents: (1) nurses' kinaesthetics training and (2) care recipients' need for
      mobility support in activities of daily living. This concept includes a set of
      attributes in the areas of knowledge, skills, attitudes and dynamic state. It
      contributes towards (1) movement competence and (2) physical and psychological
      well-being of both care recipients and nurses. CONCLUSION: The concept of nurses'
      competence in kinaesthetics might support awareness and communication about
      mobility-enhancing gerontological care. Based on the attributes of nurse'
      competence in kinaesthetics an assessment instrument will be developed that can
      be used to evaluate nurses' competence in kinaesthetics in clinical practice.
      Further research is needed to evaluate the consequences of the developed concept.

PMID- 27619219
TI  - Resolution of mid-ventricular thrombus in a patient with heart failure and high
      hematocrit.

PMID- 27619220
TI  - Is the knowledge and attitude of physicians in Nigeria adequate for the diagnosis
      and management of obstructive sleep apnea?
AB  - PURPOSE: The knowledge and attitude of doctors in Nigeria towards obstructive
      sleep apnea is not known. We evaluated the level of knowledge and attitude
      regarding OSA among resident doctors in Internal Medicine and general
      practitioners in Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey among doctors during
      continuing medical education programs was conducted. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea
      Knowledge and Attitude (OSAKA) questionnaire was used to obtain information.
      RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-three doctors (235 resident doctors and 38 general
      practitioners) participated in the study. The mean knowledge score was 10.7 +/-
      2.6 (out of a maximum possible of 18) for all participants corresponding to 59 +/
      14.4 % knowledge. There was no significant difference in the mean score of
      resident doctors (10.8 +/- 2.5) compared to general practitioners (10.0 +/- 2.8),
      (t = 2.6, p = 0.10). Over 70 % of the participants wrongly responded that
      uvuloplasty was an effective treatment and less than 40 % correctly answered that
      continuous positive airway pressure treatment was first line for severe
      obstructive sleep apnea. The mean score on the attitude segment was 3.4 +/- 0.6
      (maximum possible score of 5) for all participants and 3.4 +/- 0.6 and 3.3 +/-
      0.5, respectively, for the residents and the general practitioners (p = 0.47).
      Increasing age was negatively associated with level of knowledge, while
      increasing number of years in medical practice and higher level of residency
      training was positively associated with higher knowledge scores. CONCLUSION: The
      knowledge of obstructive sleep apnea among resident doctors and general
      practitioners in Nigeria is inadequate. There is need to improve training on
      sleep disorders in Nigeria both at continuing medical education programs and
      during residency training.

PMID- 27619222
TI  - Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift 15/16 2016 - Inhalte.

PMID- 27619221
TI  - Longitudinal Trajectories of Depression Symptoms in Adolescence: Psychosocial
      Risk Factors and Outcomes.
AB  - Variations in symptom trajectories within a population may represent distinct
      groups with different etiologies and outcomes. This study aimed to identify
      subgroups of depression symptom trajectories in a sample of adolescents, and to
      describe psychosocial attributes of the different groups. In a longitudinal
      study, 243 adolescents (121 males and 122 females), were assessed using a battery
      of measures of temperament, psychopathology, and psychological and behavioral
      functioning. Four phases of data collection over 7 years spanned average ages of
      the participants from 12 to 18 years old. Depressive symptoms from each phase
      were used to model latent class growth trajectories. A 4-group solution was
      selected as the best-fitting model: (1) ongoing stable low levels of depression;
      (2) very high depressive symptoms initially, but a steep decrease in symptoms
      over time; (3) moderately high depressive symptoms initially, but symptoms
      decreased over time; and (4) initially low levels of symptoms that increased over
      time. Trajectory group membership was associated with a range of psychosocial
      variables including temperament, childhood maltreatment, and young adult quality
      of life. Characterising these subgroups allows for a better understanding of how
      the interaction of risk factors increases the likelihood of depression and other
      poor outcomes, and highlights the importance of early interventions to prevent
      and treat adolescent depression.

PMID- 27619224
TI  - Incorporating modern neuroscience findings to improve brain-computer interfaces:
      tracking auditory attention.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology allows users to generate
      actions based solely on their brain signals. However, current non-invasive BCIs
      generally classify brain activity recorded from surface electroencephalography
      (EEG) electrodes, which can hinder the application of findings from modern
      neuroscience research. APPROACH: In this study, we use source imaging-a
      neuroimaging technique that projects EEG signals onto the surface of the brain-in
      a BCI classification framework. This allowed us to incorporate prior research
      from functional neuroimaging to target activity from a cortical region involved
      in auditory attention. MAIN RESULTS: Classifiers trained to detect attention
      switches performed better with source imaging projections than with EEG sensor
      signals. Within source imaging, including subject-specific anatomical MRI
      information (instead of using a generic head model) further improved
      classification performance. This source-based strategy also reduced accuracy
      variability across three dimensionality reduction techniques-a major design
      choice in most BCIs. SIGNIFICANCE: Our work shows that source imaging provides
      clear quantitative and qualitative advantages to BCIs and highlights the value of
      incorporating modern neuroscience knowledge and methods into BCI systems.

PMID- 27619223
TI  - Management of malignant pleural mesothelioma - part 1: epidemiology, diagnosis,
      and staging : Consensus of the Austrian Mesothelioma Interest Group (AMIG).
AB  - Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare malignant disease that in the majority
      of cases is associated with asbestos exposure. The incidence in Europe is about
      20 per million inhabitants and it is increasing worldwide. Initial symptoms are
      shortness of breath, pleural effusion, cough, and chest pain. The typical growth
      pattern is along the pleural surface; however, infiltration of the lung and/or
      mediastinal and chest wall structures can occur in a more advanced stage.
      Ultimately, distant metastases outside the chest can result. Several histological
      subtypes of pleural mesothelioma exist, which must be differentiated from either
      benign diseases or metastases in the pleural space by other tumor entities. This
      differential diagnosis can be very difficult and a large panel of
      immunohistochemical markers is required to establish the exact diagnosis. The
      standard procedure for confirming the disease and obtaining sufficient tissue for
      the diagnosis is videothoracoscopy. Full thickness biopsies are required, while
      transthoracic needle puncture of pleural fluid or tissue is considered to be
      insufficient for a cytological diagnosis. Complete and detailed staging is
      mandatory for categorization of the disease as well as for therapeutic decision
      making. 

PMID- 27619225
TI  - Newly Diagnosed Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Randomized to 2 Trabecular Bypass
      Stents or Prostaglandin: Outcomes Through 36 Months.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine outcomes through 36 months in phakic eyes with newly
      diagnosed primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) naive to therapy randomized to
      treatment with two trabecular micro-bypass stents or topical prostaglandin.
      METHODS: Subjects with POAG naive to therapy, with intraocular pressure (IOP)
      >=21 and <=40 mmHg, were randomized to implantation of two stents or travoprost.
      Additional medication was to be prescribed post-treatment for elevated IOP or
      glaucomatous optic nerve findings. Of 101 randomized subjects, 100 subjects were
      followed for 24 months and 73 subjects were followed for 36 months. Follow-up on
      all subjects is ongoing. RESULTS: In this randomized cohort of 101 POAG subjects,
      54 subjects underwent 2-stent surgery and 47 received topical travoprost. Mean
      pre-treatment IOP was 25.5 +/- 2.5 mmHg in stent-treated eyes and 25.1 +/- 4.6
      mmHg in medication-treated eyes. By 3 years, mean IOP was 14.6 mmHg in stent eyes
      (with medication added in 6 eyes) and 15.3 mmHg in travoprost eyes (with a second
      medication added in 11 eyes). In the subset of eyes that did not require
      additional medical therapy, mean IOP was 14.5 mmHg and 15.7 mmHg in the
      respective groups. Ninety-one percent of stent eyes had 3-year IOP <=18 mmHg
      without additional therapy (62% <= 15 mmHg) and 79% of travoprost eyes had 3-year
      IOP <=18 mmHg (21% <= 15 mmHg). Safety was favorable in both groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      In this prospective, randomized comparison of subjects with newly diagnosed POAG
      naive to therapy, substantial IOP reduction with a favorable low complication
      rate was shown through 3 years after either 2 trabecular stents implanted as the
      sole procedure or topical travoprost therapy. These data suggest 2-stent
      implantation may be a viable initial treatment option comparable to topical
      prostaglandin in newly diagnosed POAG patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01443988. FUNDING: Glaukos Corporation, Laguna
      Hills, CA.

PMID- 27619226
TI  - Ocriplasmin for Treatment of Vitreomacular Traction: An Update.
AB  - Pharmacologic vitreolysis with ocriplasmin, a 27 kilodalton serine protease, is
      an effective nonsurgical treatment option for vitreomacular traction (VMT). Data
      from phase III clinical studies, including the Microplasmin for Intravitreal
      Injection-Traction Release without Surgical Treatment (MIVI-TRUST) and
      Ocriplasmin for Treatment for Symptomatic Vitreomacular Adhesion Including
      Macular Hole (OASIS) studies, have demonstrated the treatment efficacy of
      ocriplasmin for VMT and full-thickness macular hole (FTMH). Subgroup analysis of
      these clinical trials as well as post-marketing clinical series have aided in
      patient selection by identifying features associated with successful
      pharmacologic release of VMT with ocriplasmin, including adhesion diameter <=1500
      MUm, absence of epiretinal membrane, phakic status, and age younger than 65. As a
      first-in-class therapeutic, ocriplasmin and its side effects have been carefully
      monitored by the vitreoretinal community. The following categories of related or
      possibly related adverse events have been identified: acute reduction in visual
      acuity, ERG changes, dyschromatopsia, retinal tear or detachment, lens
      subluxation or phacodonesis, abnormal pupillary reflex, retinal vascular changes,
      and OCT ellipsoid zone alterations. Adverse events have almost all been transient
      with restoration of visual acuity; however, in select patients, alterations may
      persist.

PMID- 27619229
TI  - Analysis of feline splenic radiographic measurements and their correlation to
      ultrasonographic measurements.
AB  - Objectives The purpose of this study was to establish a method for feline splenic
      measurement on abdominal radiographs and evaluate for correlation between the
      radiographic measurements and ultrasonographic measurements. Methods One hundred
      cats with normal abdominal radiographs and ultrasound (US) studies of the spleen
      were evaluated. The hypothesis was that the measurement of the spleen on the
      radiographs would correlate with the measurement of the spleen on US. The
      radiographic and ultrasonographic measurements were tabulated and compared using
      linear regression and t-tests using unequal variances. Results The measurement of
      the spleen on the ventrodorsal projection was characterized as one of three
      shapes (A, B or C), and thereby based on the thickest part of the spleen (when
      corrected for radiographic magnification: A = 9.9 +/- 2.2 mm; B = 8.1 +/- 1.8 mm;
      C = 8.0 +/- 2.3 mm). There were 48 cats where the head of the spleenwas seen on
      the right lateral (n = 10), the left lateral (n = 24) or both (n = 14)
      projections. On one left lateral, both the head and tail of the spleen were seen.
      There was weak correlation between the radiographic and US measurements(R ?0.6).
      Splenic thickness of shape A on the ventrodorsal projection was significantly
      greater than categories B and C. Conclusions and relevance Radiographic
      measurement of the spleen is not a reliable indicator of its ultrasonographic
      measurement. The ultrasonographic measurements seen in this study (mean of 8.0 +/
      1.6 mm) were similar to measurements of the spleen reported in previous studies.
      It is rare to see the tail of the spleen on lateral feline abdominal radiographs.

PMID- 27619227
TI  - Comparative proteomic analysis reveals alterations in development and
      photosynthesis-related proteins in diploid and triploid rice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polyploidy has pivotal influences on rice (Oryza sativa L.)
      morphology and physiology, and is very important for understanding rice
      domestication and improving agricultural traits. Diploid (DP) and triploid (TP)
      rice shows differences in morphological parameters, such as plant height, leaf
      length, leaf width and the physiological index of chlorophyll content. However,
      the underlying mechanisms determining these morphological differences are remain
      to be defined. To better understand the proteomic changes between DP and TP,
      tandem mass tags (TMT) mass spectrometry (MS)/MS was used to detect the
      significant changes to protein expression between DP and TP. RESULTS: Results
      indicated that both photosynthesis and metabolic pathways were highly
      significantly associated with proteomic alteration between DP and TP based on
      biological process and pathway enrichment analysis, and 13 higher abundance
      chloroplast proteins involving in these two pathways were identified in TP.
      Quantitative real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that 5 of the 13 chloroplast
      proteins ATPF, PSAA, PSAB, PSBB and RBL in TP were higher abundance compared with
      those in DP. CONCLUSIONS: This study integrates morphology, physiology and
      proteomic profiling alteration of DP and TP to address their underlying different
      molecular mechanisms. Our finding revealed that ATPF, PSAA, PSAB, PSBB and RBL
      can induce considerable expression changes in TP and may affect the development
      and growth of rice through photosynthesis and metabolic pathways.

PMID- 27619228
TI  - Neurocritical Care Education During Residency: Opinions (NEURON) Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has established a core
      curriculum of topics for residency training in neurocritical care. At present
      there is limited data evaluating neurology residency education within the
      neurological intensive care unit. This study evaluates learner concerns with the
      neurological intensive care unit. METHODS: The Communication Committee and
      Resident & Fellow Taskforce within the Neurocritical Care Society (NCS) developed
      an online survey that consisted of 20 selection and free-text based questions.
      The survey was distributed to NCS members and then to neurology residency program
      directors. Statistical analysis of neurocritical care exposure were completed
      with t or Fisher exact test with p-value <0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: A
      total of 95 individuals from 32 different residency programs (36.5 % response
      rate) responded to the questionnaire. Most individuals train with neurocritical
      care attendings, fellows and advanced practitioners and have neurocritical care
      exposure during multiple years of residency training. 54 % of responders cite
      improvement in education as a means to improve neurocritical care training. Those
      that raised concern had no difference in time in the neurocritical care unit (9.4
      weeks vs 8.8 weeks), exposure to trained neurointensivists, neurocritical care
      fellows or advanced providers (p value 0.53, 0.19, 0.83, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: There is significant learner concern regarding education within the
      neurointensive care unit. Although there are educational guidelines and focused
      neurocritical care educational materials, these alone do not satisfy residents'
      educational needs. This study demonstrates the need for educational changes, but
      it does not assess best strategies nor curricular content.

PMID- 27619230
TI  - Three-dimensional protonic conductivity in porous organic cage solids.
AB  - Proton conduction is a fundamental process in biology and in devices such as
      proton exchange membrane fuel cells. To maximize proton conduction, three
      dimensional conduction pathways are preferred over one-dimensional pathways,
      which prevent conduction in two dimensions. Many crystalline porous solids to
      date show one-dimensional proton conduction. Here we report porous molecular
      cages with proton conductivities (up to 10(-3) S cm(-1) at high relative
      humidity) that compete with extended metal-organic frameworks. The structure of
      the organic cage imposes a conduction pathway that is necessarily three
      dimensional. The cage molecules also promote proton transfer by confining the
      water molecules while being sufficiently flexible to allow hydrogen bond
      reorganization. The proton conduction is explained at the molecular level through
      a combination of proton conductivity measurements, crystallography, molecular
      simulations and quasi-elastic neutron scattering. These results provide a
      starting point for high-temperature, anhydrous proton conductors through
      inclusion of guests other than water in the cage pores.

PMID- 27619232
TI  - Isolation and characterization of a novel Gram-negative bacterium Chromobacterium
      alkanivorans sp. nov., strain IITR-71T degrading halogenated alkanes.
AB  - The taxonomic position of a Gram-stain negative, non-violaceinpigmented bacterium
      isolated from an insecticide-contaminated site was characterized by a polyphasic
      approach. The bacterium was able to grow on three different halogenated compounds
      namely 1-hlorobutane, 1-hloropropane and 1,2-ichloroethane. As a critical step in
      the degradation of these haloalkanes, stoichiometric amounts of dechlorination
      were estimated. Based on selective enrichment method for three months, using a
      highly contaminated mixed chemical soil, a bacterium was obtained and designated
      as IITR-71T. Its versatility and novelty led us to further characterize it by
      polyphasic taxonomy. The 16S rRNA gene sequence (1446 bases) comparison showed
      highest similarity with those of members of the genus Chromobacterium with the
      most closely related species to strain IITR-71T being Chromobacterium aquaticum
      (99.3 %) followed by Chromobacterium haemolyticum (98.6 %) and Chromobacterium
      piscinae (97.1 %). The major ubiquinone was Q-8. Predominant polar lipids are
      phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and
      diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG). The DNA G+C content of IITR-71T was estimated to be
      61.2 mol%. The genotypic and phenotypic distinctiveness of IITR-71T and its
      phylogenetic relationships indicate that IITR-71T represents a novel species, for
      which the name Chromobacterium alkanivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain
      is IITR-71T (=MTCC 11059T=JCM 30068T=KCTC 52433T).

PMID- 27619231
TI  - Ready, set, go: a cross-sectional survey to understand priorities and preferences
      for multiple health behaviour change in a highly disadvantaged group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Socially disadvantaged groups, such as Aboriginal Australians, tend
      to have a high prevalence of multiple lifestyle risk factors, increasing the risk
      of disease and underscoring the need for services to address multiple health
      behaviours. The aims of this study were to explore, among a socially
      disadvantaged group of people attending an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health
      Service (ACCHS): a) readiness to change health behaviours; b) acceptability of
      addressing multiple risk factors sequentially or simultaneously; and c) preferred
      types of support services. METHODS: People attending an ACCHS in regional New
      South Wales (NSW) completed a touchscreen survey while waiting for their
      appointment. The survey assessed participant health risk status, which health
      risks they would like to change, whether they preferred multiple health changes
      to be made together or separately, and the types of support they would use.
      RESULTS: Of the 211 participants who completed the survey, 94 % reported multiple
      (two or more) health risks. There was a high willingness to change, with 69 % of
      current smokers wanting to cut down or quit, 51 % of overweight or obese
      participants wanting to lose weight and 44 % of those using drugs in the last 12
      months wanting to stop or cut down. Of participants who wanted to make more than
      one health change, over half would be willing to make simultaneous or over
      lapping health changes. The most popular types of support were help from a doctor
      or Health Worker and seeing a specialist, with less than a quarter of
      participants preferring telephone or electronic (internet or smart phone) forms
      of assistance. The importance of involving family members was also identified.
      CONCLUSIONS: Strategies addressing multiple health behaviour changes are likely
      to be acceptable for people attending an ACCHS, but may need to allow flexibility
      in the choice of initial target behaviour, timing of changes, and the format of
      support provided.

PMID- 27619234
TI  - Metabolism of melatonin in the skin: Why is it important?
AB  - Melatonin is produced in almost all living taxa and is probably 2-3 billion years
      old. Its pleiotropic activities are related to its local concentration that is
      secondary to its local synthesis, delivery from distant sites and metabolic or
      non-enzymatic consumption. This consumption generates metabolites through
      indolic, kynuric and cytochrome P450 (CYP) mediated hydroxylations and O
      demethylation or non-enzymatic processes, with potentially diverse phenotypic
      effects. While melatonin acts through receptor-dependent and receptor-independent
      mechanisms, receptors for melatonin metabolites remain to be identified, while
      their receptor-independent activities are well documented. The human skin with
      its main cellular components including malignant cells can both produce and
      rapidly metabolize melatonin in cell-type and context-dependent fashion. The
      predominant metabolism in human skin occurs through indolic, CYP-mediated and
      kynuric pathways with main metabolites represented by 6-hydroxymelatonin, N1 
      acetyl-N2 -formyl-5-methoxykynuramine (AFMK), N1 -acetyl-5-methoxykynuramine
      (AMK), 5-methoxytryptamine, 5-methoxytryptophol and 2-hydroxymelatonin. AFMK, 6
      hydroxymelatonin, 2-hydroxymelatonin and probably 4-hydroxymelatonin can
      potentially be produced in epidermis through UVB-induced non-enzymatic melatonin
      transformation. The skin metabolites are also the same as those produced in lower
      organisms and plants indicating phylogenetic conservation across diverse species
      and adaptation by skin of the primordial defense mechanism. As melatonin and its
      metabolites counteract or buffer environmental stresses to maintain its
      homeostasis through broad-spectrum activities, both melatoninergic and
      degradative pathways must be precisely regulated, because the nature of
      phenotypic regulations will depend on local concentration of melatonin and its
      metabolites. These can be receptor-mediated or represent non-receptor regulatory
      mechanisms.

PMID- 27619233
TI  - Genome-scale mRNA and small RNA transcriptomic insights into initiation of citrus
      apomixis.
AB  - Nucellar embryony (NE) is an adventitious form of apomixis common in citrus,
      wherein asexual embryos initiate directly from nucellar cells surrounding the
      embryo sac. NE enables the fixation of desirable agronomic traits and the
      production of clonal offspring of virus-free rootstock, but impedes progress in
      hybrid breeding. In spite of the great importance of NE in citrus breeding and
      commercial production, little is understood about the underlying molecular
      mechanisms. In this study, the stages of nucellar embryo initiation (NEI) were
      determined for two polyembryonic citrus cultivars via histological observation.
      To explore the genes and regulatory pathways involved in NEI, we performed mRNA
      seq and sRNA-seq analyses of ovules immediately prior to and at stages during NEI
      in the two pairs of cultivars. A total of 305 differentially expressed genes
      (DEGs) were identified between the poly- and monoembryonic ovules. Gene ontology
      (GO) analysis revealed that several processes are significantly enriched based on
      DEGs. In particular, response to stress, and especially response to oxidative
      stress, was over-represented in polyembryonic ovules. Nearly 150 miRNAs,
      comprising ~90 conserved and ~60 novel miRNAs, were identified in the ovules of
      either cultivar pair. Only two differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were
      identified, of which the novel miRN23-5p was repressed whereas the targets
      accumulated in the polyembryonic ovules. This integrated study on the
      transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory profiles between poly- and
      monoembryonic citrus ovules provides new insights into the mechanism of NE, which
      should contribute to revealing the regulatory mechanisms of plant apomixis.

PMID- 27619236
TI  - Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography as a potential biomarker in
      Huntington's disease.

PMID- 27619235
TI  - Probing the luminal microenvironment of reconstituted epithelial microtissues.
AB  - Polymeric microparticles can serve as carriers or sensors to instruct or
      characterize tissue biology. However, incorporating microparticles into tissues
      for in vitro assays remains a challenge. We exploit three-dimensional cell
      patterning technologies and directed epithelial self-organization to deliver
      microparticles to the lumen of reconstituted human intestinal microtissues. We
      also develop a novel pH-sensitive microsensor that can measure the luminal pH of
      reconstituted epithelial microtissues. These studies offer a novel approach for
      investigating luminal microenvironments and drug-delivery across epithelial
      barriers.

PMID- 27619237
TI  - Discovery of Stable Non-opioid Dynorphin A Analogues Interacting at the
      Bradykinin Receptors for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain.
AB  - Dynorphin A (Dyn A) is a unique endogenous ligand that possesses well-known
      neuroinhibitory effects via opioid receptors with a preference for the kappa
      receptor but also neuroexcitatory effects, which cause hyperalgesia. We have
      shown that the neuroexcitatory effects are mediated through bradykinin (BK)
      receptors and that intrathecal (i.th.) administration of our lead ligand 1, [des
      Arg7]-Dyn A-(4-11), which shows good binding affinity (IC50 = 150 nM) at the BK
      receptors, blocks Dyn A-induced hyperalgesia in naive animals and reverses
      thermal and tactile hypersensitivities in a dose-dependent manner in nerve
      injured animals. However, 1 has a serious drawback as a potential drug candidate
      for the treatment of neuropathic pain because of its susceptibility to enzymatic
      degradation. In an effort to increase its stability, we modified ligand 1 using
      non-natural amino acids and found that analogues substituted at or near the N
      terminus with a d-isomer retain binding at the receptor and provide a large
      increase in stability. In particular when Leu5 was modified, with either the d
      isomer or N-methylation, there was a large increase in stability (t1/2 = 0.7-160
      h in rat plasma) observed. From these studies, we have developed a very stable
      Dyn A analogue 16, [d-Leu5,des-Arg7]-Dyn A-(4-11), that binds to BK receptors
      (IC50 = 130 nM) in the same range as ligand 1 and shows good antihyperalgesic
      effects in both naive rats and L5/L6 spinal nerve ligation rats.

PMID- 27619238
TI  - Lanthanide (Gd(3+) and Yb(3+)) functionalized gold nanoparticles for in vivo
      imaging and therapy.
AB  - Nanoparticles are regularly used as contrast agents in bioimaging. Unlike other
      agents such as composite materials, nanoparticles can also be used for treating
      as well as imaging disease. Here we synthesized lanthanide functionalized gold
      nanoparticles that can be used for both imaging and therapy in vivo. That is a
      multifunctional nanoplatform was developed based on a simple and versatile
      method, by incorporating 10-nm gold nanoparticles and lanthanide ions (Gd(3+) and
      Yb(3+)), denoted as LnAu nanoparticles hereby. The LnAu nanoparticles were then
      surface-modified using a PEGylated amphiphilic polymer (C18MH-mPEG), and the
      resulting PEG modified LnAu nanoparticles (PEG-LnAu) display good monodispersion
      in water and good solubility in biological media. Due to the low toxicity in
      vitro and in vivo (as determined by a cell viability assay and histological and
      serum biochemistry analysis), the PEG-LnAu nanoparticles can be successfully
      applied to in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in vivo computed tomography
      (CT) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT) for tumor-bearing mice. Therefore,
      the present work developed an easy yet powerful strategy to combine lanthanide
      ions and gold nanoparticles to a unified nanoplatform for integrating bioimaging
      and therapy.

PMID- 27619239
TI  - Development of a multi-target peptide for potentiating chemotherapy by modulating
      tumor microenvironment.
AB  - Finding effective cures against aggressive malignancy remains a major challenge
      in cancer chemotherapy. Here, we report a "tadpole"-like peptide by covalently
      conjugating the alanine-alanine-asparagine "tail" residual to the cyclic tumor
      homing peptide iRGD (CCRGDKGPDC) to afford nRGD, which significantly enhanced
      tumoricidal effects of doxorubicin, by either co-administered as a physical
      mixture or as a targeting ligand covalently conjugated to the liposomal carrier.
      Given twice at an equivalent dose of 5 mg/kg, doxorubicin loaded liposomes
      modified with nRGD (nRGD-Lipo-Dox) showed excellent antitumor efficacy in 4T1
      breast cancer mice, of which 44.4% remained alive for over 90 days without
      recurrence during the period of investigation. The dramatic improvement in
      antitumor efficacy was attributed to nRGD-Lipo-Dox which appeared to specifically
      interact with tumor vascular endothelial cells to achieve efficient tumor
      penetration, and modulate tumor microenvironment with depletion of tumor
      associated macrophages.

PMID- 27619241
TI  - Gold nanoparticles-based SPECT/CT imaging probe targeting for vulnerable
      atherosclerosis plaques.
AB  - In order to realize accurate localization and precise evaluation of vulnerability
      of atherosclerotic plaques via dual-modal imaging, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were
      firstly caped with a thin amino-PEGs cover and then conjugated with the targeting
      molecular Annexin V and radionuclide Tc-99m simultaneously to form SPECT/CT
      imaging probe targeting apoptotic macrophages. The as-synthesized (99m)Tc-GNPs
      Annexin V was with uniform size (30.2 +/- 2.9 nm) and high labeling rate (98.9 +/
      0.5%) and stability. Targeting ability of Annexin V for apoptotic macrophages
      was kept and enhanced. For macrophages with 30% apoptosis, cellular uptakes of
      3.52 +/- 0.35% for (99m)Tc-GNPs-Annexin V, 2.41 +/- 0.53% for (99m)Tc-GNPs and
      1.68 +/- 0.36% for (99m)Tc-Annexin V were achieved after 2 h incubation. ApoE
      knock out mice with high fat diet-induced atherosclerosis were scanned via
      (99m)Tc-GNPs-Annexin V SPECT/CT. With the introduction of targeting molecules,
      imaging probe was more efficient in accumulating in apoptotic macrophages. In
      practical evaluation, CT helps to restrict the lesions depiction more accurately,
      meanwhile, SPECT imaging intensity correlated with pathological changes tightly.
      In conclusion, Annexin V-modified hybrid gold nanoparticles were successfully
      synthesized, and this imaging system helped to better localize and diagnose those
      vulnerable AS plaques via specific targeting the apoptotic macrophages.

PMID- 27619240
TI  - Chemical gas-generating nanoparticles for tumor-targeted ultrasound imaging and
      ultrasound-triggered drug delivery.
AB  - Although there is great versatility of ultrasound (US) technologies in the real
      clinical field, one main technical challenge is the compromising of high quality
      of echo properties and size engineering of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs); a
      high echo property is offset by reducing particle size. Herein, a new strategy
      for overcoming the dilemma by devising chemical gas (CO2) generating carbonate
      copolymer nanoparticles (Gas-NPs), which are clearly distinguished from the
      conventional gas-encapsulated micro-sized UCAs. More importantly, Gas-NPs could
      be readily engineered to strengthen the desirable in vivo physicochemical
      properties for nano-sized drug carriers with higher tumor targeting ability, as
      well as the high quality of echo properties for tumor-targeted US imaging. In
      tumor-bearing mice, anticancer drug-loaded Gas-NPs showed the desirable
      theranostic functions for US-triggered drug delivery, even after i.v. injection.
      In this regard, and as demonstrated in the aforementioned study, our technology
      could serve a highly effective platform in building theranostic UCAs with great
      sophistication and therapeutic applicability in tumor-targeted US imaging and US
      triggered drug delivery.

PMID- 27619242
TI  - Mechanical strength vs. degradation of a biologically-derived surgical mesh over
      time in a rodent full thickness abdominal wall defect.
AB  - The use of synthetic surgical mesh materials has been shown to decrease the
      incidence of hernia recurrence, but can be associated with undesirable effects
      such as infection, chronic discomfort, and adhesion to viscera. Surgical meshes
      composed of extracellular matrix (i.e., biologically-derived mesh) are an
      alternative to synthetic meshes and can reduce some of these undesirable effects
      but are less frequently used due to greater cost and perceived inadequate
      strength as the mesh material degrades and is replaced by host tissue. The
      present study assessed the temporal association between mechanical properties and
      degradation of biologic mesh composed of urinary bladder matrix (UBM) in a rodent
      model of full thickness abdominal wall defect. Mesh degradation was evaluated for
      non-chemically crosslinked scaffolds with the use of (14)C-radiolabeled UBM. UBM
      biologic mesh was 50% degraded by 26 days and was completely degraded by 90 days.
      The mechanical properties of the UBM biologic mesh showed a rapid initial
      decrease in strength and modulus that was not proportionately associated with its
      degradation as measured by (14)C. The loss of strength and modulus was followed
      by a gradual increase in these values that was associated with the deposition of
      new, host derived connective tissue. The strength and modulus values were
      comparable to or greater than those of the native abdominal wall at all time
      points.

PMID- 27619244
TI  - Fetal megaureters caused by involuted bladder after spontaneous resolution of
      bladder outlet obstruction.

PMID- 27619245
TI  - How a Small Structural Difference Can Turn Optical Properties of pi-Extended
      Coumarins Upside Down: The Role of Non-Innocent Saturated Rings.
AB  - The fluorescence properties of two new families of heterocycles possessing either
      a seven- or five-membered ring attached at the core molecule are entirely
      different in solution and in the solid state. Crystallization has the effect of
      inhibiting non-radiative excited-state deactivation pathways, operative in
      solution for the seven-membered ring compounds, thus leading to significant
      fluorescence efficiency in the solid state, with quantum yields ranging from 0.10
      to 0.36. Conversely, the five-membered ring derivatives, which display notable
      emission properties in solution, are almost non-emissive in the crystalline
      state, characterized by a long-range pi-stacked arrangement. When embedded in
      polymeric films, both series show fluorescence features similar to the solution
      case, with remarkable fluorescence quantum yields ranging from 0.09 to 0.41.
      According to quantum chemical calculations, 3H-chromeno[3,4-c]pyridine-4,5-diones
      show the specific mechanism of fluorescence quenching. The derivatives bearing
      the seven-membered ring undergo, in solution, a significant structural
      deformation in the excited state, resulting in a large decrease of the energy gap
      between S1 and S0 and hence to a substantial contribution of the internal
      conversion in the relaxation process. The fluorescence quenching of the five
      membered ring derivatives is in turn related to the intermolecular interaction
      between adjacent molecules prevailing to a greater extent in the crystal lattice.

PMID- 27619246
TI  - Current Insights in Radiation Combination Therapies: Influence of Omics and Novel
      Targeted Agents in Defining New Concepts in Radiation Biology and Clinical
      Radiation Oncology.

PMID- 27619248
TI  - Translation of Targeted Radiation Sensitizers into Clinical Trials.
AB  - Over the past century, technologic advances have promoted the evolution of
      radiation therapy into a precise treatment modality allowing for the maximal
      administration of dose to tumors while sparing normal tissues. Coinciding with
      this technological maturation, systemic therapies have been combined with
      radiation in an effort to improve tumor control. Conventional cytotoxic agents
      have improved survival in several tumor types but cause increased toxicity due to
      effects on normal tissues. An increased understanding of tumor biology and the
      radiation response has led to the nomination of several pathways whose targeted
      inhibition has the potential to radiosensitize tumor cells with lesser effects on
      normal tissues. These pathways include those regulating the cell cycle, DNA
      damage repair, and mitogenic signaling. Few drugs targeting these pathways are in
      clinical practice, although many are in clinical trials. This review will
      describe the rationale for combining agents targeting these pathways with
      radiation, provide an overview of the current landscape in the clinical pipeline
      and attempt to outline the future steps.

PMID- 27619247
TI  - Exploiting Gene Expression Kinetics in Conventional Radiotherapy,
      Hyperfractionation, and Hypofractionation for Targeted Therapy.
AB  - The dramatic changes in the technological delivery of radiation therapy, the
      repertoire of molecular targets for which pathway inhibitors are available, and
      the cellular and immunologic responses that can alter long-term clinical outcome
      provide a potentially unique role for using the radiation-inducible changes as
      therapeutic targets. Various mathematical models of dose and fractionation are
      extraordinarily useful in guiding treatment regimens. However, although the model
      may fit the clinical outcome, a deeper understanding of the molecular and
      cellular effect of the individual dose size and the adaptation to repeated
      exposure, called multifraction (MF) adaptation, may provide new therapeutic
      targets for use in combined modality treatments using radiochemotherapy and
      radioimmunotherapy. We discuss the potential of using different radiation doses
      and MF adaptation for targeting transcription factors, immune and inflammatory
      response, and cell "stemness." Given the complex genetic composition of tumors
      before treatment and their adaptation to drug treatment, innovative combinations
      using both the pretreatment molecular data and also the MF-adaptive response to
      radiation may provide an important role for focused radiation therapy as an
      integral part of precision medicine and immunotherapy.

PMID- 27619249
TI  - Radiation-Therapeutic Agent Clinical Trials: Leveraging Advantages of a National
      Cancer Institute Programmatic Collaboration.
AB  - A number of oncology phase II radiochemotherapy trials with promising results
      have been conducted late in the overall experimental therapeutic agent
      development process. Accelerated development and approval of experimental
      therapeutic agents have stimulated further interest in much earlier radiation
      agent studies to increase the likelihood of success in phase III trials. To
      sustain this interest, more forward-thinking preclinical radiobiology
      experimental designs are needed to improve discovery of promising
      radiochemotherapy plus agent combinations for clinical trial testing. These
      experimental designs should better inform next-step radiation-agent clinical
      trial dose, schedule, exposure, and therapeutic effect. Recognizing the need for
      a better strategy to develop preclinical data supporting radiation-agent phase I
      or II trials, the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Cancer Therapy Evaluation
      Program (CTEP) and the NCI-Molecular Radiation Therapeutics Branch of the
      Radiation Research Program have partnered to promote earlier radiobiology studies
      of CTEP portfolio agents. In this Seminars in Radiation Oncology article, four
      key components of this effort are discussed. First, we outline steps for
      accessing CTEP agents for preclinical testing. Second, we propose radiobiology
      studies that facilitate transition from preclinical testing to early phase trial
      activation. Third, we navigate steps that walk through CTEP agent strategic
      development paths available for radiation-agent testing. Fourth, we highlight a
      new NCI-sponsored cooperative agreement grant supporting in vitro and in vivo
      radiation-CTEP agent testing that informs early phase trial designs. Throughout
      the article, we include contemporary examples of successful radiation-agent
      development initiatives.

PMID- 27619243
TI  - Tissue engineering-based therapeutic strategies for vocal fold repair and
      regeneration.
AB  - Vocal folds are soft laryngeal connective tissues with distinct layered
      structures and complex multicomponent matrix compositions that endow phonatory
      and respiratory functions. This delicate tissue is easily damaged by various
      environmental factors and pathological conditions, altering vocal biomechanics
      and causing debilitating vocal disorders that detrimentally affect the daily
      lives of suffering individuals. Modern techniques and advanced knowledge of
      regenerative medicine have led to a deeper understanding of the microstructure,
      microphysiology, and micropathophysiology of vocal fold tissues. State-of-the-art
      materials ranging from extracecullar-matrix (ECM)-derived biomaterials to
      synthetic polymer scaffolds have been proposed for the prevention and treatment
      of voice disorders including vocal fold scarring and fibrosis. This review
      intends to provide a thorough overview of current achievements in the field of
      vocal fold tissue engineering, including the fabrication of injectable
      biomaterials to mimic in vitro cell microenvironments, novel designs of
      bioreactors that capture in vivo tissue biomechanics, and establishment of
      various animal models to characterize the in vivo biocompatibility of these
      materials. The combination of polymeric scaffolds, cell transplantation,
      biomechanical stimulation, and delivery of antifibrotic growth factors will lead
      to successful restoration of functional vocal folds and improved vocal recovery
      in animal models, facilitating the application of these materials and related
      methodologies in clinical practice.

PMID- 27619250
TI  - Success and Failures of Combined Modalities in Glioblastoma Multiforme: Old
      Problems and New Directions.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive intracranial tumor characterized
      by local and distant brain relapse despite aggressive therapy. Current standard
      treatment includes surgical resection followed by radiation with concurrent and
      adjuvant temozolomide as part of a combined modality approach. In this review,
      the historical basis for the current standard treatment is discussed as well as
      other recent combined modality successes and failures. An overview of emerging
      combined modality therapies for GBM is presented including immunotherapy, and
      rationally designed radiosensitizers. Unanswered questions facing the oncology
      community regarding the treatment of GBM are also discussed.

PMID- 27619251
TI  - Successes and Failures of Combined Modality Therapies in Head and Neck Cancer.
AB  - The paradigms for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinoma are changing as
      new subgroups are defined. The technical successes of improved radiation therapy
      are many; however, the success of novel combined therapies are few. With the
      emergence of human papillomavirus and the development of immunooncology agents,
      such as checkpoint inhibitors, are we ready to reevaluate how we use radiation
      and chemotherapy for locally advanced and metastatic disease-will we remain the
      fire or become the fire starter?

PMID- 27619252
TI  - Successes and Failures of Combined Modalities in Upper Gastrointestinal
      Malignancies: New Directions.
AB  - Upper gastrointestinal malignancies generally have moderate to poor cure rates,
      even in the earliest stages, thereby implying that both local and systemic
      treatments have room for improvement. Therapeutic options are broadening,
      however, with the development of new immunotherapies and targeted agents, which
      can have synergistic effects with radiotherapy. Here we discuss the current state
      of combined modality therapy for upper gastrointestinal malignancies,
      specifically recent successes and setbacks in trials of radiation therapy with
      targeted therapies, vaccines, immunotherapies, and chemotherapies.

PMID- 27619254
TI  - Targeted Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and
      most patients who are diagnosed with HCC are ineligible for curative local
      therapy. The targeted agent sorafenib provides modest survival benefits in the
      setting of advanced disease. Novel systemic treatment options for HCC are sorely
      needed. In this review, we identify and categorize the drugs and targets that are
      in various phases of testing for use against HCC. We also focus on the potential
      for combining these agents with radiotherapy. This would help identify directions
      for future study that are likely to yield positive findings and improve outcomes
      for patients with HCC.

PMID- 27619253
TI  - Recent Advances and Prospects for Multimodality Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - The outcomes for treatment of pancreatic cancer have not improved dramatically in
      many decades. However, the recent promising results with combination chemotherapy
      regimens for metastatic disease increase optimism for future treatments. With
      greater control of overt or occult metastatic disease, there will likely be an
      expanding role for local treatment modalities, especially given that nearly a
      third of pancreatic cancer patients have locally destructive disease without
      distant metastatic disease at the time of death. Technical advances have allowed
      for the safe delivery of dose-escalated radiation therapy, which can then be
      combined with chemotherapy, targeted agents, immunotherapy, and nanoparticulate
      drug delivery techniques to produce novel and improved synergistic effects. Here
      we discuss recent advances and future directions for multimodality therapy in
      pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 27619255
TI  - New Strategies for Multimodality Therapy in Treating Locally Advanced Cervix
      Cancer.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer of women worldwide. In
      the developing world, it comprises 12% of all cancers of women. Since 1999, the
      mainstay of treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) has been
      concurrent cisplatin-based chemoradiation. However, outcomes in this disease
      remain suboptimal, with long-term progression-free survival and overall survival
      rates of approximately 60%. There are several new strategies of combined modality
      treatment under evaluation in LACC, including chemotherapy before and after
      treatment as well as novel agents such as poly-adenosine diphosphate ribose
      polymerase inhibitors, antiangiogenic blockage, and immunotherapy. We provide a
      brief overview of these strategies and their potential in the treatment of women
      with LACC.

PMID- 27619256
TI  - Current Instrumentation and Technologies in Modern Radiobiology Research
      Opportunities and Challenges.
AB  - There is a growing awareness of the gaps in the technical methods employed in
      radiation biology experiments. These quality gaps can have a substantial effect
      on the reliability and reproducibility of results as outlined in several recent
      meta-studies. This is especially true in the context of the newer laboratory
      irradiation technologies. These technologies allow for delivery of highly
      localized dose distributions and increased spatial accuracy but also present
      increased challenges of their own. In this article, we highlight some of the
      features of the new technologies and the experiments they support; this includes
      image-guided localized radiation systems, microirradiator systems using carbon
      nanotubes and physical radiation modifiers like gold nanoparticles. We discuss
      the key technical issues related to the consistency and quality of modern
      radiation biology experiments including dosimetry protocols that are essential to
      all experiments, quality assurance approaches, methods to validate physical
      radiation targeting including immunohistochemical assays and other biovalidation
      approaches. We highlight the future needs in terms of education and training and
      the creation of tools for cross-institutional benchmarking quality in preclinical
      studies. The demands for increased experimental rigor are challenging but can be
      met with an awareness and a systematic approach which ensures quality.

PMID- 27619257
TI  - Modeling estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers in mice: is it the best we can
      do?
AB  - The continuous supplementation of mice with supraphysiological doses of estrogen
      ?for the growth of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers has been linked to
      toxicity in the host and perturbation of cancer cells' function that can misguide
      preclinical studies. Thus, alternative experimental models with circulating
      levels of estrogens higher than those of mice may represent more suitable hosts
      to model estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers.

PMID- 27619258
TI  - Plasma membrane ion channels and epithelial to mesenchymal transition in cancer
      cells.
AB  - A variety of studies have suggested that epithelial to mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) may be important in the progression of cancer in patients through
      metastasis and/or therapeutic resistance. A number of pathways have been
      investigated in EMT in cancer cells. Recently, changes in plasma membrane ion
      channel expression as a consequence of EMT have been reported. Other studies have
      identified specific ion channels able to regulate aspects of EMT induction. The
      utility of plasma membrane ion channels as targets for pharmacological modulation
      make them attractive for therapeutic approaches to target EMT. In this review, we
      provide an overview of some of the key plasma membrane ion channel types and
      highlight some of the studies that are beginning to define changes in plasma
      membrane ion channels as a consequence of EMT and also their possible roles in
      EMT induction.

PMID- 27619259
TI  - Risk, Benefit, and Moderators of the Affect Heuristic in a Widespread Unlawful
      Activity: Evidence from a Survey of Unlawful File-Sharing Behavior.
AB  - Increasing the perception of legal risk via publicized litigation and lobbying
      for copyright law enforcement has had limited success in reducing unlawful
      content sharing by the public. We consider the extent to which engaging in file
      sharing online is motivated by the perceived benefits of this activity as opposed
      to perceived legal risks. Moreover, we explore moderators of the relationship
      between perceived risk and perceived benefits; namely, trust in industry and
      legal regulators, and perceived online anonymity. We examine these questions via
      a large two-part survey of consumers of music (n = 658) and eBooks (n = 737). We
      find that perceptions of benefit, but not of legal risk, predict stated file
      sharing behavior. An affect heuristic is employed: as perceived benefit
      increases, perceived risk falls. This relationship is increased under high
      regulator and industry trust (which actually increases perceived risk in this
      study) and low anonymity (which also increases perceived risk). We propose that,
      given the limited impact of perceived legal risk upon unlawful downloading, it
      would be better for the media industries to target enhancing the perceived
      benefit and availability of lawful alternatives.

PMID- 27619260
TI  - A Molecular Ni-complex Containing Tetrahedral Nickel Selenide Core as Highly
      Efficient Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation.
AB  - We report the highly efficient catalytic activity of a transition metal selenide
      based coordination complex, [Ni{(SePi Pr2 )2 N}2 ], (1) for oxygen evolution and
      hydrogen evolution reactions (OER and HER, respectively) in alkaline solution.
      Very low overpotentials of 200 mV and 310 mV were required to achieve 10 mA cm-2
      for OER and HER, respectively. The overpotential for OER is one of the lowest
      that has been reported up to now, making this one of the best OER
      electrocatalysts. In addition, this molecular complex exhibits an exceptionally
      high mass activity (111.02 A g-1 ) and a much higher TOF value (0.26 s-1 ) at a
      overpotential of 300 mV. This bifunctional electrocatalyst enables water
      electrolysis in alkaline solutions at a cell voltage of 1.54 V.

PMID- 27619261
TI  - Fertility preservation options for prepubertal boys facing gonadotoxic therapies.
AB  - Infertility is a common disease affecting 10-15% of reproductive couples with
      significant psychological and financial impacts to both patients and society.
      Approximately 80 million people worldwide are infertile, with an increasing
      incidence of male infertility. Semen cryopreservation in adults is a proven
      method of fertility preservation for male patients undergoing gonadal toxic
      therapies. Unlike adults who can cryopreserve sperm at any time prior to gonadal
      toxic treatments, there are no effective fertility preservation options for
      children undergoing cancer treatment, a time when semen cryopreservation is not
      feasible. Thus, most of the childhood cancer survivor will develop irreversible
      azoospermia due to the gonadal toxicity of the treatment on spermatogononial stem
      cells. This review will summarize the possible options and challenges of
      fertility preservation in this vulnerable population. 

PMID- 27619262
TI  - Challenging the concept of diffuse neurofibrillary tangles with calcification
      (Kosaka-Shibayama disease).

PMID- 27619263
TI  - Ultrastructure Features and Three-Dimensional Transmission Electron Tomography of
      Dhub Lizard (Uromastyx Aegyptia) Cornea and Its Adaptation to a Desert
      Environment.
AB  - We report ultrastructural features and transmission electron tomography of the
      dhub lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia) cornea and its adaptation to hot and dry
      environments. Six corneas of dhub lizards were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde and
      processed for electron microscopy and tomography. The ultrathin sections were
      observed with a JEOL 1400 transmission electron microscope. The cornea of the
      dhub lizard is very thin (~28-30 um). The epithelium constitutes ~14% of the
      cornea, whereas the stroma constitutes 80% of the cornea. The middle stromal
      lamellae are significantly thicker than anterior and posterior stromal lamellae.
      Collagen fibril (CF) diameters in the anterior stroma are variable in size (25-75
      nm). Proteoglycans (PGs) are very large in the middle and posterior stroma,
      whereas they are small in the anterior stroma. Three-dimensional electron
      tomography was carried out to understand the structure and arrangement of the PG
      and CFs. The presence of large PGs in the posterior and middle stroma might help
      the animal retain a large amount of water to protect it from dryness. The dhub
      corneal structure is equipped to adapt to the dry and hot desert environment.

PMID- 27619316
TI  - A spiky pattern in the course of electrical thoracic impedance as a very early
      sign of a developing pneumothorax.
AB  - A pneumothorax (PTX) is a potentially lethal condition in high-risk intensive
      care patients. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has been proven to detect
      PTX at the bedside. A so far not described pattern in the course of thoracic
      impedance at an early state of PTX was observed in a pig model of ventilator
      induced lung injury (VILI) used for a more extensive study. EIT was performed at
      a framerate of 50 Hz. Beginning of PTX at normal ventilation, manifestation of
      PTX at VILI ventilation (plateau pressure 42 cm H2 O) and final pleural drainage
      were documented. At ventilation with 8.6 ml kg-1 , early PTX findings prior to
      any clinical deterioration consisted in a spike-like pattern in the time course
      of impedance (relative impedance change referred to initial end-expiratory
      level). Spike amplitudes (mean +/- SD) were the following: 0.154 +/- 0.059 (right
      lung) and 0.048 +/- 0.050 (left lung). At this state, end-expiratory levels (mean
      +/- SD) were still similar, -0.035 +/- 0.010 (right) and -0.058 +/- 0.022 (left).
      After application of VILI ventilation (38 ml kg-1 ), a PTX developed slowly,
      being confirmed by a continuous increase in the end-expiratory level on the right
      side and diverging levels of +0.320 +/- 0.057 (right) and -0.193 +/- 0.147 (left)
      at full manifestation. We assume that spikes reflect a temporary change in the
      electrical pathway caused by leakage into the pleural cavity. This newly
      described phenomenon of spikes is considered to be a potentially useful indicator
      for a very early detection of an evolving PTX in high-risk ICU patients.

PMID- 27619318
TI  - Frontal fibrosing alopecia: there is no statistically significant association
      with leave-on facial skin care products and sunscreens: reply from the authors.

PMID- 27619317
TI  - Comparison of global cerebral blood flow measured by phase-contrast mapping MRI
      with 15 O-H2 O positron emission tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare mean global cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured by phase
      contrast mapping magnetic resonance imaging (PCM MRI) and by 15 O-H2 O positron
      emission tomography (PET) in healthy subjects. PCM MRI is increasingly being used
      to measure mean global CBF, but has not been validated in vivo against an
      accepted reference technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Same-day measurements of CBF
      by 15 O-H2 O PET and subsequently by PCM MRI were performed on 22 healthy young
      male volunteers. Global CBF by PET was determined by applying a one-tissue
      compartment model with measurement of the arterial input function. Flow was
      measured in the internal carotid and vertebral arteries by a noncardiac triggered
      PCM MRI sequence at 3T. The measured flow was normalized to total brain weight
      determined from a volume-segmented 3D T1 -weighted anatomical MR-scan. RESULTS:
      Mean CBF was 34.9 +/- 3.4 mL/100 g/min measured by 15 O-H2 O PET and 57.0 +/- 6.8
      mL/100 g/min measured by PCM MRI. The measurements were highly correlated (P =
      0.0008, R2  = 0.44), although values obtained by PCM MRI were higher compared to
      15 O-H2 O PET (absolute and relative differences were 22.0 +/- 5.2 mL/100 g/min
      and 63.4 +/- 14.8%, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study confirms the use of PCM
      MRI for quantification of global CBF, but also that PCM MRI systematically yields
      higher values relative to 15 O-H2 O PET, probably related to methodological bias.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:692-699.

PMID- 27619321
TI  - Facile synthesis of pristine graphene-palladium nanocomposites with extraordinary
      catalytic activities using swollen liquid crystals.
AB  - Amazing conductivity, perfect honeycomb sp(2) arrangement and the high
      theoretical surface area make pristine graphene as one of the best materials
      suited for application as catalyst supports. Unfortunately, the low reactivity of
      the material makes the formation of nanocomposite with inorganic materials
      difficult. Here we report an easy approach to synthesize nanocomposites of
      pristine graphene with palladium (Pd-G) using swollen liquid crystals (SLCs) as a
      soft template. The SLC template gives the control to deposit very small Pd
      particles of uniform size on G as well as RGO. The synthesized nanocomposite (Pd
      G) exhibited exceptionally better catalytic activity compared with Pd-RGO
      nanocomposite in the hydrogenation of nitrophenols and microwave assisted C-C
      coupling reactions. The catalytic activity of Pd-G nanocomposite during
      nitrophenol reduction reaction was sixteen times higher than Pd nanoparticles and
      more than double than Pd-RGO nanocomposite. The exceptionally high activity of
      pristine graphene supported catalysts in the organic reactions is explained on
      the basis of its better pi interacting property compared to partially reduced
      RGO. The Pd-G nanocomposite showed exceptional stability under the reaction
      conditions as it could be recycled upto a minimum of 15 cycles for the C-C
      coupling reactions without any loss in activity.

PMID- 27619319
TI  - Development of a high-throughput method for real-time assessment of cellular
      metabolism in intact long skeletal muscle fibre bundles.
AB  - KEY POINTS: We developed a method that allows for real-time assessment of
      cellular metabolism in isolated, intact long skeletal muscle fibre bundles from
      adult mice. This method can be used to study changes in mitochondrial function
      and fuel utilisation in live skeletal muscle fibre bundles. Our method enables
      flexibility in experimental design and high-throughput assessment of
      mitochondrial parameters in isolated skeletal muscle fibre bundles. Extensor
      digitorum longus (EDL) fibre bundles obtained from chronic high-fat diet fed mice
      had lower basal oxygen consumption under FCCP-induced maximal respiration, when
      compared to control chow-fed mice. EDL fibre bundles obtained from chronic high
      fat diet fed mice had enhanced mitochondrial oxidation capacity under FCCP
      induced maximal respiration, when compared to control chow-fed mice. ABSTRACT:
      Metabolic dysfunction in skeletal muscle contributes to the aetiology and
      development of muscle diseases and metabolic diseases. As such, assessment of
      skeletal muscle cellular bioenergetics provides a powerful means to understand
      the role of skeletal muscle metabolism in disease and to identify possible
      therapeutic targets. Here, we developed a method that allows for the real-time
      assessment of cellular respiration in intact skeletal muscle fibre bundles
      obtained from the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle of adult mice. Using
      this method, we assessed the contribution of ATP turnover and proton leak to
      basal mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR). Our data demonstrate that the
      mitochondria in EDL fibres are loosely coupled. Moreover, in the presence of
      carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP), we show that palmitate
      exposure induced comparable peak OCR and higher total OCR in EDL fibre bundles
      when compared to pyruvate exposure, suggesting that fatty acids might be a more
      sustainable fuel source for skeletal muscle when mitochondria are driven to
      maximal respiration. Application of this method to EDL fibre bundles obtained
      from chronic high-fat diet fed mice revealed lower basal OCR and enhanced
      mitochondrial oxidation capacity in the presence of FCCP when compared to the
      chow-diet fed control mice. By using a 96-well microplate format, our method
      provides a flexible and efficient platform to investigate mitochondrial
      parameters of intact skeletal muscle fibres obtained from adult mice.

PMID- 27619320
TI  - A Hydrogel-Based Localized Release of Colistin for Antimicrobial Treatment of
      Burn Wound Infection.
AB  - There is an urgent unmet medical need for new treatments for wound and burn
      infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative "superbugs," especially
      the problematic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this work, the incorporation of
      colistin, a potent lipopeptide into a self-healable hydrogel (via dynamic imine
      bond formation) following the chemical reaction between the amine groups present
      in glycol chitosan and an aldehyde-modified poly(ethylene glycol), is reported.
      The storage module (G') of the colistin-loaded hydrogel ranges from 1.3 to 5.3
      kPa by varying the amount of the cross-linker and colistin loading providing
      different options for topical wound healing. The majority of the colistin is
      released from the hydrogel within 24 h and remains active as demonstrated by both
      antibacterial in vitro disk diffusion and time-kill assays. Moreover and
      pleasingly, the colistin-loaded hydrogel performs almost equally well as native
      colistin against both the colistin-sensitive and also colistin-resistant P.
      aeruginosa strain in the in vivo animal "burn" infection model despite exhibiting
      a slower killing profile in vitro. Based on this antibiotic performance along
      with the biodegradability of the product, it is believed the colistin-loaded
      hydrogel to be a potential localized wound-healing formulation to treat burn
      wounds against microbial infection.

PMID- 27619322
TI  - Bipaddled anterolateral thigh perforator flap for simultaneous reconstruction of
      bilateral buccal defects following oral cancer ablation or release of oral
      submucous fibrosis.
AB  - It is a challenge to simultaneously reconstruct bilateral buccal defects
      following oral cancer ablation or release of oral submucous fibrosis. In this
      study, we report two cases where bipaddled anterolateral thigh perforator flaps
      were used to resurface two separate buccal defects. 

PMID- 27619323
TI  - Early postpartum gastric band slippage after bariatric surgery in an adolescent
      obese girl.
AB  - We report here a case of a rarely described complication of laparoscopic
      adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), slippage during the postpartum period, after
      LAGB had been performed in an adolescent obese girl. The LAGB had been placed
      after one year of clinical survey initiated at the age of 16. Maximal pre
      operative body mass index (BMI) was 48.5 kg.m(-2) and obesity was associated with
      insulin resistance. Before pregnancy, there was a loss of 17 Kg (final BMI = 41.5
      kg.m(-2)) and a resolution of insulin resistance. The patient became pregnant 21
      months after LAGB, and whole pregnancy and delivery were uneventful for both
      mother and fetus. Six weeks after delivery, the patient suddenly complained for
      total food intolerance, due to a band slippage, leading to removal of the band.
      Slippage is now a rare complication of LAGB, but can happen during pregnancy and
      the postpartum period as well. 

PMID- 27619324
TI  - A variety of gene polymorphisms associated with idiopathic granulomatous
      mastitis.
AB  - Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare and chronic inflammatory
      disorder. IGM mimics breast cancer regarding its clinical and radiological
      features. Etiology of IGM remains unclarified. Our patient was 37-year-old and 14
      weeks pregnant. There was pain, redness and swelling in the right breast. The
      mass suggestive of malignancy was detected in sonography. Serum CA 125 and CA 15
      3 levels were high. Genetic analysis was performed for the etiology.
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C 677 TT, beta-fibrinogen-455 G>A,
      plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 5 G/5 G, angiotensin-converting enzyme
      (ACE) I/D mutation was found. IGM was diagnosed by cor biopsy. An association was
      also reported between breast cancer and mutations in MTHFR-C 677 T, PAI-1, ACE
      genes. Genetic polymorphisms may involve in the development of IGM as it was seen
      in our case. Further studies should be conducted to better clarify this plausible
      association. 

PMID- 27619325
TI  - Efficacy of Trans-cinnamaldehyde and Eugenol in Reducing Acinetobacter baumannii
      Adhesion to and Invasion of Human Keratinocytes and Controlling Wound Infection
      In Vitro.
AB  - The study investigated the efficacy of two natural, plant-derived antimicrobials
      (PDAs), namely trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC), and eugenol (EG) for decreasing
      Acinetobacter baumannii adhesion to and invasion of human keratinocytes (HEK001).
      Moreover, the efficacy of two PDAs for inhibiting A. baumannii biofilm formation
      was determined using an in vitro collagen matrix wound model. Additionally, the
      effect of TC and EG on A. baumannii biofilm architecture was visualized using
      confocal scanning microscopy. Further the effect of both PDAs on genes critical
      for biofilm synthesis was determined using real-time quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction. Both TC and EG significantly reduced A. baumannii adhesion and
      invasion to HEK001 by ~2 to 3 log10 CFU/mL (p < 0.05) compared with the controls
      (p < 0.05). Further, after 24 and 48 h, TC and EG inhibited biofilm formation by
      ~1.5 to 2 and ~2 to 3.5 log10 CFU/mL, compared with controls (p < 0.05). Confocal
      microscopy revealed that TC and EG disrupted the biofilm architecture. RT-qPCR
      results indicated that two phytochemicals significantly down-regulated the
      transcription of genes associated with A. baumannii biofilm production. The
      results suggest that both TC and EG could potentially be used to treat A.
      baumannii wound infections; however, their efficacy in in vivo models needs to be
      validated. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27619326
TI  - Maze learning by a hybrid brain-computer system.
AB  - The combination of biological and artificial intelligence is particularly driven
      by two major strands of research: one involves the control of mechanical, usually
      prosthetic, devices by conscious biological subjects, whereas the other involves
      the control of animal behaviour by stimulating nervous systems electrically or
      optically. However, to our knowledge, no study has demonstrated that spatial
      learning in a computer-based system can affect the learning and decision making
      behaviour of the biological component, namely a rat, when these two types of
      intelligence are wired together to form a new intelligent entity. Here, we show
      how rule operations conducted by computing components contribute to a novel
      hybrid brain-computer system, i.e., ratbots, exhibit superior learning abilities
      in a maze learning task, even when their vision and whisker sensation were
      blocked. We anticipate that our study will encourage other researchers to
      investigate combinations of various rule operations and other artificial
      intelligence algorithms with the learning and memory processes of organic brains
      to develop more powerful cyborg intelligence systems. Our results potentially
      have profound implications for a variety of applications in intelligent systems
      and neural rehabilitation.

PMID- 27619327
TI  - Pediatric Pulmonary Embolism: Diagnostic and Management Challenges.
AB  - A rare case of massive pulmonary embolism is presented in an oligosymptomatic
      teenager with predisposing factors. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography
      supported by three-dimensional reconstruction was diagnostic. The embolus
      qualified as massive by conventional anatomical guidelines, but as low risk by
      more recent functional criteria. Functional assessment has complemented
      morphologic assessment for risk stratification in adult patients. Such evidence
      is scarce in pediatrics. The patient underwent surgical embolectomy, followed by
      prophylactic anticoagulation, without further events. Diagnostic and management
      challenges are discussed.

PMID- 27619328
TI  - Left Main Coronary Artery Atresia in an Infant With Inclusion-Cell Disease.
AB  - A 2-month-old male with dysmorphic facies, neonatal thrombocytopenia, left
      congenital cataract, and long bone abnormalities became hypotensive with ST
      depression on induction of anesthesia for congenital cataract repair.
      Echocardiogram demonstrated decreased left ventricular function (ejection
      fraction 46%), mild mitral valve regurgitation (MR), and regional wall motion
      abnormalities. The left coronary artery could not be visualized. Subsequent
      cardiac catheterization confirmed atresia of the left main coronary artery. The
      patient underwent cardiac surgery with coronary artery bypass grafting of the
      left internal mammary artery to the left anterior descending coronary artery. His
      postoperative course was uncomplicated, his ventricular function normalized, and
      he was discharged home. Over the next few months, he developed progressive,
      severe MR refractory to medical management. Repeat cardiac catheterization
      revealed stenosis of the right proximal coronary artery, raising concern for
      progressive coronary involvement. In addition to dysmorphic features and failure
      to thrive, there were profound developmental delays and a finding of vacuolated
      lymphocytes on blood smear, which led to a diagnosis of mucolipidosis II
      (Inclusion [I]-cell disease). The patient was referred for mitral valve
      replacement, which was successful; however, ongoing respiratory issues attributed
      to the progression of I-cell disease led to a prolonged hospitalization with
      placement of a tracheostomy. Reports of coronary anomalies in patients with I
      cell disease are rare. An association between mucopolysaccharidosis syndromes and
      coronary artery abnormalities has been established and is supported by this case
      report, highlighting the importance of considering the potential for coronary
      artery involvement with I-cell disease and other similar storage diseases.

PMID- 27619329
TI  - Intramural Left Coronary Artery in Truncus Arteriosus.
AB  - An intramural coronary artery in the setting of truncus arteriosus (common
      arterial trunk) is an uncommon association. Following an uneventful surgical
      repair, a neonate developed a low cardiac output state deteriorating into cardiac
      arrest shortly after arrival into the intensive care unit, requiring
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Echocardiography and angiography
      showed occlusion of the left coronary artery, prompting emergency surgical
      reexploration. A "slit-like" orifice with an intramural left coronary artery was
      successfully unroofed, allowing full recovery. Full definition of the proximal
      coronary anatomy beyond the orifices should be investigated preoperatively in
      truncus arteriosus, as a missed intramural segment could lead to significant
      morbidity or mortality.

PMID- 27619330
TI  - To occlude or not? Left atrial appendage occlusion for stroke prevention in
      atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 27619331
TI  - Biomarkers for cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes.

PMID- 27619332
TI  - An unusual finding in the right atrium.
AB  - CLINICAL INTRODUCTION: A 66-year-old asymptomatic patient underwent a routine
      transthoracic echocardiogram prior to commencement of clozapine, and was found to
      have a mobile echogenic structure in the right atrium, which was later confirmed
      on transoesophageal echocardiogram to be adjacent to the insertion of inferior
      vena cava.Follow-up cardiovascular MRI (CMR) revealed a mobile, avascular 2.1*2.2
      cm2 mass with regular and smooth borders, adjacent to the eustachian valve
      (Figure 1 panel A: coronal view; online supplementary movie 1). Late gadolinium
      enhancement (LGE; panel B) demonstrated heterogeneity, and T1-imaging
      demonstrated mild hyperintensity (panel C). There was no evidence of obstructive
      haemodynamic compromise.The mass was subsequently resected, and the histology
      (H&E staining, magnification *100) is shown in panel D. QUESTION: The diagnosis
      of this mass is: Aberrant liverAngiosarcomaAtrial myxomaRenal cell
      carcinomaThrombus.

PMID- 27619334
TI  - Polarization Second Harmonic Generation Discriminates Between Fresh and Aged
      Starch-Based Adhesives Used in Cultural Heritage.
AB  - In this work, we report that polarization second harmonic generation (PSHG)
      microscopy, commonly used in biomedical imaging, can quantitatively discriminate
      naturally aged from fresh starch-based glues used for conservation or restoration
      of paintings, works of art on paper, and books. Several samples of fresh and aged
      (7 years) flour and starch pastes were investigated by use of PSHG. In these
      types of adhesives, widely used in cultural heritage conservation, second
      harmonic generation (SHG) contrast originates primarily from the starch granules.
      It was found that in aged glues, the starch SHG effective orientation (SHG angle,
      theta) shifts to significantly higher values in comparison to the fresh granules.
      This shift is attributed to the different degree of granule hydration between
      fresh and aged adhesives. Thus noninvasive high-resolution nonlinear scattering
      can be employed to detect and quantify the degree of deterioration of restoration
      adhesives and to provide guidance toward future conservation treatments.

PMID- 27619335
TI  - Promising but still uncertain steps towards better prediction of functional
      outcome in ICU patients.

PMID- 27619333
TI  - Identification, expansion and characterization of cancer cells with stem cell
      properties from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
AB  - Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a major public health concern.
      Recent data indicate the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC) in many solid
      tumors, including HNSCC. Here, we assessed the stem cell (SC) characteristics,
      including cell surface markers, radioresistance, chromosomal instability, and in
      vivo tumorigenic capacity of CSC isolated from HNSCC patient specimens. We show
      that spheroid enrichment of CSC from early and short-term HNSCC cell cultures was
      associated with increased expression of CD44, CD133, SOX2 and BMI1 compared with
      normal oral epithelial cells. On immunophenotyping, five of 12 SC/CSC markers
      were homogenously expressed in all tumor cultures, while one of 12 was negative,
      four of 12 showed variable expression, and two of the 12 were expressed
      heterogeneously. We showed that irradiated CSCs survived and retained their self
      renewal capacity across different ionizing radiation (IR) regimens. Fluorescence
      in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses of parental and clonally-derived tumor
      cells revealed different chromosome copy numbers from cell to cell, suggesting
      the presence of chromosomal instability in HNSCC CSC. Further, our in vitro and
      in vivo mouse engraftment studies suggest that CD44+/CD66- is a promising,
      consistent biomarker combination for HNSCC CSC. Overall, our findings add further
      evidence to the proposed role of HNSCC CSCs in therapeutic resistance.

PMID- 27619336
TI  - Beta-blockers in septic shock: a magnifying glass on the relation heart vessel.

PMID- 27619337
TI  - Time of parenteral nutrition in paediatric critical care patients, prior
      nutritional status probably makes the difference?

PMID- 27619338
TI  - A perspective on conformational control of electron transfer in nitric oxide
      synthases.
AB  - This perspective reviews single molecule and ensemble fluorescence spectroscopy
      studies of the three tissue specific nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoenzymes and
      the related diflavin oxidoreductase cytochrome P450 reductase. The focus is on
      the role of protein dynamics and the protein conformational landscape and we
      discuss how recent fluorescence-based studies have helped in illustrating how the
      nature of the NOS conformational landscape relates to enzyme turnover and
      catalysis.

PMID- 27619339
TI  - A theory-based process evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial of
      printed educational messages to increase primary care physicians' prescription of
      thiazide diuretics for hypertension [ISRCTN72772651].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pragmatic trials of implementation interventions focus on evaluating
      whether an intervention changes professional behaviour under real-world
      conditions rather than investigating the mechanism through which change occurs.
      Theory-based process evaluations conducted alongside pragmatic randomised trials
      address this by assessing whether the intervention changes theoretical constructs
      proposed to mediate change. The Ontario Printed Educational Materials (PEM)
      cluster trial was designed to increase family physicians' guideline-recommended
      prescription of thiazide diuretics. The trial found no intervention effect. Using
      the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we hypothesised that changes in thiazide
      prescribing would be reflected in changes in intention, consistent with changes
      in attitude and subjective norm, with no change to their perceived behavioural
      control (PBC), and tested this alongside the RCT. METHODS: We developed and sent
      TPB postal questionnaires to a random sub-sample of family physicians in each
      trial arm 2 months before and 6 months after dissemination of the PEMs. We used
      analysis of covariance to test for group differences using a 2 * 3 factorial
      design. We content-analysed an open-ended question about perceived barriers to
      thiazide prescription. Using control group data, we tested whether baseline
      measures of TPB constructs predicted self-reported thiazide prescribing at follow
      up. RESULTS: Four hundred twenty-six physicians completed pre- and post
      intervention questionnaires. Baseline scores on measures of TPB constructs were
      high: intention mean = 5.9 out of 7 (SD = 1.4), attitude mean = 5.8 (SD = 1.1),
      subjective norm mean = 5.8 (SD = 1.1) and PBC mean = 6.2 (SD = 1.0). The arms did
      not significantly differ post-intervention on any of the theory-based constructs,
      suggesting a possible ceiling effect. Content analysis of perceived barriers
      suggested post-intentional barriers to prescribing thiazides most often focused
      on specific patient clinical characteristics and potential side effects. Baseline
      intention (beta = 0.63, p < 0.01) but not PBC (beta = 0.04, p = 0.78) predicted
      42.6 % of the variance in self-reported behaviour at follow-up in the control
      group. CONCLUSIONS: Congruent with the Ontario Printed Educational Messages trial
      results and aligned with the TPB, we saw no impact of the intervention on any TPB
      constructs. The theoretical basis of this evaluation suggests possible
      explanations for the failure of the PEM intervention to change professional
      behaviour, which can directly inform the design and content of future theory
      based PEM interventions to change professional behaviour. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ISRCTN, Canada ISRCTN72772651.

PMID- 27619340
TI  - Dyslipidemia in rural areas of North China: prevalence, characteristics, and
      predictive value.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease has been increasing
      worldwide. As a common pathogenic risk factor, dyslipidemia played a great role
      in the incidence and progress of these diseases. We investigated to achieve
      accurate and up-to-date information on the prevalence of dyslipidemia and its
      associations with other lipid-related diseases in rural North China. METHODS:
      Using a complex, multistage, probability sampling design, we conducted a large
      scale cross-sectional study of 8528 rural participants aged over 18 years in
      Shandong Province. Prevalence and characteristics of dyslipidemia were
      demonstrated. The odds ratios between dyslipidemia types and lipid-related
      diseases were further analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: Among the overall
      population, 45.8 % suffered from dyslipidemia. The prevalence of lipid
      abnormality (including high and very high levels) was 18.6, 12.7, 9.8 and 12.7 %
      for total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density
      lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides (TG), respectively. Among all
      participants with dyslipidemia, 23.9 % were aware, only 11.5 % were treated, 10.0
      % were controlled. For subjects with dyslipidemia, the risk for non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was highest with a 3.3-fold over that of non
      dyslipidmia (OR = 3.30, P < 0.001); followed by hyperuricemia and diabetes
      mellitus (DM), while with 2-fold increase (OR = 1.99, P < 0.001; OR = 1.92, P <
      0.001); with only 1.5-fold risk for atherosclerosis (AS) (OR = 1.47, P < 0.001).
      The presence of high cholesterol was mainly associated with AS, while abnormal TG
      was correlated with NAFLD and DM. CONCLUSIONS: Dyslipidemia has become a serious
      public health issue in rural North China. The rapid increase of high TC and
      incremental risk of high TG may contribute to the epidemic of AS, NAFLD and DM.
      It is imperative to develop individualized prevention and treatment guidelines
      according to dyslipidemia phenotypes.

PMID- 27619342
TI  - Circular RNA: a new star in neurological diseases.
AB  - Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are novel endogenous non-coding RNAs characterized by
      the presence of a covalent bond linking the 3' and 5' ends generated by
      backsplicing. In this review, we summarize a number of the latest theories
      regarding the biogenesis, properties and functions of circRNAs. Specifically, we
      focus on the advancing characteristics and functions of circRNAs in the brain and
      neurological diseases. CircRNAs exhibit the characteristics of species
      conservation, abundance and tissue/developmental-stage-specific expression in the
      brain. We also describe the relationship between circRNAs and several
      neurological diseases and highlight their functions in neurological diseases.

PMID- 27619341
TI  - A Case for Less Intensive Blood Pressure Control: It Matters to Achieve Target
      Blood Pressure Early and Sustained Below 140/90mmHg.
AB  - Although high blood pressure (BP) is the leading risk factors for cardiovascular
      (CV) disease, the optimal BP treatment target in order to reduce CV risk is
      unclear in the aftermath of the SPRINT study. The aim of this review is to assess
      large, randomized, and controlled trials on BP targets, as well as review
      selected observational analyses from other large randomized BP trials in order to
      evaluate the benefit of intense vs. standard BP control. None of the studies,
      except SPRINT, favored intense BP treatment. Some of the studies suggested
      favorable effects of lowering treatment target in patients with diabetes or high
      risk of stroke. In SPRINT, a new BP measurement method was introduced, and the
      results must be interpreted in light of this. The results of the observational
      analyses indicated the best preventive effect when achieving early and sustained
      BP control rather than low targets. In conclusion, today's guidelines'
      recommended treatment target of <140/90mmHg seems sufficient for most patients.
      Early and sustained BP control should be the main focus.

PMID- 27619343
TI  - A Drying-Free, Water-Based Process for Fabricating Mixed-Matrix Membranes with
      Outstanding Pervaporation Performance.
AB  - Despite much progress in the development of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for
      many advanced applications, the synthesis of MMMs without particle agglomeration
      or phase separation at high nanofiller loadings is still challenging. In this
      work, we synthesized nanoporous zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF-8)
      nanoparticles with a particle size of 60 nm and a pore size of 0.34 nm in water
      and directly added them into an aqueous solution of the organic polymer
      poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) without an intermediate drying process. This approach
      led to a high-quality PVA/ZIF-8 MMM with enhanced performance in ethanol
      dehydration by pervaporation. The permeability of this MMM is three times higher
      than that of pristine PVA, and the separation factor is nearly nine times larger
      than that of pristine PVA. The significantly improved separation performance was
      attributed to the increase in the fractional free volume in the membranes.

PMID- 27619344
TI  - Factors that increase wheezing risk in nursing infants in the first year of life.

PMID- 27619345
TI  - Grooming ten-year-olds with gender stereotypes? A content analysis of preteen and
      teen girl magazines.
AB  - Extensive research shows a strong body focus in media aimed at teen girls and
      adult women; less is known about the content of media aimed at preteen girls. The
      present study investigated differences in the content of preteen versus teen girl
      magazines. Additionally, the content of independent compared to mainstream
      magazines was examined. Media frames, which are dominant themes present in media
      stories, used in content about the body were examined. Finally, the prevalence of
      appearance-focused versus non-appearance-focused content was assessed.
      Advertisements and general stories were analyzed. Results indicate that teen and
      mainstream magazines contained more appearance content than preteen and
      independent magazines. Appearance media frames were more common in teen than
      preteen magazines. Finally, teen and mainstream magazines contained more
      appearance-focused than non-appearance-focused content, whereas the opposite was
      true for preteen and independent magazines. Findings are discussed in terms of
      objectification theory and gender socialization practices.

PMID- 27619346
TI  - Feasibility of the functional expression of the human organic anion transporting
      polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1) and its genetic variant 521T/C in the mouse liver.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of functional
      expression of the human organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1 (hOATP1B1)
      forms in the liver of the mouse. After the mouse received the gene of interest
      (i.e., luciferase as the reporter or hOATP1B1) via hydrodynamic gene delivery
      (HGD) method, the expression was found to be liver-specific while alterations in
      the serum biochemistry and hepatocyte histology were apparently transient and
      reversible. The reporter activity was also detected in the plasma, but not in the
      blood cell in mice that received HGD, suggesting that the protein is probably
      released due to transiently increased permeability in hepatocytes by HGD. Using
      this delivery condition, the expression of hOATP1B1 was readily detected in the
      liver, but not in other tissues, of the mice receiving HGD for the transporter
      gene. Compared with the sham control mice, the uptake of pravastatin into the
      liver increased significantly in mice receiving hOATP1B1 wild type; the uptake
      parameters decreased consistently in mice expressing the 521T>C variant compared
      with that of the wild type control. These observations suggest that the
      functional expression of human transporter gene in mice is feasible, further
      suggesting that this treatment is practically useful in the pharmacokinetic
      studies for hOATP1B1 substrates.

PMID- 27619347
TI  - Augmented 3D super-resolution of fluorescence-free nanoparticles using enhanced
      dark-field illumination based on wavelength-modulation and a least-cubic
      algorithm.
AB  - Augmented three-dimensional (3D) subdiffraction-limited resolution of
      fluorescence-free single-nanoparticles was achieved with wavelength-dependent
      enhanced dark-field (EDF) illumination and a least-cubic algorithm. Various
      plasmonic nanoparticles on a glass slide (i.e., gold nanoparticles, GNPs; silver
      nanoparticles, SNPs; and gold nanorods, GNRs) were imaged and sliced in the z
      direction to a thickness of 10 nm. Single-particle images were then compared with
      simulation data. The 3D coordinates of individual GNP, SNP, and GNR nanoparticles
      (x, y, z) were resolved by fitting the data with 3D point spread functions using
      a least-cubic algorithm and collation. Final, 3D super-resolution microscopy
      (SRM) images were obtained by resolving 3D coordinates and their Cramer-Rao lower
      bound-based localization precisions in an image space (530 nm * 530 nm * 300 nm)
      with a specific voxel size (2.5 nm * 2.5 nm * 5 nm). Compared with the commonly
      used least-square method, the least-cubic method was more useful for finding the
      center in asymmetric cases (i.e., nanorods) with high precision and accuracy.
      This novel 3D fluorescence-free SRM technique was successfully applied to resolve
      the positions of various nanoparticles on glass and gold nanospots (in vitro) as
      well as in a living single cell (in vivo) with subdiffraction limited resolution
      in 3D.

PMID- 27619348
TI  - Rapid detection and identification of Stachybotrys and Chaetomium species using
      tissue PCR analysis.
AB  - Indoor fungi are a worldwide problem causing negative health effects for infected
      building's occupants and even deterioration of building structures. Different
      fungal species affect buildings and their inhabitants differently. Therefore,
      rapid and accurate identification of fungi to the species level is essential for
      health risk assessment and building remediation. This study focuses on molecular
      identification of two common indoor fungal genera: Stachybotrys and Chaetomium.
      This study proposes two new DNA barcode candidates for Stachybotrys and
      Chaetomium: the gene encoding mitogen activated protein kinase (hogA) and the
      intergenic region between histone 3 and histone 4 (h3-h4) as well as it
      introduces a rapid - 3.5h - protocol for direct Stachybotrys and Chaetomium
      species identification, which bypasses culture cultivation, DNA extraction and
      DNA sequencing.

PMID- 27619350
TI  - The Impact of Transferring Stroke Patients: An Analysis of National
      Administrative Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interhospital transfer is an important but resource-intensive pattern
      of care. The use for stroke patients is highly dependent upon health system
      structure. We examined the impact of hospital transfers for stroke care in
      Canada. METHODS: We analyzed hospital administrative data within the Canadian
      Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Database for the 3 fiscal years 2011/12,
      2012/13 and 2013/14. Patients with clinical stroke syndrome (ischemic or
      hemorrhagic) were identified using International Classification of Diseases.
      Stroke centers were defined by Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada stroke report.
      RESULTS: During the 3-year period,397 patients in Canada (excluding Quebec) were
      admitted to hospital for clinical stroke syndrome. Median age was 75
      (interquartile range [IQR] 64-84) years; 50.6 % were male. Less than 5% (n=4030)
      of patients were transferred. Patients transferred to stroke centers were younger
      (p<0.001) and had shorter median length of stay (p<0.001). The highest
      probability of discharge home was associated with sole care at stroke center
      (43.8%). Transfer to stroke center from community hospital had the highest
      probability for discharge to rehabilitation facility (25%) and lowest to either
      long-term (2.1%) or complex community care (2.0%). Transferred patients had lower
      mortality at discharge. CONCLUSION: Younger patients were transferred more
      frequently to stroke centers; older patients were more likely treated in
      community hospitals. Sole stroke center care was associated with high discharge
      rate to home; transfer to a stroke center was associated with high discharge rate
      to rehabilitation and lower mortality rates.

PMID- 27619349
TI  - Predictors of incompletion of immunization among children residing in the slums
      of Kathmandu valley, Nepal: a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunization is one of the most effective health interventions
      averting an estimated 2-3 million deaths every year. In Nepal, as in most low
      income countries, infants are immunized with standard WHO recommended vaccines.
      However, 16.4 % of children did not receive complete immunization by 12 months of
      age in Nepal in 2011. Studies from different parts of the world showed that
      incomplete immunization is even higher in slums. The objective of this study was
      to identify the predictors of incompletion of immunization among children aged 12
      23 months living in the slums of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. METHODS: The unmatched
      case-control study was conducted in 22 randomly selected slums of Kathmandu
      Valley. The sampling frame was first identified by complete enumeration of entire
      households of the study area from which 59 incompletely immunized children as
      cases and 177 completely immunized children as controls were chosen randomly in
      1:3 ratio. Data were collected from the primary caretakers of the children.
      Backward logistic regression with 95 % confidence interval and adjusted odds
      ratio (AOR) were applied to assess the factors independently associated with
      incomplete immunization. RESULT: Twenty-six percent of the children were
      incompletely vaccinated. The coverage of BCG vaccine was 95.0 % while it was 80.5
      % for measles vaccine. The significant predictors of incomplete immunization were
      the home delivery of a child, the family residing on rent, a primary caretaker
      with poor knowledge about the schedule of vaccination and negative perception
      towards vaccinating a sick child, conflicting priorities, and development of
      abscess following immunization. CONCLUSION: Reduction of abscess formation rate
      can be a potential way to improve immunization rates. Community health volunteers
      should increase their follow-up on children born at home and those living in
      rent. Health institutions and volunteers should be influential in creating
      awareness about immunization, its schedule, and post-vaccination side effects.

PMID- 27619351
TI  - Standardizing Methodology for Research with Uneven Terrains Focused on Dynamic
      Balance During Gait.
AB  - This research tested a reproducible uneven walkway designed to destabilize human
      gait. Ten participants walked 30 times over even and uneven (7.3 * .08 m,
      sequentially-placed wooden blocks in a rotating pattern, 1-cm thick rubber mat)
      walkways. A full-body marker set and 8-camera motion capture system recorded limb
      kinematics. MatLab 2013b was used to calculate measures of gait stability:
      angular momentum, margin of stability, step width variability, CoM height, toe
      clearance, lateral arm swing. The minimum number of strides necessary to minimize
      intraparticipant variability was calculated via the interquartile range/median
      ratio (IMR) at 25% and 10% thresholds for each measure. A paired t test tested
      for significance between terrains (P < .05). The uneven walkway significantly
      destabilized gait as seen by increases in: coronal and sagittal plane angular
      momentum, step width variability, and toe clearance. We found no significant
      difference with the margin of stability between the 2 terrains possibly due to
      compensatory strategies (eg, lateral arm swing, trunk sway, step width).
      Recording a minimum of 10 strides per subject will keep each variable between the
      25% and 10% IMR thresholds. In conclusion, the uneven walkway design
      significantly destabilizes human gait and at least 10 strides should be collected
      per subject.

PMID- 27619352
TI  - Achromobacter denitrificans SP1 efficiently utilizes 16 phthalate diesters and
      their downstream products through protocatechuate 3,4-cleavage pathway.
AB  - This study provides physical and analytical evidences for the efficient
      utilization of most of the commercially available phthalate diesters by
      Achromobacter denitrificans SP1, coupled with the demonstration of a plausible
      degradation pathway. We tested 17 phthalate diesters [viz., ditridecyl phthalate,
      diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), di-n-octyl
      phthalate (DOP), bis(2-ethylhexyl)isophthalate (BEIP), dihexyl phthalate (DHP),
      dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP), diphenyl phthalate (DPP),
      benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diamyl phthalate (DAmP), diisobutyl phthalate,
      dipropyl phthalate, dially phthalate (DAlP), diethyl phthalate, diethyl
      terephthalate and dimethyl phthalate (DMP)], and their major degradation products
      for the degradation efficiency of A. denitrificans SP1 in Wx medium. It
      efficiently utilized 16 phthalate diesters (except DAlP), and showed general
      preference toward phthalate diesters with longer side chains (utilized ~10mM in
      48h) than those with shorter side chains and with cyclic structures (utilized
      ~5mM in 48h) accompanied by a sharp decline of pH to ~5 from initial 7. In a
      detailed study, about 37mM (~15g/L) DEHP was utilized in 48h. Moreover, A.
      denitrificans SP1 produced reddish-pink pigment when DIDP, DEHP, DOP, DHP, DBP,
      DIBP, BBP, DAmP, DCHP, DPP or DMP was supplied in the medium. From the available
      evidences, it seems that its putative phthalate diester degradation pathway
      contains the following check points: phthalate diesters, phthalate monoesters,
      phthalate (4,5-dioxygenase), protocatechuate (3,4-dioxygenase), and TCA cycle.
      Nonspecificity toward utilization of phthalate diesters, especially with greater
      specificity to phthalate diesters having longer side chain, and the
      characteristic sticky reddish-pink (or colorless) cell clump formation in the
      presence of phthalate diesters makes A. denitrificans SP1 a very attractive
      candidate to be employed as an efficient biofactory in waste water treatment
      processes.

PMID- 27619353
TI  - Micronuclei and dyskaryosis of erythrocytes and oxidative stress response with
      endosulfan exposure in topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva.
AB  - Endosulfan is a chlorinated and genotoxic insecticide extensively used worldwide
      in agriculture. However, residues of endosulfan can be detected in farmland soil
      and natural water. In this study, toxic effects of endosulfan were studied by
      measuring micronuclei and dyskaryosis in peripheral erythrocytes of topmouth
      gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva). In addition, liver antioxidant enzyme activity and
      lipid peroxidation level were measured. P. parva were exposed to control and 5
      doses (0.12, 0.16, 0.21, 0.31 and 0.62MUg/L) of endosulfan for 48h and 96h. The
      frequencies of micronuclei and dyskaryosis, antioxidant enzyme activity, contents
      of ROS and lipid peroxidation increased by endosulfan exposure. Compared to
      controls, frequencies of micronuclei and dyskaryosis were significantly increased
      with endosulfan exposure, and an obvious dose-response relationship was found.
      Endosulfan has potential genotoxicity by inducing the oxidative stress and lipid
      peroxidation, which probably lead to the occurrence of micronuclei and
      dyskaryosis in erythrocytes.

PMID- 27619354
TI  - An Educational and Administrative Intervention to Promote Rational Laboratory
      Test Ordering on an Academic General Medicine Service.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overuse of clinical laboratory testing in the inpatient setting is a
      common problem. The objective of this project was to develop an inexpensive and
      easily implemented intervention to promote rational laboratory use without
      compromising resident education or patient care. METHODS: The study comprised of
      a cluster-randomized, controlled trial to assess the impact of a multifaceted
      intervention of education, guideline development, elimination of recurring
      laboratory orders, unbundling of laboratory panels, and redesign of the daily
      progress note on laboratory test ordering. The population included all patients
      hospitalized "general medicine" was duplicated during 2 consecutive months on a
      general medicine teaching service within a 999-bed tertiary care hospital in
      Boston, Massachusetts. The primary outcome was the total number of commonly used
      laboratory tests per patient day during 2 months in 2008. Secondary outcomes
      included a subgroup analysis of each individual test per patient day, adverse
      events, and resident and nursing satisfaction. RESULTS: A total of 5392 patient
      days were captured. The intervention produced a 9% decrease in aggregate
      laboratory use (rate ratio, 0.91; P = .021; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.98).
      Six instances of delayed diagnosis of acute kidney injury and 11 near misses were
      reported in the intervention arm. CONCLUSIONS: A bundled educational and
      administrative intervention promoting rational ordering of laboratory tests on a
      single academic general medicine service led to a modest but significant decrease
      in laboratory use. To our knowledge, this was the first study to examine the
      daily progress note as a tool to limit excessive test ordering. Unadjudicated
      near misses and possible harm were reported with this intervention. This finding
      warrants further study.

PMID- 27619355
TI  - Curious Crosses: Injection-Induced Lesions.

PMID- 27619356
TI  - Intrapartum diagnosis of posterior asynclitism using two-dimensional
      transperineal ultrasound.

PMID- 27619357
TI  - 18F-FDG PET/CT in gastric MALT lymphoma: a bicentric experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in evaluating gastric MALT lymphoma is still
      controversial. In the literature the detection rate of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in patients
      with gastric MALT lymphoma is variable, and the reason for this heterogeneity is
      not still clear. Our aim was to investigate the particular metabolic behavior of
      these lymphoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-nine patients (26 female, 43 male)
      with histologically confirmed gastric MALT lymphoma who underwent a 18F-FDG
      PET/CT for initial staging from two centers were included. The PET images were
      analyzed visually and semi-quantitatively by measuring the maximum standardized
      uptake value (SUVmax), lesion-to-liver SUVmax ratio, and lesion-to-blood pool
      SUVmax ratio and compared with Ann Arbor stage, epidemiological (age, sex),
      histological (presence of gastritis, ulcer, H. pylori infection, plasmacytic
      differentiation, Ki-67 index), and morphological (tumor size, superficial lesions
      or mass-forming) characteristics. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients (52 %) had
      positive PET/CT (average SUVmax was 9+/-6.7; lesion-to-liver SUVmax ratio 3.7+/
      2.6, lesion-to-blood pool SUVmax ratio 4.8+/-3.3) at the corresponding gastric
      lesion; the remaining 33 were not 18F-FDG-avid. In the univariate analysis, 18F
      FDG avidity was significantly associated with morphological features (mass
      forming p<0.001 and high maximum diameter p<0.001), Ann Arbor stage (p=0.010),
      and Ki67 index (p<0.001) and not correlated with age, sex, presence of gastritis,
      ulcer, Helicobacter pylori infection, and plasmacytic differentiation. In the
      multivariate analysis, the correlations with gross morphological appearance, Ann
      Arbor stage, and Ki-67 score were confirmed. SUVmax, lesion-to-liver SUVmax
      ratio, and lesion-to-blood pool SUVmax ratio correlated significantly only with
      Ki67 index (p=0.047; p=0.012; p=0.042). CONCLUSIONS: 18F-FDG avidity was noted in
      52 % of gastric MALT lymphoma and this avidity is correlated with gross
      morphological characteristics, tumor stage, and Ki-67 index. SUVmax, lesion-to
      liver SUVmax ratio, and lesion-to-blood pool SUVmax ratio are correlated only
      with Ki-67 index, and only lesion-to-liver SUVmax ratio was independently
      associated with Ki-67 score.

PMID- 27619358
TI  - Qualitative analysis of double inversion recovery MRI in drug-resistant epilepsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether Double Inversion Recovery (DIR) on 3T MRI can
      enhance detection of epileptogenic lesions Methods: 29 adult patients with DRE
      were enrolled in a prospective pilot study. Brain MRIs were obtained using a
      specialized protocol that included: (1) Fast-Spin EchoT2, (2) T2 fluid attenuated
      inversion recovery (FLAIR), and (3) DIR sequences. Two neuroradiologists blinded
      to clinical information independently reviewed each sequence in the order listed
      above for T2-hyperintense lesions. Cortical lesions were determined to be
      concordant with the epileptic focus based upon available clinical and
      electrodiagnostic testing. RESULTS: Of 29 studies, 21 had a lesion identified
      with 13/21 abnormalities being non-specific. Of 8 remaining studies, 3 revealed a
      lesion only with DIR sequencing. DIR-lesions were concordant with clinical data
      in 1 subject, non-discordant in 1 subject, and discordant in 1 subject.
      SIGNIFICANCE: DIR has the potential to be more sensitive in detecting cortically
      based lesions relative to standard imaging. More data are needed to assess the
      sensitivity and specificity of DIR, particularly as it pertains to identification
      of epileptogenic lesions using electrodiagnostic testing and outcome after
      surgery.

PMID- 27619360
TI  - "Something has to give," warns leader of NHS trusts over finances.

PMID- 27619359
TI  - Marginal ulcer perforation: a single center experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: Marginal ulcer (MU) is defined as ulcer on the jejunal side of the
      gastrojejunostomy (GJ) anastomosis. Most MUs are managed medically but those with
      complications like bleeding or perforation require intervention. It is
      recommended that GJ anastomosis be revised in patients with MU perforation (MUP).
      The aim of this case series is to study the clinical presentation and management
      of MUP. METHODS: Three hundred and thirty-two patients who underwent emergency
      surgery for perforated peptic ulcer at a single center were studied over a period
      of 5 years. RESULTS: Nine patients (2.7 %) presented with MUP. GJ was previously
      done for either complicated peptic ulcer (n = 4) or for suspected gastric
      malignancy (n = 5). Two patients had previously completed H. pylori therapy. None
      of the patients presented with septic shock. MU was on the jejunal side of GJ in
      all patients. The median MUP size was 10 mm. Four patients (44.4 %) had omental
      patch repair, three (33.3 %) had primary closure, and one each had revision of GJ
      and jejunal serosal patch repair. There were no leaks, intra-abdominal abscess or
      reoperation and no malignancies. CONCLUSION: MUP patients do not present with
      septic shock. Omental patch repair or primary closure is sufficient enough.
      Revision of Billroth-II-GJ into Roux-en-Y-GJ is not mandatory.

PMID- 27619361
TI  - Sub-CMC solubilization of dodecane by rhamnolipid in saturated porous media.
AB  - Experiments were conducted with a two-dimensional flow cell to examine the effect
      of monorhamnolipid surfactant at sub-CMC concentrations on solubilization of
      dodecane in porous media under dynamic flow conditions. Quartz sand was used as
      the porous medium and artificial groundwater was used as the background solution.
      The effectiveness of the monorhamnolipid was compared to that of SDBS, Triton X
      100, and ethanol. The results demonstrated the enhancement of dodecane solubility
      by monorhamnolipid surfactant at concentrations lower than CMC. The
      concentrations (50-210 MUM) are sufficiently low that they do not cause
      mobilization of the dodecane. Retention of rhamnolipid in the porous medium and
      detection of nano-size aggregates in the effluent show that the solubilization is
      based on a sub-CMC aggregate-formation mechanism, which is significantly stronger
      than the solubilization caused by the co-solvent effect. The rhamnolipid
      biosurfactant is more efficient for the solubilization compared to the synthetic
      surfactants. These results indicate a strategy of employing low concentrations of
      rhamnolipid for surfactant-enhanced aquifer remediation (SEAR), which may
      overcome the drawbacks of using surfactants at hyper-CMC concentrations.

PMID- 27619364
TI  - Probing electronic structure of biomineralized hydroxyapatite inside nanoclay
      galleries.
AB  - Hydroxyapatite, the most abundant mineral in the human body, is also an important
      component in design of biomaterials for bone tissue regeneration. Synthetic
      hydroxyapatite mineralized in the laboratory often does not exhibit the same
      biological and morphological properties of biogenic hydroxyapatite in human bone.
      A biomimetic hydroxyapatite structure is synthesized using biomineralization
      routes inside the clay galleries of montmorillonite clay. Amino acids are used to
      modify the clay galleries. These amino acids are used to mineralize
      hydroxyapatite. The molecular interactions between nanoclay, modifiers inside
      nanoclay (amino acids) and biomineralized hydroxyapatite result in unique
      morphology, structure and stoichiometry of the biomineralized hydroxyapatite.
      Prior studies have indicated that this biomineralized hydroxyapatite inside
      nanoclay galleries is an effective component of tissue engineering bone scaffolds
      that elicits an optimal biological response from human mesenchymal stem cells.
      Here, a detailed electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) study is reported that
      elucidates the differences in hydroxyapatite, biomineralized hydroxyapatite and
      beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP). Comparison of EELS low-loss transitions and
      energy loss near-edge structure (ELNES) of P-L2,3 edges for these three compounds
      is done to determine if there are differences in their electronic structures.
      These changes observed experimentally are compared with prior predictions and
      simulations using molecular dynamics studies. The simulations predict attractive
      and repulsive interactions between phosphate, modified MMT clay and aminovaleric
      acid (amino acid) molecules. Kramers-Kronig analysis is performed on the loss
      spectra obtained to yield the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function
      of the apatites (epsilon1 and epsilon 2). We have also used the epsilon2 spectra
      obtained to calculate the AC conductivity spectra for the apatites. This study
      represents a unique experimental probe into molecular interactions in complex
      biomineralized hydroxyapatite structures. The small changes observed in the
      energy loss spectra appear to play important biological roles in biomineralized
      hydroxyapatite such as the ability to differentiate human mesenchymal stem cells
      into osteoblasts without growth media.

PMID- 27619362
TI  - Migraine in childhood: biobehavioural or psychosomatic disorder?
AB  - It is well documented that headache is a multifactorial disorder which includes
      not only genetic, biological, medical and neuropsychological factor but also
      psychological and personality traits. The close relationship between stress and
      migraine attacks and the significant psychiatric comorbidities in migraine
      provide evidence of a "paradigm" of tight interaction between somatic and
      psychological aspects in paediatric migraine. In particular in younger children,
      an uncomfortable situation, a psychological problem or an emotional distress is
      rarely expressed directly but usually through physical symptoms. So migraine may
      be considered as a disorder of psychobiological adaptation in which genetic
      predisposition interplays with internal and/or external environmental influences
      such as psycho-emotional, climatic, hormonal, dietary or other factors. 

PMID- 27619363
TI  - Prevalence of primary headache disorders in a population aged 60 years and older
      in a rural area of Northern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary headache disorders are among the most common neurological
      complaints worldwide, and are significant causes of disability. Data are limited
      on the prevalence of primary headaches among individuals aged 60 years and older
      in China. The purpose of our study was to investigate the prevalence and
      characteristics of primary headaches among people aged 60 years and older in a
      rural area of northern China. METHODS: A door-to-door survey was conducted in Ji
      County of Tianjin Province. A total of 5248 residents aged 60 years and older
      were visited from 2014 to 2015, unannounced, and basic sociodemographic and
      headache diagnostic information was collected via a questionnaire. Primary
      headache was classified tension-type headaches, migraines, chronic headache, and
      unclassified headache. RESULTS: The 1-year prevalence for primary headaches in Ji
      county is 10.30 %. The 1-year prevalence of tension-type headaches, migraines,
      chronic headache, and unclassified headache is 2.02 %, 0.85 %, 3.79 %, and 3.63
      %. The 1-year prevalence of primary headache was higher in women than in men. The
      1-year prevalence of primary headache was decreased with increasing age. The 1
      year prevalence of tension-type headaches and chronic headache were decreased
      with higher education. Headache in the elderly was mild to moderate and not
      serious. CONCLUSIONS: In a population older than 60 years of age in rural,
      northern China, we found the 1-year prevalence of primary headache was 10.30 %,
      of tension-type headaches was 2.02 %, of migraines was 0.85 %, of chronic
      headache was 3.79 %, and of unclassified headache was 3.63 %. The prevalence of
      all of these was much lower than those observed in previous studies examining
      prevalence rates in the general population. The results of our study also
      indicated that women are more likely to have primary headache than men. We also
      found that chronic headache was frequent among the elderly. Participants with
      higher education levels were more predisposed than healthy participants to
      tension-type headaches. We also found that respondents who did not participate in
      social activities had a decreased predisposition for primary headache in general,
      as well as for unclassified headache. Lastly, we found that participants who had
      heart disease were more likely than healthy participants to experience primary
      headache, tension-type headache, chronic headache, and unclassified headache.

PMID- 27619365
TI  - Neisseria gonorrhoeae among suspects of sexually transmitted infection in
      Gambella hospital, Ethiopia: risk factors and drug resistance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a bacterium responsible for one of the
      classic sexually transmitted infection (STI) gonorrhea. Antibiotic resistant
      strains are emerging at alarming rate. Multiple sexual partners, unsafe sex and
      substance use habits are the main host related risk factors for acquiring the
      infection. Thus, this study aimed at determining the magnitude, its determinants
      and antimicrobial resistance profile of N. gonorrhoeae in a place where there is
      risk related cultural practices and relatively high HIV prevalence. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional study was conducted on 186 STI suspected patients seen in
      Gambella hospital from March to July 2015. Data on socio-demographic
      characteristics and associated risk factors was collected using pre-designed
      questionnaire. Urethral or endo-cervical swabs were collected aseptically by
      trained nurses. Then, samples were transported to laboratory and processed within
      15 min following standard microbiological culture techniques. Antimicrobial
      susceptibility test was performed by using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method.
      Data entry, transforming and analysis was done using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: In
      this study 11.3 % of the STI suspected patients were confirmed to have N.
      gonorrhoeae. The rate of infection in males was four times higher than in females
      accounting 16.0 and 5.0 % respectively (p = 0.049). It was also higher (18.9 %)
      in 20-24 years age group (p = 0.439). Alcohol intake (p = 0.013), less frequent
      condom use (p = 0.031), and multiple sex partners (p = 0.024) were associated
      with increased odds of infection. All N. gonorrhoeae isolates were susceptible to
      ceftriaxone and cefoxitin but all were resistant to penicillin and tetracycline.
      Alarmingly, 28.6 % of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSIONS:
      The proportion of urogenital symptoms attributable to N. gonorrhoeae was high (11
      %), with highest prevalence among males and young adults. Hence, prevention
      efforts should consider behavioral risk reduction. Ceftriaxone and cefoxitin can
      be considered as excellent first-line treatment options. However, alarming rate
      of resistance to ciprofloxacin challenges the current use of this antibiotic in
      the syndromic management package of gonococcal infections. Thus, laboratory based
      diagnosis and treatment system is need.

PMID- 27619367
TI  - Hemato-Immunological Responses and Disease Resistance in Siberian Sturgeon
      Acipenser baerii Fed on a Supplemented Diet of Lactobacillus plantarum.
AB  - A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of
      dietary Lactobacillus plantarum on hemato-immunological parameters and resistance
      against Streptococcus iniae infection in juvenile Siberian sturgeon Acipenser
      baerii. Fish (14.6 +/- 2.3 g) were fed three experimental diets prepared by
      supplementing a basal diet with L. plantarum at different concentrations [1 *
      107, 1 * 108 and 1 * 109 colony-forming units (cfu) g-1] and a control (non
      supplemented basal) diet for 8 weeks. Innate immune responses (immunoglobulin
      (Ig), alternative complement activity (ACH50) and lysozyme activity) were
      significantly higher in fish fed the 1 * 108 and 1 * 109 cfu g-1 L. plantarum
      diet compared to the other groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, fish fed on various
      levels of L. plantarum significantly showed higher red blood cell (RBC),
      hemoglobin (Hb), white blood cell (WBC) and monocyte compared to those of the
      control group (P < 0.05). At the end of the feeding experiment, some fish were
      challenged with S. iniae to quantify the level of disease resistance. The
      mortality after S. iniae challenge was decreased in fish fed a probiotic. These
      results indicated that dietary supplementation of L. plantarum improved immune
      response and disease resistance of Siberian sturgeon juvenile.

PMID- 27619366
TI  - 'It made you think twice' - an interview study of women's perception of a web
      based decision aid concerning screening and diagnostic testing for fetal
      anomalies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enabling women to make informed decisions is a key objective in the
      guidelines governing prenatal screening and diagnostics. Despite efforts to
      provide information, research shows that women's choice of prenatal screening is
      often not based on informed decisions. The aim of this study was to investigate
      pregnant women's perceptions of the use of an interactive web-based DA, developed
      to initiate a process of reflection and deliberate decision-making concerning
      screening and testing for fetal anomalies. METHODS: A qualitative study was
      applied and individual interviews were conducted. Seventeen pregnant women
      attending antenatal healthcare in Uppsala County, Sweden, who had access to the
      decision aid were interviewed. Eleven opted to use the decision aid and six did
      not. Data were analysed by systematic text condensation. RESULTS: Women
      appreciated the decision aid, as it was easily accessible; moreover, they
      emphasised the importance of a reliable source. It helped them to clarify their
      own standpoints and engaged their partner in the decision-making process. Women
      described the decision aid as enhancing their awareness that participating in
      prenatal screening and diagnostics was a conscious choice. Those who chose not to
      use the web-based decision aid when offered reported that they already had
      sufficient knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: The decision aid was able to initiate a
      process of deliberate decision-making in pregnant women as a result of their
      interaction with the tool. Access to a web-based decision aid tool can be
      valuable to expectant parents in making quality decisions regarding screening for
      fetal anomalies.

PMID- 27619368
TI  - [Pulmonary fibrosis in rheumatic diseases].
AB  - Rheumatic diseases are frequently complicated by secondary pulmonary diseases,
      which often impair the quality of life and increase the mortality of patients. A
      correct classification of such pulmonary complications is important to ensure
      appropriate treatment and optimal prognosis. The diagnostic and therapeutic
      challenge is to find the precise diagnosis and appropriate therapy among the
      multitude of potential causes for respiratory symptoms. It is important to
      maintain a cautious approach to invasive diagnostics, even though the
      differential diagnostics of infections or toxic lung disease might be crucial.
      The situation is further complicated by the frequent lack of evidence for
      therapies. Especially in the case of pulmonary fibrosis which is comparable to
      cancer in its complexity and high mortality, the diagnostics and therapy should
      be discussed in appropriate interdisciplinary boards.

PMID- 27619369
TI  - Urinary TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) as a biomarker of lupus
      nephritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Renal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), known as
      lupus nephritis (LN), is a common and severe complication and a major predictor
      of poor outcome. Long-term survival in SLE can be improved with early diagnosis
      and prompt treatment of LN. A number of biochemical markers are currently used to
      clinically assess disease activity in patients; however, they lack sensitivity
      and specificity for differentiating renal activity and damage in LN. A reliable
      clinical biomarker that can forecast LN flare and which could be sequentially
      followed would help to optimize initiation and escalation of therapy at the time
      of active or relapsing disease. OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to
      investigate the value of urinary tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of
      apoptosis (uTWEAK) as a biomarker for active lupus nephritis. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A total of 44 patients with SLE fulfilling the 1997 revised criteria for
      the classification of SLE as well as 11 age and sex-matched healthy controls were
      included in this study and subjected to full medical history taking, clinical
      examination, routine laboratory investigations, measurement of uTWEAK level as
      well as renal biopsy for patients with active LN. RESULTS: The uTWEAK levels were
      significantly higher in SLE patients with active LN compared to those without or
      with inactive renal disease and normal healthy subjects.

PMID- 27619370
TI  - Investigation of distribution of radioactivity with effects of heavy metals in
      toothpastes from Penang markets.
AB  - This study was carried out to determine the concentration of 222Rn, 226Ra, and
      238U in 25 different toothpastes available in the local market in Penang,
      Malaysia, using a CR-39 detector. The results showed the maximum concentration of
      radon/ radium/uranium to be 4197.644 Bq.m-3, 54.369 Bq.Kgm-1, and 0.044 ppm in
      Colgate4; the annual effective dose was found (0.402 mSvy-1) in S07. The average
      concentration of radon (42 %, 3.224 KBq.m-3) was higher than the concentration of
      214Po, 218Po in POS (32 %, 2.415 KBq.m-3) and POW (26 %, 1.979 KBq.m-3). Also the
      values of pH of samples ranged from 4.21 (highly acidic) in S04 to 9.97 (highly
      basic) in S07, with an average of 6.33 which tended towards an acidic behavior; a
      low or high pH for a long period of time can cause harmful side-effects and
      enamel erosion. Concentrations of heavy metals varied from the maximum value
      56.156 ppm in the Ca elements in the Colgate 4 sample to a minimum value of 
      0.858 ppm in the Cd elements in Colgate 6 (Ca 56.156 ppm > Cd 51.572 ppm > Zn
      41.039 ppm > Mg 11.682 ppm > Pb 11.009 ppm]. Monitoring the accumulation of these
      metals in toothpaste samples is very important: the average annual effective dose
      (0.3118 mSvy-1) was below the range (3-10 mSvy-1) reported by ICRP (1993), and
      therefore there is no evidence of health problems. Significant strong positive
      correlations were found (r = 1, Pearson correlation, p < 0.000) in concentration
      of radon, radium, uranium, annual effective dose, pH, and electrical
      conductivity.

PMID- 27619371
TI  - A combination of He-Ne laser irradiation and exogenous NO application efficiently
      protect wheat seedling from oxidative stress caused by elevated UV-B stress.
AB  - The elevated ultraviolet-B (UV-B) stress induces the accumulation of a variety of
      intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which seems to cause oxidative
      stress for plants. To date, very little work has been done to evaluate the
      biological effects of a combined treatment with He-Ne laser irradiation and
      exogenous nitric oxide (NO) application on oxidative stress resulting from UV-B
      radiation. Thus, our study investigated the effects of a combination with He-Ne
      laser irradiation and exogenous NO treatment on oxidative damages in wheat
      seedlings under elevated UV-B stress. Our data showed that the reductions in ROS
      levels, membrane damage parameters, while the increments in antioxidant contents
      and antioxidant enzyme activity caused by a combination with He-Ne laser and
      exogenous NO treatment were greater than those of each individual treatment.
      Furthermore, these treatments had a similar effect on transcriptional activities
      of plant antioxidant enzymes. This implied that the protective effects of a
      combination with He-Ne laser irradiation and exogenous NO treatment on oxidative
      stress resulting from UV-B radiation was more efficient than each individual
      treatment with He-Ne laser or NO molecule. Our findings might provide beneficial
      theoretical references for identifying some effective new pathways for plant UV-B
      protection.

PMID- 27619372
TI  - Chemical forms of heavy metals in agricultural soils affected by coal mining in
      the Linhuan subsidence of Huaibei Coalfield, Anhui Province, China.
AB  - Total concentrations of heavy metals in soils may not be enough to understand
      their mobility and bioavailability. It is important to evaluate the degree of
      association of heavy metals with different chemical forms of soil. The sequential
      extraction method was applied to evaluate the mobile behavior of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni,
      Pb, and Zn in 42 representative soil samples from the Linhuan subsidence of
      Huaibei Coalfield, Anhui Province, China. The results showed that mean
      concentrations of heavy metals were higher than background values of Huaibei City
      surface soil by a factor of 1.16 to 3.21 (Cd, 3.21; Cr, 1.19; Cu, 1.16; Ni, 1.23;
      Zn, 1.85) except Pb (0.89). Most of the total Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were present
      in the residual forms (above 70 %), while Cd was dominated by the exchangeable
      forms (42 %). The correlations analysis showed that the mobility of Cd, Cu, Pb,
      and Zn in soil was affected by both physicochemical properties and total metal
      concentrations. In contrast, the moblity of Cr and Ni of soil was mainly affected
      by their total metal concentrations. According to assessments by the potential
      ecological risk index (RI) and the risk assessment code (RAC), Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb,
      and Zn posed no or low risk. However, Cd presents high to very high risk, due to
      its higher exchangeable and carbonate-bound fractions.

PMID- 27619374
TI  - Mercury accumulation in marine fish most favoured by Malaysian women, the
      predictors and the potential health risk.
AB  - We identified marine fish species most preferred by women at reproductive age in
      Selangor, Malaysia, mercury concentrations in the fish muscles, factors
      predicting mercury accumulation and the potential health risk. Nineteen most
      preferred marine fish species were purchased (n = 175) from selected fisherman's
      and wholesale market. Length, weight, habitat, feeding habit and trophic level
      were recognised. Edible muscles were filleted, dried at 80  degrees C, ground on
      an agate mortar and digested in Multiwave 3000 using HNO3 and H2O2. Total mercury
      was quantified using VP90 cold vapour system with N2 carrier gas. Certified
      reference material DORM-4 was used to validate the results. Fish species were
      classified as demersal (7) and pelagic (12) or predators (11), zoo benthos (6)
      and planktivorous (2). Length, weight and trophic level ranged from 10.5 to 75.0
      cm, 0.01 to 2.50 kg and 2.5 to 4.5, respectively. Geometric mean of total mercury
      ranged from 0.21 to 0.50 mg/kg; maximum in golden snapper (0.90 mg/kg). Only 9 %
      of the samples exceeded the JECFA recommendation. Multiple linear regression
      found demersal, high trophic (>=4.0) and heavier fishes to accumulate more
      mercury in muscles (R 2 = 27.3 %), controlling for all other factors. About 47 %
      of the fish samples contributed to mercury intake above the provisional tolerable
      level (45 MUg/day). While only a small portion exceeded the JECFA fish Hg
      guideline, the concentration reported may be alarming for heavy consumers.
      Attention should be given in risk management to avoid demersal and high trophic
      fish, predominantly heavier ones.

PMID- 27619373
TI  - Estimation of heavy metal loads from Tiber River to the Tyrrhenian Sea and
      environmental quality assessment.
AB  - In order to evaluate the heavy metal pollution in the Tiber River and its
      environmental impact on the Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea), eight
      heavy metals (As, Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) were determined in the water
      dissolved phase, suspended particulate matter and sediment samples collected from
      21 sites in different seasons. Total heavy metal concentrations ranged from 34.88
      to 4201.23 MUg L-1 in water (as the sum of the water dissolved phase and
      suspended particulate matter) and from 42.81 to 1686.84 mg kg-1 in sediment
      samples. The total selected heavy metal load contribution into the sea is
      calculated in about 21,257.85 kg year-1, showing that this River should account
      as one of the main contribution sources of heavy metals in the Mediterranean Sea.
      In relation to the ecological assessment, the Tiber River and Estuary would be
      considered as an area in which the ecological integrity is possibly at risk.

PMID- 27619375
TI  - Mercury in forest mushrooms and topsoil from the Yunnan highlands and the
      subalpine region of the Minya Konka summit in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate and discuss the occurrence and accumulation of
      mercury in the fruiting bodies of wild-growing fungi (Macromycetes) collected
      from montane forests in two regions of southwestern China with differences in
      soil geochemistry, climate and geographical conditions. Fungal mycelia in soils
      of the subalpine region of the Minya Konka (Gongga Mountain) in Sichuan and in
      the highlands of Yunnan efficiently accumulated mercury in fruiting bodies
      (mushrooms). The examined sites in Yunnan with highly mineralized red and yellow
      soils showed Hg contents ranging from 0.066 to 0.28 mg kg-1 dry biomass (db)
      which is roughly similar to the results obtained for samples collected from sites
      with dark soils relatively rich in organic matter from a remote, the subalpine
      region of Minya Konka. Due to the remoteness of the subalpine section of Minya
      Konka, as well as its elevation and climate, airborne mercury from long-range
      transport could be deposited preferentially on the topsoil and the Hg levels
      determined in soil samples taken beneath the fruiting bodies were up to 0.48 mg
      kg-1 dry matter. In Yunnan, with polymetallic soils (Circum-Pacific Mercuriferous
      Belt), Amanita mushrooms showed mercury in caps of fruiting bodies of up to 7.3
      mg kg-1 dry biomass. Geogenic Hg from the mercuriferous belt seems to be the
      overriding source of mercury accumulated in mushrooms foraged in the regions of
      Yunnan, while long-range atmospheric transport and subsequent deposition are the
      mercury sources for specimens foraged in the region of Minya Konka.

PMID- 27619377
TI  - Quantification of pesticides in food crops using QuEChERS approaches and GC
      MS/MS.
AB  - The analysis of pesticides in food products requires accurate measurements for
      which standardised protocols have been developed. This paper reports the
      validation of QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe)-based
      methods applied to three different food samples (brown rice, red pepper and
      mandarin orange) analysed using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC
      MS/MS). The validation of the analytical methods used to measure 113 pesticides,
      including various insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, was conducted in three
      food matrices and at three spiking levels by three different laboratories. The
      set of validated results was interpreted, statistically analysed and visualised
      using principal component analysis (PCA). Notably, the matrix effects in GC-MS
      analysis for most of the tested pesticides from different matrices were lowered
      to practical values (less than 30%) appropriate for routine analysis. This
      allowed for the quantification of pesticides in the samples using standard and
      analyte protectants (APs) in the reagent method blank as a screening measure,
      providing an alternative to matrix-matched calibration. Alternatively, the use of
      only one standardised calibration (grape matrix) in combination with APs also
      allowed for the qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of pesticides in
      different matrices. The inclusion of APs reduced the differences in the matrix
      induced enhancement effects of various samples. The use of an internal standard
      (IS) to correct the matrix effects was also noted. The normalisation of the
      analyte peak with triphenyl phosphate (TPP) as an IS resulted in a slight
      improvement of validation values such as precision and linearity in only one
      laboratory, but it lowered the value of matrix effects in all three laboratories.

PMID- 27619376
TI  - Use of Zea mays L. in phytoremediation of trichloroethylene.
AB  - Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a chlorinated aliphatic organic compound often
      detected as pollutant in soils and ground water. "Green technologies" based on
      phytoremediation were proven to be effective to reclaim organic pollutants (e.g.
      TCE) and heavy metals from different environmental matrices. In this work, we use
      Zea mays L. for the removal of high TCE concentrations from medium cultures. In
      particular, we investigated a sealed bioreactor where the growth medium was
      contaminated with an increasing amount of TCE, in the range 55-280 mg/L; the
      removal capability of the maize plants was assessed by means of GC-MS and LC-MS
      analyses. An accurate mass balance of the system revealed that the plants were
      able to remove and metabolise TCE with an efficiency up to 20 %, depending on the
      total amount of TCE delivered in the bioreactor. Morphometric data showed that
      the growth of Z. mays is not significantly affected by the presence of the
      pollutant up to a concentration of 280 mg/L, while plants show significant
      alterations at higher TCE concentrations until the growth is completely inhibited
      for [TCE] ? 2000 mg/L. Finally, the presence of several TCE metabolites,
      including dichloroacetic and trichloroacetic acids, was detected in the roots and
      in the aerial part of the plants, revealing that Z. mays follows the green liver
      metabolic model. These results encourage further studies for the employment of
      this plant species in phytoremediation processes of soils and waters contaminated
      by TCE and, potentially, by many other chlorinated solvents.

PMID- 27619378
TI  - Social Exclusion among Peers: The Role of Immigrant Status and Classroom
      Immigrant Density.
AB  - Increasing immigration and school ethnic segregation have raised concerns about
      the social integration of minority students. We examined the role of immigrant
      status in social exclusion and the moderating effect of classroom immigrant
      density among Swedish 14-15-year olds (n = 4795, 51 % females), extending
      conventional models of exclusion by studying multiple outcomes: victimization,
      isolation, and rejection. Students with immigrant backgrounds were rejected more
      than majority youth and first generation non-European immigrants were more
      isolated. Immigrants generally experienced more social exclusion in immigrant
      sparse than immigrant dense classrooms, and victimization increased with higher
      immigrant density for majority youth. The findings demonstrate that, in addition
      to victimization, subtle forms of exclusion may impede the social integration of
      immigrant youth but that time in the host country alleviates some risks for
      exclusion.

PMID- 27619379
TI  - The Impact of Degree of Exposure to Violent Video Games, Family Background, and
      Other Factors on Youth Violence.
AB  - Despite decades of study, no scholarly consensus has emerged regarding whether
      violent video games contribute to youth violence. Some skeptics contend that
      small correlations between violent game play and violence-related outcomes may be
      due to other factors, which include a wide range of possible effects from gender,
      mental health, and social influences. The current study examines this issue with
      a large and diverse (49 % white, 21 % black, 18 % Hispanic, and 12 % other or
      mixed race/ethnicity; 51 % female) sample of youth in eighth (n = 5133) and
      eleventh grade (n = 3886). Models examining video game play and violence-related
      outcomes without any controls tended to return small, but statistically
      significant relationships between violent games and violence-related outcomes.
      However, once other predictors were included in the models and once propensity
      scores were used to control for an underlying propensity for choosing or being
      allowed to play violent video games, these relationships vanished, became
      inverse, or were reduced to trivial effect sizes. These results offer further
      support to the conclusion that video game violence is not a meaningful predictor
      of youth violence and, instead, support the conclusion that family and social
      variables are more influential factors.

PMID- 27619381
TI  - Response to Letter to the Editor Regarding Discretely Integrated Condition Event
      Simulation for Pharmacoeconomics.

PMID- 27619383
TI  - About the nanostructure of the ternary system water - [BMIm]PF6 - TX-100.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Many efforts have been made to formulate water-IL microemulsions. One
      of the most intensely studied systems is H2O - 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
      hexafluorophosphate ([BMIm]PF6) - 4-octylphenol polyethoxylate (TX-100) and it is
      not questioned that this system forms microemulsions. The nanostructures observed
      for traditional microemulsions are postulated with the surfactant being adsorbed
      at the interface such that the hydrophilic EO sides intrude into the water
      domains, while the hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains are immersed into [BMIm]PF6.
      However, the high polarity of [BMIm]PF6 and the observation that [BMIm]PF6 mixes
      well with oligoethylene oxides but hardly with non-polar solvents like toluene or
      alkanes are not in line with this picture. EXPERIMENTS: We re-studied the ternary
      system H2O - [BMIm]PF6 - TX-100 by measuring phase diagrams, determining tie
      lines, and carrying out ROESY NMR and PFG NMR measurements. FINDINGS: We found
      that the hydrophobic part of the surfactant interacts neither with water nor with
      [BMIm]PF6, while both solvents interact with the hydrophilic part of the
      surfactant. We suggest that the surfactant is not adsorbed at the interface
      between water and the IL, but forms normal spherical or elongated micelles or
      even continuous aggregates with the hydrocarbon chains forming the interior of
      the aggregates.

PMID- 27619382
TI  - Sorption of organic cations onto silica surfaces over a wide concentration range
      of competing electrolytes.
AB  - The fundamental understanding of organic cation-solid phase interactions is
      essential for improved predictions of the transport and ultimate environmental
      fates of widely used substances (e.g., pharmaceutical compounds) in the aquatic
      environment. We report sorption experiments of two cationic model compounds using
      two silica gels and a natural aquifer sediment. The sorbents were extensively
      characterized and the results of surface titrations under various background
      electrolyte concentrations were discussed. The salt dependency of sorption was
      systematically studied in batch experiments over a wide concentration range (five
      orders of magnitude) of inorganic ions in order to examine the influence of
      increasing competition on the sorption of organic cations. The organic cation
      uptake followed the Freundlich isotherm model and the sorption capacity decreases
      with an increase in the electrolyte concentration due to the underlying cation
      exchange processes. However, the sorption recovers considerably at high ionic
      strength (I>1M). To our knowledge, this effect has not been observed before and
      appears to be independent from the sorbent characteristics and sorbate structure.
      Furthermore, the recovery of sorption was attributed to specific, non-ionic
      interactions and a connection between the sorption coefficient and activity
      coefficient of the medium is presumed. Eventually, the reasons for the differing
      sorption affinities of both sorbates are discussed.

PMID- 27619380
TI  - Body Dissatisfaction in Early Adolescence: The Coactive Roles of Cognitive and
      Sociocultural Factors.
AB  - The sociocultural influences of the media, friends, and family on body
      dissatisfaction in young girls are well documented, yet further increasing our
      comprehension of the coaction of cognitive processes with sociocultural factors
      is crucial to understanding the dynamic emergence of body dissatisfaction in
      early adolescence. The current study examined the roles of appearance related
      messages and expectations from friends and family and selective attention biases
      in the development of body dissatisfaction. An ethnically and racially diverse
      sample of girls (72 % Hispanic White, 17.8 % African-American, 8.5 % non-Hispanic
      White, and 1.7 % Asian-American) between the ages of 9 and 13 (N = 118) completed
      multiple measures of attention, sociocultural attitudes toward weight and shape,
      and body dissatisfaction. The data from these measures were examined using path
      analysis. The final model fit well, and demonstrated the coactive effect of
      selective attention and sociocultural factors on body dissatisfaction. These
      findings will be instrumental in designing future body dissatisfaction
      intervention and prevention programs that incorporate cognitive factors,
      augmenting the existing sociocultural and psycho-educational frameworks.

PMID- 27619384
TI  - Relative adsorption excess of ions in binary solvents determined by grazing
      incidence X-ray fluorescence.
AB  - We demonstrate a model-independent method for experimental determination of the
      relative surface excess of inorganic ions in binary liquid mixtures, based on
      grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence. For this purpose, we probe the ion density
      profiles in a mixture of water and 2,6-dimethylpyridine containing a hydrophilic
      salt, potassium chloride. Thereby we demonstrate that the proposed method
      quantifies in a direct manner the difference between cation and anion excess
      adsorption in binary solvents with a resolution of one excess ion per 200nm2 or
      better.

PMID- 27619385
TI  - Green-assembly of three-dimensional porous graphene hydrogels for efficient
      removal of organic dyes.
AB  - Herein, a facile and straightforward green-assembly approach was developed for
      preparation of nitrogen and sulphur co-doped three-dimensional (3D) graphene
      hydrogels (N/S-GHs) with the assistance of glutathione. Specifically, graphene
      oxide is reduced and assembled into 3D porous nanostructures with glutathione as
      the reducing agent and modifier for its intrinsic structure, along with the
      nitrogen and sulphur sources in the synthetic process. As expected, the as
      obtained N/S-GHs demonstrated superior adsorption performances for organic dyes
      (e.g., methylene blue, malachite green, and crystal violet) in aqueous media.
      This work provides new insight for the green-assembly of 3D porous nanomaterials
      as adsorbent and their promising applications in water treatment.

PMID- 27619386
TI  - Shell thickness matters! Energy transfer and rectification study of Au/ZnO
      core/shell nanoparticles.
AB  - In the present study we report the influence of shell thickness on fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer between Au/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles and Rhodamine
      6G dye by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy and rectification
      behaviours. Au/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles with different shell thickness were
      synthesized in aqueous solution by chemically depositing zinc oxide on gold
      nanoparticles surface. A pronounced effect on the photoluminescence (PL)
      intensity and shortening of the decay time of the dye in presence of Au/ZnO core
      shell nanoparticles is observed. The calculated energy transfer efficiencies from
      dye to Au/ZnO are 62.5%, 79.2%, 53.6% and 46.7% for 1.5nm, 3nm, 5nm and 8nm
      thickness of shell, respectively. Using FRET process, the calculated distances
      (r) are 117.8, 113.2A 129.9A and 136.7A for 1.5nm, 3nm, 5nm and 8nm thick Au/ZnO
      core-shell nanoparticles, respectively. The distances (d) between the donor and
      acceptor are 71.0, 57.8, 76.2 and 81.6A for 1.5nm, 3nm, 5nm and 8nm thick core
      shell Au/ZnO nanoparticles, respectively, using the efficiency of surface energy
      transfer (SET). The current-voltage (I-V) curve of hybrid Au/ZnO clearly exhibits
      a rectifying nature and represents the n-type Schottky diode characteristics with
      a typical turn-on voltage of between 0.6 and 1.3V. It was found that the
      rectifying ratio increases from 20 to 90 with decreasing the thickness of the
      shell from 5nm to 3nm and with shell thickness of 8nm, electrical transport
      through the core-shell is similar to what is observed with pure ZnO samples
      nanoparticles. The results indicated that the Au/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles
      with an average shell thickness of 3nm exhibited the maximum energy transfer
      efficiencies (79.2%) and rectification (rectifying ratio 90).

PMID- 27619387
TI  - Outpatient multimodal intravenous analgesia in patients undergoing day-case
      surgery: description of a three year experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of elastomeric devices for ambulatory intravenous pain
      treatment in Major Ambulatory Surgery (MAS) has been described to improve
      postoperative pain management. The objective of the study was to describe the
      first 3 years experience of the use of elastomeric devices for ambulatory
      intravenous pain treatment in MAS implemented at our site since 2010. METHODS:
      Data were retrieved from the medical records for all patients who, between
      January 2010 and March 2014, underwent surgical procedures at the ambulatory
      surgical centre at our hospital and were prescribed a home-based continuous
      intravenous analgesia. RESULTS: Data were retrieved from the medical records of
      1128 patients. The most frequent surgical interventions included orthopedic and
      proctology surgeries. 80 % of patients were discharged home without pain; during
      the first 48 h after discharge roughly 40 % of subjects were completely free of
      pain, 50 % reported mild pain (VAS 1 to 3) and 9 % reported higher pain scores (4
      and above). Peripheral nerve block was associated to better pain control in the
      immediate postoperative period. Vomiting in the first 24 h was 4.6 % before
      introducing haloperidol into the drug schemes, and 2.6 % thereafter.
      Complications related with the intravenous route required treatment withdrawal in
      1.1 % cases. Only 3.5 % of patients returned to the hospital in the first 72 h,
      mainly for non-pain related reasons. Overall, 99.5 % of patients were satisfied
      with the treatment received at home. CONCLUSION: Our initial experience suggest
      that outpatient multimodal intravenous analgesia in patients undergoing day-case
      surgery is a feasible alternative in our setting, that allows an effective
      management of postoperative pain with a small rate of adverse events and
      complications requiring readmission.

PMID- 27619388
TI  - Severe drug interactions and potentially inappropriate medication usage in
      elderly cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Due to more comorbidities, polypharmacy is common in elderly patients
      and drug interactions are inevitable. It is also challenging to treat an elderly
      patient with a diagnosis of cancer. Prevalence and clinical impacts of drug
      interactions and using potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) have been
      studied in geriatric patients. However, these are not well defined in oncology
      practice. The purpose of this study is to define the prevalence of PIMs and
      severe drug interactions (SDIs) in elderly cancer patients and investigate the
      factors associated with them. METHODS: Patients more than 65 years of age in both
      inpatient and outpatient clinics were evaluated. Patient, disease
      characteristics, and medications used were collected by self reports and medical
      records. Drug interactions were checked with Lexicomp(r) and PIM was defined with
      2012 update of Beers criteria. Severe drug interactions are defined with category
      D or X DIs. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95 %
      confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between SDIs, PIMs, and clinical
      parameters. RESULTS: Four hundered and forty-five elderly patients (286
      outpatient, 159 inpatient), with a median age of 70 (65-89) were evaluated. SDIs
      were present in 156 (35.1 %) of patients, 81 (28.3 %), and 75 (47.2 %) for
      outpatient and inpatients, respectively (p < 0.001). PIMs were present in 117
      (26.6 %) of the patients, 40 (14.2 %), and 77(48.4 %) for outpatient and
      inpatients, respectively (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis; polypharmacy (>=5
      drugs), inpatient status and diagnosis of lung cancer were associated with severe
      DIs. Polypharmacy, inpatient status, and bad performance score (ECOG 3-4) were
      associated with PIMs. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly one third of the elderly cancer
      patients are exposed to severe drug interactions and PIMs. Clinicians dealing
      with elderly cancer patients should be more cautious when prescribing/ planning
      drugs to this group of patients. More strategies should be developed in this
      group of patients to minimize the medications prescribed and prevent severe DIs.

PMID- 27619389
TI  - Therapeutic aims of drugs offering only progression-free survival are
      misunderstood by patients, and oncologists may be overly optimistic about likely
      benefits.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of novel and often expensive drugs offering limited survival
      benefit in advanced disease is controversial. Treatment recommendations are
      influenced by patient characteristics and trial data showing overall response
      rates (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). PFS is
      frequently the primary outcome in licencing studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: As
      part of a longitudinal study Assessing the 'VALue' to patients of PROgression
      Free Survival (AVALPROFS), oncologists completed checklists at baseline following
      consultations with patients. Questions probed perceived clinical benefits of the
      drugs to populations in general. Patients completed study-specific interview
      schedules at baseline, 6 weeks into treatment, and at withdrawal due to toxicity
      or progression. Patients also completed tumour- and treatment-specific quality of
      life questionnaires monthly for their time in the study. Only baseline results
      are reported here. RESULTS: Thirty-two UK oncologists discussed management
      options with 90 patients with heterogeneous advanced cancers. Oncologists'
      estimates of medical benefit in general from treatment varied between 10 and 80
      %. They expected 46/90 (51 %) of their patients to derive some clinical benefit
      from the prescribed treatment but were either unsure or expected none for 44/90
      (49 %). Predictions of life expectancy were variable but 62 % (56/90) of patients
      were expected to survive longer with treatment. A majority of patients 51/90 (57
      %) had 'no idea' or were 'unclear' what PFS meant and 45/90 (50 %) thought
      extension of life was the primary therapeutic aim of treatment. CONCLUSION:
      Discussions between doctors and patients with metastatic disease about future
      management plans and likely therapeutic gains are challenging. Factors
      influencing decisions about putative benefits of novel drugs are often applied
      inconsistently can be overly optimistic and may even contradict published data.

PMID- 27619391
TI  - Seeking the Cecum: Assessing Metrics in Fellow Procedural Training.

PMID- 27619390
TI  - Development of an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Registry Derived from
      Observational Electronic Health Record Data for Comprehensive Clinical
      Phenotyping.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a heterogeneous collection of
      chronic inflammatory disorders of the digestive tract. Clinical, genetic, and
      pathological heterogeneity makes it increasingly difficult to translate efficacy
      studies into real-world practice. Our objective was to develop a comprehensive
      natural history registry derived from multi-year observational data to facilitate
      effectiveness and clinical phenotypic research in IBD. METHODS: A longitudinal,
      consented registry with prospectively collected data was developed at UPMC. All
      adult IBD patients receiving care at the tertiary care center of UPMC are
      eligible for enrollment. Detailed data in the electronic health record are
      accessible for registry research purposes. Data are exported directly from the
      electronic health record and temporally organized for research. RESULTS: To date,
      there are over 2565 patients participating in the IBD research registry. All
      patients have demographic data, clinical disease characteristics, and disease
      course data including healthcare utilization, laboratory values, health-related
      questionnaires quantifying disease activity and quality of life, and analytical
      information on treatment, temporally organized for 6 years (2009-2015). The data
      have resulted in a detailed definition of clinical phenotypes suitable for
      association studies with parameters of disease outcomes and treatment response.
      We have established the infrastructure required to examine the effectiveness of
      treatment and disease course in the real-world setting of IBD. CONCLUSIONS: The
      IBD research registry offers a unique opportunity to investigate clinical
      research questions regarding the natural course of the disease, phenotype
      association studies, effectiveness of treatment, and quality of care research.

PMID- 27619392
TI  - Going Viral: Why Eliminating the Burden of Hepatitis C Requires Enhanced
      Cooperation Between Specialists and Primary Care Providers.

PMID- 27619393
TI  - Impact of Low Immunoglobulin G Levels on Disease Outcomes in Patients with
      Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are considered immune-mediated
      disorders with dysregulated innate and adaptive immunities. Secondary
      immunogloblin deficiency can occur in IBD and its impact on the disease course of
      IBD is not clear. AIMS: We sought to determine associations between low IgG/G1
      levels and poor clinical outcomes in IBD patients. METHODS: This historic cohort
      study was performed on IBD patients with obtained IgG/IgG1 levels. The primary
      outcome was defined as any IBD-related bowel resection surgery and/or
      hospitalization. Subgroup analyses assessed particular surgical outcomes in
      Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) or indeterminate colitis (IC), and
      ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). The secondary outcomes included IBD drug
      escalations and C. difficile or cytomegalovirus infections. RESULTS: A total of
      136 IBD patients had IgG/G1 levels checked and adequate follow-up, 58 (42.6 %)
      with normal IgG/G1 levels and 78 (57.4 %) having low levels. A total of 49
      patients (62.8 %) with low immunoglobulin levels had IBD-related surgeries or
      hospitalizations, compared to 33 patients (56.9 %) with normal levels [odds ratio
      (OR) 1.28, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.64-2.56; p = 0.49]. Low IgG/G1 levels
      were associated with IBD-related surgery in CD in univariate analysis [hazard
      ratio (HR) 4.42, 95 % CI 1.02-19.23; p = 0.048] and in Kaplan-Meier survival
      curve analysis (p = 0.03), with a trend toward significance on multivariate
      analysis (HR 3.07, 95 % CI 0.67-14.31; p = 0.15). IBD patients with low IgG/G1
      levels required more small bowel resections (12.8 vs. 1.7 %, p = 0.024) and 5
      aminosalicylate initiations (28.2 vs. 13.8 %, p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      demonstrated a possible association between low IgG/G1 levels and poor outcomes
      in CD including surgery. Future implications include using immunoglobulin levels
      in IBD patients as a prognostic indicator or boosting humoral immunity as a
      treatment in this subset.

PMID- 27619394
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Ribavirin with Sofosbuvir Plus Ledipasvir in Patients with
      Genotype 1 Hepatitis C: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sofosbuvir and ledipasvir with or without ribavirin (RBV) regimens
      (SLR vs. SL) have exhibited promising results for the treatment of patients with
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection. AIM: To comprehensively compare the
      efficacy and safety of the SL and SLR regimen for the treatment of chronic HCV
      genotype 1 infections. METHODS: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, and
      EMBASE databases were searched. Only RCTs that compared the efficacy and safety
      of SL or SLR regimen for the treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection were
      included. The primary outcome measures were the sustained virological response
      weeks 12 (SVR12) post-treatment and adverse events (AEs). RESULTS: Seven studies
      comprising 2601 patients were included. Compared with the SL regimen, SLR yielded
      a similar probability of having an SVR12 (RR 1.002, 95 % CI 0.998, 1.017, P =
      0.780). Based on subgroup analyses, the addition of RBV to the 8-week SL regimen
      improved the SVR12 rate. However, the SLR regimen for 12 or 24 weeks did not show
      a superior SVR12 rate regardless of treatment history and the presence or absence
      of cirrhosis. The pooled incidence of AEs was higher in patients that received
      the SLR treatment regimen (RR 1.140, 95 % CI 1.095, 1.187, P = 0.000).
      CONCLUSIONS: The 12-week or 24-week SL regimen with a low incidence of AEs is as
      effective and well tolerated as the SLR regimen for the treatment of patients
      with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection.

PMID- 27619395
TI  - Lanreotide Depot: An Antineoplastic Treatment of Carcinoid or Neuroendocrine
      Tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Peptide drugs for antineoplastic therapies usually have low oral
      bioavailability and short in vivo half-lives, requiring less preferred delivery
      methods. Lanreotide depot is a sustained-release somatostatin analog (SSA)
      formulation produced via an innovative peptide self-assembly method. Lanreotide
      is approved in the USA and Europe to improve progression-free survival (PFS) in
      patients with unresectable gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP
      NETs) and also approved in Europe for symptom control in carcinoid syndrome
      associated with GEP-NETs. This review discusses how the distinct molecule and
      formulation of lanreotide depot provide advantages to patients and health care
      providers, as well as the most recent clinical evidence demonstrating the safety
      and efficacy of lanreotide depot in inhibiting tumor growth and controlling
      hormonal symptoms in GEP-NETs. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: The lanreotide depot
      formulation confers a remarkable pharmacokinetic profile with no excipients,
      comprised only of lanreotide acetate and water. Of note, lanreotide depot
      constitutes an example for peptide self-assembly based formulations, providing
      insights that could help future development of sustained-release formulations of
      other antineoplastic peptides. Most patients with GEP-NETs will present with
      inoperable or incurable disease; thus, medical management for symptoms and tumor
      control plays a crucial role. Recent long-term clinical studies have demonstrated
      that lanreotide depot is well tolerated, prolongs PFS in GEP-NET patients, and
      significantly reduces symptoms related to carcinoid syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: The
      unique depot formulation and delivery method of lanreotide confer advantages in
      the treatment of metastatic GEP-NETs, contributing to improvements in NET-related
      symptoms and PFS without reducing quality of life in this patient population.

PMID- 27619397
TI  - Application of the Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention Models: Reflections
      on the Reciprocity Between the Personal and the Professional.
AB  - Much has been written about the global implementation of the Calgary Family
      Assessment and Intervention Models (CFAM/CFIM) and the application of these
      practice models in various clinical settings. The purpose of this article is to
      provide a brief update on the background of CFAM/CFIM, and the current
      applications of the models as evidenced in the English-language literature.
      Little has been written about the use of CFAM/CFIM in a personal context,
      however. As originators of the models, we offer our own narratives and
      reflections about the reciprocity between the personal and professional
      applications of our models and the ways that our personal experiences have
      extended our understanding about the utility of the models for clinical practice
      with families.

PMID- 27619396
TI  - Analysis of the impact of different service levels on the workload of an
      ambulance service provider.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Efficient transport of non-emergency patients is crucial for
      ambulance service providers to cope with increased demand resulting from aging
      Western societies. This paper deals with the optimization of the patient
      transport operations of the Red Cross of Lower Austria, which is the main
      provider in this state. Different quality levels of the provided service -
      expressed by time windows, feasible maximum ride times and exclusive transports -
      are tested and analyzed on real-life instances to show daily impacts on the
      provider's resources. Comparisons of the developed solution approach to the
      recorded manual schedule prove its advantages. In contrast to previous work in
      this field, non-static service times that depend on the combination of patients,
      their transport mode, the vehicle type as well as the pickup or delivery
      locations are used. These service times are based on statistical analyses that
      have been performed on an anonymized dataset with more than 600,000 requests.
      METHODS: To solve the given problem, a matheuristic solution approach was
      developed that deals with the exact optimization of combinations of requests as a
      first stage. Subsequently, the identified combinations are used as an input into
      a Tabu Search strategy, where the vehicle routing is optimized. Three
      representative days of the year 2012 were chosen for the four regions of Lower
      Austria to test five different service levels and the quality of the solution
      method. RESULTS: For the standard scenario, the operation time of the manual
      schedule is reduced in the range from 14.1 % to 19.8 % for all tested instances.
      Even in the best service scenario, the matheuristic computes better results than
      the manual schedule. The service level has a high impact on the operation time of
      providers. The relative savings that are achieved by the algorithm are
      significantly lowered by introducing higher quality standards. The main reason is
      that less feasible combinations of patients can be generated. This leads to
      diminished opportunities for patients to be transported at the same time. The
      results indicate that the implementation of the developed matheuristic in daily
      planning decisions could decrease operation times significantly. CONCLUSIONS:
      Managers have to define minimum standards for the punctuality, exclusive
      transports and excess ride times. This is crucial in order to find a suitable
      compromise between the service level and an optimized resource management.

PMID- 27619398
TI  - Serum albumin and von Willebrand factor: possible markers for early detection of
      vascular damage in children undergoing peritoneal dialysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of morbidity and mortality
      in children with end-stage renal disease and the relationships among several
      relevant potential biomarkers were investigated in pediatric peritoneal dialysis
      patients. METHODS: Serum homocysteine, von Willebrand factor (vWF),
      apolipoproteins A and B, lipoprotein-a, high sensitive-CRP, hemoglobin,
      phosphorus and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, systolic (SBP) and diastolic
      (DBP) blood pressure, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and left ventricular
      mass index (LVMI) were measured in 21 pediatric peritoneal dialysis patients and
      control subjects. RESULTS: All risk factors were higher in patients than
      controls. LVMI values were negatively correlated with hemoglobin and positively
      correlated with PTH and phosphorus levels (p=0.007, r= - 0.573; p=0.013, r= 0.532
      and p=0.035, r= 0.461, respectively). cIMT was negatively associated with serum
      albumin and positively correlated with vWF levels and with SBP and DBP (p=0.006,
      r= - 0.578; p=0.039, r= 0.453; p=0.02, r= 0.503; p=0.024, r= 0.491,
      respectively). Robust regression analyses showed that hemoglobin was an
      independent predictor of LVMI and serum albumin was an independent predictor of
      cIMT. CONCLUSION: Only uremia-related factors were independent risk factors for
      predicting LVMI and cIMT. Hemoglobin level may be a critical factor in the
      development of left ventricular hypertrophy; therefore, effective treatment of
      anemia is crucial. Low serum albumin and high hsCRP and vWF levels, and their
      correlations with cIMT, indicate these patients could be at risk of developing
      malnutrition-inflammation-atherosclerosis syndrome and suggest that serum albumin
      and vWF levels may be useful markers for early detection of vascular damage.

PMID- 27619399
TI  - Effect of metformin treatment during pregnancy on women with PCOS: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Some previous studies have found that continued metformin use is
      beneficial in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in pregnant
      women. A systemic review and meta-analysis were needed to more fully assess the
      effects of metformin on pregnant PCOS patients. METHODS: The literature was fully
      searched using MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and COCHRANE for continued metformin use
      during pregnancy in women with PCOS. A systematic review and meta-analysis were
      performed to evaluate the comprehensive effects of continued metformin treatment
      on pregnancy-related outcomes in these women. RESULTS: Eleven eligible studies
      out of 127 relevant publications were included in meta-analysis. The rates of
      early pregnancy loss and preterm delivery were found to be significantly
      decreased in metformin-treated PCOS women. A non-significant difference was found
      in fetal abnormality and fetal birth weight between the metformin-treated and the
      non-treated groups. The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and
      hypertension/preeclampsia were not significantly different in the two groups,
      probably because of inconsistent results in the subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results showed that continued use during of metformin, during pregnancy in
      women with PCOS, had no effect on incidence of fetal abnormalities or fetal birth
      weight. The effects of metformin on GDM and hypertension/preeclampsia should be
      determined through high-quality randomized controlled trials.

PMID- 27619400
TI  - MD/PhD Training in Canada: Results from a national trainee and program director
      review.
AB  - PURPOSE: There has been limited examination of clinician scientist training in
      Canada, particularly regarding training integration and funding. This study
      assessed program structure, funding, tuition and mentorship structures available
      at Canadian MD/PhD programs. METHODS: Clinician Investigator Trainee Association
      of Canada administered an anonymous survey to current trainees and program
      directors that captured program structure, trainee funding, tuition and
      mentorship opportunities and needs across institutions. RESULTS: In June 2015,
      101/228 (44%) trainees and 9/13 (69%) program directors completed the online
      survey. In all programs, students completed the PhD degree prior to clerkship
      training. Seven programs offered research training upon completion of pre
      clerkship, four offered concurrent clinical and research training, and three
      offered alternative structures. Nine held seminars exposing students to clinical
      and research integration and two offered clinician scientist skills courses.
      Stipend funding and tuition varied, especially during clinical training years.
      Regarding mentorship, all programs held regular meetings, though eight programs
      do not have formal mentorship opportunities. Both trainees and program directors
      identified the need for further career planning and development support as a
      student priority. CONCLUSION: MD/PhD programs varied by program structure,
      funding, tuition and mentorship opportunities. Mechanisms to share and spread
      program innovations should be instated. Students may benefit from concurrent
      research and clinical training as well as courses specific to clinician scientist
      skill development. Decreasing debt burden may attract and retain trainees in this
      demanding path. To ensure mentorship programs align with trainee priorities,
      program directors should directly collaborate with students in their development
      and evaluation.

PMID- 27619401
TI  - The path ahead for MD/PhD programs in Canada Commentary on Jones et al.
AB  - The paper by Jones and colleagues, published in this edition of Clinical
      Investigative Medicine, contributes to our understanding of Canadian MD/PhD
      Programs. While there has been little published on this subject by the Canadian
      programs, themselves, this paper is the most recent in a series by leaders of the
      Clinical Investigator Trainee Association of Canada (CITAC). The authors are to
      be commended for their efforts and productivity.

PMID- 27619402
TI  - De novo Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Distinct Defense Mechanisms by Young and
      Mature Leaves of Hevea brasiliensis (Para Rubber Tree).
AB  - Along with changes in morphology in the course of maturation, leaves of Hevea
      brasiliensis become more resistant to leaf diseases, including the South American
      Leaf Blight (SALB), a devastating fungal disease of this economically important
      tree species. To understand the underlying mechanisms of this defense, and to
      identify the candidate genes involved, we sequenced the Hevea leaf transcriptome
      at four developmental stages (I to IV) by Illumina sequencing. A total of 62.6
      million high-quality reads were generated, and assembled into 98,796 unique
      transcripts. We identified 3,905 differentially expressed genes implicated in
      leaf development, 67.8% (2,651) of which were during the transition to leaf
      maturation. The genes involved in cyanogenic metabolism, lignin and anthocyanin
      biosynthesis were noteworthy for their distinct patterns of expression between
      developing leaves (stages I to III) and mature leaves (stage IV), and the
      correlation with the change in resistance to SALB and the Oidium/Colletotrichum
      leaf fall. The results provide a first profile of the molecular events that
      relate to the dynamics of leaf morphology and defense strategies during Hevea
      leaf development. This dataset is beneficial to devising strategies to engineer
      resistance to leaf diseases as well as other in-depth studies in Hevea tree.

PMID- 27619403
TI  - The effects of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation on gene
      expression of lipoprotein(a) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein, lipid profiles
      and biomarkers of oxidative stress in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - This study was conducted to determine the effects of omega-3 fatty acids and
      vitamin E co-supplementation on gene expression of lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) and
      oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), lipid profiles and biomarkers of
      oxidative stress in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This randomized
      double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was done on 68 women diagnosed with PCOS
      according to the Rotterdam criteria aged 18-40 years old. Participants were
      randomly assigned into two groups to receive either 1000 mg omega-3 fatty acids
      from flaxseed oil containing 400 mg alpha-Linolenic acid plus 400 IU vitamin E
      supplements (n = 34) or placebo (n = 34) for 12 weeks. Lp(a) and Ox-LDL mRNA
      levels were quantified in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of PCOS women with
      RT-PCR method. Lipid profiles and biomarkers of oxidative stress were quantified
      at the beginning of the study and after 12-week intervention. Quantitative
      results of RT-PCR demonstrated that compared with the placebo, omega-3 fatty
      acids and vitamin E co-supplementation downregulated expressed levels of Lp(a)
      mRNA (P < 0.001) and Ox-LDL mRNA (P < 0.001) in peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells of women with PCOS. In addition, compared to the placebo group, omega-3
      fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation resulted in a significant decrease
      in serum triglycerides (-22.1 +/- 22.3 vs. +7.7 +/- 23.6 mg/dL, P < 0.001), VLDL-
      (-4.4 +/- 4.5 vs. +1.5 +/- 4.7 mg/dL, P < 0.001), total- (-20.3 +/- 16.6 vs.
      +12.2 +/- 26.1 mg/dL, P < 0.001), LDL- (-16.7 +/- 15.3 vs. +11.9 +/- 26.1 mg/dL,
      P < 0.001) and total-/HDL-cholesterol (-0.5 +/- 0.6 vs. +0.4 +/- 0.8, P < 0.001).
      There were a significant increase in plasma total antioxidant capacity (+89.4 +/-
      108.9 vs. +5.9 +/- 116.2 mmol/L, P = 0.003) and a significant decrease in
      malondialdehyde levels (-0.3 +/- 0.4 vs. -0.008 +/- 0.6 MUmol/L, P = 0.01) by
      combined omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E intake compared with the placebo
      group. Overall, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation for 12 weeks
      in PCOS women significantly improved gene expression of Lp(a) and Ox-LDL, lipid
      profiles and biomarkers of oxidative stress.

PMID- 27619405
TI  - CCR5-Delta32 gene polymorphism is associated with retinopathy in patients with
      type 1 diabetes.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the CCR5-Delta32
      polymorphism and the risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with DM1.
      METHODS: We examined 420 patients and 350 healthy controls. The analysis
      concerned CCR5-Delta32 polymorphism as well as levels of serum inflammatory
      markers (CRP, TNF-alpha), adhesion molecules (VCAM, ICAM-1, ICAM-3) and CCR5
      ligand (MCP-1). RESULTS: We found a negative association between DM1 and Delta32
      allele. Moreover, the frequency of Delta32 allele was higher in a group with DR
      in comparison to control subjects without this complication. We also found that
      Delta32 carriers had the highest levels of: HbA1c, inflammatory markers, adhesion
      molecules and CCR5 ligand. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our studies suggest that
      the CCR5-Delta32 polymorphism is associated with DM1 such that the Delta32 allele
      protects against the development of DM1 and increases the risk of DR in patients
      who have already developed the disease.

PMID- 27619404
TI  - Regulation of zonation and homeostasis in the adrenal cortex.
AB  - The adult adrenal cortex is organized into concentric zones, each specialized to
      produce distinct steroid hormones. Cellular composition of the cortex is highly
      dynamic and subject to diverse signaling controls. Cortical homeostasis and
      regeneration rely on centripetal migration of steroidogenic cells from the outer
      to the inner cortex, which is accompanied by direct conversion of zona
      glomerulosa (zG) into zona fasciculata (zF) cells. Given the important impact of
      tissue structure and growth on steroidogenic function, it is essential to
      understand the mechanisms governing adrenal zonation and homeostasis. Towards
      this end, we review the distinctions between each zone by highlighting their
      morphological and ultra-structural features, discuss key signaling pathways
      influencing zonal identity, and evaluate current evidence for long-term self
      renewing stem cells in the adult cortex. Finally, we review data supporting zG-to
      zF transdifferentiation/direct conversion as a major mechanism of adult cortical
      renewal.

PMID- 27619407
TI  - Implication of thyroid hormone signaling in neural crest cells migration:
      Evidence from thyroid hormone receptor beta knockdown and NH3 antagonist studies.
AB  - Thyroid hormones (TH) have been mainly associated with post-embryonic development
      and adult homeostasis but few studies report direct experimental evidence for TH
      function at very early phases of embryogenesis. We assessed the outcome of
      altered TH signaling on early embryogenesis using the amphibian Xenopus as a
      model system. Precocious exposure to the TH antagonist NH-3 or impaired thyroid
      receptor beta function led to severe malformations related to neurocristopathies.
      These include pathologies with a broad spectrum of organ dysplasias arising from
      defects in embryonic neural crest cell (NCC) development. We identified a
      specific temporal window of sensitivity that encompasses the emergence of NCCs.
      Although the initial steps in NCC ontogenesis appeared unaffected, their
      migration properties were severely compromised both in vivo and in vitro. Our
      data describe a role for TH signaling in NCCs migration ability and suggest
      severe consequences of altered TH signaling during early phases of embryonic
      development.

PMID- 27619406
TI  - The histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate improves insulin signalling in
      palmitate-induced insulin resistance in L6 rat muscle cells through
      epigenetically-mediated up-regulation of Irs1.
AB  - Dietary administration of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor butyric acid -
      a short chain fatty acid present in milk products and also bacterially produced
      in the intestine - has been shown to increase energy expenditure and favour
      insulin sensitivity in mice through induction of PGC1alpha (peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1alpha) and AMPK (AMP
      activated protein kinase) in skeletal muscle, and a consequential increase of
      mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. Here, we investigate whether such
      physiological improvements are associated to epigenetic effects dependent on
      increased histone acetylation and whether butyrate exerts a direct action on
      skeletal muscle insulin signalling. We show that sodium butyrate (NaBut)
      ameliorates the insulin-resistant phenotype, induced in L6 myotubes by prolonged
      exposure to palmitate, by i) increasing the insulin-induced phosphorylation of
      both PKB (protein kinase B) and MAPK (mitogen activated protein kinase), the two
      branches of insulin signalling and ii) increasing histone H3 acetylation - even
      in the presence of palmitate - on chromatin in proximity of the Irs1 (insulin
      receptor substrate 1) transcriptional start site. Consequently, NaBut induced
      Irs1 mRNA and protein overexpression, which in turn relayed higher insulin
      stimulated IRS1 tyrosine phosphorylation and PI 3-kinase (phosphoinositide 3
      kinase) association, suggesting that the increased IRS1 expression may mediate
      the insulin-sensitizing effects of NaBut. Furthermore, downstream of PKB, NaBut
      induced GSK3beta gene upregulation. Our observations indicate that NaBut -
      through its action as HDAC inhibitor - can promote insulin responsiveness in L6
      myotubes under conditions of lipid-induced insulin resistance.

PMID- 27619408
TI  - Oxo-Functionalized Graphene as a Cell Membrane Carrier of Nucleic Acid Probes
      Controlled by Aging.
AB  - We applied a fluorescein-containing oligonucleotide (ON) to probe surface
      properties of oxidized graphene (oxo-G) and observed that graphene-like patches
      are formed upon aging of oxo-G, indicated by enhanced probe binding and by FTIR
      spectroscopic analysis. By using a recently developed fluorogenic endoperoxide
      (EP) probe, we confirmed that during the aging process the amount of EPs on the
      oxo-G surface is reduced. Furthermore, aging was found to strongly affect cell
      membrane carrier properties of this material. In particular, freshly prepared oxo
      G does not act as a carrier, whereas oxo-G aged for 28 days at 4  degrees C is an
      excellent carrier. Based on these data we prepared an optimized oxo-G, which has
      a low-defect density, binds ONs, is not toxic, and acts as cell membrane carrier.
      We successfully applied this material to design fluorogenic probes of
      representative intracellular nucleic acids 28S rRNA and beta-actin-mRNA. The
      results will help to standardize oxidized graphene derivatives for biomedical and
      bioanalytical applications.

PMID- 27619411
TI  - Primary cranial vault lymphoma.
AB  - A 49-year-old woman presented to our institution with a progressive frontal scalp
      swelling for one year. Incisional biopsy was performed and histological
      examination showed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The case details and management
      were discussed.

PMID- 27619409
TI  - A broadly neutralizing anti-influenza antibody reveals ongoing capacity of
      haemagglutinin-specific memory B cells to evolve.
AB  - Understanding the natural evolution and structural changes involved in broadly
      neutralizing antibody (bnAb) development holds great promise for improving the
      design of prophylactic influenza vaccines. Here we report an haemagglutinin (HA)
      stem-directed bnAb, 3I14, isolated from human memory B cells, that utilizes a
      heavy chain encoded by the IGHV3-30 germline gene. MAb 3I14 binds and neutralizes
      groups 1 and 2 influenza A viruses and protects mice from lethal challenge.
      Analysis of VH and VL germline back-mutants reveals binding to H3 and H1 but not
      H5, which supports the critical role of somatic hypermutation in broadening the
      bnAb response. Moreover, a single VLD94N mutation improves the affinity of 3I14
      to H5 by nearly 10-fold. These data provide evidence that memory B cell evolution
      can expand the HA subtype specificity. Our results further suggest that
      establishing an optimized memory B cell pool should be an aim of 'universal'
      influenza vaccine strategies.

PMID- 27619412
TI  - Chikungunya fever outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Ultrasonographic aspects of
      musculoskeletal complications.

PMID- 27619410
TI  - Perinatal Experiences of Women With Physical Disabilities and Their
      Recommendations for Clinicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the perinatal experiences of women with physical
      disabilities (WWPD) and their associated recommendations for maternity care
      clinicians to improve care. DESIGN: A mixed-methods study was conducted with a
      semistructured interview guide to identify the experiences of WWPD. This
      qualitative descriptive study was part of a larger study of the unmet needs and
      barriers to perinatal care experienced by WWPD SETTING: Telephone interview.
      PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five women with physical disabilities who gave birth within
      the last 10 years and were 21 to 55 years of age were recruited and agreed to
      participate in the study. METHODS: Participants were asked about their
      interactions with clinicians during pregnancy and their recommendations for
      clinicians to improve perinatal care for women with physical disabilities.
      Content analysis was used to analyze transcribed interviews. Themes that emerged
      from analysis of the interviews were identified and coded. Kurasaski's coding was
      used to establish the reliability of the coding. RESULTS: Three themes emerged
      from analysis of the interview data: Clinicians' lack of knowledge about
      pregnancy-related needs of WWPD; Clinicians' failure to consider women's
      knowledge, experience, and expertise about their own disabilities; and
      Clinicians' lack of awareness of the reproductive concerns of WWPD. Women
      provided recommendations that warrant attention from clinicians who provide
      perinatal care for women who live with physical disabilities. CONCLUSION:
      Participants experienced problematic interactions with clinicians related to
      pregnancy and identified recommendations for maternity care clinicians to address
      those problems with the goal of improving perinatal health care for WWPD.

PMID- 27619413
TI  - The concept of allergen-associated molecular patterns (AAMP).
AB  - For proteins to become allergenic, they need to acquire features enabling them to
      induce B cell activation and isotype switch to IgE production. Crosslinking of
      the B-cell receptor (BCR) is the most efficient way to productively activate B
      cells. The IgE-crosslinking capability of allergens is equally crucial in the
      effector phase of immediate type allergy. Antigens, which acquire enhanced
      crosslinking capacity by oligomerization, aggregation, or the expression of
      repetitive epitopes may therefore gain allergenic potency. The accumulated
      evidence for repetitive epitope display by allergens suggests the existence of
      allergen-associated molecular patterns.

PMID- 27619414
TI  - 2D and 3D imaging of the gas phase close to an operating model catalyst by planar
      laser induced fluorescence.
AB  - In recent years, efforts have been made in catalysis related surface science
      studies to explore the possibilities to perform experiments at conditions closer
      to those of a technical catalyst, in particular at increased pressures.
      Techniques such as high pressure scanning tunneling/atomic force microscopy
      (HPSTM/AFM), near ambient pressure x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (NAPXPS),
      surface x-ray diffraction (SXRD) and polarization-modulation infrared reflection
      absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRAS) at semi-realistic conditions have been used to
      study the surface structure of model catalysts under reaction conditions,
      combined with simultaneous mass spectrometry (MS). These studies have provided an
      increased understanding of the surface dynamics and the structure of the active
      phase of surfaces and nano particles as a reaction occurs, providing novel
      information on the structure/activity relationship. However, the surface
      structure detected during the reaction is sensitive to the composition of the gas
      phase close to the catalyst surface. Therefore, the catalytic activity of the
      sample itself will act as a gas-source or gas-sink, and will affect the surface
      structure, which in turn may complicate the assignment of the active phase. For
      this reason, we have applied planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) to the gas
      phase in the vicinity of an active model catalysts. Our measurements demonstrate
      that the gas composition differs significantly close to the catalyst and at the
      position of the MS, which indeed should have a profound effect on the surface
      structure. However, PLIF applied to catalytic reactions presents several
      beneficial properties in addition to investigate the effect of the catalyst on
      the effective gas composition close to the model catalyst. The high spatial and
      temporal resolution of PLIF provides a unique tool to visualize the on-set of
      catalytic reactions and to compare different model catalysts in the same reactive
      environment. The technique can be applied to a large number of molecules thanks
      to the technical development of lasers and detectors over the last decades, and
      is a complementary and visual alternative to traditional MS to be used in
      environments difficult to asses with MS. In this article we will review general
      considerations when performing PLIF experiments, our experimental set-up for PLIF
      and discuss relevant examples of PLIF applied to catalysis.

PMID- 27619415
TI  - Bringing light into the darkness: Dependence in Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 27619416
TI  - Highly Efficient Destruction of Amyloid-beta Fibrils by Femtosecond Laser-Induced
      Nanoexplosion of Gold Nanorods.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with the aggregation of the amyloid-beta
      (Abeta) peptides into toxic aggregates. How to inhibit the aggregation of Abeta
      peptides has been extensively studied over recent decades. The investigation on
      eliminating preformed fibrils, however, has rarely been reported. In this paper,
      near-infrared femtosecond (fs) laser is applied for the destruction of preformed
      Abeta fibrils in conjunction with gold nanorods (AuNRs). Our results demonstrate
      that the 800 nm fs-laser irradiation can locally trigger the explosion of AuNRs
      due to the strong localized surface plasmon resonance effect. As a result, the
      majority of Abeta fibrils are efficiently destroyed into small fragments by the
      irradiation of fs-laser with a light dose less than 75 J.cm-2. Meanwhile,
      significant reduction of beta-sheet structures is observed by thioflavin T (ThT)
      fluorescence measurements. In contrast, the destruction effect by continuous wave
      (cw) laser irradiation is much weaker with equivalent power density and
      irradiation time. Furthermore, the laser-induced destruction of fibrils by Au
      nanoparticles (AuNPs) is also investigated, which reveals that most of the Abeta
      fibrils remain well under the surface explosion of spherical AuNPs. Overall, our
      results provide a novel design for the fast destruction of amyloid fibrils
      locally and biocompatibly, which may have remarkable potentials in the therapy of
      AD.

PMID- 27619417
TI  - Effects of social isolation, re-socialization and age on cognitive and aggressive
      behaviors of Kunming mice and BALB/c mice.
AB  - Both Kunming (KM) mice and BALB/c mice have been widely used as rodent models to
      investigate stress-associated mental diseases. However, little is known about the
      different behaviors of KM mice and BALB/c mice after social isolation,
      particularly cognitive and aggressive behaviors. In this study, the behaviors of
      KM and BALB/c mice isolated for 2, 4 and 8 weeks and age-matched controls were
      evaluated using object recognition, object location and resident-intruder tests.
      The recovery of behavioral deficits by re-socialization was also examined for the
      isolated mice in adolescence. Our study showed that isolation for 2, 4 and 8
      weeks led to cognitive deficits and increased aggressiveness for both KM and
      BALB/c mice. An important finding is that re-socialization could completely
      recover spatial/non-spatial cognitive deficits resulted from social isolation for
      both KM and BALB/c mice. In addition, age only impacted aggressiveness of KM
      mice. Moreover, isolation duration showed different impacts on cognitive and
      aggressive behaviors for both KM and BALB/c mice. Furthermore, BALB/c mice showed
      weak spatial/non-spatial memory and low aggressiveness when they were at the same
      age and isolation duration, compared to KM mice. In conclusion, KM mice and
      BALB/c mice behaved characteristically under physiology and isolation conditions.

PMID- 27619420
TI  - Prevalence of Childhood Obesity by Sex and Regions in Peru, 2015.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Childhood obesity is a global problem, sociodemographic and cultural
      factors influence its presence. An analysis of disparities in the prevalence of
      childhood obesity in Peru was made by sex and region in 2015. METHODS: Analysis
      of the information reported by the Sistema de Informacion del Estado Nutricional
      of the number of obesity cases in 2,336,791 children under five years, evaluated
      in public health facilities during 2015. The distribution of obesity cases was
      analyzed by sex and region of residence, also a spatial projection of the
      regional prevalence of obesity and the prevalence differences between men and
      women was performed. RESULTS: Data from 2,336,791 children under five was
      analyzed. An obesity prevalence of 1.52% (girls: 1.3% and boys: 1.7%) was found;
      the highest prevalence were observed in urban areas (girls: 1.5% and boys: 1.9%)
      and on the Costa (girls: 1.9% and boys: 2.5%). Highest prevalence of obesity were
      in Tacna (girls: 3.2% y boys: 3.9%), Moquegua (girls: 2.4% y boys: 3.1%) and
      Callao (girls: 2.3% y boys: 2.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Childhood obesity predominates on
      the coast and in urban areas of Peru particularly among boys. The regions of
      higher prevalence of obesity were Tacna Moquegua and Callao.

PMID- 27619421
TI  - A Simulation Model to Determine Sensitivity and Timeliness of Surveillance
      Strategies.
AB  - Animal surveillance systems need regular evaluation. We developed an easily
      applicable simulation model of the German wild boar population to investigate two
      evaluation attributes: the sensitivity and timeliness (i.e. the ability to detect
      a disease outbreak rapidly) of a surveillance system. Classical swine fever (CSF)
      was used as an example for the model. CSF is an infectious disease that may lead
      to massive economic losses. It can affect wild boar as well as domestic pigs, and
      CSF outbreaks in domestic pigs have been linked to infections in wild boar.
      Awareness of the CSF status in wild boar is therefore vital. Our non-epidemic
      simulation model is based on real data and evaluates the currently implemented
      German surveillance system for CSF in wild boar. The results show that active
      surveillance for CSF fulfils the requirements of detecting an outbreak with 95%
      confidence within one year after the introduction of CSF into the wild boar
      population. Nevertheless, there is room for improved performance and efficiency
      by more homogeneous (active and passive) sampling of wild boar over the year.
      Passive surveillance alone is not sufficient to meet the requirements for
      detecting the infection. Although CSF was used as example to develop the model,
      it may also be applied to the evaluation of other surveillance systems for viral
      diseases in wild boar. It is also possible to compare sensitivity and timeliness
      across hypothetical alternative or risk-based surveillance strategies.

PMID- 27619419
TI  - The Ca2+-activated Cl- channel TMEM16B regulates action potential firing and
      axonal targeting in olfactory sensory neurons.
AB  - The Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) channel TMEM16B is highly expressed in the cilia of
      olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). Although a large portion of the odor-evoked
      transduction current is carried by Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) channels, their role in
      olfaction is still controversial. A previous report (Billig et al. 2011. Nat.
      Neurosci. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2821) showed that disruption of the
      TMEM16b/Ano2 gene in mice abolished Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) currents in OSNs but
      did not produce any major change in olfactory behavior. Here we readdress the
      role of TMEM16B in olfaction and show that TMEM16B knockout (KO) mice have
      behavioral deficits in odor-guided food-finding ability. Moreover, as the role of
      TMEM16B in action potential (AP) firing has not yet been studied, we use
      electrophysiological recording methods to measure the firing activity of OSNs.
      Suction electrode recordings from isolated olfactory neurons and on-cell loose
      patch recordings from dendritic knobs of neurons in the olfactory epithelium show
      that randomly selected neurons from TMEM16B KO mice respond to stimulation with
      increased firing activity than those from wild-type (WT) mice. Because OSNs
      express different odorant receptors (ORs), we restrict variability by using a
      mouse line that expresses a GFP-tagged I7 OR, which is known to be activated by
      heptanal. In response to heptanal, we measure dramatic changes in the firing
      pattern of I7-expressing neurons from TMEM16B KO mice compared with WT: responses
      are prolonged and display a higher number of APs. Moreover, lack of TMEM16B
      causes a markedly reduced basal spiking activity in I7-expressing neurons,
      together with an alteration of axonal targeting to the olfactory bulb, leading to
      the appearance of supernumerary I7 glomeruli. Thus, TMEM16B controls AP firing
      and ensures correct glomerular targeting of OSNs expressing I7. Altogether, these
      results show that TMEM16B does have a relevant role in normal olfaction.

PMID- 27619422
TI  - Effect of normal aging on the structure of marginal division of neostriatum as
      measured by MR phase imaging and diffusion tensor imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the structural changes of marginal division (MrD) which
      is the high intensity zone between globus pallidus and putamen on phase image in
      the human brain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The structural changes of MrD were
      investigated based on MR phase imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data at
      3.0 Tesla (T) MR scanner in 72 volunteers. Phase value, including high iron
      components (HIC), low iron components (LIC), LIC ratio, and average iron
      components (AIC), were obtained using histogram analysis about the head of
      caudate nucleus (CA), globus pallidus (GP), putamen (PU), and MrD. The structural
      measurement of MrD was applied on corrected phase images (CPIs). Average apparent
      diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were
      calculated based on DTI data. RESULTS: MrD showed negative correlation for LIC
      with aging, with the highest HIC (left/right 2149.3 +/- 19.6/2155.9 +/- 17.9) and
      LIC (left/right 1996.6 +/- 18.2/1999.6 +/- 20.7), the lowest LIC ratio
      (left/right 21.5% +/- 7.9%/19.4% +/- 8.0%), and the highest AIC (left/right
      2116.4 +/- 21.4/2124.7 +/- 21.0). The width (Head: left/right 2.01 +/- 0.41
      mm/1.86 +/- 0.36 mm; Body: left/right 1.84 +/- 0.38 mm/1.49 +/- 0.29 mm; Tail:
      left/right 1.17 +/- 0.36 mm/1.05 +/- 0.23 mm) and area (left/right 49.44 +/- 9.71
      mm2 /42.75 +/- 8.80 mm2 ) of MrD showed negative correlation with aging,
      presenting gradually narrower pattern based on CPIs. Average ADC value
      (left/right 0.69 +/- 0.04 10-3 mm2 /s / 0.71 +/- 0.03 10-3 mm2 /s) revealed
      negative correlation, while FA value (left/right 0.19 +/- 0.03/0.22 +/- 0.03)
      revealed positive correlation with aging. CONCLUSION: The findings suggested that
      the structure measurements based on CPIs and DTI could provide a simple and
      effective tool for the evaluation of MrD in vivo in the human brain and for the
      assessment of the changes seen with aging. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 J. MAGN. RESON.
      IMAGING 2017;45:1343-1351.

PMID- 27619418
TI  - Pore size matters for potassium channel conductance.
AB  - Ion channels are membrane proteins that mediate efficient ion transport across
      the hydrophobic core of cell membranes, an unlikely process in their absence.
      K(+) channels discriminate K(+) over cations with similar radii with
      extraordinary selectivity and display a wide diversity of ion transport rates,
      covering differences of two orders of magnitude in unitary conductance. The pore
      domains of large- and small-conductance K(+) channels share a general
      architectural design comprising a conserved narrow selectivity filter, which
      forms intimate interactions with permeant ions, flanked by two wider vestibules
      toward the internal and external openings. In large-conductance K(+) channels,
      the inner vestibule is wide, whereas in small-conductance channels it is narrow.
      Here we raise the idea that the physical dimensions of the hydrophobic internal
      vestibule limit ion transport in K(+) channels, accounting for their diversity in
      unitary conductance.

PMID- 27619423
TI  - Precise Characterisation of Molecular Orientation in a Single Crystal Field
      Effect Transistor Using Polarised Raman Spectroscopy.
AB  - Charge transport in organic semiconductors is strongly dependent on the molecular
      orientation and packing, such that manipulation of this molecular packing is a
      proven technique for enhancing the charge mobility in organic transistors.
      However, quantitative measurements of molecular orientation in micrometre-scale
      structures are experimentally challenging. Several research groups have suggested
      polarised Raman spectroscopy as a suitable technique for these measurements and
      have been able to partially characterise molecular orientations using one or two
      orientation parameters. Here we demonstrate a new approach that allows
      quantitative measurements of molecular orientations in terms of three parameters,
      offering the complete characterisation of a three-dimensional orientation. We
      apply this new method to organic semiconductor molecules in a single crystal
      field-effect transistor in order to correlate the measured orientation with
      charge carrier mobility measurements. This approach offers the opportunity for
      micrometre resolution (diffraction limited) spatial mapping of molecular
      orientation using bench-top apparatus, enabling a rational approach towards
      controlling this orientation to achieve optimum device performance.

PMID- 27619471
TI  - Twelfth International Isotope Symposium on the Synthesis and Applications of
      Isotopes and Isotopically Labelled Compounds (IIS2015).

PMID- 27619472
TI  - Pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host disease: from intestinal microbiota
      alterations to donor T cell activation.
AB  - Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a major life-threatening complication
      of allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Here we discuss the
      aGVHD pathophysiology initiated by multiple signals that cause alloreactive T
      cell activation. The outcome of such donor T-cell activation is influenced by T
      cell receptor-signal strength, anatomical location, co-stimulatory/co-inhibitory
      signals and differentiation stage (naive, effector/memory) of T-cells.
      Additionally, cross-priming of T cells to antigens expressed by pathogens can
      contribute to aGVHD-mediated tissue injury. In addition to the properties of
      donor T-cell activation, highly specialized tissue resident cell types, such as
      innate lymphoid cells, antigen-presenting cells, immune regulatory cells and
      various intestinal cell populations are critically involved in aGVHD
      pathogenesis. The role of the thymus and secondary lymphoid tissue injury, non
      haematopoietic cells, intestinal microflora, cytokines, chemokines, microRNAs,
      metabolites and kinases in aGVHD pathophysiology will be highlighted. Acute GVHD
      pathogenic mechanisms will be connected to novel therapeutic approaches under
      development for, and tested in, the clinic.

PMID- 27619473
TI  - Increased water salinity applied to tomato plants accelerates the development of
      the leaf miner Tuta absoluta through bottom-up effects.
AB  - Variation in resource inputs to plants may trigger bottom-up effects on
      herbivorous insects. We examined the effects of water input: optimal water vs.
      limited water; water salinity: with vs. without addition of 100 mM NaCl; and
      their interactions on tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum), and consequently, the
      bottom-up effects on the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meytick) (Lepidoptera:
      Gelechiidae). Plant growth was significantly impeded by limited water input and
      NaCl addition. In terms of leaf chemical defense, the production of tomatidine
      significantly increased with limited water and NaCl addition, and a similar but
      non-significant trend was observed for the other glycoalkaloids. Tuta absoluta
      survival did not vary with the water and salinity treatments, but the treatment
      "optimal water-high salinity" increased the development rate without lowering
      pupal mass. Our results suggest that caution should be used in the IPM program
      against T. absoluta when irrigating tomato crops with saline water.

PMID- 27619474
TI  - Characterization of Phloroglucinol-enriched Fractions of Brazilian Hypericum
      Species and Evaluation of Their Effect on Human Keratinocytes Proliferation.
AB  - In this study, a phytochemical and biological investigation on five South
      Brazilian Hypericum species (Hypericum caprifoliatum, Hypericum carinatum,
      Hypericum connatum, Hypericum myrianthum, and Hypericum polyanthemum) was carried
      out. The phloroglucinol-enriched fractions (PEF) of the flowering aerial parts
      were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography for the content of
      uliginosin A (1), japonicin A (2), uliginosin B (3), hyperbrasilol B (4), and the
      three benzopyrans, that is, 6-isobutyryl-5,7-dimethoxy-2,2-dimethyl-benzopyran
      (HP1) (5), 7-hydroxy-6-isobutyryl-5-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl-benzopyran (HP2) (6),
      and 5-hydroxy-6-isobutyryl-7-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl-benzopyran (HP3) (7). After
      chemical characterization, the PEF were assayed for cell proliferation on human
      keratinocyte cell line by MTT. The H. carinatum and H. polyanthemum PEF
      demonstrated better results with an increase in cell proliferation (138.7% and
      120.6%, respectively). The cell counting and Ki-67 assay with H. carinatum PEF
      confirmed the MTT results. The cell cycle distribution indicates an increase in
      the cells at S and G2/M phases, which is indicative of proliferation induction.
      In summary, the results indicate an induction of HaCaT proliferation by the
      treatment with H. carinatum PEF (at 10 and 15 ug/mL), suggesting a possible use
      as wound healing agent. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27619476
TI  - Retinal proteome changes following experimental branch retinal vein occlusion and
      intervention with ranibizumab.
AB  - Animal models of experimental branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) provide a
      unique opportunity to study protein changes directly in retinal tissue. Results
      from these experimental models suggest that experimental BRVO is associated with
      an upregulation of extracellular matrix remodeling and adhesion signaling
      processes. To study whether these processes could be blocked by inhibition of
      VEGF-A, a porcine model of experimental BRVO was combined with proteomic
      analyses. In six Danish Landrace pigs experimental BRVO was induced with argon
      laser in both eyes. After 24 h an injection of 0.05 mL ranibizumab was given in
      the right eyes of the animals while left eyes received an injection of 0.05 mL 9
      mg/mL sodium chloride water. Retinas were dissected three days after BRVO and the
      retinal samples were analyzed with label-free quantification as well as tandem
      mass tag based proteomics. In retinas treated with ranibizumab five proteins
      exhibited statistically significant changes in content with both proteomic
      techniques. These five proteins, which were all decreased in content, included
      integrin beta-1, peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase, OCIA domain-containing
      protein 1, calnexin and 40S ribosomal protein S5. As anti-integrin therapies are
      under development for inhibition of angiogenesis in retinal diseases it is
      interesting that inhibition of VEGF-A in itself resulted in a small decrease in
      the content of integrin beta-1. The decreased content of integrin beta-1
      indicates that extracellular matrix remodeling and adhesion processes associated
      with BRVO are at least partly reversed through inhibition of VEGF-A.

PMID- 27619477
TI  - On the Chemical Signature and Origin of Dicoppertrihydroxyformate (Cu2(OH)3HCOO)
      Formed on Copper Miniatures of 17th and 18th centuries.
AB  - A corrosion product rarely reported in the literature has been found on the
      copper support of three miniature paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries. This
      product, which has been identified as dicoppertrihydroxyformate (Cu2(OH)3HCOO),
      is an unusual basic copper formate found on copper artifacts. The identification
      and characterization of dicoppertrihydroxyformate was carried out directly over
      the corroded surface of the objects, using a nondestructive approach, which
      combines the integrated use of various microanalytical techniques. Using this
      approach, it was possible to obtain a set of new reference data about the natural
      form of Cu2(OH)3HCOO, that will enable its unambiguous identification in other
      similar objects. In this work, the probable causes that may have contributed to
      its formation are also discussed.

PMID- 27619475
TI  - Obesity-induced lymphatic dysfunction is reversible with weight loss.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Obesity induces lymphatic leakiness, decreases initial lymphatic
      vessel density, impairs collecting vessel pumping and decreases transport of
      macromolecules. Obesity results in perilymphatic inducible nitric oxide synthase
      (iNOS) expression and accumulation of T cells and macrophages. Deleterious
      effects of obesity on the lymphatic system correlate with weight gain. Weight
      loss restores lymphatic function in obese animals and decreases perilymphatic
      iNOS and inflammatory cell accumulation. ABSTRACT: Although clinical and
      experimental studies have shown that obesity results in lymphatic dysfunction, it
      remains unknown whether these changes are permanent or reversible with weight
      loss. In the current study, we used a mouse model of diet-induced obesity to
      identify putative cellular mechanisms of obesity-induced lymphatic dysfunction,
      determine whether there is a correlation between these deleterious effects and
      increasing weight gain, and finally examine whether lymphatic dysfunction is
      reversible with diet-induced weight loss. We report that obesity is negatively
      correlated with cutaneous lymphatic collecting vessel pumping rate (r = -0.9812,
      P < 0.0005) and initial lymphatic vessel density (r = -0.9449, P < 0.005). In
      addition, we show a significant positive correlation between weight gain and
      accumulation of perilymphatic inflammatory cells (r = 0.9872, P < 0.0005) and
      expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS; r = 0.9986, P < 0.0001).
      Weight loss resulting from conversion to a normal chow diet for 8 weeks resulted
      in more than a 25% decrease in body weight and normalized cutaneous lymphatic
      collecting vessel pumping rate, lymphatic vessel density, lymphatic leakiness,
      and lymphatic macromolecule clearance (all P < 0.05). In addition, weight loss
      markedly decreased perilymphatic inflammation and iNOS expression. Taken
      together, our findings show that obesity is linearly correlated with lymphatic
      dysfunction, perilymphatic inflammation and iNOS expression, and that weight loss
      via dietary modification effectively reverses these deleterious effects.

PMID- 27619478
TI  - Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds-what does the future bring?
AB  - Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) have emerged as an interesting alternative
      since the presence of the prosthesis in the coronary artery is transient. This
      technology enables to restore the normal vasomotor tone and allows positive
      remodeling, simultaneously reducing the trigger for persistent inflammation and
      facilitating further interventions by percutaneous or surgical means. Absorb
      BVS((r)) is the first generation everolimus-eluting poly-L-lactide (PLLA)
      bioresorbable scaffold. In recent meta-analyses Absorb BVS((r)) was definitely
      proved to be safe and effective device in the treatment of symptomatic coronary
      artery disease. This was recently confirmed by FDA advisory panel of experts who
      recommended approval of the device based on an analysis of its risks and rewards.
      Nevertheless, still there are some concerns regarding stent thrombosis, and the
      real vessel functionality restoration at long-term observation. Worth mentioning
      is the fact that apart from stable coronary disease Absorb BVS((r)) is used
      successfully in a series of off-label clinical settings such as acute coronary
      syndromes including STEMI, in-stent restenosis, coronary bifurcations, left main
      stenting or chronic total occlusions. Moreover, new bioresorbable scaffolds are
      under development with DEsolve((r)) and DREAM 2G((r)), which are the most
      advanced. 

PMID- 27619479
TI  - Cu-Click Compatible Triazabutadienes To Expand the Scope of Aryl Diazonium Ion
      Chemistry.
AB  - Triazabutadienes can be used to readily generate reactive aryl diazonium ions
      under mild, physiologically relevant conditions. These conditions are compatible
      with a range of functionalities that do not tolerate traditional aryl diazonium
      ion generation. To increase the utility of this aryl diazonium ion releasing
      chemistry an alkyne-containing triazabutadiene was synthesized. The copper
      catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition ("Cu-click") reaction was utilized to modify
      the alkyne-containing triazabutadiene and shown to be compatible with the
      nitrogen-rich triazabutadiene. One of the triazole products was tethered to a
      fluorophore, thus enabling the direct fluorescent labeling of a model protein.

PMID- 27619480
TI  - Retrospective observational analysis of the use of an architecturally unique
      dermal regeneration template (Derma Pure(r)) for the treatment of hard-to-heal
      wounds.
AB  - The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the use of DermaPure, a
      decellularised human skin allograft, in the treatment of a variety of challenging
      wounds. This retrospective observational analysis reviewed a total of 37 patients
      from 29 different wound clinics across the USA. Each patient received one
      application of DermaPure which was followed until complete closure. A statistical
      analysis was performed with the end point being complete healing. All wounds on
      average, had a duration of 56 weeks and healed in an average time of 10.58 weeks.
      Individual wound categories included diabetic foot ulcers, which healed in 8.21
      weeks; venous leg ulcers, which healed in 11.29 weeks; and surgical/traumatic
      wounds, which healed in 11.8 weeks.

PMID- 27619481
TI  - Disability after prolonged mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit:
      tracking the fate of our patients.

PMID- 27619484
TI  - A new instrument for assessing the experience of dying and death in the intensive
      care units from the perspective of relatives.

PMID- 27619482
TI  - Gynecologic symptoms and the influence on reproductive life in 386 women with
      hypermobility type ehlers-danlos syndrome: a cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), is probably the most
      common disease among heritable connective tissue disorders. It affects women more
      than men and causes symptoms in multiple organs. It is associated with chronic
      pain, skin fragility and abnormal bleeding. These characteristics may hamper
      reproductive life. We conducted a study to evaluate the gynecologic and obstetric
      outcomes in women with hEDS. We also explored a possible hormonal modulation of
      the hEDS symptoms. The gynecologic and obstetric history of 386 consecutive women
      diagnosed with hEDS was collected by a standardized questionnaire and a medical
      consultation performed by a senior gynecologist in an expert centre for hEDS
      between May 2012 and December 2014. RESULTS: We observed a high frequency of
      gynecologic complaints, specifically: menorrhagia (76 %), dysmenorrhea (72 %) and
      dyspareunia (43 %). Endometriosis was not highly prevalent in this population.
      The obstetric outcomes were similar to those of the general French population for
      deliveries by cesarean section (14.6 %) and premature births (6.2 %) but the
      incidence of multiple spontaneous abortion (13 %) and spontaneous abortion (28 %)
      were significantly higher. A subset of women were sensitive to hormonal
      fluctuations with more severe symptoms occurring during puberty, prior to
      menstruation, during the postpartum period as well as on oral contraception.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increased awareness of the gynecological symptomatology in women
      with hEDS can help discriminate between endometriosis and thus prevent useless,
      and potentially dangerous, surgery. This study also suggests that hormonal
      modulation may be an appropriate treatment for a subset of women with hEDS.

PMID- 27619485
TI  - Deterministic evolution of an asexual population under the action of beneficial
      and deleterious mutations on additive fitness landscapes.
AB  - We study a continuous time model for the frequency distribution of an infinitely
      large asexual population in which both beneficial and deleterious mutations occur
      and fitness is additive. When beneficial mutations are ignored, the exact
      solution for the frequency distribution is known to be a Poisson distribution.
      Here we include beneficial mutations and obtain exact expressions for the
      frequency distribution at all times using an eigenfunction expansion method. We
      find that the stationary distribution is non-Poissonian and related to the Bessel
      function of the first kind. We also provide suitable approximations for the
      stationary distribution and the time to relax to the steady state. Our exact
      results, especially at mutation-selection equilibrium, can be useful in
      developing semi-deterministic approaches to understand stochastic evolution.

PMID- 27619486
TI  - A novel tyrosine hydroxylase variant in a group of Chinese patients with dopa
      responsive dystonia.
AB  - Dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) comprises a heterogeneous group of movement
      disorders. A limited number of studies of Chinese patients with DRD have been
      reported. In the present study, we investigated the clinical and genetic features
      of 12 Chinese DRD families. Point mutation analysis of the GTP-cyclohydrolase I
      (GCH1), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and sepiapterin reductase (SPR) genes was
      conducted by direct sequencing. In addition, multiplex ligation-dependent probe
      amplification targeting GCH1 and TH was performed in "mutation-free" patients.
      Three reported mutations (IVS2-2A>G, c.293C>T, c.550C>T) were detected in GCH1,
      whereas two compound heterozygous variants were identified in TH, one of which
      was novel (c.1083C>A). Furthermore, this novel variant was not detected in any of
      the 250 ethnicity-matched, healthy controls. No exon deletions or duplicate
      mutations in the two genes were found in patients with DRD. No mutation in SPR
      was found. In addition, one patient with the IVS2-2A>G mutation in GCH1 showed
      signs of Parkinsonism. In conclusion, we here identified a novel heterozygous
      variant in TH (c.1083C>A). It is important to perform routine screening of GCH1
      and TH for patients with DRD. While for patients with Parkinsonism, GCH1 mutation
      analysis should be performed after screening of genes like PARKIN, PARK7 (DJ-1)
      and PINK1.

PMID- 27619487
TI  - Transcriptional regulation of genes involved in retinoic acid metabolism in
      Senegalese sole larvae.
AB  - The aim of this study was the characterization of transcriptional regulatory
      pathways mediated by retinoic acid (RA) in Senegalese sole larvae. For this
      purpose, pre-metamorphic larvae were treated with a low concentration of DEAB, an
      inhibitor of RALDH enzyme, until the end of metamorphosis. No differences in
      growth, eye migration or survival were observed. Nevertheless, gene expression
      analysis revealed a total of 20 transcripts differentially expressed during
      larval development and only six related with DEAB treatments directly involved in
      RA metabolism and actions (rdh10a, aldh1a2, crbp1, igf2r, rarg and cyp26a1) to
      adapt to a low-RA environment. In a second experiment, post-metamorphic larvae
      were exposed to the all-trans RA (atRA) observing an opposite regulation for
      those genes involved in RA synthesis and degradation (rdh10a, aldh1a2, crbp1 and
      cyp26a1) as well as other related with thyroid- (dio2) and IGF-axes (igfbp1,
      igf2r and igfbp5) to balance RA levels. In a third experiment, DEAB-pretreated
      post-metamorphic larvae were exposed to atRA and TTNPB (a specific RAR agonist).
      Both drugs down-regulated rdh10a and aldh1a2 and up-regulated cyp26a1 expression
      demonstrating their important role in RA homeostasis. Moreover, five retinoic
      receptors that mediate RA actions, the thyroid receptor thrb, and five IGF
      binding proteins changed differentially their expression. Overall, this study
      demonstrates that exogenous RA modulates the expression of some genes involved in
      the RA synthesis, degradation and cellular transport through RAR-mediated
      regulatory pathways establishing a negative feedback regulatory mechanism
      necessary to balance endogenous RA levels and gradients.

PMID- 27619488
TI  - Selective, switchable fluorescent probe for heparin based on aggregation-induced
      emission.
AB  - A positively charged tetraphenylethene (TPE) derivative, TPE-4MN, was synthesized
      as a probe for heparin based on aggregation induced emission. On the addition of
      5.0 MUg/mL of heparin, TPE-4MN showed an enhanced emission of about 10-fold. The
      change in fluorescence at 475 nm was linear over a range of heparin
      concentrations of 0-1.0 MUg/mL with an R = 0.99988 and the limit of detection
      (LOD) was calculated to be 0.75 MUg/mL. The mechanism of the detection was proven
      to be through an ion pairing interaction. TPE-4MN showed good selectivity for
      heparin over other types of polysaccharides and could easily distinguish heparin
      from heparan sulfate, a glycosaminoglycan having a similar structure to that of
      heparin.

PMID- 27619489
TI  - Advancing In Vitro-In Vivo Extrapolations of Mechanism-Specific Toxicity Data
      Through Toxicokinetic Modeling.
AB  - International legislation, such as the European REACH regulation (registration,
      evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals), mandates the assessment
      of potential risks of an ever-growing number of chemicals to the environment and
      human health. Although this legislation is considered one of the most important
      investments in consumer safety ever, the downside is that the current testing
      strategies within REACH rely on extensive animal testing. To address the ethical
      conflicts arising from these increased testing requirements, decision-makers,
      such as the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), are committed to Russel and Burch's
      3R principle (i.e., reduction, replacement, refinement) by demanding that animal
      experiments should be substituted with appropriate alternatives whenever
      possible. A potential solution of this dilemma might be the application of in
      vitro bioassays to estimate toxic effects using cells or cellular components
      instead of whole organisms. Although such assays are particularly useful to
      assess potential mechanisms of toxic action, scientists require appropriate
      methods to extrapolate results from the in vitro level to the situation in vivo.
      Toxicokinetic models are a straightforward means of bridging this gap. The
      present chapter describes different available options for in vitro-in vivo
      extrapolation (IVIVE) of mechanism-specific effects focused on fish species and
      also reviews the implications of confounding factors during the conduction of in
      vitro bioassays and their influence on the optimal choice of different dose
      metrics.

PMID- 27619490
TI  - Advanced Approaches to Model Xenobiotic Metabolism in Bacterial Genotoxicology In
      Vitro.
AB  - During the past 30 years there has been considerable progress in the development
      of bacterial test systems for use in genotoxicity testing by the stable
      introduction of expression vectors (cDNAs) coding for xenobiotic-metabolizing
      enzymes into bacterial cells. The development not only provides insights into the
      mechanisms of bioactivation of xenobiotic compounds but also evaluates the roles
      of enzymes involved in metabolic activation or inactivation in chemical
      carcinogenesis. This review describes recent advances in bacterial genotoxicity
      assays and their future prospects, with a focus on the development and
      application of genetically engineering bacterial cells to incorporate some of the
      enzymatic activities involved in the bio-activation process of xenobiotics.
      Various genes have been introduced into bacterial umu tester strains encoding
      enzymes for genotoxic bioactivation, including bacterial nitroreductase and O
      acetyltransferase, human cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, rat glutathione S
      transferases, and human N-acetyltransferases and sulfotransferases. Their
      application has provided new tools for genotoxicity assays and for studying the
      role of biotransformation in chemical carcinogenesis in humans.

PMID- 27619492
TI  - Shooting under cardiovascular load: Electroencephalographic activity in
      preparation for biathlon shooting.
AB  - This study explored the influence of sub-maximal cardiovascular load on
      electroencephalographic (EEG) activity preceding biathlon shooting. Frontal
      midline theta and alpha power were examined to assess monitoring processes and
      cortical inhibition, respectively. Thirteen experienced biathletes (mean age:
      17years; 5 males, 8 females) fired sets of five consecutive shots from the
      standing position at a 50-meter-distant target, under two fixed-order conditions:
      (i) at rest and (ii) immediately after 3-minute exercise on a bicycle ergometer
      at 90% of maximum heart rate (HR). HR and rate of physical exertion (RPE) were
      measured as manipulation checks. Shooting accuracy was assessed in target rings
      for each shot. Frontal-midline theta and alpha power were computed in the last
      second preceding each shot from average-reference 61-channel EEG and inter
      individual differences were minimized through a median-scaled log transformation
      (Appendix). HR and RPE increased under cardiovascular load, however, shooting
      accuracy did not change. Pre-shooting frontal-midline theta power decreased,
      whereas alpha power increased over temporal and occipital - but not central -
      regions. These changes were larger for greater HR values. Additionally, higher
      frontal-midline theta, lower left-central alpha, and higher left-temporal alpha
      power were associated with more accurate shooting. These findings suggest that
      monitoring processes are beneficial to shooting performance but can be impaired
      by sub-maximal cardiovascular load. Greater inhibition of movement-irrelevant
      regions (temporal, occipital) and concomitant activation of movement-related
      regions (central) indicate that greater neural efficiency is beneficial to
      shooting performance and can allow trained biathletes to shoot accurately despite
      physically demanding conditions.

PMID- 27619491
TI  - Physical fitness and anthropometric normative values among Colombian-Indian
      schoolchildren.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Substantial evidence indicates that children's physical fitness
      levels are markers of their lifestyles and their cardio-metabolic health profile
      and are predictors of the future risk of chronic diseases such as obesity,
      cardiometabolic disease, skeletal health and mental health. However, fitness
      reference values for ethnic children and adolescents have not been published in a
      Latin-American population. Therefore, the aim of the study was to provide sex-
      and age-specific physical fitness and anthropometric reference standards among
      Colombian-Indian schoolchildren. METHODS: A sample of 576 participants (319 boys
      and 257 girls) aged 10 to 17 years old was assessed using the FUPRECOL test
      battery. Four components of physical fitness were measured: 1) morphological
      component: height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC),
      triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, and body fat (%); 2) musculoskeletal
      component: handgrip and standing long jump test; 3) motor component:
      speed/agility test (4 * 10 m shuttle run); and 4) cardiorespiratory component:
      course-navette 20 m, shuttle run test and estimation of maximal oxygen
      consumption by VO2max indirect. Centile smoothed curves for the 3(rd), 10(th),
      25(th), 50(th), 75(th), 90(th) and 97(th) percentiles were calculated using
      Cole's LMS method. RESULTS: Our results show that weight, height and BMI in each
      age group were higher in boys than in girls. In each groups, age showed a
      significant effect for BMI and WC. Boys showed better than girls in
      cardiorespiratory fitness, lower- and upper-limb strength and speed/agility and
      girls performed better in low back flexibility. CONCLUSION: Our results provide
      for the first time sex- and age-specific physical fitness and anthropometric
      reference values for Colombian Nasa Indian children and adolescents aged 10-17.9
      years.

PMID- 27619493
TI  - Psychometric considerations in the measurement of event-related brain potentials:
      Guidelines for measurement and reporting.
AB  - Failing to consider psychometric issues related to reliability and validity,
      differential deficits, and statistical power potentially undermines the
      conclusions of a study. In research using event-related brain potentials (ERPs),
      numerous contextual factors (population sampled, task, data recording, analysis
      pipeline, etc.) can impact the reliability of ERP scores. The present review
      considers the contextual factors that influence ERP score reliability and the
      downstream effects that reliability has on statistical analyses. Given the
      context-dependent nature of ERPs, it is recommended that ERP score reliability be
      formally assessed on a study-by-study basis. Recommended guidelines for ERP
      studies include 1) reporting the threshold of acceptable reliability and
      reliability estimates for observed scores, 2) specifying the approach used to
      estimate reliability, and 3) justifying how trial-count minima were chosen. A
      reliability threshold for internal consistency of at least 0.70 is recommended,
      and a threshold of 0.80 is preferred. The review also advocates the use of
      generalizability theory for estimating score dependability (the generalizability
      theory analog to reliability) as an improvement on classical test theory
      reliability estimates, suggesting that the latter is less well suited to ERP
      research. To facilitate the calculation and reporting of dependability estimates,
      an open-source Matlab program, the ERP Reliability Analysis Toolbox, is
      presented.

PMID- 27619494
TI  - Joint interpretation of enantiomer and stable isotope fractionation for chiral
      pesticides degradation.
AB  - Chiral pesticides are important contaminants affecting the health and functioning
      of aquatic systems. The combination of stable isotope and enantiomer analysis
      techniques has been recently proposed to better characterize the fate of these
      contaminants in natural and engineered settings. We introduce a modeling approach
      with the aim of unifying and integrating the interpretation of isotopic and
      enantiomeric fractionation. The model is based on the definition of enantiomer
      specific isotopologues and jointly predicts the evolution of concentration,
      enantiomer fractionation, as well as changes in stable isotope ratios of
      different elements. The method allows evaluating different transformation
      pathways and was applied to investigate enzymatic degradation of dichlorprop
      (DCPP), enzymatic degradation of mecoprop methyl ester (MCPPM), and microbial
      degradation of alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH) by different bacterial
      strains and under different redox conditions. The model accurately reproduces the
      isotopic and enantiomeric data observed in previous experimental studies and
      precisely captures the dual-dimensional trends characterizing different reaction
      pathways. Furthermore, the model allows testing possible combinations of
      enantiomer analysis (EA), compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA), and
      enantiomer specific isotope analysis (ESIA) to identify and assess isotope and
      enantiomer selective reaction mechanisms.

PMID- 27619496
TI  - Non-catalytic and catalytic degradation of effluent dissolved organic matter
      under UVA-and UVC-irradiation tracked by advanced spectroscopic tools.
AB  - Non-catalytic and catalytic photodegradation of effluent dissolved organic matter
      (EfDOM) was examined under two different light sources (UVA and UVC). The
      degradation behavior was tracked by dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV
      absorbance, and different fluorescent components. Catalytic UV irradiation
      resulted in much higher degradation rates than those without photocatalysts (TiO2
      and ZnO) regardless of the tracking variables. For non-catalytic degradation, the
      highest removal rates of UV absorbance were found at wavelengths close to the
      irradiation of either UVC or UVA, while the photocatalytic degradation rates were
      consistently higher at longer wavelengths. The pseudo first-order rates of UV
      absorbance individually calculated at several representative wavelengths were
      very consistent with the sequential orders interpreted from two-dimensional
      correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS). Excitation emission matrix - parallel factor
      analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) identified one tryptophan-like (C1) and two humic-like (C2
      and C3) components from EfDOM samples. Among those, C1 exhibited the lowest
      adsorption extent and the highest degradation rates for both photocatalysts,
      suggesting that the photocatalysis is mainly governed by hydroxyl radicals in
      aqueous solution. All observed degradation behaviors were well explained by the
      irradiation wavelengths, the extent of adsorption onto catalysts, and the
      presumed structure of the tracked component. Our study demonstrated that EEM
      PARAFAC and 2D-COS could provide further insights into both non-catalytic and
      catalytic degradation of EfDOM upon UV-irradiation.

PMID- 27619495
TI  - Drinking water treatment response following a Colorado wildfire.
AB  - Wildfires can greatly alter the vegetation, soils, and hydrologic processes of
      watersheds serving as drinking water supplies, which may negatively influence
      source water quality and treatment. To address wildfire impacts on treatment, a
      drinking water intake below a burned watershed and an upstream, unburned
      reference site were monitored following the High Park wildfire (2012) in the
      Cache la Poudre watershed of northern Colorado, USA. Turbidity, nutrients,
      dissolved organic matter (DOM) character, coagulation treatability, and
      disinfection byproduct formation were evaluated and compared to pre-fire data.
      Post-fire paired spatial differences between the treatment plant intake and
      reference site for turbidity, nitrogen, and phosphorus increased by an order of
      magnitude compared to pre-fire differences. Fluorescence index (FI) values were
      significantly higher at the intake compared to the reference site (Delta = 0.04),
      and higher than pre-fire years, suggesting the wildfire altered the DOM character
      of the river. Total trihalomethane (TTHM) and haloacetonitrile (HAN4) formation
      at the intake were 10.1 MUg L-1 and 0.91 MUg L-1 higher than the reference site.
      Post-fire water was amenable to conventional treatment at a 10 mg L-1 higher
      average alum dose than reference samples. The intake was also monitored following
      rainstorms. Post-rainstorm samples showed the maximum observed FI values (1.52),
      HAN4 (3.4 MUg mgC-1) and chloropicrin formation yields (3.6 MUg mgC-1), whereas
      TTHM and haloacetic acid yields were not elevated. Several post-rainstorm samples
      presented treatment challenges, and even at high alum doses (65 mg L-1), showed
      minimal dissolved organic carbon removal (<10%). The degraded water quality of
      the post-rainstorm samples is likely attributed to the combined effects of runoff
      from precipitation and greater erosion following wildfire. Wildfire impacts
      cannot be separated from rainfall effects due to the lack of post-rainstorm
      samples from the reference site. Results suggest for this study region, wildfire
      may have consequences for influent water quality, coagulant dosing, and DBP
      speciation.

PMID- 27619497
TI  - Effect of nonylphenol on volatile fatty acids accumulation during anaerobic
      fermentation of waste activated sludge.
AB  - Most of the reported studies on anaerobic fermentation of sludge focused on the
      influences of operating conditions, pretreatment methods, and its
      characteristics, and little attention was paid to those of persistent organic
      pollutants (POPs) which widespreadly appeared in sludge. In this study, the
      effect of nonylphenol, a typical POPs in waste activated sludge (WAS), on
      anaerobic fermentation for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation was
      investigated. The concentration of VFAs during WAS anaerobic fermentation was
      found to be affected positively from 2856 mg COD/L in the control (without NP) to
      5620 mg COD/L with NP of 200 mg/kg dry sludge. Mechanism exploration exhibited
      that the main reason for the enhanced VFAs accumulation in the presence of NP was
      that more acetic acid was generated during the acidification of WAS, which was
      increased by almost three times (3790 versus 1310 mg COD/L). In WAS fermentation
      systems, the abundance of anaerobic functional microorganisms was advantageous to
      the accumulation of acetic acid. Further investigation by the pure acetogen
      revealed that both the viability and activity of Proteiniphilum acetatigenes were
      improved by NP during anaerobic fermentation, resulting in more production of
      acetic acid and showing good agreement with that in the real WAS fermentation
      systems.

PMID- 27619498
TI  - Spatiotemporal dynamics and correlation networks of bacterial and fungal
      communities in a membrane bioreactor.
AB  - To systematically study biofilm communities responsible for biofouling in
      membrane bioreactors (MBRs), we characterized the spatiotemporal dynamics of
      bacterial and fungal biofilm communities, and their networks, in a pilot-scale
      flat-sheet MBR treating actual municipal wastewater. Activated sludge (AS) and
      membrane samples were collected on days 4 and 8. The membranes were cut into 18
      tiles, and bacterial and fungal communities were analyzed using next generation
      sequencing. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plots revealed significant
      temporal variations in bacterial and fungal biofilm communities due to changes in
      the abundances of a few dominant members. Although the experimental conditions
      and inoculum species pools remained constant, variogram plots of bacterial and
      fungal communities revealed decay in local community similarity with geographic
      distance at each sampling time. Variogram modeling (exponential rise to maximum,
      R2 >= 0.79) revealed that decay patterns of both communities were different
      between days 4 and 8. In addition, networks of bacteria or fungi alone were
      distinct in network composition between days 4 and 8. The day-8 networks were
      more compact and clustered than those of the earlier time point. Bacteria-fungi
      networks show that the number of inter-domain associations decreased from 113 to
      40 with time, confirming that membrane biofilm is a complex consortium of
      bacteria and fungi. Spatiotemporal succession in biofilm communities may be
      common on MBR membranes, resulting from different geographic distributions of
      initial microbial populations and their priority effects.

PMID- 27619499
TI  - Integrity breaches in a hollow fiber nanofilter - Effects on natural organic
      matter and virus-like particle removal.
AB  - Ultrafiltration and nanofiltration have become common methods to treat surface
      water for drinking water purposes. Common aims of a membrane step are removal of
      natural organic matter (NOM), softening or adding an extra microbiological or
      chemical barrier. In most cases, the membrane is considered a good disinfection
      step; commonly the viral removal is at least 4-log. To ensure a working
      disinfection, reliable integrity tests are required. In the present pilot study
      with a hollow fiber nanofilter, the membrane achieved a high NOM reduction, and
      the difference in parameters related to NOM quality before and after treatment
      proved to be useful indicators of integrity breaches. Changes in total organic
      carbon (TOC) concentration, UV-absorbance at 254 nm (UVA254) and fluorescence
      derived parameters in the permeate flow were related to leaking fibers. On
      average, UVA254 in the permeate was 3 times higher for a membrane with
      compromised fibers (0.041 cm-1) compared to an intact membrane (0.013 cm-1),
      while TOC was less than 2 times as high on average. Thus, this membrane had a
      higher reduction of UVA254 than TOC and the sensitivity for changes from leakage
      was higher. Therefore, it is suggested that UVA254 could be used as an indicator
      for membrane integrity. Additionally, there is a significant (P < 0.01)
      difference in fluorescence derived parameters between a leaking and an intact
      fiber, showing that fluorescence also has potential to be applied for online
      monitoring of membrane processes. During fiber failure, around 2% of the permeate
      flow passes through one single leaking fiber. The transport depends on the
      distance between the inflow and the leak, which in most cases are similar and
      most likely close to the middle of the fiber.

PMID- 27619500
TI  - Use of Mytilus edulis biosentinels to investigate spatial patterns of norovirus
      and faecal indicator organism contamination around coastal sewage discharges.
AB  - Bivalve shellfish have the capacity to accumulate norovirus (NoV) from waters
      contaminated with human sewage. Consequently, shellfish represent a major vector
      for NoV entry into the human food chain, leading to gastrointestinal illness.
      Identification of areas suitable for the safe cultivation of shellfish requires
      an understanding of NoV behaviour upon discharge of municipal-derived sewage into
      coastal waters. This study exploited the potential of edible mussels (Mytilus
      edulis) to accumulate NoV and employed the ISO method for quantification of NoV
      within mussel digestive tissues. To evaluate the spatial spread of NoV from an
      offshore sewage discharge pipe, mesh cages of mussels were suspended from
      moorings deployed in a 9 km2 grid array around the outfall. Caged mussels were
      retrieved after 30 days and NoV (GI and GII), total coliforms and E. coli
      enumerated. The experimentally-derived levels of NoV GI and GII in mussels were
      similar with total NoV levels ranging from 7 * 101 to 1.6 * 104 genome copies g-1
      shellfish digestive gland (SigmaGI + GII). NoV spread from the outfall showed a
      distinct plume which matched very closely to predictions from the tidally-driven
      effluent dispersal model MIKE21. A contrasting spatial pattern was observed for
      coliforms (range 1.7 * 102 to 2.1 * 104 CFU 100 g-1 shellfish tissue) and E. coli
      (range 0-1.2 * 103 CFU 100 g-1 shellfish tissue). These data demonstrate that
      hydrodynamic models may help inform effective exclusion zones for bivalve
      harvesting, whilst coliform/E. coli concentrations do not accurately reflect
      viral dispersal in marine waters and contamination of shellfish by sewage-derived
      viral pathogens.

PMID- 27619501
TI  - Tertiary treatment of a municipal wastewater toward pharmaceuticals removal by
      chemical and electrochemical advanced oxidation processes.
AB  - This study focuses on the degradation of pharmaceuticals from a municipal
      wastewater after secondary treatment by applying various advanced oxidation
      processes (AOPs) and electrochemical AOPs (EAOPs) like UVC, H2O2/UVC, anodic
      oxidation (AO), AO with electrogenerated H2O2 (AO-H2O2), AO-H2O2/UVC and
      photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) using either UVC radiation (PEF-UVC) or UVA radiation
      (PEF-UVA). The municipal wastewater after secondary treatment was spiked with 5.0
      mg L-1 of trimethoprim (TMP) antibiotic. The efficiency of processes to remove
      TMP followed the order UVC < AO-H2O2 < PEF-UVA << AO ~ PEF-UVC < AO-H2O2/UVC <
      PEF-UVA (pH = 2.8) < H2O2/UVC ~ PEF-UVC (pH = 2.8), using neutral pH, except when
      identified. While the UVC radiation alone led to a very low TMP removal, the
      H2O2/UVC process promoted a very high TMP degradation due to the production of
      hydroxyl radicals (OH) by H2O2 cleavage. In the AO-H2O2/UVC process, the
      electrogeneration of H2O2 can avoid the risks associated with the transportation,
      storage and manipulation of this oxidant and, furthermore, OH at the anode
      surface are also formed. Nevertheless, low contents of H2O2 were detected mainly
      at the beginning of the reaction, leading to a lower initial reaction rate when
      compared with the H2O2/UVC system. In the PEF-UVC, the addition of iron at
      neutral pH led to the visible formation of insoluble iron oxides that can filter
      the light. At pH 2.8, the iron remained dissolved, thereby promoting the Fenton's
      reaction and increasing the organics removal. The UVA-driven processes showed
      limited efficiency when compared with those using UVC light. For all processes
      with H2O2 electrogeneration, the active chlorine species can be scavenged by the
      H2O2, diminishing the efficiency of the processes. This can explain the lower
      efficiency of AO-H2O2 when compared with AO. Moreover, the degradation of the
      MWWTP effluent spiked with 18 pharmaceuticals in MUg L-1 during AO process was
      assessed as well as the influence of the following operational variables on the
      process efficiency: (i) H2O2 concentration on H2O2/UVC, (ii) current density on
      AO, AO-H2O2, AO-H2O2/UVC, PEF-UVC and PEF-UVA, and (iii) pH on PEF-UVA.

PMID- 27619502
TI  - LC-MS/MS method for the determination of tetrodotoxin (TTX) on a triple quadruple
      mass spectrometer.
AB  - Tetrodotoxin (TTX), often referred to as the 'puffer fish' poison, is a marine
      toxin and it has been identified as the agent responsible for many food poisoning
      incidents around the world. It is a neurotoxin that blocks voltage-gated sodium
      channels, resulting in respiratory paralysis and even death in severe cases. It
      is known to occur in many different species of fish and other organisms. The
      toxin is mainly found in the Southeast Asia region. Worryingly, TTX is starting
      to appear in European waters. It is suspected that this is a consequence of
      Lessepsian migration, also known as the Erythrean invasion. Therefore,
      straightforward and reliable extraction and analytical methods are now urgently
      required to monitor seafood of European origin for TTX. This paper provides a
      versatile, dependable and robust method for the analysis of TTX in puffer fish
      and trumpet shellfish using LC-MS/MS. A three-stage approach was implemented
      involving: (1) the screening of samples using fast multiple reaction monitoring
      (MRM) mass spectral analysis to identify quickly positive samples on a triple
      quadrupole mass spectrometer (QqQMS/MS), the API 3000; (2) a Fourier-transform
      (FT)-MS full-scan analysis of positive samples to collect qualitative data; and
      (3) a method with a longer chromatography run to identify and quantitate the
      positive samples using the QqQMS. The quantitative LC-QqQMS method delivered
      excellent linearity for solvent-based standards (0.01-7.5 ug ml-1; R2 >= 0.9968)
      as well as for matrix-matched standards (0.05-37.50 ug g-1; R2 >= 0.9869). Good
      inter-day repeatability was achieved for all the relevant analytes with %RSD
      values (n = 9) ranging from 1.11% to 4.97% over a concentration range of 0.01-7.5
      ug ml-1. A sample clean-up procedure for the puffer fish and trumpet shellfish
      was developed to ensure acceptable and reproducible recoveries to enable accurate
      and precise determination of TTX in a myriad of tissues types. Blank mackerel
      matrix was used for the TTX standard spiking studies in order to calculate the
      recoveries of the toxin during the extraction procedure. The recovery was 61.17%
      +/- 5.42% for the extraction protocol. MS/MS studies were performed on a linear
      trap quadruple-Orbitrap mass spectrometer (LTQ-Orbitrap) to obtain high-mass
      accuracy data of the target analytes and their characteristic fragment ions in
      the puffer fish and trumpet shellfish samples. This facilitated identification of
      TTX and its associated analogues. These high-mass-accuracy studies facilitated
      the development of a rapid MRM-based quantitative method for TTX determination on
      the LC-QqQMS.

PMID- 27619503
TI  - Central relay of bitter taste to the protocerebrum by peptidergic interneurons in
      the Drosophila brain.
AB  - Bitter is a taste modality associated with toxic substances evoking aversive
      behaviour in most animals, and the valence of different taste modalities is
      conserved between mammals and Drosophila. Despite knowledge gathered in the past
      on the peripheral perception of taste, little is known about the identity of
      taste interneurons in the brain. Here we show that hugin neuropeptide-containing
      neurons in the Drosophila larval brain are necessary for avoidance behaviour to
      caffeine, and when activated, result in cessation of feeding and mediates a
      bitter taste signal within the brain. Hugin neuropeptide-containing neurons
      project to the neurosecretory region of the protocerebrum and functional imaging
      demonstrates that these neurons are activated by bitter stimuli and by activation
      of bitter sensory receptor neurons. We propose that hugin neurons projecting to
      the protocerebrum act as gustatory interneurons relaying bitter taste information
      to higher brain centres in Drosophila larvae.

PMID- 27619505
TI  - Ginsenosides, ingredients of the root of Panax ginseng, are not substrates but
      inhibitors of sodium-glucose transporter 1.
AB  - Recent pharmacokinetic studies have revealed that ginsenosides, the major
      ingredients of ginseng (the roots of Panax ginseng), are present in the plasma
      collected from subjects receiving ginseng, and speculated that ginsenosides might
      be actively transported via glucose transporters. We evaluated whether
      ginsenosides Rb1 and Rg1, and their metabolites from enteric bacteria act as
      substrates of sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 1, the major glucose
      transporter expressed on the apical side of intestinal epithelial cells. First,
      we evaluated the competing effects of ginseng extract and ginsenosides on the
      uptake of [14C]methyl-glucose, a substrate of SGLT1, by SGLT1-overexpressing
      HEK293 cells. A boiling water extract of ginseng inhibited SGLT1 in a
      concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 0.85 mg/ml. By activity
      guided fractionation, we determined that the fraction containing ginsenosides
      displayed an inhibitory effect on SGLT1. Of the ginsenosides evaluated,
      protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides were not found to inhibit SGLT1, whereas
      protopanaxadiol-type ginsenosides, including ginsenosides Rd, Rg3, Rh2, F2 and
      compound K, exhibited significant inhibitory effects on SGLT1, with ginsenoside
      F2 having the highest activity with an IC50 value of 23.0 uM. Next, we measured
      the uptake of ginsenoside F2 and compound K into Caco-2 cells, a cell line
      frequently used to evaluate the intestinal absorption of drugs. The uptake of
      ginsenoside F2 and compound K into Caco-2 cells was not competitively inhibited
      by glucose. Furthermore, the uptake of ginsenoside F2 and compound K into SGLT1
      overexpressing HEK293 cells was not significantly higher than into mock cells.
      Ginsenoside F2 and compound K did not appear to be substrates of SGLT1, although
      these compounds could inhibit SGLT1. Ginsenosides might be absorbed by passive
      diffusion through the intestinal membrane or actively transported via unknown
      transporters other than SGLT1.

PMID- 27619504
TI  - Transplantation of EPCs overexpressing PDGFR-beta promotes vascular repair in the
      early phase after vascular injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play important roles in the
      regeneration of the vascular endothelial cells (ECs). Platelet-derived growth
      factor receptor (PDGFR)-beta is known to contribute to proliferation, migration,
      and angiogenesis of EPCs, this study aims to investigate effects of
      transplantation of EPCs overexpressing PDGFR-beta on vascular regeneration.
      METHODS: We transplanted genetically modified EPCs overexpressing PDGFR-beta into
      a mouse model with carotid artery injury. After 3 days of EPCs transplantation,
      the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-expressing cells were found at the
      injury site and the lining of the lumen by laser scanning confocal microscope
      (LSCM). At 4, 7, and 14 days of the carotid artery injury, reendothelialization
      was evaluated by Evans Blue staining. Neointima formation was evaluated at day 14
      with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining by calculating the neointimal area,
      medial area, and neointimal/media (NI/M) ratio. Intimal cell apoptosis was
      evaluated using TUNEL assay. Then we tested whether PDGF-BB-induced VSMC
      migration and PDGF-BB's function in reducing VSMC apoptosis can be attenuated by
      EPCs overexpressing PDGFR-beta in a transwell co-culture system. RESULTS: Our
      results showed that EPCs overexpressing PDGFR-beta accelerates
      reendothelialization and mitigates neointimal formation at 14 days after injury.
      Moreover, we found that there is great possibility that EPCs overexpressing PDGFR
      beta enhanc VSMC apoptosis and suppress VSMC migration by competitive consumption
      of PDGF-BB in the early phase after carotid artery injury in mice. CONCLUSIONS:
      We report the first in vivo and in vitro evidence that transplantation of
      genetically modified EPC can have a combined effect of both amplifying the
      reendothelialization capacity of EPCs and inhibiting neointima formation so as to
      facilitate better inhibition of adverse remodeling after vascular injury.

PMID- 27619506
TI  - A change in coral extension rates and stable isotopes after El Nino-induced coral
      bleaching and regional stress events.
AB  - Coral reefs are biologically diverse ecosystems threatened with effective
      collapse under rapid climate change, in particular by recent increases in ocean
      temperatures. Coral bleaching has occurred during major El Nino warming events,
      at times leading to the die-off of entire coral reefs. Here we present records of
      stable isotopic composition, Sr/Ca ratios and extension rate (1940-2004) in coral
      aragonite from a northern Venezuelan site, where reefs were strongly impacted by
      bleaching following the 1997-98 El Nino. We assess the impact of past warming
      events on coral extension rates and geochemical proxies. A marked decrease in
      coral (Pseudodiploria strigosa) extension rates coincides with a baseline shift
      to more negative values in oxygen and carbon isotopic composition after 1997-98,
      while a neighboring coral (Siderastrea siderea) recovered to pre-bleaching
      extension rates simultaneously. However, other stressors, besides high
      temperature, might also have influenced coral physiology and geochemistry.
      Coastal Venezuelan reefs were exposed to a series of extreme environmental
      fluctuations since the mid-1990s, i.e. upwelling, extreme rainfall and sediment
      input from landslides. This work provides important new data on the potential
      impacts of multiple regional stress events on coral isotopic compositions and
      raises questions about the long-term influence on coral-based paleoclimate
      reconstructions.

PMID- 27619507
TI  - Assessment of the Overall and Multidrug-Resistant Organism Bioburden on
      Environmental Surfaces in Healthcare Facilities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE To determine the typical microbial bioburden (overall bacterial and
      multidrug-resistant organisms [MDROs]) on high-touch healthcare environmental
      surfaces after routine or terminal cleaning. DESIGN Prospective 2.5-year
      microbiological survey of large surface areas (>1,000 cm2). SETTING MDRO contact
      precaution rooms from 9 acute-care hospitals and 2 long-term care facilities in 4
      states. PARTICIPANTS Samples from 166 rooms (113 routine cleaned and 53 terminal
      cleaned rooms). METHODS Using a standard sponge-wipe sampling protocol, 2
      composite samples were collected from each room; a third sample was collected
      from each Clostridium difficile room. Composite 1 included the TV remote,
      telephone, call button, and bed rails. Composite 2 included the room door handle,
      IV pole, and overbed table. Composite 3 included toileting surfaces. Total
      bacteria and MDROs (ie, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin
      resistant enterococci [VRE], Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and
      C. difficile) were quantified, confirmed, and tested for drug resistance. RESULTS
      The mean microbial bioburden and range from routine cleaned room composites were
      higher (2,700 colony-forming units [CFU]/100 cm2; <=1-130,000 CFU/100 cm2) than
      from terminal cleaned room composites (353 CFU/100 cm2; <=1-4,300 CFU/100 cm2).
      MDROs were recovered from 34% of routine cleaned room composites (range <=1
      13,000 CFU/100 cm2) and 17% of terminal cleaned room composites (<=1-524 CFU/100
      cm2). MDROs were recovered from 40% of rooms; VRE was the most common (19%).
      CONCLUSIONS This multicenter bioburden summary provides a first step to
      determining microbial bioburden on healthcare surfaces, which may help provide a
      basis for developing standards to evaluate cleaning and disinfection as well as a
      framework for studies using an evidentiary hierarchy for environmental infection
      control. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1426-1432.

PMID- 27619508
TI  - Intra- and Intersession Reliability of Surface Electromyography on Muscles
      Actuating the Forearm During Maximum Voluntary Contractions.
AB  - The aim of this study is to determine the intra- and intersession reliability of
      nonnormalized surface electromyography (sEMG) on the muscles actuating the
      forearm during maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC). A subobjective of
      this study is to determine the intra- and intersession reliability of forearm
      MVIC force or torque, which is a prerequisite to assess sEMG reliability.
      Eighteen healthy adults participated at 4 different times: baseline, 1-h post, 6
      h post, and 24-h post. They performed 3 MVIC trials of forearm flexion,
      extension, pronation, and supination. sEMG of the biceps brachii short head,
      brachialis, brachioradialis, triceps brachii long head, pronator teres, and
      pronator quadratus were measured. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) on
      MVIC ranged from 0.36 to 0.99. Reliability was excellent for flexion, extension,
      and supination MVIC for both intra- and intersession. The ICC on sEMG ranged from
      0.58 to 0.99. sEMG reliability was excellent for brachialis, brachioradialis, and
      pronator quadratus, and good to excellent for triceps brachii, biceps brachii,
      and pronator teres. This study shows that performing 3 MVICs is sufficient to
      obtain highly reliable maximal sEMG over 24 h for the main muscles actuating the
      forearm. These results confirm the potential of sEMG for muscle motor functional
      monitoring.

PMID- 27619509
TI  - Remifentanil for labor analgesia: a comprehensive review.
AB  - Japan has seen significant developments in obstetric anesthesia in recent years,
      including the establishment of the Japanese Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and
      Perinatology. However, labor pain, which is one of the most important issues in
      obstetric practice, is still not treated aggressively. The rate of epidural
      administration for labor analgesia is very low in Japan as compared to other
      developed countries. Remifentanil has been used for labor analgesia, as part of
      general anesthesia for cesarean delivery, as well as for various fetal procedures
      around the world. Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IVPCA) with
      remifentanil is considered to be a reasonable option for labor pain relief.
      Several studies have demonstrated its efficacy with minimal maternal and neonatal
      adverse effects. On the other hand, reports of cases of maternal cardiac and
      respiratory arrest with remifentanil IVPCA within the past couple of years have
      redirected our attention to its safe use. Remifentanil IVPCA warrants one-to-one
      nursing monitoring, appropriate education of healthcare providers, continuous
      maternal oxygen saturation monitoring, end-tidal CO2 monitoring, and availability
      of both maternal and neonatal resuscitation equipment. This article provides an
      overview of knowledge and principles of using remifentanil IVPCA for labor
      analgesia and introduces its potential usage in Japan.

PMID- 27619510
TI  - PPM1D controls nucleolar formation by up-regulating phosphorylation of
      nucleophosmin.
AB  - An increase of nucleolar number and size has made nucleoli essential markers for
      cytology and tumour development. However, the underlying basis for their
      structural integrity and abundance remains unclear. Protein phosphatase PPM1D was
      found to be up-regulated in different carcinomas including breast cancers. Here,
      we demonstrate for the first time that PPM1D regulates nucleolar formation via
      inducing an increased phosphorylation of the nucleolar protein NPM. We show that
      PPM1D overexpression induces an increase in the nucleolar number regardless of
      p53 status. We also demonstrated that specific sequential phosphorylation of NPM
      is important for nucleolar formation and that PPM1D is a novel upstream regulator
      of this phosphorylation pathway. These results enhance our understanding of the
      molecular mechanisms that govern nucleoli formation by demonstrating that PPM1D
      regulates nucleolar formation by regulating NPM phosphorylation status through a
      novel signalling pathway, PPM1D-CDC25C-CDK1-PLK1.

PMID- 27619511
TI  - Role of insulin-like growth factor 1 on cross-bred Bos indicus cattle germinal
      vesicle oocytes exposed to heat shock.
AB  - Germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes are susceptible to heat stress. However, neither
      the cellular mechanisms triggered by elevated temperature nor the
      thermoprotective effects of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) on GV oocytes are
      completely understood. Therefore, a series of experiments was conducted to
      determine the direct effects of IGF1 (0, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100ng mL-1) on heat
      treated GV oocytes. Butyrolactone-arrested GV oocytes were cultured at 38.5
      degrees C (control) or 41 degrees C (heat shock; HS) for 14h in the presence of
      different concentrations of IGF1. Exposure of GV oocytes to 41 degrees C
      increased (P<0.05) the number of terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase
      mediated fluorescein-dUTP nick end-labelling (TUNEL)-positive oocytes. At
      concentrations of 12.5 and 25ng mL-1, IGF1 tended to minimise these negative
      effect of HS (P=0.07). However, neither HS nor IGF1 had any effect on caspase
      activity. HS also decreased (P<0.05) GV oocyte mitochondrial activity and
      developmental competence to the blastocyst stage. These deleterious effects of HS
      were alleviated (P<0.05) by 12.5ng mL-1 IGF1. This concentration of IGF1 did not
      affect cleavage rate, the percentage of TUNEL-positive blastomeres and total
      blastocyst cell number regardless of temperature. In conclusion, exposure of GV
      oocytes to HS triggered the apoptotic cascade and compromised oocyte
      developmental competence. Physiological concentrations of IGF1 had a beneficial
      effect on heat-shocked GV oocytes.

PMID- 27619512
TI  - Comparative effectiveness of immunosuppressive drugs and corticosteroids for
      lupus nephritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a lack of high-quality meta-analyses and network meta
      analyses of immunosuppressive drugs for lupus nephritis. Our objective was to
      assess the comparative benefits and harms of immunosuppressive drugs and
      corticosteroids in lupus nephritis. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and
      network meta-analysis (NMA) of trials of immunosuppressive drugs and
      corticosteroids in patients with lupus nephritis. We calculated odds ratios (OR)
      and 95 % credible intervals (CrI). RESULTS: Sixty-five studies that met inclusion
      and exclusion criteria; data were analyzed for renal remission/response (37
      trials; 2697 patients), renal relapse/flare (13 studies; 1108 patients),
      amenorrhea/ovarian failure (eight trials; 839 patients) and cytopenia (16 trials;
      2257 patients). Cyclophosphamide [CYC] low dose (LD) and CYC high-dose (HD) were
      less likely than mycophenolate mofetil [MMF] and azathioprine [AZA], CYC LD, CYC
      HD and plasmapharesis less likely than cyclosporine [CSA] to achieve renal
      remission/response. Tacrolimus [TAC] was more likely than CYC LD to achieve renal
      remission/response. MMF and CYC were associated with a lower odds of renal
      relapse/flare compared to PRED and MMF was associated with a lower rate of renal
      relapse/flare than AZA. CYC was more likely than MMF and PRED to be associated
      with amenorrhea/ovarian failure. Compared to MMF, CYC, AZA, CYC LD, and CYC HD
      were associated with a higher risk of cytopenia. CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic
      review and NMA, we found important differences between immunosuppressives used
      for the treatment of lupus nephritis. Patients and physicians can use this
      information for detailed informed consent in a patient-centered approach. Study
      limitations of between-study clinical heterogeneity and small sample size with
      type II error must be considered when interpreting these findings. SYSTEMATIC
      REVIEW REGISTRATION:  PROSPERO: CRD42016032965.

PMID- 27619513
TI  - "Cancer Bio-Immunotherapy in Siena": Thirteenth Meeting of the Network Italiano
      per la Bioterapia dei Tumori (NIBIT), Siena, Italy, October 8-10, 2015.

PMID- 27619515
TI  - Erratum to: On the reversibility of parasitism: adaptation to a free-living
      lifestyle via gene acquisitions in the diplomonad Trepomonas sp. PC1.

PMID- 27619514
TI  - Potential use of lymph node-derived HPV-specific T cells for adoptive cell
      therapy of cervical cancer.
AB  - Adoptive transfer of tumor-specific T cells, expanded from tumor-infiltrating
      lymphocytes or from peripheral blood, is a promising immunotherapeutic approach
      for the treatment of cancer. Here, we studied whether the tumor-draining lymph
      nodes (TDLN) of patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cervical cancer
      can be used as a source for ACT. The objectives were to isolate lymph node
      mononuclear cells (LNMC) from TDLN and optimally expand HPV-specific CD4+ and
      CD8+ T cells under clinical grade conditions. TDLN were isolated from 11 patients
      with early-stage cervical cancer during radical surgery. Isolated lymphocytes
      were expanded in the presence of HPV16 E6 and E7 clinical grade synthetic long
      peptides and IL-2 for 22 days and then analyzed for HPV16 specificity by
      proliferation assay, multiparameter flow cytometry and cytokine analysis as well
      as for CD25 and FoxP3 expression. Stimulation of LNMC resulted in expansion of
      polyclonal HPV-specific T cells in all patients. On average a 36-fold expansion
      of a CD4+ and/or CD8+ HPV16-specific T cell population was observed, which
      maintained its capacity for secondary expansion. The T helper type 1 cytokine
      IFNgamma was produced in all cell cultures and in some cases also the Th2
      cytokines IL-10 and IL-5. The procedure was highly reproducible, as evidenced by
      complete repeats of the stimulation procedures under research and under full good
      manufacturing practice conditions. In conclusion, TDLN represent a rich source of
      polyclonal HPV16 E6- and E7-specific T cells, which can be expanded under
      clinical grade conditions for adoptive immunotherapy in patients with cervical
      cancer.

PMID- 27619516
TI  - Lung adenocarcinoma mimicking pulmonary fibrosis-a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is usually presented with cough, dyspnea, pain and weight
      loss, which is overlapping with symptoms of other lung diseases such as pulmonary
      fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis shows characteristic reticular and nodular pattern,
      while lung cancers are mostly presented with infiltrative mass, thick-walled
      cavitations or a solitary nodule with spiculated borders. If the diagnosis is
      established based on clinical symptoms and CT findings, it would be a
      misapprehension. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of lung adenocarcinoma whose
      symptoms as well as clinical images overlapped strongly with pulmonary fibrosis.
      The patient's non-productive cough, progressive dyspnea, restrictive pattern of
      pulmonary function test and CT scans (showing reticular interstitial opacities)
      were all indicative of pulmonary fibrosis. The patient underwent a treatment
      consisting of corticosteroids and antibiotics, to no avail. Histopathology of the
      lung showed that the patient suffered from mucinous adenocarcinoma. Albeit the
      immunohistochemical staining was not consistent with lung adenocarcinoma, tumor's
      morphological characteristics were consistent, and were used to make the
      definitive diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Given the fact that radiography cannot always
      make a clear-cut difference between pulmonary fibrosis and lung adenocarcinomas,
      and that clinical symptoms often overlap, histological examination should be
      considered as gold standard for diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27619517
TI  - An intracellular adrenomedullin system reduces IL-6 release via a NF-kB-mediated,
      cAMP-independent transcriptional mechanism in rat thymic epithelial cells.
AB  - Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) play a key role in the regulation of central
      immune tolerance by expressing autoantigens and eliminating self-reactive T
      cells. In a previous paper we reported that adrenomedullin (ADM) and its co
      receptor protein RAMP2 are located intracellularly in newborn human thymic
      epithelial cells (TECs). This work has two main aims: (1) to examine the cellular
      localization of ADM and its receptor in TECs of adult Wistar rats to validate
      this animal model for the study of the ADM system and its function(s) in thymus;
      (2) to investigate the potential modulating effect of ADM on the NF-kB pathway,
      which is involved through the production of cytokines such as IL-6, in the
      maturation of T-lymphocytes and immunological tolerance. Our results show that,
      similarly to human newborn TECs, ADM is localized to the cytoplasm of adult rat
      TECs, and RAMP2 is expressed in the nucleus but not in the plasma membrane.
      Pretreatment of TECs for 4h with ADM significantly reduced lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS)-induced release of IL-6 (P<0.001) and expression of the p65 subunit of NF
      kB, while doubled the expression of IkBalpha (P<0.001), the physiological
      inhibitor of NF-kB nuclear translocation. These effects were not mediated by
      activation of the cAMP pathway, a signalling cascade that is rapidly activated by
      ADM in cells that express plasma membrane RAMP2, but were the consequence of a
      reduction in the transcription of p65 (P<0.001) and an increase in the
      transcription of IkBalpha (P<0.05). On the basis of these findings we propose
      that in rat TECs ADM reduces IL-6 secretion by modulating NF-kB genes
      transcription through an interaction with a receptor localized to the nucleus.
      This may partly explain the protective effects of ADM in autoimmune diseases and
      points to the ADM system of TECs as a novel potential target for immunomodulating
      drugs.

PMID- 27619518
TI  - Carvedilol attenuates paraquat-induced lung injury by inhibition of
      proinflammatory cytokines, chemokine MCP-1, NF-kappaB activation and oxidative
      stress mediators.
AB  - Paraquat is a highly toxic herbicide that selectively accumulates in the lungs
      and causes pulmonary damage through the oxidative and inflammatory processes.
      Carvedilol is a nonselective beta and alpha-adrenergic blocking agent that has
      been shown to possess powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In
      the present study, we evaluated the protective effects and the underlying
      mechanisms of carvedilol on paraquat-induced lung injury in a mouse model. Mice
      were injected with a single dose of paraquat (20mg/kg, ip), and treated with
      carvedilol (10 and 20mg/kg/day, orally) for eight days. At the end of the
      experiment, lung tissue and blood samples were collected for histological and
      biochemical analysis. The results showed that carvedilol treatment improved the
      histopathological changes in the lung tissue of mice exposed to paraquat.
      Carvedilol significantly decreased the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), carbonyl
      protein, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and nitric oxide (NO), while increased the levels
      of glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione
      reductase compared with paraquat group. Carvedilol treatment also significantly
      reduced the levels of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and
      monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in the lung tissue. Treatment of mice
      with carvedilol decreased paraquat-induced expression of nuclear factor kappa B
      (NF-kappaB). In addition the plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9
      and the lung hydroxyproline content significantly reduced by carvedilol
      treatment. Taken together, these results indicate that carvedilol is able to
      decrease the severity of paraquat-induced lung injury through inhibition of
      inflammation and oxidative stress.

PMID- 27619519
TI  - Cholinergic and serotonergic modulation of visual information processing in
      monkey V1.
AB  - The brain dynamically changes its input-output relationship depending on the
      behavioral state and context in order to optimize information processing. At the
      molecular level, cholinergic/monoaminergic transmitters have been extensively
      studied as key players for the state/context-dependent modulation of brain
      function. In this paper, we review how cortical visual information processing in
      the primary visual cortex (V1) of macaque monkey, which has a highly
      differentiated laminar structure, is optimized by serotonergic and cholinergic
      systems by examining anatomical and in vivo electrophysiological aspects to
      highlight their similarities and distinctions. We show that these two systems
      have a similar layer bias for axonal fiber innervation and receptor distribution.
      The common target sites are the geniculorecipient layers and geniculocortical
      fibers, where the appropriate gain control is established through a
      geniculocortical signal transformation. Both systems exert activity-dependent
      response gain control across layers, but in a manner consistent with the receptor
      subtype. The serotonergic receptors 5-HT1B and 5HT2A modulate the contrast
      response curve in a manner consistent with bi-directional response gain control,
      where the sign (facilitation/suppression) is switched according to the firing
      rate and is complementary to the other. On the other hand, cholinergic
      nicotinic/muscarinic receptors exert mono-directional response gain control
      without a sign reversal. Nicotinic receptors increase the response magnitude in a
      multiplicative manner, while muscarinic receptors exert both suppressive and
      facilitative effects. We discuss the implications of the two neuromodulator
      systems in hierarchical visual signal processing in V1 on the basis of the
      developed laminar structure.

PMID- 27619520
TI  - Insights into the Reaction Mechanism of Ethanol Conversion into Hydrocarbons on H
      ZSM-5.
AB  - Ethanol dehydration to ethene is mechanistically decoupled from the production of
      higher hydrocarbons due to complete surface coverage by adsorbed ethanol and
      diethyl ether (DEE). The production of C3+ hydrocarbons was found to be
      unaffected by water present in the reaction mixture. Three routes for the
      production of C3+ hydrocarbons are identified: the dimerization of ethene to
      butene and two routes involving two different types of surface species
      categorized as aliphatic and aromatic. Evidence for the different types of
      species involved in the production of higher hydrocarbons is obtained via
      isotopic labeling, continuous flow and transient experiments complemented by
      UV/Vis characterization of the catalyst and ab initio microkinetic modeling.

PMID- 27619522
TI  - Photoresponsive colorimetric immunoassay based on chitosan modified AgI/TiO2
      heterojunction for highly sensitive chloramphenicol detection.
AB  - Chloramphenicol (CAP) is an antibiotic used for a variety of infections, however,
      it is banned for use in food-producing animals due to its hazards to humans
      blood. Herein, the highly sensitive photoresponsive colorimetric immunoassay was
      exploited based on AgI/TiO2 heterojunction nanomaterials. Firstly, chitosan
      modified AgI/TiO2 photocatalyst (CS-AgI/TiO2) was synthesized by deposition
      precipitation method, which was characterized by transmission electron microscope
      (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
      (EDX), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy
      (DRS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Then, by utilizing CS
      AgI/TiO2 labeled CAP antibody as tags, a novel competitive-type immunoassay was
      constructed for detection of CAP on the surface of CAP-BSA modified magnetic
      bead. The color development of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) was obtained
      under visible light irradiation (lambda>=420nm) and the assay was carried out in
      pH 3.0 ABS buffer solution by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Under optimal conditions,
      the absorbance values decreased with the increasing of CAP levels in sample,
      which exhibited linear in the range of 0.03-12.53nM with a detection limit of
      0.03nM. Meanwhile, the selectivity, repeatability, and stability were acceptable.
      Excitedly, no significant difference was observed for detection of the spiked CAP
      in the real food samples with the referenced values.

PMID- 27619523
TI  - Characterization of a new ionophore-based ion-selective electrode for the
      potentiometric determination of creatinine in urine.
AB  - The optimization, analytical characterization and validation of a novel ion
      selective electrode for the highly sensitive and selective determination of
      creatinine in urine is presented. A newly synthesized calix[4]pyrrole-based
      molecule is used as an ionophore for the enhanced recognition of creatininium
      cations. The calculation of the complex formation constants in the polymeric
      membrane with creatininium, potassium and sodium confirms the strong selective
      interactions between the ionophore and the target. The optimization of the
      potentiometric sensor presented here yields an outstanding analytical
      performance, with a linear range that spans from 1uM to 10mM and limit of
      detection of 10-6.2M. The calculation of the selectivity coefficients against
      most commonly found interferences also show significant improvements when
      compared to other sensors already reported. The performance of this novel sensor
      is tested by measuring creatinine in real urine samples (N=50) and comparing the
      values against the standard colorimetric approach (Jaffe's reaction). The results
      show that this sensor allows the fast and accurate determination of creatinine in
      real samples with minimal sample manipulation.

PMID- 27619521
TI  - CD44 Deficiency Is Associated with Increased Susceptibility to Stress-Induced
      Anxiety-like Behavior in Mice.
AB  - CD44 is a cell surface adhesion molecule and its principal ligand is hyaluronic
      acid (HA), a key component of the brain's extracellular matrix. CD44 levels are
      decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of depressed individuals, and the CD44
      gene has been identified in genome wide association study as a possible risk gene
      in suicidal behavior. In order to define the pathobiological mechanisms by which
      CD44 may affect behavior, we investigated the role of CD44 using male CD44
      knockout (CD44KO) and wild-type mice that underwent chronic mild stress (CMS).
      Behavior was characterized using the sucrose preference and forced swim tests,
      open field, novel object recognition, social preference, and the elevated plus
      maze tests. Gene expression in hippocampus was evaluated using quantitative real
      time PCR. Brain monoamines and their metabolites were assessed by high
      performance liquid chromatography and serum HA and IL-1beta levels were measured
      using ELISA and electrochemiluminescence assays. CD44KO mice were more
      susceptible to stress-induced anxiety-like behavior and displayed increased
      anhedonia and despair than the wild-type controls. The behavioral phenotype of
      stressed CD44KO mice was associated with reduced cortical serotonergic and
      striatal dopaminergic turnover. The hippocampal expression of the receptor for HA
      mediated motility (RHAMM) was reduced in the non- stressed CD44KO mice compared
      with WT mice, in a value similar to that observed in WT mice following exposure
      to stress. Taken together, our experiments suggest that CD44 plays a key role in
      stress response in mice.

PMID- 27619524
TI  - Ultrasensitive sandwich-type photoelectrochemical immunosensor based on CdSe
      sensitized La-TiO2 matrix and signal amplification of polystyrene@Ab2 composites.
AB  - A novel and sensitive sandwich-type photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor was
      fabricated using signal amplification strategy for the quantitative detection of
      the prostate specific antigen (PSA). CdSe nanoparticles (NPs) sensitized
      lanthanum-doped titanium dioxide (La-TiO2) composites were used to bind the
      primary antibodies (Ab1). The doping of lanthanum promoted the visible light
      absorption of TiO2 and remarkably enhanced the photocurrent. Moreover, 0.3%La
      TiO2 displayed the highest photocurrent in the La-TiO2 composites, which was
      twice as much as that of undoped TiO2. Carboxyl modified CdSe NPs were assembled
      onto La-TiO2 composites via the dentate binding between -COOH and Ti atom in TiO2
      NPs, which dramatically promoted the photocurrent intensity by approximately 2.1
      times. Carboxyl functionalized polystyrene (PS) microspheres were coated with the
      secondary antibodies (Ab2). Owing to the better insulation property and steric
      hindrance of the prepared polystyrene@Ab2 (PS@Ab2) composites, the significant
      reduction of the photocurrent signal was achieved after the specific immune
      recognition. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the fabricated PEC sensor
      realized ultrasensitive detection of PSA in the range of 0.05-100pgmL-1 with a
      detection limit of 17fgmL-1. Moreover, this well-designed PEC immunoassay
      exhibited ideal reproducibility, stability, and selectivity, which is a promising
      platform for the detection of other important tumor targets.

PMID- 27619525
TI  - A simple, fast, label-free colorimetric method for detection of telomerase
      activity in urine by using hemin-graphene conjugates.
AB  - Telomerase, a widely accepted cancer biomarker for early cancer diagnostics, is
      considered as an important therapeutic target. To now, it is still a challenging
      subject to develop a simple and sensitive strategy for telomerase activity
      detection. Herein, we reported a simple colorimetric strategy for label-free
      quantification of human telomerase activity in urine by using hemin-graphene
      nanomaterial (H-GNs). H-GNs possessed tailored dispersibility in the high salt
      concentration and highly active biomimetic oxidation catalyst property. In this
      strategy, H-GNs were adjusted to coagulate to appropriate degree by carefully
      selecting the contained NaCl amount in the presence of original TS primer. The
      supernatant of the solution contained few H-GNs and showed light blue color.
      Under the action of telomerase, TS primer was elongated with repeating sequences
      of (TTAGGG)n. These negatively charged DNA enhanced individual H-GNs
      electrostatic repulsion and resisted salt-induced H-GNs coagulation. As a result,
      the supernate of the corresponding solution containing more dispersed H-GNs and
      showed dark blue color after chromogenic reaction. Thus, telomerase activity
      could be quasi-quantified by naked eye and precise quantified by UV spectrometer.
      The proposed method has the linear range from 100 to 2300 HeLa cells/mL and the
      detection limit was 60 cells/mL. It has been successfully applied to detect
      telomerase activity in real urine samples. Obtained results were in good
      agreement with the clinical diagnosis. Therefore, this colorimetric approach
      affords simplicity, sensitivity and reliability in telomerase activity detection.

PMID- 27619527
TI  - A novel upconversion@polydopamine core@shell nanoparticle based aptameric
      biosensor for biosensing and imaging of cytochrome c inside living cells.
AB  - Herein, a novel upconversion@polydopamine core@shell nanoparticle (termed as
      UCNP@PDA NP) -based aptameric biosensor has been fabricated for the quantitative
      analysis of cytochrome c (Cyt c) inside living cells, which comprises an UCNP@PDA
      NP, acting as an internal reference and fluorescence quenching agent, and Cy3
      modified aptamer enabling ratiometric quantitative Cyt c measurement. After the
      hybridization of Cy3 labeled aptamer with amino-terminated single DNA on the
      UCNP@PDA NP surface (termed as UCNP@PDA@AP), the fluorescence of Cy3 can be
      efficiently quenched by the PDA shell. With the spontaneous cellular uptake of
      UCNP@PDA@AP, the Cyt c aptamer dissociates from UCNP@PDA NP surface through
      formation of aptamer-Cyt c complex, resulting in concomitant activation of the
      Cy3 fluorescence. High amount of Cyt c leads to high fluorescence emission,
      enabling direct visualization/measurement of the Cyt c by fluorescence
      microscopy/spectroscopy. The steady upconversion luminescent (UCL) signals can be
      employed not only for intracellular imaging, but also as an internal reference
      for evaluating intracellular Cyt c amount using the ratio of fluorescence
      intensity of Cy3 with the UCL intensity of UCNP. The UCNP@PDA@AP shows a
      reasonable detection limit (20nM) and large dynamic range (50nM to 10MUM, which
      covers the literature reported values (1-10MUM) for cytosolic Cyt c in apoptotic
      cells) for detecting Cyt c in buffer with excellent selectivity. In addition, the
      UCNP@PDA@AP has been successfully used to monitor etoposide induced intracellular
      releasing of Cyt c, providing the possibility for cell-based screening of
      apoptosis-inducing drugs.

PMID- 27619526
TI  - Ultrasensitive amperometric immunosensor for PSA detection based on Cu2O@CeO2-Au
      nanocomposites as integrated triple signal amplification strategy.
AB  - In this work, a novel label-free electrochemical immunosensor was developed for
      the quantitative detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA). To this end, the
      amino functionalized cuprous oxide @ ceric dioxide (Cu2O@CeO2-NH2) core-shell
      nanocomposites were prepared to bond gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) by constructing
      stable Au-N bond between Au NPs and -NH2. Because the synergetic effect presents
      in Cu2O@CeO2 core-shell loaded with Au NPs (Cu2O@CeO2-Au), it shows better
      electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) than
      single Cu2O, Au NPs and Cu2O@CeO2. Featured by large specific surface area, good
      biocompatibility and good electrochemical properties which can greatly improve
      the electronic transmission rate, Cu2O@CeO2-Au was used as transducing materials
      to achieve efficiently capture antibodies and triple signal amplification of the
      proposed immunosensor. Under the optimal conditions, the proposed immunosensor
      exhibited a wide linear range from 0.1pg/mL to 100ng/mL with a low detection
      limit of 0.03pg/mL (S/N=3). Furthermore, the proposed label-free immunosensor has
      been used to determine PSA in human serum with satisfactory results. Meanwhile,
      it displayed good reproducibility, acceptable selectivity, and long-term
      stability, which had promising application in bioassay analysis.

PMID- 27619530
TI  - Electrical spin injection and detection in high mobility 2DEG systems.
AB  - In this review paper we present the current status of research related to the
      topic of electrical spin injection and detection in two-dimensional electron gas
      (2DEG) systems, formed typically at the interface between two III-V semiconductor
      compounds. We discuss both theoretical aspects of spin injection in case of
      ballistic transport as well as give an overview of available reports on spin
      injection experiments performed on 2DEG structures. In the experimental part we
      focus particularly on our recent work on all-semiconductor structures with a 2DEG
      confined at an inverted GaAs/(Al,Ga)As interface and with a ferromagnetic
      semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As employed as a source of spin-polarized electrons.

PMID- 27619528
TI  - A sensitive DNA capacitive biosensor using interdigitated electrodes.
AB  - This paper presents a label-free affinity-based capacitive biosensor using
      interdigitated electrodes. Using an optimized process of DNA probe preparation to
      minimize the effect of contaminants in commercial thiolated DNA probe, the
      electrode surface was functionalized with the 24-nucleotide DNA probes based on
      the West Nile virus sequence (Kunjin strain). The biosensor has the ability to
      detect complementary DNA fragments with a detection limit down to 20 DNA target
      molecules (1.5aM range), making it suitable for a practical point-of-care (POC)
      platform for low target count clinical applications without the need for
      amplification. The reproducibility of the biosensor detection was improved with
      efficient covalent immobilization of purified single-stranded DNA probe oligomers
      on cleaned gold microelectrodes. In addition to the low detection limit, the
      biosensor showed a dynamic range of detection from 1uL-1 to 105uL-1 target
      molecules (20 to 2 million targets), making it suitable for sample analysis in a
      typical clinical application environment. The binding results presented in this
      paper were validated using fluorescent oligomers.

PMID- 27619529
TI  - Recent advances in cytochrome c biosensing technologies.
AB  - This review is an attempt, for the first time, to describe advancements in
      sensing technology for cytochrome c (cyt c) detection, at point-of-care (POC)
      application. Cyt c, a heme containing metalloprotein is located in the
      intermembrane space of mitochondria and released into bloodstream during
      pathological conditions. The release of cyt c from mitochondria is a key
      initiative step in the activation of cell death pathways. Circulating cyt c
      levels represents a novel in-vivo marker of mitochondrial injury after
      resuscitation from heart failure and chemotherapy. Thus, cyt c detection is not
      only serving as an apoptosis biomarker, but also is of great importance to
      understand certain diseases at cellular level. Various existing techniques such
      as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), Western blot, high performance
      liquid chromatography (HPLC), spectrophotometry and flow cytometry have been used
      to estimate cyt c. However, the implementation of these techniques at POC
      application is limited due to longer analysis time, expensive instruments and
      expertise needed for operation. To overcome these challenges, significant efforts
      are being made to develop electrochemical biosensing technologies for fast,
      accurate, selective, and sensitive detection of cyt c. Presented review describes
      the cutting edge technologies available in the laboratories to detect cyt c. The
      recent advancements in designing and development of electrochemical cyt c
      biosensors for the quantification of cyt c are also discussed. This review also
      highlights the POC cyt c biosensors developed recently, that would prove of
      interest to biologist and therapist to get real time informatics needed to
      evaluate death process, diseases progression, therapeutics and processes related
      with mitochondrial injury.

PMID- 27619531
TI  - Margaret McCartney: The prurient interest in Trump and Clinton's health.

PMID- 27619532
TI  - Effect of photodynamic therapy and laser alone as adjunct to scaling and root
      planing on gingival crevicular fluid inflammatory proteins in periodontal
      disease: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the efficacy of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT)
      or laser therapy (LT) alone as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) on
      the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) inflammatory proteins in periodontal disease.
      METHODS: Databases (MEDLINE via PubMed; EMBASE; Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials and Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register databases) were
      searched from 1980 up to and including July 2016. The addressed PICO question
      was: "What effect does aPDT and/or LT as an adjunct to SRP have on the GCF
      inflammatory proteins in periodontal disease patients?" RESULTS: Eight studies
      used aPDT while 10 studies used laser alone. Eight cytokines including tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10,
      interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8 and granulocyte
      colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were eligible for qualitative analysis for
      aPDT and LT studies. Four aPDT studies showed significant reduction in IL-1beta
      while one study showed significant reduction in TNF-alpha levels after aPDT
      application at follow-up. One study showed significant reduction of IFN-gamma, IL
      8 and GM-CSF levels after aPDT at follow-up. IL-1beta significantly reduced in 4
      LT studies, while one study showed significant decrease for IL-6 and TIMP-1
      levels. MMP-8 and TNF-alpha showed significant reduction in three and one study
      respectively. CONCLUSION: It remains debatable whether adjunctive aPDT or LT is
      effective in the reduction of GCF inflammatory proteins in periodontal disease
      due to non-standard laser parameters and short follow up period. These findings
      should be considered preliminary and further studies with long-term follow up and
      standardized laser parameters are recommended.

PMID- 27619533
TI  - Sae regulator factor impairs the response to photodynamic inactivation mediated
      by Toluidine blue in Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) involves the combined use of light and a
      photosensitizer, which, in the presence of oxygen, originates cytotoxic species
      capable of inactivating bacteria. Since the emergence of multi-resistant
      bacterial strains is becoming an increasing public health concern, PDI becomes an
      attractive choice. The aim of this work was to study the differential
      susceptibility to Toluidine blue (TB) mediated PDI (TB-PDI) of S. aureus mutants
      (RN6390 and Newman backgrounds) for different key regulators of virulence factors
      related to some extent to oxidative stress. Complete bacteria eradication of
      planktonic cultures of RN6390 S. aureus photosensitized with 13MUM TB was
      obtained upon illumination with a low light dose of 4.2J/cm2 from a non-coherent
      light source. Similarly, complete cell death was achieved applying 1.3MUM TB and
      19J/cm2 light dose, showing that higher light doses can lead to equal cell death
      employing low photosensitizer concentrations. Interestingly, RN6390 in planktonic
      culture responded significantly better to TB-PDI than the Newman strain. We
      showed that deficiencies in rsbU, mgrA (transcription factors related to stress
      response) or agr (quorum sensing system involved in copper resistance to
      oxidative stress) did not modify the response of planktonic S. aureus to PDI. On
      the other hand, the two component system sae impaired the response to TB-PDI
      through a mechanism not related to the Eap adhesin. More severe conditions were
      needed to inactivate S. aureus biofilms (0.5mM TB, 157J/cm2 laser light). In
      mutant sae biofilms, strain dependant differential susceptibilities are not
      noticed.

PMID- 27619534
TI  - Allosteric and Chelate Cooperativity in Divalent Crown Ether/Ammonium Complexes
      with Strong Binding Enhancement.
AB  - A thorough thermodynamic analysis by isothermal titration calorimetry of
      allosteric and chelate cooperativity effects in divalent crown ether/ammonium
      complexes is combined with DFT calculations including implicit solvent on the one
      hand and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations with explicit solvent
      molecules on the other. The complexes studied exhibit binding constants up to
      2*106  m-1 with large multivalent binding enhancements and thus strong chelate
      cooperativity effects. Slight structural changes in the spacers, that is, the
      exchange of two ether oxygen atoms by two isoelectronic methylene groups, cause
      significantly stronger binding and substantially increased chelate cooperativity.
      The analysis is complemented by the examination of solvent effects and allosteric
      cooperativity. Such a detailed understanding of the binding processes will help
      to efficiently design and construct larger supramolecular architectures with
      multiple multivalent building blocks.

PMID- 27619536
TI  - Acceptability of an online modified Delphi panel approach for developing health
      services performance measures: results from 3 panels on arthritis research.
AB  - RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: Online modified Delphi (OMD) panel approaches
      can be used to engage large and diverse groups of clinical experts and
      stakeholders in developing health services performance measures. Such approaches
      are increasing in popularity among health researchers. However, information about
      their acceptability to participating experts and stakeholders is lacking but
      important to determine before recommending widespread use of online approaches.
      Therefore, the objective of this paper is to explore acceptability of the OMD
      panel approach from the participants' perspective. METHOD: We use data from
      participants in three OMD panels designed to develop performance measures for use
      in arthritis research and quality improvement efforts. At the end of each online
      panel, we surveyed clinical experts and stakeholders who shared their experiences
      with the OMD process by answering 13 close-ended questions using 7-point Likert
      type scales. A mean of 5 or higher on a given question was treated as an
      indication of acceptability. RESULTS: Ninety-eight clinical experts and
      stakeholders (92% participation rate) answered survey questions about the online
      process. They considered the OMD panel approach to be acceptable, particularly
      the ease of using the online system (mean = 5.3, standard deviation = 1.3) and
      the understanding gained from online discussions (mean = 5.2, standard deviation
      = 1.0). Participants also felt that participation in the Delphi study was
      interesting (mean = 5.6, standard deviation =1.1). CONCLUSION: These findings
      illustrate likely acceptability and a potential for a more widespread use of OMD
      panel approaches by stakeholders in developing health services performance
      measures.

PMID- 27619537
TI  - The Relationship of Social Support and Neighborhood Perceptions among Individuals
      with HIV.
AB  - Social support has been noted to improve health outcomes for individuals with
      HIV. Understanding how neighborhoods contribute to feelings of social support is
      beneficial to create environments where populations with HIV can be supported.
      This study assessed the relationship between neighborhood perceptions and social
      support with HIV management. A total of 201 individuals were recruited;
      individuals with HIV, 18 years or older, who were eligible to participate in the
      2-hour interview. Psychiatric diagnostic interviews were conducted alongside
      assessments of social support and neighborhood perceptions; biomedical markers
      were abstracted from medical records. Correlations and linear regression analyses
      were performed to assess relationships between social support and neighborhood
      perceptions with HIV management biomarkers. The majority of the sample was male
      (68.8%) and African American (72.3%), with a mean age of 43.1 years. Overall, 78%
      were receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) prescriptions, with 69%
      being virally suppressed. Fear of neighborhood activities was independently
      associated with receiving current cART. Reports of social support and
      neighborhood perceptions were highly correlated. Findings suggest that supportive
      home environments likely would improve perceptions of social support.

PMID- 27619535
TI  - Endolysosomal dysfunction in Parkinson's disease: Recent developments and future
      challenges.
AB  - Increasingly, genetic, cell biological, and in vivo work emphasizes the role of
      the endolysosomal system dysfunction in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis. Yet
      many questions remain about the mechanisms by which primary endolysosomal
      dysfunction causes PD as well as how the endolysosomal system interacts with
      alpha-synuclein-mediated neurotoxicity. We recently described a new mouse model
      of parkinsonism in which loss of the endolysosomal protein Atp13a2 causes
      behavioral, neuropathological, and biochemical changes similar to those present
      in human subjects with ATP13A2 mutations. In this Scientific Perspectives, we
      revisit the evidence implicating the endolysosomal system in PD, current
      hypotheses of disease pathogenesis, and how recent studies refine these
      hypotheses and raise new questions for future research. (c) 2016 International
      Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 27619539
TI  - A longitudinal study of neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging in
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: Neuromelanin-sensitive MR imaging (NMI) is an increasingly powerful tool
      for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study was undertaken to
      evaluate longitudinal changes on NMI in PD patients. METHODS: We examined
      longitudinal changes on NMI in 14 PD patients. The area and contrast ratio (CR)
      of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) were comparatively analyzed. RESULTS:
      The total area and CR of the SNc upon follow-up NMI were significantly smaller
      than those on initial NMI (from 33.5+/-18.9 pixels and 6.35+/-2.86% to 21.5+/
      16.7 pixels and 4.19+/-2.11%; Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p<0.001 and p=0.022,
      respectively). The area and CR of the dominant side SNc upon initial NMI were
      significantly greater than those on follow-up NMI (from 15.3+/-9.1 pixels and
      6.5+/-2.7% to 7.9+/-8.5 pixels and 3.7+/-2.9%; Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p=0.002
      and p=0.007, respectively). On a case-by-case basis, the area of the SNc
      invariably decreased upon follow-up NMI in all patients. We further demonstrated
      that the total area and CR of the SNc negatively correlated with disease duration
      (Pearson correlation coefficient, r=-0.63, p<0.001 and r=-0.41, p=0.031,
      respectively). In area analyses, our results demonstrated very high intraclass
      correlation coefficients for both intra- and inter-rater reliability. CONCLUSION:
      NMI is a useful and reliable tool for detecting neuropathological changes over
      time in PD patients.

PMID- 27619538
TI  - Exercise-induced expression of monocarboxylate transporter 2 in the cerebellum
      and its contribution to motor performance.
AB  - Monocarboxylate transporter 2 (MCT2) is an important component of the lactate
      transport system in neurons of the adult brain. Purkinje cells in the cerebellum
      have been shown to have high levels of MCT2, suggesting that this protein has a
      key function in energy metabolism and neuronal activities in these cells.
      However, it is not known whether inhibition of lactate transport via MCT2 in the
      cerebellum affects motor performance. To address this question, we examined motor
      performance in mice following the inhibition of lactate transport via MCT2 in the
      cerebellum using alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate (4-CIN). 4-CIN or saline was
      injected into the subarachnoidal space of the cerebellum of mice and motor
      performance was analyzed by a rotarod test both before and after injection. 4-CIN
      injection reduced retention time in the rotarod test by approximately 80% at 1h
      post-injection compared with pre-injection. No effect was observed at 2h post
      injection or in mice treated with the vehicle control. Because we observed that
      MCT2 plays an important role in motor performance, we next investigated the
      effects of acute exercise on MCT2 transcription and protein levels in mice
      sampled pre-exercise and at 0 and 5h after 2h of treadmill running. We found a
      significant increase in MCT2 mRNA levels, but not of protein levels, in the
      cerebellum at 5h after exercise. Our results indicate that lactate transport via
      MCT2 in the cerebellum may play an important role in motor performance and that
      exercise can increase MCT2 expression at the transcriptional level.

PMID- 27619541
TI  - Antidepressant-like effects of the Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug
      pair.
AB  - The Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair plays a pivotal role in
      Xiaoyaosan, a famous Chinese herbal preparation that is popular in clinical
      medicine. To investigate the antidepressant-like effects and potential mechanism
      of action of the Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair, we carried out
      the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), as the mouse models of
      depression; and the open field test (OFT) to exclude false-positive results.
      Subsequently, ptosis and hypothermia induced by reserpine were assessed. Finally,
      the concentrations of monoamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites, namely
      epinephrine (NE), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5
      HIAA) in the hippocampal and cortical tissues of mice were detected with HPLC
      with electrochemical detector. The Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba (1:1)
      drug pair at low, medium, and high doses decreased immobility time in both the
      FST and TST, and counteracted hypothermia induced by reserpine in mice. After the
      administration of reserpine, the concentrations of 5-HT and NE in the hippocampal
      and cortical tissues were decreased; however, pre-treatment with the Radix
      Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair significantly elevated the
      concentrations of 5-HT and NE in the hippocampal and cortical tissues. The
      results suggested that, compared with single dose of fluoxetine and the drugs
      used individually, the Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair had an
      excellent antidepressant-like effect. These data revealed a possible mechanism of
      action, as the regulation of the central monoaminergic neurotransmitter system in
      the hippocampal and cortical tissues.

PMID- 27619542
TI  - ITH33/IQM9.21 provides neuroprotection in a novel ALS model based on TDP-43 and
      Na+/Ca2+ overload induced by VTD.
AB  - Therapeutic options for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are scarce and
      controversial. Although the aetiology of neuronal vulnerability is unknown,
      growing evidence supports a complex network in which multiple toxicity pathways,
      rather than a single mechanism, are involved in the pathogenesis of ALS. However,
      most cellular models only explain single pathogenic mechanisms. The present study
      proposes the two main cytotoxic mechanisms: (1) veratridine (VTD), which induced
      Na+ and Ca2+ overload; and (2) the TARD DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) in NSC-34
      cell line as an in vitro model of ALS. The study was carried out by MTT as an
      indirect measurement of cell viability and by flow cytometry to determine cell
      death stages. The impact of Ca2+ overload combined with TDP-43 overexpression
      increased early apoptosis of NSC-34 cells. Furthermore, we found that
      ITH33/IQM9.21 (ITH33) exerted a neuroprotective effect in this model by reducing
      activation of the apoptotic pathway. Therefore, treatment with VTD in TDP-43
      overexpressing NSC-34 cells is a good in vitro ALS model that makes it possible
      to test new neuroprotective compounds such as ITH33.

PMID- 27619540
TI  - Pathogenic determinants and mechanisms of ALS/FTD linked to hexanucleotide repeat
      expansions in the C9orf72 gene.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two
      apparently distinct neurodegenerative diseases, the former characterized by
      selective loss of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord and the latter
      characterized by selective atrophy of frontal and temporal lobes. Over the years,
      however, growing evidence from clinical, pathological and genetic findings has
      suggested that ALS and FTD belong to the same clinic-pathological spectrum
      disorder. This concept has been further supported by the identification of the
      most common genetic cause for both diseases, an aberrantly expanded
      hexanucleotide repeat GGGGCC/ CCCCGG sequence located in a non-coding region of
      the gene C9orf72. Three hypotheses have been proposed to explain how this repeats
      expansion causes diseases: 1) C9orf72 haploinsufficiency-expanded repeats
      interfere with transcription or translation of the gene, leading to decreased
      expression of the C9orf72 protein; 2) RNA gain of function-RNA foci formed by
      sense and antisense transcripts of expanded repeats interact and sequester
      essential RNA binding proteins, causing neurotoxicity; 3) Repeat associated non
      ATG initiated (RAN) translation of expanded sense GGGGCC and antisense CCCCGG
      repeats produces potential toxic dipeptide repeat protein (DPR). In this review,
      we assess current evidence supporting or arguing against each proposed mechanism
      in C9 ALS/FTD disease pathogenesis. Additionally, controversial findings are also
      discussed. Lastly, we discuss the possibility that the three pathogenic
      mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and all three might be involved in disease.

PMID- 27619543
TI  - Cranberry extract attenuates hepatic inflammation in high-fat-fed obese mice.
AB  - Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) consumption has been associated with health
      beneficial effects. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a comorbidity of
      obesity. In the present study, we investigated the effect of a polyphenol-rich
      cranberry extract (CBE) on hepatic inflammation in high fat (HF)-fed obese
      C57BL/6J mice. Following dietary treatment with 0.8% CBE for 10 weeks, we
      observed no change in body weight or visceral fat mass in CBE-supplemented mice
      compared to HF-fed control mice. We did observe a significant decrease in plasma
      alanine aminotransferase (31%) and histological severity of NAFLD (33% decrease
      in area of involvement, 29% decrease in lipid droplet size) compared to HF-fed
      controls. Hepatic protein levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha and C-C chemokine
      ligand 2 were reduced by 28% and 19%, respectively, following CBE
      supplementation. CBE significantly decreased hepatic mRNA levels of toll-like
      receptor 4 (TLR4, 63%) and nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB, 24%), as well as a
      number of genes related to the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing
      family, pyrin domain-containing 3 inflammasome. In conclusion, CBE reduced NAFLD
      and hepatic inflammation in HF-fed obese C57BL/6J mice. These effects appear to
      be related to mitigation of TLR4-NFkappaB related signaling; however, further
      studies into the underlying mechanisms of these hepatoprotective effects are
      needed.

PMID- 27619544
TI  - Daily sesame oil supplementation mitigates ketoconazole-induced oxidative stress
      mediated apoptosis and hepatic injury.
AB  - Ketoconazole (KCZ) is the most commonly used systemic antifungal drug. However,
      long-term treatment of KCZ induces hepatic injury. Oxidative stress is involved
      in KCZ-induced hepatic injury. Oxidative stress plays an important role in
      apoptosis-associated hepatic damage. Sesame oil is rich in potent antioxidants
      and antifungal constituents. It attenuates hepatic injury by inhibiting oxidative
      stress. Thus, sesame oil may protect against KCZ-induced oxidative stress,
      apoptosis and hepatic damage. The aim of the present study was to investigate the
      protective effect of sesame oil as a nutritional supplement on KCZ-induced
      hepatic injury in mice. KCZ (300 mg/kg/day) was administered by gastric
      intubation; 30 min later, sesame oil (0, 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25 or 0.5 ml/kg/day;
      p.o.) was administered to mice for 14 days. Blood and liver tissue were
      collected. Hepatic injury was evaluated by serum biochemistry and histology.
      Oxidative stress was evaluated by myeloperoxidase activity, p47-phox, reactive
      oxygen species generation, lipid peroxidation and glutathione level. Apoptosis
      was evaluated by p53, caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax and Cyto-C expression. Osteopontin
      was measured to assess liver healing. Sesame oil attenuated hepatic injury; it
      also decreased oxidative stress and apoptosis in KCZ-treated mice. Sesame oil may
      be used as a nutritional supplement with existing antifungal therapies to
      neutralize the adverse hepatotoxic nature of antifungal drugs by attenuating
      hepatic apoptosis through redox system to protect and heal liver injury in KCZ
      treated mice.

PMID- 27619545
TI  - Longitudinal analysis of head and somatic growth in fetuses with congenital heart
      defects.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fetal head and somatic growth dynamics differs in fetuses with
      congenital heart defects (CHD). We longitudinally characterized fetal head and
      somatic growth in relation to the type of CHD. METHODS: Four hundred eleven exams
      from isolated CHD were compared with 1,219 controls. Head and somatic growth was
      assessed using head circumference (HC), brain volume (BrV = 1/6 * pi *
      (HC/pi)3)/2), fetal cephalization index (FCI = BrV/[estimated fetal weight]), and
      growth percentile. Umbilical and middle cerebral artery Doppler indices were
      obtained. CHD were grouped as: (1) d-transposition of great arteries (n = 11);
      (2) left ventricular outflow tract obstruction with retrograde isthmic flow (n =
      18); (3) left ventricular outflow tract obstruction with antegrade isthmic flow
      (n = 16); (4) pulmonary outflow tract obstructions (n = 22). RESULTS: The
      smallest head size was seen in group 1. Growth asymmetry was diagnosed in group
      2. Brain sparing was seen in groups 2 and 4 (p < 0.0001). HC and BrV percentiles
      decreased with advancing gestational age (p < 0.001) in group 2, and a
      significant drop was observed around 28 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: d-Transposition of
      great arteries and left-sided CHD leading to isthmic blood flow reversal are
      associated with delayed head growth. Prenatal evaluation of central hemodynamics
      in CHD may be contributive for predicting neurodevelopmental risks in CHD and
      help directing prenatal interventions. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin
      Ultrasound 45:96-104, 2017.

PMID- 27619546
TI  - Discriminating Bio-aerosols from Non-Bio-aerosols in Real-Time by Pump-Probe
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - The optical identification of bioaerosols in the atmosphere and its
      discrimination against combustion related particles is a major issue for real
      time, field compatible instruments. In the present paper, we show that by
      embedding advanced pump-probe depletion spectroscopy schemes in a portable
      instrument, it is possible to discriminate amino acid containing airborne
      particles (bacteria, humic particles, etc.) from poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
      containing combustion particles (Diesel droplets, soot, vehicle exhausts) with
      high selectivity. Our real-time, multi-modal device provides, in addition to the
      pump-probe depletion information, fluorescence spectra (over 32 channels),
      fluorescence lifetime and Mie scattering patterns of each individually flowing
      particle in the probed air.

PMID- 27619548
TI  - Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the caregiver self-efficacy
      scale around driving cessation of family members suffering from dementia.

PMID- 27619550
TI  - Ethnic/Racial, Religious, and Demographic Predictors of Organ Donor Registration
      Status Among Young Adults in the Southwestern United States.
AB  - : Context and Setting: New Mexico (NM) is a minority-majority state. Despite its
      unique cultural characteristics and documented ethnic/racial disparities in
      deceased organ donation (DOD), past studies did not explore predictors of organ
      donor registration status (ODRS) in this state. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at
      identifying demographic, cultural, and religious predictors of ODRS among a
      diverse sample of young adults in NM. DESIGN: This study focused on recruitment
      of American Indian, Hispanic, and Asian American participants through online
      social network sites and university listservs. Participants (N = 602) answered an
      online survey. The largest racial/ethnic group included American Indians (n =
      200). Main outcome measures included ODRS, demographics, religious affiliation,
      and open-ended question on reasons for objections to DOD. RESULTS:
      Race/ethnicity, religion, and educational attainment were significant predictors
      of ODRS. Non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) were most likely to be registered as donors,
      with no significant difference between NHWs and Asians or Pacific Islanders. Non
      Catholic Christians were most likely to be registered donors, followed by
      Catholics, practitioners of American Indian/Native American traditional
      religions, and Hindus, with Buddhists the least likely to register. This pattern
      was consistent with the propensity of individuals from these religious groups to
      cite religious objections to DOD. Finally, respondents who had graduated from
      high schools in NM were 2.3 times less likely to be registered as organ donors
      compared to those who had graduated in other states. CONCLUSION: This study
      provides evidence for the need for culturally tailored interventions targeting
      diverse communities in NM.

PMID- 27619549
TI  - Renal Transplantation and Outcome.
AB  - Emergency surgery represents an independent risk factor for death and
      postoperative complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      literature data regarding outcome of daytime or nighttime renal transplantation
      surgery. Relevant papers, focused on renal transplantation surgery, time of the
      day, and complications, were searched across the PubMed database. We used the
      following search terms: "renal", "transplantation", "surgery", "daytime",
      "nighttime", and "outcome". A total of five papers, including 6,991 adult
      patients were evaluated. All patients received renal transplantation from
      deceased donor. Daytime or nighttime surgery do not seem to negatively impact on
      graft survival in renal transplantation. However, two out five studies reported
      higher odds of complications after nighttime operation. Since it is not possible
      to predict the availability of a deceased donor, nighttime surgery remains a
      valid option when necessary, maybe deserving a higher level of caution to reduce
      or avoid complications.

PMID- 27619551
TI  - Cavum septi pellucidi cysts: a survey about clinical indications and surgical
      management strategies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cavum septi pellucidi (CSP) cysts have a very low incidence
      (0.04%). Symptomatic patients usually present aspecific symptoms. For this
      reason, the management of these patients is still debated. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      We selected the case of a ten year old patient, with a clinical history of
      frontal morning headaches and difficulty in concentration. Brain MRI documented a
      septum pellucidum cyst and a moderate biventricular dilation. We submitted the
      case, and a questionnaire concerning indications to surgery and management
      options to an international group of 54 pediatric neurosurgeons, analyzing the
      results and comparing them with the current literature. RESULTS: The majority of
      the participants (50%) indicated as appropriate at the early stage only a
      clinical observation. In case of persistence of clinical symptoms, 58% opted for
      intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring, which, if raised, was considered by 91%
      as an adequate indication to proceed with surgical treatment. A total of 98% of
      the participants indicated endoscopic fenestration of the cyst as the preferred
      surgical strategy. CONCLUSIONS: The management of symptomatic patients with CSP
      cyst is controversial. Our results suggest that in most of the patients with
      aspecific symptoms, clinical observation and eventually ICP monitoring are
      adequate to identify patients for surgery.

PMID- 27619554
TI  - Plasma vitamin C levels in ESRD patients and occurrence of hypochromic
      erythrocytes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The achievement of erythropoiesis in hemodialysis (HD) patients is
      typically managed with erythropoiesis-stimulating-agents (ESA's) and intravenous
      iron (IV-iron). Using this treatment strategy, HD patients frequently show an
      elevated fraction of red blood cells (RBC) with hemoglobin (Hb) content per cell
      that is below the normal range, called hypochromic RBC. The low Hb content per
      RBC is the result of the clinical challenge of providing sufficient iron content
      to the bone marrow during erythropoiesis. Vitamin C supplements have been used to
      increase Hb levels in HD patients with refractory anemia, which supports the
      hypothesis that vitamin C mobilizes iron needed for Hb synthesis. METHODS: We
      conducted a cross-sectional survey in 149 prevalent HD patients of the percent
      hypochromic RBC, defined as RBC with Hb < 300 ng/uL of packed RBC, in relation to
      plasma vitamin C levels. We also measured high-sensitivity CRP, (hs-CRP), iron,
      and ferritin levels. and calculated ESA dose. FINDINGS: High plasma levels of
      vitamin C were negatively associated with hypochromic RBC (P < 0.003), and high
      ESA doses were positively associated (P < 0.001). There was no significant
      association of hs-CRP with percent hypochromic RBC. DISCUSSION: This finding
      supports the hypothesis that vitamin C mobilizes iron stores, improves iron
      delivery to the bone marrow, and increase the fraction of RBC with normal Hb
      content. Further research is warranted on development of protocols for safe and
      effective use of supplemental vitamin C for management of renal anemia.

PMID- 27619555
TI  - Team science as interprofessional collaborative research practice: a systematic
      review of the science of team science literature.
AB  - The National Institute of Health's concept of team science is a means of
      addressing complex clinical problems by applying conceptual and methodological
      approaches from multiple disciplines and health professions. The ultimate goal is
      the improved quality of care of patients with an emphasis on better population
      health outcomes. Collaborative research practice occurs when researchers from >1
      health-related profession engage in scientific inquiry to jointly create and
      disseminate new knowledge to clinical and research health professionals in order
      to provide the highest quality of patient care to improve population health
      outcomes. Training of clinicians and researchers is necessary to produce
      clinically relevant evidence upon which to base patient care for disease
      management and empirically guided team-based patient care. In this study, we
      hypothesized that team science is an example of effective and impactful
      interprofessional collaborative research practice. To assess this hypothesis, we
      examined the contemporary literature on the science of team science (SciTS)
      produced in the past 10 years (2005-2015) and related the SciTS to the overall
      field of interprofessional collaborative practice, of which collaborative
      research practice is a subset. A modified preferred reporting items for
      systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach was employed to analyze
      the SciTS literature in light of the general question: Is team science an example
      of interprofessional collaborative research practice? After completing a
      systematic review of the SciTS literature, the posed hypothesis was accepted,
      concluding that team science is a dimension of interprofessional collaborative
      practice.

PMID- 27619556
TI  - Cannabis cultivation in Spain: A profile of plantations, growers and production
      systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The European market for cannabis derivatives is being transformed.
      The cultivation of cannabis within the EU and the shift of demand from hashish to
      domestic marihuana are key aspects of this transformation. Spain, formerly
      central to the trade of Moroccan hashish, is becoming a marihuana-producing
      country. The emergence of "import-substitution" has been researched in other EU
      countries, but thus far the Spanish case remains undocumented. METHODS: This
      paper is based on analysis of data of 748 cannabis plantations seized by Spanish
      police in 2013. The sample comprises reports of seizures identified through a
      survey of online news and police reports. "Event-analysis" methods were applied
      to these sources. RESULTS: The analysis offers a typology of plantations, a
      profile of participants and the different production systems, and a model of
      regional distribution. Half of the plantations were small (less than 42 plants)
      and half contained between 100 and 1000 plants, with an average size of 261
      plants. About three-quarters of plants were cultivated indoors using stolen
      electricity. 86% of all plants seized were from large-scale plantations (more
      than 220 plants). Most plantations were located along the Mediterranean coast,
      where population and tourism are concentrated. Over three-quarters of those
      indicted by police were Spanish (85%). Among the foreign owners of big
      plantations, Dutch nationals predominated. The number of seized plants by
      province was directly associated with the number of grow shops (beta=0.962,
      p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The rise of large-scale cannabis plantations in the Spanish
      Mediterranean coast is increasingly replacing import of Moroccan hashish. Indoor
      cultivation supported by grow shops, that provide the technology and know-how,
      seem to be the dominant form of organization in this emerging industry. Large
      scale plantations may have met most of the demand for marihuana in 2013.

PMID- 27619557
TI  - Conditioned media from human palatine tonsil mesenchymal stem cells regulates the
      interaction between myotubes and fibroblasts by IL-1Ra activity.
AB  - Saturated free fatty acids (FFAs) act as lipid mediators and induce insulin
      resistance in skeletal muscle. Specifically, in obesity-related diseases such as
      type 2 diabetes, FFAs directly reduce insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake in
      skeletal muscle. However, the knowledge of how FFAs mediate inflammation and
      subsequent tissue disorders, including fibrosis in skeletal muscle, is limited.
      FFAs are a natural ligand for toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4, and induce
      chronic low-grade inflammation that directly stimulates skeletal muscle tissue.
      However, persistent inflammatory stimulation in tissues could induce pro
      fibrogenic processes that ultimately lead to perturbation of the tissue
      architecture and dysfunction. Therefore, blocking the link between inflammatory
      primed skeletal muscle tissue and connective tissue might be an efficient
      therapeutic option for treating obesity-induced muscle inactivity. In this study,
      we investigated the impact of conditioned medium obtained from human palatine
      tonsil-derived mesenchymal stem cells (T-MSCs) on the interaction between
      skeletal muscle cells stimulated with palmitic acid (PA) and fibroblasts. We
      found that PA-treated skeletal muscle cells actively secreted interleukin-1beta
      (IL-1beta) and augmented the migration, proliferation and expression of
      fibronectin in L929 fibroblasts. Furthermore, T-CM inhibited the skeletal muscle
      cell-derived pro-fibrogenic effect via the production of the interleukin-1
      receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), which is an inhibitor of IL-1 signalling. Taken
      together, our data provide novel insights into the therapeutic potential of T-MSC
      mediated therapy for the treatment of pathophysiological processes that occur in
      skeletal muscle tissues under chronic inflammatory conditions.

PMID- 27619559
TI  - Inverse modelling for real-time estimation of radiological consequences in the
      early stage of an accidental radioactivity release.
AB  - A stepwise sequential assimilation algorithm is proposed based on an optimisation
      approach for recursive parameter estimation and tracking of radioactive plume
      propagation in the early stage of a radiation accident. Predictions of the
      radiological situation in each time step of the plume propagation are driven by
      an existing short-term meteorological forecast and the assimilation procedure
      manipulates the model parameters to match the observations incoming concurrently
      from the terrain. Mathematically, the task is a typical ill-posed inverse problem
      of estimating the parameters of the release. The proposed method is designated as
      a stepwise re-estimation of the source term release dynamics and an improvement
      of several input model parameters. It results in a more precise determination of
      the adversely affected areas in the terrain. The nonlinear least-squares
      regression methodology is applied for estimation of the unknowns. The fast and
      adequately accurate segmented Gaussian plume model (SGPM) is used in the first
      stage of direct (forward) modelling. The subsequent inverse procedure infers (re
      estimates) the values of important model parameters from the actual observations.
      Accuracy and sensitivity of the proposed method for real-time forecasting of the
      accident propagation is studied. First, a twin experiment generating noiseless
      simulated "artificial" observations is studied to verify the minimisation
      algorithm. Second, the impact of the measurement noise on the re-estimated source
      release rate is examined. In addition, the presented method can be used as a
      proposal for more advanced statistical techniques using, e.g., importance
      sampling.

PMID- 27619558
TI  - Efficacy and safety of initial combination therapy with gemigliptin and metformin
      compared with monotherapy with either drug in patients with type 2 diabetes: A
      double-blind randomized controlled trial (INICOM study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gemigliptin is a new dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitor. We
      investigated the efficacy and safety of initial combination therapy with
      gemigliptin and metformin compared with monotherapy with either drug in patients
      with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: A total of 433 T2D patients with a
      glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level of 7.5% to 11.0% and a fasting plasma
      glucose (FPG) concentration <270 mg/dL were randomly assigned to 3 groups: (1)
      gemigliptin 50 mg qd + metformin 1000 to 2000 mg qd (titrated individually), (2)
      gemigliptin 50 mg qd, or (3) metformin 1000 to 2000 mg qd. The primary end-point
      was the change in HbA1c level after 24 weeks. Secondary end-points were the
      changes in FPG, insulin, proinsulin and C-peptide levels. The percentages of
      responders who achieved an HbA1c level <7% (or <6.5%) were compared between
      treatment groups. RESULTS: Baseline HbA1c levels were 8.7% in all groups. The
      mean changes in HbA1c level from baseline to week 24 were -2.06%, -1.24% and 
      1.47% in the combination, gemigliptin monotherapy and metformin monotherapy
      groups, respectively. The 95% confidence intervals for between-group differences
      in HbA1c changes were -1.02 to -0.63 in the combination group vs the gemigliptin
      group and -0.82 to -0.41 vs the metformin group, which confirmed the superiority
      of combination therapy. A significantly higher percentage of patients in the
      combination therapy group reached the target HbA1c level <7% (or <6.5%) compared
      with the monotherapy groups. No severe side effects were observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      In T2D patients, the initial combination of gemigliptin and metformin had
      superior efficacy without safety concerns compared with monotherapy with either
      drug.

PMID- 27619560
TI  - Uranium and plutonium in anoxic marine sediments of the Santiago River mouth
      (Eastern Pacific, Mexico).
AB  - The uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) content with depth in a sediment core
      collected in the continental shelf off the mouth of the Santiago River in the
      Mexican Pacific was studied to evaluate the contamination effects of the effluent
      of the Santiago-Lerma River as it moves into the sea. The large mass of
      terrestrial detritus delivered by the river influences the physicochemical and
      geochemical processes in the seafloor. Abnormal concentrations of U and Pu in
      sediments were examined as indicative of the effects of anoxic conditions. One of
      the indicators of pollution of seawater is the bacterial activity of the shallow
      seabed layer; and among the prevailing bacteria, the magnetotactic ones induce
      the formation of euhedral and framboidal shapes (pyrite). These pyrite entities
      are by-products of anoxic environments loaded with decomposing detrital material
      and are very abundant in the surface layers of the sediment core analyzed. The
      pyrite formation is the result of a biochemical reaction between iron and organic
      sulphur reduced by bacteria, and the pyrite entities precipitate to the seafloor.
      In the same upper zone of the profile, 238U is readily immobilized, while 234U is
      oxidized and dissolved in seawater by the effect of hot atom chemistry. This may
      cause the activity ratio (AR) 234U/238U disequilibrium (near 0.41). Furthermore,
      in the shallow layer of the sediment core, an abnormally high concentration of
      239+240Pu was detected. In this upper layer, the activity concentrations found
      were 3.19 Bq kg-1 for 238U, 1.32 kg-1 for 234U and 2.78 Bq kg-1 for 239+240Pu. In
      the lower fractions of the sediment core, normal values of AR 234U/238U (~1) were
      found, with traces of 239+240Pu.

PMID- 27619561
TI  - Seed migration to the spinal canal after postresection brachytherapy to treat a
      large brain metastasis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Seed migration after interstitial prostate brachytherapy has been well
      documented in the literature. However, there have been no detailed reports of
      seed migration after permanent interstitial brachytherapy to treat cerebral
      malignancies. In this article, the authors report a rare case of seed migration
      after adjuvant cesium-131 ((131)Cs) brachytherapy was used to treat a large
      paraventricular brain metastasis. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The patient was a 63
      year-old man with a 5.8-cm right frontal metastasis abutting the right lateral
      ventricle and causing severe edema and mass effect. The patient was enrolled in
      an ongoing clinical trial at our institution to receive permanent intraoperative
      (131)Cs brachytherapy in an effort to prevent tumor recurrence in the resection
      cavity. Stranded seeds were covered with Surgicel, and the cavity was filled with
      Tisseel to prevent seed migration. RESULTS: Imaging obtained at 54 days
      postsurgery showed no seed migration, but imaging obtained at 158 days revealed
      12 brachytherapy seeds in the spinal canal from T11 to S2. The seeds were left in
      place because they were inactive at this time due to the short half-life of
      (131)Cs (9.7 days); they remained stable on followup imaging, and the patient was
      asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS: Although the clinical consequences remain unclear, the
      migration of inactive seeds is not currently considered to be a complication of
      intracerebral brachytherapy and we do not believe that additional measures must
      be taken to prevent it.

PMID- 27619563
TI  - Characterization of a Novel Chimeric Swine Enteric Coronavirus from Diseased Pigs
      in Central Eastern Europe in 2016.
AB  - During a severe outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting in a pig herd in Central
      Eastern Europe, faecal samples were tested positive for porcine epidemic
      diarrhoea virus (PEDV) and negative for transmissible gastroenteritis virus
      (TGEV) using a commercial RT-qPCR assay that can detect both of these
      coronaviruses. However, further analyses, using other TGEV- and PEDV-specific RT
      qPCR assays, provided results inconsistent with infection by either of these
      viruses. Sequencing of an amplicon (ca. 1.6 kb), generated by an RT-PCR specific
      for the PEDV S-gene, indicated a very close similarity (ca. 99% identity) to
      recently described chimeric viruses termed swine enteric coronaviruses (SeCoVs).
      These viruses (with an RNA genome of ca. 28 kb) were first identified in Italy in
      samples from 2009 but have not been detected there since 2012. A closely related
      virus was detected in archived samples in Germany from 2012, but has not been
      detected subsequently. Building on the initial sequence data, further amplicons
      were generated and over 9 kb of sequence corresponding to the 3'-terminus of the
      new SeCoV genome was determined. Sequence comparisons showed that the three known
      SeCoVs are >=98% identical across this region and contain the S-gene and 3a
      sequences from PEDV within a backbone of TGEV, but the viruses are clearly
      distinct from each other. It is demonstrated, for the first time, that pigs from
      within the SeCoV-infected herd seroconverted against PEDV but tested negative in
      a TGEV-specific ELISA that detects antibodies against the S protein. These
      results indicate that SeCoV is continuing to circulate in Europe and suggest it
      can cause a disease that is very similar to PED. Specific detection of the
      chimeric SeCoVs either requires development of a new diagnostic RT-qPCR assay or
      the combined use of assays targeting the PEDV S-gene and another part of the TGEV
      genome.

PMID- 27619565
TI  - Control charts for monitoring accumulating adverse event count frequencies from
      single and multiple blinded trials.
AB  - Conventional practice monitors accumulating information about drug safety in
      terms of the numbers of adverse events reported from trials in a drug development
      program. Estimates of between-treatment adverse event risk differences can be
      obtained readily from unblinded trials with adjustment for differences among
      trials using conventional statistical methods. Recent regulatory guidelines
      require monitoring the cumulative frequency of adverse event reports to identify
      possible between-treatment adverse event risk differences without unblinding
      ongoing trials. Conventional statistical methods for assessing between-treatment
      adverse event risks cannot be applied when the trials are blinded. However, CUSUM
      charts can be used to monitor the accumulation of adverse event occurrences.
      CUSUM charts for monitoring adverse event occurrence in a Bayesian paradigm are
      based on assumptions about the process generating the adverse event counts in a
      trial as expressed by informative prior distributions. This article describes the
      construction of control charts for monitoring adverse event occurrence based on
      statistical models for the processes, characterizes their statistical properties,
      and describes how to construct useful prior distributions. Application of the
      approach to two adverse events of interest in a real trial gave nearly identical
      results for binomial and Poisson observed event count likelihoods. Copyright (c)
      2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27619562
TI  - Inhibition of Drp1 mitochondrial translocation provides neural protection in
      dopaminergic system in a Parkinson's disease model induced by MPTP.
AB  - Accumulating evidence suggest mitochondria-mediated pathways play an important
      role in dopaminergic neuronal cell death in Parkinson's disease (PD). Drp1, a key
      regulator of mitochondrial fission, has been shown to be activated and
      translocated to mitochondria under stress, leading to excessive mitochondria
      fission and dopaminergic neuronal death in vitro. However, whether Drp1
      inhibition can lead to long term stable preservation of dopaminergic neurons in
      PD-related mouse models remains unknown. In this study, using a classical MPTP
      animal PD model, we showed for the first time Drp1 activation and mitochondrial
      translocation in vivo after MPTP administration. Inhibition of Drp1 activation by
      a selective peptide inhibitor P110, blocked MPTP-induced Drp1 mitochondrial
      translocation and attenuated dopaminergic neuronal loss, dopaminergic nerve
      terminal damage and behavioral deficits caused by MPTP. MPTP-induced microglial
      activation and astrogliosis were not affected by P110 treatment. Instead,
      inhibition of Drp1 mitochondrial translocation diminished MPTP-induced p53, BAX
      and PUMA mitochondrial translocation. This study demonstrates that inhibition of
      Drp1 hyperactivation by a Drp1 peptide inhibitor P110 is neuroprotective in a
      MPTP animal model. Our data also suggest that the protective effects of P110
      treatment might be mediated by inhibiting the p53 mediated apoptotic pathways in
      neurons through inhibition of Drp1-dependent p53 mitochondrial translocation.

PMID- 27619564
TI  - A Web-Based Telehealth Training Platform Incorporating Automated Nonverbal
      Behavior Feedback for Teaching Communication Skills to Medical Students: A
      Randomized Crossover Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the interests of patient health outcomes, it is important for
      medical students to develop clinical communication skills. We previously proposed
      a telehealth communication skills training platform (EQClinic) with automated
      nonverbal behavior feedback for medical students, and it was able to improve
      medical students' awareness of their nonverbal communication. OBJECTIVE: This
      study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of EQClinic to improve clinical
      communication skills of medical students. METHODS: We conducted a 2-group
      randomized crossover trial between February and June 2016. Participants were
      second-year medical students enrolled in a clinical communication skills course
      at an Australian university. Students were randomly allocated to complete online
      EQClinic training during weeks 1-5 (group A) or to complete EQClinic training
      during weeks 8-11 (group B). EQClinic delivered an automated visual presentation
      of students' nonverbal behavior coupled with human feedback from a standardized
      patient (SP). All students were offered two opportunities to complete face-to
      face consultations with SPs. The two face-to-face consultations were conducted in
      weeks 6-7 and 12-13 for both groups, and were rated by tutors who were blinded to
      group allocation. Student-Patient Observed Communication Assessment (SOCA) was
      collected by blinded assessors (n=28) at 2 time points and also by an SP (n=83).
      Tutor-rated clinical communications skill in face-to-face consultations was the
      primary outcome and was assessed with the SOCA. We used t tests to examine the
      students' performance during face-to-face consultations pre- and postexposure to
      EQClinic. RESULTS: We randomly allocated 268 medical students to the 2 groups
      (group A: n=133; group B: n=135). SOCA communication skills measures (score range
      4-16) from the first face-to-face consultation were significantly higher for
      students in group A who had completed EQClinic training and reviewed the
      nonverbal behavior feedback, compared with group B, who had completed only the
      course curriculum components (P=.04). Furthermore, at the second face-to-face
      assessment, the group that completed a teleconsultation between the two face-to
      face consultations (group B) showed improved communication skills (P=.005), and
      the one that had teleconsultations before the first face-to-face consultation
      (group A) did not show improvement. CONCLUSIONS: The EQClinic is a useful tool
      for medical students' clinical communication skills training that can be applied
      to university settings to improve students clinical communication skills
      development.

PMID- 27619624
TI  - Identification of B-cell epitopes of Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface protein C
      by screening a phage-displayed gene fragment library.
AB  - Outer surface protein C (OspC) of Borrelia stimulates remarkable immune responses
      during early infection and is therefore currently considered a leading diagnostic
      and vaccine candidate. The sensitivity and specificity of serological tests based
      on whole protein OspC for diagnosis of Lyme disease are still unsatisfactory.
      Minimal B-cell epitopes are key in the development of reliable immunodiagnostic
      tools. Using OspC fragments displayed on phage particles (phage library) and anti
      OspC antibodies isolated from sera of naturally infected patients, six OspC
      epitopes capable of distinguishing between LD patient and healthy control sera
      were identified. Three of these epitopes are located at the N-terminus (OspC E1
      aa19-27, OspC E2 aa38-53, OspC E3 aa62-66) and three at the C-terminal end (OspC
      E4 aa155-163, OspC E5 aa184-190 and OspC E6 aa201-207). OspC E1, E4 and E6 were
      highly conserved among LD related Borreliae. To our knowledge, epitopes OspC E2,
      E3 and E5 were identified for the first time in this study. Minimal B-cell
      epitopes may provide fundamental data for the development of multi-epitope-based
      diagnostic tools for Lyme disease.

PMID- 27619566
TI  - CRISPR-Cas9 technology and its application in haematological disorders.
AB  - The recent advent of the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic
      Repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) system for precise genome
      editing has revolutionized methodologies in haematology and oncology studies.
      CRISPR-Cas9 technology can be used to remove and correct genes or mutations, and
      to introduce site-specific therapeutic genes in human cells. Inherited
      haematological disorders represent ideal targets for CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene
      therapy. Correcting disease-causing mutations could alleviate disease-related
      symptoms in the near future. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is also a useful tool for
      delineating molecular mechanisms involving haematological malignancies. Prior to
      the use of CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene correction in humans, appropriate delivery
      systems with higher efficiency and specificity must be identified, and ethical
      guidelines for applying the technology with controllable safety must be
      established. Here, the latest applications of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in
      haematological disorders, current challenges and future directions are reviewed
      and discussed.

PMID- 27619625
TI  - MHC-I promotes apoptosis of GABAergic interneurons in the spinal dorsal horn and
      contributes to cancer induced bone pain.
AB  - Cancer induced bone pain (CIBP) remains one of the most intractable clinical
      problems due to poor understanding of its underlying mechanisms. Recent studies
      demonstrate the decline of inhibitory interneurons, especially GABAergic
      interneurons in the spinal cord, can evoke generation of chronic pain. It has
      also been reported that neuronal MHC-I expression renders neurons vulnerable to
      cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and finally lead to neurons apoptosis in a variety
      neurological disorders. However, whether MHC-I could induce the apoptosis of
      GABAergic interneurons in spinal cord and contribute to the development of CIBP
      remains unknown. In this study, we investigated roles of MHC-I and underlying
      mechanisms in CIBP on a rat model. Our results showed that increased MHC-I
      expression on GABAergic interneurons could deplete GABAergic interneurons by
      inducing their apoptosis in the spinal dorsal horn of tumor-bearing rats.
      Pretreatment of MHC-I RNAi-lentivirus could prevent the apoptosis of GABAergic
      interneurons and therefore alleviated mechanical allodynia induced by tumor cells
      intratibial injection. Additionally, we also found that CD8+ T cells were
      colocalized with MHC-I and GABAergic neurons and presented a significant and
      persistent increase in the spinal cord of tumor-bearing rats. Taken together,
      these findings indicated that MHC-I could evoke CIBP by promoting apoptosis of
      GABAergic interneurons in the dorsal horn, and this apoptosis was closely related
      to local CD8+ T cells.

PMID- 27619626
TI  - Denervation drives mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle of octogenarians.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Mitochondria are frequently implicated in the ageing of skeletal
      muscle, although the role of denervation in modulating mitochondrial function in
      ageing muscle is unknown. We show that increased sensitivity to apoptosis
      initiation occurs prior to evidence of persistent denervation and is thus a
      primary mitochondrial defect in ageing muscle worthy of therapeutic targeting.
      However, at more advanced age, mitochondrial function changes are markedly
      impacted by persistent sporadic myofibre denervation, suggesting the
      mitochondrion may be a less viable therapeutic target. ABSTRACT: Experimental
      denervation modulates mitochondrial function, where changes in both reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) and sensitivity to permeability transition are implicated in
      the resultant muscle atrophy. Notably, although denervation occurs sporadically
      in ageing muscle, its impact on ageing muscle mitochondria is unknown. Because
      this information has important therapeutic implications concerning targeting the
      mitochondrion in ageing muscle, we examined mitochondrial function in skeletal
      muscle from four groups of humans, comprising two active (mean +/- SD age: 23.7
      +/- 2.7 years and 71.2 +/- 4.9 years) and two inactive groups (64.8 +/- 3.1 years
      and 82.5 +/- 4.8 years), and compared this with a murine model of sporadic
      denervation. We tested the hypothesis that, although some alterations of
      mitochondrial function in aged muscle are attributable to a primary organelle
      defect, mitochondrial dysfunction would be impacted by persistent denervation in
      advanced age. Both ageing in humans and sporadic denervation in mice increased
      mitochondrial sensitivity to permeability transition (humans, P = 0.004; mice, P
      = 0.01). To determine the contribution of sporadic denervation to mitochondrial
      function, we pharmacologically inhibited the denervation-induced ROS response.
      This reduced ROS emission by 60% (P = 0.02) in sporadically denervated mouse
      muscle, which is similar to that seen in humans older than 75 years (-66%, P =
      0.02) but not those younger than 75 years. We conclude that an increased
      sensitivity to permeability transition is a primary mitochondrial defect in
      ageing muscle. However, at more advanced age, when muscle atrophy becomes more
      clinically severe, mitochondrial function changes are markedly impacted by
      persistent sporadic denervation, making the mitochondrion a less viable
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 27619628
TI  - How large databases may impact clinical practices for rare tumors-postoperative
      chemotherapy in thymic malignancies.

PMID- 27619627
TI  - Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of upper abdominal organs at different time points:
      Apparent diffusion coefficient normalization using a reference organ.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of upper abdominal
      organs acquired at different time points, and to investigate the usefulness of
      normalization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 58 patients
      who underwent three rounds of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging including diffusion
      weighted imaging of the upper abdomen. MR examinations were performed using three
      different 3.0 Tesla (T) and one 1.5T systems, with variable b value combinations
      and respiratory motion compensation techniques. The ADC values of the upper
      abdominal organs from three different time points were analyzed, using the ADC
      values of the paraspinal muscle (ADCpsm ) and spleen (ADCspleen ) for
      normalization. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and comparison of
      dependent ICCs were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The ICCs of the
      original ADC and ADCpsm showed fair to substantial agreement, while ADCspleen
      showed substantial to almost perfect agreement. The ICC of ADCspleen of all
      anatomical regions showed less variability compared with that of the original ADC
      (P < 0.005). CONCLUSION: Normalized ADC using the spleen as a reference organ
      significantly decreased variability in measurement of the upper abdominal organs
      in different MR systems at different time points and could be regarded as an
      imaging biomarker for future multicenter, longitudinal studies. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 5 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;45:1494-1501.

PMID- 27619629
TI  - Pursuing early catheter ablation to treat atrial fibrillation in the congestive
      heart failure population: significance of the AATAC trial results.

PMID- 27619630
TI  - Enantioselective Synthesis of Quaternary Stereocenters via Chromium Catalysis.
AB  - Asymmetric allylation of aldehydes with gamma-disubstituted allyl halides has
      been achieved in the presence of a sulfonamide/oxazoline chromium complex. A
      variety of synthetically useful alpha-homoallylic alcohols with two consecutive
      stereogenic centers, including one quaternary carbon, can be accessed in a highly
      diastereoselective and enantioselective manner.

PMID- 27619633
TI  - Removing Beam Current Artifacts in Helium Ion Microscopy: A Comparison of Image
      Processing Techniques.
AB  - The development of the helium ion microscope (HIM) enables the imaging of both
      hard, inorganic materials and soft, organic or biological materials. Advantages
      include outstanding topographical contrast, superior resolution down to <0.5 nm
      at high magnification, high depth of field, and no need for conductive coatings.
      The instrument relies on helium atom adsorption and ionization at a cryogenically
      cooled tip that is atomically sharp. Under ideal conditions this arrangement
      provides a beam of ions that is stable for days to weeks, with beam currents in
      the order of picoamperes. Over time, however, this stability is lost as gaseous
      contamination builds up in the source region, leading to adsorbed atoms of
      species other than helium, which ultimately results in beam current fluctuations.
      This manifests itself as horizontal stripe artifacts in HIM images. We
      investigate post-processing methods to remove these artifacts from HIM images,
      such as median filtering, Gaussian blurring, fast Fourier transforms, and
      principal component analysis. We arrive at a simple method for completely
      removing beam current fluctuation effects from HIM images while maintaining the
      full integrity of the information within the image.

PMID- 27619632
TI  - Serial cfDNA assessment of response and resistance to EGFR-TKI for patients with
      EGFR-L858R mutant lung cancer from a prospective clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detecting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activating
      mutations in plasma could guide EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI)
      treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, dynamic
      quantitative changes of plasma EGFR mutations during the whole course of EGFR-TKI
      treatment and its correlation with clinical outcomes were not determined. The aim
      of this study was to measure changes of plasma EGFR L858R mutation during EGFR
      TKI treatment and to determine its correlation with the response and resistance
      to EGFR-TKI. METHODS: This study was a pre-planned exploratory analysis of a
      randomized phase III trial conducted from 2009 to 2014 comparing erlotinib with
      gefitinib in advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR mutations in tumor (CTONG0901).
      Totally, 256 patients were enrolled in CTONG0901 and randomized to receive
      erlotinib or gefitinib. One hundred and eight patients harbored L858R mutation in
      their tumors and 80 patients provided serial blood samples as pre-planned
      scheduled. Serial plasma L858R was detected using quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction. Dynamic types of plasma L858R were analyzed using Ward's hierarchical
      clustering method. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were
      compared between different types. RESULTS: As a whole, the quantity of L858R
      decreased and reached the lowest level at the time of best response to EGFR-TKI.
      After the analysis of Ward's hierarchical clustering method, two dynamic types
      were found. In 61 patients, L858R increased to its highest level when disease
      progressed (ascend type), while in 19 patients, L858R maintained a stable level
      when disease progressed (stable type). Median PFS was 11.1 months (95 % CI, 6.6
      15.6) and 7.5 months (95 % CI, 1.4-13.6) in patients with ascend and stable
      types, respectively (P = 0.023). Median OS was 19.7 months (95 % CI, 16.5-22.9)
      and 16.0 months (95 % CI, 13.4-18.5), respectively (P = 0.050). CONCLUSIONS: This
      is the first report finding two different dynamic types of plasma L858R mutation
      during EGFR-TKI treatment based on a prospective randomized study. Different
      dynamic types were correlated with benefits from EGFR-TKI. The impact of plasma
      L858R levels at disease progression on subsequent treatment strategy needs
      further exploration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01024413.

PMID- 27619634
TI  - A novel tool for stable nitrogen isotope analysis in aqueous samples.
AB  - RATIONALE: Bulk stable isotope analysis (BSIA) of dissolved matter (e.g.
      dissolved organic carbon, total nitrogen bound (TNb ), etc.) is of particular
      importance since this pool is a prime conduit in the cycling of N and C. Studying
      the two elemental pools is of importance, as transformation and transport
      processes of N and C are inextricably linked in all biologically mediated
      systems. No system able to analyze natural abundance stable carbon and nitrogen
      isotope composition in aqueous samples (without offline sample preparation) and
      simultaneously has been reported so far. Extension of the high-temperature
      combustion (HTC) system, to be capable of measuring TNb stable nitrogen isotope
      composition, is described in this study. METHODS: To extend the TOC analyzer to
      be capable of measuring TNb , modifications from the HTC high-performance liquid
      chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (HPLC/IRMS) interface were
      implemented and expanded. A reduction reactor for conversion of NOx into N2 was
      implemented into the new developed system. The extension addresses mainly the
      development of the focusing unit for nitrogen and a degassing device for online
      separation of TNb from molecular nitrogen (N2 ) prior to injection. RESULTS: The
      proof of principle of the system was demonstrated with different compound
      solutions. In this initial testing, the delta15 NAIR-N2 values of the tested
      compounds were determined with precision and trueness of typically <=0.50/00.
      Good results (u <= 0.50/00) could be achieved down to a TNb concentration of 40
      mgN/L and acceptable results (u <= 1.00/00) down to 5 mgN/L. In addition, the
      development resulted in the first system reported to be suitable for simultaneous
      and direct delta13 C and delta15 N BSIA of aqueous samples. CONCLUSIONS: The
      development resulted in the first system shown to be suitable for both delta13 C
      and delta15 N direct BSIA in aqueous samples. This system could open up new
      possibilities in SIA-based research fields. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons,
      Ltd.

PMID- 27619631
TI  - Targeting Motor End Plates for Delivery of Adenoviruses: An Approach to Maximize
      Uptake and Transduction of Spinal Cord Motor Neurons.
AB  - Gene therapy can take advantage of the skeletal muscles/motor neurons anatomical
      relationship to restrict gene expression to the spinal cord ventral horn.
      Furthermore, recombinant adenoviruses are attractive viral-vectors as they permit
      spatial and temporal modulation of transgene expression. In the literature,
      however, several inconsistencies exist with regard to the intramuscular delivery
      parameters of adenoviruses. The present study is an evaluation of the optimal
      injection sites on skeletal muscle, time course of expression and mice's age for
      maximum transgene expression in motor neurons. Targeting motor end plates yielded
      a 2.5-fold increase in the number of transduced motor neurons compared to
      injections performed away from this region. Peak adenoviral transgene expression
      in motor neurons was detected after seven days. Further, greater numbers of
      transduced motor neurons were found in juvenile (3-7 week old) mice as compared
      with adults (8+ weeks old). Adenoviral injections produced robust transgene
      expression in motor neurons and skeletal myofibres. In addition, dendrites of
      transduced motor neurons were shown to extend well into the white matter where
      the descending motor pathways are located. These results also provide evidence
      that intramuscular delivery of adenovirus can be a suitable gene therapy approach
      to treat spinal cord injury.

PMID- 27619635
TI  - Measurement properties of the brief resilient coping scale in patients with
      systemic lupus erythematosus using rasch analysis.
AB  - BACGROUND: Resilience has been defined as the capacity or the ability to rebound
      from and positively adapt to significant stressors, despite experiences of
      significant adversity or trauma. To capture to what extent an individual copes
      with stress in a resilient fashion the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) was
      developed. This tool was validated in people with chronic disease, such as
      rheumatoid arthritis using standard psychometric techniques of classical test
      theory, but not yet in patients with Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim
      of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Brief Resilient
      Coping Scale in patients with SLE using Rasch analysis. METHOD: This study used
      cross-sectional data. The BRCS was administered to 232 patients with systemic
      lupus erythematosus. The aspects analyzed were unidimensionality, local
      independence and differential item functioning (DIF) to construct an
      interpretative scale of scores with the Rasch model. RESULTS: Rating scale mode
      (RSM) showed that the four categories used in the items of the BRCS are properly
      ordered. The four items provided a good fit to the polytomous Rasch model.
      Moreover, the parameters were sufficiently separated to measure resilience in
      patients with SLE. BRCS is a unidimensional scale (eigenvalue = 1.843) of
      resilience and the items were locally independent. There was no DIF between males
      and females in the sample. Only marginally significant differences depending on
      the level of education were found. The BRCS showed adequate discriminant validity
      between groups of scores. CONCLUSIONS: BRCS is a suitable scale for measuring
      resilience in patients with SLE. This scale might be useful for clinicians to
      obtain information concerning the degree of resilience that each patient has,
      allowing individuals with low resilience to be identified who need interventions
      aimed at developing coping skills.

PMID- 27619638
TI  - The impact of ChART on the science of thymic malignancies.

PMID- 27619637
TI  - Neuroprotective effect of curcumin as evinced by abrogation of rotenone-induced
      motor deficits, oxidative and mitochondrial dysfunctions in mouse model of
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound extracted from rhizomes of Curcuma
      longa (turmeric), a plant in the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) has been used
      worldwide and extensively in Southeast Asia. Curcumin exhibited numerous
      biological and pharmacological activities including potent antioxidant,
      cardiovascular disease, anticancer, anti-inflammatory effects and
      neurodegenerative disorders in cell cultures and animal models. Hence, the
      present study was designed in order to explore the possible neuroprotective role
      of curcumin against rotenone induced cognitive impairment, oxidative and
      mitochondrial dysfunction in mice. Chronic administration of rotenone (1mg/kg
      i.p.) for a period of three weeks significantly impaired cognitive function
      (actophotometer, rotarod and open field test), oxidative defense (increased lipid
      peroxidation, nitrite concentration and decreased activity of superoxide
      dismutase, catalase and reduced glutathione level) and mitochondrial complex (II
      and III) enzymes activities as compared to normal control group. Three weeks of
      curcumin (50, 100 and 200mg/kg, p.o.) treatment significantly improved behavioral
      alterations, oxidative damage and mitochondrial enzyme complex activities as
      compared to negative control (rotenone treated) group. Curcumin treated mice also
      mitigated enhanced acetylcholine esterase enzyme level as compared to negative
      control group. We found that curcumin restored motor deficits and enhanced the
      activities of antioxidant enzymes suggesting its antioxidant potential in vivo.
      The findings of the present study conclude neuroprotective role of curcumin
      against rotenone induced Parkinson's in mice and offer strong justification for
      the therapeutic prospective of this compound in the management of PD.

PMID- 27619636
TI  - Nano-particle delivery of brain derived neurotrophic factor after focal cerebral
      ischemia reduces tissue injury and enhances behavioral recovery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are linked to
      delayed neurological recovery, depression, and cognitive impairment following
      stroke. Supplementation with BDNF reverses these effects. Unfortunately,
      systemically administered BDNF in its native form has minimal therapeutic value
      due to its poor blood brain barrier permeability and short serum half-life. In
      this study, a novel nano-particle polyion complex formulation of BDNF (nano-BDNF)
      was administered to mice after experimental ischemic stroke. METHODS: Male
      C57BL/6J (8-10weeks) mice were randomly assigned to receive nano-BDNF, native
      BDNF, or saline treatment after being subjected to 60min of reversible middle
      cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Mice received the first dose at 3 (early
      treatment), 6 (intermediate treatment), or 12h (delayed treatment) following
      stroke onset; a second dose was given in all cohorts at 24h after stroke onset.
      Post-stroke outcome was evaluated by behavioral, histological, and molecular
      analysis for 15days after stroke. RESULTS: Early and intermediate nano-BDNF
      treatment led to a significant reduction in cerebral tissue loss. Delayed
      treatment led to improved memory/cognition, reduced post-stroke depressive
      phenotypes, and maintained myelin basic protein and brain BDNF levels, but had no
      effect on tissue atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that administration
      of a novel nano-particle formulation of BDNF leads to both neuroprotective and
      neuro-restorative effects after stroke.

PMID- 27619639
TI  - Assessment of cerebrovascular reserve in unilateral middle cerebral artery
      stenosis using perfusion CT and CO2 inhalation tests.
AB  - : Purpose/Aim of the study: Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is an important
      marker for assessing cerebrovascular disease. This study assessed the CVR by
      perfusion computed tomography (CT) and CO2 inhalation tests in patients with
      unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Thirty-one patients with unilateral MCA stenosis disease diagnosed by digital
      subtraction angiography were studied. Patients were divided into two groups
      according to the degree of stenosis: severe and moderate. The regional cerebral
      blood flow (CBF) before and after CO2 inhalation was determined by perfusion CT.
      Regional CVR values were obtained by the following formula: increase (%) = (post
      CBF) - (pre-CBF)/(pre-CBF) * 100%. RESULTS: No significant differences in the
      mean CBF in the MCA stenosis region were found between the affected and
      contralateral sides before the CO2 inhalation test; after the test, CBF was more
      significantly decreased on the affected side than on the contralateral side. The
      changes in CBF on the affected side were categorized into three types: increased
      CBF (17 cases), decreased CBF (12 cases) and no change in CBF (2 cases). The rate
      of CVR impairment among severe stenosis patients (13/19) was higher than that
      among moderate stenosis patients (3/12). CVR was significantly correlated with
      the degree of stenosis (r = 0.423, P = 0.018). CONCLUSION: CVR impairment was
      found in approximately half of patients with unilateral MCA stenosis. Along with
      an increase in the degree of stenosis, patients with unilateral MCA stenosis were
      more likely to exhibit CVR impairment. It is important to assess the CVR in
      patients with unilateral MCA stenosis, especially those with severe stenosis.

PMID- 27619640
TI  - Therapeutic manipulation of the microbiota: past, present, and considerations for
      the future.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The growing appreciation of the potential role of indigenous
      microbiota in disease has resulted in a concomitant interest in manipulating the
      microbiome for therapeutic effect. The most successful example of microbiota
      manipulation for treatment of a disease is in recurrent infection with the
      bacterial pathogen Clostridium difficile. AIMS: This review provides historic
      perspectives on development of microbiota transplantation and reviews evidence
      for its use in recurrent C. difficile infection. SOURCES: A PubMed search of the
      terms ([fecal transplant OR fecal transplantation] AND difficile) to 9 June 2016
      yielded 415 articles. CONTENT: Recent work has pointed to potential mechanisms by
      which microbiota restoration in the form of faecal transplantation has been
      efficacious. This includes studies of microorganisms associated with successful
      faecal transplantation in human and animal studies and a focus on bacterial bile
      acid metabolism as a mechanism that mediates colonization resistance against the
      pathogen. The potential use of microbiota manipulation for other diseases such as
      inflammatory bowel diseases and metabolic disorders will be discussed. The case
      will be made that the lessons learned from treatment of recurrent C. difficile
      infection may not necessarily translate to use of faecal transplantation or other
      methods to alter the microbiome for the treatment of other diseases.
      IMPLICATIONS: A key conclusion that can be drawn is that understanding of the
      precise role of the microbiota in the pathogenesis of a specific disease is
      necessary prior to determining if microbiota manipulation represents a novel
      treatment therapy.

PMID- 27619641
TI  - Enhancement of cell growth and glycolic acid production by overexpression of
      membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase in Gluconobacter oxydans DSM 2003.
AB  - Membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase (mADH) was overexpressed in Gluconobacter
      oxydans DSM 2003, and the effects on cell growth and glycolic acid production
      were investigated. The transcription levels of two terminal ubiquinol oxidases
      (bo3 and bd) in the respiratory chain of the engineered strain G. oxydans-adhABS
      were up-regulated by 13.4- and 3.8-fold, respectively, which effectively enhanced
      the oxygen uptake rate, resulting in higher resistance to acid. The cell biomass
      of G. oxydans-adhABS could increase by 26%-33% when cultivated in a 7L
      bioreactor. The activities of other major membrane-bound dehydrogenases were also
      increased to some extent, particularly membrane-bound aldehyde dehydrogenase
      (mALDH), which is involved in the catalytic oxidation of aldehydes to the
      corresponding acids and was 1.26-fold higher. Relying on the advantages of the
      above, G. oxydans-adhABS could produce 73.3gl-1 glycolic acid after 45h of
      bioconversion with resting cells, with a molar yield 93.5% and a space-time yield
      of 1.63gl-1h-1. Glycolic acid production could be further improved by fed-batch
      fermentation. After 45h of culture, 113.8gl-1 glycolic acid was accumulated, with
      a molar yield of 92.9% and a space-time yield of 2.53gl-1h-1, which is the
      highest reported glycolic acid yield to date.

PMID- 27619642
TI  - Anks1a regulates COPII-mediated anterograde transport of receptor tyrosine
      kinases critical for tumorigenesis.
AB  - ErbB2 signalling, which is amplified by EphA2 binding, is an important
      therapeutic target for breast cancer. Despite the importance of the EphA2/ErbB2
      complex in promoting breast tumorigenesis, the mechanism by which these receptor
      tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are exported from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) remains
      poorly understood. Here we report that the PTB adaptor Anks1a is specifically
      localized to the ER on its own serine phosphorylation. Once there, Anks1a acts as
      an important regulator of COPII-mediated EphA2 ER export. The Anks1a ankyrin
      repeat domain binds EphA2 and causes it to accumulate at sites of ER exit.
      Simultaneously, the Anks1a PTB domain binds Sec23. This induces internalization
      of EphA2 via COPII vesicles, while Anks1a remains behind on the ER membrane.
      EphA2 also binds ErbB2 in the ER and seems to load ErbB2 into growing COPII
      carriers. Together, our study reveals a novel mechanism that regulates the
      loading of RTKs into COPII vesicles.

PMID- 27619644
TI  - A two-stage extraction procedure for insensitive munition (IM) explosive
      compounds in soils.
AB  - The Department of Defense (DoD) is developing a new category of insensitive
      munitions (IMs) that are more resistant to detonation or promulgation from
      external stimuli than traditional munition formulations. The new explosive
      constituent compounds are 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), nitroguanidine (NQ), and
      nitrotriazolone (NTO). The production and use of IM formulations may result in
      interaction of IM component compounds with soil. The chemical properties of these
      IM compounds present unique challenges for extraction from environmental matrices
      such as soil. A two-stage extraction procedure was developed and tested using
      several soil types amended with known concentrations of IM compounds. This
      procedure incorporates both an acidified phase and an organic phase to account
      for the chemical properties of the IM compounds. The method detection limits
      (MDLs) for all IM compounds in all soil types were <5 mg/kg and met non
      regulatory risk-based Regional Screening Level (RSL) criteria for soil proposed
      by the U.S. Army Public Health Center. At defined environmentally relevant
      concentrations, the average recovery of each IM compound in each soil type was
      consistent and greater than 85%. The two-stage extraction method decreased the
      influence of soil composition on IM compound recovery. UV analysis of NTO
      established an isosbestic point based on varied pH at a detection wavelength of
      341 nm. The two-stage soil extraction method is equally effective for traditional
      munition compounds, a potentially important point when examining soils exposed to
      both traditional and insensitive munitions.

PMID- 27619643
TI  - CD147 induces up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor in U937-derived
      foam cells through PI3K/AKT pathway.
AB  - Intraplaque angiogenesis has been recognized as an important risk factor for the
      rupture of advanced atherosclerotic plaques in recent years. CD147, also called
      Extracellular Matrix Metalloproteinase Inducer, has been found the ability to
      promote angiogenesis in many pathological conditions such as cancer diseases and
      rheumatoid arthritis via the up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF), a critical mediator of angiogenesis. We investigated whether CD147 would
      also induce the up-regulation of VEGF in the foam cells formation process and
      explored the probable signaling pathway. The results showed the expression of
      CD147 and VEGF was significantly higher in U937-derived foam cells. After CD147
      stealth siRNA transfection treatment, the production of VEGF was reduced depended
      on the inhibition efficiency of CD147 siRNAs.The special signaling pathway
      inhibitors LY294002, SP600125, SB203580 and U0126 were added to cultures
      respectively and the results showed LY294002 dose-dependently inhibited the
      expression of VEGF. The reduction of phospho-Akt was observed in both LY294002
      and siRNA groups, suggested that the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway
      may be the probable signaling pathway underlying CD147 induced up-regulation of
      VEGF in U937-derived foam cells.

PMID- 27619645
TI  - Uranium in well drinking water of Kabul, Afghanistan and its effective, low-cost
      depuration using Mg-Fe based hydrotalcite-like compounds.
AB  - Toxic elements in drinking water have great effects on human health. However,
      there is very limited information about toxic elements in drinking water in
      Afghanistan. In this study, levels of 10 elements (chromium, nickel, copper,
      arsenic, cadmium, antimony, barium, mercury, lead and uranium) in 227 well
      drinking water samples in Kabul, Afghanistan were examined for the first time.
      Chromium (in 0.9% of the 227 samples), arsenic (7.0%) and uranium (19.4%)
      exceeded the values in WHO health-based guidelines for drinking-water quality.
      Maximum chromium, arsenic and uranium levels in the water samples were 1.3-, 10.4
      and 17.2-fold higher than the values in the guidelines, respectively. We next
      focused on uranium, which is the most seriously polluted element among the 10
      elements. Mean +/- SD (138.0 +/- 1.4) of the 238U/235U isotopic ratio in the
      water samples was in the range of previously reported ratios for natural source
      uranium. We then examined the effect of our originally developed magnesium (Mg)
      iron (Fe)-based hydrotalcite-like compounds (MF-HT) on adsorption for uranium.
      All of the uranium-polluted well water samples from Kabul (mean +/- SD = 190.4 +/
      113.9 MUg/L; n = 11) could be remediated up to 1.2 +/- 1.7 MUg/L by 1% weight of
      our MF-HT within 60 s at very low cost (<0.001 cents/day/family) in theory. Thus,
      we demonstrated not only elevated levels of some toxic elements including natural
      source uranium but also an effective depurative for uranium in well drinking
      water from Kabul. Since our depurative is effective for remediation of arsenic as
      shown in our previous studies, its practical use in Kabul may be encouraged.

PMID- 27619646
TI  - Colloidal Synthesis and Applications of Plasmonic Metal Nanoparticles.
AB  - Plasmonic metal nanoparticles attract intense research attention because of their
      fascinating surface plasmon resonance properties and their potential applications
      in diverse fields. Here, some of the recent research efforts on the synthesis and
      applications of plasmonic metal nanoparticles are highlighted. Starting from the
      colloidal synthesis of metal nanoparticles, various shaped silver and gold
      nanostructures are discussed. The applications of plasmonic nanoparticles in
      photocatalysis, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and devices are used
      as excellent examples showcasing the advantages of these nanoparticles. The
      report closes with a brief summary and discussion on the challenges and future
      direction in this research field.

PMID- 27619647
TI  - piSPIM: high NA high resolution isotropic light-sheet imaging in cell culture
      dishes.
AB  - Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), also termed single plane illumination
      microscopy (SPIM), enables live cell fluorescence imaging with optical sectioning
      capabilities superior to confocal microscopy and without any out-of-focus
      exposure of the specimen. However, the need of two objective lenses, one for
      light-sheet illumination and one for imaging, imposes geometrical constraints
      that require LSFM setups to be adapted to the specific needs of different types
      of specimen in order to obtain optimal imaging conditions. Here we demonstrate
      the use of an oblique light-sheet configuration adapted to provide the highest
      possible Gaussian beam enabled resolution in LSFM. The oblique light-sheet
      configuration furthermore enables LSFM imaging at the surface of a cover slip,
      without the need of specific sample mounting. In addition, the system is
      compatible with simultaneous high NA wide-field epi-fluorescence imaging of the
      specimen contained in a glass-bottom cell culture dish. This prevents cumbersome
      sample mounting and enables rapid screening of large areas of the specimen
      followed by high-resolution LSFM imaging of selected cells. We demonstrate the
      application of this microscope for in toto imaging of endocytosis in yeast,
      showing for the first time imaging of all endocytic events of a given cell over a
      period of >5 minutes with sub-second resolution.

PMID- 27619648
TI  - [Growing up under adversity in Germany : Design and methods of a developmental
      study on risk and protective mechanisms in families with diverse psychosocial
      risk].
AB  - Family adversity comprises many risk factors for parents and children. The German
      early intervention approach Fruhe Hilfen aims at providing enduring, effective,
      and scientifically validated prevention and intervention for effective child
      protection against those risks. The study on risk and protective mechanisms in
      the development of families with diverse psychosocial risks aims at identifying
      those mechanisms that cause and stabilize or moderate and diminish maltreatment
      and neglect, as well as cognitive, social, and emotional developmental deviations
      in risk families, specifically in the current German social and child protection
      system. The study examines the development of competence and early behavior
      problems in a sample of infants and toddlers and the interaction quality with
      their caregivers by applying a longitudinal sequential-cohort design. The
      assessments include developmental tests, systematic observations, and
      questionnaire data. First results suggest stable risk group membership and
      moderate stability of single risk factors. 

PMID- 27619650
TI  - CRISPR as a driving force: the Model T of biotechnology.
AB  - The CRISPR system for gene editing can break, repair, and replace targeted
      sections of DNA. Although CRISPR gene editing has important therapeutic
      potential, it raises several ethical concerns. Some bioethicists worry CRISPR is
      a prelude to a dystopian future, while others maintain it should not be feared
      because it is analogous to past biotechnologies. In the scientific literature,
      CRISPR is often discussed as a revolutionary technology. In this paper we unpack
      the framing of CRISPR as a revolutionary technology and contrast it with framing
      it as a value-threatening biotechnology or business-as-usual. By drawing on a
      comparison between CRISPR and the Ford Model T, we argue CRISPR is revolutionary
      as a product, process, and as a force for social change. This characterization of
      CRISPR offers important conceptual clarity to the existing debates surrounding
      CRISPR. In particular, conceptualizing CRISPR as a revolutionary technology
      structures regulatory goals with respect to this new technology. Revolutionary
      technologies have characteristic patterns of implementation, entrenchment, and
      social impact. As such, early identification of technologies as revolutionary may
      help construct more nuanced and effective ethical frameworks for public policy.

PMID- 27619649
TI  - In vivo precision of three HR-pQCT-derived finite element models of the distal
      radius and tibia in postmenopausal women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The distal radius is the most common osteoporotic fracture site
      occurring in postmenopausal women. Finite element (FE) modeling is a non-invasive
      mathematical technique that can estimate bone strength using inputted
      geometry/micro-architecture and tissue material properties from computed
      tomographic images. Our first objective was to define and compare in vivo
      precision errors for three high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed
      tomography (HR-pQCT, XtremeCT; Scanco) based FE models of the distal radius and
      tibia in postmenopausal women. Our second objective was to assess the role of
      scan interval, scan quality, and common region on precision errors of outcomes
      for each FE model. METHODS: Models included: single-tissue model (STM), cortical
      trabecular dual-tissue model (DTM), and one scaled model using imaged bone
      mineral density (E-BMD). Using HR-pQCT, we scanned the distal radius and tibia of
      34 postmenopausal women (74 +/- 7 years), at two time points. Primary outcomes
      included: tissue stiffness, apparent modulus, average von Mises stress, and
      failure load. Precision errors (root-mean-squared coefficient of variation,
      CV%RMS) were calculated. Multivariate ANOVA was used to compare the mean of
      individual CV% among the 3 HR-pQCT-based FE models. Spearman correlations were
      used to characterize the associations between precision errors of all FE model
      outcomes and scan/time interval, scan quality, and common region. Significance
      was accepted at P < 0.05. RESULTS: At the distal radius, CV%RMS precision errors
      were <9 % (Range STM: 2.8-5.3 %; DTM: 2.9-5.4 %; E-BMD: 4.4-8.7 %). At the distal
      tibia, CV%RMS precision errors were <6 % (Range STM: 2.7-4.8 %; DTM: 2.9-3.8 %; E
      BMD: 1.8-2.5 %). At the radius, Spearman correlations indicated associations
      between the common region and associated precision errors of the E-BMD-derived
      apparent modulus (rho = -0.392; P < 0.001) and von Mises stress (rho = -0.297; P
      = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Results suggest that the STM and DTM are more precise for
      modeling apparent modulus, average von Mises stress, and failure load at the
      distal radius. Precision errors were comparable for all three models at the
      distal tibia. Results indicate that the noted differences in precision error at
      the distal radius were associated with the common scan region, illustrating the
      importance of participant repositioning within the cast and reference line
      placement in the scout view during the scanning process.

PMID- 27619651
TI  - Keep it simple: vascular risk factors and focal exam findings correctly identify
      posterior circulation ischemia in "dizzy" patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dizziness is a common chief complaint of patients presenting to the
      Emergency Department (ED). Physicians must quickly and accurately identify
      patients whose etiology is most likely ischemia. Additional tools are available,
      but often require further training (vestibular testing) or are costly and not
      always readily available (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)). This study evaluates
      the ability of a routine history and simple physical examination to correctly
      identify dizzy patients with posterior circulation ischemia, and the added
      utility of CT angiography (CTA). METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis
      of all individuals presenting to the ED with a reported chief complaint of
      dizziness. Neurology was consulted and CTA ordered at the discretion of the ED
      provider. Demographic, medical, and radiographic variables were evaluated along
      with final diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression and ROC analysis were
      used to determine factors associated with ischemia, the sensitivity of vascular
      risk factors and focal exam findings in predicting ischemia, and the additional
      benefit, if any, of CTA. RESULTS: One thousand two-hundred sixteen individuals
      meeting inclusion criteria presented to the ED over a 2 year period and were
      included in analysis. One hundred (8.2 %) were diagnosed with posterior
      circulation ischemia. For the entire cohort, age (OR 1.4 per 10 years, p <
      0.0001), systolic blood pressure (OR 1.3 per 10 mmHg, p < 0.0001), and focal exam
      findings (OR 28.69, p < 0.0001) were most significantly associated with ischemia
      in multivariable modeling. When age, race, sex, presence of vascular risk
      factors, and focal neurologic findings were entered into ROC analysis, the AUC
      for correctly identifying posterior circulation ischemia was 0.90. In the subset
      of patients who underwent CTA (n = 87), the AUC did not improve (0.78 with and
      without CTA in ROC analysis, p = 0.52). CONCLUSIONS: A vascular risk assessment
      and neurological examination are adequate for risk stratification of ischemia in
      the dizzy patient and should remain the standard evaluation.

PMID- 27619652
TI  - Big data in oncologic imaging.
AB  - Cancer is a complex disease and unfortunately understanding how the components of
      the cancer system work does not help understand the behavior of the system as a
      whole. In the words of the Greek philosopher Aristotle "the whole is greater than
      the sum of parts." To date, thanks to improved information technology
      infrastructures, it is possible to store data from each single cancer patient,
      including clinical data, medical images, laboratory tests, and pathological and
      genomic information. Indeed, medical archive storage constitutes approximately
      one-third of total global storage demand and a large part of the data are in the
      form of medical images. The opportunity is now to draw insight on the whole to
      the benefit of each individual patient. In the oncologic patient, big data
      analysis is at the beginning but several useful applications can be envisaged
      including development of imaging biomarkers to predict disease outcome, assessing
      the risk of X-ray dose exposure or of renal damage following the administration
      of contrast agents, and tracking and optimizing patient workflow. The aim of this
      review is to present current evidence of how big data derived from medical images
      may impact on the diagnostic pathway of the oncologic patient.

PMID- 27619654
TI  - Who Needs Reference Materials?

PMID- 27619655
TI  - AOAC INTERNATIONAL's Technical Division on Reference Materials (TDRM) Reference
      Materials Database.
AB  - The Technical Division on Reference Materials (TDRM) of AOAC INTERNATIONAL
      recommends policy and criteria to facilitate the development and use of reference
      materials (RMs) in the validation, implementation, and routine use of AOAC
      INTERNATIONAL methods. To aid analysts in these areas, TDRM has developed a
      searchable online database to identify RMs suitable for use with AOAC Official
      Methods of Analysis(SM) (OMA). RMs can be queried by analyte, by analyte and
      matrix, or by the selection of an OMA, based on analytes and matrixes described
      within the scope of the selected method. Only essential information is included
      in the database, to maximize usefulness and minimize the effort required to keep
      information current. Additional information, such as measurement uncertainty and
      purchasing instructions, is available through a link to the producer's Web site,
      when that information is available online. Data sets are solicited on a voluntary
      basis from National Metrology Institutes and accredited producers. Consideration
      of ease-of-use and ease-of-operation is a guiding principle in this database, as
      is cost management. 

PMID- 27619656
TI  - Characterization of the Authenticity of Pasta di Gragnano Protected Geographical
      Indication Through Flavor Component Analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass
      Spectrometry and Chemometric Tools.
AB  - An authentication study based on headspace solid-phase microextraction/GC-MS was
      performed with a set of 60 samples representative of traditional "Pasta di
      Gragnano protected geographical indication (PGI)" and the most common Italian
      pasta brands. Multivariate chemometric tools were used to classify the samples
      based on the chemical information provided from 20 target flavor compounds,
      including Maillard reaction and lipid oxidation products. Pattern recognition by
      principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis showed a natural
      grouping of samples according to the drying process adopted for their production
      (i.e., the traditional Cirillo method versus a high-temperature approach).
      Subsequently, soft independent modeling by class analogy (SIMCA) and unequal
      dispersed classes (UNEQ) were used to build class models at 95% confidence and
      100% sensitivity levels (forced models) for predictive classification purposes.
      The good performance obtained from the models in terms of cross-validation
      efficiency (SIMCA, 57.01%; UNEQ, 86.60%; 100% for both forced models) highlighted
      that targeted analysis of flavor profiles could be used to assess the
      authenticity of Pasta di Gragnano PGI samples. Hence, the proposed method may
      help to protect Pasta di Gragnano PGI from label frauds by verifying whether
      samples comply with statements concerning drying process conditions as stated in
      the product specification. 

PMID- 27619653
TI  - A Novel Risk Factor Associated With Colonization by Carbapenemase-Producing
      Enterobacteriaceae: Use of Proton Pump Inhibitors in Addition to Antimicrobial
      Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE To study the association between gastrointestinal colonization of
      carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and proton pump inhibitors
      (PPIs). METHODS We analyzed 31,526 patients with prospective collection of fecal
      specimens for CPE screening: upon admission (targeted screening) and during
      hospitalization (opportunistic screening, safety net screening, and extensive
      contact tracing), in our healthcare network with 3,200 beds from July 1, 2011,
      through December 31, 2015. Specimens were collected at least once weekly during
      hospitalization for CPE carriers and subjected to broth enrichment culture and
      multiplex polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Of 66,672 fecal specimens collected,
      345 specimens (0.5%) from 100 patients (0.3%) had CPE. The number and prevalence
      (per 100,000 patient-days) of CPE increased from 2 (0.3) in 2012 to 63 (8.0) in
      2015 (P<.001). Male sex (odds ratio, 1.91 [95% CI, 1.15-3.18], P=.013), presence
      of wound or drain (3.12 [1.70-5.71], P<.001), and use of cephalosporins (3.06
      [1.42-6.59], P=.004), carbapenems (2.21 [1.10-4.48], P=.027), and PPIs (2.84
      [1.72-4.71], P<.001) in the preceding 6 months were significant risk factors by
      multivariable analysis. Of 79 patients with serial fecal specimens, spontaneous
      clearance of CPE was noted in 57 (72.2%), with a median (range) of 30 (3-411)
      days. Comparing patients without use of antibiotics and PPIs, consumption of both
      antibiotics and PPIs after CPE identification was associated with later clearance
      of CPE (hazard ratio, 0.35 [95% CI, 0.17-0.73], P=.005). CONCLUSIONS Concomitant
      use of antibiotics and PPIs prolonged duration of gastrointestinal colonization
      by CPE. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1418-1425.

PMID- 27619657
TI  - Validation of the Biofish-300 HIS Enzymatic Biosensor for the Detection of
      Histamine in Fishery Products.
AB  - The Biofish-300 HIS method is a simple, reliable, and specific enzymatic
      biosensor for the detection of histamine. This technology is highly specific and
      selective and allows quantification of histamine in fishery products
      (fresh/frozen and processed) in a short time frame (2-3 min). Histamine in raw
      tuna, raw mackerel, raw sardine, raw anchovy, boiled tuna, canned tuna in water,
      canned tuna in oil, canned mackerel in tomato sauce, canned pickled sardine, and
      canned salted anchovy was analyzed using a water-based extract. Matrix-specific
      assay procedures and calibration curves were used to enable analyses to be
      carried out across multiple sample types. The performance of this assay was
      examined using samples that were naturally contaminated (reference materials and
      interlaboratory studies) and spiked with histamine. All data were judged against
      previously established acceptance criteria. Performance measures were evaluated
      for linearity, selectivity, matrix, lot consistency, and robustness. Results
      produced in all performance measures, except robustness, were within acceptable
      ranges. Out-of-range robustness results reflected deviation in sample volume
      compared to the standard assay procedures. Positive interferences from the
      presence of agmatine were shown. 

PMID- 27619659
TI  - Takotsubo syndrome in an elderly woman due to electrical cardioversion.

PMID- 27619658
TI  - Theta burst stimulation over premotor cortex in Parkinson's disease: an
      explorative study on manual dexterity.
AB  - Dorsal pre-motor cortex (PMd) is thought to play a role in fine motor control.
      The aim of the present study was to investigate whether inhibitory or excitatory
      stimulation of PMd would have an impact on manual dexterity in Parkinson's
      disease (PD). Fifteen patients with PD participated in this study. High
      resolution structural MRI was used for neuro-navigated TBS. Participants were
      targeted with one train of TBS in three experimental sessions: sham stimulation
      over vertex, continuous TBS (cTBS) over PMd and intermittent TBS (iTBS) over PMd,
      respectively. Dexterity was measured by a coin rotation task (CRT), which is a
      valid measure to detect limb kinetic apraxia (LKA). Neither cTBS or iTBS
      significantly interfered with CRT. Post hoc sub-analysis in a group of PD
      patients (n = 5) with stronger baseline impairment, indicating LKA, revealed
      further deterioration of dexterous performance for the cTBS condition (p = 0.04).
      This sham controlled pilot study demonstrates that TBS over PMd does not
      significantly interfere with dexterity in PD. However, patients with dexterous
      impairment qualifying for LKA may be more susceptible to TBS.

PMID- 27619660
TI  - The effect of lysophosphatidic acid on Toll-like receptor 4 expression and the
      nuclear factor-kappaB signaling pathway in THP-1 cells.
AB  - Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are major receptors that mediate the innate immune and
      inflammatory responses, of which TLR4 has been found most closely related to
      human atherosclerosis. After ligands are polymerized and activated by TLR, the
      mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathways
      are activated, leading to promotion of NF-kappaB-regulated transcription of
      inflammatory factors, thus playing a role in the physiological and pathological
      processes in atherosclerosis. Oxidized lipoproteins or their components, oxidized
      lipids, have been confirmed as endogenous TLR receptors. Lysophosphatidic acid
      (LPA) is an active component of low-density lipoprotein that induces vascular
      endothelial lesions. However, the mechanism of the TLR4/NF-kappaB signaling
      system involved in LPA-induced atherosclerosis has not been fully elucidated. In
      this study, we investigated the effects of LPA on TLR4 expression, nuclear
      translocation of NF-kappaB p65 subunit, and changes in the cytokine tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in human THP-1 cells. LPA upregulated
      expression of the TLR4 mRNA and protein in THP-1 cells in a dose- and time
      dependent manner, induced NF-kappaB p65 activation synchronously in THP-1 cells,
      and increased TNF-alpha secretion. After TLR4 was blocked using TLR4 monoclonal
      antibody, NF-kappaB p65 expression and TNF-alpha secretion were inhibited
      significantly. These data suggest that LPA can significantly upregulate TLR4
      expression and promote NF-kappaB activation and proinflammatory cytokine
      secretion in THP-1 cells; it is possible that the TLR4/NF-kappaB signaling
      pathway mediates the atherogenic effect of LPA.

PMID- 27619661
TI  - Expression of FADD and cFLIPL balances mitochondrial integrity and redox
      signaling to substantiate apoptotic cell death.
AB  - FADD and cFLIP both are pivotal components of death receptor signaling. The
      cellular signaling of apoptosis accomplished with death receptors and
      mitochondria follows independent pathways for cell death. FADD and cFLIP both
      have an important role in the regulation of apoptotic and non-apoptotic
      functions. Dysregulated expression of FADD and cFLIP is associated with
      resistance to apoptosis in cancer cells. Mitochondria are known to play critical
      role in maintaining cellular respiration and homeostasis in the cells as well as
      transduces various signals to determine the fate of cell death. However,
      involvement of FADD and cFLIP in regulation of mitochondrial integrity and
      programmed cell death signaling to define the fate of cells remains elusive. In
      the present study, we explored that, induced expression of FADD challenges the
      mitochondrial integrity and pulverizes the membrane potential by altering the
      expression of Bcl-2 and cytochrome c. In contrast, mutant of FADD was unable to
      affect the mitochondrial integrity. Interestingly, expression of FADD and cFLIP
      helps to balance redox potential by regulating the anti-oxidant levels. Further,
      we noticed that, knockdown of cFLIPL and induced expression of FADD rapidly
      accumulate intracellular ROS accompanied by JNK1 activation to substantiate
      apoptosis. Notably, the ectopic expression of cFLIPL resists the sensitivity of
      cancer cells against apoptosis inducers Etoposide and HA14-1. Altogether, our
      findings suggest that FADD and cFLIPL are important modulators of mitochondrial
      associated apoptosis apart from the death receptor signaling.

PMID- 27619662
TI  - The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway regulates the replicative senescence of human VSMCs.
AB  - Replicative senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) contributes to
      aging as well as age-related cardiovascular diseases. Rapamycin can delay the
      onset of aging-related diseases via inhibition of the mammalian target of
      rapamycin (mTOR), but its role in vascular aging remains elusive. This study
      investigated the involvement of mTOR signaling in replicative senescence of
      VSMCs. Replicative senescence was induced by the extended passages of human
      VSMCs. Aging-related cell morphology was observed. The aging-related proteins and
      enzyme activity, and oxidative stress were measured. Significant increase in SA
      beta-gal activity and protein expression, p53 and p16 protein expression,
      proliferation index (PI), malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity, and significant
      decrease in telomerase activity was observed in aging VSMCs compared to young
      cells. Significant activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling was observed in aging
      cells but not young cells. Pretreatment of VSMCs with PI3K inhibitor blocked
      while PI3K activator increased the changes of the above replicative senescence
      related parameters in VSMCs. Rapamycin and silencing of mTOR expression inhibited
      replicative senescence in VSMCs through decreasing the level of p-mTOR Ser2448, p
      mTOR Thr2446, and S6K1 phosphorylation. This study for the first time
      demonstrated that the PI3K/Akt/mTOR/S6K1 signal pathway plays an important role
      in regulating replicative senescence of human VSMCs.

PMID- 27619663
TI  - The Amount of spermatic cord rotation magnifies the timerelated orchidectomy risk
      in intravaginal testicular torsion.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the roles of age, testicular rotation and time in the
      surgical outcome of intravaginal testicular torsion (iTT). PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      We retrieved the records of all iTT patients treated in our unit from January
      2012 to January 2014. Explanatory variables were: age (years); presentation delay
      (PrD, time between symptoms and hospitalization); surgical delay (SurgD, time
      between hospitalization and surgery) and testicular rotation (rotation), with
      surgical outcome (orchidopexy, orchidectomy) as response variable. Differences in
      PrD, SurgD, age and rotation by surgical outcome were evaluated non
      parametrically. Stepdown logistic regression included age, PrD, SurgD and
      rotation as predictors. Statistical significance and confidence intervals (CI)
      were set at p<0.05 and 0.95. Odds ratios (OR) were computed from the model's
      coefficients. RESULTS: Complete variable information was available for 117
      patients, and most (61, 52.1%) underwent orchidectomy. Ages were similar between
      orchidectomy and orchidopexy patients (median 15.8 vs. 16.0 years, p=0.78). In
      contrast, PrD (85.0 vs. 8.4 hours, p<0.001), SurgD (3.0 vs. 16.0 hours, p<0.001)
      were different between orchidectomy and orchidopexy patients. SurgD was similar
      with PrD<24 hours (4.0 vs. 2.8, p=0.1). Orchidectomy patients had greater
      rotation (3.0pi vs. 2.0pi radians, p<0.001). Logistic regression revealed that
      PrD (OR 0.94; 0.92-0.97; p<0.001) and rotation (OR 0.43; 0.27-0.70; p<0.001) were
      inversely associated with orchidopexy. CONCLUSION: Testicular rotation exerts a
      multiplicative effect on PrD, so time should not be regarded as the sole
      predictor of surgical outcome in iTT.

PMID- 27619665
TI  - Prostate cancer screening in Brazil: should it be done or not?
AB  - The use of PSA in the screening, detection and prognosis of prostate cancer (PCa)
      has revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder with an increase
      in detection rates and PCa organ-confined. Despite these benefits and ease of
      implementation, tracking PCa remains a matter of great controversy. We conducted
      a literature review and demographic and epidemiological data in Brazil feeling to
      assess the current state of screening and whether there is justification for
      population programs. the diferences are valued between developed and
      underdeveloped countries as the incidence, mortality, screening and access to
      health. an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of screening is made as
      well as a critical analysis of existing studies on screening and some
      recommendations on a rational screening.

PMID- 27619666
TI  - Assessment of hormonal activity in patients with premature ejaculation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Premature ejaculation is considered the most common type of male sexual
      dysfunction. Hormonal controls of ejaculation have not been exactly elucidated.
      The aim of our study is to investigate the role of hormonal factors in patients
      with premature ejaculation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-three participants who
      consulted our outpatient clinics with complaints of premature ejaculation and 39
      healthy men as a control group selected from volunteers were included in the
      study. A total of 102 sexual active men aged between 21 and 76 years were
      included. Premature ejaculation diagnostic tool questionnaires were used to
      assessment of premature ejaculation. Serum levels of follicle stimulating
      hormone, luteinizing hormone, prolactin, total and free testosterone, thyroid
      stimulating hormone, free triiodothyronine and thyroxine were measured. RESULTS:
      Thyroid-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and prolactin levels were
      significantly lower in men with premature ejaculation according to premature
      ejaculation diagnostic tool (p=0.017, 0.007 and 0.007, respectively). Luteinizing
      hormone level (OR, 1.293; p=0.014) was found to be an independent risk factor for
      premature ejaculation. CONCLUSIONS: Luteinizing hormone, prolactin, and thyroid
      stimulating hormone levels are associated with premature ejaculation which was
      diagnosed by premature ejaculation diagnostic tool questionnaires. The
      relationship between these findings have to be determined by more extensive
      studies.

PMID- 27619671
TI  - Mountain day: isomorphism of mountaineering and science.

PMID- 27619669
TI  - No evidence for mitochondrial genetic variability in the largest population of
      critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in Vietnam.
AB  - The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus) with a global population
      of <250 is listed as critically endangered. It is endemic to northeastern Vietnam
      and was feared extinct until its rediscovery in 1989. The largest single
      population of R. avunculus consists of 125-130 individuals in an area of forest
      called Khau Ca in Ha Giang Province. We used non-invasively collected fecal
      samples to establish the amount of genetic diversity in this population based on
      mitochondrial information. We amplified and sequenced a 467- to 650-bp section of
      the hypervariable region I (HVI) of the mitochondrial D-loop for 201 samples and
      reconstructed the full mitochondrial genomes for five samples based on
      metagenomic data. All 201 HVI sequences were identical and no variability was
      found in the five mitochondrial genomes. Our results highlight the immediate need
      for a comprehensive assessment of the genetic diversity of all populations of R.
      avunculus based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers. The latter need to be
      developed for this species. 

PMID- 27619670
TI  - Genes, social transmission, but not maternal effects influence responses of wild
      Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to novel-object and novel-food tests.
AB  - Using long-term maternal pedigree data, microsatellite analysis, and behavioral
      tests, we examined whether personality differences in wild Japanese macaques
      (Macaca fuscata) are associated with additive genetic effects, maternal
      influences, or belonging to a particular social group. Behaviors elicited by
      novel-object tests were defined by a component related to caution around novel
      objects (Ob-PC1) and behaviors elicited by novel food-tests were defined by
      correlated components related to consummatory responses (Fo-PC1) and caution
      around novel foods (Fo-PC2). The repeatability of Ob-PC1 was modest and not
      significant; the repeatabilities of Fo-PC1 and Fo-PC2 were moderate and
      significant. Linear mixed effects models found that sex, age, sex * age,
      provisioning, trial number, date, time of day, season, and distance to the
      closest monkey were not related to personality. Linear mixed effects models of
      females older than 2 years found that high rank was associated with greater
      caution around novel objects. Linear models were used to determine whether sex,
      age, group membership, maternal kinship, or relatedness had independent effects
      on the personality similarity of dyads. These analyses found that pairs of
      macaques that lived in the same group were less similar in their caution around
      novel objects, more closely related pairs of macaques were more similar in their
      tendency to eat novel food, and that pairs of macaques in the same group were
      more similar in how cautious they were around novel foods. Together, these
      findings suggest that personality in this population of wild monkeys was driven
      by rank, genetic effects, and group effects, the latter possibly including the
      need to exploit different niches in the environment.

PMID- 27619673
TI  - What clinical characteristics and radiographic parameters are associated with
      patellofemoral instability after kinematically aligned total knee arthroplasty?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Thirteen patients presented with patellofemoral instability out of
      3212 knees treated with kinematically aligned total knee arthroplasty (KA TKA)
      during a nine year period. We determined the clinical characteristics and post
      operative radiographic parameters associated with patellofemoral instability, and
      whether re-operation and patient reported outcome measures are different between
      patients with and without patellofemoral instability. METHODS: Patients with
      patellofemoral instability were matched 1:3 to a control cohort based on date of
      surgery (+/-3 months), age (+/-10 years), sex, pre-operative knee deformity
      (varus or valgus), and implant brand. We analyzed clinical characteristics and
      seven post-operative radiographic parameters. RESULTS: Patellofemoral instability
      presented atraumatically (12 of 13) at 5 +/- 4.7 months for a 0.4 % incidence at
      a mean follow-up of 43 +/- 36 months. No pre-operative clinical characteristics
      were associated with instability. Patients with patellofemoral instability had
      greater flexion of the femoral component (11 degrees  versus 5 degrees ; p =
      0.0012), a trend toward greater external rotation of the tibial component (2
      degrees  versus 0 degrees ; p = 0.2704), more reoperations (9 versus 0; p =
      0.0026) and a lower Oxford Knee Score (36 versus 42; p = 0.0045) than controls.
      DISCUSSION: Patellofemoral instability after kinematically aligned TKA is
      infrequent, presents atraumatically, and is associated with greater flexion of
      the femoral component than the control group. CONCLUSION: Minimizing flexion of
      the femoral component might reduce the risk of patellofemoral instability by
      promoting early engagement of the patella in the trochlear during knee flexion.

PMID- 27619674
TI  - Development and evaluation of real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification
      assay for rapid detection of cystic echinococcosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatidosis, caused by the larval stage
      of Echinococcus granulosus (EG)-complex, is a neglected parasitic disease of
      public health importance. The disease is endemic in many African and
      Mediterranean countries including the Sudan. The objective of the present study
      was to develop and evaluate a real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification
      (LAMP) assay for simple and rapid detection of CE in humans and domestic live
      stock in Sudan. METHODS: A set of six LAMP primers, designed from the
      mitochondrial NADH-1 gene of EG cattle strain of genotype 5 (G5), was used as a
      target for LAMP assay. The assay was performed at a constant temperature (63 
      degrees C), with a real-time follow-up using a LightCycler and fluorochrome dye.
      Following amplification cycles in a simple water bath, LAMP products were
      observed for color change by naked eye and were visualized under UV light source
      using agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: The real-time LAMP assay identified a
      variety of hydatid cysts strains recovered in the Sudan, including Echinococcus
      canadenses (G6) and Echinococcus ortleppi (G5). Real-time LAMP positive results
      were detected by the presence of an amplification curve, whereas negative results
      were indicated by absence of fluorescence detection. Positive LAMP results
      appeared as a bluish-colored reaction as observed by naked eye, whereas negative
      LAMP results were observed as purple-colored reaction. The sensitivity studies
      indicated that the LAMP assay detected as little as a 10 fg of parasite DNA.
      There was 100 % agreement between results of the LAMP assay and our previously
      described nested PCR when testing 10-fold serial dilution of DNA extracted from
      EG-complex hydatid cyst. However, there was no cross-reactivity with other
      parasites including cysticercus bovis, Fasciola gigantica, and Schistosoma bovis
      and nucleic acid free samples. CONCLUSION: The developed LAMP assay would be
      expected to prove highly significant in epidemiological surveys of CE in
      developing countries or areas of resource-poor settings for both ease of use and
      cost.

PMID- 27619672
TI  - D-series resolvins inhibit murine abdominal aortic aneurysm formation and
      increase M2 macrophage polarization.
AB  - The role of resolvins in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has not been
      established. We hypothesized that treatment with D-series resolvins (RvD2 or
      RvD1) would attenuate murine AAA formation through alterations in macrophage
      polarization and cytokine expression. Male C57/B6 mice (n = 9 per group) 8 to 12
      wk old received RvD2 (100 ng/kg/treatment), RvD1 (100 ng/kg/treatment), or
      vehicle only every third day beginning 3 d before abdominal aortic perfusion with
      elastase as prevention. Aortas were collected 14 d after elastase perfusion.
      Cytokine analysis (n = 5 per group) or confocal microscopy (n = 4 per group) was
      performed. In a separate experiment, RvD2 was provided to mice with small AAAs 3
      d after elastase treatment (n = 8 per group). Additionally, apolipoprotein E
      knockout mice treated with angiotensin II (1000 ng/kg) were treated with RvD2 or
      vehicle alone (n = 10 per group) in a nonsurgical model of AAA. To determine the
      effect of RvD2 on macrophage polarization, confocal staining for macrophages, M1
      and M2 macrophage subtypes, alpha-actin, and DAPI was performed. Mean aortic
      dilation was 96 +/- 13% for vehicle-treated mice, 57 +/- 9.7% for RvD2-treated
      mice, and 61 +/- 11% for RvD1-treated mice (P < 0.0001). Proinflammatory
      cytokines macrophage chemotactic protein 1, C-X-C motif ligand 1, and IL-1beta
      were significantly elevated in control animals compared to RvD2- and RvD1-treated
      animals (P < 0.05), resulting in a reduction of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9
      activity in resolvin-treated mice in both elastase and angiotensin II models.
      Treatment of existing small AAAs with RvD2 demonstrated a 25% reduction in
      aneurysm size at d 14 compared to vehicle alone (P = 0.018). Confocal histology
      demonstrated a prevalence of M2 macrophages within the aortic medium in mice
      treated with RvD2. Resolvin D2 exhibits a potent protective effect against
      experimental AAA formation. Treatment with RvD2 significantly influences
      macrophage polarization and decreases several important proinflammatory
      cytokines. Resolvins and the alteration of macrophage polarization represent
      potential future targets for prevention of AAA.-Pope, N. H., Salmon, M., Davis,
      J. P., Chatterjee, A., Su, G., Conte, M. S., Ailawadi, G., Upchurch, G. R., Jr. D
      series resolvins inhibit murine abdominal aortic aneurysm formation and increase
      M2 macrophage polarization.

PMID- 27619675
TI  - Does native Trypanosoma cruzi calreticulin mediate growth inhibition of a mammary
      tumor during infection?
AB  - BACKGROUND: For several decades now an antagonism between Trypanosoma cruzi
      infection and tumor development has been detected. The molecular basis of this
      phenomenon remained basically unknown until our proposal that T. cruzi
      Calreticulin (TcCRT), an endoplasmic reticulum-resident chaperone, translocated
      externalized by the parasite, may mediate at least an important part of this
      effect. Thus, recombinant TcCRT (rTcCRT) has important in vivo antiangiogenic and
      antitumor activities. However, the relevant question whether the in vivo
      antitumor effect of T. cruzi infection is indeed mediated by the native chaperone
      (nTcCRT), remains open. Herein, by using specific modified anti-rTcCRT antibodies
      (Abs), we have neutralized the antitumor activity of T. cruzi infection and
      extracts thereof, thus identifying nTcCRT as a valid mediator of this effect.
      METHODS: Polyclonal anti-rTcCRT F(ab')2 Ab fragments were used to reverse the
      capacity of rTcCRT to inhibit EAhy926 endothelial cell (EC) proliferation, as
      detected by BrdU uptake. Using these F(ab')2 fragments, we also challenged the
      capacity of nTcCRT, during T. cruzi infection, to inhibit the growth of an
      aggressive mammary adenocarcinoma cell line (TA3-MTXR) in mice. Moreover, we
      determined the capacity of anti-rTcCRT Abs to reverse the antitumor effect of an
      epimastigote extract (EE). Finally, the effects of these treatments on tumor
      histology were evaluated. RESULTS: The rTcCRT capacity to inhibit ECs
      proliferation was reversed by anti-rTcCRT F(ab')2 Ab fragments, thus defining
      them as valid probes to interfere in vivo with this important TcCRT function.
      Consequently, during infection, these Ab fragments also reversed the in vivo
      experimental mammary tumor growth. Moreover, anti-rTcCRT Abs also neutralized the
      antitumor effect of an EE, again identifying the chaperone protein as an
      important mediator of this anti mammary tumor effect. Finally, as determined by
      conventional histological parameters, in infected animals and in those treated
      with EE, less invasive tumors were observed while, as expected, treatment with
      F(ab')2 Ab fragments increased malignancy. CONCLUSION: We have identified
      translocated/externalized nTcCRT as responsible for at least an important part of
      the anti mammary tumor effect of the chaperone observed during experimental
      infections with T. cruzi.

PMID- 27619676
TI  - MiR-106b promotes migration and invasion through enhancing EMT via downregulation
      of Smad 7 in Kazakh's esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Accumulated evidence suggests that miR-106b played a key role in the promotion of
      the metastases of cancer; however, little is known about miR-106b in esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). To investigate expression level of miR-106b in
      ESCC tissues, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used
      to detect miR-106b expression in 35 Kazakh's ESCC and paired normal adjacent
      tissues (NATs). To evaluate the role mediated by miR-106b in the proliferation,
      migration, and invasion, MTT, wound healing, and transwell assays were employed,
      respectively. Luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the downstream
      target through miR-106b. To understand the regulation between miR-106b and Smad
      7, qRT-PCR and western blot were performed. The present study showed that miR
      106b was pronouncedly upregulated in ESCC relative to paired NAT and that
      upregulated miR-106b was significantly associated with lymph node metastases. MiR
      106b was found to be able to promote proliferation, migration, and invasion of
      ESCC cells in vitro. Smad 7 was confirmed as a downstream target of miR-106b in
      our experimental setting. Smad 7 was remarkably downregulated in ESCC compared
      with paired NAT. In addition, upregulation of miR-106b can promote epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) in ESCC cell in vitro. Our results indicated that
      miR-106b can promote migration and invasion of ESCC cells through enhancing EMT
      process via downregulation of Smad 7, suggesting that miR-106b can be a potential
      molecular phenotype in ESCC metastases.

PMID- 27619677
TI  - miR-214 inhibits invasion and migration via downregulating GALNT7 in esophageal
      squamous cell cancer.
AB  - Previous studies verified that miR-214 is of great significance in the invasion
      and migration of a variety of cancers. It has been demonstrated that UDP-N-acetyl
      alpha-D-galactosamine:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 7(GALNT7) is
      a putative target of miR-214. We performed this study to figure out how miR-214
      and GALNT7 play their roles in the invasion and migration of esophageal squamous
      cell carcinoma (ESCC). The expression of miR-214 was significantly downregulated
      in tumors compared to the corresponding non-tumor tissues while GALNT7 showed an
      opposite tendency. The low expression of miR-214 and the high expression of
      GALNT7 were found positively correlated with poor tumor differentiation (P =
      0.004), tumor invasion (P = 0.013), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.012) in ESCC
      patients. Functional study demonstrated that overexpression of miR-214 or
      knockdown of GALNT7 could weaken invasive and migratory ability in Eca109, TE1,
      and KYSE150. Moreover, tumorigenicity assay showed us mice injected with cells
      containing miR-214 mimic or GALNT7 small interfering RNA formed substantially
      smaller tumors than that in miR-214 inhibitor group. Consequently, we concluded
      that miR-214 shows potential to be a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target in
      ESCC.

PMID- 27619678
TI  - High expression of TRIM44 is associated with enhanced cell proliferation,
      migration, invasion, and resistance to doxorubicin in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Dysregulation of TRIM44 has been reported to be involved in tumorigenesis, but
      its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. In the present study,
      we investigated the clinicopathological and biological significance of TRIM44 in
      HCC. We found that TRIM44 mRNA and protein expression was upregulated in HCC
      compared with matched normal tissues. Intriguingly, we also found that TRIM44
      expression was significantly correlated with tumor size (P < 0.001), vascular
      invasion (P < 0.001), intrahepatic metastasis (P < 0.001), distant metastasis (P
      < 0.001), and Ki-67 expression (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that
      high TRIM44 staining was significantly correlated with shorter overall survival
      (P < 0.001). TRIM44 was an independent predictor of overall survival in patients
      with HCC. Furthermore, we found that ectopic expression of TRIM44 could promote
      cell proliferation via accelerating the G1/S-phase transition in HCC. Moreover,
      overexpression of TRIM44 could enhance the invasive and migratory capacity of HCC
      cells. Meanwhile, we found that high expression of TRIM44 could enhance
      resistance of HCC cells to doxorubicin via accelerating NF-kappaB activation. In
      conclusion, our results suggest that TRIM44 may be a novel prognostic indicator
      and potential therapeutic target of HCC.

PMID- 27619680
TI  - Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells increase drug resistance in CD133
      expressing gastric cancer cells by regulating the PI3K/AKT pathway.
AB  - Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are recruited to primary
      tumours to compose the tumour microenvironment. In various cancers, CD133
      positive cells have been shown to possess cancer stem cell properties that confer
      chemoresistance. This study aimed to investigate the role of BM-MSCs in the anti
      tumour drug resistance of CD133-expressing gastric cancer cells and explore the
      underlying mechanisms that governing this role. We found that CD133+ gastric
      cancer cells displayed more resistance to chemotherapeutics than CD133- cells. In
      addition, BM-MSCs increased the anti-apoptotic abilities and chemoresistance of
      CD133+ cells via upregulation of Bcl-2 and downregulation of BAX.
      Mechanistically, BM-MSCs triggered activation of the PI3K/Akt signalling cascade
      in CD133+ cells. Blocking the PI3K/Akt pathway inhibited the promotion of
      chemoresistance. Furthermore, BM-MSCs enhanced the drug resistance of CD133
      overexpressing cells in vitro and in vivo, but not that of CD133-knockdown cells,
      which demonstrated the contribution of CD133 to this process. In conclusion, we
      demonstrated that BM-MSCs increased the anti-apoptotic abilities and drug
      resistance of CD133-expressing cells via activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway
      following Bcl-2 upregulation and BAX downregulation, in which CD133 played a
      significant role. Targeting this route may help improve the efficacy of
      chemotherapy in gastric cancer.

PMID- 27619679
TI  - U/G SNP rs111904020 in 3'UTR of STAT3 regulated by miR-214 promotes
      hepatocellular carcinoma development in Chinese population.
AB  - STAT3 is an oncogene which mainly capable of regulating various biological
      characters by its transcriptional factor features driving thousands of genes.
      However, its upstream noncoding RNA-related regulations still remain unknown. In
      this study, we focused on the microRNA (miRNA)-associated single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 3' unstranslated region (UTR) of STAT3 to investigate
      the further relationship of the SNPs with miRNAs among Chinese patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We found that patients suffering from HBV
      infection indicated to be the susceptible population by comparing with controls.
      Besides, SNP rs111904020 (U/G) in STAT3, 3'UTR was involved in the occurrence of
      HCC by acting as tumor promoter factors. SNP rs111904020 (U/G) could be regulated
      by miR-214 which caused an upregulation of STAT3. Furthermore, the carriers of G
      genotype was related to high expression of STAT3, and larger tumor size as well
      as high probability of metastasis. Moreover, the SNP of U/G was associated with
      poor survival and high reoccurrence of HCC with a 5-year follow-up study. In
      conclusion, our findings have shown that the SNP rs111904020 (U/G) in STAT3 3'UTR
      acted as promotion factors in the HCC development through disrupting the
      regulatory role of miR-214 in STAT3 expression.

PMID- 27619681
TI  - MiR-429 is linked to metastasis and poor prognosis in renal cell carcinoma by
      affecting epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been proven to be important oncogenes and tumor
      suppressors in wide range of cancers, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In
      our study, we evaluated miRNA-429 as potential diagnostic/prognostic biomarker in
      172 clear cell RCC patients and as a potential regulator of epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro. We demonstrated that miR-429 is down
      regulated in tumor tissue samples (P < 0.0001) and is significantly associated
      with cancer metastasis (P < 0.0001), shorter disease-free (P = 0.0105), and
      overall survival (P = 0.0020). In addition, ectopic expression of miR-429 in 786
      0 RCC cells followed by TGF-beta treatment led to increase in the levels of E
      cadherin expression (P < 0.0001) and suppression of cellular migration (P <
      0.0001) in comparison to TGF-beta-treated controls. Taken together, our findings
      suggest that miR-429 may serve as promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker
      in RCC patients. We further suggest that miR-429 has a capacity to inhibit loss
      of E-cadherin in RCC cells undergoing EMT and consequently attenuate their
      motility.

PMID- 27619682
TI  - Determination of a CD4+CD25-FoxP3+ T cells subset in tumor-draining lymph nodes
      of colorectal cancer secreting IL-2 and IFN-gamma.
AB  - CD4+CD25-FoxP3+ cells are a newly recognized subset of T cells which was first
      reported in autoimmune diseases. In our previous study, this subset was detected
      in tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) of patients with breast cancer. As little
      is known about their function in TDLNs of cancer patients, in this study, their
      frequency as well as their ability to produce interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10, or
      interferon (IFN)-gamma were investigated in TDLNs of colorectal cancer (CRC)
      patients. Mononuclear cells were isolated from lymph nodes of 13 patients with
      CRC using Ficoll-Hypaque gradient centrifugation. Cells were stimulated in vitro
      and stained with CD25, CD4, FoxP3, IFN-gamma, IL-10, and IL-2 or isotype matched
      antibodies and subjected to flow cytometry. The frequency of CD4+CD25
      FoxP3+CD127dim/- cells was significantly lower than CD4+CD25+FoxP3+CD127dim/-
      population in TDLNs of CRC patients. The percentage of CD127dim/- cells and also
      the MFI of FoxP3 expression was significantly lower in CD4+CD25-FoxP3+ in
      comparison with CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ population. Moreover, CD4+CD25-FoxP3+ cells
      contained higher percentages of IL-2- and IFN-gamma-producing cells than
      CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ subpopulation. But, no difference was seen between two subsets in
      terms of IL-10 production. CD4+CD25-FoxP3+ cells in TDLNs of CRC patients had
      lower suppressive and higher effector properties in comparison with
      CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ conventional regulatory T cells.

PMID- 27619683
TI  - How common is ballooning? Hiatal area on 3D transperineal ultrasound in
      urogynecological patients and its association with lower urinary tract symptoms.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic floor ultrasound plays a major role in urogynecologic
      diagnostics. Using 3D ultrasound we can identify integrity of levator ani and
      measure hiatal area in the axial plane. The main goal of our study was to measure
      hiatal area on Valsalva in a cohort of urogynecological patients. Furthermore, we
      aimed to correlate hiatal area with urogynecological symptoms, levator integrity
      and evaluate cut-off values for pelvic organ prolapse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      a retrospective analysis, we included 246 patients seen for urogynecological
      problems in our tertiary urogynecological unit. After a standardized interview
      and physical examination, a 3D pelvic floor ultrasound was performed. According
      to the cardinal urogynecological symptoms and signs, patients were categorized
      into three groups: pelvic organ prolapse, stress urinary incontinence and
      overactive bladder symptoms. RESULTS: Median age of our study population was 66
      (range 29-94) years, median parity was 2.1 (range 0-9) with 17 (6.9 %)
      nulliparous women. Symptoms of overactive bladder in 71.1 % were most common,
      followed by 54.5 % symptoms of stress incontinence and 32.1 % symptoms of
      prolapse. On examination 49.2 % showed signs of prolapse. Levator avulsions on 3D
      ultrasound were detected in 20.7 %. Hiatal area was normally distributed with a
      median of 28.7 cm2 (range 10.4-50.0 cm2). Patients with levator avulsion had a
      significantly larger hiatal area (p < 0.001). Also patients with signs of
      prolapse had a significantly larger hiatal area (p < 0.001). There was no
      correlation between hiatal area and symptoms of overactive bladder (p = 0.374).
      Although not reaching statistical significance there was evidence of a smaller
      hiatal area for patients with stress incontinence (p = 0.016). In our cohort
      there were 33.7 % (83) women without ballooning, 27.2 % (67) showed mild, 18.3 %
      (45) moderate, 12.3 % (30) marked and 8.5 % (21) severe ballooning. The ROC curve
      analysis for hiatal area on patients with prolapse yielded an AUC of 0.755 [95 %
      CI (0.696-0.814)]. Using the Youden-Index we obtained 27.53 cm2 as a cut-off with
      a sensitivity of 0.70 and a specificity of 0.69. DISCUSSION: Hiatal area is a new
      repeatable diagnostic parameter. Its clinical application could improve our
      understanding of the pathophysiology of pelvic organ prolapse as a form of hiatal
      hernia.

PMID- 27619684
TI  - Questions concerning "Polymicrobial Gardnerella biofilm resists repeated
      intravaginal antiseptic treatment in a subset of women with bacterial vaginosis:
      a preliminary report".

PMID- 27619685
TI  - Association of MBL2 exon1 polymorphisms with high-risk human papillomavirus
      infection and cervical cancers: a meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection is the main known
      cause of cervical cancer. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a recognition molecule
      that mediates phagocytosis and activates complement. METHODS: We performed a meta
      analysis to investigate the association of MBL-2 functional polymorphisms with
      HPV infection and cervical cancer (CC). RESULTS: The meta-analyses indicated an
      association between the MBL2 exon 1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to HPV
      infection in the recessive model (OO vs. AA + AO, p = 0.042, 95 % CI 1.02-3.15),
      and O/O vs. A/A mode (P = 0.023, 95 % CI 1.10-3.40) in Caucasian. Meanwhile,
      there was a significant association between MBL2 exon 1 polymorphisms and
      cervical cancer risk in AO vs. AA model (p = 0.035, 95 % CI 1.03-2.26), and
      Allelic model (O vs. A, p = 0.022, 95 % CI 1.05-1.96) as compared to HR-HPV
      infected patients with CC vs. healthy controls in Caucasian. In addition, no an
      association was observed between MBL2 -550 H/L and -221 X/Y polymorphisms and HPV
      infection among Caucasians, but we found an association between the MBL2 -550 H/L
      polymorphism and susceptibility to HR-HPV infection in recessive model (HH vs. LL
      + LH, p = 0.003, 95 % CI 1.18-2.23), HH vs. LL model (p = 0.021, 95 % CI 1.07
      2.19), and allelic model(H vs. L, p = 0.042, 95 % CI 1.01-1.40) in Asians.
      CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, we suggest that the MBL2 gene exon1 polymorphisms are
      associated with increased risk of high-risk HPV infection and cervical cancer
      development among Caucasians. Additionally, no significant association was found
      between the MBL2 -550 H/L or -221 X/Y polymorphisms and HPV infection in
      Caucasians, but there may be potential links in Asians.

PMID- 27619686
TI  - The negative conversion of high-risk human papillomavirus and its performance in
      surveillance of cervical cancer after treatment: a retrospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the negative conversion regularity of high-risk human
      papillomavirus (HR-HPV) and to evaluate the prognostic implications of HR-HPV
      testing in patients with cervical cancer after treatment. METHODS: A
      retrospective post-treatment analysis of 173 patients with cervical cancer was
      performed from January 2011 to December 2012. Patients who had HR-HPV infection
      before treatment were included. Clinical and pathological characteristics, as
      well as follow-up information, were reviewed. RESULTS: The negative conversion
      rate of HR-HPV reached 68.9 % within half a year and increased most rapidly
      within the first 2 years after treatment. Univariate and multivariate analyses
      suggested that the negative conversion rate of HR-HPV was significantly
      correlated with clinical stage, treatment regimens, and HR-HPV type (P < 0.05).
      In our analysis of 173 patients, we found that HR-HPV status was predictive of 3
      year survival rate and disease recurrence (P < 0.05). Pelvic recurrence, but not
      distant metastasis, was influenced by HR-HPV status (P < 0.05). Through 2 * 2
      table analysis, we found that HR-HPV was more sensitive (71.43 %) and specific
      (94.20 %) than cervical cytology (sensitivity 62.86 % and specificity 78.26 %).
      CONCLUSIONS: The negative conversion rate of HR-HPV increased most rapidly within
      the first 2 years of cervical cancer surveillance. Persistent HPV infection was
      associated with a poor prognosis and had an impact on recurrence sites. Further
      large and multi-center prospective studies should be performed, but these results
      of this study suggested that HR-HPV monitoring is necessary to be used as a means
      of cervical cancer surveillance.

PMID- 27619687
TI  - VEGF-A/VEGFR2 signaling network in endothelial cells relevant to angiogenesis.
AB  - Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is essential for endothelial cell
      functions associated with angiogenesis. Signal transduction networks initiated by
      VEGFA/VEGFR2, the most prominent ligand-receptor complex in the VEGF system,
      leads to endothelial cell proliferation, migration, survival and new vessel
      formation involved in angiogenesis. Considering its biomedical importance, we
      have developed the first comprehensive map of endothelial cell-specific signaling
      events of VEGFA/VEGFR2 system pertaining to angiogenesis. Screening over 20,000
      published research articles and following the post-translational modification
      (PTM) and site specificity of VEGFR2, we have documented 240 proteins and their
      diverse PTM-dependent reactions involved in VEGFA/VEGFR2 signal transduction.
      From the ligand-receptor complex, this map has been extended to the level of
      major transcriptionally regulated genes for which the signaling cascades leading
      to their transcription factors are reported. We believe that this map would serve
      as a novel platform for reference, integration, and representation and more
      significantly, the progressive analysis of dynamic features of VEGF signaling in
      endothelial cells including their cross-talks with other ligand-receptor systems
      involved in angiogenesis.

PMID- 27619688
TI  - Temporal and spatial variations of radioactive cesium levels in Northeast Japan
      following the Fukushima nuclear accident.
AB  - Radioactive emissions into the environment from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
      Power Plant accident led to global contamination. Radionuclides such as 131I,
      134Cs, and 137Cs were further transported to North America and Europe. Thus, the
      Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident is a global concern for both human
      health and the ecosystem because a number of countries ban or impose restrictions
      the import of Japanese products. In the present study, three-year (May 2011 to
      May 2014) fluctuations and accumulations of Cs, 134Cs, and 137Cs in two salmonid
      fish, white-spotted char and masu salmon were examined in Northeast Japan. The
      total Cs, 134Cs, and 137Cs levels in the fish gradually decreased throughout the
      three-year studied period after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
      accident; however, higher levels (more than 100 Bq kg-1) were still detected in
      the Fukushima prefecture and neighboring prefectures in Japan 3 years after the
      Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Spatial radiocesium levels
      gradually decreased with increasing distance from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
      Power Plant (Fukushima prefecture). The radiocesium levels facing the Pacific
      Ocean area were generally higher than those facing the Sea of Japan area. These
      results suggest that radionuclides from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are
      still widely distributed and remain in the natural environment in Northeast
      Japan.

PMID- 27619689
TI  - Predicting plant uptake of cadmium: validated with long-term contaminated soils.
AB  - Cadmium accumulates in plant tissues at low soil loadings and is a concern for
      human health. Yet at higher levels it is also of concern for ecological
      receptors. We determined Cd partitioning constants for 41 soils to examine the
      role of soil properties controlling Cd partitioning and plant uptake. From a
      series of sorption and dose response studies, transfer functions were developed
      for predicting Cd uptake in Cucumis sativa L. (cucumber). The parameter log Kf
      was predicted with soil pHca, logCEC and log OC. Transfer of soil pore-water Cd2+
      to shoots was described with a power function (R 2 = 0.73). The dataset was
      validated with 13 long-term contaminated soils (plus 2 control soils) ranging in
      Cd concentration from 0.2 to 300 mg kg-1. The series of equations predicting
      Cdshoot from pore-water Cd2+ were able to predict the measured data in the
      independent dataset (root mean square error = 2.2). The good relationship
      indicated that Cd uptake to cucumber shoots could be predicted with Cdpore and
      Cd2+ without other pore-water parameters such as pH or Ca2+. The approach may be
      adapted to a range of plant species.

PMID- 27619690
TI  - Optimized holographic femtosecond laser patterning method towards rapid
      integration of high-quality functional devices in microchannels.
AB  - Rapid integration of high-quality functional devices in microchannels is in
      highly demand for miniature lab-on-a-chip applications. This paper demonstrates
      the embellishment of existing microfluidic devices with integrated micropatterns
      via femtosecond laser MRAF-based holographic patterning (MHP) microfabrication,
      which proves two-photon polymerization (TPP) based on spatial light modulator
      (SLM) to be a rapid and powerful technology for chip functionalization. Optimized
      mixed region amplitude freedom (MRAF) algorithm has been used to generate high
      quality shaped focus field. Base on the optimized parameters, a single-exposure
      approach is developed to fabricate 200 * 200 MUm microstructure arrays in less
      than 240 ms. Moreover, microtraps, QR code and letters are integrated into a
      microdevice by the advanced method for particles capture and device
      identification. These results indicate that such a holographic laser
      embellishment of microfluidic devices is simple, flexible and easy to access,
      which has great potential in lab-on-a-chip applications of biological culture,
      chemical analyses and optofluidic devices.

PMID- 27619691
TI  - Early Recognition and Treatment of Sepsis After the Addition of Lactate to the
      Laboratory's Critical Result Call List.
AB  - PURPOSE: Screening of patients with sepsis is needed to increase recognition and
      allow for earlier interventions. There is no consensus on whether the addition of
      lactate to the critical result laboratory's call list should be a standard
      practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study that
      compared management and outcomes of patients with sepsis having lactate >=4
      mmol/L before (group 1) and after (group 2) the addition of a critical result
      threshold of lactate of >=4 mmol/L to the critical result laboratory's call list
      and its effects on time to antibiotics and intravenous fluids (IVFs). RESULTS:
      One hundred twenty-one patients were included. Lactate was higher in group 1 (7.0
      +/- 4.3 vs 5.6 +/- 2.0, P = 0.03). More patients in group 2 received
      hydrocortisone (1.9% vs 22.4%, P = .001). Hospital mortality, 30-day mortality,
      and 90-day mortality were significantly lower in group 2 (59.3% vs 32.8%, P =
      .003; 68.5% vs 37.3%, P <= .001; 68.5% vs 41.8%, P = .002). There were no
      significant differences in total volume of IVFs (2400.8 +/- 1720.0 vs 2483.7 +/-
      2155.7, P = 0.83), time to start IVFs (184.0 +/- 283.2 vs 115.6 +/- 190.5, P =
      0.27), or antibiotics (184.8 +/- 187.1 vs 133.7 +/- 137.4, P = 0.16). CONCLUSION:
      Addition of lactate to the critical result laboratory's call list did not lead to
      a statistically significant improvement in time to IVFs or antibiotics, although
      the average time to antibiotics and IVFs decreased by 51.1 and 68.4 minutes,
      respectively. Hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, and 90-day mortality were
      lower in group 2, which may be, in part, due to increased recognition of severe
      sepsis by critical result notification and earlier intervention.

PMID- 27619692
TI  - Steady at the wheel: conservative sex and the benefits of bacterial
      transformation.
AB  - Many bacteria are highly sexual, but the reasons for their promiscuity remain
      obscure. Did bacterial sex evolve to maximize diversity and facilitate adaptation
      in a changing world, or does it instead help to retain the bacterial functions
      that work right now? In other words, is bacterial sex innovative or conservative?
      Our aim in this review is to integrate experimental, bioinformatic and
      theoretical studies to critically evaluate these alternatives, with a main focus
      on natural genetic transformation, the bacterial equivalent of eukaryotic sexual
      reproduction. First, we provide a general overview of several hypotheses that
      have been put forward to explain the evolution of transformation. Next, we
      synthesize a large body of evidence highlighting the numerous passive and active
      barriers to transformation that have evolved to protect bacteria from foreign
      DNA, thereby increasing the likelihood that transformation takes place among
      clonemates. Our critical review of the existing literature provides support for
      the view that bacterial transformation is maintained as a means of genomic
      conservation that provides direct benefits to both individual bacterial cells and
      to transformable bacterial populations. We examine the generality of this view
      across bacteria and contrast this explanation with the different evolutionary
      roles proposed to maintain sex in eukaryotes. This article is part of the themed
      issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619693
TI  - Sex in a test tube: testing the benefits of in vitro recombination.
AB  - The origin and evolution of sex, and the associated role of recombination,
      present a major problem in biology. Sex typically involves recombination of
      closely related DNA or RNA sequences, which is fundamentally a random process
      that creates but also breaks up beneficial allele combinations. Directed
      evolution experiments, which combine in vitro mutation and recombination
      protocols with in vitro or in vivo selection, have proved to be an effective
      approach for improving functionality of nucleic acids and enzymes. As this
      approach allows extreme control over evolutionary conditions and parameters, it
      also facilitates the detection of small or position-specific recombination
      benefits and benefits associated with recombination between highly divergent
      genotypes. Yet, in vitro approaches have been largely exploratory and motivated
      by obtaining improved end products rather than testing hypotheses of
      recombination benefits. Here, we review the various experimental systems and
      approaches used by in vitro studies of recombination, discuss what they say about
      the evolutionary role of recombination, and sketch their potential for addressing
      extant questions about the evolutionary role of sex and recombination, in
      particular on complex fitness landscapes. We also review recent insights into the
      role of 'extracellular recombination' during the origin of life.This article is
      part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual
      reproduction'.

PMID- 27619694
TI  - What can we infer about the origin of sex in early eukaryotes?
AB  - Current analysis shows that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) was
      capable of full meiotic sex. The original eukaryotic life cycle can probably be
      described as clonal, interrupted by episodic sex triggered by external or
      internal stressors. The cycle could have started in a highly flexible form, with
      the interruption of either diploid or haploid clonal growth determined by stress
      signals only. Eukaryotic sex most likely evolved in response to a high mutation
      rate, arising from the uptake of the endosymbiont, as this (proto) mitochondrion
      generated internal reactive oxygen species. This is consistent with the likely
      development of full meiotic sex from a diverse set of existing archaeal (the host
      of the endosymbiont) repair and signalling mechanisms. Meiotic sex could thus
      have been one of the fruits of symbiogenesis at the basis of eukaryotic origins:
      a product of the merger by which eukaryotic cells arose. Symbiogenesis also
      explains the large-scale migration of organellar DNA to the nucleus. I also
      discuss aspects of uniparental mitochondrial inheritance and mitonuclear
      interactions in the light of the previous analysis.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619695
TI  - Gamete signalling underlies the evolution of mating types and their number.
AB  - The gametes of unicellular eukaryotes are morphologically identical, but are
      nonetheless divided into distinct mating types. The number of mating types varies
      enormously and can reach several thousand, yet most species have only two. Why do
      morphologically identical gametes need to be differentiated into self
      incompatible mating types, and why is two the most common number of mating types?
      In this work, we explore a neglected hypothesis that there is a need for
      asymmetric signalling interactions between mating partners. Our review shows that
      isogamous gametes always interact asymmetrically throughout sex and argue that
      this asymmetry is favoured because it enhances the efficiency of the mating
      process. We further develop a simple mathematical model that allows us to study
      the evolution of the number of mating types based on the strength of signalling
      interactions between gametes. Novel mating types have an advantage as they are
      compatible with all others and rarely meet their own type. But if existing mating
      types coevolve to have strong mutual interactions, this restricts the spread of
      novel types. Similarly, coevolution is likely to drive out less attractive mating
      types. These countervailing forces specify the number of mating types that are
      evolutionarily stable.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the
      underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619697
TI  - Unholy marriages and eternal triangles: how competition in the mushroom life
      cycle can lead to genomic conflict.
AB  - In the vast majority of sexual life cycles, fusion between single-celled gametes
      is directly followed by nuclear fusion, leading to a diploid zygote and a
      lifelong commitment between two haploid genomes. Mushroom-forming basidiomycetes
      differ in two key respects. First, the multicellular haploid mating partners are
      fertilized in their entirety, each cell being a gamete that simultaneously can
      behave as a female, i.e. contributing the cytoplasm to a zygote by accepting
      nuclei, and a male gamete, i.e. only donating nuclei to the zygote. Second, after
      gamete union, the two haploid genomes remain separate so that the main vegetative
      stage, the dikaryon, has two haploid nuclei per cell. Only when the dikaryon
      produces mushrooms, do the nuclei fuse to enter a short diploid stage,
      immediately followed by meiosis and haploid spore formation. So in
      basidiomycetes, gamete fusion and genome mixing (sex) are separated in time. The
      'living apart together' of nuclei in the dikaryon maintains some autonomy for
      nuclei to engage in a relationship with a different nucleus. We show that
      competition among the two nuclei of the dikaryon for such 'extramarital affairs'
      may lead to genomic conflict by favouring genes beneficial at the level of the
      nucleus, but deleterious at that of the dikaryon.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619696
TI  - What do isogamous organisms teach us about sex and the two sexes?
AB  - Isogamy is a reproductive system where all gametes are morphologically similar,
      especially in terms of size. Its importance goes beyond specific cases: to this
      day non-anisogamous systems are common outside of multicellular animals and
      plants, they can be found in all eukaryotic super-groups, and anisogamous
      organisms appear to have isogamous ancestors. Furthermore, because maleness is
      synonymous with the production of small gametes, an explanation for the initial
      origin of males and females is synonymous with understanding the transition from
      isogamy to anisogamy. As we show here, this transition may also be crucial for
      understanding why sex itself remains common even in taxa with high costs of male
      production (the twofold cost of sex). The transition to anisogamy implies the
      origin of male and female sexes, kickstarts the subsequent evolution of sex
      roles, and has a major impact on the costliness of sexual reproduction. Finally,
      we combine some of the consequences of isogamy and anisogamy in a thought
      experiment on the maintenance of sexual reproduction. We ask what happens if
      there is a less than twofold benefit to sex (not an unlikely scenario as large
      short-term benefits have proved difficult to find), and argue that this could
      lead to a situation where lineages that evolve anisogamy-and thus the highest
      costs of sex-end up being associated with constraints that make invasion by
      asexual reproduction unlikely (the 'anisogamy gateway' hypothesis).This article
      is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual
      reproduction'.

PMID- 27619698
TI  - Androgenesis: where males hijack eggs to clone themselves.
AB  - Androgenesis is a form of quasi-sexual reproduction in which a male is the sole
      source of the nuclear genetic material in the embryo. Two types of androgenesis
      occur in nature. Under the first type, females produce eggs without a nucleus and
      the embryo develops from the male gamete following fertilization. Evolution of
      this type of androgenesis is poorly understood as the parent responsible for
      androgenesis (the mother) gains no benefit from it. Ultimate factors driving the
      evolution of the second type of androgenesis are better understood. In this case,
      a zygote is formed between a male and a female gamete, but the female genome is
      eliminated. When rare, androgenesis with genome elimination is favoured because
      an androgenesis-determining allele has twice the reproductive success of an
      allele that determines sexual reproduction. Paradoxically, except in
      hermaphrodites, a successful androgenetic strain can drive such a male-biased sex
      ratio that the population goes extinct. This likely explains why androgenesis
      with genome elimination appears to be rarer than androgenesis via non-nucleate
      eggs, although both forms are either very rare or remain largely undetected in
      nature. Nonetheless, some highly invasive species including ants and freshwater
      clams are androgenetic, for reasons that are largely unexplained.This article is
      part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual
      reproduction'.

PMID- 27619699
TI  - Living together and living apart: the sexual lives of bryophytes.
AB  - Haploid gametophytes of bryophytes spread by clonal growth but mate locally,
      within an area defined by the range of sperm movement. Rarity of establishment
      from spores or vegetative competition can result in unisexual populations unable
      to reproduce sexually. Females typically outcompete males, probably because
      females expend fewer resources than males on the production of gametes. Extreme
      sexual dimorphism-tiny males growing as epiphytes on much larger females-has
      evolved many times. Haploid selfing is common in bryophytes with bisexual
      gametophytes, and results in completely homozygous sporophytes. Spores from these
      sporophytes recapitulate the genotype of their single haploid parent. This
      process can be considered analogous to 'asexual' reproduction with 'sexual'
      reproduction occurring after rare outcrossing between haploid parents. Ferns also
      produce bisexual haploid gametophytes but, unlike bryophytes, haploid outcrossing
      predominates over haploid selfing. This difference is probably related to clonal
      growth and vegetative competition occurring in the haploid but not the diploid
      phase in bryophytes, but the reverse in ferns. Ferns are thereby subject to
      stronger inbreeding depression than bryophytes.This article is part of the themed
      issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619700
TI  - Diapause and maintenance of facultative sexual reproductive strategies.
AB  - Facultative sex combines sexual and asexual reproduction in the same individual
      (or clone) and allows for a large diversity of life-history patterns regarding
      the timing, frequency and intensity of sexual episodes. In addition, other life
      history traits such as a diapause stage may become linked to sex. Here, we
      develop a matrix modelling framework for addressing the cost of sex in
      facultative sexuals, in constant, periodic and stochastically fluctuating
      environments. The model is parametrized using life-history data from Brachionus
      calyciflorus, a facultative sexual rotifer in which sex and diapause are linked.
      Sexual propensity was an important driver of costs in constant environments, in
      which high costs (always > onefold, and sometimes > twofold) indicated that
      asexuals should outcompete facultative sexuals. By contrast, stochastic
      environments with high temporal autocorrelation favoured facultative sex over
      obligate asex, in particular, if the penalty to fecundity in 'bad' environments
      was large. In such environments, obligate asexuals were constrained by their life
      cycle length (i.e. time from birth to last reproductive adult age class), which
      determined an upper limit to the number of consecutive bad periods they could
      tolerate. Nevertheless, when facultative asexuals with different sexual
      propensities competed simultaneously against each other and asex, the lowest sex
      propensity was the most successful in stochastic environments with positive
      autocorrelation. Our results suggest that a highly specific mechanism (i.e.
      diapause linked to sex) can alone stabilize facultative sex in these animals, and
      protect it from invasion of both asexual and pure sexual strategies.This article
      is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual
      reproduction'.

PMID- 27619701
TI  - What does the geography of parthenogenesis teach us about sex?
AB  - Theory predicts that sexual reproduction is difficult to maintain if asexuality
      is an option, yet sex is very common. To understand why, it is important to pay
      attention to repeatably occurring conditions that favour transitions to, or
      persistence of, asexuality. Geographic parthenogenesis is a term that has been
      applied to describe a large variety of patterns where sexual and related asexual
      forms differ in their geographic distribution. Often asexuality is stated to
      occur in a habitat that is, in some sense, marginal, but the interpretation
      differs across studies: parthenogens might not only predominate near the margin
      of the sexuals' distribution, but might also extend far beyond the sexual range;
      they may be disproportionately found in newly colonizable areas (e.g. areas
      previously glaciated), or in habitats where abiotic selection pressures are
      relatively stronger than biotic ones (e.g. cold, dry). Here, we review the
      various patterns proposed in the literature, the hypotheses put forward to
      explain them, and the assumptions they rely on. Surprisingly, few mathematical
      models consider geographic parthenogenesis as their focal question, but all
      models for the evolution of sex could be evaluated in this framework if the
      (often ecological) causal factors vary predictably with geography. We also
      recommend broadening the taxa studied beyond the traditional favourites.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of
      sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619702
TI  - Condition-dependent sex: who does it, when and why?
AB  - We review the phenomenon of condition-dependent sex-where individuals' condition
      affects the likelihood that they will reproduce sexually rather than asexually.
      In recent years, condition-dependent sex has been studied both theoretically and
      empirically. Empirical results in microbes, fungi and plants support the
      theoretical prediction that negative condition-dependent sex, in which
      individuals in poor condition are more likely to reproduce sexually, can be
      evolutionarily advantageous under a wide range of settings. Here, we review the
      evidence for condition-dependent sex and its potential implications for the long
      term survival and adaptability of populations. We conclude by asking why
      condition-dependent sex is not more commonly observed, and by considering
      generalizations of condition-dependent sex that might apply even for obligate
      sexuals.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated
      diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619703
TI  - The frequency of sex in fungi.
AB  - Fungi are a diverse group of organisms with a huge variation in reproductive
      strategy. While almost all species can reproduce sexually, many reproduce
      asexually most of the time. When sexual reproduction does occur, large variation
      exists in the amount of in- and out-breeding. While budding yeast is expected to
      outcross only once every 10 000 generations, other fungi are obligate outcrossers
      with well-mixed panmictic populations. In this review, we give an overview of the
      costs and benefits of sexual and asexual reproduction in fungi, and the
      mechanisms that evolved in fungi to reduce the costs of either mode. The
      proximate molecular mechanisms potentiating outcrossing and meiosis appear to be
      present in nearly all fungi, making them of little use for predicting outcrossing
      rates, but also suggesting the absence of true ancient asexual lineages. We
      review how population genetic methods can be used to estimate the frequency of
      sex in fungi and provide empirical data that support a mixed mode of reproduction
      in many species with rare to frequent sex in between rounds of mitotic
      reproduction. Finally, we highlight how these estimates might be affected by the
      fungus-specific mechanisms that evolved to reduce the costs of sexual and asexual
      reproduction.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the
      underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619704
TI  - Sexual selection in hermaphrodites, sperm and broadcast spawners, plants and
      fungi.
AB  - Darwin was the first to recognize that sexual selection is a strong evolutionary
      force. Exaggerated traits allow same-sex individuals to compete over access to
      mates and provide a mechanism by which mates are selected. It is relatively easy
      to appreciate how inter- and intrasexual selection work in organisms with the
      sensory capabilities to perceive physical or behavioural traits that signal mate
      quality or mate compatibility, and to assess the relative quality of competitors.
      It is therefore not surprising that most studies of sexual selection have focused
      on animals with separate sexes and obvious adaptations that function in the
      context of reproductive competition. Yet, many sexual organisms are both male and
      female at the same time, often lack sexual dimorphism and never come into direct
      contact at mating. How does sexual selection act in such species, and what can we
      learn from them? Here, we address these questions by exploring the potential for
      sexual selection in simultaneous hermaphrodites, sperm- and broadcast spawners,
      plants and fungi. Our review reveals a range of mechanisms of sexual selection,
      operating primarily after gametes have been released, which are common in many of
      these groups and also quite possibly in more familiar (internally fertilizing and
      sexually dimorphic) organisms.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird
      sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619707
TI  - Correction to 'The neural basis of depth perception from motion parallax'.

PMID- 27619706
TI  - Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction.

PMID- 27619708
TI  - Organic content influences sediment microbial fuel cell performance and community
      structure.
AB  - This study constructed sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) with different
      organic loadings without the amendment of external substrates, and it
      investigated how such variation affects electricity generation and microbial
      community structure. Results found sediment characteristics significantly
      influenced SMFC performance and appropriate organic content is important to
      maintain stable power outputs. SMFCs with loss of ignition (LOI) of 5% showed the
      most reliable performance in this study, while high organic content (LOI 10-16%)
      led to higher but very unstable voltage output because of biogas accumulation and
      worm activities. SMFCs with low organic content (1-3%) showed low power output.
      Different bacterial communities were found in SMFCs shown various power
      generation performance even those with similar organic contents.
      Thermodesulfovibrionaceae was found closely related to the system startup and
      Desulfobulbaceae showed great abundance in SMFCs with high power production. 

PMID- 27619705
TI  - Evolutionary mysteries in meiosis.
AB  - Meiosis is a key event of sexual life cycles in eukaryotes. Its mechanistic
      details have been uncovered in several model organisms, and most of its essential
      features have received various and often contradictory evolutionary
      interpretations. In this perspective, we present an overview of these often
      'weird' features. We discuss the origin of meiosis (origin of ploidy reduction
      and recombination, two-step meiosis), its secondary modifications (in polyploids
      or asexuals, inverted meiosis), its importance in punctuating life cycles
      (meiotic arrests, epigenetic resetting, meiotic asymmetry, meiotic fairness) and
      features associated with recombination (disjunction constraints, heterochiasmy,
      crossover interference and hotspots). We present the various evolutionary
      scenarios and selective pressures that have been proposed to account for these
      features, and we highlight that their evolutionary significance often remains
      largely mysterious. Resolving these mysteries will likely provide decisive steps
      towards understanding why sex and recombination are found in the majority of
      eukaryotes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the
      underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.

PMID- 27619709
TI  - Process development for the production of bioethanol from waste algal biomass of
      Gracilaria verrucosa.
AB  - The algal biomass of different species of Gracilaria were collected from coasts
      of Orissa and Tamil Nadu, India and characterized biochemically. Among various
      species, G. verrucosa was found to be better in terms of total carbohydrate
      content (56.65%) and hence selected for further studies. The agar was extracted
      from algal biomass and the residual pulp was enzymatically hydrolyzed. The
      optimization of algal pulp hydrolysis for various parameters revealed a maximum
      sugar release of 75.8mg/ml with 63% saccharification yield. The fermentation of
      enzymatic hydrolysate of algal pulp was optimized and 8% (v/v) inoculum size, 12h
      inoculum age, pH 5.0 were found to be optimum parameters for maximum ethanol
      concentration (27.2g/L) after 12h. The process of enzymatic hydrolysis and
      fermentation were successfully scaled up to 2L bioreactor scale. 

PMID- 27619710
TI  - A comparison of the energy use of in situ product recovery techniques for the
      Acetone Butanol Ethanol fermentation.
AB  - The productivity of the Acetone Butanol Ethanol (ABE) fermentation can be
      significantly increased by application of various in situ product recovery (ISPR)
      techniques. There are numerous technically viable processes, but it is not clear
      which is the most economically viable in practice. There is little available
      information about the energy requirements and economics of ISPR for the ABE
      fermentation. This work compares various ISPR techniques based on UniSim process
      simulations of the ABE fermentation. The simulations provide information on the
      process energy and separation efficiency, which is fed into an economic
      assessment. Perstraction was the only technique to reduce the energy demand below
      that of a batch process, by approximately 5%. Perstraction also had the highest
      profit increase over a batch process, by 175%. However, perstraction is an
      immature technology, so would need significant development before being
      integrated to an industrial process. 

PMID- 27619711
TI  - Enhancing anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge by the combined use of
      NaOH and Mg(OH)2: Performance evaluation and mechanism study.
AB  - In this study, the combination treatment of NaOH and Mg(OH)2 was applied to
      anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) for simultaneously
      enhancement of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production, nutrients removal and
      sludge dewaterability. The maximum VFAs production (461mg COD/g VSS) was obtained
      at the NaOH/Mg(OH)2 ratio of 75:25, which was much higher than that of the blank
      or sole NaOH. Moreover, nutrients removal and sludge dewaterability were improved
      by the combined using of NaOH and Mg(OH)2. Mechanism investigations revealed that
      the presence of Mg(OH)2 could maintain alkaline environment, which contributed to
      inhibit the activity of methanogens. Also, the bridging between Mg(2+) and
      extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) plays an important role in the
      solubilization and dewatering of sludge. High-throughput sequencing analysis
      demonstrated that the abundance of bacteria involved in sludge hydrolysis and
      VFAs accumulation was greatly enriched with the mixtures of NaOH and Mg(OH)2. 

PMID- 27619712
TI  - Ethanol fermentation characteristics of recycled water by Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae in an integrated ethanol-methane fermentation process.
AB  - An process of integrated ethanol-methane fermentation with improved economics has
      been studied extensively in recent years, where the process water used for a
      subsequent fermentation of carbohydrate biomass is recycled. This paper presents
      a systematic study of the ethanol fermentation characteristics of recycled
      process water. Compared with tap water, fermentation time was shortened by 40%
      when mixed water was employed. However, while the maximal ethanol production rate
      increased from 1.07g/L/h to 2.01g/L/h, ethanol production was not enhanced. Cell
      number rose from 0.6*10(8) per mL in tap water to 1.6*10(8) per mL in mixed water
      but although biomass increased, cell morphology was not affected. Furthermore,
      the use of mixed water increased the glycerol yield but decreased that of acetic
      acid, and the final pH with mixed water was higher than when using tap water. 

PMID- 27619713
TI  - Heterotrophic cultivation of Chlorella pyrenoidosa using sucrose as the sole
      carbon source by co-culture with Rhodotorula glutinis.
AB  - Heterotrophic cultivation of microalgae is a feasible alternative strategy to
      avoid the light limitation of photoautotrophic culture, but the heterotrophic
      utilization of disaccharides is difficult for microalgae. Aimed at this problem,
      a co-culture system was developed by mix culture of C. pyrenoidosa and R.
      glutinis using sucrose as the sole carbon source. In this system, C. pyrenoidosa
      could utilize glucose and fructose which were hydrolyzed from sucrose by R.
      glutinis. The highest specific growth rate and final cell number proportion of
      algae was 1.02day(-1) and 45%, respectively, when cultured at the initial algal
      cell number proportion of 95.24% and the final algal cell density was
      111.48*10(6)cells/mL. In addition, the lipid content was also promoted due to the
      synergistic effects in mix culture. This study provides a novel approach using
      sucrose-riched wastes for the heterotrophic culture of microalgae and may
      effectively decrease the cost of carbon source. 

PMID- 27619714
TI  - CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeat)/Cas9 System: A
      Revolutionary Disease-Modifying Technology.

PMID- 27619716
TI  - Experts Ponder Whether Too Much Exercise Can Compromise Cardiovascular Health and
      Longevity.

PMID- 27619715
TI  - Choices for Potent Platelet Inhibition in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 27619718
TI  - Letter by Chan and Siu Regarding Article, "Use of Oral Anticoagulants for Stroke
      Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Who Have a History of
      Intracranial Hemorrhage".

PMID- 27619717
TI  - Clopidogrel Versus Ticagrelor for Antiplatelet Maintenance in Diabetic Patients
      Treated With Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Results of the CLOTILDIA Study
      (Clopidogrel High Dose Versus Ticagrelor for Antiplatelet Maintenance in Diabetic
      Patients).

PMID- 27619719
TI  - Letter by Yang et al Regarding Article, "Use of Oral Anticoagulants for Stroke
      Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Who Have a History of
      Intracranial Hemorrhage".

PMID- 27619720
TI  - Response by Chao et al to Letters Regarding Article, "Use of Oral Anticoagulants
      for Stroke Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Who Have a History of
      Intracranial Hemorrhage".

PMID- 27619721
TI  - Correction to: 2015 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline for the Management of Adult Patients
      With Supraventricular Tachycardia: Executive Summary: A Report of the American
      College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice
      Guidelines and the Heart Rhythm Society.

PMID- 27619722
TI  - Correction to: 2015 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline for the Management of Adult Patients
      With Supraventricular Tachycardia: A Report of the American College of
      Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines
      and the Heart Rhythm Society.

PMID- 27619723
TI  - The Effect of Magnesium Carbonate (Chalk) on Geometric Entropy, Force, and
      Electromyography During Rock Climbing.
AB  - Rock climbers believe chalk dries the hands of sweat and improves the static
      coefficient of friction between the hands and the surface of the rock. The
      purpose of this study was to assess whether chalk affects geometric entropy or
      muscular activity during rock climbing. Nineteen experienced recreational rock
      climbers (13 males, 6 females; 173.5 +/- 7.0 cm; 67.5 +/- 3.4 kg) completed 2
      climbing trails with and without chalk. The body position of the climber and
      muscular activity of the finger flexors was recorded throughout the trial.
      Following the movement sequence participants hung from a standard climbing hold
      until they slipped from the climbing structure, while the coefficient of friction
      and the ratio of the vertical forces on the hands and feet were determined.
      Although there were no differences in the coefficient of friction (P = .748),
      geometric entropy (P = .359), the ratio of the vertical forces between the hands
      and feet (P = .570), or muscular activity (P = .968), participants were able to
      hang longer after the use of chalk 62.9 +/- 36.7 s and 49.3 +/- 25.2 s (P =
      .046). This is advantageous because it may allow for prolonged rests, and more
      time to plan the next series of climbing moves.

PMID- 27619724
TI  - Estimation of screening sensitivity and sojourn time from an organized screening
      program.
AB  - Regular screening with mammography is widely recommended to reduce breast cancer
      mortality. However, whether breast screening does more harm than good has long
      been debated. Since a full evaluation of the effect on mortality could take 10-15
      years in order to provide a reliable estimate of the eventual benefits and harms,
      it is unrealistic to expect each new modification of a screening technique to be
      evaluated in this way. Therefore, one needs to rapidly estimate suitable measures
      of the screening effect. In this paper, two measures of interest, the length of
      the pre-clinical state and the screening false negative rate, are discussed. A
      procedure is proposed to model the pre-clinical disease state duration, the false
      negative rate of the screening exam, and the underlying incidence rate in the
      screened population. We applied the model to data from the Ontario Breast
      Screening Program in Canada. Our results suggest that the mean preclinical
      duration is longer than 2 years. We also find only small marginal gains by
      screening every two instead of three years. The most important objective of a
      screening program should be to encourage first-time screening attendance.

PMID- 27619725
TI  - "Multimorbidity" as the manifestation of network disturbances. From nosology to
      the Meikirch model.

PMID- 27619727
TI  - Supernatants of irritable bowel syndrome mucosal biopsies impair human colonic
      smooth muscle contractility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Changes in intestinal motility are likely to contribute to irritable
      bowel syndrome (IBS) pathophysiology. The aim of the study was to investigate the
      effects of IBS mucosal supernatants on human colonic muscle contractility.
      METHODS: Supernatants were obtained from biopsies of 18 IBS patients-nine with
      constipation (IBS-C) and nine with diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D)-and nine
      asymptomatic subjects, used as controls. Colonic circular smooth muscle strips or
      isolated cells (SMC) were exposed to control or IBS supernatants. Spontaneous
      phasic contractions on strips and morphofunctional parameters on cells were
      evaluated in basal conditions and in response to acetylcholine (Ach). Incubation
      with IBS supernatants was also conducted in the presence of antagonists and
      inhibitors (namely histamine, protease and prostaglandin antagonists, nuclear
      factor-kappa B inhibitor, catalase, NADPH oxidase inhibitor, and the cAMP- and/or
      cGMP-cyclase inhibitors). KEY RESULTS: Exposure to IBS-C and IBS-D supernatants
      induced a significant reduction in basal tone and Ach-elicited contraction of
      muscle strips and a significant shortening and impairment of Ach contraction of
      SMCs. The NADPH oxidase inhibitor prevented the effect of supernatants, while the
      protease antagonist only IBS-C effect. No effect was observed with the other
      antagonists and inhibitors. Dilution of IBS-D supernatants partially restored the
      effects only on SMCs, whereas dilution of IBS-C supernatants significantly
      reverted the effects on muscle strips and Ach-elicited response on SMC.
      CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Supernatants from mucosal biopsies of IBS patients
      reduce colonic contractility. The observed impairment was concentration
      dependent, likely occurring through intracellular oxidative stress damage,
      involving different neuromotor mechanisms depending on the IBS subtype.

PMID- 27619728
TI  - Coagulation factor V G1691A, factor II G20210A and methylenetetrahydrofolate
      reductase C677T gene mutations do not play a major role in symptomatic neonatal
      arterial ischaemic stroke.

PMID- 27619726
TI  - Embryo implantation triggers dynamic spatiotemporal expression of the basement
      membrane toolkit during uterine reprogramming.
AB  - Basement membranes (BMs) are specialized extracellular scaffolds that influence
      behaviors of cells in epithelial, endothelial, muscle, nervous, and fat tissues.
      Throughout development and in response to injury or disease, BMs are fine-tuned
      with specific protein compositions, ultrastructure, and localization. These
      features are modulated through implements of the BM toolkit that is comprised of
      collagen IV, laminin, perlecan, and nidogen. Two additional proteins, peroxidasin
      and Goodpasture antigen-binding protein (GPBP), have recently emerged as
      potential members of the toolkit. In the present study, we sought to determine
      whether peroxidasin and GPBP undergo dynamic regulation in the assembly of
      uterine tissue BMs in early pregnancy as a tractable model for dynamic adult BMs.
      We explored these proteins in the context of collagen IV and laminin that are
      known to extensively change for decidualization. Electron microscopic analyses
      revealed: 1) a smooth continuous layer of BM in between the epithelial and
      stromal layers of the preimplantation endometrium; and 2) interrupted, uneven,
      and progressively thickened BM within the pericellular space of the
      postimplantation decidua. Quantification of mRNA levels by qPCR showed changes in
      expression levels that were complemented by immunofluorescence localization of
      peroxidasin, GPBP, collagen IV, and laminin. Novel BM-associated and subcellular
      spatiotemporal localization patterns of the four components suggest both
      collective pericellular functions and distinct functions in the uterus during
      reprogramming for embryo implantation.

PMID- 27619730
TI  - A special case of reduced rank models for identification and modelling of time
      varying effects in survival analysis.
AB  - Flexible survival models are in need when modelling data from long term follow-up
      studies. In many cases, the assumption of proportionality imposed by a Cox model
      will not be valid. Instead, a model that can identify time varying effects of
      fixed covariates can be used. Although there are several approaches that deal
      with this problem, it is not always straightforward how to choose which
      covariates should be modelled having time varying effects and which not. At the
      same time, it is up to the researcher to define appropriate time functions that
      describe the dynamic pattern of the effects. In this work, we suggest a model
      that can deal with both fixed and time varying effects and uses simple hypotheses
      tests to distinguish which covariates do have dynamic effects. The model is an
      extension of the parsimonious reduced rank model of rank 1. As such, the number
      of parameters is kept low, and thus, a flexible set of time functions, such as b
      splines, can be used. The basic theory is illustrated along with an efficient
      fitting algorithm. The proposed method is applied to a dataset of breast cancer
      patients and compared with a multivariate fractional polynomials approach for
      modelling time-varying effects. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27619729
TI  - Structural basis for decreased induction of class IB PI3-kinases expression by
      MIF inhibitors.
AB  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a master regulator of
      proinflammatory cytokines and plays pathological roles when not properly
      regulated in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, atherosclerosis, asthma and cancer.
      Unlike canonical cytokines, MIF has vestigial keto-enol tautomerase activity.
      Most of the current MIF inhibitors were screened for the inhibition of this
      enzymatic activity. However, only some of the enzymatic inhibitors inhibit
      receptor-mediated biological functions of MIF, such as cell recruitment, through
      an unknown molecular mechanism. The goal of this study was to understand the
      molecular basis underlying the pharmacological inhibition of biological functions
      of MIF. Here, we demonstrate how the structural changes caused upon inhibitor
      binding translate into the alteration of MIF-induced downstream signalling.
      Macrophage migration inhibitory factor activates phosphoinositide 3-kinases
      (PI3Ks) that play a pivotal role in immune cell recruitment in health and
      disease. There are several different PI3K isoforms, but little is known about how
      they respond to MIF. We demonstrate that MIF up-regulates the expression of Class
      IB PI3Ks in leucocytes. We also demonstrate that MIF tautomerase active site
      inhibitors down-regulate the expression of Class IB PI3Ks as well as leucocyte
      recruitment in vitro and in vivo. Finally, based on our MIF:inhibitor complex
      crystal structures, we hypothesize that the reduction in Class IB PI3K expression
      occurs because of the displacement of Pro1 towards the second loop of MIF upon
      inhibitor binding, which results in increased flexibility of the loop 2 and sub
      optimal MIF binding to its receptors. These results will provide molecular
      insights for fine-tuning the biological functions of MIF.

PMID- 27619731
TI  - Incidence and outcome of surgery for adult hydrocephalus patients in Sweden.
AB  - OBJECT: To present population-based and age related incidence of surgery and
      clinical outcome for adult patients operated for hydrocephalus, registered in the
      Swedish Hydrocephalus Quality Registry (SHQR). METHODS: All patients registered
      in SHQR during 2004-2011 were included. Data on age, gender, type of
      hydrocephalus and type of surgery were extracted as well as three months outcome
      for patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). RESULTS: The
      material consisted of 2360 patients, 1229 men and 1131 women, age 63.8 +/- 14.4
      years (mean +/- standard deviation (SD)). The mean total incidence of surgery was
      5.1 +/- 0.9 surgeries/100,000/year; 4.7 +/- 0.9 shunt surgeries and 0.4 +/- 0.1
      endoscopic third ventriculostomies. For iNPH, secondary communicating
      hydrocephalus and obstructive hydrocephalus, the incidence of surgery was 2.2 +/-
      0.8, 1.9 +/- 0.3 and 0.8 +/- 0.1/100,000/year, respectively. During 2004-2011,
      the incidence of surgery increased in total (p = .044), especially in age groups
      70-79 years and >=80 years (p = .012 and p = .031). After surgery, 253 of 652
      iNPH patients (38.8%) improved at least one step on the modified Rankin scale
      (mRS). Number needed to treat was 3.0 for improving one patient from unfavourable
      (mRS 3-5) to favourable (mRS 0-2). The mean score of a modified iNPH scale
      increased from 54 +/- 23 preoperatively to 63 +/- 25 postoperatively (p < .0001,
      n = 704), and 58% improved. No significant regional differences in incidence,
      surgical techniques or outcome were found. CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of
      hydrocephalus surgery increased significantly during 2004-2011, specifically in
      elderly patients. Surgical treatment of iNPH markedly improved functional
      independence, but the improvement rate was low compared to recent single- and
      multicentre studies. Thus, the potential for surgical improvement is likely lower
      than generally reported when treating patients as part of everyday clinical care.

PMID- 27619732
TI  - The Total Synthesis of the Bioactive Natural Product Plantazolicin A and Its
      Biosynthetic Precursor Plantazolicin B.
AB  - Herein, we describe our full investigations into the synthesis of the peptide
      derived natural product plantazolicin A, a compound that demonstrates promising
      selective activity against the causative agent of anthrax toxicity, and its
      biosynthetic precursor plantazolicin B. This report particularly focuses on the
      challenging preparation of the arginine containing thiazole fragment, including
      the development of a robust, high yielding procedure that avoids the use of
      sulfurating agents. Extensive studies on the design of a coherent protecting
      group strategy and the establishment of a step-efficient dicyclization/oxidation
      approach allowed high levels of convergence for the construction of the oxazole
      fragments. This has led to a unified, highly convergent synthesis for both
      plantazolicin A and B.

PMID- 27619733
TI  - Lipomatous hamartoma-like lesion of a bicuspid aortic valve: an incidental
      surgical finding.
AB  - Cardiac valve lipomatous hamartomas are very rare lesions with preferential
      localization on the pericardium, followed by the endocardial surfaces. We report
      a quite unique case of a lipomatous hamartoma-like lesion involving a bicuspid
      aortic valve. The lesion was incidentally found in a young patient undergoing
      cardiac surgery for aortic regurgitation, and the diagnosis was done by
      histology. It cannot be excluded that the lipomatous hamartoma-like lesion might
      have contributed to aortic valve regurgitation.

PMID- 27619734
TI  - Heart failure therapies: new strategies for old treatments and new treatments for
      old strategies.
AB  - Heart failure, whether acute or chronic, remains a major health care crisis
      affecting almost 6 million Americans and over 23 million people worldwide.
      Roughly half of those affected will die within 5 years, and the annual cost
      exceeds $30 billion in the US alone. Although medical therapy has made some
      modest inroads in partially stemming the heart failure tsunami, there remains a
      significant population for whom medication is unsuccessful or has ceased being
      effective; such patients can benefit from heart transplantation or mechanical
      circulatory support. Indeed, in the past quarter century (and as covered in
      Cardiovascular Pathology over those years), significant improvements in
      pathologic understanding and in engineering design have materially enhanced the
      toolkit of options for such refractory patients. Mechanical devices, whether
      total artificial hearts or ventricular assist devices, have been reengineered to
      reduce complications and basic wear and tear. Transplant survival has also been
      extended through a better comprehension of and improved therapies for transplant
      vasculopathy and antibody-mediated rejection. Here we review the ideas and
      treatments from the last 25 years and highlight some of the new directions in
      nonpharmacologic heart failure therapy.

PMID- 27619735
TI  - Xanthoangelol and 4-hydroxyderrcin suppress obesity-induced inflammatory
      responses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obesity-induced inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis
      of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Xanthoangelol (XA) and 4
      hydroxyderrcin (4-HD), phytochemicals extracted from Angelica keiskei, have been
      reported to possess various biological properties. Whether XA and 4-HD alleviate
      obesity-induced inflammation and inflammation-induced adipocyte dysfunction was
      investigated. METHODS: For the in vitro study, a co-culture system composed of
      macrophages and adipocytes and macrophages stimulated with conditioned medium
      derived from fully differentiated adipocytes was conducted. For the in vivo
      study, mice were fed a high-fat diet supplemented with XA for 14 weeks. RESULTS:
      XA and 4-HD suppressed inflammatory factors in co-culture system. Moreover,
      treatment of RAW macrophages with XA and 4-HD moderated the suppression of
      uncoupling protein 1 promoter activity and gene expression in C3H10T1/2
      adipocytes, which was induced by conditioned medium derived from LPS-stimulated
      RAW macrophages. Also, XA and 4-HD inhibited c-Jun N-terminal kinase
      phosphorylation, nuclear factor-kappaB, and activator protein 1, the last two
      being transcription activators in activated macrophages. Furthermore, in mice fed
      the high-fat diet, XA reduced inflammatory factors within the white adipose
      tissue. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that XA and 4-HD might be promising
      phytochemicals to suppress obesity-induced inflammation and inflammation-induced
      adipocyte dysfunction.

PMID- 27619737
TI  - The middle-aged ovariectomized marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) as a model of
      menopausal symptoms: Preliminary evidence.
AB  - Menopausal women often suffer from hot flashes and sleep disturbances that
      significantly impact their quality of life. Both human and animal studies suggest
      that loss of estrogens during menopause contribute to these symptoms. In the
      female rat, both core body temperature (CBT) and sleep are sensitive to 17beta
      estradiol (E2) levels, but important differences between the rat and the human
      patterns limit the interpretation of the results. The sleep and thermoregulation
      of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) more closely resemble human patterns.
      However, no study to date has examined whether E2 influences sleep and
      thermoregulation in this species. The main goal of the present study was to
      investigate the suitability of the ovariectomized (OVX) marmoset for studying two
      major menopausal symptoms experienced by women, sleep disturbance and
      thermodysregulation. Two middle-aged OVX marmosets (6years old) were implanted
      with a telemeter that records electroencephalograms (EEG), electromyograms (EMG),
      and CBT. Sleep patterns and CBT were recorded under baseline, two E2 replacement
      (6 and 12MUg/kg/day, p.o.) conditions and two E2 withdrawal conditions. Relative
      to both baseline and withdrawal, high E2 replacement was associated with lower
      nighttime CBT. In addition, fewer nighttime arousals were observed under low E2
      replacement compared to baseline. Higher delta power was observed under both E2
      replacement conditions suggesting enhanced sleep quality. These preliminary
      results suggest that E2 modulates sleep and thermoregulation in the OVX marmoset,
      making it a promising model for studying menopausal symptoms.

PMID- 27619738
TI  - Cytoprotective role of nitric oxide in HepG2 cell apoptosis induced by
      hypocrellin B photodynamic treatment.
AB  - Hypocrellin B (HB), a natural perylenequinone pigment, has been successfully
      employed in the photodynamic therapy (PDT) in a variety of human cancer cells due
      to its high singlet oxygen yield. To investigate the generation of nitric oxide
      (NO) and its role on cancer cell death induced by PDT, we used human
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells and HB as a photosensitizer. HB/light
      treatment decreased the growth of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner with an
      IC50 of 3.10MUM, activated caspase-3, -9 and induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. It
      was found that exposure of the cells to HB/light resulted in inducible nitric
      oxide synthase (iNOS) activation and followed by significant increase in NO
      generation. Incubating cells with a NOS inhibitor N(omega)-monomethyl-l-arginine
      (l-NMMA) and an NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4, 4, 5, 5
      tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO) enhanced HB/light-induced caspase
      3, -9 activation and apoptosis significantly while decreasing DAF fluorescence
      assessed NO generation substantially. Cells could be rescued from HB/light
      induced apoptosis by an exogenous NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Our
      findings suggested that induced NO was acting cytoprotectively and PDT efficacy
      of HB could be improved by using pharmacological modulators of NO or NOS. 

PMID- 27619736
TI  - Medullary 5-HT neurons: Switch from tonic respiratory drive to chemoreception
      during postnatal development.
AB  - Serotonin (5-HT) neurons contribute to respiratory chemoreception in adult mice,
      but it is unclear whether they play a similar role in neonatal mice. We studied
      breathing during development in Lmx1bf/f/p mice, which lack 5-HT neurons. From
      postnatal days 1-7 (P1-P7), ventilation of Lmx1bf/f/p mice breathing room air was
      50% of WT mice (p<0.001). By P12, baseline ventilation increased to a level equal
      to WT mice. In contrast, the hypercapnic ventilatory response (HCVR) of neonatal
      Lmx1bf/f/p and WT mice was equal to each other, but were both much less than
      adult WT mice. By P21 the HCVR of WT mice increased to near adult levels, but the
      HCVR of Lmx1bf/f/p mice had not changed, and was 42% less than WT mice. Primary
      cell cultures were prepared from the ventromedial medulla of neonatal mice, and
      patch-clamp recordings were made from neurons identified as serotonergic by
      expression of a reporter gene. In parallel with developmental changes of the HCVR
      in vivo, 5-HT neurons had little chemosensitivity to acidosis until 12days in
      vitro (DIV), after which their response increased to reach a plateau around 25
      DIV. Neonatal Lmx1bf/f/p mice displayed high mortality and decreased growth rate,
      and this worsened in hypoxia. Mortality was decreased in hyperoxia. These results
      indicate that maturation of 5-HT neurons contributes to development of
      respiratory CO2/pH chemoreception during the first few weeks of life in mice in
      vivo. A defect in the 5-HT system in early postnatal life decreases survival due
      in part to hypoxia.

PMID- 27619739
TI  - Duramycin-porphyrin conjugates for targeting of tumour cells using photodynamic
      therapy.
AB  - Duramycin, through binding with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), has been shown to
      be a selective molecular probe for the targeting and imaging of cancer cells.
      Photodynamic therapy aims to bring about specific cytotoxic damage to tumours
      through delivery of a photosensitising agent and light irradiation. Conjugation
      to biological molecules that specifically target cancer has been shown to
      increase photosensitiser (PS) selectivity and decrease damage to surrounding
      normal tissue. The aim of this study was to target tumour cells with a PE
      specific PS therefore duramycin was conjugated to a porphyrin based PS which was
      achieved via direct reaction with the epsilon-amino group on the lysine residue
      near duramycin's N-terminal. The compound was subsequently purified using RP-HPLC
      and confirmed using mass spectrometry. Binding of the conjugate to ovarian and
      pancreatic cancer cell lines was assessed by flow cytometry. Light irradiation
      with a light fluence of 7.5J/cm(2) was delivered to conjugate treated cancer
      cells and cell proliferation analysed by MTT assay. The conjugate detected PE on
      all 4 cancer cell lines in a concentration dependent manner and conjugate plus
      irradiation effectively reduced cell proliferation at concentrations >=0.5MUM,
      dependent on cancer cell line. Reduction in cell proliferation by the irradiated
      conjugate was enhanced over unconjugated duramycin in A2780, AsPC-1 and SK-OV-3
      (p<0.05). In this study we have shown that a duramycin-porphyrin conjugate
      retained good binding affinity for its target and, following irradiation, reduced
      cell proliferation of pancreatic and ovarian cancer cell lines. 

PMID- 27619740
TI  - Silver nanoparticles synthesized using aqueous leaf extract of Ziziphus oenoplia
      (L.) Mill: Characterization and assessment of antibacterial activity.
AB  - Biological approach to synthesis of metal nanoparticles using aqueous leaf
      extract is a highly relevant and recent theme in nanotechnological research.
      Phytosynthesized AgNPs have better inhibitory and antimicrobial effects compared
      to aqueous leaf extract and silver nitrate. In the present investigation
      crystalline silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with size of 10nm have been successfully
      synthesized using aqueous leaf extract (AQLE) of Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill.,
      which act as both reducing as well as capping agent. The particles were
      characterized using UV Visible spectroscopy, HRTEM-EDAX, XRD, FT-IR and DLS. An
      evaluation of the anti bacterial activity was carried out using Agar well
      diffusion method and MIC determination against four bacterial strains, Klebsiella
      pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi; the
      AgNPs exhibited quite high antibacterial activity. Furthermore, bactericidal
      studies with TEM at different time intervals after AgNPs treatment showed the
      presence of AgNPs near cell membrane of bacteria at about 30min exposure and the
      bacterial-lysis was found completed at 24h. This gave an insight on the mechanism
      of bacterial-lysis by direct damage to the cell membrane. 

PMID- 27619742
TI  - To achieve, or not to achieve complete revascularization.
AB  - Prior to minimally invasive valve surgery, a strategy of complete
      revascularization did not impact overall survival. Angiographically guided
      revascularization may have resulted in unnecessary procedures. A larger sample
      size and greater atherosclerotic burden may be needed to observe an impact with
      complete revascularization.

PMID- 27619741
TI  - Cu(II), Ni(II) complexes derived from chiral Schiff-base ligands: Synthesis,
      characterization, cytotoxicity, protein and DNA-binding properties.
AB  - A series of novel copper (II) and nickel (II) complexes derived from chiral
      Schiff-base ligands [(R)/(S)-H2L(1)=(R)/(S)-2-[(1-Hydroxymethyl-propylimino)
      methyl]-5-methoxy-phenol and (R)/(S)-H2L(2)=(R)/(S)-2-[(1-Hydroxymethyl-2-phenyl
      ethylimino)-methyl]-5-methoxy-phenol], were synthesized and characterized by
      elemental analyses, (1)H NMR spectra, FT-IR spectrum. The crystal structures of
      complexes 1-5 were determined through single crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD).
      The structures showed the ligands coordinated to the Cu/Ni (II) ion in a neutral
      manner via ONO donor atoms, and oxygen atoms of solvent molecules occupy the
      axial positions in Ni (II) complexes 3 and 4. The complexes interactions with BSA
      and CT-DNA were investigated by various spectroscopic methods (UV-Visible,
      circular dichroism spectrum, fluorescence spectroscopic and synchronous
      fluorescence spectra). Interactions of chiral copper (II) complexes are stronger
      than nickel (II) complexes. Further, the cytotoxicities of the complexes 1-6
      towards three kinds of cancerous cell lines, were human lung adenocarcinoma
      (A549), human cervical carcinoma cell (HeLa) and human breast cancer cell (MCF-7)
      respectively, were evaluated by MTT assay. All complexes exhibited good cytotoxic
      activity. Furthermore, Cu (II) complex 5 derived from (R)-Schiff-base ligand was
      found to be more effective towards HeLa cancerous cell. The results showed that
      chirality and metal ion have important influence on their anticancer activities
      and interactions with DNA/BSA. 

PMID- 27619743
TI  - Stenting precision: "Image small, miss small".
AB  - Stenting by angiography alone predisposes to geographic miss STEMI culprit
      lesions are most susceptible to Geographic Miss Direct coronary imaging assures
      procedural precision and perfection.

PMID- 27619744
TI  - To neither bleed nor clot: That is the question.
AB  - Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) when stented with thin-strut colbalt
      chrome stents may have a similar outcome to patients without AF. Management of
      patients with AF potentially place patients at enhanced bleeding risk with triple
      antithrombotic therapy, or potential thrombotic risk if either oral
      anticoagulation is held or anti-platelet therapy is truncated. Guideline-based
      oral anticoagulation for AF is expanding this patient group presenting to the
      cardiac catheterization laboratory, yet management decisions are still based on
      limited studies and rely on expert concensus.

PMID- 27619745
TI  - Promising, but still a matter of debate.
AB  - Several trials failed to demonstrate the efficacy of plaque modification device
      in patients with severely calcified coronary lesions. Safety and efficacy of the
      Diamondback 360(r) Coronary OAS have been demonstrated by the ORBIT II trial. The
      2-year follow-up of the ORBIT II trial extends the favorable results previously
      shown at 30-day and 1-year follow-up. The single arm, non-randomized character of
      the trial with indirect historical comparison may restrict the results to
      hypothesis generating and entail further prospective randomized trials.

PMID- 27619746
TI  - Defining small vessels and bioresorbable vascular scaffold outcomes.
AB  - Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) are non-inferior to second generation drug
      eluting stents (DES) but thrombosis rates for BVS in small vesseles is a concern.
      The BVS-SAVE registry of small vesseles (<2.75 mm) supports safety and efficacy
      of BVS in this high risk lesion subset. Definitive recommendation for BVS in
      small vessels require further trials DES with evaluation of the lower threshold
      for minimal reference vesseles diameter.

PMID- 27619747
TI  - Good news and bad news.
AB  - Current delivery systems for the Sapien XT valve for the native pulmonary valve
      are unacceptable stiff and poorly design for implantation in the pulmonary
      outflow tract. This report details improvisation of the Melody Ensemble for
      easier pulmonary outflow tract delivery of the Sapien XT valve. The unacceptable
      cost of the utilization of two delivery systems for valve implantation, requires
      industry development of an safe, effective delivery system appropriate for the
      pulmonary outflow tract.

PMID- 27619748
TI  - The 3 S's of the Sapien balloon expandable valve.
AB  - The Sapien 3 (S3) balloon expandable aortic valve equipped with an outer skirt to
      minimize paravalvular leakage (PVL) was built upon the predecessor Sapien XT
      (SXT) valve. There is scant comparative data of transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement using S3 versus SXT valve. The study shows that S3 valve is
      associated with reduced PVL rate compared with SXT, which is an important
      clinical advantage.

PMID- 27619749
TI  - Aortic Regurgitation Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Impact of
      Preprocedural Left Ventricular Diastolic Filling Patterns on Late Clinical
      Outcomes. DOI: 10.1002/ccd.26298.

PMID- 27619751
TI  - Novel brominated flame retardants in food composites and human milk from the
      Chinese Total Diet Study in 2011: Concentrations and a dietary exposure
      assessment.
AB  - On the basis of the fifth Chinese total diet study (TDS) performed in 2011, the
      dietary exposure of the Chinese population to novel brominated flame retardants
      (NBFRs) was assessed. Six NBFRs were determined in 80 composite samples from four
      animal origin food groups and 29 pooled human milk samples. Based on gas
      chromatography-negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC-NCI/MS)
      analysis, the levels of the total NBFRs ranged from <LOD to 70.2ng/g lipid weight
      (lw) in food composites and from 2.48 to 23.9ng/g lw in human milk samples.
      Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), with mean levels of 9.03ng/g lw in food
      composites and 8.06ng/g lw in human milk, was the most abundant compound in the
      total NBFRs. No obvious spatial distribution patterns in China were observed in
      food samples or human milk. The average estimated daily intake (EDI) of total
      NBFRs via food consumption for a "standard Chinese man" was 4.77ng/kg bodyweight
      (bw)/day, with a range of 0.681 to 18.9ng/kgbw/day. Meat and meat products were
      the main dietary source of NBFRs, although levels of NBFRs in aquatic food were
      found to be the highest among the four food groups. The average EDI of total
      NBFRs for nursing infants was 38.4ng/kgbw/day, with a range of 17.4 to
      113ng/kgbw/day, which was approximately eight-fold higher than the EDI for
      adults, suggesting the heavy body burden of NBFRs on nursing infants. The levels
      and EDI of DBDPE in the present study were similar to or higher than those of
      legacy BFRs (i.e., PBDEs and HBCD) in the TDS 2007, indicating that DBDPE, as a
      main alternative to PBDEs, might have become the primary BFR used in China.

PMID- 27619750
TI  - Evaluation of the efficacy, safety and glycaemic effects of evolocumab (AMG 145)
      in hypercholesterolaemic patients stratified by glycaemic status and metabolic
      syndrome.
AB  - AIM: To examine the lipid and glycaemic effects of 52 weeks of treatment with
      evolocumab. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Durable Effect of PCSK9 Antibody Compared
      with Placebo Study (DESCARTES) was a 52-week placebo-controlled trial of
      evolocumab that randomized 905 patients from 88 study centres in 9 countries,
      with 901 receiving at least one dose of study drug. For this post-hoc analysis,
      DESCARTES patients were categorized by baseline glycaemic status: type 2
      diabetes, impaired fasting glucose (IFG), metabolic syndrome (MetS) or none of
      these. Monthly subcutaneous evolocumab (420 mg) or placebo was administered. The
      main outcomes measured were percentage change in LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) at week
      52 and safety. RESULTS: A total of 413 patients had dysglycaemia (120, type 2
      diabetes; 293, IFG), 289 had MetS (194 also had IFG) and 393 had none of these
      conditions. At week 52, evolocumab reduced LDL-C by >50% in all subgroups, with
      favourable effects on other lipids. No significant differences in fasting plasma
      glucose, HbA1c, insulin, C-peptide or HOMA indices were seen in any subgroup
      between evolocumab and placebo at week 52. The overall incidence of new-onset
      diabetes mellitus did not differ between placebo (6.6%) and evolocumab (5.6%); in
      those with baseline normoglycaemia, the incidences were 1.9% and 2.7%,
      respectively. Incidences of AEs were similar in evolocumab- and placebo-treated
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: Evolocumab showed encouraging safety and efficacy at 52
      weeks in patients with or without dysglycaemia or MetS. Changes in glycaemic
      parameters did not differ between evolocumab- and placebo-treated patients within
      the glycaemic subgroups examined.

PMID- 27619754
TI  - The impact of limiting long term illness on internal migration in England and
      Wales: New evidence from census microdata.
AB  - Previous research has suggested that poor health is associated with reduced
      migration; this knowledge stems from models based on past censuses, or
      longitudinal studies which imply that the factors influencing migration are the
      same between those in good and poor health. This paper addresses these issues by
      utilising health-stratified analyses on the 2011 Census Individual Secure Sample
      for England and Wales. Multilevel models predict the odds of moving for working
      age adults, controlling for key predictors of migration, estimating the effect of
      health status on the odds of moving and the destination-specific variance in
      migration. We find that those in poor health are less likely to move, after
      controlling for individual level characteristics. In contrast with expectations,
      economic inactivity, marriage and being in African, Caribbean, Black, Other or
      Mixed ethnic groups were not significant predictors of migration among the
      unhealthy sample, but were for the healthy sample. We conclude that migration is
      health-selective and propose implications for understanding area level
      concentrations of poor health in England and Wales.

PMID- 27619752
TI  - Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, doxycycline and progression of calcific
      aortic valve disease in hyperlipidemic mice.
AB  - Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common cause of aortic stenosis.
      Currently, there is no non-invasive medical therapy for CAVD. Matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) are upregulated in CAVD and play a role in its
      pathogenesis. Here, we evaluated the effect of doxycycline, a nonselective MMP
      inhibitor on CAVD progression in the mouse. Apolipoprotein (apo)E(-/-) mice (n =
      20) were fed a Western diet (WD) to induce CAVD. After 3 months, half of the
      animals was treated with doxycycline, while the others continued WD alone. After
      6 months, we evaluated the effect of doxycycline on CAVD progression by
      echocardiography, MMP-targeted micro single photon emission computed tomography
      (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT), and tissue analysis. Despite therapeutic blood
      levels, doxycycline had no significant effect on MMP activation, aortic valve
      leaflet separation or flow velocity. This lack of effect on in vivo images was
      confirmed on tissue analysis which showed a similar level of aortic valve
      gelatinase activity, and inflammation between the two groups of animals. In
      conclusion, doxycycline (100 mg/kg/day) had no effect on CAVD progression in
      apoE(-/-) mice with early disease. Studies with more potent and specific
      inhibitors are needed to establish any potential role of MMP inhibition in CAVD
      development and progression.

PMID- 27619753
TI  - Motivation in caring labor: Implications for the well-being and employment
      outcomes of nurses.
AB  - For nurses and other caregivers there is a strong emphasis on prosocial forms of
      motivation, or doing the job because you want to help others, even in formal,
      institutionalized care settings. This emphasis is based in gendered assumptions
      that altruistic motivations are the "right" reasons for being a nurse and lead to
      the best outcomes for workers and patients. Other motivations for pursuing care
      work, particularly extrinsic motivation, depart from the prosocial model of care
      and may be indicative of substandard outcomes, but little research has examined
      variation in care workers' motivations for doing their jobs. In this study, we
      use survey data collected from 730 acute care hospital nurses working within one
      health care system in the Midwestern United States to examine whether different
      sources of motivation for being a nurse are related to nurse job burnout,
      negative physical symptoms, and turnover intentions. Our findings suggest that
      nurses who have high intrinsic and extrinsic motivation actually have better
      perceived health and employment outcomes (i.e., less likely to say that they will
      leave, lower burnout, fewer negative physical symptoms) than those with high
      prosocial motivation, who are more likely to report job burnout.

PMID- 27619755
TI  - What are GPs' preferences for financial and non-financial incentives in cancer
      screening? Evidence for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers.
AB  - General practitioners (GPs) play a key role in the delivery of preventive and
      screening services for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. In practice,
      GPs' involvement varies considerably across types of cancer and among GPs,
      raising important questions about the determinants of GPs' implication in
      screening activities: what is the relative impact of financial and non-financial
      incentives? Are GPs' preferences for financial and non-financial incentives
      cancer-specific? Is there preference heterogeneity and how much does it differ
      according to the screening context? This study investigates the determinants of
      GPs' involvement in cancer screening activities using the discrete choice
      experiment (DCE) methodology. A representative sample of 402 GPs' was recruited
      in France between March and April 2014. Marginal rates of substitution were used
      to compare GPs' preferences for being involved in screening activities across
      three types of cancers: breast, cervical, and colorectal. Variability of
      preferences was investigated using Hierarchical Bayes mixed logit models. The
      results indicate that GPs are sensitive to both financial and non-financial
      incentives, such as a compensated training and systematic transmission of
      information about screened patients, aimed to facilitate communication between
      doctors and patients. There is also evidence that the level and variability of
      preferences differ across screening contexts, although the variations are not
      statistically significant on average. GPs appear to be relatively more sensitive
      to financial incentives for being involved in colorectal cancer screening,
      whereas they have higher and more heterogeneous preferences for non-financial
      incentives in breast and cervical cancers. Our study provides new findings for
      policymakers interested in prioritizing levers to increase the supply of cancer
      screening services in general practice.

PMID- 27619756
TI  - Crime victimization and the implications for individual health and wellbeing: A
      Sheffield case study.
AB  - Public health and criminology have developed largely independently of one another
      at the research and policy levels so that the links between crime victimization
      and health status are not well understood. Although it is not difficult to
      support the idea of crime as a threat to the health of individuals and the wider
      community, the difficulty lies in quantifying the impact of crime on public
      health, while controlling other variables, including gender and ethnicity. We
      report the results of a study, the goals of which were to: develop an
      understanding conceptually of the relationships between different types of crime
      (violent and non-violent) and health; explore the impact of victimization on
      quality of life and physical and psychological wellbeing; investigate the role of
      social and demographic factors in shaping any relationships. The study is based
      on 840 responses from a postal survey administered to 4,100 households in
      Sheffield, England, located primarily in deprived areas where overall crime rates
      were high. Non-violent crimes were more frequently reported than violent crimes
      and in general, inner city neighbourhoods were associated with higher violent
      crime rates. Out of 392 victims of crime, 27% of individuals detailed physical
      injuries resulting directly from a crime event and 31% had taken some medical
      steps to treat a crime-related injury. 86% experienced at least one psychological
      or behavioural change, including stress, sleeping difficulties, loss of
      confidence, and depression. Logistic regression models estimated victimization
      risk based on various social and demographic variables. Violent crimes were
      consistently linked with higher odds of seeking medical treatment and a higher
      likelihood of experiencing psychological ill health effects or behavioural
      changes. In comparison, victims of non-violent or property crimes were not
      significantly associated with mental health or behavioural/lifestyle effects.

PMID- 27619757
TI  - Targeting interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 for human hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase 1 (IRAK1), as a down-stream
      of toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling, plays important roles in series of
      malignancies. However, the role of IRAK1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      remains little known. METHODS: In our study, reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR),
      Western Blot, and immunohistochemical staining were used to assess the mRNA and
      protein levels of IRAK1 in clinical samples and cell lines. Cell counting assay
      and flow cytometry were employed to analyze the effect of IRAK1 on cell cycle and
      apoptosis. Transwell assay was used to study the role of IRAK1 in cell migration.
      Moreover, subcutaneous xenograft tumor models predict the efficacy of targeting
      IRAK1 against HCC in vivo. RESULTS: IRAK1 was over-expressed in HCC tissues and
      cell lines. Suppression of IRAK1 by small interference RNA (siRNA) or a
      pharmaceutical IRAK1/4 inhibitor impeded cell growth, induced apoptosis and
      lessened HCC xenograft tumor growth. Particularly, IRAK1/4 inhibitor treatment
      caused G1/S cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, confirming IRAK1 as a new
      therapeutic target for HCC. CONCLUSION: IRAK1 promotes cell proliferation and
      protects against apoptosis in HCC, and can be a novel target for HCC treatment.

PMID- 27619758
TI  - A comparison of echocardiographic variables of right ventricular function with
      exercise capacity after bosentan treatment in patients with pulmonary arterial
      hypertension: Results from a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Bosentan reduces pulmonary arterial pressure and improves exercise
      capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, there
      are limited data regarding the extent to which the changes in echocardiographic
      variables reflect improvements in exercise capacity. We aimed to assess the
      improvement of echocardiographic variables and exercise capacity after 6 months
      of bosentan treatment for PAH. METHODS: We performed a prospective study from
      June 2012 to June 2015 in seven participating medical centers. Echocardiography,
      including tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and the 6-minute walk test distance
      (6MWD), was performed at baseline and after 6 months of bosentan treatment.
      RESULTS: We analyzed 19 patients with PAH: seven with congenital shunt, six with
      collagen vascular disease, and six with idiopathic PAH. After bosentan treatment,
      mean 6MWD increased by 50 meters. Right ventricle (RV) systolic pressure,
      tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, myocardial performance index (MPI)
      derived from TDI (MPI-TDI) of RV and left ventricle (LV), RV fractional area
      change, and RV ejection fraction were significantly improved. In particular, the
      magnitude of RV and LV MPI-TDI showed good correlation with changes in the 6MWD.
      CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of RV and LV MPI-TDI was strongly associated with
      improvements in exercise capacity. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin
      Ultrasound 45:28-34, 2017.

PMID- 27619760
TI  - A School-Based Program for Overweight and Obese Adolescents: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the dramatic increase in adolescent overweight and obesity,
      models are needed for implementing weight management treatment through readily
      accessible venues. We evaluated the acceptability and efficacy of a school-based
      intervention consisting of school nurse-delivered counseling and an afterschool
      exercise program in improving diet, activity, and body mass index (BMI) among
      overweight and obese adolescents. METHODS: A pair-matched cluster-randomized
      controlled school-based trial was conducted in which 8 public high schools were
      randomized to either a 12-session school nurse-delivered cognitive-behavioral
      counseling intervention plus school-based after school exercise program, or 12
      session nurse contact with weight management information (control). Overweight or
      obese adolescents (N = 126) completed anthropometric and behavioral assessments
      at baseline and 8-month follow-up. Main outcome measures included diet, activity,
      and BMI. Mixed effects regression models were conducted to examine differences at
      follow-up. RESULTS: At follow-up, students in intervention compared with control
      schools were not different in BMI, percent body fat, and waist circumference.
      Students reported eating breakfast (adjusted mean difference 0.81 days; 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 0.11-1.52) on more days/week; there were no differences
      in other behaviors targeted by the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: While a school
      based intervention including counseling and access to an after-school exercise
      program is theoretically promising with public health potential, it was not
      effective in reducing BMI or key obesogenic behaviors. Our findings are important
      in highlighting that interventions targeted at the individual level are not
      likely to be sufficient in addressing the adolescent obesity epidemic without
      changes in social norms and the environment.

PMID- 27619761
TI  - Mental Health Stigma Prevention: Pilot Testing a Novel, Language Arts Curriculum
      Based Approach for Youth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Researchers have emphasized the importance of integrating mental
      health education with academic curriculum. The focus of the current studies was
      Mental Health Matters (MHM), a mental health curriculum that is integrated with
      English language arts. It is taught by trained community member volunteers and
      aims to increase knowledge and decrease stigma toward individuals with mental
      health disorders. METHODS: In Study 1, 142 sixth graders participated in MHM and
      completed pre- and postprogram measures of mental health knowledge, stigma, and
      program acceptability. Teachers also completed ratings of acceptability. Study 2
      (N = 120 seventh graders) compared participants who had participated in MHM the
      previous year with those who had not using the same measures. RESULTS: Sixth
      grade students and teachers rated the program as highly acceptable. Participants
      significantly increased their knowledge and decreased their levels of stigma.
      Seventh graders who had participated in MHM had significantly more mental health
      knowledge than peers who had not, but there were no differences in stigma.
      CONCLUSIONS: The model appears to be acceptable to students and teachers. Future
      research is needed to assess the long-term effectiveness of integrating mental
      health education with other academic curriculum such as language arts or science.

PMID- 27619762
TI  - Evidence of the Value of the Smoking Media Literacy Framework for Middle School
      Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Susceptibility to future smoking, positive beliefs about smoking, and
      perceptions of antismoking norms are all factors that are associated with future
      smoking. In previous research, smoking media literacy (SML) has been associated
      with these variables, even when controlling for other known risk factors for
      smoking. However, these studies were performed with older teenagers, often in
      high school, not younger teens at a crucial developmental point with respect to
      the decision to begin smoking. METHODS: This study uses survey data collected
      from 656 American public middle school students representing multiple zip codes,
      schools, and school districts. RESULTS: Smoking media literacy levels for middle
      school students were similar to those of high school students in earlier studies.
      Higher SML levels were associated with lower susceptibility to future smoking and
      predicted susceptibility to smoke when controlling for other risk factors. This
      suggests that the same relationships found with teenagers may exist with middle
      school students. CONCLUSIONS: Although follow-up studies using larger and more
      controlled administrations of the SML scale are warranted, this study suggests
      the utility of the SML framework and scale in the development and investigation
      of media literacy as a prevention strategy in students this age.

PMID- 27619763
TI  - Accelerometry-Derived Physical Activity of First Through Third Grade Children
      During the Segmented School Day.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schools should provide children 30 minutes/day of moderate-to
      vigorous-physical-activity (MVPA). Determining school day segments that
      contribute to children's MVPA can inform school-based activity promotion. The
      purpose of this paper was to identify the proportion of children accumulating 30
      minutes/day of school-based MVPA, and to identify school day segments'
      contribution to children's MVPA. METHODS: First-third graders (N = 323 [173 girls
      and 150 boys]) accelerometer-derived sedentary behaviors, light activity, and
      MVPA were measured for 1 to 5 school days. Children's activity was estimated
      during class time, lunch, physical education (PE), and recess. To explore
      disparities in MVPA, children were stratified into high/low-active groups.
      RESULTS: Girls and boys accumulated 30.4 and 34.4 minutes/day of MVPA on PE days
      and 23.5 and 27.3 minutes/day of MVPA on non-PE days. This translated to 36.5 and
      44.1% of girls and boys accumulating 30 minutes of MVPA on PE days and 16.3 and
      36.5% on non-PE days. On PE days, PE contributed the most MVPA for girls and boys
      (11.8 and 13.0 minutes/day), followed by class time (11.4 and 12.5 minutes/day),
      recess (5.2 and 6.5 minutes/day), and lunch (2.0 and 2.4 minutes/day).
      Disparities between high/low children were greatest during PE and class time.
      CONCLUSIONS: Most children were not accumulating 30 minutes/day of MVPA. PE and
      class time are promising school day segments for promoting MVPA.

PMID- 27619764
TI  - Longitudinal Relationships of Fitness, Physical Activity, and Weight Status With
      Academic Achievement in Adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To examine associations of cardiorespiratory fitness, physical
      activity (PA) and weight status with academic achievement 1 year later. In
      addition, the mediating role of psychological variables was tested. METHODS:
      Longitudinal analyses included 1011 German students (M = 14.1 years, SD = 0.6
      years). Cardiorespiratory fitness was determined with the 20 m shuttle run test.
      Compliance with PA guidelines was assessed through questionnaire. Weight status
      was based on body mass index percentiles. As proxy of academic achievement
      students' self-reported grades in Mathematics and German in their midterm report
      were averaged. Mediation analyses were conducted at follow-up testing general
      self-efficacy, depressed affect, and attention/hyperactivity problems. RESULTS:
      High levels of cardiorespiratory fitness predicted higher educational attainment
      (p = .007), while we found no longitudinal association for PA and weight status
      (p > .253). However, students being insufficiently physically active at baseline
      but meet PA guidelines at follow-up showed a significant improvement in
      educational attainment. The cross-sectional association between PA and academic
      achievement was mediated by students' general self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: High
      fitness in adolescence is associated with higher subsequent academic achievement.
      The promotion of PA might benefit school performance because of enhanced fitness
      levels in the long-term and positive influences of PA in the shortterm. The
      association between weight status and educational attainment remains
      controversial.

PMID- 27619765
TI  - Implementation of Local Wellness Policies in Schools: Role of School Systems,
      School Health Councils, and Health Disparities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Written local wellness policies (LWPs) are mandated in school systems
      to enhance opportunities for healthy eating/activity. LWP effectiveness relies on
      school-level implementation. We examined factors associated with school-level LWP
      implementation. Hypothesized associations included system support for school
      level implementation and having a school-level wellness team/school health
      council (SHC), with stronger associations among schools without disparity
      enrollment (majority African-American/Hispanic or low-income students). METHODS:
      Online surveys were administered: 24 systems (support), 1349 schools (LWP
      implementation, perceived system support, SHC). The state provided school
      demographics. Analyses included multilevel multinomial logistic regression.
      RESULTS: Response rates were 100% (systems)/55.2% (schools). Among schools, 44.0%
      had SHCs, 22.6% majority (>=75%) African-American/Hispanic students, and 25.5%
      majority (>=75%) low-income (receiving free/reduced-price meals). LWP
      implementation (17-items) categorized as none = 36.3%, low (1-5 items) = 36.3%,
      high (6+ items) = 27.4%. In adjusted models, greater likelihood of LWP
      implementation was observed among schools with perceived system support (high
      versus none relative risk ratio, RRR = 1.63, CI: 1.49, 1.78; low versus none RRR
      = 1.26, CI: 1.18, 1.36) and SHCs (high versus none RRR = 6.8, CI: 4.07, 11.37;
      low versus none RRR = 2.24, CI: 1.48, 3.39). Disparity enrollment did not
      moderate associations (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Schools with perceived system
      support and SHCs had greater likelihood of LWP implementation, with no moderating
      effect of disparity enrollment. SHCs/support may overcome LWP implementation
      obstacles related to disparities.

PMID- 27619766
TI  - Factors Associated With Intentions to Engage in Vaginal Intercourse Among
      Sexually Abstinent Missouri High School Freshmen.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We examine personal characteristics, alcohol consumption, normative
      beliefs, household factors, and extracurricular engagement associated with
      intentions to have intercourse before marriage among abstinent students. METHODS:
      Data were analyzed from 245 freshmen enrolled in a school-based abstinence-only
      until-marriage program. Two binary logistic regression analyses identified
      factors associated with intentions to engage in intercourse before marriage and
      within the next year. RESULTS: Approximately 21% and 14% of participants reported
      intentions to have intercourse. Respondents participated in 2.2 (standard
      deviation [SD] = 1.2) extracurricular activities. Freshmen who were male,
      perceived their friends to approve of premarital sex, and consumed alcohol were
      more likely to report intentions to have intercourse. For every additional
      extracurricular activity in which freshmen participated, they were less likely to
      report intentions to have intercourse within the next year (odds ratio [OR] =
      0.56). CONCLUSIONS: Factors such as extracurricular activities provide youth with
      opportunities to build supportive relationships, connect with peers and role
      models, and positively engage in schools and communities. Extracurricular
      activities typically already exist, have funding, and are generally well
      supported. School-based strategies can increase teenagers' autonomy by providing
      a variety of activities to participate in and reduce unsupervised time. This, in
      turn, has the potential to decrease sexual risk taking behaviors.

PMID- 27619767
TI  - The Effects of the Yes You Can! Curriculum on the Sexual Knowledge and Intent of
      Middle School Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of the "Yes You
      Can!" (YYC) curriculum on sexual knowledge and behavioral intent of program
      participants. METHODS: Participants included students ages 10-14 from schools in
      a northeast US urban area. Yes You Can! program lessons were designed to support
      healthy relationships. The curriculum was taught by trained instructors. The
      testing instrument was a 30-item questionnaire, which included sexual knowledge
      and intent items. Students completed the questionnaire before program
      implementation, immediately following intervention, and a third time at follow
      up. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance. Pretest knowledge scores
      were used as the covariate for the knowledge analyses. Pretest intent scores were
      used as the covariate for the intent analyses. RESULTS: Results showed the
      intervention group had less intent to engage in sexual intercourse than the
      control group at post-test (p < .001) and at follow-up (p < .001). Similarly, the
      intervention group had higher knowledge scores than the control group at post
      test (p < .001) and at follow-up (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that
      the YYC program had a statistically significant, positive impact on knowledge and
      sexual intent. These variables are important precursors to actual behavior.
      Future research should examine the effects of the program on changes in sexual
      behavior.

PMID- 27619768
TI  - Cumulative live birth rates after fresh and vitrified cleavage-stage versus
      blastocyst-stage embryo transfer in the first treatment cycle.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Do cumulative live birth rates differ between single cleavage
      stage Day 3 transfer and single blastocyst-stage Day 5 transfer? SUMMARY ANSWER:
      Cumulative live birth rates after Day 3 and 5 transfers were similar in young
      patients when the vitrified embryo transfers were also taken into account. WHAT
      IS KNOWN ALREADY: Previous evidence has shown that the probability of live birth
      following IVF with a fresh embryo transfer is significantly higher after
      blastocyst-stage Day 5 transfer. However, because the introduction of
      vitrification has enhanced the survival of cryopreserved embryos and improved
      pregnancy rates, the optimal outcome measure for this comparison should now be
      cumulative live birth rates, as these include the eventual contribution of
      vitrified-warmed embryos. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Our retrospective study
      included first IVF/ICSI cycles performed between January 2010 and December 2013
      at a tertiary care centre. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: All patients
      were scheduled for fresh single embryo transfer, either on Day 3 (n = 377) or on
      Day 5 (n = 623). Both IVF and ICSI cycles were included and the sperm used were
      either fresh or frozen partner ejaculates, or frozen donor ejaculates. The
      primary outcome was cumulative live birth (after 24 weeks) rate per started
      cycle, including the eventual contribution of vitrification until the birth of a
      first child. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Live birth rates per started
      cycle were significantly lower after transferring the fresh single cleavage-stage
      embryo, compared to a blastocyst (31.3% and 37.8%, respectively, P = 0.041).
      Furthermore, the number of embryo transfers necessary until the first live birth
      was significantly lower for blastocyst-stage embryos (P < 0.001). However, the
      cumulative live birth rates were 52.6% for cleavage-stage and 52.5% for
      blastocyst-stage transfers (P = 0.989). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The
      extrapolation of the results is limited by the retrospective nature of the study.
      Furthermore, the analysis was restricted to patients under 36 years of age
      undergoing their first treatment cycle. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: These
      results deserve further clinical consideration in terms of time and cost
      efficiency. A subsequent analysis of the neonatal outcomes is necessary to
      confirm the safety of treatment cycles using extended culture. STUDY
      FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: No external funding was received and there are no
      conflicts of interest to declare.

PMID- 27619770
TI  - Hatching status before embryo transfer is not correlated with implantation rate
      in chromosomally screened blastocysts.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Do the reproductive outcomes from the transfer of fully hatched
      (FH) blastocysts differ from those of not fully hatched (NFH) blastocysts?
      SUMMARY ANSWER: Biochemical pregnancy rate (BPR), implantation rate (IR), live
      birth rate (LBR) and early pregnancy loss (EPL) rate are similar in FH and NFH
      single euploid blastocyst embryo transfers. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: The use of
      extended culture and PGS often leads to transfer of an embryo that is well
      developed and frequently FH from the zona pellucida. Without the protection of
      the zona, an FH embryo could be vulnerable to trauma during the transfer
      procedure. To date, no other study has evaluated the reproductive competence of
      an FH blastocyst transfer. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: The retrospective study
      included 808 patients who underwent 808 cycles performed between September 2013
      and July 2015 at a private academic IVF center. Of these, 436 cycles entailed
      transfer of a NFH blastocyst (n = 123 fresh transfer, n = 313 frozen/thawed
      embryo transfer (FET)) and 372 cycles entailed transfer of an FH blastocyst (n =
      132 fresh, 240 FET). Fresh and FET cycles and associated clinical outcomes were
      considered separately. LBR was defined as the delivery of a live infant after 24
      weeks of gestation. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHOD: Trophectoderm
      biopsies were performed on Day 5 (d5) or 6 (d6) for embryos meeting morphology
      eligibility criteria (set at >=3BC). Morphologic grading was determined using a
      modified Gardner-Schoolcraft scale prior to transfer. A single euploid embryo was
      selected for transfer per cycle on either the morning of d6, for fresh transfers
      or 5 days after progesterone supplementation for patients with transfer in an FET
      cycle. Embryos were classified as NFH (expansion Grade 3, 4 or 5) or FH
      (expansion Grade 6) cohorts. The main outcome measure was IR. MAIN RESULTS AND
      THE ROLE OF CHANCE: In the fresh transfer group, IR was similar between NFH and
      FH cycles (53.7% versus 55.3%, P = 0.99, odds ratio (OR) 0.9; 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.6-1.5). Secondary outcomes were also statistically similar
      between groups: BPR (65.9% versus 66.7%, OR 1.0; 95% CI: 0.6-1.6), LBR (43.1%
      versus 47.7%, P = 0.45, OR 1.2; 95% CI: 0.7-1.9) and EPL rate (22.8% versus
      18.2%, OR 1.3; 95% CI: 0.7-2.4). After adjusting for age, BMI, endometrial
      thickness at the LH surge and oocytes retrieved in a logistic regression (LR)
      model, the hatching status remained not associated with IR (P > 0.05). In the FET
      cycles, IR was similar between NFH and FH cycles (62.6% versus 61.7%, OR 1.0; 95%
      CI: 0.7-1.5). Secondary outcomes were similar between groups: BPR (74.1% versus
      72.9%, respectively, OR 1.1; 95% CI: 0.7-1.6), LBR (55.0% versus 50.0%, OR 0.8;
      95% CI: 0.6-1.1) and EPL rate (18.9% versus 22.9%, respectively, OR 0.8; 95% CI:
      0.5-1.2). After adjusting for age, BMI, endometrial thickness at the LH surge and
      oocytes retrieved in an LR model, the hatching status was not shown to be
      associated with implantation (P > 0.05). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION:
      Limitations include the retrospective design and data from a single institution.
      Additionally, the study was limited to patients that developed high-quality
      blastocysts suitable for biopsy. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The results
      suggest that FH embryos are not more fragile or less likely to implant when
      compared to NFH counterparts. We found no evidence of altered IR or other
      clinical outcomes in the transfer of FH euploid embryos. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING
      INTERESTS: JG is funded by MSTP grant T32 GM007280 (NIH). No additional funding
      was received. There are no conflicts of interest to declare..

PMID- 27619769
TI  - miR-196a overexpression activates the MEK/ERK signal and represses the
      progesterone receptor and decidualization in eutopic endometrium from women with
      endometriosis.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Do microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to aberrant progesterone
      receptor (PGR) expression in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis?
      SUMMARY ANSWER: miR-196a upregulates MEK/ERK signalling, mediating a
      downregulation of PGR expression in the eutopic endometrium of women with minimal
      or mild endometriosis. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Implantation failure is strongly
      suggested as an underlying cause for the observed infertility in minimal or mild
      endometriosis. Progesterone resistance, which is mainly caused by aberrantly
      expressed progesterone receptor in the eutopic endometrium, is considered as a
      key factor of decreased endometrial receptivity; thus far, epigenetics, but not
      miRNA, has been shown to affect PGR expression in the endometrium. STUDY DESIGN
      SIZE, DURATION: Microarray analysis was used to analyse the eutopic endometrium.
      The differential expression of miR-196a was validated. Bioinformatics analysis
      predicted that miR-196a targets the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the PGR. The
      relationship between the miR-196a level and PGR expression was studied and the
      role of the MEK/ERK signal pathway was investigated. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS,
      SETTING, METHODS: Total RNA was extracted from eutopic endometrium samples in
      three infertile women with mild/minimal endometriosis and three disease-free
      control subjects. The miRNA and mRNA expression levels were analysed by
      microarray analysis. The miR-196a expression was validated by qRT-PCR
      [endometriosis (n = 22) and control (n = 20)], while functional analysis utilised
      in vitro transfection of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs), induction of
      decidualization of ESCs, and luciferase reporter assays in 293 T cell lines. MAIN
      RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: A total of 66 dysregulated miRNAs and 357
      dysregulated mRNAs were screened by microarray analysis. miR-196a and P-MEK/P-ERK
      were both found to be significantly upregulated in the eutopic endometrium in
      patients with mild/minimal endometriosis. PGR and PGR-B mRNA were inhibited by
      miR-196a overexpression and upregulated by miR-196a inhibition. Luciferase
      reporter failed to confirm the target regulation of miR-196a on PGR. Transfection
      of ESCs with a miR-196a mimic led to an increase in the P-MEK/P-ERK protein
      levels, decrease in the PGR protein levels, and atypical decidualization.
      Following miR-196a inhibition, the P-MEK/P-ERK protein was downregulated and the
      PGR protein was upregulated. Inhibition of P-MEK/P-ERK also increased PGR
      expression. LARGE SCALE DATA: Data are presented in Supplementary Tables SI and
      SII. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: This study focused on the role of miR-196a,
      and therefore does not involve other miRNAs; hence, it is possible that other
      miRNAs may also be responsible for progestin resistance in endometriosis. WIDER
      IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Our data revealed altered miRNA expression and
      activated MEK/ERK signalling in the eutopic endometrium in minimal or mild
      endometriosis. We showed that the miR-196a level is associated with reduced
      expression of PGR isoforms through MEK/ERK, suggesting that miR-196a and MEK/ERK
      are both potential biomarkers of endometriosis. These results provide a novel
      approach to target the mechanisms behind progesterone resistance in
      endometriosis. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: This research was supported by
      the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81370693). The authors have
      no conflicts of interest.

PMID- 27619771
TI  - Dyspareunia and depressive symptoms are associated with impaired sexual
      functioning in women with endometriosis, whereas sexual functioning in their male
      partners is not affected.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: To what extent are endometriosis and its related physical and
      mental symptoms associated with the perceived level of sexual functioning in
      women and their male partners? SUMMARY ANSWER: Dyspareunia and depressive
      symptoms are associated with impaired sexual functioning in women with
      endometriosis, whereas sexual functioning in their male partners is not affected.
      WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Women with endometriosis suffer from more dyspareunia,
      lower sexual functioning, and lower quality of life. In qualitative studies,
      partners of women with endometriosis report that endometriosis affected their
      quality of life and produced relational distress. STUDY DESIGN SIZE, DURATION: In
      this cross-sectional study, sexual functioning in women with endometriosis (n =
      83) and their partners (n = 74) was compared with sexual functioning in a control
      group of women attending the outpatient department for issues related to
      contraception (n = 40), and their partners (n = 26). PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS,
      SETTING, METHODS: Women and partners were recruited in the Maastricht University
      Medical Centre (MUMC) and the VieCuri Medical Centre Venlo between June 2011 and
      December 2012. All participants were asked to complete a set of online
      questionnaires. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Response rates were 59.3%
      (83/140) for women with endometriosis and 52.3% (74/140) for their partners.
      Response rates in the control group were respectively 43.2% and 27.4% (41/95 and
      27/95), of whom 40 women and 26 partners could be included in the study. Women
      with endometriosis as compared with the control group, reported significantly
      more frequent pain during intercourse (53% versus 15%, P < 0.001); higher levels
      of chronic pain (median VAS 2.0 cm versus 0.0 cm, P < 0.001); more impairment of
      sexual functioning (median Female Sexual Function Index 25.4 versus 30.6, P <
      0.001); more impairment of quality of life (median Short Form-12 66.3 versus
      87.2, P < 0.001); more pain catastrophizing (mean Pain Catastrophizing Scale 17.8
      versus 8.5, P < 0.001), more depression and anxiety symptoms (median Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale for depression 7 versus 4, P < 0.001 and for anxiety
      4 versus 1, P < 0.001). Sexual functioning was comparable between male partners
      of women with endometriosis and male partners of the control group based on the
      International Index of Erectile Function. Logistic regression analyses showed
      that dyspareunia (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.39-0.75) and depressive symptoms (OR 0.761;
      95% CI 0.58-0.99) were independent and significant negative predictors for sexual
      functioning. Chronic pelvic pain (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.35-0.81) and depressive
      symptoms (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.44-0.96) were independent and significant negative
      predictors for quality of life. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Patient
      recruitment was performed in one tertiary care centre and to a lesser extent one
      general hospital, possibly leading to an over-representation of patients with
      more severe endometriosis. All participating women had a partner and are
      therefore 'survivors' in relationship terms. This may have led to an
      underestimation of the impact of endometriosis on sexual functioning. WIDER
      IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: It would be worthwhile to further explore the role
      of depressive symptoms in women with symptomatic endometriosis and to assess the
      effect of treatment of depressive symptoms on sexual functioning and quality of
      life. The fact that the partners did not report impaired sexual functioning could
      be a reassuring thought to women that might be discussed in the consulting room.
      STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: The study was funded by the MUMC. An
      unconditional research grant was given by the Dutch Society of Psychosomatic
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology (21 June 2011). TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Not
      applicable.

PMID- 27619772
TI  - miR-503, a microRNA epigenetically repressed in endometriosis, induces apoptosis
      and cell-cycle arrest and inhibits cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and
      contractility of human ovarian endometriotic stromal cells.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Is the micro-RNA (miRNA) miR-503, downregulated in endometriotic
      cyst stromal cells (ECSCs) and does this affect the cell cycle, cell
      proliferation, angiogenesis and contractility of these cells? SUMMARY ANSWER: miR
      503 expression is downregulated in ECSCs by DNA hypermethylation and this
      contributes to their proliferation, resistance to apoptosis, extracellular matrix
      (ECM) contractility and angiogenesis through effects on cyclin D1, B-cell
      lymphoma/leukemia (Bcl)-2, Ras homology A  and vascular endothelial growth factor
      A (VEGF-A). WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: A variety of miRNAs are demonstrated to
      involve in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. miR-503 is a miRNA with tumor
      suppressor functions, whose expression is suppressed in ECSCs. STUDY DESIGN,
      SIZE, DURATION: We isolated ECSCs and normal endometrial stromal cells (NESCs)
      from ovarian endometriotic tissues (n = 32) and eutopic endometrial tissues
      without endometriosis (n = 8), respectively. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING,
      METHODS: We investigated the functions of miR-503 by using miR-503-transfected
      ECSCs and the DNA methylation status of miR-503 gene in ECSCs and NESCs by
      combined bisulfite restriction analysis. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: In
      ECSCs, miR-503 is downregulated by the DNA hypermethylation of its gene. The
      transfection of miR-503 into ECSCs resulted in the inhibition of cell
      proliferation and induction of cell-cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase through the
      suppression of cyclin D1, the induction of apoptosis through Bcl-2 suppression,
      the inhibition of VEGF-A production and the attenuation of ECM contractility via
      the suppression of Rho/Rho-associated coiled-coil-forming protein kinase
      pathways. LARGE SCALE DATA: NA. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The present
      experiments were carried out only with the stromal component of endometriosis and
      eutopic endometrium. The experiments with the eutopic endometrial stromal cells
      from women with endometriosis are not performed. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE
      FINDINGS: Our findings indicate that epigenetically repressed miR-503 in ECSCs is
      involved in the acquisition of endometriosis-specific cellular functions. STUDY
      FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for
      Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (no.
      13237327 to K.N., no. 26861335 to K.K. and no. 23592407 to H.N.) and the Kanzawa
      Medical Research Foundation (to K.K.). There are no conflicts of interest to
      declare.

PMID- 27619773
TI  - Impact of gonadotropin type on progesterone elevation during ovarian stimulation
      in GnRH antagonist cycles.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Does hormonal stimulation with corifollitropin alpha (CFA) only,
      mimicking a step down protocol, result in lower incidence of progesterone
      elevation on the day of hCGtrigger as compared to sustained stimulation with
      recombinant FSH (rFSH)? SUMMARY ANSWER: The current findings support the concept
      that sustained FSH stimulus contributes to premature progesterone elevation in
      stimulated IVF cycles. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Serum progesterone rise during the
      follicular phase of ovarian stimulation for IVF treatment seems to be related to
      a poorer reproductive outcome. However, the mechanism by which the rise in
      progesterone is caused is not yet fully understood. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION:
      This study was a post hoc analysis of data from two multi-center, randomized,
      double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, non-inferiority trials, ENGAGE and
      PURSUE, conducted from June 2006 to January 2008 and from July 2010 to October
      2012 respectively. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: In the ENGAGE-study,
      1506 women, aged 18-36 years, were allocated to either a single injection of 150
      mg CFA or daily injections of 200 IU rFSH in the first week of stimulation, using
      a standard GnRH antagonist protocol. In the PURSUE-study, a total of 1390 women,
      aged 35-42 years, were allocated to either a single injection of 150 mg of CFA or
      daily 300 IU of rFSH for the first week, again using a standard GnRH antagonist
      protocol. In both trials, daily rFSH was continued until three follicles reached
      >17 mm in size. All women had a body weight of between 50 and 90 kg, regular
      menstrual cycles and an indication for ovarian stimulation before IVF. The
      incidence of progesterone elevation on day of hCG-trigger in patients with CFA
      only or rFSH stimulation, and triggered on Day 8 of stimulation, was analyzed.
      MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Of patients with CFA only stimulation, 5.4%
      (13/239 patients) showed a progesterone elevation above 1.5 ng/ml on day of hCG
      trigger, whereas patients with rFSH stimulation had a significant higher
      incidence of progesterone elevation (18.3%; 62/339 patients) (P < 0.001).
      LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Post hoc analysis of data from previously
      published trials could be considered as a reason for caution. WIDER IMPLICATIONS
      OF THE FINDINGS: Future studies should evaluate whether it would be possible to
      prevent a premature progesterone rise in cycles stimulated with daily FSH by
      using a step down protocol towards the end of the follicular phase. STUDY
      FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: Financial/Material Support was provided by Merck &
      Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA. Davis Gates is an employee of Merck Sharp & Dohme
      Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA and may own stock
      and/or hold stock options in the company. Fabiola Beligotti is an employee of
      MSD, Italy, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA and may own
      stock and/or hold stock options in the company. Barbara Lawrenz, Nils Engelmann
      and Human M. Fatemi have no conflict of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      ENGAGE study: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NTC00696800. PURSUE-study:
      NCT01144416.

PMID- 27619774
TI  - Embryo selection using time-lapse analysis (Early Embryo Viability Assessment) in
      conjunction with standard morphology: a prospective two-center pilot study.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Does prospective embryo selection using the results from the Eava
      Test (Early Embryo Viability Assessment) in combination with standard morphology
      increase the pregnancy rate of IVF and ICSI patients compared to embryo selection
      based on morphology only? SUMMARY ANSWER: Embryo selection using the Eeva Test
      plus standard morphology on Day 3 results in comparable pregnancy rates as
      conventional morphological embryo selection. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Time-lapse
      monitoring of embryo development may represent a superior way to culture and
      select embryos in vitro. The Eeva Test records the development of each embryo
      with a cell-tracking system and predicts the likelihood (High, Medium or Low)
      that an embryo will form a blastocyst based on an automated analysis of early
      cell division timings. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This trial was designed as a
      prospective, observational, two-center pilot study with a propensity matched
      control group. The analysis involved 280 of 302 enrolled patients who were
      included in the Eeva Test group in 2013 and 560 control patients who were treated
      in the years 2011-2013. The majority of transfers (98%) were single embryo
      transfers. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Two academic hospitals (VUmc
      Amsterdam and UZ Gent) enrolled patients <41 years old, with <3 previous attempts
      and >=5 normally fertilized eggs. Propensity matching was used to identify a
      propensity matched control group from a cohort of 1777 patients based on age,
      cycle number, oocyte number and number of fertilized oocytes. MAIN RESULTS AND
      THE ROLE OF CHANCE: There was no difference in patient baseline characteristics
      between the two groups. The ongoing pregnancy rate (OPR) of patients enrolled in
      the Eeva Test group (34.3%; 96/280) did not differ significantly from the OPR in
      the propensity matched control group (34.6%, 194/560; P = 0.92). However,
      significantly less top quality embryos (eight-cell embryos with <=25%
      fragmentation) were transferred in the Eeva Test group compared to the propensity
      matched control group (70.4% vs. 82.3%; P < 0.001). The transfer of Eeva High and
      Medium embryos resulted in a significantly higher OPR of 36.8% (89/242) compared
      to 18.4% (7/38) for Eeva Low embryos (P = 0.02). LIMITATION, REASONS FOR CAUTION:
      This pilot study is limited by its nonrandomized design with a concurrent and
      historical control. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Our pilot data did not
      reveal significant differences between time-lapse based and conventional embryo
      selection. Interestingly, the pregnancy rates were comparable in both groups even
      though the morphological quality of the transferred embryos was significantly
      lower in the Eeva Test group compared to the propensity matched control group. A
      sufficiently powered three-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a solid
      design should be performed to generate decisive evidence in the future. STUDY
      FINDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: Progyny Inc., formerly Auxogyn provided the Eeva
      scopes, software and technical support for this study. The funding sources did
      neither influence data collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the
      data, nor the preparation of the manuscript. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01671644.

PMID- 27619777
TI  - Long-term health care costs for patients with prostate cancer: a population-wide
      longitudinal study in New South Wales, Australia.
AB  - AIM: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian
      males. There are limited data on the long-term health system costs associated
      with PCa. The aim of this study is to estimate long-term health care costs of
      PCa. METHODS: We estimated the health system costs for a cohort of 1873 males
      diagnosed with PCa between 2000 and 2002, using linked medical, pharmaceutical
      and hospital data. Treatment was defined by an initial phase, measuring health
      care costs up to 6 months following diagnosis and a continuing phase (including
      metastatic treatment), measuring treatments to 9.5 years. Nonparametric models
      were used to calculate average health care costs by PCa risk groups at diagnosis
      (low to metastatic) and treatment pathways. RESULTS: Health system costs
      increased with increasing PCa risk category, from $16 923 (low risk) to $39 101
      (metastatic risk group). For men with initial localized risk, costs were $8 454
      for the active surveillance treatment pathway, $9621 for external beam radiation
      therapy/brachytherapy, $19 210 for androgen deprivation therapy, $20 636 for
      radical prostatectomy, $21 161 for radical prostatectomy + external beam
      radiation therapy/brachytherapy, $21 388 for any of the treatments previously
      listed + androgen deprivation therapy, with an additional cost of $55 370 if
      metastatic treatment was undertaken. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment costs are highest
      during two phases over the natural cycle of the disease, the initial diagnosis
      phase and the metastatic treatment phase. Both the initial phase costs and low
      risk category costs are driven largely by the rates of radical prostatectomy. Our
      study provides comprehensive long-term estimates of PCa costs.

PMID- 27619775
TI  - Lysosomal trafficking defects link Parkinson's disease with Gaucher's disease.
AB  - Lysosomal dysfunction has been implicated in multiple diseases, including
      lysosomal storage disorders such as Gaucher's disease, in which loss-of-function
      mutations in the GBA1 gene encoding the lysosomal hydrolase beta
      glucocerebrosidase result in lipid substrate accumulation. In Parkinson's
      disease, alpha-synuclein accumulates in Lewy bodies and neurites contributing to
      neuronal death. Previous clinical and genetic evidence has demonstrated an
      important link between Parkinson's and Gaucher's disease, as GBA1 mutations and
      variants increase the risk of Parkinson's and Parkinson's patients exhibit
      decreased beta-glucocerebrosidase activity. Using human midbrain neuron cultures,
      we have found that loss of beta-glucocerebrosidase activity promotes alpha
      synuclein accumulation and toxicity, whereas alpha-synuclein accumulation further
      contributes to decreased lysosomal beta-glucocerebrosidase activity by disrupting
      beta-glucocerebrosidase trafficking to lysosomes. Moreover, alpha-synuclein
      accumulation disrupts trafficking of additional lysosomal hydrolases, further
      contributing to lysosomal dysfunction and neuronal dyshomeostasis. Importantly,
      promoting beta-glucocerebrosidase activity reduces alpha-synuclein accumulation
      and rescues lysosomal and neuronal dysfunction, suggesting that beta
      glucocerebrosidase may be an important therapeutic target for advancing drug
      discovery in synucleinopathies including Parkinson's disease. (c) 2016
      International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 27619778
TI  - Mental Health Mediating the Relationship Between Symptom Severity and Health
      Related Quality of Life in Patients with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can impact both mental health and
      health-related quality of life (HRQOL). To date, however, their associations with
      outcomes have only been examined in isolation and the interactive relationship
      between LUTS, mental health and HRQOL remains poorly understood. The aim of this
      study was to determine whether mental health mediates the relationship between
      LUTS severity and HRQOL. METHODS: Five hundred and nineteen primary care subjects
      with LUTS completed a structured questionnaire including the International
      Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), the adapted Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7
      (IIQ-7), the Chinese (HK) SF-12 Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12 v2) and the
      Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Mediation modeling was tested
      using Baron and Kenney's multistage regression approach and bootstrapping method.
      RESULTS: Overall, mental health partially mediated the association between LUTS
      severity and HRQOL as measured by the SF-12 v2 physical component summary (PCS)
      and the IIQ-7. The depression, anxiety and stress scores all have similar
      mediation effects in the relationship between LUTS severity and HRQOL. Subgroup
      analysis by gender showed that anxiety fully mediated the relationship between
      LUTS severity and HRQOL as measured by the SF-12 v2 PCS in males whilst the
      mediation effects of mental health in the relationship between LUTS severity and
      HRQOL as measured by the SF-12 v2 PCS could not be found in females. CONCLUSIONS:
      In order to enhance HRQOL, LUTS interventions should address the mental health of
      patients in addition to providing physical relief of symptoms.

PMID- 27619776
TI  - Early identification of DPAM in at-risk low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm
      patients: a new approach to surveillance for peritoneal metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disseminated peritoneal adenomucinosis (DPAM) patients often have a
      history of appendectomy with identification of an incidental mucinous neoplasm
      (low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN)). The rate of developing DPAM is
      not well established. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with incidental LAMN were
      identified and monitored with cancer markers and CT every 4-6 months. Laparoscopy
      with peritoneal washing was performed in patients either in the event of
      radiographic disease or after 12 months in absence of radiographic disease. The
      rate of detecting peritoneal metastasis was determined for CT scan and
      laparoscopy. RESULTS: Peritoneal metastasis was detected in 5 (23 %) patients.
      Occult disease was detected in four patients at laparoscopy without a detectable
      disease on CT scan. One patient developed radiographic progression at 6 months
      confirmed with laparoscopy. Four patients were treated with cytoreductive surgery
      (CRS)/HIPEC and one with CRS only. The 17 patients with negative laparoscopy
      remain disease free with a median follow-up of 50 months. CONCLUSIONS: The rate
      of peritoneal metastasis in incidental LAMN patients was 23 %. Laparoscopy was
      the primary screening tool identifying occult metastasis. The median PCI of 7 was
      low, and all the patients underwent R0/R1 resections. This study revealed 1 in
      every 4.4 patients with LAMN may develop PMP. Longer follow-up and further
      patient surveillance is warranted.

PMID- 27619780
TI  - Anatomical and Functional Outcomes of Prolift Transvaginal Mesh for Treatment of
      Pelvic Organ Prolapse.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate anatomical and functional outcomes of the Prolift
      Transvaginal Mesh for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) with regard to
      safety and satisfaction. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 163 patients
      who underwent POP repair with Prolift Transvaginal Mesh between December 2005 and
      March 2012. An "optimal" anatomic outcome was defined as Pelvic Organ Prolapse
      Quantification System (POP-Q) stage 0, and a "satisfactory" anatomic outcome was
      defined as POP-Q stage 1. RESUTS: A total of 163 patients were included in this
      study, with a mean age (range) of 61.6 (35-83) years. An anterior mesh was used
      in 110 patients, and combined anterior and posterior mesh was used in 53
      patients. The mean follow-up period after POP repair was 40.4 (12-63) months.
      Optimal anatomic outcomes for anterior, apical, and posterior prolapse were
      achieved in 55.9, 69.2, and 65.8% of cases, respectively. Optimal or satisfactory
      anatomic outcomes for anterior, apical, and posterior prolapse occurred in 76.7,
      85.0, and 82.5% of cases, respectively. Mean values for points in the POP-Q,
      urinary distress inventory (UDI), and pelvic organ prolapsed distress inventory
      (POPDI) in the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI) were all significantly
      improved after the operation. The overall satisfaction rate for the operation was
      84.7%. Five patients (3.1%) were diagnosed with vaginal erosion and treated with
      partial excision of the mesh without evidence of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic
      organ prolapse repair using Prolift Transvaginal Mesh is an effective and safe
      procedure without significant complications.

PMID- 27619779
TI  - Optimum Dose of Once-Daily Oxybutynin Patch in Japanese Patients with Overactive
      Bladder: A Randomized Double-Blind Trial Versus Placebo.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and optimum dose of once-daily
      oxybutynin patch for overactive bladder. METHODS: A randomized double-blind trial
      was conducted in patients with overactive bladder symptoms for >=24 weeks, who
      received an oxybutynin patch (73.5 or 105 mg) or placebo once daily for 8 weeks.
      The primary endpoint was the change in the daily frequency of micturition from
      baseline to the end of study. RESULTS: A total of 579 patients were randomized to
      the placebo group (n = 164), 73.5 mg oxybutynin patch group (n = 166), and 105 mg
      oxybutynin patch group (n = 165). The frequency of micturition (mean +/- standard
      deviation) decreased by 1.19 +/- 1.80 in the placebo group, 1.87 +/- 1.93 in the
      73.5 mg group, and 1.80 +/- 1.76 in the 105 mg group. Compared with the placebo
      group, micturition decreased significantly in the 73.5 mg and 105 mg groups (t
      test: P = 0.0025 and 0.0039, respectively), while the decrease was similar in
      both oxybutynin groups. The oxybutynin groups showed significant improvement of
      urgency, urge incontinence, incontinence, nocturia, mean voided volume, and five
      or six domains of the King's Health Questionnaire. Dry mouth was noted in 12.1%
      of the 73.5 mg group and 13.3% of the 105 mg group. Constipation was comparable
      between the oxybutynin groups and the placebo group. Application site reactions
      were less frequent in the 73.5 mg group than the 105 mg group. CONCLUSION: The
      efficacy of oxybutynin patch was confirmed, and the optimum dose for Japanese
      patients with overactive bladder was 73.5 mg.

PMID- 27619781
TI  - Safety and Efficacy of Thulium Laser Prostatectomy Versus Transurethral Resection
      of Prostate for Treatment of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to objectively evaluate the safety
      and efficacy of Thulium laser prostatectmy (TmLRP) versus transurethral resection
      of prostate (TURP) in treating benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: Online
      databases such as Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, and Chinese biomedicine
      literature database were searched by randomized control trial (RCT), quasi
      randomized control trial (Q-RCT) and case control study (CCSs) about TmLRP versus
      TURP for the treatment of BPH. After study selection, assessment and data
      extraction conducted, Meta-analyses were performed by using the RevMan 5.2
      software. RESULTS: Six studies involving 640 patients were included and the
      results of follow-up time was 1 year. The results of meta-analyses showed that:
      (i) safety indicators: compared with TURP, TmLRP was associated with less
      decrease of serum sodium salt, less blood transfusion, shorter catheterization
      time hospital time and more operation time. No differences were noted in the TUR
      syndrome, recatheterization rate, transitory urge incontinence, stress
      incontinence urethral stricture and retrograde ejaculation. (ii) Efficacy
      indicators (International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS], post-void residual
      [PVR], Qmax, quality of life [QoL]): Compared with the baseline, significant
      improvement in IPSS, QoL, Qmax and PVR were obvious improvement before and after
      surgery in both groups. There were statistical differences in IPSS at 12 months,
      QoL at 1, 6 months and Qmax 1, 6 months between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      TmLRP is a safe and effective procedure for treatment of benign prostatic
      hyperplasia. Compared with TURP, TmLRP was not only associated with less decrease
      of serum sodium salt, less blood transfusion, shorter catheterization time and
      hospital time, but also may be superior to TURP in efficacy.

PMID- 27619782
TI  - Urodynamic Efficacy and Safety of Mirabegron Add-on Treatment with Tamsulosin for
      Japanese Male Patients with Overactive Bladder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate urodynamic efficacy and safety of mirabegron add-on
      treatment with tamsulosin for Japanese male patients with overactive bladder
      (OAB). METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in 26 consecutive male patients
      with OAB who had been taking tamsulosin. OAB was diagnosed by overactive bladder
      symptom score (OABSS). Before and 8 weeks after mirabegron add-on treatment with
      preceding tamsulosin, we assessed OABSS, International Prostate Symptom Score
      (IPSS), free uroflowmetry (UFM), filling cystometry and pressure-flow study
      (PFS). RESULTS: Mean age and prostate volume of the study patients were 75 +/- 7
      years and 32 +/- 19 mL, respectively. Mirabegron significantly improved OABSS
      (from 8.5 +/- 2.3 to 4.7 +/- 2.5, P < 0.001). On free UFM, mirabegron
      significantly increased voided volume (from 135 +/- 47 to 182 +/- 102 mL, P =
      0.01), maximum (from 10.7 +/- 3.7 to 13.5 +/- 6.4 mL/sec, P < 0.01) and average
      flow rate (from 5.5 +/- 1.9 to 7.1 +/- 3.3 mL/sec, P < 0.01), while postvoid
      residual urine volume did not change significantly (from 47 +/- 38 to 63 +/- 61
      mL, P = 0.23). Before mirabegron, 24 patients (92%) had detrusor overactivity
      (DO). After mirabegron add-on, maximum cystometric capacity significantly
      increased from 170 +/- 98 to 212 +/- 95 mL (P = 0.01) and DO disappeared in six
      patients (25%). In the other 18 patients with persistent DO, amplitude of
      involuntary contraction decreased and bladder volume at first involuntary
      contraction increased with statistical significance. On PFS, detrusor pressure at
      maximum flow rate (from 79 +/- 31 to 68 +/- 19 cmH2 O, P = 0.10) or bladder
      contractility index (from 126 +/- 39 to 120 +/- 27, P = 0.45) did not change
      significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Mirabegron add-on treatment with tamsulosin has
      efficacy and safety because it improves storage symptom without impairment of
      bladder contractility during voiding in male patients with OAB.

PMID- 27619783
TI  - Validating of a Novel Method for Electronically Recording Overactive Bladder
      Symptoms in Men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to compare a novel wireless phone and web
      based technology to record and store overactive bladder symptoms (OAB-S) to a
      traditional pen and paper micturition chart. METHODS: Overactive bladder symptoms
      were recorded over a period of 3 days using both an electronic micturition chart
      (EMC) and the standard pen and paper micturition chart (MC). Twenty-nine men,
      with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), were included in the study. Dropout
      rate, patient's preference, and correlation between the quality of life measures
      (QoL) and symptoms recorded with EMC versus MC, were assessed and compared.
      RESULTS: Of the total number of 29 patients enrolled into the study, 24 completed
      the full 3-day trial using MC and 27 using EMC. MC was preferred by 50%, while
      EMC was preferred by 50% of participants. Using MC, 21% of patients forgot to
      record at least one episode of urgency, versus 17% using EMC, 17% forgot to
      record at least one micturition using MC versus 8% using EMC. A statistically
      significant correlation was found between lower severity of OAB-S and higher QoL,
      using both recording methods. CONCLUSIONS: In this study population, recording
      symptoms with EMC did not prove to be preferable compared to MC; however, EMC
      provided the same level of accuracy with the same or better adherence to the
      study protocol.

PMID- 27619784
TI  - Effect on Sexual Function of Patients and Patients' Spouses After Midurethral
      Sling Procedure for Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Prospective Single Center
      Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect on sexual function of patients and their
      spouses after transobturator tape (TOT) procedure, prospectively. Midurethral
      sling procedure has been widely performed for treatment of urinary incontinence;
      however, little has been reported regarding sexual function after surgery.
      METHODS: Between September 2012 and June 2013, 65 patients undergoing TOT and
      their sexual partners were enrolled. An investigation was conducted using
      validated, self-administered questionnaires, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI)
      and satisfaction domain on Male Sexual Health Questionnaire (MSHQ) for evaluation
      of couple's sexual function. They completed the research on preoperative and
      postoperative visits at 3, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS: Of 65 couples, 56 couples
      completed this study. The mean age of patients and their partners were 46.7 +/-
      5.7 and 49.1 +/- 6.2 years, respectively. The mean follow-up period was 16.5 +/-
      2.9 months. A significant loss of total FSFI score was observed at postoperative
      3 months (P = 0.003), which was regained after postoperative 6 months. In
      comparison with baseline and postoperative 12 months, total FSFI score showed
      significant improvement (P < 0.001). There were significant improvements in
      desire, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction on FSFI domain (P = 0.018, 0.012,
      0.014, and 0.008, respectively). In male counterparts, significant improvements
      were observed in MSHQ satisfaction domain regarding sexual relationship, quality
      of sex life, partner's affection during sex, and communication about sex (P =
      0.007, <0.001, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Improvement of
      incontinence by TOT can improve not only female sexual function but also sexual
      satisfaction of partners.

PMID- 27619785
TI  - Supraspinal Projection of Serotonergic and Noradrenergic Pathways Modulates
      Nociceptive Transmission in the Lower Urinary Tract of Rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of descending serotonergic and
      noradrenergic pathways on nociception in the lower urinary tract (LUT). METHODS:
      Female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Following intraperitoneal administration of
      Vehicle or Milnacipran (30 mg/kg), which is one of serotonin-noradrenaline
      reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), 0.1% AA was infused into the bladder in normal (n =
      4, each) and spinal cord injury (SCI) (n = 4, each) rats for 2 h on
      consciousness, and c-Fos, 5-HT and DbetaH were stained using immunohistochemistry
      at the L6 spinal cord as spinal areas associated with LUT. RESULTS: In SCI rats,
      5-HT or DbetaH-positive fibers were not observed at the L6 spinal cord, while
      there were many 5-HT and DbetaH-positive fibers in normal rats. The total number
      of c-Fos-positive cells was significantly increased in SCI rats compared to
      Normal rats (209.4 +/- 7.1 in Normal, 336.4 +/- 28.9 in SCI, P < 0.05), which
      indicated that interruption of supraspinal modulation enhances nocieptive
      transmission in the LUT. Regarding the effect of Milnacipran administration, the
      number of c-Fos-positive cells was significantly decreased at all region of the
      L6 spinal cord in normal rats (P < 0.05), while this reduction was not observed
      in SCI rats. This result demonstrated that administration of SNRI attenuates
      nocieptive transmission in the LUT, indicating that 5-HT and noradrenaline work
      as mediators of endogenous analgesic mechanisms through the supraspinal
      descending pain pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Supraspinal projections of descending
      serotonergic and noradrenergic pathways to the lower lumbar spinal cord modulate
      nocieptive transmission in the LUT. Administration of SNRI attenuates nocieptive
      transmission in the LUT, which could result from enhancement of modulating
      descending serotonergic and noradrenergic pathways.

PMID- 27619786
TI  - Urethroplasty Using Diverticular Tissue for Hypospadias.
AB  - CASE: The patient was a 3-year-old with hypospadias. Urethroplasty was performed
      as a two-stage procedure, but a severe urethral stricture occurred due to a
      postoperative infection and the patient was virtually in urinary retention. An
      emergency cystostomy was performed, and thereafter urethral reconstruction was
      performed. A large urethral diverticulum had formed in the scrotum. The inner
      wall of the diverticulum was found to be completely epithelialized and well
      vascularized. Therefore, it was elevated as a skin flap and a neourethra was
      reconstructed up to the glans region using the diverticular tissue. OUTCOME:
      Postoperative complications were not observed, and micturition was satisfactory.
      CONCLUSION: A urethral diverticulum is one of the often encountered complications
      of hypospadias surgery. However, there are only a few literature reports related
      to the treatment of urethral diverticulum. In addition, there are almost no
      reports on reconstructions using urethral diverticular tissue. In this report, we
      describe such a treatment experience.

PMID- 27619789
TI  - Erratum to: Defining competency in flexible cystoscopy: a novel approach using
      cumulative Sum analysis.

PMID- 27619788
TI  - Convergent Synthesis of N-Linked Glycopeptides via Aminolysis of omega-Asp p
      Nitrophenyl Thioesters in Solution.
AB  - An efficient N-linked glycosylation reaction between glycosylamines and p
      nitrophenyl thioester peptides has been developed. The reaction conditions are
      mild and compatible with the C-terminal free carboxylic acid group and the
      unprotected N-linked sialyloligosaccharide. By means of this convergent strategy,
      a versatile N-glycopeptide fragment containing an N-terminal Thz and a C-terminal
      thioester was readily prepared, which is available for the synthesis of long
      glycopeptides and glycoproteins using the protocol of native chemical ligation.

PMID- 27619787
TI  - Treatment of completely obstructed benign biliary strictures with magnetic
      compression anastomosis: follow-up results after recanalization.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although nonsurgical methods produce high clinical success
      rates in the treatment of benign biliary stricture (BBS), conventional methods
      are not always successful in cases of severe biliary stricture or complete
      obstruction. Therefore, the efficacy of magnetic compression anastomosis (MCA)
      for treatment of refractory BBS was evaluated in a single-center, nonrandomized
      study. METHODS: MCA was performed in patients with BBS that was not resolved by
      conventional endoscopic or percutaneous treatments. One magnet was delivered
      through the percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage tract, and the other
      advanced through 1 of 3 different routes. After magnet approximation and
      recanalization, an internal drainage catheter was placed for 6 months. RESULTS:
      This study followed 39 patients who underwent MCA after the development of
      postoperative or traumatic strictures. Recanalization was achieved successfully
      in 35 patients. There was an acceptable procedure-related adverse event of mild
      cholangitis in 1 patient and no procedure-related mortalities. The average
      elapsed time from magnet approximation to removal was 57.4 days (range, 13-182
      days), and the mean follow-up period after recanalization was 41.9 months (range,
      7.1-73.4 months). Restenosis after MCA recurred in 1 patient, and partial
      restenosis occurred in another patient, but recanalization in these patients was
      successful using a guidewire via the percutaneous and endoscopic tracts.
      CONCLUSIONS: MCA represents an alternative nonsurgical recanalization method for
      BBSs that cannot be treated by conventional methods. The rate of stricture
      recurrence after MCA was lower than that after conventional methods, likely
      because of the creation of a new fistula tract instead of dilation of a previous
      stricture.

PMID- 27619790
TI  - Corrigendum to 'Human influenza viruses and CD8+ T cell responses' [Curr. Opin.
      Virol. 16 (2016) 132-142].

PMID- 27619791
TI  - Editorial overview: Animal models for viral diseases.

PMID- 27619792
TI  - Editorial overview: Environmental virology: how domestic viruses impact wild host
      species.

PMID- 27619793
TI  - Editorial overview: Viruses and cell metabolism.

PMID- 27619794
TI  - Superconducting fluctuation effect in CaFe0.88Co0.12AsF.
AB  - Out-of-plane angular dependent torque measurements were performed on
      CaFe0.88Co0.12AsF single crystals. Superconducting fluctuations, featured by
      magnetic field enhanced and exponential temperature dependent diamagnetism, are
      observed above the superconducting transition temperature T c, which is similar
      to that of cuprate superconductors, but less pronounced. In addition, the ratio
      of T c versus superfluid density follows well the Uemura line of high-T c
      cuprates, which suggests the exotic nature of the superconductivity in
      CaFe0.88Co0.12AsF.

PMID- 27619795
TI  - Identification of further diversity among posaviruses.
AB  - Recently, there have been reports of new members of posavirus-like viruses in the
      order Picornavirales. In this study, using a metagenomics approach, 11 posavirus
      like sequences (>7,000 nucleotides) were detected in 155 porcine fecal samples.
      Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the newly identified virus sequences,
      together with other posavirus-like viruses, form distinct clusters within the
      order Picornavirales, composed of eight genogroups and unassigned sequences based
      on amino acid sequences of the helicase and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase regions,
      with <40 % and <50 % sequence identity, respectively. We propose further
      classifications of highly diverse posavirus populations based on newly identified
      sequences from Japanese pig feces.

PMID- 27619796
TI  - Characteristics and complete genome analysis of a novel jumbo phage infecting
      pathogenic Bacillus pumilus causing ginger rhizome rot disease.
AB  - Tailed phages with genomes larger than 200 kbp are classified as jumbo phage and
      exhibit extremely high diversity. In this study, a novel jumbo phage,
      vB_BpuM_BpSp, infecting pathogenic Bacillus pumilus, the cause of ginger rhizome
      rot disease, was isolated. Notable features of phage vB_BpuM_BpSp are the large
      phage capsid of 137 nm and baseplate-attached curly tail fibers. The genome of
      the phage is 255,569 bp in size with G+C content of 25.9 %, and it shows low
      similarity to known biological entities. The phage genome contains 318 predicted
      coding sequences. Among these predicted coding sequences, 26 genes responsible
      for nucleotide metabolism were found, and seven structural genes could be
      identified. The findings of this study provide new understanding of the genetic
      diversity of phages.

PMID- 27619797
TI  - Immune response in Dobrava-Belgrade virus infections.
AB  - Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) is a hantavirus that causes a disease in humans
      known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Hallmarks of hantaviral
      infections are increased vascular permeability due to dysregulation of the
      endothelial cell barrier and acute thrombocytopenia. In order to gain insight
      into the immune response in DOBV infections, the serum levels of 27 cytokines in
      24 hospitalized Greek HFRS patients were evaluated. Compared to the control
      group, significantly higher IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, GM-CSF, IP-10, MIP
      1b, TNF-alpha and VEGF levels were found in severe cases, while in non-severe
      cases, IL-13 and TNF-alpha levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05). In all
      groups, IP-10 was increased and RANTES was decreased. Significant and time-
      (after onset of illness) dependent differences among fatal, severe and non-severe
      cases were seen. VEGF was positively associated with disease severity. A strong
      immune response was seen during the first week of illness, especially in severe
      cases, while the response in non-severe cases was weaker and delayed. The Th1
      response was strong in non-severe cases and weak in the fatal case, while a mixed
      Th1/Th2 immune response was seen in the survivors of severe disease.

PMID- 27619798
TI  - Experimental infection of gnotobiotic pigs with the cell-culture-adapted porcine
      deltacoronavirus strain OH-FD22.
AB  - Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a novel enteropathogenic coronavirus in pigs.
      We have isolated and passaged the PDCoV strain OH-FD22 in an LLC porcine kidney
      (LLC-PK) cell line. Our study investigated the pathogenicity of the tissue
      culture-grown PDCoV (TC-PDCoV) OH-FD22 at cell passages 5, 20 and 40 in LLC-PK
      cells, in eight 14-day-old gnotobiotic (Gn) pigs. Pigs (n = 3) were euthanized
      for pathologic examination at post-inoculation day (PID) 3, and the remainder
      were monitored for clinical signs, virus shedding, and serum antibody responses
      until PID 28. All inoculated pigs developed watery diarrhea and/or vomiting at
      PID 1-2 and shed the highest amount of viral RNA in feces at PID 3-5, accompanied
      by severe atrophic enteritis. They developed high titers of PDCoV-specific
      IgG/IgA and virus-neutralizing antibodies in serum at PID 23-24. Histologic
      lesions were limited to the villous epithelium of the jejunum and ileum at PID 3.
      Two inoculated pigs tested at PID 23-24 had small to moderate numbers of PDCoV
      antigen-positive cells in the intestinal lamina propria and mesenteric lymph
      nodes, but not in enterocytes. An analysis of full-length S and N genes of TC-
      and Gn-pig-passaged OH-FD22 revealed a high genetic stability in cell culture and
      pigs. TC-PDCoV OH-FD22 (cell passages 5, 20 and 40) was enteropathogenic, and the
      pathogenicity was similar to that of the original field virus. The TC-PDCoV OH
      FD22 will be useful for further pathogenesis studies and for evaluating if higher
      level cell-culture passaged virus becomes attenuated for vaccine development.

PMID- 27619799
TI  - Heart rate reduction may be a major determinant of vascular tone in esmolol
      treated septic shock patients-although still remains to be confirmed!

PMID- 27619801
TI  - Family-Centered Care in Juvenile Justice Institutions: A Mixed Methods Study
      Protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment and rehabilitation interventions in juvenile justice
      institutions aim to prevent criminal reoffending by adolescents and to enhance
      their prospects of successful social reintegration. There is evidence that these
      goals are best achieved when the institution adopts a family-centered approach,
      involving the parents of the adolescents. The Academic Workplace Forensic Care
      for Youth has developed two programs for family-centered care for youth detained
      in groups for short-term and long-term stay, respectively. OBJECTIVE: The overall
      aim of our study is to evaluate the family-centered care program in the first two
      years after the first steps of its implementation in short-term stay groups of
      two juvenile justice institutions in the Netherlands. The current paper discusses
      our study design. METHODS: Based on a quantitative pilot study, we opted for a
      study with an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. This pilot is
      considered the first stage of our study. The second stage of our study includes
      concurrent quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative part of our
      study is a pre-post quasi-experimental comparison of family-centered care with
      usual care in short-term stay groups. The qualitative part of our study involves
      in-depth interviews with adolescents, parents, and group workers to elaborate on
      the preceding quantitative pilot study and to help interpret the outcomes of the
      quasi-experimental quantitative part of the study. RESULTS: We believe that our
      study will result in the following findings. In the quantitative comparison of
      usual care with family-centered care, we assume that in the latter group, parents
      will be more involved with their child and with the institution, and that parents
      and adolescents will be more motivated to take part in therapy. In addition, we
      expect family-centered care to improve family interactions, to decrease parenting
      stress, and to reduce problem behavior among the adolescents. Finally, we assume
      that adolescents, parents, and the staff of the institutions will be more
      satisfied with family-centered care than with usual care. In the qualitative part
      of our study, we will identify the needs and expectations in family-centered care
      as well as factors influencing parental participation. Insight in these factors
      will help to further improve our program of family-centered care and its
      implementation in practice. Our study results will be published over the coming
      years. CONCLUSIONS: A juvenile justice institution is a difficult setting to
      evaluate care programs. A combination of practice-based research methods is
      needed to address all major implementation issues. The study described here takes
      on the challenge by means of practice-based research. We expect the results of
      our study to contribute to the improvement of care for adolescents detained in
      juvenile justice institutions, and for their families.

PMID- 27619800
TI  - A phase-I trial of pre-operative, margin intensive, stereotactic body radiation
      therapy for pancreatic cancer: the 'SPARC' trial protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Standard therapy for borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer in the
      UK is surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy, but rates of resection with clear
      margins are unsatisfactory and overall survival remains poor. Meta-analysis of
      single-arm studies shows the potential of neo-adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy but the
      relative radio-resistance of pancreatic cancer means the efficacy of conventional
      dose schedules is limited. Stereotactic radiotherapy achieves sufficient accuracy
      and precision to enable pre-operative margin-intensive dose escalation with the
      goal of increasing rates of clear resection margins and local disease control.
      METHODS/DESIGN: SPARC is a "rolling-six" design single-arm study to establish the
      maximum tolerated dose for margin-intensive stereotactic radiotherapy before
      resection of pancreatic cancer at high risk of positive resection margins.
      Eligible patients will have histologically or cytologically proven pancreatic
      cancer defined as borderline-resectable per National Comprehensive Cancer Network
      criteria or operable tumour in contact with vessels increasing the risk of
      positive margin. Up to 24 patients will be recruited from up to 5 treating
      centres and a 'rolling-six' design is utilised to minimise delays and facilitate
      ongoing recruitment during dose-escalation. Radiotherapy will be delivered in 5
      daily fractions and surgery, if appropriate, will take place 5-6 weeks after
      radiotherapy. The margin-intense radiotherapy concept includes a systematic
      method to define the target volume for a simultaneous integrated boost in the
      region of tumour-vessel infiltration, and up to 4 radiotherapy dose levels will
      be investigated. Maximum tolerated dose is defined as the highest dose at which
      no more than 1 of 6 patients or 0 of 3 patients experience a dose limiting
      toxicity. Secondary endpoints include resection rate, resection margin status,
      response rate, overall survival and progression free survival at 12 and 24
      months. Translational work will involve exploratory analyses of the cytological
      and humoral immunological responses to stereotactic radiotherapy in pancreatic
      cancer. Radiotherapy quality assurance of target definition and radiotherapy
      planning is enforced with pre-trial test cases and on-trial review. Recruitment
      began in April 2015. DISCUSSION: This prospective multi-centre study aims to
      establish the maximum tolerated dose of pre-operative margin-intensified
      stereotactic radiotherapy in pancreatic cancer at high risk of positive resection
      margins with a view to subsequent definitive comparison with other neoadjuvant
      treatment options. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN14138956 . Funded by CRUK.

PMID- 27619802
TI  - [New developments in extemporaneous formulations].
AB  - Dermatology is in a state of flux, and systemic therapies have changed the
      prescription practice in the past few years. Nevertheless, topical therapy for
      dermatological illnesses is still the mainstay of dermatologists.
      Pharmaceutically manufactured drugs have a wide spectrum and allow for
      variability. Additionally, there are therapeutic niches that can be bridged by
      prescribing extemporaneous formulations. This is also true for the newly
      established basic therapies for many chronic dermatological illnesses which have
      become essential and are needed in large amounts. Unfortunately, neither during
      medical school, nor during residency training, not even the basic knowledge or
      the complexity of these extemporaneous formulations for topical therapy in
      dermatology is taught. This emphasizes why standardized, proven extemporaneous
      formulations are vital for physicians to achieve optimal and goal-oriented
      therapy for their patients. Sensible and effective prescriptions enhance the
      quality of formulations and the maintenance and well-being of our patients.

PMID- 27619803
TI  - Is there light at the end of the tunnel?-new perspectives in ECMO survival.
AB  - Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a state of systemic hypoperfusion, secondary to a
      deficit in cardiac contractile activity. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
      accounts for the majority of cases of CS, with a high mortality rate, despite the
      great improvements in revascularisation therapy. Nowadays, mechanical circulatory
      support (MCS) in CS often represents the only therapeutic approach able to
      restore systemic perfusion, determining a survival benefit. Recently, many
      efforts have been made to identify factors associated with mortality in patients
      receiving MCS devices. New insights into the pathophysiology of CS prompted the
      concept that the use of MCS should be considered early in the course of the
      disease, before the progression to multiorgan dysfunction. However, many
      questions remain unsolved and randomised trials in this field are hard to
      perform. Looking at the future, the timely implantation of temporary MCS, the
      correct selection of patient, the concomitant use of different temporary devices,
      the improvement in weaning strategies and the increasing use of durable devices
      as a destination or bridge therapy appear to be the most promising areas of
      development. 

PMID- 27619805
TI  - Extending the Limits of Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases.

PMID- 27619804
TI  - Searching for the optimal measuring frequency in longitudinal studies -- an
      example utilizing short message service (SMS) to collect repeated measures among
      patients with low back pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mobile technology has opened opportunities within health care and
      research to allow for frequent monitoring of patients. This has given rise to
      detailed longitudinal information and new insights concerning behaviour and
      development of conditions over time. Responding to frequent questionnaires
      delivered through mobile technology has also shown good compliance, far exceeding
      that of traditional paper questionnaires. However, to optimize compliance, the
      burden on the subjects should be kept at a minimum. In this study, the effect of
      using fewer data points compared to the full data set was examined, assuming that
      fewer measurements would lead to better compliance. METHOD: Weekly text-message
      responses for 6 months from subjects recovering from an episode of low back pain
      (LBP) were available for this secondary analysis. Most subjects showed a
      trajectory with an initial improvement and a steady state thereafter. The data
      were originally used to subgroup (cluster) patients according to their pain
      trajectory. The resulting 4-cluster solution was compared with clusters obtained
      from five datasets with fewer data-points using Kappa agreement as well as
      inspection of estimated pain trajectories. Further, the relative risk of
      experiencing a day with bothersome pain was compared week by week to show the
      effects of discarding some weekly data. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-nine subjects
      were included in this analysis. Using data from every other weekly measure had
      the highest agreement with the clusters from the full dataset, weighted Kappa =
      0.823. However, the visual description of pain trajectories favoured using the
      first 18 weekly measurements to fully capture the phases of improvement and
      steady-state. The weekly relative risks were influenced by the pain trajectories
      and 18 weeks or every other weekly measure were the optimal designs, next to the
      full data set. CONCLUSIONS: A population recovering from an episode of LBP could
      be described using every other weekly measurement, an option which requires fewer
      weekly measures than measuring weekly for 18 weeks. However a higher measuring
      frequency might be needed in the beginning of a clinical course to fully map the
      pain trajectories.

PMID- 27619806
TI  - Right-Sided Diverticulitis Requiring Colectomy: an Evolving Demographic? A Review
      of Surgical Outcomes from the National Inpatient Sample Database.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There remains a paucity of recent data on right-sided colonic
      diverticulitis, especially those undergoing colectomy. We sought to describe the
      clinical features of patients undergoing both a laparoscopic and open surgery for
      right-sided diverticulitis. METHODS: This study is a review of all cases of a
      right colectomy or ileocecectomy for diverticulitis from the National Inpatient
      Sample (NIS) from 2006 to 2012. Demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative
      outcomes were identified for all cases. A comparative analysis of a laparoscopic
      versus open approach was performed. RESULTS: We identified 2233 admissions
      (laparoscopic = 592; open = 1641) in the NIS database. The majority of cases were
      Caucasian (67 %), with 6 % of NIS cases identified as Asian/Pacific Islander. The
      overall morbidity and in-hospital mortality rates were 24 and 2.7 %,
      respectively. The conversion rate from a laparoscopic to open procedure was 34 %.
      Postoperative complications were greater in the open versus laparoscopic cohorts
      (25 vs. 19 %, p < 0.01), with pulmonary complications as the highest (7.0 vs. 1.7
      %; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This investigation represents one of the largest
      cohorts of colon resections to treat right-sided diverticulitis in the USA. In
      this series, right-sided diverticulitis undergoing surgery occurred most commonly
      in the Caucasian population and is most often approached via an open surgical
      technique; however, laparoscopy is a safe and feasible option.

PMID- 27619807
TI  - Hepatic Hemodynamic Changes After Liver Resection: a Reflection of the Complex
      Relationship Between Portal Vein Flow, Hepatic Artery Flow and Portal Pressure.

PMID- 27619808
TI  - Natural History After Acute Necrotizing Pancreatitis: a Large US Tertiary Care
      Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most studies of acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) focus on short
      term outcomes. We evaluated long-term survival and outcomes following ANP.
      METHODS: Patients treated for ANP at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
      from 2001 to 2008 were studied. Data on presentation and course during initial
      hospitalization and follow-up (median 34 months) was extracted. RESULTS: Mean age
      of patients (n = 167) was 53 +/- 16 years; 70 % were male, 94 % white, 71 %
      transfers, 52 % biliary etiology, and 78 % had first-attack of acute
      pancreatitis. Majority had severe disease with high Acute Physiology and Chronic
      Health Evaluation II (APACHE-II) score (median 11), length of stay (median 26
      days), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (87 %), presence of systemic
      inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) (90 %), persistent organ failure (60 %),
      and infected necrosis (50 %). Intervention was needed in 74 %. Eighteen (10.8 %)
      patients died during index hospitalization, 9 (5.4 %) during the first year, and
      13 (7.8 %) after 1 year. Median survival was significantly shorter when compared
      with age- and sex-matched US general population (9.1 vs. 26.1 years, p < 0.001).
      Increasing age (HR 1.05), persistent organ failure (HR 4.5), and >50 % necrosis
      (HR 3.8) were independent predictors of death at 1 year. In eligible patients,
      new-onset diabetes, oral pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, and disability
      were noted in 45, 25, and 53 %, respectively. CONCLUSION: ANP significantly
      impacts long-term survival. A high proportion of patients develop functional
      derangement and disability following ANP.

PMID- 27619809
TI  - Albumin-Bilirubin Score: Predicting Short-Term Outcomes Including Bile Leak and
      Post-hepatectomy Liver Failure Following Hepatic Resection.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Post-operative bile leak (BL) and post hepatectomy liver failure
      (PHLF) are the major potential sources of morbidity among patients undergoing
      liver resection. We sought to define the incidence of BL and PHLF among a large
      cohort of patients, as well as examine the prognostic impact of model for end
      stage liver disease (MELD) and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) scores to predict these
      short-term outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent a hepatectomy
      between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014 were identified using the National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) liver-targeted database. Risk
      factors for BL and PHLF were identified using multivariable logistic regression.
      RESULTS: Among the 3064 patients identified, median age was 60 years (IQR 50-68).
      Most patients underwent surgery (78.9 %) for malignant lesions. Post-operatively,
      250 (8.5 %) patients experienced a BL while PHLF occurred in 149 cases (4.9 %).
      Both MELD (MELD <10 4.9 %; MELD >=10, 10 %; P = 0.001) and ALBI (grade 1, 4.0 %;
      grade 2, 7.2 %; grade 3, 10.0 %; P = 0.001) were associated with PHLF occurrence,
      while only ALBI predicted PHLF severity (P = 0.008). Moreover, ALBI was
      associated with BL (grade 1, 7.1 %; grade 2, 11.5 %; grade 3, 14.0 %; P < 0.001),
      whereas MELD was not (MELD <10, 8.4 %; MELD >=10, 11.2 %; P = 0.13). On
      multivariable analysis, ALBI grade 2/3 was associated with PHLF (OR 1.57, 95 % CI
      1.08-2.27; P = 0.02), PHLF severity (OR 3.06, 95 % CI 1.50-6.23; P = 0.003), and
      the development of a BL (OR 1.35, 95 % CI 1.02-1.80; P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The
      ALBI score was associated with short-term post-operative outcomes following
      hepatic resection and represents a useful pre-operative risk-assessment tool to
      identify patients at risk for adverse post-operative outcomes.

PMID- 27619810
TI  - Usage of 1,3-beta-D-Glucan for Early Detection of Invasive Mycoses and Outcome
      Parameter in Immunocompromised Critically Ill Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Invasive fungal disease (IFD) remains a significant cause of
      morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. METHODS: Examination of 1,3
      beta-D-glucan (BDG) for IFD and as outcome parameter in immunocompromised
      critically ill patients with septic shock. RESULTS: Thirty-two (69 %) out of 46
      included patients had BDG beyond the cutoff of >80 pg/ml (mean 320 pg/ml). Twelve
      (37 %) had findings of Aspergillus spp. in BAL (mean BDG 413 pg/ml). EORTC/MSG
      guidelines classified these as probable invasive aspergillosis (IA)/IFD. Five (16
      %) had candidaemia (mean BDG level 361 pg/ml). Sensitivity of 78 % (95 % CI 58-88
      %) and specificity of 68 % (95 % CI 52-77 %) for IFD were found on the BDG
      Fungitell assay. In detail, a sensitivity of 73 % (95 % 58-84 %) and specificity
      of 83 % (95 % CI 68-93 %) for IA and a sensitivity of 77 % (CI 95 % 62-87 %) and
      specificity 53 % (95 % CI 37-73 %) for candidaemia were found. APACHE II, SOFA
      score and mortality rate were in the elevated BDG group significantly altered (26
      vs. 21, p < 0.003; 15 vs. 13, p < 0.006; 72 vs. 50 %, p < 0.004). CONCLUSION: 1,3
      beta-D-glucan assay is helpful for early detection of IFD; moreover, elevated BDG
      levels can be used as a predictor for outcome in immunocompromised critically ill
      patients as presented in our study.

PMID- 27619811
TI  - The role of endoscopic ultrasound in the diagnosis of gallbladder diseases.
AB  - Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has recently played an increasing role in the
      diagnosis of gallbladder diseases. This review aims to summarize the role of EUS
      in the diagnosis of gallbladder lesions. EUS provides high-resolution images that
      can improve the diagnosis of gallbladder polypoid lesions and microlithiasis, in
      addition to evaluating gallbladder thickness and staging of gallbladder
      carcinoma. Contrast-enhancing agents may be useful for the differential diagnosis
      of gallbladder lesions, but the evidence of their effectiveness is still limited
      and further studies are required in this area to establish its usefulness.
      Endoscopic ultrasound combined with fine needle aspiration has played an
      increasing role in providing histological diagnosis of gallbladder tumors in
      addition to gallbladder thickening.

PMID- 27619812
TI  - Escherichia coli-derived recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 combined
      with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells improves bone regeneration in
      canine segmental ulnar defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large bone defects in canines usually require assistance to achieve
      healing. Implantation of osteoinductive factors can promote bone healing, while
      transplantation of osteoprogenitor cells can enhance bone regeneration. We
      hypothesized that implantation of an osteoinductive factor, recombinant human
      bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2), combined with osteoprogenitor cells, bone
      marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs), would synergistically promote
      bone healing. In this study, we examined the combined effects of Escherichia coli
      derived rhBMP-2 and BMSCs on bone healing after implantation into canine ulnar
      defects. RESULTS: Critical-sized osteoperiosteal segmental defects (2.5 cm) were
      created in the ulnae of healthy female beagle dogs, and implanted with
      combinations of E. coli-derived rhBMP-2 (560 or 140 MUg) and autologous BMSCs
      (10(7), 10(5), or 0 cells). In the present study,18 forelimbs of nine healthy
      purpose-bred female beagles were used. All six treatment groups contained three
      forelimbs, and the animals were euthanized after 12 weeks. The control groups
      (560 and 140 MUg/0 cells) were cited from our previous study to reduce the number
      of experimental animals. Radiographically, the regenerated bone width was
      significantly increased in the 560 or 140 MUg with 10(7) and 10(5) cells groups
      compared with the 0 cells groups. By quantitative CT, the bone mineral density
      was higher in the 560 MUg with 10(7) and 10(5) cells groups, while non-uniformity
      of the bone mineral density was improved in the 560 MUg with 10(7) and 10(5)
      cells groups and 140 MUg/10(7) cells group. Mechanically, the maximum loads at
      failure were significantly higher in the 560 MUg with 10(7) and 10(5) cells
      groups. Histologically, the regenerated bone was well-developed and contained
      osteocyte-like cells marrow cavities, and vessels. However, the osteoclasts and
      osteoblasts were hardly observed. The osteocyte-like cell numbers were
      significantly higher in the 560 MUg with 10(7) and 10(5) cells and 140 MUg with
      10(7) and 10(5) cells groups. CONCLUSIONS: Implantation of E. coli-derived rhBMP
      2 and BMSCs led to significantly enhanced bone formation, with improved bone
      mineral density and reduced non-uniformity of the regenerated bone. Combined
      implantation of rhBMP-2 and BMSCs may be useful for promotion of bone healing in
      critical-sized defects in canines.

PMID- 27619814
TI  - Correlation among Magnetic Resonance Imaging Parameters of Brain in Preterm
      Neonates at Term Equivalent Age.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the spectrum of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
      abnormalities among preterm babies at term equivalent age using objective scoring
      and to study the association among MRI variables. METHODS: Ninety-four preterm
      babies born at <=32 wk of gestation and / or birth weight <= 1500 g at term
      equivalent age who underwent cranial MRI between April 2011 and August 2012 and
      the MRI interpreted by experienced radiologists were studied. In 2014, the MRI
      was retrospectively re-interpreted by the same radiologists using an objective
      scoring system described by Kidokoro. Spectrum of MRI abnormalities, their
      association with perinatal variables and correlation among white matter (WM),
      grey matter and cerebellar scores were analyzed. RESULTS: MRI abnormalities
      observed were WM signal abnormality (24 %), lateral ventricular dilatation (16
      %), WM cystic abnormality (13 %), deep grey matter signal abnormality (9 %),
      cerebellar volume reduction (9 %) and deep grey matter volume reduction (8 %).
      Sepsis was significantly associated with occurrence of WM and cerebellar
      abnormalities (p < 0.05). WM scores did not show significant correlation with
      cortical grey matter and deep grey matter scores while cerebellar scores showed a
      weak positive correlation with WM (r = 0.33), cortical grey matter (r = 0.27) and
      deep grey matter scores (r = 0.22). CONCLUSIONS: MRI abnormalities are common in
      preterm infants, with 60 % showing some abnormality at term equivalent age. Among
      perinatal characteristics, sepsis was identified as risk factor for WM and
      cerebellar injury. Grey matter abnormality occurs independent of WM abnormality.
      Cerebellar abnormalities appear to coexist with either WM or grey matter changes.

PMID- 27619815
TI  - Genetic Approach to Diagnosis of Intellectual Disability.
AB  - Intellectual disability is a non-specific phenotype present in a genetically
      heterogeneous group of disorders. It is characterized by deficits in intellectual
      and adaptive functioning, presenting before 18 y of age. Identifying the cause of
      ID is important to provide treatment where available, genetic counseling,
      recurrence risks and reproductive options for subsequent pregnancies. Advances in
      technology, especially next generation sequencing and microarrays, have greatly
      increased the diagnostic yield of evaluation in cases of ID. This paper describes
      the points in history taking and examination in the evaluation of a proband, and
      discusses the proper use of newer diagnostic technologies. 

PMID- 27619817
TI  - Legionella clemsonensis sp. nov.: a green fluorescing Legionella strain from a
      patient with pneumonia.
AB  - A novel Legionella species was identified based on sequencing, cellular fatty
      acid analysis, biochemical reactions, and biofilm characterization. Strain D5610
      was originally isolated from the bronchial wash of a patient in Ohio, USA. The
      bacteria were gram-negative, rod-shaped, and exhibited green fluorescence under
      long wave UV light. Phylogenetic analysis and fatty acid composition revealed a
      distinct separation within the genus. The strain grows between 26-45 degrees C
      and forms biofilms equivalent to L. pneumophila Philadelphia 1. These
      characteristics suggest that this isolate is a novel Legionella species, for
      which the name Legionella clemsonensis sp nov. is proposed.

PMID- 27619816
TI  - Involvement of Histamine and RhoA/ROCK in Penicillin Immediate Hypersensitivity
      Reactions.
AB  - The mechanism of penicillin immediate hypersensitivity reactions has not been
      completely elucidated. These reactions are generally considered to be mediated by
      IgE, but penicillin-specific IgE could not be detected in most cases. This study
      demonstrated that penicillin was able to cause vascular hyperpermeability in a
      mouse model mimicking clinical symptoms of penicillin immediate hypersensitivity
      reactions. The first exposure to penicillin also induced immediate edema and
      exudative reactions in ears and lungs of mice in a dose-dependent manner.
      Vasodilation was noted in microvessels in ears. These reactions were unlikely to
      be immune-mediated reactions, because no penicillin-specific IgE was produced.
      Furthermore, penicillin treatment directly elicited rapid histamine release.
      Penicillin also led to F-actin reorganization in human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells and increased the permeability of the endothelial monolayer. Activation of
      the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway was observed in ears and lungs of mice and in
      endothelial cells after treatment with penicillin. Both an anti-histamine agent
      and a ROCK inhibitor attenuated penicillin immediate hypersensitivity reactions
      in mice. This study presents a novel mechanism of penicillin immediate
      hypersensitivity reactions and suggests a potential preventive approach against
      these reactions.

PMID- 27619818
TI  - Characterization of hard- and softwood biochars pyrolyzed at high temperature.
AB  - A wide range of waste biomass/waste wood feedstocks abundantly available at mine
      sites provide the opportunity to produce biochars for cost-effective improvement
      of mine tailings and contaminated land at metal mines. In the present study, soft
      and hardwood biochars derived from pine and jarrah woods at high temperature
      (700  degrees C) were characterized for their physiochemical properties including
      chemical components, electrical conductivity, pH, zeta potential, cation-exchange
      capacity (CEC), alkalinity, BET surface area and surface morphology. Evaluating
      and comparing these characteristics with available data from the literature have
      affirmed the strong dictation of precursor type on the physiochemical properties
      of the biochars. The pine and jarrah wood feedstocks are mainly different in
      their proportions of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, resulting in biochars
      with heterogeneous physiochemical properties. The hardwood jarrah biochar
      exhibits much higher microporosity, alkalinity and electrostatic capacity than
      the softwood pine. Correlation analysis and principal component analysis also
      show a good correlation between CEC-BET-alkalinity, and alkalinity-ash content.
      These comprehensive characterization and analysis results on biochars' properties
      from feedstocks of hardwood (from forest land clearance at mine construction) and
      waste pine wood (from mining operations) will provide a good guide for tailoring
      biochar functionalities for remediating metal mine tailings. The relatively inert
      high-temperature biochars can be stored for a long term at mine closure after
      decades of operations.

PMID- 27619819
TI  - Narrative perspective shift at retrieval: The psychological-distance-mediated
      effect on emotional intensity of positive and negative autobiographical memory.
AB  - The present study manipulated participants' narrative perspectives (1st-personal
      pronoun "I" and 3rd-personal pronoun "He/She") to vary their field and observer
      visual perspectives that they took to retrieve autobiographical events and
      examine how the shifts in narrative perspective could influence the self-rated
      emotional intensity of autobiographical memory. Results showed that when
      narrative perspectives effectively shifted participants' visual perspectives from
      field to observer, they felt attenuated emotional intensities of positive and
      negative autobiographical memories. However, this did not occur when narrative
      perspectives effectively shifted the visual perspectives from observer to field.
      Multiple mediator models further showed that the changes in psychological
      distance and imagery vividness (a distance-related construct) of autobiographical
      memory mediated the relationship between the narrative perspective shift from the
      1st- to 3rd-person and the reduction in the intensities of negative and positive
      emotion. This provides support for the role of psychological distancing in
      reducing the emotional intensity of autobiographical memory.

PMID- 27619820
TI  - Attention lapses and behavioural microsleeps during tracking, psychomotor
      vigilance, and dual tasks.
AB  - This study examined the incidence of attention lapses and microsleeps under
      contrasting levels of task complexity during three tasks: PVT, 2-D tracking and a
      dual task combining the two. More attention lapses per participant (median 15vs.
      3; range 1-74vs. 0-76, p=0.001), with the greatest increase with time spent-on
      task (p=0.002), were evident on the more cognitively-demanding dual task than on
      the PVT. Conversely, fewer microsleeps (median 0vs. 0; range 0-1vs. 0-18,
      p=0.022) occurred during the more complex task compared to the tracking task. An
      increase in microsleep rate with time spent-on-task (p=0.035) was evident during
      the tracking task but not the dual task. These results indicate that the higher
      cognitive load, associated with an increase in task complexity, increased the
      likelihood of attention lapses, while a reduction in task complexity increased
      the likelihood of microsleeps.

PMID- 27619821
TI  - Therapeutic ductal injection in chronic sialadenitis is established.

PMID- 27619822
TI  - Surgical treatment of concomitant thyroid and parathyroid disorders: analysis of
      4882 cases.
AB  - The thyroid gland disease incidence in hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is higher than
      the incidence of thyroid disease in general population. Likewise, HPT is more
      frequent in patients primary admitted due to thyroid disease, than in general
      population. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and clinical
      characteristics of concomitant HPT and thyroid disease, based on a single center
      experience. From 2009 to 2014, a total of 4882 patients underwent thyroidectomy
      and/or parathyroidectomy at the Center for Endocrine Surgery, Belgrade. We
      reviewed the database to find out indications for surgery, clinical
      characteristics, operative and histopathological findings. Out of 4033 patients,
      who underwent thyroidectomy, in 114 cases (2.8 %) parathyroidectomy was
      simultaneously performed. Out of these 114 patients, 42 patients (37 %) had
      normocalcemic HPT. Among 849 patients primary operated due to HPT, thyroid gland
      disease that required surgery was found in 224 (26.4 %). In patients primary seen
      for HPT, thyroid cancer was found in 22 (9.8 %), Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 41
      (18.3 %) and micropapillary carcinoma in 36 cases (16.1 %). Due to residual or
      recidivant HPT, 16 patients (15 who primary underwent parathyroidectomy and 1
      primary seen for thyroid disease) needed a reoperation. There are a considerable
      number of patients with concomitant thyroid and parathyroid disease; this
      justifies the routine analyses of calcemia and PTH level in patients preparing
      for thyroidectomy, and sets up the ground for the thyroid investigations in HPT.

PMID- 27619823
TI  - Selective upper airway stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea: a single center
      clinical experience.
AB  - Selective upper airway stimulation (UAS) is a novel therapy for patients with
      obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The aim of this study was to analyze the
      application and outcome of UAS in patients with moderate to severe OSA in the
      clinical routine of a tertiary referral center. The design of this study is
      single-center, prospective clinical trial. Thirty-one patients who received a UAS
      device (Inspire Medical Systems) were included. Treatment outcome was evaluated
      at 2, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Data collection included demographics,
      body mass index (BMI), apnea hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen saturation and
      desaturation index (ODI), Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS), adverse events, and
      adherence to therapy. Sher criteria were used to evaluate treatment response. The
      mean age was 59.6 years with thirty patients being male. Mean BMI was 28.8 kg/m2.
      The mean pre-implantation AHI of 32.9/h could be reduced to 7.1/h after 12 months
      (p < 0.001). The mean pre-implantation ODI of 30.7/h could be reduced to 9.9/h
      after 12 months (p = 0.004). The mean pre-implantation ESS of 12.6 could be
      reduced to 5.9 after 12 months (p = 0.006). Serious adverse events did not occur.
      Therapy adherence was a usage of 6.6 h/night after 12 months. OSA severity and
      subjective daytime sleepiness were improved in patients with moderate to severe
      OSA after receiving UAS therapy. Patients maintained high adherence to therapy
      use after 12 months. It is encouraging that UAS has been shown to be successfully
      implemented in the routine clinical management of OSA outside of a clinical trial
      setting.

PMID- 27619824
TI  - Mast cells are associated with the onset and progression of celiac disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated disorder characterized by
      an accumulation of immune cells in the duodenal mucosa as a consequence of both
      adaptive and innate immune responses to undigested gliadin peptides. Mast cells
      (MCs) are innate immune cells that are a major source of costimulatory signals
      and inflammatory mediators in the intestinal mucosa. Although MCs have previously
      been associated with CD, functional studies have never been performed. OBJECTIVE:
      We aimed at evaluating the role of MCs in the pathogenesis of CD. METHODS:
      Intestinal biopsy specimens of patients with CD were scored according to the
      Marsh classification and characterized for leukocyte infiltration and MC
      distribution. Moreover, MC reactivity to gliadin and its peptides was
      characterized by using in vitro assays. RESULTS: Infiltrating MCs were associated
      with the severity of mucosal damage, and their numbers were increased in patients
      with higher Marsh scores. MCs were found to directly respond to nonimmunodominant
      gliadin fragments by releasing proinflammatory mediators. Immunohistochemical
      characterization of infiltrating MCs and the effects of gliadin peptides on
      intestinal MCs indicated an increase in proinflammatory MC function in advanced
      stages of the disease. This was also associated with increased neutrophil
      accumulation, the prevalence of M1 macrophages, and the severity of tissue
      damage. CONCLUSION: We provide a description of the progressive stages of CD, in
      which MCs are the hallmark of the inflammatory process. Thus the view of CD
      should be revised, and the contribution of MCs in the onset and progression of CD
      should be reconsidered in developing new therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 27619825
TI  - Focused X-Ray Histological Analyses to Reveal Asbestos Fibers and Bodies in Lungs
      and Pleura of Asbestos-Exposed Subjects.
AB  - Asbestos bodies are the histological hallmarks of asbestos exposure. Both
      conventional and advanced techniques are used to evaluate abundance and
      composition in histological samples. We previously reported the possibility of
      using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) for analyzing the chemical
      composition of asbestos bodies directly in lung tissue samples. Here we applied a
      high-performance synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (XRF) set-up that could allow new
      protocols for fast monitoring of the occurrence of asbestos bodies in large
      histological sections, improving investigation of the related chemical changes. A
      combination of synchrotron X-ray transmission and fluorescence microscopy
      techniques at different energies at three distinct synchrotrons was used to
      characterize asbestos in paraffinated lung tissues. The fast chemical imaging of
      the XFM beamline (Australian Synchrotron) demonstrates that asbestos bodies can
      be rapidly and efficiently identified as co-localization of high calcium and
      iron, the most abundant elements of these formations inside tissues (Fe up to 10%
      w/w; Ca up to 1%). By following iron presence, we were also able to hint at small
      asbestos fibers in pleural spaces. XRF at lower energy and at higher spatial
      resolution was afterwards performed to better define small fibers. These analyses
      may predispose for future protocols to be set with laboratory instruments.

PMID- 27619826
TI  - How did a Housing First intervention improve health and social outcomes among
      homeless adults with mental illness in Toronto? Two-year outcomes from a
      randomised trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We studied the impact of a Housing First (HF) intervention on
      housing, contact with the justice system, healthcare usage and health outcomes
      among At Home/Chez Soi randomised trial participants in Toronto, a city with an
      extensive service network for social and health services for individuals who are
      experiencing homelessness and mental illness. METHODS: Participants identified as
      high needs were randomised to receive either the intervention which provided them
      with housing and supports by an assertive community treatment team (HF+ACT) or
      treatment as usual (TAU). Participants (N=197) had in-person interviews every 3
      months for 2 years. RESULTS: The HF+ACT group spent more time stably housed
      compared to the TAU group with the mean difference between the groups of 45.8%
      (95% CI 37.1% to 54.4%, p<0.0001). Accounting for baseline differences, HF+ACT
      group showed significant improvements over TAU group for community functioning,
      selected quality-of-life subscales and arrests at some time points during follow
      up. No differences between HF+ACT and TAU groups over the follow-up were observed
      for health service usage, community integration and substance use. CONCLUSIONS:
      HF for individuals with high levels of need increased housing stability and
      selected health and justice outcomes over 2 years in a city with many social and
      health services. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN42520374.

PMID- 27619827
TI  - Multicentre, open-label, randomised, parallel-group, superiority study to compare
      the efficacy of octreotide therapy 40 mg monthly versus standard of care in
      patients with refractory anaemia due to gastrointestinal bleeding from small
      bowel angiodysplasias: a protocol of the OCEAN trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal angiodysplasias are an important cause of
      difficult-to-manage bleeding, especially in older patients. Endoscopic
      coagulation of angiodysplasias is the mainstay of treatment, but may be difficult
      for small bowel angiodysplasias because of the inability to reach them for
      endoscopic intervention. Some patients are red blood cell (RBC) transfusion
      dependent due to frequent rebleeding despite endoscopic treatment. In small
      cohort studies, octreotide appears to decrease the number of bleeding episodes in
      patients with RBC transfusion dependency due to gastrointestinal angiodysplasias.
      This trial will assess the efficacy of octreotide in decreasing the need for RBC
      transfusions and parenteral iron in patients with anaemia due to gastrointestinal
      bleeding of small bowel angiodysplasias despite endoscopic intervention. STUDY
      DESIGN: Randomised controlled, superiority, open-label multicentre trial.
      PARTICIPANTS: 62 patients will be included with refractory anaemia due to small
      bowel angiodysplasias, who are RBC transfusion or iron infusion dependent despite
      endoscopic intervention and oral iron supplementation. INTERVENTION: Patients
      will be randomly assigned (1:1) to standard care or 40 mg long-acting octreotide
      once every 4 weeks for 52 weeks, in addition to standard care. The follow-up
      period is 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome is the difference
      in the number of blood and iron infusions between the year prior to inclusion and
      the treatment period of 1 year. Important secondary outcomes are the per cent
      change in the number of rebleeds from baseline to end point, adverse events and
      quality of life. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The trial received ethical approval
      from the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects and from the
      local accredited Medical Research Ethics Committee of the region Arnhem-Nijmegen,
      the Netherlands (reference number: 2014-1433). Results will be published in a
      peer-reviewed journal and presented at international conferences. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02384122; Pre-results.

PMID- 27619828
TI  - Improving care for victims: a study protocol of the evaluation of a centre for
      sexual and family violence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, sexual and family violence are highly prevalent
      problems. Victims of sexual and family violence often do not seek formal help in
      the acute phase. When they do seek help, they encounter a system of scattered
      care. For this reason, a centre for sexual and family violence was launched in
      Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The centre provides multidisciplinary care for victims
      of acute sexual and/or family violence. With the study described in this study
      protocol, we want to evaluate the implementation process and the reach of the
      Center for Sexual and Family Violence Nijmegen (CSFVN). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We
      will conduct a mixed-methods study including quantitative and qualitative methods
      of data collection and analysis. Data about the implementation process will be
      obtained via semistructured interviews and focus group discussions. Content
      analysis will be done in software program Atlas.ti. Analysis of file data will be
      undertaken to assess the reach of the CSFVN (patient characteristics and
      characteristics of the care they received). The data will be analysed in SPSS.
      ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Medical Ethics Committee of the Radboud University
      Nijmegen Medical Center approved the study protocol under file number 2012-1218.
      Dissemination will be done by submitting scientific articles to academic peer
      reviewed journals. We will present the results at relevant international,
      national and local conferences and meetings. We will send press releases to
      relevant media. We will share the results with the network of assault centres in
      the Netherlands.

PMID- 27619829
TI  - Protocol for a systematic review of preference-based instruments for measuring
      care-related outcomes and their suitability for the palliative care setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite informal caregivers' integral role in supporting people
      affected by disease or disability, economic evaluations often ignore the costs
      and benefits experienced by this group, especially in the palliative setting. The
      purpose of this systematic review is to identify preference-based instruments for
      measuring care-related outcomes and provide guidance on the selection of
      instrument in palliative care economic evaluations. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A
      comprehensive search of the literature will be conducted from database inception
      (ASSIA; CINAHL; Cochrane library including DARE, NHS EED, HTA; Econlit; Embase;
      PsychINFO; PubMed). Published peer-reviewed, English-language articles reporting
      preference-based instruments for measuring care-related outcomes in any clinical
      area will be included. One researcher will complete the searches and screen the
      results for potentially eligible studies. A randomly selected subset of 10%
      citations will be independently screened by two researchers. Any disagreement
      will be resolved by consensus among the research team. Subsequently, a
      supplementary search will identify studies detailing the development, valuation,
      validation and application of the identified instruments. The degree of
      suitability of the instruments for palliative economic evaluations will be
      assessed using criteria in the International Society for Quality of Life Research
      minimum standards for patient-reported outcome measures, the checklist for
      reporting valuation studies of multiattribute utility-based instruments and
      information on the development of the instrument in the palliative setting. A
      narrative summary of the included studies and instruments will be provided;
      similarities and differences will be described and possible reasons for
      variations explored. Recommendations for practice on selection of instruments in
      palliative care economic analyses will be provided. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:
      This is a planned systematic review of published literature. Therefore, ethics
      approval to conduct this research is not required. Findings will be presented at
      leading palliative care and health economic conferences and published in a peer
      reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016034188.

PMID- 27619830
TI  - Evaluation of use and cost of medical care of common lumbar disorders in Korea:
      cross-sectional study of Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service
      National Patient Sample data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess medical care and costs of the 3 highest prevalence lumbar
      disorders-non-specific low back pain (nLBP), intervertebral disc disorder (IDD)
      and spinal stenosis (SS)-from national billing data to provide basic information
      for standards of appropriate management. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of
      National Health Insurance National Patient Sample data provided by the Korean
      Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). SETTING: 2011 claims data
      from all medical institutions which filed billing statements to HIRA.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 135 561 patients with lumbar disorder who received
      medical services during 2011. OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient characteristics, medical
      procedures, medication, cost, injection and surgery. RESULTS: In the nLBP and IDD
      groups, the 50-59 age range had the highest prevalence, whereas prevalence
      increased with age in SS. All 3 groups showed a higher percentage in women. The
      average treatment cost was 196 552 KRW in the nLBP and 362 050 KRW in the IDD
      group, and highest in the SS group at 439 025 KRW. While in the nLBP group women
      spent more on medical expenses, in the other 2 groups men showed higher
      expenditure. Expenditure grew with age in the nLBP and SS groups, whereas that of
      the IDD group peaked in their 40s. Analgesics were used in 73.43% of patients
      with nLBP, 82.64% of patients with IDD and 86.46% of patients with SS, and
      opioids in 4.12% of patients with IDD and 5.36% of patients with SS. Surgery
      rates were highest in the SS group at 4.85%, with 0.9% for nLBP and 4.59% for
      IDD. The most frequent injection code was lumbar/caudal epidural nerve block.
      Expenditure and surgery rates were higher in the injection than in the non
      injection subgroup in all 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of medical care of most
      frequent lumbar disorders from HIRA data showed significant difference between
      groups and provide a basic standard for future usual care guidelines linked with
      health policy and budget appropriation.

PMID- 27619831
TI  - Effect of exercise-based management on multidirectional instability of the
      glenohumeral joint: a pilot randomised controlled trial protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The most commonly recommended treatment for multidirectional
      instability (MDI) of the shoulder is exercise. Despite this recommendation, there
      is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of exercise. The aim of this
      paper is to describe a pilot randomised controlled trial comparing the
      effectiveness of 2 exercise programmes on outcomes of participants with MDI.
      METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Consenting participants between 12 and 35 years, with non
      traumatic MDI will be randomly allocated to participate in either the Rockwood
      Instability programme or the Watson MDI programme. Both programmes involve 1
      consultation per week for 12 weeks with a physiotherapist to prescribe and
      progress a home exercise programme. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 6, 12,
      24 and 52 weeks. Primary outcome measures include the Melbourne Instability
      Shoulder Score and Western Ontario Shoulder Index. Secondary outcomes include
      scapular coordinates, scapular upward rotation angles, muscle strength,
      symptomatic onset, limiting factor and angle of limiting factor in abduction
      range, incidence of complete glenohumeral joint dislocation, global rating of
      change, satisfaction scores, the Orebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire,
      adverse events and compliance with the home exercise programme. Data will be
      analysed on intention-to-treat principles and a per protocol basis. DISCUSSION:
      This trial will evaluate whether there are differences in outcomes between the
      Rockwood and the Watson MDI programmes for participants with MDI. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: Participant confidentiality will be maintained with publication of
      results. Ethics approval: Faculty of Health Sciences (FHEC12/201). TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12613001240730; Pre-results.

PMID- 27619832
TI  - Achalasia-Specific Quality of Life After Pneumatic Dilation or Laparoscopic
      Heller Myotomy With Partial Fundoplication: A Multicenter, Randomized Clinical
      Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Achalasia is a chronic, progressive, and incurable esophageal
      motility disease. There is clinical uncertainty about which treatment should be
      recommended as first-line therapy. Our objective was to evaluate the
      effectiveness of pneumatic dilation compared with laparoscopic Heller myotomy
      with partial fundoplication in improving achalasia-specific quality of life.
      METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial at five academic
      hospitals in Canada. Fifty previously untreated adults with a clinical diagnosis
      of primary achalasia, confirmed by manometric testing, were enrolled between
      November 2005 and March 2010, and followed for 5 years after treatment.
      Randomization was stratified by site, in random blocks of size four and with
      balanced allocation. Patients were treated with pneumatic dilation or
      laparoscopic Heller myotomy with partial fundoplication. The primary outcome was
      the difference between the treatments in the mean improvement of the achalasia
      severity questionnaire (ASQ) score at 1 year from baseline. Prespecified
      secondary outcomes included general and gastrointestinal quality of life,
      symptoms, esophageal physiology measures (lower esophageal sphincter relaxation
      and pressure, esophageal emptying, abnormal esophageal acid exposure),
      complications, and incidence of retreatment. Functional and imaging studies were
      performed blinded and all outcome assessors were blinded. RESULTS: There were no
      significant differences between treatments in the improvement of ASQ score at 1
      year from baseline (27.5 points in the Heller myotomy arm vs. 20.2 points in the
      pneumatic dilation arm; difference 7.3 points, 95% confidence interval -4.7 to
      19.3; P=0.23). There were no differences between treatments in improvement of
      symptoms, general and gastrointestinal quality of life, or measures of esophageal
      physiology. Improvements in ASQ score diminished over time for both
      interventions. At 5 years, there were no differences between treatments in
      improvement of ASQ score, symptoms, and general or gastrointestinal quality of
      life. There were no serious adverse events. No patient who received Heller
      myotomy required retreatment, whereas five patients treated initially with
      pneumatic dilation required retreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with pneumatic
      dilation or laparoscopic Heller myotomy similarly improves achalasia-specific
      disease severity at 1 year. Either of the therapeutic approaches can be used as
      first-line therapy for previously untreated adults with achalasia.

PMID- 27619834
TI  - Poking the Pancreas: When to Needle that Incidental Cyst.

PMID- 27619835
TI  - Efficacy of Secondary Prophylaxis With Vancomycin for Preventing Recurrent
      Clostridium difficile Infections.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) who are re
      exposed to antibiotics have a high likelihood of recurrence. We aimed to
      determine whether oral vancomycin as secondary prophylaxis reduces the risk of
      recurrence in patients recently diagnosed with CDI who undergo subsequent
      antibiotic exposure (CDI-AE). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study
      of patients diagnosed with CDI (initial episode or recurrence) between 2003 and
      2011 in two tertiary care centers in Quebec, Canada and who received antibiotics
      not targeted against CDI within 90 days after their CDI diagnosis. Risk factors
      for subsequent recurrence after this exposure to antibiotics were assessed
      through Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: We included 551 episodes of CDI-AE (379
      initial episodes, 172 recurrences). Recurrence occurred after exposure to
      antibiotics in 181 episodes (32.9%). Recurrence was more likely in older patients
      (for each additional year of age: adjusted hazard ratio (AHR), 1.01; 95%
      confidence interval (CI), 1.00-1.03; P=0.02) and among cases where the CDI-AE
      episode was itself a first (AHR, 3.59; 95% CI, 2.52-5.13; P<0.0001) or a second
      recurrence (AHR, 4.88; 95% CI, 3.38-7.06; P<0.0001). Oral vancomycin prophylaxis
      decreased the risk of further recurrence in patients whose CDI-AE itself was a
      recurrence (AHR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.32-0.69; P<0.0001) but not in those whose CDI-AE
      was an initial episode (AHR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.57-1.45; P=0.68). CONCLUSIONS: Oral
      vancomycin appears as an effective strategy for decreasing the risk of further
      CDI recurrence in patients with a history of recurrent CDI who are re-exposed to
      antibiotics.

PMID- 27619833
TI  - The Periscreen Strip Is Highly Efficient for the Exclusion of Spontaneous
      Bacterial Peritonitis in Cirrhotic Outpatients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the performance of a new strip (Periscreen) for
      the rapid diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). METHODS: Ascitic
      fluid (AF) of cirrhotic patients hospitalized between March 2014 and August 2015
      was independently tested by two readers using the new strip, which has four
      colorimetric graduations (negative, trace, small, and large). SBP was diagnosed
      on neutrophils in ascites>250/mm3. Ascites not related to portal hypertension
      were excluded. RESULTS: Overall, 649 patients from 21 French centers were
      included and 1,402 AF (803 AF samples from 315 outpatients and 599 samples from
      334 inpatients) were assessed. Eighty-four AF samples (17 AF in 9 outpatients and
      67 AF in 31 inpatients) were diagnosed as SBP. The prevalence of SBP was 6% (2.1%
      in outpatients vs. 11.2% in inpatients; P<0.001) and 7.2% in patients with
      symptoms suggestive of SBP (3% in outpatients vs. 11.3% in inpatients; P<0.001).
      The kappa value for inter-reader agreement was 0.81 (95% confidence interval:
      0.77-0.84) when using the "trace" threshold. Considering discordant results
      (n=131) as positive to interpret the diagnostic performance of the strip at the
      "trace" threshold, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and
      negative predictive value (NPV) were 91.7, 57.1, 12.0, and 99.1%, respectively.
      At this "trace" threshold, sensitivity and NPV were both 100% in outpatients, and
      89.5 and 97.9% in inpatients, respectively. At the "small" threshold,
      sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were 81.0, 85.9, 25.9 and 98.7%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Periscreen strip is a rapid and highly efficient
      tool for excluding SBP in the outpatient setting.

PMID- 27619837
TI  - Gold nanoparticle-capped mesoporous silica-based H2O2-responsive controlled
      release system for Alzheimer's disease treatment.
AB  - : Metal ions promote Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis by accelerating
      amyloid-beta (Abeta) aggregation and inducing formation of neurotoxic reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Although metal chelators
      can block these effects, their therapeutic potential is marred by their inability
      to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and by their non-specific interactions
      with metal ions necessary for normal cellular processes, which could result in
      adverse side effects. To overcome these limitations, we created a novel gold
      nanoparticle-capped mesoporous silica (MSN-AuNPs) based H2O2-responsive
      controlled release system for targeted delivery of the metal chelator CQ. In this
      system, CQ is released only upon exposure to conditions in which H2O2 levels are
      high, such as those in Abeta plaques. The conjugation of AuNPs on the surface of
      MSN did not affect their ability to cross the BBB. The AuNPs also help in
      decrease the Abeta self-assembly, due to this, MSN-CQ-AuNPs were more efficient
      than MSN-CQ in inhibiting Cu2+-induced Abeta40 aggregation. Furthermore, MSN-CQ
      AuNPs reduced the cell membrane disruption, microtubular defects and ROS-mediated
      apoptosis induced by Abeta40-Cu2+ complexes. The high BBB permeability, efficient
      anti-Abeta aggregation, and good biocompatibility of MSN-CQ-AuNPs, together with
      the specific conditions necessary for its release of CQ, demonstrate its
      potential for future biomedical applications. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Due to
      the low ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and non-specific
      interactions with metal ions necessary for normal cellular processes of metal
      chelator or Abeta inhibitors, we created a novel gold nanoparticle-capped
      mesoporous silica (MSN-AuNPs)-based H2O2-responsive controlled release system for
      targeted delivery of the metal chelator CQ and AuNPs (Abeta inhibitor). In this
      system, CQ and AuNPs are released only upon exposure to conditions in which H2O2
      levels are high, such as those in Abeta plaques. The AuNPs on the surface of MSN
      also help in decrease the Abeta self-assembly, due to this, MSN-CQ-AuNPs were
      more efficient than MSN-CQ in inhibiting Cu2+-induced Abeta40 aggregation.
      Furthermore, MSN-CQ-AuNPs reduced the cell membrane disruption, microtubular
      defects and ROS-mediated apoptosis induced by Abeta40-Cu2+ complexes. Our data
      suggest that this controlled release system may have widespread application in
      the field of medicine for Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 27619836
TI  - Birth Outcomes in Children Fathered by Men Treated with Anti-TNF-alpha Agents
      Before Conception.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The safety of paternal use of anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha) agents immediately prior to conception is practically unknown. On the
      basis of nationwide data from Danish health registries, we examined the
      association between paternal use of anti-TNF-alpha agents within 3 months before
      conception and adverse birth outcomes. METHODS: This nationwide cohort study is
      based on data from all women who had a live born singleton child in Denmark from
      1 January 2007 through 2013. Children fathered by men treated with anti-TNF-alpha
      agents within three months before conception constituted the exposed cohort
      (N=372), and children fathered by men not treated before conception constituted
      the unexposed cohort (N=399,498). The outcomes were congenital abnormalities
      (CAs), preterm birth, and small for gestational age (SGA). We adjusted for
      multiple covariates, and considered paternal underlying disease and concomitant
      medication. RESULTS: The adjusted risks of CAs and preterm birth were close to
      unity, and the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for SGA was 1.70 (95% confidence interval
      (CI): 0.94-3.09). Restricting our analysis to fathers with inflammatory bowel
      disease, we found no increased risk of CAs or SGA, and the adjusted OR for pretem
      birth was 1.42 (95% CI: 0.52-3.86). Restricting our analysis to fathers with
      rheumatologic/dermatological diseases, we found no increased risk of CAs or
      preterm birth, and the adjusted OR for SGA was 1.70 (95% CI: 0.74-3.89).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results are overall reassuring regarding the safety of paternal
      preconceptional use of anti-TNF-alpha agents. The result regarding SGA should,
      however, be interpreted with caution as we found an increased risk, although not
      significantly increased.

PMID- 27619838
TI  - Regenerative effects of peptide nanofibers in an experimental model of
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - : Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by progressive degeneration of
      dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons and reduction in striatal dopamine levels.
      Although there are few treatment options for PD such as Levodopa, they are used
      just to relieve and modify the symptoms. There are no therapies available for PD
      to slow down the degeneration process in the brain and recover the lost function.
      In this study, we used extracellular matrix (ECM) mimetic peptide amphiphile (PA)
      nanofibers as a potential therapeutic approach in a PD rat model. We demonstrated
      the effect of heparan sulfate mimetic and laminin mimetic PA nanofibers on
      reducing striatal injury and enhancing functional recovery after unilateral
      striatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). The bioactive self-assembled PA
      nanofibers significantly reduced forelimb asymmetry, contralateral forelimb
      akinesia and d-amphetamine-induced rotational behavior in cylinder, stepping and
      rotation tests, respectively, in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats after 6 weeks. The
      behavioral improvement with PA nanofiber administration was associated with
      enhanced striatal dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase content as well as reduced
      cleaved-Caspase-3 levels. Histological assessment also showed that PA nanofiber
      injection to the striatum resulted in better tissue integrity compared to control
      groups. In addition, PA nanofibers reduced the progressive cell loss in SH-SY5Y
      cells caused by 6-OHDA treatment. These data showed that the bioactive peptide
      nanofibers improve neurochemical and behavioral consequences of Parkinsonism in
      rats and provide a promising new strategy for treatment of PD. STATEMENT OF
      SIGNIFICANCE: Biomimetic nanomaterials bearing natural bioactive signals which
      are derived from extracellular matrix components like laminin and heparan
      sulfates provide promising therapeutic strategies for regeneration of the nervous
      system. However, no research has been reported exploring the use of biomimetic
      materials against degeneration in Parkinson's disease. In this work, we
      investigated potential therapeutic effects of heparan sulfate and laminin mimetic
      PA nanofibers on reduction of striatal injury in experimental Parkinson's disease
      model. PA nanofibers enhanced functional recovery associated with enhanced
      striatal dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase content as well as reduced cleaved
      Caspase-3 levels. Overall, this study shows the improvement in consequences of
      Parkinsonism in rats and provides a new platform for treatment of Parkinson's
      disease.

PMID- 27619839
TI  - VEGF-loaded microsphere patch for local protein delivery to the ischemic heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Revascularization of the heart after myocardial infarction (MI) using
      growth factors delivered by hydrogel-based microspheres represents a promising
      therapeutic approach for cardiac regeneration. Microspheres have tuneable
      degradation properties and support the prolonged release of soluble factors.
      Cardiac patches provide mechanical restraint, preventing dilatation associated
      with ventricular remodelling. METHODS: We combined these approaches and produced
      a compacted calcium-alginate microsphere patch, restrained by a chitosan sheet,
      to deliver vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to the heart after
      myocardial injury in rats. RESULTS: Microspheres had an average diameter of
      3.2MUm, were nonporous, and characterized by a smooth dimpled surface.
      Microsphere patches demonstrated prolonged in vitro release characteristics
      compared to non-compacted microspheres and VEGF supernatants obtained from
      patches maintained their bioactivity for the 5day duration of the study in vitro.
      In vivo, patches were assessed with magnetic resonance imaging following MI, and
      demonstrated 50% degradation 25.6days after implantation. Both VEGF(-) and
      VEGF(+) microsphere patch-treated hearts had better cardiac function than
      unpatched (chitosan sheet only) controls. However, VEGF(+) microsphere-patched
      hearts had thicker scars characterized by higher capillary density in the border
      zone than did those treated with VEGF(-) patches. VEGF was detected in the
      patches 4weeks post-implantation. CONCLUSION: The condensed microsphere patch
      represents a new therapeutic platform for cytokine delivery and could be used as
      an adjuvant to current biomaterial and cell-based therapies to promote localized
      angiogenesis in the infarcted heart. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Following a heart
      attack, a lack of blood flow to the heart results in loss of heart cells. Growth
      factors may facilitate growth of blood vessels and heart tissue repair and
      prevent the onset of heart failure. Determining a way to deliver these growth
      factors directly to the heart is vital. Here, we combined two biomaterial-based
      approaches to deliver vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to rat hearts
      after heart attack: a microsphere for prolonged release of VEGF, and a cardiac
      patch for mechanical restraint to prevent heart dysfunction. The feasibility of
      this microsphere patch was demonstrated by surgically implanting it over the
      infarct region of the heart post-injury. VEGF-patched hearts had better blood
      vessel growth, tissue repair, and heart function.

PMID- 27619840
TI  - Live attenuated pseudorabies virus developed using the CRISPR/Cas9 system.
AB  - Currently, pseudorabies virus (PRV) variant strains are outbreaking in China;
      these variants belong to genotype II PRV. The traditional Bartha-K61 vaccine has
      failed to provide complete protection against the emergent variant strains.
      Therefore, rapid attenuation of current epidemic strains is needed for effective
      PRV control. In this study, we report a rapid method for editing the PRV genome
      using the CRISPR-Cas9 system. We developed a triple gE/gI/TK gene-inactivated
      HeN1 PRV strain, because mice were more susceptible to PRV infection, we then
      evaluated the attenuation of PRV in the mice and demonstrated that modified PRV
      was fully attenuated. Furthermore, the attenuated strain also induced immune
      protection in response to a parental PRV challenge. Overall, we showed that PRVs
      can be rapidly attenuated using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which will be critical
      for PRV control, especially when new variant PRV strains emerge.

PMID- 27619841
TI  - Efficient porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus entry in MARC-145
      cells requires EGFR-PI3K-AKT-LIMK1-COFILIN signaling pathway.
AB  - Viruses have evolved diverse strategies to take over cellular machinery to
      facilitate their infection. In our studies presented here, we first demonstrated
      that Src kinase was involved in PRRSV entry in MARC-145 cells. Further studies
      demonstrated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was activated by the
      currently unknown mechanism(s) during PRRSV entry, which subsequently initiated
      EGFR downstream signal pathways, such as PI3K/AKT/LIMK1. Through these pathways,
      the virus entry signal was ultimately transferred to cofilin, which might
      regulate the actin fragmentation and reorganization to facilitate the virus
      penetration and cytoplasmic trafficking.

PMID- 27619842
TI  - Genomic characterization and pathogenicity of a strain of type 1 porcine
      reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.
AB  - The emergence of type 1 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
      (PRRSV) has been noticed recently in China. In the present study, the complete
      genomic characterization of a strain of type 1 PRRSV (designated GZ11-G1) was
      described and its pathogenicity for piglets was analyzed. The results showed that
      the complete genome of GZ11-G1 with a size of 15,094 nt, excluding the poly (A)
      tails, shared 80.2-96.3% identity with the representative strains of type 1
      PRRSV, and in particular, it had highest homology (96.3%) with Amervac PRRS, a
      live vaccine virus of type 1 PRRSV and SHE, a rescued virus from an infectious
      clone of Amervac PRRS virus. Compared with the vaccine virus, the nonstructural
      and structural proteins of GZ11-G1 displayed extensive amino acid variations
      except for its ORF5a. GZ11-G1 was clustered with the strains of type 1 PRRSV
      including Cresa3267, Cresa3249, Cresa3256, Olot/91, 9625/2012, ESP-1991-Olot91
      and Amervac PRRS vaccine virus by further phylogenetic analysis. Moreover, GZ11
      G1 was shown to cause fever, higher viremia and lung and lymph node lesions in
      piglets. Our findings indicate that GZ11-G1 is genetically related to type 1
      PRRSV strains within the cluster formed by Cresa3267, Cresa3249, Cresa3256,
      Olot/91, 9625/2012, ESP-1991-Olot91 and Amervac PRRS vaccine virus, and it is a
      pathogenic for piglets. This study aids in understanding the genetic variation
      and evolution of type 1 PRRSV.

PMID- 27619843
TI  - Does Competition Have an Effect on Price and Quality in Physiotherapy?
AB  - We estimate the effect of competition on quality and prices in physiotherapy
      organised and financed by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland for
      disabled individuals. Within the physiotherapy market, firms participate in
      competitive bidding, prices are determined by the market, services are free at
      the point of use and firms are allowed to react to patient choice only by
      enhancing quality. Firm-level data (n = 854) regarding quality and price were
      analysed. Using 2SLS estimation techniques, we analysed the relationship between
      quality and competition, and price and competition. Our study found that
      competition has a negative (yet weak) effect on quality. Prices on the other hand
      are not affected by competition. The result is likely caused by imperfect
      information, because it seems that the Social Insurance Institution of Finland
      has provided too little information for patients to make adequate choices about
      proper service providers. We argue that by publishing quality information, it is
      possible to ease the decision-making of patients and influence the quality
      strategies of firms active in the physiotherapy market. Moreover, we found that
      competition appeared as an exogenous variable in this study. Copyright (c) 2016
      John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27619844
TI  - Predictors of treatment requirement in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B
      patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase and high serum HBV DNA
      levels.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is a controversial marker for
      disease monitoring in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B
      (CHB) patients. The aim of this study was to determine the fibrosis stage and
      histological activity index (HAI) in HBeAg-negative CHB patients with
      persistently normal ALT (PNALT) and high serum HBV DNA (>=2000 IU/ml) and to
      investigate clinical risk factors for the requirement of treatment through the
      examination of liver biopsy specimens. METHODS: HBeAg-negative CHB patients with
      PNALT (<=40 IU/l) and high serum HBV DNA (>=2000 IU/ml) were included. HBV
      fibrosis stage and HAI were scored according to the Ishak system. Multivariate
      logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the independent risk factors
      for fibrosis stage >=2 and/or HAI >=6. Receiver operating characteristic curve
      analysis was used to determine an optimal age cut-off for liver biopsy. RESULTS:
      A total 120 patients were enrolled. These patients had a mean HBV DNA level of
      123680+/-494500 IU/ml; the HBV DNA load was 2000-20000 IU/ml in 68 patients
      (56.6%) and >=20000 IU/ml in 52 (43.4%). Eighteen patients (15%) had moderate-to
      severe histological activity (HAI >=6). Forty-three patients (35.9%) had a
      fibrosis stage >=2. Forty-eight patients (40%) had a fibrosis stage >=2 and/or
      HAI >=6. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent variables
      associated with fibrosis stage >=2 and/or HAI >=6 included age and HBV DNA viral
      load. Patients with HBV DNA 2000-20000 IU/ml were more likely to require
      treatment compared to those with a viral load >=20000 IU/ml. The optimal age cut
      off to predict fibrosis stage >=2 and/or HAI >=6 was 46 years. CONCLUSIONS:
      Significant liver damage was detected in 40% of CHB patients with PNALT and high
      HBV DNA upon biopsy. Age and HBV DNA viral load were independent predictors of
      significant liver damage. A biopsy to determine the degree of liver damage is
      advisable for CHB patients older than 46 years.

PMID- 27619845
TI  - Congenital and perinatal complications of chikungunya fever: a Latin American
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During the years 2014 and 2015, the Region of the Americas underwent
      a devastating epidemic of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) of the Asian genotype,
      resulting in millions of affected individuals. However, epidemiological and
      clinical information on this experience is scarce. Prior knowledge of congenital
      and neonatal illness caused by CHIKV is limited and almost exclusively based on
      data obtained from a single outbreak of the East/Central/South African (ECSA)
      genotype. The effect of chikungunya fever (CHIKF) on pregnancy outcomes and its
      consequences for infants born to infected mothers at the peak of the epidemic
      wave in Latin America are reviewed herein. Epidemiological and clinical data on
      maternal and neonatal infections were collected prospectively and analyzed.
      METHODS: One hundred sixty-nine symptomatic newborns with CHIKF seen at four
      large regional maternity hospitals in three different Central and South American
      countries were evaluated prospectively. The outcomes of pregnancies in
      symptomatic infected mothers at two of these clinical centers were also analyzed.
      RESULTS: The observed vertical transmission rate ranged between 27.7% and 48.29%.
      The incidence of congenital disease was unrelated to the use of cesarean section
      or natural delivery. The case fatality rate (CFR) at the only center that
      reported deaths was 5.3%. The most common clinical manifestations included fever,
      irritability, rash, hyperalgesia syndrome, diffuse limb edema,
      meningoencephalitis, and bullous dermatitis. Severe complications included
      meningoencephalitis, myocarditis, seizures, and acute respiratory failure.
      Leukocytosis with neutrophilia and normal or increased platelets was a common
      finding, and in those with signs of meningeal involvement, moderate lymphocytic
      pleocytosis with normal glucose and protein levels was typical. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study presents the largest number of symptomatic neonates with CHIKF analyzed so
      far in any region and is the first involving infection with the Asian genotype of
      CHIKV. Although the clinical manifestations found were similar to those reported
      previously, the percentage of neurological complications was lower. The CFR was
      comparatively high. Chikungunya represented a substantial risk for neonates born
      to symptomatic parturients during the chikungunya outbreak in the Americas
      Region, with important clinical and public health implications.

PMID- 27619846
TI  - miR-346 and miR-582-3p-regulated EG-VEGF expression and trophoblast invasion via
      matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9.
AB  - Endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) is an
      important regulator for embryo implantation and placental development, and is
      clinically associated with several obstetric disorders related to insufficient or
      inappropriate trophoblast invasion, such as recurrent abortion, preeclampsia, and
      intrauterine fetal growth restriction. This study was performed to identify the
      microRNAs targeting EG-VEGF, and evaluate the regulatory effect on trophoblast
      biology. miR-346 and miR-582-3p were initially identified via bioinformatic
      tools, and their specific binding sites on the EG-VEGF 3'UTR were further
      confirmed using dual luciferase and a co-transfection assays. miR-346 and miR-582
      3p were demonstrated not only to suppress EG-VEGF expression, but also inhibit
      trophoblast invasion and migration in the JAR and HTR-8/SVneo cell lines. We
      further evaluated the effect of microRNAs in HTR-8/SVneo cells coexpressing EG
      VEGF and miR-346 or miR-582-3p on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP 2 and MMP 9) and
      the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP 1 and TIMP 2) using RT-PCR,
      western blotting and gelatin zymography. TIMP 1 and TIMP 2 were not affected by
      the two microRNAs, whereas the expressions and activities of MMP 2 and MMP 9 were
      significantly downregulated, which in turn inhibited the invasion ability of
      trophoblasts. In conclusion, miR-346 and miR-582-3p regulate EG-VEGF-induced
      trophoblast invasion through repressing MMP 2 and MMP 9, and may become novel
      diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets for EG-VEGF-related obstetric
      disorders. (c) 2016 BioFactors, 43(2):210-219, 2017.

PMID- 27619886
TI  - A new tool to assess relatives' experience of dying and death in the intensive
      care unit.

PMID- 27619885
TI  - Tumoricidal efficacy coincides with CD11c up-regulation in antigen-specific
      CD8(+) T cells during vaccine immunotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dendritic cells (DCs) mount tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), and the
      double-stranded RNA adjuvant Poly(I:C) stimulates Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3)
      signal in DC, which in turn induces type I interferon (IFN) and interleukin-12
      (IL-12), then cross-primes cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Proliferation of CTLs
      correlates with tumor regression. How these potent cells expand with high quality
      is crucial to the outcome of CTL therapy. However, good markers reflecting the
      efficacy of DC-target immunotherapy have not been addressed. METHODS: Using an
      EG7 (ovalbumin, OVA-positive) tumor-implant mouse model, we examined what is a
      good marker for active CTL induction in treatment with Poly(I:C)/OVA. RESULTS:
      Simultaneous administration of Poly(I:C) and antigen (Ag) OVA significantly
      increased a minor population of CD8(+) T cells, that express CD11c in lymphoid
      and tumor sites. The numbers of the CD11c(+) CD8(+) T cells correlated with those
      of induced Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells and tumor regression. The CD11c(+) CD8(+) T
      cell moiety was characterized by its high killing activity and IFN-gamma
      producing ability, which represent an active phenotype of the effector CTLs. Not
      only a TLR3-specific (TICAM-1-dependent) signal but also TLR2 (MyD88) signal in
      DC triggered the expansion of CD11c(+) CD8(+) T cells in tumor-bearing mice.
      Notably, human CD11c(+) CD8(+) T cells also proliferated in peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) Ag. CONCLUSIONS:
      CD11c expression in CD8(+) T cells reflects anti-tumor CTL activity and would be
      a marker for immunotherapeutic efficacy in mouse models and probably cancer
      patients as well.

PMID- 27619887
TI  - Erratum: A protein-truncating R179X variant in RNF186 confers protection against
      ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 27619891
TI  - Microbiology survey shows authors have most to gain from peer review.

PMID- 27619888
TI  - Gate-Tunable Hole and Electron Carrier Transport in Atomically Thin Dual-Channel
      WSe2 /MoS2 Heterostructure for Ambipolar Field-Effect Transistors.
AB  - An ambipolar dual-channel field-effect transistor (FET) with a WSe2 /MoS2
      heterostructure formed by separately controlled individual channel layers is
      demonstrated. The FET shows a switchable ambipolar behavior with independent
      carrier transport of electrons and holes in the individual layers of MoS2 and
      WSe2 , respectively. Moreover, the photoresponse is studied at the
      heterointerface of the WSe2 /MoS2 dual-channel FET.

PMID- 27619890
TI  - Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917-from bench to bedside and back: history of a
      special Escherichia coli strain with probiotic properties.
AB  - Among the gram-negative microorganisms with probiotic properties, Escherichia
      coli strain Nissle 1917 (briefly EcN) is probably the most intensively
      investigated bacterial strain today. Since nearly 100 years, the EcN strain is
      used as the active pharmaceutical ingredient in a licensed medicinal product that
      is distributed in Germany and several other countries. Over the last few decades,
      novel probiotic activities have been detected, which taken together are specific
      of this versatile E. coli strain. This review gives a short overview on the
      discovery and history of the EcN strain.

PMID- 27619892
TI  - Biosurfactants: promising bioactive molecules for oral-related health
      applications.
AB  - Biosurfactants are naturally produced molecules that demonstrate potentially
      useful properties such as the ability to reduce surface tensions between
      different phases. Besides having similar properties to their artificial chemical
      counterparts, they are regarded as environmental friendly, biodegradable and less
      toxic, which make them desirable candidates for downstream applications. The
      structure-activity-related properties of the biosurfactants which are directly
      correlated with potency of the biosurfactants as antimicrobial agents, the
      ability of the biosurfactants to alter surface energies and their ability to
      increase bioavailability are particularly what attract researchers to exploit
      their potential use in the oral-related health applications. Current research
      into biosurfactant indicates significant future potential for use in cosmetic and
      therapeutic oral hygiene product formulations and related medical device
      treatments.

PMID- 27619889
TI  - Functional metabolic interactions of human neuron-astrocyte 3D in vitro networks.
AB  - The generation of human neural tissue-like 3D structures holds great promise for
      disease modeling, drug discovery and regenerative medicine strategies. Promoting
      the establishment of complex cell-cell interactions, 3D culture systems enable
      the development of human cell-based models with increased physiological
      relevance, over monolayer cultures. Here, we demonstrate the establishment of
      neuronal and astrocytic metabolic signatures and shuttles in a human 3D neural
      cell model, namely the glutamine-glutamate-GABA shuttle. This was indicated by
      labeling of neuronal GABA following incubation with the glia-specific substrate
      [2-(13)C]acetate, which decreased by methionine sulfoximine-induced inhibition of
      the glial enzyme glutamine synthetase. Cell metabolic specialization was further
      demonstrated by higher pyruvate carboxylase-derived labeling in glutamine than in
      glutamate, indicating its activity in astrocytes and not in neurons. Exposure to
      the neurotoxin acrylamide resulted in intracellular accumulation of glutamate and
      decreased GABA synthesis. These results suggest an acrylamide-induced impairment
      of neuronal synaptic vesicle trafficking and imbalanced glutamine-glutamate-GABA
      cycle, due to loss of cell-cell contacts at synaptic sites. This work
      demonstrates, for the first time to our knowledge, that neural differentiation of
      human cells in a 3D setting recapitulates neuronal-astrocytic metabolic
      interactions, highlighting the relevance of these models for toxicology and
      better understanding the crosstalk between human neural cells.

PMID- 27619893
TI  - Hyperlipidemia impairs erectile function in rats by causing cavernosal fibrosis.
AB  - Men with hyperlipidemia are more likely to have erectile dysfunction (ED) than
      those without hyperlipidemia, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. The
      aim of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanism of ED caused by
      hyperlipidemia. Fourteen 8-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided
      into two groups: a control group and a hyperlipidemia group (fed chow containing
      4% cholesterol and 1% cholic acid). After 6 months, we assessed erectile function
      by performing cavernous nerve electrostimulation followed by intracavernosal
      pressure/mean arterial pressure measurements, as well as plasma lipid profile
      assessment in all rats. A transferase-mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay,
      immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting were performed to determine the
      levels of apoptosis, autophagy and fibrosis in the penile tissue. Compared with
      the control group, the hyperlipidemia group exhibited: (i) increased plasma lipid
      levels; (ii) decreased erectile function; (iii) a decreased smooth
      muscle/collagen ratio; (iv) increased fibrosis; (v) increased apoptosis and
      decreased autophagy. Overall, hyperlipidemia may attenuate erectile function in
      rats by causing of cavernosal fibrosis.

PMID- 27619894
TI  - n-3 Fatty acids preserve muscle mass and insulin sensitivity in a rat model of
      energy restriction.
AB  - In obese subjects, the loss of fat mass during energy restriction is often
      accompanied by a loss of muscle mass. The hypothesis that n-3 PUFA, which
      modulate protein homoeostasis via effects on insulin sensitivity, could
      contribute to maintain muscle mass during energy restriction was tested in rats
      fed a high-fat diet (4 weeks) rich in 18 : 1 n-9 (oleic acid, OLE-R), 18 : 3 n-3
      (alpha-linolenic acid, ALA-R) or n-3 long-chain (LC-R) fatty acid and then energy
      restricted (8 weeks). A control group (OLE-ad libitum (AL)) was maintained with
      AL diet throughout the study. Rats were killed 10 min after an i.v. insulin
      injection. All energy-restricted rats lost weight and fat mass, but only the OLE
      R group showed a significant muscle loss. The Gastrocnemius muscle was enriched
      with ALA in the ALA-R group and with LC-PUFA in the ALA-R and LC-R groups. The
      proteolytic ubiquitin-proteasome system was differentially affected by energy
      restriction, with MAFbx and muscle ring finger-1 mRNA levels being decreased in
      the LC-R group (-30 and -20 %, respectively). RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein
      kinase and insulin receptor substrate 1 phosphorylation levels increased in the
      LC-R group (+70 %), together with insulin receptor mRNA (+50 %). The ALA-R group
      showed the same overall activation pattern as the LC-R group, although to a
      lesser extent. In conclusion, dietary n-3 PUFA prevent the loss of muscle mass
      associated with energy restriction, probably by an improvement in the insulin
      signalling pathway activation, in relation to enrichment of plasma membranes in n
      3 LC-PUFA.

PMID- 27619897
TI  - Thermomechanical controls on magma supply and volcanic deformation: application
      to Aira caldera, Japan.
AB  - Ground deformation often precedes volcanic eruptions, and results from complex
      interactions between source processes and the thermomechanical behaviour of
      surrounding rocks. Previous models aiming to constrain source processes were
      unable to include realistic mechanical and thermal rock properties, and the role
      of thermomechanical heterogeneity in magma accumulation was unclear. Here we show
      how spatio-temporal deformation and magma reservoir evolution are fundamentally
      controlled by three-dimensional thermomechanical heterogeneity. Using the example
      of continued inflation at Aira caldera, Japan, we demonstrate that magma is
      accumulating faster than it can be erupted, and the current uplift is approaching
      the level inferred prior to the violent 1914 Plinian eruption. Magma storage
      conditions coincide with estimates for the caldera-forming reservoir ~29,000
      years ago, and the inferred magma supply rate indicates a ~130-year timeframe to
      amass enough magma to feed a future 1914-sized eruption. These new inferences are
      important for eruption forecasting and risk mitigation, and have significant
      implications for the interpretations of volcanic deformation worldwide.

PMID- 27619896
TI  - Understanding Barriers to Optimal Cleaning and Disinfection in Hospitals: A
      Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Survey of Environmental Services Workers.
AB  - In this study, we used an online survey to assess knowledge, attitudes, and
      practices related to environmental cleaning and other infection prevention
      strategies among environmental services workers (ESWs) at 5 hospitals. Our
      findings suggest that ESWs could benefit from additional education and feedback
      as well as new strategies to address workflow challenges. Infect Control Hosp
      Epidemiol 2016;1492-1495.

PMID- 27619895
TI  - Crystal structures of archaeal 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductases from
      Sulfolobus tokodaii.
AB  - As the first three-dimensional structure of the two-subunit type 2
      oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductases (OFOR) from archaea, we solved the crystal
      structures of STK_23000/STK_22980 (StOFOR1) and STK_24350/STK_24330 (StOFOR2)
      from Sulfolobus tokodaii. They showed similar overall structures, consisting of
      two a- and b-subunit heterodimers containing thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP) cofactor
      and [4Fe-4S] cluster, but lack an intramolecular ferredoxin domain. Unlike other
      OFORs, StOFORs can utilize both pyruvate and 2-oxoglutarate, playing a key role
      in the central metabolism. In the structure of StOFOR2 in unreacted pyruvate
      complex form, carboxylate group of pyruvate is recognized by Arg344 and Thr257
      from the a-subunit, which are conserved in pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase
      from Desulfovbrio africanus (DaPFOR). In the structure of StOFOR1 co-crystallized
      with 2-oxobutyrate, electron density corresponding to a 1-hydroxypropyl group
      (post-decarboxylation state) was observed at the thiazole ring of TPP. The
      binding pockets of the StOFORs surrounding the methyl or propyl group of the
      ligands are wider than that of DaPFOR. Mutational analyses indicated that several
      residues were responsible for the broad 2-oxoacid specificity of StOFORs. We also
      constructed a possible complex structural model by placing a Zn(2+)-containing
      dicluster ferredoxin of S. tokodaii into the large pocket of StOFOR2, providing
      insight into the electron transfer between the two redox proteins.

PMID- 27619898
TI  - Effect of two contemporary tone inhibiting ankle foot orthoses on foot-loading
      patterns in adult hemiplegics: A small group study.
AB  - This study compared the effect of the dynamic ankle foot orthos is (DAFO) and the
      Utley foot orthosis (UFO) on foot loading patterns in five hemiplegic subjects.
      An A-B-B-A single subject design was used. Foot loading data were collected in
      three sessions, which were separated by a two-week wearing time for each
      orthosis. The DAFO produced significantly greater force and force-time integrals
      through the lateral forefoot, with a progression of weightbearing through the
      central forefoot at toe-off. This study failed to demonstrate significant foot
      loading pattern changes relevant to use of the UFO, but trends in the data
      suggest that this orthosis generates greater force, area, and force-time
      integrals through the medial heel. 

PMID- 27619899
TI  - The older person has a stroke: Learning to adapt using the Feldenkrais(r) Method.
AB  - The older person with a stroke requires adapted therapeutic interventions to take
      into account normal age-related changes. The Feldenkrais(r) Method presents a
      model for learning to promote adaptability that addresses key functional changes
      seen with normal aging. Clinical examples related to specific functional tasks
      are discussed to highlight major treatment modifications and neuromuscular,
      psychological, emotional, and sensory considerations. 

PMID- 27619900
TI  - Improving postural control through integration of sensory inputs and visual
      biofeedback.
AB  - Postural control is an essential component to be considered in the rehabilitation
      of stroke survivors. This article attempts to provide the clinician with
      terminology and frameworks for classification in order to provide a more focused
      intervention. There is a comparison of some of the available assessments of
      impairment and disability. Treatment emphasizing the specific use of visual
      biofeedback to improve postural control is described. Control of the sensory
      environment during treatment to challenge a patient's ability to integrate
      available sensory information to perform balance activities is described. A case
      study incorporating treatment ideas is included. 

PMID- 27619901
TI  - Evaluation and training of upper extremity control from a systems perspective in
      the patient with neurological dysfunction.
AB  - Three phases exist for using the arm in a functional activity, namely,
      localization of the target in the environment, transportation of the arm to the
      target, and grasp release or in-hand manipulation of the object. According to the
      systems model of motor control, functional use of the arm requires the integrated
      activity of the musculoskeletal, sensorimotor integration, commanding, comparing,
      regulating, and environmental systems. Comprehensive retraining of upper
      extremity control in the client with neurological dysfunction should include
      restoration of postural alignment range of motion and strength, elimination of
      pain, reduction of shoulder subluxation, training postural control and
      orientation, optimizing sensory processing and organization, training the
      shoulder elbow coupling needed to transport the arm to the target, reeducating
      grasp release and manipulation of objects, developing the predictive central set
      needed for environmental adaptation, developing the patient's intrinsic error
      detection skills, and maximizing the ability to use knowledge of results and
      performance for generalization of learning. 

PMID- 27619902
TI  - A question of decision-making capacity: What would you do?

PMID- 27619903
TI  - The renewed emphasis on patient-family education-resources.

PMID- 27619905
TI  - From the editor.

PMID- 27619906
TI  - Letters To The Editors.

PMID- 27619908
TI  - Editorial: Empirically Supported Treatments in Couple and Family Therapy.

PMID- 27619907
TI  - A novel set of vectors for Fur-controlled protein expression under iron
      deprivation in Escherichia coli.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the presence of sufficient iron, the Escherichia coli protein Fur
      (Ferric Uptake Regulator) represses genes controlled by the Fur box, a consensus
      sequence near or within promoters of target genes. De-repression of Fur
      controlled genes occurs upon iron deprivation. In the E. coli chromosome, there
      is a bidirectional intercistronic promoter region with two non-overlapping Fur
      boxes. This region controls Fur-regulated expression of entCEBAH in the clockwise
      direction and fepB in the anticlockwise direction. RESULTS: We cloned the E. coli
      bidirectional fepB/entC promoter region into low-copy-number plasmid backbones
      (pACYC184 and pBR322) along with downstream sequences encoding epitope tags and a
      multiple cloning site (MCS) compatible with the bacterial adenylate cyclase two
      hybrid (BACTH) system. The vector pFCF1 allows for iron-controlled expression of
      FLAG-tagged proteins, whereas the pFBH1 vector allows for iron-controlled
      expression of HA-tagged proteins. We showed that E. coli knockout strains
      transformed with pFCF1-entA, pFCF1-entE and pFBH1-entB express corresponding
      proteins with appropriate epitope tags when grown under iron restriction.
      Furthermore, transformants exhibited positive chrome azurol S (CAS) assay signals
      under iron deprivation, indicating that the transformants were functional for
      siderophore biosynthesis. Western blotting and growth studies in rich and iron
      depleted media demonstrated that protein expression from these plasmids was under
      iron control. Finally, we produced the vector pFCF2, a pFCF1 derivative in which
      a kanamycin resistance (KanR) gene was engineered in the direction opposite of
      the MCS. The entA ORF was then subcloned into the pFCF2 MCS. Bidirectional
      protein expression in an iron-deprived pFCF2-entA transformant was confirmed
      using antibiotic selection, CAS assays and growth studies. CONCLUSIONS: The
      vectors pFCF1, pFCF2, and pFBH1 have been shown to use the fepB/entC promoter
      region to control bidirectional in trans expression of epitope-tagged proteins in
      iron-depleted transformants. In the presence of intracellular iron, protein
      expression from these constructs was abrogated due to Fur repression. The
      compatibility of the pFCF1 and pFBH1 backbones allows for iron-controlled
      expression of multiple epitope-tagged proteins from a single co-transformant.

PMID- 27619910
TI  - 18FDG-PET/CT: a useful tool for the management of patients in infectious
      diseases.

PMID- 27619909
TI  - Prognostic values of negative estrogen or progesterone receptor expression in
      patients with luminal B HER2-negative breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The luminal subtype of breast cancer is sensitive to anti-estrogen
      therapy and shows a better prognosis than that of human epidermal growth factor
      receptor2 (HER2)-enriched or triple-negative breast cancer. However, the luminal
      type of breast cancer is heterogeneous and can have aggressive clinical features.
      We investigated the clinical implications of single hormone receptor negativity
      in a luminal B HER2-negative group. METHODS: We collected luminal B HER2-negative
      breast cancer data that were estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor
      (PR) positive, Ki 67 high (>14 %), and HER2 negative and divided them into the ER
      and PR-positive group and the ER- or PR-negative group. We analyzed the clinical
      and pathological data and survival according to ER or PR loss. RESULTS: There
      were no statistical differences in TNM stage, breast and axillary operative
      methods, or number of tumors between the ER- and PR-positive group and ER- or PR
      negative group. However, the ER- or PR-negative group was associated with older
      age (>=45 years), higher histological grade, lower Bcl-2 expression, and far
      higher Ki 67 (>50 %). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were
      shorter in the ER- or PR-negative group than that in the ER- and PR-positive
      group (p = 0.0038, p = 0.0071). CONCLUSIONS: ER- or PR-negative subgroup showed
      worse prognosis than ER- and PR-positive subgroup in the luminal B HER2-negative
      group. We could consider the negativity of ER or PR as prognostic marker in
      luminal B HER2-negative subtype of breast cancer.

PMID- 27619911
TI  - Milestones and recent discoveries on cell death mediated by mitochondria and
      their interactions with biologically active amines.
AB  - Mitochondria represent cell "powerhouses," being involved in energy transduction
      from the electrochemical gradient to ATP synthesis. The morphology of their cell
      types may change, according to various metabolic processes or osmotic pressure. A
      new morphology of the inner membrane and mitochondrial cristae, significantly
      different from the previous one, has been proposed for the inner membrane and
      mitochondrial cristae, based on the technique of electron tomography.
      Mitochondrial Ca(2+) transport (the transporter has been isolated) generates
      reactive oxygen species and induces the mitochondrial permeability transition of
      both inner and outer mitochondrial membranes, leading to induction of necrosis
      and apoptosis. In the mitochondria of several cell types (liver, kidney, and
      heart), mitochondrial oxidative stress is an essential step in the induction of
      cell death, although not in brain, in which the phenomenon is caused by a
      different mechanism. Mitochondrial permeability transition drives both apoptosis
      and necrosis, whereas mitochondrial outer membrane permeability is characteristic
      of apoptosis. Adenine nucleotide translocase remains the most important component
      involved in membrane permeability, with the opening of the transition pore,
      although other proteins, such as ATP synthase or phosphate carriers, have been
      proposed. Intrinsic cell death is triggered by the release from mitochondria of
      proteic factors, such as cytochrome c, apoptosis inducing factor, and
      Smac/DIABLO, with the activation of caspases upon mitochondrial permeability
      transition or mitochondrial outer membrane permeability induction. Mitochondrial
      permeability transition induces the permeability of the inner membrane in sites
      in contact with the outer membrane; mitochondrial outer membrane permeability
      forms channels on the outer membrane by means of various stimuli involving Bcl-2
      family proteins. The biologically active amines, spermine, and agmatine, have
      specific functions on mitochondria which distinguish them from other amines.
      Enzymatic oxidative deamination of spermine by amine oxidases in tumor cells may
      produce reactive oxygen species, leading to transition pore opening and
      apoptosis. This process could be exploited as a new therapeutic strategy to
      combat cancer.

PMID- 27619912
TI  - Favorable prognosis in colorectal cancer patients with co-expression of c-MYC and
      beta-catenin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of our research was to determine the prognostic impact
      and clinicopathological feature of c-MYC and beta-catenin overexpression in
      colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: Using immunohistochemistry (IHC), we
      measured the c-MYC and beta-catenin expression in 367 consecutive CRC patients
      retrospectively (cohort 1). Also, c-MYC expression was measured by mRNA in situ
      hybridization. Moreover, to analyze regional heterogeneity, three sites of CRC
      including the primary, distant and lymph node metastasis were evaluated in 176
      advanced CRC patients (cohort 2). RESULTS: In cohort 1, c-MYC protein and mRNA
      overexpression and beta-catenin nuclear expression were found in 201 (54.8 %),
      241 (65.7 %) and 221 (60.2 %) of 367 patients, respectively, each of which was
      associated with improved prognosis (P = 0.011, P = 0.012 and P = 0.033,
      respectively). Moreover, co-expression of c-MYC and beta-catenin was
      significantly correlated with longer survival by univariate (P = 0.012) and
      multivariate (P = 0.048) studies. Overexpression of c-MYC protein was associated
      with mRNA overexpression (rho, 0.479; P < 0.001) and nuclear beta-catenin
      expression (rho, 0.282; P < 0.001). Expression of c-MYC and beta-catenin was
      heterogeneous depending on location in advanced CRC patients (cohort 2).
      Nevertheless, both c-MYC and beta-catenin expression in primary cancer were
      significantly correlated with improved survival in univariate (P = 0.001) and
      multivariate (P = 0.002) analyses. c-MYC and beta-catenin expression of lymph
      node or distant metastatic tumor was not significantly correlated with patients'
      prognosis (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Co-expression of c-MYC and beta-catenin was
      independently correlated with favorable prognosis in CRC patient. We concluded
      that the expression of c-MYC and beta-catenin might be useful predicting
      indicator of CRC patient's prognosis.

PMID- 27619913
TI  - Which positive factors determine the GP satisfaction in clinical practice? A
      systematic literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Looking at what makes General Practitioners (GPs) happy in their
      profession, may be important in increasing the GP workforce in the future. The
      European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN) created a research team (eight
      national groups) in order to clarify the factors involved in GP job satisfaction
      throughout Europe. The first step of this study was a literature review to
      explore how the satisfaction of GPs had been studied before. The research
      question was "Which factors are related to GP satisfaction in Clinical Practice?"
      METHODS: Systematic literature review according to the PRISMA statement. The
      databases searched were Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane. All articles were
      identified, screened and included by two separate research teams, according to
      inclusion or exclusion criteria. Then, a qualitative appraisal was undertaken.
      Next, a thematic analysis process was undertaken to capture any issue relevant to
      the research question. RESULTS: The number of records screened was 458. One
      hundred four were eligible. Finally, 17 articles were included. The data revealed
      13 subthemes, which were grouped into three major themes for GP satisfaction.
      First there were general profession-related themes, applicable to many
      professions. A second group of issues related specifically to a GP setting.
      Finally, a third group was related to professional life and personal issues.
      CONCLUSIONS: A number of factors leading to GP job satisfaction, exist in
      literature They should be used by policy makers within Europe to increase the GP
      workforce. The research team needs to undertake qualitative studies to confirm or
      enhance those results.

PMID- 27619915
TI  - Effect of Tibia Marker Placement on Kinematics in Pathological Gait.
AB  - This study aimed to determine the effect of tibia marker placement on walking
      kinematics in children with pathological gait. Three-dimensional lower extremity
      gait data were collected using both a traditional tibia wand (protruding
      laterally from the distal shank) and a tibia crest marker on 25 children with
      pathological gait. Kinematic variables during walking and quiet standing were
      calculated using each marker and the "Plug-in Gait" implementation of the
      conventional gait model. For walking, average differences in kinematics between
      tibia markers ranged from 0.1 degrees  to 1.9 degrees  at the knee and ankle,
      except in the transverse plane where differences were 6.0 degrees  to 7.2 degrees
      . No significant differences were found during quiet standing, indicating that
      differences in kinematics derive primarily from dynamic sources, which likely
      affect the tibia wand more than the tibia crest marker. These results suggest
      that the tibia crest marker can be used in place of the traditional tibia wand in
      clinical gait analysis.

PMID- 27619914
TI  - Iodine deficiency a persisting problem: assessment of iodine nutrition and
      evaluation of thyroid nodular pathology in Portugal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of eliminating iodine deficiency (ID) by the year 2000 has
      still not been achieved in several countries. More than 2 billion people
      worldwide (over 260 million school age children) remain ID. In Europe, there are
      still countries, such as Portugal, without national general population data on
      iodine nutrition (IN). This study aims at evaluating combined complementary data
      of the IN of the general population through urinary iodine concentration (UIC)
      and the thyroid histology profile from the inland region of Beira Interior (BI),
      in Portugal. METHODS: UIC from a population sample of 214 volunteers (131 females
      and 83 males), with ages ranging from 8 to 97 years (mean 51.5 years +/- SD 20.74
      years), from BI was determined; the thyroid histology pattern in BI (6-year
      period) was evaluated; and the iodine content of the largest surface water
      reservoir of BI, never previously reported, was measured. RESULTS: Median UIC of
      62.6 MUg/L was measured. Over 92 % of the population had UIC less than 100 MUg/L.
      From 279 histology reports evaluated, the incidence of the different types of
      thyroid nodular pathology in BI was established. There were 60 histologic
      diagnoses of malignancy. The observed ratio of papillary to follicular carcinoma
      relatively close to 1 and the fairly high percentage of anaplastic carcinomas are
      characteristic of ID areas. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this first general
      population study on IN from the inland region of BI, Portugal, document
      significant ID. This problem, with its serious public health implications, could
      be corrected by having affordable iodised salt widely and generally available and
      by promoting a proactive population attitude generated by ample public
      information and educational programs as to the negative consequences of ID.

PMID- 27619916
TI  - Positive post-disaster images: A daydream machine?
AB  - This study explores the impact of post-earthquake images inserted in a vigilance
      task, in terms of performance, self-reports of task-focus, and cerebral activity
      using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Vigilance tasks present a
      sequence of stimuli in which only a few are pre-designated critical or target
      stimuli requiring an overt response from the participant. Seventy-one residents
      participated (51 women, 20 men) by taking part in a vigilance task with task
      irrelevant images inserted in the sequence. There were three conditions
      consisting positive (emotive inducing), negative (emotive inducing), and control
      (devoid of meaning) images embedded in the vigilance task to assess possible
      impacts on vigilance performance. The images were obtained through crowdsourcing
      and represented parts of the city 3-4 years post-earthquake. Task performance was
      assessed with signal detection theory metrics of sensitivity A' and bias beta''.
      This enables the separation of an individual's ability to accurately discriminate
      critical signals from non-critical stimuli (sensitivity) and shifts in their
      willingness to respond to any stimuli whether critical or not (bias). Individuals
      viewing the positive images, relating to progress, rebuild, or aesthetic aspects
      within the city, had a more conservative response bias (they responded less to
      both rare critical and distractor stimuli) than those in the other conditions.
      These individuals also reported lower task-focus, as would be expected. However,
      contrary to expectations, indicators of cerebral activity (fNIRS) did not differ
      significantly between the experimental groups. These results, when combined,
      suggest that mind wandering events may be being generated when exposed to
      positive post-earthquake images.

PMID- 27619917
TI  - Some problems with translating the insulating effect of obesity from mice to men.

PMID- 27619918
TI  - Reply to letter to the editor: at thermoneutrality, neither the lean nor the
      obese freeze.

PMID- 27619920
TI  - Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry: 50 Years on.

PMID- 27619919
TI  - Identifying model error in metabolic flux analysis - a generalized least squares
      approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The estimation of intracellular flux through traditional metabolic
      flux analysis (MFA) using an overdetermined system of equations is a well
      established practice in metabolic engineering. Despite the continued evolution of
      the methodology since its introduction, there has been little focus on validation
      and identification of poor model fit outside of identifying "gross measurement
      error". The growing complexity of metabolic models, which are increasingly
      generated from genome-level data, has necessitated robust validation that can
      directly assess model fit. RESULTS: In this work, MFA calculation is framed as a
      generalized least squares (GLS) problem, highlighting the applicability of the
      common t-test for model validation. To differentiate between measurement and
      model error, we simulate ideal flux profiles directly from the model, perturb
      them with estimated measurement error, and compare their validation to real data.
      Application of this strategy to an established Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell
      model shows how fluxes validated by traditional means may be largely non
      significant due to a lack of model fit. With further simulation, we explore how t
      test significance relates to calculation error and show that fluxes found to be
      non-significant have 2-4 fold larger error (if measurement uncertainty is in the
      5-10 % range). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed validation method goes beyond
      traditional detection of "gross measurement error" to identify lack of fit
      between model and data. Although the focus of this work is on t-test validation
      and traditional MFA, the presented framework is readily applicable to other
      regression analysis methods and MFA formulations.

PMID- 27619921
TI  - Evaluation of Gallium as a Tracer of Exogenous Hemoglobin-Haptoglobin Complexes
      for Targeted Drug Delivery Applications.
AB  - Haptoglobin (Hp) is a plasma glycoprotein that generates significant interest in
      the drug delivery community because of its potential for delivery of
      antiretroviral medicines with high selectivity to macrophages and monocytes, the
      latent reservoirs of human immunodeficiency virus. As is the case with other
      therapies that exploit transport networks for targeted drug delivery, the success
      of the design and optimization of Hp-based therapies will critically depend on
      the ability to accurately localize and quantitate Hp-drug conjugates on the
      varying and unpredictable background of endogenous proteins having identical
      structure. In this work, we introduce a new strategy for detecting and
      quantitating exogenous Hp and Hp-based drugs with high sensitivity in complex
      biological samples using gallium as a tracer of this protein and inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS) as a method of detection. Metal label
      is introduced by reconstituting hemoglobin (Hb) with gallium(III)-protoporphyrin
      IX followed by its complexation with Hp. Formation of the Hp/Hb assembly and its
      stability are evaluated with native electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
      Both stable isotopes of Ga give rise to an abundant signal in ICP MS of a human
      plasma sample spiked with the metal-labeled Hp/Hb complex. The metal label signal
      exceeds the spectral interferences' contributions by more than an order of
      magnitude even with the concentration of the exogenous protein below 10 nM, the
      level that is more than adequate for the planned pharmacokinetic studies of Hp
      based therapeutics. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27619922
TI  - Should Patients With Cardiovascular Risk Factors Receive Intensive Treatment of
      Hypertension to <120/80 mm Hg Target? A Protagonist View From the SPRINT Trial
      (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial).

PMID- 27619924
TI  - Should Patients With Cardiovascular Risk Factors Receive Intensive Treatment of
      Hypertension to <120/80 mm Hg Target? An Antagonist View From the HOPE-3 Trial
      (Heart Outcomes Evaluation-3).

PMID- 27619925
TI  - Antibiotic prophylaxis for oral lacerations: our emergency department's
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the emergency physician (EP)
      practice of prescribing prophylactic antibiotics for patients with oral
      lacerations. A secondary outcome measure was the infection rate of those who were
      or were not prescribed antibiotics. METHODS: The study was a retrospective chart
      review of 323 patients who presented to a large urban emergency department (ED)
      between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 with an oral laceration. RESULTS:
      Of the 323 charts reviewed, topical and/or systemic antibiotics were prescribed
      in the ED to 62 % (199/323) of patients. Of those patients, 38 % (75/199)
      received only topical antibiotics, 34 % (68/199) received only systemic
      antibiotics, and 28 % (56/199) were prescribed topical and systemic antibiotics.
      Thirty-eight percent (124/323) of patients received no antibiotics. Eighteen
      percent (58/323) of patients returned for follow-up with an infection rate of 10
      % (6/58). There was a statistical difference in rates of infection between
      patients who received antibiotics and who did not receive antibiotics and a
      statistical difference in rates of infection between patients with complex
      lacerations who received and did not receive antibiotic. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      shows that there is a considerable amount of practice variance in prescribing
      prophylactic antibiotics for oral lacerations among EPs in our ED. Due to the
      poor follow-up rate, an accurate infection rate could not be determined. In the
      future, adequately powered randomized controlled studies may provide compelling
      data for or against the necessity for prophylactic antibiotic use for oral
      lacerations.

PMID- 27619927
TI  - Polymorphisms in the S1 spike glycoprotein of Arkansas-type infectious bronchitis
      virus (IBV) show differential binding to host tissues and altered antigenicity.
AB  - Sequencing avian infectious bronchitis virus spike genes re-isolated from
      vaccinated chicks revealed that many sequence changes are found on the S1 spike
      gene. In the ArkDPI strain, Y43H and ?344 are the two most common changes
      observed. This study aims to examine the roles of Y43H and ?344 in selection in
      vivo. Using recombinant ArkDPI S1 proteins, we conducted binding assays on
      chicken tracheas and embryonic chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Protein
      histochemistry showed that the Y43H change allows for enhanced binding to
      trachea, whereas the ArkDPI S1 spike with H43 alone was able to bind CAM. Using
      Western blot under denaturing conditions, ArkDPI serotype-specific sera did not
      bind to S1 proteins with ?344, suggesting that ?344 alters antigenicity of S1.
      These findings are important because they propose that specific changes in S1
      enhances virus fitness by more effective binding to host tissues (Y43H) and by
      evading a vaccine-induced antibody response (?344).

PMID- 27619926
TI  - Multiple imputation of cognitive performance as a repeatedly measured outcome.
AB  - Longitudinal studies of cognitive performance are sensitive to dropout, as
      participants experiencing cognitive deficits are less likely to attend study
      visits, which may bias estimated associations between exposures of interest and
      cognitive decline. Multiple imputation is a powerful tool for handling missing
      data, however its use for missing cognitive outcome measures in longitudinal
      analyses remains limited. We use multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE)
      to impute cognitive performance scores of participants who did not attend the
      2011-2013 exam of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. We examined the
      validity of imputed scores using observed and simulated data under varying
      assumptions. We examined differences in the estimated association between
      diabetes at baseline and 20-year cognitive decline with and without imputed
      values. Lastly, we discuss how different analytic methods (mixed models and
      models fit using generalized estimate equations) and choice of for whom to impute
      result in different estimands. Validation using observed data showed MICE
      produced unbiased imputations. Simulations showed a substantial reduction in the
      bias of the 20-year association between diabetes and cognitive decline comparing
      MICE (3-4 % bias) to analyses of available data only (16-23 % bias) in a
      construct where missingness was strongly informative but realistic. Associations
      between diabetes and 20-year cognitive decline were substantially stronger with
      MICE than in available-case analyses. Our study suggests when informative data
      are available for non-examined participants, MICE can be an effective tool for
      imputing cognitive performance and improving assessment of cognitive decline,
      though careful thought should be given to target imputation population and
      analytic model chosen, as they may yield different estimands.

PMID- 27619928
TI  - Evolutionary consequences of a decade of vaccination against subtype H6N2
      influenza.
AB  - The evolutionary dynamics of chicken-origin H6N2 viruses isolated in South Africa
      between 2002 and 2013 were investigated. Sub-lineages I and II continued to co
      circulate under vaccination pressure, but sub-lineage I, from which the
      inactivated vaccine was derived, displayed a markedly higher mutation rate and a
      three-fold increase in the emergence of potential antigenic sites on the globular
      head of HA compared to sub-lineage II. Immunological pressure culminated in a
      critical phenotypic change as four of the five isolates from 2012 to 2013 had
      lost the ability to haemagglutinate chicken erythrocytes, correlating with a
      pattern of predicted O-glycosylation sites at residues 134, 137 and 141 within
      the critical 130 loop of the receptor binding domain site. Coassortment of the
      HA, NA and M genes in the respective sub-lineages contrasted reassortment of the
      other internal protein genes, and the vaccine seed strain itself was the probable
      donor of segments to sub-lineage II field strains.

PMID- 27619923
TI  - Cardiovascular Consequences of Childhood Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure:
      Prevailing Evidence, Burden, and Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities: A
      Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although public health programs have led to a substantial decrease in
      the prevalence of tobacco smoking, the adverse health effects of tobacco smoke
      exposure are by no means a thing of the past. In the United States, 4 of 10
      school-aged children and 1 of 3 adolescents are involuntarily exposed to
      secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS), with children of minority ethnic backgrounds and
      those living in low-socioeconomic-status households being disproportionately
      affected (68% and 43%, respectively). Children are particularly vulnerable, with
      little control over home and social environment, and lack the understanding,
      agency, and ability to avoid SHS exposure on their own volition; they also have
      physiological or behavioral characteristics that render them especially
      susceptible to effects of SHS. Side-stream smoke (the smoke emanating from the
      burning end of the cigarette), a major component of SHS, contains a higher
      concentration of some toxins than mainstream smoke (inhaled by the smoker
      directly), making SHS potentially as dangerous as or even more dangerous than
      direct smoking. Compelling animal and human evidence shows that SHS exposure
      during childhood is detrimental to arterial function and structure, resulting in
      premature atherosclerosis and its cardiovascular consequences. Childhood SHS
      exposure is also related to impaired cardiac autonomic function and changes in
      heart rate variability. In addition, childhood SHS exposure is associated with
      clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors such as obesity, dyslipidemia, and
      insulin resistance. Individualized interventions to reduce childhood exposure to
      SHS are shown to be at least modestly effective, as are broader-based policy
      initiatives such as community smoking bans and increased taxation. PURPOSE: The
      purpose of this statement is to summarize the available evidence on the
      cardiovascular health consequences of childhood SHS exposure; this will support
      ongoing efforts to further reduce and eliminate SHS exposure in this vulnerable
      population. This statement reviews relevant data from epidemiological studies,
      laboratory-based experiments, and controlled behavioral trials concerning SHS and
      cardiovascular disease risk in children. Information on the effects of SHS
      exposure on the cardiovascular system in animal and pediatric studies, including
      vascular disruption and platelet activation, oxidation and inflammation,
      endothelial dysfunction, increased vascular stiffness, changes in vascular
      structure, and autonomic dysfunction, is examined. CONCLUSIONS: The
      epidemiological, observational, and experimental evidence accumulated to date
      demonstrates the detrimental cardiovascular consequences of SHS exposure in
      children. IMPLICATIONS: Increased awareness of the adverse, lifetime
      cardiovascular consequences of childhood SHS may facilitate the development of
      innovative individual, family-centered, and community health interventions to
      reduce and ideally eliminate SHS exposure in the vulnerable pediatric population.
      This evidence calls for a robust public health policy that embraces zero
      tolerance of childhood SHS exposure.

PMID- 27619929
TI  - Ongoing geographical spread of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus.
AB  - Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) seriously impacts tomato production
      throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. It has a broad
      geographical distribution and continues to spread to new regions in the Indian
      and Pacific Oceans including Australia, New Caledonia and Mauritius. We undertook
      a temporally-scaled, phylogeographic analysis of all publicly available, full
      genome sequences of TYLCV, together with 70 new genome sequences from Australia,
      Iran and Mauritius. This revealed that whereas epidemics in Australia and China
      likely originated through multiple independent viral introductions from the East
      Asian region around Japan and Korea, the New Caledonian epidemic was seeded by a
      variant from the Western Mediterranean region and the Mauritian epidemic by a
      variant from the neighbouring island of Reunion. Finally, we show that inter
      continental scale movements of TYLCV to East Asia have, at least temporarily,
      ceased, whereas long-distance movements to the Americas and Australia are
      probably still ongoing.

PMID- 27619932
TI  - Percutaneous transapical pseudoaneurysm closure following transcatheter aortic
      valve replacement.
AB  - Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm (LVP) formation is a rare but potentially life
      threatening complication of transapical transcatheter aortic valve replacement
      (TAVR). Conventionally, a pseudoaneurysm has been treated surgically; however,
      improved transcatheter technique and device technology have made a percutaneous
      closure of LVP an increasingly viable option, especially in a patient unfavorable
      for surgery. A TAVR candidate is most likely at increased surgical-risk or
      inoperable. Therefore a percutaneous closure can be a reasonable strategy for
      LVP, but its experience following this emerging aortic valve procedure remains
      limited. We describe a case of LVP formation after TAVR in which it was
      efficiently treated with a percutaneous closure using a transapical approach via
      LVP. The first attempt was performed with a transfemoral approach. Pre-closure
      angiography revealed an eccentric shape of a LVP neck like a "chicken leg". This
      shape caused serious difficulty to cross LVP with a wire and it was not
      accomplished. However, the LVP location was at the apex and we could access from
      a chest wall through the pseudoaneurysm in the second attempt. This approach
      allowed a close and coaxial wire manipulation and the neck of LVP was finally
      crossed. After that, a closure device was deployed and the second procedure was
      successfully completed. An approach selection often contributes to a procedural
      success. This is the first case of a percutaneous LVP closure following TAVR
      using a transapical access and may suggest this approach as a possible option for
      this catheter closure in TAVR candidates. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27619931
TI  - Supplements for Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of the Literature.
AB  - The primary approach to controlling diabetes involves diet and lifestyle
      modification combined with pharmacologic interventions. Patients who are
      interested in exploring dietary supplements in the management of diabetes may
      have questions about which supplement to choose and whether any issues will arise
      with their current medication regimen. After reading this review, the pharmacist
      should be able to identify supplements that may provide benefit to improve
      diabetes management, understand what potential harm to the patient may occur, and
      be able to assist the patient in choosing high-quality supplements. This review
      will focus on the safety and efficacy data surrounding nicotinamide, ginseng,
      fenugreek, vitamin D, chromium, and cinnamon. These supplements are commonly
      listed in general circulation periodicals with claims to improve blood sugar
      management. Efficacy data showed a modest decrease in fasting plasma glucose of 
      0.96 mmol/dL (-17.29 mg/dL) for fenugreek and -24.59 mg/dL for cinnamon. It
      remains to be seen whether supplementation with these products can affect
      outcomes such as morbidity and mortality. Despite many studies being available,
      the majority lack uniformity across multiple dimensions, including varying
      participant characteristics, inconsistent formulations of supplement and dose,
      and differing study durations. This, coupled with variation in quality and purity
      of commercially available products, prevents universal recommendation for use in
      diabetes management.

PMID- 27619933
TI  - Excess Weight Tied to Eight More Cancers.
AB  - According to an analysis of more than 1,000 epidemiologic studies, being
      overweight or obese increases the risk of eight cancers: stomach, liver,
      gallbladder, pancreas, ovary, and thyroid cancers, multiple myeloma, and
      meningioma. Researchers initially identified five other malignancies linked to
      excess body weight in 2002, including breast and endometrial cancers.

PMID- 27619930
TI  - Kynurenine pathway and white matter microstructure in bipolar disorder.
AB  - Decreased availability of serotonin in the central nervous system has been
      suggested to be a central factor in the pathogenesis of depression. Activation of
      indoleamine 2-3 dioxygenase following a pro-inflammatory state could reduce the
      amount of tryptophan converted to serotonin and increase the production of
      tryptophan catabolites such as kynurenic acid, an antagonist of ionotropic
      excitatory aminoacid receptors, whose levels are reduced in bipolar disorder.
      Abnormalities in white matter (WM) integrity have been widely reported in BD. We
      then hypothesized that metabolites involved in serotoninergic turnover in BD
      could influence DTI measures of WM microstructure. Peripheral levels of
      tryptophan, kynurenine, kynurenic acid, 3-hydroxy-kynurenine, and 5-HIAA were
      analysed in 22 patients affected by BD and 15 healthy controls. WM microstructure
      was evaluated using diffusion tensor imaging and tract-based spatial statistics
      with threshold-free cluster enhancement only in bipolar patients. We observed
      that kynurenic acid and 5-HIAA were reduced in BD and associated with DTI
      measures of WM integrity in several association fibres: inferior and superior
      longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum bundle, corpus callosum, uncus, anterior
      thalamic radiation and corona radiata. Our results seem to suggest that higher
      levels of 5-HIAA, a measure of serotonin levels, and higher levels of kynurenic
      acid, which protects from glutamate excitotoxicity, could exert a protective
      effect on WM microstructure. Reduced levels of these metabolites in BD thus seem
      to confirm a crucial role of serotonin turnover in BD pathophysiology.

PMID- 27619934
TI  - Incarceration History and Uncontrolled Blood Pressure in a Multi-Site Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incarceration is associated with increased risk of hypertension and
      cardiovascular disease mortality. We used data from the Veterans Aging Cohort
      Study (VACS) to explore the impact of incarceration on blood pressure (BP)
      control. METHODS: Among hypertensive VACS participants, we measured the
      association between self-reported recent incarceration or past (not recent)
      history of incarceration and BP control in the year following the survey. To
      analyze the association between incarceration and BP control, we used logistic
      regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors
      (HIV status and body mass index), and behavioral factors (history of smoking,
      unhealthy alcohol use, illicit drug use). We explored potential mediators
      including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, primary care
      engagement, and adherence to antihypertensive medications. RESULTS: Among the
      3515 eligible VACS participants, 2304 participants met the inclusion criteria. Of
      these, 163 (7 %) reported recent incarceration, and 904 (39 %) reported a past
      history of incarceration. Participants with recent or past history of
      incarceration were more likely to have uncontrolled BP than those without a
      history of incarceration (67 % vs. 56 % vs. 51 %, p < 0.001). In multivariable
      analysis, recent incarceration (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.57 95 % confidence
      interval [CI]: 1.09-2.26), but not a past history of incarceration (AOR = 1.08 95
      % CI: 0.90-1.30), was associated with uncontrolled BP compared with those who
      were never incarcerated. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with a history of
      hypertension, recent incarceration is associated with having uncontrolled BP
      following release. Interventions are needed for recently released individuals to
      improve hypertension outcomes.

PMID- 27619936
TI  - Emerging role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatic cancer.
AB  - Accumulating evidence suggests that the phenomenon of epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT) plays a fundamental role in the tumor development. Several
      research articles have been published from Journal of Experimental and Clinical
      Cancer Research (JECCR) which have investigated into the molecular machineries
      underlying the importance of EMT for hepatic cancer. Given those recent
      publications by JECCR, this commentary focuses on the pathological significance
      of EMT for liver tumor.

PMID- 27619935
TI  - Overeat today, skip the scale tomorrow: An examination of caloric intake
      predicting nonadherence to daily self-weighing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Daily self-weighing is an effective weight loss strategy. Little is
      known about "micro" factors influencing nonadherence to self-weighing (e.g.,
      daily overeating). It was hypothesized that increased caloric intake on a given
      day would increase odds of not self-weighing the following day. METHODS: Daily
      self-reports of weight and caloric intake were collected from 74 adults with
      overweight and obesity (mean BMI = 31.2 +/- 4.5 kg/m2 , age = 50.6 +/- 10 years,
      69% female, 87% Caucasian) throughout a 12-week Internet-based weight management
      intervention. Multilevel logistic regression investigated odds of nonadherence to
      self-weighing on a given day based on the previous day's caloric intake. RESULTS:
      Self-monitoring adherence was high (weights: 87%; calories: 85%); adherence was
      associated with greater 12-week weight loss (weighing: r = -0.24, P = 0.04;
      calories: r = -0.26, P = 0.04). Increased caloric intake on a given day, relative
      to the individual's average intake, was associated with increased odds of
      nonadherence to self-weighing the next day (F(1,5106)  = 12.66, P = 0.0004, beta
      = 0.001). For example, following a day of eating 300 calories more than usual,
      odds of not self-weighing increased by 1.33. CONCLUSIONS: Odds of nonadherence to
      self-weighing increased following a day with higher-than-usual caloric intake.
      Weight management interventions collecting daily self-monitoring data could
      provide support to participants who report increased caloric intake to prevent
      self-weighing nonadherence.

PMID- 27619937
TI  - Microfluidic Isoelectric Focusing of Amyloid Beta Peptides Followed by
      Micropillar-Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - A novel method for preconcentration and purification of the Alzheimer's disease
      related amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides by isoelectric focusing (IEF) in 75 nL
      microchannels combined with their analysis by micropillar-matrix-assisted laser
      desorption ionization-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) is
      presented. A semiopen chip-based setup, consisting of open microchannels covered
      by a lid of a liquid fluorocarbon, was used. IEF was performed in a mixture of
      four small and chemically well-defined amphoteric carriers, glutamic acid,
      aspartyl-histidine (Asp-His), cycloserine (cSer), and arginine, which provided a
      stepwise pH gradient tailored for focusing of the C-terminal Abeta peptides with
      a pI of 5.3 in the boundary between cSer and Asp-His. Information about the
      focusing dynamics and location of the foci of Abeta peptides and other compounds
      was obtained using computer simulation and by performing MALDI-MS analysis
      directly from the open microchannel. With the established configuration,
      detection was performed by direct sampling of a nanoliter volume containing the
      focused Abeta peptides from the microchannel, followed by deposition of this
      volume onto a chip with micropillar MALDI targets. In addition to purification,
      IEF preconcentration provides at least a 10-fold increase of the MALDI-MS-signal.
      After immunoprecipitation and concentration of the eluate in the microchannel,
      IEF-micropillar-MALDI-MS is demonstrated to be a suitable platform for detection
      of Abeta peptides in human cerebrospinal fluid as well as in blood plasma.

PMID- 27619938
TI  - Compliance with USPSTF recommendations on aspirin for prevention of
      cardiovascular disease in men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In 2009, United States Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF)
      recommends aspirin (ASA) for men aged 45-79 years when the benefit of coronary
      artery disease (CAD) risk reduction outweighs the harm of gastrointestinal
      haemorrhage. Our objective is to evaluate compliance with this USPSTF
      recommendation. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study and 2011-2012
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset was used for
      this study. Out of the available sample, 1155 (11.8%) had the inclusion criteria
      (men aged 45-79 years, no prior history of CAD). The participants' 10-year
      Framingham risk score for developing CAD was calculated to identify the people
      who meet criteria to take aspirin. The population characteristics that influence
      the physicians' decision to prescribe aspirin and the characteristics those
      influence the participants' compliance with doctor's advice to take aspirin were
      identified. RESULTS: Almost 91.5% qualified for aspirin intake. About 65%
      (595/916) of them were not advised by their providers to take aspirin. Among the
      321 who were prescribed aspirin, 30% (96/321) were non-compliant and 1.2% (4/321)
      discontinued aspirin because of side effects. In the group that did not qualify
      for aspirin, 37.6% (32/85) were inappropriately prescribed aspirin out of which
      78.1% (25/32) were actually taking it. Younger age and lesser comorbidities were
      significantly associated with under prescription by physicians (P < .001) and
      lower compliance by participants (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In April 2016, USPSTF
      updated the recommendations regarding benefits of aspirin. Our study evaluates
      the factors that influenced the compliance with the 2009 recommendations. This
      study highlights the challenges that the 2016 guidelines might have to face.

PMID- 27619939
TI  - Postoperative Complications and Long-Term Survival After Complex Cancer
      Resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent attention has focused on the ability to rescue patients from
      postoperative complications and prevent short-term mortality. However, it is
      unknown whether patients rescued from complications after complex cancer
      resections have long-term survival outcomes similar to those of patients without
      complications. METHODS: From 2005 to 2009 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End
      Results (SEER)-Medicare data, the study identified elderly patients who underwent
      resection for cancers of the esophagus, lung, or pancreas. The association of
      risk-adjusted long-term survival with serious complications, minor complications,
      and no complications was analyzed. RESULTS: The study included 905 patients with
      esophageal cancer, 12,395 patients with lung cancer, and 1966 patients with
      pancreatic cancer. The serious complication rates were respectively 17.4, 9.5 and
      11.8 %. The patients with serious complications had lower 5-year survival rates
      than those with no complications even if they were rescued and survived 30 days
      (20 vs 43 % for esophagus, 29 vs 54 % for lung, and 10 vs 21 % for pancreas
      cancer). Even after patients who died within 180 days after surgery were excluded
      from the analysis, a decrement in risk-adjusted long-term survival was observed
      among the patients with serious complications after all three procedures. The
      association between complications and long-term survival was not explained by
      differences in receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy CONCLUSION: Patients who undergo
      complex cancer resection and experience serious complications have diminished
      long-term survival, even if they are "rescued" from their complications. This
      finding persists even when deaths within 6 months after surgery are excluded from
      the analysis. Metrics of surgical success should consider terms beyond 30 and
      even 90 days as well as the long-term consequences of surgical complications.

PMID- 27619940
TI  - Increasing Appropriate BRCA1/2 Mutation Testing: The Role of Family History
      Documentation and Genetic Counseling in a Multidisciplinary Clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Findings show that 5-10 % of women with a diagnosis of breast cancer
      (BCa) have actionable genetic mutations. The National Comprehensive Cancer
      Network guidelines for testing to detect BRCA1/2 mutations include personal
      history (PH) variables such as age of 45 years or younger and a family history
      (FH) variables. Rates of FH documentation and overall rates of appropriate
      referral for genetic testing are low, ranging from about 30 to 60 %. The authors
      hypothesized that an upfront FH documentation and inclusion of a genetics
      counselor in a multidisciplinary clinic (MDC) setting would increase rates of
      appropriate referral for genetic testing. METHODS: The study enrolled 609
      consecutive women with non-metastatic BCa seen in consultation between June 2012
      and December 2015 at a multidisciplinary clinic. Rates of FH documentation and
      referral for genetic testing to detect BRCA1/2 mutations were assessed before and
      after inclusion of a genetic counselor in the MDC. RESULTS: The rates of FH
      documentation and appropriate referral were 100 and 89 %, respectively. Half (50
      %) of the patients had only FH-based indications for testing. All the patients
      with PH-based indications were referred. The inclusion of a genetic counselor
      significantly increased appropriate referral rates among those with only FH-based
      indications (62 vs. 92 %) and overall (80 vs. 96 %) (p < 0.0001 for both). Among
      the 12 % of the patients with actionable mutations, 60 % were 45 years of age or
      younger, whereas 30 % had only FH-based testing indications. CONCLUSIONS: This
      report shows substantially higher FH documentation and appropriate genetic
      testing rates than prior reports. Many patients with indications for genetic
      testing may have only FH-based indications for testing, and this subset may
      account for the sizable proportion of patients with newly diagnosed BCa who have
      actionable mutations.

PMID- 27619941
TI  - Revisiting the Strait of Messina: The Balance Between Optimal Oncologic Outcomes
      and Complications From Surgery.

PMID- 27619942
TI  - Influence of Total Lymph Node Count on Staging and Survival After Gastrectomy for
      Gastric Cancer: An Analysis From a Two-Institution Database in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although current guidelines suggest that 16 or more lymph nodes (LNs)
      are required for the appropriate staging of gastric cancer, the effect that the
      minimum number of examined LNs (eLNs) in the different types of gastrectomy has
      on survival remains unclear. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed 2662
      patients who underwent curative gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy for gastric
      cancer at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital from January 2000 to December
      2010 and randomly divided them into development (70 %, n = 1863) and validation
      (30 %, n = 799) data sets. An additional external validation was performed using
      the data set (n = 285) collected during the same period from the Sun Yat-sen
      University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China. A hypothetical tumor-node
      metastasis (TNM) classification (hTNM) was proposed based on eLNs and survival.
      RESULTS: The mean numbers of nodes removed during radical distal and total
      gastrectomy were respectively 26 +/- 9.6 and 29 +/- 10.7 (p < 0.01). The optimal
      LN-count thresholds were determined to be 16 for patients who underwent curative
      distal gastrectomy and 21 for patients who underwent total gastrectomy. The hTNM
      staging system had higher linear trend and likelihood ratio chi 2 scores and
      lower Akaike information criterion (AIC) values than the seventh American Joint
      Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM classification. Thus, the hTNM staging system
      exhibited superior prognostic stratification. Similar results were found in the
      two validation data sets. CONCLUSION: A harvest of at least 21 LNs may represent
      a superior threshold for radical total gastrectomy (RTG) and could yield a better
      prognosis. For patients undergoing RTG, the hTNM staging system may predict
      survival more accurately and discriminatively. However, a validation from a
      Western institution is warranted.

PMID- 27619943
TI  - Sonographic monitoring of endoscopic carpal tunnel release.
AB  - We evaluated the effectiveness of sonographic monitoring of endoscopic carpal
      tunnel release for the prevention of median nerve or arterial injury and
      incomplete release of the flexor retinaculum (FR). When the outer tube (OT) was
      inserted, we used sonography to confirm the relationship of the OT, median nerve,
      ulnar artery, and superficial palmar arch. Under real-time US monitoring, the OT
      was lifted up before and after FR release, the so-called lift-up test, to
      evaluate its mobility under sonography and confirm complete FR release. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 44:597-599, 2016.

PMID- 27619944
TI  - Patterns and Composition of Road-Killed Wildlife in Northwest Argentina.
AB  - Roads have important effects on wildlife, such as natural habitat fragmentation
      and degradation and direct killing of fauna, which leads to reductions in
      wildlife population size. We focused on a principal road in Northwest Argentina
      to test for the effect of seasonality and landscape features on the composition
      of road-killed wildlife. We conducted regularly scheduled road trips during the
      dry and wet seasons. We recorded the presence or absence of a vegetation curtain
      or hedge along the road. We measured land use by remote sensing in a 500 m buffer
      along the road. We compared the abundance of animals killed between seasons (dry
      and wet) for different taxonomic groups (mammals, birds and reptiles) and for
      different origins (domestic and native). We built linear mixed models to test the
      effect of landscape features on the abundance of killed animals. Two hundred and
      ninety-three individuals were killed, belonging to 35 species; 75.8 % were native
      and 24.2 % domestic species. The majority of animals killed were mid-sized
      mammals. More animals were killed during the dry season. The most important
      factors to explain the wildlife road-killing were the season and the proportion
      of agricultural landscape. The composition of the killed animals changed with the
      season. The proportion of agricultural landscape incremented the number of killed
      birds and mammals during both seasons, without affecting reptiles. The ratio of
      wild to domestic animals killed was dependent on the season. This study sets a
      precedent as the first in road ecology in Northwest Argentina and should be taken
      into account for road planning and regulation.

PMID- 27619946
TI  - Preloading with L-BPA, L-tyrosine and L-DOPA enhances the uptake of [18F]FBPA in
      human and mouse tumour cell lines.
AB  - Aim of this study was to investigate if cellular [18F]FBPA uptake can be
      increased upon preloading with amino acids. [18F]FBPA uptake was assessed in HuH
      7, CaCo-2 and B16-F1 cells pretreated with different concentrations or incubation
      times of L-BPA, L-tyrosine or L-DOPA. Without preloading, highest uptake of
      [18F]FBPA was observed in B16-F1 cells, followed by CaCo-2 cells and HuH-7 cells.
      In all cell lines higher [18F]FBPA accumulation (up to 1.65-fold) was obtained
      with increasing L-BPA, L-DOPA and L-tyrosine concentrations.

PMID- 27619947
TI  - Physiological responses of the M1 sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop) plants to
      gamma radiation.
AB  - Effects of gamma radiation on physiological responses of the M1 sainfoin plants
      were investigated. Seeds of sainfoin ecotype 'Kocas' were exposed to 0, 400, 500
      and 600Gy from a 60Co source at a dose rate of 0.483 kGyh-1. Irradiated and
      unirradiated seeds were sown into culture vessels containing MS-basal medium to
      be cultured for 30 days under in vitro conditions. At the end of this period,
      seedlings, which germinated from the radiated and unirradiated seeds, were
      transferred into pots in a growth chamber for 30 days more. Chlorophyll contents,
      activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase
      (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR), as well as contents of monodehydroascorbate
      reductase (MDA) and proline were examined in unirradiated and irradiated 60-day
      old seedlings. Overall, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and
      GR) and contents of chlorophyll and proline in the leaves tended to increase
      after irradiation in a dose-dependent manner. By contrast, the activity of APX
      decreased. The lipid peroxidation characterized by the MDA content remained
      unchanged, except after irradiation to 500Gy. The highest CAT activity and the
      highest proline content were observed after irradiation to the highest dose of
      600Gy. The highest SOD and GR activities were observed after irradiation to the
      lowest tested dose of 400Gy. This is the first study that provided basic
      information on the impact of gamma radiation on physiological responses of
      sainfoin and its radiosensitivity. These findings will be useful in development
      of a mutation breeding program of sainfoin.

PMID- 27619948
TI  - A compact tritium enrichment unit for large sample volumes with automated re
      filling and higher enrichment factor.
AB  - Tritium (3H) in natural waters is a powerful tracer of hydrological processes,
      but its low concentrations require electrolytic enrichment before precise
      measurements can be made with a liquid scintillation counter. Here, we describe a
      newly developed, compact tritium enrichment unit which can be used to enrich up
      to 2L of a water sample. This allows a high enrichment factor (>100) for
      measuring low 3H contents of <0.05TU. The TEU uses a small cell (250mL) with
      automated re-filling and a CO2 bubbling technique to neutralize the high
      alkalinity of enriched samples. The enriched residual sample is retrieved from
      the cell under vacuum by cryogenic distillation at -20 degrees C and the tritium
      enrichment factor for each sample is accurately determined by measuring pre- and
      post- enrichment 2H concentrations with laser spectrometry.

PMID- 27619945
TI  - Winning agonistic encounters increases testosterone and androgen receptor
      expression in Syrian hamsters.
AB  - Winning aggressive disputes is one of several experiences that can alter
      responses to future stressful events. We have previously tested dominant and
      subordinate male Syrian hamsters in a conditioned defeat model and found that
      dominant individuals show less change in behavior following social defeat stress
      compared to subordinates and controls, indicating a reduced conditioned defeat
      response. Resistance to the effects of social defeat in dominants is experience
      dependent and requires the maintenance of dominance relationships for 14days. For
      this study we investigated whether winning aggressive interactions increases
      plasma testosterone and whether repeatedly winning increases androgen receptor
      expression. First, male hamsters were paired in daily 10-min aggressive
      encounters and blood samples were collected immediately before and 15min and
      30min after the formation of dominance relationships. Dominants showed an
      increase in plasma testosterone at 15min post-interaction compared to their pre
      interaction baseline, whereas subordinates and controls showed no change in
      plasma testosterone. Secondly, we investigated whether 14days of dominant social
      status increased androgen or estrogen alpha-receptor immunoreactivity in brain
      regions that regulate the conditioned defeat response. Dominants showed more
      androgen, but not estrogen alpha, receptor immuno-positive cells in the dorsal
      medial amygdala (dMeA) and ventral lateral septum (vLS) compared to subordinates
      and controls. Finally, we showed that one day of dominant social status was
      insufficient to increase androgen receptor immunoreactivity compared to
      subordinates. These results suggest that elevated testosterone signaling at
      androgen receptors in the dMeA and vLS might contribute to the reduced
      conditioned defeat response exhibited by dominant hamsters.

PMID- 27619949
TI  - Quantitative discrimination between oil and water in drilled bore cores via Fast
      Neutron Resonance Transmission Radiography.
AB  - A novel method utilizing the Fast Neutron Resonance Transmission Radiography is
      proposed for non-destructive, quantitative determination of the weight
      percentages of oil and water in cores taken from subterranean or underwater
      geological formations. The ability of the method to distinguish water from oil
      stems from the unambiguously-specific energy dependence of the neutron cross
      sections for the principal elemental constituents. Monte-Carlo simulations and
      initial results of experimental investigations indicate that the technique may
      provide a rapid, accurate and non-destructive method for quantitative evaluation
      of core fluids in thick intact cores, including those of tight shales for which
      the use of conventional core analytical approaches appears to be questionable.

PMID- 27619950
TI  - Synthesis, thermoluminescence, defect centers and dosimetric characteristics of
      LiF:Mg,Cu,B phosphor.
AB  - The present paper reports the thermoluminescence (TL), dosimetric characteristics
      and electron spin resonance (ESR) of LiF: Mg, Cu,B (MCB) phosphor synthesized by
      a solid state method. Its glow curve structure is similar to that of LiF: Mg,
      Cu,P (MCP) phosphor with the main dosimetric peak at 218 degrees C. MCB is 12
      times more sensitive than LiF: Mg, Ti and about 1.9 times less sensitive than MCP
      phosphor. A noteworthy feature is that the phosphor exhibits a linear dose
      response up to 100Gy with a minimum detectable dose of 17MUGy. The TL emission
      spectrum was recorded and the post irradiation fading in MCB at ambient
      temperatures and humidity was negligible for a period of one month. Room
      temperature ESR spectrum of irradiated phosphor consists of at least two distinct
      centers. Center I with an isotropic g factor 2.0061 is attributable to an F
      center and is the likely recombination center for the main TL peak at 220 degrees
      C. Center II characterized by a g-factor 2.0090 and an unusual broad line
      (linewidth ~ 415G) is also identified as an F-center. A third defect center,
      observable during thermal annealing at high temperature, is assigned to another F
      center.

PMID- 27619951
TI  - A simple method for checking the proper functioning of a thin-layer
      radiochromatograph for radiochemical purity control of radiopharmaceuticals.
AB  - Thin-layer radiochromatography is used for carrying out radiochemical purity
      control of gamma-emitter radiopharmaceuticals by using thin-layer
      radiochromatography scanners. It has been developed and implemented a simple
      method for validating the proper functioning of these instruments. This method
      helps to ensure accurate results in the radiochemical purity controls of gamma
      emitter radiopharmaceuticals.

PMID- 27619952
TI  - Predictive and Reactive Grip Force Responses to Rapid Load Increases in People
      With Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) on predictive and
      reactive grip force control in a catching task and on clinical tests of hand
      function. DESIGN: Case-control study with matched-pairs control group. SETTING:
      University prevention and rehabilitation center. PARTICIPANTS: Participants
      (N=30) consisted of people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) (n=15) and healthy
      controls (n=15), matched for sex, age, and hand dominance. INTERVENTIONS: Not
      applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Performance on the Expanded Disability Status
      Scale (EDSS), Nine-Hole Peg Test (9-HPT), Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test
      (JTHFT), and 2-point discrimination (2PD) was evaluated. To analyze grip force
      control, blindfolded subjects held a receptacle equipped with grip force and
      acceleration sensors in their hand. In a catching task, a weight was dropped from
      (1) the experimenter's hand unexpectedly into the receptacle (reactive force
      control); and (2) from the subject's opposite hand (predictive force control).
      Grip forces and time lags were analyzed. RESULTS: PwMS (mean EDSS +/- SD, 4.2+/
      1.86) had impairments in the 9-HPT and JTHFT (P<.001). The 2PD did not differ
      significantly between PwMS and controls. During reactive force control (catching
      task 1), PwMS showed significantly higher grip forces immediately after impact
      (P<.05), and a significant prolongation of the time from grip force increase
      until reaching the peak of grip force (P<.001). PwMS and controls did not differ
      during predictive force control (catching task 2; P>.1). CONCLUSIONS: Exaggerated
      grip force responses and alterations of timing after an unpredictable
      perturbation, combined with preserved grip force control during predictable
      conditions, is a characteristic pattern of fine motor control deficits in MS.
      Measures of reactive grip force responses may be used to complement neurologic
      assessments. Further studies exploring the usefulness of these measures should be
      performed in a broader community of PwMS.

PMID- 27619953
TI  - Catalytic Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Hypocrolide A.
AB  - The first and catalytic enantioselective total synthesis of hypocrolide A (>99%
      ee) in 12 steps, as well as other botryanes, is described. The absolute
      configurations of these compounds have been unambiguously confirmed or reassigned
      accordingly. The key reactions in this study include an unusual rhodium-catalyzed
      intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition and a biomimetic oxidative [3 + 2]
      cycloaddition based on our revised biogenetic pathway.

PMID- 27619955
TI  - Linkages between atmospheric blocking, sea ice export through Fram Strait and the
      Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
AB  - As a key persistent component of the atmospheric dynamics, the North Atlantic
      blocking activity has been linked to extreme climatic phenomena in the European
      sector. It has also been linked to Atlantic multidecadal ocean variability, but
      its potential links to rapid oceanic changes have not been investigated. Using a
      global ocean-sea ice model forced with atmospheric reanalysis data, here it is
      shown that the 1962-1966 period of enhanced blocking activity over Greenland
      resulted in anomalous sea ice accumulation in the Arctic and ended with a sea ice
      flush from the Arctic into the North Atlantic Ocean through Fram Strait. This
      event induced a significant decrease of Labrador Sea water surface salinity and
      an abrupt weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
      during the 1970s. These results have implications for the prediction of rapid
      AMOC changes and indicate that an important part of the atmosphere-ocean dynamics
      at mid- and high latitudes requires a proper representation of the Fram Strait
      sea ice transport and of the synoptic scale variability such as atmospheric
      blocking, which is a challenge for current coupled climate models.

PMID- 27619956
TI  - Response-bout analysis of interresponse times in variable-ratio and variable
      interval schedules.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to analyze the response pattern difference between
      variable-ratio (VR) and variable-interval (VI) schedules of reinforcement by
      modeling interresponse time distributions of rats' lever presses. All eight rats
      showed higher response rates under VR 30 than under inter-reinforcement intervals
      yoked VI. The 30 models consisting of single Exponential (with and without the
      lower limit on interresponse times), Weibull, Normal, Log-Normal or Gamma
      distributions, all possible two component combinations of those, and 3 and 4
      component models consisting of Weibull, Normal, Log-Normal, or Gamma distribution
      combinations were compared. The 4 component Log-Normal model was the best in
      terms of the Akaike information criterion and visual inspection of fitting
      outcome. Parameter estimates for the L4 model showed that the VR-VI response rate
      difference is due to a difference in short interresponse times or within bout
      responses. This results suggests that the VR-VI response rate difference is not
      an indication of a difference in the overall tendency to respond but it is rather
      a difference in terms of what types of response patterns are engendered between
      the two schedules.

PMID- 27619954
TI  - EXpanding Treatment for Existing Neurological Disease (EXTEND): An Open-Label
      Phase II Clinical Trial of Hydroxyurea Treatment in Sickle Cell Anemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral vasculopathy in sickle cell anemia (SCA) begins in childhood
      and features intracranial arterial stenosis with high risk of ischemic stroke.
      Stroke risk can be reduced by transcranial doppler (TCD) screening and chronic
      transfusion therapy; however, this approach is impractical in many developing
      countries. Accumulating evidence supports the use of hydroxyurea for the
      prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular disease in children with SCA.
      Recently we reported that hydroxyurea significantly reduced the conversion from
      conditional TCD velocities to abnormal velocities; whether hydroxyurea can be
      used for children with newly diagnosed severe cerebrovascular disease in place of
      starting transfusion therapy remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of
      the EXpanding Treatment for Existing Neurological Disease (EXTEND) trial is to
      investigate the effect of open label hydroxyurea on the maximum time-averaged
      mean velocity (TAMV) after 18 months of treatment compared to the pre-treatment
      value. Secondary objectives include the effects of hydroxyurea on serial TCD
      velocities, the incidence of neurological and non-neurological events, quality of
      life (QOL), body composition and metabolism, toxicity and treatment response,
      changes to brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance
      angiography (MRA), genetic and serologic markers of disease severity, and
      cognitive and pulmonary function. METHODS: This prospective Phase II trial will
      enroll children with SCA in Jamaica, between the ages of 2 and 17 years, with
      either conditional (170-199 cm/sec) or abnormal (>= 200 cm/sec) TCD velocities.
      Oral hydroxyurea will be administered daily and escalated to the maximum
      tolerated dose (MTD). Participants will be seen in the Sickle Cell Unit (SCU) in
      Kingston, Jamaica monthly until achieving MTD, and then every 3 months. TCD will
      be performed every 6 months. RESULTS: Currently, 43 participants have been
      enrolled out of a projected 50. There was one withdrawal due to immigration, with
      no permanent screen failures. Of the 43 enrolled, 37 participants have initiated
      study treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This trial investigates the effects of hydroxyurea
      treatment at MTD in children with conditional or abnormal TCD velocities before
      transfusion therapy and may represent an important advance towards establishing a
      suitable non-transfusion protocol for stroke prevention in children with SCA. The
      trial outcomes will have profound significance in developing countries where the
      disease burden is highest. CLINICALTRIAL: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02556099;
      https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02556099 (Archived by WebCite at
      http://www.webcitation.org/6k1yMAa9G).

PMID- 27619957
TI  - The feasibility, usability, and clinical utility of traditional paper food and
      symptom journals for patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paper food and gastrointestinal (GI) symptom journals are used to
      help irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients determine potential trigger foods.
      The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, usability, and
      clinical utility of such journals as a data collection tool. A secondary aim was
      to explore a method for analyzing journal data to describe patterns of diet and
      symptoms. METHODS: Participants (N=17) were asked to log three sets of 3-day food
      and symptom journals over a 15-day period. Feasibility was evaluated by journal
      completion rates, symptom logging compliance, and logging fatigability. The
      feasibility, usability, and clinical utility of journaling were also assessed by
      a customized evaluation and exit interview. For each journal, regression analyses
      were conducted to examine relationships between key meal nutrients and subsequent
      symptoms. KEY RESULTS: Most participants were young (mean age 35+/-12) Caucasian
      (N=13) women (N=14). Journal completion rates were 100% for all participants with
      no logging fatigability. Over half perceived paper journaling of food and
      symptoms as feasible, usable, and clinically useful. Thirteen participants
      demonstrated a strong association with at least one symptom and meal nutrient.
      Patterns of associations differed among participants. CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES:
      Paper journaling of food and GI symptoms for 9 days over a 15-day period appeared
      to be a feasible and usable data collection tool for IBS patients. Over half
      perceived journaling as at least somewhat clinically useful. Findings from this
      study support the anecdote that food trigger(s) and associated symptom(s) vary
      for each individual.

PMID- 27619958
TI  - A lack of peptide binding and decreased thermostability suggests that the CASKIN2
      scaffolding protein SH3 domain may be vestigial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CASKIN2 is a neuronal signaling scaffolding protein comprised of
      multiple ankyrin repeats, two SAM domains, and one SH3 domain. The CASKIN2 SH3
      domain for an NMR structural determination because its peptide-binding cleft
      appeared to deviate from the repertoire of aromatic enriched amino acids that
      typically bind polyproline-rich sequences. RESULTS: The structure demonstrated
      that two non-canonical basic amino acids (K290/R319) in the binding cleft were
      accommodated well in the SH3 fold. An K290Y/R319W double mutant restoring the
      typical aromatic amino acids found in the binding cleft resulted in a 20  degrees
      C relative increase in the thermal stability. Considering the reduced stability,
      we speculated that the CASKIN2 SH3 could be a nonfunctional remnant in this
      scaffolding protein. CONCLUSIONS: While the NMR structure demonstrates that the
      CASKIN2 SH3 domain is folded, its cleft has suffered two substitutions that
      prevent it from binding typical polyproline ligands. This observation led us to
      additionally survey and describe other SH3 domains in the Protein Data Bank that
      may have similarly lost their ability to promote protein-protein interactions.

PMID- 27619960
TI  - Arsenic and phosphate rock impacted the abundance and diversity of bacterial
      arsenic oxidase and reductase genes in rhizosphere of As-hyperaccumulator Pteris
      vittata.
AB  - Microbially-mediated arsenic (As) transformation in soils affects As speciation
      and plant uptake. However, little is known about the impacts of As on bacterial
      communities and their functional genes in the rhizosphere of As-hyperaccumulator
      Pteris vittata. In this study, arsenite (AsIII) oxidase genes (aroA-like) and
      arsenate (AsV) reductase genes (arsC) were amplified from three soils, which were
      amended with 50mgkg-1 As and/or 1.5% phosphate rock (PR) and grew P. vittata for
      90 d. The aroA-like genes in the rhizosphere were 50 times more abundant than
      arsC genes, consistent with the dominance of AsV in soils. According to
      functional gene alignment, most bacteria belonged to alpha-, beta- and gamma
      Proteobacteria. Moreover, aroA-like genes showed a higher biodiversity than arsC
      genes based on clone library analysis and could be grouped into nine clusters
      based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis.
      Besides, AsV amendment elevated aroA-like gene diversity, but decreased arsC gene
      diversity. Redundancy analysis indicated that soil pH, available Ca and P, and
      AsV concentration were key factors driving diverse compositions in aroA-like gene
      community. This work identified new opportunities to screen for As-oxidizing
      and/or -reducing bacteria to aid phytoremediation of As-contaminated soils.

PMID- 27619961
TI  - Mechanistic studies of mercury adsorption and oxidation by oxygen over spinel
      type MnFe2O4.
AB  - MnFe2O4 has been regarded as a very promising sorbent for mercury emission
      control in coal-fired power plants because of its high adsorption capacity,
      magnetic, recyclable and regenerable properties. First-principle calculations
      based on density functional theory (DFT) were used to elucidate the mercury
      adsorption and oxidation mechanisms on MnFe2O4 surface. DFT calculations show
      that Mn-terminated MnFe2O4 (1 0 0) surface is much more stable than Fe-terminated
      surface. Hg0 is physically adsorbed on Fe-terminated MnFe2O4 (1 0 0) surface. Hg0
      adsorption on Mn-terminated MnFe2O4 (1 0 0) surface is a chemisorption process.
      The partial density of states (PDOS) analysis indicates that Hg atom interacts
      strongly with surface Mn atoms through the orbital hybridization. HgO is adsorbed
      on the MnFe2O4 surface in a chemical adsorption manner. The small HOMO-LUMO
      energy gap implies that HgO molecular shows high chemical reactivity for HgO
      adsorption on MnFe2O4 surface. The energy barriers of Hg0 oxidation by oxygen on
      Fe- and Mn-terminated MnFe2O4 surfaces are 206.37 and 76.07kJ/mol, respectively.
      Mn-terminated surface is much more favorable for Hg0 oxidation than Fe-terminated
      surface. In the whole Hg0 oxidation process, the reaction between adsorbed
      mercury and surface oxygen is the rate-determining step.

PMID- 27619959
TI  - Effects of platelet-rich plasma in a model of bovine endometrial inflammation in
      vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endometritis reduces fertility and is responsible for major economic
      losses in beef and dairy industries. The aim of this study was to evaluate an
      alternative therapy using platelet-rich plasma (PRP). PRP was tested in vivo,
      after bovine intrauterine administration, and in vitro on endometrial cells.
      METHODS: Bovine endometrial cells were cultured until passage (P) 10 with 5 % or
      10 % PRP. Effect of PRP on endometrial cell proliferation and on the expression
      of genes [prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX2), tumor protein p53 (TP53),
      oestrogen receptors (ER-alpha and ER-beta), progesterone receptor (PR) and c-Myc]
      involved in the regulation of oestrus cycle and fetal-maternal interaction were
      evaluated. Moreover, to evaluate the ability of PRP to counteract inflammation,
      10 and 100 ng/ml of bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were used to
      inflame endometrial cells in vitro for 1, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h. The expression of
      genes such as interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-8 (IL-8), inducible
      nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX2/PTGS2),
      and the release of PGE-2, IL-1beta and IL-8 were evaluated. RESULTS: In vivo
      treatment with PRP increased the detection of PR. In vitro, 5 % PRP at passage 5
      increased proliferation rate and induced a significant increase in the expression
      of all studied genes. Furthermore, the results revealed that 10 ng/ml of LPS is
      the most effective dose to obtain an inflammatory response, and that PRP
      treatment significantly down regulated the expression of pro-inflammatory genes.
      CONCLUSION: This study lays the foundations for the potential treatment of
      endometritis with PRP in vivo.

PMID- 27619962
TI  - Three-dimensional MnO2 porous hollow microspheres for enhanced activity as
      ozonation catalysts in degradation of bisphenol A.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) MnO2 porous hollow microspheres (delta- and alpha- MnO2
      PHMSs), with high adsorption and catalytic ozonation performance, were
      synthesized by a self-template (MnCO3 microspheres) process at room temperature.
      The synthesized MnO2 PHMSs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD),
      scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X
      ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface
      area. The results showed that PHMSs exhibit the excellent adsorption ability and
      catalytic activity owning to their hollow spherical structure, mesoporous shell
      and well-defined interior voids, leading to the strong adsorption for bisphenol A
      (BPA) and the retention of O3 molecules on catalyst. Moreover, the catalytic
      performance of alpha-MnO2 PHMSs was better than that of delta-MnO2 PHMSs which
      was attributed to the richer lattice oxygen of alpha-MnO2 PHMSs to accelerate O3
      decomposition by producing more reactive oxidative species. The degradation
      efficiency of BPA using 3D alpha-MnO2 PHMSs was more than 90% in the presence of
      ozone within 30min reaction time. The probe tests for reactive oxidative species
      (ROSs) displayed that BPA degradation by catalytic ozonation is dominated by O2-
      and OH in our present study. Furthermore, the organic compounds as intermediates
      of the degradation process were identified by LC/MS.

PMID- 27619963
TI  - Adding value to gasification and co-pyrolysis chars as removal agents of Cr3.
AB  - The present work aims to assess the efficiency of chars, obtained from the
      gasification and co-pyrolysis of rice wastes, as adsorbents of Cr3+ from aqueous
      solution. GC and PC chars, produced in the gasification and co-pyrolysis,
      respectively, of rice husk and polyethylene were studied. Cr3+ removal assays
      were optimised for the initial pH value, adsorbent mass, contact time and Cr3+
      initial concentration. GC showed a better performance than PC with about 100%
      Cr3+ removal, due to the pH increase that caused Cr precipitation. Under pH
      conditions in which the adsorption prevailed (pH<5.5), GC presented the highest
      uptake capacity (21.1mg Cr3+ g-1 char) for the following initial conditions: 50mg
      Cr3+ L-1; pH 5; contact time: 24h;L/S ratio: 1000mLg-1. The pseudo-second order
      kinetic model showed the best adjustment to GC experimental data. Both the first
      and second order kinetic models fitted well to PC experimental data. The ion
      exchange was the dominant phenomenon on the Cr3+ adsorption by GC sample. Also,
      this char significantly reduced the ecotoxicity of Cr3+ solutions for the
      bacterium Vibrio fischeri. GC char proved to be an efficient material to remove
      Cr3+ from aqueous solution, without the need for further activation.

PMID- 27619964
TI  - In situ growing Bi2MoO6 on g-C3N4 nanosheets with enhanced photocatalytic
      hydrogen evolution and disinfection of bacteria under visible light irradiation.
AB  - Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 heterojunctions were fabricated by an in situ solvothermal method
      using g-C3N4 nanosheets. The photocatalytic activities of as-prepared samples
      were evaluated by hydrogen evolution from water splitting and disinfection of
      bacteria under visible light irradiation. The results indicate that exfoliating
      bulk g-C3N4 to g-C3N4 nanosheets greatly enlarges the specific surface area and
      shortens the diffusion distance for photogenerated charges, which could not only
      promote the photocatalytic performance but also benefit the sufficient
      interaction with Bi2MoO6. Furthermore, intimate contact of Bi2MoO6 (BM) and g
      C3N4 nanosheets (CNNs) in the BM/CNNs composites facilitates the transfer and
      separation of photogenetrated electron-hole pairs. 20%-BM/CNNs heterojunction
      exhibits the optimal photocatalytic hydrogen evolution as well as photocatalytic
      disinfection of bacteria. Furthermore, h+ was demonstrated as the dominant
      reactive species which could make the bacteria cells inactivated in the
      photocatalytic disinfection process. This study extends new chance of g-C3N4
      based photocatalysts to the growing demand of clean new energy and drinking
      water.

PMID- 27619965
TI  - Development of hydrophobicity and selective separation of hazardous chlorinated
      plastics by mild heat treatment after PAC coating and froth flotation.
AB  - Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) containing chlorine can release highly toxic materials
      and persistent organic pollutants if improperly disposed of. The combined
      technique of powder activated carbon (PAC) coating and mild heat treatment has
      been found to selectively change the surface hydrophobicity of PVC, enhancing its
      wettability and thereby promoting its separation from heavy plastic mixtures
      included polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS) and
      acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) by means of froth flotation. The combined
      treatments helped to rearrange the surface components and make PVC more
      hydrophobic, while the remaining plastics became more hydrophilic. After the
      treatments at 150 degrees C for 80s the contact angle of the PVC was greatly
      increased from 90.5 to 97.9 degrees . The SEM and AFM reveal that the surface
      morphology and roughness changes on the PVC surface. XPS and FT-IR results
      further confirmed an increase of hydrophobic functional groups on the PVC
      surface. At the optimized froth flotation and subsequent mixing at 150rpm, 100%
      of PVC was recovered from the remaining plastic mixture with 93.8% purity. The
      combined technique can provide a simple and effective method for the selective
      separation of PVC from heavy plastics mixtures to facilitate easy industrial
      recycling.

PMID- 27619966
TI  - Mechanisms of Zn(II) binded to collagen and its effect on the capacity of eco
      friendly Zn-Cr combination tanning system.
AB  - The eco-friendly combination tanning process has been developed to reduce
      chromium in existing researches, which is based on zinc tanning agents. This can
      be considered as a less-chrome substitute for current tanning process. To gain
      deeper understanding of the binding mechanisms of zinc-collagen interaction,
      which are affected by tanning pH, experiments have been carried out. Analysis in
      this paper reveals how chemical bonds from the collagen's main function groups
      combine with zinc. XPS and NIR data was analyzed for further understanding of
      where the zinc binding sites lie on collagen fibers at different pH. The results
      indicate that high pH is helpful to amino-binding sites while low pH promotes
      carboxyl-binding sites on collagen fibers. Furthermore, from the effect of Zinc
      chrome combination tanning, we can see that the new method reduces the chromium
      dosage in tanning process compared to the conventional chrome tanning method.

PMID- 27619967
TI  - Innovative nanoporous carbons with ultrahigh uptakes for capture and reversible
      storage of CO2 and volatile iodine.
AB  - Porous carbons as solid-state adsorbents have recently attracted considerable
      interest in the areas of storage and capture of CO2 as well as the adsorption of
      radioactive matters. In this work, cigarette butts, one kind of common wastes
      referring to the filters, were utilized to prepare highly porous carbons by KOH
      activation in argon atmosphere. The resulting porous carbon shows a high specific
      surface area of up to 2751m2g-1 with abundant micropores. The resulting porous
      carbon exhibits excellent iodine uptake of 262wt% and high CO2 adsorption
      capacity of 6.0mmolg-1 at ambient pressure and 273K, which both are among the
      highest values reported to date. Given these excellent iodine uptake, CO2
      adsorption capacity, ease of preparation as well as good physiochemical
      stability, the porous carbons derived from cigarette butts show great potential
      in the reversible adsorption of radioactive iodine and CO2.

PMID- 27619968
TI  - The impact of substituting general practitioners with nurse practitioners on
      resource use, production and health-care costs during out-of-hours: a quasi
      experimental study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pressure in out-of-hours primary care is high due to an
      increasing demand for care and rising health-care costs. During the daytime,
      substituting general practitioners (GPs) with nurse practitioners (NPs) shows
      positive results to contribute to these challenges. However, there is a lack of
      knowledge about the impact during out-of-hours. The current study aims to provide
      an insight into the impact of substitution on resource use, production and direct
      health-care costs during out-of-hours. METHODS: At a general practitioner
      cooperative (GPC) in the south-east of the Netherlands, experimental teams with
      four GPs and one NP were compared with control teams with five GPs. In a
      secondary analysis, GP care versus NP care was also examined. During a 15-month
      period all patients visiting the GPC on weekend days were included. The primary
      outcome was resource use including X-rays, drug prescriptions and referrals to
      the Emergency Department (ED). We used logistic regression to adjust for
      potential confounders. Secondary outcomes were production per hour and direct
      health-care costs using a cost-minimization analysis. RESULTS: We analysed 6,040
      patients in the experimental team (NPs: 987, GPs: 5,053) and 6,052 patients in
      the control team. There were no significant differences in outcomes between the
      teams. In the secondary analysis, in the experimental team NP care was associated
      with fewer drug prescriptions (NPs 37.1 %, GPs 43 %, p < .001) and fewer
      referrals to the ED (NPs 5.1 %, GPs 11.3 %, p = .001) than GP care. The mean
      production per hour was 3.0 consultations for GPs and 2.4 consultations for NPs
      (p < .001). The cost of a consultation with an NP was ?3.34 less than a
      consultation with a GP (p = .02). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated no overall
      differences between the teams. Nonetheless, a comparison of type of provider
      showed that NP care resulted in lower resource use and cost savings than GP care.
      To find the optimal balance between GPs and NPs in out-of-hours primary care,
      more research is needed on the impact of increasing the ratio of NPs in a team
      with GPs on resource use and health-care costs. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01388374 .

PMID- 27619970
TI  - Is the efficacy of sacral nerve stimulation for faecal incontinence dependent on
      the number of active electrode poles achieved during permanent lead insertion?
AB  - AIM: Sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is effective for faecal incontinence (FI).
      Little is known about the relationship between the implantation technique and the
      functional outcome. This study aimed to explore the relationship between the
      numbers of active electrode poles (AEP) achieved during permanent lead placement
      and subsequent function, therapeutic amplitude and the need for extra
      appointments between scheduled follow-up visits. METHOD: One hundred and eighty
      six patients with FI who underwent permanent implantation between May 2009 and
      March 2015 with a tined (barbed) lead (3093/3080, Medtronic) using the straight
      stylet were registered on the European two-centre SNS prospective database
      (SNSPD). Correlation between the number of AEP, function, stimulation amplitude
      and the need for extra visits was analysed. RESULTS: The numbers of patients
      having an intra-operative motor response on stimulation of one, two, three and
      four poles were 18 (9.7%), 75 (40.3%), 61 (32.8%) and 32 (17.2%). The Wexner
      incontinence score was significantly reduced from 15 (+/-2.8) at baseline to 9.2
      (+/-4.8) at the latest follow-up after a mean 878 +/- 561 days (SD; P < 0.001).
      No correlation was found between the number of AEP and the functional outcome (P
      > 0.05). Patients with four-AEP had a reduced therapeutic amplitude up to 289 (+/
      146) days of follow-up (P < 0.03). The number of AEP did not influence the need
      for extra follow-up visits (P < 0.223). CONCLUSION: The functional outcome and
      number of extra visits after SNS for FI did not depend on the number of AEP
      achieved. The therapeutic amplitude was reduced during the first postoperative
      year if four AEP were achieved during lead placement.

PMID- 27619969
TI  - A rank based social norms model of how people judge their levels of drunkenness
      whilst intoxicated.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A rank based social norms model predicts that drinkers' judgements
      about their drinking will be based on the rank of their breath alcohol level
      amongst that of others in the immediate environment, rather than their actual
      breath alcohol level, with lower relative rank associated with greater feelings
      of safety. This study tested this hypothesis and examined how people judge their
      levels of drunkenness and the health consequences of their drinking whilst they
      are intoxicated in social drinking environments. METHODS: Breath alcohol testing
      of 1,862 people (mean age = 26.96 years; 61.86 % male) in drinking environments.
      A subset (N = 400) also answered four questions asking about their perceptions of
      their drunkenness and the health consequences of their drinking (plus background
      measures). RESULTS: Perceptions of drunkenness and the health consequences of
      drinking were regressed on: (a) breath alcohol level, (b) the rank of the breath
      alcohol level amongst that of others in the same environment, and (c) covariates.
      Only rank of breath alcohol level predicted perceptions: How drunk they felt (b
      3.78, 95 % CI 1.69 5.87), how extreme they regarded their drinking that night (b
      3.7, 95 % CI 1.3 6.20), how at risk their long-term health was due to their
      current level of drinking (b 4.1, 95 % CI 0.2 8.0) and how likely they felt they
      would experience liver cirrhosis (b 4.8. 95 % CI 0.7 8.8). People were more
      influenced by more sober others than by more drunk others. CONCLUSION: Whilst
      intoxicated and in drinking environments, people base judgements regarding their
      drinking on how their level of intoxication ranks relative to that of others of
      the same gender around them, not on their actual levels of intoxication. Thus,
      when in the company of others who are intoxicated, drinkers were found to be more
      likely to underestimate their own level of drinking, drunkenness and associated
      risks. The implications of these results, for example that increasing the numbers
      of sober people in night time environments could improve subjective assessments
      of drunkenness, are discussed.

PMID- 27619972
TI  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for interstitial lung disease: what is on the
      other side of the bridge?

PMID- 27619971
TI  - The role of microRNAs in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is the second most common primary hepatic
      malignancy with poor prognosis. Despite improvements in its diagnosis and
      therapy, the prognosis for ICC patients remains poor. An improved understanding
      of ICC pathogenesis and consequential identification of novel therapeutic targets
      would improve the prognosis of ICC patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of
      highly conserved, endogenous, small non-coding RNA molecules of 18-23 nucleotides
      in length, which regulate gene expression through complementary base-pairing with
      target messenger RNAs and subsequent gene silencing. Several studies have shown
      deregulated expression of miRNAs in ICC cell lines and tissues, in which these
      miRNAs play important roles in ICC apoptosis, cell proliferation, invasion,
      migration and metastasis. In this review, we illustrate the potential role of
      miRNA in the pathogenesis of ICC and explore the possibilities of using miRNAs as
      prognostic and diagnostic markers, as well as therapeutic targets in ICC.

PMID- 27619973
TI  - Spectroscopic study for a chromium-adsorbed montmorillonite.
AB  - Samples of purified montmorillonite with trace amounts of quartz were subjected
      to different concentrations of chromium sulphate solutions for one week to allow
      cation exchange. The chromium-bearing montmorillonites were verified and tested
      using powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry,
      electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry and Fourier transformation infrared
      (FTIR) spectroscopy to explore the occupation sites of the chromium. The ESR
      spectra recorded before and after the chromium exchange show clear differences: a
      strong and broad resonance with two shoulders at the lower magnetic field side
      was present to start, and its intensity as well as that of the ferric iron
      resonance, increased with the concentration of added chromium. The signals
      introduced by the chromium, for example at g=1.975 and 2.510 etc., suggested that
      the chromium had several occupational sites. The ESR peak with g=2.510 in the
      second derivative spectrum suggested that Cr3+ was weakly bounded to TOT with the
      form of [Cr(H2O)3]3+ in hexagonal cavities. This was verified by comparing the
      FTIR spectra of the pure and modified montmorillonite. The main resonance centred
      at g=1.975 indicated that the majority of Cr3+ occupied the interlayer region as
      [Cr(H2O)6]3+. The substitution of Ca2+ by Cr3+ also greatly affected the
      vibration of the hydrogens associate to water, ranged from 3500 to 2600cm-1 in
      FTIR. Furthermore, the presence of two diffraction lines in the XRD results
      (specifically those with d-values of 1.5171 and 1.2673nm) and the calculations of
      the size of the interlayer space suggested the presence of two types of
      montmorillonite with different hydration cations in the sample exposed to 0.2M
      chromium sulphate. The two diffraction lines were assigned to [Cr(H2O)6]3+ and
      [Cr(H2O)3O3]3+, respectively. This also suggested that the species of hydration
      cation was constrained by the concentration of the chromium solution.

PMID- 27619975
TI  - A comparative study on the effect of Curcumin and Chlorin-p6 on the transport of
      the LDS cation across a negatively charged POPG bilayer: Effect of pH.
AB  - We report the use of interface selective Second Harmonic generation technique to
      investigate the transport of the LDS cation across POPG liposomes in the pH range
      of 4.0 to 8.0 in the presence and absence of two amphiphilic drugs, Curcumin and
      Chlorin-p6 (Cp6). Our results show that bilayer permeability of liposomes is
      significantly affected by the presence of the drugs and pH of the medium as
      evidenced by significant changes in the transport kinetics of the LDS. Studies
      carried out in the pH range 4.0-8.0 show that while Cp6 significantly enhanced
      the transport of LDS at pH4.0, the transport of the cation was seen to increase
      with increasing pH, with maximum effect at pH7.4 for Curcumin. The pH dependent
      bilayer localization of both the drugs was investigated by conducting steady
      state FRET studies using DPH labeled lipids as donors. The FRET results and the
      relative population of the various ionic/nonionic species of the drugs at
      different pH suggest that distance dependent interaction between the various
      ionic species of the drugs and polar head groups of the lipid is responsible for
      the observed pH dependence enhancement of the drug induced membrane permeability.
      Another interesting observation was that the stability of Curcumin in presence of
      POPG liposomes was observed to degrade significantly near physiological pH (7.4
      and 8.0). Although this degradation did not affect the liposome integrity,
      interestingly this was observed to enhance the transport of the LDS cation across
      the bilayer. That the degradation products of Curcumin are equally effective as
      the drug itself in enhancing the membrane permeability lends additional support
      to the current opinion that the bioactive degradation products of the drug may
      have a significant contribution to its observed pharmacological effects.

PMID- 27619974
TI  - Spectroscopic, structural characterizations and antioxidant capacity of the
      chromium (III) niacinamide compound as a diabetes mellitus drug model.
AB  - New binuclear chromium (III) niacinamide compound with chemical formula
      [Cr2(Nic)(Cl)6(H2O)4].H2O was obtained upon the reaction of chromium (III)
      chloride with niacinamide (Nic) in methanol solvent at 60 degrees C. The proposed
      structure was discussed with the help of microanalytical analyses, conductivity,
      spectroscopic (FT-IR and UV-vis.), magnetic calculations, thermogravimetric
      analyses (TG/TGA), and morphological studies (X-ray of solid powder and scan
      electron microscopy. The infrared spectrum of free niacinamide in comparison with
      its chromium (III) compound indicated that the chelation mode occurs via both
      nitrogen atoms of pyridine ring and primary -NH2 group. The efficiency of
      chromium (III) niacinamide compound in decreasing of glucose level of blood and
      HbA1c in case of diabetic rats was checked. The ameliorating gluconeogenic
      enzymes, lipid profile and antioxidant defense capacities are considered as an
      indicator of the efficiency of new chromium (III) compound as antidiabetic drug
      model.

PMID- 27619976
TI  - ST-segment Elevation Following Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation in the
      Emergency Department: Unmasked Myocardial Infarction due to Left Main Coronary
      Artery Plaque Rupture or Unspecific Finding?
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequent reason for emergency department visits.
      According to current guidelines either rate- or rhythm-control are acceptable
      therapeutic options in such situations. In this report, we present the
      complicated clinical course of a patient with AF and a rapid ventricular
      response. Because of paroxysmal AF, the patient was on chronic oral
      anticoagulation therapy with warfarin. Pharmacological treatment was ineffective
      to control ventricular rate, and immediate synchronized electrical cardioversion
      was performed. One hour later, the patient complained of chest pain in
      combination with marked ST-segment elevation in the anterior leads. Cardiac
      catheterization with optical coherence tomography disclosed plaque rupture in the
      left main coronary artery without other significant stenosis. Stent implantation
      was performed successfully. During the course of the hospital stay, the patient
      remained asymptomatic and the ST-segment elevations resolved. However, despite
      treatment with amiodarone it was not possible to keep the patient permanently in
      sinus rhythm. Therefore, a biventricular pacemaker was implanted and AV node
      ablation performed.

PMID- 27619977
TI  - Cooperation of the ER-shaping proteins atlastin, lunapark, and reticulons to
      generate a tubular membrane network.
AB  - In higher eukaryotes, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) contains a network of
      membrane tubules, which transitions into sheets during mitosis. Network formation
      involves curvature-stabilizing proteins, including the reticulons (Rtns), as well
      as the membrane-fusing GTPase atlastin (ATL) and the lunapark protein (Lnp).
      Here, we have analyzed how these proteins cooperate. ATL is needed to not only
      form, but also maintain, the ER network. Maintenance requires a balance between
      ATL and Rtn, as too little ATL activity or too high Rtn4a concentrations cause ER
      fragmentation. Lnp only affects the abundance of three-way junctions and tubules.
      We suggest a model in which ATL-mediated fusion counteracts the instability of
      free tubule ends. ATL tethers and fuses tubules stabilized by the Rtns, and
      transiently sits in newly formed three-way junctions. Lnp subsequently moves into
      the junctional sheets and forms oligomers. Lnp is inactivated by mitotic
      phosphorylation, which contributes to the tubule-to-sheet conversion of the ER.

PMID- 27619978
TI  - Keeping in shape.
AB  - Three proteins work together to control the shape of the endoplasmic reticulum in
      animal cells. 

PMID- 27619979
TI  - The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/the International
      Thymic Malignancies Interest Group proposal for the TNM staging systems for
      thymic epithelial tumors and large-scale retrospective data.

PMID- 27619980
TI  - Surgical management of posterior fossa metastases.
AB  - The diagnosis of brain metastases is associated with a poor prognosis reflecting
      uncontrolled primary disease that has spread to the relative sanctuary of the
      central nervous system. 20 % of brain metastases occur in the posterior fossa and
      are associated with significant morbidity. The risk of acute hydrocephalus and
      potential for sudden death means these metastases are often dealt with as
      emergency cases. This approach means a full pre-operative assessment and staging
      of underlying disease may be neglected and a proportion of patients undergo
      comparatively high risk surgery with little or no survival benefit. This study
      aimed to assess outcomes in patients to identify factors that may assist in case
      selection. We report a retrospective case series of 92 consecutive patients
      operated for posterior fossa metastases between 2007 and 2012. Routine
      demographic data was collected plus data on performance status, primary cancer
      site, details of surgery, adjuvant treatment and survival. The only independent
      positive prognostic factors identified on multivariate analysis were good
      performance status (if Karnofsky performance score >70, hazard ratio (HR) for
      death 0.36, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.69), adjuvant whole brain
      radiotherapy (HR 0.37, 95 % CI 0.21-0.65) and adjuvant chemotherapy where there
      was extracranial disease and non-synchronous presentation (HR 0.51, 95 % CI 0.31
      0.82). Patients presenting with posterior fossa metastases may not be
      investigated as thoroughly as those with supratentorial tumours. Staging and
      assessment is essential however, and in the meantime emergencies related to
      tumour mass effect should be managed with steroids and cerebrospinal fluid
      diversion as required.

PMID- 27619982
TI  - Effects of effort and difficulty on human preference for a stimulus:
      Investigation of the within-trial contrast.
AB  - The within-trial contrast hypothesis (WTC) provides a more parsimonious
      explanation for the phenomenon that humans and animals prefer outcomes that
      follow more effortful events to outcomes that follow less effortful events
      (Zentall, 2013). We conducted two WTC experiments with human adults. In
      Experiment 1, we manipulated the difficulty of a preceding event by varying the
      interresponse time and the limited-hold interval during differential
      reinforcement with a low response rate schedule, to examine the effect of effort
      on the preference for the subsequent stimuli. In Experiment 2, we attempted to
      identify the variables that had affected the results of Experiment 1, by
      manipulating time as the delay of reinforcement. The results showed preferences
      based on WTC only when participants made a high rate of incorrect responses in
      the preceding event, which was used as an index of the strength of individual
      effort. These results extend the findings of previous human WTC studies and
      suggest that the difficulty of a task could serve as an aversive event that
      affects the WTC effect. It is possible that an index based on performance in the
      preceding event would provide useful information for predicting the contrast
      effect.

PMID- 27619981
TI  - Comparative studies of TIMP-1 immunohistochemistry, TIMP-1 FISH analysis and
      plasma TIMP-1 in glioblastoma patients.
AB  - Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) has been associated with poor
      prognosis and resistance towards chemotherapy in several cancer forms. In a
      previous study we found an association between a low TIMP-1 tumor
      immunoreactivity and increased survival for glioblastoma patients, when compared
      to moderate and high TIMP-1 tumor immunoreactivity. The aim of the present study
      was to further evaluate TIMP-1 as a biomarker in gliomas by studying TIMP-1 gene
      copy numbers by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on 33 glioblastoma
      biopsies and by measuring levels of TIMP-1 in plasma obtained pre-operatively
      from 43 patients (31 gliomas including 21 glioblastomas) by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed TIMP-1 gene copy numbers per cell
      ranging from 1 to 5 and the TIMP-1/CEN-X ratio ranging between 0.7 and 1.09,
      suggesting neither amplification nor loss of the TIMP-1 gene. The TIMP-1 protein
      levels measured in plasma were not significantly higher than TIMP-1 levels
      measured in healthy subjects. No correlation was identified between TIMP-1 tumor
      cell immunoreactivities and the TIMP-1 gene copy numbers or the plasma TIMP-1
      levels. In conclusion, high immunohistochemical TIMP-1 protein levels in
      glioblastomas were not caused by TIMP-1 gene amplification and TIMP-1 in plasma
      was low and not directly related to tumor TIMP-1 immunoreactivity. The study
      suggests that TIMP-1 immunohistochemistry is the method of choice for future
      clinical studies evaluating TIMP-1 as a biomarker in glioblastomas.

PMID- 27619984
TI  - Aedes Mosquito Larva in the Hospital: A Note From Thailand.

PMID- 27619985
TI  - The evolution of 3D imaging in orthopedic trauma care.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) imaging can enhance trauma care by allowing better
      evaluation of bony detail and implant position compared to conventional
      fluoroscopy or x-ray. Intraoperative 3D imaging further improves this evaluation
      by allowing any necessary revisions to be made in the operating room prior to the
      patient emerging from anesthesia. This revision, if necessary, better achieves
      the surgical goals and alleviates the stressful situation of obtaining
      postoperative 3D imaging, where the benefit of revision must be balanced against
      the cost and risk of returning to the operating room. Improved image volume,
      resolution, and software capability have allowed surgeons to obtain high-quality,
      wide field views of bony anatomy that can include the uninjured side as a
      comparison. In this paper, the evolution of intraoperative 3D imaging over the
      past 25 years is discussed.

PMID- 27619983
TI  - Rationale and design of a multicenter randomized controlled study to evaluate the
      preventive effect of ipragliflozin on carotid atherosclerosis: the PROTECT study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated strongly with an increased
      risk of micro- and macro-vascular complications, leading to impaired quality of
      life and shortened life expectancy. In addition to appropriate glycemic control,
      multi-factorial intervention for a wide range of risk factors, such as
      hypertension and dyslipidemia, is crucial for management of diabetes. A recent
      cardiovascular outcome trial in diabetes patients with higher cardiovascular risk
      demonstrated that a SGLT2 inhibitor markedly reduced mortality, but not macro
      vascular events. However, to date there is no clinical evidence regarding the
      therapeutic effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on arteriosclerosis. The ongoing PROTECT
      trial was designed to assess whether the SGLT2 inhibitors, ipragliflozin,
      prevented progression of carotid intima-media thickness in Japanese patients with
      type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A total of 480 participants with type 2
      diabetes mellitus with a HbA1c between 6 and 10 % despite receiving diet/exercise
      therapy and/or standard anti-diabetic agents for at least 3 months, will be
      randomized systematically (1:1) into either ipragliflozin or control
      (continuation of conventional therapy) groups. After randomization, ipragliflozin
      (50-100 mg once daily) will be added on to the background therapy in participants
      assigned to the ipragliflozin group. The primary endpoint of the study is the
      change in mean intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery from baseline
      to 24 months. Images of carotid intima-media thickness will be analyzed at a
      central core laboratory in a blinded manner. The key secondary endpoints include
      the change from baseline in other parameters of carotid intima-media thickness,
      various metabolic parameters, and renal function. Other cardiovascular functional
      tests are also planned for several sub-studies. DISCUSSION: The PROTECT study is
      the first to assess the preventive effect of ipragliflozin on progression of
      carotid atherosclerosis using carotid intima-media thickness as a surrogate
      marker. The study has potential to clarify the protective effects of
      ipragliflozin on atherosclerosis. Trial registration Unique Trial Number,
      JPRN/UMIN000018440 ( https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open
      bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000021348 ).

PMID- 27619986
TI  - A history of chorological categories.
AB  - One of the purposes of the research program referred to as "systematic
      biogeography" is the use of species distributions to identify regions and
      reconstruct biotic area relationships. The reverse, i.e. to group species
      according to the areas that they live in, leads to the recognition of
      chorological categories. Biogeographers, working under these two different
      approaches, have proposed several terms to refer to groups of species that have
      similar distributions, such as "element", "chorotype" and "component". A
      historical reconstruction, including semantic observations and philosophical
      implications, shows that these terms have been used in a variety of senses. The
      word "component" should not be used in biogeography. The word "element" has been
      used to identify both a group of species defined according to the biogeographic
      areas they occupy and a group of species with an assumed shared biogeographic
      history. It is especially because of the influence of the dispersalist paradigm,
      which dominated evolutionary thought until the mid-twentieth century, that the
      second definition has been frequently adopted. The term "element" is therefore
      ambiguous and its use should always be associated with an explicit definition.
      The word "chorotype" should be used to define groups of species with similar
      ranges when no causal assumption is made. The concept of "chorotype," finally,
      should not be confounded with other concepts such as distributional pattern,
      cenocron, horofauna, biota, endemic area, area of endemism, biotic element, and
      generalized track, which are also discussed in this paper. 

PMID- 27619988
TI  - Hopping magnetotransport of the band-gap tuning Cu2Zn(Sn x Ge1-x )Se4 crystals.
AB  - Resistivity, rho(T, x), of Cu2Zn(Sn x Ge1-x )Se4 (CZTGeSe) single crystals with x
      =  0-1, investigated at temperatures between T ~ 10-320 K, exhibits an activated
      character within the whole temperature range, attaining a minimum at x  =  0.47.
      Magnetoresistance (MR) of CZTGeSe with x  =  0.26, 0.47 and 0.64 is positive
      (pMR) in all measured fields of B up to 20 T at any T between ~40-320 K, whereas
      MR of samples with x  =  0 and 1 contains a negative contribution (nMR). The
      dependence of rho(T) at B  =  0 gives evidence for a nearest-neighbor hopping
      (NNH) conductivity in high-temperature intervals within T ~ 200-320 K depending
      on x, followed by the Mott variable-range hopping (VRH) charge transfer with
      lowering temperature. The pMR law of lnrho(B) [Formula: see text] B (2) is
      observed in both hopping conductivity regimes above, provided that the nMR
      contribution is absent or saturated. Analysis of the rho(T) and MR data has
      yielded the values of the NNH activation energy and the VRH characteristic
      temperature, as well as those of the acceptor band width, the acceptor
      concentration, the localization radii of holes and the density of the localized
      states (DOS) at the Fermi level. All the parameters above exhibit a systematic
      non-monotonous dependence on x. Their extremums, lying close to x  =  0.64,
      correspond to the minimum of a lattice disorder along with the maximum of DOS and
      of the acceptor concentration, as well as a highest proximity to the metal
      insulator transition.

PMID- 27619987
TI  - Binding affinity of amyloid oligomers to cellular membranes is a generic
      indicator of cellular dysfunction in protein misfolding diseases.
AB  - The conversion of peptides or proteins from their soluble native states into
      intractable amyloid deposits is associated with a wide range of human disorders.
      Misfolded protein oligomers formed during the process of aggregation have been
      identified as the primary pathogenic agents in many such conditions. Here, we
      show the existence of a quantitative relationship between the degree of binding
      to neuronal cells of different types of oligomers formed from a model protein,
      HypF-N, and the GM1 content of the plasma membranes. In addition, remarkably
      similar behavior is observed for oligomers of the Abeta42 peptide associated with
      Alzheimer's disease. Further analysis has revealed the existence of a linear
      correlation between the level of the influx of Ca(2+) across neuronal membranes
      that triggers cellular damage, and the fraction of oligomeric species bound to
      the membrane. Our findings indicate that the susceptibility of neuronal cells to
      different types of misfolded oligomeric assemblies is directly related to the
      extent of binding of such oligomers to the cellular membrane.

PMID- 27619989
TI  - Mutational analysis of TP53 gene in Tunisian familial hematological malignancies
      and sporadic acute leukemia cases.
AB  - Mutations are responsible for familial cancer syndromes which account for
      approximately 5-10 % of all types of cancers. Familial cancers are often caused
      by genetic alterations occurring either in tumor suppressor or genomic stability
      genes such as TP53. In this study, we have analyzed the TP53 gene by direct
      sequencing approach, in a panel of 18 Tunisian familial hematological
      malignancies cases including several forms of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloid
      syndrome and 22 cases of sporadic acute leukemia. In one familial case diagnosed
      with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, we reported an intronic substitution 559+1 G>A
      which may disrupt the splice site and impact the normal protein function. Most of
      the deleterious mutations (Arg158His; Pro282Trp; Thr312Ser) as classified by IARC
      data base, were commonly reported in ALL cases studied here. The cosegregation of
      the two variants rs1042522 and rs1642785 was observed in most patients which may
      be in favor of the presence of linkage disequilibrium. The most defined TP53
      mutations found here were identified in acute lymphoblastic leukemia context
      whereas only 3 % of mutations have been in previous studies. The cosegregation of
      the two recurrent variant rs1042522 and rs1642785 should be further confirmed.

PMID- 27619990
TI  - High-effective approach from amino acid esters to chiral amino alcohols over
      Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst and its catalytic reaction mechanism.
AB  - Developing the high-efficient and green synthetic method for chiral amino
      alcohols is an intriguing target. We have developed the Mg(2+)-doped Cu/ZnO/Al2O3
      catalyst for hydrogenation of L-phenylalanine methyl ester to chiral L
      phenylalaninol without racemization. The effect of different L-phenylalanine
      esters on this title reaction was studied, verifying that Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 is an
      excellent catalyst for the hydrogenation of amino acid esters to chiral amino
      alcohols. DFT calculation was used to study the adsorption of substrate on the
      catalyst, and showed that the substrate adsorbs on the surface active sites
      mainly by amino group (-NH2) absorbed on Al2O3, and carbonyl (C=O) and alkoxy (RO
      ) group oxygen absorbed on the boundary of Cu and Al2O3. This catalytic
      hydrogenation undergoes the formation of a hemiacetal intermediate and the
      cleavage of the C-O bond (rate-determining step) by reacting with dissociated H
      to obtain amino aldehyde and methanol ad-species. The former is further
      hydrogenated to amino alcohols, and the latter desorbs from the catalyst surface.

PMID- 27619991
TI  - A Broad Blockade of Signaling from the IL-20 Family of Cytokines Potently
      Attenuates Collagen-Induced Arthritis.
AB  - Two heterodimeric receptors consisting of either IL-20R1 or IL-22R1 in complex
      with a common beta receptor subunit IL-20R2 are shared by three of the IL-20
      family of cytokines: IL-19, IL-20, and IL-24. These proinflammatory cytokines
      have been implicated in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune diseases, including
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis. Although mAbs
      against IL-19 and IL-20 have each been shown to modulate disease severity of
      collagen-induced arthritis in animal models, and anti-IL-20 therapeutic Ab has
      exhibited some efficacy in the treatment of RA in clinical trials, benefits for a
      complete blockade of these functionally redundant cytokines remain to be
      explored. In this report, we show that recombinant human soluble IL-20R2-Fc
      fusion protein binds to IL-19, IL-20, and IL-24 with similar high affinity and
      blocks their signaling in vitro. In DBA/1 mouse collagen-induced arthritis model,
      recombinant human IL-20R2-Fc exhibits comparable efficacy as TNF blocker
      etanercept in the treatment of established arthritis, whereas the combined use of
      both biologics manifests little synergistic therapeutic effects. In situ ligand
      receptor functional binding analysis shows that a large amount of immune
      infiltrates expressing high levels of TNFR and IL-20 subfamily cytokines
      congregate within the inflamed disease tissues. Colocalization experiments reveal
      that signals from IL-20R2 and TNF transduction pathways seem to converge in
      macrophages and function in tandem in orchestrating the pathogenesis of RA.
      Elucidation of this interaction provides a better understanding of cytokine cross
      talk in RA and a rationale for more effective biologic therapies that target IL
      20R2 instead of individual cytokines from IL-20 family.

PMID- 27619992
TI  - Broad Infiltration of Macrophages Leads to a Proinflammatory State in
      Streptozotocin-Induced Hyperglycemic Mice.
AB  - Chronic diseases are often associated with altered inflammatory response, leading
      to increased host vulnerability to new inflammatory challenges. Employing
      streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes as a model, we further investigate
      mechanisms leading to enhanced neutrophil (polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMN])
      responses under hyperglycemia and compare them with those under chronic colitis.
      We show that, different from colitis under which the PMN response is
      significantly potentiated, the existence of a proinflammatory state associated
      with broad increases in macrophages in various organs plays a dominant role in
      promoting the PMN inflammatory response in diabetic mice. Studies of PMN
      infiltration during zymosan-induced peritonitis reveal that hyperglycemia
      enhances PMN recruitment not through inducing a high level of IL-17, which is the
      case in colitis, but through increasing F4/80+ macrophages in the peritoneal
      cavity, resulting in elevations of IL-6, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and CXCL1
      production. Insulin reversal of hyperglycemia, but not the neutralization of IL
      17, reduces peritoneal macrophage numbers and ameliorates PMN infiltration during
      peritonitis. Significantly increased macrophages are also observed in the liver,
      kidneys, and intestines under hyperglycemia, and they are attributable to
      exacerbated nephropathy and colitis when inflammatory conditions are induced by
      doxorubicin and dextran sulfate sodium, respectively. Furthermore, analyses of
      monocyte production and macrophage proliferation in tissues suggest that
      significant monocytosis of inflammatory F4/80+Gr-1+ monocytes from the spleen and
      macrophage proliferation in situ synergistically contribute to the increased
      macrophage population under hyperglycemia. In conclusion, our results demonstrate
      that STZ-induced hyperglycemic mice develop a systemic proinflammatory state
      mediated by broad infiltration of macrophages.

PMID- 27619994
TI  - Mast Cell Degranulation Is Accompanied by the Release of a Selective Subset of
      Extracellular Vesicles That Contain Mast Cell-Specific Proteases.
AB  - Mast cells (MC) are well known for their effector role in allergic disorders;
      moreover, they are associated with diverse modulatory effects in innate and
      adaptive immunity. It is largely unclear how MC exert these modulating functions.
      In this article, we show that IgE-mediated MC degranulation leads to a rapid
      release of high quantities of extracellular vesicles (EV), comparable to the
      release of preformed mediators. EV are submicron structures composed of lipid
      bilayers, proteins, and nucleic acids that are released by cells in a regulated
      fashion and are involved in intercellular communication. Primary murine mucosal
      type MC and connective tissue-type MC released phenotypically different EV
      populations depending on the stimulus they received. Although unstimulated MC
      constitutively released CD9+ EV, degranulation was accompanied by the release of
      CD63+ EV, which correlated with release of the soluble mediator beta
      hexosaminidase. This CD63+ EV subset was smaller and exhibited a higher buoyant
      density and distinct phospholipid composition compared with CD9+ EV. Marked
      differences were observed for phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidic acid, and
      bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate species. Strikingly, proteomic analysis of CD63+ EV
      from connective tissue-type MC unveiled an abundance of MC-specific proteases.
      With regard to carboxypeptidase A3, it was confirmed that the enzyme was EV
      associated and biologically active. Our data demonstrate that, depending on their
      activation status, MC release distinct EV subsets that differ in composition and
      protease activity and are indicative of differential immunological functions.
      Concerning the strategic tissue distribution of MC and the presence of
      degranulated MC in various (allergic) disorders, MC-derived EV should be
      considered potentially important immune regulators.

PMID- 27619993
TI  - Progranulin Controls Sepsis via C/EBPalpha-Regulated Il10 Transcription and
      Ubiquitin Ligase/Proteasome-Mediated Protein Degradation.
AB  - Progranulin (PGRN) is a widely expressed, pleiotropic protein that is involved in
      diverse biological processes, including cellular proliferation, neuron
      development, and wound healing. However, the role of PGRN in the regulation of
      pathogen-induced systemic inflammation and the mechanisms involved have not been
      established. In this study, we show that PGRN-deficient mice display heightened
      mortality in models of polymicrobial sepsis and endotoxinemia, with increased
      tissue levels of inflammatory cytokines and reduced IL-10 production. Conversely,
      administration of rPGRN decreases the susceptibility of PGRN-deficient mice to
      LPS-induced endotoxemic shock and augments IL-10 production by LPS-activated
      macrophages in a TNFR-dependent manner. Molecular analysis reveals a direct role
      of the transcription factor C/EBPalpha in PGRN-regulated IL-10 expression.
      C/EBPalpha-deficient macrophages produce less IL-10 in response to LPS.
      Furthermore, mice deficient in C/EBPalpha in hematopoietic cells are highly
      vulnerable to LPS-induced septic shock. Lastly, the defective IL-10 production by
      PGRN-deficient cells is primarily due to reduced C/EBPalpha protein stability via
      the E3 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E6AP and proteasome-mediated degradation. To
      our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that PGRN is a nonredundant
      regulator of systemic inflammation via modulating the levels and activity of
      C/EBPalpha, IL-10, and the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolysis pathway. The results
      bear strong and profound implications for PGRN insufficiency and its mutation
      associated systemic and organ-specific inflammatory human diseases.

PMID- 27619995
TI  - Siglec-E Negatively Regulates the Activation of TLR4 by Controlling Its
      Endocytosis.
AB  - TLR4 signaling is critical for providing effective immune protection, but it must
      be tightly controlled to avoid inflammation-induced pathology. Previously, we
      reported extensive and direct interactions between TLR and Siglec families of
      pattern recognition receptors. In this study, we examined the biological
      significance of this interaction during infection. We show that Siglec-E is
      required for Escherichia coli-induced endocytosis of TLR4. Siglec-E-deficient
      dendritic cells infected with E. coli fail to internalize TLR4. This leads to
      sustained TLR4 on the cell surface and activation of NF-kappaB and MAPK p38,
      resulting in high levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 compared with wild-type dendritic
      cells. In contrast to the signaling events occurring at the plasma membrane, as a
      result of the inability to internalize TLR4, Siglec-E-deficient dendritic cells
      were also defective for TRIF-mediated IFN-beta production in response to E. coli
      infection. Furthermore, we found that accumulation of ubiquitinated TLR4 and
      binding of E3 ubiquitin ligase Triad3A to TLR4 was increased significantly in
      bone marrow-derived dendritic cells from wild-type mice, but not from Siglec-E
      deficient mice, after E. coli infection. This represents a newly discovered
      mechanism that regulates the signaling of TLR4 during E. coli infection.

PMID- 27619996
TI  - Butyrophilin 3A/CD277-Dependent Activation of Human gammadelta T Cells: Accessory
      Cell Capacity of Distinct Leukocyte Populations.
AB  - Human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells recognize in a butyrophilin 3A/CD277-dependent way
      microbial (E)-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-but-2-enyl pyrophosphate (HMBPP) or endogenous
      pyrophosphates (isopentenyl pyrophosphate [IPP]). Nitrogen-bisphosphonates such
      as zoledronic acid (ZOL) trigger selective gammadelta T cell activation because
      they stimulate IPP production in monocytes by inhibiting the mevalonate pathway
      downstream of IPP synthesis. We performed a comparative analysis of the capacity
      of purified monocytes, neutrophils, and CD4 T cells to serve as accessory cells
      for Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell activation in response to three selective but
      mechanistically distinct stimuli (ZOL, HMBPP, agonistic anti-CD277 mAb). Only
      monocytes supported gammadelta T cell expansion in response to all three stimuli,
      whereas both neutrophils and CD4 T cells presented HMBPP but failed to induce
      gammadelta T cell expansion in the presence of ZOL or anti-CD277 mAb.
      Preincubation of accessory cells with the respective stimuli revealed potent
      gammadelta T cell-stimulating activity of ZOL- or anti-CD277 mAb-pretreated
      monocytes, but not neutrophils. In comparison with monocytes, ZOL-pretreated
      neutrophils produced little, if any, IPP and expressed much lower levels of
      farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase. Exogenous IL-18 enhanced the gammadelta T cell
      expansion with all three stimuli, remarkably also in response to CD4 T cells and
      neutrophils preincubated with anti-CD277 mAb or HMBPP. Our study uncovers
      unexpected differences between monocytes and neutrophils in their accessory
      function for human gammadelta T cells and underscores the important role of IL-18
      in driving gammadelta T cell expansion. These results may have implications for
      the design of gammadelta T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies.

PMID- 27619997
TI  - IL-27 Directly Enhances Germinal Center B Cell Activity and Potentiates Lupus in
      Sanroque Mice.
AB  - Germinal centers (GC) give rise to high-affinity and long-lived Abs and are
      critical in immunity and autoimmunity. IL-27 supports GCs by promoting survival
      and function of T follicular helper cells. We demonstrate that IL-27 also
      directly enhances GC B cell function. Exposure of naive human B cells to rIL-27
      during in vitro activation enhanced their differentiation into
      CD20+CD38+CD27lowCD95+CD10+ cells, consistent with the surface marker phenotype
      of GC B cells. This effect was inhibited by loss-of-function mutations in STAT1
      but not STAT3 To extend these findings, we studied the in vivo effects of IL-27
      signals to B cells in the GC-driven Roquinsan/san lupus mouse model. Il27ra-/
      Roquinsan/san mice exhibited significantly reduced GCs, IgG2a(c)+ autoantibodies,
      and nephritis. Mixed bone marrow chimeras confirmed that IL-27 acts through B
      cell- and CD4+ T cell-intrinsic mechanisms to support GCs and alter the
      production of pathogenic Ig isotypes. To our knowledge, our data provide the
      first evidence that IL-27 signals directly to B cells promote GCs and support the
      role of IL-27 in lupus.

PMID- 27619998
TI  - IFN-beta Facilitates Neuroantigen-Dependent Induction of CD25+ FOXP3+ Regulatory
      T Cells That Suppress Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.
AB  - This study introduces a flexible format for tolerogenic vaccination that
      incorporates IFN-beta and neuroantigen (NAg) in the Alum adjuvant. Tolerogenic
      vaccination required all three components, IFN-beta, NAg, and Alum, for
      inhibition of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and induction of
      tolerance. Vaccination with IFN-beta + NAg in Alum ameliorated NAg-specific
      sensitization and inhibited EAE in C57BL/6 mice in pretreatment and therapeutic
      regimens. Tolerance induction was specific for the tolerogenic vaccine Ag PLP178
      191 or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)35-55 in proteolipid protein- and
      MOG-induced models of EAE, respectively, and was abrogated by pretreatment with a
      depleting anti-CD25 mAb. IFN-beta/Alum-based vaccination exhibited hallmarks of
      infectious tolerance, because IFN-beta + OVA in Alum-specific vaccination
      inhibited EAE elicited by OVA + MOG in CFA but not EAE elicited by MOG in CFA.
      IFN-beta + NAg in Alum vaccination elicited elevated numbers and percentages of
      FOXP3+ T cells in blood and secondary lymphoid organs in 2D2 MOG-specific
      transgenic mice, and repeated boosters facilitated generation of activated
      CD44high CD25+ regulatory T cell (Treg) populations. IFN-beta and MOG35-55
      elicited suppressive FOXP3+ Tregs in vitro in the absence of Alum via a mechanism
      that was neutralized by anti-TGF-beta and that resulted in the induction of an
      effector CD69+ CTLA-4+ IFNAR+ FOXP3+ Treg subset. In vitro IFN-beta + MOG-induced
      Tregs inhibited EAE when transferred into actively challenged recipients. Unlike
      IFN-beta + NAg in Alum vaccines, vaccination with TGF-beta + MOG35-55 in Alum did
      not increase Treg percentages in vivo. Overall, this study indicates that IFN
      beta + NAg in Alum vaccination elicits NAg-specific, suppressive CD25+ Tregs that
      inhibit CNS autoimmune disease. Thus, IFN-beta has the activity spectrum that
      drives selective responses of suppressive FOXP3+ Tregs.

PMID- 27619999
TI  - An illustrated comparison of processing methods for MR phase imaging and QSM:
      combining array coil signals and phase unwrapping.
AB  - Phase imaging benefits from strong susceptibility effects at very high field and
      the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) afforded by multi-channel coils. Combining
      the information from coils is not trivial, however, as the phase that originates
      in local field effects (the source of interesting contrast) is modified by the
      inhomogeneous sensitivity of each coil. This has historically been addressed by
      referencing individual coil sensitivities to that of a volume coil, but
      alternative approaches are required for ultra-high field systems in which no such
      coil is available. An additional challenge in phase imaging is that the phase
      that develops up to the echo time is "wrapped" into a range of 2pi radians. Phase
      wraps need to be removed in order to reveal the underlying phase distribution of
      interest. Beginning with a coil combination using a homogeneous reference volume
      coil - the Roemer approach - which can be applied at 3 T and lower field
      strengths, we review alternative methods for combining single-echo and multi-echo
      phase images where no such reference coil is available. These are applied to high
      resolution data acquired at 7 T and their effectiveness assessed via an index of
      agreement between phase values over channels and the contrast-to-noise ratio in
      combined images. The virtual receiver coil and COMPOSER approaches were both
      found to be computationally efficient and effective. The main features of spatial
      and temporal phase unwrapping methods are reviewed, placing particular emphasis
      on recent developments in temporal phase unwrapping and Laplacian approaches. The
      features and performance of these are illustrated in application to simulated and
      high-resolution in vivo data. Temporal unwrapping was the fastest of the methods
      tested and the Laplacian the most robust in images with low SNR. (c) 2016 The
      Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 27620001
TI  - Surface Charge Transfer Doping of Low-Dimensional Nanostructures toward High
      Performance Nanodevices.
AB  - Device applications of low-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures rely on the
      ability to rationally tune their electronic properties. However, the conventional
      doping method by introducing impurities into the nanostructures suffers from the
      low efficiency, poor reliability, and damage to the host lattices. Alternatively,
      surface charge transfer doping (SCTD) is emerging as a simple yet efficient
      technique to achieve reliable doping in a nondestructive manner, which can
      modulate the carrier concentration by injecting or extracting the carrier charges
      between the surface dopant and semiconductor due to the work-function difference.
      SCTD is particularly useful for low-dimensional nanostructures that possess high
      surface area and single-crystalline structure. The high reproducibility, as well
      as the high spatial selectivity, makes SCTD a promising technique to construct
      high-performance nanodevices based on low-dimensional nanostructures. Here,
      recent advances of SCTD are summarized systematically and critically, focusing on
      its potential applications in one- and two-dimensional nanostructures. Mechanisms
      as well as characterization techniques for the surface charge transfer are
      analyzed. We also highlight the progress in the construction of novel
      nanoelectronic and nano-optoelectronic devices via SCTD. Finally, the challenges
      and future research opportunities of the SCTD method are prospected.

PMID- 27620000
TI  - Peri-Conceptual and Mid-Pregnancy Alcohol Consumption: A Comparison between Areas
      of High and Low Deprivation in Scotland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among women has increased
      over recent decades, especially in areas of higher deprivation. Pre-pregnancy
      alcohol use is associated with continued consumption in pregnancy. We assessed
      whether general population alcohol consumption patterns were reflected among
      pregnant women in two Scottish areas with different deprivation levels. METHODS:
      Cross-sectional study in two health boards (HB1, lower deprivation levels, n =
      274; HB2, higher deprivation levels, n = 236), using face-to-face 7-day
      Retrospective Diary estimation of peri-conceptual and mid-pregnancy alcohol
      consumption. RESULTS: A greater proportion of women in HB2 (higher deprivation
      area) sometimes drank peri-conceptually, but women in HB1 (lower deprivation
      area) were more likely to drink every week (49.6 vs 29.7%; p < 0.001) and to
      exceed daily limits (6 units) at least once each week (32.1 vs 14.8%; p < 0.001).
      After pregnancy recognition, consumption levels fell sharply, but women in HB2
      were more likely to drink above recommended daily limits (2 units) each week (2.5
      vs 0.0%; p < 0.05). However, women in HB1 were more likely to drink frequently.
      Women with the highest deprivation scores in each area drank on average less than
      women with the lowest deprivation scores. CONCLUSIONS: Heavy episodic and
      frequent consumption was more common in the lower deprivation area, in contrast
      with general population data. Eliciting a detailed alcohol history at the
      antenatal booking visit, and not simply establishing whether the woman is
      currently drinking, is essential. Inconsistent messages about the effects of
      alcohol in pregnancy may have contributed to the mixed picture we found
      concerning peri-conceptual and mid-pregnancy alcohol consumption.

PMID- 27620003
TI  - Protective role of Aloe vera against X-ray induced testicular dysfunction.
AB  - The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the possible
      radioprotective potential of an Aloe vera extract against whole-body X-ray
      irradiation-induced testicular alterations in mice. Male balb/c mice were divided
      into four groups: control, A. vera, X-ray and A. vera pre-treated + X-ray
      irradiated. Histopathological examination revealed significant structural
      alterations in testes after X-ray exposure, which was also associated with the
      presence of apoptotic cells as assessed by TUNEL assay. X-ray irradiation
      resulted in elevation in the levels of reactive oxygen species, lipid
      peroxidation, a reduction in glutathione concentration and enhanced activities of
      antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase,
      catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione-S-transferase. Sperm
      count/motility and testosterone levels were significantly decreased in the
      irradiated group. Irradiated animals pre-treated with A. vera extract revealed an
      improvement in antioxidant status, inhibition of lipid peroxides, apoptotic cell
      formation and enhanced testicular parameters when compared to the X-ray-exposed
      group. These findings suggest that A. vera extract could ameliorate X-ray-induced
      damage due to its free radical scavenging properties and its potential to boost
      cellular antioxidant defence machinery.

PMID- 27620002
TI  - Dietary patterns and the risk of CVD and all-cause mortality in older British
      men.
AB  - Dietary patterns are a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and
      mortality; however, few studies have examined this relationship in older adults.
      We examined prospective associations between dietary patterns and the risk of CVD
      and all-cause mortality in 3226 older British men, aged 60-79 years and free from
      CVD at baseline, from the British Regional Heart Study. Baseline FFQ data were
      used to generate thirty-four food groups. Principal component analysis identified
      dietary patterns that were categorised into quartiles, with higher quartiles
      representing higher adherence to the dietary pattern. Cox proportional hazards
      examined associations between dietary patterns and risk of all-cause mortality
      and cardiovascular outcomes. We identified three interpretable dietary patterns:
      'high fat/low fibre' (high in red meat, meat products, white bread, fried potato,
      eggs), 'prudent' (high in poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, legumes, pasta,
      rice, wholemeal bread, eggs, olive oil) and 'high sugar' (high in biscuits,
      puddings, chocolates, sweets, sweet spreads, breakfast cereals). During 11 years
      of follow-up, 899 deaths, 316 CVD-related deaths, 569 CVD events and 301 CHD
      events occurred. The 'high-fat/low-fibre' dietary pattern was associated with an
      increased risk of all-cause mortality only, after adjustment for confounders
      (highest v. lowest quartile; hazard ratio 1.44; 95 % CI 1.13, 1.84). Adherence to
      a 'high-sugar' diet was associated with a borderline significant trend for an
      increased risk of CVD and CHD events. The 'prudent' diet did not show a
      significant trend with cardiovascular outcomes or mortality. Avoiding 'high
      fat/low-fibre' and 'high-sugar' dietary components may reduce the risk of
      cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in older adults.

PMID- 27620005
TI  - Viral associated diarrhea in immunocompromised and cancer patients at a large
      comprehensive cancer center: a 10-year retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viral associated diarrhea (VAD) due to Norovirus (NV), Rotavirus (RV)
      and Adenovirus (AV) is common in immunocompromised and cancer patients. We sought
      to determine if the clinical characteristics, morbidity and seasonality of
      infection differed according to the type of enteric virus identified. METHODS:
      Cases of NV, RV and AV were identified in stool specimens submitted to the
      clinical microbiology laboratory between November 2005 and February 2015.
      Clinical characteristics of patients, potential risk factors and outcomes were
      compared. RESULTS: A total of 97 VAD cases were identified: NV (n = 49), RV (n =
      34) and AV (n = 14). The majority of cases were in patients with leukemia and
      lymphoma. NV (59%), RV (74%) and AV (78%) were identified in hematopoietic stem
      cell transplant (HSCT) recipients; and in patients with graft versus host disease
      (GVHD): NV (34%), RV (46%) and AV (57%). Nine cases of NV were genotyped; all
      were due to genotype II. Nine of 49 (18%) cases of NV, 7 of 34 (20%) cases of RV
      and 2 of 14 (14%) cases of AV were considered to be health care acquired (HCA).
      In multivariate analysis, immunosuppression (OR 2.8 95% CI 1.26-6.60, p = .01)
      and neutropenia (OR 4.8 95% CI 1.27-18.5, p = .01) were identified as risk
      factors for NV diarrhea compared to RV and AV. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, agents
      responsible for VAD occurred year round but predominated in the winter time;
      caused prolonged illness and were frequently health care associated.
      Presentations were atypical in many cases without upper gastrointestinal symptoms
      such as nausea and vomiting.

PMID- 27620006
TI  - Atrial fibrillation post coronary artery bypass surgery: is there still a role
      for perioperative statins after STICS?

PMID- 27620007
TI  - Introduction to the collection 'How We Develop-Developmental Systems and the
      Emergence of Complex Behaviors'.
AB  - For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

PMID- 27620004
TI  - Long non-coding RNA XIST regulates gastric cancer progression by acting as a
      molecular sponge of miR-101 to modulate EZH2 expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators of
      tumor progression. However, the role and molecular mechanism of lncRNA XIST in
      gastric cancer is still unknown. METHODS: Real-time PCR analysis was performed to
      measure the expression levels of lncRNA XIST in gastric cancer tissues and cell
      lines, the correlation between lncRNA XIST expression and clinicopathological
      characteristics and prognosis was analyzed in gastric cancer patients. The
      biological function of lncRNA XIST on gastric cancer cells were determined both
      in vitro and in vivo. The regulating relationship between lncRNA XIST and miR-101
      was investigated in gastric cancer cells. RESULTS: lncRNA XIST was significantly
      up-regulated in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of lncRNA
      XIST was markedly associated with larger tumor size, lymph node invasion, distant
      metastasis and TNM stage in gastric cancer patients. Functionally, knockdown of
      lncRNA XIST exerted tumor-suppressive effects by inhibiting cell proliferation,
      migration and invasion in vitro and tumor growth and metastasis in vivo.
      Furthermore, an inverse relationship between lncRNA XIST and miR-101 was found.
      Polycomb group protein enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), a direct target of miR
      101, could mediated the biological effects that lncRNA XIST exerted. CONCLUSIONS:
      lncRNA XIST is up-regulated and is associated with aggressive tumor phenotypes
      and patient survival in gastric cancer, and the newly identified lncRNA XIST/miR
      101/EZH2 axis could be a potential biomarkers or therapeutic targets for gastric
      cancer patients.

PMID- 27620008
TI  - Particle Characterization for a Protein Drug Product Stored in Pre-Filled
      Syringes Using Micro-Flow Imaging, Archimedes, and Quartz Crystal Microbalance
      with Dissipation.
AB  - Micro-flow imaging (MFI) has been used for formulation development for analyzing
      sub-visible particles. Archimedes, a novel technique for analyzing sub-micron
      particles, has been considered as an orthogonal method to currently existing
      techniques. This study utilized these two techniques to investigate the
      effectiveness of polysorbate (PS-80) in mitigating the particle formation of a
      therapeutic protein formulation stored in silicone oil-coated pre-filled
      syringes. The results indicated that PS-80 prevented the formation of both
      protein and silicone oil particles. In the case of protein particles, PS-80 might
      involve in the interactions with the hydrophobic patches of protein, air bubbles,
      and the stressed surfaces of silicone oil-coated pre-filled syringes. Such
      interactions played a role in mitigating the formation of protein particles.
      Subsequently, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) was utilized
      to characterize the interactions associated with silicone oil, protein, and PS-80
      in the solutions. Based on QCM-D results, we proposed that PS-80 likely formed a
      layer on the interior surfaces of syringes. As a result, the adsorbed PS-80 might
      block the leakage of silicone oil from the surfaces to solution so that the
      silicone oil particles were mitigated at the presence of PS-80. Overall, this
      study demonstrated the necessary of utilizing these three techniques
      cooperatively in order to better understand the interfacial role of PS-80 in
      mitigating the formation of protein and silicone oil particles.

PMID- 27620009
TI  - Financial Incentives, Targeting, and Utilization of Child Health Services:
      Experimental Evidence from Zambia.
AB  - To address untreated infections in children, routine health checkups have
      increasingly been incentivized as part of conditional cash transfer programs
      targeted at the poor. We conducted a field experiment in Zambia to assess the
      elasticity of demand for checkups as well as the associated health benefits. We
      find that relatively small incentives induce substantial increases in uptake
      among non-farming households and households living farther away from clinics, but
      not among households in the top wealth quintile. These results suggest that small
      financial incentives may be an efficient way to target poor populations. However,
      given the weak socioeconomic gradient in infections observed, small incentives
      will miss a substantial fraction of exposed children. Copyright (c) 2016 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27620060
TI  - Patient outcomes of whole brain radiotherapy for brain metastases versus
      leptomeningeal metastases: A retrospective study.
AB  - AIM: Important factors typically associated with prognosis in brain metastases
      include Karnofsky performance status (KPS), extracranial or cerebellar
      localization and combination chemotherapy. However, few studies investigated the
      prognostic role of leptomeningeal metastases (LM) following whole brain
      radiotherapy (WBRT). On the basis of our experience suggesting better survival of
      asymptomatic patients with LM than those with brain metastases, we herein
      evaluated LM as a prognostic factor after WBRT. METHODS: Medical records of 206
      patients (median age, 65 years) who received WBRT in 2007-2015 were
      retrospectively reviewed. The two most common cancers were of lung, breast origin
      in 78.5%, 10%, patients, respectively. Patients received parallel-opposed WBRT,
      with a dose of 20-40 Gy. Additional doses of 9-12 Gy were used in patients who
      were operated on or had single metastases. Overall survival (OS) was determined,
      and clinical parameters including age, KPS, symptoms, radiation dose, dose per
      fraction, type of metastasis, extracranial metastases, primary status and surgery
      plus WBRT were assessed as prognostic factors. RESULTS: The median survival was 6
      months (range, 1-100), and 1- and 2-year survival rates were 28% and 17%,
      respectively. In univariate analysis, improved survival was associated with KPS
      of >=70, absence of symptoms, radiation dose of >=37.5 Gy, favorable primary
      lesion, LM, and surgery plus WBRT. Multivariate analysis revealed that these
      factors with the exception of radiation dose was significant prognostic factors
      for OS. CONCLUSION: We found that LM were independent prognostic factors for good
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27620061
TI  - Molecular Design Principles for Near-Infrared Absorbing and Emitting Indolizine
      Dyes.
AB  - Desirable components for dye-sensitzed solar cell (DSC) sensitizers and
      fluorescent imaging dyes include strong donating building blocks coupled with
      well-balanced acceptor functionalities for absorption beyond the visible range.
      We have evaluated the effects of increasing acceptor strengths and incorporation
      of dye morphology controlling groups on molar absorptivity and absorption breadth
      with indolizine donor-based dyes. Indolizine-based D-A and D-pi-A sensitizers
      incorporating bis-rhodanine, tricyanofuran (TCF), and cyanoacrylic acid
      functionalities were analyzed for performance in DSC devices. The TCF derivatives
      were also evaluated as near-infrared (NIR)-emissive materials with the AH25
      emissions extending past 1000 nm.

PMID- 27620011
TI  - Cross-sectional and longitudinal multimodal structural imaging in prodromal
      Huntington's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Diffusivity in white-matter tracts is abnormal throughout the brain
      in cross-sectional studies of prodromal Huntington's disease. To date,
      longitudinal changes have not been observed. The present study investigated cross
      sectional and longitudinal changes in white-matter diffusivity in relationship to
      the phase of prodromal Huntington's progression, and compared them with changes
      in brain volumes and clinical variables that track disease progression. METHODS:
      Diffusion MRI profiles were studied for 2 years in 37 gene-negative controls and
      64 prodromal Huntington's disease participants in varied phases of disease
      progression. To estimate the relative importance of diffusivity metrics in the
      prodromal phase, group effects were rank ordered relative to those obtained from
      analyses of brain volumes, motor, cognitive, and sensory variables. RESULTS:
      First, at baseline diffusivity was abnormal throughout all tracts, especially as
      individuals approached a manifest Huntington's disease diagnosis. Baseline
      diffusivity metrics in 6 tracts and basal ganglia volumes best distinguished
      among the groups. Second, group differences in longitudinal change in diffusivity
      were localized to the superior fronto-occipital fasciculus, most prominently in
      individuals closer to a diagnosis. Group differences were also observed in
      longitudinal changes of most brain volumes, but not clinical variables. Last,
      increases in motor symptoms across time were associated with greater changes in
      the superior fronto-occipital fasciculus diffusivity and corpus callosum,
      cerebrospinal fluid, and lateral ventricle volumes. CONCLUSIONS: These novel
      findings provide new insights into changes within 2 years in different facets of
      brain structure and their clinical relevance to changes in symptomatology that is
      decisive for a manifest Huntington's diagnosis. (c) 2016 International Parkinson
      and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 27620010
TI  - AUF1 regulation of coding and noncoding RNA.
AB  - AUF1 is a family of four RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) generated by alternative pre
      messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing, with canonical roles in controlling the
      stability and/or translation of mRNA targets based on recognition of AU-rich
      sequences within mRNA 3' untranslated regions. However, recent studies
      identifying AUF1 target sites across the transcriptome have revealed that these
      canonical functions are but a subset of its roles in posttranscriptional
      regulation of gene expression. In this review, we describe recent developments in
      our understanding of the RNA-binding properties of AUF1 together with their
      biochemical implications and roles in directing mRNA decay and translation. This
      is then followed by a survey of newly discovered activities for AUF1 proteins in
      control of miRNA synthesis and function, including miRNA assembly into microRNA
      (miRNA)-loaded RNA-induced silencing complexes (miRISCs), miRISC targeting to
      mRNA substrates, interplay with an expanding network of other cellular RBPs, and
      reciprocal regulatory relationships between miRNA and AUF1 synthesis. Finally, we
      discuss recently reported relationships between AUF1 and long noncoding RNAs and
      regulatory roles on viral RNA substrates. Cumulatively, these findings have
      significantly expanded our appreciation of the scope and diversity of AUF1
      functions in the cell, and are prompting an exciting array of new questions
      moving forward. WIREs RNA 2017, 8:e1393. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1393 For further
      resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

PMID- 27620063
TI  - Measurement of leakage neutron spectra from graphite cylinders irradiated with D
      T neutrons for validation of evaluated nuclear data.
AB  - A benchmark experiment for validation of graphite data evaluated from nuclear
      data libraries was conducted for 14MeV neutrons irradiated on graphite cylinder
      samples. The experiments were performed using the benchmark experimental facility
      at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE). The leakage neutron spectra from
      the surface of graphite (Phi13cm*20cm) at 60 degrees  and 120 degrees  and
      graphite (Phi13cm*2cm) at 60 degrees  were measured by the time-of-flight (TOF)
      method. The obtained results were compared with the measurements made by the
      Monte Carlo neutron transport code MCNP-4C with the ENDF/B-VII.1, CENDL-3.1 and
      JENDL-4.0 libraries. The results obtained from a 20cm-thick sample revealed that
      the calculation results with CENDL-3.1 and JENDL-4.0 libraries showed good
      agreements with the experiments conducted in the whole energy region. However, a
      large discrepancy of approximately 40% was observed below the 3MeV energy region
      with the ENDF/B-VII.1 library. For the 2cm-thick sample, the calculated results
      obtained from the abovementioned three libraries could not reproduce the
      experimental data in the energy range of 5-7MeV. The graphite data in CENDL-3.1
      were verified for the first time and were proved to be reliable. 

PMID- 27620062
TI  - Evaluating cytotoxic effect of nanoliposomes encapsulated with umbelliprenin on
      4T1 cell line.
AB  - Cytotoxicity of umbelliprenin has been found in various cancer cell lines such
      as, prostate, breast, CLL, and skin. Encapsulating chemotherapeutic agents with
      nanoliposomes have been resulted in improved cytotoxicity effects than their free
      forms. However, whether nanoliposomal form of umbelliprenin could have higher
      cytotoxic effect than free umbelliprenin is not clarified yet. After synthesizing
      umbelliprenin, different concentrations (3, 6, 12, 25, 50, 100, 200 MUg/ml)
      applied on the mouse mammary carcinoma cell line (4T1) for 24, 48, and 72 h at 37
      degrees C. Afterwards, the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium
      bromide (MTT) assay was performed to analyze cytotoxicity. MTT assay results
      showed that IC50 of umbelliprenin in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (30.92, 30.64, and
      62.23 for 24, 48, 72 h incubation, respectively) decreased (5.8, 5.0, 3.5 for 24,
      48, 72 h incubation, respectively) when encapsulated with nanoliposomes.
      Nanoliposomal umbelliprenin cytotoxicity affected cell viability in concentration
      and time-dependent manner. Our study recommended nanoliposomal umbelliprenin as
      the most effective chemotherapeutic agent against the mouse mammary carcinoma
      cell line viability. Future in vivo studies and clinical trials are needed.

PMID- 27620065
TI  - Transapical Coaptation Plate for Functional Mitral Regurgitation: An In Vitro
      Study.
AB  - A novel transapical coaptation plate (TCP) device was developed and anchored by
      sutures in the mitral valve to treat functional mitral regurgitation. The
      objective of this study was to test efficacy of the TCP in an in vitro model.
      Eight fresh porcine mitral valves were mounted in a left heart simulator to
      simulate functional mitral regurgitation by means of annular dilatation and
      asymmetrical or symmetrical papillary muscle (PM) displacement. Six polyurethane
      TCPs in thickness of 6.4(#1), 4.8(#2), 3.2(#3) mm and hardness of durometer 30 A
      (H) and 30 OO(S),were fabricated and labeled as H1, H2, H3 and S1, S2, S3,
      respectively. These TCPs were anchored by the sutures in the mitral annulus and
      left ventricle apex, and tested. Steady backward flow leakage in a hydrostatic
      condition and regurgitant volume in a pulsatile flow were measured before and
      after implantation of the TCPs. Mean regurgitant volume fractions in the
      asymmetric PM displacement were reduced significantly from 59.1 to 37.2% for H1,
      43.2% for H2, 35.9% for S1 and 34.2% for S2 (p < 0.021), after implantation of
      the TCPs. No significant reduction in mitral regurgitation was seen for H3 and S3
      (p > 0.067). Mitral regurgitation was mild in the symmetric PM displacement, and
      was not significantly reduced after implantation of the TCPs. In conclusion, the
      TCP anchored by the sutures in the mitral annulus and left ventricle apex
      functions successfully as a plug in the mitral valve leaflet gap. The TCP with
      thickness equal to or greater than 4.8 mm is effective to reduce functional
      mitral regurgitation. The TCP hardness has no effect on difference in reduction
      of functional mitral regurgitation.

PMID- 27620064
TI  - Dependence of Muscle Moment Arms on In Vivo Three-Dimensional Kinematics of the
      Knee.
AB  - Quantification of muscle moment arms is important for clinical evaluation of
      muscle pathology and treatment, and for estimating muscle and joint forces in
      musculoskeletal models. Moment arms estimated with musculoskeletal models often
      assume a default motion of the knee derived from measurements of passive
      cadaveric flexion. However, knee kinematics are unique to each person and
      activity. The objective of this study was to estimate moment arms of the knee
      muscles with in vivo subject- and activity-specific kinematics from seven healthy
      subjects performing seated knee extension and single-leg lunge to show changes
      between subjects and activities. 3D knee motion was measured with a high-speed
      stereo-radiography system. Moment arms of ten muscles were estimated in OpenSim
      by replacing the default knee motion with in vivo measurements. Estimated inter
      subject moment arm variability was similar to previously reported in vitro
      measurements. RMS deviations up to 9.0 mm (35.2% of peak value) were observed
      between moment arms estimated with subject-specific knee extension and passive
      cadaveric motion. The degrees of freedom that most impacted inter-activity
      differences were superior/inferior and anterior/posterior translations.
      Musculoskeletal simulations used to estimate in vivo muscle forces and joint
      loads may provide significantly different results when subject- and activity
      specific kinematics are implemented.

PMID- 27620066
TI  - A mathematical model of non-photochemical quenching to study short-term light
      memory in plants.
AB  - Plants are permanently exposed to rapidly changing environments, therefore it is
      evident that they had to evolve mechanisms enabling them to dynamically adapt to
      such fluctuations. Here we study how plants can be trained to enhance their
      photoprotection and elaborate on the concept of the short-term illumination
      memory in Arabidopsis thaliana. By monitoring fluorescence emission dynamics we
      systematically observe the extent of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) after
      previous light exposure to recognise and quantify the memory effect. We propose a
      simplified mathematical model of photosynthesis that includes the key components
      required for NPQ activation, which allows us to quantify the contribution to
      photoprotection by those components. Due to its reduced complexity, our model can
      be easily applied to study similar behavioural changes in other species, which we
      demonstrate by adapting it to the shadow-tolerant plant Epipremnum aureum. Our
      results indicate that a basic mechanism of short-term light memory is preserved.
      The slow component, accumulation of zeaxanthin, accounts for the amount of memory
      remaining after relaxation in darkness, while the fast one, antenna protonation,
      increases quenching efficiency. With our combined theoretical and experimental
      approach we provide a unifying framework describing common principles of key
      photoprotective mechanisms across species in general, mathematical terms.

PMID- 27620067
TI  - Establishing nonlinearity thresholds with ultraintense X-ray pulses.
AB  - X-ray techniques have evolved over decades to become highly refined tools for a
      broad range of investigations. Importantly, these approaches rely on X-ray
      measurements that depend linearly on the number of incident X-ray photons. The
      advent of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) is opening the ability to reach
      extremely high photon numbers within ultrashort X-ray pulse durations and is
      leading to a paradigm shift in our ability to explore nonlinear X-ray signals.
      However, the enormous increase in X-ray peak power is a double-edged sword with
      new and exciting methods being developed but at the same time well-established
      techniques proving unreliable. Consequently, accurate knowledge about the
      threshold for nonlinear X-ray signals is essential. Herein we report an X-ray
      spectroscopic study that reveals important details on the thresholds for
      nonlinear X-ray interactions. By varying both the incident X-ray intensity and
      photon energy, we establish the regimes at which the simplest nonlinear process,
      two-photon X-ray absorption (TPA), can be observed. From these measurements we
      can extract the probability of this process as a function of photon energy and
      confirm both the nature and sub-femtosecond lifetime of the virtual intermediate
      electronic state.

PMID- 27620068
TI  - Creation of an anti-imaging system using binary optics.
AB  - We present a concealing method in which an anti-point spread function (APSF) is
      generated using binary optics, which produces a large-scale dark area in the
      focal region that can hide any object located within it. This result is achieved
      by generating two identical PSFs of opposite signs, one consisting of positive
      electromagnetic waves from the zero-phase region of the binary optical element
      and the other consisting of negative electromagnetic waves from the pi-phase
      region of the binary optical element.

PMID- 27620070
TI  - Pharmacogenomic analyzis of the responsiveness of gastrointestinal tumor cell
      lines to drug therapy: A transportome approach.
AB  - In this study, we have addressed the pharmacogenomic basis of the response of
      gastrointestinal tumors to six anticancer drugs using a panel of fifteen cell
      lines derived from pancreatic, stomach and biliary tract cancers. We determined
      the constitutive expression levels of 96 genes, whose encoded proteins contribute
      to drug action, and identified a major gene network that contains broad
      selectivity nucleoside transporter genes, as well as several genes known to be
      involved in cell proliferation and survival. All cell lines were exposed to 5'
      DFUR, 5-FU, gemcitabine, cisplatin, doxorubicin and paclitaxel for 48h and cell
      response was measured using MTT assays. We correlated the cell response of the
      fifteen cell lines with the mRNA expression of the selected 96 genes and
      identified sets of 4-5 genes whose expression profiles correlated to
      responsiveness to each anticancer drug. These genes may be good candidates as
      response predictors to such therapies.

PMID- 27620069
TI  - Histone deacetylase inhibitors: Future therapeutics for insulin resistance and
      type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Insulin resistance is a common feature of obesity and predisposes the affected
      individuals to a variety of pathologies, including type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM), dyslipidemias, hypertension, cardiovascular disease etc. Insulin
      resistance is the primary cause of T2DM and it occurs many years before the
      disease onset. Although Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) such as rosiglitazone and
      pioglitazone are outstanding insulin sensitizers and are in clinical use since
      1990s, however, their serious side effects such as heart attack and bladder
      cancer have limited their utilization. Thus, there is an unmet need to identify a
      new class of drugs with insulin sensitizing activity and minimal side effects. In
      the recent years, Histone deacetylase (HDAC) has emerged as a new molecular
      target in the control of insulin resistance and T2DM. The level of histone
      acetylation/deacetylation has been found to be altered during insulin resistance
      and T2DM conditions. HDAC inhibitors have been found to effectively manage
      insulin resistance and T2DM in various preclinical models and clinical trials. In
      this review we will focus on various aspects related to regulation of insulin
      signalling by HDACs and the future scope of HDAC inhibitors as therapeutics for
      insulin resistance.

PMID- 27620072
TI  - Imported cutaneous larva migrans by a 31-year-old French woman after a travel in
      Gabon.

PMID- 27620071
TI  - Asymmetrical transfer effects of cognitive bias modification: Modifying attention
      to threat influences interpretation of emotional ambiguity, but not vice versa.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It is well established that attention bias and
      interpretation bias each have a key role in the development and continuation of
      anxiety. How the biases may interact with one another in anxiety is, however,
      poorly understood. Using cognitive bias modification techniques, the present
      study examined whether training a more positive interpretation bias or attention
      bias resulted in transfer of effects to the untrained cognitive domain.
      Differences in anxiety reactivity to a real-world stressor were also assessed.
      METHODS: Ninety-seven first year undergraduates who had self-reported anxiety
      were allocated to one of four groups: attention bias training (n = 24),
      interpretation bias training (n = 26), control task training (n = 25) and no
      training (n = 22). Training was computer-based and comprised eight sessions over
      four weeks. Baseline and follow-up measures of attention and interpretation bias,
      anxiety and depression were taken. RESULTS: A significant reduction in threat
      related attention bias and an increase in positive interpretation bias occurred
      in the attention bias training group. The interpretation bias training group did
      not exhibit a significant change in attention bias, only interpretation bias. The
      effect of attention bias training on interpretation bias was significant as
      compared with the two control groups. There were no effects on self-report
      measures. LIMITATIONS: The extent to which interpretive training can modify
      attentional processing remains unclear. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the idea
      that attentional training might have broad cognitive consequences, impacting
      downstream on interpretive bias. However, they do not fully support a common
      mechanism hypothesis, as interpretive training did not impact on attentional
      bias.

PMID- 27620073
TI  - Development of drug-loaded immunoliposomes for the selective targeting and
      elimination of rosetting Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells.
AB  - Parasite proteins exported to the surface of Plasmodium falciparum-parasitized
      red blood cells (pRBCs) have a major role in severe malaria clinical
      manifestation, where pRBC cytoadhesion and rosetting processes have been strongly
      linked with microvascular sequestration while avoiding both spleen filtration and
      immune surveillance. The parasite-derived and pRBC surface-exposed PfEMP1 protein
      has been identified as one of the responsible elements for rosetting and,
      therefore, considered as a promising vaccine candidate for the generation of
      rosette-disrupting antibodies against severe malaria. However, the potential role
      of anti-rosetting antibodies as targeting molecules for the functionalization of
      antimalarial drug-loaded nanovectors has never been studied. Our manuscript
      presents a proof-of-concept study where the activity of an immunoliposomal
      vehicle with a dual performance capable of specifically recognizing and
      disrupting rosettes while simultaneously eliminating those pRBCs forming them has
      been assayed in vitro. A polyclonal antibody against the NTS-DBL1alpha N-terminal
      domain of a rosetting PfEMP1 variant has been selected as targeting molecule and
      lumefantrine as the antimalarial payload. After 30min incubation with 2MUM
      encapsulated drug, a 70% growth inhibition for all parasitic forms in culture
      (IC50: 414nM) and a reduction in ca. 60% of those pRBCs with a rosetting
      phenotype (IC50: 747nM) were achieved. This immunoliposomal approach represents
      an innovative combination therapy for the improvement of severe malaria
      therapeutics having a broader spectrum of activity than either anti-rosetting
      antibodies or free drugs on their own.

PMID- 27620074
TI  - Transdermal delivery from liposomal formulations - Evolution of the technology
      over the last three decades.
AB  - Strong barrier properties of stratum corneum often limits the efficiency of drug
      delivery through skin. Several strategies were tried to improve permeation of
      drug through skin for local as well as systemic drug delivery. Incorporation of
      the drug within flexible liposomal vesicles has been one of the popular and well
      studied approaches for delivering drug to deeper layers of the skin or even
      systemic circulation. Flexible/deformable/elastic liposomal systems such as
      invasomes, Transfersomes(r), ethosomes, niosomes, etc. have demonstrated
      encouraging results in delivering small molecules and large proteins to the skin.
      It is necessary to recognize the promising concepts and analyze their potential,
      since a clear understanding of the drawbacks and advantages of these approaches
      will lead towards future development. In the current review we have attempted to
      give an overview of different liposomal drug carriers for transdermal drug
      delivery and their efficiency as drug delivery system through different in vivo
      and in vitro studies. Also, an overview of the studies which investigated the
      interactions between skin and vesicles, which have lead us to our current
      understanding of the skin penetration mechanisms of liposomal formulations is
      presented.

PMID- 27620075
TI  - Learning style, judgements of learning, and learning of verbal and visual
      information.
AB  - The concept of learning style is immensely popular despite the lack of evidence
      showing that learning style influences performance. This study tested the
      hypothesis that the popularity of learning style is maintained because it is
      associated with subjective aspects of learning, such as judgements of learning
      (JOLs). Preference for verbal and visual information was assessed using the
      revised Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ). Then, participants studied a
      list of word pairs and a list of picture pairs, making JOLs (immediate, delayed,
      and global) while studying each list. Learning was tested by cued recall. The
      results showed that higher VVQ verbalizer scores were associated with higher
      immediate JOLs for words, and higher VVQ visualizer scores were associated with
      higher immediate JOLs for pictures. There was no association between VVQ scores
      and recall or JOL accuracy. As predicted, learning style was associated with
      subjective aspects of learning but not objective aspects of learning.

PMID- 27620076
TI  - The proteins of Vent-family and their mRNAs are located in different areas of the
      tails of Zebrafish and Xenopus embryos.
AB  - In molecular embryology, by tacit consent, a presence or absence of the specific
      mRNA in the cell indicates the presence or absence of the corresponding protein.
      However, there are lots of evidences that mRNA may be associated with inactive
      non-translated ribonucleoprotein complexes. Here we for the first time compared
      the temporal and spatial distribution of the Vent-family transcription factors
      and their mRNAs in the tails of embryos of two biological species-Xenopus laevis
      and Zebrafish (Danio reria). We have shown that Xvent-2 mRNA was not active in
      tails of Xenopus embryos at the early tail bud stage. Although the Xvent-2 mRNA
      of Xenopus and Vox mRNA of Zebrafish embryos were detected in the tips of the
      tails, the Xvent-2 and Vox proteins were revealed in other regions of the tails
      along axial structures and around somites. We propose that when the translation
      of masked Xvent-2 (or Vox) mRNA is activated in a tail bud cell, this
      transcription factor changes activity of target genes. As a result, the cell
      comes to differentiation.

PMID- 27620077
TI  - Concomitant reduction of c-Myc expression and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling by
      quercetin induces a strong cytotoxic effect against Burkitt's lymphoma.
AB  - Burkitt's lymphoma is an aggressive B cell lymphoma whose pathogenesis involves
      mainly c-Myc translocation and hyperexpression, in addition to antigen
      independent BCR signaling and, in some cases, EBV infection. As result of BCR
      signaling activation, the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway results constitutively activated
      also in the absence of EBV, promoting cell survival and counterbalancing the pro
      apoptotic function that c-Myc may also exert. In this study we found that
      quercetin, a bioflavonoid widely distributed in plant kingdom, reduced c-Myc
      expression and inhibited the PI3K/AKT/mTOR activity in BL, leading to an
      apoptotic cell death. We observed a higher cytotoxic effect against the EBV
      negative BL cells in comparison with the positive ones, suggesting that this
      oncogenic gammaherpesvirus confers an additional resistance to the quercetin
      treatment. Besides cell survival, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway also regulates autophagy:
      we found that quercetin induced a complete autophagic flux in BL cells, that
      contributes to c-Myc reduction in some of these cells. Indeed, autophagy
      inhibition by chloroquine partially restored c-Myc expression in EBV-positive
      (Akata) and EBV-negative (2A8) cells that harbor c-Myc mutation. Interestingly,
      chloroquine did not affect the quercetin-mediated reduction of c-Myc expression
      in Ramos cells, that have no c-Myc mutation in the coding region, although
      autophagy was induced. These results suggest that mutant c-Myc could be partially
      degraded through autophagy in BL cells, as previously reported for other mutant
      oncogenic proteins.

PMID- 27620078
TI  - Detection, Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Contaminants in Agricultural
      Environments.
AB  - A total of 59 papers published in 2015 were reviewed ranging from detailed
      descriptions of analytical methods, to fate and occurrence studies, to ecological
      effects and sampling techniques for a wide variety of emerging contaminants
      likely to occur in agricultural environments. New methods and studies on
      veterinary pharmaceuticals, steroids, antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural
      environments continue to expand our knowledge base on the occurrence and
      potential impacts of these compounds. This review is divided into the following
      sections: Introduction, Analytical Methods, Steroid Hormones, Pharmaceutical
      Contaminants, Transformation Products, and "Antibiotic Resistance, Drugs, Bugs
      and Genes". 

PMID- 27620079
TI  - Molecular Biological Methods in Environmental Engineering.
AB  - Bacteria, acting as catalysts, perform the function of degrading pollutants.
      Molecular biological techniques play an important role in research on the
      community analysis, the composition and the functions of complex microbial
      communities. The development of secondary high-throughput pyrosequencing
      techiniques enhances the understanding of the composition of the microbial
      community. The literatures of 2015 indicated that 16S rDNA gene as genetic tag is
      still the important method for bacteria identification and classification. 454
      high throughput sequencing and Illumina MiSeq sequencing have been the primary
      and widely recognized methods to analyze the microbial. This review will provide
      environmental engineers and microbiologists an overview of important advancements
      in molecular techniques and highlight the application of these methods in diverse
      environments. 

PMID- 27620080
TI  - Wastewater Collection Systems.
AB  - This chapter presents a review of the literature published in 2015 on topics
      relating to wastewater collection systems. It presents noteworthy advances in
      research and industry experiences selected from major literature sources. This
      review is divided into the following sections: sewer system planning; sewer
      condition assessment/rehabilitation; pump stations/force mains/ system design;
      operation and maintenance; asset management; and regulatory issues/ integrated
      planning. 

PMID- 27620081
TI  - Physico-Chemical Processes.
AB  - This review is on the research literature published in 2015 related to the
      physico-chemical processes for water and wastewater treatment. The review is
      divided into six sections, including filtration, sedimentation,
      coagulation/flocculation, flotation, oxidation, and adsorption. 

PMID- 27620083
TI  - Biological Fixed Film.
AB  - The review includes literature published in the year of 2015 regarding the uses
      of biofilm in full-scale and lab-scale bioreactors to treat wastewater. The
      topics considered include biofilm formation and factors impacting biofilm
      formation; extracellular polymeric substance from biofilms; biofilm consortia and
      quorum sensing; biofilm reactors and biofilm in bioelectrochemical systems. 

PMID- 27620082
TI  - Activated Sludge and other Aerobic Suspended Culture Processes.
AB  - This is a literature review for the year 2015 and contains information
      specifically associated with suspended growth processes including activated
      sludge, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket, and sequencing batch reactors. The
      review encompasses modeling and kinetics, nutrient removal, system design and
      operation. Compared to past reviews, many topics show increase in activity in
      2015. These include, fate and effect of xenobiotics, industrial wastes treatment
      with sludge, and pretreatment for the activated sludge. These topics are referred
      to the degradation of constituents in activated sludge. Other sections include
      population dynamics, process microbiology give an insight into the activated
      sludge. The subsection in industrial wastes: converting sewage sludge into
      biogases was also mentioned. 

PMID- 27620085
TI  - Anaerobic Process.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on the focus of Anaerobic Process.
      It is divided into the following sections. Pretreatment Organic waste Multiple
      stage co-digestion Process Methodology and Technology. 

PMID- 27620084
TI  - Membrane Processes.
AB  - This review, for literature published in 2015, contains information related to
      membrane processes for municipal and industrial applications. This review is a
      subsection of the Treatment Systems section of the annual Water Environment
      Federation literature review and covers the following topics: pretreatment,
      membrane bioreactor (MBR) configuration, design, nutrient removal, operation,
      industrial treatment, anaerobic membrane systems, reuse, microconstituents
      removal, membrane technology advances, membrane fouling, and modeling. Other sub
      sections of the Treatment Systems section that might relate to this literature
      review include: Biological Fixed-Film Systems, Activated Sludge and Other Aerobic
      Suspended Culture Processes, Anaerobic Processes, Water Reclamation and Reuse.
      The following sections might also have related information on membrane processes:
      Industrial Wastes, Hazardous Wastes, and Fate and Effects of Pollutants. 

PMID- 27620086
TI  - Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment.
AB  - An update on the current research and development of the treatment technologies,
      which utilize natural processes or passive components in wastewater treatment, is
      provided in this paper. The main focus is on wetland systems and their
      applications in wastewater treatment (as an advanced treatment unit or
      decentralized system), nutrient and pollutant removal (metals, industrial and
      emerging pollutants including pharmaceutical compounds). A summary of studies
      involving the effects of vegetation, wetland design and modeling, hybrid and
      innovative systems, storm water treatment and pathogen removal is also included. 

PMID- 27620087
TI  - Disinfection Processes.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to disinfection
      processes is presented. This review is divided into the following sections:
      disinfection methods, disinfection byproducts, and microbiology and microbial
      communities. 

PMID- 27620088
TI  - Biosolids and Sludge Management.
AB  - This review section covers journal articles and conference papers related to
      biosolids and sludge management that were published in 2015. The literature
      review has been divided into the following sections: * Biosolids regulations and
      management issues; * Biosolids characteristics, quality and measurement including
      microconstituents, pathogens, nanoparticles and metals; * Sludge treatment
      technologies including pretreatment and sludge minimization, conditioning and
      dewatering, digestion, composting and innovative technologies; * Disposal and
      reuse including combustion/incineration, agricultural uses and innovative uses; *
      Odor and air emissions; and * Energy issues. 

PMID- 27620089
TI  - Gaseous Emissions from Wastewater Facilities.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to gaseous
      emissions from wastewater facilities is presented. This review is divided into
      the following sections: odorant emissions from wastewater treatment plants
      (WWTPs); greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from WWTPs; gaseous emissions from
      wastewater collection systems; physiochemical odor/emissions control methods;
      biological odor/emissions control methods; odor characterization/monitoring; and
      odor impacts/ risk assessments. 

PMID- 27620090
TI  - Water Reclamation and Reuse.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to water
      reclamation and reuse is presented. The review is divided into the following
      sections: (1) General: extent of reuse, research needs, guidelines and
      monitoring, health effects; (2) Treatment technologies: integrated process
      design, membrane treatment, membrane bioreactors, electrocoagulation, ion
      exchange and adsorption, disinfection, wetlands, managed aquifer recharge; (3)
      Planning and management: public acceptance and education, economics/pricing,
      water quality planning and management and project/case studies. Much of the water
      treatment research focuses on membrane treatment, integrated designs, and other
      innovative technologies. 

PMID- 27620091
TI  - Modeling, Instrumentation, Automation, and Optimization of Water Resource
      Recovery Facilities.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to water resource
      recovery facilities (WRRF) in the areas of modeling, automation, measurement and
      sensors and optimization of wastewater treatment (or water resource reclamation)
      is presented. 

PMID- 27620092
TI  - Sustainability.
AB  - This review on Sustainability covers selected 2015 publications on the focus of
      Sustainability. It is divided into the following sections : * Sustainable water
      and wastewater utilities * Sustainable water resources management * Stormwater
      and green infrastructure * Sustainability in wastewater treatment * Life cycle
      assessment (LCA) applications * Sustainability and energy in wastewater industry,
      * Sustainability and asset management. 

PMID- 27620093
TI  - Agricultural Waste.
AB  - In recent years, the quantity of agricultural waste has been rising rapidly all
      over the world. As a result, the environmental problems and negative impacts of
      agricultural waste are drawn more and more attention. Therefore, there is a need
      to adopt proper approaches to reduce and reuse agricultural waste. This review
      presented about 200 literatures published in 2015 relating to the topic of
      agricultural waste. The review examined research on agricultural waste in 2015
      from the following four aspects: the characterization, reuse, treatment, and
      management. Researchers highlighted the importance to reuse agricultural waste
      and investigated the potential to utilize it as biofertilizers, cultivation
      material, soil amendments, adsorbent, material, energy recycling, enzyme and
      catalyst etc. The treatment of agricultural waste included carbonization,
      biodegradation, composting hydrolysis and pyrolysis. Moreover, this review
      analyzed the differences of the research progress in 2015 from 2014. It may help
      to reveal the new findings and new trends in this field in 2015 comparing to
      2014. 

PMID- 27620094
TI  - Chemical Waste and Allied Products.
AB  - This review of literature published in 2015 focuses on waste related to chemical
      and allied products. The topics cover the waste management, physicochemical
      treatment, aerobic granular, aerobic waste treatment, anaerobic granular,
      anaerobic waste treatment, chemical waste, chemical wastewater, fertilizer waste,
      fertilizer wastewater, pesticide wastewater, pharmaceutical wastewater,
      ozonation. cosmetics waste, groundwater remediation, nutrient removal,
      nitrification denitrification, membrane biological reactor, and pesticide waste. 

PMID- 27620095
TI  - Food-Processing Wastes.
AB  - Literature published in 2015 and early 2016 related to food processing wastes
      treatment for industrial applications are reviewed. This review is a subsection
      of the Treatment Systems section of the annual Water Environment Federation
      literature review and covers the following food processing industries and
      applications: general, meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, dairy and
      beverage, and miscellaneous treatment of food wastes. 

PMID- 27620096
TI  - Mine Drainage Generation and Control Options.
AB  - This review provides a snapshot of papers published in 2015 relevant to the topic
      of mine drainage generation and control options. The review is broken into 3
      sections: Generation, Prediction and Prevention, and Treatment Options. The first
      section, mine drainage generation, focuses on the characterization of mine
      drainage and the environmental impacts. As such, it is broken into three
      subsections focused on microbiological characterization, physiochemical
      characterization, and environmental impacts. The second section of the review is
      divided into two subsections focused on either the prediction or prevention of
      acid mine drainage. The final section focuses on treatment options for mine
      drainage and waste sludge. The third section contains subsections on passive
      treatment, biological treatment, physiochemical treatment, and a new subsection
      on beneficial uses for mine drainage and treatment wastes. 

PMID- 27620097
TI  - Textiles.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to the treatment
      alternatives for wastewater from the textile industries is presented. This review
      is divided into the following sections: a brief introduction on the
      implementation of the Best Available Techniques into textile industry, a review
      of the more promising treatment technologies distinguished into physico-chemical,
      biological and combined processes. 

PMID- 27620098
TI  - Bioenergy from Biofuel Residues and Wastes.
AB  - This review includes works published in the general scientific literature during
      2015 on the production of bioenergy and biofuel from waste residues generated
      during bioethanol and biodiesel production with a brief overview of current and
      emerging feedstocks. A section of this review summarizes literature on culturing
      algae for biofuels including bioreactors and open pond cultivation systems with
      the utilization of inorganic and organic sources of nutrients. New methods
      applicable to the mass culture of algae are highlighted. Algal cell harvesting
      and oil extraction techniques tested and developed for algae discussed alongwith
      policies and economics are also provided. 

PMID- 27620100
TI  - Radioactive Wastes.
AB  - Papers reviewed herein present a general overview of radioactive waste activities
      around the world in 2015. These include safety assessments, decommission and
      decontamination of nuclear facilities, fusion facilities, transportation and
      management solutions for the final disposal of low and high level radioactive
      wastes (LLW and HLW), interim storage and final disposal options for spent fuel
      (SF), and tritiated wastes, with a focus on environmental impacts due to the
      mobility of radionuclides in water, soil and ecosystem alongwith other progress
      made in the management of radioactive wastes. 

PMID- 27620099
TI  - Hazardous Waste Treatment Technologies.
AB  - The article reviews the scientific literature published in 2015 on physical,
      chemical, and biological treatment of hazardous contamination and environmental
      remediation. 

PMID- 27620101
TI  - Mixing and Transport.
AB  - This section covers research published during the calendar year 2015 on mixing
      and transport processes. The review covers mixing of anaerobic digesters, mixing
      of heat transfer, and environmental fate and transport. 

PMID- 27620102
TI  - Stream, Lake, and Reservoir Management.
AB  - This review on stream, lake, and reservoir management covers selected 2015
      publications on the focus of the following sections: * Biota * Climate effect *
      Models * Remediation and restoration * Reservoir operations * Stream, Lake, and
      Reservoir Management * Water quality. 

PMID- 27620103
TI  - Contaminated Aquatic Sediments.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 relating to the assessment,
      evaluation and remediation of contaminated aquatic sediments is presented. The
      review is divided into the following main sections: policy and guidance,
      methodology, distribution, fate and transport, risk, toxicity and remediation. 

PMID- 27620104
TI  - Nonpoint Source Pollution.
AB  - Research advances on non-point source pollution in the year 2015 have been
      depicted in this review paper. Nonpoint source pollution is mainly caused by
      agricultural runoff, urban stormwater, and atmospheric deposition. Modeling
      techniques of NPS with different tools are reviewed in this article. 

PMID- 27620105
TI  - Fate of Environmental Pollutants.
AB  - This annual review covers the literature published in 2015 on topics related to
      the occurrence and fate of emerging environmental pollutants in wastewater. Due
      to the vast amount of literature published on this topic, I have discussed only a
      fraction of the quality research publications, up to maximum 20 relevant articles
      per section, due to limitation of space. The abstract search was carried out
      using Web of Science, and the abstracts were selected based on their relevance.
      In few cases, full-text articles were referred to better understand new findings.
      This review is divided into the following sections: biological agents,
      disinfection by-products (DBPs), halogenated compounds, pharmaceuticals and
      personal care products (PPCPs), and other emerging contaminants. 

PMID- 27620106
TI  - Substratum-Associated Microbiota.
AB  - This survey of literature on substratum associated microbiota from 2015
      highlights research findings associated with benthic algae and bacteria from a
      variety of aquatic environments, but primarily freshwaters. It focuses on topics
      of interest to the Water Environment Federation along with those of current
      emerging interest such as global change, oil spills, and environmental
      contaminants like pharmaceutical compounds, microplastics, nanoparticles and
      organic pollutants. Other interesting findings briefly covered include areas of
      general ecology, nutrient cycling, trophic interactions, water quality, nuisance
      and invasive species, bioindicators, and bioremediation. 

PMID- 27620107
TI  - Effects of Pollution on Freshwater Organisms.
AB  - This review includes works published in the general scientific literature during
      2015 on the effects of anthropogenic pollutants on freshwater organisms. It
      begins with two broad sections: research reviews and broad field studies and
      surveys. This is followed by reviews of research categorized in sections to
      reflect the pollutant class. These sections include wastewater, stormwater and
      non-point source pollution, nutrients, sediment cap materials and suspended
      clays, botanical extracts, surfactants, metals, persistent organic pollutants,
      pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons and
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ionic liquids, and nanomaterials. The
      final section includes works describing innovations in the field of freshwater
      pollution research. 

PMID- 27620108
TI  - Effects of Pollution on Marine Organisms.
AB  - This review covers selected 2015 articles on the biological effects of pollutants
      and human physical disturbances on marine and estuarine plants, animals,
      ecosystems and habitats. The review, based largely on journal articles, covers
      field and laboratory measurement activities (bioaccumulation of contaminants,
      field assessment surveys, toxicity testing and biomarkers) as well as pollution
      issues of current interest including endocrine disrupters, emerging contaminants,
      wastewater discharges, dredging and disposal, etc. Special emphasis is placed on
      effects of oil spills and marine debris due largely to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon
      oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. Several topical areas reviewed in the past
      (ballast water and ocean acidification) were dropped this year. The focus of this
      review is on effects, not pollutant fate and transport. There is considerable
      overlap across subject areas (e.g.some bioaccumulation papers may be cited in
      other topical categories). Please use keyword searching of the text to locate
      related but distributed papers. Use this review only as a guide and please
      consult the original papers before citing them. 

PMID- 27620109
TI  - Thermal Effects.
AB  - This review focuses on the research literatures published in 2015 relating to
      topics of thermal effects in water pollution control. This review is divided into
      the following sections: biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal, wastewater
      treatment for organic conversion, industrial wastewater treatment, anaerobic
      digestion of sewage sludge and solid waste, sludge biochar preparation and
      application, pyrolysis of sewage sludge, reduction heavy metal in sewage sludge
      and soil, and other issues of wastewater and sludge treatment. 

PMID- 27620110
TI  - Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Treatment, Reuse, and Disposal.
AB  - A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to public and
      environmental health risks associated with wastewater treatment, reuse, and
      disposal is presented. This review is divided into the following sections:
      wastewater management, microbial hazards, chemical hazards, wastewater treatment,
      wastewater reuse, agricultural reuse in different regions, greywater reuse,
      wastewater disposal, hospital wastewater, industrial wastewater, and sludge and
      biosolids. 

PMID- 27620111
TI  - Emerging Pollutants - Part I: Occurrence, Fate and Transport.
AB  - Part I: Occurrence, Fate, and Transport (this review) is a sequel of Emerging
      Pollutants. This review compiles research in 2015 for investigating emerging
      pollutants in wastewater and environmental sources of emerging pollutants. It
      investigates the occurrence, fate, transport of emerging pollutants in the
      environment. This review further discusses the monitoring approaches, modeling,
      and toxicological impacts of these compounds that are relevant to wastewater. 

PMID- 27620112
TI  - Emerging Pollutants - Part II: Treatment.
AB  - Emerging contaminants are considered as some substances of actual or potential
      threat to human health or environment, which include endocrine disruptors,
      pharmaceutical, personal care products, nanoparticles, antibiotic resistance
      genes and chemicals used in packaging products, etc. The disposal and treatment
      of emerging contaminants has become a key problem in the field of water pollution
      control. The purpose of this review is to summarize published researches on
      emerging pollutants treatment in 2015. 

PMID- 27620114
TI  - Urban Stormwater Characterization, Control, and Treatment.
AB  - The following review presents a synthesis of 181 journal articles published
      during 2015 that represent progress toward better characterizing, controlling,
      and treating urban stormwater runoff. The review is structured by general topical
      areas related to (1) stormwater quality and quantity characterization; (2)
      engineered stormwater control and treatment practices, including erosion and
      sediment control, stormwater ponds, constructed stormwater wetlands,
      bioretention, permeable pavement, greenroofs, and rainwater harvesting systems;
      and (3) watershed-scale modeling and optimization of stormwater control and
      treatment practices. Common research themes emerging from this collection of
      studies include potential to enhance hydrologic and pollutant treatment
      performance of stormwater practices via media amendments and the use of
      innovative outlet control structures, as well as development of a more
      mechanistic understanding of hydrologic and water-quality functions to inform
      modeling and performance predictions. These studies serve to expand the field's
      knowledge base and will inform future efforts to further improve stormwater
      control and treatment at various spatial and temporal scales. 

PMID- 27620113
TI  - Economics.
AB  - A review of literature in the calendar year 2015 dedicated to environmental
      policies and sustainable development, and economic policies. This review is
      divided into these sections: sustainable development, irrigation, ecosystems and
      water management, climate change and disaster risk management, economic growth,
      water supply policies, water consumption, water price regulation, and water price
      valuation. 

PMID- 27620115
TI  - Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment.
AB  - This review summarizes important publications from 2015 pertaining to the
      occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment. Emphasis is
      placed on sources of antibiotic resistance in the aquatic environment including
      wastewater treatment plants, hospitals, and agriculture, treatment and mitigation
      techniques, and surveillance and analysis methodologies for characterizing
      abundance data. As such, this review is organized into the following sections: i)
      occurrence of AMR in the environment, including surface waters, aquaculture, and
      wastewater ii) treatment technologies, and iii) technologies for rapid
      surveillance of AMR, iv) transmission between matrices, v) databases and analysis
      methods, and vi) gaps in AMR understanding. 

PMID- 27620117
TI  - Multi-millijoule few-cycle mid-infrared pulses through nonlinear self-compression
      in bulk.
AB  - The physics of strong-field applications requires driver laser pulses that are
      both energetic and extremely short. Whereas optical amplifiers, laser and
      parametric, boost the energy, their gain bandwidth restricts the attainable pulse
      duration, requiring additional nonlinear spectral broadening to enable few or
      even single cycle compression and a corresponding peak power increase. Here we
      demonstrate, in the mid-infrared wavelength range that is important for scaling
      the ponderomotive energy in strong-field interactions, a simple energy-efficient
      and scalable soliton-like pulse compression in a mm-long yttrium aluminium garnet
      crystal with no additional dispersion management. Sub-three-cycle pulses with
      >0.44 TW peak power are compressed and extracted before the onset of modulation
      instability and multiple filamentation as a result of a favourable interplay
      between strong anomalous dispersion and optical nonlinearity around the
      wavelength of 3.9 MUm. As a manifestation of the increased peak power, we show
      the evidence of mid-infrared pulse filamentation in atmospheric air.

PMID- 27620119
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by Dermabond((r)).

PMID- 27620118
TI  - Extraction of Y2 O3 :Cr3+ nanophosphor by eco-friendly approach and its
      suitability for white light-emitting diode applications.
AB  - Cr3+ -doped Y2 O3 (0.5-9 mol%) was synthesized by a simple solution combustion
      method using Aloe vera gel as a fuel/surfactant. The final obtained product was
      calcined at 750 degrees C for 3 h, which is the lowest temperature reported so
      far for the synthesis of this compound. The calcined product was confirmed for
      its crystallinity and purity by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) studies which
      showed a single-phase nano cubic phosphor. The particles size estimated by
      Scherrer formula was in the range of 6-19 nm. The UV-vis spectra showed
      absorption bands at 198, 272 and 372 nm having band gap energy in the range 4.00
      4.26 eV. In order to investigate the possibility of its use in white light
      emitting display applications, the photoluminescence properties of Cr3+ -doped Y2
      O3 nanophosphors were studied at an excitation wavelength in the near ultraviolet
      (UV) light region (361 nm). The emission spectra consisted of emission peaks in
      the blue (4 F9/2  -> 6 H15/2 ), orange (4 F9/2  -> 6 H13/2 ) and red (4 F9/2  ->
      6 H11/2 ) regions. The CIE coordinates (0.33, 0.33) lie in the white light
      region. Hence Y2 O3 :Cr3+ can be used for white light-emitting diode (LED)
      applications.

PMID- 27620120
TI  - Contact allergens in cosmetics used in atopic dermatitis: analysis of product
      composition.

PMID- 27620121
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by VEA((r)) lipogel: compound allergy?

PMID- 27620116
TI  - Resilience among Employed Physicians and Mid-Level Practitioners in Upstate New
      York.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors associated with resilience among medical
      professionals. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Administrative information from a
      rural health care network (1 academic medical center, 6 hospitals, 31 clinics,
      and 20 school health centers) was triangulated with self-report data from 308
      respondents (response rate = 65.1 percent) to a 9/2013-1/2014 survey among
      practitioners serving a nine-county 5,600-square-mile area. STUDY DESIGN: A cross
      sectional questionnaire survey comprising valid measures of resilience, practice
      meaningfulness, satisfaction, and risk/uncertainty intolerance, nested within a
      prospective, community-based project. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: The
      sampling frame included practitioners on institutional payroll, excluding
      voluntary/involuntary attritions and advisory board/research team members. In
      multivariable mixed-effects models, we regressed full-range and high-/low
      resilience scores on demographics, professional satisfaction, workplace needs,
      risk/uncertainty intolerance, and service unit characteristics. PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: Relational needs, uncertainty intolerance, satisfaction >=75 percent of
      the time, number of practitioners on a unit, and workload were significantly
      associated with resilience. Higher scores were most strongly associated with
      uncertainty tolerance, satisfaction, and practitioner numbers. Practitioner/unit
      demographics were mostly nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: More resilient
      practitioners experienced frequent satisfaction, relational needs gratification,
      better uncertainty tolerance, lighter workloads, and practiced on units with more
      colleagues. Further studies should investigate well-being interventions based on
      these mutable factors.

PMID- 27620122
TI  - Atypical photosensitivity associated with triflusal.

PMID- 27620124
TI  - Systemic contact dermatitis caused by inhaled cashew oil smoke.

PMID- 27620123
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by a black tattoo ink in a patient allergic to
      shellac.

PMID- 27620125
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by phenylethyl resorcinol, a skin-lightening
      agent contained in a sunscreen.

PMID- 27620126
TI  - An unusual complication of minor surgery: contact dermatitis caused by injected
      lidocaine.

PMID- 27620127
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by the Boston fern Nephrolepis exaltata
      'Bostoniensis'.

PMID- 27620128
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis caused by latex gloves in a dental undergraduate
      student.

PMID- 27620129
TI  - A case of chronic contact dermatitis resulting from the use of blue hair dye.

PMID- 27620131
TI  - List of opinions of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) adopted
      and published in January to June 2016.

PMID- 27620130
TI  - Cheilitis caused by to mint-containing toothpastes.

PMID- 27620133
TI  - Haemonchus contortus: the then and now, and where to from here?
AB  - Haemonchus contortus (Barber's pole worm or "BPW") is the nematode "nemesis" of
      small ruminant production systems in tropical and subtropical regions of the
      world. Its reputation derives from a combination of high fecundity and a short
      generational interval that provides an enviable developmental plasticity for
      adaptation or resistance to control measures. This review critically examines the
      historical and current literature on the host-parasite-environment interaction
      for H. contortus, particularly in sheep, to highlight changes in parasite
      distribution and ecology on pasture, changes to the seasonal inhibition of fourth
      stage larvae and the most appropriate models to identify protective responses and
      assess vaccines. The review also proposes pathways to bring host genetics to
      fruition and avenues where advances in the parasite genome may complement control
      measures.

PMID- 27620135
TI  - Custom sample environments at the ALBA XPEEM.
AB  - A variety of custom-built sample holders offer users a wide range of non-standard
      measurements at the ALBA synchrotron PhotoEmission Electron Microscope (PEEM)
      experimental station. Some of the salient features are: an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)
      suitcase compatible with many offline deposition and characterization systems,
      built-in electromagnets for uni- or biaxial in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP)
      fields, as well as the combination of magnetic fields with electric fields or
      current injection. Electronics providing a synchronized sinusoidal signal for
      sample excitation enable time-resolved measurements at the 500MHz storage ring RF
      frequency.

PMID- 27620134
TI  - Kicking Performance and Muscular Strength Parameters with Dominant and
      Nondominant Lower Limbs in Brazilian Elite Professional Futsal Players.
AB  - The aims of the current study were to analyze a kick from 10 m in a futsal
      context and the parameters of muscular strength using an isokinetic dynamometer
      in a laboratory environment, performed with the dominant (DL) and nondominant
      lower limbs (NDL). Seventeen professional elite players participated. Kicking
      performance was evaluated from the second penalty mark. Next, athletes completed
      a strength evaluation with an isokinetic dynamometer at speeds of 60 degrees ?s
      1, 180 degrees ?s-1, and 300 degrees ?s-1. Significant differences were observed
      for hip (15.64 +/- 3.44; 13.97 +/- 2.62), ankle (63.19 +/- 8.90; 52.55 +/- 8.72),
      foot (82.31 +/- 7.93; 68.41 +/- 7.85), and ball (99.74 +/- 8.45; 88.31 +/- 7.93)
      speeds (km?h-1), and average power at 180 degrees ?s-1 (325.59 +/- 40.47; 315.79
      +/- 39.49 W), but not for accuracy (1.33 +/- 0.57; 1.66 +/- 0.77 m) between the
      DL and NDL, respectively. Few moderate correlations were observed in the DL (r =
      .54-.64) or NDL (r = .53-.55) between the kinematic variables of kick and
      muscular strength parameters (P < .05). We conclude that highly trained players
      present asymmetries in kicking motion; however, the imbalance in muscular
      strength is very small. We recommend that specific court tests be conducted to
      reliably characterize kicking performance in futsal. Success in kicking seems to
      be too variable and complex to be totally predicted only by joints, foot and ball
      speed, and lower limb muscular strength parameters.

PMID- 27620132
TI  - Pancreaticobiliary Maljunctions in European Patients with Bile Duct Cysts:
      Results of the Multicenter Study of the French Surgical Association (AFC).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreaticobiliary maljunctions (PBMs) are congenital anomalies of
      the junction between pancreatic and bile ducts, frequently associated with bile
      duct cyst (BDC). BDC is congenital biliary tree diseases that are characterized
      by distinctive dilatation types of the extra- and/or intrahepatic bile ducts.
      Todani's types I and IVa, in which dilatation involves principally the main bile
      duct, are the most frequent. PBM induces pancreatic juice reflux into the biliary
      tract that is supposed to be one of the main factors of biliary cancer
      degeneration, although the diagnostic criteria of PBM that can be either
      morphological and/or functional are not well defined especially in Western
      series. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the relative prevalence of
      PBM in BDC in a large European multicenter study, to analyze the characteristics
      of PBM and try to propose diagnostic criteria of PBMs based on morphological
      and/or functional criteria and define the positive, negative predictive values,
      sensibility and specificity of either criteria. RESULTS: From 1975 to 2012, 263
      patients with BDC were analyzed. Among them, 190 (72.2 %) were considered to
      present PBM. Types I and IVa had a similar rate of PBM association. According to
      the "AFC classification," 57.2 % had a C-P type, 34.5 % a P-C type and 8.3 % a
      complex type ("anse-de-seau"). The median length of the common channel in
      patients with PBM was 15.8 +/- 6.8 mm (range 5-40 mm). The median intrabiliary
      amylase and lipase levels were 65,249 and 172,104 UI/L, respectively. For the
      diagnostic of PBM, a common channel length of more than 8 mm and an intrabiliary
      amylase level superior to 8000 UI/L were associated with a predictive positive
      value and a specificity of more than 90 %. Synchronous biliary cancer had an
      incidence of 8.7 % in all patients with BDC and PBM 11.1 % in adults. Compared to
      type IV, the type I BDC was associated with statistically more cancer patients in
      the presence of PBM. CONCLUSIONS: Characteristics of PBM associated with BDC in
      Western population are quite close to reported Eastern series. The results
      suggest considering both the intrabiliary value of amylase >8000 UI/L and a
      length of a common channel >8 mm as appropriate values for positive diagnosis of
      PBM.

PMID- 27620136
TI  - Melatonin protects against oxygen and glucose deprivation by decreasing
      extracellular glutamate and Nox-derived ROS in rat hippocampal slices.
AB  - Therapeutic interventions on pathological processes involved in the ischemic
      cascade, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity and/or
      apoptosis, are of urgent need for stroke treatment. Melatonin regulates a large
      number of physiological actions and its beneficial properties have been reported.
      The aim of this study was to investigate whether melatonin mediates
      neuroprotection in rat hippocampal slices subjected to oxygen-glucose-deprivation
      (OGD) and glutamate excitotoxicity. Thus, we describe here that melatonin
      significantly reduced the amount of lactate dehydrogenase released in the OGD
      treated slices, reverted neuronal injury caused by OGD-reoxygenation in CA1 and
      CA3 hippocampal regions, restored the reduction of GSH content of the hippocampal
      slices induced by OGD, and diminished the oxidative stress produced in the
      reoxygenation period. Furthermore, melatonin afforded maximum protection against
      glutamate-induced toxicity and reversed the glutamate released almost basal
      levels, at 10 and 30MUM concentration, respectively. Consequently, we propose
      that melatonin might strongly and positively influence the outcome of brain
      ischemia/reperfusion.

PMID- 27620137
TI  - In vitro residual activity of phenylalanine hydroxylase variants and correlation
      with metabolic phenotypes in PKU.
AB  - Hyperphenylalaninemias (HPAs) are genetic diseases predominantly caused by a wide
      range of variants in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene. In vitro
      expression analysis of PAH variants offers the opportunity to elucidate the
      molecular mechanisms involved in HPAs and to clarify whether a disease-associated
      variant is genuinely pathogenic, while investigating the severity of a metabolic
      phenotype, and determining how a variant exerts its deleterious effects on the
      PAH enzyme. To study the effects of gene variants on PAH activity, we
      investigated eight variants: c.611A>G (p.Y204C), c.635T>C (p.L212P), c.746T>C
      (p.L249P), c.745C>T (p.L249F), c.809G>A (p.R270K), c.782G>C (p.R261P), c.587C>A
      (p.S196Y) and c.1139C>T (p.T380M), associated with different phenotypic groups.
      Transient expression of mutant full-length cDNAs in COS-7 cells yielded PAH
      proteins with PAH activity levels between 7% and 51% compared to the wild-type
      enzyme. With one exception (p.Y204C, which had no significant impact on PAH
      function), lower PAH activity was associated with a more severe phenotype (e.g.
      p.L249P with 7% PAH activity, 100% of classic PKU and no BH4 responsiveness),
      while higher activity correlated with milder phenotypes (e.g. p.T380M with 28%
      PAH activity, 97% of mild HPA and 83% of BH4 responsiveness). The results of the
      in vitro residual PAH activity have major implications, both for our
      understanding of genotype-phenotype correlations, and thereby existing
      inconsistencies, but also for the elucidation of the molecular basis of
      tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) responsiveness.

PMID- 27620139
TI  - Healthcare practitioner utilisation for back pain, neck pain and/or pelvic pain
      during pregnancy: an analysis of 1835 pregnant women in Australia.
AB  - AIMS: Back, neck and/or pelvic pain are common symptoms experienced by pregnant
      women. Although pregnant women are known to use complementary and alternative
      medicine (CAM) frequently, no research to date has provided in-depth examination
      of healthcare practitioner utilisation of pregnant women who experience back,
      neck and/or pelvic pain. METHODS: A sub-study of 1835 pregnant women from the
      nationally representative Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
      (ALSWH). Demographics, health status and healthcare utilisation measures were
      analysed for symptoms of back, neck and/or pelvic pain during pregnancy, using
      regression models. RESULTS: During their pregnancy, 39.5% women experienced back
      pain, 12.4% experienced neck pain and 16.3% women experienced pelvic pain.
      Pregnant women were more likely to consult a massage therapist for their back
      pain (32.3%) and neck pain (39.9%), and another alternative practitioner (27.3%)
      or obstetrician (22.1%) for pelvic pain, while some women did not seek treatment
      (<30%). Women who sought help for each symptom reported significantly worse
      levels of mental and physical health across most SF-36 domains (P<.05). Women
      without health insurance, or pregnancy-related healthcare insurance were less
      likely to seek treatment. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Pregnant women experiencing
      back, neck and/or pelvic pain frequently consult CAM practitioners, particularly
      if they have healthcare insurance. There is a need for all healthcare
      practitioners providing maternity care to enquire about possible back, neck and
      pelvic pain amongst women in their care and be cognisant of possible
      corresponding CAM use for such symptoms.

PMID- 27620140
TI  - Orthogonal Assessment of Biotherapeutic Glycosylation: A Case Study Correlating N
      Glycan Core Afucosylation of Herceptin with Mechanism of Action.
AB  - In the development of therapeutic antibodies and biosimilars, an appropriate
      biopharmaceutical CMC control strategy that connects critical quality attributes
      with mechanism of action should enable product assessment at an early stage of
      development in order to mitigate risk. Here we demonstrate a new analytical
      workflow using trastuzumab which comprises "middle-up" analysis using a
      combination of IdeS and the endoglycosidases EndoS and EndoS2 to comprehensively
      map the glycan content. Enzymatic cleavage between the two N-acetyl glucosamine
      residues of the chitobiose core of N-glycans significantly simplifies the
      oligosaccharide component enabling facile distinction of GlcNAc from GlcNAc with
      core fucose. This approach facilitates quantitative determination of total Fc
      glycan core-afucosylation, which was in turn correlated with receptor binding
      affinity by surface plasmon resonance and in vitro ADCC potency with a cell based
      bioassay. The strategy also quantifies Fc-glycan occupancy and the relative
      contribution from high mannose glycans.

PMID- 27620142
TI  - Introductory Editorial for ACS Infectious Diseases.

PMID- 27620138
TI  - Vitamin D treatment attenuates 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS)
      induced colitis but not oxazolone-induced colitis.
AB  - Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) have different immunological
      mechanisms, while both of them are potential targets of vitamin D treatment. In
      this study, we have tried to address the role of vitamin D in CD and UC using two
      mouse models. Mice of C57B6L were given vitamin D before the induction of
      colitis. Our results showed that vitamin D attenuated 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene
      sulphonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis but not oxazolone-induced colitis. Vitamin
      D could preserve the local histology, alleviate inflammation, suppress apoptosis,
      maintain tight junction function and decrease permeability. Interestingly, it has
      more of an effect on local structure preservation and inflammation inhibition in
      CD than in UC mice. Vitamin D blocked the increase of helper T-cell type 1 (Th1)-
      and helper T-cell type 17 (Th17)-related cytokines in TNBS-induced colitis. But
      the increase of helper T-cell type 2 (Th2)- and regulatory T cells (Treg)-related
      cytokines was augmented at the same time in oxazolone-induced colitis which
      counteracted each other. Our study helps elucidate the differential protective
      effects of vitamin D on CD and UC patients, as reported in literature.

PMID- 27620144
TI  - A New-Class Antibacterial-Almost. Lessons in Drug Discovery and Development: A
      Critical Analysis of More than 50 Years of Effort toward ATPase Inhibitors of DNA
      Gyrase and Topoisomerase IV.
AB  - The introduction into clinical practice of an ATPase inhibitor of bacterial DNA
      gyrase and topoisomerase IV (topo IV) would represent a new-class agent for the
      treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Novobiocin, the only historical
      member of this class, established the clinical proof of concept for this novel
      mechanism during the late 1950s, but its use declined rapidly and it was
      eventually withdrawn from the market. Despite significant and prolonged effort
      across the biopharmaceutical industry to develop other agents of this class,
      novobiocin remains the only ATPase inhibitor of gyrase and topo IV ever to
      progress beyond Phase I. In this review, we analyze the historical attempts to
      discover and develop agents within this class and highlight factors that might
      have hindered those efforts. Within the last 15 years, however, our technical
      understanding of the molecular details of the inhibition of the gyrase and topo
      IV ATPases, the factors governing resistance development to such inhibitors, and
      our knowledge of the physical properties required for robust clinical drug
      candidates have all matured to the point wherein the industry may now address
      this mechanism of action with greater confidence. The antibacterial spectrum
      within this class has recently been extended to begin to include serious Gram
      negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and
      Klebsiella pneumoniae. In spite of this recent technical progress, adverse
      economics associated with antibacterial R&D over the last 20 years has diminished
      industry's ability to commit the resources and perseverance needed to bring new
      class agents to launch. Consequently, a number of recent efforts in the ATPase
      class have been derailed by organizational rather than scientific factors.
      Nevertheless, within this context we discuss the unique opportunity for the
      development of ATPase inhibitors of gyrase and topo IV as new-class antibacterial
      agents with broad spectrum potential. 

PMID- 27620141
TI  - Cervicovaginal cytokines, sialidase activity and bacterial load in reproductive
      aged women with intermediate vaginal flora.
AB  - : Studies have shown that not only bacterial vaginosis, but also intermediate
      vaginal flora has deleterious effects for women's reproductive health. However,
      literature still lacks information about microbiological and immunological
      aspects of intermediate flora. OBJECTIVE: To characterize intermediate flora
      regarding levels of Interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor
      alpha, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-10, sialidase; loads of
      Gardnerella vaginalis, total bacteria and to verify whether it is closer related
      to normal flora or bacterial vaginosis. This cross-sectional study enrolled 526
      non-pregnant reproductive-aged women distributed in 3 groups according to pattern
      of vaginal flora using Nugent's system in normal, intermediate and bacterial
      vaginosis. Cervicovaginal levels of cytokines, sialidases, loads of G. vaginalis
      and total bacteria were assessed by ELISA, conversion of MUAN and quantitative
      real-time PCR, respectively. A principal component analysis(PCA) using all
      measured parameters was performed to compare the three different types of flora.
      Results showed that intermediate flora is associated with increased
      cervicovaginal IL-1beta in relation to normal flora(P<0.0001). When compared to
      bacterial vaginosis, intermediate flora has higher IL-8 and IL-10 levels(P<0.01).
      Sialidases were in significantly lower levels in normal and intermediate flora
      than bacterial vaginosis(P<0.0001). Loads of G. vaginalis and total bacterial
      differed among all groups(P<0.0001), being highest in bacterial vaginosis. PCA
      showed that normal and intermediate flora were closely scattered, while bacterial
      vaginosis were grouped separately. CONCLUSION: Although intermediate flora shows
      some differences in cytokines, sialidases and bacterial loads in relation to
      normal flora and bacterial vaginosis, when taken together, general
      microbiological and immunological pattern pattern of intermediate flora resembles
      the normal flora.

PMID- 27620146
TI  - Microbial Metabolomics: Fifty Shades of Metabolism.

PMID- 27620145
TI  - Fragment-Based Strategy for Investigating and Suppressing the Efflux of Bioactive
      Small Molecules.
AB  - Membrane protein-mediated drug efflux is a phenomenon that compromises our
      ability to treat both infectious diseases and cancer. Accordingly, there is much
      interest in the development of strategies for suppression of the mechanisms by
      which therapeutic agents are effluxed. Here, using resistance to the cyclic
      acyldepsipeptide (ADEP) antibacterial agents as a model, we demonstrate a new
      counter-efflux strategy wherein a fragment of an actively exported bioactive
      compound competitively interferes with its efflux and potentiates its activity. A
      fragment comprising the N-heptenoyldifluorophenylalanine side chain of the
      pharmacologically optimized ADEPs potentiates the antibacterial activity of the
      ADEPs against actinobacteria to a greater extent than reserpine, a well-known
      efflux inhibitor. Beyond their validation of a new approach to studying molecular
      recognition by drug efflux pumps, our findings have important implications for
      killing Mycobacterium tuberculosis with ADEPs and reclaiming the efficacies of
      therapeutic agents whose activity has been compromised by efflux pumps. 

PMID- 27620147
TI  - Therapeutics for Neglected Infectious Diseases: Progress and Challenge.

PMID- 27620148
TI  - Outcome Measures in Quality of Life.
AB  - The concept of quality of life (QOL) represents a new paradigm in rehabilitation
      research and cSinical care. Three measurement approaches have been used to
      investigate QOL of individuals: (1) evaluative or subjective, (2) objective, and
      (3) quality adjusted life year (QALY). QALYs represent the utility approach to
      measurement with emphasis on value of, desirability of, or preference for
      conditions or status. When the condition in question isdefined as health, health
      related quality of life (HQOL) measures are employed. Very few studies are found
      in the literature addressing QOL of stroke patients. Among studies reviewed, HQOL
      measures are often used. A summary of these studies and discussion of limitations
      associated with QOL measures utilized are provided. 

PMID- 27620149
TI  - Community-Based Resources for Persons with Aphasia and Their Families.
AB  - The article traces the emergence of associations for persons with aphasia and
      their families in Finland, Germany, Sweden, England, Japan, and the United
      States, and the subsequent formation of pan-national associations. Historical and
      current contributions of American associations to resources availableto persons
      with aphasia and their families are also explored. 

PMID- 27620150
TI  - Talking to Individuals with Aphasia: A Challenge for the Rehabilitation Team.
AB  - This article provides the rehabilitation team with some tips concerning how to
      maximize their chances for successful communication with individuals who have
      aphasia. These ideas can be applied across the range of settings in which health
      care is provided. The notions described here can increase the effectiveness of
      interpersonal communication with aphasictalkers, as well as helpto improve the
      quality of life after aphasia. 

PMID- 27620151
TI  - Spiritual Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation.
AB  - The person who experiences a stroke realizes a change in every area of life. The
      spiritual life of each individual is affected by stroke and goes through a period
      of adjustment. It is also the area of life that gives support and strength to
      cope and hope through the changes, allowing feelings and frustrations to be
      expressed without recourse. The perceived presence of the Divine gives a sense of
      love, purpose, power, and belongingness. The spiritual is an integral part in
      recovery from and rehabilitation following a stroke. 

PMID- 27620152
TI  - Living and Leaving Life on One's Own Terms: Certain Legal Rights of Older Adults
      and Persons with Disabilities.
AB  - While attention has been focused on granting equal rights based on race,
      religion, and gender, the rights of older and disabled persons have been
      overlooked for many years. Existing laws were of limited scope or were not
      enforced. However, with the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
      1990, and the recognition and adoption by various states of living wills and
      related protections, the legal rights of older and disabled persons in attempting
      to live as normal a life as possible and to deal with serious or terminal
      illnesses have been greatly expanded. This article provides an overview of
      existing law in these areas. 

PMID- 27620153
TI  - I've Walked a Mile in Their Shoes.

PMID- 27620155
TI  - Medical Problems Affecting Stroke Rehabilitation.

PMID- 27620154
TI  - Quality of Life: Is It in the Eye of the Beholder?

PMID- 27620156
TI  - Central Poststroke Pain.

PMID- 27620158
TI  - From the Editor.

PMID- 27620160
TI  - Letters to the Editors.

PMID- 27620159
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 27620161
TI  - Morphometric profile of large intestinal neuronal plexuses in normal perinatal
      autopsies and Hirschsprung disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To derive objective values for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung disease
      (HSCR) from a comparison of the morphometric profile of large intestinal neuronal
      plexuses in normal perinatal autopsies and surgical specimens of HSCR. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional comparative study with 40 subjects each in (i) non-HSCR perinatal
      group encompassing neonates and stillborn babies beyond 30 weeks of gestation on
      whom autopsies were conducted and (ii) HSCR group comprising all patients
      clinicoradiologically diagnosed as HSCR. The morphometric assessment was done on
      hematoxylin-and-eosin-stained sections. KEY RESULTS: The morphometric profile in
      terms of average number of ganglia/linear mm of colon, interganglion distance,
      number of ganglion cells/ganglion, average ganglion cell length, ganglion cell
      nuclear area, ganglion cell nuclear diameter, nerve trunk thickness, and density
      has been outlined. On comparison with the neuroanatomically normal zone of HSCR,
      the cut-offs to identify hypertrophic nerve trunks (nerve trunk thickness of
      >37.85 MUm) and reduced number of ganglia (number of ganglia/linear mm of colon
      <2.05 and interganglion distance of >229 MUm) were derived. CONCLUSIONS &
      INFERENCES: The determined objective values, after testing on diagnostic rectal
      biopsies, may serve to formulate a diagnostic algorithm along with immunostaining
      for diagnosis of HSCR in colorectal specimens.

PMID- 27620162
TI  - Faecal incontinence in patients with a sphincter defect: comparison of
      sphincteroplasty and sacral nerve stimulation.
AB  - AIM: Sphincteroplasty (SP) is used to treat faecal incontinence (FI) in patients
      with a sphincter defect. Although sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is used in
      patients, its outcome in patients with a sphincter defect has not been
      definitively evaluated. We compared the results of SP and SNS for FI associated
      with a sphincter defect. METHOD: Patients treated by SNS or SP for FI with an
      associated sphincter defect were retrospectively identified from an Institutional
      Review Board approved prospective database. Patients with ultrasound evidence of
      a sphincter defect were matched by age, gender and body mass index. The main
      outcome measure was change in the Cleveland Clinic Florida Faecal Incontinence
      Score (CCF-FIS). RESULTS: Twenty-six female patients with a sphincter defect were
      included in the study. The 13 patients in each group were similar for age, body
      mass index, initial CCF-FIS and the duration of follow-up. No differences were
      observed in parity (P = 1.00), the rate of concomitant urinary incontinence (P =
      0.62) or early postoperative complications. Within-group analysis showed a
      significant reduction of the CCF-FIS among patients having SNS (15.9-8.4; P =
      0.003) but not SP (16.9-12.9; P = 0.078). There was a trend towards a more
      significant improvement in CCF-FIS in the SNS than in the SP group (post
      treatment CCF-FIS 8.4 vs 12.9, P = 0.06). Net improvement in CCF-FIS was not
      significantly different between the groups (P = 0.06). CONCLUSION: Significant
      improvement in CCF-FIS was observed in patients treated with SNS but not SP
      patients. A trend towards better results was seen with SNS.

PMID- 27620164
TI  - The evolution of mitral valve prolapse: insights from the Framingham Heart Study.
AB  - The Framingham Heart Study group has described the non-diagnostic variants may
      evolve into mitral valve prolapse over time. These non-diagnostic variants
      include minimal systolic displacement, and abnormal anterior coaptation which is
      measured on surface echocardiography. Computed tomography and cardiac magnetic
      resonance imaging are evolving and can assess the degree of mitral regurgitation
      (MR); imaging techniques aside, genetic and proteomic detection of mitral
      prolapse is also evolving. However, the genetic basis for mitral prolapse is
      complex and likely involves multiple genetic loci. The same is also true for work
      determining possible biomarkers associated with mitral prolapse. The present
      study may be useful in counseling patients with a family history of mitral
      prolapse. Registry data is therefore of paramount importance in providing
      unbiased insight into this common disease. 

PMID- 27620163
TI  - Targeting EP4 downstream c-Jun through ERK1/2-mediated reduction of DNMT1 reveals
      novel mechanism of solamargine-inhibited growth of lung cancer cells.
AB  - Lung cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths
      worldwide. We previously showed that solamargine, one natural phytochemicals from
      traditional plants, inhibited the growth of lung cancer cells through inhibition
      of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) receptor EP4. However, the potential downstream
      effectors of EP4 involving in the anti-lung cancer effects of solamargine still
      remained to be determined. In this study, we further verified that solamargine
      inhibited growth of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells in multiple cell
      lines. Mechanistically, solamargine increased phosphorylation of ERK1/2.
      Moreover, solamargine inhibited the protein expression of DNA methyltransferase 1
      (DNMT1) and c-Jun, which were abrogated in cells treated with MEK/ERK1/2
      inhibitor (PD98059) and transfected with exogenously expressed DNMT1 gene,
      respectively. Interestingly, overexpressed DNMT1 gene antagonized the effect of
      solamargine on c-Jun protein expression. Intriguingly, overexpressed c-Jun
      blocked solamargine-inhibited lung cancer cell growth, and feedback resisted the
      solamargine-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2. A nude mouse xenograft model
      implanted with lung cancer cells in vivo confirmed the results in vitro.
      Collectively, our results show that solamargine inhibits the growth of human lung
      cancer cells through reduction of EP4 protein expression, followed by increasing
      ERK1/2 phosphorylation. This results in decrease in DNMT1 and c-Jun protein
      expressions. The inter-correlations between EP4, DNMT1 and c-Jun and feedback
      regulation of ERK1/2 by c-Jun contribute to the overall responses of solamargine
      in this process. This study uncovers an additional novel mechanism by which
      solamargine inhibits growth of human lung cancer cells.

PMID- 27620165
TI  - Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein (VASP)-dependent and -independent pathways
      regulate thrombin-induced activation of Rap1b in platelets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein (VASP) is involved in the
      inhibition of agonist-induced platelet aggregation by cyclic nucleotides and the
      adhesion of platelets to the vascular wall. alphaIIbbeta3 is the main integrin
      responsible for platelet activation and Rap1b plays a key role in integrin
      signalling. We investigated whether VASP is involved in the regulation of Rap1b
      in platelets since VASP-null platelets exhibit augmented adhesion to endothelial
      cells in vivo. METHODS: Washed platelets from wild type and VASP-deficient mice
      were stimulated with thrombin, the purinergic receptors agonist ADP, or the
      thromboxane A2 receptor agonist U46619 and Rap1b activation was measured using
      the GST-RalGDS-RBD binding assay. Interaction of VASP and Crkl was investigated
      by co-immunoprecipitation, confocal microscopy, and pull-down assays using Crkl
      domains expressed as GST-fusion proteins. RESULTS: Surprisingly, we found that
      activation of Rap1b in response to thrombin, ADP, or U46619 was significantly
      reduced in platelets from VASP-null mice compared to platelets from wild type
      mice. However, inhibition of thrombin-induced activation of Rap1b by nitric oxide
      (NO) was similar in platelets from wild type and VASP-null mice indicating that
      the NO/cGMP/PKG pathway controls inhibition of Rap1b independently from VASP. To
      understand how VASP regulated Rap1b, we investigated association between VASP and
      the Crk-like protein (Crkl), an adapter protein which activates the Rap1b guanine
      nucleotide exchange factor C3G. We demonstrated the formation of a Crkl/VASP
      complex by showing that: 1) Crkl co-immunoprecipitated VASP from platelet
      lysates; 2) Crkl and VASP dynamically co-localized at actin-rich protrusions
      reminiscent of focal adhesions, filopodia, and lamellipodia upon platelet
      spreading on fibronectin; 3) recombinant VASP bound directly to the N-terminal
      SH3 domain of Crkl; 4) Protein Kinase A (PKA) -mediated VASP phosphorylation on
      Ser157 abrogated the binding of Crkl. CONCLUSIONS: We identified Crkl as a novel
      protein interacting with VASP in platelets. We propose that the C3G/Crkl/VASP
      complex plays a role in the regulation of Rap1b and this explains, at least in
      part, the reduced agonist-induced activation of Rap1b in VASP-null platelets. In
      addition, the fact that PKA-dependent VASP phosphorylation abrogated its
      interaction with Crkl may provide, at least in part, a rationale for the PKA
      dependent inhibition of Rap1b and platelet aggregation.

PMID- 27620167
TI  - Initiation, influence, and impact: adolescents and parents discuss the marketing
      of gambling products during Australian sporting matches.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Harmful gambling is a significant public health issue. Alongside the
      rapid diversification of gambling products, are rapid increases in the marketing
      for specific types of gambling products, such as online wagering. While concern
      has been raised about the impact of gambling promotions during sporting matches
      on the gambling beliefs and behaviours of adolescents, very little research has
      explored adolescents' and parents' attitudes towards the marketing of gambling
      products within sport. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with 59 family
      groups comprising of at least one parent and one adolescent (14-18 years old) in
      Victoria, Australia. Parents and adolescents were interviewed separately and
      asked questions relating to their gambling attitudes and behaviours. They were
      then brought together, and advertising reception techniques were utilised to
      prompt discussions about the marketing of gambling during sport. A thematic
      approach to analysis was used, constantly comparing similarities and differences
      between and across groups. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged. First, was
      initiation of sport as a platform for the promotion of gambling. Adolescents
      perceived that the use of embedded promotions (for example during the match) and
      the use of athletes in gambling promotions were significant mechanisms for
      creating an alignment between gambling companies and sporting teams and codes.
      Second, was the influence of marketing messages in creating a perception that
      gambling was always accessible, and was an integral part of the sporting
      experience. Third was the impact of marketing messages on adolescent's discourses
      about sport. Parents described that they had noticed that wagering, and 'odds'
      discussions, had become embedded in adolescents narratives about sporting
      matches. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Gambling marketing during sport has
      significantly increased. While the gambling industry states that it does not aim
      to intentionally target young people, adolescents are increasingly aware of the
      relationship between gambling and sport. Future research should explore the
      impacts and influence of gambling promotions during sport on the gambling
      attitudes and consumption intentions of adolescents. Effective public health
      policy is needed to develop comprehensive regulatory frameworks to protect young
      people from unnecessary exposure to the marketing for this potentially harmful
      adult product.

PMID- 27620168
TI  - A prospective evaluation of the availability and utility of the Ambulance Call
      Record in the emergency department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine how often the Ambulance Call Record (ACR) was available
      to emergency department (ED) physicians and whether it contained information that
      changed the ED management of patients. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort
      study of adult patients transported to one of two tertiary care centre EDs.
      Physicians completed a data collection form for each patient regarding ACR
      availability and the perceived value of the ACR. This study began shortly after
      the implementation of a new electronic ACR (eACR) handover process (Round 1). To
      control for any confounding factors related to this new eACR handover process,
      the study was repeated 6 months after its implementation (Round 2). RESULTS:
      Total of 869 forms were collected: 545 in Round 1, and 324 in Round 2. The ACR
      was available at first physician assessment for 82 (15.7%) patients in Round 1,
      and 76 (24.4%) patients in Round 2 (Delta8.7%, 95% CI: 3.1%, 14.5%). The ACR was
      available at some point during patients' ED stay for 154 (28.9%) patients in
      Round 1, compared to 111 (34.5%) patients in Round 2 (Delta5.6%, 95% CI: 0.0%,
      12.1%). When the ACR was available for a patient (n=265), physicians believed
      that information in the ACR changed their treatment plan in 76 (28.8%) cases.
      CONCLUSION: Physicians who review the ACR believe that the ACR contains relevant
      information that may influence patient management; however, physicians commonly
      manage patients without reviewing the ACR.

PMID- 27620166
TI  - A qualitative study of perceived needs and factors associated with the quality of
      care for common mental disorders in patients with chronic diseases: the
      perspective of primary care clinicians and patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders is high
      among patients with chronic diseases in primary care, and is associated with
      increased morbidity and mortality rates. The detection and treatment of common
      mental disorders in patients with chronic diseases can be challenging in the
      primary care setting. This study aims to explore the perceived needs, barriers
      and facilitators for the delivery of mental health care for patients with
      coexisting common mental disorders and chronic diseases in primary care from the
      clinician and patient perspectives. METHODS: In this qualitative descriptive
      study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with clinicians (family physician,
      nurse, psychologist, social worker; n = 18) and patients (n = 10) from three
      primary care clinics in Quebec, Canada. The themes explored included clinician
      factors (e.g., attitudes, perception of roles, collaboration, management of
      clinical priorities) and patient factors (e.g., needs, preferences, access to
      care, communication with health professionals) associated with the delivery of
      care. Qualitative data analysis was conducted based on an interactive cyclical
      process of data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing and verification.
      RESULTS: Clinician interviews highlighted a number of needs, barriers and
      enablers in the provision of patient services, which related to inter
      professional collaboration, access to psychotherapy, polypharmacy as well as
      communication and coordination of services within the primary care clinic and the
      local network. Two specific facilitators associated with optimal mental health
      care were the broadening of nurses' functions in mental health care and the
      active integration of consulting psychiatrists. Patients corroborated the issues
      raised by the clinicians, particularly in the domains of whole-person care,
      service accessibility and care management. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this
      project will contribute to the development of quality improvement interventions
      to increase the uptake of organizational and clinical evidence-based practices
      for patients with chronic diseases and concurrent common mental disorders, in
      priority areas including collaborative care, access to psychotherapy and linkages
      with specialized mental health care.

PMID- 27620169
TI  - FTIR spectroscopy as a tool to detect contamination of rocket (Eruca sativa and
      Diplotaxis tenuifolia) salad with common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) leaves.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rocket is a popular salad vegetable used all over the world and it
      has many health benefits. However, like with all plant material, there exists a
      danger of contamination with toxic substances. In the case of rocket,
      contamination with groundsel has occurred. Groundsel is a common weed in rocket
      crops, and it contains very toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. In our study infrared
      spectroscopy was used to distinguish groundsel samples from rocket leaves.
      Infrared spectroscopy is a very simple analytical technique; however, some
      specific conditions are more easily implemented in industrial environment than
      others. Some of these conditions and parameters of infrared spectroscopy were
      explored in detail. RESULTS: We tested for the influence of different parameters
      of attenuated total reflectance and transmission infrared method. Our results
      show that a 100 % correct classification can be obtained under conditions most
      suitable for industry: using fresh samples and parameters that enable fast
      spectral measurement. CONCLUSION: Infrared spectroscopy is a fast and easy-to-use
      method that has been shown to be able to differentiate between rocket and
      groundsel leaves. Therefore, it could be further studied for implementation in
      the safety control of rocket salads. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27620170
TI  - Amiodarone and lidocaine for shock refractory ventricular fibrillation or
      ventricular tachycardia in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: are they really
      effective?

PMID- 27620171
TI  - Relationship between symptom dimensions and white matter alterations in obsessive
      compulsive disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the severities of symptom
      dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and white matter alterations.
      METHODS: We applied tract-based spatial statistics for diffusion tensor imaging
      (DTI) acquired by 3T magnetic resonance imaging. First, we compared fractional
      anisotropy (FA) between 20 OCD patients and 30 healthy controls (HC). Then,
      applying whole brain analysis, we searched the brain regions showing correlations
      between the severities of symptom dimensions assessed by Obsessive-Compulsive
      Inventory-Revised and FA in all participants. Finally, we calculated the
      correlations between the six symptom dimensions and multiple DTI measures [FA,
      axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD)] in a
      region-of-interest (ROI) analysis and explored the differences between OCD
      patients and HC. RESULTS: There were no between-group differences in FA or brain
      region correlations between the severities of symptom dimensions and FA in any of
      the participants. ROI analysis revealed negative correlations between checking
      severity and left inferior frontal gyrus white matter and left middle temporal
      gyrus white matter and a positive correlation between ordering severity and right
      precuneus in FA in OCD compared with HC. We also found negative correlations
      between ordering severity and right precuneus in RD, between obsessing severities
      and right supramarginal gyrus in AD and MD, and between hoarding severity and
      right insular gyrus in AD. CONCLUSION: Our study supported the hypothesis that
      the severities of respective symptom dimensions are associated with different
      patterns of white matter alterations.

PMID- 27620172
TI  - Anti-tumor activity and mechanism of apoptosis of A549 induced by ruthenium
      complex.
AB  - Two new ruthenium (II) polypyridyl complexes [Ru(MeIm)4(pip)]2+ (1) and
      [Ru(MeIm)4(4-npip)]2+ (2) were synthesized under the guidance of computational
      studies (DFT). Their binding property to human telomeric G-quadruplex studied by
      UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, the fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET)
      melting assay and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy for validating the
      theoretical prediction. Both of them were evaluated for their potential anti
      proliferative activity against four human tumor cell lines. Complex 2 shows
      growth inhibition against all the cell lines tested, especially the human lung
      tumor cell (A549). The RTCA analysis not only validated the inhibition activity
      but also showed the ability of reducing A549 cells' migration. DNA-flow
      cytometric analysis, mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim) and the
      scavenger measurements of reactive oxygen species (ROS) analysis carried out to
      investigate the mechanism of cell growth inhibition and apoptosis-inducing effect
      of complex 2. The results demonstrated that complex 2 induces tumor cells
      apoptosis by acting on both mitochondrial homeostasis destruction and death
      receptor signaling pathways. And those suggested that complex 2 could be a
      candidate for further evaluation as a chemotherapeutic agent against human tumor.

PMID- 27620173
TI  - Projecting ADME Behavior and Drug-Drug Interactions in Early Discovery and
      Development: Application of the Extended Clearance Classification System.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the utility of Extended Clearance Classification System (ECCS)
      in understanding absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME)
      attributes and enabling victim drug-drug interaction (DDI) predictions. METHODS:
      A database of 368 drugs with relevant ADME parameters, main metabolizing enzymes,
      uptake transporters, efflux transporters, and highest change in exposure (%AUC)
      in presence of inhibitors was developed using published literature. Drugs were
      characterized according to ECCS using ionization, molecular weight and estimated
      permeability. RESULTS: Analyses suggested that ECCS class 1A drugs are well
      absorbed and systemic clearance is determined by metabolism mediated by CYP2C,
      esterases, and UGTs. For class 1B drugs, oral absorption is high and the
      predominant clearance mechanism is hepatic uptake mediated by OATP transporters.
      High permeability neutral/basic drugs (class 2) showed high oral absorption, with
      metabolism mediated generally by CYP3A, CYP2D6 and UGTs as the predominant
      clearance mechanism. Class 3A/4 drugs showed moderate absorption with dominant
      renal clearance involving OAT/OCT2 transporters. Class 3B drugs showed low to
      moderate absorption with hepatic uptake (OATPs) and/or renal clearance as primary
      clearance mechanisms. The highest DDI risk is typically seen with class 2/1B/3B
      compounds manifested by inhibition of either CYP metabolism or active hepatic
      uptake. Class 2 showed a wider range in AUC change likely due to a variety of
      enzymes involved. DDI risk for class 3A/4 is small and associated with inhibition
      of renal transporters. CONCLUSIONS: ECCS provides a framework to project ADME
      profiles and further enables prediction of victim DDI liabilities in drug
      discovery and development.

PMID- 27620174
TI  - Enabling Anyone to Translate Clinically Relevant Ideas to Therapies.
AB  - How do we inspire new ideas that could lead to potential treatments for rare or
      neglected diseases, and allow for serendipity that could help to catalyze them?
      How many potentially good ideas are lost because they are never tested? What if
      those ideas could have lead to new therapeutic approaches and major healthcare
      advances? If a clinician or anyone for that matter, has a new idea they want to
      test to develop a molecule or therapeutic that they could translate to the
      clinic, how would they do it without a laboratory or funding? These are not idle
      theoretical questions but addressing them could have potentially huge economic
      implications for nations. If we fail to capture the diversity of ideas and test
      them we may also lose out on the next blockbuster treatments. Many of those
      involved in the process of ideation may be discouraged and simply not know where
      to go. We try to address these questions and describe how there are options to
      raising funding, how even small scale investments can foster preclinical or
      clinical translation, and how there are several approaches to outsourcing the
      experiments, whether to collaborators or commercial enterprises. While these are
      not new or far from complete solutions, they are first steps that can be taken by
      virtually anyone while we work on other solutions to build a more concrete
      structure for the "idea-hypothesis testing-proof of concept-translation
      breakthrough pathway".

PMID- 27620177
TI  - Grounding statistical learning in context: The effects of learning and retrieval
      contexts on cross-situational word learning.
AB  - Natural language environments usually provide structured contexts for learning.
      This study examined the effects of semantically themed contexts-in both learning
      and retrieval phases-on statistical word learning. Results from 2 experiments
      consistently showed that participants had higher performance in semantically
      themed learning contexts. In contrast, themed retrieval contexts did not affect
      performance. Our work suggests that word learners are sensitive to statistical
      regularities not just at the level of individual word-object co-occurrences but
      also at another level containing a whole network of associations among objects
      and their properties.

PMID- 27620176
TI  - Novel Fish Oil-based Bigel System for Controlled Drug Delivery and its Influence
      on Immunomodulatory Activity of Imiquimod Against Skin Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize bigel system as a topical drug delivery vehicle and to
      establish the immunomodulatory role of imiquimod-fish oil combination against
      skin cancer and inflammation resulting from chemical carcinogenesis. METHODS:
      Imiquimod-loaded fish oil bigel colloidal system was prepared using a blend of
      carbopol hydrogel and fish oil oleogel. Bigels were first characterized for their
      mechanical properties and compared to conventional gel systems. Ex vivo
      permeation studies were performed on murine skin to analyze the ability of the
      bigels to transport drug across skin and to predict the release mechanism via
      mathematical modelling. Furthermore, to analyze pharmacological effectiveness in
      skin cancer and controlling imiquimod-induced inflammatory side effects,
      imiquimod-fish oil combination was tested in vitro on epidermoid carcinoma cells
      and in vivo in Swiss albino mice cancer model. RESULTS: Imiquimod-loaded fish oil
      bigels exhibited higher drug availability inside the skin as compared to
      individual imiquimod hydrogel and oleogel controls through quasi-Fickian
      diffusion mechanism. Imiquimod-fish oil combination in bigel enhanced the
      antitumor effects and significantly reduced serum pro-inflammatory cytokine
      levels such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6, and reducing tumor
      progression via inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor. Imiquimod-fish
      oil combination also resulted in increased expression of interleukin-10, an anti
      inflammatory cytokine, which could also aid anti-tumor activity against skin
      cancer. CONCLUSION: Imiquimod administration through a bigel vehicle along with
      fish oil could be beneficial for controlling imiquimod-induced inflammatory side
      effects and in the treatment of skin cancer.

PMID- 27620178
TI  - How the threat of losses makes people explore more than the promise of gains.
AB  - Until recently, loss aversion has been inferred exclusively from choice
      asymmetries in the loss and gain domains. This study examines the impact of the
      prospect of losses on exploratory search in a situation in which exploration is
      costly. Taking advantage of the largest available data set of decisions from
      experience, analyses showed that most people explore payoff distributions more
      under the threat of a loss than under the promise of a gain. This behavioral
      regularity thus occurs in both costly search and cost-free search (see Lejarraga,
      Hertwig, & Gonzalez, Cognition, 124, 334-342, 2012). Furthermore, a model
      comparison identified the simple win-stay-lose-shift heuristic as a likely
      candidate mechanism behind the loss-gain exploration asymmetry observed. In
      contrast, models assuming loss aversion failed to reproduce the asymmetry.
      Moreover, the asymmetry was not simply a precursor of loss aversion but a
      phenomenon separate from it. These findings are consistent with the recently
      proposed notion of intensified vigilance in the face of potential losses.

PMID- 27620175
TI  - PEGylation of a High-Affinity Anti-(+)Methamphetamine Single Chain Antibody
      Fragment Extends Functional Half-Life by Reducing Clearance.
AB  - PURPOSE: Methamphetamine (METH) abuse is a worldwide drug problem, yet no FDA
      approved pharmacological treatments are available for METH abuse. Therefore, we
      produced an anti-METH single chain antibody fragment (scFv7F9Cys) as a
      pharmacological treatment for METH abuse. ScFv's have a short half-life due to
      their small size, limiting their clinical use. Thus, we examined the
      pharmacokinetic effects of conjugating poly(ethylene) glycol (-PEG) to scFv7F9Cys
      to extend its functional half-life. METHODS: The affinity of scFv7F9Cys and PEG
      conjugates to METH was determined in vitro via equilibrium dialysis saturation
      binding. Pharmacokinetic and parameters of scFv7F9Cys and scFv7F9Cys-PEG20K (30
      mg/kg i.v. each) and their ability to bind METH in vivo were determined in male
      Sprague-Dawley rats receiving a subcutaneous infusion of METH (3.2 mg/kg/day).
      RESULTS: Of three PEGylated conjugates, scFv7F9Cys-PEG20K was determined the most
      viable therapeutic candidate. PEGylation of scFv7F9Cys did not alter METH binding
      functionality in vitro, and produced a 27-fold increase in the in vivo half-life
      of the antibody fragment. Furthermore, total METH serum concentrations increased
      following scFv7F9Cys or scFv7F9Cys-PEG20K administration, with scFv7F9Cys-PEG20K
      producing significantly longer changes in METH distribution than scFv7F9Cys.
      CONCLUSIONS: PEGylation of scFv7F9Cys significantly increase the functional half
      life of scFv7F9Cys, suggesting it may be a long-lasting pharmacological treatment
      option for METH abuse.

PMID- 27620180
TI  - Stress-induced memory alters growth of clonal offspring of white clover
      (Trifolium repens).
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The phenotype of an individual can be modified by the
      environment experienced by its predecessors, a phenomenon called
      transgenerational or maternal effects. These effects are studied mostly across
      sexual generations and are thought to be mediated also by epigenetic variation.
      However, we do not know how important transgenerational effects are across
      asexual generations of clonal plants. METHODS: We investigated the role of
      different drought intensities and durations experienced by parental plants of
      Trifolium repens on the growth of offspring ramets after transplantation of
      clonal cuttings to control conditions. We also treated half of the plants with 5
      azacytidine, which is a demethylating agent, to test the potential role of DNA
      methylation on transgenerational effects. KEY RESULTS: Transgenerational effects
      were manifested as increased biomass of offspring ramets if parental plants
      experienced medium drought applied for a short period and decreased biomass of
      offspring ramets if parental plants experienced intense drought for a short
      period. These transgenerational effects were not observed for offspring of
      parents from the same treatments if these were treated with 5-azacytidine, whose
      application significantly decreased the amount of 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine in
      plants. CONCLUSIONS: Transgenerational effects might play an important role in
      the clonal plant Trifolium repens and are probably mediated by epigenetic
      variation. The growth and behavior of clonal plants might be affected not only by
      the ambient environment but also by environments that are no longer present at
      the time of clonal reproduction. This phenomenon can have yet unacknowledged
      ecological and evolutionary implications for clonal plants.

PMID- 27620181
TI  - The FOUR LIPS (FLP) and MYB88 genes conditionally suppress the production of
      nonstomatal epidermal cells in Arabidopsis cotyledons.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The Arabidopsis MYB transcriptional factors FOUR LIPS (FLP)
      and MYB88 are predicted to play a broader role than just limiting the number of
      guard cells per stoma in the epidermis based on their expression patterns.
      Analysis of the numbers of all epidermal cells in cotyledons in flp mutants and
      the flp-1 myb88 double mutant may substantiate the functions of FLP and MYB88 in
      nonstomatal epidermal cells. METHODS: The number of all types of abaxial
      epidermal cells in mature cotyledons were determined under different growth
      conditions in flp-1, flp-3, flp-8, and tmm-1 single mutants, flp-1 tmm-1 and flp
      1 myb88 double mutants, and accessions Columbia-0 (Col, control for flp-1, flp-3,
      and flp-1 myb88) and Landsberg erecta (Ler, control for flp-8). KEY RESULTS: In
      soil-grown plants, the number of pavement cells and meristemoids per cotyledon
      were not statistically different between the flp mutants and their respective
      controls and between flp-1 and flp-1 myb88, except sometimes for the number of
      meristemoids or pavement cells between flp-1 and Col. In contrast, the same
      comparisons yielded statistically significant differences in medium-grown plants,
      i.e., more cells in the flp mutants and flp-1 myb88, except for meristemoids
      between flp-8 and Ler and pavement cells between flp-1 and flp-1 myb88. No
      significant difference was detected for nonstomatal epidermal cells between tmm-1
      and flp-1/tmm-1 under the two conditions. CONCLUSIONS: FLP and MYB88 inhibit the
      production of nonstomatal epidermal cells largely in a growth-condition-dependent
      manner. The tmm-1 mutation is epistatic to the flp-1 mutation in the production
      of nonstomatal epidermal cells in the cotyledon.

PMID- 27620179
TI  - Different relationship between ANGPTL3 and HDL components in female non-diabetic
      subjects and type-2 diabetic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) is a major lipoprotein
      regulator and shows positive correlation with high-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL-c) in population studies and ANGPTL3 mutated subjects. However,
      no study has looked its correlation with HDL components nor with HDL function in
      patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: We studied 298 non
      diabetic subjects and 300 T2DM patients who were randomly recruited in the
      tertiary referral centre. Plasma levels of ANGPTL3 were quantified by ELISA.
      Plasma samples were fractionated to obtain HDLs. HDL components including
      apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), triglyceride, serum amyloid A (SAA), phospholipid
      and Sphingosine-1-phosphate were measured. HDLs were isolated from female
      controls and T2DM patients by ultracentrifugation to assess cholesterol efflux
      against HDLs. A Pearson unadjusted correlation analysis and a linear regression
      analysis adjusting for age, body mass index and lipid lowering drugs were
      performed in male or female non-diabetic participants or diabetic patients,
      respectively. RESULTS: We demonstrated that plasma level of ANGPTL3 was lower in
      female T2DM patients than female controls although no difference of ANGPTL3
      levels was detected between male controls and T2DM patients. After adjusting for
      confounding factors, one SD increase of ANGPTL3 (164.6 ng/ml) associated with
      increase of 2.57 mg/dL cholesterol and 1.14 MUg/mL apoA-I but decrease of 47.07
      MUg/L of SAA in HDL particles of non-diabetic females (p < 0.05 for cholesterol
      and SAA; p < 0.0001 for apoA-I). By contrast, 1-SD increase of ANGPTL3 (159.9
      ng/ml) associated with increase of 1.69 mg/dl cholesterol and 1.25 MUg/mL apoA-I
      but decrease of 11.70 MUg/L of SAA in HDL particles of female diabetic patients
      (p < 0.05 for cholesterol; p < 0.0001 for apoA-I; p = 0.676 for SAA). Moreover,
      one SD increase of ANGPTL3 associated with increase of 2.11 % cholesterol efflux
      against HDLs in non-diabetic females (p = 0.071) but decrease of 1.46 % in female
      T2DM patients (p = 0.13) after adjusting for confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS:
      ANGPTL3 is specifically correlated with HDL-c, apoA-I, SAA and HDL function in
      female non-diabetic participants. The decrease of ANGPTL3 level in female T2DM
      patients might contribute to its weak association to HDL components and function.
      ANGPTL3 could be considered as a novel therapeutic target for HDL metabolism for
      treating diabetes.

PMID- 27620183
TI  - [Modern urinary stone therapy : Between individualization and guidelines].

PMID- 27620182
TI  - Disentangling plasticity of serotiny, a key adaptive trait in a Mediterranean
      conifer.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Serotiny, the maintenance of ripe seeds in closed fruits or
      cones until fire causes dehiscence, is a key adaptive trait of plants in fire
      prone ecosystems, but knowledge of phenotypic plasticity for cone retention in
      woody plants is extremely scarce. On the basis of published literature and our
      field observations, we hypothesized that increased aridity might decrease the
      aerial seed bank as a plastic response, not necessarily adaptive. METHODS: We
      used a Pinus halepensis common garden replicated in three contrasted sites (mild,
      cold, and dry) to separate population differentiation from phenotypic plasticity
      of cone serotiny and canopy cone bank (CCB). Differences in growth among trees of
      the same provenance allowed us to include size effect as a proxy of ontogenetic
      age for the same chronological age of the trees. KEY RESULTS: Tree size had a
      strong negative effect on serotiny, but serotiny degree differed among trial
      sites even after accounting for size effects. As hypothesized, serotiny was lower
      at the harsh (dry and cold) sites compared with the mild site. Genetic variation
      for size-dependent cone serotiny and significant population * site interaction
      were confirmed, the latter implying different plasticity of serotiny among
      populations. Population differentiation for CCB showed an ecotypic trend, with
      positive correlation with temperature oscillation (continentality) and negative
      correlation with summer rainfall. CONCLUSIONS: Growth-limiting environments
      exacerbated the precocious release of seeds, contrary to the ecotypic trend found
      for the aerial cone bank, suggesting a counter-gradient plasticity. This plastic
      response is potentially maladaptive under a scenario of frequent wildfires.

PMID- 27620184
TI  - [Stone treatment tomorrow and the day after].
AB  - Urological and surgical treatment of urinary stones are highly technological and
      technology-driven disciplines in present-day surgery. German medical engineering
      has always been recognized for its technical innovations in endoscopic surgery.
      Current and future trends are indicative of further miniaturization and
      automation of surgical instruments and assist systems to facilitate
      endourological procedures as well as improvements in the quality of results and
      ergonomics. These technologies include, e. g. 3D-tracking to facilitate access to
      the pelvicaliceal system for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) or robotic master
      slave systems for endourology. The aim of all future stone treatment should be
      complete stone removal. This could be achieved by improved stone fragmentation
      ("micron-sized debris") or complete removal of fragments (e. g. using a "stone
      glue"). Integration of diagnostic procedures and treatments will constitute a key
      aspect of future developments in medical engineering. Intelligent laser systems
      may be capable of distinguishing stones from mucosa and artificial surfaces and
      may be used for immediate stone analysis during surgery. A simpler and faster
      availability of metabolic ("metabolomics") and genetic ("genomics") diagnostics
      will help to facilitate and improve individual metaphylaxis, e. g. in patient
      self-management. Nanotechnology and microrobots that may be used for endoluminal
      diagnostics and treatment of the urinary tract are already in development.

PMID- 27620187
TI  - Effects of ultrasonic disintegration of excess sewage sludge.
AB  - Breaking down sludge floc (sonodyspergation effect) and destruction of the cell
      membranes of microorganisms forming floc is a direct effect of ultrasonic
      disintegration of sludge excess. This results in release of organic material by
      liquid sludge (the sonolysis effect). Desired technological effects of the
      disintegration are: to shorten the hydrolytic phase of fermentation, to increase
      the production of biogas (source of renewable energy) and an increased
      mineralization (stability) of fermented sludge. The presented study demonstrates
      research covering thickened excess sludge of various physicochemical properties,
      collected from nine municipal sewage treatment plants. The sludge was subjected
      to ultrasonic disintegration using three differently constructed disintegrators
      and different proportions of sonification area. Direct effects of disintegration
      were monitored and recorded using selected indicators describing changes in the
      properties of sludge and increase of substance dispersed and dissolved in the
      supernatant liquid to be filtered. Studies have demonstrated that those (direct)
      effects of ultrasonic disintegration depend on the physicochemical properties of
      the sludge (foremost the concentration of dry solids) that determine their
      variable susceptibility to the disintegration methods. The direct effects also
      depend on optimal process conditions (which consist of the construction of the
      ultrasonic disintegrator), the geometric proportions of the sonication area and
      the operating parameters of disintegration (which could be appropriately matched
      to the characteristics of sludge). The most preferable results were obtained for
      ultrasonic disintegration of sludge with a dry matter concentration C 0 < 4.2 %.
      The highest effect of sonolysis-an almost 30-fold increase in the COD dissolved
      in the supernatant-was obtained for the sludge of lowest dry matter (C 0 = 2.0
      %), which was sonicated in a reactor with a short transducer of the largest
      radiating surface area, as well as the lowest ratio between this area and area of
      reactor. The best effects of disagglomeration of flocks have corresponded with
      the high value of power density U UD = 880-900 WL(-1). 

PMID- 27620185
TI  - Coordinated expression and regulation of deiodinases and thyroid hormone
      receptors during metamorphosis in the Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus).
AB  - In vertebrates, thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) and deiodinases are essential for
      developmental events driven by the thyroid hormones (THs). However, the
      significance of deiodinases during the metamorphosis of the Japanese flounder
      (Paralichthys olivaceus) remains unclear. Moreover, regulation and response of
      the TRs and deiodinases to THs in this fish are poorly understood. Therefore, we
      detected the expression patterns of THs, deiodinases, and TRs in drug-treated
      larvae and untreated larvae of P. olivaceus by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay and quantitative real-time PCR during P. olivaceus metamorphosis. To
      further understand the roles of these elements, a rescue assay was performed. Our
      results show the importance of THs, TRs, and deiodinases in flatfish
      metamorphosis. Our results also confirm that D1 and D2 activate THs and D3 plays
      the opposite and complementary role. Moreover, we demonstrated that both TRalpha
      and TRbeta have important but different roles during P. olivaceus metamorphosis.

PMID- 27620186
TI  - Characterization of the isoforms of type IIb sodium-dependent phosphate
      cotransporter (Slc34a2) in yellow catfish, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, and their
      vitamin D3-regulated expression under low-phosphate conditions.
AB  - In this study, two isoforms slc34a2 genes (type IIb sodium-dependent phosphate
      cotransporter), slc34a2a2 and slc34a2b, were cloned from intestine and kidney of
      yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), with rapid amplification of cDNA ends.
      The structure differences and the regulation effects of dietary VD3 under low
      phosphorus were compared among three isoforms of slc34a2 in yellow catfish. The
      predicted Slc34a2a2 and Slc34a2b proteins match 65 % and 53.8 % sequence
      identity, with Slc34a2a1, respectively. The membrane-spanning domains were
      different among these three isoforms. Intestinal Slc34a2a1 and Slc34a2a2 proteins
      had eight and eleven transmembrane domains, while renal Slc34a2b protein had
      nine. The tissue distribution study showed that same as slc34a2a1, slc34a2a2 mRNA
      was mainly distributed in intestine and slc34a2b mRNA in kidney. The effect of
      vitamin D3 (VD3) level on slc34a2 subfamily expression under low-phosphate
      conditions, induced by the addition of 0 (VD0), 324 (VD1), 1243 (VD2), 3621
      (VD3), 8040 (VD4), or 22700 (VD5) IU VD3/kg feed, was assessed by qPCR. The dose
      responsive expression of intestinal slc34a2a2 and high expression of intestinal
      slc34a2a2 in VD5 together with peak expression of kidney slc34a2b in VD3
      coincided with the accumulation of body phosphate content. These data suggested
      that appropriate level of dietary VD3 up-regulated slc34a2a1, slc34a2a2, and
      slc34a2b mRNA levels, which increased phosphate retention. In conclusion, the
      current study provided another possible approach to improve dietary phosphate
      utilization by adding appropriate level of VD3 to a low-phosphate diet to
      regulate intestinal and renal slc34a2 gene expression and thus minimize the
      excretion of phosphorus in yellow catfish.

PMID- 27620188
TI  - Electron Beam Technology for Environmental Pollution Control.
AB  - Worldwide, there are over 1700 electron beam (EB) units in commercial use,
      providing an estimated added value to numerous products, amounting to 100 billion
      USD or more. High-current electron accelerators are used in diverse industries to
      enhance the physical and chemical properties of materials and to reduce
      undesirable contaminants such as pathogens, toxic byproducts, or emissions. Over
      the past few decades, EB technologies have been developed aimed at ensuring the
      safety of gaseous and liquid effluents discharged to the environment. It has been
      demonstrated that EB technologies for flue gas treatment (SO x and NO x removal),
      wastewater purification, and sludge hygienization can be effectively deployed to
      mitigate environmental degradation. Recently, extensive work has been carried out
      on the use of EB for environmental remediation, which also includes the removal
      of emerging contaminants such as VOCs, endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and
      potential EDCs. 

PMID- 27620191
TI  - Making the Case for a Feasible Evaluation Method of Available E-Mental Health
      Products.
AB  - It is often difficult for health providers to evaluate available e-mental health
      products because of the need to balance between obtaining reliable evidence of
      efficacy and the burdens associated with standard empirical evaluation. This
      paper makes the case for using a feasible method to investigate available e
      mental health programs in order to promote knowledge and increase the uptake of e
      mental health products.

PMID- 27620189
TI  - HiTEC: a connectionist model of the interaction between perception and action
      planning.
AB  - Increasing evidence suggests that perception and action planning do not represent
      separable stages of a unidirectional processing sequence, but rather emerging
      properties of highly interactive processes. To capture these characteristics of
      the human cognitive system, we have developed a connectionist model of the
      interaction between perception and action planning: HiTEC, based on the Theory of
      Event Coding (Hommel et al. in Behav Brain Sci 24:849-937, 2001). The model is
      characterized by representations at multiple levels and by shared representations
      and processes. It complements available models of stimulus-response translation
      by providing a rationale for (1) how situation-specific meanings of motor actions
      emerge, (2) how and why some aspects of stimulus-response translation occur
      automatically and (3) how task demands modulate sensorimotor processing. The
      model is demonstrated to provide a unitary account and simulation of a number of
      key findings with multiple experimental paradigms on the interaction between
      perception and action such as the Simon effect, its inversion (Hommel in Psychol
      Res 55:270-279, 1993), and action-effect learning.

PMID- 27620190
TI  - Ambulance helicopter contribution to search and rescue in North Norway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Search and rescue (SAR) operations constitute a significant
      proportion of Norwegian ambulance helicopter missions, and they may limit the
      service's capacity for medical operations. We compared the relative contribution
      of the different helicopter resources using a common definition of SAR-operation
      in order to investigate how the SAR workload had changed over the last years.
      METHODS: We searched the mission databases at the relevant SAR and helicopter
      emergency medical service (HEMS) bases and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre
      (North) for helicopter-supported SAR operations within the potential operation
      area of the Tromso HEMS base in 2000-2010. We defined SAR operations as missions
      over land or sea within 10 nautical miles from the coast with an initial search
      phase, missions with use of rescue hoist or static rope, and avalanche
      operations. RESULTS: There were 769 requests in 639 different SAR operations, and
      600 missions were completed. The number increased during the study period, from
      46 in 2000 to 77 in 2010. The Tromso HEMS contributed with the highest number of
      missions and experienced the largest increase, from 10 % of the operations in
      2000 to 50 % in 2010. Simple terrain and sea operations dominated, and avalanches
      accounted for as many as 12 % of all missions. The helicopter crews used static
      rope or rescue hoist in 141 operations. DISCUSSION: We have described all
      helicopter supported SAR operations in our area by combining databases. The
      Tromso HEMS service had taken over one half of the missions by 2010. Increased
      availability for SAR work is one potential explanation. CONCLUSIONS: The number
      of SAR missions increased during 2000-2010, and the Tromso HEMS experienced the
      greatest increase in workload.

PMID- 27620192
TI  - Impacts of Annealing Conditions on the Flat Band Voltage of Alternate La2O3/Al2O3
      Multilayer Stack Structures.
AB  - The mechanism of flat band voltage (VFB) shift for alternate La2O3/Al2O3
      multilayer stack structures in different annealing condition is investigated. The
      samples were prepared for alternate multilayer structures, which were annealed in
      different conditions. The capacitance-voltage (C-V) measuring results indicate
      that the VFB of samples shift negatively for thinner bottom Al2O3 layer,
      increasing annealing temperature or longer annealing duration. Simultaneously,
      the diffusion of high-k material to interfaces in different multilayer structures
      and annealing conditions is observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
      Based on the dipole theory, a correlation between the diffusion effect of La
      towards bottom Al2O3/Si interface and VFB shift is found. Without changing the
      dielectric constant k of films, VFB shift can be manipulated by controlling the
      single-layer cycles and annealing conditions of alternate high-k multilayer
      stack. 

PMID- 27620194
TI  - MK-8237: a house dust mite vaccine for treating allergic rhinitis, asthma and
      atopic dermatitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since its introduction in clinical practice one century ago for the
      treatment of respiratory allergic diseases, allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT)
      has exhibited a relevant clinical efficacy that was subsequently confirmed in
      controlled trials. Thus, AIT has been accepted worldwide, as testified by
      guidelines and international documents. AIT is considered pivotal in the
      management of allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis and with or
      without asthma. These conditions, in addition to hymenoptera venom allergy,
      currently are the accepted indications. The use of AIT in house-dust mite allergy
      still remains debated, especially due to the methodological problems in assessing
      this form of respiratory allergy. The more recent experimental data on MK-8237
      sublingual tablets provided evidence that AIT, in the sublingual form, is
      effective in dust mite allergy. AREAS COVERED: At present, the evidence of the
      efficacy of AIT in conditions other than respiratory allergy are not conclusive,
      but encouraging results have been obtained in food allergy and atopic dermatitis.
      Herein, the authors discuss the data for these indications. EXPERT OPINION: Not
      all patients respond to AIT in the same way. Accordingly, AIT represents a
      promising path to precision medicine and hopefully will be able to reduce this
      burden of non-responding patients.

PMID- 27620193
TI  - Comparative Kinetic Analysis of Closed-Ended and Open-Ended Porous Sensors.
AB  - Efficient mass transport through porous networks is essential for achieving rapid
      response times in sensing applications utilizing porous materials. In this work,
      we show that open-ended porous membranes can overcome diffusion challenges
      experienced by closed-ended porous materials in a microfluidic environment. A
      theoretical model including both transport and reaction kinetics is employed to
      study the influence of flow velocity, bulk analyte concentration, analyte
      diffusivity, and adsorption rate on the performance of open-ended and closed
      ended porous sensors integrated with flow cells. The analysis shows that open
      ended pores enable analyte flow through the pores and greatly reduce the response
      time and analyte consumption for detecting large molecules with slow
      diffusivities compared with closed-ended pores for which analytes largely flow
      over the pores. Experimental confirmation of the results was carried out with
      open- and closed-ended porous silicon (PSi) microcavities fabricated in flow
      through and flow-over sensor configurations, respectively. The adsorption
      behavior of small analytes onto the inner surfaces of closed-ended and open-ended
      PSi membrane microcavities was similar. However, for large analytes, PSi
      membranes in a flow-through scheme showed significant improvement in response
      times due to more efficient convective transport of analytes. The experimental
      results and theoretical analysis provide quantitative estimates of the benefits
      offered by open-ended porous membranes for different analyte systems. 

PMID- 27620195
TI  - Design and Evaluation of Novel Solid Self-Nanodispersion Delivery System for
      Andrographolide.
AB  - Poorly water-soluble drugs offer challenges in developing a formulation product
      with adequate bioavailability. This study took advantage of the features of
      nanocrystals and direct compression technologies to develop a novel solid self
      nanodispersion delivery system for andrographolide (Andro) in order to increase
      its dissolution rate for enhancing bioavailability. Andro nanosuspensions (Andro
      NS) with a particle size of about 500 nm were prepared by homogenization
      technology and further converted into dried nanocrystal particles (Andro-NP) via
      spray-drying. The solid self-nanodispersion delivery system (Andro-SNDS)-loaded
      Andro-NP was prepared via direct compression technology. The DSC and PXRD results
      demonstrated that the Andro nanocrystals retained its original crystallinity. The
      dissolution of the Andro-SNDS formulation was 85.87% in pure water over 30 min,
      better than those of the coarse Andro and physical mixture of Andro and
      stabilizer. And the C max (299.32 +/- 78.54 ng/mL) and AUC0-infinity (4440.55 +/-
      764.13 mg/L . h) of the Andro-SNDS formulation were significantly higher (p <
      0.05) than those of the crude Andro (77.52 +/- 31.73 ng/mL and 1437.79 +/- 354.25
      mg/L . h). The AUC of the Andro-SNDS was 3.09 times as high as that of the crude
      Andro. This study illustrated a novel approach to combine the features of
      nanocrystals and composite particles used to improve oral bioavailability of
      poorly soluble drug.

PMID- 27620197
TI  - Influence of the biquadratic exchange interaction in the classical ground state
      magnetic response of the antiferromagnetic icosahedron.
AB  - The icosahedron has a ground state magnetization discontinuity in an external
      magnetic field when classical spins mounted on its vertices are coupled according
      to the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model. This is so even if there is no
      magnetic anisotropy in the Hamiltonian. The discontinuity is a consequence of the
      frustrated nature of the interactions, which originates in the topology of the
      cluster. Here it is found that the addition of the next order isotropic spin
      exchange interaction term in the Hamiltonian, the biquadratic exchange
      interaction, significantly enriches the classical ground state magnetic response.
      For relatively weak biquadratic interaction new discontinuities emerge, while for
      even stronger the number of discontinuities for this small molecule can go up to
      seven, accompanied by a susceptibility discontinuity. These results demonstrate
      the possibility of using a small entity like the icosahedron as a magnetic unit
      whose ground state spin configuration and magnetization can be tuned between many
      different non-overlapping regimes with the application of an external field.

PMID- 27620196
TI  - The Novelty in Fabrication of Poly Vinyl Alcohol/kappa-Carrageenan Hydrogel with
      Lactobacillus bulgaricus Extract as Anti-inflammatory Wound Dressing Agent.
AB  - Material barrier properties to microbes are an important issue in many
      pharmaceutical applications like wound dressings. A wide range of biomaterials
      has been used to manage the chronic inflamed wounds. Eight hydrogel membranes of
      poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) with kappa-carrageenan (KC) and Lactobacillus bulgaricus
      extract (LAB) have been prepared by using freeze-thawing technique. To evaluate
      the membranes efficiency as wound dressing agents, various tests have been done
      like gel fraction, swelling behavior, mechanical properties, etc. The
      antibacterial activities of the prepared membranes were tested against the
      antibiotic-resistant bacterial isolates. In addition, the safety usage of the
      prepared hydrogel was checked on human dermal fibroblast cells. The anti
      inflammatory properties of the prepared hydrogel on LPS-PBMC cell inflammatory
      model were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real
      time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The analysis data of TGA, SEM, gel
      fraction, and swelling behavior showed changes in properties of prepared
      PVA?KC?LAB hydrogel membrane than pure PVA hydrogel membrane. The antibacterial
      activities of the prepared membranes augmented in LAB extract-prepared membranes.
      Out of the eight used hydrogel membranes, the PVAKC4 hydrogel membrane is the
      safest one on fibroblast cellular proliferation with a maximum proliferation
      percentage 97.3%. Also, all the used hydrogel membrane showed abilities to reduce
      the concentration of IL-2 and IL-8 compared with both negative and positive
      control. In addition, almost all the prepared hydrogel membrane showed variable
      abilities to downregulate the expression of TNF-alpha gene with superior effect
      of hydrogel membrane KC1. PVA/KC/LAB extract hydrogel membrane may be a promising
      material for wound dressing application and could accelerate the healing process
      of the chronic wound because of its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory
      properties.

PMID- 27620198
TI  - Intracranial hydatid cyst: imaging findings of a rare disease.
AB  - Hydatid disease (echinococcosis) is a worldwide zoonosis produced by the larval
      stage of the Echinococcus tapeworm. The disease is endemic in many parts of the
      world, particularly in the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, South America and
      central and south Europe. Intracranial hydatid disease is considered a rare
      disease and may be sometimes very difficult to diagnose based on the clinical and
      laboratory findings. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the condition and
      the imaging findings even in the non-endemic parts of the world. We report the
      case of a 12-year-old boy who presented with headache and vomiting for a few
      months. The mass was totally excised, with no postoperative complications. We
      present MR spectroscopy (MRS) findings in this operatively proven case of hydatid
      cyst of the brain. We discuss imaging findings, in particular the findings on
      MRS, which is rarely reported in the literature. 

PMID- 27620199
TI  - Resected small cell lung cancer-time for more?
AB  - Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) often presents with either regional or systemic
      metastases, but approximately 4% of patients present with a solitary pulmonary
      nodule. Surgical resection can be an option for these patients and is endorsed by
      the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. There are no
      prospective randomized clinical trials evaluating the role of adjuvant systemic
      therapy in these resected SCLC patients. A recent National Cancer Database
      analysis found that the receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy alone [hazard ratio
      (HR), 0.78; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95] or with brain radiation (HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.36
      0.75) was associated with significantly improved survival as compared to surgery
      alone. As it is unlikely that a randomized prospective clinical trial addressing
      this question will be completed, these data should assist with decision making in
      these patients. 

PMID- 27620201
TI  - Conservation of extrusion as an exit mechanism for Chlamydia.
AB  - Chlamydiae exit via membrane-encased extrusion or through lysis of the host cell.
      Extrusions are novel, pathogen-containing structures that confer infectious
      advantages to Chlamydia, and are hypothesized to promote cell-to-cell spread,
      dissemination to distant tissues and facilitate immune evasion. The extrusion
      phenomenon has been characterized for several Chlamydia trachomatis serovars, but
      a thorough investigation of extrusion for additional clinically relevant C.
      trachomatis strains and Chlamydia species has yet to be performed. The key
      parameters investigated in this study were: (i) the conservation of extrusion
      across the Chlamydia genus, (ii) the functional requirement for candidate
      Chlamydia genes in extrusion formation i.e. IncA and CT228 and (iii) extrusion
      mediated uptake, and consequent survival of Chlamydia inside macrophages.
      Inclusion morphology was characterized by live fluorescence microscopy, using an
      inverted GFP strategy, at early and mid-stages of infection. Enriched extrusions
      were used to infect bone marrow-derived macrophages, and bacterial viability was
      measured following macrophage engulfment. Our results demonstrate that extrusion
      is highly conserved across chlamydiae, including ocular, STD and LGV biovars and
      divergent Chlamydia species. Consequently, this exit mechanism for Chlamydia may
      fulfill common advantages important for pathogenesis.

PMID- 27620202
TI  - Early integration needs early education.

PMID- 27620203
TI  - On responsibilities and navel gazing: A reply to Chambaere et al.

PMID- 27620200
TI  - Self-reactivity as the necessary cost of maintaining a diverse memory T-cell
      repertoire.
AB  - The adaptive immune system is expected to protect the host from infectious agents
      and malignancies, while avoiding robust activation against self-peptides.
      However, T cells are notoriously inept at protection whenever the pathogen or
      tumor is persistent in the body for longer periods of time. While this has been
      thought of as an adaptation to limit the immunopathology from continued effector
      T-cell responses, it is also likely an extension of the T cell's intrinsic
      mechanisms which evolved to tolerate self-peptides. Here we deliberate on how the
      need to tolerate self-peptides might stem from a paradoxical requirement-the
      utility of such molecules in maintaining a diverse repertoire of pathogen
      specific memory T cells in the body. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this
      intriguing nexus, therefore, has the potential to reveal therapeutic strategies
      not only for improving immune responses to chronic infections and tumors but also
      the long-term efficacy of vaccines aimed at cellular immune responses.

PMID- 27620204
TI  - Abstracts for the integrated palliative care symposium, Brussels, September 30
      2016.

PMID- 27620205
TI  - Inverse association linking serum levels of potential antioxidant vitamins with C
      reactive protein levels using a novel analytical approach.
AB  - Exposures to antioxidants (AO) are associated with levels of C-reactive protein
      (CRP), but the pattern of evidence is mixed, due in part to studying each
      potential AO, one at a time, when multiple AO exposures might affect CRP levels.
      By studying multiple AO via a composite indicator approach, we estimate the
      degree to which serum CRP level is associated with serum AO level. Standardised
      field survey protocols for the US National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006 yielded nationally representative cross-sectional
      samples of adults aged 20 years and older (n 8841). NHANES latex-enhanced
      nephelometry quantified serum CRP levels. Liquid chromatography quantified serum
      concentrations of vitamins A, E and C and carotenoids. Using structural
      equations, we regressed CRP level on AO levels, and derived a summary estimate
      for a composite of these potential antioxidants (CPA), with covariates held
      constant. The association linking CPA with CRP was inverse, stronger for slightly
      elevated CRP (1.8<=CRP<10 mg/l; slope= -1.08; 95 % CI -1.39, -0.77) and weaker
      for highly elevated CRP (>=10 mg/l; slope= -0.52; 95 % CI -0.68, -0.35), with
      little change when covariates were added. Vitamins A and C, as well as
      lutein+zeaxanthin, were prominent contributors to the composite. In these cross
      sectional data studied via a composite indicator approach, the CPA level and the
      CRP level were inversely related. The stage is set for more confirmatory
      longitudinal or intervention research on multiple vitamins. The composite
      indicator approach might be most useful in epidemiology when several exposure
      constructs are too weakly inter-correlated to be studied via formal measurement
      models for underlying latent dimensions.

PMID- 27620206
TI  - Evaluating Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparisons in Practice: A Case Study of
      Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
AB  - Differences in patient characteristics across trials may bias efficacy estimates
      from indirect treatment comparisons. To address this issue, matching-adjusted
      indirect comparison (MAIC) measures treatment efficacy after weighting individual
      patient data to match patient characteristics across trials. To date, however,
      there is no consensus on how best to implement MAIC. To address this issue, we
      applied MAIC to measure how two attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
      treatments (guanfacine extended release and atomoxetine hydrochloride) affect
      patients' ADHD symptoms, as measured by the ADHD Rating Scale IV score. We tested
      MAIC sensitivity to: matched patient characteristics, matched statistical
      moments, weighting matrix, and placebo-arm matching (i.e., matching on outcomes
      in the placebo arm). After applying MAIC, guanfacine and atomoxetine had similar
      reductions in ADHD symptoms (Delta: 0.4, p < 0.737). The results were similar for
      three of four sensitivity analyses. When we applied MAIC with placebo-arm
      matching, however, guanfacine reduced symptoms more than atomoxetine (Delta: 
      3.9, p < 0.004). We discuss the implication of this finding and advise MAIC
      practitioners to carefully consider the use of placebo-arm matching, depending on
      the presence of residual confounding across trials. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley
      & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27620207
TI  - Phase I and pharmacokinetic evaluation of the anti-telomerase agent KML-001 with
      cisplatin in advanced solid tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: KML-001 (sodium metaarsenite) displaces hTERT from the nucleus and is
      synergistic with cisplatin. This phase I trial tested the tolerability, activity
      and pharmacology of this combination. METHODS: Patients with advanced solid
      tumors that were "platinum sensitive," PS 0-1, normal renal and hepatic function
      were eligible. Treatment was with cisplatin 75 mg/m2 day 1 and KML-001 p.o. daily
      days 1-14 on a 21-day cycle. A standard 3 + 3 design was employed. Blood
      specimens for arsenic and platinum pharmacokinetics were obtained at 0, 1, 2, 3,
      4, 5, 6, 24 h and days 8, 15 and 22. RESULTS: Eighteen patients (7 M, 11 F) were
      evaluable for the primary endpoint of toxicity. Patients were heavily pretreated
      for a variety of malignancies (mean number of prior regimens = 3). Sixteen had
      prior platinum therapy. The dose-limiting toxicity was prolongation of the QTc
      interval, seen in three patients in cohort 3 (20 mg) (two during cycle 1, one
      during cycle 2). A documented response was seen in a patient with heavily
      pretreated SCLC in cohort one. Several other patients had reduction in tumor
      burden. In addition to the dose-limiting toxicity of QTc prolongation, the most
      common toxicities observed were nausea and vomiting and cytopenias.
      Myelosuppression was primarily seen in patients who had undergone prior
      radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of KML-001 and cisplatin was
      technically feasible and active. However, the occurrence of significant QTc
      prolongation led to discontinuation of the trial. This prolongation was likely a
      result of electrolyte abnormalities resulting from cisplatin superimposed on the
      known risks of arsenicals and QTc prolongation. Combinations with other platinum
      agents (e.g., carboplatin) should be considered. This is the first fully reported
      human trial of KML-001.

PMID- 27620208
TI  - JD enhances the anti-tumour effects of low-dose paclitaxel on gastric cancer
      MKN45 cells both in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is the third most common cause of cancer mortality
      worldwide, and paclitaxel (PTX) is one of the most widely used traditional drugs
      in gastric cancer therapy. However, the response to traditional therapy is
      limited by acquired chemo-resistance and side effects. Here, we establish a newly
      designed combination therapy consisting of a compound that is a structural
      variant of oridonin, i.e. Jesridonin (JD), and low-dose PTX for gastric cancer
      cells (MKN45) to investigate whether the anti-tumour activity of low-dose PTX
      could be enhanced when combined with JD. METHODS: The interaction of JD and low
      dose PTX was detected in MKN45 cells using the median-effect analysis method. The
      synergistic effect on cell viability and apoptosis was measured by MTT assay,
      colony formation assay, transient transfection, flow cytometry and Western
      blotting. The synergistic in vivo effect of JD plus low-dose PTX was evaluated in
      nude mouse xenograft models using H&E and TUNEL staining and Western blotting.
      RESULTS: JD plus low-dose PTX showed a synergistic effect, as the combination
      indexes were less than 1. Additionally, a synergistic anti-proliferative and pro
      apoptotic effect was detected for the combination of JD and low-dose PTX. The
      apoptotic mechanism induced by JD plus PTX revealed that the combination therapy
      synergistically activated the mitochondrial pathway. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      suggest that JD enhances the anti-tumour effect of low-dose PTX on gastric
      carcinoma cancer cells in both vitro and in vivo, accompanied by activation of
      the mitochondrial pathway, which may present a more effective therapeutic
      strategy in gastric cancer treatment.

PMID- 27620209
TI  - In-vitro influence of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and Ciclosporin A (CsA) on
      cytokine induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytokine-induced-killer (CIK) cells are a promising immunotherapeutic
      approach for impending relapse following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      (HSCT). However, there is a high risk for treatment failure associated with
      severe graft versus host disease (GvHD) necessitating pharmaceutical intervention
      post-transplant. Whether immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or
      Ciclosporin A (CsA) influences the cytotoxic effect of CIK cell immunotherapy is
      still an open issue. METHODS: CIK cells were generated from PBMC as previously
      described followed by co-incubation with mycophenolic acid (MPA) or CsA.
      Proliferation, cytotoxicity and receptor expression were investigated following
      short- (24 h), intermediate- (3 days) and long-term (7 days) MPA incubation with
      the intention to simulate the in vivo situation when CIK cells were given to a
      patient with relevant MPA/CsA plasma levels. RESULTS: Short-term MPA treatment
      led to unchanged proliferation capacity and barely had any effect on viability
      and cytotoxic capability in vitro. The composition of CIK cells with respect to T
      , NK-like T- and NK cells remained stable. Intermediate MPA treatment lacked
      effects on NKG2D, FasL and TRAIL receptor expression, while an influence on
      proliferation and viability was detectable. Furthermore, long-term treatment
      significantly impaired proliferation, restricted viability and drastically
      reduced migration-relevant receptors accompanied by an alteration in the CD4/CD8
      ratio. CD3(+)CD56(+) cells upregulated receptors relevant for CIK cell killing
      and migration, whereas T cells showed the most interference through significant
      reductions in receptor expression. Interestingly, CsA treatment had no
      significant influence on CIK cell viability and the cytotoxic potential against
      K562. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that if immunosuppressant therapy is
      indispensable, efficacy of CIK cells is maintained at least short-term, although
      more frequent dosing might be necessary.

PMID- 27620211
TI  - Identification and Prediction of the Walking Cadence Required to Reach Moderate
      Intensity Using Individually-Determined Relative Moderate Intensity in Older
      Adults.
AB  - Many international agencies recommend using 40% of VO2reserve to individually
      prescribe moderate aerobic intensity to achieve health benefits. Few studies have
      evaluated the walking cadence needed to reach that intensity for older adults. A
      total of 121 apparently healthy adults with an average age of 69 and an average
      VO2peak of 24.1 +/- 6.7 ml/kg/min (women) and 28.9 +/- 9.1 ml/kg/min (men) were
      studied. Walking cadence at moderate intensity was established when participants
      reached 40% of VO2reserve on an indoor flat surface using a portable metabolic
      cart. Other clinical variables potentially associated with walking cadence were
      collected to create a clinical algorithm. Mean walking cadence to reach moderate
      intensity was 115 +/- 10 steps per minute. The best algorithm to predict the
      walking cadence needed to reach moderate intensity in this sample was 113.6-0.23
      (body weight in kg) + 0.21 (self-selected walking cadence in steps per minute).

PMID- 27620210
TI  - Effect of Scavenging Circulating Reactive Carbonyls by Oral Pyridoxamine in
      Uremic Rats on Peritoneal Dialysis.
AB  - Pyridoxamine, a reactive carbonyl (RCO) scavenger, can ameliorate peritoneal
      deterioration in uremic peritoneal dialysis (PD) rats when given via dialysate.
      We examined the effects of scavenging circulating RCOs by oral pyridoxamine. Rats
      underwent nephrectomy and 3 weeks of twice daily PD either alone or with once
      daily oral pyridoxamine. PD solution was supplemented with methylglyoxal, a major
      glucose-derived RCO, to quench intraperitoneal pyridoxamine. Oral pyridoxamine
      achieved comparable blood and dialysate pyridoxamine concentrations, suppressed
      pentosidine accumulation in the blood but not in the mesenterium or dialysate,
      and reduced the increases in small solute transport and mesenteric vessel
      densities, with no effects on submesothelial matrix layer thickening or serum
      creatinine. Thus, reducing circulating RCOs by giving oral pyridoxamine with PD
      provides limited peritoneal protection. However, orally given pyridoxamine
      efficiently reaches the peritoneal cavity and would eliminate intraperitoneal
      RCOs. Oral pyridoxamine is more clinically favorable and may be as protective as
      intraperitoneal administration.

PMID- 27620212
TI  - Erratum: Stromal Hedgehog signalling is downregulated in colon cancer and its
      restoration restrains tumour growth.

PMID- 27620213
TI  - Adherence to the Healthy Eating Index and Alternative Healthy Eating Index
      dietary patterns and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and
      cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis investigated the association of diet quality
      indices, as assessed by HEI and AHEI, and the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular
      and cancer mortality. METHODS: We used PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Google
      Scholar to search for eligible articles published before July 2015. A total of 12
      cohort studies (38 reports) and one cross-sectional study (three reports) met the
      inclusion criteria and were included in our meta-analysis. RESULTS: The highest
      level of adherence to the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and Alternative Healthy
      Eating Index (AHEI) was significantly associated with a reduced risk of all-cause
      mortality [relative risk (RR) = 0.77, 95% confidence intterval (CI) = 0.76-0.78],
      cardiovascular mortality (RR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.74-0.80) and cancer mortality (RR
      = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.81-0.86). Egger regression tests provided no evidence of
      publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that high adherence to
      HEI and AHEI dietary patterns, indicating high diet quality, are associated with
      reduced risk of all-cause mortality (as well as cardiovascular mortality and
      cancer mortality).

PMID- 27620214
TI  - Blood Based Detection of Androgen Receptor Splice Variants in Patients with
      Advanced Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 27620269
TI  - Effects of Mental Health and Neuroscience Evidence on Juror Perceptions of a
      Criminal Defendant: the Moderating Role of Political Orientation.
AB  - Several recent studies have examined the effects of mental health and
      neuroscientific evidence on attitudes toward criminal defendants, suggesting that
      these factors may influence juror decision-making in meaningful ways. Few studies
      to date have manipulated both of these variables while also considering
      theoretically important individual difference variables (e.g., political
      orientation). Using a criminal case simulation, this study manipulated the
      presence of evidence concerning mental disorders (psychopathy and schizophrenia)
      and increasing levels of neuroscientific detail regarding a defendant's brain
      injury, and examined verdicts and sentencing recommendations in over 400 persons
      attending jury duty. Main effects were detected for mental health testimony and
      political orientation, although interactions were noted as well. More negative
      reactions to defendants labeled as psychopaths were relatively consistent,
      whereas participants who identified as liberal generally were less punitive
      towards a defendant identified as schizophrenic than were more conservative
      jurors. Consistent with other recent research, juror perceptions of the
      defendant's level of psychopathic traits (independent of the effects of the
      experimental manipulations) predicted guilty verdicts and longer sentencing
      recommendations. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27620215
TI  - Herpesviral-bacterial co-infection in mandibular third molar pericoronitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the presence of herpesviruses and
      periodontopathic bacteria and to establish their potential association with
      pericoronitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty samples obtained with paper points
      (30 from pericoronitis and 20 controls) were subjected to polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) analysis. A single-stage and nested PCR assays were used to detect
      herpesviruses: human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and six
      periodontopathic anaerobic bacteria: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans,
      Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Parvimonas micra, Treponema
      denticola, and Tannarella forsythia. RESULTS: Pericoronitis samples harbored HCMV
      and EBV at significantly higher rates than the control group (70 vs. 40 % and
      46.7 vs. 15 %, P = 0.035, P = 0.021, respectively). P. micra and T. forsythia
      (66.7 vs. 0 %, and 40 vs. 10 %, P = 0.001, P = 0.021, respectively) were
      significantly more common in pericoronitis compared to the control group.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of T.
      forsythia was associated with pericoronitis development (OR 7.3, 95 % CI, 1.2
      43.2, P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of HCVM and EBV extends our previous
      knowledge on microbiota in pericoronitis. These PCR-based findings demonstrated
      that bacterial and viral DNA occurred concomitantly in pericoronitis samples. T.
      forsythia appeared to be significantly associated with pericoronitis development
      in the examined sample. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Herpesviral-bacterial co-infections
      might exacerbate the progression of pericoronitis.

PMID- 27620270
TI  - Long- and short-term effects of boron excess to root form and function in two
      tomato genotypes.
AB  - Boron (B) is an essential plant nutrient, but when present in excess it is toxic.
      Morphological measurements were made to assess the impact of B toxicity on the
      growth of two different tomato hybrids, Losna and Ikram. Contrasting long and
      short-term B responses in these tomato hybrids, were observed. Losna showed less
      toxicity symptoms, maintaining higher growth and showing much less B content in
      both root and shoot tissues compared to Ikram. Root morphological differences did
      not explain the tolerance between the two hybrids. Under excess B supply, a
      significant inhibition on net nitrate uptake rate was observed in Ikram, but not
      in Losna. This effect may be explained by a decrease of nitrate transporter
      transcripts in Ikram, which was not measured in Losna. There was a different
      pattern of B transporter expression in two tomatoes and this can explain the
      contrasting tolerance observed. Indeed, Losna may be able to exclude or efflux B
      resulting in less accumulation in the shoot. Particularly, SlBOR4 expression
      showed significant differences between the tomato hybrids, with higher expression
      in Losna explaining the improved B-tolerance.

PMID- 27620271
TI  - Overexpression of CuZnSOD and APX enhance salt stress tolerance in sweet potato.
AB  - Abiotic stresses cause accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants,
      CuZnSOD and APX are first line defenses against ROS caused by oxidative stress.
      In this study, CuZnSOD and APX were transferred into salt sensitive sweet potato
      (cv. Xushu 55-2) under control of stress inducible SWPA2 promoter and tolerance
      to salt stress was evaluated. When 100 mM NaCl was used to treat stem cuttings,
      transgenic plants showed enhanced tolerance compared to wild type (WT) plants.
      Rooting was significantly retarded in WT plants whereas all transgenic plants had
      significantly enhanced root growth under salt stress. Integration of SOD gene was
      confirmed by southern blot analysis, and the copy number ranged from 1 to 3. The
      expression levels of CuZnSOD and APX in transgenic plants were significantly
      increased up to 13.3 and 7.8 folds to WT under salinity conditions, respectively.
      SOD and APX activity and ROS staining showed enzyme activities of transgenic
      plants were increased under salt stress. These results show that CuZnSOD and APX
      have important roles in enhancing the salt tolerance of sweet potato.

PMID- 27620272
TI  - Generous hosts: What makes Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) the
      perfect experimental host plant for fastidious bacteria?
AB  - Although much attention has been paid to the metabolism and biosynthesis of
      monoterpene alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus, its value as an experimental host
      for a variety of agriculturally and economically important phytopathogenic
      bacteria warrants further study. In the present study, we evaluated the chemical
      composition of the phloem and xylem saps of C. roseus to infer the nutritional
      requirements of phloem- and xylem-limited phytopathogens. Periwinkle phloem sap
      consisted of a rich mixture of sugars, organic acids, amino acids, amines, fatty
      acids, sugar acids and sugar alcohols while xylem contained similar compounds in
      lesser concentrations. Plant sap analysis may lead to a better understanding of
      the biology of fastidious Mollicutes and their complex nutritional requirements,
      and to successful culture of phytoplasmas and other uncultured phloem-restricted
      bacteria such as Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the causal agent of
      huanglongbing in citrus.

PMID- 27620273
TI  - The intracellular concentration of homocysteine and related thiols is negatively
      correlated to sperm quality after highly effective method of sperm lysis.
AB  - The aims of this study were to determine concentrations of total homocysteine,
      cysteine, cysteinylglycine and glutathione in spermatozoa, seminal fluid and
      blood plasma and to analyse their relationships with sperm parameters. For this
      reason, a new highly effective method of spermatozoa lysis was developed, using
      methanol, freezing and subsequent thawing in ultrasonic bath. An HPLC-FD assay
      was conducted on thiols concentrations in lysed spermatozoa, seminal fluid and
      blood plasma. Concentrations of thiols in spermatozoa were significantly lower in
      men with normozoospermia than in samples with pathological semen parameters.
      Statistical analysis found significant correlations between thiol concentrations
      in spermatozoa and semen parameters, while the same analysis with thiol
      concentrations in seminal fluid was substantially less powerful. Only
      cysteinylglycine concentrations in seminal fluid significantly correlated with
      pathological semen parameters. No significant differences or correlations were
      found with blood plasma concentrations.

PMID- 27620274
TI  - Multi-Pathway Consequent Chemoselectivities of CpRuCl(PPh3 )2 /MeI-Catalysed
      Norbornadiene Alkyne Cycloadditions.
AB  - Chemoselectivities of five experimentally realised CpRuCl(PPh3 )2 /MeI-catalysed
      couplings of 7-azabenzo-norbornadienes with selected alkynes were successfully
      resolved from multiple reaction pathway models. Density functional theory
      calculations showed the following mechanistic succession to be energetically
      plausible: (1) CpRuI catalyst activation; (2) formation of crucial
      metallacyclopentene intermediate; (3) cyclobutene product (P2) elimination
      (DeltaGRel(RDS) ~11.9-17.6 kcal mol-1 ). Alternative formation of
      dihydrobenzoindole products (P1) by isomerisation to azametalla-cyclohexene
      followed by subsequent CpRuI release was much less favourable (DeltaGRel(RDS)
      ~26.5-29.8 kcal mol-1 ). Emergent stereoselectivities were in close agreement
      with experimental results for reactions a, b, e. Consequent investigations
      employing dispersion corrections similarly support the empirical findings of P1
      dominating in reactions c and d through P2->P1 product transformations as being
      probable (DeltaG~25.3-30.1 kcal mol-1 ).

PMID- 27620275
TI  - Interleukin-17-Producing Neutrophils Link Inflammatory Stimuli to Disease
      Progression by Promoting Angiogenesis in Gastric Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Elevated levels of neutrophils have been associated with poor survival
      in various cancers, but direct evidence supporting a role for neutrophils in the
      immunopathogenesis of human cancers is lacking.Experimental Design: A total of
      573 patients with gastric cancer were enrolled in this study.
      Immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR were performed to analyze the distribution
      and clinical relevance of neutrophils in different microanatomic regions. The
      regulation and function of neutrophils were assessed both in vitro and in
      vivoResults: Increased neutrophil counts in the peripheral blood were associated
      with poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. In gastric cancer tissues,
      neutrophils were enriched predominantly in the invasive margin, and neutrophil
      levels were a powerful predictor of poor survival in patients with gastric
      cancer. IL17+ neutrophils constitute a large portion of IL17-producing cells in
      human gastric cancer. Proinflammatory IL17 is a critical mediator of the
      recruitment of neutrophils into the invasive margin by CXC chemokines. Moreover,
      neutrophils at the invasive margin were a major source of matrix
      metalloproteinase-9, a secreted protein that stimulates proangiogenic activity in
      gastric cancer cells. Accordingly, high levels of infiltrated neutrophils at the
      invasive margin were positively correlated with angiogenesis progression in
      patients with gastric cancer.Conclusions: These data provide direct evidence
      supporting the pivotal role of neutrophils in gastric cancer progression and
      reveal a novel immune escape mechanism involving fine-tuned collaborative action
      between cancer cells and immune cells in the distinct tumor microenvironment.
      Clin Cancer Res; 23(6); 1575-85. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27620276
TI  - Molecular Pathways: Targeting CD96 and TIGIT for Cancer Immunotherapy.
AB  - The receptors CD96 and TIGIT are expressed on the surface of T and natural killer
      (NK) cells, and recent studies suggest both play important inhibitory roles in
      immune function. CD96 has been shown to modulate immune cell activity in mice,
      with Cd96-/- mice displaying hypersensitive NK-cell responses to immune challenge
      and significant tumor resistance. TIGIT overexpression has been shown to reduce
      NK-cell-mediated cytotoxicity. TIGIT is also upregulated on T cells during cancer
      and chronic viral infection, with expression associated with effector T-cell
      exhaustion and increased regulatory T-cell suppression. The counterbalance
      between the putative inhibitory CD96 and TIGIT receptors and the activating
      receptor, CD226, offers unique strategies for immuno-oncology drug development.
      Blocking CD96 or TIGIT with mAbs has been shown to improve tumor control in mice,
      in particular when used in combination with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. These results
      have highlighted these pathways as promising new targets for immune modulation.
      This review will examine the rationale behind targeting CD96 and TIGIT, and
      discuss the potential approaches in translating these preclinical findings into
      novel clinical agents. Clin Cancer Res; 22(21); 5183-8. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27620277
TI  - Genomic Amplification of CD274 (PD-L1) in Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1), encoded by the CD274 gene, is a
      target for immune checkpoint blockade; however, little is known about genomic
      CD274 alterations. A subset of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) exhibits increased
      copy number of chromosome 9p24, on which CD274 resides; however, most SCLCs show
      low expression of PD-L1. We therefore examined whether CD274 is a target of
      recurrent genomic alterations.Experimental Design: We examined somatic copy
      number alterations in two patient cohorts by quantitative real-time PCR in 72
      human SCLC cases (cohort 1) and SNP array analysis in 138 human SCLC cases
      (cohort 2). Whole-genome sequencing revealed the detailed genomic structure
      underlying focal amplification. PD-L1 expression in amplified cases from cohorts
      1 and 2 was further examined by transcriptome sequencing and immunohistochemical
      (IHC) staining.Results: By examining somatic copy number alterations in two
      cohorts of primary human SCLC specimens, we observed 9p24 copy number gains
      (where CD274 resides) and focal, high-level amplification of CD274 We found
      evidence for genomic targeting of CD274, suggesting selection during oncogenic
      transformation. CD274 amplification was caused by genomic rearrangements not
      affecting the open reading frame, thus leading to massively increased CD274
      transcripts and high level expression of PD-L1.Conclusions: A subset (4/210,
      1.9%) of human SCLC patient cases exhibits massive expression of PD-L1 caused by
      focal amplification of CD274 Such tumors may be particularly susceptible to
      immune checkpoint blockade. Clin Cancer Res; 23(5); 1220-6. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27620278
TI  - Multilayer OMIC Data in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Identifies the STAT3 Pathway
      as a Potential Therapeutic Target in RETM918T Tumors.
AB  - Purpose: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare disease with few genetic
      drivers, and the etiology specific to each known susceptibility mutation remains
      unknown. Exploiting multilayer genomic data, we focused our interest on the role
      of aberrant DNA methylation in MTC development.Experimental Design: We performed
      genome-wide DNA methylation profiling assessing more than 27,000 CpGs in the
      largest MTC series reported to date, comprising 48 molecularly characterized
      tumors. mRNA and miRNA expression data were available for 33 and 31 tumors,
      respectively. Two human MTC cell lines and 101 paraffin-embedded MTCs were used
      for validation.Results: The most distinctive methylome was observed for RETM918T
      related tumors. Integration of methylation data with mRNA and miRNA expression
      data identified genes negatively regulated by promoter methylation. These in
      silico findings were confirmed in vitro for PLCB2, DKK4, MMP20, and miR-10a, 
      30a, and -200c. The mutation-specific aberrant methylation of PLCB2, DKK4, and
      MMP20 was validated in 25 independent MTCs by bisulfite pyrosequencing. The
      methylome and transcriptome data underscored JAK/Stat pathway involvement in
      RETM918T MTCs. Immunostaining [immunohistochemistry (IHC)] for the active form of
      signaling effector STAT3 was performed in a series of 101 MTCs. As expected,
      positive IHC was associated with RETM918T-bearing tumors (P < 0.02).
      Pharmacologic inhibition of STAT3 activity increased the sensitivity to
      vandetanib of the RETM918T-positive MTC cell line, MZ-CRC-1.Conclusions:
      Multilayer OMIC data analysis uncovered methylation hallmarks in genetically
      defined MTCs and revealed JAK/Stat signaling effector STAT3 as a potential
      therapeutic target for the treatment of RETM918T MTCs. Clin Cancer Res; 23(5);
      1334-45. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27620279
TI  - Characterization of Biomarkers of Tumorigenic and Chemoresistant Cancer Stem
      Cells in Human Gastric Carcinoma.
AB  - Purpose: Gastric carcinomas are heterogeneous, and the current therapy remains
      essentially based on surgery with conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
      This study aimed to characterize biomarkers allowing the detection of cancer stem
      cells (CSC) in human gastric carcinoma of different histologic types.Experimental
      Design: The primary tumors from 37 patients with intestinal- or diffuse-type
      noncardia gastric carcinoma were studied, and patient-derived tumor xenograft
      (PDX) models in immunodeficient mice were developed. The expressions of 10
      putative cell surface markers of CSCs, as well as aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)
      activity, were studied, and the tumorigenic properties of cells were evaluated by
      in vitro tumorsphere assays and in vivo xenografts by limiting dilution
      assays.Results: We found that a subpopulation of gastric carcinoma cells
      expressing EPCAM, CD133, CD166, CD44, and a high ALDH activity presented the
      properties to generate new heterogeneous tumorspheres in vitro and tumors in vivo
      CD44 and CD166 were coexpressed, representing 6.1% to 37.5% of the cells; ALDH
      activity was detected in 1.6% to 15.4% of the cells; and the ALDH+ cells
      represented a core within the CD44+/CD166+ subpopulation that contained the
      highest frequency of tumorigenic CSCs in vivo The ALDH+ cells possessed drug
      efflux properties and were more resistant to standard chemotherapy than the ALDH-
      cells, a process that was partially reversed by verapamil treatment.Conclusions:
      CD44 and ALDH are the most specific biomarkers to detect and isolate tumorigenic
      and chemoresistant gastric CSCs in noncardia gastric carcinomas independently of
      the histologic classification of the tumor. Clin Cancer Res; 23(6); 1586-97.
      (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27620280
TI  - BRCA1-Mutated Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Shows BRCAness, Suggesting
      Sensitivity to Drugs Targeting Homologous Recombination Deficiency.
AB  - Purpose: As estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer in BRCA1 mutation
      carriers arises at an older age with less aggressive tumor characteristics than
      ER-negative (ER-) BRCA1-mutated breast cancer, it has been suggested that these
      tumors are "sporadic" and not BRCA1 driven. With the introduction of targeted
      treatments specific for tumors with a nonfunctioning BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, the
      question whether the BRCA genes are impaired in the tumor is highly relevant.
      Therefore, we performed genomic profiling of BRCA1-mutated ER+
      tumors.Experimental Design: Genomic profiling, BRCA1 promoter methylation
      assessment, and loss of heterozygosity analysis were done on 16 BRCA1-mutated ER+
      tumors. Results were compared with 57 BRCA1-mutated ER- tumors, 36 BRCA2-mutated
      ER+-associated tumors, and 182 sporadic ER+ tumors.Results: The genomic profile
      of BRCA1-mutated ER+ tumors was different from BRCA1-mutated ER- breast tumors,
      but highly similar to BRCA2-mutated ER+ tumors. In 83% of the BRCA1-mutated ER+
      tumors, loss of the wild-type BRCA1 allele was observed. In addition,
      clinicopathologic variables in BRCA1-mutated ER+ cancer were also more similar to
      BRCA2-mutated ER+ and sporadic ER+ breast cancer than to BRCA1-mutated ER-
      cancers.Conclusions: As BRCA1-mutated ER+ tumors show a BRCAness copy number
      profile and LOH, it is likely that the loss of a functional BRCA1 protein plays a
      role in tumorigenesis in BRCA1-mutated ER+ tumors. Therefore, we hypothesize that
      these tumors are sensitive to drugs targeting the BRCA1 gene defect, providing
      new targeted treatment modalities for advanced BRCA-deficient, ER+ breast cancer.
      Clin Cancer Res; 23(5); 1236-41. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27620281
TI  - Near-field focus steering along arbitrary trajectory via multi-lined distributed
      nanoslits.
AB  - The modulation of near-field signals has recently attracted considerable interest
      because of demands for the development of nano-scale optical devices that are
      capable of overcoming the diffraction limit of light. In this paper, we propose a
      new type of tuneable plasmonic lens that permits the foci of surface plasmon
      polariton (SPP) signals to be continuously steered by adjusting the input
      polarization state. The proposed structure consists of multi-lined nanoslit
      arrays, in which each array is tilted at a different angle to provide
      polarization sensitivity and the nanoslit size is adjusted to balance the
      relative amplitudes of the excited SPPs from each line. The nanoslits of each
      line are designed to focus SPPs at different positions; hence, the SPP focal
      length can be tuned by modifying the incident polarization state. Unlike in
      previously reported studies, our method enables plasmonic foci to be continuously
      varied with a smooth change in the incident linear polarization state. The
      proposed structures provide a novel degree of freedom in the multiplexing of near
      fields. Such characteristics are expected to enable the realization of active SPP
      modulation that can be applied in near-field imaging, optical tweezing systems,
      and integrated nano-devices.

PMID- 27620283
TI  - Evaluating significance in linear mixed-effects models in R.
AB  - Mixed-effects models are being used ever more frequently in the analysis of
      experimental data. However, in the lme4 package in R the standards for evaluating
      significance of fixed effects in these models (i.e., obtaining p-values) are
      somewhat vague. There are good reasons for this, but as researchers who are using
      these models are required in many cases to report p-values, some method for
      evaluating the significance of the model output is needed. This paper reports the
      results of simulations showing that the two most common methods for evaluating
      significance, using likelihood ratio tests and applying the z distribution to the
      Wald t values from the model output (t-as-z), are somewhat anti-conservative,
      especially for smaller sample sizes. Other methods for evaluating significance,
      including parametric bootstrapping and the Kenward-Roger and Satterthwaite
      approximations for degrees of freedom, were also evaluated. The results of these
      simulations suggest that Type 1 error rates are closest to .05 when models are
      fitted using REML and p-values are derived using the Kenward-Roger or
      Satterthwaite approximations, as these approximations both produced acceptable
      Type 1 error rates even for smaller samples.

PMID- 27620284
TI  - Improved survival in critically ill patients: are large RCTs more useful than
      personalized medicine? We are not sure.

PMID- 27620282
TI  - Techniques of TIPS in the treatment of liver cirrhosis combined with incompletely
      occlusive main portal vein thrombosis.
AB  - The patients of liver cirrhosis associated with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) can
      be effectively treated by transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunt
      (TIPS). Although the corresponding TIPS procedures have already performed on the
      patients to different types of PVT, the procedures are not specific and the
      relationship between different types of PVT and technical success rate of TIPS is
      unclear. What's more, we aimed to explore the relationship between survival and
      vascular patency immediately after TIPS. 191 subjects underwent retrospective
      assessment. Appropriate TIPS procedures were performed based on our more specific
      classification. The overall success rate of TIPS was 95.8% (183/191). Success
      rate was significantly different between Grade II and Grade IV thrombosis (chi(2)
      = 5.294, P = 0.021). The 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-and 5-year survival rates were 95.6%,
      89.1%, 83.1%, 76.5% and 67.8%, respectively. The overall survival time of
      completely patent PV and incomplete patent PV immediately after TIPS was 57.05 +/
      0.75 vs. 39.12 +/- 2.64 months, respectively (P < 0.0001). We conclude that
      appropriate TIPS procedures and lower grade of PVT are essential for better
      technical success rate of TIPS. The patency of target vessels is important for
      survival.

PMID- 27620285
TI  - Improved survival in critically ill patients: are large RCTs more useful than
      personalized medicine? Yes.

PMID- 27620286
TI  - Improved survival in critically ill patients: are large RCTs more useful than
      personalized medicine? No.

PMID- 27620288
TI  - Understanding circulatory failure in sepsis.

PMID- 27620287
TI  - Ventilator-related causes of lung injury: the mechanical power.
AB  - PURPOSE: We hypothesized that the ventilator-related causes of lung injury may be
      unified in a single variable: the mechanical power. We assessed whether the
      mechanical power measured by the pressure-volume loops can be computed from its
      components: tidal volume (TV)/driving pressure (?P aw), flow, positive end
      expiratory pressure (PEEP), and respiratory rate (RR). If so, the relative
      contributions of each variable to the mechanical power can be estimated. METHODS:
      We computed the mechanical power by multiplying each component of the equation of
      motion by the variation of volume and RR: [Formula: see text]where ?V is the
      tidal volume, ELrs is the elastance of the respiratory system, I:E is the
      inspiratory-to-expiratory time ratio, and R aw is the airway resistance. In 30
      patients with normal lungs and in 50 ARDS patients, mechanical power was computed
      via the power equation and measured from the dynamic pressure-volume curve at 5
      and 15 cmH2O PEEP and 6, 8, 10, and 12 ml/kg TV. We then computed the effects of
      the individual component variables on the mechanical power. RESULTS: Computed and
      measured mechanical powers were similar at 5 and 15 cmH2O PEEP both in normal
      subjects and in ARDS patients (slopes = 0.96, 1.06, 1.01, 1.12 respectively, R
      (2) > 0.96 and p < 0.0001 for all). The mechanical power increases exponentially
      with TV, ?P aw, and flow (exponent = 2) as well as with RR (exponent = 1.4) and
      linearly with PEEP. CONCLUSIONS: The mechanical power equation may help estimate
      the contribution of the different ventilator-related causes of lung injury and of
      their variations. The equation can be easily implemented in every ventilator's
      software.

PMID- 27620289
TI  - Interhospital critical care transports: have a safe trip!

PMID- 27620290
TI  - Interhospital critical care transports: a safe trip indeed!

PMID- 27620291
TI  - Ketamine use in sedation management in patients receiving extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation.

PMID- 27620293
TI  - Transesophageal echocardiography for pulmonary embolism diagnosis in the
      intensive care unit: artifact in three dimensions.

PMID- 27620294
TI  - An echocardiographic artifact gave us the diagnosis.

PMID- 27620292
TI  - Assessment of diaphragmatic dysfunction in the critically ill patient with
      ultrasound: a systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: Diaphragmatic dysfunction (DD) has a high incidence in critically ill
      patients and is an under-recognized cause of respiratory failure and prolonged
      weaning from mechanical ventilation. Among different methods to assess
      diaphragmatic function, diaphragm ultrasonography (DU) is noninvasive, rapid, and
      easy to perform at the bedside. We systematically reviewed the current literature
      assessing the usefulness and accuracy of DU in intensive care unit (ICU)
      patients. METHODS: Pubmed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase,
      Scopus, and Google Scholar Databases were searched for pertinent studies. We
      included all original, peer-reviewed studies about the use of DU in ICU patients.
      RESULTS: Twenty studies including 875 patients were included in the final
      analysis. DU was performed with different techniques to measure diaphragmatic
      inspiratory excursion, thickness of diaphragm (Tdi), and thickening fraction
      (TF). DU is feasible, highly reproducible, and allows one to detect diaphragmatic
      dysfunction in critically ill patients. During weaning from mechanical
      ventilation and spontaneous breathing trials, both diaphragmatic excursion and
      diaphragmatic thickening measurements have been used to predict extubation
      success or failure. Optimal cutoffs ranged from 10 to 14 mm for excursion and 30
      36 % for thickening fraction. During assisted mechanical ventilation,
      diaphragmatic thickening has been found to be an accurate index of respiratory
      muscles workload. Observational studies suggest DU as a reliable method to assess
      diaphragm atrophy in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Current literature suggests that DU could be a useful and accurate tool to detect
      diaphragmatic dysfunction in critically ill patients, to predict extubation
      success or failure, to monitor respiratory workload, and to assess atrophy in
      patients who are mechanically ventilated.

PMID- 27620295
TI  - Understanding the kidney during acute respiratory failure.

PMID- 27620296
TI  - Does this patient have delirium?

PMID- 27620297
TI  - Understanding oliguria in the critically ill.

PMID- 27620298
TI  - Why biomarkers failed in sepsis.

PMID- 27620299
TI  - Are probiotics actually useful in decreasing VAP rate?

PMID- 27620300
TI  - Long-term survival for children with acute lung injury supported with high
      frequency oscillation ventilation.

PMID- 27620301
TI  - Should MRAs be at the front row in heart failure? A plea for the early use of
      mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in medical therapy for heart failure based
      on clinical experience.
AB  - The brand new 2016 ESC guidelines for the treatment of acute and chronic heart
      failure continue to give a prominent place to mineralocorticoid receptor
      antagonists in the treatment of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection
      fraction (HFrEF). In the prevention of HF hospitalization and death, a class I,
      level of recommendation A, is given to MRAs for patients with HFrEF, who remain
      symptomatic despite treatment with an ACE-inhibitor and a beta-blocker and have
      an LVEF below 35 %. This recommendation is primarily based on two landmark
      trials, the RALES trial (for spironolactone) and the EMPHASIS-HF trial (for
      eplerenone). A crucial question is, however, why MRAs are advised only in "third
      place," i.e., after optimal up-titration of ACE-inhibitors and beta-blockers. We
      wonder whether MRAs could not or should not be given earlier in the treatment of
      HFrEF, namely before or together with the up-titration of ACE-inhibitors and beta
      blockers. Several arguments to support this plea are described in this short
      paper.

PMID- 27620302
TI  - Characterization of IL-17AA and IL-17FF in rheumatoid arthritis and multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - AIM: IL-17 is thought to play a prominent role in immune disorders. Sensitive and
      specific IL-17AA and IL-17FF assays were developed and used to determine levels
      in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis
      and relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). RESULTS: Qualified assays
      detected IL-17AA and IL-17FF in healthy and disease samples. Serum IL-17AA was
      significantly higher in rheumatoid arthritis and RRMS as compared with normal
      healthy subjects. IL-17AA was also elevated in RRMS CSF as compared with normal
      healthy subjects; although correlation was observed between serum levels of the
      two isoforms, no correlation was detected between serum and CSF levels.
      CONCLUSION: Reliable determination of IL-17 isoforms in the systemic and CNS
      compartments sheds light on the involvement of IL-17AA and IL-17FF in
      autoimmunity.

PMID- 27620303
TI  - The added diagnostic value of postreflux swallow-induced peristaltic wave index
      and nocturnal baseline impedance in refractory reflux disease studied with on
      therapy impedance-pH monitoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: On-therapy impedance-pH monitoring in proton pump inhibitor (PPI)
      refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) yielded conflicting results. We
      aimed to assess the diagnostic value of postreflux swallow-induced peristaltic
      wave (PSPW) index and mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI) in PPI-refractory
      heartburn. METHODS: On-therapy impedance-pH tracings from 189 consecutive
      patients with PPI-refractory heartburn were blindly reviewed. Patients were
      subdivided into refractory reflux esophagitis (RRE), healed reflux esophagitis
      (HRE), non-erosive reflux disease (NERD), and functional heartburn (FH) according
      to endoscopic and conventional impedance-pH findings. The diagnostic accuracy of
      PSPW index and MNBI in separating NERD from FH was assessed with receiver
      operating-characteristic (ROC) analysis. Objectively documented persistent reflux
      remission at 3-year follow-up in 53 patients who underwent laparoscopic
      fundoplication served to evaluate PSPW index and MNBI as independent predictors
      of PPI-refractory GERD confirmed by positive surgical outcome. KEY RESULTS:
      Median PSPW index and MNBI values were significantly lower in 39 RRE (16%; 1145
      Omega) than in 41 HRE (25%; 1741 Omega) and in 68 NERD (29%; 2374 Omega)
      patients, and in all three GERD subgroups compared to 41 FH cases (67%; 3488
      Omega) (P<.008). At ROC analysis, comparing NERD to FH the area under the curve
      was 0.886 with PSPW index and 0.677 with MNBI (P=.005). PSPW index was an
      independent predictor of PPI-refractory GERD (odds ratio 0.6983, P=.012).
      CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: At on-therapy impedance-pH monitoring, PSPW index and
      MNBI efficiently distinguish PPI-refractory NERD from FH. The PSPW index
      represents an independent predictor of PPI-refractory GERD.

PMID- 27620304
TI  - The Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in Surgical Patients.
AB  - Patients undergoing surgery are at an increased risk of VTE. Since the early
      1990s the prevention of VTE has been dominated by the administration of low
      molecular weight heparin during admission. New oral anticoagulants have been
      extensively researched and have increased in popularity. This chapter reviews why
      surgical patients are at increased risk of VTE and summaries both the
      pharmacological and mechanical methods of prophylaxis available.

PMID- 27620305
TI  - Symptomatology, Clinical Presentation and Basic Work up in Patients with
      Suspected Pulmonary Embolism.
AB  - Basic knowledge of pulmonary embolism is relevant to most practicing physicians.
      Many medical specialties care for patients with increased risk of pulmonary
      embolism, why recognition of relevant symptoms, a thorough medical history,
      assessment of the clinical condition of the patient and possibly referral to a
      relevant facility should be a part of the skills of all clinicians. Sudden onset
      dyspnea, chest pain, syncope and hemoptysis are essential symptoms of pulmonary
      embolism, and in most of these patients basic investigations like arterial blood
      gas analysis, electrocardiogram, chest x-ray and biochemical analyses are
      appropriate. In addition, lung ultrasound and echocardiography are indicated in
      many of these patients. The information available from the medical history,
      clinical assessment and basic investigation form the basis on which the decision
      about further diagnostic imaging and intensity of treatment and monitoring can be
      made. These decisions can be guided by clinical scoring systems like the Wells
      score, revised Geneva score and the PESI.

PMID- 27620307
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Acute Massive Pulmonary Embolism.
AB  - Massive pulmonary embolism (MPE) is a life-threatening condition. The management
      of MPE has changed over the course of the last few years. Since the emergence of
      thrombolytic therapy, only a few patients remain amenable for surgical treatment.
      Currently, surgical embolectomy is advised only in very specific indications.
      This chapter will review the background, history, indications, surgical technique
      and results of surgical pulmonary embolectomy in patients with MPE.

PMID- 27620306
TI  - The Optimal Duration of Anticoagulation in Patients with Unprovoked Venous
      Thromboembolism.
AB  - Once anticoagulation is stopped, the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism
      (VTE) over years after a first episode is consistently around 30 %. This risk is
      higher in patients with unprovoked than in those with (transient) provoked VTE,
      and among the latter in patients with medical than in those with surgical risk
      factors. Baseline parameters that have been found to be related to the risk of
      recurrent VTE are the proximal location of deep vein thrombosis, obesity, old
      age, male sex and non-0 blood group, whereas the role of inherited thrombophilia
      is controversial. The persistence of residual vein thrombosis at ultrasound
      assessment has consistently been shown to increase the risk, as do persistently
      high values of D-dimer and the early development of the post-thrombotic syndrome.
      Strategies that incorporate the assessment of residual vein thrombosis and D
      dimer have the potential to identify subjects in whom anticoagulation can be
      safely discontinued. Moreover, new opportunities are offered by a few anti-Xa and
      anti-IIa oral compounds, which are likely to induce fewer haemorrhagic
      complications than vitamin K antagonists while preserving the same effectiveness.

PMID- 27620309
TI  - Radionuclide Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism.
AB  - Diagnostic imaging plays an integral role in the diagnostic workup of suspected
      pulmonary embolism, and several modalities have been employed over the years. In
      recent years, the choice has been narrowed to either computer tomographic or
      radionuclide based methods, i.e. computer tomographic angiography (CTA) and
      ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy (V/Q-scan). Both methods display advantages
      and shortcomings, and while we provide some insights into CTA and alternative
      methods, the paper's main focus is a review of the V/Q-scan. We discuss basic
      considerations, interpretation criteria, clinical value, and controversies of
      conventional planar lung scintigraphy as well as the more contemporary 3
      dimensional imaging technique of single photon emission tomography (SPECT) with
      or without CT.

PMID- 27620308
TI  - The Treatment of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Cancer.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent complication in cancer patients and
      represents an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The treatment of VTE
      complications in cancer patients remains a difficult clinical task. Low-molecular
      weight heparins (LMWH) are the cornerstone of VTE treatment in cancer patients,
      including the treatment of catheter-related thrombosis. LMWH dose adjustment is
      effective in treating recurrent thrombosis and in patients with bleeding or
      thrombocytopenia. The duration of treatment is dependent on several factors that
      need to be individually evaluated. The novel anticoagulants should be
      investigated more carefully before being routinely implemented in the treatment
      of cancer-associated VTE. Incidentally detected isolated sub-segmental pulmonary
      embolism is unlikely to require systematic full-dose anticoagulation. Whether the
      long-term use of LMWHs has the potential to prolong survival in subgroups of
      cancer patients requires further investigations.

PMID- 27620310
TI  - Expression of Ceramide Galactosyltransferase (UGT8) in Primary and Metastatic
      Lung Tissues of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - Ceramide galactosyltransferase (UGT8) is an enzyme that regulates the synthesis
      of sphingolipids of the myelin sheath in nervous systems. The protein raises an
      increasing research interest as a potential marker of cancer progression in
      various organs. In the present study we seek to determine whether UGT8 could play
      a role of a therapeutic marker in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). We
      addressed the issue by examining the intensity of UGT8 expression in tissue
      specimens of primary and corresponding metastatic lung tumors in 19 NSCLC
      patients undergoing surgery. The methodology was one of immunohistochemical
      tissue staining using light microscopy. The findings were that the majority of
      both lung primary and metastatic tumor tissues were positive in UGT8 signals. The
      cytoplasmic expression of UGT8 was found in 68.4 % of cases of primary tumors and
      82.2 % of metastases, with a positive correlation between the UGT8 expression in
      both tumor tissues. The normal tissue adjacent to tumors showed no positive UGT8
      staining. However, we failed to find any appreciable difference in UGT8
      expression depending on the clinical stage of NSCLC or lymph node involvement.
      Nor was there any association between UGT8 expression in tumor tissues and
      patients' survival time. We conclude that it is unlikely that therapeutic
      targeting of UGT8 could inhibit cell proliferation and invasion of NSCLC. UGT8,
      although enhanced in NSCLC tissues, does not meet the criteria of a lung tumor
      marker. Thus, UGT8 cannot be considered as having diagnostic or therapeutic
      utility in NSCLC. The pathophysiological meaning of enhanced expression of UGT8
      in lung cancer remains to be explored in further studies.

PMID- 27620311
TI  - Antibiotic Treatment of Hospitalized Patients with Pneumonia Complicated by
      Clostridium Difficile Infection.
AB  - Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is one of the most common gastrointestinal
      complication after antimicrobial treatment. It is estimated that CDI after
      pneumonia treatment is connected with a higher mortality than other causes of
      hospitalization. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the
      kind of antibiotic used for pneumonia treatment and mortality from post-pneumonia
      CDI. We addressed the issue by examining retrospectively the records of 217
      patients who met the diagnostic criteria of CDI. Ninety four of those patients
      (43.3 %) came down with CDI infection after pneumonia treatment. Fifty of the 94
      patients went through severe or severe and complicated CDI. The distribution of
      antecedent antibiotic treatment of pneumonia in these 50 patients was as follows:
      ceftriaxone in 14 (28 %) cases, amoxicillin with clavulanate in 9 (18 %),
      ciprofloxacin in 8 (16.0 %), clarithromycin in 7 (14 %), and cefuroxime and
      imipenem in 6 (12 %) each. The findings revealed a borderline enhancement in the
      proportion of deaths due to CDI in the ceftriaxone group compared with the
      ciprofloxacin, cefuroxime, and imipenem groups. The corollary is that ceftriaxone
      should be shunned in pneumonia treatment. The study demonstrates an association
      between the use of a specific antibiotic for pneumonia treatment and post
      pneumonia mortality in patients who developed CDI.

PMID- 27620312
TI  - The Role of New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) in Cancer Patients.
AB  - New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are likely to have a major impact in the next few
      years, changing clinical practice of anticoagulation therapy. Evidence on its
      efficacy and superiority to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in treating non-cancer
      patients have been reported in a few clinical trials. However, patients with
      cancer are complicated by the prothrombotic nature of the disease, need for
      potentially invasive surgery and interventions, and altered drug handling. This
      chapter examines the available evidence and guidelines on the use of NOAC in
      patients with cancer.

PMID- 27620313
TI  - Medico-Legal Aspects of Pulmonary Thromboembolism.
AB  - Pulmonary ThromboEmolism (PTE) is an important disease for legal medicine.
      Because of their sudden lethal onset, generally medicolegal autopsies show few
      clinical information when PTE is the cause of death. During medicolegal
      autopsies, the autopsy operator must answer to important questions. For example,
      autopsy operator can need to assess the casual relationship between PTE and
      recent accident, such as trauma or long air travel. Furthermore, the autopsy
      operator needs to investigate the pathology of PTE as a cause of sudden
      cardiovascular death. It is relatively simple to confirm a fatal massive
      thromboembolus in the initial stage of thoracic investigations, but sometimes it
      might be difficult to distinguish this from postmortem clot. In such cases
      histopathological examination can help in the differentiation. Histological
      examination is also required for observation of chronological changes of the
      thrombi. Chronological evaluation is an important factor especially to determine
      whether the death coincides with the date of a specific accident/event or instead
      there is an earlier onset of PTE. In addition, histological sections sometimes
      show additional information, such as tumor fragments in cases of malignancy or
      small fragments of bone marrow in cases of active resuscitation, that can be
      useful in a medicolegal scenario. Furthermore, new diagnostic tools are arising,
      which they can be very helpful in the individuation of this frequently
      underdiagnosed disease. The goal of our work is to investigate these aspects
      through the review of the recent literature.

PMID- 27620314
TI  - A Review of the Evidence to Support Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in the
      Prevention and Management of Venous Disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The prevention and management of venous disease is a therapeutic
      challenge. Movement of blood through the venous system is augmented by the action
      of muscles on the deep veins, and can be achieved through the application of
      electrical current. The efficacy of currently available clinical devices for this
      purpose is unknown, and is investigated here. METHODS: A literature search of the
      EMBASE and Medline databases was performed, and studies were included if they
      were full text articles, written in english, pertaining to venous disease and
      neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). RESULTS: NMES devices increase
      venous haemodynamic parameters such as peak velocity and volume flow. Studies
      report them to be non-inferior to intermittent pneumatic compression. They are
      effective in the prevention of venous thromboembolism, though inferior to low
      molecular weight heparin. NMES can reduce symptoms of chronic venous disease.
      DISCUSSION: NMES is an important tool in the prevention and management of venous
      disease, and avoids the significant risks associated with heparin administration.
      Data explored here is heterogenous in device, protocol, and reported end-points,
      therefore should be interpreted with care. Long term effects of treatment with
      NMES have not been explored.

PMID- 27620317
TI  - Call for Commentaries on Winter, De Cuypere, Green, Kane, and Knudson (2016).

PMID- 27620315
TI  - Prognostic role of tissue transglutaminase 2 in colon carcinoma.
AB  - Tissue transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is involved in many biological processes, from
      wound healing to neurodegeneration. Recently, there has been an increasing
      interest in this enzyme as a potential prognostic marker or therapy target in
      human neoplasms. The aim of this study was to analyze expression of TG2 messenger
      RNA (mRNA) and protein in colon cancer samples and to evaluate the potential
      value of TG2 as prognostic marker. We investigated not only expression level but
      also location of the protein in a series of human tumors. In silico analysis
      using the GSE39582 dataset showed that TG2 mRNA expression is associated with
      earlier relapse. The results of qPCR in our cohort showed TG2 mRNA to be up
      regulated in 25 out of 70 samples (34 %). Kaplan-Meier plots and log-rank test
      showed that patients with high TG2 mRNA expression have significantly worse
      prognosis in terms of overall survival (OS) and a trend to earlier recurrence.
      Immunohistochemical staining of tumor sections for TG2 revealed stromal staining
      in 152 cases (88 %) and epithelial cell staining in 105 cases (62 %). In stage II
      patients, stromal expression showed a significant association with disease-free
      survival (DFS). In patients with metastatic disease, TG2 expression was also
      associated with poor prognosis. Cox multivariate analysis showed that TG2
      expression in epithelial cells is significantly and independently associated with
      OS, together with node involvement and presence of metastasis. Stromal TG2
      expression was associated with DFS. In summary, in non-metastatic colorectal
      cancer patients, stromal TG2 expression is significantly associated with DFS and
      epithelial TG2 expression with OS, independently of node involvement and
      metastasis.

PMID- 27620318
TI  - Adults with Pedophilic Interests in the United States: Current Practices and
      Suggestions for Future Policy and Research.
AB  - Adults with pedophilic interests are often viewed by the public as a homogenous
      subgroup based on what we know from those who sexually offend against children.
      The stigma associated with child sexual abuse may serve to deter such behaviors
      but may also interfere with the person's stability and willingness to seek
      assistance in managing pedophilic interests. This article contrasts the sex
      offender response and prevention efforts typically employed in the U.S. (i.e.,
      containment, registration, and notification policies and public education
      programs) with treatment programs aimed at preventing child sexual abuse in
      Germany, Belgium, and Canada. Five major areas are identified that should be
      further examined with regard to implementing preventative outreach and treatment
      programs in the U.S.: barriers to outreach and treatment programs, how to expand
      or reframe current preventative educational programs, implementation of such
      programs in light of current mandating reporting policies, promising treatment
      approaches for pedophilic interests among non-offenders, and ethical concerns
      relevant to preventative psychological interventions.

PMID- 27620319
TI  - Sexual Arousal Patterns of Autogynephilic Male Cross-Dressers.
AB  - Men's sexual arousal patterns have been an important window into the nature of
      their erotic interests. Autogynephilia is a natal male's paraphilic tendency to
      be sexually aroused by the thought or image of being a woman. Autogynephilic
      arousal per se is difficult to assess objectively, because it is inwardly
      focused. However, assessing sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic males in
      response to external stimuli is also potentially useful. For example, there is
      substantial association between autogynephilia and gynandromorphophilia (GAMP),
      or sexual attraction to gynandromorphs (GAMs), colloquially "she-males." GAMP
      men's sexual arousal patterns in response to GAM, female, and male stimuli have
      recently been characterized. In the present study, we extended this understanding
      by comparing the sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic male cross-dressers,
      GAMP men, heterosexual men, and homosexual men. Erotic stimuli included sexually
      explicit videos of men, women, and GAMs. Autogynephilic men were much more
      similar in their arousal patterns to heterosexual and GAMP men than to homosexual
      men. However, similar to GAMP men, autogynephilic men showed increased arousal by
      GAM stimuli relative to female stimuli compared with heterosexual men.

PMID- 27620316
TI  - Metabolic interactions with cancer epigenetics.
AB  - Cancer cells have epigenetic alterations that are known to drive cancer
      progression. The reversibility of the epigenetic posttranslational modifications
      on chromatin and DNA renders targeting these modifications an attractive means
      for cancer therapy. Cellular epigenetic status interacts with cell metabolism,
      and we are now beginning to understand the nature of how this interaction occurs
      and the biological contexts that mediate its function. Given the tremendous
      interest in understanding and targeting metabolic reprogramming in cancer, this
      nexus also provides opportunities for exploring the liabilities of cancers. This
      review summarizes recent developments in our understanding of the interaction of
      cancer metabolism and epigenetics.

PMID- 27620321
TI  - Changes in DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Paraphilic Disorders.

PMID- 27620320
TI  - The Geography of Sexual Orientation: Structural Stigma and Sexual Attraction,
      Behavior, and Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Across 38 European
      Countries.
AB  - While the prevalence of sexual identities and behaviors of men who have sex with
      men (MSM) varies across countries, no study has examined country-level structural
      stigma toward sexual minorities as a correlate of this variation. Drawing on
      emerging support for the context-dependent nature of MSM's open sexual self
      identification cross-nationally, we examined country-level structural stigma as a
      key correlate of the geographic variation in MSM's sexual attraction, behavior,
      and identity, and concordance across these factors. Data come from the European
      MSM Internet Survey, a multi-national dataset containing a multi-component
      assessment of sexual orientation administered across 38 European countries (N =
      174,209). Country-level stigma was assessed using a combination of national laws
      and policies affecting sexual minorities and a measure of attitudes toward sexual
      minorities held by the citizens of each country. Results demonstrate that in more
      stigmatizing countries, MSM were significantly more likely to report
      bisexual/heterosexual attractions, behaviors, and identities, and significantly
      less likely to report concordance across these factors, than in less stigmatizing
      countries. Settlement size moderated associations between country-level
      structural stigma and odds of bisexual/heterosexual attraction and behavior, such
      that MSM living in sparsely populated locales within high-structural stigma
      countries were the most likely to report bisexual or heterosexual behaviors and
      attractions. While previous research has demonstrated associations between
      structural stigma and adverse physical and mental health outcomes among sexual
      minorities, this study was the first to show that structural stigma was also a
      key correlate not only of sexual orientation identification, but also of MSM's
      sexual behavior and even attraction. Findings have implications for understanding
      the ontology of MSM's sexuality and suggest that a comprehensive picture of MSM's
      sexuality will come from attending to the local contexts surrounding this
      important segment of the global population.

PMID- 27620322
TI  - Maintaining Affection Despite Pain: Daily Associations Between Physical Affection
      and Sexual and Relationship Well-Being in Women with Genito-Pelvic Pain.
AB  - Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a recurrent, genito-pelvic pain condition that
      affects 8-12 % of women and has negative implications for sexual and relationship
      functioning. Many women with PVD report avoiding physical affection because they
      are concerned that affectionate behavior will lead to painful sexual activity. In
      community samples, physical affection is associated with improved sexual and
      relational well-being; however, no research has assessed the influence of
      physical affection on well-being in women with PVD. The current study examined
      day-to-day, within-person associations between affectionate behavior
      (hugging/kissing, cuddling) and sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction,
      sexual functioning, and pain intensity in women with PVD. Seventy women diagnosed
      with PVD completed an 8-week daily survey. Data were analyzed using multilevel
      modeling. All outcomes were assessed on days involving sexual activity (n = 401
      days). Physical affection was assessed on days with and without sexual activity.
      Hugging/kissing was positively associated with sexual satisfaction, relationship
      satisfaction, and sexual functioning within any given day and when predicting the
      next day. Hugging/kissing was unrelated to pain intensity. Cuddling was not
      associated with any outcomes. Results persisted for affection that occurred on
      days with and without sexual activity. Findings suggest physical affection is
      beneficial for the sexual and relationship well-being of women with PVD. These
      results may inform interventions that encourage women coping with PVD to engage
      in more daily physical affection with their partners.

PMID- 27620323
TI  - Discovery of alpha-Substituted Imidazole-4-acetic Acid Analogues as a Novel Class
      of rho1 gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Type A Receptor Antagonists with Effect on
      Retinal Vascular Tone.
AB  - The rho-containing gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAA Rs) play an
      important role in controlling visual signaling. Therefore, ligands that
      selectively target these GABAA Rs are of interest. In this study, we demonstrate
      that the partial GABAA R agonist imidazole-4-acetic acid (IAA) is able to
      penetrate the blood-brain barrier in vivo; we prepared a series of alpha- and N
      alkylated, as well as bicyclic analogues of IAA to explore the structure-activity
      relationship of this scaffold focusing on the acetic acid side chain of IAA. The
      compounds were prepared via IAA from l-histidine by an efficient minimal-step
      synthesis, and their pharmacological properties were characterized at native rat
      GABAA Rs in a [3 H]muscimol binding assay and at recombinant human alpha1 beta2
      gamma2S and rho1  GABAA Rs using the FLIPRTM membrane potential assay. The (+)
      alpha-methyl- and alpha-cyclopropyl-substituted IAA analogues ((+)-6 a and 6 c,
      respectively) were identified as fairly potent antagonists of the rho1  GABAA R
      that also displayed significant selectivity for this receptor over the alpha1
      beta2 gamma2S GABAA R. Both 6 a and 6 c were shown to inhibit GABA-induced
      relaxation of retinal arterioles from porcine eyes.

PMID- 27620324
TI  - Exploring yale-brown obsessive-compulsive scale symptom structure in Iranian OCD
      patients using item-based factor analysis.
AB  - Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogeneous psychiatric disorder. This
      study aimed to reach a comprehensive perspective of OCD symptoms in Iranian
      patients. Item-based factor analysis of Y-BOCS checklist from 216 outpatients
      resulted in five factors including aggression/checking, contamination/cleaning,
      symmetry/ordering/repeating/counting/hoarding, sexual and somatic. Regression
      analyses showed that miscellaneous items can be predicted by these factors.
      Results showed that OCD subtypes in Iranian patients resemble to those of other
      nations except the aggressive, sexual and religious obsessions; demonstrating the
      influence of the culture on obsession manifestation. The correlation analyses of
      factors and clinical characteristics demonstrated that aggression/checking was
      associated with high obsession scores and more avoidance. Contamination/cleaning
      was correlated with higher compulsion score. Patients with higher scores on
      symmetry/ordering/counting/repeating/hoarding had familial OCD pattern with
      earlier age of onset, lower age at assessment, higher obsession and more
      avoidance. Sexual factor was associated with less compulsion scores and somatic
      factor was associated with higher obsessions and compulsions as well as less
      familial history and more avoidance. These findings provide a comprehensive view
      of OCD symptom structure in Iranian OCD patients and will be of value to studies
      using symptom factor to lead investigation of its causes, correlates and
      treatment strategies considering cross-cultural differences.

PMID- 27620325
TI  - Anxiety disorders are associated with early onset of heroin use and rapid
      transition to dependence in methadone maintained patients.
AB  - Early onset of heroin use is a severity marker of heroin use disorder. We studied
      the interaction between early onset and rapid transition to heroin dependence
      recorded with retrospective interviews in 213 patients with severe heroin
      dependence and history of methadone maintenance treatment. General linear models
      were used to identify independent factors associated with early onset, factors
      associated with rapid transition to dependence, and a multivariate model was used
      to study the interaction of those two dimensions. Lifetime history of anxiety
      disorders and age at onset of cannabis use are shared common risk factors and are
      associated with the interaction.

PMID- 27620326
TI  - Association of CACNA1C and SYNE1 in offspring of patients with psychiatric
      disorders.
AB  - Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are severe mental diseases
      associated with cognitive impairment, mood disturbance, and psychosis. Both
      disorders are highly heritable and share a common genetic background. The present
      study assesses, for the first time, differences in genotype frequencies of
      polymorphisms located in genes involved in neurodevelopment and synaptic
      plasticity between genetic high-risk individuals (offspring of patients with SZ
      or BD; N=100: 31 and 69, respectively) and control subjects (offspring of
      community controls; N=96). Individuals from both groups had similar ages, around
      12 years. A higher percentage of men were included in the genetic high-risk group
      (58%) compared with the control group (40.6%). A total of 244 validated SNPs
      located in 35 candidate gene regions were analyzed in 196 participants.
      Multivariate methods based on logistic regression analysis were performed to
      assess differences in genotype frequencies. Bonferroni correction was applied for
      the multiple comparisons performed. Two polymorphisms, CACNA1C rs10848683 and
      SYNE1 rs214950, showed significant differences. The frequency of heterozygotes
      for CACNA1C rs10848683 in genetic high-risk individuals was double that in
      controls (OR=3.15; P=0.00016). For SYNE1 rs214950, higher frequencies of
      heterozygotes (OR=1.97) and homozygotes for the minor allele (OR=17.89;
      P=0.00020) were found in the genetic high-risk group than in the control group.
      In conclusion, polymorphisms in CACNA1C and SYNE1 could confer a greater risk of
      developing SZ and BD in individuals who are already at high risk because of their
      family history. This could help identify subjects with a very high genetic risk,
      in whom early detection and early intervention could lead to better prognosis.

PMID- 27620327
TI  - Evaluating chronic suicide risk with the Personality Assessment Inventory:
      Development and initial validation of the Chronic Suicide Risk Index (S_Chron).
AB  - The current study sought to develop and validate a new measure of chronic suicide
      risk (the S_Chron) from the Personality Assessment Inventory in a mixed sample of
      psychiatric inpatients and outpatients. In an initial development sample (N=397),
      hierarchical logistic regression identified six PAI variables uniquely associated
      with multiple versus single/no prior suicide attempts after controlling for
      sample demographics: Negative Impression Management, Situational Stress, Mania -
      Grandiosity, Borderline - Negative Relationships, Borderline - Self-Harm, and
      Antisocial Behaviors. These indicators were then aggregated into a single index
      (S_Chron) and evaluated in terms of validity in an independent clinical sample
      (N=398). Results indicated the S_Chron effectively differentiated between groups
      with multiple versus single/no prior suicide attempts, even after controlling for
      the effects of the PAI Suicidal Ideation (SUI) and Suicide Potential (SPI)
      indices, with moderate to large effect sizes observed (range of Cohen's d's=0.30
      0.91). Further, the S_Chron incremented all other PAI indices and SUI in
      predicting multiple suicide attempts. The potential clinical application and ways
      in which the S_Chron may augment other existing measures of suicide risk are
      discussed.

PMID- 27620328
TI  - Family functioning, resilience, and depression among North Korean refugees.
AB  - North Korean refugees in South Korea are at high risk of depression, but there
      are few studies exploring protective factors in this population. We hypothesized
      that family functioning (family adaptability and cohesion) and resilience would
      protect North Korean refugees from developing depressive symptoms. A subsample of
      304 adult North Korean refugees drawn from the cross-sectional 2010 Nationwide
      Survey of Domestic Violence in South Korea was analyzed. Approximately 44% of
      respondents were identified as having depression, using scores on the Center for
      Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. In models capturing the full spectrum
      of depressive symptoms (continuous), family cohesion was significantly associated
      with depression, and the relationship was partially mediated by resilience. In
      models predicting clinical depression (dichotomous), resilience fully mediated
      the relationship between family cohesion and clinical depression. In contrast,
      family adaptability was not associated with depression or resilience in this
      sample. These findings suggest that assessing and enhancing family cohesion and
      resilience may be essential for professionals working with refugees, and that
      refugees without family support may be at particularly high risk for depression.

PMID- 27620329
TI  - Recombinant Trichomonas vaginalis eIF-5A protein expressed from a eukaryotic
      system binds specifically to mammalian and putative trichomonal eIF-5A response
      elements (EREs).
AB  - Trichomonas vaginalis eIF-5A-like protein (TveIF-5A) belongs to the highly
      conserved eIF-5A family of proteins that contains a unique polyamine-derived
      amino acid, hypusine. Recently, we determined that the polyamine putrescine is
      required for tveif-5a mRNA stability, and it is necessary for stability and
      maturation of the TveIF-5A protein. Eukaryotic eIF-5A is known to be involved in
      mRNA turnover and is capable of sequence-specific RNA binding to eIF-5A response
      elements (EREs). These ERE sequences are present in diverse mammalian mRNAs,
      including human cyclooxygenase-2 (cox-2). Here, we cloned the complete coding
      sequence of TveIF-5A and overexpressed it in a eukaryotic system. The recombinant
      protein (rTveIF-5A) was purified in soluble form using size-exclusion
      chromatography. Because of the polyamine-dependent regulation of TvCP39 (a
      protease of T. vaginalis) at the protein and RNA messenger (mRNA) levels, we
      looked for an ERE-like structure in the 3' region of tvcp39 mRNA. In RNA gel
      shift assays, rTveIF-5A bound to transcripts at the EREs of cox-2 or tvcp39
      mRNAs. This work shows the eIF-5A/ERE-like interaction in T. vaginalis.

PMID- 27620330
TI  - Flow cytometry what you see matters: Enhanced clinical detection using image
      based flow cytometry.
AB  - Image-based flow cytometry combines the throughput of traditional flow cytometry
      with the ability to visually confirm findings and collect novel data that would
      not be possible otherwise. Since image-based flow cytometry borrows measurement
      parameters and analysis techniques from microscopy, it is possible to collect
      unique measures (i.e. nuclear translocation, co-localization, cellular synapse,
      cellular endocytosis, etc.) that would not be possible with traditional flow
      cytometry. The ability to collect unique outcomes has led many researchers to
      develop novel assays for the monitoring and detection of a variety of clinical
      conditions and diseases. In many cases, investigators have innovated and expanded
      classical assays to provide new insight regarding clinical conditions and chronic
      disease. Beyond human clinical applications, image-based flow cytometry has been
      used to monitor marine biology changes, nano-particles for solar cell production,
      and particle quality in pharmaceuticals. This review article summarizes work from
      the major scientists working in the field of image-based flow cytometry.

PMID- 27620331
TI  - The effect of polyethylene glycol-modified lipids on the interaction of HIV-1
      derived peptide-dendrimer complexes with lipid membranes.
AB  - In this study, dendrimers have been purposed as an alternative approach for
      delivery of HIV peptides to dendritic cells. We have investigated the interaction
      of dendriplexes formed from polyanionic HIV peptide Nef and cationic carbosilane
      dendrimer (CBD) with model lipid membranes - large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs),
      Langmuir monolayers and supported lipid membranes (sBLMs) containing various
      molar ratio of zwitterionic 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC)
      and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy (polyethylene
      glycol)-2000] (DSPE-PEG2000). In our experiments, the lipid membranes represented
      the model of the plasma membrane of the cell. PEGylated lipids were used in order
      to model glycocalyx which constitutes the outer leaflet of cellular membranes.
      The presence of PEGylated lipids resulted in an increase of the phase transition
      temperature of the lipid bilayer of LUVs, in a decrease of specific volume and
      adiabatic compressibility. Fluorescence anisotropy study suggests that PEGylated
      LUVs possessed higher lipid order and decreased fluidity when compared to
      zwitterionic DMPC vesicles. The interaction of dendriplexes with monolayers was
      accompanied by the formation of the aggregates as revealed by BAM experiments.
      This conclusion has been confirmed also by AFM imaging of sBLMs. We have
      demonstrated that dendriplexes interact with lipid membranes for all types of
      lipid composition. Moreover, the stronger interaction of cationic
      dendrimer/peptide complexes with lipid monolayers, vesicles and sBLMs was
      observed for membranes composed of zwitterionic lipids than for PEGylated lipid
      membranes. Increased concentration of PEGylated lipids made this interaction
      weaker.

PMID- 27620333
TI  - Bacillus subtilis alters the proportion of major membrane phospholipids in
      response to surfactin exposure.
AB  - Surfactin, an anionic lipopeptide produced by Bacillus subtilis, is an
      antimicrobial that targets the cytoplasmic membrane. Nowadays it appears
      increasingly apparent that the mechanism of resistance against these types of
      antibiotics consists of target site modification. This prompted us to investigate
      whether the surfactin non-producing strain B. subtilis 168 changes its membrane
      composition in response to a sublethal surfactin concentration. Here we show that
      the exposure of B. subtilis to surfactin at concentrations of 350 and 650 MUg/ml
      (designated as SF350 and SF650, respectively) leads to a concentration-dependent
      growth arrest followed by regrowth with an altered growth rate. Analysis of the
      membrane lipid composition revealed modifications both in the polar head group
      and the fatty acid region. The presence of either surfactin concentration
      resulted in a reduction in the content of the major membrane phospholipid
      phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and increase in phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), which
      was accompanied by elevated levels of phosphatidic acid (PA) in SF350 cultures.
      The fatty acid analysis of SF350 cells showed a marked increase in non-branched
      high-melting fatty acids, which lowered the fluidity of the membrane interior
      measured as the steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of DPH. The liposome leakage
      of carboxyfluorescein-loaded vesicles resembling the phospholipid composition of
      surfactin-adapted cells showed that the susceptibility to surfactin-induced
      leakage is strongly reduced when the PG/PE ratio decreases and/or PA is included
      in the target bilayer. We concluded that the modifications of the phospholipid
      content of B. subtilis cells might provide a self-tolerance of the membrane
      active surfactin.

PMID- 27620332
TI  - Isolation of yeast complex IV in native lipid nanodiscs.
AB  - We used the amphipathic styrene maleic acid (SMA) co-polymer to extract
      cytochrome c oxidase (CytcO) in its native lipid environment from S. cerevisiae
      mitochondria. Native nanodiscs containing one CytcO per disc were purified using
      affinity chromatography. The longest cross-sections of the native nanodiscs were
      11nm*14nm. Based on this size we estimated that each CytcO was surrounded by ~100
      phospholipids. The native nanodiscs contained the same major phospholipids as
      those found in the mitochondrial inner membrane. Even though CytcO forms a
      supercomplex with cytochrome bc1 in the mitochondrial membrane, cyt. bc1 was not
      found in the native nanodiscs. Yet, the loosely-bound Respiratory SuperComplex
      factors were found to associate with the isolated CytcO. The native nanodiscs
      displayed an O2-reduction activity of ~130 electrons CytcO-1s-1 and the kinetics
      of the reaction of the fully reduced CytcO with O2 was essentially the same as
      that observed with CytcO in mitochondrial membranes. The kinetics of CO-ligand
      binding to the CytcO catalytic site was similar in the native nanodiscs and the
      mitochondrial membranes. We also found that excess SMA reversibly inhibited the
      catalytic activity of the mitochondrial CytcO, presumably by interfering with
      cyt. c binding. These data point to the importance of removing excess SMA after
      extraction of the membrane protein. Taken together, our data shows the high
      potential of using SMA-extracted CytcO for functional and structural studies.

PMID- 27620335
TI  - Effect of ethanol as a co-solvent on the aerosol performance and stability of
      spray-dried lysozyme.
AB  - In the spray drying process, organic solvents can be added to facilitate drying,
      accommodate certain functional excipients, and modify the final particle
      characteristics. In this study, lysozyme was used as a model pharmaceutical
      protein to study the effect of ethanol as a co-solvent on the stability and
      aerosol performance of spray-dried protein. Lysozyme was dissolved in solutions
      with various ratios of ethanol and water, and subsequently spray-dried. A change
      from spherical particles into wrinkled and folded particles was observed upon
      increasing the ratio of ethanol in the feed. The aerosol performance of the spray
      dried lysozyme from ethanol-water solution was improved compared to that from
      pure water. The conformation of lysozyme in the ethanol-water solution and spray
      dried powder was altered, but the native structure of lysozyme was restored upon
      reconstitution in water after the spray drying process. The enzymatic activities
      of the spray-dried lysozyme showed no significant impact of ethanol; however, the
      lysozyme enzymatic activity was ca. 25% lower compared to the starting material.
      In conclusion, the addition of ethanol as a co-solvent in the spray drying feed
      for lysozyme did not compromise the conformation of the protein after drying,
      while it improved the inhaled aerosol performance.

PMID- 27620334
TI  - Deficient cMyBP-C protein expression during cardiomyocyte differentiation
      underlies human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy cellular phenotypes in disease
      specific human ES cell derived cardiomyocytes.
AB  - AIMS: Mutations of cardiac sarcomere genes have been identified to cause HCM, but
      the molecular mechanisms that lead to cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and risk for
      sudden death are uncertain. The aim of this study was to examine HCM disease
      mechanisms at play during cardiac differentiation of human HCM specific
      pluripotent stem cells. METHODS AND RESULTS: We generated a human embryonic stem
      cell (hESC) line carrying a naturally occurring mutation of MYPBC3 (c.2905 +1 G
      >A) to study HCM pathogenesis during cardiac differentiation. HCM-specific hESC
      derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) displayed hallmark aspects of HCM including
      sarcomere disarray, hypertrophy and impaired calcium impulse propagation. HCM
      hESC-CMs presented a transient haploinsufficiency of cMyBP-C during cardiomyocyte
      differentiation, but by day 30 post-differentiation cMyBP-C levels were similar
      to control hESC-CMs. Gene transfer of full-length MYBPC3 during differentiation
      prevented hypertrophy, sarcomere disarray and improved calcium impulse
      propagation in HCM hESC-CMs. CONCLUSION(S): These findings point to the critical
      role of MYBPC3 during sarcomere assembly in cardiac myocyte differentiation and
      suggest developmental influences of MYBPC3 truncating mutations on the mature
      hypertrophic phenotype.

PMID- 27620336
TI  - Vessel Size and Long-Term Outcomes After Limus-Based Drug-Eluting Stent
      Implantation Focusing on Medium- and Small-Diameter Vessels.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of limus-based
      drug-eluting stent (DES) implanted in medium or small coronary vessels during a
      very long-term follow-up period. METHODS: A total of 2383 patients treated with
      2916 limus-based DES between April 2003 and March 2015 were evaluated. The
      enrolled patients were stratified into 3 groups according to the reference vessel
      diameter: group A: <=2.5 mm; group B: 2.51 to 3.00 mm; group C: 3.01 to 3.50 mm.
      RESULTS: Group A had a significantly higher loss index and binary restenosis rate
      than the other 2 groups at 9 months of angiographic follow-up. Group A also had a
      significantly higher rate of target lesion revascularization and a lower rate of
      major adverse cardiovascular event-free survival than the other 2 groups after a
      follow-up period of 68 +/- 59 months. The long-term cardiovascular event-free
      survival curves based on a Cox regression model showed large vessel size, and
      second-generation DES had better outcomes. CONCLUSION: An inverse relationship
      between vessel size (<=3.5 mm) and clinical outcomes was noted in patients who
      received limus-based DES implantation.

PMID- 27620337
TI  - Non-surgical treatment of locally advanced thymic epithelial tumors-a need for
      multicenter trials.

PMID- 27620338
TI  - Strong green fluorescent hydrogels with Ba2 MgSi2 O7 :Eu2+ phosphor embedded in
      cellulose.
AB  - Non-cytotoxic and green-emitting fluorescent hydrogels were constructed from a
      cellulose solution containing Ba2 MgSi2 O7 :Eu2+ green phosphor in a NaOH/urea
      aqueous system. The structure, optical properties and cytotoxicity of these
      hydrogels were studied. The Ba2 MgSi2 O7 :Eu2+ phosphor particles were dispersed
      evenly in the cellulose hydrogel matrix. Good luminescent properties of Ba2 MgSi2
      O7 :Eu2+ phosphor were maintained in the hydrogels, leading to strong green
      emission under ultraviolet excitation. Fluorescent hydrogels have no obvious
      cytotoxicity in a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide
      (MTT) proliferation test, and have potential use in in vivo applications like
      optical imaging and drug delivery.

PMID- 27620339
TI  - Double-barrelled wet colostomy formation after pelvic exenteration for locally
      advanced or recurrent rectal cancer.
AB  - AIM: In advanced pelvic cancer it may be necessary to perform a total pelvic
      exenteration. In such cases urinary tract reconstruction is usually achieved with
      the creation of an ileal conduit with a urinary stoma on the right side of the
      patient's abdomen and an end colostomy separately on the left. The potential
      morbidity from a second stoma may be avoided by the use of a double-barrelled wet
      colostomy (DBWC), as a single stoma. Another advantage is the possibility of
      using a vertical rectus abdominis muscle flap for perineal reconstruction.
      METHOD: All patients undergoing formation of a DBWC were included. RESULT: A DBWC
      was formed in 10 patients. One patient underwent formation of a double-barrelled
      wet ileostomy. CONCLUSIONS: In this technical note we present our early
      experience in 11 cases and a video of DBWC formation in a male patient.

PMID- 27620340
TI  - Hydrodynamic size characterization of a self-emulsifying lipid pharmaceutical
      excipient by Taylor dispersion analysis with fluorescent detection.
AB  - In this work, the sizing of microemulsion droplets of a lipid-based
      pharmaceutical excipient (Labrasol(r) ALF) is performed by Taylor dispersion
      analysis (TDA) using fluorescent detection. An hydrophobic fluorescent marker is
      used to tag the microemulsion droplet and to increase the sensitivity of
      detection (compared to UV detection). Combined with the frontal TDA mode,
      fluorescent detection was mandatory for an accurate sizing of microemulsions
      containing large coacervates. Microemulsion sizing of Labrasol was performed at
      various concentrations from 1 to 70g.L-1 and at two different temperature (25
      degrees C and 37 degrees C). Results obtained by TDA are compared to those
      derived from DLS measurements. The combination of both techniques allows
      estimating the size and proportion of coacervates in the microemulsion, as well
      as the polydispersity in size of the sample.

PMID- 27620341
TI  - Occurrence of co-infection with dengue viruses during 2014 in New Delhi, India.
AB  - Dengue fever is an arthropod-borne viral infection that has become endemic in
      several parts of India including Delhi. We studied occurrence of co-infection
      with dengue viruses during an outbreak in New Delhi, India in 2014. For the
      present study, blood samples collected from symptomatic patients were analysed by
      RT-PCR. Eighty percent of the samples were positive for dengue virus. The result
      showed that DENV-1 (77%) was the predominant serotype followed by DENV-2 (60%).
      Concurrent infection with more than one serotype was identified in 43% of the
      positive samples. Phylogenetic analysis clustered DENV-1 strains with the
      American African and DENV-2 strains in Cosmopolitan genotypes. Four common amino
      acid mutations were identified in the envelope gene of DENV-1 sequences (F337I,
      A369T, V380I and L402F) and one common mutation (N390S) in the DENV-2 sequences.
      Further analysis revealed purifying selection in both the serotypes. A
      significant number of patients were co-infected with DENV-1 and DENV-2 serotypes.
      Although we do not have direct evidence to demonstrate co-evolution of these two
      stereotypes, nonetheless their simultaneous occurrence does indicate that they
      are favoured by evolutionary forces. An ongoing surveillance and careful analysis
      of future outbreaks will strengthen the concept of co-evolution or otherwise.
      Whether the concurrent dengue viral infection is correlated with disease severity
      in a given population is another aspect to be pursued. This study is envisaged to
      be useful for future reference in the context of overall epidemiology.

PMID- 27620343
TI  - Effect of Endoscopic Gastroplication on the Genome-Wide Transcriptome in the
      Upper Gastrointestinal Tract.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery is an effective intervention strategy in obesity,
      resulting in sustained weight loss and a reduction of comorbidities.
      Gastroplication, using the articulating circular endoscopic stapler, was recently
      introduced as a transoral bariatric technique. This procedure reduces gastric
      volume and induced 34.9 % of excess weight loss in the first year (Paulus et al.
      Gastrointest Endosc. 81(2):312-20, 3). The aim of the present study was to gain
      insight in the long-term effects and underlying mechanisms of gastroplication by
      investigating differences in the genome-wide gastric and duodenal transcriptome
      before and 1 year after intervention. METHODS: Ten morbidly obese patients (BMI
      39.8 +/- 0.9 kg/m2 (mean +/- SEM)) underwent gastroplication. Previous to the
      procedure and after 1 year, blood samples were taken, and mucosal biopsies were
      collected from the fundus, antrum and duodenum. Gene expression was measured
      using microarray analysis. Plasma adiponectin, HbA1c, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-7, TNF
      alpha, IFN-gamma, MCP-1, IL-8, TGF-1 and CRP levels were determined. RESULTS:
      Downregulation of inflammatory genes and gene sets was observed in the fundus and
      duodenum 1 year after surgery. Gene expression of ghrelin and its activating
      enzyme GOAT were downregulated in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Patients
      showed a reduction in plasma HbA1c levels (from 6.17 +/- 0.51 to 5.32 +/- 0.14 %,
      p = 0.004) and an increase of plasma adiponectin (from 16.87 +/- 3.67 to 27.67 +/
      5.92 MUg/ml, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Individuals undergoing gastroplication
      displayed a downregulation of inflammatory tone in the stomach and duodenum,
      which coincided with improved HbA1c and adiponectin levels. The reduction of
      inflammatory tone in the upper gastrointestinal tract may be a consequence of an
      improved metabolic health status or alternatively caused by the procedure itself.

PMID- 27620342
TI  - What Is the Best Treatment before Bariatric Surgery? Exercise, Exercise and Group
      Therapy, or Conventional Waiting: a Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This trial's objective was to investigate the effect of an exercise
      program with and without cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), compared by a
      control group, on weight, functional capacity, and cardiometabolic profile of
      morbidly obese individuals while waiting for bariatric surgery. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This randomized controlled trial investigated the effect of a 4-month
      low-intensity exercise program (two weekly sessions of 25 min each) on 66
      morbidly obese individuals awaiting bariatric surgery. Participants were randomly
      divided into three groups: EXER, exercise program; EXER + CBT, exercise program
      plus support group sessions for lifestyle modification, with a CBT; and CONTROL,
      routine treatment. They were compared on weight, functional capacity, and
      cardiometabolic profile. RESULTS: The weight change (Kg) was -7.4 (-9.6 to 5,1); 
      4,2 (-6,8 to -1.6) and 2.9 (0.4 to 5.3) and the BMI change (kg/m2) was -2.7 (-3.6
      to -1.8); -1.4 (-2.4 to -0.4) and 1.1 (0.1 to 2.1) for groups EXER, EXER + CBT,
      and CONTROL, respectively. Changes were significant when compared to the control
      group (p < 0.001), but there were no differences between the two intervention
      arms (p = 0.2). Functional capacity and cardiometabolic parameters significantly
      improved in the intervention arms and worsened in the control group. The
      adherence to the exercise program in both groups was above 78 %. CONCLUSION: A 4
      month, twice-weekly supervised program of low-intensity physical activity that
      encourages individuals to adopt a more active lifestyle can positively interfere
      with weight loss and improvement in functional capacity and cardiometabolic
      parameters of morbidly obese individuals with and without the aid of support
      group sessions.

PMID- 27620344
TI  - Intratumoral Heterogeneity of Frameshift Mutations in MECOM Gene is Frequent in
      Colorectal Cancers with High Microsatellite Instability.
AB  - MECOM gene, also known as EVI, encodes a transcriptional regulator involved in
      hematopoiesis, apoptosis, development and proliferation. In blood system, MECOM
      is considered an oncogene, but in solid tumors it has both oncogenic and tumor
      suppressor activities. Low frequent somatic mutations of MECOM have been detected
      in many cancers including colorectal cancers (CRC), but the mutation status with
      respect to the microsatellite instability (MSI) has not been studied. There is an
      A7 mononucleotide repeat in MECOM coding sequences that could be a mutation
      target in the cancers with MSI. We analyzed the A7 of MECOM in 79 CRCs with high
      MSI (MSI-H) and 65 microsatellite stable/low MSI (MSS/MSI-L) CRCs by single
      strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing. Overall, we found
      MECOM frameshift mutations in 6 (7.6 %) CRCs with MSI-H, but not in MSS/MSI-L
      cancers (0/65) (p < 0.025). We also analyzed intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) of
      the MECOM frameshift mutation in 16 CRCs and found that four CRCs (25.0 %)
      harbored regional ITH of the frameshift mutations. Our data indicate that MECOM
      gene harbors both somatic frameshift mutations and mutational ITH, which together
      may be features of CRC with MSI-H.

PMID- 27620345
TI  - A preliminary study of longitudinal neuroadaptation associated with recovery from
      addiction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have explored longitudinal change in event-related brain
      responses during early recovery from addiction. Moreover, existing findings yield
      evidence of both increased and decreased signaling within reward and control
      centers over time. The current study explored reward- and control-related signals
      in a risky decision-making task and specifically investigated parametric
      modulations of the BOLD signal, rather than signal magnitude alone. It was
      hypothesized that risk-related signals during decision-making and outcome
      evaluation would reflect recovery and that change in specific signals would
      correspond with improved treatment outcomes. METHODS: Twenty-one substance
      dependent individuals were recruited upon enrollment in community-based substance
      use treatment programs, wherein they received treatment-as-usual. Participants
      completed functional neuroimaging assessments at baseline and 3-month follow-up
      while performing the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Risk- and reward
      sensitive signals were identified using parametric modulators. Substance use was
      tracked throughout the 3-month study interval using the timeline follow-back
      procedure. RESULTS: Longitudinal contrasts of parametric modulators suggested
      improved formation of risk-informed outcome expectations at follow-up.
      Specifically, a greater response to high risk (low-likelihood) positive feedback
      was identified in caudal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and a greater response
      to low risk (low-likelihood) negative feedback was identified in caudal ACC and
      inferior frontal gyrus. In addition, attenuation of a ventromedial prefrontal
      cortex (vmPFC) "reward-seeking" signal (i.e., increasing response with greater
      reward) during risky decisions at follow-up was associated with less substance
      use during the study interval. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in risk- and reward-related
      signaling in ACC/vmPFC appear to reflect recovery and may support sobriety.

PMID- 27620347
TI  - A qualitative insight into self-management experience among Chinese breast cancer
      survivors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With increasing awareness in the chronic nature of cancer, promoting
      the engagement of breast cancer survivors in self-management has become a
      priority of cancer care reform initiatives. This study aimed to reveal Chinese
      breast cancer survivors' views and experiences of self-management in extended
      survivorship. METHODS: Archived interview transcripts from 19 breast cancer
      survivors (<5 years since diagnosis) were subjected to a secondary analysis. Each
      transcript was re-examined through qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Three
      categories were established to represent the perceptions of the participants on
      their self-management tasks related to health and well-being, emotions, and roles
      and relationships. Managing health and well-being covers modifying lifestyle,
      taking traditional Chinese medicine, attending regular follow-ups, managing
      symptoms, and adhering to hormonal therapy. Managing emotions involves
      maintaining a positive attitude and utilizing supportive resources. Managing
      roles and relationships comprises adjusting to life as cancer survivors,
      maintaining marital relationships, and performing familial and other social
      roles. CONCLUSIONS: Most participants actively participated in various self
      management tasks and behaviors that can help improve their health and prevent
      cancer recurrence. They may exhibit optimal self-management in their emotions and
      most health aspects but may exert limited efforts in managing their different
      roles during survivorship.

PMID- 27620346
TI  - Rapid transition from drinking to alcohol dependence among adolescent and young
      adult newly incident drinkers in the United States, 2002-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To study male-female and age differences in estimates of rapid
      transition from first full drink to alcohol dependence among youthful newly
      incident drinkers in the United States (US). METHOD: The study population
      included 12-to-25-year-old non-institutionalized US civilian residents, sampled
      for US National Surveys on Drug Use and Health 2002-2013, with assessments via
      confidential computer assisted self-interviews. Newly incident drinkers are those
      who had their first full drink soon before the assessment (n=32,562 12-to-25-year
      olds). Alcohol dependence (AD) criteria are from DSM-IV. RESULTS: For 12-to-25
      year-old females, the peak risk for making a rapid transition from first full
      drink to alcohol dependence is seen during adolescence, followed by declining
      estimates (meta-analysis summary=3% at 12-17 years of age, 95% CI=2%, 3%). Among
      males, corresponding estimates fluctuate around 2%, with no appreciable
      differences across age strata. Among 12-to-17-year-old newly incident drinkers,
      there is a female excess in the rapid transition to alcohol dependence; a male
      excess is observed among young adult newly incident drinkers. Evaluated cohort
      wise, using an epidemiological mutoscope view, individual cohorts show a
      congruent pattern, with age at first drink held constant. CONCLUSIONS: Studying
      multiple replication samples of young newly incident drinkers, we discovered a
      clear female excess in the risk of a rapid transition from first full drink to
      alcohol dependence among adolescents, with age patterns differing across males
      and females.

PMID- 27620348
TI  - An Auditory BCI System for Assisting CRS-R Behavioral Assessment in Patients with
      Disorders of Consciousness.
AB  - The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) is a consistent and sensitive behavioral
      assessment standard for disorders of consciousness (DOC) patients. However, the
      CRS-R has limitations due to its dependence on behavioral markers, which has led
      to a high rate of misdiagnosis. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which directly
      detect brain activities without any behavioral expression, can be used to
      evaluate a patient's state. In this study, we explored the application of BCIs in
      assisting CRS-R assessments of DOC patients. Specifically, an auditory passive
      EEG-based BCI system with an oddball paradigm was proposed to facilitate the
      evaluation of one item of the auditory function scale in the CRS-R - the auditory
      startle. The results obtained from five healthy subjects validated the efficacy
      of the BCI system. Nineteen DOC patients participated in the CRS-R and BCI
      assessments, of which three patients exhibited no responses in the CRS-R
      assessment but were responsive to auditory startle in the BCI assessment. These
      results revealed that a proportion of DOC patients who have no behavioral
      responses in the CRS-R assessment can generate neural responses, which can be
      detected by our BCI system. Therefore, the proposed BCI may provide more
      sensitive results than the CRS-R and thus assist CRS-R behavioral assessments.

PMID- 27620350
TI  - Combined papillary muscle sling and ring annuloplasty for moderate-to-severe
      secondary mitral regurgitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a 30-60% incidence of recurrent mitral regurgitation (MR)
      after mitral valve annuloplasty (Ring) for secondary MR. A concomitant papillary
      muscle sling (Ring+Sling) may improve valve repair by providing a more
      physiologic geometry of the mitral apparatus. METHODS: We retrospectively
      identified 58 consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe secondary MR who
      underwent a Ring+Sling repair, between March 2008 and May 2015. A Ring+Sling
      consisted of combined annuloplasty and papillary muscle approximation, utilizing
      a 4-mm polytetrafluoroethylene graft placed around the base of each muscle.
      Comparison of echocardiographic variables with patients who underwent a Ring only
      was performed utilizing 2:1 propensity-score matching (Ring+Sling = 34; Ring =
      17). RESULTS: The baseline demographics were similar between the groups. The mean
      time to follow-up echocardiogram was 10.1 months (range 0.25-42 months). At
      follow-up, a Ring+Sling repair was associated with a lower mitral valve tenting
      height (p = 0.005), mitral valve tenting area (p = 0.009), and interpapillary
      muscle distance (p = 0.001); a smaller posterior leaflet tethering angle (p =
      0.003); and a greater leaflet coaptation length (p = 0.002), when compared with
      Ring only. Recurrence of moderate or greater MR occurred significantly less in
      the Ring+Sling group (14.7%), as compared with Ring only (35.3%) (p < 0.001).
      Finally, actuarial survival at three years was 87% for Ring+Sling, and 82% for
      Ring only (p = 0.49). CONCLUSIONS: A Ring+Sling for secondary MR results in
      favorable changes in the mitral valve apparatus geometry, and is associated with
      less MR recurrence in the early postoperative period. Longer-term follow-up is
      needed to assess its durability and effects on left ventricular remodeling and
      survival.

PMID- 27620349
TI  - Vitamin B2 as a virulence factor in Pseudogymnoascus destructans skin infection.
AB  - Pathogenic and non-pathogenic related microorganisms differ in secondary
      metabolite production. Here we show that riboflavin overproduction by a fungal
      pathogen and its hyperaccumulation in affected host tissue exacerbates a skin
      infection to necrosis. In white-nose syndrome (WNS) skin lesions caused by
      Pseudogymnoascus destructans, maximum riboflavin concentrations reached up to 815
      MUg ml(-1), indicating bioaccumulation and lack of excretion. We found that high
      riboflavin concentrations are cytotoxic under conditions specific for
      hibernation, affect bats' primary fibroblasts and induce cell detachment, loss of
      mitochondrial membrane potential, polymerization of cortical actin, and cell
      necrosis. Our results explain molecular pathology of WNS, where a skin infection
      becomes fatal. Hyperaccumulation of vitamin B2 coupled with reduced metabolism
      and low tissue oxygen saturation during hibernation prevents removal of excess
      riboflavin in infected bats. Upon reperfusion, oxygen reacts with riboflavin
      resulting in dramatic pathology after arousal. While multiple molecules enable
      invasive infection, riboflavin-associated extensive necrosis likely contributes
      to pathophysiology and altered arousal pattern in infected bats. Bioaccumulation
      of a vitamin under natural infection represents a novel condition in a complex
      host-pathogen interplay.

PMID- 27620351
TI  - Decomposition rate and enzymatic activity of composted municipal waste and
      poultry manure in the soil in a biofuel crops field.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biofuel crops are gaining importance because of the need to replace
      non-renewable sources. Also, due to the increasing amounts of wastes generated,
      there is the need to recycle them to the soil, both to fertilize crops and to
      improve soil physical properties through organic matter increase and
      microbiological changes in the rhizosphere. We therefore studied the influence of
      six biofuel crops (elephant grass, giant cane, sugarcane, blue gum, black
      cottonwood, willow) on the decomposition rate and enzymatic activity of composted
      municipal solid waste and poultry manure. Organic amendments were incubated in
      the field (litterbag method), buried near each plant or bare soil. Biomass
      decrease and dehydrogenase, urease and acid phosphatase level in amendments was
      monitored over a 180-day period. Soil under the litterbags was analysed for the
      same enzymatic activity and organic matter fractions (last sampling). After 365
      days, a fractionation of organic matter was carried out in both amendments and
      soil under the litterbags. RESULTS: For compost, willow and sugarcane generally
      led to the greatest enzymatic activity, at the end of the experiment. For manure,
      dehydrogenase activity decreased sharply with time, the smallest value near
      sugarcane, while phosphatase and urease generally presented the highest values,
      at the beginning or after 90 days' incubation. Clustering showed that plant
      species could be grouped based on biomass and enzymes measured over time.
      CONCLUSIONS: Plant species influenced the decomposition rate and enzymatic
      activities of the organic amendments. Overall, mineralization of both amendments
      was associated with a greater urease activity in soils. Dehydrogenase activity in
      manure was closely associated with urease activity. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical
      Industry.

PMID- 27620352
TI  - Validation of surgical site infection registration in colorectal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection (SSI) represents almost 40% of nosocomial
      infections. Risk for SSI is most prominent following colorectal surgery. There is
      no Swedish standard SSI classification or surveillance. We have failed to find
      validation of SSI surveillance programs presently in use. This study investigates
      SSI registration routines at Halmstad County Hospital, Sweden (HCH) as well as
      Swedish surgery departments' SSI classification and reporting practices. METHODS:
      We requested information regarding SSI surveillance routines from all surgical
      departments performing colorectal surgery in Sweden. The reliability of SSI data
      collected routinely at HCH between 1999 and 2008 was approximated by comparing
      routine reports with data from a prospective study on infection prophylaxis. We
      calculate how much the reported SSI frequency must change for detection with
      current surveillance routines. RESULTS: In all, 36 of 56 surgical departments
      answered a questionnaire; 24 have active SSI registration. Most commonly, SSI is
      detected with a combination of postoperative control in the outpatient unit and
      review of medical records after discharge. The department of surgery at HCH
      reported, from 1999 to 2008, an average SSI rate of 12.7% including emergency
      surgery. Compared to prospective registration, the routine provided a sensitivity
      of 0.56 and a specificity of 1.0. A reported frequency of 26% is required to
      detect a statistically significant increase in SSI. CONCLUSION: Swedish hospital
      SSI rates cannot be compared, there is neither uniform SSI surveillance nor
      classification system. The SSI monitoring routine explored in this study is
      uncertain. Methods must be developed further to obtain reliable data.

PMID- 27620354
TI  - Synthesis of High-Quality Large-Area Homogenous 1T' MoTe2 from Chemical Vapor
      Deposition.
AB  - High-quality large-area few-layer 1T' MoTe2 films with high homogeneity are
      synthesized by the controlled tellurization of MoO3 film. The Mo precursor plays
      a key role in determining the quality and morphology of the 1T' MoTe2 .
      Furthermore, the amount of Te strongly influences the phase of the MoTe2 . The
      growth method paves the way toward the scalable production of 1T' MoTe2 -based
      applications.

PMID- 27620355
TI  - Harder-to-Treat Patients: Recognizing Them and Adapting Treatment Strategies.
AB  - Despite significant progress in pharmacologic treatment aimed at lowering low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, a number
      of patient groups that often prove difficult to treat remain. Patients with
      familial hypercholesterolemia may go undiagnosed and untreated or, despite
      treatment, have persistently elevated lipid levels that confer a high
      cardiovascular disease risk. Although the true prevalence is unknown, statin
      intolerance is a common clinical presentation that is difficult to assess and
      frequently leads to suboptimal lipid treatment. Additionally, some patients may
      not achieve the expected response to guideline-based therapy. For all 3 groups, a
      standardized approach offers the best chance for effective diagnosis and optimal
      treatment. 

PMID- 27620353
TI  - The association between phosphatase and tensin homolog hypermethylation and
      patients with breast cancer, a meta-analysis and literature review.
AB  - The Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) protein is a negative regulator of the
      Akt pathway, leading to suppression of apoptois and increased cell survival. Its
      role as a tumor-suppressor gene has been adequately substantiated, and PTEN
      hypermethylation has been demonstrated in familial and sporadic cancers. However,
      the association and clinical significance between PTEN hypermethylation and
      breast cancer remains unclear. In this study, we systematically reviewed studies
      of PTEN hypermethylation and breast cancer and quantify the association between
      PTEN hypermethylation and breast cancer using meta-analysis methods. The pooled
      OR, 22.30, 95% confidential intervals, CI = 1.98-251.51, P = 0.01, which
      demonstrates that loss of PTEN expression by hypermethylation plays a critical
      role in the early tumorigenesis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). In addition,
      PTEN hypermethylation also is detected in invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) and
      is significantly higher than in normal controls, OR = 23.32, 95% CI = 10.43
      52.13, P < 0.00001. Further analysis did not show significant correlation between
      PTEN hypermethylation and the progression of breast cancer, estrogen receptor
      (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), as well as HER2 status. These results indicate
      the PTEN hypermethylation is significantly associated with both DCIS and IDCs.
      The detection of PTEN hypermethylation could be an early tumorigenesis marker for
      breast cancer patients.

PMID- 27620356
TI  - Novel Therapies for Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction.
AB  - Although many clinical trials and meta-analyses have demonstrated that lower
      serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are associated with
      proportionately greater reductions in the risk of cardiovascular disease events,
      not all patients with hypercholesterolemia are able to attain risk-stratified LDL
      C goals with statin monotherapy. Elucidation of the pathophysiology of genetic
      disorders of lipid metabolism (e.g., familial hypercholesterolemia) has led to
      the development of several novel lipid-lowering strategies, including blocking
      the degradation of hepatic LDL-C receptors that are important in LDL-C clearance,
      or the inhibition of apoprotein synthesis and lipidation. Mipomersen and
      lomitapide are highly efficacious new agents available for the treatment of
      patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. The recent introduction
      of PCSK9 inhibitors (alirocumab and evolocumab) have made it possible for many
      patients to achieve very low LDL-C concentrations (e.g., <40 mg/dl) that are
      usually not attainable with statin monotherapy. Ongoing clinical trials are
      examining the impact of very low LDL-C levels on cardiovascular disease event
      rates and the long-term safety of this approach. 

PMID- 27620357
TI  - Introduction: What Have We Learned Since the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines?

PMID- 27620358
TI  - Personalizing Treatment: Between Primary and Secondary Prevention.
AB  - Current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for
      the management of patients with elevated blood cholesterol increasingly emphasize
      assessment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk in deciding
      when to initiate pharmacotherapy. The decision to treat is based primarily on
      mathematical integration of traditional risk factors, including age, sex, race,
      lipid values, systolic blood pressure, hypertension therapy, diabetes mellitus,
      and smoking. Advanced risk testing is selectively endorsed for patients when the
      decision to treat is otherwise uncertain, or more broadly interpreted as those
      patients who are at so-called "intermediate risk" of ASCVD events using
      traditional risk factors alone. These new guidelines also place new emphasis on a
      clinician-patient risk discussion, a process of shared decision making in which
      patient and physician consider the potential benefits of treatment, risk of
      adverse events, and patient preferences before making a final decision to
      initiate treatment. Advanced risk testing is likely to play an increasingly
      important role in this process as weaknesses in exclusive reliance on traditional
      risk factors are recognized, new non-statin therapies become available, and
      guidelines are iteratively updated. Comparative efficacy studies of the various
      advanced risk testing options suggest that coronary artery calcium scoring is
      most strongly predictive of ASCVD events. Most importantly, coronary artery
      calcium scoring appears to identify an important subgroup of patients with
      advanced subclinical atherosclerosis-who are "between" primary and secondary
      prevention-that might benefit from the most aggressive lipid-lowering
      pharmacotherapy. 

PMID- 27620359
TI  - Can an emergency department clinical "triggers" program based on abnormal vital
      signs improve patient outcomes?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because abnormal vital signs indicate the potential for clinical
      deterioration, it is logical to make emergency physicians immediately aware of
      those patients who present with abnormal vital signs. OBJECTIVES: To determine if
      a clinical triggers program in the emergency department (ED) setting that
      utilized predetermined abnormal vital signs to activate a rapid assessment by an
      emergency physician-led multidisciplinary team had a measurable effect on
      inpatient hospital metrics. METHODS: The study design was a retrospective pre and
      post intervention study. The intervention was the implementation of an ED
      clinical "triggers" program. Abnormal vital sign criteria that warranted a
      trigger response included: heart rate 130 beats/minutes, respiratory rate 30
      breaths/minute, systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg, or oxygen saturation <90% on
      room air. The primary outcome investigated was the median days admitted with
      secondary outcomes of median days in special care unit, in-hospital 30-day
      mortality and proportion of patients who required an upgrade in inpatient care
      level. RESULTS: There was no difference in median days admitted for inpatient
      care (3.8 v. 4.0 days, p=0.21) or median days spent in a special care unit (5.0
      v. 5.6 days, p=0.42) between the groups. There was no difference in the
      percentage of in-hospital patient deaths (6.0% v. 5.6%, p=0.66) or frequency of
      upgrade in level of care within 24 hours (4.9% v. 4.0%, p=0.52). CONCLUSIONS: In
      our study, the implementation of an ED clinical triggers program did not result
      in a significant change in measured inpatient outcomes.

PMID- 27620362
TI  - 13th Congress of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis (ESCD), 14-17
      September 2016, Manchester, United Kingdom.

PMID- 27620361
TI  - Characterization of residual tumours at the primary site in patients with a near
      pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for
      oesophageal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A 'surgery as needed' strategy has been proposed for patients with
      oesophageal cancer who truly achieve a pathological complete response (pCR)
      following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). However, the ability to detect
      residual disease remains problematic. This study investigated the anatomical
      locations and pathological characteristics of residual cancer in patients with
      oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who achieved a near pCR following nCRT.
      METHODS: Patients with oesophageal SCC who achieved a near pCR after nCRT were
      eligible. Near pCR was defined as residual cancer in the resection specimen
      representing less than 10 per cent of the apparent original tumour area. RESULTS:
      Detailed histopathological reassessment of 76 consecutive patients (mean age 54.4
      years) with a near pCR was undertaken. Some 32 patients (42 per cent) with a near
      pCR had no detectable mucosal lesions. Residual tumour was identified most
      frequently in the submucosal layer (54, 71 per cent), followed by the mucosa (44,
      58 per cent), muscle layer (36, 47 per cent) and adventitia (22, 29 per cent) (P
      < 0.001). Among patients without ypT1a disease, increasing depth of tumour
      invasion correlated negatively with the likelihood of mucosal involvement. Of
      patients with ypT3 disease, 16 of 22 had no detectable cancer located in the
      mucosa, compared with six of 29 with ypT1b disease (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION:
      Better tools for predicting pCR are required before considering a 'surgery as
      needed' approach in the management of oesophageal cancer.

PMID- 27620360
TI  - The neuroanatomy of autism - a developmental perspective.
AB  - Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental
      disorders that are diagnosed solely on the basis of behaviour. A large body of
      work has reported neuroanatomical differences between individuals with ASD and
      neurotypical controls. Despite the huge clinical and genetic heterogeneity that
      typifies autism, some of these anatomical features appear to be either present in
      most cases or so dramatically altered in some that their presence is now
      reasonably well replicated in a number of studies. One such finding is the
      tendency towards overgrowth of the frontal cortex during the early postnatal
      period. Although these reports have been focused primarily on the presumed
      pathological anatomy, they are providing us with important insights into normal
      brain anatomy and are stimulating new ideas and hypotheses about the normal
      trajectory of brain development and the function of specific anatomical brain
      structures. The use of model systems that include genetic model organisms such as
      the mouse and, more recently, human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain
      organoids to model normal and pathological human cortical development, is proving
      particularly informative. Here we review some of the neuroanatomical alterations
      reported in autism, with a particular focus on well-validated findings and recent
      advances in the field, and ask what these observations can tell us about normal
      and abnormal brain development.

PMID- 27620364
TI  - Correlation between morphological MRI findings and specific diagnostic categories
      in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
AB  - Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) include physical and neurodevelopmental
      abnormalities related to prenatal alcohol exposure. Some neuroimaging findings
      have been clearly related to FASD, including corpus callosum and cerebellar
      anomalies. However, detailed studies correlating with specific FASD categories,
      that is, the fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), partial FAS (pFAS) and alcohol related
      neurodevelopmental disorders (ARND), are lacking. We prospectively performed
      clinical assessment and brain MR imaging to 72 patients with suspected FASD, and
      diagnosis was confirmed in 62. The most frequent findings were hypoplasia of the
      corpus callosum and/or of the cerebellar vermis. Additional findings were
      vascular anomalies, gliosis, prominent perivascular spaces, occipito-cervical
      junction and cervical vertebral anomalies, pituitary hypoplasia, arachnoid cysts,
      and cavum septum pellucidum.

PMID- 27620366
TI  - Therapeutic hypothermia in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI): a long way
      to go.

PMID- 27620365
TI  - DNA Antenna Tile-Associated Deoxyribozyme Sensor with Improved Sensitivity.
AB  - Some natural enzymes increase the rate of diffusion-limited reactions by
      facilitating substrate flow to their active sites. Inspired by this natural
      phenomenon, we developed a strategy for efficient substrate delivery to a
      deoxyribozyme (DZ) catalytic sensor. This resulted in a three- to fourfold
      increase in sensitivity and up to a ninefold improvement in the detection limit.
      The reported strategy can be used to enhance catalytic efficiency of diffusion
      limited enzymes and to improve sensitivity of enzyme-based biosensors.

PMID- 27620368
TI  - Dual antiplatelet therapy duration after drug-eluting stents: how long?

PMID- 27620367
TI  - Biomimetic Cardiac Tissue Model Enables the Adaption of Human Induced Pluripotent
      Stem Cell Cardiomyocytes to Physiological Hemodynamic Loads.
AB  - Induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) provide a human
      source of cardiomyocytes for use in cardiovascular research and regenerative
      medicine. However, attempts to use these cells in vivo have resulted in drastic
      cell death caused by mechanical, metabolic, and/or exogenous factors. To explore
      this issue, we designed a Biomimetic Cardiac Tissue Model (BCTM) where various
      parameters associated with heart function including heart rate, peak-systolic
      pressure, end-diastolic pressure and volume, end-systolic pressure and volume,
      and ratio of systole to diastole can all be precisely manipulated to apply
      hemodynamic loading to culture cells. Using the BCTM, two causes of low
      survivability in current cardiac stem cell therapies, mechanical and metabolic,
      were explored. iPSC-CMs were subject to physiologically relevant mechanical
      loading (50 mmHg systolic, 10% biaxial stretch) in either a low- or high-serum
      environment and mechanical loads were applied either immediately or gradually.
      Results confirm that iPSC-CMs subject to mechanical loading in low-serum
      conditions experienced widespread cell death. The rate of application of stress
      also played an important role in adaptability to mechanical loading. Under high
      serum conditions, iPSC-CMs subject to gradual imposition of stress were
      comparable to iPSC-CMs maintained in static culture when evaluated in terms of
      cell viability, sarcomeric structure, action potentials and conduction
      velocities. In contrast, iPSC-CMs that were immediately exposed to mechanical
      loading had significantly lower cell viability, destruction of sarcomeres,
      smaller action potentials, and lower conduction velocities. We report that iPSC
      CMs survival under physiologically relevant hemodynamic stress requires gradual
      imposition of mechanical loads in a nutrient-rich environment.

PMID- 27620369
TI  - Ferroelectricity of domain walls in rare earth iron garnet films.
AB  - In this paper, we report on electric polarization arising in a vicinity of Bloch
      like domain walls in rare-earth iron garnet films. The domain walls generate an
      intrinsic magnetic field that breaks an antiferroelectric structure formed in the
      garnets due to an exchange interaction between rare earth and iron sublattices.
      We explore 180 degrees  domain walls whose formation is energetically preferable
      in the films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Magnetic and electric
      structures of the 180 degrees  quasi-Bloch domain walls have been simulated at
      various relations between system parameters. Singlet, doublet ground states of
      rare earth ions and strongly anisotropic rare earth Ising ions have been
      considered. Our results show that electric polarization appears in rare earth
      garnet films at Bloch domain walls, and the maximum of magnetic inhomogeneity is
      not always linked to the maximum of electric polarization. A number of factors
      including the temperature, the state of the rare earth ion and the type of a wall
      influence magnetically induced electric polarization. We show that the value of
      polarization can be enhanced by the shrinking of the Bloch domain wall width,
      decreasing the temperature, and increasing the deviations of magnetization from
      the Bloch rotation that are regulated by impacts given by magnetic anisotropies
      of the films.

PMID- 27620371
TI  - Sedentary Behavior, Physical Activity, and Bone Health in Postmenopausal Women.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine if bone health at the femoral neck
      (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) can be predicted from objectively-measured sedentary
      behavior and physical activity data in postmenopausal women. Waist-mounted
      ActiGraph GT1M and GT3X devices were used to quantify levels of sedentary and
      moderate-to-vigorous intensity behavior during a 7-day period in 44 older
      females. Bone health (normal and osteopenia/osteoporosis) of FN and LS was
      derived from T scores generated using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Binomial
      logistic regression analysis indicated that sedentary time and number of breaks
      in sedentary behavior were significant predictors of osteopenia/osteoporosis at
      the FN, but not at the LS. Adherence to physical activity guidelines was not a
      significant predictor of bone health at the FN or LS. Our findings suggest that
      more frequent interruptions in sedentary behavior are associated with improved
      bone health in postmenopausal women.

PMID- 27620372
TI  - Synthesis of Intervention Trials To Improve Motor Recovery following Stroke.
AB  - Therapists have used multiple interventions to improve motor recovery following
      stroke. However, the clinical research studies to support efficacy of the
      interventions are few. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the results
      of the clinical trials that have assessed therapeutic interventions to enhance
      motor recovery. The results of the current research provide some evidence that
      physical interventions may improve intrinsic motor recovery. The interventions
      that have been shown to be effective require active participation of the patient
      and repetitive training. The improvements in motor control have been limited to
      select patients with volitional motor control. 

PMID- 27620370
TI  - Predicting survival in node-positive prostate cancer after open, laparoscopic or
      robotic radical prostatectomy: A competing risk analysis of a multi-institutional
      database.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate cancer-specific mortality and other-cause mortality in
      prostate cancer patients with nodal metastases. METHODS: The study included 411
      patients treated with radical prostatectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection for
      prostate cancer with lymph node metastases at 10 tertiary care centers between
      1995 and 2014. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to assess cancer-specific
      mortality-free survival rates at 8 years' follow up in the overall population,
      and after stratifying patients according to clinical and pathological parameters.
      Uni- and multivariable competing risk Cox regression analyses were used to assess
      cancer-specific mortality and other-cause mortality. Finally, cumulative
      incidence plots were generated for cancer-specific mortality and other-cause
      mortality after stratifying patients according to the number of positive lymph
      nodes and the median age at surgery, according to the competing risks method.
      RESULTS: Men with prostate-specific antigen <=40 ng/mL and those with one to
      three positive lymph nodes showed higher cancer-specific mortality-free survival
      estimates as compared with their counterparts with prostate-specific antigen >40
      ng/mL and >3 metastatic lymph nodes, respectively (all P < 0.001). At
      multivariable Cox regression analyses, preoperative prostate-specific antigen >40
      ng/mL, >3 lymph node metastases and pathological Gleason score 8-10 were all
      independent predictors of cancer-specific mortality (all P-values <=0.001). On
      competing risk analysis, when patients were stratified according to the number of
      positive lymph nodes (namely, <=3 vs >3), the 8-year cancer-specific mortality
      rates were 27.4% versus 44.8% for patients aged <65 years, and 15.2% versus 52.6%
      for patients aged >=65 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Three positive lymph
      nodes represent the best prognostic cut-off in node-positive prostate cancer
      patients. In those individuals with >3 positive lymph nodes, the overall
      mortality rate is completely related to prostate cancer in young patients.

PMID- 27620373
TI  - Disability Assessment for Patients with Stroke.
AB  - This review focuses on six prominent disability instruments designed and used in
      stroke research. The strengths and limitations of each are reviewed against four
      criteria which should be considered in selecting among existing instruments: the
      conceptual scope; the scaling method; its psychometric properties; and the
      instrument's feasibility. Outcomes measurement is an active area of investigation
      and the clinical researcher should follow the rehabilitation literature closely
      to keep abreast of the latest developments. 

PMID- 27620375
TI  - Adaptation of Postural Stability following Stroke.
AB  - Activities of daily living require both anticipatory and reactive postural
      adjustments. The influence of stroke on anticipatory and reactive balance
      behaviors is addressed in this article. Two primary deficits appear to underlie
      postural instability following stroke. The first deficit type is characterized by
      a loss of postural muscle recruitment in both lower extremities (not hyperactive
      stretch reflexes). The second deficit type is related specifically to the lack of
      limb stabilization on the paretic side of the body. These two categories of
      deficit might result from the disruption of geocentric and egocentric references
      for postural stability with cerebrovascular disease. Context-dependent postural
      responses are either relearned or retained following stroke, but deficits in the
      sequencing and timing of stabilizing neuromuscular responses appear to be
      resistant to adaptation. Prior knowledge of an impending balance disturbance
      improves the initiation of reactive postural adjustments in subjects with stroke
      but has no effect on the initiation of stabilizing responses associated with
      voluntary motion. The results suggest that reactive and anticipatory postural
      adjustments are controlled by different neural mechanisms and may require
      separate attention in a rehabilitation program. 

PMID- 27620374
TI  - Constraint Induced Movement Techniques To Facilitate Upper Extremity Use in
      Stroke Patients.
AB  - A new therapeutic approach to the rehabilitation of movement after stroke, termed
      constraint-induced (CI) movement therapy, has been derived from basic research
      with monkeys given somatosensory deafferentation. CI movement therapy consists of
      a family of therapies; their common element is that they induce stroke patients
      to greatly increase the use of an affected upper extremity for many hours a day
      over a period of 10 to 14 consecutive days. The signature intervention involves
      motor restriction of the contralateral upper extremity in a sling and training of
      the affected arm. The therapies result in large changes in amount of use of the
      affected arm in the activities of daily living outside of the clinic that have
      persisted for the 2 years measured to date. Patients who will benefit from Cl
      therapy can be identified before the beginning of treatment. 

PMID- 27620376
TI  - Plasticity in the Central Nervous System: Operant Conditioning of the Spinal
      Stretch Reflex.
AB  - Studies in monkey models have demonstrated that spinal stretch reflexes (SSRs)
      can be conditioned to be smaller or larger. Results of H-reflex conditioning
      studies further support the concept that operant conditioning alters the
      anatomical and biophysical properties of targeted alpha motoneurons. Results from
      able-bodied human subjects are strikingly similar to results from monkey models.
      Conditioning paradigms appear successful in downtraining the SSR of spinal-cord
      injured patients who present with some residual control of a hyperactive biceps
      brachii. The conditioning may also affect movement control of spinal-cord-injured
      patients. Initial attempts at conditioning hyperactive SSRs of stroke patients
      have been equivocal. The site of lesion probably influences whether a stroke
      patient can successfully condition the SSR. 

PMID- 27620377
TI  - Assessment of the Efficacy of Functional Electrical Stimulation in Patients with
      Hemiplegia.
AB  - The purpose of this review is to summarize recent findings relevant to the
      efficacy of functional electrical stimulation (FES) in the rehabilitation of
      patients with hemiplegia. Most clinicians still view this modality as an
      experimental tool. Recent controlled clinical studies have shown that FES has the
      potential for improving the gait pattern of hemiplegic patients and for reducing
      shoulder subluxation. Controlled studies showing successful treatment of the
      hemiplegic hand are not presently available. Given the recent technological
      advances and promising clinical studies, it appears that FES may become a more
      common clinical tool in the treatment of the hemiplegic patient in the future. 

PMID- 27620378
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 27620379
TI  - Structural insights into the interaction and disease mechanism of
      neurodegenerative disease-associated optineurin and TBK1 proteins.
AB  - Optineurin is an important autophagy receptor involved in several selective
      autophagy processes, during which its function is regulated by TBK1. Mutations of
      optineurin and TBK1 are both associated with neurodegenerative diseases. However,
      the mechanistic basis underlying the specific interaction between optineurin and
      TBK1 is still elusive. Here we determine the crystal structures of
      optineurin/TBK1 complex and the related NAP1/TBK1 complex, uncovering the
      detailed molecular mechanism governing the optineurin and TBK1 interaction, and
      revealing a general binding mode between TBK1 and its associated adaptor
      proteins. In addition, we demonstrate that the glaucoma-associated optineurin
      E50K mutation not only enhances the interaction between optineurin and TBK1 but
      also alters the oligomeric state of optineurin, and the ALS-related TBK1 E696K
      mutation specifically disrupts the optineurin/TBK1 complex formation but has
      little effect on the NAP1/TBK1 complex. Thus, our study provides mechanistic
      insights into those currently known disease-causing optineurin and TBK1 mutations
      found in patients.

PMID- 27620380
TI  - NSAMD: A new approach to discover structured contiguous substrings in sequence
      datasets using Next-Symbol-Array.
AB  - In many sequence data mining applications, the goal is to find frequent
      substrings. Some of these applications like extracting motifs in protein and DNA
      sequences are looking for frequently occurring approximate contiguous substrings
      called simple motifs. By approximate we mean that some mismatches are allowed
      during similarity test between substrings, and it helps to discover unknown
      patterns. Structured motifs in DNA sequences are frequent structured contiguous
      substrings which contains two or more simple motifs. There are some works that
      have been done to find simple motifs but these works have problems such as low
      scalability, high execution time, no guarantee to find all patterns, and low
      flexibility in adaptation to other application. The Flame is the only algorithm
      that can find all unknown structured patterns in a dataset and has solved most of
      these problems but its scalability for very large sequences is still weak. In
      this research a new approach named Next-Symbol-Array based Motif Discovery
      (NSAMD) is represented to improve scalability in extracting all unknown simple
      and structured patterns. To reach this goal a new data structure has been
      presented called Next-Symbol-Array. This data structure makes change in how to
      find patterns by NSAMD in comparison with Flame and helps to find structured
      motif faster. Proposed algorithm is as accurate as Flame and extracts all
      existing patterns in dataset. Performance comparisons show that NSAMD outperforms
      Flame in extracting structured motifs in both execution time (51% faster) and
      memory usage (more than 99%). Proposed algorithm is slower in extracting simple
      motifs but considerable improvement in memory usage (more than 99%) makes NSAMD
      more scalable than Flame. This advantage of NSAMD is very important in biological
      applications in which very large sequences are applied.

PMID- 27620382
TI  - Birds of a feather: an uncommon cause of pneumonia and meningoencephalitis.
AB  - A 61-year-old man was admitted with a 1-week history of influenza-like symptoms
      during a period of increased influenza virus activity. He soon developed type 2
      respiratory failure and became increasingly drowsy. He later suffered a
      convulsive episode in the intensive care unit (ICU) which self-terminated.
      Initial clinical findings suggested community-acquired pneumonia and
      meningoencephalitis. However, a detailed history revealed that he was a pet bird
      keeper, which raised a suspicion of ornithosis. Chlamydia psittaci DNA was
      detected in sputum by PCR. He was started on appropriate antibiotics and made a
      full recovery. We present this uncommon cause of pneumonia as an example of the
      importance of accurate history-taking to ensure a correct diagnosis for optimal
      management. 

PMID- 27620381
TI  - Assessing the similarity of ligand binding conformations with the Contact Mode
      Score.
AB  - Structural and computational biologists often need to measure the similarity of
      ligand binding conformations. The commonly used root-mean-square deviation (RMSD)
      is not only ligand-size dependent, but also may fail to capture biologically
      meaningful binding features. To address these issues, we developed the Contact
      Mode Score (CMS), a new metric to assess the conformational similarity based on
      intermolecular protein-ligand contacts. The CMS is less dependent on the ligand
      size and has the ability to include flexible receptors. In order to effectively
      compare binding poses of non-identical ligands bound to different proteins, we
      further developed the eXtended Contact Mode Score (XCMS). We believe that CMS and
      XCMS provide a meaningful assessment of the similarity of ligand binding
      conformations. CMS and XCMS are freely available at
      http://brylinski.cct.lsu.edu/content/contact-mode-score and http://geaux
      computational-bio.github.io/contact-mode-score/.

PMID- 27620383
TI  - MALDI-TOF MS Versus VITEK(r)2: Comparison of Systems for the Identification of
      Microorganisms Responsible for Bacteremia.
AB  - We evaluated the reliability and accuracy of the combined use of MALDI-TOF MS and
      classical ID VITEK2 to identify monomicrobial infection in blood culture bottles.
      In total, 70 consecutive positive blood cultures were included in this study.
      Positive blood culture bottles were subjected to Gram staining and subcultured on
      solid media. Isolates grown from such culture media were used for classical ID
      using VITEK2 system. In parallel, an aliquot was subjected to a lysing
      centrifugation method and used for the identification with the MALDI-TOF system.
      Results evidenced the correct genus and species identification of 91.4 % of
      microorganisms responsible for bacteremia with an agreement to the species and
      the genus level. If compared with the standard method VITEK2, our simple and cost
      effective sample preparation method would be very useful for rapid identification
      of microorganisms using blood culture bottles. In fact, the direct method showed
      rapid and reliable results, especially for the gram-negative group.

PMID- 27620384
TI  - Energy Storage in Yeast: Regulation and Competition with Ethanol Production.
AB  - Mechanisms that may regulate the storage of energy as triacylglycerol in
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae were examined. First, the kinetics of Dga1p, which
      mediates the majority of diacylglycerol esterification, the lone committed step
      in triacylglycerol synthesis, was measured in vitro. With an apparent K m of 17.0
      MUM, Dga1p has higher affinity for oleoyl-CoA than the only S. cerevisiae
      acyltransferase previously kinetically characterized, Lpt1p. Lpt1p is a 1
      acylglycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase that produces phosphatidate, a
      precursor to diacylglycerol. Therefore, limiting triacylglycerol synthesis to
      situations of elevated acyl-CoA concentration is unlikely. However, Dga1p's
      apparent V max of 5.8 nmol/min/mg was 20 times lower than Lpt1p's. This supports
      Dga1p being rate limiting for TAG synthesis. Dga1p activity was not activated or
      inhibited when seven different molecules (e.g., ATP) which reflect cellular
      energy status were provided at physiological concentrations. Thus, allosteric
      regulation was not found. Coordination between triacylglycerol and glycogen
      synthesis was also tested. Yeast genetically deficient in triacylglycerol
      synthesis did not store more energy in glycogen and vice versa. Lastly, we tested
      whether genetically limiting energy storage in triacylglycerol, glycogen, steryl
      esters, or combinations of these will increase ethanol production efficiency. In
      nutrient-rich media containing 5 % glucose, solely limiting glycogen synthesis
      had the greatest affect, increasing ethanol production efficiency by 12 %. Since
      limiting glycogen synthesis only had a modest effect on growth in media
      containing 10 % ethanol, such genetic manipulation may improve commercial ethanol
      production.

PMID- 27620385
TI  - Role of CgHOG1 in Stress Responses and Glycerol Overproduction of Candida
      glycerinogenes.
AB  - Candida glycerinogenes, the glycerol producer with excellent multi-stress
      tolerances, is considered to be a potential biotechnological host used in the
      production of glycerol and its derivatives under extreme fermentation conditions.
      In this study, to evaluate the multiple roles of mitogen-activated protein kinase
      CgHOG1, we constructed a gene disruption system in the diploid C. glycerinogenes
      to obtain CgHOG1 null mutant. Pseudohyphae generation of the CgHOG1 mutant under
      non-inducing condition indicated a repressor role in morphological transitions.
      Disruption of CgHOG1 resulted in increased sensitivities to osmotic, acetic acid,
      and oxidative stress but not involved in thermotolerance. In the CgHOG1 mutant,
      NaCl shock failed to stimulate the accumulation of intracellular glycerol and was
      fatal. In addition, the CgHOG1 mutant displayed a significant prolonged growth
      lag phase in YPD medium with no decrease in glycerol production, whereas the
      mutant cannot grow under hyperosmotic condition with no detectable glycerol in
      broth. These results suggested that CgHOG1 plays important roles in morphogenesis
      and multi-stress tolerance. The growth and glycerol overproduction under osmotic
      stress are heavily dependent on CgHOG1 kinase.

PMID- 27620386
TI  - Co-selection of Mercury and Multiple Antibiotic Resistances in Bacteria Exposed
      to Mercury in the Fundulus heteroclitus Gut Microbiome.
AB  - The emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria is currently
      one of the most serious challenges to human health. To combat this problem, it is
      critical to understand the processes and pathways that result in the creation of
      antibiotic resistance gene pools in the environment. In this study, we examined
      the effects of mercury (Hg) exposure on the co-selection of Hg and antibiotic
      resistant bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tract of the mummichog
      (Fundulus heteroclitus), a small, estuarine fish. We examined this connection in
      two experimental systems: (i) a short-term laboratory exposure study where fish
      were fed Hg-laced food for 15 days and (ii) an examination of environmental
      populations from two sites with very different levels of Hg contamination. In the
      lab exposure study, fish muscle tissue accumulation of Hg was proportional to
      food Hg concentration (R 2 = 0.99; P < 0.0001). In the environmental study, fish
      from the contaminated site contained threefold more Hg compared to fish from the
      reference site (P < 0.05). Further, abundance of the Hg resistance gene mercuric
      reductase was more than eightfold higher (P < 0.0001) in DNA extracts of ingesta
      of fish from the contaminated site, suggesting adaptation to Hg. Finally,
      resistance to three or more antibiotics was more common in Hg-resistant as
      compared to Hg-sensitive bacterial colonies that were isolated from fish ingesta
      (P < 0.001) demonstrating co-selection of Hg and antibiotic resistances.
      Together, our results highlight the possibility for the creation of antibiotic
      resistance gene pools as a result of exposure to Hg in contaminated environments.

PMID- 27620387
TI  - Superior performance of N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide for diagnosis of
      acute decompensated heart failure in an Asian compared with a Western setting.
AB  - AIMS: This study was conducted to test the diagnostic performance of NT-proBNP
      for discrimination of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) among breathless
      patients presenting in an Asian compared with a Western centre. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Patients with breathlessness were prospectively and contemporaneously
      recruited in Emergency Departments in Singapore and New Zealand (NZ). The
      diagnosis of ADHF was adjudicated by two clinician specialists. A total of 606
      patients were recruited in Singapore and 500 in NZ. The discriminative power of
      NT-proBNP for ADHF was superior in Singapore compared with NZ [area under the
      curve (AUC) 0.926 vs. 0.866; P = 0.012] both overall and among selected subgroups
      stratified according to age, renal function, body mass index, and presence or
      absence of AF or diabetes. Previously established cut-off point values of plasma
      NT-proBNP yielded comparable sensitivity and negative predictive values, but
      superior specificity and accuracy in Singapore compared with NZ. The difference
      in test performance was driven by the younger age (median age 56 years vs. 73
      years; P < 0.001), associated with better renal function (estimated glomerular
      filtration rate 89 vs. 62 mL/min/1.73 m2 ; P < 0.001), and lower prevalence of AF
      (9.7% vs. 25.7%; P < 0.001) in acutely breathless patients in Singapore.
      CONCLUSION: Considering emerging evidence of a lower average age of presentation
      with ADHF over most of Asia compared with Western countries, NT-proBNP is likely
      to be more accurate when applied in Asian centres than in the West.

PMID- 27620390
TI  - Long-Term Mortality in Hypertensive Patients With Coronary Artery Disease:
      Results From the US Cohort of the International Verapamil (SR)/Trandolapril
      Study.
AB  - : The dyad of hypertension and coronary artery disease is prevalent; however,
      data on systolic blood pressure (SBP) control and long-term all-cause mortality
      are lacking. Using extended follow-up data from the US cohort of the
      International Verapamil (SR)/Trandolapril Study (mean 11.6 years), subjects were
      categorized by age at enrollment (50 to <60 and >=60 years). Cox proportional
      adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were constructed for time to all-cause mortality
      according to achieved mean SBP. In those 50 to <60 years and using a referent SBP
      of <130 mm Hg, an achieved SBP of 130 to 140 mm Hg was associated with a similar
      risk of mortality (HR, 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87-1.23), whereas an
      achieved SBP of >=140 mm Hg was associated with an increased risk of mortality
      (HR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.53-2.11). Among subjects aged >=60 years and using a
      referent SBP of <130 mm Hg, an achieved SBP 130 to 140 mm Hg was associated with
      a lower mortality risk (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.98). There was an increased risk
      of mortality with an achieved SBP >=150 mm Hg (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.23-1.45), but
      not with an achieved SBP 140 to 150 mm Hg (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.94-1.11). In
      hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease, achieving a SBP of 130 to 140
      mm Hg seems to be associated with lower all-cause mortality after ~11.6 years of
      follow-up. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.
      Unique identifier: NCT00133692.

PMID- 27620388
TI  - Research Needs to Improve Hypertension Treatment and Control in African
      Americans.

PMID- 27620391
TI  - c-Src Inhibition Improves Cardiovascular Function but not Remodeling or Fibrosis
      in Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertension.
AB  - c-Src plays an important role in angiotensin II (Ang II) signaling. Whether this
      member of the Src family kinases is involved in the development of Ang II-induced
      hypertension and associated cardiovascular damage in vivo remains unknown. Here,
      we studied Ang II-infused (400 ng/kg/min) mice in which c-Src was partially
      deleted (c-Src+/-) and in wild-type (WT, c-Src+/+) mice treated with a c-Src
      inhibitor (CGP077675; 25 mg/kg/d). Ang II increased blood pressure and induced
      endothelial dysfunction in WT mice, responses that were ameliorated in c-Src+/-
      and CGP077675-treated mice. Vascular wall thickness and cross-sectional area were
      similarly increased by Ang II in WT and c-Src+/- mice. CGP077675 further
      increased cross-sectional area in hypertensive mice. Cardiac dysfunction
      (ejection fraction and fractional shortening) in Ang II-infused WT mice was
      normalized in c-Src+/- mice. Increased oxidative stress (plasma thiobarbituric
      acid-reactive substances, hydrogen peroxide, and vascular superoxide generation)
      in Ang II-infused WT mice was attenuated in c-Src-deficient and CGP077675-treated
      mice. Hyperactivation of vascular c-Src, ERK1/2 (extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase 1/2), and JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) in hypertensive mice was
      normalized in CGP077675-treated and c-Src+/- mice. Vascular fibronectin was
      increased by Ang II in all groups and further augmented by CGP077675. Cardiac
      fibrosis and inflammation induced by Ang II were amplified in c-Src+/- and CGP
      treated mice. Our data indicate that although c-Src downregulation attenuates
      development of hypertension, improves endothelial and cardiac function, reduces
      oxidative stress, and normalizes vascular signaling, it has little beneficial
      effect on fibrosis. These findings suggest a divergent role for c-Src in Ang II
      dependent hypertension, where c-Src may be more important in regulating redox
      sensitive cardiac and vascular function than fibrosis and remodeling.

PMID- 27620389
TI  - Activation of SIRT1 Attenuates Klotho Deficiency-Induced Arterial Stiffness and
      Hypertension by Enhancing AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Activity.
AB  - Arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor for stroke and myocardial
      infarction. This study was designed to investigate the role of SIRT1, an
      important deacetylase, and its relationship with Klotho, a kidney-derived aging
      suppressor protein, in the pathogenesis of arterial stiffness and hypertension.
      We found that the serum level of Klotho was decreased by ~45% in patients with
      arterial stiffness and hypertension. Interestingly, Klotho haplodeficiency caused
      arterial stiffening and hypertension, as evidenced by significant increases in
      pulse wave velocity and blood pressure in Klotho-haplodeficient (KL+/-) mice.
      Notably, the expression and activity of SIRT1 were decreased significantly in
      aortic endothelial and smooth muscle cells in KL+/- mice, suggesting that Klotho
      deficiency downregulates SIRT1. Treatment with SRT1720 (15 mg/kg/d, IP), a
      specific SIRT1 activator, abolished Klotho deficiency-induced arterial stiffness
      and hypertension in KL+/- mice. Klotho deficiency was associated with significant
      decreases in activities of AMP-activated protein kinase alpha (AMPKalpha) and
      endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in aortas, which were abolished by SRT1720.
      Furthermore, Klotho deficiency upregulated NADPH oxidase activity and superoxide
      production, increased collagen expression, and enhanced elastin fragmentation in
      the media of aortas. These Klotho deficiency-associated changes were blocked by
      SRT1720. In conclusion, this study provides the first evidence that Klotho
      deficiency downregulates SIRT1 activity in arterial endothelial and smooth muscle
      cells. Pharmacological activation of SIRT1 may be an effective therapeutic
      strategy for arterial stiffness and hypertension.

PMID- 27620392
TI  - Obstructive Sleep Apnea With Objective Daytime Sleepiness Is Associated With
      Hypertension.
AB  - Subjective daytime sleepiness is considered a significant risk factor of
      hypertension in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In this study, our
      goal was to examine the joint effect on hypertension of OSA and objective daytime
      sleepiness measured by the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT). A total of 1338
      Chinese patients with OSA and 484 primary snorers were included in the study. All
      subjects underwent 1 night polysomnography followed by MSLT. The MSLT values were
      classified into 3 categories: >8 minutes, 5 to 8 minutes, and <5 minutes.
      Hypertension was defined based either on direct blood pressure measures or on
      diagnosis by a physician. After controlling for confounders, OSA combined with
      MSLT of 5 to 8 minutes increased the odds of hypertension by 95% (odds ratio,
      1.95; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-3.46), whereas OSA combined with MSLT <5
      minutes further increased the odds of hypertension by 111% (odds ratio, 2.11; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.22-3.31) compared with primary snorers with MSLT >8
      minutes. In stratified analyses, the association of hypertension with MSLT in OSA
      patients was seen among both sexes, younger ages, both obese and nonobese
      patients, and patients with and without subjective excessive daytime sleepiness.
      We conclude that objective daytime sleepiness is associated with hypertension in
      patients with OSA.

PMID- 27620393
TI  - The CHIPS Randomized Controlled Trial (Control of Hypertension in Pregnancy
      Study): Is Severe Hypertension Just an Elevated Blood Pressure?
AB  - : To determine whether clinical outcomes differed by occurrence of severe
      hypertension in the international CHIPS trial (Control of Hypertension in
      Pregnancy Study), adjusting for the interventions of "less tight" (target
      diastolic blood pressure [dBP] 100 mm Hg) versus "tight" control (target dBP 85
      mm Hg). In this post-hoc analysis of CHIPS data from 987 women with nonsevere
      nonproteinuric preexisting or gestational hypertension, mixed effects logistic
      regression was used to compare the following outcomes according to occurrence of
      severe hypertension, adjusting for allocated group and the influence of baseline
      factors: CHIPS primary (perinatal loss or high-level neonatal care for >48 hours)
      and secondary outcomes (serious maternal complications), birth weight <10th
      percentile, preeclampsia, delivery at <34 or <37 weeks, platelets <100*109/L,
      elevated liver enzymes with symptoms, maternal length of stay >=10 days, and
      maternal readmission before 6 weeks postpartum. Three hundred and thirty-four
      (34.1%) women in CHIPS developed severe hypertension that was associated with all
      outcomes examined except for maternal readmission (P=0.20): CHIPS primary
      outcome, birth weight <10th percentile, preeclampsia, preterm delivery, elevated
      liver enzymes (all P<0.001), platelets <100*109/L (P=0.006), and prolonged
      hospital stay (P=0.03). The association between severe hypertension and serious
      maternal complications was seen only in less tight control (P=0.02). Adjustment
      for preeclampsia (464, 47.3%) did not negate the relationship between severe
      hypertension and the CHIPS primary outcome (P<0.001), birth weight <10th
      percentile (P=0.005), delivery at <37 (P<0.001) or <34 weeks (P<0.001), or
      elevated liver enzymes with symptoms (P=0.02). Severe hypertension is a risk
      marker for adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes, independent of BP control or
      preeclampsia co-occurrence. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://pre
      empt.cfri.ca/. Unique identifier: ISRCTN 71416914. URL:
      https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT01192412.

PMID- 27620395
TI  - Abdominal Adiposity Distribution Quantified by Ultrasound Imaging and Incident
      Hypertension in a General Population.
AB  - Abdominal obesity is a major risk factor for hypertension. However, different
      distributions of abdominal adipose tissue may affect hypertension risk
      differently. The main purpose of this study was to explore the association of
      subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT)
      with incident hypertension in a population-based setting. We hypothesized that
      VAT, rather than SAT, would be associated with incident hypertension. VAT and SAT
      were determined by ultrasound imagining in 3363 randomly selected Danes (mean age
      49 years, 56% women, mean body mass index 25.8 kg/m2). We constructed multiple
      logistic regression models to compute standardized odds ratios with 95%
      confidence intervals per SD increase in SAT and VAT. Of the 2119 normotensive
      participants at baseline, 1432, with mean SAT of 2.8 cm and mean VAT of 5.7 cm,
      returned 5 years later for a follow-up examination and among them 203 had
      developed hypertension. In models including both VAT and SAT, the Framingham
      Hypertension Risk Score variables (age, sex, smoking status, family history of
      hypertension, and baseline blood pressure) and glycated hemoglobin, odds ratio
      (95% confidence interval) for incident hypertension for 1 SD increase in VAT and
      SAT was 1.27 (1.08-1.50, P=0.004) and 0.97 (0.81-1.15, P=0.70), respectively.
      Adjusting for body mass index instead of SAT attenuated the association between
      VAT and incident hypertension, but it was still significant (odds ratio, 1.22
      [1.01-1.48, P=0.041] for each SD increase in VAT). In conclusion, ultrasound
      determined VAT, but not SAT, was associated with incident hypertension in a
      random sample of Danish adults.

PMID- 27620394
TI  - Keeping Up With the Clock: Circadian Disruption and Obesity Risk.

PMID- 27620398
TI  - Blood Pressure Target: High Time That We Finally Agreed What Is Healthy.

PMID- 27620397
TI  - Somnolence: The Silent Partner in the Sleep Apnea-Hypertension Relationship.

PMID- 27620396
TI  - Abnormal Central Pulsatile Hemodynamics in Adolescents With Obesity: Higher
      Aortic Forward Pressure Wave Amplitude Is Independently Associated With Greater
      Left Ventricular Mass.
AB  - We hypothesized that increased aortic forward pressure wave amplitude (Pf), which
      is determined by characteristic impedance (Zc) in the proximal aorta, is the
      primary hemodynamic determinant of obesity-associated higher left ventricular
      (LV) mass in adolescents. Aortic pulsatile hemodynamics were measured
      noninvasively in 60 healthy adolescents (age 14-19 years; 42% male; 50% black) by
      sequential recordings of pulse waveforms via tonometry, brachial blood pressure,
      and pulsed Doppler and diameter of the LV outflow tract using 2-dimensional
      echocardiography. Adolescents who were overweight/obese (n=23; age 16.0+/-0.3
      years; body mass index >=85th percentile) had higher LV mass index, brachial and
      carotid systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure, normalized Zc and Pf compared
      with adolescents with healthy weight (n=37; 16.7+/-0.3 years; body mass index
      <85th percentile, all P<0.01). In contrast, there was no difference in mean or
      diastolic blood pressure, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, carotid
      augmentation index, or aortic backward wave amplitude (all P>0.05). Stepwise
      multiple linear regression analysis that included age, sex, race, normalized Zc,
      and brachial systolic blood pressure revealed that body mass index (B+/-SE;
      0.49+/-0.20, P=0.02, R2=0.26), aortic Pf (0.22+/-0.07; P<0.02, R2 change=0.11),
      and cardiac output (2.82+/-1.02, P<0.01; R2 change=0.08) were significant
      correlates of LV mass index (total R2=0.44, P<0.01). These findings suggest that
      higher aortic Pf is a major hemodynamic determinant of increased LV mass in
      adolescents with elevated adiposity. Improper matching between aortic diameter
      and pulsatile flow during early systole potentially contributes to the early
      development of LV hypertrophy in childhood obesity.

PMID- 27620399
TI  - Torque-onset determination: Unintended consequences of the threshold method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared with visual torque-onset-detection (TOD), threshold-based
      TOD produces onset bias, which increases with lower torques or rates of torque
      development (RTD). PURPOSE: To compare the effects of differential TOD-bias on
      common contractile parameters in two torque-disparate groups. METHODS: Fifteen
      boys and 12 men performed maximal, explosive, isometric knee-extensions. Torque
      and EMG were recorded for each contraction. Best contractions were selected by
      peak torque (MVC) and peak RTD. Visual-TOD-based torque-time traces,
      electromechanical delays (EMD), and times to peak RTD (tRTD) were compared with
      corresponding data derived from fixed 4-Nm- and relative 5%MVC-thresholds.
      RESULTS: The 5%MVC TOD-biases were similar for boys and men, but the
      corresponding 4-Nm-based biases were markedly different (40.3+/-14.1 vs. 18.4+/
      7.1ms, respectively; p<0.001). Boys-men EMD differences were most affected,
      increasing from 5.0ms (visual) to 26.9ms (4Nm; p<0.01). Men's visually-based
      torque kinetics tended to be faster than the boys' (NS), but the 4-Nm-based
      kinetics erroneously depicted the boys as being much faster to any given %MVC
      (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: When comparing contractile properties of dissimilar
      groups, e.g., children vs. adults, threshold-based TOD methods can misrepresent
      reality and lead to erroneous conclusions. Relative-thresholds (e.g., 5% MVC)
      still introduce error, but group-comparisons are not confounded.

PMID- 27620450
TI  - RE: "RECEIVER OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC CURVE INFERENCE FROM A SAMPLE WITH A LIMIT
      OF DETECTION".

PMID- 27620451
TI  - TWO AUTHORS REPLY.

PMID- 27620452
TI  - Metabolic engineering of cottonseed oil biosynthesis pathway via RNA
      interference.
AB  - Cottonseed oil is recognized as an important oil in food industry for its unique
      characters: low flavor reversion and the high level of antioxidants (VitaminE) as
      well as unsaturated fatty acid. However, the cottonseed oil content of cultivated
      cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is only around 20%. In this study, we modified the
      accumulation of oils by the down-regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase 1
      (GhPEPC1) via RNA interference in transgenic cotton plants. The qRT-PCR and
      enzyme activity assay revealed that the transcription and expression of GhPEPC1
      was dramatically down-regulated in transgenic lines. Consequently, the cottonseed
      oil content in several transgenic lines showed a significant (P < 0.01) increase
      (up to 16.7%) without obvious phenotypic changes under filed condition when
      compared to the control plants. In order to elucidate the molecular mechanism of
      GhPEPC1 in the regulation of seed oil content, we quantified the expression of
      the carbon metabolism related genes of transgenic GhPEPC1 RNAi lines by
      transcriptome analysis. This analysis revealed the decrease of GhPEPC1 expression
      led to the increase expression of triacylglycerol biosynthesis-related genes,
      which eventually contributed to the lipid biosynthesis in cotton. This result
      provides a valuable information for cottonseed oil biosynthesis pathway and shows
      the potential of creating high cottonseed oil germplasm by RNAi strategy for
      cotton breeding.

PMID- 27620453
TI  - Nanoscale Chemical and Electrical Stabilities of Graphene-covered Silver Nanowire
      Networks for Transparent Conducting Electrodes.
AB  - The hybrid structure of Ag nanowires (AgNWs) covered with graphene (Gr) shows
      synergetic effects on the performance of transparent conducting electrodes
      (TCEs). However, these effects have been mainly observed via large-scale
      characterization, and precise analysis at the nanoscale level remains inadequate.
      Here, we present the nanoscale verification and visualization of the improved
      chemical and electrical stabilities of Gr-covered AgNW networks using conductive
      atomic force microscopy (C-AFM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) combined with the gas cluster ion beam (GCIB)
      sputtering technique. Specifically by transferring island Gr on top of the AgNW
      network, we were able to create samples in which both covered and uncovered AgNWs
      are simultaneously accessible to various surface-characterization techniques.
      Furthermore, our ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation elucidated the
      specific mechanistic pathway and a strong propensity for AgNW sulfidation, even
      in the presence of ambient oxidant gases.

PMID- 27620454
TI  - Seasonal and altitudinal changes of culturable bacterial and yeast diversity in
      Alpine forest soils.
AB  - The effect of altitude and season on abundance and diversity of the culturable
      heterotrophic bacterial and yeast community was examined at four forest sites in
      the Italian Alps along an altitude gradient (545-2000 m). Independently of
      altitude, bacteria isolated at 0  degrees C (psychrophiles) were less numerous
      than those recovered at 20  degrees C. In autumn, psychrophilic bacterial
      population increased with altitude. The 1194 bacterial strains were primarily
      affiliated with the classes Alpha-, Beta-, Gammaproteobacteria, Spingobacteriia
      and Flavobacteriia. Fifty-seven of 112 operational taxonomic units represented
      potential novel species. Strains isolated at 20  degrees C had a higher diversity
      and showed similarities in taxa composition and abundance, regardless of altitude
      or season, while strains isolated at 0  degrees C showed differences in community
      composition at lower and higher altitudes. In contrast to bacteria, yeast
      diversity was season-dependent: site- and altitude-specific effects on yeast
      diversity were only detected in spring. Isolation temperature affected the
      relative proportions of yeast genera. Isolations recovered 719 strains, belonging
      to the classes Dothideomycetes, Saccharomycetes, Tremellomycetes and
      Mycrobotryomycetes. The presence of few dominant bacterial OTUs and yeast species
      indicated a resilient microbial population that is not affected by season or
      altitude. Soil nutrient contents influenced significantly abundance and diversity
      of culturable bacteria, but not of culturable yeasts.

PMID- 27620455
TI  - Midterm Results of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators in Children and Young
      Adults from a Single Center in Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite concerns about complications with the implantable
      cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), it is effective for the prevention of sudden
      cardiac death (SCD). We aimed to analyze our midterm experience with ICD in
      children and young adults. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients
      who were implanted with an ICD between 2001 and 2014. Demographic
      characteristics, clinical information, shock features, and complications for all
      patients with ICD were analyzed. The study population was divided into two
      groups: early-era patients implanted before 2008, and late-era patients implanted
      after 2008. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients (median age: 12 years, median follow-up:
      52 months) were implanted with an ICD. Diagnostic categories were channelopathy
      (56.6%), cardiomyopathy (36.2%), congenital heart disease (5.8%), and other
      (1.4%). We performed implantation for primary prevention in 66.6% (39.3% in early
      era patients and 85.4% in late-era patients). Thirty-one (44.9%) received 139
      appropriate shocks (66% of total shocks) while 14 (20.2%) received 71
      inappropriate shocks. However, there was no statistically significant difference
      in the use of appropriate shocks in the primary (66.7%) versus the secondary
      (72.2%) prevention groups. The incidence of appropriate and inappropriate shock
      was 66.7% and 33.3% in the primary prevention group, and 72.2% and 27.8% in the
      secondary prevention group, respectively. Two patients died, although only one
      death was the result of a lead problem. CONCLUSIONS: Although lead integrity
      problems, inappropriate shocks, and infections are significant issues, ICD
      therapy appears to be a safe, effective, and necessary option for the prevention
      of SCD in both children and young adults.

PMID- 27620457
TI  - Salami slicing.

PMID- 27620459
TI  - An additional Meyerozyma guilliermondii IMH3 gene confers mycophenolic acid
      resistance in fungal CTG clade species.
AB  - The fungal CTG clade comprises a number of well-known yeasts that impact human
      health or with high biotechnological potential. To further extend the set of
      molecular tools dedicated to these microorganisms, the initial focus of this
      study was to develop a mycophenolic acid (MPA) resistance cassette. Surprisingly,
      while we were carrying out preliminary susceptibility testing experiments in a
      set of yeast species, Meyerozyma guilliermondii, although not being a MPA
      producer, was found to be primarily resistant toward this drug, whereas a series
      of nine related species were susceptible to MPA. Using comparative and functional
      genomic approaches, we demonstrated that all MPA-susceptible CTG clade species
      display a single gene, referred to as IMH3.1, encoding the MPA target inosine
      monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) and that MPA resistance relies on the
      presence in the M. guilliermondii genome of an additional IMPDH-encoding gene
      (IMH3.2). The M. guilliermondii IMH3.2 gene displays marked differences compared
      to IMH3.1 including the lack of intron, a roughly 160-fold higher transcription
      level and a serine residue at position 251. Placed under the control of the M.
      guilliermondii actin 1 gene promoter, IMH3.2 was successfully used to transform
      Lodderomyces elongisporus, Clavispora lusitaniae, Scheffersomyces stipitis and
      Candida parapsilosis.

PMID- 27620458
TI  - The cingulate island sign within early Alzheimer's disease-specific hypoperfusion
      volumes of interest is useful for differentiating Alzheimer's disease from
      dementia with Lewy bodies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In addition to occipital hypoperfusion, preserved metabolism of the
      posterior cingulate gyri (PCG) relative to the precunei is known as the cingulate
      island sign (CIS) in the patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). CIS has
      been detected using [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography but
      not using brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The
      purpose of this study was to optimize brain perfusion SPECT to enable
      differentiation of DLB from Alzheimer's disease (AD) using CIS and occipital
      hypoperfusion. Eighteen patients with probable DLB and 17 age-matched Pittsburgh
      compound B-positive patients with AD underwent technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate
      dimer SPECT. SPECT Z-score maps were generated using the easy Z-score imaging
      system (eZIS) analysis software (Matsuda H, Mizumura S, Nagao T, Ota T, Iizuka T,
      Nemoto K, Takemura N, Arai H, Homma A, AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 28(4):731-6, 2007),
      which included volumes of interest (VOIs) in which a group comparison between
      patients with AD and cognitively normal subjects revealed significant relative
      hypoperfusion. We used the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) space anatomical
      border to divide the bilateral PCG to precunei VOIs into two parts, the PCG and
      precunei. Z-scores in the PCG, precunei, and occipital areas and ratios were
      analysed and compared with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve
      analyses. RESULTS: The largest area under the curve (AUC) value for use in
      differentiating DLB from AD with the ratio of PCG to medial occipital was 0.87;
      the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 85.7, 88.9, and 82.4 %,
      respectively. The AUC with the ratio of PCG to the precuneus was smaller, and it
      was 0.85, though no significant difference was observed between these two AUCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Z-score ratio of the PCG within the early-AD-specific VOI to
      medial-occipital area is clinically useful in discriminating demented patients
      with DLB from those with AD.

PMID- 27620456
TI  - Childhood abuse, promoter methylation of leukocyte NR3C1 and the potential
      modifying effect of emotional support.
AB  - AIM: To investigate childhood abuse victimization in relation to adult DNA
      methylation levels in a novel region of NR3C1, with emotional support as a
      possible modifier. MATERIALS & METHODS: 295 participants from the Black Women's
      Health Study. Multivariable linear regression models were used to compute
      differences in mean percent methylation levels. RESULTS: Women reporting
      childhood abuse victimization exhibited higher mean NR3C1 methylation levels than
      nonabused women, with a clear dose-response relationship. Childhood emotional
      support appeared to attenuate associations only among women with the highest
      levels of physical and sexual abuse. CONCLUSION: NR3C1 mean methylation was
      higher among women who reported childhood abuse. Further research is warranted to
      clarify whether or the extent to which childhood emotional support buffers the
      association.

PMID- 27620460
TI  - Physiological responses to acid stress by Saccharomyces cerevisiae when applying
      high initial cell density.
AB  - High initial cell density is used to increase volumetric productivity and shorten
      production time in lignocellulosic hydrolysate fermentation. Comparison of
      physiological parameters in high initial cell density cultivation of
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the presence of acetic, formic, levulinic and
      cinnamic acids demonstrated general and acid-specific responses of cells. All the
      acids studied impaired growth and inhibited glycolytic flux, and caused oxidative
      stress and accumulation of trehalose. However, trehalose may play a role other
      than protecting yeast cells from acid-induced oxidative stress. Unlike the other
      acids, cinnamic acid did not cause depletion of cellular ATP, but abolished the
      growth of yeast on ethanol. Compared with low initial cell density, increasing
      initial cell density reduced the lag phase and improved the bioconversion yield
      of cinnamic acid during acid adaptation. In addition, yeast cells were able to
      grow at elevated concentrations of acid, probable due to the increase in
      phenotypic cell-to-cell heterogeneity in large inoculum size. Furthermore, the
      specific growth rate and the specific rates of glucose consumption and metabolite
      production were significantly lower than at low initial cell density, which was a
      result of the accumulation of a large fraction of cells that persisted in a
      viable but non-proliferating state.

PMID- 27620462
TI  - Conceptual Confusion and Potential Advances in Athlete Burnout Research.
AB  - More than 30 years of research on athlete burnout has yielded important insights
      and questions regarding the onset, nature, and consequences of this detrimental
      syndrome. Not surprisingly, burnout is considered an important matter, both from
      a research and practical standpoint. We comment on the work of Ryu, Ali, Kim,
      Choi, and Radlo, who examined the impact of burnout on cognitive performance
      among athletes.

PMID- 27620461
TI  - Physiological acclimation of Lessonia spicata to diurnal changing PAR and UV
      radiation: differential regulation among down-regulation of photochemistry, ROS
      scavenging activity and phlorotannins as major photoprotective mechanisms.
AB  - Intertidal macroalgae are constantly subjected to high variations in the quality
      and quantity of incident irradiance that can eventually generate detrimental
      effect on the photosynthetic apparatus. The success of these organisms to
      colonize the stressful coastal habitat is mainly associated with the complexity
      of their morphological structures and the efficiency of the anti-stress
      mechanisms to minimize the physiological stress. Lessonia spicata (Phaeophyceae),
      a brown macroalga, that inhabits the intertidal zone in central-southern Chile
      was studied in regard to their physiological (quantum yield, electron transport
      rate, pigments) and biochemical (phlorotannins content, antioxidant metabolism,
      oxidative stress) responses during a daily light cycle under natural solar
      radiation. Major findings were that F v/F m, photosynthetic parameters (ETRmax,
      alpha, E k) and pigments in L. spicata showed an inverse relationship to the
      diurnal changes in solar radiation. Phlorotannins levels and antioxidant activity
      showed their highest values in treatment that included UV radiation. There was an
      increase in SOD and APX in relation at light stress, with a peak in activity
      between 5.2 and 10.1 W m-2 of biologically effective dose. The increase in
      peroxidative damage was proportional to light dose. These results indicated that
      different light doses can trigger a series of complementary mechanisms of
      acclimation in L. spicata based on: (i) down-regulation of photochemistry
      activity and decrease in concentration of photosynthetic pigments; (ii) induction
      of phenolic compounds with specific UV-screening functions; and (iii) reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity via complementary repair of the
      oxidative damage through increased activity of antioxidant enzymes and
      potentially increased amounts of phenolic compounds.

PMID- 27620463
TI  - Age Differences in Reliance on Executive Control in Fluid Reasoning.
AB  - While executive control (processes that facilitate the adaptation to new and/or
      complex situations) show an age-related decline, behavioral studies have observed
      stronger correlations between control and certain cognitive functions in older
      compared to young adults, which are often interpreted as an increase in the
      reliance on controlled processes with aging. Fifty-seven young adults (Mage=27.4
      year, SD = 4.1) and 79 older adults (Mage=69.9 year, SD = 6.8) were administered
      several Fluid Reasoning, Control, and Representation measures. For the second
      step of the study, a group of 41 older adults (Mage=68.3 year, SD = 6.2) was
      selected as matching the young ones in terms of control measures. Correlations
      between fluid reasoning and control were stronger in older than in young adults.
      A General Linear Model analysis revealed a significant interaction between age
      and control variables. These results confirm the greater reliance on executive
      control in fluid reasoning performance in older adults, which may correspond to
      an active mechanism to cope with age-related difficulties.

PMID- 27620464
TI  - Composite chitosan-transfersomal vesicles for improved transnasal permeation and
      bioavailability of verapamil.
AB  - The creation of composite systems has become an emerging field in drug delivery.
      Chitosan has demonstrated several pharmaceutical advantages, especially in
      intranasal delivery. In this manuscript, a comparative study was conducted
      between regular vesicles (transfersomes and penetration enhancer vesicles) and
      composite vesicles (chitosan containing transfersomes and penetration enhancer
      vesicles) loaded with a model antihypertensive drug; verapamil hydrochloride VRP.
      Composite vesicles displayed larger particle size than regular vesicles owing to
      the coating potential of chitosan on the vesicular bilayer as displayed by
      transmission electron microscopy, with an increased viscosity of composite
      vesicles and a shift in the zeta potential values from negative to positive. The
      entrapment efficiency of VRP in the vesicles ranged from 24 to 64%, with best
      physical stability displayed with transfersomal vesicles prepared using sodium
      deoxycholate. Chitosan slowed the in vitro release of VRP from the selected
      formulation but managed to achieve high penetrability across sheep nasal mucosa
      as displayed by confocal laser microscopy. The chitosan composite transfersomal
      formulation exhibited absolute bioavailability of 81.83% compared to the oral
      solution which displayed only 13.04%. Findings of this manuscript highly
      recommend chitosan as a promising functional additive in vesicular formulations
      to improve the intranasal delivery of drugs with low oral bioavailability.

PMID- 27620465
TI  - The influence of temperature, sucrose and lactose on dilute solution properties
      of basil (Ocimumbasilicum) seed gum.
AB  - Hydrocolloid interactions with solvent/cosolutes play a vital role in the
      resolution of their functional properties. Basil seed gum (BSG) is a plant
      derived hydrocolloid which has been found many applications in food formulations
      as stabilizer, emulsifier, thickener and gelling agents. Sucrose and lactose are
      the most effective sugars in textural and sensorial properties of bakery and
      dairy products which adding them to solutions containing hydrocolloids can be
      helpful to approach a proper formula. In this paper, the effect of temperature
      (25-65 degrees C), sucrose (10, 20, 30 and 40%) and lactose (5, 10 and 15%) were
      investigated through some molecular parameters of BSG. Results revealed high
      flexible chain (665.35), intrinsic viscosity (11.38 dl/g) and hydrogel content
      (73%) of BSG, which may be attributed to some extent by its high molecular weight
      (1.73*106Da). The density and intrinsic viscosity of BSG were diminished by
      growing temperature from 25 to 55 degrees C. Among five models, which were
      applied to estimate intrinsic viscosity, Higiro-2 was the most suitable model at
      varying temperatures and cosolutes concentrations. The sugars showed a
      significant effect on the molecular parameters of BSG such as swollen specific
      volume, shape function, hydration parameter, and coil dimensions. The sugars
      showed more impact on the [eta] of BSG and its molecular parameters than that of
      temperature. However, lactose had a more prominent effect on the BSG dimensions
      than that of sucrose, which can be related to its molecular conformation and
      spatial orientation. It is feasible to make a proper formula by BSG and explain
      some phenomena in its applications in food and pharmaceutical systems.

PMID- 27620466
TI  - Efficient heterologous expression of Fusarium solani lipase, FSL2, in Pichia
      pastoris, functional characterization of the recombinant enzyme and molecular
      modeling.
AB  - The gene coding for a lipase of Fusarium solani, designated as FSL2, shows an
      open reading frame of 906bp encoding a 301-amino acid polypeptide with a
      molecular mass of 30kDa. Based on sequence similarity with other fungal lipases,
      FSL2 contains a catalytic triad, consisting of Ser144, Asp198, and His256. FSL2
      cDNA was subcloned into the pGAPZalphaA vector containing the Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae alpha-factor signal sequence and this construct was used to transform
      Pichia pastoris and achieve a high-level extracellular production of a FSL2
      lipase. Maximum lipase activity was observed after 48h. The optimum activity of
      the purified recombinant enzyme was measured at pH 8.0-9.0 and 37 degrees C. FSL2
      is remarkably stable at alkaline pH values up to 12 and at temperatures below 40
      degrees C. It has high catalytic efficiency towards triglycerides with short to
      long chain fatty acids but with a marked preference for medium and long chain
      fatty acids. FSL2 activity is decreased at sodium taurodeoxycholate
      concentrations above the Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC) of this anionic
      detergent. However, lipase activity is enhanced by Ca2+ and inhibited by EDTA or
      Cu2+ and partially by Mg2+ or K+. In silico docking of medium chain
      triglycerides, monogalctolipids (MGDG), digalactolipids (DGDG) and long chain
      phospholipids in the active site of FSL2 reveals structural solutions.

PMID- 27620467
TI  - Method of intraoperative tissue sampling for culture has an effect on
      contamination risk.
AB  - PURPOSE: This prospective study was designed to determine whether exposure of
      intraoperative tissue samples to the operating room environment affects
      subsequent culture results. METHODS: A prospective study conducted on 125
      patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty was conducted from August
      2013 to December 2015. During surgery, three samples from the infrapatellar fat
      pad were obtained. The first sample was obtained using clean instruments and
      placed directly into a specimen cup (direct). The second sample was obtained
      using clean instruments, placed in the palm of an assistant, then placed in the
      hands of the scrub nurse, and finally transferred into a specimen cup (glove).
      The third sample was obtained with clean instruments, placed on a gauze pad on
      the back table, and transferred to a specimen cup at the time of skin closure
      (table). RESULTS: There were two (1.6 %) positive cultures in the direct transfer
      group, none (0.0 %) in the glove contact group, and eight (6.4 %) in the exposed
      (table) group; there was a statistically significant difference between the glove
      contact and table samples (p = 0.01). The organisms isolated were coagulase
      negative Staphylococcus in five samples, Proprionibacterium acnes in two samples,
      Staphylococcus epidermidis in one sample, Pediococcus pentosaceus in one sample,
      and Corynebacterium in one sample. CONCLUSIONS: Contamination of tissue samples
      obtained for culture can occur if samples are exposed to the operating room
      environment. To prevent potential contamination, samples obtained for culture
      should be retrieved using clean instruments, transferred to a culture bottle
      directly, and transported to the microbiology laboratory as soon as possible.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 27620468
TI  - Microbial resistance related to antibiotic-loaded bone cement: a historical
      review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of antibiotic-loaded bone cement (ALBC) has a range of
      indications for use in orthopaedics. It has the advantage of delivering high
      loads of antibiotics to a targeted site, thereby avoiding the side effects
      associated with systemic administration. However, there is concern that the use
      of ALBC may precipitate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
      METHODS: This review focuses on (1) the published research using both animal and
      human models examining the association between ALBC and the induction of
      microbial resistance (2) the mechanisms by which antimicrobial resistance develop
      (3) the research pertaining to specific classes of antibiotics commonly used in
      orthopaedic practice (4) the recent developments in calcium sulphate beads,
      nanoparticles and chitosan, as alternative antimicrobial treatments for
      periprosthetic joint infections. CONCLUSION: The literature for and against a
      link between ALBC and the development of microbiological resistance is reviewed
      and presented. It is concluded that further research is needed to develop a
      defined set of indications for the use of ALBC in the management of
      periprosthetic joint infection. In addition, further research into alternative
      antimicrobial therapies in this area should be encouraged.

PMID- 27620469
TI  - All-arthroscopic AMIC(r) (AT-AMIC(r)) technique with autologous bone graft for
      talar osteochondral defects: clinical and radiological results.
AB  - PURPOSE: Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis (AMIC(r)) is known to provide
      satisfactory clinical results for the treatment of knee, hip, and ankle cartilage
      lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical and radiological
      outcomes of patients treated with a new all-arthroscopic AMIC(r) (AT-AMIC(r))
      technique with autologous bone graft for talar osteochondral defects at a follow
      up of 24 months. METHODS: Twenty patients underwent the AT-AMIC(r) procedure and
      autologous bone graft for type III and IV talar osteochondral lesions. Patients
      were evaluated pre-operatively and at 6, 12, and 24 months post-operatively using
      the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score, the visual analog
      scale, and the SF-12 (Short Form-12). Radiological assessment included computed
      tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and magnetic resonance
      observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART). RESULTS: All scores
      significantly improved (p < 0.05) with respect to pre-operative values after 6
      months. Further improvements were detected at 24 months (AOFAS, from 57.1 +/-
      14.9 before surgery to 86.6 +/- 10.9 after 24 months; VAS, from 8.1 +/- 1.4 to
      2.5 +/- 2.2; SF-12, from 29.9 +/- 4.1 to 48.5 +/- 6.9 and from 43.8 +/- 2.9 to
      53.1 +/- 3.9, respectively, for Physical and Mental component score). Lesion area
      significantly reduced from 111.1 +/- 43.2 mm2 pre-operatively to 76.9 +/- 38.1
      mm2 (p < 0.05) at final follow-up as assessed by CT, and from 154.1 +/- 93.6 to
      94.3 +/- 61.3 mm2 (p < 0.05) as assessed by MRI. The mean MOCART score was 42.8
      +/- 23.5 points and 50.9 +/- 24.9 points, respectively, at 12 and 24 months after
      surgery (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: AT-AMIC(r) with autologous bone grafting has
      proven to be a safe and effective minimal invasive technique, able to rapidly and
      significantly improve pain, function, and radiological healing of osteochondral
      talar lesions, with progressive further improvements up to 24 months. Orthopedic
      surgeons specialized in foot and ankle surgery should adopt the AT-AMIC(r)
      technique for the treatment of osteochondral talar lesions, which proved to be
      effective and minimally invasive, avoiding malleolar osteotomy with a low risk of
      complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 27620470
TI  - Morphology of the fibular insertion of the posterolateral corner and biceps
      femoris tendon.
AB  - PURPOSE: To clarify the fibular head insertion of the fibular collateral ligament
      (FCL), popliteofibular ligament (PFL), and biceps femoris tendon and related
      osseous landmarks on three-dimensional (3-D) images. METHODS: Twenty-one non
      paired, formalin-fixed human cadaveric knees were evaluated in this study. The
      fibular head insertions of the FCL, PFL and biceps femoris tendon were identified
      and marked. 3-D images were created, and the surface area, location, positional
      relationships, and morphology of the fibular insertions of the FCL, PFL, and
      biceps femoris tendon and related osseous structures were analysed. RESULTS: The
      fibular head had a unique pyramidal shape, and the relationships of the fibular
      insertion of the FCL, PFL, and biceps femoris tendon were consistent. The fibular
      head consists of three aspects: lateral aspect, posterior aspect, and proximal
      tibiofibular facet. The insertions of the FCL, PFL, and biceps femoris tendon
      were attached to the centre from the distal side of the lateral aspects of the
      fibular head, posterior aspect of the fibular styloid process, and lateral aspect
      surrounding the FCL, respectively. The mean surface areas of the FCL and PFL
      fibular insertions were 100.1 +/- 29.5 and 18.5 +/- 7.2 mm2, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: This study showed that the relationships between the characteristic
      features of the fibular head and insertions of the FCL, PFL, and biceps femoris
      tendon were consistent. The clinical relevance of this study is that it improves
      understanding of the anatomy of the insertions of the PLC and biceps femoris
      tendon.

PMID- 27620471
TI  - The factors influencing peripapillary choroidal thickness in primary open-angle
      glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether there is a difference between primary open-angle
      glaucoma (POAG) patients and control group with regard to choroidal thickness
      (CT) and the factors influencing CT. METHODS: Ninety eyes of 90 patients who were
      being followed up with POAG and 72 eyes of 72 healthy subjects matched for age
      and gender were included. Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness
      (RNFLT), peripapillary CT, lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT), and prelaminar tissue
      thickness (PTT) were measured with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography
      (SD-OCT) enhanced depth imaging (EDI) in all patients. RESULTS: According to
      multi-variable linear regression analysis results, the factors influencing CT
      were found as axial length (AL) (B = -22.78, p = 0.002), intraocular pressure
      (IOP) (B = -7.95, p = 0.001), age (B  = -1.77, p = 0.009), and radial pulse rate
      (B  = 1.42, p = 0.015). A statistically significant relationship was not detected
      between CT and central corneal thickness, mean deviation value of visual field,
      cup/disk ratio, RNFLT, LCT, PTT. CT was found significantly thinner in glaucoma
      group (147.5 +/- 61.2 MUm) compared to control group (167.1 +/- 37.3 MUm).
      However, IOP was found significantly higher (p < 0.001) and pulse rate was found
      significantly lower (p = 0.021) in POAG group. IOP and pulse rate were considered
      to have affected CT difference between the groups. In advanced and worser stage
      patients, there were significant positive correlations between CT and RNFLT in
      inferior and superior quadrants. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to previous studies,
      IOP and pulse rate were detected to be effective on CT. Further studies are
      required for determining the whole factors effective on CT and better
      understanding CT and glaucoma relationship.

PMID- 27620472
TI  - Risk factors for treatment failure and recurrence of anisometropic amblyopia.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with failed
      vision improvement and recurrence following occlusion therapy for anisometropic
      amblyopia in children aged 7-9 years. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the
      medical records of 64 children aged 7-9 years who had been diagnosed as having
      anisometropic amblyopia and were treated with patching. Functional treatment
      failure was defined as final visual acuity in the amblyopic eye of worse than
      20/32. Improvement of fewer than two logMAR lines was considered relative
      treatment failure. Recurrence was defined as the reduction of at least two logMAR
      levels of visual acuity after decreased or discontinued patching. RESULTS:
      Functional and relative success rates were 51.6 and 62.5 %, respectively. The
      most important factor for functional treatment failure [adjusted odds ratio (OR)
      (95 % confidence interval, CI) 11.57 (1.4-95.74)] and the only risk factor for
      recurrence [adjusted OR (95 % CI) 3.04 (1.13-8.12)] were the same: high spherical
      equivalent (SE) of the amblyopic eye. A large interocular difference in the best
      corrected visual acuity was found to be a risk factor for both functional and
      relative failure. CONCLUSION: High SE of the amblyopic eye was the most
      influential risk factor for treatment failure and recurrence in compliant
      children aged 7-9 years.

PMID- 27620473
TI  - The assessment of choroidal thickness with spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography during Valsalva maneuver.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of Valsalva maneuver
      (VM) on choroidal thickness. METHODS: All the volunteers underwent a detailed
      opthalmic examination. Third-generation Spectralis OCT device (software version
      5.6.3.0; Spectralis OCT, Heidelberg Engineering, Dossenheim, Germany) was used
      for assessment. Subfoveal and perifoveal CT of all volunteers were measured by
      using EDI-OCT technology. Perifoveal CT was measured 1500 um nasally and 1500 um
      temporally apart from the foveal center. The measurements were repeated while
      volunteers were performing VM. RESULTS: Sixty-four eyes of 32 healthy volunteers
      were assessed. The volunteers were aged 29-50. The mean age was 32.8 +/- 6.6
      years. Choroidal thickness measurements differed with statistical significance
      between resting position and VMin all regions (p < 0.001). While mean subfoveal
      CT was 350.64 +/- 87.73 um during resting position, it was 369.95 +/- 90.12 um
      during VM (p < 0.001). While mean nasal CT was 292.14 +/- 81.67 um during resting
      position, it was 305.46 +/- 85.80 um during VM (p < 0.001). While mean temporal
      CT was 325.93 +/- 80.91 um during resting position, it was 343.21 +/- 81.53 um
      during VM (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We found statistically significant increase
      in choroidal thickness during the VM in healthy volunteers. This result might be
      important for future studies researching autoregulation of choroidal and retinal
      blood flow in physiologic and pathologic conditions. Also, our study is
      noteworthy to stand out the errors in EDI-OCT measurements caused by
      unintentional breath holding of patients.

PMID- 27620474
TI  - Preclinical Evaluation of the Stability, Safety, and Efficacy of CD101, a Novel
      Echinocandin.
AB  - Fungal infections pose a significant public health burden with high morbidity and
      mortality. CD101 is a novel echinocandin under development for the treatment and
      prevention of systemic Candida infections. Preclinical studies were conducted to
      evaluate the metabolic stability, plasma protein binding, pharmacokinetics,
      toxicity, and efficacy of CD101 at various dose levels. CD101 was stable to
      biotransformation in rat, monkey, and human liver microsomes and rat, monkey,
      dog, and human hepatocytes. In vitro studies suggest minimal interaction with
      recombinant cytochrome P450 enzymes (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50s] of >10
      MUM). Similar to anidulafungin, CD101 bound avidly (>98%) to human, mouse, rat,
      and primate plasma proteins. In a 2-week repeat-dose comparison study, CD101 was
      well tolerated in rats (no effects on body weight, hematology, coagulation, or
      urinalysis). In contrast, administration of anidulafungin (at comparable exposure
      levels) resulted in reduced body weight, decreases in red blood cell, hemoglobin,
      hematocrit, mean cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, platelet, and
      reticulocyte counts, increases in neutrophil and eosinophil counts,
      polychromasia, and decreased activated partial thromboplastin time. Elevated
      plasma transaminases, total bilirubin, cholesterol, and globulin, dark and
      enlarged spleens, and single-cell hepatocyte necrosis were also observed for
      anidulafungin but not CD101. Hepatotoxicity may be due to the inherent chemical
      lability of anidulafungin generating potentially reactive intermediates. A
      glutathione trapping experiment confirmed the formation of a reactive species
      from anidulafungin, whereas CD101 did not exhibit instability or reactive
      intermediates. CD101 showed antifungal activity against Candida and Aspergillus
      infections in neutropenic mice. These preclinical studies demonstrated that CD101
      is chemically and metabolically stable, well tolerated with no hepatotoxicity,
      and efficacious as an antifungal agent.

PMID- 27620476
TI  - Bedaquiline Targets the epsilon Subunit of Mycobacterial F-ATP Synthase.
AB  - The tuberculosis drug bedaquiline inhibits mycobacterial F-ATP synthase by
      binding to its c subunit. Using the purified epsilon subunit of the synthase and
      spectroscopy, we previously demonstrated that the drug interacts with this
      protein near its unique tryptophan residue. Here, we show that replacement of
      epsilon's tryptophan with alanine resulted in bedaquiline hypersusceptibility of
      the bacteria. Overexpression of the wild-type epsilon subunit caused resistance.
      These results suggest that the drug also targets the epsilon subunit.

PMID- 27620475
TI  - Development of a Novel Collagen Wound Model To Simulate the Activity and
      Distribution of Antimicrobials in Soft Tissue during Diabetic Foot Infection.
AB  - Diabetes has major implications for public health, with diabetic foot ulcers
      (DFUs) being responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. A key factor in
      the development of nonhealing ulcers is infection, which often leads to the
      development of biofilm, gangrene, and amputation. A novel approach to treating
      DFUs is the local release of antibiotics from calcium sulfate beads. We have
      developed a novel model system to study and compare the release and efficacy of
      antibiotics released locally, using collagen as a substrate for biofilm growth
      and incorporating serum to mimic the biochemical complexity of the wound
      environment. We found that our soft-tissue model supports the growth of a robust
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm, and that this was completely eradicated by the
      introduction of calcium sulfate beads loaded with tobramycin or gentamicin. The
      model also enabled us to measure the concentration of these antibiotics at
      different distances from the beads and in simulated wound fluid bathing the
      collagen matrix. We additionally found that a multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus biofilm, nonsusceptible to antibiotics, nonetheless showed an almost 1-log
      drop in viable counts when exposed to calcium sulfate beads combined with
      antibiotics. Together, these data suggest that locally applied antibiotics
      combined with calcium sulfate provide surprising efficacy in diabetic foot
      infections and offer an effective alternative approach to infection management.
      Our study additionally establishes our new system as a biochemically and
      histologically relevant model that may be used to study the effectiveness of a
      range of therapies locally or systemically for infected DFUs.

PMID- 27620477
TI  - PTC725, an NS4B-Targeting Compound, Inhibits a Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 3
      Replicon, as Predicted by Genome Sequence Analysis and Determined Experimentally.
AB  - PTC725 is a small molecule NS4B-targeting inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      genotype (gt) 1 RNA replication that lacks activity against HCV gt2. We analyzed
      the Los Alamos HCV sequence database to predict susceptible/resistant HCV gt's
      according to the prevalence of known resistance-conferring amino acids in the
      NS4B protein. Our analysis predicted that HCV gt3 would be highly susceptible to
      the activity of PTC725. Indeed, PTC725 was shown to be active against a gt3
      subgenomic replicon with a 50% effective concentration of ~5 nM. De novo
      resistance selection identified mutations encoding amino acid substitutions
      mapping to the first predicted transmembrane region of NS4B, a finding consistent
      with results for PTC725 and other NS4B-targeting compounds against HCV gt1. This
      is the first report of the activity of an NS4B targeting compound against HCV
      gt3. In addition, we have identified previously unreported amino acid
      substitutions selected by PTC725 treatment which further demonstrate that these
      compounds target the NS4B first transmembrane region.

PMID- 27620478
TI  - mgrB Mutations Mediating Polymyxin B Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates
      from Rectal Surveillance Swabs in Brazil.
AB  - We aimed to investigate polymyxin B (PMB) resistance and its molecular mechanisms
      in 126 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from rectal swabs in Brazil. Ten isolates
      exhibited PMB resistance with interruption of mgrB gene by insertion sequences or
      missense mutations. Most of the PMB-resistant isolates harbored blaKPC-2 (n = 8)
      and belonged to clonal complex 258 (CC258) (n = 7). These results highlight the
      importance of monitoring the spread of polymyxin-resistant bacteria in hospitals,
      since few options remain to treat multidrug-resistant isolates.

PMID- 27620481
TI  - In Vitro Activity of Solithromycin against Bordetella pertussis, an Emerging
      Respiratory Pathogen.
AB  - There has been an increase in the number of pertussis cases reported since the
      introduction of the acellular pertussis vaccine. While children that present with
      pertussis have a characteristic whooping cough, adults can simply have a
      persistent, nonspecific cough and remain undiagnosed. Macrolide antibiotics, such
      as azithromycin, are the currently recommended treatment for pertussis.
      Solithromycin is a new macrolide and the first fluoroketolide with broad activity
      against a wide spectrum of bacterial pathogens and has completed clinical
      development for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. This study reports the
      potent in vitro activity of solithromycin against a collection of recent isolates
      of Bordetella pertussis.

PMID- 27620479
TI  - A Model for Transposition of the Colistin Resistance Gene mcr-1 by ISApl1.
AB  - Analysis of mcr-1-containing sequences identified a common ~2,607-bp DNA segment
      that in many cases is flanked on one or both ends by ISApl1 We present evidence
      that mcr-1 is mobilized by an ISApl1 composite transposon which has, in some
      cases, subsequently lost one or both copies of ISApl1 We also show that mcr-1 can
      be mobilized in some circumstances by a single upstream copy of ISApl1 in
      conjunction with the remnants of a downstream ISApl1.

PMID- 27620480
TI  - Acquisition of mcr-1 Plasmid-Mediated Colistin Resistance in Escherichia coli and
      Klebsiella pneumoniae during Hajj 2013 and 2014.

PMID- 27620482
TI  - DNA Targeting as a Likely Mechanism Underlying the Antibacterial Activity of
      Synthetic Bis-Indole Antibiotics.
AB  - We previously reported the synthesis and biological activity of a series of
      cationic bis-indoles with potent, broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. Here,
      we describe mechanism of action studies to test the hypothesis that these
      compounds bind to DNA and that this target plays an important role in their
      antibacterial outcome. The results reported here indicate that the bis-indoles
      bind selectively to DNA at A/T-rich sites, which is correlated with the
      inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis in representative Gram-positive
      (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) organisms. Further,
      exposure of E. coli and S. aureus to representative bis-indoles resulted in
      induction of the DNA damage-inducible SOS response. In addition, the bis-indoles
      were found to be potent inhibitors of cell wall biosynthesis; however, they do
      not induce the cell wall stress stimulon in S. aureus, suggesting that this
      pathway is inhibited by an indirect mechanism. In light of these findings, the
      most likely basis for the observed activities of these compounds is their ability
      to bind to the minor groove of DNA, resulting in the inhibition of DNA and RNA
      synthesis and other secondary effects.

PMID- 27620484
TI  - Peak Jump Power Reflects the Degree of Ambulatory Ability in Patients with
      Mitochondrial and Other Rare Diseases.
AB  - Metabolic diseases that lead to neuromuscular, bone, and joint involvement can
      reduce ambulation and quality of life. Using jumping mechanography, we developed
      a novel assessment, peak jump power (PJP), and related this to ambulatory ability
      in patients either having a known or suspected underlying rare disease. From
      adults and children, we recruited 88 healthy controls and 115 patients (61 with
      mitochondrial disease and 54 with another diagnosis). Patients were categorized
      as having no complaints of weakness or ambulation (ambulatory competent; AC),
      weakness but able to ambulate without aids (ambulatory weakness; AW), or not able
      to ambulate without aids such as a walker, cane, or wheelchair (ambulatory
      assistance; AA). Subjects were asked to perform five successive jumps from a
      squat position. Instantaneous power (W; watts) was calculated and the highest
      result was divided by the body mass (kg) to calculate PJP (W/kg). Between healthy
      controls and AC patients, there was no difference in mean PJP (20.5 +/- 7.0 W/kg
      vs. 19.0 +/- 7.4 W/kg, p = 0.601; mean +/- SD). Progressively lower results were
      found in patients with AW with a mean PJP of 11.7 +/- 5.1 W/kg (p < 0.001 versus
      AC) and further those with AA with a mean PJP of 5.8 +/- 3.2 W/kg (p < 0.001
      versus AW). A subgroup analysis of subjects showed that those who did not use
      ambulatory aids all had a PJP above 10 W/kg. Using this threshold, the receiver
      operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis showed PJP to be highly sensitive
      evaluation of ambulatory ability (sensitivity 95.8%, specificity 52.1%).

PMID- 27620483
TI  - A Modified P1 Moiety Enhances In Vitro Antiviral Activity against Various
      Multidrug-Resistant HIV-1 Variants and In Vitro Central Nervous System
      Penetration Properties of a Novel Nonpeptidic Protease Inhibitor, GRL-10413.
AB  - We report here that GRL-10413, a novel nonpeptidic HIV-1 protease inhibitor (PI)
      containing a modified P1 moiety and a hydroxyethylamine sulfonamide isostere, is
      highly active against laboratory HIV-1 strains and primary clinical isolates (50%
      effective concentration [EC50] of 0.00035 to 0.0018 MUM), with minimal
      cytotoxicity (50% cytotoxic concentration [CC50] = 35.7 MUM). GRL-10413 blocked
      the infectivity and replication of HIV-1NL4-3 variants selected by use of
      atazanavir, lopinavir, or amprenavir (APV) at concentrations of up to 5 MUM (EC50
      = 0.0021 to 0.0023 MUM). GRL-10413 also maintained its strong antiviral activity
      against multidrug-resistant clinical HIV-1 variants isolated from patients who no
      longer responded to various antiviral regimens after long-term antiretroviral
      therapy. The development of resistance against GRL-10413 was significantly
      delayed compared to that against APV. In addition, GRL-10413 showed favorable
      central nervous system (CNS) penetration properties as assessed with an in vitro
      blood-brain barrier (BBB) reconstruction system. Analysis of the crystal
      structure of HIV-1 protease in complex with GRL-10413 demonstrated that the
      modified P1 moiety of GRL-10413 has a greater hydrophobic surface area and makes
      greater van der Waals contacts with active site amino acids of protease than in
      the case of darunavir. Moreover, the chlorine substituent in the P1 moiety
      interacts with protease in two distinct configurations. The present data
      demonstrate that GRL-10413 has desirable features for treating patients infected
      with wild-type and/or multidrug-resistant HIV-1 variants, with favorable CNS
      penetration capability, and that the newly modified P1 moiety may confer
      desirable features in designing novel anti-HIV-1 PIs.

PMID- 27620486
TI  - Announcement of the Fulker Award for a Paper Published in Behavior Genetics,
      Volume 45, 2015.

PMID- 27620485
TI  - Evaluation of cytotoxicity, immune compatibility and antibacterial activity of
      biogenic silver nanoparticles.
AB  - The study was focused on assessment of antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity and
      immune compatibility of biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized from
      Streptomyces sp. NH28 strain. Nanoparticles were biosynthesized and characterized
      by UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform
      infrared spectroscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis system and zeta potential.
      Antibacterial activity was tested against Gram-positive and Gram-negative
      bacteria; minimal inhibitory concentration was recorded. Cytotoxicity was
      estimated using L929 mouse fibroblasts via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5
      diphenyltetrazolium bromide test. Biocompatibility of AgNPs was performed using
      THP1-XBlueTM cells. Biogenic AgNPs presented high antibacterial activity against
      all tested bacteria. Minimum inhibitory concentration of AgNPs against bacterial
      cells was found to be in range of 1.25-10 MUg/mL. Silver nanoparticles did not
      show any harmful interaction to mouse fibroblast cell line, and no activation of
      nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B (NF-kappaB) cells was
      observed at concentration below 10 ug/mL. The half-maximal inhibitory
      concentration (IC50) value was established at 64.5 MUg/mL. Biological synthesis
      of silver can be used as an effective system for formation of metal
      nanoparticles. Biosynthesized AgNPs can be used as an antibacterial agent, which
      can be safe for eukaryotic cells.

PMID- 27620487
TI  - Glucolipotoxicity diminishes cardiomyocyte TFEB and inhibits lysosomal autophagy
      during obesity and diabetes.
AB  - Impaired cardiac metabolism in the obese and diabetic heart leads to
      glucolipotoxicity and ensuing cardiomyopathy. Glucolipotoxicity causes
      cardiomyocyte injury by increasing energy insufficiency, impairing proteasomal
      mediated protein degradation and inducing apoptosis. Proteasome-evading proteins
      are degraded by autophagy in the lysosome, whose metabolism and function are
      regulated by master regulator transcription factor EB (TFEB). Limited studies
      have examined the impact of glucolipotoxicity on intra-lysosomal signaling
      proteins and their regulators. By utilizing a mouse model of diet-induced
      obesity, type-1 diabetes (Akita) and ex-vivo model of glucolipotoxicity (H9C2
      cells and NRCM, neonatal rat cardiomyocyte), we examined whether
      glucolipotoxicity negatively targets TFEB and lysosomal proteins to dysregulate
      autophagy and cause cardiac injury. Despite differential effects of obesity and
      diabetes on LC3B-II, expression of proteins facilitating autophagosomal clearance
      such as TFEB, LAMP-2A, Hsc70 and Hsp90 were decreased in the obese and diabetic
      heart. In-vivo data was recapitulated in H9C2 and NRCM cells, which exhibited
      impaired autophagic flux and reduced TFEB content when exposed to a
      glucolipotoxic milieu. Notably, overloading myocytes with a saturated fatty acid
      (palmitate) but not an unsaturated fatty acid (oleate) depleted cellular TFEB and
      suppressed autophagy, suggesting a fatty acid specific regulation of TFEB and
      autophagy in the cardiomyocyte. The effect of glucolipotoxicity to reduce TFEB
      content was also confirmed in heart tissue from patients with Class-I obesity.
      Therefore, during glucolipotoxicity, suppression of lysosomal autophagy was
      associated with reduced lysosomal content, decreased cathepsin-B activity and
      diminished cellular TFEB content likely rendering myocytes susceptible to cardiac
      injury.

PMID- 27620488
TI  - beta-arrestin1 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition via modulating GSK
      3beta/beta-catenin pathway in prostate cancer cells.
AB  - Recently, beta-arrestin1 was indicated as a tumor promoter in prostate cancer,
      but its exact role in cancer metastasis still have not been well clarified. Here,
      our data revealed that beta-arrestin1 could promote the migration and invasion of
      prostate cancer cells via initiating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).
      Mechanically, beta-arrestin1 could increase the transcriptional activity and
      expression of beta-catenin, together with Akt activity, whereas decrease the
      activities of GSK-3beta and PP2A. In addition, beta-arrestin1 could function as a
      scaffold protein in modulating the interactions between PP2A, Akt, GSK-3beta and
      beta-catenin. These results reveal a novel mechanism of beta-arrestin1 in
      modulating EMT and GSK-3beta/beta-catenin signaling in prostate cancer, thereby
      suggest that assessment of beta-arrestin1 may provide a potential therapeutic
      target for prostate cancer.

PMID- 27620491
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Protective role of activin receptor-like kinase 7 gene silencing in
      renal fibrosis.

PMID- 27620489
TI  - Heme oxygenase-1-mediated apoptosis under cadmium-induced oxidative stress is
      regulated by autophagy, which is sensitized by tumor suppressor p53.
AB  - Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a stress-inducible cytoprotective enzyme. It is often
      overexpressed in different types of cancers and promotes cell survival. However,
      the role of HO-1 and the underlying molecular mechanism of cadmium (Cd)-induced
      oxidative stress in cancer cells remain undefined. Here we show that the role of
      HO-1 under Cd-induced oxidative stress is dependent upon autophagy, which is
      sensitized by the tumor suppressor p53. The sensitivity to Cd was 3.5- and 14
      fold higher in p53-expressing YD8 and H460 cells than in p53-null YD10B and H1299
      cells, respectively. The levels of p53 in YD8 and H460 cells decreased in a Cd
      concentration-dependent manner, which was inhibited by pretreatment with N
      acetylcysteine. In both cell lines, Cd exposure resulted in caspase-3-mediated
      PARP-1 cleavage and the induction of CHOP, LC3-II, and HO-1, which were limited
      in YD10B and H1299 cells exposed to high concentrations of Cd. Cd exposure to p53
      overexpressing YD10B cells enhanced Cd-induced HO-1 and LC3-II levels, whereas
      genetic knockdown of p53 in YD8 cells resulted in the suppression of Cd-induced
      levels of HO-1 and LC3-II, indicating that p53 is required in the sensing of HO-1
      and induction of autophagy. The inhibition of autophagy using small interfering
      RNA (siRNA) for the autophagy-related gene atg5 enhanced HO-1, CHOP, and PARP-1
      cleavage induced by Cd. However, transfection with HO-1 siRNA increased Cd
      induced LC3-II, and suppressed the expression of CHOP and cleavage of PARP-1.
      Collectively, the role of HO-1 in apoptosis could be modulated by autophagy,
      which is sensitized by p53 expression in human cancer cell lines.

PMID- 27620490
TI  - Off-target effect of the cPLA2alpha inhibitor pyrrophenone: Inhibition of calcium
      release from the endoplasmic reticulum.
AB  - Cytosolic phospholipase A2alpha (cPLA2alpha) mediates agonist-induced release of
      arachidonic acid from membrane phospholipid for production of eicosanoids. The
      activation of cPLA2alpha involves increases in intracellular calcium, which binds
      to the C2 domain and promotes cPLA2alpha translocation from the cytosol to
      membrane to access substrate. The cell permeable pyrrolidine-containing
      cPLA2alpha inhibitors including pyrrophenone have been useful to understand
      cPLA2alpha function. Although this serine hydrolase inhibitor does not inhibit
      other PLA2s or downstream enzymes that metabolize arachidonic acid, we reported
      that it blocks increases in mitochondrial calcium and cell death in lung
      fibroblasts. In this study we used the calcium indicators G-CEPIA1er and CEPIA2mt
      to compare the effect of pyrrophenone in regulating calcium levels in the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria in response to A23187 and receptor
      stimulation. Pyrrophenone blocked calcium release from the ER and concomitant
      increases in mitochondrial calcium in response to stimulation by ATP, serum and
      A23187. In contrast, ER calcium release induced by the sarco/endoplasmic
      reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase inhibitor thapsigargin was not blocked by pyrrophenone
      suggesting specificity for the calcium release pathway. As a consequence of
      blocking calcium mobilization, pyrrophenone inhibited serum-stimulated
      translocation of the cPLA2alpha C2 domain to Golgi. The ability of pyrrophenone
      to block ER calcium release is an off-target effect since it occurs in
      fibroblasts lacking cPLA2alpha. The results implicate a serine hydrolase in
      regulating ER calcium release and highlight the importance of careful dose
      response studies with pyrrophenone to study cPLA2alpha function.

PMID- 27620492
TI  - CONSTANS-like 9 (COL9) delays the flowering time in Oryza sativa by repressing
      the Ehd1 pathway.
AB  - Flowering or heading is one of most important agronomic traits in rice. It has
      been characterized that CONSTANS (CO) and CONSTANS-like (COL) proteins are
      critical flowering regulators in response to photoperiodic stress in plants. We
      have previously identified that the COL family member OsCOL9 can positively
      enhance the rice blast resistance. In the present study, we aimed to explore the
      functional role of OsCOL9 in modulating the photoperiodic flowering. Our data
      showed that overexpression of OsCOL9 delayed the flowering time under both short
      day (SD) and long-day (LD) conditions, leading to suppressed expressions of EHd1,
      RFT and Hd3a at the mRNA Level. OsCOL9 expression exhibited two types of
      circadian patterns under different daylight conditions, and it could delay the
      heading date by suppressing the Ehd1 photoperiodic flowering pathway. In
      contrast, the expressions of previously reported flowering regulators were not
      significantly changed in OsCOL9 transgenic plants, indicating that OsCOL9
      functioned independently of other flowering pathways. In addition, OsCOL9 served
      as a potential yield gene, and its deficiency reduced the grain number of main
      panicle in plants. Furthermore, yeast two-hybrid assay indicated that OsCOL9
      physically interacted with Receptor for Activated C-kinase 1 (OsRACK1). Rhythmic
      pattern analysis suggested that OsRACK1 responded to the change of daylight,
      which was regulated by the circadian clock. Taken together, our results revealed
      that OsCOL9 could delay the flowering time in rice by repressing the Ehd1
      pathway.

PMID- 27620493
TI  - Galectin-3 binds highly galactosylated IgG1 and is crucial for the IgG1 complex
      mediated inhibition of C5aReceptor induced immune responses.
AB  - Changes in the glycosylation of immunoglobulins have been shown to modulate
      immune homeostasis and disease pathology. In this sense it has been shown that
      highly galactosylated but not agalactosylated IgG1 immune complexes (ICs) inhibit
      C5aR-mediated pro-inflammatory immune responses via the assembly of FcgammaRIIB
      Dectin-1 receptor complexes. In this study we demonstrated that Galectin-3, a
      galactose-binding lectin that is known to cross-link proteins on cell-surfaces
      via binding their N-glycans, bound to highly-galactosylated, but not
      agalactosylated IgG1. Further, Galectin-3 was essential for the IC-mediated
      inhibition of C5a-induced neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro. Taken together our
      results indicate that Galectin-3 mediates the interaction of ICs with the
      FcgammaRIIB-Dectin-1 receptor complex for delivering immunoregulatory signals to
      inhibit C5aR-mediated immune responses.

PMID- 27620494
TI  - Antibiotic-Induced Rash in Patients With Infectious Mononucleosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide an extensive review of case reports, epidemiological data,
      and the underlying mechanism of antibiotic-induced skin rash in patients with
      concurrent infectious mononucleosis (IM). DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE literature
      search inclusive of the dates 1946 to June 2016 was performed using the search
      terms anti-bacterial agents and infectious mononucleosis. EMBASE (1980 to June
      2016) was searched using the terms mononucleosis and antibiotic agent and drug
      eruption. References of all relevant articles were reviewed for additional
      citations and information. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: We selected
      English-language, primary literature, review articles, and mechanistic articles
      that addressed antibiotic-induced skin rash in patients with concurrent IM. We
      assessed all case reports available for causality utilizing a modified Naranjo
      nomogram specifically designed for this subject. We assembled the available
      epidemiological data into tables to identify trends in incidence rates over the
      years. DATA SYNTHESIS: We identified 17 case reports of antibiotic-associated
      rash in patients with IM. The median Naranjo score was 6 (range = 1 to 8). The
      top 3 reported drugs were ampicillin, azithromycin, and amoxicillin. Incidence of
      this adverse effect was higher in the 1960s (55.6%, 45%, and 33%) than in 2013
      (33% and 15%). The mechanism most commonly proposed is a transient virus-mediated
      immune alteration that sets the stage for loss of antigenic tolerance and the
      development of a reversible, delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to the
      antibiotic. CONCLUSION: A reassessment of the long-held belief of the high
      incidence (80%-100%) of antibiotic-induced skin rash in patients with IM seems
      prudent. Additional studies will be necessary to clarify this issue.

PMID- 27620495
TI  - Viral Hepatitis and Diabetes: Clinical Implications of Diabetes Prevention
      Through Hepatitis Vaccination.
AB  - Viral hepatitis has been posited to play a role in the development of type 2
      diabetes. Thus, prevention of viral hepatitis through vaccination has the
      potential to reduce the burden of type 2 diabetes. We have shown that successful
      hepatitis B vaccination reduces the risk of diabetes by 33 %. Although diabetes
      can be prevented by behavior modification and pharmaceutical agents, these
      require significant personal commitment and cost. In contrast, diabetes
      prevention through hepatitis B vaccination would require little personal
      commitment and relatively low cost. In this review, we discuss hepatitis viruses
      A, B, and C and their interaction with diabetes; explore the potential underlying
      mechanisms and potential for hepatitis vaccination to reduce diabetes; and
      estimate the medical expense savings that would result from such an intervention.
      Given the projected increase of diabetes prevalence in the developing regions,
      where hepatitis B is endemic, exploration of such an intervention is very timely.

PMID- 27620497
TI  - Carvedilol alleviates testicular and spermatological damage induced by cisplatin
      in rats via modulation of oxidative stress and inflammation.
AB  - The clinical application of the anticancer drug cisplatin is limited by its
      deleterious side effects, including male reproductive toxicity. In this context,
      the potential protective effect of carvedilol on testicular and spermatological
      damage induced by cisplatin in male Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated.
      Carvedilol was orally administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg for 2 weeks, and
      cisplatin was given as a single intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg on the 12th
      day to induce toxicity. Cisplatin significantly reduced reproductive organ
      weight, sperm count and sperm motility, and increased sperm abnormalities and
      histopathological damage of testicular tissue. In addition, it resulted in a
      significant decline in serum testosterone as well as levels of testicular
      enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase,
      glutathione peroxides, and reduced glutathione). Moreover, cisplatin remarkably
      augmented malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and nuclear
      factor-kappa B contents in testicular tissue. Conversely, carvedilol
      administration markedly mitigated cisplatin-induced testicular and
      spermatological injury as demonstrated by suppression of oxidative/nitrosative
      and inflammatory burden, amendment of antioxidant defenses, enhancement of
      steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis, and mitigation of testicular
      histopathological damage. The current study reveals a promising protective action
      of carvedilol against cisplatin-induced reproductive toxicity by virtue of its
      anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

PMID- 27620498
TI  - A new rearranged eudesmane sesquiterpene and bioactive sesquiterpenes from the
      twigs of Lindera glauca (Sieb. et Zucc.) Blume.
AB  - A new rearranged eudesmane sesquiterpene, named eudeglaucone (1), and five known
      sesquiterpenes including (+)-faurinone (2) and four eudesmane-type sesquiterpenes
      (3-6), were isolated from the twigs of Lindera glauca (Sieb. et Zucc.) Blume. The
      structure of 1 was elucidated by a combination of extensive spectroscopic
      analyses, including extensive 2D NMR (1H-1H COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and NOESY) and HR
      MS. Compound 1 was a relatively rare rearranged eudesmane sesquiterpene in
      terpenoids. All isolates were evaluated for their antiproliferative activities
      against four human tumor cell lines (A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, and HCT-15).
      Compounds 3 and 6 showed significant cytotoxicity against SK-MEL-2 and HCT-15
      cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 9.98 to 12.20 MUM. We also investigated
      the anti-neuroinflammatory activities of the isolates (1-6) in the
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine microglia BV-2 cell line by measuring
      nitric oxide (NO) levels. All isolates significantly inhibited NO production with
      IC50 values of 3.67-26.48 MUM without inducing cell toxicity.

PMID- 27620499
TI  - Evaluation of the virus clearance capacity and robustness of the manufacturing
      process for the recombinant factor VIII protein, turoctocog alfa.
AB  - Turoctocog alfa is a B-domain-truncated recombinant factor VIII protein produced
      in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the virus clearance capacity and robustness of the turoctocog alfa purification
      process. Virus clearance evaluation studies were conducted utilising a scaled
      down version of the manufacturing process. Total virus clearance was evaluated
      using the ecotropic murine leukaemia virus (eMuLV) as a model for non-infectious
      retrovirus-like particles (RVLPs) and certain enveloped viruses. Other viruses
      utilised included: infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBRV), minute virus of mice
      (MVM), bovine enterovirus (BEV) and Reo-3 virus (Reo-3). Robust clearance of all
      model viruses was demonstrated with either new or reused resins. Overall, virus
      reduction factors were: >18.0 log10 (eMuLV); 11.0 log10 (MVM); >11.8 log10 (Reo
      3; >5.0 log10 using nanofiltration); >15.3 log10 (BEV) and >12.7 log10 (IBRV).
      Taken together, these values demonstrate that the purification process for
      turoctocog alfa effectively removes a range of enveloped and non-enveloped
      viruses of different physicochemical properties and sizes.

PMID- 27620500
TI  - Nucleotide-Free sB-Raf is Preferentially Bound by Hsp90 and Cdc37 In Vitro.
AB  - The molecular chaperone Hsp90 and its cofactor Cdc37 are required for the
      stability of protein kinases in the cellular environment. Upon pharmacological
      inhibition of Hsp90, the Hsp90-dependent kinases are degraded quickly by the
      proteasome. Clear physiological evidence for the formation of heterooligomeric
      complexes between the chaperone system and its kinase clients exist, but the
      mechanisms of client processing are still enigmatic. Here, we investigate the
      interaction of the chaperone system with a stabilized fragment of the Hsp90
      dependent protein kinase B-Raf (sB-Raf). sB-Raf is aggregation prone at elevated
      temperatures. We find that nucleotide binding strongly stabilizes the folded
      state of sB-Raf and suppresses its aggregation. Also, Cdc37 and Hsp90 in
      combination can suppress sB-Raf aggregation while forming a ternary complex with
      the kinase. The presence of nucleotides leads to the dissociation of the kinase
      from the ternary chaperone complex, implying that the stabilization of the kinase
      by nucleotides reduces its affinity toward the chaperone machinery. Human Cdc37
      Hsp90 complexes can bind to kinase, if the NM domain of the chaperone is present.
      Nematode Cdc37, which does not require the N-terminal Hsp90 domain for binding,
      can form a ternary complex with the MC construct of Hsp90, which lacks the
      aggregation propensity of sB-Raf. Like the full-length complex, this interaction
      is sensitive to ATP binding to sB-Raf. We thus find that the interaction between
      sB-Raf and the Hsp90 chaperone system is based on contacts with the M domain of
      Hsp90, which contributes in forming the ternary complex with CeCdc37 as long as
      the kinase is not stabilized by nucleotide.

PMID- 27620501
TI  - A canonical correlation analysis on the relationship between functional fitness
      and health-related quality of life in older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between the functional
      fitness (FF) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults, and to
      identify the key subdimensions of FF and HRQoL influencing their overall
      relationship. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed among 851
      independent community members (65-84 years; men=402). The Senior Fitness Test and
      the Short Form 36 Health Survey were used to measure FF and HRQoL, respectively.
      A canonical correlation analysis was conducted using seven fitness variables as
      predictors of eight HRQoL variables to examine the relationship between FF and
      HRQoL. RESULTS: The overall FF was positively correlated with the overall HRQoL
      in both men (canonical correlation=0.350) and women (canonical
      correlation=0.456). The up-and-go and 2-min step contributed the most to FF, and
      physical functioning contributed the most to HRQOL among men. Conversely, the up
      and-go and 30-s chair stand contributed the most to FF, and physical functioning
      contributed the most to HRQoL in women. CONCLUSIONS: There were positive and
      moderate relationships between overall FF and overall HRQOL in older adults. The
      FF has a significant influence on HRQoL, particularly physical functioning. The
      main FF components influencing the relationship between FF and HRQoL in men are
      balance and agility and aerobic endurance, whereas in women they are balance and
      agility and lower extremity muscle strength. Results from this study facilitate
      comprehensively understanding the relationship between FF and HRQoL, and
      generating critical insight into HRQoL improvement from the perspective of FF
      enhancement.

PMID- 27620496
TI  - Opportunities for new CT contrast agents to maximize the diagnostic potential of
      emerging spectral CT technologies.
AB  - The introduction of spectral CT imaging in the form of fast clinical dual-energy
      CT enabled contrast material to be differentiated from other radiodense
      materials, improved lesion detection in contrast-enhanced scans, and changed the
      way that existing iodine and barium contrast materials are used in clinical
      practice. More profoundly, spectral CT can differentiate between individual
      contrast materials that have different reporter elements such that high
      resolution CT imaging of multiple contrast agents can be obtained in a single
      pass of the CT scanner. These spectral CT capabilities would be even more
      impactful with the development of contrast materials designed to complement the
      existing clinical iodine- and barium-based agents. New biocompatible high-atomic
      number contrast materials with different biodistribution and X-ray attenuation
      properties than existing agents will expand the diagnostic power of spectral CT
      imaging without penalties in radiation dose or scan time.

PMID- 27620502
TI  - Oncological results of extended resection for locally advanced rectal cancer: the
      value of postirradiation MRI in predicting local recurrence.
AB  - AIM: The primary purpose of this study was to analyse the overall survival and
      local recurrence rate after extended resection of locally advanced rectal cancer.
      The second aim was to determine the ability of the response to radiological
      irradiation to predict R0 resection. METHOD: A retrospective study was performed
      of 94 consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal cancer operated on at the
      Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland between 2005 and 2013. Data were
      collected from patient records. All patients were treated with an en bloc
      resection. Sixty-two patients received preoperative long-term chemoradiotherapy.
      RESULTS: The 30-day mortality was 3.2%. Local recurrence occurred in 10 (10.6%)
      patients. The cumulative 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival to each year was
      89.4%, 68.3% and 51.8%. The most important prognostic factor for both local
      recurrence (P = 0.006) and survival (P = 0.003) was an R0 resection. A poor or no
      response seen on posttreatment MRI predicted local recurrence (P = 0.045) and
      decreased disease-free survival in patients treated curatively (P = 0.052). The
      histological tumour regression grade was not associated with local recurrence or
      survival. CONCLUSION: Multivisceral resection offers a 5-year survival of over
      50% and local control of advanced rectal cancer in nearly 90% of carefully
      selected patients.

PMID- 27620503
TI  - Therapeutic effect of methyl salicylate 2-O-beta-d-lactoside on LPS-induced acute
      lung injury by inhibiting TAK1/NF-kappaB phosphorylation and NLRP3 expression.
AB  - Acute lung injury (ALI), characterized by pulmonary edema and inflammatory cell
      infiltration, is a common syndrome of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. Methyl
      salicylate 2-O-beta-d-lactoside (MSL), a natural derivative of salicylate
      extracted from Gaultheria yunnanensis (Franch.) Rehder, was reported to have
      potent anti-inflammatory effects on the progression of collagen or adjuvant
      induced arthritis in vivo and in vitro. The aim of this study is to investigate
      the therapeutic effect of MSL on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung
      injury and reveal underlying molecular mechanisms. Our results showed that MSL
      significantly ameliorated pulmonary edema and histological severities, and
      inhibited IL-6 and IL-1beta production in LPS-induced ALI mice. MSL also reduced
      MPO activity in lung tissues and the number of inflammatory cells in BALF.
      Moreover, we found that MSL significantly inhibited LPS-induced TAK1 and NF
      kappaB p65 phosphorylation, as well as the expression of NLRP3 protein in lung
      tissues. Furthermore, MSL significantly inhibited LPS-induced TAK1 and NF-kappaB
      p65 phosphorylation in Raw264.7 cells. In addition, MSL significantly inhibited
      nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB p65 in cells treated with LPS in vitro. Taken
      together, our results suggested that MSL exhibited a therapeutic effect on LPS
      induced ALI by inhibiting TAK1/NF-kappaB phosphorylation and NLRP3 expression.

PMID- 27620504
TI  - Effects of chelidonic acid, a secondary plant metabolite, on mast cell
      degranulation and adaptive immunity in rats.
AB  - The present study evaluated the immunomodulatory effects of chelidonic acid, a
      secondary plant metabolite, with therapeutic potential in allergic disorders, in
      experimental animals. In mast cell degranulation studies, ovalbumin immunized and
      challenged rats, chelidonic acid (1, 3 and 10mg/kg, i.p.) dose relatedly
      prevented ovalbumin challenge induced mast cell degranulation by differing
      degrees when compared with vehicle treated group, and these effects were
      comparable with prednisolone (10mg/kg). A reduction in post-challenge mortality
      was also observed in all treated groups. Further, there were reductions in the
      blood eosinophil counts and serum IgE levels after chelidonic acid treatment.
      Chelidonic acid also inhibited histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells
      (RPMC) in vitro, in a dose related manner. In tests for adaptive immunity, in
      rats immunized with sheep RBC, chelidonic acid differentially suppressed the (a)
      plaque forming cell (PFC) count in rat splenic cells, (b) anti-SRBC antibody
      titre and serum IgG levels and (c) increases in foot pad thickness in the DTH
      assay - all of which were comparable with prednisolone. These experimental
      results are discussed in light of the possible therapeutic potential of
      chelidonic acid in allergic disorders.

PMID- 27620505
TI  - miR-92a-3p and MYCBP2 are involved in MS-275-induced and c-myc-mediated TRAIL
      sensitivity in melanoma cells.
AB  - Increasing evidence has demonstrated that in several tumors c-myc acts either as
      an oncogene or as a proapoptotic agent, depending on binding partner
      interactions. Recently, we showed that up-regulation of this gene by the histone
      deacetylase inhibitor MS-275 was responsible for sensitization to TRAIL-induced
      apoptosis through c-FLIP repression in melanoma. The present study aimed at
      investigating whether, in addition to inducing H3 hyperacetylation at the c-myc
      promoter, MS-275 could enhance cell death through the regulation of miRNAs
      involved in apoptosis, such as the miR-17-92 cluster. Following MS-275 treatment,
      a decrease in miR-92a-3p was observed either in TRAIL-resistant or TRAIL
      sensitive cutaneous and uveal melanoma cells. Prediction tools revealed that miR
      92a-3p targeted MYCBP2. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that the 3'
      UTR of MYCBP2 mRNA was the target of miR-92a-3p, as ectopic expression of miR-92a
      3p resulted in MYCBP2 downregulation whereas miR-92a-3p knockdown markedly
      increased the expression of MYCBP2. Silencing of MYCBP2 counteracted the pro
      apoptotic effects exerted by the down-regulation of miR-92a-3p and prevented c
      myc-induced repression of c-FLIP, indicating a pivotal role of MYCBP2 as a
      mediator of miR-92a-3p and c-myc function. Together, our findings indicate that
      the MS-275-triggered downregulation of the oncogenic miR-92a-3p- which leads to
      the overexpression of its target gene MYCBP2 - is an event required for the
      enhanced susceptibility of melanoma cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Our data
      illustrate another epigenetic mechanism activated by MS-275 at the post
      transcriptional level in melanoma, in addition to its best-known effects at the
      transcriptional level.

PMID- 27620506
TI  - Estradiol enhances capacity of TLR-matured splenic dendritic cells to polarize
      CD4+ lymphocytes into IL-17/GM-CSF-producing cells in vitro.
AB  - : There are little data on modulatory effects of estrogens on rat dendritic cell
      (DC) responses to inflammatory stimuli, and consequently their ability to
      activate and polarize CD4+ T lymphocyte-mediated immune responses. Splenic
      conventional DCs from young female Albino Oxford rats were activated in vitro
      with LPS (TLR4 agonist) or R848 (TLR7/8 agonist) in the presence and absence of
      17beta-estradiol (E2), and their allostimulatory and CD4+ lymphocyte polarizing
      ability in mixed leukocyte culture (MLC) were studied. Irrespective of the E2
      presence, LPS and R848 up-regulated the expression of MHC II on DCs, so they
      exhibited enhanced allostimulatory capacity in co-culture with CD4+ lymphocytes.
      On the other hand, E2 promoted stimulatory action of both TLRs on OX62+ DC IL-23
      production, augmented their stimulatory effects on IL-6 and IL-1beta production,
      but diminished their enhancing effects on the expression IL-10 and IL-27 by DCs.
      Consequently, in MLC, OX62+ DCs activated/matured in the co-presence of E2 and
      either LPS or R848 increased the levels of IL-17, the signature Th17 cell
      cytokine, when compared with those activated/matured in the absence of E2. GM-CSF
      levels were also increased in these MLC. Given that the expression of IL-7 mRNA
      was diminished in DCs activated/matured in the co-presence of E2 and TLR, this
      increase most likely did not reflect enhanced differentiation of Th cells
      producing GM-CSF only (Th-GM). CONCLUSIONS: E2 augments capacity of LPS- and R848
      activated/matured DCs from young rat spleen to induce differentiation of IL-17-
      and GM-CSF-producing cells.

PMID- 27620508
TI  - Output without input: the lifelong productivity of hematopoietic stem cells.
AB  - The hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment must be maintained life-long, while
      being replenishable only from within. HSC proliferation can compensate for cell
      loss by differentiation, by cell death, or by mobilization from the bone marrow
      niches, but the relative use of proliferation to compensate for these distinct
      depletion sources is unclear. Classifications of HSC states (e.g., as active,
      dormant, quiescent or parsimonious) have mostly been based on HSC proliferation
      rather than on actual differentiation arising from HSC. New in vivo fate mapping
      experiments have shed light on HSC output. The kinetics of label emergence from
      HSC to progenitor stages uncovered steady, infrequent and low output from large
      numbers of HSC during normal adult hematopoiesis. Here, we discuss the relative
      contribution of proliferation to differentiation and self-renewal in
      hematopoietic stem and progenitor compartments, and propose that kinetic data on
      HSC output also yield insights into the structure of the hematopoietic hierarchy.

PMID- 27620507
TI  - Protective effects of sirtuin 3 in a murine model of sepsis-induced acute kidney
      injury.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a rapid loss of kidney function characterized by
      damage to renal tubular cells driven by mitochondrial dysregulation and oxidative
      stress. Here, we used a murine caecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model of sepsis
      induced AKI to study the role of sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), a NAD(+) dependent
      deacetylase critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial viability, in AKI
      related renal tubular cell damage and explored the underlying mechanisms. CLP
      induced alterations in kidney function and morphology were associated with SIRT3
      downregulation, and SIRT3 deletion exacerbated CLP-induced kidney dysfunction,
      renal tubular cell injury and apoptosis, mitochondrial alterations, and ROS
      production in a knockout mouse model. SIRT3 deletion increased the CLP-induced
      upregulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and apoptosis-associated speck-like
      protein, resulting in the activation of oxidative stress, increased production of
      the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18, and the
      enhancement of apoptosis, and these effects were reversed by antioxidant NAC. Our
      results suggest that SIRT3 plays a protective role against mitochondrial damage
      in the kidney by attenuating ROS production, inhibiting the NRLP3 inflammasome,
      attenuating oxidative stress, and downregulating IL-1beta and IL-18.

PMID- 27620509
TI  - The structural properties and antigenicity of soybean glycinin by glycation with
      xylose.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soybean glycinin is considered a major allergenic protein, and
      glycation is widely used to reduce the allergenic potential of present allergens.
      Glycation of soybean glycinin with xylose at 55  degrees C for different lengths
      of time was investigated. The extent of Maillard reaction was reflected through
      the content changing of free amino groups, color analysis and sodium dodecyl
      sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Alteration in the structural
      properties of glycinin was characterized by Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy, and antigenicity was evaluated by indirect competitive enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The changes in the color of glycinin-xylose
      samples and the reduction of free amino group content in proteins indicated that
      the Maillard reaction occurred. The degree of glycation increased in glycated
      samples with the increase in reaction time. Glycation induced the changes in the
      secondary structure of glycinin and the ordered structure of proteins increased
      during the glycation reaction. The antigenicity of glycinin was reduced with the
      increase in reaction time. After glycation for 12 h, the antigenicity of glycinin
      declined about 18% compared with native glycinin. CONCLUSION: The application of
      glycation may be an efficient method to reduce the antigenicity of soybean
      glycinin. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27620510
TI  - Predicting arboviral disease emergence using Bayesian networks: a case study of
      dengue virus in Western Australia.
AB  - A Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) for assessing the potential risk of dengue virus
      emergence and distribution in Western Australia (WA) is presented and used to
      identify possible hotspots of dengue outbreaks in summer and winter. The model
      assesses the probabilities of two kinds of events which must take place before an
      outbreak can occur: (1) introduction of the virus and mosquito vectors to places
      where human population densities are high; and (2) vector population growth rates
      as influenced by climatic factors. The results showed that if either Aedes
      aegypti or Ae. albopictus were to become established in WA, three centres in the
      northern part of the State (Kununurra, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome) would be at
      particular risk of experiencing an outbreak. The model can also be readily
      extended to predict the risk of introduction of other viruses carried by Aedes
      mosquitoes, such as yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika viruses.

PMID- 27620511
TI  - Surgical site infections in colorectal surgery: the nuances of surveillance.

PMID- 27620512
TI  - Time course and frequency specificity of sub-cortical plasticity in adults
      following acute unilateral deprivation.
AB  - Auditory deprivation and stimulation can change the threshold of the acoustic
      reflex, but the mechanisms underlying these changes remain largely unknown. In
      order to elucidate the mechanism, we sought to characterize the time-course as
      well as the frequency specificity of changes in acoustic reflex thresholds
      (ARTs). In addition, we compared ipsilateral and contralateral measurements
      because the pattern of findings may shed light on the anatomical location of the
      change in neural gain. Twenty-four normal-hearing adults wore an earplug
      continuously in one ear for six days. We measured ipsilateral and contralateral
      ARTs in both ears on six occasions (baseline, after 2, 4 and 6 days of earplug
      use, and 4 and 24 h after earplug removal), using pure tones at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4
      kHz and a broadband noise stimulus, and an experimenter-blinded design. We found
      that ipsi- as well as contralateral ARTs were obtained at a lower sound pressure
      level after earplug use, but only when the reflex was elicited by stimulating the
      treatment ear. Changes in contralateral ARTs were not the same as changes in
      ipsilateral ARTs when the stimulus was presented to the control ear. Changes in
      ARTs were present after 2 days of earplug use, and reached statistical
      significance after 4 days, when the ipsilateral and contralateral ARTs were
      measured in the treatment ear. The greatest changes in ARTs occurred at 2 and 4
      kHz, the frequencies most attenuated by the earplug. After removal of the
      earplug, ARTs started to return to baseline relatively quickly, and were not
      significantly different from baseline by 4-24 h. There was a trend for the
      recovery to occur quicker than the onset. The changes in ARTs are consistent with
      a frequency-specific gain control mechanism operating around the level of the
      ventral cochlear nucleus in the treatment ear, on a time scale of hours to days.
      These findings, specifically the time course of change, could be applicable to
      other sensory systems, which have also shown evidence of a neural gain control
      mechanism.

PMID- 27620514
TI  - Oral Microbial Colonization in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess oral microbial colonization
      before and after the implementation of an oral hygiene protocol in children
      admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) using nonhospitalized healthy
      children as a control group. METHODS: Two groups were analyzed in this clinical
      study: Group G1 (dentate children admitted to the PICU); and Group G2
      (nonhospitalized, healthy, dentate children). The G1 group underwent oral
      assessments before (G1i) and after (G1f) a three-day oral hygiene protocol using
      0.12 percent chlorhexidine applied at 12-hour intervals. RESULTS: Several
      pathogenic bacteria were identified in group G1i, which was significantly higher
      than in group G2 (P<.001). There were significant differences between groups G1i
      and G1f regarding the presence of pathogenic bacteria (P<.001) and a tongue coat
      (P<.001). The G1f and G2 groups were comparable concerning the presence of
      pathogenic bacteria (P=.14). CONCLUSIONS: Pathogenic bacteria were present in the
      oral cavity of almost all hospitalized children and were significantly decreased
      after an appropriate oral hygiene protocol was incorporated in their daily care.
      Therefore, regular oral hygiene protocols are warranted in PICUs.

PMID- 27620515
TI  - Acceptance and Use of Protective Stabilization Devices by Pediatric Dentistry
      Diplomates in the United States.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess acceptance and use of protective stabilization devices (PSD)
      by Pediatric Dentistry Diplomates. METHODS: Surveys were electronically mailed in
      2013 to 2922 members of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry's (ABPD)
      College of Diplomates. Bivariate (assessing provider personal and practice
      characteristics) and multivariate analyses were performed on reported acceptance
      and use of PSD. RESULTS: Response rate was 28 percent. Providers more likely to
      report acceptance and use of PSD were those in practices with lower SES patient
      base, where there was the perception that patients' parents were more accepting
      of PSD, and those with low patient volume. Provider who were more likely to
      report acceptance and use of PSD were female, not working solely in private
      practice, and from Southeast or North Central regions of the U.S. Neither PSD use
      during residency nor ABPD Board cohort (<2009 versus 2009-2013) was associated
      with current acceptance or PSD use. Upon multivariate assessments of practice and
      personal characteristics, only perception of parent acceptance was associated
      with provider acceptance whereas perception of parental acceptance, practitioner
      sex and practice setting were associated with provider use of PSD. CONCLUSIONS:
      Practitioner sex, practice setting, region, and perception of parental acceptance
      are all important factors related to PSD acceptance and use.

PMID- 27620513
TI  - Dopaminergic projections of the subparafascicular thalamic nucleus to the
      auditory brainstem.
AB  - Neuromodulators can alter the response properties of sensory neurons, including
      those in the auditory system. Dopamine, which plays a major role in reward and
      movement, has been shown to alter neural responses in the auditory brainstem and
      midbrain. Recently we identified the subparafascicular thalamic nucleus (SPF),
      part of the A11 dopaminergic cell group, as the source of dopamine to the
      inferior colliculus (IC). The superior olivary complex (SOC) is also a likely
      target of dopaminergic projections from the SPF because it receives projections
      from the SPF and contains fibers and terminals immunoreactive for tyrosine
      hydroxylase, the rate limiting enzyme in dopamine synthesis. However, it is
      unknown if the projections from the SPF to SOC are dopaminergic, and if single
      neurons in the SPF project to both the IC and SOC. Using anterograde tracing
      combined with fluorescent immunohistochemistry, we found that the SPF sends
      dopaminergic projections to the superior paraolivary nucleus and the medial
      nucleus of the trapezoid body, but not the lateral superior olive. We confirmed
      these projections using a retrograde tracer. By making dual retrograde deposits
      in the IC and SOC, we found that individual dopaminergic cells innervate both the
      IC and SOC. These results suggest dopaminergic innervation, likely released in a
      context dependent manner, occurs at multiple levels of the auditory pathway.

PMID- 27620516
TI  - Dental and Oral Considerations in Pediatric Celiac Disease.
AB  - Celiac disease (CD) is the world's most common genetic food intolerance disorder.
      Children with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a storage protein in wheat,
      rye, and barley. The first recognizable symptom in children is often an oral
      manifestation, rather than the typical gastrointestinal symptoms. The purpose of
      this paper is to review the oral and dental manifestations of CD to help
      pediatric dentists identify and refer atypically symptomatic patients to their
      pediatricians. 

PMID- 27620517
TI  - Parent, Dentist, and Independent Rater Assessment of Child Distress During
      Preventive Dental Visits.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although typically not painful, preventive dental care can be
      distressing to young children. A greater understanding of how adults perceive
      child distress may enable clinicians to improve the patient/parent experience
      through alignment of values and facilitation of shared decision-making. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the association between parent, dentist, and
      independent observer (IO) ratings of child distress during preventive dental
      procedures. METHODS: Sixty-five children younger than three years were seen for
      preventive dental care at a university dental clinic. Parents, dentists, and an
      IO rated intensity of child distress during four phases of the dental visit: (1)
      pre-exam; (2) positioning; (3) prophylaxis/exam/fluoride; and (4) post-exam.
      RESULTS: The average age of the children was 24.4 months old (+/-7.2 SD). The
      prophylaxis/exam/fluoride phase was judged to be most distress inducing. Mean
      distress ratings for this phase were: 2.30 (parents); 2.47 (dentists); and 3.08
      (IO), which was statistically significant (P=.04). The IO ratings were
      significantly different from parents (for three phases) and dentists (for one
      phase); no statistically significant differences were noted between parent and
      dentist ratings for any phase. CONCLUSIONS: There was a strong agreement between
      parents' and dentists' ratings of child distress during preventive dental
      procedures.

PMID- 27620518
TI  - The Effect of a Unique Pacifier on Anterior Open Bite and Overjet in the Primary
      Dentition: A Pilot Study.
AB  - PURPOSES: Pacifiers are the most common device used by children to satisfy their
      sucking needs. Because of their design, reports of anterior open bite and
      increased overjet are common. The purposes of this pilot study were to measure
      the effects of a unique pacifier in toddlers who have existing open bites and
      increased overjets; and secondly to determine the feasibility of recruiting and
      retaining toddlers for a six-month study. METHODS: Toddlers with existing open
      bite and increased overjet currently using a conventional pacifier were recruited
      from a university pediatric dental clinic. Baseline information was obtained.
      Visual examination and intraoral measurements were obtained. The study pacifier
      was introduced to replace the existing pacifier. Follow-up data was collected at
      three and six months post-intervention. RESULTS: Eight of the 11 toddlers (73
      percent) completed the study. Recruitment was challenging because of the
      inclusion criteria and transportation; retaining participants required numerous
      reminders to parents. There was a significant difference between initial and
      final open bite and overjet measurements. CONCLUSION: It is feasible to recruit
      and retain toddlers but it required significant staff interventions. There was a
      significant improvement in reducing existing open bite and overjet with the
      pacifier after six months.

PMID- 27620519
TI  - Prevalence of Early Childhood Caries Among Preschool Children in Johannesburg,
      South Africa.
AB  - PURPOSES: (1) To determine the prevalence of dental caries among preschool
      children in the metropolitan area of Johannesburg; (2) to determine the dental
      caries status and unmet treatment needs of four- to six-year-old children; (3) to
      compare their dmft/DMFT scores with the significant caries index (SiC) for
      similar age cohorts; and (4) to compare their dental caries prevalence with those
      of similar age cohorts, as reported in the National Children's Oral Health Survey
      (NCOHS). METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 10 preschools. Stratified
      randomized sampling of the participating children was done and schools were
      stratified by regions. RESULTS: A total of 459 children, with a mean age of 4.8
      years, were examined. The overall caries prevalence (CP) was 44 percent, with a
      mean dmft score of 2.3+/-3.4 (standard deviation [SD]). Among four- to five-year
      old children, the CP was 49 percent (dmft 2.4 +/-3.4 SD versus 2.38 NCOHS,
      SiC=6.41; P<0.00001). The CP for six-year-old children was 51 percent (dmft 2.38,
      +/-3.4 SD versus 2.9 NCOHS, SiC = 5.35; P<0.00001). Ninety-seven percent of the
      children did not have their dental needs met. CONCLUSION: There is high caries
      prevalence among preschool children in Johannesburg.

PMID- 27620520
TI  - Cone Beam Computed Tomography Evaluation of Inverted Mesiodentes.
AB  - A mesiodens is the most common type of supernumerary teeth. The purpose of this
      report is to present a rare occurrence of non-syndromic impacted inverted
      mesiodentes in an 8.5-year-old boy who presented with a chief complaint of
      delayed eruption of his permanent maxillary left central incisor. Occlusal and
      panoramic radiographs, as well as cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) with a
      three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction image, confirmed that one supernumerary
      tooth had perforated the nasal fossa floor and the other was in close
      approximation to the to the same site. Surgical removal of both mesiodentes was
      indicated. Radiographic evidence of complete healing was observed 12 months
      following surgical removal. The use of CBCT with a 3-D reconstruction image as a
      tool in diagnosis and evaluation of healing after surgical removal is
      recommended. 

PMID- 27620521
TI  - Central Odontogenic Fibroma of the Mandible.
AB  - The central odontogenic fibroma (COF) is a benign odontogenic tumor of
      mesenchymal tissue such as the periodontal ligament, dental papilla or dental
      follicle. It is an extremely rare tumor, accounting less than five percent of all
      odontogenic tumors. In this report, we describe the case of an eight year old
      girl who presented with a painless swelling of the left mandible. Radiographic
      evaluation revealed a well-defined unilocular radiolucency extending from the
      distal aspect of the displaced mandibular left premolar to the ascending ramus of
      the mandible. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of COF of the
      simple type. Surgical excision of the lesion was done and no recurrence was noted
      thereafter. 

PMID- 27620522
TI  - Management of a Compound Odontoma in the Primary Dentition.
AB  - Odontomas are the most common benign odontogenic tumors of the oral cavity;
      however, their occurrence in the primary dentition is an extremely rare
      condition. When associated with primary teeth, odontomas may lead to disturbances
      in tooth eruption, which often requires a multidisciplinary treatment approach.
      The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on odontomas of the primary
      dentition and discuss the management of a compound odontoma in a pediatric
      patient. 

PMID- 27620523
TI  - Spontaneous Resolution of a Central Giant Cell Granuloma in a Child After an
      Incisional Biopsy: A Five-year Follow-up.
AB  - A central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) is typically regarded as a benign lesion
      with osteoclastic activity. Treatment often involves surgical procedures that may
      cause deformities; however, minimally invasive approaches have been suggested for
      treating pediatric patients. We report a case of CGCG of the mandible in a 13
      year-old boy who presented with a well-defined radiolucent area in the anterior
      mandible that was initially detected in a radiographic examination for
      orthodontic purposes. An incisional biopsy was performed and diagnosed
      histologically as a CGCG. The patient underwent clinical and radiographic follow
      up only after the biopsy, eventually showing signs of bone healing. Five years
      later, complete resolution of the lesion was observed radiographically.
      Considering this optimal outcome, similar cases of CGCG should be carefully
      analyzed for appropriateness of this conservative approach. 

PMID- 27620524
TI  - Organ Donation After Euthanasia: A Dutch Practical Manual.

PMID- 27620525
TI  - Aortic valve laceration following coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary
      intervention.
AB  - Valve complications following coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary
      interventions are rare. We report a case of an aortic valve laceration following
      cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention, which required
      surgical valve replacement.

PMID- 27620526
TI  - Providing the plant extract silymarin to lactating sows: effects on litter
      performance and oxidative stress in sows.
AB  - Silymarin is an extract from the plant milk thistle that was shown to have
      antioxidant and hyperprolactinemic properties. Taking into account the essential
      role of prolactin for lactating sows and the systemic oxidative stress occurring
      during lactation, it is of interest to investigate the potential beneficial
      effects of silymarin on lactating sows. A study was therefore carried out to
      determine the effects of providing either 1 or 8 g/day of the plant extract
      silymarin to lactating sows. Sows in first, second or third parity were fed
      conventional diets during gestation and, at farrowing, were assigned as controls
      (CTL, n=33), or were fed 1 g/day (SYL1, n=33) or 8 g/day (SYL8, n=33) of
      silymarin. The silymarin was provided in two equal amounts per day, and was fed
      throughout a 20-day lactation. The performance of sows and their litters was
      assessed and circulating concentrations of prolactin (days 7 and 18), urea (days
      7 and 18) and oxidative status, via protein carbonyls and superoxide dismutase
      activity (day 18), were measured in sows. Milk samples were obtained on day 18 to
      measure standard composition. There was no effect of silymarin (P>0.10) on
      circulating prolactin or urea, or on oxidative damage to proteins or antioxidant
      potential in sows. Lactation feed intake, backfat and BW of sows were unaffected
      by treatment (P>0.10) as was the case for milk composition and piglet growth
      (P>0.10). Results demonstrate that providing up to 8 g/day of the plant extract
      silymarin to lactating sows had no beneficial effects in terms of circulating
      prolactin concentrations or oxidative status of sows, or in terms of performances
      of sows and their litters.

PMID- 27620527
TI  - Microwave ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma as first-line treatment: long term
      outcomes and prognostic factors in 221 patients.
AB  - This retrospective study aimed at evaluating the long-term outcomes and
      prognostic factors of microwave ablation (MWA) as a first-line treatment for
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 221 consecutive patients receiving MWA in our
      center between October 11, 2010 and December 31, 2013 were enrolled. Technique
      effectiveness was evaluated one month post-ablation. Initial complete ablation
      (CA1(st)) was gained in 201 (90.95%) patients, secondary CA (CA2(nd)) in 8
      (3.62%) patients and the remaining 12 (5.43%) patients suffered from incomplete
      ablation (IA2(nd)) after two sessions of MWA. Patients with tumor size >5 cm were
      less likely to gain CA1(st). Procedure-related complications were recorded and no
      procedure-related death occurred. 22 (10.4%) complications occurred with 8 (3.8%)
      being major ones. Tumor characteristics (size, number, location) do not
      significantly influence complication rates. After a median follow-up of 41.0
      (ranging 25.0-63.5) months, the median RFS and OS was 14.0 months (95% CI: 9.254
      18.746) and 41.0 months (95% CI: 33.741-48.259) respectively. Multivariate
      analysis identified two significant prognosticators (levels of alpha fetal
      protein [AFP] and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase [GGT]) of RFS and five
      significant prognosticators (tumor number, tumor size, AFP, GGT and recurrence
      type) of OS. In conclusion, MWA provides high technique effectiveness rate and is
      well tolerated in patients with HCC as a first-line treatment.

PMID- 27620528
TI  - 4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal induces apoptosis by activating ERK1/2 signaling and
      depleting intracellular glutathione in intestinal epithelial cells.
AB  - Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) induces oxidative damage to cellular
      constituents, ultimately leading to induction of apoptotic cell death and the
      pathogenesis of various diseases. The molecular mechanisms for the action of ROS
      in intestinal diseases remain poorly defined. Here, we reported that 4-hydroxy-2
      nonenal (4-HNE) treatment led to capses-3-dependent apoptosis accompanied by
      increased intracellular ROS level and reduced glutathione concentration in
      intestinal epithelial cells. These effects of 4-HNE were markedly abolished by
      the antioxidant L-cysteine derivative N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Further studies
      demonstrated that the protective effect of NAC was associated with restoration of
      intracellular redox state by Nrf2-related regulation of expression of genes
      involved in intracellular glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis and inactivation of 4
      HNE-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases
      (ERK1/2). The 4-HNE-induced ERK1/2 activation was mediated by repressing mitogen
      activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1), a negative regulator of ERK1/2,
      through a proteasome-dependent degradation mechanism. Importantly, either
      overexpression of MKP-1 or NAC treatment blocked 4-HNE-induced MKP-1 degradation,
      thereby protecting cell from apoptosis. These novel findings provide new insights
      into a functional role of MKP-1 in oxidative stress-induced cell death by
      regulating ERK1/2 MAP kinase in intestinal epithelial cells.

PMID- 27620529
TI  - Rhizobacteria and plant symbiosis in heavy metal uptake and its implications for
      soil bioremediation.
AB  - Certain species of plants can benefit from synergistic effects with plant growth
      promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that improve plant growth and metal accumulation,
      mitigating toxic effects on plants and increasing their tolerance to heavy
      metals. The application of PGPR as biofertilizers and atmospheric nitrogen
      fixators contributes considerably to the intensification of the phytoremediation
      process. In this paper, we have built a system consisting of rhizospheric
      Azotobacter microbial populations and Lepidium sativum plants, growing in
      solutions containing heavy metals in various concentrations. We examined the
      ability of the organisms to grow in symbiosis so as to stimulate the plant growth
      and enhance its tolerance to Cr(VI) and Cd(II), to ultimately provide a reliable
      phytoremediation system. The study was developed at the laboratory level and, at
      this stage, does not assess the inherent interactions under real conditions
      occurring in contaminated fields with autochthonous microflora and under
      different pedoclimatic conditions and environmental stresses. Azotobacter sp.
      bacteria could indeed stimulate the average germination efficiency of Lepidium
      sativum by almost 7%, average root length by 22%, average stem length by 34% and
      dry biomass by 53%. The growth of L. sativum has been affected to a greater
      extent in Cd(II) solutions due its higher toxicity compared to that of Cr(VI).
      The reduced tolerance index (TI, %) indicated that plant growth in symbiosis with
      PGPR was however affected by heavy metal toxicity, while the tolerance of the
      plant to heavy metals was enhanced in the bacteria-plant system. A methodology
      based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) and differential evolution (DE),
      specifically a neuro-evolutionary approach, was applied to model germination
      rates, dry biomass and root/stem length and proving the robustness of the
      experimental data. The errors associated with all four variables are small and
      the correlation coefficients higher than 0.98, which indicate that the selected
      models can efficiently predict the experimental data.

PMID- 27620530
TI  - Tuning the Optical Properties of Perovskite Nanoplatelets through Composition and
      Thickness by Ligand-Assisted Exfoliation.
AB  - High-quality hybrid halide perovskite nanocrystals are fabricated through a
      simple, versatile, and efficient two-step process involving a dry step followed
      by a ligand-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation step. The emission wavelength of
      the resulting nanocrystals can be tuned either through composition by varying the
      halide content or by reducing their thickness.

PMID- 27620531
TI  - Of skin and bone: did Langerhans cells and osteoclasts evolve from a common
      ancestor?
AB  - Skin Langerhans cells are antigen-presenting cells of the interfollicular
      epidermis and the upper part of the hair follicle, whereas osteoclasts are
      specialized bone-resorbing macrophages. Although at first view these two cell
      types appear to have little in common, a closer analysis reveals shared features,
      and when taking into account their surrounding environment, a hypothesis can be
      developed that Langerhans cells and osteoclasts have evolved from a common
      ancestral cell type. In this mini-review, we have compared the ontogenetic
      features of Langerhans cells and osteoclasts from a genetic and a functional
      point of view, an issue that so far has been overlooked. The gene programs that
      control cell differentiation, and the body parts where they reside, present
      surprising similarities. Whereas the function of osteoclasts in bone degradation
      has been established since the first vertebrates, Langerhans cells may have
      undergone a stepwise adaptation from aquatic to terrestrial life. Their cell
      function co-evolved with the imperatives of the skin to protect against physical
      impact, heat, water loss and pathogens, which implied the capacity of Langerhans
      cells to associate with skin appendages and to develop immunostimulatory
      functions. For the highly versatile and efficient immune system of modern
      vertebrates, Langerhans cells may be a memory of the past.

PMID- 27620532
TI  - Support program for women suffering grief after termination of pregnancy: A pilot
      study.
AB  - In this study, we preliminarily examined the effects of the Informational and
      Emotional Support Program for Women after Pregnancy Termination in 30 Thai women.
      A literature review and House's theory of social support informed the program
      content, which consisted of the following elements: (i) an evaluation of grief;
      (ii) an analysis of the problems and needs of each woman; (iii) informational and
      emotional support tailored to individual problems and needs; (iv) telephone
      support; and (v) an exit phone interview. The Grief Questionnaire for Women after
      Pregnancy Termination was used to measure changes in the grief levels of
      participants. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the
      contingency coefficient. At the completion of the study, the participants'
      average grief score had decreased from the prior grief score and was in the
      moderate to low range. These preliminary findings indicate that the support
      program can be effective in real-life situations in Thailand to assist women who
      are grieving after the termination of pregnancy. Our findings highlight the need
      for nursing and emotional support to be provided to help Thai women after the
      TOP.

PMID- 27620533
TI  - Discrimination between 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine and 5-Methylcytosine in DNA via
      Selective Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence (ECL) Labeling.
AB  - DNA methylation is used to dynamically reprogram cells in the course of early
      embryonic development in mammals. 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine in DNA (5-hmC-DNA)
      plays essential roles in the demethylation processes. 5-Methylcytosine in DNA (5
      mC-DNA) is oxidized to 5-hmC-DNA by 10-11 translocation proteins, which are
      relatively high abundance in embryonic stem cells and neurons. A new method was
      developed herein to quantify 5-hmC-DNA based on selective electrogenerated
      chemiluminescence (ECL) labeling with the specific oxidation of 5-hmC to 5-fC by
      KRuO4. A thiolated capture probe (ssDNA, 35-mer) for the target DNA containing 5
      hmC was self-assembled on a gold surface. The 5-hmC in the target DNA was
      selectively transformed to 5-fC via oxidation by KRuO4 and then subsequently
      labeled with N-(4-aminobutyl)-N-ethylisoluminol (ABEI). The ABEI-labeled target
      DNA was hybridized with the capture probe on the electrode, resulting in a strong
      ECL emission. An extremely low detection limit of 1.4 * 10-13 M was achieved for
      the detection of 5-hmC-DNA. In addition, this ECL method was useful for the
      quantification of 5-hmC in serum samples. This work demonstrates that selective 5
      hmC oxidation in combination with an inherently sensitive ECL method is a
      promising tactic for 5-hmC biosensing.

PMID- 27620534
TI  - Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy confers excellent long-term outcomes for the
      treatment of complex cystic renal tumors: Median follow up of 58 months.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze long-term outcomes of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy
      for treatment of complex cystic renal tumors. METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed the data of patients who underwent robot-assisted partial nephrectomy
      for cystic (n = 32) and solid (n = 263) renal masses at Severance Hospital,
      Seoul, Korea. The primary outcome was assessment of perioperative safety for
      cystic tumor. Secondary outcomes were evaluation of long-term oncological and
      functional results. RESULTS: Patients' clinical and demographic characteristics
      were similar among both groups. The median follow up of cystic and solid masses
      were 58 and 46 months, respectively. Cystic masses were more likely to have low
      Fuhrman grade 1 and 2 (P = 0.03), and shorter operative time (P = 0.04) compared
      with solid masses. There was no statistically significant difference regarding
      warm ischemia time, estimated blood loss, trifecta achievement, length of
      hospital stay, complication rates and renal function preservation (P > 0.05)
      between groups. In the solid group, 12 patients (4.1%) recurred, and six patients
      (2%) died from metastatic renal cell carcinoma, whereas the patients in the
      cystic group did not have any local or distance recurrence, and the survival
      rates were 100%. The 5-year cancer-free survival (P = 0.77), cancer-specific
      survival (P = 0.65) and overall survival (P = 0.83) rates were similar between
      the groups. CONCLUSION: Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy appears to be safe and
      feasible treatment for complex cystic renal masses. It confers excellent long
      term oncological outcomes. Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy should be the
      treatment of choice for complex cysts whenever feasible.

PMID- 27620535
TI  - Motivators and Barriers for Older People Participating in Resistance Training: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - Regular participation in resistance training is important for older people to
      maintain their health and independence, yet participation rates are low. The
      study aimed to identify motivators and barriers to older people participating in
      resistance training. A systematic review was conducted including quantitative,
      qualitative, and mixed-method studies. Searches generated 15,920 citations from
      six databases, with 14 studies (n = 1,937 participants) included. In total, 92
      motivators and 24 barriers were identified. Motivators specific to participating
      in resistance training included preventing deterioration (disability), reducing
      risk of falls, building (toning) muscles, feeling more alert, and better
      concentration. Looking too muscular and thinking participation increased the risk
      of having a heart attack, stroke, or death, despite the minimal likelihood of
      these occurring, were barriers. The analysis indicates that increasing
      participation in resistance training among older people should focus on the
      specific benefits valued by older people and the dissemination of accurate
      information to counter misperceptions.

PMID- 27620536
TI  - Ralf Bartenschlager, Charles Rice, and Michael Sofia are honored with the 2016
      Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

PMID- 27620537
TI  - The 2016 Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award recognizes Bruce Alberts'
      lifelong dedication to research, policy, and education.

PMID- 27620539
TI  - Near-infrared spectroscopy: can it measure endothelial function?

PMID- 27620540
TI  - The Joint-Gut Axis Exploring the Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Manifestations of
      Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic immunemediated inflammatory
      conditions involving the gastrointestinal system with potential to adversely
      affect the musculoskeletal system as well. The numerous overlapping immunogenic
      and pathophysiologic disease mechanisms of the gastrointestinal and
      musculoskeletal systems have led to the concept of the "Joint-Gut Axis,"
      illustrating an intimate link between the two organ systems. A solid
      understanding of the Joint-Gut Axis is necessary for the rheumatologist as well
      as the orthopaedic surgeon, as concomitant musculoskeletal disease may impart a
      profoundly negative impact on the quality of life of patients with IBD.
      Furthermore, a significant subset of patients initially present with secondary
      musculoskeletal symptoms resulting from an underlying, undiagnosed IBD.
      Additional non-inflammatory musculoskeletal sequelae of IBD that are not
      typically attributed to the Joint-Gut Axis should also be recognized by
      rheumatologists and orthopaedic surgeons in order that the proper preventative
      and supportive interdisciplinary management may be employed, maximizing patient
      outcomes and quality of life. 

PMID- 27620541
TI  - Trends in Upper Extremity Fracture Caseload Reporting During Orthopaedic
      Residency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objectives of this investigation were to report temporal trends
      in resident performed upper extremity fracture procedures and analyze case volume
      variability. METHODS: Orthopaedic resident case logs from the Accreditation
      Council for Graduate Medical Education were reviewed for graduating years 2007 to
      2014. The mean number of wrist, forearm, elbow, humerus, and shoulder fracture
      dislocation procedures performed by residents was analyzed. The median number of
      procedures reported by the top 30% and bottom 30% of residents (by case volume)
      was also recorded. Linear regression modeling was used to assess temporal trends.
      RESULTS: The mean number of wrist and forearm fracture cases performed per
      resident fell from 55.3 in 2007 to 46.7 in 2014 (p = 0.325) while the number of
      elbow and humerus fracture procedures remained relatively constant (45.6 to 45.4;
      p = 0.224). The mean number of shoulder fracture cases increased significantly
      (14.7 to 22.5; p < 0.001). Over the 8-year period, residents in the 70th
      percentile of caseload performed significantly more wrist and forearm (62.6
      versus 39.5; p < 0.001), elbow and humerus (55 versus 34.9; p < 0.001), and
      shoulder (23 versus 12.9; p < 0.001) fracture procedures than residents in the
      30th percentile. CONCLUSION: Resident case volume for wrist, forearm, elbow, and
      humerus fractures is constant or falling. However, shoulder fracture caseloads
      are increasing. Regardless, there is substantial disparity in upper extremity
      fracture case volume among residents. Further investigation is needed to assess
      possible educational effects of resident caseload disparity.

PMID- 27620542
TI  - Bennett Fractures A Review of Management.
AB  - A Bennett fracture is a common injury that involves an intra-articular fracture
      at the base of the first metacarpal. This fracture typically results in a
      dorsally and radially displaced metacarpal shaft relative to the well-anchored
      volar ulnar fragment. Most Bennett fractures are treated with operative fixation,
      including closed reduction and percutaneous fixation, open reduction and internal
      fixation, or arthroscopically assisted fixation. However, the optimal surgical
      approach is controversial. There is a paucity of literature comparing the
      outcomes of the various treatments, leaving the surgeon without a clear treatment
      algorithm. Moreover, there is no consensus on acceptable reduction parameters,
      including articular gap or step-off, with some series stating that up to 2 mm of
      displacement is acceptable. 

PMID- 27620538
TI  - William Kaelin, Peter Ratcliffe, and Gregg Semenza receive the 2016 Albert Lasker
      Basic Medical Research Award.

PMID- 27620543
TI  - The Need for Clinical Hand Education in Emergency Medicine Residency Programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complaints related to the hands, wrists, and fingers comprise
      approximately 3.7 million emergency department visits annually. The complexity of
      this subject can confound timely diagnosis and treatment, particularly if the
      treating physician has not received specialized training. We set out to determine
      whether emergency medicine training in the USA provides adequate preparation for
      dealing with the identification, management, and treatment of hand, wrist, and
      finger injuries. METHODS: The curricula for 160 accredited U.S. emergency
      medicine programs were obtained. Each of these was examined to see whether a
      clinical "hand" rotation was included as a required module. Clinical hand
      rotations were then classified by length of rotation, the postgraduate years in
      which they were offered, and if they were offered as stand-alone modules or
      combined with other rotations. RESULTS: Of the 160 programs, 21 (13.1%) require a
      clinical hand rotation. Sixteen offer a dedicated module, and five are part of
      another rotation. The mean amount of time dedicated to hand education was 3
      weeks. The 16 dedicated hand rotations had a mean duration of 2.69 weeks;
      combined rotations were 4 weeks. Four incorporated hand education in the first
      postgraduate year (PGY-1), 13 into the second (PGY-2), and 3 into the third (PGY
      3). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the preponderance of hand injuries seen by emergency
      physicians, the clinical and legal pitfalls that accompany these conditions, and
      the benefits to be gained from specialized training, very few programs emphasize
      clinical hand training in an equivalent fashion.

PMID- 27620544
TI  - Physician Training Ultrasound and Accuracy of Diagnosis in Rotator Cuff Tears.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ultrasonography offers a fast and inexpensive method to evaluate
      the rotator cuff in the office setting. However, the accuracy of ultrasound is
      highly user dependent. The purpose of this study is to investigate the learning
      curve of an orthopaedic surgeon in using ultrasound to diagnose rotator cuff
      tears. METHODS: A sports medicine fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon was
      taught how to perform and interpret an ultrasound examination of the shoulder by
      a musculoskeletal radiologist. In this prospective study, subjects were patients
      who presented to the office with shoulder pain suspected to be consistent with
      rotator cuff pathology, either complete or partial tears. The surgeon was blinded
      to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results and performed the ultrasound after
      performing a physical exam. Based on ultrasound and exam, the surgeon assessed if
      the rotator cuff was intact (no tear) or torn (having a partial or full thickness
      tear). Results were compared to MRI findings and arthroscopic findings (when
      available), and accuracy was evaluated over time to determine overall accuracy
      and if significant learning and improvement in accuracy took place over the time
      period studied. RESULTS: Eighty patients were enrolled in the study; seventy-four
      had an MRI within 3 months of the ultrasound and were available for evaluation.
      Nineteen patients underwent ultrasound, MRI, and arthroscopy. Ultrasound was able
      to accurately diagnose the correct rotator cuff pathology (no tear, a partial
      thickness tear, or a full thickness tear) in 61% of patients. Ultrasound
      accurately diagnosed simply the presence or absence of a tear in 74% of patients.
      There was a general trend toward improved accuracy as the investigator gained
      experience, with accuracy rates of approximately 51% for the first 40 patients,
      and 69% for the last 40 patients evaluated, although this difference was not
      statistically significant (p = 0.154). DISCUSSION: Ultrasound imaging requires
      significant training and practice to provide a clinically useful level of
      diagnostic accuracy. The applicability of this procedure for diagnosing primary
      rotator cuff tears in an orthopaedic office setting may be limited by the time
      and volume required for the practitioner to approach the accuracy reported for
      diagnostic ultrasound and MRI in the literature.

PMID- 27620545
TI  - Similar Function and Improved Range of Shoulder Motion is Achieved Following
      Repair of Three- and Four-Part Proximal Humerus Fractures Compared with
      Hemiarthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to compare open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with
      locked plating to hemiarthroplasty for the treatment of three- and four-part
      proximal humerus fractures, we compared two groups of patients treated during the
      same time period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-five patients who underwent repair
      of a three- or four-part proximal humerus fracture with locked plates (Group A)
      were identified in a prospective database and were compared to 29 patients who
      underwent hemiarthroplasty for similar injuries (Group B). Data was collected for
      both groups. Shoulder motion was measured and functional outcomes were obtained
      using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire.
      RESULTS: The mean length of follow-up for the ORIF group was 16 months compared
      to 44 months for the hemiarthroplasty group. The average postoperative forward
      flexion for patients in Group A was 131.1 degrees  and 110.4 degrees  for Group B
      (p < 0.047). There were no differences in DASH scores at latest follow-up (p =
      0.64). Two patients in Group A had radiographic signs of osteonecrosis but had
      elected for no further surgery. One patient in Group A and two patients in Group
      B underwent a conversion to total shoulder arthroplasty. There was no difference
      in the rate of secondary surgery (p = 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this
      study suggest that ORIF using locked plates leads to similar postoperative
      function compared to hemiarthroplasty. Patients who underwent ORIF did achieve
      greater forward shoulder flexion. Neither strategy leads to a higher reoperation
      rate.

PMID- 27620546
TI  - Surgical Anatomy of the Knee A Review of Common Open Approaches.
AB  - Knee-related complaints are among the most commonly encountered conditions by
      orthopaedic surgeons. Knee pathology varies widely and includes arthritis,
      deformities, fractures, infections, neuromuscular disorders, oncologic diseases,
      and soft-tissue injury. While nonoperative treatment modalities (activity
      modification, medications, injections, and physical therapy) are typically used
      as primary interventions, surgical treatment may ultimately become necessary. The
      purpose of this review is to discuss the most common open approaches to the knee,
      with an emphasis on surgically relevant anatomy for each approach. Understanding
      of the anatomy of the knee joint and associated neurovascular structures is
      necessary in order to avoid intraoperative complications and optimize
      postoperative recovery. 

PMID- 27620547
TI  - Systemic Lead Toxicity Secondary to Retained Intraosseous Bullet A Case Report
      and Review of Literature.
AB  - A 35-year-old female presented to orthopaedic clinic with a chief complaint of
      chronic left hip pain, beginning 17 years prior when she had sustained a gunshot
      wound to her left buttock. Imaging demonstrated significant left hip arthritis
      with a retained projectile in the femoral head. Lead levels were also found to be
      significantly elevated. The patient underwent successful left total hip
      arthroplasty, with subsequent postoperative pain relief and consistent decrease
      in serum lead level. This report presents a rare case that emphasizes lead
      intoxication as a potentially dangerous complication of gunshot wounds and
      retained projectiles in the orthopaedic patient. Recognition of lead intoxication
      as a potential complication of retained gunshot projectiles allows for efficient
      diagnosis and treatment, which may prevent associated future morbidity. 

PMID- 27620548
TI  - Bilateral Primary Repair of Simultaneous Bilateral Distal Biceps Rupture.
AB  - A case of simultaneous bilateral distal biceps tendon rupture in a recreational
      gymnast is presented. Achieving bilateral acute primary repair can be challenging
      as any immobilization will lead to disability and difficulty with self-care and
      activities of daily living. We have reviewed the evidence of this rare condition
      and demonstrate that modern rehabilitation techniques, which allow early
      mobilization, can make simultaneous bilateral primary repair a viable option in
      such cases. 

PMID- 27620549
TI  - Cervical Facet Joint Infection and Associated Epidural Abscess with Streptococcus
      intermedius from a Dental Infection Origin A Case Report and Review.
AB  - Pyogenic cervical facet joint infections are rare and such infections from a
      dental origin are even less common. Of these few cases, none have described
      infection with Streptococcus intermedius as the pathogen. A 65-year-old
      orthopaedic surgeon complained of fevers, right-sided radiating neck pain,
      stiffness, swelling, erythema, and right upper extremity weakness one month after
      he had broken a crown over his right mandibular premolar, a continued source of
      pain. Imaging of the cervical spine showed a right C4-C5 facet inflammatory
      arthropathy and a small epidural abscess that was cultured and initially treated
      with intravenous antibiotics. The oral maxillofacial surgery team performed an
      extraction of the infected, symptomatic tooth. For continued right upper
      extremity weakness, the patient underwent C4-C5 laminoforaminotomy and irrigation
      and debridement of the right C4-C5 facet joint. After 6 weeks of intravenous
      antibiotics, the patient's infectious and inflammatory markers had normalized. By
      4 months, he had regained full strength at his upper extremity and a painless and
      full range of motion of his cervical spine.Pyogenic cervical facet joint
      infection is very rare and potentially dangerous. A high clinical suspicion and
      appropriate imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, are important for
      correct diagnosis. Prompt medical and surgical treatment may avert complications,
      and although the patient presented made a complete recovery, patients may be left
      with neurological compromise. 

PMID- 27620550
TI  - Lipopolysaccharide Alters Motivated Behavior in a Monetary Reward Task: a
      Randomized Trial.
AB  - Inflammation-induced sickness is associated with a large set of behavioral
      alterations; however, its motivational aspects remain poorly explored in humans.
      The present study assessed the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration
      at a dose of 2 ng/kg of body weight on motivation in 21 healthy human subjects in
      a double-blinded, placebo (saline)-controlled, cross-over design. Incentive
      motivation and reward sensitivity were measured using the Effort Expenditure for
      Rewards Task (EEfRT), in which motivation for high-effort/high-reward trials vs
      low-effort/low-reward trials are manipulated by variations in reward magnitude
      and probability to win. Because of the strong interactions between sleepiness and
      motivation, the role of sleepiness was also determined. As expected, the
      probability to win predicted the choice to engage in high-effort/high-reward
      trials; however, this occurred at a greater extent after LPS than after saline
      administration. This effect was related to the level of sleepiness. Sleepiness
      increased motivation to choose the high-effort/high-reward mode of response, but
      only when the probability to win was the highest. LPS had no effect on reward
      sensitivity either directly or via sleepiness. These results indicate that
      systemic inflammation induced by LPS administration causes motivational changes
      in young healthy subjects, which are associated with sleepiness. Thus, despite
      its association with energy-saving behaviors, sickness allows increased incentive
      motivation when the effort is deemed worthwhile.

PMID- 27620553
TI  - A fluke diagnosis.

PMID- 27620552
TI  - Anemia and markers of erythropoiesis in pediatric kidney transplant recipients
      compared to children with chronic renal failure.
AB  - PTA and anemia of CKD share a similar pathogenesis. However, PTA may be
      disproportionate to the reduction in the GFR. Data relating to the mechanism of
      PTA are scarce. We evaluated the erythropoiesis parameters in pediatric kidney
      recipients compared to children with CKD. A total of 100 patients (54 post-kidney
      TX, 46 with CKD) were enrolled in the single-center cohort study. GFR was found
      to be significantly lower in the CKD group (49.7+/-22.4 vs 72.9+/-28.5
      mL/min/1.73 m2, P<.001); anemia was significantly more common in the TX patients
      (52% vs 41.3%, P<.001). Iron transferrin saturation and serum ferritin levels
      were lower in the CKD patients. In both groups, hemoglobin Z scores significantly
      correlated with GFR (R=.31, P=.07). This correlation was more prominent in the
      CKD group (R=.43, P=.008) compared to the TX group (R=.31, P=.04). Anemia was
      significantly more common in the TX patients than in the CKD patients despite a
      better GFR. The higher prevalence of anemia in the TX group could not be
      explained by an iron deficiency or reduced EPO production. We speculate that
      immunosuppressive therapy together with resistance to EPO may play a role in the
      pathogenesis of post-transplantation anemia.

PMID- 27620551
TI  - Binge-Like Alcohol Exposure During Adolescence Disrupts Dopaminergic
      Neurotransmission in the Adult Prelimbic Cortex.
AB  - Repeated binge-like exposure to alcohol during adolescence has been reported to
      perturb prefrontal cortical development, yet the mechanisms underlying these
      effects are unknown. Here we report that adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure
      induces cellular and dopaminergic abnormalities in the adult prelimbic cortex
      (PrL-C). Exposing rats to alcohol during early-mid adolescence (PD28-42)
      increased the density of long/thin dendritic spines of layer 5 pyramidal neurons
      in the adult PrL-C. Interestingly, although AIE exposure did not alter the
      expression of glutamatergic proteins in the adult PrL-C, there was a pronounced
      reduction in dopamine (DA) D1 receptor modulation of both intrinsic firing and
      evoked NMDA currents in pyramidal cells, whereas D2 receptor function was
      unaltered. Recordings from fast-spiking interneurons also revealed that AIE
      reduced intrinsic excitability, glutamatergic signaling, and D1 receptor
      modulation of these cells. Analysis of PrL-C tissue of AIE-exposed rats further
      revealed persistent changes in the expression of DA-related proteins, including
      reductions in the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and catechol-O
      methyltransferase (COMT). AIE exposure was associated with hypermethylation of
      the COMT promoter at a conserved CpG site in exon II. Taken together, these
      findings demonstrate that AIE exposure disrupts DA and GABAergic transmission in
      the adult medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). As DA and GABA work in concert to
      shape and synchronize neuronal ensembles in the PFC, these alterations could
      contribute to deficits in behavioral control and decision-making in adults who
      abused alcohol during adolescence.

PMID- 27620554
TI  - The Effect of Combinations of Food Insects for Continuous Rearing of the Wing
      Polymorphic Water Strider Limnogonus Fossarum fossarum (Hemiptera: Gerridae).
AB  - The water strider Limnogonus fossarum fossarum (F.) (Hemiptera: Gerridae) shows a
      macropterous, micropterous, and apterous polymorphism. Although a long
      photoperiod condition induces winged morphs, preliminary studies have revealed
      that crossing between winged morphs increased the proportion of macropterous
      individuals, suggesting that the genetic factors also affect wing-morph
      determination in this species. Assessing the genetic backgrounds of wing
      polymorphism requires constant and repeatable methods for rearing. This study
      attempts to establish a continuous rearing method for L. f. fossarum under
      constant diet conditions. Initially, we maintain the water striders with two
      Drosophila species as a food, but viability until adulthood is less than 20%. We
      then add the storage pest Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), which are readily
      reared in the laboratory, to the diets. As a result, nymphs fed on P.
      interpunctella (even only until the second instar) show significantly higher
      viability and shorter developmental period than nymphs fed on Drosophila alone.
      Moreover, feeding on D. melanogaster (Meigen) reared on cholesterol-enriched
      medium instead of a normal medium significantly increases viability in the next
      generation. This means that only the two food-insect species are enough for
      establishing a substantial number of individuals in segregating generations (F2
      and backcross), limiting DNA and RNA contaminations from food insects with genome
      information. Thus, the present rearing method opens the way to elucidating the
      genetic backgrounds of the wing polymorphism in L. f. fossarum. 

PMID- 27620555
TI  - How Does Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Diversity Vary Along a Rainy
      Season in a Tropical Dry Forest?
AB  - Dung beetle community dynamics are determined by regional rainfall patterns.
      However, little is known about the temporal dynamics of these communities in
      tropical dry forests (TDFs). This study was designed to test the following
      predictions: 1) Peak diversity of dung beetle species occurs early in the wet
      season, with a decrease in diversity (alpha and beta) and abundance throughout
      the season; 2) Nestedness is the primary process determining beta-diversity, with
      species sampled in the middle and the end of the wet season representing subsets
      of the early wet season community. Dung beetles were collected in a TDF in the
      northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil over three sampling events (December 2009,
      February and April 2010). We sampled 2,018 dung beetles belonging to 39 species
      and distributed among 15 genera. Scarabaeinae alpha-diversity and abundance were
      highest in December and equivalent between February and April, while beta
      diversity among plots increased along the wet season. The importance of
      nestedness and species turnover varies between pairs of sample periods as the
      main process of temporal beta-diversity. Most species collected in the middle and
      end of the wet season were found in greater abundance in early wet season. Thus,
      the dung beetle community becomes more homogeneous at the beginning of the wet
      season, and as the season advances, higher resource scarcity limits population
      size, which likely results in a smaller foraging range, increasing beta
      diversity. Our results demonstrate high synchronism between the dung beetle life
      cycle and seasonality of environmental conditions throughout the wet season in a
      TDF, where the onset of rains determines adult emergence for most species. 

PMID- 27620556
TI  - Transcriptomic Analysis of Eucryptorrhynchus chinensis (Coleoptera:
      Curculionidae) Using 454 Pyrosequencing Technology.
AB  - Eucryptorrhynchus chinensis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the
      most important pests of Ailanthus altissima; however, so far, no studies on the
      genome or transcriptome of E. chinensis have been reported. Using the Roche 454
      FLX Titanium platform, an RNA pool obtained from E. chinensis eggs, larva, pupae,
      and adults was sequenced and assembled de novo to achieve maximum diversity of
      sampled transcripts. We obtained 1,441,137 (~518 Mb) raw reads with an average
      length of 360 bp. After trimming, 89% qualified reads were produced and assembled
      into 35,509 isotigs with an average length of 440 bp, N50 of 1,048 bp, and
      111,643 singletons. We generated 87,894 unigenes following a cluster analysis of
      the isotigs and singletons, and then functionally annotated the unigenes with
      gene descriptions. We obtained 23,363 GO assignments, and 12,724 unigenes were
      assigned to KOG. Based on these annotations, 294 biochemical pathways involved in
      growth, reproduction, and stress or immune responses were predicted. A total of
      659,026 single nucleotide variants and 6,112 simple sequence repeats were
      detected. Our data provide comprehensive information on the sequence and possible
      functions of E. chinensis transcripts. 

PMID- 27620557
TI  - Uncoupling Flight and Reproduction in Ants: Evolution of Ergatoid Queens in Two
      Lineages of Megalomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
AB  - Megalomyrmex Forel (Myrmicinae: Solenopsidini) consists of 44 species with
      diverse life history strategies. Most species are predatory and may also tend
      honeydew-producing insects. A morphologically derived group of species are social
      parasites that consume the brood and fungus garden within fungus-growing ant
      nests. The reproductive strategies of Megalomyrmex queens are somewhat aligned
      with these life-style patterns. Predatory species in the leoninus species group
      are large in body size and have ergatoid (i.e., permanently wingless) queens
      whereas the social parasitic species are smaller and typically have winged
      queens. We examined two ergatoid phenotypes of Megalomyrmex foreli Emery and
      Megalomyrmex wallacei Mann and compared them to winged species, one a social
      lestobiotic or "thief ant" parasite (Megalomyrmex mondabora Brandao) and the
      other a predator (Megalomyrmex modestus Emery). Megalomyrmex foreli colonies have
      a single queen with an enlarged gaster that is morphologically distinct from
      workers. Megalomyrmex wallacei colonies have several queens that are similar in
      body size to workers. Queens in both species showed a simplification of the
      thorax, but there was a dramatic difference in the number of ovarioles.
      Megalomyrmex foreli had 60-80 ovarioles compared to eight in M. wallacei and M.
      mondabora and M. modestus had 22-28. Along with flight loss in queens, there is
      an obligate shift to dependent colony founding (also called budding or fission)
      consequently influencing dispersal patterns. These constraints in life history
      traits may help explain the variation in nesting biology among Megalomyrmex
      species. 

PMID- 27620558
TI  - Developmental Expression of Ecdysone-Related Genes Associated With Metamorphic
      Changes During Midgut Remodeling of Silkworm Bombyx mori
      (Lepidoptera:Bombycidae).
AB  - Steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone is known as the systemic regulators of insect
      cells; however, how to impact the fate and function of mature and stem cells is
      unclear. For the first time, we report ecdysone regulatory cascades in both
      mature midgut cell and stem cell fractions related to developmental events by
      using histological, immunohistochemical, biochemical and gene expression analysis
      methods. Ecdysone receptor-B1 (EcR-B1) and ultraspiracle 1 (USP-1) mRNAs were
      detected mainly in mature cells during programmed cell death (PCD). Lowered E75A
      and probably BR-C Z4 in mature cells appear to provide a signal to the initiation
      of PCD. E74B, E75B and BR-C Z2 seem to be early response genes which are involved
      in preparatory phase of cell death. It is likely that betaFTZ-F1, E74A and BR-C
      Z1 are probably associated with execution of death. EcR-A and USP2 mRNAs were
      found in stem cells during remodeling processes but EcR-B1, USP1 and E74B genes
      imply an important role during initial phase of metamorphic events in stem cells.
      BHR3 mRNAs were determined abundantly in stem cells suggesting its primary role
      in differentiation. All of these results showed the determination the cell fate
      in Bombyx mori (Linnaeus) midgut depends on type of ecdysone receptor isoforms
      and ecdysone-related transcription factors. 

PMID- 27620559
TI  - Morphology and Ultrastructure of Antennal Sensilla in Male and Female Agrilus
      mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).
AB  - The apple buprestid beetle, Agrilus mali Matsumura, is an invasive pest causing
      significant damages to rare wild apple forests of Xinjiang. The morphology,
      abundance and distribution of antennal sensilla in both sexes of this pest were
      examined. We found that the antennae of A. mali females were longer than those of
      males. Five types of antennal sensilla were characterized, including trichodea
      (subtypes Tr.1, Tr.2, and Tr.3), chaetica (subtypes Sc.1, Sc.2, Sc.3, and Sc.4),
      basiconica (subtypes Ba. 1, Ba. 2, Ba. 3 and Ba.4), Bohm bristles (subtypes BB.
      1, and BB. 2), and multiporous grooved sensilla. The most abundant sensilla of
      Ba.2 tended to occur mainly on flagellomeres 5-8 in both sexes. The last three
      flagellomeres tended to have the most abundant Tr.1 in both sexes. Overall, the
      abundance and distribution of these sensilla appeared to be highly conserved in
      both sexes, and their olfactory organs seemed to cluster on flagellomeres 6-8.
      However, some sex dimorphisms were also observed. Tr.3 and BB.2 were found only
      in females. Sensilla of Sc.2 were found on the pedicel and first two
      flagellomeres only in males. When compared with males, females showed a higher
      number of Sc.3, but a lower number of Sc.4 on the pedicel. These results indicate
      that contact cues could be important in intersexual communication in A. mali. The
      functional roles of these sensilla and their implications in A. mali behaviors
      are discussed, and further studies of identified chemosensitive sensilla can
      provide a foundation for developing semiochemical-based management strategies. 

PMID- 27620560
TI  - Impact of Pesticide Resistance on Toxicity and Tolerance of Hostplant
      Phytochemicals in Amyelois Transitella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
AB  - For some polyphagous insects, adaptation to phytochemically novel plants can
      enhance resistance to certain pesticides, but whether pesticide resistance
      expands tolerance to phytochemicals has not been examined. Amyelois transitella
      Walker (navel orangeworm) is an important polyphagous pest of nut and fruit tree
      crops in California. Bifenthrin resistance, partially attributable to enhanced
      cytochrome P450 (P450)-mediated detoxification, has been reported in an almond
      infesting population exposed to intense pesticide selection. We compared the
      toxicity of bifenthrin and three phytochemicals-chlorogenic acid, and the
      furanocoumarins xanthotoxin and bergapten-to three strains of A. transitella:
      pyrethroid-resistant R347 (maintained in the laboratory for ~10 generations), fig
      derived FIG (in the laboratory for ~25 generations), and CPQ-a laboratory strain
      derived from almonds ~40 years ago). Whereas both Ficus carica (fig) and Prunus
      dulcis (almond) contain chlorogenic acid, furanocoumarins occur only in figs.
      Both R347 and FIG exhibited 2-fold greater resistance to the three phytochemicals
      compared with CPQ; surprisingly, bifenthrin resistance was highest in FIG.
      Piperonyl butoxide, a P450 synergist, increased toxicity of all three
      phytochemicals only in CPQ, implicating alternate tolerance mechanisms in R347
      and FIG. To test the ability of the strains to utilize novel hostplants directly,
      we compared survival on diets containing seeds of Wisteria sinensis and Prosopis
      pallida, two non-host Fabaceae species; survival of FIG was highest and survival
      of R347 was lowest. Our results suggest that, while P450-mediated pesticide
      resistance enhances tolerance of certain phytochemicals in this species, it is
      only one of multiple biochemical adaptations associated with acquiring novel
      hostplants. 

PMID- 27620618
TI  - A novel, integrated forensic microdevice on a rotation-driven platform: Buccal
      swab to STR product in less than 2 h.
AB  - This work describes the development of a novel microdevice for forensic DNA
      processing of reference swabs. This microdevice incorporates an enzyme-based
      assay for DNA preparation, which allows for faster processing times and reduced
      sample handling. Infrared-mediated PCR (IR-PCR) is used for STR amplification
      using a custom reaction mixture, allowing for amplification of STR loci in 45 min
      while circumventing the limitations of traditional block thermocyclers. Uniquely
      positioned valves coupled with a simple rotational platform are used to exert
      fluidic control, eliminating the need for bulky external equipment. All
      microdevices were fabricated using laser ablation and thermal bonding of PMMA
      layers. Using this microdevice, the enzyme-mediated DNA liberation module
      produced DNA yields similar to or higher than those produced using the
      traditional (tube-based) protocol. Initial microdevice IR-PCR experiments to test
      the amplification module and reaction (using Phusion Flash/SpeedSTAR) generated
      near-full profiles that suffered from interlocus peak imbalance and poor
      adenylation (significant -A). However, subsequent attempts using KAPA 2G and Pfu
      Ultra polymerases generated full STR profiles with improved interlocus balance
      and the expected adenylated product. A fully integrated run designed to test
      microfluidic control successfully generated CE-ready STR amplicons in less than 2
      h (<1 h of hands-on time). Using this approach, high-quality STR profiles were
      developed that were consistent with those produced using conventional DNA
      purification and STR amplification methods. This method is a smaller, more
      elegant solution than current microdevice methods and offers a cheaper, hands
      free, closed-system alternative to traditional forensic methods.

PMID- 27620619
TI  - High salivary soluble L-selectin and interleukin-7 levels in Asian Indian
      patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome.
AB  - In present study, we aimed to study salivary soluble L-selectin (sL-selectin),
      interleukin-7(IjL-7), and lymphotoxin-alpha levels in primary Sjogren's syndrome
      (pSS) and their clinical as well as serological correlations. pSS patients
      fulfilling either the American European Consensus Group (AECG) and/or the
      American college of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria were recruited. Age- and sex
      matched hospital staff were recruited as healthy controls. Unstimulated saliva
      was collected by the spitting method; sL-selectin, IL-7, and lymphotoxin-alpha
      were measured in the saliva using commercial ELISA kits. Forty-three patients
      with pSS and 31 healthy controls were included in the study. Increased levels of
      sL-selectin and IL-7 were found in the saliva of patients as compared to
      controls. Lymphotoxin-alpha was undetectable in the saliva of pSS patients and
      controls. Salivary sL-selectin positively correlated with rheumatoid factor (r =
      0.47; p < 0.003). No other variable including ESSDAI was significantly associated
      with salivary sL-selectin and IL-7 levels. Indian patients with primary Sjogren's
      syndrome have higher salivary sL-selectin and IL-7 levels than healthy controls.

PMID- 27620621
TI  - Elucidating the Hemodynamic Origin of Ballistocardiographic Forces: Toward
      Improved Monitoring of Cardiovascular Health at Home.
AB  - The ballistocardiogram (BCG), a signal describing the reaction forces of the body
      to cardiac ejection of blood, has recently gained interest in the research
      community as a potential tool for monitoring the mechanical aspects of
      cardiovascular health for patients at home and during normal activities of daily
      living. An important limitation in the field of BCG research is that while the
      BCG signal measures the forces of the body, the information desired (and
      understood) by clinicians and caregivers, regarding mechanical health of the
      cardiovascular system, is typically expressed as blood pressure or flow. This
      paper aims to explore, using system identification tools, the mathematical
      relationship between the BCG signal and the better-understood impedance
      cardiography (ICG) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveforms, with a series of
      human subject studies designed to asynchronously modulate cardiac output and
      blood pressure and with different magnitudes. With this approach, we demonstrate
      for 19 healthy subjects that the BCG waveform more closely maps to the ICG (flow)
      waveform as compared with the finger-cuff-based ABP (pressure) waveform, and that
      the BCG can provide a more accurate estimate of stroke volume ([Formula: see
      text], [Formula: see text]) as compared with pulse pressure changes ([Formula:
      see text]). We also examined, as a feasibility study, for one subject, the
      ability to calibrate the BCG measurement tool with an ICG measurement on the
      first day, and then track changes in stroke volume on subsequent days.
      Accordingly, we conclude that the BCG is a signal more closely related to blood
      flow than pressures, and that a key health parameter for titrating care-stroke
      volume-can potentially be accurately measured with BCG signals at home using
      unobtrusive and inexpensive hardware, such as a modified weighing scale, as
      compared with the state-of-the-art ICG and ABP devices, which are expensive and
      obtrusive for use at home. 

PMID- 27620620
TI  - Conformational Ensemble of hIAPP Dimer: Insight into the Molecular Mechanism by
      which a Green Tea Extract inhibits hIAPP Aggregation.
AB  - Small oligomers formed early along human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP)
      aggregation is responsible for the cell death in Type II diabetes. The
      epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea extract, was found to inhibit hIAPP
      fibrillation. However, the inhibition mechanism and the conformational
      distribution of the smallest hIAPP oligomer - dimer are mostly unknown. Herein,
      we performed extensive replica exchange molecular dynamic simulations on hIAPP
      dimer with and without EGCG molecules. Extended hIAPP dimer conformations, with a
      collision cross section value similar to that observed by ion mobility-mass
      spectrometry, were observed in our simulations. Notably, these dimers adopt a
      three-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet and contain the previously reported beta
      hairpin amyloidogenic precursor. We find that EGCG binding strongly blocks both
      the inter-peptide hydrophobic and aromatic-stacking interactions responsible for
      inter-peptide beta-sheet formation and intra-peptide interaction crucial for beta
      hairpin formation, thus abolishes the three-stranded beta-sheet structures and
      leads to the formation of coil-rich conformations. Hydrophobic, aromatic
      stacking, cation-pi and hydrogen-bonding interactions jointly contribute to the
      EGCG-induced conformational shift. This study provides, on atomic level, the
      conformational ensemble of hIAPP dimer and the molecular mechanism by which EGCG
      inhibits hIAPP aggregation.

PMID- 27620622
TI  - High Rate of Return to Running for Athletes After Hip Arthroscopy for the
      Treatment of Femoroacetabular Impingement and Capsular Plication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is most commonly diagnosed in
      athletes who sustain repetitive flexion loading to their hips. No studies to date
      have focused solely on patients' return-to-running ability after hip arthroscopy.
      PURPOSE: To evaluate patients' ability to return to running after hip arthroscopy
      for FAI and capsular plication. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.
      METHODS: Clinical data were retrospectively retrieved for 51 consecutive patients
      with FAI (22 men, 29 women) who had undergone hip arthroscopy for the treatment
      of FAI and identified themselves as recreational or competitive runners on intake
      forms. Two-year outcome measures included the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS)
      and the Hip Outcome Score Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL) and Sport-Specific
      (HOS-SS) subscales. A postoperative return-to-running survey was used to obtain
      running-specific information. RESULTS: Patient age and body mass index (BMI) were
      a mean (+/-SD) of 26.3 +/- 7.8 years and 23.7 +/- 3.3 kg/m2, respectively. Before
      surgery, patients had refrained from running because of pain for a mean of 8.1 +/
      5.7 months. After surgery, 48 patients (94%) returned to running at a mean of
      8.5 +/- 4.2 months. Patients who had discontinued running for more than 8 months
      before surgery had a longer return-to-running time than did those who had stopped
      for less than 8 months (10.6 +/- 4.2 vs 7.6 +/- 4.1 months; P = .01). After 2
      years, mean preoperative distance had decreased significantly ( P < .01) from 9.5
      +/- 6.5 miles per week when healthy to 6.4 +/- 5.8 miles postoperatively. Despite
      decreased mileage, all 2-year outcomes scores improved significantly ( P < .001).
      CONCLUSION: Recreational and competitive runners with FAI returned to running 94%
      of the time at a mean of 8.5 months after hip arthroscopy. However, runners
      should be counseled before their surgery that they may run fewer miles than when
      they were pain free. Additionally, patients with a higher BMI and/or longer
      preoperative lull may have a longer recovery time.

PMID- 27620623
TI  - The Validation of Macro and Micro Observations of Parent-Child Dynamics Using the
      Relationship Affect Coding System in Early Childhood.
AB  - This study examined the validity of micro social observations and macro ratings
      of parent-child interaction in early to middle childhood. Seven hundred and
      thirty-one families representing multiple ethnic groups were recruited and
      screened as at risk in the context of Women, Infant, and Children (WIC)
      Nutritional Supplement service settings. Families were randomly assigned to the
      Family Checkup (FCU) intervention or the control condition at age 2 and
      videotaped in structured interactions in the home at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5. Parent
      child interaction videotapes were micro-coded using the Relationship Affect
      Coding System (RACS) that captures the duration of two mutual dyadic states:
      positive engagement and coercion. Macro ratings of parenting skills were
      collected after coding the videotapes to assess parent use of positive behavior
      support and limit setting skills (or lack thereof). Confirmatory factor analyses
      revealed that the measurement model of macro ratings of limit setting and
      positive behavior support was not supported by the data, and thus, were excluded
      from further analyses. However, there was moderate stability in the families'
      micro social dynamics across early childhood and it showed significant
      improvements as a function of random assignment to the FCU. Moreover, parent
      child dynamics were predictive of chronic behavior problems as rated by parents
      in middle childhood, but not emotional problems. We conclude with a discussion of
      the validity of the RACS and on methodological advantages of micro social coding
      over the statistical limitations of macro rating observations. Future directions
      are discussed for observation research in prevention science.

PMID- 27620624
TI  - Hypophosphatemic osteomalacia: a case simulating anklylosing spondylitis treated
      with anti-TNF therapy.
AB  - In this case, a young male patient diagnosed as hypophosphatemic osteomalacia and
      ankylosing spondylitis (AS) will be assessed by literature. A 32-year-old male
      patient who had been previously diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis and
      hypophosphatemic osteomalacia was admitted to our clinic. In the beginning of the
      disease, he complained of pain on the first metatarsal bone and low back.
      Sacroiliac magnetic resonance (MR) images were interpreted as sacroiliitis. He
      was diagnosed as AS, and referred to many hospitals and received several
      therapies. He did not benefit from the treatment and his complaints worsened. The
      human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B-27 test was negative and alkaline phosphatase
      level was high. Old femur fractures were reported in the whole body bone
      scintigraphy. In addition, the patient was diagnosed with osteomalacia. While the
      patient was receiving vitamin D, oral phosphate, anti-tumor necrosis factor
      therapy was added. Patient's diagnosis was reevaluated. His final diagnosis was
      hypophosphatemic osteomalacia instead of ankylosing spondylitis.

PMID- 27620625
TI  - The Latent Structure of Autistic Traits: A Taxometric, Latent Class and Latent
      Profile Analysis of the Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient.
AB  - Autistic traits are widely thought to operate along a continuum. A taxometric
      analysis of Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient data was conducted to test this
      assumption, finding little support but identifying a high severity taxon. To
      understand this further, latent class and latent profile models were estimated
      that indicated the presence of six distinct subtypes: one with little probability
      of endorsing any autistic traits, one engaging in 'systemising' behaviours, three
      groups endorsing multiple components of Wing and Gould's autistic triad, and a
      group similar in size and profile to the taxon previously identified. These
      analyses suggest the AQ (and potentially by extension autistic traits) have a
      categorical structure. These findings have important implications for the
      analysis and interpretation of AQ data.

PMID- 27620627
TI  - Not All Differences between Patients with Schizophrenia and Healthy Subjects Are
      Pathological: Performance on the Conners' Continuous Performance Test.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed attentional performance in patients with
      schizophrenia during a continuous performance task requiring a high response
      rate. METHOD: The Conners' Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II) was
      administered to 64 patients with schizophrenia and 64 healthy comparison
      subjects. A cross-sectional design was used in order to allow analysis of the
      means between patients and healthy subjects. Differences in performance were
      assessed for significance using ANCOVA. Percentiles were also analyzed in order
      to determine whether a participant showed normal or pathological performance.
      Pearson's correlation was used to detect possible relationships between
      attentional performance and psychopathology. RESULTS: Of the 12 CPT-II measures,
      response style and slowing of reaction time (RT) between targets increased to
      similar extents between patients and healthy comparison subjects. Patients
      performed significantly less well than non-patient group on all other measures.
      Nevertheless, patient's performance on four of these measures remained within the
      normal range, and patient's performance on the remaining measures qualified as
      pathological only in the case of variability in hit RT. No significant
      correlations between attention performance and symptoms were found. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results suggest that although patients may show lower attentional
      functioning than non-patients on tasks requiring a high response rate, their
      attentional performance remains within the normal range on most dimensions.

PMID- 27620626
TI  - Speckle tracking echocardiography detects decreased cardiac longitudinal function
      in anthracycline-exposed survivors of childhood cancer.
AB  - Longitudinal motion significantly contributes to the contraction of the
      ventricles. We studied the left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) longitudinal
      functions in 75 anthracycline-exposed, long-term childhood cancer survivors and
      75 healthy controls with conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging
      (TDI), speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) of the mitral and tricuspid
      annular motion, and real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE).
      Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was performed on 61 of the survivors.
      The survivors had lower systolic myocardial velocities in the LV and lower
      diastolic velocities in both ventricles by TDI than did their healthy peers. The
      STE-based tissue motion annular displacement (TMAD) values describing the LV and
      RV systolic longitudinal function (MAD and TAD mid%, respectively) were also
      lower among the survivors (15.4 +/- 2.4 vs. 16.1 +/- 2.2 %, p = 0.049 and 22.5 +/
      3.0 vs. 23.5 +/- 3.0 %, p = 0.035). MAD and TAD mid in millimeters correlated
      with the respective ventricular volumes measured with RT-3DE or CMR. CONCLUSION:
      Childhood cancer survivors exposed to low to moderate anthracycline doses had
      decreased longitudinal systolic and diastolic functions (TDI or STE) compared
      with healthy controls. The STE-based TMAD is a fast and reproducible method to
      assess cardiac longitudinal function. What is Known? * High anthracycline doses
      cause LV dysfunction as evidenced by a decreased ejection fraction. What is new?
      * Low to moderate anthracycline doses also have a negative impact on the LV and
      RV longitudinal systolic and diastolic function. * TMAD is a new and fast method
      to assess the cardiac longitudinal function after anthracycline exposure.

PMID- 27620628
TI  - In vitro assays for determining the metastatic potential of melanoma cell lines
      with characterized in vivo invasiveness.
AB  - The metastatic potential of cancer cells is an elusive property that is
      indicative of the later stages of cancer progression. The ability to distinguish
      between poorly and highly metastatic cells is invaluable for understanding the
      basic biology of cancer and to develop more treatments. In this paper, we exploit
      a A375 melanoma cell line series (A375P, A375MA1, A375MA2) that vary in
      metastatic potential, to demonstrate an in vitro screening assay using
      polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microbubble well arrays that can distinguish these
      cell lines by their growth characteristics in including morphology, migratory
      potential, and clonogenic potential. These cell lines cannot be distinguished by
      their growth characteristics when cultured on standard tissue culture plastic or
      planar PDMS. Results show that the more metastatic cell lines (A375MA1, A375MA2)
      have a higher proliferative potential and a distinctive radial spreading growth
      pattern out of the microbubble well. The A375MA2 cell line also has a higher
      tendency to form multicellular spheroids. The ability to successfully correlate
      the metastatic potential of cancer cells with their growth characteristics is
      essential first step toward developing a high-throughput screening assay to
      identify aggressive tumor cells in primary samples. The capability to culture and
      recover aggressive cells from microbubble wells will enable identification of
      candidate metastatic biomarkers which has immense clinical significance.

PMID- 27620629
TI  - Precise positioning of cancerous cells on PDMS substrates with gradients of
      elasticity.
AB  - In this work the novel method to create PDMS substrates with continuous and
      discrete elasticity gradients of different shapes and dimensions over the large
      areas was introduced. Elastic properties of the sample were traced using force
      spectroscopy (FS) and quantitative imaging (QI) mode of atomic force microscopy
      (AFM). Then, fluorescence microscopy was applied to investigate the effect of
      elastic properties on proliferation of bladder cancer cells (HCV29). Obtained
      results show that cancerous cells proliferate significantly more effective on
      soft PDMS, whereas the stiff one is almost cell-repellant. This strong impact of
      substrate elasticity on cellular behavior is driving force enabling precise
      positioning of cells.

PMID- 27620631
TI  - Larger claims push CMPA fees up.

PMID- 27620632
TI  - The cultural erosion of indigenous people in health care.

PMID- 27620633
TI  - Public health care challenged in BC court.

PMID- 27620630
TI  - Euthanasia in Belgium: trends in reported cases between 2003 and 2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2002, the Belgian Act on Euthanasia came into effect, regulating
      the intentional ending of life by a physician at the patient's explicit request.
      We undertook this study to describe trends in officially reported euthanasia
      cases in Belgium with regard to patients' sociodemographic and clinical profiles,
      as well as decision-making and performance characteristics. METHODS: We used the
      database of all euthanasia cases reported to the Federal Control and Evaluation
      Committee on Euthanasia in Belgium between Jan. 1, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2013 (n =
      8752). The committee collected these data with a standardized registration form.
      We analyzed trends in patient, decision-making and performance characteristics
      using a chi2 technique. We also compared and analyzed trends for cases reported
      in Dutch and in French. RESULTS: The number of reported euthanasia cases
      increased every year, from 235 (0.2% of all deaths) in 2003 to 1807 (1.7% of all
      deaths) in 2013. The rate of euthanasia increased significantly among those aged
      80 years or older, those who died in a nursing home, those with a disease other
      than cancer and those not expected to die in the near future (p < 0.001 for all
      increases). Reported cases in 2013 most often concerned those with cancer (68.7%)
      and those under 80 years (65.0%). Palliative care teams were increasingly often
      consulted about euthanasia requests, beyond the legal requirements to do so (p <
      0.001). Among cases reported in Dutch, the proportion in which the person was
      expected to die in the foreseeable future decreased from 93.9% in 2003 to 84.1%
      in 2013, and palliative care teams were increasingly consulted about the
      euthanasia request (from 34.0% in 2003 to 42.6% in 2013). These trends were not
      significant for cases reported in French. INTERPRETATION: Since legalization of
      euthanasia in Belgium, the number of reported cases has increased each year. Most
      of those receiving euthanasia were younger than 80 years and were dying of
      cancer. Given the increases observed among non-terminally ill and older patients,
      this analysis shows the importance of detailed monitoring of developments in
      euthanasia practice.

PMID- 27620634
TI  - Intraocular foreign bodies.

PMID- 27620635
TI  - Managing surgical conflicts of interest.

PMID- 27620636
TI  - A young woman with acute one-sided facial paralysis.

PMID- 27620637
TI  - Timing of Surgical Intervention for Aortic Regurgitation.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: Aortic regurgitation is a frequently encountered condition, in
      which traditional measurements of severity have proven to be of limited value in
      identifying those who would be best served by aortic valve replacement. Novel
      methods of assessing severity are vital, particularly as an entirely new paradigm
      of aortic regurgitation has surfaced, with the advent of transcatheter aortic
      valve replacement (TAVR), and the adverse events that are being observed with
      varying degrees of aortic regurgitation. With that in mind, a comprehensive
      assessment of aortic regurgitation should now include indexed left ventricular
      systolic volumes and a comprehensive assessment of right ventricular function, in
      addition to the quantitative measures that are currently recommended. Cardiac MRI
      also provides valuable information and should be strongly considered,
      particularly in challenging cases. The incremental value of additional
      echocardiographic parameters such as strain imaging, speckle tracking imaging,
      and tissue Doppler imaging remains unclear, and evidence for their utility is
      not, as yet, compelling. However, the field of aortic regurgitation assessment
      has been reinvigorated by the prevalence of paravalvular regurgitation post-TAVR,
      and many of the abovementioned parameters may need to be re-visited so that we
      can more accurately determine prognosis and risk stratify patients in a more
      reliable and evidence-based manner.

PMID- 27620639
TI  - Mapping quantitative trait loci responsible for resistance to Bakanae disease in
      rice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bakanae or foot rot disease caused by Fusarium fujikuroi [teleomorph:
      Gibberella fujikuroi (Sawada) Ito] is emerging as a serious disease in rice. The
      disease causes both quantitative and qualitative losses to the grains under the
      field conditions. Breeding for resistance to Bakanae disease is a promising
      strategy to manage this emerging disease. In this study, we used a population of
      168 F14 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from two indica rice parents Pusa
      1342, a highly resistant variety and Pusa Basmati 1121, a highly susceptible
      variety to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) governing resistance against
      Bakanae disease. RESULTS: The disease reaction of 168 F14 RILs were measured on
      the seedlings inoculated using Fusarium fujikuroi culture using high-throughput
      screening protocol under glasshouse conditions. Utilizing inclusive composite
      interval mapping, three QTLs governing resistance to Bakanae were identified,
      namely qBK1.1, qBK1.2 and qBK1.3 which accounted 4.76, 24.74 and 6.49 % of
      phenotypic variation, respectively. The major effect QTL designated qBK1.2 was
      mapped in 0.26 Mb region between RM5336 and RM10153. A total of 55 annotated
      genes were identified within the identified QTL region qBK1.2. CONCLUSIONS: The
      novel QTLs identified in this study are useful resource for efficiently breeding
      rice cultivars resistant to Bakanae disease. This is the first report on
      identification of QTLs governing resistance against Bakanae in rice using
      inclusive composite interval mapping strategy in a RIL population.

PMID- 27620638
TI  - Novel Therapies for Familial Hypercholesterolemia.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: Both HeFH and HoFH require dietary and lifestyle modification.
      Pharmacotherapy of adult HeFH patients is largely driven by the American Heart
      Association (AHA) algorithm. A high-potency statin is started initially with a
      goal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction of >50 %. The LDL-C
      target is adjusted to <100 or <70 mg/dL in subjects with coronary artery disease
      (CAD) with ezetimibe being second line. If necessary, a third adjunctive therapy,
      such as a PSCK9 inhibitor (not yet approved in children) or bile acid-binding
      resin, can be added. Finally, LDL-C apheresis can be considered in patients with
      LDL-C >300 mg/dL (or >200 mg/dL with significant CAD, although now approved for
      LDL-C as low as 160 mg/dL with CAD). Due to the early, severe LDL-C elevation in
      HoFH patients, concerning natural history, rarity of the condition, and nuances
      of treatment, all HoFH patients should be treated at a pediatric or adult center
      with HoFH experience. LDL-C apheresis should be considered as early as 5 years of
      age. However, apheresis availability and tolerability is limited and
      pharmacotherapy is required. Generally, the AHA algorithm with reference to the
      European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel recommendations is reasonable
      with all patients initiated on high-dose, high-potency statin, ezetimibe, and
      bile acid-binding resins. In most, additional LDL-C lowering is required with
      PCSK9 inhibitors and/or lomitapide or mipomersen. Liver transplantation can also
      be considered at experienced centers as a last resort.

PMID- 27620640
TI  - Response to "Impact of oxygen sources on performance of the Ventrain ventilation
      device".

PMID- 27620641
TI  - Nonclassical crystallization in vivo et in vitro (II): Nanogranular features in
      biomimetic minerals disclose a general colloid-mediated crystal growth mechanism.
AB  - Recent research has shown that biominerals and their biomimetics (i) typically
      form via an amorphous precursor phase, and (ii) commonly display a nanogranular
      texture. Apparently, these two key features are closely related, underlining the
      fact that the formation of biominerals and their biomimetics does not necessarily
      follow classical crystallization routes, and leaves a characteristic nanotextural
      imprint which may help to disclose their origins and formation mechanisms. Here
      we present a general overview of the current theories and models of nonclassical
      crystallization and their applicability for the advance of our current
      understanding of biomineralization and biomimetic mineralization. We pay
      particular attention to the link between nonclassical crystallization routes and
      the resulting nanogranular textures of biomimetic CaCO3 mineral structures. After
      a general introductory section, we present an overview of classical nucleation
      and crystal growth theories and their limitations. Then, we introduce the
      Ostwald's step rule as a general framework to explain nonclassical
      crystallization. Subsequently, we describe nonclassical crystallization routes
      involving stable prenucleation clusters, dense liquid and solid amorphous
      precursor phases, as well as current nonclassical crystal growth models. The
      latter include oriented attachment, mesocrystallization and the new model based
      on the colloidal growth of crystals via attachment of amorphous nanoparticles.
      Biomimetic examples of nanostructured CaCO3 minerals formed via these
      nonclassical routes are presented which help us to show that colloid-mediated
      crystal growth can be regarded as a wide-spread growth mechanism. Implications of
      these observations for the advance in the current understanding on the formation
      of biomimetic materials and biominerals are finally outlined.

PMID- 27620643
TI  - Configurations of actual and perceived motor competence among children:
      Associations with motivation for sports and global self-worth.
AB  - The present study used a person-centred approach to examine whether different
      profiles based on actual and perceived motor competence exist in elementary
      school children. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted to explore how
      children with different motor competence-based profiles might differ in their
      autonomous motivation for sports and global self-worth. Validated questionnaires
      were administered to 161 children (40% boys; age=8.82+/-0.66years) to assess
      their perceived motor competence, global self-worth, and motivation for sports.
      Actual motor competence was measured with the Korperkoordinationstest fur Kinder.
      Cluster analyses identified four motor competence-based profiles: two groups were
      characterized by corresponding levels of actual and perceived motor competence
      (i.e., low-low and high-high) and two groups were characterized by divergent
      levels of actual and perceived motor competence (i.e., high-low and low-high).
      Children in the low-low and high-low group displayed significantly lower levels
      of autonomous motivation for sports and lower levels of global self-worth than
      children in the low-high and high-high group. These findings emphasize that
      fostering children's perceived motor competence might be crucial to improve their
      motivation for sports and their global self-worth. Teachers and instructors
      involved in physical education and youth sports should thus focus on both actual
      and perceived motor competence.

PMID- 27620644
TI  - African-American and Hispanic children's beverage intake: Differences in
      associations with desire to drink, fathers' feeding practices, and weight
      concerns.
AB  - Relationships of African-American and Hispanic fathers' feeding practices and
      weight concerns and preschoolers' desire to drink with children's beverage intake
      were examined, and associations between fathers' feeding practices and children's
      weight status were evaluated. Fathers' (Hispanic n = 61, African-American n = 49)
      difficulty in child feeding, use of food to calm, use of food as reward, and
      concern about the child being under and overweight as well as their child's
      desire to drink were assessed. Preschoolers' (ages 2 to 5) total sugar-sweetened
      beverage (SSB), fruit juice, and water intake were measured by a modified
      beverage intake questionnaire. Body Mass Index (BMI) and BMI percentile were
      calculated for fathers and children, respectively. Multiple regressions revealed
      that, in Hispanics, difficulty in feeding, concern about underweight, use of food
      to calm, and use of food as a reward were significantly associated with child
      intake of total SSB, whereas, in African-Americans, child desire to drink was
      associated with total SSB and fruit juice. Concern about the child being
      underweight was inversely associated with child BMI percentile in Hispanics.
      Significant differences in regression coefficients of child SSB intake to
      fathers' behaviors versus child desire to drink between the two racial-ethnic
      groups indicated that use of food to calm the child predicted increased intake of
      SSB by Hispanic but not by African-American children, while child desire to drink
      predicted increased intake of SSB by African-American but not by Hispanic
      children. Because of these significant differences, future research might
      profitably explore socio-cultural influences on associations of additional child
      feeding behaviors with fathers' attempts to control them. Furthermore,
      practitioners should consider developing and evaluating different child obesity
      interventions for these two racial-ethnic groups.

PMID- 27620646
TI  - Exploring the functional mealtime associations of older adults through consumer
      segmentation and a means-end chain approach.
AB  - Senior consumers are a rapidly growing and highly heterogeneous part of the
      world's population. This group does not always meet its recommended protein
      intake, which can negatively impact on their physical functioning and quality of
      life. To date, little is known about their motivations to consume protein-rich
      meals. In the current study, we therefore aim to identify consumer segments
      within the group of vital community-dwelling older adults on the basis of
      mealtime functionality (for example 'I eat because I'm hungry', or 'I eat because
      it is cosy'). To this end, we first conducted an online survey to identify these
      functional mealtime expectations of older consumers (study I, n = 398, 158 males,
      mean age 65.8 (y) +/- 5.9 (SD)). To obtain further insights regarding mealtime
      functionality and proteins/protein enrichment, laddering interviews were
      conducted with a subgroup of the segmentation study participants (study II, n =
      40, 20 males, mean age 66.9 (y) +/- 4.8 (SD)). The results of the online survey
      showed three consumer clusters: cosy socialisers, physical nutritioners, and
      thoughtless rewarders. Thoughtless rewarders tend to eat without having explicit
      thoughts about it, they eat for the reward, and score highest on environmental
      awareness. Both the segmentation and the in-depth interviews showed that, for the
      cosy socialisers, the cosiness and social function of a meal are important
      motivators, whereas for the physical nutritioners the focus is more on the health
      and nutrient aspects of a meal. For cosy socialisers, protein enrichment can best
      be achieved through addition of protein-rich ingredients, whereas, for physical
      nutritioners, addition of protein powder is preferred. These results provide
      practical guidelines for the development of protein-rich meals and communication
      strategies tailored to the needs of specific vital community-dwelling older
      subgroups.

PMID- 27620645
TI  - Emotion regulation strategies and childhood obesity in high risk preschoolers.
AB  - The current study examined the relationships between the specific strategies that
      preschool children use to regulate their emotions and childhood weight status to
      see if emotion regulation strategies would predict childhood weight status over
      and above measures of eating self-regulation. 185 4- to 5-year-old Latino
      children were recruited through Head Start centers in a large city in the
      southeastern U.S. Children completed both a delay of gratification task (emotion
      regulation) and an eating in the absence of hunger task (eating regulation).
      Eating regulation also was assessed by maternal reports. Four emotion regulation
      strategies were examined in the delay of gratification task: shut out stimuli,
      prevent movement, distraction, and attention to reward. Hierarchical linear
      regressions predicting children's weight status showed that both measures of
      eating regulation negatively predicted child obesity, and the use of prevent
      movement negatively predicted child obesity. Total wait time during the delay of
      gratification tasks was not a significant predictor. The current findings are
      consistent with studies showing that for preschool children, summary measures of
      emotion regulation (e.g., wait time) are not concurrently associated with child
      obesity. In contrast, the use of emotion regulation strategies was a significant
      predictor of lower child weight status. These findings help identify emotion
      regulation strategies that prevention programs can target for helping children
      regulate their emotions and decrease their obesity risk.

PMID- 27620642
TI  - Toll-like receptor-mediated immune responses in intestinal macrophages;
      implications for mucosal immunity and autoimmune diseases.
AB  - Monocytes are precursors of macrophages and key players during inflammation and
      pathogen challenge in the periphery, whereas intestinal resident macrophages act
      as innate effector cells to engulf and clear bacteria, secrete cytokines, and
      maintain intestinal immunity and homeostasis. However, perturbation of toll-like
      receptor signaling pathway in intestinal macrophages has been associated with
      tolerance breakdown in autoimmune diseases. In the present review, we have
      summarized and discussed the role of toll-like receptor signals in human
      intestinal macrophages, and the role of human intestinal macrophages in keeping
      human intestinal immunity, homeostasis, and autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 27620648
TI  - Relationship among obesity, depression, and emotional eating in young adults.
AB  - Depressive symptoms are often associated with obesity, and emotional eating may
      play a considerable role in weight gain. This study aimed to examine the
      association among depression symptoms, emotional eating, and body mass index
      (BMI) in Mexican college students; and to assess emotional eating as mediator
      between depressive symptoms and BMI. A total of 1453 students at a public
      university in Mexico City completed the scale Self-Efficacy in Emotion- and
      Stress- Related Eating of the Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress
      Questionnaire (EADES) to assess emotional eating, and the scale created by the
      Center for Epidemiologic Studies (CES-D) to identify depressive symptoms. Weight
      and height were measured to calculate BMI. Structural equation models (SEM) were
      used to assess emotional eating as mediator between depressive symptoms and BMI
      by sex. Depressive symptoms were associated with emotional eating in both men
      (Beta = -0.33, p < 0.001) and women (Beta = -0.46, p < 0.001). Emotional eating,
      in turn, was associated with BMI in men (Beta = -0.08, p < 0.001) as well as in
      women (Beta = -0.09, p < 0.001). Emotional eating was a mediator between
      depression and BMI, adjusted for age in both sexes. This finding suggests that
      emotion management should be taken into consideration in obesity prevention and
      treatment strategies applied to young adults.

PMID- 27620647
TI  - Failure of sucrose replacement with the non-nutritive sweetener erythritol to
      alter GLP-1 or PYY release or test meal size in lean or obese people.
AB  - There is considerable interest in the effect of foods containing high intensity
      sweeteners on satiation. However, less is known about low-calorie bulk sweeteners
      such as erythritol. In this randomized three-way crossover study, we studied 10
      lean and 10 obese volunteers who consumed three test meals on separate occasions:
      (a) control sucrose meal; (b) isovolumic meal with partial replacement of sucrose
      by erythritol; (c) isocaloric meal which contained more erythritol but equivalent
      calories to the control meal. We measured gut hormone levels, hunger and satiety
      scores, ad libitum food intake, sucrose preference and intake after the
      manipulations. There was a greater post-prandial excursion in glucose and insulin
      levels after sucrose than after the erythritol meals. There was no difference in
      GLP-1/PYY levels or subsequent energy intake and sucrose preference between
      sucrose control and isovolumic erythritol meals. In lean (but not obese)
      participants, hunger decreased to a greater extent after the isocaloric
      erythritol meal compared to the control meal (p = 0.003) reflecting the larger
      volume of this meal. Replacing sucrose with erythritol leads to comparable hunger
      and satiety scores, GLP-1 and PYY levels, and subsequent sucrose preference and
      intake.

PMID- 27620650
TI  - Metabolic flux control in glycosylation.
AB  - Glycosylation is a common post-translational protein modification, in which
      glycans are built onto proteins through the sequential addition of monosaccharide
      units, in reactions catalysed by glycosyltransferases. Glycosylation influences
      the physicochemical and biological properties of proteins, with subsequent
      effects on subcellular and extracellular protein trafficking, cell-cell
      recognition, and ligand-receptor interactions. Glycan structures can be complex,
      as is the regulation of their biosynthesis, and it is only recently that the
      systems biology of metabolic flux control and glycosyltransferase networks has
      become a study in its own right. We review various models of glycosylation that
      have been proposed to date, based on current knowledge of Golgi structure and
      function, and consider how metabolic flux through glycosyltransferase networks
      regulates glycosylation events in the cell.

PMID- 27620649
TI  - Brain damage resulting from postnatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury is reduced in
      C57BL/6J mice as compared to C57BL/6N mice.
AB  - Perinatal hypoxia is a critical complication during delivery and is mostly
      studied in animal models of postnatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. We here
      studied the effects of postnatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in two different
      sub-strains of C57BL/6 mice, i.e. C57BL/6J and C57BL/6N mice. These two sub
      strains show different metabolic properties, for instance an impaired glucose
      tolerance in C57BL/6J mice. Genetically, this was linked to differences in their
      nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (Nnt) genes: In C57BL/6J mice, exons 7
      11 of the Nnt gene are deleted, resulting in the absence of functional Nnt
      protein. The mitochondrial Nnt-protein is one of several enzymes that catalyses
      the generation of NADPH, which in turn is important for the elimination of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS). As ROS is thought to contribute to the
      pathophysiology of hypoxia-ischemia, the lack of Nnt might indirectly increase
      ROS levels and therefore result in increased brain damage. We therefore
      hypothesize that lesion score and lesion size will increase in C57BL/6J mice as
      compared to C57BL/6N mice. Surprisingly, the results showed exactly the opposite:
      C57BL/6J mice showed a decrease in lesion score and size, associated with a
      reduced number of apoptotic cells and activated microglia. In contrast, the
      number of cells with ROS-induced DNA modifications (detected by 8OHdG) was higher
      in C57BL/6J than C57BL/6N mice. In conclusion, C57BL/6J mice showed reduced
      ischemic consequences after postnatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury compared to
      C57BL/6N mice, with the exception of the amount of ROS-induced DNA-damage. These
      differences might relate to the lack of Nnt, but also to a modified metabolic
      setting (cardiovascular parameters, oxygen and glucose metabolism, immune
      function) in C57BL/6J mice.

PMID- 27620651
TI  - Destabilization of IncA and IncC plasmids by SGI1 and SGI2 type Salmonella
      genomic islands.
AB  - Both the Salmonella genomic islands (SGI) and the conjugative IncC plasmids are
      known to contribute substantially to the acquisition of resistance to multiple
      antibiotics, and plasmids in the A/C group are known to mobilize the Salmonella
      genomic island SGI1, which also carries multiple antibiotic resistance genes.
      Plasmid pRMH760 (IncC; A/C2) was shown to mobilize SGI1 variants SGI1-I, SGI1-F,
      SGI1-K and SGI2 from Salmonella enterica to Escherichia coli where it was
      integrated at the preferred location, at the end of the trmE (thdF) gene. The
      plasmid was transferred at a similar frequency. However, we observed that co
      transfer of the SGI and the plasmid was rarer. In E. coli to E. coli transfer,
      the frequency of transfer of the IncC plasmid pRMH760 was at least 1000-fold
      lower when the donor carried SGI1-I or SGI1-K, indicating that the SGI suppresses
      transfer of the plasmid. In addition, pRMH760 was rapidly lost from both E. coli
      and S. enterica strains that also carried SGI1-I, SGI1-F or SGI2. However,
      plasmid loss was not seen when the SGI1 variant was SGI1-K, which lacks two
      segments of the SGI1 backbone. The complete sequence of the SGI1-I and SGI1-F
      were determined and SGI1-K also carries two single base substitutions relative to
      SGI1-I. The IncA (A/C1) plasmid RA1 was also shown to mobilize SGI2-A and though
      there are significant differences between the backbones of IncA and IncC
      plasmids, RA1 was also rapidly lost when SGI2-A was present in the same cell. We
      conclude that there are multiple interactions, both cooperative and antagonistic,
      between an IncA or IncC plasmid and the SGI1 and SGI2 family genomic islands.

PMID- 27620652
TI  - Precise definitions of some terminology for longitudinal clinical trials:
      subjects, patient populations, analysis sets, intention to treat, and related
      terms.
AB  - Biostatisticians recognize the importance of precise definitions of technical
      terms in randomized controlled clinical trial (RCCT) protocols, statistical
      analysis plans, and so on, in part because definitions are a foundation for
      subsequent actions. Imprecise definitions can be a source of controversies about
      appropriate statistical methods, interpretation of results, and extrapolations to
      larger populations. This paper presents precise definitions of some familiar
      terms and definitions of some new terms, some perhaps controversial. The glossary
      contains definitions that can be copied into a protocol, statistical analysis
      plan, or similar document and customized. The definitions were motivated and
      illustrated in the context of a longitudinal RCCT in which some randomized
      enrollees are non-adherent, receive a corrupted treatment, or withdraw
      prematurely. The definitions can be adapted for use in a much wider set of RCCTs.
      New terms can be used in place of controversial terms, for example, subject. We
      define terms specifying a person's progress through RCCT phases and that
      precisely define the RCCT's phases and milestones. We define terms that
      distinguish between subsets of an RCCT's enrollees and a much larger patient
      population. 'The intention-to-treat (ITT) principle' has multiple interpretations
      that can be distilled to the definitions of the 'ITT analysis set of randomized
      enrollees'. Most differences among interpretations of 'the' ITT principle stem
      from an RCCT's primary objective (mainly efficacy versus effectiveness). Four
      different 'authoritative' definitions of ITT analysis set of randomized enrollees
      illustrate the variety of interpretations. We propose a separate specification of
      the analysis set of data that will be used in a specific analysis. Copyright (c)
      2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27620655
TI  - Correction of Buccal Dehiscence During Immediate Implant Placement Using the
      Flapless Technique: A Tomographic Evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate a new technique for treating
      dehiscence buccal bone sites (Class II) with immediate implant and collagen
      enriched bovine-derived xenograft blocks without a surgical flap or membrane.
      METHODS: Individuals with at least 5 mm of buccal bone dehiscence were selected
      for a flapless surgical approach to insert xenograft blocks into buccal
      dehiscence defects as well as the gap between implant and residual bone wall. No
      membrane was used. Buccal bone wall height was measured by computed tomography in
      the preoperative period (T0) and 6 to 12 months after procedure (T1). Likewise,
      buccal-lingual width of alveolar ridge as well as thickness of buccal wall was
      compared with the contralateral tooth. RESULTS: Fourteen patients were selected.
      Buccal wall height at T1 was not significantly different after 6 to 12 months
      between the treated and contralateral teeth, although both were greater than T0
      (P <0.01). The heights ranged from 6.4 to 16.30 mm at T0, 12.8 to 25.6 mm at T1,
      and 14.8 to 25.29 mm in the contralateral teeth. Significant differences were
      observed between treated teeth (T1) and their contralateral, both buccal
      lingually in the alveolar ridge (P = 0.007) and in buccal wall thickness (P =
      0.003). Wall thickness ranged from 0.9 mm to 3.81 mm at T1 and 0.25 mm to 1.60 mm
      in the contralateral teeth. CONCLUSION: Immediate implant placement at dehiscence
      buccal bone sites using flapless surgery combined with xenograft blocks provided
      complete formation of the buccal bone wall up to the implant shoulder.

PMID- 27620654
TI  - Low Biofilm Lysine Content in Refractory Chronic Periodontitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic periodontitis is controlled without antibiotics by scaling
      and root planing (SRP) to remove dental biofilm. It has been previously reported
      that the epithelial barrier to bacterial proinflammatory products is impaired
      when biofilm lysine falls below the minimal content of normal blood plasma. Aims
      were to examine whether being refractory and requiring antibiotics to supplement
      SRP were associated with low biofilm lysine contents. METHODS: Sixteen patients
      with periodontitis and six periodontally healthy volunteers (HVs) (respective
      mean ages: 57 +/- 6 and 36 +/- 8 years) were examined. Patients with
      periodontitis received SRP and surgery, and HVs received prophylaxis. At
      quarterly maintenance or prophylaxis visits during the subsequent year,
      therapeutic response was good (GR, n = 9) or poor (PR, n = 7; including five
      cigarette smokers). Biofilm cadaverine, lysine, and other amino acid (AA)
      contents were determined by liquid chromatography. Cadaverine mole fraction of
      lysine plus cadaverine (CF) indicated biofilm lysine decarboxylase activity.
      RESULTS: Biofilm lysine was 0.19 +/- 0.10 and 0.20 +/- 0.09 MUmol/mg in GRs and
      HVs, but 0.07 +/- 0.03 MUmol/mg in PRs (Kruskal-Wallis: P <0.01). All AAs were
      depleted in biofilm from smokers, but only lysine was depleted in biofilm from
      non-smokers. CF was inversely associated with clinical attachment level (CAL) at
      baseline before therapy in all patients (R2 = 0.28, P <0.01) and with CAL change
      after therapy in GR (R2 = 0.49, P <0.05). Lysine and cadaverine contents
      discriminated PRs from GRs and HVs (Wilks' lambda = 0.499, P <0.012).
      CONCLUSIONS: Refractory responses requiring antibiotic therapy result from
      smoking and/or microbial infections that starve the biofilm and epithelial
      attachment of lysine. Biofilm CF is associated with periodontitis severity
      pretherapy and extent of therapeutic response post-therapy.

PMID- 27620657
TI  - Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare and the unpredictable course of hypercalcemia
      in an AIDS patient.
AB  - A 37-year-old man with AIDS presented with altered mental status four weeks after
      stopping his medications for Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI). He had low
      CD4 cell count and severe hypercalcemia. Bone marrow biopsy revealed bone marrow
      infiltration by granulomas positive for acid-fast bacilli and cultures grew MAI.
      His hypercalcemia continued to worsen with the initiation of MAI therapy but we
      were able to treat it successfully with pamidronate and calcitonin.

PMID- 27620653
TI  - Derivation and Validation of the Periodontal and Tooth Profile Classification
      System for Patient Stratification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of this study is to use bioinformatics tools to explore
      identification and definition of distinct periodontal and tooth profile classes
      (PPCs/TPCs) among a cohort of individuals by using detailed clinical measures at
      the tooth level, including both periodontal measurements and tooth loss. METHODS:
      Full-mouth clinical periodontal measurements (seven clinical parameters) from
      6,793 individuals from the Dental Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study
      (DARIC) were used to identify PPC. A custom latent class analysis (LCA) procedure
      was developed to identify clinically distinct PPCs and TPCs. Three validation
      cohorts were used: NHANES (2009 to 2010 and 2011 to 2012) and the Piedmont Study
      population (7,785 individuals). RESULTS: The LCA method identified seven distinct
      periodontal profile classes (PPCs A to G) and seven distinct tooth profile
      classes (TPCs A to G) ranging from health to severe periodontal disease status.
      The method enabled identification of classes with common clinical manifestations
      that are hidden under the current periodontal classification schemas. Class
      assignment was robust with small misclassification error in the presence of
      missing data. The PPC algorithm was applied and confirmed in three distinct
      cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest PPC and TPC using LCA can provide
      robust periodontal clinical definitions that reflect disease patterns in the
      population at an individual and tooth level. These classifications can
      potentially be used for patient stratification and thus provide tools for
      integrating multiple datasets to assess risk for periodontitis progression and
      tooth loss in dental patients.

PMID- 27620656
TI  - Fibronectin-Derived Oligopeptide Stimulates Osteoblast Differentiation Through a
      Bone Morphogenic Protein 2-Like Signaling Pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In previous studies by the authors, it was demonstrated that a
      fibronectin (FN)-derived oligopeptide, termed F20, stimulates osteoblast
      differentiation in vitro and bone formation in vivo. However, the fundamental
      molecular mechanism by which F20 stimulates osteogenesis remains unknown.
      Therefore, in this study the molecular mechanism underlying the effect of F20 in
      osteoblast differentiation is investigated. METHODS: The role of F20 in
      osteoblast differentiation was examined using mouse bone-marrow-derived ST2 cell
      line. The effect of Smad1/5 was determined following small interfering RNA
      knockdown. Runt-related transcription factor (Runx) 2, alkaline phosphatase
      (Alp), and osteocalcin (Oc) mRNA levels were determined by quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction, and their transcriptional activation was assessed
      using luciferase reporter assays. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)
      phosphorylation was visualized via immunoblotting. RESULTS: Synthetic
      oligopeptide F20 stimulated expression of bone marker genes Runx2, Alp, and Oc in
      ST2 cells via Smad and ERK or mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways
      as did bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2). Furthermore, Runx2 acted as a
      transcription factor during F20-induced osteoblast differentiation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Collectively, these results indicate that F20 induces osteoblast differentiation
      with a pattern similar to that mediated by BMP2 signaling pathway. The authors'
      previous data also showed that FN-derived oligopeptide improved wound healing,
      and it is suggested that F20 might serve as a therapeutic biomolecule to
      facilitate periodontal tissue regeneration.

PMID- 27620658
TI  - Clinical and microbiological characteristics of OXA-23- and OXA-143-producing
      Acinetobacter baumannii in ICU patients at a teaching hospital, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) is an important
      cause of nosocomial infections especially in intensive care units. This study
      aimed to assess clinical aspects and the genetic background of CRAb among ICU
      patients at a Brazilian teaching hospital. METHODS: 56 critically ill patients
      colonized or infected by CRAb, during ICU stay, were prospectively assessed.
      Based on imipenem MIC>=4MUg/mL, 28 CRAB strains were screened for the presence of
      genes encoding metallo-beta-lactamases and OXA-type beta-lactamases. The blaOXA
      type genes were characterized by PCR using primers targeting ISAba-1 or -3.
      Genetic diversity of blaOXA-positive strains was determined by ERIC-PCR analysis.
      RESULTS: Patient's mean age (+/-SD) was 61 (+/-15.1), and 58.9% were male. Eighty
      percent of the patients presented risk factors for CRAb colonization, mainly
      invasive devices (87.5%) and previous antibiotic therapy (77.6%). Thirty-three
      patients died during hospital stay (59.0%). Resistance to carbapenems was
      associated with a high prevalence of blaOXA-23 (51.2%) and/or blaOXA-143 (18.6%)
      genes. ERIC-PCR genotyping identified 10 clusters among OXA-producing CRAb. Three
      CRAb strains exhibited additional resistance to polymyxin B (MIC>=4MUg/mL),
      whereas 10 CRAb strains showed tigecycline MICs>2MUg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      study, clonally unrelated OXA-123- and OXA-143-producing A. baumannii strains in
      ICU patients were strongly correlated to colonization with infected patients
      being associated with a poor outcome.

PMID- 27620659
TI  - Efficacy and safety of Derris scandens (Roxb.) Benth. for musculoskeletal pain
      treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Derris scandens (Roxb.) Benth. has been used as
      active ingredient in Thai traditional medicine recipes for pain treatment. Dry
      stem powder and ethanolic extract also recommended in Thailand National List of
      Essential Medicines (NLEMs) for musculoskeletal pain treatment as herbal
      medicine. However, no summarization of clinical effect and safety has been
      evaluated. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to determine the clinical effects and
      safety of D. scandens for musculoskeletal pain treatment compared with standard
      regimen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). METHODS: International
      and Thai databases were searched from inception through August 2015. Comparative
      randomized controlled trials investigating oral D. scandens for musculoskeletal
      pain were included. Outcomes of interest included level of pain and adverse
      event. Mean changes of the outcomes from baseline were compared between D.
      scandens and NSAIDs by calculating mean difference. RESULTS: From 42 articles
      identified, 4 studies involving a total of 414 patients were included for
      efficacy analysis. The effects of oral D. scandens on reducing pain score were no
      different from those of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs at any time points
      (3, 7, 14 days and overall). The overall pain reduction in the D. scandens group
      was not inferior to treatment with NSAIDs (weighted mean difference 0.06; 95% CI:
      -0.20, 0.31) without evident of heterogeneity (I2=0.00%, p=0.768). When compared,
      the adverse events (AEs) of D. scandens showed no different relative risk with
      NSAIDs. The major adverse events were gastrointestinal symptoms. CONCLUSION: D.
      scandens may be considered as an alternative for musculoskeletal pain reduction.

PMID- 27620660
TI  - Cytotoxic ethnic Yao medicine Baizuan, leaves of Schisandra viridis A. C. Smith.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The ethnic Chinese Yao medicine Baizuan, which
      are the leaves of Schisandra viridis A. C. Smith, is traditionally used, in
      combination with other herbs, to soften hard lumps and dispel nodes in the
      treatment of cancer, however, this property has not been well studied with a
      clear indication of the active principles. AIM OF THE STUDY: The experiments were
      carried out to investigate the cytotoxic activity of the extracts and to identify
      the active principles from the extract, which could support the traditional
      application of treating cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dried and ground plant
      material was extracted with water and ethanol and further purified by HPLC. The
      cytotoxicity of the extracts, fractions and pure compounds were evaluated for
      their abilities to inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells MCF7 and
      tongue cancer cells CAL27. The cytotoxicity of the pure compounds were also
      tested against Human Embryonic Kidney cell line HEK293. RESULTS: Both aqueous and
      ethanol extracts showed activities against MCF7 and CAL27 cancer cells. Bioassay
      guided fractionation and purification of the extracts resulted in six active
      principles, including five dibenzocyclooctene lignans namely gomisin H (1),
      schisandrin (2), angeloylgomisin H (3), (+)-gomisin M2 (4) and (-)-rubschisandrin
      (5), and one triterpenoid, schisanol (6). Compounds 1-3 showed moderate cytotoxic
      activities with IC50 values ranging from 100 to 200ug/mL against MCF7 and CAL27
      cell lines. Dioxane containing lignans 4-5 and triterpenoid 6 were 10 times more
      active with IC50 values of 14.5, 13.4, 10.6ug/mL against MCF7, and 21.2, 17.9,
      11.7ug/mL against CAL27, respectively. Compounds 1-6 also showed cytotoxicity
      against HEK293 with IC50 values ranging from 10 to 150ug/mL, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The traditional extraction protocol using boiled water afforded
      three moderately active lignans 1-3. Ethanol extraction, which is widely used in
      the preparation of herbal remedies in China, yielded three additional active
      compounds 4-5 with more potent activities. These results provided a rationale for
      the traditional application of the ethnic Yao medicine Baizuan in the treatment
      of cancer.

PMID- 27620661
TI  - Urine metabolomics study on the liver injury in rats induced by raw and processed
      Polygonum multiflorum integrated with pattern recognition and pathways analysis.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Polygonum multiflorum L. is a famous traditional
      Chinese medicine that has always been perceived to be safe. Recently, the
      increasing case reports on hepatotoxicity induced by Raw P. multiflorum (RP) have
      attracted particular attention. However, the diagnosis and identification of RP
      induced hepatotoxicity are still very difficult for its unknown mechanism and the
      lack of specific biomarkers. AIM OF THE STUDY: To further explore the toxicity
      and metabolic mechanisms involved in the hepatotoxicity induced by RP. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The hepatotoxicity induced by RP and its processed products (PP)
      (dosed at 20g/kg for 4 weeks) on rats were investigated using conventional
      approaches including the biochemical analysis and histopathological observations.
      Further, a urinary metabolomic approach was developed to study the metabolic
      disturbances caused by RP and PP, followed by the pattern recognition approach
      and pathways analysis. RESULTS: RP showed obvious hepatotoxity whereas PP did
      not. 16 potential biomarkers (pyridoxamine, 4-pyridoxic acid, citrate et al.)
      differentially expressed in RP group were identified compared with the control
      and PP-treated groups. The pathways analysis showed that vitamin B6 metabolism,
      tryptophan metabolism and citrate cycle might be the major enriched pathways
      involved in the hepatotoxicity of the herb. CONCLUSION: 16 differentially
      expressed metabolites were identified to be involved in the RP-induced
      hepatotoxicity. Vitamin B6 metabolism might be mostly related to the
      hepatotoxicity induced by RP. This finding may provide a potential therapeutic
      target or option to treat hepatotoxicity induced by RP.

PMID- 27620662
TI  - Inhibiting adhesion events by Panax notoginseng saponins and Ginsenoside Rb1
      protecting arteries via activation of Nrf2 and suppression of p38 - VCAM-1 signal
      pathway.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and Korea,
      have witnessed a history of more than 1000 years of Panax notoginseng (Burk.)
      F.H. Chen's application as a famous traditional medicine for cardiovascular
      diseases (Zhou et al., 2004). The use of Panax notoginseng (Sanqi) was first
      recorded in "Bencao Gangmu", which was written by Li Shizhen, a Chinese
      pharmacologist of the MING dynasty, in 1578. It is included in "The Plant List"
      as one species of genus Panax (family Araliaceae). Panax notoginseng saponins
      (PNS) are the major active ingredients extracted from Panax notoginseng. AIM OF
      THE STUDY: This study investigated whether PNS and the active constituent
      Ginsenoside Rb1 inhibits adhesion events by regulating the NF-E2-related factor 2
      (Nrf2) - p38 - vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 pathway. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The AS model rats were treated once daily with PNS (100mg/kg, i.p.) or
      Rb1 (40mg/kg, i.p.), and pathological changes in the aortas were observed by
      electron microscopy and Sudan IV staining. The serum levels of NO, superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) and TNF-alpha were measured. Upon treatment with H2O2 to induce
      oxidative stress, cell viability and LDH levels were measured after cells were
      cultured with PNS or Rb1. oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-induced VCAM-1
      and p38 protein expression and THP1 cell adhesion to ECs were assessed after
      treatment with PNS or Rb1. Nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and expression of its
      target protein heme oxygenase (HO)-1 were observed in the respective presence of
      PNS or Rb1. RESULTS: Upon treatment with PNS or Rb1, pathological changes
      observed in the aortas of AS model rats were alleviated, and an increase in serum
      levels of NO and SOD and a decrease in TNF-alpha levels were observed. In vitro
      treatment with PNS or Rb1 protected endothelial cells (ECs) from H2O2-mediated
      cytotoxicity, suppressed oxLDL-induced p38 and VCAM-1 protein expression and
      inhibited THP1 cell adhesion to ECs. Finally, PNS and Rb1 treatment functionally
      activated Nrf2 in ECs. CONCLUSIONS: Nrf2, an EC protective system, suppresses
      monocyte adhesion events via the inhibition of the ROS - TNF-alpha - p38 - VCAM-1
      pathway following treatment with PNS, with Rb1 specifically playing an important
      role among PNS active components.

PMID- 27620663
TI  - Early-life sexual segregation: ontogeny of isotopic niche differentiation in the
      Antarctic fur seal.
AB  - Investigating the ontogeny of niche differentiation enables to determine at which
      life-stages sexual segregation arises, providing insights into the main factors
      driving resource partitioning. We investigated the ontogeny of foraging ecology
      in Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella), a highly dimorphic species with
      contrasting breeding strategies between sexes. Sequential delta(13)C and
      delta(15)N values of whiskers provided a longitudinal proxy of the foraging niche
      throughout the whole life of seals, from weaning, when size dimorphism is minimal
      to the age of 5. Females exhibited an early-life ontogenetic shift, from a total
      segregation during their first year at-sea, to a similar isotopic niche as
      breeding females as early as age 2. In contrast, males showed a progressive
      change in isotopic niche throughout their development such that 5-year-old males
      did not share the same niche as territorial bulls. Interestingly, males and
      females segregated straight after weaning with males appearing to feed in more
      southerly habitats than females. This spatial segregation was of similar
      amplitude as observed in breeding adults and was maintained throughout
      development. Such early-life niche differentiation is an unusual pattern and
      indicates size dimorphism and breeding constraints do not directly drive sexual
      segregation contrary to what has been assumed in otariid seals.

PMID- 27620664
TI  - Consumer product ingestion and aspiration in children: A 15-year review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Our objectives were to identify consumer product (CP)
      ingestion and aspiration trends. Our hope is that evaluation of contemporary
      trends may be useful to physicians and policy makers and further guide
      preventative measures. METHODS: The Consumer Product Safety Commission's National
      Electronic Injury Surveillance System was queried for pediatric CP aspiration and
      ingestion data for the years 2000 to 2014. Data from 2000 to 2004 were compared
      to 2010 to 2014 data and analyzed for CP and injury occurrence. Injury trends
      over the past 15 years were identified; patient demographics were analyzed; and
      patient disposition was reported. RESULTS: Emergency department visits for
      pediatric CP ingestion increased 41.4% over the 15-year period analyzed and
      remained relatively stable for aspiration events. In all, an estimated 1.1
      million visits occurred during this time frame. Jewelry overtook coins as the
      most common CP aspirated (29.3%). Coins remained the most frequent ingestion but
      comprised a smaller proportion of ingestions in recent years than years past.
      From 2010 through 2014, children under 5 years of age accounted for 89.4% and
      77.8% of CP aspiration and ingestion cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: Pediatric
      aspiration/ingestion remains a frequent occurrence with potentially significant
      ramifications. Injury demographics and CPs most likely to be involved may
      represent valuable information to the otolaryngologist who wishes to provide
      appropriate counseling to patients and parents and continued investigation on
      injury prevention. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 127:1202-1207, 2017.

PMID- 27620665
TI  - Elective amputation of a "healthy limb".
AB  - Patients with body integrity identity disorder (BIID) experience a strong desire
      for amputation from very early on. BIID patients are often dismissed when they
      share their wish for amputation with surgeons. Consequently, patients resort to
      self-amputation, including complications and sometimes death. BIID patients are
      not psychotic and are mentally competent to oversee the consequences of an
      elective amputation. The authors offer arguments in favor of elective amputation.

PMID- 27620666
TI  - A new bio-inspired stimulator to suppress hyper-synchronized neural firing in a
      cortical network.
AB  - Hyper-synchronous neural oscillations are the character of several neurological
      diseases such as epilepsy. On the other hand, glial cells and particularly
      astrocytes can influence neural synchronization. Therefore, based on the recent
      researches, a new bio-inspired stimulator is proposed which basically is a
      dynamical model of the astrocyte biophysical model. The performance of the new
      stimulator is investigated on a large-scale, cortical network. Both excitatory
      and inhibitory synapses are also considered in the simulated spiking neural
      network. The simulation results show that the new stimulator has a good
      performance and is able to reduce recurrent abnormal excitability which in turn
      avoids the hyper-synchronous neural firing in the spiking neural network. In this
      way, the proposed stimulator has a demand controlled characteristic and is a good
      candidate for deep brain stimulation (DBS) technique to successfully suppress the
      neural hyper-synchronization.

PMID- 27620667
TI  - Structural impact analysis of missense SNPs present in the uroguanylin gene by
      long-term molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - The guanylate cyclase activator 2B, also known as uroguanylin, is part of the
      guanylin peptide family, which includes peptides such as guanylin and
      lymphoguanylin. The guanylin peptides could be related to sodium absorption
      inhibition and water secretion induction and their dysfunction may be related to
      various pathologies such as chronic renal failure, congestive heart failure and
      nephrotic syndrome. Besides, uroguanylin point mutations have been associated
      with essential hypertension. However, currently there are no studies on the
      impact of missense SNPs on uroguanylin structure. This study applied in silico
      SNP impact prediction tools to evaluate the impact of uroguanylin missense SNPs
      and to filter those considered as convergent deleterious, which were then further
      analyzed through long-term molecular dynamics simulations of 1MUs of duration.
      The simulations suggested that all missense SNPs considered as convergent
      deleterious caused some kind of structural change to the uroguanylin peptide.
      Additionally, four of these SNPs were also shown to cause modifications in
      peptide flexibility, possibly resulting in functional changes.

PMID- 27620668
TI  - Morell Mackenzie's Contribution to the Description of Spasmodic Dysphonia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Since the middle of the 20th century, most discussions of spasmodic
      dysphonia (SD) reference a paper by Ludwig Traube published in1871 as the first
      historical citation, crediting him with priority for this clinical syndrome.
      However, our recent research has determined that the original observation by
      Traube was published in 1864 and does not in fact describe what is currently
      recognized as SD. It appears that many clinics throughout Europe and North
      America were investigating and publishing observations on a range of voice
      disorders. METHODS: The wider context of work on laryngeal disorders in the 1860s
      1870s is considered. One of Traube's contemporaries, Morell Mackenzie, made
      significant contributions to the understanding of laryngeal movement disorder and
      its consequences for the voice. These will be examined to gain a clearer focus on
      the characterization of this disorder. RESULTS: The clinical descriptions
      published by Morrell Mackenzie in the 1860s provide details that conform quite
      closely to our current-day understanding of SD. CONCLUSIONS: The citation of
      Traube's "hysterical" patient links to mid 20th-century views of the functional
      nature of SD and the utility of psychiatric treatment. The description presented
      by Mackenzie is consistent with current views of SD as a movement disorder.

PMID- 27620669
TI  - Soccer-Related Facial Trauma: A Nationwide Perspective.
AB  - PURPOSE: Soccer participation continues to increase among all ages in the US. Our
      objective was to analyze trends in soccer-related facial injury epidemiology,
      demographics, and mechanisms of injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The National
      Electronic Injury Surveillance System was evaluated for soccer-related facial
      injuries from 2010 through 2014. Results for product code "soccer" were filtered
      for injures to the face. Number of injuries was extrapolated, and data were
      analyzed for age, sex, specific injury diagnoses, locations, and mechanisms.
      RESULTS: In all, 2054 soccer-related facial trauma entries were analyzed. During
      this time, the number of injures remained relatively stable. Lacerations were the
      most common diagnosis (44.2%), followed by contusions and fractures. The most
      common sites of fracture were the nose (75.1%). Of fractures with a reported
      mechanism of injury, the most common was head-to-head collisions (39.0%).
      Patients <19 years accounted for 66.9% of injuries, and athletes over 18 years
      old had a higher risk of fractures. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of soccer-related
      facial trauma has remained stable, but the severity of such injuries remain a
      danger. Facial protection in soccer is virtually absent, and our findings
      reinforce the need to educate athletes, families, and physicians on injury
      awareness and prevention.

PMID- 27620670
TI  - Difficulties of children with ADHD symptoms in solving mathematical problems when
      information must be updated.
AB  - It has been hypothesized that ADHD is associated both with difficulties in
      mathematical problem solving and in updating information in working memory.
      However, the relationship between updating and performance on mathematical word
      problems has never been studied for children with ADHD. The present study
      examined these issues comparing the performance of solving mathematical word
      problems (with no updating request vs high updating request) in a group of 11
      12year old children with ADHD compared to a matched control group with typical
      development (TD). Results showed that children with ADHD solved fewer problems
      correctly than typically-developing children; moreover they made more errors in
      solving problems with updating requirements than those without updating
      requirements. In contrast, typically-developing children did not show any
      differences in problems performance on problems with and without updating
      requirements. Fine grained analyses of children's problem solving processes
      showed that children with ADHD found more difficult to select the appropriate
      data prior to calculation and to choose and execute the correct solution than
      typically-developing children. The difficulty to select the appropriate data
      results more severe in problems with updating requirements. Overall, these
      results support the hypothesis that the learning difficulties of children with
      ADHD are related to their executive dysfunctions, that negatively affect complex
      tasks requiring updating of to-be-processed information.

PMID- 27620671
TI  - Developing Financial Incentives for Kidney Transplant Centers: Who Is Minding the
      Store?

PMID- 27620672
TI  - Metabolism profiles of icariin in rats using ultra-high performance liquid
      chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry
      and in vitro enzymatic study.
AB  - Icariin (ICA), the major constituent of Epimedium brevicornu Maxim, is recognized
      as an effective agent for the treatment of osteoporosis. In our previous report,
      the relatively short half-life (74min) and poor bioavailability (approximately
      0.1%) of ICA in rats suggested that not only ICA itself but also its metabolites
      could be responsible for the observed osteoporosis treatment effect. Therefore,
      the present study aimed at identifying the metabolites of ICA in rat plasma,
      bile, urine, and feces after the administration of a single oral dose of ICA
      (150mg/kg). In this work, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled
      with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry
      (UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS) method was established to identify the metabolic profiles
      following intragastric administration of pure ICA in rats. The blood, bile,
      urine, and feces samples of the rats were investigated to explore the complete
      metabolic pathway of ICA in vivo. A total of 14 metabolites were detected in the
      bile, revealing that the bile is the main excretion pathway for ICA and its
      metabolites. The conjugated metabolites as observed in vivo, was further
      confirmed by the in vitro enzymatic study. Five metabolites of ICA, including
      demethylicariin, icariside I-3-O-glucuronide, demethylicariside II,
      demethylicariside II-7-O-glucuronide, and dehydroxyicaritin-glucuronide, were
      reported for the first time in the literature. In addition, the results revealed
      that the principal metabolism pathways of ICA in rat were deglycosylation and
      glucuronidation after deglycosylation. 

PMID- 27620675
TI  - "Public Health Is Purchasable".

PMID- 27620674
TI  - Association between water and carbon dioxide transport in leaf plasma membranes:
      assessing the role of aquaporins.
AB  - The role of some aquaporins as CO2 permeable channels has been controversial. Low
      CO2 permeability of plant membranes has been criticized because of unstirred
      layers and other limitations. Here we measured both water and CO2 permeability
      (Pos , PCO2 ) using stopped flow on plasma membrane vesicles (pmv) isolated from
      Pisum sativum (pea) and Arabidopsis thaliana leaves. We excluded the chemical
      limitation of carbonic anhydrase (CA) in the vesicle acidification technique for
      PCO2 using different temperatures and CA concentrations. Unstirred layers were
      excluded based on small vesicle size and the positive correlation between vesicle
      diameter and PCO2 . We observed high aquaporin activity (Pos 0.06 to 0.22 cm s-1
      ) for pea pmv based on all the criteria for their function using inhibitors and
      temperature dependence. Inhibitors of Pos did not alter PCO2 . PCO2 ranged from
      0.001 to 0.012 cm s-1 (mean 0.0079 + 0.0007 cm s-1 ) with activation energy of
      30.2 kJ mol-1 . Intrinsic variation between pmv batches from normally grown or
      stressed plants revealed a weak (R2  = 0.27) positive linear correlation between
      Pos and PCO2 . Despite the low PCO2 , aquaporins may facilitate CO2 transport
      across plasma membranes, but probably via a different pathway than for water.

PMID- 27620673
TI  - The multifaceted RisA regulon of Bordetella pertussis.
AB  - The whooping cough agent Bordetella pertussis regulates the production of its
      virulence factors by the BvgA/S system. Phosphorylated BvgA activates the
      virulence-activated genes (vags) and represses the expression of the virulence
      repressed genes (vrgs) via the activation of the bvgR gene. In modulating
      conditions, with MgSO4, the BvgA/S system is inactive, and the vrgs are
      expressed. Here, we show that the expression of almost all vrgs depends on RisA,
      another transcriptional regulator. We also show that some vags are surprisingly
      no longer modulated by MgSO4 in the risA(-) background. RisA also regulates the
      expression of other genes, including chemotaxis and flagellar operons, iron
      regulated genes, and genes of unknown function, which may or may not be
      controlled by BvgA/S. We identified RisK as the likely cognate RisA kinase and
      found that it is important for expression of most, but not all RisA-regulated
      genes. This was confirmed using the phosphoablative RisAD(60)N and the
      phosphomimetic RisAD(60)E analogues. Thus the RisA regulon adds a new layer of
      complexity to B. pertussis virulence gene regulation.

PMID- 27620676
TI  - Diversity and Higher Education for the Health Care Professions.

PMID- 27620677
TI  - The VA Continues to Struggle-Especially in Terms of Improved Access.

PMID- 27620679
TI  - Quality Improvement for Whom?

PMID- 27620678
TI  - What Louisiana Tells Us About the ACA Medicaid Expansion.

PMID- 27620680
TI  - The Affordable Care Act and Civil Rights: The Challenge of Section 1557 of the
      Affordable Care Act.

PMID- 27620681
TI  - Banishing "Stakeholders".

PMID- 27620682
TI  - "Big Food" Is Making America Sick.

PMID- 27620684
TI  - Mass Production of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses: An Exercise in Mega
      silliness?

PMID- 27620683
TI  - The Mass Production of Redundant, Misleading, and Conflicted Systematic Reviews
      and Meta-analyses.
AB  - POLICY POINTS: Currently, there is massive production of unnecessary, misleading,
      and conflicted systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Instead of promoting
      evidence-based medicine and health care, these instruments often serve mostly as
      easily produced publishable units or marketing tools. Suboptimal systematic
      reviews and meta-analyses can be harmful given the major prestige and influence
      these types of studies have acquired. The publication of systematic reviews and
      meta-analyses should be realigned to remove biases and vested interests and to
      integrate them better with the primary production of evidence. CONTEXT:
      Currently, most systematic reviews and meta-analyses are done retrospectively
      with fragmented published information. This article aims to explore the growth of
      published systematic reviews and meta-analyses and to estimate how often they are
      redundant, misleading, or serving conflicted interests. METHODS: Data included
      information from PubMed surveys and from empirical evaluations of meta-analyses.
      FINDINGS: Publication of systematic reviews and meta-analyses has increased
      rapidly. In the period January 1, 1986, to December 4, 2015, PubMed tags 266,782
      items as "systematic reviews" and 58,611 as "meta-analyses." Annual publications
      between 1991 and 2014 increased 2,728% for systematic reviews and 2,635% for meta
      analyses versus only 153% for all PubMed-indexed items. Currently, probably more
      systematic reviews of trials than new randomized trials are published annually.
      Most topics addressed by meta-analyses of randomized trials have overlapping,
      redundant meta-analyses; same-topic meta-analyses may exceed 20 sometimes. Some
      fields produce massive numbers of meta-analyses; for example, 185 meta-analyses
      of antidepressants for depression were published between 2007 and 2014. These
      meta-analyses are often produced either by industry employees or by authors with
      industry ties and results are aligned with sponsor interests. China has rapidly
      become the most prolific producer of English-language, PubMed-indexed meta
      analyses. The most massive presence of Chinese meta-analyses is on genetic
      associations (63% of global production in 2014), where almost all results are
      misleading since they combine fragmented information from mostly abandoned era of
      candidate genes. Furthermore, many contracting companies working on evidence
      synthesis receive industry contracts to produce meta-analyses, many of which
      probably remain unpublished. Many other meta-analyses have serious flaws. Of the
      remaining, most have weak or insufficient evidence to inform decision making. Few
      systematic reviews and meta-analyses are both non-misleading and useful.
      CONCLUSIONS: The production of systematic reviews and meta-analyses has reached
      epidemic proportions. Possibly, the large majority of produced systematic reviews
      and meta-analyses are unnecessary, misleading, and/or conflicted.

PMID- 27620685
TI  - E-cigarette Policymaking by Local and State Governments: 2009-2014.

PMID- 27620686
TI  - The Exnovation of Chronic Care Management Processes by Physician Organizations.
AB  - Policy Points The rate of adoption of chronic care management processes (CMPs) by
      physician organizations has been fairly slow in spite of demonstrated
      effectiveness of CMPs in improving outcomes of chronic care. Exnovation (ie,
      removal of innovations) by physician organizations largely explains the slow
      population-level increases in practice use of CMPs over time. Expanded health
      information technology functions may aid practices in retaining CMPs. Low
      provider reimbursement by Medicaid programs, however, may contribute to
      disinvestment in CMPs by physician organizations. CONTEXT: Exnovation is the
      process of removal of innovations that are not effective in improving
      organizational performance, are too disruptive to routine operations, or do not
      fit well with the existing organizational strategy, incentives, structure, and/or
      culture. Exnovation may contribute to the low overall adoption of care management
      processes (CMPs) by US physician organizations over time. METHODS: Three national
      surveys of US physician organizations, which included common questions about
      organizational characteristics, use of CMPs, and health information technology
      (HIT) capabilities for practices of all sizes, and Truven Health Insurance
      Coverage Estimates were integrated to assess organizational and market influences
      on the exnovation of CMPs in a longitudinal cohort of 1,048 physician
      organizations. CMPs included 5 strategies for each of 4 chronic conditions
      (diabetes, asthma, congestive heart failure, and depression): registry use, nurse
      care management, patient reminders for preventive and care management services to
      prevent exacerbations of chronic illness, use of nonphysician clinicians to
      provide patient education, and quality of care feedback to physicians. FINDINGS:
      Over one-third (34.1%) of physician organizations exnovated CMPs on net. Quality
      of care data feedback to physicians and patient reminders for recommended
      preventive and chronic care were discontinued by over one-third of exnovators,
      while nurse care management and registries were largely retained. Greater
      proportions of baseline Medicaid practice revenue (incidence rate ratio [IRR] =
      1.44, p < 0.001) and increasing proportions of revenue from Medicaid (IRR = 1.02,
      p < 0.05) were associated with greater CMP exnovation by physician organizations
      on net. Practices with greater expansion of HIT functionality exnovated fewer
      CMPs (IRR = 0.91, p < 0.001) compared to practices with less expansion of HIT
      functionality. CONCLUSIONS: Exnovation of CMPs is an important reason why the
      population-level adoption of CMPs by physician organizations has remained low.
      Expanded HIT functions and changes to Medicaid reimbursement and incentives may
      aid the retention of CMPs by physician organizations.

PMID- 27620689
TI  - Validation of a 16-Item Short Form of the Czech Version of the Experiences in
      Close Relationships Revised Questionnaire in a Representative Sample.
AB  - The aim of this study was to create a shorter Czech version (ECR-R-16) of the
      Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-R) questionnaire and to assess
      its psychometric properties. Data from a representative sample of the Czech
      population from 15 to 90 years old (N = 1000, M age = 46.0 years, SD = 17.3) were
      collected using a face-to-face structured interview in 2014. The developed short
      form of the Czech version of the ECR-R showed good internal consistency (alphas
      varied from .84 to .90), and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses
      replicated the two-dimensional model. The results also demonstrated concurrent
      validity with measures of neuroticism, self-esteem, and positive and negative
      affect. People living with a partner and people with higher educational levels
      had significantly lower Avoidance scores than people living alone and people with
      lower educational levels. It was concluded that the ECR-R-16 questionnaire has
      good psychometric properties and is a valid assessment method in the Czech
      cultural context, suitable for research and clinical studies, when the shorter
      form of a measure is desirable.

PMID- 27620690
TI  - A Review and Critique of Research on Same-Sex Parenting and Adoption.
AB  - Are the outcomes for children of gay, lesbian, or bisexual parents in general the
      same as those for heterosexual parents? That controversial question is discussed
      here in a detailed review of the social science literature in three parts: (1)
      stability of same-sex parental relationships, (2) child outcomes, and (3) child
      outcomes in same-sex adoption. Relationship instability appears to be higher
      among gay and lesbian parent couples and may be a key mediating factor
      influencing outcomes for children. With respect to part 2, while parental self
      reports usually present few significant differences, social desirability or self
      presentation bias may be a confounding factor. While some researchers have tended
      to conclude that there are no differences whatsoever in terms of child outcomes
      as a function of parental sexual orientation, such conclusions appear premature
      in the light of more recent data in which some different outcomes have been
      observed in a few studies. Studies conducted within the past 10 years that
      compared child outcomes for children of same-sex and heterosexual adoptive
      parents were reviewed. Numerous methodological limitations were identified that
      make it very difficult to make an accurate assessment of the effect of parental
      sexual orientation across adoptive families. Because of sampling limitations, we
      still know very little about family functioning among same-sex adoptive families
      with low or moderate incomes, those with several children, or those with older
      children, including adolescents or how family functioning may change over time.
      There remains a need for high-quality research on same-sex families, especially
      families with gay fathers and with lower income.

PMID- 27620687
TI  - Assessing HITECH Implementation and Lessons: 5 Years Later.
AB  - POLICY POINTS: The expansive goals of the Health Information Technology for
      Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act required the simultaneous development
      of a complex and interdependent infrastructure and a wide range of relationships,
      generating points of vulnerability. While federal legislation can be a powerful
      stimulus for change, its effectiveness also depends on its ability to accommodate
      state and local policies and private health care markets. Ambitious goals require
      support over a long time horizon, which can be challenging to maintain. The
      future of health information technology (health IT) support nationally is likely
      to depend on the ability of the technology to satisfy its users that its
      functionalities address the interests policymakers and other stakeholders have in
      using technology to promote better care, improved outcomes, and reduced costs.
      CONTEXT: The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health
      (HITECH) Act set ambitious goals for developing electronic health information as
      one tool to reform health care delivery and improve health outcomes. With
      HITECH's grant funding now mostly exhausted but statutory authority for standards
      remaining, this article looks back at HITECH's experience in the first 5 years to
      assess its implementation, remaining challenges, and lessons learned. METHODS:
      This review derives from a global assessment of the HITECH Act. Earlier, we
      examined the logic of HITECH and identified interdependencies critical to its
      ultimate success. In this article, we build on that framework to review what has
      and has not been accomplished in building the infrastructure authorized by HITECH
      since it was enacted. The review incorporates quantitative and qualitative
      evidence of progress from the global assessment and from the evaluations funded
      by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
      of individual programs authorized by the HITECH Act. FINDINGS: Our review of the
      evidence provides a mixed picture. Despite HITECH's challenging demands, its
      complex programs were implemented, and important changes sought by the act are
      now in place. Electronic health records (EHRs) now exist in some form in most
      professional practices and hospitals eligible for HITECH incentive payments, more
      information is being shared electronically, and the focus of attention has
      shifted from adoption of EHRs toward more fundamental issues associated with
      using health information technology (health IT) to improve health care delivery
      and outcomes. In some areas, HITECH's achievements to date have fallen short of
      the hopes of its proponents as it has proven challenging to move meaningful use
      beyond the initial low bar set by Meaningful Use Stage 1. EHR products vary in
      their ability to support more advanced functionalities, such as patient
      engagement and population-based care management. Many barriers to
      interoperability persist, limiting electronic communication across a diverse set
      of largely private providers and care settings. CONCLUSIONS: Achieving the
      expansive goals of HITECH required the simultaneous development of a complex and
      interdependent infrastructure and a wide range of relationships, some better
      positioned to move forward than others. To date, it has proven easier to get
      providers to adopt EHRs, perhaps in response to financial incentives to do so,
      than to develop a robust infrastructure that allows the information in EHRs to be
      used effectively and shared not only within clinical practices but also across
      providers. Effective exchange of data is necessary to drive the kinds of delivery
      and payment reforms sought nationwide.

PMID- 27620691
TI  - Reproductive Endocrinology and Musth Indicators in a Captive Asian Elephant
      (Elephas maximus).
AB  - Even in the best situations, the artificial social constructs of captivity alter
      natural elephant behavior and unfortunately create distress. Asian elephants are
      powerful and intelligent animals that require consideration for their well-being
      and prudent management. The males present particular difficulties due to a
      temporary state of heightened aggressive behavior unique to male elephants called
      "musth." When he is in this state, the danger the elephant poses to other animals
      and the people around him is considerable. In addition to antagonistic behavior,
      musth is also characterized by temporal gland secretion and urine dribbling. In
      previous studies, musth has been attributed to elevated testosterone levels. This
      study attempted to enhance the knowledge base concerning these phenomena by
      examining hormone concentrations (n = 357) in Onyx, a male Asian elephant housed
      at Dickerson Park Zoo, with intermittent access to females (n = 1-5) over a 12
      year period. Behavior and signs of musth also were recorded daily by elephant
      department staff. Musth indicators (temporal gland secretion, aggression, urine
      dribbling) increased with musth but not prior to it. We confirmed that temporal
      gland secretion was a better indicator of behavioral musth than urine dribbling.
      Hormones concentrations increased as musth approached, and presumably initiated
      musth indicators, but variability was high. Therefore, these hormones cannot be
      used to predict the onset of musth in this individual. Rather, the free/total
      testosterone ratio was a good indication of the 60-day pre-musth period. In
      addition, testosterone production and musth indicators increased in intensity
      when a young bull at the zoo started entering musth.

PMID- 27620693
TI  - An Underlying Common Factor, Influenced by Genetics and Unique Environment,
      Explains the Covariation Between Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety
      Disorder, and Burnout: A Swedish Twin Study.
AB  - Depression and anxiety are highly comorbid due to shared genetic risk factors,
      but less is known about whether burnout shares these risk factors. We aimed to
      examine whether the covariation between major depressive disorder (MDD),
      generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and burnout is explained by common genetic
      and/or environmental factors. This cross-sectional study included 25,378 Swedish
      twins responding to a survey in 2005-2006. Structural equation models were used
      to analyze whether the trait variances and covariances were due to additive
      genetics, non-additive genetics, shared environment, and unique environment.
      Univariate analyses tested sex limitation models and multivariate analysis tested
      Cholesky, independent pathway, and common pathway models. The phenotypic
      correlations were 0.71 (0.69-0.74) between MDD and GAD, 0.58 (0.56-0.60) between
      MDD and burnout, and 0.53 (0.50-0.56) between GAD and burnout. Heritabilities
      were 45% for MDD, 49% for GAD, and 38% for burnout; no statistically significant
      sex differences were found. A common pathway model was chosen as the final model.
      The common factor was influenced by genetics (58%) and unique environment (42%),
      and explained 77% of the variation in MDD, 69% in GAD, and 44% in burnout. GAD
      and burnout had additive genetic factors unique to the phenotypes (11% each),
      while MDD did not. Unique environment explained 23% of the variability in MDD,
      20% in GAD, and 45% in burnout. In conclusion, the covariation was explained by
      an underlying common factor, largely influenced by genetics. Burnout was to a
      large degree influenced by unique environmental factors not shared with MDD and
      GAD.

PMID- 27620692
TI  - The porin VDAC2 is the mitochondrial platform for Bax retrotranslocation.
AB  - The pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein Bax can permeabilize the outer mitochondrial
      membrane and therefore commit human cells to apoptosis. Bax is regulated by
      constant translocation to the mitochondria and retrotranslocation back into the
      cytosol. Bax retrotranslocation depends on pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins and
      stabilizes inactive Bax. Here we show that Bax retrotranslocation shuttles
      membrane-associated and membrane-integral Bax from isolated mitochondria. We
      further discover the mitochondrial porin voltage-dependent anion channel 2
      (VDAC2) as essential component and platform for Bax retrotranslocation. VDAC2
      ensures mitochondria-specific membrane association of Bax and in the absence of
      VDAC2 Bax localizes towards other cell compartments. Bax retrotranslocation is
      also regulated by nucleotides and calcium ions, suggesting a potential role of
      the transport of these ions through VDAC2 in Bax retrotranslocation. Together,
      our results reveal the unanticipated bifunctional role of VDAC2 to target Bax
      specifically to the mitochondria and ensure Bax inhibition by retrotranslocation
      into the cytosol.

PMID- 27620694
TI  - Patulibacter brassicae sp. nov., isolated from rhizosphere soil of Chinese
      cabbage (Brassica campestris).
AB  - A novel actinobacterial strain, designated SDT, was isolated from rhizosphere
      soil of Chinese cabbage in Shandong province, China. The cells were aerobic, Gram
      staining-positive, oxidase- and catalase-positive, short rods and formed white
      colonies on trypticase soy agar. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso
      diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and alanine, glutamic acid and
      leucine. Diphosphatidylglycerol was the predominant polar lipid. The predominant
      cellular fatty acid was C18 : 1omega9c; minor components were anteiso-C15 : 0 and
      anteiso-C17 : 0. The only isoprenoid quinone was demethylmenaquinone 7 (DMK-7),
      and the DNA G+C content was 72.7 mol%. Based on the full-length 16S rRNA gene
      sequence analysis, the closest phylogenetic neighbours of strain SDT were
      Patulibacter medicamentivorans DSM 25962T (96.9 %), Patulibacter minatonensis DSM
      18081T (96.7 %), Patulibacter americanus DSM 16676T (96.2 %) and Patulibacter
      ginsengiterrae DSM 25990T (95.9 %). Considering combined phenotypic and genotypic
      characteristics, it is proposed that strain SDT represents a novel species of the
      genus Patulibacter, for which the name Patulibacter brassicae sp. nov. is
      proposed. The type strain is SDT (=CICC 24108T=KCTC 39817T).

PMID- 27620695
TI  - Multicentric study of the effect of pre-analytical variables in the quality of
      plasma samples stored in biobanks using different complementary proteomic
      methods.
AB  - : Analytical proteomics has experienced exponential progress in the last decade
      and can be expected to lead research studies on diagnostic and therapeutic
      biomarkers in the near future. Because the development of this type of analysis
      requires the use of a large number of human samples with a minimum of quality
      requirements, our objective was to identify appropriate indicators for quality
      control of plasma samples stored in biobanks for research in proteomics. To
      accomplish this, plasma samples from 100 healthy donors were obtained and
      processed according to the pre-analytical variables of: a) time delay for the
      first centrifugation of the original blood sample (4 or 24h) and b) number of
      freeze/thaw cycles (1, 2 or 3) of the processed plasma samples. The analyses of
      samples were performed by different and complementary methods such as SPE MALDI
      TOF, DIGE, shotgun (iTRAQ, nLC MALDI TOF/TOF) and targeted nLC MS/MS proteomic
      techniques (SRM). In general, because the distribution of proteins in all samples
      was found to be very similar, the results shown that delayed processing of blood
      samples and the number of freeze/thaw cycles has little or no effect on the
      integrity of proteins in the plasma samples. SIGNIFICANCE: The results of the
      present work indicate that blood proteins in plasma are broadly insensitive to
      such preanalytical variables as delayed processing or freeze/thaw cycles when
      analyzed at the peptide level. Although there are other studies related to
      protein stability of clinical samples with similar results, what is remarkable
      about our work is the large number of plasma samples examined and that our
      analyses assessed protein integrity by combining a wide set of complementary
      proteomic approaches performed at different proteomic platform participating
      laboratories that all yielded similar results. We believe our study is the most
      comprehensive performed to date to determine the changes in proteins induced by
      delayed sample processing and plasma freeze/thaw cycles.

PMID- 27620698
TI  - A landmark of Integrative Zoology's development.

PMID- 27620697
TI  - Sulfur Encapsulated in Graphitic Carbon Nanocages for High-Rate and Long-Cycle
      Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.
AB  - Hybrid sp2 carbon with a graphene backbone and graphitic carbon nanocages (G
      GCNs) is demonstrated as an ideal host for sulfur in Li-S batteries, because it
      serves as highly efficient electrochemical nanoreactors as well as polysulfides
      reservoirs. The as-obtained S/(G-GCNs) with high S content exhibits superior high
      rate capability (765 mA h g-1 at 5 C) and long-cycle life over 1000 cycles.

PMID- 27620699
TI  - RETRACTED: pH-Responsive Polymer Conjugate of Pirarubicin With Styrene Maleic
      Acid Copolymer as a Potential Therapeutic for Ovarian Cancer.

PMID- 27620696
TI  - Proteomic profiling of human islets collected from frozen pancreata using laser
      capture microdissection.
AB  - : The etiology of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) remains elusive. Enzymatically isolated
      and cultured (EIC) islets cannot fully reflect the natural protein composition
      and disease process of in vivo islets, because of the stress from isolation
      procedures. In order to study islet protein composition in conditions close to
      the natural environment, we performed proteomic analysis of EIC islets, and laser
      capture microdissected (LCM) human islets and acinar tissue from fresh-frozen
      pancreas sections of three cadaveric donors. 1104 and 706 proteins were
      identified from 6 islets equivalents (IEQ) of LCM islets and acinar tissue,
      respectively. The proteomic profiles of LCM islets were reproducible within and
      among cadaveric donors. The endocrine hormones were only detected in LCM islets,
      whereas catalytic enzymes were significantly enriched in acinar tissue.
      Furthermore, high overlap (984 proteins) and similar function distribution were
      found between LCM and EIC islets proteomes, except that EIC islets had more
      acinar contaminants and stress-related signal transducer activity proteins. The
      comparison among LCM islets, LCM acinar tissue and EIC islets proteomes indicates
      that LCM combined with proteomic methods enables accurate and unbiased profiling
      of islet proteome from frozen pancreata. This paves the way for proteomic studies
      on human islets during the progression of T1D. SIGNIFICANCE: The etiological
      agent triggering autoimmunity against beta cells in Type 1 diabetes (T1D) remains
      obscure. The in vitro models available (enzymatically isolated and cultured
      islets, EIC islets) do not accurately reflect what happens in vivo due to lack of
      the natural environment where islets exist and the preparation-induced changes in
      cell physiology. The importance of this study is that we investigated the
      feasibility of laser capture microdissection (LCM) for the isolation of intact
      islets from frozen cadaveric pancreatic tissue sections. We compared the protein
      profile of LCM islets (9 replicates from 3 cadaveric donors) with that of both
      LCM acinar tissues (6 replicates from the same 3 cadaveric donor as LCM islets)
      and EIC islets (at least 4 replicates for each sample with the same islets
      equivalents) by using proteomics techniques with advanced instrumentation, nanoLC
      Q Exactive HF Orbitrap mass spectrometry (nano LC-MS/MS). The results demonstrate
      that the LCM method is reliable in isolating islets with an intact environment.
      LCM-based islet proteomics is a feasible approach to obtain good proteome
      coverage for assessing the pathology of T1D using cadaveric pancreatic samples,
      even from very small sample amounts. Future applications of this LCM-based
      proteomic method may help us understand the pathogenesis of T1D and identify
      potential biomarkers for T1D diagnosis at an early stage.

PMID- 27620700
TI  - Evaluating osteological ageing from digital data.
AB  - Age at death estimation of human skeletal remains is one of the key issues in
      constructing a biological profile both in forensic and archaeological contexts.
      The traditional adult osteological methods evaluate macroscopically the
      morphological changes that occur with increasing age of specific skeletal
      indicators, such as the cranial sutures, the pubic bone, the auricular surface of
      the ilium and the sternal end of the ribs. Technologies such as computed
      tomography and laser scanning are becoming more widely used in anthropology, and
      several new methods have been developed. This review focuses on how the
      osteological age-related changes have been evaluated in digital data. First, the
      3D virtual copies of the bones have been used to mimic the appearance of the dry
      bones and the application of the traditional methods. Secondly, the information
      directly extrapolated from CT scans has been used to assess qualitatively or
      quantitatively the changes of the trabecular bones, the thickness of the cortical
      bones, and to perform morphometric analyses. Lastly, the most innovative approach
      has been the mathematical quantification of the changes of the pelvic joints,
      calculating the complexity of the surface. The importance of new updated
      reference datasets, created thanks to the use of CT scanning in forensic
      settings, is also discussed.

PMID- 27620701
TI  - Hydrophobic Clusters Raise the Threshold Hydrophilicity for Insertion of
      Transmembrane Sequences in Vivo.
AB  - Insertion of a nascent membrane protein segment by the translocon channel into
      the bilayer is naturally promoted by high segmental hydrophobicity, but its
      selection as a transmembrane (TM) segment is complicated by the diverse
      environments (aqueous vs lipidic) the protein encounters and by the fact that
      most TM segments contain a substantial amount (~30%) of polar residues, as
      required for protein structural stabilization and/or function. To examine the
      contributions of these factors systematically, we designed and synthesized a
      peptide library consisting of pairs of compositionally identical, but
      sequentially different, peptides with 19-residue core sequences varying (i) in
      Leu positioning (with five or seven Leu residues clustered into a contiguous
      "block" in the middle of the segment or "scrambled" throughout the sequence) and
      (ii) in Ser content (0-6 residues). The library was analyzed by a combination of
      biophysical and biological techniques, including HPLC retention times, circular
      dichroism measurements of helicity in micelle and phospholipid bilayer media, and
      relative blue shifts in Trp fluorescence maxima, as well as by the extent of
      membrane insertion in a translocon-mediated assay using microsomal membranes from
      dog pancreas endoplasmic reticulum. We found that local blocks of high
      hydrophobicity heighten the translocon's propensity to insert moderately
      hydrophilic sequences, until a "threshold hydrophilicity" is surpassed whereby
      segments no longer insert even in the presence of Leu blocks. This study codifies
      the prerequisites of apolar/polar content and residue positioning that define
      nascent TM segments, illustrates the accuracy in their prediction, and highlights
      how a single disease-causing mutation can tip the balance toward anomalous
      translocation/insertion.

PMID- 27620702
TI  - Dynamic thiol/disulphide homeostasis before and after radical prostatectomy in
      patients with prostate cancer.
AB  - Thiol groups are important anti-oxidants and essential molecules protecting
      organism against the harmful effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The aim of
      our study is to evaluate thiol-disulphide homeostasis with a novel recent
      automated method in patients with localized prostate cancer (PC) before and six
      months after radical prostatectomy (RP). 18 patients with PC and 17 healthy
      control subjects were enrolled into the study. Blood samples were collected from
      the controls subjects and patients before and six months after RP. Thiol
      disulphide homeostasis was determined using a recently developed novel method.
      Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), albumin, total protein, total thiol, native
      thiol, disulphide and total antioxidant status (TAS) were measured and compared
      between the groups. Native thiol, total thiol and TAS levels were significantly
      higher in the control group than the patients before RP (p < .001). There was a
      non-significant increase in the native thiol, total thiol and TAS levels in the
      patients six months after RP in comparison to the levels before RP (p values .3,
      .3 and .09, respectively). We found a significant negative correlation between
      PSA and thiol levels. Our study demonstrated that the decreased thiol and TAS
      levels weakened anti-oxidant defence mechanism in the patients with PC as
      indicated. Increased oxidative stress in prostate cancer patients may cause
      metabolic disturbance and have a role in the aetiopathogenesis of prostate
      cancer.

PMID- 27620704
TI  - The prevalence of anxiety in patients with psoriasis: a systematic review of
      observational studies and clinical trials.
AB  - Psoriasis and anxiety are chronic conditions with significant morbidity and there
      is evidence that they may exacerbate one another. There is little data on the
      prevalence of anxiety in psoriasis and the effect of psoriasis treatment on
      comorbid anxiety. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review
      of the literature to describe the prevalence and severity of clinical anxiety
      disorders or anxiety symptoms among adult patients with psoriasis and
      characterize the effect of anti-psoriatic interventions on clinical anxiety
      disorders or anxiety symptoms. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane
      Database using search terms 'psoriasis' and 'anxiety'. Results were tabulated and
      verified by two independent reviewers. Meta-analyses were not performed due to
      heterogeneity of data. Of 213 publications identified, 938 194 patients from 15
      papers were included. The mean age ranged from 31.9-59.4 years old, with a mean
      PASI score of 7.65-22.8 (reported by nine studies) and a body surface area
      involvement of 25.9-39.8% (reported by two studies). The prevalence of anxiety in
      patients with psoriasis was 7-48%, which was significantly higher than healthy
      controls in two of three studies (HR 1.29-1.31, P = 0.001 and OR 2.91 [95% CI,
      2.01-4.21], P < 0.001). Four of five studies (n = 2029) demonstrated an
      improvement in anxiety symptoms with psoriasis treatment. This review
      demonstrates a high prevalence of anxiety of adult patients with psoriasis
      suggesting that patients would benefit from systematic screening. Although the
      data suggest that anxiety may be improved through various psoriasis treatments,
      larger prospective randomized trials are needed to confirm this effect.

PMID- 27620706
TI  - Localized parakeratotic hyperkeratosis in sixteen Boston terrier dogs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although zinc responsive dermatosis is typically a disorder of Arctic
      breed dogs, this study identifies similar cutaneous lesions on the face and
      pressure points of Boston terrier dogs. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To document the
      clinical and histological features of localized parakeratotic hyperkeratosis of
      Boston terrier dogs, to determine if the lesions respond to zinc supplementation
      and to determine whether tissue zinc levels were decreased in affected versus
      unaffected dogs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixteen Boston terrier dogs with similar
      gross and histological findings were identified retrospectively from two
      institutions. Follow-up information for nine dogs from one institution was
      obtained from referring veterinarians using a questionnaire. Tissue zinc levels
      were measured from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded skin biopsy samples of
      affected and unaffected dogs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
      RESULTS: Mild to severe parakeratotic hyperkeratosis with follicular involvement
      was present in all 16 cases. Of the nine dogs for which follow-up information was
      available, five dogs received oral zinc supplementation and four dogs had
      documented clinical improvement or resolution of dermatological lesions. The
      median skin zinc levels were not significantly different between affected and
      unaffected dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: To the best of the authors'
      knowledge this is the first report of localized parakeratotic hyperkeratosis in
      Boston terrier dogs, some of which improved with oral zinc supplementation.
      Prospective studies in Boston terrier dogs are warranted to document potential
      zinc deficiency (serum and/or tissue levels, pre- and post-treatment) and to
      objectively assess response to zinc supplementation and other therapies.

PMID- 27620703
TI  - Nitrogen dioxide pollution exposure is associated with olfactory dysfunction in
      older U.S. adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Olfactory dysfunction has profound effects on quality of life,
      physical and social function, and mortality itself. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) is a
      pervasive air pollutant that is associated with respiratory diseases. Given the
      olfactory nerve's anatomic exposure to airborne pollutants, we investigated the
      relationship between NO2 exposure and olfactory dysfunction. METHODS: The ability
      to identify odors was evaluated using a validated test in respondents from the
      National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a representative
      probability sample of home-dwelling, older U.S. adults age 57 to 85 years.
      Exposure to NO2 pollution was assessed using measurements obtained from the U.S.
      Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Aerometric Information Retrieval System
      (AIRS) ambient monitoring site closest to each respondent's home. We tested the
      association between NO2 exposure and olfactory dysfunction using multivariate
      logistic regression. RESULTS: Among older adults in the United States, 22.6% had
      impaired olfactory function, defined as <=3 correct (out of 5) on the odor
      identification test. Median NO2 exposure during the 365 days prior to the
      interview date was 14.7 ppb (interquartile range [IQR], 10.8 to 19.7 ppb). An IQR
      increase in NO2 exposure was associated with increased odds of olfactory
      dysfunction (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.72), adjusting for age, gender,
      race/ethnicity, education, cognition, comorbidity, smoking, and season of the
      home interview (n = 1823). CONCLUSION: We show for the first time that NO2
      exposure is associated with olfactory dysfunction in older U.S. adults. These
      results suggest an important role for NO2 exposure on olfactory dysfunction, and,
      potentially, nasal disease more broadly.

PMID- 27620707
TI  - Population data on the expanded CODIS core STR loci for eleven populations of
      significance for forensic DNA analyses in the United States.
AB  - Allele distributions for twenty-three autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci -
      D1S1656, D2S441, D2S1338, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D10S1248, D12S391,
      D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D19S433, D21S11, D22S1045, CSF1PO, FGA, Penta D, Penta
      E, SE33, TH01, TPOX and vWA - were determined in Caucasians, Southwestern
      Hispanics, Southeastern Hispanics, African Americans, Bahamians, Jamaicans,
      Trinidadians, Chamorros, Filipinos, Apaches, and Navajos. The data are included
      in the FBI PopStats software for calculating statistical estimates of DNA typing
      results and cover the expanded CODIS Core STR Loci required of U.S. laboratories
      that participate in the National DNA Index System (NDIS).

PMID- 27620705
TI  - Physical Activity Intervention Effects on Physical Function Among Community
      Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the
      effects of supervised resistance and/or aerobic training physical activity
      interventions on performance-based measures of physical functioning among
      community-dwelling older adults, and to identify factors impacting intervention
      effectiveness. Diverse search strategies were used to identify eligible studies.
      Standardized mean difference effect sizes (d, ES) were synthesized using a random
      effects model. Moderator analyses were conducted using subgroup analyses and meta
      regression. Twenty-eight studies were included. Moderator analyses were limited
      by inconsistent reporting of sample and intervention characteristics. The overall
      mean ES was 0.45 (k = 38, p <= .01), representing a clinically meaningful
      reduction of 0.92 s in the Timed Up and Go for treatment versus control. More
      minutes per week (p < .01) and longer intervention session duration (p < .01)
      were associated with larger effects. Interventions were especially effective
      among frail participants (d = 1.09). Future research should clearly describe
      sample and intervention characteristics and incorporate frail populations.

PMID- 27620708
TI  - Breast cancer: Genetic signature might spare 100,000 women annually from
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 27620709
TI  - Breast cancer: CTC heterogeneity is dynamic.

PMID- 27620711
TI  - Head and neck cancer: Gemcitabine improves patient survival.

PMID- 27620710
TI  - Immunotherapy: CAR T cells pursue CLL cells and avoid innocent bystanders.

PMID- 27620712
TI  - Lung cancer: First-line immunotherapy in lung cancer - taking the first step.

PMID- 27620713
TI  - Decitabine prior to salvaged unrelated cord blood transplantation for refractory
      or relapsed childhood acute leukemia.
AB  - No clinical studies have investigated the role of decitabine as a part of the
      myeloablative conditioning regimen prior to UCBT for refractory or relapsed
      childhood AL in patients in NR status. The aim of this study was to identify the
      potential benefits of decitabine as a prior therapy before salvaged unrelated
      UCBT for refractory or relapsed childhood AL. Eight consecutive patients with
      childhood refractory/relapsed AL were enrolled in our study between 2013 and
      2014. All patients were in NR status before the time of transplant and had
      features associated with poor outcomes, such as CNSL, MDS-AML, high WBC count at
      diagnosis, and hypodiploid status (FLT3+/ITD+). Additionally, all patients had
      one of the following disease statuses: PIF, multiple relapse, or early relapse.
      All transplants were performed with decitabine as part of the myeloablative
      conditioning regimen, which was decitabine+Flu/Bu/CY+/-BCNU or decitabine+Ara
      c/BU/CY2+/-BCNU. A total of seven patients (7 of 8) achieved neutrophil
      engraftment and platelet engraftment, and one patient experienced primary graft
      failure. All eight patients (100%) developed PES at a median of 7 days. Three
      patients developed stage II-IV acute GVHD at a median of 18 days. Additionally,
      three patients developed chronic GVHD, but it was not extensive in any of those
      three patients. The median follow-up time after CBT was 19.9 months (range, 9.2
      30.7 months). The estimated probability of OS was 75%. Two patients (2 of 8)
      experienced a testis relapse, and two patients (2 of 8) died. Our experience
      suggests that the additional application of decitabine as part of the
      myeloablative conditioning regimen prior to UCBT for refractory or relapsed
      childhood AL among patients who are not in remission is safe and might be an
      effective treatment option.

PMID- 27620714
TI  - Review of the mechanisms and therapeutic avenues for retinal and choroidal
      vascular dysfunctions in retinopathy of prematurity.
AB  - : Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a multifactorial disease and the main cause
      of visual impairment and blindness in premature neonates. The inner retina has
      been considered the primary region affected in ROP, but choroidal vascular
      degeneration and progressive outer retinal dysfunctions have also been observed.
      This review focuses on observations regarding neurovascular dysfunctions in both
      the inner and outer immature retina, the mechanisms and the neuronal-derived
      factors implicated in the development of ROP, as well potential therapeutic
      avenues for this disorder. CONCLUSION: Alterations in the neurovascular integrity
      of the inner and outer retina contribute to the development of ROP.

PMID- 27620715
TI  - Prevalence and consequences of chromosomal abnormalities in Canadian commercial
      swine herds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Structural chromosome abnormalities are well known as factors that
      reduce fertility rate in domestic pigs. According to large-scale national
      cytogenetic screening programs that are implemented in France, it is estimated
      that new chromosome abnormalities occur at a rate of 0.5 % in fertility-unproven
      boars. RESULTS: This work aimed at estimating the prevalence and consequences of
      chromosome abnormalities in commercial swine operations in Canada. We found pig
      carriers at a frequency of 1.64 % (12 out of 732 boars). Carrier pigs
      consistently showed lower fertility values. The total number of piglets born for
      litters from carrier boars was between 4 and 46 % lower than the herd average.
      Similarly, carrier boars produced litters with a total number of piglets born
      alive that was between 6 and 28 % lower than the herd average. A total of 12 new
      structural chromosome abnormalities were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Reproductive
      performance is significantly reduced in sires with chromosome abnormalities. The
      incidence of such abnormal sires appears relatively high in populations without
      routine cytogenetic screening such as observed for Canada in this study.
      Systematic cytogenetic screening of potential breeding boars would minimise the
      risk of carriers of chromosome aberrations entering artificial insemination
      centres. This would avoid the large negative effects on productivity for the
      commercial sow herds and reduce the risk of transmitting abnormalities to future
      generations in nucleus farms.

PMID- 27620717
TI  - Delayed diagnosis of Pendred syndrome.
AB  - We describe a case of a delayed diagnosis of Pendred syndrome. The patient had a
      history of hearing loss from childhood and presented to the endocrine clinic when
      aged 32 with an enlarging goitre. The characteristic Mondini deformity was noted
      on auditory canal MRI scan. Genetic tests confirmed the diagnosis. Pendred
      syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder, characterised by congenital
      sensorineural hearing loss, goitre and impaired iodide organification and can
      present at any age. We highlight to the general physician the classical features
      of this syndrome that would aid early diagnosis. 

PMID- 27620716
TI  - Redefining the roles of the FtsZ-ring in bacterial cytokinesis.
AB  - In most bacteria, cell division relies on the functions of an essential protein,
      FtsZ. FtsZ polymerizes at the future division site to form a ring-like structure,
      termed the Z-ring, that serves as a scaffold to recruit all other division
      proteins, and possibly generates force to constrict the cell. The scaffolding
      function of the Z-ring is well established, but the force generating function has
      recently been called into question. Additionally, new findings have demonstrated
      that the Z-ring is more directly linked to cell wall metabolism than simply
      recruiting enzymes to the division site. Here we review these advances and
      suggest that rather than generating a rate-limiting constrictive force, the Z
      ring's function may be redefined as an orchestrator of septum synthesis.

PMID- 27620718
TI  - Overexpression of phytosulfokine-alpha induces male sterility and cell growth by
      regulating cell wall development in Arabidopsis.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Over-production of functional PSK-alpha in Arabidopsis caused
      increases in both plant cell growth and biomass and induced male sterility by
      regulating cell wall development. Phytosulfokine-alpha (PSK-alpha) is a novel
      disulfated pentapeptide hormone that is involved in promoting plant cell growth.
      Although a role for PSK-alpha in stimulating protoplast expansion has been
      suggested, how PSK-alpha regulates cell growth in planta remains poorly
      understood. In this study, we found that overexpression of the normal PSK-alpha
      precursor gene AtPSK4, which resulted in high levels of PSK-alpha, caused longer
      roots and larger leaves with enlarged cells. As expected, these changes were not
      observed in transgenic plants overexpressing mutated AtPSK4, which generated
      unsulfated PSK-alpha. These findings confirmed the role of PSK-alpha in promoting
      plant cell growth. Furthermore, we found that overexpressing AtPSK4, but not
      mutated AtPSK4, induced a phenotype of male sterility that resulted from the
      failure of fibrous cell wall development in the endothecium. In addition,
      overexpressing AtPSK4 enhanced expression of a number of genes encoding
      expansins, which are involved in cell wall loosening. Accordingly, in addition to
      its role in cell growth, we propose a novel function for PSK-alpha signaling in
      the modulation of plant male sterility via regulation of cell wall development.

PMID- 27620720
TI  - Toll-Like Receptor 2 Recognizes Orientia tsutsugamushi and Increases
      Susceptibility to Murine Experimental Scrub Typhus.
AB  - Scrub typhus is a potentially lethal infection that is caused by the obligate
      intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi The roles of Toll-like receptor 2
      (TLR2) and TLR4 in innate recognition of O. tsutsugamushi have not been
      elucidated. By overexpression of TLR2 or TLR4 in HEK293 cells, we demonstrated
      that TLR2, but not TLR4, recognizes heat-stable compounds of O. tsutsugamushi
      that were sensitive to treatment with sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and
      proteinase K. TLR2 was required for the secretion of tumor necrosis factor alpha
      (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) by dendritic cells. In an intradermal mouse
      infection model, TLR2-deficient mice did not show impaired control of bacterial
      growth or reduced survival. Moreover, after intraperitoneal infection, TLR2
      deficient mice were even more resistant to lethal infection than C57BL/6 wild
      type mice, which showed stronger symptoms and lower survival rates during the
      convalescent phase. Compared to the time of reduction of bacterial loads in TLR2
      deficient mice, the reduction of bacterial loads in infected organs was
      accelerated in wild-type mice. The higher mortality of wild-type mice was
      associated with increased concentrations of serum alkaline phosphatase but not
      aspartate aminotransferase. The transcription of mRNA for TNF-alpha and IL-6
      decreased more rapidly in peritoneum samples from wild-type mice than in those
      from TLR2-deficient mice and was therefore not a correlate of increased
      susceptibility. Thus, although TLR2 is an important mediator of the early
      inflammatory response, it is dispensable for protective immunity against O.
      tsutsugamushi Increased susceptibility to O. tsutsugamushi infection in TLR2
      competent mice rather suggests a TLR2-related immunopathologic effect.

PMID- 27620719
TI  - Dietary Composition Influences Incidence of Helicobacter pylori-Induced Iron
      Deficiency Anemia and Gastric Ulceration.
AB  - Epidemiologic studies have provided conflicting data regarding an association
      between Helicobacter pylori infection and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in humans.
      Here, a Mongolian gerbil model was used to investigate a potential role of H.
      pylori infection, as well as a possible role of diet, in H. pylori-associated
      IDA. Mongolian gerbils (either H. pylori infected or uninfected) received a
      normal diet or one of three diets associated with increased H. pylori virulence:
      high-salt, low-iron, or a combination of a high-salt and low-iron diet. In an
      analysis of all infected animals compared to uninfected animals (independent of
      diet), H. pylori-infected gerbils had significantly lower hemoglobin values than
      their uninfected counterparts at 16 weeks postinfection (P < 0.0001). The mean
      corpuscular volume (MCV) and serum ferritin values were significantly lower in H.
      pylori-infected gerbils than in uninfected gerbils, consistent with IDA.
      Leukocytosis and thrombocytosis were also detected in infected gerbils,
      indicating the presence of a systemic inflammatory response. In comparison to
      uninfected gerbils, H. pylori-infected gerbils had a higher gastric pH, a higher
      incidence of gastric ulcers, and a higher incidence of fecal occult blood loss.
      Anemia was associated with the presence of gastric ulceration but not gastric
      cancer. Infected gerbils consuming diets with a high salt content developed
      gastric ulcers significantly more frequently than gerbils consuming a normal-salt
      diet, and the lowest hemoglobin levels were in infected gerbils consuming a high
      salt/low-iron diet. These data indicate that H. pylori infection can cause IDA
      and that the composition of the diet influences the incidence and severity of H.
      pylori-induced IDA.

PMID- 27620721
TI  - Toll-Like Receptor 2 Agonist Pam3CSK4 Alleviates the Pathology of Leptospirosis
      in Hamster.
AB  - Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic spirochetes, is a zoonotic disease of global
      importance. The detailed pathogenesis of leptospirosis is still unclear, which
      limits the ideal treatment of leptospirosis. In this study, we analyzed the
      expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 in target organs of both
      resistant mice and susceptible hamsters after Leptospira interrogans serovar
      Autumnalis infection. TLR2 but not TLR4 transcripts in mouse organs contrasted
      with delayed induction and overexpression in hamster organs. Coinjection of
      leptospires and the TLR2 agonist Pam3CSK4 into hamsters improved their survival
      rate, alleviated tissue injury, and decreased the abundance of leptospires in
      target organs. The production of interleukin-10 (IL-10) from tissues was enhanced
      in hamsters of the group coinjected with leptospires and Pam3CSK4 compared with
      the leptospira-injected group. Similarly, IL-10 levels in TLR2-deficient mice
      were lower than those in wild-type mice. A high ratio of IL-10/tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) levels was found in both infected wild-type mice and
      hamsters coinjected with leptospires and Pam3CSK4. Moreover, TLR2-dependent IL-10
      expression was detected in peritoneal macrophages after leptospira infection. Our
      data demonstrate that coinjection of leptospires and Pam3CSK4 alleviates the
      pathology of leptospirosis in hamsters; this effect may result from the enhanced
      expression of TLR2-dependent IL-10.

PMID- 27620722
TI  - Critical Role for Interleukin-25 in Host Protective Th2 Memory Response against
      Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri.
AB  - Infection with parasitic nematodes, especially gastrointestinal geohelminths,
      affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and thus poses a major risk to
      global health. The host mechanism of defense against enteric nematode infection
      remains to be fully understood, but it involves a polarized type 2 immunity
      leading to alterations in intestinal function that facilitate worm expulsion. We
      investigated the role of interleukin-25 (IL-25) in host protection against
      Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri infection in mice. Our results showed that Il25
      and its receptor subunit, Il17rb, were upregulated during a primary infection and
      a secondary challenge infection with H. polygyrus bakeri Genetic deletion of IL
      25 (IL-25-/-) led to an attenuated type 2 cytokine response and increased worm
      fecundity in mice with a primary H. polygyrus bakeri infection. In addition, the
      full spectrum of the host memory response against a secondary infection with H.
      polygyrus bakeri was severely impaired in IL-25-/- mice, including delayed type 2
      cytokine responses, an attenuated functional response of the intestinal smooth
      muscle and epithelium, diminished intestinal smooth muscle
      hypertrophy/hyperplasia, and impaired worm expulsion. Furthermore, exogenous
      administration of IL-25 restored the host protective memory response against H.
      polygyrus bakeri infection in IL-25-/- mice. These data demonstrate that IL-25 is
      critical for host protective immunity against H. polygyrus bakeri infection,
      highlighting its potential application as a therapeutic agent against parasitic
      nematode infection worldwide.

PMID- 27620724
TI  - Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Blocks Neutrophil Degranulation.
AB  - Neutrophils are essential components of immunity and are rapidly recruited to
      infected or injured tissue. Upon their activation, neutrophils release granules
      to the cell's exterior, through a process called degranulation. These granules
      contain proteins with antimicrobial properties that help combat infection. The
      enteropathogenic bacterium Yersinia pseudotuberculosis successfully persists as
      an extracellular bacterium during infection by virtue of its translocation of
      virulence effectors (Yersinia outer proteins [Yops]) that act in the cytosol of
      host immune cells to subvert phagocytosis and proinflammatory responses. Here, we
      investigated the effect of Y. pseudotuberculosis on neutrophil degranulation upon
      cell contact. We found that virulent Y. pseudotuberculosis was able to prevent
      secondary granule release. The blocking effect was general, as the release of
      primary and tertiary granules was also reduced. Degranulation of secondary
      granules was also blocked in primed neutrophils, suggesting that this mechanism
      could be an important element of immune evasion. Further, wild-type bacteria
      conferred a transient block on neutrophils that prevented their degranulation
      upon contact with plasmid-cured, avirulent Y. pseudotuberculosis and Escherichia
      coli Detailed analyses showed that the block was strictly dependent on the
      cooperative actions of the two antiphagocytic effectors, YopE and YopH,
      suggesting that the neutrophil target structures constituting signaling molecules
      needed to initiate both phagocytosis and general degranulation. Thus, via these
      virulence effectors, Yersinia can impair several mechanisms of the neutrophil's
      antimicrobial arsenal, which underscores the power of its virulence effector
      machinery.

PMID- 27620723
TI  - Iron Homeostasis Regulates the Genotoxicity of Escherichia coli That Produces
      Colibactin.
AB  - The genotoxin colibactin is a secondary metabolite produced by a variety of
      pathogenic enterobacteria. Its biosynthesis requires the enzymatic activity of
      the phosphopantetheinyl transferase (PPTase) ClbA. We previously showed that ClbA
      can also contribute to the production of siderophores. Because the biosynthesis
      of siderophores is regulated by iron availability, we hypothesized that iron
      could also modulate the production of colibactin through the transcriptional
      regulation of clbA This study revealed an increased transcription of clbA under
      iron-limiting conditions and a decrease of clbA expression in iron-rich media. We
      demonstrate that clbA transcription is regulated by both the ferric uptake
      regulator (Fur) and the small regulatory noncoding RNA RyhB. We evidenced that
      the regulation of the transcription of clbA by Fur and RyhB leads to the
      regulation of colibactin production. This work highlights the complex mechanism
      of regulation of an important virulence factor by the two major regulators of
      bacterial iron homeostasis, making iron a key environmental factor contributing
      to bacterial virulence and carcinogenesis.

PMID- 27620725
TI  - Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis: a common cause of encephalitis
      in the intensive care unit.
AB  - Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDAR encephalitis) is the
      most common type of immune-mediated encephalitis. This study aimed to assess the
      incidence and mortality of anti-NMDAR encephalitis in intensive care unit (ICU)
      to evaluate the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, managements and
      outcomes, and to compare these characteristics with patients with non-anti-NMDAR
      encephalitis admitted to ICU. Patients admitted to the neurological ICU with
      suspected encephalitis were included between January 1, 2012 and July 31, 2015.
      Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of enrolled patients was screened for anti-NMDAR
      antibodies using a cell-based assay. 72 critically ill patients with encephalitis
      of uncertain etiology were investigated, and 16 patients were positive for anti
      NMDAR antibodies in CSF. Compared to patients with non-anti-NMDAR encephalitis,
      patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis were younger, more likely to present with
      the psychiatric symptoms, dyskinesia, and autonomic dysfunction, and had longer
      ICU stays. The abnormal movements were so difficult to control that complicated
      the management. The outcome was favorable in ten patients 1 year after the
      disease onset, and the mortality was as high as 25 % overall. The incidence of
      anti-NMDAR encephalitis is high among critically ill patients with encephalitis
      of uncertain etiology. Controlling dyskinesia proved to be a challenge.
      Persistent dysautonomias were additional difficult to manage confounders. Same
      points being highlighted in this study may aid clinicians in the management of
      patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis in intensive care practice.

PMID- 27620726
TI  - Intra-rater reliability of the Modified Tardieu Scale in patients with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - The reliability of the Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS) has not been examined in
      patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aimed to assess intra-rater
      reliability of the MTS in the assessment of lower limb spasticity in patients
      with MS. Data from 30 patients with MS (18 women, mean age = 41.5) were used to
      assess intra-rater reliability. An inexperienced physiotherapist in the scale
      randomly examined the hip adductors, knee extensors, and ankle plantar flexors on
      each subject twice with at least a 7-day interval. Kappa statistics (kappa) were
      calculated for MTS quality of muscle reactions. Intraclass correlation
      coefficients (ICCagreement) and smallest detectable change (SDC) were calculated
      for R2, R1, and R2-R1. Qualitative rating of spasticity demonstrated moderate or
      good agreement, with an overall moderate kappa of 0.72. Intra-rater reliability
      for all angle components of MTS was poor to good (ICCagreement range 0.45-0.83).
      The SDC for all the MTS components across the muscle groups was unacceptably
      large (range 14.6-55.6). Results did not establish good intra-rater reliability
      for the MTS when assessing lower limb muscle spasticity in patients with MS by a
      physiotherapist with no previous experience in the scale and with limited
      training.

PMID- 27620727
TI  - A community-based cross-sectional study of sleep quality in middle-aged and older
      adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep quality has been widely studied among western countries.
      However, there is limited population-based evidence on insomnia in Chinese adult
      populations, especially in middle-aged and older adults. The aims of present
      study are to (1) examine the prevalence of poor sleep among Chinese middle-age
      and older adults, (2) compare the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) seven
      domain scores across different physical health statuses, (3) explore factors
      associated with insomnia. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a
      multi-instrument questionnaire. In total, 1563 residents aged 45 or older in the
      community were interviewed. The Chinese version of the PSQI was used to assess
      sleep quality while poor sleep was defined as a total PSQI score >5. Socio
      demographic, lifestyle and physical health data were also collected. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of poor sleep among adults aged over 45 years was 20.67 %. Clusters
      logistic regression analysis identified that migrant workers, single marital
      status, lower education level, no physical exercise, illness within 2 weeks, and
      a higher total number of chronic diseases contribute to increased risk of poor
      sleep (P < 0.05). Among three clusters, physical health has the biggest
      independent contribution on sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated
      that poor sleep was common in middle-aged and older adults. It was associated
      with identity of migrant worker, education level, exercise, illness within 2
      weeks and number of chronic disease. Being ill within 2 weeks and having more
      chronic diseases were the major physical health-related factors contributing to
      poor sleep in the middle-aged and older people. Physical health may be a major
      determinant in sleep quality.

PMID- 27620728
TI  - Early hepatocellular carcinoma as a signaling lesion for subsequent malignancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer may contribute substantially
      to complete cure, but it remains unknown whether treatment of early
      hepatocellular carcinoma can actually result in cure. This study was performed to
      clarify the cancer risk of the background liver after treating early
      hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: Early hepatocellular carcinoma is defined as
      very well-differentiated cancer containing Glisson's triad. The cumulative
      incidence of classical hepatocellular carcinoma, hypervascular liver cancer
      detected on imaging studies, after resection of early hepatocellular carcinoma
      positive for anti-hepatitis C antibody (early hepatocellular carcinoma group, n =
      105) was compared with that in patients with chronic liver disease positive for
      anti-hepatitis C antibody (control group, n = 751) and propensity score-matched
      patients after resection of classical hepatocellular carcinoma (classical
      hepatocellular carcinoma group, n = 105). RESULTS: After a median follow-up of
      4.8 years (range, 0.3-15.0), the cumulative incidence of classical hepatocellular
      carcinoma at 5 years was 56.9% (95% confidence interval, 44.2-67.7%) in the early
      hepatocellular carcinoma group and 70.6% (52.5-81.8%) in the classical
      hepatocellular carcinoma group as compared with 4.6% (2.8-6.4%) in the control
      group. The risk of the development of classical hepatocellular carcinoma in the
      early hepatocellular carcinoma group was significantly higher than that in the
      control group (hazard ratio, 17.5; 95% confidence interval, 12.1-25.3; P < 0.001)
      and significantly lower than that in the classical hepatocellular carcinoma group
      (hazard ratio, 0.60; 0.41-0.89; P = 0.010). However, the cumulative incidence of
      second primary hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with one early hepatocellular
      carcinoma did not differ significantly from that in patients with two or more
      early hepatocellular carcinoma lesions (hazard ratio, 1.50; 0.85-2.65; P =
      0.157). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of early hepatocellular carcinoma cannot provide
      complete cure due to the substantial risk of developing classical hepatocellular
      carcinoma.

PMID- 27620729
TI  - Cessation of long-term adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy after radical
      prostatectomy: is it feasible?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy is a common treatment option
      for prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy, especially in Asia. However, no
      study has investigated the oncological outcome after cessation of long-term
      adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy with favorable prostate-specific antigen 
      control. METHODS: Among 855 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy at our
      institution between 2000 and 2012, we identified 56 men with pT2-4N0-1M0 prostate
      cancer who had received long-term (>2 years) adjuvant androgen deprivation
      therapy after radical prostatectomy and subsequently stopped it under a condition
      of continued prostate-specific antigen values <0.1 ng/mL. The oncological outcome
      was evaluated using biochemical recurrence, defined as two consecutive prostate
      specific antigen values >=0.2 ng/mL, as the primary endpoint. Cox proportional
      hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. Age at androgen deprivation
      therapy cessation was dichotomized as <68 years and >=68 years, based on the most
      discriminatory cutoff. RESULTS: Median duration of adjuvant androgen deprivation
      therapy was 70 months. Overall, 13 of 56 (23%) patients developed biochemical
      recurrence with a median follow-up period of 41 months after androgen deprivation
      therapy cessation. Multivariate analysis identified age at androgen deprivation
      therapy cessation <68 years and pN1 as independent predictors of biochemical
      recurrence. Predisposition of younger age to poorer survival may be related to
      more frequent testosterone recovery in younger men (73 vs 33%, P = 0.0299). One
      patient had evidence of clinical metastasis and no one died of prostate cancer.
      CONCLUSIONS: Androgen deprivation therapy cessation would be feasible in most men
      who received long-term adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy after radical
      prostatectomy with favorable prostate-specific antigen control. Risk factors of
      biochemical recurrence after androgen deprivation therapy cessation included
      younger age at androgen deprivation therapy cessation and pN1.

PMID- 27620730
TI  - Adaptive response of Rhodococcus opacus PWD4 to salt and phenolic stress on the
      level of mycolic acids.
AB  - Mycolata form a group of Gram-positive bacteria with unique cell envelope
      structures that are known for their high tolerance against antibiotics and both
      aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. An important part of the unique surface
      structure of the mycolata is the presence of long chain alpha-alkyl-beta-hydroxy
      fatty acids, the mycolic acids. In order to investigate the adaptive changes in
      the mycolic acid composition, we investigated the composition of mycolic acids
      during the response both to osmotic stress caused by NaCl and to 4-chlorophenol
      in Rhodococcus opacus PWD4. This bacterium was chosen as it is known to adapt to
      different kinds of stresses. In addition, it is a potential biocatalyst in
      bioremediation as well as for biotechnological applications. In the present
      study, cells of R. opacus PWD4, grown in liquid cultures, responded to toxic
      concentrations of NaCl by increasing the ratio between mycolic acids and membrane
      phospholipid fatty acids (MA/PLFA-ratio). Cells reacted to both NaCl and 4
      chlorophenol by decreasing both the average chain length and the unsaturation
      index of their mycolic acids. These changes in mycolic acid composition
      correlated with increases in cell surface hydrophobicity and saturation of
      membrane fatty acids, demonstrating the relation between mycolic acid and
      phospholipid synthesis and their contribution to cell surface properties of R.
      opacus PWD4. 

PMID- 27620731
TI  - Multi-trait QTL analysis for agronomic and quality characters of Agaricus
      bisporus (button mushrooms).
AB  - The demand for button mushrooms of high quality is increasing. Superior button
      mushroom varieties require the combination of multiple traits to maximize
      productivity and quality. Very often these traits are correlated and should,
      therefore, be evaluated together rather than as single traits. In order to
      unravel the genetic architecture of multiple traits of Agaricus bisporus and the
      genetic correlations among traits, we have investigated a total of six agronomic
      and quality traits through multi-trait QTL analyses in a mixed-model. Traits were
      evaluated in three heterokaryon sets. Significant phenotypic correlations were
      observed among traits. For instance, earliness (ER) correlated to firmness (FM),
      cap color, and compost colonization, and FM correlated to scales (SC). QTLs of
      different traits located on the same chromosomes genetically explains the
      phenotypic correlations. QTL detected on chromosome 10 mainly affects three
      traits, i.e., ER, FM and SC. It explained 31.4 % phenotypic variation of SC on
      mushroom cap (heterokaryon Set 1), 14.9 % that of the FM (heterokaryon Set 3),
      and 14.2 % that of ER (heterokaryon Set 3). High value alleles from the wild
      parental line showed beneficial effects for several traits, suggesting that the
      wild germplasm is a valuable donor in terms of those traits. Due to the
      limitations of recombination pattern, we only made a start at understanding the
      genetic base for several agronomic and quality traits in button mushrooms. 

PMID- 27620732
TI  - Thermal discharge-created increasing temperatures alter the bacterioplankton
      composition and functional redundancy.
AB  - Elevated seawater temperature has altered the coupling between coastal primary
      production and heterotrophic bacterioplankton respiration. This shift, in turn,
      could influence the feedback of ocean ecosystem to climate warming. However,
      little is known about how natural bacterioplankton community responds to
      increasing seawater temperature. To investigate warming effects on the
      bacterioplankton community, we collected water samples from temperature gradients
      (ranged from 15.0 to 18.6  degrees C) created by a thermal flume of a coal power
      plant. The results showed that increasing temperatures significantly stimulated
      bacterial abundance, grazing rate, and altered bacterioplankton community
      compositions (BCCs). The spatial distribution of bacterioplankton community
      followed a distance similarity decay relationship, with a turnover of 0.005. A
      variance partitioning analysis showed that temperature directly constrained 2.01
      % variation in BCCs, while temperature-induced changes in water geochemical and
      grazing rate indirectly accounted for 4.03 and 12.8 % of the community variance,
      respectively. Furthermore, the relative abundances of 24 bacterial families were
      linearly increased or decreased (P < 0.05 in all cases) with increasing
      temperatures. Notably, the change pattern for a given bacterial family was in
      concert with its known functions. In addition, community functional redundancy
      consistently decreased along the temperature gradient. This study demonstrates
      that elevated temperature, combined with substrate supply and trophic
      interactions, dramatically alters BCCs, concomitant with decreases in functional
      redundancy. The responses of sensitive assemblages are temperature dependent,
      which could indicate temperature departures. 

PMID- 27620733
TI  - Cesium and strontium tolerant Arthrobacter sp. strain KMSZP6 isolated from a
      pristine uranium ore deposit.
AB  - Arthrobacter sp. KMSZP6 isolated from a pristine uranium ore deposit at Domiasiat
      located in North-East India exhibited noteworthy tolerance for cesium (Cs) and
      strontium (Sr). The strain displayed a high minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) of 400 mM for CsCl and for SrCl2. Flow cytometric analysis employing
      membrane integrity indicators like propidium iodide (PI) and thiazole orange (TO)
      indicated a greater sensitivity of Arthrobacter cells to cesium than to
      strontium. On being challenged with 75 mM of Cs, the cells sequestered 9612 mg Cs
      g(-1) dry weight of cells in 12 h. On being challenged with 75 mM of Sr, the
      cells sequestered 9989 mg Sr g(-1) dry weight of cells in 18 h. Heat killed cells
      exhibited limited Cs and Sr binding as compared to live cells highlighting the
      importance of cell viability for optimal binding. The association of the metals
      with Arthrobacter sp. KMSZP6 was further substantiated by Field Emission-Scanning
      Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) coupled with Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX)
      spectroscopy. This organism tolerated up to 1 kGy (60)Co-gamma rays without loss
      of survival. The present report highlights the superior tolerance and binding
      capacity of the KMSZP6 strain for cesium and strontium over other earlier
      reported strains and reveals its potential for bioremediation of nuclear waste. 

PMID- 27620734
TI  - GST activity and membrane lipid saturation prevents mesotrione-induced cellular
      damage in Pantoea ananatis.
AB  - Callisto((r)), containing the active ingredient mesotrione (2-[4-methylsulfonyl-2
      nitrobenzoyl]1,3-cyclohenanedione), is a selective herbicide that controls weeds
      in corn crops and is a potential environmental contaminant. The objective of this
      work was to evaluate enzymatic and structural changes in Pantoea ananatis, a
      strain isolated from water, in response to exposure to this herbicide. Despite
      degradation of mesotrione, probably due a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pathway
      in Pantoea ananatis, this herbicide induced oxidative stress by increasing
      hydrogen peroxide production. Thiol fragments, eventually produced after
      mesotrione degradation, could be involved in increased GST activity.
      Nevertheless, there was no peroxidation damage related to this production, as
      malondialdehyde (MDA) synthesis, which is due to lipid peroxidation, was highest
      in the controls, followed by the mesotrione- and Callisto((r))-treated cultures
      at log growth phase. Therefore, P. ananatis can tolerate and grow in the presence
      of the herbicide, probably due an efficient control of oxidative stress by a
      polymorphic catalase system. MDA rates depend on lipid saturation due to a
      pattern change to a higher level of saturation. These changes are likely related
      to the formation of GST-mesotrione conjugates and mesotrione degradation-specific
      metabolites and to the presence of cytotoxic adjuvants. These features may shift
      lipid membrane saturation, possibly providing a protective effect to bacteria
      through an increase in membrane impermeability. This response system in P.
      ananatis provides a novel model for bacterial herbicide tolerance and adaptation
      in the environment. 

PMID- 27620735
TI  - Floridoside production by the red microalga Galdieria sulphuraria under different
      conditions of growth and osmotic stress.
AB  - Floridoside is a compatible solute synthesized by red algae that has attracted
      considerable attention due to its promising antifouling and therapeutic
      properties. However, research on industrial applications of floridoside is
      hampered by limited compound availability and the development of a production
      process yielding high amounts of this glycoside has not been explored yet. In the
      present work, floridoside accumulation by the red microalgae Galdieria
      sulphuraria under different conditions was investigated in order to optimize the
      production of this glycoside in this microalgae. G. sulphuraria shows consider
      advantages over other red algae as potential industrial producer of floridoside
      due to its unicellular nature, its ability to grow heterotrophically in complete
      darkness and its acidophilic lifestyle. The main compatible solute accumulated by
      G. sulphuraria under salt stress was purified, identified as floridoside by (1)H
      NMR and used as standard for quantification. Our results showed that applying the
      osmotic stress after the cells had grown first in medium with no salt resulted in
      higher floridoside yields compared to those obtained in cells growing under
      osmotic stress from the beginning. Among several parameters tested, the use of
      glycerol as carbon source for cell growth showed the most significant impact on
      floridoside accumulation, which reached a maximum of 56.8 mg/g dry biomass. 

PMID- 27620736
TI  - Bioscreening and expression of a camel anti-CTGF VHH nanobody and its
      renaturation by a novel dialysis-dilution method.
AB  - The variable regions of the camel heavy chain antibody, also known as nanobody is
      the smallest antibody with antigen-binding efficiency. CTGF is considered
      important during extracellular matrix deposition which was involved in the
      pathogenesis of fibrosis related diseases. There are several anti-CTGF-C nanobody
      drugs under developing in pharmacy. In this study, we described the screening of
      a novel anti-CTGF-C nanobody from the peripheral blood of immunized camel by
      phage display. The screened nanobody was further expressed and purified from E.
      coli cells. A sophisticated dialysis-dilution method was designed for the in
      vitro refolding of the nanobody. The results showed that the expressed nanobody
      was consisted of 135 amino acid and mainly expressed as inclusion body in E. coli
      cells. The dialysis-dilution method was very effective and the recovery rate of
      the renaturation was more than 80 %. The ELISA result suggested the nanobody had
      been well refolded showing a superior CTGF binding activity to the commercial
      mouse anti-CTGF-C mAb. In conclusion, the anti-CTGF-C nonobody had been
      successfully screened by phage display. The dialysis-dilution refolding method
      was very effective and the recovery rate reached over 80 %. 

PMID- 27620738
TI  - Exponential repulsion improves structural predictability of molecular docking.
AB  - Molecular docking is a powerful tool for theoretical prediction of the preferred
      conformation and orientation of small molecules within protein active sites. The
      obtained poses can be used for estimation of binding energies, which indicate the
      inhibition effect of designed inhibitors, and therefore might be used for in
      silico drug design. However, the evaluation of ligand binding affinity critically
      depends on successful prediction of the native binding mode. Contemporary docking
      methods are often based on scoring functions derived from molecular mechanical
      potentials. In such potentials, nonbonded interactions are typically represented
      by electrostatic interactions between atom-centered partial charges and standard
      6-12 Lennard-Jones potential. Here, we present implementation and testing of a
      scoring function based on more physically justified exponential repulsion instead
      of the standard Lennard-Jones potential. We found that this scoring function
      significantly improved prediction of the native binding modes in proteins bearing
      narrow active sites such as serine proteases and kinases. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27620739
TI  - Fabrication of electrospun polycaprolactone coated withchitosan-silver
      nanoparticles membranes for wound dressing applications.
AB  - In this study, electrospun polycaprolactone membrane coated with chitosan-silver
      nanoparticles (CsAg), electrospun polycaprolactone/chitosan/Ag nanoparticles, was
      fabricated by immersing the plasma-treated electrospun polycaprolactone membrane
      in the CsAg gel. The plasma modification of electrospun polycaprolactone membrane
      prior to CsAg coating was tested by methylene blue stain and scanning electron
      microscope. The presence of silver and chitosan on the plasma-treated electrospun
      polycaprolactone membrane was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
      and FT-IR spectrum. Scanning electron microscope observation was employed to
      observe the morphology of the membranes. The release of Ag ions from electrospun
      polycaprolactone/chitosan/Ag nanoparticles membrane was tested using atomic
      absorption spectrometry. Electrospun polycaprolactone/chitosan/Ag nanoparticles
      membrane inherited advantages from both CsAg gel and electrospun polycaprolactone
      membrane such as: increasing biocompatibility, mechanical strength, and
      antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
      Thus, this investigation introduces a highly potential membrane that can increase
      the efficacy of the wound dressing process. 

PMID- 27620740
TI  - Degradation of zinc containing phosphate-based glass as a material for orthopedic
      tissue engineering.
AB  - Phosphate-based glasses have been examined in many studies as a potential
      biomaterial for bone repair because of its degradation properties, which can be
      controlled and allow the release of various elements to promote osteogenic tissue
      growth. However most of these experiments studied either tertiary or quaternary
      glass systems. This study investigated a qinternary system that included titanium
      dioxide for degradation rate control and zinc that is considered to have a role
      in bone formation. Zinc and titanium phosphate glass discs of different
      compositions were melt synthesized and samples of each composition was tested for
      different physical, chemical and biological characteristics via density
      measurement, X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, mass loss, ion
      release, scanning electron microscopy, biocompatibility studies via live/dead
      assays at three time points (day 1, 4, and 7). The results showed that the glass
      was amorphous and that the all thermal variables decreased as zinc oxide amount
      raised, mass loss as well as ion release increased as zinc oxide increased, and
      the maximum rise was with ZnO15. The cellular studies showed that all the
      formulation showed similar cytocompatibility properties with MG63 except ZnO15,
      which displayed cytotoxic properties and this was confirmed also by the scanning
      electron microscope images. In conclusion, replacing calcium oxide with zinc
      oxide in proportion less than 10 % can have a positive effect on bone forming
      cells. 

PMID- 27620741
TI  - Rectal melanoma: epidemiology, prognosis, and role of adjuvant radiation therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Rectal melanoma (RM) is a lethal malignancy which is not well
      understood. While cases are rising, data concerning effective management are
      limited. The present paper sought to elucidate the epidemiology and prognosis of
      RM, while also analyzing the role of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT). METHODS: We
      used the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results program to find all cases of
      RM diagnosed between 2004 and 2011. Patients 18 or older with non-metastatic
      disease who had undergone surgery were included. Data regarding the age, race,
      sex, marital status, stage, and radiation sequence with surgery were extracted
      from the database and analyzed. Disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was
      studied for the group overall and between subgroups. RESULTS: Median age at
      diagnosis was 69 years. RM is significantly more common in whites compared to
      nonwhites and occurs equally in males and females. Most patients are diagnosed at
      an early stage. Prognosis is poor with a median DFS of 27 months and median OS of
      22 months. There were no differences in outcomes based on age, sex, marital
      status, or stage; however, OS was improved in nonwhites as compared to whites (P
      = 0.04). RT did not improve DFS (27 vs 28 months for surgery vs surgery and
      radiation, P = 0.82) or OS (19 vs 22 months for surgery vs surgery and radiation
      P=0.80) regardless of stage. CONCLUSIONS: RM is an aggressive disease primarily
      affecting older, white patients. RT does not improve survival, regardless of
      stage. Optimal management of this lethal disease remains to be elucidated.

PMID- 27620742
TI  - Survival variability of controls and definition of imaging endpoints for
      longitudinal follow-up of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 3Rs guideline is the gold standard for ethics in animal
      experimentation. Two of those rules, namely refinement and reduction, require
      further improvement. The objective of this study was to define pathways to better
      compliance with these prerequisites. Two methods which move us in this direction
      are: (1) using small animal imaging techniques for pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC) follow-up and (2) reduction of the number of control
      animals included in a study of PDAC progression under treatment. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Firstly, we used MicroCT scan to diagnose events showing PDAC
      progression prior to any clinical symptoms to thereby define more humane
      endpoints identifiable before any painful phenomenon is observed. Secondly, in
      order to test the hypothesis of using a reference control group in all
      preclinical studies of a new treatment of PDAC, we investigated the stability of
      the results obtained with the control groups in three successive identical
      studies comparing placebo and gemcitabine in tumor-bearing Lewis rats. RESULTS:
      Two imaging endpoints were found. The first was the observation of a liver
      metastasis assessing PDAC diffusion and, earlier than liver metastasis, the
      presence of bands of fluid along the flanks, with more or less a medial
      displacement of bowel and solid viscera, reflecting a peritoneal ascites. Results
      of the longitudinal follow-up of rats in the gemcitabine study revealed
      heterogeneity in the survival rate in the three control groups, as opposed to the
      survival rate in the three treated groups which did not differ statistically. As
      a result, the significance of improved survival with chemotherapy varied greatly
      according to the control group used for the comparison, ranging from no impact to
      a highly significant effect. CONCLUSION: The early detection by the means of
      animal imaging of one or more signs indicating the onset of a critical step in
      the development of the disease (e.g., ascites or/and metastasis) allows the
      researcher to prevent the occurrence of animal pain, thereby ensuring better
      animal welfare. However, using a single standard control group in an effort to
      use fewer animals for a given model runs such a significant risk of false results
      that it mars the entire study. Although reducing the number of animals in a study
      remains the gold standard of our experimental practice, in this case it would
      come at the price of a loss of validity of the results.

PMID- 27620743
TI  - Proteomic analysis of the vitamin C effect on the doxorubicin cytotoxicity in the
      MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.
AB  - PURPOSE: Doxorubicin is an anthracycline drug which inhibits the growth of breast
      cancer cell lines. However, a major factor limiting its use is a cumulative, dose
      dependent cardiotoxicity, resulting in a permanent loss of cardiomyocytes.
      Vitamin C was found to potentiate the cytotoxic effects of a variety of
      chemotherapeutic drugs including doxorubicin. The aim of the study was to
      describe the changes in protein expression and proliferation of the MCF-7 cells
      induced by the vitamin C applied with doxorubicin. METHODS: Label-free
      quantitative proteomics and real-time cell analysis methods were used to search
      for proteome and cell proliferation changes. These changes were induced by the
      pure DOX and by DOX combined with vitamin C applied on the MCF-7 cell line.
      RESULTS: From the real-time cell analysis experiments, it is clear that the
      highest anti-proliferative effect occurs with the addition of 200 uM of vitamin C
      to 1 uM of doxorubicin. By applying both the label-free protein quantification
      method and total ion current assay, we found statistically significant changes (p
      <= 0.05) of 26 proteins induced by the addition of vitamin C to doxorubicin on
      the MCF-7 cell line. These differentially expressed proteins are involved in
      processes such as structural molecule activity, transcription and translation,
      immune system process and antioxidant, cellular signalling and transport.
      CONCLUSION: The detected proteins may be capable of predicting response to DOX
      therapy. This is a key tool in the treatment of breast cancer, and the
      combination with vit C seems to be of particular interest due to the fact that it
      can potentiate anti-proliferative effect of DOX.

PMID- 27620744
TI  - A let-7 microRNA binding site polymorphism in the KRAS 3'UTR is associated with
      increased risk and reduced survival for gallbladder cancer in North Indian
      population.
AB  - PURPOSE: Gallbladder cancer is a lethal malignancy of hepato-biliary system with
      high incidence in North India, especially along gangetic plain. The let-7
      microRNAs play a key role in regulating KRAS expression and a polymorphism in 3'
      untranslated region (rs61764370, T/G) of KRAS leads to its higher expression.
      This polymorphism is known to be associated with increased risk and prognosis of
      various cancers but its association with gallbladder cancer has not been
      evaluated. To address this research question, we evaluated whether rs61764370
      variant is associated with gallbladder cancer susceptibility and clinical
      outcomes. METHODS: In present case-control study, we enrolled 541 patients with
      gallbladder malignancy and 307 controls. Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral
      blood and genotyping was performed using Taqman allelic discrimination assay.
      RESULTS: Heterozygous (TG) individuals are at a significant higher risk for GBC
      as compared with wild genotype (TT) (p = 0.007, odds ratio = 2.56, 95 % CI 1.27
      5.18). At allelic level, allele G has significant higher risk for GBC as compared
      with T allele (p = 0.008, odds ratio = 2.5, 95 % CI 1.25-5.01). Survival analysis
      reveals decrease in overall survival for heterozygous genotype (p < 0.0001,
      hazard ratio = 3.42, 95 % CI 1.21-4.20). Also, significant decrease in overall
      survival was observed for patient carrying allele G (p < 0.0001, HR = 2.89, 95 %
      CI 1.21-4.20) as compared with allele C. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that KRAS
      rs61764370 polymorphism is significantly associated with risk and prognosis of
      gallbladder malignancy in this endemic belt.

PMID- 27620801
TI  - Causal Dynamics of Scalp Electroencephalography Oscillation During the Rubber
      Hand Illusion.
AB  - Rubber hand illusion (RHI) is an important phenomenon for the investigation of
      body ownership and self/other distinction. The illusion is promoted by the
      spatial and temporal contingencies of visual inputs near a fake hand and physical
      touches to the real hand. The neural basis of this phenomenon is not fully
      understood. We hypothesized that the RHI is associated with a fronto-parietal
      circuit, and the goal of this study was to determine the dynamics of neural
      oscillation associated with this phenomenon. We measured electroencephalography
      while delivering spatially congruent/incongruent visuo-tactile stimulations to
      fake and real hands. We applied time-frequency analyses and calculated
      renormalized partial directed coherence (rPDC) to examine cortical dynamics
      during the bodily illusion. When visuo-tactile stimulation was spatially
      congruent, and the fake and real hands were aligned, we observed a reduced causal
      relationship from the medial frontal to the parietal regions with respect to
      baseline, around 200 ms post-stimulus. This change in rPDC was negatively
      correlated with a subjective report of the RHI intensity. Moreover, we observed a
      link between the proprioceptive drift and an increased causal relationship from
      the parietal cortex to the right somatosensory cortex during a relatively late
      period (550-750 ms post-stimulus). These findings suggest a two-stage process in
      which (1) reduced influence from the medial frontal regions over the parietal
      areas unlocks the mechanisms that preserve body integrity, allowing RHI to
      emerge; and (2) information processed at the parietal cortex is back-projected to
      the somatosensory cortex contralateral to the real hand, inducing proprioceptive
      drift.

PMID- 27620802
TI  - Erratum to: What MRI Findings Predict Failure 10 Years After Surgery for
      Femoroacetabular Impingement?

PMID- 27620803
TI  - Editorial Comment: 2016 Hip Society Proceedings.

PMID- 27620745
TI  - Current status in cancer cell reprogramming and its clinical implications.
AB  - PURPOSE: The technology of reprogramming a terminally differentiated cell to an
      embryonic-like state uncovered the possibility of reprogramming a malignant cell
      back to a more manageable stem cell-like state. Since the current cancer models
      suffer from reflecting heterogeneous tumour structure and limited to express the
      late-stage markers, the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology could
      provide an alternative model to recapitulate the early stages of cancer.
      Generation of iPSCs from cancer cells could offer a tool for understanding the
      mechanisms of tumour initiation-progression in vitro, a platform for studying
      tumour heterogeneity and origin of cancer stem cells and a source for cancer type
      specific drug discovery studies. METHODS: In this review, we discussed the recent
      findings in reprogramming cancer cells with a special emphasis on similarities
      between cancer cells and pluripotent cells. We presented the basis of challenges
      in cancer cell reprogramming including the current problems in reprogramming,
      cancer-specific epigenetic state and chromosomal aberrations. RESULTS: Cancer
      epigenetics represent the major hurdle before the prospective use of cancer iPSCs
      as a model system and for biomarker research. When the reprogramming process is
      optimised for cancer cell types, it might serve for two purposes: identification
      of the specific epigenetic state of cancer as well as reversion of the malignant
      phenotype to a potentially malignant but manageable state. CONCLUSIONS:
      Reprogramming cancer cells would serve for our understanding of cancer-specific
      epigenome and elucidation of overlapping mechanisms shared by cancer-initiating
      cells and pluripotent cells.

PMID- 27620804
TI  - Operative Fluoroscopic Correction Is Reliable and Correlates With Postoperative
      Radiographic Correction in Periacetabular Osteotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intraoperative fluoroscopy is commonly used to both guide the
      osteotomy and judge correction of the acetabular fragment in periacetabular
      osteotomy (PAO). Prior studies that have compared intraoperative fluoroscopic
      correction with postoperative radiographic correction were small studies that did
      not report intra- or interreader reliability. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: (1) What is the
      correlation between intraoperative fluoroscopic correction in PAO compared with
      the correction seen on postoperative radiographs? (2) What is the reliability of
      radiographic measures of correction in PAO? METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      study of 121 patients (141 hips) who underwent PAO for symptomatic hip dysplasia
      at a tertiary referral center. Patients were included in the study if they had
      preoperative radiographs, intraoperative fluoroscopy, and minimum 6-week
      postoperative radiographs. Of the 272 PAO procedures performed in this time
      period, 61 patients who underwent PAO for retroversion and five patients with a
      history of Perthes disease were excluded as a result of the inability for these
      radiographic measures to judge fragment correction in PAOs for retroversion and
      the difficulty in measurement in post-Perthes deformity. Of the 206 PAOs
      performed for symptomatic acetabular dysplasia, 65 (32%) could not be analyzed
      because they lacked appropriate preoperative films, leaving 141 PAOs in 121
      patients for analysis. The patients lacking appropriate preoperative films had
      them performed at an outside facility or had plain films that have since been
      destroyed. The lateral center-edge angle (LCEA) and acetabular index (AI) on the
      fluoroscopic views and postoperative radiographs were measured by two authors.
      The concordance between the amount of correction on intraoperative fluoroscopy
      and minimum 6-week postoperative measurements was analyzed using the concordance
      correlation coefficient (rc) and a Bland-Altman analysis. Intra- and interrater
      reliability was calculated between measurements. RESULTS: The amount of
      intraoperative correction of LCEA as measured on fluoroscopic images demonstrated
      substantial agreement with postoperative radiographs (rc = 0.79; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.73-0.85; p < 0.001) as did the AI (rc = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.70-0.84;
      p < 0.001). The mean difference between intraoperative correction was only -0.38
      degrees  (SD 3.6 degrees ) for LCEA and -0.84 degrees  (SD 3.4 degrees ) for AI.
      Interrater reliability for both LCEA and AI also demonstrated substantial
      agreement (all, rc = 0.70-0.90) for preoperative, operative, and postoperative
      imaging. Furthermore, intrarater reliability for both LCEA and AI demonstrated
      almost perfect agreement for all measures (all, rc > 0.81). CONCLUSIONS:
      Intraoperative fluoroscopy is an accurate and reliable measure of correction of
      lateral coverage of the acetabular fragment during PAO. Further studies on
      measures of anterior coverage and acetabular version are needed to validate
      intraoperative fluoroscopic correction in these planes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level
      III, diagnostic study.

PMID- 27620805
TI  - Cyclobutenones and Benzocyclobutenones: Versatile Synthons in Organic Synthesis.
AB  - Cyclobutenones, four-membered ketones bearing an unsaturated carbon-carbon double
      bond, and their structural sibling benzocyclobutenones, possess unique
      reactivity. Owing to their inherent high ring strain, such structures readily
      undergo ring opening under a variety of conditions, including thermolysis,
      photolysis, and transition metal catalysis, to afford reactive intermediates that
      can be trapped with nucleophiles, dienophiles, and unsaturated bonds. Their
      electron-deficient enone moieties are good electrophiles for facile nucleophilic
      addition. Such properties render cyclobutenones versatile synthons, serving as
      excellent coupling partners in a vast array of synthetically valuable
      transformations.

PMID- 27620806
TI  - Deja-vu from the nineties: is there a perspective for anti-endotoxin strategies
      to improve the outcome of multiple trauma patients?
AB  - A recent cohort study of Charbonney et al. indicates that multiple trauma
      patients develop endotoxemia also in the absence of Gram-negative infection. This
      is most probably due to an increase of gut permeability. Non-survivors as well as
      patients with cardiovascular dysfunction and multiple organ failure (MOF) show
      significantly higher endotoxin levels at 24 h after injury compared to survivors
      and patients without MOF. These results are like a deja-vu from the nineties of
      the last century, where several studies reported endotoxemia during the initial
      24 h after multiple trauma with development of MOF and death at endotoxin levels
      >10 and >12 pg/mL, respectively. Of interest, other multiple trauma patient
      studies in the nineties have shown endogenous anti-endotoxin antibody production
      in survivors and reduced antibody production in non-survivors, which died from
      MOF. Although all these studies have pointed towards a mechanistic role of
      endotoxin in the fatal outcome after multiple injuries, clinical anti-endotoxin
      studies are still lacking. Thus, the future perspective must be prospective
      randomized multicenter trials, which have to elucidate the capability of anti
      endotoxin treatment strategies to improve outcome in multiple trauma patients. 

PMID- 27620808
TI  - Effects of long-term active immunization with the second extracellular loop of
      human beta1- or beta3-adrenoceptors in thoracic aorta and mesenteric arteries in
      Lewis rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether active immunization producing beta1- or beta3
      antibodies (beta1-ABs and beta3-ABs) detected in sera of patients with dilated
      cardiomyopathies has deleterious effects on vascular reactivity in Lewis rat
      thoracic aorta (TA) and small mesenteric arteries (SMA). DESIGN AND METHOD: Lewis
      rats were immunized for 6months with peptidic sequences corresponding to the
      second extracellular loop of beta1- and beta3-adrenoceptors (ARs). During the
      immunization, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was monitored using the tail cuff
      method. The vascular reactivity of immunized rats was assessed by ex vivo studies
      on SMA and TA using various beta-AR agonists, phenylephrine and KCl. RESULTS: The
      immunizations producing functional beta1-ABs and beta3-ABs did not affect the
      SBP. However, in TA from beta1-AR-immunized rats, the relaxations mediated by
      dobutamine and salbutamol were significantly impaired in comparison with adjuvant
      rats whereas nebivolol-induced relaxation was not modified. Moreover,
      phenylephrine and KCl-mediated contractions were enhanced in these rats. In
      contrast, immunization with beta3-AR peptide led to the increase of relaxations
      induced by dobutamine in TA but did not change those induced by salbutamol and
      nebivolol. Surprisingly, in SMA from both rats immunized with beta1- or beta3
      peptides, relaxations induced by the various beta-agonists were not changed
      whereas phenylephrine and KCl-mediated contractions were impaired. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our study shows that beta1- and beta3-ABs can affect vascular reactivity. beta1
      ABs would have a pathogenic action whereas beta3-ABs would have a beneficial
      effect on aorta reactivity.

PMID- 27620807
TI  - Concurrent micro-RNA mediated silencing of tick-borne flavivirus replication in
      tick vector and in the brain of vertebrate host.
AB  - Tick-borne viruses include medically important zoonotic pathogens that can cause
      life-threatening diseases. Unlike mosquito-borne viruses, whose impact can be
      restrained via mosquito population control programs, for tick-borne viruses only
      vaccination remains the reliable means of disease prevention. For live vaccine
      viruses a concern exists, that spillovers from viremic vaccinees could result in
      introduction of genetically modified viruses into sustainable tick-vertebrate
      host transmission cycle in nature. To restrict tick-borne flavivirus (Langat
      virus, LGTV) vector tropism, we inserted target sequences for tick-specific
      microRNAs (mir-1, mir-275 and mir-279) individually or in combination into
      several distant regions of LGTV genome. This caused selective attenuation of
      viral replication in tick-derived cells. LGTV expressing combinations of target
      sequences for tick- and vertebrate CNS-specific miRNAs were developed. The
      resulting viruses replicated efficiently and remained stable in simian Vero
      cells, which do not express these miRNAs, however were severely restricted to
      replicate in tick-derived cells. In addition, simultaneous dual miRNA targeting
      led to silencing of virus replication in live Ixodes ricinus ticks and abolished
      virus neurotropism in highly permissive newborn mice. The concurrent restriction
      of adverse replication events in vertebrate and invertebrate hosts will,
      therefore, ensure the environmental safety of live tick-borne virus vaccine
      candidates.

PMID- 27620810
TI  - Challenges associated with treating children with diabetes in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) patients among the children have been
      increasing rapidly in the recent years in Saudi Arabia, as a result there is a
      need for extensive research in this area. Various suggestions were kept forward
      including m-health technologies, telemedicine etc. However, very little research
      has been conducted in understanding the T1DM among the children, measures being
      taken to control, and the feasible policies and procedures that could be adopted
      for managing T1DM among child population. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this
      study is to investigate and identify the challenges being faced in T1DM among the
      children in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A questionnaire based survey is conducted with
      the child participants including the parents of the children with T1DM. The
      questionnaire has a multiple choice answers which need to be selected according
      to the participants views. RESULTS: Lack of initiatives taken by the health
      ministry in creating awareness about T1DM and its complications, and also in
      providing the effective infrastructure in healthcare centres; the role of schools
      in providing additional care for the children with T1DM is limited; the children
      are completely unaware of the T1DM self-management techniques, and feel nervous
      and embarrassed about the disease management process; and they are completely
      dependent on their parents for managing the disease. CONCLUSION: Though there are
      few aspects where the care is delivered through parents, the need for self
      management techniques is necessary and highlighted as the children spend most of
      their time in schools away from the parents.

PMID- 27620809
TI  - Limb ischemia and vessel regeneration: Is there a role for VEGF?
AB  - Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as an endothelial cell-specific
      mitogen, is crucial for new blood vessels formation. Atherosclerosis affecting
      the cardiovascular system causes ischemia and functio laesa in tissues supplied
      by the occluded vessels. When such a situation occurs in the lower extremities,
      it causes critical limb ischemia (CLI) often requiring leg amputation. Low oxygen
      tension leads to upregulation of hypoxia-regulated genes (i.e. VEGF), that should
      help to restore the impaired blood flow. In CLI these rescue mechanisms are,
      however, often inefficient. Moreover, there are many contradictory reports
      showing either induction, no changes or even down-regulation of VEGF in specimens
      taken from patients with CLI, as well as in samples collected from animals
      subjected to hindlimb ischemia. Additionally, taking into account numerous
      experimental and clinical data demonstrating rather insufficient therapeutic
      potential of VEGF, we called into question the role of this protein in limb
      ischemia and vessel regeneration. In this review we are also summarizing several
      aspects which can influence VEGF expression and its measurement in the ischemic
      tissues.

PMID- 27620811
TI  - Associations between various possible promoter polymorphisms of MMPs genes and
      endometriosis risk: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a common, benign gynecological disorder affecting
      life quality of reproductive-aged women. Several polymorphisms in the promoter
      regions of the MMPs genes have been reported that were related to endometriosis
      risk. However, there are many contradictory conclusions, and no meta-analysis
      focused on this association systematically. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the
      associations between various possible polymorphisms of MMPs genes and
      endometriosis risk, and confirm which kinds of MMPs genetic polymorphisms are
      associated with endometriosis risk, in order to identify the etiology and
      pathogenesis of endometriosis and the potential effective markers for predicting
      the predisposition to endometriosis. SEARCH STRATEGY: An exhaustive electronic
      literature search was conducted, using keywords MMP, endometriosis and SNP, in
      English and Chinese. SELECTION CRITERIA: All eligible case-control studies by
      written in English or Chinese of the associations of MMPs polymorphisms with
      endometriosis risk, which had sufficient data for examining an odds ratio (OR)
      with 95% confidence interval (CI), were identified up to March 1, 2015. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: A total of 1833 patients and 2190 controls from 12
      studies were included. Allele frequency differences between cases and controls
      were performed with the use of odds ratios (ORs) and their respective 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) for five genetic models. MAIN RESULTS: For MMP-1 -1607
      1G>2G (rs1799750) polymorphism, significant associations were observed both in
      overall comparison and subgroup analyses based on the stage of endometriosis,
      ethnicity of each study population and method of genotyping under four genetic
      models. In contrast, for MMP-2 15918 T>C (rs243847), MMP-2 -753 C>T (rs2285053),
      MMP-7 -181 A>G (rs11568818), MMP-9 -1562 C>T (rs3918242) and MMP-9 R279Q
      (rs17576) polymorphisms, no association was found in overall comparison, but in
      subgroup analyses based on source of control, stage of endometriosis, or
      ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: MMP-1 -1607 1G>2G polymorphism might modulate risk of
      endometriosis, so does the MMP-2 15918 T>C, MMP-2 -753 C>T, MMP-7 -181 A>G, MMP-9
      -1562 C>T and MMP-9 R279Q polymorphisms in some subgroups.

PMID- 27620812
TI  - Oxidative stress and glutamate excitotoxicity contribute to apoptosis in cerebral
      venous sinus thrombosis.
AB  - Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is an important cause of stroke in young
      especially in the developing countries. There is paucity of studies on the
      mechanism of cell damage in CVST. Aim of this study is to explore the role of
      glutamate excitotoxicity, oxidative stress; and apoptosis in an experimental
      model of CVST. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis was induced by putting a strip of
      filter paper soaked in 40% ferric chloride on superior sagittal sinus. Brain was
      removed on day 1, 2 and 7 and oxidative stress markers (Mn-SOD, Catalase, GPx,
      LPO and GSH) were estimated spectrophotometrically. Glutamate level and its
      receptors NR1, NR2A and NR2B were estimated by real time polymerase chain
      reaction. The markers of apoptosis were evaluated by expression of cleaved
      Caspase-3 and specrtin break down product (SBDP) by western blot. In CVST, the
      evidence of oxidative stress (reduced activity of Mn-SOD, Catalase, GPx, GSH and
      increased level of LPO) was noted. Glutamate level was elevated and its receptors
      NR1, NR2A and NR2B were reduced. Increased expression of cleaved Caspase-3 on day
      2 and 7 and SBDP on day 1 and 2 were noted. Oxidative stress, glutamate
      excitotoxicity and apoptosis seem to have important role in CVST induced cell
      damage.

PMID- 27620813
TI  - G-protein coupled receptors as therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative and
      cerebrovascular diseases.
AB  - Neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases are frequent in elderly
      populations and comprise primarily of dementia (mainly Alzheimer's disease)
      Parkinson's disease and stroke. These neurological disorders (NDs) occur as a
      result of neurodegenerative processes and represent one of the most frequent
      causes of death and disability worldwide with a significant clinical and socio
      economic impact. Although NDs have been characterized for many years, the exact
      molecular mechanisms that govern these pathologies or why they target specific
      individuals and specific neuronal populations remain unclear. As research
      progresses, many similarities appear which relate these diseases to one another
      on a subcellular level. Discovering these similarities offers hope for
      therapeutic advances that could ameliorate the conditions of many diseases
      simultaneously. G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most abundant
      receptor type in the central nervous system and are linked to complex downstream
      pathways, manipulation of which may have therapeutic application in many NDs.
      This review will highlight the potential use of neurotransmitter GPCRs as
      emerging therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases.

PMID- 27620814
TI  - Melatonin attenuates the high-fat diet and streptozotocin-induced reduction in
      rat hippocampal neurogenesis.
AB  - A deviant level of melatonin in blood circulation has been associated with the
      development of diabetes and with learning and memory deficiencies. Melatonin
      might have an important function in diabetes control; however, the mechanism of
      melatonin in diabetes remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the
      hyperglycemic condition induced by high-fat diet (HFD) feeding and streptozotocin
      (STZ) injection and to examine the effect of melatonin on adult hippocampal
      functions. HFD-fed and STZ-treated rats significantly increased blood glucose
      level. The present study showed that HFD-fed and STZ-treated rats significantly
      impaired memory in the Morris Water Maze task, reduced neurogenesis in the
      hippocampus shown by a reduction in nestin, doublecortin (DCX) and beta-III
      tubulin immunoreactivities, reduced axon terminal markers, synaptophysin, reduced
      dendritic marker including postsynaptic density 95 (PSD-95) and the glutamate
      receptor subunit NR2A. Moreover, a significant downregulation of melatonin
      receptor, insulin receptor-beta (IR-beta) and both p-IR-beta and phosphorylated
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK) occurred in HFD-fed and STZ-treated
      rats, while the level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) increased.
      Treatment of melatonin, rats had shorter escape latencies and remained in the
      target quadrant longer compared to the HFD-fed and STZ-treated rats. Melatonin
      attenuated the reduction of neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and the induction of
      astrogliosis. Moreover, melatonin countered the reduction of melatonin receptor,
      insulin receptor and downstream signaling pathway for insulin. Our data suggested
      that the dysfunction of insulin signaling pathway occurred in the diabetes may
      provide a convergent mechanism of hippocampal impaired neurogenesis and
      synaptogenesis lead to impair memory while melatonin reverses these effects,
      suggesting that melatonin may reduce the pathogenesis of diabetes.

PMID- 27620815
TI  - Systematic review of the association of venous oxygenation and outcome in adult
      hospitalized patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adequate tissue oxygenation is necessary to maintain organ function.
      Low venous oxygen saturation may reflect impaired tissue oxygenation, and may be
      used as a predictive tool and a therapeutic target to improve the care of
      critically ill patients. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the
      existing literature reflecting these aspects. METHODS: We searched electronic
      databases in January 2016 for relevant studies on venous oxygen saturation for
      treatment guidance and patient outcome. We sub-grouped results based on patient
      groups and setting. RESULTS: The search resulted in 5590 papers of which 42
      studies were deemed relevant. The majority of the studies in cardiac and
      abdominal surgery patients showed associations between low venous oxygen
      saturation and increased mortality and morbidity, in particular increased length
      of intensive care. However, the cut-off level for low venous oxygen saturation
      varied between < 55 and 70% and all studies had high risk of bias. In patients
      with septic shock, recent randomized trials showed no benefit of early
      resuscitation guided by venous oxygen saturation. CONCLUSION: Low venous oxygen
      saturation may be associated with increased mortality, morbidity and length of
      intensive care in patients following cardiac or abdominal surgery. However, the
      wide range of cut-off levels and low quality of evidence hampers the clinical
      application. In patients with septic shock, the present evidence does not support
      goal-directed therapy using venous oxygen saturation during early resuscitation.

PMID- 27620816
TI  - Vanadium (V) and magnesium (Mg) - In vivo interactions: A review.
AB  - Vanadium (V) and magnesium (Mg) arouse interest of many research centres
      worldwide. Many aspects of their action have already been recognized but some of
      them have not been fully elucidated yet. Relatively little is known about the
      mechanisms of absorption, transport, and excretion of V. There is also a lack of
      sufficient data about the most sensitive biomarkers of V toxicity and the
      mechanisms of its toxic action, which have not been fully explained yet. There is
      also a lack of comprehensive research on the consequences, character, and
      mechanisms of mutual interactions of V (which has strong pro-oxidant properties)
      with elements with an antioxidant potential such as Mg, the recognition of which,
      besides the cognitive value, may have great practical importance. It should be
      highlighted that the question of interactions between elements is always up to
      date and it is still an important issue in toxicology. A comprehensive research
      on interactions of V with Mg can be particularly important in the studies of the
      usage of V (which has a narrow margin of safety) in the treatment of certain
      diseases in humans, especially diabetes, which is accompanied by changes in the
      level of Mg in the tissues and weakening of the antioxidant barrier and oxidative
      stress. Therefore, the aspect concerning the possible interaction of V (as a
      potent pro-oxidant) with Mg (as an antioxidant) was the subject of our special
      interest. In addition, the examination of the effects of the interactions between
      V and Mg is very important especially for extending the knowledge of the
      mechanism of the influence of V on the organism and a potential role of Mg (which
      is characterized by a wide therapeutic window) in prevention of V toxicity. This
      review summarizes the most important results obtained from our experiments in a
      rodent model referring to the interactions of V with Mg on the background of the
      in vivo experimental data published by other researchers of this issue. Our
      studies have shown that V and Mg supplied in combination are able to modulate the
      response in an interactive manner to produce a specific effect that is distinct
      from that observed during separate administration thereof. The present report
      also provides the most important information about the effects of the action of V
      and Mg with other metals. 

PMID- 27620817
TI  - Differential expression of microRNAs of Litopenaeus vannamei in response to
      different virulence WSSV infection.
AB  - WSSV is one of the most harmful pathogeny in the pacific white shrimp, and
      genetic variations caused the strains of different virulence. MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
      involved in the regulation of virus defense. To understand the different
      virulence of WSSV on miRNA expression in Litopeneaus vannamei, the deep
      sequencing was performed to compare two small RNA libraries prepared from
      hepatopancreas of Litopeneaus vannamei infected with normal-virulence or low
      virulence WSSV. Approximately 29,398,623 raw reads from normal-virulence library
      and 35,291,803 raw reads from low-virulence library were obtained. There were
      about 37 miRNAs homologs identified. Sixteen miRNAs were significantly up
      regulated and twenty-one miRNAs were significantly down-regulated in normal
      virulence infection library compared with low-virulence infection library. Of
      these, Igi-miR-1175-3p was the most significant different miRNA, followed by bmo
      miR-1175-3p and ipu-miR-26b, respectively. The putative target genes for
      differentially expressed miRNAs were concerned with biological processes, signal
      meditated, cell differentiation and apoptosis, immune recognition and other more
      functions. The results will help to understand the miRNAs response to different
      virulence WSSV infection.

PMID- 27620818
TI  - Identification and functional characterization of tumor necrosis factor receptor
      1 (TNFR1) of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) exerts its regulatory effects by binding
      one of two TNF receptors, TNF-alpha receptor 1 (TNFR1) or TNFR2. In this study,
      we isolated and identified the cDNA sequence of grass carp TNFR1 (gcTNFR1).
      Similar to its homologs in other fish species, the putative protein of gcTNFR1
      possessed an extracellular region containing three TNF homology domains, a
      transmembrane region and a cytoplasmic region with a conserved death domain.
      Consistent with the widespread expression of mammalian TNFR1, gcTNFR1 transcripts
      ubiquitously expressed in spleen, thymus, liver, heart, gill, intestine, brain
      and head kidney with the highest expression levels in head kidney. To reveal its
      inductive expression patterns in inflammatory response, effect of in vivo
      bacterial infection on gcTNFR1 gene expression was examined, showing a rapid
      increase of gcTNFR1 expression in head kidney, gill, liver and intestine, which
      is consistent with the role of TNF-alpha as an early response gene during immune
      challenges. To define the functional role of gcTNFR1, recombinant extracellular
      region of gcTNFR1 (rgcTNFR1) was prepared and used to perform in vitro binding
      assay, demonstrating its ability to interact with recombinant grass carp TNF
      alpha (rgcTNF-alpha). Furthermore, to characterize the function of gcTNFR1 in
      affecting rgcTNF-alpha actions, the effect of overexpressing gcTNFR1 on rgcTNF
      alpha-induced grass carp IL-1beta (gcIL-1beta) promoter activity was determined
      in COS7 cells. Results showed that gcTNFR1 was involved in the regulation of
      rgcTNF-alpha on gcIL-1beta transcription. Consistently, rgcTNFR1 was effective in
      attenuating the effect of rgcTNF-alpha on IL-1beta mRNA expression in grass carp
      head kidney leukocytes, providing evidence for the involvement of TNFR1 in TNF
      alpha signaling in grass carp. These data facilitate a better understanding of
      TNF-alpha receptor signaling in grass carp.

PMID- 27620819
TI  - C-type lectin (MrCTL) from the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii
      participates in innate immunity.
AB  - C-type lectins (CTLs) play important roles in the innate immunity of
      invertebrates. In this study, a novel CTL with a single carbohydrate recognition
      domain (CRD) containing an EPN (Glu-Pro-Asn) motif was identified from the giant
      freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. This CTL was designated as MrCTL. The
      cDNA of MrCTL is 1788 bp with a 657 bp open reading frame that encodes a protein
      of 218 amino acids. The cDNA and genome sequences of MrCTL show a polymorphism
      that leads to MrCTL isoforms. MrCTL was highly expressed in the gills and
      intestine of normal prawn, and its transcription increased after Vibrio
      parahaemolyticus or white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) challenge. Recombinant
      mature MrCTL and its single CRD could agglutinate (Ca2+-dependent) and bind both
      Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The recombinant proteins could attach
      to lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan in a dose-dependent manner. Recombinant
      MrCTL could accelerate bacterial clearance. Thus, MrCTL could serve as a pattern
      recognition receptor involved in the innate immunity of M. rosenbergii.

PMID- 27620820
TI  - Moderate 'multivitamin' supplementation improved folate and vitamin B12 status in
      the elderly.
AB  - The dependent elderly are widely considered to be at higher risk of nutritional
      problems. Suboptimal micronutrient intake might put the elderly, especially those
      living in nursing homes, at high risk of morbidity. So far, no public authority,
      except for the Israel Ministry of Health, has issued particular recommendations
      for micronutrient supplementation for the elderly. We hypothesized that moderate
      'multivitamin' supplementation could improve the vitamin status of the dependent
      elderly. The study took place in two nursing homes and included 144 dependent
      elderly (males/females, 35/109). Demographic and clinical data as well as routine
      blood tests were retrieved from the patient electronic medical records. After a
      two-year daily 'multivitamin' supplementation, containing 120MUg of folic acid,
      there was a small and non-significant increase of 12% in serum folate; the same
      'multivitamin' preparatory, containing 2.4MUg of vitamin B12, significantly
      increased serum vitamin B12 by 8%. Three models of evaluation clearly showed the
      effect of a two- year vitamin supplementation: 1. The number of subjects with the
      lowest baseline concentration range, decreased, with moderate concentration,
      increased, with no difference at the higher concentrations; 2. Above each vitamin
      concentration, the number of subjects was higher than at baseline; 3. The two
      vitamins at the two lower concentration tertiles increased, and at the highest
      tertile, folate was not affected, whereas vitamin B12 decreased. Therefore, very
      moderate 'multivitamin' supplementation, as practiced in our study, has a high
      probability of improving vulnerable old population health status without causing
      any adverse effects to others.

PMID- 27620822
TI  - Worker lifespan is an adaptive trait during colony establishment in the long
      lived ant Lasius niger.
AB  - Eusociality has been recognized as a strong driver of lifespan evolution. While
      queens show extraordinary lifespans of 20years and more, worker lifespan is short
      and variable. A recent comparative study found that in eusocial species with
      larger average colony sizes the disparities in the lifespans of the queen and the
      worker are also greater, which suggests that lifespan might be an evolved trait.
      Here, we tested whether the same pattern holds during colony establishment: as
      colonies grow larger, worker lifespan should decrease. We studied the mortality
      of lab-reared Lasius niger workers from colonies at two different developmental
      stages (small and intermediate-sized) in a common garden experiment. Workers were
      kept in artificial cohorts that differed only with respect to the stage of the
      colony they were born in. We found that the stage of the birth colony affected
      the body size and the survival probability of the workers. The workers that had
      emerged from early stage colonies were smaller and had lower mortality during the
      first 400days of their life than the workers born in colonies at a later stage.
      Our results suggest that early stage colonies produce small workers with an
      increased survival probability. These workers are gradually augmented by larger
      workers with a decreased survival probability that serve as a redundant workforce
      with easily replaceable individuals. We doubt that the observed differences in
      lifespan are driven by differences in body size. Rather, we suspect that
      physiological mechanisms are the basis for the observed differences in lifespan.

PMID- 27620823
TI  - Transverse interference peaks in chirp FT-EPR correlated three-pulse ESEEM
      spectra.
AB  - Fourier transform (FT) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) correlation
      spectroscopy usually requires broader excitation bandwidth than can be achieved
      by monochromatic rectangular pulses. Replacement of such pulses by frequency
      swept pulses affords the correlation spectra, which, however, may not look the
      same as those that would be obtained with sufficiently broad-banded monochromatic
      rectangular pulses. This was recently observed for correlating nuclear
      frequencies to FT-EPR spectra by a three-pulse electron spin echo envelope
      modulation experiment. Here we analyze the origin of the additional cross peaks,
      whose position depends on the direction of the frequency sweep. We find that such
      peaks arise if coherence or polarization is transferred to an electron spin
      transition already before this transition is actually passed during the frequency
      sweep. This happens by excitation of a chain of transitions that connect levels
      of the source transition, where coherence resides before mixing, and the target
      transition, where it resides after mixing. The correlation spectra can be
      simplified by combining data from frequency up and down sweeps.

PMID- 27620821
TI  - "What makes some rats live so long?" The mitochondrial contribution to longevity
      through balance of mitochondrial dynamics and mtDNA content.
AB  - Extremely interesting for aging research are those individuals able to reach
      older ages still with functions similar to those of younger counterparts. We
      examined liver samples from ad libitum-fed old (28-month-old, AL-28) and ad
      libitum-fed very old (32-month-old, AL-32) rats for a number of markers, relevant
      for mitochondrial functionality and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content. As for the
      mtDNA content and the protein amounts of the citrate synthase and the antioxidant
      peroxiredoxin III there were no significant changes in the AL-32 animals. No
      significant longevity-related change was found for TFAM amount, but a 50%
      reduction in the amount of the Lon protease, responsible for turnover of TFAM
      inside mitochondria, characterized the AL-32 rats. No longevity-related change
      was observed also for the amounts of the mtDNA repair enzymes OGG1 and APE1,
      whereas the intra-mitochondrial amount of the cytochrome c protein showed a 50%
      increase in the AL-32 rats, indicating a likely reduced initiation of the
      intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Totally unexpected was the doubling of two proteins,
      very relevant for mitochondrial dynamics, namely MFN2 and DRP1, in the AL-32
      rats. This prompted us to the calculation of all individual fusion indexes that
      grouped together in the AL-32 rats, while in the AL-28 animals were very
      different. We found a strong positive correlation between the fusion indexes and
      the respective mtDNA contents in two AL-28 and four AL-32 rats. This supports the
      idea that the limited prevalence of fusion above a still active fission should
      have ensured a functional mitochondrial network and should have led to a quite
      narrow range of high mtDNA contents, likely the best-suitable for extended
      longevity. Our findings strongly suggest that, among the multiple causes leading
      to the longevity of the AL-32 rats, the maintenance of an adult-like balance of
      mitochondrial dynamics seems to be very relevant for the regulation of mtDNA
      content and functionality.

PMID- 27620824
TI  - Characteristics of Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates obtained from crayfish
      (Procambarus clarkii) in freshwater.
AB  - Vibrio parahaemolyticus usually occurs in coastal areas and is generally
      recognized as a marine bacterium. It has become the leading cause of
      gastroenteritis worldwide. In the present study, 96 V. parahaemolyticus isolates
      were obtained from freshwater crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and classified by
      multilocus sequence typing. Fifty-three sequence types (STs) were identified
      among the 96 isolates analyzed, 38 of which were novel STs. These isolates fell
      into six groups and 42 singletons, suggesting a high level of genetic diversity.
      Screening for 9 virulence and virulence-related genes in the isolates revealed
      that 40 isolates contained more than two genes with possible roles in
      pathogenicity. The virulence of the representative isolates VP66 (trh+, ureC+,
      T3SS1+, T3SS2beta+, T6SS2+) and VP80 (T3SS1+, T6SS1+, T6SS2+) were further
      assessed in zebrafish and mouse infection model in vivo, and the tested isolates
      were shown to be lethal to both zebrafish and mice. These results suggest that
      crayfish may serve as a carrier of V. parahaemolyticus in freshwater, and that
      some isolates may have the potential to cause foodborne disease in humans.

PMID- 27620825
TI  - Effect of sodium alginate coating incorporated with nisin, Cinnamomum zeylanicum,
      and rosemary essential oils on microbial quality of chicken meat and fate of
      Listeria monocytogenes during refrigeration.
AB  - The present study was conducted to preserve the microbial quality of chicken meat
      fillets during storage time by using sodium alginate active coating solutions
      incorporated with different natural antimicrobials including nisin, Cinnamomum
      zeylanicum (cinnamon), and rosemary essential oils (EOs) which were added
      individually and in combination. The samples were stored in refrigeration
      condition for 15days and were analyzed for total viable count, Enterobacteriaceae
      count, lactic acid bacteria count, Pseudomonas spp. count, psychrotrophic count,
      and yeast and mold count, as well as fate of inoculated Listeria monocytogenes at
      3-day intervals. Results indicated that values of tested microbial indicators in
      all samples increased during storage. Antimicrobial agents, when used in
      combination, had stronger effect in preserving the microbial quality of chicken
      meat samples rather than their individual use and the strongest effect was
      observed in samples coated with alginate solution containing both cinnamon and
      rosemary EOs (CEO+REO). However, all treatments significantly inhibited microbial
      growth when compared to the control (P<0.05). Therefore, based on the results of
      this study, application of alginate coating solutions containing nisin, cinnamon,
      and rosemary EOs as natural preservatives is recommended in meat products
      especially in chicken meats.

PMID- 27620826
TI  - Is staphylococci population from milk of healthy goats safe?
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the species and the genetic diversity of the
      staphylococci population in raw milk from healthy goats. Isolates representative
      of all genotypes were screened for their potential pathogenicity by the
      occurrence of some relevant safety-related properties, such as antibiotic
      resistance, presence of virulence factor genes, biofilm formation ability and
      biogenic amine production. A total of 314 staphylococci were isolated, and
      randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR analysis displayed 48 genotypes. Isolates
      were identified as belonging to S. epidermidis (87.5%), S. caprae (6.2%), S.
      aureus (4.2%) and S. simulans (2.1%) species. The antibiotic resistance varied
      strongly with strains, with S. epidermidis and S. aureus strains showing
      resistance to more number of antibiotics. A high occurrence of strains harbouring
      hemolysin genes was also found in both species. On the contrary, none of the
      strains assayed harboured enterotoxin or amino acid decarboxylase genes, and,
      although a moderate or high biofilm formation was observed in 29% of the strains,
      they did not harbour icaA or icaD genes. This study gives a first and extensive
      picture of safety-related properties within Staphylococcus species isolated from
      milk of healthy goats, displaying that these species can act as a reservoir for
      spreading genes related to safety.

PMID- 27620829
TI  - Plastics in the Marine Environment.
AB  - Plastics contamination in the marine environment was first reported nearly 50
      years ago, less than two decades after the rise of commercial plastics
      production, when less than 50 million metric tons were produced per year. In
      2014, global plastics production surpassed 300 million metric tons per year.
      Plastic debris has been detected worldwide in all major marine habitats, in sizes
      from microns to meters. In response, concerns about risks to marine wildlife upon
      exposure to the varied forms of plastic debris have increased, stimulating new
      research into the extent and consequences of plastics contamination in the marine
      environment. Here, I present a framework to evaluate the current understanding of
      the sources, distribution, fate, and impacts of marine plastics. Despite
      remaining knowledge gaps in mass budgeting and challenges in investigating
      ecological impacts, the increasing evidence of the ubiquity of plastics
      contamination in the marine environment, the continued rapid growth in plastics
      production, and the evidence-albeit limited-of demonstrated impacts to marine
      wildlife support immediate implementation of source-reducing measures to decrease
      the potential risks of plastics in the marine ecosystem.

PMID- 27620827
TI  - Development and validation of a high-fidelity phonomicrosurgical trainer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To validate the use of a high-fidelity phonomicrosurgical trainer.
      STUDY DESIGN: A high-fidelity phonomicrosurgical trainer, based on a previously
      validated model by Contag et al.,1 was designed with multilayered vocal folds
      that more closely mimic the consistency of true vocal folds, containing
      intracordal lesions to practice phonomicrosurgical removal. A training module was
      developed to simulate the true phonomicrosurgical experience. A validation study
      with novice and expert surgeons was conducted. METHODS: Novices and experts were
      instructed to remove the lesion from the synthetic vocal folds, and novices were
      given four training trials. Performances were measured by the amount of time
      spent and tissue injury (microflap, superficial, deep) to the vocal fold. An
      independent Student t test and Fisher exact tests were used to compare subjects.
      A matched-paired t test and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare
      novice performance on the first and fourth trials and assess for improvement.
      RESULTS: Experts completed the excision with less total errors than novices (P =
      .004) and made less injury to the microflap (P = .05) and superficial tissue (P =
      .003). Novices improved their performance with training, making less total errors
      (P = .002) and superficial tissue injuries (P = .02) and spending less time for
      removal (P = .002) after several practice trials. CONCLUSION: This high-fidelity
      phonomicrosurgical trainer has been validated for novice surgeons. It can
      distinguish between experts and novices; and after training, it helped to improve
      novice performance. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A. Laryngoscope, 127:888-893, 2017.

PMID- 27620828
TI  - Improved Diagnosis of Inherited Retinal Dystrophies by High-Fidelity PCR of ORF15
      followed by Next-Generation Sequencing.
AB  - Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the most common form of retinal dystrophy. The
      disease is characterized by the progressive degeneration of photoreceptors,
      ultimately leading to blindness. The exon ORF15 of RP GTPase regulator (RPGR) is
      a mutation hot spot for X-linked RP and one form of cone dystrophy. However,
      accurate molecular testing of ORF15 is challenging because of a large segment of
      highly repetitive purine-rich sequence in this exon. ORF15 performs poorly in
      next-generation sequencing-based panels or whole exome sequencing analysis,
      whereas Sanger sequencing of ORF15 requires special reagents and PCR conditions
      with multiple pairs of overlapping primers that often do not provide a clean
      sequence. Because of these technical difficulties, molecular analysis of ORF15 is
      performed mostly in research laboratories without validation for clinical
      application. Herein, we report the development of a single step of high-fidelity
      PCR followed by next-generation sequencing for accurate mutation detection, which
      is easily integrated into routine clinical practice. Our approach has improved
      coverage depth of ORF15 with the ability to detect single-nucleotide variants and
      deletions/duplications. Using this method, we were able to identify ORF15
      pathogenic variants in approximately 31% of undiagnosed RP patients. Our results
      underline the clinical importance of complete and accurate sequence analysis of
      ORF15 for patients with retinal dystrophies.

PMID- 27620830
TI  - How Baleen Whales Feed: The Biomechanics of Engulfment and Filtration.
AB  - Baleen whales are gigantic obligate filter feeders that exploit aggregations of
      small-bodied prey in littoral, epipelagic, and mesopelagic ecosystems. At the
      extreme of maximum body size observed among mammals, baleen whales exhibit a
      unique combination of high overall energetic demands and low mass-specific
      metabolic rates. As a result, most baleen whale species have evolved filter
      feeding mechanisms and foraging strategies that take advantage of seasonally
      abundant yet patchily and ephemerally distributed prey resources. New
      methodologies consisting of multi-sensor tags, active acoustic prey mapping, and
      hydrodynamic modeling have revolutionized our ability to study the physiology and
      ecology of baleen whale feeding mechanisms. Here, we review the current state of
      the field by exploring several hypotheses that aim to explain how baleen whales
      feed. Despite significant advances, major questions remain about the processes
      that underlie these extreme feeding mechanisms, which enabled the evolution of
      the largest animals of all time.

PMID- 27620831
TI  - Natural Variability and Anthropogenic Trends in the Ocean Carbon Sink.
AB  - Since preindustrial times, the ocean has removed from the atmosphere 41% of the
      carbon emitted by human industrial activities. Despite significant uncertainties,
      the balance of evidence indicates that the globally integrated rate of ocean
      carbon uptake is increasing in response to increasing atmospheric CO2
      concentrations. The El Nino-Southern Oscillation in the equatorial Pacific
      dominates interannual variability of the globally integrated sink. Modes of
      climate variability in high latitudes are correlated with variability in regional
      carbon sinks, but mechanistic understanding is incomplete. Regional sink
      variability, combined with sparse sampling, means that the growing oceanic sink
      cannot yet be directly detected from available surface data. Accurate and precise
      shipboard observations need to be continued and increasingly complemented with
      autonomous observations. These data, together with a variety of mechanistic and
      diagnostic models, are needed for better understanding, long-term monitoring, and
      future projections of this critical climate regulation service.

PMID- 27620833
TI  - Reply to Comment on the Article "On Patients Who Purchase Organ Transplants
      Abroad".

PMID- 27620832
TI  - Genetic association of the glycine cleavage system genes and myelomeningocele.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are one of the most common congenital
      birth defects, with myelomeningocele (MM) being the most severe form compatible
      with life. Recent studies show a link between mitochondrial folate one carbon
      metabolism and NTDs by means of the glycine cleavage system (GCS). We hypothesize
      that single nucleotide polymorphisms and novel variants in the coding regions of
      the GCS genes increase the risk for MM. METHODS: DNA was obtained from 96
      subjects with MM born before the United States mandated folic acid fortification
      of grains in 1998. Primers were designed for polymerase chain reaction
      amplification and sequencing of all exons in the AMT gene, one of four genes in
      the GCS, followed by identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms and novel
      variants. An additional 252 MM subjects underwent whole exome sequencing to
      examine all four GCS genes (aminomethyltransferase, glycine dehydrogenase,
      glycine cleavage system protein-H, and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase). RESULTS:
      We identified six novel, heterozygous variants in the AMT gene with three
      predicted to be deleterious to AMT function (p.Val7Leu, p.Pro251Arg, and
      p.Val380Met). Five extremely rare, known heterozygous variants were found in the
      AMT gene and one in the GLDC gene. No novel variants in the exons of the other
      two GCS genes (DLD and GCSH) were identified. CONCLUSION: We identified novel and
      rare, known variants in two of the four GCS genes that may contribute to the
      development of MM. Consistent with previous findings, the current study provides
      additional support that genetic variations in GCS genes contribute to the risk of
      NTDs. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:847-853, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27620834
TI  - Non-selective cation channel activity of aquaporin AtPIP2;1 regulated by Ca2+ and
      pH.
AB  - The aquaporin AtPIP2;1 is an abundant plasma membrane intrinsic protein in
      Arabidopsis thaliana that is implicated in stomatal closure, and is highly
      expressed in plasma membranes of root epidermal cells. When expressed in Xenopus
      laevis oocytes, AtPIP2;1 increased water permeability and induced a non-selective
      cation conductance mainly associated with Na+ . A mutation in the water pore,
      G103W, prevented both the ionic conductance and water permeability of PIP2;1. Co
      expression of AtPIP2;1 with AtPIP1;2 increased water permeability but abolished
      the ionic conductance. AtPIP2;2 (93% identical to AtPIP2;1) similarly increased
      water permeability but not ionic conductance. The ionic conductance was inhibited
      by the application of extracellular Ca2+ and Cd2+ , with Ca2+ giving a biphasic
      dose-response with a prominent IC50 of 0.32 mm comparable with a previous report
      of Ca2+ sensitivity of a non-selective cation channel (NSCC) in Arabidopsis root
      protoplasts. Low external pH also inhibited ionic conductance (IC50 pH 6.8).
      Xenopus oocytes and Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing AtPIP2;1 accumulated more
      Na+ than controls. Establishing whether AtPIP2;1 has dual ion and water
      permeability in planta will be important in understanding the roles of this
      aquaporin and if AtPIP2;1 is a candidate for a previously reported NSCC
      responsible for Ca2+ and pH sensitive Na+ entry into roots.

PMID- 27620835
TI  - The Association of Socioeconomic Status and Dental Caries Experience in Children
      in Dili, Timor-Leste.
AB  - Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the world. The aim of this article
      was to investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and dental
      caries experience in children living in Dili. Four out of 6 Dili subdistricts and
      40 schools were randomly selected. Equal numbers of school children from 4 age
      groups (6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17 years) were invited to participate. Data were
      gathered via a questionnaire and an oral examination by dental practitioners. In
      bivariate analysis, decayed, missing, and filled teeth index for deciduous +
      permanent teeth (dmft) was higher in children from mid- to high-SES than low-SES
      schools (1.1, 2.2, P = .001). With age, having had a toothache and dental
      visiting in the past 12 months in the multivariable model, higher dmft was found
      in children from mid- to high- to low-SES schools ( P < .001). The primary dental
      caries experience was greater among children from mid- to high- than low-SES
      schools, which may be explained by high sugar consumption.

PMID- 27620836
TI  - Differences in Selected HIV Care Continuum Outcomes Among People Residing in
      Rural, Urban, and Metropolitan Areas-28 US Jurisdictions.
AB  - PURPOSE: The HIV care continuum is used to monitor success in HIV diagnosis and
      treatment among persons living with HIV in the United States. Significant
      differences exist along the HIV care continuum between subpopulations of people
      living with HIV; however, differences that may exist between residents of rural
      and nonrural areas have not been reported. METHODS: We analyzed the Centers for
      Disease Control and Prevention's National HIV Surveillance System data on adults
      and adolescents (>=13 years) with HIV diagnosed in 28 jurisdictions with complete
      reporting of HIV-related lab results. Lab data were used to assess linkage to
      care (>=1 CD4 or viral load test <=3 months of diagnosis), retention in care (>=2
      CD4 and/or viral load tests >=3 months apart), and viral suppression (viral load
      <200 copies/mL) among persons living with HIV. Residence at diagnosis was grouped
      into rural (<50,000 population), urban (50,000-499,999 population), and
      metropolitan (>=500,000 population) categories for statistical comparison.
      Prevalence ratios and 95% CI were calculated to assess significant differences in
      linkage, retention, and viral suppression. FINDINGS: Although greater linkage to
      care was found for rural residents (84.3%) compared to urban residents (83.3%)
      and metropolitan residents (81.9%), significantly lower levels of retention in
      care and viral suppression were found for residents of rural (46.2% and 50.0%,
      respectively) and urban (50.2% and 47.2%) areas compared to residents of
      metropolitan areas (54.5% and 50.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions are needed to
      increase retention in care and viral suppression among people with HIV in
      nonmetropolitan areas of the United States.

PMID- 27620837
TI  - Altered brain ion gradients following compensation for elevated CO2 are linked to
      behavioural alterations in a coral reef fish.
AB  - Neurosensory and behavioural disruptions are some of the most consistently
      reported responses upon exposure to ocean acidification-relevant CO2 levels,
      especially in coral reef fishes. The underlying cause of these disruptions is
      thought to be altered current across the GABAA receptor in neuronal cells due to
      changes in ion gradients (HCO3(-) and/or Cl(-)) that occur in the body following
      compensation for elevated ambient CO2. Despite these widely-documented
      behavioural disruptions, the present study is the first to pair a behavioural
      assay with measurements of relevant intracellular and extracellular acid-base
      parameters in a coral reef fish exposed to elevated CO2. Spiny damselfish
      (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) exposed to 1900 MUatm CO2 for 4 days exhibited
      significantly increased intracellular and extracellular HCO3(-) concentrations
      and elevated brain pHi compared to control fish, providing evidence of CO2
      compensation. As expected, high CO2 exposed damselfish spent significantly more
      time in a chemical alarm cue (CAC) than control fish, supporting a potential link
      between behavioural disruption and CO2 compensation. Using HCO3(-) measurements
      from the damselfish, the reversal potential for GABAA (EGABA) was calculated,
      illustrating that biophysical properties of the brain during CO2 compensation
      could change GABAA receptor function and account for the behavioural disturbances
      noted during exposure to elevated CO2.

PMID- 27620838
TI  - Molecular organization, localization and orientation of antifungal antibiotic
      amphotericin B in a single lipid bilayer.
AB  - Amphotericin B is a popular antifungal antibiotic, a gold standard in treatment
      of systemic mycotic infections, due to its high effectiveness. On the other hand,
      applicability of the drug is limited by its considerable toxicity to patients.
      Biomembranes are a primary target of physiological activity of amphotericin B and
      both the pharmacologically desired and toxic side effects of the drug relay on
      its molecular organization in the lipid phase. In the present work, molecular
      organization, localization and orientation of amphotericin B, in a single lipid
      bilayer system, was analysed simultaneously, thanks to application of a confocal
      fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy of giant unilamellar vesicles. The
      results show that the presence of sterols, in the lipid phase, promotes formation
      of supramolecular structures of amphotericin B and their penetration into the
      membrane hydrophobic core. The fact that such an effect is substantially less
      pronounced in the case of cholesterol than ergosterol, the sterol of fungal
      membranes, provides molecular insight into the selectivity of the drug.

PMID- 27620839
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of over 106 000 individuals identifies 9 neuroticism
      associated loci.

PMID- 27620840
TI  - Sphingomyelin-induced inhibition of the plasma membrane calcium ATPase causes
      neurodegeneration in type A Niemann-Pick disease.
AB  - Niemann-Pick disease type A (NPA) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder
      characterized by severe neurological alterations that leads to death in
      childhood. Loss-of-function mutations in the acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) gene
      cause NPA, and result in the accumulation of sphingomyelin (SM) in lysosomes and
      plasma membrane of neurons. Using ASM knockout (ASMko) mice as a NPA disease
      model, we investigated how high SM levels contribute to neural pathology in NPA.
      We found high levels of oxidative stress both in neurons from these mice and a
      NPA patient. Impaired activity of the plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA)
      increases intracellular calcium. SM induces PMCA decreased activity, which causes
      oxidative stress. Incubating ASMko-cultured neurons in the histone deacetylase
      inhibitor, SAHA, restores PMCA activity and calcium homeostasis and,
      consequently, reduces the increased levels of oxidative stress. No recovery
      occurs when PMCA activity is pharmacologically impaired or genetically inhibited
      in vitro. Oral administration of SAHA prevents oxidative stress and
      neurodegeneration, and improves behavioral performance in ASMko mice. These
      results demonstrate a critical role for plasma membrane SM in neuronal calcium
      regulation. Thus, we identify changes in PMCA-triggered calcium homeostasis as an
      upstream mediator for NPA pathology. These findings can stimulate new approaches
      for pharmacological remediation in a disease with no current clinical treatments.

PMID- 27620841
TI  - Transglutaminase 2 overexpression induces depressive-like behavior and impaired
      TrkB signaling in mice.
AB  - Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      (BDNF) are two signaling molecules that have important regulatory roles in the
      development and plasticity of neural circuits that are known to be altered in
      depression. However, the mechanism by which 5-HT regulates BDNF signaling is
      unknown. In the present study, we found that 5-HT treatment increases BDNF
      receptor, TrkB (tropomyosin related kinase B), levels in mouse primary cortical
      neurons via a Rac1 (RAS-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1)-dependent
      mechanism. Significant increases in the levels of type-2 transglutaminase (TG2,
      which is implicated in transamidation of 5-HT to Rac1) are observed in the mouse
      prefrontal cortex (PFC) following chronic exposure to stress. We also found that
      TG2 levels are increased in the post-mortem PFC of depressed suicide subjects
      relative to matched controls. Moreover, in mice, neuronal overexpression of TG2
      resulted in the atrophy of neurons and reduced levels of TrkB in the PFC as well
      as a depressive-like phenotype. Overexpression of TG2 in mouse cortical neurons
      reduced TrkB levels as a result of impaired endocytosis of TrkB. TG2 inhibition
      by either a viral particle or pharmacological approach attenuated behavioral
      deficits caused by chronic unpredictable stress. Moreover, the overexpression of
      TrkB in the mouse PFC ameliorated the depressive-like phenotype of TG2
      overexpressed mice. Taken together, these post-mortem and preclinical findings
      identify TG2 as a critical mediator of the altered TrkB expression and depressive
      like behaviors associated with chronic exposure to stress and suggest that TG2
      may represent a novel therapeutic target in depression.

PMID- 27620843
TI  - Trp53 deficient mice predisposed to preterm birth display region-specific lipid
      alterations at the embryo implantation site.
AB  - Here we demonstrate that conditional deletion of mouse uterine Trp53 (p53(d/d)),
      molecularly linked to mTORC1 activation and causally linked to premature uterine
      senescence and preterm birth, results in aberrant lipid signatures within the
      heterogeneous cell types of embryo implantation sites on day 8 of pregnancy. In
      situ nanospray desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (nano
      DESI MSI) was used to characterize the molecular speciation of free fatty acids,
      monoacylglycerol species, unmodified and oxidized phosphatidylcholine (PC/Ox-PC),
      and diacylglycerol (DG) species within implantation sites of p53(d/d) mice and
      floxed littermates. Implantation sites from p53(d/d) mice exhibited distinct
      spatially resolved changes demonstrating accumulation of DG species, depletion of
      Ox-PC species, and increase in species with more unsaturated acyl chains,
      including arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid. Understanding abnormal changes in
      the abundance and localization of individual lipid species early in the
      progression to premature birth is an important step toward discovering novel
      targets for treatments and diagnosis.

PMID- 27620846
TI  - A remarkable achievement of Integrative Zoology on its 10th Anniversary.

PMID- 27620847
TI  - The Malleable Efficacy of Willpower Theories.
AB  - Emerging research documents the self-control consequences of individuals'
      theories regarding the limited nature of willpower, such that unlimited theorists
      consistently demonstrate greater self-control than limited theorists. The purpose
      of the present research was to build upon prior work on self-validation and
      perceptions of mental fatigue to demonstrate when self-control is actually
      impaired by endorsing an unlimited theory and-conversely-enhanced by endorsing a
      limited theory. Four experiments show that fluency reinforces the documented
      effects of individuals' willpower theories on self-control, while disfluency
      reverses the documented effects of individuals' willpower theories on self
      control. Moreover, these effects are driven by differential perceptions of mental
      fatigue-perceptions altered by individuals' level of confidence in their
      willpower theory-and are bound by conditions that promote effortful thought.
      Collectively, these findings point to the malleable efficacy of willpower
      theories and the importance of belief confidence in dictating this malleability
      and in modulating subsequent self-control behavior.

PMID- 27620844
TI  - Comparison of Physician Implicit Racial Bias Toward Adults Versus Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The general population and most physicians have
      implicit racial bias against black adults. Pediatricians also have implicit bias
      against black adults, albeit less than other specialties. There is no published
      research on the implicit racial attitudes of pediatricians or other physicians
      toward children. Our objectives were to compare implicit racial bias toward
      adults versus children among resident physicians working in a pediatric emergency
      department, and to assess whether bias varied by specialty (pediatrics, emergency
      medicine, or other), gender, race, age, and year of training. METHODS: We
      measured implicit racial bias of residents before a pediatric emergency
      department shift using the Adult and Child Race Implicit Association Tests
      (IATs). Generalized linear models compared Adult and Child IAT scores and
      determined the association of participant demographics with Adult and Child IAT
      scores. RESULTS: Among 91 residents, we found moderate pro-white/anti-black bias
      on both the Adult (mean = 0.49, standard deviation = 0.34) and Child Race IAT
      (mean = 0.55, standard deviation = 0.37). There was no significant difference
      between Adult and Child Race IAT scores (difference = 0.06, P = .15). Implicit
      bias was not associated with resident demographic characteristics, including
      specialty. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study demonstrating that resident
      physicians have implicit racial bias against black children, similar to levels of
      bias against black adults. Bias in our study did not vary by resident demographic
      characteristics, including specialty, suggesting that pediatric residents are as
      susceptible as other physicians to implicit bias. Future studies are needed to
      explore how physicians' implicit attitudes toward parents and children may impact
      inequities in pediatric health care.

PMID- 27620848
TI  - Genome-based phylogeny and taxonomy of the 'Enterobacteriales': proposal for
      Enterobacterales ord. nov. divided into the families Enterobacteriaceae,
      Erwiniaceae fam. nov., Pectobacteriaceae fam. nov., Yersiniaceae fam. nov.,
      Hafniaceae fam. nov., Morganellaceae fam. nov., and Budviciaceae fam. nov.
AB  - Understanding of the phylogeny and interrelationships of the genera within the
      order 'Enterobacteriales' has proven difficult using the 16S rRNA gene and other
      single-gene or limited multi-gene approaches. In this work, we have completed
      comprehensive comparative genomic analyses of the members of the order
      'Enterobacteriales' which includes phylogenetic reconstructions based on 1548
      core proteins, 53 ribosomal proteins and four multilocus sequence analysis
      proteins, as well as examining the overall genome similarity amongst the members
      of this order. The results of these analyses all support the existence of seven
      distinct monophyletic groups of genera within the order 'Enterobacteriales'. In
      parallel, our analyses of protein sequences from the 'Enterobacteriales' genomes
      have identified numerous molecular characteristics in the forms of conserved
      signature insertions/deletions, which are specifically shared by the members of
      the identified clades and independently support their monophyly and distinctness.
      Many of these groupings, either in part or in whole, have been recognized in
      previous evolutionary studies, but have not been consistently resolved as
      monophyletic entities in 16S rRNA gene trees. The work presented here represents
      the first comprehensive, genome-scale taxonomic analysis of the entirety of the
      order 'Enterobacteriales'. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses and the numerous
      identified conserved molecular characteristics, which clearly distinguish members
      of the order 'Enterobacteriales' and the seven reported clades within this order,
      a proposal is made here for the order Enterobacterales ord. nov. which consists
      of seven families: Enterobacteriaceae, Erwiniaceae fam. nov., Pectobacteriaceae
      fam. nov., Yersiniaceae fam. nov., Hafniaceae fam. nov., Morganellaceae fam.
      nov., and Budviciaceae fam. nov.

PMID- 27620845
TI  - Novel Organic Schottky Barrier Diode Created in a Single Planar Polymer Film.
AB  - An organic Schottky barrier diode is created in a single planar PEDOT:Tos film by
      treating a half of the PEDOT:Tos film with TDAE vapor. Current is rectified in
      one direction by the Schottky barrier at the junction. The unique planar
      structure made of a single film greatly reduces defects, resulting in a
      remarkably high current density with a high rectification ratio, as well as
      making it suitable for ink-jet-type or roll-to-roll printing techniques.

PMID- 27620842
TI  - MiR-137: an important player in neural development and neoplastic transformation.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent an important class of small regulatory RNAs that
      control gene expression posttranscriptionally by targeting mRNAs for degradation
      or translation inhibition. Early studies have revealed a complex role for miRNAs
      in major biological processes such as development, differentiation, growth and
      metabolism. MiR-137 in particular, has been of great interest due to its critical
      role in brain function and putative involvement in the etiology of both
      neuropsychiatric disorders and cancer. Several lines of evidence suggest that
      development, differentiation and maturation of the nervous system is strongly
      linked to the expression of miR-137 and its regulation of a large number of
      downstream target genes in various pathways. Dysregulation of this molecule has
      also been implicated in major mental illnesses through its position in a variant
      allele highly associated with schizophrenia in the largest mega genome-wide
      association studies. Interestingly, miR-137 has also been shown to act as a tumor
      suppressor, with numerous studies finding reduced expression in neoplasia
      including brain tumor. Restoration of miR-137 expression has also been shown to
      inhibit cell proliferation, migration and metastasis, and induce cell cycle
      arrest, differentiation and apoptosis. These properties of miR-137 propose its
      potential for prognosis, diagnosis and as a therapeutic target for treatment of
      several human neurological and neoplastic disorders. In this review, we provide
      details on the discovery, targets, function, regulation and disease involvement
      of miR-137 with a broad look at recent discovery in this area.

PMID- 27620849
TI  - Suicidal asphyxiation by carbon monoxide within a polythene bag.
AB  - Suicide by inhalation of carbon monoxide is not uncommon and usually involves car
      exhausts or burning charcoal or defective boilers. We report a case of a 25-year
      old man, who committed suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide gas inside a polythene
      bag in a bathroom. The open carbon monoxide cylinder found inside the polythene
      bag was purchased online by the deceased a few days earlier. He had stated that
      the gas would be used for his experiment on the environment. A suicide note
      recovered from his trouser pocket revealed his intention for a painless death.

PMID- 27620850
TI  - Herpes simplex virus keratitis: an update of the pathogenesis and current
      treatment with oral and topical antiviral agents - comment.

PMID- 27620851
TI  - N-acetyl tryptophan glucopyranoside (NATG) as a countermeasure against gamma
      radiation-induced immunosuppression in murine macrophage J774A.1 cells.
AB  - Radiation exposure to immune system induces imbalance in cytokines expression
      involved in Th1/Th2 homeostasis perturbations. In the present study, N-acetyl
      tryptophan glucoside (NATG), a bacterial secondary metabolite, was evaluated for
      its possible radioprotective potential to immune system using J774A.1 murine
      macrophages. In this study, expression of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-10, IL-2, IL
      12, IL-13 and IL-17A cytokines was analyzed in irradiated and NATG pretreated
      cells using ELISA assay. Results of the study indicated that irradiated
      macrophages (NK-1R+ cells) pretreated with NATG showed higher (p < .05) survival
      at all observed time-intervals (2 h-48 h) as compared to irradiated (20Gy) cells
      that were not pretreated with NATG. However, NATG pretreatment to irradiated
      HEK293T cells (that did not express NK-1Receptor) did not provide significant
      survival, suggesting NK-1R involvement in NATG-mediated radioprotection. Cytokine
      expression analysis demonstrated that NATG pre-treated plus irradiated J774A.1
      murine macrophages exhibited increased IFN-gamma levels (~90%) with significant
      decrease in TNF-alpha at 24h as compared to irradiated cells. Further,
      significant decrease (~20%) in IL-10 and IL-2 (~26%) levels was observed in
      irradiated macrophages pretreated with NATG as compared to only irradiated cells.
      A sharp improvement in IL-17A (~92%) and IL-12 (~116%) expression was observed in
      irradiated macrophages pretreated with NATG as compared to only irradiated cells.
      Hence, NATG pre-treatment to irradiated macrophages induced IFN-gamma, IL-17A and
      IL-12 expression, but suppresses TNF-alpha, IL-10 and IL-2 expressions.
      Conclusively, NATG pretreatment overcomes radiation-induced Th2 immune response
      by improving Th1 responsive cytoprotective cytokines IFN-gamma, IL-17A and IL-12
      in irradiated macrophages possibly by NK-1R antagonistic mechanism, and thus
      contributes to radioprotection.

PMID- 27620852
TI  - Barriers to HIV Cure.
AB  - Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 70 million people have been
      infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and about 38 million have died
      from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related illnesses. While the
      discovery of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the mid 90's has
      saved millions of lives, a complete eradication of HIV is still not possible as
      HIV can persist for decades in a small reservoir of latently infected cells. Once
      reactivated, these latently infected cells can actively produce viral particles.
      Recent studies suggest that several sanctuaries exist within infected individuals
      where HIV can remain undetected by the immune system. These cellular, anatomical
      and microanatomical viral reservoirs represent a major obstacle for the
      eradication of HIV. Here we review recent findings on potential sanctuaries of
      HIV and address potential avenues to overcome these immunological barriers.

PMID- 27620853
TI  - Identification of a novel HLA-DRB1*14 allele, HLA-DRB1*14:127:01, in a Chinese
      Individual.
AB  - Two nucleotide changes in codon 77 (ACC -> AAT) of HLA-DRB1*14:05:03 result in
      the allele, HLA-DRB1*14:127:01.

PMID- 27620854
TI  - Socioeconomic disparities in type 2 diabetes mellitus prevalence and self
      management behaviors in rural southwest China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examines how socioeconomic factors are associated with
      prevalence and self-management of diabetes among ethnic minority groups in the
      rural Yunnan province, which has the most ethnic minority groups per province in
      southwest China. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2014 in a
      rural southwest population consisting of 5532 consenting individuals aged
      ?35years. Information about participants' demographic characteristics, as well as
      diabetes diagnosis, treatment, and self-management behaviors, were obtained using
      a standard questionnaire. Fasting blood sugar levels were recorded for each
      individual. A socioeconomic position (SEP) index was constructed using principal
      component analysis. RESULTS: The age-standardized prevalence of diabetes in the
      study population was 4.8%. In persons with diabetes, 23.1% regularly self
      monitored blood glucose, 43.2% adhered to taking prescribed anti-diabetic drugs
      or insulin injections, and 63.1% took at least one measure to control blood
      glucose. Individual educational level was found to be negatively associated with
      the prevalence of diabetes, whereas individuals with greater household assets and
      higher SEP were more likely to be suffered from diabetes. Persons with diabetes
      with greater household assets, higher level of education, and higher SEP had a
      greater probability of regularly self-monitoring blood glucose, compliance to
      prescribed medicines, and taking measures to control diabetes. Access to medical
      services was positively associated with regularly self-monitoring blood glucose
      and compliance to prescribed medicines. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic disparities in
      diabetes prevalence and self-management do exist. Future interventions to further
      control diabetes and improve diabetes management must be tailored to address
      socioeconomic factors.

PMID- 27620855
TI  - Motivating Mature Adults to be Physically Active.
AB  - As a population, middle-aged and older adults are not meeting national guidelines
      for exercise. The purpose of this study was to describe factors associated with
      exercise adherence in an 8-month program offered as part of a research study
      testing the effects of exercise on cognitive performance for persons with a
      family history of Alzheimer's disease (AD). After completion of the program,
      participants provided open-ended responses indicating their reasons for adhering
      to the exercise program, and they completed the Motives for Physical Activities
      Measure-Revised. Results indicated that adherence was tied to an interest in
      contributing to our understanding of AD, the opportunity to join an exercise
      program, perceived exercise benefits, and social support. In addition,
      participants reported high levels of extrinsic (fitness-related) and intrinsic
      (interest/enjoyment) motivation. Other possible motivating factors which emerged
      from day-to-day observations in the program were identified. Findings suggest
      directions for exercise professionals with respect to exercise adherence.

PMID- 27620856
TI  - Can ultraviolet light C decrease the environmental burden of antimicrobial
      resistant and -sensitive bacteria on textiles?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The environment is important in transmission of bacteria. Textiles
      are difficult and time consuming to clean; ultraviolet light C (UVC) is
      germicidal and may be an effective disinfection method for textile surfaces.
      OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the efficacy of UVC, a commercial quaternary
      ammonium compound antimicrobial spray (FAS) and UVC+FAS combined for reducing
      bacterial colonization on experimentally contaminated textiles. METHODS:
      Microfibre, cotton and polyester were inoculated with meticillin-sensitive and 
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA and MRSA), Staphylococcus pseudintermedius
      (MSSP and MRSP), Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Escherichia coli. ATCC(r) strains were
      used except for MRSP, for which ten canine clinical isolates were collected.
      Textiles were treated with three doses of UVC (13 mJ/cm2 , 54 mJ/cm2 or 270
      mJ/cm2 ), FAS or both (FAS and UVC at 270 mJ/cm2 ). UVC was delivered using a
      modified mercury-based lamp. Bleach (8.25%) was used as a positive control.
      Negative controls received no treatment. Surface bacterial counts were determined
      24 h post-treatment. RESULTS: The lower dosages (13 mJ/cm2 and 54 mJ/cm2 ) of UVC
      had >90% colony forming unit (CFU) reduction, 270 mJ/cm2 had >99% CFU reduction
      and combined UVC+FAS had 100% CFU reduction against all bacterial strains on all
      surfaces (P < 0.05). Ten experiments showed that treatment with UVC had a greater
      CFU reduction when compared to FAS alone (P < 0.05). A majority of those
      experiments (seven of 10) involved Gram-negative species (P. aeruginosa or E.
      coli). CONCLUSION: UVC quickly reduced the bacterial burden on textiles to
      greater than 90%; UVC may be a better disinfecting agent than FAS for Gram
      negative species.

PMID- 27620857
TI  - An antimicrobial origin of transit peptides accounts for early endosymbiotic
      events.
AB  - Primary endosymbiosis, which gave rise to mitochondria or chloroplasts, required
      successful targeting of a number of proteins from the host cytosol to the
      endosymbiotic organelles. A survey of studies published in separate fields of
      biological research over the past 40 years argues for an antimicrobial origin of
      targeting peptides. It is proposed that mitochondria and chloroplast derive from
      microbes that developed a resistance strategy to antimicrobial peptides that
      consisted in their rapid internalization and proteolytic disposal by microbial
      peptidases.

PMID- 27620858
TI  - Application of Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) to UK
      rail safety of the line incidents.
AB  - Minor safety incidents on the railway cause disruption, and may be indicators of
      more serious safety risks. The following paper aimed to gain an understanding of
      the relationship between active and latent factors, and particular causal paths
      for these types of incidents by using the Human Factors Analysis and
      Classification System (HFACS) to examine rail industry incident reports
      investigating such events. 78 reports across 5 types of incident were reviewed by
      two authors and cross-referenced for interrater reliability using the index of
      concordance. The results indicate that the reports were strongly focused on
      active failures, particularly those associated with work-related distraction and
      environmental factors. Few latent factors were presented in the reports.
      Different causal pathways emerged for memory failures for events such a failure
      to call at stations, and attentional failures which were more often associated
      with signals passed at danger. The study highlights a need for the rail industry
      to look more closely at latent factors at the supervisory and organisational
      levels when investigating minor safety of the line incidents. The results also
      strongly suggest the importance of a new factor - operational environment - that
      captures unexpected and non-routine operating conditions which have a risk of
      distracting the driver. Finally, the study provides further demonstration of the
      utility of HFACS to the rail industry, and of the usefulness of the index of
      concordance measure of interrater reliability.

PMID- 27620859
TI  - A multidimensional intergenerational model of young males' driving styles.
AB  - This study examines the associations between fathers' driving styles, the
      family's general and driving-related atmosphere, and the young drivers'
      motivations, on one hand, and young males' driving styles, on the other. The 242
      father and son pairs that participated in the study independently completed
      several self-report questionnaires at different points in time within the first
      year after licensure of the young drivers. A structural equation model (SEM) was
      developed, in which the contribution of fathers' driving style and their sons'
      perceptions of the general family relations, the family climate for road safety
      (FCRS), and costs and benefits of driving, to the driving styles of the young
      male drivers was examined. The SEM estimation results show direct as well as
      indirect significant effects between the various dimensions. The FCRS factors of
      non-commitment and messages, and the cost of thrill, were found to be the
      strongest mediators between the fathers' driving style and the family cohesion,
      on one hand, and the driving style of the young driver, on the other. These
      results may be useful in pointing out directions for the development of
      interventions that could assist in reducing the involvement of youngsters in
      risky driving and car crashes, and encourage safe and considerate driving.

PMID- 27620860
TI  - Comparison of clinical features, treatment, and outcomes of collagenous sprue,
      celiac disease, and collagenous colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Collagenous sprue (CS) is a rare form of enteropathy that had been
      reported to be associated with celiac disease (CD) and collagenous colitis (CC).
      The aim of our study was to compare the clinical features, treatments, and
      outcomes of CS, CD, and CC. METHODS: All patients with histologic diagnosis of
      CS, CD, or CC with complete clinical data were extracted from our pathology
      database between 1990 and 2015. Demographic and clinical features were recorded
      along with treatments and outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 21 patients with CS were
      included. Overall CS patients were more symptomatic with 17 (81.0%) patients with
      diarrhea and 15 (71.4%) with unintentional weight loss. Positive celiac serology
      was noted in 5 (23.8%) CS patients. CS patients had higher rates for disease
      related temporary total parenteral nutrition (TPN) use (38.1% vs. 1.1% vs. 1.0%,
      P < 0.0001) and disease-related hospitalization (52.4% vs. 3.3% vs. 8.2%, P <
      0.0001) than that in CD and CC patients. Twenty CS patients received treatments,
      including the combination of gluten-free diet (GFD) and corticosteroids (n = 12),
      GFD only (n = 2), and corticosteroids only (n = 6). All CS patients showed
      symptomatic reliefs with treatment. Although CS patients had a higher rate for
      hospitalization and TPN use, disease-related death was not observed in all three
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Collagenous sprue patients had more severe clinical
      presentation than patients with CD and CC and therefore had higher demand for
      temporary TPN and hospitalization. Nevertheless, a prompt use of steroids and/or
      GFD upon histologic diagnosis of CS may have contributed to an overall excellent
      prognosis.

PMID- 27620861
TI  - Mandatory internal mobility in French hospitals: the results of imposed
      management practices.
AB  - AIM: To describe the impact of a mandatory internal mobility policy on nurses
      working in French state-funded health establishments. BACKGROUND: Public
      hospitals in France rely on the internal mobility of nursing staff to respond to
      organisational needs, to reduce costs and to increase productivity. However,
      there is very little data on the impact of such management practices on the
      nurses themselves. METHOD: A cross-sectional study, including 3077 nurses from 35
      hospitals in the region of Paris, was conducted. Data were collected using a
      validated self-assessment questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty per cent of French nurses
      are required to work in different units. This mobility differs according to
      individual characteristics [age (P = 0.04), length of service (P = 0.017)] and
      type of environment [hospital (P < 0.0001), specialty (P < 0.0001)]. CONCLUSION:
      We can distinguish two types of approaches for implementing a mandatory staff
      nurse mobility policy. The first is an event that is regular, planned and lasts
      for several days. The second is an event that is irregular, short and organised
      the day before or the day of the change. Overall, while nurses are dissatisfied
      with all types of mandatory unit changes, this dissatisfaction is primarily a
      result of the irregular mobility events. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT:
      This study demonstrates the importance of implementing a planned inter-unit
      mobility event and proposes recommendations for this type of implementation.

PMID- 27620862
TI  - Five-week sensory motor training program improves functional performance and
      postural control in young male soccer players - A blind randomized clinical
      trial.
AB  - : Sensory motor training programs are used in the rehabilitation and prevention
      of injuries among soccer players. Inconsistencies are found in the literature
      regarding the duration of the protocols and the exercises and equipment used.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the benefits of a five-week sensory motor training program
      on the functional performance and postural control of young soccer players.
      METHODS: The study sample comprised 22 young male soccer players who were
      evaluated using: the Figure-of-Eight Test (F8), Side Hop Test (SHT), Star
      Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), and a force platform. The players were randomly
      divided into a control group (N = 10), who continued their soccer practice
      sessions and an intervention group (N = 12), who continued their soccer practice
      sessions and were also enrolled in a supervised five-week sensory motor training
      program. RESULTS: After the five-week training program, the intervention group
      obtained significant results in the F8, SHT and SEBT, as well as in the following
      parameters: area of pressure of sway center (COP), mean velocity and mean
      frequency of COP. CONCLUSION: The five-week sensory motor training program,
      carried out with easily available and low cost equipment, was effective at
      improving functional performance and postural control in young soccer players.

PMID- 27620863
TI  - CellTree: an R/bioconductor package to infer the hierarchical structure of cell
      populations from single-cell RNA-seq data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single-cell RNA sequencing is fast becoming one the standard method
      for gene expression measurement, providing unique insights into cellular
      processes. A number of methods, based on general dimensionality reduction
      techniques, have been suggested to help infer and visualise the underlying
      structure of cell populations from single-cell expression levels, yet their
      models generally lack proper biological grounding and struggle at identifying
      complex differentiation paths. RESULTS: Here we introduce cellTree: an
      R/Bioconductor package that uses a novel statistical approach, based on document
      analysis techniques, to produce tree structures outlining the hierarchical
      relationship between single-cell samples, while identifying latent groups of
      genes that can provide biological insights. CONCLUSIONS: With cellTree, we
      provide experimentalists with an easy-to-use tool, based on statistically and
      biologically-sound algorithms, to efficiently explore and visualise single-cell
      RNA data. The cellTree package is publicly available in the online Bionconductor
      repository at: http://bioconductor.org/packages/cellTree/ .

PMID- 27620865
TI  - Horizontal vectorization of electron repulsion integrals.
AB  - We present an efficient implementation of the Obara-Saika algorithm for the
      computation of electron repulsion integrals that utilizes vector intrinsics to
      calculate several primitive integrals concurrently in a SIMD vector. Initial
      benchmarks display a 2-4 times speedup with AVX instructions over comparable
      scalar code, depending on the basis set. Speedup over scalar code is found to be
      sensitive to the level of contraction of the basis set, and is best for
      (lAlB|lClD) quartets when lD  = 0 or lB=lD=0, which makes such a vectorization
      scheme particularly suitable for density fitting. The basic Obara-Saika
      algorithm, how it is vectorized, and the performance bottlenecks are analyzed and
      discussed. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27620864
TI  - "Textural analysis of multiparametric MRI detects transition zone prostate
      cancer".
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate multiparametric-MRI (mpMRI) derived histogram textural
      analysis parameters for detection of transition zone (TZ) prostatic tumour.
      METHODS: Sixty-seven consecutive men with suspected prostate cancer underwent
      1.5T mpMRI prior to template-mapping-biopsy (TPM). Twenty-six men had
      'significant' TZ tumour. Two radiologists in consensus matched TPM to the single
      axial slice best depicting tumour, or largest TZ diameter for those with benign
      histology, to define single-slice whole TZ-regions-of-interest (ROIs). Textural
      parameter differences between single-slice whole TZ-ROI containing significant
      tumour versus benign/insignificant tumour were analysed using Mann Whitney U
      test. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed by receiver operating characteristic area
      under curve (ROC-AUC) analysis cross-validated with leave-one-out (LOO) analysis.
      RESULTS: ADC kurtosis was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in TZ containing
      significant tumour with ROC-AUC 0.80 (LOO-AUC 0.78); the difference became non
      significant following exclusion of significant tumour from single-slice whole TZ
      ROI (p = 0.23). T1-entropy was significantly lower (p = 0.004) in TZ containing
      significant tumour with ROC-AUC 0.70 (LOO-AUC 0.66) and was unaffected by
      excluding significant tumour from TZ-ROI (p = 0.004). Combining these parameters
      yielded ROC-AUC 0.86 (LOO-AUC 0.83). CONCLUSION: Textural features of the whole
      prostate TZ can discriminate significant prostatic cancer through reduced
      kurtosis of the ADC-histogram where significant tumour is included in TZ-ROI and
      reduced T1 entropy independent of tumour inclusion. KEY POINTS: * MR textural
      features of prostate transition zone may discriminate significant prostatic
      cancer. * Transition zone (TZ) containing significant tumour demonstrates a less
      peaked ADC histogram. * TZ containing significant tumour reveals higher post
      contrast T1-weighted homogeneity. * The utility of MR texture analysis in
      prostate cancer merits further investigation.

PMID- 27620866
TI  - Novel mutations in quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA, gyrB, parC
      and parE in Shigella flexneri clinical isolates from eastern Chinese populations
      between 2001 and 2011.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of fluoroquinolone
      resistance and mechanisms of selected fluoroquinolone resistance in Shigella
      flexneri isolates. A total of 624 S. flexneri strains isolated between 2001 and
      2011 in Jiangsu Province of China were analysed for their fluoroquinolone
      susceptibility. The quinolone resistance-determining region of gyrA, gyrB, parC
      and parE were amplified and sequenced. In general, 90.5 % of S. flexneri
      exhibited resistance to nalidixic acid. The mean norfloxacin resistance rate was
      22.4 % during the 11 years from 2001 to 2011 (6.4 % from 2001 to 2005 and 36.8 %
      from 2006 to 2011). Sequencing of gyrA, gyrB, parC and parE genes of all S.
      flexneri isolates showed that the mutation rate was as high as 93.9 %. In
      addition, 91.8 % and 92.3 % of S. flexneri harboured mutations in gyrA and parC,
      respectively. About 35.2 % of S. flexneri isolates susceptible to nalidixic acid
      contained mutations. Meanwhile, mutations were detected in 91.2 % of norfloxacin
      susceptible strains, and almost all S. flexneri isolates resistant to
      fluoroquinolone contained mutations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first study reporting the occurrence of point mutations Asn57Lys and His80Pro in
      gyrA and Ala85Thr, Asp111His and Ser129Pro in parC. Emerging fluoroquinolone
      resistance with a significantly high mutation rate of the gyrA and parC genes in
      S. flexneri in Jiangsu Province deserves attention, and monitoring antibiotic
      susceptibility is important for the effective management of S. flexneri
      infections.

PMID- 27620867
TI  - Variability in residual feed intake and nutrient utilization in Murrah buffalo
      heifers.
AB  - A feeding trial with 18 Murrah buffalo heifers (238 +/- 63 kg; 1.7 +/- 0.4 years
      old) was conducted for 57 days, and feed intake and body weight were recorded
      followed by 7 days of urine and feces collection. Heifers were grouped into low
      (RFI-I) and high (RFI-II) feed efficiency groups by regressing DMI (g head-1 day
      1) on BWG (g head-1 day-1) and mid-test MBW (kg). RFI-II heifers had slightly
      higher DMI (g head-1 day-1 and expressed per unit of BW, %BW, MBW, mid-test BW,
      and mid-test MBW) and all associated nutrient intakes, BWG, feed efficiency
      traits (FCR, CPCR), digestibility of nutrients, and retentions of crude protein
      and fat over RFI-I heifers. The corresponding intake values (kg head-1 day-1) for
      RFI-I versus RFI-II were the following: DMI (6.73 +/- 0.56 vs 6.51 +/- 0.50), CPI
      (0.99 +/- 0.008 vs 0.97 +/- 0.07), DOMI (5.06 +/- 0.47 vs 5.11 +/- 0.42), and
      TDNI (4.95 +/- 0.47 vs 5.00 +/- 0.42). BWG (669 +/- 52 vs 776 +/- 47 g head-1 day
      1), feed efficiency traits (FCR: 10.32 +/- 1.16 vs 8.77 +/- 1.04 and CPCR: 1.52
      +/- 0.17 vs 1.30 +/- 0.16), N balance (38 +/- 9 vs 45 +/- 8 g N head-1 day-1),
      and protein and fat retentions (239 +/- 57 vs 282 +/- 51 g CP head-1 day-1 and
      430 +/- 6 vs 494 +/- 59 g fat head-1 day-1) of RFI-I were less than RFI-II
      heifers, respectively. Based on the predicted RFI values, RFI-II buffalo heifers
      could be selected for feed efficiency.

PMID- 27620868
TI  - Growth performance and meat quality of rabbits under different feeding regimes.
AB  - This study evaluated the growth, carcass characteristics and meat quality of
      indigenous rabbits in northern Pakistan. Weaned rabbits (age 35 days, weight 323
      g) of four distinct phenotypes (white, black and white, brown and black) were fed
      four experimental diets: alfalfa hay (AH), berseem fodder (BF), BF supplemented
      with low-level concentrate (50 %; LLC) and high-level concentrate (75 %; HLC).
      Each experimental diet was fed to 48 rabbits, 12 of each phenotype, in a
      randomized complete block design. The duration of the experiment was 55 days,
      including 1 week of adaptation. Rabbits fed the BF and AH diets had poor body
      weight gain (P < 0.05) compared to rabbits fed the LLC and HLC diets. Feed
      conversion efficiency was best in the LLC (4.47) and HLC (4.58) groups. Average
      carcass yield (743 g) and carcass dressing percentage (56.2) were higher (P <
      0.05) in LLC. Growth rate was not improved significantly by feeding HLC. Fat
      deposition in animals was higher (P < 0.05) in the groups supplemented with
      concentrate. Cost per kilogram of rabbit meat was lowest (P < 0.05) for BF,
      followed by AH, LLC and HLC. Brown phenotypes had the best (P < 0.05) feed
      conversion efficiency, body weight gain, carcass yield and carcass dressing. It
      was concluded that local rabbits do not necessarily need high levels of
      concentrates but can be well fattened with low-level concentrates along with
      forages.

PMID- 27620869
TI  - Supplementation of banana flower powder pellet and plant oil sources on in vitro
      ruminal fermentation, digestibility, and methane production.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of banana flower power
      pellet (BAFLOP-pellet) and plant oil source on in vitro gas production,
      fermentation efficiency, and methane (CH4) production. Rumen fluid was collected
      from two rumen-fistulated dairy steers fed on rice straw-based diet with
      concentrate supplement to maintain normal rumen ecology. All supplemented feed
      were added to respective treatments in the 30:70 roughage to concentrate-based
      substrate. The treatments were arranged according to a 3 * 3 factorial
      arrangement in a completely randomized design. First factor was different levels
      of BAFLOP-pellet supplementation (0, 30, and 60 g/kg of dietary substrate) and
      second factor was plant oil source supplementation [non-supplemented, 20 g/kg
      krabok seed oil (KSO), and 20 g/kg coconut oil (CO) of dietary substrate,
      respectively]. Under this investigation, BAFLOP-pellet supplementation increased
      gas production kinetics and in vitro digestibility (P < 0.05). Ruminal pH was
      dropped post incubation time in the non-supplemented group but was enhanced in
      BAFLOP-pellet-supplemented treatments. On the other hand, supplementation of KSO
      and CO depressed gas production and digestibility, but did not influence ruminal
      pH. In addition, protozoal population and CH4 production were decreased by BAFLOP
      pellet and plant oil addition (P < 0.05). Based on this study, it could be
      concluded that supplementation of BAFLOP-pellet and plant oil source could
      enhance the in vitro fermentation efficiency while reduced protozoal population
      and CH4 production. It is suggested that BAFLOP-pellet (60 g/kg of dietary
      substrate) and KSO/CO (20 g/kg of dietary substrate) could be used to manipulate
      rumen fermentation characteristics fed on high-concentrate diet.

PMID- 27620870
TI  - The impact of autism services on mothers' psychological wellbeing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Families with a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
      often utilize a variety of professional services. The provision of these services
      has many potential benefits for families; however, these services also place
      demands on parents, particularly mothers, to access, navigate and participate.
      Little is known about how involvement with these services and service systems
      influences the psychological wellbeing of mothers of children diagnosed with ASD.
      We examined the relationship between professional services and psychological
      wellbeing for mothers of children diagnosed with ASD. METHODS: Mothers (n = 119)
      of children (mean child age 10.1 years; range 2-24 years) diagnosed with ASD
      anonymously completed a comprehensive survey. The survey included data related to
      maternal psychological wellbeing, professional services received and perceptions
      of these services, and child, mother and household characteristics. RESULTS:
      Regression analyses revealed that maternal psychological wellbeing was positively
      associated with the perceived continuity of services, and negatively associated
      with the number of professionals involved. Child and maternal age, and household
      income were also statistically significant predictors of maternal psychological
      wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings draw attention to the potentially
      negative impact of systems-level challenges, especially fragmentation of
      services, on maternal psychological wellbeing, despite positive front-line
      services. In particular, our data suggest that psychological wellbeing among
      mothers of children with ASD may vary more as a function of service system
      variables than practitioner-level or child-level variables.

PMID- 27620871
TI  - Graded aerobic treadmill testing in pediatric sports-related concussion: safety,
      clinical use, and patient outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study were 2-fold: 1) to evaluate the safety,
      tolerability, and clinical use of graded aerobic treadmill testing in pediatric
      patients with sports-related concussion (SRC), and 2) to evaluate the clinical
      outcomes of treatment with a submaximal aerobic exercise program in patients with
      physiological post-concussion disorder (PCD). METHODS The authors conducted a
      retrospective chart review of pediatric patients (age < 20 years) with SRC who
      were referred to a multidisciplinary pediatric concussion program and underwent
      graded aerobic treadmill testing between October 9, 2014, and February 11, 2016.
      Clinical assessments were carried out by a single neurosurgeon and included
      clinical history taking, physical examination, and recording specific patient
      reported concussion-related symptoms using the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale
      (PCSS). Graded aerobic treadmill testing using a modified Balke protocol for
      incremental increases in intensity was used as a diagnostic tool to assess
      physiological recovery, classify post-concussion syndrome (PCS) subtype, and
      reassess patients following treatment. Patients with a symptom-limited threshold
      on treadmill testing (physiological PCD) were treated with an individually
      tailored submaximal exercise prescription and multidisciplinary targeted
      therapies. RESULTS One hundred six patients (mean age 15.1 years, range 11-19
      years) with SRC underwent a total of 141 treadmill tests. There were no serious
      complications related to treadmill testing in this study. Overall, 138 (97.9%) of
      141 tests were well tolerated and contributed valuable clinical information.
      Treadmill testing confirmed physiological recovery in 63 (96.9%) of 65 patients
      tested, allowing successful return to play in 61 (93.8%). Treadmill testing was
      used to diagnose physiological PCD in 58 patients and cervicogenic PCD in 1
      patient. Of the 41 patients with physiological PCD who had complete follow-up and
      were treated with tailored submaximal exercise prescription, 37 (90.2%) were
      classified as clinically improved and 33 (80.5%) successfully returned to
      sporting activities. Patients who did not respond or experienced an incomplete
      response to submaximal aerobic exercise treatment included 7 patients with
      migraine headaches and 1 patient with a postinjury psychiatric disorder.
      CONCLUSIONS Graded aerobic treadmill testing is a safe, tolerable, and clinically
      valuable tool that can assist in the evaluation and management of pediatric SRC.
      Future research is needed to confirm the clinical value of this tool in return-to
      play decision making. Studies are also needed to understand the pathophysiology
      of physiological PCD and the effects of targeted treatment.

PMID- 27620873
TI  - Recent Advances in the Synthesis of SCF2 H- and SCF2 FG-Containing Molecules.
AB  - In recent years, much interest has been paid to difluoromethylthiolated molecules
      as the "SCF2 " moiety is a key motif in drug and agrochemical research.
      Consequently, the development of versatile strategies for the selective synthesis
      of SCF2 H- and SCF2 FG-containing molecules (FG=functional group) has attracted a
      lot of attention and inspired the scientific community to design new tools. This
      Minireview highlights the major progress made in this field. Particularly,
      methodologies developed for the difluoromethylation of sulfur-containing
      molecules and the direct construction of C-SCF2 bonds in various classes of
      compounds are showcased and discussed.

PMID- 27620874
TI  - Early goal directed mobility in the ICU: 'something in the way you move'.

PMID- 27620876
TI  - Transpulmonary pressure during high-frequency oscillation ventilation: Is it the
      culprit?

PMID- 27620872
TI  - Genome-wide repression of eRNA and target gene loci by the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion in
      acute leukemia.
AB  - Approximately 20%-25% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias carry the ETV6
      RUNX1 (E/R) fusion gene, a fusion of two central hematopoietic transcription
      factors, ETV6 (TEL) and RUNX1 (AML1). Despite its prevalence, the exact genomic
      targets of E/R have remained elusive. We evaluated gene loci and enhancers
      targeted by E/R genome-wide in precursor B acute leukemia cells using global run
      on sequencing (GRO-seq). We show that expression of the E/R fusion leads to
      widespread repression of RUNX1 motif-containing enhancers at its target gene
      loci. Moreover, multiple super-enhancers from the CD19+/CD20+-lineage were
      repressed, implicating a role in impediment of lineage commitment. In effect, the
      expression of several genes involved in B cell signaling and adhesion was down
      regulated, and the repression depended on the wild-type DNA-binding Runt domain
      of RUNX1. We also identified a number of E/R-regulated annotated and de novo
      noncoding genes. The results provide a comprehensive genome-wide mapping between
      E/R-regulated key regulatory elements and genes in precursor B cell leukemia that
      disrupt normal B lymphopoiesis.

PMID- 27620875
TI  - The role of autophagy in angiotensin II-induced pathological cardiac hypertrophy.
AB  - Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is associated with nearly all forms of heart
      failure. It develops in response to disorders such as coronary artery disease,
      hypertension and myocardial infarction. Angiotensin II (Ang II) has direct
      effects on the myocardium and promotes hypertension. Chronic elevation of Ang II
      can lead to pathological cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac failure. Autophagy is an
      important process in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Under
      physiological conditions, autophagy is an essential homeostatic mechanism to
      maintain the global cardiac structure function by ridding damaged cells or
      unwanted macromolecules and organelles. Dysregulation of autophagy may play an
      important role in Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy although conflicting reports
      on the effects of Ang II on autophagy and cardiac hypertrophy exist. Some studies
      showed that autophagy activation attenuated Ang II-induced cardiac dysfunction.
      Others suggested that inhibition of the Ang II induced autophagy should be
      protective. The discrepancies may be due to different model systems and different
      signaling pathway involved. Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy may be alleviated
      through regulation of autophagy. This review focuses on Ang II to highlight the
      molecular targets and pathways identified in the prevention and treatment of Ang
      II-induced pathological cardiac hypertrophy by regulating autophagy.

PMID- 27620877
TI  - Low cardiac index and stroke volume on admission are associated with poor outcome
      in critically ill burn patients: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Impact of early systemic hemodynamic alterations and fluid
      resuscitation on outcome in the modern burn care remains controversial. We
      investigate the association between acute-phase systemic hemodynamics, timing of
      fluid resuscitation and outcome in critically ill burn patients. METHODS:
      Retrospective, single-center cohort study was conducted in a university hospital.
      Forty critically ill burn patients with total body surface area (TBSA) burn
      injured >20 % with invasive blood pressure and cardiac output monitoring
      (transpulmonary thermodilution technique) within 8 h from trauma were included.
      We retrospectively examined hemodynamic variables during the first 24 h following
      admission, and their association with 90-day mortality. RESULTS: The median
      (interquartile range 25th-75th percentile) TBSA, Simplified Acute Physiology
      Score II (SAPS II) and Abbreviated Burn Severity Index of the study population
      were 41 (29-56), 31 (23-50) and 9 (7-11) %, respectively. 90-Day mortality was 42
      %. There was no statistical difference between the median pre-hospital and 24-h
      administered fluid volume in survivors and non-survivors. On admission, stroke
      volume (SV), cardiac index (CI), oxygen delivery index and mean arterial pressure
      (MAP) were significantly lower in patients who died despite similar fluid
      resuscitation volume. ROC curves comparing the ability of initial SV, CI, MAP and
      lactate to discriminate 90-day mortality gave areas under curves of,
      respectively, 0.89 (CI 0.77-1), 0.77 (CI 0.58-0.95), 0.73 (CI 0.53-0.93) and 0.78
      (CI 0.63-0.92); (p value <0.05 for all). In multivariate analysis, SAPS II and
      initial SV were independently associated with 90-day mortality (best cutoff value
      for SV was 27 mL, sensitivity 92 %, specificity 69 %). During 24 h, no
      interaction was found between time and outcome regarding macrocirculatory
      parameters changes. Hemodynamic parameters improved during the first 24-h
      resuscitation in all patients but patients who died had lower SV and CI on
      admission, which remained through the first 24 h. CONCLUSION: Low initial SV and
      CI were associated with poor outcome in critically ill burn patients. Very early
      hemodynamic monitoring may in help detecting under-resuscitated patients. Future
      prospective interventional studies should explore the impact of early goal
      directed therapy in these specific patients.

PMID- 27620878
TI  - Revised CT angiography venous score with consideration of infratentorial
      circulation value for diagnosing brain death.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is largely performed in
      European countries as an ancillary test for diagnosing brain death. However, CTA
      suffers from a lack of sensitivity, especially in patients who have previously
      undergone decompressive craniectomy. The aim of this study was to assess the
      performance of a revised four-point venous CTA score, including non-opacification
      of the infratentorial venous circulation, for diagnosing brain death. METHODS: A
      preliminary study of 43 control patients with normal CTAs confirmed that the
      infratentorial superior petrosal vein (SPV) was consistently visible. Therefore,
      76 patients (including ten with decompressive craniectomy) who were investigated
      with 83 CTAs to confirm clinical brain death were consecutively enrolled between
      July 2011 and July 2013 at a university centre. The image analysis consisted of
      recording non-opacification of the cortical segment of the middle cerebral artery
      and internal cerebral vein (ICV), which were used as the reference CTA score, as
      well as non-opacification of the SPV. The diagnostic performance of the revised
      four-point venous CTA score based on the non-opacification of both the ICV and
      SPV was assessed and compared with that of the reference CTA score. RESULTS: The
      revised four-point venous CTA score showed a sensitivity of 95 % for confirming
      clinical brain death versus a sensitivity of 88 % with the reference CTA score.
      Non-opacification of the SPV was observed in 95 % of the patients. In the
      decompressive craniectomy group, the revised four-point CTA score showed a
      sensitivity of 100 % compared with a sensitivity of 80 % using the reference CTA
      score. CONCLUSION: Compared with the reference CTA score, the revised four-point
      venous CTA score based on ICV and SPV non-opacification showed superior
      diagnostic performance for confirming brain death, including for patients with
      decompressive craniectomy.

PMID- 27620879
TI  - Influence of curvature strain and Van der Waals force on the inter-layer
      vibration mode of WS2 nanotubes: A confocal micro-Raman spectroscopic study.
AB  - Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) nanostructures including nanotubes and
      monolayers have attracted great interests in materials science, chemistry to
      condensed matter physics. We present an interesting study of the vibration modes
      in multi-walled tungsten sulfide (WS2) nanotubes prepared via sulfurizing
      tungsten oxide (WO3) nanowires which are investigated by confocal micro-Raman
      spectroscopy. The inter-layer vibration mode of WS2 nanotubes, A1g, is found to
      be sensitive to the diameter and curvature strain, while the in-plane vibration
      mode, E(1)2g, is not. A1g mode frequency shows a redshift by 2.5 cm(-1) for the
      multi-layered nanotubes with small outer-diameters, which is an outcome of the
      competition between the Van der Waals force stiffening and the curvature strain
      softening. We also show that the Raman peak intensity ratio is significantly
      different between the 1-2 wall layered nanotubes and monolayer flat sheets.

PMID- 27620881
TI  - The organic mercury compounds, methylmercury and ethylmercury, inhibited ciliary
      movement of ventricular ependymal cells in the mouse brain around the
      concentrations reported for human poisoning.
AB  - Functions of the nervous system are supported by the flow of cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF), which is driven by the ciliary beating of ventricular ependymal cells. The
      aim of the present study was to examine whether methylmercury (MeHg), a substance
      with potent neurotoxicity in humans, affects the ciliary movement. The effects of
      another organic mercury compound, ethylmercury (EtHg), were also assessed for
      comparison. Toxicity of MeHg or EtHg was evaluated by measuring alterations in
      the ciliary beat frequency of ependymal cells lining the third ventricle of mouse
      brain slices. The obtained results were: (1) Both MeHg and EtHg started to
      inhibit ciliary motility between 1 and 3MUM, the reported threshold limit of MeHg
      in humans. (2) An abrupt increase was observed in the inhibitory curves from 3 to
      6MUM for MeHg and EtHg. (3) The "give-in" concentration, i.e., concentration at
      which the cilia lose the ability to recover, for MeHg and EtHg was 6MUM and
      12MUM, respectively. (4) Ciliary beating was irreversibly halted by MeHg and EtHg
      at concentrations above 12MUM and 30MUM, respectively. (5) The estimated half
      maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) for MeHg and EtHg was 5.53MUM and
      5.80MUM, respectively. Based on these findings, we conclude that: (a) Ependymal
      cell cilia movement in mice was inhibited by MeHg in a concentration-dependent
      manner around concentrations reported to cause poisoning in humans; EtHg
      inhibited ciliary motility to a less extent. (b) Inhibition of CSF flow by
      suppression of ciliary movement is suggested to be an additional route for MeHg
      poisoning in humans, especially in prenatal exposure than in adult exposure.

PMID- 27620883
TI  - Trends and variation in the use of nipple-sparing mastectomy for breast cancer in
      the United States.
AB  - PURPOSE: For many women, nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) provides aesthetic and
      quality-of-life outcomes superior to skin-sparing mastectomy. Accumulating data
      suggest that NSM provides similar oncologic outcomes in select breast cancer
      patients. This study sought to determine national trends in NSM use. METHODS:
      Using the National Cancer Data Base, 6254 women with breast cancer who underwent
      NSM between 2010 and 2013 were identified. NSM rates were determined relative to
      the number of patients who received a mastectomy with reconstruction (n =
      114,849). Associations between patient, tumor, and facility characteristics and
      NSM were assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS: The rate of NSM increased
      from 2.9 to 8.0 % between 2010 and 2013. NSM was most commonly performed in
      academic (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.43, p < 0.001) and high-volume (OR 1.59, p <
      0.001) breast centers. There was up to a 5.8-fold variation in its delivery
      between geographic census regions (p < 0.001). Of 1231 hospitals, only 491 (39.9
      %) reported performing at least one NSM during the study period. Half of all NSMs
      were performed by the top 6 % (n = 30) of NSM-performing centers. NSM was
      associated with small tumor size (p < 0.001), lower tumor grades (p < 0.05), and
      negative nodal status (p < 0.001). However, half of NSM patients had at least one
      tumor characteristic that diverged from current (2016) NCCN recommendations for
      the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The use of therapeutic NSM is increasing dramatically
      in the United States, despite recommendations that the procedure be used with
      caution. As NSM becomes increasingly common, efforts are needed to monitor its
      long-term oncologic outcomes and to ensure equitable access to it.

PMID- 27620880
TI  - Sodium hydrosulfide prevents hypertension and increases in vascular endothelial
      growth factor and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 in hypertensive pregnant
      rats.
AB  - Sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) has presented antihypertensive and antioxidant effects
      and may reduce circulating soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1). We
      examined whether NaHS prevents maternal and fetal detrimental changes in a model
      of hypertension in pregnancy induced by N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L
      NAME). Forty pregnant rats were divided into four groups (n = 10 per group): Norm
      Preg, Preg + NaHS, HTN-Preg, or HTN-Preg + NaHS. Systolic blood pressure (SBP),
      number of viable fetuses, litter size, pups, and placentae weights were recorded.
      Circulating plasma sFlt-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),
      myeloperoxidase (MPO), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) levels, and
      biochemical determinants of nitric oxide (NO) formation were assessed. SBP values
      were elevated in the HTN-Preg group on gestational days 16, 18, and 20. However,
      HTN-Preg + NaHS group presented lower SBP values on days 18 and 20. Lower number
      of viable fetuses and litter size were found only in HTN-Preg group compared to
      other. Reductions in placental weight were found in HTN-Preg and HTN-Preg + NaHS
      groups. Increases in fetal weight were found only in Preg + NaHS group. Increases
      in circulating sFlt-1 and VEGF levels were observed only in HTN-Preg group
      compared to other. Higher MPO and lower TEAC plasma levels were found in HTN-Preg
      + NaHS and HTN-Preg groups. NO was diminished in HTN-Preg animals, and NaHS
      treatment increased NO levels only in hypertensive pregnant animals. Treatment
      with NaHS prevents hypertension in pregnancy and concomitantly reduces
      circulating plasma sFlt-1 and VEGF levels; this correlates with improved litter
      size with more viable fetuses and increase in NO levels. However, these
      beneficial effects presented no relation with oxidative stress.

PMID- 27620884
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of compression therapy using surgical gloves on
      nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy: a phase II
      multicenter study by the Kamigata Breast Cancer Study Group.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of using surgical glove (SG) compression
      therapy to prevent nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX)-induced
      peripheral neuropathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with primary and recurrent
      breast cancer who received 260 mg/m2 of nab-PTX were eligible for this case
      control study. Patients wore two SGs of the same size, i.e., one size smaller
      than the size that fit their dominant hand, for only 90 min. They did not wear
      two SGs on the non-dominant hand, which served as the control hand. Peripheral
      neuropathy was evaluated at each treatment cycle using common terminology
      criteria for adverse events (CTCAE) version 4.0 and the Patient Neurotoxicity
      Questionnaire. The temperature of each fingertip of the compression SG-protected
      hand and control hand was measured using thermography. RESULTS: Between August
      2013 and January 2016, 43 patients were enrolled and 42 were evaluated. The
      occurrence rates of CTCAE grade 2 or higher sensory and motor peripheral
      neuropathies were significantly lower for SG-protected hands than for control
      hands (sensory neuropathy 21.4 vs. 76.1 %; motor neuropathy 26.2 vs. 57.1 %). No
      patients withdrew from this study because they could not tolerate the compression
      from the SGs. SG compression therapy significantly decreased the temperature of
      each fingertip by 1.6-2.2  degrees C as compared with the temperature before
      chemotherapy (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: SG compression therapy is effective for
      reducing nab-PTX-induced peripheral neuropathy. The nab-PTX exposure to the
      peripheral nerve may be decreased because the SG decreases microvascular flow to
      the fingertip.

PMID- 27620882
TI  - ANG1005 for breast cancer brain metastases: correlation between 18F-FLT-PET after
      first cycle and MRI in response assessment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Improved therapies and imaging modalities are needed for the treatment
      of breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM). ANG1005 is a drug conjugate consisting
      of paclitaxel covalently linked to Angiopep-2, designed to cross the blood-brain
      barrier. We conducted a biomarker substudy to evaluate 18F-FLT-PET for response
      assessment. METHODS: Ten patients with measurable BCBM received ANG1005 at a dose
      of 550 mg/m2 IV every 21 days. Before and after cycle 1, patients underwent PET
      imaging with 18F-FLT, a thymidine analog, retention of which reflects cellular
      proliferation, for comparison with gadolinium-contrast magnetic resonance imaging
      (Gd-MRI) in brain metastases detection and response assessment. A 20 % change in
      uptake after one cycle of ANG1005 was deemed significant. RESULTS: Thirty-two
      target and twenty non-target metastatic brain lesions were analyzed. The median
      tumor reduction by MRI after cycle 1 was -17.5 % (n = 10 patients, lower, upper
      quartiles: -25.5, -4.8 %) in target lesion size compared with baseline. Fifteen
      of twenty-nine target lesions (52 %) and 12/20 nontarget lesions (60 %) showed a
      >=20 % decrease post-therapy in FLT-PET SUV change (odds ratio 0.71, 95 % CI:
      0.19, 2.61). The median percentage change in SUVmax was -20.9 % (n = 29 lesions;
      lower, upper quartiles: -42.4, 2.0 %), and the median percentage change in SUV80
      was also -20.9 % (n = 29; lower, upper quartiles: -49.0, 0.0 %). Two patients had
      confirmed partial responses by PET and MRI lasting 6 and 18 cycles, respectively.
      Seven patients had stable disease, receiving a median of six cycles. CONCLUSIONS:
      ANG1005 warrants further study in BCBM. Results demonstrated a moderately strong
      association between MRI and 18F-FLT-PET imaging.

PMID- 27620885
TI  - Comparisons and contrasts in the practice of nuclear cardiology in the United
      States and Japan.
AB  - There are interesting differences between the practice of Nuclear Cardiology in
      Japan and that in the United States and associated unique challenges. Differences
      in patient body habitus and the perceived importance of limiting patient
      radiation dose have resulted in different radiopharmaceutical and imaging
      protocol preferences. Governmental approval and reimbursement policies for
      various radiopharmaceuticals have promulgated adoption of different clinical
      applications. Both countries have experienced a significant decline in the number
      of nuclear cardiology studies performed, in part due to decreased governmental
      funding and reimbursement and to the emergence of competing modalities. Whereas
      precertification and test substitution have impacted negatively on the
      sustainability and growth of nuclear cardiology in the United States, in Japan
      those deterrents have not yet been encountered. Instead, communication barriers
      between nuclear medicine physicians and referring cardiologists are cited as a
      more significant barrier.

PMID- 27620886
TI  - Impact of Blood Pressure Control on Thromboembolism and Major Hemorrhage in
      Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: A Subanalysis of the J-RHYTHM
      Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To clarify the influence of hypertension and blood pressure (BP)
      control on thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with nonvalvular
      atrial fibrillation, a post hoc analysis of the J-RHYTHM Registry was performed.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: A consecutive series of outpatients with atrial fibrillation
      was enrolled from 158 institutions. Of 7937 patients, 7406 with nonvalvular
      atrial fibrillation (70.8% men, 69.8+/-10.0 years) were followed for 2 years or
      until an event occurred. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP >=140 mm Hg, a
      diastolic BP >=90 mm Hg, a history of hypertension, and/or antihypertensive drug
      use. Hypertension was an independent risk factor for major hemorrhage (hazard
      ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.05-2.21, P=0.027) but not for thromboembolism (hazard ratio
      1.05, 95% CI 0.73-1.52, P=0.787). When patients were divided into quartiles
      according to their systolic BP at the time closest to the event or at the end of
      follow-up (Q1, <114; Q2, 114-125; Q3, 126-135; and Q4, >=136 mm Hg), odds ratios
      for both events were significantly higher in Q4 than in Q1 (thromboembolism, odds
      ratio 2.88, 95% CI 1.75-4.74, P<0.001; major hemorrhage, odds ratio 1.61, 95% CI
      1.02-2.53, P=0.041) after adjustment for components of CHA2DS2-VASc score,
      warfarin use, and antiplatelet use. A systolic BP of >=136 mm Hg was an
      independent risk factor for thromboembolism and major hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: BP
      control appears to be more important than a history of hypertension and baseline
      BP values at preventing thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with
      nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr. Unique identifier: UMIN000001569.

PMID- 27620888
TI  - Effect of sialidase fusion protein (DAS 181) on human metapneumovirus infection
      of Hep-2 cells.
AB  - : Human metapneumovirus is an emerging cause of lower respiratory disease in
      infants, young children, and immunocompromised adults. We have previously
      demonstrated that human metapneumovirus infection is mediated by interaction of
      human metapneumovirus attachment (G) and/or fusion (F) proteins with cellular
      glycosaminoglycans. We report here the activity of an investigational sialidase
      fusion protein, DAS181, on human metapneumovirus infection of Hep-2 cells. These
      results suggest that human metapneumovirus infection may involve sialic acids,
      providing a new therapeutic strategy for human metapneumovirus for which there is
      currently no available treatment. METHODS: Hep-2 cells were preincubated with
      DAS181 or control DAS185 (a mutated sialidase) prior to inoculation with human
      metapneumovirus strains. Infectivity was assessed by a cell-based ELISA
      quantitating human metapneumovirus matrix protein. The effect of DAS181 on
      binding of recombinant G attachment protein was also determined. RESULTS: DAS181
      blocked infection of human metapneumovirus strains A2, B1, and B2 at low
      concentrations. No effect of DAS185 was observed. Binding of MPV G protein to Hep
      2 cells was also markedly inhibited by preincubation of cells with DAS181.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that human metapneumovirus may utilize sialic
      acids as an entry cofactor. DAS181 may thus represent a new therapeutic agent
      useful for the treatment of human metapneumovirus.

PMID- 27620887
TI  - Cardiac Electrical and Structural Changes During Bacterial Infection: An
      Instructive Model to Study Cardiac Dysfunction in Sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sepsis patients with cardiac dysfunction have significantly higher
      mortality. Although several pathways are associated with myocardial damage in
      sepsis, the precise cause(s) remains unclear and treatment options are limited.
      This study was designed to develop a new model to investigate the early events of
      cardiac damage during sepsis progression. METHODS AND RESULTS: Francisella
      tularensis subspecies novicida (Ft.n) is a Gram-negative intracellular pathogen
      causing severe sepsis syndrome in mice. BALB/c mice (N=12) were sham treated or
      infected with Ft.n through the intranasal route. Serial electrocardiograms were
      recorded at multiple time points until 96 hours. Hearts were then harvested for
      histology and gene expression studies. Similar to septic patients, we illustrate
      both cardiac electrical and structural phenotypes in our murine Ft.n infection
      model, including prominent R' wave formation, prolonged QRS intervals, and
      significant left ventricular dysfunction. Notably, in infected animals, we
      detected numerous microlesions in the myocardium, previously observed following
      nosocomial Streptococcus infection and in sepsis patients. We show that Ft.n
      mediated microlesions are attributed to cardiomyocyte apoptosis, increased immune
      cell infiltration, and expression of inflammatory mediators (tumor necrosis
      factor, interleukin [IL]-1beta, IL-8, and superoxide dismutase 2). Finally, we
      identify increased expression of microRNA-155 and rapid degradation of heat shock
      factor 1 following cardiac Ft.n infection as a primary cause of myocardial
      inflammation and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed and characterized an
      Ft.n infection model to understand the pathogenesis of cardiac dysregulation in
      sepsis. Our findings illustrate novel in vivo phenotypes underlying cardiac
      dysfunction during Ft.n infection with significant translational impact on our
      understanding of sepsis pathophysiology.

PMID- 27620889
TI  - Saccharomonospora xiaoerkulensis sp. nov., isolated from lake sediment.
AB  - A novel actinomycete, strain TRM 41495T, was isolated from lake sediment of
      Xiaoerkule lake in Xinjiang province, China, and was examined using a polyphasic
      approach. Strain TRM 41495T was aerobic, Gram-stain-positive, growing best on ISP
      medium 7 with abundant white aerial mycelium formed and brown soluble pigments
      produced. The optimum NaCl concentration for growth was 3.0 % (w/v), and the
      optimum temperature for growth was 37  degrees C. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene
      sequence analysis, strain TRM 41495T was shown to belong to the genus
      Saccharomonospora with a sequence similarity of 97.50 % with the most closely
      related species, Saccharomonospora xinjiangensis. The organism had chemical and
      morphological features typical of the genus Saccharomonospora. The cell wall of
      strain TRM 41495T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, and galactose, arabinose,
      ribose and mannose were the major whole-cell sugars. The polar lipids were
      diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine,
      phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol and an unknown phosphoglycolipid. The
      predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H4) and MK-9(H2). The major fatty acids were
      iso-C16 : 0, C16 : 0, C17 : 1omega6c, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 1H. The G+C
      content of the DNA was 72.9 mol%. However, DNA-DNA hybridization studies between
      strain TRM 41495T and Saccharomonospora xinjiangensis showed only 43.9 %
      relatedness. Whole-cell sugars, menaquinones and fatty acids differentiate strain
      TRM 41495T from Saccharomonospora xinjiangensis. On the basis of the polyphasic
      evidence, strain TRM 41495T represents a novel species of the genus
      Saccharomonospora, for which the name Saccharomonospora xiaoerkulensis sp. nov.
      is proposed. The type strain is TRM 41495T (=CCTCC AA 2015038T=KCTC 39727T).

PMID- 27620890
TI  - Selenium Deficiency-Induced Apoptosis of Chick Embryonic Vascular Smooth Muscle
      Cells and Correlations with 25 Selenoproteins.
AB  - Selenium deficiency is the major cause of exudative diathesis in chicks.
      Subcutaneous hemorrhage is one of the typical symptoms of the disease. However,
      the reason for the occurrence of blood exudation remains unknown. In the present
      study, the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were isolated from 17-day-old
      broiler chick embryos. Cell viability, cell apoptosis, and intracellular reactive
      oxygen species level under different concentrations of selenium (0-0.9 MUM) were
      investigated. The mRNA expression levels of 25 selenoproteins and apoptosis
      related genes (p53, CytC, Caspase-3, Caspase-8, Bcl-2, and Bax) were also
      measured. Selenium deficiency significantly decreased cell viability and
      increased cell apoptosis (p < 0.05). Supplementation with selenium could
      alleviate these changes. In general, at all levels of selenium addition, Gpx1,
      Gpx3, Gpx4, SepW1, and Sep15 mRNAs were all highly expressed in VSMCs, whereas
      Gpx2, Dio1, SepN1, SelO, and SelPb were at lower levels. There was a high
      correlation between Gpx2, Gpx3, Gpx4, Dio1, Txnrd1, Txnrd2, and Txnrd3 gene
      expression. Additionally, Gpx3, Gpx4, Dio1, Txnrd1, Txnrd2, Txnrd3, SelS, and
      SelPb showed a strong negative correlation with pro-apoptotic gene Caspase-3 as
      well as a strong positive correlation with anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2, especially
      SelI (r = 0.913 and r = 0.929, p < 0.01). These results suggest that selenium
      deficiency could induce VSMC apoptosis, and several selenoproteins may be
      involved in the development of apoptosis. Our findings provide information on the
      molecular mechanism of vascular injury by selenium deficiency.

PMID- 27620891
TI  - Effects of probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic with and without feed restriction
      on performance, hematological indices and carcass characteristics of broiler
      chickens.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotic,
      prebiotic and synbiotic with and without feed restriction on broilers
      performance, blood parameters, carcass characteristics, and feed cost of
      production from 1 to 56 days of age. METHODS: Two hundred and forty unsexed one
      day-old chicks of Arbor Acres breed were used. Two trials, I and II, were
      conducted, with 120 birds in both. Each trial was divided into 4 equal groups.
      The birds in trial I were fed ad libitum throughout the experiment, while the
      chicks in trial II were fed ad libitum during the first week of age, then
      subjected to 5 hours/d of feed restriction from the beginning of the second week
      up to the end of the experiment. In both trials, the birds in group 1 were fed on
      a control diet while the other groups were given the same control diet
      supplemented either with a probiotic in group 2, prebiotic in group 3, or
      synbiotic in group 4. RESULTS: It was found that chicks fed diets supplemented
      with probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic (with and without feed restriction)
      exhibited higher body weight and feed efficiency than chicks fed the control
      diets. The feed additives in both trials did not affect hemoglobin, serum total
      protein, albumin, globulin, glucose, and total cholesterol, except the packed
      cell volume which was increased in the additive treatments with restriction at
      the end of the experiment. Moreover, the dietary treatments did not influence the
      carcass yield. However, the relative weights of liver, gizzard and
      proventriculus, small intestine and bursa of fabricius were found to be
      increased. The additives decreased the visible fat in the carcass, with more
      decreasing effect in the additive groups with restriction. The lowest feed cost
      per kg of weight gain was observed in the birds fed diets supplemented with
      synbiotic, probiotic and prebiotic. Feed restriction improved the feed conversion
      ratio, economic return, but decreased the feed intake, serum total cholesterol
      and visible fat in comparison with non-restricted groups. CONCLUSION: The
      biological feed additives could be routinely added to broiler diets, especially
      when a feed restriction program is followed. Finally, it can be recommended to
      restrict feed, and add probiotic or synbiotic to increase weight, improve feed
      conversion rate and reduce feed cost of production.

PMID- 27620895
TI  - Antibiotic prophylaxis for prevention of febrile urinary tract infections in
      children with vesicoureteral reflux: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled
      trials comparing dilated to nondilated vesicoureteral reflux.

PMID- 27620892
TI  - Cloning and sequence analysis of Wild Argali short palate, lung and nasal
      epithelium clone 1 cDNA.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Experiments were conducted to clone the sequence of Wild Argali short
      palate, lung and nasal epithelium clone 1 (SPLUNC1) cDNA, and to lay the
      foundation for further study the biological function of Wild Argali SPLUNC1.
      METHODS: The complete sequence of Wild Argali SPLUNC1 cDNA was generated by rapid
      amplification of cDNA ends. The entire coding sequence was inserted into the
      pPIC9K vector and expressed in Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) GS115. The
      recombinant SPLUNC1 protein was detected by Western blot and purified by Ni2+
      chelate affinity chromatography. The test of effect of the protein on Mycoplasma
      ovipneumoniae (MO) was performed with real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      RESULTS: The Wild Argali SPLUNC1 cDNA was 1,076 bp with an open reading frame of
      768 bp, which encoded a 26.49 kDa protein composed of 255 amino acids. Its amino
      acid sequence shared 98.4%, 96.9%, 94.5%, 90.2%, 80.8%, 78.4%, 78.3%, 72.5%,
      72.3%, 68.8% identity with those of SPLUNC1 cDNA from Ovis aries (accession no.
      NP_001288334.1), Capra hircus (accession no. XP_005688516.1), Pantholops
      hodgsonii (accession no. XP_005979709.1), Bos taurus (accession no. NP_776851.1),
      Felis catus (accession no. XP_006929910.1), Homo sapiens (accession no.
      NP_001230122.1), Sus scrofa (accession no. NP_001005727.1), Chinchilla lanigera
      (accession no. NP_001269294.1), Mus musculus (accession no. NP_035256.2), and
      Rattus norvegicus (accession no. NP_742028.1), respectively. The recombinant
      protein corresponded to the expected molecular mass of 25.47 kDa as judged by
      sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and it was detected in
      the supernatant of P. pastoris, and it could be purified. The results from the
      test of inhibition effect of argali recombinant SPLUNC1 protein on MO showed that
      the product could inhibit MO very well (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The amino acid
      sequence of Wild Argali SPLUNC1 was different from other organisms. The
      recombinant SPLUNC1 protein has good biological activity.

PMID- 27620898
TI  - Erratum to: Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors and Cardiovascular
      Disease: A Systematic Review.

PMID- 27620897
TI  - Polyoxy-Derivatized Perylenediimide as Selective Fluorescent Ag (I) Chemosensor.
AB  - Recent investigations indicated that same concentrations of the ionic silver have
      harmful effects on aquatic life, bacteria and human cells. Herein we report
      chemosensory properties of N,N ' -Bis(4-{2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy] eth-
      oxy}phenyl) -3,4:9,10-perylene tetracarboxydiimide (PERKAT) towards ionic silver.
      The dye doped sensing agents were prepared utilizing ethyl cellulose (EC) and
      poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and then forwarded to electrospinning to prepare
      sensing fibers or mats. The PERKAT exhibited bright emission in embedded forms in
      EC or in the solvents of N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF), Dichloromethane (DCM),
      Tetrahydrofurane (THF) and in the mixture of DCM/ethanol. The PERKAT exhibited
      selective and linear response for ionic silver in the concentration range of 10
      10 - 10-5 M Ag (I) at pH 5.5. Detection limits were found to be 2.6 * 10-10 and
      4.3 * 10-11 M, in solution phase studies and PERKAT doped sensing films,
      respectively. Cross sensitivity of the PERKAT towards pH and some metal ions was
      also studied. There were no response for the Li+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Ba2+, Mg2+,
      NH4+, Ni2+, Co2+, Cu2+,Pb2+, Al3+, Cr3+,Mn2+, Sn2+, Hg+, Hg2+, Fe2+ and Fe3+ in
      buffered solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study
      investigating silver sensing abilities of the PERKAT.

PMID- 27620896
TI  - Reformatted images improve the detection rate of acute traumatic subdural
      hematomas on brain CT compared with axial images alone.
AB  - Subdural hematomas (SDHs) comprise a significant percentage of missed
      intracranial hemorrhage on axial brain CT. SDH detection rates could be improved
      with the addition of reformatted images. Though performed at some centers, the
      potential additional diagnostic sensitivity of reformatted images has not yet
      been investigated. The purpose of our study is to determine if the addition of
      coronal and sagittal reformatted images to an axial brain CT increases the
      sensitivity and specificity for detection of acute traumatic SDH. We
      retrospectively reviewed consecutive brain CTs acquired for acute trauma that
      contained new SDHs. An equivalent number of normal brain CTs served as control.
      Paired sets of images were created for each case: (1) axial images only ("axial
      only") and (2) axial, coronal, sagittal images ("reformat added"). Three readers
      interpreted both the axial only and companion reformat added for each case,
      separated by 1 month. Reading times and SDH detection rates were compared. One
      hundred SDH and 100 negative examinations were collected. Sensitivity and
      specificity for the axial-only scans were 75.7 and 94.3 %, respectively, compared
      with 88.3 and 98.3 % for reformat added. There was a 24.3 % false negative
      (missed SDH) rate with axial-only scans versus 11.7 % with reformat added (p =
      <0.001). Median reader interpretation times were longer with the addition of
      reformatted images (125 versus 89 s), but this difference was not significant (p
      = 0.23). The addition of coronal and sagittal images in trauma brain CT resulted
      in improved sensitivity and specificity as well as a reduction in SDH false
      negatives by greater than 50 %. Reformatted images substantially reduce the
      number of missed SDHs compared with axial images alone.

PMID- 27620894
TI  - Longitudinal changes of cerebral glutathione (GSH) levels associated with the
      clinical course of disease progression in patients with secondary progressive
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased oxidative stress leads to loss of glutathione (GSH). We
      have reported lower cerebral GSH in patients with secondary progressive multiple
      sclerosis (SPMS), indicating the involvement of oxidative stress in multiple
      sclerosis (MS) pathophysiology. OBJECTIVE: This study expanded upon our earlier
      work by examining longitudinal changes in cerebral GSH in patients with SPMS in
      relation to their clinical status. METHODS: A total of 13 patients with SPMS
      (Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) = 4.0-6.5; MS duration = 21.2 +/- 8.7
      years) and 12 controls were studied over 3-5 years. GSH mapping was acquired from
      frontal and parietal regions using a multiple quantum chemical shift imaging
      technique at 3 T. Clinical assessments of the patient's disability included EDSS,
      gait, motor strength, ataxia, tremor, brainstem function and vision changes.
      RESULTS: Brain GSH concentrations in patients were lower than those in controls
      for both baseline and 3- to 5-year follow-ups. Longitudinal GSH changes of
      patients were associated with their neurologist's blinded appraisal of their
      clinical progression. Patients judged to have worsening clinical status had
      significantly greater declines in frontal GSH concentrations than those with
      stable clinical status. CONCLUSION: GSH provides a distinct measure associated
      with the disease progression in SPMS, possibly due to its dynamic alignment with
      pathogenic processes of MS related to oxidative stress.

PMID- 27620899
TI  - Incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic dysfunction in first
      episode schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders: a 3-year prospective
      randomized interventional study.
AB  - RATIONALE: Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have increased
      morbidity and mortality, largely due to cardiovascular disease, which is
      associated with antipsychotic treatment. OBJECTIVES: Because of the link between
      cardiometabolic risk, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and
      antipsychotics, we aimed to investigate the development of NAFLD during the first
      3 years of antipsychotic treatment in first episode non-affective psychosis
      patients. RESULTS: A sample of 191 subjects was included in final analyses,
      randomly assigned to aripiprazole (N = 83), risperidone (N = 12), quetiapine (N =
      46), and ziprasidone (N = 50). At intake, 180 patients were antipsychotic naive.
      The NAFLD fibrosis score, FIB-4 score, and the fatty liver index (FLI) were
      calculated at baseline, at 3 months, and then yearly for 3 years. None of the
      patients showed significant liver fibrosis according to the mentioned scores at
      baseline, prior to randomization. At 3 years follow-up, 25.1 % individuals showed
      a FLI score >=60, which is a predictor of steatosis. Of the individuals
      considered indeterminate at baseline, 64.7 % developed a FLI score >=60 and only
      16.6 % who had a FLI score <30 at baseline, showed a FLI score predictor of
      steatosis at endpoint. The FLI score >=60 at endpoint was associated with an
      increase of more than 7 % of the body mass index (FLI score >= 60, 91.7 %; FLI <
      60, 55.9 %; p < 0.001), increased triglyceride levels (FLI score >= 60, 54.2 %;
      FLI < 60, 5.6 %; p < 0.001), decreased HDL levels (FLI score >= 60, 41.7 %; FLI <
      60, 17.5 %; p = 0.001), hypertension (FLI score >= 60, 19.5 %; FLI < 60, 4.5 %; p
      = 0.002), and waist circumference increase (steatosis 68.8 %; FLI < 60, 14.0 %; p
      < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the importance of assessing the
      potential development of NAFLD in schizophrenia spectrum patients receiving
      antipsychotic medication.

PMID- 27620900
TI  - Optical coherence tomography attenuation imaging for lipid core detection: an ex
      vivo validation study.
AB  - Lipid-core atherosclerotic plaques are associated with disease progression,
      procedural complications, and cardiac events. Coronary plaque lipid can be
      quantified in optical coherence tomography (OCT) pullbacks by measurement of
      lipid arcs and lipid lengths; parameters frequently used in clinical research,
      but labor intensive and subjective to analyse. In this study, we investigated the
      ability of quantitative attenuation, derived from intravascular OCT, to detect
      plaque lipid. Lipid cores are associated with a high attenuation coefficient. We
      compared the index of plaque attenuation (IPA), a local quantitative measure of
      attenuation, to the manually measured lipid score (arc and length) on OCT images,
      and to the plaque characterization ex-vivo. We confirmed a correlation between
      the IPA and lipid scores (r2 > 0.7). Comparison to histology shows that high
      attenuation is associated with fibroatheroma, but also with macrophage presence.
      IPA is a robust, reproducible, and user-independent measure that facilitates
      quantification of coronary lipid, a potential tool in clinical research and in
      guiding percutaneous coronary intervention.

PMID- 27620901
TI  - Assessment of abdominal aortic calcification at different stages of chronic
      kidney disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: Vascular calcifications that may cause cardiovascular disease are highly
      prevalent in chronic kidney disease (CKD). In this study, we aimed to determine
      abdominal aorta calcifications (AAC) in predialysis and hemodialysis patients by
      lateral lumbar radiography and to investigate factors that were associated with
      the calcifications. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-nine adult chronic
      hemodialysis patients, 300 predialysis CKD patients and 60 healthy subjects with
      normal kidney function as a control group were enrolled in the study. Lateral
      lumbar radiography was used to measure AAC. Calcified deposits of the abdominal
      aorta wall at the level of the first through fourth lumbar vertebrae were graded
      by a 24-point scoring system. RESULTS: AAC prevalence (AAC score >=1) was
      significantly different in hemodialysis, predialysis and control groups (71.8,
      45.7 and 33.3 %, respectively; p < 0.001). AAC prevalence in CKD stages 1, 2, 3,
      4 and 5 predialysis patients was 26.6, 43.3, 40, 58.3 and 55 %, respectively. AAC
      scores of the hemodialysis group were higher than of the predialysis group (p <
      0.001) and the control group (p < 0.001). AAC scores of the predialysis group
      were not higher than of the control group (p = 0.314). AAC scores of the
      hemodialysis group were significantly higher than of the control group (p <
      0.001) and stage 1 (p < 0.001), stage 2 (p = 0.001) and stage 3 predialysis
      groups (p = 0.002). Age (p < 0.001), presence of diabetes mellitus (p < 0.001)
      and serum phosphorus levels (p = 0.011) were found to be independent predictors
      of calcification in the hemodialysis group. Age (p < 0.001), serum phosphorus
      levels (p = 0.007) and history of cardiovascular disease (p = 0.014) were found
      to be independent predictors of calcification in the predialysis group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal aortic calcification is highly prevalent in the
      hemodialysis population. Strict phosphorus control should be implemented to the
      predialysis and hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 27620903
TI  - Letter to the editor re: Beneath the tip of the iceberg: using electronic
      referrals to map the unquantified burden of clinical activity in a urology
      service.

PMID- 27620902
TI  - Application of bioimpedance spectroscopy in Asian dialysis patients (ABISAD-III):
      a randomized controlled trial for clinical outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fluid management with body composition monitor based on bioimpedance
      spectroscopy (BCM-BIS) has been found to be beneficial for dialysis patients. We
      conducted a study to provide an algorithm for the determination of post-dialysis
      target weight (PDTW) and to evaluate whether this approach could improve clinical
      outcomes compared to patients who had PDTW decided clinically. METHODS: Two
      hundred and ninety-eight dialysis patients participated in this 1-year randomized
      controlled trial. The outcomes were all-cause hospitalization rate, AFO or CV
      related events, hypertension and intra-dialysis morbidities. RESULTS: 80 % of
      post-dialysis weight reached the target set with current algorithm. All-cause
      hospitalization rate was not different. Incidence of acute fluid overload (AFO)
      or CV-related events was lower in study group. Longitudinal data showed decreased
      incidence of hypertension, intra-dialysis morbidities and intra-dialysis
      hypotension. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of PDTW by BCM-BIS with an explicit
      algorithm decreased AFO or CV-related events, hypertension and intra-dialysis
      morbidities. Further studies were required to demonstrate possible benefits of
      hospitalization rate.

PMID- 27620905
TI  - Vocabulary and Grammar Differences Between Deaf and Hearing Students.
AB  - The present study investigated the development of literacy skills of deaf and
      hard-of-hearing (DHH) children in Japan. The three components of literacy,
      vocabulary, orthographic knowledge, and grammatical knowledge were assessed by
      using the subtests of the Adaptive Tests for Language Abilities (ATLAN), based on
      the item response theory developed by the authors). The participants consisted of
      207 DHH children (first through twelfth grades) in Study 1, and 425 hearing
      children (first through sixth grades) in Study 2. The findings show that more
      than 80% of DHH children's vocabulary variance was explained by the other two
      componential skills, while the three tasks' difficulty was different. More
      specifically, their vocabulary and especially, their grammar lagged behind those
      of hearing children, whereas the difference between the two groups on kanji (one
      of the three orthographic systems in Japanese taught during the school years) was
      less. Although considerably delayed, their pattern of responses in grammar was
      similar to that predicted from normative data. Effective instruction for DHH
      children's literacy skills was generally discussed.

PMID- 27620906
TI  - Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and forensic practice.

PMID- 27620904
TI  - High diagnostic yield of syndromic intellectual disability by targeted next
      generation sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intellectual disability is a very complex condition where more than
      600 genes have been reported. Due to this extraordinary heterogeneity, a large
      proportion of patients remain without a specific diagnosis and genetic
      counselling. The need for new methodological strategies in order to detect a
      greater number of mutations in multiple genes is therefore crucial. METHODS: In
      this work, we screened a large panel of 1256 genes (646 pathogenic, 610
      candidate) by next-generation sequencing to determine the molecular aetiology of
      syndromic intellectual disability. A total of 92 patients, negative for previous
      genetic analyses, were studied together with their parents. Clinically relevant
      variants were validated by conventional sequencing. RESULTS: A definitive
      diagnosis was achieved in 29 families by testing the 646 known pathogenic genes.
      Mutations were found in 25 different genes, where only the genes KMT2D, KMT2A and
      MED13L were found mutated in more than one patient. A preponderance of de novo
      mutations was noted even among the X linked conditions. Additionally, seven de
      novo probably pathogenic mutations were found in the candidate genes AGO1,
      JARID2, SIN3B, FBXO11, MAP3K7, HDAC2 and SMARCC2. Altogether, this means a
      diagnostic yield of 39% of the cases (95% CI 30% to 49%). CONCLUSIONS: The
      developed panel proved to be efficient and suitable for the genetic diagnosis of
      syndromic intellectual disability in a clinical setting. Next-generation
      sequencing has the potential for high-throughput identification of genetic
      variations, although the challenges of an adequate clinical interpretation of
      these variants and the knowledge on further unknown genes causing intellectual
      disability remain to be solved.

PMID- 27620907
TI  - Identifying a hunter responsible for killing a hunting dog by individual-specific
      genetic profiling of wild boar DNA transferred to the canine during the
      accidental shooting.
AB  - While genetic profiling can be a powerful tool to solve wildlife crime,
      comparably few examples of individual identification in wildlife forensics are
      available in the literature. Here, we report a case of an accidental shooting of
      a hunting dog during a wild boar drive hunt. The market value of trained hunting
      dogs can reach several thousand euro. No one admitted to killing the dog. Wild
      boar hairs were found in the dog's wound, suggesting that the bullet first hit a
      wild boar and then the dog. Since it was known who harvested each boar, we aimed
      to use individual-specific genetic profiles to link these hairs to a bagged
      animal and to identify the culprit. We genotyped 19 harvested boar and the
      unknown hair sample using 13 STRs. In the case of the hair sample, we performed
      multiple genotyping to ensure the reliability of the genetic profile. We showed
      that we genotyped sufficient loci to distinguish between separate individuals
      with certainty. While the three most informative loci were enough to
      differentiate the 19 reference individuals, we did find a perfect match at all 13
      STRs between the hair DNA and one tissue sample. Since our methods were reliable
      and reproducible, we passed the relevant information on to forestry officials who
      will use the information we have provided to attempt to find an amicable
      solution.

PMID- 27620908
TI  - Erratum to: Outcomes of concomitant ventral hernia repair performed during
      bariatric surgery.

PMID- 27620909
TI  - Pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy for giant hemangioma using anterior approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic major hepatectomy remains a challenging procedure [1,
      2]. In the case of giant tumors in the right liver, conventional approach
      (complete mobilization of the right liver before parenchymal transection) could
      be dangerous during mobilization because of large volume and weight [3, 4]. We
      present the case of a pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy for a giant hemangioma
      using an anterior approach. METHODS: We achieved the informed consent with this
      patient and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Asan Medical Center. Giant
      hemangioma (13 * 11 * 14 cm) was located in right liver. After glissonean
      approach [5], Pringle maneuver was performed during the hepatic parenchymal
      transection. For the transection, the Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator was
      used. Small hepatic vein branches along the middle hepatic vein and small
      glissonean pedicles were sealed and divided with a THUNDERBEATTM (Olympus), which
      is the device with integration of both bipolar and ultrasonic energies delivered
      simultaneously. iDriveTM Ultra Powered Stapling device (Medtronic) was used for
      division of right glissonean pedicle and large hepatic veins. Hemangioma was
      removed through the lower abdominal transverse incision using the endo-bag. This
      technique has the advantage of avoiding excessive bleeding caused by avulsion of
      the hepatic vein and caval branches, iatrogenic tumor rupture [3]. RESULTS: By
      means of the anterior approach, pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy was performed
      successfully without intraoperative complications and transfusions. The operation
      time was 202 min, and the estimated blood loss was less than 150 ml. On
      postoperative day 3, computed tomographic scan showed no pathological findings.
      The patient was discharged on postoperative day 5 without complications.
      Laparoscopic approach has good results because of the view with magnification
      enabling meticulous hemostasis and the small wounds that give patients less pain
      [6, 7]. CONCLUSIONS: The authors recommend that the laparoscopic anterior
      approach is safe and feasible for right hepatectomy, even for giant tumors.

PMID- 27620910
TI  - Prophylactic transanal decompression tube versus non-prophylactic transanal
      decompression tube for anastomotic leakage prevention in low anterior resection
      for rectal cancer: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transanal decompression tube (TDT), an alternative intervention
      believed to have potential equivalent efficacy in reducing anastomotic leakage
      after rectal cancer surgery and lower complication rates compared to protective
      stoma, was sporadically applied in some medical centers during recent decade. The
      objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of the TDT in
      preventing the anastomotic leakage after low anterior resection for rectal
      cancer. METHODS: The studies comparing TDT and non-TDT in rectal cancer were
      researched up to March 22, 2016 without language preference, in databases of
      PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane library, International Clinical Trials Registry
      Platform, and National Clinical Trials Registry. The rates of anastomotic
      leakage, bleeding, and re-operation were separately calculated and compared
      between TDT and non-TDT groups using RevMan 5.3. Funnel plots, and Egger's tests
      were used to evaluate the publication biases of the studies. RESULTS: Two
      prospective randomized controlled trial studies and five observational cohort
      studies with 833 participants in TDT group and 939 participants in non-TDT group
      were finally included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that the TDT
      group had lower anastomotic leakage rate than non-TDT group with significant RR
      (RR 0.44; 95 % CI 0.29-0.66; P < 0.0001) and heterogeneity (I 2 = 33 %; P =
      0.18). So did the re-operation rate, with RR (RR 0.16; 95 % CI 0.07-0.37; P <
      0.0001) and heterogeneity among the studies (I 2 = 0 %; P = 0.80). There was no
      significant difference in anastomotic bleeding rates (RR 1.48; 95 % CI 0.79-2.77;
      P = 0.22) (I 2 = 58 %; P = 0.09). No publication bias was found by Egger's test
      (anastomotic leakage rate, Pr > |z| = 0.224; re-operation rate, Pr > |z| =
      0.425). CONCLUSIONS: TDT might be an efficient and economic intervention in
      preventing anastomotic leakage after rectal cancer surgery.

PMID- 27620911
TI  - Complications and failure to rescue following laparoscopic or open gastrectomy
      for gastric cancer: a propensity-matched analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the incidence of and factors associated with
      postoperative complications and failure to rescue following laparoscopic and open
      gastrectomy for gastric cancer. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed the records of 4124
      patients who underwent a laparoscopic or open gastrectomy for gastric cancer. One
      to-one propensity score matching was performed to compare the difference between
      the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 4124 patients were included in the study, 627
      of whom (15.2 %) developed postoperative complications. Postoperative deaths
      occurred in 23 (0.6 %) patients with serious complications. In the propensity
      score matching analysis with 1361 pairs, no significant differences in the rates
      of overall complications (14.2 vs. 16.5 %, p = 0.093) were observed between
      laparoscopic and open gastrectomy group. In-hospital mortality decreased in
      patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy compared to patients who
      underwent open gastrectomy (0.3 vs. 1.2 %, p = 0.004). Failure to rescue rates
      were lower in patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy (2.1 vs. 7.6 %, p =
      0.008). Multivariate analysis showed that older age, tumor location, TNM stage
      classification, extent of gastric resection, operative time and intra-operative
      blood loss were adverse risk factors for postoperative complications.
      Laparoscopic gastrectomy was found to be a protective factor for failure to
      rescue. Complications associated with failure to rescue included abdominal
      bleeding, anastomotic leakage and cardiac events. In-hospital mortality increased
      as the number of complications per patient increased. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming equal
      competence with open and laparoscopic approaches of a surgeon, the proportion of
      patients with postoperative complications were similar among those who underwent
      laparoscopic gastrectomy compared to patients who underwent open gastrectomy.
      However, when complications occurred, patients with open gastrectomy were more
      likely to die.

PMID- 27620914
TI  - Correction for Rife et al., Evolution of Neuroadaptation in the Periphery and
      Purifying Selection in the Brain Contribute to Compartmentalization of Simian
      Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) in the Brains of Rhesus Macaques with SIV-Associated
      Encephalitis.

PMID- 27620913
TI  - NT-proBNP and exercise capacity in adult patients with congenital heart disease
      and a prosthetic valve: a multicentre PROSTAVA study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is an important
      biomarker for the detection of heart failure. Adults with congenital heart
      disease (ACHD) and a prosthetic heart valve are at risk for heart failure. This
      study aimed to determine the value of NT-proBNP in ACHD patients with a
      prosthetic valve and investigate its relationship with cardiac function and
      exercise capacity. METHODS: In this multi-centre cross-sectional observational
      study, data regarding medical history, echocardiography, exercise testing
      (VO2peak) and laboratory blood evaluation (including NT-proBNP) were collected in
      ACHD patients with a single prosthetic valve (either homografts, heterografts or
      mechanical valves). RESULTS: A total of 306 ACHD patients with pulmonary valve
      replacement (PVR, n = 139), aortic valve replacement (n = 141), mitral valve
      replacement (n = 21) or tricuspid valve replacement (n = 5) were investigated.
      The majority of patients (77 %) were in NYHA class I or II. Elevated NT-proBNP
      levels (cut-off >=125 pg/ml) were found in 50 % of the patients, with the highest
      levels in patients with mitral valve replacements. In this study population, NT
      proBNP levels were associated with gender (p = 0.029) and VO2max (p < 0.001). In
      PVR patients, NT-proBNP levels were associated with lower VO2peak, also after
      adjustment for age, gender and age at valve replacement in a multivariate model
      (p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ACHD and a prosthetic valve, elevated
      NT-proBNP levels are frequently observed despite preserved NYHA class. In PVR
      patients, a higher NT-proBNP level was associated with a lower VO2peak. These
      results may be of importance in the ongoing discussion about the timing of valve
      replacement in patients with CHD.

PMID- 27620912
TI  - Role of laparoscopic enucleation in the treatment of pancreatic lesions: case
      series and case-matched analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies report successful application of laparoscopic
      pancreatic enucleation (LPE). However, the evidence is limited to small series.
      This study aimed to evaluate the indications, technique and outcome of LPE at a
      tertiary care institution. METHODS: Between February 1998 and April 2016, 45
      consecutive LPEs were performed at Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet.
      Twenty-four (53.3 %) patients subjected to right-sided LPE (RLPE) were compared
      with 21 (46.7 %) patients who had undergone left-sided LPE (LLPE). A case-matched
      analysis (1:2) was performed to compare the outcomes following LLPE and
      laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP). RESULTS: Patient demographics, BMI, ASA
      score and pathological characteristics were similar between the RLPE and LLPE
      groups. Operative time was slightly longer for RLPE [123 (53-320) vs 102 (50-373)
      min, P = 0.09]. The rates of severe morbidity (>=Accordion grade III) and
      clinically relevant pancreatic fistula (grades B/C) were comparable, although
      with a trend for higher rate of complications following LLPE (16.7 vs 33.3 %; P =
      0.19 and 20.8 vs 33.3 %, P = 0.34, respectively). The hospital stay was similar
      between RLPE and LLPE [5 (2-80) vs 7 (2-52), P = 0.49]. A case-matched analysis
      demonstrated shorter operating time [145 (90-350) vs 103 (50-233) min, P = 0.02],
      but higher readmission rate following LLPE (25 vs 3.1 %, P = 0.037). CONCLUSION:
      LLPE seems to be associated with a higher risk of postoperative morbidity and
      readmission rates than LDP. RLPE is a feasible, safe approach and a reasonable
      alternative to pancreatoduodenectomy in selected patients with pancreatic
      lesions.

PMID- 27620916
TI  - Adverse Obstetric Outcomes Associated With In Vitro Fertilization in Singleton
      Pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the obstetric outcomes of women treated with in vitro
      fertilization (IVF), women with indicators of subfertility but without assisted
      reproductive technologies, and fertile women with singleton pregnancies. METHODS:
      A prospective cohort study was conducted from March 2013 to February 2016 at the
      Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital in China. Finally, 1260
      eligible mothers were recruited into the IVF group, 1899 into the subfertile
      group, and 2480 into the fertile group. RESULTS: Compared to the fertile group,
      gestational diabetes mellitus (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.36; 95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 1.67-3.34), pregnancy-induced hypertension (aOR = 2.23; 95% CI:
      1.37-3.64), placenta previa (aOR = 4.11; 95% CI: 2.12-7.96), premature rupture of
      membranes (aOR = 4.60; 95% CI: 2.71-7.81), anemia in pregnancy (aOR = 2.17; 95%
      CI: 1.42-3.31), preterm birth (PTB; aOR = 2.19; 95% CI: 1.59-3.02), low birth
      weight (aOR = 2.82; 95% CI: 2.02-3.94), perinatal mortality (aOR = 2.72; 95% CI:
      1.67-4.03), and congenital malformations (aOR = 6.07; 95% CI: 3.14-11.72) were
      evidently increased in the IVF group, while placenta previa (aOR = 1.67; 95% CI:
      1.05-2.67), PTB (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.05-1.64), low birth weight (aOR = 1.42;
      95% CI: 1.12-1.81), and congenital malformations (aOR = 2.03; 95% CI: 1.28-3.21)
      were also increased in the subfertile group. Additionally, the IVF group compared
      to the subfertile group was at a higher risk of gestational diabetes mellitus
      (aOR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.08-1.83), premature rupture of membranes (aOR = 1.45; 95%
      CI: 1.00-2.10), PTB (aOR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.01-1.58), low birth weight (aOR =
      1.75; 95% CI: 1.36-2.24), perinatal mortality (aOR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.02-3.46),
      and congenital malformations (aOR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.12-2.92). CONCLUSION: An
      increased risk of adverse outcomes in IVF pregnancies may be a result of the IVF
      procedures themselves and the infertility itself together.

PMID- 27620917
TI  - [Unexpected outcome in entropion lower eyelid repair].

PMID- 27620918
TI  - [Alterations in intraocular pressure and the CorVis parameters after LASIK].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The reduction of corneal thickness following laser-assisted in-situ
      keratomileusis (LASIK) requires a correction of intraocular pressure (IOP)
      measurements. The corneal visualization Scheimpflug technology (CorVis ST,
      Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) not only measures the IOP and central corneal thickness
      (CCT) but also determines 10 additional corneal parameters, such as the time to
      first and second applanation and velocity. Besides CCT we compared various
      corneal parameters before and after LASIK in order to detect possible
      correlations and to correct IOP measurements. METHODS: Measurements with CorVis
      ST were made before and after LASIK in 45 myopic patients (45 left eyes). We
      compared the IOP and CorVis ST parameters using a paired t-test before and after
      LASIK and corrected for possible correlations in a multifactorial linear model.
      Finally, we correlated the changes in IOP to changes in biomechanical parameters.
      RESULTS: We observed a direct correlation between the IOP measurements and the
      corneal thickness. The IOP was underestimated by 0.039 mm Hg per micrometer in
      reduction of corneal thickness. The multifactorial linear model showed a
      correlation of IOP change to A2 velocity and the radius of applanation.
      CONCLUSION: Surgical thinning of the central cornea via LASIK demonstrated a
      direct correlation between corneal thickness and IOP measurements using the
      CorVis ST technique. Postoperative changes of the A2 velocity and the applanation
      radius also had a statistically significant influence on post-LASIK IOP
      measurements. Our findings could be useful to obtain more precise post-LASIK IOP
      measurements.

PMID- 27620920
TI  - Employment status and health outcomes among Brazilian adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Employment is a key determinant of health disparity. We examined
      gender-specific relationships between employment status and health outcomes among
      Brazilian adults. METHODS: Nationally representative data (n=463 223) came from
      the 2003 and 2008 Brazilian National Household Surveys. Logistic regressions were
      performed to estimate gender-specific associations between employment status and
      health outcomes. RESULTS: Compared with employed counterparts, the odds of
      depression were higher among unemployed men (AOR 2.04; 95% CI 1.80-2.32) and
      women (AOR 1.60; 95% CI 1.49-1.72). Economically inactive men were more likely to
      report depression than their employed counterparts (AOR 3.33; 95% CI 3.08-3.59),
      whereas the effect was smaller for economically inactive women (AOR 2.24; 95% CI
      1.19-1.29). Compared with their employed counterparts, the odds of functional
      limitation were higher among economically inactive men (AOR 6.61; 95% CI 5.90
      7.41) and women (AOR 1.95; 95% CI 1.83-2.08). The odds of very poor or poor self
      rated health were higher among economically inactive men (AOR 4.58; 95% CI 4.28
      4.90) and women (AOR 1.53; 95% CI 1.44-1.62) than among employed counterparts.
      Unemployed men were more likely to report poor health compared with those
      employed (AOR 1.26; 95% CI 1.09-1.46); whereas no difference in very poor or poor
      self-rated health was found between employed and unemployed women. CONCLUSIONS:
      Employment was associated with better health outcomes among Brazilian adults.
      Policies should also facilitate access to preventive services and adequate
      treatment to those inactive or unemployed.

PMID- 27620919
TI  - Willingness to pay for footwear, and associated factors related to podoconiosis
      in northern Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Northern Ethiopia, use of footwear by the rural community is
      limited, and non-governmental organizations provide footwear for school children
      as a means of preventing podoconiosis. However, this is not a sustainable
      strategy. This study assessed willingness to pay for footwear among people with
      and without podoconiosis. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional community-based
      study was conducted in Mecha and Gozamen woredas among randomly selected people
      with and without podoconiosis. Trained health extension workers collected data
      using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. The data were entered
      into EPI-Data and exported to SPSS version 16.0 statistical software package for
      analysis. RESULTS: The willingness to pay for footwear among people with and
      without podoconiosis was 72.3% and 76.7% respectively (p=0.30). People with
      podoconiosis in the lower quintiles of economic status were less likely to be
      willing to pay for footwear than those in the higher quintiles. CONCLUSIONS:
      There is substantial willingness to pay for footwear. The expressed willingness
      to pay indicates demand for footwear in the community, suggesting an opportunity
      for shoe companies. There are still a substantial proportion of individuals not
      willing to pay for footwear. This requires intensified public education and
      social transformation to bring about change in behavior towards footwear use if
      elimination of podoconiosis within our generation is to be achieved.

PMID- 27620922
TI  - People-centred health systems: building more resilient health systems in the wake
      of the Ebola crisis.
AB  - The 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak demonstrated the extent to which local
      social and political dynamics shape health system responses to crises such as
      epidemics. Many post-Ebola health system strengthening programmes are framed
      around a notion of health system 'resilience' that focuses on global rather than
      local priorities and fails to account for key local social dynamics that shape
      crisis responses. Post-crisis health system strengthening efforts require a shift
      towards a more 'people-centred' understanding of resilience that attends to the
      people, relationships and local contexts that constitute health systems and the
      practices that produce crisis responses.

PMID- 27620921
TI  - How can a Theory of Change framework be applied to short-term international
      volunteering?
AB  - Short-term international volunteering has become enormously popular among
      individuals from high-income countries who travel to low-income countries to
      offer support on initiatives often related to health and development. However,
      their impact on global development is questionable, particularly when volunteer
      skills are not matched to local needs, or when teams operate outside the local
      health system. Furthermore, the impact of these volunteer programs is rarely
      evaluated. Theory of Change is a framework for program design meant to facilitate
      measurable social change. We propose that a Theory of Change framework,
      appropriately deployed in the design and conduct of short-term international
      volunteerism, could help improve volunteer efforts by identifying problems and
      clearly defining goals, designing and implementing effective strategies, and
      evaluating the real impacts these have on identified concerns.

PMID- 27620924
TI  - The importance of surveillance: Group W meningococcal disease outbreak response
      and control in England.
AB  - Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is associated with high morbidity and
      mortality. Recently, use of the quadrivalent MenACWY conjugate vaccines has
      increased with the emergence of a hypervirulent MenW:cc11 strain in certain parts
      of the world, especially South America. In England, MenW:cc11 IMD cases increased
      rapidly after 2009 and was responsible for 24% of all IMD cases in 2014/15
      compared to <5% previously, leading to the emergency introduction of a national
      teenage MenACWY conjugate vaccine programme in August 2015. Unusually, MenW:cc11
      cases have been described presenting with severe gastrointestinal symptoms,
      including abdominal pain and diarrhoea, followed by rapid clinical deterioration
      and death.

PMID- 27620923
TI  - Development of drugs for severe malaria in children.
AB  - Over 90% of deaths attributable to malaria are in African children under 5 years
      old. Yet, new treatments are often tested primarily in adult patients and
      extrapolations have proven to be sometimes invalid, especially in dosing
      regimens. For studies in severe malaria an additional complication is that the
      decline in severe malaria in adult patients precludes sufficiently powered trials
      in adults, before the intervention can be tested in the ultimate target group,
      paediatric severe malaria. In this paper we propose an alternative pathway to the
      development of drugs for use in paediatric severe malaria. We argue that
      following the classical phase I and II studies, small safety and efficacy studies
      using well-chosen surrogate endpoints in adult severe malaria be conducted,
      instead of larger mortality endpoint trials. If the drug appears safe and
      promising small pilot studies in paediatric severe malaria using the same
      endpoints can follow. Finally, with carefully observed safeguards in place to
      ensure high ethical standards, promising candidate interventions can be taken
      forward into mortality endpoint, well-powered, large paediatric studies in
      African children with severe malaria. Given the available research capacity,
      limited numbers of prudently selected interventions can be studied in phase III
      trials, and adaptive designs should be considered.

PMID- 27620925
TI  - Not forgetting severe mental disorders in humanitarian emergencies: a descriptive
      study from the Philippines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe mental disorders are often neglected following a disaster.
      Based on Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) experience of providing mental health
      (MH) care after the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines, we describe the monthly
      volume of MH activities and beneficiaries; characteristics of people seeking MH
      care; profile and outcomes of people with severe mental disorders; prescription
      of psychotropic medication; and factors facilitating the identification and
      management of individuals with severe mental disorders. METHODS: A retrospective
      review of programme data was carried out. RESULTS: In total, 172 persons sought
      MH care. Numbers peaked three months into MSF's intervention and decreased
      thereafter. Of 134 (78%) people with complete data, 37 (28%) had a severe mental
      disorder, often characterised by psychotic symptoms (n=24, 64%) and usually
      unrelated to the typhoon (n=32, 86%). Four people (11%) were discharged after
      successful treatment, two (5%) moved out of the area, 20 (54%) were referred for
      follow-up on cessation of MSF activities and 10 (27%) were lost-to-follow-up.
      Psychotropic treatment was prescribed for 33 (75%) people with mental disorders
      and for 11 with non-severe mental disorders. CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates
      how actors can play an important role in providing MH care for people with severe
      mental disorders in the aftermath of a disaster.

PMID- 27620927
TI  - Coping with multiple sclerosis-the role of social support.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to get insights in mechanisms of coping and
      social support in multiple sclerosis (MS). BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis is the
      most common chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in young
      adults. MS strains the patient through its unpredictable course and increasing
      disability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Two
      hundred and forty-three patients with MS were consecutively examined at two
      neurological hospitals. Besides sociodemographic variables, the level of
      impairment, depression, social support, and coping behavior was assessed.
      RESULTS: Researched patients were on average 44.0 years old (SD=11.6), were
      diagnosed for 8.2 years (SD=7.1), and had a mean EDSS of 4.0 (SD=2.2). Patients
      with MS with an EDSS of 3.0-6.0 are using more intensively cognitive or
      behavioral coping techniques than less (EDSS<=2.5) or stronger impaired patients
      (EDSS>=6.5). The level of impairment was further correlated with the amount of
      reported social support. CONCLUSION: Differences in coping behavior could be
      observed for different levels of impairment through MS. Patients tackle more
      intensively and more actively with their disease when trying to adapt to
      increasing disability with an EDSS range between 3.0 and 6.0. In addition, the
      coping behavior of patients with MS was connected to social support, especially
      support by family, friends, or other patients with MS. Results refer to the
      importance of special trainings to enhance coping abilities of patients with MS.

PMID- 27620926
TI  - Melissa officinalis L: A Review Study With an Antioxidant Prospective.
AB  - Melissa officinalis is a plant cultivated in some parts of Iran. The leaves of
      lemon balm, Melissa officinalis L (Lamiaceae), are used in Iranian folk medicine
      for their digestive, carminative, antispasmodic, sedative, analgesic, tonic, and
      diuretic properties, as well as for functional gastrointestinal disorders. This
      review article was aimed not only to introduce Melissa officinalis (its growth
      condition, its chemical compounds, and its traditional usages) but also to
      overview its antioxidant properties in detail. This review was carried out by
      searching studies in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, and IranMedex databases up
      to 2016. The search terms used were " Melissa officinalis L," "antioxidant
      properties," oxidative stress," "oxidative damage", "ROS." Articles whose full
      texts were not available were excluded from the study. In this study, firstly,
      traditional usage of this herb was reviewed, including antimicrobial activity
      (antiparasitic, antibacterial, antiviral, etc), antispasmodic, and insomnia
      properties. Then, its antioxidant properties were overviewed. Various studies
      have shown that Melissa officinalis L possesses high amount of antioxidant
      activity through its chemical compounds including high amount of flavonoids,
      rosmaric acid, gallic acid, phenolic contents. Many studies confirmed the
      antioxidative effects of Melissa officinalis; thus, its effect in preventing and
      treating oxidative stress-related diseases might be reliable.

PMID- 27620929
TI  - Record linkage for road traffic injuries in Ireland using police hospital and
      injury claims data.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study of non-fatal road traffic injuries is growing in
      importance. Since there are rarely comprehensive injury datasets, it is necessary
      to combine different sources to obtain better estimates on the extent and nature
      of the problem. Record linkage is one such technique. METHOD: In this study,
      anonymized datasets from three separate sources of injury data in Ireland:
      hospitals, police, and injury claims are linked using probabilistic and
      deterministic linkage techniques. A method is proposed that creates a 'best' set
      of linked records for analysis, useful when clerical review of undecided cases is
      not feasible. RESULTS: The linkage of police and hospital datasets shows results
      that are similar to those found in other countries, with significant police
      understatement especially of cyclist and motorcyclist injuries. The addition of
      the third dataset identifies a large number of additional injuries and
      demonstrates the error of using only the two main sources for injury data.
      PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The study also underlines the risk in relying on the
      Lincoln-Petersen capture-recapture estimator to provide an estimate of the total
      population concerned. CONCLUSION: The data show that road traffic injuries are
      significantly more numerous than either police or hospital sources indicate. It
      is also argued that no single measure can fully capture the range of impacts that
      a serious injury entails.

PMID- 27620928
TI  - Mechanics of neurulation: From classical to current perspectives on the physical
      mechanics that shape, fold, and form the neural tube.
AB  - Neural tube defects arise from mechanical failures in the process of neurulation.
      At the most fundamental level, formation of the neural tube relies on
      coordinated, complex tissue movements that mechanically transform the flat neural
      epithelium into a lumenized epithelial tube (Davidson, 2012). The nature of this
      mechanical transformation has mystified embryologists, geneticists, and
      clinicians for more than 100 years. Early embryologists pondered the physical
      mechanisms that guide this transformation. Detailed observations of cell and
      tissue movements as well as experimental embryological manipulations allowed
      researchers to generate and test elementary hypotheses of the intrinsic and
      extrinsic forces acting on the neural tissue. Current research has turned toward
      understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying neurulation. Genetic and
      molecular perturbation have identified a multitude of subcellular components that
      correlate with cell behaviors and tissue movements during neural tube formation.
      In this review, we focus on methods and conceptual frameworks that have been
      applied to the study of amphibian neurulation that can be used to determine how
      molecular and physical mechanisms are integrated and responsible for neurulation.
      We will describe how qualitative descriptions and quantitative measurements of
      strain, force generation, and tissue material properties as well as simulations
      can be used to understand how embryos use morphogenetic programs to drive
      neurulation. Birth Defects Research 109:153-168, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27620930
TI  - Marijuana-, alcohol-, and drug-impaired driving among emerging adults: Changes
      from high school to one-year post-high school.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Driving while impaired (DWI) increases the risk of a motor vehicle
      crash by impairing performance. Few studies have examined the prevalence and
      predictors of marijuana, alcohol, and drug-specific DWI among emerging adults.
      METHODS: The data from wave 3 (W3, high school seniors, 2012, N=2407) and wave 4
      (W4, one year after high school, N=2178) of the NEXT Generation Health Study with
      a nationally representative cohort. W4 DWI (>=1day of past 30days) was specified
      for alcohol-specific, marijuana-specific, alcohol/marijuana-combined, illicit
      drug-related DWI. Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the
      association of W4 DWI with W3 covariates (perceived peer/parent influence,
      drinking/binge drinking, marijuana/illicit drug use), and W4 environmental status
      variables (work/school/residence) adjusting for W3 overall DWI, demographic, and
      complex survey variables. RESULTS: Overall DWI prevalence from W3 to W4 changed
      slightly (14% to 15%). W4 DWI consisted of 4.34% drinking-specific, 5.02%
      marijuana-specific, 2.41% drinking/marijuana combined, and 3.37% illicit drug
      related DWI. W3 DWI was significantly associated with W4 alcohol-related and
      alcohol/marijuana-combined DWI, but not other DWI. W3 marijuana use, binge
      drinking, and illicit drug use were positively associated with W4 marijuana
      specific, alcohol/marijuana-combined, and illicit drug-related DWI, respectively.
      W3 friend drunkenness and marijuana use were positively associated with W4
      alcohol-specific and marijuana-related DWI, respectively. W3 peer marijuana use
      was negatively associated with W4 alcohol-specific DWI. CONCLUSIONS: Driving
      under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drugs is a persistent,
      threatening public health concern among emerging U.S. adults. High school
      seniors' binge drinking as well as regular alcohol drinking and marijuana/illicit
      drug use were independently associated with respective DWI one year after high
      school. Peer drunkenness and marijuana use in high school may be related to
      subsequent DWI of emerging adults. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The results support
      the use of injunctive peer norms about getting drunk and smoking marijuana in
      guiding the development of prevention programs to reduce youth DWI.

PMID- 27620932
TI  - Use of empirical and full Bayes before-after approaches to estimate the safety
      effects of roadside barriers with different crash conditions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although many researchers have estimated the crash modification
      factors (CMFs) for specific treatments (or countermeasures), there is a lack of
      prior studies that have explored the variation of CMFs. Thus, the main objectives
      of this study are: (a) to estimate CMFs for the installation of different types
      of roadside barriers, and (b) to determine the changes of safety effects for
      different crash types, severities, and conditions. METHOD: Two observational
      before-after analyses (i.e. empirical Bayes (EB) and full Bayes (FB) approaches)
      were utilized in this study to estimate CMFs. To consider the variation of safety
      effects based on different vehicle, driver, weather, and time of day information,
      the crashes were categorized based on vehicle size (passenger and heavy), driver
      age (young, middle, and old), weather condition (normal and rain), and time
      difference (day time and night time). RESULTS: The results show that the addition
      of roadside barriers is safety effective in reducing severe crashes for all types
      and run-off roadway (ROR) crashes. On the other hand, it was found that roadside
      barriers tend to increase all types of crashes for all severities. The results
      indicate that the treatment might increase the total number of crashes but it
      might be helpful in reducing injury and severe crashes. In this study, the
      variation of CMFs was determined for ROR crashes based on the different vehicle,
      driver, weather, and time information. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Based on the
      findings from this study, the variation of CMFs can enhance the reliability of
      CMFs for different roadway conditions in decision making process. Also, it can be
      recommended to identify the safety effects of specific treatments for different
      crash types and severity levels with consideration of the different vehicle,
      driver, weather, and time of day information.

PMID- 27620931
TI  - Prevalence of work-site injuries and relationship between obesity and injury
      among U.S. workers: NHIS 2004-2012.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Studies have reported associations between obesity and injury in a
      single occupation or industry. Our study estimated the prevalence of work-site
      injuries and investigated the association between obesity and work-site injury in
      a nationally representative sample of U.S. workers. METHODS: Self-reported
      weight, height, and injuries within the previous three months were collected
      annually for U.S. workers in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from
      2004-2012. Participants were categorized as normal weight (BMI: 18.5
      24.9kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI: 25.0-29.9), obese I (BMI: 30.0-34.9), and obese II
      (BMI: 35+). The prevalence of injury and prevalence ratios from fitted logistic
      regression models was used to assess relationships between obesity and injury
      after adjusting for covariates. Sampling weights were incorporated using SUDAAN
      software. RESULTS: During the 9-year study period from 2004 to 2012, 1120 workers
      (78 workers per 10,000) experienced a work-related injury during the previous
      three months. The anatomical sites with the highest prevalence of injury were the
      back (14.3/10,000+/-1.2), fingers (11.5+/-1.3), and knees (7.1+/-0.8). The most
      common types of injuries were sprains/strains/twists (41.5% of all injuries),
      cuts (20.0%), and fractures (11.8%). Compared to normal weight workers,
      overweight and obese workers were more likely to experience work-site injuries
      [overweight: PR=1.25 (95% CI=1.04-1.52); obese I: 1.41 (1.14-1.74); obese II:
      1.68 (1.32-2.14)]. These injuries were more likely to affect the lower
      extremities [overweight: PR=1.48, (95% CI=1.03-2.13); obese I: 1.70 (1.13-2.55);
      obese II: 2.91 (1.91-4.41)] and were more likely to be due to
      sprains/strains/twists [overweight: PR=1.73 (95% CI=1.29-2.31); obese I: PR=2.24
      (1.64-3.06); obese II: PR=2.95 (2.04-4.26)]. CONCLUSIONS: Among NHIS
      participants, overweight and obese workers were 25% to 68% more likely to
      experience injuries than normal weight workers. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Weight
      reduction policies and management programs may be effectively targeted towards
      overweight and obese groups to prevent or reduce work-site injuries.

PMID- 27620933
TI  - Impaired driving enforcement practices among state and local law enforcement
      agencies in the United States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Alcohol-impaired driving (DUI) persists as a substantial problem,
      yet detailed data on DUI enforcement practices are rarely collected. The present
      study surveyed state and local law enforcement agencies about their DUI
      enforcement activities. METHOD: Telephone interviews were conducted with law
      enforcement liaisons in state highway safety offices. Officers from a nationally
      representative sample of municipal, county, and state law enforcement agencies
      were also interviewed about their agency's DUI enforcement activities, including
      the types of enforcement, frequency of use, and whether activities were
      publicized. Response rates were 100% among law enforcement liaisons, 86% among
      county agencies, 93% among municipal agencies, and 98% among state agencies.
      RESULTS: Based on the highway safety office survey, 38 states conducted sobriety
      checkpoints in 2011. Nationally, 58% of law enforcement agencies reported that
      they conducted or helped conduct sobriety checkpoints during 2011-12, with 14% of
      all agencies conducting them monthly or more frequently. The vast majority (87%)
      of agencies reported conducting dedicated DUI patrols. However, dedicated DUI
      patrols were less likely to be publicized than checkpoints. Less than a quarter
      of agencies reported using passive alcohol sensors to improve detection of
      alcohol-impaired drivers. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that 38 states conducted
      sobriety checkpoints in 2011, little changed from a previous survey in 2000.
      Despite evidence of effectiveness, many agencies do not conduct frequent,
      publicized DUI enforcement or use passive alcohol sensors. PRACTICAL
      APPLICATIONS: The survey suggests that there are several areas in which impaired
      driving enforcement could be improved: increasing the frequency of special
      enforcement, such as sobriety checkpoints and/or dedicated patrols; publicizing
      these efforts to maximize deterrent effects; and using passive alcohol sensors to
      improve detection of alcohol-impaired drivers.

PMID- 27620934
TI  - Injury risks in schoolchildren with attention-deficit/hyperactivity or autism
      spectrum disorder: Results from two school-based health surveys of 6- to 17-year
      old children in Sweden.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Injuries are one of the leading causes of death and disability
      among children in Sweden and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has
      previously been associated with an increased risk of injury in pediatric
      populations elsewhere in the world. Current evidence regarding the possible link
      between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and injury risk appears limited, even
      though some potentially risk-increasing symptoms overlap. The purpose of this
      study was thus to study the association between both ADHD and ASD concerning the
      risk of injury among Swedish schoolchildren. METHODS: Two samples were used: a
      population-based register study containing data from 18,416 children ranging from
      the ages of 6-17years collected by school nurses during 2012/2014 (Survey A), and
      a national cross-sectional study of 3202 ninth-grade children (~15years old)
      collected from 92 schools in 2011 (Survey B). The data were analyzed using chi(2)
      tests and log-binomial generalized linear models to obtain risk ratios (RR),
      comparing cases reportedly affected by ADHD or ASD to unaffected controls.
      RESULTS: After adjusting for confounders, ADHD was associated with a 65%
      increased risk of injury (RR 1.65 [95% CI: 1.32-2.05] in Survey A, and a 57%
      increased risk of injury (RR 1.57 [95% CI: 1.27-1.95]) in Survey B. ASD was not
      significantly associated with any differences in injury risk (RR 0.81 [95% CI:
      0.57-1.14]). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that there is an elevated injury
      risk among Swedish schoolchildren with ADHD but not for children with ASD. Future
      studies should focus on causal mechanisms mediating the association between ADHD
      and injuries in order to facilitate injury prevention strategies. PRACTICAL
      APPLICATIONS: Parents and teachers of schoolchildren with ADHD should be made
      aware of the elevated injury risks associated with the diagnosis. Safety experts
      and injury control professionals should consider the development of specialized
      prevention strategies in order to reduce these risks.

PMID- 27620935
TI  - Weather impacts on single-vehicle truck crash injury severity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The focus of this paper is on illustrating the feasibility of
      aggregating data from disparate sources to investigate the relationship between
      single-vehicle truck crash injury severity and detailed weather conditions.
      Specifically, this paper presents: (a) a methodology that combines detailed 15
      min weather station data with crash and roadway data, and (b) an empirical
      investigation of the effects of weather on crash-related injury severities of
      single-vehicle truck crashes. METHOD: Random parameters ordinal and multinomial
      regression models were used to investigate crash injury severity under different
      weather conditions, taking into account the individual unobserved heterogeneity.
      The adopted methodology allowed consideration of environmental, roadway, and
      climate-related variables in single-vehicle truck crash injury severity. RESULTS
      AND CONCLUSIONS: Results showed that wind speed, rain, humidity, and air
      temperature were linked with single-vehicle truck crash injury severity. Greater
      recorded wind speed added to the severity of injuries in single-vehicle truck
      crashes in general. Rain and warmer air temperatures were linked to more severe
      crash injuries in single-vehicle truck crashes while higher levels of humidity
      were linked to less severe injuries. Random parameters ordered logit and
      multinomial logit, respectively, revealed some individual heterogeneity in the
      data and showed that integrating comprehensive weather data with crash data
      provided useful insights into factors associated with single-vehicle truck crash
      injury severity. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The research provided a practical method
      that combined comprehensive 15-min weather station data with crash and roadway
      data, thereby providing useful insights into crash injury severity of single
      vehicle trucks. Those insights are useful for future truck driver educational
      programs and for truck safety in different weather conditions.

PMID- 27620936
TI  - Fatal and serious injuries related to vulnerable road users in Canada.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The goals of this study were to analyze possible trends of fatal
      and serious injuries related to vulnerable road users in Canada (pedestrians,
      cyclists and motorcyclists) from 1990 to 2012 and the role of alcohol and drugs
      in these cases. Drugs have rarely been documented with respect to vulnerable road
      users. METHOD: The Traffic Injury Research Foundation's National Fatality and
      Serious Injury Databases and the Public Health Agency of Canada's Canadian
      Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program databases were used. Numbers
      and rates of fatalities and serious injuries among vulnerable road users were
      analyzed and regression models were used to assess changes over time. RESULTS:
      The analyses show that while the absolute number of fatalities and the rate per
      100,000 population among vulnerable road users may be decreasing, no such trends
      are apparent when looking at the proportions of these road user fatalities out of
      all motor-vehicle fatalities. The trend for the proportion of motorcyclist
      fatalities is significantly increasing (coef.=0.16, p<0.001). The elderly
      (76years or older) are overrepresented among pedestrian fatalities, and serious
      injuries (they represent 18.5% of all pedestrian fatalities but only 5.8% of the
      population), while those 15years or younger are overrepresented among cyclists
      (they represent 23.3% of cyclist fatalities but 19.5% of the population), and
      those 16 to 25years old are overrepresented among motorcyclists (27.2% of
      motorcyclists fatalities and 13.6% of population). Alcohol and drug use among
      fatally injured vulnerable road users were significant problems, especially among
      pedestrians. Among fatally injured pedestrians tested for alcohol and drugs,
      39.7% and 43.4% tested positive, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: With the promotion of
      walking and cycling as forms of exercise and the popularity of motorcycling, the
      safety of vulnerable road users is an important issue. The results corroborate
      previous research and extend our understanding about the influence of alcohol and
      drugs in vulnerable road user injuries. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: These findings
      can help better inform prevention and mitigation initiatives for vulnerable road
      users.

PMID- 27620937
TI  - Off-road truck-related accidents in U.S. mines.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Off-road trucks are one of the major sources of equipment-related
      accidents in the U.S. mining industries. A systematic analysis of all off-road
      truck-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses, which are reported and
      published by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), is expected to
      provide practical insights for identifying the accident patterns and trends in
      the available raw database. Therefore, appropriate safety management measures can
      be administered and implemented based on these accident patterns/trends. METHODS:
      A hybrid clustering-classification methodology using K-means clustering and gene
      expression programming (GEP) is proposed for the analysis of severe and non
      severe off-road truck-related injuries at U.S. mines. Using the GEP sub-model, a
      small subset of the 36 recorded attributes was found to be correlated to the
      severity level. RESULTS: Given the set of specified attributes, the clustering
      sub-model was able to cluster the accident records into 5 distinct groups. For
      instance, the first cluster contained accidents related to minerals processing
      mills and coal preparation plants (91%). More than two-thirds of the victims in
      this cluster had less than 5years of job experience. This cluster was associated
      with the highest percentage of severe injuries (22 severe accidents, 3.4%).
      Almost 50% of all accidents in this cluster occurred at stone operations.
      Similarly, the other four clusters were characterized to highlight important
      patterns that can be used to determine areas of focus for safety initiatives.
      CONCLUSIONS: The identified clusters of accidents may play a vital role in the
      prevention of severe injuries in mining. Further research into the cluster
      attributes and identified patterns will be necessary to determine how these
      factors can be mitigated to reduce the risk of severe injuries. PRACTICAL
      APPLICATION: Analyzing injury data using data mining techniques provides some
      insight into attributes that are associated with high accuracies for predicting
      injury severity.

PMID- 27620938
TI  - Effects of lead time of verbal collision warning messages on driving behavior in
      connected vehicle settings.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Under the connected vehicle environment, vehicles will be able to
      exchange traffic information with roadway infrastructure and other vehicles. With
      such information, collision warning systems (CWSs) will be able to warn drivers
      with potentially hazardous situations within or out of sight and reduce collision
      accidents. The lead time of warning messages is a crucial factor in determining
      the effectiveness of CWSs in the prevention of traffic accidents. Accordingly, it
      is necessary to understand the effects of lead time on driving behaviors and
      explore the optimal lead time in various collision scenarios. METHODS: The
      present driving simulator experiment studied the effects of controlled lead time
      at 16 levels (predetermined time headway from the subject vehicle to the
      collision location when the warning message broadcasted to a driver) on driving
      behaviors in various collision scenarios. RESULTS: Maximum effectiveness of
      warning messages was achieved when the controlled lead time was within the range
      of 5s to 8s. Specifically, the controlled lead time ranging from 4s to 8s led to
      the optimal safety benefit; and the controlled lead time ranging from 5s to 8s
      led to more gradual braking and shorter reaction time. Furthermore, a trapezoidal
      distribution of warning effectiveness was found by building a statistic model
      using curve estimation considering lead time, lifetime driving experience, and
      driving speed. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that the controlled lead time
      significantly affected driver performance. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The findings
      have implications for the design of collision warning systems.

PMID- 27620941
TI  - Viral infection: HCMV and host interplay.

PMID- 27620942
TI  - Microbiome: Phage community in the gut.

PMID- 27620939
TI  - The direct costs of fatal and non-fatal falls among older adults - United States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study sought to estimate the incidence, average cost, and
      total direct medical costs for fatal and non-fatal fall injuries in hospital, ED,
      and out-patient settings among U.S. adults aged 65 or older in 2012, by sex and
      age group and to report total direct medical costs for falls inflated to 2015
      dollars. METHOD: Incidence data came from the 2012 National Vital Statistics
      System, 2012 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-Nationwide Inpatient Sample,
      2012 Health Care Utilization Program National Emergency Department Sample, and
      2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Costs for fatal falls were derived from
      the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web-based Injury Statistics
      Query and Reporting System; costs for non-fatal falls were based on claims from
      the 1998/1999 Medicare fee-for-service 5% Standard Analytical Files. Costs were
      inflated to 2015 estimates using the health care component of the Personal
      Consumption Expenditure index. RESULTS: In 2012, there were 24,190 fatal and 3.2
      million medically treated non-fatal fall related injuries. Direct medical costs
      totaled $616.5 million for fatal and $30.3 billion for non-fatal injuries in 2012
      and rose to $637.5 million and $31.3 billion, respectively, in 2015. Fall
      incidence as well as total cost increased with age and were higher among women.
      CONCLUSION: Medically treated falls among older adults, especially among older
      women, are associated with substantial economic costs. PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
      Widely implementing evidence-based interventions for fall prevention is essential
      to decrease the incidence and healthcare costs associated with these injuries.

PMID- 27620940
TI  - Location of fatal prescription opioid-related deaths in 12 states, 2008-2010:
      Implications for prevention programs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prescription opioid pain reliever overdose is a major public health
      issue in the United States. To characterize the location of drug-related deaths,
      we examined fatal prescription opioid and illicit drug-related deaths reported in
      12 states. METHODS: Data are from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
      Administration's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). Medical examiners or coroners
      in 12 states (MA, MD, ME, NH, NM, OK, OR, RI, UT, VA, VT, WV) reported details of
      state-wide drug-related mortality during 2008-2010. DAWN data included location
      and manner of death, age, race, and drugs involved. Deaths were coded into three
      categories: prescription opioid-related, illicit drug-related, and cases that
      involved both a prescription opioid and an illicit drug. RESULTS: During a 3-year
      period, there were 14,091 opioid or illicit drug-related deaths in 12 states.
      More than half of the prescription opioid-related deaths in all states, except
      Maryland, occurred at home, rather than in public or in a health care facility.
      Although it was still the predominant category, lower percentages of illicit drug
      related deaths occurred at home. CONCLUSION: Prescription opioid overdoses have
      increased substantially, and the location of the person at the time of death can
      have important public health implications for interventions. PRACTICAL
      APPLICATIONS: This paper highlights that bystander support can be a critical
      lifesaving factor in drug related deaths but may be more likely for illicit drug
      related deaths than for prescription opioid-related deaths.

PMID- 27620943
TI  - Parasite genomics: Scrutinizing apicomplexans.

PMID- 27620944
TI  - Linking an unchained malady.

PMID- 27620946
TI  - Using a symptom-specific instrument to measure patient-reported daily functioning
      in patients with cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Improving, stable, or deteriorating patient functioning is critical
      to assess in cancer care and in oncology clinical trials. We evaluated the
      performance of the six-item interference subscale of the MD Anderson Symptom
      Inventory (MDASI) compared with two commonly used patient-reported measures of
      functioning as a reference: the European Organisation for Research and Treatment
      of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) and the Medical Outcomes Study
      Short Form 12-item health survey (SF-12). METHODS: In this secondary analysis of
      two databases, MDASI versus QLQ-C30 (431 multiple myeloma patients) and MDASI
      versus SF-12 in solid tumours (285 lung and 91 gastrointestinal cancer patients),
      we used Pearson correlations to test relationships of four SF-12 and five QLQ-C30
      functioning subscales with MDASI total interference (MDASI-INTFER), physical
      (MDASI-WAW), and affective (MDASI-REM) subscales. We used area under the curve
      (AUC) to quantify ability to differentiate performance status levels, and Glass
      Delta effect size (ES) and standardised response mean to evaluate responsiveness
      to aggressive cancer treatment. RESULTS: MDASI-WAW was strongly correlated with
      QLQ-C30 and SF-12 physical subscales across all three cancer types (all r >= 0.7,
      P < 0.0001). The MDASI-WAW displayed AUCs that were similar to the physical
      functioning scales of QLQ-C30 and SF-12 (>0.7). MDASI-WAW responsiveness was
      equivalent to the SF-12 physical functioning subscale for chemoradiotherapy (ES =
      0.72 for MDASI-WAW; 0.55 for SF-12), surgery (ES = 0.92 for MDASI-WAW; 0.97 for
      SF-12), and worsening of general health (ES = 1.22 for MDASI-WAW; 1.05 for SF
      12). CONCLUSIONS: MDASI interference is a valid measure of symptom-related
      functional impairment. The three-item MDASI-WAW subscale is comparable to the SF
      12 in responsiveness to functional deterioration during aggressive cancer
      treatment.

PMID- 27620945
TI  - Magnetosome biogenesis in magnetotactic bacteria.
AB  - Magnetotactic bacteria derive their magnetic orientation from magnetosomes, which
      are unique organelles that contain nanometre-sized crystals of magnetic iron
      minerals. Although these organelles have evident potential for exciting
      biotechnological applications, a lack of genetically tractable magnetotactic
      bacteria had hampered the development of such tools; however, in the past decade,
      genetic studies using two model Magnetospirillum species have revealed much about
      the mechanisms of magnetosome biogenesis. In this Review, we highlight these new
      insights and place the molecular mechanisms of magnetosome biogenesis in the
      context of the complex cell biology of Magnetospirillum spp. Furthermore, we
      discuss the diverse properties of magnetosome biogenesis in other species of
      magnetotactic bacteria and consider the value of genetically 'magnetizing' non
      magnetotactic bacteria. Finally, we discuss future prospects for this highly
      interdisciplinary and rapidly advancing field.

PMID- 27620948
TI  - Towards enzymatic breakdown of complex plant xylan structures: State of the art.
AB  - Significant progress over the past few years has been achieved in the enzymology
      of microbial degradation and saccharification of plant xylan, after cellulose
      being the most abundant natural renewable polysaccharide. Several new types of
      xylan depolymerizing and debranching enzymes have been described in
      microorganisms. Despite the increasing variety of known glycoside hydrolases and
      carbohydrate esterases, some xylan structures still appear quite recalcitrant.
      This review focuses on the mode of action of different types of depolymerizing
      endoxylanases and their cooperation with beta-xylosidase and accessory enzymes in
      breakdown of complex highly branched xylan structures. Emphasis is placed on the
      enzymatic hydrolysis of alkali-extracted deesterified polysaccharide as well as
      acetylated xylan isolated from plant cell walls under non-alkaline conditions. It
      is also shown how the combination of selected endoxylanases and debranching
      enzymes can determine the nature of prebiotic xylooligosaccharides or lead to
      complete hydrolysis of the polysaccharide. The article also highlights the
      possibility for discovery of novel xylanolytic enzymes, construction of
      multifunctional chimeric enzymes and xylanosomes in parallel with increasing
      knowledge on the fine structure of the polysaccharide.

PMID- 27620947
TI  - Prostate cancer changes in clinical presentation and treatments in two decades:
      an Italian population-based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of prostate cancer is on the rise in many
      industrialised countries, including Italy, most likely because of the spread of
      PSA testing. In Italy, prostate cancer mortality has been dropping since 2000,
      but it is difficult to understand whether PSA testing is the main reason,
      considering the role of treatment in prognosis. The objectives of this study
      were: (1) to describe Italian trends of prostate cancer risk categories and
      corresponding changes in treatment patterns and (2) to interpret changes in
      survival over time. METHODS: We made a retrospective observational study using
      population-based cancer registries. We examined two periods, 1996-1999 and 2005
      2007, analysing the distribution of patients among risk groups and treatment
      changes in those intervals. We estimated 7- and 15-year relative survival with
      the cohort approach, Ederer II method. We analysed 4635 cases. RESULTS: There was
      downward risk migration from the first to the second period. In patients younger
      than 75 years, there was an increase in radical prostatectomy but not
      radiotherapy; patients older than 75 years rarely had treatment with radical
      intent. We noted an improvement of prostate cancer survival in the high-risk
      group. CONCLUSION: These findings raise several questions: the possible
      overtreatment of low-risk patients undergoing radical treatment; the utility of
      more aggressive treatment for elderly patients with high-risk disease; and the
      importance of a multidisciplinary clinical approach to ensure multiple and
      alternative treatment options. The increase in survival, with the decrease in
      mortality, suggests an effect of radical treatments on prognosis.

PMID- 27620949
TI  - Characteristics of socially successful elementary school-aged children with
      autism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extant literature demonstrates that children with autism spectrum
      disorder (ASD) often have difficulty interacting and socially connecting with
      typically developing classmates. However, some children with ASD have social
      outcomes that are consistent with their typically developing counterparts. Little
      is known about this subgroup of children with ASD. This study examined the stable
      (unlikely to change) and malleable (changeable) characteristics of socially
      successful children with ASD. METHODS: This study used baseline data from three
      intervention studies performed in public schools in the Southwestern United
      States. A total of 148 elementary-aged children with ASD in 130 classrooms in 47
      public schools participated. Measures of playground peer engagement and social
      network salience (inclusion in informal peer groups) were obtained. RESULTS: The
      results demonstrated that a number of malleable factors significantly predicted
      playground peer engagement (class size, autism symptom severity, peer
      connections) and social network salience (autism symptom severity, peer
      connections, received friendships). In addition, age was the only stable factor
      that significantly predicted social network salience. Interestingly, two
      malleable (i.e., peer connections and received friendships) and no stable factors
      (i.e., age, IQ, sex) predicted overall social success (e.g., high playground peer
      engagement and social network salience) in children with ASD. CONCLUSIONS: School
      based interventions should address malleable factors such as the number of peer
      connections and received friendships that predict the best social outcomes for
      children with ASD.

PMID- 27620950
TI  - Cell-free DNA in maternal plasma and serum: A comparison of quantity, quality and
      tissue origin using genomic and epigenomic approaches.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to compare the concentrations, size
      profiles and major tissue contributors of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma and in
      serum. DESIGN AND METHODS: Thirteen pregnant women in the third trimester were
      recruited for this study. We collected EDTA-plasma and serum samples using
      various collection tubes. We determined their cfDNA concentrations and fetal
      cfDNA fractions using a zinc-finger X (ZFX)/zinc-finger Y (ZFY) droplet digital
      polymerase chain reaction (ZFX/ZFY ddPCR) assay. We used paired-end massively
      parallel sequencing (MPS) to measure plasma and serum cfDNA sizes at single-base
      resolution. We deconvoluted the genome-wide bisulfite sequencing data with
      reference to the methylation profiles of different tissues. RESULTS: The
      concentrations of cfDNA collected in Sarstedt Serum Z tubes were found to be
      significantly higher than those in Greiner Bio-One Vacuette(r) Z Serum Separator
      Clot Activator tubes or Vacuette(r) Z Serum Clot Activator tubes. The
      concentrations of fetal cfDNA were significantly reduced in samples collected in
      the Vacuette(r) serum collection tubes. Fetal cfDNA fractions were significantly
      reduced in all sera compared to plasma. MPS of serum cfDNA revealed a right shift
      of the size distributions compared to plasma. Methylation-based tissue mapping of
      serum cfDNA revealed an increase of cfDNA from neutrophils and B cells but not T
      cells. CONCLUSIONS: The use of different serum collection tubes has a significant
      impact on serum cfDNA concentrations. This effect is likely mediated through the
      combined effect of genomic DNA release from white blood cells and DNA degradation
      or removal.

PMID- 27620951
TI  - The bad seed: Cancer stem cells in tumor development and resistance.
AB  - Over the past two decades cancer stem cells (CSCs) have emerged as essential
      players in the pathogenesis of cancer, with the capacity to initiate, maintain
      and repopulate different tumors. Within the tumor bulk, CSCs represent a small
      subpopulation, bestowed with the capacity to self-renew and yield heterogeneous
      lineages of cancer cells. In many scenarios, CSCs exhibit increased resistance
      toward irradiation and chemotherapy, and given their spectacular ability to
      replenish the tumor, they constitute a substantial therapeutic challenge. In this
      review, we provide a brief overview of the concept of CSCs and the experimental
      methodology utilized for identifying and isolating these unique cells. We discuss
      how CSCs are regulated within the tumor microenvironment as well as the role they
      portray in seeding fresh tumors. Finally, we explore the mechanisms that enable
      CSCs to evade modern therapeutic approaches and the possible strategies that can
      be utilized to prevent CSCs from resurrecting the disease.

PMID- 27620952
TI  - Multidrug efflux pumps as main players in intrinsic and acquired resistance to
      antimicrobials.
AB  - Multidrug efflux pumps constitute a group of transporters that are ubiquitously
      found in any organism. In addition to other functions with relevance for the cell
      physiology, efflux pumps contribute to the resistance to compounds used for
      treating different diseases, including resistance to anticancer drugs,
      antibiotics or antifungal compounds. In the case of antimicrobials, efflux pumps
      are major players in both intrinsic and acquired resistance to drugs currently in
      use for the treatment of infectious diseases. One important aspect not fully
      explored of efflux pumps consists on the identification of effectors able to
      induce their expression. Indeed, whereas the analysis of clinical isolates have
      shown that mutants overexpressing these resistance elements are frequently found,
      less is known on the conditions that may trigger expression of efflux pumps,
      hence leading to transient induction of resistance in vivo, a situation that is
      barely detectable using classical susceptibility tests. In the current article we
      review the structure and mechanisms of regulation of the expression of bacterial
      and fungal efflux pumps, with a particular focus in those for which a role in
      clinically relevant resistance has been reported.

PMID- 27620954
TI  - Folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthetase: A key determinant of folate homeostasis and
      antifolate resistance in cancer.
AB  - Mammalians are devoid of autonomous biosynthesis of folates and hence must obtain
      them from the diet. Reduced folate cofactors are B9-vitamins which play a key
      role as donors of one-carbon units in the biosynthesis of purine nucleotides,
      thymidylate and amino acids as well as in a multitude of methylation reactions
      including DNA, RNA, histone and non-histone proteins, phospholipids, as well as
      intermediate metabolites. The products of these S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)
      dependent methylations are involved in the regulation of key biological processes
      including transcription, translation and intracellular signaling. Folate
      dependent one-carbon metabolism occurs in several subcellular compartments
      including the cytoplasm, mitochondria, and nucleus. Since folates are essential
      for DNA replication, intracellular folate cofactors play a central role in cancer
      biology and inflammatory autoimmune disorders. In this respect, various folate
      dependent enzymes catalyzing nucleotide biosynthesis have been targeted by
      specific folate antagonists known as antifolates. Currently, antifolates are used
      in drug treatment of multiple human cancers, non-malignant chronic inflammatory
      disorders as well as bacterial and parasitic infections. An obligatory key
      component of intracellular folate retention and intracellular homeostasis is
      (anti)folate polyglutamylation, mediated by the unique enzyme folylpoly-gamma
      glutamate synthetase (FPGS), which resides in both the cytoplasm and
      mitochondria. Consistently, knockout of the FPGS gene in mice results in
      embryonic lethality. FPGS catalyzes the addition of a long polyglutamate chain to
      folates and antifolates, hence rendering them polyanions which are efficiently
      retained in the cell and are now bound with enhanced affinity by various folate
      dependent enzymes. The current review highlights the crucial role that FPGS plays
      in maintenance of folate homeostasis under physiological conditions and
      delineates the plethora of the molecular mechanisms underlying loss of FPGS
      function and consequent antifolate resistance in cancer.

PMID- 27620955
TI  - Old drugs, novel ways out: Drug resistance toward cytotoxic chemotherapeutics.
AB  - Efficacy of chemotherapy in the treatment of distinct malignancies is often
      hampered by drug resistance arising in the tumor. Understanding the molecular
      basis of drug resistance and translating this knowledge into personalized
      treatment decisions can enhance therapeutic efficacy and even curative outcome.
      Over the years, multiple drug resistance mechanisms have been identified that
      enable tumors to cope with the damage instigated by a specific drug or group of
      anti-tumor agents. Here we provide an overview of the molecular pathways leading
      to resistance against conventional anti-cancer drugs, with emphasis on the
      utility of these pathways for rational selection of treatments for individual
      cancer patients. We further complement the review by discussing the pitfalls and
      difficulties in translating these findings into novel treatment strategies for
      cancer patients.

PMID- 27620953
TI  - The pharmacogenomics of drug resistance to protein kinase inhibitors.
AB  - Dysregulation of growth factor cell signaling is a major driver of most human
      cancers. This has led to development of numerous drugs targeting protein kinases,
      with demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of a wide spectrum of cancers.
      Despite their high initial response rates and survival benefits, the majority of
      patients eventually develop resistance to these targeted therapies. This review
      article discusses examples of established mechanisms of drug resistance to
      anticancer therapies, including drug target mutations or gene amplifications,
      emergence of alternate signaling pathways, and pharmacokinetic variation. This
      reveals a role for pharmacogenomic analysis to identify and monitor for
      resistance, with possible therapeutic strategies to combat chemoresistance.

PMID- 27620957
TI  - Renew or die: The molecular mechanisms of peptidoglycan recycling and antibiotic
      resistance in Gram-negative pathogens.
AB  - Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious health threats. Cell-wall
      remodeling processes are tightly regulated to warrant bacterial survival and in
      some cases are directly linked to antibiotic resistance. Remodeling produces cell
      wall fragments that are recycled but can also act as messengers for bacterial
      communication, as effector molecules in immune response and as signaling
      molecules triggering antibiotic resistance. This review is intended to provide
      state-of-the-art information about the molecular mechanisms governing this
      process and gather structural information of the different macromolecular
      machineries involved in peptidoglycan recycling in Gram-negative bacteria. The
      growing body of literature on the 3D structures of the corresponding
      macromolecules reveals an extraordinary complexity. Considering the increasing
      incidence and widespread emergence of Gram-negative multidrug-resistant pathogens
      in clinics, structural information on the main actors of the recycling process
      paves the way for designing novel antibiotics disrupting cellular communication
      in the recycling-resistance pathway.

PMID- 27620958
TI  - Protective role of selenium in the activities of antioxidant enzymes in piglet
      splenic lymphocytes exposed to deoxynivalenol.
AB  - We evaluated the effects of selenium (Se) on antioxidant enzymes of piglet
      splenic lymphocytes exposed to deoxynivalenol (DON). We measured cell viability,
      the activities of several antioxidant enzymes, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH),
      as well as total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the levels of malonaldehyde
      (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). We found that DON exposure increased the
      concentrations of LDH, MDA, and H2O2 in all experimental groups in a dose
      dependent manner, while the concentrations of other antioxidant enzymes were
      decreased. In Se-pretreated DON-exposed cells, damage to antioxidant enzymes was
      reduced, especially in the lower-dose DON groups over longer exposure times.
      These results may indicate that in piglet splenic lymphocytes, Se can alleviate
      DON-induced damage to antioxidant enzymes by improving glutathione peroxidase
      activity. Se may function as a potential antioxidative agent to alleviate DON
      induced oxidative stress.

PMID- 27620960
TI  - Minimally invasive lobectomy for early stage non-small cell lung cancer-it can be
      done without sacrificing oncologic outcomes.

PMID- 27620959
TI  - Impact of hydrological alterations on river-groundwater exchange and water
      quality in a semi-arid area: Nueces River, Texas.
AB  - There is a lack of understanding and methods for assessing the effects of
      anthropogenic disruptions, (i.e. river fragmentation due to dam construction) on
      the extent and degree of groundwater-surface water interaction and geochemical
      processes affecting the quality of water in semi-arid, coastal catchments. This
      study applied a novel combination of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and
      elemental and isotope geochemistry in a coastal river disturbed by extended
      drought and periodic flooding due to the operation of multiple dams. Geochemical
      analyses show that the saltwater barrier causes an increase in salinity in
      surface water in the downstream river as a result of limited freshwater inflows,
      strong evaporation effects on shallow groundwater and mostly stagnant river
      water, and is not due to saltwater intrusion by tidal flooding. Discharge from
      bank storage is dominant (~84%) in the downstream fragment and its contribution
      could increase salinity levels within the hyporheic zone and surface water. When
      surface water levels go up due to upstream freshwater releases the river
      temporarily displaces high salinity water trapped in the hyporheic zone to the
      underlying aquifer. Geochemical modeling shows a higher contribution of distant
      and deeper groundwater (~40%) in the upstream river and lower discharge from bank
      storage (~13%) through the hyporheic zone. Recharge from bank storage is a source
      of high salt to both upstream and downstream portions of the river but its
      contribution is higher below the dam. Continuous ERT imaging of the river bed
      complements geochemistry findings and indicate that while lithologically similar,
      downstream of the dam, the shallow aquifer is affected by salinization while
      fresher water saturates the aquifer in the upstream fragment. The relative
      contribution of flows (i.e. surface water releases or groundwater discharge) as
      related to the river fragmentation control changes of streamwater chemistry and
      likely impact the interpretation of seasonal trends.

PMID- 27620961
TI  - How (in)variant are subjective representations of described and experienced risk
      and rewards?
AB  - Decisions under risk have been shown to differ depending on whether information
      on outcomes and probabilities is gleaned from symbolic descriptions or gathered
      through experience. To some extent, this description-experience gap is due to
      sampling error in experience-based choice. Analyses with cumulative prospect
      theory (CPT), investigating to what extent the gap is also driven by differences
      in people's subjective representations of outcome and probability information
      (taking into account sampling error), have produced mixed results. We improve on
      previous analyses of description-based and experience-based choices by taking
      advantage of both a within-subjects design and a hierarchical Bayesian
      implementation of CPT. This approach allows us to capture both the differences
      and the within-person stability of individuals' subjective representations across
      the two modes of learning about choice options. Relative to decisions from
      description, decisions from experience showed reduced sensitivity to
      probabilities and increased sensitivity to outcomes. For some CPT parameters,
      individual differences were relatively stable across modes of learning. Our
      results suggest that outcome and probability information translate into
      systematically different subjective representations in description- versus
      experience-based choice. At the same time, both types of decisions seem to tap
      into the same individual-level regularities.

PMID- 27620956
TI  - Antibiotic resistance in Burkholderia species.
AB  - The genus Burkholderia comprises metabolically diverse and adaptable Gram
      negative bacteria, which thrive in often adversarial environments. A few members
      of the genus are prominent opportunistic pathogens. These include Burkholderia
      mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei of the B. pseudomallei complex, which cause
      glanders and melioidosis, respectively. Burkholderia cenocepacia, Burkholderia
      multivorans, and Burkholderia vietnamiensis belong to the Burkholderia cepacia
      complex and affect mostly cystic fibrosis patients. Infections caused by these
      bacteria are difficult to treat because of significant antibiotic resistance. The
      first line of defense against antimicrobials in Burkholderia species is the outer
      membrane penetration barrier. Most Burkholderia contain a modified
      lipopolysaccharide that causes intrinsic polymyxin resistance. Contributing to
      reduced drug penetration are restrictive porin proteins. Efflux pumps of the
      resistance nodulation cell division family are major players in Burkholderia
      multidrug resistance. Third and fourth generation beta-lactam antibiotics are
      seminal for treatment of Burkholderia infections, but therapeutic efficacy is
      compromised by expression of several beta-lactamases and ceftazidime target
      mutations. Altered DNA gyrase and dihydrofolate reductase targets cause
      fluoroquinolone and trimethoprim resistance, respectively. Although antibiotic
      resistance hampers therapy of Burkholderia infections, the characterization of
      resistance mechanisms lags behind other non-enteric Gram-negative pathogens,
      especially ESKAPE bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae
      and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

PMID- 27620962
TI  - Joint Association of Neighborhood Environment and Fear of Falling on Physical
      Activity Among Frail Older Adults.
AB  - This study examined associations between perceived neighborhood environment and
      physical activity among frail older adults and whether these associations are
      moderated by fear of falling. Participants were 238 frail older adults. Daily
      step counts and duration of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were measured
      using an accelerometer. Participants completed the abbreviated Neighborhood
      Environment Walkability Scale; fear of falling and demographic and health-related
      factors were measured by a questionnaire. The interaction between crime safety
      and fear of falling was significantly associated with step count (p = .009) and
      moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p = .018) in multiple regression
      analysis. Stratified according to fear of falling, crime safety was significantly
      associated with steps (p = .007) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p =
      .030) in the low fear of falling group. The results suggest that crime safety is
      associated with physical activity among frail older adults, and this association
      is moderated by fear of falling.

PMID- 27620965
TI  - How accurately and consistently do laboratories measure workplace concentrations
      of respirable crystalline silica?
AB  - Permissible exposure limits (PELs) for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) have
      recently been reduced from 0.10 to 0.05 mg/m3. This raises an important question:
      do current laboratory practices and standards for assessing RCS concentrations
      permit reliable discrimination between workplaces that are in compliance and
      workplaces that are not? To find out, this paper examines recent laboratory
      performance in quantifying RCS amounts on filters sent to them to assess their
      proficiency. A key finding is that accredited laboratories do not reliably (e.g.,
      with 95% confidence) estimate RCS quantities to within a factor of 2. Thus,
      laboratory findings indicating that RCS levels are above or below a PEL provide
      little confidence that this is true. The current accreditation standard only
      requires laboratories to achieve estimates within three standard deviations of
      the correct (reference) value at least two thirds of the time, rather than a more
      usual standard such as within 25% of the correct value at least 95% of the time.
      Laboratory practices may improve as the new PEL is implemented, but they are
      presently essentially powerless to discriminate among RCS levels over most of the
      range of values that have been tested, leaving employers and regulators without a
      reliable means to ascertain when workplace RCS levels are above or below the PEL.

PMID- 27620963
TI  - The protective effect of regucalcin against radiation-induced damage in
      testicular cells.
AB  - AIMS: Regucalcin (RGN), a protein broadly expressed in the male reproductive
      tract, has shown to have beneficial effects on spermatogenesis suppressing
      chemical-induced apoptosis. This study aimed to evaluate whether RGN
      overexpression ameliorates the spermatogenic phenotype after radiation treatment.
      MAIN METHODS: Transgenic rats overexpressing RGN (Tg-RGN) and their wild-type
      (Wt) counterparts were exposed to a single dose of X-rays (6Gy), and at ten weeks
      after irradiation, the testicular status and the epididymal sperm parameters were
      evaluated. The expression of RGN and several cell cycle and apoptosis regulators,
      the enzymatic activity of caspase-3, and RGN immunostaining were also assessed.
      KEY FINDINGS: Tg-RGN animals displayed higher gonadosomatic index, and augmented
      sperm viability and motility relatively to their Wt counterparts after
      irradiation, as well as higher frequency of normal sperm morphology and a
      diminished incidence of head-defects. The differences in reproductive parameters
      were underpinned by a lower rate of apoptosis, as evidenced by the reduced
      activity of caspase-3, lower levels of caspase-8, and increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio
      in the testis of Tg-RGN animals. Supporting the involvement of RGN in the anti
      apoptotic response, an enhanced expression of RGN was observed in irradiated
      rats. SIGNIFICANCE: Transgenic-overexpression of RGN protected against radiation
      induced testicular damage, which strengthens the role of this protein protecting
      cells from the damage of external agents. These findings also indicated that the
      modulation of RGN testicular levels would be a mechanism for fertility
      preservation in men undergoing oncological treatment.

PMID- 27620964
TI  - Thinking and doing: the effects of dopamine and oxytocin genes and executive
      function on mothering behaviours.
AB  - Animal and human studies suggest that initial expression of maternal behaviour
      depends on oxytocin and dopamine systems. However, the mechanism by which these
      systems affect parenting behaviours and the timing of these effects are not well
      understood. This article explores the role of mothers' executive function in
      mediating the relation between oxytocin and dopamine gene variants and maternal
      responsiveness at 48 months post-partum. Participants (n = 157) were mothers
      recruited in the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment Study,
      which assesses longitudinally two cohorts of mothers and children in Canada. We
      examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to the dopamine and
      oxytocin systems (DRD1 rs686, DRD1 rs265976, OXTR rs237885 and OXTR rs2254298),
      assessed mothers' decision-making at 48 months using the Cambridge Neurological
      Automated Testing Battery (CANTAB) and evaluated maternal responsiveness from
      videotaped interactions during the Etch-A-Sketch co-operation task. Mediation
      analyses showed that OXTR rs2254298 A-carriers had an indirect effect on positive
      parenting which was mediated by mothers' performance on decision-making task
      (estimate = 0.115, P < 0.005), while OXTR rs2254298 A-carriers had both direct
      and indirect effects on physically controlling parenting, also mediated through
      enhanced performance on decision-making (estimate = -0.059, P < 0.005). Dopamine
      SNPs were not associated with any measure of executive function or parenting (all
      P > 0.05). While oxytocin has previously been associated with only the early
      onset of maternal behaviour, we show that an OXTR polymorphism is involved in
      maternal behaviour at 48 months post-partum through mothers' executive function.
      This research highlights the importance of the oxytocin system to maternal
      parenting beyond infancy.

PMID- 27620966
TI  - A quantitative weight of evidence methodology for the assessment of reproductive
      and developmental toxicity and its application for classification and labeling of
      chemicals.
AB  - Hazard assessment of chemicals usually applies narrative assessments with a
      number of weaknesses. Therefore, application of weight of evidence (WoE)
      approaches are often mandated but guidance to perform a WoE assessment is
      lacking. This manuscript describes a quantitative WoE (QWoE) assessment for
      reproductive toxicity data and its application for classification and labeling
      (C&L). Because C&L criteria are based on animal studies, the scope is restricted
      to animal toxicity data. The QWoE methodology utilizes numerical scoring sheets
      to assess reliability of a publication and the toxicological relevance of
      reported effects. Scores are given for fourteen quality aspects, best practice
      receives the highest score. The relevance/effects scores (0 to four) are adjusted
      to the key elements of the toxic response for the endpoint and include weighting
      factors for effects on different levels of the biological organization. The
      relevance/effects scores are then assessed against the criteria dose-response,
      magnitude and persistence of effects, consistency of observations with the
      hypothesis, and relation of effects to human disease. The quality/reliability
      scores and the relevance/effect scores are then multiplied to give a numerical
      strength of evidence for adverse effects. This total score is then used to assign
      the chemical to the different classes employed in classification.

PMID- 27620968
TI  - Quantitative Improvements in Hop Test Scores After a 6-Week Neuromuscular
      Training Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients who have undergone anterior cruciate ligament
      reconstruction (ACLR), the effect of neuromuscular re-education (NMR) programs on
      standard hop tests outcomes, including limb symmetry indices (LSIs), is unknown.
      HYPOTHESIS: Both legs will show improvement in hop test-measured units after
      neuromuscular training, but the involved leg will show relatively greater
      improvement leading to improved limb symmetry. Patients younger than 18 years
      will show more improvement than patients who are older. STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3. METHODS: Patients self
      selected their participation in this NMR program, which was completed after
      traditional outpatient physical therapy. Pre- and post-hop test scores were
      recorded as the primary outcome measure. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients met the
      inclusion criteria and completed hop testing. Overall, the involved leg showed
      significant improvements (pretest/posttest) for single-leg hop (138.30 cm/156.89
      cm), triple crossover hop (370.05 cm/423.11 cm), and timed hop (2.21 s/1.99 s).
      Similarly, on the uninvolved leg, improvements were seen for the single-leg hop
      (159.30 cm/171.87 cm) and triple crossover hop (427.50 cm/471.27 cm). Overall
      mean limb symmetry improved across all 4 hop tests, but there was significant
      improvement only on the single-leg hop (87% pretest to 92% posttest). Patients
      younger than 18 years showed mean significant LSI improvement on the triple
      crossover hop. CONCLUSION: Utilizing an intensive 6-week NMR program after ACLR
      prior to return to sport can improve quantitative hop test measurements. Patients
      younger than 18 years had greater improvement than those 18 years and older.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Advanced NMR programs can be successfully utilized in the
      postoperative ACLR setting to improve quantitative limb symmetry.

PMID- 27620969
TI  - Pyrazole-based potent inhibitors of GGT1: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and
      molecular docking studies.
AB  - In this study, a series of pyrazole-based structural analogues of GGTI-DU40 (1)
      have been synthesized and biologically evaluated for geranylgeranyltransferase 1
      (GGT1) and farnesyltransferase (FT) inhibition. The screening results revealed
      that 2 (IC50 = 2.4 MUM) and 5 (IC50 = 3.1 MUM) are potent GGT1 inhibitors
      (GGTIs), possessing higher inhibitory activity compared to the control compound 1
      (IC50 = 3.3 MUM). The anti-proliferative efficacy of these compounds was further
      assayed against MDA-MB-231 cells which indicated a significantly higher activity
      of 2 (IC50 = 7.6 MUM) compared to 1 (IC50 = 23.0 MUM). To examine the capacity of
      the synthesized compounds to inhibit GGT1 in an intact cell, western blot
      analysis was performed on the MDA-MB-231 cell line, which revealed very high
      inhibitory cellular activity of 2 and 5 and demonstrated their capacity to
      inhibit prenylation of endogenous proteins. Molecular docking studies of 2
      against the crystal structure of GGT1 complexed with a geranylgeranyl
      pyrophosphate (GGPP) Analog and a CaaX (C = cysteine, aa = aliphatic amino acids,
      and X = any amino acid) portion of the KKKSKTKCVIL peptide substrate revealed
      several hydrogen bonding interactions and pi-pi contacts between 2 and the
      binding pocket of GGT1. Together these data suggest that compound 2 could proceed
      to in vivo investigation to further assess its efficacy and cytotoxicity.

PMID- 27620970
TI  - Rhodium-Catalyzed Dynamic Kinetic Asymmetric Allylation of Phenols and 2
      Hydroxypyridines.
AB  - Inspired by the mechanistic studies of rhodium-catalyzed atom-economic addition
      of carboxylate acids to allenes, a rhodium-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric
      allylation of different nucleophiles with racemic allylic carbonates has been
      developed. High regio- and enantioselectivities can be obtained under neutral
      conditions and, furthermore, the chemoselectivities can be controlled by
      different diphosphine ligands. (R,R)-QuinoxP* leads to selective O-allylation of
      phenols, whereas when embedding (S,S)-DIOP as the ligand, 2-naphthol is ortho-C
      allylated for the first time in high enantioselectivity. To this end,
      hydroxypyridines can be N-allylated by Rh(I) /(S)-DTBM-Segphos via the same
      intermediate as in the previously reported atom-economic addition to allenes. 

PMID- 27620967
TI  - A Pdx-1-Regulated Soluble Factor Activates Rat and Human Islet Cell
      Proliferation.
AB  - The homeodomain transcription factor Pdx-1 has important roles in pancreas and
      islet development as well as in beta-cell function and survival. We previously
      reported that Pdx-1 overexpression stimulates islet cell proliferation, but the
      mechanism remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that overexpression of Pdx-1
      triggers proliferation largely by a non-cell-autonomous mechanism mediated by
      soluble factors. Consistent with this idea, overexpression of Pdx-1 under the
      control of a beta-cell-specific promoter (rat insulin promoter [RIP]) stimulates
      proliferation of both alpha and beta cells, and overexpression of Pdx-1 in islets
      separated by a Transwell membrane from islets lacking Pdx-1 overexpression
      activates proliferation in the untreated islets. Microarray and gene ontology
      (GO) analysis identified inhibin beta-B (Inhbb), an activin subunit and member of
      the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, as a Pdx-1-responsive
      gene. Overexpression of Inhbb or addition of activin B stimulates rat islet cell
      and beta-cell proliferation, and the activin receptors RIIA and RIIB are required
      for the full proliferative effects of Pdx-1 in rat islets. In human islets, Inhbb
      overexpression stimulates total islet cell proliferation and potentiates Pdx-1
      stimulated proliferation of total islet cells and beta cells. In sum, this study
      identifies a mechanism by which Pdx-1 induces a soluble factor that is sufficient
      to stimulate both rat and human islet cell proliferation.

PMID- 27620971
TI  - Ternary-Blend Polymer Solar Cells Combining Fullerene and Nonfullerene Acceptors
      to Synergistically Boost the Photovoltaic Performance.
AB  - A ternary-blend strategy is presented to surmount the shortcomings of both
      fullerene derivatives and nonfullerene small molecules as acceptors for the first
      time. The optimal ternary device shows a high power conversion efficiency (PCE)
      of 10.4%. Moreover, a significant enhancement in PCE (~35%) relative to both of
      the binary reference devices, which has never been achieved before in high
      efficiency ternary devices, is demonstrated.

PMID- 27620973
TI  - HIV and host immunogenetics: unraveling the role of HLA-C.
AB  - Host genetic factors play a major role in determining the outcome of many
      infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Multiple host factors
      have been studied till date showing their varied role in susceptibility or
      resistance to HIV infection. HLA-C, however, has been recently started gaining
      interest in researchers mind revealing its polymorphisms to have an important
      effect on viral load set-points, disease progression as well as transmission. In
      this review report, we have compiled these significant findings of HLA-C in HIV
      infection, in an attempt to highlight the need for further research in the area
      in different ethnic population to establish its role in the infection.

PMID- 27620974
TI  - APOE and KIBRA Interactions on Brain Functional Connectivity in Healthy Young
      Adults.
AB  - Genetic variations of APOE and KIBRA have been associated with human memory and
      Alzheimer's disease. APOE and KIBRA can jointly modulate glutamate receptor to
      influence long-term potentiation; however, their interactions on brain functional
      connectivity remain unknown. Here, we investigated additive and epistatic
      interactions between APOE and KIBRA (rs17070145) on brain functional connectivity
      density (FCD) in 267 healthy young adults. A voxel-based FCD analysis was
      performed to identify brain regions with significant APOE-KIBRA interaction.
      Additive effects showed decreased FCD in the left parahippocampal gyrus and the
      right middle temporal gyrus and increased FCD in the bilateral middle occipital
      gyri, with the increase of the number of the risk-alleles of APOE and KIBRA.
      Epistatic effects showed APOE * KIBRA interaction in the FCD of the dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The FCD of the DLPFC showed APOE risk-allele-dependent
      reduction (epsilon2 > epsilon3 > epsilon4) in KIBRA TT homozygotes, but APOE risk
      allele-dependent increase (epsilon2 < epsilon3 < epsilon4) in KIBRA C-carriers.
      FCD differences were only significant between the 2 extreme subgroups in both
      additive and epistatic analyses. These findings suggest that APOE and KIBRA have
      region-dependent additive and epistatic interactions on brain connectivity in
      healthy young adults.

PMID- 27620975
TI  - Neurofeedback Tunes Scale-Free Dynamics in Spontaneous Brain Activity.
AB  - Brain oscillations exhibit long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs), which
      reflect the regularity of their fluctuations: low values representing more random
      (decorrelated) while high values more persistent (correlated) dynamics. LRTCs
      constitute supporting evidence that the brain operates near criticality, a state
      where neuronal activities are balanced between order and randomness. Here,
      healthy adults used closed-loop brain training (neurofeedback, NFB) to reduce the
      amplitude of alpha oscillations, producing a significant increase in spontaneous
      LRTCs post-training. This effect was reproduced in patients with post-traumatic
      stress disorder, where abnormally random dynamics were reversed by NFB,
      correlating with significant improvements in hyperarousal. Notably, regions
      manifesting abnormally low LRTCs (i.e., excessive randomness) normalized toward
      healthy population levels, consistent with theoretical predictions about self
      organized criticality. Hence, when exposed to appropriate training, spontaneous
      cortical activity reveals a residual capacity for "self-tuning" its own temporal
      complexity, despite manifesting the abnormal dynamics seen in individuals with
      psychiatric disorder. Lastly, we observed an inverse-U relationship between
      strength of LRTC and oscillation amplitude, suggesting a breakdown of long-range
      dependence at high/low synchronization extremes, in line with recent
      computational models. Together, our findings offer a broader mechanistic
      framework for motivating research and clinical applications of NFB, encompassing
      disorders with perturbed LRTCs.

PMID- 27620972
TI  - Conservation of core complex subunits shaped the structure and function of
      photosystem I in the secondary endosymbiont alga Nannochloropsis gaditana.
AB  - Photosystem I (PSI) is a pigment protein complex catalyzing the light-driven
      electron transport from plastocyanin to ferredoxin in oxygenic photosynthetic
      organisms. Several PSI subunits are highly conserved in cyanobacteria, algae and
      plants, whereas others are distributed differentially in the various organisms.
      Here we characterized the structural and functional properties of PSI purified
      from the heterokont alga Nannochloropsis gaditana, showing that it is organized
      as a supercomplex including a core complex and an outer antenna, as in plants and
      other eukaryotic algae. Differently from all known organisms, the N. gaditana PSI
      supercomplex contains five peripheral antenna proteins, identified by proteome
      analysis as type-R light-harvesting complexes (LHCr4-8). Two antenna subunits are
      bound in a conserved position, as in PSI in plants, whereas three additional
      antennae are associated with the core on the other side. This peculiar antenna
      association correlates with the presence of PsaF/J and the absence of PsaH, G and
      K in the N. gaditana genome and proteome. Excitation energy transfer in the
      supercomplex is highly efficient, leading to a very high trapping efficiency as
      observed in all other PSI eukaryotes, showing that although the supramolecular
      organization of PSI changed during evolution, fundamental functional properties
      such as trapping efficiency were maintained.

PMID- 27620976
TI  - Layer-Specific Refinement of Sensory Coding in Developing Mouse Barrel Cortex.
AB  - Rodent rhythmic whisking behavior matures during a critical period around 2 weeks
      after birth. The functional adaptations of neocortical circuitry during this
      developmental period remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized stimulus
      evoked neuronal activity across all layers of mouse barrel cortex before, during,
      and after the onset of whisking behavior. Employing multi-electrode recordings
      and 2-photon calcium imaging in anesthetized mice, we tested responses to rostro
      caudal whisker deflections, axial "tapping" stimuli, and their combination from
      postnatal day 10 (P10) to P28. Within this period, whisker-evoked activity of
      neurons displayed a general decrease in layer 2/3 (L2/3) and L4, but increased in
      L5 and L6. Distinct alterations in neuronal response adaptation during the 2-s
      period of stimulation at ~5 Hz accompanied these changes. Moreover, single-unit
      analysis revealed that response selectivity in favor of either lateral deflection
      or axial tapping emerges in deeper layers within the critical period around P14.
      For superficial layers we confirmed this finding using calcium imaging of L2/3
      neurons, which also exhibited emergence of response selectivity as well as
      progressive sparsification and decorrelation of evoked responses around P14. Our
      results demonstrate layer-specific development of sensory responsiveness and
      response selectivity in mouse somatosensory cortex coinciding with the onset of
      exploratory behavior.

PMID- 27620977
TI  - Intracortical Network Effects Preserve Thalamocortical Input Efficacy in a Cortex
      Without Layers.
AB  - Layer IV (LIV) of the rodent somatosensory cortex contains the somatotopic barrel
      field. Barrels receive much of the sensory input to the cortex through
      innervation by thalamocortical axons from the ventral posteromedial nucleus. In
      the reeler mouse, the absence of cortical layers results in the formation of
      mispositioned barrel-equivalent clusters of LIV fated neurons. Although
      functional imaging suggests that sensory input activates the cortex, little is
      known about the cellular and synaptic properties of identified excitatory neurons
      of the reeler cortex. We examined the properties of thalamic input to spiny
      stellate (SpS) neurons in the reeler cortex with in vitro electrophysiology,
      optogenetics, and subcellular channelrhodopsin-2-assisted circuit mapping
      (sCRACM). Our results indicate that reeler SpS neurons receive direct but
      weakened input from the thalamus, with a dispersed spatial distribution along the
      somatodendritic arbor. These results further document subtle alterations in
      functional connectivity concomitant of absent layering in the reeler mutant. We
      suggest that intracortical amplification mechanisms compensate for this weakening
      in order to allow reliable sensory transmission to the mutant neocortex.

PMID- 27620979
TI  - Enhanced Abventricular Proliferation Compensates Cell Death in the Embryonic
      Cerebral Cortex.
AB  - Loss of neurons in the neocortex is generally thought to result in a final
      reduction of cerebral volume. Yet, little is known on how the developing cerebral
      cortex copes with death of early-born neurons. Here, we tackled this issue by
      taking advantage of a transgenic mouse model in which, from early embryonic
      stages to mid-corticogenesis, abundant apoptosis is induced in the postmitotic
      compartment. Unexpectedly, the thickness of the mutant cortical plate at E18.5
      was normal, due to an overproduction of upper layer neurons at E14.5. We
      developed and simulated a mathematical model to investigate theoretically the
      recovering capacity of the system and found that a minor increase in the
      probability of proliferative divisions of intermediate progenitors (IPs) is a
      powerful compensation lever. We confirmed experimentally that mutant mice showed
      an enhanced number of abventricular progenitors including basal radial glia-like
      cells and IPs. The latter displayed increased proliferation rate, sustained Pax6
      expression and shorter cell cycle duration. Altogether, these results demonstrate
      the remarkable plasticity of neocortical progenitors to adapt to major embryonic
      insults via the modulation of abventricular divisions thereby ensuring the
      production of an appropriate number of neurons.

PMID- 27620978
TI  - Stimulus Dependent Dynamic Reorganization of the Human Face Processing Network.
AB  - Using the "face inversion effect", a hallmark of face perception, we examined
      network mechanisms supporting face representation by tracking functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) stimulus-dependent dynamic functional connectivity
      within and between brain networks associated with the processing of upright and
      inverted faces. We developed a novel approach adapting the general linear model
      (GLM) framework classically used for univariate fMRI analysis to capture stimulus
      dependent fMRI dynamic connectivity of the face network. We show that under the
      face inversion manipulation, the face and non-face networks have complementary
      roles that are evident in their stimulus-dependent dynamic connectivity patterns
      as assessed by network decomposition into components or communities. Moreover, we
      show that connectivity patterns are associated with the behavioral face inversion
      effect. Thus, we establish "a network-level signature" of the face inversion
      effect and demonstrate how a simple physical transformation of the face stimulus
      induces a dramatic functional reorganization across related brain networks.
      Finally, we suggest that the dynamic GLM network analysis approach, developed
      here for the face network, provides a general framework for modeling the dynamics
      of blocked stimulus-dependent connectivity experimental designs and hence can be
      applied to a host of neuroimaging studies.

PMID- 27620980
TI  - Nurses' use of computerised decision support systems affects drug monitoring in
      nursing homes.
AB  - AIM: To describe variations in nurses' perceptions of using a computerised
      decision support system (CDSS) in drug monitoring. BACKGROUND: There is an
      increasing focus on incorporating informatics into registered nurses' (RNs)
      clinical practice. Insight into RNs' perceptions of using a CDSS in drug
      monitoring can provide a basis for further development of safer practices in drug
      management. METHOD: A qualitative interview study of 16 RNs. Data were analysed
      using a phenomenographic approach. RESULTS: The RNs perceived a variety of
      aspects of using a CDSS in drug monitoring. Aspects of 'time' were evident, as
      was giving a 'standardisation' to the clinical work. There were perceptions of
      effects of obtained knowledge and 'evidence' and the division of
      'responsibilities' between RNs and physicians of using the CDSS. CONCLUSION: The
      RNs perceived a CDSS as supportive in drug monitoring, in terms of promoting
      standardised routines, team-collaboration and providing possibilities for
      evidence-based clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS: Implementing a CDSS seems to be
      one feasible strategy to improve RNs' preconditions for safe drug management.
      Nurse managers' engagement and support in this process are vital for a successful
      result.

PMID- 27620981
TI  - Trends in Psychological Symptoms among Canadian Adolescents from 2002 to 2014:
      Gender and Socioeconomic Differences.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in psychological health symptoms in Canadian youth
      from 2002 to 2014 and examine gender and socioeconomic differences in these
      trends. METHOD: We used data from the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged
      Children (HBSC) study. We assessed psychological symptoms from a validated
      symptom checklist and calculated a symptom score (range, 0-16). We stratified our
      analyses by gender and affluence tertile based on an index of material assets. We
      then plotted trends in symptom score and calculated the probability of
      experiencing specific symptoms over time. RESULTS: Between 2002 and 2014,
      psychological symptom score increased by 1.01 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73
      to 1.41), 1.08 (95% CI, 0.79 to 1.37), and 0.84 (95% CI, 0.55 to 1.13) points in
      girls in the low-, middle-, and high-affluence tertiles, respectively. In boys,
      psychological symptoms decreased by -0.39 (95% CI, -0.66 to -0.12) and -0.12 (95%
      CI, -0.43 to 0.19) points in the high- and middle-affluence tertiles,
      respectively, and increased by 0.30 (95% CI, -0.04 to 0.63) points in the low
      affluence tertile. The probability of feeling anxious and having sleep problems
      at least once a week notably increased in girls from all affluence groups, while
      the probability of feeling depressed and irritable decreased among boys from the
      high-affluence tertile. CONCLUSION: Psychological symptoms increased in Canadian
      adolescent girls across all affluence groups while they remained stable in boys
      from low and middle affluence and decreased in boys from high affluence. Specific
      psychological symptoms followed distinct trends. Further research is needed to
      uncover the mechanisms driving these trends.

PMID- 27620983
TI  - Changes in fMRI BOLD dynamics reflect anticipation to moving objects.
AB  - The human brain is thought to respond differently to novel versus predictable
      neural input. In human visual cortex, neural response amplitude to visual input
      might be determined by the degree of predictability. We investigated how fMRI
      BOLD responses in human early visual cortex reflect the anticipation of a single
      moving bar's trajectory. We found that BOLD signals decreased linearly from onset
      to offset of the stimulus trajectory. Moreover, decreased amplitudes of BOLD
      responses coincided with an increased initial dip as the stimulus moved along its
      trajectory. Importantly, motion anticipation effects were absent, when motion
      coherence was disrupted by means of stimulus contrast reversals. These results
      show that human early visual cortex anticipates the trajectory of a coherently
      moving object at the initial stages of visual motion processing. The results can
      be explained by suppression of predictable input, plausibly underlying the
      formation of stable visual percepts.

PMID- 27620982
TI  - Fluorescence imaging of chromosomal DNA using click chemistry.
AB  - Chromosome visualization is essential for chromosome analysis and genetic
      diagnostics. Here, we developed a click chemistry approach for multicolor imaging
      of chromosomal DNA instead of the traditional dye method. We first demonstrated
      that the commercially available reagents allow for the multicolor staining of
      chromosomes. We then prepared two pro-fluorophore moieties that served as light
      up reporters to stain chromosomal DNA based on click reaction and visualized the
      clear chromosomes in multicolor. We applied this strategy in fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) and identified, with high sensitivity and specificity,
      telomere DNA at the end of the chromosome. We further extended this approach to
      observe several basic stages of cell division. We found that the click reaction
      enables direct visualization of the chromosome behavior in cell division. These
      results suggest that the technique can be broadly used for imaging chromosomes
      and may serve as a new approach for chromosome analysis and genetic diagnostics.

PMID- 27620985
TI  - Comparison of two systemic antifungal agents, itraconazole and terbinafine, for
      the treatment of dermatophytosis in European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dermatophytosis caused by Trichophyton erinacei is a common scaling
      and crusting skin disease affecting European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)
      admitted to wildlife rescue centres. The application of topical therapy can be
      challenging because wild hedgehogs are subject to stress and often roll into a
      ball when handled. Systemic antifungal therapy is more convenient but has not
      been evaluated in this species. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of
      oral itraconazole versus oral terbinafine for the treatment of dermatophytosis
      affecting hedgehogs. ANIMALS: A treatment trial was undertaken in a wildlife
      hospital involving 165 hedgehogs with naturally occurring dermatophytosis.
      METHODS: Animals were randomly divided into two groups and treated with either
      itraconazole or terbinafine orally for 28 days. The therapeutic efficacy was
      evaluated after 14 and 28 days by mycological culture and clinical dermatological
      lesion scores. RESULTS: Both drugs were well tolerated and clinically effective.
      After 14 and 28 days of treatment, the respective mycological cure rate was 36.6%
      and 65.9% for the itraconazole-treated group and 92.8% and 98.8% for the
      terbinafine-treated group. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Itraconazole and
      terbinafine were both effective for the treatment of dermatophytosis affecting
      hedgehogs; however, terbinafine was more effective.

PMID- 27620984
TI  - Intersession reliability of population receptive field estimates.
AB  - Population receptive field (pRF) analysis is a popular method to infer spatial
      selectivity of voxels in visual cortex. However, it remains largely untested how
      stable pRF estimates are over time. Here we measured the intersession reliability
      of pRF parameter estimates for the central visual field and near periphery, using
      a combined wedge and ring stimulus containing natural images. Sixteen healthy
      human participants completed two scanning sessions separated by 10-114 days.
      Individual participants showed very similar visual field maps for V1-V4 on both
      sessions. Intersession reliability for eccentricity and polar angle estimates was
      close to ceiling for most visual field maps (r>.8 for V1-3). PRF size and
      cortical magnification (CMF) estimates showed strong but lower overall
      intersession reliability (r~.4-.6). Group level results for pRF size and CMF were
      highly similar between sessions. Additional control experiments confirmed that
      reliability does not depend on the carrier stimulus used and that reliability for
      pRF size and CMF is high for sessions acquired on the same day (r>.6). Our
      results demonstrate that pRF mapping is highly reliable across sessions.

PMID- 27620986
TI  - Outcomes and predictors of response from an optimised, multidisciplinary
      intervention for chronic fatigue states.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medically unexplained chronic fatigue states are prevalent and
      challenging to manage. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and graded exercise
      therapy (GET) are effective in clinical trials. The evaluation of delivery in a
      standard healthcare setting is rare. An integrated treatment programme with
      individualised allocation of resources to patients' needs was developed and
      implemented through an academic outpatient clinic. It was hypothesised that the
      programme would result in similar responses to those observed in the clinical
      trials. AIM: To evaluate the outcomes of an integrated, 12-week CBT and GET
      programme delivered by exercise physiologists and clinical psychologists.
      METHODS: Consecutive eligible patients (n = 264) who met the diagnostic criteria
      for chronic fatigue syndrome or post-cancer fatigue were evaluated with self
      report measures of fatigue, functional capacity and mood disturbance at baseline,
      end-of-treatment (12 weeks) and follow-up (24 weeks). A semi-structured interview
      recording the same parameters was conducted pre- and post-treatment by an
      independent clinician. Primary outcome was analysed by repeated measures analysis
      of variance and predictors of response were analysed by logistic regression.
      RESULTS: The intervention produced sustained improvements in symptom severity and
      functional capacity. A substantial minority of patients (35%) gained significant
      improvement, with male gender and higher pain scores at baseline predicting non
      response. A small minority of patients (3%) worsened. CONCLUSION: The manualised
      protocol of integrated CBT and GET was successfully implemented, confirming the
      generally positive findings of clinical trials. Assessment and treatment
      protocols are available for dissemination to allow standardised management. The
      beneficial effects described here provide the basis for ongoing studies to
      optimise the intervention further and better identify those most likely to
      respond.

PMID- 27620988
TI  - Dapagliflozin Binds Specifically to Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 in the
      Proximal Renal Tubule.
AB  - Kidneys contribute to glucose homeostasis by reabsorbing filtered glucose in the
      proximal tubules via sodium-glucose cotransporters (SGLTs). Reabsorption is
      primarily handled by SGLT2, and SGLT2-specific inhibitors, including
      dapagliflozin, canagliflozin, and empagliflozin, increase glucose excretion and
      lower blood glucose levels. To resolve unanswered questions about these
      inhibitors, we developed a novel approach to map the distribution of functional
      SGLT2 proteins in rodents using positron emission tomography with 4-[18F]fluoro
      dapagliflozin (F-Dapa). We detected prominent binding of intravenously injected F
      Dapa in the kidney cortexes of rats and wild-type and Sglt1-knockout mice but not
      Sglt2-knockout mice, and injection of SGLT2 inhibitors prevented this binding.
      Furthermore, imaging revealed only low levels of F-Dapa in the urinary bladder,
      even after displacement of kidney binding with dapagliflozin. Microscopic ex
      vitro autoradiography of kidney showed F-Dapa binding to the apical surface of
      early proximal tubules. Notably, in vivo imaging did not show measureable
      specific binding of F-Dapa in heart, muscle, salivary glands, liver, or brain. We
      propose that F-Dapa is freely filtered by the kidney, binds to SGLT2 in the
      apical membranes of the early proximal tubule, and is subsequently reabsorbed
      into blood. The high density of functional SGLT2 transporters detected in the
      apical membrane of the proximal tubule but not detected in other organs likely
      accounts for the high kidney specificity of SGLT2 inhibitors. Overall, these data
      are consistent with data from clinical studies on SGLT2 inhibitors and provide a
      rationale for the mode of action of these drugs.

PMID- 27620987
TI  - Microtubule destabilising agents: far more than just antimitotic anticancer
      drugs.
AB  - Vinca alkaloids have been approved as anticancer drugs for more than 50 years.
      They have been classified as cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs that act during
      cellular mitosis, enabling them to target fast growing cancer cells. With the
      evolution of cancer drug development there has been a shift towards new
      "targeted" therapies to avoid the side effects and general toxicities of
      "cytotoxic chemotherapies" such as the vinca alkaloids. Due to their original
      classification, many have overlooked the fact that vinca alkaloids, taxanes and
      related drugs do have a specific molecular target: tubulin. They continue to be
      some of the most effective anticancer drugs, perhaps because their actions upon
      the microtubule network extend far beyond the ability to halt cells in mitosis,
      and include the induction of apoptosis at all phases of the cell cycle. In this
      review, we highlight the numerous cellular consequences of disrupting microtubule
      dynamics, expanding the textbook knowledge of microtubule destabilising agents
      and providing novel opportunities for their use in cancer therapy.

PMID- 27620991
TI  - Promoting medical student engagement with antimicrobial stewardship through
      involvement in undergraduate research.

PMID- 27620989
TI  - Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 14 Promotes AKI.
AB  - An improved understanding of pathogenic pathways in AKI may identify novel
      therapeutic approaches. Previously, we conducted unbiased liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry-based protein expression profiling of the renal proteome
      in mice with acute folate nephropathy. Here, analysis of the dataset identified
      enrichment of pathways involving NFkappaB in the kidney cortex, and a targeted
      data mining approach identified components of the noncanonical NFkappaB pathway,
      including the upstream kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 14
      (MAP3K14), the NFkappaB DNA binding heterodimer RelB/NFkappaB2, and proteins
      involved in NFkappaB2 p100 ubiquitination and proteasomal processing to p52, as
      upregulated. Immunohistochemistry localized MAP3K14 expression to tubular cells
      in acute folate nephropathy and human AKI. In vivo, kidney expression levels of
      NFkappaB2 p100 and p52 increased rapidly after folic acid injection, as did DNA
      binding of RelB and NFkappaB2, detected in nuclei isolated from the kidneys.
      Compared with wild-type mice, MAP3K14 activity-deficient aly/aly (MAP3K14aly/aly)
      mice had less kidney dysfunction, inflammation, and apoptosis in acute folate
      nephropathy and less kidney dysfunction and a lower mortality rate in cisplatin
      induced AKI. The exchange of bone marrow between wild-type and MAP3K14aly/aly
      mice did not affect the survival rate of either group after folic acid injection.
      In cultured tubular cells, MAP3K14 small interfering RNA targeting decreased
      inflammation and cell death. Additionally, cell culture and in vivo studies
      identified the chemokines MCP-1, RANTES, and CXCL10 as MAP3K14 targets in tubular
      cells. In conclusion, MAP3K14 promotes kidney injury through promotion of
      inflammation and cell death and is a promising novel therapeutic target.

PMID- 27620990
TI  - Vascular Function and Uric Acid-Lowering in Stage 3 CKD.
AB  - Hyperuricemia may contribute to endothelial dysfunction in CKD. We evaluated
      whether lowering serum uric acid levels with allopurinol improves endothelial
      dysfunction in 80 participants >=18 years of age with stage 3 CKD and
      asymptomatic hyperuricemia (>=7 mg/dl in men and >=6 mg/dl in women) randomized
      in a double-blinded manner to receive placebo or allopurinol for 12 weeks.
      Randomization was stratified according to presence or absence of diabetes
      mellitus. We measured vascular endothelial function by brachial artery flow
      mediated dilation. No significant differences existed between groups at baseline;
      61% of the participants had diabetes mellitus in both groups. The placebo and the
      allopurinol groups had baseline serum uric acid levels (SDs) of 8.7 (1.6) mg/dl
      and 8.3 (1.4) mg/dl, respectively, and baseline flow-mediated dilation values
      (SDs) of 6.0% (5.0%) and 4.8% (5.0%), respectively. Compared with placebo,
      allopurinol lowered serum uric acid significantly but did not improve endothelial
      function. In participants without diabetes mellitus, allopurinol associated with
      a trend toward improved flow-mediated dilation (+1.4% [3.9%] versus -0.7% [4.1%]
      with placebo), but this was not statistically significant (P=0.26). Furthermore,
      we did not detect significant differences between groups in BP or serum levels of
      markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. In conclusion, allopurinol
      effectively and safely lowered serum uric acid levels in adults with stage 3 CKD
      and asymptomatic hyperuricemia but did not improve endothelial function in this
      sample of patients.

PMID- 27620992
TI  - Trichostatin A protects against intestinal injury in rats with acute liver
      failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have been widely applied in the
      clinic as anticancer drugs against multiple neoplasms and proved their anti
      inflammation under different pathology recently. Trichostatin A (TSA) is an HDAC
      inhibitor specific in class I and II HDAC enzymes. The aim of the present study
      was to elucidate the protective effects of TSA on acute liver failure (ALF) in
      rats and its potential mechanism. METHODS: A total of 18 female Sprague-Dawley
      rats were separated into control, model, and TSA groups. We used Western blotting
      to determine the expression of HDACs, inflammatory cytokines, and acetylation of
      histone in liver and small intestine. The gene expression of inflammatory factors
      and Cox-2 was detected by a polymerase chain reaction. Colonic motility was
      assessed by spatiotemporal mapping. Histologic analysis and immunohistochemistry
      were performed. Intestinal permeability examination and levels of alanine
      aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and total bilirubin were also
      observed. RESULTS: ALF procedure caused harm to histology of liver and small
      intestine, increased the intestinal permeability and serum levels of alanine
      aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and total bilirubin. It also
      interrupted the normal organization of colonic motor patterns by hurting enteric
      nervous system and pacemaker cells. Along with the decrease of inflammatory
      factors in ALF rats by TSA administration, all the damage to the liver, the small
      intestine, and the colon was repaired. CONCLUSIONS: TSA alleviates the lesion in
      liver, as well as in small intestine and colon in ALF rats by directly inhibiting
      inflammatory response.

PMID- 27620993
TI  - Surgical oncology outcomes in the aging US population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the population ages, an increasing number of older patients are
      undergoing major surgery. We examined the impact of advanced age on outcomes
      following major gastrointestinal cancer surgery in an era of improved surgical
      outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a population-based, retrospective
      cohort study using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality
      Improvement Program database. We evaluated patients undergoing major abdominal
      gastrointestinal cancer surgery from 2005-2012. Multivariable logistic regression
      was performed to determine the independent effect of advanced age on outcomes.
      Our primary outcome was 30-d mortality, and our secondary outcomes were 30-d
      major postoperative adverse events, discharge disposition, length of stay,
      reoperation, and readmission. RESULTS: Elderly (>=65 y) patients were twice as
      likely to have multiple comorbidities as those <65 y but prevalence of
      comorbidities was similar across all older age groups. Mortality increased with
      age across all procedures (P < 0.05). The risk of advanced age on mortality was
      highest in hepatectomy (odds ratio = 5.17, 95% confidence interval = 2.19-12.20)
      and that for major postoperative adverse events was highest in proctectomy (odds
      ratio = 2.32, 95% confidence interval = 1.53-3.52). Patients were more likely to
      be discharged to an institutional care facility as age increased across all
      procedures (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Despite being highly selected for surgery,
      elderly patients undergoing major gastrointestinal cancer surgery have
      substantially worse postoperative outcomes than younger patients (<65 y). The
      risk of age on postoperative outcomes was present across all operations but had
      its highest association with liver and rectal cancer resections.

PMID- 27620994
TI  - Patterns and outcomes of colorectal cancer in adolescents and young adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the adolescent and young
      adult (AYA) population (aged 15-39 y) is rising. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used
      the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database to study CRC in the AYA
      population. We studied clinical and socioeconomic factors associated with
      survival. RESULTS: Of the 11,071 cases of CRC, the most common site of the
      primary tumor was the rectum (25%), whereas 66.6% of the diseases were left
      sided. Most of the patients (72%) presented with regional or metastatic disease.
      However, the disease-specific survival (DSS) and the overall survival of the AYA
      population were comparable to those of the general population (DSS; 5- and 10-y:
      64.8%, 57.3%; overall survival; 5- and 10-y: 61.5% and 52.4%). On multivariate
      analysis, disease stage at the time of the diagnosis was the strongest predictor
      of mortality. After controlling for disease stage, male gender, black race, and
      higher grade tumors were associated with worse survival. CONCLUSIONS: The AYA
      population presents with advanced distal CRC but have similar survival compared
      with the general population.

PMID- 27620995
TI  - The effect of oral simvastatin on fibrinolytic activity after colorectal surgery
      a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies conducted in animal models have shown that statins (3-hydroxy
      3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) reduce adhesion formation by
      upregulating fibrinolysis. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of
      orally administered statins on the promoters and inhibitors of the fibrinolytic
      pathway. METHODS: In a previously described double-blinded clinical trial, 144
      patients undergoing elective colorectal resection, or reversal of Hartmann's
      procedure were randomized to receive 40 mg once daily oral simvastatin 3-7 d
      before surgery or placebo. For the purposes of the present study, peritoneal
      drain fluid was collected postoperatively from patients to measure active tissue
      plasminogen activator (tPA), tissue plasminogen activator total antigen, active
      plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), plasminogen activator inhibitor total
      antigen (PAI-1TA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and tissue plasminogen
      activator complex (PAI-1/tPA). These were analyzed using ELISA. The number of
      hospitalizations and complications related to small bowel obstruction (SBO) were
      recorded at 2 y after surgery. RESULTS: A total of 95 patients (72%) had
      sufficient peritoneal drain fluid suitable for ELISA analysis. Of them, 46
      patients (48%) were from the oral simvastatin group. Mean tPA and tPA total
      antigen concentrations in peritoneal fluid were similar between the two groups.
      Mean PAI-1 and PAI-1 TA concentrations in the statin and placebo group were also
      similar. Mean PAI-1/tPA complex concentration was similar between the two groups.
      The number of hospitalizations from SBOs were 5 and 4 in the statin and placebo
      groups respectively (P = 0.46). The overall mortality at 2-year post-surgery was
      similar between the two groups (P = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study
      involving humans, oral simvastatin had no measured effect on the peritoneal
      fibrinolytic pathway in the first 24 h after colorectal surgery. Analysis of
      clinical outcomes also showed that oral simvastatin did not reduce
      hospitalizations for SBO in the 2 y after surgery. Further studies may be useful
      to evaluate whether fibrinolytic pathways beyond 24 h are altered after systemic
      administration of statins and to evaluate the use of higher doses of statins,
      perhaps used intraperitoneally rather than systemically.

PMID- 27620996
TI  - Risk factors for postoperative hematoma after inguinal hernia repair: an update.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We recently sensed an increase in the frequency of groin hematoma
      after inguinal hernia repair (IHR) at our institution. The aim of this study was
      to provide a more updated assessment of the risk factors inherent to this
      complication. METHODS: We performed a case-control study of all adult patients
      (age >= 18 y) who developed a groin hematoma after IHR at our institution between
      2003 and 2015. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed to assess for
      independent predictors for groin hematoma. RESULTS: A total of 96 patients (among
      6608 IHR) developed a groin hematoma, (60 were observed, 36 required
      intervention). The hematoma frequency increased from our previous study (1.4 %
      versus 0.9%, P < 0.01). Mean age was 64.6 y (range: 18-92), and 84.3% were men.
      There was no significant difference in the laterality, type, or technique of IHR
      between cases and controls. Univariate analysis (odds ratio [95% confidence
      interval], P) identified warfarin usage (3.5, [1.6-6.4], P < 0.01), valvular
      heart disease (11.6, [2.6-51.3], P < 0.01), atrial fibrillation (2.6, [1.2-5.5],
      P = 0.01), hypertension (2.03, [1.1-3.6], P = 0.02), recurrent hernia (3.7, [1.4
      9.7], P < 0.01), and coronary artery disease (2.1, [1.0-4.4 ], P = 0.05) as
      significant preoperative factors. The proportion of patients on warfarin
      decreased since our prior report (31% versus 42%, P = 0.20). On multivariable
      regression, warfarin and recurrent hernia were independent predictors of hematoma
      development. CONCLUSIONS: Independent risk factors for the development of groin
      hematoma after IHR included warfarin use and recurrent hernia. Careful
      consideration for anticoagulation and surgical hypervigilance remains prudent in
      all patients undergoing IHR and especially those with recurrence.

PMID- 27620998
TI  - Association for Academic Surgery presidential address: the rookie advantage.

PMID- 27620997
TI  - Unused sterile instruments for closure prevent wound surgical site infection
      after pancreatic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of incisional surgical site infection (SSI) after
      pancreatic surgery remains high. The aim of this study was to assess the
      effectiveness of the unused sterile instruments that were not used throughout the
      course of surgery and were opened exactly at the moment of wound closure to
      prevent incisional SSI after open pancreatic surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively evaluated the incidence of incisional SSI and the clinical course
      in 203 patients who underwent pancreatic resection in our institution between
      April 2012 and October 2015. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were excluded because
      they underwent laparoscopic pancreatic surgery; therefore, data from 182 patients
      were analyzed. Of these, 93 underwent abdominal closure with unused sterile
      forceps and drape, and 89 did not. The intervention group included 53
      pancreaticoduodenectomies, 20 distal pancreatectomies, and 20 underwent other
      procedures. The control group included 55 pancreaticoduodenectomies, 26 distal
      pancreatectomies, and eight underwent other procedures. The incidence of
      incisional SSI in the intervention group (two cases, 2/93, 2.2%) was
      significantly lower (P = 0.017) compared with that of the control group (11
      cases, 11/89, 12.4%). All incisional SSIs in the control group occurred after
      pancreaticoduodenectomy (11 cases, 11/89, 20.0%). However, none of the
      pancreaticoduodenectomy patients in the intervention group experienced incisional
      SSI (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Unused sterile forceps and drapes during abdominal
      closure reduced the incidence of incisional SSI after pancreatic surgery,
      especially pancreaticoduodenectomy.

PMID- 27620999
TI  - Revascularization and muscle adaptation to limb demand ischemia in diet-induced
      obese mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity and type 2 diabetes are major risk factors for peripheral
      arterial disease in humans, which can result in lower limb demand ischemia and
      exercise intolerance. Exercise triggers skeletal muscle adaptation including
      increased vasculogenesis. The goal of this study was to determine whether demand
      ischemia modulates revascularization, fiber size, and signaling pathways in the
      ischemic hind limb muscles of mice with diet-induced obesity (DIO). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: DIO mice (n = 7) underwent unilateral femoral artery ligation and
      recovered for 2 wks followed by 4 wks with daily treadmill exercise to induce
      demand ischemia. A parallel sedentary ischemia (SI) group (n = 7) had femoral
      artery ligation without exercise. The contralateral limb muscles of SI served as
      control. Muscles were examined for capillary density, myofiber cross-sectional
      area, cytokine levels, and phosphorylation of STAT3 and ERK1/2. RESULTS: Exercise
      significantly enhanced capillary density (P < 0.01) and markedly lowered cross
      sectional area (P < 0.001) in demand ischemia compared with SI. These findings
      coincided with a significant increase in granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (P
      < 0.001) and interleukin-7 (P < 0.01) levels. In addition, phosphorylation levels
      of STAT3 and ERK1/2 (P < 0.01) were increased, whereas UCP1 and monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 protein levels were lower (P < 0.05) without altering
      vascular endothelial growth factor and tumor necrosis factor alpha protein
      levels. Demand ischemia increased the PGC1alpha messenger RNA (P < 0.001) without
      augmenting PGC1alpha protein levels. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise-induced limb demand
      ischemia in the setting of DIO causes myofiber atrophy despite an increase in
      muscle capillary density. The combination of persistent increase in tumor
      necrosis factor alpha, lower vascular endothelial growth factor, and failure to
      increase PGC1alpha protein may reflect a deficient adaption to demand ischemia in
      DIO.

PMID- 27621000
TI  - Advantages of replacing hydroxyethyl starch in University of Wisconsin solution
      with hyperbranched polyglycerol for cold kidney perfusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Efficient and effective perfusion during organ procurement is
      required for the best prevention of donor organ injury preceding transplantation.
      However, current organ preservation solutions, including hydroxyethyl starch
      (HES)-based University of Wisconsin (UW) solution, do not always yield the best
      outcomes. Our previous study demonstrated that replacing HES with hyperbranched
      polyglycerol (HPG) reduced donor heart injury during cold storage. The current
      research was designed to examine the advantages of HPG-based solution for cold
      kidney perfusion. METHODS: Perfusion efficiency of HPG versus UW solution was
      tested using mouse kidneys at 4 degrees C. The blood washout was evaluated by
      using a semiquantitative scoring system and tissue damage by histologic analysis.
      The interaction of HPG or UW solution with human red blood cells (RBCs) was
      examined by measuring RBC sedimentation and aggregation. RESULTS: The lower
      viscosity of HPG solution was correlated with faster and more efficient perfusion
      through donor kidneys as compared with UW. HPG solution was also more effective
      than UW in removing RBCs from the kidney and was associated with less tissue
      damage to donor kidneys. In vitro UW solution caused significant RBC
      sedimentation and hyperaggregation, whereas HPG showed minimal impact on RBC
      sedimentation and prevented RBC aggregation. CONCLUSIONS: This experimental study
      demonstrated that compared with UW, HPG solution was more efficient and effective
      in the removal of the blood from donor kidneys and offered better protection from
      donor tissue damage, suggesting that the HPG solution is a promising candidate to
      supplant standard UW solution for donor kidney perfusion in transplantation.

PMID- 27621001
TI  - Inadvertent parathyroidectomy: incidence, risk factors, and outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parathyroid glands are <=5 mm, often subcapsular or intrathyroidal,
      and obscured by lymph nodes, making preservation a challenge. The purpose of this
      study was to determine the incidence of inadvertent parathyroidectomy (IP) and
      whether it contributes to hypoparathyroidism after thyroidectomy. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective review of all thyroidectomies by a single surgeon from
      January 2010 to August 2014 was completed to determine the rate of IP and
      permanent hypoparathyroidism. Medical records were assessed for demographics,
      extent of thyroidectomy, central compartment neck dissection, thyroid gland
      weight, parathyroid autotransplantation, reoperation, pathology, postoperative
      calcium levels, and number of parathyroid glands removed. RESULTS: A total of 386
      patients underwent thyroidectomy. Mean age was 52 y, and 327 (85%) patients were
      women. There were 25 (7%) patients who underwent reoperation, 40 (10%) who
      underwent central compartment neck dissection, and 128 (33%) who underwent
      parathyroid autotransplantation. IP occurred in 78 (20%) patients. Permanent
      hypoparathyroidism occurred in 7 (2.7%) of 258 patients after total or completion
      thyroidectomy, four (6.7%) with IP compared with three (1.5%) without IP (P =
      0.033). Logistic regression analysis revealed that female gender (odds ratio =
      2.768, P = 0.040), central compartment neck dissection (odds ratio = 9.584, P =
      0.001), and thyroid gland weight (odds ratio = 0.994, P = 0.022) were independent
      factors associated with IP. CONCLUSIONS: IP, which occurred in 20% of patients
      undergoing thyroidectomy, is a potentially remediable factor associated with a
      higher rate of hypoparathyroidism. Central compartment neck dissection is an
      independent risk factor for IP.

PMID- 27621002
TI  - Liver regeneration is dependent on the extent of hepatectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The upper limit for the size of hepatectomy is approximately 90% in
      rats. The aim of the study was to assess quantitatively using stereological
      methods the impact on liver function, regeneration rate (RR), and hepatocyte
      proliferation of varying hepatectomy size in a rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A total of 104 male Wistar rats were subjected to 30%, 70%, or 90% partial
      hepatectomy, sham operation, or no operation. Euthanization and harvesting of
      liver tissue and blood took place at postoperative days 1, 3, and 5 (n = 8 per
      group). Liver-specific biochemistry and RR were evaluated. Hepatocyte
      proliferation was estimated by immunohistochemical staining for Ki-67 antigen
      using unbiased stereological principles. RESULTS: Liver RR in the 90% group
      increased by a 6.6 fold during the 5 postoperative days compared with only a
      minor increase in both the 70% and 30% partial hepatectomy groups. The highest
      number of Ki-67-positive hepatocytes was observed in the 70% group at
      postoperative day 1 and for the 90% group at postoperative day 3. Prothrombin
      proconvertin ratio was significantly lower in the 90% group 1 d after surgery
      compared with all other groups, however, nearly normalized at postoperative day
      5. CONCLUSIONS: We show that liver RR and the number of proliferating hepatocytes
      increase, whereas the initial hepatic synthetic capacity decreases with
      increasing hepatectomy size.

PMID- 27621004
TI  - Impact of malnutrition on gastrointestinal surgical patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The accurate diagnosis of malnutrition is imperative if we are to
      impact outcomes in the malnourished. The American Society of Parenteral and
      Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), in an
      attempt to address this issue, have provided evidence-based criteria to diagnose
      malnutrition. The purpose of this study was to validate the ASPEN/AND criteria in
      a cohort of patients from a single high-volume surgical oncology unit. METHODS:
      Patients undergoing major abdominal surgery from June 2013 to March 2015 were
      classified by their nutritional status using the ASPEN/AND criteria. RESULTS: A
      total of 490 patients were included. Median age was 64 y, a majority were female
      (50.6%), white (60.2%), underwent elective procedures (77.6%), had a Charlson
      comorbidity score (CCS) of 3-5 (40.0%), and a Clavien-Dindo complication (CDC)
      grade of 0-II (81.2%). A total of 93 (19.0%) patients were classified as
      moderately/severely malnourished. On univariate analysis, malnourished patients
      were more likely to be older, undergo emergent procedures, and have a CCS >5 (P <
      0.05). Malnutrition was also associated with a longer postoperative length of
      stay (LOS), higher cost, higher in-hospital mortality, more severe complications,
      and higher readmission rates (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis reaffirmed the
      association between malnutrition, LOS (odds ratio [OR] = 1.67), and cost (OR =
      2.49), P < 0.05. Complications (OR = 1.35), mortality rates (OR = 3.05), and
      readmission rates (OR = 1.34) P > 0.05 failed to reach significance. CONCLUSIONS:
      Malnutrition worsens LOS and cost. Utilization of standardized criteria
      consistently identifies patients at risk of negative outcomes who may benefit
      from perioperative nutritional support.

PMID- 27621005
TI  - Nonoperative management of esophageal perforations in the newborn.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Esophageal perforation in neonates occurs most often in cases of
      extreme prematurity and is commonly due to iatrogenic causes. Treatment over
      recent decades has become more conservative. The purpose of this study was to
      review cases of esophageal perforation in neonates and to describe the
      presentation, management, and outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      chart review was performed for patients with International Classification of
      Diseases, Ninth Revision code for esophageal perforation treated at our
      institution between the years 2009 and 2015. Data collected included demographic
      information, etiology of perforation (specifically focusing on cases secondary to
      orogastric tube placement), treatment course, time to resumption of enteral
      feeds, length of antibiotic use, time to subsequent radiographic resolution, and
      mortality. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients met study criteria. The average post
      conceptual age at time of diagnosis was 26.5 +/- 2.3 wk. All 25 patients were
      managed nonoperatively with bowel rest, parenteral nutrition, and broad-spectrum
      antibiotics. Enteral feeds were resumed after a median of 8 d (interquartile
      range [IQR]: 7-11), the median antibiotic duration was 7 d (IQR: 7-10), and the
      median time to follow-up esophagram was 7 d (IQR: 7-10). Overall, 24 of 25
      patients (96%) demonstrated radiological resolution of perforation on initial
      follow-up esophagram. Four patients died during the study period, but no deaths
      were related to the diagnosis of esophageal perforation. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      largest reported sample of neonates treated for esophageal perforation,
      nonoperative management with bowel rest, parenteral nutrition, and antibiotics
      was successful.

PMID- 27621006
TI  - Results of a statewide survey of surgeons' care practices for emergency
      Hartmann's procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emergency general surgery is associated with high morbidity and
      mortality but has seldom been targeted for practice improvement. The goal of this
      study was to determine whether perioperative practices vary among surgeons for
      emergency Hartmann's procedures and whether perioperative care practices are
      associated with hospitals' complication rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      conducted a survey of surgeons at 27 Michigan hospitals. Questionnaires focused
      on preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care practices. Hospitals were
      divided into quartiles of risk-adjusted complication rates. Responses of surgeons
      at hospitals with the lowest complication rates were compared to those with the
      highest, to determine whether there were systematic differences. Qualitative
      content analysis was performed for open-ended questions. RESULTS: A total of 106
      surgeons returned questionnaires (response rate 49%). We identified variation in
      use of bowel preparation, ostomy site marking, rectal stump management, ostomy
      protrusion, skin closure method, antibiotics duration, and ambulation/physical
      therapy practices. Surgeons from hospitals with low complication rates were more
      likely to use a clean instrument tray during wound closure (61% versus 11%, P =
      0.001) and reported greater use of laparoscopic lavage without resection for
      emergency diverticulitis cases (31% versus 6%, P = 0.05). Surgeons in the lower
      complication rate hospitals listed more modifiable care factors in their open
      ended responses to questions about reasons for complications. CONCLUSIONS:
      Surgeons' practices vary for emergency Hartmann's procedure. This study serves as
      a proof of concept that studying surgeons' practices is feasible within a quality
      collaborative setting. Such data can be used to generate testable hypotheses for
      performance improvement aimed in high-risk, emergency surgery.

PMID- 27621003
TI  - Breast cancer sphingosine-1-phosphate is associated with phospho-sphingosine
      kinase 1 and lymphatic metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a pleiotropic bioactive lipid
      mediator, has been implicated as a key regulatory molecule in cancer through its
      ability to promote cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, and
      lymphangiogenesis. Previous studies suggested that S1P produced by sphingosine
      kinase 1 (SphK1) in breast cancer plays important roles in progression of disease
      and metastasis. However, the associations between S1P and clinical parameters in
      human breast cancer have not been well investigated to date. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We determined levels of S1P and other sphingolipids in breast cancer
      tissue by electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Associations between
      S1P levels and clinicopathologic features of the tumors were analyzed. Expression
      of phospho-SphK1 (pSphK1) in breast cancer tissues was determined by
      immunohistochemical scoring. RESULTS: Levels of S1P in breast cancer tissues were
      significantly higher in patients with high white blood cell count in the blood
      than those patients without. S1P levels were lower in patients with human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 2 overexpression and/or amplification than those
      patients without. Furthermore, cancer tissues with high pSphK1 expression showed
      significantly higher levels of S1P than cancer tissues without. Finally, patients
      with lymph node metastasis showed significantly higher levels of S1P in tumor
      tissues than the patients with negative nodes. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge,
      this is the first study to demonstrate that high expression of pSphK1 is
      associated with higher levels of S1P, which in turn is associated with lymphatic
      metastasis in breast cancer.

PMID- 27621007
TI  - Conservative management of desmoid tumors is safe and effective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection of desmoid tumors has traditionally been the
      mainstay of therapy, but this is a potentially morbid approach with high rates of
      recurrence. Given increasing reports of active surveillance in this disease, we
      sought to evaluate our experience with conservative management hypothesizing this
      would be an effective strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a prospectively
      maintained database of sarcoma patients from 2008 to 2015, we identified 47
      patients with a diagnosis of desmoid tumor from all anatomic sites. Data points
      were abstracted on clinical and pathologic factors, disease stability or
      progression, and follow-up time. Main outcome measurements were tumor recurrence
      after surgical resection versus tumor progression with conservative management.
      RESULTS: In our cohort, 20 patients were managed with surveillance, 24 patients
      with surgery, and three patients with other approaches. Clinical and tumor
      characteristics between treatment groups were not significantly different. With a
      median follow-up of 35.7 mo, there was one complete regression, five partial
      regressions, and 13 stable diseases among the surveillance group. Only one
      patient under observation progressed, crossing over to surgical resection. Among
      24 patients managed with surgery, 13 patients developed local recurrence. Kaplan
      Meier analysis revealed a statistically superior progression-free survival in the
      surveillance group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective analysis adds to
      the growing body of evidence that observation of desmoid tumors is safe and
      effective with high rates of stable disease. These data further support an
      initial conservative approach to desmoid tumors that may spare patients the
      morbidity and risk of recurrence that accompanies potentially extensive
      operations.

PMID- 27621008
TI  - Resident performance in complex simulated urinary catheter scenarios.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urinary catheter insertion is a common procedure performed in
      hospitals. Improper catheterization can lead to unnecessary catheter-associated
      urinary tract infections and urethral trauma, increasing patient morbidity. To
      prevent such complications, guidelines were created on how to insert and
      troubleshoot urinary catheters. As nurses have an increasing responsibility for
      catheter placement, resident responsibility has shifted to more complex
      scenarios. This study examines the clinical decision-making skills of surgical
      residents during simulated urinary catheter scenarios. We hypothesize that during
      urinary catheterization, residents will make inconsistent decisions relating to
      catheter choices and clinical presentations. METHODS: Forty-five general surgery
      residents (postgraduate year 2-4) in Midwest training programs were presented
      with three of four urinary catheter scenarios of varying difficulty. Residents
      were allowed 15 min to complete the scenarios with five different urinary
      catheter choices. A chi-square test was performed to examine the relation between
      initial and subsequent catheter choices and to evaluate for consistency of
      decision-making for each scenario. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent of residents
      performed scenario A; 49% performed scenario B; 64% performed scenario C, and 82%
      performed scenario D. For initial attempt for scenario A-C, the 16 French Foley
      catheter was the most common choice (38%, 54%, 50%, P's < 0.001), whereas for
      scenario D, the 16 French Coude was the most common choice (37%, P < 0.01).
      Residents were most likely to be successful in achieving urine output in the
      initial catheterization attempt (P < 0.001). Chi-square analyses showed no
      relationship between residents' first and subsequent catheter choices for each
      scenario (P's > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of clinical decision-making shows
      that initial catheter choice may have been deliberate based on patient
      background, as evidenced by the most popular choice in scenario D. Analyses of
      subsequent choices in each of the catheterization models reveal inconsistency.
      These findings suggest a possible lack of competence or training in clinical
      decision-making with regard to urinary catheter choices in residents.

PMID- 27621010
TI  - Cost modeling for management strategies of uncomplicated gastroschisis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Compared to operative fascial closure, nonoperative flap and/or
      skin-closure repair for gastroschisis has several potential advantages: avoidance
      of anesthesia, decreased pain, and improved cosmesis. Disadvantages include a
      higher risk of hernia. We hypothesized that routine nonoperative closure results
      in cost savings versus conventional management in uncomplicated gastroschisis.
      METHODS: A decision tree was constructed to compare three different strategies
      for the management of uncomplicated gastroschisis: nonoperative closure, primary
      closure, and routine silo. Model variables were abstracted from a literature
      review and the Medicare Physician Fee schedule. Uncertainty surrounding model
      parameters was assessed via one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses.
      RESULTS: According to our model, the nonoperative strategy for uncomplicated
      gastroschisis was the least costly, with an expected cost of $198,085 per
      patient. Primary closure cost $208,763 per patient. Routine silo placement was
      the most costly, $239,038 per patient. One-way sensitivity analysis suggested the
      cost of primary closure would be less costly than nonoperative management if the
      initial success rate of nonoperative management was less than 35.4% or if the
      initial success rate of primary operative closure was greater than 87.8%.
      Probabilistic sensitivity analysis found that nonoperative management was the
      least costly strategy among 97.4% of 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations. CONCLUSIONS:
      A nonoperative strategy for uncomplicated gastroschisis with routine attempted
      flap and/or skin closure repair is less costly than strategies using routine
      primary closure and routine silo placement. Given the expected cost savings and
      other potential advantages of the nonoperative strategy (including avoidance of
      general anesthesia), more studies examining outcomes of the flap and/or skin
      closure are indicated.

PMID- 27621009
TI  - The impact of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy on the development of
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease after pancreatoduodenectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) after pancreatoduodenectomy
      (PD) is increasingly being recognized as a late postoperative complication, but
      the main causes have not been fully investigated. This study aimed to clarify the
      relationship between NAFLD after PD and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy,
      focusing particularly on the adjuvant chemotherapy regimens administered.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 154
      patients who underwent PD from April 2007 to December 2013, to identify the
      clinicopathologic factors most strongly influencing NAFLD development after PD.
      Moreover, the postoperative adjuvant chemotherapeutic regimen and the course
      after the cessation of adjuvant chemotherapy were examined in detail. RESULTS:
      The incidence of postoperative NAFLD was 26.6% (41/154). The incidence of NAFLD
      was significantly higher in the patients with than in those without adjuvant
      chemotherapy: 38% versus 19% (P = 0.016). Multivariate analysis identified
      postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.021) and remnant pancreatic volume (P
      < 0.0001) as independent risk factors. The prevalence of NAFLD after PD was
      higher in patients treated with the S-1 regimen than in those given either
      regimens such as those containing gemcitabine or no adjuvant chemotherapy.
      Recovery from NAFLD 1 y after the cessation of adjuvant chemotherapy was observed
      in 54.5% (12/22) of patients receiving this treatment. In those treated with the
      S-1 regimen, improvement was more frequent than in those not receiving adjuvant
      chemotherapy (57.1% versus 11.8%, P = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the
      development of NAFLD, adjuvant chemotherapy after PD should be cared for the
      patients with small remnant pancreas.

PMID- 27621011
TI  - Patterns of injury among motorized two-wheeler pillion riders in New Delhi,
      India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Motorized two-wheelers (MTWs) such as scooters and motorcycles place
      drivers and passengers at significant risk of injury and death in the event of a
      road traffic accident. In India, where road traffic is poorly regulated and
      consists of vehicles ranging from semitrucks to animal carts, the MTW pillion
      rider (backseat passenger) is particularly vulnerable. Annually, approximately
      140,000 Indians are injured or killed in MTW road traffic accidents. In 2011, the
      city of New Delhi renewed a mandatory helmet use exemption for its 8 million
      women. We sought to identify the patterns of injury among MTW pillion riders in
      the city of New Delhi, including differences between helmeted and unhelmeted male
      and female pillion riders. METHODS: All records of incoming trauma patients to
      the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, New Delhi, were reviewed for the 23
      mo period from April 1, 2009 until March 1, 2011. More than 3000 charts were
      reviewed selecting for patients who were MTW pillion riders involved in road
      traffic accidents. Data including Glasgow Coma Scale score, number of surgical
      procedures performed, length of stay, and demographic information were collected
      from charts that met the criteria. Fisher's exact test was used for categorical
      variables and Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables. RESULTS: A total of
      466 charts of MTW pillions in road traffic accidents were identified with 108
      helmeted males, 161 unhelmeted males, three helmeted females, and 194 unhelmeted
      females. Females, both unhelmeted and helmeted, were more likely to have head and
      neck injury than unhelmeted males or helmeted males (66.0% and 66.7% versus 53.4%
      and 27.8%, P < 0.001). Unhelmeted females were most likely to suffer inhospital
      mortality (17.6%, P = 0.008) and require intensive care unit admission (40.0%, P
      = 0.004). Unhelmeted pillions, both male and female, had significantly lower
      Glasgow Coma Scale scores than helmeted pillions (12.6 and 12.8 versus 13.8 and
      15, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Female pillions are more likely to have head and neck
      injury than male pillions, and unhelmeted pillions are more likely to have
      injuries resulting in their death. This firmly establishes the protective benefit
      of helmet use for pillions. Encouraging helmet use among all pillions may prevent
      a significant number of injuries and deaths, and mandatory helmet laws may
      decrease morbidity and mortality of MTW road traffic accidents for the women of
      New Delhi and all of India.

PMID- 27621012
TI  - Relationship between tissue perfusion and coagulopathy in traumatic brain injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related coagulopathy appears to be most
      prevalent in patients with tissue hypoperfusion, but evidence for this
      association is scarce. This study investigated the relationship between tissue
      perfusion and hemostatic derangements in TBI patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Coagulation parameters were measured on emergency department admission in
      patients with TBI (head abbreviated injury scale >= 3). The level of
      hypoperfusion was simultaneously assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) at
      the forehead and arm, and by base excess and lactate. Coagulopathy was defined as
      an international normalized ratio > 1.2 and/or activated partial thromboplastin
      time > 40 s and/or thrombocytopenia (<120 * 10(9)/L). RESULTS: TBI patients with
      coagulopathy (42%) had more signs of tissue hypoperfusion as indicated by
      increased lactate levels (2.1 [1.1-3.2] mmol/L versus 1.2 [1.0-1.7] mmol/L; P =
      0.017) and a larger base deficit (-3.0 [-4.6 to -2.0] mmol/L versus -0.1 [-2.5 to
      1.8] mmol/L; P < 0.001). There was no difference in the cerebral or somatic
      tissue oxygenation index. However, there was a distinct trend toward a moderate
      inverse association between the cerebral tissue oxygenation index and D-dimer
      levels (r=-0.40; P = 0.051) as marker of fibrinolysis. The presence of
      coagulopathy was associated with an increased inhospital mortality rate (45.5%
      versus 6.7%; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to investigate the
      relationship between hemostatic derangements and tissue oxygenation using NIRS in
      TBI patients. This study showed that TBI-related coagulopathy is more profound in
      patients with metabolic acidosis and increased lactate levels. Although there was
      no direct relationship between tissue oxygenation and coagulopathy, we observed
      an inverse relationship between NIRS tissue oxygenation levels and fibrinolysis.

PMID- 27621013
TI  - Morbidity and mortality after total splenectomy for lymphoid neoplasms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Splenectomy is indicated for selected patients with lymphoid
      neoplasms. We examined surgical morbidity and mortality in this high-risk patient
      population using a contemporary national cohort, with attention to
      hospitalization status before surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The American
      College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2005
      2013) was queried for patients with lymphoid malignancies undergoing splenectomy.
      Stepwise statistical analyses were performed to identify factors associated with
      increased risk of death and serious morbidity (DSM). A risk scoring system was
      developed to predict DSM. RESULTS: In 456 patients, morbidity rate was 24.1%, and
      mortality rate was 2.4%. Albumin <3 g/dL (odds ratio [OR] = 2.6, P = 0.005),
      hematocrit <30% (OR = 2.8, P < 0.0001), and a history of chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (OR = 3.4 P = 0.009) were independent predictors of DSM. Rates
      of DSM were stratified by these risk factors (RFs): 13.5% (0 RF), 34.4% (1 RF),
      and 58.5% (2-3 RF), P < 0.0001. Patients admitted before surgery (IP) were more
      likely to have RF compared with those undergoing surgery on the day of admission
      (SDS); 74.6 versus 26.4%, P < 0.001. Morbidity (39.7% versus 18.2%, P < 0.0001)
      and mortality (7.1% versus 0.6%, P < 0.0001) were significantly increased in the
      IP group. CONCLUSIONS: Splenectomy for lymphoid neoplasm in hospitalized patients
      is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Risk stratification in
      this group may aid in perioperative management to mitigate DSM.

PMID- 27621014
TI  - The positive association of Association for Academic Surgery membership with
      academic productivity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the academic productivity and National Institutes of
      Health (NIH) funding of members of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS).
      METHODS: Academic metrics including, numbers of publications, citations, and NIH
      funding history were determined for 4015 surgical faculty at the top 55 NIH
      funded departments of surgery, using Scopus, NIH RePORT, and the Grantome online
      databases. RESULTS: AAS membership included 20.5% (824) of all 4015 surgical
      faculty in this database. For members of the AAS, publications (P) +/- standard
      deviation and citations (C) +/- SD were P: 54 +/- 96 and C: 985 +/- 3321,
      compared with P: 31 +/- 92, C: 528 +/- 3001 for nonmembers, P < 0.001. Higher
      academic productivity among AAS members was observed across all subspecialty
      types and was especially pronounced for assistant and associate professors. AAS
      membership was also associated with increased rates of NIH funding and better
      productivity for equally funded surgical faculty compared with nonmembers.
      Analysis of AAS membership by subspecialty revealed that AAS members were most
      commonly general surgery faculty (57.8%); however, only 7.4% of the faculty was
      affiliated with cardiothoracic surgery. There was also a lack of dedicated
      science and/or research faculty (0.6% versus 3.4%) among the members of the AAS.
      CONCLUSIONS: AAS membership appears to be correlated with greater academic
      performance among junior and midlevel surgical faculty. This improvement is
      observed regardless of subspecialty. Increased participation of faculty within
      subspecialties such as cardiothoracic surgery and, a greater focus on increasing
      the numbers of dedicated research faculty within the AAS may help increase the
      scientific impact and productivity among members of the society.

PMID- 27621015
TI  - Water availability at hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: implications
      for improving access to safe surgical care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although two billion people now have access to clean water, many
      hospitals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) do not. Lack of water
      availability at hospitals hinders safe surgical care. We aimed to review the
      surgical capacity literature and document the availability of water at health
      facilities and develop a predictive model of water availability at health
      facilities globally to inform targeted capacity improvements. METHODS: Using
      Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, a
      systematic search for surgical capacity assessments in LMICs in MEDLINE, PubMed,
      and World Health Organization Global Health Library was performed. Data regarding
      water availability were extracted. Data from these assessments and national
      indicator data from the World Bank (e.g., gross domestic product, total health
      expenditure, and percent of population with improved access to water) were used
      to create a predictive model for water availability in LMICs globally. RESULTS:
      Of the 72 records identified, 19 reported water availability representing 430
      hospitals. A total of 66% of hospitals assessed had water availability (283 of
      430 hospitals). Using these data, estimated percent of water availability in
      LMICs more broadly ranged from under 20% (Liberia) to over 90% (Bangladesh,
      Ghana). CONCLUSIONS: Less than two-thirds of hospitals providing surgical care in
      19 LMICs had a reliable water source. Governments and nongovernmental
      organizations should increase efforts to improve water infrastructure at
      hospitals, which might aid in the provision of safe essential surgical care.
      Future research is needed to measure the effect of water availability on surgical
      care and patient outcomes.

PMID- 27621016
TI  - Beneficial "halo effects" of surgical resident performance feedback.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention is one of the most frequent
      measures of quality in hospital settings. In 2013, we began providing
      individualized feedback to general surgery residents about their VTE prophylaxis
      prescribing habits for general surgical patients. The purpose of this study was
      to investigate the indirect, or "halo effects" of providing individualized
      performance feedback to residents regarding prescription of appropriate VTE
      prophylaxis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study compared
      appropriate VTE prophylaxis prescription for all patients admitted to the adult
      trauma service from July 1, 2012 to May 31, 2015 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital,
      an academic hospital and Level 1 trauma center in Baltimore, Maryland. On October
      1, 2013, we began providing monthly performance feedback to general surgery
      residents regarding their VTE prophylaxis prescribing habits for general surgery
      patients. Data were not provided about their prescription practice for trauma
      patients, or to any other prescribers within the hospital. RESULTS: During the
      study period, 931 adult trauma patients were admitted to the adult trauma
      service. After providing individualized feedback about general surgery patients,
      general surgery residents' prescribing practice for writing appropriate VTE
      prophylaxis orders for adult trauma patients significantly improved (93.9% versus
      78.1%, P < 0.001). Prescription practice significantly improved among all other
      prescribers although they did not receive any specific individualized feedback,
      (84.9% versus 75.1%, P = 0.025); however, practice was significantly better among
      general surgery residents versus other providers (93.9% versus 84.9%, P = 0.003).
      CONCLUSIONS: There is a beneficial "halo effect" for patients treated by
      residents receiving individualized feedback about practice habits. Individualized
      feedback regarding practice habits for one patient type has both a direct and
      indirect effect on the quality of care patients receive and should be implemented
      for all providers.

PMID- 27621017
TI  - Therapeutic anticoagulation in patients with traumatic brain injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Therapeutic anticoagulation (TAC) is often required in trauma
      patients for various indications. However, it remains unknown whether TAC can be
      safely initiated in the postinjury period for patients with traumatic brain
      injury (TBI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of TAC in TBI
      patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a 7-y retrospective study. All TBI
      patients who received TAC within 60 d postinjury were included. In addition to
      patient and injury characteristics, detailed information regarding TAC was
      collected. The primary outcome was the incidence of neurologic deterioration or
      progression of hemorrhagic TBI on repeat head computed tomography (CT) after
      initiation of TAC. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify
      factors associated with progression of hemorrhagic TBI after TAC. RESULTS: A
      total of 3355 TBI patients were identified. Of those, 72 patients (2.1%) received
      TAC. Median age, 59; 76.4% male; median Injury Severity Score, 19; median
      admission Glasgow Coma Scale, 14; and median Rotterdam score on the initial head
      CT, 3. Although atrial fibrillation was the most common preinjury indication for
      TAC, venous thromboembolism was the most common postinjury indication. The median
      postinjury time of initiation of TAC was 9 d. Intravenous heparin infusion was
      the most commonly used agent for TAC (70.8%). None of our study patients
      developed any signs of neurologic deterioration due to TAC. Progression of
      hemorrhagic TBI on repeat head CT was observed in six patients. In a multiple
      logistic regression model, aged >=65 y was significantly associated with
      progression of hemorrhagic TBI after TAC (odds ratio, 15.2; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.1-212.7; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows preliminary data
      regarding TAC initiated in patients with TBI. Further prospective study is
      warranted to determine the risks and benefits of TAC in this specific group of
      patients.

PMID- 27621018
TI  - Exploring hand coordination as a measure of surgical skill.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study aim was to identify residents' coordination between
      dominant and nondominant hands while grasping for sutures in a laparoscopic
      ventral hernia repair procedure simulation. We hypothesize residents will rely on
      their dominant and nondominant hands unequally while grasping for suture.
      METHODS: Surgical residents had 15 min to complete the mesh securing and mesh
      tacking steps of a laparoscopic ventral hernia repair procedure. Procedure videos
      were coded for manual coordination events during the active suture grasping
      phase. Manual coordination events were defined as: active motion of dominant,
      nondominant, or both hands; and bimanual or unimanual manipulation of hands. A
      chi-square test was used to discriminate between coordination choices. RESULTS:
      Thirty-six residents (postgraduate year, 1-5) participated in the study.
      Residents changed manual coordination types during active suture grasping 500
      times, ranging between 5 and 24 events (M = 13.9 events, standard deviation [SD]
      = 4.4). Bimanual coordination was used most (40%) and required the most time on
      average (M = 20.6 s, SD = 27.2), while unimanual nondominant coordination was
      used least (2.2%; M = 7.9 s, SD = 6.9). Residents relied on their dominant and
      nondominant hands unequally (P < 0.001). During 24% of events, residents depended
      on their nondominant hand (n = 120), which was predominantly used to operate the
      suture passer device. CONCLUSIONS: Residents appeared to actively coordinate both
      dominant and nondominant hands almost half of the time to complete suture
      grasping. Bimanual task durations took longer than other tasks on average
      suggesting these tasks were characteristically longer or switching hands required
      a greater degree of coordination. Future work is necessary to understand how task
      completion time and overall performance are affected by residents' hand
      utilization and switching between dominant and nondominant hands in surgical
      tasks.

PMID- 27621019
TI  - Predictors of surgical non-referral for colorectal liver metastases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is the only curative option for patients with
      colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). The objective of our study was to identify
      factors associated with failure to refer patients with CRLM to a surgeon with
      oncologic and hepatobiliary expertise. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were
      retrospectively reviewed on 75 patients with CRLM treated at our institution.
      Patients were divided into referred and nonreferred groups for comparison.
      Quantitative assessment of association was tabulated using the odds ratio (OR).
      Statistical comparison was performed using the chi-square test and multiple
      regression models. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier
      method. Multivariate analysis was done using Cox regression. RESULTS: Factors
      independently associated with lower surgical referral rates included age >= 65 y
      (OR 0.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09-0.89, P = 0.032), bilobar CRLM (OR
      0.35, 95% CI 0.09-0.97, P = 0.048), and presence of >3 CRLM (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.11
      0.94, P = 0.044). The 5-y OS for referred patients was 33% compared with only 8%
      in patients who were not referred (P < 0.001). Factors independently associated
      with worse OS included age >= 65 y (hazard ratio [HR] 2.01, 95% CI 1.12-3.59, P =
      0.019), bilobar hepatic metastases (HR 3.04, 95% CI 1.62-5.70, P < 0.001), and
      the presence of extrahepatic metastases (HR 2.11, 95% CI 1.02-4.16, P = 0.011).
      Referral to a surgeon was associated with improved OS (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.24-0.74,
      P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Failure to refer CRLM patients for surgical evaluation
      is associated with aggressive biologic features that do not necessarily preclude
      resection. Determination of resectability should be made with input from
      appropriately trained surgical experts.

PMID- 27621020
TI  - Virtual implantation of a novel LVAD: toward computer-assisted surgery for heart
      failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mechanical and hemodynamic factors are among the determinants of
      patient-device interaction and early-term and long-term outcomes in left
      ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We are
      currently developing computer simulation tools aimed at (1) analyze the
      intrathoracic and intracavitary positioning of LVADs after implantation and
      establish correlation with clinical outcomes; (2) assist surgeons in the choice
      of device and of left ventricular coring site for optimized intrathoracic
      placement and function; and (3) facilitate the planning of less-invasive LVAD
      implantation. A virtual representation of LVAD (mesh device component) was
      created through cone-beam computed tomography and semiautomatic segmentation. A
      modular framework software (CamiTK, Grenoble, France) was used to create a three
      dimensional representation of patients' computed tomography (CT) scan and
      incorporate the mesh device component for virtual implantation. RESULTS: Device
      reconstruction was included into a dedicated software with the purposes of
      virtual implantation, based on the preoperative CT scan of surgical candidates.
      CONCLUSIONS: We present herein the first digital reconstruction of the novel
      HeartMate 3 LVAD. Virtual implantation on the basis of preoperative CT scan is
      feasible within a user-friendly interactive software. Future studies will be
      focused on correlation with clinical variables.

PMID- 27621021
TI  - Trends in open vascular surgery for trauma: implications for the future of acute
      care surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trauma patients with vascular injuries have historically been within
      a general surgeon's operative ability. Changes in training and decline in
      operative trauma have decreased trainees' exposure to these injuries. We sought
      to determine how frequently vascular procedures are performed at US trauma
      centers to quantify the need for general surgeons trained to manage vascular
      injuries. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the National Trauma
      Data Base (NTDB) from 2012 compared with 2002. Patients with general surgical and
      vascular procedures were identified using International Classification of
      Diseases, Ninth Revision, procedure codes 38.0-39.99, excluding 38.9-38.99.
      RESULTS: General surgery or vascular operations were performed on 12,099 (24%) of
      50,248 severely injured adult patients in 2002 and 21,854 (16%) of 138,009
      injured patients in 2012. Nineteen percent to 26% of all patients underwent
      vascular procedures. Patients with combined general surgery and vascular
      procedures were less likely to be discharged home and more likely to die. In
      2002, 6% of severely injured adult trauma patients underwent open vascular
      procedures at level III/IV trauma centers; by 2012, only 1% of vascular surgery
      procedures were performed at level III/IV centers (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Need
      for emergent vascular surgery remains common for severely injured patients.
      Future trauma systems and surgical training programs will need to account for the
      need for open vascular skills. The findings suggest that there is already a trend
      away from open vascular procedures at level III/IV trauma centers, which may be a
      sign of system compensation for changes in the workforce.

PMID- 27621022
TI  - Preoperative urinary tract infection increases postoperative morbidity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative urinary tract infection (UTI) may be associated with
      surgical site infections secondary to hematogenous spread of bacteria. The
      association between preoperative UTI and postoperative complications has not been
      evaluated in general surgery populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients
      undergoing elective general surgery procedures from 2011 to 2013 were selected
      from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement
      Program database. Patients with UTI present at the time of surgery (PATOS) were
      identified as cases. Patients without UTI PATOS were selected and matched 2:1 on
      age, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, and Current Procedural
      Terminology code with identified cases. Univariate and multivariate analyses
      compared postoperative outcomes between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of
      434,802 patients were identified for inclusion in the study, with an overall
      preoperative UTI rate of 0.1% (n = 363). On univariate analysis, the UTI group
      had a significantly higher incidence of overall complications, infectious
      complications, and noninfectious complications. Multivariate analysis confirmed
      that patients with UTI had a higher risk of postoperative complications compared
      with those without preoperative UTI (odds ratio [OR] 1.551, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 1.071-2.247). This relationship persisted for both infectious (OR
      1.515, 95% CI 1.000-2.296) and noninfectious (OR 1.683, 95% CI 1.012-2.799)
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated an increased rate of 30-d
      complications in elective general surgery patients with UTI PATOS. These findings
      suggest that diligent efforts to diagnose and treat UTI before surgery may result
      in improved outcomes. Furthermore, surgeons should consider postponing elective
      procedures to allow for the complete resolution of preoperative UTI.

PMID- 27621023
TI  - Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in neurosurgical trauma patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) occur more frequently in patients with
      traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and spinal cord injuries, yet the use of
      chemoprophylaxis is controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      the relationship between the timing of chemical VTE prophylaxis initiation and
      the development of VTE events in these patients. METHODS: Prospective data were
      collected and retrospectively reviewed on 1425 patients sustaining TBIs or spinal
      injuries from 2010 to 2014. Patients were reviewed with respect to age, gender,
      injury severity score, Glasgow coma score, and mechanism of injury as well as
      timing of initiation of chemical VTE prophylaxis and presence or absence of VTE.
      RESULTS: Patients who developed a VTE had a significantly longer time to
      initiation of chemical VTE prophylaxis (6.7 +/- 4.9 d versus 4.7 +/- 4.9 d, P <
      0.001) compared with those that did not develop a VTE. Also, for each 1 d
      increase in time to prophylaxis initiation, the odds of developing a VTE
      increased significantly (odds ratio = 1.055, P < 0.001). The combination
      subarachnoid hemorrhage/subdural hemorrhage group was started on VTE prophylaxis
      significantly later (8.3 +/- 6.1 d versus 6.7 +/- 3.9 d, P < 0.01) than the
      overall TBI group and had a higher incidence of VTE (14.4 versus 10.4%, P = NS).
      In contrast, patients sustaining isolated spinal injuries received chemical VTE
      prophylaxis significantly earlier (3.4 +/- 4.2 d versus 6.7 +/- 3.9 d, P < 0.001)
      and had a significant decrease in their VTE rate (4.4 versus 10.4%, P < 0.0001)
      compared with the overall TBI group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with VTEs had a
      significant delay in time to initiation of chemoprophylaxis compared with
      patients without VTEs. Patients sustaining a TBI had a 2-fold delay in initiation
      of chemoprophylaxis and an associated 2-fold increase in VTE events compared with
      patients who sustained spinal injuries. Of those patients who developed a TBI,
      patients who sustained a combination subarachnoid hemorrhage and/or subdural
      hemorrhage had a significant delay in initiation of chemoprophylaxis with a
      higher rate of VTE events.

PMID- 27621024
TI  - Industry-academic partnerships: an approach to accelerate innovation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biotechnology companies are process-driven organizations and often
      struggle with their ability to innovate. Universities, on the other hand, thrive
      on discovery and variation as a source of innovation. As such, properly
      structured academic-industry partnerships in medical technology development may
      enhance and accelerate innovation. Through joint industry-academic efforts, our
      objective was to develop a technology aimed at global cervical cancer prevention.
      METHODS: Our Center for Medical Innovation assembled a multidisciplinary team of
      students, surgical residents, and clinical faculty to enter in the University of
      Utah's annual Bench-to-Bedside competition. Bench-to-Bedside is a university
      program centered on medical innovation. Teams are given access to university
      resources and are provided $500.00 for prototype development. Participation by
      team members are on a volunteer basis. Our industry partner presented the
      validated need and business mentorship. The team studied the therapeutic
      landscape, environmental constraints, and used simulation to understand human
      factors design and usage requirements. A physical device was manufactured by
      first creating a digital image (SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD). Then, using a 3-dimensional
      printer (Stratasys Objet30 Prime 3D printer), the image was translated into a
      physical object. Tissue burn depth analysis was performed on raw chicken breasts
      warmed to room temperature. Varying combinations of time and temperature were
      tested, and burn depth and diameter were measured 30 min after each trial. An
      arithmetic mean was calculated for each corresponding time and temperature
      combination. User comprehension of operation and sterilization was tested via a
      participant validation study. Clinical obstetricians and gynecologists were given
      explicit instructions on usage details and then asked to operate the device.
      Participant behaviors and questions were recorded. RESULTS: Our efforts resulted
      in a functional battery-powered hand-held thermocoagulation prototype in just 72
      d. Total cost of development was <$500. Proof of concept trials at 100 degrees C
      demonstrated an average ablated depth and diameter of 4.7 mm and 23.3 mm,
      respectively, corresponding to treatment efficacy of all grades of precancerous
      cervical lesions. User comprehension studies showed variable understanding with
      respect to operation and sterilization instructions. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience
      with using industry-academic partnerships as a means to create medical
      technologies resulted in the rapid production of a low-cost device that could
      potentially serve as an integral piece of the "screen-and-treat" approach to
      premalignant cervical lesions as outlined by World Health Organization. This case
      study highlights the impact of accelerating medical advances through industry
      academic partnership that leverages their combined resources.

PMID- 27621025
TI  - Development and initial results of a mandatory department of surgery faculty
      mentoring pilot program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mentoring of junior faculty by senior faculty is an important part of
      promotion and/or tenure and enhanced job satisfaction. This study reports the
      development and results to date of a faculty mentorship program in surgery.
      METHODS: We implemented a departmental faculty mentoring program in July 2014
      that consisted of both structured and informal meetings between junior faculty
      mentees and assigned senior faculty mentors. All senior faculty mentors attended
      a brief mentor training session. We then developed an evidence-based mentorship
      instrument that featured standardized metrics of academic success. This
      instrument was completed by each mentee, and then reviewed at the junior
      faculty's annual career conference with their division chief. A survey was
      distributed in July 2015 to assess junior faculty satisfaction with the new
      mentorship program. RESULTS: Junior or senior faculty consisted of six of three
      women and 16 of 11 men, respectively. Junior faculty members were aged 40 +/- 3 y
      and had been an attending for 4 +/- 2 y. Mentorship meetings occurred
      approximately three times during the year (range = 0-10). Total meeting time with
      senior mentors per meeting was a mean of 40 min (range = 0-300 min). Over 75% of
      junior faculty members were very or somewhat satisfied with the mentorship
      program and would like to continue in the program. The best aspect of the program
      was the opportunity to meet with an accomplished surgeon outside their division.
      Opportunities to improve the program included better matching of mentor to mentee
      by disease or research focus. Interestingly, almost the entire junior faculty
      members tended to have at least two other mentors besides the mentor assigned to
      them in this program. In terms of program outcomes, junior faculty members agreed
      that the mentorship program improved their overall career plans and enhanced
      their involvement in professional organizations but has not yet helped with
      academic productivity, home and/or work balance, and overall job satisfaction.
      CONCLUSIONS: A mandatory, structured mentorship program with senior surgeons
      benefits most junior faculty members in terms of academic career planning and
      becoming more involved with surgical organizations. More research is required to
      understand the best method to pair mentors and mentees and more objective
      measurements of academic surgery success.

PMID- 27621027
TI  - The learning curve for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: a newly qualified
      surgeon perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of cases required to overcome the learning curve (LC) for
      laparoscopic extra-peritoneal inguinal hernia repair (TEP) varies widely in the
      literature. Less is known about the LC for inexperienced surgeons performing this
      procedure early in their career. The present study describes the technical
      challenges of TEP repair and the LC from the perspective of a recently qualified
      general surgeon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a single
      surgeon experience of TEP repairs performed during the first 2 y of practice from
      2011-2013. Patient demographics, hernia details, operative details, and
      postoperative outcome were all assessed. The CUSUM method was used to analyze the
      LC for operative time. RESULTS: There were 149 consecutive patients (mean age, 56
      +/- 17, 146 males, 24 bilateral, BMI 26 +/- 4) followed for a median of 15 (4-26)
      mo. Direct herniae accounted for 61% of the cohort, and 16% were recurrent open
      presentations. The major complication and recurrence rate were <2%, and minor
      complications including urinary retention (15%) were reported. Re-admission rate
      was 6%. CUSUM analysis suggested an inflection point at 18 cases after which
      operative times were stabilized. CONCLUSIONS: For less experienced surgeons,
      standard surgical training provides for TEP hernia repair with satisfactory major
      complication, conversion, and recurrence rates. Minor complication rates can
      still be reduced further with further training and supervision from experienced
      peers.

PMID- 27621029
TI  - Integrative Zoology: 2006-2016 - A decade of substantial achievement!

PMID- 27621028
TI  - Cresyl violet: a superior fluorescent lysosomal marker.
AB  - We have characterized cresyl violet as a membrane-permeant fluorophore that
      localizes to lysosomes and acidic vacuoles of budding yeast, Drosophila, human,
      murine and canine cells. An acidotropic weak base, cresyl violet is shown to be
      virtually insensitive to physiological alkali and divalent cations. Because of
      its unique spectral properties, it can be used in combination with green, red and
      far-red fluorophores, is less susceptible to photobleaching than alternative
      acidotropic probes, and does not undergo photoconversion. At concentrations that
      yield bright labeling of acidic compartments, cresyl violet does not alter the
      organellar pH nor does it affect the buffering capacity. Its affordability,
      together with its chemical and spectral properties, make cresyl violet a superior
      lysosomal marker devoid of many of the negative characteristics associated with
      other lysosomal probes.

PMID- 27621026
TI  - Oscillatory flow suppression improves inflammation in chronic venous disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess if suppression of the oscillatory component of reflux may
      improve the inflammatory phenotype in chronic venous disease (CVD). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: From 193 CVD patients, we selected 54 (13 males, 41 females, CEAP C2
      4EpAsPr) for a blinded, case-control prospective investigation. All of them
      underwent echo-color-Doppler assessment of reflux parameters. In the same
      patients a blood systemic assessment of 19 inflammatory cytokines was obtained.
      Follow-up lasted 6 months. The control group (C) was constituted by 21 homogenous
      CVD patients, unselected and not operated. RESULTS: Thirty-one of 54 patients
      were excluded from post-operative evaluation in consequence of reported new other
      inflammatory episodes. Twenty-three (23) completed the follow up, showing the
      suppression of the oscillatory component of venous reflux; 4 of the 19 cytokines
      decreased significantly after the procedure: Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
      (TNFalpha), Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF), Interferon gamma
      induced Protein 10 (IP-10), Interleukin-15 (IL-15). Particularly, TNFalpha and IP
      10 even returned inside a physiological range: 5.3 +/- 2.7 to 4.2 +/- 2.2 pg/mL
      (P < 0.003) and from 303.7 +/- 168.4 to 254.0 +/- 151.6 pg/mL (P < 0.024),
      respectively. Both cytokines showed a weak but significant correlation with
      parameters of oscillatory flow correction. Finally, three cytokines implicated in
      repair and remodeling of tissue, Epidermal Growth Factor, Monocyte
      Chemoattractant Protein-1 and Platelet Derived Growth Factor-BB (PDGF-BB),
      significantly increased. Our findings are further reinforced by the significant
      changes of the same cytokines when compared to C group. CONCLUSIONS: The surgical
      suppression of the oscillatory component of reflux modulates the inflammatory
      phenotype, suggesting a pivotal role of flow among factors concurring to
      inflammation in CVD.

PMID- 27621031
TI  - Light effect on Click reaction: Role of photonic quantum dot catalyst.
AB  - Due to the light excitation, the valence band electron of the copper (I) sulfide
      quantum dot transfer to the conduction band and act as a scavenger of the
      terminal proton of the alkyne in the presence of organic azide with the formation
      of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles, where the copper(I) species of Cu2S act as
      a catalyst for the reaction. The above cycloaddition reaction between alkyne and
      azide is commonly known as the Click reaction. In this study, experiments were
      carried out under the exposure of ultra-violate and daylight and also dark
      environment. According to the original recommendation for the Click reaction, the
      role of the base was also considered for this experiment. We found that the
      effect of conduction band electron is more efficient than the recommended
      conventional base mediated reaction procedure.

PMID- 27621030
TI  - Resolution of anisometropic amblyopia in a 48-year-old with refractive correction
      alone.

PMID- 27621032
TI  - Does cryptic microbiota mitigate pine resistance to an invasive beetle-fungus
      complex? Implications for invasion potential.
AB  - Microbial symbionts are known to assist exotic pests in their colonization of new
      host plants. However, there has been little evidence linking symbiotic invasion
      success to mechanisms for mitigation of native plant resistance. The red
      turpentine beetle (RTB) was introduced with a fungus, Leptographium procerum, to
      China from the United States and became a destructively invasive symbiotic
      complex in natural Pinus tabuliformis forests. Here, we report that three Chinese
      resident fungi, newly acquired by RTB in China, induce high levels of a phenolic
      defensive chemical, naringenin, in pines. This invasive beetle-fungus complex is
      suppressed by elevated levels of naringenin. However, cryptic microbiotas in RTB
      galleries strongly degrade naringenin, and pinitol, the main soluble carbohydrate
      of P. tabuliformis, is retained in L. procerum-infected phloem and facilitate
      naringenin biodegradation by the microbiotas. These results demonstrate that
      cryptic microbiota mitigates native host plant phenolic resistance to an invasive
      symbiotic complex, suggesting a putative mechanism for reduced biotic resistance
      to symbiotic invasion.

PMID- 27621033
TI  - Quercetin nanoparticles induced autophagy and apoptosis through AKT/ERK/Caspase-3
      signaling pathway in human neuroglioma cells: In vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Neuroglioma is a complex neuroglial tumor involving dysregulation of many
      biological pathways at multiple levels. Quercetin is a potent cancer therapeutic
      agent presented in fruit and vegetables, preventing tumor proliferation, and is a
      well known cancer therapeutic agent and autophagy mediator. Recent studies showed
      that drug delivery by nanoparticles have enhanced efficacy with reduced side
      effects. In this regard, gold-quercetin into poly (dl-lactide-co-glycolide)
      nanoparticles was examined. In the present study, quercetin nanoparticle induced
      cell autophagy and apoptosis in human neuroglioma cell was investigated.
      Quercetin nanoparticle administrated to animals displayed suppressed role in
      tumor growth. The cell viability was deterined through CCK8 assay. Transmission
      electron microscopy was utilized to observe the formation of autophagosome. The
      cell apoptosis was assessed by annexin V-PI staining. The protein expression of
      cell autophagy regulators and tumor suppressors were analyzed via western blot
      and RT-PCR. Treatment of human neuroglioma cell with quercetin nanoparticle
      induced cell death in a dose-and time-dependent manner. The flow cytometry
      results showed that the proportion of the apoptosis cells had gained after
      quercetin nanoparticle treatment compared to untreatment group. Moreover, the
      expression of activated PI3K/AKT and Bcl-2 were down-regulated upon quercetin
      nanoparticle treatment in human neuroglioma cells. The expression level of LC3
      and ERK as well as cytoplasm p53, cleaved Caspase-3 and PARP was positively
      correlated with the concentration of quercetin nanoparticle. In addition, p-mTOR
      and GAIP were obviously down-regulated by quercetin nanoparticle treatment in a
      dose-dependent manner. These results indicated that quercetin nanoparticle could
      induce autophagy and apoptosis in human neuroglioma cells, the underlying
      molecular mechanisms, at least partly, through activation LC3/ERK/Caspase-3 and
      suppression AKT/mTOR signaling.

PMID- 27621034
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, biocompatible and anticancer activity of green and
      chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles - A comparative study.
AB  - Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are superior cluster of nanomaterials that are
      recently recognized for their different applications in various pharmaceutical
      and clinical settings. The objective of this work deals with novel method for
      biosynthesis of AgNPs using Azadirachta indica (neem) leaf extract as reducing
      agent. These bio and chemical synthesized nanoparticles were characterized with
      the help of UV-vis Spectroscopy, Nanotarc, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Zeta
      Potential (ZP), Transmission Electron Microscopy and Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy (FTIR). The obtained results from Nanotrac and TEM revealed that the
      synthesized AgNPs possess spherical shape with a mean diameter at 94nm for green
      and 104nm for chemical method, the zeta potential values was -12.02mV for green
      AgNPs and -10.4mV for chemical AgNPs. In addition, FT-IR measurement analysis was
      conceded out to identify the Ag+ ions reduced from the specific functional groups
      on the AgNPs, which increased the stability of the particles. Further, we
      compared the toxicities of green and chemical AgNPs against human skin dermal
      fibroblast (HDFa) and brine shrimp followed by anticancer activity in NCI-H460
      cells. We observed green AgNPs cause dose-dependent decrease in cell viability
      and increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Further, we proved to
      exhibit excellent cytotoxic effect and induction of cellular apoptosis in NCI
      H460 cells. Furthermore, green AgNPs had no significant changes in cell
      viability, ROS production and apoptotic changes in HDFa cells. In contrary, we
      observed that the chemical AgNPs possess significant toxicities in HDFa cells.
      Hence, the green AgNPs were able to induce selective toxicity in cancer cells
      than the chemical AgNPs. Furthermore, green AgNPs exhibit less toxic effects
      against human red blood cells and brine shrimp (Artemia salina) nauplii than the
      chemical AgNPs. It was concluded, that apart from being superior over chemical
      AgNPs, the green AgNPs are effective and safer to the milieu as they show less
      toxic effect to normal cells and can be extensively applied in biomedical
      sciences particularly in cancer field.

PMID- 27621035
TI  - Inhibition of miR-196a affects esophageal cancer cell growth in vitro.
AB  - Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related
      mortality worldwide. Several oncogenes such as miR-196a have been implicated in
      the carcinogenesis and progression of EC. The purpose of this study was to
      determine the effects of anti-miR-196a on the growth and survival of human EC
      cells in vitro. We found that miR-196a was highly expressed in both TE1 and EC109
      cells and that miR-196a knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and migration.
      Furthermore, miR-196a knockdown sensitized EC cells to radiation treatment and
      chemotherapy. Inhibition of miR-196a also altered cell cycle progression and
      induced G2/M arrest, which was related to changes in the levels of cyclin B1.
      ABCG2, which was highly expressed in untransfected EC cells, was inhibited by miR
      196a knockdown. Thus, our results confirm the fact that miR-196a is highly
      involved in the biological behavior of EC progression in vitro. We conclude that
      miR-196a is a useful biological marker and potential therapeutic target for the
      clinical treatment of human EC.

PMID- 27621036
TI  - Brachyury promotes tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer by targeting SIRT1.
AB  - Tamoxifen is effective for treating estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha)-positive
      breast cancers. However, few molecular mediators of tamoxifen resistance have
      been elucidated. In the present study, we determine the underlying roles of
      Brachyury in tamoxifen resistance. Loss- and gain-of-function assay are utilized
      to confirm the oncogenic roles of Brachyury in breast cancer. Compared with the
      normal MCF10A cells, Brachyury is commonly overexpressed in breast cancer cell
      lines. Knockdown of Brachyury inhibits tamoxifen resistance, whereas
      overexpression of Brachyury enhances tamoxifen resistance as demonstrated
      increased cell viability and reduced cell apoptosis. Mechanistically, we
      demonstrate for the first time that Brachyury mediates tamoxifen resistance by
      regulating Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1). Collectively, our data, as a proof of principle,
      indicate that Brachyury is a candidate marker for predicting the clinical
      efficacy of tamoxifen and targeting SIRT1 could overcome resistance to tamoxifen
      in breast cancer cells.

PMID- 27621037
TI  - Optimising the ICD to identify the maternal condition in the cause of perinatal
      death: overcoming challenges to create a holistic approach.

PMID- 27621038
TI  - Do waterbody classifications predict water quality?
AB  - Many states classify waterbodies according to groups of designated uses, which
      suggests that classifications may be correlated with water quality. The primary
      assessments of water quality in the United States (the Biennial Integrated Water
      Quality Reports) do not consider classification, so the relationship between
      classification and water quality is untested. Additionally, water quality has
      been shown to be influenced by watershed land use; however, land use is not
      typically part of waterbody classification systems. To determine the
      relationships between waterbody classification, water quality, watershed land
      cover, and forest fragmentation, we analyzed existing water quality data for the
      State of Connecticut from the United States Geological Survey and the Connecticut
      Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and land cover data from the
      National Land Cover Dataset. Connecticut uses a unique classification system that
      includes separation of drinking water sources (Class AA) and waterbodies
      receiving waste water discharges (Class B). Using a comparison of multiple means,
      we found that Class B waters had higher levels of nitrogen, solids, chloride,
      sodium, dissolved copper, total iron, and dissolved manganese than Class AA
      waters. Watersheds upstream of Class B segments had less forest cover, more
      development and more impervious cover than watersheds upstream of Class AA
      segments. Class A sites had some similarities in water quality and land cover
      with Class AA sites and some with Class B sites. The subset of Class B
      waterbodies with "Class AA-like" water quality also had "Class AA-like" land
      cover. Based on this and a multiple linear regression analysis, we found that
      water quality is more closely related to watershed land cover and forest
      fragmentation than to waterbody classification. Our results suggest that
      watershed land cover likely is a better proxy for water quality than waterbody
      classification. 

PMID- 27621039
TI  - Numerical simulation of dual-phase-lag bioheat transfer model during thermal
      therapy.
AB  - This paper theoretically investigates the thermal behavior in a living biological
      tissue under various coordinate systems and different non-Fourier boundary
      conditions with the dual-phase-lag bioheat transfer model during thermal therapy.
      The properties of Legendre wavelets together with the finite difference scheme
      are used to find an approximate analytical solution of the present problem. It
      has been observed that surrounding healthy tissues are less affected in second
      and third kind of boundary condition when applied along with spherical symmetric
      coordinate system. Also greater temperature rise and fast achievement of peak
      hyperthermia temperature is achieved when second and third kind of boundary
      conditions are used in combination with Cartesian coordinate system. It is
      observed that due to the presence of blood perfusion and temperature dependent
      metabolic heat generation term, the dual-phase-lag bioheat transfer model reduces
      to Pennes bioheat transfer model only when tauq=tauT=0s, not for arbitrary
      tauq=tauT. Further, in case of dual-phase-lag bioheat transfer model wave-like or
      diffusion-like behavior will dominate depends whether the ratio tauq/tauT > 1 or
      tauq/tauT < 1. Effect of temperature dependent metabolic heat generation rate,
      thermal conductivity and blood perfusion rate on dimensionless temperature are
      discussed in details. The whole analysis is presented in dimensionless form.

PMID- 27621040
TI  - Analyzing gene expression time-courses based on multi-resolution shape mixture
      model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Biological processes actually are a dynamic molecular process over
      time. Time course gene expression experiments provide opportunities to explore
      patterns of gene expression change over a time and understand the dynamic
      behavior of gene expression, which is crucial for study on development and
      progression of biology and disease. Analysis of the gene expression time-course
      profiles has not been fully exploited so far. It is still a challenge problem. We
      propose a novel shape-based mixture model clustering method for gene expression
      time-course profiles to explore the significant gene groups. RESULTS: Based on
      multi-resolution fractal features and mixture clustering model, we proposed a
      multi-resolution shape mixture model algorithm. Multi-resolution fractal features
      is computed by wavelet decomposition, which explore patterns of change over time
      of gene expression at different resolution. Our proposed multi-resolution shape
      mixture model algorithm is a probabilistic framework which offers a more natural
      and robust way of clustering time-course gene expression. We assessed the
      performance of our proposed algorithm using yeast time-course gene expression
      profiles compared with several popular clustering methods for gene expression
      profiles. The grouped genes identified by different methods are evaluated by
      enrichment analysis of biological pathways and known protein-protein interactions
      from experiment evidence. The grouped genes identified by our proposed algorithm
      have more strong biological significance. CONCLUSION: A novel multi-resolution
      shape mixture model algorithm based on multi-resolution fractal features is
      proposed. Our proposed model provides a novel horizons and an alternative tool
      for visualization and analysis of time-course gene expression profiles.
      AVAILABILITY: The R and Matlab program is available upon the request.

PMID- 27621041
TI  - Migration of Spanish nurses 2009-2014. Underemployment and surplus production of
      Spanish nurses and mobility among Spanish registered nurses: A case study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After the financial crisis of 2008, increasing numbers of nurses from
      Spain are going abroad to work. OBJECTIVES: To examine the health and workforce
      policy trends in Spain between 2009 and 2014 and to analyze their correlation
      with the migration of nurses. DESIGN: Single embedded case study. DATA SOURCES:
      We examined data published by: Health Statistics, Organization for Economic
      Cooperation and Development (1996 to 2013); Ministry of Education, Culture and
      Sports (2006 to 2013); Ministry of Employment and Social Security (2009 to 2014);
      Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (1997 to 2014); and National
      Institute of Statistics (1976 to 2014). In addition to reviewing the scholarly
      literature on the topic in Spanish and English, we also examined Spanish mobility
      laws and European directives. POPULATION: We used the Organization for Economic
      Cooperation and Development definition of "professionally active nurses" which
      defines practising nurses and other nurses as those for whom their education is a
      prerequisite for employment as a nurse. Moreover, we used the term "nursing
      graduate" as defined by Spanish Ministry of Education to describe those who have
      obtained a recognized qualification in nursing in a given year, the term
      "registered nurses" is defined by Spanish law as nurses registered in the Nurses
      Associations and "unemployed nurses" are those without work and registered as
      seeking employment. RESULTS: A transformation of the Spanish health system has
      reduced the number of employed nurses per capita since 2010. Moreover, reductions
      in public spending, labour market reforms and widespread unemployment have
      affected nurses in two ways: first by increasing the number of applicants per
      vacancy between 2009 and 2013, and second, by an increase in casual positions.
      However, despite the poor job market and decreasing job security, the number of
      registered nurses and nursing graduates in Spain per year has continued to grow,
      increasing the pressure on the labour market. CONCLUSIONS: Spain is transforming
      from a stable nursing labour market, to one that is increasingly producing nurses
      for foreign markets, principally in Europe. With its low birth rate, increased
      life expectancy and increasing rates of chronic disease, it is critical for Spain
      to have sufficient nurses now and into the future. It is important that there be
      continued study of this phenomenon by Spanish policy makers, health service
      providers and educators in order for Spain to develop health human resources
      policies that address the health care needs of the Spanish population.

PMID- 27621042
TI  - MicroRNA-564 is downregulated in glioblastoma and inhibited proliferation and
      invasion of glioblastoma cells by targeting TGF-beta1.
AB  - Increasing evidence has indicated that aberrant expression of miRNAs has been
      shown to be strongly implicated in the initiation and progression of
      glioblastoma. Here, we identified a novel tumor suppressive miRNA, miR-564, and
      investigated its role and therapeutic effect for glioblastoma. We showed that miR
      564 was down-regulated in human glioblastoma tissues and cell lines. Introduction
      of miR-564 dramatically inhibited cell growth and invasion in glioblastoma cells.
      Subsequent experiments revealed that Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)
      was a direct and functional target of miR-564 in glioblastoma cells. Furthermore,
      overexpression of miR-564 decreased p-SMAD and SMAD4 expression, which are the
      downstream signaling molecules of TGF-beta. Meanwhile, ectopic of miR-564 reduced
      the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression of epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR) and MMP9. Furthermore, the upregulation of miR-564 suppressed TGF
      beta-mediated U87 proliferation and migration. The expression of EGFR and MMP9
      was upregulated in glioblastoma tissues compared to their normal tissues. The
      EGFR and MMP9 expression levels were inverse correlated with the expression of
      miR-564. miR-564 suppressed the growth of U87-engrafted tumors. These findings
      reveal that miR-564/TGF-beta1 signaling that may be required for glioblastoma
      development and may consequently serve as a new therapeutic target for the
      treatment of glioblastoma.

PMID- 27621043
TI  - Contraceptive Knowledge Assessment: validity and reliability of a novel
      contraceptive research tool.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Clinicians and researchers need an accurate tool assessing
      contraceptive knowledge in order to understand the effectiveness of teaching
      efforts. However, most widely used indices are outdated. The objective of this
      study is to create an evidence-based assessment tool and determine its validity
      and reliability for measuring contraceptive knowledge. STUDY DESIGN: The study
      team developed the 25-question multiple-choice tool entitled the Contraceptive
      Knowledge Assessment (CKA). Expert reviewers examined content validity and
      semistructured patient interviews acquired feedback on subject matter and
      comprehension. A two-tiered approach explored criterion validity via (1)
      comparison with the gold standard (Contraceptive Knowledge Inventory) and (2)
      comparison between groups with lower and higher contraceptive knowledge. Repeat
      testing after 2-4 weeks evaluated test-retest reliability. RESULTS: Six experts
      and seven patients provided feedback on the initial CKA. One hundred two
      reproductive-aged male and female patients and 27 medical students completed the
      final CKA with an overall mean patient score of 9/25 (36%). The mean score on the
      CKA was higher than the mean score on the gold standard (9.1 vs. 5.8, p<.001).
      Patients scored lower on the CKA than did medical students (9.1 [36.4%] vs.19.4
      [77.6%], p<.005). There were no differences within patients' results with repeat
      testing over time (p=.667). CONCLUSIONS: The CKA is a valid and reliable tool to
      measure a patient's level of knowledge regarding contraception. This research
      tool may allow for the assessment of baseline knowledge, educational gaps, and
      improvement after an intervention. Knowledge may be lower than previous studies
      suggest, signifying need for improved education on contraception and better
      understanding of the relationship between knowledge and behavior change.
      IMPLICATIONS: The CKA provides an evidence-based, reliable, and validated
      assessment of contraceptive knowledge. This modern tool may help to determine the
      effectiveness of interventions to improve education on contraception.

PMID- 27621045
TI  - Does body mass index or weight perception affect contraceptive use?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Overweight and obese women may avoid contraceptive methods they
      believe are associated with weight gain. The objective of this study was to
      examine the role of weight and weight perception on contraceptive use. STUDY
      DESIGN: Using cross-sectional data from the MyNewOptions study, we analyzed
      contraceptive use among 987 privately insured, sexually active women aged 18-40
      years. Contraception was categorized into three groups: (1) long-acting
      reversible contraceptives (LARCs), (2) non-LARC prescription methods and (3)
      nonprescription methods/no method. Multinomial logistic regression was used to
      model the effect of body mass index category and weight perception on
      contraceptive use while controlling for pregnancy intentions, sexual behavior and
      sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Eighty-three (8.4%) women were using
      LARCs, 490 (49.6%) women were using non-LARC prescription methods and 414 (42.0%)
      were using nonprescription methods or no method. In the adjusted multinomial
      model, overweight [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.84, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      1.85-7.98) and obese women (aOR 2.82, 95% CI 1.18-6.72) were significantly more
      likely to use LARCs compared to normal-weight women. There were greater adjusted
      odds of overweight and obese women using nonprescription methods/no method
      compared with non-LARC prescription methods, but this finding did not reach
      statistical significance. Weight perception was not associated with contraceptive
      use. CONCLUSION: In this study sample, overweight and obese women were more
      likely to use LARCs than normal-weight women. It will be important to further
      understand how weight influences women and providers' views on contraception in
      order to better assist women with individualized, patient-centered contraceptive
      decision making. IMPLICATIONS: Overweight and obese women may be reluctant to use
      contraceptive methods they believe are associated with weight gain (i.e., pills,
      shot), but how that affects contraceptive use is unclear. Compared with normal
      weight women, overweight and obese women in this study were more likely to use
      LARCs than non-LARC prescription methods.

PMID- 27621044
TI  - Contraceptive use and pregnancy intentions among transgender men presenting to a
      clinic for sex workers and their families in San Francisco.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although many transgender men may be able to conceive, their
      reproductive health needs are understudied. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      charts of transgender men presenting to a clinic for sex workers to describe the
      proportion at risk for pregnancy, pregnancy intentions, and contraceptive use.
      RESULTS: Of 26 transgender men identified, half were at risk for pregnancy. Most
      desired to avoid pregnancy but used only condoms or no contraception. Two
      individuals desired pregnancy, were taking testosterone (a teratogen), and not
      using contraception. CONCLUSION: Further research is needed to explore how to
      best provide family planning services including preconception and contraception
      care to transgender men.

PMID- 27621046
TI  - Serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) trend within the first few days after
      medical abortion: a prospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To prospectively describe the decline in serum human chorionic
      gonadotropin (hCG) in the first 5 days after complete medical abortion and
      evaluate the influence of initial hCG and gestational duration. STUDY DESIGN: We
      conducted a prospective, physiologic study of women <=63 days gestation who
      underwent medical abortion with 200 mg mifepristone and 800 mcg buccal
      misoprostol. We stratified enrollment into two gestational cohorts, <49 days and
      49-63 days, to ensure gestational variability. We collected serum quantitative
      hCG values on Day 1 (day of mifepristone), Day 3, Day 5 and a routine follow up
      hCG on Days 7-14. We calculated the percent hCG decline from Day 1 to each repeat
      measure and evaluated trends based on initial serum hCG level and gestation.
      RESULTS: We enrolled 66 women; 59 were protocol-adherent and included in our
      analysis. Mean gestation on Day 1 was 49 days and mean baseline hCG was 72,332
      IU. Fifty-seven subjects (97%) had a complete medical abortion without further
      intervention. The mean serum hCG decline among subjects with complete medical
      abortion was 70.0+/-10.6% [range 36.9-98.6%] on Day 3 and 91.4+/-4.4% [range 68.4
      97.7%] on Day 5. The mean serum hCG decline from Day 1 to routine follow-up on
      Days 7-9 was 97.1+/-1.7% [range 92.4-99.2%], from Day 1 to Day 10-11 was 98.5+/
      1.4% [range 94.7-99.6%] and from Day 1 to Day 12-14 was 98.7+/-2.8% [range 86.7
      99.9%]. There was no difference in percent hCG decline stratified by initial hCG
      or gestation. CONCLUSIONS: There is a rapid and predictable decline in serum hCG
      as early as Day 5 after complete medical abortion through 63 days gestation. Rate
      of hCG decline is not affected by initial hCG or gestational duration.
      IMPLICATIONS: For women who require confirmation of complete abortion sooner than
      1 week after mifepristone, due to patient preference, logistical constraints or
      in the setting of pregnancy of unconfirmed location, a single repeat hCG on Day 5
      may be clinically useful.

PMID- 27621047
TI  - Tubal contraception and ovarian cancer risk: a global view.

PMID- 27621048
TI  - Nitrous oxide for pain management during in-office hysteroscopic sterilization: a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether inhaled nitrous oxide with oxygen (N2O/O2) is
      associated with less pain compared to oral sedation for pain management during in
      office hysteroscopic sterilization. STUDY DESIGN: This double blinded randomized
      controlled trial enrolled women undergoing in-office hysteroscopic sterilization.
      All participants received pre-procedure intramuscular ketorolac and a
      standardized paracervical block. The intervention group also received N2O/O2 via
      a nasal mask titrated to a maximum 70%:30% mixture by a nurse during the
      procedure and placebo pills pre-procedure and the active control group received
      inhaled O2 during the procedure and 5/325 mg hydrocodone/acetaminophen and 1 mg
      lorazepam pre-procedure. The primary outcome was maximum procedure pain on a 100
      mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS with anchors at 0=no pain and 100=worst imaginable
      pain) assessed 3-5 min post procedure. Thirty women per treatment arm were
      required to detect a clinically significant pain difference of 20 mm. RESULTS:
      Seventy-two women, 36 per study arm, were randomized. Mean age of participants
      was 34.1+/-5.7 years and mean BMI was 30.1+/-6.6kg/m2. Mean maximum procedure
      pain scores were 22.8+/-27.6 mm and 54.5+/-32.7 mm for intervention and control
      groups, respectively (p<.001). Most study participants (97%) stated N2O/O2 should
      be offered for gynecologic office procedures and 86% would pay for it if not a
      covered benefit. CONCLUSIONS: N2O/O2 decreased pain with in-office hysteroscopic
      sterilization compared to oral sedation and is an effective pain management
      option for this procedure. IMPLICATIONS: Given its safety and favorable side
      effect profile, N2O/O2 can be used for pain management for in-office
      hysteroscopic sterilization and adds a safe, easily administered option to
      currently available strategies.

PMID- 27621049
TI  - Current methods in risk assessment of genotoxic chemicals.
AB  - Chemical contaminants and residues are undesired chemicals occurring in consumer
      products such as food and drugs, at the workplace and in the environment, i.e. in
      air, soil and water. These compounds can be detected even at very low
      concentrations and lead frequently to considerable concerns among consumers and
      in the media. Thus it is a major challenge for modern toxicology to provide
      transparent and versatile tools for the risk assessment of such compounds in
      particular with respect to human health. Well-known examples of toxic
      contaminants are dioxins or mercury (in the environment), mycotoxins (from
      infections by molds) or acrylamide (from thermal treatment of food). The process
      of toxicological risk assessment of such chemicals is based on i) the knowledge
      of their contents in food, air, water etc., ii) the routes and extent of exposure
      of humans, iii) the toxicological properties of the compound, and, iv) its
      mode(s) of action. In this process quantitative dose-response relationships,
      usually in experimental animals, are of outstanding importance. For a successful
      risk assessment, in particular of genotoxic chemicals, several conditions and
      models such as the Margin of Exposure (MoE) approach or the Threshold of
      Toxicological Concern (TTC) concept exist, which will be discussed.

PMID- 27621050
TI  - 2,3,4',5-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-d-glucoside exerts anti-inflammatory
      effects on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated microglia by inhibiting NF-kappaB and
      activating AMPK/Nrf2 pathways.
AB  - 2,3,4',5-Tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-d-glucoside (THSG) affects
      neuroinflammation-related neurodegenerative diseases and inhibits
      neuroinflammatory mediators. However, the detailed impacts and underlying
      mechanisms of THSG on neuroinflammatory responses are still unclear. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the anti-neuroinflammatory mechanism of THSG via
      AMPK/Nrf2 signaling pathways. This study showed that THSG attenuated LPS-induced
      iNOS, COX-2, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 activation in microglia. Furthermore, it was
      observed that activation of IkappaBalpha and NF-kappaB was significantly
      increased upon LPS stimulation, and suppressed by THSG treatment in a dose
      dependent manner. The expression of HO-1 and NQO1, as well as Nrf2 activation,
      was induced by THSG in microglia. The promoter activity of ARE and HO-1 also
      increased in a dose-dependent manner following THSG treatment. Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 has
      anti-inflammatory properties; the knock-down of Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 by specific siRNA
      prevented the THSG-mediated inhibition of iNOS and COX-2 promoter activity.
      Consistent with this concept, the phosphorylation of LKB1, CaMKII, and AMPK were
      elevated after THSG treatment. The blockade of AMPK by a pharmacological
      inhibitor prevented THSG-induced HO-1 and NQO1 expression. The anti-inflammatory
      properties of THSG were also reversed by treatment with an AMPK inhibitor. In
      conclusion, we demonstrated that THSG attenuates the LPS-induced
      neuroinflammatory response mediated by AMPK/Nrf2 signaling pathways.

PMID- 27621051
TI  - Deciphering the role of ferulic acid against streptozotocin-induced cellular
      stress in the cardiac tissue of diabetic rats.
AB  - The cardiomyocytes are one of the major sources of hyperglycemia induced ROS
      generation. The present study focuses on the ameliorative role of ferulic acid in
      combating cardiac complications in diabetic rats. Induction of diabetes by STZ in
      male Wistar rats (at a dose of 50 mg kg-1 body wt, i.p.) reduced body weight and
      plasma insulin level, enhanced blood glucose, disturbed the intra-cellular
      antioxidant machineries and disintegrated the normal radiation pattern of cardiac
      muscle fibers. Induction of ER stress (up-regulation in the levels of CHOP,
      GRP78, eIF2alpha signaling, increased calpain-1 expression), caspase-3
      activation, PARP cleavage and DNA fragmentation were evidenced from immunoblot
      analyses and DNA fragmentation assay. However, ferulic acid administration, (at a
      dose of 50 mg kg-1 body wt, orally for eight weeks) in post-hyperglycemia could
      reverse such adverse effects. Also, the molecule increased GLUT-4 translocation
      to the cardiac membrane by enhanced phosphorylation of PI3Kinase, AKT and
      inactivation of GSK-3beta thereby altering the hyperglycemic condition in the
      cardiac tissue of diabetic rats. Therefore, as a potential therapeutic, ferulic
      acid, exhibiting antioxidant and hypoglycemic effects, may hold promise in
      circumventing stress mediated diabetic cardiomyopathy in rats.

PMID- 27621053
TI  - Bye-bye mummy - Word comprehension in 9-month-old infants.
AB  - From the little research that exists on the onset of word learning in infants
      under the age of 1 year, the evidence suggests an idiosyncratic comprehensive
      vocabulary is developing. To further this field, we tested 49 nine-month-old
      infants by pre-assessing their vocabularies using a UK version of the MacArthur
      Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory. Intermodal preferential looking
      (IPL) was then used to examine word comprehension including: (a) words parents
      reported as understood, (b) words infants are expected to understand according to
      age-related frequency data, and (c) words parents had reported infants not to
      understand. Assuming parents are good assessors of their infant's early word
      knowledge, we expected a naming effect with IPL in condition (a), but not
      condition (c). As language research uses standard samples of words, we expected a
      discernible naming effect in condition (b). Results show clear IPL evidence of
      word comprehension for those words that parents reported their infants to
      understand (condition a). This agreement between methods demonstrates the
      usefulness of parental communicative developmental inventory in conjunction with
      IPL to assess infant's individual word knowledge. No naming effects were found
      for condition (c) and the lack of naming effects in (b) shows that pre
      established word lists may not give a sufficiently clear picture of infant's true
      vocabulary - an important insight for researchers and practitioners alike.
      Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Most word
      comprehension research is mainly based on older infants (12, 15, or 18 months of
      age to 2-3 years and older). Some evidence of word comprehension for common and
      novel nouns in 6- to 10-month-olds. Existing evidence uses either only specific
      word groups or nouns combined with specific training and/or repetition
      procedures. What does this study add? Nine-month-olds display word knowledge
      independent of context and without repetitions of words. First words encompass
      not only nouns, but a range of other word classes. Parents are good at indicating
      which words their infants do and do not understand.

PMID- 27621052
TI  - Effects of a 28-day dietary co-exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid on the
      levels of serum microRNAs in male and female Fisher 344 rats.
AB  - We showed previously that a 28-day combined dietary exposure to melamine and
      cyanuric acid (MEL&CYA) induced kidney lesions in NCTR Fisher 344 (F344) rats.
      Histopathological changes were significant in females dosed with >=240 ppm
      MEL&CYA and in males dosed with >=180 ppm MEL&CYA; however, the nephrotoxicity
      biomarkers blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) were increased
      only by >=240 ppm MEL&CYA. The serum miRNome has been reported to reflect
      toxicity of several organs, including the kidney. Here, we compared the dose
      response of alterations in serum miRNAs to those of BUN, SCr, and kidney
      histopathology in rats co-exposed to MEL&CYA. The serum miRNome of male F344 rats
      dosed with 0, 180, or 240 ppm MEL&CYA was screened using quantitative real-time
      RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and the levels of selected serum miRNAs were analyzed further in
      both sexes over the full dose range. The levels of several miRNAs were
      significantly reduced in rats treated with 240 ppm MEL&CYA versus control. In
      addition, miR-128-3p and miR-210-3p were decreased in males treated with 180pm
      MEL&CYA, a dose at which the levels of BUN and SCr were not yet affected by
      treatment. These data suggest that the serum miRNome is affected by nephrotoxic
      doses of MEL&CYA in male and female rats.

PMID- 27621054
TI  - Phage display-derived oligopeptide-functionalized probes for in vivo specific
      photoacoustic imaging of osteosarcoma.
AB  - Specific detection of various tumor types remains crucial for designing effective
      treatment strategies. We demonstrate photoacoustic imaging (PAI) using high
      affinity and high-specificity peptide-based probes for accurate and specific
      diagnosis of osteosarcoma. Herein, two new tumor-specific oligopeptides, termed
      PT6 and PT7, were identified using phage display-based screening on an
      osteosarcoma cell line (UMR-106). The identified oligopeptides were able to
      detect clinical osteosarcoma samples on tissue microarrays. Oligopeptide
      conjugated PEGylated gold nanorods (PGNR) were designed to specifically target
      UMR-106 cells. More importantly, PAI revealed that both PGNR-PT6 and PGNR-PT7
      could bind selectively to subcutaneous UMR-106 xenografts after systemic
      administration and enhance the contrast of osteosarcoma images by 170% and 230%,
      respectively, compared to tumor-bearing mice injected with PGNRs conjugated to
      scrambled oligopeptides. PAI employing PGNRs conjugated to specifically designed
      nanoprobes may provide a new method for tumor type-specific diagnosis of
      osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27621056
TI  - Abstracts of the AAGBI Annual Congress, 14-16 September 2016, Birmingham, UK.

PMID- 27621057
TI  - Transcriptomic response of Drosophila melanogaster pupae developed in
      hypergravity.
AB  - Altered gravity can perturb normal development and induce corresponding changes
      in gene expression. Understanding this relationship between the physical
      environment and a biological response is important for NASA's space travel goals.
      We use RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR techniques to profile changes in early Drosophila
      melanogaster pupae exposed to chronic hypergravity (3g, or three times Earth's
      gravity). During the pupal stage, D. melanogaster rely upon gravitational cues
      for proper development. Assessing gene expression changes in the pupae under
      altered gravity conditions helps highlight gravity-dependent genetic pathways. A
      robust transcriptional response was observed in hypergravity-treated pupae
      compared to controls, with 1513 genes showing a significant (q<0.05) difference
      in gene expression. Five major biological processes were affected: ion transport,
      redox homeostasis, immune response, proteolysis, and cuticle development. This
      outlines the underlying molecular and biological changes occurring in Drosophila
      pupae in response to hypergravity; gravity is important for many biological
      processes on Earth.

PMID- 27621058
TI  - Paternal mental health following perceived traumatic childbirth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: the objective behind the current study was to explore the experiences
      and perceptions of fathers after childbirth trauma, an area of minimal research.
      This is part two of a two-part series conducted in 2014 researching the mental
      health of fathers after experiencing a perceived traumatic childbirth. DESIGN:
      qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews and reporting of
      qualitative questions administered in part one's online survey (Inglis, 2014).
      SETTING: interviews conducted face-to-face at an Australian University or on
      Skype. PARTICIPANTS: sixty-nine responded to the online qualitative questions and
      of these seven were interviewed. MEASUREMENTS: thematic analysis of verbal and
      written qualitative responses. FINDINGS: thematic analysis of qualitative survey
      data and interviews found a global theme 'standing on the sideline' which
      encompassed two major themes of witnessing trauma: unknown territory, and the
      aftermath: dealing with it, and respective subthemes. KEY CONCLUSIONS: according
      to the perceptions and experiences of the fathers, there was a significant lack
      of communication between birthing teams and fathers, and fathers experienced a
      sense of marginalisation before, during, and after the traumatic childbirth. The
      findings of this study suggest that these factors contributed to the perception
      of trauma in the current sample. Whilst many fathers reported the negative impact
      of the traumatic birth on themselves and their relationships, some reported post
      traumatic growth from the experience and others identified friends and family as
      a valuable source of support. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: improved communication
      between midwifery staff and fathers before, during and after childbirth may
      reduce the rates of paternal postpartum mental health difficulties and
      experiences of trauma.

PMID- 27621059
TI  - Vegfc acts through ERK to induce sprouting and differentiation of trunk lymphatic
      progenitors.
AB  - Vascular endothelial growth factor C (Vegfc) activates its receptor, Flt4, to
      induce lymphatic development. However, the signals that act downstream of Flt4 in
      this context in vivo remain unclear. To understand Flt4 signaling better, we
      generated zebrafish bearing a deletion in the Flt4 cytoplasmic domain that
      eliminates tyrosines Y1226 and 1227. Embryos bearing this deletion failed to
      initiate sprouting or differentiation of trunk lymphatic vessels and did not form
      a thoracic duct. Deletion of Y1226/7 prevented ERK phosphorylation in lymphatic
      progenitors, and ERK inhibition blocked trunk lymphatic sprouting and
      differentiation. Conversely, endothelial autonomous ERK activation rescued
      lymphatic sprouting and differentiation in flt4 mutants. Interestingly, embryos
      bearing the Y1226/7 deletion formed a functional facial lymphatic network
      enabling them to develop normally to adulthood. By contrast, flt4 null larvae
      displayed hypoplastic facial lymphatics and severe lymphedema. Thus, facial
      lymphatic vessels appear to be the first functional lymphatic network in the
      zebrafish, whereas the thoracic duct is initially dispensable for lymphatic
      function. Moreover, distinct signaling pathways downstream of Flt4 govern
      lymphatic morphogenesis and differentiation in different anatomical locations.

PMID- 27621060
TI  - Deposition of collagen type I onto skeletal endothelium reveals a new role for
      blood vessels in regulating bone morphology.
AB  - Recently, blood vessels have been implicated in the morphogenesis of various
      organs. The vasculature is also known to be essential for endochondral bone
      development, yet the underlying mechanism has remained elusive. We show that a
      unique composition of blood vessels facilitates the role of the endothelium in
      bone mineralization and morphogenesis. Immunostaining and electron microscopy
      showed that the endothelium in developing bones lacks basement membrane, which
      normally isolates the blood vessel from its surroundings. Further analysis
      revealed the presence of collagen type I on the endothelial wall of these
      vessels. Because collagen type I is the main component of the osteoid, we
      hypothesized that the bone vasculature guides the formation of the collagenous
      template and consequently of the mature bone. Indeed, some of the bone vessels
      were found to undergo mineralization. Moreover, the vascular pattern at each
      embryonic stage prefigured the mineral distribution pattern observed one day
      later. Finally, perturbation of vascular patterning by overexpressing Vegf in
      osteoblasts resulted in abnormal bone morphology, supporting a role for blood
      vessels in bone morphogenesis. These data reveal the unique composition of the
      endothelium in developing bones and indicate that vascular patterning plays a
      role in determining bone shape by forming a template for deposition of bone
      matrix.

PMID- 27621061
TI  - beta-catenin activity in late hypertrophic chondrocytes locally orchestrates
      osteoblastogenesis and osteoclastogenesis.
AB  - Trabecular bone formation is the last step in endochondral ossification. This
      remodeling process of cartilage into bone involves blood vessel invasion and
      removal of hypertrophic chondrocytes (HTCs) by chondroclasts and osteoclasts.
      Periosteal- and chondrocyte-derived osteoprogenitors utilize the leftover
      mineralized HTC matrix as a scaffold for primary spongiosa formation. Here, we
      show genetically that beta-catenin (encoded by Ctnnb1), a key component of the
      canonical Wnt pathway, orchestrates this remodeling process at multiple levels.
      Conditional inactivation or stabilization of beta-catenin in HTCs by a Col10a1
      Cre line locally modulated osteoclastogenesis by altering the Rankl:Opg ratio in
      HTCs. Lack of beta-catenin resulted in a severe decrease of trabecular bone in
      the embryonic long bones. Gain of beta-catenin activity interfered with removal
      of late HTCs and bone marrow formation, leading to a continuous mineralized
      hypertrophic core in the embryo and resulting in an osteopetrotic-like phenotype
      in adult mice. Furthermore, beta-catenin activity in late HTCs is required for
      chondrocyte-derived osteoblastogenesis at the chondro-osseous junction. The
      latter contributes to the severe trabecular bone phenotype in mutants lacking
      beta-catenin activity in HTCs.

PMID- 27621063
TI  - The prognostic impact of SYT-SSX fusion type and histological grade in pediatric
      patients with synovial sarcoma treated according to the CWS (Cooperative
      Weichteilsarkom Studie) trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of our analysis was the evaluation of the prognostic impact
      of SYT-SSX fusion status and histological grading in synovial sarcoma (SS) of
      children and adolescents in the context of the consistent multimodal treatment
      strategy of the CWS (Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studie; Cooperative Soft Tissue
      Sarcoma Study Group) and in comparison with other risk factors. PROCEDURE:
      Between 1986 and 2006, out of 243 patients with SS, tumor samples from 84
      patients with localized disease were available for RT-PCR analysis. Outcome
      depending on fusion status in the context with known clinical risk factors was
      analyzed. RESULTS: No prognostic significance was shown for SYT-SSX fusion status
      and for histological grade. Highest significance of negative prognostic impact
      was found for large tumor size in uni- and multivariate analysis (P < 0.01).
      Furthermore, male gender was shown to be an adverse prognostic factor in
      multivariate analysis (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, neither
      histological grading nor SYT-SSX fusion status seems to be suitable for outcome
      prediction and risk stratification in localized SS treated according to the CWS.
      This is in contrast to several other publications concerning more heterogeneous
      age groups including children and adults, and this indicates that prognostic
      factors should not be interpreted apart from the particular study population and
      the therapeutic context.

PMID- 27621066
TI  - Reflecting on Suicidal Drug Overdoses in New Mexico.

PMID- 27621067
TI  - Uncommon Palm Prints: Can They be Used for Forensic Identification?

PMID- 27621064
TI  - The history of progressive myoclonus epilepsies.
AB  - The history of the progressive myoclonus epilepsies (PMEs) spans more than a
      century. However, the recent history of PMEs begins with a consensus statement
      published in the wake of the Marseille PME workshop in 1989 (Marseille Consensus
      Group, 1990). This consensus helped define the various types of PME known at the
      time and set the agenda for a new era of genetic research which soon lead to the
      discovery of many PME genes. Prior to the Marseille meeting, and before the
      molecular era, there had been much confusion and controversy. Because
      investigators had but limited and biased experience with these rare disorders due
      to the uneven, skewed distribution of PMEs around the world, opinions and
      nosologies were based on local expertise which did not match well with the
      experiences of other researchers and clinicians. The three major areas of focus
      included: (1) the nature and limits of the concept of PME in varying scopes,
      which was greatly debated; (2) the description of discrete clinical entities by
      clinicians; and (3) the description of markers (pathological, biological,
      neurophysiological, etc.) which could lead to a precise diagnosis of a given PME
      type, with, in the best cases, a reliable correlation with clinical findings. In
      this article, we shall also examine the breakthroughs achieved in the wake of the
      1989 Marseille meeting and recent history in the field, following the
      identification of several PME genes. As in other domains, the molecular and
      genetic approach has challenged some established concepts and has led to the
      description of new PME types. However, as may already be noted, this approach has
      also confirmed the existence of the major, established types of PME, which can
      now be considered as true diseases.

PMID- 27621062
TI  - Mapping lineage progression of somatic progenitor cells in the mouse fetal
      testis.
AB  - Testis morphogenesis is a highly orchestrated process involving lineage
      determination of male germ cells and somatic cell types. Although the origin and
      differentiation of germ cells are known, the developmental course specific for
      each somatic cell lineage has not been clearly defined. Here, we construct a
      comprehensive map of somatic cell lineage progression in the mouse testis. Both
      supporting and interstitial cell lineages arise from WT1+ somatic progenitor
      pools in the gonadal primordium. A subpopulation of WT1+ progenitor cells acquire
      SOX9 expression and become Sertoli cells that form testis cords, whereas the
      remaining WT1+ cells contribute to progenitor cells in the testis interstitium.
      Interstitial progenitor cells diversify through the acquisition of HES1, an
      indication of Notch activation, at the onset of sex determination. HES1+
      interstitial progenitors, through the action of Sertoli cell-derived Hedgehog
      signals, become positive for GLI1. The GLI1+ interstitial cells eventually
      develop into two cell lineages: steroid-producing fetal Leydig cells and non
      steroidogenic cells. The fetal Leydig cell population is restricted by Notch2
      signaling from the neighboring somatic cells. The non-steroidogenic progenitor
      cells retain their undifferentiated state during fetal stage and become adult
      Leydig cells in post-pubertal testis. These results provide the first lineage
      progression map that illustrates the sequential establishment of somatic cell
      populations during testis morphogenesis.

PMID- 27621068
TI  - Update on: A Calculation of the Theoretical Significance of Matched Bullets. J
      Forensic Sci 2008 Jul;53(4):868-75.

PMID- 27621069
TI  - Gaudio D, Olivieri L, De Angelis D, Poppa P, Galassi A, Cattaneo C. Reliability
      of craniofacial superimposition using three-dimension skull model. J Forensic Sci
      2016; 61(1):5-11.

PMID- 27621070
TI  - Authors' Response.

PMID- 27621071
TI  - Cale CM, Earll ME, Latham KE, Bush GL. Could Secondary DNA Transfer Falsely Place
      Someone at the Scene of a Crime? J Forensic Sci 2016;61(1):196-203.

PMID- 27621072
TI  - Authors' Response.

PMID- 27621073
TI  - Cale CM, Earll ME, Latham KE, Bush GL. Could Secondary DNA Transfer Falsely Place
      Someone at the Scene of a Crime? J Forensic Sci 2016;61(1):196-203.

PMID- 27621074
TI  - Authors' Response.

PMID- 27621075
TI  - Identification of Missing Norwegian World War II Soldiers, in Karelia Russia. J
      Forensic Sci 2015;60(4):1104-10.

PMID- 27621076
TI  - Author's Response.

PMID- 27621077
TI  - Chang KH, Yew CH, Abdullah AFL. Study on the behaviors of gunshot residues from
      spent cartridges by headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatographic
      techniques. J Forensic Sci 2015;60(4):869-77.

PMID- 27621078
TI  - Authors' Response.

PMID- 27621079
TI  - Are There Racial Disparities in Family-Reported Experiences of Care in Inpatient
      Pediatrics?
AB  - Despite increased emphasis on patient satisfaction as a quality measure in health
      care, little is known about the influence of race in parent-reported experience
      of care in pediatrics. This study evaluates the association of race with patient
      satisfaction scores in an inpatient pediatric tertiary care hospital in one year.
      Risk-adjusted multivariable logistic regression was performed to evaluate the
      association of minority race with the likelihood to provide a top-box (=5)
      satisfaction score for 38 individual questions across 8 domains. Of the 904
      participants, 269 (29.8%) identified as belonging to a minority race. Parents of
      minority children reported 30% to 50% lower satisfaction across questions related
      to well-established themes of interpersonal communication and cultural
      competency. Overall, minorities also reported lower satisfaction for the domain
      of nursing care (odds ratio 0.7, P = .016). These findings suggest a need for
      training and interventions to improve communication and mitigate disparities in
      how minority patients and their families perceive pediatric care.

PMID- 27621080
TI  - Best of both worlds: combining evidence with local context to develop a nursing
      shift handover blueprint.
AB  - Objective: Standardization of the handover process is deemed necessary to ensure
      continuity and safety of care. However, local context is considered of equal
      importance to improve the handover process. Our objective was to determine what
      recommendations on standardized shift handover nurses make, if we combine
      evidence from the literature with the local context of the nurses. Design: A RAND
      modified Delphi consensus process that combines evidence from systematic reviews
      with expert opinion of local nurses and an evaluation of the consensus process
      with a survey. Setting: One academic medical center in the Netherlands.
      Participants: Twenty nurses from surgical, medical, neurological, psychiatric,
      cardiology, children's and gynecology departments. Results: Four systematic
      reviews on nursing handover were included to compose provisional recommendations
      on how, what, where and the preconditions of shift handover. Nurses reached
      consensus on a final set of 18 recommendations for a nursing shift handover
      blueprint: how (1 recommendation), what (12 recommendations), where (3
      recommendations) and the preconditions (2 recommendations), which were structured
      with the mnemonic NURSEPASS. The nurses assessed the method as an effective
      approach to develop a local blueprint. Conclusions: Evidence-based consensus is a
      feasible method to combine evidence from the literature with local context. We
      anticipate that implementation of the resulting tailored blueprint for nursing
      shift handover will be facilitated due to the method used. Through evaluation of
      its effectiveness, we intend to add to the body of evidence on development and
      implementation of effective nursing handover, which is an essential link for
      continuity and safety of care.

PMID- 27621081
TI  - The effect of a nurse-led telephone-based care coordination program on the follow
      up and control of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with coronary artery
      disease.
AB  - Objective: We sought to analyse the impact of a care coordination protocol on
      transiting patients with coronary artery disease who had undergone percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI) to primary care and its effect on cardiovascular risk
      factor control. Design: A prospective observational study involving 492 patients
      who had undergone PCI either electively or after an acute coronary syndrome.
      Setting: A tertiary institution in Singapore. Participants: Patients who had
      undergone a PCI either electively or after an acute coronary syndrome.
      Interventions: The SCORE (Standardized Care for Optimal Outcomes, Right-Siting
      and Rapid Re-evaluation) program was a nurse-led, telephone-based, care
      coordination protocol. Main Outcome Measures: Transition to primary care within 1
      year of enrolment, the achievement of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level of <2.6
      mmol/l within 1 year and hospital admissions related to cardiovascular causes
      within 1 year were studied. Results: Under the SCORE protocol, a significantly
      higher number of patients transited to primary care and achieved the LDL target
      within 1 year, as compared with non-SCORE patients. Discharge to primary care and
      achievement of target LDL continued to be higher among those under the SCORE
      protocol even after multivariate analysis. Rates of hospital admission due to
      cardiovascular causes were not significantly different. Conclusions: Care
      coordination improved the rate of transition of post-PCI patients to primary care
      and improved LDL control, with no difference in the rate of hospital admissions
      due to cardiovascular causes. These findings support the implementation of a
      standardized follow-up protocol in patients who have undergone PCI.

PMID- 27621082
TI  - Defining a typology of primary care practices: a novel approach.
AB  - Objective: To define a typology of primary care (PC) practices based on a mixed
      inductive/deductive approach that uses a large number of variables describing
      organizational and demographic characteristics of practices and a priori
      hierarchical structuring of the data. Design: Secondary analysis of the Swiss
      part of the QUALICOPC study using a multiple factor analysis approach
      incorporating 74 variables hierarchically structured and including information on
      infrastructures, clinical care, workforces, accessibility and geographic location
      of PC practices. Setting: Switzerland. Participants: Two hundred randomly
      selected PC practices. Main Outcome Measures: Typology of PC practices based on
      axes identified through the multiple factorial approach. Results: The factorial
      analysis extracted two uncorrelated axes summarizing 17% of the global variance.
      The first axis is mainly associated with two dimensions related to the
      comprehensiveness of services, namely 'clinical care provided' (Pearson's r =
      0.73) and 'available infrastructures' (r = 0.78). The second axis is mainly
      associated with the workforce in the practice such as the number of general
      practitioners or other health workers (r = 0.69). Swiss PC practices were mapped
      using these two axes. Conclusions: This innovative approach allows defining a
      global typology of PC practices. Based upon Swiss data, two axes were identified
      to globally describe PC organization: comprehensiveness of services and
      workforces development. This exploratory study demonstrates a promising way,
      first to characterize globally one or several PC models that emerge from complex
      features, second to compare more accurately PC organization between countries and
      finally to assess how these models might be associated with patients' outcomes.

PMID- 27621084
TI  - High-demand motor tasks are more sensitive to detect persisting alterations in
      muscle activation following total knee replacement.
AB  - Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent indications for total knee
      replacement (TKR). Unfortunately, many patients still have difficulties during
      daily life activities after TKR. As the underlying causes of these difficulties
      are still not fully understood, especially with regard to the role of aberrant
      muscle activation profiles, the purpose of this study was to examine to what
      extent muscle activation patterns return to normal after TKR. Furthermore, we
      aimed to further discuss remaining differences by linking them to pre- and post
      operative measurements of the knee and hip kinetics and kinematics during
      multiple functional motor tasks. Therefore, muscle activity, kinetics and
      kinematics of knee and hip were measured and analyzed in seven patients during a
      number of functional tasks by using electromyography and three-dimensional motion
      analysis. Measurements were performed one week before and one year after surgery.
      Results were compared to seven matched healthy controls. The analyzed functional
      tasks included walking at self-selected speed, walking followed by a crossover
      and a sidestep turn, step descent and ascent. This study suggested that, while
      muscle activation profiles in patients one year after TKR did return to normal
      during walking, this was not the case during more demanding motor tasks. These
      findings may have direct implications for the design of future rehabilitation
      programs in order to result in faster recovery and ultimately more functional
      patients after TKR.

PMID- 27621085
TI  - Measuring the effects of a visual or auditory Stroop task on dual-task costs
      during obstacle crossing.
AB  - Successful planning and execution of motor strategies while concurrently
      performing a cognitive task has been previously examined, but unfortunately the
      varied and numerous cognitive tasks studied has limited our fundamental
      understanding of how the central nervous system successfully integrates and
      executes these tasks simultaneously. To gain a better understanding of these
      mechanisms we used a set of cognitive tasks requiring similar central executive
      function processes and response outputs but requiring different perceptual
      mechanisms to perform the motor task. Thirteen healthy young adults (20.6+/
      1.6years old) were instrumented with kinematic markers (60Hz) and completed 5
      practice, 10 single-task obstacle walking trials and two 40 trial experimental
      blocks. Each block contained 20 trials of seated (single-task) trials followed by
      20 cognitive and obstacle (30% lower leg length) crossing trials (dual-task).
      Blocks were randomly presented and included either an auditory Stroop task (AST;
      central interference only) or a visual Stroop task (VST; combined central and
      structural interference). Higher accuracy rates and shorter response times were
      observed for the VST versus AST single-task trials (p<0.05). Conversely, for the
      obstacle stepping performance, larger dual task costs were observed for the VST
      as compared to the AST for clearance measures (the VST induced larger clearance
      values for both the leading and trailing feet), indicating VST tasks caused
      greater interference for obstacle crossing (p<0.05). These results supported the
      hypothesis that structural interference has a larger effect on motor performance
      in a dual-task situation compared to cognitive tasks that pose interference at
      only the central processing stage.

PMID- 27621083
TI  - The centrosomal deubiquitylase USP21 regulates Gli1 transcriptional activity and
      stability.
AB  - USP21 is a centrosome-associated deubiquitylase (DUB) that has been implicated in
      the formation of primary cilia - crucial organelles for the regulation of the
      Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway in vertebrates. Here, we identify KCTD6 - a
      cullin-3 E3-ligase substrate adapter that has been previously linked to Hh
      signaling - as well as Gli1, the key transcription factor responsible for Hh
      signal amplification, as new interacting partners of USP21. We identify a cryptic
      structured protein interaction domain in KCTD6, which is predicted to have a
      similar fold to Smr domains. Importantly, we show that both depletion and
      overexpression of catalytically active USP21 suppress Gli1-dependent
      transcription. Gli proteins are negatively regulated through protein kinase A
      (PKA)-dependent phosphorylation. We provide evidence that USP21 recruits and
      stabilises Gli1 at the centrosome where it promotes its phosphorylation by PKA.
      By revealing an intriguing functional pairing between a spatially restricted
      deubiquitylase and a kinase, our study highlights the centrosome as an important
      hub for signal coordination.

PMID- 27621087
TI  - LC-PDA-ESI-MSn analysis of phenolic and iridoid compounds from Globularia spp.
AB  - Plants produce a great number of metabolites with potentially useful biological
      activities. Species from the genus Globularia (Plantaginaceae) are known as
      sources of different phenolic and iridoid compounds. Globularia alypum L. is a
      medicinal plant used as a healing agent in many Mediterranean countries.
      Similarities in phytochemical composition are often observed for related species.
      For Globularia spp., such findings were mostly based on identification of several
      isolated compounds from distinct species. To our knowledge, this is the first
      study that enables simultaneous comparison of phytochemical profiles from several
      members of the genus Globularia. Liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection
      electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry was used for the analysis of
      methanolic extracts of aerial parts obtained from four Globularia species (G.
      alypum, G. punctata, G. cordifolia and G. meridionalis). In total, 85 compounds
      were identified or tentatively identified based on comparison of their retention
      time, UV and MSn (up to MS4 ) spectra to those of standard compounds and/or to
      literature data. Among these, high relative amounts of bioactive molecules such
      as globularin, globularifolin, asperuloside and verbascoside (acteoside) were
      found. Apart from providing new insights into the phytochemistry and
      chemotaxonomy of selected Globularia species, results of this study complement
      existing MS/MS spectral data and could enable easier mass spectrometric profiling
      of certain bioactive compounds such as iridoids and phenylethanoids in related
      plant species, genera and families. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27621088
TI  - Using 3D geological modelling and geochemical mixing models to characterise
      alluvial aquifer recharge sources in the upper Condamine River catchment,
      Queensland, Australia.
AB  - The influence of mountain front recharge on the water balance of alluvial valley
      aquifers located in upland catchments of the Condamine River basin in Queensland,
      Australia, is investigated through the development of an integrated
      hydrogeological framework. A combination of three-dimensional (3D) geological
      modelling, hydraulic gradient maps, multivariate statistical analyses and
      hydrochemical mixing calculations is proposed for the identification of
      hydrochemical end-members and quantification of the relative contributions of
      each end-member to alluvial aquifer recharge. The recognised end-members
      correspond to diffuse recharge and lateral groundwater inflows from three
      hydrostratigraphic units directly connected to the alluvial aquifer. This
      approach allows mapping zones of potential inter-aquifer connectivity and areas
      of groundwater mixing between underlying units and the alluvium. Mixing
      calculations using samples collected under baseflow conditions reveal that
      lateral contribution from a regional volcanic aquifer system represents the
      majority (41%) of inflows to the alluvial aquifer. Diffuse recharge contribution
      (35%) and inflow from two sedimentary bedrock hydrostratigraphic units
      (collectively 24%) comprise the remainder of major recharge sources. A detailed
      geochemical assessment of alluvial groundwater evolution along a selected
      flowpath of a representative subcatchment of the Condamine River basin confirms
      mixing as a key process responsible for observed spatial variations in
      hydrochemistry. Dissolution of basalt-related minerals and dolomite, CO2 uptake,
      ion-exchange, precipitation of clay minerals, and evapotranspiration further
      contribute to the hydrochemical evolution of groundwater in the upland alluvial
      aquifer. This study highlights the benefits of undertaking an integrated approach
      that combines multiple independent lines of evidence. The proposed methods can be
      applied to investigate processes associated with inter-aquifer mixing, including
      groundwater contamination resulting from depressurisation of underlying
      geological units hydraulically connected to the shallower water reservoirs.

PMID- 27621086
TI  - A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies examining the
      relationship between mobility and cognition in healthy older adults.
AB  - Ageing is associated with declines in cognitive function and mobility. The extent
      to which this relationship encompasses the subdomains of cognition and mobility
      remains unclear, however. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for cross
      sectional studies examining the association between objective mobility measures
      (gait, lower-extremity function, balance) and cognitive function (global,
      executive function, memory, processing speed) in healthy older adults. Of the 642
      studies identified, 26 studies met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 26,355
      participants. For each feature of physical mobility, the relation to each aspect
      of cognition was reviewed. In the context of each association, we summarised the
      results to date and performed random-effects meta-analyses of published data.
      Reviewed findings suggest that individuals with better mobility perform better on
      assessments of global cognition, executive function, memory and processing speed.
      Not all measures of mobility were equally associated with cognitive function,
      however. Although there was a larger number of gait and lower-extremity function
      studies, and this may have driven findings, most studies examining balance and
      cognition measures reported no significant results. Meta-analyses on reported
      associations supported results by revealing significant, albeit small, effect
      sizes in favour of a positive association between performance on mobility
      measures and cognitive assessments. Future research should aim to establish the
      mechanisms driving this relationship, as this may identify predictors of age
      related impairments.

PMID- 27621089
TI  - Levels of TBT and other selected organotin compounds in duplicate diet samples.
AB  - Organotin compounds (OTs) are ubiquitous contaminants with a broad range of
      applications ranging from biocides and pesticides to catalysts for the production
      of polyurethane foams and silicones. The deleterious effects of some OTs
      (particularly tributyltin - TBT) upon wildlife and experimental animals are well
      documented and include endocrine disruption, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity,
      genotoxicity and metabolic dysfunction in which obesity is included. However,
      virtually no data on the current human exposure levels is available. In order to
      bridge this gap, we quantified for the first time the levels of OTs in duplicate
      diet samples from members of the University of Aveiro in Portugal. OTs were
      detected in 32% of the 28 diet samples analyzed, at relatively low levels. TBT
      and monobutyltin were detected only in two samples and dibutyltin was detectable
      in three samples. Dioctyltin was quantified in four samples and monooctyltin in
      three samples. Phenyltins were below the detection limit in all the diet samples
      analyzed. Overall, for the vast majority of the samples (89%), the estimated
      daily intakes (EDI) of organotins through food were much lower than the
      established tolerable daily intakes (TDI). Hence, for the majority of the
      participants the risk associated with food ingestion is low.

PMID- 27621090
TI  - Response of microbial community structure and function to short-term biochar
      amendment in an intensively managed bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) plantation
      soil: Effect of particle size and addition rate.
AB  - Biochar incorporated into soil has been known to affect soil nutrient
      availability and act as a habitat for microorganisms, both of which could be
      related to its particle size. However, little is known about the effect of
      particle size on soil microbial community structure and function. To investigate
      short-term soil microbial responses to biochar addition having varying particle
      sizes and addition rates, we established a laboratory incubation study. Biochar
      produced via pyrolysis of bamboo was ground into three particle sizes (diameter
      size<0.05mm (fine), 0.05-1.0mm (medium) and 1.0-2.0mm (coarse)) and amended at
      rates of 0% (control), 3% and 9% (w/w) in an intensively managed bamboo
      (Phyllostachys praecox) plantation soil. The results showed that the fine
      particle biochar resulted in significantly higher soil pH, electrical
      conductivity (EC), available potassium (K) concentrations than the medium and
      coarse particle sizes. The fine-sized biochar also induced significantly higher
      total microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) concentrations by 60.28% and
      88.94% than the medium and coarse particles regardless of addition rate,
      respectively. Redundancy analysis suggested that the microbial community
      structures were largely dependent of particle size, and that improved soil
      properties were key factors shaping them. The cumulative CO2 emissions from
      biochar-amended soils were 2-56% lower than the control and sharply decreased
      with increasing addition rates and particle sizes. Activities of alpha
      glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, beta-xylosidase, N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase,
      peroxidase and dehydrogenase decreased by ranging from 7% to 47% in biochar
      amended soils over the control, indicating that biochar addition reduced enzyme
      activities involved carbon cycling capacity. Our results suggest that biochar
      addition can affect microbial population abundances, community structure and
      enzyme activities, that these effects are particle size and rate dependent. The
      fine particle biochar may additionally produce a better habitat for
      microorganisms compared to the other particle sizes.

PMID- 27621091
TI  - Mechanism of silica deposition in sorghum silica cells.
AB  - Grasses take up silicic acid from soil and deposit it in their leaves as solid
      silica. This mineral, comprising 1-10% of the grass dry weight, improves plants'
      tolerance to various stresses. The mechanisms promoting stress tolerance are
      mostly unknown, and even the mineralization process is poorly understood. To
      study leaf mineralization in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), we followed silica
      deposition in epidermal silica cells by in situ charring and air-scanning
      electron microscopy. Our findings were correlated to the viability of silica
      cells tested by fluorescein diacetate staining. We compared our results to a
      sorghum mutant defective in root uptake of silicic acid. We showed that the leaf
      silicification in these plants is intact by detecting normal mineralization in
      leaves exposed to silicic acid. Silica cells were viable while condensing silicic
      acid into silica. The controlled mineral deposition was independent of water
      evapotranspiration. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching suggested that the
      forming mineral conformed to the cellulosic cell wall, leaving the cytoplasm well
      connected to neighboring cells. As the silicified wall thickened, the functional
      cytoplasm shrunk into a very small space. These results imply that leaf silica
      deposition is an active, physiologically regulated process as opposed to a simple
      precipitation.

PMID- 27621092
TI  - A Comparison of the Use of Clinical-Guideline-Recommended Antihypertensive
      Regimens in Mexican American, Non-Hispanic Black, and Non-Hispanic White Adults
      With Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension in the United States: NHANES 2003-2012.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the use of clinical-guideline
      recommended antihypertensive regimens among Mexican Americans (MAs) and non
      Hispanic blacks and whites with type 2 diabetes and hypertension. METHODS: A
      secondary data analysis based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
      2003-2012 cohort data included 1857 noninstitutionalized civilian MA, black, and
      white adults with type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Unadjusted and adjusted 2-way
      analysis of variance models evaluated whether there was a difference in the use
      of recommended antihypertensive regimens across race/ethnic group. RESULTS: There
      was no difference in the use of recommended regimens across race/ethnic group
      (MAs, 79.1%; blacks, 81.7%; whites, 82.3%). Similarly, there was no difference
      between blood pressure goal levels and the use of recommended therapies across
      race/ethnicity (P = .632). Mexican Americans were least likely and blacks most
      likely to be on 3 or more antihypertensive drug classes (16.8% vs 28%).
      Furthermore, MAs were least likely to be on recommended add-on therapies such as
      calcium channel blockers and diuretics. CONCLUSION: Racial/ethnic medication use
      disparities were observed when looking at the number of antihypertensive drug
      classes per patient regimen, and add-on therapy use was evaluated. Along with
      lifestyle modifications, frequent antihypertensive regimen reassessment is
      necessary.

PMID- 27621094
TI  - Achievement of Weight Loss and Other Requirements of the Diabetes Prevention and
      Recognition Program: A National Diabetes Prevention Program Network Based on
      Nationally Certified Diabetes Self-management Education Programs.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is (1) to describe the use of the American
      Association of Diabetes Educators' (AADE's) model of implementation of the
      National Diabetes Prevention Program through nationally certified diabetes self
      management education (DSME) programs and (2) to report the aggregated program
      outcomes as defined by the Diabetes Prevention and Recognition Program standards
      of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). METHODS: In 2012, the
      AADE worked with the CDC to select 30 certified DSME programs for National
      Diabetes Prevention Program delivery. For the following 3 years, the AADE
      continued to work with 25 of the 30 original programs. Results for all CDC
      recognition standards have been collected from these 25 programs and analyzed as
      aggregated data over the course of 36 months. RESULTS: At the end of the full
      year program, average percentage body weight loss for participants across all 25
      programs exceeded the CDC's minimum requirement of 5% weight loss. All programs
      on average met the CDC requirements for program attendance. CONCLUSION:
      Increasing access to the National Diabetes Prevention Program, through an array
      of networks, including certified DSME programs, will better ensure that people
      are able to engage in an effective approach to reducing their risk of diabetes.

PMID- 27621095
TI  - Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii) Knowledge and Attitudes of Australian Cat Breeders
      and Their Husbandry Practices.
AB  - A Q fever outbreak in a small animal veterinary hospital, associated with a cat
      caesarean section, initiated a cat seroprevalence study (n = 712) that found
      circulating antibodies to Coxiella burnetii was highest in cattery-confined
      breeding cats (9.3%). These findings stimulated interest about potential sources
      of C. burnetii infection for cats and humans associated with cats. Cat breeders
      are potentially a group at increased risk of C. burnetii infection, and this
      study sought to identify potential risk factors. A cross-sectional online survey
      was conducted targeting all domestic cat breeders registered with an affiliate
      member body in Australia in 2015. Responses from 177 cat breeders across
      Australia were analysed. Forty per cent of responding cat breeders had not heard
      of Q fever. Raw meat was fed as an integral constituent of the diet by 89% of
      respondents. Eighty per cent of respondents allowed queens access to the home for
      parturition, and assistance of queens and resuscitation of kittens at the time of
      birth were reported by 97% of respondents. Respondents who perceived some level
      of exposure to Q fever through their breeding activities were three times less
      likely to perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation (OR 0.3 95% CI 0.1-0.9; P = 0.034)
      than those who did not perceive a risk of exposure. Similarly, respondents who
      perceived Q fever as a risk through breeding activities were close to eight times
      more likely to use personal protective equipment during parturition (OR 7.7 95%
      CI 1.5-39.9; P = 0.015) than those who did not. Husbandry practices of cat
      breeders that may increase the risk of C. burnetii transmission require further
      targeted investigations to assess the contribution of these risk factors to the
      acquisition of disease. Concurrent education forums are recommended to inform
      Australian cat breeders of the aetiopathogenesis of Q fever.

PMID- 27621093
TI  - Patient Perceptions About Prediabetes and Preferences for Diabetes Prevention.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore how adults with prediabetes
      perceive their risk of developing diabetes and examine their preferences for
      evidence-based treatment options to prevent diabetes. METHODS: A qualitative
      study was conducted in 2 large Midwest primary care practices, involving in-depth
      semistructured interviews with 35 adult patients with prediabetes. RESULTS: This
      ethnically diverse (77% nonwhite) sample of middle-aged primary care patients
      exhibited multiple diabetes risk factors. Knowledge gaps about prediabetes and
      its medical management were pervasive. Most patients overestimated the risk of
      developing diabetes and were not familiar with evidence-based treatment options
      for prediabetes. They suggested that receiving brief, yet specific information
      about these topics during the study interview motivated them to act. The majority
      of participants considered both intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin
      acceptable treatment options. Many preferred initial treatment with intensive
      lifestyle intervention but would take metformin if their efforts at lifestyle
      change failed and their primary care physician recommended it. Some participants
      expressed wanting to combine both treatments. CONCLUSIONS: This qualitative study
      highlights potential opportunities to promote patient-centered dialogue about
      prediabetes in primary care settings. Providing patients specific information
      about the risk of developing diabetes and evidence-based treatment options to
      prevent or delay its onset may encourage action. Physicians' prediabetes
      counseling efforts should be informed by the finding that most patients consider
      both intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin acceptable treatment options.

PMID- 27621096
TI  - Arterial embolization of retained kidney remnant following blunt traumatic
      injury: A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There has been a recent trend toward nonoperative management of
      solid organ injuries with arteriography and embolization as alternatives to
      surgical exploration. We examine the use of arterial embolization in the
      management of a post-subtotal nephrectomy urinoma in a patient with severe renal
      injury secondary to blunt trauma. METHODS: This case report has been reported in
      line with the CARE criteria [13]. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 35-year-old female
      patient presented with a persistent urinoma after an incomplete nephrectomy for
      blunt renal trauma. Computed tomography scan of the abdomen demonstrated a
      47*68*101 mm3 collection superior to the remnant of the resected right kidney.
      With persistence of the urinoma after placement of an 8 French drainage catheter,
      the patient was taken for arterial embolization of the lower renal artery for
      ablation of the kidney remnant. DISCUSSION: Most kidney injuries with urinoma
      formation are treated successfully with supportive measures, however refractory
      cases require intervention. Arterial embolization has been used successfully in
      the treatment of traumatic pseudoaneurysms, arteriovenous fistulas, and some
      renal tumors. In this patient, we extended the use of embolization to infarct
      vessels of the functioning kidney remnant as an alternative to surgery. Post
      embolization the patient recovered well with permanent resolution of the urinoma
      and short-term side effects limited to short-lived fever and lumbar pain.
      CONCLUSION: Arterial embolization should be considered as an alternative to
      surgery in cases of persistent urinoma following renal trauma with retained
      remnants.

PMID- 27621097
TI  - Mullerian adenosarcoma of the uterine cervix with sarcomatous overgrowth: A case
      report of aggressive disease in a young patient.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mullerian adenosarcoma of the cervix with sarcomatous overgrowth
      and lymphovascular invasion is a rare and aggressive disease. We report a case of
      a young patient with Mullerian adenosarcoma with sarcomatous overgrowth in the
      uterine cervix and pelvic lymph node involvement. The patient received radical
      surgery but not adjuvant treatment, and the disease was aggressive with rapid
      relapse. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 39-year-old woman was diagnosed with Mullerian
      adenosarcoma of the cervix with sarcomatous overgrowth, International Federation
      of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IB2. She underwent abdominal radical
      hysterectomy and resection of the left external iliac lymph nodes for suspected
      metastatic involvement detected during surgical exploration but undetected via
      imaging. She refused adjuvant treatment, and the disease recurred 8 months after
      primary oncologic surgery, with rapid local, regional, and bone relapse.
      DISCUSSION: Our report suggests that sarcomatous overgrowth, a high mitotic
      index, a rhabdomyoblastic component, and lymphovascular compromise are risk
      factors for aggressive recurrence. Positron emission tomography-computed
      tomography (PET-CT) was used to identify relapse locations in addition to those
      detected via clinical examination of the vaginal vault. However, whether PET-CT
      is indicated for the initial detection of lymph node and bone metastases in FIGO
      stage IB tumors with surgical indication is unclear. CONCLUSION: A young woman
      with Mullerian adenosarcoma of the cervix with sarcomatous overgrowth presenting
      the risk factors for its recurrence experienced a rapid relapse after receiving
      radical surgery but not adjuvant therapy. Control of this aggressive disease via
      sequential radiotherapy and chemotherapy are recommended.

PMID- 27621098
TI  - Primary mediastinal synovial sarcoma: A rare case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Synovial sarcomas commonly occur in the extremities of young
      adults. A primary occurrence in the mediastinum is very rare with only a few
      reported cases in the world literature. We report a case of mediastinal synovial
      sarcoma. This paper is about a 47-year-old male who presented with retrosternal
      chest pain and shortness of breath on exertion. Imaging showed an anterior
      mediastinal mass. Pathological examination of the resected mass showed a biphasic
      neoplasm with a spindle cell component admixed with gland-like elements. The
      tumor showed positive staining with cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen and
      vimentin confirming the diagnosis of a biphasic synovial sarcoma. DISCUSSION: A
      wide range of neoplasms, both primary and metastatic, occur in the mediastinum,
      which pose considerable diagnostic difficulties. A synovial sarcoma should always
      be considered in the differential diagnosis, and immunohistochemistry is an
      important adjuvant tool in this situation. CONCLUSION: This paper highlights the
      importance of recognizing an unusual presentation of this aggressive neoplasm to
      aid appropriate clinical management.

PMID- 27621099
TI  - Traumatic bronchial injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tracheobronchial injury is a recognized, yet uncommon, result of
      blunt trauma to the thorax. Often the diagnosis and treatment are delayed,
      resulting in attempted surgical repair months or even years after the injury.
      PRESENTATION OF THE CASE: We present a case report of a 31-year old female who
      suffered a left main bronchus transection after a motor vehicle accident. The
      diagnostic, management issues, and clinical findings surrounding this injury are
      reviewed. DISCUSSION: Tracheobronchial disruption is a rare, life-threatening
      injury. Suspicion should be high when pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax are
      refractory to adequate pleural drainage. Flexible bronchoscopy with intubation
      distal to the injury may be necessary to prevent loss of the airway. Advance
      preparation should include setups for bronchoscopy, thoracotomy, and
      cardiopulmonary bypass. Patient survival depends on preparation and prompt
      surgical intervention. CONCLUSION: A high level of suspicion and the liberal use
      of bronchoscopy are important in the diagnosis of tracheobronchial injury. A
      tailored surgical approach is often necessary for definitive repair.

PMID- 27621101
TI  - Evidence of positive selection and concerted evolution in the rapidly evolving
      PRDM9 zinc finger domain in goats and sheep.
AB  - Meiotic recombination contributes to augmentation of genetic diversity, exclusion
      of deleterious alleles and proper segregation of chromatids. PRDM9 has been
      identified as the gene responsible for specifying the location of recombination
      hotspots during meiosis and is also the only known vertebrate gene associated
      with reproductive isolation between species. PRDM9 encodes a protein with a
      highly variable zinc finger (ZF) domain that varies between as well as within
      species. In the present study, the ZF domain of PRDM9 on chromosome 1 was
      characterized for the first time in 15 goat breeds and 25 sheep breeds of India.
      A remarkable variation in the number and sequence of ZF domains was observed. The
      number of ZF repeats in the ZF array varied from eight to 12 yielding five
      homozygous and 10 heterozygous genotypes. The number of different ZF domains was
      84 and 52 producing 36 and 26 unique alleles in goats and sheep respectively. The
      posterior mean of dN/dS or omega values were calculated using the codeml tool of
      pamlx to identify amino acids that are evolving positively in goats and sheep, as
      positions -1, +3 and +6 in the ZF domain have been reported to experience strong
      positive selection across different lineages. Our study identified sites -5, -1,
      +3, +4 and +6 to be experiencing positive selection. Small ruminant zinc fingers
      were also found to be evolving under concerted evolution. Our results demonstrate
      the existence of a vast diversity of PRDM9 in goats and sheep, which is in
      concert with reports in many metazoans.

PMID- 27621100
TI  - Leiomyoma of Urinary Bladder Presenting with Febrile Urinary Tract Infection: A
      Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Leiomyomas of urinary bladder constitute only about 0.43% of all
      bladder tumors. Only about 250 cases were reported in English literature. This is
      the first reported case of bladder leiomyoma to present with febrile urinary
      tract infection. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 37- year old male who
      presented with febrile urinary tract infection. Imaging showed a bladder lesion.
      This lesion was managed by transurethral resection. Pathologic diagnosis was
      bladder leiomyoma. DISCUSSION: Although bladder leiomyomas are benign, they can
      cause serious sequelae, including serious urinary tract infections as the case we
      present here shows. This is why it is important to early diagnose and treat this
      condition. CONCLUSION: This case highlights the importance of early introduction
      of imaging in patients presenting with severe urinary tract infections. Failure
      to diagnose this lesion as the underlying cause of infection may have easily led
      to recurrence of similar severe life-threatening infections.

PMID- 27621103
TI  - Preclinical voluntary drinking models for alcohol abstinence-induced affective
      disturbances in mice.
AB  - Negative reinforcement is widely thought to play an important role in chronic
      alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), and high comorbidity between AUDs and affective
      disorders highlights the importance of investigating this relationship. Prominent
      models posit that repeated cycles of alcohol (ethanol, EtOH) exposure and
      withdrawal produce circuit adaptations in the central nervous system that drive a
      transition from positive- to negative reinforcement-based alcohol seeking.
      Evidence supporting this theory has accumulated in large part using forced EtOH
      administration models, such as chronic intragastric gavage and chronic vapor
      inhalation. However, recent studies utilizing simple voluntary EtOH delivery
      systems show that forced abstinence from EtOH intake administered by the animal
      itself can produce evolving and significant affective disturbances, particularly
      in female C57BL/6J mice. Here, we highlight these recent studies to support the
      idea that voluntary EtOH administration in mouse models, as well as a protracted
      abstinence period and less commonly used behavioral tasks, could unveil affective
      disturbances during abstinence that have remained elusive using high dosage
      forced EtOH administration paradigms.

PMID- 27621102
TI  - Designing sugar mimetics: non-natural pyranosides as innovative chemical tools.
AB  - The importance of oligosaccharides in myriad biological processes is becoming
      increasingly clear. However, these carbohydrate-mediated processes are often
      challenging to dissect due to the often poor affinity, stability and selectivity
      of the oligosaccharides involved. To circumvent these issues, non-natural
      carbohydrates-carbohydrate mimics-are being designed as innovative tools to
      modify biomolecules of interest or to understand biological pathways using
      fluorescence microscopy, X-ray or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).
      This review focuses on key examples of recently developed non-natural sugars to
      answer specific biological needs.

PMID- 27621105
TI  - Analysis of semen parameters in a young cohort of cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infertility can be the result of some common cancer treatments and
      can significantly impact quality of life. Semen cryopreservation allows for
      fertility preservation. We analyzed the semen parameters of specimens collected
      from pubertal males from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in order
      to expand current knowledge on the quality of these specimens and inform a
      standard clinical practice. PROCEDURE: Males who were at least Tanner stage III
      and newly diagnosed with cancer at CHOP were approached regarding sperm banking.
      The success and quality of the samples collected were analyzed and compared in
      relation to prior treatment, age, and diagnosis. RESULTS: From 399 patients
      approached for semen collection, 339 (85%) attempted to bank sperm, of which 265
      (78%) were successful and 60 (15%) refused to participate. Therapy prior to sperm
      banking significantly impacted a successful collection (P < 0.01). Only 16.9% of
      the untreated patients were azoospermic, whereas 84.0% of the treated subjects
      were azoospermic. Older patients were less likely to be azoospermic and have a
      greater quality collection when compared with younger patients (P < 0.01).
      However, 65% of our youngest patients still were able to cryopreserve semen.
      There was no difference in azoospermia across diagnostic groups (P = 0.35),
      though there were differences in quality of semen parameters across diagnoses.
      CONCLUSION: Our data support that sperm banking pubertal males prior to the
      initiation of therapy is feasible. While there were differences in quality of
      semen parameters across age and diagnostic groups, most males, regardless of age
      or diagnosis, had adequate specimens for cryopreservation.

PMID- 27621104
TI  - Social cognition in Intermittent Explosive Disorder and aggression.
AB  - Social-emotional information processing (SEIP) was assessed in individuals with
      current DSM-5 Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED: n = 100) and in healthy (n =
      100) and psychiatric (n = 100) controls using a recently developed and validated
      self-rated questionnaire. SEIP vignettes depicted both direct aggressive and
      relationally aggressive scenarios of a socially ambiguous nature and were
      followed by questions assessing subjects' reactions and judgments about the
      vignettes. IED subjects differed from both healthy and psychiatric controls in
      all SEIP components. While hostile attribution was highly related to history of
      aggression, it was also directly correlated with negative emotional response.
      Further analysis revealed that this component, as well as response valuation and
      response efficiency, rather than hostile attribution, best explained history of
      aggressive behavior. A reformulated SEIP model, including self-reported history
      of childhood trauma, found that negative emotional response and response
      efficiency were the critical correlates for history of aggressive behavior.
      Psychosocial interventions of aggressive behavior in IED subjects may do well to
      include elements that work to reduce the emotional response to social threat and
      that work to restructure social cognition so that the tendency towards overt, or
      relationally, aggressive responding is reduced.

PMID- 27621106
TI  - Granulocyte-augmented chemokine production induced by type II collagen containing
      immune complexes is mediated via TLR4 in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with early elevations of antibodies against
      collagen type II (CII) have a distinct acute onset phenotype, associated with
      cytokine induction by surface-bound anti-CII-containing immune complexes (ICs)
      and high C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).
      Polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMNs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs) are abundant in the vicinity of CII in RA joints, and both PMN and PBMC
      reactivity against anti-CII IC individually relate to early joint destruction and
      early elevation of CRP and ESR in RA. We searched for CII-dependent mechanisms
      that might attract PMNs and PBMCs to RA joints. Human PBMCs and PMNs were
      stimulated with anti-CII ICs and control ICs, either individually or in
      cocultures. Cocultured PMNs and PBMCs stimulated with anti-CII ICs
      synergistically augmented production of the chemokines CXCL8, RANTES and MCP-1,
      whereas downregulation was seen with control IC. This upregulation was unique to
      chemokines, as TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and GM-CSF were downregulated in anti-CII IC
      stimulated cocultures. The coculture-associated chemokine upregulation depended
      on endogenous TLR4 ligand(s) and functionally active PMN enzymes, and was
      partially mediated by GM-CSF. As anti-CII levels peak around the time of RA
      diagnosis, this mechanism can attract inflammatory cells to joints in early RA
      and intensify the anti-CII-associated acute onset RA phenotype.

PMID- 27621108
TI  - Mild pituitary phenotype in 3- and 12-month-old Aip-deficient male mice.
AB  - Germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP)
      gene predispose humans to pituitary adenomas, particularly of the somatotroph
      lineage. Mice with global heterozygous inactivation of Aip (Aip(+/-)) also
      develop pituitary adenomas but differ from AIP-mutated patients by the high
      penetrance of pituitary disease. The endocrine phenotype of these mice is
      unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the endocrine phenotype of Aip(+/
      ) mice by assessing the somatic growth, ultradian pattern of GH secretion and
      IGF1 concentrations of longitudinally followed male mice at 3 and 12 months of
      age. As the early stages of pituitary tumorigenesis are controversial, we also
      studied the pituitary histology and somatotroph cell proliferation in these mice.
      Aip(+/-) mice did not develop gigantism but exhibited a leaner phenotype than
      wild-type mice. Analysis of GH pulsatility by deconvolution in 12-month-old
      Aip(+/-) mice showed a mild increase in total GH secretion, a conserved GH
      pulsatility pattern, but a normal IGF1 concentration. No pituitary adenomas were
      detected up to 12 months of age. An increased ex vivo response to GHRH of
      pituitary explants from 3-month-old Aip(+/-) mice, together with areas of
      enlarged acini identified on reticulin staining in the pituitary of some Aip(+/-)
      mice, was suggestive of somatotroph hyperplasia. Global heterozygous Aip
      deficiency in mice is accompanied by subtle increase in GH secretion, which does
      not result in gigantism. The absence of pituitary adenomas in 12-month-old Aip(+/
      ) mice in our experimental conditions demonstrates the important phenotypic
      variability of this congenic mouse model.

PMID- 27621107
TI  - Metformin Effect on Nontargeted Metabolite Profiles in Patients With Type 2
      Diabetes and in Multiple Murine Tissues.
AB  - Metformin is the first-line oral medication to increase insulin sensitivity in
      patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Our aim was to investigate the pleiotropic
      effect of metformin using a nontargeted metabolomics approach. We analyzed 353
      metabolites in fasting serum samples of the population-based human KORA
      (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg) follow-up survey 4
      cohort. To compare T2D patients treated with metformin (mt-T2D, n = 74) and those
      without antidiabetes medication (ndt-T2D, n = 115), we used multivariable linear
      regression models in a cross-sectional study. We applied a generalized estimating
      equation to confirm the initial findings in longitudinal samples of 683 KORA
      participants. In a translational approach, we used murine plasma, liver, skeletal
      muscle, and epididymal adipose tissue samples from metformin-treated db/db mice
      to further corroborate our findings from the human study. We identified two
      metabolites significantly (P < 1.42E-04) associated with metformin treatment.
      Citrulline showed lower relative concentrations and an unknown metabolite X-21365
      showed higher relative concentrations in human serum when comparing mt-T2D with
      ndt-T2D. Citrulline was confirmed to be significantly (P < 2.96E-04) decreased at
      7-year follow-up in patients who started metformin treatment. In mice, we
      validated significantly (P < 4.52E-07) lower citrulline values in plasma,
      skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue of metformin-treated animals but not in their
      liver. The lowered values of citrulline we observed by using a nontargeted
      approach most likely resulted from the pleiotropic effect of metformin on the
      interlocked urea and nitric oxide cycle. The translational data derived from
      multiple murine tissues corroborated and complemented the findings from the human
      cohort.

PMID- 27621109
TI  - Reproducible Ultrahigh SERS Enhancement in Single Deterministic Hotspots Using
      Nanosphere-Plane Antennas Under Radially Polarized Excitation.
AB  - Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in a nanometer size hotspot has
      empowered the investigation of chemical structures and dynamic behaviors of one
      and a few molecules. However, further advancement is hindered by lack of large
      enough yet reproducible enhancement in single deterministic hotspots. To resolve
      this problem, here we introduce a nanosphere-plane antenna under radially
      polarized laser excitation experiment, which provides an electromagnetic
      enhancement of 10(9~10) at the gap of each individual nanosphere-plane antenna
      and a root-mean-square error down to 10(0.08) between them. The experiment also
      reveals a nonlinear SERS behavior with less than one plasmon, which is also
      observed within a single hotspot. The unprecedented simultaneous achievement of
      ultrahigh enhancement and reproducibility in deterministic individual hotspots is
      attributed to the combination of a well-controlled hotspot geometry, the
      efficient coupling between vertical antenna and laser which produces orders of
      magnitude higher enhancement than previous excitation methods, and low power
      operation which is critical for high reproducibility. Our method opens a path for
      systematic studies on single and few molecule SERS and their surface chemistry in
      an in-situ and well-controlled manner.

PMID- 27621110
TI  - Respiratory pathogen colonization of dental plaque, the lower airways, and
      endotracheal tube biofilms during mechanical ventilation.
AB  - PURPOSE: In mechanically ventilated patients, the endotracheal tube is an
      essential interface between the patient and ventilator, but inadvertently, it
      also facilitates the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) by
      subverting pulmonary host defenses. A number of investigations suggest that
      bacteria colonizing the oral cavity may be important in the etiology of VAP. The
      present study evaluated microbial changes that occurred in dental plaque and
      lower airways of 107 critically ill mechanically ventilated patients. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Dental plaque and lower airways fluid was collected during the
      course of mechanical ventilation, with additional samples of dental plaque
      obtained during the entirety of patients' hospital stay. RESULTS: A "microbial
      shift" occurred in dental plaque, with colonization by potential VAP pathogens,
      namely, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 35 patients. Post
      extubation analyses revealed that 70% and 55% of patients whose dental plaque
      included S aureus and P aeruginosa, respectively, reverted back to having a
      predominantly normal oral microbiota. Respiratory pathogens were also isolated
      from the lower airways and within the endotracheal tube biofilms. CONCLUSIONS: To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study to date exploring oral
      microbial changes during both mechanical ventilation and after recovery from
      critical illness. Based on these findings, it was apparent that during mechanical
      ventilation, dental plaque represents a source of potential VAP pathogens.

PMID- 27621111
TI  - Relevance of serum sclerostin concentrations in critically ill patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sclerostin is a negative regulator of bone metabolism and associated
      with chronic morbidities. We investigated circulating sclerostin in critically
      ill patients. METHODS: A total of 264 patients (170 with sepsis) were studied
      prospectively upon admission to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) and on day
      7. Patients' survival was followed for up to 3 years. RESULTS: Sclerostin serum
      levels were significantly elevated in critically ill patients at ICU admission
      compared with 99 healthy controls. Unlike in healthy controls, sclerostin did not
      depend on sex or age of ICU patients. Sclerostin was associated with disease
      severity, independent of the presence of sepsis. Sclerostin levels increased
      during the first week of treatment at the ICU but were not a predictor of
      mortality. Sclerostin was elevated in patients with preexisting chronic kidney
      disease or liver cirrhosis, but was not related to diabetes, obesity, or
      cardiovascular disease. Circulating sclerostin in ICU patients correlated with
      biomarkers reflecting renal, hepatic and cardiac dysfunction, and biomarkers
      reflecting bone metabolism. CONCLUSION: Serum sclerostin concentrations are
      significantly elevated in critically ill patients, linked to renal or hepatic
      organ failure, and associated with bone resorption markers, supporting its value
      as a potential tool for the assessment of ICU-related metabolic bone disease.

PMID- 27621112
TI  - Nutritional risk assessment and cultural validation of the modified NUTRIC score
      in critically ill patients-A multicenter prospective cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Characterize the nutritional risk of critically ill patients with the
      modified NUTrition Risk in the Critically ill (NUTRIC) score. MATERIALS:
      National, multicenter, prospective, observational study conducted in 15
      polyvalent Portuguese intensive care unit (ICU), during 6 months. Adult patients
      were eligible. Those transferred from another ICU or readmitted, brain dead at
      admission, and with length of ICU stay (LOS) of 72 hours or less were excluded.
      NUTRIC score was calculated at admission; scores >=5 represent a high nutritional
      risk. Main outcome was mortality from all causes at 28 days after admission to
      the ICU; LOS and days without mechanical ventilation (days free of MV) were
      secondary outcomes. RESULTS: From 2061 admissions, 1143 patients were considered,
      mostly males (n = 744, 64.7%) with median (P25-P75) age of 64 (51-75). Patients
      at high nutritional risk were 555 (48.6%). High NUTRIC score was associated with
      longer LOS (P < .001), less days free of MV (P = .002) and higher 28-day
      mortality (P < .001). The area under the curve of NUTRIC score >=5 for predicting
      28-day mortality was 0.658 (95% CI, 0.620-0.696). NUTRIC score >=5 had a positive
      predictive value 32.7% and a negative predictive value 88.8% for 28-day
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Almost half of the patients in Portuguese ICUs are at
      high nutritional risk. NUTRIC score was strongly associated with main clinical
      outcomes.

PMID- 27621114
TI  - Congratulatory remarks from Wiley, the publishing partner of Integrative Zoology.

PMID- 27621113
TI  - Selective Hydrogenation of Acrolein Over Pd Model Catalysts: Temperature and
      Particle-Size Effects.
AB  - The selectivity in the hydrogenation of acrolein over Fe3 O4 -supported Pd
      nanoparticles has been investigated as a function of nanoparticle size in the 220
      270 K temperature range. While Pd(111) shows nearly 100 % selectivity towards the
      desired hydrogenation of the C=O bond to produce propenol, Pd nanoparticles were
      found to be much less selective towards this product. In situ detection of
      surface species by using IR-reflection absorption spectroscopy shows that the
      selectivity towards propenol critically depends on the formation of an oxopropyl
      spectator species. While an overlayer of oxopropyl species is effectively formed
      on Pd(111) turning the surface highly selective for propenol formation, this
      process is strongly hindered on Pd nanoparticles by acrolein decomposition
      resulting in CO formation. We show that the extent of acrolein decomposition can
      be tuned by varying the particle size and the reaction temperature. As a result,
      significant production of propenol is observed over 12 nm Pd nanoparticles at 250
      K, while smaller (4 and 7 nm) nanoparticles did not produce propenol at any of
      the temperatures investigated. The possible origin of particle-size dependence of
      propenol formation is discussed. This work demonstrates that the selectivity in
      the hydrogenation of acrolein is controlled by the relative rates of acrolein
      partial hydrogenation to oxopropyl surface species and of acrolein decomposition,
      which has significant implications for rational catalyst design.

PMID- 27621115
TI  - Pretreatment of Addra gazelle (Nanger dama ruficollis) spermatozoa with
      cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrins improves cryosurvival.
AB  - Preserving genetic diversity of the critically endangered Addra gazelle (Nanger
      dama ruficollis) could be enhanced through the use of frozen-thawed sperm and
      artificial insemination. Our aim was to characterize Addra ejaculate traits and
      to assess the effects of cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrin (CLC) on sperm
      cryosurvival. Fresh ejaculates were treated with CLC (0, 0.5, 1.5, 3.0, and 6.0
      mg/ml) prior to cryopreservation. All males produced spermic ejaculates with >75%
      sperm motility. The mean +/- SEM seminal volume, sperm concentration, percent
      motility, forward progression, and percent morphologically normal spermatozoa
      were 3.2 +/- 0.3 ml, 1.2 +/- 0.3 * 109, 75.82 +/- 2.7%, 3.2 +/- 0.3 (0-5 scale; 5
      = most progressive), and 57.12 +/- 3.8%, respectively. More than 92% contained an
      intact acrosome. There was no effect of time or in vitro incubation on
      progression or acrosomal integrity on thawed samples (P > 0.05). Spermatozoa pre
      treated with 0.5 mg/ml CLC retained higher (P < 0.05) motility post-thaw than
      aliquots treated with 0, 3.0, or 6.0 mg/ml of CLC. Spermatozoa pre-treated with
      0.5, 1.5, or 3.0 mg/ml CLC exhibited greater viability than counterparts (P <
      0.05). Sperm kinetics including beat cross frequency (BCF), average path velocity
      (VAP), curvilinear velocity (VCL), and straight line velocity (VSL) did not
      differ among samples (P > 0.05). Linearity (LIN) and straightness (STR) were
      different among samples after thawing. Results demonstrate treatment with CLC
      (0.5 mg/ml) protects Addra spermatozoa from cryo-damage. Reported advances will
      facilitate establishment of a frozen repository and support the genetic
      management of this critically endangered north African desert antelope.

PMID- 27621116
TI  - On the road to epigenetic therapy.
AB  - In this issue of the Biomedical Journal, we examine how far the explosion of
      epigenetic studies in recent years has translated to benefits for patients in the
      clinic, and we highlight an original study suggesting that increased vegetable
      intake protects against osteoporotic fractures. We also hear several opinions on
      the use, or perhaps misuse, of Impact Factor and what the future should hold for
      this publication metric. 

PMID- 27621117
TI  - Great expectations - Epigenetics and the meandering path from bench to bedside.
AB  - Making quick promises of major biomedical breakthroughs based on exciting
      discoveries at the bench is tempting. But the meandering path from fundamental
      science to life-saving clinical applications can be fraught with many hurdles.
      Epigenetics, the study of potentially heritable changes of gene function without
      modification of the underlying DNA sequence, has dominated the biological
      research field during the last decade and encountered a large public success.
      Driven by the unfolding of molecular biology and recent technological progress,
      the term has evolved significantly and shifted from a conceptual framework to a
      mechanistic understanding. This shift was accompanied by much hype and raised
      high hopes that epigenetics might hold both the key to deciphering the molecular
      underpinning of complex, non-Mendelian diseases and offer novel therapeutic
      approaches for a large panel of pathologies. However, while exciting reports of
      biological phenomena involving DNA methylation and histone modifications fill up
      the scientific literature, the realistic clinical applications of epigenetic
      medicines remain somewhat blurry. Here, we discuss the state of the art and
      speculate how epigenetics might contribute to prognostic and therapy approaches
      in the future. 

PMID- 27621118
TI  - Spectrum of neurosurgeon's role in epilepsy surgery.
AB  - It is well known that there is high quality evidence of epilepsy surgery as an
      effective and safe option for patients with drug refractory epilepsy by advanced
      imaging technology and computerized electrophysiological facilities during recent
      three decades. However, it still remains debate regarding necessities of epilepsy
      surgery in terms of less satisfactory surgical outcome, especially in non
      lesional neocortical epilepsies. This review is for the role of epileptic
      neurosurgeon rather than the role of epilepsy surgery, namely, the necessity of
      neurosurgeon's positive participation starting from the first visit of epilepsy
      patients followed by pertaining process by stages and its degree of contribution.
      All experienced epilepsy centers also need innovative or challenging trial
      absolutely through this kind of standpoint, because all of the present protocols
      and techniques are coming from the past. In any event, the interdepartmental and
      interpersonal cooperation is inevitable especially for improving patient's
      quality of life. Serious neurosurgical considerations are needed for patients
      with intractable epilepsies, especially in referred cases from other center for
      the purpose of double check, and incongruent cases with contrary opinions by
      epileptologist. 

PMID- 27621119
TI  - Alternative functions for the multifarious inflammasome.
AB  - The inflammasome has been mainly studied in innate immune cells in which it
      senses microbes and cellular damage, and induces secretion of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines. This process induces an inflammatory response that is critical for the
      resolution of infections and repair of tissue damage following injury. Recent
      studies indicate that inflammasome complex formation also participates in many
      other cellular and physiological processes beyond modulation of inflammation,
      such as autophagy, metabolism, eicosanoids production, and phagosome maturation. 

PMID- 27621120
TI  - A clinical score to predict dose reductions of antidiabetes medications with
      intentional weight loss: A retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assessed the predictive accuracy of an empirically-derived score
      (weight loss, insulin resistance, and glycemic control: "WIG") to predict
      patients who will be successful in reducing diabetes mellitus (DM) medication use
      with weight loss. METHODS: Case records of 121 overweight and obese patients with
      DM at two outpatient weight management centers were analyzed. RESULTS: Mean
      period of follow-up was 12.5 +/- 3.5 months. To derive the "WIG" scoring
      algorithm, one point each was assigned to "W" (loss of 5% of initial body weight
      within the first 3 months of attempting weight loss), "I" (triglyceride
      [TGL]/highdensity lipoprotein ratio >3 [marker of insulin resistance] at
      baseline), and "G" (glycosylated hemoglobin [A1c%] >8.5 at baseline). WIG score
      showed moderate accuracy in discriminating anti-DM dose reductions at baseline,
      and after 3 months of weight loss efforts (likelihood ratios [LR] + >1, LR- <1,
      and area under the curve >0.7), and demonstrated good reproducibility.
      CONCLUSIONS: WIG score shows promise as a tool to predict success with dose
      reductions of antidiabetes medications.

PMID- 27621121
TI  - Incidence and risk factors of poststroke depression in patients with acute
      ischemic stroke: A 1-year prospective study in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poststroke depression (PSD) is one of the most frequent and
      devastating neuropsychiatric consequences of stroke. The purpose of this study
      was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for PSD in a general hospital
      in Taiwan. METHODS: One hundred and one patients with ischemic stroke were
      enrolled initially, and 91 (90.1%) completed the 1-year study. Assessments were
      performed at baseline, and at the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th month after
      enrolment. The definition of PSD was in accordance with the diagnostic criteria
      of major depressive episode in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth
      edition (DSM-IV). RESULTS: The accumulated incidence rates of PSD at the 1st,
      3rd, 6th, and 9th, month were 4%, 8%, 9%, and 10%, respectively, and the overall
      incidence at 1 year was 11%. In multivariate regression analysis, female gender,
      higher depression score, and severity of stroke were significant risk factors. In
      subgroup analysis, a higher depression score was significantly associated with
      PSD, regardless of gender; however, stroke severity was a risk factor only in the
      female group. CONCLUSION: The 1-year incidence of PSD was 11%, based on the DSM
      IV diagnostic criteria. More attention should be paid to patients with more risk
      factors to enable earlier detection and intervention.

PMID- 27621122
TI  - A study of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis using computed tomographic
      imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the various bony changes in
      osteoarthritis (OA) of elderly patients who are suffering from temporomandibular
      joint dysfunction (TMD) and to find if all the changes manifesting in generalized
      OA were presented in temporomandibular joint (TMJ). METHODS: Thirty TMJs of
      fifteen elderly patients who were diagnosed with TMD were selected for the study.
      Patient with TMD were subjected to computerized tomographic (CT) imaging, and the
      various bony changes in the TMJ were recorded. RESULTS: CT study of TMJ showed
      that there is a positive evidence of joint involvement in 80% of the cases. In
      this study, female patients were more commonly affected by OA than the males. The
      condylar changes (69.93%) are more common than the changes in the articular
      eminence (6.6%) and condylar fossa (10%). About 56.6% of TMJ in the study was
      affected by the early manifestations of the OA. CONCLUSION: CT study showed that
      there is a positive evidence of TMJ involvement in the elderly patients with TMD.
      The results show that condylar changes are more common than the changes in the
      articular eminence and condylar fossa. The study also shows that most of the
      patients are affected by early TMJ OA; hence, initiating treatment at early
      stages may prevent the disease progression.

PMID- 27621123
TI  - A 2-year retrospective study of pediatric dental emergency visits at a hospital
      emergency center in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of information regarding pediatric dental
      emergencies in Taiwan. This study investigates the prevalence and characteristics
      of the pediatric dental emergency services provided at a medical center. METHODS:
      This study included a retrospective chart review of patients under 18 years of
      age with dental complaints who visited the Emergency Department (ED) of Linkou
      Medical Center of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from January 2012 to December
      2013. Information regarding age, gender, time/day/month of presentation,
      diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up was collected and analyzed. Statistical
      analysis included descriptive statistics and Pearson's Chi-square test with the
      significance level set as p < 0.05. RESULTS: This study revealed that dental
      emergencies in the medical center ED were predominantly related to orodental
      trauma (47.1%) and pulpal pain (29.9%). Most patients were male (p < 0.001) and
      <5 years of age (p < 0.001). The most frequent orodental trauma was luxation,
      both in primary and permanent dentition. The major management for dental
      emergencies was prescribing medication for pulp-related problems and orodental
      trauma. The follow-up rate of orodental trauma was the highest (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: For children, trauma and toothache constituted the most common
      reasons for dental emergency visits at a hospital emergency center in Taiwan.
      While dental emergencies are sometimes unforeseeable or unavoidable, developing
      community awareness about proper at-home care as well as regular dental
      preventive measures can potentially reduce the number of emergency visits.

PMID- 27621125
TI  - Psychobiotics: An emerging probiotic in psychiatric practice.
AB  - Intestinal microbial flora plays critical role in maintenance of health.
      Probiotic organisms have been recognized as an essential therapeutic component in
      the treatment of intestinal dysbiosis. Current research suggests their health
      benefits extends beyond intestinal disorders. The neuroactive molecules produced
      by the gut microbiota has been found to modulate neural signals which affect
      neurological and psychiatric parameters like sleep, appetite, mood and cognition.
      Use of these novel probiotics opens up the possibility of restructuring of
      intestinal microbiota for effective management of various psychiatric disorders. 

PMID- 27621126
TI  - Journal impact factor.

PMID- 27621124
TI  - Low vegetable intake increases the risk of fall-related fragility fracture in
      postmenopausal Taiwanese women, a prospective pilot study in the community.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the relationship
      between lifestyle factors including nutrition intake and the incidence of fall
      related fragility fractures in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A total of 1169
      female volunteers were recruited from participants at the morning health
      examinations held at each local public health center in the West Chiayi County of
      Taiwan at the beginning of the study. Laboratory examinations, anthropometric
      measurements, and questionnaire interviews inquiring about lifestyle factors,
      including weekly nutrition intake, were performed. Subsequently, four follow-up
      telephone interviews at intervals of about 6-12 months were performed to inquire
      about instances of falls and fractures. RESULTS: Nine hundred and fifty-three
      subjects responded at least once to the four telephone interviews, and there were
      183 postmenopausal women, with a mean age of 68.8 +/- 8.3 (49-87) years,
      reporting falls. Of the 183 women, 25 had incurred new fractures from low-energy
      impacts. Statistical analysis revealed that older age and hypertension were
      associated with increased risks of falling. Intake of other deep-colored (nondark
      green) vegetables and light-colored vegetables as well as total vegetable intake
      were associated with reduced risk of fall-related fragility fracture. CONCLUSION:
      Among postmenopausal women, older age and the presence of hypertension were
      associated with increased risks of falls. Increased vegetable intake might be
      helpful to reduce the incidence of fall-related fragility fractures.

PMID- 27621127
TI  - Impact factor impacting our scientific research - Probable solutions.

PMID- 27621128
TI  - Journal impact factor - Handle with care.

PMID- 27621129
TI  - A 4000-species dataset provides new insight into the evolution of ferns.
AB  - Ferns are the second-most diverse lineage of vascular plants on Earth, yet the
      best-sampled time-calibrated phylogeny of the group to date includes fewer than
      5% of global diversity and was published seven years ago. We present a time
      calibrated phylogeny that includes nearly half of extant fern diversity. Our
      results are evaluated in the context of previous studies and the fossil record,
      and we develop new hypotheses about the radiation of leptosporangiate ferns. We
      used sequence data from six chloroplast regions for nearly 4000 species of ferns
      to generate the most comprehensive phylogeny of the group ever published. We
      calibrate the phylogeny with twenty-six fossils and use an array of phylogenetic
      methods to resolve phylogenetic relationships, estimate divergence times, and
      infer speciation, extinction, and net diversification rates. We infer a mid-late
      Silurian origin for ferns (including horsetails) and an early Carboniferous
      origin for leptosporangiate ferns. Most derived fern families appeared in the
      Cretaceous and persisted for millions of years before rapidly diversifying in the
      Cenozoic. We find no evidence of differential rates of diversification among
      terrestrial and epiphytic species. Our findings challenge previous hypotheses on
      the evolutionary history of ferns and present a new paradigm for their Cenozoic
      radiation. We estimate earlier divergences for most fern lineages than were
      reported in previous studies and provide evidence of extended persistence of
      major fern lineages prior to rapid diversification in the last fifty million
      years.

PMID- 27621131
TI  - Characterization of a novel HLA-DRB1 allele, HLA-DRB1*13:215, in an Italian bone
      marrow donor.
AB  - One nucleotide substitution at residue 142 of the HLA-DRB1*13:01:01 results in a
      new allele, HLA-DRB1*13:215.

PMID- 27621132
TI  - Impacts of human-induced environmental disturbances on hybridization between two
      ecologically differentiated Californian oak species.
AB  - Natural hybridization, which can be involved in local adaptation and in
      speciation processes, has been linked to different sources of anthropogenic
      disturbance. Here, we use genotypic data to study range-wide patterns of genetic
      admixture between the serpentine-soil specialist leather oak (Quercus durata) and
      the widespread Californian scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia). First, we
      estimated hybridization rates and the direction of gene flow. Second, we tested
      the hypothesis that genetic admixture increases with different sources of
      environmental disturbance, namely anthropogenic destruction of natural habitats
      and wildfire frequency estimated from long-term records of fire occurrence. Our
      analyses indicate considerable rates of hybridization (> 25%), asymmetric gene
      flow from Q. durata into Q. berberidifolia, and a higher occurrence of hybrids in
      areas where both species live in close parapatry. In accordance with the
      environmental disturbance hypothesis, we found that genetic admixture increases
      with wildfire frequency, but we did not find a significant effect of other
      sources of human-induced habitat alteration (urbanization, land clearing for
      agriculture) or a suite of ecological factors (climate, elevation, soil type).
      Our findings highlight that wildfires constitute an important source of
      environmental disturbance, promoting hybridization between two ecologically well
      differentiated native species.

PMID- 27621130
TI  - Phylogeny of the most species-rich freshwater bivalve family (Bivalvia: Unionida:
      Unionidae): Defining modern subfamilies and tribes.
AB  - Freshwater mussels of the order Unionida are key elements of freshwater habitats
      and are responsible for important ecological functions and services.
      Unfortunately, these bivalves are among the most threatened freshwater taxa in
      the world. However, conservation planning and management are hindered by
      taxonomic problems and a lack of detailed ecological data. This highlights the
      urgent need for advances in the areas of systematics and evolutionary
      relationships within the Unionida. This study presents the most comprehensive
      phylogeny to date of the larger Unionida family, i.e., the Unionidae. The
      phylogeny is based on a combined dataset of 1032bp (COI+28S) of 70 species in 46
      genera, with 7 of this genera being sequenced for the first time. The resulting
      phylogeny divided the Unionidae into 6 supported subfamilies and 18 tribes, three
      of which are here named for the first time (i.e., Chamberlainiini nomen novum,
      Cristariini nomen novum and Lanceolariini nomen novum). Molecular analyses were
      complemented by investigations of selected morphological, anatomical and
      behavioral characters used in traditional phylogenetic studies. No single
      morphological, anatomical or behavioral character was diagnostic at the subfamily
      level and few were useful at the tribe level. However, within subfamilies, many
      tribes can be recognized based on a subset of these characters. The geographical
      distribution of each of the subfamilies and tribes is also presented. The present
      study provides important advances in the systematics of these extraordinary taxa
      with implications for future ecological and conservation studies.

PMID- 27621133
TI  - Enantioselective UFLC Determination of Hydroxyzine Enantiomers and Application to
      a Pharmacokinetic Study in Rabbits.
AB  - Hydroxyzine is the first generation H1 receptor antagonist drug that is now
      marketed as a racemic mixture. The paper describes a validated enantioselective
      liquid chromatography method for the resolution of hydroxyzine enantiomers and
      cyclizine (internal standard) from 200 uL of rabbit plasma by liquid-liquid
      extraction technique using n-hexane and isopropanol. Hydroxyzine enantiomers were
      resolved at 10.2 and 11.1 min with good baseline resolution (Rs = 1.9) on a Lux
      amylose-2 chiral column (250 mm * 4.0 mm, 5 microns) at ambient room temperature.
      The mobile phase consisted of n-hexane-ethanol-diethylamine (90:10:0.1 v/v/v)
      pumped at 0.9 mL/min. The eluted enantiomers were detected at 254 nm. The linear
      calibration curve was constructed in the range 20-1000 ng/mL for both the (S)-
      and (R)-enantiomers. The intra- and inter-day precision were 0.16-2.6% and 0.2
      1.92% for (S)-hydroxyzine and (R)-hydroxyzine, respectively. The method was
      successfully applied to determine the kinetic parameters of (S)- and (R)
      hydroxyzine enantiomers in rabbits. The results illustrate that the disposition
      of hydroxyzine enantiomers is not stereoselective in rabbits.

PMID- 27621135
TI  - Ion Exchange Chromatography-Indirect Ultraviolet Detection for Separation and
      Determination of Morpholinium Ionic Liquid Cations.
AB  - A rapid analytical method of ion exchange chromatography with indirect
      ultraviolet detection was developed to determine morpholinium ionic liquid (IL)
      cations, i.e. N-methyl-N-ethyl morpholinium cation ([MEMo]+) and N-methyl-N
      propyl morpholinium cation ([MPMo]+). Chromatographic separation of morpholinium
      cations was performed on a sulfonic acid base cation exchange column using
      imidazolium ionic liquid-organic solvent as mobile phase. The effects of
      chromatographic columns, ultraviolet absorption reagents, imidazolium ILs,
      detection wavelength, organic solvents, pH values of the mobile phase and column
      temperature on the retention of morpholinium cations were investigated. The
      retention times of the cations were clearly decreased by the increase of the
      alkyl substituent length on imidazolium cation or with the increase of the
      concentration of 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate. The molecular
      structure of the anion of imidazolium IL which has UV absorption has influence on
      determination of the analytes. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits
      (signal-to-noise ratio, S/N = 3) were 0.29 and 0.44 mg L-1 The method has been
      successfully applied to the determination of two ILs synthesized by chemistry
      laboratory. The method uses the liquid chromatography system, which is widely
      available in general laboratories, and the simple composition of mobile phase,
      thus make the quantitative analysis of no UV absorption morpholinium cations
      possible.

PMID- 27621134
TI  - Ultrasound-Assisted Surfactant-Enhanced Emulsification Micro-Extraction Followed
      by HPLC for Determination of Preservatives in Water, Beverages and Personal Care
      Products.
AB  - An ultrasound-assisted surfactant-enhanced emulsification micro-extraction
      (UASEME) procedure has been developed for pre-concentration of benzoic acid (BA)
      and paraben preservatives, including methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben
      and butylparaben, prior to high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet
      (HPLC-UV) analysis. Separations were performed on a Lichrospher RP-18 endcapped 5
      um, using an isocratic mobile phase of 40% acetonitile, at a flow rate of 1 mL
      min-1 The selected UASEME conditions comprised the use of 10 mL sample extract,
      125 uL 1-octanol as extraction solvent and 0.05 mmol L-1 Tween 20 as emulsifier,
      0.5% sodium chloride, ultrasonication time of 6 min and centrifugation time of 10
      min. Method performance demonstrated wide linear range between 0.5 and 7,000 ug L
      1 (R2 > 0.9903) and limits of detection between 0.03 and 10 ug L-1, which
      providing the enrichment factors of 15-184. The method precision (relative
      standard deviation) was <7%. The developed UASEME coupled with HPLC-UV has been
      successfully applied to determine four paraben preservatives in various sample
      matrices such as water, beverages and personal care products. The recoveries in
      the range of 70-138.1% were obtained. However, BA could not be determined in real
      sample extracts.

PMID- 27621136
TI  - Simultaneous Determination of Cromolyn Sodium Combined Dosage Forms Using
      Isocratic HPLC Method.
AB  - A simple and selective reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography
      method was developed for the estimation of cromolyn sodium (CRM) with either
      oxymetazoline hydrochloride (OMZ) or xylometazoline hydrochloride (XMZ) in their
      binary mixtures. The method is based on the simultaneous separation of each drug
      in a reversed-phase Waters symmetry(r) C18 column (250 mm * 4.6 mm intradermally,
      5-um particle size) at 25 degrees C. Elution was performed with a mobile phase
      consisting of methanol : 0.1 M phosphate buffer (60:40, v/v, pH 4.0).
      Quantitation was achieved with ultraviolet detection at 220 nm. The method could
      determine the three drugs, with linearity, in the range of 2.0-100.0 ug/mL for
      CRM and 0.8-8.0 ug/mL for OMZ and for XMZ. Aspirin was used as internal standard.
      Optimization of the separation in terms of mobile phase composition is critical
      to the method development, which is discussed in detail. The suggested procedure
      was successfully applied to the analysis of the studied drugs in their nasal
      preparations. Statistical evaluation of the data obtained by the proposed and
      comparison methods revealed good accuracy of the proposed method.

PMID- 27621137
TI  - HPLC Determination of Enantiomeric Purity for 1-Styrene-3-Hexyl Propynol.
AB  - A rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method was developed
      and validated for the determination of enantiomeric purity of 1-styrene-3-hexyl
      propynol. Baseline separation with resolution greater than 2.0 was achieved
      within 17 min on a CHIRALCEL OD-H (25 cm * 0.46 cm; particle size 5 MUm) column
      using n-hexane:isopropanol (95:5 v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL.min
      1 and 25 degrees C as column temperature. The analytes were detected by UV
      absorbance at 210 nm. The effects of column, composition of mobile phase,
      temperature and flow rate on the chromatography were investigated. The method was
      extensively validated and proved to be robust. The recoveries were in the range
      of 99.6-102.6% with relative standard ?deviation <0.32%. The limit of detection
      and limit of quantitation for (S)-1-styrene-3-hexyl propynol were 0.0041 and 0.22
      MUg.mL-1, and for (R)-1-styrene-3-hexyl propynol were 0.0036 and 0.19 MUg.mL-1,
      respectively. This method was proved to be accurate, stable, rapid and sensitive
      for the determination of enantiomeric purity of 1-styrene-3-hexyl propynol and
      its homologs.

PMID- 27621138
TI  - Development and Optimization of HPLC Analysis of Metronidazole, Diloxanide,
      Spiramycin and Cliquinol in Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms Using Experimental
      Design.
AB  - A new simple, sensitive, rapid and accurate gradient reversed-phase high
      performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector (RP-HPLC-DAD)
      was developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of Metronidazole (MNZ),
      Spiramycin (SPY), Diloxanidefuroate (DIX) and Cliquinol (CLQ) using statistical
      experimental design. Initially, a resolution V fractional factorial design was
      used in order to screen five independent factors: the column temperature (
      degrees C), pH, phosphate buffer concentration (mM), flow rate (ml/min) and the
      initial fraction of mobile phase B (%). pH, flow rate and initial fraction of
      mobile phase B were identified as significant, using analysis of variance. The
      optimum conditions of separation determined with the aid of central composite
      design were: (1) initial mobile phase concentration: phosphate buffer/methanol
      (50/50, v/v), (2) phosphate buffer concentration (50 mM), (3) pH (4.72), (4)
      column temperature 30 degrees C and (5) mobile phase flow rate (0.8 ml min-1).
      Excellent linearity was observed for all of the standard calibration curves, and
      the correlation coefficients were above 0.9999. Limits of detection for all of
      the analyzed compounds ranged between 0.02 and 0.11 MUg ml-1; limits of
      quantitation ranged between 0.06 and 0.33 MUg ml-1 The proposed method showed
      good prediction ability. The optimized method was validated according to ICH
      guidelines. Three commercially available tablets were analyzed showing good %
      recovery and %RSD.

PMID- 27621139
TI  - How bacterial pathogens use type III and type IV secretion systems to facilitate
      their transmission.
AB  - Work on type III or type IV secretion systems (T3SSs or T4SSs) is often focused
      on elucidating how these sophisticated bacterial virulence factors manipulate
      host cell physiology to cause disease. But to fully understand their role in
      pathogen biology, it is important to consider whether the morbidity or mortality
      they trigger is somehow linked to enhancing communicability of the microbe.
      Recent work on Salmonella enterica and Brucella abortus provide captivating
      examples of how manipulation of host cells with T3SSs or T4SSs instigates distant
      downstream consequences that promote spread of the pathogen. It is clear from
      these examples that T3SSs and T4SSs are ultimately transmission factors placed
      under selection by an incredibly complex series of events unfolding during host
      pathogen interaction.

PMID- 27621140
TI  - Brazilian guidelines on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in acute myeloid
      leukemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) accounts for 90% of all
      cases of acute leukemia in adults. In Brazil, the mortality from myeloid leukemia
      is 1.74/100 000 men and 1.37/100 000 women. Our aim was to review and update
      guidelines of the Brazilian Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation on indications
      of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for the treatment AML.
      CONCLUSIONS: (i) Allo-HSCT is recommended for high-risk AML (IA); (ii) allo-HSCT
      is recommended for AML of intermediate risk (IA); (iii) allo-HSCT is recommended
      for AML relapsed/refractory (C4); (iv) auto-HSCT is recommended for AML after 1
      consolidation (C4); (v) auto-HSCT is recommended for AML in CR1 (higher than QT
      in the Brazilian experience) (C4); (vi) auto-HSCT is accepted for AML M3 in
      second molecular complete remission (2B); (vii) peripheral blood instead of Bone
      Marrow HSC for advanced disease (2A); (viii) recommended conditioning protocols:
      Bu-Cy/Bu-Mel, Bu-Flu, TBI-Cy. In umbilical cord HSCT, consider ATG-based
      protocols (2A); (ix) allogeneic HSCT for the treatment of AML can be used in
      patients between 60 and 80 yr with good performance status and the absence of
      significant comorbidities (C4).

PMID- 27621142
TI  - Early Detection of Infusion Set Failure During Insulin Pump Therapy in Type 1
      Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insulin infusion set failure resulting in prolonged hyperglycemia or
      diabetic ketoacidosis can occur with pump therapy in type 1 diabetes. Set
      failures are frequently characterized by variable and unpredictable patterns of
      increasing glucose values despite increased insulin infusion. Early detection may
      minimize the risk of prolonged hyperglycemia, an important consideration for
      automated insulin delivery and closed-loop applications. METHODS: A novel
      algorithm designed to alert the patient to the onset of infusion set failure was
      developed based upon continuous glucose sensor values and insulin delivered from
      an insulin pump. The method was calibrated on 12 weeks of infusion set wear
      without failures recorded by 4 patients in ambulatory conditions and
      prospectively validated on 18 weeks of infusion set wear with and without
      failures belonging to 9 other subjects in ambulatory conditions. RESULTS: The
      algorithm, evaluated retrospectively, identified a failure 2.52 +/- 1.91 days
      ahead of the actual event as recorded by the clinical team, corresponding to 50%
      sensitivity, 66% specificity and 55% accuracy. If set failure alarms had been
      activated in real time, the average time >180 mg/dl would be reduced from 82.7 +/
      40.9 hours/week/subject (without alarm) to 58.8 +/- 31.1 hours/week/subject
      (with alarm), corresponding to a potential 29% reduction in time spent >180mg/dl.
      CONCLUSION: The proposed method for early detection of infusion set failure based
      on glucose sensor and insulin data demonstrated favorable results on
      retrospective data and may be implemented as an additional safeguard in a future
      fully automated closed-loop system.

PMID- 27621141
TI  - Do We Need Updated Guidelines on the Use of Insulin Pump Therapy in Type 2
      Diabetes? A Review of National and International Practice Guidelines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) is used less for type
      2 than for type 1 diabetes because of inconsistencies in evidence of
      effectiveness. We reviewed published guidelines on intensive insulin therapy in
      type 2 diabetes to assess whether updating of guidance is needed with respect to
      evidence used and recommendations for CSII in diabetes management. METHODS: A
      literature review was performed to identify published national and international
      guidelines on type 2 diabetes management. Searches were performed using PubMed,
      Cochrane Library, and Embase databases, and websites of national health care
      agencies, reimbursement agencies, and professional associations. Searches were
      limited to articles published in English between 2004 and 2014 and 1666 unique
      hits were identified, of which 22 were reviewed following screening. RESULTS:
      Only 6 of the 22 guidelines identified from North and South America, Western
      Europe, Greece, and Israel provided specific recommendations on intensive insulin
      therapy and the role of CSII, and only 1 provided information on the grade of
      evidence supporting recommendations. Quality appraisal based on the AGREE II tool
      suggested that published guidelines may have limitations in terms of search
      methodology and evidence grading, and findings were of mixed rigor and clarity.
      Only 3 guidelines described the population for whom CSII may be appropriate.
      CONCLUSIONS: Guidelines need to improve the evidence base, rigor, clarity, and
      grading of evidence associated with recommendations on intensive insulin therapy
      in type 2 diabetes. Future updates may benefit from considering recent evidence
      on the efficacy of CSII in poorly controlled patients on MDI.

PMID- 27621143
TI  - Exploration of the Performance of a Hybrid Closed Loop Insulin Delivery Algorithm
      That Includes Insulin Delivery Limits Designed to Protect Against Hypoglycemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoglycemia remains a risk for closed loop insulin delivery
      particularly following exercise or if the glucose sensor is inaccurate. The aim
      of this study was to test whether an algorithm that includes a limit to insulin
      delivery is effective at protecting against hypoglycemia under those
      circumstances. METHODS: An observational study on 8 participants with type 1
      diabetes was conducted, where a hybrid closed loop system (HCL) (MedtronicTM
      670G) was challenged with hypoglycemic stimuli: exercise and an overreading
      glucose sensor. RESULTS: There was no overnight or exercise-induced hypoglycemia
      during HCL insulin delivery. All daytime hypoglycemia was attributable to
      postmeal bolused insulin in those participants with a more aggressive
      carbohydrate factor. CONCLUSION: HCL systems rely on accurate carbohydrate ratios
      and carbohydrate counting to avoid hypoglycemia. The algorithm that was tested
      against moderate exercise and an overreading glucose sensor performed well in
      terms of hypoglycemia avoidance. Algorithm refinement continues in preparation
      for long-term outpatient trials.

PMID- 27621144
TI  - Use of an Integrated Tool for Interpretation of Blood Glucose Data Improves
      Correctness of Glycemic Risk Assessment in Individuals With Type 1 and Type 2
      Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Manufacturers now incorporate blood glucose (bG) value interpretation
      tools into their monitoring systems; however, usability of these support tools
      has not been well studied. We evaluated the utility and perceived benefits of
      support tool use by individuals with type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).
      METHODS: This 3-arm, randomized, simulation study assessed the impact of use of
      bG value interpretation support tools on participants' ability to correctly
      interpret bG values, using 1 of 3 tools: a new tool that uses colored scales with
      target range indicator (TRI), Colors and Smiley icons (already available).
      Participants assessed 50 bG values without use of any tool and repeated the
      assessment using 1 of the 3 tool configurations. Changes in percentage of correct
      responses when using a support tool and user perceptions were assessed. RESULTS:
      Data sets from 140 participants were analyzed. Increases in correct responses
      were seen in all study groups but most notably in the TRI group (26%, P < .001)
      versus the Colors (3%, P = .018) and Smiley icons (6%, P < .001) groups.
      Significant improvements in confidence were seen among TRI users ( P = .023) but
      not among other tool users ( P > .627). Most TRI users felt confident (94%),
      agreed the tool will help them identify high and low values (96%) and will help
      them to make correct insulin dosage decisions (80%). CONCLUSIONS: Use of the TRI
      significantly increases users' ability to correctly and confidently determine
      their glycemic risk when self-monitoring bG levels. This suggests the tool may
      offer clinical value to individuals with T1D and T2D.

PMID- 27621145
TI  - The hunt for the molecular mechanism of brown fat thermogenesis.
AB  - This review focuses on research that my colleagues and I carried out from 1972 to
      1986 that led to the identification of the original uncoupling protein and the
      development of the current model for the acute regulation of brown fat
      thermogenesis. An important consequence of the early stages of this research was
      the realization that brown fat mitochondria demonstrated the key principles of
      Peter Mitchell's Chemiosmotic Hypothesis with exquisite precision and simplicity,
      that a regulatable proton conductance was necessary and sufficient to control
      respiration and hence thermogenesis, and that fatty acids provided not only the
      substrate for thermogenesis, but also acted as a self-regulating second (or
      third) messenger. These studies have provided the basis for 30 years of
      subsequent research by numerous groups into the structure and mechanism of UCP1,
      and its role in non-shivering thermogenesis in multiple species, including man.

PMID- 27621147
TI  - Does Medullary Versus Cortical Invasion of the Mandible Affect Prognosis in
      Patients With Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma?
AB  - PURPOSE: Whether mandibular involvement by oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)
      could be identified as a factor for cancer staging and prognosis prediction
      remains a subject of debate. In addition, the influence of different types of
      mandibular invasion (cortical or medullary invasion) on patients' prognosis
      remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review was to establish whether
      mandibular invasion or its subset should be considered an independent prognostic
      factor for patients with OSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The search for eligible
      studies was performed according to the predesigned inclusion criteria for a
      systematic review. Mandibular invasion and invasion depth were considered the
      primary and secondary predictor variables, respectively. The electronic search
      was performed using 12 databases. Manual searching covered 14 related journals
      and references of the included studies were scanned. The risk of bias assessment
      was evaluated by 2 reviewers using risk-of-bias assessment tools recommended by
      Saltaji et al (Angle Orthod 82:1115, 2012). Two reviewers extracted the data in
      duplicate. RevMan 5.2 was used for meta-analysis to assess the primary outcomes
      (disease-free survival and overall survival) and the secondary outcomes (2- and 5
      year survival rate and local control). RESULTS: Eighteen studies (total, 3,756
      participants) were included and used as the study sample. Among these included
      studies, 7 had an unclear risk of bias and the remaining showed a high risk. The
      results of the meta-analyses showed a significant relation between mandibular
      invasion and overall survival (P = .04) and, most importantly, that medullary
      involvement (P = .0001), but not cortical involvement (P = .66), could decrease
      overall survival. When focusing on disease-specific survival, mandibular
      medullary involvement predicted a poor disease-specific survival (P < .0001), but
      cortical involvement showed no effect (P = .66). CONCLUSION: This review showed
      that OSCC mandibular medullary invasion, and not mandibular invasion or
      mandibular cortical invasion, could be an independent prognostic factor for
      patients.

PMID- 27621146
TI  - Origins and early development of the concept that brown adipose tissue
      thermogenesis is linked to energy balance and obesity.
AB  - Brown adipose tissue (BAT) was identified as a thermogenic organ in 1961, and in
      1978 shown to be the major site of thermoregulatory non-shivering thermogenesis
      in rats acclimated to the cold. Investigations in the mid-late 1970s established
      the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation through a proton conductance pathway
      across the mitochondrial inner membrane as the mechanism for heat production in
      BAT, this being regulated by UCP1 which was first discovered as a 32,000 Mr cold
      inducible protein. These developments came when those concerned with nutritional
      energetics were proposing that thermogenesis is a significant factor in energy
      balance and the aetiology of obesity. A link with BAT was first demonstrated in
      obese ob/ob mice, which were shown to have decreased thermogenic activity in the
      tissue, and in rats exhibiting diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) during
      overfeeding on a cafeteria diet where an activation of brown fat was evident.
      These pioneering observations led to extensive studies on BAT in different animal
      models of obesity, both genetic (particularly ob/ob and db/db mice, fa/fa rats)
      and experimentally-induced. In each case, indices of BAT activity and capacity
      (mitochondrial content, GDP binding, amount of UCP1) indicated that the tissue
      plays a role in DIT and that obesity is characterised by reduced thermogenesis.
      Links between BAT and whole-body energetics were also made in physiological
      situations such as lactation and fasting. Studies in the 1980s also provided
      clear evidence for the presence of BAT in adult humans, particularly through the
      detection of UCP1, and its activation in patients with phaeochromocytoma.
      Interest in BAT in energetics and obesity waned by the 1990s; the current major
      renewal of interest has undoubtedly been contingent on the pioneering
      developments that emerged some 40 years ago.

PMID- 27621148
TI  - Yu's Technique: An Optimal Local Flap for Lower Lip Reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the authors' experience using
      the Yu flap, a rarely reported reconstructive technique that is an excellent
      method for lower lip reconstruction after sustaining large defects. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: An observational retrospective study was designed to record all patients
      from 2010 through 2015 who had any lower lip disease that required wide resection
      and subsequent lip reconstruction using local flaps. The sample was supplied from
      the operating room database of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
      at Rio Hortega University Hospital (Valladolid, Spain). Patients with lower lip
      injuries treated using reconstructive techniques other than the Yu technique were
      excluded from the study. RESULTS: Seventeen patients (15 men, 2 women; age range,
      41 to 91 yr) were treated by the Yu technique and the follow-up period was at
      least 9 months. Six left unilateral, 5 right unilateral, and 6 bilateral Yu flaps
      were performed during this period. No major complications occurred during follow
      up. Good functional and esthetic results were observed after surgery in most
      patients. CONCLUSION: Although the Yu technique is a seldom used reconstructive
      method, it is a straightforward technique based on local flaps that offers
      excellent results for medium and large lower lip defects.

PMID- 27621149
TI  - Intraglandular Transplantation of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells for the Alleviation
      of Irradiation-Induced Parotid Gland Damage in Miniature Pigs.
AB  - PURPOSE: In a previous study, the authors verified the protective efficacy of
      adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) on the prevention of salivary gland (SG)
      damage induced by irradiation in mice. As a critical step before implementation
      in clinical practice, the present study investigated the protective effect of
      ADSCs in a miniature pig SG model, because miniature pigs share many
      characteristics with humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Third-passage autologous
      ADSCs at a concentration of 4 * 106 cells/mL were transplanted by intraglandular
      injection into parotid glands (PGs) immediately after local irradiation at a
      single dose of 20 Gy. The injection process was repeated twice a week for 6
      consecutive weeks. At 12 weeks after irradiation, functional and histologic
      evaluations were performed by measuring salivary flow rate (SFR) and hematoxylin
      and eosin and periodic acid-Schiff staining. Immunohistochemical and transmission
      electron microscopic examinations also were conducted to evaluate amylase (AMY)
      production, microvessel density (MVD), and microstructural changes. RESULTS: The
      irradiated PGs showed remarkable decreases in SFR, AMY production, and MVD.
      However, transplantation of ADSCs alleviated irradiated PG morphology and
      function by preserving more functional acinar cells and increasing SFR and AMY
      production. In addition, greater MVD was observed in the ADSC-treated group than
      in the irradiated group. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that intraglandular
      transplantation of autologous ADSCs is an effective method to protect PGs against
      damage from irradiation in miniature pigs, which might have clinic application in
      the future.

PMID- 27621151
TI  - A Creative Helicobacter pylori Diagnosis Scheme Based on Multiple Genetic
      Analysis System: Qualification and Quantitation.

PMID- 27621152
TI  - Ruthenium-Catalyzed Modular Synthesis of Cyclic Tertiary Amines from Lactams.
AB  - Reported is the development of a novel catalytic cascade reaction facilitating
      the modular synthesis of cyclic tertiary amines from simple lactam substrates and
      secondary alcohols. Using a single molecular ruthenium-triphos catalyst in the
      presence of molecular hydrogen enabled the versatile formation of various amines
      in high yield with excellent selectivity. Extending the reaction system to using
      an alcohol as the hydrogen transfer reagent allowed the reduction of lactams
      without the need for molecular hydrogen.

PMID- 27621154
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27621150
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PF-05190457: The first oral ghrelin
      receptor inverse agonist to be profiled in healthy subjects.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of oral PF-05190457,
      an oral ghrelin receptor inverse agonist, in healthy adults. METHODS: Single
      (SAD) and multiple ascending dose (MAD) studies were randomised, placebo
      controlled, double-blind studies. Thirty-five healthy men (age 38.2 +/- 10.4
      years; body mass index 24.8 +/- 3.1 kg m-2 [mean +/- standard deviation])
      received >=1 dose (2, 10, 40 [divided], 50, 100, 150, and 300 [single or divided]
      mg) of PF-05190457 and/or placebo in the SAD. In the MAD study, 35 healthy men
      (age 39.7 +/- 10.1 years; body mass index 25.9 +/- 3.3 kg m-2 ) received >=1 dose
      (2, 10, 40 and 100 mg twice daily) of PF-05190457 and/or placebo daily for 2
      weeks. RESULTS: PF-05190457 absorption was rapid with a Tmax of 0.5-3 hours and a
      half-life between 8.2-9.8 hours. PF-05190457 dose-dependently blocked ghrelin (1
      pmol kg-1  min-1 )-induced growth hormone (GH) release with (mean [90% confidence
      interval]) 77% [63-85%] inhibition at 100 mg. PF-05190457 (150 mg) delayed
      gastric emptying lag time by 30% [7-58%] and half emptying time by 20% [7-35%]
      with a corresponding decrease in postprandial glucose by 9 mg dL-1 . The most
      frequent adverse event reported by 30 subjects at doses >=50 mg was somnolence.
      PF-05190457 plasma concentrations also increased heart rate up to 13.4 [4.8-58.2]
      beats min-1 and, similar to the effect on glucose and ghrelin-induced GH, was
      lost within 2 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: PF-05190457 is a well-tolerated first-in-class
      ghrelin receptor inverse agonist with acceptable pharmacokinetics for oral daily
      dosing. Blocking ghrelin receptors inhibits ghrelin-induced GH, and increases
      heart rate, effects that underwent tachyphylaxis with chronic dosing. PF
      051940457 has the potential to treat centrally-acting disorders such as insomnia.

PMID- 27621153
TI  - Predicting first fall in newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease: Insights from a
      fall-naive cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Falls are common and associated with reduced independence and
      mortality in Parkinson's disease. Previous research has been conducted on falls
      prevalent or advanced disease cohorts. OBJECTIVE: This study identifies risk
      factors for first fall for 36 months in a newly diagnosed, falls-naive cohort.
      METHODS: A total of 121 consecutive Parkinson's disease patients were recruited.
      Falls data were collected prospectively during 36 months from diagnosis via
      monthly falls diaries and telephone follow-up for 117 participants. Assessment
      comprised a comprehensive battery of clinical, gait, and cognitive measures.
      Significant predictors were identified from decision-tree analysis and survival
      analysis with time to first fall during 36 months as the dependent variable.
      FINDINGS: At baseline, 26 (22%) participants reported retrospective falls. At 36
      months, the remaining cohort (n = 91) comprised 47 fallers (52%) and 30 (33%)
      nonfallers and 14 (15%) participants with incomplete diaries. Fallers presented
      with a significantly higher disease severity, poorer ability to stand on one leg,
      slower gait speed, increased stance time variability, and higher swing time
      asymmetry. Median time to first fall was 847 days. Gait speed, stance time, and
      Hoehn & Yahr III stage emerged as significant predictors of first fall, hazard
      ratio 3.44 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58 to 7.48), 3.31(95% CI 1.40 to
      7.80), and 2.80 (95% CI 1.38 to 5.65), respectively. The hazard ratio for risk
      factors combined was 7.82 (CI 2.80 to 21.84). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that
      target gait deficit and postural control in early Parkinson's disease may limit
      the potential for first fall. (c) 2016 International Parkinson and Movement
      Disorder Society.

PMID- 27621155
TI  - Time to Do the Right Thing: End Fee-for-Service for Primary Care.

PMID- 27621156
TI  - Effects of New Funding Models for Patient-Centered Medical Homes on Primary Care
      Practice Finances and Services: Results of a Microsimulation Model.
AB  - PURPOSE: We assess the financial implications for primary care practices of
      participating in patient-centered medical home (PCMH) funding initiatives.
      METHODS: We estimated practices' changes in net revenue under 3 PCMH funding
      initiatives: increased fee-for-service (FFS) payments, traditional FFS with
      additional per-member-per-month (PMPM) payments, or traditional FFS with PMPM and
      pay-for-performance (P4P) payments. Net revenue estimates were based on a
      validated microsimulation model utilizing national practice surveys. Simulated
      practices reflecting the national range of practice size, location, and patient
      population were examined under several potential changes in clinical services:
      investments in patient tracking, communications, and quality improvement;
      increased support staff; altered visit templates to accommodate longer visits,
      telephone visits or electronic visits; and extended service delivery hours.
      RESULTS: Under the status quo of traditional FFS payments, clinics operate near
      their maximum estimated possible net revenue levels, suggesting they respond
      strongly to existing financial incentives. Practices gained substantial
      additional net annual revenue per full-time physician under PMPM or PMPM plus P4P
      payments ($113,300 per year, 95% CI, $28,500 to $198,200) but not under increased
      FFS payments (-$53,500, 95% CI, -$69,700 to -$37,200), after accounting for costs
      of meeting PCMH funding requirements. Expanding services beyond minimum required
      levels decreased net revenue, because traditional FFS revenues decreased.
      CONCLUSIONS: PCMH funding through PMPM payments could substantially improve
      practice finances but will not offer sufficient financial incentives to expand
      services beyond minimum requirements for PCMH funding.

PMID- 27621157
TI  - Discordance Between Drug Adherence as Reported by Patients and Drug Importance as
      Assessed by Physicians.
AB  - PURPOSE: Among patients on long-term medical therapy, we compared (1) patient and
      physician assessments of drug adherence and of drug importance and (2) drug
      adherence reported by patients with drug importance as assessed by their
      physicians. METHODS: We recruited to the study patients receiving at least 1 long
      term drug treatment from both hospital and ambulatory settings in France. We
      compared drug adherence reported by patients and drug importance assessed by
      physicians using Spearman correlation coefficients. Reasons for nonadherence were
      collected with open-ended questions and classified as intentional or
      unintentional. RESULTS: Between April and August 2014, we recruited 128 patients
      taking 498 drugs. Patients and physicians showed only weak agreement in their
      assessments of drug adherence (r = -0.25; 95% CI, -0.37 to -0.11) and drug
      importance (r = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.13). We did not find any correlation
      between physician-assessed drug importance and patient-reported drug adherence (r
      = -0.04; 95% CI, -0.14 to 0.06). In all, 94 (18.9%) of the drugs that physicians
      considered important were not correctly taken by patients. Patients intentionally
      did not adhere to 26 (48.1%) of the drugs for which they reported reasons for
      nonadherence. CONCLUSIONS: We found substantial discordance between patient and
      physician evaluations of drug adherence and drug importance. Nearly 20% of drugs
      considered important by physicians were not correctly taken by patients. These
      findings highlight the need for better patient-physician collaboration in drug
      treatment.

PMID- 27621158
TI  - Recommending Oral Probiotics to Reduce Winter Antibiotic Prescriptions in People
      With Asthma: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evidence from studies mainly in children has shown that orally
      administered probiotics may prevent respiratory tract infections and associated
      antibiotic use. We evaluated whether advice to take daily probiotics can reduce
      antibiotic prescribing for winter respiratory tract infections in people with
      asthma. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled, parallel-group pragmatic
      study for participants aged 5 years and older with asthma in a UK primary care
      setting. The intervention was a postal leaflet with advice to take daily
      probiotics from October 2013 to March 2014, compared with a standard winter
      advice leaflet. Primary outcome was the proportion of participants prescribed
      antibiotics for respiratory tract infections. RESULTS: There were 1,302
      participants randomly assigned to a control group (n = 650) or intervention group
      (n = 652). There was no significant difference in the primary outcome measure,
      with 27.7% receiving antibiotics in the intervention group and 26.9% receiving
      antibiotics in the control group (odds ratio = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.82-1.34). Uptake
      of probiotics was low, but outcomes were similar in those who accessed probiotics
      (adjusted odds ratio = 1.08; 95% CI, 0.69-1.69, compared with controls). We also
      found no evidence of an effect on respiratory tract infections or asthma
      exacerbations. CONCLUSIONS: In this pragmatic community-based trial in people
      with asthma, we found no evidence that advising use of winter probiotics reduces
      antibiotic prescribing.

PMID- 27621159
TI  - Primary Care Patient Experience with Naloxone Prescription.
AB  - PURPOSE: Notwithstanding a paucity of data, prescription of the opioid antagonist
      naloxone to patients prescribed opioids is increasingly recommended in opioid
      stewardship guidelines. The aim of this study was to evaluate chronic pain
      patients' attitudes toward being offered a naloxone prescription and their
      experience with naloxone. METHODS: We interviewed 60 patients who received
      naloxone prescriptions across 6 safety-net primary care clinics (10 patients per
      clinic) from October 2013 to October 2015. We used a standardized questionnaire
      to collect information on substance use, perception of personal overdose risk,
      history of overdose, and experiences with naloxone prescription, including
      initial reaction, barriers to filling the prescription, storage and use of
      naloxone, associated behavioral changes, and opinions about future prescribing.
      RESULTS: Respondents were demographically similar to all clinic patients
      receiving opioid prescriptions. Ninety percent had never previously received a
      naloxone prescription, 82% successfully filled a prescription for naloxone, and
      97% believed that patients prescribed opioids for pain should be offered
      naloxone. Most patients had a positive (57%) or neutral (22%) response to being
      offered naloxone, and 37% reported beneficial behavior changes after receiving
      the prescription; there were no harmful behavior changes reported. Although 37%
      had personally experienced an opioid-poisoning event (17% of which were described
      as bad reactions but consistent with an overdose) and 5% reported that the
      prescribed naloxone had been used on them, 77% estimated their risk of overdose
      as low. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care patients on opioids reported that receiving a
      prescription for naloxone was acceptable, the prescription reached patients who
      had not had access to naloxone, and having naloxone may be associated with
      beneficial changes in opioid use behaviors. Patients prescribed opioids may not
      interpret the terminology describing overdose to imply unintentional opioid
      poisoning.

PMID- 27621161
TI  - Hostility During Training: Historical Roots of Primary Care Disparagement.
AB  - PURPOSE: The environment during medical school has been shown to dissuade
      students from choosing primary care careers. The purpose of this study was (1) to
      explore how long-standing this hostility toward primary care is historically and
      (2) to understand the mechanisms through which the environment conveys
      disparagement of primary care to students. METHODS: The study is based on a
      qualitative analysis of 52 primary care physician oral histories. The data are
      from the Primary Care Oral History Collection, created by Fitzhugh Mullan and
      deposited in the National Library of Medicine. Transcripts were analyzed using
      qualitative data analysis and the constant comparative method. RESULTS:
      Respondents (63.5%) reported experiencing discouragement or disparagement about
      primary care, and this proportion remained fairly high through 5 decades.
      Findings indicate that hostility toward primary care operates through the culture
      and the structure of medical training, creating barriers to the portrayal of
      primary care as appealing and important. Support for primary care choice was
      uncommon but was reported by some respondents. CONCLUSION: The primary care
      shortage and primary care's unfavorable representation during medical training is
      a multifaceted problem. The evidence reported here shows that cultural and
      structural factors are critical components of the problem, and have existed for
      decades. For policy responses to be most effective in meeting the primary care
      workforce problem, they must address the presence and power of persistent
      hostility against primary care during training.

PMID- 27621160
TI  - Diagnostic Accuracy of Fecal Calprotectin for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel
      Disease in Primary Care: A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: In specialist care, fecal calprotectin (FCal) is a commonly used
      noninvasive diagnostic test for ruling out inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in
      children with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FCal for IBD in symptomatic children in
      primary care. METHODS: We studied 2 prospective cohorts of children with chronic
      diarrhea, recurrent abdominal pain, or both: children initially seen in primary
      care (primary care cohort) and children referred to specialist care (referred
      cohort). FCal (index test) was measured at baseline and compared with 1 of the 2
      reference standards for IBD: endoscopic assessment or 1-year follow-up.
      Physicians were blinded to FCal results, and values greater than 50 MUg/g feces
      were considered positive. We determined specificity in the primary care cohort
      and sensitivity in the referred cohort. RESULTS: None of the 114 children in the
      primary care cohort ultimately received a diagnosis of IBD. The specificity of
      FCal in the primary care cohort was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.80-0.92). Among the 90
      children in the referred cohort, 17 (19%) ultimately received a diagnosis of IBD.
      The sensitivity of FCal in the referred cohort was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.81-1.00).
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that a positive FCal result in
      children with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms seen in primary care is not
      likely to be indicative of IBD. A negative FCal result is likely to be a true
      negative, which safely rules out IBD in children in whom a primary care physician
      considers referral to specialist care.

PMID- 27621163
TI  - Family Physician Support for a Family With a Mentally Ill Member.
AB  - Mentally ill family members can have a formidable impact on the families in which
      they reside. Family physicians can intervene in powerful ways when they are
      sensitive to those who are mentally ill and their families and can provide much
      needed compassionate support.

PMID- 27621162
TI  - Nifedipine vs Placebo for Treatment of Chronic Chilblains: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Nifedipine is commonly prescribed for the treatment of chilblains
      (pernio, perniosis) on the basis of observational studies and a single small,
      older clinical trial. We aimed to confirm the proposed superiority of oral
      nifedipine 60 mg per day over placebo for treatment of chronic chilblains in
      primary care. METHODS: We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double
      blind, crossover trial, closely following the design of the older trial. A total
      of 32 patients with chronic chilblains were randomly assigned to nifedipine (30
      mg controlled release twice a day) or placebo. The primary outcome was patient
      reported complaints; the secondary outcome was patient-reported disability. Both
      were assessed from daily ratings on 100-mm visual analogue scales recorded in a
      diary. We took ambient temperatures into account and checked for a carry-over
      effect, and monitored for adverse effects. RESULTS: After 6 weeks of treatment,
      mean scores on the visual analogue scale on complaints showed a nonsignificant
      difference of 1.84 mm (95% CI, -6.67 to 2.99 mm) in favor of nifedipine (P =
      .44). Mean scores on the visual analogue scale on disability showed a
      nonsignificant difference of 0.56 mm (95% CI, -2.97 to 4.09 mm) in favor of
      placebo (P = .75). There was no carry-over effect of prior study treatment.
      Nifedipine was associated with significantly lower systolic blood pressure and a
      significantly higher incidence of edema. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, nifedipine
      was not superior to placebo for treating chronic chilblains. These findings
      contrast with those of the older study and do not support routine use of
      nifedipine for this condition.

PMID- 27621166
TI  - Hope.
AB  - A young woman in my care had 4 siblings diagnosed with mental illness. The story
      describes how, along normative family-cycle situations, she struggles to define
      and keep her sanity. I reflect on the shared anxiety of both the doctor and the
      patient of her losing her mind. As a family physician practicing in a small rural
      community, I believe that psychiatric, social, and family issues are also family
      medicine concerns.

PMID- 27621164
TI  - Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions for Postnatal Depression in Primary
      Care: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Postnatal depression affects 10% to 15% of new mothers, and
      approximately 90% of cases are managed in primary care. Antidepressants are
      effective, but adherence is poor; therefore, psychological interventions must be
      investigated. In this systematic review, we assessed the efficacy of
      psychological therapies for postnatal depression in primary care. METHODS: We
      undertook a systematic search to identify articles published in English between
      2000 and 2014 that reported studies meeting our eligibility criteria: (1) had a
      randomized controlled trial design; (2) assessed psychological interventions for
      postnatal depression against any other treatment or a wait-list control; (3)
      recruited patients in primary care; and (4) enrolled mothers with a diagnosed
      depressive episode or a score of at least 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal
      Depression Scale or at least 10 on the Beck Depression Inventory at baseline who
      had a child younger than 12 months. Quality was assessed using an adapted
      Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety, and Neurosis (CCDAN) quality rating
      scale, and meta-analysis was carried out using RevMan 5.3 (The Cochrane
      Collaboration). RESULTS: Screening of 5,919 articles identified 10 studies that
      met inclusion criteria. These studies reported on 14 psychological intervention
      arms: 7 using cognitive behavioral therapy, 2 using interpersonal therapy, 2
      using counseling, and 3 using other interventions. Psychological interventions
      resulted in lower depressive symptomatology than control both immediately after
      treatment (standardized mean difference = -0.38; 95% CI, -0.49 to -0.27) and at 6
      months of follow-up (standardized mean difference =-0.21; 95% CI, -0.37 to 
      0.05). We did not find any significant differences between the various types of
      therapy. Compared with control, the interventions also led to improvements in
      adjustment to parenthood, marital relationship, social support, stress, and
      anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological interventions deliverable in the primary care
      setting are associated with a significant improvement in depressive
      symptomatology both immediately after completion and for up to 6 months of follow
      up.

PMID- 27621165
TI  - Bipolar Disorder: A Daughter's Experience.
AB  - My father suffered from bipolar disorder. His illness placed an enormous strain
      on our relationship which, for the most part, was filled with turbulence.
      Although our family physician played an integral role in supporting my parents
      throughout the disease, I did not receive the same support and suffered as a
      consequence. In this essay, I describe my father's manic and major depressive
      episodes, as well as my emotions that resulted from the experience. Treating
      mental illness goes beyond just treating the patient but rather encompasses the
      family as a whole. My relationship with my father may have been different had I
      learned effective coping strategies through the support of my family physician.

PMID- 27621174
TI  - A new mosaic integrative and conjugative element from Streptococcus agalactiae
      carrying resistance genes for chloramphenicol (catQ) and macrolides [mef(I) and
      erm(TR)].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the genetic basis of catQ-mediated chloramphenicol
      resistance in Streptococcus agalactiae. METHODS: Two clinical strains of catQ
      positive chloramphenicol-resistant S. agalactiae (Sag236 and Sag403) were
      recently isolated, typed (MLST, PFGE pulsotypes, capsular types) and their
      antibiotic resistances investigated by phenotypic and genotypic approaches.
      Several molecular methods (PCR mapping, restriction assays, Southern blotting,
      sequencing and sequence analysis, conjugal transfer assays) were used to
      determine the genetic context of catQ and characterize a genetic element detected
      in the isolates. RESULTS: Sag236 and Sag403 shared the same ST (ST19), but
      exhibited a different capsular type (III and V, respectively) and pulsotype. Both
      harboured the macrolide resistance genes mef(I) and erm(TR) and the tetracycline
      resistance gene tet(M). Accordingly, they were resistant to chloramphenicol,
      erythromycin and tetracycline. catQ and mef(I) were associated in an IQ module
      that was indistinguishable in Sag236 and Sag403. In mating assays,
      chloramphenicol and erythromycin resistance proved transferable, at low
      frequency, only from Sag236. Transconjugants carried not only catQ and mef(I),
      but also erm(TR), suggesting a linkage of the three resistance genes in a mobile
      element, which, though seemingly non-mobile, was also detected in Sag403. The new
      element (designated ICESag236, ~110 kb) results from recombination of two
      integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) originally described in different
      streptococcal species: S. agalactiae ICESagTR7, carrying erm(TR); and
      Streptococcus pneumoniae ICESpn529IQ, carrying the prototype IQ module.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings strengthen the notion that widespread streptococcal
      ICEs may form mosaics that enhance their diversity and spread, broaden their host
      range and carry new cargo genes.

PMID- 27621175
TI  - Ciprofloxacin selects for RNA polymerase mutations with pleiotropic antibiotic
      resistance effects.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Resistance to the fluoroquinolone drug ciprofloxacin is commonly
      linked to mutations that alter the drug target or increase drug efflux via the
      major AcrAB-TolC transporter. Very little is known about other mutations that
      might also reduce susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. We discovered that an
      Escherichia coli strain experimentally evolved for resistance to ciprofloxacin
      had acquired a mutation in rpoB, the gene coding for the beta-subunit of RNA
      polymerase. The aim of this work was to determine whether this mutation, and
      other mutations in rpoB, contribute to ciprofloxacin resistance and, if so, by
      which mechanism. METHODS: Independent lineages of E. coli were evolved in the
      presence of ciprofloxacin and clones from endpoint cultures were screened for
      mutations in rpoB. Ciprofloxacin-selected rpoB mutations were identified and
      characterized in terms of effects on susceptibility and mode of action. RESULTS:
      Mutations in rpoB were selected at a high frequency in 3 out of 10 evolved
      lineages, in each case arising after the occurrence of mutations affecting
      topoisomerases and drug efflux. All ciprofloxacin-selected rpoB mutations had a
      high fitness cost in the absence of drug, but conferred a competitive advantage
      in the presence of ciprofloxacin. RNA sequencing and quantitative RT-PCR analysis
      showed that expression of mdtK, encoding a multidrug efflux transporter, was
      significantly increased by the ciprofloxacin-selected rpoB mutations. The
      susceptibility phenotype was shown to depend on the presence of an active mdtK
      and a mutant rpoB allele. CONCLUSIONS: These data identify mutations in RNA
      polymerase as novel contributors to the evolution of resistance to ciprofloxacin
      and show that the phenotype is mediated by increased MdtK-dependent drug efflux.

PMID- 27621177
TI  - Occurrence and characterization of blaNDM-5-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae
      isolates from dairy cows in Jiangsu, China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and the
      surrounding genetic structure of the blaNDM-5 gene in Klebsiella pneumoniae
      derived from dairy cows in Jiangsu Province, China. METHODS: Ten carbapenem
      resistant K. pneumoniae were collected from three dairy farms and were screened
      for the presence of carbapenemase genes using PCR and sequencing. PFGE and MLST
      were conducted to analyse the genetic relatedness of the blaNDM-5-harbouring K.
      pneumoniae isolates. The location of blaNDM-5 was identified by S1 nuclease-PFGE
      and Southern blotting. The transferability and profiles of blaNDM-5-carrying
      plasmids were analysed by conjugation experiments, and PCR-based replicon typing
      and RFLP, respectively. The surrounding genetic structure of the blaNDM-5 gene
      was obtained using WGS and PCR mapping. RESULTS: All 10 K. pneumoniae from dairy
      cows harboured the blaNDM-5 gene, exhibited resistance to multiple antimicrobials
      and belonged to five STs, of which ST1661 and ST2108 were the most prevalent. The
      blaNDM-5 gene was located on the ~46 kb IncX3 plasmid in all isolates and these
      plasmids could be conjugated to an Escherichia coli recipient with no additional
      resistance profiles transferred. All blaNDM-5-carrying plasmids shared similar
      genetic contexts and were nearly identical to that of the human K. pneumoniae
      plasmid (pNDM-MGR194) previously reported in India. CONCLUSIONS: This was the
      first case of blaNDM-5-positive K. pneumoniae identified from dairy cows in
      China. The IncX3 pNDM-MGR194-like plasmid disseminated among cow farms should be
      highlighted and its potential role in mediating transmission of the blaNDM gene
      between bacteria from humans and animals requires further monitoring.

PMID- 27621176
TI  - Isolation of seven distinct carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative organisms from
      a single patient.

PMID- 27621178
TI  - Delamanid susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using the
      resazurin microtitre assay and the BACTECTM MGITTM 960 system-authors' response.

PMID- 27621179
TI  - Clinical risk scores in the current era of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for
      colorectal liver metastases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical risk scores (CRS) within the context of neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) has not been validated. The
      predictive value of clinical risk scoring in patients administered neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy prior to liver surgery for CRLM is evaluated. METHODS: A prospective
      database over a 15-year period (April 1999 to March 2014) was analysed. We
      identified two groups: A, neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to CRLM surgery; and B,
      no neoadjuvant chemotherapy. RESULTS: Overall median survival in groups A and B
      were 36 (2-137) months and 33 (2-137) months. In group A, nodal status, size,
      number of metastases and carcinoembryonic antigen levels were not found to be
      independent predictors of overall survival (OS). However, patients with a shorter
      disease-free interval of less than 12 months had an increased OS (P = 0.0001).
      Multivariate analysis of high- and low-risk scores compared against survival in
      group B (P < 0.05) confirms the applicability of the scoring system in
      traditional settings. CONCLUSION: Traditional CRS are not a prognostic predictive
      tool when applied to patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for CRLM.
      Disease-free interval may be one independent variable for use in future risk
      score systems specifically developed for the neoadjuvant chemotherapy era.

PMID- 27621180
TI  - Metformin protects against infection-induced myocardial dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Metformin administration is associated with myocardial
      protection during ischemia and/or reperfusion, possibly via inhibition of
      inflammatory responses in the heart. Exposure to pathogens, in addition to the
      activation of the immune system and the associated metabolic dysfunction, often
      results in compromised myocardial function. We examined whether metformin
      administration could maintain the normal myocardial function in experimental
      moderate Gram negative infection, induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      administration. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: 129xC57BL/6 mice were divided into control
      groups that received either vehicle or a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection
      of low dose LPS (5mg/kg body wt), and metformin treated groups that received
      either daily metformin (4mg/kg/animal) i.p. injections for five days prior to LPS
      administration [Experiment 1], or a single metformin injection following same
      dose of LPS [Experiment 2]. KEY RESULTS: LPS alone caused cardiac dysfunction, as
      confirmed by echocardiography, whereas metformin administration, either before or
      after LPS, rescued myocardial function. LPS caused marked reduction of the
      cardiac metabolism-related genes tested, including Prkaa2, Cpt1b, Ppargc1a and
      Ppargc1b; reduction of fatty acid oxidation, as reflected by the regulation of
      Ppara, Acaca and Acacb; increased glucose transport, as shown by Slc2a4 levels;
      reduction of ATP synthesis; significant increase of inflammatory markers, in
      particular IL6; and reduction of autophagy. Pretreatment with metformin
      normalized the levels of all these factors. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We show
      for the first time that metformin protects the myocardium from LPS-associated
      myocardial dysfunction mainly by supporting its metabolic activity and allowing
      efficient energy utilization. Metformin can be a potential cardioprotective agent
      in individuals susceptible to exposure to pathogens.

PMID- 27621182
TI  - Regulation of the Ku70 and apoptosis-related proteins in experimental diabetic
      nephropathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apoptosis contributes nephropathy pathogenesis in diabetes. However,
      its mechanisms still remain unclear. We examined the extent to which the
      angiotensin-II type 1 receptor blocker (AT1RB) irbesartan and the angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) perindopril affected the apoptosis-related
      proteins Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, cytochrome-c and Ku70 in streptozotocin (STZ)
      diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Animals were divided into five groups of
      eight each, four of which received STZ (60mg/kg in a single dose, i.p.) to induce
      diabetes. The groups were performed as untreated diabetic; non-diabetic control;
      daily irbesartan (15mg/kg/day) or perindopril (6mg/kg/day) and also combined
      irbesartan and perindopril (respectively, 5mg/kg/day, 3mg/kg/day) were applied by
      gavage for 30days to STZ-diabetic rats. The kidney tissue analysis was performed
      by using immunohistochemical staining with Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, cytochrome-c
      and Ku70 antibodies and by using Western blot analysis with caspase-3 and
      cytochrome-c antibodies. RESULTS: Immunoreactivity of Bax, caspase-3, cytochrome
      c and Ku70 was increased in the tubuli and glomeruli of the untreated diabetic
      group, but decreased in all treated diabetic groups. In the irbesartan and
      perindopril treated diabetic groups Bcl-2 immunoreactivity was higher than that
      of the untreated diabetic group. Caspase-3 and cytoplasmic cytochrome-c protein
      levels increased in the untreated diabetic group. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that
      the increased expression of Bax and caspase-3, and the increased level of
      cytoplasmic cytochrome-c relate to renal tissue injury. This case is also seen in
      the early stages of diabetes as a result of the damage caused by local increased
      expression of renin angiotensin system (RAS) in the renal tissue, which is
      induced by hyperglycemia. The increase of the cytosolic cytochrome-c, caspase-3
      and Ku70 expression in the tubuli is suggestive of apoptosis. Overall, our
      results show that treatments of irbesartan and perindopril are effective and
      efficient in preventing renal tissue injury and apoptosis by blocking the RAS in
      experimental diabetic nephropathy and reducing the expression of proteins
      associated with apoptosis.

PMID- 27621181
TI  - Circulating follistatin displays a day-night rhythm and is associated with muscle
      mass and circulating leptin levels in healthy, young humans.
AB  - PURPOSE: Follistatin may affect lean and fat mass and be implicated in metabolic
      diseases. We aimed to elucidate physiological predictors of circulating
      follistatin variation in healthy young humans. PROCEDURES: This was an
      observational, cross-sectional study with two additional prospective
      observational arms (circadian, seasonal sub-studies) and one prospective
      interventional arm (mixed meal sub-study). Healthy, young individuals of both
      sexes (n=122) were subjected to anthropometric and body composition measurements
      and their eating and exercise behavior profiles were assessed by validated
      questionnaires. Sub-groups were subjected to standardized meal ingestion (n=36),
      day-night rhythm (n=20) and seasonal variation (n=20) studies. Main outcome of
      the study were circulating follistatin levels. RESULTS: At baseline follistatin
      levels were correlated with creatinine (r=0.24; p=0.01), creatine phosphokinase
      (rs=0.22; p=0.02), and with lean body mass (rs=0.19; p=0.04) and were higher in
      males than females (p=0.004) after adjustment for leptin, which was its major
      predictor. Follistatin levels showed a circadian (p<0.001), but not a seasonal,
      variation, and were also affected by the phase of menstrual cycle in females
      (p=0.034). Follistatin levels were not affected by dietary or exercise habits but
      levels increased after a standardized meal ingestion (250kcal) (p=0.002).
      CONCLUSIONS: In healthy young individuals circulating follistatin levels are
      correlated with muscle mass. Follistatin levels are associated with circulating
      leptin levels and display a day-night rhythm and a menstrual cycle, but not a
      seasonal, variation.

PMID- 27621183
TI  - BRD4 regulates fructose-inducible lipid accumulation-related genes in the mouse
      liver.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Fructose intake induces hepatic steatosis by activating fat synthesis.
      In this study, we searched for genes that showed acute induction in the livers of
      mice force-fed with fructose, and examined how this induction is regulated.
      MATERIALS/METHODS: We identified genes induced at 6h after the fructose force
      feeding using a microarray and quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Histone acetylation
      and an acetylated histone binding protein bromodomain containing (BRD)4 binding
      around the fructose-inducible genes were examined using a chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assay. We examined whether (+)-JQ1, an inhibitor of the
      binding between the BRD4 and acetylated histones, inhibited the expressions of
      fructose-inducible genes, histone acetylation and BRD4 binding around the genes.
      RESULTS: We identified upregulated genes related to lipid accumulation, such as
      Cyp8b1, Dak and Plin5, in mice force-fed with fructose compared with those force
      fed with glucose. Acetylation of histones H3 and H4, and BRD4 binding around the
      transcribed region of those fructose-inducible genes, were enhanced by fructose
      force-feeding. Meanwhile, (+)-JQ1 treatment reduced expressions of fructose
      inducible genes, histone acetylation and BRD4 binding around these genes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Acute induction of genes related to lipid accumulation in the livers
      of mice force-fed with fructose is associated with the induction of histone
      acetylation and BRD4 binding around these genes.

PMID- 27621185
TI  - Associations of fibroblast growth factor 23 with urate metabolism in patients
      with chronic kidney disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In patients with preserved kidney function, a positive association of
      fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) with serum uric acid (SUA) has been reported;
      however, the relationship in overall chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients has
      not been investigated. No report has examined the relationship between FGF23 and
      uric acid clearance (CUA). The aim of the present study was to determine whether
      FGF23 is independently associated with urate metabolism in patients with CKD
      stages 1-5. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 537 CKD
      patients were enrolled. SUA, CUA, FGF23, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and 1,25
      dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) were measured. Multivariable linear regression
      analysis was applied to determine independent factors associated with SUA or CUA.
      RESULTS: In all patients, both SUA and CUA were independently associated with
      male sex, use of diuretics, use of uric acid-lowering agents, estimated
      glomerular filtration rate, and log FGF23 (beta=0.29, P<0.01 for SUA; beta=-0.11,
      P<0.01 for CUA), but not with log PTH or log 1,25(OH)2D. Dyslipidemia and
      diabetes were also independent factors for SUA and CUA, respectively. In
      multivariable analyses by sex, log FGF23 was associated with SUA in both sexes
      (beta=0.32, P<0.01 in males vs. beta=0.20, P=0.02 in females). Conversely, log
      FGF23 was independently associated with CUA in males (beta=-0.15, P<0.01), but
      not in females (beta=-0.09, P=0.17). CONCLUSIONS: FGF23 was independently
      associated with urate metabolism in this population of CKD patients. FGF23 might
      also have a stronger association with urate metabolism in males compared with
      females.

PMID- 27621184
TI  - Longitudinal assessment of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and risk of
      diabetes in older adults: The cardiovascular health study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Natriuretic peptides have a well-recognized role in cardiovascular
      homeostasis. Recently, higher levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) have
      also been associated with decreased risk of diabetes in middle-aged adults.
      Whether this association persists into older age, where the pathophysiology of
      diabetes changes, has not been established, nor has its intermediate pathways.
      METHODS: We investigated the relationship between N-terminal (NT)-proBNP and
      incident diabetes in 2359 older adults free of cardiovascular disease or chronic
      kidney disease in the Cardiovascular Health Study. RESULTS: We documented 348
      incident cases of diabetes over 12.6years of median follow-up. After adjusting
      for age, sex, race, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, anti-hypertensive
      treatment, smoking, alcohol use, and LDL, each doubling of NT-proBNP was
      associated with a 9% lower risk of incident diabetes (HR=0.91 [95% CI: 0.84
      0.99]). Additional adjustment for waist circumference, physical activity,
      estimated glomerular filtration rate or C-reactive protein did not influence the
      association. Among putative mediators, HDL and triglycerides, adiponectin, and
      especially homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, all appeared to
      account for a portion of the lower risk associated with NT-proBNP. CONCLUSION: In
      older adults without prevalent cardiovascular or kidney disease, higher NT-proBNP
      is associated with decreased risk of incident diabetes even after adjustment for
      traditional risk factors. These findings suggest that the metabolic effects of
      natriuretic peptides persist late in life and offer a potential therapeutic
      target for prevention of diabetes in older people.

PMID- 27621186
TI  - Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), an organosulfur compound, is effective against
      obesity-induced metabolic disorders in mice.
AB  - Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), an organosulfur compound, has been used as a dietary
      supplement that can improve various metabolic diseases. However, the effect of
      MSM on obesity-linked metabolic disorders remains unclear. The goal of the
      current study is to determine whether MSM has beneficial effects on glucose and
      lipid homeostasis in obesity-associated pathophysiologic states. High-fat diet
      induced obese (DIO) and genetically obese diabetic db/db mice treated with MSM
      (1%-5% v/v, by drinking water) were studied. Metabolic parameters involved in
      glucose and lipid metabolism were determined. Treatment of DIO mice with MSM
      leads to a significant decrease in blood glucose levels. DIO mice treated with
      MSM are hypersensitive to insulin, as evidenced by decreased serum insulin and an
      increase in the area above the curve during an ITT. Concurrently, MSM reduces
      hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol contents in DIO mice. These effects are
      accompanied by reductions in gene expression of key molecules involved in
      lipogenesis and inflammation. FACS analysis reveals that MSM markedly increases
      the frequency of B cells and decreases the frequency of myeloid cells in
      peripheral blood and in bone marrow. Moreover, overnutrition-induced changes of
      femur microarchitecture are restored by MSM. In db/db mice, a marked impairment
      in glucose and lipid metabolic profiles is notably ameliorated when MSM is
      supplemented. These data suggest that MSM has beneficial effects on multiple
      metabolic dysfunctions, including hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, insulin
      resistance, and inflammation. Thus, MSM could be the therapeutic option for the
      treatment of obesity-related metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and
      fatty liver diseases.

PMID- 27621187
TI  - Burden of disease in adult patients with hypophosphatasia: Results from two
      patient-reported surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare metabolic bone disease caused by
      loss-of-function mutation(s) in the tissue-nonspecific alkaline (TNSALP)
      phosphatase gene, which manifests as rickets and/or osteomalacia with systemic
      complications and affects patients of all ages. The burden of disease is poorly
      characterized in adult patients. AIMS: We assessed patient-reported burden of
      disease using two surveys reasonably specific for HPP symptomatology, the
      Hypophosphatasia Impact Patient Survey (HIPS) and the Hypophosphatasia Outcomes
      Study Telephone interview (HOST). METHODS: Patients with HPP were invited to
      participate via patient advocacy groups or their medical provider. Survey
      questions captured demography, HPP-related medical history, mobility, and health
      related quality of life (using Short Form 12 [version 2] Health Survey [SF-12v2])
      via internet report (HIPS) or telephone interview (HOST). RESULTS: One hundred
      twenty-five adults responded (mean [standard deviation, SD] age: 45 [14.3]
      years). Eighty-four patients (67%) reported pediatric-onset of their symptoms.
      Common clinical features in the study population included pain (95% of patients),
      fractures (86% of patients) muscle weakness (62%) and unusual gait (52%). Use of
      assistive devices for mobility (60%) was also prevalent. Twenty-six percent of
      patients reported more than 10 fractures. Seventy-four percent of patients had
      undergone orthopedic/dental surgical procedures. The health profile of patients
      responding on the SF-12 showed a broad and substantial impact of HPP on health
      related quality of life, with domains related to physical ability showing the
      greatest decrement compared to normative data. CONCLUSIONS: In aggregate, these
      data indicate that HPP can confer a high burden of illness in adulthood.

PMID- 27621188
TI  - Sarcopenia is associated with albuminuria independently of hypertension and
      diabetes: KNHANES 2008-2011.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although sarcopenia is associated with metabolic disorders, its
      influence on albuminuria has not been determined. The aim of this study was to
      identify the relationship between sarcopenia and albuminuria in the general
      population. METHODS: This was a population-based, cross-sectional study using a
      nationally representative sample of 2326 subjects aged >=20years from the Korea
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys of 2008-2011. Appendicular
      skeletal muscle (ASM) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to
      assess sarcopenia, which was defined as ASM divided by body mass index, as
      recommended by the international consensus meeting of the National Institutes of
      Health. Albuminuria was defined as an albumin-to-creatinine ratio of >=30mg/g
      using random spot urine samples. RESULTS: A total of 385 (16.5%) subjects were
      classified as having albuminuria. Sarcopenic subjects showed a higher proportion
      of albuminuria than subjects without sarcopenia (odds ratios [ORs]=2.17-3.26, all
      P<0.05) after stratification based on the presence of hypertension, diabetes, or
      metabolic syndrome and a higher homeostasis model assessment of insulin
      resistance (all P<0.001). The albuminuria risk was comparable between insulin
      sensitive subjects with sarcopenia and insulin-resistant subjects with preserved
      muscle mass. A multiple logistic regression analysis also demonstrated that
      sarcopenia was independently associated with albuminuria (OR=1.61, 95% confidence
      interval [CI]=1.04-2.48, P<0.05). The association between sarcopenia and
      albuminuria remained strong in the elderly population (ORs=1.80-2.68, P<0.05),
      whereas it lost its significance in the younger age group. Furthermore, the risk
      of albuminuria was much higher in sarcopenic obese subjects than in other groups
      (OR=4.90, 95% CI=3.23-7.43, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sarcopenia was associated with
      an increased risk of albuminuria independent of hypertension, diabetes, and
      metabolic syndrome. Sarcopenia and obesity had a synergistic impact on the
      increased risk of albuminuria. This suggests that sarcopenic obesity as well as
      sarcopenia alone may be considered as novel risk factors for albuminuria.

PMID- 27621189
TI  - Effect of heat exposure and exercise on food intake regulation: A randomized
      crossover study in young healthy men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The effect of physical activity on food intake regulation may be
      moderated by environmental temperature. The aim of the study was to determine the
      single and combined effects of metabolic activity and temperature on energy
      intake and its hormonal regulation. METHODS: A randomized crossover study was
      conducted in the laboratory. Ten healthy and physically active young Afro
      Caribbean men participated in four experimental sessions (rest at 22 degrees C
      and 31 degrees C and cycling at 60% of their maximal oxygen uptake at 22 degrees
      C and 31 degrees C, all for 40 min). Each test period was followed by a 30-min
      recovery period and then an ad libitum meal. The main outcome measures were
      energy balance, subjective appetite, and plasma pancreatic polypeptide (PP),
      cholecystokinin (CCK) and ghrelin concentrations. RESULTS: Relative energy intake
      was significantly decreased whereas plasma PP was increased in the exercise
      conditions (p=0.004 and p=0.002, respectively). Postprandial levels of CCK were
      elevated only in the rest conditions. Exposure to heat induced a decrease in
      plasma ghrelin (p=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise induced a short-term energy
      deficit. However, modifications in the hormonal regulation of food intake in
      response to short-term heat or heat and exercise exposure seem to be minor and
      did not induce changes in energy intake. This trial was registered at
      clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02157233.

PMID- 27621191
TI  - Risk assessment and management of post-transplant diabetes mellitus.
AB  - The success rate of organ transplantation has been increasing with advances in
      surgical and pharmacological techniques. However, the number of solid organ
      transplant recipients who require metabolic disease management is also growing.
      Post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a common complication after solid
      organ transplantation and is associated with risks of graft loss, cardiovascular
      morbidity, and mortality. Other risk factors for PTDM include older age, genetic
      background, obesity, hepatitis C virus infection, hypomagnesemia, and use of
      immunosuppressant agents (corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, and mammalian
      target of rapamycin inhibitor). Management of PTDM should be started before the
      transplantation plan to properly screen high-risk patients. Even though PTDM
      management is similar to that of general type 2 diabetes, therapeutic approaches
      must be made with consideration of drug interactions between immunosuppressive
      agents, glucose-lowering medications, and graft rejection and function.

PMID- 27621190
TI  - Activin A and follistatin in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are limited data on the role of activin A and its binding
      protein, follistatin, in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The main aim
      was the evaluation of serum activin A and follistatin levels in patients with
      biopsy-proven NAFLD vs. METHODS: This was a case-control study. Fifteen patients
      with nonalcoholic simple steatosis (SS), 16 with steatohepatitis (NASH), and 52
      (24 lean and 28 obese) controls were recruited. Activin A and follistatin were
      measured using ELISA. RESULTS: Activin A levels showed a trend towards
      progressive increase (p=0.010) from the controls (lean: 356+/-25, 95% CI 305-408;
      obese 360+/-20, 95% CI 320-401pg/ml) to SS (407+/-28, 95% CI 347-466pg/ml) and
      NASH patients (514+/-70 95% CI 364-664pg/ml); this association became non
      significant after adjusting for adiposity. Follistatin was not different between
      groups (lean controls: 1.11+/-0.08, 95% CI 0.95-1.28; obese controls: 1.00+/
      0.07, 95% CI 0.86-1.14; SS: 0.86+/-0.07, 95% CI 0.70-1.02; NASH: 1.14+/-0.09, 95%
      CI 0.90-1.37ng/ml; p=0.13). Within the NAFLD group of patients, follistatin was
      associated with NASH independently from activin A, gender and age, a relationship
      however likely reflecting the effect of adiposity. CONCLUSIONS: Activin A is
      higher in patients with NASH than both lean and obese controls. Future clinical
      studies are needed to confirm and expand these findings, whereas mechanistic
      studies exploring underlying mechanisms are also warranted.

PMID- 27621192
TI  - Hyperlipidemia and the development of diabetic retinopathy: Comparison between
      type 1 and type 2 animal models.
AB  - AIM: In the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      are elevated in the retina and the mitochondria are damaged, resulting in
      accelerated apoptosis. Dyslipidemia is also considered as one of the major
      factors in its development, and our aim is to investigate the compounding effect
      of hyperlipidemia in retinopathy. METHODS: Retinal ROS, mitochondrial damage and
      vascular pathology were investigated in Zucker diabetic fatty rats (ZDF, type 2
      diabetes model), during the age that spans from hyperlipidemia/pre-hyperglycemia
      (6weeks), to severe hyperglycemia/moderate hyperlipidemia (~12weeks), and
      ultimately to severe hyperglycemia/hyperlipidemia (20-40weeks). For comparison,
      retina from streptozotocin-induced Wistar rats (type 1 diabetic for 10-40weeks)
      was analyzed. RESULTS: Compared to age-matched lean rats, despite increased
      retinal cytosolic ROS in 6-week-old ZDF rats, mitochondrial dysfunction and DNA
      damage were not detected, and in 12-week-old ZDF rats, retinal mitochondria were
      dysfunctional, but mtDNA damage and vascular pathology (cell apoptosis and
      degenerative capillaries) were not detectable. Retina from 20-week-old ZDF rats
      (hyperglycemic for 14weeks or less) had significant mitochondrial dysfunction,
      mtDNA damage and vascular pathology, and similar abnormalities were observed in
      40-week-old ZDF rats. Although retinal mitochondrial dysfunction was observed in
      Wistar rats diabetic for 20weeks, mtDNA damage and vascular pathology were not
      detectable till the duration of diabetes was further extended. CONCLUSIONS:
      Hyperlipidemia, in a hyperglycemic milieu, potentiates mitochondrial damage and
      augments the development of retinopathy. Control of dyslipidemia in pre-diabetic
      patients may prevent/delay the development and the progression of this
      devastating disease.

PMID- 27621194
TI  - 3 to 5 Years Later: Long-term Effects of Prophylactic Bilateral Salpingectomy on
      Ovarian Function.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Preliminary data on the effects of prophylactic bilateral
      salpingectomy (PBS) show that postoperative ovarian function is preserved up to 3
      months after surgery. The confirmation of PBS safety on ovarian function even
      many years after surgery is essential to reassure the medical community that this
      new strategy, recently proposed for the prevention of ovarian cancer, is at least
      able to avoid the risk of premature surgical menopause. We investigated whether
      the addition of PBS during total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) causes long-term
      effects on ovarian function. DESIGN: An observational study (Canadian Task Force
      classification II-3). SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "Magna
      Graecia" University, Catanzaro, Italy. PATIENTS: Seventy-nine patients who
      underwent TLH plus salpingectomy between September 2010 and September 2012 at our
      institution have been recalled to be submitted to ovarian reserve evaluation in
      February 2015. Eight of 79 women refused to participate in this follow-up study.
      INTERVENTIONS: The ovarian age of PBS patients has been determined through OvAge
      (OvAge sr., Catanzaro, Italy), a statistical model that combines antimullerian
      hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, 3-dimensional antral follicle count,
      vascular index, flow index, and vascular flow index values. The control group
      consisted of a large population of 652 healthy women (with intact uterus and
      adnexa) previously enrolled to build the OvAge model. Comparisons between ovarian
      ages of PBS patients and the control group have been assessed by analysis of
      covariance linear statistical modeling. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The main
      outcome measurement was the differences in the behavior within OvAge/age relation
      between PBS and control women. Descriptive statistics of those 71 enrolled PBS
      patients are the following: age, 49.61 +/- 2.15 years; OvAge, 49.22 +/- 2.57
      years; follicle-stimulating hormone, 43.02 +/- 19.92 mU/mL; antimullerian
      hormone, 0.12 +/- 0.20 ng/mL; 3-dimensional antral follicle count, 1.91 +/- 1.28;
      vascular index, 2.80% +/- 5.32%; flow index, 19.37 +/- 5.88; and vascular flow
      index, 0.56 +/- 1.12. Analysis of covariance disclosed that PBS and control women
      do not exhibit different behaviors (p = .900) within OvAge/age relation.
      CONCLUSION: According to our model, the addition of PBS to TLH in the late
      reproductive years does not modify the ovarian age of treated women up to 3 to 5
      years after surgery.

PMID- 27621193
TI  - Dietary saturated fat and monounsaturated fat have reversible effects on brain
      function and the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in young women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous literature suggests that a higher ratio of palmitic acid
      (PA)/oleic acid (OA) in the diet induces inflammation, which may result in
      deficient brain insulin signaling, and, secondarily, impaired physical activity,
      sleep efficiency, and cognitive functioning. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that
      lowering the typical dietary PA/OA would affect the activation of relevant brain
      networks during a working memory task and would also lower secretion of pro
      inflammatory cytokines. DESIGN: In 12 female subjects participating in a
      randomized, cross-over trial comparing 3-week high PA diet (HPA) and low PA and a
      high OA diet (HOA), we evaluated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
      using an N-back test of working memory, cytokine secretion by lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and plasma cytokine
      concentrations. RESULTS: Brain activation during the HPA diet compared to the HOA
      diet was increased in regions of the basal ganglia including the caudate and
      putamen (p<0.005). In addition, compared to the HOA diet, during the HPA diet,
      the plasma concentrations of IL-6 (p=0.04) and IL-1beta (p=0.05) were higher, and
      there was a higher secretion of IL-18 (p=0.015) and a trend for higher IL-1beta
      secretion (p=0.066) from LPS-stimulated PBMCs. CONCLUSIONS: The HPA diet resulted
      in increased brain activation in the basal ganglia compared to the HOA diet as
      well as increased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These data provide
      evidence that short-term (2week) diet interventions impact brain network
      activation during a working memory task and that these effects are reversible
      since the order of the study diets was randomized. These data are consistent with
      the hypothesis that lowering the dietary PA content via substitution with OA also
      could affect cognition.

PMID- 27621195
TI  - Classification of Postoperative Complications in Robotic-assisted Compared With
      Laparoscopic Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare intraoperative and postoperative surgical
      complications and outcomes between robotic-assisted and laparoscopic surgical
      management of endometrial cancer using a standardized classification system.
      DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).
      SETTING: An integrated health care system in Northern California. PATIENTS: One
      thousand four hundred thirty-three women with a diagnosis of complex atypical
      hyperplasia and endometrial cancer managed by minimally invasive hysterectomy and
      surgical staging from January 2009 to January 2014. INTERVENTIONS: Seven hundred
      forty-five robotic-assisted and 688 laparoscopic hysterectomies were evaluated.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was intraoperative and
      postoperative complications within 30 days. All complications were categorized
      using the Clavien-Dindo classification system. Secondary outcomes included total
      operative time, estimated blood loss, transfusion rates, length of stay,
      conversion to laparotomy, and number of pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes
      retrieved. The modality of hysterectomy was not associated with either overall
      intraoperative complications or major postoperative complications (p > .1).
      However, there were significantly fewer minor postoperative complications with
      robotic surgery (16.6% vs 25.6%, p < .01). Statistically significant differences
      were also noted in the following outcomes: decreased median operative time,
      length of stay, estimated blood loss, conversion to laparotomy, and median number
      of lymph nodes retrieved in the robotic group when compared with the laparoscopic
      group. CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the rate of major complication
      between robotic and laparoscopic surgery using the Clavien-Dindo system of
      categorizing surgical complications; however, there were clinically significant
      differences favoring the robotic approach, including a lower rate of minor
      complications and conversion rate to laparotomy.

PMID- 27621196
TI  - Evaluation of Nickel Allergic Reactions to the Essure Micro Insert: Theoretical
      Risk or Daily Practice?
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether de novo development of nickel sensitization
      is related to placement of the Essure device, and to evaluate whether the grade
      of reaction to nickel increased after device placement in patients with a
      confirmed nickel allergy. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force
      classification II-2). SETTING: Two nonacademic training hospitals in The
      Netherlands. PATIENTS: Healthy women of childbearing age desiring permanent
      sterilization. INTERVENTIONS: At least 72 hours before Essure sterilization, each
      patient received 2 patches, 1 patch with a nickel solution in 5% petrolatum and 1
      control patch. In addition, the patient was asked to complete a questionnaire on
      allergy-related symptoms. The patch test was scored according to the criteria for
      contact dermatitis of Devos and Van Der Valk. At 3 months after Essure
      sterilization, the patch test and the questionnaire were repeated. MEASUREMENTS
      AND MAIN RESULTS: All 169 patients underwent Essure sterilization and completed
      the patch test cycle. There were no statistically significant changes in patch
      test results and allergy-related symptoms after sterilization. Before
      sterilization, 29% of the patients had a positive patch test and 1.8% also showed
      a positive reaction to the control patch. Only 20.7% of the patients had a
      history of allergic reactions to nickel. After sterilization, 29% had a positive
      patch test and 0.6% also showed a positive reaction to the control patch. Among
      the patients with a positive patch test before sterilization, the grade of
      reaction did not increase after sterilization. Moreover, these patients did not
      exhibit any increase in allergy-related symptoms. Among 4 patients with a
      previous negative patch test, 2 developed a grade 1 reaction and 2 developed a
      grade 2 reaction after sterilization. Two of these 4 patients had a history of
      allergic reactions to nickel before sterilization despite a negative patch test.
      After sterilization, these 4 patients exhibited no increase in allergy-related
      symptoms. CONCLUSION: There were no statistically significant changes in nickel
      patch test results and allergy-related symptoms after Essure sterilization.
      Furthermore, among the patients with a positive patch test before Essure
      sterilization, the grade of reaction did not increase after sterilization. These
      results indicate that Essure sterilization likely is not related to nickel
      sensitization.

PMID- 27621198
TI  - Sialidoses.
AB  - Sialidoses are autosomal recessive disorders caused by NEU1 gene mutations and
      are classified on the basis of their phenotype and onset age. Sialidosis type II,
      with infantile onset, has a more severe phenotype characterized by coarse facial
      features, hepatomegaly, dysostosis multiplex, and developmental delay while
      patients with the late and milder type, known as "cherry red spot-myoclonus
      syndrome" develop myoclonic epilepsy, visual impairment and ataxia in the second
      or third decade of life. The diagnosis is usually suggested by increased urinary
      bound sialic acid excretion. We recently described genetically diagnosed patients
      with a specially mild phenotype, no retinal abnormalities and normal urinary
      sialic acid. This observation suggests that genetic analysis or the demonstration
      of the neuraminidase enzyme deficiency in cultured fibroblasts are needed to
      detect and diagnose mildest phenotypes.

PMID- 27621199
TI  - A systematic review of the effectiveness of simulation-based education on
      satisfaction and learning outcomes in nurse practitioner programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-fidelity simulation (HFS) is becoming an integral component in
      healthcare education programs. There is considerable evidence demonstrating the
      effectiveness of HFS on satisfaction and learning outcomes within undergraduate
      nursing programs; however, there are few studies that have investigated its use
      and effectiveness within nurse practitioner (NP) programs. OBJECTIVE: To
      synthesize the best available evidence about the effectiveness of HFS within NP
      education programs worldwide. The specific review question was: what is the
      effect of HFS on learner satisfaction, knowledge, attitudes, and skill
      performance in NP education? METHODS: Joanna Briggs Institute systematic review
      methodology was utilized. The following databases were searched: MEDLINE, CINAHL,
      EMBASE, Epistemonikos, PROSPERO, HealthSTAR, AMED, Cochrane, Global Health and
      PsycINFO. Studies were included if they were quantitative in nature and reported
      on any aspect HFS within a NP program. RESULTS: Ten studies were included in the
      review. All studies were conducted in the United States and published between
      2007 and 2014. Outcomes explored included: knowledge, attitudes, skills and
      satisfaction. The majority of studies compared HFS to online learning or
      traditional classroom lecture. Most study scenarios featured high acuity, low
      frequency events within acute care settings; only two studies utilized scenarios
      simulated within primary care. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited evidence supporting
      the use of HFS within NP programs. In general, HFS increases students' knowledge
      and confidence, and students are more satisfied with simulation-based teaching in
      comparison to other methods. Future studies should explore the effectiveness of
      simulation training within NP programs in reducing the theory to practice gap,
      and evaluate knowledge retention, transferability to real patient situations, and
      impact of simulation on patient outcomes.

PMID- 27621197
TI  - Effects of chronic oxytocin on attention to dynamic facial expressions in infant
      macaques.
AB  - Studies in a variety of species have reported enhanced prosocial effects after an
      acute administration of the neuromodulating hormone, oxytocin (OT). Although the
      exact mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully understood, there is
      broad interest in developing OT into a treatment for social deficits. Only a few
      studies, however, have examined the effects of OT if given repeatedly during
      early development, the period when early intervention is likely to have the
      greatest benefits for reversing the progression towards social impairment. Those
      studies, exclusively in rodents, report mixed results. Some have shown
      enhancement of prosocial behavior, including increased social exploration, but
      others have shown anti-social effects, including increased aggression. In the
      present study, infant rhesus macaques were treated with a high-frequency (3* per
      week) or low-frequency (1* per week) dose of intranasal oxytocin (IN-OT) or
      placebo (IN-saline) between two and six months of age, after which their
      reactions to dynamic facial expressions (neutral, lipsmacking and threats) were
      measured. Results showed that IN-OT, compared to placebo, increased the time
      monkeys spent viewing the expression videos, but selectively reduced attention to
      the eyes in neutral faces in a dose dependent manner. The mechanism for this non
      prosocial effect may be that repeated IN-OT administration down-regulates the
      expression of OT receptors in brain regions important for regulating social
      attention. Consequently, our results raise questions about the efficacy of
      implementing chronic IN-OT as a pharmacotherapy for the treatment of social
      deficits, particularly if given early in development. More work is needed, not
      only to identify optimal treatment schedules, but also to understand how IN-OT
      exerts its influences on the brain and behavior.

PMID- 27621200
TI  - A pilot study exploring the relationship between self-compassion, self-judgement,
      self-kindness, compassion, professional quality of life and wellbeing among UK
      community nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compassion fatigue and burnout can impact on performance of nurses.
      This paper explores the relationship between self-compassion, self-judgement,
      self-kindness, compassion, professional quality of life, and wellbeing among
      community nurses. AIM: To measure associations between self-compassion,
      compassion fatigue, wellbeing, and burnout in community nurses. METHOD:
      Quantitative data were collected using standardised psychometric questionnaires:
      (1) Professional Quality of Life Scale; (2) Self-Compassion Scale; (3) short
      Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale; (4) Compassion For Others Scale, used
      to measure relationships between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, wellbeing,
      and burnout. PARTICIPANTS: A cross sectional sample of registered community
      nurses (n=37) studying for a postgraduate diploma at a University in the North of
      England took part in this study. RESULTS: Results show that community nurses who
      score high on measures of self-compassion and wellbeing, also report less
      burnout. Greater compassion satisfaction was also positively associated with
      compassion for others, and wellbeing, whilst also being negatively correlated
      with burnout. CONCLUSION: High levels of self-compassion were linked with lower
      levels of burnout. Furthermore when community nurses have greater compassion
      satisfaction they also report more compassion for others, increased wellbeing,
      and less burnout. The implications of this are discussed alongside suggestions
      for the promotion of greater compassion.

PMID- 27621201
TI  - Evaluation of ConPrim: A three-part model for continuing education in primary
      health care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To overcome the gap between existing knowledge and the application of
      this knowledge in practice, a three-part continuing educational model for primary
      health care professionals (ConPrim) was developed. It includes a web-based
      program, a practical exercise and a case seminar. AIM: To evaluate professionals'
      perceptions of the design, pedagogy and adaptation to primary health care of the
      ConPrim continuing educational model as applied in a subject-specific
      intervention. METHODS: A total of 67 professionals (nurses and physicians)
      completed a computer-based questionnaire evaluating the model's design, pedagogy
      and adaptation to primary health care one week after the intervention.
      Descriptive statistics were used. RESULTS: Over 90% found the design of the web
      based program and case seminar attractive; 86% found the design of the practical
      exercise attractive. The professionals agreed that the time spent on two of the
      three parts was acceptable. The exception was the practical exercise: 32% did not
      fully agree. Approximately 90% agreed that the contents of all parts were
      relevant to their work and promoted interactive and interprofessional learning.
      In response to the statements about the intervention as whole, approximately 90%
      agreed that the intervention was suitable to primary health care, that it had
      increased their competence in the subject area, and that they would be able to
      use what they had learned in their work. CONCLUSIONS: ConPrim is a promising
      model for continuing educational interventions in primary health care. However,
      the time spent on the practical exercise should be adjusted and the instructions
      for the exercise clarified. ConPrim should be tested in other subject-specific
      interventions and its influence on clinical practice should be evaluated.

PMID- 27621202
TI  - Hepatitis E Virus Antibodies in Finnish Veterinarians.
AB  - We investigated hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in Finnish veterinarians
      engaged in different practice specialties and evaluated the effect of different
      background factors on HEV exposure by examining total HEV antibodies in samples
      collected from the participants of the 2009 National Veterinary Congress in
      Helsinki, Finland. Finnish veterinarians commonly have total HEV antibodies with
      seroprevalence of 10.2%. Of the non-veterinarians, 5.8% were seropositive.
      Increasing age was associated with HEV seropositivity, and, surprisingly, the
      highest HEV seroprevalence (17.8%) among veterinarians was detected among small
      animal practitioners. Although no positive correlation between swine contacts and
      HEV seropositivity was found, 22.7% of veterinarians who had had needle stick by
      a needle that had previously been injected into a pig versus 9.0% of those who
      had not were seropositive, even though the finding was statistically non
      significant (P = 0.07). Our results suggest that, although contact with swine is
      a known risk factor for HEV infection, the sources of HEV infections are probably
      numerous, including travelling abroad and possibly also other reservoirs of HEV
      than pigs.

PMID- 27621203
TI  - Modeling Therapeutic Antibody-Small Molecule Drug-Drug Interactions Using a Three
      Dimensional Perfusable Human Liver Coculture Platform.
AB  - Traditional in vitro human liver cell culture models lose key hepatic functions
      such as metabolic activity during short-term culture. Advanced three-dimensional
      (3D) liver coculture platforms offer the potential for extended hepatocyte
      functionality and allow for the study of more complex biologic interactions,
      which can improve and refine human drug safety evaluations. Here, we use a
      perfusion flow 3D microreactor platform for the coculture of cryopreserved
      primary human hepatocytes and Kupffer cells to study the regulation of cytochrome
      P450 3A4 isoform (CYP3A4) activity by chronic interleukin 6 (IL-6)-mediated
      inflammation over 2 weeks. Hepatocyte cultures remained stable over 2 weeks, with
      consistent albumin production and basal IL-6 levels. Direct IL-6 stimulation that
      mimics an inflammatory state induced a dose-dependent suppression of CYP3A4
      activity, an increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) secretion, and a decrease in
      shed soluble interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) levels, indicating expected hepatic
      IL-6 bioactivity. Tocilizumab, an anti-IL-6R monoclonal antibody used to treat
      rheumatoid arthritis, has been demonstrated clinically to impact small molecule
      drug pharmacokinetics by modulating cytochrome P450 enzyme activities, an effect
      not observed in traditional hepatic cultures. We have now recapitulated the
      clinical observation in a 3D bioreactor system. Tocilizumab was shown to
      desuppress CYP3A4 activity while reducing the CRP concentration after 72 hours in
      the continued presence of IL-6. This change in CYP3A4 activity decreased the half
      life and area under the curve up to the last measurable concentration (AUClast)
      of the small molecule CYP3A4 substrate simvastatin hydroxy acid, measured before
      and after tocilizumab treatment. We conclude that next-generation in vitro liver
      culture platforms are well suited for these types of long-term treatment studies
      and show promise for improved drug safety assessment.

PMID- 27621204
TI  - Development of an Ecofriendly Anticoagulant Rodenticide Based on the
      Stereochemistry of Difenacoum.
AB  - Difenacoum, an antivitamin K anticoagulant, has been widely used as rodenticide
      to manage populations of rodents. Difenacoum belongs to the second generation of
      anticoagulant, and, as all the molecules belonging to the second generation of
      anticoagulant, difenacoum is often involved in primary poisonings of domestic
      animals and secondary poisonings of wildlife by feeding contaminated rodents. To
      develop a new and ecofriendly difenacoum, we explored in this study the
      differences in properties between diastereomers of difenacoum. Indeed, the
      currently commercial difenacoum is a mixture of 57% of cis-isomers and 43% of
      trans-isomers. Cis- and trans-isomers were thus purified on a C18 column, and
      their respective pharmacokinetic properties and their efficiency to inhibit the
      coagulation of rodents were explored. Tissue persistence of trans-isomers was
      shown to be shorter than that of cis-isomers with a half-life fivefold shorter.
      Efficiency to inhibit the vitamin K epoxide reductase activity involved in the
      coagulation process was shown to be similar between cis- and trans-isomers. The
      use of trans-isomers of difenacoum allowed to drastically reduce difenacoum
      residues in liver and other tissues of rodents when the rodent is moribund.
      Therefore, secondary poisonings of wildlife should be decreased by the use of
      difenacoum largely enriched in trans-isomers.

PMID- 27621205
TI  - Abundance of Drug Transporters in the Human Kidney Cortex as Quantified by
      Quantitative Targeted Proteomics.
AB  - Protein expression of renal uptake and efflux transporters was quantified by
      quantitative targeted proteomics using the surrogate peptide approach. Renal
      uptake transporters assessed in this study included organic anion transporters
      (OAT1-OAT4), organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2), organic/carnitine cation
      transporters (OCTN1 and OCTN2), and sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2); efflux
      transporters included P-glycoprotein, breast cancer resistance protein, multidrug
      resistance proteins (MRP2 and MRP4), and multidrug and toxin extrusion proteins
      (MATE1 and MATE2-K). Total membrane was isolated from the cortex of human kidneys
      (N = 41). The isolated membranes were digested by trypsin and the digest was
      subjected to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. The mean
      expression of surrogate peptides was as follows (given with the standard
      deviation, in picomoles per milligram of total membrane protein): OAT1 (5.3 +/-
      1.9), OAT2 (0.9 +/- 0.3), OAT3 (3.5 +/- 1.6), OAT4 (0.5 +/- 0.2), OCT2 (7.4 +/-
      2.8), OCTN1 (1.3 +/- 0.6), OCTN2 (0.6 +/- 0.2), P-glycoprotein (2.1 +/- 0.8),
      MRP2 (1.4 +/- 0.6), MRP4 (0.9 +/- 0.6), MATE1 (5.1 +/- 2.3), and SGLT2 (3.7 +/-
      1.8). Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and MATE2-K proteins were
      detectable but were below the lower limit of quantification. Interestingly, the
      protein expression of OAT1 and OAT3 was significantly correlated (r > 0.8). A
      significant correlation was also observed between expression of multiple other
      drug transporters, such as OATs/OCT2 or OCTN1/OCTN2, and SGLT2/OCTNs, OCT, OATs,
      and MRP2. These renal transporter data should be useful in deriving in vitro to
      in vivo scaling factors to accurately predict renal clearance and kidney
      epithelial cell exposure to drugs or their metabolites.

PMID- 27621207
TI  - Phosphorylation regulates the sensitivity of voltage-gated Kv7.2 channels towards
      phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2 ) is a key regulator of
      many membrane proteins, including voltage-gated Kv7.2 channels. In this study, we
      identified the residues in five phosphorylation sites and their corresponding
      protein kinases, the former being clustered within one of four putative PIP2 
      binding domains in Kv7.2. Dephosphorylation of these residues reduced the
      sensitivity of Kv7.2 channels towards PIP2 . Dephosphorylation of Kv7.2 affected
      channel inhibition via M1 muscarinic receptors, but not via bradykinin receptors.
      Our data indicated that phosphorylation of the Kv7.2 channel was necessary to
      maintain its low affinity for PIP2 , thereby ensuring the tight regulation of the
      channel via G protein-coupled receptors. ABSTRACT: The function of numerous ion
      channels is tightly controlled by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The
      underlying signalling mechanisms may involve phosphorylation of channel proteins
      and participation of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2 ). Although the
      roles of both mechanisms have been investigated extensively, thus far only little
      has been reported on their interaction in channel modulation. GPCRs govern Kv7
      channels, the latter playing a major role in the regulation of neuronal
      excitability by determining the levels of PIP2 and through phosphorylation. Using
      liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry for Kv7.2 immunoprecipitates of
      rat brain membranes and transfected cells, we mapped a cluster of five
      phosphorylation sites in one of the PIP2-binding domains. To evaluate the effect
      of phosphorylation on PIP2 -mediated Kv7.2 channel regulation, a quintuple
      alanine mutant of these serines (S427/S436/S438/S446/S455; A5 mutant) was
      generated to mimic the dephosphorylated state. Currents passing through these
      mutated channels were less sensitive towards PIP2 depletion via the voltage
      sensitive phosphatase Dr-VSP than were wild-type channels. In vitro
      phosphorylation assays with the purified C-terminus of Kv7.2 revealed that CDK5,
      p38 MAPK, CaMKIIalpha and PKA were able to phosphorylate the five serines.
      Inhibition of these protein kinases reduced the sensitivity of wild-type but not
      mutant Kv7.2 channels towards PIP2 depletion via Dr-VSP. In superior cervical
      ganglion neurons, the protein kinase inhibitors attenuated Kv7 current regulation
      via M1 receptors, but left unaltered the control by B2 receptors. Our results
      revealed that the phosphorylation status of serines located within a putative
      PIP2 -binding domain determined the phospholipid sensitivity of Kv7.2 channels
      and supported GPCR-mediated channel regulation.

PMID- 27621209
TI  - Loop and drain technique for subcutaneous abscess: a safe minimally invasive
      procedure in an adult population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the safety, efficacy and compliance of an
      emerging technique for managing complex subcutaneous abscesses in an adult
      population (>=16 years). METHODS: A retrospective review of prospectively
      collected data between April and October 2015 at a rural hospital comparing
      conventional incision drainage (CID) and repetitive packing to the minimal
      incision, irrigation, loop and drain technique (LDT). LDT method was consistent
      with previous publications, being <=5 mm incisions at abscess edges, irrigation
      and passage of a VessiLoop through the cavity and then secured above the skin.
      The loop remained in situ until resolution. Both groups had empirical oral
      antibiotics. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients required intervention for complex
      subcutaneous abscess: CID group had 27 patients and LDT had 36 patients. The mean
      age of CID group was 43.9 years (range: 16-86 years), all required intervention
      in theatre with 10 patients lost to follow-up (37%) and the remaining 17 required
      a mean of 11.8 (range: 1-17) care visits. The mean age of LDT group was 34.9
      years (range: 16-62 years), 11 completed intervention in ED under local
      anaesthetic (30%) and 27 required general anaesthesia. Compliance to follow-up
      clinic was 100%: 27 seen once at 10-14 days with loop removal and nine were seen
      a second time to complete care. There were no re-operations. CONCLUSION: This is
      the first LDT data in adults and proves it is safe and effective. It saves
      operating theatre time with 30% of LDT treated in the Emergency Department and
      ensures excellent follow-up compliance as patients return for VessiLoop removal.
      Healthcare burden is greatly reduced using LDT; most patients require only one
      review at 10-14 days.

PMID- 27621208
TI  - Associations of differential schizotypal dimensions with executive working
      memory: A moderated-mediation analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased schizotypal traits are observed in a percentage of the
      general population and in the schizophrenia-spectrum and have been associated
      with impairments in working memory. In this study we examined the effects of four
      schizotypal dimensions [Negative (NegS), Paranoid (ParS), Cognitive-Perceptual
      (CPS), Disorganized (DiS)] on executive working memory (EWM), as mediated by set
      shifting, planning and control inhibition. We also examined whether these
      associations are moderated by family-history of psychosis. METHODS: Our sample
      consisted of 110 unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia-spectrum
      patients and 120 control individuals. Schizotypy was assessed with the
      Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. Participants were also tested with the
      Letter-Number Sequencing, Wisconsin Card Sorting, Stroop Color-Word and Stockings
      of Cambridge tasks. The effects of set-shifting, control inhibition and planning
      on the relationship between schizotypy and EWM were examined with mediation
      analyses. Moderated-mediation analyses examined potential moderating effects of
      group membership (unaffected relative/community participant). RESULTS: All
      mediators were significant in the relationship between NegS and EWM. The effects
      of ParS were mediated only by set-shifting and planning. Planning and control
      inhibition were the only significant mediators on the effects of CPS and DiS on
      EWM, respectively. The moderated-mediation analyses revealed that these findings
      apply only in the community group. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the effects of
      different schizotypal dimensions on EWM are mediated by other cognitive processes
      in individuals without personal/family history of psychosis. This is probably due
      to either more severe impairments in the cognitive processes of the relatives or
      restrictions in our sample and study-design.

PMID- 27621210
TI  - Antifungal susceptibility of Candida species isolated from patients with
      candidemia in southern Taiwan, 2007-2012: impact of new antifungal breakpoints.
AB  - The Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) revised the clinical
      breakpoints (CBPs) for the azoles and echinocandins against Candida species in
      2012. We aimed to report the epidemiology of candidemia and antifungal
      susceptibility of Candida species and evaluate the impact of new CBPs on
      antifungal susceptibility in our region. All blood isolates of Candida species
      were obtained from 2007 to 2012. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of
      fluconazole, voriconazole, echinocandins and flucytosine against Candida isolates
      were determined by Sensititre YeastOne system. Differences in susceptibility
      rates between the CBPs of previous and revised versions of CLSI were examined. Of
      709 Candida isolates, the fluconazole-susceptible rate was 96.5% in Candida
      albicans, 85.8% in Candida tropicalis and 92.1% in Candida parapsilosis by the
      revised CBPs. Compared with the susceptibility results by previous CBPs, the
      marked reductions in susceptibility of C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C.
      parapsilosis to fluconazole, that of C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis to
      voriconazole, that of C. tropicalis and Candida glabrata to anidulafungin and
      that of C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and Candida krusei to caspofungin by revised
      CBPs were found. In conclusion, Candida albicans and C. parapsilosis remain
      highly susceptible to fluconazole. The non-susceptible rates of Candida species
      to azoles and echinocandins increase with interpretation by the revised CBPs.

PMID- 27621212
TI  - Reply to the letter: Long term use of analgesics and risk of osteoarthritis
      progressions and knee replacement.

PMID- 27621213
TI  - Utility of circulating serum miRNAs as biomarkers of early cartilage degeneration
      in animal models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if serum microRNA (miRNA)
      signatures were biomarkers of early cartilage degeneration in preclinical mouse
      models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA) and inflammatory arthritis. METHODS:
      Cartilage degeneration was induced in 10-12 week old male C57BL6 mice by
      destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) or intra-articular injection of
      methylated-bovine-serum-albumin (AIA), with sham-operated or saline-injected
      control animals (n = 6/treatment/time). Total serum RNA and knee joints were
      isolated at 1, 4 and 16 weeks post-induction. Cartilage degeneration was scored
      histologically. Serum miRNA expression profiling was performed using Agilent
      microarrays and validated by qPCR. RESULTS: DMM-operated and AIA mice had
      characteristic cartilage degeneration (proteoglycan loss, chondrocyte
      hypertrophy, structural damage), that increased significantly with time compared
      with controls, and with distinct temporal differences between arthritis models.
      However, expression profiling revealed no statistically significant dysregulation
      of serum miRNAs between AIA vs saline-injected or DMM vs sham-operated control
      mice at the critical early disease stages. The inability to detect DMM or AIA
      serum miRNA signatures compared with controls was not due to the insensitivity of
      the expression profiling approach since significant changes were observed in
      miRNA expression between the arthritis models and between time points.
      CONCLUSION: While distinct patterns of progressive cartilage degradation were
      induced in the arthritis models, we were unable to identify any serum miRNAs that
      were significantly dysregulated in early stages of disease compared with
      controls. This suggests circulating serum miRNAs may not be useful as cartilage
      biomarkers in distinguishing the early or progressive stages of arthritis
      cartilage degeneration.

PMID- 27621211
TI  - Macrophages and cardiac fibroblasts are the main producers of eotaxins and
      regulate eosinophil trafficking to the heart.
AB  - Cardiac manifestations are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients
      with eosinophil-associated diseases. Eosinophils are thought to play a pathogenic
      role in myocarditis. We investigated the pathways that recruit eosinophils to the
      heart using a model of eosinophilic myocarditis, in which experimental autoimmune
      myocarditis (EAM) is induced in IFNgamma-/- IL-17A-/- mice. Two conditions are
      necessary for efficient eosinophil trafficking to the heart: high eotaxin (CCL11,
      CCL24) expression in the heart and expression of the eotaxin receptor CCR3 by
      eosinophils. We identified cardiac fibroblasts as the source of CCL11 in the
      heart interstitium. CCL24 is produced by F4/80+ macrophages localized at
      inflammatory foci in the heart. Expression of CCL11 and CCL24 is controlled by
      Th2 cytokines, IL-4 and IL-13. To determine the relevance of this pathway in
      humans, we analyzed endomyocardial biopsy samples from myocarditis patients.
      Expression of CCL11 and CCL26 was significantly increased in eosinophilic
      myocarditis compared to chronic lymphocytic myocarditis and positively correlated
      with the number of eosinophils. Thus, eosinophil trafficking to the heart is
      dependent on the eotaxin-CCR3 pathway in a mouse model of EAM and associated with
      cardiac eotaxin expression in patients with eosinophilic myocarditis. Blocking
      this pathway may prevent eosinophil-mediated cardiac damage.

PMID- 27621214
TI  - A narrative overview of the current status of MRI of the hip and its relevance
      for osteoarthritis research - what we know, what has changed and where are we
      going?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review and discuss the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in
      the context of hip osteoarthritis (OA) research. DESIGN: The content of this
      narrative review, based on an extensive PubMed database research including
      English literature only, describes the advances in MRI of the hip joint and its
      potential usefulness in hip OA research, reviews the relevance of different MRI
      features in regard to symptomatic and structural progression in hip OA, and gives
      an outlook regarding future use of MRI in hip OA research endeavors. RESULTS:
      Recent technical advances have helped to overcome many of the past difficulties
      related to MRI assessment of hip OA. MRI-based morphologic scoring systems allow
      for detailed assessment of several hip joint tissues and, in combination with the
      recent advances in MRI, may increase reproducibility and sensitivity to change.
      Compositional MRI techniques may add to our understanding of disease onset and
      progression. Knowledge about imaging pitfalls and anatomical variants is crucial
      to avoid misinterpretation. In comparison to research on knee OA, the
      associations between MRI features and the incidence and progression of disease as
      well as with clinical symptoms have been little explored. Anatomic alterations of
      the hip joint as seen in femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) seem to play a role
      in the onset and progression of structural damage. CONCLUSIONS: With the
      technical advances occurring in recent years, MRI may play a major role in
      investigating the natural history of hip OA and provide an improved method for
      assessment of the efficacy of new therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 27621215
TI  - Development of a valid Simplified Chinese version of the International Hip
      Outcome Tool (SC-iHOT-33) in young patients having total hip arthroplasty.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33) is a questionnaire
      designed for young, active patients with hip disorders. It has proven to be a
      highly reliable and valid questionnaire. The main purpose of our study was to
      adapt the iHOT-33 questionnaire into simplified Chinese and to assess its
      psychometric properties in Chinese patients. METHOD: The iHOT-33 was cross
      culturally adapted into Chinese and 138 patients completed the Western Ontario
      and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D),
      and the Chinese version of the iHOT-33(SC-iHOT-33) pre- or postoperatively within
      6 months' follow-up. The Cronbach's alpha, intraclass correlation coefficient
      (ICC), Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), effect size (ES), and standardized
      response mean (SRM) were calculated to assess the reliability, validity, and
      responsiveness of the SC-iHOT-33, respectively. RESULTS: Total Cronbach's alpha
      was 0.965, which represented excellent internal consistency of the SC-iHOT-33.
      The ICC ranges from 0.866 to 0.929, which shows excellent test-retest
      reliability. The subscales of SC-iHOT-33 had the highest correlation coefficient
      (r = 0.812) with the physical function subscales of the WOMAC, as well as good
      correlation between the social/emotional subscale of the SC-iHOT-33 and the EQ-5D
      (r = 0.740, r = 0.743). No floor or ceiling effects were found. The ES and SRM
      values indicated good responsiveness of 2.44 and 2.67, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      The SC-iHOT-33 questionnaire is reliable, valid, and responsive for the
      evaluation of young, Chinese, active patients with hip disorders.

PMID- 27621216
TI  - Direct Conversion from Terminal Borylene into Terminal Phosphinidene.
AB  - The first terminal manganese phosphinidene complex was quantitatively synthesized
      from a terminal alkylborylene complex. Its structure and bonding, as well as the
      reaction mechanism, were investigated through a combination of experimental and
      computational studies.

PMID- 27621206
TI  - Targeting sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling in lung diseases.
AB  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a simple, bioactive sphingolipid metabolite, plays
      a key role, both intracellularly and extracellularly, in various cellular
      processes such as proliferation, survival, migration, inflammation, angiogenesis,
      and endothelial barrier integrity. The cellular S1P level is low and is tightly
      regulated by its synthesis and degradation. Sphingosine Kinases (SphKs) 1 and 2,
      catalyze the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of sphingosine to S1P, while the
      degradation is mediated by the reversible dephosphorylation catalyzed by the S1P
      phosphatases and lipid phosphate phosphatases and the irreversible degradation to
      hexadecenal and ethanolamine phosphate by sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase (S1PL).
      As a ligand for specific G-protein-coupled receptors, S1P1-5, which are
      differentially expressed in different cell types, S1P generates downstream
      signals that play crucial role in developmental and disease related pathologies.
      In addition to acting extracellularly on receptors located on the plasma
      membrane, S1P can also act intracellularly, independently of S1P1-5, affecting
      calcium homeostasis and cell proliferation. The SphKs /S1P /S1PL metabolic
      pathway is implicated in numerous human pathologies including respiratory
      disorders, thereby raising the possibility that manipulating intracellular S1P
      levels could offer therapeutic potential in ameliorating lung diseases. This
      review focuses on the prospects of targeting S1P signaling and S1P metabolizing
      enzymes using small molecule inhibitors, receptor agonists, and antagonists in
      the treatment of lung diseases.

PMID- 27621217
TI  - Characterization of white matter abnormalities in early-stage schizophrenia.
AB  - AIM: White matter abnormalities have been reported in schizophrenia and may
      indicate altered cortical network integrity and structural connectivity, which
      have been hypothesized as key pathophysiological components of this illness. In
      this study, we aimed to further characterize the nature and progression of white
      matter alterations during the early stages of the disorder. METHODS: We employed
      diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) approaches to investigate fractional anisotropy
      (FA), radial diffusivity (RD) and axial diffusivity (AD) in 40 patients with
      schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders (aged 18-30 years) who were within
      5 years of illness, along with an age-, sex- and race-matched sample of 21
      healthy controls. Relationships with illness duration, lifetime antipsychotic
      medication exposure and symptom levels were examined. RESULTS: Patients had lower
      FA and higher RD than controls in numerous white matter tracts, including the
      corpus callosum (CC) and the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Illness duration
      was associated with lower FA and higher RD, most prominently in the CC. No group
      differences or relationships to illness duration were detected with AD, and no
      relationships between any DTI measurements and lifetime antipsychotic medication
      use were found. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation provides evidence of widespread
      disruptions to structural connectivity in the early stages of schizophrenia. The
      relationship to illness duration, coupled with an absence of relationships to AD
      or antipsychotic drug exposure, provides evidence of a progressive disease
      process, although prospective assessments with repeated DTI measurements are
      needed to fully characterize the trajectory of white matter abnormalities in this
      illness.

PMID- 27621218
TI  - Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Polish Coke Plant
      Workers.
AB  - Assessment of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is
      an urgent and important task to prevent workers' illnesses. 1-Hydroxypyrene is
      one of the most commonly used biomarkers. The presented study assessed exposure
      to PAHs molecules among 619 individuals, men working in coke plant. Average
      number of years spent on working posts in exposition to PAHs was 31.5 years with
      standard deviation = 5.3. About 35% were smokers with 14.7 cigarettes per day.
      For each individual, 1-hydroxypyrene concentration in urine samples was measured.
      Urine 1-hydroxypyrene concentration correlated with air PAHs concentration.
      Difference between smokers and non-smokers was statistically significant. The
      median value for post-shift samples was 1.3 ug g-1 and for pre-shift sample
      concentration reached 0.3 ug g-1 Maximal assessed concentration was 7.6 ug g-1
      among pre-shift samples and 27.8 ug g-1 among post-shift samples. The most
      exposed working posts were coke oven workers and coal derivatives production
      workers. Results obtained in presented study are relatively low in comparison to
      other countries or other Polish results but for further improvement a regular
      measurement of any PAHs' biomarker should be included to standard periodic health
      examinations for coke plant workers.

PMID- 27621219
TI  - On the Strength and Validity of Hazard Banding.
AB  - Hazard Banding (HB) is a process of allocating chemical substances in bands of
      increasing health hazard based on their hazard classifications. Recent Control
      Banding (CB) tools use the classifications of the United Nations Global
      Harmonized System (UN GHS) or the European Union Classifications, Labelling and
      Packaging (EU CLP) which are grouped over 5 HBs. The use of CB is growing
      worldwide for the risk control of substances without an Occupational Exposure
      Limit Value (OELV). Well-known CB-tools like HSE-COSHH Essentials, BAuA-Einfaches
      Mabetanahmenkonzept Gefahrstoffe (EMKG), and DGUV-IFA-Spaltenmodell (IFA) use
      however different GHS/CLP groupings which may lead to dissimilar HBs and control
      regimes for individual substances. And as the choice for a CB tool seems to be
      determined by geography and/or local status these differences may hamper a
      global, aligned HSE approach. Therefore, the HB-engines of the three public CBs
      and an in-company (Solvay) CB called 'Occupational Exposure Banding' (S-OEB) were
      compared mutually and ranked in their relation with the OELV as the 'de facto'
      standard. This was investigated graphically and using a 5 strength indicator,
      statistical method. A data set of 229 substances with high-quality GHS/CLP
      classifications and OELVs was used. HB concentration ranges, as linked to S-OEB
      and COSHH, were validated against the corresponding OELV distributions. The four
      HB-engines allocate between 23 and 64% of the 229 substances in the same bands.
      The remaining substances differ at least one band, with IFA placing more
      substances in a higher hazard band, EMKG doing the opposite and COSHH and S-OEB
      in between. The overall strength scores of S-OEB, IFA, and EMGK HB-engines are
      higher than COSHH, with S-OEB having the highest overall strength score. The
      lower ends of the concentration ranges defined for the 3 'highest' hazard bands
      of S-OEB were in good agreement with the 10th percentiles of the corresponding
      OELV distributions obtained from the substance data set. The lower ends of the
      COSHH concentration ranges comply with the 10th percentiles of the COSHH OELV
      distributions for dust/aerosol but not for vapour/gas substances. Both the S-OEB
      and COSHH concentration ranges underestimate the overall width of the OELV
      distributions that can span 2-3 orders of magnitude. As the performance of the S
      OEB HB-engine meets our criteria of being at least as good as the public engines,
      it will be used as a standard within Solvay's global operations. In addition, the
      method described here to evaluate the strength of HB-engines and the validity of
      their corresponding concentration ranges is a useful tool enabling further
      developments and worldwide alignment of HB.

PMID- 27621220
TI  - 1,2-Dimethoxyethane Degradation Thermodynamics in Li-O2 Redox Environments.
AB  - The reaction thermodynamics of the 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), a model solvent
      molecule commonly used in electrolytes for Li-O2 rechargeable batteries, has been
      studied by first-principles methods to predict its degradation processes in
      highly oxidizing environments. In particular, the reactivity of DME towards the
      superoxide anion O2- in oxygen-poor or oxygen-rich environments is studied by
      density functional calculations. Solvation effects are considered by employing a
      self-consistent reaction field in a continuum solvation model. The degradation of
      DME occurs through competitive thermodynamically driven reaction paths that end
      with the formation of partially oxidized final products such as formaldehyde and
      methoxyethene in oxygen-poor environments and methyl oxalate, methyl formate, 1
      formate methyl acetate, methoxy ethanoic methanoic anhydride, and ethylene glycol
      diformate in oxygen-rich environments. This chemical reactivity indirectly
      behaves as an electroactive parasitic process and therefore wastes part of the
      charge exchanged in Li-O2 cells upon discharge. This study is the first complete
      rationale to be reported about the degradation chemistry of DME due to direct
      interaction with O2- /O2 molecules. These findings pave the way for a rational
      development of new solvent molecules for Li-O2 electrolytes.

PMID- 27621222
TI  - Molecular and histological characterization of age spots.
AB  - Age spots, also called solar lentigines and lentigo senilis, are light brown to
      black pigmented lesions of various sizes that typically develop in chronically
      sun-exposed skin. It is well known that age spots are strongly related to chronic
      sun exposure and are associated with photodamage and an increased risk for skin
      cancer; however, the mechanisms underlying their development remain poorly
      understood. We used immunohistochemical analysis and microarray analysis to
      investigate the processes involved in their formation, focusing on specific
      markers associated with the functions and proliferation of melanocytes and
      keratinocytes. A total of 193 genes were differentially expressed in age spots,
      but melanocyte pigment genes were not among them. The increased expression of
      keratins 5 and 10, markers of basal and suprabasal keratinocytes, respectively,
      in age spots suggests that the increased proliferation of basal keratinocytes
      combined with the decreased turnover of suprabasal keratinocytes leads to the
      exaggerated formation of rete ridges in lesional epidermis which in turn disrupts
      the normal processing of melanin upwards from the basal layer. Based on our
      results, we propose a model for the development of age spots that explains the
      accumulation of melanin and the development of extensive rete ridges in those
      hyperpigmented lesions.

PMID- 27621223
TI  - Appendectomy and risk of Parkinson's disease: A nationwide cohort study with more
      than 10 years of follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The appendix may be a key site for the initiation of Parkinson's
      disease (PD) pathology. We examined the hypothesis that appendectomy is
      associated with lower PD risk. METHODS: We used Danish medical and administrative
      registries to construct a cohort of all patients in Denmark with an operation
      code of appendectomy during 1980-2010 (n = 265,758) and a matched general
      population comparison cohort (n = 1,328,790). Using Cox regression, we computed
      hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals for PD, adjusting for
      potential confounders and stratifying on age at appendectomy (<=45 years / > 45
      years), sex, and follow-up time. RESULTS: During follow-up ( > 10 years), PD
      incidence was 0.19 and 0.15 per 1,000 person-years at risk in the appendectomy
      cohort and in the general population comparison cohort, respectively, yielding a
      slightly increased risk of PD (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.14; 95% confidence
      interval 1.03-1.27). Findings were consistent after more than 20 years of follow
      up and when stratified on age of appendectomy and sex. CONCLUSION: Appendectomy
      was associated with a small increase in PD risk 10 or more years after surgery.
      (c) 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 27621224
TI  - The relationship between sleep apnea, metabolic dysfunction and inflammation: The
      gender influence.
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with increased risk of
      cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although inflammatory markers may mediate
      this association, it is unknown the influence of gender in this mechanism. Thus,
      we aimed to evaluate the interaction effects between OSA and gender on metabolic
      and inflammatory profile in a population sample. This study is part of EPISONO
      cohort, in which 1042 participants underwent polysomnography, answered
      questionnaires, and had their blood collected for analysis of fasting glucose,
      total cholesterol and fractions, leptin, ghrelin, liver transaminases, tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and C-reactive protein. The
      results showed that men with OSA had higher leptin levels, shorter sleep latency
      and lower N3 sleep stage compared to men control (CTRL). They also presented
      higher apnea index and number of central apneas compared to both CTRL men and OSA
      women. In women, OSA was related to longer REM sleep latency, higher apnea
      hypopnea index (AHI) during REM sleep and increased TNF-alpha levels compared to
      CTRL women. A multivariate model showed that male gender, ghrelin and total
      cholesterol were negatively associated with TNF-alpha, while IL-6, triglycerides
      and hypopnea index were positively associated (R2=0.21). Additionally, gender
      (men), body mass index, ghrelin, apnea index and smoking were positive predictors
      of leptin levels (R2=0.55). Of note, postmenopause was associated with changes
      observed in both TNF-alpha and AHI during REM sleep in women with OSA. Taken
      together, our study suggests that OSA consequences may differ between genders and
      this could indicate a need for different OSA management in women according to
      their reproductive life's stage.

PMID- 27621225
TI  - Sex-specific effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the microbiome and behavior
      of socially-isolated mice.
AB  - Dietary supplementation with the long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been shown to have a beneficial effect on reducing
      the symptoms associated with several neuropsychiatric conditions including
      anxiety and depression. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain
      largely unknown. Increasing evidence suggests that the vast repertoire of
      commensal bacteria within the gut plays a critical role in regulating various
      biological processes in the brain and may contribute to neuropsychiatric disease
      risk. The present study determined the contribution of DHA on anxiety and
      depressive-like behaviors through modulation of the gut microbiota in a paradigm
      of social isolation. Adult male and female mice were subjected to social
      isolation for 28days and then placed either on a control diet or a diet
      supplemented with 0.1% or 1.0% DHA. Fecal pellets were collected both 24h and
      7days following the introduction of the new diets. Behavioral testing revealed
      that male mice fed a DHA diet, regardless of dose, exhibited reduced anxiety and
      depressive-like behaviors compared to control fed mice while no differences were
      observed in female mice. As the microbiota-brain-axis has been recently
      implicated in behavior, composition of microbial communities were analyzed to
      examine if these sex-specific effects of DHA may be associated with changes in
      the gut microbiota (GM). Clear sex differences were observed with males and
      females showing distinct microbial compositions prior to DHA supplementation. The
      introduction of DHA into the diet also induced sex-specific interactions on the
      GM with the fatty acid producing a significant effect on the microbial profiles
      in males but not in females. Interestingly, levels of Allobaculum and
      Ruminococcus were found to significantly correlate with the behavioral changes
      observed in the male mice. Predictive metagenome analysis using PICRUSt was
      performed on the fecal samples collected from males and identified enrichment in
      functional KEGG pathway terms relevant to processes such as the biosynthesis of
      unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant metabolism. These results indicate that
      DHA alters commensal community composition and produces beneficial effects on
      anxiety and depressive-like behaviors in a sex-specific manner. The present study
      provides insight into the mechanistic role that gut microbes may play in the
      regulation of anxiety and depressive-like behaviors and how dietary intervention
      can modulate these effects.

PMID- 27621226
TI  - Hemokinin-1 mediates anxiolytic and anti-depressant-like actions in mice.
AB  - The tachykinin NK1 receptor was suggested to be involved in psychiatric
      disorders, but its antagonists have failed to be effective as antidepressants in
      clinical trials. Hemokinin-1 (HK-1), the newest tachykinin, is present in several
      brain regions and activates the NK1 receptor similarly to substance P (SP), but
      acts also through other mechanisms. Therefore, we investigated the roles of the
      Tac4 gene-derived HK-1 in comparison with SP and neurokinin A (NKA) encoded by
      the Tac1 gene, as well as the NK1 receptor in anxiety and depression-like
      behaviors in mice. Mice lacking SP/NKA, HK-1 or the NK1 receptor (Tac1-/-, Tac4-/
      , Tacr1-/-, respectively) compared to C57Bl/6 wildtypes (WT), and treatment with
      the NK1 antagonist CP99994 were used in the experiments. Anxiety was evaluated in
      the light-dark box (LDB) and the elevated plus maze (EPM), locomotor activity in
      the open field (OFT) tests. Hedonic behavior was assessed in the sucrose
      preference test (SPT), depression-like behavior in the tail suspension (TST) and
      forced swim (FST) tests. FST-induced neuronal responsiveness was evaluated with
      Fos immunohistochemistry in several stress-related brain regions. In the LDB,
      Tac4-/- mice spent significantly less, while Tacr1-/- and CP99994-treated mice
      spent significantly more time in the lit compartment. In the EPM only Tac4-/-
      showed reduced time in the open arms, but no difference was observed in any other
      groups. In the OFT Tac4-/- mice showed significantly reduced, while Tac1-/- and
      Tacr1-/- animals increased motility than the WTs, but CP99994 had no effect. NK1
      /- consumed markedly more, while Tac4-/- less sucrose solution compared to WTs.
      In the TST and FST, Tac4-/- mice showed significantly increased immobility.
      However, depression-like behavior was decreased both in cases of genetic deletion
      and pharmacological blockade of the NK1 receptor. FST-induced neuronal activation
      in different nuclei involved in behavioral and neuroendocrine stress responses
      was significantly reduced in the brain of Tac4 -/- mice. Our results provide the
      first evidence for an anxiolytic and anti-depressant-like actions of HK-1 through
      a presently unknown target-mediated mechanism. Identification of its receptor
      and/or signaling pathways might open new perspectives for anxiolytic and anti
      depressant therapies.

PMID- 27621227
TI  - Zfp462 deficiency causes anxiety-like behaviors with excessive self-grooming in
      mice.
AB  - Zfp462 is a newly identified vertebrate-specific zinc finger protein that
      contains nearly 2500 amino acids and 23 putative C2H2-type zinc finger domains.
      So far, the functions of Zfp462 remain unclear. In our study, we showed that
      Zfp462 is expressed predominantly in the developing brain, especially in the
      cerebral cortex and hippocampus regions from embryonic day 7.5 to early postnatal
      stage. By using a piggyBac transposon-generated Zfp462 knockout (KO) mouse model,
      we found that Zfp462 KO mice exhibited prenatal lethality with normal neural tube
      patterning, whereas heterozygous (Het) Zfp462 KO (Zfp462+/- ) mice showed
      developmental delay with low body weight and brain weight. Behavioral studies
      showed that Zfp462+/- mice presented anxiety-like behaviors with excessive self
      grooming and hair loss, which were similar to the pathological grooming behaviors
      in Hoxb8 KO mice. Further analysis of grooming microstructure showed the
      impairment of grooming patterning in Zfp462+/- mice. In addition, the mRNA levels
      of Pbx1 (pre-B-cell leukemia homeobox 1, an interacting protein of Zfp462) and
      Hoxb8 decreased in the brains of Zfp462+/- mice, which may be the cause of
      anxiety-like behaviors. Finally, imipramine, a widely used and effective anti
      anxiety medicine, rescued anxiety-like behaviors and excessive self-grooming in
      Zfp462+/- mice. In conclusion, Zfp462 deficiency causes anxiety-like behaviors
      with excessive self-grooming in mice. This provides a novel genetic mouse model
      for anxiety disorders and a useful tool to determine potential therapeutic
      targets for anxiety disorders and screen anti-anxiety drugs.

PMID- 27621228
TI  - Kallikrein-related peptidase 6 promotes psoriasiform skin inflammation through a
      protease-activated receptor 2-independent mechanism.

PMID- 27621229
TI  - Engineering the Ionic Self-Assembly of Polyoxometalates and Facial-Like Peptides.
AB  - The self-assembly behavior of polyoxometalates (PMs) and facial-like cationic
      peptides carrying lysine residues were systematically investigated. Circular
      dichroism and UV/Vis spectra demonstrated that the multivalent electrostatic
      attractions between polyanionic PMs and short peptides with protonated lysine
      residues initiated the conformational transition of peptide molecules from random
      coil to beta-sheet state, and subsequently the co-assembly. TEM and atomic force
      microscopy (AFM) measurements showed that uniform nanofibers formed with
      decreasing size of the PMs or increasing the intermolecular forces of the
      peptides, such as through hydrogen-bonding, hydrophobic, and/or pi-pi
      interactions. Additionally, the stability of the nanostructures can be improved
      by rational suppression of the electrostatic repulsion of the shell peptides
      covering the surface of the nanostructures. These results provide new insight
      into understanding the ionic self-assembly of peptides and PMs and controlling
      their final morphology.

PMID- 27621231
TI  - Are gender-specific approaches required to prevent dementia?

PMID- 27621230
TI  - A model of care for healthy menopause and ageing: EMAS position statement.
AB  - Worldwide, the number of menopausal women is increasing. They present with
      complex medical issues that lie beyond the traditional scope of gynaecologists
      and general practitioners (GPs). The European Menopause and Andropause Society
      (EMAS) therefore provides a holistic model of care for healthy menopause (HM).
      The HM healthcare model's core consists of a lead clinician, specialist nurse(s)
      and the woman herself, supported by an interdisciplinary network of medical
      experts and providers of alternative/complementary medicine. As HM specialist
      teams are scarce in Europe, they are also responsible for structuring and
      optimizing processes in primary care (general gynaecologists and GPs) and
      secondary care (HM specialists). Activities for accreditation of the subspecialty
      Women's Health are encouraged. 

PMID- 27621232
TI  - The impact of depression in older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease and asthma.
AB  - Respiratory diseases are common in older people. However, the impact of comorbid
      depression in older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
      and asthma has not been fully explored. This narrative review examines the impact
      of comorbid depression and its management in COPD and asthma in older adults. The
      causes of depression in patients with COPD and asthma are multifactorial and
      include physical, physiological and behavioural factors. Depression is associated
      with hospital readmission in older adults with asthma and COPD. We focus on the
      most current literature that has examined the efficacy of pulmonary
      rehabilitation (PR), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and antidepressant drug
      therapy for patients with depression in the context of COPD and asthma. Our
      findings indicate that PR and CBT are beneficial in improving depressive symptoms
      and quality of life in short-term intervention studies. However, the long-term
      efficacy of CBT and PR is unknown. To date, the efficacy of antidepressant drug
      therapy for depression in patients with COPD and asthma is inconclusive. In
      addition, there has been no clear evidence that antidepressants can induce
      remission of depression or ameliorate dyspnoea or physiological indices of COPD.
      Factors that contribute to 'inadequate' assessment and treatment of depression in
      patients with COPD and asthma may include misconception of the disease by
      patients and their caregivers and stigma attached to depression. Thus, well
      controlled randomized controlled trials are needed. 

PMID- 27621233
TI  - Menopause: Genome stability as new paradigm.
AB  - Menopause is defined as the age-dependent permanent cessation of menstruation and
      ovulation due to ovarian failure. Menopause occurs on average around the age of
      51 years. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified over 44
      genetic variants that are associated with age of onset of natural menopause.
      Genes linked with menopause can be classified into three major groups: genes
      implicated in genome stability (DNA repair), immune function and mitochondrial
      biogenesis. Biological and epidemiological data indicate that reproductive
      performance, age at menopause and longevity are interlinked through common
      genetic factors, which play a pivotal role in DNA repair and genome maintenance,
      which has been linked before with the process of ageing. Consequently, ageing of
      the soma as a result of inefficient DNA repair appears also to be responsible for
      failure to reproduce and the subsequent occurrence of menopause. In this way
      reproductive performance may be strongly linked to the physical condition of the
      soma and may be a very good predictor of general health in later life. 

PMID- 27621234
TI  - Relationship between delivery history and health-related quality of life in
      menopausal South Korean women: The Korea National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Surveys.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study investigated the association between childbirth history and
      health-related quality of life (QOL) in menopausal South Korean women. STUDY
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2010-2012 Korean National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES) for 4277 menopausal women aged
      over 50. We used the EuroQol index to measure health-related QOL. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The relationship between delivery history and health-related QOL in
      menopausal South Korean women was analyzed. RESULTS: After adjustment for age
      (model 1), women who were younger at their first delivery and who had a greater
      number of deliveries had a significantly higher risk of problems with mobility,
      self-care, usual activities and pain or discomfort; the risk of anxiety or
      depression was not increased. After adjustment for age, BMI, smoking, use of
      alcohol, exercise, income, education, marital status, metabolic syndrome and
      stress (model 2), women who were younger at their first delivery and who had a
      greater number of deliveries had a significantly higher risk of problems with
      mobility, self-care and pain or discomfort. Age at last delivery was not
      significantly associated with health-related QOL in either model. CONCLUSIONS:
      South Korean women who were younger at their first delivery and who had more
      deliveries appear to be at increased risk of health-related QOL problems after
      menopause.

PMID- 27621235
TI  - Menopause modulates the association between thyrotropin levels and lipid
      parameters: The SardiNIA study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Thyroid hormone influences lipoprotein metabolism. The role of
      menopausal status in this association has not been extensively studied. The aim
      of the present study is to evaluate the association between lipid parameters and
      mild elevations of thyrotropin (TSH), and whether menopause influences this
      relationship. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample
      of 2,914 women (aged 14-102 years) from the SardiNIA study. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The association of TSH with blood lipid levels was examined using
      regression analyses, according to menopausal status. RESULTS: Postmenopausal
      women had lower serum TSH concentrations and higher levels of total cholesterol,
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (HDLc), and triglycerides than did premenopausal women (p=0.001 or less for all).
      In premenopausal women, after adjusting for the confounders age, BMI, smoking,
      insulin and glycaemia, TSH showed a direct relation to the levels of total
      cholesterol (beta=0.046, p=0.010), LDLc (beta=0.044, p=0.016) and triglycerides
      (beta=0.085, p<0.001), but no association with HDLc level. In the postmenopausal
      group, TSH was directly associated only with triglyceride levels (beta=0.103,
      p=0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The association between mild elevation of TSH and lipid
      levels is influenced by menopausal status. Further research is needed to clarify
      this finding.

PMID- 27621236
TI  - Preventing delirium in dementia: Managing risk factors.
AB  - Delirium is a common, disabling medical condition that is associated with
      numerous adverse outcomes. A number of inter-related factors, including pre
      existing cognitive impairment, usually contribute to the development of delirium
      in a particular susceptible individual. Non-pharmacological approaches to
      prevention typically target multiple risk factors in a systematic manner
      (multicomponent interventions). There is generally good evidence that
      multicomponent interventions reduce the incidence of delirium in hospital
      populations but there are limited data in people with dementia and those living
      in the community. It is likely that there is a differential effect of specific
      interventions in those with cognitive impairment (e.g. people with dementia may
      respond better to simpler, more pragmatic interventions rather than complex
      procedures) but this cannot be determined from the existing data. Targeted
      interventions focussed on hydration, medication rationalization and sleep
      promotion may also be effective in reducing the incidence of delirium, as well as
      the active involvement of family members in the care of the elderly hospitalized
      patient. Hospitalization itself is a potential risk factor for delirium and
      promising data are emerging of the benefits of home-based care as an alternative
      to hospitalization but this is restricted to specific sub-populations of patients
      and is reliant on these services being available. 

PMID- 27621238
TI  - Fracture healing in the elderly: A review.
AB  - Older patients are commonly at a higher risk of experiencing a bone fracture.
      Complications during fracture healing, including delayed union and non-union, can
      arise as a result of a multitude of patient and treatment factors. This review
      describes those factors which contribute to a greater risk of delayed union and
      non-union with particular reference to the elderly population and discusses
      therapies that may enhance the fracture healing process in the hope of reducing
      the incidence of delayed union and non-union. Increasing age does seem to
      increase the risk of delayed union or non-union. In addition, smoking and the
      treatment of post-fracture pain with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
      (NSAIDs) put the patient at the greatest risk, while ultrasound therapy appears
      to be a non-invasive, effective treatment option to reduce the risk of delayed
      union or non-union. The use of growth factors and of stem cells and the role of
      surgery are also discussed. 

PMID- 27621239
TI  - Assessment of the impact of urogenital prolapse on sexual dysfunction.
AB  - Sexual dysfunction is one of the symptoms that motivates women to seek medical
      help in the management of urogenital prolapse. Conservative or surgical
      interventions may be offered to treat the prolapse but the question remains as to
      whether treatment restores sexual function (SF). This article briefly discusses
      the assessment of SF in women with a urogenital prolapse and reviews the effect
      of therapeutic interventions on SF. 

PMID- 27621237
TI  - Reducing depression during the menopausal transition with health coaching:
      Results from the healthy menopausal transition randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if health coaching (HC) decreases the incidence of
      depression, reduces the severity of symptoms, and increases quality of life
      during the menopausal transition (MT). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Parallel,
      single-blinded, randomised controlled trial of 6 sessions of phone-delivered HC
      compared with usual care. Participants were 351 community-dwelling women free of
      major depression going through the MT, of whom 180 were assigned the intervention
      and 171 usual care. The primary outcome of interest was the incidence of
      clinically significant depressive symptoms over 52 weeks. Other study measures
      included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, quality of life (SF-12), the
      Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), diet, body mass index, alcohol use, smoking and
      physical activity. We considered that women with Patient Health Questionnaire
      (PHQ-9) scores between 5 and 14 (inclusive) had sub-threshold depressive
      symptoms. RESULTS: Nine women developed clinically significant symptoms of
      depression during the study-2 had been assigned HC (odds ratio, OR=0.26,
      95%CI=0.05, 1.29; p=0.099). Intention-to-treat showed that, compared with usual
      care, the intervention led to a greater decline in depressive scores, most
      markedly for participants with sub-threshold depressive symptoms. Similar, but
      less pronounced, benefits were noticed for anxiety scores and the mental
      component summary of the SF-12. The intervention led to a decline in MRS scores
      by week 26 and subtle improvements in body mass, consumption of vegetables and
      smoking. CONCLUSIONS: HC addressing relevant risk factors for depression during
      the MT improves mental health measures. Our findings indicate that women with sub
      threshold depressive symptoms may benefit the most from such interventions, and
      suggest that HC could play a useful role in minimizing mental health disturbance
      for women going through the MT.

PMID- 27621240
TI  - The role of clinical breast examination in cancer screening for women at average
      risk: A mini review.
AB  - As the debate about the potential benefits and harms of screening mammography
      continues, it is timely to consider the role of clinical breast examination in
      screening for women at average risk of breast cancer. This article reviews the
      results from clinical trials and discusses the varied recommendations around the
      world. It concludes that the evidence does not support routine clinical breast
      examination for women participating in screening mammography programs, but there
      may be a benefit for women not do not have mammographic screening, especially in
      developing nations where health literacy and 'breast awareness' levels may be
      lower. This review provides information for clinicians to support women who are
      making decisions about the increasingly complex issue of breast cancer screening.

PMID- 27621241
TI  - The use of maca (Lepidium meyenii) to improve semen quality: A systematic review.
AB  - The aim of this review was to assess the evidence for the effectiveness of maca
      (Lepidium meyenii) in improving semen quality. We searched 11 databases from
      their inception to March 2016 and included all clinical trials on the improvement
      of semen quality parameters in infertile and healthy men, regardless of the study
      design or the type of maca. The risk of bias for each study was assessed using
      the Cochrane criteria. The selection of studies, data extraction, and validation
      were performed independently by the first two authors. Discrepancies were
      resolved through discussion by the same two authors. Five studies - 3 randomized
      clinical trials (RCTs) and 2 uncontrolled observational studies (UOSs) - met all
      of the inclusion criteria. One RCT found favorable effects of maca on sperm
      mobility in infertile men. The two other RCTs showed positive effects of maca on
      several semen quality parameters in healthy men. The two UOSs also suggested
      favorable effects of maca on semen quality. The results of our systematic review
      provide suggestive evidence for the effectiveness of maca in improving semen
      quality. However, the total number of trials, the total sample size, and the risk
      of bias of the included studies prevent the drawing firm conclusions. More
      rigorous studies are warranted. 

PMID- 27621242
TI  - Optimising nutrition in residential aged care: A narrative review.
AB  - In developed countries the prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition increases
      with age and multi-morbidities increase nutritional risk in aged care residents
      in particular. This paper presents a narrative review of the current literature
      on the identification, prevalence, associated risk factors, consequences, and
      management of malnutrition in the residential aged care (RAC) setting. We
      performed searches of English-language publications on Medline, PubMed, Ovid and
      the Cochrane Library from January 1, 1990 to November 25, 2015. We found that, on
      average, half of all residents in aged care are malnourished as a result of
      factors affecting appetite, dietary intake and nutrient absorption. Malnutrition
      is associated with a multitude of adverse outcomes, including increased risk of
      infections, falls, pressure ulcers and hospital admissions, all of which can lead
      to increased health care costs and poorer quality of life. A number of food and
      nutrition strategies have demonstrated positive nutritional and clinical outcomes
      in the RAC setting. These strategies extend beyond simply enhancing the
      nutritional value of foods and hence necessitate the involvement of a range of
      committed stakeholders. Implementing a nutritional protocol in RAC facilities
      that comprises routine nutrition screening, assessment, appropriate nutrition
      intervention, including attention to food service systems, and monitoring by a
      multidisciplinary team can help prevent decline in residents' nutritional status.
      Food and nutritional issues should be identified early and managed on admission
      and regularly in the RAC setting. 

PMID- 27621243
TI  - Adrenal incidentalomas: A guide to assessment, treatment and follow-up.
AB  - Adrenal incidentalomas are clinically unsuspected lesions that are detected in
      adrenal glands during imaging procedures for other causes. With widespread use of
      imaging - both computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -
      adrenal incidentalomas are now a common clinical problem. The two main clinical
      issues to be determined in this setting are the risk of malignancy and the
      hormonal activity of these lesions. The answers to these two questions, along
      with the clinical characteristics of each individual patient and co-morbidities,
      will guide the treatment strategy, which can vary from simple follow-up to
      surgical resection. The objective of this article is to present updated
      information on the definition, prevalence, imaging and functional features of
      adrenal incidentalomas and to provide a guide to their optimal assessment,
      treatment and follow-up. This review collected, analyzed and qualitatively re
      synthesized information regarding: (1) the various clinical entities known as
      "adrenal incidentalomas", (2) the initial assessment of risk of malignancy, (3)
      the initial assessment of whether the lesion is hormonally active or non
      functioning, (4) the absolute and relative indications for surgical treatment,
      (5) the follow-up of patients who are not deemed to need surgical treatment after
      initial assessment, and (6) the post-operative follow-up of patients who undergo
      surgical treatment. The evidence calls for clinicians to bear in mind the
      Hippocratian advice "omegaphiepsilonlambdaepsilonepsiloniotanu eta MUeta
      betalambdaalphapitauepsiloniotanu" ("first do no harm").

PMID- 27621244
TI  - Menopausal hormone therapy in cancer survivors: A narrative review of the
      literature.
AB  - Decision making regarding the use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) for the
      treatment of bothersome menopausal symptoms in a cancer survivor can be complex,
      and includes assessment of its impact on disease-free or overall survival.
      Estrogen receptors are present in several cancer types, but this does not always
      result in estrogen-mediated tumor proliferation and adverse cancer-related
      outcomes. Estrogen may even be protective against certain cancers. Menopausal
      hormone therapy is associated with an increased risk of recurrence and mortality
      after diagnosis of some cancer types, but not others. We provide a narrative
      review of the medical literature regarding the risk of cancer recurrence and
      associated mortality with initiation of MHT after the diagnosis of breast,
      gynecologic, lung, colorectal, hematologic cancers, and melanoma. Menopausal
      hormone therapy may be considered for management of bothersome menopausal
      symptoms in women with some cancer types (e.g., colorectal and hematologic
      cancer, localized melanoma, and most cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers), while
      nonhormonal treatment options may be preferred for others (e.g., breast cancer).
      In women with other cancer types, recommendations are less straightforward, and
      the use of MHT must be individualized. 

PMID- 27621245
TI  - Reference values for 34 frequently used laboratory tests in 80-year-old men and
      women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Reference values are usually based on blood samples from healthy
      individuals in the age range 20-50 years. Most patients seeking health care are
      older than this reference population. Many reference intervals are age dependent
      and there is thus a need to have appropriate reference intervals also for elderly
      individuals. METHODS: We analyzed a group of frequently used laboratory tests in
      an 80-year-old population (n=531, 266 females and 265 males). The 2.5th and
      97.5th percentiles for these markers were calculated according to the
      International Federation of Clinical Chemistry guidelines on the statistical
      treatment of reference values. RESULTS: Reference values are reported for serum
      alanine transaminase (ALT), albumin, alkaline phosphatase, pancreatic amylase,
      apolipoprotein A1, apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A1 ratio,
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST), AST/ALT ratio, bilirubin, calcium,
      calprotectin, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, creatinine kinase (CK), creatinine,
      creatinine estimated GFR, C-reactive protein, cystatin C, cystatin C estimated
      GFR, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), iron, iron saturation, lactate
      dehydrogenase (LDH), magnesium, phosphate, transferrin, triglycerides, urate,
      urea, zinc, hemoglobin, platelet count and white blood cell count. The upper
      reference limit for creatinine and urea was significantly increased while the
      lower limit for iron and albumin was decreased in this elderly population in
      comparison with the population in the Nordic Reference Interval Project (NORIP).
      CONCLUSIONS: Reference values calculated from the whole population and a
      subpopulation without cardiovascular disease showed strong concordance. Several
      of the reference interval limits were outside the 90% confidence interval of
      NORIP.

PMID- 27621246
TI  - The experiences of people with young-onset dementia: A meta-ethnographic review
      of the qualitative literature.
AB  - Dementia is usually diagnosed in later life but can occur in younger people. The
      experiences of those with older-onset dementia are relatively well understood but
      little is known about the experiences of those with young-onset dementia (aged
      less than 65 years). This meta-ethnography therefore synthesised qualitative
      literature investigating the experiences of people with young-onset dementia
      (YOD). Six electronic databases were searched and 1155 studies were identified,
      of which eight fitted the inclusion criteria. These studies were all from Western
      countries, were mostly recent (2004-2015) and included the experiences of 87
      people with YOD. Participants were generally in their fifties or early sixties
      and were living at home with others. Many reported difficulties both in the
      process of receiving a diagnosis and afterwards. Diagnosis felt unexpected, 'out
      of time' and led to changes in self-identity, powerlessness and changes in
      relationships. Social exclusion was common. Loss of meaningful activity
      exacerbated a difficult situation. However, the diagnosis did not mean people's
      lives were over and many with YOD try to regain control by seeking connections
      with others with the same condition - sometimes a very important source of
      support. Overall, people living with YOD face unique social challenges which go
      beyond those of older people living with dementia and which result in an even
      greater negative impact on their lives. Interventions that facilitate peer
      support and allow people with YOD to engage in meaningful activity should be
      developed and could perhaps be provided by the voluntary sector. 

PMID- 27621247
TI  - rs2802292 polymorphism in the FOXO3A gene and exceptional longevity in two
      ethnically distinct cohorts.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have indicated that the rs2802292 polymorphism in
      the human forkhead box O3A (FOXO3A) gene might be associated with exceptional
      longevity (EL, i.e., living 100+ years), although the results are conflicting.
      STUDY DESIGN AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Using a case-control design, we
      investigated the distribution of the rs2802292 polymorphism in two ethnically
      distinct cohorts of centenarians (cases) and younger adults (controls). The first
      cohort included Japanese individuals (733 centenarians and 820 controls) and the
      second was from Northern Italy (79 disease-free centenarians and 316 controls).
      RESULTS: No statistically significant association was found between the rs2802292
      polymorphism and EL in either cohort (either examined in their entirety or in a
      sex-based analysis). CONCLUSIONS: In light of our negative findings, further
      research and resequencing efforts are needed to shed more light on the potential
      association between EL and FOXO3A polymorphisms.

PMID- 27621248
TI  - Smoking, alcohol and caffeine in relation to two hormonal indicators of ovarian
      age during the reproductive years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether or not cigarette smoking, alcohol and caffeine
      intake are related to two indicators of ovarian age-anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH)
      and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of
      477 women with a recent index spontaneous abortion (SA) (105 trisomic, 93 non
      trisomic) or livebirth (LB) (279) with hormones measured on days 2-4 of an
      apparently normal menstrual cycle after the index pregnancy. RESULTS: Current
      smoking is associated with about a 15% increase in median FSH (beta for
      ln(FSH)=0.14, 95% CI 0.03,0.25). It is not significantly related to AMH (beta for
      ln(AMH)=-0.25, 95% CI -0.56,0.06). Neither alcohol 2-7days per week nor caffeine
      122-<553mg per day is independently related to AMH or FSH. CONCLUSIONS: The
      observation that current smoking is associated with FSH, but not with AMH,
      suggests that current smoking either impairs the development of antral follicles
      or dysregulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. The absence of an
      association with AMH argues against mechanisms related to accelerated follicle
      atresia.

PMID- 27621250
TI  - Grand-parenting for healthy ageing in women: Fact or fiction?
AB  - Globally our populations are ageing and with this trend, there is a rise in
      chronic disease. We know that lifestyle and environment are significant
      contributors to risk for disease, quality of life and function. Despite this
      representing an opportunity to improve health and quality of life in ageing,
      there is a paucity of research in this field. The social aspects of this period
      of development which have been most researched include employment, function and
      disability. Grand-parenting is one of the most popular sources of childcare in
      the world and therefore research investigating this role is of vital
      significance. 

PMID- 27621249
TI  - Stellate ganglion blockade and verbal memory in midlife women: Evidence from a
      randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In a pilot randomized clinical trial of active stellate ganglion
      blockade (SGB) versus sham control, SGB significantly reduced the frequency of
      reported moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and the frequency of
      physiologic VMS measured using ambulatory skin conductance monitors. Here we
      examine secondary effects of SGB on verbal learning and memory. STUDY DESIGN: In
      a randomized, sham-controlled study, 36 women met eligibility criteria for
      cognitive assessments, of whom 17 were randomized to receive fluoroscopy-guided
      SGB and 19 to sham control. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At baseline and three months
      post-treatment, women completed tests of verbal learning and memory (primary
      outcome) and other cognitive measures and also wore an ambulatory monitor for 24h
      to measure physiologic VMS and VMS reported in real time. RESULTS: Verbal
      learning improved following active SGB (p<0.05) but not sham treatment; however,
      the interaction between group and time was not significant (p values 0.13-0.20).
      Two secondary cognitive measures improved only in the sham group. Improvements in
      physiologic VMS correlated significantly with improvements in verbal learning
      (r=0.51, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: SGB might confer benefits to memory in relation to
      the magnitude of improvement in physiologic VMS. Broadly these findings suggest a
      possible link between physiologic VMS and memory problems in midlife women.

PMID- 27621251
TI  - Impact of a western diet on the ovarian and serum metabolome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this investigation was to determine differences in
      the profiles of endogenous metabolites (metabolomics) among ovaries and serum
      derived from Old World nonhuman primates fed prudent or Western diets. DESIGN: A
      retrospective, observational study was done using archived ovarian tissue and
      serum from midlife cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fasicularis). Targeted and broad
      spectrum metabolomics analysis was used to compare ovarian tissue and serum from
      monkeys that had been exposed to a prudent diet or a Western diet. Monkeys in the
      prudent diet group (n=13) were research naive and had been exposed only to a
      commercial monkey chow diet (low in cholesterol and saturated fats, high in
      complex carbohydrates). Western diet monkeys (n=8) had consumed a diet that was
      high in cholesterol, saturated animal fats and soluble carbohydrates for 2 years
      prior to ovarian tissue and serum collection. OUTCOME MEASURES: Metabolomic
      analyses were done on extracts of homogenized ovary tissue samples, and extracts
      of serum. Targeted analysis was conducted using the Biocrates p180 kit and broad
      spectrum analysis was conducted using UPLC-TOF-MS, resulting in the detection of
      3500 compound ions. RESULTS: Using metabolomics methods, which capture thousands
      of signals for metabolites, 64 metabolites were identified in serum and 47
      metabolites were identified in ovarian tissue that differed by diet. Quantitative
      targeted analysis revealed 13 amino acids, 6 acrylcarnitines, and 2 biogenic
      amines that were significantly (p<0.05) different between the two diet groups for
      serum extracts, and similar results were observed for the ovary extracts.
      CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that dietary exposure had a significant
      impact on the serum and ovarian metabolome, and demonstrated perturbation in
      carnitine, lipids/fatty acid, and amino acid metabolic pathways.

PMID- 27621252
TI  - Pituitary incidentalomas: A guide to assessment, treatment and follow-up.
AB  - Pituitary incidentalomas are lesions which are detected incidentally in the
      pituitary gland during imaging procedures for unrelated causes, such as headache,
      trauma or symptoms involving the neck or central nervous system. The wide
      application of sensitive brain imaging techniques (CT, MRI) has led to an
      increasing recognition of such lesions. Although the etiology of pituitary
      incidentalomas covers a wide range of pathologies, most of them (~90%) are benign
      adenomas; nonetheless, they may result in visual and/or neurologic abnormalities.
      By definition, micro-incidentalomas have maximum diameter of less than 1cm, while
      macro-incidentalomas are at least 1cm. Micro-incidentalomas have a reported mean
      prevalence in normal individuals of around 10%. The endocrinologist facing a
      pituitary incidentaloma has to solve two main diagnostic problems: (i) the nature
      and extent of the lesion, and (ii) whether hormonal excess or deficits result
      from the lesion. The former is achieved by the use of pituitary MRI and visual
      field (VF) examination and the latter by basal or dynamic hormonal assessments.
      The answers to these two questions will guide the treatment and follow-up. VF
      deficits or neurological disturbances due to compression of the optic chiasm or
      nerve by the incidentaloma are the strongest recommendations for surgery.
      Furthermore, hormonally active incidentalomas, with the exception of
      prolactinomas, should be treated by surgery. Most cases of pituitary
      incidentalomas do not meet criteria for surgical excision, but may require follow
      up. The follow-up strategy consists of clinical evaluation, pituitary MRI, VF
      examination and hormonal assessments. Macro-incidentalomas require more extensive
      initial investigation, as well as closer MRI surveillance, than micro
      incidentalomas. Diagnostic, treatment and follow-up strategies should be in
      alignment with the optimal personalized clinical benefit.

PMID- 27621253
TI  - Discussing the benefits and harms of screening mammography.
AB  - Mammographic screening programs were established around the world following
      randomised clinical trials showing that women who were screened had a significant
      reduction in the risk of dying from breast cancer. Now, decades later, several
      harms of screening have become apparent and the degree of risk reduction is being
      debated. This article aims to provide clinicians with evidence-based information
      about the benefits and harms of screening mammography to enable them to
      confidently discuss the issues with their patients. The issues around screening
      for breast cancer in asymptomatic women at average risk are complex. Women need
      accurate, balanced information to make an informed decision about whether they
      wish to participate in screening. The decision will vary from one woman to
      another, depending on her level of anxiety about cancer and recall, her personal
      values and her philosophy about health care. 

PMID- 27621255
TI  - The associations between physical fitness and cardiometabolic risk and body-size
      phenotypes in perimenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the association between physical fitness and body-size
      phenotypes, and to test which aspects of physical fitness show the greatest
      independent association with cardiometabolic risk in perimenopausal women. STUDY
      DESIGN: This cross-sectional study involved 228 women aged 53+/-5years from
      southern Spain. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Physical fitness was assessed by means
      of the Senior Fitness Test Battery (additionally including handgrip strength and
      timed up-and-go tests). Anthropometry, resting heart rate, blood pressure and
      plasma markers of lipid, glycaemic and inflammatory status were measured by
      standard procedures. The harmonized definition of the 'metabolically healthy but
      obese' (MHO) phenotype was employed to classify individuals. RESULTS: The overall
      prevalence of the MHO phenotype was 13% but was 43% among the obese women. Apart
      from traditional markers, metabolically healthy non-obese women had lower levels
      of C-reactive protein than women with the other phenotypes (p<0.001), and levels
      of glycosylated haemoglobin were lower in MHO women than in metabolically
      abnormal non-obese women (overall p=0.004). Most of the components of physical
      fitness differed with body-size phenotypes. The 6-min walk and the back-scratch
      tests presented the most robust differences (both p<0.001). Moreover, the women's
      performance on the back-scratch (beta=0.32; p<0.001) and the 6-min walk
      (beta=0.22; p=0.003) tests was independently associated with the clustered
      cardiometabolic risk. The back-scratch test explained 10% of the variability
      (step 1, p<0.001), and the final model, which also included the 6-min walk test
      (step 2, p=0.003), explained 14% of the variability. CONCLUSION: Low upper-body
      flexibility was the most important fitness indicator of cardiometabolic risk in
      perimenopausal women, but cardiorespiratory fitness also played an important
      role.

PMID- 27621254
TI  - Acute ascorbic acid infusion increases left ventricular diastolic function in
      postmenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that oxidative stress contributes to
      reductions in left ventricular diastolic (LV) function in estrogen-deficient
      postmenopausal women, related in part to reduced nitric oxide (NO)
      bioavailability. STUDY DESIGN: LV diastolic function - recorded using
      transthoracic echocardiography and determined as the peak early (E) to late (A)
      mitral inflow velocity ratio and the E to peak early (e') mitral annular velocity
      ratio - and brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD), a biomarker of NO
      bioavailability, were measured during acute systemic infusions of saline
      (control) and ascorbic acid (experimental model to decrease oxidative stress) in
      healthy premenopausal women (N=14, 18-40 years) and postmenopausal women (N=23,
      45-75 years). RESULTS: The E/A ratio was lower (1.16[1.06-1.33] vs 1.65[1.5-2.3];
      median[interquartile range]) and the E/e' ratio was elevated (8.8[7.6-9.9] vs.
      6.6[5.5-7.3]) in postmenopausal compared with premenopausal women, indicating
      reduced LV diastolic function. E/A and E/e' were correlated with FMD (r=0.54 and
      r=-0.59, respectively, both P<0.01). Ascorbic acid infusion improved both FMD
      (5.4+/-2.0% to 7.8+/-2.6%) and E/e' (to 8.1[7.2-9.7], P=0.01) in postmenopausal
      women but not in premenopausal women. Ascorbic acid did not change E/A in either
      group. CONCLUSION: The current study provides evidence that oxidative stress
      contributes to reduced LV diastolic function in estrogen-deficient postmenopausal
      women, possibly by reducing the availability of NO.

PMID- 27621256
TI  - Correlates of CVD and discussing sexual issues with physicians among male
      military veterans.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to identify socio-demographic and health behavior
      factors associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) diagnosis and patient
      physician communication concerning sexual issues among older Veterans. METHODS:
      Cross-sectional data were collected from 635 male Veterans over age 55 years as
      part of the 2010 National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, a nationally
      representative, population-based study of community-dwelling older Americans. Two
      independent logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Over 33% of
      Veterans were aged 75 years or older. Over one-half of participants reported
      having a CVD diagnosis (58%) and sexual intercourse within the previous year
      (58%); over one-third (37%) reported having one or more sexual dysfunctions and
      discussing sexual issues with their physician (42%). Veterans diagnosed with CVD
      were significantly more likely to self-identify as racial/ethnic minorities
      (OR=1.89, P=0.021), have more chronic disease comorbidities (OR=1.23, P=0.041),
      and have more sexual dysfunctions (OR=1.19, P=0.028). Veterans diagnosed with CVD
      were significantly less likely to report having sex within the previous year
      (OR=0.53, P=0.005). Veterans who reported discussing sexual issues with a
      physician were significantly more likely to be >=75 years (OR=1.79, P=0.010), and
      report more than a high school education (OR=1.62, P=0.016), CVD diagnosis
      (OR=1.59, P=0.015), sex within the previous year (OR=1.69, P=0.033), and trouble
      achieving/maintaining an erection (OR=3.39, P<0.001). IMPLICATIONS: These
      findings suggest older male Veterans, particularly racial/ethnic minorities and
      those less-educated, may benefit from VA and community-based aging and sexual
      health/counseling services. These services should promote increased patient
      physician communication as well as referrals between physicians and sex
      health/counseling specialists.

PMID- 27621258
TI  - Study protocol of a multicentre randomised controlled trial of self-help
      cognitive behaviour therapy for working women with menopausal symptoms
      (MENOS@Work).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hot flushes and night sweats (HFNS) - the main symptoms of the
      menopause transition - can reduce quality of life and are particularly difficult
      to manage at work. A cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) intervention has been
      developed specifically for HFNS that is theoretically based and shown to reduce
      significantly the impact of HFNS in several randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
      Self-help CBT has been found to be as effective as group CBT for these symptoms,
      but these interventions are not widely available in the workplace. This paper
      describes the protocol of an RCT aiming to assess the efficacy of CBT for
      menopausal symptoms implemented in the workplace, with a nested qualitative study
      to examine acceptability and feasibility. METHODS/DESIGN: One hundred menopausal
      working women, aged 45-60 years, experiencing bothersome HFNS for two months will
      be recruited from several (2-10) large organisations into a multicentre
      randomised controlled trial. Women will be randomly assigned to either treatment
      (a self-help CBT intervention lasting 4 weeks) or to a no treatment-wait control
      condition (NTWC), following a screening interview, consent, and completion of a
      baseline questionnaire. All participants will complete follow-up questionnaires
      at 6 weeks and 20 weeks post-randomisation. The primary outcome is the rating of
      HFNS; secondary measures include HFNS frequency, mood, quality of life, attitudes
      to menopause, HFNS beliefs and behaviours, work absence and presenteeism, job
      satisfaction, job stress, job performance, disclosure to managers and turnover
      intention. Adherence, acceptability and feasibility will be assessed at 20 weeks
      post-randomisation in questionnaires and qualitative interviews. Upon trial
      completion, the control group will also be offered the intervention. DISCUSSION:
      This is the first randomised controlled trial of a self-management intervention
      tailored for working women who have troublesome menopausal symptoms. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: Clin.Gov NCT02623374.

PMID- 27621260
TI  - Progressing From Metformin to Sulfonylureas or Meglitinides.

PMID- 27621259
TI  - Progressing From Metformin to Sulfonylureas or Meglitinides.
AB  - The article provides an overview of sulfonylureas and meglitinides as second-line
      agents for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Implications for
      occupational health clinicians who work with these individuals when they take
      either of these medications to achieve target glycemic indices are emphasized. 

PMID- 27621261
TI  - Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - Occupational health nurses play a valuable role in educating workers and
      supervisors about the risk factors and warning signs of ischemic stroke. 

PMID- 27621262
TI  - Editor's Note.

PMID- 27621257
TI  - The InterLACE study: Design, data harmonization and characteristics across 20
      studies on women's health.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to
      Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events (InterLACE) project is a global
      research collaboration that aims to advance understanding of women's reproductive
      health in relation to chronic disease risk by pooling individual participant data
      from several cohort and cross-sectional studies. The aim of this paper is to
      describe the characteristics of contributing studies and to present the
      distribution of demographic and reproductive factors and chronic disease outcomes
      in InterLACE. STUDY DESIGN: InterLACE is an individual-level pooled study of 20
      observational studies (12 of which are longitudinal) from ten countries.
      Variables were harmonized across studies to create a new and systematic synthesis
      of life-course data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Harmonized data were derived in three
      domains: 1) socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, 2) female reproductive
      characteristics, and 3) chronic disease outcomes (cardiovascular disease (CVD)
      and diabetes). RESULTS: InterLACE pooled data from 229,054 mid-aged women.
      Overall, 76% of the women were Caucasian and 22% Japanese; other ethnicities (of
      300 or more participants) included Hispanic/Latin American (0.2%), Chinese
      (0.2%), Middle Eastern (0.3%), African/black (0.5%), and Other (1.0%). The median
      age at baseline was 47 years (Inter-quartile range (IQR): 41-53), and that at the
      last follow-up was 56 years (IQR: 48-64). Regarding reproductive characteristics,
      half of the women (49.8%) had their first menstruation (menarche) at 12-13 years
      of age. The distribution of menopausal status and the prevalence of chronic
      disease varied considerably among studies. At baseline, most women (57%) were pre
      or peri-menopausal, 20% reported a natural menopause (range 0.8-55.6%) and the
      remainder had surgery or were taking hormones. By the end of follow-up, the
      prevalence rates of CVD and diabetes were 7.2% (range 0.9-24.6%) and 5.1% (range
      1.3-13.2%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The scale and heterogeneity of InterLACE
      data provide an opportunity to strengthen evidence concerning the relationships
      between reproductive health through life and subsequent risks of chronic disease,
      including cross-cultural comparisons.

PMID- 27621263
TI  - Routine use of antipsychotics to prevent or treat delirium is not recommended.

PMID- 27621264
TI  - Preemptive Local Anesthesia in Ankle Arthroscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complex anesthesia is increasingly used in order to reduce
      postoperative pain and accelerate rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of preemptive local anesthesia combined with
      general or spinal anesthesia in ankle arthroscopy. METHODS: From January 2014 to
      February 2016, 80 ankle anterior arthroscopies were performed. Patients were
      randomly assigned to one of 4 groups, depending on the type of anesthesia: A,
      general and local preemptive; B, spinal and local preemptive; C, general and
      placebo; D, spinal and placebo. After general or spinal anesthesia, each patient
      randomly received an injection of 7 mL of a mixture of local anesthetics or the
      same amount of normal saline. After 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, and 72 hours
      following the release of the tourniquet, the pain intensity level was measured
      with a visual analog scale (VAS). The use of additional analgesics and any
      adverse effects were also noted. RESULTS: Preemptive local anesthesia (groups A
      and B) resulted in a significantly lower level of pain intensity during the first
      24 hours after surgery. Until 8 hours after the release of the tourniquet, the
      pain intensity level was statistically lower in the groups A, B, and D in
      comparison to C. During hospitalization, none of the patients from groups A and B
      received on-demand ketoprofen intravenously. No side effects of local anesthetic
      agents were observed. Two patients had transient numbness and paresthesia in the
      field of sensory nerve innervation of the dorsal intermediate cutaneous nerve of
      the foot. CONCLUSION: Preemptive operative site infiltration with a mixture of
      local anesthetics performed in ankle arthroscopy was a safe procedure. It reduced
      the level of intensity of postoperative pain and the amount of analgesics used.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, prospective randomized study.

PMID- 27621265
TI  - Clinical and Functional Outcomes of Gastrocnemius Recession for Chronic Achilles
      Tendinopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although gastrocnemius recession has been proposed and used in the
      treatment of chronic noninsertional Achilles tendinopathy, only weak evidence
      exists to support this operative indication. The purpose of our study was to
      assess the clinical and functional outcomes of patients treated with
      gastrocnemius recession at 2 institutions for this problem. METHODS: Thirty-four
      patients were identified through our medical records and asked to participate in
      this study. Thirty patients (35 legs) responded to the invitation. Sixteen
      patients were eligible for clinical follow-up, and 14 patients responded by
      letter or telephone interview. Two patients did not want to participate, and 2
      patients could not be reached. Data were collected by a satisfaction
      questionnaire, the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A)
      questionnaire, a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, a functional test battery,
      and a clinical examination. RESULTS: A subgroup with preoperative data (n = 8)
      showed an increase in the mean VISA-A score from 39.5 to 91.9. The mean overall
      VISA-A score (n = 30) was 91.4 at follow-up. The mean VAS for pain score when
      walking decreased from 7.5 before surgery to 0.8 after surgery. Twenty-eight of
      30 patients reported that they were satisfied with their results after surgery.
      Functional testing showed no difference in gastrocnemius-soleus function between
      the operated and nonoperated leg (n = 10). CONCLUSION: The findings support the
      promising results from other studies regarding gastrocnemius recession as an
      effective and safe way of treating chronic Achilles tendinopathy. The patients
      recovered both in terms of pain and function. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV,
      retrospective case series.

PMID- 27621266
TI  - Relationship of Radiographic and Clinical Parameters With Hallux Valgus and
      Second Ray Pathology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hallux valgus is frequently associated with additional forefoot
      pathologies, including hammertoes and midfoot osteoarthritis (OA). However, the
      pathogenesis of these concurrent pathologies remains to be elucidated. We sought
      to determine whether there is a relationship between demographic and radiographic
      parameters and the incidence of secondary pathologies in the setting of a bunion,
      with an emphasis on second tarsometatarsal (TMT) OA and hammertoes. METHODS: A
      total of 153 patients (172 feet) who underwent reconstruction for hallux valgus
      were divided into 3 groups: (1) bunion only (61 patients), (2) bunion with
      hammertoe without second TMT joint OA (78 patients), and (3) bunion with second
      TMT joint OA (14 patients). Preoperative age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) as
      well as hallux valgus angle (HVA), intermetatarsal angle (IMA), metatarsus
      adductus angle (MAA), ratio of second to first metatarsal length, and Meary's
      angle were recorded. One-way analysis of variance (normality demonstrated) and
      Kruskal-Wallis (normality not demonstrated) tests were used to assess differences
      in continuous variables. Post hoc tests were conducted with the Bonferroni
      technique. Associations between discrete variables and the study groups were
      analyzed using chi2 tests. Following the univariate analysis, multinomial
      logistic regression models were built to determine potential risk factors for
      hammertoe or TMT OA group placement. RESULTS: Patients in the hammertoe and TMT
      OA groups were significantly older than patients in the bunion only group ( P <
      .001 for both pairwise comparisons) and had significantly higher BMIs ( P = .024
      and P < .001, respectively). Patients in the TMT OA group had a significantly
      higher mean HVA than patients in the bunion-only group ( P = .004) and a
      significantly higher mean MAA relative to both other study groups ( P <= .001 for
      both comparisons). IMA, Meary's angle, and the ratio of second to first
      metatarsal length did not differ significantly between groups. In the
      multivariate analysis, hammertoe group assignment was predicted only by age and
      HVA, while midfoot OA group assignment was predicted by age, HVA, BMI, and MAA.
      CONCLUSION: Our data show that older age and increased HVA were predictors of
      both second ray pathologies studied. Higher BMI and MAA were predictive only of
      TMT joint OA. These data may help identify patients with hallux valgus who are at
      greater risk for developing secondary pathologies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III,
      retrospective comparative series.

PMID- 27621267
TI  - Estrogen Drives Cellular Transformation and Mutagenesis in Cells Expressing the
      Breast Cancer-Associated R438W DNA Polymerase Lambda Protein.
AB  - : Repair of DNA damage is critical for maintaining the genomic integrity of
      cells. DNA polymerase lambda (POLL/Pol lambda) is suggested to function in base
      excision repair (BER) and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ), and is likely to play
      a role in damage tolerance at the replication fork. Here, using next-generation
      sequencing, it was discovered that the POLL rs3730477 single-nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) encoding R438W Pol lambda was significantly enriched in the
      germlines of breast cancer patients. Expression of R438W Pol lambda in human
      breast epithelial cells induces cellular transformation and chromosomal
      aberrations. The role of estrogen was assessed as it is commonly used in hormone
      replacement therapies and is a known breast cancer risk factor. Interestingly,
      the combination of estrogen treatment and the expression of the R438W Pol lambda
      SNP drastically accelerated the rate of transformation. Estrogen exposure
      produces 8-oxoguanine lesions that persist in cells expressing R438W Pol lambda
      compared with wild-type (WT) Pol lambda-expressing cells. Unlike WT Pol lambda,
      which performs error-free bypass of 8-oxoguanine lesions, expression of R438W Pol
      lambda leads to an increase in mutagenesis and replicative stress in cells
      treated with estrogen. Together, these data suggest that individuals who carry
      the rs3730477 POLL germline variant have an increased risk of estrogen-associated
      breast cancer. IMPLICATIONS: The Pol lambda R438W mutation can serve as a
      biomarker to predict cancer risk and implicates that treatment with estrogen in
      individuals with this mutation may further increase their risk of breast cancer.
      Mol Cancer Res; 14(11); 1068-77. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27621270
TI  - Nursing's professional respect as experienced by hospital and community nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is growing awareness that patient care suffers when nurses are
      not respected. Therefore, to improve outcomes for patients, it is crucial that
      nurses operate in a moral work environment that involves both recognition
      respect, a form of respect that ought to be accorded to every single person, and
      appraisal respect, a recognition of the relative and contingent value of respect
      modulated by the relationships of the healthcare professionals in a determined
      context. Research question/aim: The purpose of this study was to develop better
      understandings of perceptions of nursing's professional respect in community and
      hospital settings in England. RESEARCH DESIGN: The research design was
      qualitative. Focus groups were chosen as the most appropriate method for
      eliciting discussion about nursing's professional respect. Participants and
      research context: A total of 62 nurses who had been qualified for at least a year
      and were working in two localities in England participated in this study.
      METHODS: Data were collected using 11 focus group sessions. The data were
      analysed by means of an inductive content analysis, extracting meaning units from
      the information retrieved and classifying the arising phenomena into conceptually
      meaningful categories and themes. Ethical considerations: To conduct the
      research, permission was obtained from the selected universities. RESULTS:
      Recognition respect of human beings was perceived as ingrained in the innermost
      part of nurses. Regarding appraisal respect, a great importance was placed on:
      the interactions among healthcare professionals, the time to build trust in these
      relationships, the influences of the workplace characteristics and nurses'
      professional autonomy and decision-making. CONCLUSION: Recognition respect of
      persons was embedded in the inmost part of nurses as individuals. Concerning
      appraisal respect, it was thought to be deeply enshrined in the inter- and intra
      healthcare professional interactions. The forging of trusting relationships over
      time was deemed to be strongly associated with good quality interactions with
      other healthcare professionals.

PMID- 27621268
TI  - Adipose-Induced Retroperitoneal Soft Tissue Sarcoma Tumorigenesis: A Potential
      Crosstalk between Sarcoma and Fat Cells.
AB  - : Previous data demonstrated that high retroperitoneal visceral fat content
      increases retroperitoneal soft-tissue sarcoma (RSTS) local recurrence and
      patients' mortality. Most RSTS tumors initiate and recur within visceral fat. The
      objective of the current study was to evaluate potential paracrine effects of
      visceral fat on RSTS. A xenograft model was used to evaluate in vivo effects of
      human visceral fat on STS growth. Tissue explants were prepared from visceral
      fat, and their conditioned medium (CM) was utilized for various in vitro
      experiments designed to evaluate growth, survival, migration, and invasion of STS
      and endothelial cells. Visceral fat-secreted protumorigenic factors were
      identified by mass spectrometry. The in vivo experiments demonstrated a
      significant increase in STS tumor growth rate when SK-LMS-1 leiomyosarcoma cells
      were colocalized with human visceral fat compared with subcutaneous injection of
      cancer cells only. The in vitro model demonstrated that visceral fat CM increased
      STS cellular growth and reduced doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Visceral fat also
      enhanced STS cellular migration and invasion. In addition, visceral fat CM
      significantly increased endothelial cell tube formation, suggesting its role as a
      proangiogenic factor in the STS tumor microenvironment (TME). Using a robust
      proteomic approach, liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry resolved
      various molecules within the visceral fat CM, of which a subset was associated
      with protumorigenic biologic processes. These results suggest that visceral fat
      directly interacts with STS cells by secreting specific adipokines into the TME,
      thus augmenting STS tumor cell proliferation and invasiveness. Fat-induced STS
      molecular deregulations should be studied to identify new potential prognostic
      and therapeutic targets. IMPLICATIONS: Visceral fat induces protumorigenic
      effects, in STS, through various secreted factors that should be investigated to
      improve our understanding of adipose-cancer cell interactions. Mol Cancer Res;
      14(12); 1254-65. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27621271
TI  - A Descriptive Model of Desistance From Sexual Offending: Examining the Narratives
      of Men Released From Custody.
AB  - Despite an increasing interest in desistance from sexual offending, a
      comprehensive theoretical account of the process has yet to be provided. This
      study examines the narratives of 60 men interviewed in the community, who were
      incarcerated for sexual offenses and released. Recent findings from this research
      conclude that men desist from sexual offending, but they seldom follow the
      processes described by traditional criminology. In many cases, in fact, they
      desist in spite of their inability to pursue Sampson and Laub's "informal social
      controls" or Giordano et al.'s "hooks for change." The relentless impact of
      current public policies such as community notification and electronic monitoring
      further impedes their likelihood of experiencing Maruna's "Pygmalion effect" or
      achieving true cognitive transformation or agentic change. The descriptive model
      introduced here identifies four styles of desistance from sexual offending:
      "age," "resignation," "rote," and "resilience." Relevant implications are
      discussed.

PMID- 27621272
TI  - Implementing the PAIN RelieveIt Randomized Controlled Trial in Hospice Care:
      Mechanisms for Success and Meeting PCORI Methodology Standards.
AB  - This purpose of this article is to describe how we adhere to the Patient-Centered
      Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) methodology standards relevant to the
      design and implementation of our PCORI-funded study, the PAIN RelieveIt Trial. We
      present details of the PAIN RelieveIt Trial organized by the PCORI methodology
      standards and components that are relevant to our study. The PAIN RelieveIt Trial
      adheres to four PCORI standards and 21 subsumed components. The four standards
      include standards for formulating research questions, standards associated with
      patient centeredness, standards for data integrity and rigorous analyses, and
      standards for preventing and handling missing data. In the past 24 months, we
      screened 2,837 cancer patients and their caregivers; 874 dyads were eligible;
      223.5 dyads consented and provided baseline data. Only 55 patients were lost to
      follow-up-a 25% attrition rate. The design and implementation of the PAIN
      RelieveIt Trial adhered to PCORI's methodology standards for research rigor.

PMID- 27621269
TI  - TDP-43 loss of function inhibits endosomal trafficking and alters trophic
      signaling in neurons.
AB  - Nuclear clearance of TDP-43 into cytoplasmic aggregates is a key driver of
      neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar
      degeneration (FTLD), but the mechanisms are unclear. Here, we show that TDP-43
      knockdown specifically reduces the number and motility of RAB11-positive
      recycling endosomes in dendrites, while TDP-43 overexpression has the opposite
      effect. This is associated with delayed transferrin recycling in TDP-43-knockdown
      neurons and decreased beta2-transferrin levels in patient CSF Whole proteome
      quantification identified the upregulation of the ESCRT component VPS4B upon TDP
      43 knockdown in neurons. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin
      immunoprecipitation suggest that TDP-43 represses VPS4B transcription. Preventing
      VPS4B upregulation or expression of its functional antagonist ALIX restores
      trafficking of recycling endosomes. Proteomic analysis revealed the broad
      reduction in surface expression of key receptors upon TDP-43 knockdown, including
      ErbB4, the neuregulin 1 receptor. TDP-43 knockdown delays the surface delivery of
      ErbB4. ErbB4 overexpression, but not neuregulin 1 stimulation, prevents dendrite
      loss upon TDP-43 knockdown. Thus, impaired recycling of ErbB4 and other receptors
      to the cell surface may contribute to TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration by
      blocking trophic signaling.

PMID- 27621273
TI  - Promoting Healthy Aging of Individuals With Developmental Disabilities: A
      Qualitative Case Study.
AB  - This qualitative case study sought to examine an innovative community outreach
      nursing program designed to promote healthy aging for more than 250 individuals
      with intellectual or developmental disabilities living in the community. We
      analyzed 10 in-depth interviews, one focus group, and various documents using
      thematic analysis. We researched why the program emerged and found the reasons to
      be improving the communication with primary care providers, providing person
      centered health care, and building on and contributing to existing community
      based programs. Findings on what the daily work of community outreach nurses with
      individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities entailed, included
      person-centered health education, advocacy for the safe return home, support for
      staff to understand that health issues can lead to behavior changes, and enabling
      social participation. This case study may inspire further research or help others
      develop similar programs.

PMID- 27621274
TI  - New CSF biomarkers on the block.

PMID- 27621275
TI  - From neuroleptics to neuroscience and from Pavlov to psychotherapy: more than
      just the "emperor's new treatments" for mental illnesses?

PMID- 27621276
TI  - Dentigerous Cyst and Ameloblastoma of the Jaws.
AB  - AIM: To determine how many ameloblastomas were misdiagnosed as dentigerous cysts
      (DCs) by correlating the radiological and histopathological features of a series
      of both entities. METHODS AND RESULTS: Histopathology reports and radiological
      imaging of 135 DCs and 43 ameloblastomas were reviewed. Any clinical or
      radiological feature that suggested that the diagnosis of DC was wrong-for
      example, absence of an unerupted tooth-prompted review of the original histology.
      A total of 34 cases coded as DC at diagnosis were excluded; in the remaining 101
      patients, the clinicoradiological and histopathological features were consistent
      with DC in 96 (95.0%). Review of the histology revealed that 4 patients had
      actually had odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) and one a luminal/simple unicystic
      ameloblastoma (UA). One other OKC and 3 other ameloblastomas (1 luminal UA, 2
      solid/multicystic) had originally been diagnosed as DC; these had been identified
      prior to the study. Of the 9 misdiagnosed patients, 6 were <=20 years old.
      Clinically, DC had been the only, or one of the differential, diagnoses in 7
      patients; in the other 2, the clinical diagnosis was radicular cyst. In none of
      the 4 misdiagnosed ameloblastomas was the radiology compatible with a diagnosis
      of DC. Incorrect terminology had been used on the histopathology request form in
      5 of the 34 excluded cases where the clinical diagnosis was DC, despite the cyst
      being periapical to an erupted carious or root-filled tooth. CONCLUSIONS: The
      entire clinical team must ensure that a histopathological diagnosis of DC is
      consistent with the clinicoradiological scenario, particularly in younger
      patients.

PMID- 27621277
TI  - Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor: Pathology, Genetics, and Potential
      Therapeutic Strategies.
AB  - Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is an aggressive small round cell
      neoplasm which predominantly occurs intra-abdominally in adolescents and young
      adults with a male predominance, and which is characterized by a recurrent
      t(11;22)(p13;q12) translocation leading to formation of the EWSR1-WT1 fusion
      gene, which generates a chimeric protein with transcriptional regulatory
      activity. Histologically, DSRCT has a characteristic morphology, of islands of
      monotonous small cells within prominent sparsely cellular fibroblastic stroma,
      and immunohistochemically it shows polyphenotypic multidirectional
      differentiation, with expression of epithelial, muscle, and neural markers.
      However, DSRCT can arise more rarely in other sites and exhibit a spectrum of
      both histologic features and immunoprofile, which may confuse diagnosis with
      other small round cell neoplasms. Correct diagnosis is important to ensure
      correct treatment and prognostication; DSRCT are almost universally fatal
      neoplasms with patients usually succumbing to disease within the first 2 years of
      diagnosis. While combination treatment strategies can confer a survival benefit,
      the overall prognosis remains poor. Further insight into the tumorigenic
      molecular changes generated by the fusion oncogene may lead to the generation of
      specific targeted therapies. We review DSRCT, discussing morphology and
      immunohistochemistry, molecular genetic findings, potential targeted treatments,
      and the differential diagnosis.

PMID- 27621278
TI  - Reply to the letter to the editor 'Erroneous conclusions about the association
      between light alcohol drinking and the risk of cancer: comments on Bagnardi et
      al.'s meta-analysis, by S.-K. Myung'.

PMID- 27621279
TI  - The MarR-Type Regulator Rdh2R Regulates rdh Gene Transcription in Dehalococcoides
      mccartyi Strain CBDB1.
AB  - : Reductive dehalogenases are essential enzymes in organohalide respiration and
      consist of a catalytic subunit A and a membrane protein B, encoded by rdhAB
      genes. Thirty-two rdhAB genes exist in the genome of Dehalococcoides mccartyi
      strain CBDB1. To gain a first insight into the regulation of rdh operons, the
      control of gene expression of two rdhAB genes (cbdbA1453/cbdbA1452 and
      cbdbA1455/cbdbA1454) by the MarR-type regulator Rdh2R (cbdbA1456) encoded
      directly upstream was studied using heterologous expression and in vitro studies.
      Promoter-lacZ reporter fusions were generated and integrated into the genome of
      the Escherichia coli host. The lacZ reporter activities of both rdhA promoters
      decreased upon transformation of the cells with a plasmid carrying the rdh2R
      gene, suggesting that Rdh2R acts as repressor, whereas the lacZ reporter activity
      of the rdh2R promoter was not affected. The transcriptional start sites of both
      rdhA genes in strain CBDB1 and/or the heterologous host mapped to a conserved
      direct repeat with 11- to 13-bp half-sites. DNase I footprinting revealed binding
      of Rdh2R to a ~30-bp sequence covering the complete direct repeat in both
      promoters, including the transcriptional start sites. Equilibrium sedimentation
      ultracentrifugation revealed that Rdh2R binds as tetramer to the direct-repeat
      motif of the rdhA (cbdbA1455) promoter. Using electrophoretic mobility shift
      assays, a similar binding affinity was found for both rdhA promoters. In the
      presence of only one half-site of the direct repeat, the interaction was strongly
      reduced, suggesting a positive cooperativity of binding, for which unusual short
      palindromes within the direct-repeat half-sites might play an important role.
      IMPORTANCE: Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains are obligate anaerobes that grow by
      organohalide respiration. They have an important bioremediation potential because
      they are capable of reducing a multitude of halogenated compounds to less toxic
      products. We are now beginning to understand how these organisms make use of this
      large catabolic potential, whereby D. mccartyi expresses dehalogenases in a
      compound-specific fashion. MarR-type regulators are often encoded in the vicinity
      of reductive dehalogenase genes. In this study, we made use of heterologous
      expression and in vitro studies to demonstrate that the MarR-type transcription
      factor Rdh2R acts as a negative regulator. We identify its binding site on the
      DNA, which suggests a mechanism by which it controls the expression of two
      adjacent reductive dehalogenase operons.

PMID- 27621280
TI  - Corrected Genome Annotations Reveal Gene Loss and Antibiotic Resistance as
      Drivers in the Fitness Evolution of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium.
AB  - : Horizontal acquisition of novel chromosomal genes is considered to be a key
      process in the evolution of bacterial pathogens. However, the identification of
      gene presence or absence could be hindered by the inconsistencies in bacterial
      genome annotations. Here, we performed a cross-annotation of omnipresent core and
      mosaic accessory genes in the chromosome of Salmonella enterica serovar
      Typhimurium across a total of 20 fully assembled genomes deposited into GenBank.
      Cross-annotation resulted in a 32% increase in the number of core genes and a 3
      fold decrease in the number of genes identified as mosaic genes (i.e., genes
      present in some strains only) by the original annotation. Of the remaining
      noncore genes, the vast majority were prophage genes, and 255 of the nonphage
      genes were actually of core origin but lost in some strains upon the emergence of
      the S Typhimurium serovar, suggesting that the chromosomal portion of the S
      Typhimurium genome acquired a very limited number of novel genes other than
      prophages. Only horizontally acquired nonphage genes related to bacterial fitness
      or virulence were found in four recently sequenced isolates, all located on three
      different genomic islands that harbor multidrug resistance determinants. Thus,
      the extensive use of antimicrobials could be the main selection force behind the
      new fitness gene acquisition and the emergence of novel Salmonella pathotypes.
      IMPORTANCE: Significant discrepancies in the annotations of bacterial genomes
      could mislead the conclusions about evolutionary origin of chromosomal genes, as
      we demonstrate here via a cross-annotation-based analysis of Salmonella
      Typhimurium genomes from GenBank. We conclude that despite being able to infect a
      broad range of vertebrate hosts, the genomic diversity of S Typhimurium strains
      is almost exclusively limited to gene loss and the transfer of prophage DNA. Only
      nonphage chromosomal genes acquired after the emergence of the serovar are linked
      to the genomic islands harboring multidrug resistance factors. Since the fitness
      factors could lead to increased virulence, this poses an important research
      question: could overuse or misuse of antimicrobials act as selection forces for
      the emergence of more pathogenic strains of Salmonella?

PMID- 27621281
TI  - Spontaneous Reversions of an Evolutionary Trait Loss Reveal Regulators of a Small
      RNA That Controls Multicellular Development in Myxobacteria.
AB  - : Lost traits can reevolve, but the probability of trait reversion depends partly
      on a trait's genetic complexity. Myxobacterial fruiting body development is a
      complex trait controlled by the small RNA (sRNA) Pxr, which blocks development
      under conditions of nutrient abundance. In developmentally proficient strains of
      Myxococcus xanthus, starvation relaxes the inhibition by Pxr, thereby allowing
      development to proceed. In contrast, the lab-evolved strain OC does not develop
      because it fails to relay an early starvation signal that alleviates inhibition
      by Pxr. A descendant of OC, strain PX, previously reevolved developmental
      proficiency via a mutation in pxr that inactivates its function. A single-colony
      screen was used to test whether reversion of OC to developmental proficiency
      occurs only by mutation of pxr or might also occur through alternative regulatory
      loci. Five spontaneous mutants of OC that exhibited restored development were
      isolated, and all five showed defects in Pxr synthesis, structure, or processing,
      including one that incurred an eight-nucleotide deletion in pxr Two mutations
      occurred in the sigma54 response regulator (RR) gene MXAN_1078 (named pxrR here),
      immediately upstream of pxr PxrR was found to positively regulate pxr
      transcription, presumably via the sigma54 promoter of pxr Two other mutations
      were identified in a histidine kinase (HK) gene (MXAN_1077; named pxrK here)
      immediately upstream of pxrR Evolutionarily, the rate of trait restoration
      documented in this study suggests that reversion of social defects in natural
      microbial populations may be common. Molecularly, these results suggest a
      mechanism by which the regulatory functions of an HK-RR two-component signaling
      system and an sRNA are integrated to control initiation of myxobacterial
      development. IMPORTANCE: Many myxobacteria initiate a process of multicellular
      fruiting body development upon starvation, but key features of the regulatory
      network controlling the transition from growth to development remain obscure.
      Previous work with Myxococcus xanthus identified the first small RNA (sRNA)
      regulator (Pxr) known to serve as a gatekeeper in this life history transition,
      as it blocks development when nutrients are abundant. In the present study, a
      screen for spontaneous mutants of M. xanthus was developed that revealed a two
      component system operon (encoding a histidine kinase and a sigma54 response
      regulator) associated with the production and processing of Pxr sRNA. This
      discovery broadens our knowledge of early developmental gene regulation and also
      represents an evolutionary integration of two-component signaling and sRNA gene
      regulation to control a bacterial social trait.

PMID- 27621282
TI  - The Use of Ratiometric Fluorescence Measurements of the Voltage Sensitive Dye Di
      4-ANEPPS to Examine Action Potential Characteristics and Drug Effects on Human
      Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM) and higher
      throughput platforms have emerged as potential tools to advance cardiac drug
      safety screening. This study evaluated the use of high bandwidth photometry
      applied to voltage-sensitive fluorescent dyes (VSDs) to assess drug-induced
      changes in action potential characteristics of spontaneously active hiPSC-CM.
      Human iPSC-CM from 2 commercial sources (Cor.4U and iCell Cardiomyocytes) were
      stained with the VSD di-4-ANEPPS and placed in a specialized photometry system
      that simultaneously monitors 2 wavebands of emitted fluorescence, allowing
      ratiometric measurement of membrane voltage. Signals were acquired at 10 kHz and
      analyzed using custom software. Action potential duration (APD) values were
      normally distributed in cardiomyocytes (CMC) from both sources though the mean
      and variance differed significantly (APD90: 229 +/- 15 ms vs 427 +/- 49 ms [mean
      +/- SD, P < 0.01]; average spontaneous cycle length: 0.99 +/- 0.02 s vs 1.47 +/-
      0.35 s [mean +/- SD, P < 0.01], Cor.4U vs iCell CMC, respectively). The 10-90%
      rise time of the AP (Trise) was ~6 ms and was normally distributed when expressed
      as 1/[Formula: see text] in both cell preparations. Both cell types showed a rate
      dependence analogous to that of adult human cardiac cells. Furthermore,
      nifedipine, ranolazine, and E4031 had similar effects on cardiomyocyte
      electrophysiology in both cell types. However, ranolazine and E4031 induced early
      after depolarization-like events and high intrinsic firing rates at lower
      concentrations in iCell CMC. These data show that VSDs provide a minimally
      invasive, quantitative, and accurate method to assess hiPSC-CM electrophysiology
      and detect subtle drug-induced effects for drug safety screening while
      highlighting a need to standardize experimental protocols across preparations.

PMID- 27621283
TI  - From the Cover: Cadmium Exposure Differentially Alters Odorant-Driven Behaviors
      and Expression of Olfactory Receptors in Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus
      kisutch).
AB  - Salmon exposed to waterborne metals can experience olfactory impairment leading
      to disrupted chemosensation. In the current study, we investigated the effects of
      cadmium (Cd) on salmon olfactory function by modeling an exposure scenario where
      juvenile salmon transiently migrate through a polluted waterway. Coho were
      exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of waterborne Cd (2 and 30
      ug/L) for 48 h and (0.3 and 2 MUg/L) for 16 days, followed by a 16-day depuration
      associated with outmigration. Cadmium exposures inhibited behavioral responses
      towards L-cysteine and conspecific odorants, with effects persisting following
      the depuration. Behavioral alterations following the 30 ug/L exposure were
      associated with increased olfactory epithelial gene expression of metallothionein
      (mt1a) and heme oxygenase (hmox1); reduced expression of olfactory signal
      transduction (OST) molecules; and reduced expression of mRNAs encoding major coho
      odorant receptors (ORs). Salmon OR array analysis indicated that Cd
      preferentially impacted expression of OST and OR markers for ciliated olfactory
      sensory neurons (OSNs) relative to microvillus OSNs, suggesting a differential
      sensitivity of these two major OSN populations. Behavioral alterations on
      exposure to 0.3 and 2 ug/L Cd were associated with increased mt1a, but not with
      major histological or OR molecular changes, likely indicating disrupted OST as a
      major mechanism underlying the behavioral dysfunction at the low-level Cd
      exposures. Laser-ablation mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the OSN injury
      and behavioral dysfunction was associated with significant Cd bioaccumulation
      within the olfactory sensory epithelium. In summary, low-level Cd exposures
      associated with polluted waterways can induce differential and persistent
      olfactory dysfunction in juvenile coho salmon.

PMID- 27621286
TI  - New luminescent mycenoid fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricales) from Sao Paulo State,
      Brazil.
AB  - Four species of mycenoid fungi are reported as luminescent (or putatively
      luminescent) on the basis of specimens collected from Sao Paulo State, Brazil.
      Two of them represent new species (Mycena oculisnymphae, Resinomycena
      petarensis), and two represent new reports of luminescence in previously
      described species (M. deformis, M. globulispora). Comprehensive descriptions,
      illustrations, photographs, and comparisons with phenetically similar species are
      provided. Sequences of nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer regions were
      generated for barcoding purposes and for comparisons with similar species.

PMID- 27621287
TI  - Revision of the genus Thyronectria (Hypocreales) from China.
AB  - Recent collections and herbarium specimens of Thyronectria from different regions
      in China were examined. Using combined analyses of morphology and molecular data,
      we recognized eight species. Among them, Thyronectria atrobrunnea, T. orientalis,
      and T. sinensis are described and illustrated as new species. Thyronectria
      atrobrunnea is characterized by blackish brown perithecia that become cupulate
      when dry, and 8-spored asci containing ellipsoidal to broadly fusiform or
      subcylindrical ascospores that bud to form bacillar to subellipsoidal ascoconidia
      within the asci. Thyronectria orientalis can be easily recognized by stromata
      that are erumpent through the epidermis of the host, immersed or semi-immersed
      perithecia covered with yellowish green scurf, and ellipsoidal to subfusiform,
      muriform ascospores. Thyronectria sinensis on Pinus features solitary ascomata
      that are rarely aggregated, and 8-spored asci giving rise to subcylindrical to
      vermiform, multiseptate ascospores that form bacillar to allantoid ascoconidia
      that fill the asci. The new species and their close relatives are compared and
      differences between them are discussed. Thyronectria strobi is reported for the
      first time in China. Name changes for the previously recorded species are noted.
      Phylogenetic analyses inferred from 28S, ITS, RPB1, TEF1, and TUB2 hint that
      phenotypic characters, viz. stromata, ascospores, appendage of perithecial wall,
      and host specificity may carry phylogenetic information as previous papers
      discussed.

PMID- 27621285
TI  - The European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR) task force for the
      development of revised activity criteria for systemic sclerosis: derivation and
      validation of a preliminarily revised EUSTAR activity index.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Validity of European Scleroderma Study Group (EScSG) activity indexes
      currently used to assess disease activity in systemic sclerosis (SSc) has been
      criticised. METHODS: Three investigators assigned an activity score on a 0-10
      scale for 97 clinical charts. The median score served as gold standard. Two other
      investigators labelled the disease as inactive/moderately active or active/very
      active. Univariate-multivariate linear regression analyses were used to define
      variables predicting the 'gold standard', their weight and derive an activity
      index. The cut-off point of the index best separating active/very active from
      inactive/moderately active disease was identified by a receiver-operating curve
      analysis. The index was validated on a second set of 60 charts assessed by three
      different investigators on a 0-10 scale and defined as inactive/moderately active
      or active/very active by other two investigators. One hundred and twenty-three
      were investigated for changes over time in the index and their relationships with
      those in the summed Medsger severity score (MSS). RESULTS: A weighted 10-point
      activity index was identified and validated: Delta-skin=1.5 (Delta=patient
      assessed worsening during the previous month), modified Rodnan skin score (mRss)
      >18=1.5, digital ulcers=1.5, tendon friction rubs=2.25, C-reactive protein >1
      mg/dL=2.25 and diffusing capacity of the lung for CO (DLCO) % predicted <70%=1.0.
      A cut-off >=2.5 was found to identify patients with active disease. Changes in
      the index paralleled those of MSS (p=0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: A preliminarily
      revised SSc activity index has been developed and validated, providing a valuable
      tool for clinical practice and observational studies.

PMID- 27621289
TI  - Fusarium praegraminearum sp. nov., a novel nivalenol mycotoxin-producing pathogen
      from New Zealand can induce head blight on wheat.
AB  - We report on the molecular and morphological characterization of a novel type B
      trichothecene toxin-producing species (i.e. B clade) recovered from litter in a
      maize field near Wellington, New Zealand, which is described as Fusarium
      praegraminearum sp. nov. This species was initially identified as F. acuminatum
      based on morphological characters. However, it differs from this species by
      producing longer, slightly asymmetrically curved macroconidia in which the apical
      cell is not as pointed and by its much faster colony growth rate on agar.
      Molecular phylogenetic analyses of portions of 13 genes resolved F.
      praegraminearum as the most basal species within the B clade. Mycotoxin analyses
      demonstrated that it was able to produce 4-acetylnivalenol and 4,15
      diacetylnivalenol trichothecenes, the nontrichothecene sesquiterpenes culmorin
      and hydroxy-culmorins, and the estrogen zearalenone in vitro. Results of a
      pathogenicity experiment revealed that F. praegraminearum induced moderate head
      blight on wheat.

PMID- 27621284
TI  - Xanthomonas campestris attenuates virulence by sensing light through a
      bacteriophytochrome photoreceptor.
AB  - Phytochromes constitute a major photoreceptor family found in plants, algae,
      fungi, and prokaryotes, including pathogens. Here, we report that Xanthomonas
      campestris pv. campestris (Xcc), the causal agent of black rot disease which
      affects cruciferous crops worldwide, codes for a functional bacteriophytochrome
      (XccBphP). XccBphP possesses an N-terminal PAS2-GAF-PHY photosensory domain triad
      and a C-terminal PAS9 domain as its output module. Our results show that
      illumination of Xcc, prior to plant infection, attenuates its virulence in an
      XccBphP-dependent manner. Moreover, in response to light, XccBphP downregulates
      xanthan exopolysaccharide production and biofilm formation, two known Xcc
      virulence factors. Furthermore, the XccbphP null mutant shows enhanced virulence,
      similar to that of dark-adapted Xcc cultures. Stomatal aperture regulation and
      callose deposition, both well-established plant defense mechanisms against
      bacterial pathogens, are overridden by the XccbphP strain. Additionally, an RNA
      Seq analysis reveals that far-red light or XccBphP overexpression produces
      genomewide transcriptional changes, including the inhibition of several Xcc
      virulence systems. Our findings indicate that Xcc senses light through XccBphP,
      eliciting bacterial virulence attenuation via downregulation of bacterial
      virulence factors. The capacity of XccBphP to respond to light both in vitro and
      in vivo was abolished by a mutation on the conserved Cys13 residue. These results
      provide evidence for a novel bacteriophytochrome function affecting an infectious
      process.

PMID- 27621288
TI  - Independent origins of diploidy in Metarhizium.
AB  - In fungi, stable diploid genome arrangements are rare. Here we present evidence
      from nuclear intergenic DNA sequencing, microsatellite genotyping, and
      configuration of the mating-type locus to demonstrate two independent origins of
      persistent diploid genome organization in the Metarhizium majus species complex.
      Most taxa in the complex are genotypically haploid, with individual isolates
      consistently displaying a single allele across all nuclear loci, as well as
      having a single mating-type locus. In contrast, individuals of M. majus and the
      clade designated here MGT1 are shown to be diploid, based on a consistent finding
      of heterozygosity and the presence of both MAT1 and MAT2 mating-type loci. In
      single locus phylogenies, nuclear intergenic alleles of M. majus and MGT1 each
      form monophyletic groups, indicating that diploidy in both taxa likely originated
      by the union of conspecific individuals. Sequence divergence in the APN2/MAT1-1-3
      and APN2/MAT2-1 intergenic spacers indicate the two MAT loci are physically
      separated in the genomes of both diploid taxa, although the linkage relationship
      of the MAT loci to one another is unknown. The presence of both mating genes in a
      single nucleus suggests these diploid genomes may represent a mating event that
      failed to complete meiosis. Whether or not these isolates are able to complete
      the sexual cycle under any conditions and form ascospores remains an open
      question.

PMID- 27621290
TI  - Ribosomal RNA gene detection and targeted culture of novel nitrogen-responsive
      fungal taxa from temperate pine forest soil.
AB  - Soil fungal communities are responsible for carbon and nitrogen (N) cycling. The
      high complexity of the soil fungal community and the high proportion of
      taxonomically unidentifiable sequences confound ecological interpretations in
      field studies because physiological information is lacking for many organisms
      known only by their rRNA sequences. This situation forces experimental
      comparisons to be made at broader taxonomic racks where functions become
      difficult to infer. The objective of this study was to determine OTU (operational
      taxonomic units) level responses of the soil fungal community to N enrichment in
      a temperate pine forest experiment and to use the sequencing data to guide
      culture efforts of novel N-responsive fungal taxa. Replicate samples from four
      soil horizons (up to 10 cm depth) were obtained from ambient, enriched CO2 and N
      fertilization plots. Through a fungal large subunit rRNA gene (LSU) sequencing
      survey, we identified two novel fungal clades that were abundant in our soil
      sampling (representing up to 27% of the sequences in some samples) and responsive
      to changes in soil N. The two N-responsive taxa with no predicted taxonomic
      association were targeted for isolation and culturing from specific soil samples
      where their sequences were abundant. Representatives of both OTUs were
      successfully cultured using a filtration approach. One taxon (OTU6) was most
      closely related to Saccharomycotina; the second taxon (OTU69) was most closely
      related to Mucoromycotina. Both taxa likely represent novel species. This study
      shows how observation of specific OTUs level responses to altered N status in a
      large rRNA gene field survey provided the impetus to design targeted culture
      approaches for isolation of novel N-responsive fungal taxa.

PMID- 27621293
TI  - Best practice for HRT: unpicking the evidence.

PMID- 27621292
TI  - Capturing patient experience: a qualitative study of implementing real-time
      feedback in primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, hospitals have made use of new technologies, such as
      real-time feedback, to collect patient experience information. This approach is
      currently rarely used in primary care settings, but may provide practices with a
      useful tool that enables them to take prompt, focused action to improve their
      services. AIM: To identify the factors inhibiting and enabling the implementation
      of real-time feedback in general practices. DESIGN AND SETTING: Qualitative study
      embedded within an exploratory trial (July 2014 to February 2015) of a real-time
      feedback intervention targeting patient experience in general practices in south
      west England and Cambridgeshire. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews (n = 22) and
      focus groups (n = 4, total of 28 attendees) with practice staff were
      audiorecorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically, using a framework based on
      constructs from normalisation process theory. RESULTS: Staff engagement with real
      time feedback varied considerably, and staff made sense of real-time feedback by
      comparing it with more familiar feedback modalities. Effective within-team
      communication was associated with positive attitudes towards real-time feedback.
      Timing of requests for feedback was important in relation to patient engagement.
      Real-time feedback may offer potential as a means of informing practice
      development, perhaps as a component of a wider programme of capturing and
      responding to patients' comments. CONCLUSION: Successful implementation of real
      time feedback requires effective communication across the practice team to
      engender thorough engagement. Feedback processes should be carefully introduced
      to fit with existing patient and practice routines. Future studies should
      consider making real-time feedback content relevant to specific practice needs,
      and support participation by all patient groups.

PMID- 27621294
TI  - Nutrition and Healthy Aging.

PMID- 27621291
TI  - Barriers to managing child and adolescent mental health problems: a systematic
      review of primary care practitioners' perceptions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental health problems are common and typically have an early onset.
      Effective treatments for mental health problems in childhood and adolescence are
      available, yet only a minority of children who are affected access them. This is
      of serious concern, considering the far-reaching and long-term negative
      consequences of such problems. Primary care is usually the first port of call for
      concerned parents so it is important to understand how primary care practitioners
      manage child and adolescent mental health problems and the barriers they face.
      AIM: To ascertain primary care practitioners' perceptions of the barriers that
      prevent effective management of child and adolescent mental health problems.
      DESIGN AND SETTING: A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative
      literature in a primary care setting. METHOD: A database search of peer-reviewed
      articles using PsycINFO, MEDLINE((r)), Embase, and Web of Science, from inception
      (earliest 1806) until October 2014, was conducted. Additional studies were
      identified through hand searches and forward-citation searches. Studies needed to
      have at least one search term in four categories: primary care,
      childhood/adolescence, mental health, and barriers. RESULTS: A total of 4151
      articles were identified, of which 43 were included (30 quantitative studies and
      13 qualitative studies). The majority of the barriers related to identification,
      management, and/or referral. Considerable barriers included a lack of providers
      and resources, extensive waiting lists, and financial restrictions. CONCLUSION:
      The identification of a broad range of significant barriers highlights the need
      to strengthen the ability to deal with these common difficulties in primary care.
      There is a particular need for tools and training to aid accurate identification
      and management, and for more efficient access to specialist services.

PMID- 27621301
TI  - Recurrent Fungal Keratitis and Blepharitis Caused by Aspergillus flavus.
AB  - Aspergillus species produces a wide spectrum of fungal diseases like
      endophthalmitis and fungal keratitis ophthalmologically, but there has been no
      report about blepharitis caused by Aspergilus flavus to date. Herein, we report a
      61-year-old ethnic Han Taiwanese male who had suffered from pain with burning and
      foreign body sensation after an insect bite on his left eye. Specimens from
      bilateral eyelids suggested infection of A. flavus, whereas corneal scraping
      showed the presence of Gram-negative bacteria. He was admitted for treatment of
      infectious keratitis with topical antibiotic and antifungal eye drops. Two weeks
      after discharge, recurrent blepharitis and keratitis of A. flavus was diagnosed
      microbiologically. Another treatment course of antifungal agent was resumed in
      the following 6 months, without further significant symptoms in the following 2
      years. Collectively, it is possible for A. flavus to induce concurrent keratitis
      and blepharitis, and combined treatment of keratitis as well as blepharitis is
      advocated for as long as 6 months to ensure no recurrence.

PMID- 27621302
TI  - Experiences of Pain and Expectations for Its Treatment Among Former Buruli Ulcer
      Patients.
AB  - Buruli ulcer (BU) is one of the 17 neglected tropical diseases for which the
      World Health Organization has adopted resolutions to improve treatment. BU was
      previously described as a relatively painless condition; however, recent research
      has indicated that some patients experience substantial pain. The objective of
      this study was to explore patients' experiences of pain and their expectations
      for its treatment. Semistructured interviews were conducted in a BU-endemic
      region of Ghana. Interviews were held with former BU patients (N = 20) and
      community controls (N = 19). Former patients were asked about BU-related pain and
      their expectations for its treatment. The interviews were conducted in October
      2014, and were audiotaped, translated and transcribed into English, and then
      qualitatively analyzed. Of the 20 former BU patients interviewed, 19 (95%)
      reported experiencing pain, with patients reporting pain as a consequence of the
      ulcer and wound management. Some participants expressed pain through crying,
      whereas others did not openly express pain, sometimes because they feared the
      repercussions of doing so. Patients wanted to receive pain relief; however, many
      were unable to name a medication. Nonpharmaceutical options were cited as being
      an alternative. Many BU patients experience pain; however, former patients and
      community members alike appear to have a limited knowledge about available pain
      relief. A low-cost alternative to medication may be the use of nonpharmaceutical
      means for pain relief. Routine pain assessment may reduce patients' fear and
      unwillingness to express pain. Awareness of such issues will be valuable when
      implementing a BU pain relief guideline.

PMID- 27621303
TI  - Impact of Infection Control Measures to Control an Outbreak of Multidrug
      Resistant Tuberculosis in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Ward, Peru.
AB  - Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) rates in a human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) care facility increased by the year 2000-56% of TB cases, eight times the
      national MDRTB rate. We reported the effect of tuberculosis infection control
      measures that were introduced in 2001 and that consisted of 1) building a
      respiratory isolation ward with mechanical ventilation, 2) triage segregation of
      patients, 3) relocation of waiting room to outdoors, 4) rapid sputum smear
      microscopy, and 5) culture/drug-susceptibility testing with the microscopic
      observation drug-susceptibility assay. Records pertaining to patients attending
      the study site between 1997 and 2004 were reviewed. Six hundred and fifty five
      HIV/TB-coinfected patients (mean age 33 years, 79% male) who attended the service
      during the study period were included. After the intervention, MDRTB rates
      declined to 20% of TB cases by the year 2004 (P = 0.01). Extremely limited access
      to antiretroviral therapy and specific MDRTB therapy did not change during this
      period, and concurrently, national MDRTB prevalence increased, implying that the
      infection control measures caused the fall in MDRTB rates. The infection control
      measures were estimated to have cost US$91,031 while preventing 97 MDRTB cases,
      potentially saving US$1,430,026. Thus, this intervention significantly reduced
      MDRTB within an HIV care facility in this resource-constrained setting and should
      be cost-effective.

PMID- 27621304
TI  - Identification of Blood Meals from Potential Arbovirus Mosquito Vectors in the
      Peruvian Amazon Basin.
AB  - The transmission dynamics of many arboviruses in the Amazon Basin region have not
      been fully elucidated, including the vectors and natural reservoir hosts.
      Identification of blood meal sources in field-caught mosquitoes could yield
      information for identifying potential arbovirus vertebrate hosts. We identified
      blood meal sources in 131 mosquitoes collected from areas endemic for arboviruses
      in the Peruvian Department of Loreto by sequencing polymerase chain reaction
      amplicons of the cytochrome b gene. Psorophora (Janthinosoma) albigenu,
      Psorophora (Grabhamia) cingulata, Mansonia humeralis, Anopheles oswaldoi s.l.,
      and Anopheles benarrochi s.l. had mainly anthropophilic feeding preferences;
      Aedes (Ochlerotatus) serratus, and Aedes (Ochlerotatus) fulvus had feeding
      preferences for peridomestic animals; and Culex (Melanoconion) spp. fed on a
      variety of vertebrates, mainly rodents (spiny rats), birds, and amphibians. On
      the basis of these feeding preferences, many mosquitoes could be considered as
      potential enzootic and bridge arbovirus vectors in the Amazon Basin of Peru.

PMID- 27621306
TI  - Activity Diversity and Its Associations With Psychological Well-Being Across
      Adulthood.
AB  - Objectives: This study examined age-related cross-sectional and longitudinal
      associations between activity diversity and four dimensions of well-being:
      psychological well-being, depression, positive affect, and negative affect.
      Method: Activity diversity was defined as the breadth and evenness of
      participation in seven daily activities including paid work, time with children,
      doing chores, leisure, physical activities, formal volunteering, and giving
      informal help to others. Participants from the National Survey of Daily
      Experiences (N = 793, Mage = 46.71, SDag = 12.48) provided data during two 8-day
      measurement bursts approximately 10 years apart. Results: Older adults (age = 60
      74 years) who engaged in more diverse activities reported higher psychological
      well-being than older adults who engaged in less diverse activities; an
      association not significant among middle-aged adults (age = 35-59 years), and in
      the opposite direction for younger individuals (age = 24-34 years).
      Longitudinally, increased activity diversity over 10 years was marginally
      associated with increases in positive affect. Compared with younger individuals
      who increased activity diversity, older adults who increased activity diversity
      reported smaller decreases in psychological well-being, greater increases in
      positive affect, and greater decreases in negative affect. Discussion: Our
      findings suggest that activity diversity may play an important role in older
      adults' concurrent well-being and also in their long-term longitudinal
      improvements of well-being.

PMID- 27621305
TI  - Overlap in the Seasonal Infection Patterns of Avian Malaria Parasites and West
      Nile Virus in Vectors and Hosts.
AB  - Multiple vector-borne pathogens often circulate in the same vector and host
      communities, and seasonal infection dynamics influence the potential for pathogen
      interactions. Here, we explore the seasonal infection patterns of avian malaria
      (Haemosporida) parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) and West Nile virus (WNV)
      in birds and mosquitoes in suburban Chicago. We show that both pathogens vary
      seasonally in Culex mosquitoes and avian hosts, but that patterns of covariation
      are complex. Different putative Plasmodium species varied asynchronously across
      the season in mosquitoes and birds, suggesting that different forces may govern
      their transmission. Infections of Culex mosquitoes with Plasmodium parasites were
      positively associated with WNV infections in pools of individuals aggregated from
      the same time and site, suggesting that these pathogens respond to common
      environmental drivers and co-circulate among the same host and vector
      populations. Future research should focus on these common drivers, and whether
      these pathogens interact in vectors and hosts.

PMID- 27621307
TI  - Inhibition of interleukin-1 signaling enhances elimination of tyrosine kinase
      inhibitor-treated CML stem cells.
AB  - Treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) with BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors (TKI) fails to eliminate leukemia stem cells (LSC). Patients remain at
      risk for relapse, and additional approaches to deplete CML LSC are needed to
      enhance the possibility of discontinuing TKI treatment. We have previously
      reported that expression of the pivotal proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1
      (IL-1) is increased in CML bone marrow. We show here that CML LSC demonstrated
      increased expression of the IL-1 receptors, IL-1 receptor accessory protein and
      IL-1 receptor type 1 (IL-1R1), and enhanced sensitivity to IL-1-induced NF-kappaB
      signaling compared with normal stem cells. Treatment with recombinant IL-1
      receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) inhibited IL-1 signaling in CML LSC and inhibited
      growth of CML LSC. Importantly, the combination of IL-1RA with TKI resulted in
      significantly greater inhibition of CML LSC compared with TKI alone. Our studies
      also suggest that IL-1 signaling contributes to overexpression of inflammatory
      mediators in CML LSC, suggesting that blocking IL-1 signaling could modulate the
      inflammatory milieu. We conclude that IL-1 signaling contributes to maintenance
      of CML LSC following TKI treatment and that IL-1 blockade with IL-1RA enhances
      elimination of TKI-treated CML LSC. These results provide a strong rationale for
      further exploration of anti-IL-1 strategies to enhance LSC elimination in CML.

PMID- 27621308
TI  - Acute myeloid leukemia with TP53 germ line mutations.

PMID- 27621309
TI  - IL1RAP antibodies block IL-1-induced expansion of candidate CML stem cells and
      mediate cell killing in xenograft models.
AB  - Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is currently treated with tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors, but these do not effectively eliminate the CML stem cells. As a
      consequence, CML stem cells persist and cause relapse in most patients upon drug
      discontinuation. Furthermore, no effective therapy exists for the advanced stages
      of the disease. Interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAP; IL1R3) is a
      coreceptor of interleukin-1 receptor type 1 and has been found upregulated on CML
      stem cells. Here, we show that primitive (CD34+CD38-) CML cells, in contrast to
      corresponding normal cells, express a functional interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor
      complex and respond with NF-kappaB activation and marked proliferation in
      response to IL-1. IL1RAP antibodies that inhibit IL-1 signaling could block these
      effects. In vivo administration of IL1RAP antibodies in mice transplanted with
      chronic and blast phase CML cells resulted in therapeutic effects mediated by
      murine effector cells. These results provide novel insights into the role of
      IL1RAP in CML and a strong rationale for the development of an IL1RAP antibody
      therapy to target residual CML stem cells.

PMID- 27621310
TI  - Long-term use of pegfilgrastim in children with severe congenital neutropenia:
      clinical and pharmacokinetic data.

PMID- 27621311
TI  - Identification and Characterization of MCM3 as a Kelch-like ECH-associated
      Protein 1 (KEAP1) Substrate.
AB  - KEAP1 is a substrate adaptor protein for a CUL3-based E3 ubiquitin ligase.
      Ubiquitylation and degradation of the antioxidant transcription factor NRF2 is
      considered the primary function of KEAP1; however, few other KEAP1 substrates
      have been identified. Because KEAP1 is altered in a number of human pathologies
      and has been proposed as a potential therapeutic target therein, we sought to
      better understand KEAP1 through systematic identification of its substrates.
      Toward this goal, we combined parallel affinity capture proteomics and candidate
      based approaches. Substrate-trapping proteomics yielded NRF2 and the related
      transcription factor NRF1 as KEAP1 substrates. Our targeted investigation of
      KEAP1-interacting proteins revealed MCM3, an essential subunit of the replicative
      DNA helicase, as a new substrate. We show that MCM3 is ubiquitylated by the KEAP1
      CUL3-RBX1 complex in cells and in vitro Using ubiquitin remnant profiling, we
      identify the sites of KEAP1-dependent ubiquitylation in MCM3, and these sites are
      on predicted exposed surfaces of the MCM2-7 complex. Unexpectedly, we determined
      that KEAP1 does not regulate total MCM3 protein stability or subcellular
      localization. Our analysis of a KEAP1 targeting motif in MCM3 suggests that MCM3
      is a point of direct contact between KEAP1 and the MCM hexamer. Moreover, KEAP1
      associates with chromatin in a cell cycle-dependent fashion with kinetics similar
      to the MCM2-7 complex. KEAP1 is thus poised to affect MCM2-7 dynamics or function
      rather than MCM3 abundance. Together, these data establish new functions for
      KEAP1 within the nucleus and identify MCM3 as a novel substrate of the KEAP1-CUL3
      RBX1 E3 ligase.

PMID- 27621312
TI  - Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor (Ryr2)-mediated Calcium Signals Specifically Promote
      Glucose Oxidation via Pyruvate Dehydrogenase.
AB  - Cardiac ryanodine receptor (Ryr2) Ca2+ release channels and cellular metabolism
      are both disrupted in heart disease. Recently, we demonstrated that total loss of
      Ryr2 leads to cardiomyocyte contractile dysfunction, arrhythmia, and reduced
      heart rate. Acute total Ryr2 ablation also impaired metabolism, but it was not
      clear whether this was a cause or consequence of heart failure. Previous in vitro
      studies revealed that Ca2+ flux into the mitochondria helps pace oxidative
      metabolism, but there is limited in vivo evidence supporting this concept. Here,
      we studied heart-specific, inducible Ryr2 haploinsufficient (cRyr2Delta50) mice
      with a stable 50% reduction in Ryr2 protein. This manipulation decreased the
      amplitude and frequency of cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ signals in isolated
      cardiomyocytes, without changes in cardiomyocyte contraction. Remarkably, in the
      context of well preserved contractile function in perfused hearts, we observed
      decreased glucose oxidation, but not fat oxidation, with increased glycolysis.
      cRyr2Delta50 hearts exhibited hyperphosphorylation and inhibition of pyruvate
      dehydrogenase, the key Ca2+-sensitive gatekeeper to glucose oxidation.
      Metabolomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic analyses revealed additional
      functional networks associated with altered metabolism in this model. These
      results demonstrate that Ryr2 controls mitochondrial Ca2+ dynamics and plays a
      specific, critical role in promoting glucose oxidation in cardiomyocytes. Our
      findings indicate that partial RYR2 loss is sufficient to cause metabolic
      abnormalities seen in heart disease.

PMID- 27621313
TI  - Physiological Expression of AMPKgamma2RG Mutation Causes Wolff-Parkinson-White
      Syndrome and Induces Kidney Injury in Mice.
AB  - Mutations of the AMP-activated kinase gamma 2 subunit (AMPKgamma2), N488I
      (AMPKgamma2NI) and R531G (AMPKgamma2RG), are associated with Wolff-Parkinson
      White (WPW) syndrome, a cardiac disorder characterized by ventricular pre
      excitation in humans. Cardiac-specific transgenic overexpression of human
      AMPKgamma2NI or AMPKgamma2RG leads to constitutive AMPK activation and the WPW
      phenotype in mice. However, overexpression of these mutant proteins also caused
      profound, non-physiological increase in cardiac glycogen, which might abnormally
      alter the true phenotype. To investigate whether physiological levels of
      AMPKgamma2NI or AMPKgamma2RG mutation cause WPW syndrome and metabolic changes in
      other organs, we generated two knock-in mouse lines on the C57BL/6N background
      harboring mutations of human AMPKgamma2NI and AMPKgamma2RG, respectively. Similar
      to the reported phenotypes of mice overexpressing AMPKgamma2NI or AMPKgamma2RG in
      the heart, both lines developed WPW syndrome and cardiac hypertrophy; however,
      these effects were independent of cardiac glycogen accumulation. Compared with
      AMPKgamma2WT mice, AMPKgamma2NI and AMPKgamma2RG mice exhibited reduced body
      weight, fat mass, and liver steatosis when fed with a high fat diet (HFD).
      Surprisingly, AMPKgamma2RG but not AMPKgamma2NI mice fed with an HFD exhibited
      severe kidney injury characterized by glycogen accumulation, inflammation,
      apoptosis, cyst formation, and impaired renal function. These results demonstrate
      that expression of AMPKgamma2NI and AMPKgamma2RG mutations at physiological
      levels can induce beneficial metabolic effects but that this is accompanied by
      WPW syndrome. Our data also reveal an unexpected effect of AMPKgamma2RG in the
      kidney, linking lifelong constitutive activation of AMPK to a potential risk for
      kidney dysfunction in the context of an HFD.

PMID- 27621314
TI  - A Novel Carbohydrate-binding Module from Sugar Cane Soil Metagenome Featuring
      Unique Structural and Carbohydrate Affinity Properties.
AB  - Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) are appended to glycoside hydrolases and can
      contribute to the degradation of complex recalcitrant substrates such as the
      plant cell wall. For application in bioethanol production, novel enzymes with
      high catalytic activity against recalcitrant lignocellulosic material are being
      explored and developed. In this work, we report the functional and structural
      study of CBM_E1, which was discovered through a metagenomics approach and is the
      founding member of a novel CBM family, CBM81. CBM_E1, which is linked to an
      endoglucanase, displayed affinity for mixed linked beta1,3-beta1,4-glucans,
      xyloglucan, Avicel, and cellooligosaccharides. The crystal structure of CBM_E1 in
      complex with cellopentaose displayed a canonical beta-sandwich fold comprising
      two beta-sheets. The planar ligand binding site, observed in a parallel
      orientation with the beta-strands, is a typical feature of type A CBMs, although
      the expected affinity for bacterial crystalline cellulose was not detected.
      Conversely, the binding to soluble glucans was enthalpically driven, which is
      typical of type B modules. These unique properties of CBM_E1 are at the interface
      between type A and type B CBMs.

PMID- 27621315
TI  - Adrenomedullin 2 Enhances Beiging in White Adipose Tissue Directly in an
      Adipocyte-autonomous Manner and Indirectly through Activation of M2 Macrophages.
AB  - Adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2) is an endogenous bioactive peptide belonging to the
      calcitonin gene-related peptide family. Our previous studies showed that
      overexpression of ADM2 in mice reduced obesity and insulin resistance by
      increasing thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue. However, the effects of ADM2 in
      another type of thermogenic adipocyte, beige adipocytes, remain to be understood.
      The plasma ADM2 levels were inversely correlated with obesity in humans, and
      adipo-ADM2-transgenic (tg) mice displayed resistance to high-fat diet-induced
      obesity with increased energy expenditure. Beiging of subcutaneous white adipose
      tissues (WAT) was more noticeably induced in high-fat diet-fed transgenic mice
      with adipocyte-ADM2 overexpression (adipo-ADM2-tg mice) than in WT animals. ADM2
      treatment in primary rat subcutaneous adipocytes induced beiging with up
      regulation of UCP1 and beiging-related marker genes and increased mitochondrial
      uncoupling respiration, which was mainly mediated by activation of the calcitonin
      receptor-like receptor (CRLR).receptor activity-modifying protein 1 (RAMP1)
      complex and PKA and p38 MAPK signaling pathways. Importantly, this adipocyte
      autonomous beiging effect by ADM2 was translatable to human primary adipocytes.
      In addition, M2 macrophage activation also contributed to the beiging effects of
      ADM2 through catecholamine secretion. Therefore, our study reveals that ADM2
      enhances subcutaneous WAT beiging via a direct effect by activating the
      CRLR.RAMP1-cAMP/PKA and p38 MAPK pathways in white adipocytes and via an indirect
      effect by stimulating alternative M2 polarization in macrophages. Through both
      mechanisms, beiging of WAT by ADM2 results in increased energy expenditure and
      reduced obesity, suggesting ADM2 as a novel anti-obesity target.

PMID- 27621319
TI  - Mindfulness, moral distress and dementia care.

PMID- 27621317
TI  - 3'-NADP and 3'-NAADP, Two Metabolites Formed by the Bacterial Type III Effector
      AvrRxo1.
AB  - An arsenal of effector proteins is injected by bacterial pathogens into the host
      cell or its vicinity to increase virulence. The commonly used top-down approaches
      inferring the toxic mechanism of individual effector proteins from the host's
      phenotype are often impeded by multiple targets of different effectors as well as
      by their pleiotropic effects. Here we describe our bottom-up approach, showing
      that the bacterial type III effector AvrRxo1 of plant pathogens is an authentic
      phosphotransferase that produces two novel metabolites by phosphorylating
      nicotinamide/nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide at the adenosine 3'-hydroxyl
      group. Both products of AvrRxo1, 3'-NADP and 3'-nicotinic acid adenine
      dinucleotide phosphate (3'-NAADP), are substantially different from the
      ubiquitous co-enzyme 2'-NADP and the calcium mobilizer 2'-NAADP. Interestingly,
      3'-NADP and 3'-NAADP have previously been used as inhibitors or signaling
      molecules but were regarded as "artificial" compounds so far. Our findings now
      necessitate a shift in thinking about the biological importance of 3'
      phosphorylated NAD derivatives.

PMID- 27621320
TI  - Citations for the Human Rights and Nursing Awards 2016.
AB  - The International Care Ethics Observatory is pleased to announce that on 14
      September 2016 the Human Rights and Nursing Awards will be given at a short
      ceremony at the University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. The awards
      will be presented at the 17th annual Nursing Ethics and 2nd Ethics in Care
      conference, organised in conjunction with the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for
      Nursing Research Development, the College of Nursing at the University of Sao
      Paulo at Ribeirao Preto, and Nursing Ethics. 

PMID- 27621316
TI  - Bypass of DNA-Protein Cross-links Conjugated to the 7-Deazaguanine Position of
      DNA by Translesion Synthesis Polymerases.
AB  - DNA-protein cross-links (DPCs) are bulky DNA lesions that form both endogenously
      and following exposure to bis-electrophiles such as common antitumor agents. The
      structural and biological consequences of DPCs have not been fully elucidated due
      to the complexity of these adducts. The most common site of DPC formation in DNA
      following treatment with bis-electrophiles such as nitrogen mustards and
      cisplatin is the N7 position of guanine, but the resulting conjugates are
      hydrolytically labile and thus are not suitable for structural and biological
      studies. In this report, hydrolytically stable structural mimics of N7-guanine
      conjugated DPCs were generated by reductive amination reactions between the Lys
      and Arg side chains of proteins/peptides and aldehyde groups linked to 7
      deazaguanine residues in DNA. These model DPCs were subjected to in vitro
      replication in the presence of human translesion synthesis DNA polymerases. DPCs
      containing full-length proteins (11-28 kDa) or a 23-mer peptide blocked human
      polymerases eta and kappa. DPC conjugates to a 10-mer peptide were bypassed with
      nucleotide insertion efficiency 50-100-fold lower than for native G. Both human
      polymerase (hPol) kappa and hPol eta inserted the correct base (C) opposite the
      10-mer peptide cross-link, although small amounts of T were added by hPol eta.
      Molecular dynamics simulation of an hPol kappa ternary complex containing a
      template-primer DNA with dCTP opposite the 10-mer peptide DPC revealed that this
      bulky lesion can be accommodated in the polymerase active site by aligning with
      the major groove of the adducted DNA within the ternary complex of polymerase and
      dCTP.

PMID- 27621321
TI  - Citation for Jose Mauro Goncalves Nunes.

PMID- 27621322
TI  - Maria's baby.

PMID- 27621318
TI  - Molecular Architecture of Contactin-associated Protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) and Its
      Interaction with Contactin 2 (CNTN2).
AB  - Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) is a large multidomain neuronal
      adhesion molecule implicated in a number of neurological disorders, including
      epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and
      language delay. We reveal here by electron microscopy that the architecture of
      CNTNAP2 is composed of a large, medium, and small lobe that flex with respect to
      each other. Using epitope labeling and fragments, we assign the F58C, L1, and L2
      domains to the large lobe, the FBG and L3 domains to the middle lobe, and the L4
      domain to the small lobe of the CNTNAP2 molecular envelope. Our data reveal that
      CNTNAP2 has a very different architecture compared with neurexin 1alpha, a fellow
      member of the neurexin superfamily and a prototype, suggesting that CNTNAP2 uses
      a different strategy to integrate into the synaptic protein network. We show that
      the ectodomains of CNTNAP2 and contactin 2 (CNTN2) bind directly and
      specifically, with low nanomolar affinity. We show further that mutations in
      CNTNAP2 implicated in autism spectrum disorder are not segregated but are
      distributed over the whole ectodomain. The molecular shape and dimensions of
      CNTNAP2 place constraints on how CNTNAP2 integrates in the cleft of axo-glial and
      neuronal contact sites and how it functions as an organizing and adhesive
      molecule.

PMID- 27621325
TI  - Completion of Therapy Talk.

PMID- 27621326
TI  - Evolution of the Management of Resectable Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - In pancreatic cancer, as with many other solid tumors, a commonly held surgical
      adage-a chance to cut is a chance to cure-has been promulgated throughout the
      years. Following such reasoning, surgical extirpation of a localized tumor would
      prevent tumor dissemination and metastatic tumor progression. However, decades of
      surgical experience have demonstrated that surgical resection alone provides a
      limited median survival benefit. Despite the optimization of surgical technique
      and perioperative management over the past three decades, little progress has
      been made to improve the limited survival of patients with localized pancreatic
      cancer who receive surgery. In this article, we discuss the rationale for a novel
      management strategy for patients with resectable pancreatic cancer, which may
      improve patient selection and the delivery of multimodality therapy.

PMID- 27621327
TI  - Is It Time for Total Neoadjuvant Therapy for Patients With Resectable Pancreatic
      Adenocarcinoma?

PMID- 27621328
TI  - Preoperative Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer: The Tide Is Turning.

PMID- 27621330
TI  - Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Myelodysplastic Syndromes:
      Where Are We Going With This?

PMID- 27621329
TI  - Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Myelodysplastic Syndromes.
AB  - Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) offers the only potential
      cure for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, with current
      approaches to HCT, many older patients with comorbidities are poor HCT
      candidates, and treatment-related morbidity and mortality may offset benefit for
      patients with lower-risk disease. Consequently, selection of patients with MDS
      for HCT should take into consideration disease risk category including mutational
      status, HCT comorbidity index, functional status, donor options, and available
      institutional resources. Formal geriatric assessment may further guide use of HCT
      and, if HCT is chosen, selection of conditioning intensity. Patients with higher
      risk MDS should be considered for HCT at the time of diagnosis, whereas expectant
      nontransplant management is more appropriate for those with lower-risk disease. A
      high blast burden at the time of HCT increases the risk of subsequent relapse;
      however, the role of pretransplant cytoreductive therapy and the regimen of
      choice remain controversial. Patients with MDS younger than 65 years and with an
      HCT comorbidity index <= 4 may benefit from more intense conditioning regimens.
      The presence of complex or monosomal karyotype or mutations in TP53, DNMT3A, or
      other genes identify patients with poorer outcomes following HCT. Patients with
      TP53 mutations have particularly poor survival, and should be enrolled in
      clinical trials whenever possible. Several important HCT studies are ongoing and
      will better define the role of HCT in MDS as well as the value of pretransplant
      cytoreductive therapy or post-transplant relapse-prevention strategies. Given the
      apparent underuse of HCT in eligible patients and low enrollment in MDS HCT
      clinical trials to date, timely referral of patients with MDS to such trials and
      HCT programs is critical.

PMID- 27621331
TI  - Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Going Gently Into That Good Night.

PMID- 27621332
TI  - Current and Evolving Therapies for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: Are We Stuck
      With Cytotoxic Chemotherapy?
AB  - At present, front-line therapy for metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is
      combination chemotherapy, most commonly FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, irinotecan, and
      oxaliplatin) or gemcitabine and nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel. Despite a
      better understanding of the genomic landscape and the importance of the tumor
      microenvironment, we have not made a seismic shift in the overall survival for
      this disease. Given our growing understanding of the biology of pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma, the question remains whether novel, noncytotoxic agents will
      augment or even replace conventional chemotherapy. The thrust of ongoing efforts
      can be divided into broad categories, including exploiting the DNA damage repair
      phenotype, stroma and specific pathway-targeting agents, and enhancing immune
      destruction of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In this article, we review the
      current and evolving therapeutic landscape of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 27621333
TI  - Is There Efficacy Beyond Cytotoxic Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer?

PMID- 27621334
TI  - Striving to Move Beyond Chemotherapy in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer.

PMID- 27621335
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 27621336
TI  - Diseases due to unhealthy environments: an updated estimate of the global burden
      of disease attributable to environmental determinants of health.
AB  - Background: The update of the global burden of disease attributable to the
      environment is presented. The study focuses on modifiable risks to show the
      potential health impact from environmental interventions. Methods: Systematic
      literature reviews on 133 diseases and injuries were performed. Comparative risk
      assessments were complemented by more limited epidemiological estimates, expert
      opinion and information on disease transmission pathways. Population attributable
      fractions were used to calculate global deaths and global disease burden from
      environmental risks. Results: Twenty-three percent (95% CI: 13-34%) of global
      deaths and 22% (95% CI: 13-32%) of global disability adjusted life years (DALYs)
      were attributable to environmental risks in 2012. Sixty-eight percent of deaths
      and 56% of DALYs could be estimated with comparative risk assessment methods. The
      global disease burden attributable to the environment is now dominated by
      noncommunicable diseases. Susceptible ages are children under five and adults
      between 50 and 75 years. Country level data are presented. Conclusions: Nearly a
      quarter of global disease burden could be prevented by reducing environmental
      risks. This analysis confirms that eliminating hazards and reducing environmental
      risks will greatly benefit our health, will contribute to attaining the recently
      agreed Sustainable Development Goals and will systematically require
      intersectoral collaboration to be successful.

PMID- 27621339
TI  - Saving Patients With Infectious Diseases.

PMID- 27621338
TI  - Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Retrospective Study in Eastern North Carolina.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an evidence-based measure to benefit
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Many patients have
      benefitted from our robust university hospital-based PR program. We have
      objectively assessed the benefit of our PR program for COPD patients in Eastern
      North Carolina. METHODS: We used retrospective chart review to collect data from
      all the patients who completed PR from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.
      Data collection included quality-of-life scores using short-form 36 (SF-36) and 6
      minute walk distance (6MWD) to measure exercise capacity before and after PR. We
      also collected data on COPD exacerbation frequency 1 year before and 1 year after
      PR. The data were analyzed using the statistical software Statistical Package for
      the Social Sciences version 22.0. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 51 patients with
      4 categories of COPD: mild (n = 2), moderate (n = 12), severe (n = 23), and very
      severe (n = 14). The PR program resulted in improvement in 6MWD of an average of
      263.8 feet (P < .01) and a decrease in COPD exacerbation frequency by 0.3 events
      per year (P < .05). There were mixed results for quality-of-life scores.
      LIMITATIONS: Our study was conducted at 1 center and thus involved a single COPD
      patient population with limited sample size. We did not follow patients long term
      to see whether the benefits were sustained. CONCLUSIONS: Our PR program resulted
      in a positive impact on exercise capacity, COPD exacerbation rate, and some
      aspects of quality of life.

PMID- 27621340
TI  - What Is New in Infectious Diseases?
AB  - The practice of infectious diseases is an ever-changing discipline. Diseases such
      as syphilis and tuberculosis have been with mankind for millennia, whereas
      conditions such as AIDS and Zika virus are relatively new maladies. A working
      knowledge of clinical presentations associated with Zika virus infection,
      syphilis, and common parasitic infections will help the primary care provider
      determine whom to treat and whom to refer to a specialist. Increasing the use of
      vaccination for influenza and pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection should
      reduce the burden of these common diseases.

PMID- 27621337
TI  - Assessing Injury and Violence Prevention in North Carolina's Local Health
      Departments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injury and violence-related morbidity and mortality present a major
      public health problem in North Carolina. However, the extent to which local
      health departments (LHDs) engage in injury and violence prevention (IVP) has not
      been well described. OBJECTIVES: One objective of the current study is to provide
      a baseline assessment of IVP in the state's LHDs, describing capacity,
      priorities, challenges, and the degree to which programs are data-driven and
      evidence-based. The study will also describe a replicable, cost-effective method
      for systematic assessment of regional IVP. DESIGN: This is an observational,
      cross-sectional study that was conducted through a survey of North Carolina's 85
      LHDs. RESULTS: Representatives from 77 LHDs (91%) responded. Nearly one-third (n
      = 23; 30%) reported that no staff members were familiar with evidence-based
      interventions in IVP, and over one-third (n = 29; 38%) reported that their LHD
      did not train staff in IVP. Almost one-half (n = 37; 48%) had no dedicated
      funding for IVP. On average, respondents said that about half of their programs
      were evidence-based; however, there was marked variation (mean, 52%; standard
      deviation = 41). Many collaborated with diverse partners including law
      enforcement, hospitals, and community-based organizations. There was discordance
      between injury and violence burden and programming. Overall, 53% of issues listed
      as top local problems were not targeted in their LHDs' programs. CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite funding constraints, North Carolina's LHDs engaged in a broad range of
      IVP activities. However, programming did not uniformly address state injury and
      violence priorities, nor local injury and violence burden. Staff members need
      training in evidence-based strategies that target priority areas. Multisector
      partnerships were common and increased LHDs' capacity. These findings are
      actionable at the state and local level.

PMID- 27621343
TI  - The Role of Journalists in Reporting on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

PMID- 27621341
TI  - Optimizing Antibiotic Use in Nursing Homes Through Antibiotic Stewardship.
AB  - Antibiotic stewardship is becoming a requirement for nursing homes. Programs
      should be interdisciplinary and multifaceted; should have support from nursing
      home administrators; and should aim to promote antibiotics only when needed, not
      just in case. Recommended components include use of evidence-based guidelines;
      ongoing monitoring of antibiotic prescriptions, cultures, and study results;
      monitoring of health outcomes; use of nursing home-specific antibiograms; regular
      reporting and feedback to medical providers and nurses; and education of
      residents and families.

PMID- 27621342
TI  - La Crosse Encephalitis: A Persistent Arboviral Threat in North Carolina.
AB  - Mosquito-borne diseases remain a significant cause of economic, social, and
      health burdens in North Carolina. Although recently overshadowed by emerging
      threats such as chikungunya virus and Zika virus, La Crosse virus and other
      endemic arboviruses remain persistent environmental health hazards. Indeed, La
      Crosse virus, West Nile virus, and Eastern equine encephalitis virus accounted
      for more than 98% of the reported human arboviral diseases acquired in North
      Carolina in the past decade. Arbovirus infection is increasingly prevalent in
      Western North Carolina, with La Crosse encephalitis being endemic in this area.
      While infections are often asymptomatic and seldom fatal, the long-term
      neurologic sequelae of La Crosse encephalitis represent a significant burden.

PMID- 27621344
TI  - Preventing Health Care-Associated Infections: Connecting North Carolina's
      Patients to National Efforts.
AB  - With increased federal and state attention to prevention and control of health
      care-associated infections (HAIs), broad multifacility collaboratives have
      emerged to guide providers' work at the bedside. This commentary reviews how HAI
      prevention flows from federal-level guidance through state leadership and into
      hospitals, connecting governance to its impact on North Carolina's patients.

PMID- 27621346
TI  - Social Determinants of Influenza Illness and Outbreaks in the United States.
AB  - Social determinants-such as education, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status,
      access to health care services and vaccination, neighborhood-level stressors, and
      workplace or school policies-can impact influenza illness and outbreaks in the
      United States. To reduce transmission and disparities in influenza infection,
      policies should focus on removing existing vaccination barriers and supporting
      equitable social policies.

PMID- 27621345
TI  - Vaccination to Prevent Cancer.
AB  - Vaccines stimulate the immune system, mimicking infectious attacks and thereby
      promoting the development of protective antibodies and/or cellular immunity so
      that the body is immune to infection when live native infections attack. Some of
      these infections are associated with cancer-causing changes in the body; thus
      some vaccines may help prevent cancer.

PMID- 27621347
TI  - Antibiotic Misuse in Hospital, Outpatient, and Long-Term Care Settings.
AB  - Antibiotic misuse is common in the United States, but the causes of antibiotic
      misuse may differ from one health care setting to another. In this commentary, we
      describe the factors associated with inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions in
      hospital, outpatient, and long-term care settings, along with specific measures
      that can help prevent antibiotic misuse.

PMID- 27621348
TI  - Parasitic Diseases With Cutaneous Manifestations.
AB  - Parasitic diseases result in a significant global health burden. While often
      thought to be isolated to returning travelers, parasitic diseases can also be
      acquired locally in the United States. Therefore, clinicians must be aware of the
      cutaneous manifestations of parasitic diseases to allow for prompt recognition,
      effective management, and subsequent mitigation of complications. This commentary
      also reviews pharmacologic treatment options for several common diseases.

PMID- 27621349
TI  - School Notes: Managing Infectious Diseases in School and Child Care Settings.
AB  - The decision to exclude a child from day care or school leads to widespread
      educational, social, and economic ramifications for affected families. By
      understanding and improving how these decisions are made, health care providers
      and policy makers can promote child well-being throughout the state.

PMID- 27621351
TI  - Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention.

PMID- 27621350
TI  - HIV and Mass Incarceration: Where Infectious Diseases and Social Justice Meet.
AB  - More than 1% of all adults in the United States are currently in a jail or
      prison. This mass incarceration, particularly of African American men, fosters
      conditions that facilitate the spread of HIV in communities where both HIV and
      incarceration are endemic. Recognition of the role of mass incarceration in the
      perpetuation of the HIV epidemic is essential to development of effective HIV
      prevention policies.

PMID- 27621352
TI  - Syphilis: An Old Disease With Present-Day Implications.
AB  - Syphilis continues to be a burden on the public health system. While men who have
      sex with men and HIV-infected individuals are the most affected populations,
      syphilis rates have also increased in reproductive-aged women, resulting in
      concurrent increases in congenital syphilis. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are
      requisite components of syphilis control.

PMID- 27621354
TI  - A Nontraumatic Surprise Neck Mass.

PMID- 27621355
TI  - A Nontraumatic Surprise Neck Mass.

PMID- 27621353
TI  - Executive Summary: Official American Thoracic Society/Centers for Disease Control
      and Prevention/Infectious Diseases Society of America Clinical Practice
      Guidelines: Treatment of Drug-Susceptible Tuberculosis.
AB  - The American Thoracic Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
      Infectious Diseases Society of America jointly sponsored the development of this
      guideline for the treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis, which is also
      endorsed by the European Respiratory Society and the US National Tuberculosis
      Controllers Association. Representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics,
      the Canadian Thoracic Society, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and
      Lung Disease, and the World Health Organization also participated in the
      development of the guideline. This guideline provides recommendations on the
      clinical and public health management of tuberculosis in children and adults in
      settings in which mycobacterial cultures, molecular and phenotypic drug
      susceptibility tests, and radiographic studies, among other diagnostic tools, are
      available on a routine basis. For all recommendations, literature reviews were
      performed, followed by discussion by an expert committee according to the Grading
      of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation methodology. Given the
      public health implications of prompt diagnosis and effective management of
      tuberculosis, empiric multidrug treatment is initiated in almost all situations
      in which active tuberculosis is suspected. Additional characteristics such as
      presence of comorbidities, severity of disease, and response to treatment
      influence management decisions. Specific recommendations on the use of case
      management strategies (including directly observed therapy), regimen and dosing
      selection in adults and children (daily vs intermittent), treatment of
      tuberculosis in the presence of HIV infection (duration of tuberculosis treatment
      and timing of initiation of antiretroviral therapy), as well as treatment of
      extrapulmonary disease (central nervous system, pericardial among other sites)
      are provided. The development of more potent and better-tolerated drug regimens,
      optimization of drug exposure for the component drugs, optimal management of
      tuberculosis in special populations, identification of accurate biomarkers of
      treatment effect, and the assessment of new strategies for implementing regimens
      in the field remain key priority areas for research. See the full-text online
      version of the document for detailed discussion of the management of tuberculosis
      and recommendations for practice.

PMID- 27621356
TI  - WFNR Franz Gerstenbrand Award Announcement.

PMID- 27621358
TI  - Prognostic Value of Myocardial Damage in Patients With Sarcoidosis: Is Cardiac
      Magnetic Resonance What We Need?

PMID- 27621357
TI  - Presence of Late Gadolinium Enhancement by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Among
      Patients With Suspected Cardiac Sarcoidosis Is Associated With Adverse
      Cardiovascular Prognosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with cardiac sarcoidosis have an increased risk of
      ventricular arrhythmia and death. Several small cohort studies have evaluated the
      ability of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) by cardiac magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) to predict adverse cardiovascular events. However, studies have
      yielded inconsistent results, and some analyses were underpowered. Therefore, we
      sought to systematically review and perform meta-analysis of the prognostic value
      of cardiac MRI for patients with known or suspected cardiac sarcoidosis. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: We systematically searched for cohort studies of patients with known
      sarcoidosis with suspected cardiac involvement who underwent cardiac MRI with LGE
      with at least 12 months of either prospective or retrospective follow-up data
      regarding post-MRI adverse cardiovascular outcomes. We identified 7 studies of
      694 subjects (mean age 53; 42% men).One hundred and ninety-nine patients (29%)
      were LGE positive. All-cause mortality occurred in 19 LGE-positive versus 17 LGE
      negative subjects (annualized incidence, 3.1% versus 0.6%). The pooled relative
      risk was 3.38 (95% confidence interval, 1.07-10.7; P=0.04). Cardiovascular
      mortality occurred in 10 LGE-positive versus 2 LGE-negative subjects (annualized
      incidence, 1.9% versus 0.3%; relative risk 10.7 [95% confidence interval, 1.34
      86.3]; P=0.03). Ventricular arrhythmia occurred in 41 LGE-positive versus 0 LGE
      negative subjects (annualized incidence, 5.9% versus 0%; relative risk 19.5 [95%
      confidence interval, 2.68-143]; P=0.003). A combined end point of death or
      ventricular arrhythmia occurred in 64 LGE-positive versus 18 LGE-negative
      subjects (annualized incidence, 8.8% versus 0.6%; relative risk 6.20 [95%
      confidence interval, 2.47-15.6]; P<0.001). There was no significant heterogeneity
      for any outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: LGE is associated with future cardiovascular death
      and ventricular arrhythmia among patients referred to MRI for known or suspected
      cardiac sarcoidosis.

PMID- 27621360
TI  - Julie Forman-Kay: Dynamic views on protein structure.

PMID- 27621361
TI  - Watching a deep dive: Live imaging provides lessons about tooth invagination.
AB  - Invagination of epithelium into the surrounding mesenchyme is a critical step
      that marks the developmental onset of many ectodermal organs. In this issue,
      Ahtiainen et al. (2016. J. Cell. Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201512074)
      use the mouse incisor as a model to advance our understanding of the cellular
      mechanisms underlying ectodermal organ morphogenesis.

PMID- 27621365
TI  - Tell women IUD is more effective than emergency contraceptive pill, says NICE.

PMID- 27621363
TI  - Cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of Sec4p controls membrane deposition during
      cytokinesis.
AB  - Intracellular trafficking is an essential and conserved eukaryotic process. Rab
      GTPases are a family of proteins that regulate and provide specificity for
      discrete membrane trafficking steps by harnessing a nucleotide-bound cycle.
      Global proteomic screens have revealed many Rab GTPases as phosphoproteins, but
      the effects of this modification are not well understood. Using the Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae Rab GTPase Sec4p as a model, we have found that phosphorylation
      negatively regulates Sec4p function by disrupting the interaction with the
      exocyst complex via Sec15p. We demonstrate that phosphorylation of Sec4p is a
      cell cycle-dependent process associated with cytokinesis. Through a genomic
      kinase screen, we have also identified the polo-like kinase Cdc5p as a positive
      regulator of Sec4p phosphorylation. Sec4p spatially and temporally localizes with
      Cdc5p exclusively when Sec4p phosphorylation levels peak during the cell cycle,
      indicating Sec4p is a direct Cdc5p substrate. Our data suggest the physiological
      relevance of Sec4p phosphorylation is to facilitate the coordination of membrane
      trafficking events during cytokinesis.

PMID- 27621364
TI  - Early epithelial signaling center governs tooth budding morphogenesis.
AB  - During organogenesis, cell fate specification and patterning are regulated by
      signaling centers, specialized clusters of morphogen-expressing cells. In many
      organs, initiation of development is marked by bud formation, but the cellular
      mechanisms involved are ill defined. Here, we use the mouse incisor tooth as a
      model to study budding morphogenesis. We show that a group of nonproliferative
      epithelial cells emerges in the early tooth primordium and identify these cells
      as a signaling center. Confocal live imaging of tissue explants revealed that
      although these cells reorganize dynamically, they do not reenter the cell cycle
      or contribute to the growing tooth bud. Instead, budding is driven by
      proliferation of the neighboring cells. We demonstrate that the activity of the
      ectodysplasin/Edar/nuclear factor kappaB pathway is restricted to the signaling
      center, and its inactivation leads to fewer quiescent cells and a smaller bud.
      These data functionally link the signaling center size to organ size and imply
      that the early signaling center is a prerequisite for budding morphogenesis. 

PMID- 27621362
TI  - The lysosome as a command-and-control center for cellular metabolism.
AB  - Lysosomes are membrane-bound organelles found in every eukaryotic cell. They are
      widely known as terminal catabolic stations that rid cells of waste products and
      scavenge metabolic building blocks that sustain essential biosynthetic reactions
      during starvation. In recent years, this classical view has been dramatically
      expanded by the discovery of new roles of the lysosome in nutrient sensing,
      transcriptional regulation, and metabolic homeostasis. These discoveries have
      elevated the lysosome to a decision-making center involved in the control of
      cellular growth and survival. Here we review these recently discovered properties
      of the lysosome, with a focus on how lysosomal signaling pathways respond to
      external and internal cues and how they ultimately enable metabolic homeostasis
      and cellular adaptation.

PMID- 27621368
TI  - The Effects of Extended Pain on Behavior: Recent Progress.
AB  - Chronic pain is frequently associated with anxiety, depression, and cognitive
      dysfunction. This review discusses recent work in rodents that contributes to the
      understanding of their neurobiological links. Brain regions that contain circuits
      that mediate persistent changes in behavior that are caused by nerve injury or
      joint inflammation include the rostral anterior cingulate and other parts of the
      medial prefrontal cortex, the basolateral and central nucleus of the amygdala,
      and the nucleus accumbens. Functional changes, including increases in the
      activity within specific neuronal pathways and in the levels of specific synaptic
      components, that are associated with the behavior changes, or are in some cases
      necessary for them, have recently been identified. Broadly projecting modulatory
      systems and widely expressed factors such as cytokines and growth factors also
      contribute to pain-associated behavior. Integrating these observations and
      determining their causal relationships is now critical for the identification of
      therapeutic targets and the design of appropriate interventions.

PMID- 27621376
TI  - Advances in Understanding Mating Type Gene Organization in the Mushroom-Forming
      Fungus Flammulina velutipes.
AB  - The initiation of sexual development in the important edible and medicinal
      mushroom Flammulina velutipes is controlled by special genes at two different,
      independent, mating type (MAT) loci: HD and PR. We expanded our understanding of
      the F. velutipes mating type system by analyzing the MAT loci from a series of
      strains. The HD locus of F. velutipes houses homeodomain genes (Hd genes) on two
      separated locations: sublocus HD-a and HD-b. The HD-b subloci contained strain
      specific Hd1/Hd2 gene pairs, and crosses between strains with different HD-b
      subloci indicated a role in mating. The function of the HD-a sublocus remained
      undecided. Many, but not all strains contained the same conserved Hd2 gene at the
      HD-a sublocus. The HD locus usually segregated as a whole, though we did detect
      one new HD locus with a HD-a sublocus from one parental strain, and a HD-b
      sublocus from the other. The PR locus of F. velutipes contained pheromone
      receptor (STE3) and pheromone precursor (Pp) genes at two locations, sublocus PR
      a and PR-b. PR-a and PR-b both contained sets of strain-specific STE3 and Pp
      genes, indicating a role in mating. PR-a and PR-b cosegregated in our
      experiments. However, the identification of additional strains with identical PR
      a, yet different PR-b subloci, demonstrated that PR subloci can recombine within
      the PR locus. In conclusion, at least three of the four MAT subloci seem to
      participate in mating, and new HD and PR loci can be generated through intralocus
      recombination in F. velutipes.

PMID- 27621377
TI  - First Draft Assembly and Annotation of the Genome of a California Endemic Oak
      Quercus lobata Nee (Fagaceae).
AB  - Oak represents a valuable natural resource across Northern Hemisphere ecosystems,
      attracting a large research community studying its genetics, ecology,
      conservation, and management. Here we introduce a draft genome assembly of valley
      oak (Quercus lobata) using Illumina sequencing of adult leaf tissue of a tree
      found in an accessible, well-studied, natural southern California population. Our
      assembly includes a nuclear genome and a complete chloroplast genome, along with
      annotation of encoded genes. The assembly contains 94,394 scaffolds, totaling
      1.17 Gb with 18,512 scaffolds of length 2 kb or longer, with a total length of
      1.15 Gb, and a N50 scaffold size of 278,077 kb. The k-mer histograms indicate an
      diploid genome size of ~720-730 Mb, which is smaller than the total length due to
      high heterozygosity, estimated at 1.25%. A comparison with a recently published
      European oak (Q. robur) nuclear sequence indicates 93% similarity. The Q. lobata
      chloroplast genome has 99% identity with another North American oak, Q. rubra
      Preliminary annotation yielded an estimate of 61,773 predicted protein-coding
      genes, of which 71% had similarity to known protein domains. We searched 956
      Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs, and found 863 complete orthologs,
      of which 450 were present in > 1 copy. We also examined an earlier version (v0.5)
      where duplicate haplotypes were removed to discover variants. These additional
      sources indicate that the predicted gene count in Version 1.0 is overestimated by
      37-52%. Nonetheless, this first draft valley oak genome assembly represents a
      high-quality, well-annotated genome that provides a tool for forest restoration
      and management practices.

PMID- 27621379
TI  - W. Ritchie Russell, A.B. Baker, and Fred Plum: Pioneers of ventilatory management
      in poliomyelitis.
AB  - Historically, neurologists were not involved in the day-to-day management of
      critically ill patients with bulbar poliomyelitis, but some were. The major
      contributions of 3 neurologists-W. Ritchie Russell, A.B. Baker, and Fred Plum-in
      the respiratory management of poliomyelitis have not been recognized. Russell's
      work was instrumental in identifying multiple types of poliomyelitis defined by
      their respiratory needs, and he advised treatment that varied from simple
      postural drainage to use of respirators. He participated in the development of
      the Radcliffe respiratory pump. Baker recognized the essential involvement of the
      vagal nerve in respiratory distress, but also observed that involvement of vital
      centers without cranial nerve involvement would lead to irregular and shallow
      respiration in some patients and in others with marked dysautonomic features. A
      similar finding of central involvement of respiration was noted by Plum, who also
      stressed the importance of hypercapnia. Plum emphasized measurements of vital
      capacity and techniques to minimize trauma with suctioning after tracheostomy.
      These 3 neurologists understood the importance of airway and ventilator
      management, which is currently one of the many pillars of neurocritical care. 

PMID- 27621380
TI  - Arteriovenous fistula mimicking vestibular schwannoma.

PMID- 27621378
TI  - Conformational flexibility of PL12 family heparinases: structure and substrate
      specificity of heparinase III from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (BT4657).
AB  - Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are linear polysaccharides comprised of disaccharide
      repeat units, a hexuronic acid, glucuronic acid or iduronic acid, linked to a
      hexosamine, N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) or N-acetylgalactosamine. GAGs undergo
      further modification such as epimerization and sulfation. These polysaccharides
      are abundant in the extracellular matrix and connective tissues. GAGs function in
      stabilization of the fibrillar extracellular matrix, control of hydration,
      regulation of tissue, organism development by controlling cell cycle, cell
      behavior and differentiation. Niche adapted bacteria express enzymes called
      polysaccharide lyases (PL), which degrade GAGs for their nutrient content. PL
      have been classified into 24 sequence-related families. Comparison of 3D
      structures of the prototypic members of these families allowed identification of
      distant evolutionary relationships between lyases that were unrecognized at the
      sequence level, and identified occurrences of convergent evolution. We have
      characterized structurally and enzymatically heparinase III from Bacteroides
      thetaiotaomicron (BtHepIII; gene BT4657), which is classified within the PL12
      family. BtHepIII is a 72.5 kDa protein. We present the X-ray structures of two
      crystal forms of BtHepIII at resolution 1.8 and 2.4 A. BtHepIII contains two
      domains, the N-terminal alpha-helical domain forming a toroid and the C-terminal
      beta-sheet domain. Comparison with recently determined structures of two other
      heparinases from the same PL12 family allowed us to identify structural
      flexibility in the arrangement of the domains indicating open-close movement.
      Based on comparison with other GAG lyases, we identified Tyr301 as the main
      catalytic residue and confirmed this by site-directed mutagenesis. We have
      characterized substrate preference of BtHepIII toward sulfate-poor heparan
      sulfate substrate.

PMID- 27621381
TI  - Cough tremor as presenting symptom of intraventricular tumor.

PMID- 27621382
TI  - Orthostatic myoclonus associated with Caspr2 antibodies.

PMID- 27621383
TI  - Antibiotic-associated encephalopathy.

PMID- 27621384
TI  - Clinical Reasoning: A 57-year-old man with subacute gait difficulty and hand
      tremor.

PMID- 27621385
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: The half-split man.

PMID- 27621386
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: An extremely rare cause of treatable acute encephalopathy.

PMID- 27621387
TI  - Teaching Video NeuroImages: Bilateral complete horizontal gaze palsy with
      preserved convergence: The 1 + 1 syndrome.

PMID- 27621388
TI  - Neoadjuvant Therapy Followed by Resection Versus Upfront Resection for Resectable
      Pancreatic Cancer: A Propensity Score Matched Analysis.
AB  - Purpose To compare overall survival between patients who received neoadjuvant
      therapy (NAT) followed by resection and those who received upfront resection (UR)
      as well as a subgroup of UR patients who also received adjuvant therapy-for early
      stage resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Patients and Methods Adult patients
      with resected, clinical stage I or II adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas
      were identified in the National Cancer Database from 2006 to 2012. Patients who
      underwent NAT followed by curative-intent resection were matched by propensity
      score with patients whose tumors were resected upfront. Overall survival was
      compared by using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Early
      postoperative and oncologic outcomes were evaluated. Results We identified 15,237
      patients with clinical stage I or II resected pancreatic head adenocarcinoma.
      From the NAT group, 2,005 patients (95%) were matched with 6,015 patients who
      underwent UR. The NAT group was associated with improved survival compared with
      UR (median survival, 26 months v 21 months, respectively; stratified log-rank P <
      .01; hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.78). Patients in the UR group had
      higher pathologic T stage (pT3 and T4: 86% v 73%; P < .01), higher positive lymph
      nodes (73% v 48%; P < .01), and higher positive resection margin (24% v 17%; P <
      .01). Compared with a subset of UR patients who received adjuvant therapy, NAT
      patients had a better survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to
      0.89). Conclusion NAT followed by resection has a significant survival benefit
      compared with UR in early-stage, resected pancreatic head adenocarcinoma. These
      findings support the use of NAT, particularly as a patient selection tool, in the
      management of resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27621389
TI  - Do Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomies Help Patients?

PMID- 27621390
TI  - Dose-Escalated External-Beam Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer: Two Ensuing
      Questions.

PMID- 27621391
TI  - Reply to E.C. Harrold et al and A.O. Ayoola et al.

PMID- 27621392
TI  - Perioperative Morbidity and Mortality Associated With Bleomycin in Primary
      Mediastinal Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Tumor.

PMID- 27621393
TI  - Cost Effectiveness of the Oncotype DX DCIS Score for Guiding Treatment of
      Patients With Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.
AB  - Purpose The Oncotype DX DCIS Score short form (DCIS Score) estimates the risk of
      an ipsilateral breast event (IBE) in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ
      (DCIS) treated with breast-conserving surgery without adjuvant radiation therapy
      (RT). We determined the cost effectiveness of strategies using this test.
      Materials and Methods We developed a Markov model simulating 10-year outcomes for
      60-year-old women eligible for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group E5194 study
      (cohort 1: low/intermediate-grade DCIS, <= 2.5 cm; cohort 2: high-grade DCIS, <=
      1 cm) with each of five strategies: (1) no testing, no RT; (2) no testing, RT
      only for cohort 2; (3) no RT for low-grade DCIS, test for intermediate- and high
      grade DCIS, RT for intermediate- or high-risk scores; (4) test all, RT for
      intermediate- or high-risk scores; and (5) no testing, RT for all. We used
      utilities and costs extracted from the literature and Medicare claims to
      determine incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and examined the number of women
      needed to irradiate per IBE prevented. Results No strategy using the DCIS Score
      was cost effective. The most cost-effective strategy (RT for none or RT for all)
      was sensitive to small differences between the utilities of receiving or not
      receiving RT and remaining without recurrence. The numbers needed to irradiate
      per IBE prevented were 10.5, 9.1, 7.5, and 13.1 for strategies 2 to 5,
      respectively, relative to strategy 1. Conclusion Strategies using the DCIS Score
      lowered the proportion of women undergoing RT per IBE prevented. However, no
      strategy incorporating the DCIS Score was cost effective. The cost effectiveness
      of RT was exquisitely utility sensitive, highlighting the importance of engaging
      patient preferences in this decision. Physicians should discuss trade-offs
      associated with omitting or adding adjuvant RT with each patient to maximize
      quality-of-life outcomes.

PMID- 27621394
TI  - Everolimus for the Treatment of Advanced Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors:
      Overall Survival and Circulating Biomarkers From the Randomized, Phase III
      RADIANT-3 Study.
AB  - Purpose Everolimus improved median progression-free survival by 6.4 months in
      patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NET) compared with
      placebo in the RADIANT-3 study. Here, we present the final overall survival (OS)
      data and data on the impact of biomarkers on OS from the RADIANT-3 study. Methods
      Patients with advanced, progressive, low- or intermediate-grade pancreatic NET
      were randomly assigned to everolimus 10 mg/day (n = 207) or placebo (n = 203).
      Crossover from placebo to open-label everolimus was allowed on disease
      progression. Ongoing patients were unblinded after final progression-free
      survival analysis and could transition to open-label everolimus at the
      investigator's discretion (extension phase). OS analysis was performed using a
      stratified log-rank test in the intent-to-treat population. The baseline levels
      of chromogranin A, neuron-specific enolase, and multiple soluble angiogenic
      biomarkers were determined and their impact on OS was explored. Results Of 410
      patients who were enrolled between July 2007 and March 2014, 225 received open
      label everolimus, including 172 patients (85%) randomly assigned initially to the
      placebo arm. Median OS was 44.0 months (95% CI, 35.6 to 51.8 months) for those
      randomly assigned to everolimus and 37.7 months (95% CI, 29.1 to 45.8 months) for
      those randomly assigned to placebo (hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.20; P =
      .30). Elevated baseline chromogranin A, neuron-specific enolase, placental growth
      factor, and soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 levels were
      poor prognostic factors for OS. The most common adverse events included
      stomatitis, rash, and diarrhea. Conclusion Everolimus was associated with a
      median OS of 44 months in patients with advanced, progressive pancreatic NET, the
      longest OS reported in a phase III study for this population. Everolimus was
      associated with a survival benefit of 6.3 months, although this finding was not
      statistically significant. Crossover of patients likely confounded the OS
      results.

PMID- 27621395
TI  - PANCREOX: A Randomized Phase III Study of Fluorouracil/Leucovorin With or Without
      Oxaliplatin for Second-Line Advanced Pancreatic Cancer in Patients Who Have
      Received Gemcitabine-Based Chemotherapy.
AB  - Purpose The standard of care for second-line therapy in patients with advanced
      pancreatic cancer after gemcitabine-based therapy is not clearly defined. The
      CONKO-003 phase III study reported a survival benefit with second-line
      fluorouracil (FU) and oxaliplatin using the oxaliplatin, folinic acid, and FU
      (OFF) regimen. 1 PANCREOX was a phase III multicenter trial to evaluate the
      benefit of FU and oxaliplatin administered as modified FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX6;
      infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) versus infusional
      FU/leucovorin (LV) in this setting. Patients and Methods Patients with confirmed
      advanced pancreatic cancer who were previously treated with gemcitabine therapy
      and with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-2 were
      eligible. A total of 108 patients were randomly assigned to receive biweekly
      mFOLFOX6 or infusional FU/LV until progression. Progression-free survival (PFS)
      was the primary end point. Results Baseline patient characteristics were similar
      in both arms. No difference was observed in PFS (median, 3.1 months v 2.9 months;
      P = .99). Overall survival (OS) was inferior in patients assigned to mFOLFOX6
      (median, 6.1 months v 9.9 months; P = .02). Increased toxicity was observed with
      the addition of oxaliplatin, with grade 3/4 adverse events occurring in 63% of
      patients who received mFOLFOX6 and 11% of those who received FU/LV. More patients
      in the mFOLFOX6 arm withdrew from study due to adverse events than in the FU/LV
      arm (20% v 2%), whereas the use of postprogression therapy was significantly
      higher in the FU/LV arm (25% v 7%; P = .015). No significant differences were
      observed in time to deterioration on the European Organization for Research and
      Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 global health scale.
      Conclusion No benefit was observed with the addition of oxaliplatin, administered
      as mFOLFOX6, versus infusional FU/LV in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer
      previously treated with first-line gemcitabine.

PMID- 27621396
TI  - Sunscreen Use and Subsequent Melanoma Risk: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
AB  - Purpose To assess melanoma risk in relation to sunscreen use and to compare high-
      with low-sun protection factor (SPF) sunscreens in relation to sunbathing habits
      in a large cohort study. Materials and Methods We used data from the Norwegian
      Women and Cancer Study, a prospective population-based study of 143,844 women age
      40 to 75 years at inclusion with 1,532,247 person-years of follow-up and 722
      cases of melanoma. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to
      estimate the association between sunscreen use (never, SPF < 15, SPF >= 15) and
      melanoma risk by calculating hazard ratios and 95% CIs. The population
      attributable fraction associated with sunscreen use was estimated. Results
      Sunscreen users reported significantly more sunburns and sunbathing vacations and
      were more likely to use indoor tanning devices. SPF >= 15 sunscreen use was
      associated with significantly decreased melanoma risk compared with SPF < 15 use
      (hazard ratio, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.83). The estimated decrease in melanoma
      (population attributable fraction) with general use of SPF >= 15 sunscreens by
      women age 40 to 75 years was 18% (95% CI, 4% to 30%). Conclusion Use of SPF >= 15
      rather than SPF < 15 sunscreens reduces melanoma risk. Moreover, use of SPF >= 15
      sunscreen by all women age 40 to 75 years could potentially reduce their melanoma
      incidence by 18%.

PMID- 27621397
TI  - Reply to J. Du et al.

PMID- 27621398
TI  - In the Pursuit of Excellence: Reflections From the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of
      Clinical Oncology.

PMID- 27621399
TI  - Selective Internal Radiation Therapy/Yttrium-90: Have We Found Its Place?

PMID- 27621401
TI  - Reply to J. Heil et al.

PMID- 27621402
TI  - Decisional Regret Among Parents of Children With Cancer.
AB  - Purpose Decision making is one of the ways in which parents serve as stewards of
      their children with cancer, but barriers to informed decision making among
      parents of children with cancer have been identified. We sought to evaluate the
      extent to which parents feel satisfied with, or regretful of, decisions made for
      their child's cancer treatment and to identify factors associated with heightened
      regret. Methods We surveyed 346 parents of children with cancer within 12 weeks
      of their initial cancer treatment decision and the children's physicians at Dana
      Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children's Hospital and the Children's Hospital of
      Philadelphia. Our main outcome measure was heightened regret as measured by the
      Decisional Regret Scale. Results Sixteen percent of parents (N = 54) met our
      definition of heightened decisional regret. In a multivariable logistic
      regression model, race/ethnicity was associated with regret, with black (odds
      ratio [OR], 6.55; 95% CI, 2.30 to 18.7), Hispanic (OR, 2.15; 95% CI, .69 to
      6.65), and other race parents (OR, 4.68; 95% CI, 1.58 to 13.8) at increased risk
      for regret relative to whites ( P = .001 across all categories). In contrast,
      parents who reported receiving high-quality information (OR, .45; 95% CI, .23 to
      .91; P = .03) and detailed prognostic information (OR, .48; 95% CI, .24 to .96; P
      = .04), who trusted the oncologist completely (OR, .32; 95% CI, .17 to .63; P =
      .001), and who held their ideal role in decision making (OR, .49; 95% CI, .25 to
      .95; P = .04) were less likely to experience regret. Conclusion Although many
      parents are satisfied with decisions made for their children with cancer, racial
      and ethnic minority parents are at heightened risk for regret. Clinicians may be
      able to reduce this risk by providing high-quality information, including
      prognostic information, involving parents in decision making in the ways they
      wish, and serving as trusted providers.

PMID- 27621400
TI  - Multicenter Phase II Study of Lenalidomide in Relapsed or Recurrent Adult T-Cell
      Leukemia/Lymphoma: ATLL-002.
AB  - Purpose Few treatment options exist for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), and
      the prognosis for this disease is poor. A phase I study of lenalidomide
      demonstrated preliminary antitumor activity in patients with relapsed ATL. The
      current phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide
      monotherapy in patients with relapsed or recurrent ATL. Patients and Methods
      Patients 20 years of age or older with acute, lymphoma, or unfavorable chronic
      subtype ATL, who had received one or more prior anti-ATL systemic chemotherapy
      and achieved stable disease or better on their last anti-ATL therapy with
      subsequent relapse or recurrence, were eligible. Patients received oral
      lenalidomide 25 mg/d continuously until disease progression or unacceptable
      toxicity. The primary end point was overall response rate; secondary end points
      included safety, tumor control rate (stable disease or better), time to response,
      duration of response, time to progression, progression-free survival, and overall
      survival. Results Objective responses were noted in 11 of 26 patients (overall
      response rate, 42%; 95% CI, 23% to 63%), including four complete responses and
      one unconfirmed complete response. The tumor control rate was 73%. The median
      time to response and duration of response were 1.9 months and not estimable,
      respectively, and the median time to progression was 3.8 months. The median
      progression-free survival and overall survival were 3.8 and 20.3 months,
      respectively. The most frequent grade >= 3 adverse events were neutropenia (65%),
      leukopenia (38%), lymphopenia (38%), and thrombocytopenia (23%), which were all
      manageable and reversible. Conclusion Lenalidomide demonstrated clinically
      meaningful antitumor activity and an acceptable toxicity profile in patients with
      relapsed or recurrent aggressive ATL, hinting at its potential to become a
      treatment option. Further investigations of lenalidomide in ATL and other mature
      T-cell neoplasms are warranted.

PMID- 27621403
TI  - Reply to F. Tomao et al.

PMID- 27621404
TI  - Conflicting Interpretation of Genetic Variants and Cancer Risk by Commercial
      Laboratories as Assessed by the Prospective Registry of Multiplex Testing.
AB  - Purpose Massively parallel sequencing allows simultaneous testing of multiple
      genes associated with cancer susceptibility. Guidelines are available for variant
      classification; however, interpretation of these guidelines by laboratories and
      providers may differ and lead to conflicting reporting and, potentially, to
      inappropriate medical management. We describe conflicting variant interpretations
      between Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-approved commercial clinical
      laboratories, as reported to the Prospective Registry of Multiplex Testing
      (PROMPT), an online genetic registry. Methods Clinical data and genetic testing
      results were gathered from 1,191 individuals tested for inherited cancer
      susceptibility and self-enrolled in PROMPT between September 2014 and October
      2015. Overall, 518 participants (603 genetic variants) had a result interpreted
      by more than one laboratory, including at least one submitted to ClinVar, and
      these were used as the final cohort for the current analysis. Results Of the 603
      variants, 221 (37%) were classified as a variant of uncertain significance (VUS),
      191 (32%) as pathogenic, and 34 (6%) as benign. The interpretation differed among
      reporting laboratories for 155 (26%). Conflicting interpretations were most
      frequently reported for CHEK2 and ATM, followed by RAD51C, PALB2, BARD1, NBN, and
      BRIP1. Among all participants, 56 of 518 (11%) had a variant with conflicting
      interpretations ranging from pathogenic/likely pathogenic to VUS, a discrepancy
      that may alter medical management. Conclusions Conflicting interpretation of
      genetic findings from multiplex panel testing used in clinical practice is
      frequent and may have implications for medical management decisions.

PMID- 27621405
TI  - SIRFLOX: Progression-Free Survival in the Liver As a Surrogate End Point for
      Survival?

PMID- 27621406
TI  - Quality of Life Effects of Ovarian Suppression in the Suppression of Ovarian
      Function Trial.

PMID- 27621407
TI  - Inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway in Solid Tumors.
AB  - The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway plays an integral role in many
      cellular processes and is frequently altered in cancer, contributing to tumor
      growth and survival. Small molecule inhibitors have been developed that target
      the three major nodes of this pathway: PI3K, AKT, and mammalian target of
      rapamycin. However, because oncogenic PI3K pathway activation is achieved in
      diverse, potentially redundant ways, the clinical efficacy of these inhibitors as
      monotherapies has, so far, been limited, despite demonstrating promising
      preclinical activity. Moreover, pathway activation is associated with resistance
      to other therapies; thus, in combination, PI3K pathway inhibitors could restore
      therapeutic sensitivity to these agents. To maximize therapeutic benefit, drug
      combinations and schedules must be explored to identify those with the highest
      efficacy and lowest toxicity overlap. In addition, defining appropriate patient
      subpopulations, for both monotherapy and drug combinations, will be important.
      However, identifying predictive biomarkers remains a challenge.

PMID- 27621408
TI  - PICASSO III: A Phase III, Placebo-Controlled Study of Doxorubicin With or Without
      Palifosfamide in Patients With Metastatic Soft Tissue Sarcoma.
AB  - Purpose Palifosfamide is the active metabolite of ifosfamide and does not require
      prodrug activation, thereby avoiding the generation of toxic metabolites. The
      PICASSO III trial compared doxorubicin plus palifosfamide with doxorubicin plus
      placebo in patients who had received no prior systemic therapy for metastatic
      soft tissue sarcoma. Patients and Methods Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to
      receive doxorubicin 75 mg/m2 intravenously day 1 plus palifosfamide 150 mg/m2/d
      intravenously days 1 to 3 or doxorubicin plus placebo once every 21 days for up
      to six cycles. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) by
      independent radiologic review. Results In all, 447 patients were randomly
      assigned to receive doxorubicin plus palifosfamide (n = 226) or doxorubicin plus
      placebo (n = 221). Median PFS was 6.0 months for doxorubicin plus palifosfamide
      and 5.2 months for doxorubicin plus placebo (hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.68 to
      1.08; P = .19). Median overall survival was 15.9 months for doxorubicin plus
      palifosfamide and 16.9 months for doxorubicin plus placebo (hazard ratio, 1.05;
      95% CI, 0.79 to 1.39; P = .74). There was a higher incidence of grade 3 to 4
      adverse events in the doxorubicin plus palifosfamide arm (63.6% v 50.9%)
      including a higher rate of febrile neutropenia (21.4% v 12.6%). Conclusion No
      significant difference in PFS was observed in patients receiving doxorubicin plus
      palifosfamide compared with those receiving doxorubicin plus placebo. The
      observed median PFS and overall survival in this large, international study can
      serve as a benchmark for future studies of doxorubicin in metastatic soft tissue
      sarcoma.

PMID- 27621409
TI  - Using Implementation Science to Examine the Impact of Cancer Survivorship Care
      Plans.

PMID- 27621411
TI  - Defining "Success" in Childhood Obesity Interventions in Primary Care.

PMID- 27621410
TI  - Occupational exposure to crystalline silica and gastric cancer: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Crystalline silica is a widely used industrial material that is readily available
      worldwide, and is one of the most common types of particulate mineral pollutants.
      It has been classified as a group 1 human carcinogen of the respiratory system;
      however, whether it is linked to gastric cancer remains uncertain. We conducted a
      systemic review and meta-analyses to search for evidence of the relationship
      between gastric cancer and occupational exposure to crystalline silica. We
      searched for articles on occupations involving silica exposure and gastric cancer
      studies up to December 2014. Pooled-risk estimates of the association between
      occupational crystalline silica exposure and risk of gastric cancer were
      calculated by a random effects model. Metaregression analyses of industry type
      and histological confirmation status, study design and industrial subgroup
      analyses were performed. 29 articles, including 9 case-control and 20 cohort
      studies, were analysed. The overall summary effects size was 1.25 (95% CI 1.18 to
      1.34) for the association of occupational silica exposure with gastric cancer.
      Both heterogeneity and publication bias were partially attenuated after subgroup
      analyses. Heterogeneity of studies was attenuated after metaregression by
      industry. Higher overall effects were observed in the mining and foundry
      industries. We found a significant relationship between occupational crystalline
      silica exposure and gastric cancer. Our results were strengthened by various
      subgroup analyses and, considering the biological plausibility of our premise,
      further studies are required to better understand this association.

PMID- 27621412
TI  - Soccer-Related Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments: 1990-2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiology of youth soccer-related injuries
      treated in emergency departments in the United States. METHODS: A retrospective
      analysis was conducted of soccer-related injuries among children 7 through 17
      years of age from 1990 through 2014 with data from the National Electronic Injury
      Surveillance System. Injury rates were calculated from soccer participation data.
      RESULTS: An estimated 2 995 765 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2 309 112-3 682
      418) children 7 through 17 years old were treated in US emergency departments for
      soccer-related injuries during the 25-year study period, averaging 119 831 (95%
      CI, 92 364-147 297) annually. The annual injury rate per 10 000 soccer
      participants increased significantly, by 111.4%, from 1990 to 2014. Patients 12
      to 17 years old accounted for 72.7% of injuries, 55.5% of patients were male, and
      most injuries occurred in a place of sport or recreation (68.5%) or school
      (25.7%). Struck by (38.5%) and fell (28.7%) were the leading mechanisms of
      injury. Injuries most commonly were diagnosed as sprain or strain (34.6%),
      fracture (23.2%), and soft tissue injury (21.9%), and occurred to the upper
      extremity (20.7%), ankle (17.8%), and head or neck (17.7%). Concussions or other
      closed head injuries accounted for 7.3% of the injuries, but the annual rate of
      concussions/closed head injuries per 10 000 participants increased significantly,
      by 1595.6%, from 1990 to 2014. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to
      comprehensively investigate soccer-related injuries and calculate injury rates
      based on soccer participation data among children at the national level. The
      increasing number and rate of pediatric soccer-related injuries, especially
      soccer-related concussions/closed head injuries, underscore the need for
      increased efforts to prevent these injuries.

PMID- 27621413
TI  - Brief Primary Care Obesity Interventions: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although practice guidelines suggest that primary care providers working
      with children and adolescents incorporate BMI surveillance and counseling into
      routine practice, the evidence base for this practice is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the effect of brief, primary care interventions for pediatric weight
      management on BMI. DATA SOURCES: Medline, CENTRAL, Embase, PsycInfo, and CINAHL
      were searched for relevant publications from January 1976 to March 2016 and cross
      referenced with published studies. STUDY SELECTION: Eligible studies were
      randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies that compared the
      effect of office-based primary care weight management interventions to any
      control intervention on percent BMI or BMI z scores in children aged 2 to 18
      years. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently screened sources, extracted
      data on participant, intervention, and study characteristics, z-BMI/percent BMI,
      harms, and study quality using the Cochrane and Newcastle-Ottawa risk of bias
      tools. RESULTS: A random effects model was used to pool the effect size across
      eligible 10 randomized controlled trials and 2 quasi-experimental studies.
      Compared with usual care or control treatment, brief interventions feasible for
      primary care were associated with a significant but small reduction in BMI z
      score (-0.04, [95% confidence interval, -0.08 to -0.01]; P = .02) and a
      nonsignificant effect on body satisfaction (standardized mean difference 0.00,
      [95% confidence interval, -0.21 to 0.22]; P = .98). LIMITATIONS: Studies had
      methodological limitations, follow-up was brief, and adverse effects were not
      commonly measured. CONCLUSIONS: BMI surveillance and counseling has a marginal
      effect on BMI, highlighting the need for revised practice guidelines and the
      development of novel approaches for providers to address this problem.

PMID- 27621414
TI  - Liquid Medication Errors and Dosing Tools: A Randomized Controlled Experiment.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Poorly designed labels and packaging are key
      contributors to medication errors. To identify attributes of labels and dosing
      tools that could be improved, we examined the extent to which dosing error rates
      are affected by tool characteristics (ie, type, marking complexity) and
      discordance between units of measurement on labels and dosing tools; along with
      differences by health literacy and language. METHODS: Randomized controlled
      experiment in 3 urban pediatric clinics. English- or Spanish-speaking parents (n
      = 2110) of children <=8 years old were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 study arms and
      given labels and dosing tools that varied in unit pairings. Each parent measured
      9 doses of medication (3 amounts [2.5, 5, and 7.5 mL] and 3 tools [1 cup, 2
      syringes (0.2- and 0.5-mL increments)]), in random order. Outcome assessed was
      dosing error (>20% deviation; large error defined as > 2 times the dose).
      RESULTS: A total of 84.4% of parents made >=1 dosing error (21.0% >=1 large
      error). More errors were seen with cups than syringes (adjusted odds ratio = 4.6;
      95% confidence interval, 4.2-5.1) across health literacy and language groups (P <
      .001 for interactions), especially for smaller doses. No differences in error
      rates were seen between the 2 syringe types. Use of a teaspoon-only label (with a
      milliliter and teaspoon tool) was associated with more errors than when
      milliliter-only labels and tools were used (adjusted odds ratio = 1.2; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.01-1.4). CONCLUSIONS: Recommending oral syringes over
      cups, particularly for smaller doses, should be part of a comprehensive pediatric
      labeling and dosing strategy to reduce medication errors.

PMID- 27621415
TI  - PKA regulatory IIalpha subunit is essential for PGD2-mediated resolution of
      inflammation.
AB  - The kinetic participation of macrophages is critical for inflammatory resolution
      and recovery from myocardial infarction (MI), particularly with respect to the
      transition from the M1 to the M2 phenotype; however, the underlying mechanisms
      are poorly understood. In this study, we found that the deletion of prostaglandin
      (PG) D2 receptor subtype 1 (DP1) in macrophages retarded M2 polarization,
      antiinflammatory cytokine production, and resolution in different inflammatory
      models, including the MI model. DP1 deletion up-regulated proinflammatory genes
      expression via JAK2/STAT1 signaling in macrophages, whereas its activation
      facilitated binding of the separated PKA regulatory IIalpha subunit (PRKAR2A) to
      the transmembrane domain of IFN-gamma receptor, suppressed JAK2-STAT1 axis
      mediated M1 polarization, and promoted resolution. PRKAR2A deficiency attenuated
      DP1 activation-mediated M2 polarization and resolution of inflammation.
      Collectively, PGD2-DP1 axis-induced M2 polarization facilitates resolution of
      inflammation through the PRKAR2A-mediated suppression of JAK2/STAT1 signaling.
      These observations indicate that macrophage DP1 activation represents a promising
      strategy in the management of inflammation-associated diseases, including post-MI
      healing.

PMID- 27621416
TI  - Microbial antigen mimics activate diabetogenic CD8 T cells in NOD mice.
AB  - Both animal model and human studies indicate that commensal bacteria may modify
      type 1 diabetes (T1D) development. However, the underlying mechanisms by which
      gut microbes could trigger or protect from diabetes are not fully understood,
      especially the interaction of commensal bacteria with pathogenic CD8 T cells. In
      this study, using islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit-related
      protein (IGRP)-reactive CD8 T cell receptor NY8.3 transgenic nonobese diabetic
      mice, we demonstrated that MyD88 strongly modulates CD8(+) T cell-mediated T1D
      development via the gut microbiota. Some microbial protein peptides share
      significant homology with IGRP. Both the microbial peptide mimic of Fusobacteria
      and the bacteria directly activate IGRP-specific NY8.3 T cells and promote
      diabetes development. Thus, we provide evidence of molecular mimicry between
      microbial antigens and an islet autoantigen and a novel mechanism by which the
      diabetogenicity of CD8(+) T cells can be regulated by innate immunity and the gut
      microbiota.

PMID- 27621418
TI  - RAG-induced DNA lesions activate proapoptotic BIM to suppress lymphomagenesis in
      p53-deficient mice.
AB  - Neoplastic transformation is driven by oncogenic lesions that facilitate
      unrestrained cell expansion and resistance to antiproliferative signals. These
      oncogenic DNA lesions, acquired through errors in DNA replication, gene
      recombination, or extrinsically imposed damage, are thought to activate multiple
      tumor suppressive pathways, particularly apoptotic cell death. DNA damage induces
      apoptosis through well-described p53-mediated induction of PUMA and NOXA.
      However, loss of both these mediators (even together with defects in p53-mediated
      induction of cell cycle arrest and cell senescence) does not recapitulate the
      tumor susceptibility observed in p53(-/-) mice. Thus, potentially oncogenic DNA
      lesions are likely to also trigger apoptosis through additional, p53-independent
      processes. We found that loss of the BH3-only protein BIM accelerated lymphoma
      development in p53-deficient mice. This process was negated by concomitant loss
      of RAG1/2-mediated antigen receptor gene rearrangement. This demonstrates that
      BIM is critical for the induction of apoptosis caused by potentially oncogenic
      DNA lesions elicited by RAG1/2-induced gene rearrangement. Furthermore, this
      highlights the role of a BIM-mediated tumor suppressor pathway that acts in
      parallel to the p53 pathway and remains active even in the absence of wild-type
      p53 function, suggesting this may be exploited in the treatment of p53-deficient
      cancers.

PMID- 27621417
TI  - Historical observations contributing insights on etiopathogenesis of rheumatoid
      arthritis and role of rheumatoid factor.
AB  - When studies on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that were made many decades ago and
      could be considered "historical" in nature are analyzed in the context of recent
      observations, important insights on RA and on the function of rheumatoid factor
      (RF) become apparent. RF in the role of antibody to immune complexes (ICs)
      appears to be involved in activation of the complement system and in the
      production of chemotactic and inflammatory mediators, creating a condition that
      can be sustained and reinitiated. In the synovial cavity, a state of nonresolving
      inflammation is produced with the formation of citrullinated protein antigen
      antibody complexes or other forms of ICs. This is followed by a second wave of IC
      production in the form of RF acting as antibody reactive with the initial ICs.
      Both of these processes are associated with complement consumption and production
      of inflammatory mediators. We present a model of an initiation phase of RA that
      might represent an example of repetitive formation of ICs and complement-mediated
      inflammation. Targeting therapy at this phase of RA to break the cycles of
      recurrent inflammation might be a novel approach to aid in further control of the
      disease.

PMID- 27621421
TI  - Correction: Deletion of Slam locus in mice reveals inhibitory role of SLAM family
      in NK cell responses regulated by cytokines and LFA-1.

PMID- 27621419
TI  - Epstein-Barr viral miRNAs inhibit antiviral CD4+ T cell responses targeting IL-12
      and peptide processing.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a tumor virus that establishes lifelong infection in
      most of humanity, despite eliciting strong and stable virus-specific immune
      responses. EBV encodes at least 44 miRNAs, most of them with unknown function.
      Here, we show that multiple EBV miRNAs modulate immune recognition of recently
      infected primary B cells, EBV's natural target cells. EBV miRNAs collectively and
      specifically suppress release of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-12, repress
      differentiation of naive CD4(+) T cells to Th1 cells, interfere with peptide
      processing and presentation on HLA class II, and thus reduce activation of
      cytotoxic EBV-specific CD4(+) effector T cells and killing of infected B cells.
      Our findings identify a previously unknown viral strategy of immune evasion. By
      rapidly expressing multiple miRNAs, which are themselves nonimmunogenic, EBV
      counteracts recognition by CD4(+) T cells and establishes a program of reduced
      immunogenicity in recently infected B cells, allowing the virus to express viral
      proteins required for establishment of life-long infection.

PMID- 27621422
TI  - Two Different Transcripts of a LAMMER Kinase Gene Play Opposite Roles in Disease
      Resistance.
AB  - Alternative splicing of genes can increase protein diversity and affect mRNA
      stability. Genome-wide transcriptome sequencing has demonstrated that alternative
      splicing occurs in a large number of intron-containing genes of different
      species. However, despite the phenomenon having been known for decades, it is
      largely unknown how the alternatively spliced transcripts function differently.
      Here, we report that two alternatively spliced transcripts of the rice (Oryza
      sativa) LAMMER kinase gene OsDR11, long OsDR11L and short OsDR11S, play opposite
      roles in rice resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo), which causes
      the most damaging bacterial disease in rice worldwide. Overexpressing OsDR11S or
      suppressing OsDR11L in rice enhanced resistance to Xoo, which was accompanied by
      an accumulation of jasmonic acid (JA) and induced expression of JA signaling
      genes. In contrast, suppressing OsDR11S was associated with increased
      susceptibility to Xoo, along with decreased levels of JA and expression of JA
      signaling genes. The OsDR11S and OsDR11L proteins colocalized in the nucleus.
      OsDR11L showed autophosphorylation activity in vitro, while OsDR11S did not. In
      the presence of OsDR11S, autophosphorylation of OsDR11L was inhibited, and
      overexpression of OsDR11S suppressed OsDR11L expression. OsDR11 appeared to
      contribute to a minor quantitative trait locus against Xoo These results suggest
      that OsDR11L is a negative regulator in rice disease resistance, which may be
      associated with suppression of JA signaling. The results also suggest that
      OsDR11S may inhibit the function of OsDR11L at both the transcription and protein
      kinase activity levels, leading to resistance against Xoo.

PMID- 27621423
TI  - Gibberellin Induces Diploid Pollen Formation by Interfering with Meiotic
      Cytokinesis.
AB  - The plant hormone gibberellic acid (GA) controls many physiological processes,
      including cell differentiation, cell elongation, seed germination, and response
      to abiotic stress. In this study, we report that exogenous treatment of flowering
      Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants with GA specifically affects the
      process of male meiotic cytokinesis leading to meiotic restitution and the
      production of diploid (2n) pollen grains. Similar defects in meiotic cell
      division and reproductive ploidy stability occur in Arabidopsis plants depleted
      of RGA and GAI, two members of the DELLA family that function as suppressor of GA
      signaling. Cytological analysis of the double rga-24 gai-t6 mutant revealed that
      defects in male meiotic cytokinesis are not caused by alterations in meiosis I
      (MI or meiosis II (MII) chromosome dynamics, but instead result from aberrations
      in the spatial organization of the phragmoplast-like radial microtubule arrays
      (RMAs) at the end of meiosis II. In line with a role for GA in the genetic
      regulation of the male reproductive system, we additionally show that DELLA
      downstream targets MYB33 and MYB65 are redundantly required for functional RMA
      biosynthesis and male meiotic cytokinesis. By analyzing the expression of
      pRGA::GFP-RGA in the wild-type Landsberg erecta background, we demonstrate that
      the GFP-RGA protein is specifically expressed in the anther cell layers
      surrounding the meiocytes and microspores, suggesting that appropriate GA
      signaling in the somatic anther tissue is critical for male meiotic cell wall
      formation and thus plays an important role in consolidating the male gametophytic
      ploidy consistency.

PMID- 27621420
TI  - The soluble pattern recognition receptor PTX3 links humoral innate and adaptive
      immune responses by helping marginal zone B cells.
AB  - Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a fluid-phase pattern recognition receptor of the humoral
      innate immune system with ancestral antibody-like properties but unknown antibody
      inducing function. In this study, we found binding of PTX3 to splenic marginal
      zone (MZ) B cells, an innate-like subset of antibody-producing lymphocytes
      strategically positioned at the interface between the circulation and the
      adaptive immune system. PTX3 was released by a subset of neutrophils that
      surrounded the splenic MZ and expressed an immune activation-related gene
      signature distinct from that of circulating neutrophils. Binding of PTX3 promoted
      homeostatic production of IgM and class-switched IgG antibodies to microbial
      capsular polysaccharides, which decreased in PTX3-deficient mice and humans. In
      addition, PTX3 increased IgM and IgG production after infection with blood-borne
      encapsulated bacteria or immunization with bacterial carbohydrates. This
      immunogenic effect stemmed from the activation of MZ B cells through a neutrophil
      regulated pathway that elicited class switching and plasmablast expansion via a
      combination of T cell-independent and T cell-dependent signals. Thus, PTX3 may
      bridge the humoral arms of the innate and adaptive immune systems by serving as
      an endogenous adjuvant for MZ B cells. This property could be harnessed to
      develop more effective vaccines against encapsulated pathogens.

PMID- 27621424
TI  - The NDH-1L-PSI Supercomplex Is Important for Efficient Cyclic Electron Transport
      in Cyanobacteria.
AB  - Two mutants isolated from a tagging library of Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803
      were sensitive to high light and had a tag in sll1471 encoding CpcG2, a linker
      protein for photosystem I (PSI)-specific antenna. Both mutants demonstrated
      strongly impaired NDH-1-dependent cyclic electron transport. Blue native
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting and mass
      spectrometry analyses of the wild type and a mutant containing CpcG2 fused with
      yellow fluorescent protein-histidine6 indicated the presence of a novel NDH-1L
      CpcG2-PSI supercomplex, which was absent in the cpcG2 deletion mutant, the PSI
      less mutant, and several other strains deficient in NDH-1L and/or NDH-1M.
      Coimmunoprecipitation and pull-down analyses on CpcG2-yellow fluorescent protein
      histidine6, using antibody against green fluorescent protein and nickel column
      chromatography, confirmed the association of CpcG2 with the supercomplex.
      Conversely, the use of antibodies against NdhH or NdhK after blue native
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and in coimmunoprecipitation experiments
      verified the necessity of CpcG2 in stabilizing the supercomplex. Furthermore,
      deletion of CpcG2 destabilized NDH-1L as well as its degradation product NDH-1M
      and significantly decreased the number of functional PSI centers, consistent with
      the involvement of CpcG2 in NDH-1-dependent cyclic electron transport. The CpcG2
      deletion, however, had no effect on respiration. Thus, we propose that the
      formation of an NDH-1L-CpcG2-PSI supercomplex in cyanobacteria facilitates PSI
      cyclic electron transport via NDH-1L.

PMID- 27621425
TI  - NAD Acts as an Integral Regulator of Multiple Defense Layers.
AB  - Pyridine nucleotides, such as NAD, are crucial redox carriers and have emerged as
      important signaling molecules in stress responses. Previously, we have
      demonstrated in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) that the inducible NAD
      overproducing nadC lines are more resistant to an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas
      syringae pv tomato (Pst-AvrRpm1), which was associated with salicylic acid
      dependent defense. Here, we have further characterized the NAD-dependent immune
      response in Arabidopsis. Quinolinate-induced stimulation of intracellular NAD in
      transgenic nadC plants enhanced resistance against a diverse range of (a)virulent
      pathogens, including Pst-AvrRpt2, Dickeya dadantii, and Botrytis cinerea
      Characterization of the redox status demonstrated that elevated NAD levels induce
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the expression of redox marker genes
      of the cytosol and mitochondrion. Using pharmacological and reverse genetics
      approaches, we show that NAD-induced ROS production functions independently of
      NADPH oxidase activity and light metabolism but depends on mitochondrial
      respiration, which was increased at higher NAD. We further demonstrate that NAD
      primes pathogen-induced callose deposition and cell death. Mass spectrometry
      analysis reveals that NAD simultaneously induces different defense hormones and
      that the NAD-induced metabolic profiles are similar to those of defense
      expressing plants after treatment with pathogen-associated molecular patterns. We
      thus conclude that NAD triggers metabolic profiles rather similar to that of
      pathogen-associated molecular patterns and discuss how signaling cross talk
      between defense hormones, ROS, and NAD explains the observed resistance to
      pathogens.

PMID- 27621427
TI  - Mechanical Failure of Fine Root Cortical Cells Initiates Plant Hydraulic Decline
      during Drought.
AB  - Root systems perform the crucial task of absorbing water from the soil to meet
      the demands of a transpiring canopy. Roots are thought to operate like electrical
      fuses, which break when carrying an excessive load under conditions of drought
      stress. Yet the exact site and sequence of this dysfunction in roots remain
      elusive. Using in vivo x-ray computed microtomography, we found that drought
      induced mechanical failure (i.e. lacunae formation) in fine root cortical cells
      is the initial and primary driver of reduced fine root hydraulic conductivity
      (Lpr) under mild to moderate drought stress. Cortical lacunae started forming
      under mild drought stress (-0.6 MPa Psistem), coincided with a dramatic reduction
      in Lpr, and preceded root shrinkage or significant xylem embolism. Only under
      increased drought stress was embolism formation observed in the root xylem, and
      it appeared first in the fine roots (50% loss of hydraulic conductivity [P50]
      reached at -1.8 MPa) and then in older, coarse roots (P50 = -3.5 MPa). These
      results suggest that cortical cells in fine roots function like hydraulic fuses
      that decouple plants from drying soil, thus preserving the hydraulic integrity of
      the plant's vascular system under early stages of drought stress. Cortical
      lacunae formation led to permanent structural damage of the root cortex and
      nonrecoverable Lpr, pointing to a role in fine root mortality and turnover under
      drought stress.

PMID- 27621426
TI  - Sucrose Transporter ZmSut1 Expression and Localization Uncover New Insights into
      Sucrose Phloem Loading.
AB  - Sucrose transporters (SUTs) translocate sucrose (Suc) across cellular membranes,
      and in eudicots, multiple SUTs are known to function in Suc phloem loading in
      leaves. In maize (Zea mays), the Sucrose Transporter1 (ZmSut1) gene has been
      implicated in Suc phloem loading based upon RNA expression in leaves,
      electrophysiological experiments, and phenotypic analysis of zmsut1 mutant
      plants. However, no previous studies have examined the cellular expression of
      ZmSut1 RNA or the subcellular localization of the ZmSUT1 protein to assess the
      gene's hypothesized function in Suc phloem loading or to evaluate its potential
      roles, such as phloem unloading, in nonphotosynthetic tissues. To this end, we
      performed RNA in situ hybridization experiments, promoter-reporter gene analyses,
      and ZmSUT1 localization studies to elucidate the cellular expression pattern of
      the ZmSut1 transcript and protein. These data showed that ZmSut1 was expressed in
      multiple cell types throughout the plant and indicated that it functions in
      phloem companion cells to load Suc and also in other cell types to retrieve Suc
      from the apoplasm to prevent its accumulation and loss to the transpiration
      stream. Additionally, by comparing a phloem-mobile tracer with ZmSut1 expression,
      we determined that developing maize leaves dynamically switch from symplasmic to
      apoplasmic phloem unloading, reconciling previously conflicting reports, and
      suggest that ZmSut1 does not have an apparent function in either unloading
      process. A model for the dual roles for ZmSut1 function (phloem loading and
      apoplasmic recycling), Sut1 evolution, and its possible use to enhance Suc export
      from leaves in engineering C3 grasses for C4 photosynthesis is discussed.

PMID- 27621428
TI  - The HvNramp5 Transporter Mediates Uptake of Cadmium and Manganese, But Not Iron.
AB  - The Natural Resistance Associated Macrophage Protein (Nramp) represents a
      transporter family for metal ions in all organisms. Here, we functionally
      characterized a member of Nramp family in barley (Hordeum vulgare), HvNramp5.
      This member showed different expression patterns, transport substrate
      specificity, and cellular localization from its close homolog in rice (Oryza
      sativa), OsNramp5, although HvNramp5 was also localized to the plasma membrane.
      HvNramp5 was mainly expressed in the roots and its expression was not affected by
      Cd and deficiency of Zn, Cu, and Mn, but slightly up-regulated by Fe deficiency.
      Spatial expression analysis showed that the expression of HvNramp5 was higher in
      the root tips than that in the basal root regions. Furthermore, analysis with
      laser microdissection revealed higher expression of HvNramp5 in the outer root
      cell layers. HvNramp5 showed transport activity for both Mn2+ and Cd2+, but not
      for Fe2+ when expressed in yeast. Immunostaining with a HvNramp5 antibody showed
      that this protein was localized in the root epidermal cells without polarity.
      Knockdown of HvNramp5 in barley resulted in a significant reduction in the
      seedling growth at low Mn supply, but this reduction was rescued at high Mn
      supply. The concentration of Mn and Cd, but not other metals including Cu, Zn,
      and Fe, was decreased in both the roots and shoots of knockdown lines compared
      with the wild-type barley. These results indicate that HvNramp5 is a transporter
      required for uptake of Mn and Cd, but not for Fe, and that barley has a distinct
      uptake system from rice.

PMID- 27621429
TI  - Reply to Arduini et al.: Acetyl-l-carnitine and the brain: Epigenetics,
      energetics, and stress.

PMID- 27621430
TI  - Defining the potential antidepressant mode of action of acetyl-l-carnitine.

PMID- 27621431
TI  - E4F1-mediated control of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity is essential for skin
      homeostasis.
AB  - The multifunctional protein E4 transcription factor 1 (E4F1) is an essential
      regulator of epidermal stem cell (ESC) maintenance. Here, we found that E4F1
      transcriptionally regulates a metabolic program involved in pyruvate metabolism
      that is required to maintain skin homeostasis. E4F1 deficiency in basal
      keratinocytes resulted in deregulated expression of dihydrolipoamide
      acetyltransferase (Dlat), a gene encoding the E2 subunit of the mitochondrial
      pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex. Accordingly, E4f1 knock-out (KO)
      keratinocytes exhibited impaired PDH activity and a redirection of the glycolytic
      flux toward lactate production. The metabolic reprogramming of E4f1 KO
      keratinocytes associated with remodeling of their microenvironment and
      alterations of the basement membrane, led to ESC mislocalization and exhaustion
      of the ESC pool. ShRNA-mediated depletion of Dlat in primary keratinocytes
      recapitulated defects observed upon E4f1 inactivation, including increased
      lactate secretion, enhanced activity of extracellular matrix remodeling enzymes,
      and impaired clonogenic potential. Altogether, our data reveal a central role for
      Dlat in the metabolic program regulated by E4F1 in basal keratinocytes and
      illustrate the importance of PDH activity in skin homeostasis.

PMID- 27621433
TI  - Connectivity rescues genetic diversity after a demographic bottleneck in a
      butterfly population network.
AB  - Demographic bottlenecks that occur when populations fluctuate in size erode
      genetic diversity, but that diversity can be recovered through immigration.
      Connectivity among populations and habitat patches in the landscape enhances
      immigration and should in turn facilitate recovery of genetic diversity after a
      sudden reduction in population size. For the conservation of genetic diversity,
      it may therefore be particularly important to maintain connectivity in the face
      of factors that increase demographic instability, such as climate change.
      However, a direct link between connectivity and recovery of genetic diversity
      after a demographic bottleneck has not been clearly demonstrated in an empirical
      system. Here, we show that connectivity of habitat patches in the landscape
      contributes to the maintenance of genetic diversity after a demographic
      bottleneck. We were able to monitor genetic diversity in a network of populations
      of the alpine butterfly, Parnassius smintheus, before, during, and after a severe
      reduction in population size that lasted two generations. We found that allelic
      diversity in the network declined after the demographic bottleneck but that less
      allelic diversity was lost from populations occupying habitat patches with higher
      connectivity. Furthermore, the effect of connectivity on allelic diversity was
      important during the demographic recovery phase. Our results demonstrate directly
      the ability of connectivity to mediate the rescue of genetic diversity in a
      natural system.

PMID- 27621432
TI  - Maize endosperm-specific transcription factors O2 and PBF network the regulation
      of protein and starch synthesis.
AB  - The maize endosperm-specific transcription factors opaque2 (O2) and prolamine-box
      binding factor (PBF) regulate storage protein zein genes. We show that they also
      control starch synthesis. The starch content in the PbfRNAi and o2 mutants was
      reduced by ~5% and 11%, respectively, compared with normal genotypes. In the
      double-mutant PbfRNAi;o2, starch was decreased by 25%. Transcriptome analysis
      reveals that >1,000 genes were affected in each of the two mutants and in the
      double mutant; these genes were mainly enriched in sugar and protein metabolism.
      Pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase 1 and 2 (PPDKs) and starch synthase III (SSIII)
      are critical components in the starch biosynthetic enzyme complex. The expression
      of PPDK1, PPDK2, and SSIII and their protein levels are further reduced in the
      double mutants as compared with the single mutants. When the promoters of these
      genes were analyzed, we found a prolamine box and an O2 box that can be
      additively transactivated by PBF and O2. Starch synthase IIa (SSIIa, encoding
      another starch synthase for amylopectin) and starch branching enzyme 1 (SBEI,
      encoding one of the two main starch branching enzymes) are not directly regulated
      by PBF and O2, but their protein levels are significantly decreased in the o2
      mutant and are further decreased in the double mutant, indicating that o2 and
      PbfRNAi may affect the levels of some other transcription factor(s) or mRNA
      regulatory factor(s) that in turn would affect the transcript and protein levels
      of SSIIa and SBEI These findings show that three important traits-nutritional
      quality, calories, and yield-are linked through the same transcription factors.

PMID- 27621434
TI  - Functional polyesters enable selective siRNA delivery to lung cancer over matched
      normal cells.
AB  - Conventional chemotherapeutics nonselectively kill all rapidly dividing cells,
      which produces numerous side effects. To address this challenge, we report the
      discovery of functional polyesters that are capable of delivering siRNA drugs
      selectively to lung cancer cells and not to normal lung cells. Selective polyplex
      nanoparticles (NPs) were identified by high-throughput library screening on a
      unique pair of matched cancer/normal cell lines obtained from a single patient.
      Selective NPs promoted rapid endocytosis into HCC4017 cancer cells, but were
      arrested at the membrane of HBEC30-KT normal cells during the initial
      transfection period. When injected into tumor xenografts in mice, cancer
      selective NPs were retained in tumors for over 1 wk, whereas nonselective NPs
      were cleared within hours. This translated to improved siRNA-mediated cancer cell
      apoptosis and significant suppression of tumor growth. Selective NPs were also
      able to mediate gene silencing in xenograft and orthotopic tumors via i.v.
      injection or aerosol inhalation, respectively. Importantly, this work highlights
      that different cells respond differentially to the same drug carrier, an
      important factor that should be considered in the design and evaluation of all NP
      carriers. Because no targeting ligands are required, these functional polyester
      NPs provide an exciting alternative approach for selective drug delivery to tumor
      cells that may improve efficacy and reduce adverse side effects of cancer
      therapies.

PMID- 27621435
TI  - Regulation of the thermoalkaliphilic F1-ATPase from Caldalkalibacillus thermarum.
AB  - The crystal structure has been determined of the F1-catalytic domain of the F
      ATPase from Caldalkalibacillus thermarum, which hydrolyzes adenosine triphosphate
      (ATP) poorly. It is very similar to those of active mitochondrial and bacterial
      F1-ATPases. In the F-ATPase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus, conformational
      changes in the epsilon-subunit are influenced by intracellular ATP concentration
      and membrane potential. When ATP is plentiful, the epsilon-subunit assumes a
      "down" state, with an ATP molecule bound to its two C-terminal alpha-helices;
      when ATP is scarce, the alpha-helices are proposed to inhibit ATP hydrolysis by
      assuming an "up" state, where the alpha-helices, devoid of ATP, enter the
      alpha3beta3-catalytic region. However, in the Escherichia coli enzyme, there is
      no evidence that such ATP binding to the epsilon-subunit is mechanistically
      important for modulating the enzyme's hydrolytic activity. In the structure of
      the F1-ATPase from C. thermarum, ATP and a magnesium ion are bound to the alpha
      helices in the down state. In a form with a mutated epsilon-subunit unable to
      bind ATP, the enzyme remains inactive and the epsilon-subunit is down. Therefore,
      neither the gamma-subunit nor the regulatory ATP bound to the epsilon-subunit is
      involved in the inhibitory mechanism of this particular enzyme. The structure of
      the alpha3beta3-catalytic domain is likewise closely similar to those of active
      F1-ATPases. However, although the betaE-catalytic site is in the usual "open"
      conformation, it is occupied by the unique combination of an ADP molecule with no
      magnesium ion and a phosphate ion. These bound hydrolytic products are likely to
      be the basis of inhibition of ATP hydrolysis.

PMID- 27621436
TI  - Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica as a platform for synthesis of drop-in
      transportation fuels and oleochemicals.
AB  - Harnessing lipogenic pathways and rewiring acyl-CoA and acyl-ACP (acyl carrier
      protein) metabolism in Yarrowia lipolytica hold great potential for cost
      efficient production of diesel, gasoline-like fuels, and oleochemicals. Here we
      assessed various pathway engineering strategies in Y. lipolytica toward
      developing a yeast biorefinery platform for sustainable production of fuel-like
      molecules and oleochemicals. Specifically, acyl-CoA/acyl-ACP processing enzymes
      were targeted to the cytoplasm, peroxisome, or endoplasmic reticulum to generate
      fatty acid ethyl esters and fatty alkanes with tailored chain length. Activation
      of endogenous free fatty acids and the subsequent reduction of fatty acyl-CoAs
      enabled the efficient synthesis of fatty alcohols. Engineering a hybrid fatty
      acid synthase shifted the free fatty acids to a medium chain-length scale.
      Manipulation of alternative cytosolic acetyl-CoA pathways partially decoupled
      lipogenesis from nitrogen starvation and unleashed the lipogenic potential of Y.
      lipolytica Taken together, the strategies reported here represent promising steps
      to develop a yeast biorefinery platform that potentially upgrades low-value
      carbons to high-value fuels and oleochemicals in a sustainable and
      environmentally friendly manner.

PMID- 27621437
TI  - Multinational investigation of cross-societal cooperation.
AB  - In a globalized world, establishing successful cooperation between people from
      different nations is becoming increasingly important. We present results from a
      comprehensive investigation of cross-societal cooperation in one-shot prisoner's
      dilemmas involving population-representative samples from six countries and
      identify crucial facilitators of and obstacles to cooperation. In interactions
      involving mutual knowledge about only the other players' nationalities, we
      demonstrate that people hold strong and transnationally shared expectations
      (i.e., stereotypes) concerning the cooperation level of interaction partners from
      other countries. These expectations are the strongest determinants of participant
      cooperation. Paradoxically, however, they turn out to be incorrect stereotypes
      that even correlate negatively with reality. In addition to erroneous
      expectations, participants' cooperation behavior is driven by (shared) social
      preferences that vary according to the interaction partner's nationality. In the
      cross-societal context, these social preferences are influenced by differences in
      wealth and ingroup favoritism, as well as effects of specific country
      combinations but not by spatial distance between nations.

PMID- 27621438
TI  - CD8 T cell-mediated killing of orexinergic neurons induces a narcolepsy-like
      phenotype in mice.
AB  - Narcolepsy with cataplexy is a rare and severe sleep disorder caused by the
      destruction of orexinergic neurons in the lateral hypothalamus. The genetic and
      environmental factors associated with narcolepsy, together with serologic data,
      collectively point to an autoimmune origin. The current animal models of
      narcolepsy, based on either disruption of the orexinergic neurotransmission or
      neurons, do not allow study of the potential autoimmune etiology. Here, we sought
      to generate a mouse model that allows deciphering of the immune mechanisms
      leading to orexin(+) neuron loss and narcolepsy development. We generated mice
      expressing the hemagglutinin (HA) as a "neo-self-antigen" specifically in
      hypothalamic orexin(+) neurons (called Orex-HA), which were transferred with
      effector neo-self-antigen-specific T cells to assess whether an autoimmune
      process could be at play in narcolepsy. Given the tight association of narcolepsy
      with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) HLA-DQB1*06:02 allele, we first tested the
      pathogenic contribution of CD4 Th1 cells. Although these T cells readily
      infiltrated the hypothalamus and triggered local inflammation, they did not
      elicit the loss of orexin(+) neurons or clinical manifestations of narcolepsy. In
      contrast, the transfer of cytotoxic CD8 T cells (CTLs) led to both T-cell
      infiltration and specific destruction of orexin(+) neurons. This phenotype was
      further aggravated upon repeated injections of CTLs. In situ, CTLs interacted
      directly with MHC class I-expressing orexin(+) neurons, resulting in cytolytic
      granule polarization toward neurons. Finally, drastic neuronal loss caused
      manifestations mimicking human narcolepsy, such as cataplexy and sleep attacks.
      This work demonstrates the potential role of CTLs as final effectors of the
      immunopathological process in narcolepsy.

PMID- 27621439
TI  - Breast cancer tumorigenicity is dependent on high expression levels of NAF-1 and
      the lability of its Fe-S clusters.
AB  - Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins are thought to play an important role in cancer cells
      mediating redox reactions, DNA replication, and telomere maintenance. Nutrient
      deprivation autophagy factor-1 (NAF-1) is a 2Fe-2S protein associated with the
      progression of multiple cancer types. It is unique among Fe-S proteins because of
      its 3Cys-1His cluster coordination structure that allows it to be relatively
      stable, as well as to transfer its clusters to apo-acceptor proteins. Here, we
      report that overexpression of NAF-1 in xenograft breast cancer tumors results in
      a dramatic augmentation in tumor size and aggressiveness and that NAF-1
      overexpression enhances the tolerance of cancer cells to oxidative stress.
      Remarkably, overexpression of a NAF-1 mutant with a single point mutation that
      stabilizes the NAF-1 cluster, NAF-1(H114C), in xenograft breast cancer tumors
      results in a dramatic decrease in tumor size that is accompanied by enhanced
      mitochondrial iron and reactive oxygen accumulation and reduced cellular
      tolerance to oxidative stress. Furthermore, treating breast cancer cells with
      pioglitazone that stabilizes the 3Cys-1His cluster of NAF-1 results in a similar
      effect on mitochondrial iron and reactive oxygen species accumulation. Taken
      together, our findings point to a key role for the unique 3Cys-1His cluster of
      NAF-1 in promoting rapid tumor growth through cellular resistance to oxidative
      stress. Cluster transfer reactions mediated by the overexpressed NAF-1 protein
      are therefore critical for inducing oxidative stress tolerance in cancer cells,
      leading to rapid tumor growth, and drugs that stabilize the NAF-1 cluster could
      be used as part of a treatment strategy for cancers that display high NAF-1
      expression.

PMID- 27621440
TI  - Harnessing adolescent values to motivate healthier eating.
AB  - What can be done to reduce unhealthy eating among adolescents? It was
      hypothesized that aligning healthy eating with important and widely shared
      adolescent values would produce the needed motivation. A double-blind,
      randomized, placebo-controlled experiment with eighth graders (total n = 536)
      evaluated the impact of a treatment that framed healthy eating as consistent with
      the adolescent values of autonomy from adult control and the pursuit of social
      justice. Healthy eating was suggested as a way to take a stand against
      manipulative and unfair practices of the food industry, such as engineering junk
      food to make it addictive and marketing it to young children. Compared with
      traditional health education materials or to a non-food-related control, this
      treatment led eighth graders to see healthy eating as more autonomy-assertive and
      social justice-oriented behavior and to forgo sugary snacks and drinks in favor
      of healthier options a day later in an unrelated context. Public health
      interventions for adolescents may be more effective when they harness the
      motivational power of that group's existing strongly held values.

PMID- 27621441
TI  - Host-pathogen evolutionary signatures reveal dynamics and future invasions of
      vampire bat rabies.
AB  - Anticipating how epidemics will spread across landscapes requires understanding
      host dispersal events that are notoriously difficult to measure. Here, we
      contrast host and virus genetic signatures to resolve the spatiotemporal dynamics
      underlying geographic expansions of vampire bat rabies virus (VBRV) in Peru.
      Phylogenetic analysis revealed recent viral spread between populations that,
      according to extreme geographic structure in maternally inherited host
      mitochondrial DNA, appeared completely isolated. In contrast, greater population
      connectivity in biparentally inherited nuclear microsatellites explained the
      historical limits of invasions, suggesting that dispersing male bats spread VBRV
      between genetically isolated female populations. Host nuclear DNA further
      indicated unanticipated gene flow through the Andes mountains connecting the VBRV
      free Pacific coast to the VBRV-endemic Amazon rainforest. By combining Bayesian
      phylogeography with landscape resistance models, we projected invasion routes
      through northern Peru that were validated by real-time livestock rabies mortality
      data. The first outbreaks of VBRV on the Pacific coast of South America could
      occur by June 2020, which would have serious implications for agriculture,
      wildlife conservation, and human health. Our results show that combining host and
      pathogen genetic data can identify sex biases in pathogen spatial spread, which
      may be a widespread but underappreciated phenomenon, and demonstrate that genetic
      forecasting can aid preparedness for impending viral invasions.

PMID- 27621443
TI  - Pollen dispersal slows geographical range shift and accelerates ecological niche
      shift under climate change.
AB  - Species may survive climate change by migrating to track favorable climates
      and/or adapting to different climates. Several quantitative genetics models
      predict that species escaping extinction will change their geographical
      distribution while keeping the same ecological niche. We introduce pollen
      dispersal in these models, which affects gene flow but not directly colonization.
      We show that plant populations may escape extinction because of both spatial
      range and ecological niche shifts. Exact analytical formulas predict that
      increasing pollen dispersal distance slows the expected spatial range shift and
      accelerates the ecological niche shift. There is an optimal distance of pollen
      dispersal, which maximizes the sustainable rate of climate change. These
      conclusions hold in simulations relaxing several strong assumptions of our
      analytical model. Our results imply that, for plants with long distance of pollen
      dispersal, models assuming niche conservatism may not accurately predict their
      future distribution under climate change.

PMID- 27621442
TI  - Toward combined delignification and saccharification of wheat straw by a laccase
      containing designer cellulosome.
AB  - Efficient breakdown of lignocellulose polymers into simple molecules is a key
      technological bottleneck limiting the production of plant-derived biofuels and
      chemicals. In nature, plant biomass degradation is achieved by the action of a
      wide range of microbial enzymes. In aerobic microorganisms, these enzymes are
      secreted as discrete elements in contrast to certain anaerobic bacteria, where
      they are assembled into large multienzyme complexes termed cellulosomes. These
      complexes allow for very efficient hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose due
      to the spatial proximity of synergistically acting enzymes and to the limited
      diffusion of the enzymes and their products. Recently, designer cellulosomes have
      been developed to incorporate foreign enzymatic activities in cellulosomes so as
      to enhance lignocellulose hydrolysis further. In this study, we complemented a
      cellulosome active on cellulose and hemicellulose by addition of an enzyme active
      on lignin. To do so, we designed a dockerin-fused variant of a recently
      characterized laccase from the aerobic bacterium Thermobifida fusca The resultant
      chimera exhibited activity levels similar to the wild-type enzyme and properly
      integrated into the designer cellulosome. The resulting complex yielded a twofold
      increase in the amount of reducing sugars released from wheat straw compared with
      the same system lacking the laccase. The unorthodox use of aerobic enzymes in
      designer cellulosome machinery effects simultaneous degradation of the three
      major components of the plant cell wall (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin),
      paving the way for more efficient lignocellulose conversion into soluble sugars
      en route to alternative fuels production.

PMID- 27621444
TI  - Real-time 3D imaging of microstructure growth in battery cells using indirect
      MRI.
AB  - Lithium metal is a promising anode material for Li-ion batteries due to its high
      theoretical specific capacity and low potential. The growth of dendrites is a
      major barrier to the development of high capacity, rechargeable Li batteries with
      lithium metal anodes, and hence, significant efforts have been undertaken to
      develop new electrolytes and separator materials that can prevent this process or
      promote smooth deposits at the anode. Central to these goals, and to the task of
      understanding the conditions that initiate and propagate dendrite growth, is the
      development of analytical and nondestructive techniques that can be applied in
      situ to functioning batteries. MRI has recently been demonstrated to provide
      noninvasive imaging methodology that can detect and localize microstructure
      buildup. However, until now, monitoring dendrite growth by MRI has been limited
      to observing the relatively insensitive metal nucleus directly, thus restricting
      the temporal and spatial resolution and requiring special hardware and
      acquisition modes. Here, we present an alternative approach to detect a broad
      class of metallic dendrite growth via the dendrites' indirect effects on the
      surrounding electrolyte, allowing for the application of fast 3D (1)H MRI
      experiments with high resolution. We use these experiments to reconstruct 3D
      images of growing Li dendrites from MRI, revealing details about the growth rate
      and fractal behavior. Radiofrequency and static magnetic field calculations are
      used alongside the images to quantify the amount of the growing structures.

PMID- 27621445
TI  - Systemic peptide-mediated oligonucleotide therapy improves long-term survival in
      spinal muscular atrophy.
AB  - The development of antisense oligonucleotide therapy is an important advance in
      the identification of corrective therapy for neuromuscular diseases, such as
      spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Because of difficulties of delivering single
      stranded oligonucleotides to the CNS, current approaches have been restricted to
      using invasive intrathecal single-stranded oligonucleotide delivery. Here, we
      report an advanced peptide-oligonucleotide, Pip6a-morpholino phosphorodiamidate
      oligomer (PMO), which demonstrates potent efficacy in both the CNS and peripheral
      tissues in severe SMA mice following systemic administration. SMA results from
      reduced levels of the ubiquitously expressed survival motor neuron (SMN) protein
      because of loss-of-function mutations in the SMN1 gene. Therapeutic splice
      switching oligonucleotides (SSOs) modulate exon 7 splicing of the nearly
      identical SMN2 gene to generate functional SMN protein. Pip6a-PMO yields SMN
      expression at high efficiency in peripheral and CNS tissues, resulting in
      profound phenotypic correction at doses an order-of-magnitude lower than required
      by standard naked SSOs. Survival is dramatically extended from 12 d to a mean of
      456 d, with improvement in neuromuscular junction morphology, down-regulation of
      transcripts related to programmed cell death in the spinal cord, and
      normalization of circulating insulin-like growth factor 1. The potent systemic
      efficacy of Pip6a-PMO, targeting both peripheral as well as CNS tissues,
      demonstrates the high clinical potential of peptide-PMO therapy for SMA.

PMID- 27621446
TI  - E4F1 controls a transcriptional program essential for pyruvate dehydrogenase
      activity.
AB  - The mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex (PDC) acts as a central
      metabolic node that mediates pyruvate oxidation and fuels the tricarboxylic acid
      cycle to meet energy demand. Here, we reveal another level of regulation of the
      pyruvate oxidation pathway in mammals implicating the E4 transcription factor 1
      (E4F1). E4F1 controls a set of four genes [dihydrolipoamide acetlytransferase
      (Dlat), dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (Dld), mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1
      (Mpc1), and solute carrier family 25 member 19 (Slc25a19)] involved in pyruvate
      oxidation and reported to be individually mutated in human metabolic syndromes.
      E4F1 dysfunction results in 80% decrease of PDH activity and alterations of
      pyruvate metabolism. Genetic inactivation of murine E4f1 in striated muscles
      results in viable animals that show low muscle PDH activity, severe endurance
      defects, and chronic lactic acidemia, recapitulating some clinical symptoms
      described in PDC-deficient patients. These phenotypes were attenuated by
      pharmacological stimulation of PDH or by a ketogenic diet, two treatments used
      for PDH deficiencies. Taken together, these data identify E4F1 as a master
      regulator of the PDC.

PMID- 27621447
TI  - Tropical bat as mammalian model for skin carotenoid metabolism.
AB  - Animals cannot synthesize carotenoid pigments de novo, and must consume them in
      their diet. Most mammals, including humans, are indiscriminate accumulators of
      carotenoids but inefficiently distribute them to some tissues and organs, such as
      skin. This limits the potential capacity of these organisms to benefit from the
      antioxidant and immunostimulatory functions that carotenoids fulfill. Indeed, to
      date, no mammal has been known to have evolved physiological mechanisms to
      incorporate and deposit carotenoids in the skin or hair, and mammals have
      therefore been assumed to rely entirely on other pigments such as melanins to
      color their integument. Here we use high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
      in combination with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-TOF/MS) to show that
      the frugivorous Honduran white bat Ectophylla alba colors its skin bright yellow
      with the deposition of the xanthophyll lutein. The Honduran white bat is thus a
      mammalian model that may help developing strategies to improve the assimilation
      of lutein in humans to avoid macular degeneration. This represents a change of
      paradigm in animal physiology showing that some mammals actually have the
      capacity to accumulate dietary carotenoids in the integument. In addition, we
      have also discovered that the majority of the lutein in the skin of Honduran
      white bats is present in esterified form with fatty acids, thereby permitting
      longer-lasting coloration and suggesting bright color traits may have an
      overlooked role in the visual communication of bats.

PMID- 27621448
TI  - Maternal and fetal genomes interplay through phosphoinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)
      p110alpha signaling to modify placental resource allocation.
AB  - Pregnancy success and life-long health depend on a cooperative interaction
      between the mother and the fetus in the allocation of resources. As the site of
      materno-fetal nutrient transfer, the placenta is central to this interplay;
      however, the relative importance of the maternal versus fetal genotypes in
      modifying the allocation of resources to the fetus is unknown. Using genetic
      inactivation of the growth and metabolism regulator, Pik3ca (encoding PIK3CA also
      known as p110alpha, alpha/+), we examined the interplay between the maternal
      genome and the fetal genome on placental phenotype in litters of mixed genotype
      generated through reciprocal crosses of WT and alpha/+ mice. We demonstrate that
      placental growth and structure were impaired and associated with reduced growth
      of alpha/+ fetuses. Despite its defective development, the alpha/+ placenta
      adapted functionally to increase the supply of maternal glucose and amino acid to
      the fetus. The specific nature of these changes, however, depended on whether the
      mother was alpha/+ or WT and related to alterations in endocrine and metabolic
      profile induced by maternal p110alpha deficiency. Our findings thus show that the
      maternal genotype and environment programs placental growth and function and
      identify the placenta as critical in integrating both intrinsic and extrinsic
      signals governing materno-fetal resource allocation.

PMID- 27621450
TI  - Localizing gene regulation reveals a staggered wood decay mechanism for the brown
      rot fungus Postia placenta.
AB  - Wood-degrading brown rot fungi are essential recyclers of plant biomass in forest
      ecosystems. Their efficient cellulolytic systems, which have potential
      biotechnological applications, apparently depend on a combination of two
      mechanisms: lignocellulose oxidation (LOX) by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      polysaccharide hydrolysis by a limited set of glycoside hydrolases (GHs). Given
      that ROS are strongly oxidizing and nonselective, these two steps are likely
      segregated. A common hypothesis has been that brown rot fungi use a concentration
      gradient of chelated metal ions to confine ROS generation inside wood cell walls
      before enzymes can infiltrate. We examined an alternative: that LOX components
      involved in ROS production are differentially expressed by brown rot fungi ahead
      of GH components. We used spatial mapping to resolve a temporal sequence in
      Postia placenta, sectioning thin wood wafers colonized directionally. Among
      sections, we measured gene expression by whole-transcriptome shotgun sequencing
      (RNA-seq) and assayed relevant enzyme activities. We found a marked pattern of
      LOX up-regulation in a narrow (5-mm, 48-h) zone at the hyphal front, which
      included many genes likely involved in ROS generation. Up-regulation of GH5
      endoglucanases and many other GHs clearly occurred later, behind the hyphal
      front, with the notable exceptions of two likely expansins and a GH28 pectinase.
      Our results support a staggered mechanism for brown rot that is controlled by
      differential expression rather than microenvironmental gradients. This mechanism
      likely results in an oxidative pretreatment of lignocellulose, possibly
      facilitated by expansin- and pectinase-assisted cell wall swelling, before
      cellulases and hemicellulases are deployed for polysaccharide depolymerization.

PMID- 27621449
TI  - GIV/Girdin activates Galphai and inhibits Galphas via the same motif.
AB  - We previously showed that guanine nucleotide-binding (G) protein alpha subunit
      (Galpha)-interacting vesicle-associated protein (GIV), a guanine-nucleotide
      exchange factor (GEF), transactivates Galpha activity-inhibiting polypeptide 1
      (Galphai) proteins in response to growth factors, such as EGF, using a short C
      terminal motif. Subsequent work demonstrated that GIV also binds Galphas and that
      inactive Galphas promotes maturation of endosomes and shuts down mitogenic MAPK
      ERK1/2 signals from endosomes. However, the mechanism and consequences of dual
      coupling of GIV to two G proteins, Galphai and Galphas, remained unknown. Here we
      report that GIV is a bifunctional modulator of G proteins; it serves as a guanine
      nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) for Galphas using the same motif that
      allows it to serve as a GEF for Galphai. Upon EGF stimulation, GIV modulates
      Galphai and Galphas sequentially: first, a key phosphomodification favors the
      assembly of GIV-Galphai complexes and activates GIV's GEF function; then a second
      phosphomodification terminates GIV's GEF function, triggers the assembly of GIV
      Galphas complexes, and activates GIV's GDI function. By comparing WT and GIV
      mutants, we demonstrate that GIV inhibits Galphas activity in cells responding to
      EGF. Consequently, the cAMP->PKA->cAMP response element-binding protein signaling
      axis is inhibited, the transit time of EGF receptor through early endosomes are
      accelerated, mitogenic MAPK-ERK1/2 signals are rapidly terminated, and
      proliferation is suppressed. These insights define a paradigm in G-protein
      signaling in which a pleiotropically acting modulator uses the same motif both to
      activate and to inhibit G proteins. Our findings also illuminate how such
      modulation of two opposing Galpha proteins integrates downstream signals and
      cellular responses.

PMID- 27621452
TI  - Correction for Tien et al., Identification of a dimerization domain in the
      TMEM16A calcium-activated chloride channel (CaCC).

PMID- 27621451
TI  - Twenty-million-year relationship between mammalian diversity and primary
      productivity.
AB  - At global and regional scales, primary productivity strongly correlates with
      richness patterns of extant animals across space, suggesting that resource
      availability and climatic conditions drive patterns of diversity. However, the
      existence and consistency of such diversity-productivity relationships through
      geological history is unclear. Here we provide a comprehensive quantitative test
      of the diversity-productivity relationship for terrestrial large mammals through
      time across broad temporal and spatial scales. We combine >14,000 occurrences for
      690 fossil genera through the Neogene (23-1.8 Mya) with regional estimates of
      primary productivity from fossil plant communities in North America and Europe.
      We show a significant positive diversity-productivity relationship through the 20
      million-year record, providing evidence on unprecedented spatial and temporal
      scales that this relationship is a general pattern in the ecology and paleo
      ecology of our planet. Further, we discover that genus richness today does not
      match the fossil relationship, suggesting that a combination of human impacts and
      Pleistocene climate variability has modified the 20-million-year ecological
      relationship by strongly reducing primary productivity and driving many mammalian
      species into decline or to extinction.

PMID- 27621453
TI  - Atmospheric methane isotopic record favors fossil sources flat in 1980s and 1990s
      with recent increase.
AB  - Observations of atmospheric methane (CH4) since the late 1970s and measurements
      of CH4 trapped in ice and snow reveal a meteoric rise in concentration during
      much of the twentieth century. Since 1750, levels of atmospheric CH4 have more
      than doubled to current globally averaged concentration near 1,800 ppb. During
      the late 1980s and 1990s, the CH4 growth rate slowed substantially and was near
      or at zero between 1999 and 2006. There is no scientific consensus on the drivers
      of this slowdown. Here, we report measurements of the stable isotopic composition
      of atmospheric CH4 ((13)C/(12)C and D/H) from a rare air archive dating from 1977
      to 1998. Together with more modern records of isotopic atmospheric CH4, we
      performed a time-dependent retrieval of methane fluxes spanning 25 y (1984-2009)
      using a 3D chemical transport model. This inversion results in a 24 [18, 27] Tg
      y(-1) CH4 increase in fugitive fossil fuel emissions since 1984 with most of this
      growth occurring after year 2000. This result is consistent with some bottom-up
      emissions inventories but not with recent estimates based on atmospheric ethane.
      In fact, when forced with decreasing emissions from fossil fuel sources our
      inversion estimates unreasonably high emissions in other sources. Further, the
      inversion estimates a decrease in biomass-burning emissions that could explain
      falling ethane abundance. A range of sensitivity tests suggests that these
      results are robust.

PMID- 27621454
TI  - Correction for Kopp et al., Temperature-driven global sea-level variability in
      the Common Era.

PMID- 27621457
TI  - Correction for Ho et al., Itch E3 ubiquitin ligase regulates large tumor
      suppressor 1 stability.

PMID- 27621455
TI  - Sound-meaning association biases evidenced across thousands of languages.
AB  - It is widely assumed that one of the fundamental properties of spoken language is
      the arbitrary relation between sound and meaning. Some exceptions in the form of
      nonarbitrary associations have been documented in linguistics, cognitive science,
      and anthropology, but these studies only involved small subsets of the 6,000+
      languages spoken in the world today. By analyzing word lists covering nearly two
      thirds of the world's languages, we demonstrate that a considerable proportion of
      100 basic vocabulary items carry strong associations with specific kinds of human
      speech sounds, occurring persistently across continents and linguistic lineages
      (linguistic families or isolates). Prominently among these relations, we find
      property words ("small" and i, "full" and p or b) and body part terms ("tongue"
      and l, "nose" and n). The areal and historical distribution of these associations
      suggests that they often emerge independently rather than being inherited or
      borrowed. Our results therefore have important implications for the language
      sciences, given that nonarbitrary associations have been proposed to play a
      critical role in the emergence of cross-modal mappings, the acquisition of
      language, and the evolution of our species' unique communication system.

PMID- 27621456
TI  - Tuning electronic transport via hepta-alanine peptides junction by tryptophan
      doping.
AB  - Charge migration for electron transfer via the polypeptide matrix of proteins is
      a key process in biological energy conversion and signaling systems. It is
      sensitive to the sequence of amino acids composing the protein and, therefore,
      offers a tool for chemical control of charge transport across biomaterial-based
      devices. We designed a series of linear oligoalanine peptides with a single
      tryptophan substitution that acts as a "dopant," introducing an energy level
      closer to the electrodes' Fermi level than that of the alanine homopeptide. We
      investigated the solid-state electron transport (ETp) across a self-assembled
      monolayer of these peptides between gold contacts. The single tryptophan "doping"
      markedly increased the conductance of the peptide chain, especially when its
      location in the sequence is close to the electrodes. Combining inelastic
      tunneling spectroscopy, UV photoelectron spectroscopy, electronic structure
      calculations by advanced density-functional theory, and dc current-voltage
      analysis, the role of tryptophan in ETp is rationalized by charge tunneling
      across a heterogeneous energy barrier, via electronic states of alanine and
      tryptophan, and by relatively efficient direct coupling of tryptophan to a Au
      electrode. These results reveal a controlled way of modulating the electrical
      properties of molecular junctions by tailor-made "building block" peptides.

PMID- 27621458
TI  - Chromatin-modifying genetic interventions suppress age-associated transposable
      element activation and extend life span in Drosophila.
AB  - Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic elements, highly enriched in
      heterochromatin, that constitute a large percentage of the DNA content of
      eukaryotic genomes. Aging in Drosophila melanogaster is characterized by loss of
      repressive heterochromatin structure and loss of silencing of reporter genes in
      constitutive heterochromatin regions. Using next-generation sequencing, we found
      that transcripts of many genes native to heterochromatic regions and TEs
      increased with age in fly heads and fat bodies. A dietary restriction regimen,
      known to extend life span, repressed the age-related increased expression of
      genes located in heterochromatin, as well as TEs. We also observed a
      corresponding age-associated increase in TE transposition in fly fat body cells
      that was delayed by dietary restriction. Furthermore, we found that manipulating
      genes known to affect heterochromatin structure, including overexpression of
      Sir2, Su(var)3-9, and Dicer-2, as well as decreased expression of Adar, mitigated
      age-related increases in expression of TEs. Increasing expression of either
      Su(var)3-9 or Dicer-2 also led to an increase in life span. Mutation of Dicer-2
      led to an increase in DNA double-strand breaks. Treatment with the reverse
      transcriptase inhibitor 3TC resulted in decreased TE transposition as well as
      increased life span in TE-sensitized Dicer-2 mutants. Together, these data
      support the retrotransposon theory of aging, which hypothesizes that
      epigenetically silenced TEs become deleteriously activated as cellular defense
      and surveillance mechanisms break down with age. Furthermore, interventions that
      maintain repressive heterochromatin and preserve TE silencing may prove key to
      preventing damage caused by TE activation and extending healthy life span.

PMID- 27621460
TI  - Illusory Late Heavy Bombardments.
AB  - The Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), a hypothesized impact spike at ~3.9 Ga, is one
      of the major scientific concepts to emerge from Apollo-era lunar exploration. A
      significant portion of the evidence for the existence of the LHB comes from
      histograms of (40)Ar/(39)Ar "plateau" ages (i.e., regions selected on the basis
      of apparent isochroneity). However, due to lunar magmatism and overprinting from
      subsequent impact events, virtually all Apollo-era samples show evidence for
      (40)Ar/(39)Ar age spectrum disturbances, leaving open the possibility that
      partial (40)Ar* resetting could bias interpretation of bombardment histories due
      to plateaus yielding misleadingly young ages. We examine this possibility through
      a physical model of (40)Ar* diffusion in Apollo samples and test the uniqueness
      of the impact histories obtained by inverting plateau age histograms. Our results
      show that plateau histograms tend to yield age peaks, even in those cases where
      the input impact curve did not contain such a spike, in part due to the episodic
      nature of lunar crust or parent body formation. Restated, monotonically declining
      impact histories yield apparent age peaks that could be misinterpreted as LHB
      type events. We further conclude that the assignment of apparent (40)Ar/(39)Ar
      plateau ages bears an undesirably high degree of subjectivity. When compounded by
      inappropriate interpretations of histograms constructed from plateau ages,
      interpretation of apparent, but illusory, impact spikes is likely.

PMID- 27621459
TI  - Abeta42 assembles into specific beta-barrel pore-forming oligomers in membrane
      mimicking environments.
AB  - The formation of amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) oligomers at the cellular membrane
      is considered to be a crucial process underlying neurotoxicity in Alzheimer's
      disease (AD). Therefore, it is critical to characterize the oligomers that form
      within a membrane environment. To contribute to this characterization, we have
      applied strategies widely used to examine the structure of membrane proteins to
      study the two major Abeta variants, Abeta40 and Abeta42. Accordingly, various
      types of detergent micelles were extensively screened to identify one that
      preserved the properties of Abeta in lipid environments-namely the formation of
      oligomers that function as pores. Remarkably, under the optimized detergent
      micelle conditions, Abeta40 and Abeta42 showed different behavior. Abeta40
      aggregated into amyloid fibrils, whereas Abeta42 assembled into oligomers that
      inserted into lipid bilayers as well-defined pores and adopted a specific
      structure with characteristics of a beta-barrel arrangement that we named beta
      barrel pore-forming Abeta42 oligomers (betaPFOsAbeta42). Because Abeta42,
      relative to Abeta40, has a more prominent role in AD, the higher propensity of
      Abeta42 to form betaPFOs constitutes an indication of their relevance in AD.
      Moreover, because betaPFOsAbeta42 adopt a specific structure, this property
      offers an unprecedented opportunity for testing a hypothesis regarding the
      involvement of betaPFOs and, more generally, membrane-associated Abeta oligomers
      in AD.

PMID- 27621463
TI  - The role of rigidity in controlling material failure.
AB  - We investigate how material rigidity acts as a key control parameter for the
      failure of solids under stress. In both experiments and simulations, we
      demonstrate that material failure can be continuously tuned by varying the
      underlying rigidity of the material while holding the amount of disorder
      constant. As the rigidity transition is approached, failure due to the
      application of uniaxial stress evolves from brittle cracking to system-spanning
      diffuse breaking. This evolution in failure behavior can be parameterized by the
      width of the crack. As a system becomes more and more floppy, this crack width
      increases until it saturates at the system size. Thus, the spatial extent of the
      failure zone can be used as a direct probe for material rigidity.

PMID- 27621462
TI  - Stac3 has a direct role in skeletal muscle-type excitation-contraction coupling
      that is disrupted by a myopathy-causing mutation.
AB  - In skeletal muscle, conformational coupling between CaV1.1 in the plasma membrane
      and type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is
      thought to underlie both excitation-contraction (EC) coupling Ca(2+) release from
      the SR and retrograde coupling by which RyR1 increases the magnitude of the
      Ca(2+) current via CaV1.1. Recent work has shown that EC coupling fails in muscle
      from mice and fish null for the protein Stac3 (SH3 and cysteine-rich domain 3)
      but did not establish the functional role of Stac3 in the CaV1.1-RyR1
      interaction. We investigated this using both tsA201 cells and Stac3 KO myotubes.
      While confirming in tsA201 cells that Stac3 could support surface expression of
      CaV1.1 (coexpressed with its auxiliary beta1a and alpha2-delta1 subunits) and the
      generation of large Ca(2+) currents, we found that without Stac3 the auxiliary
      gamma1 subunit also supported membrane expression of CaV1.1/beta1a/alpha2-delta1,
      but that this combination generated only tiny Ca(2+) currents. In Stac3 KO
      myotubes, there was reduced, but still substantial CaV1.1 in the plasma membrane.
      However, the CaV1.1 remaining in Stac3 KO myotubes did not generate appreciable
      Ca(2+) currents or EC coupling Ca(2+) release. Expression of WT Stac3 in Stac3 KO
      myotubes fully restored Ca(2+) currents and EC coupling Ca(2+) release, whereas
      expression of Stac3W280S (containing the Native American myopathy mutation)
      partially restored Ca(2+) currents but only marginally restored EC coupling. We
      conclude that membrane trafficking of CaV1.1 is facilitated by, but does not
      require, Stac3, and that Stac3 is directly involved in conformational coupling
      between CaV1.1 and RyR1.

PMID- 27621465
TI  - Correction for Miyoshi et al., Erasure of DNA methylation, genomic imprints, and
      epimutations in a primordial germ-cell model derived from mouse pluripotent stem
      cells.

PMID- 27621464
TI  - Differential structured illumination microendoscopy for in vivo imaging of
      molecular contrast agents.
AB  - Fiber optic microendoscopy has shown promise for visualization of molecular
      contrast agents used to study disease in vivo. However, fiber optic
      microendoscopes have limited optical sectioning capability, and image contrast is
      limited by out-of-focus light generated in highly scattering tissue. Optical
      sectioning techniques have been used in microendoscopes to remove out-of-focus
      light but reduce imaging speed or rely on bulky optical elements that prevent in
      vivo imaging. Here, we present differential structured illumination
      microendoscopy (DSIMe), a fiber optic system that can perform structured
      illumination in real time for optical sectioning without any opto-mechanical
      components attached to the distal tip of the fiber bundle. We demonstrate the use
      of DSIMe during in vivo fluorescence imaging in patients undergoing surgery for
      cervical adenocarcinoma in situ. Images acquired using DSIMe show greater
      contrast than standard microendoscopy, improving the ability to detect cellular
      atypia associated with neoplasia.

PMID- 27621461
TI  - SPRY1 regulates mammary epithelial morphogenesis by modulating EGFR-dependent
      stromal paracrine signaling and ECM remodeling.
AB  - The role of the local microenvironment in influencing cell behavior is central to
      both normal development and cancer formation. Here, we show that sprouty 1
      (SPRY1) modulates the microenvironment to enable proper mammary branching
      morphogenesis. This process occurs through negative regulation of epidermal
      growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in mammary stroma. Loss of SPRY1 resulted
      in up-regulation of EGFR-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling in
      response to amphiregulin and transforming growth factor alpha stimulation.
      Consequently, stromal paracrine signaling and ECM remodeling is augmented,
      leading to increased epithelial branching in the mutant gland. By contrast, down
      regulation of EGFR-ERK signaling due to gain of Sprouty function in the stroma
      led to stunted epithelial branching. Taken together, our results show that
      modulation of stromal paracrine signaling and ECM remodeling by SPRY1 regulates
      mammary epithelial morphogenesis during postnatal development.

PMID- 27621467
TI  - Fluids by design using chaotic surface waves to create a metafluid that is
      Newtonian, thermal, and entirely tunable.
AB  - In conventional fluids, viscosity depends on temperature according to a strict
      relationship. To change this relationship, one must change the molecular nature
      of the fluid. Here, we create a metafluid whose properties are derived not from
      the properties of molecules but rather from chaotic waves excited on the surface
      of vertically agitated water. By making direct rheological measurements of the
      flow properties of our metafluid, we show that it has independently tunable
      viscosity and temperature, a quality that no conventional fluid possesses. We go
      on to show that the metafluid obeys the Einstein relation, which relates many
      body response (viscosity) to single-particle dynamics (diffusion) and is a
      fundamental result in equilibrium thermal systems. Thus, our metafluid is wholly
      consistent with equilibrium thermal physics, despite being markedly
      nonequilibrium. Taken together, our results demonstrate a type of material that
      retains equilibrium physics while simultaneously allowing for direct programmatic
      control over material properties.

PMID- 27621466
TI  - Elevated vitamin E content improves all-trans beta-carotene accumulation and
      stability in biofortified sorghum.
AB  - Micronutrient deficiencies are common in locales where people must rely upon
      sorghum as their staple diet. Sorghum grain is seriously deficient in provitamin
      A (beta-carotene) and in the bioavailability of iron and zinc. Biofortification
      is a process to improve crops for one or more micronutrient deficiencies. We have
      developed sorghum with increased beta-carotene accumulation that will alleviate
      vitamin A deficiency among people who rely on sorghum as their dietary staple.
      However, subsequent beta-carotene instability during storage negatively affects
      the full utilization of this essential micronutrient. We determined that
      oxidation is the main factor causing beta-carotene degradation under ambient
      conditions. We further demonstrated that coexpression of homogentisate
      geranylgeranyl transferase (HGGT), stacked with carotenoid biosynthesis genes,
      can mitigate beta-carotene oxidative degradation, resulting in increased beta
      carotene accumulation and stability. A kinetic study of beta-carotene degradation
      showed that the half-life of beta-carotene is extended from less than 4 wk to 10
      wk on average with HGGT coexpression.

PMID- 27621468
TI  - Humanized H19/Igf2 locus reveals diverged imprinting mechanism between mouse and
      human and reflects Silver-Russell syndrome phenotypes.
AB  - Genomic imprinting affects a subset of genes in mammals, such that they are
      expressed in a monoallelic, parent-of-origin-specific manner. These genes are
      regulated by imprinting control regions (ICRs), cis-regulatory elements that
      exhibit allele-specific differential DNA methylation. Although genomic imprinting
      is conserved in mammals, ICRs are genetically divergent across species. This
      raises the fundamental question of whether the ICR plays a species-specific role
      in regulating imprinting at a given locus. We addressed this question at the
      H19/insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) imprinted locus, the misregulation of
      which is associated with the human imprinting disorders Beckwith-Wiedemann
      syndrome (BWS) and Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS). We generated a knock-in mouse
      in which the endogenous H19/Igf2 ICR (mIC1) is replaced by the orthologous human
      ICR (hIC1) sequence, designated H19(hIC1) We show that hIC1 can functionally
      replace mIC1 on the maternal allele. In contrast, paternally transmitted hIC1
      leads to growth restriction, abnormal hIC1 methylation, and loss of H19 and Igf2
      imprinted expression. Imprint establishment at hIC1 is impaired in the male germ
      line, which is associated with an abnormal composition of histone
      posttranslational modifications compared with mIC1. Overall, this study reveals
      evolutionarily divergent paternal imprinting at IC1 between mice and humans. The
      conserved maternal imprinting mechanism and function at IC1 demonstrates the
      possibility of modeling maternal transmission of hIC1 mutations associated with
      BWS in mice. In addition, we propose that further analyses in the paternal knock
      in H19(+/hIC1) mice will elucidate the molecular mechanisms that may underlie
      SRS.

PMID- 27621469
TI  - PtdIns(4,5)P2 signaling regulates ATG14 and autophagy.
AB  - Autophagy is a regulated self-digestion pathway with fundamental roles in cell
      homeostasis and diseases. Autophagy is regulated by coordinated actions of a
      series of autophagy-related (ATG) proteins. The Barkor/ATG14(L)-VPS34 (a class
      III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) complex and its product phosphatidylinositol 3
      phosphate [PtdIns(3)P] play key roles in autophagy initiation. ATG14 contains a C
      terminal Barkor/ATG14(L) autophagosome-targeting sequence (BATS) domain that
      senses the curvature of PtdIns(3)P-containing membrane. The BATS domain also
      strongly binds PtdIns(4,5)P2, but the functional significance has been unclear.
      Here we show that ATG14 specifically interacts with type Igamma PIP kinase
      isoform 5 (PIPKIgammai5), an enzyme that generates PtdIns(4,5)P2 in mammalian
      cells. Autophagosomes have associated PIPKIgammai5 and PtdIns(4,5)P2 that are
      colocalized with late endosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum. PtdIns(4,5)P2
      generation at these sites requires PIPKIgammai5. Loss of PIPKIgammai5 results in
      a loss of ATG14, UV irradiation resistance-associated gene, and Beclin 1 and a
      block of autophagy. PtdIns(4,5)P2 binding to the ATG14-BATS domain regulates
      ATG14 interaction with VPS34 and Beclin 1, and thus plays a key role in ATG14
      complex assembly and autophagy initiation. This study identifies an unexpected
      role for PtdIns(4,5)P2 signaling in the regulation of ATG14 complex and
      autophagy.

PMID- 27621470
TI  - Diurnal and circadian variation of sleep and alertness in men vs. naturally
      cycling women.
AB  - This study quantifies sex differences in the diurnal and circadian variation of
      sleep and waking while controlling for menstrual cycle phase and hormonal
      contraceptive use. We compared the diurnal and circadian variation of sleep and
      alertness of 8 women studied during two phases of the menstrual cycle and 3 women
      studied during their midfollicular phase with that of 15 men. Participants
      underwent an ultradian sleep-wake cycle (USW) procedure consisting of 36 cycles
      of 60-min wake episodes alternating with 60-min nap opportunities. Core body
      temperature (CBT), salivary melatonin, subjective alertness, and
      polysomnographically recorded sleep were measured throughout this procedure. All
      analyzed measures showed a significant diurnal and circadian variation throughout
      the USW procedure. Compared with men, women demonstrated a significant phase
      advance of the CBT but not melatonin rhythms, as well as an advance in the
      diurnal and circadian variation of sleep measures and subjective alertness.
      Furthermore, women experienced an increased amplitude of the diurnal and
      circadian variation of alertness, mainly due to a larger decline in the nocturnal
      nadir. Our results indicate that women are likely initiating sleep at a later
      circadian phase than men, which may be one factor contributing to the increased
      susceptibility to sleep disturbances reported in women. Lower nighttime alertness
      is also observed, suggesting a physiological basis for a greater susceptibility
      to maladaptation to night shift work in women.

PMID- 27621471
TI  - Status effects on men's reproductive success.

PMID- 27621472
TI  - Tunable shear thickening in suspensions.
AB  - Shear thickening, an increase of viscosity with shear rate, is a ubiquitous
      phenomenon in suspended materials that has implications for broad technological
      applications. Controlling this thickening behavior remains a major challenge and
      has led to empirical strategies ranging from altering the particle surfaces and
      shape to modifying the solvent properties. However, none of these methods allows
      for tuning of flow properties during shear itself. Here, we demonstrate that by
      strategic imposition of a high-frequency and low-amplitude shear perturbation
      orthogonal to the primary shearing flow, we can largely eradicate shear
      thickening. The orthogonal shear effectively becomes a regulator for controlling
      thickening in the suspension, allowing the viscosity to be reduced by up to 2
      decades on demand. In a separate setup, we show that such effects can be induced
      by simply agitating the sample transversely to the primary shear direction.
      Overall, the ability of in situ manipulation of shear thickening paves a route
      toward creating materials whose mechanical properties can be controlled.

PMID- 27621473
TI  - Molecular determinants of cadherin ideal bond formation: Conformation-dependent
      unbinding on a multidimensional landscape.
AB  - Classical cadherin cell-cell adhesion proteins are essential for the formation
      and maintenance of tissue structures; their primary function is to physically
      couple neighboring cells and withstand mechanical force. Cadherins from opposing
      cells bind in two distinct trans conformations: strand-swap dimers and X-dimers.
      As cadherins convert between these conformations, they form ideal bonds (i.e.,
      adhesive interactions that are insensitive to force). However, the biophysical
      mechanism for ideal bond formation is unknown. Here, we integrate single-molecule
      force measurements with coarse-grained and atomistic simulations to resolve the
      mechanistic basis for cadherin ideal bond formation. Using simulations, we
      predict the energy landscape for cadherin adhesion, the transition pathways for
      interconversion between X-dimers and strand-swap dimers, and the cadherin
      structures that form ideal bonds. Based on these predictions, we engineer
      cadherin mutants that promote or inhibit ideal bond formation and measure their
      force-dependent kinetics using single-molecule force-clamp measurements with an
      atomic force microscope. Our data establish that cadherins adopt an intermediate
      conformation as they shuttle between X-dimers and strand-swap dimers; pulling on
      this conformation induces a torsional motion perpendicular to the pulling
      direction that unbinds the proteins and forms force-independent ideal bonds.
      Torsional motion is blocked when cadherins associate laterally in a cis
      orientation, suggesting that ideal bonds may play a role in mechanically
      regulating cadherin clustering on cell surfaces.

PMID- 27621474
TI  - Comparative proteomics reveal distinct chaperone-client interactions in
      supporting bacterial acid resistance.
AB  - HdeA and HdeB constitute the essential chaperone system that functions in the
      unique periplasmic space of Gram-negative enteric bacteria to confer acid
      resistance. How this two-chaperone machinery cooperates to protect a broad range
      of client proteins from acid denaturation while avoiding nonspecific binding
      during bacterial passage through the highly acidic human stomach remains unclear.
      We have developed a comparative proteomic strategy that combines the genetically
      encoded releasable protein photocross-linker with 2D difference gel
      electrophoresis, which allows an unbiased side-by-side comparison of the entire
      client pools from these two acid-activated chaperones in Escherichia coli Our
      results reveal distinct client specificities between HdeA and HdeB in vivo that
      are determined mainly by their different responses to pH stimulus. The
      intracellular acidity serves as an environmental cue to determine the folding
      status of both chaperones and their clients, enabling specific chaperone-client
      binding and release under defined pH conditions. This cooperative and synergistic
      mode of action provides an efficient, economical, flexible, and finely tuned
      protein quality control strategy for coping with acid stress.

PMID- 27621475
TI  - Loss of RIG-I leads to a functional replacement with MDA5 in the Chinese tree
      shrew.
AB  - The function of the RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs; including RIG-I, MDA5, and LGP2)
      as key cytoplasmic sensors of viral pathogen-associated molecular patterns
      (PAMPs) has been subjected to numerous pathogenic challenges and has undergone a
      dynamic evolution. We found evolutionary evidence that RIG-I was lost in the
      Chinese tree shrew lineage. Along with the loss of RIG-I, both MDA5 (tMDA5) and
      LGP2 (tLGP2) have undergone strong positive selection in the tree shrew. tMDA5 or
      tMDA5/tLGP2 could sense Sendai virus (an RNA virus posed as a RIG-I agonist) for
      inducing type I IFN, although conventional RIG-I and MDA5 were thought to
      recognize distinct RNA structures and viruses. tMDA5 interacted with adaptor
      tMITA (STINGTMEM173/ERIS), which was reported to bind only with RIG-I. The
      positively selected sites in tMDA5 endowed the substitute function for the lost
      RIG-I. These findings provided insights into the adaptation and functional
      diversity of innate antiviral activity in vertebrates.

PMID- 27621476
TI  - TLR9-mediated inflammation drives a Ccr2-independent peripheral monocytosis
      through enhanced extramedullary monocytopoiesis.
AB  - Monocytes are innate immune cells that interact with their environment through
      the expression of pattern recognition receptors, including Toll-like receptors
      (TLRs). Both monocytes and TLRs are implicated in driving persistent inflammation
      in autoimmune diseases. However, cell-intrinsic mechanisms to control
      inflammation, including TLR tolerance, are thought to limit inflammatory
      responses in the face of repeated TLR activation, leaving it unclear how chronic
      TLR-mediated inflammation is maintained in vivo. Herein, we used a well
      characterized model of systemic inflammation to determine the mechanisms allowing
      sustained TLR9 responses to develop in vivo. Monocytes were identified as the
      main TLR9-responsive cell and accumulated in peripherally inflamed tissues during
      TLR9-driven inflammation. Intriguingly, canonical mechanisms controlling monocyte
      production and localization were altered during the systemic inflammatory
      response, as accumulation of monocytes in the liver and spleen developed in the
      absence of dramatic increases in bone marrow monocyte progenitors and was
      independent of chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2 (Ccr2). Instead, TLR9-driven
      inflammation induced a Ccr2-independent expansion of functionally enhanced
      extramedullary myeloid progenitors that correlated with the peripheral
      accumulation of monocytes in both wild-type and Ccr2(-/-) mice. Our data
      implicate inflammation-induced extramedullary monocytopoiesis as a peripheral
      source of newly produced TLR9 responsive monocytes capable of sustaining chronic
      TLR9 responses in vivo. These findings help to explain how chronic TLR-mediated
      inflammation may be perpetuated in autoimmune diseases and increase our
      understanding of how monocytes are produced and positioned during systemic
      inflammatory responses.

PMID- 27621478
TI  - Reply to Salari et al.: Toward understanding the deep mechanisms regarding the
      biophotons related to human intelligence.

PMID- 27621477
TI  - A C-terminal amphipathic helix is necessary for the in vivo tubule-shaping
      function of a plant reticulon.
AB  - Reticulons (RTNs) are a class of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane proteins
      that are capable of maintaining high membrane curvature, thus helping shape the
      ER membrane into tubules. The mechanism of action of RTNs is hypothesized to be a
      combination of wedging, resulting from the transmembrane topology of their
      conserved reticulon homology domain, and scaffolding, arising from the ability of
      RTNs to form low-mobility homo-oligomers within the membrane. We studied the
      plant RTN isoform RTN13, which has previously been shown to locate to ER tubules
      and the edges of ER cisternae and to induce constrictions in ER tubules when
      overexpressed, and identified a region in the C terminus containing a putative
      amphipathic helix (APH). Here we show that deletion of this region or disruption
      of the hydrophobic face of the predicted helix abolishes the ability of RTN13 to
      induce constrictions of ER tubules in vivo. These mutants, however, still retain
      their ability to interact and form low-mobility oligomers in the ER membrane.
      Hence, our evidence indicates that the conserved APH is a key structural feature
      for RTN13 function in vivo, and we propose that RTN, like other membrane
      morphogens, rely on APHs for their function.

PMID- 27621480
TI  - Nectin spot: a novel type of nectin-mediated cell adhesion apparatus.
AB  - Nectins are Ca(2+)-independent immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily cell adhesion
      molecules constituting a family with four members, all of which have three Ig
      like loops at their extracellular regions. Nectins play roles in the formation of
      a variety of cell-cell adhesion apparatuses. There are at least three types of
      nectin-mediated cell adhesions: afadin- and cadherin-dependent, afadin-dependent
      and cadherin-independent, and afadin- and cadherin-independent. In addition,
      nectins trans-interact with nectin-like molecules (Necls) with three Ig-like
      loops and other Ig-like molecules with one to three Ig-like loops. Furthermore,
      nectins and Necls cis-interact with membrane receptors and integrins, some of
      which are associated with the nectin-mediated cell adhesions, and play roles in
      the regulation of many cellular functions, such as cell polarization, movement,
      proliferation, differentiation, and survival, co-operatively with these cell
      surface proteins. The nectin-mediated cell adhesions are implicated in a variety
      of diseases, including genetic disorders, neural disorders, and cancers. Of the
      three types of nectin-mediated cell adhesions, the afadin- and cadherin-dependent
      apparatus has been most extensively investigated, but the examples of the third
      type of apparatus independent of afadin and cadherin are recently increasing and
      its morphological and functional properties have been well characterized. We
      review here recent advances in research on this type of nectin-mediated cell
      adhesion apparatus, which is named nectin spot.

PMID- 27621479
TI  - Relationship between intelligence and spectral characteristics of brain biophoton
      emission: Correlation does not automatically imply causation.

PMID- 27621481
TI  - HCN2 ion channels: basic science opens up possibilities for therapeutic
      intervention in neuropathic pain.
AB  - Nociception - the ability to detect painful stimuli - is an invaluable sense that
      warns against present or imminent damage. In patients with chronic pain, however,
      this warning signal persists in the absence of any genuine threat and affects all
      aspects of everyday life. Neuropathic pain, a form of chronic pain caused by
      damage to sensory nerves themselves, is dishearteningly refractory to drugs that
      may work in other types of pain and is a major unmet medical need begging for
      novel analgesics. Hyperpolarisation-activated cyclic nucleotide (HCN)-modulated
      ion channels are best known for their fundamental pacemaker role in the heart;
      here, we review data demonstrating that the HCN2 isoform acts in an analogous way
      as a 'pacemaker for pain', in that its activity in nociceptive neurons is
      critical for the maintenance of electrical activity and for the sensation of
      chronic pain in pathological pain states. Pharmacological block or genetic
      deletion of HCN2 in sensory neurons provides robust pain relief in a variety of
      animal models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain, without any effect on normal
      sensation of acute pain. We discuss the implications of these findings for our
      understanding of neuropathic pain pathogenesis, and we outline possible future
      opportunities for the development of efficacious and safe pharmacotherapies in a
      range of chronic pain syndromes.

PMID- 27621482
TI  - Molecular regulation of insulin granule biogenesis and exocytosis.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by
      hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia in early disease stages
      but a relative insulin insufficiency in later stages. Insulin, a peptide hormone,
      is produced in and secreted from pancreatic beta-cells following elevated blood
      glucose levels. Upon its release, insulin induces the removal of excessive
      exogenous glucose from the bloodstream primarily by stimulating glucose uptake
      into insulin-dependent tissues as well as promoting hepatic glycogenesis. Given
      the increasing prevalence of T2DM worldwide, elucidating the underlying
      mechanisms and identifying the various players involved in the synthesis and
      exocytosis of insulin from beta-cells is of utmost importance. This review
      summarizes our current understanding of the route insulin takes through the cell
      after its synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum as well as our knowledge of the
      highly elaborate network that controls insulin release from the beta-cell. This
      network harbors potential targets for anti-diabetic drugs and is regulated by
      signaling cascades from several endocrine systems.

PMID- 27621484
TI  - Protecting Our Elderly Patients from Adverse Drug Reactions.

PMID- 27621483
TI  - 'Up with the LRRK': a phosphorylated Rab10 assay for evaluation of LRRK2 activity
      and inhibitor engagement.
AB  - Protein kinases catalyse the addition of phosphate groups to Ser/Thr and Tyr
      residues in cognate substrates and are mutated or hyperactive in a variety of
      diseases, making them important targets for rationally designed drugs. A good
      example is the Parkinson's disease-associated kinase, leucine-rich repeat kinase
      2 (LRRK2), which is mutated (and probably hyperactive) in a small, but
      significant, subset of patients. An exciting new approach for personalised
      therapy is the development of central nervous system (CNS)-active small-molecule
      kinase inhibitors, which could be employed to 'normalise' LRRK2 signalling in
      affected cell types. However, the development of such drugs requires validated
      assays for the analysis of target engagement and the assembly of a set of tools
      for interrogating LRRK2, and its substrates, both in vitro and in vivo A new
      study published in the Biochemical Journal by Ito et al. establishes that a 'Phos
      tag'TM-binding assay can be exploited to measure phosphorylation of a recently
      identified LRRK2 substrate (Ras-related protein in brain 10 (Rab10)), and to
      compare and contrast relative catalytic output from disease-associated LRRK2
      mutants. Powerful in vivo chemical genetic approaches are also disclosed, in
      which the catalytic activity of LRRK2 is unequivocally linked to the extent of
      Rab10 phosphorylation and the effects of chemically distinct LRRK2 inhibitors are
      matched with on-target inhibition mechanisms mediated through LRRK2 and its
      substrate Rab10. These important findings should simplify the generic analysis of
      Rab10 phosphorylation in model biological systems and are likely to be applicable
      to other substrates of LRRK2 (or indeed other kinases) for which phospho-specific
      antibodies are either absent or unsatisfactory.

PMID- 27621485
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27621486
TI  - Predictive Performance of the Winter-Tozer and Derivative Equations for
      Estimating Free Phenytoin Concentration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Winter-Tozer equation for estimating free phenytoin concentration
      is biased and imprecise. Alternative predictive equations are available, but most
      remain unvalidated. OBJECTIVES: To assess the bias and precision of the Winter
      Tozer equation and selected derivative equations in predicting free phenytoin
      concentration and to derive new equations with better predictive performance.
      METHODS: A retrospective chart review (for patients with samples drawn for free
      phenytoin concentration between September 2008 and September 2013) was conducted
      for 3 subpopulations (critical care, general medicine, neurology) in one
      hospital. Patients were included if older than 18 years with values for free
      phenytoin concentration available and were excluded if phenytoin was not at
      steady state or if they were undergoing hemodialysis or receiving enzyme
      inhibitors or inducers that would affect phenytoin clearance. The predictive
      performance measures used were mean prediction error (MPE), root mean square
      error, and Bland-Altman plots. Spearman rank correlation and multiple linear
      regression were performed with log-transformed data. RESULTS: In total, 133
      patients were included (70 men [53%]; mean age +/- standard deviation 64 +/- 19
      years; serum creatinine 90.4 +/- 64.0 umol/L; albumin 26.4 +/- 7.0 g/L). In the
      combined population, the Winter-Tozer equation (MPE 1.7 umol/L, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 1.5 to 1.9) and the Anderson equation (MPE 0.5 umol/L, 95% CI 0.3
      to 0.7) over-predicted free phenytoin concentration, whereas the first Kane
      equation tended to underpredict free phenytoin (MPE -0.2 umol/L, 95% CI -0.4 to
      0.0), and the second Kane equation significantly underpredicted free phenytoin
      (MPE -0.3 umol/L, 95% CI -0.5 to -0.1). In each subpopulation, the Winter-Tozer
      equation overpredicted true concentration with greater bias and imprecision. All
      equations performed poorly in the critical care subpopulation. Only albumin (R
      (2) = 0.09) and total phenytoin concentration (R (2) = 0.53) were correlated with
      free phenytoin concentration. The equation derived by multiple linear regression
      exhibited significantly less bias and imprecision than the Winter-Tozer equation
      in the validation set (p < 0.05). A new, user-friendly equation, specific to the
      authors' patient population, was derived, which had an albumin coefficient of
      0.275. CONCLUSIONS: Relatively poor predictive performance of the Winter-Tozer
      and derivative equations calls for more precise and less biased equations. The
      novel equations presented here, which had better predictive performance for free
      phenytoin concentration and were based on a large sample of adult patients,
      should be further validated in other institutions.

PMID- 27621487
TI  - Anticoagulant and Antiplatelet Prescribing Patterns for Patients with Atrial
      Fibrillation after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend triple antithrombotic therapy (TAT),
      defined as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), clopidogrel, and warfarin, for patients
      with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who have undergone percutaneous coronary
      intervention with stent implantation. The choice of anticoagulant/antiplatelet
      therapy in this population is ambiguous and complex, and prescribing patterns are
      not well documented. OBJECTIVE: To characterize local prescribing patterns for
      anticoagulant/antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention in
      patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. METHODS: A chart review was
      conducted at a single quaternary cardiology centre. Patients with nonvalvular
      atrial fibrillation were identified via medical records, and those who underwent
      percutaneous coronary intervention were identified using a local clinical patient
      registry. Adult inpatients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and a CHADS2
      score (based on congestive heart failure, hypertension, age >= 75 years, diabetes
      mellitus, prior stroke) of 1 or higher who underwent percutaneous coronary
      intervention from 2011 to 2013 were included. Patients undergoing cardiovascular
      surgery or transcatheter aortic valve replacement, those with mechanical devices
      requiring anticoagulation, and those with an allergy to any component of TAT were
      excluded. RESULTS: Seventy patients were included. The median age was 75 years,
      and 52 (74%) were men. At discharge, 30 (43%) were receiving TAT and 27 (39%)
      were receiving dual antiplatelet therapy (clopidogrel and ASA). No patients
      received the combination of warfarin and clopidogrel. Among those who received
      TAT, 90% (19 of 21) who received a bare metal stent had a recommended duration of
      1 month, and 75% (6 of 8) who received a drug-eluting stent had a recommended
      duration of 1 year. Direct-acting oral anticoagulants with 2 antiplatelet drugs
      were prescribed for 9% (6 of 70) of the patients, and 10% (7 of 70) received
      ticagrelor and ASA with or without warfarin. Overall, the combination of ASA,
      oral anticoagulant, and P2Y12 inhibitor was used for 54% (38/70) of the patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than half of the patients in this study received TAT, and
      almost 20% received non-evidence-based therapy with a direct-acting oral
      anticoagulant or ticagrelor, alone or in combination. Despite current guideline
      recommendations, the rate of TAT utilization was lower than rates reported in the
      literature.

PMID- 27621490
TI  - Identification of Patients Eligible for IV-to-PO Conversion: A Cost-Minimization
      Study.

PMID- 27621488
TI  - Pictograms for Safer Medication Management by Health Care Workers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inherent risks are associated with the preparation and administration
      of medications. As such, a key aspect of medication safety is to ensure safe
      medication management practices. OBJECTIVE: To identify key medication safety
      issues and high-alert drug classes that might benefit from implementation of
      pictograms, for use by health care providers, to enhance medication
      administration safety. This study was the first step in the development of such
      pictograms. METHODS: Self-identified medication management experts participated
      in a modified Delphi process to achieve consensus on situations where safety
      pictograms are required for labelling to optimize safe medication management. The
      study was divided into 3 phases: issue generation, issue reduction, and issue
      selection. Issues achieving at least 80% consensus and deemed most essential were
      selected for future studies. Retained issues were subjected to semiotic analysis,
      and preliminary pictograms were developed. RESULTS: Of the 87 health care
      professionals (pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, and physicians) invited
      to participate in the Delphi process, 30 participated in all 3 phases. A total of
      55 situations that could potentially benefit from safety pictograms were
      generated initially. Through the Delphi process, these were narrowed down to 10
      situations where medication safety might be increased with the use of safety
      pictograms. For most of the retained issues, between 3 and 6 pictograms were
      designed, based on the results of the semiotic analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The
      pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, and physicians participating in this
      study reached consensus and identified 10 medication administration safety issues
      that might benefit from the development and implementation of safety pictograms.
      Pictograms were developed for a total of 9 issues. In follow-up studies, these
      pictograms will be validated for comprehension and evaluated for effectiveness.

PMID- 27621489
TI  - Patient Characteristics Associated with Adverse Drug Events in Hospital: An
      Overview of Reviews.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adverse drug events (ADEs) occurring in hospital inpatients can have
      serious implications. The ability to identify and prioritize patients at higher
      risk of ADEs could help pharmacists to optimize their impact as members of the
      patient care team. OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors, patient characteristics,
      and medications associated with a higher likelihood of ADEs in adult inpatients
      through an overview of reviews on this topic. DATA SOURCES: Systematic reviews
      and narrative reviews or guidelines identified through a search of MEDLINE and
      the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (limited to articles published from
      1995 to June 4, 2015), as well as a grey literature search. STUDY SELECTION AND
      DATA EXTRACTION: For inclusion in this overview, a review had to discuss patient
      characteristics or risk factors associated with ADEs, medications associated with
      ADEs, or drug-drug interactions associated with ADEs, in adult inpatients.
      Articles retrieved by the literature search were screened for eligibility by a
      single reviewer. DATA SYNTHESIS: Eleven articles were deemed eligible for
      inclusion in this overview: 4 systematic reviews and 7 narrative reviews or
      guidelines. Their results were described narratively. Older age and polypharmacy
      were the most frequently cited risk factors associated with ADEs in hospital
      inpatients. Renal impairment, female sex, and decline in cognition were also
      frequently reported as being associated with ADEs. Medication classes reported to
      be associated with ADEs during the hospital stay included anticoagulants, anti
      infectives/antibiotics, antidiabetic agents, analgesics (including opioids and
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and cardiovascular drugs (including
      antihypertensive agents, diuretics, and digoxin). Two publications reported on
      preventable ADEs in hospital inpatients; the medications associated with
      preventable ADEs were consistent with those reported above. CONCLUSIONS: The risk
      factors, patient characteristics, and medication classes highlighted in this
      overview may help clinicians to prioritize patient populations who may be at
      higher risk of ADEs.

PMID- 27621491
TI  - United States Health Care System: A Pharmacy Perspective.

PMID- 27621492
TI  - Possible Atazanavir-Induced Cholelithiasis in a Pregnant Woman: A Case Report.

PMID- 27621493
TI  - Inadvertent Overdose of Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin in an Elderly Patient with
      Deep Vein Thrombosis and Acute Kidney Injury.

PMID- 27621494
TI  - New Antilipid Drugs: Do the Known Benefits Justify the Expense?

PMID- 27621495
TI  - Stability of Extemporaneously Compounded Amlodipine Besylate Oral Suspensions.

PMID- 27621496
TI  - Stability of Hydrocortisone, Nifedipine, and Nitroglycerine Compounded
      Preparations for the Treatment of Anorectal Conditions.

PMID- 27621497
TI  - Development of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in a Rural and Remote Health
      Authority.

PMID- 27621498
TI  - Medication Literacy: Why Pharmacists Should Pay Attention.

PMID- 27621499
TI  - Pharmacy and the "Zombie Apocalypse".

PMID- 27621500
TI  - Taking a Second Look at Kayexalate.

PMID- 27621501
TI  - FDA Advise-ERR: Mefloquine-Not the Same as Malarone; Zoster Vaccine Is Not for
      the Immunosuppressed; TXA Mistaken as Tenecteplase; Guidelines for Adult IV Push
      Medications.
AB  - These medication errors have occurred in health care facilities at least once.
      They will happen again-perhaps where you work. Through education and alertness of
      personnel and procedural safeguards, they can be avoided. You should consider
      publishing accounts of errors in your newsletters and/or presenting them at your
      inservice training programs. Your assistance is required to continue this
      feature. The reports described here were received through the Institute for Safe
      Medication Practices (ISMP) Medication Errors Reporting Program. Any reports
      published by ISMP will be anonymous. Comments are also invited; the writers'
      names will be published if desired. ISMP may be contacted at the address shown
      below. Errors, close calls, or hazardous conditions may be reported directly to
      ISMP through the ISMP Web site (www.ismp.org), by calling 800-FAIL-SAFE, or via e
      mail at ismpinfo@ismp.org. ISMP guarantees the confidentiality and security of
      the information received and respects reporters' wishes as to the level of detail
      included in publications. 

PMID- 27621502
TI  - Ranolazine-Induced Reversible T-Wave Inversions with Prolonged QTc Interval;
      Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy Linked to Fingolimod; Losartan-Induced
      Sprue-like Enteropathy; Nivolumab-Induced Psoriasiform Skin Eruption; Hepatitis B
      Reactivation with Hepatitis C Treatment with Simeprevir and Sofosbuvir.
AB  - The purpose of this feature is to heighten awareness of specific adverse drug
      reactions (ADRs), discuss methods of prevention, and promote reporting of ADRs to
      the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) MED WATCH program (800-FDA-1088).
      If you have reported an interesting, preventable ADR to MED WATCH, please
      consider sharing the account with our readers. Write to Dr. Mancano at ISMP, 200
      Lakeside Drive, Suite 200, Horsham, PA 19044 (phone: 215-707-4936; e-mail:
      mmancano@temple.edu). Your report will be published anonymously unless otherwise
      requested. This feature is provided by the Institute for Safe Medication
      Practices (ISMP) in cooperation with the FDA's MED WATCH program and Temple
      University School of Pharmacy. ISMP is an FDA MED WATCH partner. 

PMID- 27621503
TI  - Clofarabine and Cytarabine Regimen for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - The complexity of cancer chemotherapy requires pharmacists be familiar with the
      complicated regimens and highly toxic agents used. This column reviews various
      issues related to preparation, dispensing, and administration of antineoplastic
      therapy, and the agents, both commercially available and investigational, used to
      treat malignant diseases. Questions or suggestions for topics should be addressed
      to Dominic A. Solimando, Jr, President, Oncology Pharmacy Services, Inc., 4201
      Wilson Blvd #110-545, Arlington, VA 22203, e-mail: OncRxSvc@comcast.net; or J.
      Aubrey Waddell, Professor, University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy; Oncology
      Pharmacist, Pharmacy Department, Blount Memorial Hospital, 907 E. Lamar Alexander
      Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804, e-mail: waddfour@charter.net. 

PMID- 27621504
TI  - Sodium Thiosulfate: Calciphylaxis.
AB  - This Hospital Pharmacy feature is extracted from Off-Label Drug Facts, a
      publication available from Wolters Kluwer Health. Off-Label Drug Facts is a
      practitioner-oriented resource for information about specific drug uses that are
      unapproved by the US Food and Drug Administration. This new guide to the
      literature enables the health care professional or clinician to quickly identify
      published studies on off-label uses and determine if a specific use is rational
      in a patient care scenario. References direct the reader to the full literature
      for more comprehensive information before patient care decisions are made. Direct
      questions or comments regarding Off-Label Drug Uses to jgeneral@ku.edu. 

PMID- 27621505
TI  - National Survey Regarding the Importance of Leadership in PGY1 Pharmacy Practice
      Residency Training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leadership is considered a professional obligation for all
      pharmacists. It is important to integrate leadership training in residency
      programs to meet the leadership needs and requirements of the profession.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the importance of leadership development during
      postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy practice residency training as perceived by
      new practitioners. METHODS: A 15-question online survey was distributed to
      residency-trained new practitioners to assess (1) amount of time dedicated to
      leadership training during residency training, (2) different leadership tools
      utilized, (3) residents' participation in various committees or councils, (4)
      perceived benefit of increased leadership training, (5) importance of having a
      mentor, (6) understanding of the residency organization's strategic objectives,
      (7) discussion of Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) during residency
      training, and (8) adequacy of leadership training in preparation to become a
      pharmacy practice leader. RESULTS: Although the majority of resident respondents
      had less than 20% of their residency devoted to leadership, nearly all survey
      participants acknowledged that leadership is an important component of PGY1
      residency training. Residents agreed that their residency experience would have
      benefited from increased leadership opportunities. Most residents were
      knowledgeable about their organization's strategic objectives but did not have a
      full understanding of pharmacy initiatives such as the PPMI. CONCLUSION: Feedback
      from residents indicates that an optimal dedication to leadership training would
      range between 20% and 30% of the residency year. Increased focus on PPMI,
      mentorship, and expanded use of leadership tools can serve as a way to help meet
      the future leadership needs of the pharmacy profession and help to better prepare
      residents to become pharmacy practice leaders.

PMID- 27621506
TI  - US Food and Drug Administration Web Site: A Primer for Pharmacists.
AB  - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Web site includes a vast amount of
      information, but it can be difficult to navigate. Despite frequently asked
      question (FAQ)-type pages within the Web site, it may not be easy for first-time
      users to find drug information. This article presents some examples of common
      questions, provides the locations of the answers on the FDA Web site, and gives a
      brief description of some of the many resources the FDA provides for health care
      professionals. Additionally, a newer project being undertaken by the FDA,
      Snapshot, is introduced. 

PMID- 27621507
TI  - Pharmacist Advancement of Transitions of Care to Home (PATCH) Service.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of literature on a well-defined role of a
      pharmacist in different aspects of transition of care service (TCS). Although
      health care institutions have specific details on the discharge process, there is
      a need for a sustainable TCS with a well-defined role of pharmacists. OBJECTIVE:
      To describe the impact of a pharmacist-led TCS on acute health care utilization,
      clinic quality indicators, and identification and resolution of medication
      related problems (MRPs). METHODS: A pharmacist-managed TCS service, referred to
      as the Pharmacist Advancement of Transitions of Care to Home (PATCH) service, was
      established at an academic medical center, where high-risk patients received a
      postdischarge phone call from a pharmacist followed by a face-to-face meeting
      with the pharmacist and the patient's primary care provider (PCP). In a
      prospective transitions of care group (n = 74), outcomes of patients such as
      acute health care utilization (an emergency department visit or an inpatient
      readmission, within 30 days post discharge), clinic quality indicators, and
      identification and resolution of MRPs were compared to a retrospective control
      group (n = 87) who received the standard of care. RESULTS: Utilization of acute
      health care services was significantly lower in the prospective group compared to
      the retrospective control group (23% vs 41.4%; P = .013). A total of 49 MRPs were
      discovered in patients who received the TCS. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists play an
      integral role in improving the transitions of care to reduce acute health care
      utilization. In addition, they may improve care transitions by optimizing clinic
      quality indicators and by identifying and resolving MRPs.

PMID- 27621508
TI  - Risk Factors for Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infections and Strategies to
      Decrease Readmissions in a Community Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently there are no universally accepted approaches for the
      prevention of recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) following the
      initial infection. Several studies have identified common risk factors for the
      emergence of recurrent CDI. Identifying patients at high risk for recurrent CDI
      through the assessment of risk factors at initial diagnosis could enable health
      care providers to optimize available treatment options. A vancomycin
      hydrochloride-tapered regimen may be an effective treatment option for the
      prevention of recurrent CDI following the initial infection. METHODS: In this
      single-center, prospective study, we examined the efficacy of orally administered
      vancomycin-tapered regimens for the prevention of recurrent CDI in high-risk
      patients. High-risk patients were identified using patient risk factors found in
      a retrospective chart review. The primary objective was to decrease hospital
      readmissions for recurrent CDI. The secondary objective was to improve the
      discharge coordination-of-care process by providing a pharmacy benefits
      evaluation, which ensured vancomycin affordability and assistance in prescription
      attainment, and discharge counseling. RESULTS: Of the 83 patients enrolled in the
      study, 5 experienced recurrent CDI (6%). Memorial Health Care System's
      (Chattanooga, Tennessee) historical recurrent CDI rate was 8.2%. Thirty-one of
      the 83 patients received a vancomycin-tapered regimen following their initial
      infection (37%). A pharmacy benefits evaluation was performed on 35 of the 57
      patients who were discharged home on vancomycin (61%). CONCLUSIONS: Vancomycin
      tapered regimens may provide a cost-effective method for the prevention of
      recurrent CDI following an initial infection in patients at high risk for
      recurrence.

PMID- 27621510
TI  - Sacubitril/Valsartan.
AB  - Each month, subscribers to The Formulary Monograph Service receive 5 to 6 well
      documented monographs on drugs that are newly released or are in late phase 3
      trials. The monographs are targeted to Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committees.
      Subscribers also receive monthly 1-page summary monographs on agents that are
      useful for agendas and pharmacy/nursing in-services. A comprehensive target drug
      utilization evaluation/medication use evaluation (DUE/MUE) is also provided each
      month. With a subscription, the monographs are sent in print and are also
      available on-line. Monographs can be customized to meet the needs of a facility.
      A drug class review is now published monthly with The Formulary Monograph
      Service. Through the cooperation of The Formulary, Hospital Pharmacy publishes
      selected reviews in this column. For more information about The Formulary
      Monograph Service, call The Formulary at 800-322-4349. The December 2015
      monograph topics are rolapitant, insulin degludec, flibanserin, coagulation
      factor IX (recombinant), and grazoprevir/elbasvir. The Safety MUE is on
      rolapitant. 

PMID- 27621509
TI  - Taking an Antibiotic Time-out: Utilization and Usability of a Self-Stewardship
      Time-out Program for Renewal of Vancomycin and Piperacillin-Tazobactam.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotic time-outs can promote critical thinking and greater
      attention to reviewing indications for continuation. OBJECTIVE: We pilot tested
      an antibiotic time-out program at a tertiary care teaching hospital where
      vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam continuation past day 3 had previously
      required infectious diseases service approval. METHODS: The time-out program
      consisted of 3 components: (1) an electronic antimicrobial dashboard that
      aggregated infection-relevant clinical data; (2) a templated note in the
      electronic medical record that included a structured review of antibiotic
      indications and that provided automatic approval of continuation of therapy when
      indicated; and (3) an educational and social marketing campaign. RESULTS: In the
      first 6 months of program implementation, vancomycin was discontinued by day 5 in
      93/145 (64%) courses where a time-out was performed on day 4 versus in 96/199
      (48%) 1 year prior (P = .04). Seven vancomycin continuations via template (5% of
      time-outs) were guideline-discordant by retrospective chart review versus none 1
      year prior (P = .002). Piperacillin-tazobactam was discontinued by day 5 in
      70/105 (67%) courses versus 58/93 (62%) 1 year prior (P = .55); 9 continuations
      (9% of time-outs) were guideline-discordant versus two 1 year prior (P = .06). A
      usability survey completed by 32 physicians demonstrated modest satisfaction with
      the overall program, antimicrobial dashboard, and renewal templates. CONCLUSIONS:
      By providing practitioners with clinical informatics support and guidance, the
      intervention increased provider confidence in making decisions to de-escalate
      antimicrobial therapy in ambiguous circumstances wherein they previously sought
      authorization for continuation from an antimicrobial steward.

PMID- 27621511
TI  - Approvals, Submission, and Important Labeling Changes for US Marketed
      Pharmaceuticals.
AB  - This monthly feature will help readers keep current on new drugs, new
      indications, dosage forms, and safety-related changes in labeling or use. Efforts
      have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information; however, if there are
      any questions, please let me know at danial.baker@wsu.edu. 

PMID- 27621512
TI  - Assuming a Pharmacy Organization Leadership Position: A Guide for Pharmacy
      Leaders.
AB  - Important and influential pharmacy organization leadership positions, such as
      president, board member, or committee chair, are volunteer positions and require
      a commitment of personal and professional time. These positions provide excellent
      opportunities for leadership development, personal promotion, and advancement of
      the profession. In deciding to assume a leadership position, interested
      individuals must consider the impact on their personal and professional
      commitments and relationships, career planning, employer support, current and
      future department projects, employee support, and personal readiness. This
      article reviews these factors and also provides an assessment tool that leaders
      can use to determine their readiness to assume leadership positions. By using an
      assessment tool, pharmacy leaders can better understand their ability to assume
      an important and influential leadership position while achieving job and personal
      goals. 

PMID- 27621513
TI  - Exploring the ONC's Health IT Dashboard.
AB  - Readers are living the reality of the government's efforts to move the United
      States health care system into an electronic environment. It is often easy to
      develop tunnel vision and focus on efforts at your home institution. In this
      column, we explore a big picture perspective using an online resource that
      provides national-level data focused on specific areas of interest. 

PMID- 27621514
TI  - Evidence for Ayurvedic products' efficacy: The devil is in details.

PMID- 27621515
TI  - Botanical identification of plants described in Madhava Cikitsa for the treatment
      of diarrhoea.
AB  - CONTEXT: Madhava is regarded as a 7(th) century Indian Physician who composed two
      treatises (in Sanskrit) on Ayurveda, the Madhava Nidana and Madhava Cikitsa. The
      former treatise deals with the diagnosis of diseases while the latter with the
      treatment using medicinal plants and other recipes. In Madhava Cikitsa, a common
      Sanskrit name is found to describe two or more totally different botanical plant
      species (thus leading to ambiguity) and a distinct botanical species is also
      found to represent two or more Sanskrit names at several instances. AIMS: The
      present paper deals with the correct botanical identification (most probable) of
      Sanskrit named plants described in Madhava Cikitsa for the treatment of Diarrhoea
      (Atisara Cikitsa). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The authentic manuscripts of 'Madhava
      Cikitsa' were critically studied for the present research outcome. A detailed
      literature survey is carried out from various references and texts. RESULTS: The
      list of Sanskrit named plants contains 103 names, while after the critical study
      and assigning the most probable botanical identification as per ICBN, the list of
      plant species described in the text for the treatment of Diarrhoea is found to
      contain 73 names. CONCLUSIONS: The present study will certainly benefit Ayurvedic
      medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies in selection of proper plant
      species avoiding substitutions for drug formulation.

PMID- 27621516
TI  - Intelligence quotient and concept of Deha-Manasa Prakrti in Ayurveda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ayurveda has classified humans according to Deha-Manasa prakrti. It
      has given equal emphasis to both physical and psychological status of the
      individual. Constitution or configuration is an individual's peculiar set up of
      body and mind. It is also of importance in etiopathogenesis, prognosis and
      treatment procedures of various ailments. It is said that nature has its relative
      roles in causing individual and group differences in their respective cognitive
      abilities. AIM: The present study was designed to validate and assess the
      Intelligence Quotient of individuals of different Prakrtis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A study was conducted in healthy individuals of age 20-30 years, divided
      into three groups depending on their Deha-Manasa Prakrtis and thereafter assessed
      for their individual IQ. CONCLUSION: This article highlights the comparative
      outcome and relation between Deha-manasa prakrti and intelligence of an
      individual. It is observed that IQ is more in kapha prakrti, moderate in pitta
      prakrti and least in vata prakrti individuals.

PMID- 27621517
TI  - Hypoglycemic and anti-hyperglycemic activity of Triphaladi granules in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Triphaladi kvatha is well known herbal Ayurvedic formulation used in
      Prameha (~type 2 diabetes mellitus). In the present study, kvatha was converted
      into granules and assessed for its hypoglycemic and anti-hyperglycemic effects in
      albino mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Triphaladi granules (650 mg/kg, p.o.) were
      administered in normal albino mice for assessment of hypoglycemic activity. Anti
      hyperglycemic activity of Triphaladi granules was assessed in glucose (5 g/kg,
      p.o.) solution overloaded mice. The blood sugar level (BSL) was measured with the
      help of one touch easy glucometer. RESULTS: Triphaladi granules produced
      significant decrease in blood glucose level after one hour in comparison to
      initial values while decreasing BSL by 27.92% in comparison to control group in
      normal albino mice. In hyperglycemic study, Triphaladi granules produced
      significant decrease the BSL after 2 hr. of administration compared to control
      group. CONCLUSION: Triphaladi granules have significant hypoglycemic and anti
      hyperglycemic activity in mice with minimal effect on BSL below normal range. The
      studies suggest the potential role of Triphaladi granules as an alternative
      adjuvant therapy in diabetic individuals for the control of the blood glucose
      level.

PMID- 27621518
TI  - Morbidity profile of elderly outpatients attending selected sub-district Siddha
      health facilities in Tamil Nadu, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, under National Health Mission alternate systems of Medicine
      are mainstreamed in public health care system. Effective action plan generation,
      logistic arrangement and roll out of these alternate systems of Medicine needs
      understanding on profile of morbidities among attendees who come to these
      facilities. OBJECTIVES: This study was planned to report profile of morbidities,
      age and sex differentials in specific morbidities among geriatric attendees in
      secondary level siddha health facilities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A facility based
      cross sectional study was conducted among elderly person (60 years and above)
      attending Siddha outpatient department (OPD) from two of the randomly selected
      sub district level siddha facilities in Erode district, Tamil Nadu, India.
      Information on socio-demographic variables like age, gender, education and
      clinical profile (diagnosis) were collected from records already maintained in
      the siddha OPD. Morbidities were summarized in terms of proportions based on age
      and gender. Age and sex specific differentials on specific morbidities were
      compared using 'z' test. RESULTS: Of 2710 patients who visited these two siddha
      facilities during the reference period, 763 (28.1%) patients were elderly.
      Arthritis (45.2%), neuritis (8.8%), diabetes (6.6%), bronchial asthma (5.2%),
      hemiplegia (3.7%) were the top five morbidities diagnosed and treated among
      elderly attending the siddha OPD. There was a predilection towards elderly male
      for morbidities such as bronchial asthma and hemiplegia compared to elderly
      female. Similarly, higher proportions of lumbar spondylosis, hypertension and
      fungal skin diseases were reported among aged 80 years or more compared to
      elderly aged 60-79 years. CONCLUSION: Elderly constitute more than one fourth of
      outpatients load from siddha health facilities. Degenerative diseases like
      arthritis and non-communicable diseases were the common morbidities in this age
      group. Geriatric clinics and mobile clinics under siddha system may help in
      improving health care services.

PMID- 27621519
TI  - Effect of Karamardadi Yoga versus diclofenac sodium in post-operative pain
      management: A randomized comparative clinical trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Post-operative pain is Nociceptive i.e., anticipated unavoidable
      physiological pain which is caused due to tissue trauma. Drugs such as NSAIDs
      (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs) and Opioids are used for post-operative
      pain management but are associated with their own drawbacks. Karamardadi Yoga has
      been in use in Ayurvedic practice for analgesia. It is known to relieve pain and
      can be used to supplement anaesthesia and also get rid of adverse effect of
      modern analgesic drugs. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To study the comparative effect of
      Karamardadi Yoga and Diclofenac sodium in post-operative pain management.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomized clinical trial with Group A (Control Group: Tab
      Diclofenac sodium 50 mg as a single dose) and Group B (Trial Group: Cap
      Karamardadi Yoga 500 mg as a single dose). Those who had undergone
      haemorrhoidectomy operation under local anaesthesia were selected as per
      inclusion criteria. Vitals, desirable effect and undesirable effect, total
      surgical time, requirement of 1(st) dose of analgesic, requirement of rescue
      analgesic and pain determined by VAS (Visual Analog Scale) were the assessment
      criteria and were observed and recorded. RESULTS: Karamardadi Yoga does not show
      any undesirable or serious ill effects and altered values of vitals as per
      statistical analysis. As per VAS scale, pain felt by Trial group was earlier than
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: Karamardadi Yoga has analgesic property but its
      analgesic property and pain threshold capacity is lesser than those of Diclofenac
      sodium.

PMID- 27621520
TI  - Ulcer healing potential of ethanolic extract of Caralluma attenuata on
      experimental diabetic rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Available data indicated that diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the
      vulnerability of the gastric ulcers and the need of the hour is to develop
      effective agents to treat ulcer with diabetes for better patient compliance and
      cost effectiveness. The ulcer-healing properties of ethanolic extract of
      Caralluma attenuata (CAEt) against both chemically- and physically induced
      gastric ulcers in experimental rats are recently studied. AIM: To assess the
      ulcer healing potential of Ethanolic Extract of Caralluma attenuata on
      Experimental Diabetic Rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The current study aimed to
      evaluate ulcer healing properties of CAEt on the aspirin induced gastric ulcer in
      rats with streptozotocin induced DM. The hypothesis is based on the fact that DM
      results in compromising the mucosal defensive factors associated with delay in
      gastric ulcer healing, and if these changes can be corrected by using agents
      known for their antidiabetic and antiulcer properties. Experimental albino rats
      were divided into six groups. Except for Group I, other groups contained
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Group I (normal control) and Group II
      (diabetic control) were administered vehicle, Groups III and IV (diabetic
      experimental) were administered CAEt in dose of 100 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg,
      respectively, and Groups V and VI (positive controls) were respectively
      administered oral standard drugs omeprazole, 20 mg/kg, and tolbutamide 10 mg/kg.
      RESULT: The results confirmed that the CAEt significantly decreases the ulcer
      index (P < 0.05) in the aspirin-induced gastric ulcers and also significantly
      exhibit antioxidant and glucose lowering activity in the diabetic ulcer rats. The
      study showed that C. attenuata has the potential to be used as an antiulcer agent
      in experimental diabetic rats.

PMID- 27621521
TI  - Clinical efficacy of certain Unani herbs in knee osteoarthritis: A pretest and
      post-test evaluation study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of preparations of
      certain Unani herbs on Lequesne Algo-Functional Index of knee osteoarthritis
      (OA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, pre- and post test evaluation study
      was conducted on 20 diagnosed patients of OA recruited from the Nizamia General
      Hospital, Hyderabad. Internally, a combination (formula) of Unani herbs was
      administered, which was as follows: 3.5 g powder of Asarun (2 g), Tukhme karafs
      (2 g), and Filfil daraz (3 g) was administered internally twice daily.
      Externally, the concoction of Gule baboona (20 g) and Gule tesu (40 g) made in 1
      l water was poured over the affected knee, daily once for 40 days. The primary
      outcome was to assess the efficacy of Unani test drugs with the modified Lequesne
      Algo-Functional Index for knee OA. RESULTS: The mean percentage reduction of
      Lequesne Algo-Functional Index score was 71.09%. The mean and standard deviation
      was 10.55 (1.70) and 3.05 (2.30) before treatment and after treatment,
      respectively. The pre- and post test evaluation showed reduction in Lequesne Algo
      Functional Index score (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: In this study, the Unani
      treatment module was found to be effective in reducing the severity of disease in
      patients with osteoarthritis of knees.

PMID- 27621523
TI  - Ayurvedic management of cirrhotic ascites.
AB  - Cirrhosis is the final stage of most of the chronic liver diseases and is most
      invariably complicated by portal hypertension resulting in ascites. A case of
      chronic liver disease with portal hypertension (cryptogenic cirrhosis), managed
      at Amrita School of Ayurveda is discussed in this paper. The clinical picture was
      that of an uncomplicated cirrhotic ascites. Snehapana (therapeutic oral
      administration of lipids) followed by virecana (purgation) was done after an
      initial course of nityavirecana (daily purgation). Later Vardhamana pippali
      rasayana [administration of single drug - pippali (piper longum) in a structured
      dose pattern] was administered with an intention of rejuvenating liver cells.
      Ascites and lower limb oedema were completely resolved after the therapy. No
      recurrence of ascites has been reported after a follow up period of one year. 

PMID- 27621522
TI  - Efficacy of Nasya (nasal medication) in coma: A case study.
AB  - For emergency conditions, Ayurveda has never been given importance in recent
      times. However, there are certain emergency conditions where biomedicine has
      limitations but, Ayurveda can provide solution. Classics have many references
      regarding management of acute conditions like syncope, coma, episodic conditions
      of bronchial asthma, epilepsy, etc., In the present study, a 61 year female
      patient had a two year history of hypertension and was suffering with coma. She
      was treated with an Ayurvedic treatment modality. Nasya (nasal medication) of
      Trikatu curna (powder) for seven days, followed by dhumapana (~fumigation) with
      sankhyasthapana (consciousness restorative) drugs for seven days was
      administered. The outcome of this management was appreciable, as it resulted in
      positive changes in Glasgow Coma Scale (GSCS) from 3 to 11. 

PMID- 27621524
TI  - General unknown screening, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of
      Dendrobium macrostachyum Lindl.
AB  - CONTEXT: D. macrostachyum is an epiphytic orchid abundant in Southern India and
      is reported for pain relief in folklore. AIMS: The objective of the present study
      was to determine in vitro free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activity
      of D. macrostachyum and to perform LCMS based metabolic profiling of the plant.
      SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Sequential stem and leaf extracts were assessed for its
      antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity by in vitro methods. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The antioxidant activity determined by assays based on the
      decolourization of the radical monocation of DPPH, ABTS and reducing power. Total
      amount of phenolics for quantitative analysis of antioxidative components was
      estimated. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using protein
      denaturation assay, membrane stabilization assay and proteinase inhibitory
      activity. Methanolic extract of plant was subjected to LCMS. RESULTS: The stem
      ethanolic extracts exhibited significant IC50 value of 10.21, 31.54 and 142.97
      MUg/ml respectively for DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging and reducing power
      activity. The ethanol and water extract was highly effective as albumin
      denaturation inhibitors (IC50 = 114.13 and 135.818 MUg/ml respectively) and
      proteinase inhibitors (IC50 = 72.49 and 129.681 MUg/ml respectively). Membrane
      stabilization was also noticeably inhibited by the stem ethanolic extract among
      other extracts (IC50 = 89.33 MUg/ml) but comparatively lower to aspirin standard
      (IC50 = 83.926 MUg/ml). The highest total phenol content was exhibited by
      ethanolic stem and leaf extracts respectively at 20 and 16 mg of gallic acid
      equivalents of dry extract. On LCMS analysis 20 constituents were identified and
      it included chemotaxonomic marker for Dendrobium species. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results showed a relatively high concentration of phenolics, high scavenger
      activity and high anti-inflammatory activity of the stem extract compared to the
      leaf extract. The results indicate that the plant can be a potential source of
      bioactive compounds.

PMID- 27621525
TI  - Author response: Successful treatment of Guillain-Barre syndrome by Ayurvedic
      treatment.

PMID- 27621528
TI  - Becoming a "Medical Salesman".

PMID- 27621526
TI  - A proposal for inclusion of Indology in regular school curriculum.

PMID- 27621527
TI  - Workshop on research methodology for Ayurveda, April 2 and 3, 2016.

PMID- 27621529
TI  - Letter: Comment on Unger J. Modern Medicine Nearly Killed Me. [Editorial]
      Clinical Diabetes 2016;34:22-24.

PMID- 27621530
TI  - Challenges in Diabetes Care: Can Digital Health Help Address Them?
AB  - In Brief There is great enthusiasm for the potential of digital health solutions
      in medicine and diabetes to address key care challenges: patient and provider
      burden, lack of data to inform therapeutic decision-making, poor access to care,
      and costs. However, the field is still in its nascent days; many patients and
      providers do not currently engage with digital health tools, and for those who
      do, the burden is still often high. Over time, digital health has excellent
      potential to collect data more seamlessly, make collected data more useful, and
      drive better outcomes at lower costs in less time. But there is still much to
      prove. This review offers key background information on the current state of
      digital health in diabetes, six of the most promising digital health technologies
      and services, and the challenges that remain. 

PMID- 27621531
TI  - Accuracy of Carbohydrate Counting in Adults.
AB  - In Brief This study investigates carbohydrate counting accuracy in patients using
      insulin through a multiple daily injection regimen or continuous subcutaneous
      insulin infusion. The average accuracy test score for all patients was 59%. The
      carbohydrate test in this study can be used to emphasize the importance of
      carbohydrate counting to patients and to provide ongoing education. 

PMID- 27621533
TI  - Extreme Insulin Resistance in Critically Ill Patient With Sepsis.

PMID- 27621534
TI  - An Unusual Case of Recurrent Severe Hypoglycemia in a Woman With Type 1 Diabetes
      Undergoing Medically Assisted Abortion.

PMID- 27621535
TI  - Autoantibodies to Insulin and Dysglycemia in People With and Without Diabetes: An
      Underdiagnosed Association.

PMID- 27621536
TI  - Erratum: Church TJ, Haines ST. Treatment Approaches to Patients With Severe
      Insulin Resistance. Clinical Diabetes 2016;34:97-104
      (DOI:10.2337/diaclin.34.2.97).
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 97 in vol. 34, PMID: 27092020.]. 

PMID- 27621532
TI  - Role of Haptoglobin in Health and Disease: A Focus on Diabetes.
AB  - In Brief Prospective identification of individuals with diabetes who are at
      greatest risk for developing complications would have considerable public health
      importance by allowing appropriate resources to be focused on those who would
      benefit most from aggressive intervention. Haptoglobin (Hp) is an acute-phase
      protein that is crucial for the elimination of free hemoglobin and the
      neutralization of oxidative damage. In the past two decades, associations have
      been made between polymorphisms in Hp and complications arising from diabetes.
      Individuals with polymorphism in Hp have been shown to have significantly higher
      risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This review summarizes the current
      literature on the role of Hp in health and disease, with a focus on diabetes. 

PMID- 27621539
TI  - Standardization of in vitro studies.

PMID- 27621537
TI  - Non-proliferative and Proliferative Lesions of the Cardiovascular System of the
      Rat and Mouse.
AB  - The INHAND Project (International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic
      Criteria for Lesions in Rats and Mice) is a joint initiative of the Societies of
      Toxicologic Pathology from Japan (JSTP), Europe (ESTP), Great Britain (BSTP) and
      North America (STP) to develop an internationally-accepted nomenclature for
      proliferative and non-proliferative lesions in laboratory animals. The primary
      purpose of this publication is to provide a standardized nomenclature for
      characterizing lesions observed in the cardiovascular (CV) system of rats and
      mice commonly used in drug or chemical safety assessment. The standardized
      nomenclature presented in this document is also available electronically for
      society members on the internet (http://goreni.org). Accurate and precise
      morphologic descriptions of changes in the CV system are important for
      understanding the mechanisms and pathogenesis of those changes, differentiation
      of natural and induced injuries and their ultimate functional consequence.
      Challenges in nomenclature are associated with lesions or pathologic processes
      that may present as a temporal or pathogenic spectrum or when natural and induced
      injuries share indistinguishable features. Specific nomenclature recommendations
      are offered to provide a consistent approach. 

PMID- 27621540
TI  - Preliminary impression techniques for microstomia patients.
AB  - The Prosthetic rehabilitation of microstomia patients presents difficulties at
      all the stages. The difficulty starts with the preliminary impression making.
      This is due to the tongue rigidity and the decreased oral opening. A maximum oral
      opening which is smaller than the size of the tray can make prosthetic treatment
      challenging. Due to the restricted mouth opening, insertion and removal of the
      impression trays is extremely cumbersome and various modifications of the trays
      have been used in the past. Among these are the flexible trays and the sectional
      trays used with different modes of reassembling the segments extra orally after
      the impression is made. This article reviews the literature published from 1971
      to 2015 concerning preliminary impression techniques used in making impressions
      for patients with microstomia based on various tray designs. An electronic search
      was performed across three databases (PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scolar)
      for relevant citations. The keywords/combinations used for the search were
      microstomia, limited/constricted/restricted mouth opening/oral access, trismus,
      sectional trays, impressions and prosthetic/prosthodontic rehabilitation. The
      search was limited to papers written in English which resulted in a total of 45
      related articles of which 17 articles were included for discussion of this
      review. 

PMID- 27621541
TI  - The effect of disocclusion time-reduction therapy to treat chronic myofascial
      pain: A single group interventional study with 3 year follow-up of 100 cases.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the longevity of reduced
      disclusion time in treating and removing myofascial pain dysfunction symptoms
      following the T-Scan-based, immediate complete anterior guidance development
      (ICAGD) coronoplasty. This measured occlusal adjustment has been shown to reduce
      the muscle hyperactivity of myofascial pain. METHODS: Myofascial pain symptomatic
      patients were recruited as per the diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular
      disorders (TMDs), including the clinical protocol and assessment instruments
      outlined by the international RDC/TMD consortium network (version: January 20,
      2014) to assess the efficacy of reduced disclusion time in left and right lateral
      excursions to resolve the myofascial pain symptoms. As per the inclusion and
      exclusion criteria, 100 cases were treated with ICAGD in three visits, each 1
      week apart. Recall disclusion time measurements were recorded every 3 months over
      3 years. The RDC/TMD questionnaire was used for symptom assessment at every
      recall visit. ICAGD brought pretreatment prolonged disclusion time down to <0.4
      s, as quantified from T-Scan force and time data records, while the subjects were
      assessed for symptom relief. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for
      statistical analysis (P < 0.05). RESULTS: Changes in the intensity of many
      symptoms from reducing the disclusion time to <0.4 s were statistically
      significant from treatment day 1, and onward through the 3-year period of
      observation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that ICAGD reduces the
      musculoskeletal symptoms of myofascial pain, such that this methodology increases
      clinical therapeutic success.

PMID- 27621542
TI  - Freeway space determination using lateral profile photographs: A pilot study.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Many methods are reported in literature to determine
      freeway space (FWS), but they yield dissimilar measurements. PURPOSE: Recording
      FWS of patients during prosthetic rehabilitation is one of the important steps in
      dentistry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability to predict FWS
      using lateral profile photographs (LPPs) in edentulous participants. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Fifty-three participants in the age range of 20-27 years who met the
      inclusion criteria were recruited. LPP were taken for all participants using
      standard protocol and duplicate copy obtained; on which three soft tissue
      reference points, porion (Stp), gnathion (Stgn), and gonion (Stg) (Stg prenoted
      on the face) were marked and joined to form an angle Stp-Stg-Stgn. This angle was
      correlated with the mean FWS obtained using 3 methods, swallowing, phonetics, and
      no command. Simple linear regression model was used to develop a prediction
      formula for FWS using Stp-Stg-Stgn angle as the independent variable. RESULTS:
      The angle Stp-Stg-Stgn had a significant negative correlation with FWS (r = 
      0.76, P < 0.001). Using simple linear regression analysis, the following formula
      was obtained: FWS (in millimeters) = 11.405 - 0.072 * (Stp-Stg-Stgn angle in
      degrees). CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this study, considering the usage
      of LPP as a method to determine the FWS can be recommended.

PMID- 27621543
TI  - Evaluation of accuracy of transfer of the maxillary occlusal cant of two
      articulators using two facebow/semi-adjustable articulator systems: An in vivo
      study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of the angle made by
      Frankfort horizontal plane-occlusal plane on maxillary casts, mounted using the
      respective facebows on Artex Amann Girrbach and Hanau Wide-vue semi-adjustable
      articulators with cephalometrically derived Frankfort horizontal plane-occlusal
      plane angle as a control. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Maxillary casts of 30 subjects
      were mounted on Hanau Wide-vue and Artex Amann Girrbach semi-adjustable
      articulators following facebow transfer using respective facebows. The Frankfort
      horizontal plane-occlusal plane angles of these casts were measured using Wixey's
      digital angle gauge. They were also subjected to a lateral cephalogram, and the
      occlusal cant was measured using RadiAnt DICOM software. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:
      Using Pearson correlation, the accuracy of the angle made by upper member of the
      articulator and occlusal plane of mounted maxillary casts in each of the
      articulator was compared to the Frankfort horizontal plane-occlusal plane angle
      in lateral cephalogram. RESULTS: A mean difference of 1.9 degrees  was found
      between Hanau Wide-vue articulator and lateral cephalogram and a mean difference
      of 3.6 degrees  was found between Artex Amann Girrbach articulator and lateral
      cephalogram. Statistically, Pearson correlation value (r) obtained between Hanau
      Wide-vue and lateral cephalogram was 0.46 and between Artex Amann Girrbach and
      lateral cephalogram was 0.25. CONCLUSION: From the statistical value (r) derived,
      it can be inferred that the Frankfort horizontal plane-occlusal plane angle of
      the casts articulated on Hanau Wide-vue articulator was more accurate in
      comparison to that on Artex Amann Girrbach articulator.

PMID- 27621538
TI  - Nonproliferative and Proliferative Lesions of the Rat and Mouse Skeletal Tissues
      (Bones, Joints, and Teeth).
AB  - The INHAND (International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria
      for Lesions in Rats and Mice) Project (www.toxpath.org/inhand.asp) is an
      initiative of the Societies of Toxicological Pathology from Europe (ESTP), Great
      Britain (BSTP), Japan (JSTP) and North America (STP) to develop an
      internationally accepted nomenclature for proliferative and nonproliferative
      lesions in laboratory animals. The purpose of this publication is to provide a
      standardized nomenclature for classifying microscopic lesions observed in the
      skeletal tissues and teeth of laboratory rats and mice, with color
      photomicrographs illustrating examples of many common lesions. The standardized
      nomenclature presented in this document is also available on the internet
      (http://www.goreni.org/). Sources of material were databases from government,
      academic and industrial laboratories throughout the world. 

PMID- 27621544
TI  - Osteogenic potential of laser modified and conditioned titanium zirconium
      surfaces.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: The osseointegration of dental implant is related to their
      composition and surface treatment. Titanium zirconium (TiZr) has been introduced
      as an alternative to the commercially pure titanium and its alloys as dental
      implant material, which is attributed to its superior mechanical and biological
      properties. Surface treatments of TiZr have been introduced to enhance their
      osseointegration ability; however, reliable, easy to use surface modification
      technique has not been established. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate and compare the effect of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd
      YAG) laser surface treatment of TiZr implant alloy on their osteogenic potential.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty disc-shaped samples of 5 mm diameter and 2 mm
      height were milled from the TiZr alloy ingot. The polished discs were
      ultrasonically cleaned in distilled water. Ten samples each were randomly
      selected as Group A control samples and Group B consisted of Nd-YAG laser surface
      etched and conditioned test samples. These were evaluated for cellular response.
      Cellular adhesion and proliferation were quantified, and the results were
      statistically analyzed using nonparametric analysis. Cellular morphology was
      observed using electron and epiflurosence microscopy. RESULTS: Nd-YAG laser
      surface modified and conditioned TiZr samples increased the osteogenic potential.
      CONCLUSION: Nd-YAG laser surface modification of TiZr, improves the cellular
      activity, surface roughness, and wettability, thereby increasing the osteogenic
      potential.

PMID- 27621545
TI  - The effectiveness of adding a supporting implant in stress distribution of long
      span fixed partial denture (three-dimensional finite element analysis).
AB  - CONTEXT AND AIMS: Long span is seen in many clinical situations; treatment
      planning options of these cases are difficult and may require: Fixed partial
      denture (FPD), removable partial denture, or implant supported prostheses. Each
      option has its own disadvantages: Mechanical, patient relief, and cost,
      respectively. This article will evaluate the stress distribution of another
      treatment option, which is adding a single supporting implant to the FPD using
      three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Three
      models, each consisting of 5 units, were created as following: (1) Tooth pontic
      pontic pontic tooth, (2) tooth pontic implant pontic tooth, (3) tooth pontic
      pontic implant tooth. An axial force was applied to the prostheses using 3D
      finite element method, and stress was evaluated. RESULTS: Maximum stress was
      found in the prostheses in all models, highest stress values in all shared
      components of the models were close. Stress in implants was less in the second
      model than the third one. CONCLUSIONS: Adding a supporting implant in long span
      FPD has no advantages, whereas it has the disadvantages of complicating treatment
      and the complications that may occur to the implant and surrounding bone itself.

PMID- 27621546
TI  - Flexural properties and impact strength of denture base resins reinforced with
      micronized glass flakes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of the addition of glass flakes on physical
      properties of conventional heat cure denture base resins and to compare it with a
      high impact strength denture base resin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Test specimens
      were divided into Group 1 - poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (Trevalon), Group 2
      - Trevalon HI, Group 3 -5% glass flake +95% PMMA (Trevalon), Group 4 -10% glass
      flake +90% PMMA (Trevalon), and Group 5 -20% glass flake +80% PMMA (Trevalon).
      For glass flake modified groups, part of PMMA (powder) was substituted with the
      same weight of glass flake (GF003 m) as required, to bring it to 100% powder.
      Flexural strength was tested using three-point bending test and impact strength
      with Izod type impact tester. RESULTS: Plain PMMA (Trevalon), showed the highest
      value of flexural strength followed by Trevalon HI. Trevalon HI (highly cross
      linked PMMA) group showed the highest value of impact strength. CONCLUSION:
      Flexural strength of unmodified PMMA denture base resin decreases with increase
      in the concentration of glass flakes. Impact strength does not show any
      significant change at 5% concentration of glass flakes and impact strength
      significantly reduces with the addition of glass flakes in 10% and 20%.

PMID- 27621547
TI  - Effect of potentially chromogenic beverages on shear bond strength of acrylic
      denture teeth to heat-polymerized denture base resins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detachment of denture acrylic resin artificial teeth from denture
      base resin is one of the most common problems presented by denture wearers.
      PURPOSE: This study investigated the shear bond strength (SBS) and fracture type
      of bonding interface of two commercial acrylic teeth (Vipi Dent Plus e Biolux) to
      two denture base resins (Vipi Cril e Lucitone 550) after immersion in potentially
      chromogenic beverages (coffee, cola soft drink, and red wine) or control solution
      (distilled water). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Maxillary central incisor acrylic teeth
      were placed at 45 degrees  to denture base resin and submitted to short
      polymerization cycle according to manufacturers. Specimens were divided according
      to the combination tooth/resin/solution (n = 8) and submitted to bond strength
      tests in a universal testing machine MTS-810 (0.5 mm/min). Subsequently, fracture
      area was analyzed by stereomicroscope at a magnification of *10 and categorized
      into adhesive, cohesive, or mixed failure. RESULTS: The bond strength of
      teeth/denture base resins interface was not significantly affected by tested
      solutions (P > 0.087), except for Biolux teeth immersed in coffee (P < 0.01). In
      all conditions, the Vipi Dent Plus teeth showed higher bond strength to Lucitone
      and Vipi Cril resins when compared to Biolux teeth (P < 0.003). All specimens'
      failure modes were cohesive. CONCLUSIONS: The SBS of acrylic teeth to denture
      base resins was not generally influenced by immersion in the tested staining
      beverages.

PMID- 27621548
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of ultraviolet stabilizers on the change in color of
      pigmented silicone elastomer: An in vitro study.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To compare and evaluate the effect of ultraviolet (UV)
      stabilizers (Chimassorb 81 and Uvinul 5050) on the color change of pigmented
      elastomer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two pigments - Red (P112 Brilliant Red) and
      Yellow (P106 Yellow) and two UV stabilizers Chimassorb 81 and Uvinul 5050 were
      studied. A total of six groups of 10 samples each were fabricated using a
      combination of the above colors and stabilizers: Group A1 - Red control, Group A2
      - Red + Chimassorb 81, Group A3 - Red + Uvinul 5050. Group B1 - Yellow control,
      Group B2 - Yellow + Chimassorb 81, Group B3 - Yellow + Uvinul 5050. All samples
      were subjected to ageing in an accelerated weathering chamber (Weather-Ometer).
      Color values L, a, and b were measured at 500 and 1000 h for all samples before
      and after weathering and change in color (Delta E) was calculated. RESULTS: All
      groups showed a significant color change. At 500 h, Chimassorb 81 showed a
      statistically significant lesser change in both colors (red - 3.66 and yellow -
      2.8) compared to their control groups (red - 5.19 and yellow - 4.9). At 1000 h,
      both UV stabilizers showed lesser color change (A2 - 5.49, B2 - 4.28, A3 - 7.47
      and B3 - 4.09) as compared to their respective control groups (A1 - 9.57 and B1 -
      5.91). Overall, the change in the color with Group A was more than Group B.
      CONCLUSION: Addition of UV stabilizers helped the reduction of color change.
      Chimassorb 81 showed a greater reduction in color change in both colors
      consistently at 500 and 1000 h.

PMID- 27621549
TI  - Mandibular Kennedy Class I partial denture management by broad stress
      distribution philosophy (radiographic assessment).
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was radiographic assessment of the premolar
      teeth abutments alveolar bone resorption in mandibular Kennedy Class I removable
      partial denture (RPD) utilizing the broad stress distribution philosophy, either
      designed with multiple circlet clasp or compound Aker clasp. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Twelve patients were enrolled for this study with upper completely
      edentulous arch against mandibular Kennedy Class I ridges posterior to the second
      premolar. The patients were divided into two groups according to the type of the
      clasp assembly design used, where the mandibular Kennedy Class I RPD was designed
      with multiple circlet clasp and compound Aker clasp assemblies for Groups I and
      II, respectively. The abutment alveolar bone resorption was evaluated
      radiographically after 1(st) 6, 2(nd) 6, and 12 months of mandibular Kennedy
      Class I RPD insertion. RESULTS: Second premolar abutment interdental alveolar
      bone resorption was significantly increased as compared to first premolar
      abutment along the interval periods of the study for Group I. The reverse was
      observed for Group II. Along the interval periods of the study, the alveolar bone
      resorption at the first premolar abutment of Group II was significantly increased
      compared to that of Group I while the reverse was observed when comparing the
      second premolar of Group I with that of Group II. CONCLUSION: Compound Aker clasp
      is better than the multiple circlet clasp assembly as it reduces abutment
      alveolar bone resorption regards broad stress distribution philosophy is
      considered for distal extension cases.

PMID- 27621550
TI  - Influence of early clinical exposure for undergraduate students on self
      perception of different aspects of geriatric dental care: Pilot study between two
      colleges from Japan and India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to identify the influence of early
      clinical exposure for undergraduate students on self-perception of different
      aspects of geriatric dental care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have selected two
      different colleges from Japan and India, namely, Tokyo Dental College (TDC),
      Tokyo, and Government Dental College (GDC), Nagpur, respectively. The GDC
      students exposed to patients in a 3(rd) year and TDC in the 5(th) year of course.
      Survey of 74 undergraduate students GDC and 95 of TDC was conducted. The
      questionnaire was developed based on to the 50 points undergraduate curriculum by
      European College of Gerodontology. The questionnaire categorized into four parts;
      Part I (15 questions) on aging and medicine, Part II (15 questions) on
      communication skills, Part III (15 questions) on diagnosis/treatment, and Part IV
      (5 questions) on need of more training in Gerodontology. Their own-perception on
      self-knowledge and competency was scored on 4 level scale as 3, 2, 1, and 0 for
      response yes, rather yes, rather no, and no, respectively. Average scores were
      calculated and presented. RESULTS: The differences of the opinions as per
      students' perception level were found to be slightly more affirmative in GDC
      students (1.9 for the 4(th) year and 2 for the 5(th) year) than TDC students (1.1
      for 5(th) grade and 1.5 for 6(th) grade). Both clinical and didactic hours should
      be increased in curriculum according to the TDC (89%) and GDC (79%) students.
      Separate gerodontology subject is suggested from TDC (76%) to GDC (81%) students.
      CONCLUSION: Average scores about own-perception of knowledge and competency about
      aging, medicine, and communication skills were almost same in both GDC and TDC
      students. With early clinical exposure, GDC students appear have better self
      perception regarding the different aspects of the geriatric dental care including
      subject knowledge, communications, diagnosis, and treatment planning than TDC
      students with late clinical exposure.

PMID- 27621552
TI  - Soft tissue development around pontic site: A case series.
AB  - An ideal emergence profile is vital for maintaining gingival health and
      developing esthetics. The ovate pontic which mimics a natural tooth gives the
      most appropriate emergence profile. For a successful ovate pontic restoration, an
      alveolar ridge of sufficient height and width is necessary to enhance the
      deficient ridge and to achieve an esthetic emergence profile. Interpositional
      graft was carried out along with ovate pontic to achieve an ideal esthetic
      restoration. After three months of the postoperative period, there was an
      increased horizontal dimension in the deficient ridge and an esthetic emergence
      profile. Interpositional graft technique is a simpler and predictable technique
      for pontic site development in moderate cases of bucco-lingual ridge deficiency. 

PMID- 27621551
TI  - Multidisciplinary approach for reconstruction of cranial defect with polymethyl
      methacrylate resin reinforced with titanium mesh.
AB  - Cranial defects occur most commonly as a sequelae to trauma, the incidence being
      as high as 70%. The successful management of a case of trauma in an emergency
      situation requires quick evacuation of the hematoma, repair of the dura, and the
      scalp but not necessarily the integrity of the calvarial segment as an immediate
      measure. So the reconstruction of the calvarial defect in these cases is mostly
      carried out as a secondary procedure. Various materials are used for
      reconstruction of cranial defects, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin being one
      of them. In this article, we report a case which was successfully treated by PMMA
      resin in combination with a titanium mesh for reconstruction of the cranial
      defect as a secondary procedure. 

PMID- 27621553
TI  - Management of a rare case of idiopathic multiple unerupted impacted permanent
      teeth in an adult female patient.
AB  - This clinical case report describes the multi-disciplinary approach in the
      management of an unusual presentation of idiopathic multiple unerupted impacted
      permanent teeth in a 20-year-old female patient. The case was unique in that, not
      only were there multiple missing permanent teeth, but also over retained
      deciduous teeth and attrited existing permanent teeth with loss of vertical
      dimension of occlusion. Since the patient was young, it was decided to retain all
      the erupted permanent teeth and extract the infected deciduous teeth with the
      objective of fabricating overlay complete dentures. This is a simple, reversible
      and an economical treatment modality, which satisfies both the esthetic and
      functional demands where the extraction of teeth is not generally indicated and,
      in addition, provides a stable occlusion. 

PMID- 27621554
TI  - Fabrication of new restorations with a consideration of oral hygiene.
AB  - Maintenance of adequate and effective oral hygiene is crucial for the long-term
      success of any dental therapy. This article discusses a case that failed due to
      the poor oral hygiene of the patient. Fabrication of uncomplicated restorations,
      patient education, motivation, maintenance and recall are important factors to be
      considered when treatment planning patients with poor oral hygiene. 

PMID- 27621555
TI  - Pneumatic impression: Improving dental arch impression with an inflatable
      balloon.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this impression technique is to overcome the problem
      associated with restricted mouth opening in association with high arched palate
      by employing pneumatic impression technique using latex balloon. METHODS: A stock
      tray was modified with auto polymerizing acrylic resin. On the modified tray, a
      latex balloon was attached with aid of cyanoacrylate. The outlet of the balloon
      was then connected to a clinical sphygmomanometer bulb with the rubber pipe for
      air passage which would aid in inflating the balloon. The prepared tray assembly
      was then equipped for recording the impression. An adequate amount of addition
      polysiloxane impression material, sufficient to cover the entire area of the
      balloon was loaded onto the tray. The balloon was then inflated with the help of
      a sphygmomanometer bulb which transferred the air only in one direction. On
      completion of setting time of the impression material, the air pressure was
      relieved by deflating of balloon which helped in the easy removal of the
      impression. The impression was subsequently removed from the oral cavity and
      disinfected. CONCLUSION: This novel technique was helpful for recording
      impression in patients presenting with restricted mouth opening and high arched
      palate.

PMID- 27621556
TI  - Bone formation of human mesenchymal stem cells harvested from reaming debris is
      stimulated by low-dose bone morphogenetic protein-7 application in vivo.
AB  - Stimulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) by bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP
      7) leads to superior bone formation in vitro. In this in vivo-study we evaluated
      the use of BMP-7 in combination with MSC isolated from reaming debris (RIA-MSC)
      and iliac crest bone marrow (BMSC) with micro-computed tomography (mCT)-analysis.
      beta-Tricalciumphosphate scaffolds coated with BMSC and RIA-MSC were stimulated
      with three different BMP-7-concentrations and implanted ectopically in severe
      combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Our results demonstrate that RIA-MSC show
      a higher osteogenic potential in vivo compared to BMSC. Ossification increased in
      direct correlation with the BMP-7-dose applied, however low-dose-stimulation by
      BMP-7 was more effective for RIA-MSC. 

PMID- 27621557
TI  - Acetabular anteversion angle from early stage of Perthes disease to adolescence.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess acetabular anteversion angle (AAA) from the
      early stage of Perthes disease to adolescence. METHODS: Twenty-five patients
      treated conservatively were examined. Changes in AAA from initial to final
      measurement were compared between the two groups (G-group: Stulberg classes I and
      II; P-group: classes III and IV). RESULTS: In the G-group, AAA decreased
      significantly in the affected hip compared with the unaffected hip, whereas AAA
      decreased in both hips in the P-group. CONCLUSION: Acetabular retroversion may
      occur only in the affected hip or in both hips; in the latter case, the treatment
      outcome may be poor.

PMID- 27621558
TI  - State of the Globe: What's the Right Test for Diagnosing Rickettseal Diseases.

PMID- 27621559
TI  - Determination of Cutoff of ELISA and Immunofluorescence Assay for Scrub Typhus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most common method employed for diagnosis of scrub typhus is
      serology. It is widely known that demonstration of >=4-fold rise in titers of
      antibody in paired sera is required for diagnosis. However, for guidance of
      initial treatment, there is a need for rapid diagnosis at the time of admission.
      Therefore, there is a need for standardized region specific cutoff titers at the
      time of admission. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 258 patients of all age
      groups with clinically suspected scrub typhus over a period of 24 months (October
      2013-October 2015) were enrolled. Serum samples of these patients were subjected
      to immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) for immunoglobulin M (IgM) (Fuller Labs, USA)
      with dilutions of 1:64, 1:128, 1:256, and 1:512. Serum samples of all 258
      patients were subjected to IgM ELISA (Inbios Inc., USA). Any patient with
      response to antibiotics within 48 h accompanied by either presence of an eschar
      or positivity by polymerase chain reaction was taken as positive. Receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to generate cutoff for these
      tests. RESULTS: A total of 20 patients were diagnosed as cases of scrub typhus.
      The ROC curve analysis revealed a cutoff optical density value of 0.87 with
      sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 94.12%, respectively. ROC curve analysis
      of IFA revealed sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 93.5%, respectively at
      1:64 dilution. CONCLUSION: Considering cost constraints, centers in and around
      New Delhi region can use the cutoffs we determined for the diagnosis of scrub
      typhus.

PMID- 27621560
TI  - PCR and Genotyping for HPV in Cervical Cancer Patients.
AB  - AIMS: To devise nested multiplex polymerase chain reaction (NMPCR) protocol for
      detection of mucosal human papilloma viruses (HPVs) and typing of HPV-16 and -18
      in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of carcinoma cervix (CaCx).
      SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      NMPCR was done for simultaneous detection of HPV, targeting 134 bp L1 capsid gene
      employing GP+/mGP+ primers and typing of genotypes-16 and -18, targeting E6/E7
      gene from 34 FFPE tissue blocks of CaCx and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
      (CIN). Detection of 142 bp consensus sequence of L1 capsid gene was performed by
      nested PCR employing MY/GP+ primers. Sequencing of selected PCR amplicons of the
      later protocol obtained from control cell line DNA and 5 select samples were done
      for validation of the NMPCR protocol. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Calculation of
      percentage from the Microsoft Excel Software. RESULTS: Of 26 FFPE samples of
      CaCx, 17 (65.3%) samples were found positive for HPV by NMPCR. Amplicons of 142
      bp L1 capsid gene employing MY/GP+ primers were observed in 11 (42.3%) samples of
      CaCx. Nearly 25% samples of CIN were positive for HPV. On sequence analysis, it
      was observed that the sample typed as HPV-16 by NMPCR was found to be the same on
      sequencing of amplicons obtained after MY/GP+ nested PCR. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      indicates the usefulness of our NMPCR protocol for detection of mucosal HPVs and
      typing of HPV-16 and -18 from FFPE tissue samples of CaCx. The NMPCR protocol may
      be used to detect HPV and type common genotypes-16 and -18 in fresh tissue of
      cervical biopsy or scrape samples for screening of CaCx.

PMID- 27621561
TI  - Phylogenetic Analysis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Group B.
AB  - CONTEXT: Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infections are mainly
      restricted to West Africa; however, in the recent years, the prevalence of HIV-2
      is a growing concern in some European countries and the Southwestern region of
      India. Despite the presence of different HIV-2 groups, only A and B Groups have
      established human-to-human transmission chains. AIMS: This work aimed to evaluate
      the phylogeographic inference of HIV-2 Group B worldwide to estimate their data
      of origin and the population dynamics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The evolutionary
      rates, the demographic history for HIV-2 Group B dataset, and the phylogeographic
      analysis were estimated using a Bayesian approach. The viral gene flow analysis
      was used to count viral gene out/in flow among different locations. RESULTS: The
      root of the Bayesian maximum clade credibility tree of HIV-2 Group B dated back
      to 1957. The demographic history of HIV-2 Group B showed that the epidemic
      remained constant up to 1970 when started an exponential growth. From 1985 to
      early 2000s, the epidemic reached a plateau, and then it was characterized by two
      bottlenecks and a new plateau at the end of 2000s. Phylogeographic reconstruction
      showed that the most probable location for the root of the tree was Ghana.
      Regarding the viral gene flow of HIV-2 Group B, the only observed viral gene flow
      was from Africa to France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. CONCLUSIONS: The study gives
      insights into the origin, history, and phylogeography of HIV-2 Group B epidemic.
      The growing number of infections of HIV-2 worldwide indicates the need for
      strengthening surveillance.

PMID- 27621562
TI  - Clinically Profiling Pediatric Patients with Dengue.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical profile and outcome of dengue fever in children
      at a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All children (0
      12 years of age) diagnosed and confirmed as dengue fever from August 2012 to
      January 2015 were reviewed retrospectively from hospital case records as per the
      revised World Health Organization guidelines for dengue fever. The diagnosis was
      confirmed by NS1 antigen-based ELISA test or dengue serology for IgM and IgG
      antibodies, and the data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 statistical software.
      After collecting the data, all the variables were summarized by descriptive
      statistics. RESULTS: Among the 261 confirmed cases of dengue fever non-severe and
      severe dengue infection was seen in 60.9% and 39.1%, respectively. The mean age
      (standard deviation) of the presentation was 6.9 + 3.3 years and male: female
      ratio was 1.2:1. The most common clinical manifestations were fever (94.6%),
      conjunctival congestion (89.6%), myalgia (81.9%), coryza (79.7%), headache
      (75.1%), palmar erythema (62.8%), and retro-orbital pain (51.3%). The common
      early warning signs at the time of admission were persistent vomiting (75.1%),
      liver enlargement (59.8%), cold and clammy extremities (45.2%), pain abdomen
      (31.0%), hypotension (29.5%), restlessness (26.4%), giddiness (23.0%), bleeding
      (19.9%), and oliguria (18.4%). The common manifestation of severe dengue
      infection was shock (39.1%), bleeding (19.9%), and multi-organ dysfunction
      (2.3%). The most common complications were liver dysfunction, acute respiratory
      distress syndrome, encephalopathy, pleural effusion, ascites, myocarditis,
      myositis, acute kidney injury, and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.
      Platelet count did not always correlate well with the severity of bleeding. There
      were six deaths (2.3%) and out of them four presented with impaired consciousness
      (66.6%). The common causes for poor outcome were multiorgan failure,
      encephalopathy, and fluid refractory shock. CONCLUSION: There has been a
      resurgence of dengue fever with a change in the pattern of presentation during
      the recent epidemics. Clinical vigilance and awareness regarding the changing
      epidemic pattern and timely detection of cases are vital to reduce mortality and
      morbidity due to severe dengue infection.

PMID- 27621563
TI  - Pneumococcal Vertebral Osteomyelitis after Epidural Injection: A Rare Event.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae vertebral infections have rarely been reported. Herein,
      we report a case of pneumococcal vertebral osteomyelitis with paraspinal and
      epidural abscesses as well as concomitant bacteremia following epidural
      injection. This will be the second case in the literature reporting pneumococcal
      vertebral osteomyelitis related to epidural manipulation. 

PMID- 27621564
TI  - Right-sided Infective Endocarditis in an Indian Intensive Care Unit.

PMID- 27621565
TI  - Polymyxin-B Combination Therapy - A Dire Need to Safeguard Our Last Hope.

PMID- 27621566
TI  - Pancreatic cancer: Are "liquid biopsies" ready for prime-time?
AB  - Pancreatic cancer is a disease that carries a poor prognosis. Accurate tissue
      diagnosis is required. Tumours contain a high content of stromal tissue and
      therefore biopsies may be inconclusive. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have been
      investigated as a potential "liquid biopsy" in several malignancies and have
      proven to be of prognostic value in breast, prostate and colorectal cancers. They
      have been detected in patients with localised and metastatic pancreatic cancer
      with sensitivities ranging from 38%-100% using a variety of platforms.
      Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has also been detected in pancreas cancer with a
      sensitivity ranging from 26%-100% in studies across different platforms and using
      different genetic markers. However, there is no clear consensus on which platform
      is the most effective for detection, nor which genetic markers are the most
      useful to use. Potential roles of liquid biopsies include diagnosis, screening,
      guiding therapies and prognosis. The presence of CTCs or ctDNA has been shown to
      be of prognostic value both at diagnosis and after treatment in patients with
      pancreatic cancer. However, more prospective studies are required before this
      promising technology is ready for adoption into routine clinical practice. 

PMID- 27621568
TI  - Changes in cellular mechanical properties during onset or progression of
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) development represents a multistep process starting with
      specific mutations that affect proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. These
      mutations confer a selective growth advantage to colonic epithelial cells that
      form first dysplastic crypts, and then malignant tumours and metastases. All
      these steps are accompanied by deep mechanical changes at the cellular and the
      tissue level. A growing consensus is emerging that such modifications are not
      merely a by-product of the malignant progression, but they could play a relevant
      role in the cancer onset and accelerate its progression. In this review, we focus
      on recent studies investigating the role of the biomechanical signals in the
      initiation and the development of CRC. We show that mechanical cues might
      contribute to early phases of the tumour initiation by controlling the Wnt
      pathway, one of most important regulators of cell proliferation in various
      systems. We highlight how physical stimuli may be involved in the differentiation
      of non-invasive cells into metastatic variants and how metastatic cells modify
      their mechanical properties, both stiffness and adhesion, to survive the
      mechanical stress associated with intravasation, circulation and extravasation. A
      deep comprehension of these mechanical modifications may help scientist to define
      novel molecular targets for the cure of CRC. 

PMID- 27621567
TI  - Modulation of microbiota as treatment for intestinal inflammatory disorders: An
      uptodate.
AB  - Alterations of intestinal microflora may significantly contribute to the
      pathogenesis of different inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. There is
      emerging interest on the role of selective modulation of microflora in inducing
      benefits in inflammatory intestinal disorders, by as probiotics, prebiotics,
      synbiotics, antibiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). To summarize
      recent evidences on microflora modulation in main intestinal inflammatory
      disorders, PubMed was searched using terms microbiota, intestinal flora,
      probiotics, prebiotics, fecal transplantation. More than three hundred articles
      published up to 2015 were selected and reviewed. Randomized placebo-controlled
      trials and meta-analysis were firstly included, mainly for probiotics. A meta
      analysis was not performed because of the heterogeneity of these studies. Most of
      relevant data derived from studies on probiotics, reporting some efficacy in
      ulcerative colitis and in pouchitis, while disappointing results are available
      for Crohn's disease. Probiotic supplementation may significantly reduce rates of
      rotavirus diarrhea. Efficacy of probiotics in NSAID enteropathy and irritable
      bowel syndrome is still controversial. Finally, FMT has been recently recognized
      as an efficacious treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.
      Modulation of intestinal flora represents a very interesting therapeutic target,
      although it still deserves some doubts and limitations. Future studies should be
      encouraged to provide new understanding about its therapeutical role. 

PMID- 27621569
TI  - Multisciplinary management of patients with liver metastasis from colorectal
      cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death.
      Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have been till now the main therapeutic
      strategies for disease control and improvement of the overall survival. Twenty
      five per cent (25%) of CRC patients have clinically detectable liver metastases
      at the initial diagnosis and approximately 50% develop liver metastases during
      their disease course. Twenty-thirty per cent (20%-30%) are CRC patients with
      metastases confined to the liver. Some years ago various studies showed a
      curative potential for liver metastases resection. For this reason some authors
      proposed the conversion of unresectable liver metastases to resectable to achieve
      cure. Since those results were published, a lot of regimens have been studied for
      resectability potential. Better results could be obtained by the combination of
      chemotherapy with targeted drugs, such as anti-VEGF and anti-EGFR monoclonal
      antibodies. However an accurate selection for patients to treat with these
      regimens and to operate for liver metastases is mandatory to reduce the risk of
      complications. A multidisciplinary team approach represents the best way for a
      proper patient management. The team needs to include surgeons, oncologists,
      diagnostic and interventional radiologists with expertise in hepatobiliary
      disease, molecular pathologists, and clinical nurse specialists. This review
      summarizes the most important findings on surgery and systemic treatment of CRC
      related liver metastases. 

PMID- 27621570
TI  - Integrated approach to colorectal anastomotic leakage: Communication, infection
      and healing disturbances.
AB  - Colorectal anastomotic leakage (CAL) remains a major complication after
      colorectal surgery. Despite all efforts during the last decades, the incidence of
      CAL has not decreased. In this review, we summarize the available strategies
      regarding prevention, prediction and intervention of CAL and categorize them into
      three categories: communication, infection and healing disturbances. These three
      major factors actively interact during the onset of CAL. We aim to provide an
      integrated approach to CAL based on its etiology. The intraoperative air leak
      test, intraoperative endoscopy, radiological examinations and stoma construction
      mainly aim to detect and to prevent communication between the intra- and extra
      luminal content. Other strategies including postoperative drainage, antibiotics,
      and infectious-parameter evaluation are intended to detect and prevent
      anastomotic or peritoneal infection. Most currently available interventions for
      CAL focus on the control of communication and infection, while strategies
      targeting the healing disturbances such as lifestyle changes, oxygen therapy and
      evaluation of metabolic biomarkers still lack wide clinical application. This
      simplified categorization may contribute to an integrated understanding of CAL.
      We strongly believe that this integrated approach should be taken into
      consideration during clinical practice. An integrated approach to CAL could
      contribute to a better understanding of the etiology of CAL and eventually better
      patient outcome. 

PMID- 27621571
TI  - Transient elastography (FibroScan((r))) with controlled attenuation parameter in
      the assessment of liver steatosis and fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease - Where do we stand?
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic
      liver disease worldwide. Currently, the routinely used modalities are unable to
      adequately determine the levels of steatosis and fibrosis (laboratory tests and
      ultrasonography) or cannot be applied as a screening procedure (liver biopsy).
      Among the non-invasive tests, transient elastography (FibroScan((r)), TE) with
      controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) has demonstrated good accuracy in
      quantifying the levels of liver steatosis and fibrosis in patients with NAFLD,
      the factors associated with the diagnosis and NAFLD progression. The method is
      fast, reliable and reproducible, with good intra- and interobserver levels of
      agreement, thus allowing for population-wide screening and disease follow-up. The
      initial inability of the procedure to accurately determine fibrosis and steatosis
      in obese patients has been addressed with the development of the obese-specific
      XL probe. TE with CAP is a viable alternative to ultrasonography, both as an
      initial assessment and during follow-up of patients with NAFLD. Its ability to
      exclude patients with advanced fibrosis may be used to identify low-risk NAFLD
      patients in whom liver biopsy is not needed, therefore reducing the risk of
      complications and the financial costs. 

PMID- 27621572
TI  - Supportive therapies for prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and
      preservation of liver function.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancers in the world and
      is associated with a high risk of recurrence. The development of a wide range of
      new therapies is therefore essential. In this study, from the perspective of
      supportive therapy for the prevention of HCC recurrence and preservation of liver
      function in HCC patients, we surveyed a variety of different therapeutic agents.
      We show that branched chain amino acids (BCAA) supplementation and late evening
      snack with BCAA, strategies that address issues of protein-energy malnutrition,
      are important for liver cirrhotic patients with HCC. For chemoprevention of HCC
      recurrence, we show that viral control after radical treatment is important. We
      also reviewed the therapeutic potential of antiviral drugs, sorafenib,
      peretinoin, iron chelators. Sorafenib is a kinase inhibitor and a standard
      therapy in the treatment of advanced HCC. Peretinoin is a vitamin A-like molecule
      that targets the retinoid nuclear receptor to induce apoptosis and inhibit tumor
      growth in HCC cells. Iron chelators, such as deferoxamine and deferasirox, act to
      prevent cancer cell growth. These chelators may have potential as combination
      therapies in conjunction with peretinoin. Finally, we review the potential
      inhibitory effect of bone marrow cells on hepatocarcinogenesis. 

PMID- 27621573
TI  - Current hepatitis B virus infection situation in Indonesia and its genetic
      diversity.
AB  - Indonesia has a moderate to high endemicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
      The risk for chronic HBV infection is highest among those infected during
      infancy. Since 1997, hepatitis B (HepB) vaccination of newborns has been fully
      integrated into the National Immunization Program. Although HBV infection has
      been reduced by the universal newborn HepB immunization program, it continues to
      occur in Indonesia. The low birth dose coverage and the presence of vaccine
      escape mutants might contribute to this endemicity among children. Although
      limited information is available for an analysis of occult HBV infection (OBI),
      several variations and substitutions in the pre-S/S region have been detected in
      Indonesian HBV strains. Additionally, persistent infection and disease
      progression of chronic hepatitis B are related to not only viral factors but also
      the host genome. Indonesia is one of the most ethnically heterogeneous nations,
      with Javanese and Sundanese as the two highest ethnic groups. This multi
      ethnicity makes genomic research in Indonesia difficult. In this article, we
      focused on and reviewed the following aspects: the current hepatitis B
      immunization program and its efficacy, OBI, HBV infection among high-risk
      patients, such as hemodialysis patients, and research regarding the host genome
      in Indonesia. 

PMID- 27621575
TI  - Management of hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombosis: Review
      and update at 2016.
AB  - Portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) is a common phenomenon in hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC). Compared to HCC without PVTT, HCC with PVTT is characterized by
      an aggressive disease course, worse hepatic function, a higher chance of
      complications related to portal hypertension and poorer tolerance to treatment.
      Conventionally, HCC with PVTT is grouped together with metastatic HCC during the
      planning of its management, and most patients are offered palliative treatment
      with sorafenib or other systemic agents. As a result, most data on the management
      of HCC with PVTT comes from subgroup analyses or retrospective series. In the
      past few years, there have been several updates on management of HCC with PVTT.
      First, it is evident that HCC with PVTT consists of heterogeneous subgroups with
      different prognoses. Different classifications have been proposed to stage the
      degree of portal vein invasion/thrombosis, suggesting that different treatment
      modalities may be individualized to patients with different risks. Second, more
      studies indicate that more aggressive treatment, including surgical resection or
      locoregional treatment, may benefit select HCC patients with PVTT. In this
      review, we aim to discuss the recent conceptual changes and summarize the data on
      the management of HCC with PVTT. 

PMID- 27621574
TI  - Perspectives on the combination of radiotherapy and targeted therapy with DNA
      repair inhibitors in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer is highly lethal. Current research that combines radiation with
      targeted therapy may dramatically improve prognosis. Cancerous cells are
      characterized by unstable genomes and activation of DNA repair pathways, which
      are indicated by increased phosphorylation of numerous factors, including H2AX,
      ATM, ATR, Chk1, Chk2, DNA-PKcs, Rad51, and Ku70/Ku80 heterodimers. Radiotherapy
      causes DNA damage. Cancer cells can be made more sensitive to the effects of
      radiation (radiosensitization) through inhibition of DNA repair pathways. The
      synergistic effects, of two or more combined non-lethal treatments, led to co
      administration of chemotherapy and radiosensitization in BRCA-defective cells and
      patients, with promising results. ATM/Chk2 and ATR/Chk1 pathways are principal
      regulators of cell cycle arrest, following DNA double-strand or single-strand
      breaks. DNA double-stranded breaks activate DNA-dependent protein kinase,
      catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). It forms a holoenzyme with Ku70/Ku80 heterodimers,
      called DNA-PK, which catalyzes the joining of nonhomologous ends. This is the
      primary repair pathway utilized in human cells after exposure to ionizing
      radiation. Radiosensitization, induced by inhibitors of ATM, ATR, Chk1, Chk2,
      Wee1, PP2A, or DNA-PK, has been demonstrated in preclinical pancreatic cancer
      studies. Clinical trials are underway. Development of agents that inhibit DNA
      repair pathways to be clinically used in combination with radiotherapy is
      warranted for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. 

PMID- 27621578
TI  - Protein and gene expression characteristics of heterogeneous nuclear
      ribonucleoprotein H1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the expression characteristics of heterogeneous nuclear
      ribonucleoprotein H1 (HNRNPH1) mRNA and protein in cell lines and tissues of
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Western blotting was used to
      assess the expression of HNRNPH1 protein in seven ESCC cell lines and 30 paired
      fresh tissue specimens. The subcellular localization of HNRNPH1 was determined by
      immunofluorescence in ESCC cells. The RNA sequencing data from 87 patients with
      ESCC were obtained from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA), and the expression and
      clinical characteristics analysis of different transcript variants of HNRNPH1
      were evaluated in this dataset. In addition, immunohistochemistry was carried out
      to detect the expression of HNRNPH1 protein in 125 patients. RESULTS: The
      expression of HNRNPH1 protein varied across different ESCC cell lines. It was
      exclusively restricted to the nucleus of the ESCC cells. There are two transcript
      variants of the HNRNPH1 gene. Variant 1 was constitutively expressed, and its
      expression did not change during tumorigenesis. In contrast, levels of variant 2
      were low in non-tumorous tissues and were dramatically increased in ESCC (P =
      0.0026). The high levels of variant 2 were associated with poorer differentiated
      tumors (P = 0.0287). Furthermore, in paired fresh tissue specimens, HNRNPH1
      protein was overexpressed in 73.3% (22/30) of neoplastic tissues. HNRNPH1 was
      significantly upregulated in ESCC, with strong staining in 43.2% (54/125) of
      tumor tissues and 22.4% (28/125) of matched non-cancerous tissues (P = 0.0005).
      Positive HNRNPH1 expression was significantly associated with poor tumor
      differentiation degree (P = 0.0337). CONCLUSION: The different alternative
      transcript variants of HNRNPH1 exhibited different expression changes during
      tumorigenesis. Its mRNA and protein were overexpressed in ESCC and associated
      with poorer differentiation of tumor cells. These findings highlight the
      potential of HNRNPH1 in the therapy and diagnosis of ESCC.

PMID- 27621577
TI  - Technical advances in external radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Radiotherapy techniques have substantially improved in the last two decades.
      After the introduction of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, radiotherapy has
      been increasingly used for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
      Currently, more advanced techniques, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy
      (IMRT), stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), and charged particle
      therapy, are used for the treatment of HCC. IMRT can escalate the tumor dose
      while sparing the normal tissue even though the tumor is large or located near
      critical organs. SABR can deliver a very high radiation dose to small HCCs in a
      few fractions, leading to high local control rates of 84%-100%. Various advanced
      imaging modalities are used for radiotherapy planning and delivery to improve the
      precision of radiotherapy. These advanced techniques enable the delivery of high
      dose radiotherapy for early to advanced HCCs without increasing the radiation
      induced toxicities. However, as there have been no effective tools for the
      prediction of the response to radiotherapy or recurrences within or outside the
      radiation field, future studies should focus on selecting the patients who will
      benefit from radiotherapy. 

PMID- 27621576
TI  - Pancreatic cancer: Open or minimally invasive surgery?
AB  - Pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma is one of the most fatal malignancies, with R0
      resection remaining the most important part of treatment of this malignancy.
      However, pancreatectomy is believed to be one of the most challenging procedures
      and R0 resection remains the only chance for patients with pancreatic cancer to
      have a good prognosis. Some surgeons have tried minimally invasive pancreatic
      surgery, but the short- and long-term outcomes of pancreatic malignancy remain
      controversial between open and minimally invasive procedures. We collected
      comparative data about minimally invasive and open pancreatic surgery. The
      available evidence suggests that minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy
      (MIPD) is as safe and feasible as open PD (OPD), and shows some benefit, such as
      less intraoperative blood loss and shorter postoperative hospital stay. Despite
      the limited evidence for MIPD in pancreatic cancer, most of the available data
      show that the short-term oncological adequacy is similar between MIPD and OPD.
      Some surgical techniques, including superior mesenteric artery-first approach and
      laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy with major vein resection, are believed to
      improve the rate of R0 resection. Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is less
      technically demanding and is accepted in more pancreatic centers. It is
      technically safe and feasible and has similar short-term oncological prognosis
      compared with open distal pancreatectomy. 

PMID- 27621579
TI  - Effects of sleeve gastrectomy with jejuno-jejunal or jejuno-ileal loop on
      glycolipid metabolism in diabetic rats.
AB  - AIM: To explore the effect of sleeve gastrectomy (SG) with jejuno-jejunal or
      jejuno-ileal loop on glycolipid metabolism in diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetic
      rats, which were induced by high-fat diet (HFD), nicotinamide and low-dose
      streptozotocin, underwent sham operations, SG, SG with jejuno-ileal loop (SG-JI)
      and SG with jejuno-jejunal loop (SG-JJ) followed by postoperative HFD. Then, at
      the time points of baseline and 2, 12 and 24 wk postoperatively, we determined
      and compared several variables, including the area under the curve for the
      results of oral glucose tolerance test (AUCOGTT), serum levels of triglyceride,
      cholesterol and ghrelin in fasting state, homeostasis model assessment of insulin
      resistance (HOMA-IR), body weight, calorie intake, glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1
      and insulin secretions after glucose gavage at dose of 1 g/kg. RESULTS: At 2 wk
      postoperatively, rats that underwent SG, SG-JJ and SG-JI, compared with sham
      operated (SHAM) rats, demonstrated lower body weight, calorie intake and ghrelin
      (P < 0.05 vs SHAM), enhanced secretion of insulin and GLP-1 after glucose gavage
      (P < 0.05 vs SHAM), improved AUCOGTT, HOMA-IR, fasting serum triglyceride and
      cholesterol (AUCOGTT: 1616.9 +/- 83.2, 837.4 +/- 83.7, 874.9 +/- 97.2 and 812.6
      +/- 81.9, P < 0.05 vs SHAM; HOMA-IR: 4.31 +/- 0.54, 2.94 +/- 0.22, 3.17 +/- 0.37
      and 3.41 +/- 0.22, P < 0.05 vs SHAM; Triglyceride: 2.35 +/- 0.17, 1.87 +/- 0.23,
      1.98 +/- 0.30 and 2.04 +/- 0.21 mmol/L, P < 0.05 vs SHAM; Cholesterol: 1.84 +/-
      0.21, 1.53 +/- 0.20, 1.52 +/- 0.20 and 1.46 +/- 0.23 mmol/L). At 12 wk
      postoperatively, rats receiving SG-JJ and SG-JI had lower body weight, reduced
      levels of triglyceride and cholesterol and elevated level of GLP-1 compared to
      those receiving SG (P < 0.05 vs SG). At 24 wk after surgery, compared with SG,
      the advantage of SG-JJ and SG-JI for glucolipid metabolism was still evident (P <
      0.05 vs SG). SG-JI had a better performance in lipid metabolism and GLP-1
      secretion of rats than did SG-JJ. CONCLUSION: SG combined with intestinal loop
      induces better glycolipid metabolism than simple SG, with the lipid metabolism
      being more improved with SG-JI compared to SG-JJ.

PMID- 27621580
TI  - Synergistic anticancer effect of exogenous wild-type p53 gene combined with 5-FU
      in human colon cancer resistant to 5-FU in vivo.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the anticancer effect of a recombinant adenovirus-mediated
      p53 (rAd-p53) combined with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in human colon cancer resistant
      to 5-FU in vivo and the mechanism of rAd-p53 in reversal of 5-FU resistance.
      METHODS: Nude mice bearing human colon cancer SW480/5-FU (5-FU resistant) were
      randomly assigned to four groups (n = 25 each): control group, 5-FU group, rAd
      p53 group, and rAd-p53 + 5-FU group. At 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 120 h and 168 h after
      treatment, 5 mice were randomly selected from each group and sacrificed using an
      overdose of anesthetics. The tumors were removed and the protein expressions of
      p53, protein kinase C (PKC), permeability-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug
      resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) (Western blot) and apoptosis (TUNEL) were
      determined. RESULTS: The area ratios of tumor cell apoptosis were larger in the
      rAd/p53 + 5-FU group than that in the control, 5-FU and rAd/p53 groups (P <
      0.05), and were larger in the rAd/p53 group than that of the control group (P <
      0.05) and the 5-FU group at more than 48 h (P < 0.05). The p53 expression was
      higher in the rAd/p53 and the rAd/p53 + 5-FU groups than that of the control and
      5-FU groups (P < 0.05), and were higher in the rAd/p53 + 5-FU group than that of
      the rAd/p53 group (P < 0.05). Overexpression of PKC, P-gp and MRP1 was observed
      in the 5-FU and control groups. In the rAd/p53 + 5-FU group, the expression of P
      gp and MRP1 was lower that of the control and 5-FU groups (P < 0.05), and the
      expression of PKC was lower than that of the control, 5-FU and rAd/p53 groups at
      more than 48 h (P < 0.05). In the rAd/p53 group, the expression of P-gp and MRP1
      was lower that of the control and 5-FU groups at more than 48 h (P < 0.05), and
      the expression of PKC was lower than that of the control and 5-FU groups at more
      than 120 h (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: 5-FU combined with rAd-p53 has a synergistic
      anticancer effect in SW480/5-FU (5-FU resistance), which contributes to reversal
      of 5-FU resistance.

PMID- 27621581
TI  - Effects of different diets on intestinal microbiota and nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease development.
AB  - AIM: To study the effects of different diets on intestinal microbiota and
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development at the same caloric intake.
      METHODS: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into five groups (six
      rats each). The control diet (CON) group and free high-fat diet (FFAT) group were
      allowed ad libitum access to a normal chow diet and a high-fat diet,
      respectively. The restrictive high-fat diet (RFAT) group, restrictive high-sugar
      diet (RSUG) group, and high-protein diet (PRO) group were fed a high-fat diet, a
      high-sugar diet, and a high-protein diet, respectively, in an isocaloric way. All
      rats were killed at 12 wk. Body weight, visceral fat index (visceral fat/body
      weight), liver index (liver/body weight), insulin resistance, portal
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), serum aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST), and liver triglycerides were measured. The intestinal
      microbiota in the different groups of rats was sequenced using high-throughput
      sequencing technology. RESULTS: The FFAT group had higher body weight, visceral
      fat index, liver index, peripheral insulin resistance, portal LPS, serum ALT,
      serum AST, and liver triglycerides compared with all other groups (P < 0.05).
      Taking the same calories, the RFAT and RSUG groups demonstrated increased body
      weight, visceral fat index, peripheral insulin resistance and liver triglycerides
      compared with the PRO group (P < 0.05). The RFAT group also showed increased
      portal LPS compared with the PRO group (P < 0.05). Unweighted UniFrac principal
      coordinates analysis of the sequencing data revealed that the intestinal
      microbiota structures of the CON, FFAT, RSUG and PRO groups were roughly
      separated away from each other. Taxon-based analysis showed that, compared with
      the CON group, the FFAT group had an increased abundance of Firmicutes, Roseburia
      and Oscillospira bacteria, a higher ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, and a
      decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes, Bacteroides and Parabacteroides bacteria (P
      < 0.05). The RFAT group showed an increased abundance of Firmicutes and decreased
      abundance of Parabacteroides bacteria (P < 0.05). The RSUG group showed an
      increased abundance of Bacteroidetes and Sutterella bacteria, higher ratio of
      Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes, and a decreased abundance of Firmicutes (P < 0.05).
      The PRO group showed an increased abundance of Bacteroidetes, Prevotella,
      Oscillospira and Sutterella bacteria, and a decreased abundance of Firmicutes (P
      < 0.05). Compared with the FFAT group, the RFAT group had an increased abundance
      of Bacteroidetes, higher ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes, and decreased
      abundance of Firmicutes and Oscillospira bacteria (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Compared with the high-protein diet, the NAFLD-inducing effects of high-fat and
      high-sugar diets are independent from calories, and may be associated with
      changed intestinal microbiota.

PMID- 27621582
TI  - Prevalence of colorectal neoplasms in young, average risk individuals: A turning
      tide between East and West.
AB  - AIM: To determine the prevalence of colorectal neoplasia in average risk persons
      40-59 years of age in Israel and to compare the results with other populations.
      METHODS: We reviewed the results of asymptomatic average-risk subjects, aged 40
      to 59 years, undergoing their first screening colonoscopy between April 1994 and
      January 2014. The detection rates of adenoma, advanced adenoma (AA) and
      colorectal cancer (CRC) were determined in the 40's and 50's age groups by
      gender. The prevalence of lesions was compared between age groups. After
      meticulous review of the literature, these results were compared to published
      studies addressing the prevalence of colorectal neoplasia in similar patient
      groups, in a variety of geographical locations. RESULTS: We included first
      screening colonoscopy results of 1750 individuals. The prevalence of adenomas, AA
      and CRC was 8.3%, 1.0% and 0.2% in the 40-49 age group and 13.7%, 2.4% and 0.2%
      in the 50-59 age group, respectively. Age-dependent differences in adenoma and AA
      rates were significant only among men (P < 0.005). Literature review disclosed 17
      relevant studies. As expected, in both Asian and Western populations, the risks
      for overall adenoma and advanced adenoma was significantly higher in the 50's age
      group as compared to the 40's age group in a similar fashion. The result of the
      current study were similar to previous studies on Western populations. A
      substantially higher rate of adenoma, was observed in studies conducted among
      Asian populations in both age groups. CONCLUSION: The higher rate of colorectal
      neoplasia in Asian populations requires further investigation and reconsideration
      as to the starting age of screening in that population.

PMID- 27621583
TI  - Carbon dioxide insufflation in esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection
      reduces mediastinal emphysema: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.
AB  - AIM: To assess the efficacy of CO2 insufflation for reduction of mediastinal
      emphysema (ME) immediately after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). METHODS:
      A total of 46 patients who were to undergo esophageal ESD were randomly assigned
      to receive either CO2 insufflation (CO2 group, n = 24) or air insufflation (Air
      group, n = 22). Computed tomography (CT) was carried out immediately after ESD
      and the next morning. Pain and abdominal distention were chronologically recorded
      using a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). The volume of residual gas in the
      digestive tract was measured using CT imaging. RESULTS: The incidence of ME
      immediately after ESD in the CO2 group was significantly lower than that in the
      Air group (17% vs 55%, P = 0.012). The incidence of ME the next morning was 8.3%
      vs 32% respectively (P = 0.066). There were no differences in pain scores or
      distention scores at any post-procedure time points. The volume of residual gas
      in the digestive tract immediately after ESD was significantly smaller in the CO2
      group than that in the Air group (808 mL vs 1173 mL, P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: CO2
      insufflation during esophageal ESD significantly reduced postprocedural ME. CO2
      insufflation also reduced the volume of residual gas in the digestive tract
      immediately after ESD, but not the VAS scores of pain and distention.

PMID- 27621584
TI  - Does massive intraabdominal free gas require surgical intervention?
AB  - We describe a rare case of an 81-year-old man who presented with severe
      epigastralgia. A chest radiograph showed massive free gas bilaterally in the
      diaphragmatic spaces. Computed tomography (CT) scan also showed massive free gas
      in the peritoneal cavity with portal venous gas. We used a wait-and-see approach
      and carefully considered surgery again when the time was appropriate. The patient
      received conservative therapy with fasting, an intravenous infusion of
      antibiotics, and nasogastric intubation. The patient soon recovered and was able
      to start eating meals 4 d after treatment; thus, surgical intervention was
      avoided. Thereafter, colonoscopy examination showed pneumatosis cystoides
      intestinalis in the ascending colon. On retrospective review, CT scan
      demonstrated sporadic air-filled cysts in the ascending colon. The present case
      taught us a lesson: the presence of massive intraabdominal free gas with portal
      venous gas does not necessarily require surgical intervention. Pneumatosis
      cystoides intestinalis should be considered as a potential causative factor of
      free gas with portal venous gas when making the differential diagnosis. 

PMID- 27621585
TI  - Prevalence and factors associated with trachoma among children aged 1-9 years in
      Zala district, Gamo Gofa Zone, Southern Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. It
      is common in areas where people are socioeconomically deprived. Globally,
      approximately 1.2 billion people live in trachoma-endemic areas, in which, 40.6
      million individuals have active trachoma and 8.2 million have trichiasis.
      According to the World Health Organization's 2007 report, globally close to 1.3
      million people are blind due to trachoma, while approximately 84 million suffer
      from active trachoma. The National Survey (2007) of Ethiopia showed a prevalence
      of 40.1% active trachoma among children aged 1-9 years. Trachoma is still endemic
      in most parts of Ethiopia. OBJECTIVE: To assess prevalence of trachoma and
      factors associated with it among children aged 1-9 years in Zala district, Gamo
      Gofa Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region. METHODS: A
      community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Zala district from
      February 28 to March 26, 2014. A total of 611 children were examined for trachoma
      based on the simplified World Health Organization 1983 classification. A
      multistage stratified sampling technique with a systematic random sampling
      technique was used to select study participants. Data were collected by using a
      semistructured pretested questionnaire and clinical eye examination. The data
      were entered using EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 16.
      Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify independently
      associated factors. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of active trachoma cases was
      224 (36.7%) consisting of 207 (92.4%) trachomatous follicles, eight (3.6%)
      trachomatous intense, and nine (4.0%) combination of trachomatous follicle and
      trachomatous intense. Inadequate knowledge of family head about trachoma
      (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =2.8 [95% CI: 1.9, 4.2]); <=10 m latrine distance (AOR
      =1.6 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 1.09, 2.4]); presence of above two preschool
      children (AOR =2.2 [95% CI: 1.3, 3.7]), flies on the face (AOR =6.3 [95% CI: 2.7,
      14.7]), and unclean face (AOR =2.4 [95% CI: 1.5, 3.9]) were found to be
      independently associated with trachoma. CONCLUSION: Trachoma among children in
      Zala district is a disease of public health importance. Factors like inadequate
      knowledge about trachoma by the head of the family, <=10 m latrine distance,
      presence of above two preschool children, flies on the face, and an unclean face
      were independently associated with trachoma among children. So strengthening of
      antibiotic use, face washing, and environmental improvement strategy
      implementation is mandatory.

PMID- 27621586
TI  - Macular pigment optical density: repeatability, intereye correlation, and effect
      of ocular dominance.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate short-term repeatability, intereye correlation, and effect
      of ocular dominance on macular pigment optical density (MPOD) measurements
      obtained using the QuantifEye Heterochromatic Flicker Photometer. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A total of 72 study participants were enrolled in this prospective,
      cross-sectional study. Participants underwent a comprehensive ocular evaluation,
      including visual acuity, evaluation of ocular dominance, slit lamp examination,
      intraocular pressure measurement, and optic nerve head and macula analysis using
      optical coherence tomography and fundus photography. All study participants after
      initial training underwent MPOD measurement twice in both eyes in a randomized
      sequence. The repeatability was tested using Altman and Bland plots for first
      measurements with the second measurements for right eye and left eye and
      additionally by grouping eyes as a function of ocular dominance. The Pearson
      correlation coefficient was performed to assess the intereye correlation of MPOD
      values. RESULTS: The mean age of study participants was 35.5 years (range 22-68
      years). The mean MPOD measurements for OD (right eye) and OS (left eye) were 0.47
      and 0.48, respectively, which followed a normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilk test,
      P=0.6 and 0.2). The 95% limits of agreement of Altman and Bland plots for the
      first and second measurements were -0.12 to +0.11 and -0.13 to +0.12 for OD and
      OS, respectively. The correlation coefficient of mean MPOD measurements of OD and
      OS was r statistic =0.94 (Pearson correlation coefficient P<0.0001; r (2) 0.89).
      The 95% limits of agreement of Altman and Bland plots when evaluated by
      laterality of eye or by ocular dominance were narrow, with limits of agreement
      ranging from -0.13 to +0.12. CONCLUSION: The MPOD measurements obtained using the
      QuantifEye show good short-term repeatability. There is excellent intereye
      correlation, indicating that the MPOD values of one eye data can predict the
      fellow eye value with 89% accuracy. The ocular dominance had no bearing on the
      outcome of this psychophysical test in ocular healthy eyes.

PMID- 27621587
TI  - Contralateral eye-to-eye comparison of intravitreal ranibizumab and a sustained
      release dexamethasone intravitreal implant in recalcitrant diabetic macular
      edema.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of intravitreal ranibizumab (RZB) or
      dexamethasone (DEX) intravitreal implant in cases of recalcitrant diabetic
      macular edema (DME). METHODS: Retrospective, interventional study examining
      patients with symmetric bilateral, center-involved DME recalcitrant to treatment
      with RZB, who received DEX in one eye while the contralateral eye continued to
      receive RZB every 4-5 weeks for a study period of 3 months. RESULTS: Eleven
      patients (22 eyes) were included: mean logarithm of the minimal angle of
      resolution (logMAR) visual acuity (VA) for the DEX arm improved from 0.415
      (standard deviation [SD] +/-0.16) to 0.261 (SD +/-0.18) at final evaluation, and
      mean central macular thickness (CMT) improved from 461 um (SD +/-156) to 356 um
      (SD +/-110; net decrease: 105 um, P=0.01). Mean logMAR VA for the RZB arm
      improved from 0.394 (SD +/-0.31) to 0.269 (SD +/-0.19) at final evaluation. Mean
      CMT improved from 421 um (SD +/-147) to 373 um (SD +/-129; net decrease: 48 um,
      P=0.26). CONCLUSION: A subset of recalcitrant DME patients demonstrated
      significant CMT reduction and VA improvement after a single DEX injection.

PMID- 27621588
TI  - Risk factors for corneal endothelial cell loss by cataract surgery in eyes with
      pseudoexfoliation syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with
      decreases in corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) resulting from cataract
      surgery in eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX). METHODS: The clinical
      records of 78 eyes of 78 patients with PEX who had undergone cataract surgery
      were reviewed. ECD was measured preoperatively and at 3 months postoperatively
      with specular microscopy. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the
      factors that were significantly related to the rate of ECD loss. Explanatory
      variables included age, preoperative ECD, pupil diameter, cataract grade,
      concomitance of glaucoma or diabetes mellitus, preoperative anterior chamber
      depth, surgery time, total time and power of ultrasound, performance of
      intraoperative pupillary enlargement manipulation, and postoperative aqueous
      flare intensity at 1 week and 1 month. RESULTS: ECD before and after surgery was
      2,464+/-337 cells/mm(2) and 2,400+/-347 cells/mm(2), respectively, with an ECD
      loss rate of 2.6%+/-5.1% (mean +/- SD). Multiple regression analysis revealed
      that ECD loss was significantly associated with the cataract grade (P=0.019) and
      preoperative anterior chamber depth (P=0.023). CONCLUSION: With modern small
      incision cataract surgery, the ECD loss varied with surgical invasions due to
      severe cataract and shallow anterior chamber, and the presence of PEX was least
      affected.

PMID- 27621589
TI  - Comparison of self-reported quality of vision outcomes after myopic LASIK with
      two femtosecond lasers: a prospective, eye-to-eye study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare self-reported quality of vision (QoV) outcomes after myopic
      LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) with two femtosecond lasers.
      DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, eye-to-eye study. METHODS: Consecutive myopic
      patients were treated with wavefront-guided LASIK bilaterally. Eyes were
      randomized according to ocular dominance. The flap of one eye was made with the
      IntraLase FS 60 kHz femtosecond laser with a conventional 70 degrees  side-cut,
      and the flap of the fellow eye was made with the IntraLase iFS 150 kHz
      femtosecond laser with an inverted 130 degrees  side-cut. Patients completed the
      validated, Rasch-tested, linear-scaled 30-item QoV questionnaire preoperatively
      and at Months 1, 3, 6, and 12. RESULTS: The study enrolled 120 fellow eyes in 60
      patients. None of the measured QoV parameters exhibited statistically significant
      differences between the groups preoperatively or at any postoperative time point.
      CONCLUSION: Creating LASIK flaps with an inverted side-cut using a 150 kHz
      femtosecond laser and with a conventional 70 degrees  side-cut using a 60 kHz
      femtosecond laser resulted in no significant differences in self-reported QoV
      assessed by the QoV questionnaire.

PMID- 27621590
TI  - Correlation between short-term and long-term intraocular pressure fluctuation in
      glaucoma patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated correlations between short-term and long-term
      intraocular pressure (IOP) fluctuations. METHODS: We examined 50 eyes of glaucoma
      patients who were followed for >2 years. We measured short-term IOP fluctuation
      using a Triggerfish((r)) contact lens sensor (CLS). The short-term IOP
      fluctuation (mVeq) was defined as the difference between the maximum value and
      the minimum value measured during the 24-hour course with CLS. The long-term IOP
      fluctuation was defined by four parameters: 1) the mean IOP (mmHg) determined
      during follow-up; 2) the IOP difference, which was defined as the difference
      between the maximum IOP and the minimum IOP; 3) the standard deviation of IOP;
      and 4) the peak IOP, which was defined as the maximum IOP. Correlations between
      these parameters and the short-term IOP fluctuation were examined. RESULTS: The
      mean follow-up period was 5.4 years. The average IOP was 15.0+/-4.0 mmHg. The
      range of short-term IOP fluctuation identified with CLS was significantly
      correlated with all the four long-term IOP fluctuation parameters. CONCLUSION:
      Short-term IOP fluctuations were found to be associated with long-term IOP
      fluctuations. Examination of 24-hour IOP fluctuations with the CLS might be
      useful for predicting the long-term IOP fluctuation.

PMID- 27621591
TI  - Nanomedical strategy to prolong survival period, heighten cure rate, and lower
      systemic toxicity of S180 mice treated with MTX/MIT.
AB  - In spite of the usual combination form of methotrexate (MTX)/mitoxantrone (MIT)
      and various complex combination regimens of MTX/MIT with other anticancer drugs,
      the survival period, cure rate, and systemic toxicity still need to be improved.
      For this purpose, a nanostructured amino group-modified mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles (MSNN)-MTX/MIT was designed. In the preparation, the surface of
      mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) was modified with amino groups to form
      MSNN. The covalent modification of the amino groups on the surface of MSNN with
      MTX resulted in MSNN-MTX. The loading of MIT into the surface pores of MSNN-MTX
      produced nanostructured MSNN-MTX/MIT. Compared with the usual combination form
      (MTX/MIT), nanostructured MSNN-MTX/MIT increased the survival period greatly,
      heightened the cure rate to a great extent, and lowered the systemic toxicity of
      the treated S180 mice, significantly. These superior in vivo properties of
      nanostructured MSNN-MTX/MIT over the usual combination form (MTX/MIT) were
      correlated with the former selectively releasing MTX and MIT in tumor tissue and
      inside cancer cells in vitro. The chemical structure and the nanostructure of
      MSNN-MTX/MIT were characterized using infrared and differential scanning
      calorimeter spectra as well as transmission electron microscope images,
      respectively. 

PMID- 27621592
TI  - Clinical study in genital herpes: natural Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin versus acyclovir,
      valacyclovir, and famciclovir.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This paper reports the results of a clinical study that tested the
      effect of suppressive treatment with the botanical product Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin
      on the number of genital herpes outbreaks. The results in this study were
      compared to those published in clinical studies of acyclovir, valacyclovir, and
      famciclovir. METHODS: The framework was a retrospective chart review. The
      population included 139 participants. The treatment was one to four capsules of
      Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin per day. The duration of treatment was 2-48 months. The
      study included three controls recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration
      (FDA): baseline, no treatment, and dose response. RESULTS: The treatment
      decreased the number of outbreaks per year in 90.8% of the participants. The
      treatment also decreased the mean number of outbreaks per year from 7.27 and 5.5
      in the control groups to 2.39 (P<0.0001 and P<0.001, respectively). The treated
      participants reported no adverse experiences. Out of the 15 tests that compared
      Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin to the three drugs, Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin had superior
      efficacy in eight tests, inferior efficacy in three tests, and comparable
      efficacy in four tests. Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin also had superior safety.
      CONCLUSION: The clinical study showed that the natural Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin
      decreases the number of genital herpes outbreaks without any side effects. The
      study also showed that the clinical effects reported in this study are mostly
      better than those reported in the reviewed studies of acyclovir, valacyclovir,
      and famciclovir.

PMID- 27621593
TI  - Spotlight on tocilizumab and its potential in the treatment of systemic
      sclerosis.
AB  - Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem disease characterized by extensive
      collagen deposition in skin and internal organs, fibrointimal microvasculopathy,
      and activation of the immune system. T cells and B cells can promote fibrosis in
      SSc. Interleukin (IL)-6 is implicated in the pathogenesis of SSc. IL-6 is
      increased in the peripheral blood and lesional skin from patients with SSc, and
      induces fibroblast collagen production directly and indirectly by inducing
      profibrotic M2 macrophages. IL-6 also induces Th17 differentiation and promotes B
      cell differentiation toward Ig-producing plasma cells. IL-6 is also implicated in
      the pathogenesis of SSc in animal models as it is increased in mice with
      bleomycin-induced fibrosis, whereas neutralization of IL-6 in these mice prevents
      skin fibrosis. IL-6 acts on cells by binding to IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) which is
      transmembrane or soluble, and then recruits the signal-transducing glycoprotein
      130 which is ubiquitously expressed. Tocilizumab is an anti-IL-6R humanized
      monoclonal antibody that blocks IL-6-mediated signaling. Tocilizumab has been
      approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, for
      polyarticular and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and for Castleman's
      disease, and is well tolerated. Case reports and a Phase II, randomized trial in
      SSc have shown some improvement of skin tightness and delayed deterioration of
      lung function. A Phase III randomized trial in SSc is anticipated. 

PMID- 27621594
TI  - Chloroquine improves left ventricle diastolic function in streptozotocin-induced
      diabetic mice.
AB  - Diabetes is a potent risk factor for heart failure with preserved ejection
      fraction (HFpEF). Autophagy can be activated under pathological conditions,
      including diabetic cardiomyopathy. The therapeutic effects of chloroquine (CQ),
      an autophagy inhibitor, on left ventricle function in streptozotocin (STZ)
      induced diabetic mice were investigated. The cardiac function, light chain 3
      (LC3)-II/LC3-I ratio, p62, beclin 1, reactive oxygen species, apoptosis, and
      fibrosis were measured 14 days after CQ (ip 60 mg/kg/d) administration. In STZ
      induced mice, cardiac diastolic function was decreased significantly with normal
      ejection fraction. CQ significantly ameliorated cardiac diastolic function in
      diabetic mice with HFpEF. In addition, CQ decreased the autophagolysosomes,
      cardiomyocyte apoptosis, and cardiac fibrosis but increased LC3-II and p62
      expressions. These results suggested that CQ improved the cardiac diastolic
      function by inhibiting autophagy in STZ-induced HFpEF mice. Autophagic inhibitor
      CQ might be a potential therapeutic agent for HFpEF. 

PMID- 27621595
TI  - The effects of the insulin resistance index on the virologic response to
      entecavir in patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B and nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To further observe and verify the effect of nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD) on the response to antiviral therapy in patients with chronic
      hepatitis B (CHB) and investigate the relationship between the virologic response
      and insulin resistance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was adopted
      and 61 NAFLD patients with HBeAg-positive CHB were included as the observation
      group (group A), and 64 patients with simple CHB were included as the control
      group (group B). RESULTS: After 12 weeks of treatment with entecavir, the total
      virologic response rate in group A was statistically significantly lower than
      that in group B (P<0.05). During weeks 24-96, the difference was not
      statistically significant (P>0.05). In weeks 48 and 96, there was no significant
      difference in the HBeAg seroconversion rates between the two groups (P>0.05). In
      weeks 12 and 24, there was also no significant difference in the alanine
      transaminase (ALT) normalization rate between the two groups (P>0.05). Then, in
      weeks 48 and 96, the ALT normalization rate of group A was obviously lower than
      that of group B (P<0.05). Group A patients were divided into group A1 (<=M) and
      group A2 (>M) according to the median value (M=2.79) of the baseline homeostatic
      model assessment method insulin resistance levels. In weeks 48 and 96, the ALT
      normalization rate of group A1 was significantly higher than that of group A2
      (P<0.05). The correlation coefficient (r) of the baseline homeostatic model
      assessment method insulin resistance level and the severity of fatty liver in
      group A was 0.426 (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: NAFLD cannot affect the long-term total
      virologic response rate and HBeAg seroconversion rate in CHB patients treated
      with entecavir but can reduce the long-term biochemical response rate, which has
      a positive correlation with the severity of fatty liver and the insulin
      resistance index.

PMID- 27621597
TI  - Two Phase II randomized trials on the CRTh2 antagonist AZD1981 in adults with
      asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule expressed on T helper
      type 2 (Th2) cell (CRTh2) receptor antagonists is being investigated for asthma.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the CRTh2 receptor
      antagonist, AZD1981 (with/without inhaled corticosteroids [ICSs]), on lung
      function and asthma control. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adults aged 18-60 years were
      enrolled in two randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trials (protocol
      number: D9830C00003 [study 1, n=209] and protocol number: D9830C00004 [study 2,
      n=510]). In study 1, patients with stable asthma (forced expiratory volume in 1
      second [FEV1]: 65%-110%) were withdrawn from ICS (<400 ug/d) and randomized to
      AZD1981 1,000 mg twice daily (bid) or placebo. In study 2, patients with
      uncontrolled asthma (FEV1: 40%-85%) despite ICS therapy (>=500 ug/d) were
      randomized to 50 mg, 400 mg, or 1,000 mg bid AZD1981 or placebo. The primary
      efficacy variable for both trials was the change in morning peak expiratory flow
      after 4 weeks of treatment. Secondary variables included Asthma Control
      Questionnaire (ACQ-5) scores, FEV1 assessments, safety, and tolerability. In
      study 2, efficacy was also assessed according to atopic status. RESULTS:
      Following 4 weeks of treatment, there was a nonsignificant increase in morning
      peak expiratory flow on AZD1981 1,000 mg bid (9.5 L/min vs placebo, P=0.086
      [study 1] and 12 L/min vs placebo, P=0.16 [study 2]). In study 2, all doses of
      AZD1981 provided significant improvements in ACQ-5 scores (0.26-0.3 units vs
      placebo, P=0.010-0.022); however, there was no dose-response relationship.
      Improved ACQ-5 scores and FEV1 were observed in the majority of atopic patients
      treated with AZD1981. AZD1981 was well tolerated across treatment groups.
      CONCLUSION: Further research may be warranted in atopic patients to fully
      evaluate the clinical efficacy of AZD1981.

PMID- 27621598
TI  - Design and synthesis of chroman derivatives with dual anti-breast cancer and
      antiepileptic activities.
AB  - A series of chroman derivatives was designed, prepared, and examined for their
      anti-breast cancer and antiepileptic activities. All synthesized compounds
      yielded results that were in good agreement with spectral data. The bioassay
      showed that some of the resultant compounds exerted remarkable inhibitory effects
      on growth of human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. In particular, compound 6i (the
      concentration required for 50% inhibition of cell growth [GI50] =34.7 uM) exerted
      promising anticancer activity toward MCF-7 cell line. Additionally, compounds 6b,
      6c, 6d, 6e, 6g, 6i, and 6l showed advanced antiepileptic activity than reference
      drugs. None of the compounds showed neurotoxicity, as determined by the rotarod
      test. The obtained results proved that these distinctive compounds could be
      relevant as models for future discovery and research, as well as for the
      production of more number of active derivatives. 

PMID- 27621596
TI  - Anti-inflammatory drugs for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: focus on skeletal muscle
      releasing factors.
AB  - Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), an incurable and a progressive muscle wasting
      disease, is caused by the absence of dystrophin protein, leading to recurrent
      muscle fiber damage during contraction. The inflammatory response to fiber damage
      is a compelling candidate mechanism for disease exacerbation. The only
      established pharmacological treatment for DMD is corticosteroids to suppress
      muscle inflammation, however this treatment is limited by its insufficient
      therapeutic efficacy and considerable side effects. Recent reports show the
      therapeutic potential of inhibiting or enhancing pro- or anti-inflammatory
      factors released from DMD skeletal muscles, resulting in significant recovery
      from muscle atrophy and dysfunction. We discuss and review the recent findings of
      DMD inflammation and opportunities for drug development targeting specific
      releasing factors from skeletal muscles. It has been speculated that nonsteroidal
      anti-inflammatory drugs targeting specific inflammatory factors are more
      effective and have less side effects for DMD compared with steroidal drugs. For
      example, calcium channels, reactive oxygen species, and nuclear factor-kappaB
      signaling factors are the most promising targets as master regulators of
      inflammatory response in DMD skeletal muscles. If they are combined with an
      oligonucleotide-based exon skipping therapy to restore dystrophin expression, the
      anti-inflammatory drug therapies may address the present therapeutic limitation
      of low efficiency for DMD. 

PMID- 27621599
TI  - Limited evidence on persistence with anticoagulants, and its effect on the risk
      of recurrence of venous thromboembolism: a systematic review of observational
      studies.
AB  - PURPOSE: The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence is high following an
      initial VTE event, and it persists over time. This recurrence risk decreases
      rapidly after starting with anticoagulation treatment and reduces by ~80%-90%
      with prolonged anticoagulation. Nonpersistence with anticoagulants could lead to
      increased risk of VTE recurrence. This systematic review aimed to estimate
      persistence at 3, 6, and 12 months with anticoagulants in patients with VTE, and
      to evaluate the risk of VTE recurrence in nonpersistent patients. METHODS: PubMed
      and Embase((r)) were searched up to May 3, 2014 and the search results updated to
      May 31, 2015. Studies involving patients with VTE aged >=18 years, treatment with
      anticoagulants intended for at least 3 months or more, and reporting data for
      persistence were included. Proportions were transformed using Freeman-Tukey
      double arcsine transformation and pooled using the DerSimonian-Laird random
      effects approach. RESULTS: In total, 12 observational studies (7/12 conference
      abstracts) were included in the review. All 12 studies either reported or
      provided data for persistence. The total number of patients meta-analyzed to
      estimate persistence at 3, 6, and 12 months was 71,969 patients, 58,940 patients,
      and 68,235 patients, respectively. The estimated persistence for 3, 6, and 12
      months of therapy was 83% (95% confidence interval [CI], 78-87; I (2)=99.3%), 62%
      (95% CI, 58-66; I (2)=98.1%), and 31% (95% CI, 22-40; I (2)=99.8%), respectively.
      Only two studies reported the risk of VTE recurrence based on nonpersistence -
      one at 3 months and the other at 12 months. CONCLUSION: Limited evidence showed
      that persistence was suboptimal with an estimated 17% patients being
      nonpersistent with anticoagulants in the crucial first 3 months. Persistence
      declined over 6 and 12 months. Observational data on persistence with
      anticoagulation treatment, especially direct oral anticoagulants, in patients
      with VTE and its effect on risk of VTE recurrence were scarce and further
      research is required.

PMID- 27621600
TI  - Factors influencing the perception of medical staff and outpatients of dual
      practice in Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Dual practice is defined as a physician's performance of medical
      activities in different health care institutions (two or more) simultaneously.
      This study aimed to examine the perception and acceptance of medical staff and
      outpatients of dual practice and explore the possible factors affecting people's
      perception. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 public hospitals
      in Shanghai. Participants included medical staff and outpatients. We distributed
      1,000 questionnaires to each participant group, and the response rates were 66.7%
      and 69.4%, respectively. Statistical differences in variables were tested, and
      multinomial logistic regression methods were employed for statistical analysis.
      RESULTS: The study included two parts: medical staff survey and outpatient
      survey. The results of medical staff survey showed that 63.0% of the respondents
      supported dual practice. Medical staff who belonged to the surgical department or
      held positive belief of dual practice were more willing to participate in dual
      practice. Moreover, the publicity activities of dual practice and hospitals'
      human resource management system were important factors affecting the willingness
      of the medical staff. The results of outpatient survey showed that 44.5% of
      respondents believed that dual practice could reduce difficulty in consulting a
      doctor. Regarding the perceived benefits of dual practice, the proportion of
      outpatients who believed that dual practice could meet the demand for health
      convenience, minor illness, and chronic disease were 45.4%, 42.4%, and 53.7%,
      respectively. Additionally, demographic characteristics significantly influenced
      the perception of outpatients. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that both medical
      staff and outpatients generally held positive attitudes toward dual practice.
      Medical staff who belonged to the surgical department or held positive belief of
      dual practice were more willing to participate in dual practice. Moreover, the
      existence of publicity activities and more flexible management system of
      hospitals' human resource would promote physicians' willingness to participate in
      dual practice. In addition, perception of outpatients of dual practice was
      affected by demographic characteristics.

PMID- 27621601
TI  - Patient quality of life in the Mayo Clinic Care Transitions program: a survey
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transitional care programs are common interventions aimed at reducing
      medical complications and associated readmissions for patients recently
      discharged from the hospital. While organizations strive to reduce readmissions,
      another important related metric is patient quality of life (QoL). AIMS: To
      compare the relationship between QoL in patients enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Care
      Transitions (MCCT) program versus usual care, and to determine if QoL changed in
      MCCT participants between baseline and 1-year follow-up. METHODS: A baseline
      survey was mailed to MCCT enrollees in March 2013. Those who completed a baseline
      survey were sent a follow-up survey 1 year later. A cross-sectional survey of
      usual care participants was mailed in November 2013. We included in our analysis
      199 participants (83 in the MCCT and 116 in usual care) aged over 60 years with
      multiple comorbidities and receiving primary care. Primary outcomes were self
      rated QoL; secondary outcomes included self-reported general, physical, and
      mental health. Intra- and intergroup comparisons of patients were evaluated using
      Pearson's chi-squared analysis. RESULTS: MCCT participants had more comorbidities
      and higher elder risk assessment scores than those receiving usual care. At
      baseline, 74% of MCCT participants reported responses of good-to-excellent QoL
      compared to 64% after 1 year (P=0.16). Between MCCT and usual care, there was no
      significant difference in self-reported QoL (P=0.21). Between baseline and follow
      up in MCCT patients, and compared to usual care, there were no significant
      differences in self-reported general, physical, or mental health. CONCLUSION: We
      detected no difference over time in QoL between MCCT patients and those receiving
      usual care, and a nonsignificant QoL decline in MCCT participants after 1 year.
      Progression of chronic disease may overwhelm any QoL improvement attributable to
      the MCCT intervention. The MCCT interventions may blunt expected declines in QoL,
      producing concordant responses among sicker MCCT patients and healthier usual
      care participants.

PMID- 27621603
TI  - Chum salmon egg extracts induce upregulation of collagen type I and exert
      antioxidative effects on human dermal fibroblast cultures.
AB  - Components of fish roe possess antioxidant and antiaging activities, making them
      potentially very beneficial natural resources. Here, we investigated chum salmon
      eggs (CSEs) as a source of active ingredients, including vitamins, unsaturated
      fatty acids, and proteins. We incubated human dermal fibroblast cultures for 48
      hours with high and low concentrations of CSE extracts and analyzed changes in
      gene expression. Cells treated with CSE extract showed concentration-dependent
      upregulation of collagen type I genes and of multiple antioxidative genes,
      including OXR1, TXNRD1, and PRDX family genes. We further conducted in silico
      phylogenetic footprinting analysis of promoter regions. These results suggested
      that transcription factors such as acute myeloid leukemia-1a and cyclic adenosine
      monophosphate response element-binding protein may be involved in the observed
      upregulation of antioxidative genes. Our results support the idea that CSEs are
      strong candidate sources of antioxidant materials and cosmeceutically effective
      ingredients. 

PMID- 27621602
TI  - Effect of pedometer use and goal setting on walking and functional status in
      overweight adults with multimorbidity: a crossover clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Walking can improve functional status, and a pedometer and goal
      setting can increase walking and, potentially, gait speed. The efficacy of
      pedometer use and goal setting for increasing step counts among overweight and
      obese adults with multiple comorbid conditions has not been evaluated. METHODS:
      We recruited and randomly assigned obese or overweight adults with multimorbidity
      to immediate pedometer use with goal setting or delayed pedometer use, using a
      crossover design. The primary outcome of interest was step count, with secondary
      outcomes of gait speed and grip strength, with comparison between the
      intervention and delayed pedometer groups. RESULTS: Mean (standard deviation
      [SD]) age of the 130 participants was 63.4 (15.0) years. At 2 months, mean (SD)
      steps for the immediate pedometer use group (n=64) was 5,337 (3,096), compared
      with 4,446 (2,422) steps in the delayed pedometer group (n=66) (P=0.08). Within
      group step count increased nonsignificantly, by 179 steps in the immediate
      pedometer group and 212 steps in the delayed pedometer group after 2 months of
      intervention, with no significant difference between the groups. Gait speed
      significantly increased by 0.08 m/s (P<0.05) and grip strength significantly
      increased by 1.6 kg (P<0.05) in the immediate pedometer group. CONCLUSION:
      Pedometer use and goal setting did not significantly increase step count among
      overweight and obese adults with multimorbidity. The absolute step count was
      lower than many reported averages. Gait speed and grip strength increased with
      immediate pedometer use. The use of pedometers and goal setting may have an
      attenuated response in this population.

PMID- 27621604
TI  - Comparative clinicopathological and outcome analysis of differentiated thyroid
      cancer in Saudi patients aged below 60 years and above 60 years.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcomes of
      differentiated thyroid cancer in Saudi patients aged above 60 years. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Comparative analysis was performed in 252 patients aged 46-60 years
      (Group A) and 118 patients aged above 60 years (Group B), who had thyroidectomy,
      radioactive iodine-131, and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression therapy
      between July 2000 and December 2012. Different clinicopathological features,
      treatment, complications, disease-free survival, and overall survival rates were
      compared. RESULTS: Mean age of patients in Group A was 51.9 years (range: 46-60),
      and mean age of those in Group B was 68.6 years (range: 62-97). Group B patients
      had higher positive lymph nodes (43.2%), P=0.011. The frequency of extrathyroidal
      extension, multifocality, and lymphovascular space invasion was seen more in
      Group B than in Group A. Postsurgical complications (permanent
      hypoparathyroidism, bleeding, and wound infections) were also seen more in Group
      B (P=0.043, P=0.011, and P=0.021, respectively). Group B patients experienced
      more locoregional recurrences (11.0%, P=0.025); similarly, more distant
      metastases were observed in Group B (15.3%, P=0.003). The 10-year disease-free
      survival rates were 87.6% in Group A and 70.8% in Group B (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION:
      Differentiated thyroid cancer in patients aged above 60 years are more aggressive
      biologically and associated with a worse prognosis, and the morbidity is
      significantly high as compared to patients aged below 60 years.

PMID- 27621605
TI  - The predictive value of arterial stiffness on major adverse cardiovascular events
      in individuals with mildly impaired renal function.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite growing evidence that arterial stiffness has important
      predictive value for cardiovascular disease in patients with advanced stages of
      chronic kidney disease, the predictive significance of arterial stiffness in
      individuals with mildly impaired renal function has not been established. The aim
      of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of arterial stiffness on
      cardiovascular disease in this specific population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      analyzed measurements of arterial stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity
      [cf-PWV]) and the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in
      1,499 subjects from a 4.8-year longitudinal study. RESULTS: A multivariate Cox
      proportional-hazard regression analysis showed that in individuals with normal
      renal function (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] >=90 mL/min/1.73
      m(2)), the baseline cf-PWV was not associated with occurrence of MACEs (hazard
      ratio 1.398, 95% confidence interval 0.748-2.613; P=0.293). In individuals with
      mildly impaired renal function (eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)), a higher baseline cf
      PWV level was associated with a higher risk of MACEs (hazard ratio 2.334, 95%
      confidence interval 1.082-5.036; P=0.031). CONCLUSION: Arterial stiffness is a
      moderate and independent predictive factor for MACEs in individuals with mildly
      impaired renal function (eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)).

PMID- 27621606
TI  - A preliminary study on the effects of star fruit consumption on antioxidant and
      lipid status in elderly Thai individuals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this preliminary study were to evaluate the antioxidant
      and lipid status before and after star fruit juice consumption in healthy elderly
      subjects, and the vitamins in star fruit extracts. METHODS: A preliminary
      designated protocol was performed in 27 elderly individuals with a mean (+/-SD)
      age of 69.5+/-5.3 years, by planning a 2-week control period before 4 weeks of
      consumption of star fruit twice daily. Oxidative stress parameters such as total
      antioxidant capacity, glutathione, malondialdehyde, protein hydroperoxide,
      multivitamins such as l-ascorbic acid (Vit C), retinoic acid (Vit A), and
      tocopherol (Vit E), and the lipid profile parameters such as cholesterol,
      triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density
      lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) were analyzed. Moreover, Vit C, Vit A, and Vit E
      levels were evaluated in the star fruit extracts during the 4-week period.
      RESULTS: In the 2-week control period, all parameters showed no statistically
      significant difference; after 4 weeks of consumption, significant improvement in
      the antioxidant status was observed with increased total antioxidant capacity and
      reduced malondialdehyde and protein hydroperoxide levels, as well as
      significantly increased levels of Vit C and Vit A, when compared to the two-time
      evaluation during the baseline periods. However, glutathione and Vit E showed no
      statistical difference. In addition, the HDL-C level was higher and the LDL-C
      level was significantly lower when compared to both baseline periods. But the
      levels of triglyceride and cholesterol showed no difference. Vit C and Vit A were
      identified in small quantities in the star fruit extract. CONCLUSION: This
      preliminary study suggested that consumption of star fruit juice twice daily for
      1 month improved the elderly people's antioxidant status and vitamins, as well as
      improved the lipoproteins related to Vit C and Vit A in the star fruit extract.

PMID- 27621607
TI  - Managing infective endocarditis in the elderly: new issues for an old disease.
AB  - The incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) rises in industrialized countries.
      Older people are more affected by this severe disease, notably because of the
      increasing number of invasive procedures and intracardiac devices implanted in
      these patients. Peculiar clinical and echocardiographic features, microorganisms
      involved, and prognosis of IE in elderly have been underlined in several studies.
      Additionally, elderly population appears quite heterogeneous, from healthy people
      without past medical history to patients with multiple diseases or who are even
      bedridden. However, the management of IE in this population has been poorly
      explored, and international guidelines do not recommend adapting the therapeutic
      strategy to the patient's functional status and comorbidities. Yet, if IE should
      be treated according to current recommendations in the healthiest patients,
      concerns may rise for older patients who suffer from several chronic diseases,
      especially renal failure, and are on polypharmacy. Treating frailest patients
      with high-dose intravenous antibiotics during a prolonged hospital stay as
      recommended for younger patients could also expose them to functional decline and
      toxic effect. Likewise, the place of surgery according to the aging
      characteristics of each patient is unclear. The aim of this article is to review
      the recent data on epidemiology of IE and its peculiarities in the elderly. Then,
      its management and various therapeutic approaches that can be considered
      according to and beyond guidelines depending on patient comorbidities and frailty
      are discussed. 

PMID- 27621608
TI  - The efficacy and safety of combined tiotropium and olodaterol via the
      Respimat((r)) inhaler in patients with COPD: results from the Japanese sub
      population of the Tonado((r)) studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of once-daily tiotropium + olodaterol (T+O)
      maintenance treatment was demonstrated in the large, multinational, replicate,
      randomized, Phase III, Tonado((r)) 1 (NCT01431274) and 2 (NCT01431287) studies in
      patients with moderate to very severe COPD. However, there may be racial
      differences in the effects of T+O on lung function in patients with COPD.
      METHODS: In this Tonado((r)) subgroup analysis, we assessed efficacy and safety
      of T+O in Japanese participants. RESULTS: Versus the overall population, the 413
      Japanese patients randomized and treated were slightly older, with more men,
      lower body mass index, lower baseline St George's Respiratory Questionnaire
      (SGRQ) scores, fewer current smokers, but with higher pack-year smoking history.
      A lower proportion of Japanese patients used inhaled corticosteroids, short
      acting muscarinic antagonists, or short- or long-acting beta-adrenergic agonists
      at baseline, but use of long-acting muscarinic antagonists was higher. At Week
      24, mean improvements with T+O 5/5 MUg in forced expiratory volume in 1 second
      area under the curve from 0-3 hours response were 151 mL versus olodaterol and
      134 mL versus tiotropium 5 MUg; mean improvements with T+O 2.5/5 MUg were 87 mL
      versus olodaterol and 70 mL versus tiotropium 2.5 MUg. Mean improvements with T+O
      5/5 MUg in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second were 131 mL versus
      olodaterol and 108 mL versus tiotropium 5 MUg; mean improvements with T+O 2.5/5
      MUg were 60 mL versus olodaterol and 47 mL versus tiotropium 2.5 MUg. SGRQ scores
      improved from baseline to a greater extent with both doses of T+O versus
      monotherapies. Responses were similar in the overall population. Adverse-event
      incidence was generally balanced across treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Consistent
      with results from the overall population, T+O 5/5 MUg was superior to each
      monotherapy for lung function and SGRQ in the Japanese sub-population of patients
      with COPD in Tonado((r)).

PMID- 27621609
TI  - Bronchodilator reversibility in patients with COPD revisited: short-term
      reproducibility.
AB  - Categorization of patients with COPD as reversible or nonreversible to a
      bronchodilator may change over time. This post hoc analysis aimed to determine if
      an individual's reversibility, when treated as a continuous variable, could
      predict his/her future response to two short-acting bronchodilators: albuterol
      and ipratropium. The analysis was completed using data from a 4-week, randomized,
      open-label, two-period crossover study (NCT01691482; GSK study DB2114956).
      Patients received albuterol (doses: UK =4*100 MUg/puff; US =4*90 MUg/puff)
      followed 1 hour later by ipratropium (4*20 MUg/puff) or vice versa during
      treatment Period 1. The order of treatments was reversed during Period 2.
      Predefined efficacy end points included pre- and post-bronchodilator forced
      expiratory volume in 1 second. The correlation coefficient between bronchodilator
      response on Days 1 and 10 was investigated, as well as the correlation between
      treatment response on Day 1 and the mean treatment response on Days 5-10, for
      each individual patient. Bronchodilator response to albuterol on Day 1 was
      strongly correlated with that on Day 10 (r=0.64; n=53). The correlation
      coefficient of bronchodilator treatment response on Day 1 and Days 5-10 was 0.78
      (P<0.001; n=53) and 0.76 (P<0.001; n=54) for albuterol and ipratropium,
      respectively. A single measurement of the initial bronchodilator response to
      albuterol or ipratropium was, therefore, highly correlated with the subsequent
      mean bronchodilator response over 5-10 days, demonstrating its potential
      usefulness for future treatment decisions. 

PMID- 27621610
TI  - The efficacy of aclidinium/formoterol on lung function and symptoms in patients
      with COPD categorized by symptom status: a pooled analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience
      respiratory symptoms, which impair quality of life. This pooled analysis of two
      Phase III studies assessed the impact of aclidinium/formoterol on patients with
      COPD categorized by symptom status. METHODS: Data were pooled from two 24-week,
      randomized, placebo-controlled studies of twice-daily aclidinium/formoterol
      400/12 ug in moderate-to-severe COPD (ACLIFORM [NCT01462942] and AUGMENT
      [NCT01437397]). These post hoc analyses evaluated the efficacy of
      aclidinium/formoterol versus placebo or monotherapies in patients defined as
      less/more symptomatic by a) Evaluating Respiratory Symptoms (E-RSTM) score
      >=10/<10 and b) Baseline Dyspnea Index score <7/>=7. Endpoints included trough
      and 1-hour morning postdose forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1),
      Transition Dyspnea Index, E-RS total score, early-morning and nighttime symptom
      severity, early-morning limitation of activities, and exacerbation rate. RESULTS:
      Data for 3,394 patients were analyzed (mean age: 63.5 years; 60.5% male). In both
      definitions of less and more symptomatic patients, aclidinium/formoterol improved
      1-hour morning postdose FEV1 from baseline at week 24 versus placebo (P<0.001)
      and both monotherapies (P<0.05). Aclidinium/formoterol improved trough FEV1 from
      baseline in both groups versus placebo (P<0.05) and formoterol (P<0.05);
      improvements were greater in more symptomatic patients. Improvements versus
      aclidinium were also observed in more symptomatic patients (P<0.05).
      Aclidinium/formoterol improved dyspnea, early-morning symptom severity, and
      limitation of activities versus placebo in both less and more symptomatic
      patients (P<0.001). In more symptomatic patients, aclidinium/formoterol also
      improved E-RS total score and severity of nighttime symptoms from baseline versus
      placebo and one or both monotherapies (P<0.05). The rate of moderate/severe
      exacerbations was reduced with aclidinium/formoterol versus placebo in more
      symptomatic patients. CONCLUSION: Aclidinium/formoterol 400/12 ug provided
      consistent improvements in bronchodilation and symptoms versus monotherapies and
      reduced exacerbations versus placebo in more symptomatic patients with moderate
      to-severe COPD, regardless of the definition used. Furthermore, patients with a
      low symptom burden achieved benefits with aclidinium/formoterol versus
      monotherapies in postdose FEV1, dyspnea, and early-morning symptoms.

PMID- 27621611
TI  - Association between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and mild to moderate COPD:
      clinical implications in an Asian country with a high prevalence of H. pylori.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection is a major cause of gastric diseases.
      The clinical implications of H. pylori infection in various diseases outside the
      gastrointestinal system have also been reported, including in some respiratory
      disorders. In this study, we investigated the seroprevalence of H. pylori in
      patients with mild to moderate COPD in an Asian country with a high prevalence of
      H. pylori infection. Also, we aimed to elucidate the association between the
      seroprevalence of H. pylori and the decline of lung function in patients with
      COPD. METHODS: Participants who underwent a medical checkup for H. pylori at a
      referral hospital in Korea were recruited for this study. All participants were
      tested for H. pylori infection using an immunoassay of the H. pylori-specific
      immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration and a rapid urease test at the time of
      endoscopy with a gastric mucosal specimen. We assessed the decline in lung
      function using the spirometric data of those who underwent spirometry more than
      three times. RESULTS: In total, 603 participants (201 patients with COPD and 402
      controls) were analyzed. The seroprevalence of H. pylori IgG in the patients and
      controls was 45.8% and 52.2%, respectively (P=0.134). The H. pylori IgG level in
      patients with COPD was not significantly different from that of the controls
      (114.8 and 109.6 units/mL, respectively; P=0.549). In addition, there were no
      significant differences in the annual forced expiratory volume in 1 second or
      forced vital capacity between the participants with H. pylori seropositivity and
      seronegativity. CONCLUSION: This study showed no relationship between H. pylori
      infection and COPD in a country with a high burden of H. pylori infection.
      Furthermore, H. pylori infection did not affect the rate of lung function decline
      in this study population.

PMID- 27621612
TI  - Do self-management interventions in COPD patients work and which patients benefit
      most? An individual patient data meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-management interventions are considered effective in patients
      with COPD, but trials have shown inconsistent results and it is unknown which
      patients benefit most. This study aimed to summarize the evidence on
      effectiveness of self-management interventions and identify subgroups of COPD
      patients who benefit most. METHODS: Randomized trials of self-management
      interventions between 1985 and 2013 were identified through a systematic
      literature search. Individual patient data of selected studies were requested
      from principal investigators and analyzed in an individual patient data meta
      analysis using generalized mixed effects models. RESULTS: Fourteen trials
      representing 3,282 patients were included. Self-management interventions improved
      health-related quality of life at 12 months (standardized mean difference 0.08,
      95% confidence interval [CI] 0.00-0.16) and time to first respiratory-related
      hospitalization (hazard ratio 0.79, 95% CI 0.66-0.94) and all-cause
      hospitalization (hazard ratio 0.80, 95% CI 0.69-0.90), but had no effect on
      mortality. Prespecified subgroup analyses showed that interventions were more
      effective in males (6-month COPD-related hospitalization: interaction P=0.006),
      patients with severe lung function (6-month all-cause hospitalization:
      interaction P=0.016), moderate self-efficacy (12-month COPD-related
      hospitalization: interaction P=0.036), and high body mass index (6-month COPD
      related hospitalization: interaction P=0.028 and 6-month mortality: interaction
      P=0.026). In none of these subgroups, a consistent effect was shown on all
      relevant outcomes. CONCLUSION: Self-management interventions exert positive
      effects in patients with COPD on respiratory-related and all-cause
      hospitalizations and modest effects on 12-month health-related quality of life,
      supporting the implementation of self-management strategies in clinical practice.
      Benefits seem similar across the subgroups studied and limiting self-management
      interventions to specific patient subgroups cannot be recommended.

PMID- 27621613
TI  - Mid-arm and calf circumferences are stronger mortality predictors than body mass
      index for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is currently the third
      most common cause of death in the world. Patients with COPD experience airflow
      obstruction, weight loss, skeletal muscle dysfunction, and comorbidities.
      Anthropometric indicators are risk factors for mortality in geriatric assessment.
      PURPOSE: This study examined and compared the associations of anthropometric
      indicators, such as low body mass index (BMI), low mid-arm circumference (MAC),
      and low calf circumference (CC), with the prediction of a 3-year follow-up
      mortality risk in patients with COPD. METHODS: We recruited nonhospitalized
      patients with COPD without acute conditions from a general hospital in Taiwan.
      The BMI, MAC, and CC of all patients were measured, and they were followed for 3
      years through telephone interviews and chart reviews. The Kaplan-Meier survival
      curves stratified by BMI, MAC, and CC were analyzed. Variables univariately
      associated with survival were entered into a multivariate Cox regression model.
      The Bayesian information criterion was used to compare the predictive ability of
      the three anthropometric indicators to predict mortality rate. RESULTS: In total,
      104 patients were included (mean +/- standard deviation age, 74.2+/-6.9 years;
      forced expiratory volume in 1 second [%], 58.4+/-20.4 predicted; males, 94.2%);
      22 patients (21.2%) died during the 36-month follow-up. During this long-term
      follow-up, the three anthropometric indicators could predict mortality risk in
      patients with COPD (low BMI [<21 kg/m(2)], hazard ratio [HR] =2.78, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] =1.10-7.10; low MAC [<23.5 cm], HR =3.09, 95% CI =1.30
      7.38; low CC [<30 cm], HR =4.40, 95% CI =1.82-10.63). CC showed the strongest
      potential in predicting the mortality risk, followed by MAC and BMI. CONCLUSION:
      Among the three anthropometric variables examined, CC can be considered a strong
      predictor of mortality risk in patients with COPD.

PMID- 27621614
TI  - Incidence of utilization- and symptom-defined COPD exacerbations in hospital- and
      population-recruited patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to estimate the impact of
      recruitment source and outcome definition on the incidence of acute exacerbations
      of COPD (AECOPD) and explore possible predictors of AECOPD. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      During a 1-year follow-up, we performed a baseline visit and four telephone
      interviews of 81 COPD patients and 132 controls recruited from a population-based
      survey and 205 hospital-recruited COPD patients. Both a definition based on
      health care utilization and a symptom-based definition of AECOPD were applied.
      For multivariate analyses, we chose a negative binomial regression model.
      RESULTS: COPD patients from the population- and hospital-based samples
      experienced on average 0.4 utilization-defined and 2.9 symptom-defined versus 1.0
      and 5.9 annual exacerbations, respectively. The incidence rate ratios for
      utilization-defined AECOPD were 2.45 (95% CI 1.22-4.95), 3.43 (95% CI 1.59-7.38),
      and 5.67 (95% CI 2.58-12.48) with Global Initiative on Obstructive Lung Disease
      spirometric stages II, III, and IV, respectively. The corresponding incidence
      rate ratios for the symptom-based definition were 3.08 (95% CI 1.96-4.84), 3.45
      (95% CI 1.92-6.18), and 4.00 (95% CI 2.09-7.66). Maintenance therapy (regular
      long-acting muscarinic antagonists, long-acting beta-2 agonists, inhaled
      corticosteroids, or theophylline) also increased the risk of AECOPD with both
      exacerbation definitions (incidence rate ratios 1.65 and 1.73, respectively). The
      risk of AECOPD was 59%-78% higher in the hospital sample than in the population
      sample. CONCLUSION: If externally valid conclusions are to be made regarding
      incidence and predictors of AECOPD, studies should be based on general population
      samples or adjustments should be made on account of a likely higher incidence in
      other samples. Likewise, the effect of different AECOPD definitions should be
      taken into consideration.

PMID- 27621615
TI  - Multicomponent, peptide-targeted glycol chitosan nanoparticles containing
      ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanocubes for bladder cancer multimodal imaging.
AB  - While current imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
      computed tomography, and positron emission tomography, play an important role in
      detecting tumors in the body, no single-modality imaging possesses all the
      functions needed for a complete diagnostic imaging, such as spatial resolution,
      signal sensitivity, and tissue penetration depth. For this reason, multimodal
      imaging strategies have become promising tools for advanced biomedical research
      and cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. In designing multimodal nanoparticles,
      the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles should be engineered so that
      they successfully accumulate at the tumor site and minimize nonspecific uptake by
      other organs. Finely altering the nano-scale properties can dramatically change
      the biodistribution and tumor accumulation of nanoparticles in the body. In this
      study, we engineered multimodal nanoparticles for both MRI, by using
      ferrimagnetic nanocubes (NCs), and near infrared fluorescence imaging, by using
      cyanine 5.5 fluorescence molecules. We changed the physicochemical properties of
      glycol chitosan nanoparticles by conjugating bladder cancer-targeting peptides
      and loading many ferrimagnetic iron oxide NCs per glycol chitosan nanoparticle to
      improve MRI contrast. The 22 nm ferrimagnetic NCs were stabilized in
      physiological conditions by encapsulating them within modified chitosan
      nanoparticles. The multimodal nanoparticles were compared with in vivo MRI and
      near infrared fluorescent systems. We demonstrated significant and important
      changes in the biodistribution and tumor accumulation of nanoparticles with
      different physicochemical properties. Finally, we demonstrated that multimodal
      nanoparticles specifically visualize small tumors and show minimal accumulation
      in other organs. This work reveals the importance of finely modulating
      physicochemical properties in designing multimodal nanoparticles for bladder
      cancer imaging. 

PMID- 27621616
TI  - In situ precise electrospinning of medical glue fibers as nonsuture dural repair
      with high sealing capability and flexibility.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this work, we propose an in situ precise electrospinning of medical
      glue fibers onto dural wound for improving sealing capability, avoiding tissue
      adhesion, and saving time in dural repair. METHODS: N-octyl-2-cyanoacrylate, a
      commercial tissue adhesive (medical glue), can be electrospun into ultrathin
      fibrous film with precise and homogeneous deposition by a gas-assisted
      electrospinning device. RESULTS: The self-assembled N-octyl-2-cyanoacrylate film
      shows high compactness and flexibility owing to its fibrous structure. Simulation
      experiments on egg membranes and goat meninges demonstrated that this technology
      can repair small membrane defects quickly and efficiently. CONCLUSION: This
      method may have potential application in dural repair, for example, working as an
      effective supplementary technique for conventional dura suture.

PMID- 27621617
TI  - MDM2-MDM4 molecular interaction investigated by atomic force spectroscopy and
      surface plasmon resonance.
AB  - Murine double minute 2 (MDM2) and 4 (MDM4) are known as the main negative
      regulators of p53, a tumor suppressor. They are able to form heterodimers that
      are much more effective in the downregulation of p53. Therefore, the MDM2-MDM4
      complex could be a target for promising therapeutic restoration of p53 function.
      To this aim, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlining the
      heterodimerization is needed. The kinetic and thermodynamic characterization of
      the MDM2-MDM4 complex was performed with two complementary approaches: atomic
      force spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance. Both techniques revealed an
      equilibrium dissociation constant (KD ) in the micromolar range for the MDM2-MDM4
      heterodimer, similar to related complexes involved in the p53 network.
      Furthermore, the MDM2-MDM4 complex is characterized by a relatively high free
      energy, through a single energy barrier, and by a lifetime in the order of tens
      of seconds. New insights into the MDM2-MDM4 interaction could be highly important
      for developing innovative anticancer drugs focused on p53 reactivation. 

PMID- 27621618
TI  - Preparation and in vivo evaluation of an orally available enteric
      microencapsulated parathyroid hormone (1-34)-deoxycholic acid nanocomplex.
AB  - The N-terminal 34-amino-acid peptide fragment of human parathyroid hormone PTH (1
      34), is used clinically to treat osteoporosis; however, it is currently
      administered by a once-daily subcutaneous injection, resulting in poor patient
      compliance. We have developed enteric microcapsules containing an ionic
      nanocomplex between PTH (1-34) and lysine-linked deoxycholic acid (LysDOCA) for
      the oral delivery of PTH (1-34). We measured the particle size of the PTH/LysDOCA
      complex and assessed its biological activity by determining the cAMP content in
      MC3T3-E1 cells. We also assessed its permeability across a Caco-2 cell monolayer
      and the bioavailability of the intrajejunally administered PTH/LysDOCA complex
      compared with PTH (1-34) in rats. In addition, the antiosteoporotic activity of
      the PTH/LysDOCA complex, encapsulated in an enteric carrier by coaxial ultrasonic
      atomization, was evaluated after it was orally administered to ovariectomized
      (OVX) rats. The formation of an ionic complex between PTH (1-34) and LysDOCA
      produced nanoparticles of diameter 33.0+/-3.36 nm, and the bioactivity of the
      complex was comparable with that of PTH (1-34). The Caco-2 cell permeability and
      AUClast value of the PTH/LysDOCA (1:10) nanocomplex increased by 2.87- and 16.3
      fold, respectively, compared with PTH (1-34) alone. Furthermore, the OVX rats
      treated with oral PTH/LysDOCA-loaded enteric microcapsules showed an increase in
      bone mineral density (159%), bone volume fraction (175%), and trabecular number
      (174%) compared with those in the OVX control group. Therefore, the PTH/LysDOCA
      nanocomplex oral delivery system is a promising treatment modality for
      osteoporosis because it improves osteogenesis and trabecular connectivity. 

PMID- 27621619
TI  - Arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-polyethylene glycol-polyamidoamine dendrimer
      conjugate improves liver-cell aggregation and function in 3-D spheroid culture.
AB  - The polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer, a type of macromolecule material, has been
      used in spheroidal cell culture and drug delivery in recent years. However, PAMAM
      is not involved in the study of hepatic cell-spheroid culture or its biological
      activity, particularly in detoxification function. Here, we constructed a PAMAM
      dendrimer conjugate decorated by an integrin ligand: arginine-glycine-aspartic
      acid (RGD) peptide. Our studies demonstrate that RGD-polyethylene glycol (PEG)
      PAMAM conjugates can promote singly floating hepatic cells to aggregate together
      in a sphere-like growth with a weak reactive oxygen species. Moreover, RGD-PEG
      PAMAM conjugates can activate the AKT-MAPK pathway in hepatic cells to promote
      cell proliferation and improve basic function and ammonia metabolism. Together,
      our data support the hepatocyte sphere treated by RGD-PEG-PAMAM conjugates as a
      potential source of hepatic cells for a biological artificial liver system. 

PMID- 27621620
TI  - In vivo assessment of bone marrow toxicity by gold nanoparticle-based
      bioconjugates in Crl:CD1(ICR) mice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed at evaluating the biodistribution of
      Tween((r)) 20-gold nanoparticle (GNP) conjugates and their potential toxicity on
      the bone marrow before moving on to Phase I clinical trials. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Tween((r)) 20-conjugated GNPs were injected intravenously for 21 days in
      male Crl:CD1(ICR) mice. Body weight of the mice was evaluated each day. After the
      sub-chronic Tween((r)) 20-GNPs administration, blood samples were harvested, and
      a full blood count was done individually. Total Au quantity from all major organs
      was assessed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. One femur and
      the sternum obtained from each animal were used for histological assessment.
      RESULTS: Our data showed that the Tween((r)) 20-GNP conjugates were found in
      large quantities in the bladder. Au was shown to accumulate in the hematopoietic
      bone tissue, with significant side effects such as leucopoiesis and
      megakaryopoiesis. The mice had a higher white blood cell and platelet count as
      opposed to the control group. This suggested that the previously described
      leukopenic effects of isoflurane were overridden by the leucopoietic effects of
      Tween((r)) 20-GNPs. CONCLUSION: It was uncertain whether the mice were reactive
      to Au as it is a foreign substance to the tissues or whether the side effects
      observed were a precursor condition of a more severe hematological condition. Au
      was found to be hepatotoxic, urging the need for further studies in order to
      achieve better in vivo compliance and exploit the immense potential of GNPs in
      cancer pharmacology.

PMID- 27621621
TI  - The effect of ZnO nanoparticles on liver function in rats.
AB  - Zinc oxide (ZnO) is widely incorporated as a food additive in animal diets. In
      order to optimize the beneficial effects of ZnO and minimize any resultant
      environmental pollution, ZnO nanoparticles are often used for delivery of the
      zinc. However, the possible toxic effects of ZnO nanoparticles, including effects
      on cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes, have not been evaluated. In this study, we
      investigated the effect of ZnO nanoparticles, in doses used in animal feeds, on
      CYP450 enzymes, liver and intestinal enzymes, liver and kidney histopathology,
      and hematologic indices in rats. We found that liver and kidney injury occurred
      when the concentrations of ZnO nanoparticles in feed were 300-600 mg/kg. Also,
      liver mRNA expression for constitutive androstane receptor was suppressed and
      mRNA expression for pregnane X receptor was induced when feed containing ZnO
      nanoparticles was given at a concentration of 600 mg/kg. Although the expression
      of mRNA for CYP 2C11 and 3A2 enzymes was induced by ZnO nanoparticles, the
      activities of CYP 2C11 and 3A2 were suppressed. While liver CYP 1A2 mRNA
      expression was suppressed, CYP 1A2 activity remained unchanged at all ZnO
      nanoparticle doses. Therefore, it has been concluded that ZnO nanoparticles, in
      the doses customarily added to animal feed, changed the indices of hematology and
      blood chemistry, altered the expression and activity of hepatic CYP enzymes, and
      induced pathological changes in liver and kidney tissues of rats. These findings
      suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to the toxic effects of ZnO
      nanoparticles in animal feed, with the possibility that the doses of ZnO should
      be reduced. 

PMID- 27621622
TI  - Development of TIMP1 magnetic nanoformulation for regulation of synaptic
      plasticity in HIV-1 infection.
AB  - Although the introduction of antiretroviral therapy has reduced the prevalence of
      severe forms of neurocognitive disorders, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1
      associated neurocognitive disorders were observed in 50% of HIV-infected patients
      globally. The blood-brain barrier is known to be impermeable to most of
      antiretroviral drugs. Successful delivery of antiretroviral drugs into the brain
      may induce an inflammatory response, which may further induce neurotoxicity.
      Therefore, alternate options to antiretroviral drugs for decreasing the HIV
      infection and neurotoxicity may help in reducing neurocognitive impairments
      observed in HIV-infected patients. In this study, we explored the role of
      magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)-bound tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP1)
      protein in reducing HIV infection levels, oxidative stress, and recovering spine
      density in HIV-infected SK-N-MC neuroblastoma cells. We did not observe any
      neuronal cytotoxicity with either the free TIMP1 or MNP-bound TIMP1 used in our
      study. We observed significantly reduced HIV infection in both solution phase and
      in MNP-bound TIMP1-exposed neuronal cells. Furthermore, we also observed
      significantly reduced reactive oxygen species production in both the test groups
      compared to the neuronal cells infected with HIV alone. To observe the effect of
      both soluble-phase TIMP1 and MNP-bound TIMP1 on spine density in HIV-infected
      neuronal cells, confocal microscopy was used. We observed significant recovery of
      spine density in both the test groups when compared to the cells infected with
      HIV alone, indicting the neuroprotective effect of TIMP1. Therefore, our results
      suggest that the MNP-bound TIMP1 delivery method across the blood-brain barrier
      can be used for reducing HIV infectivity in brain tissue and neuronal toxicity in
      HIV-infected patients. 

PMID- 27621623
TI  - Systemic distribution of single-walled carbon nanotubes in a novel model:
      alteration of biochemical parameters, metabolic functions, liver accumulation,
      and inflammation in vivo.
AB  - The increasing use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in several industrial applications
      raises concerns on their potential toxicity due to factors such as tissue
      penetrance, small dimensions, and biopersistence. Using an in vivo model for CNT
      environmental exposure, mimicking CNT exposition at the workplace, we previously
      found that CNTs rapidly enter and disseminate in the organism, initially
      accumulating in the lungs and brain and later reaching the liver and kidneys via
      the bloodstream in CD1 mice. Here, we monitored and traced the accumulation of
      single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs), administered systemically in mice, in different
      organs and the subsequent biological responses. Using the novel in vivo model,
      MITO-Luc bioluminescence reporter mice, we found that SWCNTs induce systemic cell
      proliferation, indicating a dynamic response of cells of both bone marrow and the
      immune system. We then examined metabolic (water/food consumption and
      dejections), functional (serum enzymes), and morphological (organs and tissues)
      alterations in CD1 mice treated with SWCNTs, using metabolic cages, performing
      serum analyses, and applying histological, immunohistochemical, and
      ultrastructural (transmission electron microscopy) methods. We observed a
      transient accumulation of SWCNTs in the lungs, spleen, and kidneys of CD1 mice
      exposed to SWCNTs. A dose- and time-dependent accumulation was found in the
      liver, associated with increases in levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine
      aminotransferase and bilirubinemia, which are metabolic markers associated with
      liver damage. Our data suggest that hepatic accumulation of SWCNTs associated
      with liver damage results in an M1 macrophage-driven inflammation. 

PMID- 27621624
TI  - Advancements in nano-enabled therapeutics for neuroHIV management.
AB  - This viewpoint is a global call to promote fundamental and applied research
      aiming toward designing smart nanocarriers of desired properties, novel
      noninvasive strategies to open the blood-brain barrier (BBB), delivery/release of
      single/multiple therapeutic agents across the BBB to eradicate neurohuman
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV), strategies for on-demand site-specific release of
      antiretroviral therapy, developing novel nanoformulations capable to recognize
      and eradicate latently infected HIV reservoirs, and developing novel smart
      analytical diagnostic tools to detect and monitor HIV infection. Thus,
      investigation of novel nanoformulations, methodologies for site-specific
      delivery/release, analytical methods, and diagnostic tools would be of high
      significance to eradicate and monitor neuroacquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
      Overall, these developments will certainly help to develop personalized
      nanomedicines to cure HIV and to develop smart HIV-monitoring analytical systems
      for disease management. 

PMID- 27621625
TI  - Polyaniline-coated upconversion nanoparticles with upconverting luminescent and
      photothermal conversion properties for photothermal cancer therapy.
AB  - In this study, we developed a nanosystem based on upconversion nanoparticles
      (UCNPs) coated with a layer of polyaniline nanoparticles (PANPs). The UCNP
      induces upconversion luminescence for imaging and photothermal conversion
      properties are due to PANPs. In vitro experiments showed that the UCNPs-PANPs
      were nontoxic to cells even at a high concentration (800 ug mL(-1)). Blood
      analysis and histological experiments demonstrated that the UCNPs-PANPs exhibited
      no apparent toxicity in mice in vivo. Besides their efficacy in photothermal
      cancer cell ablation, the UCNP-PANP nanosystem was found to achieve an effective
      in vivo tumor ablation effect after irradiation using an 808 nm laser. These
      results demonstrate the potential of the hybrid nanocomposites for use in imaging
      guided photothermal therapy. 

PMID- 27621626
TI  - Fabrication and hemocompatibility assessment of novel polyurethane-based bio
      nanofibrous dressing loaded with honey and Carica papaya extract for the
      management of burn injuries.
AB  - Management of burn injury is an onerous clinical task since it requires
      continuous monitoring and extensive usage of specialized facilities. Despite
      rapid improvizations and investments in burn management, >30% of victims
      hospitalized each year face severe morbidity and mortality. Excessive loss of
      body fluids, accumulation of exudate, and the development of septic shock are
      reported to be the main reasons for morbidity in burn victims. To assist burn
      wound management, a novel polyurethane (PU)-based bio-nanofibrous dressing loaded
      with honey (HN) and Carica papaya (PA) fruit extract was fabricated using a one
      step electrospinning technique. The developed dressing material had a mean fiber
      diameter of 190+/-19.93 nm with pore sizes of 4-50 um to support effective
      infiltration of nutrients and gas exchange. The successful blending of HN- and PA
      based active biomolecules in PU was inferred through changes in surface
      chemistry. The blend subsequently increased the wettability (14%) and surface
      energy (24%) of the novel dressing. Ultimately, the presence of hydrophilic
      biomolecules and high porosity enhanced the water absorption ability of the PU-HN
      PA nanofiber samples to 761.67% from 285.13% in PU. Furthermore, the ability of
      the bio-nanofibrous dressing to support specific protein adsorption (45%), delay
      thrombus formation, and reduce hemolysis demonstrated its nontoxic and compatible
      nature with the host tissues. In summary, the excellent physicochemical and
      hemocompatible properties of the developed PU-HN-PA dressing exhibit its
      potential in reducing the clinical complications associated with the treatment of
      burn injuries. 

PMID- 27621627
TI  - Defect density in multiwalled carbon nanotubes influences ovalbumin adsorption
      and promotes macrophage activation and CD4(+) T-cell proliferation.
AB  - Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are of great interest for the development of drugs and
      vaccines due to their unique physicochemical properties. The high surface area to
      volume ratio and delocalized pi-electron cloud of CNTs promote binding of
      proteins to the surface forming a protein corona. This unique feature of CNTs has
      been recognized for potential delivery of antigens for strong and long-lasting
      antigen-specific immune responses. Based on an earlier study that demonstrated
      increased protein binding, we propose that carboxylated multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs)
      can function as an improved carrier to deliver antigens such as ovalbumin (OVA).
      To test this hypothesis, we coated carboxylated MWCNTs with OVA and measured
      uptake and activation of antigen-presenting cells (macrophages) and their ability
      to stimulate CD4(+) T-cell proliferation. We employed two types of carboxylated
      MWCNTs with different surface areas and defects (MWCNT-2 and MWCNT-30). MWCNT-2
      and MWCNT-30 have surface areas of ~215 m(2)/g and 94 m(2)/g, respectively. The
      ratios of D- to G-band areas (I D/I G) were 0.97 and 1.37 for MWCNT-2 and MWCNT
      30, respectively, samples showing that MWCNT-30 contained more defects. The
      increase in defects in MWCNT-30 led to increased binding of OVA as compared to
      MWCNT-2 (1,066+/-182 MUg/mL vs 582+/-41 MUg/mL, respectively). Both types of
      MWCNTs, along with MWCNT-OVA complexes, showed no observable toxicity to bone
      marrow-derived macrophages up to 5 days. Surprisingly, we found that MWCNT-OVA
      complex significantly increased the expression of major histocompatibility
      complex class II on macrophages and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines
      (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 6), while MWCNTs without OVA protein
      corona did not. The coculture of MWCNT-OVA-complex-treated macrophages and OVA
      specific CD4(+) T-cells isolated from OT-II mice demonstrated robust
      proliferation of CD4(+) T-cells. This study provides strong evidence for a role
      for defects in carboxylated MWCNTs and their use in the efficient delivery of
      antigens for the development of next-generation vaccines. 

PMID- 27621629
TI  - Olfactory functioning in early multiple sclerosis: Sniffin' Sticks Test study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown that olfactory functioning is affected
      by multiple sclerosis (MS). This study assessed the level of the olfactory
      impairment in early MS by using the Sniffin' Sticks Test. METHODS: This study
      included 30 patients with MS and 30 healthy controls. We collected demographic
      and clinical data from participants and administered the Sniffin' Sticks Test.
      RESULTS: We found no differences between the MS and control groups in odor
      discrimination, odor identification, and threshold discrimination identification
      scores, but odor threshold (OT) scores were higher in the control group than in
      the MS group (P=0.49). In addition, we did not find any correlation between MS
      patients' olfactory test scores and their scores on the Mini-Mental State
      Examination (MMSE), Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), disease duration,
      history of optic neuritis, or being on immunomodulatory therapy. CONCLUSION: In
      recent studies, odor threshold impairment seemed to be the most striking finding
      in patients with MS. Although the present study found a mild alteration in odor
      threshold, olfactory dysfunction appears to be a consequence of neurodegeneration
      in the higher order olfactory brain regions, which is thought to be a time
      dependent process.

PMID- 27621628
TI  - Self-assembled silk fibroin nanoparticles loaded with binary drugs in the
      treatment of breast carcinoma.
AB  - Self-assembled nanoparticles of the natural polymer, silk fibroin (SF), are a
      very promising candidate in drug delivery due to their biocompatible and
      biodegradable properties. In this study, SF nanoparticles loaded with 5
      fluorouracil (5-FU) and curcumin with size 217+/-0.4 nm and with a loading
      efficacy of 45% and 15% for 5-FU and curcumin, respectively, were prepared. The
      in vitro release effect of 5-FU and curcumin from nanoparticles was evaluated as
      ~100% and ~5%, respectively. It has been revealed that the application of such a
      nanodrug can increase the level of reactive oxygen species, which in turn induces
      apoptosis of cancer cells in vitro. Animal studies have shown that tumors could
      be noticeably reduced after being injected with the drug-entrapped nanoparticles.
      More apoptotic cells were found after 7 days of treatment with SF nanoparticles
      by a hematoxylin-eosin staining assay. These results demonstrate the future
      potential of nanoparticle-loaded binary drugs in the treatment of breast cancer. 

PMID- 27621630
TI  - Effect of low-energy extracorporeal shock wave on vascular regeneration after
      spinal cord injury and the recovery of motor function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Latest studies show that low-energy extracorporeal shock wave therapy
      (ESWT) can upregulate levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF
      can ease nervous tissue harm after spinal cord injury (SCI). This study aims to
      explore whether low-energy ESWT can promote expression of VEGF, protect nervous
      tissue after SCI, and improve motor function. METHODS: Ninety adult female rats
      were divided into the following groups: Group A (simple laminectomy), Group B
      (laminectomy and low-energy ESWT), Group C (spinal cord injury), and Group D
      (spinal cord injury and low-energy ESWT). Impinger was used to cause thoracic
      spinal cord injury. Low-energy ESWT was applied as treatment after injury three
      times a week, for 3 weeks. After SCI, the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB)
      scale was used to evaluate motor function over a period of 42 days at different
      time points. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to evaluate nerve
      tissue injury. Neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN) staining was also used to evaluate
      loss of neurons. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect messenger RNA
      (mRNA) expression of VEGF and its receptor fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (Flt-1).
      Immunostaining was used to evaluate VEGF protein expression level in myeloid
      tissue. RESULTS: BBB scores of Groups A and B showed no significant result
      related to dyskinesia. HE and NeuN staining indicated that only using low-energy
      ESWT could not cause damage of nervous tissue in Group B. Recovery of motor
      function at 7, 35, and 42 days after SCI in Group D was better than that in Group
      C (P<0.05). Compared with Group C, number of NeuN-positive cells at 42 days after
      SCI increased significantly (P<0.05). The mRNA levels of VEGF and Flt-1 and VEGF
      expression at 7 days after SCI in Group D were significantly higher than those in
      Group C (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Low-energy ESWT promotes expression of VEGF,
      decreases secondary damage of nerve tissue, and improves recovery of motor
      function. It can be regarded as one mode of clinical routine adjunctive therapy
      for spinal injury.

PMID- 27621631
TI  - Characteristics of binge eating disorder in relation to diagnostic criteria.
AB  - The objective of this review was to examine the evidentiary basis for binge
      eating disorder (BED) with reference to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
      Mental Disorders - Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for BED. A PubMed
      search restricted to titles and abstracts of English-language reviews, meta
      analyses, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, journal articles, and
      letters using human participants was conducted on August 7, 2015, using keywords
      that included "binge eating disorder," DSM-5, DSM-IV, guilt, shame,
      embarrassment, quantity, psychological, behavior, and "shape and weight
      concerns." Of the 257 retrieved publications, 60 publications were considered
      relevant to discussions related to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and were included in
      the current review, and 20 additional references were also included on the basis
      of the authors' knowledge and/or on a review of the reference lists from relevant
      articles obtained through the literature search. Evidence supports the
      duration/frequency criterion for BED and the primary importance of loss of
      control and marked distress in identifying individuals with BED. Although
      overvaluation of shape/weight is not a diagnostic criterion, its relationship to
      the severity of BED psychopathology may identify a unique subset of individuals
      with BED. Additionally, individuals with BED often exhibit a clinical profile
      consisting of psychiatric (eg, mood, obsessive-compulsive, and impulsive
      disorders) and medical (eg, gastrointestinal symptoms, metabolic syndrome, and
      type 2 diabetes) comorbidities and behavioral profiles (eg, overconsumption of
      calories outside of a binge eating episode and emotional eating). Future
      revisions of the BED diagnostic criteria should consider the inclusion of BED
      subtypes, perhaps based on the overvaluation of shape/weight, and an evidence
      based reassessment of severity criteria. 

PMID- 27621632
TI  - Association between sequence variations of the Mediterranean fever gene and the
      risk of migraine: a case-control study.
AB  - Migraine pathogenesis involves a complex interaction between hormones,
      neurotransmitters, and inflammatory pathways, which also influence the migraine
      phenotype. The Mediterranean fever gene (MEFV) encodes the pyrin protein. The
      major role of pyrin appears to be in the regulation of inflammation activity and
      the processing of the cytokine pro-interleukin-1beta, and this cytokine plays a
      part in migraine pathogenesis. This study included 220 migraine patients and 228
      healthy controls. Eight common missense mutations of the MEFV gene, known as
      M694V, M694I, M680I, V726A, R761H, K695R, P369S, and E148Q, were genotyped using
      real-time polymerase chain reaction with 5' nuclease assays, which include
      sequence specific primers, and probes with a reporter dye. When mutations were
      evaluated separately among the patient and control groups, only the heterozygote
      E148Q carrier was found to be significantly higher in the control group than in
      the patient group (P=0.029, odds ratio [95% confidence interval] =0.45 [0.21
      0.94]). In addition, the frequency of the homozygote and the compound
      heterozygote genotype carrier was found to be significantly higher in patients
      (n=8, 3.6%) than in the control group (n=1, 0.4%) (P=0.016, odds ratio [95%
      confidence interval] =8.57 [1.06-69.07]). However, there was no statistically
      significant difference in the allele frequencies of MEFV mutations between the
      patients and the healthy control group (P=0.964). In conclusion, the results of
      the present study suggest that biallelic mutations in the MEFV gene could be
      associated with a risk of migraine in the Turkish population. Moreover, MEFV
      mutations could be related to increased frequency and short durations of migraine
      attacks (P=0.043 and P=0.021, respectively). Future studies in larger groups and
      expression analysis of MEFV are required to clarify the role of the MEFV gene in
      migraine susceptibility. 

PMID- 27621633
TI  - Investigation on Internet addiction disorder in adolescents in Anhui, People's
      Republic of China.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics
      and prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) in adolescents so as to provide a
      scientific basis for the communities, schools, and families. METHODS: We
      conducted a survey by randomized cluster sampling on 5,249 students, grades
      ranging from 7 to 12, in Anhui province, People's Republic of China. The
      questionnaire consisted of general information and IA test. Chi-square test was
      used to compare the status of IA disorder (IAD). RESULTS: In our results, the
      overall detection rate of IAD and non-IAD in students was 8.7% (459/5,249) and
      76.2% (4,000/5,249), respectively. The detection rate of IAD in males (12.3%) was
      higher than females (4.9%). The detection rate of IAD was statistically different
      between students from rural (8.2%) and urban (9.3%) areas, among students from
      different grades, between students from only-child families (9.5%) and non-only
      child families (8.1%), and among students from different family types.
      CONCLUSION: Prevalence of IA is high among Chinese adolescents. IAD has more
      effect on male students, single-child families, single-parent families, and
      higher grade students. We should take more care of male students, only-child
      students, and students living with their fathers, and related education should be
      strengthen for susceptible subjects of IDA.

PMID- 27621634
TI  - Psychological distress and coping in military cadre candidates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soldiers must cope with stressors during both military operations and
      training if they are to accomplish their missions successfully and stay mentally
      stable. This holds true particularly for military superiors, as they bear greater
      responsibilities and must meet greater demands during both deployment and
      training. Accordingly, in the present study, we investigated whether recruits
      chosen for further promotion at the end of basic training differed with regard to
      psychological distress and coping strategies from those not chosen for promotion,
      and whether recruits' coping styles and distress levels were associated. METHODS:
      A total of 675 Swiss recruits took part in the study. At the beginning of basic
      training, recruits filled out self-rating questionnaires covering demographic
      data, psychological distress (depression, somatization, anxiety, interpersonal
      sensitivity, and hostility), and coping styles. Results were compared between
      those recruits who received a recommendation for further promotion at the end of
      basic training and those who did not. RESULTS: Recruits selected for promotion
      had lower scores for depressive symptoms and hostility, engaged more in active
      coping, and considered their coping to be more effective. Dysfunctional and
      functional coping were associated with higher and lower distress levels,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Recruits recommended for promotion exhibited less
      psychological distress during basic training and exhibited a socially more
      conducive profile of distress. They also endorsed more efficient and more
      prosocial coping strategies than those recruits not recommended for promotion.
      These cognitive-emotional features not only contribute to resilience but are also
      consistent with leadership research, indicating the importance of emotional
      stability and prosocial behavior in successful leaders.

PMID- 27621635
TI  - Construction of standardized Arabic questionnaires for screening neurological
      disorders (dementia, stroke, epilepsy, movement disorders, muscle and
      neuromuscular junction disorders).
AB  - A screening questionnaire is an important tool for early diagnosis of
      neurological disorders, and for epidemiological research. This screening
      instrument must be both feasible and valid. It must be accepted by the community
      and must be sensitive enough. So, the aim of this study was to prepare different
      Arabic screening questionnaires for screening different neurological disorders.
      This study was carried out in three stages. During the first stage, construction
      of separate questionnaires designed for screening the five major neurological
      disorders: cerebrovascular stroke, dementias, epilepsy, movement disorders, and
      muscle and neuromuscular disorders were done. Validation of the screening
      questionnaires was carried out in the second stage. Finally, questionnaire
      preparation was done in the third stage. Questions with the accepted sensitivity
      and specificity in each questionnaire formed the refined separate questionnaires.

PMID- 27621636
TI  - Children who screen positive for autism at 2.5 years and receive early
      intervention: a prospective naturalistic 2-year outcome study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous research has stressed the importance of early identification
      and intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. METHODS: Children
      who had screened positive for autism at the age of 2.5 years in a general
      population screening and then received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder
      were enrolled in an intervention program provided by Swedish habilitation
      services. The following interventions were available: a comprehensive
      intervention based on Applied Behavior Analysis - Intensive Learning (IL) - in
      two settings, which included home- and preschool-based (IL Regular) and only home
      based (IL Modified) and eclectic interventions. RESULTS: There was considerable
      variability in terms of outcome, but intervention group status was not associated
      with any of the chosen outcome variables. CONCLUSION: The main finding was that
      the type of intervention was not critical for outcome of adaptive or global
      functioning. The variability in outcome demonstrates the need for continuous
      assessments and evaluation of the child's function and behavior throughout the
      intervention period.

PMID- 27621637
TI  - Suicidality and symptoms of anxiety, irritability, and agitation in patients
      experiencing manic episodes with depressive symptoms: a naturalistic study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with a bipolar I disorder (BD-I) manic episode meeting the
      Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5),
      criteria for "with mixed features" have a high incidence of suicide attempts and
      of anxiety, irritability, and agitation (AIA) symptoms. The aim of this analysis
      was to explore the relationship between suicidality and AIA symptoms in patients
      with BD-I experiencing mania with depressive symptoms, using data from a previous
      naturalistic study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Psychiatrists completed an online
      questionnaire about their adult patients who had a current BD-I manic episode.
      Questions covered the DSM-5 "with mixed features" specifier, the severity of AIA
      symptoms, the frequency and controllability of suicidal ideation, and the number
      of suicide attempts. RESULTS: Of 1,035 patients with BD-I mania who were included
      in the analyses, 348 (33.6%) met the criteria for the DSM-5 "with mixed features"
      specifier (three or more depressive symptoms). These patients were further
      stratified according to the severity of their AIA symptoms: "mild AIA" (zero or
      one AIA symptom above a severity threshold; 105 patients) or "severe AIA" (all
      three AIA symptoms above a severity threshold; 167 patients). A greater incidence
      of suicidal ideation was observed in the severe AIA group (71.9%) than in the
      mild AIA group (47.6%). Twice as many patients had easily controlled suicidal
      ideation than difficult-to-control suicidal ideation in both subgroups. The mean
      number of suicide attempts was higher in the severe AIA group than in the mild
      AIA group, during the current episode (0.84 vs 0.34 attempts, respectively;
      P<0.05) and over the patient's lifetime (1.56 vs 1.04 attempts, respectively).
      CONCLUSION: The high risk of suicide among BD-I mania patients with depressive
      symptoms is further increased when they experience severe AIA symptoms.
      Recognizing AIA symptoms in BD-I mania could provide a means of identifying
      patients with depressive symptoms, as well as those who may be suicidal, thereby
      allowing for appropriate, tailored treatment.

PMID- 27621638
TI  - Adding metoclopramide to paroxetine induced extrapyramidal symptoms and
      hyperprolactinemia in a depressed woman: a case report.
AB  - A 54-year-old Japanese woman was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and
      prescribed paroxetine 20 mg/day. In around May 2013, the patient experienced
      gastric discomfort, so metoclopramide was prescribed. Beginning on June 4, 2013,
      the patient was given metoclopramide, 10 mg intravenously, twice per week. On the
      seventh day after beginning metoclopramide, facial hot flushes, increased
      sweating, muscle rigidity, and galactorrhea were noted. Extrapyramidal symptoms
      (EPS) rapidly subsided in response to an intramuscular injection of biperiden.
      Blood biochemical tests revealed an elevated serum prolactin level of 44 ng/mL.
      After stopping metoclopramide, EPS disappeared. Serum prolactin level decreased
      to 15 ng/mL after 4 weeks. In our case, although no adverse reactions had
      previously occurred following the administration of metoclopramide, the patient
      developed EPS and hyperprolactinemia following the administration of this
      antiemetic in combination with paroxetine. Paroxetine and metoclopramide are
      mainly metabolized by CYP2D6, and they are inhibitors for CYP2D6. We report a
      case with EPS and hyperprolactinemia whose plasma paroxetine and metoclopramide
      level rapidly increased after the addition of metoclopramide. Our experience
      warrants the issuing of a precaution that adverse reactions may arise following
      the coadministration of metoclopramide and paroxetine even at their respective
      standard dose levels. 

PMID- 27621639
TI  - The combined effect of sleep and time of day on emotion decoding from dynamic
      visual cues in older adults.
AB  - It is well known that night sleep is a decisive factor for the effective
      functioning of the human body and mind. In addition to the role of sleep, older
      adults report that they are "morning types" and that their cognitive and
      emotional abilities seem to be at a higher level in the morning hours. In this
      vein, this study is aimed at examining the effect of sleep combined with the
      "time of day" condition on a specific ability that is crucial for interpersonal
      communication, namely, emotion recognition, in older adults. Specifically, the
      study compared older adults' performance in decoding emotions from ecologically
      valid, dynamic visual cues, in two conditions: "early in the morning and after
      night sleep", and "in the afternoon and after many hours since night sleep". An
      emotion recognition task was administered twice to 37 community-dwelling older
      adults. The results showed a statistically significant higher performance in the
      morning in decoding all emotions presented, compared to the afternoon condition.
      Pleasant surprise, sadness, and anxiety were revealed as the most difficult
      emotions to be recognized in the afternoon condition. 

PMID- 27621640
TI  - Surgical versus conservative treatment following acute rupture of the Achilles
      tendon: is there a pedobarographic difference?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Controversy remains regarding the optimal treatment method and
      postoperative rehabilitation of acute Achilles tendon ruptures. In this study,
      pedobarographic assessments of surgical and conservative treatments were
      compared. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective assessment was made of 16 patients
      (eight surgical, eight conservative) and eight healthy controls using a plantar
      pressure measurement system. Biomechanical gait parameters were obtained using
      the Footscan dynamic gait analysis system. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U
      tests were used for the evaluation of data. RESULTS: Nineteen males and five
      females were assessed, with an average age of 42.0+/-11.9 years. Follow-up was
      completed in 16 patients. No statistically significant difference was determined
      between the two treatment groups with regard to the gait analysis, but a
      difference was observed with the control group (P<0.001). All patients were able
      to resume their prior activities after 6 months and regained normal ranges of
      motion, with a high rate of satisfaction. Most of the patients (75%) were able to
      return to their pre-injury level of activities. CONCLUSION: Satisfactory results
      were obtained through conservative treatment of acute ruptures of the Achilles
      tendon. No significant differences or complications were observed in the group
      managed conservatively versus the group treated surgically. Further studies
      including 3D gait analyses and tendon biomechanical research are required to
      further investigate this issue.

PMID- 27621641
TI  - Rituximab use in adult primary glomerulopathy: where is the evidence?
AB  - Rituximab is a chimeric anti-CD20 antibody that results in depletion of B-cell
      lymphocytes. It is currently used in the treatment of a variety of autoimmune
      diseases, in addition to CD20-positive lymphomas. The use of rituximab in the
      treatment of the adult primary glomerular diseases has emerged recently, although
      not yet established as first-line therapy in international guidelines. In
      patients with steroid-dependent minimal change disease or frequently relapsing
      disease, and in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN), several
      retrospective and prospective studies support the use of rituximab to induce
      remission, whereas in idiopathic focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS),
      the use of rituximab has resulted in variable results. Evidence is still lacking
      for the use of rituximab in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) and
      idiopathic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), as only few reports
      used rituximab in these two entities. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are
      warranted and clearly needed to establish the definitive role of rituximab in the
      management of steroid-dependent and frequently relapsing minimal change disease,
      IMN, both as first-line and second-line treatment, and in MPGN. We await the
      results of an ongoing RCT of rituximab use in IgAN. Although current evidence for
      the use of rituximab in patients with idiopathic FSGS is poor, more RCTs are
      needed to clarify its role, if any, in the management of steroid-resistant or
      steroid-dependent FSGS. 

PMID- 27621642
TI  - Long-term outcomes and prognostic analysis of modified open-door laminoplasty
      with lateral mass screw fusion in treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to explore and analyze the long
      term outcomes and factors that affect the prognosis of expansive open-door
      laminoplasty with lateral mass screw fusion in treatment of cervical spondylotic
      myelopathy (CSM). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 49 patients with
      multilevel CSM who had undergone expansive open-door laminoplasty with lateral
      mass screws fixation and fusion in our hospital between February 2008 and
      February 2012. The average follow-up period was 4.6 years. The clinical data of
      patients, including age, sex, operation records, pre- and postoperation Japanese
      Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores, cervical spine canal stenosis, and cervical
      curvature, were collected. Increased signal intensity (ISI) on T2-weighted
      magnetic resonance imaging and ossification of the posterior longitudinal
      ligament were also observed. Paired t-test was used to analyze the treatment
      effectiveness and recovery of neuronal function. The prognostic factors were
      analyzed with multivariable linear regression model. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients
      with CSM with a mean age of 59.44 years were enrolled in this study. The average
      of preoperative JOA score was 9.14+/-2.25, and postoperative JOA score was
      15.31+/-1.73. There was significant difference between the pre- and postoperative
      JOA scores. The clinical improvement rate was 80.27%. On follow-up, five patients
      had complaints of neck and shoulder pain, but no evidence of C5 nerve palsy was
      found. Developmental cervical spine canal stenosis was present in all patients
      before surgery. Before surgery, ISI was observed in eight patients, while
      ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament was found in 12 patients. The
      average of preoperative cervical curvature was 21.27 degrees +/-8.37 degrees  and
      postoperative cervical curvature was 20.09 degrees +/-1.29 degrees , and there
      was no significant difference between the pre- and postoperative cervical
      curvatures. Multivariable linear regression analysis results showed that the
      postoperation JOA scores were significantly affected by age, preoperative JOA
      scores, and preoperative ISI. Except one case of epidural hematoma, there were no
      complications associated with the surgery. CONCLUSION: Treatment of CSM with
      posterior open-door laminoplasty with lateral mass screw fusion is effective with
      few complications. In addition, the normal cervical lordosis was well maintained.
      Age, preoperative JOA scores, and preoperative ISI were the independent factors
      that significantly affect disease prognosis and surgical outcomes.

PMID- 27621643
TI  - Does surgical treatment within 4 hours after trauma have an influence on
      neurological remission in patients with acute spinal cord injury?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The proper timing for surgery in patients with acute spinal cord
      injury is controversial. This study was conducted to detect if there is an
      advantage in early (within the first 4 hours after trauma) compared to late
      (between 4 and 24 hours after trauma) surgery on neurological outcome. METHODS:
      In this single institution prospective cohort study, data were analyzed from 51
      spinal cord injured patients with an average age of 43.4 (+/-19.2) years. The
      influence of early (29 patients within the first 4 hours) as opposed to late (22
      patients between 4 and 24 hours) decompression was evaluated by comparing data
      for neurological outcome. Patients of the study collectively suffered acute
      spinal fractures from C2 to L3 (cervical 39.2%, thoracic 29.4%, and lumbal 21.6%)
      or nonosseous lesions (9.8%). American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)
      Impairment Scale (AIS) grades were assessed at time of admission and 6 months
      after trauma or longer depending on the time of release. Surgical treatment
      included early stabilization and decompression within 24 hours. RESULTS: No
      significant difference between improved neurological function, measured with the
      AIS, and an early or late surgery time can be seen (P=0.402). Furthermore, binary
      logistic regression shows no significant difference between sex or age, and AIS
      improvement as possible confounders. CONCLUSION: In our study, all patients with
      spinal cord injury were treated with spine stabilization and decompression within
      the first 24 hours after trauma. Surgical decompression within the first 4 hours
      after trauma was not associated with improved neurological outcome compared to
      treatment between 4 and 24 hours. In a clinical context, this indicates that
      there is a time frame of at least 1 day in which optimal care is possible.

PMID- 27621644
TI  - Safety of long-term use of linezolid: results of an open-label study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the long-term safety of
      linezolid in patients with chronic infections requiring treatment for >=6 weeks.
      Enhanced monitoring for optic neuropathy was included to characterize the early
      development of this side effect and to identify ophthalmologic tests that might
      be valuable in early detection of this event. METHODS: This was a multicenter,
      open-label, pilot study of patients aged >=18 years on long-term linezolid
      therapy. Matched control patients were included for baseline assessment
      comparison. Patients were assessed at study entry, monthly while on treatment, at
      the end of treatment, and 30 days following the last dose. Aggregate ocular
      safety data were reviewed. Response to treatment was reported. RESULTS: The study
      was terminated owing to slow enrollment. Twenty-four patients received linezolid;
      nine patients were included as matched controls. Linezolid was prescribed for a
      median of 80.5 days (range, 50-254 days). In patients with a reported clinical
      outcome, the majority were considered improved or cured. Common treatment-related
      adverse events (AEs) included anemia, peripheral neuropathy, polyneuropathy,
      vomiting, and asthenia, and were consistent with the known safety profile. Most
      AEs resolved or stabilized with discontinuation of treatment. Results of
      ophthalmologic tests in the one case adjudicated as probable linezolid-associated
      optic neuropathy revealed abnormal color vision, characteristic changes in the
      optic disk, and central scotomas in each eye. CONCLUSION: In our small
      population, linezolid was generally well tolerated and AEs were consistent with
      the known safety profile. Extensive ophthalmologic testing of all 24 linezolid
      treated patients identified one case adjudicated as probable, linezolid
      associated optic neuropathy.

PMID- 27621645
TI  - Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment in diabetic macular edema.

PMID- 27621647
TI  - Psychometric properties of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in home
      dwelling older adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) is an
      occupational therapy instrument designed to help participants identify,
      prioritize, and evaluate performance of important occupations. OBJECTIVE: To
      investigate the validity, responsiveness, interpretability, and feasibility of
      the COPM when used by various health professions in home-dwelling older adults
      receiving reablement. Reablement is a new form of multidisciplinary home-based
      rehabilitation for older adults experiencing functional decline. PARTICIPANTS AND
      METHODS: The sample of 225 participants, mean age 80.8 years, who were in need of
      rehabilitation for various health conditions were included in the study. Data
      collection was conducted at baseline and at 10 weeks follow-up. The COSMIN
      guidelines and recommendations for evaluating methodological quality were
      followed. RESULTS: Content validity, construct validity, and feasibility were
      found to be adequate. Responsiveness, however, was moderate. Functional mobility
      was the most frequently prioritized occupational category of all. Regarding
      interpretability, the minimal important change was 3.0 points and 3.2 points for
      performance and satisfaction, respectively. The older adults reported that COPM
      was a useful and manageable instrument. The majority of the occupational
      therapists, physiotherapists, and nurses reported that they had the required
      expertise to conduct the COPM assessments. CONCLUSION: The results support the
      multidisciplinary use of the COPM in clinical practice and research in a home
      dwelling, heterogeneous population of older adults. Based on the findings, 3
      points are recommended as a cutoff point to distinguish between older adults who
      have a minimal important change in COPM performance and COPM satisfaction and
      those who have not.

PMID- 27621648
TI  - Effect of DcR3-specific siRNA on cell growth suppression and apoptosis induction
      in glioma cells via affecting ERK and AKT.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previously, we found that the expression of decoy receptor 3 (DcR3)
      in gliomas was significantly upregulated compared to normal brain tissues.
      However, the effect of DcR3-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) on cell
      biological function of glioma cells remains incompletely understood. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this study was to explore the effect of DcR3 siRNA on cell growth and
      apoptosis of glioma cells and to investigate the potential downstream pathways
      affected by DcR3. METHODS: DcR3-specific siRNA was transfected into three glioma
      cell lines (U251MG, LN-308, and U87MG) using combiMAGnetofection method. MTS
      tetrazolium assay and fluorimetric resorufin viability assay were used to assess
      the growth of glioma cells. Then, apoptosis was examined using the Hoechst
      33342/propidium iodide double-staining assay and fluorescent caspase-3/7 assay.
      Meanwhile, Western blot was performed to explore the probable pathway by which
      DcR3-specific siRNA acts in glioma cells. Also, microarray dataset analysis was
      applied to analyze the potential function of DcR3 in glioma. RESULTS: The DcR3
      specific siRNA had a potent effect on cell growth and apoptosis of all three
      glioma cells tested, and the effects were time dependent. Among these three
      glioma cell lines, U251MG had the most significant effect with regard to growth
      inhibition and apoptosis induction. MTS assay showed that the proliferation rate
      at 72 and 96 hours after the transfection was 76.333%+/-5.131% (t=7.611, P=0.002)
      and 64.333%+/-5.859% (t=10.983, P<0.001), respectively. The viability rate of
      U251MG cells was 80.667%+/-2.309% (t=12.302, P<0.001) and 62.333%+/-2.082%
      (t=21.213, P<0.001) at 72 and 96 hours posttreatment, respectively. The caspase
      3/7 activity of U251MG cells was 2.76 (t=-6.601, P=0.003) and 4.75 (t=-9.189,
      P=0.001) folds that of the mock control at 72 and 96 hours, respectively. The
      apoptosis rate was increased to 1.85 (t=-2.496, P=0.067) and 3.93 (t=-12.587,
      P<0.001) folds at 72 and 96 hours after transfection, respectively. Furthermore,
      the levels of phospho-ERK1/2 and phospho-AKT were significantly downregulated
      after DcR3 silencing. CONCLUSION: The DcR3-specific siRNA could efficiently
      inhibit growth and induce apoptosis of cells via affecting ERK and AKT. Hence,
      DcR3-specific siRNA treatment could act as a supplementary targeted therapy
      strategy for gliomas.

PMID- 27621646
TI  - Critical appraisal of paclitaxel balloon angioplasty for femoral-popliteal
      arterial disease.
AB  - Peripheral arterial disease, particularly critical limb ischemia, is an area with
      urgent need for optimized therapies because, to date, vascular interventions
      often have limited life spans. In spite of initial encouraging technical success
      after femoropopliteal percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or stenting,
      postprocedural restenosis remains the major problem. The challenging idea behind
      the drug-coated balloon (DCB) concept is the biological modification of the
      injury response after balloon dilatation. Antiproliferative drugs administered
      via DCBs or drug-eluting stents are able to suppress neointimal hyperplasia, the
      main cause of restenosis. This article reviews the results of DCB treatments of
      femoropopliteal and infrapopliteal lesions in comparison to standard angioplasty
      with uncoated balloons. A systematic literature search was performed in 1)
      medical journals (ie, MEDLINE), 2) international registers for clinical studies
      (ie, www.clinicaltrials.gov), and 3) abstracts of scientific sessions. Several
      controlled randomized trials with follow-up periods of up to 5 years demonstrated
      the efficacy of paclitaxel -DCB technology. However, calcified lesions seem to
      affect the efficacy of DCB. Combinations of preconditioning methods with DCBs
      showed promising results. Although the mechanical abrasion of calcium via
      atherectomy or laser ablation showed favorable periprocedural results, the long
      term impact on restenosis and clinical outcome has to be demonstrated. Major
      advantages of the DCBs are the rapid delivery of drug at uniform concentrations
      with a single dose, their efficacy in areas wherein stents have been
      contraindicated until now (ie, bifurcation, ostial lesions), and in leaving no
      stent scaffold behind. Reinterventions are easier to perform because DCBs leave
      no metal behind. Various combinations of DCBs with other treatment modalities may
      prove to be viable options in future. The follow-up results of clinical studies
      will evaluate the long-term impact of DCBs. 

PMID- 27621650
TI  - ALDH1A1 induces resistance to CHOP in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma through
      activation of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.
AB  - Increasing evidence has shown that aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1), a
      detoxifying enzyme, is responsible for chemoresistance in a variety of tumors.
      Although the majority of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can
      be cured with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP),
      chemoresistance is a common cause of treatment failure. This study aims to
      investigate the significance of ALDH1A1 expression and the mechanism by which
      ALDH1A1 is involved in the chemoresistance of DLBCL cells. ALDH1A1 expression was
      assessed in 88 DLBCL tissues by immunohistochemistry. The association between
      ALDH1A1 expression and outcome was evaluated. We also investigated the effect of
      ALDH1A1 on CHOP resistance in DLBCL cells using functional analysis. ALDH1A1
      expression levels were upregulated in patients with stable or progressive disease
      after CHOP and its expression positively correlated with expression of STAT3 and
      p-STAT3. In keeping with these observations, ALDH1A1 expression was significantly
      associated with short survival of DLBCL patients who received CHOP chemotherapy.
      In functional assays in Pfeiffer cells, overexpression of ALDH1A1 conferred
      resistance to CHOP, while silencing of ALDH1A1 using short hairpin RNA had the
      opposite effect. Furthermore, we also observed that ALDH1A1 could regulate the
      JAK2/STAT3 pathway, while inhibition of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway by WP1066 negated
      the effect of ALDH1A1 overexpression. These observations reveal that ALDH1A1
      induces resistance to CHOP through activation of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in DLBCL,
      and its targeting provides a potential strategic approach for reversing CHOP
      resistance. 

PMID- 27621649
TI  - Expression and prognostic significance of unique ULBPs in pancreatic cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide, due to
      the lack of efficient therapy and difficulty in early diagnosis. ULBPs have been
      shown to behave as important protectors with prognostic significance in various
      cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assays were used to explore the expression of ULBPs in cancer
      tissue and in serum, while survival analysis was used to evaluate the subsequent
      clinical value of ULBPs. RESULTS: Statistics showed that high expression of
      membrane ULBP1 was a good biomarker of overall survival (18 months vs 13 months),
      and a high level of soluble ULBP2 was deemed an independent poor indicator for
      both overall survival (P<0.001) and disease-free survival (P<0.001). CONCLUSION:
      ULBP1 provides additional information for early diagnosis, and soluble ULBP2 can
      be used as a novel tumor marker to evaluate the risk of pancreatic cancer
      patients.

PMID- 27621651
TI  - Verteporfin, a suppressor of YAP-TEAD complex, presents promising antitumor
      properties on ovarian cancer.
AB  - Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a key transcriptional coactivator of Hippo
      pathway and has been shown to be an oncoprotein in ovarian cancer (OC).
      Verteporfin (VP), clinically used in photodynamic therapy for neovascular macular
      degeneration, has been recently proven to be a suppressor of YAP-TEAD complex and
      has shown potential in anticancer treatment. In this study, we aimed to explore
      the potential effect of VP in the treatment of OC. Our results showed that VP led
      to inhibition of proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner and to the
      suppression of migratory and invasive capacities of OC cells. Western blot and
      real-time polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that VP induced YAP cytoplasmic
      retention and deregulated inducible YAP and CCNs in OC cells. In vivo, VP exerted
      a significant effect on tumor growth in OVCAR8 xenograft mice, resulting in tumor
      nodules with lower average weight and reduced volume of gross ascites. In
      addition, VP treatment remarkably upregulated cytoplasmic YAP and phosphorylation
      YAP and downregulated CCN1 and CCN2, but exerted little effect on YAP-upstream
      components in Hippo pathway. In conclusion, our results suggested that VP may be
      a promising agent for OC, acting by suppressing YAP-TEAD complex. 

PMID- 27621652
TI  - Pitavastatin suppressed liver cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Pitavastatin classically functions as a blood cholesterol-lowering drug.
      Previously, it was discovered with antiglioma stem cell properties through drug
      screening. However, whether it can be used for liver cancer cell therapy has
      never been reported. In this study, the cell viability and colony formation assay
      were utilized to analyze the cytotoxicity of pitavastatin on liver cancer cells.
      The cell cycle alteration was checked after pitavastatin treatment. Apoptosis
      related protein expression and the effect of caspase inhibitor were also checked.
      The in vivo inhibitory effect of pitavastatin on the growth of liver tumor was
      also tested. It was found that pitavastatin inhibited growth and colony formation
      of liver cancer Huh-7 cells and SMMC7721 cells. It induced arrest of liver cancer
      cells at the G1 phase. Increased proportion of sub-G1 cells was observed after
      pitavastatin treatment. Pitavastatin promoted caspase-9 cleavage and caspase-3
      cleavage in liver cancer cells. Caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK reversed the cleavage
      of cytotoxic effect of pitavastatin. Moreover, pitavastatin decreased the tumor
      growth and improved the survival of tumor-bearing mice. This study suggested the
      antiliver cancer effect of the old drug pitavastatin. It may be developed as a
      drug for liver cancer therapy. 

PMID- 27621653
TI  - Real-time tests of multiple genome alterations take the first steps into the
      clinic: a learning example.
AB  - Molecular characterization is increasingly changing clinical practice, in both
      diagnosis and treatment. BRAF is a proto-oncogene that is mutated in ~2%-4% of
      lung cancers, but the incidence rises to 40%-45% among papillary thyroid cancers.
      Furthermore, BRAF is a promising target in lung cancer treatment. The present
      case study covers both the challenges of molecular differential diagnosis and the
      perspectives opened by targeted therapy by discussing the history of a 78-year
      old female affected by a papillary histotype carcinoma with BRAF mutation
      associated with both thyroid and lung localizations. A differential diagnosis was
      possible as a consequence of a multidisciplinary approach including an in-depth
      molecular characterization. Based on this molecular feature, the patient was
      successfully treated with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib after the failure of
      treatment with standard regimen. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      published case of non-small-cell lung cancer with metastasis to thyroid and with
      BRAF V600E mutation. 

PMID- 27621654
TI  - Efficacy and safety of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy compared
      with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for metastatic colorectal
      cancer in first-line and second-line therapies: a meta-analysis.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to compare anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti
      EGFR) therapy and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy as first-line
      and second-line therapies in patients with KRAS exon 2 codon 12/13 wild-type
      (KRAS-WT) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). METHODS: Major databases were
      systematically searched. The hazard ratio (HR), odds ratio (OR), and 95%
      confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to estimate the effect measures. Review
      Manager software version 5.3 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Seven
      trials including ten articles were eligible in the meta-analysis. The patients
      treated with anti-EGFR as first-line therapy showed a longer overall survival
      (OS) for KRAS-WT and all RAS wild-type (RAS-WT) mCRC (HR =0.81, 95% CI: 0.72
      0.92, P<0.01, n=5; HR =0.78, 95% CI: 0.66-0.93, P<0.01, n=3, respectively). The
      objective response rate (ORR) was better with the anti-EGFR therapy for KRAS-WT
      and all RAS-WT mCRC (OR =1.32, 95% CI: 1.11-1.56, P<0.01, n=5; OR =1.55, 95% CI:
      1.21-2.00, P<0.01, n=3, respectively). There was no difference in progression
      free survival (PFS) for KRAS-WT mCRC and all RAS-WT mCRC between the two groups
      (HR =1.00; 95% CI: 0.92-1.09, P=0.99, n=4; HR =0.92, 95% CI: 0.71-1.19, P=0.52,
      n=3, respectively). In addition, two trials provided data on the second-line
      therapy; there was no significant difference in OS and PFS for the second-line
      therapy, but a significant improvement in ORR was found in the anti-EGFR group
      (OR =1.91, 95% CI: 1.16-3.16, P=0.01, n=2). No difference in the conversion
      therapy (OR =1.34; 95% CI: 0.91-1.99; P=0.14, n=4) was observed between the two
      therapies. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that anti-EGFR therapy is superior to
      anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for OS and ORR as a first-line
      therapy for KRAS-WT mCRC. In the second-line therapy, there was no significant
      difference in the survival outcomes on the basis of OS and PFS between the two
      groups. However, ORR improved significantly in the anti-EGFR group.

PMID- 27621655
TI  - Long noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 promotes malignant development of colorectal cancer
      by targeting epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - The clinical significance and biological functions of long noncoding RNA SPRY4
      intronic transcript 1 (SPRY4-IT1) in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely
      unclear. Herein, we are the first to report that the SPRY4-IT1 was significantly
      upregulated in CRC tissues, serum, and cells. Higher SPRY4-IT1 expression was
      markedly associated with advanced Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stage in a cohort
      of 84 CRC patients. Multivariate analyses indicated that SPRY4-IT1 expression
      could be useful as an independent predictor for overall survival. Further in
      vitro experiments revealed that knockdown of SPRY4-IT1 inhibited the
      proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells and induced cell cycle
      arrestment. Moreover, we confirmed that the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition-related genes was modulated through alteration of SPRY4-IT1
      expression. These results suggest that SPRY4-IT1, as an oncogenic regulator, may
      serve as a candidate prognostic marker and potential target for CRC therapies. 

PMID- 27621656
TI  - Clinical potential of necitumumab in non-small cell lung carcinoma.
AB  - Despite significant progress, new therapeutic approaches for advanced non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are highly needed, particularly for the treatment of
      patients with squamous cell carcinoma. The epidermal growth factor receptor
      (EGFR) is often overexpressed in NSCLC and represents a relevant target for
      specific treatments. Although EGFR mutations are more frequent in non-squamous
      histology, the receptor itself is more often overexpressed in squamous NSCLC.
      Necitumumab is a human monoclonal antibody that is able to inhibit the EGFR
      pathway and cause antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity. This drug has been
      studied in combination with first-line chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC in two
      Phase III trials, and a significant survival benefit was reported in squamous
      NSCLC (SQUIRE trial); by contrast, necitumumab did not prove itself beneficial in
      non-squamous histotype (INSPIRE trial). On the basis of the SQUIRE results,
      necitumumab was approved in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine as a first
      line treatment for advanced squamous NSCLC, both in the US and Europe, where its
      availability is limited to patients with EGFR-expressing tumors. The aim of this
      review is to describe the tolerability and the efficacy of necitumumab by
      searching the available published data and define its potential role in the
      current landscape of NSCLC treatment. 

PMID- 27621657
TI  - Reslizumab in the management of poorly controlled asthma: the data so far.
AB  - Interleukin-5, an important cytokine in the pathophysiology of asthma,
      participates in terminal maturation and increases chemotaxis, endothelial
      adhesion, and activation of eosinophils. Blockade of interleukin-5 activity with
      monoclonal antibodies have been successful in decreasing eosinophil counts.
      Reslizumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin-5, has been studied
      for the treatment of severe asthma. Several studies have shown that reslizumab
      can effectively treat severe asthma with an eosinophilic phenotype. Compared to
      placebo, patients treated with reslizumab had a reduction in the rates of asthma
      exacerbations and experienced improvement in FEV1 and asthma control
      questionnaires scores as early as 4 weeks after the therapy was initiated.
      Reslizumab was not effective in various asthma outcomes in patients without
      eosinophilia. The adverse events reported were similar in both treatment and
      placebo groups. Patients should be observed immediately after treatment because
      anaphylaxis may occur rarely (0.3%) after exposure to reslizumab. Future
      surveillance studies are still needed to establish the risks of malignancy and
      safety during pregnancy. 

PMID- 27621658
TI  - Natural dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitor mangiferin mitigates diabetes- and
      metabolic syndrome-induced changes in experimental rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mangiferin (MNG) is known to possess antidiabetic and antioxidant
      activity. However, there is no experimental evidence presently available in the
      literature with regard to its ameliorating effects on diabetes mellitus
      coexisting with metabolic syndrome. OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to
      evaluate the protective effects of MNG on various components of metabolic
      syndrome with diabetes as an essential component. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Adult
      Wistar rats were fed high-fat diets for 10 weeks and challenged with
      streptozotocin (40 mg/kg) at week three (high-fat diabetic control group). After
      the confirmation of metabolic syndrome in the setting of diabetes, MNG 40 mg/kg
      was orally fed to these rats from the fourth to tenth week. RESULTS: The
      treatment with MNG showed beneficial effects on various components of metabolic
      syndrome, such as reduced dyslipidemia (decreased triglyceride, total
      cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and increased high-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol) and diabetes mellitus (reduced blood glucose and
      glycosylated hemoglobin). In addition, an increase in serum insulin, C-peptide,
      and homeostasis model assessment-beta and a reduction in homeostasis model
      assessment of insulin resistance-IR were observed in MNG-treated group compared
      with high-fat diabetic control group. MNG was also found to be cardioprotective
      (reduction in creatine phosphokinase-MB levels, atherogenic index, high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein). Reduction in serum dipeptidyl peptidase-IV
      levels in the MNG-treated group correlated with improvement in insulin resistance
      and enhanced beta-cell function. CONCLUSION: The present study has demonstrated
      antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, and cardioprotective effects of MNG in the setting
      of diabetes with metabolic syndrome. Thus, MNG has the potential to be developed
      as a natural alternative to synthetic dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitors
      beneficial in this comorbid condition.

PMID- 27621659
TI  - Volume correction in the aging hand: role of dermal fillers.
AB  - The hands, just like the face, are highly visible parts of the body. They age at
      a similar rate and demonstrate comparable changes with time, sun damage, and
      smoking. Loss of volume in the hands exposes underlying tendons, veins, and bony
      prominences. Rejuvenation of the hands with dermal fillers is a procedure with
      high patient satisfaction and relatively low risk for complications. This study
      will review relevant anatomy, injection technique, clinical safety, and efficacy
      of dermal filler volumization of the aging hand. 

PMID- 27621660
TI  - Assessment of a new biological complex efficacy on dysseborrhea, inflammation,
      and Propionibacterium acnes proliferation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acne vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the
      pilosebaceous unit triggered by Propionibacterium acnes. A bakuchiol, Ginkgo
      biloba extract, and mannitol (BGM) complex has been developed to provide patients
      with acne with a specific dermocosmetic to be used adjunctively with conventional
      treatments. OBJECTIVE: The aim of these studies was to assess the antibacterial,
      anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative potential of BGM complex and its individual
      compounds as well as its impact on sebum composition. METHODS: The antibacterial,
      anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative potential of BGM complex and its compounds
      was assessed through in vitro, ex vivo, and clinical studies. The clinical
      benefit of BGM complex formulated in a cream was assessed in subjects prone to
      acne through sebum composition analysis and photometric assessments. RESULTS:
      Results from the studies showed that the BGM complex has significant
      antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative properties. At similar
      concentrations, bakuchiol has up to twice the antioxidative potential than
      vitamin E. In subjects, BGM complex regulated the sebum composition in acne
      patients by increasing the level of sapienic and linolenic acid and reducing the
      level of oleic acid. The reduced number of porphyrins on the skin surface showed
      that it is also effective against P. acnes. CONCLUSION: BGM complex provides a
      complete adjunctive care in patients with acne by targeting etiopathogenic
      factors of acne: dysseborrhea, inflammation, and P. acnes proliferation.

PMID- 27621661
TI  - Hormonal treatment of acne vulgaris: an update.
AB  - Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition associated with multiple factors.
      Although mostly presenting alone, it can likewise present with features of
      hyperandrogenism and hormonal discrepancies. Of note, hormonal therapies are
      indicated in severe, resistant-to-treatment cases and in those with monthly flare
      ups and when standard therapeutic options are inappropriate. This article serves
      as an update to hormonal pathogenesis of acne, discusses the basics of endocrinal
      evaluation for patients with suspected hormonal acne, and provides an overview of
      the current hormonal treatment options in women. 

PMID- 27621662
TI  - Curcumin prevents muscle damage by regulating NF-kappaB and Nrf2 pathways and
      improves performance: an in vivo model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Exercise (Ex) increases reactive oxygen species and impairs antioxidant
      defense systems. Recent data suggest that curcumin (CW) possesses peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor gamma activity and anti-inflammatory properties.
      Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effects of CW
      supplementation on Ex performance, endurance, and changes in serum and muscle
      proteins in rats after exhaustive Ex. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight (28)
      male Wistar rats (age: 8 weeks and body weight: 180+/-20 g) were divided into
      four treatment groups: 1) control (C; no Ex), 2) C + CW (no Ex + CW), 3) C + Ex,
      and 4) C + Ex + CW (Ex + CW). CW was administered as 100 mg/kg CurcuWin((r)),
      providing 20 mg of curcuminoids daily for 6 weeks. A motor-driven rodent
      treadmill was used to carry out the Ex protocols. During a 5-day period, animals
      in chronic Ex groups were put through different regimens: day 1, 10 m/min for 10
      minutes; day 2, 20 m/min for 10 minutes; day 3, 25 m/min for 10 minutes; day 4,
      25 m/min for 20 minutes; and day 5, 25 m/min for 30 minutes. Animals were
      exercised at 25 m/min for 45 min/d for 5 d/wk for 6 weeks. Blood and muscle
      samples were analyzed for muscle markers, oxidative stress, and antioxidant
      markers. RESULTS: Lactate and muscle malondialdehyde levels decreased in the CW
      treated groups (P<0.0001). However, activities of antioxidant enzyme levels
      increased in the CW-treated groups. Run to exhaustion (minutes) improved in the
      CW-treated groups. Muscle nuclear factor-kappaB (P<0.05) and heat shock protein
      70 (P<0.05) levels were much lowered in the CW treated group followed by Ex
      group. In addition, muscle inhibitors of kappa B, peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha, thioredoxin-1, sirtuin 1, nuclear
      factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2, and glucose transporter 4 protein levels in
      the Ex + CW group were higher than those in the control and Ex groups (P<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests that novel CW has the potential to help prevent
      muscle damage by regulating the nuclear factor-kappaB and nuclear factor
      (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 pathways and improve the performance and nutritional
      values of CW.

PMID- 27621663
TI  - Identification of a novel pathogenic OTOF variant causative of nonsyndromic
      hearing loss with high frequency in the Ashkenazi Jewish population.
AB  - Mutations in the OTOF gene have previously been shown to cause nonsyndromic
      prelingual deafness (DFNB9, OMIM 601071) as well as auditory neuropathy/dys
      synchrony. In this study, the OTOF NM_194248.2 c.5332G>T, p.Val1778Phe variant
      was identified in a large Ashkenazi Jewish family as the causative variant in
      four siblings with hearing loss. Our analysis reveals a carrier frequency of the
      OTOF c.5332G>T, p.Val1778Phe variant of 1.27% in the Ashkenazi Jewish population,
      suggesting that this variant may be a significant contributor to nonsyndromic
      sensorineural hearing loss and should be considered for inclusion in targeted
      hearing loss panels for this population. Of note, the degree of hearing loss
      associated with this phenotype ranged from mild to moderately severe, with two of
      the four siblings not known to have hearing loss until they were genotyped and
      underwent pure tone audiometry and auditory brainstem response testing. The
      phenotypic variability along with the auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony, which
      allows for the production of otoacoustic emissions, supports that nonsyndromic
      hearing loss caused by OTOF mutations may be much more common in the Ashkenazi
      Jewish population than currently appreciated due to a lack of diagnosis. 

PMID- 27621664
TI  - Health in a fragile state: a five-year review of mortality patterns and trends at
      Somalia's Banadir Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recurrent civil conflict in Somalia has impeded progress toward
      improving health and health care, with lack of data and poor performance of
      health indicators. This study aimed at making inference about Banadir region by
      exploring morbidity and mortality trends at Banadir Hospital. This is one of the
      few functional hospitals during war. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was
      conducted with data collected at Banadir Hospital for the period of January 2008
      December 2012. The data were aggregated from patient records and summarized on a
      morbidity and mortality surveillance form with respect to age groups and
      stratified by sex. The main outcome was the number of patients that died in the
      hospital. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate the association between sex and
      hospital mortality. RESULTS: Conditions of infectious origin were the major
      presentations at the hospital. The year 2011 recorded the highest number of cases
      of diarrhea and mortality due to diarrhea. The stillbirth rate declined during
      the study period from 272 to 48 stillbirths per 1,000 live births by 2012. The
      sum of total cases that were attended to at the hospital by the end of 2012 was
      four times the number at the baseline year of the study in 2008; however, the
      overall mortality rate among those admitted declined between 2008 and 2012.
      CONCLUSION: There was reduction in patient mortality at the hospital over the
      study period. Data from Banadir Hospital are consistent with findings from
      Banadir region and could give credible public health reflections for the region
      given the lack of data on a population level.

PMID- 27621665
TI  - Interstitial nephritis caused by HIV infection by itself: a case report.
AB  - Interstitial nephritis is a common cause of renal dysfunction. It is primarily
      caused by drugs, infections, or autoimmune disorders. Patients with human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can develop interstitial nephritis,
      although it typically occurs because of the aforementioned etiologies and not as
      a direct consequence of HIV infection. Interstitial lesions may occur in patients
      with HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN). However, interstitial nephritis without
      the glomerular injuries characteristic of HIVAN, and without the risk factors
      described earlier, is very rare. Here, we describe a rare case of interstitial
      nephritis that was likely caused directly by HIV infection and not by other
      etiologies. 

PMID- 27621666
TI  - A preliminary evaluation of the relationship of cannabinoid blood concentrations
      with the analgesic response to vaporized cannabis.
AB  - A randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial utilizing vaporized cannabis
      containing placebo and 6.7% and 2.9% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was
      performed in 42 subjects with central neuropathic pain related to spinal cord
      injury and disease. Subjects received two administrations of the study medication
      in a 4-hour interval. Blood samples for pharmacokinetic evaluation were
      collected, and pain assessment tests were performed immediately after the second
      administration and 3 hours later. Pharmacokinetic data, although limited, were
      consistent with literature reports, namely dose-dependent increase in systemic
      exposure followed by rapid disappearance of THC. Dose-dependent improvement in
      pain score was evident across all pain scale elements. Using mixed model
      regression, an evaluation of the relationship between plasma concentrations of
      selected cannabinoids and percent change in items from the Neuropathic Pain Scale
      was conducted. Changes in the concentration of THC and its nonpsychotropic
      metabolite, 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC, were related to percent change from baseline of
      several descriptors (eg, itching, burning, and deep pain). However, given the
      large number of multiple comparisons, false-discovery-rate-adjusted P-values were
      not significant. Plans for future work are outlined to explore the relationship
      of plasma concentrations with the analgesic response to different cannabinoids.
      Such an appraisal of descriptors might contribute to the identification of
      distinct pathophysiologic mechanisms and, ultimately, the development of
      mechanism-based treatment approaches for neuropathic pain, a condition that
      remains difficult to treat. 

PMID- 27621668
TI  - Cholesterol testing among men and women with disability: the role of morbidity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Despite more frequent use of health services by people living with
      disability, the quality of preventive care received may be suboptimal. In this
      retrospective cohort study, we used administrative data to examine the
      relationship between cholesterol testing and levels of disability and morbidity
      among women and men in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: We linked multiple provincial
      level databases in this study. In stratified analyses for women and men, we used
      multivariable logistic regression to examine differences in cholesterol testing,
      and we tested for an interaction effect between disability and morbidity. In a
      secondary analysis, we tested for a three-way interaction between sex,
      disability, and morbidity on the entire cohort. RESULTS: There was an interaction
      between morbidity and disability for both women and men. Women and men with no
      chronic conditions appeared to be least likely to be up-to-date on cholesterol
      testing, and among this group, those with moderate disability were more likely to
      be up-to-date on cholesterol testing than those with no disability (adjusted odds
      ratio [AOR] =1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20-1.90 for women; AOR =1.16;
      95% CI 1.00-1.34 for men). Among women and men who had one chronic condition,
      having severe disability put them at significant disadvantage versus those with
      no disability. Only 58.5% of men with no disability and no chronic conditions
      were up-to-date on cholesterol testing. CONCLUSION: An intermediate level of
      health care need (reflected in this study as level of disability and level of
      morbidity) may provide a benefit for cholesterol testing, and conversely, health
      care needs that are too few or too great may negatively affect testing. Public
      health and practice-based interventions need to be explored to address these
      findings.

PMID- 27621669
TI  - First-line antiretroviral treatment failure and associated factors in HIV
      patients at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Gondar, Northwest
      Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) restores immune function and reduces HIV
      related adverse outcomes. But treatment failure erodes this advantage and leads
      to an increased morbidity and compromised quality of life in HIV patients. The
      aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with
      first-line ART failure in HIV patients at the University of Gondar Teaching
      Hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 340 adults
      who had started ART during the period of September 2011 to May 2015. Data
      regarding patients' sociodemographics, baseline characteristics, and treatment
      related information were collected through review of their medical charts. Data
      were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabs, and
      binary and multiple logistic regressions were utilized. P<0.05 was used to
      declare association. RESULTS: Among the 340 patients enrolled, 205 were females
      (60.3%). The mean age at ART initiation was 34.4 years. A total of 14 (4.1%)
      patients were found to have treatment failure. The median duration of treatment
      failure from initiation of treatment was 17.5 months (8-36 months). Poor
      adherence to treatment and low baseline CD4 cell count were found to be
      significant predictors of treatment failure. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of first
      line ART failure was 4.1%. Treatment failure was most likely to occur for the
      patients who had poor drug adherence and those who were delayed to start ART till
      their CD4 cell count became very low (<100 cells/mm(3)).

PMID- 27621667
TI  - Reducing infection risk in implant-based breast-reconstruction surgery:
      challenges and solutions.
AB  - Implant-based procedures are the most commonly performed method for
      postmastectomy breast reconstruction. While donor-site morbidity is low, these
      procedures are associated with a higher risk of reconstructive loss. Many of
      these are related to infection of the implant, which can lead to prolonged
      antibiotic treatment, undesired additional surgical procedures, and
      unsatisfactory results. This review combines a summary of the recent literature
      regarding implant-related breast-reconstruction infections and combines this with
      a practical approach to the patient and surgery aimed at reducing this risk.
      Prevention of infection begins with appropriate reconstructive choice based on an
      assessment and optimization of risk factors. These include patient and disease
      characteristics, such as smoking, obesity, large breast size, and immediate
      reconstructive procedures, as well as adjuvant therapy, such as radiotherapy and
      chemotherapy. For implant-based breast reconstruction, preoperative planning and
      organization is key to reducing infection. A logical and consistent
      intraoperative and postoperative surgical protocol, including appropriate
      antibiotic choice, mastectomy-pocket creation, implant handling, and considered
      acellular dermal matrix use contribute toward the reduction of breast-implant
      infections. 

PMID- 27621670
TI  - Retropupillary iris claw intraocular lens implantation in aphakia for dislocated
      intraocular lens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, dislocated intraocular lenses (IOLs) and inadequate
      capsular support are becoming a challenge for every ophthalmic surgeon.
      Explantation of dislocated IOL and iris claw IOL (ICIOL) are the techniques that
      have been used in our ophthalmic department. The aim of this study is to report
      our technique for retropupillar ICIOL. METHODS: This study is a retrospective
      case series. A total of 105 eyes with dislocated IOL from the patients at the
      Department of Ophthalmology in Santa Maria Hospital, a tertiary reference
      hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, from January 2012 until January 2016, had been
      analyzed. Of these 105 eyes, 66 eyes had dislocated one-piece IOL and 39 eyes had
      dislocated three-piece IOL. The latter underwent iris suture of the same IOL and
      were excluded from this study. The remaining 66 eyes with dislocated one-piece
      IOL underwent pars plana vitrectomy, that is, explantation of dislocated IOL
      through corneal incision and an implantation of retropupillary ICIOL. Operative
      data and postoperative outcomes included best corrected visual acuity, IOL
      position, intraocular pressure, pigment dispersion, clinical signs of endothelial
      cell loss, and anterior chamber depth. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 23 months
      (range: 6-48 months). The mean preoperative best corrected visual acuity was
      1.260+/-0.771 logMAR, and postoperative best corrected visual acuity was 0.352+/
      0.400 logMAR units. Mean vision gain was 0.909 logMar units. The patients had the
      following complications: 1) retinal detachment was found in one patient, 2)
      corneal edema was found in three patients, 3) high intraocular pressure was
      observed in twelve patients, 4) subluxation of the IOL was observed in one
      patient, and 5) macular edema was found in three eyes. CONCLUSION: The results
      demonstrate that retropupillary ICIOL is an easy and effective method for the
      correction of aphakia in patients not receiving capsule support. The safety of
      this procedure must be interpreted in the context of a surgery usually indicated
      in complicated cases.

PMID- 27621671
TI  - Infectious crystalline keratopathy caused by Cladosporium sp. after penetrating
      keratoplasty: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infectious crystalline keratopathy is a rare, progressive infection
      characterized by the insidious progression of branches and crystalline corneal
      opacities with minimal or no inflammation. This case report describes the
      evolution of an infectious crystalline keratopathy caused by Cladosporium sp.,
      which developed after tectonic keratoplasty in a patient with a history of ocular
      trauma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 40-year-old Brazilian male was the victim of
      firework-induced trauma to the left eye, which resulted in a corneal laceration
      that could not be sutured as well as a severe traumatic cataract. The patient
      underwent penetrating keratoplasty and phacoemulsification. During postoperative
      follow-up, another therapeutic keratoplasty was required because unresponsive
      infectious keratitis was observed. The infiltrate's characteristics were
      suggestive of infectious crystalline keratopathy; in particular, the infiltrate
      was insidious and progressive, and grayish-white branches appeared in the
      anterior corneal stroma. As different therapies were administered, inflammatory
      reactions ranging from mild to severe were observed. The infection was
      unresponsive to typical antifungal drugs. This lack of response most likely
      occurred due to steroid treatment and the diffuse corneal spread of an atypical
      microorganism, which was subsequently identified in culture as Cladosporium sp.
      After the second therapeutic keratoplasty, the patient's eye integrity was
      successfully reestablished. CONCLUSION: This study likely provides the first
      report describing a case of infectious crystalline keratopathy caused by
      Cladosporium sp. This case emphasizes the clinical characteristics and outcome of
      this type of keratitis.

PMID- 27621673
TI  - Accuracy and precision of four common peripheral temperature measurement methods
      in intensive care patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An accurate determination of body temperature in critically ill
      patients is a fundamental requirement for initiating the proper process of
      diagnosis, and also therapeutic actions; therefore, the aim of the study was to
      assess the accuracy and precision of four noninvasive peripheral methods of
      temperature measurement compared to the central nasopharyngeal measurement.
      METHODS: In this observational prospective study, 237 patients were recruited
      from the intensive care unit of Imam Ali Hospital of Kermanshah. The patients'
      body temperatures were measured by four peripheral methods; oral, axillary,
      tympanic, and forehead along with a standard central nasopharyngeal measurement.
      After data collection, the results were analyzed by paired t-test, kappa
      coefficient, receiver operating characteristic curve, and using Statistical
      Package for the Social Sciences, version 19, software. RESULTS: There was a
      significant meaningful correlation between all the peripheral methods when
      compared with the central measurement (P<0.001). Kappa coefficients showed good
      agreement between the temperatures of right and left tympanic membranes and the
      standard central nasopharyngeal measurement (88%). Paired t-test demonstrated an
      acceptable precision with forehead (P=0.132), left (P=0.18) and right (P=0.318)
      tympanic membranes, oral (P=1.00), and axillary (P=1.00) methods. Sensitivity and
      specificity of both the left and right tympanic membranes were more than for
      other methods. CONCLUSION: The tympanic and forehead methods had the highest and
      lowest accuracy for measuring body temperature, respectively. It is recommended
      to use the tympanic method (right and left) for assessing a patient's body
      temperature in the intensive care units because of high accuracy and acceptable
      precision.

PMID- 27621672
TI  - The effect of weight, body mass index, age, sex, and race on plasma
      concentrations of subcutaneous sumatriptan: a pooled analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Factors such as body size (weight and body mass index
      [BMI]), age, sex, and race might influence the clinical response to sumatriptan.
      We evaluated the impact of these covariates on the plasma concentration (Cp)
      profile of sumatriptan administered subcutaneously. METHODS: We conducted three
      pharmacokinetic studies of subcutaneous sumatriptan in 98 healthy adults.
      Sumatriptan was administered subcutaneously (236 administrations) as either DFN
      11 3 mg, a novel 0.5 mL autoinjector being developed by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories;
      Imitrex((r)) (Sumatriptan) injection 3 mg or 6 mg (6 mg/0.5 mL); or Imitrex
      STATdose 4 mg or 6 mg (0.5 mL). Blood was sampled for 12 hours to determine
      sumatriptan Cp. Maximum Cp (Cmax), area under the curve during the first 2 hours
      (AUC0-2), and total area under the curve (AUC0-infinity) were determined using
      noncompartmental methods. Post hoc analyses were conducted to determine the
      relationship between these exposure metrics and each of body weight, BMI, age,
      sex, and race (categorized as white, black, or others). RESULTS: Both weight and
      BMI correlated negatively with each exposure metric for each treatment group.
      Across all treatment groups, AUC0-2 for subjects with BMI less than or equal to
      median value was 1.03-1.12 times the value for subjects with BMI more than median
      value. For subjects with BMI less than or equal to median value receiving DFN-11,
      median AUC0-2 was slightly less than that for subjects with BMI more than median
      value receiving Imitrex 4 mg and larger than that for subjects with BMI more than
      median value receiving Imitrex 3 mg. Results were similar for the other exposure
      metrics and for weight. Exposure was higher in women than in men, which can be
      attributed in part to differences in weight. There was no relationship between
      exposure and age. For DFN-11, AUC0-2 and AUC0-infinity were lower in nonwhites
      compared with whites; the ratio of median values was 0.84 and 0.89, respectively.
      A similar, nonstatistically significant, trend was observed in the other products
      (ratio of median values ranging from 0.84 to 0.89). CONCLUSION: Weight and BMI
      appear to be important covariates for sumatriptan exposure: subjects with lower
      values for either metric of body size have higher systemic exposure compared with
      subjects with higher values. Additional studies are required to determine if
      doses of subcutaneous sumatriptan may be adjusted based on BMI for comparable
      efficacy and a potentially improved tolerability profile.

PMID- 27621674
TI  - Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure devices: safety, efficacy, and
      clinical utility.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia treated in the clinical
      practice. One of the major complications of AF is a thromboembolic cerebral
      ischemic event. Up to 20% of all strokes are caused by AF. Thromboembolic
      cerebral ischemic event in patients with AF occurs due to atrial thrombi, mainly
      from the left atrial appendage (LAA). Prevention of clot formation with
      antiplatelet agents and especially oral anticoagulants (vitamin K antagonists or
      newer oral anticoagulants) has been shown to be effective in reducing the stroke
      risk in patients with AF but has several drawbacks with (major) bleedings as the
      most important disadvantage. Therefore, physical elimination of the LAA, which
      excludes the site of clot formation by surgical or percutaneous techniques, might
      be a good alternative. In this review, we discuss the safety, efficacy, and
      clinical utility of the WatchmanTM LAA closure device. 

PMID- 27621675
TI  - Meperidine (pethidine) versus morphine in acute pain management of opioid
      dependent patients.
AB  - The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of morphine and meperidine
      (pethidine) as pain relief in opioid-dependent patients with acute pain. A total
      of 122 opioid-dependent patients with acute pain were included in the study.
      Their pain severity was assessed, using visual analog scale (VAS) scores ranging
      from 0 to 10. The patients randomly received intravenous morphine (up to 0.15
      mg/kg) or meperidine (up to 1.5 mg/kg) for pain control by patient control
      analgesia (PCA) pump. The clinical opioid withdrawal scale (COWS) was employed
      for the assessment of withdrawal symptoms. The pain relief and the emergence of
      withdrawal symptoms were measured at 15, 30, and 60 minutes after drug
      administration. The patients who received morphine reported a better pain control
      compared to those who received meperidine (mean +/- standard deviation [SD] VAS
      scores 4.11+/-1.90 vs 5.85+/-2.08 at the end of the study; P<0.001). On the other
      hand, the patients who received meperidine indicated prominent withdrawal
      symptoms (mean +/- SD COWS scores 4.80+/-2.18 vs. 1.98+/-0.82 at the end of the
      study; P<0.001). Our findings revealed that morphine can be recommended in acute
      pain management of opioid-dependent patients. In addition, emergency physicians
      should ask their patients about any drug dependence before selecting the
      appropriate drug for their acute pain management. 

PMID- 27621676
TI  - Obeticholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis in adult
      patients: clinical utility and patient selection.
AB  - Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), previously known as primary biliary
      "cirrhosis", is a rare autoimmune liver disease characterized by the hallmark
      autoantibodies to mitochondrial antigens and immune-mediated destruction of small
      bile duct epithelial cells leading to cholestasis and cirrhosis. Surprisingly,
      while immune modulators have not been effective in the treatment of PBC,
      supplementation with the hydrophilic bile acid (BA) ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)
      has been demonstrated to slow the disease progression. However, a significant
      minority of PBC patients do not have a complete response to UDCA and remain at
      risk of continued disease progression. Although the mechanisms of action are not
      well understood, UDCA provided proof of concept for BA therapy in PBC.
      Obeticholic acid (OCA), a novel derivative of the human BA chenodeoxycholic acid,
      is a potent agonist of the nuclear hormone receptor farnesoid X receptor, which
      regulates BA synthesis and transport. A series of clinical trials of OCA in PBC,
      primarily in combination with UDCA, have established that OCA leads to
      significant reductions in serum alkaline phosphatase that are predicted to lead
      to improved clinical outcomes, while dose-dependent pruritus has been the most
      common adverse effect. On the basis of these studies, OCA was given conditional
      approval by the US Food and Drug Administration with plans to establish the long
      term clinical efficacy of OCA in patients with advanced PBC. 

PMID- 27621678
TI  - The Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire: conceptual framework and item
      development.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the main issues of importance when living with long-term
      conditions to refine a conceptual framework for informing the item development of
      a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative interviews (n=48) were conducted with people
      living with at least one long-term condition. Participants were recruited through
      primary care. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by thematic
      analysis. The analysis served to refine the conceptual framework, based on
      reviews of the literature and stakeholder consultations, for developing candidate
      items for a new measure for long-term conditions. RESULTS: Three main organizing
      concepts were identified: impact of long-term conditions, experience of services
      and support, and self-care. The findings helped to refine a conceptual framework,
      leading to the development of 23 items that represent issues of importance in
      long-term conditions. The 23 candidate items formed the first draft of the
      measure, currently named the Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire. CONCLUSION: The
      aim of this study was to refine the conceptual framework and develop items for a
      patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions, including single and
      multiple morbidities and physical and mental health conditions. Qualitative
      interviews identified the key themes for assessing outcomes in long-term
      conditions, and these underpinned the development of the initial draft of the
      measure. These initial items will undergo cognitive testing to refine the items
      prior to further validation in a survey.

PMID- 27621677
TI  - The elite young athlete: strategies to ensure physical and emotional health.
AB  - This article presents a current review of the risk of physical and psychological
      injury associated with participation in elite youth sport, and suggests
      strategies to ensure the physical and emotional health of these young athletes.
      Although there is lack of epidemiological data, especially with regard to
      psychological injury, preliminary data suggest that the risk of injury is high in
      this population. While there is lack of incident and follow-up data, there is
      also concern regarding burnout, disordered eating, and the long-term consequences
      of injury. Modifiable injury risk factors identified include postural control,
      competition anxiety, life events, previous injury, and volume of training. There
      are presently no studies designed to determine the effectiveness of injury
      prevention measures in elite youth sports. However, there is adequate evidence
      arising from injury prevention studies of youth sports participants - including
      neuromuscular training, protective equipment, mental training to enhance self
      esteem, and sport rules modification - to prevent injuries in elite youth sports
      settings. Although not tested, psychosocial prevention strategies such as
      adoption of task-oriented coping mechanisms, autonomous support from parents, and
      a proactive organizational approach also show promise in injury prevention. 

PMID- 27621680
TI  - Hematopoietic cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy: a
      review of pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment.
AB  - Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is a multifactorial
      disorder caused by systemic vascular endothelial injury that can be triggered by
      several mechanisms during the transplant process. Thrombotic microangiopathy may
      affect multiple systems and occurs in ~30% of patients undergoing hematopoietic
      stem cell transplantation. A subgroup of patients with thrombotic microangiopathy
      develop TA-TMA, and the other may develop other thrombotic microangiopathic
      disorders such as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a condition with similar
      finding but different pathophysiology involving ADAMTS-13. The mortality rates in
      patients who develop severe TA-TMA are in excess of 80%. Recent investigations
      show that complement system activation in patients with TA-TMA is a very poor
      prognostic sign and implicates complement dysregulation as a key pathway in the
      pathogenesis of TA-TMA and its disease phenotype. The original diagnostic
      criteria for TA-TMA included hematologic and renal injury markers, which are
      limited in their ability to detect only advanced disease, and therefore may
      result in delayed TA-TMA diagnosis in transplant patients. A recent set of
      diagnostic criteria added markers of complement activation, proteinuria, and
      hypertension, with predicted improved detection of early TA-TMA. Supportive care
      that includes elimination of potentially toxic agents such as calcineurin
      inhibitors and sirolimus, adequate antimicrobial treatment, and maintaining
      adequate renal functions using renal replacement therapy may be sufficient for
      treatment of mild-to-moderate TA-TMA. Plasma exchange, which is a potentially
      curative therapy in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, has no proven efficacy
      in TA-TMA. Blocking the complement system with eculizumab is currently the most
      effective treatment to circumvent the poor outcome in patients with severe TA
      TMA. 

PMID- 27621681
TI  - Using Gagne's instructional model in phlebotomy education.
AB  - As the role of a phlebotomist in a clinical setting involves patient
      interactions, correct patient identification, and blood specimen accessioning, it
      is essential that the phlebotomy education pay attention to these procedural
      tasks to inculcate a culture of patient safety. Using the Gagne's nine events of
      instruction as the basis of teaching model, this paper describes the lesson plan
      for teaching the topic of patient approach to a group of phlebotomy students
      without prior clinical experience. 

PMID- 27621679
TI  - IDH1 and IDH2 mutations as novel therapeutic targets: current perspectives.
AB  - Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (IDH1 and IDH2) are key metabolic enzymes that
      convert isocitrate to alpha-ketoglutarate. IDH1/2 mutations define distinct
      subsets of cancers, including low-grade gliomas and secondary glioblastomas,
      chondrosarcomas, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, and hematologic malignancies.
      Somatic point mutations in IDH1/2 confer a gain-of-function in cancer cells,
      resulting in the accumulation and secretion in vast excess of an oncometabolite,
      the D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG). Overproduction of D-2HG interferes with
      cellular metabolism and epigenetic regulation, contributing to oncogenesis.
      Indeed, high levels of D-2HG inhibit alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases,
      including histone and DNA demethylases, leading to histone and DNA
      hypermethylation and finally a block in cell differentiation. Furthermore, D-2HG
      is a biomarker suitable for the detection of IDH1/2 mutations at diagnosis and
      predictive of the clinical response. Finally, mutant-IDH1/2 enzymes inhibitors
      have entered clinical trials for patients with IDH1/2 mutations and represent a
      novel drug class for targeted therapy. 

PMID- 27621682
TI  - Marbling and Its Nutritional Impact on Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - This review addresses the role of fat in beef palatability and healthfulness.
      Particular emphasis is placed on the content of oleic acid in beef, and how this
      increases with time when cattle are fed a grain-based diet. Oleic acid decreases
      the melting point of lipids from beef, increasing the perception of juiciness and
      improving beef flavor. Clinical trials have demonstrated that ground beef
      containing elevated oleic acid increases, or at the least has no negative effects
      on the concentration of HDL cholesterol. The amount of fat in published ground
      beef intervention trials greatly exceeds the amount of fat in equivalent portions
      of beef from U.S. domestic or Korean Hanwoo cattle. Thus, we conclude 1) Beef
      cattle should be raised under production conditions that increase the
      concentration of oleic acid in their edible tissues (i.e., by grain feeding over
      extended periods of time); and 2) The amount of fat consumed in a typical portion
      of beef will not increase risk factors for cardiovascular disease. 

PMID- 27621683
TI  - Replacement of Pork Meat with Pork Head Meat for Frankfurters.
AB  - The effect of reducing pork meat concentrations from 50% to 30% and replacing it
      with up to 20% pork head meat on chemical composition, cooking characteristics,
      physicochemical and textural properties, apparent viscosity, and sensory
      characteristics of frankfurters was determined. The highest moisture content in
      frankfurters was found in the control and T1 (frankfurter with 45% pork meat + 5%
      pork head). Protein and fat contents in frankfurters with pork head meat added
      were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those in the control. When the
      concentration of pork head meat was increased from 0% to 20%, cooking loss, total
      expressible fluid separation, fat separation, and pH of frankfurters were
      increased, while the lightness, redness, yellowness, and apparent viscosity of
      frankfurters were decreased. Ash contents, cohesiveness, color, and tenderness of
      sensory characteristics of frankfurters added with different amounts of pork meat
      or pork head meat were not significantly (p>0.05) different from those of the
      control or there treatments. Frankfurters in T4 (frankfurter with 30% pork meat +
      20% pork head) had the lowest (p<0.05) hardness and gumminess. The hardness and
      gumminess of frankfurters in other treatments were not significantly different
      (p>0.05) from that in the control. Frankfurters with higher pork head meat
      concentrations had lower flavor, juiciness, and overall acceptability scores.
      Therefore, replacing pork meat with pork head meat in the formulation could
      successfully produce results similar to those of control frankfurters. The best
      results were obtained when 10% pork head meat was used to replace pork meat. 

PMID- 27621684
TI  - Inhibitory Effects of Synthetic Peptides Containing Bovine Lactoferrin C-lobe
      Sequence on Bacterial Growth.
AB  - Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein with various biological effects, with antibacterial
      activity being one of the first effects reported. This glycoprotein suppresses
      bacterial growth through bacteriostatic or bactericidal action. It also
      stimulates the growth of certain kinds of bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria
      and bifidobacteria. In this study, Asn-Leu-Asn-Arg was selected and chemically
      synthesized based on the partial sequences of bovine lactoferrin tryptic
      fragments. Synthetic Asn-Leu-Asn-Arg suppressed the growth of Pseudomonas
      fluorescens, P. syringae and Escherichia coli. P. fluorescens is a major
      psychrotrophic bacteria found in raw and pasteurized milk, which decreases milk
      quality. P. syringae is a harmful infectious bacterium that damages plants.
      However, synthetic Asn-Leu-Asn-Arg did not inhibit the growth of Lactobacillus
      acidophilus. It is expected that this synthetic peptide would be the first
      peptide sequence from the bovine lactoferrin C-lobe that shows antibacterial
      activity. 

PMID- 27621685
TI  - Effect of Ultra-sonication Treatment on the Quality Characteristics of Baked
      Eggs.
AB  - The effect of ultra-sonication on quality characteristics and flavor of baked
      eggs was studied. One hundred and twenty eggs were cooked and assigned to six
      treatments groups (n=20 each) that were then soaked in saline solution at various
      concentrations (5, 10 and 18%) with/or without further ultra-sonication treatment
      at 35 kHz for 1 h. The pH values were lower in the ultra-sonicated samples in
      comparison with the non-ultra-sonicated samples (p<0.05). The values for texture
      traits were higher in the samples soaked in 10% saline solution with ultra
      sonication in comparison with other remaining treatments or control (p<0.05). The
      sodium content in samples soaked in 10% saline solution with ultra-sonication was
      similar to that of the ones soaked in 18% saline solution without ultra
      sonication. The higher flavor scores were also given for the ultra-sonicated
      samples in comparison with the control or non-ultra-sonicated ones. These results
      suggest that the application of ultra-sonication may produce a faster sodium
      penetration into baked eggs, simultaneously improves some textural traits (e.g.,
      hardness) as well as flavor of the products. 

PMID- 27621686
TI  - Detection of Foodborne Pathogens and Mycotoxins in Eggs and Chicken Feeds from
      Farms to Retail Markets.
AB  - Contamination by foodborne pathogens and mycotoxins was examined in 475 eggs and
      20 feed samples collected from three egg layer farms, three egg-processing units,
      and five retail markets in Korea. Microbial contamination with Salmonella
      species, Escherichia coli, and Arcobacter species was examined by bacterial
      culture and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The contamination levels
      of aflatoxins, ochratoxins, and zearalenone in eggs and chicken feeds were
      simultaneously analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with
      fluorescence detection after the post-derivatization. While E. coli was isolated
      from 9.1% of eggs, Salmonella species were not isolated. Arcobacter species were
      detected in 0.8% of eggs collected from egg layers by PCR only. While aflatoxins,
      ochratoxins, and zearalenone were found in 100%, 100%, and 85% of chicken feeds,
      their contamination levels were below the maximum acceptable levels (1.86, 2.24,
      and 147.53 MUg/kg, respectively). However, no eggs were contaminated with
      aflatoxins, ochratoxins, or zearalenone. Therefore, the risk of contamination by
      mycotoxins and microbes in eggs and chicken feeds is considered negligible and
      unlikely to pose a threat to human health. 

PMID- 27621687
TI  - The Correlation between NaCl Adaptation and Heat Sensitivity of Listeria
      monocytogenes, a Foodborne Pathogen through Fresh and Processed Meat.
AB  - This study examined the relationship between NaCl sensitivity and stress response
      of Listeria monocytogenes. Nine strains of L. monocytogenes (NCCP10805,
      NCCP10806, NCCP10807, NCCP10808, NCCP10809, NCCP10810, NCCP10811, NCCP10920 and
      NCCP 10943) were exposed to 0%, 1%, 2% and 4% NaCl, and then incubated at 60C for
      60 min to select strains that were heat-sensitized (HS) and non-sensitized (NS)
      by NaCl exposure. After heat challenge, L. monocytogenes strains were categorized
      as HS (NCCP 10805, NCCP10806, NCCP10807, NCCP10810, NCCP10811 and NCCP10920) or
      NS (NCCP10808, NCCP10809 and NCCP10943). Total mRNA was extracted from a HS
      strain (NCCP10811) and two NS strains (NCCP10808 and NCCP10809), and then cDNA
      was prepared to analyze the expression of genes (inlA, inlB, opuC, betL, gbuB,
      osmC and ctc) that may be altered in response to NaCl stress, by qRT-PCR. The
      expression levels of two invasion-related genes (inlA and inlB) and two stress
      response genes (opuC and ctc) were increased (p<0.05) in NS strains after NaCl
      exposure in an NaCl concentration-dependent manner. However, only betL expression
      was increased (p<0.05) in the HS strains. These results indicate that the effect
      of NaCl on heat sensitization of L. monocytogenes is strain dependent and that
      opuC and ctc may prevent NS L. monocytogenes strains from being heat sensitized
      by NaCl. Moreover, NaCl also increases the expression of invasion-related genes
      (inlA and inlB). 

PMID- 27621688
TI  - Effects of Annatto (Bixa orellana L.) Seeds Powder on Physicochemical Properties,
      Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Pork Patties during Refrigerated
      Storage.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of the powder produced by ball-milling the
      outer layer of annatto (Bixa orellana L.) seeds on the physicochemical properties
      as well as the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of pork patties over 14 d
      of refrigerated storage (4+/-1C). Five pork patty treatments were produced
      containing three different concentrations of annatto seeds, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5%
      (ANT0.1, ANT0.25, ANT0.5), 0.1% ascorbic acid (AA0.1), and a control (CTL). Based
      on the results, annatto seed powder appeared to show antioxidant activity. The
      Hunter color values of pork patties were affected by the addition of annatto seed
      powder, which increased the redness and yellowness values, but decreased the
      lightness of the patties (p<0.05). To evaluate the antioxidative effects of
      annatto on pork patties, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and
      peroxide values (POV) were analyzed over 14 d of refrigerated storage. Treatments
      containing annatto seed showed lower TBARS and POV than control (CTL) samples
      (p<0.05). The volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) of the pork patties containing
      annatto seeds were lower than that of CTL at the end of storage (p<0.05).
      Although no differences in total bacterial counts were observed between control
      and treated patties, those containing annatto seeds had lower microbial counts
      for Enterobacteriacease than CTL or AA 0.1%. Therefore, annatto seed powder might
      be a good source of natural antioxidants for the production of meat products. 

PMID- 27621689
TI  - Sensitivity of Pseudomonas syringae to Bovine Lactoferrin Hydrolysates and
      Identification of a Novel Inhibitory Peptide.
AB  - The antimicrobial activity of bovine lactoferrin hydrolysates (bLFH) was measured
      against Pseudomonas strains (P. syringae and P. fluorescens) in vitro. To compare
      susceptibility to bLFH, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were
      determined using chemiluminescence assays and paper disc plate assays.
      Antimicrobial effect against P. fluorescens was not observed by either assay,
      suggesting that bLFH did not exhibit antimicrobial activity against P.
      fluorescens. However, a significant inhibition of P. syringae growth was observed
      in the presence of bLFH. The addition of bLFH in liquid or solid medium inhibited
      growth of P. syringae in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, a bLFH peptide
      with antimicrobial activity toward P. syringae was isolated and identified. The N
      terminal amino acid sequences of thus obtained antimicrobial bLFH peptides were
      analyzed by a protein sequencer and were found to be Leu-Arg-Ile-Pro-Ser-Lys-Val
      Asp-Ser-Ala and Phe-Lys-Cys-Arg-Arg-Trp-Gln-Trp-Arg-Met. The latter peptide
      sequence is known to be characteristic of lactoferricin. Therefore, in the
      present study, we identified a new antimicrobial peptide against P. syringae,
      present within the N-terminus and possessing the amino acid sequence of Leu-Arg
      Ile-Pro-Ser-Lys-Val-Asp-Ser-Ala. 

PMID- 27621690
TI  - Mutagenicity and Immune Toxicity of Emulsion-type Sausage Cured with Plasma
      treated Water.
AB  - Cold plasma has been developed to reduce microbial contamination and to improve
      safety of food and medical products. In addition, the technology can be used in
      the manufacture of sausages without addition of nitrite. To be applied in food
      industry commercially, the new technology should be safe and efficient. However,
      toxicological test of plasma-treated food is limited. Therefore, the purpose of
      this study was to determine the mutagenicity and immune toxicity of the meat
      products cured with plasma-treated water (PTW) as a nitrite source. Emulsion
      sausages were prepared with no nitrite (control), sodium nitrite (SCS), and PTW
      (SCP). For a mutagenicity test, the Ames test was performed with the sausage
      samples. For immune toxicity test, 8-wk-old female Balb/c mice were given free
      access to the sausages in order to evaluate the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha
      level. As a result, no mutagenicity was detected in the sausages by the Ames
      test. The serum TNF-alpha values were less than 10 pg/mL in mice after feeding
      control and treated samples for 32 d, indicating that no inflammatory response
      was occurred by feeding the sausages made by PTW. Therefore, the present study
      opens the possibility of using plasma-treated water as a nitrite source without
      any toxicity. 

PMID- 27621691
TI  - Isolation and Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Traditional Dairy
      Products in Baotou and Bayannur of Midwestern Inner Mongolia and q-PCR Analysis
      of Predominant Species.
AB  - In this study, traditional culture method and 16S rRNA gene analysis were applied
      to reveal the composition and diversity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of
      fermented cow milk, huruud and urum from Baotou and Bayannur of midwestern Inner
      Mongolia. Also, the quantitative results of dominant LAB species in three
      different types of dairy products from Baotou and Bayannur were gained by
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) technology. Two hundred and two
      LAB strains isolated from sixty-six samples were identified and classified into
      four genera, namely Enterococcus, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and
      twenty-one species and subspecies. From these isolates, Lactococcus lactis subsp.
      lactis (32.18%), Lactobacillus plantarum (12.38%) and Leuconosto mesenteroides
      (11.39%) were considered as the dominated LAB species under the condition of
      cultivating in MRS and M17 medium. And the q-PCR results revealed that the number
      of dominant species varied from samples to samples and from region to region.
      This study clearly shows the composition and diversity of LAB existing in
      fermented cow milk, huruud and urum, which could be considered as valuable
      resources for LAB isolation and further probiotic selection. 

PMID- 27621692
TI  - Effects of Germinated Brown Rice Addition on the Flavor and Functionality of
      Yogurt.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the functional and physicochemical properties of
      yogurt, supplemented with germinated brown rice (GBR) containing gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA), during storage. GBR was produced by soaking brown rice
      at 30C, and saccharified germinated brown rice (SGBR) was produced by treating
      brown rice with alpha- and beta-amylase for 1 h, at 80C and 60C, respectively.
      Yogurt was manufactured using a commercial starter (YC-X11, CHR. Hansen, Denmark)
      at 37C for 12 h. The fatty acids and GABA contents were analyzed using GC and
      HPLC, respectively. The fatty acids in the cereal samples consisted of oleic,
      linoleic, and palmitic acid. The portion of oleic acid was the highest, at 35.65%
      in GBR, and 32.16% in SGBR. During germination, the oleic acid content increased,
      whereas linolenic and palmitic acid contents from GBR tended to decrease.
      Although the portion of saturated fatty acids, such as stearic and myristic acid,
      decreased significantly (p<0.05), that of unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic
      and linoleic acid, increased with an increase in supplementation of BR, GBR, or
      SGBR in the yogurt. The yogurt, supplemented with cereal samples, showed a
      tendency of an increase in the concentration of GABA with an increase in the
      supplementation of the cereal samples. However, yogurt supplemented with GBR
      showed the highest concentration of GABA, regardless of the supplementation of
      the cereal samples. These results indicated that yogurt supplemented with BR,
      GBR, or SGBR could be a promising dairy product. 

PMID- 27621693
TI  - Hydrolysis by Alcalase Improves Hypoallergenic Properties of Goat Milk Protein.
AB  - Goat milk is highly nutritious and is consumed in many countries, but the
      development of functional foods from goat milk has been slow compared to that for
      other types of milk. The aim of this study was to develop a goat milk protein
      hydrolysate (GMPH) with enhanced digestibility and better hypoallergenic
      properties in comparison with other protein sources such as ovalbumin and soy
      protein. Goat milk protein was digested with four commercial food-grade proteases
      (separately) under various conditions to achieve the best hydrolysis of alphas 
      casein and beta-lactoglobulin. It was shown that treatment with alcalase (0.4%,
      60C for 30 min) effectively degraded these two proteins, as determined by SDS
      PAGE, measurement of nonprotein nitrogen content, and reverse-phase high
      performance liquid chromatography. Hydrolysis with alcalase resulted in a
      significant decrease in beta-lactoglobulin concentration (almost to nil) and a
      ~40% reduction in the level of alphas-casein. Quantification of histamine and TNF
      alpha released from HMC-1 cells (human mast cell line) showed that the GMPH did
      not induce an allergic response when compared to the control. Hence, the GMPH may
      be useful for development of novel foods for infants, the elderly, and
      convalescent patients, to replace cow milk. 

PMID- 27621694
TI  - Properties of Frankfurter-type Sausages with Pork Back-fat Replaced with Bovine
      Heart Surimi-like Materials.
AB  - This study investigates the effect of bovine heart surimi-like material (BHSM)
      used as a back fat replacer, on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics
      of frankfurter-type sausages. Frankfurter-type sausage with added BHSM had a
      higher moisture content and lower fat content than the control. In addition, the
      samples with added BHSM had higher pH, cooking loss and 2-thiobarbituric acid
      reactive substance (TBARS) value and lower water exudation than the control. The
      sausage formulation with 40% BHSM was more effective in delaying lipid oxidation
      without affecting cooking loss compared to the 60% BHSM treatment sample. Results
      showed that hardness values increased upon replacement with BHSM, and sausages
      manufactured with 40% BHSM had higher lightness and lower redness values.
      Panelists found there were no differences in color, odor, and tenderness scores
      and the overall acceptability score found that treatment samples containing 20%
      and 40% BHSM were preferable to the control after storage for 14 d. These results
      indicate that fat replacement with BHSM was beneficial to the quality of
      frankfurter-type sausages, and acceptable reduced-fat products can be produced
      when back fat is replaced with up to 40% BHSM. 

PMID- 27621695
TI  - Evaluation of Natural Food Preservatives in Domestic and Imported Cheese.
AB  - In milk and milk products, a number of organic acids naturally occur. We
      investigated the contents of some naturally occurred food preservatives (sorbic
      acid, benzoic acid, propionic acid, nitrite, and nitrate) contained in domestic
      and imported cheeses to establish the standard for the allowable range of food
      preservatives content in cheese. 8 kinds of domestic precheeses (n=104), 16 kinds
      of domestic cured cheeses (n=204) and 40 kinds of imported cheeses (n=74) were
      collected. Each domestic cheese was aged for a suitable number of months and
      stored for 2 mon at 5C and 10C. No preservatives were detected in domestic soft
      and fresh cheeses, except cream cheese. In case of semi-hard cheeses, 2-5 mg/kg
      of benzoic acid was detected after 1-2 mon of aging. In imported cheeses, only
      benzoic acid and propionic acid were detected. The average benzoic acid and
      propionic acid contents in semi-hard cheese were 8.73 mg/kg and 18.78 mg/kg,
      respectively. Specifically, 1.16 mg/kg and 6.80 mg/kg of benzoic acid and
      propionic acid, respectively, were contained in soft cheese, 3.27 mg/kg and 2.84
      mg/kg, respectively, in fresh cheese, 1.87 mg/kg and not detected, respectively,
      in hard cheese, and 2.07 mg/kg and 182.26 mg/kg, respectively, in blended
      processed cheese. 

PMID- 27621696
TI  - The Quality Characteristics of Salted Ground Pork Patties Containing Various Fat
      Levels by Microwave Cooking.
AB  - This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of fat level on the microwave
      cooking properties of ground pork patties with NaCl (1.5%). Ground pork patties
      were processed from pork hams to achieve fat levels of 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%,
      respectively. Each patty was cooked from a thawed state to 75C in a microwave
      oven at full power (700 W). After microwave cooking, protein content, moisture
      content, fat retention, and shear force values in patties decreased as fat level
      increased from 10 to 25%. As fat level increased, cooking time decreased but
      total cooking loss and drip loss were increased, whereas slight differences in
      diameter reduction and thickness of patties were observed. In raw patties, 10%
      fat patties had lower L* values and higher a* values compared to patties with
      more fat, but these differences were reduced when patties were cooked. Patties
      with 10% fat showed a more pink color on the surface and interior than patties
      with a higher fat content but more air pockets were noted in higher-fat patties.
      Higher-fat patties were more tender, juicy, and oily than lower-fat patties. 

PMID- 27621697
TI  - Status, Antimicrobial Mechanism, and Regulation of Natural Preservatives in
      Livestock Food Systems.
AB  - This review discusses the status, antimicrobial mechanisms, application, and
      regulation of natural preservatives in livestock food systems. Conventional
      preservatives are synthetic chemical substances including nitrates/nitrites,
      sulfites, sodium benzoate, propyl gallate, and potassium sorbate. The use of
      artificial preservatives is being reconsidered because of concerns relating to
      headache, allergies, and cancer. As the demand for biopreservation in food
      systems has increased, new natural antimicrobial compounds of various origins are
      being developed, including plant-derived products (polyphenolics, essential oils,
      plant antimicrobial peptides (pAMPs)), animal-derived products (lysozymes,
      lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin, ovotransferrin, antimicrobial peptide (AMP),
      chitosan and others), and microbial metabolites (nisin, natamycin, pullulan,
      epsilon-polylysine, organic acid, and others). These natural preservatives act by
      inhibiting microbial cell walls/membranes, DNA/RNA replication and transcription,
      protein synthesis, and metabolism. Natural preservatives have been recognized for
      their safety; however, these substances can influence color, smell, and toxicity
      in large amounts while being effective as a food preservative. Therefore, to
      evaluate the safety and toxicity of natural preservatives, various trials
      including combinations of other substances or different food preservation
      systems, and capsulation have been performed. Natamycin and nisin are currently
      the only natural preservatives being regulated, and other natural preservatives
      will have to be legally regulated before their widespread use. 

PMID- 27621698
TI  - The Impact of Proteolytic Pork Hydrolysate on Microbial, Flavor and Free Amino
      Acids Compounds of Yogurt.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of proteolytic pork
      hydrolysate (PPH) on yoghurt production by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp.
      bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Fresh lean pork was cut into pieces
      and mixed with deionized water and dealt with protease, then the resulting PPH
      was added to milk to investigate the effects of PPH on yoghurt production. The
      fermentation time, the viable cell counts, the flavor, free amino acids
      compounds, and sensory evaluation of yoghurt were evaluated. These results showed
      that PPH significantly stimulated the growth and acidification of the both
      bacterial strains. When the content of PPH reached 5% (w/w), the increased
      acidifying rate occurred, which the fermentation time was one hour less than that
      of the control, a time saving of up to 20% compared with the control. The viable
      cell counts, the total free amino acids, and the scores of taste, flavor and
      overall acceptability in PPH-supplemented yoghurt were higher than the control.
      Furthermore, the contents of some characteristic flavor compounds including
      acids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones and esters were richer than the control. We
      concluded that the constituents of PPH such as small peptide, vitamins, and
      minerals together to play the stimulatory roles and result in beneficial effect
      for the yoghurt starter cultures growth. 

PMID- 27621699
TI  - Everolimus in the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma: an evidence
      based review of its place in therapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer
      in adults, and its pathogenesis is strictly related to altered cellular response
      to hypoxia, in which mTOR signaling pathway is implicated. Everolimus, an mTOR
      serine/threonine kinase inhibitor, represents a therapeutic option for the
      treatment of advanced RCC. AIM: The objective of this article is to review the
      evidence for the treatment of metastatic RCC with everolimus. EVIDENCE REVIEW:
      Everolimus was approved for second- and third-line therapy in patients with
      advanced RCC according to the results of a Phase III pivotal trial that
      demonstrated a benefit in median progression-free survival of ~2 months compared
      to placebo after failure of previous lines of therapy, of which at least one was
      an anti-VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). The role of this drug in first
      line setting has been investigated in Phase II trials, with no significant
      clinical benefit, even in combination with bevacizumab. Everolimus activity in
      non-clear cell RCC is supported by two randomized Phase II trials that confirmed
      the benefit in second-line setting but not in first line. Recently, two
      randomized Phase III trials (METEOR and CheckMate 025) demonstrated the
      inferiority of everolimus in second-line setting compared to the TKI cabozantinib
      and to the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab, respectively. Moreover, a
      recent Phase II study demonstrated a significant benefit for the second-line
      combination treatment with everolimus plus lenvatinib (a novel TKI) in terms of
      progression-free survival and overall survival compared to the single-agent
      everolimus. Basing on preclinical data, the main downstream effectors of mTOR
      cascade, S6RP and its phosphorylated form, could be good predictive biomarkers of
      response to everolimus. The safety profile of the drug is favorable, with a good
      cost-effectiveness compared to second-line sorafenib or axitinib, and no
      significant impact on the quality of life of treated patients has been found.
      CONCLUSION: Everolimus still represents a current standard of treatment for RCC
      progressive to previous treatment lines with VEGFR-TKI. The evidence about two
      new molecules, cabozantinib and nivolumab, successfully tested head-to-head with
      everolimus in recently published Phase III trials, will determine the shift of
      everolimus to the third-line setting and subsequent lines of treatment.

PMID- 27621701
TI  - Maternal Forced Swimming Reduces Cell Proliferation in the Postnatal Dentate
      Gyrus of Mouse Offspring.
AB  - Physical exercise positively affects the metabolism and induces proliferation of
      precursor cells in the adult brain. Maternal exercise likewise provokes
      adaptations early in the offspring. Using a high-intensity swimming protocol that
      comprises forced swim training before and during pregnancy, we determined the
      effect of maternal swimming on the mouse offspring's neurogenesis. Our data
      demonstrate decreased proliferation in sublayers of the postnatal dentate gyrus
      in offspring of swimming mother at postnatal day (P) 8 accompanied with decreased
      survival of newly generated cells 4 weeks later. The reduction in cell numbers
      was predominantly seen in the hilus and molecular layer. At P35, the reduced
      amount of cells was also reflected by a decrease in the population of newly
      generated immature and mature neurons of the granule cell layer. Our data suggest
      that forced maternal swimming at high-intensity has a negative effect on the
      neurogenic niche development in postnatal offspring. 

PMID- 27621702
TI  - Development of Proprioceptive Acuity in Typically Developing Children: Normative
      Data on Forearm Position Sense.
AB  - This study mapped the development of proprioception in healthy, typically
      developing children by objectively measuring forearm position sense acuity. We
      assessed position sense acuity in a cross-sectional sample of 308 children (5-17
      years old; M/F = 127/181) and a reference group of 26 healthy adults (18-25 years
      old; M/F = 12/14) using a body-scalable bimanual manipulandum that allowed
      forearm flexion/extension in the horizontal plane. The non-dominant forearm was
      passively displaced to one of three target positions. Then participants actively
      matched the target limb position with their dominant forearm. Each of three
      positions was matched five times. Position error (PE), calculated as the mean
      difference between the angular positions of the matching and reference arms,
      measured position sense bias or systematic error. The respective standard
      deviation of the differences between the match and reference arm angular
      positions (SDPdiff) indicated position sense precision or random error. The main
      results are as follows: First, systematic error, measured by PE, did not change
      significantly from early childhood to late adolescence (Median PE at 90 degrees 
      target: -2.85 degrees  in early childhood; -2.28 degrees  in adolescence; and
      1.30 degrees  in adults). Second, response variability as measured by SDPdiff
      significantly decreased with age (Median SDPdiff at 90 degrees  target: 9.66
      degrees  in early childhood; 5.30 degrees  in late adolescence; and 3.97 degrees 
      in adults). The data of this large cross-sectional sample of children document
      that proprioceptive development in typically developing children is characterized
      as an age-related improvement in precision, not as a development or change in
      bias. In other words, it is the reliability of the perceptual response that
      improves between early childhood and adulthood. This study provides normative
      data against which position sense acuity in pediatric patient populations can be
      compared. The underlying neurophysiological processes that could explain the
      observed proprioceptive development include changes in the tuning of muscle
      spindles at the spinal level, the maturation of supraspinal somatosensory
      pathways and the development of interhemispheric callosal connections responsible
      for the transfer of somatosensory information. 

PMID- 27621703
TI  - From Traditional Resource to Global Commodities:-A Comparison of Rhodiola Species
      Using NMR Spectroscopy-Metabolomics and HPTLC.
AB  - The fast developing international trade of products based on traditional
      knowledge and their value chains has become an important aspect of the
      ethnopharmacological debate. The structure and diversity of value chains and
      their impact on the phytochemical composition of herbal medicinal products, as
      well as the underlying government policies and regulations, have been overlooked
      in the debate about quality problems in transnational trade. Rhodiola species,
      including Rhodiola rosea L. and Rhodiola crenulata (Hook. f. & Thomson) H. Ohba,
      are used as traditional herbal medicines. Faced with resource depletion and
      environment destruction, R. rosea and R. crenulata are becoming endangered,
      making them more economically valuable to collectors and middlemen, and also
      increasing the risk of adulteration and low quality. Rhodiola products have been
      subject to adulteration and we recently assessed 39 commercial products for their
      composition and quality. However, the range of Rhodiola species potentially
      implicated has not been assessed. Also, the ability of selected analytical
      techniques in differentiating these species is not known yet. Using a strategy
      previously developed by our group, we compare the phytochemical differences among
      Rhodiola raw materials available on the market to provide a practical method for
      the identification of different Rhodiola species from Europe and Asia and the
      detection of potential adulterants. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
      coupled with multivariate analysis software and high performance thin layer
      chromatography techniques were used to analyse the samples. Rosavin and rosarin
      were mainly present in R. rosea but also in Rosea sachalinensis Borris. 30% of
      the Rhodiola samples purchased from the Chinese market were adulterated by other
      Rhodiola spp. The utilization of a combined platform based on (1)H-NMR and HPTLC
      methods resulted in an integrated analysis of different Rhodiola species. We
      identified adulteration at the earliest stage of the value chains, i.e., during
      collection as a key problem involving several species. This project also
      highlights the need to further study the links between producers and consumers in
      national and trans-national trade. 

PMID- 27621704
TI  - Editorial: Molecular Mechanisms Protecting against Tissue Injury.

PMID- 27621705
TI  - Photosensitivity to Triflusal: Formation of a Photoadduct with Ubiquitin
      Demonstrated by Photophysical and Proteomic Techniques.
AB  - Triflusal is a platelet aggregation inhibitor chemically related to
      acetylsalicylic acid, which is used for the prevention and/or treatment of
      vascular thromboembolisms, which acts as a prodrug. Actually, after oral
      administration it is absorbed primarily in the small intestine, binds to plasma
      proteins (99%) and is rapidly biotransformed in the liver into its deacetylated
      active metabolite 2-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethylbenzoic acid (HTB). In healthy
      humans, the half-life of triflusal is ca. 0.5 h, whereas for HTB it is ca. 35 h.
      From a pharmacological point of view, it is interesting to note that HTB is
      itself highly active as a platelet anti-aggregant agent. Indeed, studies on the
      clinical profile of both drug and metabolite have shown no significant
      differences between them. It has been evidenced that HTB displays ability to
      induce photoallergy in humans. This phenomenon involves a cell-mediated immune
      response, which is initiated by covalent binding of a light-activated
      photosensitizer (or a species derived therefrom) to a protein. In this context,
      small proteins like ubiquitin could be appropriate models for investigating
      covalent binding by means of MS/MS and peptide fingerprint analysis. In previous
      work, it was shown that HTB forms covalent photoadducts with isolated lysine.
      Interestingly, ubiquitin contains seven lysine residues that could be modified by
      a similar reaction. With this background, the aim of the present work is to
      explore adduct formation between the triflusal metabolite and ubiquitin as model
      protein upon sunlight irradiation, combining proteomic and photophysical
      (fluorescence and laser flash photolysis) techniques. Photophysical and proteomic
      analysis demonstrates monoadduct formation as the major outcome of the reaction.
      Interestingly, addition can take place at any of the epsilon-amino groups of the
      lysine residues of the protein and involves replacement of the trifluoromethyl
      moiety with a new amide function. This process can in principle occur with other
      trifluoroaromatic compounds and may be responsible for the appearance of
      undesired photoallergic side effects. 

PMID- 27621700
TI  - Language Impairments in ASD Resulting from a Failed Domestication of the Human
      Brain.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders
      entailing social and cognitive deficits, including marked problems with language.
      Numerous genes have been associated with ASD, but it is unclear how language
      deficits arise from gene mutation or dysregulation. It is also unclear why ASD
      shows such high prevalence within human populations. Interestingly, the emergence
      of a modern faculty of language has been hypothesized to be linked to changes in
      the human brain/skull, but also to the process of self-domestication of the human
      species. It is our intention to show that people with ASD exhibit less marked
      domesticated traits at the morphological, physiological, and behavioral levels.
      We also discuss many ASD candidates represented among the genes known to be
      involved in the "domestication syndrome" (the constellation of traits exhibited
      by domesticated mammals, which seemingly results from the hypofunction of the
      neural crest) and among the set of genes involved in language function closely
      connected to them. Moreover, many of these genes show altered expression profiles
      in the brain of autists. In addition, some candidates for domestication and
      language-readiness show the same expression profile in people with ASD and chimps
      in different brain areas involved in language processing. Similarities regarding
      the brain oscillatory behavior of these areas can be expected too. We conclude
      that ASD may represent an abnormal ontogenetic itinerary for the human faculty of
      language resulting in part from changes in genes important for the "domestication
      syndrome" and, ultimately, from the normal functioning of the neural crest. 

PMID- 27621706
TI  - Evaluation of Two Commercially Available Cannabidiol Formulations for Use in
      Electronic Cigarettes.
AB  - Since 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some
      form, suppliers of legal marijuana have developed Cannabis sativa products for
      use in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Personal battery powered vaporizers,
      or e-cigarettes, were developed to deliver a nicotine vapor such that smokers
      could simulate smoking tobacco without the inherent pathology of inhaled tobacco
      smoke. The liquid formulations used in these devices are comprised of an active
      ingredient such as nicotine mixed with vegetable glycerin (VG) and/or propylene
      glycol (PG) and flavorings. A significant active ingredient of C. sativa,
      cannabidiol (CBD), has been purported to have anti-convulsant, anti-nociceptive,
      and anti-psychotic properties. These properties have potential medical therapies
      such as intervention of addictive behaviors, treatments for epilepsy, management
      of pain for cancer patients, and treatments for schizophrenia. However, CBD
      extracted from C. sativa remains a DEA Schedule I drug since it has not been
      approved by the FDA for medical purposes. Two commercially available e-cigarette
      liquid formulations reported to contain 3.3 mg/mL of CBD as the active ingredient
      were evaluated. These products are not regulated by the FDA in manufacturing or
      in labeling of the products and were found to contain 6.5 and 7.6 mg/mL of CBD in
      VG and PG with a variety of flavoring agents. Presently, while labeled as to
      content, the quality control of manufacturers and the relative safety of these
      products is uncertain. 

PMID- 27621707
TI  - Comparison of High-Protein, Intermittent Fasting Low-Calorie Diet and Heart
      Healthy Diet for Vascular Health of the Obese.
AB  - AIM: It has been debated whether different diets are more or less effective in
      long-term weight loss success and cardiovascular disease prevention among men and
      women. To further explore these questions, the present study evaluated the
      combined effects of a high-protein, intermittent fasting, low-calorie diet plan
      compared with a heart healthy diet plan during weight loss, and weight loss
      maintenance on blood lipids and vascular compliance of obese individuals.
      METHODS: The experiment involved 40 obese adults (men, n = 21; women, n = 19) and
      was divided into two phases: (a) 12-week high-protein, intermittent fasting, low
      calorie weight loss diet comparing men and women (Phase 1) and (b) a 1-year
      weight maintenance phase comparing high-protein, intermittent fasting with a
      heart healthy diet (Phase 2). Body weight, body mass index (BMI), blood lipids,
      and arterial compliance outcomes were assessed at weeks 1 (baseline control), 12
      (weight loss), and 64 (12 + 52 week; weight loss maintenance). RESULTS: At the
      end of weight loss intervention, concomitant reductions in body weight, BMI and
      blood lipids were observed, as well as enhanced arterial compliance. No sex
      specific differences in responses were observed. During phase 2, the high
      protein, intermittent fasting group demonstrated a trend for less regain in BMI,
      low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and aortic pulse wave velocity than the heart
      healthy group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that a high-protein, intermittent
      fasting and low-calorie diet is associated with similar reductions in BMI and
      blood lipids in obese men and women. This diet also demonstrated an advantage in
      minimizing weight regain as well as enhancing arterial compliance as compared to
      a heart healthy diet after 1 year.

PMID- 27621709
TI  - Validation of a Ramp Running Protocol for Determination of the True VO2max in
      Mice.
AB  - In the field of comparative physiology, it remains to be established whether the
      concept of VO2max is valid in the mouse and, if so, how this value can be
      accurately determined. In humans, VO2max is generally considered to correspond to
      the plateau observed when VO2 no longer rises with an increase in workload. In
      contrast, the concept of VO2peak tends to be used in murine studies. The
      objectives of the present study were to determine whether (i) a continuous ramp
      protocol yielded a higher VO2peak than a stepwise, incremental protocol, and (ii)
      the VO2peak measured in the ramp protocol corresponded to VO2max. The three
      protocols (based on intensity-controlled treadmill running until exhaustion with
      eight female FVB/N mice) were performed in random order: (a) an incremental
      protocol that begins at 10 m.min(-1) speed and increases by 3 m.min(-1) every 3
      min. (b) a ramp protocol with slow acceleration (3 m.min(-2)), and (c) a ramp
      protocol with fast acceleration (12 m.min(-2)). Each protocol was performed with
      two slopes (0 and 25 degrees ). Hence, each mouse performed six exercise tests.
      We found that the value of VO2peak was protocol-dependent (p < 0.05) and was
      highest (59.0 ml.kg (0.75).min(-1)) for the 3 m.min(-2) 0 degrees  ramp protocol.
      In the latter, the presence of a VO2max plateau was associated with the
      fulfillment of two secondary criteria (a blood lactate concentration >8 mmol.l(
      1) and a respiratory exchange ratio >1). The total duration of the 3 m.min(-2) 0
      degrees  ramp protocol was shorter than that of the incremental protocol. Taken
      as a whole, our results suggest that VO2max in the mouse is best determined by
      applying a ramp exercise protocol with slow acceleration and no treadmill slope. 

PMID- 27621710
TI  - Editorial: The Impact of Active and Passive Smoking upon Health and
      Neurocognitive Function.

PMID- 27621708
TI  - Theoretical Considerations and a Mathematical Model for the Analysis of the
      Biomechanical Response of Human Keratinized Oral Mucosa.
AB  - Removable complete and partial dentures are supported by the residual alveolar
      ridges consisting of mucosa, submucosa, periosteum, and bone. An understanding of
      the biomechanical behavior of the oral mucosa is essential in order to improve
      the denture-bearing foundations for complete and partially edentulous patients.
      The purpose of this paper was to examine the biomechanical behavior of the soft
      tissues supporting a removable denture and develop a model for that reason.
      Keratinized oral mucosa blocks with their underlying bone were harvested from the
      maxillary palatal area adjacent to the edentulous ridges of a cadaver. The
      compressive response of the oral mucosa was tested by using atomic force
      microscopy. The specimens were first scanned in order their topography to be
      obtained. The mechanical properties of the specimens were tested using a single
      crystal silicon pyramidal tip, which traversed toward the keratinized oral mucosa
      specimens. Loading-unloading cycles were registered and four mathematical models
      were tested using MATLAB to note which one approximates the force-displacement
      curve as close as possible: a. spherical, b. conical, c. third order polynomial,
      d. Murphy (fourth order polynomial, non-linear Hertzian based). The third order
      polynomial model showed the best accuracy in representing the force-displacement
      data of the tested specimens. A model was developed in order to analyze the
      biomechanical behavior of the human oral keratinized mucosa and obtain
      information about its mechanical properties. 

PMID- 27621712
TI  - On the Intentionality of Cultural Products: Representations of Black History As
      Psychological Affordances.
AB  - A cultural-psychological analysis emphasizes the intentionality of everyday
      worlds: the idea that material products not only bear psychological traces of
      culturally constituted beliefs and desires, but also subsequently afford and
      promote culturally consistent understandings and actions. We applied this
      conceptual framework of mutual constitution in a research project using
      quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the dynamic resonance
      between sociocultural variance in Black History Month (BHM) representations and
      the reproduction of racial inequality in the U.S. In studies 1 and 2, we
      considered whether mainstream BHM artifacts reflect the preferences and
      understandings of White Americans (i.e., psychological constitution of cultural
      worlds). Consistent with the psychological constitution hypothesis, White
      American participants reported more positive affect, better recognition, and
      greater liking for BHM representations from the schools where White Americans
      were the majority than BHM representations from the schools where Black students
      and other students of color were the majority. Moreover, as an indication of the
      identity relevance of BHM representations, White identification was more
      positively associated with judgments of positive affect and preference in
      response to BHM representations from White schools than BHM representations from
      the schools where Black students were in the majority. In studies 3 and 4, we
      considered whether BHM representations from different settings differentially
      afford support or opposition to anti-racism policies (i.e., cultural constitution
      of psychological experience). In support of the cultural constitution hypothesis,
      BHM representations typical of schools where Black students were in the majority
      were more effective at promoting support for anti-racism policies compared to BHM
      representations typical of predominately White schools and a control condition.
      This effect was mediated by the effect of (different) BHM representations on
      perception of racism. Together, these studies suggest that representations of
      Black History constitute cultural affordances that, depending on their source,
      can promote (or impede) perception of racism and anti-racism efforts. This
      research contributes to an emerging body of work examining the bidirectional,
      psychological importance of cultural products. We discuss implications for
      theorizing collective manifestations of mind. 

PMID- 27621711
TI  - The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Polymorphism Moderates the Effects
      of Childhood Abuse on Severity of Depressive Symptoms in a Time-Dependent Manner.
AB  - Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that the brain-derived neurotrophic
      factor (BDNF) Val66Met single-nucleotide polymorphism moderates the association
      between exposure to negative life events and depression outcomes. Yet, it is
      currently unclear whether this moderating effect is applicable to positive life
      events and if the moderating effect is stable over time. To address these gaps in
      the literature, we examined clinical and BDNF genotypic data from a 5-year
      prospective cohort of 310 primary care attendees. Primary care attendees were
      selected based on existence of depressive symptoms at screening. Depressive
      symptoms were assessed at baseline and annually for 5 years post-baseline using
      the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient Health Questionnaire-9
      (PHQ-9). Linear mixed models assessed differences in depressive symptom severity
      over the 5-year follow-up period by BDNF Val66Met and history of life events,
      both negative and positive. Analysis identified a novel three-way interaction
      between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, history of severe childhood abuse, and
      time. Post hoc analysis stratified by time showed a two-way interaction between
      Val66Met and severe childhood abuse at baseline that was not detectable at any
      other time point. An interaction between Val66Met and positive life events was
      not detected. Our longitudinal results suggest that the BDNF Val66Met
      polymorphism moderates the depressive symptom severity experienced by those with
      a history of severe childhood abuse but does so in a time-dependent manner. Our
      results further support the notion that gene-environment-depression interactions
      are dynamic and highlight the importance of longitudinal assessment of these
      interactions. Given these novel longitudinal findings; replication is required. 

PMID- 27621713
TI  - What Is the Sense of Agency and Why Does it Matter?
AB  - Sense of agency refers to the feeling of control over actions and their
      consequences. In this article I summarize what we currently know about sense of
      agency; looking at how it is measured and what theories there are to explain it.
      I then explore some of the potential applications of this research, something
      that the sense of agency research field has been slow to identify and implement.
      This is a pressing concern given the increasing importance of 'research impact.' 

PMID- 27621714
TI  - An fMRI Study of the Impact of Block Building and Board Games on Spatial Ability.
AB  - Previous studies have found that block play, board games, and puzzles result in
      better spatial ability. This study focused on examining the differential impact
      of structured block play and board games on spatial processing. Two groups of 8
      year-old children were studied. One group participated in a five session block
      play training paradigm and the second group had a similar training protocol but
      played a word/spelling board game. A mental rotation task was assessed before and
      after training. The mental rotation task was performed during fMRI to observe the
      neural changes associated with the two play protocols. Only the block play group
      showed effects of training for both behavioral measures and fMRI measured brain
      activation. Behaviorally, the block play group showed improvements in both
      reaction time and accuracy. Additionally, the block play group showed increased
      involvement of regions that have been linked to spatial working memory and
      spatial processing after training. The board game group showed non-significant
      improvements in mental rotation performance, likely related to practice effects,
      and no training related brain activation differences. While the current study is
      preliminary, it does suggest that different "spatial" play activities have
      differential impacts on spatial processing with structured block play but not
      board games showing a significant impact on mental rotation performance. 

PMID- 27621715
TI  - Salience in Second Language Acquisition: Physical Form, Learner Attention, and
      Instructional Focus.
AB  - We consider the role of physical form, prior experience, and form focused
      instruction (FFI) in adult language learning. (1) When presented with competing
      cues to interpretation, learners are more likely to attend to physically more
      salient cues in the input. (2) Learned attention is an associative learning
      phenomenon where prior-learned cues block those that are experienced later. (3)
      The low salience of morphosyntactic cues can be overcome by FFI, which leads
      learners to attend cues which might otherwise be ignored. Experiment 1 used eye
      tracking to investigate how language background influences learners' attention to
      morphological cues, as well as the attentional processes whereby different types
      of FFI overcome low cue salience, learned attention and blocking. Chinese native
      speakers (no L1 verb-tense morphology) viewed Latin utterances combining lexical
      and morphological cues to temporality under control conditions (CCs) and three
      types of explicit FFI: verb grammar instruction (VG), verb salience with textual
      enhancement (VS), and verb pretraining (VP), and their use of these cues was
      assessed in a subsequent comprehension test. CC participants were significantly
      more sensitive to the adverbs than verb morphology. Instructed participants
      showed greater sensitivity to the verbs. These results reveal attentional
      processes whereby learners' prior linguistic experience can shape their attention
      toward cues in the input, and whereby FFI helps learners overcome the long-term
      blocking of verb-tense morphology. Experiment 2 examined the role of modality of
      input presentation - aural or visual - in L1 English learners' attentional focus
      on morphological cues and the effectiveness of different FFI manipulations. CC
      participants showed greater sensitivity toward the adverb cue. FFI was effective
      in increasing attention to verb-tense morphology, however, the processing of
      morphological cues was considerably more difficult under aural presentation. From
      visual exposure, the FFI conditions were broadly equivalent at tuning attention
      to the morphology, although VP resulted in balanced attention to both cues. The
      effectiveness of morphological salience-raising varied across modality: VS was
      effective under visual exposure, but not under aural exposure. From aural
      exposure, only VG was effective. These results demonstrate how salience in
      physical form, learner attention, and instructional focus all variously affect
      the success of L2 acquisition. 

PMID- 27621717
TI  - Editorial: Non-pharmacological Interventions for Schizophrenia: How Much Can Be
      Achieved and How?

PMID- 27621716
TI  - Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Modulates Semantic Negative
      Priming from Single Prime Words.
AB  - The present study investigated whether semantic negative priming from single
      prime words depends on the availability of cognitive control resources.
      Participants with high vs. low working memory capacity (as assessed by their
      performance in complex span and attentional control tasks) were instructed to
      either attend to or ignore a briefly presented single prime word that was
      followed by either a semantically related or unrelated target word on which
      participants made a lexical decision. Individual differences in working memory
      capacity (WMC) mainly affected the processing of the ignored primes, but not the
      processing of the attended primes: While the latter produced reliable positive
      semantic priming for both high- and low-WMC participants, the former gave rise to
      reliable semantic negative priming only for high WMC participants, with low WMC
      participants showing the opposite positive priming effect. The present results
      extend previous findings in demonstrating that (a) single negative priming can
      reliably generalize to semantic associates of the prime words, and (b) a
      differential availability of cognitive control resources can reliably modulate
      the negative priming effect at a semantic level of representation. 

PMID- 27621718
TI  - A Qualitative Analysis of Emotional Facilitators in Exercise.
AB  - Although previous research has shown that emotions are consistently associated
      with sport and exercise behavior, the working mechanisms are not understood to
      the extent of creating an intervention. The aim of this study is to identify
      situations and aspects of recreational sport and exercise, which lead to positive
      emotional reactions in people taking part in regular and long-term exercise. In
      this study, 24 adults (12 female, 12 male) distributed over three age groups
      (young, middle, and late adulthood), took part in recreational sports (individual
      or team sport) for at least 5 years. Semi-structured in depth interviews with
      questions about sport and exercise habits, long term participation and emotional
      response in a sporting environment were conducted in order to ascertain those
      situations and aspects of the exercise program triggering positive emotions.
      Interviews were transcribed verbatim and followed Grounded Theory principles.
      Emerging concepts were grouped and merged into different categories representing
      the key aspects of sport and exercise. Four factors were identified which are
      associated with the emergence of positive emotions in recreational sport and
      exercise. Firstly, perceived competence is one of the major factors influencing
      emotions during exercise and can represent individual and collective success and
      progress, competition and challenge. Secondly, perceived social interaction is
      another factor comprising of all sorts of peer-related aspects such as
      communication with others, being part of a group and creating close relationships
      or friendships. Thirdly, novelty experience in contrast to other none-sporting
      activities such as work, family or other leisure activities was another factor.
      The last factor found was the perceived physical exertion comprising of the
      degree of exhaustion, a possibly delayed turnaround in the emotional response and
      the aspect of sport being a physical compensation for everyday sedentary life.
      The results of this study provide the starting point for the development of
      interventions to enhance positive emotions in sports in order to increase
      maintenance and adherence to recreational sport and exercise. 

PMID- 27621719
TI  - The Environment Makes a Difference: The Impact of Explicit and Implicit Attitudes
      as Precursors in Different Food Choice Tasks.
AB  - Studies show that implicit and explicit attitudes influence food choice. However,
      precursors of food choice often are investigated using tasks offering a very
      limited number of options despite the comparably complex environment surrounding
      real life food choice. In the present study, we investigated how the assortment
      impacts the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes and food choice
      (confectionery and fruit), assuming that a more complex choice architecture is
      more taxing on cognitive resources. Specifically, a binary and a multiple option
      choice task based on the same stimulus set (fake food items) were presented to
      ninety-seven participants. Path modeling revealed that both explicit and implicit
      attitudes were associated with relative food choice (confectionery vs. fruit) in
      both tasks. In the binary option choice task, both explicit and implicit
      attitudes were significant precursors of food choice, with explicit attitudes
      having a greater impact. Conversely, in the multiple option choice task, the
      additive impact of explicit and implicit attitudes was qualified by an
      interaction indicating that, even if explicit and implicit attitudes toward
      confectionery were inconsistent, more confectionery was chosen than fruit if
      either was positive. This compensatory 'one is sufficient'-effect indicates that
      the structure of the choice environment modulates the relationship between
      attitudes and choice. The study highlights that environmental constraints, such
      as the number of choice options, are an important boundary condition that need to
      be included when investigating the relationship between psychological precursors
      and behavior. 

PMID- 27621720
TI  - Task-Based and Questionnaire Measures of Inhibitory Control Are Differentially
      Affected by Acute Food Restriction and by Motivationally Salient Food Stimuli in
      Healthy Adults.
AB  - Adaptive eating behaviors are dependent on an interaction between motivational
      states (e.g., hunger) and the ability to control one's own behavior (inhibitory
      control). Indeed, behavioral paradigms are emerging that seek to train inhibitory
      control to improve eating behavior. However, inhibitory control is a multifaceted
      concept, and it is not yet clear how different types (e.g., reactive motor
      inhibition, proactive motor inhibition, reward-related inhibition) are affected
      by hunger. Such knowledge will provide insight into the contexts in which
      behavioral training paradigms would be most effective. The present study explored
      the impact of promoting a "need" state (hunger) together with motivationally
      salient distracting stimuli (food/non-food images) on inhibitory control in 46
      healthy adults. Participants attended two study sessions, once after eating
      breakfast as usual and once after acute food restriction on the morning of the
      session. In each session, participants completed questionnaires on hunger, mood
      and inhibitory control, and undertook task-based measures of inhibitory control,
      and had physiological measurements (height, weight, and blood glucose) obtained
      by a researcher. Acute food restriction influenced task-based assessments but not
      questionnaire measures of inhibitory control, suggesting that hunger affects
      observable behavioral control but not self-reported inhibitory control. After
      acute food restriction, participants showed greater temporal discounting
      (devaluation of future rewards), and subjective hunger and these were inversely
      correlated with stop accuracy on the stop signal task. Finally, participants
      generally responded faster when food-related distractor images were presented,
      compared to non-food images, independent of state. This suggests that although
      food stimuli motivate approach behavior, stimulus relevance does not impact
      inhibitory control in healthy individuals, nor interact with motivational state.
      These findings may provide some explanation for poorer inhibitory control often
      reported in studies of individuals who practice restraint over eating. 

PMID- 27621721
TI  - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Analysis of Four Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, rapidly progressive
      neurodegenerative disease that almost always results in death in under a year
      from onset of symptoms. Here, we report four cases of CJD with different clinical
      presentations diagnosed at our institution over a 2-year period. CASES: The first
      patient is an 82-year-old woman who presented with depression, cognitive decline,
      and word-finding difficulty over 4 weeks. The patient deteriorated neurologically
      to akinetic mutism and death within 6 weeks of presentation. The second patient
      is a 54-year-old woman with liver cirrhosis who presented with confusion, ataxia,
      and multiple falls over 4 weeks. She was treated initially for hepatic
      encephalopathy but continued to progress to mutism, startle myoclonus, and
      obtundation. Death occurred within 4 weeks of presentation. The third patient is
      a 58-year-old woman who presented with an 8-week history of confusion, urinary
      incontinence, Parkinsonism, ataxia, and myoclonus. Death occurred within 2 months
      from presentation. The fourth patient is a 67-year-old man who presented with a 6
      week history of headache, blurred vision, ataxia, and personality change and
      progressed to confusion, myoclonus, akinetic mutism, and obtundation. Death
      occurred within 3 weeks from presentation. CONCLUSION: These four cases highlight
      the varied possible clinical presentations of CJD and demonstrate the importance
      of considering CJD in patients with atypical presentations of rapidly progressive
      cognitive decline. To diagnose CJD, brain biopsy remains the gold standard.
      However, the presence of CSF protein 14-3-3, typical MRI findings and suggestive
      EEG abnormalities, all support the diagnosis.

PMID- 27621723
TI  - Comparative Analysis of Carbon Monoxide Tolerance among Thermoanaerobacter
      Species.
AB  - An anaerobic thermophilic strain (strain PCO) was isolated from a syngas
      converting enrichment culture. Syngas components cannot be used by strain PCO,
      but the new strain is very tolerant to carbon monoxide (pCO = 1.7 * 10(5) Pa,
      100% CO). 16S rRNA gene analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization revealed that strain
      PCO is a strain of Thermoanaerobacter thermohydrosulfuricus. The physiology of
      strain PCO and other Thermoanaerobacter species was compared, focusing on their
      tolerance to carbon monoxide. T. thermohydrosulfuricus, T. brockii subsp. finnii,
      T. pseudethanolicus, and T. wiegelii were exposed to increased CO concentrations
      in the headspace, while growth, glucose consumption and product formation were
      monitored. Remarkably, glucose conversion rates by Thermoanaerobacter species
      were not affected by CO. All the tested strains fermented glucose to mainly
      lactate, ethanol, acetate, and hydrogen, but final product concentrations
      differed. In the presence of CO, ethanol production was generally less affected,
      but H2 production decreased with increasing CO partial pressure. This study
      highlights the CO resistance of Thermoanaerobacter species. 

PMID- 27621722
TI  - The Circulatory and Metabolic Responses to Hypoxia in Humans - With Special
      Reference to Adipose Tissue Physiology and Obesity.
AB  - Adipose tissue metabolism and circulation play an important role in human health.
      It is well-known that adipose tissue mass is increased in response to excess
      caloric intake leading to obesity and further to local hypoxia and inflammatory
      signaling. Acute exercise increases blood supply to adipose tissue and
      mobilization of fat stores for energy. However, acute exercise during systemic
      hypoxia reduces subcutaneous blood flow in healthy young subjects, but the
      response in overweight or obese subjects remains to be investigated. Emerging
      evidence also indicates that exercise training during hypoxic exposure may
      provide additive benefits with respect to many traditional cardiovascular risk
      factors as compared to exercise performed in normoxia, but unfavorable effects of
      hypoxia have also been documented. These topics will be covered in this brief
      review dealing with hypoxia and adipose tissue physiology. 

PMID- 27621724
TI  - Screening of Rhizospheric Actinomycetes for Various In-vitro and In-vivo Plant
      Growth Promoting (PGP) Traits and for Agroactive Compounds.
AB  - In this study 98 rhizospheric actinomycetes were isolated from different wheat
      and tomato fields, Punjab, Pakistan. The isolates were characterized
      morphologically, biochemically, and genetically and were subjected to a
      comprehensive in vitro screening for various plant growth promoting (PGP) traits.
      About 30% of the isolates screened were found to be the promising PGP
      rhizobacteria (PGPRs), which exhibited maximum genetic similarity (up to 98-99%)
      with different species of the genus Streptomyces by using16S rRNA gene
      sequencing. The most active indole acetic acid (IAA) producer Streptomyces
      nobilis WA-3, Streptomyces Kunmingenesis WC-3, and Streptomyces enissocaesilis TA
      3 produce 79.5, 79.23, and 69.26 MUg/ml IAA respectively at 500 MUg/ml L
      tryptophan. The highest concentration of soluble phosphate was produced by
      Streptomyces sp. WA-1 (72.13 mg/100 ml) and S. djakartensis TB-4 (70.36 mg/100
      ml). All rhizobacterial isolates were positive for siderophore, ammonia, and
      hydrogen cyanide production. Strain S. mutabilis WD-3 showed highest
      concentration of ACC-deaminase (1.9 mmol /l). For in-vivo screening, seed
      germination, and plant growth experiment were conducted by inoculating wheat
      (Triticum aestivum) seeds with the six selected isolates. Significant increases
      in shoot length was observed with S. nobilis WA-3 (65%), increased root length
      was recorded in case of S. nobilis WA-3 (81%) as compared to water treated
      control plants. Maximum increases in plant fresh weight were recorded with S.
      nobilis WA-3 (84%), increased plant dry weight was recorded in case of S. nobilis
      WA-3 (85%) as compared to water treated control plants. In case of number of
      leaves, significant increase was recorded with S. nobilis WA-3 (27%) and
      significant increase in case of number of roots were recorded in case of strain
      S. nobilis WA-3 (30%) as compared to control plants. Over all the study revealed
      that these rhizospheric PGP Streptomyces are good candidates to be developed as
      bioferlizers for growth promotion and yield enhancement in wheat crop and can be
      exploited for the commercial production of different agro-active compounds. 

PMID- 27621725
TI  - Diversity, Biogeography, and Biodegradation Potential of Actinobacteria in the
      Deep-Sea Sediments along the Southwest Indian Ridge.
AB  - The phylum Actinobacteria has been reported to be common or even abundant in deep
      marine sediments, however, knowledge about the diversity, distribution, and
      function of actinobacteria is limited. In this study, actinobacterial diversity
      in the deep sea along the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) was investigated using
      both 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and culture-based methods. The samples were
      collected at depths of 1662-4000 m below water surface. Actinobacterial sequences
      represented 1.2-9.1% of all microbial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences in each
      sample. A total of 5 actinobacterial classes, 17 orders, 28 families, and 52
      genera were detected by pyrosequencing, dominated by the classes Acidimicrobiia
      and Actinobacteria. Differences in actinobacterial community compositions were
      found among the samples. The community structure showed significant correlations
      to geochemical factors, notably pH, calcium, total organic carbon, total
      phosphorus, and total nitrogen, rather than to spatial distance at the scale of
      the investigation. In addition, 176 strains of the Actinobacteria class,
      belonging to 9 known orders, 18 families, and 29 genera, were isolated. Among
      these cultivated taxa, 8 orders, 13 families, and 15 genera were also recovered
      by pyrosequencing. At a 97% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the pyrosequencing
      data encompassed 77.3% of the isolates but the isolates represented only 10.3% of
      the actinobacterial reads. Phylogenetic analysis of all the representative
      actinobacterial sequences and isolates indicated that at least four new orders
      within the phylum Actinobacteria were detected by pyrosequencing. More than half
      of the isolates spanning 23 genera and all samples demonstrated activity in the
      degradation of refractory organics, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
      and polysaccharides, suggesting their potential ecological functions and
      biotechnological applications for carbon recycling. 

PMID- 27621726
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis Zinc Metalloprotease-1 Assists Mycobacterial
      Dissemination in Zebrafish.
AB  - Zinc metalloprotease-1 (Zmp1) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the
      tuberculosis (TB) causing bacillus, is a virulence factor involved in
      inflammasome inactivation and phagosome maturation arrest. We earlier reported
      that Zmp1 was secreted under granuloma-like stress conditions, induced Th2
      cytokine microenvironment and was highly immunogenic in TB patients as evident
      from high anti-Zmp1 antibody titers in their sera. In this study, we deciphered a
      new physiological role of Zmp1 in mycobacterial dissemination. Exogenous
      treatment of THP-1 cells with 500 nM and 1 MUM of recombinant Zmp1 (rZmp1)
      resulted in necrotic cell death. Apart from inducing secretion of necrotic
      cytokines, TNFalpha, IL-6, and IL-1beta, it also induced the release of
      chemotactic chemokines, MCP-1, MIP-1beta, and IL-8, suggesting its likely
      function in cell migration and mycobacterial dissemination. This was confirmed by
      Gap closure and Boyden chamber assays, where Zmp1 treated CHO or THP-1 cells
      showed ~2 fold increased cell migration compared to the untreated cells.
      Additionally, Zebrafish-M. marinum based host-pathogen model was used to study
      mycobacterial dissemination in vivo. Td-Tomato labeled M. marinum (TdM. marinum)
      when injected with rZmp1 showed increased dissemination to tail region from the
      site of injection as compared to the untreated control fish in a dose-dependent
      manner. Summing up these observations along with the earlier reports, we propose
      that Zmp1, a multi-faceted protein, when released by mycobacteria in granuloma,
      may lead to necrotic cell damage and release of chemotactic chemokines by
      surrounding infected macrophages, attracting new immune cells, which in turn may
      lead to fresh cellular infections, thus assisting mycobacterial dissemination. 

PMID- 27621727
TI  - Characterization and Strain Improvement of a Hypercellulytic Variant, Trichoderma
      reesei SN1, by Genetic Engineering for Optimized Cellulase Production in Biomass
      Conversion Improvement.
AB  - The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is a widely used strain for
      cellulolytic enzyme production. A hypercellulolytic T. reesei variant SN1 was
      identified in this study and found to be different from the well-known cellulase
      producers QM9414 and RUT-C30. The cellulose-degrading enzymes of T. reesei SN1
      show higher endoglucanase (EG) activity but lower beta-glucosidase (BGL) activity
      than those of the others. A uracil auxotroph strain, SP4, was constructed by pyr4
      deletion in SN1 to improve transformation efficiency. The BGL1-encoding gene bgl1
      under the control of a modified cbh1 promoter was overexpressed in SP4. A
      transformant, SPB2, with four additional copies of bgl1 exhibited a 17.1-fold
      increase in BGL activity and a 30.0% increase in filter paper activity.
      Saccharification of corncob residues with crude enzyme showed that the glucose
      yield of SPB2 is 65.0% higher than that of SP4. These results reveal the
      feasibility of strain improvement through the development of an efficient genetic
      transformation platform to construct a balanced cellulase system for biomass
      conversion. 

PMID- 27621728
TI  - Slr1670 from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 Is Required for the Re-assimilation of
      the Osmolyte Glucosylglycerol.
AB  - When subjected to mild salt stress, the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803
      produces small amounts of glycerol through an as of yet unidentified pathway.
      Here, we show that this glycerol is a degradation product of the main osmolyte of
      this organism, glucosylglycerol (GG). Inactivation of ggpS, encoding the first
      step of GG-synthesis, abolished de novo synthesis of glycerol, while the ability
      to hydrolyze exogenously supplied glucoslylglycerol was unimpaired. Inactivation
      of glpK, encoding glycerol kinase, had no effect on glycerol synthesis.
      Inactivation of slr1670, encoding a GHL5-type putative glycoside hydrolase,
      abolished de novo synthesis of glycerol, as well as hydrolysis of GG, and led to
      increased intracellular concentrations of this osmolyte. Slr1670 therefore
      presumably displays GG hydrolase activity. A gene homologous to the one encoded
      by slr1670 occurs in a wide range of cyanobacteria, proteobacteria, and archaea.
      In cyanobacteria, it co-occurs with genes involved in GG-synthesis. 

PMID- 27621729
TI  - Cyclic AMP Represents a Crucial Component of Treg Cell-Mediated Immune
      Regulation.
AB  - T regulatory (Treg) cells are one of the key players in the immune tolerance
      network, and a plethora of manuscripts have described their development and
      function in the course of the last two decades. Nevertheless, it is still a
      matter of debate as to which mechanisms and agents are employed by Treg cells,
      providing the basis of their suppressive potency. One of the important candidates
      is cyclic AMP (cAMP), which is long known as a potent suppressor at least of T
      cell activation and function. While this suppressive function by itself is widely
      accepted, the source and the mechanism of action of cAMP are less clear, and a
      multitude of seemingly contradictory data allow for, in principle, two different
      scenarios of cAMP-mediated suppression. In one scenario, Treg cells contain high
      amounts of cAMP and convey this small molecule via gap junction intercellular
      communication directly to the effector T cells (Teff) leading to their
      suppression. Alternatively, it was shown that Treg cells represent the origin of
      considerable amounts of adenosine, which trigger the adenylate cyclases in Teff
      cells via A2A and A2B receptors, thus strongly increasing intracellular cAMP.
      This review will present and discuss initial findings and recent developments
      concerning the function of cAMP for Treg cells and its impact on immune
      regulation. 

PMID- 27621730
TI  - Transient Migration of Large Numbers of CD14(++) CD16(+) Monocytes to the
      Draining Lymph Node after Onset of Inflammation.
AB  - The dynamics of skin-draining cells following infection or vaccination provide
      important insight into the initiation of immune responses. In this study, the
      local recruitment and activation of immune cells in draining lymph nodes (LNs)
      was studied in calves in an adjuvant-induced inflammation. A transient but
      remarkably strong recruitment of monocytes was demonstrated after onset of
      inflammation, constituting up to 41% of live cells in the draining LNs after 24
      h. Numerous CD14(+) cells were visualized in subcutaneous tissues and draining
      LNs, and the majority of these cells did not express dendritic cell-associated
      markers CD205 and CD11c. In the LNs, recruited cells were predominately of a
      CD14(++) and CD16(+) phenotype, consistent with an intermediate monocyte subset
      characterized to possess a high inflammatory potential. Moreover, monocytes from
      the draining LN showed a high expression of genes coding for pro-inflammatory
      cytokines, including IL-1beta, IL-6, TNFa, and TGFbeta. Shortly after their
      appearance in the LN cortical areas, the monocytes had moved into the medulla
      followed by an increase in peripheral blood. In conclusion, this study provides
      novel information on in vivo monocyte recruitment and migration after onset of
      inflammation. 

PMID- 27621731
TI  - NK Cell Influence on the Outcome of Primary Epstein-Barr Virus Infection.
AB  - The herpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was discovered as the first human
      candidate tumor virus in Burkitt's lymphoma more than 50 years ago. Despite its
      strong growth transforming capacity, more than 90% of the human adult population
      carries this virus asymptomatically under near perfect immune control. The mode
      of primary EBV infection is in part responsible for EBV-associated diseases,
      including Hodgkin's lymphoma. It is, therefore, important to understand which
      circumstances lead to symptomatic primary EBV infection, called infectious
      mononucleosis (IM). Innate immune control of lytic viral replication by early
      differentiated natural killer (NK) cells was found to attenuate IM symptoms and
      continuous loss of the respective NK cell subset during the first decade of life
      might predispose for IM during adolescence. In this review, we discuss the
      evidence that NK cells are involved in the immune control of EBV, mechanisms by
      which they might detect and control lytic EBV replication, and compare NK cell
      subpopulations that expand during different human herpesvirus infections. 

PMID- 27621732
TI  - Combination of In Silico Methods in the Search for Potential CD4(+) and CD8(+) T
      Cell Epitopes in the Proteome of Leishmania braziliensis.
AB  - The leishmaniases are neglected tropical diseases widespread throughout the
      globe, which are caused by protozoans from the genus Leishmania and are
      transmitted by infected phlebotomine flies. The development of a safe and
      effective vaccine against these diseases has been seen as the best alternative to
      control and reduce the number of cases. To support vaccine development, this work
      has applied an in silico approach to search for high potential peptide epitopes
      able to bind to different major histocompatibility complex Class I and Class II
      (MHC I and MHC II) molecules from different human populations. First, the
      predicted proteome of Leishmania braziliensis was compared and analyzed by modern
      linear programs to find epitopes with the capacity to trigger an immune response.
      This approach resulted in thousands of epitopes derived from 8,000 proteins
      conserved among different Leishmania species. Epitopes from proteins similar to
      those found in host species were excluded, and epitopes from proteins conserved
      between different Leishmania species and belonging to surface proteins were
      preferentially selected. The resulting epitopes were then clustered, to avoid
      redundancies, resulting in a total of 230 individual epitopes for MHC I and 2,319
      for MHC II. These were used for molecular modeling and docking with MHC
      structures retrieved from the Protein Data Bank. Molecular docking then ranked
      epitopes based on their predicted binding affinity to both MHC I and II. Peptides
      corresponding to the top 10 ranked epitopes were synthesized and evaluated in
      vitro for their capacity to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
      from post-treated cutaneous leishmaniasis patients, with PBMC from healthy donors
      used as control. From the 10 peptides tested, 50% showed to be immunogenic and
      capable to stimulate the proliferation of lymphocytes from recovered individuals.

PMID- 27621734
TI  - Cassava Breeding I: The Value of Breeding Value.
AB  - Breeding cassava relies on several selection stages (single row trial-SRT;
      preliminary; advanced; and uniform yield trials-UYT). This study uses data from
      14 years of evaluations. From more than 20,000 genotypes initially evaluated only
      114 reached the last stage. The objective was to assess how the data at SRT could
      be used to predict the probabilities of genotypes reaching the UYT. Phenotypic
      data from each genotype at SRT was integrated into the selection index (SIN) used
      by the cassava breeding program. Average SIN from all the progenies derived from
      each progenitor was then obtained. Average SIN is an approximation of the
      breeding value of each progenitor. Data clearly suggested that some genotypes
      were better progenitors than others (e.g., high number of their progenies
      reaching the UYT), suggesting important variation in breeding values of
      progenitors. However, regression of average SIN of each parental genotype on the
      number of their respective progenies reaching UYT resulted in a negligible
      coefficient of determination (r (2) = 0.05). Breeding value (e.g., average SIN)
      at SRT was not efficient predicting which genotypes were more likely to reach the
      UYT stage. Number of families and progenies derived from a given progenitor were
      more efficient predicting the probabilities of the progeny from a given parent
      reaching the UYT stage. Large within-family genetic variation tends to mask the
      true breeding value of each progenitor. The use of partially inbred progenitors
      (e.g., S1 or S2 genotypes) would reduce the within-family genetic variation thus
      making the assessment of breeding value more accurate. Moreover, partial
      inbreeding of progenitors can improve the breeding value of the original (S0)
      parental material and sharply accelerate genetic gains. For instance, homozygous
      S1 genotypes for the dominant resistance to cassava mosaic disease (CMD) could be
      generated and selected. All gametes from these selected S1 genotypes would carry
      the desirable allele and 100% of their progenies would be resistant. Only half
      the gametes produced by the heterozygous S0 progenitor would carry the allele of
      interest. For other characteristics, progenies from the S1 genotypes should be,
      at worst, similar to those generated by the S0 progenitors. 

PMID- 27621735
TI  - Guava Waste to Sustain Guava (Psidium guajava) Agroecosystem: Nutrient "Balance"
      Concepts.
AB  - The Brazilian guava processing industry generates 5.5 M Mg guava waste year(-1)
      that could be recycled sustainably in guava agro-ecosystems as slow-release
      fertilizer. Our objectives were to elaborate nutrient budgets and to diagnose
      soil, foliar, and fruit nutrient balances in guava orchards fertilized with guava
      waste. We hypothesized that (1) guava waste are balanced fertilizer sources that
      can sustain crop yield and soil nutrient stocks, and (2) guava agroecosystems
      remain productive within narrow ranges of nutrient balances. A 6-year experiment
      was conducted in 8-year old guava orchard applying 0-9-18-27-36 Mg ha(-1) guava
      waste (dry mass basis) and the locally recommended mineral fertilization.
      Nutrient budgets were compiled as balance sheets. Foliar and fruit nutrient
      balances were computed as isometric log ratios to avoid data redundancy or
      resonance due to nutrient interactions and the closure to measurement unit. The
      N, P, and several other nutrients were applied in excess of crop removal while K
      was in deficit whatever the guava waste treatment. The foliar diagnostic accuracy
      reached 93% using isometric log ratios and knn classification, generating
      reliable foliar nutrient and concentration ranges at high yield level. The plant
      mined the soil K reserves without any significant effect on fruit yield and
      foliar nutrient balances involving K. High guava productivity can be reached at
      lower soil test K and P values than thought before. Parsimonious dosage of fresh
      guava waste should be supplemented with mineral K fertilizers to recycle guava
      waste sustainably in guava agroecosystems. Brazilian growers can benefit from
      this research by lowering soil test P and K threshold values to avoid over
      fertilization and using fresh guava waste supplemented with mineral fertilizers,
      especially K. Because yield was negatively correlated with fruit acidity and Brix
      index, balanced plant nutrition and fertilization diagnosis will have to consider
      not only fruit yield targets but also fruit quality to meet requirements for
      guava processing. 

PMID- 27621736
TI  - Editorial: Multiple Facets of H(+)-Pyrophosphatase and Related Enzymes.

PMID- 27621733
TI  - Hematopoietic Stem Cell Regulation by Type I and II Interferons in the
      Pathogenesis of Acquired Aplastic Anemia.
AB  - Aplastic anemia (AA) occurs when the bone marrow fails to support production of
      all three lineages of blood cells, which are necessary for tissue oxygenation,
      infection control, and hemostasis. The etiology of acquired AA is elusive in the
      vast majority of cases but involves exhaustion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC),
      which are usually present in the bone marrow in a dormant state, and are
      responsible for lifelong production of all cells within the hematopoietic system.
      This destruction is immune mediated and the role of interferons remains
      incompletely characterized. Interferon gamma (IFNgamma) has been associated with
      AA and type I IFNs (alpha and beta) are well documented to cause bone marrow
      aplasia during viral infection. In models of infection and inflammation, IFNgamma
      activates HSCs to differentiate and impairs their ability to self-renew,
      ultimately leading to HSC exhaustion. Recent evidence demonstrating that IFNgamma
      also impacts the HSC microenvironment or niche, raises new questions regarding
      how IFNgamma impairs HSC function in AA. Immune activation can also elicit type I
      interferons, which may exert effects both distinct from and overlapping with
      IFNgamma on HSCs. IFNalpha/beta increase HSC proliferation in models of sterile
      inflammation induced by polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid and lead to BM aplasia
      during viral infection. Moreover, patients being treated with IFNalpha exhibit
      cytopenias, in part due to BM suppression. Herein, we review the current
      understanding of how interferons contribute to the pathogenesis of acquired AA,
      and we explore additional potential mechanisms by which interferons directly and
      indirectly impair HSCs. A comprehensive understanding of how interferons impact
      hematopoiesis is necessary in order to identify novel therapeutic approaches for
      treating AA patients. 

PMID- 27621738
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Studies Reveal that Diverse Heading Date Genes Respond to
      Short and Long Day Lengths between Indica and Japonica Rice.
AB  - Rice is a short-day plant. Short-day length promotes heading, and long-day length
      suppresses heading. Many studies have evaluated rice heading in field conditions
      in which some individuals in the population were exposed to various day lengths,
      including short and long days, prior to a growth phase transition. In this study,
      we investigated heading date under natural short-day conditions (SD) and long-day
      conditions (LD) for 100s of accessions and separately conducted genome-wide
      association studies within indica and japonica subpopulations. Under LD, three
      and four quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified in indica and japonica
      subpopulations, respectively, two of which were less than 80 kb from the known
      genes Hd17 and Ghd7. But no common QTLs were detected in both subpopulations.
      Under SD, six QTLs were detected in indica, three of which were less than 80 kb
      from the known heading date genes Ghd7, Ehd1, and RCN1. But no QTLs were detected
      in japonica subpopulation. qHd3 under SD and qHd4 under LD were two novel major
      QTLs, which deserve isolation in the future. Eleven known heading date genes were
      used to test the power of association mapping at the haplotype level. Hd17, Ghd7,
      Ehd1, and RCN1 were again detected at more significant level and three additional
      genes, Hd3a, OsMADS56, and Ghd7.1, were detected. However, of the detected seven
      genes, only one gene, Hd17, was commonly detected in both subpopulations and two
      genes, Ghd7 and Ghd7.1, were commonly detected in indica subpopulation under both
      conditions. Moreover, haplotype analysis identified favorable haplotypes of Ghd7
      and OsMADS56 for breeding design. In conclusion, diverse heading date genes/QTLs
      between indica and japonica subpopulations responded to SD and LD, and haplotype
      level association mapping was more powerful than SNP-level association in rice. 

PMID- 27621737
TI  - Conserved Roles of CrRLK1L Receptor-Like Kinases in Cell Expansion and
      Reproduction from Algae to Angiosperms.
AB  - Receptor-like kinases (RLKs) are regulators of plant development through allowing
      cells to sense their extracellular environment. They facilitate detection of
      local endogenous signals, in addition to external biotic and abiotic stimuli. The
      Catharanthus roseus RLK1-like (CrRLK1L) protein kinase subfamily, which contains
      FERONIA, plays a central role in regulating fertilization and in cell expansion
      mechanisms such as cell elongation and tip growth, as well as having indirect
      links to plant-pathogen interactions. Several components of CrRLK1L signaling
      pathways have been identified, including an extracellular ligand, coreceptors,
      and downstream signaling elements. The presence and abundance of the CrRLK1L
      proteins in the plant kingdom suggest an origin within the Streptophyta lineage,
      with a notable increase in prevalence in the seeded land plants. Given the
      function of the sole CrRLK1L protein in a charophycean alga, the possibility of a
      conserved role in detection and/or regulation of cell wall integrity throughout
      the Strephtophytes is discussed. Orthologs of signaling pathway components are
      also present in extant representatives of non-vascular land plants and early
      vascular land plants including the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, the moss
      Physcomitrella patens and the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii. Deciphering
      the roles in development of the CrRLK1L protein kinases in early diverging land
      plants will provide insights into their ancestral function, furthering our
      understanding of this diversified subfamily of receptors in higher plants. 

PMID- 27621740
TI  - Can Adverse Effects of Acidity and Aluminum Toxicity Be Alleviated by Appropriate
      Rootstock Selection in Cucumber?
AB  - Low-pH and aluminum (Al) stresses are the major constraints that limit crop yield
      in acidic soils. Grafting vegetable elite cultivars onto appropriate rootstocks
      may represent an effective tool to improve crop tolerance to acidity and Al
      toxicity. Two greenhouse hydroponic experiments were performed to evaluate
      growth, yield, biomass production, chlorophyll index, electrolyte leakage,
      mineral composition, and assimilate partitioning in plant tissues of cucumber
      plants (Cucumis sativus L. "Ekron") either non-grafted or grafted onto "P360"
      (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne * Cucurbita moschata Duchesne; E/C) or figleaf gourd
      (Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche; E/F). Cucumber plants were cultured in pots and
      supplied with nutrient solutions having different pH and Al concentrations: pH 6,
      pH 3.5, pH 3.5 + 1.5 mM Al, and pH 3.5 + 3 mM Al (Experiment 1, 14 days) and pH
      6, pH 3.5, and pH 3.5 + 0.75 mM Al (Experiment 2, 67 days). Significant
      depression in shoot and root biomass was observed in response to acidity and Al
      concentrations, with Al-stress being more phytotoxic than low pH treatment.
      Significant decrease in yield, shoot, and root biomass, leaf area, SPAD index, N,
      K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and B concentration in aerial parts (leaves and stems) in response
      to low pH with more detrimental effects at pH 3.5 + Al. Grafted E/C plants grown
      under low pH and Al had higher yield, shoot, and root biomass compared to E/F and
      non-grafted plants. This better crop performance of E/C plants in response to Al
      stress was related to (i) a reduced translocation of Al from roots to the shoot,
      (ii) a better shoot and root nutritional status in K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn
      concentration, (iii) a higher chlorophyll synthesis, as well as (iv) the ability
      to maintain cell membrane stability and integrity (lower electrolyte leakage).
      Data provide insight into the role of grafting on Al stress tolerance in
      cucumber. 

PMID- 27621741
TI  - Two Novel Flavin-Containing Monooxygenases Involved in Biosynthesis of Aliphatic
      Glucosinolates.
AB  - Glucosinolates, a class of secondary metabolites from cruciferous plants, are
      derived from amino acids and have diverse biological activities, such as in
      biotic defense, depending on their side chain modification. The first structural
      modification step in the synthesis of aliphatic (methionine-derived)
      glucosinolates-S-oxygenation of methylthioalkyl glucosinolates to
      methylsulfinylalkyl glucosinolates-was found to be catalyzed by five flavin
      containing monooxygenases (FMOs), FMOGS-OX1-5. Here, we report two additional
      FMOGS-OX enzymes, FMOGS-OX6, and FMOGS-OX7, encoded by At1g12130 and At1g12160,
      respectively. The overexpression of both FMOGS-OX6 and FMOGS-OX7 decreased the
      ratio of methylthioalkyl glucosinolates to the sum of methylthioalkyl and
      methylsulfinylalkyl glucosinolates, suggesting that the introduction of the two
      genes converted methylthioalkyl glucosinolates into methylsulfinylalkyl
      glucosinolates. Analysis of expression pattern revealed that the spatial
      expression of the two genes is quite similar and partially overlapped with the
      other FMOGS-OX genes, which are primarily expressed in vascular tissue. We
      further analyzed the responsive expression pattern of all the seven FMOGS-OX
      genes to exogenous treatment with abscisic acid, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic
      acid (ACC), jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and
      low and high temperatures. Although these genes showed same tendency toward the
      changing stimulus, the sensitivity of each gene was quite different. The variety
      in spatial expression among the FMOGS-OX genes while responding to environmental
      stimulus indicated a complex and finely tuned regulation of glucosinolates
      modifications. Identification of these two novel FMOGS-OX enzymes will enhance
      the understanding of glucosinolates modifications and the importance of evolution
      of these duplicated genes. 

PMID- 27621739
TI  - Transcriptome Analysis of Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Revealed a Role of 24
      Epibrassinolide in Response to Chilling.
AB  - Brassinosteroids (BRs) have positive effects on many processes during plant
      growth, development, and various abiotic stress responses. However, little
      information is available regarding the global gene expression of BRs in response
      to chilling stress in pepper. In this study, we used RNA sequencing to determine
      the molecular roles of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) during a chilling stress
      response. There were 39,829 transcripts, and, among them, 656 were differently
      expressed genes (DEGs) following EBR treatment (Chill+EBR) compared with the
      control (Chill only), including 335 up-regulated and 321 down-regulated DEGs. We
      selected 20 genes out of the 656 DEGs for RT-qPCR analysis to confirm the RNA
      Seq. Based on GO enrich and KEGG pathway analysis, we found that photosynthesis
      was significantly up-enriched in biological processes, accompanied by significant
      increases in the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), Fv/Fm, and chlorophyll content.
      Furthermore, the results indicate that EBR enhanced endogenous levels of
      salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) while suppressing the ethylene (ETH)
      biosynthesis pathway, suggesting that BRs function via a synergistic cross-talk
      with SA, JA, and ETH signaling pathways in response to chilling stress. In
      addition, EBR induced cellulose synthase-like protein and UDP
      glycosyltransferase, suggesting a contribution to the formation of cell wall and
      hormone metabolism. EBR also triggered the calcium signaling transduction in
      cytoplasm, and activated the expression of cellular redox homeostasis related
      genes, such as GSTX1, PER72, and CAT2. This work, therefor, identified the
      specific genes showed different expression patterns in EBR-treated pepper and
      associated with the processes of hormone metabolism, redox, signaling,
      transcription, and defense. Our study provides the first evidence of the potent
      roles of BRs, at the transcription level, to induce the tolerance to chilling
      stress in pepper as a function of the combination of the transcriptional
      activities, signaling transduction, and metabolic homeostasis. 

PMID- 27621743
TI  - Transcriptional Regulation of Tetrapyrrole Biosynthetic Genes Explains Abscisic
      Acid-Induced Heme Accumulation in the Unicellular Red Alga Cyanidioschyzon
      merolae.
AB  - Abscisic acid (ABA), a pivotal phytohormone that is synthesized in response to
      abiotic stresses and other environmental changes, induces various physiological
      responses. Heme, in its unbound form, has a positive signaling role in cell-cycle
      initiation in Cyanidioschyzon merolae. ABA induces heme accumulation, but also
      prevents cell-cycle initiation through the titration of the unbound heme by
      inducing the heme scavenging protein tryptophan-rich sensory protein-related
      protein O. In this study, we analyzed the accumulation of tetrapyrrole
      biosynthetic gene transcripts after the addition of ABA to the medium and found
      that transcripts of a ferrochelatase and a magnesium-chelatase subunit increased,
      while other examined transcripts decreased. Under the same conditions, the heme
      and magnesium-protoporphyrin IX contents increased, while the protoporphyrin IX
      content decreased. Thus, ABA may regulate the intracellular heme and other
      tetrapyrrole contents through the transcriptional regulation of biosynthetic
      genes. 

PMID- 27621744
TI  - An ATL78-Like RING-H2 Finger Protein Confers Abiotic Stress Tolerance through
      Interacting with RAV2 and CSN5B in Tomato.
AB  - RING finger proteins play an important role in plant adaptation to abiotic
      stresses. In the present study, a wild tomato (Solanum habrochaites) cold-induced
      RING-H2 finger gene, ShATL78L, was isolated, which has been identified as an
      abiotic stress responsive gene in tomato. The results showed that ShATL78L was
      constitutively expressed in various tissues such as root, leaf, petiole, stem,
      flower, and fruit. Cold stress up-regulated ShATL78L in the cold-tolerant S.
      habrochaites compared to the susceptible cultivated tomato (S. lycopersicum).
      Furthermore, ShATL78L expression was also regulated under different stresses such
      as drought, salt, heat, wound, osmotic stress, and exogenous hormones. Functional
      characterization showed that cultivated tomato overexpressing ShATL78L had
      improved tolerance to cold, drought and oxidative stresses compared to the wild
      type and the knockdown lines. To understand the underlying molecular mechanism of
      ShATL78L regulating abiotic stress responses, we performed yeast one-hybrid and
      two-hybrid assays and found that RAV2 could bind to the promoter of ShATL78L and
      activates/alters its transcription, and CSN5B could interact with ShATL78L to
      regulate abiotic stress responses. Taken together, these results show that
      ShATL78L plays an important role in regulating plant adaptation to abiotic
      stresses through bound by RAV2 and interacting with CSN5B. Highlight: RAV2 binds
      to the promoter of ShATL78L to activates/alters its transcription to adapt the
      environmental conditions; furthermore, ShATL78L interacts with CSN5B to regulate
      the stress tolerance. 

PMID- 27621745
TI  - Standardized surgical techniques for adult living donor liver transplantation
      using a modified right lobe graft: a video presentation from bench to
      reperfusion.
AB  - After having experienced more than 2,000 cases of adult living donor liver
      transplantation (LDLT), we established the concepts of right liver graft
      standardization. Right liver graft standardization intends to provide
      hemodynamics-based and regeneration-compliant reconstruction of vascular inflow
      and outflow. Right liver graft standardization consists of the following
      components: Right hepatic vein reconstruction includes a combination of caudal
      side deep incision and patch venoplasty of the graft right hepatic vein to remove
      the acute angle between the graft right hepatic vein and the inferior vena cava;
      middle hepatic vein reconstruction includes interposition of a uniform-shaped
      conduit with large-sized homologous or prosthetic grafts; if the inferior right
      hepatic vein is present, its reconstruction includes funneling and unification
      venoplasty for multiple short hepatic veins; if donor portal vein anomaly is
      present, its reconstruction includes conjoined unification venoplasty for two or
      more portal vein orifices. This video clip that shows the surgical technique from
      bench to reperfusion was a case presentation of adult LDLT using a modified right
      liver graft from the patient's son. Our intention behind proposing the concept of
      right liver graft standardization is that it can be universally applicable and
      may guarantee nearly the same outcomes regardless of the surgeon's experience. We
      believe that this reconstruction model would be primarily applied to a majority
      of adult LDLT cases. 

PMID- 27621746
TI  - Efficacy evaluation of SurgiGuard(r) in partially hepatectomized pigs.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: This study evaluated the hemostatic effects of a novel oxidized
      regenerated cellulose, SurgiGuard(r), during liver surgery, using a reproducible
      and clinically relevant animal model. METHODS: Fifteen mini-pigs underwent left
      partial hepatectomy. They were randomized to treatment of the resected surface
      with SurgiGuard(r) (Group C [test], n=5), Surgicel(r) (Group B [reference], n=5),
      or nothing (Group A [control], n=5). Blood loss was measured 5, 7 and 9 min after
      resection. Time to hemostasis was recorded. Mini-pigs were necropsied 4 or 6
      weeks postoperatively to evaluate toxicity changes and material dissolution.
      RESULTS: The median resected liver weight was 2.13 g (2.02-2.20) in control
      group, 2.04 g (2.01-2.13) in reference group, and 2.01 g (1.99-2.12) in test
      group (p=0.024). Median total blood loss was 57.18 g (52.02-59.54) in control
      group, 32.52 g (27.66-35.10) in reference group, and 35.52 g (25.70-38.71) in
      test group (p=0.008). Blood loss at 0-5 minutes and 7-9 minutes was significantly
      different between groups (p=0.009 and p=0.006, respectively). At necropsy, no
      hematomas, granulomas, or adhesions were noted in any group. Histopathological
      analysis revealed no changes suggesting toxicity related to SurgiGuard(r).
      CONCLUSIONS: SurgiGuard(r) is as effective as Surgicel(r) in achieving hemostasis
      after porcine partial liver resection.

PMID- 27621742
TI  - Calcium-Mediated Abiotic Stress Signaling in Roots.
AB  - Roots are subjected to a range of abiotic stresses as they forage for water and
      nutrients. Cytosolic free calcium is a common second messenger in the signaling
      of abiotic stress. In addition, roots take up calcium both as a nutrient and to
      stimulate exocytosis in growth. For calcium to fulfill its multiple roles must
      require strict spatio-temporal regulation of its uptake and efflux across the
      plasma membrane, its buffering in the cytosol and its sequestration or release
      from internal stores. This prompts the question of how specificity of signaling
      output can be achieved against the background of calcium's other uses. Threats to
      agriculture such as salinity, water availability and hypoxia are signaled through
      calcium. Nutrient deficiency is also emerging as a stress that is signaled
      through cytosolic free calcium, with progress in potassium, nitrate and boron
      deficiency signaling now being made. Heavy metals have the capacity to trigger or
      modulate root calcium signaling depending on their dose and their capacity to
      catalyze production of hydroxyl radicals. Mechanical stress and cold stress can
      both trigger an increase in root cytosolic free calcium, with the possibility of
      membrane deformation playing a part in initiating the calcium signal. This review
      addresses progress in identifying the calcium transporting proteins (particularly
      channels such as annexins and cyclic nucleotide-gated channels) that effect
      stress-induced calcium increases in roots and explores links to reactive oxygen
      species, lipid signaling, and the unfolded protein response. 

PMID- 27621747
TI  - Aggressive surgical resection for concomitant liver and lung metastasis in
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Aggressive surgical resection for hepatic metastasis is
      validated, however, concomitant liver and lung metastasis in colorectal cancer
      patients is equivocal. METHODS: Clinicopathologic data from January 2008 through
      December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed in 234 patients with colorectal
      cancer with concomitant liver and lung metastasis. Clinicopathologic factors and
      survival data were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 234 patients, 129 (55.1%) had
      synchronous concomitant liver and lung metastasis from colorectal cancer and 36
      (15.4%) had metachronous metastasis. Surgical resection was performed in 33
      patients (25.6%) with synchronous and 6 (16.7%) with metachronous metastasis.
      Surgical resection showed better overall survival in both groups (synchronous,
      p=0.001; metachronous, p=0.028). In the synchronous metastatic group, complete
      resection of both liver and lung metastatic lesions had better survival outcomes
      than incomplete resection of two metastatic lesions (p=0.037). The primary site
      of colorectal cancer and complete resection were significant prognostic factors
      (p=0.06 and p=0.003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical resection for hepatic
      and pulmonary metastasis in colorectal cancer can improve complete remission and
      survival rate in resectable cases. Colorectal cancer with concomitant liver and
      lung metastasis is not a poor prognostic factor or a contraindication for
      surgical treatments, hence, an aggressive surgical approach may be recommended in
      well-selected resectable cases.

PMID- 27621748
TI  - Irreversible electroporation for the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine
      tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Resection or enucleation is currently the treatment of choice
      for small pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Irreversible electroporation
      is a novel ablative method that is used for locally advanced pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma, but little data exists for its use for pancreatic NETs. We report
      an early experience of IRE for early pancreatic NETs. METHODS: Between April 2014
      and March 2015, 3 patients with small (<2 cm) pancreatic NETs were treated with
      percutaneous IRE. RESULTS: There were no adverse effects during the procedure.
      Mean hospital stay was 2.6 days. All patients remained disease free on 12-19
      months follow up. One patient developed recurrent pancreatitis with pseudocyst
      formation. CONCLUSIONS: IRE for small tumors of the pancreas is practical and may
      offer advantages over other thermal ablative techniques, since it preserves vital
      structures such as blood vessels, bile and pancreatic ducts. Further data
      regarding the long term disease free interval is required to establish efficacy.

PMID- 27621749
TI  - Successful transfusion-free pancreatectomy in Jehovah's Witness patients.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Although perioperative therapies have improved greatly,
      pancreatectomies still often need blood transfusions. However, the morbidity from
      blood transfusions, the poor prognosis of blood transfused patients, high cost,
      and decreasing supply of blood products is accelerating transfusion-free (TF)
      surgery in the patients who have pacreatectomies. The aim of this study was to
      assess the feasibility of TF pancreatectomies for patients who are Jehovah's
      Witness. METHODS: We investigated the possibility of TF pancreatectomies for the
      Jehovah's Witness patients undergoing pancreatectomies between January 2007 and
      Februay 2014. There were 4 cases of Whipple's operation, 4 of pylorus-preserving
      pancreaticoduodenectomy, 2 of radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy and
      1 of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy. All were performed by one surgeon.
      RESULTS: Most of the TF pancreatecomies patients received perioperative blood
      augmentation and intraoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH). They
      received no blood transfusions at any time during their hospitalization, and pre-
      and intra-operative data and outcomes were acceptably favorable. CONCLUSIONS: To
      the best of our knowledge, this report is the first successful consecutive
      pancreatectomy program for Jehovah's Witness not involving blood transfusion. TF
      pancreatectomy can be performed successfully in selected Jehovah's Witness.
      Postoperative prognosis and outcomes should be confirmed in follow up studies.

PMID- 27621750
TI  - Cosmetic selection of skin incision for resection of choledochal cyst in young
      female patients.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Open surgery for choledochal cyst has a disadvantage of skin
      incision scar from operative wound, which can be a definite disadvantage
      especially in young female patients. This study focused on the cosmetic aspect of
      skin incision for resection of choledochal cyst in young female patients.
      METHODS: During a 2-year study period, 11 adult female patients aged less than 40
      years underwent primary resection of choledochal cyst by a single surgeon. The
      cosmetic effect of two types of skin incision was evaluated. RESULTS: The
      patients underwent mini-laparotomy through either a right subcostal incision
      (n=8) or an upper midline incision (n=3). The mean length of skin incision was 10
      cm for right subcostal incisions and 9 cm for upper midline incisions. It took
      approximately 1 hour to repair the operative wound meticulously in both groups.
      At the 6 month to 1 year follow-up, a slight bulge on the skin scar was observed
      in 3 (37.5%) patients of the right subcostal incision group and 1 (33.3%) patient
      of the upper midline incision group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this preliminary
      study support the claim that cosmetic effect of the upper midline incision for
      CCD surgery appears to be non-inferior to that of the right subcostal incision if
      the incision is placed accurately and repaired very meticulously.

PMID- 27621751
TI  - Inferior vena cava stenosis-induced sinusoidal obstructive syndrome after living
      donor liver transplantation.
AB  - The sinusoidal obstructive syndrome (SOS) is a complication that usually follows
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It is also known as veno-occlusive
      disease, which is a rare complication of living donor liver transplantation
      (LDLT). Herein, we reported a 34 year-old female patient presenting SOS after
      LDLT. Its underlying cause was presumed to be associated with liver abscess and
      subsequent inferior vena cava stenosis. SOS led to graft failure, thus requiring
      retransplantation with a deceased donor liver graft. The underlying causes of SOS
      are complex pathologic entity with multifactorial etiology. It is likely that its
      multifactorial etiology includes a decrease of hepatic venous outflow that is
      caused by graft liver infection and inferior vena cava stenosis. 

PMID- 27621752
TI  - Surgical treatment of mucin-producing cholangiocarcinoma arising from intraductal
      papillary neoplasm of the intrahepatic bile duct: a report of 2 cases.
AB  - Intraductal papillary neoplasms of the bile duct (IPNB) leads to malignant
      transformation and mucin production. Herein, we presented two cases of mucin
      producing IPNB with obstructive jaundice who underwent resection of the
      intrahepatic lesions and bypass hepaticojejunostomy. The first case was a 69 year
      old male patient with 5-year follow up for gallstone disease. Imaging studies
      showed mucin-secreting IPNB mainly in the hepatic segment III bile duct (B3) and
      multiple intrahepatic duct stones for which, segment III resection, intrahepatic
      stone removal, end-to-side choledochojejunostomy and B3 hepaticojejunostomy were
      conducted. The second case was a 74 year-old female patient with 11-year follow
      up for gallstone disease. Imaging studies showed mucin-producing IPNB with
      dilatation of the segment IV duct (B4) and mural nodules for which, segment IV
      resection, partial resection of the diaphragm and central hepaticojejunostomy
      were conducted. Both patients recovered uneventfully from surgery. These cases
      highlight that in patients with IPNB, abundant production of highly viscous mucin
      inducing obstructive jaundice may be associated with malignant transformation. 

PMID- 27621753
TI  - Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver in a young female: treatment with
      portal vein embolization and liver trisectonectomy.
AB  - Undifferentiated Embryonal Sarcoma of the Liver (UESL) is a tumor highly
      malignant, of mesenchymal origin. It is a rare finding in adults, though less
      rare in children. The strategy to be followed and the therapeutic targets to be
      reached for this tumor, in adult cases, remain ambiguous and controversial.
      Herein we report the case of a 29 year old female patient with a massive UESL and
      we describe our therapeutic approach. A 29 year-old female patient was referred
      to our center with severe intermittent epigastric pain and fever due to a
      voluminous liver tumor: Needle biopsy was of no specific findings and surgical
      excision was decided. Right portal vein embolization and selective embolization
      of the segment's IV branch was performed in order to achieve adequate future
      liver remnant (FLR). Right trisectonectomy was then performed, with uneventful
      post operative period and the patient was discharged at the 11(th) post operative
      day. UESL is a rare tumor that needs aggressive surgical approach and
      multidisciplinary team management is of paramount importance. 

PMID- 27621754
TI  - Mixed lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder.
AB  - Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC), an undifferentiated carcinoma with
      intense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates, is commonly reported in the nasopharynx
      and occasionally in other organs. Pure type of LELC has previously been reported
      in the gallbladder. Mixed type could be reportable in comparison with other
      organs. Here we present a case of an 83-year-old man with mixed LELC and
      adenocarcinoma in the gallbladder. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first case of mixed LELC and adenocarcinoma in the gallbladder. 

PMID- 27621755
TI  - Quantification of plasmid DNA reference materials for Shiga toxin-producing
      Escherichia coli based on UV, HR-ICP-MS and digital PCR.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The accuracy and metrology traceability of DNA quantification is
      becoming a critical theme in many fields, including diagnosis, forensic analysis,
      microorganism detection etc. Thus the research of DNA reference materials (RMs)
      and consistency of DNA quantification methods has attracted considerable research
      interest. RESULTS: In this work, we developed 3 plasmid candidate RMs, containing
      3 target genes of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) and other Shiga
      toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC): stx1, stx2, and fliC (h7) respectively.
      Comprehensive investigation of the plasmid RMs was performed for their sequence,
      purity, homogeneity and stability, and then the concentration was quantified by
      three different methods: ultraviolet spectrophotometer (UV), high resolution
      inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) and digital PCR. As a
      routinely applied method for DNA analysis, UV was utilized for the quantification
      (OD260) and purity analysis for the plasmids. HR-ICP-MS quantified the plasmid
      DNA through analysing the phosphorus in DNA molecules. Digital PCR distributed
      the DNA samples onto a microarray chip containing thousands of reaction chambers,
      and quantified the DNA copy numbers by analysing the number of positive signals
      without any calibration curves needed. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the high
      purification of the DNA reference materials and the optimization of dPCR
      analysis, we successfully achieved good consistency between UV, HR-ICP-MS and
      dPCR, with relative deviations lower than 10 %. We then performed the co
      quantification of 3 DNA RMs with three different methods together, and the
      uncertainties of their concentration were evaluated. Finally, the certified
      values and expanded uncertainties for 3 DNA RMs (pFliC, pStx1 and pStx2) were
      (1.60 +/- 0.10) * 10(10) copies/MUL, (1.53 +/- 0.10) * 10(10) copies/MUL and
      (1.70 +/- 0.11) * 10(10) copies/MUL respectively.Graphical abstractWe developed 3
      plasmid candidate RMs, containing 3 target genes of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E.
      coli O157:H7) and other Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC): stx1,
      stx2, and fliC (h7) respectively, and the quantification of three different
      methods (UV, dPCR, ICP) was studied.

PMID- 27621756
TI  - Integration of suboptimal health status and endothelial dysfunction as a new
      aspect for risk evaluation of cardiovascular disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is recognized as a subclinical,
      reversible stage of chronic disease. Association has been confirmed between SHS
      and cardiovascular risk factors, indicating that SHS may contribute to the
      development of cardiovascular disease. This study explored integrated risk
      assessment of cardiovascular disease by combining SHS questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25)
      and indicators of endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: A community-based cross
      sectional study was conducted in a sample of 459 residents of Samara, Russia, who
      had no history of clinical diagnosed disease and did not receive any treatment in
      the last 2 weeks. The SHS score was derived from the data collected in the SHSQ
      25. Blood pressure, body mass index, and glucose and lipid levels (total
      cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, cholesterol and triglycerides) were
      measured by physical examination and laboratory performance. The relationship
      between SHS and endothelial dysfunction was examined using Pearson's correlation
      linear regression analysis. Cluster analysis was performed to identify systemic
      patterns arising from exposure to a variety of risk factors. RESULTS: Significant
      correlations were observed between index of endothelial function and the overall
      performance of SHS (r = -0.31, p < 0.05), and individual scales of the
      questionnaire SHSQ-25: fatigue (r = -0.36, p < 0.05), mental (r = -0.29, p <
      0.05), and the cardiovascular system (r = -0.36). Based on cluster analysis, all
      subjects were grouped into five clusters: (1) optimal health status, (2) SHS at
      low risk of disease states, (3) SHS with a high risk of non-cardiac pathologies
      profile, (4) SHS of low risk of cardiovascular disease, and (5) SHS with high
      risk of cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: SHS is associated with endothelial
      dysfunction. Integration of suboptimal health status and endothelial dysfunction
      provides a novel tool to allow people to get a more holistic picture of both
      subjective and objective health measures, and also can be applied to routine
      screening for risks of cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 27621757
TI  - Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms - what have we learned so far?
AB  - Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms are neoplastic processes arising as a result of
      chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination of these modalities given for a
      primary condition. The disease biology varies based on the etiology and treatment
      modalities patients receive for their primary condition. Topoisomerase II
      inhibitor therapy results in balanced translocations. Alkylating agents,
      characteristically, give rise to more complex karyotypes and mutations in p53.
      Other etiologies include radiation therapy, high-dose chemotherapy with
      autologous stem cell transplantation and telomere dysfunction. Poor-risk
      cytogenetic abnormalities are more prevalent than they are in de novo leukemias
      and the prognosis of these patients is uniformly dismal. Outcome varies according
      to cytogenetic risk group. Treatment recommendations should be based on
      performance status and karyotype. An in-depth understanding of risk factors that
      lead to the development of therapy-related myeloid neoplasms would help
      developing risk-adapted treatment protocols and monitoring patients after
      treatment for the primary condition, translating into reduced incidence, early
      detection and timely treatment. 

PMID- 27621758
TI  - Targeting stem cells by radiation: From the biological angle to clinical aspects.
AB  - Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of anticancer treatment. However in spite of
      technical evolutions, important rates of failure and of toxicity are still
      reported. Although numerous pre-clinical data have been published, we address the
      subject of radiotherapy-stem cells interaction from the clinical efficacy and
      toxicity perspective. On one side, cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been recently
      evidenced in most of solid tumor primary locations and are thought to drive radio
      resistance phenomena. It is particularly suggested in glioblastoma, where CSCs
      were showed to be housed in the subventricular zone (SVZ). In recent
      retrospective studies, the radiation dose to SVZ was identified as an independent
      factor significantly influencing overall survival. On the other side, healthy
      tissue stem cells radio-destruction has been recently suggested to cause two of
      the most quality of life-impacting side effects of radiotherapy, namely memory
      disorders after brain radiotherapy, and xerostomia after head and neck
      radiotherapy. Recent publications studying the impact of a radiation dose
      decrease on healthy brain and salivary stem cells niches suggested significantly
      reduced long term toxicities. Stem cells comprehension should be a high priority
      for radiation oncologists, as this particular cell population seems able to
      widely modulate the efficacy/toxicity ratio of radiotherapy in real life
      patients. 

PMID- 27621760
TI  - Epithelial plasticity in urothelial carcinoma: Current advancements and future
      challenges.
AB  - Urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the bladder is characterized by high recurrence rate
      where a subset of these cells undergoes transition to deadly muscle invasive
      disease and later metastasizes. Urothelial cancer stem cells (UroCSCs), a tumor
      subpopulation derived from transformation of urothelial stem cells, are
      responsible for heterogeneous tumor formation and resistance to systemic
      treatment in UC of the bladder. Although the precise reason for pathophysiologic
      spread of tumor is not clear, transcriptome analysis of microdissected cancer
      cells expressing multiple progenitor/stem cell markers validates the upregulation
      of genes that derive epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Experimental studies
      on human bladder cancer xenografts describe the mechanistic functions and
      regulation of epithelial plasticity for its cancer-restraining effects. It has
      been further examined to be associated with the recruitment of a pool of UroCSCs
      into cell division in response to damages induced by adjuvant therapies. This
      paper also discusses the various probable therapeutic approaches to attenuate the
      progressive manifestation of chemoresistance by co-administration of inhibitors
      of epithelial plasticity and chemotherapeutic drugs by abrogating the early tumor
      repopulation as well as killing differentiated cancer cells. 

PMID- 27621759
TI  - Reprogramming of germ cells into pluripotency.
AB  - Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are precursors of all gametes, and represent the
      founder cells of the germline. Although developmental potency is restricted to
      germ-lineage cells, PGCs can be reprogrammed into a pluripotent state.
      Specifically, PGCs give rise to germ cell tumors, such as testicular teratomas,
      in vivo, and to pluripotent stem cells known as embryonic germ cells in vitro. In
      this review, we highlight the current knowledge on signaling pathways,
      transcriptional controls, and post-transcriptional controls that govern germ cell
      differentiation and de-differentiation. These regulatory processes are common in
      the reprogramming of germ cells and somatic cells, and play a role in the
      pathogenesis of human germ cell tumors. 

PMID- 27621761
TI  - Adjuvant sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma: A cautionary comment of STORM
      trial.
AB  - Recurrence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is very high even after
      curative surgery, and no postoperative therapies have been definitively shown to
      prevent HCC recurrence. Sorafenib is proved to be effective for advanced HCC by
      two large randomized controlled trials in 2008 and 2009. Therefore it stands to
      reason to expect that adjuvant sorafenib may improve post-surgery outcomes of
      patients with HCC. However, many questions still exist about the value of
      sorafenib for patients with HCC after surgery or transarterial chemoembolization.
      In this editorial, we complehensively reviewed the safety and efficacy of
      adjuvant sorafenib for patients with hepatocellar carcinoma after surgery or
      transarterial chemoembolization. We emphasized the positive and negative role of
      sorafenib. 

PMID- 27621763
TI  - Interplay between microRNA-17-5p, insulin-like growth factor-II through binding
      protein-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the effect of microRNA on insulin-like growth factor binding
      protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and hence on insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II)
      bioavailability in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Bioinformatic
      analysis was performed using microrna.org, DIANA lab and Segal lab softwares.
      Total RNA was extracted from 23 HCC and 10 healthy liver tissues using mirVana
      miRNA Isolation Kit. microRNA-17-5p (miR-17-5p) expression was mimicked and
      antagonized in HuH-7 cell lines using HiPerFect Transfection Reagent, then total
      RNA was extracted using Biozol reagent then reverse transcribed into cDNA
      followed by quantification of miR-17-5p and IGFBP-3 expression using TaqMan real
      time quantitative PCR. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to validate the
      binding of miR-17-5p to the 3'UTR of IGFBP-3. Free IGF-II protein was measured in
      transfected HuH-7 cells using IGF-II ELISA kit. RESULTS: Bioinformatic analysis
      revealed IGFBP-3 as a potential target for miR-17-5p. Screening of miR-17-5p and
      IGFBP-3 revealed a moderate negative correlation in HCC patients, where miR-17-5p
      was extensively underexpressed in HCC tissues (P = 0.0012), while IGFBP-3 showed
      significant upregulation in the same set of patients (P = 0.0041) compared to
      healthy donors. Forcing miR-17-5p expression in HuH-7 cell lines showed a
      significant downregulation of IGFBP-3 mRNA expression (P = 0.0267) and a
      significant increase in free IGF-II protein (P = 0.0339) compared to mock
      untransfected cells using unpaired t-test. Luciferase assay validated IGFBP-3 as
      a direct target of miR-17-5p; luciferase activity was inhibited by 27.5% in cells
      co-transfected with miR-17-5p mimics and the construct harboring the wild-type
      binding region 2 of IGFBP-3 compared to cells transfected with this construct
      alone (P = 0.0474). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that regulating IGF-II
      bioavailability and hence HCC progression can be achieved through targeting IGFBP
      3 via manipulating the expression of miRNAs.

PMID- 27621764
TI  - Reversal of multidrug resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by metformin
      through inhibiting NF-kappaB gene transcription.
AB  - AIM: To interfere with the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) with
      metformin and explore its effect in reversing multidrug resistance (MDR) of
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. METHODS: Expression of P-glycoprotein (P
      gp) and NF-kappaB in human HepG2 or HepG2/adriamycin (ADM) cells treated with
      pCMV-NF-kappaB-small interference RNA (siRNA) with or without metformin, was
      analyzed by Western blot or fluorescence quantitative PCR. Cell viability was
      tested by CCK-8 assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry
      and Annexin-V-PE/7-AnnexinV apoptosis detection double staining assay,
      respectively. RESULTS: P-gp overexpression in HepG2 and HepG2/ADM cells was
      closely related to mdr1 mRNA (3.310 +/- 0.154) and NF-kappaB mRNA (2.580 +/-
      0.040) expression. NF-kappaB gene transcription was inhibited by specific siRNA
      with significant down-regulation of P-gp and enhanced HCC cell chemosensitivity
      to doxorubicin. After pretreatment with metformin, HepG2/ADM cells were
      sensitized to doxorubicin and P-gp was decreased through the NF-kappaB signaling
      pathway. The synergistic effect of metformin and NF-kappaB siRNA were found in
      HepG2/ADM cells with regard to proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest and
      inducing cell apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Metformin via silencing NF-kappaB signaling
      could effectively reverse MDR of HCC cells by down-regulating MDR1/P-gp
      expression.

PMID- 27621765
TI  - Metastatic recurrence to a solitary lymph node four years after hepatic lobectomy
      for primary hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - This report describes a patient that developed recurrent metastatic
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to a suprapancreatic lymph node four years after
      being treated for primary HCC via complete left hepatectomy. Metastatic HCC was
      proven by pathologic confirmation. The report addresses the role of surgical
      resection as a treatment modality for recurrent HCC to solitary lymph nodes. The
      role of biological chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment is also addressed. 

PMID- 27621762
TI  - Dynamics of hepatic and intestinal cholesterol and bile acid pathways: The impact
      of the animal model of estrogen deficiency and exercise training.
AB  - Plasma cholesterol level is determined by a complex dynamics that involves
      transport lipoproteins which levels are tightly dependent on how the liver and
      the intestine regulate cholesterol and biliary acid metabolism. Regulation of
      cholesterol and biliary acids by the liver and the intestine is in turn coupled
      to a large array of enzymes and transporters that largely influence the inflow
      and the outflow of cholesterol and biliary acids through these organs. The
      activity of the key regulators of cholesterol and biliary acids may be influenced
      by several external factors such as pharmacological drugs and the nutritional
      status. In recent years, more information has been gathered about the impact of
      estrogens on regulation of cholesterol in the body. Exposure to high levels of
      estrogens has been reported to promote cholesterol gallstone formation and women
      are twice as likely as men to develop cholesterol gallstones. The impact of
      estrogen withdrawal, such as experienced by menopausal women, is therefore of
      importance and more information on how the absence of estrogens influence
      cholesterol regulation is started to come out, especially through the use of
      animal models. An interesting alternative to metabolic deterioration due to
      estrogen deficiency is exercise training. The present review is intended to
      summarize the present information that links key regulators of cholesterol and
      biliary acid pathways in liver and intestine to the absence of estrogens in an
      animal model and to discuss the potential role of exercise training as an
      alternative. 

PMID- 27621766
TI  - Endoscopic applications of cryospray ablation therapy-from Barrett's esophagus
      and beyond.
AB  - In the last decade, the treatment of dysplastic Barrett's esophagus has evolved
      into primarily endoscopic therapy. Many techniques have become well-established
      to destroy or remove the mucosal lining of Barrett's esophagus. One of the newest
      therapies, cryospray ablation, has become a modality to treat both dysplastic
      Barrett's esophagus as well as esophageal carcinoma. In endoscopic applications,
      the cryogen used is either liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide which causes tissue
      destruction through rapid freeze-thaw cycles. Unlike other endoscopic ablation
      techniques, its unique mechanism of action and depth of tissue injury allow
      cryoablation to be used effectively in flat or nodular disease. It can be
      combined with other modalities such as endoscopic mucosal resection or
      radiofrequency ablation. Its esophageal applications stem well-beyond Barrett's
      into ablation of early carcinoma, palliative debulking of advanced carcinoma and
      reduction of tumor ingrowth into stents placed for dysphagia. Although there are
      fewer reported studies of endoscopic cryoablation in the literature compared to
      other endoscopic ablation methods, emerging research continues to demonstrate its
      efficacy as a durable ablation technology with a variety of applications. The aim
      of this review is to examine the pathophysiology of endoscopic cryospray
      ablation, describe its outcomes in Barrett's with dysplasia and esophageal
      carcinoma, and examine its role in other gastrointestinal applications such as
      hemostasis in the stomach and rectum. 

PMID- 27621767
TI  - Bleeding risk with clopidogrel and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.
AB  - AIM: To compare bleeding within 48 h in patients undergoing percutaneous
      endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) with or without clopidogrel. METHODS: After
      institutional review board approval, a retrospective study involving a single
      center was conducted on adult patients having PEG (1/08-1/14). Patients were
      divided into two groups: Clopidogrel group consisting of those patients taking
      clopidogrel within 5 d of PEG and the non-clopidogrel group including those
      patients not taking clopidogrel within 5 d of the PEG. RESULTS: Three hundred and
      nineteen PEG patients were found. One hundred and sixty-eight males and 151
      females with mean body mass index 28.47 +/- 9.75 kg/m(2) and mean age 65.03 +/-
      16.11 years were identified. Thirty-three patients were on clopidogrel prior to
      PEG with 286 patients not on clopidogrel. No patients in either group developed
      hematochezia, melena, or hematemesis within 48 h of percutaneous endoscopic
      gastrostomy (PEG). No statistical differences were observed between the two
      groups with 48 h for hemoglobin decrease of > 2 g/dL (2 vs 5 patients; P = 0.16),
      blood transfusions (2 vs 7 patients; P = 0.24), and repeat endoscopy for possible
      gastrointestinal bleeding (no patients in either group). CONCLUSION: Based on the
      results, no significant post-procedure bleeding was observed in patients
      undergoing PEG with recent use of clopidogrel.

PMID- 27621768
TI  - What types of early gastric cancer are indicated for endoscopic ultrasonography
      staging of invasion depth?
AB  - AIM: To clarify the diagnostic efficacy and limitations of endoscopic
      ultrasonography (EUS) and the characteristics of early gastric cancers (EGCs)
      that are indications for EUS-based assessment of cancer invasion depth. METHODS:
      We retrospectively investigated the cases of 153 EGC patients who underwent
      conventional endoscopy (CE) and EUS (20 MHz) before treatment. RESULTS: We found
      that 13.7% were "inconclusive" cases with low-quality EUS images, including all
      nine of the cases with protruded (0-I)-type EGCs. There was no significant
      difference in the diagnostic accuracy between CE and EUS. Two significant
      independent risk factors for misdiagnosis by EUS were identified-ulcer scarring
      [UL(+); odds ratio (OR) = 4.49, P = 0.003] and non-indication criteria for
      endoscopic resection (ER) (OR = 3.02, P = 0.03). In the subgroup analysis, 23.1%
      of the differentiated-type cancers exhibiting SM massive invasion (SM2) invasion
      (submucosal invasion >= 500 MUm) by CE were correctly diagnosed by EUS, and 23.1%
      of the undifferentiated-type EGCs meeting the expanded-indication criteria for ER
      were correctly diagnosed by EUS. CONCLUSION: There is no need to perform EUS for
      UL(+) EGCs or 0-I-type EGCs, but EUS may enhance the pretreatment staging of
      differentiated-type EGCs with SM2 invasion without UL or undifferentiated-type
      EGCs revealed by CE as meeting the expanded-indication criteria for ER.

PMID- 27621769
TI  - Small bowel Dieulafoy lesions: An uncommon cause of obscure bleeding in
      cirrhosis.
AB  - Dieulafoy lesions (DLs) are an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal bleeding,
      accounting for up to 2% of cases overall. They are largely under recognised and
      difficult to treat. Up to 95% occur in the stomach, and only case reports
      document their occurrence in the small bowel (SB). Little is known about their
      pathophysiology, although there have been associations made previously with
      chronic liver disease, thought to be due to the erosive effects of alcohol on the
      mucosa overlying the abnormally dilated vessels. We present a case series of 4
      patients with a long duration of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, who were
      diagnosed with small intestinal DLs and incidentally diagnosed with chronic liver
      disease. The histories describe the challenges in both diagnosis and treatment of
      small intestinal DLs. Our case series suggest a previously unreported link
      between chronic liver disease and SB DLs which may be due to anatomical
      vasculature changes or a shift in angiogenic factors as a consequence of portal
      hypertension or liver cirrhosis. 

PMID- 27621770
TI  - Chromatin boundary elements organize genomic architecture and developmental gene
      regulation in Drosophila Hox clusters.
AB  - The three-dimensional (3D) organization of the eukaryotic genome is critical for
      its proper function. Evidence suggests that extensive chromatin loops form the
      building blocks of the genomic architecture, separating genes and gene clusters
      into distinct functional domains. These loops are anchored in part by a special
      type of DNA elements called chromatin boundary elements (CBEs). CBEs were
      originally found to insulate neighboring genes by blocking influences of
      transcriptional enhancers or the spread of silent chromatin. However, recent
      results show that chromatin loops can also play a positive role in gene
      regulation by looping out intervening DNA and "delivering" remote enhancers to
      gene promoters. In addition, studies from human and model organisms indicate that
      the configuration of chromatin loops, many of which are tethered by CBEs, is
      dynamically regulated during cell differentiation. In particular, a recent work
      by Li et al has shown that the SF1 boundary, located in the Drosophila Hox
      cluster, regulates local genes by tethering different subsets of chromatin loops:
      One subset enclose a neighboring gene ftz, limiting its access by the surrounding
      Scr enhancers and restrict the spread of repressive histones during early
      embryogenesis; and the other loops subdivide the Scr regulatory region into
      independent domains of enhancer accessibility. The enhancer-blocking activity of
      these CBE elements varies greatly in strength and tissue distribution. Further,
      tandem pairing of SF1 and SF2 facilitate the bypass of distal enhancers in
      transgenic flies, providing a mechanism for endogenous enhancers to circumvent
      genomic interruptions resulting from chromosomal rearrangement. This study
      demonstrates how a network of chromatin boundaries, centrally organized by SF1,
      can remodel the 3D genome to facilitate gene regulation during development. 

PMID- 27621772
TI  - 12-lead electrocardiogram features of arrhythmic risk: A focus on early
      repolarization.
AB  - The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is still the most used tool in cardiology
      clinical practice. Considering its easy accessibility, low cost and the
      information that it provides, it remains the starting point for diagnosis and
      prognosis. More specifically, its ability to detect prognostic markers for sudden
      cardiac death due to arrhythmias by identifying specific patterns that express
      electrical disturbances of the heart muscle, which may predispose to malignant
      arrhythmias, is universally recognized. Alterations in the ventricular
      repolarization process, identifiable on a 12-lead ECG, play a role in the genesis
      of ventricular arrhythmias in different cardiac diseases. The aim of this paper
      is to focus the attention on a new marker of arrhythmic risk, the early
      repolarization pattern in order to highlight the prognostic role of the 12-lead
      ECG. 

PMID- 27621771
TI  - Renal sympathetic denervation in therapy resistant hypertension -
      pathophysiological aspects and predictors for treatment success.
AB  - Many forms of human hypertension are associated with an increased systemic
      sympathetic activity. Especially the renal sympathetic nervous system has been
      found to play a prominent role in this context. Therefore, catheter
      interventional renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) has been established as a
      treatment for patients suffering from therapy resistant hypertension in the past
      decade. The initial enthusiasm for this treatment was markedly dampened by the
      results of the Symplicity-HTN-3 trial, although the transferability of the
      results into clinical practice to date appears to be questionable. In contrast to
      the extensive use of RDN in treating hypertensive patients within or without
      clinical trial settings over the past years, its effects on the complex
      pathophysiological mechanisms underlying therapy resistant hypertension are only
      partly understood and are part of ongoing research. Effects of RDN have been
      described on many levels in human trials: From altered systemic sympathetic
      activity across cardiac and metabolic alterations down to changes in renal
      function. Most of these changes could sustainably change long-term morbidity and
      mortality of the treated patients, even if blood pressure remains unchanged.
      Furthermore, a number of promising predictors for a successful treatment with RDN
      have been identified recently and further trials are ongoing. This will certainly
      help to improve the preselection of potential candidates for RDN and thereby
      optimize treatment outcomes. This review summarizes important pathophysiologic
      effects of renal denervation and illustrates the currently known predictors for
      therapy success. 

PMID- 27621773
TI  - Application of appropriate use criteria for percutaneous coronary intervention in
      Japan.
AB  - The aim of this review was to summarize the concept of appropriate use criteria
      (AUC) regarding percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and document AUC use and
      impact on clinical practice in Japan, in comparison with its application in the
      United States. AUC were originally developed to subjectively evaluate the
      indications and performance of various diagnostic and therapeutic modalities,
      including revascularization techniques. Over the years, application of AUC has
      significantly impacted patient selection for PCI in the United States,
      particularly in non-acute settings. After the broad implementation of AUC in
      2009, the rate of inappropriate PCI decreased by half by 2014. The effect was
      further accentuated by incorporation of financial incentives (e.g., restriction
      of reimbursement for inappropriate procedures). On the other hand, when the
      United States-derived AUC were applied to Japanese patients undergoing elective
      PCI from 2008 to 2013, about one-third were classified as inappropriate, largely
      due to the perception gap between American and Japanese experts. For example, PCI
      for low-risk non-left atrial ascending artery lesion was more likely to be
      classified as appropriate by Japanese standards, and anatomical imaging with
      coronary computed tomography angiography was used relatively frequently in Japan,
      but no scenario within the current AUC includes this modality. To extrapolate the
      current AUC to Japan or any other region outside of the United States, these
      local discrepancies must be taken into consideration, and scenarios should be
      revised to reflect contemporary practice. Understanding the concept of AUC as
      well as its perception gap between different counties will result in the broader
      implementation of AUC, and lead to the quality improvement of patients' care in
      the field of coronary intervention. 

PMID- 27621775
TI  - Noninvasive model including right ventricular speckle tracking for the evaluation
      of pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - AIM: To find parameters from transthorathic echocardiography (TTE) including
      speckle-tracking (ST) analysis of the right ventricle (RV) to identify
      precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). METHODS: Forty-four patients with
      suspected PH undergoing right heart catheterization (RHC) were consecutively
      included (mean age 63.1 +/- 14 years, 61% male gender). All patients underwent
      standardized TTE including ST analysis of the RV. Based on the subsequent TTE
      derived measurements, the presence of PH was assessed: Left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF) was calculated by Simpsons rule from 4Ch. Systolic pulmonary
      artery pressure (sPAP) was assessed with continuous wave Doppler of systolic
      tricuspid regurgitant velocity and regarded raised with values >= 30 mmHg as a
      surrogate parameter for RA pressure. A concomitantly elevated PCWP was considered
      a means to discriminate between the precapillary and postcapillary form of PH.
      PCWP was considered elevated when the E/e' ratio was > 12 as a surrogate for LV
      diastolic pressure. E/e' ratio was measured by gauging systolic and diastolic
      velocities of the lateral and septal mitral valve annulus using TDI mode. The
      results were then averaged with conventional measurement of mitral valve inflow.
      Furthermore, functional testing with six minutes walking distance (6MWD), ECG-RV
      stress signs, NT pro-BNP and other laboratory values were assessed. RESULTS: PH
      was confirmed in 34 patients (precapillary PH, n = 15, postcapillary PH, n = 19).
      TTE showed significant differences in E/e' ratio (precapillary PH: 12.3 +/- 4.4,
      postcapillary PH: 17.3 +/- 10.3, no PH: 12.1 +/- 4.5, P = 0.02), LV volumes (ESV:
      25.0 +/- 15.0 mL, 49.9 +/- 29.5 mL, 32.2 +/- 13.6 mL, P = 0.027; EDV: 73.6 +/-
      24.0 mL, 110.6 +/- 31.8 mL, 87.8 +/- 33.0 mL, P = 0.021) and systolic pulmonary
      arterial pressure (sPAP: 61.2 +/- 22.3 mmHg, 53.6 +/- 20.1 mmHg, 31.2 +/- 24.6
      mmHg, P = 0.001). STRV analysis showed significant differences for apical RV
      longitudinal strain (RVAS: -7.5% +/- 5.6%, -13.3% +/- 4.3%, -14.3% +/- 6.3%, P =
      0.03). NT pro-BNP was higher in patients with postcapillary PH (4677.0 +/- 7764.1
      pg/mL, precapillary PH: 1980.3 +/- 3432.1 pg/mL, no PH: 367.5 +/- 420.4 pg/mL, P
      = 0.03). Patients with precapillary PH presented significantly more often with
      ECG RV-stress signs (P = 0.001). Receiver operating characteristics curve
      analyses displayed the most significant area under the curve (AUC) for RVAS (cut
      off < -6.5%, AUC 0.91, P < 0.001), sPAP (cut-off > 33 mmHg, AUC 0.86, P < 0.001)
      and ECG RV stress signs (AUC 0.83, P < 0.001). The combination of these
      parameters had a sensitivity of 82.8% and a specificity of 17.2% to detect
      precapillary PH. CONCLUSION: The combination of non-invasive measurements allows
      feasible assessment of PH and seems beneficial for the differentiation between
      the pre- and postcapillary form of this disease.

PMID- 27621776
TI  - Relationship between coronary calcium score and high-risk plaque/significant
      stenosis.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the relationship between coronary calcium score (CCS) and
      vulnerable plaque/significant stenosis using coronary computed tomographic
      angiography (CCTA). METHODS: CCTA was performed in 651 patients and these
      patients were divided into the four groups (CCS 0, 1-100, 101-400 and > 400). We
      studied the incidence of high-risk plaque, including positive remodeling, low
      attenuation plaque, spotty calcification, and napkin-ring sign, and significant
      stenosis in each group. RESULTS: High-risk plaque was found in 1.3%, 10.1%, 13.3%
      and 13.4% of patients with CCS 0, 1-100, 101-400 and > 400, respectively (P <
      0.001). The difference was only significant for patients with zero CCS. The
      incidence of significant stenosis was 0.6%, 7.6%, 13.3% and 26.9% for each
      patient group, respectively (P < 0.001), which represented a significant stepwise
      increase as CCS increased. The combined incidence of high-risk plaque and
      significant stenosis was 1.9%, 17.7%, 26.9% and 40.3% in each patient group,
      respectively (P < 0.001), again representing a significant stepwise increase with
      CCS. The rate of major coronary event was 0%, 4.0%, 7.9% and 17.2% in each
      patient group, respectively (P < 0.001), another significant stepwise increase as
      CCS increased. CONCLUSION: Stepwise increased risk of coronary events associated
      with increasing CCS is caused by increasing incidence of significant stenosis,
      while that of high-risk plaque remains the same.

PMID- 27621774
TI  - Rationale and design of the cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events
      in armed forces study in Eastern Taiwan.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and
      hospitalization events in a cohort of large voluntary arm forces in Taiwan.
      METHODS: The cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in armed forces
      (CHIEF) is a retrospective cohort consisting of more than 4000 professional
      military members aged 18-50 years in Eastern Taiwan. All participants received
      history taking, physical examination, chest radiography, 12-lead
      electrocardiography, blood tests for cell counts and fasting glucose, lipid
      profiles, uric acid, renal function and liver function in the Hualien Armed
      Forces General Hospital during 2014. In addition, participants were required to
      undergo two indoor resistant exercise tests including 2-min push-up and 2-min sit
      up, both scored by infrared sensing, and one outdoor endurance 3000-m none weight
      bearing running test, the main indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness in the
      Military Physical Training and Testing Center in Eastern Taiwan in 2014. RESULTS:
      Hospitalization events for cardiovascular disease, acute kidney injury,
      rhabdomyolysis, severe infectious disease, acute psychiatric illness, diabetes,
      orthopedic surgery and mortality will be identified in the National Insurance
      Research Database for 10 years. CONCLUSION: CHIEF will be among the largest
      Eastern Asian armed forces cohort, in which physical status was strictly
      evaluated to follow up the hospitalization events for severe illness.

PMID- 27621777
TI  - Acquired aortocameral fistula occurring late after infective endocarditis: An
      emblematic case and review of 38 reported cases.
AB  - AIM: To delineate the features and current therapeutic option of congenital and
      acquired aortocameral fistulas (ACF) secondary to iatrogenic or infectious
      disorders. METHODS: From a PubMed search using the term "aortocameral fistula",
      30 suitable papers for the current review were retrieved. Reviews, case series
      and case reports published in English were considered. Abstracts and reports from
      scientific meetings were not included. A total of 38 reviewed subjects were
      collected and analyzed. In addition, another case - an adult male who presented
      with ACF between commissures of the right and non-coronary sinuses and right
      atrium as a late complication of Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis of
      the AV - is added, the world literature is briefly reviewed. RESULTS: A total of
      thirty-eight subjects producing 39 fistulas were reviewed, analyzed and
      stratified into either congenital (47%) or acquired (53%) according to their
      etiology. Of all subjects, 11% were asymptomatic and 89% were symptomatic with
      dyspnea (21 *) as the most common presentation. Diagnosis was established by a
      multidiagnostic approach in 23 (60%), single method in 14 (37%) (echocardiography
      in 12 and catheterization in 2), and at autopsy in 2 (3%) of the subjects.
      Treatment options included percutaneous transcatheter closure in 12 (30%) with
      the deployment of the Amplatzer duct or septal occluder and Gianturco coil and
      surgical correction in 24 (63%). CONCLUSION: Acquired ACF is an infrequent entity
      which may occur late after an episode of endocarditis of the native AV. The
      management of ACF is generally by surgical correction but non-surgical device
      intervention has recently been introduced as a safe alternative.

PMID- 27621778
TI  - Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Orbital and Ocular Adnexal Lesions.

PMID- 27621779
TI  - Central Corneal Thickness Measurement Using Ultrasonic Pachymetry, Rotating
      Scheimpflug Camera, and Scanning-slit Topography Exclusively in Thin Non
      keratoconic Corneas.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the agreement among Pentacam, Orbscan and ultrasound (US)
      pachymetry for measurement of central corneal thickness (CCT) in thin corneas
      with normal topographic pattern. METHODS: We included 88 eyes of 44 refractive
      surgery candidates with thinnest pachymetric readings of 500 micrometers (MUm) or
      less on Orbscan, a normal topographic pattern, no sign of keratoconus, and best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/20. Pentacam, Orbscan and US were performed
      in one session by the same examiner. Exclusion criteria were history of ocular
      surgery, topographic abnormalities suggesting forme fruste keratoconus or
      keratectasia, and recent contact lens wear. RESULTS: The difference in CCT
      measurements by US pachymetry and Orbscan II [using an acoustic factor (AF) of
      0.92] ranged from -34 to +34 MUm. The difference between the thinnest point and
      central readings measured by US reached 16 MUm with Orbscan II (AF: 0.92) and 2
      MUm with Pentacam. Mean differences between the employed devices were 0.2 MUm for
      Pentacam versus US (P = 0.727), 30.1 MUm for uncorrected Orbscan versus US (P <
      0.001), 10.4 MUm for Orbscan II (AF = 0.92) versus US (P < 0.001), and 0.2 MUm
      for Orbscan II (AF = 0.94) versus US (P = 0.851). CONCLUSION: In normal thin
      corneas, Pentacam demonstrated better agreement with US pachymetry as compared to
      corrected Orbscan readings. Results achieved by Orbscan were better consistent
      with US pachymetry using an AF of 0.94. We speculate that a dynamically graded AF
      in reverse proportion to CCT constitutes a better approach for correcting Orbscan
      measurements.

PMID- 27621780
TI  - Mini-scleral Contact Lens for Management of Poor Visual Outcomes after
      Intrastromal Corneal Ring Segments Implantation in Keratoconus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of mini-scleral design (MSD)
      contact lenses to treat keratoconus patients who were unsatisfied with the
      results of corneal inlay. METHODS: In this prospective interventional case
      series, 9 eyes of 6 keratoconus patients who were unsatisfied with the results of
      corneal inlay were fitted with MSD contact lenses. Demographic data, uncorrected
      visual acuity (UCVA), best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), and higher
      order aberrations (HOAs) were evaluated before contact lens fitting. Corrected
      visual acuity by placing the MSD contact lens with or without over-refraction,
      and HOAs were measured one hour after contact lens fitting. One month after
      contact lens wearing, corrected visual acuity by placing the MSD contact lens
      with over-refraction and possible contact lens related problems were assessed.
      Ocular comfort and contact lens handling problems were asked in follow-up visits.
      The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical tests. RESULTS: Nine eyes of
      6 patients were successfully fitted with the mini-scleral lens. Fitting was ideal
      in 7 eyes and acceptable in 2 eyes. Mean corrected visual acuity by placing the
      MSD lens without over-refraction was 0.09 (range, 0.00-0.15) LogMAR which was
      significantly better than the mean BSCVA of 0.38 (range, 0.2-0.6) LogMAR (P =
      0.007). The mean root mean square (RMS) of third-order coma and trefoil
      significantly decreased after MSD contact lens fitting (P = 0.012 and P = 0.015,
      respectively); however, changes in the fourth-order spherical aberration were not
      statistically significant (P = 0.336). CONCLUSION: Mini-scleral contact lenses
      may be helpful in the management of visually unsatisfied patients after corneal
      inlay.

PMID- 27621781
TI  - Effects of Laser Peripheral Iridotomy on Corneal Endothelial Cell Density and
      Cell Morphology in Primary Angle Closure Suspect Subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of prophylactic laser peripheral iridotomy on
      corneal endothelial cell density and cell morphology in subjects with primary
      angle closure suspect (PACS) within a one-year follow-up period. METHODS: In this
      quasi-experimental prospective study, from June 2012 to November 2013, thirty
      five PACS eyes underwent laser peripheral iridotomy at clinics affiliated to
      Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. After obtaining informed
      consent, specular microscopy was performed at baseline and at 3-month, 6-month
      and 12-month follow-up visits. Central, nasal and temporal endothelial cell
      counts and cell morphology were evaluated via non-contact specular microscopy.
      RESULTS: The mean subject age was 53.4 +/- 7.9 years, and the majority of
      subjects were women (88.2%). The mean central corneal endothelial cell count
      prior to laser peripheral iridotomy was 2528 +/- 119.2, and this value changed to
      2470 +/- 175.9, 2425 +/- 150.6, and 2407 +/- 69.02 at the 3-month, 6-month, and
      12-month follow-up visits, respectively; these differences did not reach
      statistical significance. Additionally, the changes in the number of cells, the
      hexagonality of cells, and the coefficient of variation (CV) in the central,
      nasal, and temporal areas were not significant. CONCLUSION: In PACS eyes, we did
      not find a decline in corneal endothelial cell density or a change in cell
      morphological characteristics, including cell hexagonality and CV, in the
      central, nasal, and temporal regions of the cornea in any of our subjects over a
      one-year follow-up period.

PMID- 27621782
TI  - Intraoperative Flap Complications in LASIK Surgery Performed by Ophthalmology
      Residents.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the rate of flap-related complications in LASIK surgery
      performed by in-training ophthalmology residents and to analyze the risk factors
      for these complications. METHODS: We analyzed 273 flap dissections in 145
      patients from March 2013 to February 2014. We included all LASIK surgeries
      performed by 32 ophthalmology residents using a Moria M2 microkeratome. All the
      flap-related complications were noted. Comparison between both groups with and
      without complications was performed with an independent Student's t-test and
      relative risks were calculated. RESULTS: There were 19 flap-related complications
      out of the 273 flap dissections (6.95%). The most common complication was
      incomplete flap dissection (n = 10; 3.66%), followed by free-cap (n = 5; 1.83%),
      and flap-buttonhole (n = 2; 0.73%). There was no significant difference between
      the complicated and uncomplicated cases in terms of the right versus the left
      eye, pachymetry results, white-to-white diameter, and spherical equivalent. But
      this difference was significant for mean keratometry (P = 0.008), K-min (P =
      0.01), and K-max (P = 0.03) between these groups. Final visual acuity after
      rescheduling laser treatment was similar in both groups. Relative risks for flap
      related complications were 2.03 for the first LASIK surgery (CI 95% 0.64 to 6.48;
      P = 0.22) and 1.26 (CI 95% 0.43 to 3.69; P = 0.66) for the surgeon's flap-related
      complications. Female gender presented an odds ratio of 2.48 (CI 95% 0.68 to
      9.00; P = 0.16) for complications. CONCLUSION: Flap-related complications are
      common intraoperative event during LASIK surgery performed by in-training
      ophthalmologists. Keratometries and surgeon's first procedure represent a higher
      probability for flap related complications than some other biometric parameters
      of patient's eye.

PMID- 27621783
TI  - Intravitreal Phacoemulsification Using Torsional Handpiece for Retained Lens
      Fragments.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the results of intravitreal phacoemulsification with
      torsional hand piece in eyes with posteriorly dislocated lens fragments. METHODS:
      In this prospective, interventional case series, 15 eyes with retained lens
      fragments following phacoemulsification were included. All patients underwent
      standard three-port pars plana vitrectomy and intravitreal phacoemulsification
      using sleeveless, torsional hand piece (OZiLTM, Alcon's Infiniti Vision System).
      Patients were followed up for a minimum of six months to evaluate the visual
      outcomes and complications. RESULTS: The preoperative best-corrected visual
      acuity (BCVA) ranged from light perception to 0.3. No complications such as
      thermal burns of the scleral wound, retinal damage due to flying lens fragments,
      or difficult lens aspiration occurred during intravitreal phacoemulsification.
      Mean post-operative BCVA at the final follow-up was 0.5. Two eyes developed
      cystoid macular edema, which was managed medically. No retinal detachment was
      noted. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal phacoemulsification using torsional hand piece is
      a safe and effective alternative to conventional longitudinal phacofragmentation.

PMID- 27621785
TI  - Evaluating Three Different Methods of Determining Addition in Presbyopia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare three different methods for determining addition in
      presbyopes. METHODS: The study included 81 subjects with presbyopia who aged 40
      70 years. Reading addition values were measured using 3 approaches including the
      amplitude of accommodation (AA), dynamic retinoscopy (DR), and increasing plus
      lens (IPL). RESULTS: IPL overestimated reading addition relative to other
      methods. Mean near addition obtained by AA, DR and IPL were 1.31, 1.68 and 1.77,
      respectively. Our results showed that IPL method could provide 20/20 vision at
      near in the majority of presbyopic subjects (63.4%). CONCLUSION: The results were
      approximately the same for 3 methods and provided comparable final addition;
      however, mean near additions were higher with increasing plus lens compared with
      the other two methods. In presbyopic individuals, increasing plus lens is
      recommended as the least time-consuming method with the range of +/-0.50 diopter
      at the 40 cm working distance.

PMID- 27621784
TI  - Intravitreal Injection of Bevacizumab in Primary Vitrectomy to Decrease the Rate
      of Retinal Redetachment: A Randomized Pilot Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) as a surgical
      adjunct in prevention of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) after retinal
      detachment surgery. METHODS: In this controlled, randomized pilot study, 27
      patients with primary retinal detachment undergoing pars plana deep vitrectomy
      were included. Of these, 12 received IVB at the end of procedure. The anatomic
      success and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were compared to the control
      group at months 3 and 6 postoperatively. RESULTS: At three month follow-up, 3 of
      11 eyes (27.3%) had detached retinas in the IVB group versus 6 of 12 (50.0%) in
      the control group (P = 0.40). At six-month follow-up, 3 of 10 eyes (30%) had
      detached retinas in the IVB group versus 3 in 8 (37.5%) in the control group (P >
      0.99). Mean logMAR BCVA improved significantly in both groups relative to
      baseline, but did not show a significant difference at three-and six-month follow
      ups between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results show neither a
      benefit nor any harm from intervention in both anatomic and visual outcomes. Our
      results support conducting additional studies to evaluate the effect of
      intravitreal bevacizumab on postoperative PVR.

PMID- 27621786
TI  - Teamwork Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery in Failed External Dacryocystorhinostomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of a teamwork
      revision endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) in eyes with previously failed
      external DCR. METHODS: This retrospective study was performed on 50 failed
      external DCR subjects who underwent a teamwork revision endoscopic DCR by an
      ophthalmologist and an otolaryngologist. Paranasal sinus CT scanning was
      performed for each patient before the revision surgery. During surgery, any
      abnormal tissue noticed before silicone intubation was sent for pathological
      evaluation. RESULTS: Endoscopic revision DCR was performed on 50 failed external
      DCR subjects with one-year follow-up. Of these, 31 were female (62%). The age
      range of the subjects was 18-88 years (mean: 59.98 years). Sinus CT showed at
      least one abnormality in 94% of cases. Revision endoscopy showed septal deviation
      (66%), scar formation (32%), ostium problems (28%), and sump syndrome (6%).
      Pathologic and clinical findings showed that chronic inflammation had a
      significant association with scar tissue and septal synechia (P = 0.001 and
      0.008, respectively). At the final follow-up, anatomical and functional success
      was achieved in 45 out of 50 (90%) of subjects. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic revision
      DCR when performed as cooperation of otolaryngologists and ophthalmologists may
      help resolve the endonasal problems and increase the success rate.

PMID- 27621787
TI  - Role of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology as a Diagnostic Tool in Orbital and
      Adnexal Lesions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of fine needle aspiration (FNAC) as a diagnostic
      tool in cases of orbital and ocular adnexal masses. Cytological findings were
      correlated with histopathological diagnosis wherever possible. METHODS: FNAC was
      performed in 29 patients of different age groups presenting with orbital and
      ocular adnexal masses. Patients were evaluated clinically and investigated by non
      invasive techniques before fine needle aspiration of the masses. Smears were
      analyzed by a cytologist in all cases. Further, results of cytology were compared
      with the histopathological diagnosis. RESULTS: The age of patients ranged from 1
      to 68 years (mean: 29.79+/-19.29). There were 14 males and 15 females with a male
      to female ratio of 0.93:1. Out of 29 cases, 26 aspirates were cellular.
      Cellularity was insufficient in three (10.34%) aspirates. Out of 26 cellular
      aspirates, 11 were non-neoplastic while 15 were neoplastic on cytology.
      Subsequent histopathologic examination was done in 21/26 cases. Concordance rate
      of FNAC in orbital and ocular adnexal mass lesions with respect to the precise
      histologic diagnosis was 90%. CONCLUSION: When properly used in well-indicated
      patients (in cases where a diagnosis cannot be made by clinical and imaging
      findings alone), FNAC of orbital and periorbital lesions is an invaluable and
      suitable adjunct diagnostic technique that necessitates close cooperation between
      the ophthalmologist and cytologist. However, nondiagnostic aspirates may
      sometimes be obtained, and an inconclusive FNAC should not always be ignored.

PMID- 27621788
TI  - Ocular Biometric Changes after Trabeculectomy.
AB  - This review article aimed to evaluate ocular biometric changes after
      trabeculectomy. The PubMed database was searched using the keywords "axial
      length" (AL), "anterior chamber depth" (ACD), "corneal astigmatism," "corneal
      topography" and "trabeculectomy." The extracted studies were categorized based on
      the evaluated parameters and the biometry method (contact and non-contact).
      Comparable studies with respect to their sample size were combined for
      statistical analysis. Twenty-five studies including 690 individuals which met the
      inclusion criteria were selected. After trabeculectomy, a significant and
      persistent AL reduction, with a range of 0.1-0.19 and 0.1-0.9 mm measured with
      contact and non-contact methods, respectively, was observed. With respect to
      topographic changes, 0.38-1.4 diopters (D) with-the-rule (WTR) astigmatism was
      induced postoperatively. All studies revealed ACD reduction immediately after
      surgery, which gradually deepened and approximated its preoperative levels on day
      14. ACD reduction was not significant after that period in the majority of cases.
      In conclusion, changes in ACD is of small amount and of short period, thus it can
      be ignored; however, reported changes in AL and keratometry are of sufficient
      magnitude and can affect the refractive prediction of combined cataract surgery
      and trabeculectomy. 

PMID- 27621789
TI  - Scleral Buckling with Chandelier Illumination.
AB  - Scleral buckling is a highly successful technique for the repair of
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment that requires intra-operative examination of
      the retina and treatment of retinal breaks via indirect ophthalmoscopy. Data
      suggest that scleral buckling likely results in improved outcomes for many
      patients but is declining in popularity, perhaps because of significant advances
      in vitrectomy instrumentation and visualization systems. Emerging data suggest
      that chandelier-assisted scleral buckling is safe and has many potential
      advantages over traditional buckling techniques. By combining traditional scleral
      buckling with contemporary vitreoretinal visualization techniques, chandelier
      assistance may increase the popularity of scleral buckling to treat primary
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment for surgeons of the next generation,
      maintaining buckling as an option for appropriate patients in the future. 

PMID- 27621790
TI  - Congenital Cataract Screening.
AB  - Congenital cataract is a leading cause of visual deprivation which can damage the
      developing visual system of a child; therefore early diagnosis, management and
      long-term follow-up are essential. It is recommended that all neonates be
      screened by red reflex examination at birth and suspected cases be referred to
      ophthalmic centers. Early surgery (<6 weeks of age, based on general neonatal
      health) is important for achieving the best visual outcome particularly in
      unilateral cases. In bilateral cases, surgery is highly recommended before
      appearance of strabismus or nystagmus (<10 weeks of age) with no longer than a
      one-week interval between the fellow eyes. Parents should be informed that
      surgery is a starting point and not the endpoint of treatment. Appropriate
      postoperative management including immediate optical correction in the form of
      aphakic glasses or contact lenses, or intraocular lens (IOL) implantation at the
      appropriate age (>1 year) is highly recommended. After surgery, amblyopia
      treatment and periodic follow-up examinations should be started as soon as
      possible to achieve a satisfactory visual outcome. Practitioners should consider
      the possibility of posterior capsular opacity, elevated intraocular pressure and
      amblyopia during follow-up, especially in eyes with microphthalmia and/or
      associated congenital anomalies. All strabismic children should undergo slit lamp
      examination prior to strabismus surgery to rule out congenital lens opacities.
      From a social point of view, equal and fair medical care should be provided to
      all children regardless of gender. 

PMID- 27621791
TI  - Approach to Management of Eyes with no Light Perception after Open Globe Injury.
AB  - Loss of light perception (LP) after open globe injury (OGI) does not necessarily
      mean the patient will have permanent complete visual loss. Findings that seem to
      be associated reliably with permanent profound vision loss after OGI include
      optic nerve avulsion, optic nerve transection, and profound loss of intraocular
      contents, which can be identified with CT/MRI imaging albeit with varying degrees
      of confidence. Eyes with NLP after OGI that undergo successful primary repair
      with intact optic nerves may be considered for additional surgery, particularly
      if there is: (1) recovery of LP on the first day after primary repair; (2)
      treatable pathology underlying NLP status (e.g., extensive choroidal hemorrhage,
      dense vitreous and subretinal hemorrhage); (3) NLP in the fellow eye. We counsel
      patients that the chance of recovering ambulatory vision under these
      circumstances is very low (~5%). 

PMID- 27621792
TI  - Post Filtering Surgery Globe Massage-induced Keratoconus in an Eye with
      Iridocorneal Endothelial Syndrome: A Case Report and Literature Brief Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of unilateral post trabeculectomy globe massage-induced
      keratoconus (KCN). CASE REPORT: A 52-year-old lady with a history of
      trabeculectomy due to iridocorneal endothelial syndrome in her right eye was
      instructed to massage her globe to control gradual rise of intraocular pressure
      1.5 years after surgery. The patient experienced high astigmatism and marked
      inferior corneal steepening after 3 years of globe massage. The left eye was
      normal in all aspects. Findings in different visual examinations were compatible
      with the diagnosis of unilateral KCN in the right eye of our patient. CONCLUSION:
      Chronic forceful frequent eye rubbing particularly with fingertips can be assumed
      to be the most important causative factor for KCN formation in this patient.

PMID- 27621793
TI  - Descemet's Membrane Detachment Management Following Trabeculectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present a case of total Descemet's membrane detachment (DMD) after
      trabeculectomy and its surgical management. CASE REPORT: A 68-year-old woman
      presented with large DMD and corneal edema one day after trabeculectomy.
      Intracameral air injection on day 3 was not effective. Choroidal effusion
      complicated the clinical picture with Descemet's membrane (DM) touching the lens.
      Choroidal tap with air injection on day 6 resulted in DM attachment and totally
      clear cornea on the next day. However, on day 12 the same scenario was repeated
      with choroidal effusion, shallow anterior chamber (AC), and DM touching the lens.
      The third surgery included transconjunctival closure of the scleral flap with
      10/0 nylon sutures, choroidal tap, and intracameral injection of 20% sulfur
      hexafluoride. After the third surgery, DM remained attached with clear cornea.
      Suture removal and needling bleb revision preserved bleb function. Lens opacity
      progressed, and the patient underwent uneventful cataract surgery 4 months later.
      CONCLUSION: Scleral flap closure using transconjunctival sutures can be used for
      DMD after trabeculectomy to make the eye a closed system. Surgical drainage of
      choroidal effusions should be considered to increase the AC depth.

PMID- 27621794
TI  - Superficial Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (SALK) for Trauma-induced Post
      Refractive Surgery Corneal Opacity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of post laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK),
      nebulomacular corneal opacity following a trauma induced flap dehiscence and was
      managed with superficial anterior lamellar keratoplasty (SALK). CASE REPORT: A 32
      year-old female underwent LASIK 2.5 years back, with a postoperative unaided
      visual acuity (VA) of 6/6 in both eyes. She was involved in a road traffic
      accident and sustained blunt trauma to the right eye 5 months before. At the time
      of presentation, the VA was 1/60 in the right eye. Slit lamp examination revealed
      flap dehiscence, stromal scar and descemet folds in that eye. There was a small
      macular scar in the parafoveal area due to a resolved Berlin's edema. SALK was
      performed in the affected eye. Unaided VA of 6/36 was noted on post- operative
      day 1. After 4 weeks of SALK surgery, best corrected VA was 6/24. CONCLUSION:
      This case highlights that flap adhesions are not very strong even years after
      LASIK and SALK may be an effective treatment option for post refractive surgery
      corneal opacities.

PMID- 27621795
TI  - Orbicularis Oculi Myectomy as a Treatment for Blepharospasm in a Case of Schwartz
      Jampel Syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a patient with Schwartz Jampel vel Aberfeld syndrome (SJS)
      who underwent orbicularis oculi myectomy as a treatment for blepharospasm. CASE
      REPORT: A 4-year-old child with SJS did not respond to an injection of a single
      dose of botulinum toxin after one month, so orbicularis myectomy was then
      performed under general anesthesia. During the procedure, orbicularis vermiform
      movements were a useful guide for the extent of myectomy that the patient needed.
      He responded very well to this procedure and experienced significant relief of
      blepharospasm documented in follow-up visits for up to 6 months. CONCLUSION:
      Blepharospasm in patients with SJS can be treated with orbicularis oculi myectomy
      as a good functional method with faster and durable response in comparison to
      botulinum toxin injection.

PMID- 27621796
TI  - Recurrent Vitreous Hemorrhage in a Case of Retinal Cavernous Hemangioma: A Rare
      Presentation.

PMID- 27621797
TI  - Ultra-wide Field Imaging of an Operated Macular Hole in Gyrate Atrophy.

PMID- 27621798
TI  - Can Currently Available Safety Eyewear Protect Welder's Eyes from Harmful Rays?

PMID- 27621799
TI  - Vision Loss in Guillain-Barre Syndrome: Is it a Complication of Guillain-Barre
      Syndrome or Just a Coincidence?

PMID- 27621800
TI  - The factors and motivations behind United Kingdom chiropractic professional
      association membership: a survey of the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic Alumni.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are many professional associations representing chiropractors
      and chiropractic in the United Kingdom (UK). Each has its unique selling points
      (USPs) and chiropractors can choose to join as many as they like; however, cost
      of membership has to be weighed against perceived benefits. The predictors of UK
      chiropractic association membership and motivational factors to join these
      associations, have not formally been identified. This research study aimed to
      identify some of the factors and motivations in Welsh Institute of Chiropractic
      (WIOC) Alumni regarding their decision to join (or not) a UK chiropractic
      professional association. METHODS: An online survey instrument, comprising 23
      questions, was administered from November-December 2015 via a link announced on
      'The WIOC Alumni' Facebook group (N = 655), the active platform for the WIOC
      Alumni Organisation. RESULTS: One hundred forty-eight respondents (approximately
      22.6 % of 'The WIOC Alumni' Facebook group membership) completed the survey. Ten
      factors were reported to be important in decision making: 'promoting public
      awareness of chiropractic' (91.2 %), 'access to professional indemnity insurance'
      (89.2 %), 'overall professionalism of the association' (87.2 %), 'the identity of
      the association' (77.7 %), 'positive attitude to research' (77.0 %), 'workplace
      support and advice' (68.9 %), 'access to events ? courses ? seminars' (64.2 %),
      'Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities' (62.2 %), 'cost of
      membership' (59.5 %) and 'addresses my area of interest' (56.1 %). 'Many of my
      friends have joined' (71.6 %) was considered unimportant, whereas 'Lobbying:
      Influencing policy' and 'career development' were considered important by almost
      twice as many as those that consider them unimportant (45.3 %: 25.7 % and 43.9 %:
      27.0 % respectively), 'requirement of employment' and 'associations newsletter'
      were seen as unimportant by roughly twice as many as those considering them
      important (44.6 %: 28.4 % and 35.8 %: 28.4 % respectively). Should it become an
      option, almost 71 % of respondents would support the unification of the four main
      UK chiropractic associations, (the British, McTimoney, Scottish and United,
      Chiropractic Associations: BCA MCA, SCA and UCA, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:
      Several factors have an important effect on motivations to join UK chiropractic
      professional associations. Further research is required to determine if this is
      WIOC specific or can be extrapolated more generally.

PMID- 27621801
TI  - Support for immigration reduction and physician distrust in the United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Health research indicates that physician trust in the United States
      has declined over the last 50 years. Paralleling this trend is a decline in
      social capital, with researchers finding a negative relationship between
      immigration-based diversity and social capital. This article examines whether
      physician distrust is also tied to immigration-based diversity and declining
      social capital. METHODS: Data come from the 2012 General Social Survey, one of
      the gold standards of US public opinion surveys, using a national probability
      sample of 1080 adult US respondents. Key measures included support for reducing
      levels of immigration to the United States and multiple measures of physician
      trust. RESULTS: The results of ordinary least squares regressions, using survey
      weights, indicate that support for reducing immigration is positively linked to
      physician distrust, bringing physician distrust into the orbit of research on
      diversity and declining social capital. Models controlled for age, education,
      income, gender, race, nativity, conservatism, unemployed status, lack of health
      insurance, and self-rated health. Furthermore, analyses of a subset of
      respondents reveal that measures of general trust and some forms of institutional
      trust do not explain away the association between support for immigration
      reduction and physician distrust, though confidence in science as an institution
      appears relevant. CONCLUSION: Consistent with diversity and social capital
      research, this article finds that an immigration attitude predicts physician
      distrust. Physician distrust may not be linked just to physician-patient
      interactions, the structure of the health care system, or health policies, but
      could also be tied to declining social trust in general.

PMID- 27621802
TI  - Vascular endothelial growth factor and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha gene
      polymorphisms and coronary collateral formation in patients with coronary chronic
      total occlusions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the association between two single nucleotide
      polymorphisms of the vascular endothelial growth factor gene and one of the
      hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha gene and the degree of coronary collateral
      formation in patients with a coronary chronic total occlusion. METHODS: Totally,
      98 patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease and a chronic total
      occlusion observed during coronary angiography were recruited. Genotyping of two
      vascular endothelial growth factor promoter single nucleotide polymorphisms (
      152G>A and -165C>T) and the C1772T single nucleotide polymorphism of hypoxia
      inducible factor-1alpha were performed using polymerase chain reaction and
      restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The presence and extent of
      collateral vessel filling was scored by blinded observers using the Rentrop
      grade. RESULTS: We found no association between the vascular endothelial growth
      factor -152G>A, -165C>T and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha -1772C>T with the
      presence and filling of coronary collateral vessels. A history of percutaneous
      coronary intervention and transient ischaemic attack/cerebrovascular accident
      were associated with the presence of enhanced collateral vessel formation
      following binary logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The study findings
      suggest that coronary collateral formation is not associated with the tested
      polymorphic variants of vascular endothelial growth factor and hypoxia-inducible
      factor-1alpha in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease and the
      presence of a chronic total occlusion.

PMID- 27621803
TI  - Assessment of physical premises of selected pharmacies of Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This work attempts to investigate the standards of physical premises
      of pharmacies in terms of cleanliness, ventilation, protection from physical
      environment, spaciousness and storage facilities of two selected districts of
      Nepal: Kathmandu and Kaski. METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational study of
      100 randomly selected retail and wholesale pharmacies (55 from Kathmandu and 45
      from Kaski) was conducted for their compliance to provisions of physical
      premises: cleanliness, ventilation, protection from physical environment,
      spaciousness and storage facilities. Preliminarily, scoring was done by
      converting 5-point Likert scale to a 100-point scale as follows: 1 = 0-20, 2 = 21
      40, 3 = 41-60, 4 = 61-80 and 5 = 81-100. These scores were then reported as poor
      (score ? 40), below average (score of 41-49), average (score of 50), above
      average (score of 51-60) and good (score ? 61). Cronbach's alpha for retails and
      wholesales obtained was .720 and .757, respectively. RESULTS: In wholesales,
      protection from physical environment was least scored among other components,
      with the mean score 34.7 +/- 8.3 for Kathmandu and 37.3 +/- 13.3 for Kaski.
      Ventilation was scored 35.3 +/- 6.3 for Kathmandu and 39.3 +/- 11.6 for Kaski.
      All other components were obtained below average. However, in retails, the
      storage facilities were rated 'poor' with mean score 36.3 +/- 13.9 for Kathmandu
      and 36.0 +/- 11.9 for Kaski. Most other components were scored above average
      except for ventilation which was scored 'good'. It was found that there was no
      significant difference between physical premises of the pharmacies of Kathmandu
      and Kaski in terms of all the indicators. The findings suggest that physical
      premise of many pharmacies was not found appropriate as provisioned in the good
      pharmacy practice requirements of Codes on Sales and Distribution of Drugs.
      CONCLUSION: Most pharmacies were found non-compliant to the aforementioned
      pharmacy premise components. Therefore, key partners should come up with
      commitment for increasing compliance to the legislative provisions of physical
      premises for ensuring quality and safety of medicines.

PMID- 27621804
TI  - Comparison of left ventricular ejection fraction values obtained using invasive
      contrast left ventriculography, two-dimensional echocardiography, and gated
      single-photon emission computed tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Left ventricular ejection fraction can be measured by a variety of
      invasive and non-invasive cardiac techniques. This study assesses the relation of
      three diagnostic modalities to each other in the measurement of left ventricular
      ejection fraction: invasive contrast left ventriculography, two-dimensional
      echocardiography, and quantitative gated single-photon emission computed
      tomography. METHODS: Retrospective chart review was conducted on 58 patients
      hospitalized with chest pain, who underwent left ventricular ejection fraction
      evaluation using each of the aforementioned modalities within a 3-month period
      not interrupted by myocardial infarction or revascularization. RESULTS: The mean
      left ventricular ejection fraction values were as follows: invasive contrast left
      ventriculography (0.44+/-0.15), two-dimensional echocardiography (0.46+/-0.13),
      and gated single-photon emission computed tomography (0.37+/-0.10). Correlations
      coefficients and associated p values were as follows: invasive contrast left
      ventriculography versus two-dimensional echocardiography (r=0.69, p<0.001),
      invasive contrast left ventriculography versus gated single-photon emission
      computed tomography (r=0.80, p<0.0001), and gated single-photon emission computed
      tomography versus two-dimensional echocardiography (r=0.69, p<0.001). CONCLUSION:
      Our results indicate that strong positive correlations exist among the three
      techniques studied.

PMID- 27621805
TI  - Reduction of psycho-spiritual distress of an elderly with advanced congestive
      heart failure by life review interview in a palliative care day center.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Major depression is common in patients hospitalized with congestive
      heart failure and is independently associated with increased re-hospitalization
      and mortality. METHODS: Hereby, we report the treatment for an elderly congestive
      heart failure patient with frequent emergency department visits having major
      depression and hopelessness. RESULTS: Treatment outcomes measured showed that
      depressed scores of psychosocial needs were reduced with life review interview
      therapy in a palliative care day center. CONCLUSION: We hypothesize that
      multidisciplinary team's approach to treatment was important for this case.

PMID- 27621806
TI  - Unexpected improvement in core autism spectrum disorder symptoms after long-term
      treatment with probiotics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition that
      typically displays socio-communicative impairment as well as restricted
      stereotyped interests and activities, in which gastrointestinal disturbances are
      commonly reported. We report the case of a boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder
      (ASD) diagnosis, severe cognitive disability and celiac disease in which an
      unexpected improvement of autistic core symptoms was observed after four months
      of probiotic treatment. METHOD: The case study refers to a 12 years old boy with
      ASD and severe cognitive disability attending the Villa Santa Maria Institute in
      resident care since 2009. Diagnosis of ASDs according to DSM-V criteria was
      confirmed by ADOS-2 assessment (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule). The
      medication used was VSL#3, a multi-strain mixture of ten probiotics. The
      treatment lasted 4 weeks followed by a four month follow-up. The rehabilitation
      program and the diet was maintained stable in the treatment period and in the
      follow up. ADOS-2 was assessed six times: two times before starting treatment;
      two times during the treatment and two times after interruption of the treatment.
      RESULTS: The probiotic treatment reduced the severity of abdominal symptoms as
      expected but an improvement in Autistic core symptoms was unexpectedly clinically
      evident already after few weeks from probiotic treatment start. The score of
      Social Affect domain of ADOS improved changing from 20 to 18 after two months
      treatment with a further reduction of 1 point in the following two months. The
      level 17 of severity remained stable in the follow up period. It is well known
      that ADOS score does not fluctuate spontaneously along time in ASD and is
      absolutely stable. CONCLUSIONS: The appropriate use of probiotics deserves
      further research, which hopefully will open new avenues in the fight against ASD.

PMID- 27621807
TI  - False-positive magnetic resonance imaging findings in follow-up of pediatric
      patients with tumors of the central nervous system.
AB  - Management of patients with central nervous system tumors relies largely on
      magnetic resonance imaging scans to document disease progression or recurrence.
      The finding of new lesions always presents the challenge of differentiating
      between post-surgical changes, radiation necrosis, gliosis, and tumor, submitting
      these patients to more aggressive therapy and more toxicity. We reviewed the
      medical records of three patients with primary central nervous system tumors
      treated at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles who had new false-positive
      magnetic resonance imaging findings suggestive of tumor recurrence. All of them
      had complete total resection of primary tumor, had received involved-field
      radiation therapy, had biopsies confirming absence of viable tumor, and all three
      patients are long-term survivors. These cases exemplify that not everything that
      enhances on brain or spine magnetic resonance imaging is viable tumor, and a
      biopsy should always be considered in the decision-making process in evaluation
      of potentially recurrent central nervous system tumors in pediatric patients. A
      step-wise approach for such challenging cases is presented in this article. 

PMID- 27621808
TI  - Ungual fibroma in 12-year-old boy with hypomelanotic macules, intellectual
      disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-possible tuberous
      sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report a case of a 12-year-old boy with intellectual disability and
      attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, who came to surgery for an examination
      due to a minor bulge on the left thumb, which had been growing for the previous
      month. His mother denied any trauma. METHODS: After the removal of the clinically
      ambiguous bulge and a pathohistological confirmation that it was a periungual
      fibroma, complete patient analysis was performed due to the presence of
      hypomelanotic macules and a suspected tuberous sclerosis. RESULTS: Considering
      the presence of hypomelanotic macules, as one of the main criteria, possible TS
      diagnosis was set. CONCLUSION: Early detection of the symptoms of TS enables a
      timely provision of protocols for further patient monitoring, which affects the
      patient's morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 27621809
TI  - Intratracheal myriocin enhances allergen-induced Th2 inflammation and airway
      hyper-responsiveness.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ceramide is the central substrate of sphingolipid metabolism and
      plays a key role in cellular signal transduction pathways, regulating apoptosis,
      differentiation, and chemotaxis. Alterations in airway ceramide levels are
      observed in multiple pulmonary diseases and recent human genetic association
      studies have linked dysregulation of sphingolipid regulatory genes with asthma
      pathogenesis. METHODS: Utilizing myriocin, a potent inhibitor of sphingolipid
      synthesis, we evaluated the immune regulatory role of de novo ceramide generation
      in vitro and in vivo. Intratracheal myriocin was administered alone or during
      house dust mite sensitization (HDM) of BALB/C mice and airway hyper
      responsiveness (AHR) was evaluated by invasive plethysmography followed by
      bronchial lavage (BAL) cytology and cytokine quantification. RESULTS: Myriocin
      inhibits and HDM exposure activates de novo ceramide synthesis in bone marrow
      derived dendritic cells. Mice receiving intratracheal myriocin developed a mild
      airway neutrophilic infiltrate without inducing a significant increase in AHR.
      CXCL1 was elevated in the BAL fluid of myriocin-treated mice while the
      neutrophilic chemotactic factors anaphylatoxin C5a, leukotriene B4, and IL-17
      were unaffected. HDM treatment combined with myriocin led to a dramatic
      enhancement of AHR (63% increase over HDM alone, p < 0.001) and increased
      granulocyte pulmonary infiltrates versus HDM or myriocin alone. Elevated Th2 T
      cell counts and Th2 cytokines/chemokines (IL5, IL13, CCL17) were observed in mice
      treated with combined HDM/myriocin compared to HDM alone. Myriocin-treated
      pulmonary CD11c+ cells stimulated with HDM secreted significantly more CXCL1 than
      cells stimulated with HDM alone while HDM stimulated airway epithelial cells
      showed no change in CXCL1 secretion following myriocin treatment. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intratracheal myriocin, likely acting via ceramide synthesis inhibition, enhances
      allergen-induced airway inflammation, granulocyte and Th2 lymphocyte recruitment,
      and allergen-induced AHR. Sphingolipid pathways may represent novel targets for
      possible future anti-inflammatory asthma medications.

PMID- 27621810
TI  - Combination treatment with fingolimod and a pathogenic antigen prevents relapse
      of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase peptide-induced arthritis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Combination treatment with fingolimod (FTY720) plus pathogenic
      antigen is thought to prevent glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI)325-339-induced
      arthritis progression by effective induction of immune tolerance. Here, we
      examined the efficacy of this combination treatment on remission maintenance.
      METHODS: GPI325-339-induced arthritis mice were treated for 5 days with FTY720
      (1.0 mg/kg, p.o.) alone, GPI325-339 (10 MUg/mouse, i.v.) alone, or with the
      FTY720 plus GPI325-339 combination. In some experiments, mice were resensitized
      with GPI325-339. RESULTS: Following resensitization with GPI325-339, combination
      treated mice exhibited neither severe relapse nor elevated lymphocyte
      infiltration in joints. Neither anti-human nor mouse GPI325-339 antibody levels
      were correlated with clinical symptoms. This suggests that combination treatment
      prevents relapse following resensitization via regulation of pathogenic antigen
      specific T cells. The proportion of regulatory T (Treg) cells in inguinal lymph
      nodes was increased post treatment in the FTY720 alone and FTY720 plus GPI325-339
      groups. In contrast, the proportion of glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis
      factor receptor-family-related gene/protein (GITR)(+) non-Treg cells was
      increased only in combination-treated mice. Furthermore, GITR(+) non-Treg cells,
      which were induced by the combination treatment in vivo, possess suppressive
      activity and high ability to produce interleukin (IL)-10. CONCLUSION: GITR(+) non
      Treg cells might play a key role in relapse prevention following resensitization.
      Thus, this combination treatment might establish immune tolerance by induction of
      GITR(+) non-Treg cells.

PMID- 27621811
TI  - Phosphocholine-containing ligands direct CRP induction of M2 macrophage
      polarization independent of T cell polarization: Implication for chronic
      inflammatory states.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We studied monocyte transendothelial migration and subsequent
      polarization into M1/M2 macrophages in response to C-reactive protein (CRP) with
      two disease-related ligands: (1) phosphocholine (PC) and (2) multilamellar
      liposomes containing both unoxidized and oxidized forms of the lipid,
      phosphatidylcholine. These ligands differ in biological origin: PC is present on
      bacterial cell walls while oxidized lipids are present in atherogenic lipids.
      METHODS: We used an in vitro model of human monocyte transendothelial migration
      and assessed the polarization of monocytes and T cells and signaling through
      Fcgamma receptors in monocytes. RESULTS: CRP without ligands did not promote M2
      macrophage differentiation over background levels. However, when paired with
      either ligand, it increased M2 numbers. M2 differentiation was dependent on IL
      13, and in the case of CRP with PC, was associated with a Th2 response.
      Paradoxically, while CRP with PC initiated a Th2 response, the combination of
      liposomes with CRP resulted in a Th1 response without any change in Th2 numbers
      despite association with M2 macrophage polarization. To resolve the conundrum of
      an anti-inflammatory macrophage response coexisting with a proinflammatory T cell
      response, we investigated signaling of CRP and its ligands through Fcgamma
      receptors, which leads to macrophage activation independent of T cell signaling.
      We found that CRP plus PC acted via FcgammaRI, whereas CRP with liposomes bound
      to FcgammaRII. Both were activating signals as evidenced by SYK phosphorylation.
      CONCLUSION: We conclude that CRP with ligands can promote M2 macrophage
      differentiation to fibroblasts through FcgammaR activation, and this may result
      in an anti-inflammatory influence despite a proinflammatory T cell environment
      caused by oxidized lipids. The potential relationship of this mechanism to
      chronic inflammatory disease is discussed.

PMID- 27621812
TI  - Individual strains of Lactobacillus paracasei differentially inhibit human
      basophil and mouse mast cell activation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The microbiota controls a variety of biological functions,
      including immunity, and alterations of the microbiota in early life are
      associated with a higher risk of developing allergies later in life. Several
      probiotic bacteria, and particularly lactic acid bacteria, were described to
      reduce both the induction of allergic responses and allergic manifestations.
      Although specific probiotic strains were used in these studies, their protective
      effects on allergic responses also might be common for all lactobacilli. METHODS:
      To determine whether allergic effector cells inhibition is a common feature of
      lactobacilli or whether it varies among lactobacilli strains, we compared the
      ability of 40 strains of the same Lactobacillus paracasei species to inhibit IgE
      dependent mouse mast cell and human basophil activation. RESULTS: We uncovered a
      marked heterogeneity in the inhibitory properties of the 40 Lactobacillus strains
      tested. These segregated into three to four clusters depending on the intensity
      of inhibition. Some strains inhibited both mouse mast cell and human basophil
      activation, others strains inhibited only one cell type and another group induced
      no inhibition of activation for either cell type. CONCLUSIONS: Individual
      Lactobacillus strains of the same species differentially inhibit IgE-dependent
      activation of mouse mast cells and human basophils, two cell types that are
      critical in the onset of allergic manifestations. Although we failed to identify
      specific bacterial genes associated with inhibition by gene-trait matching
      analysis, our findings demonstrate the complexity of the interactions between the
      microbiota and the host. These results suggest that some L. paracasei strains
      might be more beneficial in allergies than others strains and provide the bases
      for a rational screening of lactic acid bacteria strains as next-generation
      probiotics in the field of allergy.

PMID- 27621814
TI  - Lactobacillus reuteri and Staphylococcus aureus differentially influence the
      generation of monocyte-derived dendritic cells and subsequent autologous T cell
      responses.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In early-life, the immature mucosal barrier allows contact between
      the gut microbiota and the developing immune system. Due to their strategic
      location and their ability to sample luminal antigen, dendritic cells (DC) play a
      central role in the interaction of microbes and immune cells in the gut. Here, we
      investigated how two bacteria associated with opposite immune profiles in
      children, that is, Lactobacillus (L.) reuteri and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus,
      influenced the differentiation of monocytes in vitro as well how the generated DC
      impacted T cell responses. METHODS: We exposed monocyte cultures to cell-free
      supernatants (CFS) from these bacteria during their differentiation to DC.
      RESULTS: The presence of L. reuteri-CFS during DC differentiation resulted in DC
      with a more mature phenotype, in terms of up-regulated surface markers (HLA-DR,
      CD86, CD83, CCR7) and enhanced cytokine production (IL6, IL10, and IL23), but had
      a reduced phagocytic capacity compared with non-treated monocyte-derived DC (Mo
      DC). However, upon LPS activation, L. reuteri-CFS-generated DC displayed a more
      regulated phenotype than control Mo-DC with notable reduction of cytokine
      responses both at mRNA and protein levels. In contrast, S. aureus-CFS-generated
      DC were more similar to control Mo-DC both without and after LPS stimulation, but
      they were still able to induce responses in autologous T cells, in the absence of
      further T cell stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: We show that bacterial signals during DC
      differentiation have a profound impact on DC function and possibly also for
      shaping the T cell pool.

PMID- 27621813
TI  - Early infiltration of p40IL12(+)CCR7(+)CD11b(+) cells is critical for fibrosis
      development.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Macrophages are heterogeneous and thus can be correlated with
      distinct tissue outcomes after injury. Conflicting data have indicated that the
      M2-related phenotype directly triggers fibrosis. Conversely, we hypothesize here
      that the inflammatory milieu provided by early infiltration of pro-inflammatory
      macrophages dictates tissue scarring after injury. METHODS AND RESULTS: We first
      determined that tissue-localized macrophages exhibit a pro-inflammatory phenotype
      (p40IL12(+)CCR7(+)CD11b(+)) during the early phase of a chronic injury model, in
      contrast to a pro-resolving phenotype (Arg1(+)IL10(+)CD206(+)CD11b(+)) at a later
      stage. Then, we evaluated the effects of injecting macrophages differentiated in
      vitro in the presence of IFNgamma + LPS or IL4 + IL13 or non-differentiated
      macrophages (hereafter, M0) on promoting inflammation and progression of chronic
      injury in macrophage-depleted mice. In addition to enhancing the expression of
      pro-inflammatory cytokines, the injection of M (IFNgamma + LPS), but not M (IL4 +
      IL13) or M0, accentuated fibrosis while augmenting levels of anti-inflammatory
      molecules, increasing collagen deposition and impairing organ function. We
      observed a similar profile after injection of sorted CCR7(+)CD11b(+) cells and a
      more pronounced effect of M (IFNgamma + LPS) cells originated from Stat6(-/-)
      mice. The injection of M (IFNgamma + LPS) cells was associated with the up
      regulation of inflammation- and fibrosis-related proteins (Thbs1, Mmp7, Mmp8, and
      Mmp13). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that pro-inflammatory macrophages
      promote microenvironmental changes that may lead to fibrogenesis by inducing an
      inflammatory milieu that alters a network of extracellular-related genes,
      culminating in tissue fibrosis.

PMID- 27621815
TI  - Caspase-8 regulates the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in
      human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells, also called mesenchymal stromal cells,
      MSCs, have great potential in stem cell therapy partly due to their
      immunosuppressive properties. How these cells respond to chronic inflammatory
      stimuli is therefore of importance. Toll-like receptors (TLR)s are innate immune
      receptors that mediate inflammatory signals in response to infection, stress, and
      damage. Caspase-8 is involved in activation of NF-kB downstream of TLRs in immune
      cells. Here we investigated the role of caspase-8 in regulating TLR-induced
      cytokine production from human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells
      (hBMSCs). METHODS: Cytokine expression in hBMCs in response to poly(I:C) and LPS
      was evaluated by PCR, multiplex cytokine assay, and ELISA. TLR3, TRIF, and
      caspase-8 were silenced using siRNA. Caspase-8 was also inhibited using a caspase
      8 inhibitor, z-IEDT. RESULTS: We found that TLR3 agonist poly(I:C) and TLR4
      agonist LPS induced secretion of several pro-inflammatory cytokines in a TLR
      dependent manner which required the TLR signaling adaptor molecule TRIF. Further,
      poly(I:C) reduced the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines HGF and TGFbeta
      whereas LPS reduced HGF expression only. Notably, caspase-8 was involved in the
      induction of IL- IL-1beta, IL-6, CXCL10, and in the inhibition of HGF and
      TGFbeta. CONCLUSION: Caspase-8 appears to modulate hBMSCs into gaining a pro
      inflammatory phenotype. Therefore, inhibiting caspase-8 in hBMSCs might promote
      an immunosuppressive phenotype which could be useful in clinical applications to
      treat inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 27621816
TI  - The blocking of uPAR suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory
      osteoclastogenesis and the resultant bone loss through attenuation of integrin
      beta3/Akt pathway.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and
      periodontitis, cause the bone destruction by promotion of the differentiation of
      monocyte/macrophage lineage cells into mature osteoclasts (OCs) with active bone
      resorbing character. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying this disorder
      remain unclear. We herein investigated the role of urokinase plasminogen
      activator receptor (uPAR) in the bone destruction caused by chronic inflammation.
      METHODS: We investigated that the effect of uPAR on inflammatory OC formation
      induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in inflammatory diseases. RESULTS: We found
      that the LPS more weakly induced OC formation and the resultant bone loss in uPAR
      deficient mice than in wild-type mice. Additionally, we demonstrated that uPAR
      significantly potentiated LPS-induced OC formation of RAW264.7 mouse
      monocyte/macrophage linage cells in integrin beta3/Akt-dependent manner.
      Moreover, we showed that the blocking of uPAR function by the administration of
      anti-uPAR neutralizing antibody significantly attenuated the LPS-induced OC
      formation and the resultant bone loss in mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results
      strongly suggest that uPAR negatively regulates the LPS-induced inflammatory OC
      formation and the resultant bone loss mediated through the integrin beta3/Akt
      pathway. Our findings partly clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying bone
      destruction caused by chronic inflammatory diseases, and would benefit research
      on identifying antibody therapy for the treatment of these diseases.

PMID- 27621817
TI  - Cholesterol-sensing liver X receptors stimulate Th2-driven allergic eosinophilic
      asthma in mice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that function as
      cholesterol sensors and regulate cholesterol homeostasis. High cholesterol has
      been recognized as a risk factor in asthma; however, the mechanism of this
      linkage is not known. METHODS: To explore the importance of cholesterol
      homeostasis for asthma, we investigated the contribution of LXR activity in an
      ovalbumin- and a house dust mite-driven eosinophilic asthma mouse model. RESULTS:
      In both models, airway inflammation, airway hyper-reactivity, and goblet cell
      hyperplasia were reduced in mice deficient for both LXRalpha and LXRbeta isoforms
      (LXRalpha(-/-)beta(-/-)) as compared to wild-type mice. Inversely, treatment with
      the LXR agonist GW3965 showed increased eosinophilic airway inflammation. LXR
      activity contributed to airway inflammation through promotion of type 2 cytokine
      production as LXRalpha(-/-)beta(-/-) mice showed strongly reduced protein levels
      of IL-5 and IL-13 in the lungs as well as reduced expression of these cytokines
      by CD4(+) lung cells and lung-draining lymph node cells. In line herewith, LXR
      activation resulted in increased type 2 cytokine production by the lung-draining
      lymph node cells. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the
      cholesterol regulator LXR acts as a positive regulator of eosinophilic asthma in
      mice, contributing to airway inflammation through regulation of type 2 cytokine
      production.

PMID- 27621818
TI  - Mapping an epitope in EBNA-1 that is recognized by monoclonal antibodies to EBNA
      1 that cross-react with dsDNA.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) has been associated with the
      autoimmune disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). EBV nuclear antigen-I
      (EBNA-1) is the major nuclear protein of EBV. We previously generated an IgG
      monoclonal antibody (MAb) to EBNA-1, 3D4, and demonstrated that it cross-reacts
      with double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and binds the 148 amino acid viral binding site
      (VBS) in the carboxyl region of EBNA-1. The aim of the present study was to
      characterize another antibody to EBNA-1 that cross-reacts with dsDNA, compare its
      immunoglobulin genes to 3D4, and finely map the epitope in EBNA-1 that is
      recognized by these cross-reactive antibodies. METHODS: We generated an IgM MAb
      to EBNA-1, 16D2, from EBNA-1 injected mice and demonstrated by ELISA that it
      cross-reacts with dsDNA and binds the 148 amino acid VBS. We sequenced the
      variable heavy and light chain genes of 3D4 and 16D2 and compared V gene usage.
      To more finely map the epitope in EBNA-1 recognized by these MAbs, we examined
      their binding by ELISA to 15 overlapping peptides spanning the 148 amino acid
      domain. RESULTS: Sequence analysis revealed that 3D4 and 16D2 utilize different
      VH and VL genes but identical JH and Jk regions with minimal junctional
      diversity. This accounts for similarities in their CDR3 regions and may explain
      their similar dual binding specificity. Epitope mapping revealed 3D4 and 16D2
      bind the same peptide in the VBS. Based on the crystal structure of EBNA-1, we
      observed that this peptide resides at the base of an exposed proline rich loop in
      EBNA-1. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that two MAbs that bind EBNA-1 and cross
      react with dsDNA, recognize the same peptide in the VBS. This peptide may serve
      as a mimetope for dsDNA and may be of diagnostic and therapeutic value in SLE.

PMID- 27621820
TI  - Compared lethality rates of Clostridium difficile infections at the local,
      regional and national levels in France.

PMID- 27621819
TI  - IFN-lambda3 polymorphism indirectly influences NK cell phenotype and function
      during acute HCV infection.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Polymorphisms in the type III interferon IFN-lambda3 and the killer
      cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes controlling the activity of natural
      killer (NK) cells can predict spontaneous resolution of acute hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) infection. We hypothesized that IFN-lambda3 polymorphism may modulate NK
      cell function during acute HCV. METHODS: We monitored the plasma levels of type
      III IFNs in relation to the phenotype and the function of NK cells in a cohort of
      people who inject drugs (PWID) during acute HCV infection with different
      outcomes. RESULTS: Early acute HCV was associated with high variability in type
      III IFNs plasma levels and the favorable IFN-lambda3 CC genotype was associated
      with higher viral loads. Reduced expression of Natural Killer Group Protein 2A
      (NKG2A) was associated with lower IFN-lambda3 plasma levels and the CC genotype.
      IFN-gamma production by NK cells was higher in individuals with the CC genotype
      during acute infection but this did not prevent viral persistence. IFN-lambda3
      plasma levels did not correlate with function of NK cells and IFN-lambda3
      prestimulation did not affect NK cell activation and function. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results suggest that IFN-lambda3 polymorphism indirectly influences NK cell
      phenotype and function during acute HCV but other factors may act in concert to
      determine the outcome of the infection.

PMID- 27621821
TI  - 'Flaviflexus massiliensis', a new bacterial species isolated from the human gut.
AB  - Herein, we report the main characteristics of 'Flaviflexus massiliensis' strain
      SIT4(T) (CSURP1300), a new bacterium that was isolated from the stool specimen of
      a 2-year-old girl from Niger suffering from kwashiorkor. 

PMID- 27621822
TI  - 'Beduinella massiliensis', gen. nov., sp. nov. a new genus representing a new
      family in the phylum Firmicutes, and proposal of Beduinellaceae fam. nov.
AB  - We report here the main characteristics of a new bacterium named 'Beduinella
      massiliensis' strain Marseille-P2846(T) (CSURP2846P) that was isolated from a
      faecal specimen of a 50-year-old Saudi Bedouin female and propose the creation of
      a new family 'Beduinellaceae'. 

PMID- 27621824
TI  - 'Halomonas massiliensis' sp. nov., a new halotolerant bacterium isolated from the
      human gut.
AB  - We report here the main characteristics of 'Halomonas massiliensis' strain
      Marseille-P2426(T) (CSUR P2426), a new species of the Halomonas genus that was
      isolated from the stool sample of a healthy 24-year-old Senegalese man. 

PMID- 27621823
TI  - Molecular characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in
      nosocomial infections in a tertiary-care facility: emergence of new clonal
      complexes in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Changes in the molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus (MRSA) continue to be reported. This study was carried out to characterize
      MRSA isolates in Saudi Arabia. MRSA isolates causing nosocomial infections (n =
      117) obtained from 2009-2015 at a tertiary-care facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
      were studied. Molecular characterization of isolates was carried out using the
      StaphyType DNA microarray (Alere Technologies, Jena, Germany). Fourteen clonal
      complexes (CC) were identified, with the most common being CC80 (n = 35), CC6 (n
      = 15), CC5 (n = 13) and CC22 (n = 12). With the exception of nine ST239 MRSA-III
      isolates, all others were of community-associated MRSA lineages. The following
      strains are identified for the first time in Saudi Arabia: ST8-MRSA-IV
      [PVL(+)/ACME(+)], USA300 (n = 1); ST72-MRSA-IV USA700 (n = 1); CC5-MRSA-IV,
      [PVL(+)/edinA(+)], WA MRSA-121 (n = 1); CC5-MRSA-V+SCCfus, WA MRSA-14/109 (n =
      2), CC97-MRSA-IV, WA MRSA-54/63; CC2250/2277-MRSA-IV and WA MRSA-114. CC15-MRSA
      (n = 3) was identified for the first time in clinical infection in Saudi Arabia.
      None of the isolates harboured vancomycin resistance genes, while genes for
      resistance to mupirocin and quaternary ammonium compounds were found in one and
      nine isolates respectively. Fifty-seven isolates (48.7%) were positive for Panton
      Valentine leukocidin genes. While the staphylokinase (sak) and staphylococcal
      complement inhibitor (scn) genes were present in over 95% of the isolates, only
      37.6% had the chemotaxis-inhibiting protein (chp) gene. Increasing occurrence of
      community-acquired MRSA lineages plus emergence of pandemic and rare MRSA strains
      is occurring in our setting. Strict infection control practices are important to
      limit the dissemination of these MRSA strains. 

PMID- 27621825
TI  - "Ihuprevotella massiliensis" gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from human gut.
AB  - We report here the main characteristics of "Ihuprevotella massiliensis" strain
      Marseille-P2826(T) (CSURP 2826) that was isolated from a human right colon lavage
      sample. 

PMID- 27621826
TI  - Clinical outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve implantation: from learning curve
      to proficiency.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The use of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is growing
      rapidly in countries with a predominantly elderly population, posing a huge
      challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. The increment of human and economic
      resource consumption imposes a careful monitoring of clinical outcomes and cost
      benefit balance, and this article is aimed at analysing clinical outcomes related
      to the TAVI learning curve. METHODS: Outcomes of 177 consecutive transfemoral
      TAVI procedures performed in 5 years by a single team were analysed by the
      Cumulative Sum of failures method (CUSUM) according to the clinical events
      comprised in the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC-2) safety end point and
      the VARC-2 definition of device success. Margins for events acceptance were
      extrapolated from landmark trials that tested both balloon or self-expandable
      percutaneous valves. RESULTS: 30-day and 1-year survival rates were 97.2% and
      89.9%, respectively. Achievement of the primary end point (number of cases needed
      to provide the acceptable margin of the composite end point of any death, stroke,
      myocardial infarction, life-threatening bleeding, major vascular complications,
      stage 2-3 acute kidney injury and valve-related dysfunction requiring a repeat
      procedure) required the performance of 54 cases, while the learning curve to
      achieve 'device success' identified 32 cases to reach the expected proficiency.
      In this experience, the baseline clinical risk as assessed by the Society of
      Thoracic Surgeons (STS) score determined the long-term survival rather than the
      adverse events related to the learning curve. CONCLUSIONS: A relatively large
      number of cases are required to achieve clinical outcomes comparable to those
      reported in high-volume centres and controlled trials. According to our national
      workload standards, this represents more than 2 years of continuous activity.

PMID- 27621827
TI  - Myocardial infarction, ST-elevation and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction
      and modelled daily pollution concentrations: a case-crossover analysis of MINAP
      data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations between daily concentrations of air
      pollution and myocardial infarction (MI), ST-elevation MI (STEMI) and non-ST
      elevation MI (NSTEMI). METHODS: Modelled daily ground-level gaseous, total and
      speciated particulate pollutant concentrations and ground-level daily mean
      temperature, all at 5 km*5 km horizontal resolution, were linked to 202 550 STEMI
      and 322 198 NSTEMI events recorded on the England and Wales Myocardial Ischaemia
      National Audit Project (MINAP) database. The study period was 2003-2010. A case
      crossover design was used, stratified by year, month and day of the week. Data
      were analysed using conditional logistic regression, with pollutants modelled as
      unconstrained distributed lags 0-2 days. Results are presented as percentage
      change in risk per 10 ug/m(3) increase in the pollutant relevant metric, having
      adjusted for daily mean temperature, public holidays, weekly influenza
      consultation rates and a sine-cosine annual cycle. RESULTS: There was no evidence
      of an association between MI or STEMI and any of O3, NO2, PM2.5, PM10 or selected
      PM2.5 components (sulfate and elemental carbon). For NSTEMI, there was a positive
      association with daily maximum 1-hour NO2 (0.27% (95% CI 0.01% to 0.54%)), which
      persisted following adjustment for O3 and adjustment for PM2.5. The association
      appeared to be confined to the midland and southern regions of England and Wales.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study found no evidence of an association between the modelled
      pollutants (including components) investigated and STEMI but did find some
      evidence of a positive association between NO2 and NSTEMI. Confirmation of this
      association in other studies is required.

PMID- 27621828
TI  - Association between adiposity and systemic atherosclerosis: a protocol of a cross
      sectional autopsy study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adiposity has been associated with atherosclerosis in clinical
      studies. However, few autopsy studies have investigated this association, and
      they had only examined the coronary artery disease. Moreover, most studies had
      small sample sizes and were limited to middle-aged or young adults. Our aim is to
      investigate the association between adiposity and systemic atherosclerosis in an
      autopsy study. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A sample of 240 deceased with 30 years or
      more will be evaluated. The sample size was calculated using the lowest
      correlation coefficient found in previous studies (r=0.109), assuming a power of
      90% and alpha=0.05. We will collect information about sociodemographics,
      frequency of previous contact of the deceased's next of kin and cardiovascular
      risk factors. We will measure neck, waist and hip circumferences, weight, height
      and abdominal subcutaneous tissue thickness, and then we will calculate the body
      mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio and body shape index. We
      will also weigh the pericardial and abdominal visceral fat, the heart, and we
      will measure the left ventricular wall thickness. We will evaluate the presence
      of myocardial infarction, the degree of atherosclerosis in the aorta, carotid,
      coronary and cerebral arteries and plaque composition in carotid, coronary and
      cerebral arteries. For each individual, we will fix arterial and adipose tissue
      samples in 10% formalin and freeze another adipose tissue sample at -80 degrees C
      for future studies. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was granted by the
      Ethics Committee of University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Brazil. Results will
      be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

PMID- 27621829
TI  - CHA2DS2-VASc score, left atrial size and atrial fibrillation as stroke risk
      factors in the Tromso Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: CHA2DS2-VASc score, left atrial (LA) size and atrial fibrillation (AF)
      have individually been associated with stroke risk. Our aim was to investigate
      the predictive ability of combinations of these factors for the odds of incident
      stroke in a population-based cohort study. METHODS: We followed 2844 participants
      from the Tromso Study from 1994 to 2012. Information on LA size and CHA2DS2-VASc
      score (age, sex, congestive heart failure, hypertension, vascular disease, stroke
      and diabetes) were obtained at baseline. AF status was recorded from medical
      records. The outcome measure was all strokes. The association between covariates
      and stroke was investigated by means of multivariate logistic regression
      analysis. RESULTS: A total of 325 participants (45% women, mean age at baseline
      59.3 years) had a stroke. Incidence rates for stroke were 6.4 in women and 8.4 in
      men per 1000 person-years. Participants with CHA2DS2-VASc >=1 and LA size <2.8
      had ~4 times (95% CI 2.6 to 5.3) increased odds of stroke, whereas participants
      with CHA2DS2-VASc >=1 and LA size >=2.8 had ~9 times (95% CI 5.3 to 16.4)
      increased odds of stroke, compared with participants with CHA2DS2-VASc score 0,
      irrespective of AF status. Adjustment for significant covariates had minimal
      impact on the OR estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Combining CHA2DS2-VASc score >=1 and
      enlarged LA size identified participants with high odds of stroke regardless of
      AF status.

PMID- 27621830
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of drug-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in patients
      undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost-effectiveness of drug-eluting stents (DES)
      compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) in patients requiring a percutaneous
      coronary intervention in France, using a recent meta-analysis including second
      generation DES. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed in the
      French National Health Insurance setting. Effectiveness settings were taken from
      a meta-analysis of 117 762 patient-years with 76 randomised trials. The main
      effectiveness criterion was major cardiac event-free survival. Effectiveness and
      costs were modelled over a 5-year horizon using a three-state Markov model.
      Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and a cost-effectiveness acceptability
      curve were calculated for a range of thresholds for willingness to pay per year
      without major cardiac event gain. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity
      analyses were performed. RESULTS: Base case results demonstrated that DES are
      dominant over BMS, with an increase in event-free survival and a cost-reduction
      of ?184, primarily due to a diminution of second revascularisations, and an
      absence of myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis. These results are robust
      for uncertainty on one-way deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses.
      Using a cost-effectiveness threshold of ?7000 per major cardiac event-free year
      gained, DES has a >95% probability of being cost-effective versus BMS.
      CONCLUSIONS: Following DES price decrease, new-generation DES development and
      taking into account recent meta-analyses results, the DES can now be considered
      cost-effective regardless of selective indication in France, according to
      European recommendations.

PMID- 27621832
TI  - Drivers of healthcare costs associated with the episode of care for surgical
      aortic valve replacement versus transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is generally more
      expensive than surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) due to the high cost of
      the device. Our objective was to understand the patient and procedural drivers of
      cumulative healthcare costs during the index hospitalisation for these
      procedures. DESIGN: All patients undergoing TAVI, isolated SAVR or combined
      SAVR+coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) at 7 hospitals in Ontario, Canada
      were identified during the fiscal year 2012-2013. Data were obtained from a
      prospective registry. Cumulative healthcare costs during the episode of care were
      determined using microcosting. To identify drivers of healthcare costs,
      multivariable hierarchical generalised linear models with a logarithmic link and
      gamma distribution were developed for TAVI, SAVR and SAVR+CABG separately.
      RESULTS: Our cohort consisted of 1310 patients with aortic stenosis, of whom 585
      underwent isolated SAVR, 518 had SAVR+CABG and 207 underwent TAVI. The median
      costs for the index hospitalisation for isolated SAVR were $21 811 (IQR $18 148
      $30 498), while those for SAVR+CABG were $27 256 (IQR $21 741-$39 000), compared
      with $42 742 (IQR $37 295-$56 196) for TAVI. For SAVR, the major patient-level
      drivers of costs were age >75 years, renal dysfunction and active endocarditis.
      For TAVI, chronic lung disease was a major patient-level driver. Procedural
      drivers of cost for TAVI included a non-transfemoral approach. A prolonged
      intensive care unit stay was associated with increased costs for all procedures.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found wide variation in healthcare costs for SAVR compared with
      TAVI, with different patient-level drivers as well as potentially modifiable
      procedural factors. These highlight areas of further study to optimise healthcare
      delivery.

PMID- 27621831
TI  - Use of bioresorbable vascular scaffold: a meta-analysis of patients with coronary
      artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Differences in outcomes between bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS)
      systems and drug-eluting metal stents (DES) have not been fully evaluated. We
      aimed to compare clinical and angiographic outcomes in randomised studies of
      patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), with a secondary analysis performed
      among registry studies. METHODS: A meta-analysis comparing outcomes between BVS
      and DES in patients with CAD. Overall estimates of treatment effect were
      calculated with random-effects model and fixed-effects model. RESULTS: In 6
      randomised trials (3818 patients), BVS increased the risk of subacute stent
      thrombosis (ST) over and above DES (OR 2.14; CI 1.01 to 4.53; p=0.05), with a
      trend towards an increase in the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) (125 events
      in those assigned to BVS and 50 to DES; OR 1.36; CI 0.97 to 1.91; p=0.07). The
      risk of in-device late lumen loss (LLL) was higher with BVS than DES (mean
      difference 0.08 mm; CI 0.03 to 0.13; p=0.004). There was no difference in the
      risk of death or target vessel revascularisation (TVR) between the two devices.
      In 6 registry studies (1845 patients), there was no difference in the risk of
      death, MI, TVR or subacute ST between the two stents. Final BVS dilation
      pressures were higher in registry than in randomised studies (18.7+/-4.6 vs
      15.2+/-3.3 atm; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with BVS had an increased
      risk of subacute ST and slightly higher LLL compared with those with DES, but
      this might be related to inadequate implantation techniques, in particular device
      underexpansion.

PMID- 27621833
TI  - Low eosinophil and low lymphocyte counts and the incidence of 12 cardiovascular
      diseases: a CALIBER cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eosinophil and lymphocyte counts are commonly performed in clinical
      practice. Previous studies provide conflicting evidence of association with
      cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: We used linked primary care, hospitalisation,
      disease registry and mortality data in England (the CALIBER (CArdiovascular
      disease research using LInked Bespoke studies and Electronic health Records)
      programme). We included people aged 30 or older without cardiovascular disease at
      baseline, and used Cox models to estimate cause-specific HRs for the association
      of eosinophil or lymphocyte counts with the first occurrence of cardiovascular
      disease. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 775 231 individuals, of whom 55 004
      presented with cardiovascular disease over median follow-up 3.8 years. Over the
      first 6 months, there was a strong association of low eosinophil counts (<0.05
      compared with 0.15-0.25*10(9)/L) with heart failure (adjusted HR 2.05; 95% CI
      1.72 to 2.43), unheralded coronary death (HR 1.94, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.69),
      ventricular arrhythmia/sudden cardiac death and subarachnoid haemorrhage, but not
      angina, non-fatal myocardial infarction, transient ischaemic attack, ischaemic
      stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, subarachnoid haemorrhage or abdominal aortic
      aneurysm. Low eosinophil count was inversely associated with peripheral arterial
      disease (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.89). There were similar associations with low
      lymphocyte counts (<1.45 vs 1.85-2.15*10(9)/L); adjusted HR over the first 6
      months for heart failure was 2.25 (95% CI 1.90 to 2.67). Associations beyond the
      first 6 months were weaker. CONCLUSIONS: Low eosinophil counts and low lymphocyte
      counts in the general population are associated with increased short-term
      incidence of heart failure and coronary death. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT02014610; results.

PMID- 27621834
TI  - Risk stratification with exercise N(13)-ammonia PET in adults with anomalous
      right coronary arteries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In adults with an interarterial and intramural course of an anomalous
      right coronary artery from the left sinus (AAORCA), surgical unroofing is
      recommended in the setting of myocardial ischaemia. However, data regarding
      functional testing are limited, and the management of adults without ischaemia is
      unclear. To evaluate these patients, we employed an exercise N(13)-ammonia
      positron emission tomography (PET) protocol. We hypothesised that patients with
      typical angina and exertional dyspnoea would be more likely to have ischaemia and
      that patients without ischaemia could be managed conservatively. METHODS: Between
      July 2008 and December 2014, we retrospectively identified 27 consecutive
      patients >18 years old with an interarterial and intramural course of an AAORCA
      who had exercise N(13)-ammonia PET. RESULTS: The majority of patients had
      anatomic delineation with cardiac CT (25, 93%), and most patients had chest pain
      (24, 89%). Myocardial ischaemia with PET was common (13, 48%), and ischaemia was
      more likely in patients with typical angina and exertional dyspnoea (p<0.05).
      Surgery was performed in 12 patients including 11 patients with ischaemia. At a
      median follow-up of 245 days, there were no deaths in patients with surgery or in
      patients managed conservatively. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with an interarterial
      and intramural course of an AAORCA, typical angina and exertional dyspnoea are
      associated with ischaemia on exercise N(13)-ammonia PET. Referral for surgical
      unroofing in symptomatic patients with ischaemia on exercise N(13)-ammonia PET
      and initial conservative management in patients without ischaemia seems
      appropriate, though larger studies with long-term follow-up are needed.

PMID- 27621835
TI  - Outcomes of patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an uncommon but
      serious condition presenting as an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or cardiac
      arrest. The pathophysiology and outcomes are poorly understood. We investigated
      the characteristics and outcomes of patients presenting with SCAD. METHODS: In a
      retrospective study of a large cohort of patients with SCAD, data were collected
      regarding clinical presentation, patient characteristics, vascular screening,
      coronary artery involvement and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: 40 patients with SCAD
      (95% women, mean age 45+/-10 years) were included. At least 1 traditional
      cardiovascular risk factor was present in 40% of patients. Migraine was reported
      in 43% of patients. Events preceding SCAD included parturition (8%), physical
      stress (13%), emotional stress (10%) and vasoconstrictor substance-use (8%). 65%
      of patients had a non-ST elevation ACS (NSTEACS) at presentation, 30% had an ST
      elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and 13% had a cardiac arrest. The left
      anterior descending artery was most frequently involved (68% of patients), and
      13% had involvement of multiple coronary territories. Fibromuscular dysplasia
      (FMD) was identified in 7 (37%) of 19 patients screened. 68% of patients were
      managed medically, 30% had percutaneous coronary intervention and 5% had coronary
      artery bypass grafting. Over a median 16-month follow-up period, 8% of patients
      had at least 1 recurrent SCAD event. There were no deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with SCAD in this study often had multiple coronary territories involved (13%)
      and extracardiac vascular abnormalities, suggesting a systemic vascular process,
      which may explain the high incidence of migraine. All patients with SCAD should
      be screened for FMD and followed closely due to the possibility of recurrence.

PMID- 27621836
TI  - International guideline changes and the incidence of infective endocarditis: a
      systematic review.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine the impact on incident infective
      endocarditis (IE) of guideline recommendations to restrict indications for
      antibiotic prophylaxis. We conducted a systematic review according to the
      Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
      guideline. PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for articles published
      between 2007 and 2015 using mesh terms relevant to the research question.
      Included were English language articles published after 2009 that provided
      estimates of IE incidence before-and-after major international guideline changes.
      Seven studies were identified: 1 conducted in France, 4 in the USA and 2 in the
      UK. Only 1 study reported an increase in the rate of incident IE following
      guideline modification, and the remainder showed no change in upward (2 studies)
      or downward (4 studies) incidence trends. Study quality was generally poor for
      answering the question posed in this review, with serious risk of bias related to
      diagnostic ascertainment and unavailability of population risk data to adjust the
      incidence estimates. Moreover, the studies were often small, and relevant
      bacteriological data were not always available. Only 2 reported changes in
      antibiotic prescriptions, but these data were not linked to health records making
      it impossible to determine causal relations to changes in incident IE. The
      studies in this review were heterogenous in their design and variably limited by
      study size, duration of follow-up, diagnostic ascertainment, and absence of
      relevant prescription and bacteriological data. The studies were inconsistent in
      their conclusions and it remains uncertain what, if any, has been the impact of
      antibiotic prophylaxis guideline changes on the incidence of IE. 

PMID- 27621837
TI  - Society for Neuro-Oncology 2014 annual meeting updates on central nervous system
      metastases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO)
      took place in November of 2014. The focus of many abstracts, as well as the
      Education Day, was on recent advances in the study of central nervous system
      (CNS) metastases. TUMOR BIOLOGY: Key studies evaluating the factors in tumors and
      their microenvironment associated with the development and growth of brain
      metastases are reviewed. PROGNOSTICATION: Studies investigating the factors that
      independently influence survival in participants with brain metastases are
      presented. RESPONSE ASSESSMENT: The Response Assessment for Neuro-Oncology
      criteria for brain metastases (RANO-BM) and the Neurological Assessment in Neuro
      Oncology (NANO) criteria, which were both presented, are recapped. RADIOTHERAPY:
      Studies are reviewed evaluating factors that influence survival outcomes in
      participants with brain metastases who were treated with radiotherapy. Studies
      investigating the potential risk of radiation necrosis with the combination of
      radiotherapy and immunotherapies are presented. SYSTEMIC THERAPIES: Brain
      metastases-focused subset analyses from the ASCEND-1 trial for ALK-translocated
      non-small cell lung cancer are presented. Preclinical and clinical work on solid
      tumor leptomeningeal carcinomatosis is also covered. SEQUELAE OF CENTRAL NERVOUS
      SYSTEM METASTASES AND THEIR TREATMENTS: An overview is provided of treatment-
      related toxicities as well as important concepts that may influence strategies to
      protect against these toxicities. CONCLUSIONS: Key concepts regarding tumor
      biology, prognostication, response assessment, therapeutic management, and
      sequelae of treatment for CNS metastases are summarized. Advances in our
      understanding of the basic and clinical science of CNS metastases have the
      potential to improve outcomes for patients.

PMID- 27621838
TI  - Two novel mutations in the KHDC3L gene in Asian patients with recurrent
      hydatidiform mole.
AB  - Recurrent hydatidiform mole (RHM) is defined by the occurrence of repeated molar
      pregnancies in affected women. Two genes, NLRP7 and KHDC3L, play a causal role in
      RHM and are responsible for 48-80% and 5% of cases, respectively. Here, we report
      the results of screening these two genes for mutations in one Iranian and one
      Indian patient with RHM. No mutations in NLRP7 were identified in the two
      patients. KHDC3L sequencing identified two novel protein-truncating mutations in
      a homozygous state, a 4-bp deletion, c.17_20delGGTT (p.Arg6Leufs*7), in the
      Iranian patient and a splice mutation, c.349+1G>A, that affects the invariant
      donor site at the junction of exon 2 and intron 2 in the Indian patient. To date,
      only four mutations in KHDC3L have been reported. The identification of two
      additional mutations provides further evidence for the important role of KHDC3L
      in the pathophysiology of RHM and increases the diversity of mutations described
      in Asian populations. 

PMID- 27621840
TI  - Voices that ever reverberate-in memory of Dr. Prof. Lawrence Grouse.

PMID- 27621839
TI  - Study of intra-abdominal hypertension prevalence and awareness level among
      experienced ICU medical staff.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) is a disease with high morbidity
      and mortality among critically ill patients. The study's objectives were to
      explore the prevalence of IAH and physicians' awareness of the 2013 World Society
      of Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (WSACS) guidelines in Chinese intensive care
      units (ICUs). METHODS: A cross-sectional study of four ICUs in Southwestern China
      was conducted from June 17 to August 2, 2014. Adult patients admitted to the ICU
      for more than 24 h, with bladder catheter but without obvious intravesical
      pressure (IVP) measurement contraindications, were recruited. Intensivists with
      more than 5 years of ICU working experience were also recruited. Epidemiological
      information, potential IAH risk factors, IVP measurements and questionnaire
      results were recorded. RESULTS: Forty-one patients were selected. Fifteen (36.59
      %) had IVP >= 12 mmHg. SOFA (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) hepatic and
      neurological sub-scores were utilized as independent predictors for IAH via
      logistic backward analysis. Thirty-seven intensivists participated in the survey
      (response rate: 80.43 %). The average score of each center was less than 35
      points. All physicians believed the IAH prevalence in their departments was no
      more than 20.00 %. A significant negative correlation was observed between the
      intensivists' awareness of the 2013 WSACS guidelines and the IAH prevalence in
      each center (r = -0.975, P = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and independent
      predictors of IAH among the surveyed population are similar to the reports in the
      literature. Intensivists generally have a low awareness of the 2013 WSACS
      guidelines. A systematic guideline training program is vital for improving the
      efficiency of the diagnosis and treatment of IAH.

PMID- 27621841
TI  - Fact checking in the history of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

PMID- 27621842
TI  - Thymic epithelial tumors in a worldwide perspective: lessons from observational
      studies.

PMID- 27621843
TI  - From the era of ineffective tumor vaccines to a future with effective
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 27621845
TI  - Different characteristics of tuberculous pleural effusion according to pleural
      fluid cellular predominance and loculation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) exhibits different characteristics
      according to pleural fluid cellular predominance or whether the pleural fluid is
      free-flowing or loculated. However, its categorization based on either of these
      factors alone may be insufficient to properly reflect the heterogeneous
      manifestation of TPE. We evaluated the characteristics of the four TPE groups
      classified according to cellular predominance and whether the fluid is free
      flowing or loculated. METHODS: A cohort of 375 patients with TPE was
      retrospectively reviewed. Clinical, radiological, and laboratory findings were
      compared between neutrophilic and lymphocytic TPE, and between free-flowing and
      loculated effusion for both neutrophilic and lymphocytic TPE. RESULTS:
      Lymphocytic TPE and neutrophilic TPE were observed in 336 (90%) and 39 (10%)
      patients, respectively. Pleural fluid loculation was present in 36% and 31% of
      the patients in the lymphocytic and neutrophilic groups, respectively. A few
      parameters of the laboratory findings between neutrophilic and lymphocytic TPE
      patients showed significant differences. However, these significant differences
      were prominently observed when comparing free-flowing and loculated subgroups of
      the respective neutrophilic and lymphocytic groups. Pleural fluid pH, lactate
      dehydrogenase, and adenosine deaminase levels were significantly different among
      the four subgroups. The neutrophilic loculated subgroup exhibited the most
      intense pleural inflammation and the highest mycobacterial yields when compared
      to the other subgroups. However, the percentage of neutrophils in the pleural
      fluid was not positively associated with the probability of culture-positive
      effusion. CONCLUSIONS: The heterogeneous manifestation of TPE would be better
      characterized by using a classification system based on combined pleural fluid
      cellular predominance and loculation, with the neutrophilic loculated subgroup
      contributing to most of the clinically significant differences.

PMID- 27621844
TI  - Rare airway tumors: an update on current diagnostic and management strategies.

PMID- 27621846
TI  - Gram-negative bacteria facilitate tumor outgrowth and metastasis by promoting
      lipid synthesis in lung cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide.
      Patients with lung cancer are very frequently present with pulmonary infections,
      in particular with Gram-negative bacteria. Herein, we investigated the effect of
      the co-presence of Gram-negative bacteria on outgrowth and metastasis of lung
      cancer cells in clinical patients. METHODS: Lung cancer cells were isolated from
      clinical surgical tissues. Heat-inactivated E. coli was used as Gram-negative
      bacteria. Tumor outgrowth and invasion in vitro was analyzed with MTT assay and
      Biocoat Matrigel Invasion Chamber. Tumor growth and metastasis in vivo was
      evaluated in BALB/c nude mice. Lipid synthesis was evidenced by expressions of
      FASN and ACC1, as well as BODIPY Fluorophores staining. Block lipid synthesis was
      performed with C75 as a FAS inhibitor and transfection with ACC1 siRNA. Knockdown
      of TLR4 and TLR9 signaling was achieved by transfection with specific shRNAs and
      administration of specific antagonists. RESULTS: Gram-negative bacteria
      significantly promoted lung cancer development including growth and metastasis in
      dose dependent manner. Mechanistically, Gram-negative bacteria activate TLR4 and
      TLR9 signaling and enhance lipid synthesis in human lung cancer cells. Knockdown
      of TLR4 and/or TLR9 was able to block Gram-negative bacteria mediated lipid
      synthesis and lung cancer development. Interference with lipid synthesis
      efficiently abrogated Gram-negative-bacteria-induced lung cancer development. In
      lung cancer patients, higher expressions of innate immune receptors, TLR4 and
      TLR9, were observed in those with Gram-negative infections and associated with
      the aberrant lipid synthesis that was observed in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary
      infections with Gram-negative bacteria lead to aberrant lipid synthesis through
      TLR4 and TLR9 signaling in lung cancer patients and result in rapid proliferation
      and metastasis of lung cancer cells. These findings reveal a new mechanism for
      pulmonary infection-trigged caner development and provide clues for exploring
      therapeutics for lung cancer patients.

PMID- 27621847
TI  - Should tumor with direct adjacent lobe invasion (Tdali) be assigned to T2 or T3
      in non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The staging of tumor with direct adjacent lobe invasion (Tdali) or
      interlobar invasion pleural 3 (ILI PL3) in TNM system of non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC) is still in controversy. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare
      the prognosis of Tdali with T2 or T3 disease. METHODS: PubMed and Embase were
      searched for relevant studies. Ln hazard ratio (HR) and its standard error (SE)
      of each study were estimated in the comparison of overall survival (OS) between
      Tdali and T2 or T3 respectively. Forest plots were used to show the combined HRs.
      RESULTS: The meta-analysis for comparison of OS of Tdali and T2 or T3 disease
      both showed a significant HR [Tdali versus T2, 1.39 (1.21, 1.61), P<0.000, Tdali
      versus T3, 0.73 (0.57, 0.93), P=0.01]. Comparisons of OS of Tdali specified to T2
      (Tdali-T2) and that of all patients of T2 or T3 disease also both showed
      significant HRs [Tdali-T2 versus T2, 1.44 (1.23, 1.69), P<0.000, Tdali-T2 versus
      T3, 0.77 (0.64, 0.94), P=0.008]. When only analyzing the patients with N0 status,
      those with Tdali-T2N0 compared to the T2N0 group had a HR of 1.79 (1.37, 2.34)
      (P<0.000). For those with Tdali-T2N0 compared to the T3N0 group, the HR was 0.98
      (0.71, 1.35) (P=0.91). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis showed that the prognosis
      of Tdali is poorer than T2 disease but similar to T3 disease after controlled for
      T and N status. We suggest that Tdali should be considered to be upgraded to T3.
      Our work challenges the current staging system regarding staging of Tdali, which
      might be important evidence of future revision of Tdali staging. As the
      malignancy of Tdali has been underrated till now, more attention needs to be
      drawn to proper treatment of Tdali patients.

PMID- 27621848
TI  - Prognostic significance of CT-emphysema score in patients with advanced squamous
      cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although emphysema is a known independent risk factor of lung cancer,
      no study has addressed the prognostic impact of computed tomography (CT)
      emphysema score in advanced stage lung cancer. METHODS: For 84 consecutive
      patients with stage IIIB and IV squamous cell lung cancer that underwent
      palliative chemotherapy, severity of emphysema was semi-quantitatively scored
      using baseline chest CT images according to the Goddard scoring system (possible
      scores range, 0-24). The cutoff of high CT-emphysema score was determined using
      the maximum chi-squared test and the prognostic significance of the high CT
      emphysema score was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional
      hazards analysis. RESULTS: The median CT-emphysema score was 5 (range, 0-22).
      Patients with a high CT-emphysema score (>=4) tended to have poorer overall
      survival (OS) (median: 6.3 vs. 13.7 months) than those with a score of <4
      (P=0.071). Multivariable analysis revealed that a higher CT-emphysema score was a
      significant independent prognostic factor for poor OS [hazard ratio (HR) =2.06;
      95% confidence interval (CI), 1.24-3.41; P=0.005), along with no response to
      first-line therapy (P=0.009) and no second-line therapy (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      CT-emphysema score is significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients
      with advanced squamous cell lung cancer.

PMID- 27621849
TI  - Intraoperative frozen sections of the regional lymph nodes contribute to surgical
      decision-making in non-small cell lung cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individualization of pulmonary parenchymal resection and
      lymphadenectomy in lung cancer patients will likely become more important as
      surgical innovation. This study explored the utility of intraoperative
      pathological frozen sections of regional lymph nodes in non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC) patients. METHODS: Patients with NSCLC underwent intraoperative
      sampling of N1 station lymph nodes depending on the location of the tumor, any
      other suspicious lymph nodes were also biopsied. The contribution of frozen
      section analysis to surgical decision-making was evaluated. RESULTS: Of 74 lung
      cancer patients who underwent intraoperative frozen section analysis of lymph
      nodes, the positive rate was 18/74 (24.3%). The extents of agreement between
      preoperative N staging (cN) and intraoperative N staging (sN), cN staging and
      postoperative N staging (pN), and sN staging and pN staging were 62.2% (46/74),
      63.5% (47/74), and 71.6% (53/74), respectively. When frozen section was combined
      with evaluation of pulmonary function and intrathoracic adhesions, surgical
      strategies were modified during operations in 18 cases (5 sN-positive, 13 sN
      negative). Of these patients, five underwent extensive pulmonary parenchymal
      resection, and four had conservative lung parenchymal resection. In nine
      patients, the extent of lymph node dissection (LND) was changed. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intraoperative frozen section of regional lymph nodes led to 24.3% operative
      strategies modification in lung cancer. Frozen section analysis may make an
      important contribution to surgical decision-making in terms of pulmonary
      parenchymal resection and LND.

PMID- 27621850
TI  - Nuss procedure for repair of pectus excavatum after failed Ravitch procedure in
      adults: indications and caveats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrence of pectus excavatum (PE) is not an uncommon problem after
      open repair using the Ravitch technique. The optimal approach for redo surgery is
      still under debate, especially in adults with less chest wall pliability. Aim of
      this study was to investigate the usefulness and efficacy of the minimally
      invasive Nuss technique for repair of recurrent PE after conventional open
      repair. METHODS: We performed a retrospective multicentre review of 20 adult
      patients from University Hospital Bern (n=6) and the US Mayo Clinic (n=14) who
      underwent minimally invasive repair of recurrent PE after unsuccessful prior
      Ravitch procedure. RESULTS: Mean patient age at primary open correction was 21
      years, with recurrence being evident after a mean duration of 10.5 years (range,
      0.25-47 years). Mean age at redo surgery using the Nuss technique was 31 years,
      with a mean Haller index of 4.7 before and 2.5 after final correction. Main
      reason for redo surgery was recurrent or persistent deformity (100%), followed by
      chest pain (75%) and exercise intolerance (75%). No major intraoperative or
      postoperative complications occurred and successful correction was possible in
      all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Although the procedure itself is more challenging, the
      minimally invasive Nuss technique can be safely and successfully used for repair
      of recurrent PE after failed open surgery. In our series final results were good
      to excellent in the majority of patients without major complications or
      recurrence.

PMID- 27621852
TI  - Oxygen desaturation during a 6-minute walk test as a predictor of maximal
      exercise-induced gas exchange abnormalities in sarcoidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Common tests for evaluating gas exchange impairment have different
      strengths and weaknesses. Alveolar-to-arterial oxygen pressure difference (AaDO2)
      at peak exercise is a sensitive indicator but it cannot be measured repeatedly.
      Diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLco) is measured at rest and
      may be too insensitive to predict the effects of exercise on gas exchange
      impairment. Oxygen desaturation during a 6-minute walk test (?SpO2-6MWT) can be
      measured repeatedly, but its value in sarcoidosis is unknown. Here, we evaluated
      the ability of ?SpO2-6MWT and DLco to predict gas exchange impairment during
      exercise in sarcoidosis. METHODS: This retrospective study of 130 subjects with
      sarcoidosis investigated the relationship between DLco, ?SpO2-6MWT, and peak
      AaDO2 using correlation tests, inter-test reliability analyses, and predictive
      values. For the analyses of inter-test reliability and predictive values, DLco,
      peak AaDO2, and ?SpO2-6MWT were considered as binary variables (normal/abnormal)
      according to previously defined thresholds. RESULTS: Correlation coefficients
      between DLco, ?SpO2-6MWT, and peak AaDO2 were intermediate (0.53-0.67, P<0.0003)
      and Kappa coefficients were low (0.21-0.42, P=0.0003-0.02). DLco predicted (I)
      increased peak AaDO2 with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 66% and a negative
      predictive value (NPV) of 78% and (II) increased ?SpO2-6MWT with a PPV at 36% and
      an NPV at 88%. Normal DLco was a good predictor of the absence of severe
      desaturation during the 6MWT (94% NPV) and at peak exercise during
      cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) (100% NPV). ?SpO2-6MWT predicted peak AaDO2
      increase with a PPV of 74% and an NPV of 60%. CONCLUSIONS: In a large population
      of sarcoidosis patients, neither ?SpO2-6MWT nor DLco was a good predictor of
      increased peak AaDO2. In contrast, normal DLco was a good predictor of the
      absence of severe desaturation during the 6MWT and at peak exercise during CPET.

PMID- 27621853
TI  - Sufficient myocardial protection of del Nido cardioplegia regardless of
      ventricular mass and myocardial ischemic time in adult cardiac surgical patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Del Nido (DN) cardioplegic solution (CPS) has been widely used during
      pediatric cardiac surgery. However, its use in the field of adult cardiac surgery
      is not popular yet. We evaluated efficacy of DN cardioplegia in adult cardiac
      surgical patients. METHODS: Fifty-three adult patients (mean age, 54+/-16 years)
      who underwent cardiovascular surgery using DN cardioplegia were enrolled.
      Myocardial troponin I (TnI) level up to three days after surgery and early
      clinical outcomes were evaluated. Propensity score matching was performed to
      compare these results with those after surgery using blood cardioplegia (BC).
      RESULTS: DN cardioplegia was infused with an initial dose of 1,126+/-221 mL, and
      an additional 500 mL was reinfused in 15 patients 91 minutes after initial
      infusion. After release of aortic cross clamp (ACC), spontaneous defibrillation
      was achieved in 94.3% (50/53). The peak TnI level after surgery was 9.8 ng/mL
      (range, 2.0-90.2 ng/mL). Linear regression models demonstrated that neither left
      ventricular mass (LVM) nor ACC time was associated with increased level of peak
      TnI (P=0.928 and 0.595, respectively). Early mortality occurred in one patient
      (1.9%). Postoperative complications included atrial fibrillation (n=18, 34.0%),
      acute kidney injury (n=4, 7.5%), low cardiac output syndrome (n=1, 1.9%), and
      respiratory complications (n=1, 1.9%). Propensity score matching extracted 39
      pairs. Spontaneous defibrillation was achieved more frequently in the DN than BC
      groups (37/39 vs. 12/39, P<0.001). Peak level and serial changes of TnI were not
      statistically different between the two groups (P=0.085 and 0.959, respectively).
      There were also no significant differences in early mortality and postoperative
      complication rates between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: DN cardioplegia is as
      effective as BC for adult patients in terms of myocardial protection and early
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27621851
TI  - CT-guided microcoil VATS resection of lung nodules: a single-centre experience
      and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is standard of care for
      small lung resections at many centres. Computed tomography (CT)-guided insertion
      of microcoils can aid surgeons in performing VATS resections for non-palpable
      lung nodules deep to the lung surface. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of CT
      guided microcoil insertions prior to VATS lung resection at a single institution
      from October 2008 to January 2014. RESULTS: A total of 63 patients were included
      (37% male, mean age 61.6+/-11.4 years). Forty-two patients (67%) had a history of
      smoking, with 10 current smokers. Sixty one (97%) patients underwent wedge
      resection and 3 (5%) patients had segmentectomy. Three (5%) patients required
      intra-operative staple line re-resection for positive or close margins. Eleven
      (17%) patients had a completion lobectomy, 5 of which were during the same
      anaesthetic. The average time between the CT-guided insertion and start of
      operation was 136.6+/-89.0 min, and average operative time was 84.0+/-53.3 min.
      The intra-operative complication rate was 5% (n=3), including 1 episode of
      hemoptysis, and 2 conversions to thoracotomy. The post-operative complication
      rate was 8% (5 patients), and included 2 air leaks, 1 hemothorax (drop in
      hemoglobin), 1 post chest tube removal pneumothorax, and one venous infarction of
      the lingula after lingula-sparing lobectomy requiring completion lobectomy. .
      Average post-operative length of stay was 2.2 days. A diagnosis was made for all
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: CT-guided microcoil insertion followed by VATS lobectomy
      is safe, with short operative times, short length of stay and 100% diagnosis of
      small pulmonary nodules. This technique will become more important in the future
      with increasing numbers of small nodules detected on CT as part of lung cancer
      screening programs.

PMID- 27621854
TI  - Sarcopenia of thoracic muscle mass is not a risk factor for survival in lung
      transplant recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In lung transplantation (LTx), patients with thoracic muscle
      sarcopenia may have to require longer to recovery. We measured thoracic muscle
      volume by using the cross sectional area (CSA) and assessed its effect on early
      outcomes after LTx. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate
      the effect of thoracic sarcopenia in patients undergoing LTx between January 2010
      and July 2015. The lowest CSA quartile (Q1) was defined as sarcopenia. RESULTS:
      In total, 109 patients were enrolled. The mean CSA was 58.24+/-15.82 cm(2).
      Patients in the highest CSA quartile were more likely to be male (92.6% vs.
      17.9%, P<0.001), older (55.2+/-10.1 vs. 43.2+/-14.9 years, P=0.001), to have a
      higher body mass index (BMI) (22.3+/-4.0 vs. 19.4+/-3.7 kg/m(2), P=0.007), and to
      have pulmonary fibrosis (85.2% vs. 35.7%, P=0.003) compared with the lowest CSA
      quartile. Early outcomes including ventilator support duration [32.9+/-49.2 vs.
      24.5+/-39.9 days, P= not significant (ns)], intensive care unit (ICU) stay
      duration (28.4+/-43.7 vs. 24.4+/-35.9 days, P= ns) and hospital stay duration
      (61.4+/-48.2 vs. 50.8+/-37.2 days, P= ns) tended to be longer in Q1 than Q4, but
      the difference was not significant. However, the 1-year survival rate was better
      in Q1 compared with Q4 (66.6% vs. 46.0%, P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Although patients
      with thoracic sarcopenia seem to require a longer post-operative recovery time
      after LTx, this does not compromise their early outcomes. By contrast, patients
      with larger thoracic muscle volume (Q4) showed poorer survival times.

PMID- 27621855
TI  - Risk factors for recurrence after sublobar resection in patients with small (2 cm
      or less) non-small cell lung cancer presenting as a solid-predominant tumor on
      chest computed tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sublobar resection is considered controversial for non-small cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC) presenting as a solid-predominant nodule. The aim of this
      study was to identify risk factors related to recurrence in small-sized NSCLC
      presenting as a solid-predominant nodule. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective
      chart review of 118 patients who were treated for clinical N0 NSCLC sized <=2 cm
      and who underwent sublobar resection with clear resection margins. We assigned
      them to two groups according to radiologic features: ground glass opacity (GGO)
      predominant tumor and solid-predominant tumor. Clinicopathological
      characteristics and survival were analyzed in both groups. Risk factors for
      recurrence were analyzed in the solid-predominant tumor group. RESULTS: Seventy
      three patients had a GGO-predominant tumor, and 45 patients had a solid
      predominant tumor. Five-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) in the solid
      predominant tumor and GGO-predominant tumor groups was 64.9% and 95.5%,
      respectively. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine factors
      associated with recurrence after sublobar resection in the solid-predominant
      tumor group; it indicated that SUVmax [hazard ratio (HR) =1.482, 95% confidence
      interval (CI): 1.123-1.956, P=0.005] and histologic types other than
      adenocarcinoma (squamous cell carcinoma, HR =8.789, 95% CI: 1.572-49.134,
      P=0.013; other types, HR =53.569, 95% CI: 2.616-1096.849, P=0.010) were
      significant risk factors for recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors in solid
      predominant tumors sized <=2 cm after sublobar resection are a high SUVmax and
      histologic types other than adenocarcinoma. Thus, lobectomy should be considered
      for solid-predominant NSCLC sized <=2 cm with a high SUVmax or non-adenocarcinoma
      types.

PMID- 27621858
TI  - A comparison of balloon angioplasty of native coarctation versus surgical repair
      for short segment coarctation associated with ventricular septal defect-a single
      center retrospective review of 92 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hybrid technique combining balloon angioplasty for discrete
      coarctation (CoA) and surgical repair of a ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a
      novel treatment for patients with aortic CoA and VSD, but the efficacy of this
      approach is unknown. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 92
      patients with short segment CoA and VSD who underwent complete repair between
      January 2004 and July 2014 in our center. Patients were divided into two groups
      according to the surgical approach employed: hybrid procedure (group A, n=39) and
      traditional midline surgical repair (group B, n=53). Baseline, perioperative, and
      outcome data were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Three early deaths
      occurred in group B, whereas none occurred in group A. Compared to those in group
      B, patients in group A experienced a shorter aortic clamp duration (28.1+/-6.7
      vs. 43.2+/-9.2 minutes, P<0.001), shorter cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) duration
      (52.9+/-10.7 vs. 86.2+/-23.8 minutes, P<0.001), shorter ventilator time (47.0 vs.
      73.7 hours, P=0.002), and shorter intensive care unit stay (6.2 vs. 9.1 days,
      P=0.019). The risks for aortic re-CoA and re-intervention did not differ
      significantly between the groups within five years (P=0.40 and 0.65,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The hybrid technique was associated with better
      periprocedural outcomes for patients with short-segment CoA and VSD. The
      incidences of aortic re-CoA and re-intervention were comparable between the
      hybrid technique and surgical groups over a mid-term follow-up.

PMID- 27621857
TI  - Lung cancer resection with concurrent off-pump coronary artery bypasses: safety
      and efficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the safety and efficacy of combined surgery for patients
      with concurrent lung cancer and severe coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS:
      Between 2003 and 2014, 34 patients with stage I or II lung cancer and
      simultaneous severe CHD underwent combined off-pump coronary artery bypass
      (OPCAB) grafting and lung resection. Surgically, myocardial revascularization was
      performed first and followed by lobectomies through the same or a second
      incision. Video-assisted thoracoscopes were used in some cases. Five patients
      also received chemotherapy before or after combined surgery in an effort to
      improve the long-term survival. RESULTS: All patients survived the operation and
      no new myocardial infarctions (MIs) occurred in the perioperative period. The
      most frequent complications were cardiac arrhythmias (5 cases), atelectasis (4
      cases), and pulmonary infections (2 cases). All patients were followed up for 5
      60 months. Within this period, 6 patients (17.6%) died due to cancer recurrence.
      The 3- and 5-year survivals were 75% and 67% for these lung cancer patients,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Combined OPCAB and pulmonary resection for early stage
      lung cancer patients with concurrent severe CHD is a relatively safe and
      effective treatment with satisfactory long-term survival rates, especially for
      those patients with three-vessel disease who are not usually candidates for
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) before open surgery.

PMID- 27621856
TI  - Erythroblast transformation-specific 2 correlates with vascular smooth muscle
      cell apoptosis in rat heterotopic heart transplantation model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) decreases the long-term survival
      of heart transplantation recipients. Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis
      is an important pathological feature of CAV. Erythroblast transformation-specific
      2 (Ets-2), as a transcription factor, participates in cell apoptosis and plays an
      important role in organ transplantation. METHODS: Hearts from Wistar-Furth
      (WF:RT1u) rats were heterotopically transplanted into Lewis (Lew:RT1(l)) rats
      without immunosuppression. Additional syngeneic heterotopic cardiac
      transplantations were performed in Lewis rats. HE staining was used to identify
      CAV. Ets-2 expression was examined by western blot. Ets-2 tissue location was
      examined by immunohistochemical assay and double immunostaining. Cleaved caspase
      3 expression was detected by western blot. Co-localization of Ets-2 and cleaved
      caspase 3 was detected by double immunostaining. Ets-2, p53, cleaved caspase 3
      and Bcl-xl expression in rat VSMC line A7R5 was examined after Ets-2 siRNA
      transfection. TUNEL assay was applied to detect A7R5 apoptosis with or without
      ETS-2 siRNA transfection. Immunoprecipitation was performed to explore the
      interaction between Ets-2 and p53. RESULTS: Ets-2 expression decreased in the
      allograft group but had no obvious change in the isograft group. Meanwhile, the
      phenomenon of CAV was observed in the allograft group and there is neointima
      formation in the isograft group which is not obvious compared with allograft
      group. Additionally, Ets-2 expression was opposite to VSMC apoptosis in the
      allograft group. In vitro, Ets-2 siRNA transfection in A7R5cells resulted in
      enhanced cell apoptosis. Finally, Ets-2 interacted with p53. CONCLUSIONS: Ets-2
      might inhibit VSMC apoptosis via p53 pathway. The results further elucidate the
      molecular mechanism of VSMC apoptosis after heart transplantation during CAV and
      provide theoretical basis for seeking new specific drug targets for CAV
      prevention and treatment.

PMID- 27621859
TI  - A lot to a little or a little to a lot-which dose-volume relationship ensures the
      best clinical outcome in the high dose radiation therapy of thoracic tumors? A
      prospective approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this prospective randomized trial is to determine
      which constellation of dose and corresponding volume of the lung tissue-either a
      lot to a little or a little to a lot-should be preferred to ensure the best
      possible outcome for patients with thoracic carcinomas. METHODS: From Apr 2012 to
      Oct 2015, 81 patients with NSCLC, SCLC or esophageal carcinoma were randomized
      and treated with either a 4-field-IMRT or a VMAT technique with or without
      additional chemotherapy. Data regarding clinical outcome, pulmonary function
      tests (PFT) and quality of life (QoL) was collected before RT, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
      and 6 months after treatment, QoL data additionally 1 year post RT. Follow up CTs
      were done 12 weeks and 6 months after RT. RESULTS: There is no significant
      difference regarding the local (P=0.954) and distant (P=0.206) outcome, side
      effects (all P>0.05) or survival (P=0.633) at any follow-up appointment. The
      comparison of the PFT shows a statistically significant difference for the DLCO 6
      weeks post RT (P=0.028). All other parameters do not differ significantly at any
      follow up appointment. Regarding the QoL there is no statistically significant
      difference at any follow up appointment (P>0.1). There is a statistically
      significant difference between the mean density of the lung parenchyma at 12
      weeks (P<0.0005) and 6 months post RT (P<0.0005). CONCLUSIONS: Since there is no
      significant and relevant difference between both treatment arms regarding PFT,
      clinical outcome and QoL it does not seem to relevant how the DVH is shaped
      exactly as long as established dose constraints for the organs at risk are
      respected. As to whether the difference between the CT density changes is
      clinically relevant further analysis is needed.

PMID- 27621860
TI  - Use of laryngeal mask airway for non-endotracheal intubated anesthesia for
      patients with pectus excavatum undergoing thoracoscopic Nuss procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to determine the safety and
      feasibility of the use of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) for non-endotracheal
      intubated anesthesia for patients with pectus excavatum (PE) undergoing
      thoracoscopic Nuss procedure. METHODS: Between July 2015 and December 2015, 30
      selected patients with PE were planned to undergo a thoracoscopic Nuss procedure
      using LMA for non-endotracheal intubated anesthesia in the Guangdong General
      Hospital. The clinical data were analyzed to evaluate the safety and feasibility
      of this technique. RESULTS: Of the 30 selected patients, two were female, the
      mean age was 16.04+/-5.09 years and the average Haller index was 3.37+/-0.88. A
      total of 27 cases (90%) succeeded at the first attempt, one patient required
      conversion to an endotracheal tube (ETT) because of continuous air leak. The
      peripheral O2 saturation (SpO2), end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) values, heart
      rate (HR), and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) remained stable throughout the
      procedure in all cases. All of the 30 patients were successfully corrected
      without requiring conversion to an open surgery. Two patients experienced
      postoperative nausea and one reported a sore throat. Neither gastro-esophageal
      reflux nor in-hospital mortality occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The use of LMA for non
      endotracheal intubated anesthesia for selected patients with PE undergoing
      thoracoscopic Nuss procedure is clinically safe and technically feasible.

PMID- 27621861
TI  - Serum selenium levels in patients with respiratory diseases: a prospective
      observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum selenium levels are lower in critically ill patients as
      compared with healthy controls. However, there is no data about the difference in
      serum selenium levels depending on the severity of lung diseases. We aimed to
      identify the factors associated with low serum selenium levels in critically ill
      patients with respiratory diseases. METHODS: A prospective study was performed in
      83 patients with respiratory diseases who had admitted to the intensive care unit
      (ICU) and general wards. We obtained systemic inflammatory markers, nutritional
      indicators and prognostic factors as the explanatory variables for the outcome of
      low serum selenium levels. RESULTS: Serum selenium levels on admission were lower
      by 28% in the ICU group as compared with the general ward group (70.0+/-26.4 and
      97.9+/-20.8 ng/mL, respectively, P<0.001). Low serum selenium levels had a
      correlation with malnutrition represented by decreases in levels of lymphocyte
      (R(2)=0.107, P=0.005) and albumin (R(2)=0.174, P<0.001). In addition, low serum
      selenium levels were associated with an increase in baseline C-reactive protein
      (CRP) (R(2)=0.059, P=0.041) and APACHE II scores (R(2)=0.209, P<0.001). Lower
      albumin levels (P=0.032) and higher APACHE II scores (P=0.046) showed a
      significant correlation with lower serum selenium levels on multivariate
      analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Low serum selenium levels in patients with respiratory
      diseases have a significant correlation with poor nutritional status and
      prognosis on admission.

PMID- 27621862
TI  - Surgical outcomes associated with postoperative atrial fibrillation after robotic
      assisted pulmonary lobectomy: retrospective review of 208 consecutive cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we sought to investigate the effect of post-operative
      atrial fibrillation (POAF) after robotic-assisted video-thoracoscopic pulmonary
      lobectomy on comorbid postoperative complications, chest tube duration, and
      hospital length of stay (LOS). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed prospectively
      collected data from 208 consecutive patients who underwent robotic-assisted
      pulmonary lobectomy by one surgeon for known or suspected lung cancer.
      Postoperatively, 39 (18.8%) of these patients experienced POAF during their
      hospital stay. The occurrence of postoperative complications other than POAF,
      chest tube duration, and hospital LOS were analyzed in patients with POAF and
      without POAF. Statistical significance (P<=0.05) was determined by unpaired
      Student's t-test or by Chi-square test. RESULTS: Of patients with POAF, 46% also
      had other concurrent postoperative complications, while only 31% of patients
      without POAF experienced complications. The average number of postoperative
      complications experienced by patients with POAF was significantly higher than
      that experienced by those without POAF (0.9 vs. 0.4, P<0.05). Median chest tube
      duration in POAF patients (6 days) was significantly higher than in patients
      without POAF (4 days). A similar result was also seen with hospital LOS, with the
      median hospital LOS of 8 days in POAF patients being significantly longer than in
      those without POAF, whose median hospital LOS was 4 days. No other significant
      difference was detected between the two groups of patients. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study demonstrated the association between the incidence of POAF and a more
      complicated hospital course. Further studies are needed to determine whether
      confounders were involved in this association.

PMID- 27621863
TI  - Preoperative misdiagnosis analysis and accurate distinguish intrathymic cyst from
      small thymoma on computed tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the role of computed tomography (CT) in preoperative
      diagnosis of intrathymic cyst and small thymoma, and determine the best CT
      threshold for distinguish intrathymic cyst from small thymoma. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 30 patients (17 intrathymic cyst
      and 13 small thymoma) who had undergone mediastinal masses resection (with
      diameter less than 3 cm) under thoracoscope between January 2014 and July 2015 at
      our hospital. Clinical and CT features were compared and receiver-operating
      characteristics curve (ROC) analysis was performed. RESULTS: The CT value of
      small thymoma [39.5 HU (IQR, 33.7-42.2 HU)] was significantly higher than
      intrathymic cyst [25.8 HU (IQR, 22.3-29.3 HU), P=0.004]. When CT value was 31.2
      HU, it could act as a threshold for identification of small thymoma and
      intrathymic cyst (the sensitivity and specificity was 92.3% and 82.4%,
      respectively). The DeltaCT value of enhanced CT value with the non-enhanced CT
      value was significantly different between small thymoma [18.7 HU (IQR, 10.9-19.0
      HU)] and intrathymic cyst [4.3 HU (IQR, 3.0-11.7 HU), P=0.04]. The density was
      more homogenous in intrathymic cyst than small thymoma, and the contour of the
      intrathymic cyst was more smoothly than small thymoma. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative
      CT scans could help clinicians to identify intrathymic cyst and small thymoma,
      and we recommend 31.2 HU as the best thresholds. Contrast-enhanced CT scans is
      useful for further identification of the two diseases.

PMID- 27621864
TI  - Characteristics of patients with pseudochylothorax-a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudochylothorax (PCT) (cholesterol pleurisy or chyliform effusion)
      is a cholesterol-rich pleural effusion (PE) that is commonly associated with
      chronic inflammatory disorders. Nevertheless, the characteristics of patients
      with PCT are poorly defined. METHODS: A systematic review was performed across
      two electronic databases searching for studies reporting clinical findings, PE
      characteristics, and the most effective treatment of PCT. Case descriptions and
      retrospective studies were included. RESULTS: The review consisted of 62 studies
      with a total of 104 patients. Median age was 58 years, the male/female ratio was
      2.6/1, and in the 88.5% of cases the etiology was tuberculosis (TB) or rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). PE was usually unilateral (88%) and occupied greater than one
      third of the hemithorax (96.3%). There was no evidence of pleural thickening in
      20.6% of patients, and 14 patients had a previous PE. The pleural fluid (PF) was
      an exudate, usually milky (94%) and with a predominance of lymphocytes (61.1%).
      The most sensitive tests to establish the diagnosis were the
      cholesterol/triglycerides ratio (CHOL/TG ratio) >1, and the presence of
      cholesterol crystals (97.4% and 89.7%, respectively). PF culture for TB was
      positive in the 34.1% of patients. Favorable outcomes with medical treatment,
      therapeutic thoracentesis, decortication/pleurectomy, pleurodesis, thoracic
      drainage and thoracoscopic drainage were achieved in 78.9%, 47.8%, 86.7%, 66.6%,
      37.5% and 42.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PCT is usually tuberculous or
      rheumatoid, unilateral and the PF is a milky exudate. The presence of cholesterol
      crystals and a CHOL/TG ratio >1 are the most sensitive test for the diagnosis.
      The lack of pleural thickening does not rule out PCT. Treatment should be
      sequential, treating the underlying causes, and assessing the need for
      interventional techniques.

PMID- 27621865
TI  - Randomized trial of epidural vs. subcutaneous catheters for managing pain after
      modified Nuss in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE) is now
      performed in adults. Managing adult patients' pain postoperatively has been
      challenging due to increased chest wall rigidity and the pressure required for
      supporting the elevated sternum. The optimal pain management regimen has not been
      determined. We designed this prospective, randomized trial to compare
      postoperative pain management and outcomes between thoracic epidural analgesia
      (TEA) and bilateral subcutaneous infusion pump catheters (On-Q). METHODS:
      Patients undergoing MIRPE (modified Nuss) underwent random assignment to TEA or
      On-Q group. Both groups received intravenous, patient-controlled opioid
      analgesia, with concomitant delivery of local anesthetic. Primary outcomes were
      length of stay (LOS), opioid use, and pain scores. RESULTS: Of 85 randomly
      assigned patients, 68 completed the study [52 men, 76.5%; mean (range) age, 32.2
      (20.0-58.0) years; Haller index, 5.9 (range, 3.0-26.7)]. The groups were equally
      matched for preoperative variables; however, the On-Q arm had more patients
      (60.3%). No significant differences were found between groups in mean daily pain
      scores (P=0.52), morphine-equivalent opioid usage (P=0.28), or hospital stay 3.5
      vs. 3.3 days (TEA vs. On-Q; P=0.55). Thirteen patients randomized to TEA refused
      the epidural and withdrew from the study because they perceived greater benefit
      of the On-Q system. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative pain management in adults after
      MIRPE can be difficult. Both continuous local anesthetic delivery by TEA and On-Q
      catheters with concomitant, intravenous, patient-controlled anesthesia maintained
      acceptable analgesia with a reasonable LOS. In our cohort, there was preference
      for the On-Q system for pain management.

PMID- 27621866
TI  - Chronic kidney disease and the severity of coronary artery disease and retinal
      microvasculature changes: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prior studies have suggested the association between incidence of
      coronary artery disease (CAD) with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and poor
      glomerular filtration function. However to the best of our knowledge, few studies
      have specifically assessed this relationship based on the severity of CAD as
      quantified using Extent and Gensini scores. METHODS: Between June 2009 and
      January 2012, data were collected from 1,680 participants as part of the
      Australian Heart Eye Study (AHES) cohort. Coronary angiograms were scored
      according to Gensini (severity) and Extent scores. Retinal vessel calibres were
      measured using validated semi-automated software. Potential confounders were
      adjusted for using multivariate analysis. RESULTS: There were no significant
      associations found between CKD status with Extent and Gensini scores for CAD
      severity, both unadjusted and when adjusted for confounding factors. In
      unadjusted analyses, a significant association between CKD and narrower retinal
      arteriolar diameter was observed (P=0.0072). After multivariate adjustment, the
      association between CKD and retinal arteriolar diameter was attenuated and was no
      longer significant (P=0.1466). No associations were observed between retinal
      venular calibre and prevalent CKD. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated no
      independent associations between CKD and CAD severity. These results warrant
      validation by future large, prospective longitudinal studies.

PMID- 27621867
TI  - Concomitant off-pump coronary artery bypass and non-cardiovascular surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reports on concomitant cardiac and non-cardiovascular surgeries have
      noted disadvantages in the use of extracorporeal circulation. We assessed the
      results of concomitant off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) and non
      cardiovascular surgery, and compared them with isolated OPCAB results. METHODS:
      Of 2,439 patients who underwent OPCAB between 1999 and 2014, 115 patients
      underwent concomitant OPCAB and non-cardiovascular surgery. Combined non
      cardiovascular diseases included 63 malignant and 52 benign diseases. Concomitant
      non-cardiovascular surgeries performed were general (n=62), thoracic (n=47),
      orthopedic (n=3), urologic (n=2) and otolaryngologic surgeries (n=1). Operative
      results were compared between the OPCAB patients who underwent concomitant non
      cardiovascular surgeries (group 1, n=115) and isolated OPCAB patients (group 2,
      n=2,251). Because preoperative characteristics of the two groups were different,
      a 1:2 propensity score-matched analysis was performed and operative results of
      the two matched groups were compared. RESULTS: Operative mortality rates were
      0.9% (1/115) in group 1 and 1.0% (22/2,251) in group 2 (P=0.909). Although there
      were differences in preoperative patient characteristics, postoperative
      complications, including atrial fibrillation (36.5% vs. 28.8%), perioperative
      myocardial infarction (MI) (4.3% vs. 5.2%), acute renal failure (1.7% vs. 4.9%),
      mediastinitis (0.9% vs. 0.8%), bleeding reoperation (0.9% vs. 2.9%), and
      respiratory complications (2.6% vs. 2.1%), did not show significant differences
      between the two groups. After a 1:2 propensity score-matched analysis, there were
      no statistical differences in operative complications between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant OPCAB and non-cardiovascular surgeries were not
      associated with increased mortality and postoperative morbidities when compared
      with isolated OPCAB.

PMID- 27621868
TI  - Validation of EORTC and CALGB prognostic models in surgical patients submitted to
      diagnostic, palliative or curative surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the trend of our surgical patients affected by malignant
      pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and submitted to diagnostic/palliative or curative
      surgical procedures and to validate the European Organisation for Research and
      Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) prognostic score in our patient population. METHODS:
      This is a cohort study of patients submitted to surgery for MPM from January 2007
      to December 2013. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Univariate and
      multivariate-adjusted comparisons by EORTC prognostic score for OS were
      accomplished using Cox method. Adjusted models included the following clinical
      variables: kind of procedure, smoking habit, asbestos exposure, Charlson's
      Comorbidity Index (CCI), clinical tumor stage, adjuvant chemotherapy, dyspnoea,
      chest pain and haematological variables according to the score features.
      Nomenclature of the surgical procedures matches the International Association for
      the Study Lung Cancer (IASLC)/International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMIG).
      RESULTS: One-hundred sixty-six consecutive cases were collected: the median age
      at surgery was 73 years and 123 patients (75%) had a history of asbestos
      exposure. Ninty patients (54%) were submitted to a palliative/diagnostic
      thoracoscopy, 30 to pleurectomy/decortication (P/D), and 6 to extra-pleural
      pneumonectomy (EPP). Clinical TNM stages were as follows: 99 (60%) stage I-II, 34
      (20%) stage III and 33 (20%) stage IV. The median follow-up (FU) was 19 months
      [interquartile range (IQR), 9-31 months] and the FU-completeness was 98%. By the
      end of the study 130 patients died (78%). One- and 3-year OS was 60% and 36%,
      respectively. Patients submitted to EPP and P/D showed a better survival
      (P=0.013). Multivariable model showed an independent prognostic value of EORTC
      score (HR =2.86, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In selected patients, aggressive surgical
      approaches, although not radical, may still be beneficial. The EORTC prognostic
      index proved to be an independent prognostic factor in our cohort of patients and
      therefore is a reliable and valid instrument that may be implemented in the daily
      practice.

PMID- 27621870
TI  - Correlation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing parameters with quality of life
      in stable COPD patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The precise head to head relationships between Cardio-pulmonary
      exercise testing (CPET) parameters and patients' daily symptoms/activities and
      the disease social/emotional impact are less well defined. In this study, the
      correlation of COPD daily symptoms and quality of life [assessed by St. George's
      Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)] and COPD severity index (BODE-index) with CPET
      parameters were investigated. METHODS: Symptom-limited CPET was performed in 37
      consecutive COPD (GOLD I-III) subjects during non-exacerbation phase. The SGRQ
      was also completed by each patient. RESULTS: SGRQ-score correlated negatively
      with FEV1 (r=-0.49, P<0.01), predicted maximal work-rate (%WR-max) (r=-0.44,
      P<0.01), V'O2/WR (r=-0.52, P<0.01) and breathing reserve (r=-0.50, P<0.01).
      However it did not correlate with Peak-V'O2% predicted (r=-0.27, P=0.10). In 20
      (54.1%) subjects in which leg fatigue was the main cause for stopping the test,
      Peak-V'O2, %WR-max, HR-Reserve and Breathing reserve were higher (P=0.04, <0.01,
      0.04 and <0.01 respectively) than the others. There was also a significant
      correlation between BODE-index and ?VO2/?WR (r=-0.64, P<0.001) and breathing
      reserve (r=-0.38, P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: The observed relationships between CPET
      parameter and daily subjective complaints in COPD were not strong. Those who
      discontinued the CPET because of leg fatigue were in the earlier stages of COPD.
      Significant negative correlation between ?VO2/?WR and BODE-index suggests that
      along with COPD progression, regardless of negative past history, other
      comorbidities such as cardiac/musculoskeletal problems should be sought.

PMID- 27621869
TI  - Usefulness of conventional transbronchial needle aspiration in the diagnosis,
      staging and molecular characterization of pulmonary neoplasias by thin-prep based
      cytology: experience of a single oncological institute.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (c-TBNA) contributed to
      improve the bronchoscopic examination, allowing to sample lesions located even
      outside the tracheo-bronchial tree and in the hilo-mediastinal district, both for
      diagnostic and staging purposes. METHODS: We have evaluated the sensitivity,
      accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of
      the c-TBNA performed during the 2005-2015 period for suspicious lung neoplasia
      and/or hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy at the Thoracic endoscopy of the
      Thoracic Surgery Department of the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome.
      Data from 273 consecutive patients (205 males and 68 females) were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Among 158 (58%) adequate specimens, 112 (41%) were neoplastic or
      contained atypical cells, 46 (17%) were negative or not diagnostic. We considered
      in the analysis first the overall period; then we compared the findings of the
      first [2005-2011] and second period [2012-2015] and, finally, only those of
      adequate specimens. During the overall period, sensibility and accuracy values
      were respectively of 53% and 63%, in the first period they reached 41% and 53%
      respectively; in the second period sensibility and accuracy reached 60% and 68%.
      Considering only the adequate specimens, sensibility and accuracy during the
      overall period were respectively of 80% and 82%; the values obtained for the
      first period were 68% and 72%. Finally, in the second period, sensibility reached
      86% and accuracy 89%. Carcinoma-subtyping was possible in 112 cases,
      adenocarcinomas being diagnosed in 50 cases; further, in 30 cases molecular
      predictive data could be obtained. CONCLUSIONS: The c-TBNA proved to be an
      efficient method for the diagnosis/staging of lung neoplasms and for the
      diagnosis of mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Endoscopist's skill and technical
      development, associated to thin-prep cytology and to a rapid on site examination
      (ROSE), were able to provide by c-TBNA a high diagnostic yield and molecular
      predictive data in advanced lung carcinomas.

PMID- 27621872
TI  - Division of the intersegmental plane during thoracoscopic segmentectomy: is
      stapling an issue?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stapling is becoming the method of choice for dividing the
      intersegmental plane during thoracoscopic segmentectomies. The technique however
      is controversial as it can impair re-expansion of preserved segments. We have
      analyzed the morbidity and lung re-expansion on a series of 175 thoracoscopic
      segmentectomies. METHODS: A total of 175 patients underwent a thoracoscopic
      anatomic segmentectomy. Ten patients were excluded due to conversion into
      thoracotomy. There were 89 females (54%) and 76 males (46%). Mean age was 63
      years (range, 18-83 years). Indications for segmentectomy were as follows:
      primary lung cancer (n=100, 61%), metastases (n=27, 16%), benign non-infectious
      lesions (n=20, 12%) and benign infectious lesions (n=18, 11%). The intersegmental
      plane was divided with an endostapler in all patients. Lung re-expansion
      assessment included chest roentgenograms at discharge and at one-month
      consultation. RESULTS: The overall complication rate was 17%. There were 0.6%
      major complications and 16% minor complications. The average duration of drainage
      was 3 days (range, 1-13 days) and average length of stay was 5.7 days (range, 2
      22 days). At discharge and at 1-month follow-up chest radiography, incomplete
      lung re-expansion was observed in 12 (7.4%) and 4 patients (2.8%) respectively.
      Patients who underwent upper lobe segmentectomy had significantly more incomplete
      re-expansion at discharge and at 1-month follow-up. On univariate analysis, mean
      drainage duration was significantly longer in patients who underwent upper
      segmentectomy (mean 3.7 days; range, 1-13) than those who underwent lower
      segmentectomy (mean 2.7 days; range, 1-5). CONCLUSIONS: Although stapling of the
      intersegmental plane most likely slightly impairs lung re-expansion, clinical and
      radiological consequences are minimal.

PMID- 27621871
TI  - Accuracy of ultrasound for the diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis in
      esophageal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer is considered a serious malignancy with respect to
      its prognosis and mortality rate. Cervical lymph node status is one of the keys
      to determining prognosis and treatment methods. However, published data vary
      regarding the accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of cervical lymph node
      metastasis. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of ultrasound for
      detecting cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with esophageal cancer.
      METHODS: The PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library
      databases were searched to identify studies related to cervical lymph node
      metastasis, and 22 studies comprising 3,513 patients met our inclusion criteria.
      We used a bivariate meta-analysis following a random effects model to summarize
      the data. We also explored reasons for statistical heterogeneity using meta
      regression, subgroup, and sensitivity analyses. Publication bias was assessed
      with a Deeks funnel plot. RESULTS: The area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve was 0.97 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95-0.98], and the
      pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 121.00 (95% CI: 47.57-307.79). With cut-off
      values of 5 mm and >5 mm for cervical lymph node size, the sensitivities and
      specificities (95% confidence interval) for ultrasound detection of cervical
      lymph node metastasis were 84% (67-93%) and 93% (90-95%); and 94% (76-98%) and
      98% (89-100%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time the
      diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for predicting cervical lymph node-positive
      metastasis in esophageal cancer. Our analysis shows that ultrasonography may be
      an effective and reliable approach to detect cervical lymph node metastasis in
      esophageal cancer. However, to accommodate heterogeneity, high-quality studies
      are needed to further verify the efficacy of ultrasound detection.

PMID- 27621873
TI  - Perioperative outcomes and lymph node assessment after induction therapy in
      patients with clinical N1 or N2 non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Induction therapy has been shown to benefit patients with resectable
      stage-2 or stage-3 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to determine if
      induction chemotherapy (CTx) with or without radiation therapy (+/- RT) for NSCLC
      with clinical lymph node (LN) involvement (cN1 or cN2) affects LN dissection or
      perioperative outcomes during robotic-assisted video thoracoscopic (RAVTS)
      lobectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent RAVTS
      lobectomy for NSCLC over 45 months. We assessed clinical LN status by CT scan,
      PET scan, endobronchial ultrasound, and/or mediastinoscopy. We grouped patients
      with cN1 or cN2 as: "no induction therapy", "induction CTx alone" (ICTx), or
      "induction CTx + RT" (ICTx + RT). Intraoperative estimated blood loss (EBL),
      operative times, tumor size, LN status, and restaging were noted. RESULTS: Of 256
      NSCLC patients who had lobectomy, there were 52 cN1 or cN2 patients, of whom 39
      patients had "no induction", 7 had ICTx, and 6 had ICTx + RT. Higher rates of
      recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury, tracheal/bronchial injury, and pulmonary
      embolism were observed with ICTx +/- RT (P=0.02, 0.04, and 0.02, respectively).
      Total number of complications was not significantly different, nor were
      perioperative outcomes, such as EBL, operative time, and in-hospital mortality.
      Fewer N2 LN stations were assessed after ICTx +/- RT (3.7+/-0.2 vs. 4.2+/-0.2
      stations; P=0.04), but total number of LNs reported were not significantly
      different (13.0+/-2.3 vs. 16.2+/-1.0 LNs, P=0.22). Of "no induction" patients,
      15.4% were upstaged pathologically; no patients were upstaged after induction
      therapy. While 30.8% of ICTx +/- RT patients were downstaged, 38.5% of "no
      induction" patients were also downstaged on final pathology. CONCLUSIONS:
      Induction CTx +/- RT for cN1 or cN2 NSCLC patients did not affect EBL, operative
      times, or in-house mortality after RAVTS lobectomy. Patients undergoing RAVTS
      lobectomy after ICTx+ RT may be at greater risk for RLN injury,
      tracheal/bronchial injury, and pulmonary embolism. Fewer N2 LN stations, but not
      numbers of LNs, are assessed after ICTx +/- RT. Induction therapy does not lead
      to increased downstaging.

PMID- 27621874
TI  - A survey among Brazilian thoracic surgeons about the use of preoperative 2D and
      3D images.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Describe the characteristics of how the thoracic surgeon uses the
      2D/3D medical imaging to perform surgical planning, clinical practice and
      teaching in thoracic surgery and check the initial choice and the final choice of
      the Brazilian Thoracic surgeon as the 2D and 3D models pictures before and after
      acquiring theoretical knowledge on the generation, manipulation and interactive
      3D views. METHODS: A descriptive research type Survey cross to data provided by
      the Brazilian Thoracic Surgeons (members of the Brazilian Society of Thoracic
      Surgery) who responded to the online questionnaire via the internet on their
      computers or personal devices. RESULTS: Of the 395 invitations visualized
      distributed by email, 107 surgeons completed the survey. There was no statically
      difference when comparing the 2D vs. 3D models pictures for the following
      purposes: diagnosis, assessment of the extent of disease, preoperative surgical
      planning, and communication among physicians, resident training, and
      undergraduate medical education. Regarding the type of tomographic image display
      routinely used in clinical practice (2D or 3D or 2D-3D model image) and the one
      preferred by the surgeon at the end of the questionnaire. Answers surgeons for
      exclusive use of 2D images: initial choice =50.47% and preferably end =14.02%.
      Responses surgeons to use 3D models in combination with 2D images: initial choice
      =48.60% and preferably end =85.05%. There was a significant change in the final
      selection of 3D models used together with the 2D images (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:
      There is a lack of knowledge of the 3D imaging, as well as the use and
      interactive manipulation in dedicated 3D applications, with consequent lack of
      uniformity in the surgical planning based on CT images. These findings certainly
      confirm in changing the preference of thoracic surgeons of 2D views of
      technologies for 3D images.

PMID- 27621875
TI  - Global DNA methylation and PTEN hypermethylation alterations in lung tissues from
      human silicosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Silicosis is a respiratory disease caused by long-term silica dust
      exposure. Our previous study has demonstrated that silica mediates the activation
      of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on
      chromosome 10 (PTEN)/serine or threonine kinase (AKT)/mitogen-activated protein
      kinases (MAPK)/AP-1 pathway in human embryo lung fibroblasts (HELFs). The purpose
      of this study is to identify genome-wide aberrant DNA methylation profiling in
      lung tissues from silicosis patients. METHODS: We performed Illumina Human
      Methylation 450K Beadchip arrays to investigate the methylation alteration in
      formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) lung specimens, immunohistochemistry to
      detect the level of c-Jun and PTEN proteins; methylation specific PCR (MS-PCR) to
      identify PTEN and c-Jun promoter methylation in HELFs. RESULTS: We found 86,770
      CpG sites and 79,660 CpG sites significantly differed in methylation status in
      early-stage and advanced-stage compared with GEO normal lung methylation data.
      Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed the methylated
      status of MAPK signaling pathway was considered changed. The number of PTEN and c
      Jun CpG promoter methylated-sites were increased in advanced-stage. Early-stage
      showed the positive expression of c-Jun and PTEN protein and negative or mild
      expression in advanced-stage. PTEN promoter was no differentially methylated and
      c-Jun promoter differed at 12 and 24 h in HELFs. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal DNA
      methylation on genome-scale was implicated in silicosis, and PTEN promoter
      hypermethylation might be associated with decrease of PTEN protein.

PMID- 27621876
TI  - Initial experience of single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery sleeve
      lobectomy and systematic mediastinal lymphadenectomy for non-small-cell lung
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we evaluate the feasibility and safety of single-port
      video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) sleeve lobectomy (SL) and systematic
      mediastinal lymphadenectomy and summarize our surgical experience. METHODS: From
      October 2014 to December 2015, eight cases of single-port VATS SL [seven male
      patients and one female patient, median age 56.0 (range, 38-63) years] were
      performed by a single group of surgeons in Fujian Medical University Fujian Union
      Hospital. The median tumor size was 2.7 cm. Types of resection included four
      right upper, one right lower, and three left upper sleeve lobectomies. Systematic
      mediastinal lymphadenectomy was performed in all patients. A modified anastomosis
      technique developed by the author (Chen's technique) was applied for bronchial
      anastomosis. Postoperative outcome and short-term follow-up data were recorded
      and analyzed. RESULTS: All eight operations were completed uneventfully with no
      conversion to thoracotomy or reoperation required. No perioperative death was
      observed. Major results (medians or percentages) were as follows: operative
      duration, 234.5 [185-345] min; bronchial anastomosis duration, 38.0 [30-43] min;
      blood loss, 65.0 [50-200] mL; number of lymph node dissected, 22.5 [18-37]. The
      postoperative complication rate was 37.5% (three of eight cases, including two
      pulmonary infections and one atrial fibrillation). All patients recovered and
      were discharged uneventfully with symptomatic therapy. Pathology showed squamous
      cell carcinoma in seven patients and adenocarcinoma in one patient; two patients
      were in TNM stage IB, three in stage IIA, one in stage IIB, and two in stage
      IIIA. The mean follow-up was 7.5 [2-15] months. There were no tumor recurrences
      or bronchial anastomotic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Single-port VATS SL and
      mediastinal lymphadenectomy are safe and feasible. Improvements in operating
      procedures can help facilitate single-port VATS. The application of Chen's
      technique in bronchial anastomosis is easy and reliable and shows a satisfactory
      short-term clinical outcome.

PMID- 27621877
TI  - Clinical statistics analysis on the characteristics of pneumoconiosis of Chinese
      miner population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pneumoconiosis is one of the most common occupational diseases, which
      shows the progressive and irreversible pathological changes. It ultimately can
      induce pulmonary failure and lead to death. To date, these patients have no
      curative treatment option under the current standard of care, so it is especially
      important to delay the onset of the disease and slow down its progression.
      Therefore, understanding of clinical features of pneumoconiosis is particularly
      critical for medical intervention. METHODS: We collected the clinical data from
      118 pneumoconiosis cases of miners admitted in hospital and processed the
      statistics analysis by using the Chi-square test and the risk assessment.
      RESULTS: Compared to other types of miners, gold miners are liable to cause
      Broncho-pulmonary co-infection with Chi-square value 18.748 and the P value
      <0.001. However, unexpectedly, the smoking miners displayed a better Activities
      of Daily Living (ADLs) compared to non-smokers, which showed 19.318 of Chi-square
      score and less than 0.001 of P value. And this connection was associated with the
      dust exposure time (P<0.05), showing the increasing risk of non-smoking miners
      occurred as the increasing time exposed to dust. In addition, our analysis
      indicated that the probability of smoking miners suffered from Broncho-pulmonary
      co-infection was less than non-smoking miners with Chi-square value 8.044 and
      P<0.01, which was also associated with the dust exposure time tendentiously,
      though P>0.05. Moreover, smoking history exhibited a deteriorating effect to the
      overall survival (OS) with 9.546 of Chi-square value and P<0.05, in accordance
      with smoking reducing life time. Interestingly, pneumoconiosis drugs could extend
      the smokers' OS, but not non-smokers'. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies suggest that the
      history of smoking and exposure time of dust play important roles in the
      development of pneumoconiosis and smoking could be a factor that determines the
      treatment options depending on patients' smoking history.

PMID- 27621878
TI  - The analysis of components that lead to increased work of breathing in chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study is to explore the components and related mechanism
      responsible for the increase of work of breathing (WB) in chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. METHODS: Eight COPD patients and eight healthy
      volunteers were recruited in the study. The rebreathing method was used to
      increase end-tidal CO2 partial pressure (PetCO2) and stimulate the increase in
      ventilation (VE). The increase in VE, WB, and changes in the compositions of WB
      were observed and analyzed. The WB and its components were calculated using the
      Campbell diagram. RESULTS: The inspiratory work (Wi) of breathing, a major
      component of total work of breathing (Wtot), in the COPD group was significantly
      higher than the control group during quiet breathing (P<0.05). As the minute VE
      increased, Wtot and Wi increased in a linear manner, and the slope of increase
      was significantly higher in the COPD group as compared to the normal group
      (P<0.05). The analyses of changes in overcoming airway resistance (Wrs) and
      lung/chest-wall elastance (Wel) indicated that the slope of increase (response to
      VE increase) of Wrs was not significantly different between the two groups
      (P>0.05) although the Wrs in the COPD group was always higher than the normal
      group (P<0.05). However, as the VE increased, the slope of the increase in Wel
      was significantly higher in the COPD group than the normal group. Work done to
      overcome the intrinsic PEEP (WPEEPi), a component of the Wel, was not observed in
      the control group. However, WPEEPi increased gradually as VE increased and
      accounted for 56% of Wel at the end of rebreathing trial in COPD group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Airway resistance was the main cause for increased WB during quiet
      breathing. As the VE increased, an increase of WPEEPi became an important part of
      increased WB in COPD patients, so it is important to reduce dynamic
      hyperinflation in COPD patients.

PMID- 27621879
TI  - Impact of pre-transplant pulmonary infection developed in horizontal laminar flow
      unit on the outcome of subsequent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: So far, there is very little literature on how pre-transplant
      pulmonary infection developed in horizontal laminar flow unit (HLFU) affects
      outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on allo-HSCT recipients who were
      diagnosed with pre-transplant pulmonary infection developed in HLFU between
      January 2012 and December 2012. Various tests were analyzed to evaluate the
      overall survival (OS) and pulmonary infection rate after allo-HSCT. RESULTS:
      Among 317 patients who received allo-HSCT from related donors, 7 cases of human
      leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical transplantation reported a fever, cough,
      and other symptoms before transplantation. Chest radiography findings showed
      pulmonary infection, and the C-reactive protein (CRP) level was higher than
      normal, which confirmed pulmonary infection (incidence rate 2.21%). The Breslow
      test suggested that the early survival rate was lower in the group with pre
      transplant pulmonary infection than in the group without pre-transplant pulmonary
      infection (OS: 28.4 vs. 42.4 months; P=0.023); the early survival rate was lower
      in patients with a pulmonary infection accompanied by bilateral pleural effusion
      than in patients without pleural effusion (OS: 1.5 vs. 36.3 months; P=0.010). In
      the first month after transplantation, the difference in the CD4CD45RO+CD45RA-
      and CD4CD45RO-CD45RA+ between the groups with and without pre-transplant
      pulmonary infection was statistically significant (P<0.05). Patients with pre
      transplant pulmonary infection who survived >3 years had a higher rate of
      pulmonary infection in the first 2 months after allo-HSCT than those without pre
      transplant pulmonary infection [100% (5/5 patients) vs. 38.1% (118/310);
      chi(2)=5.542, P=0.019]. CONCLUSIONS: Development of pre-transplant pulmonary
      infection in the HLFU in patients with hematological malignancies who receive HLA
      haploidentical HSCT is associated with an increased risk of recurrent pulmonary
      infection in the early period after transplantation; however, there is no impact
      on patients' long-term survival rate.

PMID- 27621880
TI  - Tubeless video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) under non-intubated,
      intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation and no placement of chest
      tube postoperatively.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the feasibility and safety of tubeless video-assisted
      thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) under non-intubated, intravenous anesthesia with
      spontaneous ventilation and no placement of a chest tube postoperatively compared
      with VATS under intubated anesthesia with single-lung mechanical ventilation.
      METHODS: A total of 91 patients undergoing tubeless VATS (60 sympathectomies, 22
      bullae resections, and 9 mediastinal tumor resections) between December 2012 and
      December 2015 were included. Additionally, 82 patients were treated by VATS by
      the same team while under intubated general anesthesia (52 sympathectomies, 19
      bullae resections, and 11 mediastinal tumor resections). Comprehensive early
      outcome data, including intraoperative and postoperative variables, were compared
      between the subgroups. RESULTS: In total, 89 patients in the tubeless group
      underwent an effective operation and exhibited good postoperative recovery, while
      2 (one sympathectomy and one bullae resection) had their operation aborted for
      some reason. The tubeless group showed advantages in the postoperative fasting
      time, the mean duration of the postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative
      pain scores, while no significant difference was found in intraoperative blood
      loss, the operation time or postoperative complications between the tubeless
      group and the intubated group. Furthermore, 83% (49/59) of sympathectomies, 81%
      (17/21) of bullae resections, and 56% (5/9) of mediastinal tumor resections were
      achieved via day surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, our experience has shown
      that tubeless VATS is a safe and feasible surgery with certain advantages in
      selected patients with thoracic disease and that we can achieve day surgery in
      these cases.

PMID- 27621881
TI  - Modified bronchial anastomosis in video-assisted thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy:
      a report of 32 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchial anastomosis is a key technical challenge in sleeve
      lobectomy, especially when using the video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)
      approach. A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility and
      safety of a modified bronchial anastomosis technique developed by the authors at
      Fujian Union Hospital. METHODS: From October 2010 to October 2015, we performed
      32 cases of VATS sleeve lobectomy through a three-port or single-port approach.
      All bronchial anastomoses were performed using modified bronchial anastomosis
      technique: the bronchial anastomosis was begun with an initial stitch on the
      posterior wall, and the bilateral quarters of the circumference were continuously
      sutured. The other two bilateral quarters were then similarly sutured, and the
      last knot was made outside the bronchial lumen. RESULTS: All cases were completed
      uneventfully. No perioperative deaths or serious complications occurred. The mean
      operative time, bronchial anastomosis time, and blood loss volume were 271.8+/
      67.5, 37.6+/-12.0 min, and 177.5+/-102.9 mL, respectively. The mean follow-up
      time was 21.0+/-11.7 months, and the follow-up rate was 96.9% (31/32). An
      electronic bronchoscope scan was performed 6 months after surgery, and a fine
      healing stoma was detected in all cases. No anastomotic fistula, anastomotic
      stenosis, or other serious postoperative anastomotic complications occurred until
      the end of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Modified bronchial anastomosis technique
      applied in bronchial anastomosis was safe and feasible in three-port and single
      port VATS sleeve lobectomy with good short-term and long-term therapeutic
      results. Adequate management of the operative process and implementation of a
      skilled bronchial anastomosis technique could help to reduce the difficulty of
      VATS sleeve lobectomy.

PMID- 27621882
TI  - Management of an intrapleural foreign body and empyema with video-assisted
      thoracoscopy.
AB  - Intrapleural foreign bodies are rare and there are few reports on the occurrence
      and management of this uncommon clinical presentation. We report a case of a
      patient with a history of ingesting multiple foreign bodies, which resulted in
      multiple laparotomy procedures for extraction. The patient recently required
      surgical removal of innumerable ingested foreign bodies from the stomach and
      developed a left empyema post-operatively. Subsequent imaging studies revealed
      evidence of a foreign object in the left pleural space without evidence of an
      esophageal perforation or diaphragm injury. 

PMID- 27621883
TI  - An investigation report about the lack of VB1.
AB  - From August 1 to September 26, 2012, 30 workers who had the symptom of edema in
      both lower limbs were reported in Yancheng, Four severe edemas in both lower
      limbs workers were sent to the hospital, and one person of the workers died. The
      epidemiology investigation and laboratory testing (in the urine loading tests,
      the concentration of VB1 of the workers living in the factory for more than half
      of the year decreased far below the normal values) were conducted to explore the
      cause. Furthermore, after one-week intramuscular injection of thiamine treatment,
      the clinical symptoms of the workers had been improved greatly. Finally, the lake
      of the thiamine (VB1) was considered to be the reason of this incident. 

PMID- 27621884
TI  - Penetrating thoracic injury with retained foreign body: can video-assisted
      thoracic surgery take up the leading role in acute management?
AB  - Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is widely adopted in acute management of
      patient with thoracic trauma, but its use in penetrating thoracic injuries with
      retained foreign bodies were rarely reported. We described three of such cases
      using VATS as the first line approach. Identification of injuries, control of
      bleeders, clot evacuation, resection of damaged lung parenchyma and safe
      retrieval of foreign bodies were all performed via complete VATS within short
      operative time. Patient were uneventfully discharged during early post-operative
      period. We suggest that, for haemodynamically stable patients, VATS offers a safe
      and minimally-invasive alternative to conventional thoracotomy for penetrating
      thoracic injury with retained foreign bodies. 

PMID- 27621885
TI  - A "reverse direction" technique of single-port left upper pulmonary resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) left upper
      lobectomy is difficult amongst all the lobes. At the beginning of single-port
      lobectomies, the upper lobes were believed not to be amenable for single-port
      approach due to the difficult angulation for staplers. Gonzalez reported the
      first single-port VATS left upper lobectomy in 2011. METHODS: We report a new
      technique of single-port VATS left upper lobectomy with the concept of "reverse
      direction". We divide the apical-anterior arterial trunk with upper vein in the
      last. The procedure sequence is described as follows: posterior artery, lingular
      artery, bronchus and finally upper vein & apical-anterior arterial trunk.
      RESULTS: This method could overcome the angular limitations frequently
      encountered in single-port VATS procedures; reduce the risk of injuries to
      pulmonary artery; broaden the indications of single-port the upper lobe of the
      left lung (LUL) to include hypoplastic lung fissures. Limitations of this new
      practice include the enlargement or severe calcifications of hilar and bronchial
      lymph nodes. CONCLUSIONS: A "reverse direction" technique of single-port left
      upper pulmonary resection is feasible and safe.

PMID- 27621886
TI  - Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery left superior segmentectomy with
      systematic lymphadenectomy in the semiprone position.
AB  - A 63-year-old male was referred to our hospital with two existing lesions in
      bilateral lungs. Computed tomography (CT) showed a 15-mm ground-glass opacity
      (GGO) in the superior segment of left lower lung (S6) and a 5-mm GGO in the
      center of the right upper lobe. The preoperative clinical diagnosis was stage I
      primary lung cancer for the left lesion while the right lesion needed follow-up.
      Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) left superior segmentectomy in
      the semiprone position was performed in this case and the right upper lobe was
      kept untouched. Frozen section examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung
      adenocarcinoma, and systematic lymphadenectomy with non-grasping en bloc
      dissection technique was then performed. A chest tube was placed at the posterior
      part of the incision through the dorsal thoracic cavity to the apex. The
      postoperative pathologic diagnosis was minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, staged
      T1aN0M0. 

PMID- 27621888
TI  - Modular 3-cm uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic left upper lobectomy with
      systemic lymphadenectomy.
AB  - Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy for non-small-cell lung cancer
      is accepted worldwide, with incisions ranging from 4 to 6 cm. We believed in less
      invasive and more precise that uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy
      could be. Therefore, we performed modular uniportal thoracoscopic lobectomy with
      systemic lymphadenectomy on left upper lobe using a 3-cm-diameter port. And the
      modular surgical route was arranged in seven modules. Anesthesia, patient
      positioning and instruments play an important role in the surgery. From October
      2014 to June 2015, 96 patients underwent this modular surgery and all patient
      were discharged uneventfully with no postoperative deaths. Compared with multi
      port VATS, the operation time were longer than multiport video-assisted
      thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) (164.70+/-12.50 vs. 160.70+/-11.60 min, P>0.05), and
      the mean lymphadenectomy station was 6.00+/-0.77, and the mean lymphadenectomy
      number was 17.58+/-5.33. There is no significant difference on lymphadenectomy.
      Thus, modular uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy with systemic
      lymphadenectomy on left upper lobe using a 3-cm-diameter port is a safe,
      feasible, and less painful technique for select patients with lung disease. 

PMID- 27621887
TI  - Left upper lobectomy and systematic lymph nodes dissection in enlarged pulmonary
      hilar lymph nodes in primary lung cancer patient by uniportal video-assisted
      thoracic surgery.
AB  - Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) anatomical pulmonary resection,
      with only one small incision for surgery instruments and camera insertion,
      requires higher operative skills, especially in the cases of the enlarged
      pulmonary hilar lymph nodes. With improved technology and increased experiences
      in VATS lobectomy, uniportal VATS lobectomy has been applied in major medical
      centers recently. A 67-year-old male patient with left upper peripheral lung
      cancer and enlarged hilar lymph nodes underwent unipotal VATS lobectomy and
      systemic mediastinal lymph node dissection. The patient recovered uneventfully. 

PMID- 27621889
TI  - VATS right upper lobe bronchial sleeve resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to discuss video-assisted thoracic surgery
      (VATS) sleeve bronchial lobectomy when handling the locally advanced central lung
      cancer (involving the trachea and/or main bronchus). METHODS: A 2.5 cm * 1.0 cm
      mass was found in the right upper lobe. Bronchoscopy demonstrated the tumor
      obstructing the right upper lobe bronchus and involved the right main bronchus
      and bronchus intermedius. Interrupted sutures were chosen for bronchial
      anastomosis. Bronchial membrane was sutured first, and then circumference end-to
      end anastomoses were carried out using 3-0 absorbable sutures. RESULTS: There
      were no complications and the patient was discharged 8 days postoperatively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The third intercostal space of the anterior axillary line was
      suggested for right upper lobe bronchial sleeve resection. This incision can
      reduce the distance and angle between the anastomosis to the incision, and
      facilitate anastomosis. This approach can also prevent operator from fatigue for
      keeping one posture for a long time. Clearance of the mediastinal lymph nodes
      before cutting the bronchus was helpful for exposing the right main bronchus, the
      upper lobe bronchus and bronchus intermedius satisfied. And this option would
      avoid pulling bronchial anastomosis during mediastinal lymph nodes clearance.
      Interrupted suture was safe and effective for VATS bronchial anastomosis.

PMID- 27621890
TI  - Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery right upper lobectomy with systemic
      lymphadenectomy.
AB  - This video demonstrated a performance of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic
      surgery (VATS) right upper lobectomy with systemic lymphadenectomy. The patient
      had a malignant mass in his right upper lobe. The operator took a posterior to
      anterior approach to dissection the right upper lobe, the adjacent structures
      were clearly demonstrated after the entire dissection of mediastinal lymph nodes.
      Postoperative pathological report suggested the stage of the tumor was T1bN0M0
      (stage IA). 

PMID- 27621891
TI  - Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy with systematic
      lymphadenectomy.
AB  - Over the past decade, uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has been
      reported to be a promising, less invasive alternative with potentially better
      cosmesis and less postoperative pain and paraesthesia. Although uniportal VATS
      has now evolved into a sophisticated technique capable of performing some of the
      most complex thoracic procedures, this approach to lobectomy is not standardized,
      and the surgical procedure still varies between surgeons. Here, we describe our
      uniportal VATS procedure during right upper lobectomy in a patient with a nodule
      in the right upper lobe. Subsequent mediastinal lymphadenectomy was performed to
      remove lymph nodes from the 2(nd), 3(rd), 4(th), 7(th), 8(th), and 9(th) groups.
      Although there are some details that are different compared to the conventional
      VATS approach, as experience with uniportal VATS has grown, this approach is a
      viable alternative approach for lobectomy in selected patients. 

PMID- 27621892
TI  - Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery for left upper lobe: single-direction
      lobectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy.
AB  - A 62-year-old female was admitted to our hospital after computed tomography (CT)
      revealed a 2.5 cm * 2.1 cm mass in the left upper lobe. PET/CT scan diagnosed as
      malignant lesion with no signs of metastasis. Under general anesthesia, the
      patient was placed in right lateral decubitus position. A 4cm incision was made
      in the 4th intercostal space with plastic protector. The camera was placed in the
      upper part of the incision and the instruments were inserted below the camera.
      Left upper lobectomy along with systematic lymphadenectomy was performed. Total
      surgical time was 135 min and estimated blood loss was 70 mL. The chest tube was
      removed on the 2nd postoperative day and the patient was discharged on the 3rd
      postoperative day with no complication. This uniportal VATS single-direction
      lobectomy for the left upper lobe is feasible and amplifies the concept of
      thoracotomy-like minimally invasive surgery. 

PMID- 27621893
TI  - Radiological contribution to the diagnosis of early postoperative complications
      after lung resection for primary tumor: a revisional study.
AB  - In the post-operative course of the interventions of lung resection for primary
      tumor, complications of different nature and severity can arise, recognizing
      different pathogenetic mechanisms and differing according to the type of
      resection performed and to the time elapsed after surgery. The low diagnostic
      accuracy of chest radiography requires a thorough knowledge of the radiologist
      about all radiographic findings, both normal and pathological, which can be found
      in the immediate post-operative period (within 30 days after surgery). This
      article aims to describe the incidence, the clinical features and the
      radiological aspects of immediate complications following pulmonary resections,
      with specific reference to those in which the diagnostic imaging provides a
      fundamental contribution. 

PMID- 27621895
TI  - Left ventricular assist devices-current state and perspectives.
AB  - Mechanical circulatory support devices have become an important treatment tool
      for severe acute and chronic heart failure, since heart transplantation cannot
      meet the demands because of a lack of available donor organs. Since implantation
      of the first ventricular assist device a constant development of the suitability
      of these devices has been made. This review will introduce different generations
      of left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) and elaborate on clinical indications,
      risk stratification and current literature. 

PMID- 27621894
TI  - Long noncoding RNAs are novel potential prognostic biomarkers for esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma: an overview.
AB  - Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) still has a poor prognosis. The
      prognostic biomarkers of ESCC are not yet well established. Long noncoding RNAs
      (lncRNAs) have recently been intensively investigated in various cancers
      including ESCC, and are found to be closely correlated to ESCC. Dysregulated
      expression of lncRNAs was widely observed in ESCC tumor tissue and was closely
      related to the tumorigenesis and progression of ESCC. More and more studies have
      found that lncRNAs were significantly correlated with the prognosis and diagnosis
      of patients with ESCC. Therefore, all those accumulating evidence indicated that
      lncRNAs could serve as a prognostic biomarker of ESCC. In this, we summarized the
      relation between lncRNAs and ESCC as well as the potential biomarker role of
      lncRNAs in ESCC, especially the prognostic value of lncRNAs. Our current review
      highlighted the need of further studies to explore the biomarker functions as
      well as therapeutic values of lncRNAs in ESCC. 

PMID- 27621896
TI  - Protective effect of angulated aorta for saving coronary artery during
      endovascular repair for ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm.
AB  - Ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication after cardiothoracic
      surgery and the open surgical repair for this complication is challenging. We
      report on a patient who developed an ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm after aortic
      valve replacement (AVR), which was treated successfully with endovascular
      therapy. Our case showed that angulation of the ascending aorta is one of factors
      for consideration in application of endovascular therapy and endovascular therapy
      might be an option for management of ascending aortic pathology in patients with
      high surgical risk, particularly patients with a severely angulated proximal
      ascending aorta. 

PMID- 27621897
TI  - Treatment decision based on the biological behavior of pulmonary benign
      metastasizing leiomyoma.
AB  - Benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML) is a rare disease in women undergoing
      surgery for uterine leiomyoma. About 100 cases have been reported in the
      literature, none of which describe the biological behavior of lesions. The
      authors present the case of a 36-year-old, asymptomatic woman who had undergone
      uterus extirpation seven years earlier for leiomyoma of the uterus. Routine chest
      radiography revealed multiple nodules in both lungs. Biopsy verified metastases
      from the original uterine leiomyoma. During a 41-month interval, 87 lesions were
      removed in seven operations, through mini-thoracotomy [four left-sided (42
      lesions); and three right-sided (45 lesions)] by cautery resection and suturing
      of the parenchyma (n=83), or by wedge resection (n=4). In between the procedures,
      the patient received continuous oncological treatment (VIP protocol: etoposide,
      ifosfamide, cisplatin). Mean hospital stay was 5.14 days. Respiratory function
      tests performed after the last surgery showed near-normal results (FVC: 77%,
      FEV1: 64%, FEV1/FVC: 0.83). Over time, a decrease in number of newly developed
      BML nodules was observed. Mean surgical sensitivity [rate of lesions appearing on
      computerized tomography (CT) and removed during each surgery] of the seven
      metastasectomies was 95% (range: 40-150%). Pathological examination of the
      nodules proved that, despite continuous oncological treatment, there were no
      signs of necrosis, thrombosis, or fibrosis. The number of mitoses within the
      nodules did not change. According to our surgical results and the fact that
      oncological treatment did not have a significant effect on the course of the
      disease, we conclude that in the management of multiple BML lesions, surgically
      removing as many lesions as possible is advised. 

PMID- 27621898
TI  - Giant thymoma successfully resected via hemiclamshell thoracotomy: a case report.
AB  - Thymoma is an epithelial neoplasm of the thymus. It commonly lies in the anterior
      mediastinum and represents 20-30% of mediastinal tumours in adults. In this
      report we present a case of giant thymoma locating in the anterior-inferior
      mediastinum. A 46-year-old male came to our institute with slight pectoralgia and
      dyspnea. Chest CT shows a giant tumor measuring 19 cm * 16 cm * 15 cm in the left
      thoracic cavity. After careful examination, we performed surgery. At surgery, we
      found the tumor was adherent to left upper lobe of the lung, mediastinal pleura,
      and parietal pleural. The tumor was completely resected with combined resection
      of part left upper lobe of lung. The weight of the tumor was 2,135 g.
      Pathological diagnosis indicated a type AB thymoma according to the World Health
      Organization classification and a diagnosis of Masaoka stage IIB was made. 

PMID- 27621899
TI  - A case of long-term survival after multimodal local treatments of intramedullary
      spinal cord metastasis of squamous cell lung cancer.
AB  - Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer is rare, and
      it has a short prognosis. We report a 53-year-old man diagnosed with cT4N0M0,
      stage IIIA squamous cell lung cancer. Ten months after left pneumonectomy
      (pT4N0M0), an intramedullary spinal cord tumor developed at the axis level. The
      intramedullary spinal cord tumor was resected, and he was diagnosed with
      metastatic squamous cell lung cancer. Radiotherapies and another tumor resection
      were conducted, as he had a good performance status and the discrete lesion was
      associated with the risk of brain stem compression. Multimodal local treatments
      for intramedullary spinal cord metastasis caused the tumor to shrink, and he
      lived for 25 months after the spinal metastasis occurred. 

PMID- 27621900
TI  - Giant bronchogenic cyst with pericardial defect: a case report & literature
      review in Japan.
AB  - Congenital pericardial defects are a rare anomaly, found during autopsy and
      cardiothoracic surgery. We describe a case of a 69-year-old female, with a right
      sided congenital pericardial defect associated with a giant bronchogenic cyst
      (BC) found during surgery. The cyst was resected and the patient developed
      arrhythmia following surgery. A review of the literature in Japan was performed,
      focusing on congenital anomalies associated with pericardial defects and its
      pathogenesis. We paid particular attention to complications following thoracic
      surgery in patients with pericardial defects and indications of pericardial
      reconstruction in such patients. 

PMID- 27621901
TI  - Successful treatment of a bronchopleural fistula after en masse lobectomy.
AB  - A 72-year-old man underwent en masse lobectomy of the lower left lobe because of
      continued hemoptysis. We chose en masse lobectomy as a last resort because the
      patient had cardiopulmonary problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD), pulmonary hypertension, and continued hemoptysis. The patient
      developed a bronchopleural fistula 2 weeks later, so the Clagett window procedure
      was performed. After gauze exchange and cleaning of the pleural space, the
      Clagett window was closed using a latissimus dorsi muscle flap. He was discharged
      about 3 months after the initial operation. One of the most critical
      complications after en masse lobectomy is a bronchopleural fistula because the
      bronchial stump and vessel are too close to each other. The space between the
      bronchus and vessel can fill with tissue, such as pulmonary parenchyma or lymph
      nodes, which cover the fistula. 

PMID- 27621902
TI  - Perforation of esophagus and subsequent mediastinitis following mussel shell
      ingestion.
AB  - Esophageal perforation is a very rare occurrence because accidental swallowing of
      foreign bodies is uncommon in adults. Thus, perforation due to swallowing of a
      foreign body and subsequent development of mediastinitis is rarely encountered by
      physicians. We experienced such a case and described an adult male patient who
      had perforated esophagus after accidentally swallowing a mussel shell. The
      patient visited our emergency department complaining of painful dysphagia for 4
      days. A review of history revealed that he consumed a spicy seafood noodle soup
      containing mussel shells 4 days ago. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest showed
      the foreign body in the esophagus and pneumomediastinum was identified. We
      removed the mussel shell fragment using rigid esophagoscopy; explo-thoracotomy,
      debridement of mediastinal abscess and irrigation were performed. 

PMID- 27621903
TI  - Non-intubated laparoscopic repair of giant Morgagni's hernia for a young man.
AB  - An asymptomatic patient was admitted as his chest photograph and computed
      tomography scans showed a giant Morgagni's hernia (MH). And it was repaired by
      laparoscopic approach under epidural anesthesia without endotracheal intubation.
      The hernia content of omentum was repositioned back into the abdominal cavity,
      and the diaphragmatic defect was repaired with composite mesh. Which indicated
      that non-intubated laparoscopic mesh repair via epidural anesthesia is reliable
      and satisfactory for MH. 

PMID- 27621904
TI  - Evaluation of airway resistance in primary small cell carcinoma of the trachea by
      MostGraph: a case study.
AB  - The case subject was a 58-year-old woman who presented to our hospital with a
      chief complaint of respiratory discomfort. Wheezing could be heard in both lungs;
      treatment was initiated with inhaled steroids for suspected bronchial asthma.
      However, 1 week later, the respiratory discomfort had not improved and the
      wheezing sound had progressed to the neck area. Upper airway obstruction was
      suspected; therefore, chest computed tomography (CT) was performed, revealing
      tracheal stenosis caused by a tumor in the upper airway. Because of the high risk
      of airway obstruction, tracheotomy and tracheal tumor resection were performed.
      Histopathological examination of the resected tumor revealed small cell lung
      cancer (SCLC); the stage was determined to be clinical stage IIIB (cT4N2M0), for
      which chemotherapy with two cycles of cisplatin plus etoposide followed by
      radiation therapy were administered. Pulmonary function testing revealed no
      change in the forced expiratory volume in 1 sec and flow volume (FV) curve before
      and after tumor resection, whereas airway resistance measured by MostGraph-01
      showed a marked decrease following treatment. We believe that MostGraph-01 may be
      useful for measuring airway resistance and evaluating a tracheal tumor, and
      report a case using MostGraph-01. 

PMID- 27621905
TI  - Mycotic aortic arch aneurysm coexistent with constrictive pericarditis: is
      surgery a dangerous resort?
AB  - An elderly man presented with fever and evidence of Salmonella infection, and was
      diagnosed to have coexisting constrictive pericarditis and mycotic aneurysm of
      the aortic arch. Pericardiectomy was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass with
      good result. To avoid deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, an aorto
      brachiocephalic bypass, instead of total arch replacement, was performed. This
      was followed by a staged carotid-carotid bypass, thoracic endovascular stent
      graft placement. He was subsequently treated with prolonged antibiotics, and
      inflammatory marker normalized afterwards. He was last seen well 2 years after
      the operation. Follow-up computer tomography (CT) scan at 18 months post-op
      showed no evidence of endoleak or fistulation. Our case demonstrated that a
      hybrid treatment of open pericardiectomy and aortic debranching followed by
      thoracic endovascular stent graft placement is feasible and associated with
      satisfactory mid-term outcome. 

PMID- 27621907
TI  - The unity of respiratory patient advocacy.

PMID- 27621906
TI  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in a young heart transplant recipient
      crossing the traditional boundaries.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established therapeutic
      alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in high-risk or
      inoperable patients with symptomatic aortic valve stenosis. Hitherto, TAVI is not
      recommended in young and low-intermediate risk patients. However, TAVI may also
      serve as an alternative to SAVR in selected young patients, e.g., patients who
      have previously undergone multiple cardiac surgery procedures. We report a case
      of trans-femoral TAVI in a 25-year-old heart transplant (HTx) recipient with
      prior surgery for congenital heart disease. 

PMID- 27621909
TI  - Misuse of statistics in surgical literature.
AB  - Statistical analyses are a key part of biomedical research. Traditionally
      surgical research has relied upon a few statistical methods for evaluation and
      interpretation of data to improve clinical practice. As research methods have
      increased in both rigor and complexity, statistical analyses and interpretation
      have fallen behind. Some evidence suggests that surgical research studies are
      being designed and analyzed improperly given the specific study question. The
      goal of this article is to discuss the complexities of surgical research analyses
      and interpretation, and provide some resources to aid in these processes. 

PMID- 27621910
TI  - Statistical modelling for thoracic surgery using a nomogram based on logistic
      regression.
AB  - A well-developed clinical nomogram is a popular decision-tool, which can be used
      to predict the outcome of an individual, bringing benefits to both clinicians and
      patients. With just a few steps on a user-friendly interface, the approximate
      clinical outcome of patients can easily be estimated based on their clinical and
      laboratory characteristics. Therefore, nomograms have recently been developed to
      predict the different outcomes or even the survival rate at a specific time point
      for patients with different diseases. However, on the establishment and
      application of nomograms, there is still a lot of confusion that may mislead
      researchers. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief introduction on
      the history, definition, and application of nomograms and then to illustrate
      simple procedures to develop a nomogram with an example based on a multivariate
      logistic regression model in thoracic surgery. In addition, validation strategies
      and common pitfalls have been highlighted. 

PMID- 27621908
TI  - Sleep complaints and sleep breathing disorders in upper and lower obstructive
      lung diseases.
AB  - Upper and lower obstructive lung diseases can induce sleep complaints and can be
      part of the pathogenesis of sleep breathing disorders. In fact, the physiological
      changes of the pattern of respiration during sleep, added to the airways disease
      can lead to symptomatic worsening of rhinitis, asthma and chronic obstructive
      pulmonary diseases (COPD); moreover, their functional and anatomical features can
      lead to sleep breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
      (OSAS). This review highlights the above-mentioned relationships and the effect
      of disease management on its comorbidities and the patient's quality of life.
      Rhinitis, asthma and COPD represent causes of sleep complaints that may be
      reduced with optimal management of these obstructive airways diseases. Continuous
      positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment of sleep apnea needs to be tailored
      after optimization of the therapy of concomitant diseases, but it can often
      ameliorate comorbid disease. 

PMID- 27621912
TI  - Erratum to the sleep apnea cardiovascular endpoints (SAVE) trial: Rationale and
      start-up phase.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 138 in vol. 2, PMID: 22263035.]. 

PMID- 27621911
TI  - Videothoracoscopic resection for lung cancer: moving towards a "standard of
      care".
AB  - Videothoracic surgery for lung cancer is now an established practice but there is
      a division of opinion between surgeons whose aim is to spare all patients a
      thoracotomy and those who have not adopted videoscopic methods for routine
      lobectomy. The latter remain in the majority; most patients at present have a
      thoracotomy. Surgeons from Europe and America met in Catania, Sicily at the 3(rd)
      Mediterranean Symposium on Thoracic Surgical Oncology to explore the evidence and
      the routes to making videothoracoscopic surgery a standard of care. Evidence from
      one completed randomized controlled trial (RCT) and several propensity score
      matching studies indicate that less invasive surgery is at least as safe as
      thoracotomy. By the accepted standards of an oncological lobectomy which include
      clearance of the primary cancer and the intended lymphadenectomy or sampling, the
      operations are equivalent. Clinical effectiveness in achieving long-term cancer
      free survival is likely. However, the co-existance of videothoracoscopy has
      encouraged smaller non-muscle cutting incisions and the avoidance of rib
      spreading, narrowing whatever gap there may have been in terms of the patients'
      experience. 

PMID- 27621913
TI  - The Effect of Information About Gynecological Examination on the Anxiety Level of
      Women Applying to Gynecology Clinics: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Crowded hospital outpatient clinics and endless waiting lines that
      make patients feel overlooked tend to exaggerate patients' anxiety levels. In
      addition, fear of pain, shyness, religious and traditional thoughts, women's
      sexual role in society, and previous information and experience also contribute
      to people's anxiety levels with regard to gynecologic examination. OBJECTIVES: We
      aimed to analyze the effect of specific information about gynecologic examination
      on anxiety levels of women applying to gynecology clinics. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      In this randomized prospective study, the women applying for a gynecological
      examination were randomly allocated into control, intervention 1, and
      intervention 2 groups. Power analysis indicated that in order to achieve a one
      point decrease from the previous anxiety score of 43.85 +/- 5.41 at one side
      alpha 0.05 with a power of 80%, at least 79 women were needed in each group. Four
      medical school students interviewed 75 women (25 in control, 25 in intervention
      1, and 25 in intervention 2). The data were collected using the demographic,
      social, and economic data form, and the Turkish version of the state-trait
      anxiety inventory (STAI). The women in the intervention 1 and 2 groups were
      instructed to read a paper that contained brief information about the
      gynecological examination procedure and the profits obtained from forests,
      respectively. All participants, including the women in the control group, filled
      the STAI by themselves. The three groups were compared appropriately. RESULTS:
      The demographics pertaining to age, gravidity and parity, miscarriage, induced
      abortion, ectopic pregnancy, offspring number, place of residence, working
      status, education level and previous experience of gynecological examination did
      not differ among the groups (P > 0.05). According to the STAI scores, all groups
      had mild state (control: 40.20 +/- 10.53, intervention 1: 42.00 +/- 11.98, and
      intervention 2: 39.53 +/- 10.32) and severe continuous (control: 46.78 +/- 8.65,
      Intervention 1: 47.25 +/- 9.57, and intervention 2: 46.60 +/- 9.72) anxiety
      levels. However, both state and continuous anxiety scores were not significantly
      different in all groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Providing brief written
      information about the gynecological examination procedure and the clinic's
      working discipline is not sufficient to lower the anxiety of women applying for a
      gynecological examination.

PMID- 27621914
TI  - Campylobacter jejuni Bacteremia in a Patient With Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Campylobacter jejuni is a slender, motile, non-spore-forming,
      helical-shaped, gram-negative bacterium. It is one of the most common causes of
      human gastroenteritis in the world. The aim of this study was to present a
      patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), who was infected with
      Campylobacter jejuni. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the medical records of a
      pediatric ALL patient with bacteremia caused by C. jejuni, who was diagnosed at
      Amir hospital, Shiraz, Iran. This 14-year-old male visited the emergency
      department of Amir hospital with night sweats, severe polar high-grade fever,
      reduced appetite, and nausea in August 2013. Given the suspected presence of an
      anaerobic or microaerophilic microorganism, aerobic and anaerobic blood cultures
      were performed using an automated blood cultivator, the BACTEC 9240 system. In
      order to characterize the isolate, diagnostic biochemical tests were used.
      Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done with the disk diffusion method. The
      primary culture was found to be positive for Campylobacter, and the subculture of
      the solid plate yielded a confluent growth of colonies typical for Campylobacter,
      which was identified as C. jejuni by morphological and biochemical tests. The
      isolate was resistant to ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, cephalexin,
      piperacillin/tazobactam, nalidixic acid, aztreonam, cefuroxime, cefixime,
      ceftazidime, and tobramycin. CONCLUSIONS: C. jejuni should be considered in the
      differential diagnosis as a potential cause of bacteremia in immunosuppressed
      patients. In cases where the BACTEC result is positive in aerobic conditions but
      the organism cannot be isolated, an anaerobic culture medium is suggested,
      especially in immunocompromised patients.

PMID- 27621915
TI  - Spiritual Health in Nursing From the Viewpoint of Islam.
AB  - CONTEXT: In order to gain a more detailed insight into the concept of spiritual
      health, a hybrid model of concept analysis was used to remove some of the
      ambiguity surrounding the conceptual meaning of spiritual health in Islamic and
      Iranian contexts. The purpose of this study was to clarify the meaning and nature
      of the spiritual health concept in the context of the practice of Islam among
      Iranian patients. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The current concept analysis was
      undertaken according to the modified traditional hybrid model, which consists of
      five phases: theoretical phase, initial fieldwork phase, initial analytical
      phase, and final fieldwork and final analytical phase. In the theoretical phases
      of the study, the concept of spiritual health was described based on a literature
      review of publications dealing with the Islamic viewpoint (years: from 2013 to
      2014, Databases and search engines: Pubmed, SID, Magiran, Noormax, Google
      Scholar, Google and IranMex, Languages: English and Persian, Keywords: spiritual
      health AND (Islam OR Quran), spirituality AND (Islam OR Quran), complete human
      AND Islam, healthy heart (Galb Salim) AND Islam, healthy life (Hayat tayebeh) AND
      Islam, calm soul (Nafse motmaeneh) And Islam and healthy wisdom (Aghle Salim) AND
      Islam). Purposive sampling was conducted and nine participants were selected.
      Semi-structured interviews and observations were conducted periodically for data
      collection after obtaining informed consent. Observational, theoretical, and
      methodological notes were made. Then, using MAXQUDA 7 software, the data were
      analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The relevant literature in
      the theoretical phase uncovered the attributes of the concept of spiritual
      health, including love of the Creator, duty-based life, religious rationality,
      psychological balance, and attention to afterlife. These attributes were explored
      in depth in later stages. Finally, the definition of spiritual health was
      developed. CONCLUSIONS: Islam has a unique perspective on spiritual health as it
      encompasses all aspects of human beings. Thus, it is necessary to carefully study
      the difference between the Islamic concept of spiritual health and that of other
      religions and ideologies to design suitable and useful nursing care for Iranian
      patients that satisfy their spiritual needs.

PMID- 27621916
TI  - Two-Way Gene Interaction From Microarray Data Based on Correlation Methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene networks have generated a massive explosion in the development
      of high-throughput techniques for monitoring various aspects of gene activity.
      Networks offer a natural way to model interactions between genes, and extracting
      gene network information from high-throughput genomic data is an important and
      difficult task. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to construct a two-way
      gene network based on parametric and nonparametric correlation coefficients. The
      first step in constructing a Gene Co-expression Network is to score all pairs of
      gene vectors. The second step is to select a score threshold and connect all gene
      pairs whose scores exceed this value. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the foundation
      application study, we constructed two-way gene networks using nonparametric
      methods, such as Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Blomqvist's measure,
      and compared them with Pearson's correlation coefficient. We surveyed six genes
      of venous thrombosis disease, made a matrix entry representing the score for the
      corresponding gene pair, and obtained two-way interactions using Pearson's
      correlation, Spearman's rank correlation, and Blomqvist's coefficient. Finally,
      these methods were compared with Cytoscape, based on BIND, and Gene Ontology,
      based on molecular function visual methods; R software version 3.2 and
      Bioconductor were used to perform these methods. RESULTS: Based on the Pearson
      and Spearman correlations, the results were the same and were confirmed by
      Cytoscape and GO visual methods; however, Blomqvist's coefficient was not
      confirmed by visual methods. CONCLUSIONS: Some results of the correlation
      coefficients are not the same with visualization. The reason may be due to the
      small number of data.

PMID- 27621917
TI  - Spontaneous Nephrocutaneous Fistula With Tuberculous Autonephrectomy: A Case
      Report of a Delayed Diagnosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous nephrocutaneous fistula is a rare manifestation of
      renal disease that can occur due to various etiologies, such as renal calculus,
      chronic pyelonephritis, stricture of the ureteropelvic junction, and renal
      tuberculosis (TB). An autonephrectomy with a nephrocutaneous fistula due to renal
      tuberculosis can be diagnosed quite late if it is not suspected. CASE
      PRESENTATION: We report a case of a spontaneous nephrocutaneous fistula with
      tuberculous autonephrectomy. A 40-year-old white male with recurrent flank pain
      and intermittent purulent drainage from his right flank region for the previous
      14 years was admitted to our outpatient clinic. Fistulography and computerized
      tomography demonstrated a 51 * 60 mm area with a soft-tissue appearance that
      implied autonephrectomy of the right kidney, and a fistula tract with a 9 mm
      diameter between the skin and the retroperitoneal space. The patient was
      successfully treated with nephroureterectomy and excision of the fistulous tract,
      followed by antituberculous treatment. The pathological examination of the
      surgical specimen revealed chronic atrophic pyelonephritis, calcifications, and
      necrotizing granulomatous inflammation suggestive of TB. CONCLUSIONS: Urogenital
      TB is difficult to diagnose due to the lack of specific symptoms and signs. In
      the case of a nonfunctioning kidney without an obvious cause and a chronic
      spontaneous nephrocutaneous fistula, the possibility of associated renal TB
      should be kept in mind, especially in immunocompromised patients or in places
      where TB is a common health problem.

PMID- 27621918
TI  - Eosinophilic Cystitis: A Rare Cause of Nocturnal Enuresis in Children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Eosinophilic cystitis (EC) is a rare and poorly understood
      inflammatory condition, characterized by eosinophilic infiltration of all layers
      of the bladder wall, which mimics bladder tumors. EC may present with symptoms
      such as increased urination frequency, dysuria, gross/microscopic hematuria,
      suprapubic pain and urinary retention. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a 17-year
      old male patient, who was continent night and day in his childhood, and was
      admitted to our clinic for complaints of hematuria and nocturnal enuresis for the
      past six months. His history and physical examination were unremarkable, and
      routine hematological and biochemical tests were normal. Cystoscopy revealed a 4
      * 3 cm erythematous, polypoidal, solid lesion on the bladder dome.
      Histopathological examination of the lesion revealed transitional epithelium with
      stromal edema, where diffuse, dense infiltration of lamina propria by eosinophils
      and lymphocytes was also seen. According to these findings, a histopathological
      diagnosis of EC was made, and the patient was treated with corticosteroids,
      antimicrobial agents and antihistamines. His symptoms dramatically improved and
      nocturnal enuresis also recovered after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is a
      rare entity, EC should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of patients
      presenting with dysuria, hematuria and any kind of acquired voiding dysfunction,
      including frequency, pollakiuria and incontinence.

PMID- 27621919
TI  - Pseudo-Foster Kennedy Syndrome as a Rare Presentation of Vitamin B12 Deficiency.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pseudo-Foster Kennedy syndrome is a triad consisting of ipsilateral
      optic atrophy, contralateral optic disc edema, and ipsilateral anosmia in the
      absence of an intracranial mass. Vitamin B12 plays an important role in DNA
      synthesis, and its deficiency causes peripheral neuropathy, myeloneuropathy, and,
      very rarely, optic neuropathy. CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, we describe a 34
      year-old male who presented with progressive loss of visual acuity and field.
      Fundoscopy showed optic disc edema with telangiectasia in the right eye, while
      the left eye had optic disc atrophy. We ruled out nearly all possible and common
      causes of optic neuropathy, and vitamin B12 deficiency was finally diagnosed.
      After treatment with vitamin B12, the patient improved. CONCLUSIONS:
      Demyelinating disease, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, non-arteritic anterior
      ischemic optic neuropathy, autoimmune disease, and hereditary optic neuropathy
      could cause optic neuropathy. Normal CBC parameters and the absence of clinical
      manifestations of vitamin B12 deficiency could not rule out its diagnosis.
      Careful physical examinations and history-taking with a classical approach led us
      to the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency and its treatment.

PMID- 27621920
TI  - Treatment of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypotension With Tea: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The syndrome of spontaneous intracranial hypotension has been
      increasingly diagnosed since its discovery through magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). It is a rare syndrome that is due to the leakage of cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF) from a tear in the dura and can occur at any age, even among adolescents,
      but is most frequently seen among females in late middle age. CASE PRESENTATION:
      Here, we describe a 32-year-old woman with a two-month history of headaches and
      occasional nausea and vomiting (N/V). MRI without gadolinium was normal, but
      meningeal enhancement was seen in MRI with gadolinium. The lumbar puncture
      revealed a low opening pressure. Computed tomography myelography (CT myelography)
      showed no leakage; Therefore, idiopathic intracranial hypotension was diagnosed.
      Treatment was started using tea, and the patient's headache got significantly
      better in about a day. CONCLUSIONS: Conservative therapy, such as bed rest and
      caffeine treatment with eight cups of tea daily, yielded a significant
      improvement in our patient. Effectively, the patient constitutes a case of
      idiopathic intracranial hypotension due to undetectable CSF leakage or hyper
      absorption, with good response to conservative management through tea-drinking.
      Further investigations with an appropriate sample size are needed in order to
      confirm this intervention in the treatment of idiopathic intracranial
      hypotension.

PMID- 27621921
TI  - Haplotype Analysis of Hemochromatosis Gene Polymorphisms in Chronic Hepatitis C
      Virus Infection: A Case Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is frequently associated
      with elevated serum iron markers. Polymorphisms in the hemochromatosis (HFE)
      genes are responsible for iron accumulation in most cases of hemochromatosis, and
      may play a role in HCV infection. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the prevalence
      of HFE gene polymorphisms in a group of Iranian HCV-infected patients, and to
      explore the association of these polymorphisms with HCV infection. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: HFE gene polymorphisms were examined in a total of 69 HCV patients and
      69 healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment
      length polymorphism techniques. Haplotype and diplotype analyses were performed
      using PHASE software. RESULTS: In a recessive analysis model of the His63Asp
      (H63D) locus (HH vs. HD + DD), the HH genotype was more common in patients
      compared to controls (adjusted P = 0.012; OR = 6.42 [95% CI: 1.51 - 27.33]).
      Also, in a recessive analysis model of the Cys282Tyr (C282Y) locus (CC vs. CY +
      YY), the CC genotype was more frequent in patients compared to controls (adjusted
      P = 0.03; OR = 5.06 [95% CI: 1.13 - 22.06]). In addition, there was a significant
      association between the HC haplotype and the HCDC diplotype and HCV infection.
      CONCLUSIONS: Polymorphism in the hemochromatosis gene may confer some degree of
      risk for HCV infection, and individuals carrying the H and C alleles may be
      susceptible to this disease; however, a larger sample of HCV patients and healthy
      individuals may be necessary to further illustrate the role of these
      polymorphisms in HCV.

PMID- 27621922
TI  - The Effect of Empathy Training on the Empathic Skills of Nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The profound impact of empathy training on quality nursing care has
      been recognized. Studies have shown that there has been little improvement in
      nurses' communication skills, and that they should work to enhance this area.
      Relevant training will lead to an improvement in nurses' empathic skills, which
      in turn, will enable them to understand their patients better, establish positive
      interpersonal relationships with them, and boost their professional satisfaction.
      OBJECTIVES: To reveal the effect of empathy training on the empathic skills of
      nurses. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted as an experimental design.
      The research sample consisted of 48 nurses working at the pediatric clinics of
      Farabi hospital of Karadeniz Technical University in Turkey (N = 83). Two groups,
      an experimental group (group 1) and a control group (group 2) were determined
      after questionnaires were supplied to all nurses in the study sample. At first,
      it was intended to select these groups using a random method. However, since this
      may have meant that the experimental and control groups were formed from nurses
      working in the same service, the two groups were selected from different services
      to avoid possible interaction between them. The nurses in the Group 1 were
      provided with empathy training through group and creative drama techniques. Pre
      tests and post-tests were conducted on both groups. Data was collected via a
      questionnaire designed around the topic "empathic skill scale-ESS", developed by
      Dokmen. The Kolmogorov Smirnov test was employed to assess whether the measurable
      data was suitable for normal distribution. Data was presented as numbers and
      percentage distributions, as mean +/- standard deviation and Chi-square, and as
      student t tests and paired t tests. The level of significance was accepted as P <
      0.05. RESULTS: The nurses in the experimental group had a mean score of 146.7 +/-
      38.8 and 169.5 +/- 22.1 in the ESS pre-test and post-test, respectively. Although
      the nurses in the control group had a pre-test mean score of 133.7 +/- 37.1,
      which increased to 135.1 +/- 51.7 after the training, no statistically
      significant difference was found (P = 0.886). A comparison of the groups
      indicated that they scored similarly in the pre-test. However, the experimental
      group scored significantly higher than the control group in the post-test (P =
      0.270 and P = 0.015, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In the light of these findings,
      it is recommended that communication skills should be widely included in in
      service training programs; similar studies should be conducted on broader control
      groups formed through randomization; and a comparison should be made between the
      findings.

PMID- 27621923
TI  - Physical Activity Patterns in the Elderly Kashan Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity is an important component of health in old age that
      provides personal independence, physical ability, and quality of life.
      OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate physical activity and associated
      factors among the elderly population in Kashan, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was 400 elderly people (aged
      more than 60 years) living in Kashan, Iran in 2014. The subjects randomly
      selected via multi-stage cluster sampling from healthcare centers in three
      regions of Kashan. The sample size differed by gender and residence type. Each
      participant's demographic characteristics and level of physical activity were
      recorded in a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 16.
      Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Pearson correlations, and ordinal
      regression were used in the data analysis. The significance level for all the
      tests was P < 0.05. RESULTS: 237 (59.2%) of the subjects were female. The average
      age of the study population was 67.6 +/- 6.8 years. Their average physical
      activity energy consumption was 326.21 +/- 364.84 according to the metabolic
      equivalent of hours per week. 20 subjects (5%) reported no physical activity. 320
      (80%) and 59 (14.8%) subjects had low and moderate physical activity levels,
      respectively. Only 1 subject (0.2%) had extreme levels of physical activity. Men
      (n = 43, 26.4%) were more likely to be moderately or extremely physically active
      than women were (n = 17, 7.2%). There was a significant relationship between
      physical activity and sex (P < 0.0001), marital status (P < 0.0001), educational
      status (P < 0.002), current occupation (P < 0.0001), and personal independence (P
      < 0.00001). Of course, effective predictive variations included age (P = 0.034),
      gender (P = 0.001), marital status (P = 0.033), independent status (P = 0), and
      local environment (P =0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed low physical
      activity in the elderly population in Kashan. The pattern of physical activity in
      the elderly depends on their lifestyle. A promotion of active lifestyles should
      be a part of health care planning for the elderly.

PMID- 27621925
TI  - Pericardial Effusion in Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a proliferative disorder of
      histiocytes in multiple organs. Langerhans cell histiocytosis involves bones,
      skin, lung and other organs. CASE PRESENTATION: This study describes a seven
      month-old Iranian girl who presented with skin rash and cervical lymphadenopathy.
      Langerhans cell histiocytosis was suspected when it was associated with anemia,
      splenomegaly and lytic bone lesions. A skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of
      Langerhans cell histiocytosis. During hospitalization, the patient looked ill
      with respiratory distress. A chest X-ray showed a ground glass view, and
      echocardiography showed moderate pericardial effusion. CONCLUSIONS: Pericardial
      effusion was a rare finding in this case of Langerhans cell histiocytosis.
      Pericardial effusion in Langerhans cell histiocytosis, which is an unusual
      presentation, should be considered when the patient experiences respiratory
      distress.

PMID- 27621924
TI  - Effects of Acellular Amniotic Membrane Matrix and Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal
      Stem Cells in Improving Random Skin Flap Survival in Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The necrotic skin flap represents a great challenge in plastic and
      reconstructive surgery. In this study, we evaluated the effect of bioscaffolds,
      acellular amniotic membranes (AAMs), and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem
      cells (BM-MSCs) on random skin flap (RSF) survival in rats by applying a cell
      free extracellular matrix scaffold as a supportive component for the growth and
      proliferation of BM-MSCs on RSFs. AAM matrix scaffolds were created by incubating
      AMs in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 0.05% at 37 degrees C, and cell scrapers
      were used. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of
      AAM as a scaffold in TE, and combined with transplanted BM-MSCs, on the survival
      of RSFs and on the biomechanical parameters of the incision-wound flap margins 7
      days after flap elevation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BM-MSCs and AAMs were
      transplanted into subcutaneous tissue in the flap area. On the 7th postoperative
      day, the surviving flap areas were measured using digital imaging software, and
      the flap tissue was collected for evaluation. Forty rats were randomly divided
      into four groups of 10 each: group 1 received an AAM injection; group 2 underwent
      BM-MSC transplantation; group 3 received both AAM injection + BM-MSC
      transplantation; and group 4 was the control group, receiving only saline.
      RESULTS: The survival area in the AAM/BM-MSC group was significantly higher than
      in the control group (18.49 +/- 1.58 versus 7.51 +/- 2.42, P < 0.05). The
      biomechanical assessment showed no significant differences between the
      experimental groups and the control group (P > 0.05), and there was no
      correlation with flap survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that the
      treatment of flaps with BM-MSC and AAM transplantations significantly promoted
      flap survival compared to a control group. The viability of the flap was improved
      by combining BM-MSCs with AAM matrix scaffolds.

PMID- 27621926
TI  - Information and Communication Needs of Parents in Infant End-of-Life: A
      Qualitative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospitalization of a neonate in the neonatal intensive care unit
      (NICU) can be a stressful event for parents. They need specific information and
      communication to alleviate their stress, but these parental needs are not met by
      NICU staff. Exploration of these needs can help health professionals to provide
      better healthcare services. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore
      the information and communication needs of families in neonatal end-of-life and
      bereavement in the NICU. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A qualitative content analysis
      method was used for this study. Data were collected through single semi
      structured interviews with 24 participants. Sampling was conducted based on the
      purposive sampling method in five NICU environments in Iran. All interviews were
      taped and transcribed verbatim. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed two main themes:
      information and communication. For information, there were two subthemes (true
      information about the infant's health and true information about the infant's
      death), and communication needs also developed two subthemes (communication with
      healthcare professionals and communication with the infant before, during and
      after the infant's death). CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, parents need
      accurate information about the health and the death of their neonates in the
      NICU. They also need to communicate with healthcare professionals and their
      babies. Communication is regarded as a channel for obtaining information.
      Therefore, the healthcare team needs to address these families' needs and attempt
      to fulfill their requirements in neonatal end-of-life and bereavement in the
      NICU.

PMID- 27621927
TI  - Food Reduction in Avicenna's View and Related Principles in Classical Medicine.
AB  - CONTEXT: Traditional Iranian medicine (TIM) is a rich and valuable school of
      thought that believes medications are not the only effective approach for the
      treatment of diseases but that nutrition is also important. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION:
      Our study includes two parts; the first is a book review of the Canon of Medicine
      by Avicenna (10th and 11th centuries), in which we focus on finding and
      understanding Avicenna's point of view. In the second part, we searched for "food
      reduction" as a key word from 2000 to 2015 in databases such as Google Scholar,
      PubMed, Copernicus, DOAJ, EBSCO-CINAHL, and the Iranian search database Iranmedex
      for principles of food reduction in classical medicine. RESULTS: The main methods
      of treatment in traditional medicine include changes in lifestyle, especially
      diet, the use of medications, and the use of manipulation methods. For diet, the
      individual may be prohibited from eating or food amounts may be decreased or
      increased. Centuries ago, Avicenna was making use of methods of food reduction as
      an important therapeutic approach in the treatment of diseases. According to him,
      food reduction, to the extent that it does not cause energy loss helps to cure
      disease. Avicenna has proposed food reduction as an aid to treating a variety of
      ailments such as headaches and reflux. CONCLUSIONS: Today, a variety of basic and
      clinical research has shown that food reduction or calorie restriction to a
      standard level can effectively prevent and treat a variety of diseases such as
      neoplasms, diabetes, and kidney disease. Practical principles explained by
      traditional Iranian medicine, in particular Avicenna, could open important and
      quite uncomplicated strategies for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

PMID- 27621928
TI  - The Relationship Between Depression and Metabolic Syndrome: Systematic Review and
      Meta-Analysis Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between
      depression and metabolic syndrome, which have had conflicting results. The
      purpose of this study was a meta-analysis of studies that have examined the
      relationship between these two variables. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: This meta
      analysis systematically reviewed the relationship between depression and
      metabolic syndrome. Scientific databases including IranMedex, SID, Magiran,
      Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct were searched and 17 articles
      were extracted from 2000 to 2014. Selected studies data were analyzed using meta
      analysis and random effects model. Heterogeneity between the studies was examined
      using I2. Data were analyzed using STATA software version 12.1. RESULTS:
      Seventeen studies were analyzed with a sample size of 31880 people. Analysis by
      the type of studies showed that the relationship between the two variables in
      cross-sectional studies (OR = 1.51, CI 95% = 1.36 - 1.68) and cohort studies (OR
      = 1.6, CI 95% = 1.23 - 2.08) was significant. In general, the heterogeneity test
      results among the studies was not significant (P for heterogeneity = 0.08, I(2) =
      39.8%). CONCLUSIONS: There is a relationship between depression and metabolic
      syndrome.

PMID- 27621929
TI  - Bacterial Uropathogens Causing Urinary Tract Infection and Their Resistance
      Patterns Among Children in Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common problem in infants and
      children, as well as adults. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the
      most common bacterial uropathogens, their susceptibility, and resistance to
      antibiotics in children with UTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included
      7,365 urine samples sent from various departments to the Kars state hospital
      microbiology laboratory between January 2012 and May 2014. Bacterial isolation
      from clinical samples was made using standard microbiological methods. Antibiotic
      susceptibilities were determined by disk diffusion, according to CLSI
      recommendations. RESULTS: Bacterial growth was obtained in 1,373 samples (18.5%).
      The percentage distributions of the isolates were as follows: Escherichia coli,
      940 (68.5%); Proteus spp, 183 (13.3%); Staphylococcus spp, 85 (6.2%);
      Enterococcus spp, 65 (4.7%); Klebsiella, 62 (4.5%); Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 21
      (1.5%); and other Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria, 17 (1.2%).
      UTIs were more prevalent, after two years of age, among females than males (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The identification of the most common microorganisms causing
      infectious diseases and regional resistance patterns is important in order to
      determine the antimicrobial policies and infection control guidelines of
      hospitals.

PMID- 27621930
TI  - The Future of Ethics in Medicine.

PMID- 27621931
TI  - Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of Needs Based Biopsychosocial
      Distress Instrument for Cancer Patients (CANDI).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Needs based biopsychosocial distress instrument for cancer patients
      (CANDI) is a scale based on needs arising due to the effects of cancer.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to determine the reliability and
      validity of the CANDI scale in the Turkish language. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The
      study was performed with the participation of 172 cancer patients aged 18 and
      over. Factor analysis (principal components analysis) was used to assess
      construct validity. Criterion validities were tested by computing Spearman
      correlation between CANDI and hospital anxiety depression scale (HADS), and brief
      symptom inventory (BSI) (convergent validity) and quality of life scales (FACT-G)
      (divergent validity). Test-retest reliabilities and internal consistencies were
      measured with intraclass correlation (ICC) and Cronbach-alpha. RESULTS: A three
      factor solution (emotional, physical and social) was found with factor analysis.
      Internal reliability (alpha = 0.94) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.87) were
      significantly high. Correlations between CANDI and HADS (rs = 0.67), and BSI (rs
      = 0.69) and FACT-G (rs = -0.76) were moderate and significant in the expected
      direction. CONCLUSIONS: CANDI is a valid and reliable scale in cancer patients
      with a three-factor structure (emotional, physical and social) in the Turkish
      language.

PMID- 27621932
TI  - A Survey of Adherence to Guidelines to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections
      in Iranian Intensive Care Units.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are acquired by patients
      while receiving care. The highest incidence of HAIs has been documented in
      admissions to intensive care units. Adherence to evidence-based practices is the
      most important step for preventing HAIs. OBJECTIVES: To determine the rate of
      adherence to evidence-based post-insertion recommended care practices after
      admission into the intensive care unit for the following devices: central line
      catheter, indwelling urinary catheter, and mechanical ventilator. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A structured observational cross-sectional research design was used.
      Data were collected using a checklist and a self-report questionnaire. The
      minimum sample size required for this study was 276 post-insertion care episodes,
      and 332 episodes were observed. The ANOVA test was used to identify any
      significant differences among the mean scores of the three devices. RESULTS:
      Overall observed adherence rates were 18.3%, 59.1%, and 43.1% for central line
      catheters, indwelling urinary catheter, and mechanical ventilator, respectively.
      Of the observed episodes of device care, only in 9.4% of the episodes was regular
      oral care performed for patients on mechanical ventilators and only in 19.3% of
      the episodes were indwelling urinary catheters properly secure after insertion.
      More so, in none (0.0%) of the episodes was the central line catheter hub
      disinfected before being accessed. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence-based post-insertion
      recommended care practices were not consistently and uniformly implemented in the
      intensive care units. Establishment of a program for the surveillance of
      adherence to recommended guidelines is required for improving compliance by
      health professionals and the quality of preventive care.

PMID- 27621933
TI  - Cloning, Expression, and Purification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Flagellin, and
      Characterization of the Elicited Anti-Flagellin Antibody.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic human pathogen
      that causes serious infections in immunocompromised hosts. The single polar
      flagellum is an important factor in both virulence and colonization. OBJECTIVES:
      As flagellin is the major component of the flagellar filament, the main aims of
      the present study are to identify, clone, express, and purify the recombinant
      type B flagellin (r-B-flagellin) of P. aeruginosa, as well as to evaluate the
      functional activity of the rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against this r-B
      flagellin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the current experimental study, the r-B
      flagellin gene was isolated from the P. aeruginosa PAO1 strain by PCR. It was
      cloned into the pET-28a vector and then transformed into the E. coli BL21 strain.
      Next, r-B-flagellin was overexpressed and affinity purified by Ni-NTA agarose
      affinity chromatography, followed by on-column resolubilization. Polyclonal
      antisera against the recombinant flagellin were raised in rabbits, and the
      functional activity of the anti-r-B-flagellin antibody was determined by in vitro
      assays. RESULTS: The polyclonal antibodies raised against this r-B-flagellin
      inhibited the motility of the homologous PAO1 strain of P. aeruginosa, which
      significantly decreased the invasion of the PAO1 strain into the A549 cells and
      also enhanced the opsonophagocytosis of this strain. However, our polyclonal
      antibody showed little effect on the heterologous PAK strain. CONCLUSIONS: The r
      B-flagellin carried antigenic epitopes just like the native flagellin, while the
      polyclonal antibody raised against it exhibited functional activity.

PMID- 27621935
TI  - Hypoalbuminemia and Malnutrition Associated With Cow's Milk Allergy: A Case
      Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cow's milk allergy is the most common food allergy in children.
      Symptoms usually involve the skin and the gastrointestinal and respiratory
      tracts. Gastrointestinal tract manifestations of cow's milk allergy are
      nonspecific, and are the only type that can be diagnosed in all age groups. Here,
      we report a rare case of cow's milk allergy in an infant with hypoalbuminemia and
      malnutrition. CASE PRESENTATION: A nine-month-old girl was admitted to Dr. Sami
      Ulus maternity and children's health and diseases training and research hospital,
      Ankara, Turkey, in September 2013, for weakness and swelling of the legs that had
      endured for two days. She had bilateral pretibial pitting (+2) edema. Laboratory
      data revealed albumin at 1.7 g/dL; serum Na, K, urea, creatinin, and alanine
      aspartate aminotransferase levels were normal. Her urinary analysis did not
      reveal proteinuria. Stool samples were normal, and stool steatocrite was
      negative. Anti-gliadin, anti-endomysium, and anti-tissue transglutaminase
      antibodies were negative. Cow's milk allergy was diagnosed due to cow's milk
      specific IgE and skin prick test results. CONCLUSIONS: On rare occasions, cow's
      milk allergy presents with hypoalbuminemia. When diagnosis is delayed, this
      allergy may impair the growth and quality of life and may even be life
      threatening.

PMID- 27621934
TI  - Job Stress and Related Factors Among Iranian Male Staff Using a Path Analysis
      Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, job stress has been cited as a risk factor for some
      diseases. OBJECTIVES: Given the importance of this subject, we established a new
      model for classifying job stress among Iranian male staff using path analysis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was done on male staff in
      Tehran, Iran, 2013. The participants in the study were selected using a
      proportional stratum sampling method. The tools used included nine questionnaires
      (1- HSE questionnaire; 2- GHQ questionnaire; 3- Beck depression inventory; 4-
      Framingham personality type; 5- Azad-Fesharaki's physical activity questionnaire;
      6- Adult attachment style questionnaire; 7- Azad socioeconomic questionnaire; 8-
      Job satisfaction survey; and 9- demographic questionnaire). RESULTS: A total of
      575 individuals (all male) were recruited for the study. Their mean (+/-SD) age
      was 33.49 (+/-8.9) and their mean job experience was 12.79 (+/-8.98) years. The
      pathway of job stress among Iranian male staff showed an adequate model fit
      (RMSEA=0.021, GFI=0.99, AGFI=0.97, P=0.136). In addition, the total effect of
      variables like personality type (beta=0.283), job satisfaction (beta=0.287), and
      age (beta=0.108) showed a positive relationship with job stress, while variables
      like general health (beta=-0.151) and depression (beta=-0.242) showed the reverse
      effect on job stress. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study, we can
      conclude that our suggested model is suited to explaining the pathways of stress
      among Iranian male staff.

PMID- 27621936
TI  - Domestic Violence Among Iranian Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Violence against women, or domestic violence, is both a physical and
      mental health issue that is rampant in many societies. It undermines the personal
      health of those involved by inflicting physical, sexual, and psychological
      damage. The purpose of the present systematic review and meta-analysis is to
      assess the prevalence of domestic violence in Iranian society. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: A total of 31 articles published between 2000 and 2014 in Iranian
      and international databases (MagIran, IranMedex, SID, Google Scholar, Science
      Direct, PubMed, Pre Quest, and Scopus) were examined. The data collected from the
      articles were analyzed through a meta-analysis using a random effects model. The
      heterogeneity of the articles was examined using the I2 index, and the analyses
      were performed with STATA software version 11.2. RESULTS: Based on the 31
      articles, which represent a sample size of 15,514 persons, we estimated the
      prevalence of domestic violence to be 66% (CI 95%: 55 - 77). The geographical
      classification showed that the prevalence of domestic violence was 70% (CI 95%:
      57 - 84) in the east of the country, 70% in the south (CI 95%: 32 - 100), 75% in
      the west (CI 95%: 56 - 94), 62% in the north (CI 95%: 37 - 86), and 59% in the
      center (CI 95%: 44 - 74). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study showed a high
      prevalence of domestic violence in Iran, which requires the adoption of
      appropriate measures and the initiation of effective interventions by the legal
      authorities. These measures and interventions should aim to determine the causes
      of domestic violence and to develop ways of controlling and reducing this
      destructive phenomenon.

PMID- 27621937
TI  - A Case-Control Study of the Relationship Between SLC22A3-LPAL2-LPA Gene Cluster
      Polymorphism and Coronary Artery Disease in the Han Chinese Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutations in the solute carrier family 22 member 3 (SLC22A3),
      lipoprotein (a)-like 2 (LPAL2), and the lipoprotein (a) (LPA) gene cluster, which
      encodes apolipoprotein (a) [apo (a)] of the lipoprotein (a) [Lp (a)] lipoprotein
      particle, have been suggested to contribute to the risk of coronary artery
      disease (CAD), but the precise variants of this gene cluster have not yet been
      identified in Chinese populations. OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate the
      association between SLC22A3-LPAL2-LPA gene cluster polymorphisms and the risk of
      CAD in the Han Chinese population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We recruited 551 CAD
      patients and 544 healthy controls for this case-control study. Four SNPs
      (rs9346816, rs2221750, rs3127596, and rs9364559) were genotyped in real time
      using the MassARRAY system (Sequenom; USA) in the SLC22A3-LPAL2-LPA gene cluster.
      All subjects were Chinese and of Han descent, and were recruited from the First
      Hospital of Jilin University based on convenience sampling from June 2009 to
      September 2012. RESULTS: The frequency of the minor allele G (34.8%) in rs9364559
      was significantly higher in the CAD patients than in the healthy controls (29.4%)
      (P = 0.006). There was genotypic association between rs9364559 and CAD (P =
      0.022), and these results still remained significant after adjustment for the
      conventional CAD risk factors through forward logistic regression analysis (P =
      0.020, P = 0.019). Haplotype analyses from different blocks indicated that 11
      haplotypes were associated with the risk of CAD. Seven haplotypes were associated
      with a reduced risk of CAD, whereas four haplotypes were associated with an
      increased risk of CAD. CONCLUSIONS: Rs9364559 in the LPA gene may contribute to
      the risk of CAD in the Han Chinese population; haplotypes which contain rs9346816
      G were all associated with an increased risk of CAD in this study.

PMID- 27621938
TI  - Self-Care Behaviors and Related Factors in Hypertensive Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An assessment of an individual's hypertension self-care behavior may
      provide clinicians and practitioners with important information regarding how to
      better control hypertension. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to
      investigate the self-care behaviors of hypertensive patients. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 in a sample of 1836
      patients of both genders who had been diagnosed with hypertension in urban and
      rural health centers in the Kohgiluyeh Boyerahmad Province in southern Iran. They
      were randomly selected and were invited to participate in the study. Self-care
      activities were measured using the H-hypertension self-care activity level
      effects. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 63 (range: 30 - 92), and
      36.1% reported adherence to the recommended levels of medication; 24.5% followed
      the physical activity level guidelines. Less than half (39.2%) met the criteria
      for practices related to weight management, and adherence to low-salt diet
      recommendations was also low (12.3%). Overall, 86.7% were nonsmokers, and 100%
      abstained from alcohol. The results of a logistic regression indicated that
      gender was significantly associated with adherence to physical activity (OR =
      0.716) and non-smoking (OR = 1.503) recommendations; that is, women were more
      likely to take part in physical activity than men. There was also a significant
      association between age and adherence to both a low-salt diet (OR = 1.497) and
      medication (OR = 1.435). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, it is crucial to
      implement well-designed educational programs to improve hypertension self-care
      behaviors.

PMID- 27621940
TI  - Generalized Ligamentous Laxity: An Important Predisposing Factor for Shoulder
      Injuries in Athletes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Generalized ligamentous laxity is defined as an increased range of
      joint motion compared to that of the general population. It is a predisposing
      factor for sports injuries, especially in the lower extremities. Nevertheless,
      there is little evidence about the relationship between generalized ligamentous
      laxity and sports injuries in the upper extremities. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the
      relationship of generalized ligamentous laxity with acute and chronic shoulder
      injuries in athletes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our study comprised 118 volunteer
      athletes with a history of at least six months of sports activities and a
      shoulder injury in the three years prior to participation in our study. The
      athletes were divided into two groups: those with or without generalized
      ligamentous laxity. Acute and chronic shoulder injuries, shoulder pain, shoulder
      instability, and functional status assessed via the QuickDASH measure were
      determined and compared between the two groups. A P value of less than 0.05 was
      considered significant. RESULTS: Group A (with ligamentous laxity) consisted of
      43 participants (36.4%) and group B (without ligamentous laxity) consisted of 75
      participants (63.6%). The athletes in group A had more shoulder pain (P = 0.016),
      chronic shoulder injuries (P = 0.032), and shoulder instability (P = 0.004), and
      less functionality (P = 0.030) than those in group B. If fracture were not
      considered an acute injury in both groups, the athletes with generalized
      ligamentous laxity would have had more acute shoulder injuries. CONCLUSIONS:
      Generalized ligamentous laxity is an important predisposing factor for acute and
      chronic shoulder injuries in athletes. Prescreening programs for beginners and
      rehabilitation shoulder programs for sports athletes at high risk are strongly
      recommended.

PMID- 27621939
TI  - Crucial Roles of Systemic and Tissue Lipid Peroxidation Levels and Anti-Oxidant
      Defences Following Contrast Agent Application.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the most important side effects of contrast pharmaceutical
      agents, which are used very common in routine radiology practice, is contrast
      induced nephropathy. Even ischemia, oxidative stress and osmolality related
      cytotoxic effects are considered, the molecular mechanisms underlying this
      pathology have not been identified completely yet. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      current study was to reveal the role of oxidative stress and antioxidant
      enzymatic defence mechanisms in the aetiopathogenesis of contrast-induced
      nephropathy. We also studied possible alleviating effects of N-acetylcysteine
      (NAC), a potent antioxidant, to obtain extra information regarding the molecular
      mechanisms underlying this pathology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an clinical
      experimental study, This study was conducted of Istanbul/Turkey between September
      15, 2012 and April 15, 2013. Three groups of male rats were randomly set up as a
      control group (C), a 100 mg/kg intraperitoneal NAC + 7 mL/kg contrast agent group
      (N + CIN) and a 7 mL/kg intraperitoneal contrast agent group (CIN). They were
      placed in individual metabolic cages 48 hours after agent administration to
      obtain 24-hour urine samples. Renal function tests (albumin, urea, creatinine,
      total protein) were conducted, oxidative stress parameters (Cu, Zn superoxide
      dismutase activity - Cu, Zn-SOD; advanced oxidation protein products - AOPP;
      protein carbonyls - PCO; total thiol groups - T-SH; and lipid hydroperoxides 
      LHP) were measured and tissues were analysed histopathologically. RESULTS:
      Compared with the control group, groups CIN and N + CIN had significantly higher
      urea and LHP levels (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively) and significantly
      lower Cu, Zn-SOD activity and creatinine clearance (P < 0.05). There was no
      statistically significant difference between the groups in PCO or AOPP levels
      despite differences in descriptive statistics. CONCLUSIONS: Contrast-agent
      induced nephropathic changes are more closely related to the magnitude of lipid
      peroxidation than protein oxidation.

PMID- 27621941
TI  - An experimental assessment on the performance of different lubrication techniques
      in grinding of Inconel 751.
AB  - The application of emulsion for combined heat extraction and lubrication requires
      continuous monitoring of the quality of emulsion to sustain a desired grinding
      environment; this is applicable to other grinding fluids as well. Thus to sustain
      a controlled grinding environment, it is necessary to adopt an effectively
      lubricated wheel-work interface. The current study was undertaken to assess
      experimentally the  effects of different grinding environments such as dry,
      minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and Cryo-MQL on performance, such as grinding
      force, temperature, surface roughness and chip morphology on Inconel 751, a
      higher heat resistance material posing thermal problems and wheel loading. The
      results show that grinding with the combination of both liquid nitrogen (LN2) and
      MQL lowers temperature, cutting forces, and surface roughness as compared with
      MQL and dry grinding. Specific cutting energy is widely used as an inverse
      measure of process efficiency in machining. It is found from the results that
      specific cutting energy of Cryo-MQL assisted grinding is 50-65% lower than
      conventional dry grinding. The grindability of Inconel 751 superalloy can be
      enhanced with Cryo-MQL condition. 

PMID- 27621942
TI  - Altitude Stress During Participation of Medical Congress.
AB  - Medical congresses often held in highlands. We reviewed several medical issues
      associated with altitude stress especially while physicians have participated
      medical congress held in high altitude. Altitude stress, also known as an acute
      mountain sickness (AMS), is caused by acute exposure to low oxygen level at high
      altitude which is defined as elevations at or above 1,200 m and AMS commonly
      occurs above 2,500 m. Altitude stress with various symptoms including insomnia
      can also be experienced in airplane. AMS and drunken state share many common
      features in symptoms, neurologic manifestations and even show multiple
      microbleeds in corpus callosum and white matter on MRI. Children are more
      susceptible to altitude stress than adults. Gradual ascent is the best method for
      the prevention of altitude stress. Adequate nutrition (mainly carbohydrates) and
      hydration are recommended. Consumption of alcohol can exacerbate the altitude
      induced impairments in judgment and the visual senses and promote psychomotor
      dysfunction. For prevention or treatment of altitude stress, acetazolamide,
      phosphodiesterase inhibitors, dexamethasone and erythropoietin are helpful.
      Altitude stress can be experienced relatively often during participation of
      medical congress. It is necessary to remind the harmful effect of AMS because it
      can cause serious permanent organ damage even though the symptoms are negligible
      in most cases. 

PMID- 27621944
TI  - Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Endovascular Coiling versus Neurosurgical Clipping
      for Intracranial Aneurysms in Republic of Korea.
AB  - PURPOSE: The International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) revealed that in
      ruptured intracranial aneurysms (RA), endovascular coiling (EC) yields better
      clinical outcomes than neurosurgical clipping (NC) at 1 year. In unruptured
      aneurysms (UIA), EC is being increasingly used as an alternative to NC due to
      patients' preference. There is a lot of difference in treatment cost (EC vs. NC)
      between countries. There is one recently published study dealing with the
      comparative cost analysis only in UIAs in South Korea. But it is a hospital-based
      study. So, the authors performed a nation-wide cost effective comparison in our
      country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of
      healthcare big data open systems in Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service
      (HIRA). Hospital cost data of the recent 5 years (from January 2010 to December
      2014) were analyzed according to patients' age and sex and the presence of
      subarachnoid hemorrhage. RESULTS: When comparing the total hospital costs for NC
      of a UIA (n=13,756) and EC of a UIA (n=17,666), NC [mean+/-standard deviation
      (SD): ?7,987,179+/-3,855,029] resulted in significantly lower total hospital
      costs than EC [?10,201,645+/-5,001,626, p<0.0001], although a shorter hospital
      stay with EC of a UIA [8.6 +/-7.4 days] vs. NC [15.0 +/-8.3 days, p<0.0001]. When
      comparing the total hospital costs for NC of a RA (n=7,293) and EC of a RA
      (n=6,954), NC [?13,914,993+/-6,247,914] resulted in significantly lower total
      hospital costs than EC [?16,702,446+/-7,841,141, p<0.0001], although shorter
      hospital stays for EC of a RA [19.8 +/-11.4] vs. NC [23.0 +/-10.3, p<0.0001].
      CONCLUSION: The total hospital costs for the NC of both UIAs and RAs were found
      to be lower than those for EC in South Korea.

PMID- 27621943
TI  - Patient Radiation Exposure During Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures for
      Intracranial Aneurysms: A Multicenter Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess patient radiation doses during cerebral angiography and
      embolization of intracranial aneurysms across multi-centers and propose a
      diagnostic reference level (DRL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied a sample of
      490 diagnostic and 371 therapeutic procedures for intracranial aneurysms, which
      were performed at 23 hospitals in Korea in 2015. Parameters including dose-area
      product (DAP), cumulative air kerma (CAK), fluoroscopic time and total
      angiographic image frames were obtained and analyzed. RESULTS: Total mean DAP,
      CAK, fluoroscopy time, and total angiographic image frames were 106.2 +/- 66.4 Gy
      cm(2), 697.1 +/- 473.7 mGy, 9.7 +/- 6.5 minutes, 241.5 +/- 116.6 frames for
      diagnostic procedures, 218.8 +/- 164.3 Gy-cm(2), 3365.7 +/- 2205.8 mGy, 51.5 +/-
      31.1 minutes, 443.5 +/- 270.7 frames for therapeutic procedures, respectively.
      For diagnostic procedure, the third quartiles for DRLs were 144.2 Gy-cm(2) for
      DAP, 921.1 mGy for CAK, 12.2 minutes for fluoroscopy times and 286.5 for number
      of image frames, respectively. For therapeutic procedures, the third quartiles
      for DRLs were 271.0 Gy-cm(2) for DAP, 4471.3 mGy for CAK, 64.7 minutes for
      fluoroscopy times and 567.3 for number of image frames, respectively. On average,
      rotational angiography was used 1.5 +/- 0.7 times/session (range, 0-4; n=490) for
      diagnostic procedures and 1.6 +/- 1.2 times/session (range, 0-4; n=368) for
      therapeutic procedures, respectively. CONCLUSION: Radiation dose as measured by
      DAP, fluoroscopy time and image frames were lower in our patients compared to
      another study regarding cerebral angiography, and DAP was lower with fewer
      angiographic image frames for therapeutic procedures. Proposed DRLs can be used
      for quality assurance and patient safety in diagnostic and therapeutic
      procedures.

PMID- 27621945
TI  - Anatomical Variations of Cerebral MR Venography: Is Gender Matter?
AB  - PURPOSE: Knowledge of variations in the cerebral dural venous sinus anatomy seen
      on magnetic resonance (MR) venography is essential to avoid over-diagnosis of
      cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). Very limited data is available on gender
      difference of the cerebral dural venous sinus anatomy variations. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to study the normal anatomy of the
      intracranial venous system and its normal variation, as depicted by 3D MR
      venography, in normal adults and any gender-related differences. RESULTS: A total
      of 1654 patients (582 men, 1072 women, age range 19 to 86 years, mean age:
      37.98+/-13.83 years) were included in the study. Most common indication for MR
      venography was headache (75.4%). Hypoplastic left transverse sinus was the most
      common anatomical variation in 352 (21.3%) patients. Left transverse sinus was
      hypoplastic in more commonly in male in comparison to female (24.9% versus 19.3%,
      p = 0.009). Most common variation of superior sagittal sinus (SSS) was atresia of
      anterior one third SSS (15, 0.9%). Except hypoplastic left transverse sinus, rest
      of anatomical variations of the transverse and other sinuses were not
      significantly differ among both genders. CONCLUSION: Hypoplastic left transverse
      sinus is the most common anatomical variation and more common in male compared to
      female in the present study. Other anatomical variations of dural venous sinuses
      are not significantly differ among both genders.

PMID- 27621947
TI  - Monoplane 3D Overlay Roadmap versus Conventional Biplane 2D Roadmap Technique for
      Neurointervenional Procedures.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated whether a 3D overlay roadmap using monoplane fluoroscopy
      offers advantages over a conventional 2D roadmap using biplane fluoroscopy during
      endovascular aneurysm treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart
      review was conducted for 131 consecutive cerebral aneurysm embolizations by three
      neurointerventionalists at a single institution. Allowing for a transition
      period, the periods from January 2012 to August 2012 (Time Period 1) and February
      2013 to July 2013 (Time Period 2) were analyzed for radiation exposure, contrast
      administration, fluoroscopy time, procedure time, angiographic results, and
      perioperative complications. Two neurointerventionalists (Group 1) used a
      conventional 2D roadmap for both Time Periods, and one neurointerventionalist
      (Group 2) transitioned from a 2D roadmap during Time Period 1 to a 3D overlay
      roadmap during Time Period 2. RESULTS: During Time Period 2, Group 2 demonstrated
      reduced fluoroscopy time (p<0.001), procedure time (P=0.023), total radiation
      dose (p=0.001), and fluoroscopy dose (P=0.017) relative to Group 1. During Time
      Period 2, there was no difference of immediate angiographic results and procedure
      complications between the two groups. Through the transition from Time Period 1
      to Time Period 2, Group 2 demonstrated decreased fluoroscopy time (p< 0.001),
      procedure time (p=0.022), and procedure complication rate (p=0.041) in Time
      Period 2 relative to Time Period 1. CONCLUSION: The monoplane 3D overlay roadmap
      technique reduced fluoroscopy dose and fluoroscopy time during neurointervention
      of cerebral aneurysms with similar angiographic occlusions and complications rate
      relative to biplane 2D roadmap, which implies possible compensation of
      limitations of monoplane fluoroscopy by 3D overlay technique.

PMID- 27621946
TI  - Comparison Between Balloon-Assisted and Stent-Assisted Technique for Treatment of
      Unruptured Internal Carotid Artery Aneurysms.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare clinical and angiographic outcomes between balloon-assisted
      (BAC) and stent-assisted coiling for internal carotid artery unruptured aneurysms
      (ICA-UA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 227 ICA-UA in 190 patients were
      treated with BAC (120 patients, 141 ICA-UA) or SAC (70 patients, 86 ICA-UA. We
      compared characteristics of patients and ICA-UA, and clinical and angiographic
      outcomes between groups. RESULTS: Aneurysm size and neck diameter were greater
      for SAC than in BAC, but aneurysm volume and coil packing density were not
      different between groups. Immediate angiographic occlusion grade was better for
      BAC than for SAC. Periprocedural thromboembolic events were more frequent during
      SAC (11.6%) than BAC (2.4%) per aneurysm, but hemorrhagic events were the
      opposite (2.4% for BAC and none for SAC per aneurysm) (p < 0.05). At discharge,
      treatment-related morbi-mortality rates were 1.6% for BAC and 1.4% per patient
      for SAC. At clinical follow-up (BAC, 118 patients [98.3%] for a mean of 48.4
      months; SAC, 69 patients [98.6%], for a mean of 37.4 months), 1 additional
      treatment-related infarction occurred during SAC, resulting in a modified Rankin
      scale score of 4. Thus, overall treatment-related morbi-mortality rates were 1.7%
      in BAC and 2.9% in SAC. At imaging follow-up (BAC, 135 aneurysms [95.7%] for 28.3
      months; SAC, 81 aneurysms [94.1%] for 23.9 months), BAC and SAC showed stable or
      improved occlusion in 94.1% and 95.0%, minor recurrence in 4.4% and 2.5%, and
      major recurrence in 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both BAC and SAC
      were safe and effective techniques for ICA-UA. There were no differences in morbi
      mortality and recurrence rates between groups.

PMID- 27621948
TI  - Mechanical Solitaire Thrombectomy with Low-Dose Booster Tirofiban Injection.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mechanical thrombectomy using a Solitaire stent has been associated with
      a high recanalization rate and favorable clinical outcome in intra-arterial
      thrombolysis. To achieve a higher recanalization rate for mechanical Solitaire
      thrombectomy, we used an intra-arterial low-dose booster tirofiban injection into
      the occluded segment after stent deployment. We report the safety and
      recanalization rates for mechanical Solitaire thrombectomy with a low-dose
      booster tirofiban injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between February and March
      2013, 13 consecutive patients underwent mechanical Solitaire thrombectomy with
      low-dose booster tirofiban injection. The occlusion sites included the proximal
      middle cerebral artery (5 patients), the internal carotid artery (5 patients),
      the top of the basilar artery (2 patients) and the distal middle cerebral artery
      (M2 segment, 1 patient). Six patients underwent bridge treatment, including
      intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. Tirofiban of 250 ug was used in all
      patients except one (500 ug). All occluded vessels were recanalized after 3
      attempts at stent retrieval (1 time, n=9; 2 times, n=2; 3 times, n=2). RESULTS:
      Successful recanalization was achieved in all patients (TICI 3, n=8; TICI 2b,
      n=5). Procedural complications developed in 3 patients (subarachnoid hemorrhage,
      n=2; hemorrhagic transformation, n=1). Mortality occurred in one patient with a
      basilar artery occlusion due to reperfusion brain swelling after mechanical
      Solitaire thrombectomy with low-dose booster tirofiban injection. Favorable
      clinical outcome (mRS<=2) was observed in 8 patients (61.5%). CONCLUSION: Our
      modified mechanical Solitaire thrombectomy method using a low-dose booster
      tirofiban injection might enhance the recanalization rate with no additive
      hemorrhagic complications.

PMID- 27621949
TI  - Prediction of Prolonged Hemodynamic Instability During Carotid Angioplasty and
      Stenting.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the risk factors of prolonged
      hemodynamic instability (HDI) after carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS).
      Herein, a simplified predictive scoring system for prolonged HDI is proposed.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-six patients who had CAS from 2011 to 2016 at a
      single institution were evaluated. Prolonged HDI was defined as systolic blood
      pressure >160 mm Hg or <90 mm Hg or heart rate <50 beats/min, lasting over 30
      minutes despite medical treatments. For the study, clinical data and radiologic
      data, including plaque morphology and stenosis were analyzed. RESULTS: Prolonged
      HDI was observed in 21 patients (31.8%). Multivariable analysis revealed that
      calcification (OR, 6.726; p=0.006), eccentric stenosis (OR, 3.645; p=0.047) and
      extensive plaque distribution (OR, 7.169; p=0.006) were related to prolonged HDI.
      According to these results, a simplified scoring scale was proposed based on the
      summation of points: 2 points for calcified plaque, 2 points for extensive plaque
      distribution, and 1 point for eccentric stenosis. The percentages of prolonged
      HDI according to the total score were as follows: score 0, 8.7%; score 1, 20.0%;
      score 2, 38.5%; score 3, 72.7%; score 4, 66.7%; score 5, 100%. From the analysis,
      the total score in patients with prolonged HDI was significantly higher than
      those without prolonged HDI (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Prolonged HDI can be
      associated with calcification of plaque, eccentric stenosis and extensive plaque
      distribution, and a simplified scoring system enables prediction of prolonged HDI
      according to our cohort.

PMID- 27621950
TI  - Renal Subcapsular Hematoma after Intravenous Thrombolysis in a Patient with Acute
      Cerebral Infarction.
AB  - A 74-year-old female with acute cerebral infarction was treated with intravenous
      recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. Subsequent percutaneous transfemoral
      angiography and mechanical thrombectomy were performed due to a right middle
      cerebral artery occlusion, which was successfully recanalized. Two days after
      treatment, the patient complained of vague right abdominal pain and a laboratory
      test showed anemia. Abdominal computed tomography showed a right renal
      subcapsular hematoma. After conservative management, the patient was discharged
      without complications. We report a rare complication after intravenous
      thrombolysis in a patient with acute cerebral infarction. 

PMID- 27621951
TI  - Dual Stent-Assisted Coil Embolization for Fusiform Aneurysm Arising From
      Persistent Trigeminal Artery.
AB  - Aneurysms of the persistent trigeminal artery (PTA) trunk are exceptionally rare
      and have a high risk for rupture. Dual stent placement through each internal
      carotid and basilar artery for endovascular coil embolization of a fusiform
      aneurysm arising from the PTA has not been described in the literature. A 44-year
      old female with a history of chronic headache was identified to have a fusiform
      aneurysm arising from medially coursing adult type, Saltzman type 3 PTA trunk.
      Sacrifice of the PTA trunk inclusive of the aneurysm was performed with dual
      stent placement through each basilar and internal carotid artery across their
      respective junctions with the PTA. Six-month follow-up angiography showed
      complete occlusion of the PTA and the aneurysm. The patient's symptoms resolved.
      Our case demonstrated that the sacrifice of an adult type, Saltzman type 3 PTA
      inclusive of an associated fusiform aneurysm is feasible with dual stent-assisted
      coil embolization. 

PMID- 27621953
TI  - Intrapartum Cervical Laceration and Subsequent Pregnancy Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe pregnancy outcomes,
      including cervical insufficiency and preterm birth, in the subsequent pregnancy
      following an intrapartum cervical laceration. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort
      of women with their first two consecutive singleton pregnancies carried to >=
      20(0/7) weeks' gestation within a tertiary health care system from 2002 to 2012.
      Cervical laceration cases were identified by ICD9 codes and included if suture
      repair was required. RESULTS: In this study, 55 women were confirmed to have a
      cervical laceration in the first delivery; 43 lacerations after vaginal delivery
      (VD) and 12 after cesarean delivery (CD). The median gestational age of the first
      delivery was 40(0/7) weeks and the median birth weight 3,545 g; these did not
      differ between VD and CD. In the second pregnancy, 2 of 55 women (4.6%) had a
      prophylactic cerclage placed; 1 carried to term and the other delivered at
      35(6/7) weeks. In total, four women (9.3%) delivered the second pregnancy < 37
      weeks: three had a prior term VD and one had a prior 34 weeks VD. There was only
      one case of recurrent cervical laceration, occurring in the setting of vaginal
      deliveries. CONCLUSION: Obstetric cervical lacerations are uncommon.
      Complications in the following pregnancy were low, despite lack of additional
      prophylactic cerclage use.

PMID- 27621954
TI  - Addressing Global Health, Development, and Social Inequalities through Research
      and Policy Analyses: The International Journal of MCH and AIDS.

PMID- 27621955
TI  - Towards the Elimination of Pediatric HIV: Enhancing Maternal, Sexual, and
      Reproductive Health Services.
AB  - Almost 10 years ago, the United Nations adopted a comprehensive, four-pronged
      approach for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT).
      Despite all four prongs being central to the elimination of pediatric HIV, and
      the health of the mother being critical to reaching this goal, PMTCT programs
      have historically focused more attention on preventing HIV transmission from
      mother to child (prong 3) than on preventing HIV in women of reproductive age
      (prong 1) and preventing unintended pregnancies in women living with HIV (prong
      2). In this commentary, experts from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS
      Foundation (EGPAF) argue that within the context of efforts to eliminate
      pediatric HIV, there are many ways to keep women living with HIV alive and at the
      center of the response to the global epidemic. One of the ways to do this is to
      enhance maternal and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Within the
      elimination agenda, integration and linkages between PMTCT and comprehensive SRH
      services can keep mothers alive and at the center of the response. The commentary
      highlights some of the foundation's global health work supporting, evaluating and
      enhancing maternal and SRH services provided to women living with HIV and
      proposes concrete actions for donors, researchers, policy makers and program
      implementers to further enhance maternal and SRH services within the context of
      PMTCT. If keeping women living with HIV is an integral component of the
      elimination of pediatric HIV agenda, maternal and SRH research, policies and
      programs need to be strengthened within the context of PMTCT. Donor funding and
      priorities for PMTCT also need to be more supportive of primary prevention of HIV
      infection among women of childbearing age and preventing unintended pregnancies
      among women living with HIV. 

PMID- 27621952
TI  - Neurological Outcomes after Human Umbilical Cord Patch for In Utero Spina Bifida
      Repair in a Sheep Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of our study was to test the hypothesis that in utero
      repair of surgically created spina bifida in a sheep model using cryopreserved
      human umbilical cord (HUC) patch improves neurological outcome. METHODS: Spina
      bifida with myelotomy was surgically created in timed pregnant ewes at
      gestational day (GD) 75. The fetuses were randomly assigned to unrepaired versus
      HUC and treated at GD 95 and then delivered at GD 140. Neurological evaluation
      was performed using the Texas Spinal Cord Injury Scale (TSCIS), bladder control
      using ultrasound, and the hindbrain herniation. RESULTS: Three lambs without the
      spina bifida creation served as controls. There were four lambs with spina
      bifida: two were unrepaired and two underwent HUC repair. The control lambs had
      normal function. Both unrepaired lambs had nonhealed skin lesions with leakage of
      cerebrospinal fluid, a 0/20 TSCIS score, no bladder control, and the hindbrain
      herniation. In contrast, both HUC lambs had a completely healed skin defect and
      survived to day 2 of life, a 3/20 and 4/20 TSCIS score (nociception), partial
      bladder control, and normal hindbrain anatomy. CONCLUSIONS: Cryopreserved HUC
      patch appears to improve survival and neurological outcome in this severe form of
      the ovine model of spina bifida.

PMID- 27621956
TI  - Global Inequalities in Cervical Cancer Incidence and Mortality are Linked to
      Deprivation, Low Socioeconomic Status, and Human Development.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined global inequalities in cervical cancer incidence
      and mortality rates as a function of cross-national variations in the Human
      Development Index (HDI), socioeconomic factors, Gender Inequality Index (GII),
      and healthcare expenditure. METHODS: Age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates
      were calculated for women in 184 countries using the 2008 GLOBOCAN database, and
      incidence and mortality trends were analyzed using the WHO cancer mortality
      database. Log-linear regression was used to model annual trends, while OLS and
      Poisson regression models were used to estimate the impact of socioeconomic and
      human development factors on incidence and mortality rates. RESULTS: Cervical
      cancer incidence and mortality rates varied widely, with many African countries
      such as Guinea, Zambia, Comoros, Tanzania, and Malawi having at least 10-to-20
      fold higher rates than several West Asian, Middle East, and European countries,
      including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Switzerland. HDI, GII, poverty
      rate, health expenditure per capita, urbanization, and literacy rate were all
      significantly related to cervical cancer incidence and mortality, with HDI and
      poverty rate each explaining >52% of the global variance in mortality. Both
      incidence and mortality rates increased in relation to lower human development
      and higher gender inequality levels. A 0.2 unit increase in HDI was associated
      with a 20% decrease in cervical cancer risk and a 33% decrease in cervical cancer
      mortality risk. The risk of a cervical cancer diagnosis increased by 24% and of
      cervical cancer death by 42% for a 0.2 unit increase in GII. Higher health
      expenditure levels were independently associated with decreased incidence and
      mortality risks. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Global inequalities
      in cervical cancer are clearly linked to disparities in human development, social
      inequality, and living standards. Reductions in cervical cancer rates are
      achievable by reducing inequalities in socioeconomic conditions, availability of
      preventive health services, and women's social status.

PMID- 27621957
TI  - Health Improvements Have Been More Rapid and Widespread in China than in India: A
      Comparative Analysis of Health and Socioeconomic Trends from 1960 to 2011.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined differences between China and India in key health and
      socioeconomic indicators, including life expectancy, infant and child mortality,
      non-communicable disease mortality from cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVD),
      and diabetes, Human Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, material living
      conditions, and health expenditure. METHODS: Data on health and social indicators
      came from various World Health Organization and United Nations databases on
      global health and development statistics, including the GLOBOCAN cancer database.
      Mortality trends were modeled by log-linear regression, and differences in rates
      and relative risks were tested for statistical significance. RESULTS: Although
      both countries have made marked improvements, India lags behind China on several
      key health indicators. Differential rates of mortality decline during 1960-2009
      have led to a widening health gap between China and India. In 2009 the infant
      mortality rate in India was 50 deaths per 1,000 live births, 3 times greater than
      the rate for China. Sixty-six out of 1,000 Indian children died before reaching
      their 5th birthday, compared with 19 children in China. China's life expectancy
      is 9 years longer than India's. Life expectancy at birth in India increased from
      42 years in 1960 to 65 years in 2009, while life expectancy in China increased
      from 47 years in 1960 to 74 years in 2009. Major health concerns for China
      include high rates of stomach, liver, and lung cancer, CVD, and smoking
      prevalence. Globally, India ranked 90th and China 102nd in life satisfaction.
      CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: India's less favorable health profile
      compared to China is largely attributable to its higher rates of mortality from
      communicable diseases and maternal and perinatal conditions. Further health gains
      can be achieved by reducing social inequality, greater investments in human
      development and health services, and by prevention and control of chronic-disease
      risks such as hypertension, smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity.

PMID- 27621958
TI  - Impact of Place of Delivery on Neonatal Mortality in Rural Tanzania.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Studies on factors affecting neonatal mortality have rarely
      considered the impact of place of delivery on neonatal mortality. This study
      provides epidemiological information regarding the impact of place of delivery on
      neonatal deaths. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Rufiji Health and Demographic
      Surveillance System (RHDSS) in Tanzania. A total of 5,124 live births and 166
      neonatal deaths were recorded from January 2005 to December 2006. The place of
      delivery was categorized as either in a health facility or outside, and the
      neonatal mortality rate (NMR) was calculated as the number of neonatal deaths per
      1,000 live births. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were
      used to assess the association between neonatal mortality and place of delivery
      and other maternal risk factors while adjusting for potential confounders.
      RESULTS: Approximately 67% (111) of neonatal deaths occurred during the first
      week of life. There were more neonatal deaths among deliveries outside health
      facilities (NMR = 43.4 per 1,000 live births) than among deliveries within health
      facilities (NMR = 27.0 per 1,000 live births). The overall NMR was 32.4 per 1,000
      live births. Mothers who delivered outside a health facility experienced 1.85
      times higher odds of experiencing neonatal deaths (adjusted odds ratio = 1.85;
      95% confidence interval = 1.33-2.58) than those who delivered in a health
      facility. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Place of delivery is a
      significant predictor of neonatal mortality. Pregnant women need to be encouraged
      to deliver at health facilities and this should be done by intensifying education
      on where to deliver. Infrastructure, such as emergency transport, to facilitate
      health facility deliveries also requires urgent attention.

PMID- 27621959
TI  - Determinants of Under-Five Mortality in Rural Empowered Action Group States in
      India: An Application of Cox Frailty Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In India there has been a decline in overall under-five mortality,
      with some states still showing very high mortality rates. It is argued that there
      is family clustering in mortality among children aged <5 years. We explored the
      effects of programmable (proximate) determinants on under-five mortality by
      accounting for family-level clustering and adjusting for background variables
      using Cox frailty model in rural Empowered Action Group states (EAG) in India and
      compared results with standard models. METHODS: Analysis included 13,785 live
      births that occurred five years preceding the National Family Health Survey-3
      (2005-06). The Cox frailty model and the traditional Cox proportional hazards
      models were used. RESULTS: The Cox frailty model showed that mother's age at
      birth, place of delivery, sex of the baby, composite variable of birth order and
      birth interval, baby size at birth, and breastfeeding were significant
      determinants of under-five mortality, after adjusting for the familial frailty
      effect. The hazard ratio was 1.41 (95% CI=1.14-1.75) for children born to mothers
      aged 12-19 years compared to mothers aged 20-30 years, 1.42 (95% CI=1.12-1.79)
      for small-sized than average-sized babies at birth, and 102 (95% CI=81-128) for
      non-breastfed than breastfed babies. Children had significantly lower mortality
      risks in the richest than poorest wealth quintile. The familial frailty effect
      was 2.86 in the rural EAG states. The hazard ratios for the determinants in all
      the three models were similar except the death of a previous child variable in
      the Cox frailty model, which had the highest R2 and lowest log-likelihood.
      CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: While planning for the child survival
      program in rural EAG states, parental competence which explains the unobserved
      familial effect needs to be considered along with significant programmable
      determinants. The frailty models that provide statistically valid estimates of
      the covariate effects are recommended, when observations are correlated.

PMID- 27621960
TI  - The Impact of Intestinal Parasitic Infections on the Nutritional Status of Rural
      and Urban School-Aged Children in Nigeria.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Intestinal parasitic infection and undernutrition are still major
      public health problems in poor and developing countries. The objective of this
      study was to assess the relationship between intestinal parasitic infection and
      nutritional status in 405 primary school children from rural and urban areas of
      Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey in 2009 obtained
      anthropometric data, height-for-age (HA), weight-for-height (WH) and weight-for
      age (WA) Z-scores from each child and fecal samples were also collected and
      screened for intestinal parasites using standard parasitological protocols.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of infection with any intestinal parasite was 67.4%. A
      total of six intestinal parasites were detected; hookworm (41.7%) had the highest
      prevalence. The prevalence of intestinal parasites and undernutrition was
      significantly higher in rural than in urban children (P<0.001). The prevalence of
      stunting (HAZ < -2), underweight (WAZ < -2) and wasting (WHZ < -2) for rural and
      urban children were 42.3% vs. 29.7%; underweight 43.2% vs. 29.6% and wasting
      10.9% vs. 6.4%, respectively. With respect to nutritional indicators, the
      infected children had significantly (P<0.05) higher z-scores than the uninfected
      children. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only Hookworm and
      Ascaris lumbricoides were each significantly (P<0.05) associated with stunting,
      wasting, and underweight. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Since
      intestinal parasitic infections are associated with malnutrition, controlling
      these parasites could increase the physical development and well-being of the
      affected children.

PMID- 27621961
TI  - Social, Cultural, and Environmental Challenges Faced by Children on
      Antiretroviral Therapy in Zimbabwe: a Mixed-Method Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART), many children,
      particularly in the rural communities of Zimbabwe, remain vulnerable. The purpose
      of this study was to determine the factors and challenges facing children on
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Brunapeg area of Mangwe District, Zimbabwe.
      METHODS: A mixed-method approach involving interviewer-guided focus group
      discussions and piloted semi-structured questionnaires was utilized to collect
      data from different key population groups. The data obtained were analyzed
      through content coding procedures based on a set of predetermined themes of
      interest. RESULTS: A number of challenges emerged as barriers to the success of
      antiretroviral therapy for children. Primary care givers were less informed about
      HIV and AIDS issues for people having direct impact on the success of
      antiretroviral therapy in children whilst some were found to be taking the
      antiretroviral drugs meant for the children. It also emerged that some primary
      care givers were either too young or too old to care for the children while
      others had failed to disclose to the children why they frequently visited the
      Opportunistic Infections (OI) clinic. Most primary care givers were not the
      biological parents of the affected children. Other challenges included inadequate
      access to health services, inadequate food and nutrition and lack of access to
      clean water, good hygiene and sanitation. The lack of community support and
      stigma and discrimination affected their school attendance and hospital visits.
      All these factors contributed to non-adherence to antiretroviral drugs.
      CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Children on ART in rural communities
      in Zimbabwe remain severely compromised and have unique problems that need multi
      intervention strategies both at policy and programmatic levels. Effective
      mitigating measures must be fully established and implemented in rural
      communities of developing countries in the fight for universal elimination of
      HIV/AIDS.

PMID- 27621963
TI  - Reproductive Tract Infections and Treatment Seeking Behavior among Married
      Adolescent Women 15-19 Years in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: India is home to the highest number of adolescents in the world.
      Adolescents in India suffer from lack of knowledge and empowerment to make
      informed sexual and reproductive health decisions. This paper analyses the
      prevalence of reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted infections
      (RTI/STI) and treatment seeking behavior among married adolescent women in India
      aged 15-19 years. METHODS: Data from the District Level Household Survey (DLHS,
      2007-08) of India were used. The prevalence of RTIs symptoms and treatment
      seeking behavior among women by different socio-demographic characteristics was
      analyzed. Factor analysis was utilized to create an index using information about
      11 symptoms of RTI/STI collected in the survey. Linear and binary logistic
      regressions were used to know the association between infections and treatment
      seeking behavior with socio-demographic factors. RESULTS: About 15 percent of
      adolescent women reported having any symptoms of RTI/STI. The main symptoms
      reported were low backache, pain in the lower abdomen, pain during intercourse
      and itching or irritation around the vulvar region. Factor analysis showed the
      concentration of diseases in three clusters - infection in around the vulva,
      other reproductive infection and abnormal discharge; and intercourse related
      problems. Major predictors of both symptoms of reproductive infections and
      treatment seeking behavior from multivariate analysis are age, education, wealth,
      region and awareness about RTI/STI. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS:
      Knowledge and treatment seeking behavior is poor among adolescent women in India.
      There is need for programmatic and policy emphasis on increasing knowledge and
      awareness through family life education including in educational curriculum at
      school level.

PMID- 27621962
TI  - Biochemical Manifestation of HIV Lipodystrophy Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), including protease
      inhibitors (PI) have led to dramatic improvements in the quality and quantity of
      life in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, a
      significant number of AIDS patients on HAART develop characteristic changes in
      body fat redistribution referred to as lipodystrophy syndrome (LDS). Features of
      LDS include hypertrophy in the neck fat pad (buffalo hump), increased fat in the
      abdominal region (protease paunch), gynecomastia and loss of fat in the mid-face
      and extremities. METHODS: The aim of this paper is to review the current
      knowledge regarding this syndrome. This article reviews the published
      investigations on biochemical manifestation of HIV lipodystrophy syndrome.
      RESULTS: It is estimated that approximately 64% of patients treated with PI will
      experience this syndrome. Biochemically, these patients have increased
      triglycerides (Trig), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol
      (LDL-C) and extremely low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C).
      CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: It is hoped that awareness of this
      syndrome would aid in early diagnosis and better patient management, possibly
      leading to a lower incidence of cardiovascular complications among these
      patients.

PMID- 27621964
TI  - Contraceptive Characteristics of Women Living with HIV in the Kumasi Metropolis,
      Ghana.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Contraceptive use among women living with HIV is important to prevent
      the transmission of the infection to their partners, prevent unintended
      pregnancies and prevent the mother-to-child transmission of the infection. The
      study sought to determine the contraceptive characteristics of women living with
      HIV in the Kumasi metropolis. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from
      July to August 2012 at two HIV/AIDS clinics in the Kumasi Metropolis in the
      Ashanti Region, Ghana. Interviewer- administered questionnaires were used to
      collect data from two hundred and ninety five women. Data from one hundred and
      eighty three women living with HIV and who were sexually active were analyzed.
      Factors associated with contraceptive use were examined using logistic
      regression. RESULTS: The overall contraceptive use was high; 84.7% were using a
      modern contraceptive method. The male condom was the commonest contraceptive
      method (77.0%) used and this was the main contraceptive method promoted at the
      HIV/AIDS clinic. Dual method usage was low (4.4%). Multivariate analysis showed
      that the significant predictor of contraceptive use was HIV status disclosure to
      partner (AOR = 0.25; 95% CI = 0.07-0.87; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: The integration of family planning and HIV/AIDS services could
      stress dual method use and encourage HIV status disclosure to partner.

PMID- 27621965
TI  - Evaluating Birth Preparedness and Pregnancy Complications Readiness Knowledge and
      Skills of Accredited Social Health Activists in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in India relies on
      Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to act as a link between pregnant
      women and health facilities. All ASHAs are required to have a birth preparedness
      plan and be aware of danger signs of complications to initiate appropriate and
      timely referral to obstetric care. OBJECTIVES: To examine the extent to which
      Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are equipped with necessary knowledge
      and skills and the adequacy of support they get from supervisors to carry out
      their assigned tasks in a rural district in Karnataka, (South) India. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 225 ASHAs between June -
      July 2011. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using pre-tested semi
      structured interview schedule. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Chi
      square test was used to determine associations between categorical variables.
      RESULTS: The response rate was 207(92%). In terms of knowledge of all key danger
      signs (Complication Readiness), 2(1%), 10(4.8%), and 15(7.2%) ASHAs were aware of
      key danger signs for labor and child birth, postpartum period and pregnancy
      period, respectively. Knowledge of key danger signs was associated with repeated,
      recent and practical training (p <0.05). A majority (71%) scored 4-7 of the
      maximum score out of 8 for knowledge regarding Birth Preparedness. CONCLUSIONS
      AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: ASHAs in rural Karnataka, India, are poorly
      equipped to identify obstetric complications and to help expectant mothers
      prepare a birth preparedness plan. There is critical need for the implementation
      of appropriate training and follow-up supervision of ASHAs within a supportive,
      functioning and responsive health care system.

PMID- 27621966
TI  - Does Pre-Survey Training Impact Knowledge of Survey Administrators and Survey
      Outcomes in Developing Countries? Evaluation Findings of a Training of Trainers
      Workshop for National AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey-Plus in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although, Nigeria had conducted various national surveys followed by
      central and state level trainings for survey administrators, prior pre-survey
      trainings have not been systematically evaluated to assess their impact on
      knowledge gain and final outcome of the survey. A central training of trainers'
      session was organized for master trainers on the conduct of the 2012 National
      AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of
      training on the quality of conduct of a national research survey in the 36 states
      and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria. METHOD: A total of 185 participants
      consisting of State AIDS Program Coordinators, Reproductive Health Coordinators,
      State Laboratory Scientists, Lead Supervisors and Counselor Testers were invited
      from the 36 states in Nigeria and the FCT for the central training of trainers in
      Abuja. The training lasted 5 days and the trainees were grouped into two on the
      basis of behavioral epidemiology and laboratory components. Training tools such
      as the developed protocol, training power point slides, practical sessions such
      as role plays, and usage of HIV rapid test kits were utilized during the
      training. The facilitators were drawn from Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH),
      universities and research Institutions as well as Non-Governmental Organizations
      (NGOs). The facilitators prepared and administered 25 structured questions for
      the behavioral group and 28 questions for the laboratory group at the beginning
      of the training to assess the participants' knowledge of HIV and the survey. The
      same questions answered by Trainees responded to the same questions prior to the
      commencement and at the end of the trainings. Scores were aggregated to 100 for
      each test. We conducted paired t-test to determine statistically significant
      differences between pre-test and post-test results at 0.05 significance level and
      ANOVA to determine if there were differences in knowledge level among different
      groups. RESULT: The overall mean pre-test and post-test scores were 64.0% and
      77.4% respectively indicating a 13.4% knowledge gain above what it was at the
      beginning of the training. The mean pre-test score and post-test score for the
      Southern states (SN) were 64.7% and 80.3% while that of the Northern states (NN)
      were 63.5% and 75.3% representing a knowledge gain of 15.6% and 11.8%
      respectively. There was statistical significant difference in the post-test
      scores between the two regions (p=0.001) and in knowledge gained after the
      training (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Comparison
      between the pre test and post test scores at the 5-day training showed a
      significant gain in knowledge of participants. The survey training contributed
      positively to the preparation and building of knowledge needed for the conduct of
      2012 NARHS-plus.

PMID- 27621967
TI  - Has the Rate of Reduction in Infant Mortality Increased in India Since the Launch
      of National Rural Health Mission? Analysis of Time Trends 2000-2009 with
      Projection to 2015.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) - India was launched in 2005 to
      tackle urban-rural health inequalities, especially in maternal and child health.
      We examined national and state level trends in Infant Mortality Rates (IMR) from
      2000 through 2009 to: 1) assess whether the NRHM had increased the average annual
      reduction rate (AARR) of IMR 2) evaluate state-wise progress towards Millennium
      Development Goals (MDG4) and estimate required AARRs for 'off track' states.
      METHODS: Log-linear regression models were applied to national and state IMR data
      collated from the Sample Registration System (SRS)-India to estimate average
      annual reduction rates and compare AAARs before and after introduction of NRHM.
      The log-linear trend of infant mortality rates was also projected forward to
      2015. RESULTS: The infant mortality rate in rural India declined from 74 to
      55/1000 live births between 2000 and 2009, with AARR of 3.0% (95% CI=2.6%-3.4%)
      and the urban-rural gap in infant mortality narrowed (p =0.036). However there
      was no evidence (p=0.49) that AARR in rural India increased post NRHM (3.4%, 95%
      CI 2.0-4.7%) compared to pre NRHM (2.8%, 95% CI 2.1%-3.5%). States varied widely
      in rates of infant mortality reduction. Projections of infant mortality rates
      suggested that only eight states might be on track to help India achieve MDG4 by
      2015. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Despite a narrowing urban-rural
      gap and high AARRs in some states, there was no evidence that the rate of
      reduction in infant mortality has increased in rural India post NRHM
      introduction. India appears unlikely to achieve child survival-related NRHM and
      millennium development goals. Government should revisit the child survival
      related NRHM strategies and ensure equitable access to health services. More
      robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms must be inbuilt for following years.

PMID- 27621968
TI  - Individual and Community Perspectives, Attitudes, and Practices to Mother-to
      Child-Transmission and Infant Feeding among HIV-Positive Mothers in Sub-Saharan
      Africa: A Systematic Literature Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: International guidelines on infant feeding for HIV- positive mothers
      promote Exclusive Replacement Feeding (ERF) (infant formula or animal milk) or
      exclusive breastfeeding (with no supplements of any kind). A mixed feeding
      pattern, where breastfeeding is combined with other milks, liquid foods or
      solids, has been shown to increase the risk of transmission of HIV and is
      strongly discouraged. However, little is known about the ability of women to
      adhere to recommended feeding strategies to prevent mother-to-child transmission
      (MTCT) of HIV from breast milk. The objective of this study was to assess the
      individual and community-level factors that affect perspectives, attitudes and
      practices of HIV-positive mothers on MTCT and infant feeding in sub-Saharan
      Africa as documented in peer-reviewed and grey literature. METHODS: This work is
      based on an extensive review of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature from
      the period 2000-2012. The literature search was carried out using electronic
      databases like Medline Ovid, Google Scholar, PubMed and EBSCOhost. Both
      quantitative and qualitative studies written in English language on HIV and
      infant feeding with particular emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa were included.
      RESULTS: The review found low adherence to the chosen infant feeding method by
      HIV-positive mothers. The following factors emerged as influencing infant feeding
      decisions: cultural and social norms; economic conditions; inadequate
      counselling; and mother's level of education. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: Unless local beliefs and customs surrounding infant feeding is
      understood by policy makers and program implementers, Prevention of Mother-to
      Child Transmission (PMTCT) programs will only be partially successful in
      influencing feeding practices of HIV-positive women. Hence programs should
      provide affordable, acceptable, feasible, safe and sustainable feeding
      recommendations that do not erode strong cultural practices. Advice to HIV
      positive mothers should be based on local conditions that are acceptable to the
      community.

PMID- 27621969
TI  - Costs and Patterns of Financing Maternal Health Care Services in Rural
      Communities in Northern Nigeria: Evidence for Designing National Fee Exemption
      Policy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As population and access to information increases, so does the demand
      for health services. Unfortunately, many people who genuinely require these
      services do not usually have access to them. To increase access, various
      financing options have been used. Despite this, maternal morbidity and mortality
      rates remain high and spending is still largely out of pocket. This study
      assesses maternal health problems, preferred sources of care and the pattern of
      financing in a semi-rural community in North Western part of Nigeria.
      METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. The study
      population consisted of women within the reproductive age group who had
      experienced childbirth 12 months or less prior to the study. A sample size of 240
      was drawn using cluster and random sampling techniques. Interviewer administered
      questionnaires were used and the results were analyzed using Statistical Package
      for Social Sciences (SPSS). RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 29 years
      and 49% had no personal income. Fever was the commonest problem. Although
      majority received antenatal care, those who lacked antenatal care mostly cited
      financial difficulties. Nearly half of the women delivered at home as opposed to
      a health facility. On average, women spent between Nigerian Naira (N) N1, 350
      N14, 850 (USD$9-99) for a total package of maternal health services. Out of
      pocket spending by the husbands or household heads and the women themselves
      accounted for 73.3% of expenses. CONCLUSION AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: In
      Nigeria, women are still vulnerable to common and preventable causes of maternal
      morbidity and mortality due to lack of access to antenatal health care. Out of
      pocket spending is still a popular method of financing. Harmonization of fee
      exemption policies can improve access to maternal healthcare.

PMID- 27621970
TI  - Social Determinants of Depression: Social Cohesion, Negative Life Events, and
      Depression Among People Living with HIV/Aids in Nigeria, West Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) continue to face persistent and
      deep rooted social barriers. Incidentally, studies in social determinants of
      depression are very limited, necessitating this study, which examined social
      determinants of depression and the impact of these determinants on depression.
      METHODS: This was a hospital based, cross sectional descriptive study of three
      hundred adult HIV/AIDS patients, attending the HIV clinic of Kwara State
      Specialist Hospital, Sobi, Ilorin, Nigeria. Depressive symptoms were measured by
      the PHQ-9 rating scale. Three variables of social determinants of depression:
      socio-economic status (years of school and self-reported economic status of
      family), social cohesion, and negative life events were examined. RESULTS: The
      self-reported economic status of the family varied from good 35(11.7%), average
      162(54%), and poor among 103(34.3%) of the respondents. Social cohesion was low
      in 199(66.3%), fair in 65(21.7%) and high among 36(12%) of the respondents. There
      was significant association between social cohesion, negative life events, and
      depression. CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Income was the most
      significant socio-economic determinant. Majority had very low social cohesion and
      more negative life events, while those with below average years of schooling were
      more depressed. These are statistically significant. Social determinants of
      depression should be given a lot of emphasis, when addressing the issue of
      depression, if we are to meaningfully tackle this increasing scourge in our
      society.

PMID- 27621971
TI  - Overview of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Deaths in South Africa: Challenges,
      Opportunities, Progress and Future Prospects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fact that most sub-Saharan Africa countries including South
      Africa (SA) are not on track to meet the 2015 target of improving maternal,
      neonate and child health (MNCH) is a major public health concern. The aim of this
      paper to give an overview of the current state of MNC deaths in SA, their
      relative causes, highlight challenges, existing opportunities, progress made and
      future prospects. METHODS: The overview involved a synthesis and review of recent
      data and information from key national representative peer reviewed articles and
      grey literature from the National Department of Health and related stakeholder
      reports. RESULTS: Since 1990 the situation in SA aroused a lot of research
      interest in tracing the historical context of the problem, evaluating progress
      made and actions for improving MNCH. In 2009 the SA government established three
      national committees for confidential enquiry on MNC deaths. Multifactorial
      systems' related challenges were identified. Subsequently, the new National
      Strategic Plan for MNC and Women's Health and Nutrition has, in addition to
      provision of comprehensive interventions, been linked and aligned with efforts to
      strengthen the health systems particularly through the re-engineering of the
      Primary Health Care (PHC) services and district health systems. CONCLUSION AND
      GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: The overview gives an insight of the process that has
      influenced MNCH policy and programs in the country. The SA experience and current
      MNCH situation may be different compared to other African countries, however, the
      political commitment and government stewardship coupled with critical and yet
      complimentary research is exemplary, especially, given several global and
      regional plans and commitments to improve MNCH in the continent.

PMID- 27621972
TI  - Global Health Donor Presence, Variations in HIV/AIDS Prevalence, and External
      Resources for Health in Developing Countries in Africa and Asia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The presence of multiple global health aid organizations in donor
      recipient countries at any point in time has led to arguments for and against aid
      coordination and aid pluralism. Little data, however, exist to empirically
      demonstrate the relationship between donor presence and longitudinal disease
      outcomes in donor-recipient countries. We examined the association between global
      health donor presence and changes in HIV/AIDS prevalence in 14 developing
      countries: 12 in Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique,
      Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Mali) and compared them
      with two developing countries in Asia (India and Vietnam). METHODS: To conduct
      our analyses, we conceptualized a framework for examining global health donor
      presence and disease outcomes. Donor presence data were derived from Mapping the
      Donor Landscape in Global Health: HIV/AIDS, a report published by the Kaiser
      Family Foundation, Washington, DC, USA. HIV/AIDS prevalence data were obtained
      and analyzed from the World Health Statistics and the Demographic and Health
      Surveys. Percent changes in national HIV/AIDS prevalence between 2009 and 2011 in
      the 14 developing countries were computed and correlation coefficients between
      donor presence and prevalence changes were calculated. RESULTS: Between 2009 and
      2011, HIV/AIDS prevalence decreased in all but one of the 14 developing countries
      with the presence of 21 or more global health donors. There was about 40% overall
      reduction in HIV/AIDS prevalence across the 14 countries in our analyses. South
      Africa recorded the most reduction in HIV/AIDS prevalence (-6.7%) followed by
      Zambia (-6.3, %), and Mozambique (-5.7%). Ethiopia was the only country without a
      reduction in HIV/AIDS prevalence (+0.1%). A correlation coefficient of 0.43
      implied greater reductions in HIV/AIDS prevalence associated with increased donor
      presence. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Our study shows a
      correlation between donor presence and HIV/AIDS disease burden in 14 donor
      recipient countries. Our findings indicate that increased donor presence yields
      quantifiable reduction in global health disease burden. Further research is
      needed to demonstrate whether these gains can be observed in other global health
      disease outcomes.

PMID- 27621973
TI  - Do Infant Birth Outcomes Vary Among Mothers With and Without Health Insurance
      Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa? Findings from the National Health Insurance and
      Cash and Carry Eras in Ghana, West Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Beginning in the late 1960's, and accelerating after 1985, a system
      known as "Cash and Carry" required the people of Ghana to pay for health services
      out-of-pocket before receiving them. In 2003, Ghana enacted a National Health
      Insurance Scheme (NHIS) (fully implemented by 2005) that allowed pregnant women
      to access antenatal care and hospital delivery services for low annual premiums
      tied to income. The objective of this study was to compare trends in low birth
      weight (LBW) among infants born under the NHIS with infants born during the Cash
      and Carry system when patients paid out-of-pocket for maternal and child health
      services. METHODS: Sampled birth records abstracted from birth folders at the
      Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) were examined. Chi-squared tests were performed to
      determine differences in the prevalence of LBW. A p-value of <= 0.05 was
      considered statistically significant. Analyses were conducted for selected
      variables in each year from 2000 to 2003 (Cash and Carry) and 2008 to 2011(NHIS).
      RESULTS: Higher birth weights were not observed for deliveries under NHIS
      compared to those under Cash and Carry. More than one-third of infants in both
      eras were born to first-time mothers, and they had a significantly higher
      prevalence of LBW compared to infants born to multiparous mothers. CONCLUSION AND
      GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Understanding the factors that affect the prevalence
      of LBW is crucial to public health policy makers in Ghana. LBW is a powerful
      predictor of infant survival, and therefore, an important factor in determining
      the country's progress toward meeting the United Nations Millennium Development
      Goal of reducing under-five child mortality rates (MDG4) by the end of 2015.

PMID- 27621974
TI  - Forward to AIDS 2014: Now is the Time to Unite for the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic.
AB  - As AIDS activists, advocates, researchers, practitioners, scientists, and policy
      makers from around the world prepare for the forthcoming 20th International AIDS
      Conference (AIDS 2014) which takes place from 20-25 July in Melbourne, Australia,
      Gregory Pappas, MD, PhD, former Executive Director of the Washington DC's local
      Host Committee, International AIDS Society (IAS) organizing committee member, and
      Director, HIV/AIDS Program in the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, USA,
      reflects, for the first time, on his experiences hosting the world conference and
      bringing AIDS conference to United States after 22 years. He shares some of the
      key challenges and opportunities confronting program planners, policy makers and
      advocates in the efforts to address the global epidemic. 

PMID- 27621975
TI  - Socio-economic and Demographic Determinants of Antenatal Care Services
      Utilization in Central Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The importance of maternal health services in lessening
      maternal mortality and morbidity as well as neonatal deaths has received
      substantial recognition in the past decade. The lack of antenatal care has been
      identified as a risk factor for maternal mortality and other adverse pregnancy
      outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting
      attendance of antenatal care services in Nepal. METHODS: This is a cross
      sectional descriptive study carried out in Central Nepal. Using semi-structured
      questionnaire, interviews were conducted with married women aged between 15-49
      years, who had delivered their babies within one year. Systematic random sampling
      method was used to select the sample. Results were obtained by frequency
      distribution and cross-tabulation of the variables. RESULTS: More than half of
      the women were not aware of the consequences of lack of antenatal care. Age,
      education, income, type of family were strongly associated with the attendance at
      antenatal care service. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: In Nepal and
      in other developing countries, maternal mortality and morbidity continue to pose
      challenges to the health care delivery system. Variety of factors including socio
      demographic, socio-economic, cultural and service availability as well as
      accessibility influences the use of maternal health services.

PMID- 27621977
TI  - Population and Public Health Implications of Child Health and Reproductive
      Outcomes Among Carrier Couples of Sickle Cell Disorders in Madhya Pradesh,
      Central India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease is a major genetic and public health challenge in
      India. Adequate studies on clinico-hematological aspects of disorders are
      available, however there are few studies on the public health and reproductive
      outcomes among sickle cell carrier couples. METHODS: A total of 383 couples
      including their offspring with at least one case of sickle cell disorder referred
      to a testing center from a tertiary hospital from March 2010 to February 2013
      were consecutively studied as matched case controls. RESULTS: Out of 383 couples,
      200 were found normal and 183 had different sickle cell disorders. Carrier
      couples of sickle cell disease had significantly higher fertility (mean number of
      conceptions, i.e. 3.153 versus 1.480) and higher below 10 year mortality (11%
      versus 2.7%) and lower surviving offspring (877.4 versus 970.6) than of controls.
      Neonatal and infant mortality was doubled (34.3 versus 14.7) and three-fold
      higher (44.1 versus 14.7), respectively in carriers of disease per 1000 live
      births compared to controls. Couples of AS/SS genotype showed high neonatal,
      infant, below 10 year mortality (214.3 each) and low surviving offspring (785.7
      per 1000 live-births). CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Sickle cell
      carrier couples are increasing in both trait and disease offspring (surviving:
      56.7% against 43.3% normals). This increased production of carrier and disease
      offspring leads to increased morbidity, neonatal/infant and childhood mortality,
      and adversely affects the survival fitness.

PMID- 27621976
TI  - Nutritional Deficiencies and Food Insecurity Among HIV-infected Children in
      Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor nutrition has been associated with impaired immunity and
      accelerated disease progression in HIV-infected children. The aim of this study
      was to quantify the levels of nutrient intake in HIV-infected children and
      compare these to standard recommendations. METHODS: We surveyed HIV-infected
      Tanzanian children enrolled in a pediatric care program that provided routine
      nutritional counseling and vitamin supplementation. We obtained anthropometric
      measurements and determined 24-hour macronutrient and micronutrient intakes and
      food insecurity. Values were compared to recommended nutrient intakes based on
      age and gender. RESULTS: We interviewed 48 pairs of children and their
      caregiver(s). The age of the child ranged from 2-14 years; median age 6 and 60%
      female. The median weight-for-height z-score for children <= 5 years was 0.69 and
      BMI-for-age z-scores for children >5 was -0.84. Macronutrient evaluation showed
      that 29 (60%) children were deficient in dietary intake of energy; deficiency was
      more common in older children (p=0.004). Micronutrient evaluation shows that over
      half of study subjects were deficient in dietary intake of vitamin A, vitamin D,
      vitamin E, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin B12, and calcium. Food
      insecurity was reported by 20 (58%) caregivers. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: The diets of many HIV-infected children at a specialized treatment
      center in Tanzania do not meet recommended levels of macro-and micro-nutrients.
      Food insecurity was a contributory factor. Enhanced dietary counseling and
      provision of macro- and micro-nutrient supplements will be necessary to achieve
      optimal nutrition for most HIV-infected children in resource-poor regions.

PMID- 27621978
TI  - Evaluation and Utility of a Family Information Table to Identify and Test
      Children at Risk for HIV in Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective strategies to identify and screen children at risk for HIV
      are needed. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the utilization of a
      family information table (FIT) to identify and test at-risk children in Kenya and
      identify factors associated with child testing. METHODS: A cross-sectional study
      was conducted among HIV-infected adults with children at five Kenyan clinics. HIV
      testing status for children aged <=18 years was gathered from the patients' FITs
      and compared to reports from in-person clinic visits as the gold standard.
      Generalized estimating equations were used to assess predictors for HIV testing
      of children adjusted for confounders and within parent correlation. RESULTS: Our
      sample included 384 HIV-infected adults enrolled in care with 933 reported
      children. Overall, 323 FITs (84%) correctly listed all children in the family and
      340 (89%) documented an HIV testing status (including untested) for all children.
      Seventy-five percent of parents verbally reported all children tested, compared
      to only 46% of FITs (OR=13.5, 95% CI 6.5-27.8). Verbal reports identified 739
      (79%) children tested, with 55 (7.4%) HIV-positive and 17 (2.3%) HIV-exposed
      infants (HEI). Of 63 adults with HIV-positive children or HEI, 60 (95%) reported
      enrolling children into care. Likelihood that children had been tested was higher
      for younger children (<=4y vs. > 4y, aOR=2.0; 95% CI 1.4-2.9) and lower if the
      partner's serostatus was unknown vs. seropositive (aOR=0.3; 95% CI: 0.1-0.8).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although the FIT may be a useful tool to identify children at risk
      for HIV, this study found underutilization by providers. To maximize impact of
      this tool, documentation of follow-up for untested and positive children is
      essential. GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Through early documentation of at-risk
      children and follow up of untested and infected children, the FIT may serve as an
      effective resource for improving HIV testing and linkage to care.

PMID- 27621979
TI  - Prevention-of-Mother-To-Child-Transmission of HIV Services in Sub-Saharan Africa:
      A Qualitative Analysis of Healthcare Providers and Clients Challenges in Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, the
      correct adaptation and implementation of the global guidelines on prevention of
      mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV is critical. This study explored the
      challenges that health workers face implementing WHO's PMTCT guidelines, and the
      experiences of HIV-positive clients receiving these services. METHODS: We
      interacted with 14 health professionals, and 16 PMTCT clients through in-depth
      interviews. Four of seven PMTCT sites within the Accra Metropolis were
      purposively included. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, analyzed, and
      then sorted into themes. RESULTS: Health workers had challenges translating PMTCT
      guidelines into useful messages for their clients. Their counselling was often
      prescriptive. Counselors identified inadequate in-service training as a key
      reason for their out-dated and inconsistent messages. HIV-positive clients
      exhibited general knowledge about the importance of doing exclusive breast
      feeding for the first six months of life. Clients had confidence in
      antiretroviral for PMTCT. However, deeply rooted socio-cultural practices and the
      attitudes of counselors remain challenges to clients. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL
      HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Counselors require refresher training which addresses, among
      other things, long-held socio-cultural practices. Publicizing these challenges
      will prod policy makers and program implementers to develop strategies that
      address the challenges both locally and globally.

PMID- 27621980
TI  - Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic: What Can the World Learn and Not Learn from West
      Africa?
AB  - With over 4,500 deaths and counting, and new cases identified in two developed
      countries that are struggling and faltering in their handling of the epidemic,
      the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic is unlike any of its kind ever
      encountered. The ability of some poor, resource-limited, developing countries in
      sub-Saharan Africa to efficiently handle the epidemic within their shores
      provides some lessons learned for the global health community. Among others, the
      2014 EVD epidemic teaches us that it is time to put the "P" back in public and
      population health around the world. The global health community must support a
      sustainable strategy to mitigate Ebola virus and other epidemics both within and
      outside their shores, even after the cameras are gone. Ebola virus must not be
      called the disease of the poor and developing world. 

PMID- 27621981
TI  - Infant and Young Child Feeding Behaviors among Working Mothers in India:
      Implications for Global Health Policy and Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The National Guidelines on Infant and Young Child Feeding introduced
      in 2006 recommended the initiation of breastfeeding immediately after birth,
      preferably within one hour; exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months;
      appropriate and adequate complementary feeding from six months of age while
      continuing breastfeeding; and continued breastfeeding up to the age of two years
      or beyond. Working women in India constitute a dominant and expanding pool of
      mothers. There is paucity of research focused on feeding behavior within this
      group. METHOD: One hundred and fifty working women answered a structured
      questionnaire about their demographics, birth history, levels of awareness and
      practice of feeding guidelines, and perceptions about breastfeeding and
      counseling. Data analysis was carried out using Microsoft Excel and the
      Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. RESULTS: Majority of participants
      belonged to 21-39 years age group, had nuclear families, received college
      education, and delivered in institutional setups. Gaps were observed between the
      mother's levels of awareness and practice for different tenets of national
      guidelines. Higher education, longer maternity leave, higher income, and
      utilization of counseling services facilitated adoption of optimal feeding
      behavior. Most women perceived breast milk to be superior to any alternative and
      favored provision of counseling during last trimester. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL
      HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Counseling women on optimal feeding behavior is a potential
      intervention to convert its awareness into actual practice. The lessons learned
      from this study can help refine both national and global Mother and Child Health
      policies and programs.

PMID- 27621982
TI  - Social and Economic Barriers to Exclusive Breast Feeding In Rural Zimbabwe.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Exclusive breast feeding (EBF) uptake in Zimbabwe is very low. Given
      that EBF is a physiological process which transpires in a specific socio-economic
      milieu, this study investigates the socio-economic factors militating against its
      uptake. METHODS: The study used a mixed research methodology. The concurrent
      nested model of mixed methods was utilized using one data collection phase,
      during which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected
      simultaneously. RESULTS: The research noted that factors such as low education,
      low income, gender inequalities, social influence, and traditional practices were
      hindering the uptake of exclusive breast feeding. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: The study envisages that it is pertinent for infant feeding
      programs to address socio-economic barriers to EBF in order to influence a
      positive uptake. The potential interventions include increasing men's
      involvement, raising awareness on EBF, and strengthening the Village Health
      Worker Program.

PMID- 27621983
TI  - Mental Health in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities in
      Introducing Western Mental Health System in Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite decades of disagreement among mental health practitioners and
      researchers in the Western world pertaining to the causation, classification and
      treatment of mental disorders there is an ongoing push to implement western
      mental health models in developing countries. Little information exists on the
      adaptability of western mental health models in developing countries. METHOD:
      This paper presents a review of the attempt to implement a western-oriented
      mental health system into a different culture, specifically a developing country
      such as Uganda. It draws upon an extensive literature review and the author's
      work in Uganda to identify the lessons learned as well as the challenges of
      introducing a western-oriented mental health system in a totally new cultural
      milieu. RESULTS: There is recognition by the national government that the
      challenges faced in mental health services poses serious public health and
      development concerns. Efforts have and are being made to improve services using
      the Western model to diagnose and treat, frequently with practitioners who are
      unfamiliar with the language, values and culture. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: Uganda can continue to implement the Western mental health practice
      model which emanates from a different cultural base, based on the medical model
      and whose tenets are currently being questioned, or establish a model based on
      their needs with small baseline in-country surveys that focus on values, beliefs,
      resiliency, health promotion and recovery. The latter approach will lead to a
      more efficient mental health system with improved care, better outcomes and
      overall mental health services to Ugandan individuals and communities.

PMID- 27621984
TI  - Antiretroviral Therapy and Pregnancy Outcomes in Developing Countries: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite significant efforts to understand adverse pregnancy outcome
      in women receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), ART-related adverse birth
      outcomes are still poorly understood. We systematically review ART-related
      adverse birth outcomes among HIV-infected pregnant women; we also review the
      covariates associated with adverse birth outcomes in the aforementioned group.
      METHODS: The main source for our systematic review was electronic bibliographic
      databases. Databases such as MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE and AIDSLINE were searched.
      Furthermore, search engines such as Google and Google Scholar were specifically
      searched for gray literature. Methodological quality of available literature was
      assessed using the Newcastle - Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale & M. Hewitt
      guideline. We examined a total of 1,124 papers and reviewed the studies using the
      PICOT criteria which stands for Patient (population), Intervention (or
      "Exposure"), Comparison, Outcome and Type of study. Finally, 32 methodologically
      fit studies were retained and included in our review. RESULTS: Frequently
      observed adverse birth outcomes included low birth weight (LBW), Preterm Birth
      (PB), Small for Gestational Age (SGA), while still birth and congenital anomalies
      were infrequent. Type of regimen such as Protease Inhibitor (PI) based regimens
      and timing of initiation of ART are some of the factors associated with adverse
      pregnancy outcomes. Covariates principally included malnutrition and other co
      morbidities such as malaria and HIV. CONCLUSIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS:
      There is growing evidence in published literature suggesting that ART might be
      causing adverse birth outcomes among pregnant women in developing countries.
      There is a need to consider regimen types for HIV-infected pregnant women. There
      is need to design large cohort studies.

PMID- 27621985
TI  - Household Headship and Infant Mortality in India: Evaluating the Determinants and
      Differentials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been ample discussion on the levels and trends of infant
      mortality in India over time, but what remains less explored are, the
      differentials in infant mortality according to household headship. This paper
      examined the differences in the determinants of infant mortality between male
      headed households (MHH) and female-headed households (FHH). METHODS: The study
      used Cox proportional hazard model to examine the determinants of infant death,
      and Kaplan-Meier estimation technique to examine the survival pattern during
      infancy using data from Indian National Family Health Survey (2005-06). The
      analysis is restricted to women who had at least one live birth in the five years
      preceding the survey. RESULTS: The study observed that household size and number
      of children below five are significant risk factors of infant mortality in MHH
      while length of previous birth interval is the only significant risk factor of
      infant death in FHH. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: The results
      indicate that children from FHH have higher survival probability at each age than
      children from MHH irrespective of place of residence and sex of the child.

PMID- 27621986
TI  - Global Inequalities in Youth Mortality, 2007-2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is limited cross-national research on youth mortality. We
      examined age-and gender-variations in all-cause mortality among youth aged 15-34
      years across 52 countries. METHODS: Using the 2014 WHO mortality database,
      mortality rates for all countries were computed for the latest available year
      between 2007 and 2012. Rates, rate ratios, and ordinary least squares (OLS) and
      Poisson regression were used to analyze international variation in mortality.
      RESULTS: Mortality rates among youth aged 15-34 years varied from a low of 28.4
      deaths per 100,000 population for Hong Kong to a high of 250.6 for Russia and
      619.1 for South Africa. For men aged 15-34, Singapore and Hong Kong had the
      lowest mortality rates (~40 per 100,000), compared with South Africa and Russia
      with rates of 589.7 and 383.3, respectively. Global patterns in mortality among
      women were similar. Youth aged 15-24 in South Africa had 14 times higher
      mortality and those in the Philippines, Mexico, Russia, Colombia, and Brazil had
      5-7 times higher mortality than those in Hong Kong. Youth aged 25-34 in Russia
      and South Africa had, respectively, 10 and 29 times higher mortality than their
      counterparts in Hong Kong. United States (US) had the 12th highest mortality rate
      among youth aged 15-24 and the 13th highest rate among youth aged 25-34. Overall,
      the US youth had 2-3 times higher rates of mortality than their counterparts in
      many industrialized countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, Netherlands,
      Switzerland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. Income inequality, unemployment rate,
      and human development explained 50-66% of the global variance in youth mortality.
      Compared to the countries with low unemployment and income inequality and high
      human development levels, countries with high unemployment and income inequality
      and low human development had, respectively, 343%, 213%, and 205% higher risks of
      youth mortality. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Marked international
      disparities in youth all-cause mortality largely reflect differences in violence
      and injury deaths and in such risk factors as unemployment, income inequality,
      human development, and alcohol consumption. The US ranks in the upper quartile of
      all-cause mortality, with youth in Canada and many western industrialized
      countries showing signifi cantly lower mortality risks than the US youth.

PMID- 27621987
TI  - Religion, Ethnicity and Contraceptive Use among Reproductive age Women in
      Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Religion and Ethnicity are the two most important factors that shape
      the behavioral pattern especially health seeking behaviors of the people of
      Nigeria. This study seeks to examine the mediatory effects of the linkage between
      ethnicity and religion with selected socio-demographic variables on the current
      use of contraception (CUC) among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. METHODS:
      Nationally representative sample of 39,948 women of reproductive age (15-49
      years) in the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) was used. Chi
      square was used to analyze the bivariate relationship between exposure variables
      and CUC. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds
      ratio with the 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: The prevalence of CUC was
      generally low for women of reproductive age in Nigeria, highest among the Yoruba
      women and lowest among the Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Seriberi (HFKS) women; highest
      among other Christian women and lowest for Muslim women and highest for
      Yoruba/other religion and lowest for women of Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Seriberi/Islam.
      The odds ratios showed that disparity across ethno-religious boundaries is
      significant. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Globally, and especially
      in sub-Saharan African countries, maternal mortality resulting from the abortion
      of unintended pregnancies pose a major challenge in health delivery system. In
      Nigeria, a cultural and religious heterogeneous society, current use of
      contraceptives by women of reproductive age is found not to be a matter of
      independent effects of ethnicity, religiosity and other socio-demographic
      variables but also dependent on the effects of interactions between the ethnicity
      and religion.

PMID- 27621988
TI  - Effectiveness Comparison of Mothers' In-person Versus Written Nutritional
      Education Intervention on Infant Growth in Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1990, the Iranian Ministry of Health implemented a health plan to
      increase mothers' knowledge of infant feeding using health workers and health
      volunteers. This study evaluates the effects of nutrition education on mothers'
      knowledge and whether increase in mothers' knowledge was associated with increase
      in growth of their children in Ardabil, Iran. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study
      of the impact of written nutritional education and in-person nutritional
      education given to the participants (mothers) from urban health centers by health
      workers and health volunteers. Sixteen urban health centers located in Ardabil,
      Iran, were selected randomly for nutritional education. A group of 303 mothers
      with infants younger than 6 months of age from 16 health centers participated in
      this study. Height-for-age Z scores and weight-for age Z scores were calculated
      based on the National Center for Health Statistics reference values. RESULTS:
      There were signifi cant differences between maternal nutritional knowledge before
      and after the intervention in all groups. However, the in-person method of
      instruction given by health workers was more effective in increasing mothers'
      knowledge than those in non-health worker volunteers intervention group. There
      were also significant differences between the growth rates of infants' heights
      and weights before and after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: In line with the aims of the government's plan, the education given
      by health volunteers from non-governmental organizations was effective. However,
      it was less effective than the one given by professional health workers.

PMID- 27621989
TI  - Overcoming Challenges in Conducting Clinical Trials in Minority Populations:
      Identifying and Testing What Works.
AB  - Participation in clinical trials is one of the greatest gifts that humanity can
      give to the fields of medicine and public health. Clinical trials are central in
      public health's mission to advance drug discovery. The enrollment and retention
      of participants, especially minority populations, is one of the most practical
      challenges of successfully implementing a clinical trial. In spite of these
      challenges, there are many reasons why a broader public participation in clinical
      trials is critical. The ability to generalize the scientific findings and the
      principles of equity, justice, and beneficence require an equitable distribution
      of the risks, benefits, and burdens of research for all classes and groups of
      people. A new methodology article published in this journal presents a promising
      framework for addressing minority recruitment and retention using what is known
      and using it innovatively to address a difficult problem facing clinical trials
      and public health. The innovative application of what is known in addressing a
      challenging problem, as this article presents, is worth the reading of all those
      interested in scientifically rigorous and ethically sound clinical trials that
      substantially comprise of diverse populations. 

PMID- 27621990
TI  - Socio-ecological Model as a Framework for Overcoming Barriers and Challenges in
      Randomized Control Trials in Minority and Underserved Communities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous barriers and challenges can hinder the successful enrollment
      and retention of study participants in clinical trials targeting minority
      populations. To conduct quality research, it is important to investigate these
      challenges, determine appropriate strategies that are evidence-based and continue
      seeking methods of improvement. METHODS: In this paper, we report such
      experiences in a registered clinical trial in an underserved minority population
      in the Southern part of United States. This research study is a randomized double
      blind controlled clinical trial that tests the efficacy of higher-strength as
      compared to low-strength/standard of care folic acid to prevent fetal body and
      brain size reduction in pregnant women who smoke. A unique approach in this socio
      behavioral, genetic-epigenetic clinical trial is that we have adopted the socio
      ecological model as a functional platform to effectively achieve and maintain
      high participant recruitment and retention rates. RESULTS: We highlight the
      barriers we have encountered in our trial and describe how we have successfully
      applied the socio-ecological model to overcome these obstacles. CONCLUSIONS AND
      GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Our positive experience will be of utility to other
      researchers globally. Our fi ndings have far-reaching implications as the socio
      ecological model approach is adaptable to developed and developing regions and
      has the potential to increase recruitment and retention of hard-to-reach
      populations who are typically under-represented in clinical trials.

PMID- 27621991
TI  - Widening Socioeconomic and Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality
      in the United States, 1969-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined trends and socioeconomic and racial/ethnic
      disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the United States
      between 1969 and 2013. METHODS: National vital statistics data and the National
      Longitudinal Mortality Study were used to estimate racial/ethnic and area- and
      individual-level socioeconomic disparities in CVD mortality over time. Rate
      ratios and log-linear regression were used to model mortality trends and
      differentials. RESULTS: Between 1969 and 2013, CVD mortality rates decreased by
      2.66% per year for whites and 2.12% for blacks. Racial disparities and
      socioeconomic gradients in CVD mortality increased substantially during the study
      period. In 2013, blacks had 30% higher CVD mortality than whites and 113% higher
      mortality than Asians/Pacific Islanders. Compared to those in the most affluent
      group, individuals in the most deprived area group had 11% higher CVD mortality
      in 1969 but 40% higher mortality in 2007-2011. Education, income, and occupation
      were inversely associated with CVD mortality in both men and women. Men and women
      with low education and incomes had 46-76% higher CVD mortality risks than their
      counterparts with high education and income levels. Men in clerical, service,
      farming, craft, repair, construction, and transport occupations, and manual
      laborers had 30-58% higher CVD mortality risks than those employed in executive
      and managerial occupations. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS:
      Socioeconomic and racial disparities in CVD mortality are marked and have
      increased over time because of faster declines in mortality among the affluent
      and majority populations. Disparities in CVD mortality may reflect inequalities
      in the social environment, behavioral risk factors such as smoking, obesity,
      physical inactivity, disease prevalence, and healthcare access and treatment.
      With rising prevalence of many chronic disease risk factors, the global burden of
      cardiovascular diseases is expected to increase further, particularly in low- and
      middle-income countries where over 80% of all CVD deaths occur.

PMID- 27621992
TI  - Increasing Area Deprivation and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Heart Disease,
      Stroke, and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Working Age Populations,
      United States, 1969-2011.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined the extent to which area- and individual-level
      socioeconomic inequalities in cardiovascular-disease (CVD), heart disease, and
      stroke mortality among United States men and women aged 25-64 years changed
      between 1969 and 2011. METHODS: National vital statistics data and the National
      Longitudinal Mortality Study were used to estimate area- and individual-level
      socioeconomic gradients in mortality over time. Rate ratios and log-linear and
      Cox regression were used to model mortality trends and differentials. RESULTS:
      Area socioeconomic gradients in mortality from CVD, heart disease, and stroke
      increased substantially during the study period. Compared to those in the most
      affluent group, individuals in the most deprived area group had, respectively
      35%, 29%, and 73% higher CVD, heart disease, and stroke mortality in 1969, but
      120-121% higher mortality in 2007-2011. Gradients were steeper for women than for
      men. Education, income, and occupation were inversely associated with CVD, heart
      disease, and stroke mortality, with individual-level socioeconomic gradients
      being steeper during 1990-2002 than in 1979-1989. Individuals with low education
      and incomes had 2.7 to 3.7 times higher CVD, heart disease, and stroke mortality
      risks than their counterparts with high education and income levels. CONCLUSIONS
      AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Although mortality declined for all US groups
      during 1969-2011, socioeconomic disparities in mortality from CVD, heart disease
      and stroke remained marked and increased over time because of faster declines in
      mortality among higher socioeconomic groups. Widening disparities in mortality
      may reflect increasing temporal areal inequalities in living conditions,
      behavioral risk factors such as smoking, obesity and physical inactivity, and
      access to and use of health services. With social inequalities and prevalence of
      smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity on the rise, most segments of the
      working-age population in low- and middle-income countries will likely experience
      increased cardiovascular-disease burden in terms of higher morbidity and
      mortality rates.

PMID- 27621993
TI  - Widening Geographical Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in the
      United States, 1969-2011.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined trends in geographical disparities in
      cardiovascular-disease (CVD) mortality in the United States between 1969 and
      2011. METHODS: National vital statistics data and the National Longitudinal
      Mortality Study were used to estimate regional, state, and county-level
      disparities in CVD mortality over time. Log-linear, weighted least squares, and
      Cox regression were used to analyze mortality trends and differentials. RESULTS:
      During 1969-2011, CVD mortality rates declined fastest in New England and Mid
      Atlantic regions and slowest in the Southeast and Southwestern regions. In 1969,
      the mortality rate was 9% higher in the Southeast than in New England, but the
      differential increased to 48% in 2011. In 2011, Southeastern states, Mississippi
      and Alabama, had the highest CVD mortality rates, nearly twice the rates for
      Minnesota and Hawaii. Controlling for individual-level covariates reduced state
      differentials. State- and county-level differentials in CVD mortality rates
      widened over time as geographical disparity in CVD mortality increased by 50%
      between 1969 and 2011. Area deprivation, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity,
      diabetes prevalence, urbanization, lack of health insurance, and lower access to
      primary medical care were all significant predictors of county-level CVD
      mortality rates and accounted for 52.7% of the county variance. CONCLUSIONS AND
      GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Although CVD mortality has declined for all
      geographical areas in the United States, geographical disparity has widened over
      time as certain regions and states, particularly those in the South, have lagged
      behind in mortality reduction. Geographical disparities in CVD mortality reflect
      inequalities in socioeconomic conditions and behavioral risk factors. With the
      global CVD burden on the rise, monitoring geographical disparities, particularly
      in low- and middle-income countries, could indicate the extent to which
      reductions in CVD mortality are achievable and may help identify effective policy
      strategies for CVD prevention and control.

PMID- 27621994
TI  - PEPFAR Funding and Reduction in HIV Infection Rates in 12 Focus Sub-Saharan
      African Countries: A Quantitative Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV and AIDS continue to have a calamitous effect on individuals
      living on the continent of Africa. U.S. President George W. Bush implemented the
      President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with the objective of
      committing approximately $15 billion from 2004 through 2008 to assist with the
      reduction of the HIV pandemic worldwide. The majority of the PEPFAR policy and
      funding focused on 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire,
      Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania,
      Uganda, and Zambia. The policy question this research paper seeks to analyze is
      whether the PEPFAR funding (as a % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) allocated to
      the 12 countries in Africa had any effect on the decrease of HIV infection rates
      of males and females between the ages of 15 and 49. METHODS: A fixed-effects
      panel regression analysis was conducted to determine if this association exists.
      This study examined the 12 African countries that received PEPFAR funding over
      the years 2002 to 2010; even though PEPFAR was only active from 2004 through
      2008, this research included two years prior and two years after this timeframe
      in order to better estimate the effect of PEPFAR funding on HIV reduction.
      RESULTS: The results illustrate that on average, ceteris paribus, for every 1
      percentage point increase in PEPFAR funding per GDP a country received, the
      country's HIV infection rate decreased by 0.355 percentage points. CONCLUSIONS
      AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: While the empirical findings in this study
      suggested that the correlation between PEPFAR funding and HIV reduction is
      statistically significant, the practical significance is perhaps less obvious.
      Arguably, the reduction rate should be higher given the extent of funding
      targeted to this project. The conclusion of this research provides suggestions on
      future research and the policy implications of PEPFAR.

PMID- 27621995
TI  - Disparities in Healthcare Access and Utilization among Children with Autism
      Spectrum Disorder from Immigrant Non-English Primary Language Households in the
      United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in United State (US)
      has surged from 1 in 150 children in 2007 to 1 in 88 children in 2012 with
      substantial increase in immigrant minority groups including Hispanic and Somali
      children. Our study objective is to examine the associations between household
      language among children with ASD and national health quality indicators
      attainment. METHODS: We conducted bivariate and multivariate logistic regression
      analyses using cross-sectional data from the publicly-available 2009-2010
      National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) to
      investigate the association between household language use and quality indicators
      of medical home, adequate insurance, and early and continuous screening. RESULTS:
      Approximately, 28% of parents of children with ASD from non-English primary
      language (NEPL) households reported their child having severe ASD as compared
      with 13% of parents from English primary language (EPL) households. Older
      children were more likely to have care that met the early and continuous
      screening quality indicator, while lower income children and uninsured children
      were less likely to have met this indicator. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: Despite the lack of differences in the attainment of quality
      indicators by household language, the higher severity found in children in NEPL
      households suggests that they are exceptionally vulnerable. Enhanced early
      screening and identification for these children and supporting their parents in
      navigating the complex US health care delivery system would increase their
      participation in early intervention services. Immigration of children with
      special health care needs from around the world to the US has been increasing
      from countries with diverse healthcare systems. Our findings will help to inform
      policies and interventions to reduce health disparities for children with ASD
      from immigrant populations. As the prevalence of ASD has increased worldwide,
      understanding of the condition and care-seeking behavior in migrant populations
      is especially valuable.

PMID- 27621996
TI  - PCR Results and PMTCT Treatment Outcomes among HIV-Exposed Infants in a Tertiary
      Hospital in Nigeria, 2010-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early infant diagnosis (EID) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      infection in pediatrics with the use of DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a
      way of assessing the retroviral status of HIV-exposed infant with the view of
      early commencement of treatment for infected infants. It also serves as a way of
      assessing the effectiveness of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
      (PMTCT) in health care facilities. METHODS: This was a 5-year prospective cross
      sectional study at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, (EkSUTH) Ado
      Ekiti, Nigeria. Babies delivered to HIV-positive mothers who presented at EkSUTH
      between January 2010 and December 2014 were enrolled in the present study. PCR
      was done twice for all HIV-exposed infants. Statistical analysis was done using
      SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty eight infants were HIV exposed;
      72 males and 86 females (M:F= 0.84:1). Eighty eight (55.7%) of the mothers had
      commenced highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) before pregnancy, 56
      (35.4%) during pregnancy, and 14 (8.9%) after delivery. Ten (6.3%) babies tested
      positive. Four (28.6%) of 14 exposed babies whose mothers commenced HAART after
      delivery tested positive to HIV compared to 3 (5.4%) of 56 babies whose mother
      commenced HAART during pregnancy and 3 (3.4%) of 88 babies whose mother commenced
      HAART before pregnancy. The difference was statistically significant (c(2) =
      13.28, df = 4, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: There is
      significant reduction in transmission of HIV from mothers to children with
      commencement of antiretroviral drugs before pregnancy in mothers and use of
      Nevirapine for all exposed babies for the first 6 weeks of life. Infants of HIV
      positive mothers can live healthy life free of HIV infection if their mothers
      participate in PMTCT program.

PMID- 27621997
TI  - Promoting Global Health.
AB  - The Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of MCH and AIDS (IJMA) is a
      member of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). The Editorial Board of
      IJMA believes it is important that the statement on promoting global health and
      this accompanying editorial is brought to the attention of our readers. Medical
      journal editors have a social responsibility to promote global health by
      publishing, whenever possible, research that furthers health worldwide. 

PMID- 27621998
TI  - Disparities in Health Care Quality Indicators among US Children with Special
      Health Care Needs According to Household Language Use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lower health care utilization and less favorable health outcomes have
      been demonstrated in children from Non-English Primary Language households (NEPL)
      in previous studies. This study examines prevalence of health care quality
      indicators among US children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and their
      association with household language use. METHODS: We used data from the 2009-2010
      National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, restricted to an
      analytic sample of 40,242 children. Logistic regression models were used to
      examine the effects of primary household language on the attainment of the 6
      health care quality indicators for CSHCN. RESULTS: Compared to CSHCN from English
      primary language households (EPL), CSHCN from NEPL households had 31% higher odds
      of not feeling like partners in health care decision-making. They had 67% higher
      odds of lacking care through a medical home and 42% higher odds of reporting
      inadequate health insurance. NEPL children had 32% higher odds of not receiving
      early and continuous screening for special health care needs. NEPL youths had 69%
      higher odds of not receiving services for transition to adulthood. Minority
      race/ethnicity, lower income and families other than two biological parents all
      conferred additional risks to not attaining quality indicators. Publicly insured
      or uninsured CSHCN were also at higher risk. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: Our study provides compelling evidence that significant disparities
      exist for CSHCN by primary household language status across all health care
      quality indicators. Establishment of effective surveillance systems and targeting
      of outreach programs in both developed and developing countries may lead to
      improved understanding of health care needs and quality of services and reduction
      of health disparities for this underserved population.

PMID- 27621999
TI  - Exclusive Breastfeeding and Under-Five Mortality, 2006-2014: A Cross-National
      Analysis of 57 Low- and-Middle Income Countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the long-term, cross-national, and
      population-level impacts of exclusive breastfeeding on major global child health
      indicators. We investigated the overall and independent associations between
      exclusive breastfeeding and under-five mortality in 57 low- and-middle-income
      countries. METHODS: Data were obtained from the latest World Health Organization,
      United Nations, and United Nations Children's Fund databases for 57 low- and
      middle-income countries covering the periods 2006-2014. Multivariate linear
      regression was used to estimate the effects of exclusive breastfeeding on under
      five mortality after adjusting for differences in socioeconomic, demographic, and
      health-related factors. RESULTS: In multivariate models, exclusive breastfeeding
      was independently associated with under-five mortality after adjusting for
      sociodemographic and health systems-related factors. A 10 percentage-points
      increase in exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a reduction of 5 child
      deaths per 1,000 live births. A one-unit increase in Human Development Index was
      associated with a decrease of 231 under-five child deaths per 1,000 live births.
      A $100 increase in per capita health care expenditure was associated with a
      decrease of 2 child deaths per 1,000 live births. One unit increase in physician
      density was associated with 2.8 units decrease in the under-five mortality rate.
      CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Population-level health system and
      socioeconomic factors exert considerable effect on the association between
      exclusive breastfeeding and under-five mortality. Given that the health policy
      and socioeconomic indicators shown to influence exclusive breastfeeding and under
      five mortality are modifiable, policy makers could potentially target specific
      policies and programs to address national-level deficiencies in these sectors to
      reduce under-five mortality in their countries.

PMID- 27622000
TI  - Socioeconomic Status, Smoking, Alcohol use, Physical Activity, and Dietary
      Behavior as Determinants of Obesity and Body Mass Index in the United States:
      Findings from the National Health Interview Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to study the socio-demographic and
      behavioral determinants of obesity and Body Mass Index (BMI) in the United
      States, using a nationally representative sample. METHODS: We used data from the
      2010 US National Health Interview Survey. Analyses were limited to adults 18
      years and older (N=23,434). Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to
      estimate the associations between covariates and obesity and BMI. RESULTS:
      Overall, 28.1% in the sample were obese and the mean BMI was 27.6 kg/m(2). In
      adjusted models, we found that older age, non-Hispanic Black race, lower
      education and income levels, Midwestern and Southern region of residence, former
      smoking, infrequent alcohol use, physical inactivity, consumption of less fruits,
      vegetables, brown rice and more cheese, fried potato and meat, were associated
      with obesity. These factors were also associated with higher BMI, along with male
      gender and higher consumption of meat, fried potatoes and cheese. CONCLUSIONS AND
      GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: The association of many of the socio-demographic and
      behavioral factors with obesity and higher BMI found in our study was consistent
      with previous findings. Persistence of such associations suggest a need for
      better understanding of the underlying mechanism as well as for evaluation of the
      current programs and policies targeted at reducing the obesity burden in the
      United States. In view of the rising global obesity epidemic, especially in the
      low- and middle-income countries, our findings could help guide development of
      effective health and social policies and programs aimed at reducing the obesity
      burden in other parts of the world.

PMID- 27622001
TI  - Antenatal Care Services Utilization in Yobe State, Nigeria: Examining Predictors
      and Barriers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In Nigeria, wide disparities exist between the different parts of the
      country, with the states in the North East zone having poor health resources. The
      objective of this study is to assess whether women's biological, sociocultural,
      and economic characteristics are associated with utilization of ante natal care
      services as measured by number of antenatal care (ANC) visits in Yobe State.
      METHODS: This is a secondary data analysis of the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and
      Health Survey with records from 33,385 women between 15-49 years who had given
      birth between January 2003 and December 2008 in Yobe State. Bivariate Pearson's
      Chi square test and two stages of Multivariate regression analysis were
      conducted. RESULTS: Women with at least primary level education (adjusted OR
      (AOR) = 2.40; CI 1.24 - 4.67), belonging to professional employment category (AOR
      = 12.07; CI 0.19 - 75.74) and those who had access to skilled health workers (AOR
      = 5.13; CI 2.50 - 10.52) are more likely to make the required number of ANC
      visits compared to those who are illiterates, unemployed and had no access to
      skilled health workers. CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: This study
      demonstrated that educational level, family wealth income, and availability of
      skilled health worker were consistently associated with the number of ANC visits
      even after controlling for covariates. These three covariates are in tandem with
      the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) 1 - eradication of extreme poverty and
      hunger; MDG 2 - universal basic education; MDG 3 - gender equality; and MDG 4 -
      maternal mortality. There is the need for inter-sectoral holistic intervention
      approach.

PMID- 27622002
TI  - Policy Options for Addressing Health System and Human Resources for Health Crisis
      in Liberia Post-Ebola Epidemic.
AB  - Qualified healthcare workers within an effective health system are critical in
      promoting and achieving greater health outcomes such as those espoused in the
      Millennium Development Goals. Liberia is currently struggling with the effects of
      a brutal 14-year long civil war that devastated health infrastructures and caused
      most qualified health workers to flee and settle in foreign countries. The
      current output of locally trained health workers is not adequate for the tasks at
      hand. The recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) exposed the failings of the Liberian
      healthcare system. There is limited evidence of policies that could be replicated
      in Liberia to encourage qualified diaspora Liberian health workers to return and
      contribute to managing the phenomenon. This paper reviews the historical context
      for the human resources for health crisis in Liberia; it critically examines two
      context-specific health policy options to address the crisis, and recommends
      reverse brain drain as a policy option to address the immediate and critical
      crisis facing the health care sector in Liberia. 

PMID- 27622003
TI  - Global Reduction in HIV-related Maternal Mortality: ART as a Key Strategy.
AB  - Dr. Holtz and colleagues present a synthesis of evidence from published studies
      over the previous decade on the collective impact of HIV-targeted interventions
      on maternal mortality. Amongst an assortment of interventions [that include
      antiretroviral therapy (ART), micronutrients (multivitamins, vitamin A and
      selenium), and antibiotics], only ART reduced maternal mortality among HIV
      infected pregnant and post-partum mothers. These findings have fundamental and
      global strategic implications. They are also timely since they provide the
      evidence that ART reduces HIV-related maternal mortality, and by further
      enhancing access to ART in HIV-challenged and poor regions of the world,
      significant improvement in maternal morbidity and mortality indices could be
      attained. The paper bears good tidings and sound scientific proof that the
      financial investment made globally by government and non-governmental
      organizations and agencies to reduce the global burden of HIV/AIDS primarily by
      making ART more accessible to regions of the world most affected by the epidemic
      is beginning to show beneficial effects not only in terms of numerical reductions
      in the rates of new cases of HIV/AIDS among women, but also in maternal mortality
      levels. 

PMID- 27622004
TI  - A Systematic Review of Interventions to Reduce Maternal Mortality among HIV
      Infected Pregnant and Postpartum Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In high-prevalence populations, HIV-related maternal mortality is
      high with increased mortality found among HIV-infected pregnant and postpartum
      women compared to their uninfected peers. The scale-up of HIV-related treatment
      options and broader reach of programming for HIV-infected pregnant and postpartum
      women is likely to have decreased maternal mortality. This systematic review
      synthesized evidence on interventions that have directly reduced mortality among
      this population. METHODS: Studies published between January 1, 2003 and November
      30, 2014 were searched using PubMed. Of the 1,373 records screened, 19 were
      included in the analysis. RESULTS: Interventions identified through the review
      include antiretroviral therapy (ART), micronutrients (multivitamins, vitamin A,
      and selenium), and antibiotics. ART during pregnancy was shown to reduce
      mortality. Timing of ART initiation, duration of treatment, HIV disease status,
      and ART discontinuation after pregnancy influence mortality reduction. Incident
      pregnancy in women already on ART for their health appears not to have adverse
      consequences for the mother. Multivitamin use was shown to reduce disease
      progression while other micronutrients and antibiotics had no beneficial effect
      on maternal mortality. CONCLUSIONS: ART was the only intervention identified that
      decreased death in HIV-infected pregnant and postpartum women. The findings
      support global trends in encouraging initiation of lifelong ART for all HIV
      infected pregnant and breastfeeding women (Option B+), regardless of their CD4+
      count, as an important step in ensuring appropriate care and treatment. GLOBAL
      HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Maternal mortality is a rare event that highlights
      challenges in measuring the impact of interventions on mortality. Developing
      effective patient-centered interventions to reduce maternal morbidity and
      mortality, as well as corresponding evaluation measures of their impact, requires
      further attention by policy makers, program managers, and researchers.

PMID- 27622005
TI  - Socioeconomic and Demographic Disparities in Knowledge of Reproductive Healthcare
      among Female University Students in Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reproductive health (RH) is a critical component of women's health
      and overall well-being around the world, especially in developing countries. We
      examine the factors that determine knowledge of RH care among female university
      students in Bangladesh. METHODS: Data on 300 female students were collected from
      Rajshahi University, Bangladesh through a structured questionnaire using
      purposive sampling technique. The data were used for univariate analysis, to
      carry out the description of the variables; bivariate analysis was used to
      examine the associations between the variables; and finally, multivariate
      analysis (binary logistic regression model) was used to examine and fit the model
      and interpret the parameter estimates, especially in terms of odds ratios.
      RESULTS: The results revealed that more than one-third (34.3%) respondents do not
      have sufficient knowledge of RH care. The chi (2)-test identified the significant
      (p < 0.05) associations between respondents' knowledge of RH care with
      respondents' age, education, family type, watching television; and knowledge
      about pregnancy, family planning, and contraceptive use. Finally, the binary
      logistic regression model identified respondents' age, education, family type;
      and knowledge about family planning, and contraceptive use as the significant (p
      < 0.05) predictors of RH care. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS:
      Knowledge of RH care among female university students was found unsatisfactory.
      Government and concerned organizations should promote and strengthen various
      health education programs to focus on RH care especially for the female
      university students in Bangladesh.

PMID- 27622006
TI  - Intestinal Infestations in Under-Five Children in Zambia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intestinal infestations are of considerable public health importance
      in Zambia and elsewhere in Africa. Children aged less than 5 years are at the
      highest risk of infection. Interventions for prevention and control of these
      infestations require identification of their determinants. This study
      investigates the determinants of intestinal infestations in children below 5
      years of age admitted to a children's hospital and assesses the most prevalent of
      the helminthes. METHODS: This was a hospital based cross-sectional study
      conducted at Arthur Davison Children's Hospital, Ndola, Zambia. Socio-demographic
      data of study participants and possible determinants for occurrence of intestinal
      infestations were collected using structured questionnaires. Stool samples were
      collected and examined for presence of parasites using direct techniques. The
      Pearson's Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to establish
      associations. RESULTS: Present study had 148 participants out of the expected
      165, making a respondent rate of 89.7%. Over half of the participants were male
      (50.6%), and 68.9% were above the age of 2 years. Prevalence of intestinal
      infestations was 19.6%, and the most prevalent parasite was Ascaris lumbricoides.
      Factors independently associated with worm infestation were father's employment
      (AOR = 0.41; 95 % CI [0.19, 0.90]) and history of prior worm infestation (AOR =
      6.54; 95 % CI [3.28, 13.03]). CONCLUSION: Intestinal infestations particularly
      Ascaris lumbricoides were more prevalent in this study. There should be policy
      towards countrywide deworming programs and enhanced hygiene.

PMID- 27622007
TI  - Breastfeeding Knowledge and Practices among Mothers of Children under 2 Years of
      Age Living in a Military Barrack in Southwest Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human milk is uniquely superior as a source of nutrition for infants,
      and breastfeeding has many benefits. This study determined the breastfeeding
      knowledge and practices of women who have children aged 0-2 years living in a
      Naval Barracks. METHODS: This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out
      among 220 women in a Naval Barracks selected using systematic random sampling
      method. Pre tested questionnaires were administered by trained interviewers, and
      data was analyzed using Epi info 2000 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences
      version 19. RESULTS: There was generally fair knowledge about breastfeeding among
      the women. Most of the respondents (97.3%) had ever breastfed their babies, 56.5%
      of them initiated breastfeeding within an hour of delivery, 24.1% admitted that
      they gave pre lacteal feeds, 74.1% practiced exclusive breastfeeding for a mean
      period of 4.98 months and 30.7% engaged in bottle-feeding. Several factors were
      significantly associated with breastfeeding practices. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding
      practices varied among the respondents despite the fair knowledge. GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: This study reveals the need to educate women and communities
      worldwide particularly in low-income countries about good breastfeeding
      practices. Targeting these women will help to improve maternal and child health.

PMID- 27622008
TI  - Late Pregnancy Outcomes among Women who Attended and Women who did not Attend
      First Trimester Antenatal Care Visits in a Suburban Regional Hospital in
      Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite relatively high number of women who attend antenatal care
      (ANC) in Cameroon, there is an ever-increasing maternal mortality ratio, and
      pregnancy outcomes remain inadequate. A new suggested Optimal ANC Package
      includes attending ANC in the first trimester. This study assesses the overall
      ANC coverage, the percentage, and pregnancy outcomes among women who attended and
      did not attend ANC in the first trimester in the Buea Regional Hospital (BRH) in
      Cameroon. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 consenting
      pregnant women presenting for delivery at the BRH. A bivariate analysis was used
      to compare the frequencies of various pregnancy outcomes within the the two
      categories of women who attended and who did not attend first trimester ANC.
      RESULTS: Ninety-six percent of the women attended at least 1 ANC visit with 20.5%
      of these women attending ANC in the first trimester and 60.2% attending at least
      4 visits. Sociodemographic and obstetric factors were not found to be associated
      with attending ANC in the first trimester. Also, there was no statistically
      significant association between all the late pregnancy outcomes assessed and
      attending ANC in the first trimester. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS:
      Trends in most sub-Saharan countries seem to suggest that most women do not
      attend first trimester ANC. This could have negative consequences on overall
      perinatal outcome. More user-friendly educational programs for women of
      childbearing age is required in such regions to address this situation.

PMID- 27622009
TI  - Correlates of Stillbirths at Nyeri Provincial General Hospital, Kenya, 2009-2013:
      A Retrospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Death of a baby in-utero is a very devastating event to the mother
      and the family. Most stillbirths occur during labor and birth with other deaths
      occurring during the antenatal period. Millions of families experience
      stillbirths, yet these deaths remain uncounted, and policies have not been
      clearly stipulated to address this issue. The aim of the study was to identify
      the possible causes of stillbirths as recorded in the medical records. METHODS: A
      retrospective study looking at medical records of women who experienced
      stillbirths between 1(st) January 2009 and 31(st) December 2013 at Nyeri
      Provincial General Hospital, Kenya. The hospital records containing cases of
      stillbirths were retrieved and data abstraction forms were used to collect data
      and information. RESULTS: Both fresh and macerated stillbirths were equally
      common. The stillbirth rate was 12.2 per 1,000 births. There was significant
      association between stillbirths and the clients who were referred and reason for
      referral, (p=0.029) and (p=0.005), respectively. The number of ANC visits during
      pregnancy was also significant (p=0.05). Mode of delivery and the reason for
      cesarean section were significantly associated with stillbirths, (p=0.003) and
      (p=0.032), respectively. The type of labor and delivery complications experienced
      was associated with stillbirths (p= 0.022). CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH
      IMPLICATIONS: There were several factors associated with stillbirths thus efforts
      should be made to establish approaches aimed at prevention. Addressing the causes
      of stillbirths will contribute to reduction of perinatal mortality.

PMID- 27622010
TI  - Fatal Cases of Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia in a National Trophoblastic
      Disease Reference Center in Dakar Senegal.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to analyze deaths after gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasia and to determine the factors of treatment failure.
      METHODS: This is a retrospective study in Aristide Le Dantec teaching Hospital in
      Dakar, Senegal, between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2014. We took into account
      socio-epidemiological characteristics of patients, initial diagnosis, time
      between uterine evacuation and admission, time to onset of gestational
      trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), treatment received (deadlines, protocols),
      difficulties experienced in the diagnosis and the initiation of treatment and
      survival. RESULTS: In total, 1044 patients were admitted during the study period;
      164 cases of GTN were diagnosed (15.7%); and 21 deaths occurred leading to a
      specific lethality of 12.8%. The average age was 30 years. Almost all patients (n
      = 18; 85.7%) had low income or no income. Eight out of 21 patients (38.1%) were
      seen in our department after GTN onset. The mean time to onset of GTN of all
      patients was 22.1 weeks. For 66.6%, histology was not available; the diagnosis of
      hydatidiform mole was made on the clinical history and sonographic features and
      GTN on human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) evolution and ultrasound findings.
      None of the patients had regular chemotherapy due to financial reasons. Patients
      who died within 3 months after diagnosis had metastatic tumors (7 of 21). All
      these women had resistance to treatment or progressed after three courses of
      chemotherapy. Ten of the 12 women with high-risk GTN were not treated with multi
      agent chemotherapy (EMA-CO) for purely financial reasons. CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL
      HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: The high incidence and mortality require a profound
      reorganization of our health system and a high awareness of practitioners to
      refer to time or to declare all suspected cases of hydatidiform mole or
      gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.

PMID- 27622011
TI  - Combined treatment with dabrafenib and trametinib with immune-stimulating
      antibodies for BRAF mutant melanoma.
AB  - The combination of targeted therapy with BRAF and MEK inhibitors has become the
      standard of care in patients with BRAF (V600E) mutant melanoma, but responses are
      not durable. In addition, the impressive clinical benefits with anti-PD-1 and
      anti-PD-L1 antibodies (Ab) in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic
      melanoma and the synergistic effect of dabrafenib, trametinib and anti-PD-1
      compared with single therapy alone groups support the idea that combining
      dabrafenib, trametinib and immunotherapy based on PD-1 blockade could be an
      interesting approach in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. With our mouse
      model of syngeneic BRAF (V600E) driven melanoma (SM1), we tested whether the
      addition of an immunostimulatory Ab targeting CD137 (4-1BB) and/or CD134 (OX40)
      would enhance the antitumor effect of dabrafenib, trametinib and anti-PD-1 or
      anti-PD-L1 therapy. In vitro studies showed that the combination group of
      dabrafenib, trametinib and anti-PD-1 increases CD8(+) tumor infiltrating
      lymphocytes (TILs), as well as CD4(+) T cells and tumor-associated macrophages
      (TAMs). An upregulation of PD-L1 was observed in the combination of dabrafenib,
      trametinib and anti-PD-1 therapy. Combination of dabrafenib, trametinib and anti
      PD-1, with either anti-CD137 or anti-CD134, showed a superior antitumor effect,
      but the five-agent combination was not superior to the four-agent combinations.
      In conclusion, the combination of dabrafenib, trametinib, anti-PD1 or anti-PD-L1
      therapy results in robust antitumor activity, which is further improved by adding
      the immune-stimulating Ab anti-CD137 or anti-CD134. Our findings support the
      testing of these combinations in patients with BRAF (V600E) mutant metastatic
      melanoma. 

PMID- 27622012
TI  - Ipilimumab reshapes T cell memory subsets in melanoma patients with clinical
      response.
AB  - PURPOSE: Therapy targeting CTLA-4 immune checkpoint provides increased survival
      in patients with advanced melanoma. However, immunotherapy is frequently
      associated with delayed and heterogeneous clinical responses and it is important
      to identify prognostic immunological correlates of clinical endpoints.
      EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: 77 patients with stage III/IV melanoma were treated with
      ipilimumab alone every 3 weeks, during 9 weeks. Blood samples were collected at
      the baseline and before each dose for in depth immune monitoring. RESULTS: The
      median follow-up was 28 mo with a median survival of 7 mo. Survival and clinical
      benefit were significantly improved when absolute lymphocyte count at the
      baseline was above 1 * 10(9)/L. Notably, ipilimumab had a global effect on memory
      T cells, with an early increase of central and effector subsets in patients with
      disease control. By contrast, percentages of stem cell memory T cells (TSCM)
      gradually decreased despite stable absolute counts and sustained proliferation,
      suggesting a process of differentiation. Higher proportions of eomes(+) and Ki
      67(+) T cells were observed, with enhanced skin homing potential and induction of
      cytotoxic markers. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that CTLA-4 blockade is able
      to reshape the memory subset with the potential involvement of Eomes and memory
      subsets including TSCM.

PMID- 27622013
TI  - The proto-oncogene Myc drives expression of the NK cell-activating NKp30 ligand
      B7-H6 in tumor cells.
AB  - Natural Killer (NK) cells are innate effector cells that are able to recognize
      and eliminate tumor cells through engagement of their surface receptors. NKp30 is
      a potent activating NK cell receptor that elicits efficient NK cell-mediated
      target cell killing. Recently, B7-H6 was identified as tumor cell surface
      expressed ligand for NKp30. Enhanced B7-H6 mRNA levels are frequently detected in
      tumor compared to healthy tissues. To gain insight in the regulation of
      expression of B7-H6 in tumors, we investigated transcriptional mechanisms driving
      B7-H6 expression by promoter analyses. Using luciferase reporter assays and
      chromatin immunoprecipitation we mapped a functional binding site for Myc, a
      proto-oncogene overexpressed in certain tumors, in the B7-H6 promoter.
      Pharmacological inhibition or siRNA/shRNA-mediated knock-down of c-Myc or N-Myc
      significantly decreased B7-H6 expression on a variety of tumor cells including
      melanoma, pancreatic carcinoma and neuroblastoma cell lines. In tumor cell lines
      from different origin and primary tumor tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC), lymphoma and neuroblastoma, mRNA levels of c-Myc positively correlated
      with B7-H6 expression. Most importantly, upon inhibition or knock-down of c-Myc
      in tumor cells impaired NKp30-mediated degranulation of NK cells was observed.
      Thus, our data imply that Myc driven tumors could be targets for cancer
      immunotherapy exploiting the NKp30/B7-H6 axis. 

PMID- 27622014
TI  - Immunomodulation by MYB is associated with tumor relapse in patients with early
      stage colorectal cancer.
AB  - The presence of tumor immune infiltrating cells (TILs), particularly CD8(+) T
      cells, is a robust predictor of outcome in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).
      We revisited TIL abundance specifically in patients with microsatellite stable
      (MSS) CRC without evidence of lymph node or metastatic spread. Examination of the
      density of CD8(+) T-cells in primary tumors in the context of other pro-oncogenic
      markers was performed to investigate potential regulators of TILs. Two
      independent cohorts of patients with MSS T2-4N0M0 CRC, enriched for cases with
      atypical relapse, were investigated. We quantified CD8(+) and CD45RO(+) -TILs,
      inflammatory markers, NFkBp65, pStat3, Cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX2) and GRP78 as well
      as transcription factors (TF), beta-catenin and MYB. High CD8(+) TILs correlated
      with a better relapse-free survival in both cohorts (p = 0.002) with MYB and its
      target gene, GRP78 being higher in the relapse group (p = 0.001); no difference
      in pSTAT3 and p65 was observed. A mouse CRC (CT26) model was employed to evaluate
      the effect of MYB on GRP78 expression as well as T-cell infiltration. MYB over
      expressing in CT26 cells increased GRP78 expression and the analysis of tumor
      draining lymph nodes adjacent to tumors showed reduced T-cell activation.
      Furthermore, MYB over-expression reduced the efficacy of anti-PD-1 to modulate
      CT26 tumor growth. This high MYB and GRP78 show a reciprocal relationship with
      CD8(+) TILs which may be useful refining the prediction of patient outcome. These
      data reveal a new immunomodulatory function for MYB suggesting a basis for
      further development of anti-GRP78 and/or anti-MYB therapies. 

PMID- 27622017
TI  - MHC-multimer guided isolation of neoepitopes specific T cells as a potent
      personalized cancer treatment strategy.
AB  - Analysis of genomic data from patient tumors provides valuable information as to
      potential T-cell targets such as neoepitopes. We developed an approach to
      characterize, isolate and utilize neoantigens-specific T cells using MHC/peptide
      tetramers from fresh tumor digests and peripheral blood. This bears important
      implications for the implementation of T cell-based immunotherapy. 

PMID- 27622015
TI  - Ranitidine modifies myeloid cell populations and inhibits breast tumor
      development and spread in mice.
AB  - Histamine receptor 2 (H2) antagonists are widely used clinically for the control
      of gastrointestinal symptoms, but also impact immune function. They have been
      reported to reduce tumor growth in established colon and lung cancer models.
      Histamine has also been reported to modify populations of myeloid-derived
      suppressor cells (MDSCs). We have examined the impact of the widely used H2
      antagonist ranitidine, on both myeloid cell populations and tumor development and
      spread, in three distinct models of breast cancer that highlight different stages
      of cancer progression. Oral ranitidine treatment significantly decreased the
      monocytic MDSC population in the spleen and bone marrow both alone and in the
      context of an orthotopic breast tumor model. H2 antagonists ranitidine and
      famotidine, but not H1 or H4 antagonists, significantly inhibited lung metastasis
      in the 4T1 model. In the E0771 model, ranitidine decreased primary tumor growth
      while omeprazole treatment had no impact on tumor development. Gemcitabine
      treatment prevented the tumor growth inhibition associated with ranitidine
      treatment. In keeping with ranitidine-induced changes in myeloid cell populations
      in non-tumor-bearing mice, ranitidine also delayed the onset of spontaneous tumor
      development, and decreased the number of tumors that developed in LKB1(-/-)/NIC
      mice. These results indicate that ranitidine alters monocyte populations
      associated with MDSC activity, and subsequently impacts breast tumor development
      and outcome. Ranitidine has potential as an adjuvant therapy or preventative
      agent in breast cancer and provides a novel and safe approach to the long-term
      reduction of tumor-associated immune suppression. 

PMID- 27622016
TI  - Timing of CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling blockade is critical to improving responses to
      CTLA-4 based immunotherapy.
AB  - Colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) is produced by a variety of cancers and
      recruits myeloid cells that suppress antitumor immunity, including myeloid
      derived suppressor cells (MDSCs.) Here, we show that both CSF-1 and its receptor
      (CSF-1R) are frequently expressed in tumors from cancer patients, and that this
      expression correlates with tumor-infiltration of MDSCs. Furthermore, we
      demonstrate that these tumor-infiltrating MDSCs are highly immunosuppressive but
      can be reprogrammed toward an antitumor phenotype in vitro upon CSF-1/CSF-1R
      signaling blockade. Supporting these findings, we show that inhibition of CSF
      1/CSF-1R signaling using an anti-CSF-1R antibody can regulate both the number and
      the function of MDSCs in murine tumors in vivo. We further find that treatment
      with anti-CSF-1R antibody induces antitumor T-cell responses and tumor regression
      in multiple tumor models when combined with CTLA-4 blockade therapy. However,
      this occurs only when administered after or concurrent with CTLA-4 blockade,
      indicating that timing of each therapeutic intervention is critical for optimal
      antitumor responses. Importantly, MDSCs present within murine tumors after CTLA-4
      blockade showed increased expression of CSF-1R and were capable of suppressing T
      cell proliferation, and CSF-1/CSF-1R expression in the human tumors was not
      reduced after treatment with CTLA-4 blockade immunotherapy. Taken together, our
      findings suggest that CSF-1R-expressing MDSCs can be targeted to modulate the
      tumor microenvironment and that timing of CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling blockade is
      critical to improving responses to checkpoint based immunotherapy. SIGNIFICANCE:
      Infiltration by immunosuppressive myeloid cells contributes to tumor immune
      escape and can render patients resistant or less responsive to therapeutic
      intervention with checkpoint blocking antibodies. Our data demonstrate that
      blocking CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling using a monoclonal antibody directed to CSF-1R
      can regulate both the number and function of tumor-infiltrating immunosuppressive
      myeloid cells. In addition, our findings suggest that reprogramming myeloid
      responses may be a key in effectively enhancing cancer immunotherapy, offering
      several new potential combination therapies for future clinical testing. More
      importantly for clinical trial design, the timing of these interventions is
      critical to achieving improved tumor protection.

PMID- 27622018
TI  - Intra-cheek immunization as a novel vaccination route for therapeutic vaccines of
      head and neck squamous cell carcinomas using plasmo virus-like particles.
AB  - Despite current therapy, head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) arising
      from various mucosal sites of the upper aero-digestive tract frequently relapse
      in a loco-regional manner and have a poor prognosis. Our objective was to
      validate an innovative mucosal route of vaccination using plasmo virus-like
      particles (pVLPs) in a pre-clinical orthotopic model of HNSCCs. For this purpose,
      we used pVLP-E7, that are plasmid DNA encoding retroviral virus-like particles
      carrying a truncated E7 oncoprotein from HPV-16 as antigen model, to vaccinate
      mice bearing pre-established TC-1 tumors implanted into the buccal mucosa. pVLP
      E7 were combined with clinical grade TLR agonists (Imiquimod and CpG-ODN). In
      this pre-clinical orthotopic model, whose tumor microenvironment resembles to
      those of human HNSCCs, different mucosal vaccination routes were tested for their
      ability to elicit efficient immune and antitumoral responses. Results showed that
      mucosal intra-cheek (IC) vaccinations using pVLP-E7, comparatively to intradermic
      vaccinations (ID), gave rise to higher mobilization of mucosal (CD49a(+)) CD8(+)
      specific effector T cells in both tumor draining lymph nodes (TdLNs) and tumor
      microenvironment resulting in better antitumor effects and in a long-term
      protection against tumor rechallenge. In vivo CD8(+) depletion demonstrated that
      antitumoral effects were fully dependent upon the presence of CD8(+) T cells.
      Validation of IC mucosal vaccinations with pVLPs combined with adjuvants using a
      pre-clinical orthotopic model of HNSCC provides valuable pre-clinical data to
      rapidly envision the use of such therapeutic vaccines in patients with HNSCCs,
      inasmuch as vaccinal components and adjuvants can be easily obtained as clinical
      grade reagents. 

PMID- 27622019
TI  - Myeloid PTEN deficiency impairs tumor-immune surveillance via immune-checkpoint
      inhibition.
AB  - Tumor-host interaction is determined by constant immune surveillance,
      characterized by tumor infiltration of myeloid and lymphoid cells. A
      malfunctioning or diverted immune response promotes tumor growth and metastasis.
      Recent advances had been made, by treating of certain tumor types, such as
      melanoma, with T-cell checkpoint inhibitors. This highlights the importance of
      understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between tumors
      and their environment, in particular myeloid and lymphoid cells. Our aim was to
      study the contribution of the myeloid PI3K/PTEN-signaling pathway in the
      regulation of tumor-immune surveillance in murine models of cancer. We made use
      of conditional PTEN-deficient mice, which exhibit sustained activation of the
      PI3K-signaling axis in a variety of myeloid cell subsets such as macrophages and
      dendritic cells (DCs). In colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC), mice deficient
      in myeloid PTEN showed a markedly higher tumor burden and decreased survival. We
      attributed this observation to the increased presence of immune-modulatory
      conventional CD8alpha(+) DCs in the spleen, whereas other relevant myeloid cell
      subsets were largely unaffected. Notably, we detected enhanced surface expression
      of PD-L1 and PD-L2 on these DCs. As a consequence, tumoricidal T-cell responses
      were hampered or redirected. Taken together, our findings indicated an
      unanticipated role for the PI3K/PTEN-signaling axis in the functional regulation
      of splenic antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Our data pointed at potential,
      indirect, tumoricidal effects of subclass-specific PI3K inhibitors, which are
      currently under clinical investigation for treatment of tumors, via myeloid cell
      activation. 

PMID- 27622020
TI  - Extracellular HSP110 skews macrophage polarization in colorectal cancer.
AB  - HSP110 is induced by different stresses and, through its anti-apoptotic and
      chaperoning properties, helps the cells to survive these adverse situations. In
      colon cancers, HSP110 is abnormally abundant. We have recently showed that
      colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with microsatellite instability (MSI) had an
      improved response to chemotherapy because they harbor an HSP110 inactivating
      mutation (HSP110DE9). In this work, we have used patients' biopsies and human CRC
      cells grown in vitro and in vivo (xenografts) to demonstrate that (1) HSP110 is
      secreted by CRC cells and that the amount of this extracellular HSP110 is
      strongly decreased by the expression of the mutant HSP110DE9, (2) Supernatants
      from CRC cells overexpressing HSP110 or purified recombinant human HSP110 (LPS
      free) affect macrophage differentiation/polarization by favoring a pro-tumor,
      anti-inflammatory profile, (3) Conversely, inhibition of HSP110 (expression of
      siRNA, HSP110DE9 or immunodepletion) induced the formation of macrophages with a
      cytotoxic, pro-inflammatory profile. (4) Finally, this effect of extracellular
      HSP110 on macrophages seems to implicate TLR4. These results together with the
      fact that colorectal tumor biopsies with HSP110 high were infiltrated with
      macrophages with a pro-tumoral profile while those with HSP110 low were
      infiltrated with macrophages with a cytotoxic profile, suggest that the effect of
      extracellular HSP110 function on macrophages may also contribute to the poor
      outcomes associated with HSP110 expression. 

PMID- 27622021
TI  - Effective antitumor therapy based on a novel antibody-drug conjugate targeting
      the Tn carbohydrate antigen.
AB  - Antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), combining the specificity of tumor recognition by
      monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and the powerful cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs,
      are currently under growing interest and development. Here, we studied the
      potential of Chi-Tn, a mAb directed to a glyco-peptidic tumor-associated antigen,
      to be used as an ADC for cancer treatment. First, we demonstrated that Chi-Tn
      specifically targeted tumor cells in vivo. Also, using flow cytometry and
      deconvolution microscopy, we showed that the Chi-Tn mAb is rapidly internalized -
      condition necessary to ensure the delivery of conjugated cytotoxic drugs in an
      active form, and targeted to early and recycling endosomes. When conjugated to
      saporin (SAP) or to auristatin F, the Chi-Tn ADC exhibited effective cytotoxicity
      to Tn-positive tumor cells in vitro, which correlated with the level of tumoral
      Tn expression. Furthermore, the Chi-Tn mAb conjugated to auristatin F also
      exhibited efficient antitumor activity in vivo, validating for the first time the
      use of an anti-Tn antibody as an effective ADC. 

PMID- 27622022
TI  - Proof of concept study with an HER-2 mimotope anticancer vaccine deduced from a
      novel AAV-mimotope library platform.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anticancer vaccines could represent a valuable complementary strategy
      to established therapies, especially in settings of early stage and minimal
      residual disease. HER-2 is an important target for immunotherapy and addressed by
      the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab. We have previously generated HER-2 mimotope
      peptides from phage display libraries. The synthesized peptides were coupled to
      carriers and applied for epitope-specific induction of trastuzumab-like IgG. For
      simplification and to avoid methodological limitations of synthesis and coupling
      chemistry, we herewith present a novel and optimized approach by using adeno
      associated viruses (AAV) as effective and high-density mimotope-display system,
      which can be directly used for vaccination. METHODS: An AAV capsid display
      library was constructed by genetically incorporating random peptides in a plasmid
      encoding the wild-type AAV2 capsid protein. AAV clones, expressing peptides
      specifically reactive to trastuzumab, were employed to immunize BALB/c mice.
      Antibody titers against human HER-2 were determined, and the isotype composition
      and functional properties of these were tested. Finally, prophylactically
      immunized mice were challenged with human HER-2 transfected mouse D2F2/E2 cells.
      RESULTS: HER-2 mimotope AAV-vaccines induced antibodies specific to human HER-2.
      Two clones were selected for immunization of mice, which were subsequently
      grafted D2F2/E2 cells. Both mimotope AAV clones delayed the growth of tumors
      significantly, as compared to controls. CONCLUSION: In this study, a novel
      mimotope AAV-based platform was created allowing the isolation of mimotopes,
      which can be directly used as anticancer vaccines. The example of trastuzumab AAV
      mimotopes demonstrates that this vaccine strategy could help to establish active
      immunotherapy for breast-cancer patients.

PMID- 27622024
TI  - Investigating potential exogenous tumor initiating and promoting factors for
      Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas (CTCL), a rare skin malignancy.
AB  - Most skin malignancies are caused by external and often preventable environmental
      agents. Multiple reports demonstrated that cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) can
      occur in married couples and cluster in families. Furthermore, recent studies
      document geographic clustering of this malignancy in Texas as well as in other
      areas of the United States. Multiple infectious, occupational, and medication
      causes have been proposed as triggers or promoters of this malignancy including
      hydrochlorothiazide diuretics, Staphylococcus aureus, dermatophytes,
      Mycobacterium leprae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, human T-Cell lymphotropic virus type
      1 (HTLV1), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV). In this
      report, we review recent evidence evaluating the involvement of these agents in
      cancer initiation/progression. Most importantly, recent molecular experimental
      evidence documented for the first time that S. aureus can activate oncogenic
      STAT3 signaling in malignant T cells. Specifically, S. aureus Enterotoxin type A
      (SEA) was recently shown to trigger non-malignant infiltrating T cells to release
      IL-2 and other cytokines. These signals upon binging to their cognate receptors
      on malignant T cells are then able to activate STAT3 and STAT5 oncogenic
      signaling and promote cancer progression and IL-17 secretion. In light of these
      findings, it might be important for patients with exacerbation of their CTCL
      symptoms to maintain high index of suspicion and treat these individuals for S.
      aureus colonization and/or sepsis with topical and systemic antibiotics. 

PMID- 27622023
TI  - Embracing rejection: Immunologic trends in brain metastasis.
AB  - Brain metastases represent the most common type of brain tumor. These tumors
      offer a dismal prognosis and significantly impact quality of life for patients.
      Their capacity for central nervous system (CNS) invasion is dependent upon
      induced disruptions to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), alterations to the brain
      microenvironment, and mechanisms for escaping CNS immunosurveillance. In the
      emerging era of immunotherapy, understanding how metastases are influenced by the
      immunologic peculiarities of the CNS will be crucial to forging therapeutic
      advances. In this review, the immunology of brain metastasis is explored. 

PMID- 27622025
TI  - Regulatory T cells with multiple suppressive and potentially pro-tumor activities
      accumulate in human colorectal cancer.
AB  - Tregs can contribute to tumor progression by suppressing antitumor immunity.
      Exceptionally, in human colorectal cancer (CRC), Tregs are thought to exert
      beneficial roles in controlling pro-tumor chronic inflammation. The goal of our
      study was to characterize CRC-infiltrating Tregs at multiple levels, by
      phenotypical, molecular and functional evaluation of Tregs from the tumor site,
      compared to non-tumoral mucosa and peripheral blood of CRC patients. The
      frequency of Tregs was higher in mucosa than in blood, and further significantly
      increased in tumor. Ex vivo, those Tregs suppressed the proliferation of tumor
      infiltrating CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cells. A differential compartmentalization was
      detected between Helios(high) and Helios(low) Treg subsets (thymus-derived versus
      peripherally induced): while Helios(low) Tregs were enriched in both sites, only
      Helios(high) Tregs accumulated significantly and specifically in tumors,
      displayed a highly demethylated TSDR region and contained high proportions of
      cells expressing CD39 and OX40, markers of activation and suppression. Besides
      the suppression of T cells, Tregs may contribute to CRC progression also through
      releasing IL-17, or differentiating into Tfr cells that potentially antagonize a
      protective Tfh response, events that were both detected in tumor-associated
      Tregs. Overall, our data indicate that Treg accumulation may contribute through
      multiple mechanisms to CRC establishment and progression. 

PMID- 27622026
TI  - PD-L1 expression as a predictive biomarker for cytokine-induced killer cell
      immunotherapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy represents an effective
      treatment strategy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the
      therapeutic benefits of CIK cell treatment can be influenced by differences in
      complex immune microenvironment between patients. Herein, we investigated the
      relationship between PD-L1 expression and survival benefits of CIK cell
      immunotherapy in HCC patients. This retrospective study included 448 HCC
      patients: 217 cases underwent hepatectomy alone; 231 cases received hepatectomy
      and post-operative CIK cell transfusion. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure
      PD-L1 expression in tumor tissue sections from all patients. Meanwhile, flow
      cytometry was performed to explore the relationship between PD-L1 expression and
      localized inflammatory response in HCC microenvironment. We found a significantly
      improved prognosis in CIK treatment group compared with surgery alone group. In
      the CIK treatment group, higher PD-L1 expression was observed in patients who
      exhibited long-term survival benefit. Survival analysis showed patients with >=5%
      PD-L1 expression had better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival
      (RFS) than patients with 1-5% or <1% PD-L1 expression, particularly in the
      subgroup with high hepatitis B viral load. By contrast, PD-L1 expression did not
      show direct impact on the survival of patients in surgery alone group.
      Additionally, PD-L1 expression was found to be highly associated with hepatitis B
      viral load and the proportion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in HCC patients.
      In conclusions, our study indicates that PD-L1 expression may reflect the
      presence of endogenous host immune response to tumor and serve as a biomarker for
      predicting survival benefits from adjuvant CIK cell immunotherapy in HCC
      patients. 

PMID- 27622027
TI  - CD169 identifies an activated CD8(+) T cell subset in regional lymph nodes that
      predicts favorable prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: CD169 was first identified on macrophages (Mphi) and linked to antigen
      presentation. Here, we showed CD169 expression on some CD8(+) T lymphocytes in
      regional lymph nodes (LNs) and investigated the function and clinical relevance
      of CD169(+)CD8(+) T cells in tumor-draining LNs of colorectal cancer (CRC)
      patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Fresh tumor-draining LN tissues from 39 randomly
      enrolled patients were assessed by flow cytometry for activation and
      differentiation of CD169(+)CD8(+) T cells and T cell-mediated killing of tumor
      cells. In total, 114 tumor-draining LN paraffin sections from CRC patients were
      analyzed by multiple-color immunofluorescence for CD169(+)CD8(+) T cell
      distribution and clinical values. The prognostic significance of CD169(+)CD8(+) T
      cells was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: A fraction of CD8(+) T
      cells in regional LNs, but not peripheral blood, tonsils, or tumors, expressed
      surface CD169. In situ detection of draining LNs revealed preferential
      localization of CD169(+)CD8(+) T cells to subcapsular sinus and interfollicular
      regions, closely associated with CD169(+) Mphi. CD169(+)CD8(+) T cell ratios were
      significantly lower in peri-tumor LNs than distant-tumor LNs. CD169(+)CD8(+) T
      cells predominantly expressed activation markers (CD69, HLA-DR, PD-1) with
      slightly lower CD45RA and CD62L levels. They produced high granzyme B, perforin,
      TNF-alpha, and IFNgamma levels, and promoted tumor-killing efficiency ex vitro.
      Moreover, CD169(+)CD8(+) T cells infiltrating tumor-draining LNs decreased with
      disease progression and were strongly associated with CRC patient survival.
      CONCLUSIONS: We identified novel activated/cytolytic CD169(+)CD8(+) T cells
      selectively present in regional LNs, potentially serving as a powerful prognostic
      factor and indicator for selecting patients for immunotherapy.

PMID- 27622028
TI  - Current tools for predicting cancer-specific T cell immunity.
AB  - Tumor exome and RNA sequencing data provide a systematic and unbiased view on
      cancer-specific expression, over-expression, and mutations of genes, which can be
      mined for personalized cancer vaccines and other immunotherapies. Of key interest
      are tumor-specific mutations, because T cells recognizing neoepitopes have the
      potential to be highly tumoricidal. Here, we review recent developments and
      technical advances in identifying MHC class I and class II-restricted tumor
      antigens, especially neoantigen derived MHC ligands, including in silico
      predictions, immune-peptidome analysis by mass spectrometry, and MHC ligand
      validation by biochemical methods on T cells. 

PMID- 27622029
TI  - Calreticulin expression: Interaction with the immune infiltrate and impact on
      survival in patients with ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Loss of expression of calreticulin (CALR) has been detected by
      immunohistochemistry in a fraction of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) and has
      been demonstrated to have a major negative prognostic impact on overall patient
      survival. Here, we analyzed the impact of CALR expression levels detected by
      microarray finding a positive correlation between CALR and the expression of a
      metagene indicating the presence of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in NSCLC and
      ovarian cancer. In addition, we detected a positive correlation with a metagene
      suggestive of activated dendritic cell (aDC) infiltration in ovarian cancer.
      Combination of two parameters (CALR + DC (dendritic cell) in NSCL and CALR + aDC
      in ovarian cancer) or three parameters (CALR + CTL + DC in NSCL and CALR + CTL +
      aDC in ovarian cancer) had a significant impact on overall patient survival in
      NSCL (Adenoconsortium) and ovarian cancer (TCGA collection), allowing the
      stratification of patients in high-risk and low-risk groups. In addition, CALR
      and aDC alone have a significant impact on overall survival in ovarian cancer. In
      contrast, in mammary, colorectal and prostate cancer, CALR had no impact on
      patient survival if analyzed alone or in combination with the immune infiltrate.
      In addition, CALR correlates with CTL infiltrate in three cancer types
      (colorectal, breast, ovarian). Altogether, these results support the contention
      that, at least in some cancers, loss of CALR expression may negatively affect
      immunosurveillance, thereby reducing patient survival. 

PMID- 27622030
TI  - The ecto-ATPDase CD39 is involved in the acquisition of the immunoregulatory
      phenotype by M-CSF-macrophages and ovarian cancer tumor-associated macrophages:
      Regulatory role of IL-27.
AB  - Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are immunosuppressive cells that can massively
      accumulate in the tumor microenvironment. In patients with ovarian cancer, their
      density is correlated with poor prognosis. Targeting mediators that control the
      generation or the differentiation of immunoregulatory macrophages represents a
      therapeutic challenge to overcome tumor-associated immunosuppression. The
      ectonucleotidase CD39 hydrolyzes ATP into extracellular adenosine that exhibits
      potent immunosuppressive properties when signaling through the A2A adenosine
      receptor. We report here that CD14(+) CD163(+) TAM isolated from ovarian cancer
      patients and macrophages generated in vitro with M-CSF, express high levels of
      the membrane ectonucleotidase CD39 compared to classically activated macrophages.
      The CD39 inhibitor POM-1 and adenosine deaminase (ADA) diminished some of the
      immunosuppressive functions of CD14(high) CD163(high) CD39(high) macrophages,
      such as IL-10 secretion. We identified the cytokine IL-27, secreted by tumor
      infiltrating neutrophils, located close to infiltrating CD163(+) macrophages, as
      a major rheostat of CD39 expression and consequently, on the acquisition of
      immunoregulatory properties by macrophages. Accordingly, the depletion of IL-27
      downregulated CD39 and PD-L1 expression as well as IL-10 secretion by M-CSF
      macrophages. Collectively, these data suggest that CD39, drived by IL-27 and
      CD115 ligands in ovarian cancer, maintains the immunosuppressive phenotype of
      TAM. This work brings new information on the acquisition of immunosuppressive
      properties by tumor-infiltrating macrophages. 

PMID- 27622031
TI  - TLR4-mediated immunomodulatory properties of the bacterial metalloprotease
      arazyme in preclinical tumor models.
AB  - Despite the recent approval of new agents for metastatic melanoma, its treatment
      remains challenging. Moreover, few available immunotherapies induce a strong
      cellular immune response, and selection of the correct immunoadjuvant is crucial
      for overcoming this obstacle. Here, we studied the immunomodulatory properties of
      arazyme, a bacterial metalloprotease, which was previously shown to control
      metastasis in a murine melanoma B16F10-Nex2 model. The antitumor activity of
      arazyme was independent of its proteolytic activity, since heat-inactivated
      protease showed comparable properties to the active enzyme; however, the effect
      was dependent on an intact immune system, as antitumor properties were lost in
      immunodeficient mice. The protective response was IFNgamma-dependent, and CD8(+)
      T lymphocytes were the main effector antitumor population, although B and CD4(+)
      T lymphocytes were also induced. Macrophages and dendritic cells were involved in
      the induction of the antitumor response, as arazyme activation of these cells
      increased both the expression of surface activation markers and proinflammatory
      cytokine secretion through TLR4-MyD88-TRIF-dependent, but also MAPK-dependent
      pathways. Arazyme was also effective in the murine breast adenocarcinoma 4T1
      model, reducing primary and metastatic tumor development, and prolonging
      survival. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a bacterial
      metalloprotease interaction with TLR4 and subsequent receptor activation that
      promotes a proinflammatory and tumor protective response. Our results show that
      arazyme has immunomodulatory properties, and could be a promising novel
      alternative for metastatic melanoma treatment. 

PMID- 27622032
TI  - Progressive natural killer cell dysfunction associated with alterations in subset
      proportions and receptor expression in soft-tissue sarcoma patients.
AB  - Immunotherapy is currently investigated as treatment option in many types of
      cancer. So far, results from clinical trials have demonstrated that significant
      benefit from immunomodulatory therapies is restricted to patients with select
      histologies. To broaden the potential use of these therapies, a deeper
      understanding for mechanisms of immunosuppression in patients with cancer is
      needed. Soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) presents a medical challenge with significant
      mortality even after multimodal treatment. We investigated function and
      immunophenotype of peripheral natural killer (NK) cells from chemotherapy-naive
      STS patients (1st line) and STS patients with progression or relapse after
      previous chemotherapeutic treatment (2nd line). We found NK cells from peripheral
      blood of both STS patient cohorts to be dysfunctional, being unable to lyse K562
      target cells while NK cells from renal cell cancer (RCC) patients did not display
      attenuated lytic activity. Ex vivo stimulation of NK cells from STS patients with
      interleukin-2 plus TKD restored cytotoxic function. Furthermore, altered NK cell
      subset composition with reduced proportions of CD56(dim) cells could be
      demonstrated, increasing from 1st- to 2nd-line patients. 2nd-line patients
      additionally displayed significantly reduced expression of receptors (NKG2D),
      mediators (CD3zeta), and effectors (perforin) of NK cell activation. In these
      patients, we also detected fewer NK cells with CD57 expression, a marker for
      terminally differentiated cytotoxic NK cells. Our results elucidate mechanisms of
      NK cell dysfunction in STS patients with advanced disease. Markers like NKG2D,
      CD3zeta, and perforin are candidates to characterize NK cells with effective
      antitumor function for immunotherapeutic interventions. 

PMID- 27622033
TI  - MHC class II tetramer analyses in AE37-vaccinated prostate cancer patients reveal
      vaccine-specific polyfunctional and long-lasting CD4(+) T-cells.
AB  - Realizing the basis for generating long-lasting clinical responses in cancer
      patients after therapeutic vaccinations provides the means to further ameliorate
      clinical efficacy. Peptide cancer vaccines stimulating CD4(+) T helper cells are
      often promising for inducing immunological memory and persistent CD8(+) cytotoxic
      T cell responses. Recent reports from our clinical trial with the AE37 vaccine,
      which is a HER2 hybrid polypeptide, documented its efficacy to induce CD4(+) T
      cell immunity, which was associated with clinical improvements preferentially
      among HLA-DRB1*11(+) prostate cancer patients. Here, we performed in-depth
      investigation of the CD4(+) T cell response against the AE37 vaccine. We used the
      DR11/AE37 tetramer in combination with multicolor flow cytometry to identify and
      characterize AE37-specific CD4(+) T cells regarding memory and Tregs phenotype in
      HLA-DRB1*11(+) vaccinated patients. To verify vaccine-specific immunological
      memory in vivo, we also assessed AE37-specific CD4(+) T cells in defined CD4(+)
      memory subsets by cell sorting. Finally, vaccine-induced AE37-specific CD4(+) T
      cells were assessed regarding their functional profile. AE37-specific memory
      CD4(+) T cells could be detected in peptide-stimulated cultures from prostate
      cancer patients following vaccination even 4 y post-vaccination. The vast
      majority of vaccine-induced AE37-specific CD4(+) T cells exhibited a
      multifunctional, mostly Th1 cytokine signature, with the potential of granzyme B
      production. In contrast, we found relatively low frequencies of Tregs among AE37
      specific CD4(+) T cells. This is the first report on the identification of
      vaccine-induced HER2-specific multifunctional long-lasting CD4(+) T cells in
      vaccinated prostate cancer patients. 

PMID- 27622034
TI  - Ligand-receptor dissociated expression explains high TSLP without prognostic
      impact in human primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an interleukin (IL)-7-like cytokine
      expressed by epithelial cells during allergic inflammation, and activating
      dendritic cells (DC). Its expression and functional role in cancer remain
      controversial. We conducted retrospective (n = 89), and prospective studies
      including patients with untreated primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      (HNSCC). We found that TSLP was overexpressed by HNSCC tumor cells, and
      associated with a highly differentiated status. However, no significant
      difference in overall and recurrence-free survival was found between patients
      bearing a tumor with high and low TSLP levels, respectively. Surprisingly, there
      was no significant association between the levels of TSLP expression, and the
      number of tumor-infiltrating mature DCLAMP(+) DC. In order to explain the
      apparent lack of TSLP-induced DC activation, we performed phenotypic and
      functional experiments on freshly resected tumors. Tumor-infiltrating immune
      cells, including DC, did not express the TSLP receptor heterodimer (TSLPR chain,
      IL-7Ralpha chain). Furthermore, freshly sorted blood CD11c(+) DC from healthy
      donors cultured with tumor-conditioned supernatant exhibited an activated
      profile, but this was not affected by an anti-TSLP blocking antibody, suggesting
      a DC activation pathway independent of tumor-derived TSLP. Overall, our results
      demonstrate that TSLP is overexpressed in HNSCC but its function is hampered by
      the lack of TSLPR-expressing cells in the tumor microenvironment. Such a
      dissociated ligand-receptor expression may impact intercellular communication in
      other immune activation pathways, and tumor types. 

PMID- 27622035
TI  - Missense mutations in the perforin (PRF1) gene as a cause of hereditary cancer
      predisposition.
AB  - Perforin, a pore-forming toxin released from secretory granules of NK cells and
      CTLs, is essential for their cytotoxic activity against infected or cancerous
      target cells. Bi-allelic loss-of-function mutations in the perforin gene are
      invariably associated with a fatal immunoregulatory disorder, familial
      haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis type 2 (FHL2), in infants. More recently, it
      has also been recognized that partial loss of perforin function can cause disease
      in later life, including delayed onset FHL2 and haematological malignancies.
      Herein, we report a family in which a wide range of systemic inflammatory and
      neoplastic manifestations have occurred across three generations. We found that
      disease was linked to two missense perforin gene mutations (encoding A91V, R410W)
      that cause protein misfolding and partial loss of activity. These cases link the
      partial loss of perforin function with some solid tumors that are known to be
      controlled by the immune system, as well as haematological cancers. Our findings
      also demonstrate that perforin gene mutations can contribute to hereditary cancer
      predisposition. 

PMID- 27622037
TI  - Plasma Chromogranin A as a marker of cardiovascular involvement in Erdheim
      Chester disease.
AB  - Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH)
      characterized by tissue infiltration with CD68(+) foamy histiocytes. TNF-related
      chronic inflammation and mutations in the MAP kinase signaling pathway in
      histiocytes are recognized as the two major pathogenic events. Among pleomorphic
      clinical manifestations, cardiovascular involvement is frequent and
      prognostically relevant. Evaluation of ECD clinical course and response to
      treatment is, however, still challenging. Taking advantage of the two largest
      cohorts of ECD patients worldwide, we investigated the relevance and the
      potential of circulating Chromogranin A (CgA), a pro-hormone involved in
      cardiovascular homeostasis and inflammation, as a biomarker of response to
      therapy in ECD. Consistent with other TNF-related inflammatory diseases, we found
      that not only TNF-alpha and soluble TNF-Receptors (sTNF-Rs), but also CgA plasma
      levels were significantly increased in ECD patients compared to controls. CgA,
      but not sTNF-Rs, discriminated cardiovascular involvement in ECD patients and
      correlated with pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (pro-BNP). In a single case, where
      a cardiac biopsy was available, CgA was found expressed by cardiomyocytes but not
      by infiltrating histiocytes. In four ECD patients, where serial determination of
      these parameters was obtained, the kinetics of sTNF-Rs and CgA paralleled
      response to therapy with anti-cytokine inhibitors; specifically, sTNF-Rs
      overlapped TNF-associated inflammation, while CgA, together with pro-BNP, closely
      mirrored response of cardiac disease. Our data indicate that both sTNF-Rs and CgA
      are linked to ECD pathophysiology. Moreover, CgA, in concert with pro-BNP, can be
      further exploited to fulfill the unmet clinical need of non-invasive reliable
      biomarkers of cardiac disease in these patients. 

PMID- 27622036
TI  - Tumor-released autophagosomes induce IL-10-producing B cells with suppressive
      activity on T lymphocytes via TLR2-MyD88-NF-kappaB signal pathway.
AB  - Recent studies have shown that tumor cells can release autophagosomes, which
      transport a broad array of biologically active molecules with potential
      modulatory effects on immune cell functions. In this study, we aimed to
      investigate the role of tumor cells-released autophagosomes (i.e. TRAP) in
      regulating B cell differentiation and function. TRAPs from murine tumor cell
      lines were found to induce splenic B cells to differentiate into IL-10-producing
      regulatory B cells (Bregs) with a distinct phenotype of CD1d(+) CD5(+), which
      could potently inhibit CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cell responses in IL-10-depedent
      manner both in vitro and in vivo. Notably, adoptive transfer of TRAP-induced
      Bregs abrogated the immune response and antitumor effect induced by OVA-loaded DC
      vaccinations in E.G7-OVA-bearing mouse model. Mechanistic studies revealed that
      membrane-bound high-mobility group B1 (HMGB1) on the intact TRAPs was crucial for
      inducing Breg differentiation via the activation of TLR2-MyD88-NF-kappaB signal
      pathway in B cells. Moreover, TRAPs enriched from malignant effusions of cancer
      patients could induce human B cells to differentiate into IL-10-producing B cells
      with immunoregulatory functions, the frequency of which were positively
      correlated with the HMGB1 levels on TRAPs. Together, our findings have
      demonstrated that TRAPs promote the generation of IL-10(+) Bregs, which may
      contribute to the suppression of antitumor immunity. 

PMID- 27622038
TI  - Programmed death ligand 1 as an indicator of pre-existing adaptive immune
      responses in human hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - It is well known that the aberrant expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD
      L1) on tumor cells impairs antitumor immunity. To date, in hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC), the relationship between PD-L1 expression and host-tumor
      immunity is not well defined. Here, the expression levels of PD-L1 and CD8(+) T
      cell infiltration were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in formalin fixed
      paraffin embedded (FFPE) specimens from 167 HCC patients undergoing resection. A
      significant positive association was found between PD-L1 expression and the
      presence of CD8(+) T cell (p < 0.0001). Moreover, constitutive PD-L1 protein
      expression was not detected by western blot in HepG2, Hep3B, and 7402 HCC cancer
      cell lines; but co-cultured these cell lines with INFgamma, a cytokine produced
      by activated CD8(+) T cells, remarkably upregulated PD-L1 expression. In fresh
      frozen HCC specimens, INFgamma was found to be significantly correlated with PD
      L1 and CD8(+) gene expression, as evaluated by quantitative reverse transcriptase
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). These findings indicate that increased PD-L1
      level may represent an adaptive immune resistance mechanism exerted by tumor
      cells in response to endogenous antitumor activity. Both increased intratumoral
      PD-L1 and CD8(+) were significantly associated with superior DFS (CD8(+): p =
      0.03; PD-L1: p = 0.023) and OS (CD8(+): p = 0.001 and PD-L1: p = 0.059), but PD
      L1 expression was not independently prognostic. In conclusions, PD-L1
      upregulation is mainly induced by activated CD8(+) cytotoxic T cells pre-existing
      in HCC milieu rather than be constitutively expressed by the tumor cells, and it
      is a favorable prognostic factor for HCC. 

PMID- 27622039
TI  - The dual role of tumor lymphatic vessels in dissemination of metastases and
      immune response development.
AB  - Lymphatic vasculature plays a crucial role in the immune response, enabling
      transport of dendritic cells (DCs) and antigens (Ags) into the lymph nodes.
      Unfortunately, the lymphatic system has also a negative role in the progression
      of cancer diseases, by facilitating the metastatic spread of many carcinomas to
      the draining lymph nodes. The lymphatics can promote antitumor immune response as
      well as tumor tolerance. Here, we review the role of lymphatic endothelial cells
      (LECs) in tumor progression and immunity and mechanism of action in the newest
      anti-lymphatic therapies, including photodynamic therapy (PDT). 

PMID- 27622040
TI  - BRAF V600E mutation correlates with suppressive tumor immune microenvironment and
      reduced disease-free survival in Langerhans cell histiocytosis.
AB  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a neoplasm of myeloid origin characterized
      by a clonal proliferation of CD1a(+)/CD207(+) dendritic cells. Recurrent BRAF
      V600E mutation has been reported in LCH. In the present report, we confirm the
      feasibility of the high-specificity monoclonal antibody VE1 for detecting BRAF
      V600E mutation in 36/97 (37.1%) retrospectively enrolled patients with LCH;
      concordant immunohistochemistry and Sanger sequencing results were seen in 94.8%
      of cases. We then assessed the tumor immune microenvironment status in LCH, and
      found that the GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3)(+)/T-bet(+) ratio could distinguish
      between clinical multi-system/single-system (SS) multifocal and SS unifocal LCH.
      Notably, we found that BRAF V600E mutation is significantly correlated with
      increased programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PDL1) expression and forkhead box
      protein 3 (FOXP3)(+) regulatory T cells (p < 0.001, 0.009, respectively).
      Moreover, Cox multivariate survival analysis showed that BRAF V600E mutation and
      PDL1 were independent prognostic factors of poor disease-free survival (DFS) in
      LCH (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-5.56, p = 0.044;
      HR = 3.06, 95%CI 1.14-7.14, p = 0.025, respectively), and the superiority of PDL1
      in sensitivity and specificity as biomarker for DFS in LCH was demonstrated by
      receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves when compared with BRAF V600E and
      risk category. Collectively, this study identifies for the first time
      relationship between BRAF V600E mutation and a suppressive tumor immune
      microenvironment in LCH, resulting in disruption of host-tumor immune
      surveillance, which is DFS. Our findings may provide a rationale for combining
      immunotherapy and BRAF-targeted therapy for treating patients with BRAF V600E
      mutant LCH. 

PMID- 27622042
TI  - The association of clinical outcome and peripheral T-cell subsets in metastatic
      colorectal cancer patients receiving first-line FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab therapy.
AB  - The first-line standard of care for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
      (mCRC) is FOLFIRI (irinotecan, levo-leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)) plus
      bevacizumab. With the renewed interest in cancer immunotherapy with agents such
      as vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors and immune modulators, the possibility exists
      for the use of one or more of these immunotherapeutics in the first-line setting
      and thus in combination with the FOLFIRI and bevacizumab regimen. Studies were
      undertaken to study the effects of FOLFIRI and bevacizumab therapy on peripheral
      T-cell subsets, and to determine if there are any associations between these
      subsets and response to therapy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets of
      patients with mCRC (n = 23) were analyzed prior to and during therapy. While
      there were differences among patients, the majority of patients showed either a
      minimal change or an increase in CD4(+) T cell to regulatory T cell (Treg) ratios
      during therapy, as well as either minimal change or a decrease in Treg
      suppressive activity during therapy. There was also an association (p = 0.036)
      between a decrease in Treg frequency during FOLFIRI therapy and overall survival,
      and an association (p = 0.037) between the frequency of Tregs prior to therapy
      and progression-free survival. Responders to the chemotherapy by RECIST criteria
      also had a greater decrease in Tregs during therapy vs. pre-therapy (p = 0.0064)
      as compared to non-responders. While the number of mCRC patients undergoing
      chemotherapy in this study is relatively small, it provides the rationale for the
      use of immunotherapeutics in this first-line metastatic setting. 

PMID- 27622041
TI  - Immunomodulatory antibodies for the treatment of lymphoma: Report on the CALYM
      Workshop.
AB  - In November 2015, the CALYM Carnot Institute held a 2-d workshop to discuss the
      current and future development of immunomodulatory antibodies for the treatment
      of lymphoma. Highlights from the workshop are presented in this article. 

PMID- 27622043
TI  - IL12-mediated sensitizing of T-cell receptor-dependent and -independent tumor
      cell killing.
AB  - Interleukin 12 (IL12) is a key inflammatory cytokine critically influencing
      Th1/Tc1-T-cell responses at the time of initial antigen encounter. Therefore, it
      may be exploited for cancer immunotherapy. Here, we investigated how IL12, and
      other inflammatory cytokines, shape effector functions of human T-cells. Using a
      defined culture system, we followed the gradual differentiation and function of
      antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells from their initial activation as naive T cells
      through their expansion phase as early memory cells to full differentiation as
      clonally expanded effector T cells. The addition of IL12 8 days after the initial
      priming event initiated two mechanistically separate events: First, IL12
      sensitized the T-cell receptor (TCR) for antigen-specific activation, leading to
      an approximately 10-fold increase in peptide sensitivity and, in consequence,
      enhanced tumor cell killing. Secondly, IL12 enabled TCR/HLA-independent
      activation and cytotoxicity: this "non-specific" effect was mediated by the NK
      cell receptor DNAM1 (CD226) and dependent on ligand expression of the target
      cells. This IL12 regulated, DNAM1-mediated killing is dependent on src-kinases as
      well as on PTPRC (CD45) activity. Thus, besides enhancing TCR-mediated
      activation, we here identified for the first time a second IL12 mediated
      mechanism leading to activation of a receptor-dependent killing pathway via
      DNAM1. 

PMID- 27622044
TI  - Large-scale microarray profiling reveals four stages of immune escape in non
      Hodgkin lymphomas.
AB  - Non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma (B-NHL) are aggressive lymphoid malignancies that
      develop in patients due to oncogenic activation, chemo-resistance, and immune
      evasion. Tumor biopsies show that B-NHL frequently uses several immune escape
      strategies, which has hindered the development of checkpoint blockade
      immunotherapies in these diseases. To gain a better understanding of B-NHL immune
      editing, we hypothesized that the transcriptional hallmarks of immune escape
      associated with these diseases could be identified from the meta-analysis of
      large series of microarrays from B-NHL biopsies. Thus, 1446 transcriptome
      microarrays from seven types of B-NHL were downloaded and assembled from 33
      public Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, and a method for scoring the
      transcriptional hallmarks in single samples was developed. This approach was
      validated by matching scores to phenotypic hallmarks of B-NHL such as
      proliferation, signaling, metabolic activity, and leucocyte infiltration. Through
      this method, we observed a significant enrichment of 33 immune escape genes in
      most diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) samples,
      with fewer in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL)
      samples. Comparing these gene expression patterns with overall survival data
      evidenced four stages of cancer immune editing in B-NHL: non-immunogenic tumors
      (stage 1), immunogenic tumors without immune escape (stage 2), immunogenic tumors
      with immune escape (stage 3), and fully immuno-edited tumors (stage 4). This
      model complements the standard international prognostic indices for B-NHL and
      proposes that immune escape stages 3 and 4 (76% of the FL and DLBCL samples in
      this data set) identify patients relevant for checkpoint blockade
      immunotherapies. 

PMID- 27622045
TI  - A novel TLR7 agonist reverses NK cell anergy and cures RMA-S lymphoma-bearing
      mice.
AB  - Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists are potent immune stimulants able to
      overcome cancer-associated immune suppression. Due to dose-limiting systemic
      toxicities, only the topically applied TLR7 agonist (imiquimod) has been approved
      for therapy of skin tumors. There is a need for TLR7-activating compounds with
      equivalent efficacy but less toxicity. SC1, a novel small molecule agonist for
      TLR7, is a potent type-1 interferon inducer, comparable to the reference TLR7
      agonist resiquimod, yet with lower induction of proinflammatory cytokines. In
      vivo, SC1 activates NK cells in a TLR7-dependent manner. Mice bearing the NK cell
      sensitive lymphoma RMA-S are cured by repeated s. c. administrations of SC1 as
      efficiently as by the administration of resiquimod. No relevant toxicities were
      observed. Mechanistically, SC1 reverses NK cell anergy and restores NK cell
      mediated tumor cell killing in an IFN-alpha-dependent manner. TLR7 targeting by
      SC1-based compounds may form an attractive strategy to activate NK cell responses
      for cancer therapy. 

PMID- 27622046
TI  - Chemotherapy and immunotherapy: A close interplay to fight cancer?
AB  - In theory, the immunotherapy of cancer should induce the selective destruction of
      cancer cells and a long-term specific protection, based on the specificity and
      memory of immunity. This contrasts with the collateral damages of conventional
      therapies and their toxic effects on host tissues. However, recent data suggest
      that chemotherapy may potentiate ongoing immune responses, through homeostatic
      mechanisms. Massive tumor death, empty "immune" niches and selected cytokines may
      act as a danger signal, alerting the immune system and amplifying pre-existing
      antitumor reactivity. 

PMID- 27622047
TI  - Adjuvant dendritic cell vaccination induces tumor-specific immune responses in
      the majority of stage III melanoma patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the effectiveness of adjuvant dendritic cell (DC)
      vaccination to induce tumor-specific immunological responses in stage III
      melanoma patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of stage III
      melanoma patients, vaccinated with autologous monocyte-derived DC loaded with
      tumor-associated antigens (TAA) gp100 and tyrosinase after radical lymph node
      dissection. Skin-test infiltrating lymphocytes (SKILs) obtained from delayed-type
      hypersensitivity skin-test biopsies were analyzed for the presence of TAA
      specific CD8(+) T cells by tetrameric MHC-peptide complexes and by functional TAA
      specific T cell assays, defined by peptide-recognition (T2 cells) and/or tumor
      recognition (BLM and/or MEL624) with specific production of Th1 cytokines and no
      Th2 cytokines. RESULTS: Ninety-seven patients were analyzed: 21 with stage IIIA,
      34 with stage IIIB, and 42 had stage IIIC disease. Tetramer-positive CD8(+) T
      cells were present in 68 patients (70%), and 24 of them showed a response against
      all 3 epitopes tested (gp100:154-162, gp100:280-288, and tyrosinase:369-377) at
      any point during vaccinations. A functional T cell response was found in 62
      patients (64%). Rates of peptide-recognition of gp100:154-162, gp100:280-288, and
      tyrosinase:369-377 were 40%, 29%, and 45%, respectively. Median recurrence-free
      survival and distant metastasis-free survival of the whole study population were
      23.0 mo and 36.8 mo, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: DC vaccination induces a
      functional TAA-specific T cell response in the majority of stage III melanoma
      patients, indicating it is more effective in stage III than in stage IV melanoma
      patients. Furthermore, performing multiple cycles of vaccinations enhances the
      chance of a broader immune response.

PMID- 27622048
TI  - Anti-CD137 enhances anti-CD20 therapy of systemic B-cell lymphoma with altered
      immune homeostasis but negligible toxicity.
AB  - Studies of sequential anti-CD137/anti-CD20 therapy have previously shown that the
      efficacy of anti-CD20 was heavily reliant upon anti-CD137; however, the exact
      mechanism of the anti-B-cell lymphoma efficacy, and whether this correlates with
      enhanced adverse effects or toxicity, had not been elucidated. Here, we observed
      that sequential anti-CD137 administration with anti-CD20 resulted in a
      synergistic therapy, largely dependent upon Fc receptors (FcR), to prolong
      survival in an experimental B-cell lymphoma therapy model. Tumor suppression was
      accompanied by B cell depletion, which was not dependent on one activating FcR.
      Surprisingly, the B-cell activating factor (BAFF) was elevated in the plasma of
      mice receiving anti-CD137 alone or in combination with anti-CD20, while a
      selective increase in some plasma cytokines was also noted and triggered by anti
      CD137. These effects were independent of activating FcR. Sustained treatment of
      advanced lymphoma revealed increased lymphocyte infiltrates into the liver and a
      significant decrease in the metabolic capability of the liver in mice receiving
      anti-CD137. Importantly, these effects were not exacerbated in mice receiving the
      anti-CD20/CD137 combination, and elevations in classical liver damage markers
      such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were less than that caused by the lymphoma
      itself. Thus, combined anti-CD20/anti-CD137 treatment increases the therapeutic
      index of anti-CD20 or anti-CD137 alone. These mouse data were corroborated by
      ongoing clinical development studies to assess safety, tolerability and
      pharmacodynamic activity of human patients treated by this approach. Together,
      these data support the use of this sequential antibody therapeutic strategy to
      improve the efficacy of rituximab in B-cell lymphoma patients. 

PMID- 27622049
TI  - The immune receptor Tim-3 acts as a trafficker in a Tim-3/galectin-9 autocrine
      loop in human myeloid leukemia cells.
AB  - The immune receptor Tim-3 is often highly expressed in human acute myeloid
      leukemia (AML) cells where it acts as a growth factor and inflammatory receptor.
      Recently, it has been demonstrated that Tim-3 forms an autocrine loop with its
      natural ligand galectin-9 in human AML cells. However, the pathophysiological
      functions of Tim-3 in human AML cells remain unclear. Here, we report for the
      first time that Tim-3 is required for galectin-9 secretion in human AML cells.
      However, this effect is cell-type specific and was found so far to be applicable
      only to myeloid (and not, for example, lymphoid) leukemia cells. We concluded
      that AML cells might use Tim-3 as a trafficker for the secretion of galectin-9
      which can then be possibly used to impair the anticancer activities of cytotoxic
      T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. 

PMID- 27622050
TI  - Macrophages promote matrix protrusive and invasive function of breast cancer
      cells via MIP-1beta dependent upregulation of MYO3A gene in breast cancer cells.
AB  - The potential of a tumor cell to metastasize profoundly depends on its
      microenvironment, or "niche" interactions with local components. Tumor-associated
      macrophages (TAMs) are the most abundant subpopulation of tumor stroma and
      represent a key component of tumor microenvironment. The dynamic interaction of
      cancer cells with neighboring TAMs actively drive cancer progression and
      metastatic transformation through intercellular signaling networks that need
      better elucidation. Thus, current study was planned for discerning paracrine
      communication networks operational between TAMs, and breast cancer cells with
      special reference to cancer cell invasion and dissemination to distant sites.
      Here, we report role of MIP-1beta in enhancing invasive potential of metastatic
      breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells. In addition, the poorly metastatic
      MCF-7 cells were also rendered invasive by MIP-1beta. The MIP-1beta-driven cancer
      cell invasion was dependent on upregulated expression levels of MYO3A gene, which
      encodes an unconventional myosin super-family protein harboring a kinase domain.
      Ex ovo study employing Chick-embryo-model and in vivo Syngenic 4T1/BALB/c mice
      model further corroborated aforementioned in vitro findings, thereby
      substantiating their physiological relevance. Concordantly, human breast cancer
      specimen exhibited significant association between mRNA expression levels of MIP
      1beta and MYO3A. Both, MIP-1beta and MYO3A exhibited positive correlation with
      MMP9, an established molecular determinant of cancer cell invasion. Higher
      expression of these genes correlated with poor survival of breast cancer
      patients. Collectively, these results point toward so far undisclosed MIP
      1beta/MYO3A axis being operational during metastasis, wherein macrophage-derived
      MIP-1beta potentiated cancer cell invasion and metastasis via up regulation of
      MYO3A gene within cancer cells. Our study exposes opportunities for devising
      potential anti-metastatic strategies for efficient clinical management of breast
      cancer. 

PMID- 27622052
TI  - PEG-rIL-10 treatment decreases FoxP3(+) Tregs despite upregulation of
      intratumoral IDO.
AB  - IL-10 has been classically defined as a broad-spectrum immunosuppressant and is
      thought to facilitate the development of regulatory CD4(+) T cells. IL-10 is
      believed to represent one of the major suppressive factors secreted by
      IDO(+)FoxP3(+)CD4(+) Tregs. Contrary to this view, we have previously reported
      that PEGylated recombinant IL-10 (PEG-rIL-10) treatment of mice induces potent
      IFNgamma and CD8(+) T-cell-dependent antitumor immunity. This hypothesis is
      currently being tested in clinical trials and we have reported that treatment of
      cancer patients with PEG-rHuIL-10 results in inhibition and regression of tumor
      growth as well as increased serum IFNgamma. We have continued to assess PEG-rIL
      10's pleiotropic effects and report that treatment of tumor-bearing mice and
      humans with PEG-rIL-10 increases intratumoral indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO)
      in an IFNgamma-dependent manner. This should result in an increase in Tregs, but
      paradoxically our data illustrate that PEG-rIL-10 treatment of mice reduces
      intratumoral FoxP3(+)CD4(+) T cells in an IDO-independent manner. Additional
      investigation indicates that PEG-rIL-10 inhibits TGFbeta/IL-2-dependent in vitro
      polarization of FoxP3(+)CD4(+) Tregs and potentiates IFNgamma(+)T-bet(+)CD4(+) T
      cells. These data suggest that rather than acting as an immunosuppressant, PEG
      rIL-10 may counteract the FoxP3(+)CD4(+) Treg suppressive milieu in tumor-bearing
      mice and humans, thereby further facilitating PEG-rIL-10's potent antitumor
      immunity. 

PMID- 27622051
TI  - Improving cancer immunotherapy by targeting the STATe of MDSCs.
AB  - Cancer immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic avenue; however, in practice its
      efficacy is hampered by an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that consists
      of suppressive cell types like myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs).
      Eradication or reprogramming of MDSCs could therefore enhance clinical responses
      to immunotherapy. Here, we review clinically available drugs that target MDSCs,
      often through inhibition of STAT signaling, which is essential for MDSC
      accumulation and suppressive functions. Interestingly, several drugs used for non
      cancerous indications and natural compounds similarly inhibit MDSCs by STAT
      inhibition, but have fewer side effects than anticancer drugs. Therefore, they
      show great potential for combination strategies with immunotherapy. 

PMID- 27622053
TI  - Th22 cells control colon tumorigenesis through STAT3 and Polycomb Repression
      complex 2 signaling.
AB  - Th22 cells traffic to and retain in the colon cancer microenvironment, and target
      core stem cell genes and promote colon cancer stemness via STAT3 and H3K79me2
      signaling pathway and contribute to colon carcinogenesis. However, whether Th22
      cells affect colon cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis remains unknown. We
      studied the interaction between Th22 cells and colon cancer cells in the colon
      cancer microenvironment. Colon cancer proliferation was examined by flow
      cytometry analysis and H(3) thymidine incorporation. Cell cycle related genes
      were quantified by real-time PCR and Western blotting. We transfected colon
      cancer cells with lentiviral vector encoding specific gene shRNAs and used
      chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay to determine the genetic signaling
      involved in interleukin (IL)-22-mediated colon cancer cell proliferation. We
      showed that Th22 cells released IL-22 and stimulated colon cancer proliferation.
      Mechanistically, IL-22 activated STAT3, and subsequently STAT3 bound to the
      promoter areas of the Polycomb Repression complex 2 (PRC2) components SUZ12 and
      EED, and stimulated the expression of PRC2. Consequently, the activated PRC2
      catalyzed the promoters of the cell cycle check-point genes p16 and p21, and
      inhibited their expression through H3K27me3-mediated histone methylation, and
      ultimately caused colon cancer cell proliferation. Bioinformatics analysis
      revealed that the levels of IL-22 expression positively correlated with the
      levels of genes controlling cancer proliferation and cell cycling in colon
      cancer. In addition to controlling colon cancer stemness, Th22 cells support
      colon carcinogenesis via affecting colon cancer cell proliferation through a
      distinct histone modification. 

PMID- 27622054
TI  - Inflammatory regulatory T cells in the microenvironments of ulcerative colitis
      and colon carcinoma.
AB  - Foxp3(+)CD4(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells are thought to express negligible levels
      of effector cytokines, and inhibit immune responses and inflammation. Here, we
      have identified a population of IL-8(+)Foxp3(+)CD4(+) T cells in human peripheral
      blood, which is selectively increased in the microenvironments of ulcerative
      colitis and colon carcinoma. Phenotypically, this population is minimally
      overlapping with IL-17(+)Foxp3(+)CD4(+) T cells, and is different from IL-8(
      )Foxp3(+)CD4(+) T cells in the same microenvironment. 40-60% of IL
      8(+)Foxp3(+)CD4(+) T cells exhibit naive phenotype and express CD127, whereas IL
      8(-)Foxp3(+)CD4(+) cells are basically memory T cells and express minimal CD127.
      The levels of CXCR5 expression are higher in IL-8(+)Foxp3(+) cells than in IL-8(
      )Foxp3(+) cells. IL-2 and TGFbeta induce IL-8(+)Foxp3(+) T cells. Exogenous Foxp3
      expression promotes IL-8(+)Foxp3(+) T cells and inhibits effector cytokine
      IFNgamma and IL-2 expression. Furthermore, Foxp3 binds to IL-8 proximal promoter
      and increases its activity. Functionally, IL-8(+)Foxp3(+) T cells inhibit T cell
      proliferation and effector cytokine production, but stimulate inflammatory
      cytokine production in the colon tissues, and promote neutrophil trafficking
      through IL-8. Thus, IL-8(+)Foxp3(+) cells may be an "inflammatory" Treg subset,
      and possess inflammatory and immunosuppressive dual biological activities. Given
      their dual roles and localization, these cells may be in a unique position to
      support tumor initiation and development in human chronic inflammatory
      environment. 

PMID- 27622055
TI  - Natural killer cells phenotypic characterization as an outcome predictor of HCV
      linked HCC after curative treatments.
AB  - NK-cell number and function have been associated with cancer progression. A
      detailed analysis of phenotypic and functional characteristics of NK-cells in HCC
      is still lacking. NK-cell function is regulated by activating and inhibitory
      receptors determined by genetic factors and engagement with cognate ligands on
      transformed or infected cells. We evaluated phenotypic and functional
      characteristic of NK-cells in HCC patients undergoing curative treatment in
      relation to clinical outcome. NK-cells from 70 HCC patients undergoing resection
      or ablative treatment, 18 healthy volunteers and 12 cirrhotic patients with HCV
      infection (controls) were phenotypically characterized. Unsupervised clustering
      based on the frequency of cells expressing different phenotypic NK-cell markers
      segregated HCC patients into different cohorts that were compared for outcome. NK
      cell cytokine production and cytotoxicity were compared between cohorts with
      different overall survival (OS) and time to disease recurrence (TTR). By
      multivariate analysis, age, Child-Pugh class and NK-cell phenotypic clustering
      could independently identify patients with significantly different OS. NK-cells
      from patients with better outcome expressed higher levels of cytotoxic granules
      and CD3zeta and lower levels of natural cytotoxic receptors (NCRs) that were co
      expressed with the inhibitory receptor NKG2A known to negatively regulate NCR
      function. Cytotoxic function and IFNgamma production were significantly lower in
      the cohort of patients with worse outcome compared to controls (p < 0.05). Our
      results show a role for NK-cells in the control of HCC progression and survival
      providing the basis for the development of immunotherapeutic strategies to
      potentiate NK-cell response. 

PMID- 27622056
TI  - Tertiary lymphoid structures are confined to patients presenting with unifocal
      Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.
AB  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a neoplastic myeloid disorder with a thus
      far poorly understood immune component. Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are
      lymph node-like entities which create an immune-promoting microenvironment at
      tumor sites. We analyzed the presence and clinical relevance of TLS in n = 104
      H&E-stained, therapy-naive LCH lesions of non-lymphoid origin and applied
      immunohistochemistry to a smaller series. Lymphoid-follicular aggregates were
      detected in 34/104 (33%) lesions. In line with the lymphocyte recruitment
      capacity of MECA-79(+) high endothelial venules (HEVs), MECA-79(+)-expressing-LCH
      lesions (37/77, 48%) contained the most CD3(+) T-lymphocytes (p = 0.003). TLS
      were identified in 8/15 lesions and contained T-and B-lymphocytes, Follicular
      Dendritic Cells (FDC), HEVs and the chemokines CXCL13 and CCL21 representing key
      cellular components and TLS-inducing factors in conventional lymph nodes (LN).
      Lymphoid-follicular aggregates were most frequently detected in patients
      presenting with unifocal LCH (24/70, 34%) as compared to patients with poly
      ostotic or multi-system LCH (7/30, 23%, p = 0.03). In addition, patients with
      lymphoid-follicular aggregates-containing lesions had the lowest risk to develop
      new LCH lesions (p = 0.04). The identification of various stages of TLS formation
      within LCH lesions may indicate a key role for the immune system in controlling
      aberrant histiocytes which arise in peripheral tissues. 

PMID- 27622057
TI  - No evidence for TSLP pathway activity in human breast cancer.
AB  - Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an epithelial cell-derived cytokine that
      primes dendritic cells for Th2 induction. It has been implicated in different
      types of allergic diseases. Recent work suggested that TSLP could play an
      important role in the tumor microenvironment and influence tumor progression, in
      particular in breast cancer. In this study we systematically assessed the
      production of TSLP at the mRNA and protein levels in several human breast cancer
      cell lines, large-scale public transcriptomics data sets, and primary human
      breast tumors. We found that TSLP production was marginal, and concerned less
      than 10% of the tumors, with very low mRNA and protein levels. In most cases TSLP
      was undetectable and found to be expressed at lower levels in breast cancer as
      compared to normal breast tissue. Last, we could not detect any functional TSLP
      receptor (TSLPR) expression neither on hematopoietic cells nor on stromal cells
      within the primary tumor microenvironment. We conclude that TSLP-TSLPR pathway
      activity is not significantly detected within human breast cancer. Taken
      together, these observations do not support TSLP targeting in breast cancer. 

PMID- 27622059
TI  - Immune checkpoint blockade reveals the stimulatory capacity of tumor-associated
      CD103(+) dendritic cells in late-stage ovarian cancer.
AB  - Although immune infiltrates in ovarian cancer are associated with improved
      survival, the ovarian tumor environment has been characterized as
      immunosuppressive, due in part to functional shifts among dendritic cells with
      disease progression. We hypothesized that flux in dendritic cell subpopulations
      with cancer progression were responsible for observed differences in antitumor
      immune responses in early and late-stage disease. Here we identify three
      dendritic cell subsets with disparate functions in the ovarian tumor environment.
      CD11c+CD11b(-)CD103(+) dendritic cells are absent in the peritoneal cavity of
      healthy mice but comprise up to 40% of dendritic cells in tumor-bearing mice and
      retain T cell stimulatory capacity in advanced disease. Among CD11c+CD11b+ cells,
      Lair-1 expression distinguishes stimulatory and immunoregulatory DC subsets,
      which are also enriched in the tumor environment. Notably, PD-L1 is expressed by
      Lair-1(hi) immunoregulatory dendritic cells, and may contribute to local tumor
      antigen-specific T cell dysfunction. Using an adoptive transfer model, we find
      that PD-1 blockade enables tumor-associated CD103(+) dendritic cells to promote
      disease clearance. These data demonstrate that antitumor immune capacity is
      maintained among local dendritic cell subpopulations in the tumor environment
      with cancer progression. Similar dendritic cell subsets are present in malignant
      ascites from women with ovarian cancer, supporting the translational relevance of
      these results. 

PMID- 27622058
TI  - Suppressive effects of tumor cell-derived 5'-deoxy-5'-methylthioadenosine on
      human T cells.
AB  - The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment represents one of the main obstacles
      for immunotherapy of cancer. The tumor milieu is among others shaped by tumor
      metabolites such as 5'-deoxy-5'-methylthioadenosine (MTA). Increased intratumoral
      MTA levels result from a lack of the MTA-catabolizing enzyme methylthioadenosine
      phosphorylase (MTAP) in tumor cells and are found in various tumor entities.
      Here, we demonstrate that MTA suppresses proliferation, activation,
      differentiation, and effector function of antigen-specific T cells without
      eliciting cell death. Conversely, if MTA is added to highly activated T cells,
      MTA exerts cytotoxic effects on T cells. We identified the Akt pathway, a
      critical signal pathway for T cell activation, as a target of MTA, while, for
      example, p38 remained unaffected. Next, we provide evidence that MTA exerts its
      immunosuppressive effects by interfering with protein methylation in T cells. To
      confirm the relevance of the suppressive effects of exogenously added MTA on
      human T cells, we used an MTAP-deficient tumor cell-line that was stably
      transfected with the MTAP-coding sequence. We observed that T cells stimulated
      with MTAP-transfected tumor cells revealed a higher proliferative capacity
      compared to T cells stimulated with Mock-transfected cells. In conclusion, our
      findings reveal a novel immune evasion strategy of human tumor cells that could
      be of interest for therapeutic targeting. 

PMID- 27622060
TI  - Biphasic function of TLR3 adjuvant on tumor and spleen dendritic cells promotes
      tumor T cell infiltration and regression in a vaccine therapy.
AB  - Successful cancer immunotherapy necessitates T cell proliferation and
      infiltration into tumor without exhaustion, a process closely links optimal
      maturation of dendritic cells (DC), and adjuvant promotes this process as an
      essential prerequisite. Poly(I:C) has contributed to adjuvant immunotherapy that
      evokes an antitumor response through the Toll-loke receptor 3 (TLR3)/TICAM-1
      pathway in DC. However, the mechanism whereby Poly(I:C) acts on DC for T cell
      proliferation and migration remains undetermined. Subcutaneous injection of
      Poly(I:C) regressed implant tumors (WT1-C1498 or OVA-EG7) in C57BL/6 mice, which
      coincided with tumor-infiltration of CD8(+) T cells. Epitope-specific cytotoxic T
      lymphocytes (CTLs) were increased in spleen by challenge with Poly(I:C)+Db126 WT
      1 peptide but not Poly(I:C) alone, suggesting the need of an exogenous Ag density
      for cross-priming. In tumor, CXCR3 ligands were upregulated by Poly(I:C), which
      facilitated recruitment of CTL to the tumor. Thus, Poly(I:C) acts on splenic
      CD8alpha(+) DC to cross-prime T cells and on intratumor cells to attract CTLs.
      Besides CD8(+) T cell cross-priming, T cell recruitment into tumor was
      significantly dampened in Batf3 (-/-) mice, reflecting the importance of tumor
      Batf3-dependent DC rather than macrophages in T cell recruitment. Poly(I:C)
      induced XCR1(hi) CD8alpha(+) DC with high TLR3 levels were markedly decreased in
      Batf3 (-/-) mice, which hampered the production of IL-12 and IL-12-mediated
      CD4(+)/CD8(+) T cell proliferation. Subcutaneous administration of Poly(I:C) and
      adoptive transfer of wild-type CD8alpha(+) DC largely recovered antitumor
      response in those Batf3 (-/-) mice. Collectively, Poly(I:C) tunes up proper
      maturation of CD8alpha(+) DC to establish TLR3-mediated IL-12 function and cross
      presentation in spleen and lymphocyte-attractive antitumor microenvironment in
      tumor. 

PMID- 27622061
TI  - Stromal CCR6 drives tumor growth in a murine transplantable colon cancer through
      recruitment of tumor-promoting macrophages.
AB  - Interactions between the inflammatory chemokine CCL20 and its receptor CCR6 have
      been implicated in promoting colon cancer; however, the mechanisms behind this
      effect are poorly understood. We have previously demonstrated that deficiency of
      CCR6 is associated with decreased tumor macrophage accumulation in a model of
      sporadic intestinal tumorigenesis. In this study, we aimed to determine the role
      of stromal CCR6 expression in a murine syngeneic transplantable colon cancer
      model. We show that deficiency of host CCR6 is associated with decreased growth
      of syngeneic CCR6-expressing colon cancers. Colon cancers adoptively transplanted
      into CCR6-deficient mice have decreased tumor-associated macrophages without
      alterations in the number of monocytes in blood or bone marrow. CCL20, the unique
      ligand for CCR6, promotes migration of monocytes in vitro and promotes
      accumulation of macrophages in vivo. Depletion of tumor-associated macrophages
      decreases the growth of tumors in the transplantable tumor model. Macrophages
      infiltrating the colon cancers in this model secrete the inflammatory mediators
      CCL2, IL-1alpha, IL-6 and TNFalpha. Ccl2, Il1alpha and Il6 are consequently
      downregulated in tumors from CCR6-deficient mice. CCL2, IL-1alpha and IL-6 also
      promote proliferation of colon cancer cells, linking the decreased macrophage
      migration into tumors mediated by CCL20-CCR6 interactions to the delay in tumor
      growth in CCR6-deficient hosts. The relevance of these findings in human colon
      cancer is demonstrated through correlation of CCR6 expression with that of the
      macrophage marker CD163 as well as that of CCL2, IL1alpha and TNFalpha. Our
      findings support the exploration of targeting the CCL20-CCR6 pathway for the
      treatment of colon cancer. 

PMID- 27622063
TI  - Human CD1c(+) DCs are critical cellular mediators of immune responses induced by
      immunogenic cell death.
AB  - Chemotherapeutics, including the platinum compounds oxaliplatin (OXP) and
      cisplatin (CDDP), are standard care of treatment for cancer. Although
      chemotherapy has long been considered immunosuppressive, evidence now suggests
      that certain cytotoxic agents can efficiently stimulate antitumor responses,
      through the induction of a form of apoptosis, called immunogenic cell death
      (ICD). ICD is characterized by exposure of calreticulin and heat shock proteins
      (HSPs), secretion of ATP and release of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Proper
      activation of the immune system relies on the integration of these signals by
      dendritic cells (DCs). Studies on the crucial role of DCs, in the context of ICD,
      have been performed using mouse models or human in vitro-generated monocyte
      derived DCs (moDCs), which do not fully recapitulate the in vivo situation. Here,
      we explore the effect of platinum-induced ICD on phenotype and function of human
      blood circulating DCs. Tumor cells were treated with OXP or CDDP and induction of
      ICD was investigated. We show that both platinum drugs triggered translocation of
      calreticulin and HSP70, as well as the release of ATP and HMGB1. Platinum
      treatment increased phagocytosis of tumor fragments by human blood DCs and
      enhanced phenotypic maturation of blood myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs. Moreover,
      upon interaction with platinum-treated tumor cells, CD1c(+) DCs efficiently
      stimulated allogeneic proliferation of T lymphocytes. Together, our observations
      indicate that platinum-treated tumor cells may exert an active stimulatory effect
      on human blood DCs. In particular, these data suggest that CD1c(+) DCs are
      critical mediators of immune responses induced by ICD. 

PMID- 27622062
TI  - Warburg metabolism in tumor-conditioned macrophages promotes metastasis in human
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) face a clinically
      intractable disease with poor survival rates, attributed to exceptionally high
      levels of metastasis. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is pronounced at
      inflammatory foci within the tumor; however, the immunological mechanisms
      promoting tumor dissemination remain unclear. It is well established that tumors
      exhibit the Warburg effect, a preferential use of glycolysis for energy
      production, even in the presence of oxygen, to support rapid growth. We
      hypothesized that the metabolic pathways utilized by tumor-infiltrating
      macrophages are altered in PDAC, conferring a pro-metastatic phenotype. We
      generated tumor-conditioned macrophages in vitro, in which human peripheral blood
      monocytes were cultured with conditioned media generated from normal pancreatic
      or PDAC cell lines to obtain steady-state and tumor-associated macrophages
      (TAMs), respectively. Compared with steady-state macrophages, TAMs promoted
      vascular network formation, augmented extravasation of tumor cells out of blood
      vessels, and induced higher levels of EMT. TAMs exhibited a pronounced glycolytic
      signature in a metabolic flux assay, corresponding with elevated glycolytic gene
      transcript levels. Inhibiting glycolysis in TAMs with a competitive inhibitor to
      Hexokinase II (HK2), 2-deoxyglucose (2DG), was sufficient to disrupt this pro
      metastatic phenotype, reversing the observed increases in TAM-supported
      angiogenesis, extravasation, and EMT. Our results indicate a key role for
      metabolic reprogramming of tumor-infiltrating macrophages in PDAC metastasis, and
      highlight the therapeutic potential of using pharmacologics to modulate these
      metabolic pathways. 

PMID- 27622064
TI  - Loss of DNAM-1 ligand expression by acute myeloid leukemia cells renders them
      resistant to NK cell killing.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is associated with poor natural killer (NK) cell
      function through aberrant expression of NK-cell-activating receptors and their
      ligands on tumor cells. These alterations are thought to promote formation of
      inhibitory NK-target cell synapses, in which killer cell degranulation is
      attenuated. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation can be effective in treating
      AML, through restoration of NK cell lytic activity. Similarly, agents that
      augment NK-cell-activating signals within the immunological synapse may provide
      some therapeutic benefit. However, the receptor-ligand interactions that
      critically dictate NK cell function in AML remain undefined. Here, we demonstrate
      that CD112/CD155 expression is required for DNAM-1-dependent killing of AML
      cells. Indeed, the low, or absent, expression of CD112/CD155 on multiple AML cell
      lines resulted in failure to stimulate optimal NK cell function. Importantly,
      isolated clones with low CD112/155 expression were resistant to NK cell killing
      while those expressing abundant levels of CD112/155 were highly susceptible.
      Attenuated NK cell killing in the absence of CD112/CD155 originated from
      decreased NK-target cell conjugation. Furthermore, we reveal by time-lapse
      microscopy, a significant increase in NK cell 'failed killing' in the absence of
      DNAM-1 ligands. Consequently, NK cells preferentially lysed ligand-expressing
      cells within heterogeneous populations, driving clonal selection of CD112/CD155
      negative blasts upon NK cell attack. Taken together, we identify reduced CD155
      expression as a major NK cell escape mechanism in AML and an opportunity for
      targeted immunotherapy. 

PMID- 27622065
TI  - Interferon alpha bioactivity critically depends on Scavenger receptor class B
      type I function.
AB  - Scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-B1) binds pathogen-associated molecular
      patterns participating in the regulation of the inflammatory reaction but there
      is no information regarding potential interactions between SR-B1 and the
      interferon system. Herein, we report that SR-B1 ligands strongly regulate the
      transcriptional response to interferon alpha (IFNalpha) and enhance its antiviral
      and antitumor activity. This effect was mediated by the activation of TLR2 and
      TLR4 as it was annulled by the addition of anti-TLR2 or anti-TLR4 blocking
      antibodies. In vivo, we maximized the antitumor activity of IFNalpha co
      expressing in the liver a SR-B1 ligand and IFNalpha by adeno-associated viruses.
      This gene therapy strategy eradicated liver metastases from colon cancer with
      reduced toxicity. On the other hand, genetic and pharmacological inhibition of SR
      B1 blocks the clathrin-dependent interferon receptor recycling pathway with a
      concomitant reduction in IFNalpha signaling and bioactivity. This effect can be
      applied to enhance cancer immunotherapy with oncolytic viruses. Indeed, SR-B1
      antagonists facilitate replication of oncolytic viruses amplifying their
      tumoricidal potential. In conclusion, SR-B1 agonists behave as IFNalpha enhancers
      while SR-B1 inhibitors dampen IFNalpha activity. These results demonstrate that
      SR-B1 is a suitable pharmacology target to enhance cancer immunotherapy based on
      IFNalpha and oncolytic viruses. 

PMID- 27622067
TI  - TARP vaccination is associated with slowing in PSA velocity and decreasing tumor
      growth rates in patients with Stage D0 prostate cancer.
AB  - T-cell receptor alternate reading frame protein (TARP) is a 58-residue protein
      over-expressed in prostate and breast cancer. We investigated TARP peptide
      vaccination's impact on the rise in PSA (expressed as Slope Log(PSA) or PSA
      Doubling Time (PSADT)), validated tumor growth measures, and tumor growth rate in
      men with Stage D0 prostate cancer. HLA-A*0201 positive men were randomized to
      receive epitope-enhanced (29-37-9V) and wild-type (27-35) TARP peptides
      administered as a Montanide/GM-CSF peptide emulsion or as an autologous peptide
      pulsed dendritic cell vaccine every 3 weeks for a total of five vaccinations with
      an optional 6th dose of vaccine at 36 weeks based on immune response or PSADT
      criteria with a booster dose of vaccine for all patients at 48 and 96 weeks. 41
      patients enrolled with median on-study duration of 75 weeks at the time of this
      analysis. Seventy-two percent of patients reaching 24 weeks and 74% reaching 48
      weeks had a decreased Slope Log(PSA) compared to their pre-vaccination baseline
      (p = 0.0012 and p = 0.0004 for comparison of overall changes in Slope Log(PSA),
      respectively). TARP vaccination also resulted in a 50% decrease in median tumor
      growth rate (g): pre-vaccine g = 0.0042/day, post-vaccine g = 0.0021/day (p =
      0.003). 80% of subjects exhibited new vaccine-induced TARP-specific IFNgamma
      ELISPOT responses but they did not correlate with decreases in Slope Log(PSA).
      Thus, vaccination with TARP peptides resulted in significant slowing in PSA
      velocity and reduction in tumor growth rate in a majority of patients with PSA
      biochemical recurrence. 

PMID- 27622068
TI  - Retargeting cytokine-induced killer cell activity by CD16 engagement with
      clinical-grade antibodies.
AB  - Cytokine-induced Killer (CIK) cells are a heterogeneous population of ex vivo
      expanded T lymphocytes capable of MHC-unrestricted antitumor activity, which
      share phenotypic and functional features with both NK and T cells. Preclinical
      data and initial clinical studies demonstrated their high tolerability in vivo,
      supporting CIK cells as a promising cell population for adoptive cell
      immunotherapy. In this study, we report for the first time that CIK cells display
      a donor-dependent expression of CD16, which can be engaged by trastuzumab or
      cetuximab to exert a potent antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC)
      against ovarian and breast cancer cell lines, leading to an increased lytic
      activity in vitro, and an enhanced therapeutic efficacy in vivo. Thus, an
      efficient tumor antigen-specific retargeting can be achieved by a combination
      therapy with clinical-grade monoclonal antibodies already widely used in cancer
      therapy, and CIK cell populations that are easily expandable in very large
      numbers, inexpensive, safe and do not require genetic manipulations. Overall,
      these data provide a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of Her2 and EGFR
      expressing tumors by adoptive cell therapy, which could find wide implementation
      and application, and could also be expanded to the use of additional therapeutic
      antibodies. 

PMID- 27622066
TI  - Improving vaccine efficacy against malignant glioma.
AB  - The effective treatment of adult and pediatric malignant glioma is a significant
      clinical challenge. In adults, glioblastoma (GBM) accounts for the majority of
      malignant glioma diagnoses with a median survival of 14.6 mo. In children,
      malignant glioma accounts for 20% of primary CNS tumors with a median survival of
      less than 1 y. Here, we discuss vaccine treatment for children diagnosed with
      malignant glioma, through targeting EphA2, IL-13Ralpha2 and/or histone H3 K27M,
      while in adults, treatments with RINTEGA, Prophage Series G-100 and dendritic
      cells are explored. We conclude by proposing new strategies that are built on
      current vaccine technologies and improved upon with novel combinatorial
      approaches. 

PMID- 27622069
TI  - Metabolic reprogramming of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) in cancer.
AB  - MDSC undergo metabolic reprogramming in the tumor resulting in an increased fatty
      acid beta oxidation that supports their immunosuppressive functions. Fatty acid
      oxidation inhibitors, used to treat coronary disease, significantly delayed tumor
      growth and had a significantly increased antitumor effect when combined with
      adoptive cell therapy or low dose chemotherapy. 

PMID- 27622070
TI  - Ipilimumab administered to metastatic melanoma patients who progressed after
      dendritic cell vaccination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ipilimumab has proven to be effective in metastatic melanoma
      patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of ipilimumab
      in advanced melanoma patients who showed progressive disease upon experimental
      dendritic cell (DC) vaccination. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 48 stage IV
      melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab after progression upon DC vaccination
      earlier in their treatment. DC vaccination was given either as adjuvant treatment
      for stage III disease (n = 18) or for stage IV disease (n = 30). Ipilimumab (3
      mg/kg) was administered every 3 weeks for up to 4 cycles. RESULTS: Median time
      between progression upon DC vaccination and first gift of ipilimumab was 5.4 mo.
      Progression-free survival (PFS) rates for patients that received ipilimumab after
      adjuvant DC vaccination, and patients that received DC vaccination for stage IV
      melanoma, were 35% and 7% at 1 y and 35% and 3% at 2 y, while the median PFS was
      2.9 mo and 3.1 mo, respectively. Median overall survival of patients pre-treated
      with adjuvant DC vaccination for stage III melanoma was not reached versus 8.0 mo
      (95% CI, 5.2-10.9) in the group pre-treated with DC vaccination for stage IV
      disease (HR of death, 0.36; p = 0.017). Grade 3 immune-related adverse events
      occurred in 19% of patients and one death (2%) was related to ipilimumab.
      CONCLUSIONS: Clinical responses to ipilimumab were found in a considerable number
      of advanced melanoma patients with progression after adjuvant DC vaccination for
      stage III disease, while the effect was very limited in patients who showed
      progression after DC vaccination for stage IV disease.

PMID- 27622071
TI  - Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1)-targeted TRAIL combines PD-L1-mediated
      checkpoint inhibition with TRAIL-mediated apoptosis induction.
AB  - Antibodies that block PD-L1/PD-1 immune checkpoints restore the activity of
      functionally-impaired antitumor T cells. These antibodies show unprecedented
      clinical benefit in various advanced cancers, particularly in melanoma. However,
      only a subset of cancer patients responds to current PD-L1/PD-1-blocking
      strategies, highlighting the need for further advancements in PD-L1/PD-1-based
      immunotherapy. Here, we report on a novel approach designed to combine PD-L1
      checkpoint inhibition with the tumor-selective induction of apoptosis by TNF
      related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL). In brief, a new bi-functional fusion
      protein, designated anti-PD-L1:TRAIL, was constructed comprising a PD-L1-blocking
      antibody fragment genetically fused to the extracellular domain of the pro
      apoptotic tumoricidal protein TRAIL. Treatment of PD-L1-expressing cancer cells
      with anti-PD-L1:TRAIL induced PD-L1-directed TRAIL-mediated cancer cell death.
      Treatment of T cells with anti-PD-L1:TRAIL augmented T cell activation, as
      evidenced by increased proliferation, secretion of IFNgamma and enhanced killing
      of cancer cell lines and primary patient-derived cancer cells in mixed T
      cell/cancer cell culture experiments. Of note, elevated levels of IFNgamma
      further upregulated PD-L1 on cancer cells and simultaneously sensitized cancer
      cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis by anti-PD-L1:TRAIL. Additionally, anti-PD
      L1:TRAIL converted immunosuppressive PD-L1-expressing myeloid cells into pro
      apoptotic effector cells that triggered TRAIL-mediated cancer cell death. In
      conclusion, combining PD-L1 checkpoint inhibition with TRAIL-mediated induction
      of apoptosis using anti-PD-L1:TRAIL yields promising multi-fold and mutually
      reinforcing anticancer activity that may be exploited to enhance the efficacy of
      therapeutic PD-L1/PD-1 checkpoint inhibition. 

PMID- 27622072
TI  - PD-L1 peptide co-stimulation increases immunogenicity of a dendritic cell-based
      cancer vaccine.
AB  - We recently described naturally occurring PD-L1-specific T cells that recognize
      PD-L1-expressing immune cells as well as malignant cells. In the present study,
      we investigated whether the immunogenicity of a dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccine
      could be influenced by co-stimulation with a known PD-L1-derived epitope. We
      incubated a PD-L1-derived peptide epitope (19 amino acids long) or a control
      peptide (an irrelevant HIV epitope) with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from
      patients with malignant melanoma who had received a DC-based vaccine. We observed
      a significantly higher number of T cells that reacted to the vaccine in cultures
      that had been co-stimulated with the PD-L1 peptide epitope compared to cultures
      incubated with control peptide. Next, we characterized a novel PD-L1-derived
      epitope (23 amino acids long) and found that co-stimulation with both PD-L1
      epitopes boosted the immune response elicited by the DC vaccine even further.
      Consequently, we observed a significant increase in the number of vaccine
      reacting T cells in vitro. In conclusion, activation of PD-L1-specific T cells
      may directly modulate immunogenicity of DC vaccines. Addition of PD-L1 epitopes
      may thus be an easily applicable and attractive option to augment the
      effectiveness of cancer vaccines and other immunotherapeutic agents. 

PMID- 27622073
TI  - CEA TCB: A novel head-to-tail 2:1 T cell bispecific antibody for treatment of CEA
      positive solid tumors.
AB  - Carcinoembryonic antigen T cell bispecific antibody (CEA TCB) is a bispecific
      antibody used to recognize CEA and CD3e via a novel molecular format (2:1) that
      induces T cell-mediated killing of CEA over-expressing tumors while sparing
      primary cells with low CEA expression. CEA TCB treatment inhibits tumor growth
      and generates a highly inflamed tumor microenvironment. 

PMID- 27622074
TI  - Carcinogenesis of renal cell carcinoma reflected in HLA ligands: A novel approach
      for synergistic peptide vaccination design.
AB  - Despite recent advances in immunotherapy of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), peptide
      vaccination strategies still lack an approach for personalized peptide
      vaccination that takes intra- and inter-tumoral heterogeneity and biological
      characteristics into account. In this study, we use an immunoprecipitation and
      mass spectrometry-based approach supplemented by network analysis of HLA ligands
      to target this goal. By analyzing HLA-presented peptides for HLA class I and II
      of 11 malignant and 6 non-malignant kidney tissue samples, more than 2,700
      peptides and 1,600 corresponding source proteins were identified. A high overlap
      with HLA ligands derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was
      detected most likely due to tumor-infiltrating inflammatory cells and therefore
      excluded from network analysis. Subsequent biological function analysis of HLA
      ligands by the GeneMANIA online platform showed enrichment for well established,
      but also novel, pathways and biological processes involved in carcinogenesis of
      RCC almost exclusively in malignant tissue samples. By exploring source proteins
      involved in these overrepresented pathways, we verified various known tumor
      associated antigens (TAAs) for RCC (e.g., CA9, EGLN3, IGFBP3, MMP7, PAX2, VEGFA,
      or EGFR) but could also detect novel TAAs for RCC (e.g., PLOD2, LOX, ENPEP, or
      TGFBI). Some of these new TAAs had already been shown to elicit a T cell response
      in cancer patients. Thus, network analysis of HLA ligands provided a new platform
      for implementing personalized, multipeptide vaccines with potentially synergistic
      antitumor effects. 

PMID- 27622075
TI  - Distinct mechanisms of B and T lymphocyte accumulation generate tumor-draining
      lymph node hypertrophy.
AB  - Tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) often enlarge in human cancer patients and in
      murine tumor models, due to lymphocyte accumulation and lymphatic sinus growth. B
      lymphocytes within TDLNs can drive lymph node hypertrophy in response to tumor
      growth, however little is known about the mechanisms directing the preferential
      accumulation of B lymphocytes relative to T cells in enlarging TDLNs. To define
      why B and T lymphocytes accumulate in TDLNs, we quantified lymphocyte
      proliferation, apoptosis, entry, and exit in TDLNs versus contralateral non-TDLNs
      (NTDLNs) in a footpad B16-F10 melanoma mouse model. B and T lymphocyte
      proliferation and apoptosis were increased as the TDLNs enlarged, although
      relative rates were similar to those of NTDLNs. TDLN entry of B and T lymphocytes
      via high endothelial venules was also modestly increased in enlarged TDLNs.
      Strikingly, the egress of B cells was strongly reduced in TDLNs versus NTDLNs,
      while T cell egress was modestly decreased, indicating that regulation of
      lymphocyte exit from TDLNs is a major mechanism of preferential B lymphocyte
      accumulation. Surface sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1) which binds S1P
      and signals lymphocyte egress, exhibited greater downregulation in B relative to
      T lymphocytes, consistent with preferential retention of B lymphocytes in TDLNs.
      TDLN lymphocytes did not activate surface CD69 expression, indicating a CD69
      independent mechanism of downregulation of S1PR1. B and T cell trafficking via
      afferent lymphatics to enter TDLNs also increased, suggesting a pathway for
      accumulation of tumor-educated lymphocytes in TDLNs. These mechanisms regulating
      TDLN hypertrophy could provide new targets to manipulate lymphocyte responses to
      cancer. 

PMID- 27622076
TI  - Comprehensive molecular profiling of the B7 family of immune-regulatory ligands
      in breast cancer.
AB  - The B7 gene family has crucial roles in the regulation of adaptive cellular
      immunity. In cancer, deregulation of co-inhibitory B7 molecules is associated
      with reduced antitumor immunity and cancer immune evasion. FDA approval of cancer
      immunotherapy antibodies against cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4
      (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)-both ligands of the B7 family
      demonstrate the impact of these checkpoint regulators in cancer. Using data from
      cBioPortal, we performed comprehensive molecular profiling of the 10 currently
      known B7 family proteins in 105 different cancers. B7 family members were
      amplified in breast cancer: with B7 mRNA levels upregulated in a cohort of 1,098
      patients with all types of breast cancer and in 82 patients with triple-negative
      breast cancer. Promoter methylation analysis indicated an epigenetic basis for
      deregulation of certain B7 family genes in breast cancer. Moreover, patients with
      B7-H6 genomic alterations had significantly worse overall survival, and certain
      clinical attributes were associated with B7-H6 expression, which indicates that
      B7-H6 may be a potential target for breast cancer immunotherapy. Finally, using
      network analysis (based on data from cBioportal), we identified BTLA, MARCH8,
      PLSCR1 and SMAD3 as potentially involved in T cell signaling under regulation of
      B7 family proteins. 

PMID- 27622077
TI  - Targeting CD73 in the tumor microenvironment with MEDI9447.
AB  - MEDI9447 is a human monoclonal antibody that is specific for the ectoenzyme CD73
      and currently undergoing Phase I clinical trials. Here we show that MEDI9447 is a
      potent inhibitor of CD73 ectonucleotidase activity, with wide ranging immune
      regulatory consequences. MEDI9447 results in relief from adenosine monophosphate
      (AMP)-mediated lymphocyte suppression in vitro and inhibition of mouse syngeneic
      tumor growth in vivo. In contrast with other cancer immunotherapy agents such as
      checkpoint inhibitors or T-cell agonists, MEDI9447 drives changes in both myeloid
      and lymphoid infiltrating leukocyte populations within the tumor microenvironment
      of mouse models. Changes include significant alterations in a number of tumor
      micro-environmental subpopulations including increases in CD8(+) effector cells
      and activated macrophages. Furthermore, these changes correlate directly with
      responder and non-responder subpopulations within animal studies using syngeneic
      tumors. Combination data showing additive activity between MEDI9447 and anti-PD-1
      antibodies using human cells in vitro and mouse tumor models further demonstrate
      the potential value of relieving adenosine-mediated immunosuppression. Based on
      these data, a Phase I study to test the safety, tolerability, and clinical
      activity of MEDI9447 in cancer patients was initiated (NCT02503774). 

PMID- 27622078
TI  - Nitric oxide synthase 2 is involved in the pro-tumorigenic potential of
      gammadelta17 T cells in melanoma.
AB  - gammadelta T lymphocytes may exert either protective or tumor-promoting functions
      in cancer, mostly based on their polarization toward interferon (IFN)-gamma or
      interleukin (IL)-17 productions, respectively. Here, we demonstrate that
      gammadelta T cells accelerate the spontaneous metastatic melanoma development in
      a model of transgenic mice for the human RET oncogene (Ret mice). We identify
      unanticipated roles of inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) in favoring the
      recruitment of pro-tumor gammadelta T cells within the primary tumor. gammadelta
      T cells isolated from Ret mice deficient for NOS2 produced more IFNgamma and less
      IL-17 than their counterparts from Ret mice. By supporting IL-17 production by
      gammadelta T cells, NOS2 leads to the recruitment of polymorphonuclear myeloid
      derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) and metastasis formation. NOS2 also reduces
      the cytotoxicity of gammadelta T cells toward melanoma cells. Finally, we
      detected NOS2 expressing gammadelta T cells in the primary tumor and tumor
      draining lymph nodes in Ret mice, but also in human melanoma. Overall our results
      support that this NOS2 autocrine expression is responsible for the polarization
      of gammadelta T cells toward a pro-tumor profile. 

PMID- 27622079
TI  - A Statistical Model to Analyze Clinician Expert Consensus on Glaucoma Progression
      using Spatially Correlated Visual Field Data.
AB  - PURPOSE: We developed a statistical model to improve the detection of
      glaucomatous visual field (VF) progression as defined by the consensus of expert
      clinicians. METHODS: We developed new methodology in the Bayesian setting to
      properly model the progression status of a patient (as determined by a group of
      expert clinicians) as a function of changes in spatially correlated sensitivities
      at each VF location jointly. We used a spatial probit regression model that
      jointly incorporates all highly correlated VF changes in a single framework while
      accounting for structural similarities between neighboring VF regions. RESULTS:
      Our method had improved model fit and predictive ability compared to competing
      models as indicated by the deviance information criterion (198.15 vs. 201.29
      213.38), a posterior predictive model selection metric (130.08 vs. 142.08
      155.59), area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.80 vs. 0.59
      0.72; all P values < 0.018), and optimal sensitivity (0.92 vs. 0.28-0.82).
      Simulation study results suggest that estimation (reduction of mean squared
      errors) and inference (correct coverage of 95% credible intervals) for the model
      parameters are improved when spatial modeling is incorporated. CONCLUSIONS: We
      developed a statistical model for the detection of VF progression defined by
      clinician expert consensus that accounts for spatially correlated changes in
      visual sensitivity over time, and showed that it outperformed competing models in
      a number of areas. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This model may easily be incorporated
      into routine clinical practice and be useful for detecting glaucomatous VF
      progression defined by clinician expert consensus.

PMID- 27622080
TI  - Assessing the GOANNA Visual Field Algorithm Using Artificial Scotoma Generation
      on Human Observers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To validate the performance of a new perimetric algorithm (Gradient
      Oriented Automated Natural Neighbor Approach; GOANNA) in humans using a novel
      combination of computer simulation and human testing, which we call Artificial
      Scotoma Generation (ASG). METHODS: Fifteen healthy observers were recruited.
      Baseline conventional automated perimetry was performed on the Octopus 900.
      Visual field sensitivity was measured using two different procedures: GOANNA and
      Zippy Estimation by Sequential Testing (ZEST). Four different scotoma types were
      induced in each observer by implementing a novel technique that inserts a step
      between the algorithm and the perimeter, which in turn alters presentation levels
      to simulate scotomata in human observers. Accuracy, precision, and unique number
      of locations tested were measured, with the maximum difference between a location
      and its neighbors (Max_d) used to stratify results. RESULTS: GOANNA sampled
      significantly more locations than ZEST (paired t-test, P < 0.001), while
      maintaining comparable test times. Difference plots showed that GOANNA displayed
      greater accuracy than ZEST when Max_d was in the 10 to 30 dB range (with the
      exception of Max_d = 20 dB; Wilcoxon, P < 0.001). Similarly, GOANNA demonstrated
      greater precision than ZEST when Max_d was in the 20 to 30 dB range (Wilcoxon, P
      < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We have introduced a novel method for assessing accuracy
      of perimetric algorithms in human observers. Results observed in the current
      study agreed with the results seen in earlier simulation studies, and thus
      provide support for performing larger scale clinical trials with GOANNA in the
      future. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: The GOANNA perimetric testing algorithm offers a
      new paradigm for visual field testing where locations for testing are chosen that
      target scotoma borders. Further, the ASG methodology used in this paper to assess
      GOANNA shows promise as a hybrid between computer simulation and patient testing,
      which may allow more rapid development of new perimetric approaches.

PMID- 27622081
TI  - Genetic Testing as a New Standard for Clinical Diagnosis of Color Vision
      Deficiencies.
AB  - PURPOSE: The genetics underlying inherited color vision deficiencies is well
      understood: causative mutations change the copy number or sequence of the long
      (L), middle (M), or short (S) wavelength sensitive cone opsin genes. This study
      evaluated the potential of opsin gene analyses for use in clinical diagnosis of
      color vision defects. METHODS: We tested 1872 human subjects using direct
      sequencing of opsin genes and a novel genetic assay that characterizes single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using the MassArray system. Of the subjects, 1074
      also were given standard psychophysical color vision tests for a direct
      comparison with current clinical methods. RESULTS: Protan and deutan deficiencies
      were classified correctly in all subjects identified by MassArray as having red
      green defects. Estimates of defect severity based on SNPs that control
      photopigment spectral tuning correlated with estimates derived from Nagel
      anomaloscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The MassArray assay provides genetic information that
      can be useful in the diagnosis of inherited color vision deficiency including
      presence versus absence, type, and severity, and it provides information to
      patients about the underlying pathobiology of their disease. TRANSLATIONAL
      RELEVANCE: The MassArray assay provides a method that directly analyzes the
      molecular substrates of color vision that could be used in combination with, or
      as an alternative to current clinical diagnosis of color defects.

PMID- 27622082
TI  - Systematic Review and Operative Technique of Recalcitrant Pressure Ulcers Using a
      Fillet Flap Technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this article is to describe the indications, operative
      technique, outcomes, and systematic review of the literature on the
      reconstruction of patients with end-stage pressure ulcers using a fillet flap
      technique. In this technique, the femur, tibia, and fibula are removed from the
      thigh and leg, and the soft tissue is used as a pedicled, or free, myocutaneous
      flap for reconstruction. Long-term outcomes, salient surgical technique of flap
      elevation, and design are detailed for patients who had a fillet of leg flap for
      reconstruction of extensive pressure ulcers. METHODS: The indications, surgical
      technique, and postoperative outcomes of 5 patients who had pedicled fillet flaps
      are reviewed including patient age, sex, underlying comorbidities, duration of
      paraplegia, operative technique, and complications. A systematic review of the
      literature was performed searching PubMed, Cochrane Database, and Medline with
      the following MeSH terms: pressure ulcer, pressure sore, decubitus ulcer, fillet
      flap, and fillet flap. Inclusion criteria were use of a fillet technique, article
      data on the number of reconstructions before fillet flap, complications, and
      English language. RESULTS: Most of our patients were male 75% (n = 3) with an
      average age of 47.5 years, had been paralyzed for an average of 16 years, and had
      few medical comorbidities. Two patients (3 flaps) required hip disarticulation, 1
      patient had a bilateral fillet flaps, and 3 patients had resection of
      tibia/fibula. After following patients for an average of 1.4 years (4 mo to 2
      yr), complications were limited to 1 patient who had partial-thickness flap loss
      at the distal skin flap that healed by secondary intention and 1 patient who had
      ulcer recurrence because of noncompliance. Four articles met inclusion criteria
      for systematic review and 3 were excluded. CONCLUSIONS: The fillet of leg flap
      remains a useful and reliable method of reconstructing end-stage pressure ulcers.

PMID- 27622083
TI  - For Vascularized Composite Allografts: The Elephant in the Room.

PMID- 27622084
TI  - Spectacles under Pedicles: Eyewear Modification with the Paramedian Forehead
      Flap.
AB  - The paramedian forehead flap is a widely used method of nasal reconstruction. The
      flap requires a bridge of tissue from forehead to the nose, for a period of 2 to
      3 weeks, before it can be divided at a second procedure. During this time,
      patients often have difficulty positioning and wearing their eyewear underneath
      the pedicle of the flap. Here we present a novel approach to the problem. It
      requires only a simple modification to the patient's eyewear and greatly
      facilitates wear and removal. 

PMID- 27622085
TI  - Clinical Assessment of the Safety and Effectiveness of Nonablative Fractional
      Laser Combined with Transdermal Delivery of Botulinum Toxin A in Treating
      Periocular Wrinkles.
AB  - The upper and lower eyelids are traditionally contraindicated for subcutaneous
      botulinum toxin A (BTX) injection because of possible complications. We assessed
      the clinical safety and effectiveness of nonablative fractional laser (NAFL)
      combined with transdermal delivery of BTX in the treatment of periocular
      wrinkles. Thirty patients who had periocular wrinkles were treated with 1,565-nm
      NAFL in combination in the left periocular area and normal saline in the
      corresponding area of the right eye. VISIA skin detector was used to photograph
      and compare the changes induced by treatment. We also recorded the comfort level
      of the patients. All 28 patients could tolerate the pain caused by the laser
      treatment and showed no apparent discomfort during percutaneous drug delivery. No
      chromatosis or ptosis of upper eyelids occurred after the treatment. We used
      VISIA to detect changes at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively,
      after the treatment. The periocular wrinkles decreased, and the flabbiness of
      eyelids was significantly reduced. The upper and lower eyelids are traditionally
      contraindicated for subcutaneous BTX injection, as it may cause complications.
      The treatment combining 1,565-nm NAFL and transdermal delivery of BTX can
      decrease periocular wrinkles and flabbiness while avoiding complications to the
      greatest extent. None of the 28 patients who had completed the treatment suffered
      from complications or adverse effects; all were satisfied with the treatment
      outcome. 

PMID- 27622086
TI  - Interdomal Suture through a Nondelivery Endonasal Approach: A New Technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of interdomal sutures for tip refinement is common in open
      rhinoplasty and in endonasal rhinoplasty using a delivery technique, but there is
      paucity of reports in the literature regarding the use of interdomal suturing
      techniques when the nondelivery endonasal approach is chosen. OBJECTIVE: The
      authors describe a technique designed to refine the nasal tip with an interdomal
      suture placed through a nondelivery endonasal approach. METHODS: In this study,
      the authors retrospectively review the cases of 45 patients who underwent
      endonasal rhinoplasty with the authors' interdomal suturing technique between the
      years 2011 and 2013. The average age of the patients was 25.3 years. Intercrural
      sutures (PDS 4.0 straight needle, Cincinnati, Ohio) were placed as mattress-like
      suture in the tip region, with the knot buried between both alar cartilages. The
      suture is tightened progressively according to the tip definition and narrowing
      sought. RESULTS: The patients were followed for 12 months. All of the patients
      demonstrated a significant reduction in lobule and tip widths. This series had
      only 1 complication of tip asymmetry that was revised 1 year after the initial
      operation. There were no cases of infection, allergic reaction, or extrusion of
      the suture. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the lack of a large volume of patients, our
      study confirms that this technique is indeed an attractive and highly predictable
      option for achieving adequate tip refinement and definition when using a
      nondelivery endonasal rhinoplasty.

PMID- 27622087
TI  - Cellular Neurothekeoma: A Rare Tumor with a Common Clinical Presentation.
AB  - Neurothekeomas are rare benign tumors commonly found on the head, neck, and upper
      extremities of women and younger individuals. They are thought to be of nerve
      sheath origin and usually present as painless, slow growing masses. We present a
      case of cellular neurothekeoma on the nasal ala of an 8-year-old girl with no
      previous history of trauma or piercings. Differential diagnosis, treatment
      options, and special considerations regarding potentially atypical
      characteristics are discussed. 

PMID- 27622089
TI  - Medical Photography During the Plastic Surgery Team Briefing.

PMID- 27622088
TI  - Lymphovenous Anastomosis and Secondary Resection for Noonan Syndrome with Vulvar
      Lymphangiectasia.
AB  - In this case report we describe the use of a 2-stage approach to treat severe
      recurrent vulvar lymphangiectasia in a patient with Noonan syndrome. First, 3
      functional lymphatic vessels were identified and anastomosed to venules in an end
      to-end fashion. Then, in a second surgical procedure, the vulvar lesions were
      resected as much as possible and the vulva was reconstructed. By the 12-month
      follow-up the patient had recovered well. Although there were still some small
      vesicles on the left labia there was no more ooze, itch, and pain. Lymphatic
      mapping using indocyanine green showed improvement of the edema of her vulva
      region and patent LVA. In addition to the demonstration of this 2-stage approach,
      this case report also demonstrates the benefits of preemptive LVA before
      performing surgery that may be at high risk for postoperative lymph edema. 

PMID- 27622090
TI  - Predictors of Reoperations in Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap Breast
      Reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) procedure is regarded
      a safe option for autologous breast reconstruction. Reoperations, however, may
      occur, and there is no consensus in the literature regarding the risk factors.
      The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with reoperations in
      DIEP procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of consecutive
      patients undergoing DIEP breast reconstruction 2007 to 2014 was performed and
      included a review of 433 medical charts. Surgical outcome was defined as any
      unanticipated reoperation requiring return to the operating room. Multivariate
      regression analysis was utilized to identify predictors of reoperation. The
      following factors were considered: age, body mass index, comorbidity,
      childbearing history, previous abdominal surgery, adjuvant therapy,
      reconstruction laterality and timing, flap and perforator characteristics, and
      number and size of veins. RESULTS: In total, 503 free flaps were performed in 433
      patients, 363 (83.8%) unilateral and 70 (16.2%) bilateral procedures. Mean age
      was 51 years; 15.0% were obese; 13.4% had hypertension; 2.3% had diabetes; 42.6%
      received tamoxifen; 58.8% had preoperative radiotherapy; 45.6% had abdominal
      scars. Reoperation rate was 15.9% (80/503) and included flap failure, 2.0%;
      partial flap loss, 1.2%; arterial thrombosis, 2.0%; venous thrombosis, 0.8%;
      venous congestion, 1.2%; vein kinking, 0.6%. Other complications included
      bleeding, 2.2%; hematoma, 3.0%; fat necrosis, 2.8%, and infection, 0.2%. Factors
      negatively associated with reoperation were childbearing history (odds ratio
      [OR]: 3.18, P = 0.001) and dual venous drainage (OR: 1.91, P = 0.016); however,
      only childbearing remained significant in the multivariate analyses (OR: 4.56, P
      = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: The history of childbearing was found to be protective
      against reoperation. Number of venous anastomoses may also affect reoperation
      incidence, and dual venous drainage could be beneficial in nulliparous patients.

PMID- 27622091
TI  - Analysis of Fibular Single Graft and Fibular Double-barrel Graft for Mandibular
      Reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-quality mandibular reconstruction using vascularized free
      fibular graft is necessary to provide an osseointegrated dental implant and fixed
      denture. An appropriate crown-implant ratio is needed, and a good match between
      bones is extremely important. There are no articles describing the analysis and
      evaluation of both the fibula and mandible in the same patients. METHODS:
      Computed tomography images of both mandible and fibula of 80 patients were
      selected in a random manner. We measured bone height of the fibula and mandible
      at specified points and evaluated the difference of bone height between the
      fibula and mandible using fibular single or double-barrel grafts. RESULTS: The
      percentage of patients who had a "good" result for a fibular single graft was
      only 13.8%. There was no significant difference in bone heights when analyzed by
      gender. Whether patients were dentulous or not had a large influence on the
      difference between fibular and mandibular bone heights. Most young patients, but
      only half of older patients, needed fibular double-barrel grafts. Overweight
      patients with a high body mass index more often needed fibular double-barrel
      grafts. CONCLUSIONS: For mandibular reconstruction using a fibular graft,
      preoperative analysis of the patient's profile and proper use of a fibular single
      or double-barrel graft contribute to minimizing the difference between the height
      of the grafted fibula and native mandible and are keys to an ideal reconstruction
      with good cosmetics and function.

PMID- 27622092
TI  - Shaeer's Technique: A Minimally Invasive Procedure for Monsplasty and Revealing
      the Concealed Penis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A concealed penis is a condition where part of the penis is invisible
      below the surface of the prepubic skin. Dermolipectomy can correct this
      condition, although it involves a long abdominal crease incision, or infrapubic
      incision around the base of the penis, and a possibility for genital lymphedema.
      This study describes Shaeer's technique, a minimally invasive method for
      revealing the concealed penis. METHODS: A 1- to 2-cm-long incision was cut over
      the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) on either side. A long curved blunt
      forceps was inserted from one incision, down to the base of the penis and then up
      to the contralateral ASIS. A 5-mm wide nonabsorbable tape was picked up by the
      forceps from 1 incision and pulled through to emerge from the other. Pulling on
      the tape cephalad pulled the mons pubis and revealed the penis. The tape was
      sutured to the periosteum overlying the ASIS on either side. Patients were
      followed up for 18 months for penile length, complications, and overall
      satisfaction. RESULTS: Twenty patients were operated upon. Preoperatively,
      flaccid visible length was 3 +/- 0.9 cm, and erect visible length was 8 +/- 4.6
      cm. Postoperatively, the flaccid visible length was 7.1 +/- 2.1 cm, with a 57.9%
      improvement in length (P < 0.0001). Erect visible length was 11.8 +/- 2.1 cm,
      with a 32% improvement in length (P < 0.0001). Length gain was maintained for 18
      months. CONCLUSION: Shaeer's technique is a minimally invasive, short, and simple
      procedure for monsplasty and revealing the concealed penis.

PMID- 27622093
TI  - Use of Innovative Technologies in Pediatric Lower Extremity Reconstruction.
AB  - The anterolateral thigh (ALT) free flap has proven to be a reliable option for
      the coverage of soft tissue defects in adults and more recently in the pediatric
      population. When considering the use of the ALT flap in the pediatric patient,
      there are few studies that detail techniques specific to pediatric free flap
      management. We present a unique case of a 14- * 8-cm ALT flap used for traumatic
      wound coverage in a distal tibial injury in a 6-year-old girl. This case
      highlights innovative techniques in pediatric perioperative free flap monitoring
      and the use of continuous external tissue expansion to achieve delayed primary
      closure of the donor site. 

PMID- 27622094
TI  - RHINO Scale: A Question about Content Validity.

PMID- 27622096
TI  - Plastic Surgery and Suicide: A Clinical Guide for Plastic Surgeons.
AB  - Several studies have identified an increased risk of suicide among patient
      populations which a plastic surgeon may have a high risk of encountering: women
      undergoing breast augmentation, cosmetic surgery patients, and breast cancer
      patients. No formal guidelines exist to assist a plastic surgeon when faced with
      such a patient, and not every plastic surgery team has mental health clinicians
      that are readily accessible for consultation or referral. The goal of this
      clinical guide is to offer plastic surgeons a set of practical approaches to
      manage potentially suicidal patients. In addition, the authors review a screening
      tool, which can assist surgeons when encountering high-risk patients. 

PMID- 27622095
TI  - The Safety, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Autologous Fat Grafting in Breast
      Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For years, the safety and effectiveness of autologous fat grafting
      (AFG) for breast reconstruction have been in question, with particular concern
      over fat necrosis, calcifications, cyst formation, and interfering with the
      detection of breast cancer. However, increasing evidence suggests that the
      complication rates and clinical results are generally acceptable to both
      clinicians and patients. The emerging challenge is the numerous AFG techniques
      and systems, where there are limited knowledge and data. The objective of this
      study was to conduct a literature review that focuses on the safety,
      effectiveness, and efficiency of various AFG techniques as applied to the breast.
      METHODS: A PubMed search using terms related to AFG was performed over a 5-year
      period (April 1, 2010-April 30, 2015). Original articles focused on AFG to the
      breast, with outcomes on safety, effectiveness, and efficiency, were included.
      RESULTS: Five hundred ninety-eight articles were identified with 36 articles
      included (n = 4306 patients). Satisfaction rates were high although the
      prevalence of complications was low-similar to previous findings. Seven studies
      reported average operating room time with an overall mean of 125 minutes (range:
      40-210). The mean volume of fat harvested was 558 mL (range: 120-1299), and fat
      injected was 145 mL (range: 20-607). A positive association between injection
      volume and operating time was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This review validates
      previous findings on the safety and effectiveness of AFG to the breast and
      highlights its efficiency. The efficiency data available, although limited,
      suggest that there is an opportunity to achieve time and cost savings while not
      sacrificing safety and effectiveness.

PMID- 27622098
TI  - The Fourth World Congress of the International Society of Plastic Regenerative
      Surgeons: Another Successful Scientific Forum for Regenerative Surgery.

PMID- 27622097
TI  - Tumescent Liposuction without Lidocaine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous study demonstrated that lidocaine has a negative impact
      on adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) survival. Currently for large-volume
      liposuction, patients often undergo general anesthesia; therefore, lidocaine
      subcutaneous anesthesia is nonessential. We hypothesized that removing lidocaine
      from tumescent might improve stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and ASC survival
      from the standard tumescent with lidocaine. Ropivacaine is also a commonly used
      local anesthetic. The effect of ropivacaine on ASC survival was examined.
      METHODS: Adults who underwent liposuction on bilateral body areas were included
      (n = 10). Under general anesthesia, liposuction on 1 area was conducted under
      standard tumescent with lidocaine. On the contralateral side, liposuction was
      conducted under the modified tumescent without lidocaine. Five milliliters of
      lipoaspirate were processed for the isolation of SVF. The adherent ASCs were
      counted after 24 hours of SVF culture. Apoptosis and necrosis of SVF cells were
      examined by Annexin/propidium iodide staining and analyzed by flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: Average percentage of live SVF cells was 68.0% +/- 4.0% (28.5% +/- 3.8%
      of apoptosis and 3.4% +/- 1.0% of necrosis) in lidocaine group compared with
      86.7% +/- 3.7% (11.5% +/- 3.1% of apoptosis and 1.8% +/- 0.7% of necrosis) in no
      lidocaine group (P = 0.002). Average number of viable ASC was also significantly
      lower (367,000 +/- 107) in lidocaine group compared with that (500,000 +/- 152)
      in no-lidocaine group (P = 0.04). No significant difference was found between
      lidocaine and ropivacaine on ASC cytotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Removing lidocaine
      from tumescent significantly reduced SVF and ASC apoptosis in the lipoaspirate.
      We recommend tumescent liposuction without lidocaine, particularly if patient's
      lipoaspirate will be used for fat grafting.

PMID- 27622099
TI  - Direct Hospital Cost of Outcome Pathways in Implant-Based Reconstruction with
      Acellular Dermal Matrices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current cost data on tissue expansion followed by exchange for
      permanent implant (TE/I) reconstruction lack a necessary assessment of the
      experience of a heterogenous breast cancer patient population and their multiple
      outcome pathways. We extend our previous analysis to that of direct hospital cost
      as bundling of payments is likely to follow the changing centralization of cancer
      care at the hospital level. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis (2003
      2009) of TE/I reconstructions with or without an acellular dermal matrix (ADM),
      namely Alloderm RTM. Postreconstructive events were analyzed and organized into
      outcome pathways as previously described. Aggregated and normalized inpatient and
      outpatient hospital direct costs and physician reimbursement were generated for
      each outcome pathway with or without ADM. RESULTS: Three hundred sixty-seven
      patients were analyzed. The average 2-year hospital direct cost per TE/I breast
      reconstruction patient was $11,862 in the +ADM and $12,319 in the -ADM groups (P
      > 0.05). Initial reconstructions were costlier in the +ADM ($6,868) than in the 
      ADM ($5,615) group, but the average cost of subsequent postreconstructive events
      within 2 years was significantly lower in +ADM ($5,176) than -ADM ($6,704)
      patients (P < 0.05). When a complication occurred, but reconstruction was still
      completed within 2 years, greater costs were incurred in the -ADM than in the
      +ADM group for most scenarios, leading to a net equalization of cost between
      study groups. CONCLUSION: Although direct hospital cost is an important factor
      for resource and fund allocation, it should not remain the sole factor when
      deciding to use ADM in TE/I reconstruction.

PMID- 27622100
TI  - Nipple Reconstruction with the Biodesign Nipple Reconstruction Cylinder: A
      Prospective Clinical Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nipple reconstruction is the last stage in cosmetic reconstruction of
      the breast after mastectomy, but no method produces reliable and consistent
      aesthetic results. This study examined the use of the Biodesign Nipple
      Reconstruction Cylinder (NRC) during reconstruction of the nipple after
      mastectomy. METHODS: Patients with a history of breast cancer and mastectomy
      desiring nipple reconstruction were invited to participate. After obtaining
      consent, unilateral or bilateral nipple reconstruction was performed. Skin flaps
      were raised, the NRC was placed beneath the flaps as a stent, and the site was
      protected for up to 4 weeks with a nipple shield. Nipple projection was measured
      for 12 months after surgery. Patient satisfaction was measured and adverse events
      were recorded. Follow-up examinations were performed at 1 week, and then at 1, 3,
      6, and 12 months after surgery. RESULTS: Eighty-two nipple reconstructions were
      performed in 50 patients. Related postoperative adverse events were minor, but
      reported in 8 reconstructions (9.8%) representing 7 patients (14.0%). Average
      projection at 6 and 12 months was 4.1 +/- 1.6 mm and 3.8 +/- 1.5 mm,
      respectively, compared with 10.5 +/- 2.2 mm 1 week after surgery. Of patients
      completing the satisfaction questionnaire at 12 months, 70/75 (93.3%) of
      reconstructions were rated "pleased" or "very pleased" with the overall outcome.
      Overall, 45/46 (97.8%) patients would recommend nipple reconstruction to other
      women. CONCLUSIONS: The Biodesign NRC offers a safe alternative to nipple
      reconstruction, resulting in stable projection and a high level of patient
      satisfaction for 12 months after placement.

PMID- 27622102
TI  - Medial Femoral Condyle Flap.
AB  - Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. 

PMID- 27622101
TI  - Bilateral Pedicled Superficial Inferior Epigastric Artery Flap in the Treatment
      of Hidradenitis Suppurativa.
AB  - The authors present a new technique in surgically treating hidradenitis
      suppurativa (HS), a debilitating skin condition. In HS, surgical treatment is
      often the best option because of the high recurrence rates despite extensive
      medical treatment. A commonly successful surgical method is using skin flaps
      after excision of the affected area. A superficial inferior epigastric artery
      flap is demonstrated here as a new alternative approach to treating a case of
      extensive HS of the groin. By using the pedicled superficial inferior epigastric
      artery flap for groin reconstruction, inguinal HS can be widely excised and
      reconstructed with minimal donor-site morbidity and a good aesthetic outcome. 

PMID- 27622103
TI  - Use of Composite Osteotemporoparietal Fascia Flap for Midface Reconstruction
      After En Bloc Resection of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Involving the
      Zygomaticomaxillary Complex.
AB  - The osteotemporoparietal fascia flap (OTPFF) has been used for bony defects,
      especially on the maxilla and orbital floor. However, there are limited reports
      about the reconstruction of the zygoma. We report the use of composite OTPFF for
      reconstruction of zygomaticomaxillary complex. The patient had undergone
      zygomaticomaxillary complex reconstruction with composite OTPFF because of the
      resection of recurrent postradiation tumor. Extratemporoparietal fascia was
      harvested and rotated to cover the medullary surface of the bone flap. Flap was
      successfully transferred with complete bone integration. There were no surgical
      complications and excellent cosmetic result. The patient is free of disease 12
      months post surgery. The OTPFF seems to be a good option in zygomatic
      reconstruction, even in previously irradiated fields. Utilization of
      extratemporoparietal fascia to cover the medullary surface of the bone flap has
      potential to be an advantageous technique to minimize bone exposure and improve
      flap integration. 

PMID- 27622104
TI  - Multiple Delayed Scalp Reconstruction for Complicated Cranial Defects.
AB  - In cases of skull trauma, emergency surgery for cranial decompression typically
      involves the shortest approach, with the incision lying directly on or
      immediately near the bony defect. Subsequent reconstructive plastic surgery for
      the skull is difficult in such cases because incisions taken on the previous scar
      overlying the bony defect are prone to dehiscence and infection. Herein, we
      describe a technique for creating a well-vascularized delayed skin flap via
      multistaged operation before the actual skull reconstruction. Four patients (age
      range, 10-25 y) were prepared for skull reconstruction using this technique. Flap
      elevation was performed in 3 stages, with adequate time intervals (4 wk between
      each stage) to allow for adequate delay. Dissection under the galea aponeurotica
      was performed only after initial flap elevation allowing for adequate
      vascularization. Skull reconstruction was then performed using custom-made
      implants. The patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months. No complications,
      including infections, exposure of the artificial bone, or flap necrosis, were
      observed. All the patients were satisfied with the cosmetic results. Despite the
      multiple stages required, we consider that our technique of using a delayed, well
      vascularized bipedicled skin flap can be successfully used in the skull
      reconstruction of patients in whom the initial scar lies close to the bone
      defect. We recommend scalp incision be shifted outside of the foreseen bony flap
      to limit infectious risks during primary or subsequent cranial reconstruction. 

PMID- 27622105
TI  - Botulinum Toxin A: Dose-dependent Effect on Reepithelialization and Angiogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Botulinum (neuro)toxin A (BoNT) is widely used in the field of
      plastic and reconstructive surgery. Among treatment of pain, hyperhidrosis, or
      aesthetic purposes, it is also used to enhance wound healing and prevent
      excessive scar formation. Some clinical data already exist, but only little is
      known on a cellular level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of
      BoNT on cells essential for wound healing in vitro. Therefore, primary human
      keratinocytes and endothelial cells were treated with different concentrations of
      BoNT and tested on proliferation, migration, and angiogenic behavior. METHODS:
      BoNT was exposed to human keratinocytes and endothelial cells in a low (1 IU/mL),
      medium (10 IU/mL), and high (20 IU/mL) concentrations in cell culture.
      Proliferation and migration of the 2 cell types were observed and also the
      angiogenic potential of endothelial cells in vitro. RESULTS: BoNT 20 IU/mL
      negatively influenced proliferation and migration of keratinocytes but not those
      of endothelial cells. Angiogenesis in vitro was less effective with the highest
      BoNT concentrations tested. Low concentrations of BoNT supported sprouting of
      endothelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: High concentrations of botulinum toxin interfered
      with wound closure as keratinocytes' proliferation and migration were
      deteriorated. Furthermore, BoNT concentrations of 20 IU/mL constrain in vitro
      vessel formation but do not influence proliferation or migration of endothelial
      cells.

PMID- 27622106
TI  - Hydrogel Delivery of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Expressing Bone Morphogenetic Protein
      2 Enhances Bone Defect Repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The application of bone tissue engineering for repairing bone defects
      has gradually shown some satisfactory progress. One of the concerns raising
      scientific attention is the poor supply of growth factors. A number of growth
      factor delivery approaches have been developed for promoting bone formation.
      However, there is no systematic comparison of those approaches on efficiency of
      neobone formation. In this study, the approaches using periosteum, direct supply
      of growth factors, or gene transfection of growth factors were evaluated to
      determine the osteogenic capacity on the repair of bone defect. METHODS: In
      total, 42 male 21-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250 to 400 g were used as
      the bone defect model to evaluate the bone repair efficiency. Various tissue
      engineered constructs of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(l-lactic acid) (PEG-PLLA)
      copolymer hydrogel with periosteum, with external supply of bone morphogenetic
      protein-2 (BMP2), or with BMP2-transfected bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem
      cells (BMMSCs) were filled in a 7-mm bone defect region. Animals were euthanized
      at 3 months, and the hydrogel constructs were harvested. The evaluation with
      histological staining and radiography analysis were performed for the volume of
      new bone formation. RESULTS: The PEG-PLLA scaffold with BMMSCs promotes bone
      regeneration with the addition of periosteum. The group with BMP2-transfected
      BMMSCs demonstrated the largest volume of new bone among all the testing groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, the results of this study provide the evidence that the
      combination of PEG-PLLA hydrogels with BMMSCs and sustained delivery of BMP2
      resulted in the maximal bone regeneration.

PMID- 27622107
TI  - Treatment of Suture-related Complications of Buried-suture Double-eyelid
      Blepharoplasty in Asians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Double-eyelid blepharoplasty is a popular aesthetic surgery in
      Asians. However, the buried suture technique is associated with complications
      related to implantation of the suture thread. The present study was performed to
      identify optimal surgical suture removal techniques in Japanese patients with
      suture-related complications after buried suture double-eyelid blepharoplasty.
      METHODS: This retrospective study included 210 upper eyelids of 116 consecutive
      Japanese patients who had undergone buried suture double-eyelid blepharoplasty at
      other clinics. All patients underwent suture removal surgery at the author's
      institution for treatment of suture-related complications. Although 12 patients
      (10.3%) underwent suture removal surgery alone, 104 (89.7%) underwent secondary
      double-eyelid blepharoplasty. The outcomes of 3 techniques were evaluated: the
      small skin incision method, the full skin incision method, and the conjunctival
      method. RESULTS: The small skin incision method was performed in 46 patients, the
      full skin incision method in 63, and the conjunctival method in 7. The success
      rate of the full skin incision method was significantly higher than that of the
      small skin incision method (4.8% vs 37.0%, respectively; p < 0.0001). Patients
      with an uncomfortable pulling sensation exhibited a linear scar or depressive
      deformity without inflammation of the tarsal plate and impingement on the
      subconjunctival capillary vessels of the tarsal plate or a depressive deformity
      of the levator muscle. Patients with corneal irritation exhibited chronic
      inflammation of the conjunctival surface of the tarsal plate. CONCLUSIONS: Suture
      related complications of buried suture double-eyelid blepharoplasty in Asians
      must be treated with suture removal surgery. The full skin incision method is
      more reliable than the small incision method for such patients.

PMID- 27622108
TI  - The Influence of Palatoplasty on Eating Function.
AB  - Postoperative dietary control and surgical procedures are important for
      minimizing complications after a palatoplasty because the palate is always
      exposed to stresses by various movements associated with eating. Currently, we
      provide fluid foods (food paste, liquid food, and soft food) to postpalatoplasty
      patients. However, nutritional inadequacies associated with fluid food
      necessitate the need to develop a new food specifically for postpalatoplasty
      patients. Although evaluating the influence of a palatoplasty on eating function
      is important for the development of a new diet, no data have been published on
      this topic. Thus, to evaluate the influence of a palatoplasty on eating function,
      we analyzed postoperative changes in the eating condition of cleft palate
      patients. We performed a retrospective study. All participants had undergone
      surgery for a cleft palate at our hospital. Nurses recorded the amount of food
      that patients consumed as a ratio of the whole meal, and we extracted data on the
      food type and the amount consumed at each meal from their medical records. After
      the ratio was expressed as a percentage of the whole meal (eating rate), we
      calculated the mean value of the percentage of the subject group and examined
      chronological changes. The eating rate was very low on postoperative day 1, it
      improved over time and was constant on postoperative day 7. From this result, we
      concluded that palatoplasty greatly influences the eating function of patients,
      and the influence lasts for at least a week after surgery. 

PMID- 27622109
TI  - Internal Pudendal Artery Perforator Island Flap for Management of Recurrent
      Benign Rectovaginal Fistula.
AB  - The management of recurrent rectovaginal fistula after obstetric injury and
      cryptoglandular sepsis is considered a major surgical challenge. The fistula
      poses a significant negative psychosocial and sexual morbidity. In addition, the
      poor quality of local tissues due to previous attempts at surgical repair adds to
      this challenge. There are few data regarding the management of persistent or
      recurrent fistula in the literature; however, several studies reported high
      failure rates after 2 or more procedures. We present 4 cases managed successfully
      in a multidisciplinary approach involving fistulectomy and immediate
      reconstruction with an internal pudendal artery perforator island flap. 

PMID- 27622110
TI  - Universal and Ethnic-specific Considerations on Facial Rejuvenation: Where Do You
      Inject Your Fillers?

PMID- 27622112
TI  - Pediatric Arm Reconstruction after Shot-gun Injury Using Peroneal Free-flap and
      Pedicled Latissimus Dorsi Muscle Flap: Late Follow-up.
AB  - A 15-year-old patient harmed himself upon firing a shotgun that he was carrying
      when he slipped and fell, causing a destructive wound in the right arm with a
      medial entry hole and a posterolateral exit hole. The biceps, coracobrachialis,
      triceps, deltoids, skin cover, and humerus were injured; however, the blood
      vessels and major nerves of the area were surprisingly not affected. The residual
      skin muscle defect after debridements was 16 * 5 cm medially and posteriorly, and
      the bone loss was 7 cm. The wound was reconstructed during a single surgery with
      a free fibula flap and a pedicled flap of latissimus dorsi. Ten years after
      surgery, the patient presents neither functional deficit of the injured limb
      (shoulder, arm, forearm, and hand) nor sequelae in the donor areas; he performs
      his daily activities without any limitations. This case confirms that the use of
      free bone flaps and pedicled muscle flaps in pediatric patients can provide
      excellent long-term results. 

PMID- 27622111
TI  - Correction of Facial Deformity in Sturge-Weber Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although previous studies have reported soft-tissue management in
      surgical treatment of Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS), there are few reports
      describing facial bone surgery in this patient group. The purpose of this study
      is to examine the validity of our multidisciplinary algorithm for correcting
      facial deformities associated with SWS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first study on orthognathic surgery for SWS patients. METHODS: A retrospective
      chart review included 2 SWS patients who completed the surgical treatment
      algorithm. Radiographic and clinical data were recorded, and a treatment
      algorithm was derived. RESULTS: According to the Roach classification, the first
      patient was classified as type I presenting with both facial and leptomeningeal
      vascular anomalies without glaucoma and the second patient as type II presenting
      only with a hemifacial capillary malformation. Considering positive findings in
      seizure history and intracranial vascular anomalies in the first case, the
      anesthetic management was modified to omit hypotensive anesthesia because of the
      potential risk of intracranial pressure elevation. Primarily, both patients
      underwent 2-jaw orthognathic surgery and facial bone contouring including
      genioplasty, zygomatic reduction, buccal fat pad removal, and masseter reduction
      without major complications. In the second step, the volume and distribution of
      facial soft tissues were altered by surgical resection and reposition. Both
      patients were satisfied with the surgical result. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      multidisciplinary algorithm can systematically detect potential risk factors.
      Correction of the asymmetric face by successive bone and soft-tissue surgery
      enables the patients to reduce their psychosocial burden and increase their
      quality of life.

PMID- 27622113
TI  - Indications of Free Grafts in Mandibular Reconstruction, after Removing Benign
      Tumors: Treatment Algorithm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mandibular reconstruction has been the subject of much debate and
      research in the fields of maxillofacial surgery and head and neck surgery.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was undertaken with 14
      patients diagnosed with benign tumorous pathologies and who underwent immediate
      mandibular resection and reconstruction at the Hospital del Salvador
      Maxillofacial Surgery Unit and Dr. Rodrigo Farina's private clinic between the
      years 2002 and 2012. We propose a treatment algorithm, which is previous teeth
      extractions in area that will be removed. RESULTS: Fourteen patients underwent
      surgery, and a total of 40 dental implants were installed in 6 men and 8 women,
      the mean age of 33.5 (age range, 14-58 y). Reconstruction with iliac crest bone
      graft, and rehabilitation following this protocol (average of reconstruction was
      8.7 cm), was successful with no complications at all in 12 patients. One patient
      had a minor complication, and the graft was partially reabsorbed because of
      communication of the graft with the oral cavity. This complication did not impede
      rehabilitation with dental implants. Another patient suffered the total loss of
      the graft due to infection because of dehiscence of oral mucosa and great
      communication with the mouth. Another iliac crest free graft reconstruction was
      undertaken 6 months later. CONCLUSIONS: The scientific evidence suggests that
      mandibular reconstruction using free grafts following the removal of benign
      tumors is a biologically sustainable alternative. The critical factor to improve
      the prognosis of free grafts reconstruction in benign tumors is to have good
      quality soft tissue and avoid communication with the oral cavity. For this, it is
      vital to do dental extractions before removing the tumor.

PMID- 27622114
TI  - The Stainless Steel Wire-based Method of Sogawa Effectively Corrects Severe
      Ingrown Nails.
AB  - Ingrown nails are defined as inflammation of the lateral nail fold that is caused
      by penetration by the nail plate and associates with pain and/or infection. The
      pain associated with ingrown nail hampers walking, raises the risk of falls, and
      decreases the quality of life. The Sogawa method is a novel conservative medical
      treatment for ingrown nails that is based on stainless steel wire. It was first
      reported in 2012 by Sogawa, and we have found that it is very effective for
      ingrown nails, especially in difficult cases. Here, we show the beneficial
      effects of the Sogawa method in 2 extremely difficult cases where ingrown nails
      had recurred after partial nail ablation. We found the Sogawa method to be a
      quick and easy technique that rapidly improves the pain associated with ingrown
      nails and later produces properly configured nails. Our experience suggests that
      it is suitable for severe ingrown nails, such as too short ingrown nails and
      ingrown nails that have strong inflammation and granulation tissue formation.
      This is significant because it is difficult to treat such cases with conventional
      conservative methods, which means that the only remaining therapeutic option is
      surgery. Thus, the Sogawa method is a novel and highly effective ingrown nail
      treatment that obviates the need for invasive surgical treatment. 

PMID- 27622115
TI  - Bipolar Latissimus Dorsi Transfer through a Single Incision: First Key-Step in
      Poland Syndrome Chest Deformity.
AB  - Poland syndrome is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by a unilateral
      congenital absence of the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major muscle. The
      absence of the pectoralis major does not only result in chest asymmetry but also
      in a missing anterior axillary fold, which is essential for natural anatomical
      appearance in both male and female patients. In Poland syndrome patients, we
      perform bipolar latissimus dorsi flap transfer, which can be associated with a
      sublatissimus implant in women. All procedures are performed through a single
      short midaxillary incision, and tendon translocation in this technique allows the
      creation of the anterior axillary fold and thus a natural chest appearance.
      Moreover, this technique can be performed by any plastic surgeon operating under
      a basic operating room setting. 

PMID- 27622116
TI  - Three-dimensional Nasolabial Morphologic Alterations Following Le Fort I.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Le Fort I osteotomy imparts significant changes to the nasolabial
      region. Past studies have relied on 2-dimensional data and have not delineated
      differences among various Le Fort I subtypes. The purpose of this study is to 3
      dimensionally analyze Le Fort I-induced nasal and lip changes comparing
      advancement alone versus widening alone [surgically assisted maxillary expansion
      (SAME)] versus advancement and widening. We hypothesize that the combination of
      maxillary advancement with widening will result in the most profound changes.
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed. Included Le Fort I patients
      were grouped as: (1) nonsegmental straight advancement, (2) widening without
      advancement, and (3) segmental advancement and widening. Pre- and postoperative 3
      dimensional photogrammetry (Canfield) were analyzed. Anthropometric landmarks
      were placed and measured by 2 independent observers. Statistics involved both
      paired and unpaired t tests (significance = P < 0.05). RESULTS: One hundred eight
      photogrammetric data sets were analyzed, including 46 single-piece, 26 SAME, and
      36 segmental. Significant postoperative nasal changes were observed within each
      intragroup analysis. The most dramatic changes were seen after segmental Le Fort
      I with advancement and widening, which included alar base width, alar width,
      nostril width, and soft triangle angle, all P < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Le Fort I
      osteotomy results in significant alteration of the nasolabial morphology. This is
      the first study to 3-dimensionally analyze nasal changes that occur comparing
      maxillary advancement alone versus widening alone (SAME) versus advancement with
      widening. These objective data permit improved patient counseling and surgical
      planning.

PMID- 27622117
TI  - Silicone Breast Implant and Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator: Can
      They Coexist? A Case Report.
AB  - We present a case of a silicone breast implant rupture after insertion of an
      automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD). A 51-year-old woman
      presented to our plastic surgery clinic to exchange her silicone breast implants.
      The patient underwent cosmetic mastopexy and breast augmentation in 2008. Because
      of recurrent myocardial infarctions and chronic heart failure, she underwent an
      insertion of an AICD in 2014 in which the left breast implant was hit. In this
      report, we discuss the first case of an AICD insertion, disrupting a breast
      implant. This case report illustrates the rare but real possibility of breast
      implant rupture after even minor surgical manipulation of the breast area. 

PMID- 27622118
TI  - Radiofrequency-assisted Liposuction for Neck and Lower Face Adipodermal
      Remodeling and Contouring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to report our experience using
      radiofrequency-assisted liposuction (RFAL) for neck and face contouring. This
      article details the operative technique, selection, complications, third-party
      surgeon appraisal, and patient satisfaction survey. METHODS: From November 2009
      to November 2013, 55 patients who underwent RFAL treatment were enrolled in the
      study. Postoperative patient satisfaction surveys were conducted, and 2
      independent plastic surgeons evaluated contour and skin quality with randomized
      preoperative and postoperative photographs at 6 months postoperatively. The
      different parameters recorded involved age, sex, weight, body mass index,
      operative time, amount of fat aspirated and energy delivered, complications, and
      aesthetic outcome in 1 and 4 weeks and 3 and 6 months. Our longest follow-up was
      4 years. Patients were asked 6 months postoperatively to grade their satisfaction
      as poor, no change, moderate, good, and excellent. RESULTS: The mean age was 51
      years (range, 35-61 years), and the mean amount of fat aspirated was 30 mL
      (range, 10-200 mL). Five out of 55 patients (9.1%) developed tissue hardness that
      resolved with massage. All patients were followed up for a minimum of 6 months.
      Eighty-five percent of patients were satisfied with their contouring result and
      degree of skin tightening (48/55 patients). Two independent plastic surgeons
      considered the improvement in contouring and degree of skin tightening good to
      excellent in 52 of 55 cases. CONCLUSIONS: In appropriately selected patients,
      RFAL neck and face contouring represent a safe procedure to achieve significant
      improvement of the skin laxity and fat deposits of the cervicomental zone and
      jowls.

PMID- 27622119
TI  - "Lull pgm System" for Autologous Fat Grafting: A Simple Closed System with
      Minimal Equipment and No Extra Cost.
AB  - The "Lull pgm system" is a closed system for purifying harvested fat. It
      processes the collected tissue safely without any additional cost. The system was
      conceived by referring to the targets described in the literature with the aim of
      creating a simple system that guarantees a high standard of purification and
      requires minimal equipment that is available in every operating room. Cost must
      be always considered: even the most prosperous hospitals must keep within tight
      annual budgets. "Lull" can be used instead of expensive devices or disposable
      kits, without substantially increasing the operating time. The system has been
      used in clinical practice for many plastic reconstructive procedures and has
      obtained positive results and patient satisfaction, and no contraindications or
      disadvantages have been observed. 

PMID- 27622120
TI  - Single-layer Closure with Tongue Flap for Palatal Fistula in Cleft Palate
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tongue flap is a good option to close a complicated palatal fistula
      in cleft patients. Most surgeons advocate a double-layer closure to decrease the
      recurrence rates. In this study, we have reported our experience with a modified
      single-layer closure with tongue flap in cleft patients. METHOD: All cases done
      by a single surgeon using this modified technique in a period of 10 years were
      retrospectively reviewed. A thorough description of this technique is also
      provided in the study. RESULTS: Only 5 cases were operated on using this
      technique. The success rate of all these cases was 100%, with no recurrence of
      fistula and few complications. CONCLUSIONS: This technique provides a way to
      avoid nasal layer closure in cases where nasal layer is difficult or impossible
      to close. It also limits the need for a second flap for nasal layer closure.

PMID- 27622121
TI  - Pathological Model of Hemangioma-New Thinking on Hemangioma Classification.

PMID- 27622122
TI  - Anatomy of the Gynecomastia Tissue and Its Clinical Significance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gynecomastia is a very common entity in men, and several authors
      estimate that approximately 50% to 70% of the male population has palpable breast
      tissue. Much has been published with regard to the etiology, diagnosis, and
      treatment of gynecomastia. However, the anatomy of the gynecomastia tissue
      remains elusive to most surgeons. PURPOSE: The purpose of this article was to
      define the shape and consistency of the glandular tissue based on the vast
      experience of the senior author (MB). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between the years
      1980 and 2014, a total of 5124 patients have been treated for gynecomastia with
      surgical excision, liposuction, or a combination of both. A total of 3130
      specimens were collected with 5% of the cases being unilateral. RESULTS: The
      specimens appear to have a unifying shape of a head, body, and tail. The head is
      semicircular in shape and is located more medially toward the sternum. The
      majority of the glandular tissue consists of a body located immediately deep to
      the nipple areolar complex. The tail appears to taper off of the body more
      laterally and toward the insertion of the pectoralis major muscle onto the
      humerus. CONCLUSIONS: This large series of gynecomastia specimens demonstrates a
      unique and unifying finding of a head, body, and tail. Understanding the anatomy
      of the gynecomastia gland can serve as a guide to gynecomastia surgeons to
      facilitate a more thorough exploration and subsequently sufficient gland
      excision.

PMID- 27622123
TI  - The Effect of Colored Overlays on Reading Fluency in Individuals with Dyslexia.
AB  - Colored overlays, one type of tinted filter, are plastic reading sheets tinted
      with color and placed over text to eliminate or alleviate a wide range of reading
      difficulties such as low reading rate, accuracy, and comprehension. The effects
      of colored overlays on reading problems associated with dyslexia were
      investigated in this study via a multielement design. Reading fluency was
      assessed when participants read with and without colored overlays.
      Undifferentiated responding, or decreased accuracy, resulted across three
      participants, suggesting that colored overlays were ineffective and potentially
      detrimental to participants' reading abilities. As a result, empirically
      validated reading techniques were implemented across individuals. These findings
      are discussed and recommendations are made in regards to the use of research
      based reading interventions. 

PMID- 27622124
TI  - Recording an Excel((r)) Macro to Specify Date Ranges for Clinical Data.
AB  - The individuals served by behavior analysts are often funded by Medicaid,
      insurance companies, or private pay. The first two options usually require
      progress notes detailing graphically and quantitatively the behavioral outcomes.
      These progress notes usually come in the form of a written account of milestones
      achieved or barriers faced, graphical displays of behavioral data, and summary
      tables. The graphical displays are monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for the
      individuals that they serve. Microsoft Excel(r) is one of the most accessible
      tools by which to accomplish this task; however, presenting the required date
      ranges can be a time-consuming task. A task analysis is outlined to automate this
      process and reduce the time taken to accomplish indirect service hours to the
      clients served. 

PMID- 27622125
TI  - Frequency of Mand Instruction Reported in Behavioral, Special Education, and
      Speech Journals.
AB  - The authors reviewed 10 years of research literature on teaching mands to
      individuals with developmental disabilities. Articles were selected from journals
      associated with three professional organizations (e.g., Association for Behavior
      Analysis, Council for Exceptional Children, and American Speech and Hearing
      Association). Findings were reported as frequencies of publication across
      journals and sets of journal. Furthermore, we reported on the several contextual
      variables reported within each study (i.e., age of participants, setting, change
      agent, response topography, generalization). Implications for practitioners are
      discussed. 

PMID- 27622126
TI  - Chaining Functional Basketball Sequences (with Embedded Conditional
      Discriminations) in an Adolescent with Autism.
AB  - Individuals with developmental disabilities successfully participate in fewer
      recreation activities, including sports activities, than their typically
      developing peers. Although a functional basketball-playing repertoire might
      increase social opportunities and physical health for these individuals, no
      research has outlined a behavior-analytic strategy for teaching this sport. In
      our study, we taught a 13-year-old male diagnosed with autism to play basketball.
      During phase 1, we employed discrete-trial training to establish proficiency with
      nine fundamental basketball skills (i.e., recruiting attention, passing,
      dribbling, etc.). During phase 2, we used a forward chaining procedure to teach
      specific sequences of these component skills that are appropriate for playing
      offense and defense and for participating in a full-court basketball drill. The
      participant learned all pre-requisite skills and response chains came under the
      control of contextually appropriate discriminative stimuli. 

PMID- 27622127
TI  - Familiarizing New Staff for Working with Adults with Severe Disabilities: a Case
      for Relationship Building.
AB  - In human service agencies, situations exist at various times in which consumers
      are not familiar with the staff who work with them. We evaluated effects of
      familiar versus unfamiliar staff working with two men with severe disabilities in
      a vocational program. Results indicated both participants displayed more
      compliance with familiar staff relative to unfamiliar staff and one exhibited
      more on-task (one was near ceiling levels with both staff). Subsequently, a
      familiarization process was conducted with four new staff before working with
      four men with severe disabilities that involved spending time with a participant
      in a preferred activity and phasing in to the participant's routine. Each staff
      worked with one participant after being familiarized and concurrently with
      another without being familiarized. In all but one case, participant compliance
      was greater with the familiarized staff. Except when on-task was near ceiling
      levels, it also was higher with the familiarized staff. Additionally, results
      offered some support for the existence of a good relationship between
      familiarized staff and participants in terms of more participant happiness
      indices than with unfamiliar staff and, to a smaller degree, less unhappiness
      indices and problem behavior. Implications for practitioners are discussed,
      including being aware of potential problems when unfamiliar staff work with
      adults with severe disabilities and considering familiarizing new staff prior to
      working with individuals. Discussion also addresses how more attention could be
      directed to relationship development from a practitioner and research
      perspective. 

PMID- 27622128
TI  - Adventitious Reinforcement of Maladaptive Stimulus Control Interferes with
      Learning.
AB  - Persistent error patterns sometimes develop when teaching new discriminations.
      These patterns can be adventitiously reinforced, especially during long periods
      of chance-level responding (including baseline). Such behaviors can interfere
      with learning a new discrimination. They can also disrupt already learned
      discriminations, if they re-emerge during teaching procedures that generate
      errors. We present an example of this process. Our goal was to teach a boy with
      intellectual disabilities to touch one of two shapes on a computer screen (in
      technical terms, a simple simultaneous discrimination). We used a size-fading
      procedure. The correct stimulus was at full size, and the incorrect-stimulus size
      increased in increments of 10 %. Performance was nearly error free up to and
      including 60 % of full size. In a probe session with the incorrect stimulus at
      full size, however, accuracy plummeted. Also, a pattern of switching between
      choices, which apparently had been established in classroom instruction, re
      emerged. The switching pattern interfered with already-learned discriminations.
      Despite having previously mastered a fading step with the incorrect stimulus up
      to 60 %, we were unable to maintain consistently high accuracy beyond 20 % of
      full size. We refined the teaching program such that fading was done in smaller
      steps (5 %), and decisions to "step back" to a smaller incorrect stimulus were
      made after every 5-instead of 20-trials. Errors were rare, switching behavior
      stopped, and he mastered the discrimination. This is a practical example of the
      importance of designing instruction that prevents adventitious reinforcement of
      maladaptive discriminated response patterns by reducing errors during
      acquisition. 

PMID- 27622129
TI  - BACB Certification Trends: State of the States (1999 to 2014).
AB  - Since the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) was officially created in
      1998 (Shook, 2005), the number of individuals certified by the BACB has grown
      significantly, particularly in the USA. Some states have witnessed a steady
      growth in the number of certificants, whereas others have witnessed exponential
      growth. Many factors could account for these overall growth patterns, including
      (a) geographic variations in distribution of certificants across states, (b) the
      passage of autism insurance reform laws or state licensing laws that influence
      the professional practice of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services, and (c)
      the presence of major academic or practicum training programs. This report
      documents the growth and geographic distribution of Board Certified Behavior
      Analysts (BCBAs) and Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs) from
      1999 to 2014 and also discusses some of the factors that might have influenced
      the documented growth patterns. 

PMID- 27622130
TI  - Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviour for the Reduction of Severe Nail
      Biting.
AB  - The effects of differential reinforcement of other behaviour (DRO) were
      investigated for the treatment of severe self-injurious nail biting in an
      individual diagnosed with autism. A functional behaviour assessment (FBA)
      identified that the behaviour was maintained by automatic reinforcement.
      Following the implementation of the DRO procedure and access to reinforcing
      stimuli that were believed to provide similar sensory feedback to that of the
      self-injurious nail biting, the results indicate that the nail biting was
      successfully reduced and maintained at near zero levels. 

PMID- 27622131
TI  - Using a Progressive Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement as an Assessment Tool to
      Inform Treatment.
AB  - A handful of studies have examined the utility of progressive ratio schedules
      (PRs) of reinforcement in treatment development and treatment efficacy. The
      current case study explored the utility of PRs as an assessment tool to inform a
      differential reinforcement treatment package. A PRs assessment was used to
      identify the breaking point of a functional communicative response before and
      after treatment. The breaking point was used as the initial reinforcement
      schedule during treatment. Following treatment, the communicative response
      increased during a posttest PRs assessment, suggesting the efficacy of the
      treatment package. 

PMID- 27622132
TI  - Noncontingent Reinforcement in After-School Settings to Decrease Classroom
      Disruptive Behavior for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is the response-independent delivery of a
      reinforcer (Vollmer, Iwata, Zarcone, Smith, and Mazaleski in Journal of Applied
      Behavior Analysis 26: 9-21 1993). Two staff members (preservice education majors)
      implemented NCR procedures for two students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
      who exhibited problem behavior and attended an after-school program. The amount
      of training on NCR and procedural fidelity was measured for each staff member,
      and the effects of the treatment on problem behavior were evaluated. Results
      indicate NCR is a low-effort procedure that reduced problem behavior of two
      participants with ASD. * NCR can both reduce problem behaviors of clients who
      engage in difficult behaviors (Carr, Severtson, & Lepper, 2009). * NCR can be
      used for clients for whom extinction-induced behaviors are dangerous (Tucker,
      Sigafoos, and Bushell in Behavior Modification, 22: 529-547, 1998). *
      Nonbehavioral providers can implement NCR with high fidelity, making it a good
      procedure to use when collaborating with other professionals (teachers, SLP,
      parents, etc.; Matson, 2009). * NCR can be used when clinicians first begin
      working with a client until more detailed interventions are created. 

PMID- 27622133
TI  - Behavioral Skills Training to Improve the Abduction-Prevention Skills of Children
      with Autism.
AB  - A concurrent multiple baseline across participants design evaluated the effects
      of behavioral skills training (BST) on abduction-prevention skills of four
      children with autism. Across phases, confederates presented four types of
      abduction lures: (a) simple requests, (b) appeals to authority, (c) assistance
      requests, and (d) incentives. During baseline, lures resulted in children leaving
      with confederate strangers. During intervention, BST targeted a three-step
      response (i.e., refuse, move away, and report) and the abduction-prevention
      skills of all participants improved. Improvements generalized to novel settings
      and confederates and were maintained at 4 weeks. There is currently limited
      research on abduction-prevention pertaining to individuals with ASD. BST can be
      used to teach abduction-prevention skills to individuals with ASD. BST can be
      effective at teaching appropriate responses to multiple types of abduction lures.
      The effects of BST on multiple responses to multiple types of lures can
      generalize across settings and people and maintain over time. 

PMID- 27622134
TI  - Prenatal stress alters amygdala functional connectivity in preterm neonates.
AB  - Exposure to prenatal and early-life stress results in alterations in neural
      connectivity and an increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. In particular,
      alterations in amygdala connectivity have emerged as a common effect across
      several recent studies. However, the impact of prenatal stress exposure on the
      functional organization of the amygdala has yet to be explored in the prematurely
      born, a population at high risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. We test the
      hypothesis that preterm birth and prenatal exposure to maternal stress alter
      functional connectivity of the amygdala using two independent cohorts. The first
      cohort is used to establish the effects of preterm birth and consists of 12 very
      preterm neonates and 25 term controls, all without prenatal stress exposure. The
      second is analyzed to establish the effects of prenatal stress exposure and
      consists of 16 extremely preterm neonates with prenatal stress exposure and 10
      extremely preterm neonates with no known prenatal stress exposure. Standard
      resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and seed connectivity methods
      are used. When compared to term controls, very preterm neonates show
      significantly reduced connectivity between the amygdala and the thalamus, the
      hypothalamus, the brainstem, and the insula (p < 0.05). Similarly, when compared
      to extremely preterm neonates without exposure to prenatal stress, extremely
      preterm neonates with exposure to prenatal stress show significantly less
      connectivity between the left amygdala and the thalamus, the hypothalamus, and
      the peristriate cortex (p < 0.05). Exploratory analysis of the combined cohorts
      suggests additive effects of prenatal stress on alterations in amygdala
      connectivity associated with preterm birth. Functional connectivity from the
      amygdala to other subcortical regions is decreased in preterm neonates compared
      to term controls. In addition, these data, for the first time, suggest that
      prenatal stress exposure amplifies these decreases.

PMID- 27622135
TI  - Reduced load-dependent default mode network deactivation across executive tasks
      in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is associated with cognitive impairment and brain
      network dysconnectivity. Recent efforts have explored brain circuits underlying
      cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia and documented altered activation of large
      scale brain networks, including the task-positive network (TPN) and the task
      negative default mode network (DMN) in response to cognitive demands. However, to
      what extent TPN and DMN dysfunction reflect overlapping mechanisms and are
      dependent on cognitive state remain to be determined. METHODS: In the current
      study, we investigated the recruitment of TPN and DMN using independent component
      analysis in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (n = 29) and healthy
      controls (n = 21) during two different executive tasks probing planning/problem
      solving and spatial working memory. RESULTS: We found reduced load-dependent DMN
      deactivation across tasks in patients compared to controls. Furthermore, we
      observed only moderate associations between the TPN and DMN activation across
      groups, implying that the two networks reflect partly independent mechanisms.
      Additionally, whereas TPN activation was associated with task performance in both
      tasks, no such associations were found for DMN. CONCLUSION: These results support
      a general load-dependent DMN dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorder
      across two demanding executive tasks that is not merely an epiphenomenon of
      cognitive dysfunction.

PMID- 27622136
TI  - Amplitude variability over trials in hemodynamic responses in adolescents with
      ADHD: The role of the anterior default mode network and the non-specific role of
      the striatum.
AB  - It has been suggested that intra-individual variability (IIV) in performance on
      attention and other cognitive tasks might be a cognitive endophenotype in
      individuals with ADHD. Despite robust IIV findings in behavioral data, only
      sparse data exist on how what type of brain dysfunction underlies variable
      response times. In this study, we asked whether ADHD IIV in reaction time on a
      commonly-used test of attention might be related to variation in hemodynamic
      responses (HRs) observed trial-to-trial. Based on previous studies linking IIV to
      regions within the "default mode" network (DMN), we predicted that adolescents
      with ADHD would have higher HR variability in the DMN compared with controls, and
      this in turn would be related to behavioral IIV. We also explored the influence
      of social anxiety on HR variability in ADHD as means to test whether higher
      arousal associated with high trait anxiety would affect the neural abnormalities.
      We assessed single-trial variability of HRs, estimated from fMRI event-related
      responses elicited during an auditory oddball paradigm in adolescents with ADHD
      and healthy controls (11-18 years old; N = 46). Adolescents with ADHD had higher
      HR variability compared with controls in anterior regions of the DMN. This effect
      was specific to ADHD and not associated with traits of age, IQ and anxiety.
      However, an ADHD effect of higher HR variability also appeared in a basal ganglia
      network, but for these brain regions the relationships of HR variability and
      social anxiety levels were more complex. Performance IIV correlated significantly
      with variability of HRs in both networks. These results suggest that assessment
      of trial-to-trial HR variability in ADHD provides information beyond that
      detectable through analysis of behavioral data and average brain activation
      levels, revealing specific neural correlates of a possible ADHD IIV
      endophenotype.

PMID- 27622138
TI  - Brain glucose metabolism is associated with hormone level in Cushing's disease: A
      voxel-based study using FDG-PET.
AB  - Chronic exposure to elevated levels of glucocorticoids can exert a neurotoxic
      effect in patients, possibly manifesting as molecular imaging alterations in
      patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential association
      between brain metabolism and elevated hormone level using (18)F
      fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. We retrospectively enrolled 92
      consecutive patients with confirmed diagnosis of Cushing's disease. A voxel-based
      analysis was performed to investigate the association between cerebral (18)F
      fluorodeoxyglucose uptake and serum cortisol level. Relatively impaired
      metabolism of specific brain regions correlated with serum cortisol level was
      found. Specifically, notable correlations were found in the hippocampus,
      amygdala, and cerebellum, regions considered to be involved in the regulation and
      central action of glucocorticoids. Moreover, some hormone-associated regions were
      found in the frontal and occipital cortex, possibly mediating the cognitive
      changes seen in Cushing's disease. Our findings link patterns of perturbed brain
      metabolism relates to individual hormone level, thus presenting a substrate for
      cognitive disturbances seen in Cushing's disease patients, as well as in other
      conditions with abnormal cortisol levels.

PMID- 27622137
TI  - Abnormal white matter microstructure and increased extracellular free-water in
      the cingulum bundle associated with delusions in chronic schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence to suggest that delusions associated with
      schizophrenia arise from altered structural brain connectivity. The present study
      investigated whether structural changes in three major fasciculi that
      interconnect the limbic system - the cingulum bundle, uncinate fasciculus and
      fornix - are associated with delusions in chronic schizophrenia patients.
      METHODS: Free-water corrected Diffusion Tensor Imaging was used to investigate
      the association between delusions and both microstructural changes within these
      three fasciculi and extracellular changes in the surrounding free-water. Clinical
      data and diffusion MRI scans were obtained from 28 healthy controls and 86
      schizophrenia patients, of whom 34 had present state delusions, 35 had a lifetime
      history but currently remitted delusions, and 17 had never experienced delusions.
      RESULTS: While present state and remitted delusions were found to be associated
      with reduced free-water corrected fractional anisotropy (FAT) and increased free
      water corrected radial diffusivity (RDT) in the cingulum bundle bilaterally,
      extracellular free-water (FW) in the left cingulum bundle was found to be
      specifically associated with present state delusions in chronic schizophrenia. No
      changes were observed in the remaining tracts. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest that state and trait delusions in chronic schizophrenia are associated
      with microstructural processes, such as myelin abnormalities (as indicated by
      decreased FAT and increased RDT) in the cingulum bundle and that state delusions
      are additionally associated with extracellular processes such as
      neuroinflammation or atrophy (as indicated by increased FW) in the left cingulum
      bundle.

PMID- 27622139
TI  - Disrupted anatomic networks in the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
AB  - The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is an uncommon genetic disorder with an
      increased risk of psychosis. Although the neural substrates of psychosis and
      schizophrenia are not well understood, aberrations in cortical networks represent
      intriguing potential mechanisms. Investigations of anatomic networks within
      22q11DS are sparse. We investigated group differences in anatomic network
      structure in 48 individuals with 22q11DS and 370 typically developing controls by
      analyzing covariance patterns in cortical thickness among 68 regions of interest
      using graph theoretical models. Subjects with 22q11DS had less robust geographic
      organization relative to the control group, particularly in the occipital and
      parietal lobes. Multiple global graph theoretical statistics were decreased in
      22q11DS. These results are consistent with prior studies demonstrating decreased
      connectivity in 22q11DS using other neuroimaging methodologies.

PMID- 27622140
TI  - Using concurrent EEG and fMRI to probe the state of the brain in schizophrenia.
AB  - Perceptional abnormalities in schizophrenia are associated with hallucinations
      and delusions, but also with negative symptoms and poor functional outcome.
      Perception can be studied using EEG-derived event related potentials (ERPs).
      Because of their excellent temporal resolution, ERPs have been used to ask when
      perception is affected by schizophrenia. Because of its excellent spatial
      resolution, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to ask
      where in the brain these effects are seen. We acquired EEG and fMRI data
      simultaneously to explore when and where auditory perception is affected by
      schizophrenia. Thirty schizophrenia (SZ) patients and 23 healthy comparison
      subjects (HC) listened to 1000 Hz tones occurring about every second. We used
      joint independent components analysis (jICA) to combine EEG-based event-related
      potential (ERP) and fMRI responses to tones. Five ERP-fMRI joint independent
      components (JIC) were extracted. The "N100" JIC had temporal weights during N100
      (peaking at 100 ms post-tone onset) and fMRI spatial weights in superior and
      middle temporal gyri (STG/MTG); however, it did not differ between groups. The
      "P200" JIC had temporal weights during P200 and positive fMRI spatial weights in
      STG/MTG and frontal areas, and negative spatial weights in the nodes of the
      default mode network (DMN) and visual cortex. Groups differed on the "P200" JIC:
      SZ had smaller "P200" JIC, especially those with more severe avolition/apathy.
      This is consistent with negative symptoms being related to perceptual deficits,
      and suggests patients with avolition/apathy may allocate too few resources to
      processing external auditory events and too many to processing internal events.

PMID- 27622141
TI  - Relation between functional connectivity and rhythm discrimination in children
      who do and do not stutter.
AB  - Our ability to perceive and produce rhythmic patterns in the environment supports
      fundamental human capacities ranging from music and language processing to the
      coordination of action. This article considers whether spontaneous correlated
      brain activity within a basal ganglia-thalamocortical (rhythm) network is
      associated with individual differences in auditory rhythm discrimination.
      Moreover, do children who stutter with demonstrated deficits in rhythm perception
      have weaker links between rhythm network functional connectivity and rhythm
      discrimination? All children in the study underwent a resting-state fMRI session,
      from which functional connectivity measures within the rhythm network were
      extracted from spontaneous brain activity. In a separate session, the same
      children completed an auditory rhythm-discrimination task, where behavioral
      performance was assessed using signal detection analysis. We hypothesized that in
      typically developing children, rhythm network functional connectivity would be
      associated with behavioral performance on the rhythm discrimination task, but
      that this relationship would be attenuated in children who stutter. Results
      supported our hypotheses, lending strong support for the view that (1) children
      who stutter have weaker rhythm network connectivity and (2) the lack of a
      relation between rhythm network connectivity and rhythm discrimination in
      children who stutter may be an important contributing factor to the etiology of
      stuttering.

PMID- 27622143
TI  - Pregnancy in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis: a case series.
AB  - The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS disorders) are rare inherited diseases associated
      with multi-organ accumulation of glycosaminoglycans, leading to musculoskeletal,
      respiratory, cardiac, neurological, ophthalmological, otolaryngological, and
      gastrointestinal abnormalities. As a result of improvements in diagnosis, multi
      disciplinary care, and therapies such as enzyme replacement therapy and
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, an increasing number of patients with
      MPS are reaching adulthood and are involved in family planning. Data on fertility
      and pregnancy outcome in MPS is sparse and comprises primarily isolated case
      reports. To address this evidence gap, we present a case series on fertility and
      pregnancy in eight mothers and five fathers with MPS. This case series
      demonstrates that women with MPS have high-risk pregnancies and deliveries
      secondary to their underlying disease. However, with appropriate pre-conceptual
      multi-disciplinary evaluation, optimization and discussion regarding potential
      risks, combined with regular multi-disciplinary maternal and fetal surveillance
      in a tertiary center, the outcome of most pregnancies in this case series seems
      to be favorable with all babies developing normally. Partners of fathers with MPS
      had uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries. All children were healthy, with
      normal growth and development. 

PMID- 27622142
TI  - Resting-state fMRI study of acute migraine treatment with kinetic oscillation
      stimulation in nasal cavity.
AB  - Kinetic oscillatory stimulation (KOS) in the nasal cavity is a non-invasive
      cranial nerve stimulation method with promising efficacy for acute migraine and
      other inflammatory disorders. For a better understanding of the underlying
      neurophysiological mechanisms of KOS treatment, we conducted a resting-state
      functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of 10 acute migraine patients
      and 10 normal control subjects during KOS treatment in a 3 T clinical MRI
      scanner. The fMRI data were first processed using a group independent component
      analysis (ICA) method and then further analyzed with a voxel-wise 3-way ANOVA
      modeling and region of interest (ROI) of functional connectivity metrics. All
      migraine participants were relieved from their acute migraine symptoms after 10
      20 min KOS treatment and remained migraine free for 3-6 months. The resting-state
      fMRI result indicates that migraine patients have altered intrinsic functional
      activity in the anterior cingulate, inferior frontal gyrus and middle/superior
      temporal gyrus. KOS treatment gave rise to up-regulated intrinsic functional
      activity for migraine patients in a number of brain regions involving the limbic
      and primary sensory systems, while down regulating temporally the activity for
      normal controls in a few brain areas, such as the right dorsal posterior insula
      and inferior frontal gyrus. The result of this study confirms the efficacy of KOS
      treatment for relieving acute migraine symptoms and reducing attack frequency.
      Resting-state fMRI measurements demonstrate that migraine is associated with
      aberrant intrinsic functional activity in the limbic and primary sensory systems.
      KOS in the nasal cavity gives rise to the adjustment of the intrinsic functional
      activity in the limbic and primary sensory networks and restores the
      physiological homeostasis in the autonomic nervous system.

PMID- 27622144
TI  - The personal burden for caregivers of children with phenylketonuria: A cross
      sectional study investigating time burden and costs in the UK.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Management of phenylketonuria (PKU) is mainly achieved through
      strict dietary control that aims to limit the intake of phenylalanine (Phe).
      Adherence to this diet is burdensome due to the need for specially prepared low
      Phe meals and regular monitoring of Phe concentrations. A UK cross-sectional
      study was conducted to identify the personal time and monetary burden associated
      with aspects of the PKU lifestyle for caregivers of children (aged < 18 years)
      living with PKU. METHODS: Caregivers of pediatric patients with PKU attending one
      of four specialist metabolic centers in the UK were invited to participate in a
      questionnaire-based survey that evaluated different aspects of PKU management
      that could potentially present out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs) or time burden.
      Medical clinicians/dieticians provided patient information on PKU severity and an
      assessment of blood Phe control. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 114
      caregivers of 106 children having mild or moderate (n = 45; 39%) or classical (n
      = 60; 53%) PKU (severity data missing for n = 1), among whom 8 (8%) and 87 (82%)
      reported poorly controlled and controlled blood Phe status, respectively; Phe
      control data were missing for 11 children. Dietary management of PKU incurred a
      median time burden of > 19 h per week. OOPCs were incurred via attendance at PKU
      events, PKU-related equipment, and extra holiday expenditure. 21% of caregivers
      reduced their working hours (median 18.5 h/week) to care for their child, with a
      further 24% leaving their paid jobs completely. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
      Dietary management of PKU is associated with a considerable time burden for
      caregivers of pediatric patients with PKU. A personal financial burden also
      arises from OOPCs and lost earnings.

PMID- 27622145
TI  - Lateral elbow tendinopathy: Evidence of physiotherapy management.
AB  - Lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET) is a common musculoskeletal/sports injury. A
      plethora of physiotherapy techniques has been proposed in the management of LET.
      The exercise programme is the most common treatment in the management of LET. The
      optimal protocol of exercise programme is still unknown. The effectiveness of the
      exercise programme is low when it is applied as monotherapy. Therefore, exercise
      programme is combined with other physiotherapy modalities such as soft tissue
      techniques, external support, acupuncture, manual therapy and electrotherapy, in
      the treatment of LET. Future research is needed to determine which treatment
      strategy combined with exercise programme will provide the best results in LET
      rehabilitation. 

PMID- 27622146
TI  - Antibiotic-loaded phosphatidylcholine inhibits staphylococcal bone infection.
AB  - AIM: To test antibiotic-loaded coating for efficacy in reducing bacterial biofilm
      and development of osteomyelitis in an orthopaedic model of implant infection.
      METHODS: Phosphatidylcholine coatings loaded with 25% vancomycin were applied to
      washed and sterilized titanium wires 20 mm in length. A 10 mm segment was removed
      from rabbit radius (total = 9; 5 coated, 4 uncoated), and the segment was
      injected with 1 * 10(6) colony forming units (CFUs) of Staphylococcus aureus
      (UAMS-1 strain). Titanium wires were inserted through the intramedullary canal of
      the removed segment and into the proximal radial segment and the segment was
      placed back into the defect. After 7 d, limbs were removed, X-rayed, swabbed for
      tissue contamination. Wires were removed and processed to determine attached
      CFUs. Tissue was swabbed and streaked on agar plates to determine bacteriological
      score. RESULTS: Antibiotic-loaded coatings resulted in significantly reduced
      biofilm formation (4.7 fold reduction in CFUs; P < 0.001) on titanium wires and
      reduced bacteriological score in surrounding tissue (4.0 +/- 0 for uncoated, 1.25
      +/- 0.5 for coated; P = 0.01). Swelling and pus formation was evident in uncoated
      controls at the 7 d time point both visually and radiographically, but not in
      antibiotic-loaded coatings. CONCLUSION: Active antibiotic was released from
      coated implants and significantly reduced signs of osteomyelitic symptoms.
      Implant coatings were well tolerated in bone. Further studies with additional
      control groups and longer time periods are warranted. Antibiotic-loaded
      phosphatidylcholine coatings applied at the point of care could prevent implant
      associated infection in orthopaedic defects.

PMID- 27622147
TI  - Using simulation to train orthopaedic trainees in non-technical skills: A pilot
      study.
AB  - AIM: To enhance non-technical skills and to analyse participant's experience of a
      course tailored for orthopaedic surgeons. METHODS: A Delphi technique was used to
      develop a course in human factors specific to orthopaedic residents. Twenty-six
      residents (six per course) participated in total with seven course facilitators
      all trained in Crisis Resource Management providing structured feedback. Six
      scenarios recreated challenging real-life situations using high-fidelity
      mannequins and simulated patients. Environments included a simulated operating
      suite, clinic room and ward setting. All were undertaken in a purpose built
      simulation suite utilising actors, mock operating rooms, mock clinical rooms and
      a high fidelity adult patient simulator organised through a simulation control
      room. Participants completed a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire (strongly
      disagree to strongly agree) before and after the course. This assessed their
      understanding of non-technical skills, scenario validity, relevance to
      orthopaedic training and predicted impact of the course on future practice. A
      course evaluation questionnaire was also completed to assess participants'
      feedback on the value and quality of the course itself. RESULTS: Twenty-six
      orthopaedic residents participated (24 male, 2 female; post-graduation 5-10
      years), mean year of residency program 2.6 out of 6 years required in the United
      Kingdom. Pre-course questionnaires showed that while the majority of candidates
      recognised the importance of non-technical (NT) skills in orthopaedic training
      they demonstrated poor understanding of non-technical skills and their role. This
      improved significantly after the course (Likert score 3.0-4.2) and the perceived
      importance of these skills was reported as good or very good in 100%. The course
      was reported as enjoyable and provided an unthreatening learning environment with
      the candidates placing particular value on the learning opportunity provided by
      reflecting on their performance. All agreed that the course achieved its intended
      aims with realistic simulation scenarios. Participants believed patient care,
      patient safety and team working would all improve with further human factors
      training (4.4-4.6). and felt that NT skills learnt through simulation-based
      training should become an integral component of their training program.
      CONCLUSION: Participants demonstrated improved understanding of non-technical
      performance, recognised its relevance to patient safety and expressed a desire
      for its integration in training.

PMID- 27622148
TI  - Criteria for level 1 and level 2 trauma codes: Are pelvic ring injuries
      undertriaged?
AB  - AIM: To determine the association of unstable pelvic ring injuries with trauma
      code status. METHODS: A retrospective review of all pelvic ring injuries at a
      single academic center from July 2010 to June 2013 was performed. The trauma
      registry was used to identify level 1 and level 2 trauma codes for each injury.
      The computed tomography scans in all patients were classified as stable or
      unstable using the Abbreviated Injury Scale. Pelvic injury classifications in
      level 1 and level 2 groups were compared. Patient disposition at discharge in
      level 1 and level 2 groups were also compared. RESULTS: There were 108 level 1
      and 130 level 2 blunt trauma admissions. In the level 1 group, 67% of pelvic
      injuries were classified as stable fracture patterns and 33% were classified as
      unstable. In the level 2 group, 62% of pelvic injuries were classified as stable
      fracture patterns and 38% were classified as unstable. level 1 trauma code was
      not associated with odds of having an unstable fracture pattern (OR = 0.83,
      95%CI: 0.48-1.41, P = 0.485). In the level 1 group with unstable pelvic injuries,
      33% were discharged to home, 36% to a rehabilitation facility, and 32% died. In
      the level 2 group with unstable pelvic injuries, 65% were discharged to home, 31%
      to a rehabilitation facility, and 4% died. For those with unstable pelvic
      fractures (n = 85), assignment of a level 2 trauma code was associated with
      reduced odds of death (OR = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.01-0.35, P = 0.001) as compared to
      being discharged to home. CONCLUSION: Trauma code level assignment is not
      correlated with severity of pelvic injury. Because an unstable pelvis can lead to
      hemodynamic instability, these injuries may be undertriaged.

PMID- 27622149
TI  - Femoro Patella Vialla patellofemoral arthroplasty: An independent assessment of
      outcomes at minimum 2-year follow-up.
AB  - AIM: To determine outcomes using the Femoro-Patella Vialla (FPV) arthroplasty and
      if there is an ideal patient for this implant. METHODS: A total of 41 FPV
      patellofemoral joint replacements were performed in 31 patients (22 females, 9
      males, mean age 65 years). Mean follow-up was 3.2 years (minimum 2 years).
      Radiographs were reviewed preoperatively and postoperatively. We assessed whether
      gender, age, previous surgery, patella atla or trochlear dysplasia influenced
      patient satisfaction or patient functional outcome. RESULTS: The median Oxford
      Knee Score was 40 and the median Melbourne Patellofemoral Score was 21
      postoperatively. Seventy-six percent of patients were satisfied, 10% unsure and
      14% dissatisfied postoperatively. There was no radiological progression of
      tibiofemoral joint arthritis, using the Ahlback grading, in any patient. One
      patient, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis postoperatively, underwent
      revision to total knee replacement. There were no intraoperative lateral releases
      and no implant failures. Gender, age, the presence of trochlear dysplasia,
      patella alta or bilateral surgery did not influence patient outcome. Previous
      surgery did not correlate with outcome. CONCLUSION: In contrast to the current
      literature, the FPV shows promising early results. However, we cannot identify a
      subgroup of patients with superior outcomes.

PMID- 27622150
TI  - Condensing osteitis of the clavicle in children.
AB  - AIM: To confirm the rarity of this disorder and then to evaluate the effects of
      antibiotic treatment alone and assess whether this could produce a complete
      remission of symptoms in children and adolescents. METHODS: We made a
      retrospective review of all cases of condensing osteitis of the clavicle in
      children and adolescents between January 2007 and January 2016. Outpatient and
      inpatient medical records, with radiographs, magnetic resonance imaging,
      triphasic bone scan and computed tomography scans were retrospectively reviewed.
      All the patients underwent biopsy of the affected clavicle and were treated with
      intra venous (IV) antibiotics followed by oral antibiotics. RESULTS: Seven cases
      of condensing osteitis of the clavicle were identified. All the patients
      presented with swelling of the medial end of the clavicle, and 5 out of 7
      reported persisting pain. The patients' mean age at presentation was 11.5 years
      (range 10.5-13). Biopsy confirmed the diagnosis in all cases. All the patients
      completed the treatment with IV and oral antibiotics. At last follow-up visit
      none of the patients complained of residual pain; all had a clinically evident
      reduction in the swelling of the medial end of the affected clavicle. The mean
      follow-up was 4 years (range 2-7). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that condensing
      osteitis of the clavicle is a rare condition. Biopsy is needed to confirm
      diagnosis. The condition should be managed with IV and oral antibiotics.
      Aggressive surgery should be avoided.

PMID- 27622151
TI  - Four corner fusion using a multidirectional angular stable locking plate.
AB  - AIM: To review the results of our experience with the Medartis Aptus plating
      system for four corner arthrodesis of the wrist, which uses a combination of
      compression screws and variable angle locking screws. METHODS: We reviewed the
      results of 17 procedures in 16 patients that underwent scaphoid excision and four
      corner fusion using the Medartis Aptus system between May 2010 and June 2014. The
      primary outcome measure was radiographic and clinical union. RESULTS: The mean
      clinical follow up time was 20.6 mo. The mean union time was 6 mo. Two non-unions
      required revision procedures. The mean disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand
      score taken after union was 36. The mean final grip strength was 27 kg. The mean
      final range of movement was 30 degrees  flexion and 31 degrees  of extension. All
      patients had a restored scapholunate angle on postoperative radiographs. There
      were no incidences of dorsal impingement. CONCLUSION: Overall our experience with
      the Aptus plating system shows comparable results to other methods of fixation
      for four corner fusion, in the short to medium term.

PMID- 27622152
TI  - Validation of the functional rating index for the assessment of athletes with
      neck pain.
AB  - AIM: To validate the culturally-adapted Persian Functional Rating Index (PFRI)
      for assessing neck pain (NP) in athletes. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study,
      100 athletes with NP and 50 healthy athletes participated and responded to the
      PFRI. Fifty athletes with NP completed the PFRI for at least 7 d later to
      establish test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The athletes with NP responded to all
      items, indicating excellent clinical utility. No floor and ceiling effects were
      found, indicating content validity and responsiveness. The PFRI revealed
      capability to discriminate between the athletes with NP and healthy athletes. The
      PFRI demonstrated strong correlation with the Numerical Rating Scale (Spearman's
      rho = 0.94), and the Persian Neck Disability Index (Pearson r = 0.995),
      supporting criterion and construct validity. Internal consistency reliability was
      high (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.97). The test-retest reliability was
      excellent (ICCagreement = 0.96). The absolute reliability values of standard
      error of measurement and smallest detectable change were 3.2 and 8.84,
      respectively. An exploratory factor analysis yielded one factor explaining 78.03%
      of the total variance. CONCLUSION: The PFRI is a valid and reliable measure of
      functional status in athletes with NP.

PMID- 27622153
TI  - Slacklining and stroke: A rehabilitation case study considering balance and lower
      limb weakness.
AB  - To ascertain the effectiveness of slacklining as a supplementary therapy for
      elderly stroke patients who are functionally non-progressing. This case study
      involved an 18-mo prospective observation of the management of an 87-year-old
      female stroke-patient of the left hemisphere with reduced balance, reduced lower
      limb muscular activation, hypertonia, and concurrent postural deficits. This
      entailed the initial acute care phase through to discharge to home and 18-mo
      final status in her original independent living setting. The introduction of
      slacklining as an adjunct therapy was made 12 mo post incident. Slacklining
      involves balance retention on a tightened band where external environmental
      changes cause a whole-body dynamic response to retain equilibrium. It is a
      complex neuromechanical task enabling individualized self-developed response
      strategies to be learned and adapted. This facilitates the innate process of
      balance retention, lower-limb and core muscle activation, and stable posture
      through a combination of learned motor skills and neurological system down
      regulation. Individuals adopt and follow established sequential motor learning
      stages where the acquired balance skills are achieved in a challenging composite
      chain activity. Slacklining could be considered an adjunct therapy for lower limb
      stroke rehabilitation where function is compromised due to decreased muscle
      recruitment, decreased postural control and compromised balance. Initial
      inpatient rehabilitation involved one-month acute-care, one-month rehabilitation,
      and one-month transitional care prior to home discharge. A further six months of
      intensive outpatient rehabilitation was provided with five hourly sessions per
      week including:supervised and self-managed hydrotherapy, plus one individual and
      two group falls' prevention sessions. These were supported by daily home
      exercises. At 12 mo post incident, recovery plateaued, then regressed following
      three falls. Rehabilitation was subsequently modified with the hydrotherapy
      retained and the group sessions replaced with an additional individual session
      supplemented with slacklining. The slacklining followed stages one and two of a
      standardized five-stage protocol. Self-reported functional progression resumed
      with improvement by 14 mo which further increased and was sustained 18 mo
      (Students' t test P < 0.05). Slacklining's external stimulations activate global
      body responses through innate balance, optimal postural and potentially down
      regulated reflex control. Incorporated into stroke rehabilitation programs,
      slacklining can provide measurable functional gains. 

PMID- 27622154
TI  - Selected suitable seed cell, scaffold and growth factor could maximize the repair
      effect using tissue engineering method in spinal cord injury.
AB  - Spinal cord injury usually leads to permanent disability, which could cause a
      huge financial problem to the patient. Up to now there is no effective method to
      treat this disease. The key of the treatment is to enable the damage zone axonal
      regeneration and luckily it could go through the damage zone; last a connection
      can be established with the target neurons. This study attempts to combine stem
      cell, material science and genetic modification technology together, by preparing
      two genes modified adipose-derived stem cells and inducing them into neuron
      direction; then by compositing them on the silk fibroin/chitosan scaffold and
      implanting them into the spinal cord injury model, seed cells can have features
      of neuron cells. At the same time, it could stably express the brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3, both of which could produce synergistic
      effects, which have a positive effect on the recovery of spinal cord. The spinal
      cord scaffold bridges the broken end of the spinal cord and isolates with the
      surrounding environment, which could avoid a scar effect on the nerve
      regeneration and provide three-dimensional space for the seed cell growth, and at
      last we hope to provide a new treatment for spinal cord injury with the tissue
      engineering technique. 

PMID- 27622155
TI  - Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in the lateral abdominal wall of local Libyan
      ewes.
AB  - Gross and histopathological features of surgically excised squamous cell
      carcinomas (SCC) observed in thirteen local Libyan ewes were reported. The age of
      the ewes enrolled in the current study ranged from 2 to 3 years. The cases were
      admitted to private veterinary clinics in south-western region of Tripoli, Libya,
      during the period between July 2014 and October 2015. All lesions were located in
      the right and left lateral abdominal wall (caudo-ventrally) with a size range of
      8 to 11cm in diameter. The tumor masses have been removed by surgical excision.
      The histopathological examination of surgically excised masses has revealed the
      characteristic cell nests of SCC showing central keratinization and hyalinization
      with presence of apoptotic bodies, fattened keratinocytes, and a heavy
      interstitial infiltration of neutrophils and lymphocytes. The follow up of the
      cases showed no signs of tumor reoccurrence. In conclusion, SCC in Libyan sheep
      affects mainly the woolless areas and can be successfully removed by surgical
      excision. 

PMID- 27622156
TI  - Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with bovine herpesvirus 1 and bovine
      viral diarrhea virus in North-Eastern Mexico.
AB  - Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) and bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) are well
      known etiological agents of cattle that produce important economic losses due to
      reproductive failures and calf mortality, as well as enteric and respiratory
      disease. Tamaulipas is located northeast of Mexico, an important cattle
      production and the principal exporter of calf and heifer to the United States.
      The objectives of this study were to estimate the seroprevalence of BoHV-1 and of
      BVDV, and to determine the effects of risk factors on these infections. Blood
      samples of cattle from 57 farms from rural districts of Tamaulipas were
      collected. The samples were tested for antibodies against BoHV-1 and BVDV using
      commercial ELISA kits. Data on potential risk factors were obtained using a
      questionnaire administered to the farmer at the time the blood samples were
      taken. The seroprevalences for BoHV-1 and BVDV were 64.4% and 47.8%,
      respectively. In the logistic regression analysis, the significant risk factors
      were rural district, herd size and cattle introduced to the farm. This study
      confirms the high seroprevalence of BoHV-1 and BVDV in unvaccinated cattle in
      Tamaulipas, Mexico. The results of this study could be used for the development
      of BoHV-1 and BVDV prevention and control program in North-Eastern, Mexico. 

PMID- 27622157
TI  - Dose-Escalated Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Quality
      of-Life Comparison of Two Prospective Trials.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The optimal prostate stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)
      dose-fractionation scheme is controversial. This study compares long-term quality
      of life (QOL) from two prospective trials of prostate SBRT to investigate the
      effect of increasing dose (NCT01578902 and NCT01146340). MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Patients with localized prostate cancer received SBRT 35 or 40 Gy delivered in
      five fractions, once per week. QOL was measured using the Expanded Prostate
      Cancer Index Composite at baseline and every 6 months. Fisher's exact test and
      generalized estimating equations were used to analyze proportions of patients
      with clinically significant change and longitudinal changes in QOL. RESULTS: One
      hundred fourteen patients were included, 84 treated with 35 Gy and 30 treated
      with 40 Gy. Median QOL follow-up was 56 months [interquartile range (IQR) 46-60]
      and 38 months (IQR 32-42), respectively. The proportion of patients reporting
      clinically significant declines in average urinary, bowel, and sexual scores were
      not significantly different between dose levels, and were 20.5 vs. 24.1% (p =
      0.60), 26.8 vs. 41.4% (p = 0.16), and 42.9 vs. 38.5% (p = 0.82), respectively.
      Similarly, longitudinal analysis did not identify significant differences in QOL
      between treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Dose-escalated prostate SBRT from 35 to 40
      Gy in five fractions was not associated with significant decline in long-term
      QOL.

PMID- 27622158
TI  - Association of Family History of Type 2 Diabetes with Prostate Cancer: A National
      Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Personal history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated
      with a lower incidence of prostate cancer, but the underlying mechanisms are
      largely unknown. We hypothesized that genetic factors that are involved in the
      development of T2DM might protect against prostate cancer. METHODS: We used a few
      Swedish registers, including the Swedish Multigeneration Register and the Cancer
      Register, to examine the risk of prostate cancer among men with a family history
      of T2DM. Standardized incidence ratios were used to calculate the relative risk.
      RESULTS: The overall risk of prostate cancer among men with a familial history of
      T2DM was 0.87 (95% CI: 0.86-0.89) as compared to matched controls. The risk was
      even lower for those multiple affected relatives with T2DM, and it was 0.86 for
      those with two affected relatives and 0.67 for those with three and more affected
      relatives. CONCLUSION: Family history of T2DM was associated with a lower
      incidence of prostate cancer, and the risk was even lower for those with more
      than one affected relative. Our study strongly suggests that genetic factors or
      shared familial factors, such as obesity, that contributed to T2DM may protect
      against prostate cancer.

PMID- 27622159
TI  - The transition from co-morbidities to geriatric syndromes in HIV.

PMID- 27622160
TI  - Syphilis on the rise: A prolonged syphilis outbreak among HIV-infected patients
      in Northern Greece.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a major public health
      issue in Europe. Numerous outbreaks of syphilis have been described recently and
      an increased prevalence of high-risk sexual practices has raised concern about
      the transmission of HIV and other STDs. Similarly, an increase in sexually
      transmitted infections has been recorded in Northern Greece. METHODS: This report
      describes a recent outbreak of syphilis in people living with HIV. The
      demographic, clinical, and serologic data of HIV patients diagnosed with syphilis
      were recorded and analyzed. Data on syphilis incidence from the general
      population was also compared to HIV patients' data. RESULTS: Fifty-eight HIV
      patients of the Infectious Diseases Unit of a tertiary hospital (5.2%) were
      diagnosed with syphilis during a three-year period (2008-2010). Highly active
      antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and coexistence of other STDs were independent
      predictors of syphilis (OR: 2.4, 95CI%: 1.26, 4.63, p=0.008; OR: 9.4, 95%CI:
      4.49, 19.64, p<0.001, respectively). Origin from a country other than Greece
      (p=0.005), and homosexual contact (p=0.003), were separate risk factors for
      syphilis in the general population in the same area. CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of a
      sexually transmitted disease in an HIV patient is a crucial clinical event that
      should trigger the clinician's suspicion for high-risk sexual behavior. Sexual
      health assessments should be a routine process for HIV patients.

PMID- 27622161
TI  - Prevalence, virulence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Aeromonas spp.
      isolated from children with diarrhea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aeromonas spp. cause various intestinal and extraintestinal diseases.
      These bacteria are usually isolated from fecal samples, especially in children
      under five years old. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of
      Aeromonas spp. and their antimicrobial resistance profile in children with
      diarrhea referred to the Children Medical Center in Tehran, between 2013 and
      2014. METHODS: A total number of 391 stool samples were collected from children
      with ages between 1 day and 14 years old, with diarrhea (acute or chronic),
      referred to the Children Hospital, Tehran, Iran, between 2013 and 2014. Samples
      were enriched in alkaline peptone water broth for 24 hours at 37  degrees C and
      then cultured. Suspicious colonies were analyzed through biochemical tests.
      Furthermore, antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out for the
      isolates. Isolates were further studied for act, ast, alt, aerA and hlyA
      virulence genes using polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: In total, 12 isolates
      (3.1%) were identified as Aeromonas spp.; all were confirmed using the API-20E
      test. Of these isolates, five A. caviae (42%), four A. veronii (33%) and three A.
      hydrophila (25%) were identified in cases with gastroenteritis. Second to
      ampicillin (which was included in the growth medium used), the highest rate of
      antimicrobial resistance was seen against nalidixic acid and trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole (5 isolates each, 41.6%) and the lowest rate of antimicrobial
      resistance was seen against gentamicin, amikacin and cefepime (none of the
      isolates). Results included 76.4% act, 64.7% ast, 71.5% alt, 83.3% aerA and 11.7%
      hlyA genes. CONCLUSION: Aeromonas spp. are important due to their role in
      diarrhea in children; therefore, isolation and identification of these fecal
      pathogens should seriously be considered in medical laboratories. Since virulence
      genes play a significant role in gastroenteritis symptoms caused by these
      bacteria, Aeromonas species that include virulence genes are potentially
      suspected to cause severe infections. Moreover, bacterial antimicrobial
      resistance is increasing, especially against trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and
      nalidixic acid.

PMID- 27622162
TI  - Rotavirus gastroenteritis in children less than five years of age in primary care
      settings in Bulgaria: an observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotavirus (RV) causes a high proportion of acute gastroenteritis
      (AGE) cases, especially among children under the age of five years old. This
      surveillance study was undertaken to study the incidence and severity of
      rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) in primary care settings in Bulgaria over a one
      year period. METHODS: In this prospective, observational study of AGE cases in
      children under five years of age presenting in the primary care setting over a
      one year period, stool samples were collected and tested for RV using a rapid
      visual immunochromatographic test kit. After the first visit, parents monitored
      their child for about two weeks and reported the symptoms experienced by the
      child during the follow-up period to the physician in a follow-up phone call. The
      percentage of RVGE cases among AGE was calculated and the severity of AGE
      (according to the 20-point Vesikari scale) was assessed by the physician based on
      the symptoms reported by the parents. The seasonality of RVGE was also studied.
      RESULTS: The proportion of RVGE among the 624 AGE cases examined was 25.5%.
      Severe AGE was experienced by 81.8% RV-positive and 54.6% RV-negative children (p
      value <0.001) and a third of all severe AGE cases occurred in RV-positive
      patients. A multivariate logistic regression analysis of the determinants of
      hospitalization indicated that severity of disease and RV-positivity were the
      statistically significant variables explaining hospitalization of AGE cases; even
      controlling for severity, RV-positive patients were more often hospitalized than
      RV-negative ones. RVGE cases occurred throughout the year, with peaks during
      August and September. CONCLUSION: Our study emphasizes that RV is an important
      cause of AGE in children under five presenting in primary care settings in
      Bulgaria and a disproportionately high proportion of severe AGE cases may be
      attributed to RV infections. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01733849.

PMID- 27622163
TI  - Spondylodiscitis and bacteremia due to Staphylococcus hyicus in an
      immunocompetent man.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Staphylococcus hyicus is a coagulase-variable Staphylococcus spp.
      well-known by veterinarians since it is the major agent of a severe cutaneous
      infection in piglets called exudative epidermitis. In other species the symptoms
      of infection are quite different. Human cases are uncommon but seem to occur more
      frequently after repeated contacts with farm animals. CASE REPORT: We report the
      case of a 58-year-old man suffering from debilitating subacute lumbar pain, in
      whom diagnosis of infectious spondylodiscitis was based on spine MRI and positive
      microbiological results. A strain of S. hyicus was surprisingly isolated from
      blood cultures and bone biopsy. Identification was confirmed by matrix-assisted
      laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS,
      Bruker, USA), and the patient was successfully cured with a six-week course of
      anti-staphylococcal antibiotic regimen. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of S. hyicus
      in human clinical samples is very low, but may be underestimated. This pathogen
      may enter the bloodstream through a skin injury, and then induce various pyogenic
      manifestations in people working with farm animals. S. hyicus exfoliative toxins,
      responsible for dermatological lesions in piglets, seem unable to damage the
      human epidermis, explaining the absence of cutaneous blisters in the previously
      reported cases. Precise data about its pathogenicity in humans and the adequate
      therapy are lacking.

PMID- 27622164
TI  - Pathways to Addiction: A Gender-Based Study on Drug Use in a Triangular Clinic
      and Drop-in Center, Kerman, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Addiction is characterized differently among women and men, and they
      begin using drugs for different reasons and motives. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      study was to explore the gendered experiences and patterns of illicit drug use
      initiation in an Iranian context. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 29
      participants (15 men and 14 women) took part in in-depth interviews conducted at
      a HIV triangulation clinic (for men and women) and drop-in-center for women in
      Kerman in 2011. RESULTS: The results of the study suggest that patterns of drug
      use are different among Iranian men and women. Men often transit to drug use from
      cigarette smoking, whereas women's drug use practices often begins with opium.
      Unlike women, men who used drugs were often single at their drug use debut.
      CONCLUSIONS: Different patterns of first exposure to drug use among men and women
      highlight the role of gendered expectations and socio-cultural norms in shaping
      drug use experiences of people who use drugs and call for gender-specific harm
      reduction interventions.

PMID- 27622165
TI  - Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the
      Circumstances, Motivation, and Readiness Scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment motivation has always been an important issue in substance
      abuse treatment. In recent decades, several instruments have been developed to
      measure this concept. OBJECTIVES: In this study, cultural adaptation and
      psychometric properties of the Persian version of the circumstances, motivation
      and readiness scale (CMR) are illustrated in a sample of Iranian addicts.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The translation process followed Beaton et al.'s (2000)
      guideline for the cross-cultural adaptation of self-administered questionnaires,
      including the steps of translation, synthesis, back translation, expert committee
      review, and pre-testing. The final version of the Persian CMR was assessed for
      internal consistency and construct validity (n = 203). RESULTS: There was one
      eliminated item in the cross-cultural adaptation process. Also, four items that
      had low correlation with the total score were excluded from the questionnaire
      during the initial analysis. Using the remaining items, Principle axis factoring
      with Promax rotation was performed and three factors, circumstance, motivation,
      and readiness, were identified. The secondary order three factor model provided a
      good statistical and conceptual fit for the data. Internal consistency met the
      criterion for a reliable measure (Cronbach's alpha = 0.840). The alpha range for
      these identified factors was 0.597 to 0.837. CONCLUSIONS: Although the CMR was
      originally designed for use in TC treatment, this study suggests that it is also
      applicable, with some modifications, in short-term residential camps. Also, it is
      concluded that the Persian translation of the CMR can be applied for studies
      among Persian addicts.

PMID- 27622166
TI  - Suicide Probability in Adolescents With a History of Childhood Maltreatment: The
      Role of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Emotion Regulation Difficulties, and Forms of
      Self-Criticism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suicidal attempt and non-suicidal self-injury are very common in
      adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment. By identifying correlates
      of these kinds of high-risk behaviors, it is possible to prevent and decrease
      completed suicide. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were: 1) to compare
      adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment with non-suicidal self
      injury (NSSI) or past suicidal attempt in terms of suicide probability, and 2) to
      investigate the association between NSSI, forms of self-criticism, emotion
      regulation difficulties, and suicide probability. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Participants were 169 adolescents living in Iranian social welfare centers who
      had a history of childhood maltreatment. The Suicide Probability Scale,
      Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Forms of Self-criticism, and the Non
      Suicidal Self injury (NSSI) checklist were used for assessment. RESULTS:
      Adolescents with NSSI and suicidal attempts had higher rates of suicide ideation
      than adolescents with NSSI-only (P < 0.05). Feelings of inadequacy, self-hatred,
      difficulty with impulse control, and frequency of NSSI can predict 50% variance
      of suicide probability (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with histories of
      suicidal attempts and NSSI, compared with adolescents with NSSI-only, were more
      prone to suicide. Self-criticism, poor impulse control, and the frequency of NSSI
      were the main risk factors associated with suicide probability in adolescents
      with a history of childhood maltreatment.

PMID- 27622167
TI  - Miswak/Derum Manipulation, a Common Habit in Baluchestan, Iran.

PMID- 27622168
TI  - Effect of Moderate Exercise on Serum Interferon-Gamma and Interleukin-17 Levels
      in the Morphine Withdrawal Period.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drug addiction triggers the infliction of a variety of diseases.
      Various subjects have indicated that during the withdrawal syndrome period, the
      immune system is weakened. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the
      changes in serum levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-17 (IL
      17) during the morphine withdrawal syndrome induced by 8 weeks of moderate
      exercise and their effects on the immune system function. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty-four male Wistar rats (220 +/- 10 g) were divided into four groups (n =
      6): healthy control (HC), addicted control (AC), healthy trained (HT), and
      addicted trained (AT) groups. AC and AT groups were made addicted to morphine
      sulfate (0.4 mg/mL) in 21 days. To ensure their dependence on morphine, naloxone
      (3 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected into the body of a number of the rats. HT and AT
      groups were made to run on a treadmill 5 days per week for 8 weeks while time and
      speed gradually increased. Both prior to the exercises and 24 hours after the
      last training session, blood samples were collected from all the animals, and
      serum IFN-gamma and IL-17 serum levels were measured using the ELISA method. This
      research was performed at the Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran. RESULTS:
      After 8 weeks of exercise, a significant increase was observed in the serum IFN
      gamma level in the HT group (251.17 +/- 13.045) in comparison with the HC group
      (234 +/- 12.884) (P = 0.045). Furthermore, the serum IFN-gamma level in the AT
      group (218.33 +/- 5.164) in comparison to the AC group (190.67 +/- 8.477) showed
      a significant increase (P = 0.000). In addition, the serum level of IFN-gamma in
      the HT group showed a significant increase compared to the AT group (P = 0.000).
      After 8 weeks of exercise, there was a significant decrease in the serum IL-17
      level in the HT group (22.67 +/- 4.46) compared with the HC group (38.17 +/-
      7.68) (P = 0.005). In addition, a significant decrease was observed in serum IL
      17 in the AT group (42.17 +/- 7.41) in comparison with the AC group (57.17 +/-
      7.83) (P = 0.007). In addition, the serum IL-17 level in the HT group
      significantly decreased in comparison with the AT group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Moderate exercise for 8 weeks increased the IFN-gamma and decreased the IL-17
      serum levels in the morphine-dependent rats. For this reason, this type of
      exercise can improve the function of the immune system during morphine withdrawal
      syndrome.

PMID- 27622169
TI  - Family Risk Factors Among Women With Addiction-Related Problems: An Integrative
      Review.
AB  - CONTEXT: Recent years have produced many articles about women's addiction and its
      risk factors and the consequences of substance use and misuse in the emotional,
      social, psychological, and economic domains of life. Family vulnerabilities are
      one of the most important variables contributing to addiction among women. Thus,
      the purpose of this article is to investigate areas of family life that lead to
      women's taking up and maintaining drug and alcohol abuse. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A
      database search of PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer, and Google Scholar was
      conducted using the following keywords: "women and addiction", "women addiction
      and family", "addiction", "substance abuse" and "family". For the first step, we
      chose studies that were conducted between 2000 and 2015, and for the second step,
      studies conducted before 2000. We categorized all search results into three main
      groups: processes related to family disturbances, factors related to parenting
      styles, and variables related to partners. RESULTS: Partners, parenting styles,
      and family disturbances are three main factors affecting children growing up in a
      family and their inclination toward addiction. Some of these pathways are
      complicated and indirect, and some are straightforward. CONCLUSIONS: Future
      research should pay more attention to the mechanisms and pathways mediating or
      moderating the relationship between family risk factors and addiction in women.
      Clinicians and researchers should keep in mind these vulnerabilities and take
      into consideration factors special to processes related to addiction in women.

PMID- 27622170
TI  - Persian At-Risk Women and Barriers to Receiving HIV Services in Drug Treatment:
      First Report From Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the most populated Persian Gulf country, in Iran, engagement with
      drug injection and unsafe sex are the main routes of HIV transmission among some
      drug-dependent women. OBJECTIVES: The current study explored the barriers that a
      group of drug-dependent women reported in accessing and adhering to HIV services
      in drug use treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Qualitative interviews were
      conducted with 47 Persian women at five outpatient drug treatment centers between
      January and December 2011. Five focus group interviews were conducted with ten
      key informants (KI). The interviews made use of a semi-structured interview
      guide, which facilitated discussion regarding the barriers. The interview
      transcripts were analyzed thematically using Atlas-ti software. RESULTS: The
      interview accounts highlighted a number of barriers, including stigmatization, a
      considerable lack of knowledge about free HIV centers in the community, previous
      traumatic events, misconceptions about the quality of HIV services, and a poor
      supportive referral system among drug treatment and HIV centers. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings highlight a need for removing stigma and providing high quality women
      only HIV services. Increasing trust and knowledge of available HIV services are
      needed for this group of women. Increasing staff knowledge is a priority. An
      integrated supportive network among drug treatment and HIV centers is suggested
      in Iran.

PMID- 27622171
TI  - Chemical Components of Noncommercial Alcohol Beverage Samples: A Study With the
      Viewpoint of Toxic Components in Mashhad, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iran has one of the lowest alcoholic beverage use rates in comparison
      with other countries, because it is legally forbidden and because of religious
      beliefs. Even so, unrecorded and noncommercial alcohol remains a considerable
      concern, which needs special attention. OBJECTIVES: In the current research, we
      have studied the general composition of noncommercial alcohol samples to identify
      potentially toxic components in the context of the city of Mashhad in IR Iran.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a descriptive study, chemical composition records of
      alcohol samples obtained from Mashhad and its suburbs (from March 2013 to March
      2014) were evaluated in terms of ethanol percentage and methanol percentage using
      gas chromatography. Likewise, the pH of the alcohol and the location of the
      sample were also considered. Some substances, such as inorganic elements, were
      not included because there was no information about these substances in the
      records. RESULTS: Of 877 reports of alcohol samples, more than 50% were obtained
      from Mashhad and the rest were from the suburbs. Of the reports, 57.5% were in
      the spring and summer, followed by 42.5% in the fall and winter. The mean (min
      max) of ethanol percentage was 30.04% (0 - 98.4). In four cases, methanol was
      detected. The mean (min-max) of methanol percentage was 23% (4 - 95).The majority
      of the samples had an acidic pH. CONCLUSIONS: The composition of unrecorded
      samples did not raise major toxicological concern beyond ethanol in alcohol
      products. However, concentration levels of methanol in some unrecorded alcohol
      samples made these samples detrimental for human consumption.

PMID- 27622172
TI  - Salivary Sialic Acid Levels in Smokeless Tobacco Users.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smokeless tobacco chewing is one of the known risk factors for oral
      cancer. It is consumed widely by residents of southeastern Iran. OBJECTIVES: In
      this study, salivary free and total sialic acid, and total protein were compared
      in paan consumers and non-consumers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross
      sectional study, unstimulated saliva of 94 subjects (44 paan consumers and 50 non
      consumers) who were referred to the oral medicine department of the dentistry
      school of Zahedan were collected. Salivary free and total sialic acid, and total
      protein concentration were measured by standard biochemical methods, and the
      obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 20 through the non-parametric Mann-Whitney
      test. RESULTS: The concentration of salivary free sialic acid (23.21 +/- 18.98
      mg/L) was significantly increased in paan consumers. The concentration of
      salivary Total sialic acid (TSA) (39.57 +/- 26.58 mg/L) and total protein (0.77
      +/- 0.81 mg/mL) showed increases in paan consumers, however, the results were not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Salivary free and total sialic acid, and
      total protein were higher in the paan consumers compared to non-consumers. Due to
      the carcinogenic effect of smokeless tobacco, measurement of these parameters in
      saliva may be useful in early detection of oral cancer.

PMID- 27622173
TI  - Dental Health Status of HIV-Positive Patients and Related Variables in Southeast
      Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Different factors can be responsible for the increased prevalence of
      dental caries and missing teeth in HIV-positive patients. OBJECTIVES: This study
      evaluates dental health status and its relationship with social, behavioral, and
      medical factors in HIV-positive patients under the coverage of Zahedan University
      of Medical Sciences in Southeast Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a cross-sectional
      study, the dental health status of 119 HIV-positive patients was assessed in
      accordance with WHO indices and included decayed, missing, and filled teeth
      (DMFT). A questionnaire on different social, behavioral, and medical variables
      was filled out for every case and the relationship and correlation of the
      variables to dental health status were investigated using One-way ANOVA, the
      Kruskal Wallis test, the t-test, the Mann-Whitney test, Spearman's rho
      correlation coefficient, and Pearson correlation. RESULTS: The mean value of DMFT
      index was 11.87 +/- 8.08, where the mean values of decayed and missing teeth were
      8.42 +/- 5.44 and 3.43 +/- 4.07, respectively. DMFT index, decayed, and missing
      teeth correlated only with age (P < 0.0001, P = 0.009, P < 0.0001) and duration
      of HIV involvement (P = 0.004, P = 0.031, P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The dental
      health status of HIV-positive patients in this region was almost inappropriate.
      Most social, behavioral, and medical factors had no influence on dental health;
      only a correlation between dental health, age, and duration of HIV involvement
      was observed.

PMID- 27622174
TI  - Osteoporosis Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
AB  - Recent epidemiological studies have revealed that osteoporosis is closely
      associated with common chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, chronic
      kidney disorders, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a
      chronic inflammatory airway disease but now well known to be associated with
      various systemic comorbidities including osteoporosis. Osteoporosis and
      osteoporotic fractures are extremely common in COPD patients, which have
      significant impacts on their quality of life (QOL), activities of daily life
      (ADL), respiratory function, and possibly their prognosis. COPD-associated
      osteoporosis is however extremely under-recognized, hence undertreated. Recent
      studies have suggested that both decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and
      impaired bone quality compromise bone strength causing fractures in COPD. In COPD
      patients, various general clinical risk factors for osteoporosis are present
      including smoking, older age, low body weight, and physical inactivity. In
      addition, disease-related risk factors such as decreased pulmonary function,
      inflammation, glucocorticoid use and vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency have been
      linked to the development of osteoporosis in COPD. Increased awareness of
      osteoporosis in COPD, especially that of high prevalence of vertebral fractures
      is called upon among general physicians as well as pulmonologists. Routine
      screening for osteoporosis and risk assessment of fractures will enable
      physicians to diagnose COPD patients with comorbid osteoporosis at an early
      stage. Timely prevention of developing osteoporosis together with appropriate
      treatment of established osteoporosis may improve QOL and ADL of the COPD
      patients, preserve their lung function and eventually result in better prognosis
      in these patients. 

PMID- 27622176
TI  - Association between Homocysteine and Bone Mineral Density according to Age and
      Sex in Healthy Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are several studies about the relationship between serum
      homocysteine levels and bone mineral density (BMD), but the results are varied,
      and the studies are limited in Korea. In our study, the relationship between
      serum homocysteine levels and BMD by part according to age and sex is
      investigated. METHODS: From March 2012 to July 2015, the 3,337 healthy adults who
      took a medical examination were recruited. Subjects filled in the self-recording
      type questionnaire and physical examination, blood test, BMD of lumbar spine and
      femur were measured. After sorting by aging (<=49 year old, 50-59 year old, >=60
      year old) and sex, the results were adjusted with age and body mass index (BMI)
      and the relationship between serum homocysteine levels and BMD by lumbar spine
      and femur was analyzed by multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: As results of
      analysis, with the adjustment with age and BMI, all age groups of men had no
      significant relationship between log-converted serum homocysteine levels and BMD.
      In women aged under 50, there were significantly negative relationships at lumbar
      spine (beta=-0.028, P=0.038), femur neck (beta=-0.062, P=0.001), and total hip
      (beta=-0.076, P<0.001), but there was no significant relationship in other age
      groups (50-59 year old and >=60 year old). CONCLUSIONS: As the serum homocysteine
      levels increased in women aged under 50, BMD of the lumbar spine and femur
      decreased, and correlations between homocysteine and BMD were different by sex
      and age.

PMID- 27622175
TI  - Current Status and Strategy of microRNA Research for Cartilage Development and
      Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are small (~21 nucleotides) non-coding RNAs, are
      important players in endochondral ossification, articular cartilage homeostasis,
      and arthritis pathogenesis. Comprehensive and genetic analyses of cartilage
      specific or cartilage-related miRNAs have provided new information on cartilage
      development, homeostasis, and related diseases. State-of-the-art combinatorial
      approaches, including transcription-activator like effector nuclease
      (TALEN)/clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)
      technique for targeting miRNAs and high-throughput sequencing of RNA isolated by
      cross-linking immunoprecipitation for identifying target messenger RNAs, should
      be used to determine complex miRNA networks and miRNA-dependent cartilage
      regulation. Use of advanced drug delivery systems involving cartilage-specific
      miRNAs will accelerate the application of these new findings in arthritis
      therapy. 

PMID- 27622177
TI  - An Experimental Study for Minimum Level of Decalcification to Detect the
      Osteolytic Bone Metastasis of Long Bone on Plain Radiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1951, Ardran reported that metastatic bone lesions could be
      detectable on plain radiography with 30% to 50% of decalcification. Authors
      performed experimental study for minimum level of decalcification to detect the
      osteolytic bone metastasis of long bone with recent technique of radiographs.
      METHODS: One pair of fibula and humerus from two cadavers was cut into specimen 1
      inch in length. Distal half of specimen was dipped into hydrochloride (HCl) with
      15 min interval. All 16 specimens were checked by film-type radiography (FR),
      computed radiography (CR), digital radiography (DR). To exclude inter-observer's
      variance, 3 radiologists evaluated images. Calcium amount before and after
      decalcification was measured and expressed in percentage of decalcification.
      RESULTS: Osteolytic changes were detectable with 11% to 16% of decalcification
      for fibula and 3% to 8% for humerus on plain radiography with FR, CR, and DR.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that minimum of 3% and maximum of 16% of
      decalcification is necessary when osteolytic metastatic bone lesions of long bone
      could be detected on plain radiography.

PMID- 27622178
TI  - Comparison in Adherence to Osteoporosis Guidelines according to Bone Health
      Status in Korean Adult.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis one of the most serious disease to decrease the quality
      of life and cause economic loss. Thus, prevention of osteoporosis has become an
      important health concern. The study examined in adherence to osteoporosis
      guidelines and compared the levels of adherence to osteoporosis guidelines
      between bone health status in Korean adult. METHODS: This study used data from a
      nationally represented sample of Koreans (n=3,419) from 2008 to 2011 Korea
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We were divided into three
      groups by T-score: normal, osteopenia and osteoporosis. Assessment of adherence
      level was based on 5 components of osteoporosis guidelines, considering intake of
      sodium, calcium and protein, smoking and regular exercise. RESULTS: The sex, body
      mass index, income and educational level did not significantly differ between
      three groups. Deficient intake of calcium was significantly associated with a
      threefold greater odds in osteoporosis group (OR 3.6; 95% confidence interval
      [CI] 2.52-5.22). Excessive protein intake was significantly increased the risk
      only in osteoporosis group compared to the normal group (OR 1.71; 95% CI 1.15
      2.62). Smoking increased the risk in osteoporosis group compared to the normal
      group (OR 2.88; 95% CI 1.75-4.76), osteoporosis group compared to the osteopenia
      group (OR 2.69; 95% CI 1.61-4.55). CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional factor (intake of
      calcium and protein) and lifestyle-related factor (smoking and exercise) must be
      accompanied the management for bone health. An adherence of guidelines is
      considered very important for the prevention of osteoporosis.

PMID- 27622179
TI  - Prolonged Practice of Swimming Is Negatively Related to Bone Mineral Density
      Gains in Adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The practice of swimming in "hypogravity" conditions has potential to
      decrease bone formation because it decreases the time engaged in weight-bearing
      activities usually observed in the daily activities of adolescents. Therefore,
      adolescents competing in national levels would be more exposed to these
      deleterious effects, because they are engaged in long routines of training during
      most part of the year. To analyze the effect of swimming on bone mineral density
      (BMD) gain among adolescents engaged in national level competitions during a 9
      month period. METHODS: Fifty-five adolescents; the control group contained 29
      adolescents and the swimming group was composed of 26 athletes. During the cohort
      study, BMD, body fat (BF) and fat free mass (FFM) were assessed using a dual
      energy x-ray absorptiometry scanner. Body weight was measured with an electronic
      scale, and height was assessed using a stadiometer. RESULTS: During the follow
      up, swimmers presented higher gains in FFM (Control 2.35 kg vs. Swimming 5.14 kg;
      large effect size [eta-squared (ES-r)=0.168]) and BMD-Spine (Swimming 0.087
      g/cm(2) vs. Control 0.049 g/cm(2); large effect size [ES-r=0.167]) compared to
      control group. Male swimmers gained more FFM (Male 10.63% vs. Female 3.39%) and
      BMD-Spine (Male 8.47% vs. Female 4.32%) than females. Longer participation in
      swimming negatively affected gains in upper limbs among males (r=-0.438 [-0.693
      to -0.085]), and in spine among females (r=-0.651 [-0.908 to -0.036]).
      CONCLUSIONS: Over a 9-month follow-up, BMD and FFM gains were more evident in
      male swimmers, while longer engagement in swimming negatively affected BMD gains,
      independently of sex.

PMID- 27622180
TI  - The Influence of the Type of Continuous Exercise Stress Applied during Growth
      Periods on Bone Metabolism and Osteogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we examined the influence of exercise loading
      characteristics on bone metabolic responses and bone morphology in the growth
      phase and adulthood. METHODS: Running exercise (RUN) and jumping exercise (JUM)
      were used for the exercise loading in 28-day-old male Wistar rats. Bone
      metabolism was measured by blood osteocalcin (OC) and tartrate-resistant acid
      phosphatase (TRACP) levels. For bone morphology, the maximum bone length, bone
      weight, and bone strength of the femur and tibia were measured. RESULTS: A pre-
      and post-exercise loading comparison in the growth phase showed significantly
      increased OC levels in the RUN and JUM groups and significantly decreased TRACP
      levels in the JUM group. On the other hand, a pre- and post-exercise loading
      comparison in adulthood showed significantly decreased TRACP levels in the RUN
      and JUM groups. Femur lengths were significantly shorter in the RUN and JUM
      groups than in the control (CON) group, while bone weight was significantly
      greater in the JUM group than in the CON group. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise loading
      activates OC levels in the growth phase and suppresses TRACP levels in adulthood.
      On the other hand, these results suggest that excessive exercise loading may
      suppress bone length.

PMID- 27622181
TI  - Pamidronate Down-regulates Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Induced Matrix
      Metalloproteinases Expression in Human Intervertebral Disc Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: N-containing bisphosphonates (BPs), such as pamidronate and
      risedronate, can inhibit osteoclastic function and reduce osteoclast number by
      inducing apoptotic cell death in osteoclasts. The aim of this study is to
      demonstrate the effect of pamidronate, second generation nitrogen-containing BPs
      and to elucidate matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs) mRNA expression under serum
      starvation and/or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) stimulation on
      metabolism of intervertebral disc (IVD) cells in vitro. METHODS: Firstly, to test
      the effect of pamidronate on IVD cells in vitro, various concentrations (10(-12),
      10(-10), 10(-8), and 10(-6) M) of pamidronate were administered to IVD cells.
      Then DNA and proteoglycan synthesis were measured and messenger RNA (mRNA)
      expressions of type I collagen, type II collagen, and aggrecan were analyzed.
      Secondly, to elucidate the expression of MMPs mRNA in human IVD cells under the
      lower serum status, IVD cells were cultivated in full serum or 1% serum. Thirdly,
      to elucidate the expression of MMPs mRNA in IVD cells under the stimulation of 1%
      serum and TNF-alpha (10 ng/mL) In this study, IVD cells were cultivated in three
      dimensional alginate bead. RESULTS: Under the lower serum culture, IVD cells in
      alginate beads showed upregulation of MMP 2, 3, 9, 13 mRNA. The cells in lower
      serum and TNF-alpha also demonstrated upregulation of MMP-2, 3, 9, and 13 mRNA.
      The cells with various doses of pamidronate and lower serum and TNF-alpha were
      reveled partial down-regulation of MMPs. CONCLUSIONS: Pamidronate, N-containing
      second generation BPs, was safe in metabolism of IVD in vitro maintaining
      chondrogenic phenotype and matrix synthesis, and down-regulated TNF-alpha induced
      MMPs expression.

PMID- 27622182
TI  - Proximal Femoral Geometry as Fracture Risk Factor in Female Patients with
      Osteoporotic Hip Fracture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proximal femoral geometry may be a risk factor of osteoporotic hip
      fractures. However, there existed great differences among studies depending on
      race, sex and age of subjects. The purpose of the present study is to analyze
      proximal femoral geometry and bone mineral density (BMD) in the osteoporotic hip
      fracture patients. Furthermore, we investigated proximal femoral geometric
      parameters affecting fractures, and whether the geometric parameters could be an
      independent risk factor of fractures regardless of BMD. METHODS: This study was
      conducted on 197 women aged 65 years or more who were hospitalized with
      osteoporotic hip fracture (femur neck fractures ; 84, intertrochanteric
      fractures; 113). Control group included 551 women who visited to check
      osteoporosis. Femur BMD and proximal femoral geometry for all subjects were
      measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and compared between the
      control and fracture groups. Besides, proximal femoral geometric parameters
      associated with fractures were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: There were
      statistically significant differences in the age and weight, cross-sectional area
      (CSA)/length/width of the femoral neck and BMD of the proximal femur between
      fracture group and control group. BMD of the proximal femur in the control group
      was higher than in the fracture group. For the femoral neck fractures group, the
      odds ratio (OR) for fractures decrease in the CSA and neck length (NL) of the
      femur increased by 1.97 times and 1.73 times respectively, regardless of BMD. The
      OR for fractures increase in the femoral neck width increased by 1.53 times. In
      the intertrochanteric fracture group, the OR for fractures increase in the
      femoral neck width increased by 1.45 times regardless of BMD. CONCLUSIONS: We
      found that an increase of the femoral neck width could be a proximal femoral
      geometric parameter which plays important roles as a risk factor for fracture
      independently of BMD.

PMID- 27622183
TI  - Moral Distress in the Everyday Life of an Intensivist.

PMID- 27622184
TI  - A Feasibility Study for an Integrated Approach to Fall Prevention in Community
      Care: Stay Up and Active in Orange County.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Falls among persons over 60 present significant risks for serious
      injury or debility. Falls place burdens on Emergency Medical Services (EMS),
      hospitals, and the adults themselves. Recognizing a need to provide interventions
      to minimize risk, Orange County Emergency Services (OCES), the Orange County
      Department on Aging (OCDoA), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
      (UNC) partnered to create the Stay Up and Active Program (SUAA). The purpose of
      this study was to determine if SUAA was a feasible program to implement in the
      community. METHODS: A streamlined workflow algorithm between the OCES and OCDoA
      was created and employed to provide falls risk assessment and necessary services.
      Qualitative techniques were used to assess the need for such a program and its
      potential impact. A subset of individuals was interviewed 3 months after the
      intervention to assess the impact of the intervention on their fall risk. Formal
      stakeholder interviews were not conducted, but anecdotal information from EMS
      providers was obtained and reported. RESULTS: In the first 7 months, 478
      instances of individuals who called OCES screened positive for falls risk. Of the
      478 positive screenings, 55 individuals were identified as having received more
      than one positive fall screen due to multiple calls. The maximum number of
      positive screenings by one individual was 14. More women (61.3%) than men
      screened positive for fall risk. Individuals 88 years of age (6.9%) represented
      the highest number of individuals with positive screens. Nineteen (4.0%) people
      who called OCES and received the intervention completed a 3-month follow-up
      survey. Of the 19, 86% (n = 16) reported no recurrent fall. CONCLUSION: The
      number of individuals who screened positive supports the need for early
      identification and intervention through SUAA. This program identified several
      challenges connecting older adults with services already available to keep them
      independent, which provided insight to all stakeholders regarding factors that
      inhibit the program's success. The program evaluation should continue to provide
      suggestions for improvement and ensure sustainability.

PMID- 27622185
TI  - A Content Analysis of Arabic and English Newspapers before, during, and after the
      Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Campaign in the United Arab Emirates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among females in the
      United Arab Emirates (UAE) with an estimated incidence of 7.4 per 100,000 persons
      per year. In March 2008, the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi launched a free school
      based campaign to provide all female Emirati students aged 15-17 years in the
      emirate of Abu Dhabi with the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPVV). Despite the
      proven efficacy of the HPVV in clinical trials, there has been limited research
      exploring the acceptance of this vaccine within a conservative Islamic society.
      The media plays a key role in changing beliefs and attitudes toward specific
      public health initiatives, such as vaccination programs. The primary aim of this
      study was to explore the content and communication style of the UAE newspapers
      (both Arabic and English) before, during, and after the HPV vaccination program.
      METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted on six national newspapers
      with the highest circulation figures in the UAE (Arabic: Al Ittihad, Al Khaleej,
      and Emarat El Youm; English: Khaleej Times, The National, and Gulf News) to
      retrieve articles related to cervical cancer prevention from January 2000 to May
      2013. One bilingual researcher (Arabic-English) utilized content analysis to
      study the subject matter of communication in each article. RESULTS: A total of 79
      newspaper articles (N = 31 Arabic) were included in the study. Content analysis
      coding revealed five main themes: (i) "HPV Screening or Vaccination Programmes in
      the UAE" (N = 30); (ii) "Cervical Cancer Statistics in the UAE" (N = 22); (iii)
      "Aetiology of Cervical Cancer and HPVV Efficacy" (N = 12); (iv) "Cultural
      Sensitivity and Misconceptions Surrounding HPVV in School-Aged Females" (e.g.,
      promoting promiscuity) (N = 8); and (v) "Cost-Effectiveness, Efficacy, and
      Safety" (N = 7). CONCLUSION: The UAE media is playing an important role in
      raising public awareness about cervical cancer and specific governmental health
      initiatives such as the HPVV program. Governmental health authorities may want to
      consider collaborating with the UAE media to develop a communication strategy to
      reduce the fears and misconceptions surrounding HPVV. Improved parental and
      adolescent knowledge on the HPVV may lead to increased acceptance and uptake in
      the UAE society.

PMID- 27622187
TI  - ParB Partition Proteins: Complex Formation and Spreading at Bacterial and Plasmid
      Centromeres.
AB  - In bacteria, active partition systems contribute to the faithful segregation of
      both chromosomes and low-copy-number plasmids. Each system depends on a site
      specific DNA binding protein to recognize and assemble a partition complex at a
      centromere-like site, commonly called parS. Many plasmid, and all chromosomal
      centromere-binding proteins are dimeric helix-turn-helix DNA binding proteins,
      which are commonly named ParB. Although the overall sequence conservation among
      ParBs is not high, the proteins share similar domain and functional organization,
      and they assemble into similar higher-order complexes. In vivo, ParBs "spread,"
      that is, DNA binding extends away from the parS site into the surrounding non
      specific DNA, a feature that reflects higher-order complex assembly. ParBs bridge
      and pair DNA at parS and non-specific DNA sites. ParB dimers interact with each
      other via flexible conformations of an N-terminal region. This review will focus
      on the properties of the HTH centromere-binding protein, in light of recent
      experimental evidence and models that are adding to our understanding of how
      these proteins assemble into large and dynamic partition complexes at and around
      their specific DNA sites. 

PMID- 27622186
TI  - A Consensus Proposal for Nutritional Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of a
      Healthy Diet: The Mediterranean Diet as a Case Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence of the multiple effects of diets on
      public health nutrition, society, and environment. Sustainability and food
      security are closely interrelated. The traditional Mediterranean Diet (MD) is
      recognized as a healthier dietary pattern with a lower environmental impact. As a
      case study, the MD may guide innovative inter-sectorial efforts to counteract the
      degradation of ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, and homogeneity of diets due to
      globalization through the improvement of sustainable healthy dietary patterns.
      This consensus position paper defines a suite of the most appropriate nutrition
      and health indicators for assessing the sustainability of diets based on the MD.
      METHODS: In 2011, an informal International Working Group from different national
      and international institutions was convened. Through online and face-to-face
      brainstorming meetings over 4 years, a set of nutrition and health indicators for
      sustainability was identified and refined. RESULTS: Thirteen nutrition indicators
      of sustainability relating were identified in five areas. Biochemical
      characteristics of food (A1. Vegetable/animal protein consumption ratios; A2.
      Average dietary energy adequacy; A3. Dietary Energy Density Score; A4. Nutrient
      density of diet), Food Quality (A5. Fruit and vegetable consumption/intakes; A6.
      Dietary Diversity Score), Environment (A7. Food biodiversity composition and
      consumption; A8. Rate of Local/regional foods and seasonality; A9. Rate of eco
      friendly food production and/or consumption), Lifestyle (A10. Physical
      activity/physical inactivity prevalence; A11. Adherence to the Mediterranean
      dietary pattern), Clinical Aspects (A12. Diet-related morbidity/mortality
      statistics; A13. Nutritional Anthropometry). A standardized set of information
      was provided for each indicator: definition, methodology, background, data
      sources, limitations of the indicator, and references. CONCLUSION: The selection
      and analysis of these indicators has been performed (where possible) with
      specific reference to the MD. Sustainability of food systems is an urgent
      priority for governments and international organizations to address the serious
      socioeconomic and environmental implications of short-sighted and short-term
      practices for agricultural land and rural communities. These proposed nutrition
      indicators will be a useful methodological framework for designing health,
      education, and agricultural policies in order, not only to conserve the
      traditional diets of the Mediterranean area as a common cultural heritage and
      lifestyle but also to enhance the sustainability of diets in general.

PMID- 27622188
TI  - Health and Behavioral Survey of over 8000 Finnish Cats.
AB  - A comprehensive feline health survey was conducted to reveal breed-specific
      inheritable diseases in Finnish pedigree cats for genetic research. Prevalence of
      19 disease categories and 227 feline diseases were defined in a study population
      of 8175 cats belonging to 30 breeds. Dental and oral diseases, with a prevalence
      of 28%, and dental calculus and gingivitis (21 and 8%, respectively) were the
      most prevalent disease category and diseases among all cats and in most of the
      breeds. An exception was Korats, which were more often affected by the diseases
      of the respiratory tract (23%) and asthma (19%). Other prevalent disease
      categories affected various organ systems, such as the skin (12%), the urinary
      system (12%), the digestive tract (11%), eyes (10%), the musculoskeletal system
      (10%), and genitals of female cats (17%). Prevalent health or developmental
      issues included repetitive vomiting (4%), tail kink (4%), feline odontoclastic
      resorption lesion (4%), urinary tract infections (4%), as well as cesarean
      section (6%) and stillborn kittens (6%) among female cats. We found 57 breed
      specific conditions by Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression analyses,
      including 32 previously described and 19 new breed-specific diseases. The genetic
      defect has already been found in six of them: polycystic kidney disease,
      progressive retinal atrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and three types of tail
      malformations. Behavioral profiling revealed breed-specific traits, such as an
      increased human avoidance in British Short and Longhairs and a higher level of
      aggression in Turkish vans. Our epidemiological study reveals the overall health
      profile in Finnish pure and mixed breed cats and identifies many breed-specific
      conditions without molecular identity for genetic research. 

PMID- 27622190
TI  - Tangled.

PMID- 27622189
TI  - Lens density measurements by two independent psychophysical techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cataract, a leading cause of vision impairment, is due to the lens
      becoming excessively optically dense. Change in the lens optical density (LOD)
      could be a useful indicator of incipient nuclear cataract and would necessitate
      the development of accurate measurement techniques. Mapcat sfTM is a
      heterochromatic flicker photometer for measuring macular pigment optical density
      (MPOD) under photopic conditions. In the process, it also measures LOD that is
      needed in the calculation of MPOD. LOD is then converted by the instrument to
      "lens equivalent age" (LEA). However, varying cone photoreceptor ratios among
      individuals could affect the LEA measurement. Scotopic vision is mediated by rod
      photoreceptors; therefore, LEA measurement under scotopic conditions potentially
      provides a reliable standard for assessing other methods. The study was conducted
      to test the level of agreement between the LEA data obtained under photopic and
      scotopic conditions for a sample population. We also comment on factors that
      might contribute to any disagreement. METHODS: LEAs were obtained by Mapcat sf
      for 25 subjects and compared with those obtained under absolute scotopic
      threshold conditions. RESULTS: The mean scotopic LEA for the subjects was 2.7
      years higher than the mean photopic LEA, but this difference was not
      statistically significant. Measurements by the two methods were reasonably
      correlated (r(2) = 0.59, p < 0.0001). Significant individual differences in LEA
      by the two methods were found for six of the 25 subjects. Although our
      calculations included a standard long- to medium-wavelength-sensitive cone ratio,
      we found that different ratios could be found that rendered the differences in
      LEA insignificant for two of these six subjects. Variability in pupil diameter
      during scotopic measurements was considered another potential source of
      discrepancy between LEAs by the two methods. CONCLUSION: The absolute threshold
      technique, with long adaptation times, is probably impractical for routine lens
      density measurement, whereas Mapcat sf provided a rapid, straightforward test
      that may find its application in optometric/ophthalmic practice.

PMID- 27622191
TI  - Primary Adenocarcinoma of an Ileostomy in Crohn's Disease.
AB  - Although Crohn's disease has been associated with an increased risk of small
      bowel adenocarcinoma, primary adenocarcinoma arising from an ileostomy is a
      complication that has been rarely documented in Crohn's disease. Chronic small
      bowel inflammation may lead to development of malignancy through the dysplasia
      carcinoma sequence. We report a case of a 61-year-old woman with Crohn's
      ileocolitis diagnosed with a primary adenocarcinoma at the ileostomy with
      metastases to the liver 47 years after proctocolectomy, and review the
      literature. 

PMID- 27622192
TI  - Toothpick Ingestion Causing Gastric Submucosal Mass and Abscess.

PMID- 27622193
TI  - Secondary Sclerosing Cholangitis During Pregnancy.
AB  - We report a case of secondary sclerosing cholangitis that manifested itself
      during pregnancy. A tentative diagnosis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy
      was considered, but after her third delivery, a liver biopsy and imaging, as well
      as review of past records, confirmed the diagnosis of secondary sclerosing
      cholangitis. Maternal and fetal outcomes of primary sclerosis cholangitis have
      been reported, and this case highlights the importance of considering other
      diseases besides the benign intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy as a cause of
      cholestasis in pregnancy. 

PMID- 27622194
TI  - Autoimmune Pancreatitis and IgG4 Related Disease in Three Children.
AB  - We report 3 children who presented with fever and abdominal pain, deranged liver
      function tests, and on abdominal ultrasound were found to have an enlarged
      pancreas, substantial abdominal lymphadenopathy, and extrahepatic biliary duct
      dilatation. After ruling out malignancy, probable immunoglobulin G4-related
      disease (IgG4RD) associated with autoimmune pancreatitis was considered. This
      condition was first described in the adults and often mimics pancreatic cancer.
      It can involve multiple organs, either synchronously or metachronously, and is
      rarely reported in children. The disorder mostly responds to corticosteroid
      therapy and other immune suppression. We highlight the difficulty in diagnosing
      autoimmune pancreatitis/IgG4-related disease in children and illustrate the
      difference between pediatric and adult presentation. 

PMID- 27622195
TI  - Necrotic Gastric Gangrene as Complication of Congestive Portal Venopathy from
      Portal Vein Thrombosis.

PMID- 27622196
TI  - Laparoscopic Appearance of Peritoneal Tuberculosis.

PMID- 27622197
TI  - Ruptured Gastric Aneurysm in alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.
AB  - We present a unique vascular complication of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
      (AATD) in a patient with an acute onset of epigastric pain and hemodynamic
      instability. Abdominal computed tomography angiography detected hemoperitoneum
      and hematoma within the gastrohepatic ligament with active extravasation.
      Abdominal angiography revealed left gastric aneurysms. An association between
      AATD and vascular aneurysms has been suggested to be secondary to unopposed
      proteolytic activity against arterial structural proteins. The aneurysm formation
      in aortic, superior mesenteric, inferior mesenteric, and splenic arteries has
      been reported. We report the first case with ruptured gastric artery aneurysm as
      a complication of AATD. 

PMID- 27622198
TI  - Atypical Image of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Mimicking Hemangioma.

PMID- 27622199
TI  - Bleeding Risk of Stent Removal After EUS-Guided Cystgastrostomy and Metal Stent
      Placement for Drainage of a Pancreatic Fluid Collection.
AB  - Endoscopists are keenly aware of bleeding risks during and immediately after
      cystgastrostomy and reduce this risk by endoscopic ultrasound guidance to avoid
      manipulation near major vessels. Bleeding risk associated with cystgastrostomy
      stent removal after resolution of a pancreatic fluid collection, however, is less
      evident. We present our experience with bleeding during cystgastrostomy stent
      removal in a patient with resolved walled-off necrosis and will discuss the
      significance of unexplained spontaneous upper gastrointestinal bleeding in this
      setting, which may serve as a warning sign for possible stent erosion into major
      vessels. 

PMID- 27622200
TI  - Treatment response after radioembolisation in patients with hepatocellular
      carcinoma-An evaluation with dual energy computed-tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this prospective study was to examine the diagnostic value of
      dual-energy CT (DECT) in the assessment of response of HCC after
      radioembolisation (RE). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 40 HCC patients with 82 measurable
      target lesions were included in this study. At baseline and follow-up examination
      target lesions were evaluated with (IU), AASLD and Choi measurement criteria.
      Disease control was defined as the sum of complete response (CR), partial
      response (PR), progression disease (PD) and stable disease (SD). RESULTS: With
      Choi and IU more patients were considered than PR and less than PD and SD.
      According to AASLD more patients were measured as SD and PD than PR. 26/40
      patients were classified as PR with IU. In contrast measurements with AASLD in
      only 8/26 patients were also classified as PR. 6/12 SD patients measured with IU
      were measured as PD with AASLD. 4/26 patients classified with IU as PR were
      described as SD with CHOI, 10/14 SD patients measured with CHOI were SD according
      to IU, the other 4 patients were PR with IU. 2/4 PD patients according to CHOI
      were SD with IU. CONCLUSION: More patients by IU were classified as SD versus PD
      and PR versus SD. We attribute this to the more detailed consideration of the HU
      differences between the virtual native and contrast-enhanced series generated by
      DECT. Iodine uptake (IU) in HCC measured and visualized with DECT is a promising
      imaging method for the assessment of treatment response after radioembolisations.
      KEY POINTS: -dual energy CT of hypervascular tumors such as HCC allows to
      quantify contrast enhancement without native imaging. -this can be used to
      evaluate the therapy response after Radioembolization.

PMID- 27622202
TI  - The diagnostic value of time-resolved MR angiography with Gadobutrol at 3 T for
      preoperative evaluation of lower extremity tumors: Comparison with computed
      tomography angiography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of time resolved magnetic resonance
      angiography with interleaved stochastic trajectory (TWIST) using Gadobutrol for
      preoperative evaluation of lower extremity tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      prospective study was approved by the local Institutional Review Board. 50
      consecutive patients (31 men, 19 women, age range 18-80 years, average age 42.7
      years) with lower extremity tumors underwent TWIST and computed tomography
      angiography (CTA). Image quality of TWIST and CTA were evaluated by two
      radiologists according to a 4-point scale. The degree of arterial stenosis caused
      by tumor was assessed using TWSIT and CTA separately, and the intra-modality
      agreement was determined using a kappa test. The number of feeding arteries
      identified by TWIST was compared with that by CTA using Wilcoxon signed rank
      test. The ability to identify arterio-venous fistulae (AVF) were compared using a
      chi-square test. RESULTS: Image quality of TWIST and CTA were rated as 3.88 +/-
      0.37 and 3.97 +/- 0.16, without statistically significant difference (P = 0.135).
      Intra-modality agreement was excellent for the assessment of arterial stenosis
      (kappa = 0.806 +/- 0.073 for Reader 1, kappa = 0.805 +/- 0.073 for Reader 2).
      Readers identified AVF with TWIST in 27 of 50 cases, and identified AVF with CTA
      in 14 of 50 (P < 0.001). Mean feeding arteries identified with TWIST was
      significantly more than that with CTA (2.08 +/- 1.72 vs 1.62 +/- 1.52, P = 0.02).
      CONCLUSION: TWIST is a reliable imaging modality for the assessment of lower
      extremity tumors. TWIST is comparable to CTA for the identification of AVF and
      feeding arteries.

PMID- 27622203
TI  - Protein electrophoretic migration data from custom and commercial gradient gels.
AB  - This paper presents data related to the article "A method for easily customizable
      gradient gel electrophoresis" (A.J. Miller, B. Roman, E.M. Norstrom, 2016) [1].
      Data is presented on the rate of electrophoretic migration of proteins in both
      hand-poured and commercially acquired acrylamide gradient gels. For each gel,
      migration of 9 polypeptides of various masses was measured upon completion of gel
      electrophoresis. Data are presented on the migration of proteins within separate
      lanes of the same gel as well as migration rates from multiple gels. 

PMID- 27622201
TI  - The value of "constant sharpness" as a diagnostic sign in MR-Mammography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine "constant lesion sharpness" as a morphological diagnostic
      sign in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant lesions. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: This prospective study had institutional review board approval and
      was HIPAA compliant. In total 1014 consecutive patients were examined (mean age
      55 years +/- 13 years) and evaluated in our University hospital towards the
      morphological shape of the lesion borders. The "Constant sharpness Sign" was
      defined as a lesion remaining continuously sharp for the duration of the dynamic
      scan. Inclusion criteria were unclear findings (e.g. BIRADS III/IV), Preoperative
      staging (BRIDAS IV/V), and referred patients from local clinic of gynecology.
      Exclusion criteria were MRM-examination <=1 year before, status after surgery
      and/or biopsy, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Reference Standard was
      histological verification. Images were diagnosed by two experienced radiologists
      in consensus, blinded to the standard of reference. RESULTS: 1014 patients with
      1084 lesions (436 benign, 648 malignant lesions) were included into the study.
      41.5% of benign lesions and 6.8% (181/436) of malignant lesions displayed a
      constant sharpness as an accompanying morphological sign (P < 0.001). This
      resulted in a sensitivity of 41.5%, specificity of 93.2%, a positive likelihood
      ratio of 6.1%, a negative likelihood ratio of 0.63 and an odd's ratio of 9,7%.
      SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: The constant sharpness sign seems to be an accurate
      predictor of benign breast lesions, which may help to increase the accuracy of
      MRM as a morphological sign.

PMID- 27622204
TI  - Data on copper level in the blood of patients with normal and abnormal
      angiography.
AB  - In this data article, we measured the levels of copper in the blood of patients
      undergoing coronary angiography. The samples were taken from patients with
      cardiovascular disease in Bushehr's university hospital, Iran. Patients were
      divided in two groups: normal angiography and abnormal angiography. After the
      chemical digestion of samples, the concentration levels of Cu in both groups were
      determined by using inductively coupled plasma optical spectrometry (ICP-OES). 

PMID- 27622205
TI  - Is the increase in oil pollution a possibility of the presence of diverse
      microorganisms? An experimental dataset on oil prevalent areas of Goa, India.
AB  - Survey data and wet lab reports presented in this paper were collected from
      Western coastlines of India from Goan beaches. Oil polluted areas were captured
      on camera as evidence for oil and tar pollution. Several microorganisms showing
      diverse characteristics such as pigment producers, salt tolerant and hydrocarbon
      resistance were isolated and cultured in the laboratory. The dataset presented in
      this paper supports "A case study on effects of oil spills and tar-ball pollution
      on beaches of Goa (India)" (Rekadwad and Khobragade, 2015) [1] and "Microbial
      diversity of oil spills and tar resistant bacteria isolated from beaches of Goa
      (India)" (Rekadwad and Khobragade, 2016) [2]. 

PMID- 27622206
TI  - Data on Support Vector Machines (SVM) model to forecast photovoltaic power.
AB  - The data concern the photovoltaic (PV) power, forecasted by a hybrid model that
      considers weather variations and applies a technique to reduce the input data
      size, as presented in the paper entitled "Photovoltaic forecast based on hybrid
      pca-lssvm using dimensionality reducted data" (M. Malvoni, M.G. De Giorgi, P.M.
      Congedo, 2015) [1]. The quadratic Renyi entropy criteria together with the
      principal component analysis (PCA) are applied to the Least Squares Support
      Vector Machines (LS-SVM) to predict the PV power in the day-ahead time frame. The
      data here shared represent the proposed approach results. Hourly PV power
      predictions for 1,3,6,12, 24 ahead hours and for different data reduction sizes
      are provided in Supplementary material. 

PMID- 27622207
TI  - Dataset on the abundance of ants and Cosmopolites sordidus damage in plantain
      fields with intercropped plants.
AB  - The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled
      "Ant abundance and Cosmopolites sordidus damage in plantain fields as affected by
      intercropping" (A.G. Dassou, D. Carval, S. Depigny, G.H Fansi, P. Tixier, 2015)
      [1]. This article describes how associated crops maize (Zea mays), cocoyam
      (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) intercropped in
      the plantain fields in Cameroun modify ant community structure and damages of
      banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus. The field data set is made publicly
      available to enable critical or extended analyzes. 

PMID- 27622208
TI  - Dataset of differentially regulated proteins in HUVECs challenged with wild type
      and UGM1 mutant Aspergillus fumigatus strains.
AB  - Invasive aspergillosis is the primary opportunistic invasive fungal infection
      described in neutropenic hematologic patients, caused by the angioinvasive
      pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. The molecular mechanisms associated with A.
      fumigatus infection in the vascular endothelium are poorly understood. In this
      context, we used a high-throughput proteomic approach to unveil the proteins
      modulated in HUVECs after interaction with a wild type strain and the UGM1 mutant
      (Deltaugm1) of A. fumigatus. The proteomic analysis was also performed in HUVECs
      challenged with a galactosaminogalactan (GAG) purified from A. fumigatus cell
      wall. The dataset presented here correspond to all proteins identified that fit a
      2-fold change criteria (log 2 ratio >= 1 or <= -1), disregarding the statistical
      validation cut off, in order to supplement the research article entitled
      "Modifications to the composition of the hyphal outer layer of Aspergillus
      fumigatus modulates the HUVEC proteins associated with inflammatory and stress
      responses" (G.W.P. Neves, N.A. Curty, P.H. Kubitschek-Barreira, T. Fontaine,
      G.H.M.F. Souza, M. Lyra Cunha, G.H. Goldman, A. Beauvais, J.P. Latge, L.M. Lopes
      Bezerra, 2016) [1]. The mass spectrometry proteomic data have been deposited in
      the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset
      identifier PRIDE: PXD002823. 

PMID- 27622209
TI  - Annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma after a cardiac pacemaker implantation.

PMID- 27622211
TI  - Interactions across Multiple Stimulus Dimensions in Primary Auditory Cortex.
AB  - Although sensory cortex is thought to be important for the perception of complex
      objects, its specific role in representing complex stimuli remains unknown.
      Complex objects are rich in information along multiple stimulus dimensions. The
      position of cortex in the sensory hierarchy suggests that cortical neurons may
      integrate across these dimensions to form a more gestalt representation of
      auditory objects. Yet, studies of cortical neurons typically explore single or
      few dimensions due to the difficulty of determining optimal stimuli in a high
      dimensional stimulus space. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) provide a potentially
      powerful approach for exploring multidimensional stimulus spaces based on real
      time spike feedback, but two important issues arise in their application. First,
      it is unclear whether it is necessary to characterize cortical responses to
      multidimensional stimuli or whether it suffices to characterize cortical
      responses to a single dimension at a time. Second, quantitative methods for
      analyzing complex multidimensional data from an EA are lacking. Here, we apply a
      statistical method for nonlinear regression, the generalized additive model
      (GAM), to address these issues. The GAM quantitatively describes the dependence
      between neural response and all stimulus dimensions. We find that auditory
      cortical neurons in mice are sensitive to interactions across dimensions. These
      interactions are diverse across the population, indicating significant
      integration across stimulus dimensions in auditory cortex. This result strongly
      motivates using multidimensional stimuli in auditory cortex. Together, the EA and
      the GAM provide a novel quantitative paradigm for investigating neural coding of
      complex multidimensional stimuli in auditory and other sensory cortices.

PMID- 27622210
TI  - ADP Ribosylation Factor 6 Regulates Neuronal Migration in the Developing Cerebral
      Cortex through FIP3/Arfophilin-1-dependent Endosomal Trafficking of N-cadherin.
AB  - During neural development, endosomal trafficking controls cell shape and motility
      through the polarized transport of membrane proteins related to cell-cell and
      cell-extracellular matrix interactions. ADP ribosylation factor 6 (Arf6) is a
      critical small GTPase that regulates membrane trafficking between the plasma
      membrane and endosomes. We herein demonstrated that the knockdown of endogenous
      Arf6 in mouse cerebral cortices led to impaired neuronal migration in the
      intermediate zone and cytoplasmic retention of N-cadherin and syntaxin12 in
      migrating neurons. Rescue experiments with separation-of-function Arf6 mutants
      identified Rab11 family-interacting protein 3 (FIP3)/Arfophilin-1, a dual
      effector for Arf6 and Rab11, as a downstream effector of Arf6 in migrating
      neurons. The knockdown of FIP3 led to impaired neuronal migration in the
      intermediate zone and cytoplasmic retention of N-cadherin in migrating neurons,
      similar to that of Arf6, which could be rescued by the coexpression of wild-type
      FIP3 but not FIP3 mutants lacking the binding site for Arf6 or Rab11. These
      results suggest that Arf6 regulates cortical neuronal migration in the
      intermediate zone through the FIP3-dependent endosomal trafficking.

PMID- 27622212
TI  - Differential Activation of Calpain-1 and Calpain-2 following Kainate-Induced
      Seizure Activity in Rats and Mice.
AB  - Systemic injection of kainate produces repetitive seizure activity in both rats
      and mice. It also results in short-term synaptic modifications as well as delayed
      neurodegeneration. The signaling cascades involved in both short-term and delayed
      responses are not clearly defined. The calcium-dependent protease calpain is
      activated in various brain structures following systemic kainate injection,
      although the precise involvement of the two major brain calpain isoforms, calpain
      1 and calpain-2, remains to be defined. It has recently been reported that
      calpain-1 and calpain-2 play opposite roles in NMDA receptor-mediated
      neuroprotection or neurodegeneration, with calpain-1 being neuroprotective and
      calpain-2 being neurodegenerative. In the present study, we determined the
      activation pattern of calpain-1 and calpain-2 by analyzing changes in levels of
      different calpain substrates, including spectrin, drebrin, and PTEN (phosphatase
      and tensin homolog; a specific calpain-2 substrate) in both rats, and wild-type
      and calpain-1 knock-out mice. The results indicate that, while calpain-2 is
      rapidly activated in pyramidal cells throughout CA1 and CA3, rapid calpain-1
      activation is restricted to parvalbumin-positive and to a lesser extent CCK
      positive, but not somatostatin-positive, interneurons. In addition, calpain-1
      knock-out mice exhibit increased long-term neurodegeneration in CA1, reinforcing
      the notion that calpain-1 activation is neuroprotective.

PMID- 27622213
TI  - Adult Conditional Knockout of PGC-1alpha Leads to Loss of Dopamine Neurons.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder.
      Recent studies have implicated a role for peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma coactivator protein-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) in PD and in animal or
      cellular models of PD. The role of PGC-1alpha in the function and survival of
      substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) dopamine neurons is not clear. Here we find
      that there are four different PGC-1alpha isoforms expressed in SH-SY5Y cells, and
      these four isoforms are expressed across subregions of mouse brain. Adult
      conditional PGC-1alpha knock-out mice show a significant loss of dopaminergic
      neurons that is accompanied by a reduction of dopamine in the striatum. In human
      PD postmortem tissue from the SNpc, there is a reduction of PGC-1alpha isoforms
      and mitochondria markers. Our findings suggest that all four isoforms of PGC
      1alpha are required for the proper expression of mitochondrial proteins in SNpc
      DA neurons and that PGC-1alpha is essential for SNpc DA neuronal survival,
      possibly through the maintenance of mitochondrial function.

PMID- 27622215
TI  - Evaluating the immunogenicity of an intranasal vaccine against nicotine in mice
      using the Adjuvant Finlay Proteoliposome (AFPL1).
AB  - Tobacco smoking is recognized as a global pandemic resulting in 6 million deaths
      per year. Despite a variety of anti-smoking products available to aid with
      tobacco cessation, the majority of people who attempt to quit smoking relapse
      within 6 months due to the addictive nature of nicotine. An immunotherapy
      approach could offer a promising treatment option by inducing a potent selective
      antibody response against nicotine in order to block its distribution to the
      brain and its addictive effects in the central nervous system. Our nicotine
      vaccine candidate was administered intranasally using the Neisseria meningitidis
      serogroup B Adjuvant Finlay Proteoliposome 1 (AFPL1) as a part of the delivery
      system. This system was designed to generate a robust immune response by
      stimulating IL-1beta production through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a potent
      mechanism for mucosal immunity. The vaccine induced high antibody titers in mice
      sera in addition to inducing mucosal antibodies. The efficacy of our vaccine was
      demonstrated using in vivo challenge experiments with radioactive [(3)H]
      nicotine, followed by an analysis of nicotine distribution in the lung, liver,
      blood and brain. Our results were encouraging as the nicotine concentration in
      the brain tissue of mice vaccinated with our candidate vaccine was four times
      lower than in non-vaccinated controls; suggesting that the anti-nicotine
      antibodies were able to block nicotine from crossing the blood brain barrier. In
      summary, we have developed a novel nicotine vaccine for the treatment of tobacco
      addiction by intranasal administration and also demonstrated that the AFPL1 can
      be used as a potential adjuvant for this vaccine design. 

PMID- 27622216
TI  - Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Rat Condylar Chondrocytes during Postnatal
      Development.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate differentially expressed proteins in rat mandibular
      condylar cartilage (MCC) chondrocytes caused by initial mastication for short
      postnatal periods. METHODS: Four groups of protein samples were extracted from
      primary cultured rat MCC chondrocytes, harvested from eigthy postnatal SD rats
      aged 1,7,14 and 28 days, with twenty in each group. Total proteins were labelled
      with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) reagents. Two
      dimensional nano-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and matrix
      assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight/ time-of-flight (MALDI
      TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry analysis with iTRAQ technique were performed. All data
      were analysed by MASCOT software with the SWISSPROT protein database.
      Furthermore, bioinformatics and statistical analysis were performed to classify
      their cellular components, biological processes, molecular functions and
      metabolic pathway by the PANTHER database. RESULTS: In total, 137 differentially
      expressed proteins were identified during MCC growth and were assigned to one or
      more cellular components. According to the PANTHER analysis, a significant
      proportion of proteins are involved in the metabolic process, cellular process,
      biological regulation, developmental process and response to stimulus. The most
      extensive molecular function was 43% in catalytic activity. In addition, it was
      found that proteins in MCC chondrocytes change markedly on the growth stage of
      eruption of the teeth. CONCLUSION: This study provides an integrated perspective
      of molecular mechanisms regulating early normal postnatal growth and development
      of rat MCC at the protein level.

PMID- 27622218
TI  - Analysis of Forecasting Indexes for Dental Caries ?in 3- to 6-year-old Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse a possible predictive index for dental caries in 3 to 6
      year old children in urban Beijing. METHODS: Using random cluster sampling, 2,333
      participants from six kindergartens, comprised of 35.7% 3-year-olds, 32.4% 4-year
      olds and 31.9% 5-year-olds in urban Beijing were selected. At baseline,
      questionnaires were administered to about half of the parents. Children's oral
      health condition was examined at baseline and 6, 12 and 18 months later. In total
      there were 1,094 children who completed the 18-month evaluation. RESULTS: The
      baseline caries prevalence was 56.4%, and the mean dmft (decayed, missing and
      filled primary teeth) and dmfs (decayed, missing and filled primary surfaces)
      were 2.66 and 5.60, respectively. There were 62.3% parents who were aware of oral
      health knowledge, and amongst which the accuracy rate for attitudes regarding
      oral healthcare was 82.1%. The caries incidence in children who completed the
      evaluation was 55.3%, and mean increases in dmft and dmfs were 1.62 and 3.93,
      respectively. Predictive factors related to caries incidence were "past caries
      experience" [odds ratio (OR) = 4.969, P < 0.001], "parents help children brush
      teeth daily" (OR = 0.851, P = 0.046), and "parents consider that primary caries
      need to be treated" (OR = 1.270, P = 0.031). The sensitivity and specificity of
      "past caries experience" were 69.4% and 73.2%, respectively, and the sensitivity
      of the three indices combined was 88.4%. CONCLUSION: "Past caries experience" was
      an important predictor for primary caries incidence, and can be used in
      combination with "parents help children brush teeth daily" and "parents consider
      that primary caries need to be treated" as a predictive index.

PMID- 27622214
TI  - Technological advances in precision medicine and drug development.
AB  - New technologies are rapidly becoming available to expand the arsenal of tools
      accessible for precision medicine and to support the development of new
      therapeutics. Advances in liquid biopsies, which analyze cells, DNA, RNA,
      proteins, or vesicles isolated from the blood, have gained particular interest
      for their uses in acquiring information reflecting the biology of tumors and
      metastatic tissues. Through advancements in DNA sequencing that have merged
      unprecedented accuracy with affordable cost, personalized treatments based on
      genetic variations are becoming a real possibility. Extraordinary progress has
      been achieved in the development of biological therapies aimed to even further
      advance personalized treatments. We provide a summary of current and future
      applications of blood based liquid biopsies and how new technologies are utilized
      for the development of biological therapeutic treatments. We discuss current and
      future sequencing methods with an emphasis on how technological advances will
      support the progress in the field of precision medicine.

PMID- 27622217
TI  - Assessing Maxillary Molar Furcation Involvement ?by Cone Beam Computed
      Tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reproducibility of four parameters for quantitatively
      assessing maxillary molar furcation involvement (FI) by cone beam computed
      tomography (CBCT). METHODS: Thirty-nine sites with degree II FI, classified by
      probing of 21 maxillary molars, were investigated. Degrees of FI in these sites
      were assessed based on CBCT data. In these samples, four parameters for
      quantitatively assessing FI in CBCT images were measured. The parameters included
      horizontal bone loss at furcation entrance level (HBL), maximum HBL (HBL-max),
      maximum vertical bone loss (VBL-max) and root trunk length (RT). The
      reproducibility of the measurements was evaluated. RESULTS: Amongst the 39 degree
      II FI classified by probing, only 17.9% were confirmed by CBCT. The other 46.2%
      were 'through and through' defects, 15.4% were fused roots and 20.5% were degree
      I FI in the CBCT image. The intraobserver repeatability for all four parameters
      was high, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of 0.960 for HBL, 0.992
      for HBL-max, 0.987 for VBL-max and 0.983 for RT. The ICCs for two observers was
      also high (ICCs: 0.873 to 0.947). The parameters and related methods of
      measurements proposed in the study showed high reproducibility. CBCT images
      provided more details in assessing maxillary molar FI. CONCLUSION: The parameters
      and related methods of measurements developed in this study showed high
      reproducibility. CBCT images provide more details in assessing maxillary molar
      FI.

PMID- 27622220
TI  - Simple Myofunctional Therapy Using Ready-made ?Mouthpiece Device before and after
      Orthodontic Treatment.
AB  - The present report describes myofunctional therapy using a ready-made training
      device, the T4A, in patients with permanent dentition and its effect on the
      prevention of relapse. The buccinator mechanism maintains the inner pressure of
      the tongue muscle equivalent to the outer pressure of the perioral soft tissues,
      such as the orbicular muscles, including the cephalopharyngeus and buccinator
      muscles. Training is performed so that patients learn to place their tongue and
      lips in the appropriate resting positions. The shape of the T4A and tongue guard
      supports the tongue from the bottom, allowing formation of the correct resting
      tongue position. However, the use of T4A for a long period of time may cause the
      teeth movement; therefore, caution is required. Use of the T4A is effective for
      the correction of oral habits, myofunctional therapy and for teaching the correct
      resting tongue position during the daytime and for the correction of oral habits,
      teaching correct resting tongue position during sleep. 

PMID- 27622219
TI  - Efficacy of Omega-3 in Treatment of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis: A Randomised,
      Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid
      supplement as an effective, safe and inexpensive medicine for the treatment of
      recurrent aphthous stomatitis. METHODS: In this double-blind clinical trial, 50
      patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis were randomly divided into the omega
      3 group and placebo group. Patients in the omega-3 group received 1000 mg omega-3
      group capsules (Daroupakhsh Company, Tehran, Iran) for 6 months; while those in
      the placebo group received placebo capsules with the same instructions. The pain,
      size, duration and recurrence rate of ulcers were recorded in each follow-up
      phase. Follow-up was done weekly in the first month of drug prescriptions and
      then monthly in the next 5 months. The data were analysed with SPSS-20 through
      the Mann-Whitney test to compare the groups with respect to each variable and the
      Wilcoxon and Friedman tests to compare the groups over time. Values were
      significant at P < 0.05. RESULTS: In the omega-3 group, pain was lessened from
      4.96 to 3.04, irritation was reduced from 5.88 to 4.00 (P = 0.0627) and the size
      of ulcers was decreased from 2.30 to 1.48 mm (P = 0.062). No significant change
      was observed in the aforementioned variables in the placebo group. Moreover, the
      number of ulcers indicated a significant reduction in the fourth, fifth and sixth
      months in comparison with the placebo group (P = 0.00). CONCLUSION: The
      recurrence of ulcers in the omega-3 group showed a significant decrease in the
      fifth and sixth months compared with the placebo group (P < 0.05). The current
      study indicated that omega-3 consumption decreased the symptoms of recurrent
      aphthous stomatitis.

PMID- 27622221
TI  - Endodontic Microsurgical Treatment of a Three-rooted Mandibular First Molar with
      Separate Distolingual Root: Report of One Case.
AB  - The separate distolingual (DL) roots of three-rooted mandibular first molars are
      thought to be too difficult for performing apical surgery. This article
      represents microsurgical treatment of a three-rooted mandibular first molar with
      a separate DL root. The procedure includes incision and flap retraction,
      osteotomy, apicoectomy, retropreparation and retrofilling of the root canal,
      using micro instruments, ultrasonic retrotips and mineral trioxide aggregate
      (MTA) under a dental operating microscope. Two mm in length of apical root
      resection, 2 mm in depth of root canal retropreparation with a personalised
      ultrasonic retrotip, and 2 mm in length of retrofilling with MTA are the key
      points for accomplishment of apical surgery on separate DL roots. The case was
      followed up for 15 months after surgery. Clinical and radiographic examinations
      revealed complete healing of periapical tissue. Separate DL roots of three-rooted
      mandibular first molars can be treated by endodontic microsurgery with
      modifications from standard protocol. 

PMID- 27622222
TI  - General practice antibiotic prescribing for management of otitis media in
      children.
AB  - Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common infections in children. The cause can
      be viral, but is most often bacterial. It remains one of the most common reasons
      for antibiotic prescribing for children. Many episodes of acute OM are self
      limiting and resolve without treatment, but antibiotics are often prescribed
      because these infections can develop into serious, sometimes life-threatening
      complications. 

PMID- 27622223
TI  - Diagnosis and management of hearing loss in elderly patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit in elderly patients,
      and is often under-recognised and poorly managed. It is essential for all
      clinicians to have awareness and knowledge in this field to enable the
      institution of early and appropriate care. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this article is
      to review the causes, diagnosis and management of hearing loss as it applies to
      elderly patients. The review describes a useful approach that clinicians can
      apply to daily practice. DISCUSSION: For elderly patients presenting with hearing
      loss, the basic assessment should include history, physical examination and pure
      tone audiometry. Management depends on the cause and type of hearing loss, and
      options include medical therapy, surgery and amplification. In the absence of a
      simple and correctable cause, consider referring patients to an otolaryngologist
      for further assessment.

PMID- 27622224
TI  - Implantable hearing devices - An update.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hearing loss affects one in six Australians and has an extensive
      psychosocial impact on patients. Hearing technology has made marked improvements
      over the past 30 years and device options for patients with hearing impairment
      are continuously emerging. OBJECTIVE: This article reviews currently available
      implantable hearing devices and their utility in certain patient populations. It
      also high-lights the patient characteristics that general practitioners (GPs) can
      use in identifying a patient who may benefit from referral to an implant program.
      DISCUSSION: The prevalence of hearing loss is increasing. The available options
      for hearing rehabilitation are continuously expanding, with improvements in
      technology, design and patient outcomes. In Australia, available implantable
      hearing devices include percutaneous and transcutaneous bone conducting aids, and
      cochlear implants. Complication rates continue to decrease as advances in
      operative techniques, and device design and function allow for expansion of
      device indications among the patient population.

PMID- 27622225
TI  - Sinusitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute and chronic sinusitis are common primary care presentations.
      They are caused by mucosal inflammation, which inhibits mucociliary function of
      the nose and paranasal sinuses. OBJECTIVE: This article provides an overview of
      acute and chronic sinusitis, and a guide to workup and management in a primary
      care setting. Complications and other indications for referral are discussed.
      DISCUSSION: Sinusitis involves a wide spectrum of presentations, both acute and
      chronic. It is primarily a medical condition, and surgical management is reserved
      for complicated or refractory cases.

PMID- 27622226
TI  - Hoarseness: An approach for the general practitioner.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hoarseness is a common presenting complaint that can be difficult to
      assess and treat in the general practitioner's rooms. This is because of the
      large number of differential diagnoses and the ability to perform only a limited
      examination without direct visualisation of the area. An important skill is to be
      able to identify the patients of concern who may require urgent referral to an
      otorhinolaryngologist. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this article are to outline the
      basic assessment of the patient presenting with hoarseness; ascertain which
      patients require specialist referral; and discuss treatment for some benign
      causes of hoarseness. DISCUSSION: Hoarseness can be a diagnostic dilemma and
      therefore difficult to treat. Vocal hygiene and speech therapy are valuable
      treatment tools for many benign conditions. Any patient with red flag features on
      history, or persistent hoarseness, should be referred to an
      otorhinolaryngologist.

PMID- 27622227
TI  - More than meets the (painful red) eye.

PMID- 27622228
TI  - Topical corticosteroid addiction and withdrawal - An overview for GPs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Topical corticosteroid (TCS) withdrawal (addiction) is a potential
      complication of TCS treatment, particularly where there has been an inappropriate
      long-term use of moderate-to-potent TCS on the face or genital area. TCS
      addiction and withdrawal is increasingly being discussed in social and mainstream
      media; however, it has received little attention in medical publications.
      Australian general practitioners (GPs) may come into contact with patients who
      have read material or watched videos about this condition. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of this article is to provide a succinct, evidence-based overview of
      TCS addiction and withdrawal for GPs. DISCUSSION: TCSs are indicated in the
      management of many patients with eczema. By being aware of TCS addiction and
      withdrawal, practitioners may be better able to help prevent this adverse effect
      and offer supportive care to patients in TCS withdrawal. It would also be useful
      for GPs to be able to discuss TCS addiction and withdrawal with patients who seek
      to clarify information they glean from non-medical sources.

PMID- 27622229
TI  - Towards appropriate imaging: Tips for practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The best use of diagnostic imaging is a challenge for many health
      professionals and the health system. Potential hazards of inappropriate imaging
      include exposure to ionising radiation, false positive and negative results,
      unexpected incidental findings, overdiagnosis and cost. OBJECTIVE: Using a
      fictional case, we aim to illuminate and discuss some of the challenges to
      appropriate diagnostic imaging and offer some solutions. DISCUSSION: While normal
      imaging results can reassure a patient, abnormal incidental findings can
      sometimes cause harm. When serious disease is very unlikely, verbal reassurance
      may be more appropriate than imaging. We remind doctors of the risks of ionising
      radiation, including how to access resources to estimate these risks and the need
      to ensure that the potential benefit of the test outweighs the risk - the process
      of justification. We point readers to imaging guidelines to help guide decision
      making, such as the 'Diagnostic imaging pathways' resource. We look forward to
      relationships between radiologists and general practitioners characterised by
      collaboration and consultation, rather than just ordering and reporting.

PMID- 27622230
TI  - The safety of nanoparticles in sunscreens: An update for general practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent media coverage has raised public awareness regarding the
      safety of sunscreens containing zinc (ZnO) and titanium (TiO2) nanoparticles. In
      Australia, the rates of skin cancer are among the highest in the world, and
      sunscreen is a commonly used protective agent against harmful ultraviolet (UV)
      radiation. General practitioners (GPs) commonly manage skin cancer and may be
      faced with questions from patients regarding the safety of sunscreens. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this article is to explain the role of nanoparticles in sunscreen,
      clarify the results of the literature regarding safety, and provide GPs with
      knowledge to assist in sun-safety discussion with patients. DISCUSSION: Current
      evidence suggests that the likelihood of harm from the use of sunscreens
      containing nanoparticles is low; however, further research into this area is
      required. Sunscreens have been proven to reduce rates of non-melanoma and
      melanoma skin cancers; hence, their use in prevention should be encouraged.

PMID- 27622231
TI  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in children and
      adolescents is increasing, mirroring the epidemic of paediatric obesity. Early
      onset T2DM is associated with poor long-term outcomes. OBJECTIVE: In this
      article, we describe the growing problem of early-onset T2DM in Australia,
      explore the difference between early-onset and adult-onset T2DM, and review the
      management of T2DM in children and adolescents. DISCUSSION: T2DM is difficult to
      differentiate from the more common type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in the
      paediatric population. Risk factors for T2DM include obesity, ethnicity and
      family history, and adolescence is a predisposing time for the development of
      T2DM due to physiological insulin resistance. Early-onset T2DM is more associated
      with shorter duration to insulin requirement, development of diabetic
      complications and cardiovascular disease than adult-onset T2DM and T1DM. The main
      goals in management include normalising hyperglycaemia, facilitating lifestyle
      modifications and managing diabetes-related and obesity-related comorbidities.

PMID- 27622232
TI  - A GP primer to understanding biopsy reports of the lower gastrointestinal tract.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colonoscopic biopsies are taken to make a diagnosis of inflammation,
      dysplasia or malignancy, to assess treatment success and to monitor patients'
      progression. OBJECTIVE: This aim of this article is to provide a guide to
      understanding histology reports sent to the general practitioner (GP) from the
      colonoscopy and anatomical pathology departments for the diagnosis of
      increasingly prevalent gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. DISCUSSION: Many diseases
      in the lower GI tract are increasing in prevalence and new diseases are emerging
      that require biopsy for diagnosis. Cancer surveillance programs require
      colonoscopy for polyp detection, and histology to evaluate polyps and subsequent
      cancer risk in the large bowel. Inflammatory bowel disease is also increasing in
      incidence, and patients are diagnosed and monitored with endoscopy and biopsy.
      Drugs can also affect the GI tract and endoscopy can detect damage with
      confirmation by biopsy.

PMID- 27622233
TI  - The uptake of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments fails to
      improve in some areas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Medicare-rebated Health Assessment for Aboriginal and Torres
      Strait Islander People (Medicare Benefits Schedule [MBS] item number 715) has
      been progressively implemented across Australia since 1999. OBJECTIVE: This paper
      explores some of the reasons why the uptake of Health Assessment for Aboriginal
      and Torres Strait Islander People remains low in some metropolitan general
      practices. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews and self-complete mail surveys
      with 31 general practice staff and practitioners were combined with an audit of
      practice systems and patient medical records in seven general practices in
      Sydney. RESULTS: Barriers to MBS item number 715 uptake included low rates of
      Indigenous status identification, lack of knowledge of MBS item numbers, lack of
      organisational teamwork within the practice and avoidance of billing specific MBS
      item numbers. DISCUSSION: The low uptake of MBS item number 715 in some
      metropolitan areas is of particular concern given the known gaps in Aboriginal
      and Torres Strait Islander health. Targeted action is required to address the
      barriers to uptake and re-evaluate the use of MBS item number 715 as a key
      performance indicator.

PMID- 27622234
TI  - Shared medical appointments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is generally the worst
      of any population group in Australia. Inaccessibility to health services is one
      possible cause of this. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) appear to be a
      culturally competent and appropriate way of improving access to, and the quality
      of, primary healthcare services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
      peoples. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to assess the acceptability
      and appropriateness of SMAs as an adjunct process in primary care for Aboriginal
      and Torres Strait Islander men. METHODS: As part of a broader study on SMAs,
      three SMA sessions were delivered at an Aboriginal men's health centre in
      northern New South Wales. One-day training sessions in SMA facilitation were also
      provided to two groups of 12-14 Aboriginal health workers (AHWs). Mixed methods
      were used to assess patient and provider satisfaction, subjective outcomes, and
      operational procedures in the SMA groups, as well as interest in the SMA process
      by AHWs. RESULTS: Satisfaction with SMAs among Aboriginal men was unanimously
      positive, with the numbers in the group increasing over time. Patients most
      enjoyed the 'yarn up' nature of SMAs with peer support, which reduced the 'scary'
      and culturally 'unnatural' nature of one-on-one consultations with a general
      practitioner (GP). AHWs who were trained to a level to conduct SMAs saw this as
      an effective way of improving cultural competence in, and accessibility of, their
      various Aboriginal health services. DISCUSSION: The results, though not
      generalisable, suggest that SMAs may offer a culturally safe and appropriate tool
      to enhance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' access to primary care.

PMID- 27622235
TI  - Safe and effective cultural mentorship in general practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Closing the gap in health and welfare for Aboriginal and Torres
      Strait Islander peoples is an ongoing challenge. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of
      this article are to conceptualise and operationalise models of cultural
      mentorship within a multifaceted practice-based program to facilitate culturally
      and clinically appropriate care. METHODS: Participatory action research and
      workshops were conducted with Aboriginal Elders, Aboriginal health workers
      (AHWs), Indigenous health project officers (IHPOs) and staff from participating
      Medicare Locals (MLs). RESULTS: Roles and responsibilities in a cultural
      mentorship relationship were defined, along with potential benefits and harm.
      Mentors and mentees should be comfortable with their own identity and/or
      ethnicity before engaging in a mentorship relationship. Mutual trust is implicit
      and participants must be prepared, flexible and mutually respectful to achieve
      mutual goals. The cultural mentorship model includes Aboriginal Elders and local
      care partnerships of Aboriginal community-controlled and primary care
      organisations, and practice mentorship teams of a local AHW/IHPO, research
      project officer and, where available, ML practice support officer. DISCUSSION: A
      successful cultural mentorship model is multi-level and safe, and requires mutual
      trust and respect, time and resources. Potential benefits include equitable
      access to, and use of, safe quality care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
      Islander patients in general practice.

PMID- 27622236
TI  - The Victorian Metropolitan Alliance's Education Enhancement program: A
      reflection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Victorian Metropolitan Alliance's (VMA's) Education Enhancement
      Program (EEP) began as a program of remediation for general practice registrars
      in 2006. Considerable experience was gained in the area of remediation,
      culminating in the opening of the VMA's Diagnostic and Assessment Centre in 2011.
      Since then, the EEP has made its services and expertise available externally and
      has been conducting comprehensive assessments of clinical skills, focused
      educational interventions, mentoring and audit of medical records for doctors.
      OBJECTIVE: This paper presents the data with respect to the external activities
      of the EEP, challenges encountered and lessons learnt. DISCUSSION: The EEP has
      provided some valuable services. The comprehensive assessments of clinical
      skills, being high-stakes assessments, required rigorous processes. There has
      been a greater than expected demand for educational interventions, particularly
      with respect to communication skills and prescribing, highlighting the need for
      such services to be more widely available.

PMID- 27622237
TI  - Responding to registrars' in-consultation calls for assistance: Practical
      implications from the ReCeNT project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: General practice registrars in Australia are expected to identify and
      address their knowledge or skills gaps during consultations. The content and
      frequency of registrars seeking assistance and the factors that influence this
      have been studied for 84,723 consultations. Term 1 registrars asked their
      supervisor for help in 11.0% of consultations, but by term 4 this reduced to 1.2%
      of consultations. Assistance was most often for skin or musculoskeletal
      conditions, and more often about management than diagnosis. OBJECTIVE: This
      article discusses the implications of this information for Australian general
      practice training. DISCUSSION: Registrars asked their supervisors for assistance
      despite having ready access to electronic information. Practices can anticipate
      supervisor interruptions approximately every tenth registrar consultation. The
      greater input required by registrars from supervisors earlier in training should
      be acknowledged by more flexible standards and payments to practices. A priority
      for general practice supervisor professional development is how to teach the
      management of complex patients, dermatology and musculoskeletal medicine.

PMID- 27622242
TI  - Lorentz force optical coherence elastography.
AB  - Quantifying tissue biomechanical properties can assist in detection of
      abnormalities and monitoring disease progression and/or response to a therapy.
      Optical coherence elastography (OCE) has emerged as a promising technique for
      noninvasively characterizing tissue biomechanical properties. Several mechanical
      loading techniques have been proposed to induce static or transient deformations
      in tissues, but each has its own areas of applications and limitations. This
      study demonstrates the combination of Lorentz force excitation and phase
      sensitive OCE at ?1.5??million A-lines per second to quantify the elasticity of
      tissue by directly imaging Lorentz force-induced elastic waves. This method of
      tissue excitation opens the possibility of a wide range of investigations using
      tissue biocurrents and conductivity for biomechanical analysis.

PMID- 27622243
TI  - Dicer generates a regulatory microRNA network in smooth muscle cells that limits
      neointima formation during vascular repair.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) coordinate vascular repair by regulating injury-induced gene
      expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and promote the transition of
      SMCs from a contractile to a proliferating phenotype. However, the effect of
      miRNA expression in SMCs on neointima formation is unclear. Therefore, we studied
      the role of miRNA biogenesis by Dicer in SMCs in vascular repair. Following wire
      induced injury to carotid arteries of Apolipoprotein E knockout (Apoe -/-) mice,
      miRNA microarray analysis revealed that the most significantly regulated miRNAs,
      such as miR-222 and miR-21-3p, were upregulated. Conditional deletion of Dicer in
      SMCs increased neointima formation by reducing SMC proliferation in Apoe -/-
      mice, and decreased mainly the expression of miRNAs, such as miR-147 and miR-100,
      which were not upregulated following vascular injury. SMC-specific deletion of
      Dicer promoted growth factor and inflammatory signaling and regulated a miRNA
      target interaction network in injured arteries that was enriched in anti
      proliferative miRNAs. The most connected miRNA in this network was miR-27a-3p
      [e.g., with Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 26 (ARHGEF26)], which was
      expressed in medial and neointimal SMCs in a Dicer-dependent manner. In vitro,
      miR-27a-3p suppresses ARHGEF26 expression and inhibits SMC proliferation by
      interacting with a conserved binding site in the 3' untranslated region of
      ARHGEF26 mRNA. We propose that Dicer expression in SMCs plays an essential role
      in vascular repair by generating anti-proliferative miRNAs, such as miR-27a-3p,
      to prevent vessel stenosis due to exaggerated neointima formation.

PMID- 27622245
TI  - Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome : Orthostatic dyspnea and possible
      pathophysiological substrates.
AB  - Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome (POS) is a rare disorder characterized by the
      emergence of a right-to-left shunt at the intracardiac or intrapulmonary level.
      The clinical picture is distinguished by shortness of breath that worsens on
      standing due to an accentuation of oxygen desaturation, and instead improves, at
      least partly, in the recumbent position. In this article we present a brief
      review of the pathophysiology of POS, as well as its clinical picture, diagnostic
      assessment, and preferential therapeutic options. Pathophysiological issues that
      are still not completely understood or much debated are outlined. The currently
      accepted pathophysiological concepts are presented and a summary of the main
      diagnostic and therapeutic tools is provided.

PMID- 27622248
TI  - Corrigendum to "Identification of a group of XTHs genes responding to heavy metal
      mercury, salinity and drought stresses in Medicago truncatula" [Ecotoxicol.
      Environ. Saf. 132 (2016) 153-163].

PMID- 27622246
TI  - Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis : Endovascular Treatment with Rheolysis and
      Aspiration thrombectomy.

PMID- 27622247
TI  - Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes of Spinal Arteriovenous
      Malformations.
AB  - PURPOSE: Spinal arteriovenous malformations (SAVMs) are rare events. This study
      evaluated initial clinical presentations and treatment outcomes of SAVMs.
      METHODS: In this study, 91 consecutive patients with SAVM between January 1993
      and November 2014 were evaluated. Initial clinical presentations, radiological
      findings, treatment results, and follow-up outcomes were evaluated according to
      disease type and treatment modalities. Patient status was scored using the
      modified Rankin scale (mRS) and Aminoff-Logue Disability scale (ALS). RESULTS: Of
      the SAVM patients 69 % were male and 31 % were female with a mean age of 49 years
      (range 11-82 years). At the time of initial imaging evaluation, myelopathy was
      the most common finding with main complaints of gait disturbance (69 out of 91,
      76 %), sensory disturbances (61/91, 67 %), and bowel or bladder symptoms (51/91,
      56 %). Among the 80 patients who received treatment 56 (62 %) underwent
      endovascular embolization and 24 (26 %) underwent surgery. Complete obliteration
      was achieved in 47 patients (84 %) after endovascular embolization and in 18 (75
      %) after surgical ligation. At the time of final follow-up 67 patients (84 %)
      showed improvement of more than 1 point on the mRS, while 69 (86 %) showed
      significant improvement on the ALS after treatment. CONCLUSION: The SAVMs
      presented with diverse neurological deficits, including myelopathy. Endovascular
      or surgical treatment of SAVMs can result in good clinical outcomes in most
      patients.

PMID- 27622244
TI  - Multidrug-resistant cancer cells and cancer stem cells hijack cellular systems to
      circumvent systemic therapies, can natural products reverse this?
AB  - Chemotherapy is one of the most effective and broadly used approaches for cancer
      management and many modern regimes can eliminate the bulk of the cancer cells.
      However, recurrence and metastasis still remain a major obstacle leading to the
      failure of systemic cancer treatments. Therefore, to improve the long-term
      eradication of cancer, the cellular and molecular pathways that provide targets
      which play crucial roles in drug resistance should be identified and
      characterised. Multidrug resistance (MDR) and the existence of tumor-initiating
      cells, also referred to as cancer stem cells (CSCs), are two major contributors
      to the failure of chemotherapy. MDR describes cancer cells that become resistant
      to structurally and functionally unrelated anti-cancer agents. CSCs are a small
      population of cells within cancer cells with the capacity of self-renewal, tumor
      metastasis, and cell differentiation. CSCs are also believed to be associated
      with chemoresistance. Thus, MDR and CSCs are the greatest challenges for cancer
      chemotherapy. A significant effort has been made to identify agents that
      specifically target MDR cells and CSCs. Consequently, some agents derived from
      nature have been developed with a view that they may overcome MDR and/or target
      CSCs. In this review, natural products-targeting MDR cancer cells and CSCs are
      summarized and clustered by their targets in different signaling pathways.

PMID- 27622250
TI  - Mindfulness: is it relevant to my work life?

PMID- 27622251
TI  - What's eating you? tick bite alopecia.
AB  - Tick bite alopecia is seldom reported in the literature. The condition usually
      presents as a solitary oval zone of alopecia with a central eschar. Histologic
      findings are not well described but generally indicate dense perifollicular
      lymphocytic inflammation. The mechanism for hair loss is poorly understood, but
      the prognosis for hair regrowth appears to be favorable. 

PMID- 27622249
TI  - Differences in Biofilm Mass, Expression of Biofilm-Associated Genes, and
      Resistance to Desiccation between Epidemic and Sporadic Clones of Carbapenem
      Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Sequence Type 191.
AB  - Understanding the biology behind the epidemicity and persistence of Acinetobacter
      baumannii in the hospital environment is critical to control outbreaks of
      infection. This study investigated the contributing factors to the epidemicity of
      carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) sequence type (ST) 191 by comparing the
      differences in biofilm formation, expression of biofilm-associated genes, and
      resistance to desiccation between major epidemic (n = 16), minor epidemic (n =
      12), and sporadic (n = 12) clones. Biofilm mass was significantly greater in the
      major epidemic than the minor epidemic and sporadic clones. Major and minor
      epidemic clones expressed biofilm-associated genes, abaI, bap, pgaABCD, and
      csuA/BABCDE, higher than the sporadic clones in sessile conditions. The csuC,
      csuD, and csuE genes were more highly expressed in the major epidemic than minor
      epidemic clones. Interestingly, minor epidemic clones expressed more biofilm
      associated genes than the major epidemic clone under planktonic conditions. Major
      epidemic clones were more resistant to desiccation than minor epidemic and
      sporadic clones on day 21. In conclusion, the epidemic CRAB ST191 clones exhibit
      a higher capacity to form biofilms, express the biofilm-associated genes under
      sessile conditions, and resist desiccation than sporadic clones. These phenotypic
      and genotypic characteristics of CRAB ST191 may account for the epidemicity of
      specific CRAB ST191 clones in the hospital. 

PMID- 27622252
TI  - Herpes zoster in children.
AB  - Herpes zoster (HZ) in immunocompetent children is quite uncommon. Initial
      exposure to the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) may be from a wild-type or vaccine
      related strain. Either strain may cause a latent infection and subsequent
      eruption of HZ. We present a case of HZ in a 15-month-old boy after receiving the
      varicella vaccination at 12 months of age. A review of the literature regarding
      the incidence, clinical characteristics, and diagnosis of HZ in children also is
      provided. 

PMID- 27622253
TI  - Subungual onycholemmal cyst of the toenail mimicking subungual melanoma.
AB  - This report highlights a rare case of a woman with horizontal ridging and
      tenderness of the right great toenail associated with dyspigmentation of 5 years'
      duration. Histopathology revealed a cystic structure with an epithelial lining
      mostly reminiscent of an isthmus-catagen cyst admixed with the presence of both
      an intermittent, focal granular layer and an eosinophilic cuticle surrounding
      pink, laminated keratin, most consistent with a diagnosis of subungual
      onycholemmal cyst (SOC). It is a rare and distinctive nail abnormality occurring
      in the dermis of the nail bed. We present a case of an SOC in the toenail
      mimicking subungual malignant melanoma, which may be an underrecognized and
      common entity that must be considered when discussing tumors of the nail unit,
      especially subungual melanoma. 

PMID- 27622255
TI  - Impact of acne vulgaris on quality of life and self-esteem.
AB  - The psychological impact of acne is determined by various factors including age,
      sex, personality, grade of disease, scarring, and environmental and ethnic
      background. Apart from managing the clinical manifestations of acne, clinicians
      also have to deal with the psychological aspects of the disease by assessing
      patients' quality of life (QOL) and self-esteem. These measures will aid in
      better management of acne patients. This study examined the relationship between
      acne and QOL and self-esteem. The results showed that acne severity may have a
      considerable adverse impact on QOL and self-esteem. Dermatologists need to
      emphasize the psychosocial sequelae of acne through awareness programs and
      encourage medical treatment along with basic psychosomatic remedies in the
      management of acne. 

PMID- 27622254
TI  - Effectiveness of an employee skin cancer screening program for secondary
      prevention.
AB  - Incidences of UV-induced skin cancer are continuously increasing. For this
      reason, early diagnosis is becoming more important. In this study, 783 employees
      of a technical company participated in an employee skin cancer screening program,
      which consisted of a physical examination for benign and malignant skin lesions
      and premalignant conditions. To ensure the quality of the examinations, screening
      was only performed by 5 trained dermatologists. Participants also were asked to
      complete a standardized questionnaire prior to examination. A total of 661 skin
      lesions were diagnosed among 48% of participants; 12.8% of participants exhibited
      50 or more melanocytic nevi and the risk for developing skin cancer was
      categorized as at least moderate for 64.9%. Additionally, 84.4% of participants
      with at least 1 skin lesion were advised to have a checkup within 1 year. The
      high rate of suspicious nevi detected in this study suggested that employee skin
      cancer screening programs are effective and also should be recommended at
      companies where employees are not at increased risk for developing skin cancer
      due to the nature of their work (eg, those who work outdoors). Despite the
      comparatively selective and young study population, these examinations provide
      evidence of the importance of skin cancer screening for the wider population. 

PMID- 27622256
TI  - Subungual exostosis.
AB  - Subungual exostosis is an uncommon bony tumor of the distal phalanx most often
      seen on the hallux. Although this lesion is completely benign, it must be
      distinguished from a number of other subungual tumors, both benign and malignant.
      Radiography of the digit is a noninvasive test that should be part of the initial
      workup whenever subungual exostosis is in the differential diagnosis. Once
      identified, surgical removal of the exostosis generally is both effective and
      well tolerated. We present a case of subungual exostosis that was discovered
      incidentally during a full-body skin examination. We also review the pertinent
      clinical and histopathologic findings, diagnosis, and treatment of this entity. 

PMID- 27622257
TI  - Circumscribed nodule in a renal transplant patient.

PMID- 27622259
TI  - Work intensity and IWPUT.

PMID- 27622258
TI  - Sporotrichoid fluctuant nodules.

PMID- 27622260
TI  - Fingernail photo-onycholysis after aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic therapy under
      blue light for treatment of actinic keratoses on the face.

PMID- 27622261
TI  - Enlarging breast lesion.

PMID- 27622262
TI  - Multiple eruptive dermatofibromas in a patient with sarcoidosis.

PMID- 27622263
TI  - Prednisone and vardenafil hydrochloride for refractory levamisole-induced
      vasculitis.
AB  - Levamisole is an immunomodulatory drug that was previously used to treat various
      medical conditions, including parasitic infections, nephrotic syndrome, and
      colorectal cancer. Over the last few years, increasing amounts of levamisole have
      been used as an adulterant in cocaine. Levamisole-cut cocaine has become a
      concern because it is known to cause a necrotizing purpuric rash, autoantibody
      production, and life-threatening leukopenia. Mixed histologic findings of
      vasculitis and thrombosis are characteristic of levamisole-induced purpura. The
      recommended management of levamisole-induced vasculitis currently involves
      withdrawal of the culprit along with supportive treatment. We describe a patient
      with levamisole-induced vasculitis who continued to develop skin lesions despite
      self-reported cocaine cessation. Complete resolution of cutaneous disease
      occurred with the addition of oral prednisone and vardenafil hydrochloride,
      suggesting the possibility of a new treatment option in patients with refractory
      disease. In addition, we review the clinical presentation, disease course,
      diagnostic approach, laboratory findings, histology, and management of levamisole
      induced vasculitis. The harmful effects of levamisole-cut cocaine are serious
      enough that public alerts have been issued to increase awareness. Clinicians
      should consider the possibility of levamisole exposure in cocaine users
      presenting with any combination of fever, neutropenia, and necrotic skin lesions,
      especially in acral areas including the ears. 

PMID- 27622264
TI  - Eruptive seborrheic keratoses secondary to telaprevir-related dermatitis.

PMID- 27622265
TI  - Anastrozole-induced subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus.
AB  - Drug-induced subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (DI-SCLE) has been associated
      with numerous drugs, but there are limited reports of its association with
      aromatase inhibitor anastrozole. We report the case of a patient undergoing
      treatment with anastrozole for breast cancer who presented with clinical,
      serological, and histological evidence consistent with DI-SCLE. Her condition
      quickly began to improve after the use of anastrozole was discontinued and
      hydroxychloroquine therapy was initiated. Cases such as ours as well as several
      others that implicate antiestrogen drugs in association with DI-SCLE seem to be
      contradictory to studies looking at the usefulness of treating systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE) with antiestrogen therapy. Further research on this
      relationship is warranted. 

PMID- 27622266
TI  - Preventing, identifying, and managing cosmetic procedure complications, part 2:
      lasers and chemical peels.
AB  - Part 1 of this series highlighted some of the potential complications that have
      been associated with soft tissue augmentation and botulinum toxin injections. In
      part 2, tips for how dermatology residents may prevent, identify, and manage
      complications from lasers and chemical peels for optimal patient outcomes are
      provided. 

PMID- 27622267
TI  - Enhanced radiation dermatitis associated with concurrent palliative radiation and
      vemurafenib therapy.

PMID- 27622268
TI  - Painful ulcerations above the malleoli.

PMID- 27622269
TI  - c-Fos Repression by Piwi Regulates Drosophila Ovarian Germline Formation and
      Tissue Morphogenesis.
AB  - Drosophila melanogaster Piwi functions within the germline stem cells (GSCs) and
      the somatic niche to regulate GSC self-renewal and differentiation. How Piwi
      influences GSCs is largely unknown. We uncovered a genetic interaction between
      Piwi and c-Fos in the somatic niche that influences GSCs. c-Fos is a proto
      oncogene that influences many cell and developmental processes. In wild-type
      ovarian cells, c-Fos is post-transcriptionally repressed by Piwi, which
      destabilized the c-Fos mRNA by promoting the processing of its 3' untranslated
      region (UTR) into Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). The c-Fos 3' UTR was sufficient
      to trigger Piwi-dependent destabilization of a GFP reporter. Piwi represses c-Fos
      in the somatic niche to regulate GSC maintenance and differentiation and in the
      somatic follicle cells to affect somatic cell disorganization, tissue
      dysmorphogenesis, oocyte maturation arrest, and infertility.

PMID- 27622270
TI  - Adverse Drug Reactions in a Tertiary Care Emergency Medicine Ward - Prevalence,
      Preventability and Reporting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the prevalence and preventability of adverse drug reactions
      (ADRs) in an emergency ward setting in a tertiary hospital in Sweden and to what
      extent the detected ADRs were reported to the Medical Product Agency (MPA).
      METHODS: In this prospective cross sectional observational study, 706 patients
      admitted to one of the Emergency Wards, at the Karolinska University Hospital in
      Solna, Stockholm during September 2008 -September 2009, were included. The
      electronic patient records were reviewed for patients' demographic parameters,
      prevalence of possible ADRs and assessment of their preventability. In addition,
      the extent of formal and required ADR reporting to national registers was
      studied. RESULTS: Approximately 40 percent of the patient population had at least
      one possible ADR (n = 284). In the multivariable regression model, age and number
      of drugs were significantly associated with risk of presenting with an ADR
      (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively). Sex was not identified as a significant
      predictor of ADRs (p = 0.27). The most common ADRs were cardiovascular, followed
      by electrolyte disturbances, and hemorrhage. In 18 percent of the patient
      population ADRs were the reason for admission or had contributed to admission and
      24% of these ADRs were assessed as preventable. The under-reporting of ADRs to
      the MPA was 99%. CONCLUSIONS: ADRs are common in Emergency Medicine in tertiary
      care in Sweden, but under-reporting of ADRs is substantial. The most frequent
      ADRs are caused by cardiovascular drugs, and significantly associated with age
      and number of drugs. However, only a minority of the detected serious ADRs
      contributing to admission could have been avoided by increased risk awareness.

PMID- 27622271
TI  - Genetic Characterization of Rubella Virus Strains Detected in Spain, 1998-2014.
AB  - The National Plan for the Elimination of Rubella was implemented in Spain in 2008
      using the logistics of the National Plan for the Elimination of Measles that have
      been employed since year 2000. Molecular characterization of rubella virus (RUBV)
      is important for disease surveillance and for monitoring elimination of the
      disease throughout the world. We describe the first complete series of data
      regarding the circulation of RUBV genotypes in Spain. The 739-nucleotide fragment
      designated by the WHO for RUBV genotyping was sequenced in 88 selected cases
      collected from 1998 to 2014. Five genotypes were identified: 1E, 2B, 1J, 1I, and
      1a. Genotype 1E was predominant between 1998 and 2003 but was replaced by
      genotype 2B, which was detected in sporadic cases in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013
      and 2014. There was an outbreak of genotype 2B in Algeciras (Andalusia) in 2008.
      Genotype 1J caused an outbreak in Madrid in 2004/2005 and sporadic cases in 2005
      and 2007. Genotype 1I was found to have infected an immune-suppressed patient
      with neurological symptoms in 2008. Finally, vaccine strain RA 27/3 was detected
      in three sporadic cases, two of them immune-suppressed and without a recent
      history of vaccination. This suggests that during these years there were a series
      of imported sporadic cases and outbreaks, confirming the findings of
      epidemiological data analysis. The importation sources were generally consistent
      with our geographic and cultural ties, mainly with Europe (genotypes 1E, 2B, 1I)
      and Latin America (1J). 

PMID- 27622272
TI  - A cross-sectional study on self-management of pressure ulcer prevention in
      paraplegic patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little is known about health activation and self-management
      behavior in preventing pressure ulcers (PU) in paraplegic patients. Therefore
      this study aimed to describe the extent of health activation and self-management
      behavior in paraplegics to prevent PU's and associations between this behavior
      and patient characteristics. Furthermore, we aimed to find differences in health
      activation in paraplegics who never had a PU compared to paraplegics with a
      previous history of PU's or a new-onset PU's. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey
      on health activation and self-management behavior was conducted among adult
      paraplegics recruited from two rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands. The
      Patient Activation Measure (PAM-score) was used to measure the extent of health
      activation. Patient statements on their level of self management behavior to
      prevent PU were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean PAM-score (0-100) was 54 (+/-8.1; n
      = 162) indicating a low level of health activation. Two indicators turned out to
      be statistically significant associated with health activation: level of
      education (OR = 2.2, p = 0.017) and degree of paraplegia (OR = 2.8, p = 0.036).
      Evaluation of health activation levels amongst paraplegics with or without a PU-
      history showed no significant difference. Analysis of patients statements
      demonstrated a large discrepancy between intended and actual behavior to prevent
      pressure ulcers. CONCLUSION: Level of education and level of paraplegia are
      significantly associated with health activation. A positive PU-history is not
      associated with future responsible behavior nor for compliant behavior in terms
      of health management.

PMID- 27622273
TI  - Time Trends in Hospital Admissions for Bronchiectasis: Analysis of the Spanish
      National Hospital Discharge Data (2004 to 2013).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze changes in the incidence, diagnostic procedures,
      comorbidity, length of hospital stay (LOHS), costs and in-hospital mortality
      (IHM) for patients with bronchiectasis who were hospitalized in Spain over a 10
      year period. METHODS: We included all admissions for patients diagnosed with
      bronchiectasis as primary or secondary diagnosis during 2004-2013. RESULTS:
      282,207 patients were admitted to the study. After controlling for possible
      confounders, we observed a significant increase in the incidence of
      hospitalizations over the study period when bronchiectasis was a secondary
      diagnosis. When bronchiectasis was the primary diagnosis we observed a
      significant decline in the incidence. In all cases, this pathology was more
      frequent in males, and the average age and comorbidity increased significantly
      during the study period (p<0.001). When bronchiectasis was the primary diagnosis,
      the most frequent secondary diagnosis was Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. When
      bronchiectasis was the secondary diagnosis, the most frequent primary diagnosis
      was COPD. IHM was low, tending to decrease from 2004 to 2013 (p<0.05). The
      average LOHS decreased significantly during the study period in both cases
      (p<0.001). The mean cost per patient decreased in patients with bronchiectasis as
      primary diagnosis, but it increased for cases of bronchiectasis as secondary
      diagnosis (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal an increase in the incidence
      of hospital admissions for patients with bronchiectasis as a secondary diagnosis
      from 2004 to 2013, as opposed to cases of bronchiectasis as the primary
      diagnosis. Although the average age and comorbidity significantly increased over
      time, both IHM and average LOHS significantly decreased.

PMID- 27622275
TI  - The Arginine/Lysine-Rich Element within the DNA-Binding Domain Is Essential for
      Nuclear Localization and Function of the Intracellular Pathogen Resistance 1.
AB  - The mouse intracellular pathogen resistance 1 (Ipr1) gene plays important roles
      in mediating host immunity and previous work showed that it enhances macrophage
      apoptosis upon mycobacterium infection. However, to date, little is known about
      the regulation pattern of Ipr1 action. Recent studies have investigated the
      protein-coding genes and microRNAs regulated by Ipr1 in mouse macrophages, but
      the structure and the functional motif of the Ipr1 protein have yet to be
      explored. In this study, we analyzed the domains and functional motif of the Ipr1
      protein. The resulting data reveal that Ipr1 protein forms a homodimer and that
      the Sp100-like domain mediates the targeting of Ipr1 protein to nuclear dots
      (NDs). Moreover, we found that an Ipr1 mutant lacking the classic nuclear
      localization signal (cNLS) also translocated into the nuclei, suggesting that the
      cNLS is not the only factor that directs Ipr1 nuclear localization. Additionally,
      mechanistic studies revealed that an arginine/lysine-rich element within the DNA
      binding domain (SAND domain) is critical for Ipr1 binding to the importin protein
      receptor NPI-1, demonstrating that this element plays an essential role in
      mediating the nuclear localization of Ipr1 protein. Furthermore, our results show
      that this arginine/lysine-rich element contributes to the transcriptional
      regulation and apoptotic activity of Ipr1. These findings highlight the
      structural foundations of Ipr1 action and provide new insights into the mechanism
      of Ipr1-mediated resistance to mycobacterium. 

PMID- 27622276
TI  - Retrospective comparative study of rigid and flexible ureteroscopy for treatment
      of proximal ureteral stones.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We analyzed the outcome and complications of rigid (R-URS) and
      flexible (F-URS) ureteroscopic lithotripsy for treatment of proximal ureteric
      stone (PUS). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Retrospective data of 135 patients (93 males
      and 42 females) submitted to R-URS and F-URS for treatment of PUS in the period
      between July 2013 and January 2015 were investigated. (R-URS, group 1) was
      performed in 72 patients while 63 patients underwent (F-URS, group 2).We compared
      the 2 groups for success, stone characteristics, operative time, intraoperative
      and postoperative complications. RESULTS: The overall stone free rate (SFRs) was
      49/72 (68%) in group 1 and 57/63 (91%) patients in group 2, (P=0.005). The
      operative time was shorter in group 1 in comparison to group 2 with statistically
      significant difference (P=0.005). There was not any statistically significant
      difference between 2 groups in complication rate (P=0.2). Conclusion: Both R-URS
      and F-URS could be a feasible option for treatment of PUS. R-URS is less
      successful for treatment of PUS and should be used cautiously and with
      availability of F-URS.

PMID- 27622274
TI  - Two-dimensional artificial light-harvesting antennae with predesigned high-order
      structure and robust photosensitising activity.
AB  - Highly ordered discrete assemblies of chlorophylls that are found in natural
      light-harvesting antennae are key to photosynthesis, which converts light energy
      to chemical energy and is the principal producer of organic matter on Earth.
      Porphyrins and phthalocyanines, which are analogues of chlorophylls, exhibit a
      strong absorbance of visible and near-infrared light, respectively. A highly
      ordered porphyrin-co-phthalocyanine antennae would harvest photons over the
      entire solar spectrum for chemical transformation. However, such a robust
      antennae has not yet been synthesised. Herein, we report a strategy that merges
      covalent bonds and noncovalent forces to produce highly ordered two-dimensional
      porphyrin-co-phthalocyanine antennae. This methodology enables control over the
      stoichiometry and order of the porphyrin and phthalocyanine units; more
      importantly, this approach is compatible with various metalloporphyrin and
      metallophthalocyanine derivatives and thus may lead to the generation of a broad
      structural diversity of two-dimensional artificial antennae. These ordered
      porphyrin-co-phthalocyanine two-dimensional antennae exhibit unique optical
      properties and catalytic functions that are not available with single-component
      or non-structured materials. These 2D artificial antennae exhibit exceptional
      light-harvesting capacity over the entire solar spectrum as a result of a
      synergistic light-absorption effect. In addition, they exhibit outstanding
      photosensitising activities in using both visible and near-infrared photons for
      producing singlet oxygen.

PMID- 27622277
TI  - Usefulness of measuring renal papillae in Hounsfield units in stone - forming
      patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this work is to study the density of the renal papillae
      in stone-forming patients and to determine its usefulness. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This study included a total of 79 patients diagnosed with renal stones and on
      whom a computed tomography without contrast was performed from June 2014 to May
      2015. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 (single ep!isode)
      included 43 patients, and Group 2 (recurrent episodes) included 36 patients. The
      density of six renal papillae (3 per kidney) was measured, and the means obtained
      were compared between Groups 1 and 2. Statistical analysis was performed using
      SPSS 20.0. RESULTS: The mean papillary density in Group 1 was 32.26 (SD 4.07) HU
      compared to 42.36 (SD 8.03) HU in Group 2 (P=00001). A ROC curve was constructed,
      obtaining an optimal cut-off point of 36.8HU [area under the curve, 0.881 (95%
      CI; 0.804-0.958); P=0001], with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 90%.
      The relative risk was estimated at 40.3 (95% CI; 10.8-151.1), meaning that a
      patient with a mean papillary density greater than 36.8HU would have a 40 times
      greater risk of having recurrent renal stones. The positive predictive value
      (PPV) was 81% and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 90%. CONCLUSION: The
      measurement of renal papillary density could be useful in predicting recurrent
      stone-formers. These results need to be confirmed in future studies with a
      greater number of patients and a longer follow-up.

PMID- 27622278
TI  - Prostate cancer in Brazil and Latin America: epidemiology and screening.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prostate cancer is one of the tumors with higher incidence and
      mortality among men in the World. Epidemiological data are influenced by life
      expectancy of population, available diagnostic methods, correct collection of
      data and quality of health services. Screening of the disease is not standardized
      around the World. Up till now there is no consensus about the risks versus
      benefits of early detection. There are still missing data about this pathology in
      Latin America. OBJECTIVE: to revise current epidemiologic situation and early
      diagnosis policies of prostate cancer in Brazil and Latin America. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Medline, Cochrane Library and SciELO databases were reviewed on the
      subject of epidemiology and screening of prostate cancer. Screening research was
      performed in websites on national public health organizations and Latin America.
      Screening recommendations were obtained from those governmental organizations and
      from Latin American urological societies and compared to the most prominent
      regulatory agencies and societies of specialists and generalists from around the
      World. RESULTS: Brazil and Latin America have a special position in relation to
      incidence and mortality of prostate cancer. In Brazil, it occupies the first
      position regarding incidence of cancer in men and the second cause of mortality.
      Central America has the highest rate of mortality of the continent with lower
      incidence/mortality ratios. Screening recommendations are very distinct, mainly
      among regulatory organs and urological societies. CONCLUSION: prostate cancer
      epidemiology is an important health public topic. Data collection related to
      incidence and mortality is still precarious, especially in less developed
      countries. It is necessary to follow-up long term screening studies results in
      order to conclude its benefits.

PMID- 27622279
TI  - The challenge of cystine and struvite stone formers: clinical, metabolic and
      surgical assessment.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the clinical, metabolic, and calculi characteristics of
      cystine and struvite stone patients after percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL).
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between January/2006-July/2013, 11 cystine stone patients
      were treated in our clinic. Of those, 3 were excluded due to incomplete follow
      up. Eight cystine stone patients (2 with bilateral disease; 10 renal units-RU)
      were considered for further analysis. A cohort of 8 struvite stone formers (10RU)
      was matched having the same age, gender, body mass index (BMI) and Guys stone
      score. Analyzed parameters comprised demographic data, serum/urinary metabolic
      evaluation and surgical outcomes. RESULTS: Both groups had 6 female patients.
      Groups were similar in regards to age, gender, BMI, stone burden, and serum
      creatinine (p=NS). All patients had PCNL as the first surgical treatment
      modality. Stone free rate (SFR) after the first PCNL tended to be lower (0%) in
      the cystine compared to the struvite group (40%)(p=0.08). Final SFR after
      secondary procedures increased to 70% in cystine and 80% in struvite patients
      (p=1.0); mean number of procedures to achieve stone free status was higher in the
      first group (3.57 vs. 2.0;p=0.028). Hypocitraturia was found in all patients, but
      struvite cases presented with lower mean urinary citrate levels (p=0.016). Other
      common abnormalities were elevated urinary pH (cystine 75% and struvite
      62.5%;p=1.0) and low urinary volume (62.5%,37.5%;p=0.63). CONCLUSION: Multiple
      interventions and suboptimal stone free rates are trait of the significant stone
      burden of struvite and cystine patients. Underlying metabolic abnormalities
      characterized by increased urinary pH, hypocitraturia and low urinary volume are
      often encountered in both populations.

PMID- 27622280
TI  - A large 15 - year database analysis on the influence of age, gender, race,
      obesity and income on hospitalization rates due to stone disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the public hospitalization rate due to stone disease in a
      large developing nation for a 15-year period and its association with socio
      demographic data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective database analysis of
      hospitalization rates in the Brazilian public health system was performed,
      searching for records with a diagnosis code of renal/ureteral calculi at
      admission between 1998-2012. Patients managed in an outpatient basis or private
      care were excluded. Socio-demographic data was attained and a temporal trend
      analysis was performed. RESULTS: The number of stone-related hospitalizations
      increased from 15.7%, although the population-adjusted hospitalization rate
      remained constant in 0.04%. Male:female proportion among hospitalized patients
      was stable (49.3%:50.7% in 1998; 49.2%:50.8% in 2012), though there was a
      significant reduction in the prevalence of male hospitalizations (-3.8%;p=0.041).
      In 2012, 38% of hospitalized patients due to stone disease had 40-59 years-old.
      The >=80 years-old strata showed the most significant decrease (-43.44%;p=0.022),
      followed by the 20-39 (-23.17%;p < 0.001) and 0-19 years-old cohorts (
      16.73%;p=0.012). Overall, the lowest relative hospitalization rates were found
      for yellow and indigenous individuals. The number of overweight/obese individuals
      increased significantly (+20.6%), accompanied by a +43.6% augment in the per
      capita income. A significant correlation was found only between income and
      obesity (R=0.64;p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of stone disease requiring
      hospitalization in Brazil remains stable, with a balanced proportion between
      males and females. There is trend for decreased hospitalization rates of male, <
      40 and >=80 years-old individuals. Obesity and income have a more pronounced
      correlation with each other than with stone disease.

PMID- 27622281
TI  - Non-infected penile prosthesis cultures during revision surgery; comparison
      between antibiotic coated and non - coated devices.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aim of this study is to investigate bacterial growth on non
      infected devices and compare antibiotic-coated and non-coated implants. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The charts of 71 patients who underwent revision surgeries for
      penile prosthesis between 1995 and 2013 were reviewed. Of those, 31 devices were
      antibiotic-coated prostheses, while 40 of the implants were non-coated. Swab
      cultures were routinely obtained from corporal, pump or reservoir site during the
      operation. If a bacterial biofilm was determined on the prosthesis, it was also
      cultured. RESULTS: A total of 5 different organisms were cultured from 18
      patients. Of them, 4 devices were antibiotic-coated and the other 14 were non
      coated devices. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common organism, while
      Staphylococcus hominis, beta hemolitic streptococcus, Escherichia coli and
      Proteus mirabilis were also cultured. All patients who had positive cultures were
      treated with appropriate antibiotics for four weeks postoperatively. Median
      follow-up time was 41 months, ranging between 8 and 82 months. One prosthesis
      (non-coated) became clinically infected in the follow-up period with a totally
      different organism. Culture positivity rates of antibiotic-coated and non-coated
      devices were 13% and 35% respectively and the result was significant (p=0.00254).
      CONCLUSIONS: Positive bacterial cultures are present on non-infected penile
      prostheses at revision surgeries in some of the patients. Antibiotic coated
      prostheses have much less positive cultures than non-coated devices.

PMID- 27622282
TI  - Clomiphene citrate treatment for late onset hypogonadism: rise and fall.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous series have demonstrated that Clomiphene Citrate (CC) is an
      effective treatment to increase Total Testosterone (TT) in Late Onset
      Hypogonadism (LOH) patients. However, what happens to TT levels after ending CC
      treatment is still debatable. The objective of this study is to evaluate TT
      levels 3 months after the discontinuation of CC in patients with LOH who were
      previously successfully treated with the same drug. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty
      seven patients with LOH that were successfully treated (achieved TT levels
      >11nmol/l) with CC 50mgs daily for 50 days were prospectively recruited in our
      Andrological outpatient clinic. CC was then stopped for 3 months and TT levels
      were measured at the end of this period. RESULTS: Mean TT level before
      discontinuation of CC was 22.7+/-8.1nmol/L (mean+/-SD). Three months after
      discontinuation, mean TT level significantly decreased in all pa!tients, 10.2+/
      3.9nmol/l (p < 0.01). Twenty-one patients (78%) decreased TT levels under
      11nmol/L. Six patients (22%) had TT levels that remained within the normal
      recommended range (>=11nmol/l). No statistical significant differences were
      observed between both groups. CONCLUSION: In the short term LOH does not seem to
      be a reversible condition in most patients after CC treatment. More studies with
      longer follow-up are needed to evaluate the kinetics of TT in LOH.

PMID- 27622283
TI  - Outcome analysis of holmium laser and pneumatic lithotripsy in the endoscopic
      management of lower ureteric calculus in pediatric patients: a prospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse outcomes of holmium laser and pneumatic lithotripsy in
      treatment of lower ureteric calculus in pediatric patients. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Prospective study conducted between August 2013 and July 2015. Inclusion
      criteria were lower ureteric calculus with stone size <=1.5cms. Exclusion
      criteria were other than lower ureteric calculus, stone size >=1.5cms, congenital
      renal anomalies, previous ureteral stone surgery. Patients were divided into two
      groups. Group A underwent pneumatic and group B underwent laser lithotripsy
      procedure. Patient's baseline demographic and peri-operative data were recorded
      and analysed. Post operatively X-ray/ultrasound KUB (Kidney, ureter and bladder)
      was performed to assess stone free status. RESULTS: A total of 76 patients who
      met the inclusion criteria to ureteroscopic intracorporeal lithotripsy were
      included. Group A and B included 38 patients in each. Mean age was 12.5+/-2.49 in
      Group A and 11.97+/-2.74 years in Group B respectively (p=0.38). Overall success
      rate was 94.73% in Group A and 100% in Group B, respectively (p=0.87).
      CONCLUSION: Holmium Laser lithotripsy is as efficacious as pneumatic lithotripsy
      and can be used safely for the endoscopic management of lower ureteric calculus
      in pediatric patients. However, holmium laser requires more expertise and it is a
      costly alternative.

PMID- 27622284
TI  - The effect of tadalafil therapy on kidney damage caused by sepsis in a
      polymicrobial septic model induced in rats: a biochemical and histopathological
      study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sepsis is an inflammatory reaction to bacteria involving the whole
      body and is a significant cause of mortality and economic costs. The purpose of
      this research was to determine whether tadalafil exhibits a preventive effect on
      sepsis in a septic model induced in rats with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were randomly separated into groups, 10 rats in each:
      (i) a sham (control) group, (ii) an untreated sepsis group, (iii) a sepsis group
      treated with 5mg/kg tadalafil and (iv) a sepsis group treated with 10mg/kg
      tadalafil. A polymicrobial sepsis model was induced in rats using CLP. Rats were
      sacrificed after 16h, and blood and kidney tissues were collected for biochemical
      and histopathological study. RESULTS: Levels of the inflammatory parameter IL-6
      decreased significantly in the sepsis groups receiving tadalafil in comparison
      with the untreated sepsis group (p < 0.05). In terms of histopathology,
      inflammation scores investigated in kidney tissues decreased significantly in the
      sepsis groups receiving tadalafil compared to the untreated sepsis group (p <
      0.05). In addition, levels of creatinine and cystatin C measured in septic rats
      receiving tadalafil were lower by a clear degree than in septic rats (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: In this study, tadalafil exhibited a preventive effect for sepsis
      related damage by suppressing inflammation in serum and kidney tissue of septic
      rats in a polymicrobial sepsis model induced with CLP.

PMID- 27622285
TI  - Impact of prior abdominal surgery on the outcomes after robotic - assisted
      laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: single center experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of prior abdominal surgery on the outcomes
      after robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients with prostate cancer who underwent
      RALP between June 2012 and February 2015 at our institution. Patients with prior
      abdominal surgery were compared with those without prior surgery while
      considering the mean total operating, console, and port-insertion times; mean
      estimated blood loss; positive surgical margin rate; mean duration of
      catheterization; and rate of complications. RESULTS: A total of 203 patients who
      underwent RALP during the study period were included in this study. In all, 65
      patients (32%) had a prior history of abdominal surgery, whereas 138 patients
      (68%) had no prior history. The total operating, console, and port-insertion
      times were 328 and 308 (P=0.06), 252 and 242 (P=0.28), and 22 and 17 minutes
      (P=0.01), respectively, for patients with prior and no prior surgery. The
      estimated blood losses, positive surgical margin rates, mean durations of
      catheterization, and complication rates were 197 and 170 mL (P=0.29), 26.2% and
      20.2% (P=0.32), 7.1 and 6.8 days (P=0.74), and 12.3% and 8.7% (P=0.42),
      respectively. Furthermore, whether prior abdominal surgery was performed above or
      below the umbilicus or whether single or multiple surgeries were performed did
      not further affect the perioperative outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest
      that RALP can be performed safely in patients with prior abdominal surgery,
      without increasing the risk of complications.

PMID- 27622286
TI  - Assignment Confidence in Localization of the Hand Motor Cortex: Comparison of
      Structural Imaging With Functional MRI.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assign confidence levels to
      structural MRI and functional MRI (fMRI) for localization of the primary motor
      cortex. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-one fMRI studies with at least one motor
      task (178 hemispheres) were identified. Three anatomic assessments were used to
      localize the primary motor cortex: relation between the superior frontal sulcus
      and precentral sulcus; cortical thickness; and configuration of the precentral
      knob. In 105 hemispheres, interreader agreement was assessed for two
      investigators with different experience levels. Confidence ratings from 0 to 5
      (0, no confidence; 5, 100% confidence) were assigned for fMRI and each anatomic
      localization method. RESULTS: Cortical thickness had the highest confidence
      rating (mean, 4.90 +/- 0.47 [SD]) with only one failure. The relation between the
      superior frontal sulcus and precentral sulcus had the lowest confidence rating
      (4.33 +/- 0.91) with three failures. The greatest statistical significance was
      observed for the cortical thickness and superior frontal sulcus-precentral sulcus
      methods (post hoc Bonferroni test, p < 0.001). Confidence rating scores were
      significantly higher for the cortical thickness sign than for fMRI results (4.72
      +/- 0.54) for a single motor task (post hoc Bonferroni test, p = 0.006); however,
      the mean confidence rating for fMRI improved to 4.87 +/- 0.36 when additional
      motor tasks were performed. Interreader differences were least for the cortical
      thickness sign (paired t test, t = 4.25, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Cortical
      thickness is a better anatomic landmark than fMRI localization for assigning
      confidence regarding localization of the primary motor cortex; however,
      localization of motor function is more specific when combined with fMRI findings.
      Multiple techniques can be used to increase confidence in identifying the hand
      motor cortex.

PMID- 27622287
TI  - Discovery of Allosteric and Selective Inhibitors of Inorganic Pyrophosphatase
      from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - Inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPiase) is an essential enzyme that hydrolyzes
      inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), driving numerous metabolic processes. We report a
      discovery of an allosteric inhibitor (2,4-bis(aziridin-1-yl)-6-(1-phenylpyrrol-2
      yl)-s-triazine) of bacterial PPiases. Analogues of this lead compound were
      synthesized to target specifically Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) PPiase
      (MtPPiase). The best analogue (compound 16) with a Ki of 11 MUM for MtPPiase is a
      species-specific inhibitor. Crystal structures of MtPPiase in complex with the
      lead compound and one of its analogues (compound 6) demonstrate that the
      inhibitors bind in a nonconserved interface between monomers of the hexameric
      MtPPiase in a yet unprecedented pairwise manner, while the remote conserved
      active site of the enzyme is occupied by a bound PPi substrate. Consistent with
      the structural studies, the kinetic analysis of the most potent inhibitor has
      indicated that it functions uncompetitively, by binding to the enzyme-substrate
      complex. The inhibitors appear to allosterically lock the active site in a closed
      state causing its dysfunctionalization and blocking the hydrolysis. These
      inhibitors are the first examples of allosteric, species-selective inhibitors of
      PPiases, serving as a proof-of-principle that PPiases can be selectively
      targeted.

PMID- 27622289
TI  - TMDOCK: An Energy-Based Method for Modeling alpha-Helical Dimers in Membranes.
AB  - TMDOCK is a novel computational method for the modeling of parallel homodimers
      formed by transmembrane (TM) alpha-helices. Three-dimensional (3D) models of
      dimers are generated by threading a target amino acid sequence through several
      structural templates, followed by local energy minimization. This is the first
      method that identifies helix dimerization modes and ranks them based on the
      calculated free energy of alpha-helix association. Free energy components include
      van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, and dipole interactions; side-chain
      conformational entropy; and solvation energy in the anisotropic lipid
      environment. TMDOCK reproduced 26 experimental dimeric structures formed by TM
      alpha-helices of 21 single-pass membrane proteins (including 4 mutants) with
      Calpha atom rmsd from 1.0 to 3.3A. Assessment of dimerization heterogeneity of
      these TM domains demonstrated that 7 of them have a unique dimer structure, 12
      have at least 2 alternative conformations, and 2 have a large number of different
      association modes. All unique experimental structures of proteins from the first
      group and eight structures from the second group were reproduced in computations
      as top-ranked models. A fast version of the method is available through the web
      server (http://membranome.org/tm_server.php).

PMID- 27622288
TI  - Computational Analysis and Predictive Cheminformatics Modeling of Small Molecule
      Inhibitors of Epigenetic Modifiers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The dynamic and differential regulation and expression of genes is
      majorly governed by the complex interactions of a subset of biomolecules in the
      cell operating at multiple levels starting from genome organisation to protein
      post-translational regulation. The regulatory layer contributed by the epigenetic
      layer has been one of the favourite areas of interest recently. This layer of
      regulation as we know today largely comprises of DNA modifications, histone
      modifications and noncoding RNA regulation and the interplay between each of
      these major components. Epigenetic regulation has been recently shown to be
      central to development of a number of disease processes. The availability of
      datasets of high-throughput screens for molecules for biological properties offer
      a new opportunity to develop computational methodologies which would enable in
      silico screening of large molecular libraries. METHODS: In the present study, we
      have used data from high throughput screens for the inhibitors of epigenetic
      modifiers. Computational predictive models were constructed based on the
      molecular descriptors. Machine learning algorithms for supervised training, Naive
      Bayes and Random Forest, were used to generate predictive models for the small
      molecule inhibitors of histone methyl-transferases and demethylases. Random
      forest, with the accuracy of 80%, was identified as the most accurate classifier.
      Further we complemented the study with substructure search approach filtering out
      the probable pharmacophores from the active molecules leading to drug molecules.
      RESULTS: We show that effective use of appropriate computational algorithms could
      be used to learn molecular and structural correlates of biological activities of
      small molecules. The computational models developed could be potentially used to
      screen and identify potential new biological activities of molecules from large
      molecular libraries and prioritise them for in-depth biological assays. To the
      best of our knowledge, this is the first and most comprehensive computational
      analysis towards understanding activities of small molecules inhibitors of
      epigenetic modifiers.

PMID- 27622290
TI  - Structural Basis for the Interaction between the IUS-SPRY Domain of RanBPM and
      DDX-4 in Germ Cell Development.
AB  - RanBPM and RanBP10 are non-canonical members of the Ran binding protein family
      that lack the Ran binding domain and do not associate with Ran GTPase in vivo.
      Rather, they have been shown to be scaffolding proteins that are important for a
      variety of cellular processes, and both of these proteins contain a SPRY domain,
      which has been implicated in mediating protein-protein interactions with a
      variety of targets including the DEAD-box containing ATP-dependent RNA helicase
      (DDX-4). In this study, we have determined the crystal structures of the SPIa and
      the ryanodine receptor domain and of approximately 70 upstream residues
      (immediate upstream to SPRY motif) of both RanBPM and RanBP10. They are almost
      identical, composed of a beta-sandwich fold with a set of two helices on each
      side located at the edge of the sheets. A unique shallow binding surface is
      formed by highly conserved loops on the surface of the beta-sheet with two
      aspartates on one end, a positive patch on the opposite end, and a tryptophan
      lining at the bottom of the surface. The 20-mer peptide (residues 228-247) of
      human DDX-4, an ATP-dependent RNA helicase known to regulate germ cell
      development, binds to this surface with a KD of ~13MUM. The crystal structure of
      the peptide complex and the mutagenesis studies elucidate how RanBPM can
      recognize its interaction partners to function in gametogenesis.

PMID- 27622291
TI  - Perceived Barriers to and Facilitators of Physical Activity in Recipients of
      Solid Organ Transplantation, a Qualitative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sufficient physical activity is important for solid organ transplant
      recipients (heart, lung, liver, kidney). However, recipients do not meet the
      recommended amount or required type of physical activity. The perceived barriers
      to and facilitators of physical activity in this population are largely unknown.
      METHODS: Semi-structured in depth interviews were conducted with solid organ
      transplant recipients in order to explore experienced barriers and facilitators.
      Qualitative methodology with thematic line-by-line analysis was used for
      analysis, and derived themes were classified into personal and environmental
      factors. RESULTS: The most important indicated barriers were physical
      limitations, insufficient energy level, fear, and comorbidities. The most
      frequently mentioned facilitators included motivation, coping, consequences of
      (in)activity, routine/habit, goals/goal priority, and responsibility for the
      transplanted organ. Neutral factors acting as a barrier or facilitator were self
      efficacy and expertise of personnel. A comparison of barriers and facilitators
      between transplant recipient groups yielded no overt differences. CONCLUSION:
      Several personal and environmental factors were indicated that should be
      considered in intervention development to increase physical activity behavior in
      solid organ transplant recipients.

PMID- 27622292
TI  - Hypothermia and Rewarming Activate a Macroglial Unfolded Protein Response
      Independent of Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury in Neonatal Piglets.
AB  - Therapeutic hypothermia provides incomplete neuroprotection after hypoxia
      ischemia (HI)-induced brain injury in neonates. We previously showed that
      cortical neuron and white matter apoptosis are promoted by hypothermia and early
      rewarming in a piglet model of HI. The unfolded protein response (UPR) may be one
      of the potential mediators of this cell death. Here, neonatal piglets underwent
      HI or sham surgery followed by 29 h of normothermia, 2 h of normothermia + 27 h
      of hypothermia or 18 h of hypothermia + rewarming. Piglets recovered for 29 h.
      Immunohistochemistry for endoplasmic reticulum to nucleus signaling-1 protein
      (ERN1), a marker of UPR activation, was used to determine the ratios of ERN1+
      macroglia and neurons in the motor subcortical white matter and cerebral cortex.
      The ERN1+ macroglia were immunophenotyped as oligodendrocytes and astrocytes by
      immunofluorescent colabeling. Temperature (p = 0.046) and HI (p < 0.001)
      independently affected the ratio of ERN1+ macroglia. In sham piglets, sustained
      hypothermia (p = 0.011) and rewarming (p = 0.004) increased the ERN1+ macroglia
      ratio above that in normothermia. HI prior to hypothermia diminished the UPR.
      Ratios of ERN1+ macroglia correlated with white matter apoptotic profile counts
      in shams (r = 0.472; p = 0.026), thereby associating UPR activation with white
      matter apoptosis during hypothermia and rewarming. Accordingly, macroglial cell
      counts decreased in shams that received sustained hypothermia (p = 0.009) or
      rewarming (p = 0.007) compared to those in normothermic shams. HI prior to
      hypothermia neutralized the macroglial cell loss. Neither HI nor temperature
      affected ERN1+ neuron ratios. In summary, delayed hypothermia and rewarming
      activate the macroglial UPR, which is associated with white matter apoptosis. HI
      may decrease the macroglial endoplasmic reticulum stress response after
      hypothermia and rewarming.

PMID- 27622293
TI  - The Clinical Usefulness of Tuberculin Skin Test versus Interferon-Gamma Release
      Assays for Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis in HIV Patients: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is
      becoming increasingly concerning due to the increasing the HIV epidemic, which
      have increased the risk for reactivation to active tuberculosis (TB) infection.
      LTBI is diagnosed by tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon-gamma release
      assays (IGRAs). OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to conduct a meta
      analysis of published papers on the agreement (kappa) between TST and QuantiFERON
      TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) tests for diagnosis of LTBI in HIV patient. METHODS:
      Electronic databases including PubMed/Medline, Elsevier/Scopus and Embase/Ovid
      were reviewed up Jan. 2016. We performed a random effect model meta-analysis for
      estimation of pooled Kappa between the two methods of diagnosis. Meta regression
      was used for assessing potential heterogeneity and Egger's test was used for
      assessing small study effect and publication bias. RESULTS: The initial search
      strategy produced 6744 records. Of them, 23 cross-sectional studies met the
      inclusion criteria and 20 studies entered in meta-analysis. The pooled kappa was
      and prevalence-adjusted and bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) were 0.37 (95% CI: 0.28,
      0.46) and 0.59 (0.49, 0.69). The discordance of TST-/QFT-GIT+ was more than
      TST+/QFT-GIT-. Kappa estimate between two tests was linearly associated with age
      and prevalence index and inversely associated with bias index. CONCLUSION: Fair
      agreement between TST and QFT-GIT makes it difficult to know whether TST is as
      useful as the QFT-GIT in HIV-infected patients. The higher discordance of TST
      /QFT-GIT+ in compared to TST+/QFT-GIT- can induce the higher sensitivity of QFT
      GIT for diagnosis LTBI in HIV patients. Disagreement between two tests can be
      influenced by error in measurements and prevalence of HIV.

PMID- 27622294
TI  - Availability of Advance Care Planning Documentation for Older Emergency
      Department Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Increasing advance care planning (ACP) among older adults is a
      national priority. Documentation of ACP in the electronic health record (EHR) is
      particularly important during emergency care. OBJECTIVE: We sought to
      characterize completion and availability of ACP among a subset of older patients
      at an academic emergency department (ED) with an integrated EHR. METHODS: In this
      cross-sectional study, patients were eligible if aged >=80 years or aged 65-79
      with >=1 indicator of high risk for short-term mortality. Patient-reported
      completion of ACP and availability of ACP documentation in the EHR were assessed.
      RESULTS: Among study patients (n = 104), 59% reported completing some form of
      ACP: living will 52%, heathcare power of attorney 54%, do not resuscitate 38%,
      and medical orders for scope of treatment or physician orders for life-sustaining
      treatment 6%. Whites were more likely to report having some form of ACP than
      minorities (66% vs. 37%, p < 0.01), as were patients aged >=80 years than those
      aged 65-79 (79% vs. 44%, p < 0.01). Only 13% of all patients had either a current
      code status or any other current ACP documentation in the EHR. Among patients
      whose primary care provider uses the same EHR system as the study ED, only 19%
      had a current code status or any other ACP documentation in the EHR. CONCLUSION:
      In a sample of older ED patients likely to benefit from ACP, few patients had
      documented end-of-life care preferences in the EHR.

PMID- 27622295
TI  - Physical, mental and social consequences in civilians who have experienced war
      related sexual violence: a systematic review (1981-2014).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify the health outcomes of sexual violence on civilians in
      conflict zones between 1981 and 2014. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. METHODS:
      For the purpose of this study, we defined sexual violence as sexual torture
      including, individual rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery. All types of conflicts
      were included (intrastate, interstate, and internationalized intrastate).
      Quantitative and mixed-method studies, reporting any physical, mental, and social
      consequences, were retrieved from Medline, Embase, Global Health, Global Health
      Library, WHOLIS, Popline, and Web of Sciences (n = 3075) and from checking
      reference lists and personal communications (n = 359). Data were analyzed using
      Microsoft Excel and MetaXL. Given inherent variation, the means derived from
      combining studies were misleading; thus, we focused on the range of values.
      RESULTS: The 20 studies were from six countries, five in Africa (18 studies), and
      especially in Democratic Republic of Congo (12 studies). The number of subjects
      varied from 63 to 20,517, with 17 studies including more than 100 subjects. Eight
      studies included males. Gang rape, rape, and abduction were the most commonly
      reported types of sexual violence. Sixteen studies provided data on physical
      outcomes of which the most common were pregnancy (range 3.4-46.3%), traumatic
      genital injuries/tears (range 2.1-28.7%), rectal and vaginal fistulae (range 9.0
      40.7%), sexual problems/dysfunction (range 20.1-56.7%), and sexually transmitted
      diseases (range 4.6-83.6%). Mental health outcomes were reported in 14 studies,
      the most frequent being post-traumatic stress disorder (range 3.1-75.9%), anxiety
      (range 6.9-75%), and depression (range 8.8-76.5%). Eleven studies provided social
      outcomes, the most common being rejection by family and/or community (range of
      3.5-28.5%) and spousal abandonment (range 6.1-64.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Wartime sexual
      violence is highly traumatic, causing multiple, long-term negative outcomes. The
      number and quality of studies published does not match the significance of the
      problem. The findings highlight the need for care of the survivors and their
      relatives and raise concerns about how they and their children will be affected
      in the long term.

PMID- 27622296
TI  - [Juvenile dermatomyositis: Early onset and unusual presentation].
AB  - : Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare disease, with a mean age of onset of 7
      years. We report a case of JDM in a 13-month-old infant. OBSERVATION: A 13-month
      old infant presented with an edema of the upper lip, 4 days after receiving
      amoxicillin-clavulanate. The patient was treated with betamethasone and an
      antihistamine. Progression was marked by the appearance of a white edema of the
      periorbital area and the upper lip, with purpuric lesions, aphthoid ulcerations,
      and a drooping head. Very high muscle enzymes, a myogenic electromyogram, and
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were found and diagnosis of JDM was retained. The
      patient was treated with a high dose of corticosteroids and methotrexate. Before
      the installation of dysphagia, dysphonia, and axial hypotonia, the bolus of
      cyclophosphamide was administered, with clear improvement. Corticosteroids and
      methotrexate were then kept over the long term. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The
      originality of this observation of JDM resides in the very young age of onset of
      the disease, its unusual cutaneous signs including labial edema extending to the
      regions around the eyes, its severe muscle manifestations causing axial
      hypotonia, and finally, in its association with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
      Early initiation of treatment (12 days after the onset of symptoms) greatly
      improved the prognosis of this form of JDM, which is very severe and refractory
      to first-line therapy.

PMID- 27622297
TI  - Functional Silver-Silicone-Nanofilament-Composite Material for Water
      Disinfection.
AB  - The roughness of superhydrophobic silicone nanofilaments (SNFs) is exploited to
      enlarge the contact area of conventional filter material. As an efficient wetting
      of the filter material is crucial for water treatment, the wettability of SNFs is
      readily modified from superhydrophobic to hydrophilic during the
      functionalization process. SNFs are coated on glass beads and subsequently
      modified with biocidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The enlarged surface area of
      SNFs allows a 30 times higher loading of AgNPs in comparison to glass beads
      without SNF coating. Thus, in column experiments, the AgNP-SNF-nanocomposite
      modified glass beads exert superior antibacterial activity towards suspensions of
      E. coli K12 compared to AgNP functionalized glass beads without SNFs.
      Additionally, reusing the AgNP-SNF-nanocomposite-coated glass beads with fresh
      bacteria contaminated medium increases their efficacy and reduces the colony
      forming units by ~6 log units. Thereby, the silver loss during percolation is
      below 0.1 MUg mL-1 . These results highlight, first, the potential of AgNP-SNF
      nanocomposite-modified glass beads as an effective filter substrate for water
      disinfection, and second, the efficiency of SNF coating in increasing the contact
      area of conventional filter material.

PMID- 27622298
TI  - Solving the Antibiotic Crisis.
AB  - Antibiotics are essential for both treating and preventing infectious diseases.
      Paradoxically, despite their importance as pillars of modern medicine, we are in
      danger of losing antibiotics because of the evolution and dissemination of
      resistance mechanisms throughout all pathogenic microbes. This fact, coupled with
      an inability to bring new drugs to market at a pace that matches resistance, has
      resulted in a crisis of global proportion. Solving this crisis requires the
      actions of many stakeholders, but chemists, chemical biologists, and
      microbiologists must drive the scientific innovation that is required to maintain
      our antibiotic arsenal. This innovation requires (1) a deep understanding of the
      evolution and reservoirs of resistance; (2) full knowledge of the molecular
      mechanisms of antibiotic action and resistance; (3) the discovery of chemical and
      genetic probes of antibiotic action and resistance; (4) the integration of
      systems biology into antibiotic discovery; and (5) the discovery of new
      antimicrobial chemical matter. Addressing these pressing scientific gaps will
      ensure that we can meet the antibiotic crisis with creativity and purpose. 

PMID- 27622299
TI  - Passive immunization for influenza through antibody therapies, a review of the
      pipeline, challenges and potential applications.
AB  - The Global Action Plan for influenza vaccines (GAP) aims to increase the
      production capacity of vaccines so that in the event of a pandemic there is an
      adequate supply to meet global needs. However, it has been estimated that even in
      the best case scenario there would be a considerable delay of at least five to
      six months for the first supplies of vaccine to become available after the
      isolation of the strain and availability of the candidate vaccine virus to
      vaccine manufacturers. By this time, the virus is likely to have already infected
      millions of people worldwide, causing significant mortality, morbidity and
      economic loss. Passive immunization through broadly neutralizing antibodies which
      bind to multiple, structurally diverse strains of influenza could be a promising
      solution to address the immediate health threat of an influenza pandemic while
      vaccines are being developed. These products may also have a role in seasonal
      influenza as an alternative to other options such as antivirals for the treatment
      of severe acute respiratory illness due to influenza. This article provides an
      overview of the current clinical pipeline of anti-influenza antibodies and
      discusses potential uses and the challenges to product development.

PMID- 27622301
TI  - Polyfunctional CD4 T-cells correlate with in vitro mycobacterial growth
      inhibition following Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccination of infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vaccination with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) protects infants
      against childhood tuberculosis however the immune mechanisms involved are not
      well understood. Further elucidation of the infant immune response to BCG will
      aid with the identification of immune correlates of protection against
      tuberculosis and with the design of new improved vaccines. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate BCG-induced CD4+ T-cell responses in blood samples from
      infants for cytokine secretion profiles thought to be important for protection
      against tuberculosis and compare these to PBMC-mediated in vitro mycobacterial
      growth inhibition. METHODS: Blood from BCG-vaccinated or unvaccinated infants was
      stimulated overnight with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) purified protein
      derivative (PPD) or controls and intracellular cytokine staining and flow
      cytometry used to measure CD4+T-cell responses. PBMC cryopreserved at the time of
      sample collection were thawed and incubated with live BCG for four days following
      which inhibition of BCG growth was determined. RESULTS: PPD-specific
      IFNgamma+TNFalpha+IL-2+CD4+T-cells represented the dominant T-cell response at
      4monthsand1yearafter infant BCG. These responses were undetectable in age-matched
      unvaccinated infants. IL-17+CD4+T-cells were significantly more frequent in
      vaccinated infants at 4monthsbut not at 1-year post-BCG. PBMC-mediated inhibition
      of mycobacterial growth was significantly enhanced at 4monthspost-BCG as compared
      to unvaccinated controls. In an analysis of all samples with both datasets
      available, mycobacterial growth inhibition correlated significantly with the
      frequency of polyfunctional (IFNgamma+TNFalpha+IL-2+) CD4+T-cells. CONCLUSIONS:
      These data suggest that BCG vaccination of infants induces specific
      polyfunctional T-helper-1 and T-helper-17 responses and the ability, in the PBMC
      compartment, to inhibit the growth of mycobacteria in vitro. We also demonstrate
      that polyfunctional T-helper-1 cells may play a role in growth inhibition as
      evidenced by a significant correlation between the two.

PMID- 27622300
TI  - Preclinical identification of vaccine induced protective correlates in human
      leukocyte antigen expressing transgenic mice infected with Coccidioides
      posadasii.
AB  - There is an emerging interest to develop human vaccines against medically
      important fungal pathogens and a need for a preclinical animal model to assess
      vaccine efficacies and protective correlates. HLA-DR4 (DRB1*0401 allele)
      transgenic mice express a human major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC
      II) receptor in such a way that CD4+ T-cell response is solely restricted by this
      human molecule. In this study HLA-DR4 transgenic mice were immunized with a live
      attenuated vaccine (DeltaT) and challenged by the intranasal route with 50-70
      Coccidioides posadasii spores, a potentially lethal dose. The same vaccination
      regimen offers 100% survival for C57BL/6 mice. Conversely, DeltaT-vaccinated HLA
      DR4 mice displayed 3 distinct manifestations of Coccidioides infection including
      40% fatal acute (FAD), 30% disseminated (DD) and 30% pulmonary disease (PD). The
      latter 2 groups of mice had reduced loss of body weight and survived to at least
      50days postchallenge (dpc). These results suggest that DeltaT vaccinated HLA-DR4
      mice activated heterogeneous immunity against pulmonary Coccidioides infection.
      Vaccinated HLA-DR4 mice displayed early expansion of Th1 and Th17 cells and
      recruitment of inflammatory innate cells into Coccidioides-infected lungs during
      the first 9dpc. While contraction rates of Th cells and the inflammatory response
      during 14-35dpc significantly differed among the 3 groups of vaccinated HLA-DR4
      mice. The FAD group displayed a sharply reduced Th1 and Th17 response, while
      overwhelmingly recruiting neutrophils into lungs during 9-14days. The FAD group
      approached moribund by 14dpc. In contrast, vaccinated HLA-DR4 survivors gradually
      contracted Th cells and inflammatory response with the greatest rate in the PD
      group. While vaccinated HLA-DR4 mice are susceptible to Coccidioides infection,
      they are useful for evaluation of vaccine efficacy and identification of
      immunological correlates against this mycosis.

PMID- 27622302
TI  - Comparison of hepatocellular carcinoma in Eastern versus Western populations.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous disease that remains highly
      prevalent in many Asian countries and is the second most common cause of cancer
      related mortality worldwide. Significant differences exist between Eastern and
      Western populations on many key aspects of HCC, contributing to the potential
      different treatment outcomes and challenges of clinical trial design and data
      interpretation. In this review, the authors compare HCC in Asia versus the West
      and highlight 1) differences in terms of epidemiology and trends and their
      correlation with etiology, 2) differences in genetics and how they relate to
      underlying etiology, 3) differences in treatment approaches based on existing
      guidelines and consensus statements, and 4) differences in clinical outcomes for
      Asian versus non-Asian patients with HCC in clinical trials and the implications
      for future clinical trial design. Cancer 2016;122:3430-3446. (c) 2016 American
      Cancer Society.

PMID- 27622303
TI  - Plant-Derived Terpenes: A Feedstock for Specialty Biofuels.
AB  - Research toward renewable and sustainable energy has identified specific terpenes
      capable of supplementing or replacing current petroleum-derived fuels. Despite
      being naturally produced and stored by many plants, there are few examples of
      commercial recovery of terpenes from plants because of low yields. Plant terpene
      biosynthesis is regulated at multiple levels, leading to wide variability in
      terpene content and chemistry. Advances in the plant molecular toolkit, including
      annotated genomes, high-throughput omics profiling, and genome editing, have
      begun to elucidate plant terpene metabolism, and such information is useful for
      bioengineering metabolic pathways for specific terpenes. We review here the
      status of terpenes as a specialty biofuel and discuss the potential of plants as
      a viable agronomic solution for future terpene-derived biofuels.

PMID- 27622304
TI  - Can We Get Rid of Palm Oil?
AB  - Concerns over the sustainability of palm oil have triggered debates about its
      role in a bio-based economy, but can we get rid of it? Although the quick answer
      is no, we should eliminate unsustainable land-use practices. However, currently,
      technical and financial support for land-users to adopt sustainable land-use
      practices in the cultivation of palm oil is largely missing.

PMID- 27622306
TI  - Droplet Impact Dynamics on Lubricant-Infused Superhydrophobic Surfaces: The Role
      of Viscosity Ratio.
AB  - In this study, the spreading and retraction dynamics of impacting droplets on
      lubricant-infused PTFE surfaces were investigated through high-speed imagery.
      Superhydrophobic Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) surfaces with randomly rough
      microstructures were prepared by sanding PTFE. Several silicone oils with
      different viscosities were infused into the structures of superhydrophobic PTFE
      surfaces. A glycerin and water solution was used for the impacting droplets. The
      viscosity ratio between the impinging droplet and infused oil layer was varied
      from 0.06 to 1.2. The droplet impact dynamics on lubricant-infused surfaces were
      found to change as the viscosity of the infused silicone oil layer was decreased.
      These changes included an increase in the spreading rate of the droplet following
      impact, an increase to the maximum spreading diameter, and an increase to the
      retraction velocity after the droplet reached its maximum diameter. These
      variations in the impact dynamics were most significant as the viscosity ratio
      became larger than one and are likely due to the reduction of viscous losses
      between the oil and water phases during the spreading and retraction of the
      impacting droplet. Using a scaling analysis which takes into account the role of
      energy dissipation in the impact dynamics, all the data for the maximum diameter
      of the droplet on lubricant-infused PTFE surfaces were found to collapse onto a
      single master curve. Finally, measurements of the dynamic advancing and receding
      contact angle were made during spreading and retraction of the droplet. These
      measurements showed the expected Cox-Voinov-Tanner scaling of contact angle for
      the high oil viscosity, low viscosity ratio lubricant infused surfaces. However,
      like the superhydrophobic surface, little changes in either the dynamic advancing
      or receding contact angle were observed for droplets spreading on the surface
      infused with the lowest viscosity oil.

PMID- 27622305
TI  - Active diffusion of nanoparticles of maternal origin within the embryonic brain.
AB  - AIM: To investigate porous silicon (PSi) nanoparticles (NPs) behavior in the
      embryonic brain. MATERIALS & METHODS: Fluorescently labeled PSi NPs were injected
      into the embryonic brains intraventricularly and to the mother intravenously
      (iv.). Brain histology from different time points up to 3 days was analyzed and
      live brains imaged with two-photon microscopy. RESULTS: PSi NPs were able to
      penetrate 80% of the embryonic cortical depth. Particle motility was confirmed in
      real-time in vivo. PSi NPs were able to penetrate the embryonic cortex after
      either iv. maternal or intraventricular injection. No developmental of
      macromorphological changes or increased cell apoptosis was observed. CONCLUSION:
      PSi NPs penetrate deep in the brain tissues of embryos after intraventricular
      injection and after iv. injection to the mother.

PMID- 27622307
TI  - Near infrared hyperspectral imaging in quality and safety evaluation of cereals.
AB  - The requirements of cereal research, as well as grading and evaluation of food
      products, have encouraged the development of nondestructive, rapid, and accurate
      analytical techniques to evaluate grain quality and safety. NIR hyperspectral
      imaging integrates spectroscopy and imaging techniques in one analytical system,
      allowing direct identification of chemical components and their distribution
      within the sample. It is a promising technique that may be implemented on-line,
      enabling the cereal industry to move away from subjective, manual classification
      and measuring methods. NIR hyperspectral imaging has gained popularity for
      rapidly acquiring information to enable the quantification, identification or
      differentiation of a variety of cereal properties. The technique can potentially
      replace multiple conventional chemical, microbial or physical tests with a
      single, automated image acquisition. Individual kernels can be analyzed
      nondestructively, enabling one to follow changes in the same kernel over time
      (e.g. fungal development). Although NIR hyperspectral imaging has not been
      extensively implemented in industry, it shows great potential for the development
      of an evaluation system to assess cereal grains, especially regarding variety
      discrimination and grading/classification properties. This review outlines the
      theory and principles of NIR hyperspectral imaging, and focuses specifically on
      its application in cereal science research and industry.

PMID- 27622308
TI  - Inverted erythrocyte membranes demonstrate beta2GPI-antiphospholipid antibody
      interactions and membrane crosslinking.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an acquired autoimmune
      disorder predisposing patients to thrombosis or pregnancy complications. Since
      inverted erythrocyte membranes (iEMs) might provide a physiologically relevant
      source of anionic phospholipids, we studied the interactions of phospholipid
      binding proteins and APS antibodies using iEMs. MATERIALS & METHODS: iEMs were
      prepared from packed erythrocytes by hypotonic lysis. Phosphatidylserine (PS)
      exposure was confirmed by annexin A5 (A5) binding using fluorescence microscopy
      and flow cytometry. Binding of beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2GPI)-IgG immune
      complexes to iEMs was investigated with gel electrophoresis, western blot and
      flow cytometry. Functional involvement in coagulation was documented in the
      thrombin generation assay. RESULTS: iEMs readily precipitated purified beta2GPI
      as well as beta2GPI from normal plasma and APS plasma. The plasma of APS patients
      provided higher levels of IgG binding to iEMs relative to healthy controls.
      Thrombin generation increased with increasing concentrations of iEMs, documenting
      that coagulation proteins bound to the exposed phospholipids. The LA effect was
      also distinguished in thrombin generation when comparing APS patients, as
      indicated by an increased lag time. Agglutination was observed after incubation
      with APS patient plasma and this was augmented by anti-human globulin.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, iEMs can provide a more physiological approach than
      phospholipid vesicle-based tests for investigating APS and are more amenable to
      standardization than platelet membranes.

PMID- 27622310
TI  - Association of Leukocyte Telomere Length and Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in
      Children from Salamanca, Mexico.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a correlation between
      telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in children.
      METHODS: Leukocyte TL and mtDNAcn were measured by real-time PCR in 98 Mexican
      children 6-12 years of age from Salamanca, Mexico. RESULTS: A positive
      association was found between TL and mtDNAcn after a natural log transformation
      (Pearson correlation r = 0.72; p < 0.0001). No correlation between age and body
      mass index (BMI) biomarkers was found, and no differences according to sex were
      observed. After adjustment for these variables, a linear regression model showed
      an association between TL and mtDNAcn (beta = 0.739, 95% confidence interval
      0.594; 0.885, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: A strong positive correlation between TL
      and mtDNAcn was found in the study population; age, sex, and BMI seemed to have
      no effect on this correlation.

PMID- 27622309
TI  - Quantum dot-mediated delivery of siRNA to inhibit sphingomyelinase activities in
      brain-derived cells.
AB  - The use of RNAi to suppress protein synthesis offers a potential way of reducing
      the level of enzymes or the synthesis of mutant toxic proteins but there are few
      tools currently available for their delivery. To address this problem,
      bioconjugated quantum dots (QDs) containing a hydrophobic component (N-palmitate)
      and a sequence VKIKK designed to traverse across cell membranes and visualize
      drug delivery were developed and tested on cell lines of brain origin. We used
      the Zn outer shell of the QD to bind HIS6 in JB577 (W*G*Dap(N-Palmitoyl)*VKIKK*P9
      *G2 *H6 ) and by a gel-shift assay showed that siRNAs would bind to the
      positively charged KIKK sequence. By comparing many peptides and QD coatings, we
      showed that the QD-JB577-siRNA construct was taken up by cells of nervous system
      origin, distributed throughout the cytosol, and inhibited protein synthesis,
      implying that JB577 was also promoting endosome egress. By attaching siRNA for
      luciferase in a cell line over-expressing luciferase, we showed 70% inhibition of
      mRNA after 24-48 h. To show more specific effects, we synthesized siRNA for
      neutral (NSMase2), acid (lysosomal ASMase) sphingomyelinase, and sphingosine
      kinase 1 (SK1), we demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibition of activity. These
      data suggest that QDs are a useful siRNA delivery tool and QD-siRNA could be a
      potential theranostic for a variety of diseases.

PMID- 27622311
TI  - Large-Gap Quantum Spin Hall State in MXenes: d-Band Topological Order in a
      Triangular Lattice.
AB  - MXenes are a large family of two-dimensional (2D) early transition metal carbides
      that have shown great potential for a host of applications ranging from
      electrodes in supercapacitors and batteries to sensors to reinforcements in
      polymers. Here, on the basis of first-principles calculations, we predict that
      Mo2MC2O2 (M = Ti, Zr, or Hf), belonging to a recently discovered new class of
      MXenes with double transition metal elements in an ordered structure, are robust
      quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators. A tight-binding (TB) model based on the dz2-,
      dxy-, and dx2-y2-orbital basis in a triangular lattice is also constructed to
      describe the QSH states in Mo2MC2O2. It shows that the atomic spin-orbit coupling
      (SOC) strength of M totally contributes to the topological gap at the Gamma
      point, a useful feature advantageous over the usual cases where the topological
      gap is much smaller than the atomic SOC strength based on the classic Kane-Mele
      (KM) or Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang (BHZ) model. Consequently, Mo2MC2O2 show sizable
      gaps from 0.1 to 0.2 eV with different M atoms, sufficiently large for realizing
      room-temperature QSH effects. Another advantage of Mo2MC2O2 MXenes lies in their
      oxygen-covered surfaces which make them antioxidative and stable upon exposure to
      air.

PMID- 27622312
TI  - Retrospective analysis of type 2 diabetes prevalence in a systemic sclerosis
      cohort from southern Italy: Comment on "Reduced incidence of Type 1 diabetes and
      Type 2 diabetes in systemic sclerosis: A nationwide cohort study" by Tseng et
      al., Joint Bone Spine 2016;83:307-13.

PMID- 27622313
TI  - Application of on-line and off-line heart-cutting LC in determination of
      secondary metabolites from the flowers of Lonicera caerulea cultivar varieties.
AB  - Lonicera caerulea is a shrub native to the Northen Hemisphere, with its fruits
      having a long tradition of being used in traditional medicine. The flowers,
      although a potential source of diverse phenolic compounds have not been studied
      in terms of phenolic content. In this paper, a 2D LC heart-cutting system,
      operating in both on-line and off-line modes, was developed and successfully
      employed in identification and quantification of secondary metabolites in the
      flowers of L. caerulea. A total of 51 compounds have been resolved and identified
      as either flavonoids, phenolic acids or iridoids. Flavonoids were the dominating
      group of compounds, alongside substantial levels of both phenolic acids and
      iridoids. A comparison between three varieties of L. caerulea flowers revealed
      that 'Wojtek' contained markedly more flavonols and phenolic acids than the
      remaining two varieties, whereas iridoids were at similar levels. Heart-cutting
      2D LC method used in this study offers a convenient approach and an effective
      tool for secondary metabolite analysis in L. caerulea flowers, and possibly other
      species from the genus.

PMID- 27622314
TI  - Effects of the novel norepinephrine prodrug, droxidopa, on ambulatory blood
      pressure in patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension.
AB  - The prodrug droxidopa increases blood pressure (BP) in patients with neurogenic
      orthostatic hypotension. The BP profile of droxidopa in neurogenic orthostatic
      hypotension patients (n = 18) was investigated using ambulatory BP monitoring.
      Following dose optimization and a washout period, 24-hour "off-drug" data were
      collected. "On-drug" assessment was conducted after 4-5 weeks of droxidopa
      treatment (mean dose, 444 mg, three times daily). Ambulatory monitoring off drug
      revealed that 90% of patients already had abnormalities in the circadian BP
      profile and did not meet criteria for normal nocturnal BP dipping. On treatment,
      both overall mean 24-hour systolic and diastolic BPs were higher compared to off
      drug (137/81 mm Hg vs. 129/76 mm Hg; P = .017/.002). Mean daytime systolic BP was
      significantly higher with droxidopa (8.4 +/- 3.1 mm Hg; P = .014). Although
      nocturnal BP was not significantly higher on droxidopa versus off treatment (P =
      .122), increases in nocturnal (supine) BP >=10 mm Hg were observed in four cases
      (22%). Severe supine systolic hypertensive readings at night (>200 mm Hg) were
      captured in one case and only while on treatment. These data demonstrate that
      ambulatory BP monitoring is useful to evaluate the circadian BP profile after
      initiating treatment with a pressor agent.

PMID- 27622316
TI  - Range-Separation Parameter in Tuned Exchange-Correlation Functionals: Successive
      Ionizations and the Fukui Function.
AB  - The range-separation parameter in tuned, range-separated exchange-correlation
      functionals is investigated in two contexts. First, the system dependence of the
      parameter is investigated for a series of systems obtained by successively
      ionizing a single species, paying particular attention to the degree of linearity
      in the energy versus electron number curve. The parameter exhibits significant
      system dependence and, therefore, achieving near-linearity in one segment of the
      curve leads to strong nonlinearity in other segments. This provides a challenging
      test case for the development of new functionals designed to overcome the known
      problems of this class of functional. Next, the study considers whether a range
      separation parameter tuned to a Koopmans energy condition is also applicable for
      the analogous density condition. This is tested by comparing two formulations of
      the Fukui function of conceptual density functional theory, for three
      representative systems. Both formulations yield the same general features and are
      not highly sensitive to the range-separation parameter. However, the agreement
      between the two is near-optimal when the energy-tuned parameter is used,
      indicating that this parameter is applicable for the analogous density condition.

PMID- 27622315
TI  - To the Editor Response from Authors.
AB  - No abstract available for this article.

PMID- 27622318
TI  - Laser Carbonization of PAN-Nanofiber Mats with Enhanced Surface Area and
      Porosity.
AB  - Here we present a novel laser process to generate carbon nanofiber nonwovens from
      polyacrylonitrile. We produce carbon nanofabrics via electrospinning followed by
      infrared laser-induced carbonization, facilitating high surface area and well
      controlled hierarchical porosity. The process allows precise control of the
      carbonization conditions and provides high nanoscale porosity. In comparison with
      classical thermal carbonization, the laser process produces much higher surface
      areas and smaller pores. Furthermore, we investigate the carbonization
      performance and the morphology of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers compounded with
      graphene nanoplatelet fillers.

PMID- 27622317
TI  - Raised interferon-beta, type 3 interferon and interferon-stimulated genes -
      evidence of innate immune activation in neutrophilic asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interferons play an important role in innate immunity. Previous
      studies report deficiency in virus induction of interferon (IFN)-alpha, IFN-beta
      and IFN-lambda in bronchial epithelial and bronchial lavage cells in atopic
      asthmatics. It is now recognized that asthma is a heterogeneous disease
      comprising different inflammatory phenotypes, some of which may involve innate
      immune activation in the absence of overt infection. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this
      study was to investigate whether the severity of asthma or a specific cellular
      sputum pattern may be linked to evidence of innate immune activation. METHODS:
      Here we investigate the expression of IFN-beta, IFN-lambda1 (IL-29), IFN
      lambda2/3 (IL-28A/B) and the interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) such as myxovirus
      resistance 1 (Mx1), oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) and viperin in unstimulated
      sputum cells in 57 asthmatics (including 16 mild, 19 moderate and 22 severe
      asthma patients) and compared them with 19 healthy subjects. RESULTS: We observed
      increased expression of IFN-beta, IFN-lambda1/IL-29, OAS and viperin in
      asthmatics compared with healthy subjects, while IL-28 was not expressed in any
      group. The overexpression was restricted to neutrophilic asthmatics (sputum
      neutrophils >= 76%), while eosinophilic asthmatics (sputum eosinophils >= 3%) did
      not differ from healthy subjects or even showed a lower expression of Mx1. No
      difference in interferon or ISG expression was observed according to clinical
      asthma severity. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Neutrophilic, but not
      eosinophilic, asthmatics display overexpression of IFN-beta, IFN-lambda1/IL-29
      and ISGs in their sputum cells that may reflect ongoing innate immune activation.

PMID- 27622319
TI  - Deconstructing IgG4-related disease involvement of midline structures: Comparison
      to common mimickers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A series of destructive and tumefactive lesions of the midline
      structures have been recently added to the spectrum of IgG4-related disease (IgG4
      RD). We examined the clinical, serological, endoscopic, radiological, and
      histological features that might be of utility in distinguishing IgG4-RD from
      other forms of inflammatory conditions with the potential to involve the
      sinonasal area and the oral cavity. METHODS: We studied 11 consecutive patients
      with erosive and/or tumefactive lesions of the midline structures referred to our
      tertiary care center. All patients underwent serum IgG4 measurement, flow
      cytometry for circulating plasmablast counts, nasal endoscopy, radiological
      studies, and histological evaluation of tissue specimens. The histological
      studies included immunostaining studies to assess the number of IgG4 + plasma
      cells/HPF for calculation of the IgG4+/IgG + plasma cell ratio. RESULTS: Five
      patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), three with cocaine-induced
      midline destructive lesions (CIMDL), and three with IgG4-RD were studied. We
      found no clinical, endoscopic, or radiological findings specific for IgG4-RD.
      Increased serum IgG4 and plasmablasts levels were not specific for IgG4-RD.
      Rather, all 11 patients had elevated blood plasmablast concentrations, and
      several patients with GPA and CIMDL had elevated serum IgG4 levels. Storiform
      fibrosis and an IgG4+/IgG + plasma cell ratio >20% on histological examination,
      however, were observed only in patients with IgG4-RD. CONCLUSIONS: Histological
      examination of bioptic samples from the sinonasal area and oral cavity represents
      the mainstay for the diagnosis of IgG4-RD involvement of the midline structures.

PMID- 27622320
TI  - Clonal hematopoiesis in patients with dyskeratosis congenita.
AB  - Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a rare inherited telomeropathy most frequently
      caused by mutations in a number of genes all thought to be involved in telomere
      maintenance. The main causes of mortality in DC are bone marrow failure as well
      as malignancies including leukemias and solid tumors. The clinical picture
      including the degree of bone marrow failure is highly variable and factors that
      contribute to this variability are poorly understood. Based on the recent finding
      of frequent clonal hematopoiesis in related bone marrow failure syndromes, we
      hypothesized that somatic mutations may also occur in DC and may contribute at
      least in part to the variability in blood production. To evaluate for the
      presence of clonal hematopoiesis in DC, we used a combination of X-inactivation,
      comparative whole exome sequencing (WES) and single nucleotide polymorphism array
      (SNP-A) analyses. We found that clonal hematopoiesis in DC is common, as
      suggested by skewed X-inactivation in 8 out of 9 female patients compared to 3
      out of 10 controls, and by the finding of acquired copy neutral loss-of
      heterozygosity on SNP-A analysis. In addition, 3 out of 6 independent DC patients
      were found to have acquired somatic changes in their bone marrow by WES,
      including a somatic reversion in DKC1, as well as missense mutations in other
      protein coding genes. Our results indicate that clonal hematopoiesis is a common
      feature of DC, and suggest that such somatic changes, though commonly expected to
      indicate malignancy, may lead to improved blood cell production or stem cell
      survival. Am. J. Hematol. 91:1227-1233, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27622322
TI  - Nucleocytoplasmic trafficking of Nipah virus W protein involves multiple discrete
      interactions with the nuclear import and export machinery.
AB  - Paramyxoviruses replicate in the cytoplasm with no obvious requirement to
      interact with the nucleus. Nevertheless, the W protein of the highly lethal bat
      borne paramyxovirus Nipah virus (NiV) is known to undergo specific targeting to
      the nucleus, mediated by a single nuclear localisation signal (NLS) within the C
      terminal domain. Here, we report for the first time that additional sites
      modulate nucleocytoplasmic localisation of W. We show that the N-terminal domain
      interacts with importin alpha1 and contributes to nuclear accumulation of W,
      indicative of a novel N-terminal NLS. We also find that W undergoes exportin-1
      mediated nuclear export, dependent on a leucine at position 174. Together, these
      data enable significant revision of the generally accepted model of W
      trafficking, with implications for understanding of the mechanisms of NiV immune
      evasion.

PMID- 27622321
TI  - Coated protein nanoclusters from influenza H7N9 HA are highly immunogenic and
      induce robust protective immunity.
AB  - Recurring influenza viruses pose an annual threat to public health. A time
      saving, cost-effective and egg-independent influenza vaccine approach is
      important particularly when responding to an emerging pandemic. We fabricated
      coated, two-layer protein nanoclusters from recombinant trimeric hemagglutinin
      from an avian-origin H7N9 influenza A virus as an approach for vaccine
      development in response to an emerging pandemic. Assessment of the virus-specific
      immune responses and protective efficacy in mice immunized with the nanoclusters
      demonstrated that the vaccine candidates were highly immunogenic, able to induce
      protective immunity and long-lasting humoral antibody responses to this virus
      without the use of adjuvants. Because the advantages of the highly immunogenic
      coated nanoclusters also include rapid productions in an egg-independent system,
      this approach has great potential for influenza vaccine production not only in
      response to an emerging pandemic, but also as a replacement for conventional
      seasonal influenza vaccines.

PMID- 27622323
TI  - Mechanism of action and in vitro activity of short hybrid antimicrobial peptide
      PV3 against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides are attractive candidates for developing novel therapeutic
      agents, since they are lethal to a broad spectrum of pathogens and have a unique
      low tendency for resistance development. In this study, mechanism of action and
      in vitro anti-pseudomonal activity of previously designed short hybrid
      antimicrobial peptide PV3 were investigated. Compared to ceftazidime, PV3 had not
      only higher antibacterial activity but also faster bactericidal activity. PV3
      reduced biofilm biomass and viability of biofilm embedded bacteria in a
      concentration-dependent manner. Although the antimicrobial activity of PV3 was
      reduced in Mueller-Hinton broth (MHB) containing human serum, it was still active
      enough to eradication of bacteria at low concentrations. Compared with standard
      condition (MHB only), there was no significant decrease in antibacterial activity
      of PV3 against P. aeruginosa strains under 150 mM NaCl (p = 0.615) and 1 mM MgCl2
      (p = 0.3466). Fluorescence microscopy and field emission scanning electron
      microscopy further indicated that PV3 killed bacteria by disrupting the cell
      membrane. Since PV3 has potent anti-pseudomonal activity and has little
      cytotoxicity in vitro, it seems plausible that the peptide should be further
      investigated with animal studies to support future pharmacological formulations
      and potential topical applications.

PMID- 27622324
TI  - Deltamethrin induced RIPK3-mediated caspase-independent non-apoptotic cell death
      in rat primary hepatocytes.
AB  - Deltamethrin (DLM), a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, is used all over the
      world for indoor and field pest management. In the present study, we investigated
      the elicited pathogenesis of DLM-induced hepatotoxicity in rat primary
      hepatocytes. DLM-induced cell death was accompanied with increased ROS
      generation, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and G2/M arrest. Pre
      treatment with N-acetyl cysteine/butylated hydroxyanisole/IM54 could partly
      rescue hepatocytes suggesting that ROS might play a role in DLM-induced toxicity.
      Interestingly, DLM treatment resulted in a caspase-independent but non-apoptotic
      cell death. Pre-treatment with pan-caspase inhibitor (ZVAD-FMK) could not rescue
      hepatocytes. Unaltered caspase-3 activity and absence of cleaved caspase-3 also
      corroborated our findings. Further, LDH release and Transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) analysis demonstrated that DLM incites membrane disintegrity and
      necrotic damage. Immunochemical staining revealed an increased expression of
      inflammatory markers (TNFalpha, NFkappaB, iNOS, COX-2) following DLM treatment.
      Moreover, the enhanced RIPK3 expression in DLM treated groups and prominent
      rescue from cell death by GSK-872 indicated that DLM exposure could induce
      programmed necrosis in hepatocytes. The present study demonstrates that DLM could
      induce hepatotoxicity via non-apoptotic mode of cell death.

PMID- 27622325
TI  - MicroRNA-126 increases chemosensitivity in drug-resistant gastric cancer cells by
      targeting EZH2.
AB  - Chemotherapeutic insensitivity is a significant barrier for effective treatment
      of gastric cancer (GC). Recently, emerging evidence has demonstrated that
      microRNAs (miRNAs) are critically involved in drug resistance. Here, by a large
      scale screen, we noticed low expression of miR-126 in the drug-resistant GC cell
      lines SGC7901/VCR and SGC7901/ADR compared with their parental cell line SGC7901.
      Ectopic expression of miR-126 increased sensitivity of SGC7901/VCR and
      SGC7901/ADR cells to vincristine (VCR) and adriamycin (ADR). Mechanistically,
      Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) was identified as a direct target of miR-126.
      Genetic silencing of EZH2 mirrored the effects of miR-126 in drug resistance, and
      restoration of EZH2 blocked the inhibitory effect of miR-126 on GC. Taken
      together, our results suggest that miR-126 is a tumor suppressor by sensitizing
      GC cells to chemotherapy and provide a potential therapeutic approach in cancer
      treatment.

PMID- 27622326
TI  - Survey of Oral Health Awareness in Neuchatel 9th Graders.
AB  - The oral health habits of pupils had not yet been analyzed for the canton of
      Neuchatel. A questionnaire was provided to 9th grade high school pupils (final
      year) of the three schools located in the Neuchatel area to asses both oral
      health knowledge and habits in this connection. The average age was 15.5+/-0.8
      years, and 78.1% of the questionnaires were returned. The prophylaxis program was
      conducted for a total of 4.5 h during pupils? entire time at school. The results
      showed that both knowledge and oral health habits could be improved. As a
      positive outcome, 99% of the pupils brush their teeth before going to bed.
      Comparisons with similar 10-year-old studies from other cantons (Bern, Vaud)
      showed major differences in knowledge, for example on the importance of
      fluoridation. Only 54% of the pupils in Neuchatel knew that fluoride offers some
      protection against caries, in spite of the fact that 89% thought that brushing
      with fluoridated toothpaste protects against caries. Most of the pupils used a
      fluoridated toothpaste. Furthermore, we found that self-reported sugar
      consumption was correlated with caries experience, but brushing frequency was
      not. We recommend introducing a review course for pupils in their last school
      year, in order to practice interdental cleaning, redefine appropriate, tooth
      friendly snacks, and emphasize the importance of regular dental check-ups. 

PMID- 27622327
TI  - Tipping the Balancing ACT.
AB  - Adoptive cell transfer therapy has emerged as a powerful treatment for metastatic
      melanoma, but efficacy is limited by an inhospitable tumor microenvironment. In
      this issue of Cancer Cell, Marigo et al. demonstrate that therapy requires
      induced expression of nitric oxide synthase 2 in monocyte-derived dendritic
      cells.

PMID- 27622328
TI  - Co-targeting of Adenosine Signaling Pathways for Immunotherapy: Potentiation by
      Fc Receptor Engagement.
AB  - Targeting the signaling pathway of the immunosuppressive metabolite adenosine is
      an emerging approach for cancer immunotherapy. In this issue of Cancer Cell,
      Young et al. describe that co-inhibition of the adenosingenic pathway through
      blockade of both CD73 and A2AR enhances antitumor efficacy through distinct
      mechanisms.

PMID- 27622329
TI  - Modeling SF3B1 Mutations in Cancer: Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities.
AB  - In this issue of Cancer Cell, Obeng et al. identify the consequences of
      expressing the most common mutation in the spliceosomal gene SF3B1 on
      hematopoiesis. The knockin mouse model described represents a valuable tool to
      dissect the effects of SF3B1 mutations on transformation, splicing, and less well
      characterized functions of SF3B1.

PMID- 27622330
TI  - Powering Tumor Metastasis with Recycled Fuel.
AB  - Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) recycling is of critical importance for RTK
      signaling and cancer, yet the process is poorly understood. In this issue, Ye et
      al. identify GOLM1 as a cargo adaptor that drives hepatocellular carcinoma
      metastasis by promoting EGFR recycling and provide insights into how this process
      is regulated.

PMID- 27622332
TI  - Co-inhibition of CD73 and A2AR Adenosine Signaling Improves Anti-tumor Immune
      Responses.
AB  - Preclinical studies targeting the adenosinergic pathway have gained much
      attention for their clinical potential in overcoming tumor-induced
      immunosuppression. Here, we have identified that co-blockade of the
      ectonucleotidase that generates adenosine CD73 and the A2A adenosine receptor
      (A2AR) that mediates adenosine signaling in leuokocytes, by using compound gene
      targeted mice or therapeutics that target these molecules, limits tumor
      initiation, growth, and metastasis. This tumor control requires effector
      lymphocytes and interferon-gamma, while antibodies targeting CD73 promote an
      optimal therapeutic response in vivo when engaging activating Fc receptors. In a
      two-way mixed leukocyte reaction using a fully human anti-CD73, we demonstrated
      that Fc receptor binding augmented the production of proinflammatory cytokines.

PMID- 27622331
TI  - T Cell Cancer Therapy Requires CD40-CD40L Activation of Tumor Necrosis Factor and
      Inducible Nitric-Oxide-Synthase-Producing Dendritic Cells.
AB  - Effective cancer immunotherapy requires overcoming immunosuppressive tumor
      microenvironments. We found that local nitric oxide (NO) production by tumor
      infiltrating myeloid cells is important for adoptively transferred CD8(+)
      cytotoxic T cells to destroy tumors. These myeloid cells are phenotypically
      similar to inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2)- and tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF)-producing dendritic cells (DC), or Tip-DCs. Depletion of immunosuppressive,
      colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R)-dependent arginase 1(+) myeloid
      cells enhanced NO-dependent tumor killing. Tumor elimination via NOS2 required
      the CD40-CD40L pathway. We also uncovered a strong correlation between survival
      of colorectal cancer patients and NOS2, CD40, and TNF expression in their tumors.
      Our results identify a network of pro-tumor factors that can be targeted to boost
      cancer immunotherapies.

PMID- 27622334
TI  - Lactate Dehydrogenase B Controls Lysosome Activity and Autophagy in Cancer.
AB  - Metabolic adaptability is essential for tumor progression and includes
      cooperation between cancer cells with different metabolic phenotypes. Optimal
      glucose supply to glycolytic cancer cells occurs when oxidative cancer cells use
      lactate preferentially to glucose. However, using lactate instead of glucose
      mimics glucose deprivation, and glucose starvation induces autophagy. We report
      that lactate sustains autophagy in cancer. In cancer cells preferentially to
      normal cells, lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB), catalyzing the conversion of
      lactate and NAD(+) to pyruvate, NADH and H(+), controls lysosomal acidification,
      vesicle maturation, and intracellular proteolysis. LDHB activity is necessary for
      basal autophagy and cancer cell proliferation not only in oxidative cancer cells
      but also in glycolytic cancer cells.

PMID- 27622333
TI  - Physiologic Expression of Sf3b1(K700E) Causes Impaired Erythropoiesis, Aberrant
      Splicing, and Sensitivity to Therapeutic Spliceosome Modulation.
AB  - More than 80% of patients with the refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts
      subtype of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) have mutations in Splicing Factor 3B,
      Subunit 1 (SF3B1). We generated a conditional knockin mouse model of the most
      common SF3B1 mutation, Sf3b1(K700E). Sf3b1(K700E) mice develop macrocytic anemia
      due to a terminal erythroid maturation defect, erythroid dysplasia, and long-term
      hematopoietic stem cell (LT-HSC) expansion. Sf3b1(K700E) myeloid progenitors and
      SF3B1-mutant MDS patient samples demonstrate aberrant 3' splice-site selection
      associated with increased nonsense-mediated decay. Tet2 loss cooperates with
      Sf3b1(K700E) to cause a more severe erythroid and LT-HSC phenotype. Furthermore,
      the spliceosome modulator, E7017, selectively kills SF3B1(K700E)-expressing
      cells. Thus, SF3B1(K700E) expression reflects the phenotype of the mutation in
      MDS and may be a therapeutic target in MDS.

PMID- 27622335
TI  - Feedback Activation of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Receptor Limits Response to
      Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors in Breast Cancer.
AB  - Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have demonstrated clinical benefits in
      subtypes of hematological malignancies. However, the efficacy of HDAC inhibitors
      in solid tumors remains uncertain. This study takes breast cancer as a model to
      understand mechanisms accounting for limited response of HDAC inhibitors in solid
      tumors and to seek combination solutions. We discover that feedback activation of
      leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) signaling in breast cancer limits the
      response to HDAC inhibition. Mechanistically, HDAC inhibition increases histone
      acetylation at the LIFR gene promoter, which recruits bromodomain protein BRD4,
      upregulates LIFR expression, and activates JAK1-STAT3 signaling. Importantly,
      JAK1 or BRD4 inhibition sensitizes breast cancer to HDAC inhibitors, implicating
      combination inhibition of HDAC with JAK1 or BRD4 as potential therapies for
      breast cancer.

PMID- 27622337
TI  - Targeting p38 or MK2 Enhances the Anti-Leukemic Activity of Smac-Mimetics.

PMID- 27622338
TI  - Facilitating T Cell Infiltration in Tumor Microenvironment Overcomes Resistance
      to PD-L1 Blockade.

PMID- 27622336
TI  - Small-Molecule Targeting of E3 Ligase Adaptor SPOP in Kidney Cancer.
AB  - In the cytoplasm of virtually all clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC),
      speckle-type POZ protein (SPOP) is overexpressed and misallocated, which may
      induce proliferation and promote kidney tumorigenesis. In normal cells, however,
      SPOP is located in the nucleus and induces apoptosis. Here we show that a
      structure-based design and subsequent hit optimization yield small molecules that
      can inhibit the SPOP-substrate protein interaction and can suppress oncogenic
      SPOP-signaling pathways. These inhibitors kill human ccRCC cells that are
      dependent on oncogenic cytoplasmic SPOP. Notably, these inhibitors minimally
      affect the viability of other cells in which SPOP is not accumulated in the
      cytoplasm. Our findings validate the SPOP-substrate protein interaction as an
      attractive target specific to ccRCC that may yield novel drug discovery efforts.

PMID- 27622339
TI  - IDH1, Histone Methylation, and So Forth.

PMID- 27622340
TI  - An Integrated Model of RAF Inhibitor Action Predicts Inhibitor Activity against
      Oncogenic BRAF Signaling.

PMID- 27622341
TI  - Increased Expression of HYAL1 in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Increased production and processing (degradation) of hyaluronan (HA)
      is critical for cancer invasion and metastasis. Although HA is known to be
      overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), little is known about
      the expression and biological significance of HA-degrading enzymes,
      hyaluronidases (HYALs), in PDAC. METHODS: Expression of HYALs mRNA was examined
      in PDAC cells by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. HYAL1 protein expression was
      examined in primary PDAC tumors by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay. The
      migratory ability of PDAC cells was determined by a transwell cell migration
      assay. RESULTS: Screening of mRNA expression of three major HYAL genes (HYAL1, 2,
      and 3) identified HYAL1 as a gene overexpressed in PDAC cells. Treatment of PDAC
      cells with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine and/or trichostatin A further increased the
      HYAL1 expression, suggesting a possible involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in
      the transcriptional regulation of this gene. HYAL1 protein concentrations were
      significantly higher in primary PDAC tissues as compared with nontumor pancreatic
      tissues (P = 0.049). Importantly, inhibition of HYAL activity by dextran sulfate
      significantly inhibited the migration of PDAC cells showing strong HYAL1
      expression (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that overexpression
      of HYAL1 is a common mechanism that may contribute to the aggressive phenotype of
      PDAC.

PMID- 27622342
TI  - Association Between Somatostatin Receptor Expression and Clinical Outcomes in
      Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Somatostatin receptors (SSTRs), products of gene superfamily SSTR1-5,
      are commonly expressed in neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Somatostatin analogs
      (SSAs) bind to SSTRs and are used as therapeutic agents in patients with advanced
      NETs. We hypothesized that tumor SSTR expression status would be associated with
      clinical outcomes in NET. METHODS: Expression of the 5 SSTRs was evaluated by
      immunohistochemistry, using tissue microarrays comprising 173 primary NETs, 24
      matched metastases, and 22 metastatic NETs from 195 patients. Cox proportional
      hazards regression analysis was used to assess the association of SSTR expression
      status (high vs low) with clinical outcomes, adjusting for potential confounders.
      RESULTS: High expression of SSTR2 was associated with longer overall survival
      (OS) in the cohort overall (multivariate hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.21-0.84; P = 0.013). In a subgroup of patients with metastatic small
      intestine NET treated with SSAs and evaluable for progression, SSTR2 expression
      was associated with both longer progression-free survival (PFS) and OS. No
      associations with PFS or OS were observed with expression of other SSTRs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that expression of SSTR2, but not other
      SSTRs, is associated with longer OS. In patients treated with SSAs, expression of
      SSTR2 is associated with longer PFS survival.

PMID- 27622343
TI  - Involvement of tolQ and tolR genes in Edwardsiella ictaluri virulence.
AB  - Edwardsiella ictaluri is a Gram-negative intracellular facultative pathogen
      causing enteric septicemia of channel catfish (ESC). The Tol system, consisting
      of four envelope proteins TolQ, TolR, TolA, and TolB, are required for colicin
      import and contributes to bacterial virulence in several pathogenic bacteria.
      However, the Tol system and its importance in E. ictaluri virulence have not been
      investigated. Here we present construction and evaluation of the E. ictaluri
      TolQ, TolR and TolQR mutants (EiDeltatolQ, EiDeltatolR, and EiDeltatolQR). The
      Tol mutants were developed using in-frame gene deletion and their attenuation and
      vaccine efficacy were determined in catfish fingerlings. The EiDeltatolQ,
      EiDeltatolR, and EiDeltatolQR mutants showed reduced virulence in catfish
      (28.93%, 19.70%, and 39.82% mortality, respectively) compared to wild type
      (46.91% mortality). Further, vaccination with these mutants protected catfish
      against subsequent wild-type infection. This study suggests that the Tol system
      contributes to E. ictaluri virulence in catfish.

PMID- 27622344
TI  - Chitosan coated Ag/ZnO nanocomposite and their antibiofilm, antifungal and
      cytotoxic effects on murine macrophages.
AB  - In the present study, chitosan coated Ag/ZnO (CS/Ag/ZnO) nanocomposite was
      synthesized and characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction
      (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM). The CS/Ag/ZnO nanocomposite exhibited antibacterial activity
      against Gram positive (B. licheniformis and B. cereus) bacteria at 8 MUg mL-1
      compared to Gram negative (V. parahaemolyticus. and P. vulgaris) bacteria.
      CS/Ag/ZnO nanocomposite effectively inhibited the biofilm growth of Gram positive
      bacteria compared to Gram negative bacteria at 30 MUg mL-1. The hydrophobicity
      index and EPS (extracellular polysaccharide) production of both Gram positive and
      Gram negative bacteria was decreased after treatment with 30 MUg mL-1 of
      CS/Ag/ZnO nanocomposite. CS/Ag/ZnO nanocomposite showed effective control of
      fungal C. albicans biofilm (92%) at 50 MUg mL-1. The inhibition of bacterial and
      fungal biofilms was clearly visualized under light and confocal laser scanning
      microscopy (CLSM). CS/Ag/ZnO nanocomposite was observed to be non toxic to
      RAW264.7 murine macrophages and no changes in the morphology of macrophages was
      observed under phase contrast microscopy. The study concludes that CS/Ag/ZnO
      nanocomposite is the promising candidate to be used as biomaterial against
      bacterial and fungal infections without any toxicity risk.

PMID- 27622345
TI  - Antimicrobial resistance of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from seafood and
      humans in Iran.
AB  - Fourteen Listeria monocytogenes isolates previously collected from seafood (n =
      7) and human patients (n = 7) were studied for their antimicrobial susceptibility
      against eight common antimicrobials (ampicillin, penicillin, gentamicin,
      streptomycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, and
      cefotaxime). A high resistance level to ampicillin, cefotaxime (100%), and
      pencillin (57% in seafood isolates and 71.4% in clinical isolates) was observed
      in this study. However, all of the isolates were susceptible to trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline. Simultaneous resistance was
      identified in 4 clinical isolates (57.1%). Genotypic characterization of fish
      isolates (isolated from three fish species) was performed by pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis (PFGE). A high diversity among fish isolates was observed. PFGE
      analyses distinguished the 4 isolates into 4 reproducible pulsotypes. There was
      no correlation between the antibiograms with pulsotypes. In conclusion, the
      resistance of seafood isolates to the antibiotics commonly used to treat
      listeriosis could be a potential health hazard for consumers.

PMID- 27622346
TI  - Effects of clostridium butyricum and bifidobacterium on BTLA expression on CD4+ T
      cells and lymphocyte differentiation in late preterm infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Probiotics is recognized to promote growth performance and
      immune function via balancing the intestinal microflora. Live clostridium
      butyricum and bifidobacterium combined powder (LCBBCP) has been widely to treat
      intestinal dysbacteriosis in newborns in China. This study was undertaken to
      investigate the effects of the combined probiotics on the expression of B and T
      lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) on CD4+ T cells and the differentiation of
      lymphocyte subsets in late preterm infants. METHODS: Eighty eligible late preterm
      infants were equally randomized into LCBBCP therapy group (oral LCBBCP dissolved
      in formula milk before intake) and control group (treated with simple formula
      milk for preterm infants) by random digit table. Flow cytometry was used to
      determine the expression level of BTLA on CD4+ T cells and the percentage of
      individual subpopulation of lymphocytes in peripheral-blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs) obtained from the late preterm infants in both groups. RESULTS: BTLA
      protein expression on CD4+ T cells showed no significant change in LCBBCP therapy
      group before and after intervention, yet was rapidly and significantly down
      regulated in the controls. The percentage of increased CD4+ T cells, decreased
      CD8+ T cells and increased ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T cell proportion were seen in both
      groups after treatment, yet the increasing or decreasing extent in LCBBCP therapy
      group was more obvious than in control group. The proportion of NK cells and B
      lymphocytes remained no significant difference between the two groups before and
      after therapy. CONCLUSIONS: LCBBCP appears capable of facilitating the
      activation, proliferation and differentiation of T lymphocytes, which is
      beneficial to improving immunity in late preterm infants. The continuous high
      expression of BTLA on CD4+ T cells in LCBBCP therapy group may be involved in the
      inhibiting of excessive activation of T lymphocytes. Our findings may lay a basis
      for further clinical evaluation of the efficacies and wider clinical
      recommendation of probiotics containing live clostridium butyricum and
      bifidobacterium for late preterm infants.

PMID- 27622347
TI  - blaOXA-48 carrying clonal colistin resistant-carbapenem resistant Klebsiella
      pneumoniae in neonate intensive care unit, India.
AB  - Bacteria resistant to colistin, a last resort antibiotic reflect the pre
      antibiotic era. In this study, colistin resistance carbapenem-resistant K.
      pneumoniae (COLR- CRKP) strains from neonate's intensive care unit were
      evaluated. Molecular analysis showed that all the four colistin resistant K.
      pneumoniae isolates were clonally related with strong biofilm formation ability
      and harbored blaSHV-34 and blaOXA-48 genes. Our result suggested the need of
      proper surveillance and adequate infection control to limiting the spread of
      these organisms.

PMID- 27622349
TI  - Preface to the Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Diverticular
      Disease of the Colon.

PMID- 27622350
TI  - Management of Patients With Diverticulosis and Diverticular Disease: Consensus
      Statements From the 2nd International Symposium on Diverticular Disease.
AB  - The statements produced by the Chairmen of the 2nd International Symposium on
      Diverticular Disease, held in Rome on April 8th to 9th, 2016, are reported.
      Topics such as epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis, medical and surgical
      treatment of diverticular disease in patients with uncomplicated and complicated
      diverticular disease were reviewed by the Chairmen who proposed 41 statements
      graded according to level of evidence and strength of recommendation. Each topic
      was explored focusing on the more relevant clinical questions. The vote was
      conducted on a 6-point scale and consensus was defined a priori as 67% agreement
      of the participants. The voting group consisted of 80 physicians from 6
      countries, and agreement with all statements was provided. Comments were added
      explaining some controversial areas.

PMID- 27622351
TI  - The Role of Colonoscopy in the Diverticular Disease.
AB  - Colonic diverticula are one of the most frequent conditions found during the
      endoscopic examination of the lower digestive tract, interestingly in >70% of
      people after 80 years old. Of them, only a few percentage develop complications
      such as acute diverticulitis or diverticular bleeding. Up to now, colonoscopy
      represents the most important diagnostic and therapeutic tool on the hands of the
      clinicians. On the basis of this the need for a standardized and reproducible
      approach is now emerging. This short review article is tasked to point out some
      open issues concerning the role of colonoscopy in diverticular disease.

PMID- 27622353
TI  - The Economic Burden of Diverticular Disease.
AB  - Diverticular disease (DD) of the colon represents a common clinical condition
      affecting from one-fourth to one-third of the population in developed countries.
      Several epidemiological studies have clearly shown that in the last decades the
      rates of clinic visits and hospital admissions for DD and its complications are
      progressively increased. In addition, complications of DD are associated to a
      high mortality rate that continues unabated despite advances in surgery and
      intensive care. As consequence, the burden on health care resources has
      significantly increased over time, leading DD among the main causes of health
      spending for gastrointestinal diseases. In this review the most important data
      regarding health care resources utilization and costs for DD are analyzed and
      some proposals for reducing the burden on health care systems are hypothesized.

PMID- 27622352
TI  - Prognostic Role of the Endoscopic Classification "DICA".
AB  - Diverticular inflammation and complication assessment (DICA) endoscopic
      classification has been recently developed for patients suffering from
      diverticulosis and diverticular disease. Its predictive value in those patients
      was recently retrospectively assessed. For each patient, the following parameters
      were recorded: age, severity of DICA, presence of abdominal pain, C-reactive
      protein, fecal calprotectin test (if available) at the time of diagnosis, months
      of follow-up, therapy taken during the follow-up to maintain remission (if any),
      occurrence/recurrence of diverticulitis, and need of surgery. A total of 1651
      patients (793 male, 858 female, mean age 66.6+/-11.1 y) were enrolled: 939
      (56.9%) classified as DICA 1, 501 (30.3%) as DICA 2, and 211 (12.8%) as DICA 3.
      The median follow-up was 24 (9 to 138) months. Acute diverticulitis (AD)
      occurred/recurred in 263 (15.9%) patients, and surgery was necessary in 57
      (21.7%) cases. DICA was the only factor significantly associated with the
      occurrence/recurrence of diverticulitis and surgery either at univariate
      (chi=405.029; P<0.0001) or multivariate analysis (hazard ratio=4.319; 95% CI,
      3.639-5.126; P<0.0001). Only in DICA 2 patients scheduled therapy was effective
      for prevention of AD occurrence/recurrence with a hazard ratio (95% CI) of 0.598
      (0.391-0.914) (P=0.006, log-rank test). Mesalazine-based therapies reduced the
      risk of AD occurrence/recurrence and need of surgery with a hazard ratio (95% CI)
      of 0.2103 (0.122-0.364) and 0.459 (0.258-0.818), respectively. DICA
      classification seems to be a valid parameter to predict the risk of
      diverticulitis occurrence/recurrence in patients suffering from diverticular
      disease of the colon.

PMID- 27622354
TI  - Intestinal Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis and Management of Colonic
      Diverticular Disease.
AB  - Diverticula of the colon and their symptomatic manifestations, including acute
      diverticulitis (AD), are frequent complaints and the cause of an increasing
      burden of ambulatory visits, diagnostic procedures, and hospital admissions.
      Endoscopic and radiologic diagnostic procedures have a well-known role in the
      diagnosis and management of the disease, but recently intestinal ultrasonography
      has been proposed as a complementary tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of
      diverticular disease. This review shows the main sonographic features of
      diverticula and discusses the potential role of ultrasound in suggesting the
      presence of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease of the colon.
      Moreover, the sonographic features of AD, diagnostic accuracy, advantages, and
      limitations of the technique will be discussed. We place special emphasis on the
      present role of intestinal ultrasonography in patients with suspected AD. Owing
      to its high sensitivity and high positive predictive value in assessing AD,
      intestinal ultrasound is currently suggested by some European national consensus
      guidelines as the first-line examination in this setting. In fact, to minimize
      false-negative findings and avoid unnecessary radiation exposure in patients with
      suspected AD, intestinal ultrasound might be used as the first-line examination
      in a sequential diagnostic strategy, followed by computed tomography only in the
      case of negative or inconclusive findings.

PMID- 27622355
TI  - Diverticular Disease of the Colon: News From Imaging.
AB  - Different scenarios embrace computed tomography imaging and diverticula,
      including asymptomatic (diverticulosis) and symptomatic patients (acute
      diverticulitis, follow-up of acute diverticulitis, chronic diverticulitis). If
      the role of computed tomography is validated and widely supported by evidence in
      case of acute diverticulitis, this is not the case of patients in their follow-up
      for acute diverticulitis or with symptoms related to diverticula, but without
      acute inflammation. In these settings, computed tomography colonography is
      gaining consensus as the preferred radiologic test.

PMID- 27622356
TI  - The Role of Biomarkers in Diverticular Disease.
AB  - Diverticulosis of the colon is a common condition in western countries. Acute
      diverticulitis may occur in 10% to 25% of the patients, sometimes associated with
      the presence of complications such as abscess, fistula, and perforation. Early
      diagnosis and accurate assessment of acute diverticulitis are necessary to start
      an efficacious treatment promptly, either conservatively or by surgery. The
      clinical picture may mimic other abdominal conditions; therefore, imaging
      techniques such as ultrasound or computed tomography are usually recommended,
      although they are expensive, examiner dependent, and potentially harmful.
      Recently, there has been increasing interest about the role of biological markers
      in diverticular disease as noninvasive, reliable, and inexpensive tools,
      conceivably able to support physicians in the diagnosis, the assessment of
      activity, and the monitoring of acute diverticulitis. By a MEDLINE search, most
      of the relevant data derived from C-reactive protein showed that it strongly
      supported the diagnosis of acute diverticulitis at values of >50 mg/L. It also
      represents a stronger marker compared with other serum biomarkers, able to
      correlate with the histologic severity in acute diverticulitis, the risk of
      perforation, and the response to therapy. Regarding fecal biomarkers, an
      interesting role has been reported for fecal calprotectin. It significantly
      correlates with inflammatory infiltrate. More relevantly, it correlates with the
      response to therapy and may predict the recurrence of colonic diverticulitis, as
      it is reliable in detecting subclinical intestinal inflammation, as reported
      already for inflammatory bowel disease. These represent encouraging results, but
      need to be confirmed in further larger studies.

PMID- 27622357
TI  - Diverticular Disease and IBS: Overlapping or Misunderstanding?
AB  - Although over half of patients over 65 years old will have diverticulosis, only a
      minority experience symptoms. These are often similar to those of irritable bowel
      syndrome with pain and disordered bowel habit, but differ in having an onset in
      the sixth to seventh decade. The underlying mechanisms include visceral
      hypersensitivity which maybe postinflammatory, but may also be due to altered
      central pain processing. Somatization is a useful clue to a predominantly central
      pathology, while its absence points to local causes including altered enteric
      nerves and mucosal immune activation. Treatments should be tailored to the
      individual patient who shows either predominantly peripheral or central
      abnormalities.

PMID- 27622358
TI  - Prevalence of Colonic Diverticulosis in Patients Affected by Ulcerative Colitis:
      A Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diverticulosis of the colon is an acquired condition that results
      from herniation of the mucosa and submucosa through defects in the muscular
      layer. The true prevalence of colonic diverticulosis is difficult to measure
      because most individuals are asymptomatic. In particularly, in literature, there
      are few studies about the prevalence of colonic diverticulosis in patients
      affected by ulcerative colitis (UC). GOALS: To investigate the prevalence of
      colonic diverticulosis in UC and in adult patients referred in a single center.
      STUDY: Consecutive patients, referred to our institution to undergo a colonoscopy
      for colorectal cancer screening and/or for UC assessment, between January 1, 2014
      and December 31, 2014, were studied. RESULTS: Six hundred five consecutive
      patients were studied: 438 (72.4%) due to colorectal cancer screening (group A)
      and 167 (27.6%) for UC assessment (group B). Prevalence of colonic diverticulosis
      was higher in group A than group B (27.8% vs. 10.8%, P<0.0001). Female gender in
      patients with colonic diverticulosis was higher in group A than group B (55.7%
      vs. 22.2%, P=0.0106). Sigma and left colon was mainly involved in group A than
      group B (97.6% vs. 66.7%, P=0.0001), whereas in group B the right colon was
      mainly involved in group B versus group A (22.2% vs. 0.8%, P=0.0009).
      CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of colonic diverticulosis was significantly lower in
      patients with UC than in control group. UC may, therefore, be a protective factor
      for colonic diverticulosis occurrence.

PMID- 27622359
TI  - How to Differentiate Segmental Colitis Associated With Diverticulosis and
      Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
AB  - The segmental colitis associated with diverticulosis," better known by its
      acronym "SCAD," is a chronic inflammatory process localized in the colonic area
      presenting diverticulosis, and therefore mainly in the sigmoid colon. By
      definition, both the rectum and the right colon are spared from any inflammation
      both endoscopically and from a histologic point of view. Recent data have
      hypothesized that SCAD may be an independent clinical entity within the
      inflammatory bowel disease set of diseases. Compared with inflammatory bowel
      disease, SCAD seems to have a more benign outcome, with low rate of
      complications.

PMID- 27622360
TI  - Diverticular Disease and Colorectal Cancer: Incidental Diagnosis or Real
      Association? Final Answer.
AB  - Associations between diverticular disease of the colon and the colorectal cancer
      has been studied for >60 years. Observational, cross-sectional, and case-control
      studies as well as large population-based studies gave conflicting results and
      association was not fully proven. Obtaining the proof was difficult because both
      diseases share similar clinical characteristics, both increase with age, and both
      involve similar dietary factors. Long-term observations are difficult as
      diagnostic methods changed over time from barium enema 50 to 60 years ago,
      through endoscopy, up to CT and MR in recent years. Cancer or adenomas may be
      missed within diverticular segment; diverticula may be underreported in patients
      with colon cancer diagnosis. Most recent 2 large cohort studies have solved the
      dilemma. These studies have clearly shown that diverticular disease does not
      increase the risk of colon cancer after the first year of diagnosis. Within the
      first year of diagnosis the association is strong, most probably due to
      difficulties with differential diagnosis and misclassifications and shared
      symptoms. Findings of these studies have led to the conclusion that colon cancer
      has to be excluded using modern techniques after the first episode of suspected
      diverticulitis.

PMID- 27622361
TI  - Inflammation, Genetics, Dysbiosis, and the Environment: New Paradigms for
      Diagnosis in Complex Chronic Gut Syndromes.
AB  - Chronic and complex gut syndromes are complex to diagnose and manage, but good
      clinicopathologic correlation, recognition of new entities, understanding (and
      understanding the limits) of genetic susceptibility and the importance of the
      microbiome, dysbiosis and influence of the environmental allows development of
      new models for diagnosis. An awareness of overlap in chronic gut syndromes has
      been clarified by the realization that inflammatory pathways involved in chronic
      gut disease can arise through variable gene expression that is influenced by the
      environment in susceptible individuals. Recent advances in diagnosis of
      inflammatory bowel disease and diverticular disease may be aided by genetic tests
      but at present, pathology and some simple biomarkers such as C-reactive protein
      and fecal calprotectin are still mainstream investigative measures. When made
      aware of the importance of these recent developments in chronic gut disease,
      histopathologists can easily recognize colonic spirochetosis and microscopic
      colitis. The role of the microbiome alongside interaction with the environment,
      are now recognized as key players in complex diseases. Integration of appropriate
      and cost-effective tests into new paradigms will surely advance patients' well
      being and allow development of curative-targeted therapies rather than current
      treatments which, in many cases, merely alleviate symptoms.

PMID- 27622362
TI  - Myths and Evidences in Diverticular Disease.
AB  - Diverticular disease is a very common entity affecting the elders, but also a few
      people in the young age group. Most patients are asymptomatic, but about 30% of
      them will have abdominal complaints. As the pathophysiology of diverticular
      disease has changed since its description, we address some important points about
      the disease. Recent knowledge has changed the way we treat the patients with
      diverticular disease: conservatively or surgically.

PMID- 27622363
TI  - Italian Guidelines.
AB  - Diverticular disease (DD) is a widespread condition, however limited evidences
      are available about its management and complications. In the last years, an
      Italian Consensus Conference promoted by GRIMAD (Gruppo Italiano Malattia
      Diverticolare, Italian Group on Diverticular Diseases) and a Guideline, by
      Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR) were published. The aim of the
      Consensus was to provide clinical recommendation for appropriate definition,
      diagnosis, and management of DD, in particular 4 areas of interest were
      identified, namely: (i) definition and epidemiology, (ii) pathophysiology, (iii)
      diagnosis, and (iv) medical and surgical treatment. A total of 55 statements
      graded according to different level of evidence and strength of recommendation
      were approved. However, if we consider the grade of recommendation, their
      strength remains suboptimal, with only 3 statements with grade of evidence A in
      the area of diagnosis. The Clinical guidelines by SICCR focus mainly on acute
      diverticulitis, and surgical treatment of complicated DD. One of the main topic
      analyzed, is represented by the management of the acute uncomplicated
      diverticulitis, in particular about the use of antibiotics and need of
      hospitalization. Despite the presence of many recent European and western country
      guidelines, there is a lack of robust data on epidemiology, risk factors, and
      medical and surgical management of DD, calling the need of further studies aimed
      to obtain an evidence-based approach in this condition.

PMID- 27622364
TI  - German Guidelines.
AB  - Because of its frequency, diverticular disease is a burden on health care
      systems. Only few formal guidelines covering all aspects of the disease exist.
      Here, some selected statements from the German guidelines are given. The
      guidelines include significant recommendations for the diagnosis and management
      of diverticular disease. Both diagnosis and management depend definitely on clear
      definitions of the situation of an individual patient. Therefore, a new
      classification is proposed that is based on earlier suggestions. An
      internationally established classification would not only enable better patient
      care but could also lead to studies with comparable results.

PMID- 27622365
TI  - Management of Diverticular Disease in Scandinavia.
AB  - Throughout the last century, the incidence of diverticular disease of the colon
      has increased tremendously in industrialized countries; nevertheless, the
      management of this condition is still controversial. Although several
      international guidelines for the management of diverticular disease are based on
      the same evidence, the recommendations differ greatly, emphasizing the lack of
      high-quality prospective studies. In Scandinavia, official guidelines for the
      management of diverticular disease exist only in Denmark. However, the treatment
      policies are quite similar in all Scandinavian countries. Computed tomography is
      the first choice for imaging of acute diverticulitis and its complications.
      Furthermore, the use of antibiotics in uncomplicated diverticulitis is nearly
      abandoned in Scandinavia, whereas several international guidelines still
      recommend their use. There is a broad consensus that abscesses secondary to acute
      diverticulitis can safely be managed with percutaneous drainage, which is in line
      with international recommendations. The surgical management of perforated
      diverticulitis with peritonitis is still as controversial in Scandinavia as
      elsewhere. Common surgical options are laparoscopic peritoneal lavage, primary
      resection with anastomosis, and primary resection with terminal colostomy
      (Hartmann's procedure). Elective sigmoid resection in patients with diverticular
      disease seems to be performed less frequently in Scandinavia than in other
      European countries; the right indications are a current matter of debate.
      Symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease in the absence of diverticulitis
      has not gained great attention in Scandinavia.

PMID- 27622366
TI  - United States Guidelines for Diverticulitis Treatment.
AB  - Guidelines for diverticular disease management were last supported and published
      by the American Gastroenterology Association and the American College of
      Gastroenterology 2 decades ago. Guidelines have been published in other countries
      and by some societies. These guidelines are suggested as United States of America
      guidelines. In reality, they are what is practiced in Connecticut at Yale New
      Haven hospitals. The epidemiology and pathophysiology is described. This is still
      considered a dietary fiber-deficiency disease that results in high intracolonic
      pressure with resultant outpocketing of diverticula in the weakest point of the
      colon at the sites of vascular penetration with developing elastin deposition in
      the colon wall. The age and gender distribution is described. They are most
      common in the sigmoid. The guidelines of management are described according to
      accepted classification of the disease at all stages from onset, to early
      formation, to mild disease, to complicated disease, to rare specific states. The
      outcomes and mortality are discussed.

PMID- 27622367
TI  - Medical Treatment of Diverticular Disease: Antibiotics.
AB  - Diverticular disease (DD) of the colon represents the most common disease
      affecting the large bowel in western countries. Its prevalence is increasing.
      Recent studies suggest that changes in gut microbiota could contribute to
      development of symptoms and complication. For this reason antibiotics play a key
      role in the management of both uncomplicated and complicated DD. Rifaximin has
      demonstrated to be effective in obtaining symptoms relief at 1 year in patients
      with uncomplicated DD and to improve symptoms and maintain periods of remission
      following acute colonic diverticulitis (AD). Despite absence of data that
      supports the routine use of antibiotic in uncomplicated AD, they are recommended
      in selected patients. In patients with AD that develop an abscess, conservative
      treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics is successful in up to 70% of cases. In
      patients on conservative treatment where percutaneous drainage fails or
      peritonitis develops, surgery is considered the standard therapy. In conclusion
      antibiotics seem to remain the mainstay of treatment in symptomatic uncomplicated
      DD and AD. Inpatient management and intravenous antibiotics are necessary in
      complicated AD, while outpatient management is considered the best strategy in
      the majority of uncomplicated patients.

PMID- 27622368
TI  - Diverticular Disease of the Colon: Neuromuscular Function Abnormalities.
AB  - Colonic diverticular disease is a frequent finding in daily clinical practice.
      However, its pathophysiological mechanisms are largely unknown. This condition is
      likely the result of several concomitant factors occurring together to cause
      anatomic and functional abnormalities, leading as a result to the outpouching of
      the colonic mucosa. A pivotal role seems to be played by an abnormal colonic
      neuromuscular function, as shown repeatedly in these patients, and by an altered
      visceral perception. There is recent evidence that these abnormalities might be
      related to the derangement of the enteric innervation, to an abnormal
      distribution of mucosal neuropeptides, and to low-grade mucosal inflammation. The
      latter might be responsible for the development of visceral hypersensitivity,
      often causing abdominal pain in a subset of these patients.

PMID- 27622369
TI  - Treatment of Diverticular Disease With Aminosalicylates: The Evidence.
AB  - Colonic diverticulosis is an increasingly common condition in Western
      industrialized countries. About 20% of patients develop symptoms, including
      abdominal pain, bloating, changes in bowel habits, and, eventually,
      diverticulitis or other complications. The management of symptomatic
      uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD) and the prevention of acute
      diverticulitis remains a challenge for the clinician. The rationale for the use
      of aminosalicylates, such as mesalazine, is based on the assumption of low-grade
      inflammation in SUDD and symptoms generation, whereas an overt inflammation may
      induce diverticulitis in patients with diverticular disease. Clinical scenarios
      in which the efficacy and safety of mesalazine have been studied include SUDD,
      prevention of diverticulitis, and of recurrent diverticulitis. Data from
      uncontrolled studies suggest a benefit of mesalazine on patients with SUDD,
      whereas data from randomized controlled trials showed some evidence of
      improvement of symptoms, although contrasting results are reported. The largest
      study so far published on the efficacy of mesalamine in the prevention of
      recurrence of diverticulitis showed that mesalamine was not superior to placebo.
      At this time, the role of mesalazine in the prevention of acute diverticulitis
      remains to be defined with many issues open and unresolved.

PMID- 27622370
TI  - Mesalazine for the Treatment of Symptomatic Uncomplicated Diverticular Disease of
      the Colon and for Primary Prevention of Diverticulitis: A Systematic Review of
      Randomized Clinical Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD) is a common
      gastrointestinal disease, because it affects about one fourth of the patient
      harboring colonic diverticula. GOAL: To assess the effectiveness of mesalazine in
      improving symptoms (namely abdominal pain) and in preventing diverticulitis
      occurrence in patients with SUDD. STUDY: Only randomized clinical trials
      (irrespective of language, blinding, or publication status) that compared
      mesalazine with placebo or any other therapy in SUDD were evaluated. The selected
      endpoints were symptom relief and diverticulitis occurrence at maximal follow-up.
      Absolute risk reduction (ARR, with 95% confidence interval) and the number needed
      to treat were used as measures of the therapeutic effect. RESULTS: Six randomized
      clinical trials enrolled 1021 patients: 526 patients were treated with mesalazine
      and 495 with placebo or other therapies. Symptom relief with mesalazine was
      always larger than that with placebo and other therapies. However, absolute risk
      reduction was significant only when mesalazine was compared with placebo, a high
      fiber diet, and low-dose rifaximin. The incidence of diverticulitis with
      mesalazine was lower than that observed with placebo and other treatments, being
      significant only when compared with placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Mesalazine is effective
      in achieving symptom relief and primary prevention of diverticulitis in patients
      with SUDD.

PMID- 27622371
TI  - Probiotics for the Treatment of Symptomatic Uncomplicated Diverticular Disease:
      Rationale and Current Evidence.
AB  - Changes in the colonic microbiota are critical to the pathogenesis of
      diverticular complications such as diverticulitis and peridiverticular abscesses.
      However, more subtle changes in microbiota composition may well be important to
      the more chronic manifestations of diverticulosis. Some studies have shown the
      presence of bacterial overgrowth in subgroups of patients with diverticular
      disease and recent studies, using molecular biology techniques, found an increase
      of proteobacteria and actinobacteria in patients with symptomatic uncomplicated
      diverticular disease (SUDD), compared with healthy controls. The use of
      probiotics to modulate intestinal microecology in SUDD appears therefore
      rational. Although several investigations evaluating the clinical efficacy of
      probiotics have been performed, no definitive results have yet been achieved,
      mainly due to the heterogeneity of the available studies. Most of the studies
      used probiotics in combination with poorly absorbed antimicrobials or anti
      inflammatory drugs. In only 4 studies, there was a harm using probiotics alone,
      but only 1 was a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. The analysis of the
      available evidence reveals a poor quality of the published studies, whose design
      was heterogeneous, with only 2 out of 11 trials being double-blind and
      randomized. Therefore, available data can only suggest a benefit of probiotics in
      SUDD, but do not allow any evidence-based definite conclusion. As a consequence,
      current guidelines state that there is insufficient evidence to recommend
      probiotics for symptom relief in patients with diverticular disease.

PMID- 27622372
TI  - Open or Laparoscopic Treatment: Differences and Outcomes.
AB  - Surgical treatment of diverticulitis is still characterized by high morbidity and
      mortality. Surgical approach evolved from the early 20th century with 3-stage
      laparotomy to colon resection with primary anastomosis. In the last 2 decades,
      laparoscopic colectomy has been applied to elective and emergency setting of
      diverticular disease. Recently, laparoscopic lavage and drainage has been used to
      treat purulent peritonitis. All those modalities of treatment have been discussed
      and pointed pros and cons.

PMID- 27622373
TI  - Long-term Outcomes of Elective Surgery for Diverticular Disease: A Call for
      Standardization.
AB  - To date, the appropriate management of diverticular disease is still
      controversial. The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons declared that
      the decision between conservative or surgical approach should be taken by a case
      by-case evaluation. There is still lack of evidence in literature about long-term
      outcomes after elective sigmoid resection for diverticular disease. Considering
      the potentially key role of the surgical technique in long-term outcomes, there
      is the need for surgeons to define strict rules to standardize the surgical
      technique. Currently there are 5 areas of debate in elective surgery for
      diverticular disease: laparoscopic versus open approach, the site of the proximal
      and distal colonic division, the vascular approach and the mobilization of the
      splenic flexure. The purpose of this paper is to review existing knowledge about
      technical aspects, which represent how the surgeon is able to affect the long
      term results.

PMID- 27622374
TI  - When Should We Operate for Recurrent Diverticulitis?
AB  - Recent guidelines on elective surgery for recurrent diverticulitis have removed
      generalized recommendations for elective preventive surgery and advice
      individualized decision per patient. We discuss the clinical evidence and
      potential use of risk factors to help with decision-making for patient selection
      for elective surgery in the presence of a history of diverticulitis.

PMID- 27622375
TI  - Peritoneal Lavage in Complicated Acute Diverticulitis: Back to the Future.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess laparoscopic lavage in patients with
      acute diverticulitis. BACKGROUND: In recent times, laparoscopic peritoneal lavage
      has been considered a therapeutic alternative to standard resection procedures.
      In Hinchey III diverticulitis there is the possibility of avoiding ostomies or
      resection procedures. STUDY: This retrospective study was conducted in a single
      care institution. RESULTS: Patients requiring emergency surgery for perforated
      diverticulitis and generalized peritonitis between March 2011 and May 2014 were
      identified from a prospective database. Seventy-two patients underwent surgery
      for diverticulitis. Forty-three patients presented with generalized peritonitis
      (Hinchey III) and 29 with gross fecal contamination (Hinchey IV). From the
      Hinchey III group, 17 patients (39.5%), with a median age of 56.8 years, were
      selected to undergo peritoneal lavage.Postoperative length of stay was 4.2 days,
      the rate of minor complications was 35%, that of major complications was 0%, and
      mortality rate was 0%. Over a median follow-up of 24.6 months none required
      reoperation. CONCLUSIONS: The number of patients selected for laparoscopic lavage
      in the management of perforated diverticulitis is increasing as it provides an
      alternative to Hartmann's procedure in emergency cases. This approach should be
      considered suitable for patients without important comorbidities, and only in
      centers experienced in laparoscopic surgery. It reduces the length of hospital
      stay. Morbidity and mortality are lower than in those in whom resection was
      considered necessary. Longer follow-up and results of other trials will be
      necessary to draw an adequate conclusion.

PMID- 27622376
TI  - Diverticular Disease in the Primary Care Setting.
AB  - Diverticular disease is a chronic and common condition, and yet the impact of
      diverticular disease in primary care is largely unknown. The diagnosis of
      diverticular disease relies on the demonstration of diverticula in the colon, and
      the necessary investigations are often not available in primary care. The
      specificity and sensitivity of symptoms, clinical signs and laboratory tests
      alone are generally low and consequently the diagnostic process will be
      characterized by uncertainty. Also, the criteria for symptomatic uncomplicated
      diverticular disease in the absence of macroscopic inflammation are not clearly
      defined. Therefore both the prevalence of diverticular disease and the incidence
      of diverticulitis in primary care are unknown. Current recommendations for
      treatment and follow-up of patients with acute diverticulitis are based on
      studies where the diagnosis has been verified by computerized tomography. The
      results cannot be directly transferred to primary care where the diagnosis has to
      rely on the interpretation of symptoms and signs. Therefore, one must allow for
      greater diagnostic uncertainty, and safety netting in the event of unexpected
      development of the condition is an important aspect of the management of
      diverticulitis in primary care. The highest prevalence of diverticular disease is
      found among older patients, where multimorbidity and polypharmacy is common. The
      challenge is to remember the possible contribution of diverticular disease to the
      patient's overall condition and to foresee its implications in terms of advice
      and treatment in relation to other diseases.

PMID- 27622377
TI  - The Management of Patients With Diverticulosis and Diverticular Disease in
      Primary Care: An Online Survey Among Italian General Pratictioners.
AB  - GOALS: To investigate the current opinion of Italian general practitioners (GPs)
      on the management of patients with diverticular disease (DD) of the colon.
      BACKGROUND: The management of DD remains a point of debate, and guidelines are
      not uniform in their advice. STUDY: A web-based survey was conducted among
      Italian GPs. Twelve questions were aimed at the diagnosis, treatment, and
      management options for diverticulosis and symptomatic DD. RESULTS: In total, 245
      surveys were filled out. A high-fiber diet was prescribed widely in
      diverticulosis (44%), together with advice to allow seeds (30%). Rifaximin (26%)
      and probiotics (25%) were the most frequently prescribed drugs in this
      population. Colonoscopy was the most prescribed instrumental tool in the
      diagnosis (77%) and follow-up (21%) of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular
      disease patients. Rifaximin, probiotics, and mesalazine were the most frequently
      prescribed drugs in symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease patients
      (82.8, 59.5%, and 36.3%, respectively). Finally, 77% of the Italian GPs
      prescribed laboratory exams in the follow-up of these patients. The vast majority
      of the Italian GPs (83%) managed suspected acute diverticulitis at home, and did
      not consider two episodes of acute diverticulitis as a strict surgical indication
      (86%). Rifaximin, probiotics, and mesalazine were the most frequently prescribed
      drugs to prevent recurrence of the disease (42.5%, 28.2%, and 12.4%,
      respectively). Finally, 87% of the Italian GPs prescribed laboratory examinations
      in the follow-up of these patients. CONCLUSIONS: This survey shows that the
      current management of DD in primary care by Italian GPs is not fully in line with
      current guidelines and more recent literature data.

PMID- 27622378
TI  - Assessment of Fecal Microbiota and Fecal Metabolome in Symptomatic Uncomplicated
      Diverticular Disease of the Colon.
AB  - GOAL: The aim of this study was to assess fecal microbiota and metabolome in a
      population with symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD).
      BACKGROUND: Whether intestinal microbiota and metabolic profiling may be altered
      in patients with SUDD is unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Stool samples from 44
      consecutive women [15 patients with SUDD, 13 with asymptomatic diverticulosis
      (AD), and 16 healthy controls (HCs)] were analyzed. Real-time polymerase chain
      reaction was used to quantify targeted microorganisms. High-resolution proton
      nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy associated with multivariate analysis
      with partial least-square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was applied on the
      metabolite data set. RESULTS: The overall bacterial quantity did not differ among
      the 3 groups (P=0.449), with no difference in Bacteroides/Prevotella, Clostridium
      coccoides, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Escherichia coli subgroups. The
      amount of Akkermansia muciniphila species was significantly different between HC,
      AD, and SUDD subjects (P=0.017). PLS-DA analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance 
      based metabolomics associated with microbiological data showed significant
      discrimination between HCs and AD patients (R=0.733; Q=0.383; P<0.05, LV=2). PLS
      analysis showed lower N-acetyl compound and isovalerate levels in AD, associated
      with higher levels of A. municiphila, as compared with the HC group. PLS-DA
      applied on AD and SUDD samples showed a good discrimination between these 2
      groups (R=0.69; Q=0.35; LV=2). SUDD patients were characterized by low levels of
      valerate, butyrate, and choline and by high levels of N-acetyl derivatives and
      U1. CONCLUSIONS: SUDD and AD do not show colonic bacterial overgrowth, but a
      significant difference in the levels of fecal A. muciniphila was observed.
      Moreover, increasing expression of some metabolites as expression of different AD
      and SUDD metabolic activity was found.

PMID- 27622379
TI  - A Primary-Care Interventional Model on the Diverticular Disease: Searching for
      the Optimal Therapeutic Schedule.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In routine colonoscopy, diverticulosis is the most commonly found
      feature, but only a minority of these cases show symptoms of diverticular
      disease.From June 2014 to December 2014, we enrolled prospectively 178 patients
      affected by symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (Male/Female=0.47,
      mean age 71.7+/-11.5 y, range 41 to 95 y) from 15 General Pratictioners patient
      files. All patients were symptomatic; in all cases, diagnosis was been confirmed
      by a colonoscopy performed at least 1 year before. Patients with acute
      diverticulitis were excluded.On the basis of the predominant symptoms (abdominal
      complaints or constipation), patients were addressed to 4 different therapeutic
      approaches using mesalamine, rifaximine, probiotics (in a consortium of different
      species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium), and fibers (Plantago Ovata Husk).
      All treatments lasted 3 months. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients were enrolled in
      group A (rifaximine), 43 in group A1 (rifaximine+fibers+probiotics), 23 in group
      B (mesalamine), and 31 in group B1 (mesalamine+fibers).Analysis of variance
      suggested a statistically significant difference (P<0.003) among groups at the
      end of the observation period, with Groups A1 and B1 showing a higher number of
      bowel movement per week. Global linear measurement confirmed the role of
      treatment as a significant factor (F=2.858; P=0.039) associated with body mass
      index (F=6.972; P<0.009). CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with the baseline clinical
      presentation, the supplementation of fiber and/or probiotics is associated with a
      statistically significant improvement in the clinical pattern of symptoms in
      patients with diverticular disease in a primary-care/family physician setting.

PMID- 27622380
TI  - Current Management of Patients With Diverticulosis and Diverticular Disease: A
      Survey From the 2nd International Symposium on Diverticular Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Management of diverticular disease (DD) remains a point of debate.
      GOALS: To investigate the current opinion of participants of the 2nd
      International Symposium on Diverticular Disease, on real-life management of
      patients with DD of the colon. STUDY: Twelve questions were aimed at the
      diagnosis, treatment, and management options for diverticulosis and symptomatic
      DD. RESULTS: In total, 115 surveys from 8 European Countries were filled out.
      High fiber diet was widely prescribed in diverticulosis (59.1%). Probiotics (25%)
      were the most frequent prescribed drug, whereas 29.8% of participants did not
      prescribe any treatment in diverticulosis. Colonoscopy was frequently prescribed
      in symptomatic patients (69.3%), whereas 72.9% of participants did not prescribe
      any instrumental tool in their follow-up. Rifaximin, probiotics, and mesalazine
      were the most frequent prescribed drugs both in symptomatic patients (28.1,
      14.9%, and 11.4%, respectively) and to prevent recurrence of the disease (42.5%,
      12.4%, and 28.2%, respectively). With respect to laboratory exams, 57.9% of
      participants prescribed them during follow-up. The majority of participants
      (64.9%) managed suspected acute diverticulitis at home. Rifaximin, probiotics,
      and mesalazine were the most frequent prescribed drugs to prevent recurrence of
      the disease (32.2%, 13.2%, and 11.4%, respectively), whereas 25.4% of
      participants did not prescribe any drugs. Finally, no differences were found
      among gastroenterologists, surgeons, and general practitioners in managing this
      disease. CONCLUSIONS: This surveys shows that current management of DD is similar
      between different medical specialities, generally in line with current
      literature.

PMID- 27622381
TI  - Best practices for repeated measures ANOVAs of ERP data: Reference, regional
      channels, and robust ANOVAs.
AB  - Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a fundamental procedure for event-related
      potential (ERP) research and yet there is very little guidance for best
      practices. It is important for the field to develop evidence-based best
      practices: 1) to minimize the Type II error rate by maximizing statistical power,
      2) to minimize the Type I error rate by reducing the latitude for varying
      procedures, and 3) to identify areas for further methodological improvements.
      While generic treatments of ANOVA methodology are available, ERP datasets have
      many unique characteristics that must be considered. In the present report, a
      novelty oddball dataset was utilized as a test case to determine whether three
      aspects of ANOVA procedures as applied to ERPs make a real-world difference: the
      effects of reference site, regional channels, and robust ANOVAs. Recommendations
      are provided for best practices in each of these areas.

PMID- 27622382
TI  - Neural correlates of multimodal metaphor comprehension: Evidence from event
      related potentials and time-frequency decompositions.
AB  - The present study examined the event-related potential (ERP) and time-frequency
      components correlates with the comprehension process of multimodal metaphors that
      were represented by the combination of "a vehicle picture+a written word of an
      animal". Electroencephalogram data were recorded when participants decided
      whether the metaphor using an animal word for the vehicle rendered by a picture
      was appropriate or not. There were two conditions: appropriateness (e.g., sport
      utility vehicles+tiger) vs. inappropriateness (e.g., sport utility vehicles+cat).
      The ERP results showed that inappropriate metaphor elicited larger N300 (280
      360ms) and N400 (380-460ms) amplitude than appropriate one, which were different
      from previous exclusively verbal metaphor studies that rarely observed the N300
      effect. A P600 (550-750ms) was also observed and larger in appropriate metaphor
      condition. Besides, the time-frequency principal component analysis revealed that
      two independent theta activities indexed the separable processes (retrieval of
      semantic features and semantic integration) underlying the N300 and N400. Delta
      band was also induced within a later time window and best characterized the
      integration process underlying P600. These results indicate the specific
      cognitive mechanism of multimodal metaphor comprehension that is different from
      verbal metaphor processing, mirrored by several separable processes indexed by
      ERP components and time-frequency components. The present study extends the
      metaphor research by uncovering the functional roles of delta and theta as well
      as their unique contributions to the ERP components during multimodal metaphor
      comprehension.

PMID- 27622384
TI  - Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are electronic devices that heat a liquid
      into an aerosol for inhalation. The liquid usually comprises propylene glycol and
      glycerol, with or without nicotine and flavours, and stored in disposable or
      refillable cartridges or a reservoir. Since ECs appeared on the market in 2006
      there has been a steady growth in sales. Smokers report using ECs to reduce risks
      of smoking, but some healthcare organizations, tobacco control advocacy groups
      and policy makers have been reluctant to encourage smokers to switch to ECs,
      citing lack of evidence of efficacy and safety. Smokers, healthcare providers and
      regulators are interested to know if these devices can help smokers quit and if
      they are safe to use for this purpose. This review is an update of a review first
      published in 2014. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and effect of using ECs to
      help people who smoke achieve long-term smoking abstinence. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group's Specialized Register, the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, and
      PsycINFO for relevant records from 2004 to January 2016, together with reference
      checking and contact with study authors. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which current smokers (motivated or
      unmotivated to quit) were randomized to EC or a control condition, and which
      measured abstinence rates at six months or longer. As the field of EC research is
      new, we also included cohort follow-up studies with at least six months follow
      up. We included randomized cross-over trials, RCTs and cohort follow-up studies
      that included at least one week of EC use for assessment of adverse events (AEs).
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We followed standard Cochrane methods for screening
      and data extraction. Our main outcome measure was abstinence from smoking after
      at least six months follow-up, and we used the most rigorous definition available
      (continuous, biochemically validated, longest follow-up). We used a fixed-effect
      Mantel-Haenszel model to calculate the risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence
      interval (CI) for each study, and where appropriate we pooled data from these
      studies in meta-analyses. MAIN RESULTS: Our searches identified over 1700
      records, from which we include 24 completed studies (three RCTs, two of which
      were eligible for our cessation meta-analysis, and 21 cohort studies). Eleven of
      these studies are new for this version of the review. We identified 27 ongoing
      studies. Two RCTs compared EC with placebo (non-nicotine) EC, with a combined
      sample size of 662 participants. One trial included minimal telephone support and
      one recruited smokers not intending to quit, and both used early EC models with
      low nicotine content and poor battery life. We judged the RCTs to be at low risk
      of bias, but under the GRADE system we rated the overall quality of the evidence
      for our outcomes as 'low' or 'very low', because of imprecision due to the small
      number of trials. A 'low' grade means that further research is very likely to
      have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is
      likely to change the estimate. A 'very low' grade means we are very uncertain
      about the estimate. Participants using an EC were more likely to have abstained
      from smoking for at least six months compared with participants using placebo EC
      (RR 2.29, 95% CI 1.05 to 4.96; placebo 4% versus EC 9%; 2 studies; 662
      participants. GRADE: low). The one study that compared EC to nicotine patch found
      no significant difference in six-month abstinence rates, but the confidence
      intervals do not rule out a clinically important difference (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.68
      to 2.34; 584 participants. GRADE: very low).Of the included studies, none
      reported serious adverse events considered related to EC use. The most frequently
      reported AEs were mouth and throat irritation, most commonly dissipating over
      time. One RCT provided data on the proportion of participants experiencing any
      adverse events. The proportion of participants in the study arms experiencing
      adverse events was similar (ECs vs placebo EC: RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.34 (298
      participants); ECs vs patch: RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.22 (456 participants)).
      The second RCT reported no statistically significant difference in the frequency
      of AEs at three- or 12-month follow-up between the EC and placebo EC groups, and
      showed that in all groups the frequency of AEs (with the exception of throat
      irritation) decreased significantly over time. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is
      evidence from two trials that ECs help smokers to stop smoking in the long term
      compared with placebo ECs. However, the small number of trials, low event rates
      and wide confidence intervals around the estimates mean that our confidence in
      the result is rated 'low' by GRADE standards. The lack of difference between the
      effect of ECs compared with nicotine patches found in one trial is uncertain for
      similar reasons. None of the included studies (short- to mid-term, up to two
      years) detected serious adverse events considered possibly related to EC use. The
      most commonly reported adverse effects were irritation of the mouth and throat.
      The long-term safety of ECs is unknown. In this update, we found a further 15
      ongoing RCTs which appear eligible for this review.

PMID- 27622383
TI  - Genomic resources for wild populations of the house mouse, Mus musculus and its
      close relative Mus spretus.
AB  - Wild populations of the house mouse (Mus musculus) represent the raw genetic
      material for the classical inbred strains in biomedical research and are a major
      model system for evolutionary biology. We provide whole genome sequencing data of
      individuals representing natural populations of M. m. domesticus (24 individuals
      from 3 populations), M. m. helgolandicus (3 individuals), M. m. musculus (22
      individuals from 3 populations) and M. spretus (8 individuals from one
      population). We use a single pipeline to map and call variants for these
      individuals and also include 10 additional individuals of M. m. castaneus for
      which genomic data are publically available. In addition, RNAseq data were
      obtained from 10 tissues of up to eight adult individuals from each of the three
      M. m. domesticus populations for which genomic data were collected. Data and
      analyses are presented via tracks viewable in the UCSC or IGV genome browsers. We
      also provide information on available outbred stocks and instructions on how to
      keep them in the laboratory. 

PMID- 27622386
TI  - Early treatment with reverse transcriptase inhibitors significantly suppresses
      peak plasma IFNalpha in vivo during acute simian immunodeficiency virus
      infection.
AB  - Innate interferons (IFN) are comprised of multiple Type I and III subtypes. The
      in vivo kinetics of subtype responses during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      infection is not well defined. Using the acute simian immunodeficiency virus
      (SIV) infection model, we show that plasma IFNalpha levels peak at day 10 post
      infection (pi) after which they rapidly declined. The mRNA expression of Type I
      and III IFN subtypes were significantly elevated in the lymph nodes (LN) at day
      10 pi. Though the expression levels of all subtypes declined by day 14-31 pi,
      numerous subtypes remained elevated suggesting that ongoing viral replication in
      LN continues to drive induction of these subtypes. Interestingly, treatment with
      reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors at day 7 pi significantly suppressed plasma
      IFNalpha responses by day 10 pi that significantly correlated with cell
      associated SIV DNA loads suggesting that RT byproducts such as viral DNA likely
      plays a role in driving IFN responses during acute SIV infection. Quantification
      of Type I and III subtype transcripts in sorted subsets of LN CD4+ and CD8+ T
      cells, CD14+/CD14- monocytes/macrophages, and total CD11c/CD123+ dendritic cells
      (DC) at day 10 pi showed that DC expressed ~3-4 log more subtype transcripts as
      compared to the other subsets. Taken together, our results provide new insights
      into the kinetics of innate interferon responses during early stages of
      infection, and provide evidence that DC's are a major in vivo source of innate
      IFN during acute SIV infection.

PMID- 27622385
TI  - PI3K signaling in Leishmania infections.
AB  - PI3K signaling plays a role in the host response to Leishmania infections. At the
      cellular level PI3K signaling is engaged by the parasite to control several
      cellular processes, which ensures parasite persistence. At the systemic level,
      there is evidence that recruitment of regulatory cells into lesions is impaired
      in the absence of robust PI3K signaling. In this mini-review the more recent
      studies that investigated the roles of PI3K signaling in Leishmania infections
      are discussed.

PMID- 27622389
TI  - Should hidradenitis suppurativa/acne inversa best be renamed as "dissecting
      terminal hair folliculitis"?
AB  - Hidradenitis suppurativa/acne inversa is a diverse, enigmatic and distressful
      disease that has aroused growing interest in specialists from different
      disciplines. Both names describe its classical manifestations in the
      intertriginous regions and reflect the historical view of the disease definition,
      but cause confusions in the understanding of its pathogenesis and classification.
      In the light of the advance in clinical, histopathological and pathophysiological
      findings, we propose the term "dissecting terminal hair folliculitis" (DTHF) to
      characterize its disease nature as folliculitis instead of acneiform disease or
      apocrine gland disorder. DTHF attacks exclusively the terminal hair follicles in
      an overwhelming majority of adults, initiating from the fragile acroinfundibulum
      leading to a non-infectious overreaction of innate immunity system with
      inflammation that may fiercely dissect and engulf all the surrounding tissues
      accompanied by secondary bacterial infections. Evidence indicates that
      perifolliculitis capitis abscedens et suffodiens and pilonidal disease are very
      likely regional variants of DTHF with the same pathogenesis. Treatment of DTHF
      remains frustrating. The benefit of biologics in targeting inflammation is so far
      non-specific, palliative and inconsistent. Hair epilation and photodynamic
      therapy in treatment of the disease is questionable in consideration of the
      pathogenesis. Genetic and translational research, especially on the Notch
      signalling pathways, will yield breakthrough in the development of novel
      treatment modalities.

PMID- 27622390
TI  - From M(BH4)3 (M = La, Ce) Borohydride Frameworks to Controllable Synthesis of
      Porous Hydrides and Ion Conductors.
AB  - Rare earth metal borohydrides show a number of interesting properties, e.g., Li
      ion conductivity and luminescence, and the series of materials is well explored.
      However, previous attempts to obtain M(BH4)3 (M = La, Ce) by reacting MCl3 and
      LiBH4 yielded LiM(BH4)3Cl. Here, a synthetic approach is presented, which allows
      the isolation of M(BH4)3 (M = La, Ce) via formation of intermediate complexes
      with dimethyl sulfide. The cubic c-Ce(BH4)3 (Fm3c) is isostructural to high
      temperature polymorphs of A(BH4)3 (A = Y, Sm, Er, Yb) borohydrides. The larger
      size of the Ce3+ ion makes the empty void in the open ReO3-type framework
      structure potentially accessible to small guest molecules like H2. Another new
      rhombohedral polymorph, r-M(BH4)3 (M = La, Ce), is a closed form of the
      framework, prone to stacking faults. The new compounds M(BH4)3 (M = La, Ce) can
      be combined with LiCl in an addition reaction to form LiM(BH4)3Cl also known as
      Li4[M4(BH4)12Cl4]; the latter contains the unique tetranuclear cluster
      [M4(BH4)12Cl4]4- and shows high Li-ion conductivity. This reaction pathway opens
      a way to synthesize a series of A4[M4(BH4)12X4] (M = La, Ce) compounds with
      different anions (X) and metal ions (A) and potentially high ion conductivity.

PMID- 27622391
TI  - Glucose biosensor based on functionalized ZnO nanowire/graphite films dispersed
      on a Pt electrode.
AB  - We present a glucose biosensor based on ZnO nanowire self-sustained films grown
      on compacted graphite flakes by the vapor transport method. Nanowire/graphite
      films were fragmented in water, filtered to form a colloidal suspension,
      subsequently functionalized with glucose oxidase and finally transferred to a
      metal electrode (Pt). The obtained devices were evaluated using scanning electron
      microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and
      chronoamperometry. The electrochemical responses of the devices were determined
      in buffer solutions with successive glucose aggregates using a tripolar electrode
      system. The nanostructured biosensors showed excellent analytical performance,
      with linear response to glucose concentrations, high sensitivity of up to ~17 MUA
      cm(-2) mM(-1) in the 0.03-1.52 mM glucose concentration range, relatively low
      Michaelis-Menten constant, excellent reproducibility and a fast response. The
      detection limits are more than an order of magnitude lower than those achievable
      in commercial biosensors for glucose control, which is promising for the
      development of glucose monitoring methods that do not require blood extraction
      from potentially diabetic patients. The strong detection enhancements provided by
      the functionalized nanostructures are much larger than the electrode surface-area
      increase and are discussed in terms of the physical and chemical mechanisms
      involved in the detection and transduction processes. 

PMID- 27622388
TI  - PPARbeta/delta selectively regulates phenotypic features of age-related macular
      degeneration.
AB  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-beta/delta (PPARbeta/delta) is a
      nuclear receptor that regulates differentiation, inflammation, lipid metabolism,
      extracellular matrix remodeling, and angiogenesis in multiple tissues. These
      pathways are also central to the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration
      (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss globally. With the goal of identifying
      signaling pathways that may be important in the development of AMD, we
      investigated the impact of PPARbeta/delta activation on ocular tissues affected
      in the disease. PPARbeta/delta is expressed and can be activated in AMD
      vulnerable cells, including retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) and choroidal
      endothelial cells. Further, PPARbeta/delta knockdown modulates AMD-related
      pathways selectively. Specifically, genetic ablation of Pparbeta/delta in aged
      mice resulted in exacerbation of several phenotypic features of early dry AMD,
      but attenuation of experimentally induced choroidal neovascular (CNV) lesions.
      Antagonizing PPARbeta/delta in both in vitro angiogenesis assays and in the in
      vivo experimentally induced CNV model, inhibited angiogenesis and angiogenic
      pathways, while ligand activation of PPARbeta/delta, in vitro, decreased RPE
      lipid accumulation, characteristic of dry AMD. This study demonstrates for the
      first time, selective regulation of a nuclear receptor in the eye and establishes
      that selective targeting of PPARbeta/delta may be a suitable strategy for
      treatment of different clinical sub-types of AMD.

PMID- 27622387
TI  - Time related effects on functional brain connectivity after serotonergic and
      cholinergic neuromodulation.
AB  - Psychopharmacological research, if properly designed, may offer insight into both
      timing and area of effect, increasing our understanding of the brain's
      neurotransmitter systems. For that purpose, the acute influence of the selective
      serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram (30 mg) and the acetylcholinesterase
      inhibitor galantamine (8 mg) was repeatedly measured in 12 healthy young
      volunteers with resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI).
      Eighteen RS-fMRI scans were acquired per subject during this randomized, double
      blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Within-group comparisons of voxelwise
      functional connectivity with 10 functional networks were examined (P < 0.05, FWE
      corrected) using a non-parametric multivariate approach with cerebrospinal fluid,
      white matter, heart rate, and baseline measurements as covariates. Although both
      compounds did not change cognitive performance on several tests, significant
      effects were found on connectivity with multiple resting state networks.
      Serotonergic stimulation primarily reduced connectivity with the sensorimotor
      network and structures that are related to self-referential mechanisms, whereas
      galantamine affected networks and regions that are more involved in learning,
      memory, and visual perception and processing. These results are consistent with
      the serotonergic and cholinergic trajectories and their functional relevance. In
      addition, this study demonstrates the power of using repeated measures after drug
      administration, which offers the chance to explore both combined and time
      specific effects. Hum Brain Mapp 38:308-325, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27622392
TI  - Fatigue in kidney transplant recipients.
AB  - Fatigue is still present in approximately 40%-50% of kidney transplant recipients
      (KTR), rates comparable to that of the hemodialysis population. Correlates of
      fatigue include inflammation, symptoms of depression, sleep disorders, and
      obesity. Fatigue in KTR determines a significant severe functional impairment,
      either when globally considered or when analyzed at the level of the single
      domains such as sleep and rest, homemaking, mobility, social interaction,
      ambulation, leisure activities, alertness behavior, and work limitations. In
      addition, fatigue in KTR is significantly associated with a severe deterioration
      of quality of life. Fatigue is very common among KTR poorly adherent to
      immunosuppressive therapy. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of studies about
      the treatments of this symptom in KTR. Efforts to detect and treat fatigue should
      be a priority in order to improve quality of life of KTR.

PMID- 27622394
TI  - Connectivity-based change point detection for large-size functional networks.
AB  - Recent understanding that the brain at rest does not remain in a single state but
      transiently visits multiple states emphasizes the importance of state changes
      embedded in the brain network. Due to the effectiveness of larger networks in
      characterizing brain states, there is an increasing need for a network-based
      change point detection method that is applicable to large-size networks,
      particularly those with longer time series. This paper presents a fast and
      efficient method for detecting change points in the large-size functional
      networks of resting-state fMRI. To detect change points, a statistic for the
      covariance change at each time point is tested by a local false discovery rate,
      estimated based on the empirical null principle using a semiparametric mixture
      model. We present simulations and empirical analyses of task-based and resting
      state fMRI data sets with various network sizes up to 300 nodes selected from the
      Human Connectome Project database. We demonstrate that the proposed method is not
      only efficient in detecting change points in large samples of large-size networks
      but also is less sensitive to the window size selection and provides the
      consequent identification of the changed edges. The covariance-based change point
      detection method in this study would be very useful in exploring characteristics
      of dynamic states in long-term large-size resting-state brain networks.

PMID- 27622393
TI  - Towards person-centered neuroimaging markers for resilience and vulnerability in
      Bipolar Disorder.
AB  - Improved clinical care for Bipolar Disorder (BD) relies on the identification of
      diagnostic markers that can reliably detect disease-related signals in clinically
      heterogeneous populations. At the very least, diagnostic markers should be able
      to differentiate patients with BD from healthy individuals and from individuals
      at familial risk for BD who either remain well or develop other psychopathology,
      most commonly Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). These issues are particularly
      pertinent to the development of translational applications of neuroimaging as
      they represent challenges for which clinical observation alone is insufficient.
      We therefore applied pattern classification to task-based functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) data of the n-back working memory task, to test their
      predictive value in differentiating patients with BD (n=30) from healthy
      individuals (n=30) and from patients' relatives who were either diagnosed with
      MDD (n=30) or were free of any personal lifetime history of psychopathology
      (n=30). Diagnostic stability in these groups was confirmed with 4-year
      prospective follow-up. Task-based activation patterns from the fMRI data were
      analyzed with Gaussian Process Classifiers (GPC), a machine learning approach to
      detecting multivariate patterns in neuroimaging datasets. Consistent significant
      classification results were only obtained using data from the 3-back versus 0
      back contrast. Using contrast, patients with BD were correctly classified
      compared to unrelated healthy individuals with an accuracy of 83.5%, sensitivity
      of 84.6% and specificity of 92.3%. Classification accuracy, sensitivity and
      specificity when comparing patients with BD to their relatives with MDD, were
      respectively 73.1%, 53.9% and 94.5%. Classification accuracy, sensitivity and
      specificity when comparing patients with BD to their healthy relatives were
      respectively 81.8%, 72.7% and 90.9%. We show that significant individual
      classification can be achieved using whole brain pattern analysis of task-based
      working memory fMRI data. The high accuracy and specificity achieved by all three
      classifiers suggest that multivariate pattern recognition analyses can aid
      clinicians in the clinical care of BD in situations of true clinical uncertainty
      regarding the diagnosis and prognosis.

PMID- 27622395
TI  - Brain oscillations track the formation of episodic memories in the real world.
AB  - Despite the well-known influence of environmental context on episodic memory,
      little has been done to increase contextual richness within the lab. This leaves
      a blind spot lingering over the neuronal correlates of episodic memory formation
      in day-to-day life. To address this, we presented participants with a series of
      words to memorise along a pre-designated route across campus while a mobile EEG
      system acquired ongoing neural activity. Replicating lab-based subsequent memory
      effects (SMEs), we identified significant low to mid frequency power decreases
      (<30Hz), including beta power decreases over the left inferior frontal gyrus.
      When investigating the oscillatory correlates of temporal and spatial context
      binding, we found that items strongly bound to spatial context exhibited
      significantly greater theta power decreases than items strongly bound to temporal
      context. These findings expand upon lab-based studies by demonstrating the
      influence of real world contextual factors that underpin memory formation.

PMID- 27622396
TI  - Effects of adaptation on numerosity decoding in the human brain.
AB  - Psychophysical studies have shown that numerosity is a sensory attribute
      susceptible to adaptation. Neuroimaging studies have reported that, at least for
      relatively low numbers, numerosity can be accurately discriminated in the intra
      parietal sulcus. Here we developed a novel rapid adaptation paradigm where
      adapting and test stimuli are separated by pauses sufficient to dissociate their
      BOLD activity. We used multivariate pattern recognition to classify brain
      activity evoked by non-symbolic numbers over a wide range (20-80), both before
      and after psychophysical adaptation to the highest numerosity. Adaptation caused
      underestimation of all lower numerosities, and decreased slightly the average
      BOLD responses in V1 and IPS. Using support vector machine, we showed that the
      BOLD response of IPS, but not in V1, classified numerosity well, both when tested
      before and after adaptation. However, there was no transfer from training pre
      adaptation responses to testing post-adaptation, and vice versa, indicating that
      adaptation changes the neuronal representation of the numerosity. Interestingly,
      decoding was more accurate after adaptation, and the amount of improvement
      correlated with the amount of perceptual underestimation of numerosity across
      subjects. These results suggest that numerosity adaptation acts directly on IPS,
      rather than indirectly via other low-level stimulus parameters analysis, and that
      adaptation improves the capacity to discriminate numerosity.

PMID- 27622399
TI  - Parametric modulation of reward sequences during a reversal task in ACC and VMPFC
      but not amygdala and striatum.
AB  - Several regions of the frontal cortex interact with striatal and amygdala regions
      to mediate the evaluation of reward-related information and subsequent adjustment
      of response choices. Recent theories discuss the particular relevance of dorsal
      anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) for switching behavior; consecutively,
      ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) is involved in mediating exploitative
      behaviors by tracking reward values unfolding after the behavioral switch.
      Amygdala, on the other hand, has been implied in coding the valence of stimulus
      outcome associations and the ventral striatum (VS) has consistently been shown to
      code a reward prediction error (RPE). Here, we used fMRI data acquired in humans
      during a reversal task to parametrically model different sequences of positive
      feedback in order to unravel differential contributions of these brain regions to
      the tracking and exploitation of rewards. Parameters from an Optimal Bayesian
      Learner accurately predicted the divergent involvement of dACC and VMPFC during
      feedback processing: dACC signaled the first, but not later, presentations of
      positive feedback, while VMPFC coded trial-by-trial accumulations in reward
      value. Our results confirm that dACC carries a prominent confirmatory signal
      during processing of first positive feedback. Amygdala coded positive feedbacks
      more uniformly, while striatal regions were associated with RPE.

PMID- 27622398
TI  - Visual field biases for near and far stimuli in disparity selective columns in
      human visual cortex.
AB  - When visual objects are located in the lower visual field, human observers
      perceive objects to be nearer than their real physical location. Conversely,
      objects in the upper visual field are viewed farther than their physical
      location. This bias may be linked to the statistics of natural scenes, and
      perhaps the ecological relevance of objects in the upper and lower visual fields
      (Previc, 1990; Yang and Purves, 2003). However, the neural mechanisms underlying
      such perceptual distortions have remained unknown. To test for underlying brain
      mechanisms, we presented visual stimuli at different perceptual distances, while
      measuring high-resolution fMRI in human subjects. First, we localized disparity
      selective thick stripes and thick-type columns in secondary and third visual
      cortical areas, respectively. Consistent with the perceptual bias, we found that
      the thick stripe/columns that represent the lower visual field also responded
      more selectively to near rather than far visual stimuli. Conversely, thick
      stripe/columns that represent the upper visual field show a complementary bias,
      i.e. selectively higher activity to far rather than near stimuli. Thus, the
      statistics of natural scenes may play a significant role in the organization of
      near- and far-selective neurons within V2 thick stripes and V3 thick-type
      columns.

PMID- 27622400
TI  - The big misunderstanding in rheumatology: Ultrasound is just equipment it cannot
      replace a doctor!

PMID- 27622397
TI  - Noise concerns and post-processing procedures in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and
      cerebral blood volume (CBV) functional magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Functional neuroimaging with blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast
      has emerged as the most popular method for evaluating qualitative changes in
      brain function in humans. At typical human field strengths (1.5-3.0T), BOLD
      contrast provides a measure of changes in transverse water relaxation rates in
      and around capillary and venous blood, and as such provides only a surrogate
      marker of brain function that depends on dynamic changes in hemodynamics (e.g.,
      cerebral blood flow and volume) and metabolism (e.g., oxygen extraction fraction
      and the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption). Alternative functional
      neuroimaging methods that are specifically sensitive to these constituents of the
      BOLD signal are being developed and applied in a growing number of clinical and
      neuroscience applications of quantitative cerebral physiology. These methods
      require additional considerations for interpreting and quantifying their contrast
      responsibly. Here, an overview of two popular methods, arterial spin labeling and
      vascular space occupancy, is presented specifically in the context of functional
      neuroimaging. Appropriate post-processing and experimental acquisition strategies
      are summarized with the motivation of reducing sensitivity to noise and
      unintended signal sources and improving quantitative accuracy of cerebral
      hemodynamics.

PMID- 27622401
TI  - Effectiveness of on-site education for quality assurance of screening
      ultrasonography for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the usefulness of on-site education for clinical imaging
      evaluation using quality assurance (QA) testing of surveillance ultrasonography
      (US) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-eight
      medical institutes underwent on-site education in 2012 for QA testing of clinical
      imaging evaluation of surveillance US for HCC. Failure rates and mean scores of
      clinical imaging evaluation for surveillance US of the 2011 survey, the 2012
      survey after on-site education and the 2013 survey were compared. RESULTS:
      Failure rates and mean scores of the 2011 survey, the 2012 survey after education
      and the 2013 survey were 81.6%, 18.4%, 21.1% and 61.7, 82.7 and 74.6,
      respectively. Pair-wise analyses demonstrated that the failure rate of the 2011
      survey was significantly larger compared to that observed in the other surveys.
      Mean score of the 2013 survey was worse than that of the 2012 survey after on
      site education. CONCLUSIONS: On-site education positively impacts the failure
      rate and scores of clinical imaging evaluation of screening US for HCC. However,
      the impact may be reduced over time, and repeated, annual education might be
      necessary to maintain US quality.

PMID- 27622402
TI  - Meta-analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for the detection of
      gallbladder carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To systematically evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography
      (CEUS) for the detection of gallbladder carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Relevant
      studies were identified searching PubMed, Embase, Elsevier, the CNKI (China
      National Knowledge Infrastructure) database and the Cochrane Trial Register
      searches until August 2015. Patient clinical characteristics, sensitivity and
      specificity were extracted. The summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      curve was used to examine the accuracy of CEUS. A meta-analysis was performed to
      evaluate the clinical utility in the diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma.
      Sensitivity analysis was performed after omitting outliers identified in a
      bivariate boxplot and publication bias was assessed with Egger testing. RESULTS:
      From 89 citations, 16 were included in the meta-analysis with a total of 1673
      lesions. We detected heterogeneity between studies and evidence of publication
      bias. The methodological quality was moderate. The pooled weighted sensitivity
      with a corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was 0.92 (95%CI: 0.90, 0.94),
      the specificity was 0.91 (95%CI: 0.89, 0.93), the positive likelihood ratio was
      10.01 (95%CI: 7.02, 14.29), the negative likelihood ratio was 0.10 (95%CI: 0.07,
      0.14), and the diagnostic odds ratio was 123.02 (95%CI: 78.40, 193.03). The area
      under the ROC curve was 0.9689 (95%CI: 0.9376, 0.9879). CONCLUSIONS: CEUS is a
      reliable, non-invasive, and no-radiation-exposure imaging modality with a high
      sensitivity and specificity for detection of gallbladder carcinoma. Nonetheless,
      it should be applied cautiously, and large scale, well-designed trials are
      necessary to assess its clinical value.

PMID- 27622403
TI  - Detecting pharyngeal post-swallow residue by ultrasound examination: a case
      series.
AB  - AIMS: Prevention of aspiration pneumonia is a great concern in the era of global
      aging. The assessment of pharyngeal post-swallow residue is important because
      remaining food and liquid in the pharyngeal area has a possibility of flowing
      into the lower airway which can cause aspiration pneumonia. Ultrasound
      examination has been recently used to assess swallowing disorders because of its
      noninvasiveness. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance for
      detecting pharyngeal post-swallow residue using an ultrasound examination by
      comparing with those using a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of a swallowing
      study as a reference. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A linear array transducer attached to
      the thyroid cartilage to visualize the vocal folds in the sagittal plane. The
      pharyngeal post-swallow residue in the ultrasound movie was interpreted as a
      misty hyperechoic area above the vocal folds that remained after swallowing.
      Nineteen ultrasound images simultaneously obtained with fiberoptic endoscopic
      evaluation of swallowing study images from nine participants (eight men) with a
      median age of 70 years at a dysphagia outpatient clinic were analyzed by the
      montage of swallowing examinations. RESULTS: Misty hyperechoic areas above the
      vocal folds that remained after swallowing were detected in 10 ultrasound images.
      Eight US images out of ten correctly detected pharyngeal post-swallow residue.
      The sensitivity for detecting pharyngeal post-swallow residue of 19 images from
      nine participants by US examination was 62%, and the specificity was 67%.
      CONCLUSIONS: The proposed detection method of pharyngeal post-swallow residue by
      ultrasound examination enabled the real-time assessment for swallowing of people
      with dysphagia. Ultrasound assessment-based daily swallowing care which detects
      pharyngeal residue will be useful for preventing aspiration pneumonia.

PMID- 27622404
TI  - Musculoskeletal ultrasound: an effective tool to help medical students improve
      joint inflammation detection?
AB  - AIM: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether musculoskeletal (MS)
      ultrasound (US) can be useful in helping medical students to detect joint
      inflammation through physical examination. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was
      performed by two groups of four 6th year medical students. None had received any
      previous training in the clinical examination of joints or the use of ultrasound.
      Students were put through a 5-session training programme on the clinical
      detection of either knee [group 1] or metacarpophalangeal (MCP) [group 2]
      inflammation. After an initial training session on physical examination of normal
      and inflamed joints, the students examined 170 joints from 41 patients attending
      the hospital outpatient clinic in 4 separate sessions. The same joints were
      assessed for synovitis with US with the ensuing data compared to that of the
      students and analyzed for concordance with Cohen's unweighted kappa. RESULTS: In
      total 60 knees [group 1] and 110 MCP [group 2] were evaluated. The agreement
      between the presence of arthritis detected by the students in the four sessions
      and the presence of synovitis detected by US improved from the session I to
      sessions III with a marked improvement in the last session. CONCLUSIONS: MSUS may
      be an effective technique for helping students to acquire the ability to detect
      joint inflammation.

PMID- 27622405
TI  - Real-time sonoelastography of the patellar and quadriceps tendons: pattern
      description in professional athletes and healthy volunteers.
AB  - AIMS: The comparison of elastographic features of quadriceps and patellar tendons
      in a group of professional athletes and healthy volunteers and the description of
      elasticity characteristics of these tendons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-nine
      professional athletes (22 male, 17 female; mean age 18.5 years) and 35 healthy
      volunteers (21 male, 14 female; mean age 19 years) were included. They were
      divided into two groups by gender. Quadriceps tendon, patellar side of the
      patellar tendon, and tibial side of the patellar tendon elasticity patterns and
      strain ratios were investigated with real-time ultrasound elastography. The
      elasticity features of the dominant leg and non-dominant leg of athletes and
      volunteers legs were compared. In addition quadriceps and patellar tendons were
      compared separately for three distinct tendon locations. RESULTS: There was no
      difference between the athletes and the healthy volunteers and also between the
      dominant leg and non-dominant leg of athletes. At tendon comparison, the
      quadriceps tendon was harder than the patellar tendon at both side and patellar
      side of patellar tendon was found to be stiffer than the tibial side of patellar
      tendon. CONCLUSIONS: Although biomechanical studies showed that tendon stiffness
      increased after long exercise, no significant difference was found between
      athletes' and healthy volunteers' tendon elasticity. These three tendon locations
      exhibit different elasticity features and the knowledge of the elasticity feature
      will be useful in assessing tendon pathologies.

PMID- 27622407
TI  - High-frequency sonography in the evaluation of nail psoriasis.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the morphostructural aspects and nail vascularity in the nail
      unit of patients with psoriasis, and to evaluate whether there are differences
      among psoriatic patients with and without nail involvement. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Nail plates and nail bed changes, nail fold vessel resistance index (NVRI), power
      and color Doppler blood flow appearances were investigated in 23 patients with
      moderate-to-severe psoriasis, with and without nail involvement, and compared to
      those of 11 healthy participants. RESULTS: Ventral nail plate deposits were
      present only in psoriasis patients. Irregular or totally fused nail plates and
      increased nail plate thickness was frequently observed in psoriasis patients
      compared to controls. NVRI was increased in psoriatic patients' nails compared to
      controls (0.62 vs. 0.57, p<0.0001). In the psoriasis patient group there was
      significant statistical difference in NVRI in patients with nail involvement
      compared to those without (0.66 vs. 0.55, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: High-frequency
      gray scale sonography provides valuable information regarding morphostructural
      changes in nail unit structure in patients with psoriasis. Power Doppler imaging
      enables blood flow assessment in psoriasis nail induced changes.

PMID- 27622406
TI  - Carpal tunnel syndrome: elastosonographic strain ratio and cross-sectional area
      evaluation for the diagnosis and disease severity.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the role of gray scale ultrasonography (US) and real time
      elastosonography (RTE) in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Both wrists of 18 healthy volunteers (n=36) formed the control group (Group 1)
      and 19 symptomatic outpatients of the neurology clinic constituted the patient
      group. According to nerve conduction study results, cases with mild CTS (n=15)
      formed Group 2; cases with moderate to severe CTS (n=20) formed Group 3. Cross
      sectional area (CSA) and strain ratio (SR) were measured at carpal tunnel inlet
      (CTI) and 4 cm proximal to the distal end of the radius (P). CSA and SR change
      score (CSACTI-CSAP; SRCTI-SRP), CSA and SR ratio score (CSACTI / CSAP; SRCTI /
      SRP) were calculated. RESULTS: The median nerve was significantly stiffer in
      Group 2 compared to Group 1; also in Group 3 compared to Group 1 (p=0.000). For
      CSACTI, the difference was significant between Group 1 and Group 3 (p=0.000),
      also between Group 2 and Group 3 (p=0.001). For CSA change scores the difference
      was only significant between Group 1 and Group 3 (p=0.015). In the diagnosis of
      CTS the best cut-off value for CSACTI was 10.8 (p=0.001), 2.3 for SRCTI
      (p=0.000), 4.9 for the CSA change score (p=0.005), 0.05 for the SR change score
      (p=0.000), 1.3 for the the CSA ratio score (p=0.015) and 1.1 for the SR ratio
      score (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: SR measurements do not exclude patients even with
      mild CTS but cannot categorize disease severity. CSA measurements on the other
      hand can categorize disease severity. Therefore, the combined use of US and RTE
      is suggested.

PMID- 27622408
TI  - Pain in bilateral knee osteoarthritis - correlations between clinical
      examination, radiological, and ultrasonographical findings.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlations between clinical
      symptoms (pain), physical examination, ultrasound (US), and radiological findings
      in patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis (OA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Knee
      pain was appreciated during medial and lateral palpation of each knee joint and
      using visual analogue scale (VAS) and The Western Ontario and McMaster
      Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). US evaluation (osteophytes, meniscal
      protrusion, synovial fluid, femoral hyaline cartilage thickness) and radiological
      assessment (osteophytes, femoral-tibial space, Kellgren-Lawrence [K-L] score,
      enthesopathies) were performed by two examiners blinded to the clinical results
      and to each other. All these findings were scored with a five-point scale.
      RESULTS: A total of 52 consecutive patients aged 63.44+/-9.49 were examined, 33
      (80.5%) being females. In patients with bilateral knee OA the pain, evaluated by
      WOMAC score and VAS, was correlated with the presence of osteophytes and
      cartilage thickness but no association with medial meniscal protrusion and
      effusion was demonstrated. Pain produced by palpation of the knee was strongly
      associated with the presence of medial osteophytes. VAS and WOMAC scores
      increased with the severity of radiological and US findings. The presence of
      osteophytes and articular cartilage damage at US examination were strongly and
      positively correlated with radiological K-L score. US examiners agreement was
      good for osteophytes and moderate for meniscal protrusion, cartilage damage, and
      synovial fluid. The cartilage damage score was the only independent predictor for
      VAS scale; for WOMAC score the sex, cartilage damage, the presence of medial
      osteophytes and lateral meniscal protrusion were the independent predictors.
      CONCLUSION: Pain intensity was correlated with the severity of US findings,
      cartilage damage score being an independent predictor for both VAS and WOMAC
      scores. Medial osteophytes and lateral meniscal protrusion and are independent
      predictors for WOMAC score.

PMID- 27622409
TI  - Can diagnostic ultrasound scanners be a potential vector of opportunistic
      bacterial infection?
AB  - Ultrasound examinations are recognised as being safe. The greatest
      epidemiological threat during the performance of examination is the transfer of
      pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms between patients and from personnel
      to patients. Colonization of the skin with opportunistic bacteria of
      immunocompromised and high risk patients may lead to infection following an
      ultrasound scan. AIM: To identify and evaluate the strains of bacteria occurring
      on ultrasound equipment subjected to unexpected control performed by a local
      infectious diseases control team. We assumed that transducers, gel holders and
      gel bottles can be contaminated with normal human skin microflora. The remaining
      tested parts of the ultrasound equipment could possibly be contaminated with
      normal human skin microflora and other pathogens. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The swabs
      were taken from ultrasound scanners located in various hospital settings, from
      out-patient based radiology scanning rooms to operating theatre, and cultured.
      RESULTS: Among all isolated 23% strains were classified as environmental
      microflora; 8% as strains related to patient's skin contamination; and 13 %
      strains constituted pathogenic Gram-negative rods.. The remaining strains were
      classified as opportunistic flora 38%. High prevalence of opportunistic bacteria
      cultured in our study lead to the modification of the ultrasound cleaning
      procedures in both institutions and recommendation of the use of antibacterial
      wipes to clean all parts of ultrasound equipment in contact with patients' skin
      and examiners. CONCLUSIONS: Contamination not only affects parts of diagnostic
      equipment placed in direct contact with the patient, but also, those surfaces
      that only medical personnel have had contact with.

PMID- 27622410
TI  - Ultrasonographic diagnosis of stenosis of native arteriovenous fistulas in
      haemodialysis patients.
AB  - AIMS: Ultrasound (US) examination is an important tool in the diagnosis of
      arteriovenous (AVF) stenoses; different US measures are available for assessing
      the severity of stenoses. The aim of our study was to analyse risk factors and
      consequences of AVF stenosis and its severity and to compare the usefulness of
      different US measures of stenoses' severity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ninety-seven
      prevalent patients from a single dialysis centre with patent AVF were included.
      We recorded history of disease, clinical and laboratory data. US was used to
      diagnosis the stenosis and to measure blood flow in the brachial artery,
      resistivity index (RI), and the diameter of the vessels (arteries, anastomosis,
      venous outflow). RESULTS: Stenosis was present in 54.64% of the patients (59.6%
      juxtaanastomotic). Stenosis patients had higher age, lower diameter of the
      brachial artery, lower anastomosis diameter, and lower diastolic blood pressure
      (DBP). Atherosclerosis, delayed maturation of AVF, and statin treatment were more
      prominent in the stenosis group. Logistic regression disclosed delayed
      maturation, cholesterol, atherosclerosis, and DBP as significant predictors of
      stenosis. When severe stenosis was measured by the diameter reduction, stenosis
      patients had higher age, lower HDL cholesterol, and poorer dialysis efficacy.
      Flow in the brachial artery and RI were less useful for identifying risk factors
      or differences in outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of stenosis was high in our
      cohort, more than half of the patients having some degree of stenosis. Risk
      factors for stenosis were related to atherosclerosis, low DBP, and delayed
      maturation of AVF. Diameter of stenosis is the most useful marker of severity.

PMID- 27622411
TI  - Layer-specific myocardial strain analysis: investigation of regional deformation
      in a rabbit model of diabetes mellitus during different stages.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of the present study was to determine the characteristics of
      myocardial damage at different stages of diabetes mellitus (DM) using layer
      specific myocardial strain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty six New Zealand white
      rabbits were randomly divided into either the control group (n =18) or the DM
      group (induced with alloxan) (n=18). For the myocardial deformation studies
      echocardiography and layer-specific strain were performed at baseline and after
      3, 6, and 9 months in all of the rabbits. Three-layer longitudinal strain (LS)
      was calculated in the apical 4-chamber view, and three-layer circumferential
      strain (CS) in the short-axis view at the level of mitral valve. Layer-specific
      longitudinal and circumferential strains were assessed from endocardium, mid
      myocardium and epicardium. For histomorphological study of the heart structure,
      the rabbits were sacrificed at 3, 6 and 9 months. Routine hematoxylin and eosin
      staining was performed. RESULTS: The highest absolute values of left ventricular
      longitudinal strain (LS) and circumferential strain (CS) were registered in the
      endocardium and the lowest in the epicardium in both groups. At 3 months, there
      was no significant difference in three-layer LS and CS (p>0.05), but at 6 months
      the LS of endocardium (LSendo) and CS of endocardium (CSendo) were lower in the
      DM group compared with the control group; at 9 months, the rest of the parameters
      were also decreased (p<0.05). Moreover, in ROC analysis at 6 months LSendo
      yielded better sensitivity and specificity in the detection of diabetic
      cardiomyopathy (AUC of LSendo was 0.897 and AUC of CSendo was 0.617). With the
      progression of untreated diabetes, the histopathological abnormalities
      intensified gradually beginning at 6 months. CONCLUSION: The progressive
      impairments in LV myocardial deformation and structure occurs early in diabetic
      rabbits, the myocardial damage may be nontransmural, and endocardial function is
      more susceptible to be affected by DM. Layer-specific myocardial strain
      echocardiography may identify subtle myocardial dysfunction in the early stages
      of DM.

PMID- 27622412
TI  - Reproducibility in pelvic floor biometric parameters of nulliparous women
      assessed by translabial three-dimensional ultrasound using Omniview reformatting
      technique.
AB  - AIM: To assess the reproducibility of pelvic floor biometric parameters by
      translabial three-dimensional ultrasound compared with the OmniView(r)
      reformatting technique. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional
      study involving 47 nulliparous women without symptoms of pelvic floor
      dysfunction. The hiatal area and right pubovisceral muscle width measurements
      were performed in the axial plane using both 3D ultrasound in the rendering mode
      and OmniView(r) techniques. To determine the occurrence of standardized error
      between examiners and the two sonographic methods, the paired t-test was used.
      The intra- and inter-observer reliability and agreement were estimated by
      concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and limits of agreement, respectively.
      RESULTS: We did not observe significant statistical differences among both
      measurements performed by the first examiner, both examiners and both methods in
      the assessment of the hiatal area; however, the measurements of the right
      pubovisceral muscle were significantly lower using OmniView(r). The intra
      observer reliability was good in the evaluation of all pelvic floor parameters;
      however, the inter-observer reliability was good only to the 3D rendering mode
      (CCC=0.87). The intra-observer agreement was good in the assessment of all pelvic
      floor parameters; however, the inter-observer agreement was found to be good only
      when 3DUS in the rendering mode was used (<+/-15%). CONCLUSION: Both 3D
      ultrasound in the rendering mode and OmniView(r) reformatting techniques were
      concordant in the assessment of pelvic floor parameters; however, the 3D
      ultrasound rendering in the mode demonstrated better inter-observer reliability
      and agreement.

PMID- 27622413
TI  - Comments and extensions to EFSUMB guidelines on renal interventional ultrasound
      (INVUS).
AB  - The substantial evidence base for interventional ultrasound approaches to renal
      diagnostic sampling and therapeutic access exists. This review comments on the
      evidence-based recommendations on ultrasound-guided renal access which have been
      published recently within the framework of Guidelines on Interventional
      Ultrasound (InVUS) of the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in
      Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) from a clinical practice point of view. Specific
      aspects of tissue handling and workup, procedural approach and patient
      interaction are discussed. Indications, contraindications, risk factors and
      methods to reduce these risks are considered. 

PMID- 27622414
TI  - Value of ultrasound elastography in the diagnosis of native kidney fibrosis.
AB  - In the last decade, ultrasound elastography, an already widely used technique in
      the diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, has raised the attention of nephrologists as a
      potential valuable noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of renal fibrosis. Due to
      renal deep location and anatomic complexity, the shear wave techniques are the
      most appropriate elastography methods for exploring native kidneys. Recent
      research offers promising results, but further larger studies are required for a
      better standardization of this method and also for establishing reference values
      of normal kidney elasticity. This article reviews the studies conducted for
      exploring the native kidney, highlighting the advantages and limitations of
      ultrasound elastography for assessing fibrosis development in chronic kidney
      diseases. 

PMID- 27622415
TI  - Concepts in diagnosing, scoring, and monitoring tenosynovitis and other tendon
      abnormalities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis- the role of musculoskeletal
      ultrasound.
AB  - In the last years, important advancements have been made in implementing high
      resolution imaging related information inside the global management algorithm in
      RA patients. Musculoskeletal ultrasound has already proven its utility in
      visualizing directly the joint synovial tissue, the synovial vascularization and
      in monitoring the response to therapy. Recently, much attention has been given to
      the presence of tenosynovitis, as a constant, complementary but different facet
      of the inflammatory involvement in RA. Tenosynovitis identification in early RA
      stages may allow adequate treatment adjustment in early and established disease
      in order to prevent and/ or slow down the development of structural damage at
      tendon and joint level. 

PMID- 27622416
TI  - Craniosynostosis: prenatal diagnosis by 2D/3D ultrasound, magnetic resonance
      imaging and computed tomography.
AB  - Craniosynostosis is defined as the process of premature fusion of one or more of
      the cranial sutures. It is a common condition that occurs in about 1 to 2,000
      live births. Craniosynostosis may be classified in primary or secondary. It is
      also classified as nonsyndromic or syndromic. According to suture commitment,
      craniosynostosis may affect a single suture or multiple sutures. There is a wide
      range of syndromes involving craniosynostosis and the most common are Apert,
      Pffeifer, Crouzon, Shaethre-Chotzen and Muenke syndromes. The underlying etiology
      of nonsyndromic craniosynostosis is unknown. Mutations in the fibroblast growth
      factor (FGF) signalling pathway play a crucial role in the etiology of
      craniosynostosis syndromes. Prenatal ultrasound's detection rate of
      craniosynostosis is low. Nowadays, different methods can be applied for prenatal
      diagnosis of craniosynostosis, such as two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional
      (3D) ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) scan
      and, finally, molecular diagnosis. The presence of craniosynostosis may affect
      the birthing process. Fetuses with craniosynostosis also have higher rates of
      perinatal complications. In order to avoid the risks of untreated
      craniosynostosis, children are usually treated surgically soon after postnatal
      diagnosis. 

PMID- 27622417
TI  - Neonatal head ultrasound: systematic approach to congenital Central Nervous
      System anomalies. A pictorial essay.
AB  - Brain ultrasound is widely used for the screening of prematurely born babies.
      Although the best imaging modality for the central nervous system anomaly is
      brain MRI, the first imaging study in the post-natal period is brain
      ultrasonography in most cases. Anomalies could be found incidentally on screening
      ultrasound, or in those cases already suspected on prenatal ultrasound. In order
      not to miss congenital structural abnormalities of the brain on screening
      ultrasound, systematic approaches would be very helpful. The ventricles and
      sylvian fissures are very important structures to suspect central nervous system
      anomalies: they are symmetric structures so we should look for any asymmetry or
      maldevelopment. And then, on sagittal images, the midline structures including
      the corpus callosum and cerebellar vermis should be observed carefully. Finally,
      we should look for any abnormality in gyration or cortical development. Skull
      defect with herniation of intracranial contents, a spectrum of encephalo
      meningocele, could be also identified on ultrasound. Congenital infections such
      as cytomegalovirus infection may show ventriculomegaly and malformation of the
      cortical development on imaging studies. 

PMID- 27622418
TI  - Ileo-colic intussusception by ileo-cecal valve lipoma - an infrequent
      ultrasonographic occurrence. A case report.
AB  - We present a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in an adult, due to ileo-colic
      intussusception by a lipoma of the ileo-cecal valve and its ultrasonographic
      presentation. The case presented in emergency for spontaneously appearing and
      disappearing palpable elastic mass in the right iliac fossa. The ultrasonographic
      examination raised the suspicion of an ileo-colic intussusception due to a
      polypoid tumor. The contrast-enhanced computed tomography confirmed the finding
      and suggested that the polypoid tumor was more likely a lipoma. Right
      hemicolectomy and cholecystectomy were performed and the pathological examination
      confirmed the lipoma. The evolution of the patient was favourable and uneventful.

PMID- 27622419
TI  - Proximal femoral focal deficiency of the fetus - early 3D/4D prenatal ultrasound
      diagnosis.
AB  - Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD) is a rare congenital syndrome of unknown
      etiology. Additional disorders can be present up to 70% of PFFD cases. Management
      (including termination) depends on the severity of the malformation. We present a
      case of a 32-year-old woman referred for routine ultrasound examination in the
      12th week of pregnancy. Detailed 3D/4D evaluation revealed asymmetry of lower
      limbs and diagnosis of isolated PFFD was established. Parents were fully informed
      and decided to continue the pregnancy. We stress here the importance of early
      3D/4D ultrasound diagnosis. Our paper presents the earliest case where the
      diagnosis of PFFD was established with 3D/4D ultrasound. 

PMID- 27622420
TI  - Lower urinary tract obstruction in male children - a report of three cases.
AB  - Urinary retention in young children and infancy is relatively rare. The commonest
      malignancy cause of bladder outlet obstruction in infancy is prostatic
      rhabdomyosarcoma; the commonest cause of congenital bladder outlet obstruction in
      a male infantis posterior urethral valve and the commonest cause of urethral
      obstruction in male children is urethral calculi. We present here a report on
      three cases of urethral obstruction in male children. 

PMID- 27622421
TI  - Management and outcome of sonographically diagnosed uterine enhanced myometrial
      vascularity / arteriovenous malformations following early pregnancy events: a
      single center experience.

PMID- 27622422
TI  - Pelvic cystic mass and ipsilateral renal agenesis detected by ultrasound in a
      young girl: early onset of Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich Syndrome.

PMID- 27622423
TI  - Imaging findings of obstructive sialadenitis due to an intraglandular foreign
      body.

PMID- 27622424
TI  - A web-based modern ultrasound diagnostic scanner simulation (SimulUS) for
      undergraduate medical e-learning education.

PMID- 27622427
TI  - Prescription Patterns and the Cost of Migraine Treatments in German General and
      Neurological Practices.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze prescription patterns and the
      cost of migraine treatments in general practices (GPs) and neurological practices
      (NPs) in Germany. METHODS: This study included 43,149 patients treated in GPs and
      13,674 patients treated in NPs who were diagnosed with migraine in 2015. Ten
      different families of migraine therapy were included in the analysis: triptans,
      analgesics, anti-emetics, beta-blockers, antivertigo products, gastroprokinetics,
      anti-epileptics, calcium channel blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, and other
      medications (all other classes used in the treatment of migraine including
      homeopathic medications). The share of migraine therapies and their costs were
      estimated for GPs and NPs. RESULTS: The mean age was 44.4 years in GPs and 44.1
      years in NPs. Triptans and analgesics were the 2 most commonly prescribed
      families of drugs in all patients and in the 9 specific subgroups. Interestingly,
      triptans were more commonly prescribed in NPs than in GPs (30.9% to 55.0% vs.
      30.0% to 44.7%), whereas analgesics were less frequently given in NPs than in GPs
      (11.5% to 17.2% vs. 35.3% to 42.4%). Finally, the share of patients who received
      no therapy was higher in NPs than in GPs (33.9% to 58.4% vs. 27.5% to 37.9%). The
      annual cost per patient was ?66.04 in GPs and ?94.71 in NPs. Finally, the annual
      cost per patient increased with age and was higher in women and in individuals
      with private health insurance coverage than in men and individuals with public
      health insurance coverage. CONCLUSION: Triptans and analgesics were the 2 most
      commonly prescribed drugs for the treatment of migraine. Furthermore,
      approximately 30% to 40% of patients did not receive any therapy. Finally, the
      annual cost per patient was higher in NPs than in GPs.

PMID- 27622425
TI  - Morphological change in cranial shape following the transition to agriculture
      across western Eurasia.
AB  - The Neolithic transition brought about fundamental social, dietary and
      behavioural changes in human populations, which, in turn, impacted skeletal
      morphology. Crania are shaped through diverse genetic, ontogenetic and
      environmental factors, reflecting various elements of an individual's life. To
      determine the transition's effect on cranial morphology, we investigated its
      potential impact on the face and vault, two elements potentially responding to
      different influences. Three datasets from geographically distant regions
      (Ukraine, Iberia, and the Levant plus Anatolia) were analysed. Craniometric
      measurements were used to compare the morphology of pre-transition populations
      with that of agricultural populations. The Neolithic transition corresponds to a
      statistically significant increase only in cranial breadth of the Ukrainian
      vaults, while facial morphology shows no consistent transformations, despite
      expected changes related to the modification of masticatory behaviour. The
      broadening of Ukrainian vaults may be attributable to dietary and/or social
      changes. However, the lack of change observed in the other geographical regions
      and the lack of consistent change in facial morphology are surprising. Although
      the transition from foraging to farming is a process that took place repeatedly
      across the globe, different characteristics of transitions seem responsible for
      idiosyncratic responses in cranial morphology.

PMID- 27622428
TI  - Compound feature selection and parameter optimization of ELM for fault diagnosis
      of rolling element bearings.
AB  - This paper proposes a hybrid system named as HGSA-ELM for fault diagnosis of
      rolling element bearings, in which real-valued gravitational search algorithm
      (RGSA) is employed to optimize the input weights and bias of ELM, and the binary
      valued of GSA (BGSA) is used to select important features from a compound feature
      set. Three types fault features, namely time and frequency features, energy
      features and singular value features, are extracted to compose the compound
      feature set by applying ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD). For fault
      diagnosis of a typical rolling element bearing system with 56 working condition,
      comparative experiments were designed to evaluate the proposed method. And
      results show that HGSA-ELM achieves significant high classification accuracy
      compared with its original version and methods in literatures.

PMID- 27622429
TI  - A novel approach to periodic event-triggered control: Design and application to
      the inverted pendulum.
AB  - In this paper, periodic event-triggered controllers are proposed for the rotary
      inverted pendulum. The control strategy is divided in two steps: swing-up and
      stabilization. In both cases, the system is sampled periodically but the control
      actions are only computed at certain instances of time (based on events), which
      are a subset of the sampling times. For the stabilization control, the asymptotic
      stability is guaranteed applying the Lyapunov-Razumikhin theorem for systems with
      delays. This result is applicable to general linear systems and not only to the
      inverted pendulum. For the swing-up control, a trigger function is provided from
      the derivative of the Lyapunov function for the swing-up control law.
      Experimental results show a significant improvement with respect to periodic
      control in the number of control actions.

PMID- 27622430
TI  - Robust partial integrated guidance and control for missiles via extended state
      observer.
AB  - A novel extended state observer (ESO) based control is proposed for a class of
      nonlinear systems subject to multiple uncertainties, and then applied to partial
      integrated guidance and control (PIGC) design for a missile. The proposed control
      strategy incorporates both an ESO and an adaptive sliding mode control law. The
      multiple uncertainties are treated as an extended state of the plant, and then
      estimate them using the ESO and compensate for them in the control action, in
      real time. Based on the output of the ESO, the resulting adaptive sliding mode
      control law is inherently continuous and differentiable. Strict proof is given to
      show that the estimation error of the ESO can be arbitrarily small in a finite
      time. In addition, the adaptive sliding mode control law can achieve finite time
      convergence to a neighborhood of the origin, and the accurate expression of the
      convergent region is given. Finally, simulations are conducted on the planar
      missile-target engagement geometry. The effectiveness of the proposed control
      strategy in enhanced interception performance and improved robustness against
      multiple uncertainties are demonstrated.

PMID- 27622431
TI  - EGFP oligomers as natural fluorescence and hydrodynamic standards.
AB  - EGFP oligomers are convenient standards for experiments on fluorescent protein
      tagged biomolecules. In this study, we characterized their hydrodynamic and
      fluorescence properties. Diffusion coefficients D of EGFP1-4 were determined by
      analytical ultracentrifugation with fluorescence detection and by fluorescence
      correlation spectroscopy (FCS), yielding 83.4...48.2 MUm(2)/s and 97.3...54.8
      MUm(2)/s from monomer to tetramer. A "barrels standing in a row" model agreed
      best with the sedimentation data. Oligomerization red-shifted EGFP emission
      spectra without any shift in absorption. Fluorescence anisotropy decreased,
      indicating homoFRET between the subunits. Fluorescence lifetime decreased only
      slightly (4%) indicating insignificant quenching by FRET to subunits in non
      emitting states. FCS-measured D, particle number and molecular brightness
      depended on dark states and light-induced processes in distinct subunits,
      resulting in a dependence on illumination power different for monomers and
      oligomers. Since subunits may be in "on" (bright) or "off" (dark) states, FCS
      determined apparent brightness is not proportional to that of the monomer. From
      its dependence on the number of subunits, the probability of the "on" state for a
      subunit was determined to be 96% at pH 8 and 77% at pH 6.38, i.e., protonation
      increases the dark state. These fluorescence properties of EGFP oligomeric
      standards can assist interpreting results from oligomerized EGFP fusion proteins
      of biological interest.

PMID- 27622432
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of cardiac electromechanical remodeling during Chagas
      disease: Role of TNF and TGF-beta.
AB  - Chagas disease is caused by the trypanosomatid Trypanosoma cruzi, which
      chronically causes heart problems in up to 30% of infected patients. Chagas
      disease was initially restricted to Latin America. However, due to migratory
      events, this disease may become a serious worldwide health problem. During Chagas
      disease, many patients die of cardiac arrhythmia despite the apparent benefits of
      anti-arrhythmic therapy (e.g., amiodarone). Here, we assimilate the cardiac form
      of Chagas disease to an inflammatory cardiac disease. Evidence from the
      literature, mostly provided using experimental models, supports this view and
      argues in favor of new strategies for treating cardiac arrhythmias in Chagas
      disease by modulating cytokine production and/or action. But the complex nature
      of myocardial inflammation underlies the need to better understand the molecular
      mechanisms of the inflammatory response during Chagas disease. Here, particular
      attention has been paid to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) and transforming
      growth factor beta (TGF-beta) although other cytokines may be involved in the
      chagasic cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 27622433
TI  - [Zika: a defeat in the struggle against Aedes aegypti].

PMID- 27622434
TI  - Inducible urticaria: Case series and literature review.
AB  - Inducible urticaria is a heterogeneous group of skin disorders characterized by
      the appearance of wheals, pruritus and/or angioedema, sometimes accompanied by
      systemic symptoms caused by innocuous stimuli (cold, heat, pressure, etc.). This
      group of disorders compromises people's quality of life and most of the
      literature in this regard comes from case reports and case series since its
      epidemiology has been poorly studied and some cases are very rare. The aim of
      this review is to show an up-to-date overview of the available literature for
      various types of inducible urticarias, always beginning with an illustrative case
      and then describing their pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical manifestations,
      and treatment. 

PMID- 27622435
TI  - Cerebral microcalcifications in a newborn with congenital tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis is a serious public health problem worldwide. In 2012, the World
      Health Organization estimated 8.6 million new cases and 1.3 million deaths due to
      the disease. In 2011, the incidence in Colombia was 24 cases per 100,000
      inhabitants. There is little information about tuberculosis in pregnant women,
      and congenital infection is considered a rare disease that is difficult to
      diagnose, leads to high mortality, and may be confused with tuberculosis acquired
      after birth. In addition, it has been associated with HIV infection in mothers
      and infants. Moreover, there is increasing incidence of congenital syphilis in
      the world. In Colombia, the prevalence is 2.5 cases per 1,000 births and its
      frequency in the Instituto Materno Infantil-Hospital La Victoria is one case per
      57 births. We report the case of a newborn under treatment for congenital
      syphilis and in whom microcalcifications were found in a transfontanelar
      ultrasound. This finding warned about the existence of another infectious agent.
      PCR was negative for cytomegalovirus, and IgM titers for toxoplasma, rubella and
      herpes I and II were also negative. After learning about a history of incomplete
      treatment for tuberculosis in the mother, we suspected the presence of an
      infection by the tubercle bacillus in the newborn. No acid-fast bacilli were
      demonstrated in three gastric juice samples. The IS6110 PCR assay was found
      positive in cerebrospinal fluid and urine, but not in blood. The newborn was
      treated with crystalline penicillin for 10 days along with isoniazid, rifampicin,
      pyrazinamide and streptomycin. The patient is currently under clinical
      monitoring. 

PMID- 27622436
TI  - Initial validation of the scale of perceived exertion (EPInfant) in Chilean
      children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Perceived exertion scales quantify the sensation caused by
      metabolic changes during exercise. Children need tailored tools due to their
      cognitive immaturity such as the EPInfant scale recently developed in Chile. 
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity and reliability of the EPInfant scale in
      children during a graded exercise test.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a
      cross-sectional study for which we selected healthy children younger than 18
      years and grouped them according to Piaget's stages of cognitive maturity:
      Concrete operations (8-12 years) and formal intelligence (13-15 years). The
      Chester step test was used and heart rate, workload and perceived exertion were
      recorded during the test. Pearson r and intraclass correlation coefficients were
      used to assess validity and reliability, respectively.  RESULTS: 75 children were
      admitted, 35 (18 male) from the concrete operations group and 40 (20 male) from
      the formal intelligence group. In the four groups, heart rate and perceived
      exertion increased significantly with exercise intensity (p<0.0001). Perceived
      exertion was correlated with heart rate in both the concrete operation and the
      formal intelligence groups and in males and females (r=0.73, r=0.58,r=0.43,
      r=0.62, respectively; p<0.0001). Regression models were significant in all groups
      (p<0.0001). In the concrete operations group the intraclass correlation
      coefficient was 0.88 (0.82-0.92) in men and 0.94 (0.91-0.96) in women. 
      CONCLUSION: EPInfant scale was a reliable and valid instrument to measure
      perceived exertion during exercise in children with different levels of cognitive
      maturity, and it was reliable in the concrete operations group of children.

PMID- 27622437
TI  - Production and evaluation of the recombinant antigen TES-30 of Toxocara canis for
      the immunodiagnosis of toxocariasis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Toxocara canis is a pathogenic nematode of canines which can be
      accidentally transmitted to humans. Although serology is the most important
      diagnostic tool for this zoonosis, diagnostic kits use crude excretion/secretion
      antigens, most of them being glycoproteins which are not species-specific and may
      cross-react with antibodies generated against other parasites.  OBJECTIVES: To
      produce the rTES-30 recombinant antigen of Toxocara canis and evaluate it in the
      immunodiagnosis of toxocariasis.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: The gene that codes for
      TES-30 was cloned in the expression vector pET28a (+) using single-stranded
      oligonucleotides united by PCR. The protein rTES-30 was purified by Ni2+ affinity
      chromotography. Seroreactivity of rTES-30 was evaluated by immunoblot. Given that
      there is no gold standard test, the behaviour of the antigen was compared with
      the method that is routinely used to immunodiagnose toxocariasis, i.e., the
      conventional ELISA technique using excretion/secretion antigens.  RESULTS: The
      rTES-30 was produced from an Escherichia coli LB culture which yielded 2.25 mg/L
      of the antigen with a purity of 95%. The results obtained showed 73% (46/63)
      concordance of reactivity between the rTES-30 immunoblot and the conventional
      ELISA, and 100% concordance with the nonreactive sera (21). Nineteen of the 21
      sera positive for other parasitoses reacted with ELISA, while only seven of these
      were positive with the rTES-30 immunoblot. Concordance between the ELISA and the
      immunoblot was moderate (kappa coefficient: 0.575; 95% CI: 0.41- 0.74). 
      CONCLUSIONS: The data presented show the potential of the rTES-30 inmunoblot for
      confirmation of possible ELISA positives, not only in epidemiological studies,
      but also as a candidate for the development of diagnostic tests for ocular
      toxocariasis in Colombia.

PMID- 27622438
TI  - APOE gene polymorphism analysis in Barranquilla, Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The genetic variability present in the APOE gene polymorphism is
      considered an important factor associated with predisposition to diseases
      affecting lipid metabolism, as well as heart diseases and Alzheimer's disease,
      among others. Understanding it as a risk factor in different populations and
      ethnic groups is a useful tool.  OBJECTIVE: To analyze the APOE gene polymorphism
      and determine allelic and genotypic frequencies of a representative sample of
      population from Barranquilla, Colombia.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a
      descriptive and comparative study. The sample size was 227 unrelated individuals
      from Barranquilla, Colombia.  RESULTS: The most frequent allele was the epsilon3,
      with 85%, followed by the epsilon4 allele (13%) and epsilon2 (1.8%). The
      genotypes found were: epsilon3/epsilon3: 71.8%, epsilon3/epsilon4: 24.2%,
      epsilon2/epsilon3: 2.2%, epsilon2/epsilon4: 1.3% and epsilon4/epsilon4: 0.4%. The
      epsilon2/epsilon2 genotype was not found in this study. The sample exhibited the
      Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.  CONCLUSION: The frequency of the epsilon3 allele and
      the epsilon3/epsilon3 genotype was similar to that reported in the literature in
      countries like Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and in some Colombian Amerindian ethnic
      groups. The epsilon2/epsilon2 genotype was absent. This result is consistent with
      those found in other population groups worldwide. The frequency of the epsilon4
      allele and the genotypes associated in this population could be related to the
      presence of diseases such as hypercholesterolemia, myocardial infarction and
      Alzheimer.

PMID- 27622439
TI  - Adverse drug reactions in Colombian patients, 2007-2013: Analysis of population
      databases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recognizing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is becoming more
      important in clinical practice.  OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of adverse
      drug reactions and ADR suspicions among the population affiliated to the
      Colombian health system and to describe the drugs, reactions and associated
      variables.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We revised ADRs and ADRs suspicion databases
      from drugs dispensed by Audifarma, S.A., both for inpatient and outpatient care
      from 2007 to 2013. Variables included ADR report date, city, drug, drug's
      Anatomical Therapeutic Classification (ATC), ADR severity, ADR type, ADR
      classification and ADR probability according to the World Health Organization's
      definitions.  RESULTS: We obtained 5,342 reports for 468 different drugs. The ATC
      groups with the most reports were anti-infectives for systemic use (25.5%),
      nervous system agents (17.1%) and cardiovascular system drugs (15.0%). The drugs
      with the highest number of reports were metamizole (4.2%), enalapril (3.8%),
      clarithromycin (2.8%), warfarin (2.5%) and ciprofloxacin (2.4%). The most common
      ADR, classified following the World Health Organization adverse reaction
      terminology, were: skin and appendages disorders (35.3%), general disorders
      (14.2%) and gastrointestinal system disorders (11.8%). Overall, 49.4% of the ADRs
      were classified as "moderate" and 45.1% as "mild".  CONCLUSION: An increasing
      number of ADR reports were found coinciding with a worldwide tendency.
      Differences between inpatient and outpatient ADR reports were found when compared
      to scientific publications. The information on ADR reports, mainly gathered by
      the Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos - Invima, should
      be made public for academic and institutional use.

PMID- 27622441
TI  - LEP, LDLR and APOA4 gene polymorphisms and their relationship with the risk of
      overweight, obesity and chronic diseases in adults of the State of Sucre,
      Venezuela.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Overweight, obesity and some chronic diseases have become more
      prevalent recently. It is well known that their causes may be genetic,
      epigenetic, environmental, or a mixture of these.  OBJECTIVE: To analyze the
      relationship between nine single nucleotide polymorphisms of genes LEP
      (rs2167270), LDLR (rs885765, rs688, rs5925, rs55903358, rs5742911) and APOA4
      (rs5095, rs675, rs5110) with obesity-related phenotypes and other comorbidities. 
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: We recruited 144 adults (76 males and 68 females, with
      average ages of 29.93+/-8.29 and 32.49+/-11.15 years, respectively) in the State
      of Sucre, Venezuela. Clinical and anthropometric parameters were obtained.
      Genotype-risk associations were studied. We then compared the averages registered
      for anthropometric and biochemical variables previously adjusted for biological
      and environmental factors.  RESULTS: According to the body mass index, 38.9% of
      the individuals in the sample were overweight (25<=BMI<=29.9 kg/m2) and 20.1%
      were obese (BMI>=30 kg/m2). Genotype and allele frequencies did not differ
      statistically for groups with normal and high body mass index (overweight plus
      obesity). The association between LDLR rs5742911 ancestral genotype A/A and high
      risk condition related to HDL-cholesterol was the only one found to be
      significant (OR=2.944, 95% CI: 1.446-5.996; p=0.003). The difference in adjusted
      mean HDL-cholesterol for LDLR rs5742911 genotypes was statistically significant
      (p=0.005) (A/A: 41.50+/-14.81 mg/dL; A/G: 45.00+/-12.07 mg/dL; G/G: 47.17+/-9.43
      mg/dL).  CONCLUSIONS: For most of the genetic variants studied, there was an
      association with the presence of overweight and obesity among ancestral genotype
      carriers, although this was not statistically significant. The rs5742911
      polymorphism may be useful as an indicator of a risk of chronic diseases.

PMID- 27622440
TI  - Maternal separation during nursing alters basal neuroendocrine levels in juvenile
      and adult rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Work with different animal models including that of maternal
      separation during nursing has shown that early adverse experiences such as abuse,
      maternal abandonment and psychosocial stress may favor the development of various
      psychopathologies. However, several neuroendocrine changes have not been
      completely described yet.  OBJECTIVE: To establish whether maternal separation
      during nursing modifies the basal levels of neurohormones such as corticosterone,
      ACTH, oxytocin and vasopressin in juvenile and adult rats (aged 35 and 90 days,
      respectively).  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wistar rats were separated from their
      mothers for two periods of 3 hours per day during the 21 days of nursing. Once
      these rats had reached 35 and then 90 days of age, blood samples were taken from
      both the separated and control groups to obtain serum for immunoenzymatic assays
      and measure the levels of each of the hormones.  RESULTS: Concentrations of
      corticosterone were higher in control adult females in comparison with the rest
      of the groups and lower in the control adult males. Those of ACTH were higher in
      the separated young males and females than in the adult groups. Oxytocin levels
      were significantly higher in the separated adult females in comparison with the
      other groups and significantly lower in the adult males. With respect to
      vasopressin, the separated groups had lower concentrations than the young and
      adult control groups.  CONCLUSIONS: These results show that the early stress to
      which rats were submitted produced changes in the basal responses of the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, that these responses were distinct in males
      and females and that they also differed according to age.

PMID- 27622442
TI  - Prediction of sensitivity to warfarin based on VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms in
      patients from different places in Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the search to prevent hemorrhages associated with anticoagulant
      therapy, a major goal is to validate predictors of sensitivity to warfarin.
      However, previous studies in Colombia that included polymorphisms in the VKORC1
      and CYP2C9 genes as predictors reported different algorithm performances to
      explain dose variations, and did not evaluate the prediction of sensitivity to
      warfarin.  OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of the pharmacogenetic analysis,
      which includes the CYP2C9 *2 and *3 and VKORC1 1639G>A polymorphisms in
      predicting patients' sensitivity to warfarin at the Hospital Militar Central, a
      reference center for patients born in different parts of Colombia.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Demographic and clinical data were obtained from 130 patients with
      stable doses of warfarin for more than two months. Next, their genotypes were
      obtained through a melting curve analysis. After verifying the Hardy-Weinberg
      equilibrium of the genotypes from the polymorphisms, a statistical analysis was
      done, which included multivariate and predictive approaches.  RESULTS: A
      pharmacogenetic model that explained 52.8% of dose variation (p<0.001) was built,
      which was only 4% above the performance resulting from the same data using the
      International Warfarin Pharmacogenetics Consortium algorithm. The model
      predicting the sensitivity achieved an accuracy of 77.8% and included age
      (p=0.003), polymorphisms *2 and *3 (p=0.002) and polymorphism 1639G>A (p<0.001)
      as predictors.  CONCLUSIONS: These results in a mixed population support the
      prediction of sensitivity to warfarin based on polymorphisms in VKORC1 and CYP2C9
      as a valid approach in Colombian patients.

PMID- 27622443
TI  - Characterization and six-month follow-up on a cohort of newborns with congenital
      syphilis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Congenital syphilis is a preventable disease. However, the
      incidence in Colombia has increased and reached the figure of 3.28 cases per
      1,000 live births in 2011.  OBJECTIVE: To characterize newborns with congenital
      syphilis and describe follow-up over 6 months following their diagnosis and
      treatment.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August, 2011, and February, 2012, in
      Hospital La Victoria, sede Instituto Materno Infantil, newborns with congenital
      syphilis were identified and treated. Clinical and laboratory follow-up was
      carried out for six months until it was determined that the disease was cured.
      The analyzed variables included patients' clinical and laboratory
      characteristics.  RESULTS: In this period, we identified 29 cases that met the
      criteria of congenital syphilis, with a frequency in the institution of one case
      per 69 births. There was one stillbirth and one neonatal death, four were
      premature, and five had growth restriction. Of the 28 live births, 15 were
      asymptomatic. There were two cases with neurosyphilis, representing 15% of
      symptomatic newborns. Follow-up was done on 18 out of 27 children (66.6%),
      including most symptomatic cases and the two cases of neurosyphilis. All cases
      showed the expected decrease in VDRL titers without clinical sequelae, meeting
      the criteria of being cured.  CONCLUSIONS: A high incidence of the disease,
      failure to prevent it, varied expression in its presentation, and the
      effectiveness of treatment in the neonatal period were evidenced in this study.

PMID- 27622444
TI  - Dietary transition and excess weight in adults according to the Encuesta de la
      Situacion Nutricional en Colombia, 2010.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dietary transition is codetermined by demographic and nutritional
      transitions.  OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence of overweight individuals
      among Colombians aged 18 to 64, identify their dietary patterns and establish the
      relationship between this and their excess weight.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      analyzed the Encuesta de la Situacion Nutricional en Colombia, 2010 (National
      Survey of the Nutritional Situation in Colombia, 2010). Dietary patterns were
      established with factor analysis in 5,217 subjects, who answered a questionnaire
      on food consumption frequency. The relationship between excess weight and
      adherence to quartiles in the patterns was established with binomial regression. 
      RESULTS: The prevalence of excess weight was 47.4% in men (95% CI: 44.7; 50.0)
      and 57.1% in women (95% CI: 54.9; 59.3, p<0.0001). Three patterns were
      established: protein/fiber, sandwich/snack and traditional/starch. When the
      models were adjusted for age, sex and level of food security in the home, the
      protein/fiber and traditional/starch patterns were found to be associated with
      excess weight (test of linear trend for quartiles of adherence, p=0.007 and
      p=0.001, respectively). Neither the frequency of consumption of carbonated and
      sugary drinks, with an adjusted relative risk of 100 (95% CI: 93 - 109; p=0.913),
      nor that of fast food with 102 (95% CI: 89; 117; p=0.759) were associated with
      excess weight.  CONCLUSIONS: Excess weight increases constantly with age,
      particularly in women, and is associated positively with indicators of
      socioeconomic status and subjects changing from the traditional/starch pattern to
      the protein/fiber one.

PMID- 27622445
TI  - Epidemiology of bacterial infections in patients with liver cirrhosis. Experience
      in a Spanish tertiary health center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bacterial infections represent a serious complication of liver
      cirrhosis. Traditionally, Gram negative bacteria have been described as the
      microorganisms responsible for the majority of the infections. However, in the
      past few years, changes in the microbiological spectrum have been described, and
      multiresistant bacteria are observed more frequently.  OBJECTIVE: To assess the
      proportion of patients with infections caused by multiresistant bacteria admitted
      to our hospital, and to obtain information about their epidemiology, risk factors
      and clinical impact.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      evaluation of 294 cirrhotic patients admitted to our unit due to infection
      between June, 2011, and June, 2013.  RESULTS: We isolated 310 microorganisms from
      294 patients; 109 (35.2%) were Gram positive, 167 (53.9%), Gram negative, and 34,
      fungi (11%). As for the microbiological agents, the most frequent was Escherichia
      coli (98 isolations). The infection was community-acquired in 22.9% of cases,
      healthcareassociated in 38.1% and nosocomial in 39%. Worse liver infections and
      septic shock were more frequent among patients with multiresistant isolates
      (p=0.05); and intrahospital mortality was also higher among them (p=0.017).
      Previous hospital admission, antibiotic treatment 60 days before, nosocomial or
      healthcare-associated acquisition and bacterial isolation in control cultures
      were identified as possible risk factors for the development of multiresistant
      infection.  DISCUSSION: The results of our study confirm that important changes
      have ocurred in the microbiological spectrum of bacterial infections in patients
      with liver cirrhosis. Multiresistant bacteria are associated with high morbidity
      and mortality, as well as failure of traditional antibiotic treatment.
      Successfull control of the infection requires an early identification of patients
      at risk.

PMID- 27622446
TI  - Clinical profile of dengue in patients consulting a tertiary hospital in the city
      of Cali, Colombia, 2013.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue virus infection is amongst the most important arboviral
      diseases in the country and has become a major global public health concern. 
      OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical profile of patients with dengue virus
      infection hospitalized in a tertiary hospital in the city of Cali, Colombia. We
      also describe the trend analysis of the number of cases by epidemiological weeks
      in 2013.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of admitted
      patients suspected to have dengue infection in the Rafael Uribe Uribe Clinic in
      the year 2013. Patients with serological confirmation of dengue infection were
      classified according to the World Health Organization classification.
      Subsequently, the clinical parameters of the patients with dengue were described.
      RESULTS: Of the 1,173 patients with suspected dengue, 287 (24.5%) were confirmed
      serologically; 152 (53%) were women and 135 (47%) males; 40.1% had no warning
      signs, 3.8% had warning signs and 25.1% had severe manifestations. The most
      common symptoms were fever (287;100%), myalgia (223;78%), and headache (183:64%).
      Hemorrhagic manifestations were recorded in 100 (34.8%) patients; 4 (1.4%) had
      neurological manifestations. Three deaths (0.7%) were reported, two of which were
      associated with sickle cell disease.  CONCLUSIONS: The severe form of the
      infection and mortality from dengue reported during the outbreak was more
      frequent in the pediatric population. It is suggested to implement strategies to
      ensure specific attention to patients with comorbidities such as sickle cell
      disease.

PMID- 27622448
TI  - Lack of knowledge regarding the microscopic diagnosis of malaria by technicians
      of the laboratory network in Luanda, Angola.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malaria is still one of the most important public health problems
      worldwide. The diagnosis of this disease is still mainly based on thick blood
      films.  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge about malaria diagnosis of the
      technicians of the public health network in Luanda, Angola, by means of a survey.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This survey was carried out in three phases. In the first
      one, open interviews were done to technicians related with the different
      procedures for malaria diagnosis. In the second one, a preliminary questionnaire
      was prepared and evaluated. In the third phase, a definitive questionnaire was
      applied to 120 technicians from Luanda between April and July, 2013. The
      proportions of correct and incorrect answers were compared for every question of
      the survey.  RESULTS: Significantly higher proportions of incorrect answers
      (p<0.05) were found in the questions related to clinical manifestations, 68/52
      (p<0.05), species of Plasmodium according to geographical areas, 76/44 (p<0.05),
      the type of granulations according to species, 96/24 (p<0.01), the class of
      microscope magnifying glasses used to observe the thick smear, 105/15 (p<0.01),
      the thick smear report, 76/44 (p<0.01), the time and preparation of different
      stain solutions, 81/39 (p<0.01), and the number of parasites counted per 200
      leukocytes, 96/24 (p<0.01).  CONCLUSIONS: Various failures for the microscopic
      diagnosis of malaria were observed amongst the evaluated technicians. These
      results will be useful as a baseline study before applying an educational
      intervention aimed to improve the quality of malaria diagnosis in Luanda's
      laboratory network.

PMID- 27622447
TI  - Management of electronic social networks by students of medicine: The case of
      publication of photographs with patients and professional medical conduct.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The socio-demographic characterization of medical students at the
      Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia, was made using a survey and
      focus group discussion to collect information on access to the Internet,
      management of electronic social networks and the dissemination of photographs
      with patients taken during medical teaching rounds, a practice that constitutes a
      breach of professional medical conduct.  OBJECTIVE: To identify the management of
      social electronic networks by students of medicine with respect to the
      publication of photographs with patients.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive
      cross-sectional study was undertaken to characterize students of medicine at the
      Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali. Of the 423 students enrolled in January
      2013, 299 participated in a survey designed with the software Cardiff
      TELEform(r), version 10.0. Twenty students were also selected at random for a
      focus group discussion on the publication of photographs with patients on
      electronic social networks.  RESULTS: Of the students surveyed, 97.6% claimed to
      be active users of at least one of the main electronic social networks (96.2%
      Facebook, 70.5% Instagram and 44.1% Twitter). Of these, 52 (17.6%) admitted
      having published a photograph showing patient care on at least one occasion. 
      CONCLUSION: Most of the students had smartphones and user profiles on the main
      social electronic networks, on which they disseminated photographs of patients
      taken during teaching rounds, as well as images of various activities which could
      have ethical and legal implications and contravene standards of professional
      medical conduct.

PMID- 27622449
TI  - Comparison of independent and dependent culture methods for the detection of
      transient bacteremia in diabetic subjects with chronic periodontitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Oral-derived bacteremia may occur after several dental procedures
      and routine daily activities. Some conditions of the oral cavity may favor
      episodes of bacteremia. This would be the case of patients with diabetes mellitus
      and periodontitis, who exhibit exacerbated gingival inflammation and may be more
      prone to developing oral-derived bacteremia.  OBJECTIVE: To compare the
      effectiveness of an independent culture method (quantitative real-time PCR- qCR)
      and the most commonly used method (BacT-ALERT 3D(r)) for the diagnosis of
      bacteremia.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were drawn from subjects with
      type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic periodontitis before and after apple
      chewing. Samples were processed by an automated blood culture system (BacT-ALERT
      3D(r)) monitored for 15 days with suitable subculture of positive cultures. In
      parallel, whole DNA from blood samples was purified using a commercial kit and
      screened by qPCR using a universal primer set of16S rDNA for bacteria detection. 
      RESULTS: Blood cultures taken before apple chewing were shown to be negative by
      the two diagnostic methods. After chewing, two samples (11%) showed bacterial
      growth by BacT-ALERT 3D(r) whereas qPCR did not detect the presence of bacteria
      in any sample.  CONCLUSIONS: qPCR did not show greater effectiveness than the
      BacT-ALERT 3D(r) in the detection of bacteremia of oral origin.

PMID- 27622450
TI  - [In memoriam].

PMID- 27622451
TI  - The Effects of Pre-Existing Hyponatremia and Subsequent-Developing Acute Kidney
      Injury on In-Hospital Mortality: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Both hyponatremia and acute kidney injury (AKI) are
      common and harmful in hospitalized patients. However, their combined effects on
      patient mortality have been little studied. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled
      19191 adult patients who were admitted for 1 year. Pre-existing hyponatremia was
      defined as a serum sodium level < 135 mmol/L on the first measurement of their
      admission. AKI was defined as a rise in serum creatinine by >= 26.5 MUmol/L or >=
      1.5 times of the baseline value of creatinine during the hospital stay. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of pre-existing hyponatremia was 8.2%. During a median 6.0 days of
      hospital stay, the incidence rates of AKI and in-hospital patient mortality were
      5.1% and 0.9%, respectively. Pre-existing hyponatremia independently predicted
      AKI development and in-hospital mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.300, P =
      0.004; HR 2.481, P = 0.002, respectively). Pre-existing hyponatremia and
      subsequent development of AKI increased in-hospital mortality by 85 times,
      compared to the patients with normonatremia and no AKI. In subgroup analysis, the
      AKI group showed higher rates of de novo hypernatremia than the non-AKI group
      during the admission. De novo hypernatremia, which might be associated with over
      correction of hyponatremia, increased in-hospital mortality (HR 3.297, P <0.001),
      and patients with AKI showed significantly higher rates of de novo hypernatremia
      than patients without AKI (16.2% vs. 1.4%, P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      Pre-existing hyponatremia may be associated with the development of AKI in
      hospitalized patients, and both hyponatremia and hospital-acquired AKI could have
      a detrimental effect on short term patient mortality, which might be related to
      the inappropriate correction of hyponatremia in AKI patients.

PMID- 27622454
TI  - Invagination of the Sphenoid Sinus Mucosa after Endoscopic Endonasal
      Transsphenoidal Approach and Its Significance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical features of invagination of the sphenoid
      sinus mucosa (ISM) and compare them with other similar cases using a visual
      analog scale (VAS) to assess the various nasal symptoms and to discuss its
      clinical significance and means of prevention. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart
      review at a tertiary referral center. METHODS: Between 2010 and 2015, 8 patients
      who had undergone EETSA surgery displayed postoperative ISM. The comparison group
      consisted of 147 patients who underwent the same surgical procedures and were
      diagnosed with the same diseases. Pre- or postoperative paranasal sinus computed
      tomography (PNS CT) and VAS were performed and subsequently analyzed. RESULTS:
      The clinical features of ISM of the sphenoid sinus showed sellar floor
      invagination and regenerated inverted ingrowing sphenoid mucosa on endoscopic
      imaging. PNS CT also showed a bony defect and invaginated air densities at the
      sellar turcica. Pre- and postoperative VAS scores revealed that the ISM group had
      much less of an improvement in headaches after surgery than that of the
      comparison group (p = 0.049). CONCLUSION: ISM may occur because of a change in
      pressure, sphenoid mucosal status, or arachnoid membrane status. Moreover, ISM is
      related to improvements in headaches. Therefore, EETSA patients should avoid
      activities that cause rapid pressure changes during the healing process. In
      addition, sellar reconstruction that is resistant to physical pressure changes
      should be mandated despite the absence of an intraoperative CSF leak.

PMID- 27622453
TI  - Effect of Parecoxib as an Adjunct to Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia after
      Abdominal Hysterectomy: A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluated the
      efficacy and side effects of parecoxib during patient-controlled epidural
      analgesia (PCEA) after abdominal hysterectomy. METHODS: A total of 240 patients
      who were scheduled for elective abdominal hysterectomy under combined spinal
      epidural anesthesia received PCEA plus postoperative intravenous parecoxib 40 mg
      or saline every 12 h for 48 h after an initial preoperative dose of parecoxib 40
      mg or saline. An epidural loading dose of a mixture of 6 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine
      and 2 mg morphine was administered 30 min before the end of surgery, and PCEA was
      initiated using 1.25 mg/mL ropivacaine and 0.05 mg/mL morphine with a 2-mL/h
      background infusion and 2-mL bolus with a 15-min lockout. The primary end point
      of this study was the quantification of the PCEA-sparing effect of parecoxib.
      RESULTS: Demographic data were similar between the two groups. Patients in the
      parecoxib group received significantly fewer self-administrated boluses (0 (0, 3)
      vs. 7 (2, 15), P < 0.001) and less epidural morphine (5.01 +/- 0.44 vs. 5.95 +/-
      1.29 mg, P < 0.001) but experienced greater pain relief compared with the control
      group (P < 0.001). Patient global satisfaction was higher in the parecoxib group
      than the control group (P < 0.001). Length of hospitalization (9.50 +/- 2.1, 95%
      CI 9.12~9.88 vs. 10.41 +/- 2.6, 95% CI 9.95~10.87, P = 0.003) and postoperative
      vomiting (17% vs. 29%, P < 0.05) were also reduced in the parecoxib group. There
      were no serious adverse effects in either group. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest
      that adjunctive parecoxib during PCEA following abdominal hysterectomy is safe
      and efficacious in reducing pain, requirements of epidural analgesics, and side
      effects. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01566669).

PMID- 27622452
TI  - Nuclear Localised MORE SULPHUR ACCUMULATION1 Epigenetically Regulates Sulphur
      Homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Sulphur (S) is an essential element for all living organisms. The uptake,
      assimilation and metabolism of S in plants are well studied. However, the
      regulation of S homeostasis remains largely unknown. Here, we report on the
      identification and characterisation of the more sulphur accumulation1 (msa1-1)
      mutant. The MSA1 protein is localized to the nucleus and is required for both S
      adenosylmethionine (SAM) production and DNA methylation. Loss of function of the
      nuclear localised MSA1 leads to a reduction in SAM in roots and a strong S
      deficiency response even at ample S supply, causing an over-accumulation of
      sulphate, sulphite, cysteine and glutathione. Supplementation with SAM suppresses
      this high S phenotype. Furthermore, mutation of MSA1 affects genome-wide DNA
      methylation, including the methylation of S-deficiency responsive genes. Elevated
      S accumulation in msa1-1 requires the increased expression of the sulphate
      transporter genes SULTR1;1 and SULTR1;2 which are also differentially methylated
      in msa1-1. Our results suggest a novel function for MSA1 in the nucleus in
      regulating SAM biosynthesis and maintaining S homeostasis epigenetically via DNA
      methylation.

PMID- 27622455
TI  - Improved Glass Surface Passivation for Single-Molecule Nanoarrays.
AB  - Single-molecule fluorescence techniques provide a critical tool for probing
      biomolecular and cellular interactions with unprecedented resolution and
      precision. Unfortunately, many of these techniques are hindered by a common
      problem, namely, the nonspecific adsorption of target biomolecules. This issue is
      mostly addressed by passivating the glass surfaces with a poly(ethylene glycol)
      (PEG) brush. This is effective only at low concentrations of the probe molecule
      because there are defects inherent to polymer brushes formed on glass coverslips
      due to the presence of surface impurities. Tween-20, a detergent, is a promising
      alternative that can improve surface passivation, but it is incompatible with
      living cells, and it also possesses limited selectivity for glass background over
      metallic nanoparticles, which are frequently used as anchors for the probe
      molecules. To address these issues, we have developed a more versatile method to
      improve the PEG passivation. A thin film of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) is spin
      coated and thermally cured on glass coverslips in order to cover the surface
      impurities. This minimizes the formation of PEG defects and reduces nonspecific
      adsorption, resulting in an improvement comparable to Tween-20 treatment. This
      approach was applied to single-molecule nanoarrays of streptavidin bound to AuPd
      nanodots patterned by e-beam lithography (EBL). The fluorescence signal to
      background ratio (SBR) on HSQ-coated glass was improved by ~4-fold as compared to
      PEG directly on glass. This improvement enables direct imaging of ordered arrays
      of single molecules anchored to lithographically patterned arrays of metallic
      nanodots.

PMID- 27622456
TI  - Ebolavirus Glycoprotein Fc Fusion Protein Protects Guinea Pigs against Lethal
      Challenge.
AB  - Ebola virus (EBOV), a member of the Filoviridae that can cause severe hemorrhagic
      fever in humans and nonhuman primates, poses a significant threat to the public
      health. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics to prevent and
      treat EBOV infection. Several vaccines based on the EBOV glycoprotein (GP) are
      under development, including vectored, virus-like particles, and protein-based
      subunit vaccines. We previously demonstrated that a subunit vaccine containing
      the extracellular domain of the Ebola ebolavirus (EBOV) GP fused to the Fc
      fragment of human IgG1 (EBOVgp-Fc) protected mice against EBOV lethal challenge.
      Here, we show that the EBOVgp-Fc vaccine formulated with QS-21, alum, or
      polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid-poly-L-lysine carboxymethylcellulose (poly-ICLC)
      adjuvants induced strong humoral immune responses in guinea pigs. The vaccinated
      animals developed anti-GP total antibody titers of approximately 105-106 and
      neutralizing antibody titers of approximately 103 as assessed by a BSL-2
      neutralization assay based on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudotypes. The
      poly-ICLC formulated EBOVgp-Fc vaccine protected all the guinea pigs against EBOV
      lethal challenge performed under BSL-4 conditions whereas the same vaccine
      formulated with QS-21 or alum only induced partial protection. Vaccination with a
      mucin-deleted EBOVgp-Fc construct formulated with QS-21 adjuvant did not have a
      significant effect in anti-GP antibody levels and protection against EBOV lethal
      challenge compared to the full-length GP construct. The bulk of the humoral
      response induced by the EBOVgp-Fc vaccine was directed against epitopes outside
      the EBOV mucin region. Our findings indicate that different adjuvants can
      eliciting varying levels of protection against lethal EBOV challenge in guinea
      pigs vaccinated with EBOVgp-Fc, and suggest that levels of total anti-GP
      antibodies elicit by protein-based GP subunit vaccines do not correlate with
      protection. Our data further support the development of Fc fusions of GP as a
      candidate vaccine for human use. 

PMID- 27622457
TI  - The Proportion of Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A
      Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have important functions in peripheral
      immune tolerance. Dysfunction of Tregs is considered to be a pivotal cause of
      autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, previous
      reports describing the proportion of Tregs among CD4+ T cells in RA patients were
      controversial because a range of markers are used to identify Tregs with little
      consensus. To clarify the status of Tregs in RA, we investigated the proportion
      of Tregs with focusing on the definitions of them. METHODS: We identified the
      studies reporting the proportion of Tregs in RA patients using PubMed and Google
      Scholar. We performed a systematic review of them and a meta-analysis to evaluate
      the proportion of Tregs (FOXP3-positive and/or CD25-positive) among CD4+ T cells
      in peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) of RA patients and control
      subjects. RESULTS: A total 31 studies were selected. The proportion of Tregs
      defined by all definitions among CD4+ T cells in PB was not significantly
      different between RA patients and control subjects (-0.65, [-1.30, 0.01]). Then
      we performed sub-analyses based on individual definitions. The proportion of
      Tregs defined by either CD25 or FOXP3 alone did not differ between RA patients
      and control subjects. The proportion of Tregs defined by both FOXP3 and CD25 was
      lower in RA patients than that in control subjects (-2.42 [-3.49, -1.34]). The
      proportion of Tregs defined by both FOXP3 and CD25 was higher in SF than that in
      PB among RA patients (3.27 [0.40, 6.14]). CONCLUSION: The status of Tregs varied
      according to the definition system. The proportion of Tregs defined by stricter
      and functionally validated methods decreased in PB and increased in SF among RA
      patients. If the proportion of Tregs differs in RA, accurate and functionally
      relevant definitions of Tregs are necessary to elucidate their status in RA.

PMID- 27622459
TI  - Self-Assembled DNA Nanocentipede as Multivalent Drug Carrier for Targeted
      Delivery.
AB  - An idea drug carrier, with good binding affinity, selectivity, drug payload
      capacity, and cellular internalized capability, will greatly improve the
      efficiency of target delivery. Herein a self-assembled and multivalent DNA
      nanostructure was developed as drug carrier for efficient and targeted delivery.
      The DNA structure was similar to that of a centipede, composed of trunk and legs:
      The trunk was a self-assembled DNA scaffold via hybridization chain reaction
      (HCR) from two biotinylated hairpin monomers created upon initiation by a trigger
      DNA, and the legs were biotinylated aptamers conjugated to the trunk via
      streptavidin-biotin affinity interaction. The long trunk of the "DNA
      nanocentipede" was loaded with doxorubicin (Dox), and the legs were SMMC-7721
      cell-binding aptamers (Zy1) which functioned as targeting moieties to firmly and
      selectively grasp target cells. The results of agarose gel electrophoresis and
      fluorescence anisotropy confirmed that Zy1-based DNA nanocentipedes (Zy1-Nces)
      were successfully constructed. Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that Zy1
      Nces were more effective than free Zy1 in binding affinity and selectivity due to
      a multivalent effect. Confocal microscopy studies demonstrated that the
      internalization was highly dependent on the higher valences of DNA nanocentipedes
      without the loss of selectivity. Meanwhile, Zy1-Nces exhibited high drug-loading
      capacity and selective drug transport. The results of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2
      yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed enhanced cellular
      cytotoxicity of the Dox-loaded Zy1-Nces (Zy1-Nces-Dox) to the target SMMC-7721
      cells but not negative control L02 cells. This approach is applicable to prepare
      drug carriers for other targets by construction of the nanocentipedes with
      relevant nucleic acid fragments.

PMID- 27622458
TI  - Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in the Treatment of
      Young Children's Behavior Problems. A Randomized Controlled Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present investigation was to compare the effectiveness
      of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) with treatment as usual (TAU) in young
      children who were referred to regular child and adolescent mental health clinics
      for behavior problems. METHOD: Eighty-one Norwegian families with two- to seven
      year-old children (52 boys) who had scored >= 120 on the Eyberg Child Behavior
      Inventory (ECBI) were randomly assigned to receive either PCIT or TAU. The
      families were assessed 6 and 18 months after beginning treatment. Parenting
      skills were measured using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System
      (DPICS), and child behavior problems were measured using the ECBI and the Child
      Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS: Linear growth curve analyses revealed that
      the behavior problems of children receiving PCIT improved more compared with
      children receiving TAU according to mother reports (ECBI d = .64, CBCL d = .61,
      both p < .05) but not according to father report. Parents also improved with
      regard to Do and Don't skills (d = 2.58, d = 1.46, respectively, both p <= .001).
      At the 6-month assessment, which often occurred before treatment was finished,
      children who had received PCIT had lower father-rated ECBI and mother-rated CBCL
      scores (p = .06) compared with those who had received TAU. At the 18-month follow
      up, the children who had received PCIT showed fewer behavior problems compared
      with TAU according to mother (d = .37) and father (d = .56) reports on the ECBI
      and mother reports on the CBCL regarding externalizing problems (d = .39).
      Parents receiving PCIT developed more favorable Do Skills (6-month d = 1.81; 18
      month d = 1.91) and Don't Skills (6-month d = 1.46; 18-month d = 1.42) according
      to observer ratings on the DPICS compared with those receiving TAU. CONCLUSION:
      Children receiving PCIT in regular clinical practice exhibited a greater
      reduction in behavior problems compared with children receiving TAU, and their
      parents' parenting skills improved to a greater degree compared with those
      receiving TAU. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NTC01085305.

PMID- 27622463
TI  - Soraphen A: A Probe for Investigating the Role of de Novo Lipogenesis during
      Viral Infection.
AB  - Many viruses including the hepatitis C virus (HCV) induce changes to the infected
      host cell metabolism that include the up-regulation of lipogenesis to create a
      favorable environment for the virus to propagate. The enzyme acetyl-CoA
      carboxylase (ACC) polymerizes to form a supramolecular complex that catalyzes the
      rate-limiting step of de novo lipogenesis. The small molecule natural product
      Soraphen A (SorA) acts as a nanomolar inhibitor of acetyl-CoA carboxylase
      activity through disruption of the formation of long highly active ACC polymers
      from less active ACC dimers. We have shown that SorA inhibits HCV replication in
      HCV cell culture models expressing subgenomic and full-length replicons (IC50 = 5
      nM) as well as a cell culture adapted virus. Using coherent anti-Stokes Raman
      scattering (CARS) microscopy, we have shown that SorA lowers the total cellular
      lipid volume in hepatoma cells, consistent with a reduction in de novo
      lipogenesis. Furthermore, SorA treatment was found to depolymerize the ACC
      complexes into less active dimers. Taken together, our results suggest that SorA
      treatment reverses HCV-induced lipid accumulation and demonstrate that SorA is a
      valuable probe to study the roles of ACC polymerization and enzymatic activity in
      viral pathogenesis. 

PMID- 27622460
TI  - Kinetic Reaction Mechanism of Sinapic Acid Scavenging NO2 and OH Radicals: A
      Theoretical Study.
AB  - The mechanism and kinetics underlying reactions between the naturally-occurring
      antioxidant sinapic acid (SA) and the very damaging .NO2 and .OH were
      investigated through the density functional theory (DFT). Two most possible
      reaction mechanisms were studied: hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and radical adduct
      formation (RAF). Different reaction channels of neutral and anionic sinapic acid
      (SA-) scavenging radicals in both atmosphere and water medium were traced
      independently, and the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters were calculated. We
      find the most active site of SA/SA- scavenging .NO2 and .OH is the -OH group in
      benzene ring by HAT mechanism, while the RAF mechanism for SA/SA- scavenging .NO2
      seems thermodynamically unfavorable. In water phase, at 298 K, the total rate
      constants of SA eliminating .NO2 and .OH are 1.30*108 and 9.20*109 M-1 S-1
      respectively, indicating that sinapic acid is an efficient scavenger for both
      .NO2 and .OH. 

PMID- 27622461
TI  - Treatment Adherence of Tuberculosis Patients Attending Two Reference Units in
      Equatorial Guinea.
AB  - Equatorial Guinea has one of the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in Africa.
      Incomplete adherence to TB treatment has been identified as one of the most
      serious remaining problem in tuberculosis control. The following study is aimed
      at determining the adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment in Equatorial Guinea
      and its determinants, as well as at assessing the knowledge of the people about
      the disease. In this cross-sectional study, participants were recruited by non
      probabilistic consecutive sampling amongst patients who attended the reference
      units for TB in Bata and Malabo between March and July 2015. Socio-demographic
      and clinical data were collected. Adherence to treatment and knowledge about TB
      were assessed by Morisky-Green-Levine and Batalla tests and a questionnaire on
      adherence related factors specifically prepared for this research. Descriptive
      statistics were computed to summarize the data and bivariate analyses by
      adherence profile were performed with chi2 test for categorical data. A total of
      98 patients with TB were interviewed. 63.27% of interviewees had good knowledge
      about TB (Batalla test) while 78.57% of respondents were adherent according to
      the Morisky-Green-Levine test. A low educational level, lack of family support
      and lack of medical advice about the disease were significantly associated to
      lower adherence level. Patients with re-infection (due to relapse or treatment
      failure) and those who have suffered from drug shortages were also less
      adherents. The National Programme for TB Control should consider improving the
      early diagnosis and follow-up of TB cases, as well as the implementation of all
      components of DOTS (Directly observed Treatment, short-course) strategy all over
      the country. 

PMID- 27622464
TI  - Antiprotozoal Selectivity of Diimidazoline N-Phenylbenzamides.
AB  - We discovered three diimidazolines with high antiplasmodial selectivity that had
      IC50 values of 1.9-28 nM against cultured Plasmodium falciparum. We also
      identified a gem-dimethyl diimidazoline with high antitrypanosomal selectivity
      that had an IC50 value of 26 nM against cultured Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense.
      Two 2-imidazoline heterocycles in a para orientation on a N-phenylbenzamide or
      similar core structure were required for high antiprotozoal activity. Ring
      expansion of the imidazoline as well as heterocyclic variants with pKa values of
      <7 all decreased activity significantly. 

PMID- 27622465
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27622466
TI  - From Biological Cilia to Artificial Flow Sensors: Biomimetic Soft Polymer
      Nanosensors with High Sensing Performance.
AB  - We report the development of a new class of miniature all-polymer flow sensors
      that closely mimic the intricate morphology of the mechanosensory ciliary bundles
      in biological hair cells. An artificial ciliary bundle is achieved by fabricating
      bundled polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micro-pillars with graded heights and
      electrospinning polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric nanofiber tip links.
      The piezoelectric nature of a single nanofiber tip link is confirmed by X-ray
      diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Rheology
      and nanoindentation experiments are used to ensure that the viscous properties of
      the hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogel are close to the biological cupula. A
      dome-shaped HA hydrogel cupula that encapsulates the artificial hair cell bundle
      is formed through precision drop-casting and swelling processes. Fluid drag force
      actuates the hydrogel cupula and deflects the micro-pillar bundle, stretching the
      nanofibers and generating electric charges. Functioning with principles analogous
      to the hair bundles, the sensors achieve a sensitivity and threshold detection
      limit of 300 mV/(m/s) and 8 MUm/s, respectively. These self-powered, sensitive,
      flexible, biocompatibale and miniaturized sensors can find extensive applications
      in navigation and maneuvering of underwater robots, artificial hearing systems,
      biomedical and microfluidic devices.

PMID- 27622468
TI  - Universal Near-Infrared and Mid-Infrared Optical Modulation for Ultrafast Pulse
      Generation Enabled by Colloidal Plasmonic Semiconductor Nanocrystals.
AB  - Field effect relies on the nonlinear current-voltage relation in semiconductors;
      analogously, materials that respond nonlinearly to an optical field can be
      utilized for optical modulation. For instance, nonlinear optical (NLO) materials
      bearing a saturable absorption (SA) feature an on-off switching behavior at the
      critical pumping power, thus enabling ultrafast laser pulse generation with high
      peak power. SA has been observed in diverse materials preferably in its nanoscale
      form, including both gaped semiconductor nanostructures and gapless materials
      like graphene; while the presence of optical bandgap and small carrier density
      have limited the active spectral range and intensity. We show here that solution
      processed plasmonic semiconductor nanocrystals exhibit superbroadband (over 400
      THz) SA, meanwhile with large modulation depth (~7 dB) and ultrafast recovery
      (~315 fs). Optical modulators fabricated using these plasmonic nanocrystals
      enable mode-locking and Q-switching operation across the near-infrared and mid
      infrared spectral region, as exemplified here by the pulsed lasers realized at
      1.0, 1.5, and 2.8 MUm bands with minimal pulse duration down to a few hundreds of
      femtoseconds. The facile accessibility and superbroadband optical nonlinearity
      offered by these nonconventional plasmonic nanocrystals may stimulate a growing
      interest in the exploiting of relevant NLO and photonic applications.

PMID- 27622467
TI  - Building two indica rice reference genomes with PacBio long-read and Illumina
      paired-end sequencing data.
AB  - Over the past 30 years, we have performed many fundamental studies on two Oryza
      sativa subsp. indica varieties, Zhenshan 97 (ZS97) and Minghui 63 (MH63). To
      improve the resolution of many of these investigations, we generated two
      reference-quality reference genome assemblies using the most advanced sequencing
      technologies. Using PacBio SMRT technology, we produced over 108 (ZS97) and 174
      (MH63) Gb of raw sequence data from 166 (ZS97) and 209 (MH63) pools of BAC
      clones, and generated ~97 (ZS97) and ~74 (MH63) Gb of paired-end whole-genome
      shotgun (WGS) sequence data with Illumina sequencing technology. With these data,
      we successfully assembled two platinum standard reference genomes that have been
      publicly released. Here we provide the full sets of raw data used to generate
      these two reference genome assemblies. These data sets can be used to test new
      programs for better genome assembly and annotation, aid in the discovery of new
      insights into genome structure, function, and evolution, and help to provide
      essential support to biological research in general. 

PMID- 27622470
TI  - Metal-Free Visible-Light-Mediated Oxidative Cross-Coupling of Thiols with P(O)H
      Compounds Using Air as the Oxidant.
AB  - Visible light along with 5 mol % of rose bengal catalyzes the direct S-P(O)
      coupling between thiols and P(O)H compounds in the presence of air as the green
      oxidant. The protocol is operationally simple and amenable to gram-scale
      synthesis. A variety of S-P(O) coupling products can be readily prepared in
      moderate to excellent yields. The reaction features good functional-group
      tolerance, operational simplicity, and excellent practicality.

PMID- 27622471
TI  - Correction: Patterns of Assemblage Structure Indicate a Broader Conservation
      Potential of Focal Amphibians for Pond Management.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160012.].

PMID- 27622469
TI  - An OGA-Resistant Probe Allows Specific Visualization and Accurate Identification
      of O-GlcNAc-Modified Proteins in Cells.
AB  - O-linked beta-N-acetyl-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is an essential and ubiquitous post
      translational modification present in nucleic and cytoplasmic proteins of
      multicellular eukaryotes. The metabolic chemical probes such as GlcNAc or GalNAc
      analogues bearing ketone or azide handles, in conjunction with bioorthogonal
      reactions, provide a powerful approach for detecting and identifying this
      modification. However, these chemical probes either enter multiple glycosylation
      pathways or have low labeling efficiency. Therefore, selective and potent probes
      are needed to assess this modification. We report here the development of a novel
      probe, 1,3,6-tri-O-acetyl-2-azidoacetamido-2,4-dideoxy-d-glucopyranose
      (Ac34dGlcNAz), that can be processed by the GalNAc salvage pathway and
      transferred by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) to O-GlcNAc proteins. Due to the
      absence of a hydroxyl group at C4, this probe is less incorporated into
      alpha/beta 4-GlcNAc or GalNAc containing glycoconjugates. Furthermore, the O
      4dGlcNAz modification was resistant to the hydrolysis of O-GlcNAcase (OGA), which
      greatly enhanced the efficiency of incorporation for O-GlcNAcylation. Combined
      with a click reaction, Ac34dGlcNAz allowed the selective visualization of O
      GlcNAc in cells and accurate identification of O-GlcNAc-modified proteins with LC
      MS/MS. This probe represents a more potent and selective tool in tracking,
      capturing, and identifying O-GlcNAc-modified proteins in cells and cell lysates.

PMID- 27622472
TI  - Nanoporous Gold Disks Functionalized with Stabilized G-Quadruplex Moieties for
      Sensing Small Molecules.
AB  - We report label-free small molecule sensing on nanoporous gold disks
      functionalized with stabilized Guanine-quadruplex (G4) moieties using surface
      enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). By utilizing the unique G4 topological
      structure, target molecules can be selectively captured onto nanoporous gold
      (NPG) disk surfaces via pi-pi stacking and electrostatic attractions. Together
      with high-density plasmonic "hot spots" of NPG disks, the captured molecules
      produce a remarkable SERS signal. Our strategy represents the first example of
      the detection of foreign molecules conjugated to nondouble helical DNA
      nanostructures using SERS while providing a new technique for studying the
      formation and evolution of G4 moieties. The molecular specificity of G4 is known
      to be controlled by its unit sequence. Without losing generality, we have
      selected d(GGT)7GG sequence for the sensing of malachite green (MG), a known
      carcinogen frequently abused illegally in aquaculture. The newly developed
      technique achieved a lowest detectable concentration at an impressive 50 pM, two
      orders of magnitude lower than the European Union (EU) regulatory requirement,
      with high specificity against potential interferents. To demonstrate the
      translational potential of this technology, we achieved a lowest detectable
      concentration of 5.0 nM, meeting the EU regulatory requirement, using a portable
      probe based detection system.

PMID- 27622473
TI  - A Suicide Mutation Affecting Proton Transfers to High-Valent Hemes Causes
      Inactivation of MauG during Catalysis.
AB  - In the absence of its substrate, the autoreduction of the high-valent bis-FeIV
      state of the hemes of MauG to the diferric state proceeds via a Compound I-like
      and then a Compound II-like intermediate. This process is coupled to oxidative
      damage to specific methionine residues and inactivation of MauG. The
      autoreduction of a P107V MauG variant, which is more prone to oxidative damage,
      proceeds directly from the bis-FeIV to the Compound II-like state with no
      detectable Compound I intermediate. Comparison of the crystal structures of
      native and P107V MauG reveals that this mutation alters the positions of amino
      acid residues in the heme site as well as the water network that delivers protons
      from the solvent to the hemes during their reduction. Kinetic, spectroscopic, and
      solvent kinetic isotope effect studies demonstrate that these changes in the heme
      site affect the protonation state of the ferryl heme and the relative
      efficiencies of two alternative pathways for the transfer of protons from solvent
      to the hemes. These changes enhance the rate of autoreduction of P107V MauG such
      that it competes with the catalytic reaction with substrate and causes the enzyme
      to inactivate itself during the steady-state reaction with H2O2 and its
      substrate. Thus, while this mutation has negligible effects on the initial steady
      state kinetic parameters of MauG, it is a fatal mutation as it causes
      inactivation during catalysis.

PMID- 27622476
TI  - Aedes aegypti in rural areas: public health implications.

PMID- 27622475
TI  - Diastolic Heart Failure Predicted by Left Atrial Expansion Index in Patients with
      Severe Diastolic Dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left atrial (LA) echocardiographic parameters are increasingly used
      to predict clinically relevant cardiovascular events. The study aims to evaluate
      the LA expansion index (LAEI) for predicting diastolic heart failure (HF) in
      patients with severe left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction. METHODS: This
      prospective study enrolled 162 patients (65% male) with preserved LV systolic
      function and severe diastolic dysfunction (132 grade 2 patients, 30 grade 3
      patients). All patients had sinus rhythm at enrollment. The LAEI was calculated
      as (Volmax - Volmin) x 100% / Volmin, where Volmax was defined as maximal LA
      volume and Volmin was defined as minimal volume. The endpoint was hospitalization
      for HF withp reserved LV ejection fraction (HFpEF). RESULTS: The median follow-up
      duration was 2.9 years. Fifty-four patients had cardiovascular events, including
      41 diastolic and 8 systolic HF hospitalizations. In these 54 patients, 13 in
      hospital deaths and 5 sudden out-of-hospital deaths occurred. Multivariate
      analyses revealed that HFpEF was associated with LAEI.and atrial fibrillation
      during follow-up. For predicting HFpEF, the LAEI had a hazard ratio of 1.197per
      10% decrease. In patients who had HFpEF events, the LAEI significantly (P<
      0.0001) decreased from 69+/-18% to 39+/-11% during hospitalization. Although the
      LAEI improved during follow-up (53+/-13%), it did not return to baseline.
      CONCLUSIONS: The LAEI predicts HFpEF in patients with severe diastolic
      dysfunction; it worsens during HFpEF events and partially recovers during
      followup.

PMID- 27622477
TI  - Influenza virus.

PMID- 27622474
TI  - The Involvement of Mig1 from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous in Catabolic
      Repression: An Active Mechanism Contributing to the Regulation of Carotenoid
      Production.
AB  - The red yeast X. dendrorhous is one of the few natural sources of astaxanthin, a
      carotenoid used in aquaculture for salmonid fish pigmentation and in the cosmetic
      and pharmaceutical industries for its antioxidant properties. Genetic control of
      carotenogenesis is well characterized in this yeast; however, little is known
      about the regulation of the carotenogenesis process. Several lines of evidence
      have suggested that carotenogenesis is regulated by catabolic repression, and the
      aim of this work was to identify and functionally characterize the X. dendrorhous
      MIG1 gene encoding the catabolic repressor Mig1, which mediates transcriptional
      glucose-dependent repression in other yeasts and fungi. The identified gene
      encodes a protein of 863 amino acids that demonstrates the characteristic
      conserved features of Mig1 proteins, and binds in vitro to DNA fragments
      containing Mig1 boxes. Gene functionality was demonstrated by heterologous
      complementation in a S. cerevisiae mig1- strain; several aspects of catabolic
      repression were restored by the X. dendrorhous MIG1 gene. Additionally, a X.
      dendrorhous mig1- mutant was constructed and demonstrated a higher carotenoid
      content than the wild-type strain. Most important, the mig1- mutation alleviated
      the glucose-mediated repression of carotenogenesis in X. dendrorhous: the
      addition of glucose to mig1- and wild-type cultures promoted the growth of both
      strains, but carotenoid synthesis was observed only in the mutant strain.
      Transcriptomic and RT-qPCR analyses revealed that several genes were
      differentially expressed between X. dendrorhous mig1- and the wild-type strain
      when cultured with glucose as the sole carbon source. The results obtained in
      this study demonstrate that catabolic repression in X. dendrorhous is an active
      process in which the identified MIG1 gene product plays a central role in the
      regulation of several biological processes, including carotenogenesis. 

PMID- 27622478
TI  - Necrolytic migratory erythema and pancreatic glucagonoma.
AB  - Necrolytic migratory erythema is a rare paraneoplastic dermatosis that may be the
      first clinical manifestation of the glucagonoma syndrome, a disorder
      characterized by mucocutaneous rash, glucose intolerance, hypoaminoacidemia,
      hyperglucagonaemia and pancreatic glucagonoma. The clinical case of a 45-year-old
      woman is presented. She had been experiencing weight loss, polydipsia,
      polyphagia, postprandial emesis, excessive hair loss and abdominal pain for two
      months. Erythematous, scaly and migratory plaques with 20 days of evolution were
      found on her trunk, perineum, elbows, hands, feet, inframammary and antecubital
      folds. The skin biopsy revealed noticeable vacuolar changes in high epidermal
      cells, extensive necrosis and thin orthokeratotic cornified layer. These findings
      pointed to a diagnosis of necrolytic migratory erythema. A suggestion was made to
      investigate a pancreatic glucagonoma. Laboratory tests showed moderate anemia,
      hyperglycemia and marked hyperglucagonaemia. Abdominal ultrasound revealed a mass
      in the tail of the pancreas measuring 6 x 5 x 5 cm which was resected. The
      histopathological findings were compatible with a diagnosis of glucagonoma, as
      confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Skin symptoms disappeared 10 days after the
      tumor resection. We can conclude that the histological changes defined may be
      clues that can lead the search for a distant skin disease and allow for its
      diagnosis. The histological pattern of vacuolation and epidermal necrosis should
      arouse suspicion of pancreatic glucagonoma. 

PMID- 27622479
TI  - Li-Fraumeni syndrome.
AB  - The Li-Fraumeni syndrome is characterized clinically by the appearance of tumors
      in multiple organs generally at an early age. This hereditary condition is caused
      by germinal mutations in the TP53 gene, which codifies for the tumoural
      suppressor gene p53. We present the case of a patient aged 31 with clinical and
      molecular diagnosis of Li-Fraumeni syndrome who presented two synchronous tumors:
      a leiomyosarcoma on the forearm and a phyllodes breast tumour. She had a family
      history of cancer, including a son diagnosed with a cortical adrenal carcinoma
      when he was three years old, who died at five from the disease. Furthermore, her
      maternal grandmother and great-grandmother died of stomach cancer at 56 and 60
      years old, respectively, while her other great-grandmother and a great aunt
      presented with breast cancer at the ages of 60 and 40, respectively. After
      genetic counseling, complete sequencing and analysis of duplications and
      deletions in the TP53 gene were ordered prior to diagnosis. The molecular
      analysis of a DNA sample taken from peripheral blood lymphocytes revealed the
      germinal mutation c.527G>T (p.Cys176Phe) on exon 5 of the TP53 gene, a
      deleterious mutation described previously in tumoural tissues. To our knowledge,
      this is the first published case in Colombia of Li-Fraumeni syndrome with
      confirmed molecular diagnosis. The diagnosis and management of Li-Fraumeni
      syndrome should be performed by a multidisciplinary team, and genetic counselling
      should be offered to patients and their relatives. 

PMID- 27622480
TI  - Multimorbidity: conceptual basis, epidemiological models and measurement
      challenges.
AB  - The growing number of patients with complex clinical profiles related to chronic
      diseases has contributed to the increasingly widespread use of the term
      'multimorbidity'. A suitable measurement of this condition is essential to
      epidemiological studies considering that it represents a challenge for the
      clinical management of patients as well as for health systems and epidemiological
      investigations. In this context, the present essay reviews the conceptual
      proposals behind the measurement of multimorbidity including the epidemiological
      and methodological challenges it involves. We discuss classical definitions of
      comorbidity, how they differ from the concept of multimorbidity, and their roles
      in epidemiological studies. The various conceptual models that contribute to the
      operational definitions and strategies to measure this variable are also
      presented. The discussion enabled us to identify a significant gap between the
      modern conceptual development of multimorbidity and the operational definitions.
      This gap exists despite the theoretical developments that have occurred in the
      classical concept of comorbidity to arrive to the modern and multidimensional
      conception of multimorbidty. Measurement strategies, however, have not kept pace
      with this advance. Therefore, new methodological proposals need to be developed
      in order to obtain information regarding the actual impact on individuals' health
      and its implications for public health. 

PMID- 27622481
TI  - Successful immune reconstitution by means of hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation in a Colombian patient with chronic granulomatous disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic granulomatous disease is a primary immunodeficiency that
      results from mutations in proteins of the NADPH oxidase system that affect the
      microbicidal activity of phagocytes. Immune reconstitution by hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation is currently the only curative therapy for this disease. 
      OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical and molecular characterization of a patient
      with X-linked chronic granulomatous disease and the successful immune
      reconstitution by means of a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.  METHODS:
      The respiratory burst was measured by flow cytometry using the dihydrorodamine
      123 (DHR) oxidation test in neutrophils of peripheral blood. Mutational analysis
      of CYBB was performed by PCR amplification in complementary DNA, as well as
      sequencing and comparative genomic hybridization in genomic DNA. HLA-identical
      stem cells from the patient's younger brother were used for the transplantation
      and reduced intensity pre-transplantation conditioning was administered. Post
      transplantation immune reconstitution was evaluated periodically by serial
      complete blood counts and DHR 123 in peripheral blood neutrophils.  RESULTS: The
      diagnosis of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease resulted from a hemizygous
      deletion affecting Xp21.1 that included the entire CYBB. Post-transplantation
      engraftment was documented in platelets and peripheral blood neutrophils at days
      10 and 11, respectively. Total hematological reconstitution was achieved by day
      30 post-transplantation and no complications or infections have been observed in
      the three years since the transplantation.  CONCLUSION: Hemopoietic stem cell
      transplantation allows for total reconstitution of the immune function related to
      microbicidal activity of phagocytic cells from patients with X-linked chronic
      granulomatous disease.

PMID- 27622482
TI  - Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as an early predictor of delayed graft
      function.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Delayed graft function occurs in about 20 to 50 percent of kidney
      transplants.  OBJECTIVE: To describe the behavior of urinary neutrophil
      gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGALu) in deceased-donor renal transplant
      recipients and to compare this indicator with the percentage of creatinine
      decrease (PdC) for the early detection of delayed graft function.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: NGALu levels were evaluated in a prospective cohort in the first, 12th,
      24th and 48th hours after kidney transplant, and compared with the daily PdC
      until day 5.  RESULTS: We included 79 patients in the study. Delayed graft
      function occurred in 13 patients (16.5%), and five patients (6.3%) required
      dialysis in the first week. NGALu levels at all cut-off points were higher in
      patients with delayed graft function (p=0.526, p=0.049, p=0.032, and p=0.001).
      NGALu levels above 120 ng/ml at 48 hours predicted delayed graft function with a
      sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 71%. A PdC of 59.5% best discriminated
      the delayed graft function, with a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 83% at
      48 hours. Using logistic regression for the adjusted delayed graft function, the
      only significant values to predict it were those of PdC.  CONCLUSIONS: NGALu
      levels measured at 48 hours after renal transplantation predicted delayed graft
      function, including the need for dialysis; however, this marker was not superior
      to the PdC for early detection.

PMID- 27622484
TI  - Streptozotocin diabetogenic action in an experimental neonatal induction model.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of experimental models is essential to study the
      pathophysiological mechanisms of diabetes.  OBJECTIVES: To compare in adult
      Wistar rats the diabetogenic action of streptozotocin according to the moment and
      route of administration during the neonatal period by evaluating biochemical,
      metabolic and histological variables.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight groups of
      neonatal female Wistar rats (n=10) were formed. We evaluated the induction with
      streptozotocin (100 mg/kg of body weight) on days 2 and 5 after birth, as well as
      the administration routes (subcutaneous or intraperitoneal). Controls were
      injected with sodium citrate buffer. Blood glucose level, body weight, food and
      water intake were monitored for 12 weeks. We also performed tolerance tests for
      oral glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin, and a histopathological pancreas
      morphometric study.  RESULTS: The mortality rate was about 100% among rats given
      streptozotocin on their fifth day of life. All rats receiving the drug on day 2
      of life survived, and they showed a marked hyperglycemia, polyphagia, polydipsia
      and decreased body weight gain in addition to increased glycosylated hemoglobin
      rates and impaired results in the oral glucose tolerance test. Histopathological
      lesions of the pancreas as well as a decreased number of islets were
      significantly more frequent in rats receiving the drug subcutaneously on day 2,
      which confirms that streptozotocin administered subcutaneously produces greater
      damage.  CONCLUSIONS: Subcutaneous injection of streptozotocin in a dose of 100
      mg/kg of body weight in the second day after birth induced moderate diabetes in
      adult Wistar rats more effectively.

PMID- 27622483
TI  - Factors associated with anemia in children under three years of age in Peru:
      analysis of the Encuesta Demografica y de Salud Familiar, ENDES, 2007-2013.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite the reduction of poverty in Peru, the prevalence of anemia
      in the country remains high.  OBJECTIVE: To identify socio-demographic, child and
      maternal-child care factors associated with anemia in children between 6 and 35
      months in Peru.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted an analytical and
      descriptive study that included registered data from the national survey on
      demography and family health, 2007-2013, on children between 6 and 35 months old,
      including the measurement of blood hemoglobin. Anemia was confirmed by hemoglobin
      altitude corrected values below 11 mg/dl. We used multivariate logistic
      regression models to assess potential associated factors for anemia.  RESULTS:
      Anemia prevalence was high (47.9%). Twelve factors were independently associated
      with anemia in children: Socio-demographic factors such as living outside Lima
      and Callao, in a low socioeconomic household, and having an adolescent mother
      with low education level; child-related factors as being male, younger than 24
      months of age, and having fever in the previous two weeks, and maternal-child
      care factors such as lack of prenatal control in the first trimester of
      pregnancy, lack or short period of iron supplementation during pregnancy, house
      delivery, anemia detection at the moment of the survey, and lack of intestinal
      anti-parasite preventive treatment in the child.  CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of
      survey data provided valuable information about factors associated with anemia in
      children between 6 and 35 months, which can be used to increase the coverage and
      effectiveness of maternal-child care practices.

PMID- 27622485
TI  - Dendritic cells generated in the presence of vitamin D3 and stimulated with
      lipopolysaccharide secrete IL-8, IL-1beta, IL-10 and induce relatively low levels
      of CD4+CD25hiFoxp3+ T cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vitamin D3 (VD3) has been described as a modulator of immune system
      cells, including dendritic cells (DC). Previous studies have shown its importance
      in in vitro generation of tolerogenic DC, which have a similar function and
      phenotype to that of CD141 dermal DCs that produce IL-10 and induce (LTreg) CD4+
      T regulator cells.  OBJECTIVE: This paper presents a study that compares the
      phenotype and cytokines produced by DC generated in presence and absence of VD3,
      which were matured with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and their ability to induce
      LTreg from naive allogeneic CD4+ T cells.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: In order to
      compare them, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated to select
      monocytes CD14+ T cells and differentiate them in vitro from DC in the presence
      and absence of VD3, and to mature them with LPS. Phenotype and cytokine levels
      were also analyzed in the culture supernatants. Dendritic cells were then co
      cultured with naive allogeneic CD4+ T cells and the frequencies of LTreg were
      determined (naive-activated).  RESULTS: The results showed that unstimulated DC
      generated with VD3 kept the CD14. When activated with LPS, they expressed lower
      levels of C83, CD83 and CD86; HLA-DR; higher amounts of IL-1beta, IL-8, IL-10,
      and tended to lessen IL-6, IL-12p70 and TGF-beta1, compared to DCs not treated
      with VD3. The frequency of naive LTreg was similar, although immature DC
      generated with VD3 tended to induce activated LTregs.  CONCLUSION: Based on these
      results, it is possible to conclude that DCs generated with VD3 and treated with
      LPS presented a 'semi-mature' phenotype, and were able to secrete pro
      inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Besides, they did not increase
      their capacity to promote the polarization of naive allogenic CD4+ T cells
      towards LTregs.

PMID- 27622487
TI  - Association between leg strength and muscle cross-sectional area of the
      quadriceps femoris with the physical activity level in octogenarians.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aging is a complex physiological process whose main feature is the
      progressive loss of functionality, which may be delayed or attenuated by
      improving physical fitness.  OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between leg
      strength and the muscle cross-sectional area of the quadriceps femoris in
      relation to physical activity level in the elderly.  MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Thirty-two functionally autonomous people over 80 years (men: 82.80+/-2.09 years;
      women: 83.77+/-4.09 years) participated in this study. The Barthel Index, the
      Yale Physical Activity Survey and the Chair Stand Test were the instruments used.
      RESULTS: There were significant differences between sexes in muscle area
      (p<0.001) in the Chair Stand Test (p=0.028) and the walk index (p=0.029), with
      higher values in men. The muscle area and the Chair Stand Test correlated
      significantly with the walk index (r=0.445, p<0.005, and r=0.522, p<0.001,
      respectively) and the total weekly activity index (r=0.430, p<0.005, and r=0.519,
      p<0.001, respectively). In the multiple linear regression models for the total
      weekly activity index, muscle area and the Chair Stand Test, only the latter
      behaved as a predictor variable.  CONCLUSIONS: Muscle strength and muscle mass of
      quadriceps showed a significant association with the physical activity level in
      older people. Leg muscle strength was useful to reveal muscle mass and physical
      activity level in older people, which is relevant as a clinical practice
      indicator.

PMID- 27622486
TI  - Medication errors in outpatient care in Colombia, 2005-2013.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Medication errors outside the hospital have been poorly studied
      despite representing an important threat to patient safety. OBJECTIVE: To
      describe the characteristics of medication errors in outpatient dispensing
      pharmacists reported in a pharmaco-surveillance system between 2005 and 2013 in
      Colombia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive study by reviewing
      and categorizing medication error reports from outpatient pharmacy services to a
      national medication dispensing company between January, 2005 and September, 2013.
      Variables considered included: process involved (administration, dispensing,
      prescription and transcription), wrong drug, time delay for the report, error
      type, cause and severity. The analysis was conducted in the SPSS(r) software,
      version 22.0. RESULTS: A total of 14,873 medication errors were reviewed, of
      which 67.2% in fact occurred, 15.5% reached the patient and 0.7% caused harm.
      Administration (OR=93.61, CI 95%: 48.510-180.655, p<0.001), dispensing (OR=21.58,
      CI 95%: 16.139-28.870, p<0.001), transcription errors (OR=5.64; CI 95%: 3.488
      9.142, p<0.001), medicines for sensory organs (OR=2.04, CI 95%: 1.519-2.756,
      p<0.001), anti-infective drugs for systemic use (OR=1.99, CI 95%: 1.574-2.525,
      p0.001), confusion generated with the name of the drug (OR=1.28, CI 95%: 1.051
      1.560, p=0.014), and trouble interpreting prescriptions (OR=1.32, CI 95%: 1.037
      1.702, p=0.025) increased the risk for error reaching the patient. CONCLUSIONS:
      It is necessary to develop surveillance systems for medication errors in
      ambulatory care, focusing on the prescription, transcription and dispensation
      processes. Special strategies are needed for the prevention of medication errors
      related to anti-infective drugs.

PMID- 27622488
TI  - Loss of follow-up and associated factors in patients enrolled in the HIV/AIDS
      program of the Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Colombia, 2012-2013.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Regular long-term clinical follow-up is an important component of
      HIV care.  OBJECTIVE: To describe the reasons for follow-up loss among patients
      enrolled in the HIV/AIDS program of a university hospital.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A nested case-control study was carried out on a retrospective cohort
      between January 1st, 2012 and July 31st, 2013.  RESULTS: A group of 45 patients
      was selected; the incidence density rate of patients lost to follow-up was 17.7
      per 100 patient/years. The following variables were significantly linked to
      follow-up loss in the bivariate analysis: Unemployment (p=0.000); alcohol
      consumption (p=0.004); number of years of evolution of the disease (p=0.032);
      gender (p=0.027), and mean age of 34 years (p=0.000). When logistic regression
      was adjusted for the probability of follow-up loss the significant variables
      were: Mean age of 34 years (p=0.019, 95% CI: 0.871-0.976); female (p=0.017, 95%
      CI: 1.903-31.83); alcohol consumption (p=0.028, 95% CI: 0.040-0.830), and
      unemployment (p=0.001, 95% CI: 4.696-464.692).  CONCLUSIONS: HIV/AIDS programs
      need to establish follow-up systems and means to trace any losses in order to
      establish strategies to improve patient retention and, thus, their long-term
      quality of life.

PMID- 27622489
TI  - Pharmacological treatment and impairment of pulmonary function in patients with
      type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is no clear relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus and
      lung function decline; it is also unclear whether the type of treatment can
      modify spirometric variables and levels of inflammatory biomarkers.  OBJECTIVES:
      To compare pulmonary function in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with an
      insulin-sensitizing agent (metformin) and in those treated with secretagogues, as
      well as combined with insulin, and to evaluate differences in inflammatory
      biomarkers between treatment groups.  MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a cross
      sectional analytic study in 196 diabetic patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus.
      Spirometric variables and levels of inflammatory biomarkers (ferritin,
      fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha), were
      obtained. Residual values (observed minus expected) for forced vital capacity and
      for forced expiratory volume were calculated and compared between treatment
      types. Differences in median levels of biomarkers were also compared.  RESULTS:
      After adjustment by known determinants of lung function, and by the control and
      duration of type 2 diabetes, patients treated with the insulin-sensitizing agent
      had statistically significant lower differences against expected values for
      forced vital capacity compared with secretagogues (-212.1 ml vs 270.2 ml,
      p=0.039), as well as for forced expiratory volume, but without statistical
      significance (-133.2 mL vs -174.8 mL, p>0.05). In the group of patients treated
      with the insulin-sensitizing agent, ferritin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      levels were lower (p<0.01).  CONCLUSION: This study supports the hypothesis that
      insulin-sensitizing agents appear to be associated with less deterioration of
      lung function and less systemic inflammation in type 2 diabetes. The present
      study serves to formulate new hypothesis and research projects.

PMID- 27622490
TI  - Serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) polymorphism and major depressive disorder in
      patients in Bogota, Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The 5-HTT short allele has been controversially associated with an
      increased risk of major depressive disorder.  OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      association of 5-HTT short allele with major depression in Bogota, Colombia. 
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out a study of cases (n=68) matched 1:1 with
      controls by gender and age (+/-5 years). Major depression was diagnosed using the
      Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and 5-HTT polymorphism using PCR. 
      RESULTS: Females were predominant (82.4%). The S (short) allele predominated in
      cases compared with controls (S: 72.1% vs. 63.2; L (long): 27.9% vs. 36.8%), and
      the SL genotype was more frequent in cases (SL: 45.6% vs. 36.8%; LL: 27.9% vs.
      36.8%; SS: 26.5% vs. 26.5%), although not significantly. There were significant
      differences in those under age 37, with a predominance of the S allele in cases
      (p=0.038; OR=2.75; 95% CI: 0.88-8.64). Multivariate analysis, adjusted for
      comorbid anxiety disorders, showed a significant association of major depression
      with the SL genotype (p=0.049; OR=3.20; 95% CI: 1.00-10.23); the S allele was
      close to statistical significance (p=0.063; OR=2.94; 95% CI: 0.94-9.13), and it
      was statistically significant in cases under 37 years of age (p=0.026; OR=10.79;
      95% CI: 1.32-80.36).  CONCLUSIONS: The SL genotype was associated with major
      depressive disorder in patients of all ages. The S allele was significantly
      associated with major depressive disorder in patients under age 37, adjusted for
      comorbid anxiety disorders.

PMID- 27622491
TI  - Comparison of 16S and COX1 genes mitochondrial regions and their usefulness for
      genetic analysis of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In recent decades the analysis of mitochondrial genes has been used
      for population and phylogenetic studies of ticks allowing many advances in their
      systematics. Mitochondrial ribosomal 16S (16S) subunit is one of the most
      frequently used among those genes available for tick analysis, whereas cytochrome
      oxidase gene 1 (COX1) has recently been used and proposed as an alternative to
      the traditional 16S gene marker.  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of 16S
      and COX1 in genetic studies of ticks by analyzing sequences of three species
      commonly found in the Caribbean region of Colombia.  RESULTS: The analysis of
      both genes sequences allowed us to identify the three species with high levels of
      confidence and interspecific genetic divergence (19-22%), although only COX1
      allowed us to detect intraspecific genetic variability (up to ~0.8%). A
      substitution saturation analysis indicated that the 16S gene was not saturated
      with transitions while the COX1 gene showed saturation distances starting at
      ~17%.  CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that the 16S gene seems to have better
      features for interspecific phylogenetic analyses because of its high level of
      genetic divergence and low saturation pattern, while the COX1 gene appears to be
      more useful for intraspecific genetic variability studies. However, as our study
      was conducted at a local scale, future studies at different biogeographical
      scales would help to establish its usefulness in wider and more complex
      scenarios.

PMID- 27622492
TI  - Presence of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) and its natural infection
      with dengue virus at unrecorded heights in Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aedes aegypti is the main vector of urban yellow fever, dengue,
      chikungunya and Zika viruses. The biogeographical distribution of this species
      has expanded due to global warming, and socioeconomic and cultural factors. The
      changes in the altitudinal distribution patterns of this vector and its natural
      infection are priority fields of research to develop entomological, virological
      and public health surveillance strategies.  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the presence
      of A. aegypti and its natural infection with dengue virus in altitudes above
      1.800 meters above sea level in two peripheral municipalities of the Valle de
      Aburra, Antioquia, Colombia.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one ovitraps were set
      in the municipalities of Bello and San Pedro de los Milagros, at altitudes
      ranging from 1.882 to 2.659 masl. Emerged adults caught in the ovitraps were
      tested by RT-PCR for dengue virus detection.  RESULTS: We collected 367 A.
      aegypti adults, seven of which were found as high as 2.302 masl in Tierradentro,
      Bello. We detected serotype 2 dengue infection in 12 A. aegypti specimens
      collected in the neighbourhood of Paris, in Bello, at 1.984 masl.  CONCLUSION: We
      recorded A. aegypti at 2.302 masl, so far the highest altitudinal record in
      Colombia for this vector. Furthermore, mosquitoes collected at 1.984 masl were
      positive for dengue virus. These findings are significant as they identify
      regions in Colombia at risk of potential autochthonous transmission of dengue and
      other arboviruses by A. aegypti.

PMID- 27622493
TI  - Molecular biomarkers to assess health risks due to environmental contaminants
      exposure.
AB  - Biomarkers, or bioindicators, are metric tools that, when compared with reference
      values, allow specialists to perform risk assessments and provide objective
      information to decision makers to design effective strategies to solve health or
      environmental problems by efficiently using the resources assigned. Health risk
      assessment is a multidisciplinary exercise, and molecular biology is a discipline
      that greatly contributes to these evaluations because the genome, transcriptome,
      proteome and metabolome could be affected by xenobiotics causing measurable
      changes that might be useful biomarkers. Such changes may greatly depend on
      individual genetic background; therefore, the polymorphic distribution of exposed
      populations becomes an essential feature for adequate data interpretation. The
      aim of this paper is to offer an up-to-date review of the role of different
      molecular biomarkers in health risk assessments. 

PMID- 27622495
TI  - Time-Course of Changes in Choroidal Thickness after Complete Mydriasis Induced by
      Compound Tropicamide in Children.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the time-course of changes in
      choroidal thickness (ChT) following complete mydriasis induced by compound
      tropicamide. METHODS: ChT was measured by OCT with the enhanced-depth imaging
      technique (Spectralis HRA+OCT, Heidelberg Engineering, Germany) at nine locations
      of the fundus: subfoveal ChT (SFChT) and ChT at 1 mm and 3 mm from the fovea in
      four quadrants. Mydriasis was induced with compound tropicamide (0.5% tropicamide
      plus 0.5% phenylephrine hydrochloride, three doses at 5-minute intervals).
      Measurements were conducted prior to the instillation and at 0, 30, and 60 min
      following complete mydriasis. Results at different time-points were compared
      using repeated-measures ANOVA to investigate the time-course of the changes.
      RESULTS: Thirty-nine subjects (mean age 11.9+/-2 years; 16 males and 23 females)
      were enrolled in the study. Compound tropicamide resulted in a statistically
      significant decrease in SFChT at 0, 30, and 60 min after complete mydriasis, as
      compared to baseline (-5+/-4 MUm, -12+/-4 MUm, and -13+/-4 MUm, respectively; all
      P<0.0001). No significant changes were detected in the parafoveal choroid except
      at 1 mm temporal (T1mm) and nasal (N1mm) to the fovea at 30 and 60 min (T1mm: 
      6+/-4 MUm and -7+/-5 MUm at 30 and 60 min; N1mm: -6+/-4 MUm and -7+/-5 MUm at 30
      and 60 min, respectively; all P<0.0001). Repeated-measures ANOVA showed a
      significant interaction between the time after complete mydriasis and the effect
      of the mydriasis agent. CONCLUSIONS: Complete mydriasis induced by compound
      tropicamide led to choroidal thinning, and the magnitude varied over time.

PMID- 27622496
TI  - Pregnant Women's Intentions and Subsequent Behaviors Regarding Maternal and
      Neonatal Service Utilization: Results from a Cohort Study in Nyanza Province,
      Kenya.
AB  - Higher use of maternal and neonatal health (MNH) services may reduce maternal and
      neonatal mortality in Kenya. This study aims to: 1) prospectively explore women's
      intentions to use MNH services (antenatal care, delivery in a facility, postnatal
      care, neonatal care) at <20 and 30-35 weeks' gestation and their actual use of
      these services; 2) identify predictors of intention-behavior discordance among
      women with positive service use intentions; 3) examine associations between place
      of delivery, women's reasons for choosing it, and birthing experiences. We used
      data from a 2012-2013 population-based cohort of pregnant women in the
      Demographic Surveillance Site in Nyanza province, Kenya. Of 1,056 women
      completing the study (89.1% response rate), 948 had live-births and 22
      stillbirths, and they represent our analytic sample. Logistic regression analysis
      identified predictors of intention-behavior discordance regarding delivery in a
      facility and use of postnatal and neonatal care. At <20 and 30-35 weeks'
      gestation, most women intended to seek MNH services (>=93.9% and >=87.5%,
      respectively, for all services assessed). Actual service use was high for
      antenatal (98.1%) and neonatal (88.5%) care, but lower for delivery in a facility
      (76.9%) and postnatal care (51.8%). Woman's age >35 and high-school education
      were significant predictors of intention-behavior discordance regarding delivery
      in a facility; several delivery-related factors were significantly associated
      with intention-behavior discordance regarding use of postnatal and neonatal care.
      Delivery facilities were chosen based on proximity to women's residence,
      affordability, and service quality; among women who delivered outside a health
      facility, 16.3% could not afford going to a facility. Good/very good birth
      experiences were reported by 93.6% of women who delivered in a facility and 32.6%
      of women who did not. We found higher MNH service utilization than previously
      documented in Nyanza province. Further increasing the number of facility
      deliveries and use of postnatal care may improve MNH in Kenya. 

PMID- 27622497
TI  - Disentangling the Effects of Precipitation Amount and Frequency on the
      Performance of 14 Grassland Species.
AB  - Climate change is causing shifts in the amount and frequency of precipitation in
      many regions, which is expected to have implications for plant performance. Most
      research has examined the impacts of the amount of precipitation on plants rather
      than the effects of both the amount and frequency of precipitation. To understand
      how climate-driven changes in precipitation can affect grassland plants, we
      asked: (i) How does the amount and frequency of precipitation affect plant
      performance? (ii) Do plant functional groups vary in their response to variable
      precipitation? To answer these questions we grew 14 monocot and eudicot grassland
      species and conducted a factorial manipulation of the amount (70 vs 90mm/month)
      and frequency (every 3, 15, or 30 days) of precipitation under rainout shelters.
      Our results show that both the amount and frequency of precipitation impact plant
      performance, with larger effects on eudicots than monocots. Above- and below
      ground biomass were affected by the amount of precipitation and/or the
      interaction between the amount and frequency of precipitation. Above-ground
      biomass increased by 21-30% when the amount of precipitation was increased. When
      event frequency was decreased from 3 to 15 or 30 days, below-ground biomass
      generally decreased by 18-34% in the 70 mm treatment, but increased by 33-40% in
      the 90 mm treatment. Changes in stomatal conductance were largely driven by
      changes in event frequency. Our results show that it is important to consider
      changes in both the amount and frequency of precipitation when predicting how
      plant communities will respond to variable precipitation. 

PMID- 27622494
TI  - Altered mRNA Splicing, Chondrocyte Gene Expression and Abnormal Skeletal
      Development due to SF3B4 Mutations in Rodriguez Acrofacial Dysostosis.
AB  - The acrofacial dysostoses (AFD) are a genetically heterogeneous group of
      inherited disorders with craniofacial and limb abnormalities. Rodriguez syndrome
      is a severe, usually perinatal lethal AFD, characterized by severe retrognathia,
      oligodactyly and lower limb abnormalities. Rodriguez syndrome has been proposed
      to be a severe form of Nager syndrome, a non-lethal AFD that results from
      mutations in SF3B4, a component of the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein
      particle (U2 snRNP). Furthermore, a case with a phenotype intermediate between
      Rodriguez and Nager syndromes has been shown to have an SF3B4 mutation. We
      identified heterozygosity for SF3B4 mutations in Rodriguez syndrome, confirming
      that the phenotype is a dominant disorder that is allelic with Nager syndrome.
      The mutations led to reduced SF3B4 synthesis and defects in mRNA splicing,
      primarily exon skipping. The mutations also led to reduced expression in growth
      plate chondrocytes of target genes, including the DLX5, DLX6, SOX9, and SOX6
      transcription factor genes, which are known to be important for skeletal
      development. These data provide mechanistic insight toward understanding how
      SF3B4 mutations lead to the skeletal abnormalities observed in the acrofacial
      dysostoses.

PMID- 27622498
TI  - Fatigue-Induced Changes in Movement Pattern and Muscle Activity During Ballet
      Releve on Demi-Pointe.
AB  - Fatigue in ballet dancers may lead to injury, particularly in the lower
      extremities. However, few studies have investigated the effects of fatigue on
      ballet dancers' performance and movement patterns. Thus, the current study
      examines the effect of fatigue on the balance, movement pattern, and muscle
      activities of the lower extremities in ballet dancers. Twenty healthy, female
      ballet dancers performed releve on demi-pointe before and after fatigue. The
      trajectory of the whole body movement and the muscle activities of the major
      lower extremity muscles were recorded continuously during task performance. The
      results show that fatigue increases the medial-lateral center of mass (COM)
      displacement and hip and trunk motion, but decreases the COM velocity and ankle
      motion. Moreover, fatigue reduces the activities of the hamstrings and tibialis
      anterior, but increases that of the soleus. Finally, greater proximal hip and
      trunk motions are applied to compensate for the effects of fatigue, leading to a
      greater COM movement. Overall, the present findings show that fatigue results in
      impaired movement control and may therefore increase the risk of dance injury. 

PMID- 27622499
TI  - Functional gold nanoparticle-based antibacterial agents for nosocomial and
      antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
AB  - AIM: Medical treatments for bacterial-infections have become challenging because
      of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Thus, new
      therapeutics and antibiotics must be developed. MATERIALS & METHODS: Arginine and
      tryptophan can target negatively-charged bacteria and penetrate bacterial cell
      membrane, respectively. Synthetic-peptides containing arginine, tryptophan and
      cysteine termini, in other words, (DVFLG)2REEW4C and (DVFLG)2REEW2C, as starting
      materials were mixed with aqueous tetrachloroauric acid to generate peptide
      immobilized gold nanoparticles (i.e., [DVFLG]2REEW4C-AuNPs and [DVFLG]2REEW2C
      AuNPs) through one-pot reactions. RESULTS & DISCUSSION: The peptide immobilized
      AuNPs exhibit targeting capacity and antibacterial activity. Furthermore,
      (DVFLG)2REEW4C-AuNPs immobilized with a higher number of tryptophan molecules
      possess more effective antibacterial capacity than (DVFLG)2REEW2C-AuNPs.
      Nevertheless, they are not harmful for animal cells. The feasibility of using the
      peptide-AuNPs to inhibit the cell growth of bacterium-infected macrophages was
      demonstrated. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that the proposed antibacterial
      AuNPs are effective antibacterial agents for Staphylococci, Enterococci and
      antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. [Formula: see text].

PMID- 27622500
TI  - Somebody CAN Do Something About Intimate Partner Violence!

PMID- 27622501
TI  - A Functional Polymorphism (rs10817938) in the XPA Promoter Region Is Associated
      with Poor Prognosis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Chinese Han Population.
AB  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms of XPA gene have been studied in several cancers
      such as rs10817938, rs2808668. However, the role of XPA polymorphisms in patients
      with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. Thus, we analyzed the
      association of XPA polymorphisms with OSCC risk, clinicopathological
      characteristics and prognosis in the present study. TaqMan genotyping was used to
      evaluate the frequency of rs10817938, rs2808668 polymorphisms in OSCC patients.
      The prognostic significance of these polymorphisms was evaluated using Kaplan
      Meier curves, Log-Rank analyses, and the Cox proportional hazard model.
      Luciferase reporter assay, RT-PCR and western blot were used to determine whether
      rs10817938 could influence transcription activity and XPA expression. The results
      showed that individuals carrying TC and CC genotypes had significantly greater
      risk of developing OSCC (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.04-1.93; OR = 2.75, 95% CI 1.32
      5.71, respectively) when compared with wild-type TT genotype at rs10817938. OSCC
      patients with C allele at rs10817938 were more susceptible to lymph metastases,
      poor pathological differentiation and late TNM stage (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.17
      2.37; OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.18-2.28; OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.11-2.14; respectively). A
      significant gene-environment interaction between smoking and CC genotype at
      rs10817938 was observed (COR = 3.60, 95% CI 1.20-10.9) and data also showed that
      OSCC patients with CC genotype and C allele had worse survival (p<0.001 for
      both). The T to C substitution at rs10817938 significantly decreased
      transcription activity of XPA gene, XPA mRNA and protein were also decreased in
      individuals with C allele at rs10817938. In addition, no significant association
      of rs2808668 polymorphism with OSCC risk, prognosis could be observed. In
      conclusion, the present study showed that XPA rs10817938 polymorphism is a
      functional SNP in vitro and in vivo and a biomarker for poor prognosis in OSCC
      patients. 

PMID- 27622503
TI  - Emission wavelength tuning of fluorescence by fine structural control of optical
      metamaterials with Fano resonance.
AB  - We demonstrated fine emission wavelength tuning of quantum dot (QD) fluorescence
      by fine structural control of optical metamaterials with Fano resonance. An
      asymmetric-double-bar (ADB), which was composed of only two bars with slightly
      different bar lengths, was used to obtain Fano resonance in the optical region.
      By changing the short bar length of ADB structures with high dimensional accuracy
      in the order of 10 nm, resonant wavelengths of Fano resonance were controlled
      from 1296 to 1416 nm. Fluorescence of QDs embedded in a polymer layer on ADB
      metamaterials were modified due to coupling to Fano resonance and fine tuning
      from 1350 to 1376 nm was observed. Wavelength tuning of modified fluorescence was
      reproduced by analysis using absorption peaks of Fano resonance. Tuning range of
      modified fluorescence became narrow, which was interpreted by a simple Gaussian
      model and resulted from comparable FWHM in QD fluorescence and Fano resonant
      peaks. The results will help the design and fabrication of metamaterial devices
      with fluorophores such as light sources and biomarkers.

PMID- 27622502
TI  - The Activation Effects of Low Level Isopropyl Alcohol Exposure on Arterial Blood
      Pressures Are Associated with Decreased 5-Hydroxyindole Acetic Acid in Urine.
AB  - PURPOSES: The objectives of this paper are to study the impact of low level
      isopropyl alcohol exposure on blood pressure and to explore its potential
      mechanism. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was based on a prospective
      occupational cohort in south China, which focusing on occupational risk factors
      related cardiovascular health problems. A total of 283 participants (200 low
      isopropyl alcohol exposed workers and 83 controls) was finally enrolled in this
      study. Linear regression models were used to analyze the relationship between
      arterial blood pressures and low level isopropyl alcohol exposure. We used
      mediation method to explore possible mediated roles of neurogenic factors.
      RESULTS: Systolic blood pressure (SBP, 123+/-10 vs. 118+/-11), diastolic blood
      pressure (DBP, 79+/-7 vs. 74+/-7) and mean blood pressure (MBP, 93+/-8 vs. 89+/
      9) were different between the exposed group and the control group (p < 0.01).
      After adjusting for covariates, the difference was still significant. Besides,
      isopropyl alcohol and smoking had an interactive effect on DBP and MBP (p <
      0.05). Furthermore, we observed a mediated effect of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid
      (5-HIAA) on isopropyl alcohol exposure induced arterial blood pressure increase,
      which accounted for about 25%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that low level
      isopropyl alcohol exposure is a potential risk factor for the increased arterial
      blood pressure and 5-HIAA partly mediates the association between low level
      isopropyl alcohol exposure and arterial blood pressures.

PMID- 27622504
TI  - Model suggests potential for Porites coral population recovery after removal of
      anthropogenic disturbance (Luhuitou, Hainan, South China Sea).
AB  - Population models are important for resource management and can inform about
      potential trajectories useful for planning purposes, even with incomplete
      monitoring data. From size frequency data on Luhuitou fringing reef, Hainan,
      South China Sea, a matrix population model of massive corals (Porites lutea) was
      developed and trajectories over 100 years under no disturbance and random
      disturbances were projected. The model reflects a largely open population of
      Porites lutea, with low local recruitment and preponderance of imported
      recruitment. Under no further disturbance, the population of Porites lutea will
      grow and its size structure will change from predominance of small size classes
      to large size classes. Therewith, total Porites cover will increase. Even under
      random disturbances every 10 to 20 years, the Porites population could remain
      viable, albeit at lower space cover. The models suggest recovery at Luhuitou
      following the removal of chronic anthropogenic disturbance. Extending the area of
      coral reef reserves to protect the open coral community and the path of
      connectivity is advisable and imperative for the conservation of Hainan's coral
      reefs.

PMID- 27622506
TI  - Metabolic Risk Factors of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Correlated Glycemic
      Control/Complications: A Cross-Sectional Study between Rural and Urban Uygur
      Residents in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a major global public health problem driven by a high
      prevalence of metabolic risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To describe the differences of
      metabolic risk factors of type 2 diabetes, as well as glycemic control and
      complicated diabetic complications between rural and urban Uygur residents in
      Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. METHODS: This comparative cross
      sectional study, conducted among 2879 urban and 918 rural participants in
      Xinjiang, China, assessed the metabolic risk factors of diabetes and related
      complications differences between urban and rural settlements. RESULTS: Compared
      to rural areas, urban participants had higher education level and more average
      income, little physical activity, less triglycerides and higher HDL-c (p < 0.05
      respectively). Differences in metabolic risk factors by urban/rural residence
      included overweight or obesity, triglycerides (>=1.71mmol/l), HDL-c (< 1.04
      mmol/l), alcohol intake, and physical inactivity (p < 0.01 respectively). There
      was significant difference regarding the prevalence of HbA1c >8% (48.1% versus
      54.5%, p = 0.019) between rural and urban diabetic participants. No significant
      difference in the prevalence of type 2 diabetic complications between urban and
      rural participants (74.9% versus 72.2%; p = 0.263) was detected. Compared to
      rural participants, the most prevalent modifiable risk factors associated with
      diabetic complications in urban participants were obesity (BMI >= 28 Kg/m2), HDL
      c (< 1.04 mmol/l), physical inactivity and irregular eating habits (p = 0.035, p
      = 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.013, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Urban settlers
      were significantly more likely to have metabolic risk factors highlighting the
      need for public health efforts to improve health outcomes for these vulnerable
      populations. Diabetes related complications risk factors were prevalent amongst
      rural and urban diabetes settlers.

PMID- 27622507
TI  - Potential for Controlling Cholera Using a Ring Vaccination Strategy: Re-analysis
      of Data from a Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vaccinating a buffer of individuals around a case (ring
      vaccination) has the potential to target those who are at highest risk of
      infection, reducing the number of doses needed to control a disease. We explored
      the potential vaccine effectiveness (VE) of oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) for such
      a strategy. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This analysis uses existing data from a cluster
      randomized clinical trial in which OCV or placebo was given to 71,900
      participants in Kolkata, India, from 27 July to 10 September 2006. Cholera
      surveillance was then conducted on 144,106 individuals living in the study area,
      including trial participants, for 5 y following vaccination. First, we explored
      the risk of cholera among contacts of cholera patients, and, second, we measured
      VE among individuals living within 25 m of cholera cases between 8 and 28 d after
      onset of the index case. For the first analysis, individuals living around each
      index case identified during the 5-y period were assembled using a ring to define
      cohorts of individuals exposed to cholera index cases. An index control without
      cholera was randomly selected for each index case from the same population,
      matched by age group, and individuals living around each index control were
      assembled using a ring to define cohorts not exposed to cholera cases. Cholera
      attack rates among the exposed and non-exposed cohorts were compared using
      different distances from the index case/control to define the rings and different
      time frames to define the period at risk. For the VE analysis, the exposed
      cohorts were further stratified according to the level of vaccine coverage into
      high and low coverage strata. Overall VE was assessed by comparing the attack
      rates between high and low vaccine coverage strata irrespective of individuals'
      vaccination status, and indirect VE was assessed by comparing the attack rates
      among unvaccinated members between high and low vaccine coverage strata. Cholera
      risk among the cohort exposed to cholera cases was 5-11 times higher than that
      among the cohort not exposed to cholera cases. The risk gradually diminished with
      an increase in distance and time. The overall and indirect VE measured between 8
      and 28 d after exposure to a cholera index case during the first 2 y was 91% (95%
      CI 62%-98%) and 93% (95% CI 44%-99%), respectively. VE persisted for 5 y after
      vaccination and was similar whether the index case was a young child (<5 y) or
      was older. Of note, this study was a reanalysis of a cholera vaccine trial that
      used two doses; thus, a limitation of the study relates to the assumption that a
      single dose, if administered quickly, will induce a similar level of total and
      indirect protection over the short term as did two doses. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest that high-level protection can be achieved if individuals living
      close to cholera cases are living in a high coverage ring. Since this was an
      observational study including participants who had received two doses of vaccine
      (or placebo) in the clinical trial, further studies are needed to determine
      whether a ring vaccination strategy, in which vaccine is given quickly to those
      living close to a case, is feasible and effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00289224.

PMID- 27622509
TI  - Deep Surgical Site Infections after Open Radical Cystectomy and Urinary Diversion
      Significantly Increase Hospitalisation Time and Total Treatment Costs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Deep surgical site infections (DSSI) usually require secondary
      treatments. The aim of this study was to compare the total length of
      hospitalisation (LOH), intensive care unit (ICU) duration, and total treatment
      costs in patients with DSSI versus without DSSI after open radical cystectomy
      (ORC) and urinary diversion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective case-control study
      in a tertiary care hospital in patients after ORC with urinary diversion during
      April 2008 to July 2012. DSSI was defined based on Centers for Disease Control
      and Prevention criteria. Matched-pair analysis for patients with versus without
      DSSI was done in 1:2 ratios. Patients with superficial surgical site infections
      (SSI) were excluded from analysis. RESULTS: In total, 189 operations were
      performed. Thirty-eight patients (20.1%) developed SSI of which 28 patients
      (14.8%) had DSSI. Out of 28 patients, 27 (96.4%) were with DSSI and required
      surgical re-intervention. Due to insufficient matching criteria, 11 patients with
      DSSI were excluded from analyses. Consequently, 17 patients with DSSI were
      matched with 34 patients without DSSI. Significant differences were seen for
      median overall LOH (30 vs. 18 days, p < 0.001), median ICU duration (p = 0.024),
      and median overall treatment costs (?17,030 vs. ?11,402, p = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS:
      DSSI significantly increases LOH (67%) and treatment costs (49%), adding up to a
      financial loss for the hospital of approximately ?5,500 in patients with DSSI.

PMID- 27622505
TI  - The Matrix Protein of Nipah Virus Targets the E3-Ubiquitin Ligase TRIM6 to
      Inhibit the IKKepsilon Kinase-Mediated Type-I IFN Antiviral Response.
AB  - For efficient replication, viruses have developed mechanisms to evade innate
      immune responses, including the antiviral type-I interferon (IFN-I) system. Nipah
      virus (NiV), a highly pathogenic member of the Paramyxoviridae family (genus
      Henipavirus), is known to encode for four P gene-derived viral proteins (P/C/W/V)
      with IFN-I antagonist functions. Here we report that NiV matrix protein (NiV-M),
      which is important for virus assembly and budding, can also inhibit IFN-I
      responses. IFN-I production requires activation of multiple signaling components
      including the IkappaB kinase epsilon (IKKepsilon). We previously showed that the
      E3-ubiquitin ligase TRIM6 catalyzes the synthesis of unanchored K48-linked
      polyubiquitin chains, which are not covalently attached to any protein, and
      activate IKKepsilon for induction of IFN-I mediated antiviral responses. Using co
      immunoprecipitation assays and confocal microscopy we show here that the NiV-M
      protein interacts with TRIM6 and promotes TRIM6 degradation. Consequently, NiV-M
      expression results in reduced levels of unanchored K48-linked polyubiquitin
      chains associated with IKKepsilon leading to impaired IKKepsilon oligomerization,
      IKKepsilon autophosphorylation and reduced IFN-mediated responses. This IFN
      antagonist function of NiV-M requires a conserved lysine residue (K258) in the
      bipartite nuclear localization signal that is found in divergent henipaviruses.
      Consistent with this, the matrix proteins of Ghana, Hendra and Cedar viruses were
      also able to inhibit IFNbeta induction. Live NiV infection, but not a recombinant
      NiV lacking the M protein, reduced the levels of endogenous TRIM6 protein
      expression. To our knowledge, matrix proteins of paramyxoviruses have never been
      reported to be involved in innate immune antagonism. We report here a novel
      mechanism of viral innate immune evasion by targeting TRIM6, IKKepsilon and
      unanchored polyubiquitin chains. These findings expand the universe of viral IFN
      antagonism strategies and provide a new potential target for development of
      therapeutic interventions against NiV infections.

PMID- 27622508
TI  - Ezrin Is Associated with Disease Progression in Ovarian Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ezrin and p130Cas are structural proteins with an important role in
      signaling pathways and have been shown to promote cancer dissemination. We
      previously reported on overexpression of both ezrin and p130Cas in breast
      carcinoma effusions compared to primary carcinomas. Since ovarian and breast
      carcinomas share the ability to disseminate by forming malignant effusions, we
      sought to study the role of these molecules in ovarian carcinoma (OC). METHODS:
      OC cell lines were cultured in two different 3-dimensional conditions, on
      alginate scaffolds and as spheroids, which served as models for solid tumor and
      malignant effusions, respectively. shRNA was used to reduce protein expression in
      the cells. The malignant potential was evaluated by chemo-invasion assay,
      branching capacity on Matrigel and rate of proliferation. Subsequently, clinical
      specimens of high-grade serous carcinoma effusions, ovarian tumors and solid
      metastases were analyzed for ezrin and p130Cas expression. RESULTS: Higher ezrin
      expression was found in cells composing the spheroids compared to their
      counterparts cultured on alginate scaffold and in clinical samples of malignant
      effusions compared to solid tumors. In addition, reduced Ezrin expression
      impaired the invasion ability and the branching capacity of OC cells to a greater
      extent than reduced p130Cas expression. However, ezrin and p130Cas expression in
      effusions was unrelated to clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The 3-dimensional cell
      cultures were found to mimic the different tumor sites and be applicable as a
      model. The in vitro results concur with the clinical specimen analysis,
      suggesting that in OC, the role of ezrin in disease progression is more
      pronounced than that of p130Cas.

PMID- 27622510
TI  - Quantifying the Escape Mortality of Trawl Caught Antarctic Krill (Euphausia
      superba).
AB  - Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is an abundant fishery resource, the harvest
      levels of which are expected to increase. However, many of the length classes of
      krill can escape through commonly used commercial trawl mesh sizes. A vital
      component of the overall management of a fishery is to estimate the total fishing
      mortality and quantify the mortality rate of individuals that escape from fishing
      gear. The methods for determining fishing mortality in krill are still poorly
      developed. We used a covered codend sampling technique followed by onboard
      observations made in holding tanks to monitor mortality rates of escaped krill.
      Haul duration, hydrological conditions, maximum fishing depth and catch
      composition all had no significant effect on mortality of krill escaping 16 mm
      mesh size nets, nor was any further mortality associated with the holding tank
      conditions. A non- parametric Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to model the
      relationship between mortality rates of escapees and time. There was a weak
      tendency, though not significant, for smaller individuals to suffer higher
      mortality than larger individuals. The mortality of krill escaping the trawl nets
      in our study was 4.4 +/- 4.4%, suggesting that krill are fairly tolerant of the
      capture-and-escape process in trawls. 

PMID- 27622511
TI  - Vibronic Structure in Room Temperature Photoluminescence of the Halide Perovskite
      Cs3Bi2Br9.
AB  - We report a study on the optical properties of the layered polymorph of vacancy
      ordered triple perovskite Cs3Bi2Br9. The electronic structure, determined from
      density functional theory calculations, shows the top of the valence band and
      bottom of the conduction band minima are, unusually, dominated by Bi s and p
      states, respectively. This produces a sharp exciton peak in the absorption
      spectra with a binding energy that was approximated to be 940 meV, which is
      substantially stronger than values found in other halide perovskites and,
      instead, more closely reflects values seen in alkali halide crystals. This large
      binding energy is indicative of a strongly localized character and results in a
      highly structured emission at room temperature as the exciton couples to
      vibrations in the lattice.

PMID- 27622512
TI  - Delta/Notch-Like EGF-Related Receptor (DNER) Is Not a Notch Ligand.
AB  - Delta/Notch-like EGF-related receptor (DNER) has been reported to act as a Notch
      ligand, despite lacking a Delta/Serrate/Lag (DSL) binding domain common to all
      other known ligands. The established Notch ligand Delta-like 1 (DLL1), but not
      DNER, activated Notch1 in a luciferase assay, prevented the differentiation of
      myoblasts through Notch signaling, and bound Notch-fc in a cell-based assay. DNER
      is not a Notch ligand and its true function remains unknown. 

PMID- 27622513
TI  - Is There Any Difference between the In Situ and Systemic IL-10 and IFN-gamma
      Production when Clinical Forms of Cutaneous Sporotrichosis Are Compared?
AB  - Fungus of the Sporothrix schenckii complex can produce skin lesions in humans,
      commonly lymphocutaneous (LC) and fixed (F) forms of sporotrichosis. Some authors
      have suggested that clinical forms are influenced by differences in virulence and
      genetic profile of isolates. But little is known about the role of immune
      response in determining the clinical outcome of sporotrichosis. To verify the
      profile of systemic and in situ IFN-gamma and IL-10 expression in sporotrichosis
      patients, and consequently to detect any difference between the two compartments
      and/or clinical presentation, we quantified the number of IFN-gamma and IL-10
      producer peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with S. schenckii antigen
      (Ss-Ag) by Elispot, and quantified cytokines expression by in situ
      immunohistochemistry in the same patient. Three groups were formed: 1- LC (n =
      9); 2- F (n = 10); 3- healthy individuals (n = 14). All sporotrichosis patients
      produced high amounts of systemic IFN- gamma when compared to uninfected
      individuals. No differences were observed between LC and F groups. Regarding in
      situ IL-10 expression, a difference between LC and F groups was observed: LC
      lesions presented higher amounts of IL-10 than F lesions differently from
      systemic IL-10 which showed similarities. Our data suggests that LC lesions
      present higher IL-10 expression which could be related to regulatory mechanisms
      for compensating the tissue injury, however favoring fungal persistence in the
      lesions. Surprisingly, there were no differences in systemic and in situ IFN-
      gamma expression between CL and F patients, although it was significantly higher
      expressed in these patients than in healthy individuals. 

PMID- 27622514
TI  - The Extracellular Matrix of Candida albicans Biofilms Impairs Formation of
      Neutrophil Extracellular Traps.
AB  - Neutrophils release extracellular traps (NETs) in response to planktonic C.
      albicans. These complexes composed of DNA, histones, and proteins inhibit Candida
      growth and dissemination. Considering the resilience of Candida biofilms to host
      defenses, we examined the neutrophil response to C. albicans during biofilm
      growth. In contrast to planktonic C. albicans, biofilms triggered negligible
      release of NETs. Time lapse imaging confirmed the impairment in NET release and
      revealed neutrophils adhering to hyphae and migrating on the biofilm. NET
      inhibition depended on an intact extracellular biofilm matrix as physical or
      genetic disruption of this component resulted in NET release. Biofilm inhibition
      of NETosis could not be overcome by protein kinase C activation via phorbol
      myristate acetate (PMA) and was associated with suppression of neutrophil
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The degree of impaired NET release
      correlated with resistance to neutrophil attack. The clinical relevance of the
      role for extracellular matrix in diminishing NET production was corroborated in
      vivo using a rat catheter model. The C. albicans pmr1Delta/Delta, defective in
      production of matrix mannan, appeared to elicit a greater abundance of NETs by
      scanning electron microscopy imaging, which correlated with a decreased fungal
      burden. Together, these findings show that C. albicans biofilms impair neutrophil
      response through an inhibitory pathway induced by the extracellular matrix.

PMID- 27622517
TI  - Breast Density Categories.

PMID- 27622515
TI  - Trigger-oriented HIV testing at Internal Medicine hospital Departments in
      Northern Italy: an observational study (Fo.C.S. Study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early detection of undiagnosed HIV infected patients is of paramount
      importance. The attitude of Italian hospital-based Internal Medicine physicians
      to prescribe HIV testing following the detection of HIV-associated signs,
      symptoms and behaviours (triggers) has been reported to be poor. The aim of the
      study is to quantify the extent of the missed opportunities for early HIV
      diagnosis in Internal Medicine Departments (IMD). METHODS: Patients admitted to
      IMD of a General University Hospital in Italy in March-June 2013 were interviewed
      using a structured questionnaire investigating the presence of triggers for HIV
      testing, including patient's characteristics, symptoms and conditions associated
      with HIV infection. HIV tests performed during hospitalisation were recorded.
      RESULTS: HIV testing was performed in 73 (6.6%) out of 1113 hospitalisations
      (1072 patients), providing positive results in three cases (4.1%). All of them
      presented >=1 triggers. Conversely, 853 triggers were identified in 528
      hospitalisations with at least one trigger (47.4%). The proportion of
      hospitalisations where an HIV testing was prescribed was 3.1%, 9.5% and 16.0% in
      the presence of zero, one-to-two or more triggers, respectively. Age <70 years,
      female gender, length of hospital stay, haematological disease, HBV infection,
      multiple sexual partners and lymphadenopathy were predictors of HIV testing by
      logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Although chances of an HIV test being
      performed in patients hospitalised in IMD increases along with the number of
      triggers, the number of tests being performed in people presenting with triggers
      is unacceptably low and requires educational interventions in order to obtain
      individual and public health advantages.

PMID- 27622519
TI  - Competition between Free-Floating Plants Is Strongly Driven by Previously
      Experienced Phosphorus Concentrations in the Water Column.
AB  - Nutrients can determine the outcome of the competition between different floating
      plant species. The response of floating plants to current phosphorus levels may
      be affected by previously experienced phosphorus concentrations because some
      species have the ability to store excess phosphorus for later use. This might
      have an impact on their competition. Here, we investigate the effect of previous
      and actual phosphorus concentrations on the growth rate of free-floating plant
      species (Azolla filiculoides, Lemna minor/gibba and Ricciocarpus natans)and the
      effect of phosphorus history on the competition between L. minor/gibba and A.
      filiculoides and between L. minor/gibba and R. natans. As expected, plant growth
      was lower when previously kept at low instead of high phosphorus concentrations.
      Growth of L. minor/gibba and A. filiculoides with a phosphorus rich history was
      comparable for low and high actual phosphorus concentrations, however, internal
      phosphorus concentrations were significantly lower with low actual phosphorus
      concentration. This indicates that both species perform luxury phosphorus uptake.
      Furthermore, internal P concentration in Azolla and Lemna increased within two
      weeks after a period of P deficit without a strong increase in growth. A.
      filiculoides in a mixture with L. minor/gibba grew faster than its monoculture.
      Morphological differences may explain why A. filiculoides outcompeted L.
      minor/gibba and these differences may be induced by phosphorus concentrations in
      the past. Growth of L. minor/gibba was only reduced by the presence of A.
      filiculoides with a high phosphorus history. Growth of L. minor/gibba and R.
      natans in mixtures was positively affected only when they had a high phosphorus
      history themselves and their competitor a low phosphorus history. These
      observations clearly indicate that phosphorus history of competing plants is
      important for understanding the outcome of the competition. Therefore, actual and
      previously experienced phosphorus concentrations should be taken into account in
      future studies dealing with competition between plants. 

PMID- 27622518
TI  - Monetary Diet Cost, Diet Quality, and Parental Socioeconomic Status in Spanish
      Youth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Using a food-based analysis, healthy dietary patterns in adults are
      more expensive than less healthy ones; studies are needed in youth. Therefore,
      the objective of the present study was to determine relationships between
      monetary daily diet cost, diet quality, and parental socioeconomic status. DESIGN
      AND METHODS: Data were obtained from a representative national sample of 3534
      children and young people in Spain, aged 2 to 24 years. Dietary assessment was
      performed with a 24-hour recall. Mediterranean diet adherence was measured by the
      KIDMED questionnaire. Average food cost was calculated from official Spanish
      government data. Monetary daily diet cost was expressed as euros per day (?/d)
      and euros per day standardized to a 1000kcal diet (?/1000kcal/d). RESULTS: Mean
      monetary daily diet cost was 3.16+/-1.57?/d (1.56+/-0.72?/1000kcal/d).
      Socioeconomic status was positively associated with monetary daily diet cost and
      diet quality measured by the KIDMED index (?/d and ?/1000kcal/d, p<0.019). High
      Mediterranean diet adherence (KIDMED score 8-12) was 0.71 ?/d (0.28?/1000kcal/d)
      more expensive than low compliance (KIDMED score 0-3). Analysis for nonlinear
      association between the KIDMED index and monetary daily diet cost per1000kcal
      showed no further cost increases beyond a KIDMED score of 8 (linear p<0.001;
      nonlinear p = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Higher monetary daily diet cost is associated
      with healthy eating in Spanish youth. Higher socioeconomic status is a
      determinant for higher monetary daily diet cost and quality.

PMID- 27622516
TI  - The Incidence Patterns Model to Estimate the Distribution of New HIV Infections
      in Sub-Saharan Africa: Development and Validation of a Mathematical Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Programmatic planning in HIV requires estimates of the distribution
      of new HIV infections according to identifiable characteristics of individuals.
      In sub-Saharan Africa, robust routine data sources and historical epidemiological
      observations are available to inform and validate such estimates. METHODS AND
      FINDINGS: We developed a predictive model, the Incidence Patterns Model (IPM),
      representing populations according to factors that have been demonstrated to be
      strongly associated with HIV acquisition risk: gender, marital/sexual activity
      status, geographic location, "key populations" based on risk behaviours (sex
      work, injecting drug use, and male-to-male sex), HIV and ART status within
      married or cohabiting unions, and circumcision status. The IPM estimates the
      distribution of new infections acquired by group based on these factors within a
      Bayesian framework accounting for regional prior information on demographic and
      epidemiological characteristics from trials or observational studies. We
      validated and trained the model against direct observations of HIV incidence by
      group in seven rounds of cohort data from four studies ("sites") conducted in
      Manicaland, Zimbabwe; Rakai, Uganda; Karonga, Malawi; and Kisesa, Tanzania. The
      IPM performed well, with the projections' credible intervals for the proportion
      of new infections per group overlapping the data's confidence intervals for all
      groups in all rounds of data. In terms of geographical distribution, the
      projections' credible intervals overlapped the confidence intervals for four out
      of seven rounds, which were used as proxies for administrative divisions in a
      country. We assessed model performance after internal training (within one site)
      and external training (between sites) by comparing mean posterior log-likelihoods
      and used the best model to estimate the distribution of HIV incidence in six
      countries (Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Zambia) in the region. We
      subsequently inferred the potential contribution of each group to transmission
      using a simple model that builds on the results from the IPM and makes further
      assumptions about sexual mixing patterns and transmission rates. In all countries
      except Swaziland, individuals in unions were the single group contributing to the
      largest proportion of new infections acquired (39%-77%), followed by never
      married women and men. Female sex workers accounted for a large proportion of new
      infections (5%-16%) compared to their population size. Individuals in unions were
      also the single largest contributor to the proportion of infections transmitted
      (35%-62%), followed by key populations and previously married men and women.
      Swaziland exhibited different incidence patterns, with never married men and
      women accounting for over 65% of new infections acquired and also contributing to
      a large proportion of infections transmitted (up to 56%). Between- and within
      country variations indicated different incidence patterns in specific settings.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to reliably predict the distribution of new HIV
      infections acquired using data routinely available in many countries in the sub
      Saharan African region with a single relatively simple mathematical model. This
      tool would complement more specific analyses to guide resource allocation, data
      collection, and programme planning.

PMID- 27622520
TI  - Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum - Also a Lung Disease? The Respiratory Affection of
      Patients with Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an autosomal-recessive
      mineralisation disorder caused by loss of function mutations in the ABCC6 Gen.
      Histological findings and data of an autopsy of a PXE-patient suggest a possible
      pulmonal calcification. So far, there exists no clinical data whether PXE
      patients actually are at high risk of developing pulmonary disorder. METHODS: In
      a cross-sectional study, 35 PXE patients and 15 healthy controls underwent a
      pulmonary function testing, including spirometry, body plethysmography and carbon
      monoxide diffusing test. Additionally, PXE patients completed a COPD-Assessment
      Test (CAT). RESULTS: We observed in PXE patients normal values for predicted
      vital capacity (VC%; 96.0+/-13.0%), predicted total lung capacity (TLC%; 98.2+/
      12.0%) and predicted forced expiration volume (FEV1%; 102.5+/-15.6%), whereas
      compared to healthy controls the PXE group showed significant diminished values
      for carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO, 7.2 +/-1.4mmol/min/kPa vs. 8.6 +/
      1.5 mmol/min/kPa; p = 0.008) and predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity
      (DLCO%; 79.7+/-11.5% vs. 87.2+/-6.6%; p = 0.008). 11/35 (31.4%) PXE patients
      showed pathological DLCO% values under 75% (68.5%+/-5.4%). CONCLUSION: PXE
      patients demonstrated a regular lung function testing, but nevertheless they had
      impaired CO diffusing parameters, which might be associated with a preclinical
      state of an interstitial lung disease and a risk for restrictive ventilation
      disorders.

PMID- 27622522
TI  - Calciphylaxis and Martorell Hypertensive Ischemic Leg Ulcer: Same Pattern - One
      Pathophysiology.
AB  - This review presents a closer look at four diseases which are probably closely
      related to one another pathophysiologically: (a) calciphylaxis (distal pattern);
      (b) calciphylaxis (proximal pattern); (c) Martorell hypertensive ischemic leg
      ulcer; (d) calciphylaxis with normal renal and parathyroid function (synonym:
      eutrophication). The four diseases have largely the same risk factors: (1)
      arterial hypertension, (2) diabetes mellitus (types 1 and 2), (3) secondary or
      tertiary hyperparathyroidism (in end-stage kidney disease) and (4) oral
      anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists. They share the same clinical
      patterns: necrotizing livedo, skin infarctions at typical locations and acral
      gangrene in calciphylaxis. They also share the same histopathology: ischemic
      subcutaneous arteriolosclerosis and small-artery disease and 'miniaturizing'
      Monckeberg medial calcinosis. The treatment concept for the acute phase of the
      diseases is also broadly similar. In addition to an optimized control of the
      cardiovascular risk factors, a proactive wound approach (necrosectomy, negative
      pressure wound treatment with vacuum dressings, and early skin grafts supported
      by systemic antibiotic therapy) leads most rapidly and effectively to a reduction
      of the initially severe wound pain, and finally to complete healing of the wound.
      Oral anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists should be stopped. In extensive
      cases, the use of intravenous sodium thiosulfate is recommended. All four
      diagnoses are little known in the medical schools of most countries. The need to
      improve familiarity with these four closely related disorders is therefore great.
      In particular, the risk of confusion with pyoderma gangrenosum is a major
      diagnostic problem which can lead to false and even damaging treatment.

PMID- 27622521
TI  - The C-terminal 18 Amino Acid Region of Dengue Virus NS5 Regulates its Subcellular
      Localization and Contains a Conserved Arginine Residue Essential for Infectious
      Virus Production.
AB  - Dengue virus NS5 is the most highly conserved amongst the viral non-structural
      proteins and is responsible for capping, methylation and replication of the
      flavivirus RNA genome. Interactions of NS5 with host proteins also modulate host
      immune responses. Although replication occurs in the cytoplasm, an unusual
      characteristic of DENV2 NS5 is that it localizes to the nucleus during infection
      with no clear role in replication or pathogenesis. We examined NS5 of DENV1 and
      2, which exhibit the most prominent difference in nuclear localization, employing
      a combination of functional and structural analyses. Extensive gene swapping
      between DENV1 and 2 NS5 identified that the C-terminal 18 residues (Cter18) alone
      was sufficient to direct the protein to the cytoplasm or nucleus, respectively.
      The low micromolar binding affinity between NS5 Cter18 and the nuclear import
      receptor importin-alpha (Impalpha), allowed their molecular complex to be
      purified, crystallised and visualized at 2.2 A resolution using x-ray
      crystallography. Structure-guided mutational analysis of this region in GFP-NS5
      clones of DENV1 or 2 and in a DENV2 infectious clone reveal residues important
      for NS5 subcellular localization. Notably, the trans conformation adopted by Pro
      884 allows proper presentation for binding Impalpha and mutating this proline to
      Thr, as present in DENV1 NS5, results in mislocalizaion of NS5 to the cytoplasm
      without compromising virus fitness. In contrast, a single mutation to alanine at
      NS5 position R888, a residue conserved in all flaviviruses, resulted in a
      completely non-viable virus, and the R888K mutation led to a severely attenuated
      phentoype, even though NS5 was located in the nucleus. R888 forms a hydrogen bond
      with Y838 that is also conserved in all flaviviruses. Our data suggests an
      evolutionarily conserved function for NS5 Cter18, possibly in RNA interactions
      that are critical for replication, that is independent of its role in subcellular
      localization.

PMID- 27622524
TI  - Dental and General Trauma in Team Handball.
AB  - Handball has developed into a much faster and high-impact sport over the past few
      years because of rule changes. Fast sports with close body contact are especially
      prone to orofacial trauma. Handball belongs to a category of sports with medium
      risk for dental trauma. Even so, there is only little literature on this subject.
      The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and the type of injuries,
      especially the occurrence of orofacial trauma, habits of wearing mouthguards, as
      well as degree of familiarity with the tooth rescue box. For this purpose, 77.1%
      (n=542/703) of all top athletes and coaches from the two highest Swiss leagues
      (National League A and National League B), namely 507 professional players and 35
      coaches, were personally interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. 19.7%
      (n=100/507) of the players experienced dental trauma in their handball careers,
      with 40.8% (n=51/125) crown fractures being the most frequent by far. In spite of
      the relatively high risk of lip or dental trauma, only 5.7% (n=29/507) of the
      players wear mouthguards. The results of this study show that dental trauma is
      common among Swiss handball players. In spite of the high risk of dental trauma,
      the mouthguard as prevention is not adequately known, and correct procedure
      following dental trauma is rarely known at all. 

PMID- 27622523
TI  - Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Compared with Anthropometry in Relation to
      Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors in a Young Adult Population: Is the 'Gold Standard'
      Tarnished?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Assessment of adiposity using dual energy x-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA) has been considered more advantageous in comparison to
      anthropometry for predicting cardio-metabolic risk in the older population, by
      virtue of its ability to distinguish total and regional fat. Nonetheless, there
      is increasing uncertainty regarding the relative superiority of DXA and little
      comparative data exist in young adults. This study aimed to identify which
      measure of adiposity determined by either DXA or anthropometry is optimal within
      a range of cardio-metabolic risk factors in young adults. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      1138 adults aged 20 years were assessed by DXA and standard anthropometry from
      the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Cross-sectional linear
      regression analyses were performed. Waist to height ratio was superior to any DXA
      measure with HDL-C. BMI was the superior model in relation to blood pressure than
      any DXA measure. Midriff fat mass (DXA) and waist circumference were comparable
      in relation to glucose. For all the other cardio-metabolic variables,
      anthropometric and DXA measures were comparable. DXA midriff fat mass compared
      with BMI or waist hip ratio was the superior measure for triglycerides, insulin
      and HOMA-IR. CONCLUSION: Although midriff fat mass (measured by DXA) was the
      superior measure with insulin sensitivity and triglycerides, the anthropometric
      measures were better or equal with various DXA measures for majority of the
      cardio-metabolic risk factors. Our findings suggest, clinical anthropometry is
      generally as useful as DXA in the evaluation of the individual cardio-metabolic
      risk factors in young adults.

PMID- 27622525
TI  - Aspect-ratio driven evolution of high-order resonant modes and near-field
      distributions in localized surface phonon polariton nanostructures.
AB  - Polar dielectrics have garnered much attention as an alternative to plasmonic
      metals in the mid- to long-wave infrared spectral regime due to their low optical
      losses. As such, nanoscale resonators composed of these materials demonstrate
      figures of merit beyond those achievable in plasmonic equivalents. However, until
      now, only low-order, phonon-mediated, localized polariton resonances, known as
      surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs), have been observed in polar dielectric optical
      resonators. In the present work, we investigate the excitation of 16 distinct
      high-order, multipolar, localized surface phonon polariton resonances that are
      optically excited in rectangular pillars etched into a semi-insulating silicon
      carbide substrate. By elongating a single pillar axis we are able to
      significantly modify the far- and near-field properties of localized SPhP
      resonances, opening the door to realizing narrow-band infrared sources with
      tailored radiation patterns. Such control of the near-field behavior of
      resonances can also impact surface enhanced infrared optical sensing, which is
      mediated by polarization selection rules, as well as the morphology and strength
      of resonator hot spots. Furthermore, through the careful choice of polar
      dielectric material, these results can also serve as the guiding principles for
      the generalized design of optical devices that operate from the mid- to far
      infrared.

PMID- 27622527
TI  - Global regulatory developments for clinical stem cell research: diversification
      and challenges to collaborations.
AB  - In this article, we explore regulatory developments in stem cell medicine in
      seven jurisdictions: Japan, China, India, Argentina, Brazil, the USA and the EU.
      We will show that the research methods, ethical standards and approval procedures
      for the market use of clinical stem cell interventions are undergoing an
      important process of global diversification. We will discuss the implications of
      this process for international harmonization and the conduct of multicountry
      clinical research collaborations. It will become clear that the increasing
      heterogeneity of research standards and regulations in the stem cell field
      presents a significant challenge to international clinical trial partnerships,
      especially with countries that diverge from the regulatory models that have been
      developed in the USA and the EU.

PMID- 27622526
TI  - International Criteria for Acute Kidney Injury: Advantages and Remaining
      Challenges.
AB  - Nicholas Selby and colleagues describe how the definition of acute kidney injury
      brings opportunities and challenges in identifying patients at higher risk of
      adverse outcomes.

PMID- 27622529
TI  - Carbacaprazamycins: Chemically Stable Analogues of the Caprazamycin Nucleoside
      Antibiotics.
AB  - Carbacaprazamycins, which are chemically stable analogues of caprazamycins, were
      designed and synthesized. These analogues were active against drug-resistant
      bacterial pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and
      vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and their activities were comparable to those
      of the parent caprazamycins. The effect of treatment with carbacaprazamycin on
      morphological changes in S. aureus indicated that the mode of action was
      completely different from those of existing peptidoglycan inhibitors. 

PMID- 27622530
TI  - Molecular Mechanism of Avibactam-Mediated beta-Lactamase Inhibition.
AB  - Emerging beta-lactamase-mediated resistance is threatening the clinical utility
      of the single most prominent class of antibacterial agents used in medicine, the
      beta-lactams. The diazabicyclooctane avibactam is able to inhibit a wider range
      of serine beta-lactamases than has been previously observed with beta-lactamase
      inhibitors such as the widely prescribed clavulanic acid. However, despite its
      broad-spectrum activity, variable levels of inhibition have been observed for
      molecular class D beta-lactamases. In order to better understand the molecular
      basis and spectrum of inhibition by avibactam, we provide structural and
      mechanistic analysis of the compound in complex with important class A and D
      serine beta-lactamases. Herein, we reveal the 1.7- and 2.0-A-resolution crystal
      structures of avibactam covalently bound to class D beta-lactamases OXA-10 and
      OXA-48. Furthermore, a kinetic analysis of key active-site mutants for class A
      beta-lactamase CTX-M-15 allows us to propose a validated mechanism for avibactam
      mediated beta-lactamase inhibition including a unique role for S130, which acts
      as a general base. This study provides molecular insights that will aid in the
      design and development of avibactam-based chemotherapeutic agents effective
      against emerging drug-resistant microorganisms. 

PMID- 27622531
TI  - Dynamic Evolution of Coaxial Nanotoruloid in the Self-Assembled Naphthyl
      Containing l-Glutamide.
AB  - Supramolecular gelation provides an efficient way of fabricating functional soft
      materials with various nanostructures. Amphiphiles containing naphthyl group and
      dialkyl l-glutamide with a methylene spacer, 1NALG and 2NALG, have been designed
      and their self-assembly in various organic solvents were investigated. Both of
      these compounds formed organogels in organic solvents. In the case of the alcohol
      solvents, the initially formed organogel underwent gel-precipitate
      transformation, which process was monitored by the UV-vis, CD spectra, and SEM
      observation. It was revealed that both the compounds formed the nanofiber
      structures in gel phases. Interestingly, in alcohol solvents, during the phase
      transition from the gel to precipitates, the nanofibers gradually transformed
      into a series of long coaxial solid nanotoruloid, a unique nanostructure that has
      never been observed in other self-assembly systems. In addition, during the gel
      formation, the nanofibers with supramolecular chirality or M-chirality were
      obtained. However, the coaxial nanotoruloid showed an inversed P-chirality.
      Comprehensive analysis based on various data and the gelator structure,
      substituent position, type of organic solvents, it was suggested that the
      synergistic interactions between the amide H-bond and pi-pi stacking of the
      naphthyl groups played important roles in the formation of the gels as well as
      the nanofiber, while the H-bonding ability of alcohol to the amide group can
      subtly regulate the gelator-gelator interactions and lead to the dynamic and
      hierarchical evolution of the unique nanostructures.

PMID- 27622532
TI  - Regenerative potential of human airway stem cells in lung epithelial engineering.
AB  - Bio-engineered organs for transplantation may ultimately provide a personalized
      solution for end-stage organ failure, without the risk of rejection. Building
      upon the process of whole organ perfusion decellularization, we aimed to develop
      novel, translational methods for the recellularization and regeneration of
      transplantable lung constructs. We first isolated a proliferative KRT5(+)TP63(+)
      basal epithelial stem cell population from human lung tissue and demonstrated
      expansion capacity in conventional 2D culture. We then repopulated acellular rat
      scaffolds in ex vivo whole organ culture and observed continued cell
      proliferation, in combination with primary pulmonary endothelial cells. To show
      clinical scalability, and to test the regenerative capacity of the basal cell
      population in a human context, we then recellularized and cultured isolated human
      lung scaffolds under biomimetic conditions. Analysis of the regenerated tissue
      constructs confirmed cell viability and sustained metabolic activity over 7 days
      of culture. Tissue analysis revealed extensive recellularization with organized
      tissue architecture and morphology, and preserved basal epithelial cell
      phenotype. The recellularized lung constructs displayed dynamic compliance and
      rudimentary gas exchange capacity. Our results underline the regenerative
      potential of patient-derived human airway stem cells in lung tissue engineering.
      We anticipate these advances to have clinically relevant implications for whole
      lung bioengineering and ex vivo organ repair.

PMID- 27622533
TI  - Specific Internalisation of Gold Nanoparticles into Engineered Porous Protein
      Cages via Affinity Binding.
AB  - Porous protein cages are supramolecular protein self-assemblies presenting pores
      that allow the access of surrounding molecules and ions into their core in order
      to store and transport them in biological environments. Protein cages' pores are
      attractive channels for the internalisation of inorganic nanoparticles and an
      alternative for the preparation of hybrid bioinspired nanoparticles. However,
      strategies based on nanoparticle transport through the pores are largely
      unexplored, due to the difficulty of tailoring nanoparticles that have diameters
      commensurate with the pores size and simultaneously displaying specific affinity
      to the cages' core and low non-specific binding to the cages' outer surface. We
      evaluated the specific internalisation of single small gold nanoparticles, 3.9 nm
      in diameter, into porous protein cages via affinity binding. The E2 protein cage
      derived from the Geobacillus stearothermophilus presents 12 pores, 6 nm in
      diameter, and an empty core of 13 nm in diameter. We engineered the E2 protein by
      site-directed mutagenesis with oligohistidine sequences exposing them into the
      cage's core. Dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy analysis show that
      the structures of E2 protein cages mutated with bis- or penta-histidine sequences
      are well conserved. The surface of the gold nanoparticles was passivated with a
      self-assembled monolayer made of a mixture of short peptidols and thiolated
      alkane ethylene glycol ligands. Such monolayers are found to provide thin
      coatings preventing non-specific binding to proteins. Further functionalisation
      of the peptide coated gold nanoparticles with Ni2+ nitrilotriacetic moieties
      enabled the specific binding to oligohistidine tagged cages. The internalisation
      via affinity binding was evaluated by electron microscopy analysis. From the
      various mutations tested, only the penta-histidine mutated E2 protein cage showed
      repeatable and stable internalisation. The present work overcomes the limitations
      of currently available approaches and provides a new route to design tailored and
      well-controlled hybrid nanoparticles. 

PMID- 27622536
TI  - An SRLS Study of 2H Methyl-Moiety Relaxation and Related Conformational Entropy
      in Free and Peptide-Bound PLCgamma1C SH2.
AB  - The two-body (protein and probe) coupled-rotator slowly relaxing local structure
      (SRLS) approach for NMR relaxation in proteins is extended to derive
      conformational entropy, S. This version of SRLS is applied to deuterium
      relaxation from the C-CDH2 bonds of free and peptide-bound PLCgamma1C SH2. Local
      C-CDH2 motion is described by a correlation time for local diffusion, tau2, and a
      Maier-Saupe potential, u. On average, tau2, which largely fulfills tau2 ? tau1
      (tau1 - correlation time for global tumbling), is 270 +/- 41 ps and u is 2 +/-
      0.1 kBT. The PLCgamma1C SH2 data were analyzed previously with the model-free
      (MF) method. SRLS is a generalization of MF, assumed so far to yield the latter
      for tau2 ? tau1 and simple local geometry. Despite these conditions being
      fulfilled, we find here that tau2 and u differ substantially from their MF
      counterparts. This is shown to stem from MF (a) disregarding mode-coupling of the
      first type (see below) and (b) parametrizing the methyl-moiety-related spectral
      density function (SDF). Our main interest lies in DeltaS, the conformational
      entropy difference between the peptide-bound and free PLCgamma1C SH2 forms. We
      find that DeltaS is rendered inaccurate in MF because factors a and b above
      impair the accuracy of Saxis, the parameter on which the calculation of DeltaS is
      based. Conformational entropy was obtained previously using various simple system
      specific models. SRLS is unique in obtaining this important thermodynamic
      quantity based on a general physically well-defined local potential. It is also
      unique in its ability to extract the information inherent in 2H relaxation
      parameters from methyl moieties in protein with accuracy commensurate with data
      sensitivity.

PMID- 27622534
TI  - Hypertension and Obesity in Dakar, Senegal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a major public health problem in many sub
      Saharan African countries, but data on the main cardiovascular risk factors
      hypertension and obesity-are almost nonexistent in Senegal. The aims of this
      study were therefore (i) to report the prevalence, awareness, treatment and
      control of hypertension among adults in Dakar, (ii) to assess the prevalence of
      general and central obesity, and (iii) to analyze the association between
      hypertension and general and central obesity. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey
      was carried out in 2015 on a representative sample of 1000 dwellers of the
      Senegalese capital aged 20-90. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of hypertension
      was 24.7%. Among hypertensive respondents, 28.4% were aware of their condition;
      16.0% were on antihypertensive medication; 4.9% had controlled blood pressure.
      The frequency of doctor visits was a significant predictor of awareness (OR =
      2.16; p<0.05) and treatment (OR = 2.57; p<0.05) of hypertension. The prevalence
      of underweight, overweight and general obesity were 12.6%, 19.2% and 9.7%
      respectively. The prevalence of central obesity was 26% by WC and 39.8% by WHtR.
      General obesity and central obesity by WHtR significantly predicted HTN among men
      and women, but not central obesity by WC. CONCLUSIONS: This study has
      demonstrated a high prevalence of hypertension in Dakar and a high prevalence of
      obesity among women-particularly among older women. The awareness, treatment, and
      effective control of hypertension are unacceptably low. The blood pressure of
      women with general obesity, and men with central obesity, in the community should
      be monitored regularly to limit the burden of cardiovascular disease in Senegal.

PMID- 27622535
TI  - Detection of IgG Anti-Leishmania Antigen by Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Test
      for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.
AB  - Diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) relies on clinical presentation,
      parasite isolation, histopathologic evaluation and positive Montenegro skin test.
      However, the low amounts of parasites in the lesion of these individuals make
      parasite isolation and histopatologic diagnosis unreliable, often leading to
      false-negative results. Also, 15% of people living in endemic areas have sub
      clinical infection characterized by positive Montenegro skin test, which may
      contribute to misdiagnosis. Although the main Leishmania killing mechanism is
      through cell-mediated immune response, antibodies against Leishmania antigens are
      found in infected individuals. Here our goal was to develop a new serological
      technique using polystyrene microspheres sensitized with soluble Leishmania
      antigens as a tool for the detection of IgG in serum from CL patients by flow
      cytometry. To validate the assay we carried out a comparative test (ELISA)
      commonly used as a diagnostic test for parasitic diseases. To determine cross
      reactivity we used serum from patients with Chagas disease, caused by a
      trypanosome that has several proteins with high homology to those of the
      Leishmania genus. We observed that the flow cytometry technique was more
      sensitive than the ELISA, but, less specific. Our results show that the flow
      cytometry serologic test can be used to confirm CL cases in L. braziliensis
      transmission areas, however, presence of Chagas disease has to be ruled out in
      these individuals. 

PMID- 27622537
TI  - Possible rules for the ancestral origin of Hox gene collinearity.
AB  - The Hox gene cluster is believed to have formed from a single ProtoHox gene by
      repeated cycles of the following events: tandem gene duplication, mutation to
      generate a new expression boundary along the embryonic axis, and acquisition of a
      new Hox patterning function. The Hox cluster in Bilateria evolved in compliance
      with the so-called collinearity rule. That is, the order of the genes along the
      chromosome corresponds with the order of their embryonic expression domains along
      the head-tail axis. Gaunt (2015) suggested that collinearity may have arisen as a
      mechanism to minimise the incidence of boundaries between active and inactive
      genes within the Hox cluster. We now attempt to clarify the model by presenting
      it in the form of three rules: 1) no two Hox genes may persist in the same
      cluster with the same anterior boundary of activity in the same tissue; 2) an
      inactive Hox gene must not be flanked by two active Hox genes; 3) an active Hox
      gene must not be flanked by two inactive genes. We provide evidence and
      illustrative computer simulations to show that these rules, which can apply only
      to partially overlapping patterns of Hox activity, may account for the ancestral
      origin of Hox gene collinearity.

PMID- 27622538
TI  - Patterns of Second- and Third-Trimester Growth and Discordance in Twin Pregnancy:
      Analysis of the Southwest Thames Obstetric Research Collaborative (STORK)
      Multiple Pregnancy Cohort.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study investigates patterns of intertwin size discordance in
      dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) and monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twin
      pregnancies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ultrasound measurements of twin pregnancies,
      from 14 weeks to term, were collected by 9 hospitals over a 10-year period. This
      analysis considers the modelled and observed levels of discordance in abdominal
      circumference (AC) and estimated fetal weight (EFW) in relation to gestational
      age. Fitted models were analysed to produce charts displaying the expected range
      of intertwin discordance in AC and EFW at any given examination. RESULTS: The
      dataset for analysis included a total of 9,866 ultrasound examinations in 1,802
      DCDA and 323 MCDA twin pregnancies. The 95th percentile of intertwin discordance
      in EFW increased from 18.3% (95% CI, 17.8-18.7%) at 20 weeks to 21.9% (95% CI,
      21.3-22.4%) at 30 weeks for DCDA pregnancies. The 95th percentile for intertwin
      discordance in AC was stable at 10-11% for this period. Slightly higher levels of
      discordance were observed for MCDA than for DCDA pregnancies. DISCUSSION: The
      expected range of intertwin discordance in EFW and AC shows differences with
      gestational age and between DCDA and MCDA pregnancies.

PMID- 27622540
TI  - Perillaldehyde, a Promising Antifungal Agent Used in Food Preservation, Triggers
      Apoptosis through a Metacaspase-Dependent Pathway in Aspergillus flavus.
AB  - In the present study, we provide detailed insights into perillaldehyde (PAE)'s
      mechanisms of action on Aspergillus flavus and offer evidence in favor of the
      induction of an apoptosis-like phenotype. Specifically, PAE's antifungal mode of
      action was investigated through the detection of mitochondrial membrane potential
      (MtDeltapsi) and phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure, as well as intracellular Ca2+
      level, reactive oxygen species accumulation, and metacaspase activation. This was
      done by way of fluorometry, measuring DNA fragmentation, and condensation by
      fluorescent microscopy. Furthermore, we searched for phenotypic changes
      characteristic of apoptosis by transmission electron microscopy and flow
      cytometry, determining the amount of cytochrome c released using Western
      blotting. Results indicated that cultivation of A. flavus in the presence of PAE
      caused depolarization of MtDeltapsi, rapid DNA condensation, large-scale DNA
      fragmentation, and an elevation of intracellular Ca2+ level. The percentage of
      early apoptotic cells with exposure of PS were 27.4% and 48.7%, respectively,
      after 9 h incubations with 0.25 and 0.5 MUL/mL of PAE. The percentage of stained
      cells with activated intracellular metacaspases exposed to PAE at concentrations
      of 0.25 and 0.5 MUL/mL compared with control subjects were increased by 28.4 +/-
      3.25% and 37.9 +/- 4.24%, respectively. The above results has revealed that PAE
      induces fungal apoptosis through a caspase-dependent mitochondrial pathway. In
      all, our findings provide a novel mechanism for exploring a possible antifungal
      agent used in food preservation.

PMID- 27622539
TI  - Genome-Wide Assessment of Efficiency and Specificity in CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated
      Multiple Site Targeting in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Simultaneous multiplex mutation of large gene families using Cas9 has the
      potential to revolutionize agriculture and plant sciences. The targeting of
      multiple genomic sites at once raises concerns about the efficiency and
      specificity in targeting. The model Arabidopsis thaliana is widely used in basic
      plant research. Previous work has suggested that the Cas9 off-target rate in
      Arabidopsis is undetectable. Here we use deep sequencing on pooled plants
      simultaneously targeting 14 distinct genomic loci to demonstrate that multiplex
      targeting in Arabidopsis is highly specific to on-target sites with no detectable
      off-target events. In addition, chromosomal translocations are extremely rare.
      The high specificity of Cas9 in Arabidopsis makes this a reliable method for
      clean mutant generation with no need to enhance specificity or adopt alternate
      Cas9 variants. 

PMID- 27622542
TI  - Impact of BREXIT on UK Gene and Cell Therapy: The Need for Continued Pan-European
      Collaboration.

PMID- 27622541
TI  - Development and evaluation of a removable tissue-engineered muscle with
      artificial tendons.
AB  - Tissue-engineered skeletal muscles were potentially useful as physiological and
      biochemical in vitro models. Currently, most of the similar models were
      constructed without tendons. In this study, we aimed to develop a simple, highly
      versatile tissue-engineered muscle with artificial tendons, and to evaluate the
      contractile, histological and molecular dynamics during differentiation. C2C12
      cells were embedded in a cold type-I collagen gel and placed between two
      artificial tendons on a silicone sheet. The construct shrank and tightly attached
      to the artificial tendons with differentiation, finally detaching from the
      silicone sheet within 1 week of culture onset. We successfully developed a tissue
      engineered skeletal muscle with two artificial tendons from C2C12 myoblasts
      embedded in type-I collagen gel. The isometric twitch contractile force (TCF)
      significantly increased during differentiation. Time to Peak Tension (TPT) and
      Half-Relaxation Time (1/2RT) were significantly shortened during differentiation.
      Myogenic regulatory factors were maximally expressed at 2 weeks, and subsequently
      decreased at 3 weeks of culture. Histological analysis indicated that myotube
      formation increased markedly from 2 weeks and well-ordered sarcomere structures
      were observed on the surface of the 3D engineered muscle at 3 weeks of culture.
      These results suggested that robust muscle structure occurred by 3 weeks in the
      tissue-engineered skeletal muscle. Moreover, during the developmental process,
      the artificial tendons might contribute to well-ordered sarcomere formation. Our
      results indicated that this simple culture system could be used to evaluate the
      effects of various pharmacological and mechanical cues on muscle contractility in
      a variety of research areas.

PMID- 27622543
TI  - l-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine induces ptosis through a GPR143-independent
      mechanism in mice.
AB  - Through its conversion to dopamine by aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC),
      l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA) replenishes depleted brain dopamine in
      Parkinson's disease patients. We recently identified GPR143 as a candidate
      receptor for l-DOPA. In this study, we investigated the behavioral actions of l
      DOPA in wild type (wt) and Gpr143-deficient mice. l-DOPA dose-dependently (10-100
      mg/kg, i.p.) induced ptosis under treatment with 3-hydroxybenzylhydrazine, a
      centrally acting AADC inhibitor. This effect was not mimicked by 3-O-methyldopa.
      l-DOPA-induced ptosis in Gpr143-deficient mice to a similar extent as in wt mice.
      These results suggest that l-DOPA induces ptosis in a GPR143-independent fashion
      in mice.

PMID- 27622545
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - This article gives a short overview about the epidemiology, transmission,
      clinical appearance, testing and therapy of hepatitis C virus infection and its
      importance in the healthcare setting. Standard infection control measures in
      dental practice remain essential for the prevention of HCV transmission. 

PMID- 27622544
TI  - Dexamethasone inhibits endotoxin-induced coagulopathy in human lungs.
AB  - : Essentials Glucocorticoids are associated with an increased risk of thrombosis.
      Healthy volunteers received dexamethasone or placebo in an endotoxin lung
      instillation model. Dexamethasone suppressed thrombin generation in
      bronchoalveolar lavage. Glucocorticoids inhibit endotoxin induced pulmonary
      coagulopathy. SUMMARY: Background Activation of local and systemic coagulation is
      a common finding in patients with pneumonia. There is evidence that
      glucocorticoids have procoagulant activity in the circulation, particularly in
      the context of inflammation. The effects of glucocorticoids on local pulmonary
      coagulation have not yet been investigated. Objective To use a human model of
      lung inflammation based on the local instillation of endotoxin in order to
      investigate whether glucocorticoids alter pulmonary coagulation. Methods Twenty
      four healthy volunteers were randomized to receive either dexamethasone or
      placebo in a double-blind trial. Endotoxin was instilled via bronchoscope into
      right or left lung segments, followed by saline into the contralateral site. Six
      hours later, a bilateral bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed and
      coagulation parameters were measured. Results Endotoxin induced activation of
      coagulation in the bronchoalveolar compartment: the level of prothrombin fragment
      1 + 2 (F1 + 2 ) was increased three-fold (248 pmol L-1 , 95% confidence interval
      [CI] 43-454 versus 743 pmol L-1 , 95% CI 437-1050) and the level of thrombin
      antithrombin complex (TATc) was increased by ~ 50% (31 MUg L-1 , 95% CI 18-45
      versus 49 MUg L-1 , 95% CI 36-61) as compared with saline-challenged segments.
      Dexamethasone reduced F1 + 2 (284 pmol L-1 , 95% CI 34-534) and TATc (9 MUg L-1 ,
      95% CI 0.7-17) levels almost to those measured in BAL fluid from the saline
      instilled segments in the placebo group. Dexamethasone even profoundly reduced F1
      + 2 levels (80%) in saline-instilled lung segments (50 pmol L-1 , 95% CI 12-87).
      In contrast, dexamethasone had no effect on systemic F1 + 2 levels. Conclusions
      Dexamethasone inhibits endotoxin-induced coagulopathy in lungs. This trial is the
      first to provide insights into the effects of glucocorticoids on pulmonary
      coagulation in response to endotoxin.

PMID- 27622547
TI  - Biobanking and Biosecurity Initiatives in Africa.

PMID- 27622546
TI  - Gonadotropins in the Russian Sturgeon: Their Role in Steroid Secretion and the
      Effect of Hormonal Treatment on Their Secretion.
AB  - In the reproduction process of male and female fish, pituitary derived
      gonadotropins (GTHs) play a key role. To be able to specifically investigate
      certain functions of Luteinizing (LH) and Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in
      Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii; st), we produced recombinant
      variants of the hormones using the yeast Pichia pastoris as a protein production
      system. We accomplished to create in vitro biologically active heterodimeric
      glycoproteins consisting of two associated alpha- and beta-subunits in sufficient
      quantities. Three dimensional modelling of both GTHs was conducted in order to
      study the differences between the two GTHs. Antibodies were produced against the
      unique beta-subunit of each of the GTHs, in order to be used for
      immunohistochemical analysis and to develop an ELISA for blood and pituitary
      hormone quantification. This detection technique revealed the specific
      localization of the LH and FSH cells in the sturgeon pituitary and pointed out
      that both cell types are present in substantially higher numbers in mature males
      and females, compared to immature fish. With the newly attained option to prevent
      cross-contamination when investigating on the effects of GTH administration, we
      compared the steroidogeneic response (estradiol and 11-Keto testosterone (11-KT)
      in female and males, respectively) of recombinant stLH, stFSH, and carp pituitary
      extract in male and female sturgeon gonads at different developmental stages.
      Finally, we injected commercially available gonadotropin releasing hormones
      analog (GnRH) to mature females, and found a moderate effect on the development
      of ovarian follicles. Application of only testosterone (T) resulted in a
      significant increase in circulating levels of 11-KT whereas the combination of
      GnRH + T did not affect steroid levels at all. The response pattern for estradiol
      demonstrated a similar situation. FSH levels showed significant increases when
      GnRH + T was administered, while no changes were present in LH levels. 

PMID- 27622548
TI  - Energy Deregulation Precedes Alteration in Heart Energy Balance in Young
      Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats: A Non Invasive In Vivo31P-MR Spectroscopy Follow
      Up Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gradual alterations in cardiac energy balance, as assessed by the
      myocardial PCr/ATP-ratio, are frequently associated with the development of
      cardiac disease. Despite great interest for the follow-up of myocardial PCr and
      ATP content, cardiac MR-spectroscopy in rat models in vivo is challenged by
      sensitivity issues and cross-contamination from other organs. METHODS: Here we
      combined MR-Imaging and MR-Spectroscopy (Bruker BioSpec 9.4T) to follow-up for
      the first time in vivo the cardiac energy balance in the SHR, a genetic rat model
      of cardiac hypertrophy known to develop early disturbances in cytosolic calcium
      dynamics. RESULTS: We obtained consistent 31P-spectra with high signal/noise
      ratio from the left ventricle in vivo by using a double-tuned (31P/1H) surface
      coil. Reasonable acquisition time (<3.2min) allowed assessing the PCr/ATP-ratio
      comparatively in SHR and age-matched control rats (WKY): i) weekly from 12 to 21
      weeks of age; ii) in response to a bolus injection of the beta-adrenoreceptor
      agonist isoproterenol at age 21 weeks. DISCUSSION: Along weeks, the cardiac
      PCr/ATP-ratio was highly reproducible, steady and similar (2.35+/-0.06) in SHR
      and WKY, in spite of detectable ventricular hypertrophy in SHR. At the age 21
      weeks, PCr/ATP dropped more markedly (-17.1%+/-0.8% vs. -3,5%+/-1.4%, P<0.001)
      after isoproterenol injection in SHR and recovered slowly thereafter (time
      constant 21.2min vs. 6.6min, P<0.05) despite similar profiles of tachycardia
      among rats. CONCLUSION: The exacerbated PCr/ATP drop under beta-adrenergic
      stimulation indicates a defect in cardiac energy regulation possibly due to
      calcium-mediated abnormalities in the SHR heart. Of note, defects in energy
      regulation were present before detectable abnormalities in cardiac energy balance
      at rest.

PMID- 27622549
TI  - Practical Use of Thromboelastometry in the Management of Perioperative
      Coagulopathy and Bleeding.
AB  - Achieving hemostasis after complex cardiovascular and transplant surgical
      procedures is one of the greatest challenges anesthesiologists face. Preoperative
      coagulation disturbances due to underlying disease or antithrombotic therapy are
      common, and they are worsened by intraoperative blood loss and fluid replacement.
      The coagulation reactions in vivo are incredibly complex interactions among blood
      cells, proteins, and vasculature, standing in sharp contrast to rather simple
      treatment options including transfusion of platelets, plasma, and
      cryoprecipitate. The long turnaround time of laboratory coagulation testing, and
      intraoperative heparin use also make timely coagulation assessment difficult
      during cardiopulmonary bypass, and thus, hemostatic components are often
      empirically ordered and administered without knowing their actual need or
      efficacy. However, increasing clinical experience with viscoelastic coagulation
      testing in cardiac and transplant anesthesia has introduced a paradigm shift,
      enabling clinicians to obtain clinically relevant coagulation data in a timely
      fashion and to treat a specific element of coagulation that is dysfunctional.
      Viscoelastic coagulation testing may facilitate an optimal use of blood
      components and other hemostatic agents, but its application is often practice
      specific (ie, type of surgery), and there are technical limitations and learning
      curves. The aims of this review are thus to summarize recent clinical data on
      viscoelastic coagulation testing and to provide practical examples of its use in
      complex cardiac surgical and transplant cases.

PMID- 27622550
TI  - The Antinociceptive Properties of the Corydalis yanhusuo Extract.
AB  - Corydalis yanhusuo. W.T. extracts (YHS) are widely used for the treatment of pain
      and inflammation. There are a few studies that assessed the effects of YHS in
      pain assays; however, none of these studies has systematically compared its
      activities in the different pain animal modes namely: acute, inflammatory and
      chronic pain. Furthermore, little is known about the mechanism of YHS activity in
      these assays. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the
      antinociceptive properties of YHS by testing it in four standardized pain assays
      and to investigate its mechanism. YHS antinociceptive properties were analyzed in
      the tail flick, the formalin paw licking, the von Frey filament and the hot box
      assays after spinal nerve ligation, which monitors acute nociceptive, persistent
      inflammatory and chronic neuropathic pain, respectively. YHS pharmacological
      profile was determined by screening it against a battery of G-protein coupled
      receptors and its mechanism of action was studied using knock-out mice. Our study
      shows that YHS, at a non-sedative dose, increases the tail flick latency in the
      tail flick assay without resulting in development of tolerance. YHS also
      decreases paw licking time in the formalin assay. Further, YHS increases paw
      withdraw threshold and latency in the von Frey filament and the hot box assays,
      respectively. In vitro, YHS exhibits prominent dopamine receptor antagonistic
      properties. In dopamine D2 receptor knockout mice, its antinociceptive effects
      are attenuated in acute and neuropathic pain but not inflammatory pain assays.
      Our results therefore indicate that YHS effectively attenuates acute,
      inflammatory and neuropathic pain, without causing tolerance. The effects on
      acute and neuropathic pain, but not inflammatory pain, are at least partially
      mediated through dopamine D2 receptor antagonism. Since YHS is a dietary
      supplement commercially available in the United States, our data suggest that it
      might be a candidate for alternative pain treatment. 

PMID- 27622552
TI  - Tides and Their Dynamics over the Sunda Shelf of the Southern South China Sea.
AB  - A three-dimensional Regional Ocean Modelling System is used to study the tidal
      characteristics and their dynamics in the Sunda Shelf of the southern South China
      Sea. In this model, the outer domain is set with a 25 km resolution and the inner
      one, with a 9 km resolution. Calculations are performed on the inner domain. The
      model is forced at the sea surface by climatological monthly mean wind stress,
      freshwater (evaporation minus precipitation), and heat fluxes. Momentum and
      tracers (such as temperature and salinity) are prescribed in addition to the
      tidal heights and currents extracted from the Oregon State University
      TOPEX/Poseidon Global Inverse Solution (TPXO7.2) at the open boundaries. The
      results are validated against observed tidal amplitudes and phases at 19
      locations. Results show that the mean average power energy spectrum (in unit
      m2/s/cph) for diurnal tides at the southern end of the East Coast of Peninsular
      Malaysia is approximately 43% greater than that in the East Malaysia region
      located in northern Borneo. In contrast, for the region of northern Borneo the
      semidiurnal power energy spectrum is approximately 25% greater than that in the
      East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. This implies that diurnal tides are dominant
      along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia while both diurnal and semidiurnal
      tides dominate almost equally in coastal East Malaysia. Furthermore, the diurnal
      tidal energy flux is found to be 60% greater than that of the semidiurnal tides
      in the southern South China Sea. Based on these model analyses, the significant
      tidal mixing frontal areas are located primarily off Sarawak coast as indicated
      by high chlorophyll-a concentrations in the area. 

PMID- 27622551
TI  - Pilot Assessment of Brain Metabolism in Perinatally HIV-Infected Youths Using
      Accelerated 5D Echo Planar J-Resolved Spectroscopic Imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: To measure cerebral metabolite levels in perinatally HIV-infected youths
      and healthy controls using the accelerated five dimensional (5D) echo planar J
      resolved spectroscopic imaging (EP-JRESI) sequence, which is capable of obtaining
      two dimensional (2D) J-resolved spectra from three spatial dimensions (3D).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: After acquisition and reconstruction of the 5D EP-JRESI
      data, T1-weighted MRIs were used to classify brain regions of interest for HIV
      patients and healthy controls: right frontal white (FW), medial frontal gray
      (FG), right basal ganglia (BG), right occipital white (OW), and medial occipital
      gray (OG). From these locations, respective J-resolved and TE-averaged spectra
      were extracted and fit using two different quantitation methods. The J-resolved
      spectra were fit using prior knowledge fitting (ProFit) while the TE-averaged
      spectra were fit using the advanced method for accurate robust and efficient
      spectral fitting (AMARES). RESULTS: Quantitation of the 5D EP-JRESI data using
      the ProFit algorithm yielded significant metabolic differences in two spatial
      locations of the perinatally HIV-infected youths compared to controls: elevated
      NAA/(Cr+Ch) in the FW and elevated Asp/(Cr+Ch) in the BG. Using the TE-averaged
      data quantified by AMARES, an increase of Glu/(Cr+Ch) was shown in the FW region.
      A strong negative correlation (r < -0.6) was shown between tCh/(Cr+Ch) quantified
      using ProFit in the FW and CD4 counts. Also, strong positive correlations (r >
      0.6) were shown between Asp/(Cr+Ch) and CD4 counts in the FG and BG. CONCLUSION:
      The complimentary results using ProFit fitting of J-resolved spectra and AMARES
      fitting of TE-averaged spectra, which are a subset of the 5D EP-JRESI
      acquisition, demonstrate an abnormal energy metabolism in the brains of
      perinatally HIV-infected youths. This may be a result of the HIV pathology and
      long-term combinational anti-retroviral therapy (cART). Further studies of larger
      perinatally HIV-infected cohorts are necessary to confirm these findings.

PMID- 27622553
TI  - Corrigendum: Global positioning system survey data for active seismic and
      volcanic areas of eastern Sicily, 1994 to 2013.

PMID- 27622554
TI  - Prognostic value of 18F-FET PET imaging in re-irradiation of high-grade glioma:
      Results of a phase I clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Positron emission tomography (PET) provides quantitative
      metabolic information and potential biomarkers of treatment outcome. We aimed to
      determine the prognostic value of early 18F-fluoroethyl-tyrosine (18F-FET) PET
      scans acquired during re-irradiation for recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG).
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A phase I clinical trial of re-irradiation of HGG was
      carried out. MRI and 18F-FET PET were used for target delineation and follow-up.
      Images were acquired at baseline, during radiotherapy and 4weeks post-treatment
      and compared by measuring the metabolically active biological tumor volume (BTV)
      and maximal activity (Tmax/B). Correlations with outcomes were assessed by
      multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were included
      and all patients have died. The median overall survival was 7.0 mos. Both
      baseline BTV and baseline MRI volume (necrotic/cystic cavities subtracted) were
      prognostic for overall survival (OS) in multivariate analysis (HR=1.3 p<0.01 and
      HR=1.3 p<0.01, respectively). Early changes in BTV and Tmax/B were observed but
      they carried no independent prognostic information. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline
      biological tumor volume (BTV) defined by 18F-FET PET was prognostic for OS in
      multivariate analysis, as was MRI volume (necrotic/cystic cavities subtracted).
      Tumor volume may aid in identifying patients whose life expectancy is too short
      to warrant re-irradiation.

PMID- 27622555
TI  - Evaluation of cholesterol- treated dromedary camel sperm function by heterologous
      IVF and AI.
AB  - Cholesterol (cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrins: CLC) treatment of dromedary camel
      sperm prior to freezing enhances cryosurvival. The present study first validated
      the efficacy of a heterologous zona-free goat oocyte assay (n=115 oocytes) to
      evaluate camel sperm function in vitro (Experiment 1: n=6 bulls), then examined
      the effects of CLC treatment (1.5mg/mL CLC; CLC+) versus no treatment (0 CLC) of
      fresh (Experiment 2: n=4 bulls) and frozen-thawed (Experiment 3: n=5 bulls) camel
      sperm to penetrate, de-condense and form pro-nuclei in in vitro-matured goat
      oocytes. Finally, the ability of fresh 0 CLC and CLC+ sperm to fertilize in vivo
      was studied by artificially inseminating super-ovulated females (n=7-9 per
      treatment) and examining embryo production (Experiment 4: n=4-5 bulls/treatment).
      Camel spermatozoa penetrated (60%) and formed pro-nuclei (33%) in goat oocytes
      demonstrating the utility of this heterologous system for assessing sperm
      function in vitro. For fresh spermatozoa, 0 CLC-treated sperm performed better
      than their CLC+ counterparts for all parameters measured (P<0.05). In contrast,
      cryopreservation resulted in a sharp decline in sperm-oocyte interaction in 0 CLC
      aliquots but remained unaltered in CLC+ aliquots demonstrating a protective
      effect of cholesterol treatment. There was no difference between treatments in
      the in vitro fertilizing ability of frozen-thawed sperm or in the numbers of
      embryos retrieved following AI with fresh 0 CLC or CLC+ sperm. We conclude that
      although CLC treatment of dromedary camel sperm improves sperm motility it fails
      to confer an advantage to them in terms of improved in vitro sperm-oocyte
      interaction or in vivo fertilization under the conditions tested.

PMID- 27622556
TI  - Glutathione Activatable Photosensitizer-Conjugated Pseudopolyrotaxane
      Nanocarriers for Photodynamic Theranostics.
AB  - Photodynamic theranostics has recently been extensively explored as a promising
      approach for precise localization and therapy. Herein, glutathione (GSH)
      activatable photosensitizer (PS)-conjugated pseudopolyrotaxane nanocarriers
      (alpha-CD-ss-Ce6 NPs) are reported for enhanced photodynamic theranostics by
      taking advantage of the noncovalent interactions between alpha-cyclodextrin
      (alpha-CD) and poly(ethylene glycol). The designed alpha-CD-ss-Ce6 NPs are
      nonactivated and stable during circulation but exhibited strong photodynamic
      theranostics through GSH activating after arriving at tumor site. More
      importantly, compared to free chlorin e6 (Ce6), such kind of pseudopolyrotaxane
      nanocarrier can dramatically enhance Ce6 accumulation in tumor and prolong its
      tumor retention time, demonstrating excellent therapeutic effects after light
      irradiation. Overall, the designed GSH activatable PS-conjugated
      pseudopolyrotaxane nanocarrier possessing high-performance photodynamic
      therapeutic efficacy together with reduced side effects offers a promising
      alternative for photodynamic theranostics.

PMID- 27622557
TI  - Effect of pre-acclimation of granular activated carbon on microbial electrolysis
      cell startup and performance.
AB  - Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) can generate methane by fixing carbon dioxide
      without using expensive catalysts, but the impact of acclimation procedures on
      subsequent performance has not been investigated. Granular activated carbon (GAC)
      was used to pre-enrich electrotrophic methanogenic communities, as GAC has been
      shown to stimulate direct transfer of electrons between different microbial
      species. MEC startup times using pre-acclimated GAC were improved compared to
      controls (without pre-acclimation or without GAC), and after three fed batch
      cycles methane generation rates were similar (P>0.4) for GAC acclimated to
      hydrogen (22+/-9.3nmolcm-3d-1), methanol (25+/-9.7nmolcm-3d-1), and a volatile
      fatty acid (VFA) mix (22+/-11nmolcm-3d-1). However, MECs started with GAC but no
      pre-acclimation had lower methane generation rates (13+/-4.1nmolcm-3d-1), and
      MECs without GAC had the lowest rates (0.7+/-0.8nmolcm-3d-1 after cycle 2).
      Microbes previously found in methanogenic MECs, or previously shown to be capable
      of exocellular electron transfer, were enriched on the GAC. Pre-acclimation using
      GAC is therefore a simple approach to enrich electroactive communities, improve
      methane generation rates, and decrease startup times in MECs.

PMID- 27622558
TI  - Scheduled Intermittent Screening with Rapid Diagnostic Tests and Treatment with
      Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine versus Intermittent Preventive Therapy with
      Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine for Malaria in Pregnancy in Malawi: An Open-Label
      Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Africa, most plasmodium infections during pregnancy remain
      asymptomatic, yet are associated with maternal anemia and low birthweight. WHO
      recommends intermittent preventive therapy in pregnancy with sulfadoxine
      pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP). However, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) efficacy is
      threatened by high-level parasite resistance. We conducted a trial to evaluate
      the efficacy and safety of scheduled intermittent screening with malaria rapid
      diagnostic tests (RDTs) and treatment of RDT-positive women with
      dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) as an alternative strategy to IPTp-SP.
      METHODS AND FINDINGS: This was an open-label, two-arm individually randomized
      superiority trial among HIV-seronegative women at three sites in Malawi with high
      SP resistance. The intervention consisted of three or four scheduled visits in
      the second and third trimester, 4 to 6 wk apart. Women in the IPTp-SP arm
      received SP at each visit. Women in the intermittent screening and treatment in
      pregnancy with DP (ISTp-DP) arm were screened for malaria at every visit and
      treated with DP if RDT-positive. The primary outcomes were adverse live birth
      outcome (composite of small for gestational age, low birthweight [<2,500 g], or
      preterm birth [<37 wk]) in paucigravidae (first or second pregnancy) and maternal
      or placental plasmodium infection at delivery in multigravidae (third pregnancy
      or higher). Analysis was by intention to treat. Between 21 July 2011 and 18 March
      2013, 1,873 women were recruited (1,155 paucigravidae and 718 multigravidae). The
      prevalence of adverse live birth outcome was similar in the ISTp-DP (29.9%) and
      IPTp-SP (28.8%) arms (risk difference = 1.08% [95% CI -3.25% to 5.41%]; all
      women: relative risk [RR] = 1.04 [95% CI 0.90-1.20], p = 0.625; paucigravidae: RR
      = 1.10 [95% CI 0.92-1.31], p = 0.282; multigravidae: RR = 0.92 [95% CI 0.71
      1.20], p = 0.543). The prevalence of malaria at delivery was higher in the ISTp
      DP arm (48.7% versus 40.8%; risk difference = 7.85%, [95% CI 3.07%-12.63%]; all
      women: RR = 1.19 [95% CI 1.07-1.33], p = 0.007; paucigravidae: RR = 1.16 [95% CI
      1.04-1.31], p = 0.011; multigravidae: RR = 1.29 [95% CI 1.02-1.63], p = 0.037).
      Fetal loss was more common with ISTp-DP (2.6% versus 1.3%; RR = 2.06 [95% CI 1.01
      4.21], p = 0.046) and highest among non-DP-recipients (3.1%) in the ISTp-DP arm.
      Limitations included the open-label design. CONCLUSIONS: Scheduled screening for
      malaria parasites with the current generation of RDTs three to four times during
      pregnancy as part of focused antenatal care was not superior to IPTp-SP in this
      area with high malaria transmission and high SP resistance and was associated
      with higher fetal loss and more malaria at delivery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pan
      African Clinical Trials Registry PACTR201103000280319; ISRCTN Registry
      ISRCTN69800930.

PMID- 27622559
TI  - Rurality and Self-Reported Health in Women with a History of Intimate Partner
      Violence.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences in self-reported health among Australian
      women with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV) in relation to rurality
      of residence. METHODS: Data were drawn from six survey waves of the Australian
      Longitudinal Study on Women's Health 1973-78 birth cohort. Self-reported general
      and mental health scores derived from the SF-36 scale were compared for women
      with a history of IPV living in metropolitan, regional and rural areas.
      Multivariable generalised estimating equations were constructed adjusting for
      income hardship, number of children, education, social support, age and marital
      status. RESULTS: Women with a history of IPV living in regional and rural areas
      had no significant differences in self-reported general health scores compared to
      their metropolitan counterparts. Rural women affected by IPV had slightly better
      self-reported mental health than equivalent women living in metropolitan or
      regional areas. The socio-demographic factors with the strongest association with
      self-reported health were income, education, social support, and number of
      children. CONCLUSIONS: Women in regional and rural areas were no more
      disadvantaged, in terms of self-reported general health or mental health, than
      IPV affected women living in major cities in Australia.

PMID- 27622560
TI  - Natural Product Screening Reveals Naphthoquinone Complex I Bypass Factors.
AB  - Deficiency of mitochondrial complex I is encountered in both rare and common
      diseases, but we have limited therapeutic options to treat this lesion to the
      oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS). Idebenone and menadione are redox
      active molecules capable of rescuing OXPHOS activity by engaging complex I
      independent pathways of entry, often referred to as "complex I bypass." In the
      present study, we created a cellular model of complex I deficiency by using
      CRISPR genome editing to knock out Ndufa9 in mouse myoblasts, and utilized this
      cell line to develop a high-throughput screening platform for novel complex I
      bypass factors. We screened a library of ~40,000 natural product extracts and
      performed bioassay-guided fractionation on a subset of the top scoring hits. We
      isolated four plant-derived 1,4-naphthoquinone complex I bypass factors with
      structural similarity to menadione: chimaphilin and 3-chloro-chimaphilin from
      Chimaphila umbellata and dehydro-alpha-lapachone and dehydroiso-alpha-lapachone
      from Stereospermum euphoroides. We also tested a small number of structurally
      related naphthoquinones from commercial sources and identified two additional
      compounds with complex I bypass activity: 2-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone and 2
      methoxy-3-methyl-1,4,-naphthoquinone. The six novel complex I bypass factors
      reported here expand this class of molecules and will be useful as tool compounds
      for investigating complex I disease biology. 

PMID- 27622561
TI  - Impact of Contraception on Female Sexual Function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexual dysfunction is common among US women of reproductive age, many
      of whom use contraception. Various contraceptive methods have been associated
      with changes in sexual function. METHODS: In this narrative review, we selected
      key articles based on our collective clinical experience. We summarized findings
      and best practice recommendations for addressing a woman's contraception and its
      potential relationship to sexual function. RESULTS: Although some hormonal
      contraception is associated with sexual dysfunction, studies show mixed results
      based on route of administration and progestin component. Interestingly, nonuse
      of contraception also appears to be associated with sexual dysfunction and
      dissatisfaction. Low-dose vaginal estrogen, lubricants, and moisturizers may be
      used for treating vaginal dryness in the setting of hypoestrogenic states in
      reproductive-age women. CONCLUSION: A review of current contraception is
      appropriate for women presenting with sexual health concerns. Sexual dysfunction
      chronologically associated with a contraceptive may be addressed by trial of an
      alternative method. A multidisciplinary approach to treatment is recommended,
      including sex therapy, pelvic floor physical therapy, and consultation with a
      women's health specialist as needed.

PMID- 27622564
TI  - Formation of a Ce(IV) Oxo Complex via Inner Sphere Nitrate Reduction.
AB  - Reaction of Ce(NO3)3(THF)4 with Li3(THF)3(NN'3) (NN'3 = N(CH2CH2NR)3, R =
      SitBuMe2) in Et2O, in the presence of 12-crown-4, results in the formation of
      [Li(12-crown-4)][(NN'3)Ce(O)] (1) in 36% yield. This transformation proceeds via
      formation of a Ce(III) nitrate intermediate, [Li(12-crown-4)][(NN'3)Ce(kappa2
      O2NO)] (2), which undergoes inner sphere nitrate reduction. In addition, reaction
      of 1 with tBuMe2SiCl results in the formation of (NN'3)Ce(OSitBuMe2) (3),
      confirming the nucleophilic character of its oxo ligand. Natural bond orbital and
      quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules data reveal the Ce-O interaction in 1 to be
      significantly covalent, and strikingly similar to analogous U-O bonding.

PMID- 27622562
TI  - Cross-Country Individual Participant Analysis of 4.1 Million Singleton Births in
      5 Countries with Very High Human Development Index Confirms Known Associations
      but Provides No Biologic Explanation for 2/3 of All Preterm Births.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the most common single cause of perinatal and infant
      mortality, affecting 15 million infants worldwide each year with global rates
      increasing. Understanding of risk factors remains poor, and preventive
      interventions have only limited benefit. Large differences exist in preterm birth
      rates across high income countries. We hypothesized that understanding the basis
      for these wide variations could lead to interventions that reduce preterm birth
      incidence in countries with high rates. We thus sought to assess the
      contributions of known risk factors for both spontaneous and provider-initiated
      preterm birth in selected high income countries, estimating also the potential
      impact of successful interventions due to advances in research, policy and public
      health, or clinical practice. METHODS: We analyzed individual patient-level data
      on 4.1 million singleton pregnancies from four countries with very high human
      development index (Czech Republic, New Zealand, Slovenia, Sweden) and one
      comparator U.S. state (California) to determine the specific contribution
      (adjusting for confounding effects) of 21 factors. Both individual and population
      attributable preterm birth risks were determined, as were contributors to cross
      country differences. We also assessed the ability to predict preterm birth given
      various sets of known risk factors. FINDINGS: Previous preterm birth and
      preeclampsia were the strongest individual risk factors of preterm birth in all
      datasets, with odds ratios of 4.6-6.0 and 2.8-5.7, respectively, for individual
      women having those characteristics. In contrast, on a population basis,
      nulliparity and male sex were the two risk factors with the highest impact on
      preterm birth rates, accounting for 25-50% and 11-16% of excess population
      attributable risk, respectively (p<0.001). The importance of nulliparity and male
      sex on population attributable risk was driven by high prevalence despite low
      odds ratios for individual women. More than 65% of the total aggregated risk of
      preterm birth within each country lacks a plausible biologic explanation, and 63%
      of difference between countries cannot be explained with known factors; thus,
      research is necessary to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of preterm birth
      and, hence, therapeutic intervention. Surprisingly, variation in prevalence of
      known risk factors accounted for less than 35% of the difference in preterm birth
      rates between countries. Known risk factors had an area under the curve of less
      than 0.7 in ROC analysis of preterm birth prediction within countries. These data
      suggest that other influences, as yet unidentified, are involved in preterm
      birth. Further research into biological mechanisms is warranted. CONCLUSIONS: We
      have quantified the causes of variation in preterm birth rates among countries
      with very high human development index. The paucity of explicit and currently
      identified factors amenable to intervention illustrates the limited impact of
      changes possible through current clinical practice and policy interventions. Our
      research highlights the urgent need for research into underlying biological
      causes of preterm birth, which alone are likely to lead to innovative and
      efficacious interventions.

PMID- 27622563
TI  - Deleterious Rare Variants Reveal Risk for Loss of GABAA Receptor Function in
      Patients with Genetic Epilepsy and in the General Population.
AB  - Genetic epilepsies (GEs) account for approximately 50% of all seizure disorders,
      and familial forms include mutations in single GABAA receptor subunit genes
      (GABRs). In 144 sporadic GE cases (GECs), exome sequencing of 237 ion channel
      genes identified 520 GABR variants. Among these variants, 33 rare variants in 11
      GABR genes were present in 24 GECs. To assess functional risk of variants in
      GECs, we selected 8 variants found in GABRA, 3 in GABRB, and 3 in GABRG and
      compared them to 18 variants found in the general population for GABRA1 (n = 9),
      GABRB3 (n = 7), and GABRG2 (n = 2). To identify deleterious variants and gain
      insight into structure-function relationships, we studied the gating properties,
      surface expression and structural perturbations of the 32 variants. Significant
      reduction of GABAA receptor function was strongly associated with variants scored
      as deleterious and mapped within the N-terminal and transmembrane domains. In
      addition, 12 out of 17 variants mapped along the beta+/alpha- GABA binding
      interface, were associated with reduction in channel gating and were predicted to
      cause structural rearrangements of the receptor by in silico simulations.
      Missense or nonsense mutations of GABRA1, GABRB3 and GABRG2 primarily impair
      subunit biogenesis. In contrast, GABR variants affected receptor function by
      impairing gating, suggesting that different mechanisms are operating in GABR
      epilepsy susceptibility variants and disease-causing mutations. The functional
      impact of single GABR variants found in individuals with sporadic GEs warrants
      the use of molecular diagnosis and will ultimately improve the treatment of
      genetic epilepsies by using a personalized approach. 

PMID- 27622565
TI  - Virtual Monochromatic Imaging in Patients with Intermediate to High Likelihood of
      Coronary Artery Disease: Impact of Coronary Calcification.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: We sought to explore the image quality and diagnostic
      performance of virtual monochromatic imaging derived from dual-energy computed
      tomography coronary angiography (DE-CTCA) in patients with intermediate to high
      likelihood of coronary artery disease (CAD) and the influence of calcification.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive symptomatic patients with suspected CAD
      referred for invasive coronary angiography who underwent DE-CTCA and a coronary
      artery calcium scoring before the invasive procedure comprised the study
      population. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients were included. Image quality was
      significantly lower at 45 keV reconstructions (mean Likert score 45 keV 3.57 +/-
      0.6, 65 keV 4.07 +/- 0.5, and 85 keV 4.09 +/- 0.6; P < .0001). Patients with
      moderate calcification showed a trend toward a significant improvement in the
      diagnostic performance with 65 keV vs 45 keV reconstructions (45 keV, area under
      the curve 0.92 [95% confidence interval 0.89-0.95] vs 65 keV, area under the
      curve 0.96 [95% confidence interval 0.93-0.98], P = .06). The diagnostic
      performance of DE-CTCA was significantly lower in segments with higher coronary
      artery calcium scoring compared to segments with none or mild calcification,
      independent of the energy level applied. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with
      intermediate to high likelihood of CAD, DE-CTCA had a good diagnostic
      performance, although significantly lower in segments with severe calcification.

PMID- 27622566
TI  - Range Analysis and Terrain Preference of Adult Southern White Rhinoceros
      (Ceratotherium simum) in a South African Private Game Reserve: Insights into
      Carrying Capacity and Future Management.
AB  - The Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is a threatened species,
      central to the tourism appeal of private game reserves in South Africa. Privately
      owned reserves in South Africa tend to be smaller than government run reserves
      such as Kruger National Park. Because of their relatively small size and the
      often heterogeneous nature of the landscape private game reserve managers benefit
      from detailed knowledge of white rhinoceros terrain selection preferences, which
      can be assessed from their ranging behaviours. We collected adult and sub-adult
      white rhinoceros distribution data over a 15 month period, calculating individual
      range size using kernel density estimation analysis within a GIS. From this,
      terrain selectivity was calculated using 50% and 95% kernels to extract terrain
      composition values. Jacob's correction of the Ivlev's selectivity index was
      subsequently applied to the terrain composition of each individual to identify
      trends in selectivity. Results reveal that adult males hold exclusive territories
      considerably smaller than those found in previous work conducted in "open" or
      large reserves. Similarly, results for the size of male versus female territories
      were also not in keeping with those from previous field studies, with males,
      rather than females, having the larger territory requirement. Terrain selection
      for both genders and age classes (adult and sub-adult) showed a strong preference
      for open grassland and avoidance of hill slope and riparian terrains. This
      research reveals white rhinoceros terrain selection preferences and how they
      influence range requirements in small, closed reserves. We conclude that this
      knowledge will be valuable in future white rhinoceros conservation management in
      small private game reserves, particularly in decisions surrounding removal of
      surplus individuals or augmentation of existing populations, calculation of
      reserve carrying capacity and future private reserve acquisition. 

PMID- 27622567
TI  - Fabrication of 3-D Reconstituted Organoid Arrays by DNA-Programmed Assembly of
      Cells (DPAC).
AB  - Tissues are the organizational units of function in metazoan organisms. Tissues
      comprise an assortment of cellular building blocks, soluble factors, and
      extracellular matrix (ECM) composed into specific three-dimensional (3-D)
      structures. The capacity to reconstitute tissues in vitro with the structural
      complexity observed in vivo is key to understanding processes such as
      morphogenesis, homeostasis, and disease. In this article, we describe DNA
      programmed assembly of cells (DPAC), a method to fabricate viable, functional
      arrays of organoid-like tissues within 3-D ECM gels. In DPAC, dissociated cells
      are chemically functionalized with degradable oligonucleotide "Velcro," allowing
      rapid, specific, and reversible cell adhesion to a two-dimensional (2-D) template
      patterned with complementary DNA. An iterative assembly process builds up
      organoids, layer-by-layer, from this initial 2-D template and into the third
      dimension. Cleavage of the DNA releases the completed array of tissues that are
      captured and fully embedded in ECM gels for culture and observation. DPAC
      controls the size, shape, composition, and spatial heterogeneity of organoids and
      permits positioning of constituent cells with single-cell resolution even within
      cultures several centimeters long. (c) 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

PMID- 27622568
TI  - Reverse Phase Protein Arrays for Compound Profiling.
AB  - Reverse phase protein arrays (RPPAs), also called reverse phase lysate arrays
      (RPLAs), involve immobilizing cell or tissue lysates, in small spots, onto solid
      supports which are then probed with primary antibodies specific for proteins or
      post-translational modifications of interest. RPPA assays are well suited for
      large-scale, high-throughput measurement of protein and PTM levels in cells and
      tissues. RPPAs are affordable and highly multiplexable, as a large number of
      arrays can readily be produced in parallel and then probed separately with
      distinct primary antibodies. This article describes a procedure for treating
      cells and preparing cell lysates, as well as a procedure for generating RPPAs
      using these lysates. A method for probing, imaging, and analyzing RPPAs is also
      described. These procedures are readily adaptable to a wide range of studies of
      cell signaling in response to drugs and other perturbations. (c) 2016 by John
      Wiley & Sons, Inc.

PMID- 27622569
TI  - Nanoparticle-Templated Molecular Recognition Platforms for Detection of
      Biological Analytes.
AB  - Molecular recognition of biological analytes with optical nanosensors provides
      both spatial and temporal biochemical information. A recently developed sensing
      platform exploits near-infrared fluorescent single-wall carbon nanotubes combined
      with electrostatically pinned heteropolymers to yield a synthetic molecular
      recognition technique that is maximally transparent through biological matter.
      This molecular recognition technique is known as corona phase molecular
      recognition (CoPhMoRe). In CoPhMoRe, the specificity of a folded polymer toward
      an analyte does not arise from a pre-existing polymer-analyte chemical affinity.
      Rather, specificity is conferred through conformational changes undergone by a
      polymer that is pinned to the surface of a nanoparticle in the presence of an
      analyte and the subsequent modifications in fluorescence readout of the
      nanoparticles. The protocols in this article describe a novel single-molecule
      microscopy tool (near-infrared fluorescence and total internal reflection
      fluorescence [nIRF TIRF] hybrid microscope) to visualize the CoPhMoRe recognition
      process, enabling a better understanding of synthetic molecular recognition. We
      describe this requisite microscope for simultaneous single-molecule visualization
      of optical molecular recognition and signal transduction. We elaborate on the
      general procedures for synthesizing and identifying single-walled carbon nanotube
      based sensors that employ CoPhMoRe via two biologically relevant examples of
      single-molecule recognition for the hormone estradiol and the neurotransmitter
      dopamine. (c) 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

PMID- 27622571
TI  - Perioperative care map improves compliance with best practices for the morbidly
      obese.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Morbid obesity can complicate perioperative management. Best practice
      guidelines have been published but are typically followed only in bariatric
      patients. Little is known regarding physician awareness of and compliance with
      these clinical recommendations for nonbariatric operations. Our study evaluated
      if an educational intervention could improve physician recognition of and
      compliance with established best practices for all morbidly obese operatively
      treated patients. METHODS: A care map outlining best practices for morbidly obese
      patients was distributed to all surgeons and anesthesiologists at 4 teaching
      hospitals in 2013. Pre- and postintervention surveys were sent to participants in
      2012 and in 2015 to evaluate changes in clinical practice. A chart audit
      performed postintervention determined physician compliance with distributed
      guidelines. RESULTS: In the study, 567 physicians completed the survey in 2012
      and 375 physicians completed the survey in 2015. Postintervention, statistically
      significant improvements were seen in the percentage of surgeons and
      anesthesiologists combined who reported changing their management of morbidly
      obese, operatively treated patients to comply with best practices preoperatively
      (89% vs 59%), intraoperatively (71% vs 54%), postoperatively (80% vs 57%), and
      overall (88% vs 72%). Results were similar when surgeons and anesthesiologists
      were analyzed separately. A chart audit of 170 cases from the 4 hospitals found
      that 167 (98%) cases were compliant with best practices. CONCLUSION: After care
      map distribution, the percentage of physicians who reported changing their
      management to match best practices significantly improved. These findings
      highlight the beneficial impact this educational intervention can have on
      physician behavior. Continued investigation is needed to evaluate the influence
      of this intervention on clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27622570
TI  - Cardiopulmonary Bypass Down-Regulates NOD Signaling and Inflammatory Response in
      Children with Congenital Heart Disease.
AB  - In the present study, we aimed to examine the impact of cardiopulmonary bypass
      (CPB) on expression and function of NOD1 and NOD2 in children with congenital
      heart disease (CHD), in an attempt to clarify whether NOD1 and NOD2 signaling is
      involved in the modulation of host innate immunity against postoperative
      infection in pediatric CHD patients. Peripheral blood samples were collected from
      pediatric CHD patients at five different time points: before CPB, immediately
      after CPB, and 1, 3, and 7 days after CPB. Real-time PCR, Western blot, and ELISA
      were performed to measure the expression of NOD1 and NOD2, their downstream
      signaling pathways, and inflammatory cytokines at various time points.
      Proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels in response to stimulation
      with either the NOD1 agonist Tri-DAP or the NOD2 agonist MDP were significantly
      reduced after CPB compared with those before CPB, which is consistent with a
      suppressed inflammatory response postoperatively. The expression of
      phosphorylated RIP2 and activation of the downstream signaling pathways NF-kappaB
      p65 and MAPK p38 upon Tri-DAP or MDP stimulation in PBMCs were substantially
      inhibited after CPB. The mRNA level of NOD1 and protein levels of NOD1 and NOD2
      were also markedly decreased after CPB. Our results demonstrated that NOD
      mediated signaling pathways were substantially inhibited after CPB, which
      correlates with the suppressed inflammatory response and may account, at least in
      part, for the increased risk of postoperative infection in pediatric CHD
      patients. 

PMID- 27622573
TI  - Improved Performance of Polymer Solar Cells by Thermal Evaporation of AgAl Alloy
      Nanostructures into the Hole-Transport Layer.
AB  - The performance characteristics of polymer solar cells (PSCs) incorporated with
      AgAl and Ag nanostructures and MoO3 spacer layers were investigated. The power
      conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs is sensitive to the nominal thicknesses of
      the AgAl nanostructures and the MoO3 spacer layer. The PCE of a PSC with a 3-nm
      thick layer of AgAl nanostructures and a 1-nm-thick MoO3 isolation layer reached
      9.79%, which is higher than the PCE (8.55%) of the reference PSC without metal
      nanostructures. Compared to PSCs with Ag nanostructures, PSCs with AgAl
      nanostructures showed better stability and still retained 60% of their initial
      PCE values after aging for 120 days in air without encapsulation. The enhanced
      stability of the PSCs is attributed to the formation of AlOx, which can inhibit
      the diffusion of Ag atoms into the neighboring layer. The localized surface
      plasmonic resonance (LSPR) effect of AgAl nanostructures was retained by
      inserting an only 1-nm-thick MoO3 spacer layer between the metal nanostructures
      and the metal electrode. Our work has demonstrated that using AgAl alloy instead
      of Ag as plasmonic nanostructures is a better strategy for improving the
      performance of PSCs, especially in terms of the stability of the cells.

PMID- 27622572
TI  - Metal Chelation Assisted In Situ Migration and Functionalization of Catalysts on
      Peapod-Like Hollow SnO2 toward a Superior Chemical Sensor.
AB  - Rational design of nanostructures and efficient catalyst functionalization
      methods are critical to the realization of highly sensitive gas sensors. In order
      to solve these issues, two types of strategies are reported, i.e., (i) synthesis
      of peapod-like hollow SnO2 nanostructures (hollow 0D-1D SnO2 ) by using fluid
      dynamics of liquid Sn metal and (ii) metal-protein chelate driven uniform
      catalyst functionalization. The hollow 0D-1D SnO2 nanostructures have advantages
      in enhanced gas accessibility and higher surface areas. In addition to structural
      benefits, protein encapsulated catalytic nanoparticles result in the uniform
      catalyst functionalization on both hollow SnO2 spheres and SnO2 nanotubes due to
      their dynamic migration properties. The migration of catalysts with liquid Sn
      metal is induced by selective location of catalysts around Sn. On the basis of
      these structural and uniform functionalization of catalyst benefits, biomarker
      chemical sensors are developed, which deliver highly selective detection
      capability toward acetone and toluene, respectively. Pt or Pd loaded
      multidimensional SnO2 nanostructures exhibit outstanding acetone (R air /R gas =
      93.55 @ 350  degrees C, 5 ppm) and toluene (R air /R gas = 9.25 @ 350  degrees C,
      5 ppm) sensing properties, respectively. These results demonstrate that unique
      nanostructuring and novel catalyst loading method enable sensors to selectively
      detect biomarkers for exhaled breath sensors.

PMID- 27622574
TI  - Postoperative Change in Ocular Torsion in Intermittent Exotropia: Relationship
      with Postoperative Surgical Outcomes.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether objective ocular torsion in
      intermittent exotropia (IXT) changes after recession surgery, and to evaluate the
      relationship between change in ocular torsion and clinical parameters in IXT.
      Sixty patients between 3 and 14 years of age underwent lateral rectus (LR)
      recession for IXT. Digital fundus photographs were obtained from both eyes of
      each subject and the disc-foveal angle (ocular torsion) was calculated using
      image software. We compared the preoperative and postoperative amount of ocular
      torsion, and analyzed the correlation between the difference in ocular torsion
      (DOC) and clinical parameters including age, duration of strabismus,
      stereoacuity, amount of preoperative exodeviation, and mean dose response. We
      categorized the patients according to DOC value: positive DOC value as group 1,
      and negative DOC value as group 2. A correlation between ocular torsion dominance
      and fixation preference was also investigated using the Kappa test. The mean
      ocular torsion was 15.8 +/- 4.6 degrees preoperatively and 13.7 +/- 5.1 degrees
      postoperatively. Compared with preoperative values, the mean ocular torsion
      showed a significant decrease after LR recession (p<0.001), and a greater
      preoperative ocular torsion was significantly associated with the amount of DOC
      (r = 0.37, p<0.001). Degree of stereopsis, mean dose-response, and postoperative
      exodeviation were significantly different between group 1 (positive DOC) and
      group 2 (negative DOC) (p<0.001, 0.030, and 0.001 respectively). The Kappa test
      showed that there was a significant correlation between the dominance of ocular
      torsion and fixation preference (p = 0.020). Therefore, change in ocular torsion
      after LR recession can be a useful supplementary indicator for evaluating the
      degree of fusional control and for predicting postoperative surgical response in
      IXT. 

PMID- 27622575
TI  - Disentangling disorders of consciousness: Insights from diffusion tensor imaging
      and machine learning.
AB  - Previous studies have suggested that disorders of consciousness (DOC) after
      severe brain injury may result from disconnections of the thalamo-cortical
      system. However, thalamo-cortical connectivity differences between vegetative
      state (VS), minimally conscious state minus (MCS-, i.e., low-level behavior such
      as visual pursuit), and minimally conscious state plus (MCS+, i.e., high-level
      behavior such as language processing) remain unclear. Probabilistic tractography
      in a sample of 25 DOC patients was employed to assess whether structural
      connectivity in various thalamo-cortical circuits could differentiate between VS,
      MCS-, and MCS+ patients. First, the thalamus was individually segmented into
      seven clusters based on patterns of cortical connectivity and tested for
      univariate differences across groups. Second, reconstructed whole-brain thalamic
      tracks were used as features in a multivariate searchlight analysis to identify
      regions along the tracks that were most informative in distinguishing among
      groups. At the univariate level, it was found that VS patients displayed reduced
      connectivity in most thalamo-cortical circuits of interest, including frontal,
      temporal, and sensorimotor connections, as compared with MCS+, but showed more
      pulvinar-occipital connections when compared with MCS-. Moreover, MCS- exhibited
      significantly less thalamo-premotor and thalamo-temporal connectivity than MCS+.
      At the multivariate level, it was found that thalamic tracks reaching frontal,
      parietal, and sensorimotor regions, could discriminate, up to 100% accuracy,
      across each pairwise group comparison. Together, these findings highlight the
      role of thalamo-cortical connections in patients' behavioral profile and level of
      consciousness. Diffusion tensor imaging combined with machine learning algorithms
      could thus potentially facilitate diagnostic distinctions in DOC and shed light
      on the neural correlates of consciousness. Hum Brain Mapp 38:431-443, 2017. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27622576
TI  - Adjunct to intraoperative control of vertical movement in inferiorly positioned
      Le Fort I maxillary osteotomy.

PMID- 27622577
TI  - Toxicity assessment of anatase and rutile titanium dioxide nanoparticles: The
      role of degradation in different pH conditions and light exposure.
AB  - Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs), in the two crystalline forms, rutile
      and anatase, have been widely used in many industrial fields, especially in
      cosmetics. Therefore, a lot of details about their safety issues have been
      discussed by the scientific community. Many studies have led to a general
      agreement about TiO2NPs toxicity, in particular for anatase form, but no
      mechanism details have been proved yet. In this study, data confirm the different
      toxic potential of rutile and anatase TiO2NPs in two cell lines up to 5nM
      nanoparticles concentration. Moreover, we evaluated the role of titanium ions
      released by TiO2NPs in different conditions, at pH=4.5 (the typical lysosomal
      compartment pH) and at pH=5.5 (the skin physiological pH) in conditions of
      darkness and light, to mimic the dermal exposure of cosmetics. Anatase
      nanoparticles were proner to degradation both in the acidic conditions and at
      skin pH. Our study demonstrates that pH and sunlight are dominant factors to
      induce oxidative stress, TiO2NPs degradation and toxicity effects.

PMID- 27622578
TI  - Formaldehyde solutions in simulated sweat increase human melanoma but not normal
      human keratinocyte cells proliferation.
AB  - Our skin is in close contact with clothes most of the time thus risking
      potentially noxious chemicals contact. One of the potentially harmful
      manufacturing by-products that can be released by textiles when sweating is
      formaldehyde, used as an anti-crease treatment. As it is known to be carcinogenic
      to humans and a potent skin sensitizer, the aim of this study was to investigate
      its effects on both normal human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) and on a highly
      invasive malignant melanoma cell line (SK-MEL-28) in order to contribute to the
      definition of safety cut-off to be applied to the production processes.
      Formaldehyde concentrations below the commonly accepted limits (10-50MUM) were
      obtained by diluting formaldehyde in simulated sweat (UNI EN ISO 105-E04). The
      effects on cell proliferation were evaluated by cell counting, while ERK pathway
      activation was evaluated by western blot. Low concentrations of formaldehyde
      (10MUM) in both acidic and alkaline simulated sweat were able to increase
      malignant melanoma cell proliferation, while not affecting normal keratinocytes.
      Melanoma proliferation increase was greater in acidic (pH=5.5) than in alkaline
      (pH=8) conditions. Moreover, formaldehyde stimulation was able to induce ERK
      pathway activation. The data obtained suggest the need for an even increasing
      attention to the potentially harmful effects of textile manufacturing by
      products.

PMID- 27622579
TI  - Separating chemotherapy-related developmental neurotoxicity from cytotoxicity in
      monolayer and neurosphere cultures of human fetal brain cells.
AB  - Chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity can reduce the quality of life of patients by
      affecting their intelligence, senses and mobility. Ten percent of safety-related
      late-stage clinical failures are due to neurological side effects. Animal models
      are poor in predicting human neurotoxicity due to interspecies differences and
      most in vitro assays cannot distinguish neurotoxicity from general cytotoxicity
      for chemotherapeutics. We developed in vitro assays capable of quantifying the
      paediatric neurotoxic potential for cytotoxic drugs. Mixed cultures of human
      fetal brain cells were differentiated in monolayers and as 3D-neurospheres in the
      presence of non-neurotoxic chemotherapeutics (etoposide, teniposide) or
      neurotoxicants (methylmercury). The cytotoxic potency towards dividing
      progenitors versus differentiated neurons and astrocytes was compared using: (1)
      immunohistochemistry staining and cell counts in monolayers; (2) through
      quantitative Western blots in neurospheres; and (3) neurosphere migration assays.
      Etoposide and teniposide, were 5-10 times less toxic to differentiated neurons
      compared to the mix of all cells in monolayer cultures. In contrast, the
      neurotoxicant methylmercury did not exhibit selectivity and killed all cells with
      the same potency. In 3D neurospheres, etoposide and teniposide were 24 to 10
      times less active against neurons compared to all cells. These assays can be used
      prioritise drugs for local drug delivery to brain tumours.

PMID- 27622580
TI  - Anion and Cation Modulation in Metal Compounds for Bifunctional Overall Water
      Splitting.
AB  - As substitutes for precious cathodic Pt/C and anodic IrO2 in electrolytic water
      splitting cells, a bifunctional catalyst electrode (Fe- and O-doped Co2P grown on
      nickel foam) has been fabricated by manipulating the cations and anions of metal
      compounds. The modified catalyst electrode exhibits both superior HER and OER
      performances with high activity, favorable kinetics, and outstanding durability.
      The overall ability toward water splitting is especially extraordinary, requiring
      a small overpotential of 333.5 mV to gain a 10 mA cm(-2) current density. A study
      on the electrocatalytic mechanism reveals that the atomic modulation between
      cation and anion plays an important role in optimizing the electrocatalytic
      activity, which greatly expands the active sites in the electrocatalyst. Further,
      the three-dimensional conductive porous network is highly advantageous for the
      exposure of active species, the transport of bubble products, and the transfer of
      electrons and charges, which substantially boosts reaction kinetics and structure
      stability.

PMID- 27622581
TI  - A General Mathematical Algorithm for Predicting the Course of Unfused Tetanic
      Contractions of Motor Units in Rat Muscle.
AB  - An unfused tetanus of a motor unit (MU) evoked by a train of pulses at variable
      interpulse intervals is the sum of non-equal twitch-like responses to these
      stimuli. A tool for a precise prediction of these successive contractions for MUs
      of different physiological types with different contractile properties is crucial
      for modeling the whole muscle behavior during various types of activity. The aim
      of this paper is to develop such a general mathematical algorithm for the MUs of
      the medial gastrocnemius muscle of rats. For this purpose, tetanic curves
      recorded for 30 MUs (10 slow, 10 fast fatigue-resistant and 10 fast fatigable)
      were mathematically decomposed into twitch-like contractions. Each contraction
      was modeled by the previously proposed 6-parameter analytical function, and the
      analysis of these six parameters allowed us to develop a prediction algorithm
      based on the following input data: parameters of the initial twitch, the maximum
      force of a MU and the series of pulses. Linear relationship was found between the
      normalized amplitudes of the successive contractions and the remainder between
      the actual force levels at which the contraction started and the maximum tetanic
      force. The normalization was made according to the amplitude of the first
      decomposed twitch. However, the respective approximation lines had different
      specific angles with respect to the ordinate. These angles had different and non
      overlapping ranges for slow and fast MUs. A sensitivity analysis concerning this
      slope was performed and the dependence between the angles and the maximal fused
      tetanic force normalized to the amplitude of the first contraction was
      approximated by a power function. The normalized MU contraction and half
      relaxation times were approximated by linear functions depending on the
      normalized actual force levels at which each contraction starts. The
      normalization was made according to the contraction time of the first
      contraction. The actual force levels were calculated initially from the recorded
      tetanic curves and subsequently from the modeled curves obtained from the
      summation of all models of the preceding contractions (the so called "full
      prediction"). The preciseness of the prediction was verified by two coefficients
      estimating the error between the modeled and the experimentally recorded curves.
      The proposed approach was tested for 30 MUs from the database and for three
      additional MUs, not included in the initial set. It was concluded that this
      general algorithm can be successfully used for modeling of a unfused tetanus
      course of a single MU of fast and slow type. 

PMID- 27622583
TI  - UCP1 protein: The molecular hub of adipose organ plasticity.
AB  - In all mammals, adipocytes are cells with abundant cytoplasmic lipids forming the
      parenchyma of the adipose organ. White adipocytes store highly energetic
      molecules to release them, in the form of free fatty acids to survive between
      meals. Brown adipocytes trough their unique mitochondrial UCP1 protein burn
      glucose and lipids to perform thermogenesis in order to survive in cold
      environments. A third type of adipocytes appears in the subcutaneous depot of the
      adipose organ of female mice during pregnancy and lactation: the pink adipocytes.
      The pink adipocytes are mammary gland alveolar epithelial cells with the
      essential role of producing and secreting milk for pup feeding. Our data suggest
      that they derive from the transdifferentiation of white adipocytes. Different
      metabolic and environmental challenges highlight the extraordinary plasticity of
      the mammalian adipose organ. Cold exposure leads to an increase of the "brown"
      component of the adipose organ (browning) to warrant thermal homeostasis. Under
      positive energy balance, the "white" component enlarges (whitening) to allow
      storage of the excess of nutrients. Finally, during pregnancy the "pink"
      component develops (pinking) in the subcutaneous depots to satisfy pup
      nutritional needs. The plasticity of the adipose organ appears to occur not only
      through proliferation and differentiation of stem cells but, distinctively, via a
      direct transformation of mature adipocytes that under proper stimuli, by
      reprogramming their genome, change phenotype and function. Obese white adipocytes
      die for pyroptosis causing a macrophage fat infiltration with metabolic
      consequences. Browning of obese fat could offer an appropriate strategy to combat
      the epidemic metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 27622582
TI  - Biliary cancer: Utility of next-generation sequencing for clinical management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) typically present at an advanced stage,
      and systemic chemotherapy is often of limited benefit. METHODS: Hybrid capture
      based comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) was performed for 412 intrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinomas (IHCCAs), 57 extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (EHCCAs), and
      85 gallbladder carcinomas (GBCAs). The mutational profile was correlated with the
      clinical outcome of standard and experimental therapies for 321 patients.
      Clinical variables, detected mutations, and administered therapies were
      correlated with overall survival (OS) in a Cox regression model. RESULTS: The
      most frequent genetic aberrations (GAs) observed were tumor protein 53 (TP53;
      27%), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A/B (CDKN2A/B; 27%), KRAS (22%), AT-rich
      interactive domain-containing protein 1A (ARID1A; 18%), and isocitrate
      dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1; 16%) in IHCCA; KRAS (42%), TP53 (40%), CDKN2A/B (17%), and
      SMAD4 (21%) in EHCCA; and TP53 (59%), CDKN2A/B (19%), ARID1A (13%), and ERBB2
      (16%) in GBCA. Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR; 11%) and IDH mutations
      (20%) were mostly limited to IHCCA but appeared to be mutually exclusive. In the
      IHCCA group, TP53 and KRAS mutations were associated significantly with poor OS,
      whereas FGFR2 mutations were associated with improved OS (P = .001), a younger
      age at onset, and female sex. IDH1/2 mutations were not prognostic. In a
      multivariate model, the effects of TP53 and FGFR GAs remained significant (P <
      .05). Patients with FGFR GAs had superior OS with FGFR-targeted therapy versus
      standard regimens (P = .006). Targeted therapy in IHCCA was associated with a
      numerical OS improvement (P = .07). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest clinically
      annotated data set of BTC cases with CGP and indicates the potential of CGP for
      improving outcomes. CGP should be strongly considered in the management of BTC
      patients. Cancer 2016;122:3838-3847. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27622584
TI  - Voluntary movement affects simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile
      stimuli presented to a non-moving body part.
AB  - The simultaneous perception of multimodal sensory information has a crucial role
      for effective reactions to the external environment. Voluntary movements are
      known to occasionally affect simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile
      stimuli presented to the moving body part. However, little is known about spatial
      limits on the effect of voluntary movements on simultaneous perception,
      especially when tactile stimuli are presented to a non-moving body part. We
      examined the effect of voluntary movement on the simultaneous perception of
      auditory and tactile stimuli presented to the non-moving body part. We considered
      the possible mechanism using a temporal order judgement task under three
      experimental conditions: voluntary movement, where participants voluntarily moved
      their right index finger and judged the temporal order of auditory and tactile
      stimuli presented to their non-moving left index finger; passive movement; and no
      movement. During voluntary movement, the auditory stimulus needed to be presented
      before the tactile stimulus so that they were perceived as occurring
      simultaneously. This subjective simultaneity differed significantly from the
      passive movement and no movement conditions. This finding indicates that the
      effect of voluntary movement on simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile
      stimuli extends to the non-moving body part.

PMID- 27622585
TI  - Is laparoscopic surgery better than open surgery for the repair of congenital
      duodenal obstruction? A review of the current evidences.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Whether laparoscopic surgery is superior to open surgery in
      the repair of congenital duodenal obstruction remains controversial. The
      objective of this study is to systematically review the literatures, which
      compare the outcomes of these two operative approaches. METHODS: A systematic
      review of the studies comparing these two surgical approaches since 2000 was
      carried out. RESULTS: Four retrospective cohort studies comprising 180 patients
      were eligible for analysis. Duodenal atresia was the most common diagnosis
      (62.3%). Overall, there were no statistically significant differences in terms of
      operative duration (SMD: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.46-1.04), ventilator dependence (SMD:
      0.04, 95% CI: -0.22 to 0.29), time to initial enteral feeding (SMD: 0.12, 95% CI:
      -0.14 to 0.38), time to full enteral feeding (SMD: 0.18, 95% CI: -0.15 to 0.50)
      and hospital stay (SMD: -0.03, 95% CI: -0.29 to 0.22). The overall incidences of
      anastomotic complications in laparoscopic vs open groups were 4.4% vs 1.8%. Two
      cases of missed distal pathology were reported in the laparoscopic group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery is feasible in the repair of CDO. Study with
      larger sample size is needed for further analysis to examine whether open or
      laparoscopic approach is superior. Meanwhile, it is still safe to practice
      laparoscopic repair of CDO in skilled surgeons, with attention to the possibility
      of distal pathology.

PMID- 27622586
TI  - Management of pediatric intramuscular venous malformations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intramuscular venous malformations (VMs) are rare, but can be highly
      symptomatic. There are few reports on outcomes, particularly pain, functional
      limitations, and muscle contractures. We aimed to compare results of medical
      management, sclerotherapy, and surgical resection. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed 45 patients with an extremity or truncal intramuscular VM between June
      2005 and June 2015 at a single institution. Outcomes were compared between
      treatment modalities with ANOVA and chi2 tests. RESULTS: Six patients (13%) were
      treated with medical management, 4 (9%) with surgical resection, 23 (51%) with
      sclerotherapy, and 12 (27%) with both surgery and sclerotherapy. Sclerotherapy
      alone decreased pain in 72%. Only 20% of patients presented with muscle
      contracture. For these patients, 33% resolved with sclerotherapy, physical
      therapy, and aspirin; 22% resolved with surgery, and 45% had persistent
      contracture. 40% of patients treated with sclerotherapy then surgery developed
      new muscle contractures, compared to 4% of sclerotherapy only patients and 0% of
      surgery only patients (p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Medical management, surgery and
      sclerotherapy are effective treatments for intramuscular VMs. Observation and
      supportive care can be a primary treatment for patients with minimal
      symptomatology and no functional limitations. Sclerotherapy is more effective for
      treating pain than contractures and when used alone, rarely causes a new muscle
      contracture.

PMID- 27622587
TI  - Anterior neurectomy in children with a recalcitrant anterior cutaneous nerve
      entrapment syndrome is safe and successful.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES) is a
      relatively unknown cause of severe neuralgic abdominal pain. Treatment includes
      medication, local nerve blocks or, if unresponsive, a neurectomy of nerve
      endings. In children, the outcome of neurectomy for ACNES is scantly described in
      retrospective studies. The objective of this first prospective study was to
      investigate the safety and short term success rate of anterior neurectomy in a
      large pediatric population with ACNES. METHODS: All children <18years with failed
      non-surgical treatments for ACNES who underwent an anterior neurectomy in a
      pediatric surgical referral center between March 2012 and June 2015 were
      prospectively followed. Patients with previous ACNES surgery were excluded.
      Primary outcome measures were pain relief and adverse events. RESULTS: 60
      children were included (80% female, mean age 15years+/-2 SD). 75% had right lower
      abdominal pain. At first follow-up, 47 children were free of pain (78% success
      rate). Complications other than an occasional local hematoma were not reported.
      Outcome was not related to demographics, preoperative pain intensity, pain
      duration or localization. CONCLUSION: Anterior neurectomy is safe and successful
      in most children with abdominal pain failing a conservative treatment for ACNES.
      TYPE OF STUDY: Treatment study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 27622588
TI  - Neurodevelopmental outcomes at 5years of age in congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate neurodevelopmental sequelae in congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia (CDH) children at 5years of age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study cohort
      of 35 CDH patients was enrolled in our follow-up program between 06/2004 and
      09/2014. The neurodevelopmental outcomes assessed at a median of 5years (range, 4
      6) included cognition (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence
      [WPPSI], n=35), Visual-Motor-Integration (n=35), academic achievement (Woodcock
      Johnson Tests of Achievement, n=25), and behavior problems (Child Behavior Check
      List [CBCL], n=26). Scores were grouped as average, borderline, or extremely low
      by SD intervals. RESULTS: Although mean Full (93.9+/-19.4), Verbal (93.4+/-18.4),
      and Performance (95.2+/-20.9) IQ were within the expected range, significantly
      more CDH children had borderline (17%) and extremely low (17%) scores in at least
      one domain compared to normative cohorts (P<0.02). The Visual-Motor-Integration
      score was below population average (P<0.001). Academic achievement scores were
      similar to expected means for those children who were able to complete testing.
      CBCL scores for the emotionally reactive (23%) and pervasive developmental
      problems scales (27%) were more likely to be abnormal compared to normal
      population scores (P=0.02 and P=0.0003, respectively). Autism was diagnosed in
      11%, which is significantly higher than the general population (P<0.01).
      Univariate analysis suggests that prolonged NICU stay, prolonged intubation,
      tracheostomy placement, pulmonary hypertension, autism, hearing impairment, and
      developmental delays identified during infancy are associated with worse
      cognitive outcomes (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The majority of CDH children have
      neurodevelopmental outcomes within the average range at 5years of age. However,
      rates of borderline and extremely low IQ scores are significantly higher than in
      the general population. CDH survivors are also at increased risk for developing
      symptoms of emotionally reactive and pervasive developmental problems. Risk of
      autism is significantly elevated. Disease severity and early neurological
      dysfunction appear to be predictive of longer-term impairments.

PMID- 27622589
TI  - Beyond perforation: Influence of peritoneal contamination on clinical severity
      and resource utilization in children with perforated appendicitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between the
      degree of peritoneal contamination and postoperative resource utilization in
      children with complicated appendicitis. METHODS: Intraoperative findings were
      collected prospectively at a single children's hospital from 2012 to 2014. The
      degree of peritoneal contamination was categorized as either "localized"
      (confined to the right lower quadrant and pelvis) or "extensive" (extending to
      the liver). Imaging utilization, postoperative length of stay (pLOS), hospital
      cost, and readmission rates were compared between groups. RESULTS: Of 88 patients
      with complicated appendicitis, 38% had extensive contamination. Preoperative
      characteristics were similar between groups. Patients with extensive
      contamination had higher rates of postoperative imaging (58.8% vs 27.7%, P<0.01),
      a 50% longer median pLOS (6days [IQR 4-9] vs 4days [IQR 2-5], P=0.003), a 30%
      higher median hospital cost ($17,663 [IQR $12,564-$23,697] vs $13,516 [IQR
      $10,546-$16,686], P=0.004), and a nearly four-fold higher readmission rate (20.6%
      vs 5.6%, P=0.04) compared to children with localized contamination. CONCLUSION:
      Extensive peritoneal contamination is associated with significantly higher
      resource utilization compared to localized contamination in children with
      complicated appendicitis. These findings may have important severity-adjustment
      implications for reimbursement and readmission rate reporting for hospitals that
      serve populations where late presentation is common.

PMID- 27622591
TI  - The RNA Editing Factor WSP1 Is Essential for Chloroplast Development in Rice.
AB  - Although the multiple organellar RNA editing factors (MORFs) in the plastids of
      Arabidopsis thaliana have been extensively studied, molecular details underlying
      how MORFs affect plant development in other species, particularly in rice, remain
      largely unknown. Here we describe the characterization of wsp1, a rice mutant
      with white-stripe leaves and panicles. Notably, wsp1 exhibited nearly white
      immature panicles at the heading stage. Transmission electron microscopy analysis
      and chlorophyll content measurement revealed a chloroplast developmental defect
      and reduced chlorophyll accumulation in wsp1. Positional cloning of WSP1 found a
      point mutation in Os04g51280, whose putative product shares high sequence
      similarity with MORF proteins. Complementation experiments demonstrated that WSP1
      was responsible for the variegated phenotypes of wsp1. WSP1 is localized to
      chloroplasts and the point mutation in wsp1 affected the editing of multiple
      organellar RNA sites. Owing to the defect in plastid RNA editing, chloroplast
      ribosome biogenesis and ndhA splicing were also impaired in wsp1, which may
      affect normal chloroplast development in the leaves and panicles at the heading
      stage. Together, our results demonstrate the importance of rice WSP1 protein in
      chloroplast development and broaden our knowledge about MORF family members in
      rice.

PMID- 27622592
TI  - Reply to "Breast Density Categories".

PMID- 27622590
TI  - Enquiry into the Topology of Plasma Membrane-Localized PIN Auxin Transport
      Components.
AB  - Auxin directs plant ontogenesis via differential accumulation within tissues
      depending largely on the activity of PIN proteins that mediate auxin efflux from
      cells and its directional cell-to-cell transport. Regardless of the developmental
      importance of PINs, the structure of these transporters is poorly characterized.
      Here, we present experimental data concerning protein topology of plasma membrane
      localized PINs. Utilizing approaches based on pH-dependent quenching of
      fluorescent reporters combined with immunolocalization techniques, we mapped the
      membrane topology of PINs and further cross-validated our results using available
      topology modeling software. We delineated the topology of PIN1 with two
      transmembrane (TM) bundles of five alpha-helices linked by a large intracellular
      loop and a C-terminus positioned outside the cytoplasm. Using constraints derived
      from our experimental data, we also provide an updated position of helical
      regions generating a verisimilitude model of PIN1. Since the canonical long PINs
      show a high degree of conservation in TM domains and auxin transport capacity has
      been demonstrated for Arabidopsis representatives of this group, this empirically
      enhanced topological model of PIN1 will be an important starting point for
      further studies on PIN structure-function relationships. In addition, we have
      established protocols that can be used to probe the topology of other plasma
      membrane proteins in plants.

PMID- 27622594
TI  - Nursing students' reflections on the learning experience of a unique mental
      health clinical placement.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There exists a need for innovative thinking to identify new
      clinical placement opportunities for nursing students. Recovery-based clinical
      placements for mental health nurse students remain unique and require
      investigation. AIM: To examine the learning experience of Bachelor of Nursing
      students who undertook an innovative mental health clinical placement known as
      Recovery Camp. DESIGN: This study incorporated qualitative analysis of written
      reflections. Using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six phases of thematic analysis the
      corpus of student reflections were reviewed by three members of the research team
      independent to each other. FINDINGS: Four themes emerged. The theme of Pre
      placement Expectations incorporates participant foci on pre-conceptions of
      Recovery Camp. The theme of Student Learning incorporates the ways in which
      participants recognised the experience of Recovery Camp influenced learning.
      Reflections themed under the title Placement Setting include discussion of the
      Recovery Camp as a clinical placement. The theme of Future Practice incorporates
      students' reflections on how they plan to practice as nurses as a result the
      learning experiences of Recovery Camp. CONCLUSIONS: An immersive clinical
      placement such as Recovery Camp can influence students' perceptions of people
      with mental illness, have a positive impact on student learning and influence
      students' decisions about future practice. The learning experience of nursing
      students whom attend unique, recovery-orientated clinical placements can be both
      positive and educative.

PMID- 27622595
TI  - Propanediurea-Based Molecular Clips Bind Halide Anions: An Insight into the
      Mechanism of Cucurbituril Formation.
AB  - The synthesis and supramolecular properties of the first methylene-bridged
      propanediurea-based dimers are described. These dimers, bearing an aromatic
      sidewall, have the shape of molecular clips. Unlike glycoluril-based dimers,
      these clips neither dimerize nor accept any organic guests, due to their small
      cavities. Both propanediurea- and glycoluril-based dimers bind halide anions on
      the convex side of the molecules, even in highly polar organic solvents. This
      observation brings new insights into the mechanism of cucurbituril formation.

PMID- 27622593
TI  - Annual and seasonal spatial models for nitrogen oxides in Tehran, Iran.
AB  - Very few land use regression (LUR) models have been developed for megacities in
      low- and middle-income countries, but such models are needed to facilitate
      epidemiologic research on air pollution. We developed annual and seasonal LUR
      models for ambient oxides of nitrogen (NO, NO2, and NOX) in the Middle Eastern
      city of Tehran, Iran, using 2010 data from 23 fixed monitoring stations. A novel
      systematic algorithm was developed for spatial modeling. The R(2) values for the
      LUR models ranged from 0.69 to 0.78 for NO, 0.64 to 0.75 for NO2, and 0.61 to
      0.79 for NOx. The most predictive variables were: distance to the traffic access
      control zone; distance to primary schools; green space; official areas; bridges;
      and slope. The annual average concentrations of all pollutants were high,
      approaching those reported for megacities in Asia. At 1000 randomly-selected
      locations the correlations between cooler and warmer season estimates were 0.64
      for NO, 0.58 for NOX, and 0.30 for NO2. Seasonal differences in spatial patterns
      of pollution are likely driven by differences in source contributions and
      meteorology. These models provide a basis for understanding long-term exposures
      and chronic health effects of air pollution in Tehran, where such research has
      been limited.

PMID- 27622596
TI  - Advantages of nonhuman primates as preclinical models for evaluating stem cell
      based therapies for Parkinson's disease.
AB  - The derivation of dopaminergic neurons from induced pluripotent stem cells brings
      new hope for a patient-specific, stem cell-based replacement therapy to treat
      Parkinson's disease (PD) and related neurodegenerative diseases; and this novel
      cell-based approach has already proven effective in animal models. However, there
      are several aspects of this procedure that have yet to be optimized to the extent
      required for translation to an optimal cell-based transplantation protocol in
      humans. These challenges include pinpointing the optimal graft location,
      appropriately scaling up the graft volume, and minimizing the risk of chronic
      immune rejection, among others. To advance this procedure to the clinic, it is
      imperative that a model that accurately and fully recapitulates characteristics
      most pertinent to a cell-based transplantation to the human brain is used to
      optimize key technical aspects of the procedure. Nonhuman primates mimic humans
      in multiple ways including similarities in genomics, neuroanatomy,
      neurophysiology, immunogenetics, and age-related changes in immune function.
      These characteristics are critical to the establishment of a relevant model in
      which to conduct preclinical studies to optimize the efficacy and safety of cell
      based therapeutic approaches to the treatment of PD. Here we review previous
      studies in rodent models, and emphasize additional advantages afforded by
      nonhuman primate models in general, and the baboon model in particular, for
      preclinical optimization of cell-based therapeutic approaches to the treatment of
      PD and other neurodegenerative diseases. We outline current unresolved challenges
      to the successful application of stem cell therapies in humans and propose that
      the baboon model in particular affords a number of traits that render it most
      useful for preclinical studies designed to overcome these challenges.

PMID- 27622597
TI  - Cell wall degradation is required for normal starch mobilisation in barley
      endosperm.
AB  - Starch degradation in barley endosperm provides carbon for early seedling growth,
      but the control of this process is poorly understood. We investigated whether
      endosperm cell wall degradation is an important determinant of the rate of starch
      degradation. We identified iminosugar inhibitors of enzymes that degrade the cell
      wall component arabinoxylan. The iminosugar 1,4-dideoxy-1, 4-imino-l-arabinitol
      (LAB) inhibits arabinoxylan arabinofuranohydrolase (AXAH) but does not inhibit
      the main starch-degrading enzymes alpha- and beta-amylase and limit dextrinase.
      AXAH activity in the endosperm appears soon after the onset of germination and
      resides in dimers putatively containing two isoforms, AXAH1 and AXAH2. Upon grain
      imbibition, mobilisation of arabinoxylan and starch spreads across the endosperm
      from the aleurone towards the crease. The front of arabinoxylan degradation
      precedes that of starch degradation. Incubation of grains with LAB decreases the
      rate of loss of both arabinoxylan and starch, and retards the spread of both
      degradation processes across the endosperm. We propose that starch degradation in
      the endosperm is dependent on cell wall degradation, which permeabilises the
      walls and thus permits rapid diffusion of amylolytic enzymes. AXAH may be of
      particular importance in this respect. These results provide new insights into
      the mobilization of endosperm reserves to support early seedling growth.

PMID- 27622598
TI  - Over-optimistic patient expectations of recovery and leisure activities after
      arthroscopic meniscus surgery.
AB  - Background and purpose - Patients' expectations of outcomes following
      arthroscopic meniscus surgery are largely unknown. We investigated patients'
      expectations concerning recovery and participation in leisure-time activities
      after arthroscopic meniscus surgery and the postoperative fulfillment of these.
      Patients and methods - The study sample consisted of 491 consecutively recruited
      patients (mean age 50 (SD 13) years, 55% men) who were assigned for arthroscopy
      on suspicion of meniscus injury and later verified by arthroscopy. Before
      surgery, patients completed questionnaires regarding their expectations of
      recovery time and postoperative participation in leisure activities. 3 months
      after surgery, the patients completed questionnaires on their actual level of
      leisure activity and their degree of satisfaction with their current knee
      function. We analyzed differences between the expected outcome and the actual
      outcome, and between fulfilled/exceeded expectations and satisfaction with knee
      function. Results - 478 patients (97%) completed the follow-up. 91% had expected
      to be fully recovered within 3 months. We found differences between patients'
      preoperative expectations of participation in leisure activities postoperatively
      and their actual participation in these, with 59% having unfulfilled expectations
      (p < 0.001). Satisfaction with current knee function was associated with
      expectations of leisure activities being fulfilled/exceeded. Interpretation - In
      general, patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscus surgery were too optimistic
      regarding their recovery time and postoperative participation in leisure
      activities. This highlights the need for shared decision making which should
      include giving the patient information on realistic expectations of recovery time
      and regarding participation in leisure-time activities after meniscal surgery.

PMID- 27622599
TI  - High-dose steroid therapy in BK viremia adversely affected the long-term graft
      function after kidney transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although high-dose steroid therapy has been attempted for the
      management of clinically suspected allograft rejection, before testing for BK
      viral activity or acute cellular rejection accompanied by BK polyomavirus
      nephropathy, its long-term outcome remains unknown. We investigated the impact of
      high-dose steroids on BK viral activity and long-term graft outcomes in patients
      with BK viremia. METHODS: The study population comprised 144 kidney transplant
      recipients with BK viremia. They were divided into 2 groups based on the amount
      of steroids administered: low-dose group (<2 g, n=123) or high-dose group (>=2 g,
      n=21). RESULTS: The baseline serum BK viral loads were 5.4+/-1.1 log cp/mL in the
      low-dose group and 6.0+/-1.3 in the high-dose group (P=.054). These changed to
      5.2+/-1.3 and 6.1+/-1.4, 1 month after steroid treatment (P=.03) and 4.9+/-1.3
      and 5.9+/-1.4 at 2 months (P=.033), respectively. From 3 months to 1 year, the
      serum BK viral titers were not different between groups. Kaplan-Meier analyses
      demonstrated that the rates of the decline of graft function and graft failure
      were higher in the high-dose group (P=.02 and P=.04, respectively). High-dose
      steroids (P=.012, hazard ratio [HR] 5.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42
      17.85) and log serum BK viral load at 2 months after steroid treatment (P=.042,
      HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.02-2.28) were independent risk factors for the decline of graft
      function. CONCLUSION: High-dose steroids induced BK viral activation and
      subsequently resulted in poor long-term graft function and early graft failure in
      patients with BK viremia.

PMID- 27622601
TI  - Distribution characteristics and sources of trace metals in sediment cores from a
      trans-boundary watercourse: An example from the Shima River, Pearl River Delta.
AB  - Metal pollution in sediments from the Shima River, a typical transboundary
      watercourse in the Pearl River Delta area, was investigated. Sediment cores were
      collected at eight sites from the upper to the lower reaches crossing Shenzhen,
      Dongguan and Huizhou cities. Sediment physicochemical properties and the total
      concentrations of trace metals (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) were
      determined. The results showed that riverine sediment was significantly polluted
      by Cr (content range: 13.8-469mgkg-1), Ni (14.1-257mgkg-1), Cu (10.8-630mgkg-1),
      Zn (50.2-1700mgkg-1) and Cd (0.172-2.26mgkg-1). The geoaccumulation indices
      (Igeo) of trace metals decreased in the order Cd>Zn>Ni>Cu>Co>Cr>Pb>As>V. The
      pollution load indices and potential ecological risk indices (RI) at the sampling
      sites were similar, with more severe pollution and greater risk presenting in the
      upper and middle reaches (S1-S6) compared with the lower reaches (S7 and S8). Cd
      contributed significantly (77.2-87.6%) to the RI. Source identification based on
      multivariate statistical techniques, including principal component analysis
      (PCA), correlation analysis (CA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HACA), was
      performed to differentiate the origins of trace metals. PCA and CA yielded
      similar results, indicating that As and V originated from natural sources (e.g.,
      parent materials) and that the other metals were related to anthropogenic
      activities. HACA based on the Igeo showed that Cd was associated mainly with
      fertilizers, and the origins of Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn were probably industrial
      effluents, whereas Co and Pb were related to traffic activities. HACA of sediment
      cores suggested that Dongguan and Shenzhen cities contribute large quantities of
      metals to the riverine sediment, whereas few metals were discharged from Huizhou
      City.

PMID- 27622600
TI  - Unconscious Processing of Facial Emotional Valence Relation: Behavioral Evidence
      of Integration between Subliminally Perceived Stimuli.
AB  - Although a few studies have investigated the integration between some types of
      unconscious stimuli, no research has yet explored the integration between
      unconscious emotional stimuli. This study was designed to provide behavioral
      evidence for the integration between unconsciously perceived emotional faces
      (same or different valence relation) using a modified priming paradigm. In two
      experiments, participants were asked to decide whether two faces in the target,
      which followed two subliminally presented faces of same or different emotional
      expressions, were of the same or different emotional valence. The interstimulus
      interval (ISI) between the prime and the target was manipulated (0, 53, 163 ms).
      In Experiment 1, prime visibility was assessed post-experiment. In Experiment 2,
      it was assessed on each trial. Interestingly, in both experiments, unconsciously
      processed valence relation of the two faces in the prime generated a negative
      priming effect in the response to the supraliminally presented target,
      independent of the length of ISI. Further analyses suggested that the negative
      priming was probably caused by a motor response incongruent relation between the
      subliminally perceived prime and the supraliminally perceived target. The visual
      feature incongruent relation across the prime and target was not found to play a
      role in the negative priming. Because the negative priming was found at short
      ISI, an attention mechanism as well as a motor inhibition mechanism were proposed
      in the generation of the negative priming effect. Overall, this study indicated
      that the subliminal valence relation was processed, and that integration between
      different unconsciously perceived stimuli could occur. 

PMID- 27622602
TI  - Binding of Monovalent and Multivalent Metal Cations to Polyethylene Oxide in
      Methanol Probed by Electrophoretic and Diffusion NMR.
AB  - Complex formation in methanol between monodisperse polyethylene oxide (PEO) and a
      large set of cations was studied by measuring the effective charge acquired by
      PEO upon complexation. Quantitative data were obtained at a low ionic strength of
      2 mM (for some salts, also between 0.5 and 6 mM) by a combination of diffusion
      nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrophoretic NMR experiments. For
      strongly complexing cations, the magnitude of the acquired effective charge was
      on the order of 1 cation per 100 monomer units. For monovalent cations, the
      relative strength of binding varies as Na+ < K+ ~ Rb+ ~ Cs+, whereas Li+
      exhibited no significant binding. All polyvalent cations bind very weakly, except
      for Ba2+ that exhibited strong binding. Anions do not bind, as is shown by the
      lack of response to the chemical nature of anionic species (perchlorate, iodide,
      or acetate). Diffusion experiments directly show that the acetate anion with
      monovalent cations does not associate with PEO. Considering all cations, we find
      that the observed binding does not follow any Hofmeister order. Instead, binding
      occurs below a critical surface charge density, which indicates that the degree
      of complexation is defined by the solvation shell. A large solvation shell
      prevents the binding of most multivalent ions.

PMID- 27622603
TI  - PD-1 blockade in Hodgkin's lymphoma: learning new tricks from an old teacher.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cHL) is characterized by genetic
      reliance on the PD-1 pathway. Rapid accumulation of data describing the role and
      efficacy of PD-1 and its blockade warrants a focused review. AREAS COVERED: In
      this article, we will review the unique biologic features that predispose cHL to
      PD-1 inhibition, current data regarding the safety and efficacy of PD-1
      inhibitors in the treatment of cHL, biomarkers of immune response, ongoing
      clinical trials with PD-1 inhibitors, as well as areas of uncertainty. Expert
      commentary: The biologic and genetic underpinnings of cHL make it unique among
      all malignancies in its exquisite sensitivity to PD-1 inhibition. High response
      rates to single agent PD-1 inhibitors in early phase clinical trials serve as
      further proof of concept. These data strongly support continued clinical
      investigation of the evolving role of PD-1 inhibition in classical Hodgkin's
      lymphoma, including the optimal sequence, setting, and combination to best
      exploit the immunologic properties of this disease.

PMID- 27622604
TI  - The effect of schooling on reported age of onset of cognitive decline: A
      collaborative study.
AB  - Higher education has been reported to be a protective factor against dementia. We
      suggest that the strength of a risk factor may be measured by the length of time
      by which it delays disease onset; therefore, we examined whether people with
      lower education develop cognitive decline at an earlier age than people with more
      schooling. The study population was based on patients referred to our Memory
      Clinics from 1994 to 2004. Analysis of covariance was used to evaluate the effect
      of schooling on the reported age of memory decline, in patients with mild
      cognitive impairment (MCI) and in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
      (AD). The mean reported age of onset of cognitive decline was unexpectedly lower
      in patients with higher education than in patients with fewer schooling years,
      with a relatively small effect size (beta=-0.6), and the effect was more marked
      in the MCI group. Every year of schooling advanced the reported age of onset by
      6months among patients with MCI (t=-6.18, p<.001) and by 3months among patients
      with AD (t=-2.4, p=0.017). Education may affect the reported age of onset of
      cognitive decline, but its magnitude is small. It is possible that increased
      awareness in more educated people leads them to consult earlier; this could
      explain the paradoxical finding of earlier reported age of onset of cognitive
      decline in patients with higher education.

PMID- 27622605
TI  - Lentivirus-mediated p21/Waf-1 short hairpin RNA enhances the cytotoxic effects
      and replicative potential of a bladder cancer-specific oncolytic adenovirus in
      vitro.
AB  - Our previous work confirmed that the bladder cancer-specific oncolytic adenovirus
      Ad/PSCAE/UPII/E1A could selectively replicate in bladder cancer cells, thus
      causing specific tumor cell lysis. The replicative potential is a crucial factor
      in determining the therapeutic efficacy of oncolytic adenoviruses. However, viral
      replication is attenuated by the low-activity promoter that we used, thus
      compromising viral cytotoxicity. In this study, we investigated the effect of the
      cell cycle-dependent kinase inhibitor p21/Waf-1 on an adenovirus. We used
      lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA to knock down p21/Waf-1 in two bladder
      cancer cell lines EJ and 5637. The p21/Waf-1 knockdown not only induced stronger
      cytopathic effects but also augmented apoptosis, which was closely associated
      with the enhancement of Fas and the subsequent significant activation of caspase
      3. A replicative assay showed that p21/Waf-1 knockdown increased the viral
      particle production. Western blot analysis confirmed that p21/Waf-1 knockdown
      upregulated the expression of androgen receptor (AR) and two adenovirus
      replication indicators E1A and hexon. A luciferase activity assay indicated
      higher transcriptional activity of the uroplakin II (UPII) promoter in the
      p21/Waf-1 knockdown cells, and one possible mechanism could be that the increased
      expression of AR induced the UPII promoter through the AR-binding sites of the
      prostate stem cell antigen enhancer. These findings indicating that p21/Waf-1
      knockdown could enhance cell killing and viral replication have significant
      implications for the development of bladder cancer-specific oncolytic adenovirus
      therapies.

PMID- 27622607
TI  - From Serendipity to Rational Design: Tuning the Blue Trigonal Bipyramidal Mn3+
      Chromophore to Violet and Purple through Application of Chemical Pressure.
AB  - We recently reported that an allowed d-d transition of trigonal bipyramidal (TBP)
      Mn3+ is responsible for the bright blue color in the YIn1-xMnxO3 solid solution.
      The crystal field splitting between a'(dz2) and e'(dx2-y2, dxy) energy levels is
      very sensitive to the apical Mn-O distance. We therefore applied chemical
      pressure to compress the apical Mn-O distance in YIn1-xMnxO3, move the allowed d
      d transition to higher energy, and thereby tune the color from blue to
      violet/purple. This was accomplished by substituting smaller cations such as
      Ti4+/Zn2+ and Al3+ onto the TBP In/Mn site, which yielded novel violet/purple
      phases. The general formula is YIn1-x-2y-zMnxTiyZnyAlzO3 (x = 0.005-0.2, y = 0.1
      0.4, and z <= 0.1), where the color darkens with the increasing amount of Mn.
      Higher y or small additions of Al provide a more reddish hue to the resulting
      purple colors. Substituting other rare earth cations for Y has little impact on
      color. Crystal structure analysis by neutron powder diffraction confirms a
      shorter apical Mn-O distance compared with that in the blue YIn1-xMnxO3. Magnetic
      susceptibility measurements verify the 3+ oxidation state for Mn. Diffuse
      reflection spectra were obtained over the wavelength region 200-2500 nm. All
      samples show excellent near-infrared reflectance comparable to that of commercial
      TiO2, making them ideal for cool pigment applications such as energy efficient
      roofs of buildings and cars where reducing solar heat to save energy is desired.
      In a comparison with commercial purple pigments, such as Co3(PO4)2, our pigments
      are much more thermally stable and chemically inert, and are neither toxic nor
      carcinogenic.

PMID- 27622606
TI  - The flavonoid apigenin from Croton betulaster Mull inhibits proliferation,
      induces differentiation and regulates the inflammatory profile of glioma cells.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the antitumor and immunomodulatory properties of
      the flavonoid apigenin (5,7,4'-trihydroxyflavone), which was extracted from
      Croton betulaster Mull, in glioma cell culture using the high-proliferative rat
      C6 glioma cell line as a model. Apigenin was found to have the ability to reduce
      the viability and proliferation of C6 cells in a time-dependent and dose
      dependent manner, with an IC50 of 22.8 umol/l, 40 times lower than that of
      temozolomide (1000 umol/l), after 72 h of apigenin treatment. Even after C6 cells
      were treated with apigenin for 48 h, high proportions of C6 cells entered
      apoptosis (39.56%) and autophagy (22%) as shown by flow cytometry using annexin
      V/propidium iodide and acridine orange staining, respectively. In addition, the
      flavonoid apigenin induced cell accumulation in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle
      and inhibited glioma cell migration efficiently. Moreover, apigenin induced
      astroglial differentiation and morphological changes in C6 cells, characterized
      by increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and decreased
      expression of nestin protein, a typical marker of neuronal precursors. The
      immunomodulating effects of apigenin were also characterized by a change in the
      inflammatory profile as evidenced by a significant decrease in interleukin-10 and
      tumor necrosis factor production and increased nitric oxide levels. Because
      apigenin can induce differentiation, apoptosis, and autophagy, can alter the
      profile of cytokines involved in regulating the immune response, and can reduce
      the survival, growth, proliferation, and migration of C6 cells, this flavonoid
      may be considered a potential antitumor drug for the adjuvant treatment of
      malignant gliomas.

PMID- 27622611
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Desmopressin Add-On Therapy for Men with Persistent
      Nocturia on alpha-Blocker Monotherapy for Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A
      Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the efficacy and safety of desmopressin add-on therapy
      for men with persistent nocturia on alpha-blocker for lower urinary tract
      symptoms in this placebo controlled study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study
      included men 40 to 65 years old with lower urinary tract symptoms and persistent
      nocturia despite alpha-blocker therapy for at least 8 weeks. Patients were
      randomized to once daily placebo or desmopressin 0.2 mg for 8 weeks. The primary
      end point was to assess changes in the mean number of nocturia episodes from
      baseline to the final assessment. Other secondary end points and adverse events
      were evaluated. RESULTS AND LIMITATION: A total of 86 patients were randomized to
      treatment, including placebo in 39 and desmopressin 0.2 mg in 47. Baseline
      characteristics were similar in the 2 groups. The desmopressin add-on group was
      significantly superior to placebo in terms of the change from baseline in the
      mean number of nocturia episodes (-1.13 +/- 0.92 vs -0.68 +/- 0.79, p = 0.034),
      the changes in nocturnal urine volume (p <0.001), total I-PSS (International
      Prostate Symptom Score) (p = 0.041), the nocturnal polyuria index (p = 0.001) and
      ICIQ-N (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Nocturia) (p =
      0.001), and the willingness to continue (p = 0.025). The incidence of adverse
      events in the desmopressin add-on group was similar to that in the placebo group.
      Most adverse events were mild. CONCLUSION: Desmopressin add-on therapy in men 40
      to 65 years old with persistent nocturia on alpha-blocker monotherapy for lower
      urinary tract symptoms is effective and well tolerated.

PMID- 27622613
TI  - A prospective randomised non-blinded comparison of conventional and Dorgan's
      crossed pins for paediatric supracondylar humeral fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Closed reduction and percutaneous pinning are the preferred treatment
      of displaced supracondylar humeral fractures in children. The purpose of this
      study is to evaluate the non-standard Dorgan's method and compare its results
      with those of the standard percutaneous cross pinning method in treatment of
      unstable or irreducible Gartland type II and III supracondylar humeral fractures
      in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective evaluation of 138
      consecutive patients with Gartland type II or III extension supracondylar humeral
      fractures referred to University Children's Hospital during a four-year period.
      The patients were randomized into two groups: the first group, comprised of 71
      patients, was treated with standard pin configuration and the second group,
      comprised of 67 patients, underwent Dorgan's method. The study included 88 boys
      and 50 girls aged 1.5-11.4 years (mean 6.5+/-2). At initial presentation 8.7% (n
      12) fractures were classified as Gartland type IIa, 25.4% (n-35) as Gartland type
      IIb and 65.9% (n-91) as Gartland type III. RESULTS: Flynn's criteria were used to
      evaluate the results. An excellent clinical outcome was reported in about 90% of
      patients (n-90) treated with standard pin configuration and 89.5% (n-60) of
      patients treated with Dorgan's method. There were no statistically significant
      differences in outcomes between the groups in terms of their gender, age,
      fracture types, function and cosmetics. Neurological lesions were observed in
      9.9% of patients (n=7) who were treated using the standard configuration
      Kirschner pins, while in those treated by Dorgan's method neurological
      complications were not observed. However, the procedure time was longer (mean
      36.54+/-5.65min) and radiation exposure significantly higher (mean 10.19+/-2.70
      exposures) in the group that was treated using Dorgan's method, compared to the
      conventional method (mean 28.66+/-3.76min and 7.54+/-1.63 exposures). CONCLUSION:
      Two laterally inserted crossed pins provide adequate stability with good
      functional and cosmetic outcome for most unstable paediatric supracondylar
      humeral fractures with no risk of iatrogenic ulnar nerve injury.

PMID- 27622612
TI  - Coadministration of the FNIII14 Peptide Synergistically Augments the Anti-Cancer
      Activity of Chemotherapeutic Drugs by Activating Pro-Apoptotic Bim.
AB  - The acquisition of drug resistance mediated by the interaction of tumor cells
      with the extracellular matrix (ECM), commonly referred to as cell adhesion
      mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR), has been observed not only in hematopoietic
      tumor cells but also in solid tumor cells. We have previously demonstrated that a
      22-mer peptide derived from fibronectin, FNIII14, can inhibit cell adhesion
      through the inactivation of beta1 integrin; when coadministered with cytarabine,
      FNIII14 completely eradicates acute myelogenous leukemia by suppressing CAM-DR.
      In this study, we show that our FNIII14 peptide also enhances chemotherapy
      efficacy in solid tumors. Coadministration of FNIII14 synergistically enhances
      the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin and aclarubicin in mammary tumor and melanoma
      cells, respectively. The solid tumor cell chemosensitization induced by FNIII14
      is dependent upon the upregulation and activation of the pro-apoptotic protein,
      Bim. Furthermore, the metastasis of tumor cells derived from ventrally
      transplanted mammary tumor grafts is suppressed by the coadministration of
      FNIII14 and doxorubicin. These results suggest that the coadministration of our
      FNIII14 peptide with chemotherapy could achieve efficient solid tumor eradication
      by increasing chemosensitivity and decreasing metastasis. The major causes of
      tumor recurrence are the existence of chemotherapy-resistant primary tumor cells
      and the establishment of secondary metastatic lesions. As such, coadministering
      FNIII14 with anti-cancer drugs could provide a promising new approach to improve
      the prognosis of patients with solid tumors. 

PMID- 27622614
TI  - The role of outpatient visit after operative treatment of ankle fractures.
AB  - It is a common practice that patients have a scheduled follow-up visit with
      radiographs following ankle fracture surgery. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate whether an early outpatient visit (<3 weeks) after ankle fracture
      surgery resulted in a change in patient management. For this study, 878
      consecutive operatively treated ankle fracture patients with an early outpatient
      clinical-radiological visit were reviewed. The outcome measure was a change in
      treatment plan defined as any procedure, medication, or surgical intervention
      that is not typically implemented during the uncomplicated healing process of an
      acute fracture. A change in treatment plan was observed in 9.8% of operatively
      treated ankle fracture patients. The mean age of the patients was 48 years and
      the mean follow-up time was 64 months. Of the changes in treatment plan, 91% were
      exclusively due to clinical findings such as infection. Only three of 878
      patients required a change in their treatment plan based merely on the findings
      of the radiographs taken at the outpatient visit. Only 37% of the patients
      requiring a change in their postoperative management had solicited an
      unanticipated visit before the scheduled outpatient visit due to clinical
      problems such as infection or a cast-related issue. Our study showed that every
      tenth operatively treated ankle fracture patient requires a change in their
      treatment plan due to a clinical problem such as infection or a cast-related
      issue. Although at hospital discharge all patients are provided with written
      instructions on where to contact if problems related to the operated ankle
      emerge, only one third of the patients are aware of the clinically alarming
      symptoms and seek care when problems present. Our findings do not support
      obtaining routine radiographs at the early outpatient visit in an ankle fracture
      patient without clinical signs of a complication.

PMID- 27622615
TI  - Subcutaneous Achilles tendon rupture: A comparison between open technique and
      mini-invasive tenorrhaphy with Achillon(r) suture system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical management of Achilles tendon rupture is still
      controversial: open techniques have a higher rate of soft tissue complications
      but a lower incidence of re-rupture than percutaneous tenorrhaphies. The aim of
      our retrospective study was to analyze and compare clinical and functional
      results in patients treated with either the conventional open or minimally
      invasive suture treatment with the Achillon(r) system. METHODS: A retrospective
      review of 140 patients was performed; 72 were treated with open tenorrhaphy, 68
      with the minimally invasive Achillon(r) suture system. RESULTS: With a comparable
      re-rupture rate, there was a statistically significant reduction in surgical
      time, incidence of minor complications, time required to return to sport
      activities and return to work in the minimally invasive group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Achillon(r) mini-invasive suture system is a reliable tool for the Achilles
      tendon ruptures, able to reduce the incidence of soft tissues complications if
      compared to the classic open tenorrhaphy, while maintaining strength of the
      suture and leading to superimposed functional outcomes.

PMID- 27622617
TI  - Uneventful vaginal delivery after spontaneous resolution of uterine artery
      pseudoaneurysm.

PMID- 27622616
TI  - Papular Acantholytic Dyskeratosis of the Vulva in a Woman With Benign Familial
      Pemphigus.

PMID- 27622618
TI  - Successful treatment of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and disseminated
      intravascular coagulation secondary to histoplasmosis in a patient with HIV/AIDS.
AB  - Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is an uncommon syndrome that results from an
      uncontrolled activation of macrophages and lymphocytes resulting in the
      compromise of multiple organs that is potentially fatal without timely treatment.
      It can be hereditary or a secondary result of infectious processes, neoplasms or
      autoimmune conditions. We present the case of a patient with HIV/AIDS who
      developed hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis as well as disseminated
      intravascular coagulation associated with histoplasmosis and who was successfully
      treated with amphotericin B, steroids and transitory dialytic support. 

PMID- 27622619
TI  - Medical microbiology: The backbone of infectology.

PMID- 27622620
TI  - Orofacial infection by Conidiobolus coronatus.
AB  - Entomophtoramycosis is a type of subcutaneous mycosis which includes both
      basidiobolomycosis and conidiobolomycosis; the latter is caused by Conidiobolus
      coronatus, a saprophytic fungus which lives in tropical soils. This mycosis
      characteristically affects the paranasal sinuses and oropharynx, with the
      potential to deform the face in patients without apparent immunodeficiency. It
      has a chronic course of infection with a tendency to form granulomas visible
      using histology. We present the case of a 28 year-old male agricultural worker,
      with a clinical profile of 6 months' evolution of rhinofacial tumefaction, nasal
      obstruction and post-nasal drip who was diagnosed with conidiobolomycosis by
      means of tissue culture after multiple biopsies of the facial area. The patient
      received antifungal treatment with amphotericin B and subsequently with
      itraconazol, resulting in a dramatic improvement without the need for surgical
      treatment; itraconazol was administered for one year and there was no evidence of
      relapse at the end of this period. Due to the low frequency of this disease there
      is no established treatment strategy; however, the use of azoles such as
      itraconazol with or without adjuvant surgical treatment is increasingly seen in
      case reports. The present report adds to the clinical experience in Colombia of
      this rare mycosis and also describes the long-term clinical and therapeutic
      response. 

PMID- 27622621
TI  - Tuberculous pyomyositis in an immunosuppressed patient.
AB  - Tuberculous pyomyositis is a rare manifestation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis,
      most common in immunosuppressed patients, with clinical manifestations similar to
      pyomyositis of other etiologies, although with a lower age of presentation;
      notable risk factors include prior tuberculosis infection and pharmacological
      immunosuppression. Diagnosis depends on a high clinical suspicion of the
      infection in a susceptible population, given that microbiological isolation is
      often impossible. The response to treatment and prognosis are good. The case
      presented here is noteworthy given the rarity of this manifestation of
      tuberculosis and the slow response to first-line TB management in an HIV patient,
      despite susceptible microbiological isolation. 

PMID- 27622622
TI  - Positive 14-3-3 and tau proteins in a sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease case and
      a brief perspective of prion diseases in Colombia.
AB  - Prion diseases are rare neurodegenerative disorders occurring worldwide and
      affecting both humans and animals. Herein, we present the case of a patient
      diagnosed with definite sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Cali, Colombia.
      Besides neurological examination, 14-3-3 and tau proteins were valuable tools
      supporting the diagnosis. We also present a brief perspective of the prion
      diseases reported in Colombia to date. Although the incidence of prion diseases
      is unknown in Colombia, our literature review revealed that one case of scrapie
      in 1981 and 29 human sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease have been
      documented and published in our country. 

PMID- 27622623
TI  - Molecular identification of Leishmania spp. clinical isolates from Colombia based
      on hsp70 gene.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Leishmaniasis is highly prevalent in Colombia, where at least six
      different species can cause disease of varying clinical presentations in humans.
      The identification of the infecting species is quite important for prognosis,
      therapeutics and epidemiology. Different techniques with variable discriminatory
      power have been used for the identification.  OBJECTIVE: To carry out the
      molecular identification of Leishmania species through the amplification of a
      fragment of the hsp70 gene.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Molecular amplification of
      the hsp70 gene fragment (PCR-hsp70) followed by restriction fragment length
      polymorphism analysis (RFLP) was done for identification purposes using DNA from
      81 clinical isolates of Leishmania.  RESULTS: A single amplicon was obtained for
      all samples analyzed. The enzymatic restrictions of the 81 PCR products
      identified 70 with a banding pattern corresponding to L. braziliensis with two
      different patterns (62 and eight isolates, respectively), nine isolates
      compatible with L. panamensis and two with L. guyanensis. The geographical origin
      of the isolates is consistent with previous reports about the distribution of the
      corresponding species in Colombia.  CONCLUSIONS: The PCR-hsp70/RFLP technique
      used is a valid tool for the identification of Leishmania species isolated from
      clinical samples of patients in Colombia, which may also be applicable to the
      study of strains obtained from vectors and reservoirs with epidemiological
      significance.

PMID- 27622624
TI  - Molecular evidence of Rickettsia typhi infection in dogs from a rural community
      in Yucatan, Mexico.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rickettsia typhi causes murine or endemic typhus, which is
      transmitted to humans primarily through flea bites contaminated with feces.
      Synanthropic and domestic animals also contribute to the infection cycle of R.
      typhi. Cases of murine typhus in humans were reported in the rural community of
      Bolmay, Yucatan, Mexico, between 2007 and 2010.  OBJECTIVE: To identify the
      presence of R. typhi and estimate the frequency of infection in dogs from Bolmay,
      Mexico, a locality with previous reports of murine typhus in humans.  MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Whole blood samples were taken from 128 dogs. Total DNA was
      extracted for use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify fragments of
      the 17 kDa and omp B genes and confirms the presence of Rickettsia spp. The
      reaction products were sequenced, and alignment analysis was performed using the
      BLAST tool.  RESULTS: The frequency of R. typhi infection in dogs was 5.5 %
      (7/128). The alignment identified 99% and 100% homology to the R. typhi 17 kDa
      and omp B genes, respectively.  CONCLUSION: We confirmed the presence of R. typhi
      in dogs in the studied community but at a low frequency. However, there is
      potential risk of transmission to humans.

PMID- 27622625
TI  - Risk factors, representations and practices associated with emerging urban human
      visceral leishmaniasis in Posadas, Argentina.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Visceral leishmaniasis is an often overlooked disease with high
      lethality rates about which there is need of additional local studies to inform
      the design of effective control strategies. The urbanization of its transmission
      has already been verified in America, with domestic dogs being the primary
      reservoirs and vectors of the disease. Socio-economic conditions, demographics
      and practices of domestic groups typically present in urban settings may play a
      specific role in the transmission of the infection, which is still poorly
      understood.  OBJECTIVE: To analyze the sociodemographic characteristics, risk
      factors and overall practices concerning prevention and coping strategies of
      visceral leishmaniasis, in both human beings and canines.  MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This study utilized a cross-sectional case-control design. Cases were defined as
      a domestic group where the Public Health Ministry had at least one record of a
      member with human visceral leishmaniasis. Control cases were defined as a
      domestic group without a clinical record of the disease. The populations were
      characterized demographically and socially using primary information sources.
      Measures of household quality and a ranking of knowledge and attitudes towards
      visceral leishmaniasis were constructed, and practices associated with the
      presence, and the risk for canine visceral leishmaniasis were described. 
      RESULTS: Low household quality (p<=0.001), a member of the domestic group out of
      the household after 6:00 pm (OR=4.4; 95% CI: 1.69-12.18), the uncontrolled racial
      breeding of dogs (OR=15.7; 95% CI: 3.91-63.2), and the presence of infected dogs
      infected in the household (OR=120.3; 95% CI: 18.51-728.3) were variables
      positively associated with the risk of infection.  CONCLUSION: We observed
      certain social risk factors, primarily low household quality and overcrowding,
      associated with structural poverty that could increase human-vector contact
      probability. The most important risk factor for human visceral leishmaniasis was
      the possession of infected dogs in the household.

PMID- 27622626
TI  - Evaluation of modified Dennis parasitological technique for diagnosis of bovine
      fascioliasis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bovine fascioliasis causes important economic losses, estimated at
      COP$ 12,483 billion per year; its prevalence is 25% in dairy cattle.
      Parasitological techniques are required for it diagnosis. The Dennis technique,
      modified in 2002, is the one used in Colombia, but its sensitivity, specificity
      and validity are not known.  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the validity and performance
      of the modified Dennis technique for diagnosis of bovine fascioliasis using as
      reference test the observation of parasites in the liver.  MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      We conducted a diagnostic evaluation study. We selected a convenience sample of
      discarded bovines sacrificed between March and June, 2013, in Frigocolanta for
      the study. We collected 25 g of feces from each animal and their liver and bile
      ducts were examined for Fasciola hepatica. The sensitivity, specificity,
      predictive positive value, predictive negative value, and validity index were
      calculated with 95% confidence intervals. The post-mortem evaluation was used as
      the gold standard.  RESULTS: We analyzed 180 bovines. The sensitivity and
      specificity of the modified Dennis technique were 73.2% (95% CI=58.4% - 87.9%)
      and 84.2% (95% CI= 77.7% - 90.6%), respectively. The positive predictive value
      was 57.7% (95% CI= 43.3% - 72.1%) and the negative one 91.4% (95% CI= 86.2% -
      96.6%). The prevalence of bovine fascioliasis was 22.8% (95% CI= 16.4% - 29.2%). 
      CONCLUSION: The validity and the performance of the modified Dennis technique
      were higher than those of the traditional one, which makes it a good screening
      test for diagnosing fascioliasis for population and prevalence studies and during
      animal health campaigns.

PMID- 27622627
TI  - Risk factors for hospital-acquired bacteremia due to carbapenem-resistant
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Colombian hospital.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bacteremia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant to carbapenems
      is a public health problem due to the limitations it places on therapeutic
      options, as well as the increased time patients must spend in hospital, costs and
      the risk of mortality.  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk factors for presentation
      of bacteremia due to carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa acquired in the Hospital
      Universitario San Ignacio between January 2008 and June 2014.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a case control study in which the case patients presented
      bacteremia due to P. aeruginosa resistant to carbapenems and the control group
      included patients with P. aeruginosa susceptible to this group of antibiotics.
      Variables such as the previous use of meropenem and ertapenem, immunosuppression
      and neoplasia were measured. Mortality and duration of hospital were also
      described.  RESULTS: In all, 168 patients were evaluated, of which 42 were cases
      and 126 controls. Using a multivariate model, the risk factors related to
      bacteremia due to carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa acquired in hospital were
      the following: use of parenteral nutrition (OR=8.28; 95% CI: 2.56-26.79; p=0);
      use of meropenem (OR=1.15; 95% CI: 1.03-1.28; p=0.01); and use of ciprofloxacin
      (OR=81.99; 95% CI: 1.14-5884; p=0.043).  CONCLUSION: In order to prevent the
      emergence of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa, antimicrobial control programs
      should be strengthened by promoting the prudent administration of carbapenems and
      quinolones. The correct use of parenteral nutrition should also be monitored.

PMID- 27622628
TI  - Molecular diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and sensitivity to rifampicin
      with an automated real-time method.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis continues to be a global public health problem, the
      extrapulmonary form being estimated to occur in 10-20% of immunocompetent
      individuals, increasing in patients who are carriers of the human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV); its diagnosis is difficult with conventional
      methods due to the paucibacillary nature of samples. The Xpert(r) MTB/RIF test
      represents an important development in the molecular detection of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis and has been used with a variety of non-respiratory clinical
      samples.  OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of Xpert(r) MTB/RIF in the
      detection of M. tuberculosis and sensitivity to rifampicin in patients with
      suspected extrapulmonary tuberculosis attending Hospital Universitario de San
      Vicente Fundacion in Medellin in 2013-2014.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a
      descriptive, cross-sectional ambispective study of 372 consecutive samples from
      301 patients with suspected extrapulmonary tuberculosis, who were subjected to
      bacilloscopy, followed by culture in Ogawa Kudoh and the Xpert(r) MTB/RIF
      molecular test.  RESULTS: The most frequent base diagnosis (60%) for the 182
      patients was infection with HIV. Using the culture as reference, the sensitivity
      and general specificity of the molecular test was 94% (95% CI: 83-100) and 97%
      (95% CI: 95-99), respectively; for bacilloscopy it was 38.71(95% CI: 19-57) and
      100% (95% CI: 99-100), respectively. Sensitivities higher than 75% were found in
      analyses stratified by samples. Thirty-seven of the isolates were sensitive and
      one resistant to rifampicin.  CONCLUSION: Xpert(r) MTB/RIF performed well in
      samples from different tissues and liquids, representing a significant advance in
      support of extrapulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis in terms of time and percentage
      positivity.

PMID- 27622629
TI  - Prevalence of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in women of childbearing age in
      Socota, Boyaca, 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chagas' disease is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan
      Trypanosoma cruzi. This condition presents epidemiological risk factors
      associated with socioeconomic conditions and is currently considered an important
      public health problem. Its presence has been reported in endemic regions at
      elevations of up to 2,000 meters above sea level.  OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      prevalence of anti-T. cruzi antibodies and the possible risk factors associated
      with this condition in women of childbearing age from the town of Socota, Boyaca.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational, descriptive cross-sectional study was
      conducted in a population of women of childbearing age from Socota, Boyaca. The
      samples were analyzed by Chagas ELISA IgG and IgM test and indirect
      hemagglutination test. A univariate analysis and statistical association of
      variables were performed.  RESULTS: A confirmed prevalence of 2/138 (1.4%) was
      found in this town. Having pets or a history of contact with vectors were
      possible associated risk factors although without statistical significance. 
      CONCLUSIONS: From the results obtained in the present study, it is suggested that
      more active research be carried out for cases of Chagas' disease in non-endemic
      areas in Colombia that present risk factors for acquiring the disease, even when
      the environmental conditions and elevation differ from those described in the
      literature.

PMID- 27622630
TI  - Production of recombinant proteins from Plasmodium falciparum in Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The production of recombinant proteins is essential for the
      characterization and functional study of proteins from Plasmodium falciparum.
      However, the proteins of P. falciparum are among the most challenging to express,
      and when expression is achieved, the recombinant proteins usually fold
      incorrectly and lead to the formation of inclusion bodies.  OBJECTIVE: To obtain
      and purify four recombinant proteins and to use them as antigens to produce
      polyclonal antibodies. The production efficiency and solubility were evaluated as
      the proteins were expressed in two genetically modified strains of Escherichia
      coli to favor the production of heterologous proteins (BL21-CodonPlus (DE3)-RIL
      and BL21-pG-KJE8).  MATERIALS AND METHODS: The four recombinant P. falciparum
      proteins corresponding to partial sequences of PfMyoA (Myosin A) and PfGAP50
      (gliding associated protein 50), and the complete sequences of PfMTIP (myosin
      tail interacting protein) and PfGAP45 (gliding associated protein 45), were
      produced as glutathione S-transferase-fusion proteins, purified and used for
      immunizing mice.  RESULTS: The protein expression was much more efficient in BL21
      CodonPlus, the strain that contains tRNAs that are rare in wild-type E. coli,
      compared to the expression in BL21-pG-KJE8. In spite of the fact that BL21-pG
      KJE8 overexpresses chaperones, this strain did not minimize the formation of
      inclusion bodies.  CONCLUSION: The use of genetically modified strains of E. coli
      was essential to achieve high expression levels of the four evaluated P.
      falciparum proteins and lead to improved solubility of two of them. The approach
      used here allowed us to obtain and purify four P. falciparum proteins in enough
      quantity to produce polyclonal antibodies in mice, and a fair amount of two pure
      and soluble recombinant proteins for future assays.

PMID- 27622631
TI  - Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in synanthropic rodents in two
      rural communities of Yucatan, Mexico.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lyme disease is a multisystemic zoonotic disease caused by Borrelia
      burgdorferi sensu lato. This spirochete circulates in an enzootic cycle between
      the primary vertebrate reservoir and its tick vectors. Different species of
      rodents are known to be efficient natural reservoirs for B. burgdorferi s.l. 
      OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in synanthropic
      rodents from two rural communities of Yucatan, Mexico.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      total of 123 rodents (94 Mus musculus and 29 Rattus rattus) were trapped, and ear
      and bladder samples were collected. Flagelin B (flaB) genes and outer membrane
      lipoproteins ospC y p66 were amplified in order to detect B. burgdorferi s.l.
      presence in the samples. The obtained amplicons were sequenced.  RESULTS: The
      overall infection rates in rodents were 36.5% for flaB (45/123), 10.5% (13/123)
      for p66, and 3.2% (4/123) for ospC. Rattus rattus had 17.2% of infection and M.
      musculus, 42.5%. From all examined tissue, 11.3% (14/123) of bladders, and 17.0%
      (21/123) of ears were infected with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. No
      statistical differences (p>0.05) were found between the two tissue samples used
      for diagnosis. The ospC gen was 98% homologous to Borrelia garinii, one species
      of the B. burgdorferi s.l. complex.  CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that rodents have
      a high prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. infection, and both species of rodents,
      M. musculus and R. rattus, might be playing an important role in the maintenance
      of this bacterium in rural communities of Yucatan, Mexico.

PMID- 27622632
TI  - Identification of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in children with acute
      diarrheic syndrome from Sucre State, Venezuela.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli is an important causative agent of
      acute diarrheic syndrome.  OBJECTIVE: To identify clonal groups of
      enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), in 485 children with acute diarrhea aged 0 to 10
      years attending health care centers in Arismendi, Benitez and Sucre
      municipalities, Sucre state, Venezuela, from March to December, 2011.  MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: After obtaining the informed consent, stool samples were collected.
      Escherichia coli was identified using standard coproculture methods and serology
      with polyvalent and monovalent antisera. DNA was isolated, and eae (intimin) and
      bfpA (bundlin) genes were amplified through two multiplex polymerase chain
      reactions (PCR).  RESULTS: The presence of bacterial infection was determined in
      39.6% of coprocultures. The prevalence of E. coli was 54.7%; 82.9% of these
      isolates were positive by serology for the evaluated serogroups and serotypes,
      which were mostly identified in children between 0 and 2 years (37.9%); 48.6% of
      E. coli strains amplified the eae gene; of these, 58.8% were classified as
      typical EPEC (eae+ y bfp+). EPEC II was the most common serogroup (38.7%), with
      predominance of typical EPEC (60%). In positive strains for eae gene, the beta
      intimin allele was the most frequently identified (74.5%). Only four strains with
      O157:H7 serotype were identified, which showed no PCR amplification of the eae
      and bfpA genes.  CONCLUSION: This study showed the importance of molecular tests
      to identify diarrheagenic E. coli strains causing clinical conditions of varying
      severity.

PMID- 27622633
TI  - Partial inhibition of two genes that encode spliceosomal proteins in Giardia
      intestinalis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Giardia intestinalis is an early divergent organism that was
      recently shown to have introns. The machinery responsible for the removal of
      introns in higher eukaryotes is the spliceosome, which consists of five
      ribonucleoproteins. Each of these ribonucleoproteins has a small nuclear RNA, a
      set of seven Sm proteins (B, D1, D2, D3, E, F and G) and several specific
      proteins. Some genes that encode spliceosome proteins have been bioinformatically
      identified in the parasite genome. Although it is assumed that the spliceosome is
      responsible for splicing in this parasite, biochemical characterization is
      lacking. Objective. To inhibit two G. intestinalis spliceosome protein genes in
      order to determine whether this inhibition affects parasite growth or
      encystation. Materials and methods. Antisense sequences of the genes encoding the
      spliceosomal parasite proteins SmB and SmD3 were cloned into a specific G.
      intestinalis vector. G. intestinalis individuals were subsequently transfected
      with the recombinant vectors and those parasites that incorporated the vector
      were selected. A decrease in mRNA levels by real-time PCR was confirmed and the
      growth and encystation in wild and transfected parasites was assessed. Results. A
      decrease of 40% and 70% of SmB and SmD3 mRNA levels, respectively, was observed.
      Growth and encystation in these parasites were not affected. Conclusion. Decrease
      of SmB and SmD3 mRNA levels does not affect the parasite, indicating that the
      spliceosome remains functional or that splicing is not essential for parasite
      viability.

PMID- 27622634
TI  - Leptospira Immunoglobulin-Like Protein B (LigB) Binds to Both the C-Terminal 23
      Amino Acids of Fibrinogen alphaC Domain and Factor XIII: Insight into the
      Mechanism of LigB-Mediated Blockage of Fibrinogen alpha Chain Cross-Linking.
AB  - The coagulation system provides a primitive but effective defense against
      hemorrhage. Soluble fibrinogen (Fg) monomers, composed of alpha, beta and gamma
      chains, are recruited to provide structural support for the formation of a
      hemostatic plug. Fg binds to platelets and is processed into a cross-linked
      fibrin polymer by the enzymatic clotting factors, thrombin and Factor XIII
      (FXIII). The newly formed fibrin-platelet clot can act as barrier to protect
      against pathogens from entering the bloodstream. Further, injuries caused by
      bacterial infections can be confined to the initial wound site. Many pathogenic
      bacteria have Fg-binding adhesins that can circumvent the coagulation pathway and
      allow the bacteria to sidestep containment. Fg expression is upregulated during
      lung infection providing an attachment surface for bacteria with the ability to
      produce Fg-binding adhesins. Fg binding by leptospira might play a crucial factor
      in Leptospira-associated pulmonary hemorrhage, the main factor contributing to
      lethality in severe cases of leptospirosis. The 12th domain of Leptospira
      immunoglobulin-like protein B (LigB12), a leptospiral adhesin, interacts with the
      C-terminus of FgalphaC (FgalphaCC). In this study, the binding site for LigB12
      was mapped to the final 23 amino acids at the C-terminal end of FgalphaCC
      (FgalphaCC8). The association of FgalphaCC8 with LigB12 (ELISA, KD = 0.76 MUM;
      SPR, KD = 0.96 MUM) was reduced by mutations of both charged residues (R608, R611
      and H614 from FgalphaCC8; D1061 from LigB12) and hydrophobic residues (I613 from
      FgalphaCC8; F1054 and A1065 from LigB12). Additionally, LigB12 bound strongly to
      FXIII and also inhibited fibrin formation, suggesting that LigB can disrupt
      coagulation by suppressing FXIII activity. Here, the detailed binding mechanism
      of a leptospiral adhesin to a host hemostatic factor is characterized for the
      first time and should provide better insight into the pathogenesis of
      leptospirosis.

PMID- 27622636
TI  - Identification of Stable OCT4+NANOG- State in Somatic Cell Reprogramming.

PMID- 27622635
TI  - Characterization of the Drosophila BEAF-32A and BEAF-32B Insulator Proteins.
AB  - Data implicate the Drosophila 32 kDa Boundary Element-Associated Factors BEAF-32A
      and BEAF-32B in both chromatin domain insulator element function and promoter
      function. They might also function as an epigenetic memory by remaining bound to
      mitotic chromosomes. Both proteins are made from the same gene. They differ in
      their N-terminal 80 amino acids, which contain single DNA-binding BED fingers.
      The remaining 200 amino acids are identical in the two proteins. The structure
      and function of the middle region of 120 amino acids is unknown, while the C
      terminal region of 80 amino acids has a putative leucine zipper and a BESS domain
      and mediates BEAF-BEAF interactions. Here we report a further characterization of
      BEAF. We show that the BESS domain alone is sufficient to mediate BEAF-BEAF
      interactions, although the presence of the putative leucine zipper on at least
      one protein strengthens the interactions. BEAF-32B is sufficient to rescue a null
      BEAF mutation in flies. Using mutant BEAF-32B rescue transgenes, we show that the
      middle region and the BESS domain are essential. In contrast, the last 40 amino
      acids of the middle region, which is poorly conserved among Drosophila species,
      is dispensable. Deleting the putative leucine zipper results in a hypomorphic
      mutant BEAF-32B protein. Finally, we document the dynamics of BEAF-32A-EGFP and
      BEAF-32B-mRFP during mitosis in embryos. A subpopulation of both proteins appears
      to remain on mitotic chromosomes and also on the mitotic spindle, while much of
      the fluorescence is dispersed during mitosis. Differences in the dynamics of the
      two proteins are observed in syncytial embryos, and both proteins show
      differences between syncytial and later embryos. This characterization of BEAF
      lays a foundation for future studies into molecular mechanisms of BEAF function. 

PMID- 27622637
TI  - Uncovering Trophic Interactions in Arthropod Predators through DNA Shotgun
      Sequencing of Gut Contents.
AB  - Characterizing trophic networks is fundamental to many questions in ecology, but
      this typically requires painstaking efforts, especially to identify the diet of
      small generalist predators. Several attempts have been devoted to develop
      suitable molecular tools to determine predatory trophic interactions through gut
      content analysis, and the challenge has been to achieve simultaneously high
      taxonomic breadth and resolution. General and practical methods are still needed,
      preferably independent of PCR amplification of barcodes, to recover a broader
      range of interactions. Here we applied shotgun-sequencing of the DNA from
      arthropod predator gut contents, extracted from four common coccinellid and
      dermapteran predators co-occurring in an agroecosystem in Brazil. By matching
      unassembled reads against six DNA reference databases obtained from public
      databases and newly assembled mitogenomes, and filtering for high overlap length
      and identity, we identified prey and other foreign DNA in the predator guts. Good
      taxonomic breadth and resolution was achieved (93% of prey identified to species
      or genus), but with low recovery of matching reads. Two to nine trophic
      interactions were found for these predators, some of which were only inferred by
      the presence of parasitoids and components of the microbiome known to be
      associated with aphid prey. Intraguild predation was also found, including among
      closely related ladybird species. Uncertainty arises from the lack of
      comprehensive reference databases and reliance on low numbers of matching reads
      accentuating the risk of false positives. We discuss caveats and some future
      prospects that could improve the use of direct DNA shotgun-sequencing to
      characterize arthropod trophic networks. 

PMID- 27622638
TI  - Co-transcriptional splicing and the CTD code.
AB  - Transcription and splicing are fundamental steps in gene expression. These
      processes have been studied intensively over the past four decades, and very
      recent findings are challenging some of the formerly established ideas. In
      particular, splicing was shown to occur much faster than previously thought, with
      the first spliced products observed as soon as splice junctions emerge from RNA
      polymerase II (Pol II). Splicing was also found coupled to a specific
      phosphorylation pattern of Pol II carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD), suggesting a
      new layer of complexity in the CTD code. Moreover, phosphorylation of the CTD may
      be scarcer than expected, and other post-translational modifications of the CTD
      are emerging with unanticipated roles in gene expression regulation.

PMID- 27622639
TI  - Total Synthesis and Structural Revision of (+)-Yaoshanenolide B.
AB  - (+)-Yaoshanenolide B was synthesized employing as a key step an endo- and face
      selective Diels-Alder reaction between natural R-(-)-alpha-phellandrene and the
      exocyclic double bond of a 5-methylene-2(5H)-furanone. The dienophile furanone
      was prepared by photooxygenation of a suitably substituted 2-thiophenylfuran
      followed by dehydration of the resulting gamma-hydroxybutenolide. Through this
      synthesis, the initially proposed structure for (+)-yaoshanenolide B has been
      revised to the 1R,2S,4R,7R,1"S diastereomer.

PMID- 27622640
TI  - Crossmodal interactions during non-linguistic auditory processing in cochlear
      implanted deaf patients.
AB  - Due to signal distortion, speech comprehension in cochlear-implanted (CI)
      patients relies strongly on visual information, a compensatory strategy supported
      by important cortical crossmodal reorganisations. Though crossmodal interactions
      are evident for speech processing, it is unclear whether a visual influence is
      observed in CI patients during non-linguistic visual-auditory processing, such as
      face-voice interactions, which are important in social communication. We analyse
      and compare visual-auditory interactions in CI patients and normal-hearing
      subjects (NHS) at equivalent auditory performance levels. Proficient CI patients
      and NHS performed a voice-gender categorisation in the visual-auditory modality
      from a morphing-generated voice continuum between male and female speakers, while
      ignoring the presentation of a male or female visual face. Our data show that
      during the face-voice interaction, CI deaf patients are strongly influenced by
      visual information when performing an auditory gender categorisation task, in
      spite of maximum recovery of auditory speech. No such effect is observed in NHS,
      even in situations of CI simulation. Our hypothesis is that the functional
      crossmodal reorganisation that occurs in deafness could influence nonverbal
      processing, such as face-voice interaction; this is important for patient
      internal supramodal representation.

PMID- 27622641
TI  - Early blindness alters the spatial organization of verbal working memory.
AB  - Several studies suggest that serial order in working memory (WM) is grounded on
      space. For a list of ordered items held in WM, items at the beginning of the list
      are associated with the left side of space and items at the end of the list with
      the right side. This suggests that maintaining items in verbal WM is performed in
      strong analogy to writing these items down on a physical whiteboard for later
      consultation (The Mental Whiteboard Hypothesis). What drives this spatial mapping
      of ordered series in WM remains poorly understood. In the present study we tested
      whether visual experience is instrumental in establishing the link between serial
      order in WM and spatial processing. We tested early blind (EB), late blind (LB)
      and sighted individuals in an auditory WM task. Replicating previous studies,
      left-key responses were faster for early items in the list whereas later items
      facilitated right-key responses in the sighted group. The same effect was
      observed in LB individuals. In contrast, EB participants did not show any
      association between space and serial position in WM. These results suggest that
      early visual experience plays a critical role in linking ordered items in WM and
      spatial representations. The analogical spatial structure of WM may depend in
      part on the actual experience of using spatially organized devices (e.g., notes,
      whiteboards) to offload WM. These practices are largely precluded to EB
      individuals, who instead rely to mnemonic devices that are less spatially
      organized (e.g., recordings, vocal notes). The way we habitually organize
      information in the external world may bias the way we organize information in our
      WM.

PMID- 27622644
TI  - Insights into the Biogenic Amine Metabolic Landscape during Industrial Semidry
      Chinese Rice Wine Fermentation.
AB  - Inspired by concerns about food safety, the metabolic landscape of biogenic
      amines (BAs) was elucidated during industrial semidry Chinese rice wine
      fermentation. The main fermentation process represented the largest contribution
      to BA formation, which corresponded to 69.1% (54.3 mg/L). Principal component
      analysis revealed that total acid and ethanol were strongly correlated with BAs,
      indicating that BA formation favored acidic and stressful conditions. Other than
      putrescine (PUT), spermidine (SPD), and spermine (SPM), 5 BAs exhibited strong
      relationships with the precursor amino acids (R2 > 0.85). PUT was mainly
      decarboxylated from arginine (89.6%) whereas SPD (100%) and SPM (83.1%) were
      obtained from ornithine. Interestingly, some SPD could convert back to PUT
      (24.3%). All 8 BAs showed good relationships with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (R2
      around 0.75). Moreover, among the five main LAB genera, Lactobacillus had a
      positive correlation with BA formation.

PMID- 27622648
TI  - Pathophysiology of Ebola Virus Infection: Current Challenges and Future Hopes.
AB  - The filoviruses, Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV), are among the
      deadliest viruses that cause disease in humans, with reported case fatality rates
      of up to 90% in some outbreaks. The high virulence of EBOV and MARV is largely
      attributed to the ability of these viruses to interfere with the host immune
      response. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or postexposure therapeutics,
      and treatment options for patients infected with EBOV are limited to supportive
      care. In this review, we discuss mechanisms of EBOV pathogenesis and its ability
      to subvert host immunity as well as several vaccines and therapeutics with
      respect to their evaluation in small animal models, nonhuman primates, and human
      clinical trials. 

PMID- 27622642
TI  - Cl-Amidine Prevents Histone 3 Citrullination and Neutrophil Extracellular Trap
      Formation, and Improves Survival in a Murine Sepsis Model.
AB  - Sepsis refers to the presence of a serious infection that correlates with
      systemic and uncontrolled immune activation. Posttranslational histone
      modification plays an important role in chromatin decondensation, which is
      regulated by citrullination. Citrullinated histone H3 (H3cit) has been identified
      as a component of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are released into
      the extracellular space as part of the neutrophil response to infection. The
      conversion of arginine to citrulline residues on histones is catalyzed by
      peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4). This study's goals were to characterize the
      presence of PAD4-catalyzed H3cit and NET formation during the onset of sepsis and
      elucidate the effects on the immune response when this mechanism of action is
      blocked. Adult C57BL/6 male mice were treated with Cl-amidine, an inhibitor of
      PAD4, 1 h prior to sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Twenty
      four hours after CLP, cytokine levels, H3cit protein expression, neutrophil
      counts, and NET production were evaluated in the peritoneal cavity. Survival
      studies were also performed. Here we demonstrate that Cl-amidine treatment prior
      to CLP improves overall survival in sepsis and the abrogation of PAD4 has minimal
      effects on the proinflammatory immune response to sepsis, while it has no effect
      on overall neutrophil migration to the peritoneum.

PMID- 27622649
TI  - Onchocerca volvulus Molting Inhibitors Identified through Scaffold Hopping.
AB  - The anthelmintic closantel has shown promise in abrogating the L3 molting of
      Onchocerca volvulus, the causative agent of the infectious disease
      onchocerciasis. In our search for alternative scaffolds, we utilized a fragment
      replacement/modification approach to generate novel chemotypes with improved
      chitinase inhibitory properties. Further evaluation of the compounds unveiled the
      potential of urea-tropolones as potent inhibitors of O. volvulus L3 molting. 

PMID- 27622646
TI  - Postural Responses to a Suddenly Released Pulling Force in Older Adults with
      Chronic Low Back Pain: An Experimental Study.
AB  - Chronic low back pain (CLBP), one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions
      in older adults, might affect balance and functional independence. The purpose of
      this study was to investigate the postural responses to a suddenly released
      pulling force in older adults with and without CLBP. Thirty community-dwelling
      older adults with CLBP and 26 voluntary controls without CLBP were enrolled.
      Participants were required to stand on a force platform while, with one hand,
      they pulled a string that was fastened at the other end to a 2-kg or to a 4-kg
      force in the opposite direction at a random order. The number of times the
      participants lost their balance and motions of center of pressure (COP) when the
      string was suddenly released were recorded. The results demonstrated that
      although the loss of balance rates for each pulling force condition did not
      differ between groups, older adults with CLBP had poorer postural responses:
      delayed reaction, larger displacement, higher velocity, longer path length, and
      greater COP sway area compared to the older controls. Furthermore, both groups
      showed larger postural responses in the 4-kg pulling force condition. Although
      aging is generally believed to be associated with declining balance and postural
      control, these findings highlight the effect of CLBP on reactive balance when
      responding to an externally generated force in an older population. This study
      also suggests that, for older adults with CLBP, in addition to treating them for
      pain and disability, reactive balance evaluation and training, such as reaction
      and movement strategy training should be included in their interventions.
      Clinicians and older patients with CLBP need to be made aware of the significance
      of impaired reactive balance and the increased risk of falls when encountering
      unexpected perturbations. 

PMID- 27622645
TI  - Musical training shapes neural responses to melodic and prosodic expectation.
AB  - Current research on music processing and syntax or semantics in language suggests
      that music and language share partially overlapping neural resources. Pitch also
      constitutes a common denominator, forming melody in music and prosody in
      language. Further, pitch perception is modulated by musical training. The present
      study investigated how music and language interact on pitch dimension and whether
      musical training plays a role in this interaction. For this purpose, we used
      melodies ending on an expected or unexpected note (melodic expectancy being
      estimated by a computational model) paired with prosodic utterances which were
      either expected (statements with falling pitch) or relatively unexpected
      (questions with rising pitch). Participants' (22 musicians, 20 nonmusicians) ERPs
      and behavioural responses in a statement/question discrimination task were
      recorded. Participants were faster for simultaneous expectancy violations in the
      melodic and linguistic stimuli. Further, musicians performed better than
      nonmusicians, which may be related to their increased pitch tracking ability. At
      the neural level, prosodic violations elicited a front-central positive ERP
      around 150ms after the onset of the last word/note, while musicians presented
      reduced P600 in response to strong incongruities (questions on low-probability
      notes). Critically, musicians' P800 amplitudes were proportional to their level
      of musical training, suggesting that expertise might shape the pitch processing
      of language. The beneficial aspect of expertise could be attributed to its
      strengthening effect of general executive functions. These findings offer novel
      contributions to our understanding of shared higher-order mechanisms between
      music and language processing on pitch dimension, and further demonstrate a
      potential modulation by musical expertise.

PMID- 27622650
TI  - Illicit Transport via Dipeptide Transporter Dpp is Irrelevant to the Efficacy of
      Negamycin in Mouse Thigh Models of Escherichia coli Infection.
AB  - Negamycin is a hydrophilic antimicrobial translation inhibitor that crosses the
      lipophilic inner membrane of Escherichia coli via at least two transport routes
      to reach its intracellular target. In a minimal salts medium, negamycin's
      peptidic nature allows illicit entry via a high-affinity route by hijacking the
      Dpp dipeptide transporter. Transport via a second, low-affinity route is
      energetically driven by the membrane potential, seemingly without the direct
      involvement of a transport protein. In mouse thigh models of E. coli infection,
      no evidence for Dpp-mediated transport of negamycin was found. The implication is
      that for the design of new negamycin-based analogs, the physicochemical
      properties required for cell entry via the low-affinity route need to be retained
      to achieve clinical success in the treatment of infectious diseases. Furthermore,
      clinical resistance to such analogs due to mutations affecting their ribosomal
      target or transport is expected to be rare and similar to that of
      aminoglycosides. 

PMID- 27622651
TI  - Addendum: Spatiotemporal dataset on Chinese population distribution and its
      driving factors from 1949 to 2013.

PMID- 27622653
TI  - Building Congested Ketone: Substituted Hantzsch Ester and Nitrile as Alkylation
      Reagents in Photoredox Catalysis.
AB  - For the first time, 4-alkyl Hantzsch esters were used to construct molecules with
      all-carbon quaternary centers by visible light-induced photoredox catalysis via
      transfer alkylation. Up to a 1500 h(-1) turnover frequency was achieved in this
      reaction. Reactions of 4-alkyl Hantzsch nitriles as tertiary radical donors
      joined two contiguous all-carbon quaternary centers intermolecularly, and this
      chemistry was used to synthesize a common precursor of a class of hydroxysteroid
      dehydrogenase inhibitors.

PMID- 27622652
TI  - Different Antibody Response against the Coxsackievirus A16 VP1 Capsid Protein:
      Specific or Non-Specific.
AB  - Coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) is one of the major causative agents of hand, foot, and
      mouth disease worldwide. The non-neutralizing antibody response that targets CA16
      VP1 remains poorly elucidated. In the present study, antibody responses against
      CA16 VP1 in Shanghai blood donors and Shanxi individuals were analyzed by ELISA
      and inhibitory ELISA using five CA16 VP1 antigens: VP11-297, VP141-297, VP11-60,
      VP145-58 and VP161-297. The correlation coefficients for most of the reactions
      against each of the five antigens and the inhibition of the anti-CA16 VP1
      antibody response produced by the various antigens were higher in Shanghai blood
      donors compared to those in Shanxi individuals. VP11-297 and VP141-297 strongly
      inhibited the anti-CA16 VP1 response in serum samples from both populations,
      while VP145-58 and VP161-297 intermediately and weakly inhibited the anti-CA16
      VP1 response, respectively, in only Shanghai group. A specific type of inhibition
      (anti-CA16 VP1 was completely inhibited by both VP11-60 and VP141-297)
      characterized by high neutralizing antibody titers was identified and accounted
      for 71.4% of the strongly reactive samples from the Shanghai group. These results
      indicate that the Shanghai blood donors exhibited a consistent and specific
      antibody response, while the Shanxi individuals showed an inconsistent and non
      specific antibody response. These findings may improve the understanding of host
      humoral immunity against CA16 and help to identify an effective approach for
      seroepidemiological surveillance and specific diagnosis of CA16 infection based
      on normal and competitive ELISA. 

PMID- 27622655
TI  - The struggle for schizophrenia treatment: A case study.
AB  - Individual of legal age with schizophrenia presenting anosognosia was abandoned,
      as a result of a court decision. Close family members were not allowed to provide
      medical follow-up, treatment, protection regarding his vulnerability, and
      preserve the dignity of their loved one. The issue was the court's prioritization
      of the autonomy of the individual over his mental health status. The purpose of
      this case study was to identify the pitfalls of a court case seeking medical
      follow-up and treatment for a family member with schizophrenia and anosognosia.
      The method was qualitative and the design was descriptive and instrumental,
      linking the law to the life experience resulting from the procedures for its
      implementation. This study examined the difference between clinical and medical
      legal evaluation of the examinee. The application of the Therapeutic
      Jurisprudence principles to the high number of schizophrenia cases with
      anosognosia, the abandonment of the mentally ill, and family crisis call
      healthcare providers and the Judiciary for an improvement action of the process
      of guardianship.

PMID- 27622656
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - Bulk-fill resin composites represent an innovative class of dental composite
      materials, developed to simplify and expedite the restoration process. They can
      be adequately photopolymerized up to 4?5mm composite thickness and therefore
      permit a more economical restorative approach as compared to conventional resin
      composites. The current paper summarizes the most important facts on bulk-fill
      composite materials and provides recommendations for the successful use of these
      materials in daily practice based on upto-date in vitro and in vivo research. 

PMID- 27622657
TI  - Oxidative and inert pyrolysis on-line coupled to gas chromatography with mass
      spectrometric detection: On the pyrolysis products of tobacco additives.
AB  - According to European legislation, tobacco additives may not increase the
      toxicity or the addictive potency of the product, but there is an ongoing debate
      on how to reliably characterize and measure such properties. Further, too little
      is known on pyrolysis patterns of tobacco additives to assume that no additional
      toxicological risks need to be suspected. An on-line pyrolysis technique was used
      and coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to identify the
      pattern of chemical species formed upon thermal decomposition of 19 different
      tobacco additives like raw cane sugar, licorice or cocoa. To simulate the
      combustion of a cigarette it was necessary to perform pyrolysis at inert
      conditions as well as under oxygen supply. All individual additives were
      pyrolyzed under inert or oxidative conditions at 350, 700 and 1000 degrees C,
      respectively, and the formation of different toxicants was monitored. We observed
      the generation of vinyl acrylate, fumaronitrile, methacrylic anhydride,
      isobutyric anhydride and 3-buten-2-ol exclusively during pyrolysis of tobacco
      additives. According to the literature, these toxicants so far remained
      undetectable in tobacco or tobacco smoke. Further, the formation of 20 selected
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with molecular weights of up to 278Da was
      monitored during pyrolysis of cocoa in a semi-quantitative approach. It was shown
      that the adding of cocoa to tobacco had no influence on the relative amounts of
      the PAHs formed.

PMID- 27622654
TI  - A Novel High-Throughput 3D Screening System for EMT Inhibitors: A Pilot Screening
      Discovered the EMT Inhibitory Activity of CDK2 Inhibitor SU9516.
AB  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial pathological event in
      cancer, particularly in tumor cell budding and metastasis. Therefore, control of
      EMT can represent a novel therapeutic strategy in cancer. Here, we introduce an
      innovative three-dimensional (3D) high-throughput screening (HTS) system that
      leads to an identification of EMT inhibitors. For the establishment of the novel
      3D-HTS system, we chose NanoCulture Plates (NCP) that provided a gel-free micro
      patterned scaffold for cells and were independent of other spheroid formation
      systems using soft-agar. In the NCP-based 3D cell culture system, A549 lung
      cancer cells migrated, gathered, and then formed multiple spheroids within 7
      days. Live cell imaging experiments showed that an established EMT-inducer TGF
      beta promoted peripheral cells around the core of spheroids to acquire
      mesenchymal spindle shapes, loss of intercellular adhesion, and migration from
      the spheroids. Along with such morphological change, EMT-related gene expression
      signatures were altered, particularly alteration of mRNA levels of ECAD/CDH1,
      NCAD/CDH2, VIM and ZEB1/TCF8. These EMT-related phenotypic changes were blocked
      by SB431542, a TGF-betareceptor I (TGFbetaR1) inhibitor. Inside of the spheroids
      were highly hypoxic; in contrast, spheroid-derived peripheral migrating cells
      were normoxic, revealed by visualization and quantification using Hypoxia Probe.
      Thus, TGF-beta-triggered EMT caused spheroid hypoplasia and loss of hypoxia.
      Spheroid EMT inhibitory (SEMTIN) activity of SB431542 was calculated from
      fluorescence intensities of the Hypoxia Probe, and then was utilized in a drug
      screening of EMT-inhibitory small molecule compounds. In a pilot screening, 9 of
      1,330 compounds were above the thresholds of the SEMTIN activity and cell
      viability. Finally, two compounds SB-525334 and SU9516 showed SEMTIN activities
      in a dose dependent manner. SB-525334 was a known TGFbetaR1 inhibitor. SU9516 was
      a cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) inhibitor, which we showed also had an EMT
      inhibitory activity. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of SB
      525334 and SU9516 were 0.31 MUM and 1.21 MUM, respectively, while IC50 of
      SB431542 was 2.38 MUM. Taken together, it was shown that this 3D NCP-based HTS
      system was useful for screening of EMT-regulatory drugs. 

PMID- 27622659
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Can Older Adults "Walk" Their Way to Successful Aging? The
      Case for Physical Activity Literacy for an Aging Population.
AB  - No abstract available for this article.

PMID- 27622660
TI  - Erratum for the article Lord 2016.
AB  - In the JAPA supplement (JAPA 24[Suppl.], June 2016), which contained the
      abstracts for the 9th World Congress on Active Ageing, an incorrect abstract
      appears on page S102. This abstract, "An Australian Unique Way of Addressing the
      Research-Selling Health and Wellness to the Over 60s with Active Life Weekends",
      by B. Lord, was a duplicate of an earlier printed abstract. The correct abstract
      appears below. We apologize for this error. The online version has been
      corrected.

PMID- 27622658
TI  - SPARC Regulates Transforming Growth Factor Beta Induced (TGFBI) Extracellular
      Matrix Deposition and Paclitaxel Response in Ovarian Cancer Cells.
AB  - TGFBI has been shown to sensitize ovarian cancer cells to the cytotoxic effects
      of paclitaxel via an integrin receptor-mediated mechanism that modulates
      microtubule stability. Herein, we determine that TGFBI localizes within organized
      fibrillar structures in mesothelial-derived ECM. We determined that suppression
      of SPARC expression by shRNA decreased the deposition of TGFBI in mesothelial
      derived ECM, without affecting its overall protein expression or secretion.
      Conversely, overexpression of SPARC increased TGFBI deposition. A SPARC-YFP
      fusion construct expressed by the Met5a cell line co-localized with TGFBI in the
      cell-derived ECM. Interestingly, in vitro produced SPARC was capable of
      precipitating TGFBI from cell lysates dependent on an intact SPARC carboxy
      terminus with in vitro binding assays verifying a direct interaction. The last 37
      amino acids of SPARC were shown to be required for the TGFBI interaction while
      expression of a SPARC-YFP construct lacking this region (aa 1-256) did not
      interact and co-localize with TGFBI in the ECM. Furthermore, ovarian cancer cells
      have a reduced motility and decreased response to the chemotherapeutic agent
      paclitaxel when plated on ECM derived from mesothelial cells lacking SPARC
      compared to control mesothelial-derived ECM. In conclusion, SPARC regulates the
      fibrillar ECM deposition of TGFBI through a novel interaction, subsequently
      influencing cancer cell behavior. 

PMID- 27622667
TI  - Correction to Long-Term Changes in Sediment and Nutrient Delivery from Conowingo
      Dam to Chesapeake Bay: Effects of Reservoir Sedimentation.

PMID- 27622661
TI  - To measure or not to measure direct oral anticoagulants before surgery or
      invasive procedures: comment.

PMID- 27622669
TI  - Cylindrical Water Triboelectric Nanogenerator via Controlling Geometrical Shape
      of Anodized Aluminum for Enhanced Electrostatic Induction.
AB  - We demonstrate a cylindrical water triboelectric nanogenerator (CW-TENG) that
      generates sustainable electrical output. The inner surface of the cylinder was
      patterned into superhydrophobic and hydrophilic parts to control water flow
      inside the packaged design of CW-TENG. Here, various thicknesses and roughnesses
      of the superhydrophobic surface, generated using aluminum oxide nanostructures
      for enhanced electrostatic induction, were measured to obtain the maximum output
      and superhydrophobicity. Also, we demonstrate the possibility of using a
      hydrophilic surface for energy harvesting and as a water reservoir in the
      packaged design. 

PMID- 27622668
TI  - Farmers Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Health Problems Associated with
      Pesticide Use in Rural Irrigation Villages, Southwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, pesticides are widely used for a variety of purposes.
      The occurrence of contamination and poisoning for farmers is highly reported due
      to unsafe handling practices and their usage. We assessed knowledge, attitudes
      and experiences of previous pesticide exposure, and related health problems among
      farmers who use irrigation in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A
      community based cross-sectional study was conducted among farmers living in the
      zone. Respondents were 796 irrigation farmers from 20 kebeles (lowest
      administration unit) in Jimma Zone. Data were collected using a pretested and
      structured questionnaire via face-to-face interviews. Both descriptive and
      inferential statistics analysis were performed. A binary logistic regression was
      used to identify factors associated with attitudes of farmers towards the safe
      use of pesticides at P value of <= 0.05 in the final model. RESULTS: Among the
      participants, 54.4% (95%CI, 50.7-58%) knew at least one pesticide control method
      and 53.7% had positive attitudes towards safe use of pesticide. The mean score of
      attitudes was found to be 3.9(+/-0.4). Knowledge including each of the following:
      the names of the pesticides (AOR, 0.41; 95%CI, 0.25-0.67), methods of pest
      control and the use of gloves during pesticide exposure (AOR, 1.52; 95%CI, 1.07
      2.16) was found to be independent predictor of the farmers' attitudes about safe
      use of pesticides. Past exposure of pesticide was reported by 89.6% of farmers.
      Participants reported ingestion (88.9%) and inhalation (90.4%) as possible
      mechanisms of pesticide exposure. Nearly 42% of farmers had never used any
      personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves against pesticide
      exposure. Farmers reported several health complications, which were perceived as
      complications of pesticide exposure, including: headache, nausea and vomiting,
      skin rash and irritation and abdominal pain. CONCLUSIONS: The study exposed the
      existence of high probability of pesticide exposure, the low safe use of
      pesticide and the low use of PPE. However, but farmers had positive attitudes
      towards safe use of pesticides. These findings appeal for the development of
      effective public health strategies to improve farmers' awareness and safe use of
      PPE. In addition, there is a need to inform farmers about integrated pest
      management to prevent severe health complications, which may occur as a result of
      unsafe and inappropriate use of pesticides.

PMID- 27622670
TI  - Diffusion tensor imaging of white matter and correlates to eye movement control
      and psychometric testing in children with prenatal alcohol exposure.
AB  - Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can cause central nervous system dysfunction and
      widespread structural anomalies as detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
      This study focused on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of white matter in a large
      sample of PAE participants that allowed us to examine correlations with
      behavioral outcomes. Participants were confirmed PAE (n = 69, mean age = 12.5 +/-
      3.2 years) or typically developing control children (n = 67, mean age = 12.1 +/-
      3.2 years) who underwent brain MRI, eye movement tasks, and psychometric tests. A
      semi-automated tractography method extracted fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean
      diffusivity (MD) values from 15 white matter tracts. The PAE group displayed
      decreased FA compared with controls in multiple tracts including 3 corpus
      callosum regions, right corticospinal tract, and 3 left hemisphere tracts
      connecting to the frontal lobe (cingulum, uncinate fasciculus, and superior
      longitudinal fasciculus). Significant group by sex interactions were found for
      the genu, left superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the left uncinate, with
      females in the PAE group exhibiting lower FA compared with control females.
      Correlations were found between DTI and eye movement measures in the control
      group, but these same relationships were absent in the PAE group. In contrast, no
      correlations were found between DTI and any of the psychometric tests used in
      this study. These findings support the hypothesis that measures of eye movement
      control may be valuable functional biomarkers of the brain injury induced by PAE
      as these tasks reveal group differences that appear to be linked to deficits in
      white matter integrity in the brain. Hum Brain Mapp 38:444-456, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27622671
TI  - Familial Mediterranean Fever Presenting with Recurrent Aseptic Meningitis: A Case
      Report.

PMID- 27622672
TI  - Q-Band Electron-Nuclear Double Resonance Reveals Out-of-Plane Hydrogen Bonds
      Stabilize an Anionic Ubisemiquinone in Cytochrome bo3 from Escherichia coli.
AB  - The respiratory cytochrome bo3 ubiquinol oxidase from Escherichia coli has a high
      affinity ubiquinone binding site that stabilizes the one-electron reduced
      ubisemiquinone (SQH), which is a transient intermediate during the electron
      mediated reduction of O2 to water. It is known that SQH is stabilized by two
      strong hydrogen bonds from R71 and D75 to ubiquinone carbonyl oxygen O1 and weak
      hydrogen bonds from H98 and Q101 to O4. In this work, SQH was investigated with
      orientation-selective Q-band (~34 GHz) pulsed 1H electron-nuclear double
      resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy on fully deuterated cytochrome (cyt) bo3 in a H2O
      solvent so that only exchangeable protons contribute to the observed ENDOR
      spectra. Simulations of the experimental ENDOR spectra provided the principal
      values and directions of the hyperfine (hfi) tensors for the two strongly coupled
      H-bond protons (H1 and H2). For H1, the largest principal component of the proton
      anisotropic hfi tensor Tz' = 11.8 MHz, whereas for H2, Tz' = 8.6 MHz. Remarkably,
      the data show that the direction of the H1 H-bond is nearly perpendicular to the
      quinone plane (~70 degrees  out of plane). The orientation of the second strong
      hydrogen bond, H2, is out of plane by ~25 degrees . Equilibrium molecular
      dynamics simulations on a membrane-embedded model of the cyt bo3 QH site show
      that these H-bond orientations are plausible but do not distinguish which H-bond,
      from R71 or D75, is nearly perpendicular to the quinone ring. Density functional
      theory calculations support the idea that the distances and geometries of the H
      bonds to the ubiquinone carbonyl oxygens, along with the measured proton
      anisotropic hfi couplings, are most compatible with an anionic (deprotonated)
      ubisemiquinone.

PMID- 27622675
TI  - Reliability and convergent validity of the 6-min run test in young adults with
      Down syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence about the psychometric properties of field
      tests to measure cardiorespiratory fitness in people with Down syndrome.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at analyzing the reliability and convergent validity
      of the 6-min run test when performed by young adults with Down syndrome (DS).
      METHODS: In a cross-sectional design fifty-one young adults with DS (mean age
      26.20 +/- 7.14 years; 54% women) performed the 6-min run test and the 16-min
      shuttle run test twice with a one week-interval between test and retest. RESULTS:
      The 6-min run test offered high reliability for the distances covered (ICC:
      0.974; 95% CI: 0.955-0.985) and good reliability when comparing peak heart rate
      values obtained in the test and retest (ICC: 0.870; 95% CI: 0.772-0.926). A
      significant correlation between the 6-min run test and the 16-min shuttle run
      test was observed for the test (r = 0.705; Sig = 0.001), and retest phases (r =
      0.651; Sig = 0.001). The relationship between the estimated maximal oxygen
      consumption (VO2 max) peak after the performance of the 16-min shuttle run test
      and the distance covered by the 6-min run test was statistically significant (r >
      0.7). No significant differences were found between the equations that estimate
      VO2 peak for both tests. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the 6-min run
      test shows high test/retest reliability and moderate to moderately high
      convergent validity when performed by adults with DS.

PMID- 27622673
TI  - High Leptospira Diversity in Animals and Humans Complicates the Search for Common
      Reservoirs of Human Disease in Rural Ecuador.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease responsible for high morbidity
      around the world, especially in tropical and low income countries. Rats are
      thought to be the main vector of human leptospirosis in urban settings. However,
      differences between urban and low-income rural communities provide additional
      insights into the epidemiology of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
      Our study was conducted in two low-income rural communities near the coast of
      Ecuador. We detected and characterized infectious leptospira DNA in a wide
      variety of samples using new real time quantitative PCR assays and amplicon
      sequencing. We detected infectious leptospira in a high percentage of febrile
      patients (14.7%). In contrast to previous studies on leptospirosis risk factors,
      higher positivity was not found in rats (3.0%) but rather in cows (35.8%) and
      pigs (21.1%). Six leptospira species were identified (L. borgpetersenii, L
      kirschnerii, L santarosai, L. interrogans, L noguchii, and an intermediate
      species within the L. licerasiae and L. wolffii clade) and no significant
      differences in the species of leptospira present in each animal species was
      detected (chi2 = 9.89, adj.p-value = 0.27). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A large
      portion of the world's human population lives in low-income, rural communities,
      however, there is limited information about leptospirosis transmission dynamics
      in these settings. In these areas, exposure to peridomestic livestock is
      particularly common and high prevalence of infectious leptospira in cows and pigs
      suggest that they may be the most important reservoir for human transmission.
      Genotyping clinical samples show that multiple species of leptospira are involved
      in human disease. As these genotypes were also detected in samples from a variety
      of animals, genotype data must be used in conjunction with epidemiological data
      to provide evidence of transmission and the importance of different potential
      leptospirosis reservoirs.

PMID- 27622676
TI  - Chronic stress is associated with reduced circulating hematopoietic progenitor
      cell number: A maternal caregiving model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic psychological stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular
      disease and mortality. Circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells (CPCs) maintain
      vascular homeostasis, correlate with preclinical atherosclerosis, and
      prospectively predict cardiovascular events. We hypothesize that (1) chronic
      caregiving stress is related to reduced CPC number, and (2) this may be explained
      in part by negative interactions within the family. METHODS: We investigated
      levels of stress and CPCs in 68 healthy mothers - 31 of these had children with
      an autism spectrum disorder (M-ASD) and 37 had neurotypical children (M-NT).
      Participants provided fasting blood samples, and CD45+CD34+KDR+ and
      CD45+CD133+KDR+ CPCs were assayed by flow cytometry. We averaged the blom
      transformed scores of both CPCs to create one index. Participants completed the
      perceived stress scale (PSS), the inventory for depressive symptoms (IDS), and
      reported on daily interactions with their children and partners, averaged over 7
      nights. RESULTS: M-ASD exhibited lower CPCs than M-NT (Cohen's d=0.83; p?0.01),
      controlling for age, BMI, and physical activity. Across the whole sample,
      positive interactions were related to higher CPCs, and negative interactions to
      lower CPCs (allp's<0.05). The adverse effects of group on CPCs were significantly
      mediated through negative interactions with the child (indirect beta=-0.24,
      p?0.01). In the full model, greater age (beta=-0.19, p=0.04), BMI (beta=-0.18,
      p=0.04), and negative interactions with the child (beta=-0.33, p<0.01) were
      independently associated with lower CPCs. M-ASD had a less healthy lipid profile
      (total cholesterol/HDL), which in turn, was associated with lower CPCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Chronic stress adversely impacts CPC number, an early-stage
      biomarker that predicts subclinical atherosclerosis and future CVD events,
      independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and inflammatory factors.
      Among maternal caregivers, child-related interpersonal stress appears to be a key
      psychological predictor of stress-related CVD risk.

PMID- 27622677
TI  - Behavioral impact of maternal allergic-asthma in two genetically distinct mouse
      strains.
AB  - Recent population-based studies of expecting mothers identified a unique profile
      of immune markers that are associated with an increased risk of having a child
      diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This immune profile, including
      increased levels of maternal and placental interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5, is
      consistent with an immune response found in an allergic-asthma phenotype.
      Allergies and asthma reflect an imbalance in immune responses including
      polarization towards T-helper type 2 (TH2) responses, with both genetic
      susceptibility and environmental factors affecting this T-cell polarization.
      Mouse strains provide a known and controlled source of genetic diversity to
      explore the role of genetic predisposition on environmental factors. In
      particular, the FVB background exhibits a skew towards TH2-mediated allergic
      asthma response in traditional models of asthma whereas the C57 strain exhibits a
      more blunted TH2 polarized phenotype resulting in an attenuated allergic-asthma
      response. C57BL/6J (C57) and the sighted FVB.129P2-Pde6b(+) Tyr(c-ch)/Ant
      (FVB/Ant) lines were selected based on their characteristic high sociability and
      differing sensitivity to TH2-mediated stimuli. Based on the distinct allergy
      sensitive immune responses of these two strains, we hypothesized that unique
      developmental consequences would occur in offspring following maternal allergy
      asthma exposure. Female C57 and FVB/Ant dams were primed/sensitized with an
      exposure to ovalbumin (OVA) before pregnancy, then exposed to either aerosolized
      OVA or PBS-vehicle throughout gestation. Sera from pregnant dams were analyzed
      for changes in cytokine profiles using multiplex-arrays and offspring were
      assessed for changes in autism-like behavioral responses. Analysis of maternal
      sera revealed elevated IL-4 and IL-5 in OVA-treated dams of both strains but only
      C57 mice expressed increased levels of IL-1beta, IL-6, TNFalpha, and IL-17.
      Behavioral assessments revealed strain-dependent changes in juvenile reciprocal
      social interaction in offspring of maternal allergic asthma dams. Moreover, mice
      of both strains showed decreased repetitive grooming and increased marble burying
      behavior when born to OVA-exposed dams. Together, these findings support the
      important role genetic predisposition plays in the effects of maternal immune
      activation and underscore differences in ASD-like behavioral outcomes across
      mouse strains.

PMID- 27622680
TI  - Rapid and ultrasensitive detection of microRNA by target-assisted isothermal
      exponential amplification coupled with poly (thymine)-templated fluorescent
      copper nanoparticles.
AB  - We devised a novel method for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of target
      microRNA (miRNA) by employing target-assisted isothermal exponential
      amplification (TAIEA) combined with poly (thymine)-templated fluorescent copper
      nanoparticles (CuNPs) as signaling probes. The target miRNA hybridizes to the
      unimolecular template DNA and works as a primer for the extension reaction to
      form double-stranded product, which consequently generates two nicking
      endonuclease recognition sites. By simultaneous nicking and displacement
      reactions, exponential amplification generates many poly (thymine) strands as
      final products, which are employed for the synthesis of fluorescent CuNPs. Based
      on the fluorescent signal from CuNPs, target miRNA is detected as low as 0.27 fM
      around 1 h of total analysis time. The diagnostic capability of this system has
      been successfully demonstrated by reliably detecting target miRNA from different
      cell lysates, showing its great potential towards real clinical applications. 

PMID- 27622678
TI  - Serum C-reactive protein in adolescence and risk of schizophrenia in adulthood: A
      prospective birth cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Meta-analyses of cross-sectional studies confirm an increase in
      circulating inflammatory markers during acute psychosis. Longitudinal studies are
      scarce but are needed to understand whether elevated inflammatory markers are a
      cause or consequence of illness. We report a longitudinal study of serum C
      reactive protein (CRP) in adolescence and subsequent risk of schizophrenia and
      related psychoses in adulthood in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. METHOD:
      Serum high-sensitivity CRP was measured at age 15/16 years in 6362 participants.
      ICD-10 diagnoses of schizophrenia and related psychoses were obtained from
      centralised hospital inpatient and outpatient registers up to age 27 years.
      Logistic regression calculated odds ratios (ORs) for psychotic outcomes
      associated with baseline CRP levels analysed as both continuous and categorical
      variables using American Heart Association criteria. Age, sex, body mass index,
      maternal education, smoking, and alcohol use were included as potential
      confounders. RESULTS: By age 27years, 88 cases of non-affective psychosis
      (1.38%), of which 22 were schizophrenia (0.35%), were identified. Adolescent CRP
      was associated with subsequent schizophrenia. The adjusted OR for schizophrenia
      by age 27yearsfor each standard deviation (SD) increase in CRP levels at age
      15/16yearswas 1.25 (95% CI, 1.07-1.46), which was consistent with a linear, dose
      response relationship (P-value for quadratic term 0.23). Using CRP as a
      categorical variable, those with high (>3mg/L) compared with low (<1mg/L) CRP
      levels at baseline were more likely to develop schizophrenia; adjusted OR 4.25
      (95% CI, 1.30-13.93). There was some indication that higher CRP was associated
      with earlier onset of schizophrenia (rs=-0.40; P=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: A
      longitudinal association between adolescent CRP levels and adult schizophrenia
      diagnosis indicates a potentially important role of inflammation in the
      pathogenesis of the illness, although the findings, based on a small number of
      cases, need to be interpreted with caution and require replication in other
      samples.

PMID- 27622681
TI  - Multitriggered Tumor-Responsive Drug Delivery Vehicles Based on Protein and
      Polypeptide Coassembly for Enhanced Photodynamic Tumor Ablation.
AB  - Tumor-responsive nanocarriers are highly valuable and demanded for smart drug
      delivery particularly in the field of photodynamic therapy (PDT), where a quick
      release of photosensitizers in tumors is preferred. Herein, it is demonstrated
      that protein-based nanospheres, prepared by the electrostatic assembly of
      proteins and polypeptides with intermolecular disulfide cross-linking and surface
      polyethylene glycol coupling, can be used as versatile tumor-responsive drug
      delivery vehicles for effective PDT. These nanospheres are capable of
      encapsulation of various photosensitizers including Chlorin e6 (Ce6),
      protoporphyrin IX, and verteporfin. The Chlorin e6-encapsulated nanospheres (Ce6
      Ns) are responsive to changes in pH, redox potential, and proteinase
      concentration, resulting in multitriggered rapid release of Ce6 in an environment
      mimicking tumor tissues. In vivo fluorescence imaging results indicate that Ce6
      Ns selectively accumulate near tumors and the quick release of Ce6 from Ce6-Ns
      can be triggered by tumors. In tumors the fluorescence of released Ce6 from Ce6
      Ns is observed at 0.5 h postinjection, while in normal tissues the fluorescence
      appeared at 12 h postinjection. Tumor ablation is demonstrated by in vivo PDT
      using Ce6-Ns and the biocompatibility of Ce6-Ns is evident from the
      histopathology imaging, confirming the enhanced in vivo PDT efficacy and the
      biocompatibility of the assembled drug delivery vehicles.

PMID- 27622679
TI  - Quadrant Field Pupillometry Detects Melanopsin Dysfunction in Glaucoma Suspects
      and Early Glaucoma.
AB  - It is difficult to detect visual function deficits in patients at risk for
      glaucoma (glaucoma suspects) and at early disease stages with conventional
      ophthalmic tests such as perimetry. To this end, we introduce a novel quadrant
      field measure of the melanopsin retinal ganglion cell mediated pupil light
      response corresponding with typical glaucomatous arcuate visual field defects.
      The melanopsin-mediated post-illumination pupil response (PIPR) was measured in
      46 patients with different stages of glaucoma including glaucoma suspects and
      compared to a healthy group of 21 participants with no disease. We demonstrate
      that the superonasal quadrant PIPR differentiated glaucoma suspects and early
      glaucoma patients from controls with fair (AUC = 0.74) and excellent (AUC = 0.94)
      diagnostic accuracy, respectively. The superonasal PIPR provides a linear
      functional correlate of structural retinal nerve fibre thinning in glaucoma
      suspects and early glaucoma patients. This first report that quadrant PIPR
      stimulation detects melanopsin dysfunction in patients with early glaucoma and at
      pre-perimetric stages may have future implications in treatment decisions of
      glaucoma suspects.

PMID- 27622683
TI  - How Much Do Ultrathin Polymers with Intrinsic Microporosity Swell in Liquids?
AB  - As synthetic membrane materials, polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs)
      have demonstrated unprecedented permeation and molecular-separation properties.
      Here, we report the swelling characteristics of submicron-thick supported films
      of spirobisindane-based PIMs, PIM-1 and PIM-6FDA-OH, for six organic solvents and
      water using in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. Surprisingly, PIMs swell
      significantly in most organic solvents, with swelling factors (SF =
      hswollen/hdry) as high as 2.5. This leads to the loss of the ultrarigid character
      of the polymer and produces equilibrated liquid-like swollen films. Filling of
      the excess frozen-in fractional free volume with liquid was discovered next to
      swelling-induced polymer matrix dilation. Water hardly swells the polymer matrix,
      but it penetrates into the intrinsic microporous structure. This study is the
      first to provide fundamental swelling data for PIMs, leading to better
      comprehension of their permeation properties. Such an understanding is
      indispensable for applications such as solvent filtration, natural-gas
      separation, and ion retention in flow batteries.

PMID- 27622682
TI  - Predictors of efficacy of GLP-1 agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors: A systematic
      review.
AB  - AIMS: To identify the determinants of efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1
      receptor agonists (GLP-1A) and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4I).
      METHODS: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched between 01/01/2011 and 15/08/2014 for
      randomized controlled trials of 12-52weeks' duration, which reported the change
      in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from baseline as the primary end point, and
      reported data about predictors of efficacy of incretins. RESULTS: Among 4172
      studies found, 77 studies reported data on baseline HbA1c, age, sex, ethnicity,
      body mass index (BMI), and history of diabetes in relation to change in HbA1c.
      For DPP-4I, 37 out of 47 studies reported a greater decrease in HbA1c among
      patients with higher baseline HbA1c. Most DPP-4I studies reported no variation in
      efficacy in regard to demographic characteristics or BMI. Among 17 studies
      reporting on GLP-1A, baseline higher HbA1c was reported as predictive of a
      greater response in 7 out of 9 studies; 13 studies reported data about other
      factors, without consistent findings. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence suggests that
      higher baseline HbA1c is associated with a greater efficacy of both DPP-4I and
      GLP-1A therapies in lowering HbA1c. The roles of other potential predictors are
      less consistent across studies and require further investigation.

PMID- 27622685
TI  - Outcomes Among Children Enrolled in HIV Care in Mozambique 2009-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scale-up of HIV care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) services for
      children has expanded access, but significant gaps and challenges remain. We
      examined lost to follow-up (LTF) and mortality in a large cohort of children
      enrolled in HIV care in Mozambique. METHODS: Routinely collected medical data on
      children 0-14 years enrolled in care 2009-2013 at ICAP-supported health
      facilities in 5 provinces of Mozambique were used. Children not receiving ART
      (pre-ART) were considered LTF if they did not a have a visit within 12 months of
      the end of data collection; for those receiving ART, LTF was no visit within 6
      months. Competing risk and Kaplan-Meier estimators were used, respectively, to
      estimate pre-ART and on ART LTF and mortality. RESULTS: A total of 13,695
      children enrolled in HIV care at 64 health facilities (48.6%, <2 years), and 7733
      (56.5%) initiated ART during follow-up. Cumulative incidence of pre-ART LTF was
      32.9% [95% confidence interval (CI): 32.1-33.7] and 34.4% (95% CI: 33.6-35.2) by
      12 and 24 months, respectively, and was highest in children <5 years (12-month
      LTF in children 2-4 years, 34.2%, 95% CI: 32.6-35.9). Pre-ART mortality at 12
      months was 3.3% (95% CI: 3.0-3.6) and was highest in children <2 years (4.1%, 95%
      CI: 3.6-4.6). On ART, LTF was 28.6% (95% CI: 27.6-29.7) and 37.6 (95% CI: 36.4
      38.8) at 12 and 24 months, and 12 months mortality after ART was 8.0% (95% CI:
      7.3-8.7). CONCLUSIONS: High rates of LTF were observed in this large cohort of
      HIV-infected children accessing care in Mozambique both before and after ART
      initiation highlighting the urgent need for interventions to improve retention in
      routine care settings.

PMID- 27622684
TI  - Effect of high-fidelity shoulder dystocia simulation on emergency obstetric
      skills and crew resource management skills among residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of a simulation training program for residents
      in obstetrics and gynecology in terms of technical and nontechnical skills for
      the management of shoulder dystocia. METHODS: A prospective study was performed
      at a center in Italy in April-May 2015. Thirty-two obstetrics and gynecology
      residents were divided into two groups. Residents in the control group were
      immediately exposed to an emergency shoulder dystocia scenario, whereas those in
      the simulation group completed a 2-hour training session with the simulator
      before being exposed to the scenario. After 8weeks, the residents were again
      exposed to the shoulder dystocia scenario and reassessed. Participants were
      scored on their demonstration of technical and nontechnical skills. RESULTS: In
      the first set of scenarios, the mean score was higher in the simulation group
      than the control group in terms of both technical skills (P=0.008) and
      nontechnical skills (P<0.001). This difference was retained after 8weeks.
      CONCLUSION: High-fidelity simulation programs could be used for the training of
      residents in obstetrics and gynecology to diagnose and manage obstetric
      emergencies such as shoulder dystocia.

PMID- 27622686
TI  - Update on Incidence of Herpes Zoster Among Children and Adolescents After
      Implementation of Varicella Vaccination, Antelope Valley, CA, 2000 to 2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Changes in herpes zoster (HZ) epidemiology are expected with
      childhood varicella vaccination. We reported previously that during 2000 to 2006
      HZ incidence decreased 55% in children <10 years of age, while among 10- to 19
      year olds it increased by 63%. We update the analysis with 4 additional years of
      data. METHODS: Population-based active surveillance was conducted for HZ in
      Antelope Valley, California. Structured telephone interviews and medical chart
      reviews collected data on demographics, varicella vaccinations, disease histories
      and clinical information. We calculated HZ incidence for 2007 to 2010 and
      assessed trends since 2000. RESULTS: Among children <10 years of age, HZ
      incidence continued the decreasing trend previously reported. During 2007 to
      2010, the average incidence was 12.8 cases/100,000 children compared with 41.6
      cases/100,000 children during 2000 to 2006, a 69% decline (P < 0.0001). For the
      10- to 19-year olds, during 2007 to 2010 HZ incidence did not continue the
      increasing trend reported from 2000 to 2006; lower rates than in 2006 were
      observed in 3 of the 4 additional years evaluated. During 2007 to 2010 the
      average incidence was 78.2 cases/100,000 children compared with 68.0
      cases/100,000 children during 2000 to 2006, a 13% increase (P = 0.123), with
      substantial fluctuation in annual rates throughout the 11 years of surveillance.
      CONCLUSIONS: During the mature varicella vaccination program, declines in HZ
      incidence among children <10 years of age continued through 2010. Among the 10-
      to 19-year olds, the increase reported through 2006 did not continue further and
      lower rates than in 2006 were observed through 2010. Widespread use of varicella
      vaccine could reduce HZ incidence among vaccinated populations. Ongoing
      monitoring of HZ incidence is needed to detect and understand changes in HZ
      epidemiology in the varicella vaccine era.

PMID- 27622687
TI  - Group A Streptococcal Suppurative Arthritis and Osteomyelitis of the Shoulder
      With Brachial Plexus Palsy in a Newborn.
AB  - Osteoarticular infections in the newborn period are rare. A serious complication
      is paralysis of the affected extremity resulting from either pain or direct
      involvement of the nerve. We report a newborn with combined osteomyelitis and
      suppurative arthritis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes presenting with right
      brachial plexus palsy.

PMID- 27622688
TI  - Emphysematous Pyelonephritis in Children.
AB  - Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a severe necrotizing infection of the kidneys
      characterized by gas formation within the parenchyma, the collecting system or
      the perinephric tissue. To our knowledge, there have only been 4 cases of this
      condition reported in children. We report 2 additional cases in children managed
      at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.

PMID- 27622689
TI  - Perinatally Acquired Chikungunya Infection: The Puerto Rico Experience.

PMID- 27622690
TI  - Varicella Complications in Unvaccinated Children and Delay in Hospital Admission.

PMID- 27622692
TI  - Effect of Denosumab on Peripheral Compartmental Bone Density, Microarchitecture
      and Estimated Bone Strength in De Novo Kidney Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: In a randomized controlled clinical trial in kidney transplant
      recipients (NCT01377467) we have recently shown that RANKL inhibition with
      denosumab significantly improved areal bone mineral density (aBMD) when given
      during the first year after transplantation. The effect of denosumab on skeletal
      microstructure and bone strength in kidney transplant recipients is not known.
      METHODS: The purpose of the present bone microarchitecture ancillary study was to
      investigate high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HRpQCT)
      data from the distal tibia and distal radius in 24 study patients that had been
      randomized to receive either two injections of denosumab 60 mg at baseline and
      after 6 months (n=10) or no treatment (n=14). RESULTS: Consistent with the full
      trial findings, denosumab reduced biomarkers of bone turnover, and significantly
      increased aBMD at the lumbar spine (median difference of 4.7%; 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 2.6 - 7.8; p<0.001). Bone quality as assessed by total and cortical
      volumetric bone mineral density (Tot. vBMD, Ct.vBMD) and cortical thickness
      (Ct.Th) increased significantly at the tibia, while changes at the radius were
      less pronounced. The trabecular volumetric BMD (Tb.vBMD), thickness (Tb. Th),
      separation (Tb.Sp) and number (Tb.N) and the cortical porosity (Ct.Po) at the
      tibia and the radius did not significantly change in both treatment groups. Micro
      finite element analysis (uFEA) showed that bone stiffness increased significantly
      at the tibia (median difference 5.6%; 95% CI 1.8% - 9.2%; p=0.002) but not at the
      radius (median difference 2.9%, 95% CI -3.7% - 9.1%; p=0.369). Likewise, failure
      load increased significantly at the tibia (median difference 5.1%; 95% CI 2.1% -
      8.1%; p=0.002) but not at the radius (median difference 2.4%, 95% CI -3.2% -
      8.5%; p=0.336). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that denosumab improves
      bone density and bone quality in first-year kidney transplant recipients at risk
      to develop osteoporosis.

PMID- 27622691
TI  - Single-cell transcriptome and epigenomic reprogramming of cardiomyocyte-derived
      cardiac progenitor cells.
AB  - The molecular basis underlying the dedifferentiation of mammalian adult
      cardiomyocytes (ACMs) into myocyte-derived cardiac progenitor cells (mCPCs)
      during cardiac tissue regeneration is poorly understood. We present data
      integrating single-cell transcriptome and whole-genome DNA methylome analyses of
      mouse mCPCs to understand the epigenomic reprogramming governing their intrinsic
      cellular plasticity. Compared to parental cardiomyocytes, mCPCs display
      epigenomic reprogramming with many differentially-methylated regions, both
      hypermethylated and hypomethylated, across the entire genome. Correlating well
      with the methylome, our single-cell transcriptomic data show that the genes
      encoding cardiac structure and function proteins are remarkably down-regulated in
      mCPCs, while those for cell cycle, proliferation, and stemness are significantly
      up-regulated. In addition, implanting mCPCs into infarcted mouse myocardium
      improves cardiac function with augmented left ventricular ejection fraction. This
      dataset suggests that the cellular plasticity of mammalian cardiomyocytes is the
      result of a well-orchestrated epigenomic reprogramming and a subsequent global
      transcriptomic alteration. Understanding cardiomyocyte epigenomic reprogramming
      may enable the design of future clinical therapies that induce cardiac
      regeneration, and prevent heart failure.

PMID- 27622693
TI  - A "Smart" Force-Limiting Instrument for Microsurgery: Laboratory and In Vivo
      Validation.
AB  - Residents are required to learn a multitude of skills during their microsurgical
      training. One such skill is the judicious application of force when handling
      delicate tissue. An instrument has been developed that indicates to the surgeon
      when a force threshold has been exceeded by providing vibrotactile feedback. The
      objective of this study was to validate the use of this "smart" force-limiting
      instrument for microsurgery. A laboratory and an in vivo experiment were
      performed to evaluate the force-limiting instrument. In the laboratory
      experiment, twelve novice surgeons were randomly allocated to use either the
      force-limiting instrument or a standard instrument. Surgeons were then asked to
      perform microsurgical dissection in a model. In the in vivo experiment, an
      intermediate surgeon performed microsurgical dissection in a stepwise fashion,
      alternating every 30 seconds between use of the force-limiting instrument and a
      standard instrument. The primary outcomes were the forces exerted and the OSATS
      scores. In the laboratory experiment, the maximal forces exerted by novices using
      the force-limiting instrument were significantly less than using a standard
      instrument, and were comparable to intermediate and expert surgeons (0.637N
      versus 4.576N; p = 0.007). In the in vivo experiment, the maximal forces exerted
      with the force-limiting instrument were also significantly less than with a
      standard instrument (0.441N versus 0.742N; p <0.001). Notably, use of the force
      limiting instrument did not significantly impede the surgical workflow as
      measured by the OSATS score (p >0.1). In conclusion, the development and use of
      this force-limiting instrument in a clinical setting may improve patient safety. 

PMID- 27622694
TI  - Benefits of Stereotactic Radiotherapy Fellowships to Clinical Oncology Trainees.

PMID- 27622695
TI  - Decline in methylmercury in museum-preserved bivalves from San Francisco Bay,
      California.
AB  - There are ongoing efforts to manage mercury and nutrient pollution in San
      Francisco Bay (California, USA), but historical data on biological responses are
      limited. We used bivalves preserved in formalin or ethanol from museum
      collections to investigate long-term trends in methylmercury (MeHg)
      concentrations and carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures. In the southern reach
      of the estuary, South Bay, MeHg in the Asian date mussel (Musculista senhousia)
      significantly declined over the study duration (1970 to 2012). Mean MeHg
      concentrations were highest (218ng/g dry weight, dw) in 1975 and declined 3.8
      fold (to 57ng/g dw) by 2012. This decrease corresponded with closure of the New
      Almaden Mercury Mines and was consistent with previously observed declines in
      sediment core mercury concentrations. In contrast, across all sites, MeHg in the
      overbite clam (Potamocorbula amurensis) increased 1.3-fold from 64ng/g dw before
      2000 to 81ng/g dw during the 2000s and was higher than in M. senhousia. Pearson
      correlation coefficients of the association between MeHg and delta13C or delta15N
      provided no evidence that food web alterations explained changing MeHg
      concentrations. However, isotopic composition shifted temporally. South Bay
      bivalve delta15N increased from 120/00 in the 1970s to 180/00 in 2012. This
      increase corresponded with increasing nitrogen loadings from wastewater treatment
      plants until the late 1980s and increasing phytoplankton biomass from the 1990s
      to 2012. Similarly, a 30/00 decline in delta13C from 2002 to 2012 may represent
      greater utilization of planktonic food sources. In a complimentary 90day
      laboratory study to validate use of these preserved specimens, preservation had
      only minor effects (<0.50/00) on delta13C and delta15N. MeHg increased following
      preservation but then stabilized. These are the first documented long-term trends
      in biota MeHg and stable isotopes in this heavily impacted estuary and support
      the utility of preserved specimens to infer contaminant and biogeochemical
      trends.

PMID- 27622696
TI  - Ground-level air pollution changes during a boreal wildland mega-fire.
AB  - The 2011 Richardson wildland mega-fire in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR)
      in northern Alberta, Canada had large effects on air quality. At a receptor site
      in the center of the AOSR ambient PM2.5, O3, NO, NO2, SO2, NH3, HONO, HNO3, NH4+
      and NO3- were measured during the April-August 2011 period. Concentrations of
      NH3, HNO3, NO2, SO2 and O3 were also monitored across the AOSR with passive
      samplers, providing monthly summer and bi-monthly winter average values in 2010,
      2011 and 2012. During the fire, hourly PM2.5 concentrations >450MUgm-3 were
      measured at the AMS 1 receptor site. The 24-h National Ambient Air Quality
      Standard (NAAQS) of 35MUgm-3 and the Canada Wide Standard (CWS) of 30MUgm-3 were
      exceeded on 13days in May and 7days in June. During the fire emission periods,
      sharp increases in NH3, HONO, HNO3, NH4+, NO3- and total inorganic reactive N
      concentrations occurred, all closely correlated with the PM2.5 changes. There
      were large differences in the relative contribution of various N compounds to
      total inorganic N between the no-fire emission and fire emission periods. While
      in the absence of fires NO and NO2 dominated, their relative contribution during
      the fires was ~2 fold smaller, mainly due to increased NH3, NH4+ and NO3-.
      Concentrations of HONO and HNO3 also greatly increased during the fires, but
      their contribution to the total inorganic N pool was relatively small. Elevated
      NH3 and HNO3 concentrations affected large areas of northern Alberta during the
      Richardson Fire. While NH3 and HNO3 concentrations were not at levels considered
      toxic to plants, these gases contributed significantly to atmospheric N
      deposition. Generally, no significant changes in O3 and SO2 concentrations were
      detected and their ambient concentrations were below levels harmful to human
      health or sensitive vegetation.

PMID- 27622697
TI  - A simple model for estimating the concentrations of natural estrogens in raw
      wastewater.
AB  - This study provides a tool for predicting the concentrations of the natural
      estrogens (NEs) estrone, 17beta-estradiol and estriol in raw wastewater (WW).
      Data characterizing the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), NE concentrations, and
      discharges of raw sewage to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were collected
      from various publications and used in the model formulation. A strong correlation
      was found between the log transformed BOD and the log transformed estrone load
      (r2=0.84, n=61), the log transformed 17beta-estradiol load (r2=0.89, n=52) and
      the log transformed estriol load (r2=0.80, n=40). The models are reasonably
      accurate when compared to the measured concentrations and slightly better than
      previous modeling efforts. The relative amounts of data falling within +/-50%
      error were 67% for estrone, 63% for 17beta-estradiol, and 55% for estriol.
      Because the model was developed from a wide array of WWTPs from five continents,
      it is universal and can be used for projecting concentrations of NEs from a wide
      range of mixed domestic and industrial sources, but may be less precise when
      sources contain high levels of NEs or BOD (e.g., WW from dairy farms and food
      processing plants). The model is expected to improve our ability to predict the
      fate of NEs in WWTPs and in the receiving environment, which currently relies on
      estimating the concentrations of NEs in raw wastewater. Its application is
      especially valuable since direct measurement of NEs in raw WW is expensive and
      practically impossible in many developing countries due to the lack of expertise
      and funds.

PMID- 27622698
TI  - Variation in Preventive Care in Children Receiving Chronic Glucocorticoid
      Therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess preventive care measure prescribing in children exposed to
      glucocorticoids and identify prescribing variation according to subspecialty and
      patient characteristics. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of children
      initiating chronic glucocorticoids in the gastroenterology, nephrology, and
      rheumatology divisions at a pediatric tertiary care center. Outcomes included 25
      hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and lipid testing, pneumococcal polysaccharide (PPV) and
      influenza vaccination, and stress dose hydrocortisone prescriptions. RESULTS: A
      total of 701 children were followed for a median of 589 days. 25OHD testing was
      performed in 73%, lipid screening in 29%, and PPV and influenza vaccination in
      16% and 78%, respectively. Hydrocortisone was prescribed in 2%. Across
      specialties, 25OHD, lipid screening, and PPV prescribing varied significantly
      (all P < .001). Using logistic regression adjusting for specialty, 25OHD testing
      was associated with older age, female sex, non-Hispanic ethnicity, and lower
      baseline height and body mass index z-scores (all P < .03). Lipid screening was
      associated with older age, higher baseline body mass index z-score, and lower
      baseline height z-score (all P < .01). Vaccinations were associated with lower
      age (P < .02), and PPV completion was associated with non-White race (P = .04).
      CONCLUSIONS: Among children chronically exposed to glucocorticoids, 25OHD testing
      and influenza vaccination were common, but lipid screening, pneumococcal
      vaccination, and stress dose hydrocortisone prescribing were infrequent. Except
      for influenza vaccination, preventive care measure use varied significantly
      across specialties. Quality improvement efforts are needed to optimize preventive
      care in this high-risk population.

PMID- 27622700
TI  - Advances in Gut Microbiome Research and Relevance to Pediatric Diseases.

PMID- 27622699
TI  - Randomized Trial of Once-Daily Fluticasone Furoate in Children with Inadequately
      Controlled Asthma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the dose-response, efficacy, and safety of fluticasone
      furoate (FF; 25 ug, 50 ug, and 100 ug), administered once daily in the evening
      during a 12-week treatment period to children with inadequately controlled
      asthma. STUDY DESIGN: This was a Phase IIb, multicenter, stratified, randomized,
      double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, placebo- and active-controlled study
      in children aged 5-11 years with inadequately controlled asthma. The study
      comprised a 4-week run-in period, 12-week treatment period, and 1-week follow-up
      period. Children were randomized to receive either placebo once daily,
      fluticasone propionate (FP) 100 ug twice daily, FF 25 ug, FF 50 ug, or FF 100 ug
      each once daily in the evening. Primary endpoint was the mean change from
      baseline in daily morning peak expiratory flow (PEF) averaged over weeks 1-12.
      Adverse events (AEs) also were investigated. RESULTS: In total, 593 children were
      included in the intent-to-treat population. The difference vs placebo in change
      from baseline daily morning PEF averaged over weeks 1-12 was statistically
      significant for the FF 25, FF 50, FF 100, and FP 100 groups (18.6 L/min, 19.5
      L/min, 12.5 L/min, and 14.0 L/min, respectively; P < .001 for all). The incidence
      of AEs was greater in the FF groups (32%-36%) than in the placebo group (29%);
      the most frequent AE was cough. CONCLUSION: FF and FP resulted in significant
      improvements in morning PEF compared with placebo, suggesting that they are
      effective treatments for children with inadequately controlled asthma. All
      treatments were well tolerated; no new safety concerns were identified. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT01563029.

PMID- 27622701
TI  - Three-dimensional analyses of palatal morphology and its relation to upper airway
      area in obstructive sleep apnea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between palatal morphology and pharyngeal
      airway morphology in patients who have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and compare
      with a nonsnoring and nonapneic control group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three
      dimensional maxillary dental cast measurements from 25 OSA patients (6 women, 19
      men) with a mean age of 41.5 (4.8) years, and 25 control group participants (14
      women, 11 men) without any symptom of OSA with a mean age of 38.3 (3.7) were
      correlated with an analysis of pharyngeal area evaluated with lateral
      cephalograms. Intermolar and intercanine widths and palatal volumes were
      calculated on the dental casts, and the upper airway area measurements were
      performed on lateral cephalograms. RESULTS: OSA patients had smaller
      oropharyngeal volume and upper airway when compared with controls (P < .001).
      Palatal area measurements were significantly smaller in OSA (P < .001). OSA
      patients had significantly narrower maxilla with smaller intermolar and
      intercanine widths (P < .001). A positive correlation was found between the
      palatal morphology and pharyngeal dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: A significant
      correlation exists between palatal morphology and pharyngeal airway.

PMID- 27622702
TI  - Outcome of Limited Video-Assisted Lumbar Sympathetic Block for Plantar
      Hyperhidrosis Using Clipping Method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are many ways to treat focal hyperhidrosis, including surgeries
      for palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis. However, doctors and patients tend to be
      reluctant to perform surgery for plantar hyperhidrosis due to misconceptions and
      prejudices about surgical treatment. In addition, few studies have reported the
      outcome of surgeries for plantar hyperhidrosis. Therefore, the objective of this
      study was to determine the outcome (early and late postoperative satisfaction,
      complication, compensatory hyperhidrosis, recurrence rate, and efficiency) of
      surgical treatment for plantar hyperhidrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From August
      2014 to October 2015, lumbar sympathetic block (LSB) was performed in 82 patients
      with plantar hyperhidrosis using clipping method. Limited video-assisted LSB was
      performed using 5 mm ligamax-clip or 3 mm horizontal-clip after identifying L3-4
      sympathetic ganglion through finger-touch and endoscopic vision. RESULTS: Of the
      82 patients, 45 were male and 37 were female. Their mean age was 26.38 years
      (range, 14-51 years). Mean follow-up time was 6.60 +/- 3.56 months. Mean early
      postoperative satisfaction score was 9.6 on the 10th day postoperative
      evaluation. At more than 1 month later, the mean late postoperative satisfaction
      score was 9.2. There was no significant difference in early postoperative
      satisfaction score between clipping level L3 and L4/5. However, late
      postoperative satisfaction score was significantly better in the L3 group than
      that in the L4/5 group. Patient's age and body mass index did not affect the
      satisfaction score. However, male patients and patients who had history of
      hyperhidrosis operation showed higher satisfaction score than others. CONCLUSION:
      Limited video-assisted LSB using clip provided good results with minimal
      complications and low compensatory hidrosis, contrary to the prejudice toward it.
      Therefore, surgical treatment is recommended for plantar hyperhidrosis.

PMID- 27622703
TI  - Low intensity-ultrasonic irradiation for highly efficient, eco-friendly and fast
      synthesis of graphene oxide.
AB  - High quality graphene oxide (GO) with low layer number (less than five layers)
      and large inter-layer space was produced via a new and efficient method using
      environmentally friendly, fast and economic ultrasonic radiation. The ultrasonic
      method neither generated any toxic gas nor required any NaNO3, which have been
      the main drawbacks of the Hummers methods. The major obstacles of the recently
      reported improved Hummers method for GO synthesis, such as high reaction
      temperature (50 degrees C) and long reaction time (12h), were successfully solved
      using a low intensity-ultrasonic bath for 45min at 30 degrees C, which
      significantly reduced the reaction time and energy consumption for GO synthesis.
      Furthermore, ultrasonic GO exhibited higher surface area, higher crystallinity
      and higher oxidation efficiency with many hydrophilic groups, fewer sheets with
      higher spaces between them, a higher sp3/sp2 ratio, and more uniform size
      distribution than classically prepared GO. Therefore, the new ultrasonic method
      could be applicable for the sustainable and large-scale production of GO. The
      production yield of the ultrasonic-assisted GO was 1.25-fold greater than the GO
      synthesized with the improved Hummers method. Furthermore, the required
      production cost based on total energy consumption for ultrasonic GO was only 6.5%
      of that for classical GO.

PMID- 27622705
TI  - Game injuries in relation to game schedules in the National Basketball
      Association.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Injury management is critical in the National Basketball Association
      (NBA), as players experience a wide variety of injuries. Recently, it has been
      suggested that game schedules, such as back-to-back games and four games in five
      days, increase the risk of injuries in the NBA. The aim of this study was to
      examine the association between game schedules and player injuries in the NBA.
      DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: The present study analyzed game
      injuries and game schedules in the 2012-13 through 2014-15 regular seasons. Game
      injuries by game schedules and players' profiles were examined using an exact
      binomial test, the Fisher's exact test and the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. A
      Poisson regression analysis was performed to predict the number of game injuries
      sustained by each player from game schedules and injured players' profiles.
      RESULTS: There were a total of 681 cases of game injuries sustained by 280
      different players during the three years (total N=1443 players). Playing back-to
      back games or playing four games in five days alone was not associated with an
      increased rate of game injuries, whereas a significant positive association was
      found between game injuries and playing away from home (p<0.05). Playing back-to
      back games and away games were significant predictors of frequent game injuries
      (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Game schedules could be one factor that impacts the risk
      of game injuries in the NBA. The findings could be useful for designing optimal
      game schedules in the NBA as well as helping NBA teams make adjustments to
      minimize game injuries.

PMID- 27622706
TI  - Erratum to "My mother...my sisters... and my friends": Sources of maternal
      support in the perinatal period in urban India [Midwifery 30 (2014) 130-137].

PMID- 27622704
TI  - Is Low Non-Lethal Concentration of Methylmercury Really Safe? A Report on
      Genotoxicity with Delayed Cell Proliferation.
AB  - Human exposure to relatively low levels of methylmercury is worrying, especially
      in terms of its genotoxicity. It is currently unknown as to whether exposure to
      low levels of mercury (below established limits) is safe. Genotoxicity was
      already shown in lymphocytes, but studies with cells of the CNS (as the main
      target organ) are scarce. Moreover, disturbances in the cell cycle and cellular
      proliferation have previously been observed in neuronal cells, but no data are
      presently available for glial cells. Interestingly, cells of glial origin
      accumulate higher concentrations of methylmercury than those of neuronal origin.
      Thus, the aim of this work was to analyze the possible genotoxicity and
      alterations in the cell cycle and cell proliferation of a glioma cell line (C6)
      exposed to a low, non-lethal and non-apoptotic methylmercury concentration.
      Biochemical (mitochondrial activity) and morphological (integrity of the
      membrane) assessments confirmed the absence of cell death after exposure to 3 MUM
      methylmercury for 24 hours. Even without promoting cell death, this treatment
      significantly increased genotoxicity markers (DNA fragmentation, micronuclei,
      nucleoplasmic bridges and nuclear buds). Changes in the cell cycle profile
      (increased mitotic index and cell populations in the S and G2/M phases) were
      observed, suggesting arrest of the cycle. This delay in the cycle was followed,
      24 hours after methylmercury withdrawal, by a decrease number of viable cells,
      reduced cellular confluence and increased doubling time of the culture. Our work
      demonstrates that exposure to a low sublethal concentration of MeHg considered
      relatively safe according to current limits promotes genotoxicity and
      disturbances in the proliferation of cells of glial origin with sustained
      consequences after methylmercury withdrawal. This fact becomes especially
      important, since this cellular type accumulates more methylmercury than neurons
      and displays a vital role protecting the CNS, especially in chronic intoxication
      with this heavy metal. 

PMID- 27622708
TI  - Usefulness of Psoas Muscle Area Determined by Computed Tomography to Predict
      Mortality or Prolonged Length of Hospital Stay in Patients Undergoing Left
      Ventricular Assist Device Implantation.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to examine the association of sarcopenia as measured
      by psoas muscle area and outcomes in patients undergoing left ventricular assist
      device (LVAD) implantation. We retrospectively examined 333 consecutive patients
      who underwent implantation of a HeartMate II LVAD at our institution from June
      2008 to August 2013. Patients were included if they had a perioperative computed
      tomography that spanned the L3-L4 vertebrae. Sarcopenia was defined as having the
      lowest tertile psoas muscle area by gender. The primary end point was the
      composite of inpatient death or prolonged length of stay of >30 days. One hundred
      patients met inclusion criteria. The psoas muscle area cut-off values for the
      lowest tertiles were 12.0 cm2 for men and 6.5 cm2 for women, resulting in 32
      sarcopenic patients (32%). The primary outcome of inpatient death or prolonged
      length of stay occurred in 81% of patients in the sarcopenic versus 60% in the
      nonsarcopenic group (p = 0.043). There was a trend toward prolonged length of
      stay in sarcopenic patients but no difference in overall mortality. This
      demonstrates that sarcopenia as measured by psoas muscle area is associated with
      increased composite length of stay and mortality after LVAD implantation and may
      serve as correlate for frailty.

PMID- 27622709
TI  - Interstitial Boron-Doped TiO2 Thin Films: The Significant Effect of Boron on TiO2
      Coatings Grown by Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition.
AB  - The work presented here describes the preparation of transparent interstitial
      boron-doped TiO2 thin-films by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition
      (APCVD). The interstitial boron-doping, on TiO2, proved by X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), is shown to enhance the
      crystallinity and significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2
      films. The synthesis, highly suitable for a reel-to-reel process, has been
      carried out in one step. 

PMID- 27622707
TI  - Benzylglucosinolate Derived Isothiocyanate from Tropaeolum majus Reduces
      Gluconeogenic Gene and Protein Expression in Human Cells.
AB  - Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus L.) contains high concentrations of
      benzylglcosinolate. We found that a hydrolysis product of benzyl glucosinolate
      the benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC)-modulates the intracellular localization of the
      transcription factor Forkhead box O 1 (FOXO1). FoxO transcription factors can
      antagonize insulin effects and trigger a variety of cellular processes involved
      in tumor suppression, longevity, development and metabolism. The current study
      evaluated the ability of BITC-extracted as intact glucosinolate from nasturtium
      and hydrolyzed with myrosinase-to modulate i) the insulin-signaling pathway, ii)
      the intracellular localization of FOXO1 and, iii) the expression of proteins
      involved in gluconeogenesis, antioxidant response and detoxification. Stably
      transfected human osteosarcoma cells (U-2 OS) with constitutive expression of
      FOXO1 protein labeled with GFP (green fluorescent protein) were used to evaluate
      the effect of BITC on FOXO1. Human hepatoma HepG2 cell cultures were selected to
      evaluate the effect on gluconeogenic, antioxidant and detoxification genes and
      protein expression. BITC reduced the phosphorylation of protein kinase B
      (AKT/PKB) and FOXO1; promoted FOXO1 translocation from cytoplasm into the nucleus
      antagonizing the insulin effect; was able to down-regulate the gene and protein
      expression of gluconeogenic enzymes; and induced the gene expression of
      antioxidant and detoxification enzymes. Knockdown analyses with specific siRNAs
      showed that the expression of gluconeogenic genes was dependent on nuclear factor
      (erythroid derived)-like2 (NRF2) and independent of FOXO1, AKT and NAD-dependent
      deacetylase sirtuin-1 (SIRT1). The current study provides evidence that BITC
      might have a role in type 2 diabetes T2D by reducing hepatic glucose production
      and increasing antioxidant resistance. 

PMID- 27622710
TI  - Compensation for Blur Requires Increase in Field of View and Viewing Time.
AB  - Spatial resolution is an important factor for human pattern recognition. In
      particular, low resolution (blur) is a defining characteristic of low vision.
      Here, we examined spatial (field of view) and temporal (stimulus duration)
      requirements for blurry object recognition. The spatial resolution of an image
      such as letter or face, was manipulated with a low-pass filter. In experiment 1,
      studying spatial requirement, observers viewed a fixed-size object through a
      window of varying sizes, which was repositioned until object identification
      (moving window paradigm). Field of view requirement, quantified as the number of
      "views" (window repositions) for correct recognition, was obtained for three blur
      levels, including no blur. In experiment 2, studying temporal requirement, we
      determined threshold viewing time, the stimulus duration yielding criterion
      recognition accuracy, at six blur levels, including no blur. For letter and face
      recognition, we found blur significantly increased the number of views,
      suggesting a larger field of view is required to recognize blurry objects. We
      also found blur significantly increased threshold viewing time, suggesting longer
      temporal integration is necessary to recognize blurry objects. The temporal
      integration reflects the tradeoff between stimulus intensity and time. While
      humans excel at recognizing blurry objects, our findings suggest compensating for
      blur requires increased field of view and viewing time. The need for larger
      spatial and longer temporal integration for recognizing blurry objects may
      further challenge object recognition in low vision. Thus, interactions between
      blur and field of view should be considered for developing low vision
      rehabilitation or assistive aids. 

PMID- 27622711
TI  - Magnetically Actuated Protease Sensors for in Vivo Tumor Profiling.
AB  - Targeted cancer therapies require a precise determination of the underlying
      biological processes driving tumorigenesis within the complex tumor
      microenvironment. Therefore, new diagnostic tools that capture the molecular
      activity at the disease site in vivo are needed to better understand tumor
      behavior and ultimately maximize therapeutic responses. Matrix metalloproteinases
      (MMPs) drive multiple aspects of tumorigenesis, and their activity can be
      monitored using engineered peptide substrates as protease-specific probes. To
      identify tumor specific activity profiles, local sampling of the tumor
      microenvironment is necessary, such as through remote control of probes, which
      are only activated at the tumor site. Alternating magnetic fields (AMFs) provide
      an attractive option to remotely apply local triggering signals because they
      penetrate deep into the body and are not likely to interfere with biological
      processes due to the weak magnetic properties of tissue. Here, we report the
      design and evaluation of a protease-activity nanosensor that can be remotely
      activated at the site of disease via an AMF at 515 kHz and 15 kA/m. Our
      nanosensor was composed of thermosensitive liposomes containing functionalized
      protease substrates that were unveiled at the target site by remotely triggered
      heat dissipation of coencapsulated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). This nanosensor
      was combined with a unique detection assay to quantify the amount of cleaved
      substrates in the urine. We applied this spatiotemporally controlled system to
      determine tumor protease activity in vivo and identified differences in substrate
      cleavage profiles between two mouse models of human colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27622712
TI  - Management and outcome of traumatic epidural hematoma in 41 infants and children
      from a single center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a frequent cause of mortality and
      acquired neurological impairment in children. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothese that due
      to adequate treatment of EDH in children and adolescence excellent clinical and
      functional outcome can be reached. PURPOSE: To evaluate retrospectively our
      treatment process of EDH and to elucidate the relationship between trauma
      mechanism, injury pattern, radiological presentation, subsequent therapy and
      functional outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hundred and twenty infants and children
      with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) were treated between 1992 and 2009 at a
      single level-one trauma center. Data regarding accident, treatment and outcomes
      were collected retrospectively. To classify the outcomes the Glasgow Outcome
      Scale (GOS) scores at hospital discharge and at follow-up visits were used. EDH
      was classified according to the Rotterdam score. RESULTS: Finally, 41 cases were
      diagnosed with an EDH and therefore included in our study. Twenty-one cases were
      treated surgically; however of these in 11 patients delayed surgery was
      necessary. Twenty patients were treated conservatively. Two patients (5%) died
      within 24hours, 39 patients (95%) survived. One of the operatively treated
      patients (2%) presented in a vegetative state, another one had severe disability,
      and however, 32 patients (78%) showed good recovery at latest follow-up.
      DISCUSSION: Age, severity of TBI, and neurological status were the main factors
      influencing outcome after TBI due to acute EDH. We found that immediate as well
      as delayed surgical evacuation of EDH resulted in excellent outcomes in most
      cases. Conservative treatment was started in 76% of our cases - however needing
      in 35% delayed surgical intervention. Overall in all groups excellent final
      clinical and neurological outcomes could be reached.

PMID- 27622713
TI  - The shrunken pore syndrome is associated with declined right ventricular systolic
      function in a heart failure population - the HARVEST study.
AB  - The close relationship between heart and kidney diseases was studied with respect
      to the 'Shrunken pore syndrome' that is characterized by a difference in renal
      filtration between cystatin C and creatinine. Patients were retrieved from the
      HeARt and brain failure inVESTigation trail (HARVEST) which is an ongoing study
      undertaken in individuals hospitalized for the diagnosis of heart failure. Ninety
      five of 116 patients who underwent transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) were
      eligible for this study. We used four different formulas for estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR); CKD-EPIcreatinine, CKD-EPIcystatin C, LMrev and CAPA.
      Presence of the syndrome was defined as eGFR cystatin C <= 60% of eGFR creatinine
      and absence of the syndrome as eGFR cystatin C >90% and <110% of eGFR creatinine.
      In a linear regression model, adjusted for age and sex, and the 'Shrunken pore
      syndrome' defined by the equation pair CAPA and LMrev and the equation pair CKD
      EPIcystatin C and CKD-EPIcreatinine, echocardiographic parameters were studied.
      The 'Shrunken pore syndrome' showed statistically significant associations with
      measurements of right ventricular (RV) systolic function; (TAPSE and RV S')
      (according to the equation pair CKD-EPIcystatin C and CKD-EPIcreatinine). In
      conclusion, heart failure patients with the 'Shrunken pore syndrome' are at
      increased risk of having RV systolic dysfunction whilst heart failure patients
      without 'Shrunken pore syndrome' seem protected. These findings may indicate
      common pathophysiological events in the kidneys and the heart explaining the
      observed increased risk of mortality in subjects with the 'Shrunken pore
      syndrome'.

PMID- 27622716
TI  - "If I Had Some Duct Tape, I Could Fix That".

PMID- 27622717
TI  - Systematic Quality Assessment of Published Antishivering Protocols.
AB  - Shivering is a common side effect of targeted temperature modulation and general
      anesthesia. Antishivering strategies often employ a stepwise approach involving
      both pharmacological and physical interventions. However, approaches to treat
      shivering are often empiric and vary widely across care environments. We
      evaluated the quality of published antishivering protocols and guidelines with
      respect to methodological rigor, reliability, and consistency of
      recommendations.Using 4 medical databases, we identified 4027 publications that
      addressed shivering therapy, and excluded 3354 due to lack of relevance. After
      applying predefined eligibility criteria with respect to minimal protocol
      standards, 18 protocols/guidelines remained. Each was assessed using a modified
      Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (mAGREE II) instrument
      containing 23 quality items within 6 domains (maximal score 23). Among 18
      protocols/guidelines, only 3 incorporated systematically reviewed
      recommendations, whereas 15 merely targeted practice standardization. Fifteen of
      18 protocols/guidelines addressed shivering during therapeutic cooling in which
      skin counterwarming and meperidine were most commonly cited. However, their
      mAGREE II scores were within the lowest tertile (1 to 7 points) and the median
      for all 18 protocols was 5. The quality domains most commonly absent were
      stakeholder involvement, rigor of development, and editorial independence. Three
      of 18 protocols/guidelines addressed postanesthetic antishivering. Of these, the
      American Society of Anesthesiologists guidelines recommending forced-air warming
      and meperidine received the highest mAGREE II score (14 points), whereas the
      remaining 2 recommendations had low scores (<5 points).Current published
      antishivering protocols/guidelines lack methodological rigor, reliability, and
      strength, and even the highest scoring of the 18 protocols/guidelines fulfilled
      only 60% of quality items. To be consistent with evidence-based
      protocol/guideline development processes, future antishivering treatment
      algorithms should increase methodological rigor and transparency.

PMID- 27622714
TI  - Crocetin exploits p53-induced death domain (PIDD) and FAS-associated death domain
      (FADD) proteins to induce apoptosis in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Tumor suppressor p53 preserves the genomic integrity by restricting anomaly at
      the gene level. The hotspots for mutation in half of all colon cancers reside in
      p53. Hence, in a p53-mutated cellular milieu targeting cancer cells may be
      achievable by targeting the paralogue(s) of p53. Here we have shown the
      effectiveness of crocetin, a dietary component, in inducing apoptosis of colon
      cancer cells with varying p53 status. In wild-type p53-expressing cancer cells,
      p53 in one hand transactivates BAX and in parallel up-regulates p53-induced death
      domain protein (PIDD) that in turn cleaves and activates BID through caspase-2.
      Both BAX and t-BID converge at mitochondria to alter the transmembrane potential
      thereby leading to caspase-9 and caspase-3-mediated apoptosis. In contrast, in
      functional p53-impaired cells, this phytochemical exploits p53-paralogue p73,
      which up-regulates FAS to cleave BID through FAS-FADD-caspase-8-pathway. These
      findings not only underline the phenomenon of functional switch-over from p53 to
      p73 in p53-impaired condition, but also validate p73 as a promising and potential
      target for cancer therapy in absence of functional p53.

PMID- 27622719
TI  - SEER Sonorheometry: Listening to What the Clot Has to Say.

PMID- 27622715
TI  - Large-Scale microRNA Expression Profiling Identifies Putative Retinal miRNA-mRNA
      Signaling Pathways Underlying Form-Deprivation Myopia in Mice.
AB  - Development of myopia is associated with large-scale changes in ocular tissue
      gene expression. Although differential expression of coding genes underlying
      development of myopia has been a subject of intense investigation, the role of
      non-coding genes such as microRNAs in the development of myopia is largely
      unknown. In this study, we explored myopia-associated miRNA expression profiles
      in the retina and sclera of C57Bl/6J mice with experimentally induced myopia
      using microarray technology. We found a total of 53 differentially expressed
      miRNAs in the retina and no differences in miRNA expression in the sclera of
      C57BL/6J mice after 10 days of visual form deprivation, which induced -6.93 +/-
      2.44 D (p < 0.000001, n = 12) of myopia. We also identified their putative mRNA
      targets among mRNAs found to be differentially expressed in myopic retina and
      potential signaling pathways involved in the development of form-deprivation
      myopia using miRNA-mRNA interaction network analysis. Analysis of myopia
      associated signaling pathways revealed that myopic response to visual form
      deprivation in the retina is regulated by a small number of highly integrated
      signaling pathways. Our findings highlighted that changes in microRNA expression
      are involved in the regulation of refractive eye development and predicted how
      they may be involved in the development of myopia by regulating retinal gene
      expression. 

PMID- 27622718
TI  - Frailty, Aging, and Cardiovascular Surgery.
AB  - Older adults make up an ever-increasing number of patients presenting for
      surgery, and a significant percentage of these patients will be frail. Frailty is
      a geriatric syndrome that has been conceptualized as decreased reserve when
      confronted with stressors, although the precise definition of frailty has not
      been easy to standardize. The 2 most popular approaches to define frailty are the
      phenotypic approach and the deficit accumulation approach, although at least 20
      tools have been developed, which has made comparison across studies difficult. In
      epidemiologic studies, baseline frailty has been associated with poor outcomes in
      both community cohorts and hospitalized patients. Specifically in cardiac surgery
      (including transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedures), frailty has been
      strongly associated with postoperative mortality and morbidity, and thus frailty
      likely improves the identification of high-risk patients beyond known risk
      scores. For perioperative physicians then, the question arises of how to
      incorporate this information into perioperative care. To date, 2 thrusts of
      research and clinical practice have emerged: (1) preoperative identification of
      high-risk patients to guide both patient expectations and surgical decision
      making; and (2) perioperative optimization strategies for frail patients.
      However, despite the strong association of frailty and poor outcomes, there is a
      lack of well-designed trials that have examined perioperative interventions with
      a specific focus on frail patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Thus, in many
      cases, principles of geriatric care may need to be applied. Further research is
      needed to standardize and implement the feasible definitions of frailty and
      examine perioperative interventions for frail patients undergoing cardiac
      surgery.

PMID- 27622720
TI  - Evaluating Patient-Centered Outcomes in Clinical Trials of Procedural Sedation,
      Part 1 Efficacy: Sedation Consortium on Endpoints and Procedures for Treatment,
      Education, and Research Recommendations.
AB  - The Sedation Consortium on Endpoints and Procedures for Treatment, Education, and
      Research, established by the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial
      Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks public-private partnership
      with the US Food and Drug Administration, convened a meeting of sedation experts
      from a variety of clinical specialties and research backgrounds with the
      objective of developing recommendations for procedural sedation research. Four
      core outcome domains were recommended for consideration in sedation clinical
      trials: (1) safety, (2) efficacy, (3) patient-centered and/or family-centered
      outcomes, and (4) efficiency. This meeting identified core outcome measures
      within the efficacy and patient-centered and/or family-centered domains. Safety
      will be addressed in a subsequent meeting, and efficiency will not be addressed
      at this time. These measures encompass depth and levels of sedation,
      proceduralist and patient satisfaction, patient recall, and degree of pain
      experienced. Consistent use of the recommended outcome measures will facilitate
      the comprehensive reporting across sedation trials, along with meaningful
      comparisons among studies and interventions in systematic reviews and meta
      analyses.

PMID- 27622721
TI  - Sinus of Valsalva Aneurysm Rupture Misdiagnosed as a Ventricular Septal Defect.

PMID- 27622722
TI  - Inhibition of Constitutive Nitric Oxide Synthase Does Not Influence Ventilation
      Perfusion Matching in Normal Prone Adult Sheep With Mechanical Ventilation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local formation of nitric oxide in the lung induces vasodilation in
      proportion to ventilation and is a putative mechanism behind ventilation
      perfusion matching. We hypothesized that regional ventilation-perfusion matching
      occurs in part due to local constitutive nitric oxide formation. METHODS:
      Ventilation and perfusion were analyzed in lung regions (~1.5 cm) before and
      after inhibition of constitutive nitric oxide synthase with N-nitro-L-arginine
      methyl ester (L-NAME) (25 mg/kg) in 7 prone sheep ventilated with 10 cm H2O
      positive end-expiratory pressure. Ventilation and perfusion were measured by the
      use of aerosolized fluorescent and infused radiolabeled microspheres,
      respectively. The animals were exsanguinated while deeply anesthetized; then,
      lungs were excised, dried at total lung capacity, and divided into cube units.
      The spatial location for each cube was tracked and fluorescence and radioactivity
      per unit weight determined. RESULTS: After administration of L-NAME, pulmonary
      artery pressure increased from a mean of 16.6-23.6 mm Hg, P = .007 but PaO2,
      PaCO2, and SD log(V/Q) did not change. Distribution of ventilation was not
      influenced by L-NAME, but a small redistribution of perfusion from ventral to
      dorsal lung regions was observed. Perfusion to regions with the highest
      ventilation (fifth quintile of the ventilation distribution) remained unchanged
      after L-NAME. CONCLUSIONS: We found minimal or no influence of constitutive
      nitric oxide synthase inhibition by L-NAME on the distributions of ventilation
      and perfusion, and ventilation-perfusion in prone, anesthetized, ventilated, and
      healthy adult sheep with normal gas exchange.

PMID- 27622723
TI  - Implication of UGT2B15 Genotype Polymorphism on Postoperative Anxiety Levels in
      Patients Receiving Lorazepam Premedication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lorazepam is used as premedication for its anxiolytic properties. The
      UGT2B15 genotype is of importance for the metabolism of lorazepam. The clinical
      effect of genetic polymorphisms in UGT2B15 genotype on the treatment of anxiety
      levels in same-day surgery patients receiving lorazepam, however, is unknown.
      METHODS: Three hundred ninety-eight same-day surgery patients of mixed sex (from
      a previous double-blinded randomized controlled trial who were assigned to either
      lorazepam [n = 198] or placebo [n = 200]) were assessed for the UGT2B15*2 variant
      allele. Anxiety was measured preoperatively and postoperatively by the State part
      of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The difference between these 2 measurements
      served as outcome of the study. Analysis of variance was used to assess the State
      part of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory difference for interactions among the
      following factors: UGT2B15 genotype status, treatment condition (lorazepam or
      placebo), patient sex, and preoperative anxiety score. RESULTS: The anxiety
      difference was complex in that the interaction of lorazepam and UGT2B15 genotype
      status also was dependent on the joint effect of patient sex and preoperative
      anxiety score (F = 7.15, P = .008). Further exploration showed clinical relevant
      results in patients with high preoperative anxiety scores. Striking was that
      females with high preoperative anxiety scores and genetically reduced lorazepam
      glucuronidation (UGT2B15*2 homozygotes) showed more postoperative anxiety
      reduction than males with the same genotype. CONCLUSIONS: UGT2B15 genotype
      contributes to postoperative anxiety reduction after lorazepam premedication.
      Future research that focuses on patients with high preoperative anxiety scores
      could help to gain a deeper understanding in the clinical relevance of the
      interaction between lorazepam and UGT2B15 genotype on postoperative anxiety
      levels.

PMID- 27622726
TI  - Charged Polymer-Coated Separators by Atmospheric Plasma-Induced Grafting for
      Lithium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - A simple and fast method of atmospheric plasma-induced grafting was applied over
      a polyethylene membrane to enhance its performance as a separator for lithium-ion
      batteries. The process of grafting has formed a thin, durable, and uniform layer
      on the surface of the porous membrane. The charges of grafted polymers affected
      the performance of batteries in many ways besides the change of hydrophilicity.
      Negative charges in polymers improve the capacity retention of batteries and the
      uniformity of the SEI layer. On the other hand, the electrostatic attraction
      between different charges contributed to small increases of thermal stability and
      mechanical strength of separators. Polyampholyte was grafted by using the
      mixtures of monomers, and the composition of the grafted layer was optimized. The
      formation of stable uniform SEI layers and the marked improvement in capacity
      retention were observed in the full cell tests of the lithium battery with the
      polyampholyte-grafted separators when the polyampholyte has a negative net
      charge.

PMID- 27622725
TI  - A novel multilocus phylogenetic estimation reveals unrecognized diversity in
      Asian horned toads, genus Megophrys sensu lato (Anura: Megophryidae).
AB  - The horned toad assemblage, genus Megophrys sensu lato, currently includes three
      groups previously recognized as the genera Atympanophrys, Xenophrys and Megophrys
      sensu stricto. The taxonomic status and species composition of the three groups
      remain controversial due to conflicting phenotypic analyses and insufficient
      phylogenetic reconstruction; likewise, the position of the monotypic Borneophrys
      remains uncertain with respect to the horned toads. Further, the diversity of the
      horned toads remains poorly understood, especially for widespread species.
      Herein, we evaluate species-level diversity based on 45 of the 57 described
      species from throughout southern China, Southeast Asia and the Himalayas using
      Bayesian inference trees and the Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent (GMYC)
      approach. We estimate the phylogeny using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA
      data. Analyses reveal statistically significant mito-nuclear discordance. All
      analyses resolve paraphyly for horned toads involving multiple strongly supported
      clades. These clades correspond with geography. We resurrect the genera
      Atympanophrys and Xenophrys from the synonymy of Megophrys to eliminate paraphyly
      of Megophrys s.l. and to account for the morphological, molecular and
      biogeographic differences among these groups, but we also provide an alternative
      option. Our study suggests that Borneophrys is junior synonym of Megophrys sensu
      stricto. We provide an estimation of timeframe for the horned toads. The
      mitochondrial and nuclear trees indicate the presence of many putative
      undescribed species. Widespread species, such as Xenophrys major and X. minor,
      likely have dramatically underestimated diversity. The integration of
      morphological and molecular evidence can validate this discovery. Montane forest
      dynamics appear to play a significant role in driving diversification of horned
      toads.

PMID- 27622724
TI  - Long-lasting behavioral effects in neonatal mice with multiple exposures to
      ketamine-xylazine anesthesia.
AB  - Anesthetic agents are often administered in the neonatal period, a time of rapid
      brain development and synaptogenesis. Mounting evidence suggests that anesthetics
      can disrupt neurocognitive development, particularly in cases of multiple or
      prolonged anesthetic exposure. Previous studies have shown that administering
      multiple doses of ketamine-xylazine (KX) anesthesia to neonatal mice can induce
      long-term changes to synaptic plasticity in the cortex, but the effect on
      neurocognitive function remains unclear. In this study, we exposed neonatal mice
      to single dose and multiple doses of KX anesthesia in the neonatal period
      (postnatal days 7, 9, 11), and conducted a series of behavioral tests in young
      adulthood (1month of age). Mice receiving multiple doses of KX anesthesia showed
      deficits in novel object recognition, sociability, preference for social novelty
      and contextual fear response, but no effect on auditory-cued fear response.
      Single dose of KX anesthesia had no effect on these behaviors except for
      contextual fear response. We also observed that multiple exposures to KX
      anesthesia were associated with decreased CaMKII phosphorylation, which is known
      to play a role in synapse development and long-term potentiation, likely
      contributing to learning impairment.

PMID- 27622727
TI  - Quality Improvement Guidelines for Percutaneous Image-Guided Management of the
      Thrombosed or Dysfunctional Dialysis Circuit.

PMID- 27622728
TI  - Anterior corpectomy versus posterior laminoplasty for the treatment of multilevel
      cervical myelopathy: A meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness between anterior corpectomy (CORP) and
      posterior laminoplasty (LAMP) for the treatment of multilevel cervical
      myelopathy. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We
      searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, OVID, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials databases for all relevant articles that compared
      the two operations for the treatment of multilevel cervical myelopathy. Exclusion
      criteria were non-controlled studies, combined anterior and posterior surgery,
      follow-up <1 year and patients with tumors, trauma, soft disc herniation or
      previous surgery. The following outcome measures were extracted: Japanese
      orthopedic association (JOA) score, neurological recovery rate, surgical
      complications, reoperation rate, operation time and blood loss. RESULTS: 7 high
      quality studies were included in the meta-analysis. There was no significant
      difference in preoperative JOA score [P > 0.05, WMD 0.31 (-0.16, 0.79)] and
      complication rate [P > 0.05, OR 1.26 (0.82,1.94)] between the two groups.
      Significant less reoperation rate [P < 0.05, OR 8.16 (3.10, 21.51)], operation
      time [P < 0.05, WMD 67.94 (50.69, 85.20)] and blood loss [P < 0.05, WMD 170.06
      (80.05, 260.08)] were found in posterior LAMP group. Whereas, patients in
      anterior CORP group obtained a better postoperative JOA score [P < 0.05, WMD 2.02
      (1.61, 2.43)] and neurological recovery rate [P < 0.05, WMD 7.22 (0.36,14.08)]
      than that in posterior LAMP group. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior CORP has a higher
      postoperative JOA score and neurological recovery rate compared with posterior
      LAMP. However, significant higher reoperation rate, operation time and blood loss
      should be taken into consideration when anterior CORP is used. High-quality RCTs
      with long-term follow-up and large sample size are needed.

PMID- 27622729
TI  - Risk factors for contrast-induced nephropathy and their association with
      mortality in patients with blunt splenic injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although angioembolization increases the success rate of non
      operative management in patients with blunt splenic injuries (BSI), the issue of
      contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) due to serial administration of contrast
      medium remains unclear. We aimed to examine the risk factors of CIN and their
      clinical effect on mortality in patients with BSI. METHOD: We retrospectively
      studied the complete data on 377 trauma patients with BSI who survived more than
      48 h between July 2003 and June 2015. CIN was defined as the relative (>=25%) or
      absolute (>=0.5 mg/dL) increase in serum creatinine within 48 h after contrast
      administration. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to
      identify the independent predictors of CIN and mortality. RESULTS: CIN was
      independently associated with body mass index (BMI) >= 30 kg/m2 (odds ratio [OR]:
      3.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20-8.76), injury severity score (ISS) >= 25
      (OR: 6.08, 95% CI: 2.76-13.53), and 24-h hemoglobin (Hb) < 10 g/dL (OR: 3.16, 95%
      CI: 1.46-6.81). CIN (OR: 19.04, 95% CI: 6.15-58.94) and diabetes (OR: 3.43, 95%
      CI: 1.04-11.26) were also identified as independent predictors for mortality.
      CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that BMI >= 30 kg/m2, ISS >= 25, and 24-h Hb
      < 10 g/dL were independent risk factors for the occurrence of CIN in patients
      with BSI. However, angioembolization was not identified to be an independent risk
      factor for CIN. In addition, CIN and diabetes mellitus were identified as
      independent risk factors for mortality in patients with BSI.

PMID- 27622730
TI  - Quality of care received and patient-reported regret in prostate cancer: Analysis
      of a population-based prospective cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Meeting quality of care standards in oncology is recognized as
      important by physicians, professional organizations, and payers. Data from a
      population-based cohort of patients with prostate cancer were used to examine
      whether receipt of care was consistent with published consensus metrics and
      whether receiving high-quality care was associated with less patient-reported
      treatment decisional regret. METHODS: Patients with incident prostate cancer were
      enrolled in collaboration with the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry, with
      an oversampling of minority patients. Medical record abstraction was used to
      determine whether participants received high-quality care based on 5 standards:
      1) discussion of all treatment options; 2) complete workup (prostate-specific
      antigen, Gleason grade, and clinical stage); 3) low-risk participants did not
      undergo a bone scan; 4) high-risk participants treated with radiotherapy (RT)
      received androgen deprivation therapy; and 5) participants treated with RT
      received conformal or intensity-modulated RT. Treatment decisional regret was
      assessed using a validated instrument. RESULTS: A total of 804 participants were
      analyzed. Overall, 66% of African American and 73% of white participants received
      care that met all standards (P = .03); this racial difference was confirmed by
      multivariable analysis. Care that included "discussion of all treatment options"
      was found to be associated with less patient-reported regret on univariable
      analysis (P = .03) and multivariable analysis (odds ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.37-0.95). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants received high
      quality care, but racial disparity existed. Participants who discussed all
      treatment options appeared to have less treatment decisional regret. To the
      authors' knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate an association between
      a quality of care metric and patient-reported outcome. Cancer 2017;138-143. (c)
      2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27622731
TI  - Magnetically Responsive Negative Acoustic Contrast Microparticles for
      Bioanalytical Applications.
AB  - Smart colloidal particles are routinely used as carriers for biological
      molecules, fluorescent reporters, cells, and other analytes for the purposes of
      sample preparation and detection. However, such particles are typically
      engineered to respond to a single type of stimulus (e.g., commercial magnetic
      beads to magnetic fields). Here, we demonstrate a unique class of particles that
      display both positive magnetic contrast and negative acoustic contrast in water.
      This dual functionality allows for fine spatiotemporal control, enabling multiple
      separation modalities and increasing the utility of the particles in various
      chemical and biological assays. 

PMID- 27622732
TI  - Arsenic trioxide suppresses liver X receptor beta and enhances cholesteryl ester
      transfer protein expression without affecting the liver X receptor alpha in HepG2
      cells.
AB  - Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with cerebrovascular disease and the
      formation of atherosclerotic lesions. Our previous study demonstrated that
      arsenic trioxide (ATO) exposure was associated with atherosclerotic lesion
      formation through alterations in lipid metabolism in the reverse cholesterol
      transport process. In mouse livers, the expression of the liver X receptor beta
      (LXR-beta) and the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) was suppressed
      without any changes to the lipid profile. The aim of this study was to elucidate
      whether ATO contributes to atherosclerotic lesions by suppressing LXR-beta and
      CETP levels in hepatocytes. HepG2 cells, human hepatocytes, were exposed to
      different ATO concentrations in vitro. Cell viability was determined by a 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay. The liver X
      receptor alpha (LXR-alpha), LXR-beta, sterol regulatory element-binding protein
      1c (SREBP-1c) and CETP protein levels were measured by Western blotting, and
      their mRNA levels were measured by real-time PCR. Cholesterol efflux was analyzed
      by flow cytometry. The results showed ATO inhibited LXR-beta mRNA and protein
      levels with a subsequent decrease in SREBP-1c protein levels and reduced
      cholesterol efflux from HepG2 cells into the extracellular space without
      influencing LXR-alpha mRNA and protein levels. CETP protein levels of HepG2 cells
      were significantly elevated under arsenic exposure. Transfection of LXR-beta
      shRNA did not change CETP protein levels, implying that there is no cross-talk
      between LXR-beta and CETP. In conclusion, arsenic not only inhibits LXR-beta and
      SREBP-1c mRNA and protein levels but also independently increases CETP protein
      levels in HepG2 cells. 

PMID- 27622733
TI  - Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) gene: Beyond cafe au lait spots and dermal
      neurofibromas.
AB  - Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) occurs in 1:2000 births. The main diagnostic signs are
      visible on the skin, and this opens several interesting aspects for
      dermatological point of view. The NF1 syndrome is caused by mutations in the NF1
      gene which encodes the tumor suppressor protein neurofibromin. Neurofibromin
      functions as a Ras-GTPase-activating protein (RasGAP), and NF1 mutations lead to
      overactivation of the Ras signalling pathway. The NF1 gene and neurofibromin have
      intriguing functions in keratinocytes and melanocytes. Neurofibromin regulates
      melanin synthesis and keratinocyte differentiation in a currently unknown manner.
      The NF1 gene has also an important but poorly understood role in tumorigenesis
      and cancer. Compared to the general population, NF1 patients have a fivefold risk
      for cancer and a more than 2000-fold risk for neurogenic malignancies. Mutations
      of the NF1 gene are common in numerous cancer types in patients without NF1, and
      this suggests a more general role for the NF1 gene in oncogenesis. In melanoma,
      NF1 mutations seem to drive tumorigenesis and contribute to drug resistance. In
      this article, we review the literature on neurofibromin with special attention to
      keratinocytes, melanocytes, NF1-related tumors and melanoma.

PMID- 27622734
TI  - Muscle Activation during Gait in Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
AB  - The aim of this prospective study was to investigate changes in muscle activity
      during gait in children with Duchenne muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Dynamic surface
      electromyography recordings (EMGs) of 16 children with DMD and pathological gait
      were compared with those of 15 control children. The activity of the rectus
      femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), medial hamstrings (HS), tibialis anterior
      (TA) and gastrocnemius soleus (GAS) muscles was recorded and analysed
      quantitatively and qualitatively. The overall muscle activity in the children
      with DMD was significantly different from that of the control group. Percentage
      activation amplitudes of RF, HS and TA were greater throughout the gait cycle in
      the children with DMD and the timing of GAS activity differed from the control
      children. Significantly greater muscle coactivation was found in the children
      with DMD. There were no significant differences between sides. Since the motor
      command is normal in DMD, the hyper-activity and co-contractions likely
      compensate for gait instability and muscle weakness, however may have negative
      consequences on the muscles and may increase the energy cost of gait. Simple
      rehabilitative strategies such as targeted physical therapies may improve
      stability and thus the pattern of muscle activity. 

PMID- 27622735
TI  - Glucocorticoid receptor-mediated delivery of nano gold-withaferin conjugates for
      reversal of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and tumor regression.
AB  - AIM: To explore the potential of glucocorticoid receptor-targeted nano-gold
      formulation as antitumor drug sensitizing agent. MATERIALS & METHODS:
      Simultaneous conjugation of gold nanoparticle with thiol-modified dexamethasone,
      a synthetic glucocorticoid and anticancer drug withaferin A afforded stable gold
      nanoparticle-modifed dexamethasone-withaferin A nanoconjugate. RESULTS: This
      metallic nanoparticle formulation showed glucocorticoid receptor-dependent cancer
      cell selective cytotoxicity, inhibited growth of aggressive mouse melanoma tumor,
      reduced mice mortality, while reversing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in
      tumor cells. Same treatment also leads to near-complete downregulation of ABCG2
      drug transporter in tumor-associated cells thus attributing it to its drug
      sensitizing ability. CONCLUSION: The presently synthesized nanoconjugate holds a
      great promise to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapeutics and induce
      epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition reversal in tumor cells preventing
      metastasis.

PMID- 27622738
TI  - Research and Development of Antibiotics: The Next Battleground.
AB  - Antibiotic research has been hindered by a perfect storm consisting of scientific
      challenges, regulatory uncertainties, difficult markets, and industrial
      consolidation. At the same time, antibiotic resistance is making the medical need
      for a robust antibiotic pipeline ever more urgent. The Food and Drug
      Administration in the United States, following their European colleagues, has
      made important progress in correcting its position as part of this perfect storm
      and in providing less expensive and streamlined pathways for antibiotic
      development. But the economics of antibiotic development and marketing remains a
      potential stumbling block to reinvigorating antibiotic research within the
      pharmaceutical industry. The current situation is reviewed in this viewpoint
      article. 

PMID- 27622736
TI  - Antinociceptive and anticonvulsant effects of the monoterpene linalool oxide.
AB  - CONTEXT: Linalool oxide (OXL) (a monoterpene) is found in the essential oils of
      certain aromatic plants, or it is derived from linalool. The motivation for this
      work is the lack of psychopharmacological studies on this substance. OBJECTIVE:
      To evaluate OXL's acute toxicity, along with its anticonvulsant and
      antinociceptive activities in male Swiss mice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: OXL (50, 100
      and 150 mg/kg, i.p.) was investigated for acute toxicity and in the Rota-rod
      test. Antinociceptive activity was evaluated by the acetic acid-induced writhing
      test, and by formalin testing. Anticonvulsant effects were demonstrated by
      testing for pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures and by Maximum Electroshock
      headset (MES) test. OXL was administered to the animals intraperitoneally 30 min
      before for pharmacological tests. RESULTS: OXL showed an LD50 of ~721 (681-765)
      mg/kg. In the Rota-rod test, it was observed that OXL caused no damage to the
      animal's motor coordination. OXL significantly reduced (p < .001) the number of
      writhings. OXL also significantly decreased (p < .05, p < .01 or p < .001) paw
      licking time in the two phases of the formalin test. OXL significantly reduced (p
      < .01 or p < .001) the duration of tonic seizures in the MES test, and at the
      dose 150 mg/kg, significantly increased (p < .01) the latency to first seizure in
      the PTZ test. CONCLUSION: The tested doses of OXL were safe, with no motor
      impairment, and show clear antinociceptive and anticonvulsant potential. Future
      investigations with this monoterpene may lead to the development of a new
      molecule with even higher potency and selectivity.

PMID- 27622739
TI  - Inhibiting the beta-Lactamase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) with Novel
      Boronic Acid Transition-State Inhibitors (BATSIs).
AB  - BlaC, the single chromosomally encoded beta-lactamase of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis, has been identified as a promising target for novel therapies that
      rely upon beta-lactamase inhibition. Boronic acid transition-state inhibitors
      (BATSIs) are a class of beta-lactamase inhibitors which permit rational inhibitor
      design by combinations of various R1 and R2 side chains. To explore the
      structural determinants of effective inhibition, we screened a panel of 25 BATSIs
      to explore key structure-function relationships. We identified a cefoperazone
      analogue, EC19, which displayed slow, time-dependent inhibition against BlaC with
      a potency similar to that of clavulanate (Ki* of 0.65 +/- 0.05 MUM). To further
      characterize the molecular basis of inhibition, we solved the crystallographic
      structure of the EC19-BlaC(N172A) complex and expanded our analysis to variant
      enzymes. The results of this structure-function analysis encourage the design of
      a novel class of beta-lactamase inhibitors, BATSIs, to be used against
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 

PMID- 27622740
TI  - Alternative Pathway to a Glycopeptide-Resistant Cell Wall in the Balhimycin
      Producer Amycolatopsis balhimycina.
AB  - Balhimycin, a vancomycin-type glycopeptide, is a lipid II targeting antibiotic
      produced by Amycolatopsis balhimycina. A. balhimycina has developed a self
      resistance mechanism based on the synergistic action of different enzymes
      resulting in modified peptidoglycan. The canonical resistance mechanism against
      glycopeptides is the synthesis of peptidoglycan precursors ending with acyl-d
      alanyl-d-lactate (d-Ala-d-Lac) rather than acyl-d-alanyl-d-alanine (d-Ala-d-Ala).
      This reprogramming is the result of the enzymes VanH, VanA, and VanX. VanH and
      VanA are required to produce d-Ala-d-Lac; VanX cleaves cytosolic pools of d-Ala-d
      Ala, thereby ensuring that peptidoglycan is enriched in d-Ala-d-Lac. In A.
      balhimycina, the DeltavanHAXAb mutant showed a reduced glycopeptide resistance in
      comparison to the wild type. Nevertheless, DeltavanHAXAb was paradoxically still
      able to produce d-Ala-d-Lac containing resistant cell wall precursors suggesting
      the presence of a novel alternative glycopeptide resistance mechanism. In silico
      analysis, inactivation studies, and biochemical assays led to the
      characterization of an enzyme, Ddl1Ab, as a paraloguous chromosomal d-Ala-d-Lac
      ligase able to complement the function of VanAAb in the DeltavanHAXAb mutant.
      Furthermore, A. balhimycina harbors a vanYAb gene encoding a d,d
      carboxypeptidase. Transcriptional analysis revealed an upregulated expression of
      vanYAb in the DeltavanHAXAb mutant. VanYAb cleaves the endstanding d-Ala from the
      pentapeptide precursors, reducing the quantity of sensitive cell wall precursors
      in the absence of VanXAb. These findings represent an unprecedented coordinated
      layer of resistance mechanisms in a glycopeptide antibiotic producing bacterium. 

PMID- 27622741
TI  - Sequence-Specific Peptide Nucleic Acid-Based Antisense Inhibitors of TEM-1 beta
      Lactamase and Mechanism of Adaptive Resistance.
AB  - The recent surge of drug-resistant superbugs and shrinking antibiotic pipeline
      are serious challenges to global health. In particular, the emergence of beta
      lactamases has caused extensive resistance against the most frequently prescribed
      class of beta-lactam antibiotics. Here, we develop novel synthetic peptide
      nucleic acid-based antisense inhibitors that target the start codon and ribosomal
      binding site of the TEM-1 beta-lactamase transcript and act via translation
      inhibition mechanism. We show that these antisense inhibitors are capable of
      resensitizing drug-resistant Escherichia coli to beta-lactam antibiotics
      exhibiting 10-fold reduction in the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). To
      study the mechanism of resistance, we adapted E. coli at MIC levels of the beta
      lactam/antisense inhibitor combination and observed a nonmutational, bet-hedging
      based adaptive antibiotic resistance response as evidenced by phenotypic
      heterogeneity as well as heterogeneous expression of key stress response genes.
      Our data show that both the development of new antimicrobials and an
      understanding of cellular response during the development of tolerance could aid
      in mitigating the impending antibiotic crisis. 

PMID- 27622742
TI  - Anti-Ebola Activity of Diazachrysene Small Molecules.
AB  - Herein we report on a diazachrysene class of small molecules that exhibit potent
      antiviral activity against the Ebola (EBOV) virus. The antiviral compounds are
      easily synthesized, and the most active compounds have excellent in vitro
      activity (0.34-0.70 MUM) and are significantly less lipophilic than their
      predecessors. The three most potent diazachrysene antivirals do not exhibit any
      toxicity in vivo and protected 70-90% of the mice at 10 mg/kg following EBOV
      challenge. Together, these studies suggest that diazachrysenes are a promising
      class of compounds for hit to lead optimization and as potential Ebola
      therapeutics. 

PMID- 27622743
TI  - Comparative Study of Eis-like Enzymes from Pathogenic and Nonpathogenic Bacteria.
AB  - Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem worldwide. Of particular importance is
      the resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to currently available
      antibiotics used in the treatment of infected patients. Up-regulation of an
      aminoglycoside (AG) acetyltransferase, the enhanced intracellular survival (Eis)
      protein of Mtb (Eis_Mtb), is responsible for resistance to the second-line
      injectable drug kanamycin A in a number of Mtb clinical isolates. This
      acetyltransferase is known to modify AGs, not at a single position, as usual for
      this type of enzyme, but at multiple amine sites. We identified, using in silico
      techniques, 22 homologues from a wide variety of bacteria, that we then cloned,
      purified, and biochemically studied. From the selected Eis homologues, 7 showed
      the ability to modify AGs to various degrees and displayed both similarities and
      differences when compared to Eis_Mtb. In addition, an inhibitor proved to be
      active against all homologues tested. Our findings show that this family of
      acetyltransferase enzymes exists in both mycobacteria and non-mycobacteria and in
      both pathogenic and nonpathogenic species. The bacterial strains described herein
      should be monitored for rising resistance rates to AGs. 

PMID- 27622744
TI  - Photochemistry and Redox Chemistry of an Unsymmetrical Bimetallic Copper(I)
      Complex.
AB  - The bimetallic copper(I) complex Cu2L2 (cis-1) is formed with high
      diasteroselectivity from [Cu(NCCH3)4][BF4] and HL (4-tert-butyl phenyl(pyrrolato
      2-yl-methylene)amine) in a kinetically controlled reaction. cis-1 features a
      rather short Cu...Cu distance of 2.4756(6) A and is weakly emissive at room
      temperature in solution. Oxidatively triggered disproportionation of cis-1 yields
      elemental copper and the mononuclear copper(II) complex CuL2 (trans-2). One
      electron reduction of trans-2 gives cuprate [2]- with a bent bis(pyrrolato)
      coordinated copper(I) entity. The imine donor atoms of [2]- can insert an
      additional copper(I) ion giving exclusively the bimetallic complex cis-1 closing
      the oxidation-elimination-reduction-insertion cycle.

PMID- 27622745
TI  - Carbohydrate-based peptidomimetics targeting neuropilin-1: Synthesis, molecular
      docking study and in vitro biological activities.
AB  - Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1), a transmembrane glycoprotein acting as a co-receptor of
      VEGF-A, is expressed by cancer and angiogenic endothelial cells and is involved
      in the angiogenesis process. Taking advantage of functionalities and
      stereodiversities of sugar derivatives, the design and the synthesis of
      carbohydrate based peptidomimetics are here described. One of these compounds
      (56) demonstrated inhibition of VEGF-A165 binding to NRP-1 (IC50=39MUM) and
      specificity for NRP-1 over VEGF-R2. Biological evaluations were performed on
      human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) through activation of downstream
      proteins (AKT and ERK phosphorylation), viability/proliferation assays and in
      vitro measurements of anti-angiogenic abilities.

PMID- 27622746
TI  - Structure-activity relationship studies of non-carboxylic acid peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor alpha/delta (PPARalpha/delta) dual agonists.
AB  - The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-dependent
      transcription factors that contribute to the regulation of lipid, glucose and
      cholesterol homeostases. They are considered as therapeutic targets for metabolic
      diseases such as dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Various PPAR agonists
      have been developed, but most of them contain a carboxylic acid (CA) or
      thiazolidinedione (TZD) moiety, which is essential for the activity. However, we
      recently discovered non-CA/non-TZD class PPARalpha/delta dual agonists having an
      acetamide structure. Here, we describe structure-activity relationship (SAR)
      studies of these novel acetamide-based PPARalpha/delta dual agonists. The SAR
      studies revealed that the acetamide functionality and adjacent methyl group
      contribute greatly to the agonistic activity. Compound (S)-10 was the most potent
      PPARalpha/delta dual agonist among the compounds synthesized (PPARalpha
      EC50=17nM, PPARdelta EC50=23nM).

PMID- 27622747
TI  - Synthesis and bioactivity of novel isoxazole chalcone derivatives on tyrosinase
      and melanin synthesis in murine B16 cells for the treatment of vitiligo.
AB  - A new series of chalcone derivatives 1-18, bearing isoxazole moieties were
      designed and synthesized, and biologically evaluated for their activity on
      mushroom tyrosinase and melanin synthesis in murine B16 cells. The result
      indicated that most of prepared compounds 1-18 showed potent activating effect on
      tyrosinase, especially for 1-2, 4, 6-7, 9 and 15. Among them, compounds 2, 4 and
      9 demonstrated the best activity with EC50=1.3, 2.5 and 3.0MUmol.L-1
      respectively, much better than the positive control 8-methoxypsoralan (8-MOP,
      EC50=14.8MUmol.L-1); In B16 cells, all the tested compounds exhibited a stronger
      activity on melanogenesis than 8-MOP (with the value of 115%). It was interesting
      that derivatives substituted with halogen (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9) were generally more
      potent. Compounds 2 (463%) and 18 (438%) with 3 and 4-fold potency compared with
      8-MOP respectively, were recognized as the most promising candidate hits for
      further pharmacological study of anti-vitiligo.

PMID- 27622748
TI  - Expedient synthesis of an atypical oxazolidinone compound library.
AB  - In order to address the current downturn in the drug discovery pipeline,
      initiatives are being undertaken to synthesise screening libraries of sp3-rich,
      low molecular weight compounds. As part of the European Lead Factory initiative,
      the synthesis and derivatisation of a simple hexahydrooxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-2(1H)
      one bicyclic carbamate has been achieved. The synthetic route employed involved a
      telescoped hetero-Diels-Alder/[2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement/cyclisation
      sequence to deliver the desired core scaffold containing two points for further
      diversification. When applied, this synthesis was found to be robust and scalable
      which allowed the production of a 155 compound library.

PMID- 27622750
TI  - Von Willebrand disease - the 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' in surgery.
AB  - Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common genetic bleeding disorder. VWD is
      caused by a deficiency or dysfunction of von Willebrand factor (VWF), a plasma
      protein that mediates the initial adhesion of platelets at sites of vascular
      injury and binds and stabilises coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) in the blood.
      Prophylaxis of surgical bleeding in patients with VWD requires consideration of
      the individual situation, including the type of procedure and the bleeding rate,
      before decisions about treatment type, dose, duration and adjunctive therapy with
      antifibrinolytics or antithrombotic prophylaxis can be made. Although
      desmopressin (DDAVP)-stimulated release of endogenous VWD is an effective
      treatment strategy in many patients, plasma concentrates containing VWF are the
      preferred option for most patients undergoing surgical procedures.
      Recommendations for the management of surgery in patients with VWD are
      summarised, including the severity of VWD and the type of the surgical procedure.

PMID- 27622749
TI  - Phosphonate-based irreversible inhibitors of human gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase
      (GGT). GGsTop is a non-toxic and highly selective inhibitor with critical
      electrostatic interaction with an active-site residue Lys562 for enhanced
      inhibitory activity.
AB  - gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT, EC 2.3.2.2) that catalyzes the hydrolysis and
      transpeptidation of glutathione and its S-conjugates is involved in a number of
      physiological and pathological processes through glutathione metabolism and is an
      attractive pharmaceutical target. We report here the evaluation of a phosphonate
      based irreversible inhibitor, 2-amino-4-{[3
      (carboxymethyl)phenoxy](methoyl)phosphoryl}butanoic acid (GGsTop) and its
      analogues as a mechanism-based inhibitor of human GGT. GGsTop is a stable
      compound, but inactivated the human enzyme significantly faster than the other
      phosphonates, and importantly did not inhibit a glutamine amidotransferase. The
      structure-activity relationships, X-ray crystallography with Escherichia coli
      GGT, sequence alignment and site-directed mutagenesis of human GGT revealed a
      critical electrostatic interaction between the terminal carboxylate of GGsTop and
      the active-site residue Lys562 of human GGT for potent inhibition. GGsTop showed
      no cytotoxicity toward human fibroblasts and hepatic stellate cells up to 1mM.
      GGsTop serves as a non-toxic, selective and highly potent irreversible GGT
      inhibitor that could be used for various in vivo as well as in vitro biochemical
      studies.

PMID- 27622751
TI  - Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Trastuzumab Is Safe and Effective in Older Women With
      Small, Node-Negative, HER2-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The benefit of adjuvant trastuzumab with chemotherapy is well
      established for women with higher risk human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
      positive (HER2+) breast cancer. However, its role in older patients with smaller,
      node-negative tumors is less clear. We conducted a retrospective, sequential
      cohort study of this population to describe the impact of trastuzumab on breast
      cancer outcomes and cardiac safety. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Women >= 55 years with
      <= 2 cm, node-negative, HER2+ breast cancer were identified and electronic
      medical records reviewed. A no-trastuzumab cohort of 116 women diagnosed between
      January 1, 1999 and May 14, 2004 and a trastuzumab cohort of 128 women diagnosed
      between May 16, 2006 and December 31, 2010 were identified. Overall survival and
      distant relapse-free survival were estimated by Kaplan-Meier methods. RESULTS:
      The median ages of the trastuzumab and no-trastuzumab cohorts were 62 and 64
      years, respectively. More patients in the trastuzumab cohort had grade III (P =
      .001), lymphovascular invasion (P = .001), or estrogen receptor-negative (P <
      .001) cancers. The majority of the trastuzumab cohort received chemotherapy
      versus one-half of the no-trastuzumab cohort (98% vs. 53%; P < .0001). The median
      follow-up was 4 versus 9 years in the trastuzumab versus no-trastuzumab cohorts;
      therefore, outcomes at 4 years are reported. Despite the higher-risk tumor
      features in the trastuzumab group, the 4-year overall survival was 99% in both
      cohorts; the distant relapse-free survival was 99% versus 97% in the trastuzumab
      versus no-trastuzumab cohorts. Four (3.1%; 95% confidence interval, 1.0%-7.8%)
      women in the trastuzumab cohort and 1 in the no-trastuzumab cohort developed
      symptomatic heart failure. There were no cardiac-related deaths in either arm.
      CONCLUSION: Following adjuvant trastuzumab with chemotherapy, selected older
      women with small, node-negative, HER2+ breast cancers have excellent disease
      control. The rate of cardiac events is low.

PMID- 27622752
TI  - Stimulating Neoblast-Like Cell Proliferation in Juvenile Fasciola hepatica
      Supports Growth and Progression towards the Adult Phenotype In Vitro.
AB  - Fascioliasis (or fasciolosis) is a socioeconomically important parasitic disease
      caused by liver flukes of the genus Fasciola. Flukicide resistance has exposed
      the need for new drugs and/or a vaccine for liver fluke control. A rapidly
      improving 'molecular toolbox' for liver fluke encompasses quality
      genomic/transcriptomic datasets and an RNA interference platform that facilitates
      functional genomics approaches to drug/vaccine target validation. The
      exploitation of these resources is undermined by the absence of effective
      culture/maintenance systems that would support in vitro studies on juvenile fluke
      development/biology. Here we report markedly improved in vitro maintenance
      methods for Fasciola hepatica that achieved 65% survival of juvenile fluke after
      6 months in standard cell culture medium supplemented with 50% chicken serum. We
      discovered that this long-term maintenance was dependent upon fluke growth, which
      was supported by increased proliferation of cells resembling the "neoblast" stem
      cells described in other flatworms. Growth led to dramatic morphological changes
      in juveniles, including the development of the digestive tract, reproductive
      organs and the tegument, towards more adult-like forms. The inhibition of DNA
      synthesis prevented neoblast-like cell proliferation and inhibited
      growth/development. Supporting our assertion that we have triggered the
      development of juveniles towards adult-like fluke, mass spectrometric analyses
      showed that growing fluke have an excretory/secretory protein profile that is
      distinct from that of newly-excysted juveniles and more closely resembles that of
      ex vivo immature and adult fluke. Further, in vitro maintained fluke displayed a
      transition in their movement from the probing behaviour associated with migrating
      stage worms to a slower wave-like motility seen in adults. Our ability to
      stimulate neoblast-like cell proliferation and growth in F. hepatica underpins
      the first simple platform for their long-term in vitro study, complementing the
      recent expansion in liver fluke resources and facilitating in vitro target
      validation studies of the developmental biology of liver fluke.

PMID- 27622753
TI  - Third molar maturity index by measurements of open apices in a Libyan sample of
      living subjects.
AB  - In most countries, forensic age estimation in living subjects has become
      increasingly important in the last few years. In addition, as the age of legal
      majority ranges from 14 to 18 in many countries, and in Libya it is 18 years,
      radiographic assessment of the degree of third molar development is essential for
      forensic age estimation of adolescents and young adults. The aim of this paper is
      to assess the accuracy of the cut-off value of 0.08, by measurements of third
      molar index (I3M), in determining if a subject is adult or not in Libyan
      population. Digital panoramic radiographs of 307 healthy subjects (163 girls, 144
      boys), aged between 14 and 22, were analysed. The I3M, the age and the sex of the
      subjects were used as predictive variable for age estimation. Using a cut-off of
      0.08, the sensitivity of the test for boys was 90.9% and the specificity 100%.
      The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 95.1% (95% CI: 91.5
      98.7%). The sensitivity for girls was 90.6% and the specificity 100%. The
      proportion of correctly classified individuals was 94.5% (95% CI: 90.9-98.1%).
      Estimated post-test probability in boys and girls was 100%. Further analyses,
      performed using a cut-off of 0.09, do not affect the specificity (100%) while
      they improve the sensitivity for both boys and girls.

PMID- 27622754
TI  - Sex estimation from the navicular bone in Spanish contemporary skeletal
      collections.
AB  - Sexual estimation is fundamental to reconstruct the biological profile of
      individuals, but postdepositional factors can alter the resistance of the bones,
      thereby preventing accurate diagnosis especially when the skull and the pelvis
      are absent. Navicular bones are usually well preserved in archeological and
      forensic contexts and can a good alternative to discriminate sex. On the basis of
      these aspects, the present investigation analyzed the sexual dimorphism in 231
      pairs of navicular bones from documented contemporary collections from Spain.
      Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and binary logistic
      regressions were carried out in eight replicable linear measurements of the
      navicular bone. Each of the eight variables showed a significant sexual
      dimorphism in our sample. The ROC curve results indicate that at least five out
      of the eight variables used have high ability for sex diagnosis, among which the
      maximum length of the cuneiform surface (LMAXCUN) showed a better performance
      (area under the curve value=0.86). Moreover, we introduced regression equations
      with combination of measurements that correctly allocated the skeletons with 80%
      or greater accuracy. The equation with high allocation accuracy rate (83.4%)
      included a combination of the maximum height of the navicular (HMAX), maximum
      length of the cuneiform surface (LMAXCUN), and maximum length of the talar facet
      (LMAXTAL). The regression equations presented here are useful for the Western
      Mediterranean populations and offer better alternatives than formulas based on
      other population groups.

PMID- 27622755
TI  - Determination of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) in human urine
      in a highly occupationally exposed German cohort: New prospects for urinary
      biomarkers of PCB exposure.
AB  - The present study evaluates for the first time the determination of 20
      hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyl (OH-PCB) congeners and their glucuronide
      and sulfate conjugates in urine as a biomarker of exposure to PCBs in humans.
      Thereby, a fast, sensitive and selective online solid phase extraction (SPE)
      method coupled to LC-MS/MS was validated for the determination of OH-PCBs in
      human urine, being previously successfully developed and applied for the
      separation and quantitation of OH-PCBs in human plasma. The lowest limit of
      quantification (LLOQ) ranged from 0.01 to 0.19ngmL-1 and average extraction
      recoveries from 79 to 125% for all hydroxylated congeners. Within-run precision
      and between-run precision were between 2 and 17%. Extraction recovery tests were
      also performed in urine with different creatinine contents (0.52-3.92gL-1) for an
      estimation of matrix influences and ranged between 69 and 125%. In order to
      evaluate the applicability of the method, the study was conducted in three
      different groups, which were distinctly separated as non-exposed to known sources
      of PCBs (N=21), low-to-moderate PCB-exposed individuals (N=25) and highly
      occupationally PCB-exposed individuals (N=25), which included workers of a
      transformer recycling plant, their relatives and workers of surrounding companies
      from a German cohort. As part of the biomonitoring program HELPcB (Health Effects
      in High-Level Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls), urine and blood samples
      were collected annually from 2010 to 2014. In this way, OH-PCB elimination
      profile in urine over time, correlations between OH-PCB levels in human plasma
      and urine, and associations with their parent compounds in plasma of the studied
      PCB cohort could be also assessed. Tri-chlorinated OH-PCBs were the predominant
      congeners in urine with concentrations up to 174ngmL-1. High chlorinated OH-PCBs
      (penta- through hepta-chlorinated OH-PCBs) were also frequently detected in urine
      samples from non-exposed and occupationally exposed individuals, although levels
      were in general very low or lower than LLOQ.

PMID- 27622758
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - The attack of acute porphyria Based on in silico evidence of pharmacokinetic,
      pharmacodynamic, and physiologic properties, have approximately 1 300 medicinal
      drugs been assessed with regard to the specific risk to carriers of acute
      porphyria. The classifications have been published in booklet form, together with
      prophylactic advice to the carriers and suggestions for doctors in charge of
      their care. The risk-classifications rest on the behavior of the drug in an
      extended molecular model of the attack of acute porphyria. In this, symptoms are
      effects of 5-aminolevulinate (ALA) produced in surplus after acceleration of
      enzyme-deficient heme biosynthesis, taking place during induction of drug
      metabolizing cytochromes P450 and triggered by hepatocellular nuclear receptors,
      activated by the drug. The process is enhanced by glucagon- and sirtuin-dependent
      molecular processes activated in stress and cellular energy deficit, and enhanced
      and prolonged by auto-generating ALA. 

PMID- 27622757
TI  - Temoporfin-loaded 1-tetradecanol-based thermoresponsive solid lipid nanoparticles
      for photodynamic therapy.
AB  - We developed fully biodegradable/metabolizable nanosystem based on polymer
      surfactant-stabilized thermoresponsive solid lipid nanoparticles with non
      covalently bound photosensitizer temoporfin (T-SLNP) with particle size below
      50nm. The efficacy of T-SLNP was compared with commercial temoporfin formulation
      in terms of in vitro phototoxicity in 4T1 (murine mammary carcinoma) and MDA-MB
      231(human breast adenocarcinoma) cells and of in vivo anticancer effect in Nu/Nu
      mice bearing MDA-MB-231 tumors. In vitro study demonstrated faster accumulation
      kinetics in the cells for our formulation design resulting in higher
      phototoxicity against the tumor cells. In vivo anticancer efficacy was markedly
      improved by T-SLNP compared with commercial temoporfin formulation. Owing to
      controlled and sustained release properties, subcellular size, biocompatibility
      with tissue and cells, the T-SLNP nanodispersion prepared in this study
      represents promising drug delivery system applicable in cancer treatment.

PMID- 27622756
TI  - Fully Zwitterionic Nanoparticle Antimicrobial Agents through Tuning of Core Size
      and Ligand Structure.
AB  - Zwitterionic nanoparticles are generally considered nontoxic and noninteracting.
      Here, we report effective and selective antimicrobial activity of zwitterionic
      gold nanoparticles (AuNP) through modulation NP size and surface charge
      orientation. Using a set of 2, 4, and 6 nm core AuNPs, increasing particle size
      increased antimicrobial efficiency through bacterial membrane disruption. Further
      improvement was observed through control of the ligand structure, generating
      antimicrobial particles with low hemolytic activity and demonstrating the
      importance of size and surface structure in dictating the bioactivity properties
      of nanomaterials.

PMID- 27622759
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - Patients' experiences of orgasm changes and loss of ejaculation after radical
      prostatectomy   In this study we report on men's experiences of orgasm changes
      and loss of ejaculation after radical prostatectomy. Ten men, all recruited
      through a Swedish hospital, were interviewed and data was analyzed using
      qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the experience of orgasm
      has weakened but that the loss of ejaculation was not perceived as a loss per se.
      However, the risk of urine release during orgasm was troublesome and inhibiting.
      These challenges were framed within an existential narrative about sexuality, as
      expressed in preoperative sexual farewell rituals and postoperative feelings of
      ambivalence and regret. These findings can be used in the design of patient
      information and for sexual rehabilitation treatment. 

PMID- 27622760
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27622761
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - The impact of an Anaesthesia and Intensive Care collaboration between Sweden and
      Tanzania Anaesthesia and intensive care is a neglected specialty in low-income
      countries. Many countries have less than 1 anaesthesia provider per 100,000
      population and few hospitals in Africa have the resources for managing critically
      ill patients. Health partnerships between institutions in high- and low-income
      countries have been proposed as an effective way to strengthen health systems.
      This article describes a partnership in anaesthesia and intensive care between
      institutions in Sweden and Tanzania and its impact at regional and national
      levels. The partnership, initiated in 2008 on the request of Muhimbili National
      Hospital in Dar es Salaam, conducts training, exchanges, research, equipment,
      routines and guidelines projects. Through the newly formed Life Support
      Foundation, the partnership has expanded to all hospitals in Dar es Salaam, has
      assisted in the reactivation of the Society of Anaesthesiologists of Tanzania and
      has seen a marked increase in the number of trainee doctors. 

PMID- 27622762
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27622763
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27622764
TI  - The Association Between Adiponectin, Serum Uric Acid and Urinary Markers of Renal
      Damage in the General Population: Cross-Sectional Data from the Tromso Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Uric acid may cause renal damage, whereas adiponectin in some
      studies has been reported to have renoprotective properties. The renoprotective
      role of adiponectin under the influence of hyperuricemia has not been explored.
      We assessed the cross-sectional association between adiponectin, serum uric acid
      (SUA) and urinary biomarkers of glomerular and tubular damage (albumin-creatinine
      ratio [ACR] and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase-creatinine ratio [NAG-CR]) in a
      large cohort from a general population. METHODS: Three urine specimens from 7062
      persons, participating in the Tromso Study, were collected. The adjusted
      associations between adiponectin and SUA as independent variables, and ACR >=1.13
      mg/mmol (albuminuria) and the upper gender specific 15 percentile of NAG-CR (high
      NAG-CR) as dependent variables, were assessed. RESULTS: Mean (standard deviation)
      age of the participants was 63.5 (9.2) years. Adiponectin was positively
      associated with albuminuria and high NAG-CR. SUA was associated with albuminuria
      (odds ratio [OR] 1.13; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.05-1.21 per 59 umol/L
      increase), but not with NAG-CR. There were no statistically significant
      interactions between SUA and adiponectin. CONCLUSIONS: Unexpectedly, adiponectin
      was positively associated with both urinary markers of renal damage. SUA was
      positively associated with albuminuria only. SUA and adiponectin added little
      beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors to predict renal damage and did
      not interact in their associations with the urinary biomarkers. Longitudinal
      studies are needed before firm conclusions can be made.

PMID- 27622765
TI  - Alpha-Synuclein Proteins Promote Pro-Inflammatory Cascades in Microglia: Stronger
      Effects of the A53T Mutant.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is histologically described by the deposition of alpha
      synuclein, whose accumulation in Lewy bodies causes dopaminergic neuronal death.
      Although most of PD cases are sporadic, point mutations of the gene encoding the
      alpha-synuclein protein cause inherited forms of PD. There are currently six
      known point mutations that result in familial PD. Oxidative stress and
      neuroinflammation have also been described as early events associated with
      dopaminergic neuronal degeneration in PD. Though it is known that microglia are
      activated by wild-type alpha-synuclein, little is known about its mutated forms
      and the signaling cascades responsible for this microglial activation. The
      present study was designed to investigate consequences of wild-type and mutant
      alpha-synuclein (A53T, A30P and E46K) exposure on microglial reactivity.
      Interestingly, we described that alpha-synuclein-induced microglial reactivity
      appeared to be peptide-dependent. Indeed, the A53T protein activated more
      strongly microglia than the wild-type alpha-synuclein and other mutants. This
      A53T-induced microglial reactivity mechanism was found to depend on
      phosphorylation mechanisms mediated by MAPKs and on successive NFkB/AP-1/Nrf2
      pathways activation. These results suggest that the microgliosis intensity during
      PD might depend on the type of alpha-synuclein protein implicated. Indeed,
      mutated forms are more potent microglial stimulators than wild-type alpha
      synuclein. Based on these data, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant therapeutic
      strategies may be valid in order to reduce microgliosis but also to subsequently
      slow down PD progression, especially in familial cases. 

PMID- 27622766
TI  - Conserved Organisation of 45S rDNA Sites and rDNA Gene Copy Number among Major
      Clades of Early Land Plants.
AB  - Genes encoding ribosomal RNA (rDNA) are universal key constituents of eukaryotic
      genomes, and the nuclear genome harbours hundreds to several thousand copies of
      each species. Knowledge about the number of rDNA loci and gene copy number
      provides information for comparative studies of organismal and molecular
      evolution at various phylogenetic levels. With the exception of seed plants, the
      range of 45S rDNA locus (encoding 18S, 5.8S and 26S rRNA) and gene copy number
      variation within key evolutionary plant groups is largely unknown. This is
      especially true for the three earliest land plant lineages Marchantiophyta
      (liverworts), Bryophyta (mosses), and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts). In this work,
      we report the extent of rDNA variation in early land plants, assessing the number
      of 45S rDNA loci and gene copy number in 106 species and 25 species,
      respectively, of mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Unexpectedly, the results show
      a narrow range of ribosomal locus variation (one or two 45S rDNA loci) and gene
      copies not present in vascular plant lineages, where a wide spectrum is recorded.
      Mutation analysis of whole genomic reads showed higher (3-fold) intragenomic
      heterogeneity of Marchantia polymorpha (Marchantiophyta) rDNA compared to
      Physcomitrella patens (Bryophyta) and two angiosperms (Arabidopsis thaliana and
      Nicotiana tomentosifomis) suggesting the presence of rDNA pseudogenes in its
      genome. No association between phylogenetic position, taxonomic adscription and
      the number of rDNA loci and gene copy number was found. Our results suggest a
      likely evolutionary rDNA stasis during land colonisation and diversification
      across 480 myr of bryophyte evolution. We hypothesise that strong selection
      forces may be acting against ribosomal gene locus amplification. Despite showing
      a predominant haploid phase and infrequent meiosis, overall rDNA homogeneity is
      not severely compromised in bryophytes. 

PMID- 27622768
TI  - The RAD51C exonic splice-site mutations c.404G>C and c.404G>T are associated with
      familial breast and ovarian cancer.
AB  - Whereas RAD51C mutations increase the relative risk for ovarian cancer (OC) to
      5.88 (95% confidence interval=2.91-11.88, P=7.65*10), the associated risks for
      breast cancer (BC) remain largely unknown, as deleterious RAD51C alterations are
      extremely rare in BC-only families. Here, we report the results of a RAD51C
      mutational screening in a large series of German familial index patients negative
      for pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutations and the in-vitro characterization of two novel
      exonic RAD51C splice-site mutations. A total of 610 index cases derived from
      BC/OC (n=587) or OC-only families (n=23) were screened for potentially
      deleterious germline mutations in RAD51C. The frequencies of two splice-site
      mutations were assessed by single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping in 1410
      additional cases not enriched for OC family history. In three independent
      families, we identified novel splice-site mutations affecting the last nucleotide
      of exon 2 (c.404G>C, c.404G>T). Both mutations disrupt proper RAD51C pre-mRNA
      processing and cause a missense substitution immediately followed by a stop codon
      (p.Cys135Serfs*2; p.Cys135Leufs*2). Even though both mutations have similar
      effects on the protein level, they are associated with either BC/OC, OC-only, or
      BC-only family histories. The rare finding of a clearly truncating RAD51C
      mutation in an early-onset BC patient with a BC-only family history supports the
      notion that compromised RAD51C function may result in both BC and OC. Large
      international collaborative studies are needed to quantify the relative risk of
      RAD51C alterations for BC and to unravel the genetic modifying factors that
      determine phenotypic variability with respect to cancer site.

PMID- 27622767
TI  - Pathway Analysis Incorporating Protein-Protein Interaction Networks Identified
      Candidate Pathways for the Seven Common Diseases.
AB  - Pathway analysis has become popular as a secondary analysis strategy for genome
      wide association studies (GWAS). Most of the current pathway analysis methods
      aggregate signals from the main effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      in genes within a pathway without considering the effects of gene-gene
      interactions. However, gene-gene interactions can also have critical effects on
      complex diseases. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks have been used to
      define gene pairs for the gene-gene interaction tests. Incorporating the PPI
      information to define gene pairs for interaction tests within pathways can
      increase the power for pathway-based association tests. We propose a pathway
      association test, which aggregates the interaction signals in PPI networks within
      a pathway, for GWAS with case-control samples. Gene size is properly considered
      in the test so that genes do not contribute more to the test statistic simply due
      to their size. Simulation studies were performed to verify that the method is a
      valid test and can have more power than other pathway association tests in the
      presence of gene-gene interactions within a pathway under different scenarios. We
      applied the test to the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium GWAS datasets for
      seven common diseases. The most significant pathway is the chaperones modulate
      interferon signaling pathway for Crohn's disease (p-value = 0.0003). The pathway
      modulates interferon gamma, which induces the JAK/STAT pathway that is involved
      in Crohn's disease. Several other pathways that have functional implications for
      the seven diseases were also identified. The proposed test based on gene-gene
      interaction signals in PPI networks can be used as a complementary tool to the
      current existing pathway analysis methods focusing on main effects of genes. An
      efficient software implementing the method is freely available at
      http://puppi.sourceforge.net. 

PMID- 27622769
TI  - Growing Oxide Nanowires and Nanowire Networks by Solid State Contact Diffusion
      into Solution-Processed Thin Films.
AB  - New techniques to directly grow metal oxide nanowire networks without the need
      for initial nanoparticle seed deposition or postsynthesis nanowire casting will
      bridge the gap between bottom-up formation and top-down processing for many
      electronic, photonic, energy storage, and conversion technologies. Whether etched
      top-down, or grown from catalyst nanoparticles bottom-up, nanowire growth relies
      on heterogeneous material seeds. Converting surface oxide films, ubiquitous in
      the microelectronics industry, to nanowires and nanowire networks by the
      incorporation of extra species through interdiffusion can provide an alternative
      deposition method. It is shown that solution-processed thin films of oxides can
      be converted and recrystallized into nanowires and networks of nanowires by solid
      state interdiffusion of ionic species from a mechanically contacted donor
      substrate. NaVO3 nanowire networks on smooth Si/SiO2 and granular fluorine-doped
      tin oxide surfaces can be formed by low-temperature annealing of a Na diffusion
      species-containing donor glass to a solution-processed V2 O5 thin film, where
      recrystallization drives nanowire growth according to the crystal habit of the
      new oxide phase. This technique illustrates a new method for the direct formation
      of complex metal oxide nanowires on technologically relevant substrates, from
      smooth semiconductors, to transparent conducting materials and interdigitated
      device structures.

PMID- 27622771
TI  - Appearance Differences Between Lots and Brands of Similar Shade Designations of
      Dental Composite Resins.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this study were to investigate differences in two
      inherent appearance characteristics between lots of an enamel dental composite
      resin of the same shade and brand, and to further compare these differences to
      those of similar shade designation of a different brand of dental composite
      resins. METHODS: Appearance analyses proceeded for three different lots of shades
      A1, B2, and D3 manufactured by one company and for one lot of shade EA1
      manufactured by another. Samples were measured on black, white, and gray backings
      using spectroradiometry. Kubelka-Munk theory was used to determine reflectivity
      of each lot studied. CIELAB values and color differences between shades and lots
      were analyzed. Translucency indicators were compared between lots over
      thicknesses from 0.5 to 3.0 mm. RESULTS: Differences in inherent color between
      some lots of same shade designations within a brand were found to be above the
      acceptability threshold. Color difference between an enamel composite resin of
      shade A1 and a composite resin of shade EA1 was also above the acceptability
      threshold. Statistically significant differences in the translucency were found
      between some lots of one shade over the entire range of thicknesses studied.
      CONCLUSION: Appearance analyses indicate substantial variation between lots of
      same shade designations as well as between brands of similar shade designations.
      CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Optical principles applied to important clinical
      appearance attributes are described which characterize inherent appearance
      attributes and provide aid in the appearance matching process for dental
      composite resins used in restorative and operative dental procedures. (J Esthet
      Restor Dent 29:E6-E14, 2017).

PMID- 27622772
TI  - Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia due to ADAMTS-13 loss in idiopathic systemic
      capillary leak syndrome.
AB  - : Essentials Idiopathic systemic capillary leak syndrome (SCLS) is characterized
      by episodes of vascular leakage. We present the case of a patient with SCLS who
      developed microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA). We propose that this anemia
      is the result of ADAMTS-13 loss in the third-space fluid. This suggests that MAHA
      can occur in patients with significant extravasation of proteins. SUMMARY:
      Idiopathic systemic capillary leak syndrome (SCLS) is a rare process
      characterized by acute and recurrent episodes of vascular leakage with severe
      hypotension, hypoalbuminemia, hemoconcentration and edema. Anemia and
      thrombocytopenia are not part of this syndrome, but here we present the case of a
      pediatric patient with a clinical presentation consistent with SCLS who
      subsequently developed microangiopathic hemolytic anemia at a time when she had
      significant fluid loss and anasarca. Based on serial ADAMTS-13 levels, we propose
      that the anemia in this patient developed as a result of ADAMTS-13 loss in the
      third-space fluid, a novel mechanism for acquired microangiopathic hemolytic
      anemia.

PMID- 27622770
TI  - Self-Organizing 3D Human Neural Tissue Derived from Induced Pluripotent Stem
      Cells Recapitulate Alzheimer's Disease Phenotypes.
AB  - The dismal success rate of clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease (AD) motivates
      us to develop model systems of AD pathology that have higher predictive validity.
      The advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) allows us to model pathology
      and study disease mechanisms directly in human neural cells from healthy
      individual as well as AD patients. However, two-dimensional culture systems do
      not recapitulate the complexity of neural tissue, and phenotypes such as
      extracellular protein aggregation are difficult to observe. We report brain
      organoids that use pluripotent stem cells derived from AD patients and
      recapitulate AD-like pathologies such as amyloid aggregation, hyperphosphorylated
      tau protein, and endosome abnormalities. These pathologies are observed in an age
      dependent manner in organoids derived from multiple familial AD (fAD) patients
      harboring amyloid precursor protein (APP) duplication or presenilin1 (PSEN1)
      mutation, compared to controls. The incidence of AD pathology was consistent
      amongst several fAD lines, which carried different mutations. Although these are
      complex assemblies of neural tissue, they are also highly amenable to
      experimental manipulation. We find that treatment of patient-derived organoids
      with beta- and gamma-secretase inhibitors significantly reduces amyloid and tau
      pathology. Moreover, these results show the potential of this model system to
      greatly increase the translatability of pre-clinical drug discovery in AD. 

PMID- 27622774
TI  - Polaron-induced lattice distortion of (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots by optically
      excited carriers.
AB  - We report on a high resolution x-ray diffraction study unveiling the effect of
      carriers optically injected into (In,Ga)As quantum dots on the surrounding GaAs
      crystal matrix. We find a tetragonal lattice expansion with enhanced elongation
      along the [001] crystal axis that is superimposed on an isotropic lattice
      extension. The isotropic contribution arises from excitation induced lattice
      heating as confirmed by temperature dependent reference studies. The tetragonal
      expansion on the femtometer scale is tentatively attributed to polaron formation
      by carriers trapped in the quantum dots. 

PMID- 27622773
TI  - Evolutionary Gain of Alanine Mischarging to Noncognate tRNAs with a G4:U69 Base
      Pair.
AB  - Fidelity of translation, which is predominately dictated by the accuracy of
      aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in pairing amino acids with correct tRNAs, is of
      central importance in biology. Yet, deliberate modifications of translational
      fidelity can be beneficial. Here we found human and not E. coli AlaRS has an
      intrinsic capacity for mispairing alanine onto nonalanyl-tRNAs including tRNACys.
      Consistently, a cysteine-to-alanine substitution was found in a reporter protein
      expressed in human cells. All human AlaRS-mischarged tRNAs have a G4:U69 base
      pair in the acceptor stem. The base pair is required for the mischarging. By
      solving the crystal structure of human AlaRS and comparing it to that of E. coli
      AlaRS, we identified a key sequence divergence between eukaryotes and bacteria
      that influences mischarging. Thus, the expanded tRNA specificity of AlaRS appears
      to be an evolutionary gain-of-function to provide posttranscriptional alanine
      substitutions in eukaryotic proteins for potential regulations.

PMID- 27622775
TI  - Heptagraphene: Tunable Dirac Cones in a Graphitic Structure.
AB  - We predict the existence and dynamical stability of heptagraphene, a new
      graphitic structure formed of rings of 10 carbon atoms bridged by carbene groups
      yielding seven-membered rings. Despite the rectangular unit cell, the band
      structure is topologically equivalent to that of strongly distorted graphene.
      Density-functional-theory calculations demonstrate that heptagraphene has Dirac
      cones on symmetry lines that are robust against biaxial strain but which open a
      gap under shear. At high deformation values bond reconstructions lead to
      different electronic band arrangements in dynamically stable configurations.
      Within a tight-binding framework this richness of the electronic behavior is
      identified as a direct consequence of the symmetry breaking within the cell
      which, unlike other graphitic structures, leads to band gap opening. A combined
      approach of chemical and physical modification of graphene unit cell unfurls the
      opportunity to design carbon-based systems in which one aims to tune an
      electronic band gap.

PMID- 27622776
TI  - A diet enriched with plant sterols prevents the memory impairment induced by
      cholesterol loss in senescence-accelerated mice.
AB  - Cholesterol reduction at the neuronal plasma membrane has been related to age
      dependent cognitive decline. We have used senescent-accelerated mice strain 8
      (SAMP8), an animal model for aging, to examine the association between
      cholesterol loss and cognitive impairment and to test strategies to revert this
      process. We show that the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice presents reduced cholesterol
      levels and enhanced amount of its degrading enzyme Cyp46A1 (Cyp46) already at 6
      months of age. Cholesterol loss accounts for the impaired long-term potentiation
      in these mice. Plant sterol (PSE)-enriched diet prevents long-term potentiation
      impairment and cognitive deficits in SAMP8 mice without altering cholesterol
      levels. PSE diet also reduces the abnormally high amyloid peptide levels in SAMP8
      mice brains and restores membrane compartmentalization of presenilin1, the
      catalytic component of the amyloidogenic gamma-secretase. These results highlight
      the influence of cholesterol loss in age-related cognitive decline and provide
      with a noninvasive strategy to counteract it. Our results suggest that PSE
      overtake cholesterol functions in the brain contributing to reduce deleterious
      consequences of cholesterol loss during aging.

PMID- 27622777
TI  - Age-related white-matter correlates of motor sequence learning and consolidation.
AB  - Older adults show impaired consolidation in motor sequence learning (MSL) tasks,
      failing to demonstrate the sleep-dependent performance gains usually seen in
      young individuals. To date, few studies have investigated the white-matter
      substrates of MSL in healthy aging, and none have addressed how fiber pathways
      differences may contribute to the age-related consolidation deficit. Accordingly,
      we used diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to explore how white-matter
      characteristics relate to performance using an explicit MSL task in young and
      older participants. Analysis revealed that initial learning scores were
      correlated to white-matter microstructure in the corticospinal tract and within
      the corpus callosum regardless of age. Furthermore, sleep-dependent consolidation
      scores, in young adults only, were related to white-matter tract organization in
      a frontal area where several major fiber bundles cross each other. These findings
      further our understanding of the neural correlates of MSL in healthy aging and
      provide the first evidence that age-related white-matter differences in tract
      configuration may underlie the age-related motor memory consolidation deficit.

PMID- 27622778
TI  - Retrospectively patient-reported pre-event health status showed strong
      association and agreement with contemporaneous reports.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The unpredictability of the occurrence of illnesses and injuries
      leading to most emergency admissions to hospital makes it impossible
      prospectively to collect preadmission patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
      Our aims were to review the evidence for using retrospective PROMs to determine
      pre-event health status and the validity of using general population norms
      instead of retrospective PROMs. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Searches of Medline,
      PsycINFO, Embase, Global Health, and Health Management information. Six studies
      met the inclusion criteria for the first aim, and 11 studies addressed the second
      aim. Narrative syntheses were conducted. RESULTS: Strong associations were found
      between retrospective and contemporary PROMs in 21 of 30 comparisons (correlation
      coefficients over 0.68) and 20 of 24 showed strong agreement for continuous
      measures (intraclass correlations over 0.75). Categorical measures revealed only
      fair to moderate levels of agreement (kappa 0.3-0.6). Associations were stronger
      for indices than for individual items and for shorter time intervals. The
      direction of differences was inconsistent. Retrospective PROMs reported by
      elderly patients were similar to the general population but younger adults had
      been healthier. CONCLUSION: Retrospective collection offers a means of assessing
      PROMs in unexpected emergency admissions. However, further research is needed to
      establish the best policy for their use.

PMID- 27622779
TI  - There were large discrepancies in risk of bias tool judgments when a randomized
      controlled trial appeared in more than one systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the consistency in risk of bias (RoB) judgments across
      Cochrane reviews for studies appearing in more than one Cochrane review in the
      field of subfertility. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We retrieved any study that had
      been used more than once in systematic reviews present on the Cochrane Database
      of Systematic Reviews in the area of subfertility. We then retrieved the recorded
      RoB assessments for these studies and looked at the consistency of judgments made
      between different authoring teams on the same trials. RESULTS: From the 156 bias
      judgments that were completed by at least two separate groups of authors, 45% of
      these judgments differed. For the domains of random sequence generation and
      incomplete outcome data, there was reasonably high level of agreement (71% and
      79%, respectively). However, for the domain of blinding, agreement was reached in
      only 35% of cases. CONCLUSION: This assessment of how consistently the RoB is
      being applied in Cochrane reviews has shown that, especially in some domains,
      there are large discrepancies in how RoB is being evaluated. Further work needs
      to be undertaken to improve the application of this tool.

PMID- 27622780
TI  - Balance Control and Peripheral Muscle Function in Aging: A Comparison Between
      Individuals with Acromegaly and Healthy Subjects.
AB  - Advances in the knowledge of acromegaly are leading to an increase in the
      survival rate of acromegalic subjects. This study was conducted to evaluate
      balance control, risk of falls, and peripheral muscle function in acromegalic
      older adults. Seventeen older subjects with acromegaly (67 [63-73] years) and 20
      paired control subjects were evaluated with balance scales, force platform, and
      knee isokinetic dynamometry tests. There were significant differences between the
      groups on several balance and gait scales, with a worse performance and greater
      risk of falls in the acromegalic older adults. Acromegalic older adults had lower
      values for peak torque, maximum repetition of the total work, and total work
      during extension at 240 degrees /s. The acromegalic older adults had higher
      values in the medial-lateral range. Acromegaly subjects had lateral instability
      that compromises their body balance and increases the risk of falls. Moreover,
      there was a propensity for muscle fatigue in these individuals.

PMID- 27622781
TI  - Increases in brain activity during social competition predict decreases in
      working memory performance and later recall.
AB  - In our fMRI experiment, participants completed a learning task in both a
      noncompetitive and a socially competitive learning environment. Despite reporting
      a preference for completing the task while competing, participants remembered
      significantly more during the task and later recalled more from the
      noncompetitive learning environment. Furthermore, during working memory
      maintenance, there was performance-related deactivation in the medial prefrontal
      cortex (mPFC) and the precuneus/PCC. During feedback presentation, there was
      greater activation in the mPFC and the precuneus/PCC while competing.
      Differential activation in the precuneus/PCC predicted worse later recall for
      information learned competitively. Since previous research suggests that the mPFC
      is involved in social-referencing, while the precuneus/PCC is implicated in off
      task thoughts, our results suggest that receiving feedback regarding competition
      produces more activation in brain regions implicated in social interaction, as
      well as task distraction. While competition may make a task more enjoyable, the
      goal of winning may distract from maximizing performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:457
      471, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27622782
TI  - Noble Metal Nanostructure Synthesis at the Liquid-Substrate Interface: New
      Structures, New Insights, and New Possibilities.
AB  - Modern technologically driven societies could not exist in their current form if
      it were not for a great many synthetic achievements reliant on solution-based
      chemistry and substrate-based processing techniques. It is, hence, not surprising
      that these same materials preparation techniques have given rise to an impressive
      list of functional nanomaterials including those derived from noble metals, a
      class of materials renowned for their extraordinary optical and catalytic
      properties. Acting as the foundation for substrate-based processing is a
      collection of techniques such as physical and chemical vapor deposition, epitaxy,
      self- and directed assembly, and a host of lithographic methods. These techniques
      allow for precise control over nanostructure placement, but where the fabrication
      of sophisticated architectures and sub-50 nm feature sizes are often unattainable
      or reliant on the use of technically demanding cost-prohibitive routes. In
      contrast, solution-based chemistry allows for the formation of complex
      nanostructures while maintaining synthetic ease, cost-effectiveness, and exacting
      control over monodispersity, size, shape, composition, and crystallinity. While
      many methods exist for the dispersal of colloids onto substrates, few are capable
      of achieving nanostructure ensembles where nanostructure placement allows for
      true long-range order as well as control over the crystallographic alignment of
      the nanostructures relative to each other and the underlying substrate. A more
      exhaustive comparison of these two approaches reveals that, more often than not,
      a weakness of substrate-based processing is a strength of colloidal synthesis and
      vice versa. In this Account, we describe a synthetic strategy devised and
      validated by the Neretina laboratory that integrates the competencies of
      substrate-based techniques with colloidal chemistry and, in doing so, brings this
      rich and exciting chemistry and its associated functionalities to the substrate
      surface. The strategy takes advantage of an impressive collection of seed
      mediated solution-based protocols in which dispersed seeds direct noble metal
      nanostructure formation along orderly reaction pathways. It, however, replaces
      the seed colloid with substrate-immobilized templates formed in periodic arrays
      where the crystallographic orientation of the templates is defined by an
      epitaxial relationship with the substrate. Demonstrated are syntheses at the
      liquid-substrate interface in which organized surfaces of crystalline templates
      formed through templated dewetting are subjected to galvanic replacement,
      preferential etching, and/or heterogeneous deposition facilitated by redox
      reactions in both the presence and absence of capping agents. While the protocols
      utilized are adapted from some of the most well-studied colloidal syntheses, in
      no case do they yield reaction products that are identical since the substrate
      inflicts asymmetries onto the growth mode. We believe that the strategy described
      herein not only demonstrates a family of nanostructures unobtainable through
      other means but also establishes a synthetic foundation that offers unprecedented
      flexibility, expands the palette of accessible template materials, provides a new
      vantage point from which complex reactions occurring in liquid media can be
      examined, and has the potential to underpin photovoltaic, catalytic, and sensing
      applications reliant on substrate-based noble metal nanostructures.

PMID- 27622783
TI  - A technique to improve the fit of a soft tissue replica on a definitive cast.

PMID- 27622784
TI  - Clinical application of a shape memory implant abutment system.
AB  - An innovative abutment system has recently been developed to address the well
      known limitations of screw- and cement-retained implant restorations. This
      abutment system offers retrievability by replacing the cement layer with a
      precision-engineered nickel-titanium sleeve that switches between shapes that
      lock and unlock the prosthesis. The avoidance of cement precludes cement-related
      periimplant complications, while the elimination of occlusal screw access holes
      may enable predictable control over occlusion and improve the structural
      integrity of the prosthesis. By eliminating the need for cement clean up,
      occlusal access closure, and occlusal adjustments after insertion, the dentist is
      afforded more time to attend to the patient's general needs. This paper describes
      the design rationale for and clinical treatment using this novel abutment system.

PMID- 27622785
TI  - Does incorporating zinc in titanium implant surfaces influence osseointegration?
      A systematic review.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Titanium implant surfaces have been modified to improve
      osseointegration; however, the evidence for incorporating zinc into titanium
      implants to improve new bone formation and osseointegration is not clear.
      PURPOSE: The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of
      treating titanium surfaces with zinc on the osseointegration of implants.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The focused question addressed was, "Does incorporating
      zinc in titanium implant surfaces influence osseointegration?" Indexed databases
      were searched up to January 2016 using the key words "Bone to implant contact";
      "implant"; "zinc"; "osseointegration." Letters to the editor, case reports/case
      series, historic reviews, and commentaries were excluded. The pattern of the
      review was customized to summarize the pertinent data. RESULTS: Ten experimental
      studies were included, all of which were performed in animals (5 in rabbits, 4 in
      rodents, and 1 in goats). The number of titanium implants placed ranged from 10
      to 78. The results from all studies showed that incorporating zinc into titanium
      implants enhanced new bone formation and/or bone-to-implant contact around
      implants. One study reported that zinc enhanced the removal torque on implants.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current available evidence on adding zinc to titanium implants
      surfaces to enhance osseointegration remains unclear. Further investigation is
      necessary to assess its effectiveness and safety in humans and to establish a
      standard methodology and ideal compound for incorporating zinc ion into titanium
      implant surfaces in a clinical setting.

PMID- 27622786
TI  - Effect of digital impressions and production protocols on the adaptation of
      zirconia copings.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Proper marginal, axial, and occlusal adaptation of dental
      restorations is essential for their long-term success. Production protocols
      including digital impression systems have been developed, but little information
      is available on the adaptation of zirconia restorations produced via them.
      PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the effects of digital
      impression protocols on the marginal, axial, and occlusal adaptation of zirconia
      copings. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty extracted human maxillary premolar teeth
      without caries or defects were used. The teeth were prepared for zirconia crowns
      and randomly divided into 3 groups. Zirconia copings were designed at a thickness
      of 0.5 mm with 30 MUm of simulated die spacer starting 1 mm from the margin of
      preparations. They were produced using computer-aided design-computer-aided
      manufacture (CAD-CAM) protocol with a conventional impression (group Cn) and 2
      different production protocols with digital impressions (group C) and group Tr.
      The marginal, axial, and occlusal discrepancies of these copings were measured
      using the silicone replica technique with stereomicroscopy at *50 magnification,
      and the data were analyzed with 1-way ANOVAs (alpha=.05). RESULTS: The mean
      marginal discrepancy values were 85.6 MUm for group Cn, 58.7 MUm for group C, and
      47.7 MUm for the Tr group. Significant differences were found among the
      production protocols in marginal, axial, and occlusal discrepancies (P<.05).
      Copings fabricated with the aid of digital impressions had significantly fewer
      marginal discrepancies than those of group Cn (P<.05). Group Tr exhibited the
      lowest marginal discrepancy, whereas groups Cn and C demonstrated similar axial
      adaptations (P>.05), and group Tr revealed the lowest axial discrepancy (P<.05).
      With regard to the occlusal discrepancy evaluation, group Tr had the lowest
      discrepancy. However, no significant differences was found between groups C and
      Cn (P>.05). CONCLUSIONS: The copings produced with the aid of digital impression
      systems exhibited better marginal and occlusal adaptation than those of the
      copings produced with the aid of conventional impression.

PMID- 27622787
TI  - Influence of the color of composite resin foundation and luting cement on the
      final color of lithium disilicate ceramic systems.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Lithium disilicate restorations are commonly used,
      particularly in the anterior region. The color of the underlying composite resin
      foundation (CRF) and luting cement may negatively affect the color of lithium
      disilicate ceramic restorations. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was
      to investigate the effect of CRF and resin cement materials on the color of
      lithium disilicate ceramics in 2 different translucencies. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Twenty disks (11*1.5 mm, shade A2) were fabricated from medium-opacity (mo)
      (n=10) and high-translucency (ht) (n=10) lithium disilicate (Lds) blocks (IPS
      e.max Press). Five CRF disks (11*3 mm) were fabricated in 5 different shades (A1,
      A2, A3, B2, C2) and 30 resin cement disks (11*0.2 mm) in the shades of
      translucent (Tr), universal (Un=A2), and white-opaque (Wo). Ceramic specimens
      were placed on each CRF, and the resin cement combination and color was measured
      with a spectrophotometer. CIELAB color coordinates were recorded, and the color
      coordinates of both ceramics on the shades of the A2 CRF and resin cement were
      saved as the control. Color differences (DeltaE00) between the control and test
      groups were calculated. Data were analyzed with 3-way analysis ANOVA and compared
      with the Tukey HSD test (alpha=.05). RESULTS: The DeltaE00 values were influenced
      by the shades of the CRF, resin cement materials, and also their interactions
      (P<.05). The DeltaE00 values were not affected by the ceramic type. The DeltaE00
      values of the Wo cement groups (1.73 to 2.96) were significantly higher than
      those of the other cement shades (0.88 to 1.29) for each ceramic type and CRF
      shade (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lithium disilicate ceramics in 2 different
      translucencies were similarly influenced by the color of the underlying cement
      and CRF. When translucent and universal cement shades were used, the core shade
      did not affect the final color of the ceramics. White opaque cement caused
      clinically unacceptable color changes in both ceramics on all shades of CRFs
      except the C2 CRF and when high translucency ceramic was used on the A2 CRF.
      These changes were clinically acceptable, but perceptible.

PMID- 27622788
TI  - Utility of the von Willebrand factor collagen binding assay in the diagnosis of
      von Willebrand disease.
AB  - von Willebrand Disease (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder and
      also arises as an acquired defect (AVWS). VWD and AVWS are due to quantitative
      deficiencies and/or qualitative defects in von Willebrand factor (VWF), an
      adhesive plasma protein with multiple activities. Diagnosis of VWD is
      problematic, being subject to overdiagnosis, underdiagnosis, and misdiagnosis.
      This is largely due to limitations in current test procedures and an over
      reliance on these imperfect test systems for clinical diagnosis. VWF essentially
      acts to assist in the formation of a platelet thrombus to stop blood loss from
      sites of injury, achieving this by binding to platelets (primarily through the
      glycoprotein Ib receptor), binding to subendothelial matrix components (primarily
      collagen), and binding to factor VIII (FVIII), thus protecting FVIII from
      degradation and enabling its delivery to sites of vascular injury. VWD is
      classified into six separate types, which may each be differentially managed
      therapeutically, and this underscores the importance of a correct diagnosis. The
      current report concisely reviews the utility of a relatively underutilised assay,
      the VWF collagen binding assay (VWF:CB), in facilitating the correct diagnosis
      and typing of VWD. In particular, if laboratories do not utilise the VWF:CB, then
      (i) type 2M VWD will continue to be missed, and/or misdiagnosed as types 2A or 1
      VWD, and (ii) types 2A, 2B and PT-VWD will continue to be missed, or else be
      misdiagnosed as type 1 VWD or ITP. Am. J. Hematol. 92:114-118, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27622789
TI  - Genotyping, levels of expression and physical status of human papilloma virus in
      oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma among Colombian patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: One of the risk factors for squamous cell oropharyngeal carcinoma
      is infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV), with prevalences that vary
      depending on the geographical region.  OBJECTIVE: To identify the most frequent
      HPV viral types in oropharyngeal cancer, the levels of expression and the
      physical condition of the viral genome.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-six
      patients were included in the study from among those attending head and neck
      surgical services in the cities of Bogota, Manizales and Bucaramanga. In the
      histopathological report all study samples were characterized as oropharyngeal
      squamous cell carcinoma. DNA extraction was subsequently performed for HPV
      genotyping and to determine the physical state of the viral genome, as well as
      RNA to determine viral transcripts using real-time PCR.  RESULTS: HPV prevalence
      in tumors was 21.74% (n=10) and the most common viral type was HPV-16 (nine
      cases). Viral expression for HPV-16 was low (one of 11 copies) and the
      predominant physical state of the virus was mixed (eight cases), with disruption
      observed at the E1 - E2 binding site (2525 - 3720 nucleotides).  CONCLUSION: The
      prevalence of HPV associated with oropharyngeal carcinoma among the Colombian
      study population was 21.7%, which is relatively low. The most frequent viral type
      was HPV-16, found in a mixed form and with low expression of E7, possibly
      indicating a poor prognosis for these patients.

PMID- 27622790
TI  - Phylogenetic analysis of Chikungunya virus in Colombia: Evidence of purifying
      selection in the E1 gene.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a single-stranded positive sense RNA
      virus that belongs to the Alphavirus genus of the family Togaviridae. Its genome
      is 11.8 kb in length, and three genotypes have been identified worldwide: Asian,
      East/Central/South African (ECSA) and West African. Chikungunya fever is an acute
      febrile disease transmitted by Aedes spp. that usually presents with
      polyarthralgia and cutaneous eruption. Following introduction of the virus to the
      Americas in 2013, the first cases in Colombia occurred in September of 2014, and
      they reached a cumulative total of 399,932 cases by June of 2015.  OBJECTIVE: To
      identify the genotype or genotypes responsible for the current epidemic in
      Colombia and to describe the genetic variability of the virus in the country. 
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum samples from patients presenting with symptoms
      compatible with Chikungunya fever during 2014-2015 were selected for the study.
      RT-PCR products of the E1 gene from these samples were used for sequencing and
      subsequent phylogenetic and adaptive evolution analyses.  RESULTS: The study
      identified only the presence of the Asian genotype in Colombia. Comparing the
      Colombian sequences with other sequences from the Americas revealed an average of
      0.001 base substitutions per site, with 99.7% and 99.9% nucleotide identity and
      99.9% amino acid identity. The adaptive evolution analysis indicated that the E1
      gene is under strong purifying selection.  CONCLUSIONS: The first epidemic of
      Chikunguya fever in Colombia was caused by the circulation of the virus Asian
      genotype. Further genotypic surveillance of the virus in Colombia is required to
      detect possible changes in its epidemiology, fitness and pathogenicity.

PMID- 27622791
TI  - Dengue and Chikungunya differential diagnosis in pediatric patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue and Chikungunya infections have similar clinical symptoms,
      which makes their clinical diagnosis complex. Moreover, both are transmitted by
      the same mosquito vectors, which results in virus co-circulation and co
      infection. However, the outcome of these diseases differs: Chikungunya fever is
      rarely fatal but can have permanent and severe rheumatic and neurological
      sequelae, whereas dengue disease is potentially fatal. Thus, accurate diagnosis
      is critical.  OBJECTIVE: To compare presumptive diagnoses based on clinical
      findings with the differential diagnoses based on specific laboratory tests for
      each virus.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed specific virological and
      serological tests for both dengue and Chikungunya infections on eight acute-phase
      blood samples collected from pediatric patients with febrile syndrome. We used RT
      PCR to detect dengue and Chikungunya virus, and IgM-capture ELISA to confirm
      infection by dengue virus.  RESULTS: Based on clinical findings, two patients
      were diagnosed as probable cases of dengue or Chikungunya, and two were diagnosed
      as probable cases of chikungunya. Four had no presumptive diagnosis of viral
      infection. Laboratory tests confirmed dengue infection in two patients,
      Chikungunya infection in two patients, and co-infection by the two viruses in the
      other four patients.  CONCLUSION: Clinical findings were not sufficient to make a
      diagnosis in pediatric patients with febrile syndrome; specific laboratory tests
      were required to establish the etiologic agent of the disease.

PMID- 27622792
TI  - Exploratory wavelet analysis of dengue seasonal patterns in Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue has a seasonal behavior associated with climatic changes,
      vector cycles, circulating serotypes, and population dynamics. The wavelet
      analysis makes it possible to separate a very long time series into calendar time
      and periods. This is the first time this technique is used in an exploratory
      manner to model the behavior of dengue in Colombia.  OBJECTIVE: To explore the
      annual seasonal dengue patterns in Colombia and in its five most endemic
      municipalities for the period 2007 to 2012, and for roughly annual cycles between
      1978 and 2013 at the national level.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We made an
      exploratory wavelet analysis using data from all incident cases of dengue per
      epidemiological week for the period 2007 to 2012, and per year for 1978 to 2013.
      We used a first-order autoregressive model as the null hypothesis.  RESULTS: The
      effect of the 2010 epidemic was evident in both the national time series and the
      series for the five municipalities. Differences in interannual seasonal patterns
      were observed among municipalities. In addition, we identified roughly annual
      cycles of 2 to 5 years since 2004 at a national level.  CONCLUSIONS: Wavelet
      analysis is useful to study a long time series containing changing seasonal
      patterns, as is the case of dengue in Colombia, and to identify differences among
      regions. These patterns need to be explored at smaller aggregate levels, and
      their relationships with different predictive variables need to be investigated.

PMID- 27622793
TI  - Prioritization of zoonotic viral diseases in feral pigs, domestic pigs and humans
      interface.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Understanding the ecology of diseases requires the comprehension of
      pathogens in wild life-livestock interface. Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) are a health
      problem when countries work to prevent and control zoonotic diseases, as their
      populations raise environmental and health concerns due to infectious agents
      transmissible to domestic pigs and other animal species, including humans. 
      OBJECTIVE: To prioritize zoonotic diseases in the feral pigs, domestic animals
      and humans interface.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: The semi-quantitative
      prioritization method based on evidence included 27 criteria founded in recent
      publications. According to viral etiology we classified them in five categories:
      epidemiology (eight), prevention/control (three), economy/trade (four), public
      health (nine) and society (three). Each criterion had a coefficient of 0 to 7
      according to their impact based on evidence (maximum sum of 189). Evidence on the
      criteria for the nine viral diseases analyzed came from the review of 81 sources
      published between 1977 and 2015.  RESULTS: The top three diseases with the
      highest score and zoonotic potential were swine influenza (133), hepatitis E
      (123), and hantavirus infection (103), whose highest scores were observed on
      epidemiology and public health criteria.  CONCLUSION: The semi-quantitative
      methods of prioritization impartially contribute to decision-making based on
      evidence; however, they are seldom used in developing countries due to the lack
      of data from public health surveillance. Control of shared diseases requires the
      development of strategies to reduce transmission of pathogens between wildlife
      and domestic animals and humans.

PMID- 27622794
TI  - Coinfection of hepatitis E virus and other hepatitis virus in Colombia and its
      genotypic characterization.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis E virus has emerged as a public health problem,
      particularly in developing countries. The four genotypes identified in mammals
      include the G3 found in indigenous hepatitis in countries and regions with high
      porcine population, and the G1, associated with maternal deaths.  OBJECTIVE: To
      determine coinfection by hepatitis E virus and the circulating genotypes in
      Colombia in 1,097 samples using serological markers for hepatitis A, B and C. 
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum samples of 1,097 patients from different regions of
      Colombia stored at the Laboratorio de Virologia of the Instituto Nacional de
      Salud were selected to detect IgG and IgM anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies. The
      viral genomes of positive samples were amplified by RT-PCR, and the products were
      sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed by comparing ORF2 sequences deposited in
      the GenBank.  RESULTS: IgG anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies were found in 278
      samples, IgM in 62, and both markers in 64. Hepatitis E virus and hepatitis A
      virus coinfection determined by IgG anti-hepatitis E virus was 33.6% and 16.1% by
      IgM; hepatitis E virus and hepatitis B virus coinfection was 23.4% and 8.1%, and
      hepatitis E virus and hepatitis C virus coinfection was 35.4% and 5.83%,
      respectively. Among the 52 positive samples by PCR nine were sequenced and
      grouped within genotype 3A of the American porcine strain.  CONCLUSIONS: The
      highest seropositivity was observed for hepatitis A and E. The incidence of
      hepatitis E virus coinfection with other hepatotropic viruses indicated that this
      pathogen is more frequent than expected. The circulation of genotype 3A implies
      that this disease may occur in outbreaks and as zoonosis in Colombia.

PMID- 27622795
TI  - Analysis of hepatitis B virus genotypes by restriction fragment length
      polymorphism.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ten viral genotypes (A-J) distributed in all continents have been
      described for hepatitis B virus (HBV). One of the methodologies for determining
      the viral genotype is the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)
      technique, a simple and relatively inexpensive method, albeit with some
      limitations. OBJECTIVE: The initial objective of the project was to identify the
      HBV genotypes by RFLP in serum samples obtained from patients and blood donors.
      However, due to the discrepancies of RFLP patterns it was also necessary to
      perform phylogenetic genotyping and in silico analysis of HBV sequences.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained 56 serum samples. DNA extraction was followed
      by PCR amplification of a fragment of HBV ORF S. We analyzed PCR products by RFLP
      with AlwI, BsrI, CfrI, HpaII and StyI, and we sequenced some. We compared the
      patterns obtained with those in previous reports. We also performed RFLP analysis
      in silico since we found differences between the patterns expected and those
      obtainedResults: We identified genotypes A and F, subgenotype F3, in the samples.
      This result is in agreement with those of previous studies carried out in
      Colombia; indeed, subgenotype F3 is the most frequent in the Andean region of the
      country, while genotype A is the most frequent HBV genotype in the western region
      (department of Choco). Based on the in silico analysis of 229 HBV sequences from
      GenBank and 11 sequences of this study, we identified the RLFP pattern for
      genotype F, subgenotype F3, and we described some modifications of genotype A
      RFLP patterns. CONCLUSIONS: We identified the single nucleotide polymorphism
      pattern for genotype F, subgenotype F3, by in silico analysis and sequencing.
      Further robust in silico analyses are necessary to validate the RFLP patterns of
      HBV genotype and subgenotypes.

PMID- 27622796
TI  - Characterization of the health condition of people convalescing from a dengue
      episode.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although dengue and its acute manifestations have been broadly
      described in the literature, the symptoms during the convalescence phase have so
      far been little studied.  OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical manifestations of a
      population during the convalescence phase from a dengue episode.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We conducted an observational study in individuals that were in the
      hospital after being serologically diagnosed with dengue. After being discharged
      from the hospital, they were visited in order to verify the persistence of
      clinical symptoms, fatigue (assessed using the Chalder's Fatigue Questionnaire)
      and quality of life (assessed with the EuroQoL-5D questionnaire). Significant
      fatigue was defined with a score equal to or greater than four in the
      corresponding scale. Participants with positive [+] fatigue signs were supervised
      by phone and/or by visiting them in their places of residence until the symptoms
      disappeared, with a maximum follow-up term of three months.  RESULTS: We included
      32 individuals in the study (average age: 35 years old, 59% women) and a fatigue
      prevalence of 34.4% was observed (CI 95% 17.0-51.8). Sociodemographic differences
      were not defined as determinants with regard to fatigue; by contrast, we found a
      greater frequency of physical tiredness (100% vs 47.6%; p-0.005) and mental
      tiredness (54.6% vs 9.5%; p=0.010). Even though patients with fatigue had a poor
      quality of life, this sign was not statistically different from the group not
      reporting fatigue when we adjusted by age and sex (OR=5.5; CI 95% 0.83-36.5). In
      addition, fatigue scores dropped half point in average every 10 days of follow
      up.  CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that the burden of disease in dengue
      has not been entirely described, as clinical signs are still present during the
      convalescence phase, and this represents an obstacle for the normal recovery of
      individuals.

PMID- 27622797
TI  - Methodology to develop endemic channels and notification trends for dengue in
      Valle del Cauca, Colombia, 2009-2013.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue is the fastest spreading disease in the world and a
      permanent threat to global public health. It is a viral illness for which
      approximately 2.5 million people are at high risk of infection. Given the
      severity of the disease at national and global levels, new predictive
      methodologies need to be generated to facilitate decision-making in public
      health.  OBJECTIVE: To characterize cases of dengue reported from 2009 to 2013 in
      Valle del Cauca department, Colombia, and to establish a methodology to develop
      endemic channels that can be applied to this event.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      was a retrospective descriptive study. Notification forms were used as a
      secondary database to characterize dengue cases from 2009 to 2013. Two endemic
      channels were developed, one using running means and the other through
      exponential smoothing.  RESULTS: Dengue in the department of Valle del Cauca
      showed a positive tendency, indicating that the number of cases had increased in
      the last five years. An important variation was observed that could be explained
      by a three-year cycle beginning in the first epidemiological period of the year. 
      CONCLUSION: The development of the dengue endemic channel for Valle del Cauca
      illustrates the importance of applying these monitoring methodologies to events
      of public health interest. As can be seen from the results, there were some years
      in which the number of cases was very low and others in which the epidemic
      reached very high levels.

PMID- 27622798
TI  - Virology, more necessary than ever.

PMID- 27622799
TI  - Intracerebral hemorrhage caused by varicella-induced thrombocytopenia.
AB  - We present the case of a previously healthy 44-years-old man with chickenpox,
      severe thrombocytopenia, mucosal hemorrhage, and intracerebral hemorrhage in the
      right hemisphere. The patient was treated with platelets and high doses of
      steroids. He recovered although with persistent left homonymous hemianopsia and
      epilepsy, which were controlled with medication. 

PMID- 27622800
TI  - Seroprevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus in blood bank donors at Fundacion
      Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia, 2008-2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Human lymphotropic virus (HTLV I/II) is a retrovirus that is
      prevalent across the Colombian Pacific coast, and is potentially transmissible by
      transfusion. Blood bank screening has been regulated since 2004, in order to
      reduce transmission of HTLV I/II through donation. Information on the
      seroprevalence of the virus in southwestern Colombia is limited.  OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the seroprevalence and the behavior of reactivity to HTLV I/II before
      and after the introduction of Western blot, and the comorbidity of HTLV and other
      infectious markers in donors from a blood bank in Cali, Colombia.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 77,117 blood bank donors from
      the Fundacion Valle del Lili by analyzing records of donors who had been tested
      with the reactive test for anti-HTLV I-II antibodies (IgG) between January, 2008,
      and December, 2014.  RESULTS: The cumulative seroprevalence during the study
      period was 0.24% (186/77,119). Reactivity was more common in women (61%), and the
      median age was 37 years (IQR: 24-48). The seroprevalence in the years before the
      introduction of Western blot was 0.13%, 0.19%, 0.31%, 0.32% and 0.18% (2008
      2012), and thereafter it was 0.08% and 0.07% (2012-2014). Concomitant reactivity
      with other infectious markers was 11%: syphilis (57%), followed by HIV (19%),
      hepatitis B (14%) and hepatitis C (9%). The highest seroprevalence (0.38%) was
      reported in 2012.  CONCLUSION: We found a high prevalence of reactivity to HTLV I
      II compared to that reported in other studies. The results of this study are a
      starting point for the development of population studies.

PMID- 27622801
TI  - Geographical distribution of the red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus) and
      yellow fever in Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Colombia is a country with an important diversity of non-human
      primates, of which the red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus) stands out because
      of its distribution and the role it plays in the occurrence of yellow fever. 
      OBJECTIVE: To describe the geographic co-occurrence of Alouatta seniculus and the
      reported presence of yellow fever.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a
      descriptive study. The reported presence of yellow fever in Colombia was obtained
      from the reports and bulletins issued by the Instituto Nacional de Salud, and the
      study by Segura, et al. (2013). The occurrence of A. seniculus was determined
      based on the data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the
      Colombian Biodiversity Information System. A map of the occurrence was developed
      using the DIVA-GIS program, and the ecological niche model under current
      conditions was created with the Maxent program.  RESULTS: The departments with
      the highest occurrence of A. seniculus were Antioquia, Meta and Casanare; 69.5%
      of the departments with reported history of yellow fever had co-occurrence with
      A. seniculus. The ecological niche model showed that Antioquia, Bolivar, La
      Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Santander, Norte de Santander and Vichada had
      geographical portions with a probability rate nearing to 0.9 (90%).  CONCLUSIONS:
      In 69.5% of the departments with a history of yellow fever there was co
      occurrence with A. seniculus, which is relevant because non-human primates play a
      well-known role as natural reservoirs of the virus, and they might contribute to
      the occurrence of the yellow fever, which makes them very useful as sentinels.

PMID- 27622802
TI  - Dengue mortality in Colombia, 1985-2012.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue in Colombia is an important public health problem due to the
      huge economic and social costs it has caused, especially during the disease
      outbreaks.  OBJECTIVE: To describe the behavior of dengue mortality in Colombia
      between 1985 and 2012.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive study.
      Information was obtained from mortality and population projection databases
      provided by the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE) for
      the 1985-2012 period. Mortality rates, rate ratios, and case fatality rates were
      estimated.  RESULTS: A total of 1,990 dengue deaths were registered during this
      period in Colombia. Dengue mortality rates presented an increasing trend with
      statistical significance between 1985 and 1998. Higher mortality rates were
      reported in men both younger than 5 years and older than 65 years. Between 1995
      and 2012, category 1 to 4 municipalities reported the highest mortality rates.
      Case fatality rates varied during the period between 0.01% and 0.39%. 
      CONCLUSION: Dengue is an avoidable disease that should disappear from mortality
      statistics as a cause of death. The event is avoidable if the proposed activities
      from the Estrategia de Gestion Integrada (EGI)-Dengue are implemented and
      evaluated. We recommend encouraging the development of an informational culture
      to contribute to decision making and prioritizing resource allocation.

PMID- 27622803
TI  - Evidence of the circulation of hepatitis A virus, subgenotype IA, in
      environmental samples from Antioquia, Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an important pathogen, typically
      transmitted via the faecal-oral route. The epidemiology of the infection is
      directly related to drinking water access and adequate disposal of sewage water. 
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the presence and identify the genotype of HAV in
      environmental samples from eight municipalities and two villages in Antioquia,
      northwestern Colombia.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three serial samplings were done
      between December, 2012, and April, 2014. Water samples were obtained from
      drinking water plants prior to treatment, as well as from the main reserve of
      wastewater in each municipality included in the study. Viral concentrations for
      the two types of sample sources were determined by filtration/tangential
      ultrafiltration and polyethyleneglycol plus flocculation with skimmed milk,
      respectively. Total ARN was subsequently obtained from each sample and the VP3
      VP1 region amplified for detection of the viral genome. The genotype was
      determined by amplification of the VP1-2B region.  RESULTS: The HAV genome was
      detected in samples from drinking water plants at Puerto Berrio, Frontino and
      Nutibara, and in wastewater samples from the municipalities of Arboletes,
      Zaragoza and Venecia. HAV subgenotype IA was identified using phylogenetic
      analysis.  CONCLUSION: In this study, HAV was identified in 6.6% of the samples
      from drinking water plants and 13.3% of wastewater samples. This is the first
      report of HAV subgenotype IA circulating in environmental samples from Antioquia.

PMID- 27622804
TI  - Regulators of endothelial integrity as severity predictors in dengue.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue is currently among the mosquito-borne diseases of greatest
      global impact. The clinical course of the disease can be unpredictable, so proper
      handling in its early stages is critical to ensure optimal outcomes.  OBJECTIVE:
      To evaluate serum regulators of endothelial integrity (VEGF, sICAM-1, sEndoglina,
      Ang-1, and Ang-2) as predictive markers of dengue severity.  MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We conducted a case-control study nested in an appropriate cohort.
      Endothelial regulator levels were first measured by ELISA, after which analysis
      was performed using logistic regression of clinical and regulatory variables,
      with severity as an output variable. A possible severity prediction model, based
      on the variables of interest and output, was defined using the best area under
      the ROC curve.  RESULTS: The median subject age was 24 years. Severe cases were
      associated with Ang-2 serum levels of >=1,490 ng/ml (OR=3.1; p=0.015). Serum
      levels of Ang-2 (>=1,490 ng/ml) contributed to the severity prediction model, as
      did a 0.73 area under the ROC curve, together with the variables rash, impaired
      consciousness and abdominal pain, with an OR of 3.2 (CI 95%: 1.16 to 8.9;
      p=0.024).  CONCLUSION: The endothelial regulator Ang-2 could be a predictor of
      severity in dengue.

PMID- 27622805
TI  - Dengue virus induces apoptosis in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue is a human disease caused by a virus with the same name,
      which is transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. The infection has a wide
      range of clinical presentations ranging from asymptomatic to fatal cases, with
      the pediatric population being the most susceptible. According to the new
      classification of the disease, the neurological manifestations are considered a
      criterion for the diagnosis of severe dengue.  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      possible mechanisms involved in the onset of neurological signs in a cell line of
      human neurons as a model of infection with dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2). 
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Susceptibility and permissiveness of the SH-SY5Y line to
      infection by DENV-2 was analyzed, showing that the proportions of viral infection
      and production are similar to those of primate cells used as positive control for
      infection.  RESULTS: Infection induced a cytopathic effect on the neuroblastoma
      line characterized by apoptotic cell death process, increasing the proportion of
      annexin V and TUNEL positive cells and an upregulation of TNF-alpha. Treatment
      with anti-TNF-alpha antibody increased slightly cell survival of infected cells.
      The addition of exogenous TNF-alpha to the infected cultures enhanced cell death.
      CONCLUSION: These results as a whole suggest that the upregulation of TNF-alpha
      could be part of the process that induces cell damage and death in cases of
      dengue encephalitis.

PMID- 27622806
TI  - Presence of enteric viruses in water samples for consumption in Colombia:
      Challenges for supply systems.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since drinking water can be a vehicle for the transmission of
      pathogens, the detection of enteric viruses in these water samples is essential
      to establish the appropriate measures to control and prevent associated diseases.
      OBJECTIVE: To analyze the results obtained for enteric viruses in water samples
      for human consumption received at the Colombian Instituto Nacional de Salud and
      establish their association with the data on water quality in Colombian
      municipalities.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive-retrospective
      analysis of the results obtained in the detection of rotavirus, enterovirus,
      hepatitis A virus and adenovirus in water samples received for complementary
      studies of enteric hepatitis, acute diarrheal disease and foodborne diseases.
      Data were correlated with the results of water quality surveillance determined by
      the national human consumption water quality index (IRCA).  RESULTS: Of the 288
      samples processed from 102 Colombian municipalities, 50.7% were positive for
      viruses: 26.73% for hepatitis A virus, 20.48% for enterovirus and rotavirus and
      18.05% for adenovirus. Viruses were detected in 48.26% of non-treated water
      samples and in 45.83% of treated water samples. The IRCA index showed no
      correlation with the presence of viruses.  CONCLUSIONS: The presence of viruses
      in water represents a public health risk and, therefore, the prevention of virus
      transmission through water requires appropriate policies to reinforce water
      supply systems and improve epidemiological surveillance.

PMID- 27622807
TI  - Prevalence and clinical course of dengue infection in elderly patients with acute
      febrile illness in a tertiary care hospital in Cali, Colombia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the prevalence and clinical course of dengue
      infection in elderly patients living in endemic areas; it is presumed that there
      is a lower prevalence but higher severity, complications and mortality. 
      OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and clinical course of dengue infection in
      elderly patients who were admitted to a referral care center for infectious
      diseases in an endemic region.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted an
      observational and descriptive study between 2011 and 2014, using a cohort of
      elderly patients with serological diagnosis of dengue.  RESULTS: A total of 235
      febrile elderly patients were assessed, of which 43 patients (18.3%) were found
      to have dengue. The median age was 71 years; 48.7% were female, and 89% of
      patients had at least one comorbid condition. According to the serological tests,
      51.4% of cases were positive for NS1 Ag, 27% for IgM and 54.1% for IgG, while
      64.8% were secondary infections. Dengue was diagnosed in 13 patients (35%),
      dengue with warning signs in 16 cases (43%), and severe dengue in 8 cases (22%).
      Nearly 56.7% of patients were admitted to hospital and 21.6%, to the intensive
      care unit. None died.  CONCLUSION: We found dengue infection to be more frequent
      than expected in this sample of elderly patients, due to acute febrile syndrome.
      Elderly patients also required higher rate of hospitalization and had more
      complications, however there were no deaths due to good management.

PMID- 27622809
TI  - Prevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus I and II in Colombian blood donors,
      2001-2014: Implications for transfusion safety.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) 1 and 2 cause various
      clinical disorders associated with degenerative diseases. Blood transfusion is a
      primary mechanism of transmission that is associated with the use of cellular
      components such as red blood cells.  OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of
      HTLV 1 and 2 in blood donors in Colombia from 2001-2014.  MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A retrospective analysis was performed using screening, reactivity and positivity
      for HTLV 1 and 2 data collected from 2001 to 2014 by Colombian blood banks and
      consolidated by the Instituto Nacional de Salud. Using this information,
      transfusion-associated infectivity was also estimated.  RESULTS: From 2001 to
      2014, 60.2% of blood collected in Colombia was screened for HTLV 1 and 2 and had
      a cumulative reactivity of 0.30%. This was 20 times higher in Choco (6.28%),
      where blood collection ended in 2004. Blood screening for HTLV reached 94.9% in
      2014 with a positive concordance of 14.7%, and an estimated 406 unscreened,
      potentially infectious blood units were released. The majority of the unscreened
      blood units (215 units, 53%) came from Antioquia, a non-endemic department. 
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that HTLV 1 and 2 infections are distributed in
      different areas of the country that were not previously classified as endemic.
      These findings support the importance of the universal screening of blood units
      to minimize the risk of infection through transfusion for this event.

PMID- 27622808
TI  - Cytomegalovirus seroprevalence in organ donors and kidney transplant recipients,
      Colombia, 2010-2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cytomegalovirus infections have gained high importance for
      individuals that have received organ transplants given the clinical implications
      this may have in immunocompromised patients.  OBJECTIVE: To describe the
      seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus in organ donors and recipients of kidney
      transplants nationwide from the six regions established by the Red Nacional de
      Donacion y Trasplante.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive
      retrospective study that included 1,813 organ donors and 3,313 recipients of
      kidney transplants, and we calculated IgM and IgG seroprevalence for
      cytomegalovirus. IgG prevalence was stratified according to sex, age group, and
      region, and the results were analyzed in each donor-recipient pair and classified
      according to the risk. Statistical packages IBM SPSS(r), Statistics 22, and Epi
      Info 7 were utilized.  RESULTS: IgG prevalence for cytomegalivirus was 86.8% in
      donors and 91.0% in kidney transplant recipients with statistical significance
      observed for age, geographical location, and between donors and recipients. We
      analyzed 1,764 pairs of donors and recipients, of which 91.4% were categorized as
      having intermediate risk.  CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed high
      cytomegalovirus infection rates in Colombia. Given the risk, categorization of
      patients undergoing transplants, measures should be adopted by medical teams to
      minimize risks.

PMID- 27622811
TI  - [Letters to editor].

PMID- 27622810
TI  - Shedding of HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV, and EBV in the saliva of hematopoietic stem cell
      transplant recipients at Fundacion HOMI - Hospital de la Misericordia, Bogota,
      D.C.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients is an
      alternative treatment for different diseases. The conditioning regimen for
      transplant predisposes recipients to the development of infections. Viral
      infections by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2),
      human cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), are the most common,
      and the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among these patients. These
      viruses lie dormant in various cell types and the reactivation of latent
      infections may lead to asymptomatic viral shedding in saliva. The detection of
      these viruses in secretions may contribute to understand the behavioral dynamics
      of these viral infections in transplanted patients, and to the early diagnosis of
      reactivation.  OBJECTIVE: To assess HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV and EBV viral shedding in
      the saliva of patients admitted for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at
      Fundacion HOMI - Hospital de la Misericordia between January and November of
      2012.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated stimulated saliva samples of 17
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients weekly. We performed DNA
      extraction from saliva, and we evaluated the presence of DNA for HSV-1, HSV-2,
      CMV, and EBV by PCR.  RESULTS: While we detected HSV-2 and CMV DNA in the saliva
      of four patients, EBV DNA was detected in nine patients with leukopenia. In
      contrast, we did not detect HSV-1 DNA in saliva. Additionally, four out of the 17
      patients showed a simultaneous shedding of CMV and EBV.  CONCLUSIONS: By
      conventional PCR, we demonstrated asymptomatic HSV-2, CMV, and EBV viral shedding
      in saliva, associated with leukopenia.

PMID- 27622812
TI  - Vector-borne diseases models with residence times - A Lagrangian perspective.
AB  - A multi-patch and multi-group modeling framework describing the dynamics of a
      class of diseases driven by the interactions between vectors and hosts structured
      by groups is formulated. Hosts' dispersal is modeled in terms of patch-residence
      times with the nonlinear dynamics taking into account the effective patch-host
      size. The residence times basic reproduction number R0 is computed and shown to
      depend on the relative environmental risk of infection. The model is robust, that
      is, the disease free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable (GAS) if R0<=1
      and a unique interior endemic equilibrium is shown to exist that is GAS whenever
      R0>1 whenever the configuration of host-vector interactions is irreducible. The
      effects of patchiness and groupness, a measure of host-vector heterogeneous
      structure, on the basic reproduction number R0, are explored. Numerical
      simulations are carried out to highlight the effects of residence times on
      disease prevalence.

PMID- 27622813
TI  - Pits, a protein interacting with Ttk69 and Sin3A, has links to histone
      deacetylation.
AB  - Histone deacetylation plays an important role in transcriptional repression.
      Previous results showed that the genetic interaction between ttk and rpd3, which
      encodes a class I histone deacetylase, is required for tll repression. This study
      investigated the molecular mechanism by which Ttk69 recruits Rpd3. Using yeast
      two-hybrid screening and datamining, one novel protein was found that weakly
      interacts with Ttk69 and Sin3A, designated as Protein interacting with Ttk69 and
      Sin3A (Pits). Pits protein expressed in the early stages of embryos and bound to
      the region of the tor response element in vivo. Expanded tll expression patterns
      were observed in embryos lacking maternal pits activity and the expansion was not
      widened by reducing either maternal ttk or sin3A activity. However, in embryos
      with simultaneously reduced maternal pits and sin3A activities or maternal pits,
      sin3A and ttk activities, the proportions of the embryos with expanded tll
      expression were significantly increased. These results indicate that all three
      gene activities are involved in tll repression. Level of histone H3 acetylation
      in the tll proximal region was found to be elevated in embryo with reduced these
      three gene activities. In conclusion, Ttk69 causes the histone deacetylation
      mediated repression of tll via the interaction of Pits and Sin3A.

PMID- 27622814
TI  - Screening and Molecular Evolution of a Single Chain Variable Fragment Antibody
      (scFv) against Citreoviridin Toxin.
AB  - Citreoviridin (CIT), a small food-borne mycotoxin produced by Penicillium
      citreonigrum, is generally distributed in various cereal grains and farm crop
      products around the world and has caused cytotoxicity as an uncompetitive
      inhibitor of ATP hydrolysis. A high affinity single chain variable fragment
      (scFv) antibody that can detect the citreoviridin in samples is still not
      available; therefore, it is very urgent to prepare an antibody for CIT detection
      and therapy. In this study, an amplified and assembled scFv from hybridoma was
      used to construct the mutant phage library by error-prone PCR, generating a 2 *
      108 capacity mutated phage display library. After six rounds of biopanning, the
      selected scFv-5A10 displayed higher affinity and specificity to CIT antigen, with
      an increased affinity of 13.25-fold (Kaff = 5.7 * 109 L/mol) compared to that of
      the original wild-type scFv. Two critical amino acids (P100 and T151) distributed
      in H-CDR3 and L-FR regions that were responsible for scFv-5A10 to CIT were found
      and verified by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, and the resulting three
      mutants except for the mutant (P100K) lost binding activity significantly against
      CIT, as predicated. Indirect competitive ELISA (ic-ELISA) indicated that the
      linear range to detect CIT was 25-562 ng/mL with IC50 at 120 ng/mL. The limit of
      detection was 14.7 ng/mL, and the recovery average was (90.612 +/- 3.889)%.
      Hence, the expressed and purified anti-CIT MBP-linker-scFv can be used to detect
      CIT in corn and related samples.

PMID- 27622816
TI  - What is more important: defibrillation or compression?

PMID- 27622818
TI  - Helping Chemists Discover New Antibiotics.
AB  - The world is facing a crisis in treating infectious diseases, with a scarcity of
      new antibiotics in development to treat the growing threat of drug-resistant
      "superbugs". We need new strategies to reinvigorate the antibiotic pipeline. In
      this Viewpoint we discuss one such approach, encouraging the community of
      synthetic chemists to participate in testing chemical diversity from their
      laboratories for antimicrobial potential. CO-ADD, the Community for Open
      Antimicrobial Drug Discovery, offers free screening against five bacteria and two
      fungi with follow up hit confirmation and validation, all with no strings
      attached. 

PMID- 27622815
TI  - The Precision Problem in Conservation and Restoration.
AB  - Within the varied contexts of environmental policy, conservation of imperilled
      species populations, and restoration of damaged habitats, an emphasis on
      idealized optimal conditions has led to increasingly specific targets for
      management. Overly-precise conservation targets can reduce habitat variability at
      multiple scales, with unintended consequences for future ecological resilience.
      We describe this dilemma in the context of endangered species management, stream
      restoration, and climate-change adaptation. Inappropriate application of
      conservation targets can be expensive, with marginal conservation benefit.
      Reduced habitat variability can limit options for managers trying to balance
      competing objectives with limited resources. Conservation policies should embrace
      habitat variability, expand decision-space appropriately, and support adaptation
      to local circumstances to increase ecological resilience in a rapidly changing
      world.

PMID- 27622819
TI  - Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: An Antimicrobial Mainstay and Platform for
      Innovation to Address Bacterial Resistance.
AB  - Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) have represented one of the most visible and
      effective classes of disinfectants for nearly a century. With simple preparation,
      wide structural variety, and versatile incorporation into consumer products,
      there have been manifold developments and applications of these structures.
      Generally operating via disruption of one of the most fundamental structures in
      bacteria-the cell membrane-leading to cell lysis and bacterial death, the QACs
      were once thought to be impervious to resistance. Developments over the past
      decades, however, have shown this to be far from the truth. It is now known that
      a large family of bacterial genes (generally termed qac genes) encode efflux
      pumps capable of expelling many QAC structures from bacterial cells, leading to a
      decrease in susceptibility to QACs; methods of regulation of qac transcription
      are also understood. Importantly, qac genes can be horizontally transferred via
      plasmids to other bacteria and are often transmitted alongside other antibiotic
      resistant genes; this dual threat represents a significant danger to human
      health. In this review, both QAC development and QAC resistance are documented,
      and possible strategies for addressing and overcoming QAC-resistant bacteria are
      discussed. 

PMID- 27622820
TI  - Bioorganic Investigation of Multicationic Antimicrobials to Combat QAC-Resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) have historically served as a first line of
      defense against pathogenic bacteria. Recent reports have shown that QAC
      resistance is increasing at an alarming rate, especially among methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and preliminary work has suggested that
      the number of cations present in the QAC scaffold inversely correlates with
      resistance. Given our interest in multiQACs, we initiated a multipronged approach
      to investigate their biofilm eradication properties, antimicrobial activity, and
      the propensity of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) to develop resistance
      toward these compounds. Through these efforts we identified multiQACs with
      superior profiles against resistant (MRSA) planktonic bacteria and biofilms.
      Furthermore, we document the ability of MSSA to develop resistance to several
      commercial monoQAC disinfectants and a novel aryl bisQAC, yet we observe no
      resistance to multiQACs. This work provides insight into the mechanism and rate
      of resistance development of MSSA and MRSA toward a range of QAC structures. 

PMID- 27622821
TI  - 4,5-Disubstituted 6-Aryloxy-1,3-dihydrobenzo[c][1,2]oxaboroles Are Broad-Spectrum
      Serine beta-Lactamase Inhibitors.
AB  - Bacterially expressed beta-lactamases are rapidly eroding the clinical utility of
      the important beta-lactam class of antibacterials, significantly impairing our
      ability to fight serious bacterial infections. This paper describes a study of
      oxaborole-derived beta-lactamase inhibitors in which crystal structures and
      computational modeling aided in the rational design of analogues with improved
      spectrum of activity against class A, C, and D enzymes. Crystal structures of two
      of these inhibitors covalently bound to two different serine beta-lactamases,
      class C Pseudomonas aeruginosa AmpC and class D OXA-10, are described herein.
      Improved physicochemical properties as well as increased activity against an
      array of beta-lactamases resulted in substantial restoration of susceptibility to
      ceftazidime in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. 

PMID- 27622822
TI  - Evaluation of Ebola Virus Inhibitors for Drug Repurposing.
AB  - A systematic screen of FDA-approved drugs was performed to identify compounds
      with in vitro antiviral activities against Ebola virus (EBOV). Compounds active
      (>50% viral inhibition and <30% cellular toxicity) at a single concentration were
      tested in dose-response assays to quantitate the antiviral activities in
      replication and viral entry assays as well as cytotoxicity in the Vero cell line
      used to conduct these assays. On the basis of the approved human dosing,
      toxicity/tolerability, and pharmacokinetic data, seven of these in vitro hits
      from different pharmacological classes (chloroquine (CQ), amiodarone,
      prochlorperazine, benztropine, azithromycin, chlortetracycline, and clomiphene)
      were evaluated for their in vivo efficacy at a single dose and were administered
      via either intraperitoneal (ip) or oral route. Initially, azithromycin (100
      mg/kg, twice daily, ip), CQ (90 mg/kg, twice daily, ip), and amiodarone (60
      mg/kg, twice daily, ip) demonstrated significant increases in survival in the
      mouse model. After repeat evaluation, only CQ was found to reproducibly give
      significant efficacy in the mouse model with this dosing regimen. Azithromycin
      and CQ were also tested in a guinea pig model of EBOV infection over a range of
      doses, but none of the doses increased survival, and drug-related toxicity was
      observed at lower doses than in the mouse. These results show the benefits and
      specific challenges associated with drug repurposing and highlight the need for
      careful evaluation of approved drugs as rapidly deployable countermeasures
      against future pandemics. 

PMID- 27622823
TI  - Amoebae-Based Screening Reveals a Novel Family of Compounds Restricting
      Intracellular Legionella pneumophila.
AB  - The causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, Legionella pneumophila, grows in
      environmental amoebae and mammalian macrophages within a distinct compartment,
      the 'Legionella-containing vacuole' (LCV). Intracellular bacteria are protected
      from many antibiotics, and thus are notoriously difficult to eradicate. To
      identify novel compounds that restrict intracellular bacterial replication, we
      previously developed an assay based on a coculture of amoebae and GFP-producing
      L. pneumophila. This assay was used to screen a pathway-based, highly diverse
      chemical library, referred to as the Sinergia library. In this work, we chose to
      focus on a group of 11 hit compounds, the majority of which originated from the
      query molecule CN585, a compound that targets the protein phosphatase
      calcineurin. Further studies on 78 related compound variants revealed crucial
      structural attributes, namely a triple-ring scaffold with a central triazine
      moiety, substituted in positions 3 and 5 by two piperidine or pyrrolidine rings,
      and in position 1 by an amine group bearing a single aliphatic chain moiety. The
      most effective compound, ZINC00615682, inhibited intracellular replication of L.
      pneumophila with an IC50 of approximately 20 nM in Acanthamoeba castellanii and
      slightly less efficiently in Dictyostelium discoideum or macrophages.
      Pharmacological and genetic attempts to implicate calcineurin in the
      intracellular replication of L. pneumophila failed. Taken together, these results
      show that the amoebae-based screen and structure-activity relationship analysis
      is suitable for the identification of novel inhibitors of the intracellular
      replication of L. pneumophila. The most potent compound identified in this study
      targets (an) as yet unidentified host factor(s). 

PMID- 27622824
TI  - Desvenlafaxine overdose and the occurrence of serotonin toxicity, seizures and
      cardiovascular effects.
AB  - CONTEXT: Desvenlafaxine is used to treat major depression. Desvenlafaxine is also
      the active metabolite of venlafaxine. Venlafaxine overdose can cause serotonin
      toxicity, seizures and cardiovascular effects, but there is limited information
      on desvenlafaxine overdose. OBJECTIVE: We aimed at investigating the clinical
      effects and complications from desvenlafaxine overdose. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This was a retrospective observational study of desvenlafaxine overdoses over a
      six-year period. Demographic details, dose and timing of the overdose, together
      with clinical effects, treatment and complications were extracted from a local
      hospital network database or the medical records of patients following hospital
      admission with a desvenlafaxine overdose. RESULTS: There were 182 cases of
      desvenlafaxine overdose included in the study. From the 182 cases, 75 were
      desvenlafaxine (+/- alcohol) only ingestions and 107 included one or more co
      ingested drugs. In single-agent desvenlafaxine ingestions, median age was 25
      years (range: 13-68 years) with a median ingested dose of 800 mg (range: 250-3500
      mg; interquartile range (IQR): 600-1400 mg), and 54/75 (72%) were female. The
      Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) was 15 in 68/74 (92%) patients, 13-14 in 5/74 (7%), and
      was seven in one patient following aspiration. Mild hypertension (systolic blood
      pressure [BP] > 140-180 mmHg) occurred in 23/71 patients (32%), and tachycardia
      occurred in 29/74 (39%) patients. There were no abnormal QT intervals and no QRS
      >120 m s. Serotonin toxicity was diagnosed by the treating physician in 7/75 (9%)
      patients, but only one of these met the Hunter Serotonin Toxicity Criteria. None
      of the 75 patients who took desvenlafaxine only (+/- alcohol) had seizures, were
      admitted to intensive care or died. In comparison, the 107 patients taking
      desvenlafaxine in overdose with other medications developed more pronounced
      toxicity. Generalised seizures occurred in 5/107 (5%), but in three of these
      cases co-ingestants were possible proconvulsants. Fifteen patients had a GCS <=9
      and none had an abnormal QT or QRS. Severe effects appeared to be associated with
      coingestants. CONCLUSION: Desvenlafaxine overdose causes minor effects with mild
      hypertension and tachycardia. The risk of seizures or serotonin toxicity is low.

PMID- 27622826
TI  - Effect of Co Substitution on the Crystal and Magnetic Structure of SrFeO2.75
      delta: Stabilization of the "314-Type" Oxygen Vacancy Ordered Structure without A
      Site Ordering.
AB  - A study of the structure-composition-properties correlation is reported for the
      oxygen-deficient SrFe1-xCoxO2.75-delta (x = 0.1-0.85) materials. The introduction
      of Co in the parent SrFeO2.75 (Sr4Fe4O11) structure revealed an interesting
      structural transformation. At room temperature (RT), an orthorhombic (space group
      Cmmm, 2?2ap * 2ap * ?2ap type, ap = lattice parameter of the cubic perovskite) ->
      tetragonal (space group P4/mmm, ap * ap * 2ap type) -> tetragonal (space group
      I4/mmm, 2ap * 2ap * 4ap type) structural transformation is observed in parallel
      with increasing Co content and decreasing oxygen content in the structure. At the
      same time, a rich variation in the magnetic properties is explored. The samples
      with x = 0.25, 0.3 show temperature-induced magnetization reversal. With
      increasing Co content in the structure, magnetic interactions start to weaken due
      to the random distribution of Fe and Co in the structure; the x = 0.5 sample
      shows frustration in the magnetic behavior with much smaller magnetization value.
      With a further increase in the Co content in the structure, RT ferrimagnetic-type
      behavior is observed for the sample with x = 0.85. The nuclear and magnetic
      structure refinements using RT and low-temperature neutron powder diffraction
      (NPD, 10 K) patterns confirm the formation of a "314-type" novel oxygen vacancy
      ordered phase for the sample with x = 0.85, which is the first case of "314-type"
      novel oxygen vacancy ordering without A-site (ABO3-delta type perovskite)
      ordering. The magnetic structure is G-type antiferromagnetic starting at room
      temperature. Further, the stabilization of the "314-type" complex superstructure
      is related to the ordering of oxygen vacancies in the oxygen-deficient Co-O
      layers, and the same assists in building a network of Co ions with different
      coordination environments, each with different spin states, and forms the spin
      state ordering.

PMID- 27622825
TI  - Genotoxicity, mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of carotenoids extracted from ionic
      liquid in multiples organs of Wistar rats.
AB  - The ionic liquid or melted salt 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium is an alternative
      process to extract natural pigments, such as carotenoids. Lycopene represents 80
      90% of total of carotenoids presents in tomatoes and it has been widely studied
      due its potent antioxidant action. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      genotoxicity, mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of carotenoids extracted from ionic
      liquid using experimental model in vivo. For this purpose, a total of 20 male
      Wistar rats were distributed into four groups (n=5), as follows: control group;
      received a corresponding amount of corn oil for 7days by intragastric gavage
      (i.g.), ionic liquid group, received 10mgkg-1 body weight for 7days by gavage;
      10mg carotenoids group, received 10mgkg-1 bw dissolved in corn oil for 7days by
      gavage and 500mg carotenoids group, received 500mgkg-1 bw dissolved in corn oil
      for 7days by gavage. Rat liver treated with ionic liquid exhibited moderate
      histopathological changes randomly distributed in the parenchyma, such as
      cytoplasmic eosinophilia, apoptotic bodies, inflammatory infiltrate and focal
      necrosis. DNA damage was found in peripheral blood and liver cells of rats
      treated with ionic liquid or carotenoids at 500mg. An increase of micronucleated
      cells and 8-OhDG immunopositive cells were also detected in rats treated with
      carotenoids at 500mg. In summary, our results demonstrate that recommended dose
      for human daily intake of carotenoids extracted by ionic liquid did not induce
      genotoxicity, mutagenicity and cytotoxicity in multiple organs of rats.

PMID- 27622827
TI  - Aberrant p15, p16, p53, and DAPK Gene Methylation in Myelomagenesis: Clinical and
      Prognostic Implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aberrant DNA methylation is considered a crucial mechanism in the
      pathogenesis of monoclonal gammopathies. We aimed to investigate the contribution
      of hypermethylation of 4 tumor suppressor genes to the multistep process of
      myelomagenesis. METHODS: The methylation status of p15, p16, p53, and DAPK genes
      was evaluated in bone marrow samples from 94 patients at diagnosis: monoclonal
      gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS) (n = 48), smoldering multiple myeloma
      (SMM) (n = 8) and symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM) (n = 38), and from 8 healthy
      controls by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis. RESULTS:
      Overall, 63% of patients with MM and 39% of patients with MGUS presented at least
      1 hypermethylated gene (P < .05). No aberrant methylation was detected in normal
      bone marrow. The frequency of methylation for individual genes in patients with
      MGUS, SMM, and MM was p15, 15%, 50%, 21%; p16, 15%, 13%, 32%; p53, 2%, 12,5%, 5%,
      and DAPK, 19%, 25%, 39%, respectively (P < .05). No correlation was found between
      aberrant methylation and immunophenotypic markers, cytogenetic features,
      progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with MM. CONCLUSIONS:
      The current study supports a relevant role for p15, p16, and DAPK
      hypermethylation in the genesis of the plasma cell neoplasm. DAPK
      hypermethylation also might be an important step in the progression from MGUS to
      MM.

PMID- 27622828
TI  - Controlled coordination in vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido compounds.
AB  - The vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido compounds were structurally characterized to
      elucidate the effect of the alkoxide ligands in the coordination environment of
      vanadium(V) hydrazido center. The single-crystal X-ray structure determination of
      the vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido compound with isopropoxide ligands revealed a
      dimeric structure with the V(1)-N(1) distance of 1.680(5)A, in which each
      vanadium atom is coordinated in a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal geometry
      (tau5=0.81) with the hydrazido and bridging isopropoxide ligands in the apical
      positions. On the contrary, nearly tetrahedral arrangement around the vanadium
      metal center (tau4=0.06) with the V(1)-N(1) distance of 1.660(2)A was observed in
      the vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido compound with tert-butoxide ligands. The
      introduction of the 2,2',2"-nitrilotriethoxide ligand led to a pseudo-trigonal
      bipyramidal geometry (tau5=0.92) at the vanadium center with the V(1)-N(1)
      distance of 1.691(5)A, wherein vanadium atom is pulled out of the plane formed by
      the nitrilotriethoxide oxygen atoms in the direction of the hydrazido nitrogen.
      The coordination from the apical ligand in the vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido
      compound was found to result in the longer V(1)-N(1) distance.

PMID- 27622830
TI  - A role for the metalloprotease invadolysin in insulin signaling and adipogenesis.
AB  - Invadolysin is a novel metalloprotease conserved amongst metazoans that is
      essential for life in Drosophila. We previously showed that invadolysin was
      essential for the cell cycle and cell migration, linking to metabolism through a
      role in lipid storage and interaction with mitochondrial proteins. In this study
      we demonstrate that invadolysin mutants exhibit increased autophagy and decreased
      glycogen storage - suggestive of a role for invadolysin in insulin signaling in
      Drosophila. Consistent with this, effectors of insulin signaling were decreased
      in invadolysin mutants. In addition, we discovered that invadolysin was deposited
      on newly synthesized lipid droplets in a PKC-dependent manner. We examined two in
      vitro models of adipogenesis for the expression and localization of invadolysin.
      The level of invadolysin increased during both murine 3T3-L1 and human Simpson
      Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS), adipogenesis. Invadolysin displayed a dynamic
      localization to lipid droplets over the course of adipogenesis, which may be due
      to the differential expression of distinct invadolysin variants. Pharmacological
      inhibition of adipogenesis abrogated the increase in invadolysin. In summary, our
      results on in vivo and in vitro systems highlight an important role for
      invadolysin in insulin signaling and adipogenesis.

PMID- 27622829
TI  - Emergency use of uridine triacetate for the prevention and treatment of life
      threatening 5-fluorouracil and capecitabine toxicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased susceptibility to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/capecitabine can
      lead to rapidly occurring toxicity caused by impaired clearance,
      dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency, and other genetic variations in the
      enzymes that metabolize 5-FU. Life-threatening 5-FU overdoses occur because of
      infusion pump errors, dosage miscalculations, and accidental or suicidal
      ingestion of capecitabine. Uridine triacetate (Vistogard) was approved in 2015
      for adult and pediatric patients who exhibit early-onset severe or life
      threatening 5-FU/capecitabine toxicities or present with an overdose. Uridine
      triacetate delivers high concentrations of uridine, which competes with toxic 5
      FU metabolites. METHODS: In 2 open-label clinical studies, patients who presented
      with a 5-FU/capecitabine overdose or an early onset of severe toxicities were
      treated. Patients received uridine triacetate as soon as possible (most within
      the first 96 hours after 5-FU/capecitabine). Outcomes included survival,
      resumption of chemotherapy, and safety. Their survival was compared with the
      survival of a historical cohort of overdose patients who received only supportive
      care. RESULTS: A total of 137 of 142 overdose patients (96%) treated with uridine
      triacetate survived and had a rapid reversal of severe acute cardiotoxicity and
      neurotoxicity; in addition, mucositis and leukopenia were prevented, or the
      patients recovered from them. In the historical cohort, 21 of 25 patients (84%)
      died. Among the 141 uridine triacetate-treated overdose patients with a diagnosis
      of cancer (the noncancer patients included 6 intentional or accidental pediatric
      overdoses), 53 resumed chemotherapy in < 30 days (median time after 5-FU, 19.6
      days), and this indicated a rapid recovery from toxicity. Adverse reactions in
      patients receiving uridine triacetate included vomiting (8.1%), nausea (4.6%),
      and diarrhea (3.5%). CONCLUSIONS: In these studies, uridine triacetate was a safe
      and effective lifesaving antidote for capecitabine and 5-FU overexposure, and it
      facilitated the rapid resumption of chemotherapy. Cancer 2017;123:345-356. (c)
      2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27622831
TI  - Kallikrein(K1)-kinin-kininase (ACE) and end-organ damage in ischemia and
      diabetes: therapeutic implications.
AB  - Genetic and pharmacological studies, clinical and experimental, focused on
      kallikrein-K1, kinin receptors and ACE/kininase II suggest that kinin release in
      the settings of ischemia or diabetes reduces organ damage, especially in the
      heart and kidney. Kinin bioavailability may be a limiting factor for efficacy of
      current kinin-potentiating drugs, like ACE inhibitors. Primary activation of
      kinin receptors by prototypic pharmacological agonists, peptidase-resistant,
      selective B1 or B2, displays therapeutic efficacy in experimental cardiac and
      peripheral ischemic and diabetic diseases. B1R agonism was especially efficient
      in diabetic animals and had no unwanted effects. Clinical development of kinin
      receptor agonists may be warranted.

PMID- 27622832
TI  - Impact of troponin I on outcome of ischemic stroke patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality.
      Cardiac troponins have been found to be increased in other conditions apart from
      the cardiac diseases, such as stroke. The aim of the study was to assess the
      correlation between elevated troponin I levels and stroke outcome. METHODS: This
      retrospective study included 198 acute ischemic stroke patients in whom troponin
      I levels have been obtained at admission. Exclusion criteria were concomitant
      acute coronary syndrome, congestive heart failure, pulmonary embolism, renal
      failure, rhabdomyolysis and septic conditions. RESULTS: There was a statistically
      significant difference in the proportion of deaths during hospitalization (p =
      0.041) and modified Rankin Scale scores (p = 0.016) between the group of patients
      with elevated troponin I levels and the control group. Prior ischemic strokes
      were more common in the group with elevated troponin I levels (p = 0.032). No
      other differences were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that patients with
      elevated initial troponin I levels are associated with unfavorable outcome or
      death. Stroke may be associated with mild elevation of troponin levels, contrary
      to higher levels which are usually related to other conditions.

PMID- 27622833
TI  - Deep biomarkers of aging are population-dependent.

PMID- 27622835
TI  - Ultrasound Triggered Tumor Oxygenation with Oxygen-Shuttle Nanoperfluorocarbon to
      Overcome Hypoxia-Associated Resistance in Cancer Therapies.
AB  - Tumor hypoxia is known to be one of critical reasons that limit the efficacy of
      cancer therapies, particularly photodynamic therapy (PDT) and radiotherapy (RT)
      in which oxygen is needed in the process of cancer cell destruction. Herein,
      taking advantages of the great biocompatibility and high oxygen dissolving
      ability of perfluorocarbon (PFC), we develop an innovative strategy to modulate
      the tumor hypoxic microenvironment using nano-PFC as an oxygen shuttle for
      ultrasound triggered tumor-specific delivery of oxygen. In our experiment,
      nanodroplets of PFC stabilized by albumin are intravenously injected into tumor
      bearing mice under hyperoxic breathing. With a low-power clinically adapted
      ultrasound transducer applied on their tumor, PFC nanodroplets that adsorb oxygen
      in the lung would rapidly release oxygen in the tumor under ultrasound
      stimulation, and then circulate back into the lung for reoxygenation. Such
      repeated cycles would result in dramatically enhanced tumor oxygenation and thus
      remarkably improved therapeutic outcomes in both PDT and RT treatment of tumors.
      Importantly, our strategy may be applied for different types of tumor models.
      Hence, this work presents a simple strategy to promote tumor oxygenation with
      great efficiency using agents and instruments readily available in the clinic, so
      as to overcome the hypoxia-associated resistance in cancer treatment.

PMID- 27622836
TI  - Functionalization of Alkenes through Telescoped Continuous Flow Aziridination
      Processes.
AB  - Alkenes can be efficiently aziridinated using highly soluble iminoiodane
      derivatives under continuous flow conditions. By combining the aziridine
      generation with nucleophilic ring opening reactions, a variety of products can be
      made without the need to handle or isolate these potentially hazardous
      intermediates. Additionally, this chemistry can be used to make and use
      aziridines that are difficult to isolate and purify because of their high
      reactivity.

PMID- 27622834
TI  - DNA repair pathway choice at various conditions immediately post irradiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To clarify which DNA double-strand break repair pathway, non-homologous
      end-joining (NHEJ), homologous recombination repair (HRR) or both, plays a key
      role in potentially lethal damage repair (PLDR). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Combining
      published data and our new potentially lethal damage repair (PLDR) data, we
      explain whether similar to sublethal damage repair (SLDR), PLDR also mainly
      depends on NHEJ versus HRR. The PLDR data used the same cell lines: wild type,
      HRR or NHEJ-deficient fibroblast cells, as those SLDR data published by our
      laboratory previously. The PLDR condition that we used was as commonly described
      by many other groups: the cells were collected immediately or overnight post
      ionizing radiation for colony formation after cultured to a plateau phase with a
      low concentration of serum medium. RESULTS: Enough data from other groups and our
      lab showed that wild type or HRR-deficient cells had efficient PLDR, but NHEJ
      deficient cells did not. CONCLUSION: NHEJ contributes more to PLDR than HRR in
      mammalian cells, which is similar to SLDR. Since both SLDR and PLDR are relevant
      to clinical tumor status while undergoing radiotherapy, such clarification may
      benefit radiotherapy in the near future.

PMID- 27622837
TI  - Chemoselective Reduction of Trichloromethyl Compounds to gem-Dichloromethyl
      Groups Following Appel's Reaction Protocol.
AB  - A simple and easy reduction of trichloroacetyl compounds following the
      modification of Appel's reaction protocol, using triphenylphosphine and methanol,
      afforded the corresponding dichloroacetyl compounds, with the exception of
      trichloroacetylmorpholine, in yields of 80-98% under very mild experimental
      conditions. Likewise, when trichloromethyl heterocyclic compounds contain another
      reactive functional group, the reaction is highly chemoselective giving the
      dichloromethyl derivative.

PMID- 27622839
TI  - Copper and zinc, but not other priority toxic metals, pose risks to native
      aquatic species in a large urban lake in Eastern China.
AB  - Over the past 20 years, global production of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) rank in
      the top three compared to other metals such as Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, As and Hg.
      However, due to the potential for exposure and toxicity to humans, more attention
      of environmental pollution was paid to other metals such as Cd and Hg. Aquatic
      organisms are sensitive to Cu and Zn. Even though internal concentrations of
      these required elements are homeostatically controlled, toxic effects can occur
      at the fish gill surface. In this work, concentrations in surface waters and
      toxic effects of Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd, As, Hg were determined and risk of
      various metals in Tai Lake, China were evaluated using both risk quotients and
      joint probability distributions. Two transition metals, Cu and Zn posed the
      greatest risks to aquatic organisms while measured concentrations of other metals
      were less than thresholds for adverse effects. Approximately 99.9% and 50.7% of
      the aquatic organisms were predicted to be affected by Cu and Zn in surface water
      of Tai Lake respectively. Our results highlight ecological risks of Cu and Zn in
      water of a typical, large, urban lake in Eastern China, which was ignored in the
      past.

PMID- 27622840
TI  - A review of nickel toxicity to marine and estuarine tropical biota with
      particular reference to the South East Asian and Melanesian region.
AB  - The South East Asian Melanesian (SEAM) region contains the world's largest
      deposits of nickel lateritic ores. Environmental impacts may occur if mining
      operations are not adequately managed. Effects data for tropical ecosystems are
      required to assess risks of contaminant exposure and to derive water quality
      guidelines (WQG) to manage these risks. Currently, risk assessment tools and WQGs
      for the tropics are limited due to the sparse research on how contaminants impact
      tropical biota. As part of a larger project to develop appropriate risk
      assessment tools to ensure sustainable nickel production in SEAM, nickel effects
      data were required. The aim of this review was to compile data on the effects of
      nickel on tropical marine, estuarine, pelagic and benthic species, with a
      particular focus on SEAM. There were limited high quality chronic nickel toxicity
      data for tropical marine species, and even fewer for those relevant to SEAM. Of
      the data available, the most sensitive SEAM species to nickel were a sea urchin,
      copepod and anemone. There is a significant lack of high quality chronic data for
      several ecologically important taxonomic groups including cnidarians, molluscs,
      crustaceans, echinoderms, macroalgae and fish. No high quality chronic nickel
      toxicity data were available for estuarine waters or marine and estuarine
      sediments. The very sparse toxicity data for tropical species limits our ability
      to conduct robust ecological risk assessment and may require additional data
      generation or read-across from similar species in other databases (e.g.
      temperate) to fill data gaps. Recommendations on testing priorities to fill these
      data gaps are presented.

PMID- 27622838
TI  - Weight Change Is a Characteristic Non-Motor Symptom in Drug-Naive Parkinson's
      Disease Patients with Non-Tremor Dominant Subtype: A Nation-Wide Observational
      Study.
AB  - Despite the clinical impact of non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease
      (PD), the characteristic NMS in relation to the motor subtypes of PD is not well
      elucidated. In this study, we enrolled drug-naive PD patients and compared NMS
      between PD subtypes. We enrolled 136 drug-naive, early PD patients and 50 normal
      controls. All the enrolled PD patients were divided into tremor dominant (TD) and
      non-tremor dominant (NTD) subtypes. The Non-Motor Symptom Scale and scales for
      each NMS were completed. We compared NMS and the relationship of NMS with quality
      of life between normal controls and PD patients, and between the PD subtypes.
      Comparing with normal controls, PD patients complained of more NMS, especially
      mood/cognitive symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, unexplained pain, weight
      change, and change in taste or smell. Between the PD subtypes, the NTD subtype
      showed higher total NMS scale score and sub-score about weight change. Weight
      change was the characteristic NMS related to NTD subtype even after controlled
      other variables with logistic regression analysis. Even from the early stage, PD
      patients suffer from various NMS regardless of dopaminergic medication. Among the
      various NMS, weight change is the characteristic NMS associated with NTD subtype
      in PD patients. 

PMID- 27622841
TI  - Seasonality in size-segregated ionic composition of ambient particulate
      pollutants over the Indo-Gangetic Plain: Source apportionment using PMF.
AB  - Size-segregated particulate pollutants (PM<0.95, PM0.95-1.5, PM1.5-3.0, PM3.0-7.2
      and PM>7.2) were collected over Patiala (30.33 degrees N, 76.40 degrees E; 250 m
      amsl), a semi-urban city located in northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP),
      during October, 2012 to September, 2013. Mass concentration of total suspended
      particulates (TSP), derived by summation of particulate (aerosol) mass in
      different size range, varied from 88 to 387 MUg m-3 with highest mass
      concentration (~55% of total mass) in submicron size (PM<0.95) during the entire
      study period, which broadly reflects relative higher contribution of various
      anthropogenic sources (emissions from biomass and bio-fuel burning, vehicles,
      thermal power plants, etc) to ambient particles. Concentration of SO42-, NO3-,
      NH4+, K+ and Ca2+ exhibited large variability ranging from 0.52 to 40, 0.20 to
      19, 0.14 to 12, 0.06 to 5.3 and 0.08 to 5.6 MUg m-3, respectively, in different
      size ranges with varying size distribution for most of the species, except NH4+.
      A strong linear correlation (r = 0.97) between (SO42- + NO3-) and (K+ + NH4+)
      concentrations has been observed in submicron particles collected in different
      seasons, suggesting the formation of secondary inorganic salts. However,
      relatively poor correlation is observed in higher size ranges where significant
      correlation between (SO42- + NO3-) and (Ca2+ + Mg2+) has been observed. These
      observations indicate the acid neutralization by dust in coarser modes of
      particles. Chemical composition of submicron particulates (PM<0.95) in different
      seasons as well as for whole year was used to identify PM sources through the
      application of Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF, version 5.0) model. Based on
      annual data, PMF analyses suggests that six source factors namely biomass burning
      emission (24%), vehicular emission (22%), secondary organic aerosols (20%), power
      plant emission (13%), secondary inorganic aerosols (12%) and mineral dust (9%)
      contribute to PM<0.95 loading over the study region. Such studies are important
      in dispersion modeling, health impact assessment, and planning of pollution
      mitigation strategies.

PMID- 27622842
TI  - The use of buccal swabs as a minimal-invasive method for detecting effects of
      pesticide exposure on enzymatic activity in common wall lizards.
AB  - Habitat loss and environmental pollution are among the main causes responsible
      for worldwide biodiversity loss. The resulting species and population declines
      affect all vertebrates including reptiles. Especially in industrialized
      countries, pollution by agrochemicals is of remarkable importance. Here, habitat
      loss has historically been associated with expansion of agriculture. Species
      persisting in such environments do not only need to cope with habitat loss, but
      more recently, also with chemical intensification, namely pesticide exposure. In
      this study, we examined effects of different fungicide and herbicide applications
      on the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) in grape-growing areas. We used
      three enzymatic biomarkers (GST, GR, AChE) and for the first time saliva from
      buccal swabs as a minimal-invasive sampling method for detection. Our results
      demonstrate absorption of substances by lizards and effects of pesticide exposure
      on enzymatic activities. Our findings are in accordance with those of previous
      laboratory studies, although samples were retrieved from natural habitats. We
      conclude that buccal swabs could become a useful tool for the detection of
      pesticide exposure in reptiles and have the potential to replace more invasive
      methods, such as organ extraction or cardiac puncture. This is an important
      finding, as reptiles are non-target organisms of pesticide applications, and
      there is a strong need to integrate them into pesticide risk assessments.

PMID- 27622843
TI  - Overestimation of on-road air quality surveying data measured with a mobile
      laboratory caused by exhaust plumes of a vehicle ahead in dense traffic areas.
AB  - The unintended influence of exhaust plumes emitted from a vehicle ahead to on
      road air quality surveying data measured with a mobile laboratory (ML) at 20-40
      km h-1 in dense traffic areas was investigated by experiment and life-sized
      computational fluidic dynamics (CFD) simulation. The ML equipped with variable
      sampling inlets of five columns by four rows was used to measure the spatial
      distribution of CO2 and NOx concentrations when following 5-20 m behind a sport
      utility vehicle (SUV) as an emitter vehicle equipped with a portable emission
      monitoring system (PEMS). The PEMS measured exhaust gases at the tailpipe for
      input data of the CFD simulations. After the CFD method was verified with
      experimental results of the SUV, dispersion of exhaust plumes emitted from a bus
      and a sedan was numerically analyzed. More dilution of the exhaust plume was
      observed at higher vehicle speeds, probably because of eddy diffusion that was
      proportional to turbulent kinetic energy and vehicle speed. The CO2 and NOx
      concentrations behind the emitter vehicle showed less overestimation as both the
      distance between the two vehicles and their background concentrations increased.
      If the height of the ML inlet is lower than 2 m and the ML travels within 20 m
      behind a SUV and a sedan ahead at 20 km h-1, the overestimation should be
      considered by as much as 200 ppb in NOx and 80 ppm in CO2. Following a bus should
      be avoided if possible, because effect of exhaust plumes from a bus ahead could
      not be negligible even when the distance between the bus and the ML with the
      inlet height of 2 m, was more than 40 m. Recommendations are provided to avoid
      the unintended influence of exhaust plumes from vehicles ahead of the ML during
      on-road measurement in urban dense traffic conditions.

PMID- 27622844
TI  - Exposure to Childhood Abuse and Later Substance Use: Indirect Effects of Emotion
      Dysregulation and Exposure to Trauma.
AB  - Little is known about how emotion dysregulation (ED) and trauma exposure
      differentially affect the relationship between abuse in childhood and adult
      substance use. We examined associations between child abuse, trauma exposure, ED,
      and current substance use in an already existing dataset. Participants (N = 2,014
      adults, 90% African American) had been recruited from an urban hospital for a
      parent study. Analyses showed that drug and alcohol use was significantly
      positively correlated with child abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual), later
      trauma exposure, and ED (all ps < .001). Linear regression showed that exposure
      to abuse when older than a child was significantly associated with drug and
      alcohol use independent of child abuse and demographic variables (R2 Delta = .08,
      p < .001; R2 Delta = .04, p < .001). ED was significantly associated with drug
      and alcohol use independently of child abuse, nonabuse trauma, and demographic
      variables (R2 Delta = .02, p < .001; R2 Delta = .04, p < .001). Multiple
      mediation analyses showed that ED and later trauma exposure accounted for
      variance in the association between emotional abuse and substance use (p < .001).
      A better understanding of vulnerabilities to additional traumatization and
      emotion-regulation deficits in individuals who have been exposed to child abuse
      and in addition have comorbid substance use problems may inform treatments that
      lead to improved outcomes.

PMID- 27622845
TI  - Pathways for Oxygen Regulation and Homeostasis: The 2016 Albert Lasker Basic
      Medical Research Award.

PMID- 27622847
TI  - Enhanced plant growth promoting role of phycomolecules coated zinc oxide
      nanoparticles with P supplementation in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).
AB  - This report focuses on application of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) carrying
      phycomolecule ligands as a novel plant growth promoter aimed at increasing the
      crop productivity. The present investigation examined the effect of ZnONPs on
      plant growth characteristics, and associated biochemical changes in cotton
      (Gossypium hirsutum L.) following growth in a range of concentrations (25-200 mg
      L-l ZnONPs) in combination with 100 mM P in a hydroponic system. Treated plants
      registered an increase in growth and total biomass by 130.6% and 131%,
      respectively, over control. Results demonstrated a significant increase in the
      level of chlorophyll a (141.6%), b (134.7%), carotenoids (138.6%), and total
      soluble protein contents (179.4%); at the same time, a significant reduction
      (68%) in the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in leaves with respect to control.
      Interestingly, a significant increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD, 264.2%), and
      peroxidase (POX, 182.8%) enzyme activities followed by a decrease in the catalase
      (CAT) activity, in response to above treatments. These results suggest that
      bioengineered ZnONPs interact with meristematic cells triggering biochemical
      pathways conducive to an accumulation of biomass. Further investigations will map
      out the mode of action involved in growth promotion.

PMID- 27622848
TI  - North American Nurses' and Doulas' Views of Each Other.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors that lead nurses and doulas to have positive views
      of each other. DESIGN: A multivariate analysis of a cross-sectional survey, the
      Maternity Support Survey. SETTING: Online survey with labor and delivery nurses,
      doulas, and childbirth educators in the United States and Canada. PARTICIPANTS: A
      convenience sample of 704 labor and delivery nurses and 1,470 doulas. METHODS:
      Multiple regression analysis was used to examine five sets of hypotheses about
      nurses' and doulas' attitudes toward each other. Scales of nurses' attitudes
      toward doulas and doulas' attitudes toward nurses included beliefs that
      nurses/doulas enhance communication, are collaborative team members, enhance a
      woman's birth experience, interfere with the ability to provide care, or
      interfere with relationships with the women for whom they care. RESULTS: For
      nurses, exposure to doulas in their primary hospitals was associated with more
      positive views, whereas working more hours, feeling overworked, and a preference
      for clinical tasks over labor support were associated with more negative views of
      doulas. For doulas, working primarily in one hospital and certification were
      associated with more positive views of nurses. Nurses with more positive
      attitudes toward common obstetric practices had more negative attitudes toward
      doulas, whereas doulas with more positive attitudes toward common obstetric
      practices had more positive attitudes toward nurses. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      show factors that influence mutual understanding and appreciation of nurses and
      doulas for each other. These factors can be influenced by educational efforts to
      improve interprofessional collaboration between these maternity care support
      roles.

PMID- 27622846
TI  - Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) alleviate heavy metal-induced toxicity in
      Leucaena leucocephala seedlings: A physiochemical analysis.
AB  - The present study describes the role of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) in
      reversing oxidative stress symptoms induced by heavy metal (Cd and Pb) exposure
      in Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. Seedling growth was significantly
      enhanced with the augmentation of ZnONPs following Cd and Pb exposure. Heavy
      metal accumulations were recorded as 1253.1 mg Cd per kg DW and 1026.8 mg Pb per
      kg DW for the respective treatments. Results demonstrated that ZnONPs
      augmentation caused an increase in photosynthetic pigment and total soluble
      protein contents while a significant decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA-lipid
      peroxidation) content in leaves. Antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide
      dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) were, in turn, elevated in
      heavy metal-exposed leaves amended with ZnONPs. The ameliorating effect of ZnO
      nanoparticles on oxidative stress induced toxicity was also confirmed by the
      reduced MDA content and the elevated level of antioxidative enzyme activities in
      leaf tissues of L. leucocephala seedlings. Further, addition of ZnONPs in
      combination with Cd and Pb metals induced distinct genomic alterations such as
      presence of new DNA bands and/or absence of normal bands in the RAPD pattern of
      the exposed plants. This study uniquely suggests a potential role of zinc oxide
      nanoparticles in the remediation of heavy metal contaminated media.

PMID- 27622849
TI  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy as a reversible complication of intrathecal baclofen
      withdrawal.

PMID- 27622850
TI  - Ferromagnetic and Half-Metallic FeC2 Monolayer Containing C2 Dimers.
AB  - Ferromagnetism and half-metallicity are two vital properties of a material for
      realizing its potential in spintronics applications. However, none of the two
      dimensional (2D) pristine metal-carbide sheets synthesized experimentally
      exhibits half-metallicity with ferromagnetic coupling. Here, a ferromagnetic and
      half-metallic FeC2 sheet containing isolated C2 dimers rather than individual
      carbon atoms is predicted to be such a material. Based on state-of-the-art
      theoretical calculations, we show that the FeC2 sheet is dynamically, thermally,
      and mechanically stable and can be chemically exfoliated from the bulk phase of
      layered ThFeC2. Due to its unique atomic configuration, the FeC2 sheet exhibits
      ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature of 245 K. This is in contrast to its bulk
      counterpart, ThFeC2, which is paramagnetic. We also find that, unlike the
      metallic metal-carbide sheets, the FeC2 sheet is half-metallic with
      semiconducting spin-up and metallic spin-down channels. Moreover, half
      metallicity can remain until an equi-biaxial strain of 10%. In addition, we
      provide the Raman and infrared spectra which can be used to identify this new 2D
      structure experimentally in the future.

PMID- 27622851
TI  - Quantitative analysis of the deposited nanoparticle dose on cell cultures by
      optical absorption spectroscopy.
AB  - AIM: The delivered nanoparticle dose to cells in vitro may depend on nanoparticle
      sedimentation rate. Here, the conditions under which optical absorption
      spectroscopy can be used to quantify the deposited nanoparticle dose in vitro are
      investigated. MATERIALS & METHODS: Nanoparticle cytotoxicity in both upright and
      inverted cell culture orientations is studied in the presence and absence of
      serum. RESULTS: Dissolvable nanoparticles, such as ZnO, exhibit no difference in
      upright and inverted cultures due to dissolved Zn(2+) ions that dominate
      cytotoxicity. Insoluble nanoparticles, however, exhibit different sedimentation
      rates and deposited doses that are linked to the observed cytotoxicity.
      CONCLUSION: The combined use of upright-inverted cell orientations and optical
      absorption spectroscopy can provide a simple experimental approach to interpret
      in vitro nano-biointeractions.

PMID- 27622852
TI  - Behavioral outcomes of school-aged full-term small-for-gestational-age infants: A
      nationwide Japanese population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small for gestational age (SGA) birth is linked with neurological
      deficits among children at pre-school age, but the evidence is still limited on
      whether such deficits are still observable at school age. We investigated the
      association between SGA birth and behavioral development at school age among full
      term infants. METHODS: We analyzed data from a large, Japanese, nationwide,
      population-based longitudinal survey that started in 2001. We restricted the
      study participants to children born at 37-41weeks of gestation with information
      on birth weight and behavioral outcomes at 8years of age (n=33,795). Behavioral
      outcomes including three attentional problems and four aggressive behaviors
      queried at 8years of age by survey questions were used as outcome indicators. We
      then used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence
      intervals (95% CI) for the associations between SGA birth and each outcome,
      adjusting for potential infant- and parent-related confounding factors. RESULTS:
      Among full-term children, SGA children were more likely to interrupt people (OR
      1.10, 95% CI 1.01, 1.20), unable to wait his/her turn (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.00,
      1.38), and destroy toys and/or books (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.00, 1.31). CONCLUSIONS:
      This is the largest study ever conducted on this issue. SGA birth is negatively
      associated with some attentional problems and aggressive behavior at school age
      among full-term children. Appropriate long-term developmental follow-up and
      support may be needed for full-term SGA infants.

PMID- 27622853
TI  - Surface energies of elemental crystals.
AB  - The surface energy is a fundamental property of the different facets of a crystal
      that is crucial to the understanding of various phenomena like surface
      segregation, roughening, catalytic activity, and the crystal's equilibrium shape.
      Such surface phenomena are especially important at the nanoscale, where the large
      surface area to volume ratios lead to properties that are significantly different
      from the bulk. In this work, we present the largest database of calculated
      surface energies for elemental crystals to date. This database contains the
      surface energies of more than 100 polymorphs of about 70 elements, up to a
      maximum Miller index of two and three for non-cubic and cubic crystals,
      respectively. Well-known reconstruction schemes are also accounted for. The
      database is systematically improvable and has been rigorously validated against
      previous experimental and computational data where available. We will describe
      the methodology used in constructing the database, and how it can be accessed for
      further studies and design of materials.

PMID- 27622854
TI  - Exercise during pregnancy enhances cerebral maturation in the newborn: A
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Accumulating research indicates that the regular practice of physical exercise is
      beneficial to the human brain. From the improvement of academic achievement in
      children to the prevention of Alzheimer's disease in the elderly, exercise
      appears beneficial across the developmental spectrum. Recent work from animal
      studies also indicates that a pregnant mother can transfer the benefits of
      exercise during gestation to her offspring's brain. Exercising pregnant rats give
      birth to pups that have better memory and spatial learning as well as increased
      synaptic density. To investigate whether this transfer from the pregnant mother
      to her child also occurs in humans, we conducted a randomized controlled trial (n
      = 18) and measured the impact of exercise during pregnancy on the neuroelectric
      response of the neonatal brain with electroencephalography (EEG). Here we show
      that, compared to the newborns of mothers who were inactive during their
      pregnancy, the children of exercising pregnant women are born with more mature
      brains. This was measured with the infant slow positive mismatch response
      (SPMMR), an electroencephalographic potential known to decrease in amplitude with
      age. The SPMMR reflects processes associated with brain maturation via its
      response to sound discrimination and auditory memory. In this study, the children
      of the mothers who exercised throughout their pregnancy have a smaller SPMMR than
      the children of mothers who remained sedentary (p = .019). Our results
      demonstrate the impact regular exercise during pregnancy can have on the
      development of the human fetal brain.

PMID- 27622856
TI  - Multigenerational Collision-Induced Dissociation for Characterization of Organic
      Compounds.
AB  - There are many cases in which limited information is obtained from a single stage
      of tandem mass spectrometry (MS2 or MS/MS). For example, isomeric cathinones give
      similar product ion MS2 spectra, but they can be differentiated by their unique
      MS3 fragments. Other drugs such as oxycodone and noroxycodone lose water in a
      single-stage tandem mass spectrometry experiment but give rich structural
      information in subsequent stages, as do many peptides. Here we utilize
      multigenerational collision-induced dissociation (CID) on a miniature mass
      spectrometer and emphasize useful applications. Unique fragmentation patterns
      consisting of several generations of fragment ions are obtained in these
      multigenerational spectra, allowing discrimination of cathinone isomers and
      structural characterization of small molecules, including drugs and peptides, all
      using a single sequence of ion injection, isolation, and mass scanning.

PMID- 27622855
TI  - Effect of Long-Term Exposure of Donor Nuclei to the Oocyte Cytoplasm on
      Production of Cloned Mice Using Serial Nuclear Transfer.
AB  - Although animal cloning is becoming increasingly practicable, cloned embryos
      possess many abnormalities and so there has been a low success rate for producing
      live animals. This is most likely due to incomplete reprogramming of somatic cell
      nuclei before they start to develop as the donor nuclei are usually only exposed
      to the oocyte cytoplasm for 1-2 hours before reconstructed oocytes are activated
      to avoid oocyte aging. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to extend the
      exposure period of somatic cell nuclei to the oocyte cytoplasm to determine
      whether this could enhance reprogramming of donor nuclei. Donor nuclei were
      transferred into oocytes, following which pseudo-MII spindles (pMIIs) derived
      from these were extracted and injected into newly collected enucleated oocytes 24
      hours after the first nuclear transfer (NT). These serial NT oocytes were then
      activated and their developmental potential was examined to full term. There was
      no obvious difference in the pMIIs of reconstructed oocytes at 6 and 24 hours
      after donor nucleus injection; however, in both of these, the chromosomes were
      more widely spread inside the spindle than in fresh intact oocytes. Furthermore,
      a few chromosomes remained in 25% and 47% of these enucleated oocytes at 6 and 24
      hours after donor nucleus injection, respectively. When these pMIIs were injected
      into fresh enucleated oocytes, the developmental rate to blastocyst was
      significantly lower, but we could still obtain several healthy cloned offspring.
      Thus, serial NT at intervals of 24 hours using fresh oocytes is possible, but the
      success rate could not be improved due to loss of chromosomes during the second
      NT.

PMID- 27622857
TI  - Assessment of extracellular field potential and Ca2+ transient signals for early
      QT/pro-arrhythmia detection using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived
      cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Cardiovascular toxicity is a prominent reason for failures in drug development,
      resulting in the demand for assays that can predict this liability in early drug
      discovery. We investigated whether iCell(r) cardiomyocytes have utility as an
      early QT/TdP screen. Thirty clinical drugs with known QT/TdP outcomes were
      evaluated blind using label-free microelectrode array (parameters measured were
      beating period (BP), field potential duration (FPD), fast Na+ amplitude and
      slope) and live cell, fast kinetic fluorescent Ca2+ transient FLIPR(r) Tetra
      (parameters measured were peak count, width, amplitude) systems. Many FPD
      altering drugs also altered BP. Correction for BP, using a Log-Log (LL) model,
      was required to appropriately interpret direct drug effects on FPD. In comparison
      with human QT effects and when drug activity was to be predicted at top test
      concentration (TTC), LL-corrected FPD and peak count had poor assay sensitivity
      and specificity values: 13%/64% and 65%/11%, respectively. If effective free
      therapeutic plasma concentration (EFTPC) was used instead of TTC, the values were
      0%/100% and 6%/100%, respectively. When compared to LL-corrected FPD and peak
      count, predictive values of uncorrected FPD, BP, width and amplitude were not
      much different. If pro-arrhythmic risk was to be predicted using Ca2+ transient
      data, the values were 67%/100% and 78%/53% at EFTPC and TTC, respectively. Thus,
      iCell(r) cardiomyocytes have limited value as an integrated QT/TdP assay,
      highlighting the urgent need for improved experimental alternatives that may
      offer an accurate integrated cardiomyocyte safety model for supporting the
      development of new drugs without QT/TdP effects.

PMID- 27622859
TI  - Sensitivity of first-trimester ultrasound in the detection of congenital
      anomalies in twin pregnancies: population study and systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The first aim of this study was to ascertain the diagnostic
      performance of first-trimester ultrasound in detecting congenital anomalies in
      twins. The secondary aim was to explore the strength of association between
      different pregnancy characteristics and early detection of structural anomalies
      in a large unselected population of twin pregnancies. A systematic review of the
      published literature was also carried out. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective
      analysis of prospectively collected data from consecutive twin pregnancies booked
      for antenatal care between 1996 and 2014. Predictive accuracy of those covariates
      independently associated with the occurrence of fetal anomalies was assessed with
      logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristics curves.
      RESULTS: In all, 1064 twin pregnancies (820 dichorionic and 264 monochorionic)
      were included in the analysis. Forty-two pregnancies had one or more fetuses with
      structural abnormalities. Detection of structural abnormalities using ultrasound
      was possible in the first trimester in 27.3% (95% confidence interval 15.0-42.8)
      of twin pregnancies. Monochorionicity (odds ratio 2.3, 95% confidence interval
      1.1-4.7) and discordance in crown-rump length and nuchal translucency were
      associated with an increased risk of fetal anomalies. However, their predictive
      accuracy was only moderate (areas under the curve 0.67, 95% confidence interval
      0.6-0.8 and 0.68, 95% confidence interval 0.6-0.8, for crown-rump length and
      nuchal translucency discrepancy, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: First-trimester
      detection of structural abnormalities in twin pregnancies is possible in 27.3%
      (95% confidence interval 15.0-42.8) of cases. The likelihood for first-trimester
      detection of structural anomalies in twins was maximum for cranial vault, midline
      brain and abdominal wall defects. Monochorionicity and increasing discrepancy in
      crown-rump length and nuchal translucency were associated with fetal structural
      abnormalities, although their predictive performance was only moderately good.

PMID- 27622860
TI  - A Facile Electrophoretic Deposition Route to the Fe3O4/CNTs/rGO Composite
      Electrode as a Binder-Free Anode for Lithium Ion Battery.
AB  - Fe3O4 is regarded as an attractive anode material for lithium ion batteries
      (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity, natural abundance, and low cost.
      However, the poor cyclic performance resulting from the low conductivity and huge
      volume change during cycling impedes its application. Here we have developed a
      facile electrophoretic deposition route to fabricate the Fe3O4/CNTs (carbon
      nanotubes)/rGO (reduced graphene oxide) composite electrode, simultaneously
      achieving material synthesis and electrode assembling. Even without binders, the
      adhesion and mechanical firmness of the electrode are strong enough to be used
      for LIB anode. In this specific structure, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs)
      interconnected by CNTs are sandwiched by rGO layers to form a robust network with
      good conductivity. The resulting Fe3O4/CNTs/rGO composite electrode exhibits much
      improved electrochemical performance (high reversible capacity of 540 mAh g-1 at
      a very high current density of 10 A g-1, and a remarkable capacity of 1080 mAh g
      1 can be maintained after 450 cycles at 1 A g-1) compared with that of commercial
      Fe3O4 NPs electrode.

PMID- 27622861
TI  - Infrared radiation increases skin damage induced by other wavelengths in solar
      urticaria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Photodermatoses are typically investigated by analyzing the
      individual or combined effects of ultraviolet A (UVA), ultraviolet B (UVB), and
      visible light using light sources that simulate portions of the solar spectrum.
      Infrared radiation (IRR), however, accounts for 53% of incident solar radiation,
      but its effects are not taken into account in standard phototest protocols. AIMS:
      The aim was to analyze the effects of IRR, alone and combined with UVA and
      visible light on solar urticaria lesions, with a distinction between infrared A
      (IRA) and infrared B (IRB). METHODS: We performed standard phototests with UVA
      and visible light in four patients with solar urticaria and also tested the
      effects after blocking IRB with a water filter. To analyze the direct effect of
      IRR, we performed phototests with IRA and IRB. RESULTS: Initial standard
      phototests that were all positive found the induction of erythema and whealing,
      while when IRR was blocked from the UVA and visible light sources, three of the
      patients developed no lesions, while the fourth developed a very small wheal.
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that IRR has the potential to produce and
      exacerbate lesions caused by other types of radiation. Consideration of these
      effects during phototesting could help prevent diagnostic errors.

PMID- 27622858
TI  - Safety and efficacy of daclatasvir-sofosbuvir in HCV genotype 1-mono-infected
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: We report the first real-life results of the
      sofosbuvir+daclatasvir combination in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infected
      patients. METHODS: The France REcherche Nord&Sud Sida-hiv Hepatites (ANRS) CO22
      HEPATHER "Therapeutic options for hepatitis B and C: A French cohort" is a
      multicentre observational cohort which aims to include 15,000 HCV- and 10,000 HBV
      infected patients. We selected all participants (n=768) with a HCV genotype 1 who
      initiated sofosbuvir (400mg/day) and daclatasvir (60mg/day) before October 1st
      2014, with or without ribavirin (1-1.2g/day) for a duration of 12weeks or
      24weeks. The main endpoint criterion was sustained virological response at
      12weeks (SVR12), defined by the absence of detectable HCV-RNA 12weeks after the
      last treatment intake. Missing SVR12 measurements were imputed using SVR24
      measurements (n=45), otherwise considered as virological failure (n=18). RESULTS:
      A SVR12 was obtained in 729/768 (95%) patients, ranging from 92% (12-week
      sofosbuvir+daclatasvir) to 99% (24-week sofosbuvir+daclatasvir+ribavirin). The
      SVR12 rates did not significantly differ between the 24-week (550/574 (96%)) and
      the 12-week (179/194 (92%); p=0.0688) durations or between regimens with (165/169
      (98%)) or without ribavirin (564/599 (94%); p=0.0850). The SVR12 rate was greater
      than 97% in non-cirrhotic patients irrespective of the treatment duration or the
      addition of ribavirin. Among cirrhotic patients, the SVR12 rate was higher with
      24 than 12-week regimen (423/444 (95%) vs. 105/119 (88%); p=0.0054). CONCLUSION:
      The sofosbuvir+daclatasvir combination is associated with a high rate of SVR12 in
      patients infected by genotype 1, with an optimal duration of 12weeks in non
      cirrhotic and 24weeks in cirrhotic patients. The number of patients receiving
      ribavirin was too low to adequately assess its impact. LAY SUMMARY: The
      sofosbuvir+daclatasvir combination of antiviral drugs is associated with a high
      rate (95%) of viral eradication in patients infected by HCV genotype 1. The best
      duration of a ribavirin-free sofosbuvir+daclatasvir combination seems to be
      12weeks in non-cirrhotic patients and 24weeks for those with cirrhosis. Clinical
      trial number: NCT01953458.

PMID- 27622863
TI  - Self-Assessed Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Impact of Stroke at 1 Month: The
      Importance of Stroke Severity and Participation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to describe the self-assessed physical,
      emotional, and cognitive impact of stroke and to investigate associations with
      participation and stroke severity in early stage (1 month) poststroke. METHODS:
      Participants (n = 104, mean age = 68) with reduced upper extremity function
      assessed at day 3 were included from a Swedish stroke unit. Participants were
      evaluated with The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale at arrival, median
      7.9 (0-24). The cohort was assessed for their perceived impact of stroke with the
      Stroke Impact Scale at 1 month poststroke. RESULTS: The perceptions of emotional
      health, communication skills, and ability to remember were perceived as quite
      good, with a mean score of 83-86. However, nearly 60% reported limitations in
      participation. This group also evaluated their physical function to be
      significantly lower compared to participants who did not report limitations in
      participation. CONCLUSIONS: One month poststroke, a lower score on self-assessed
      physical function was associated with both a perceived restriction in
      participation and a more severe stroke. The association of physical function and
      perceived participation at 1 month poststroke needs to be taken into account when
      planning the early rehabilitation.

PMID- 27622862
TI  - Neuroprotective Effects of Nicorandil in Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion-Induced
      Vascular Dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemia-induced chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is associated
      with reduced cerebral blood flow and vascular dementia (VaD). Brain mitochondrial
      potassium (adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium [KATP]) channels have a
      beneficial role in various brain conditions. The utility of KATP channels in CCH
      induced VaD is still unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of
      nicorandil, a selective KATP channel opener, in CCH-induced VaD. METHODS: The
      method of 2-vessel occlusion (2VO) was used to induce CCH in mice. Cognitive
      impairment was assessed using Morris water maze. Serum nitrosative stress
      (nitrite/nitrate), brain cholinergic dysfunction (acetylcholinesterase [AChE]
      activity), brain oxidative stress (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances,
      glutathione [GSH], catalase [CAT], and superoxide dismutase [SOD]), inflammation
      (myeloperoxidase [MPO]), and infarct size (2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride
      staining) were assessed. RESULTS: 2-vessels-occluded animals have shown
      significant cognitive impairment, serum nitrosative stress (reduced
      nitrite/nitrate), cholinergic dysfunction (increased brain AChE activity), and
      increased brain oxidative stress (reduction in GSH content and SOD and CAT
      activities with a significant increase in lipid peroxidation), along with a
      significant increase in MPO activity and infarct size. However, nicorandil
      treatment has significantly attenuated various CCH-induced behavioral and
      biochemical impairments. CONCLUSIONS: It may be said that 2VO provoked CCH
      leading to VaD, which was attenuated by the treatment of nicorandil. So,
      modulation of KATP channels may provide benefits in CCH-induced VaD.

PMID- 27622864
TI  - Presenting Symptoms and Dysphagia Screen Predict Outcome in Mild and Rapidly
      Improving Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are limited data on which patients not treated with intravenous
      (IV) tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) due to mild and rapidly improving
      stroke symptoms (MaRISS) have unfavorable outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Acute
      ischemic stroke (AIS) patients not treated with IV tPA due to MaRISS from January
      1, 2009 to December 31, 2013 were identified as part of the Georgia Coverdell
      Acute Stroke Registry. Multivariable regression analysis was used to identify
      factors associated with a lower likelihood of favorable outcome, defined as
      discharge to home. RESULTS: There were 1614 AIS patients who did not receive IV
      tPA due to MaRISS (median National Institutes of Health stroke scale [NIHSS] 1],
      of which 305 (19%) did not have a favorable outcome. Factors associated with
      lower likelihood of favorable outcome included Medicare insurance status (odds
      ratio [OR]: .53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: .34-.84), arrival by emergency
      medical services (OR: .46, 95% CI: .29-.73), increasing NIHSS score (per unit OR:
      .89, 95% CI: .84-.93), weakness as the presenting symptom (OR: .50, 95% CI: .30
      .84), and a failed dysphagia screen (OR: .43, 95% CI: .23-.80). During the study
      period, <1% of patients presenting to participating hospitals with MaRISS within
      the eligible time window received IV tPA. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline characteristics,
      presenting symptoms, and response to dysphagia screen identify a subgroup of
      patients who are more likely to have an unfavorable outcome. Whether IV tPA
      treatment can improve the outcome in this subgroup of patients needs to be
      evaluated in a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

PMID- 27622865
TI  - Accuracy of Wearable Cameras to Track Social Interactions in Stroke Survivors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social isolation after a stroke is related to poor outcomes. However,
      a full study of social networks on stroke outcomes is limited by the current
      metrics available. Typical measures of social networks rely on self-report, which
      is vulnerable to response bias and measurement error. We aimed to test the
      accuracy of an objective measure-wearable cameras-to capture face-to-face social
      interactions in stroke survivors. If accurate and usable in real-world settings,
      this technology would allow improved examination of social factors on stroke
      outcomes. METHODS: In this prospective study, 10 stroke survivors each wore 2
      wearable cameras: Autographer (OMG Life Limited, Oxford, United Kingdom) and
      Narrative Clip (Narrative, Linkoping, Sweden). Each camera automatically took a
      picture every 20-30 seconds. Patients mingled with healthy controls for 5 minutes
      of 1-on-1 interactions followed by 5 minutes of no interaction for 2 hours. After
      the event, 2 blinded judges assessed whether photograph sequences identified
      interactions or noninteractions. Diagnostic accuracy statistics were calculated.
      RESULTS: A total of 8776 photographs were taken and adjudicated. In
      distinguishing interactions, the Autographer's sensitivity was 1.00 and
      specificity was .98. The Narrative Clip's sensitivity was .58 and specificity was
      1.00. The receiver operating characteristic curves of the 2 devices were
      statistically different (Z = 8.26, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Wearable cameras can
      accurately detect social interactions of stroke survivors. Likely because of its
      large field of view, the Autographer was more sensitive than the Narrative Clip
      for this purpose.

PMID- 27622866
TI  - Quantitative Fluorescence Sensing Through Highly Autofluorescent, Scattering, and
      Absorbing Media Using Mobile Microscopy.
AB  - Compact and cost-effective systems for in vivo fluorescence and near-infrared
      imaging in combination with activatable reporters embedded inside the skin to
      sample interstitial fluid or blood can enable a variety of biomedical
      applications. However, the strong autofluorescence of human skin creates an
      obstacle for fluorescence-based sensing. Here we introduce a method for
      quantitative fluorescence sensing through highly autofluorescent, scattering, and
      absorbing media. For this, we created a compact and cost-effective fluorescence
      microscope weighing <40 g and used it to measure various concentrations of a
      fluorescent dye embedded inside a tissue phantom, which was designed to mimic the
      optical characteristics of human skin. We used an elliptical Gaussian beam
      excitation to digitally separate tissue autofluorescence from target
      fluorescence, although they severely overlap in both space and optical spectrum.
      Using ~10-fold less excitation intensity than the safety limit for skin radiation
      exposure, we successfully quantified the density of the embedded fluorophores by
      imaging the skin phantom surface and achieved a detection limit of ~5 * 10(5) and
      ~2.5 * 10(7) fluorophores within ~0.01 MUL sample volume that is positioned 0.5
      and 2 mm below the phantom surface, corresponding to a concentration of 105.9
      pg/mL and 5.3 ng/mL, respectively. We also confirmed that this approach can track
      the spatial misalignments of the mobile microscope with respect to the embedded
      target fluorescent volume. This wearable microscopy platform might be useful for
      designing implantable biochemical sensors with the capability of spatial
      multiplexing to continuously monitor a panel of biomarkers and chronic conditions
      even at patients' home.

PMID- 27622867
TI  - Circulating biomarkers of fibrosis and cardioversion of atrial fibrillation: A
      prospective, controlled cohort study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: External direct current cardioversion (DCCV) is an established
      treatment for AF but is associated with procedural risk and high AF recurrence
      rates. Cardiac fibrosis has been associated with AF, and circulating biomarkers
      have been suggested as a method of its assessment, but which biomarkers are
      suitable is yet to be determined. This study examines the differences between
      levels of procollagen type III N terminal peptide (PIIINP), type I collagen
      carboxyl telopeptide (ICTP), galectin-3 (gal-3) and fibroblast growth factor 23
      (FGF-23) in DCCV patients, and disease-and-age-matched controls. Their predictive
      value for AF recurrence was analysed. METHODS: 79 patients undergoing DCCV and 40
      age-and-disease-matched controls were included. Biomarkers were analysed using
      ELISA. Linear regression was used to examine relationships between biomarker
      levels and baseline characteristics, including echocardiographic measurements.
      Cox regression was used to assess relationships between baseline characteristics,
      including biomarker levels, and AF recurrence. RESULTS: There was no
      statistically significant difference between biomarker levels in the DCCV and
      control groups. Diabetes mellitus was related to higher FGF-23 (p=0.007) and
      PIIINP (p=0.027). Female sex (p=0.014), hypertension (p=0.001), and higher body
      mass index (p<=0.001) were related to higher gal-3 levels. FGF-23 was weakly
      predictive of AF recurrence (HR 1.003 p=0.012). CONCLUSION: PIIINP, ICTP, and Gal
      3 are not predictive of AF recurrence after DCCV. FGF-23 may be associated with
      arrhythmia recurrence, but further work is required to clarify this. The presence
      of AF has no effect on levels of these biomarkers when compared to age and
      disease-matched controls.

PMID- 27622868
TI  - Comment on "clinical benefit of intra-articular saline as a comparator in
      clinical trials of knee osteoarthritis treatments: A systematic review and meta
      analysis of randomized trials".

PMID- 27622869
TI  - Defect Graphene as a Trifunctional Catalyst for Electrochemical Reactions.
AB  - Defects derived by the removal of heteroatoms from graphene are demonstrated,
      both experimentally and theoretically, to be effective for all three basic
      electrochemical reactions, e.g., oxygen reduction (ORR), oxygen evolution (OER),
      and hydrogen evolution (HER). Density function theory calculations further reveal
      that the different types of defects are essential for the individual
      electrocatalytic activity for ORR, OER, and HER, respectively.

PMID- 27622871
TI  - Deep burns caused by electronic vaping devices explosion.

PMID- 27622872
TI  - Revisiting Paine's 1966 Sea Star Removal Experiment, the Most-Cited Empirical
      Article in the American Naturalist.
AB  - "Food Web Complexity and Species Diversity" (Paine 1966) is the most-cited
      empirical article published in the American Naturalist. In short, Paine removed
      predatory sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) from the rocky intertidal and watched
      the key prey species, mussels (Mytilus californianus), crowd out seven
      subordinate primary space-holding species. However, because these mussels are a
      foundational species, they provide three-dimensional habitat for over 300
      associated species inhabiting the mussel beds; thus, removing sea stars
      significantly increases community-wide diversity. In any case, most ecologists
      cite Paine (1966) to support a statement that predators increase diversity by
      interfering with competition. Although detractors remained skeptical of top-down
      effects and keystone concepts, the paradigm that predation increases diversity
      spread. By 1991, "Food Web Complexity and Species Diversity" was considered a
      classic ecological paper, and after 50 years it continues to influence ecological
      theory and conservation biology.

PMID- 27622870
TI  - Altered Intranetwork and Internetwork Functional Connectivity in Type 2 Diabetes
      Mellitus With and Without Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with cognitive impairment. We
      investigated whether alterations of intranetwork and internetwork functional
      connectivity with T2DM progression exist, by using resting-state functional MRI.
      MRI data were analysed from 19 T2DM patients with normal cognition (DMCN) and 19
      T2DM patients with cognitive impairment (DMCI), 19 healthy controls (HC).
      Functional connectivity among 36 previously well-defined brain regions which
      consisted of 5 resting-state network (RSN) systems [default mode network (DMN),
      dorsal attention network (DAN), control network (CON), salience network (SAL) and
      sensorimotor network (SMN)] was investigated at 3 levels (integrity, network and
      connectivity). Impaired intranetwork and internetwork connectivity were found in
      T2DM, especially in DMCI, on the basis of the three levels of analysis. The
      bilateral posterior cerebellum, the right insula, the DMN and the CON were mainly
      involved in these changes. The functional connectivity strength of specific brain
      architectures in T2DM was found to be associated with haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c),
      cognitive score and illness duration. These network alterations in intergroup
      differences, which were associated with brain functional impairment due to T2DM,
      indicate that network organizations might be potential biomarkers for predicting
      the clinical progression, evaluating the cognitive impairment, and further
      understanding the pathophysiology of T2DM.

PMID- 27622875
TI  - Persist or Produce: A Community Trade-Off Tuned by Species Evenness.
AB  - Understanding the effects of biodiversity on community persistence and
      productivity is key to managing both natural and production systems. Because rare
      species face greater danger of extinction, species evenness, a measure of how
      similar abundances are across species in a community, is seen as a key component
      of biodiversity. However, previous studies have failed to find a consistent
      association of species evenness with species survival and biomass production.
      Here we provide a theoretical framework for the relationship among these three
      elements. We demonstrate that the lack of consistent outcomes is not an
      idiosyncratic artifact of different studies but can be unified under one common
      framework. Applying a niche theory approach, we confirm that under demographic
      stochasticity evenness is a general indicator of the risk of future species
      extinctions in a community, in accordance with the majority of empirical studies.
      In contrast, evenness cannot be used as a direct indicator of the level of
      biomass production in a community. When a single species dominates, as expressed
      by the constraints imposed by the population dynamics, biomass production depends
      on the niche position of the dominating species and can increase or decrease with
      evenness. We demonstrate that high species evenness and an intermediate level of
      biomass production is the configuration that maximizes the average species
      survival probability in response to demographic stochasticity.

PMID- 27622874
TI  - The Evolutionary Legacy of Diversification Predicts Ecosystem Function.
AB  - Theory suggests that the structure of evolutionary history represented in a
      species community may affect its functioning, but phylogenetic diversity metrics
      do not allow for the identification of major differences in this structure. Here
      we propose a new metric, ELDERness (for Evolutionary Legacy of DivERsity) to
      estimate evolutionary branching patterns within communities by fitting a
      polynomial function to lineage-through-time (LTT) plots. We illustrate how real
      and simulated community branching patterns can be more correctly described by
      ELDERness and can successfully predict ecosystem functioning. In particular, the
      evolutionary history of branching patterns can be encapsulated by the parameters
      of third-order polynomial functions and further measured through only two
      parameters, the "ELDERness surfaces." These parameters captured variation in
      productivity of a grassland community better than existing phylogenetic diversity
      or diversification metrics and independent of species richness or presence of
      nitrogen fixers. Specifically, communities with small ELDERness surfaces
      (constant accumulation of lineages through time in LTT plots) were more
      productive, consistent with increased productivity resulting from complementary
      lineages combined with niche filling within lineages. Overall, while existing
      phylogenetic diversity metrics remain useful in many contexts, we suggest that
      our ELDERness approach better enables testing hypotheses that relate complex
      patterns of macroevolutionary history represented in local communities to
      ecosystem functioning.

PMID- 27622876
TI  - The Evolution of Male-Biased Dispersal under the Joint Selective Forces of
      Inbreeding Load and Demographic and Environmental Stochasticity.
AB  - Sex-biased natal dispersal is widespread, and its significance remains a central
      question in evolutionary biology. However, theory so far fails to predict some of
      the most common patterns found in nature. To address this, we present novel
      results from an individual-based model investigating the joint roles of
      inbreeding load, demographic stochasticity, environmental stochasticity, and
      dispersal costs for the evolution of sex-biased dispersal. Most strikingly, we
      found that male-biased natal dispersal evolved in polygynous systems as a result
      of the interplay between inbreeding avoidance and stochasticity, whereas previous
      theory, in contrast to empirical observations, predicted male philopatry and
      female-biased natal dispersal under inbreeding load alone. Furthermore, the
      direction of the bias varied according to the nature of stochasticity. Our
      results therefore provide a unification of previous theory, yielding a much
      better qualitative match with empirical observations of male-biased dispersal in
      mate defense mating systems.

PMID- 27622878
TI  - The Role of Host Demographic Storage in the Ecological Dynamics of Heritable
      Symbionts.
AB  - Heritable symbioses are widespread and ecologically important. Many host
      organisms have complex life cycles that include diverse opportunities for
      symbionts to affect their host and be lost during development. Yet, existing
      theory takes a simplified view of host demography. Here, we generalize symbiosis
      theory to understand how demographic "storage" in the form of dormant or
      prereproductive life stages can modify symbiosis dynamics. Using grass-endophyte
      symbioses as context, we developed models to contrast the role of the seed bank
      (a storage stage) against the reproductive stage in symbiont persistence and
      prevalence. We find that the seed bank is as important as or more important than
      the reproductive stage in driving symbiont dynamics, as long as passage through
      the seed bank is obligate. Flexible entry to the seed bank substantially weakens
      its influence on symbiont persistence but can modify prevalence in
      counterintuitive ways. Our models identify a role for legacy effects, where hosts
      that lose symbionts retain their demographic influence. The retention of benefits
      via legacy effects can reduce symbiont prevalence and even cause prevalence to
      decline with increasing benefits to hosts because symbiont-free hosts carry those
      benefits. Our results resolve connections between individual-level host-symbiont
      interactions and population-level patterns, providing guidance for empirical
      studies.

PMID- 27622877
TI  - Energetic Physiology Mediates Individual Optimization of Breeding Phenology in a
      Migratory Arctic Seabird.
AB  - The influence of variation in individual state on key reproductive decisions
      impacting fitness is well appreciated in evolutionary ecology. Rowe et al. (1994)
      developed a condition-dependent individual optimization model predicting that
      three key factors impact the ability of migratory female birds to individually
      optimize breeding phenology to maximize fitness in seasonal environments: arrival
      condition, arrival date, and ability to gain in condition on the breeding
      grounds. While empirical studies have confirmed that greater arrival body mass
      and earlier arrival dates result in earlier laying, no study has assessed whether
      individual variation in energetic management of condition gain effects this key
      fitness-related decision. Using an 8-year data set from over 350 prebreeding
      female Arctic common eiders (Somateria mollissima), we tested this component of
      the model by examining whether individual variation in two physiological traits
      influencing energetic management (plasma triglycerides: physiological fattening
      rate; baseline corticosterone: energetic demand) predicted individual variation
      in breeding phenology after controlling for arrival date and body mass. As
      predicted by the optimization model, individuals with higher fattening rates and
      lower energetic demand had the earliest breeding phenology (shortest delays
      between arrival and laying; earliest laying dates). Our results are the first to
      empirically determine that individual flexibility in prebreeding energetic
      management influences key fitness-related reproductive decisions, suggesting that
      individuals have the capacity to optimally manage reproductive investment.

PMID- 27622879
TI  - Dynamic Range Size Analysis of Territorial Animals: An Optimality Approach.
AB  - Home range sizes of territorial animals are often observed to vary periodically
      in response to seasonal changes in foraging opportunities. Here we develop the
      first mechanistic model focused on the temporal dynamics of home range expansion
      and contraction in territorial animals. We demonstrate how simple movement
      principles can lead to a rich suite of range size dynamics, by balancing foraging
      activity with defensive requirements and incorporating optimal behavioral rules
      into mechanistic home range analysis. Our heuristic model predicts three general
      temporal patterns that have been observed in empirical studies across multiple
      taxa. First, a positive correlation between age and territory quality promotes
      shrinking home ranges over an individual's lifetime, with maximal range size
      variability shortly before the adult stage. Second, poor sensory information, low
      population density, and large resource heterogeneity may all independently
      facilitate range size instability. Finally, aggregation behavior toward forage
      rich areas helps produce divergent home range responses between individuals from
      different age classes. This model has broad applications for addressing important
      unknowns in animal space use, with potential applications also in conservation
      and health management strategies.

PMID- 27622873
TI  - Finding the Genomic Basis of Local Adaptation: Pitfalls, Practical Solutions, and
      Future Directions.
AB  - Uncovering the genetic and evolutionary basis of local adaptation is a major
      focus of evolutionary biology. The recent development of cost-effective methods
      for obtaining high-quality genome-scale data makes it possible to identify some
      of the loci responsible for adaptive differences among populations. Two basic
      approaches for identifying putatively locally adaptive loci have been developed
      and are broadly used: one that identifies loci with unusually high genetic
      differentiation among populations (differentiation outlier methods) and one that
      searches for correlations between local population allele frequencies and local
      environments (genetic-environment association methods). Here, we review the
      promises and challenges of these genome scan methods, including correcting for
      the confounding influence of a species' demographic history, biases caused by
      missing aspects of the genome, matching scales of environmental data with
      population structure, and other statistical considerations. In each case, we make
      suggestions for best practices for maximizing the accuracy and efficiency of
      genome scans to detect the underlying genetic basis of local adaptation. With
      attention to their current limitations, genome scan methods can be an important
      tool in finding the genetic basis of adaptive evolutionary change.

PMID- 27622880
TI  - Behavioral Plasticity and the Origins of Novelty: The Evolution of the
      Rattlesnake Rattle.
AB  - Environmentally induced behavior (behavioral plasticity) has long been
      hypothesized to promote the origins of novel morphological traits, but this idea
      remains controversial. One context in which this hypothesis can be evaluated is
      animal communication, where behavior and morphology are often linked. Here, we
      examined the evolution of one of nature's most spectacular communication signals:
      the rattlesnake rattle. We specifically evaluated whether rattlesnake rattling
      behavior-and, hence, the rattle-originated from a simple behavior: vibrating the
      tail when threatened. By reconstructing the ancestral state of defensive tail
      vibration, we show that this behavior is nearly ubiquitous in the Viperidae (the
      family that includes rattlesnakes) and widespread in the Colubridae (the largest
      snake family, nearly all of which are nonvenomous), suggesting a shared origin
      for the behavior between these families. After measuring tail vibration in 56
      species of Viperidae and Colubridae, we show that the more closely related a
      species was to rattlesnakes, the more similar it was to rattlesnakes in duration
      and rate of tail vibration. Thus, the rattlesnake rattle might have evolved via
      elaboration of a simple behavior. These data thereby support the long-standing
      hypothesis that behavioral plasticity often precedes-and possibly instigates-the
      evolution of morphological novelty.

PMID- 27622881
TI  - A General, Synthetic Model for Predicting Biodiversity Gradients from
      Environmental Geometry.
AB  - Latitudinal and elevational biodiversity gradients fascinate ecologists, and have
      inspired dozens of explanations. The geometry of the abiotic environment is
      sometimes thought to contribute to these gradients, yet evaluations of geometric
      explanations are limited by a fragmented understanding of the diversity patterns
      they predict. This article presents a mathematical model that synthesizes
      multiple pathways by which environmental geometry can drive diversity gradients.
      The model characterizes species ranges by their environmental niches and limits
      on range sizes and places those ranges onto the simplified geometries of a sphere
      or cone. The model predicts nuanced and realistic species-richness gradients,
      including latitudinal diversity gradients with tropical plateaus and mid-latitude
      inflection points and elevational diversity gradients with low-elevation
      diversity maxima. The model also illustrates the importance of a mid-environment
      effect that augments species richness at locations with intermediate
      environments. Model predictions match multiple empirical biodiversity gradients,
      depend on ecological traits in a testable fashion, and formally synthesize
      elements of several geometric models. Together, these results suggest that
      previous assessments of geometric hypotheses should be reconsidered and that
      environmental geometry may play a deeper role in driving biodiversity gradients
      than is currently appreciated.

PMID- 27622882
TI  - Intralocus Sexual Conflict and the Tragedy of the Commons in Seed Beetles.
AB  - The evolution of male traits that inflict direct harm on females during mating
      interactions can result in a so-called tragedy of the commons, where selfish male
      strategies depress population viability. This tragedy of the commons can be
      magnified by intralocus sexual conflict (IaSC) whenever alleles that reduce
      fecundity when expressed in females spread in the population because of their
      benefits in males. We evaluated this prediction by detailed phenotyping of 73
      isofemale lines of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. We quantified
      genetic variation in life history and morphology, as well as associated
      covariance in male and female adult reproductive success. In parallel, we created
      replicated artificial populations of each line and measured their productivity.
      Genetic constraints limited independent trait expression in the sexes, and we
      identified several instances of sexually antagonistic covariance between traits
      and fitness, signifying IaSC. Population productivity was strongly positively
      correlated to female adult reproductive success but uncorrelated with male
      reproductive success. Moreover, male (female) phenotypic optima for several
      traits under sexually antagonistic selection were exhibited by the genotypes with
      the lowest (highest) population productivity. Our study forms a direct link
      between individual-level sex-specific selection and population demography and
      places life-history traits at the epicenter of these dynamics.

PMID- 27622883
TI  - Pulsed electromagnetic fields stimulate osteogenic differentiation and maturation
      of osteoblasts by upregulating the expression of BMPRII localized at the base of
      primary cilium.
AB  - Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) have been considered as a potential
      candidate for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, however, the
      mechanism of its action is still elusive. We have previously reported that 50Hz
      0.6mT PEMFs stimulate osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization in a
      primary cilium- dependent manner, but did not know the reason. In the current
      study, we found that the PEMFs promoted osteogenic differentiation and maturation
      of rat calvarial osteoblasts (ROBs) by activating bone morphogenetic protein BMP
      Smad1/5/8 signaling on the condition that primary cilia were normal. Further
      studies revealed that BMPRII, the primary binding receptor of BMP ligand, was
      readily and strongly upregulated by PEMF treatment and localized at the bases of
      primary cilia. Abrogation of primary cilia with small interfering RNA sequence
      targeting IFT88 abolished the PEMF-induced upregulation of BMPRII and its ciliary
      localization. Knockdown of BMPRII expression level with RNA interference had no
      effects on primary cilia but significantly decreased the promoting effect of
      PEMFs on osteoblastic differentiation and maturation. These results indicated
      that PEMFs stimulate osteogenic differentiation and maturation of osteoblast by
      primary cilium-mediated upregulation of BMPRII expression and subsequently
      activation of BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling, and that BMPRII is the key component
      linking primary cilium and BMP-Smad1/5/8 pathway. This study has thus revealed
      the molecular mechanism for the osteogenic effect of PEMFs.

PMID- 27622884
TI  - Towards new material biomarkers for fracture risk.
AB  - Osteoporosis is a prevalent bone condition, characterised by low bone mass and
      increased fracture risk. Currently, the gold standard for identifying
      osteoporosis and increased fracture risk is through quantification of bone
      mineral density (BMD) using dual energy X-ray absorption (DEXA). However, the
      risk of osteoporotic fracture is determined collectively by bone mass,
      architecture and physicochemistry of the mineral composite building blocks. Thus
      DEXA scans alone inevitably fail to fully discriminate individuals who will
      suffer a fragility fracture. This study examines trabecular bone at both
      ultrastructure and microarchitectural levels to provide a detailed material view
      of bone, and therefore provides a more comprehensive explanation of osteoporotic
      fracture risk. Physicochemical characterisation obtained through X-ray
      diffraction and infrared analysis indicated significant differences in apatite
      crystal chemistry and nanostructure between fracture and non-fracture groups.
      Further, this study, through considering the potential correlations between the
      chemical biomarkers and microarchitectural properties of trabecular bone, has
      investigated the relationship between bone mechanical properties (e.g. fragility)
      and physicochemical material features.

PMID- 27622885
TI  - FGF23-Klotho signaling axis in the kidney.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) is a bone-derived hormone protecting against
      the potentially deleterious effects of hyperphosphatemia by suppression of
      phosphate reabsorption and of active vitamin D hormone synthesis in the kidney.
      The kidney is one of the main target organs of FGF23 signaling. The purpose of
      this review is to highlight the recent advances in the area of FGF23-Klotho
      signaling in the kidney. During recent years, it has become clear that FGF23 acts
      independently on proximal and distal tubular epithelium. In proximal renal
      tubules, FGF23 suppresses phosphate reabsorption by a Klotho dependent activation
      of extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (ERK1/2) and of serum/glucocorticoid
      regulated kinase-1 (SGK1), leading to phosphorylation of the scaffolding protein
      Na+/H+ exchange regulatory cofactor (NHERF)-1 and subsequent internalization and
      degradation of sodium-phosphate cotransporters. In distal renal tubules, FGF23
      augments calcium and sodium reabsorption by increasing the apical membrane
      expression of the epithelial calcium channel TRPV5 and of the sodium-chloride
      cotransporter NCC through a Klotho dependent activation of with-no-lysine kinase
      4 (WNK4). In proximal and distal renal tubules, FGF receptor-1 is probably the
      dominant FGF receptor mediating the effects of FGF23 by forming a complex with
      membrane-bound Klotho in the basolateral membrane. The newly described sodium-
      and calcium-conserving functions of FGF23 may have major implications for the
      pathophysiology of diseases characterized by chronically increased circulating
      FGF23 concentrations such as chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 27622886
TI  - Loss of ephrinB1 in osteogenic progenitor cells impedes endochondral ossification
      and compromises bone strength integrity during skeletal development.
AB  - The EphB receptor tyrosine kinase family and their ephrinB ligands have been
      implicated as mediators of skeletal development and bone homeostasis in humans,
      where mutations in ephrinB1 contribute to frontonasal dysplasia and coronal
      craniosynostosis. In mouse models, ephrinB1 has been shown to be a critical
      factor mediating osteoblast function. The present study examined the functional
      importance of ephrinB1 during endochondral ossification using the Cre
      recombination system with targeted deletion of ephrinB1 (EfnB1fl/fl) in
      osteogenic progenitor cells, under the control of the osterix (Osx:Cre) promoter.
      The Osx:EfnB1-/- mice displayed aberrant bone growth during embryonic and
      postnatal skeletal development up to 4weeks of age, when compared to the Osx:Cre
      controls. Furthermore, compared to the Osx:Cre control mice, the Osx:EfnB1-/-
      mice exhibited significantly weaker and less rigid bones, with a reduction in
      trabecular/ cortical bone formation, reduced trabecular architecture and a
      reduction in the size of the growth plates at the distal end of the femora from
      newborn through to 4weeks of age. The aberrant bone formation correlated with
      increased numbers of tartrate resistant acid phosphatase positive osteoclasts and
      decreased numbers of bone lining osteoblasts in 4week old Osx:EfnB1-/- mice,
      compared to Osx:Cre control mice. Taken together, these observations demonstrate
      the importance of ephrinB1 signalling between cells of the skeleton required for
      endochondral ossification.

PMID- 27622888
TI  - Validation of Transtek LS808-B for self/home measurement according to the
      European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of Transtek LS808-B
      according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision
      2010 (ESH-IP2010). METHODS: A total of 33 adult individuals (19 men and 14 women,
      mean age 46.8+/-15.8 years) were recruited; their systolic blood pressure (SBP)
      and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured using the mercury
      sphygmomanometer and Transtek LS808-B. A total of 99 pairs of measurements were
      obtained from these 33 participants for comparison in two parts with three
      grading phases. RESULTS: All the validation requirements were fulfilled. The
      number of absolute difference between the tested device and the observers within
      5, 10, and 15 mmHg was 73, 94, and 98 for SBP and 78, 94, and 99 for DBP,
      respectively. The mean+/-SD of the device-observer difference was 0.5+/-4.4 mmHg
      for SBP and 0.2+/-4.1 mmHg for DBP. The number of participants with two or three
      device-observer differences within 5 mmHg was 24 for SBP and 27 for DBP. In
      addition, two of the participants had no device-observer difference within 5 mmHg
      for SBP and one of the participants had the same for DBP. CONCLUSION: Transtek
      LS808-B has passed all phases of ESH-IP 2010, and hence can be recommended for
      self/home measurement in adult populations.

PMID- 27622889
TI  - Very poor agreement between routine outpatient clinic office and ambulatory blood
      pressure: time to improve an old hospital outpatient clinic routine?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the agreement between elevated outpatient clinic
      office blood pressure (OC-OBP) as measured in the daily routine in our University
      Hospital Cardiology Outpatient Clinic and subsequent awake ambulatory blood
      pressure (AABP). METHODS: In all patients referred for ambulatory blood pressure
      monitoring from our Cardiology Outpatient Clinic, we identified OC-OBP and
      changes in medication in the period from 1 January 2014 to 15 September 2015. The
      AABP was used as a reference measurement for the OC-OBP. RESULTS: A total of 183
      patients were included in the study. Their mean age was 62.1+/-14.0 years and 49%
      were women. The mean systolic OC-OBP was 166.8+/-17.9 mmHg and the difference
      between the mean systolic OC-OBP and AABP was 28.0+/-19.5 mmHg (P<0.001) with 95%
      limits of agreement from -10.2 to +66.3 mmHg. The difference in mean systolic OC
      OBP and AABP was 18.6+/-14.7 mmHg in patients less than 45 years (n=21), 24.8+/
      18.2 mmHg in patients 45-74 years (n=121) and 42.3+/-18.5 mmHg in patients more
      than or equal to 75 years (n=41). In 32 (17%) of the patients, the
      antihypertensive treatment was intensified before the AABP, but in nine (28%) of
      these patients, the antihypertensive treatment was reduced again after the AABP
      because of low blood pressure. CONCLUSION: Routine OC-OBP in a busy cardiology
      clinic agrees poorly with AABP and may lead to unnecessary treatment and
      pharmacologically induced symptomatic hypotension, particularly in elderly
      patients. The results of this study urgently call for alternative solutions to
      routine OC-OBP in hospital outpatient clinics.

PMID- 27622887
TI  - Androgens have antiresorptive effects on trabecular disuse osteopenia independent
      from muscle atrophy.
AB  - Aging hypogonadal men are at increased risk of osteoporosis and sarcopenia.
      Testosterone is a potentially appealing strategy to prevent simultaneous bone and
      muscle loss. The androgen receptor (AR) mediates antiresorptive effects on
      trabecular bone via osteoblast-lineage cells, as well as muscle-anabolic actions.
      Sex steroids also modify the skeletal response to mechanical loading. However, it
      is unclear whether the effects of androgens on bone remain effective independent
      of mechanical stimulation or rather require indirect androgen effects via muscle.
      This study aims to characterize the effects and underlying mechanisms of
      androgens on disuse osteosarcopenia. Adult male mice received a unilateral
      botulinum toxin (BTx) injection, and underwent sham surgery or orchidectomy (ORX)
      without or with testosterone (ORX+T) or dihydrotestosterone (ORX+DHT)
      replacement. Compared to the contralateral internal control hindlimb, acute
      trabecular number and bone volume loss was increased by ORX and partially
      prevented DHT. T was more efficient and increased BV/TV in both hindlimbs over
      sham values, although it did not reduce the detrimental effect of BTx. Both
      androgens and BTx regulated trabecular osteoclast surface as well as tartrate
      resistant acid phosphatase expression. Androgens also prevented BTx-induced body
      weight loss but did not significantly influence paralysis or muscle atrophy. BTx
      and ORX both reduced cortical thickness via endosteal expansion, which was
      prevented by T but not DHT. In long-term follow-up, the residual trabecular bone
      volume deficit in sham-BTx hindlimbs was prevented by DHT but T restored it more
      efficiently to pre-treatment levels. Conditional AR deletion in late osteoblasts
      and osteocytes or in the satellite cell lineage increased age-related trabecular
      bone loss in both hindlimbs without influencing the effect of BTx on trabecular
      osteopenia. We conclude that androgens have antiresorptive effects on trabecular
      disuse osteopenia which do not require AR actions on bone via muscle or via
      osteocytes.

PMID- 27622890
TI  - MOC Revolution.
AB  - Maintenance of certification (MOC) has long riled the nation's physicians over
      what doctors say are costly, burdensome, and frivolous programs. Many physicians
      also question the financial motives of the certifying boards and debate the
      impact of MOC on patient outcomes.

PMID- 27622891
TI  - Clearing Up the Myths.
AB  - The Texas Medical Association is helping educate physicians on a new law that
      requires Texas physicians who diagnose a child with Down syndrome to provide
      parents with state-prepared, evidence-based information on the disorder. 

PMID- 27622892
TI  - MACRA: Fix or Folly?
AB  - The Texas Medical Association has made recommendations to improve the Centers for
      Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rule to implement the Medicare Access and
      CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which results in numerous compliance and
      administrative hassles.

PMID- 27622893
TI  - Standing Against Addiction.
AB  - Several standing pharmaceutical orders for naloxone, used to rescue those who
      overdose from opioids, have helped expand access to the lifesaving drug in Texas.

PMID- 27622894
TI  - Keep an Eye on the Books.
AB  - Electronic billing and funds transfers make medical practices vulnerable targets
      of employee theft. The Texas Medical Association and other organizations have
      resources to help prevent embezzlement. 

PMID- 27622895
TI  - Effects of a Pedometer-Based Telephone Coaching Intervention on Physical Activity
      Among People with Cardiac Disease in Urban, Rural and Semi-Rural Settings: A
      Replication Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the replicability of a pedometer-based
      telephone coaching intervention by comparing the outcomes of a study conducted in
      rural and urban settings to a study that previously found the same intervention
      effective in a semi-rural setting. METHODS: Replication studies are conducted to
      assess whether an efficacious intervention is effective in multiple different
      settings. This study compared the outcomes of a pedometer-based coaching
      intervention implemented in urban and rural settings (replication study) with the
      same intervention implemented in a semi-rural setting (reference study) on
      physical activity levels. RESULTS: Improvements in total weekly physical activity
      time in the replication study were significant from baseline to six weeks
      (p<0.001 urban, p=0.006 rural) and remained significant at six months (p=0.029
      urban, p=0.005 rural). These increases were comparable to those achieved in the
      original efficacy trial conducted in a semi-rural setting. CONCLUSIONS: The
      pedometer-based telephone coaching intervention increases physical activity
      levels of people with cardiac disease referred to a CR program in diverse
      settings. This replication study indicates the suitability of this minimal
      contact, low-cost intervention for further scaling-up to address unmet need in
      community-dwelling cardiac patients.

PMID- 27622896
TI  - Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade score performance for 7-day
      mortality prediction in patients with heart failure attended at the emergency
      department: validation in a Spanish cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade (EHMRG) scale,
      derived in 86 Canadian emergency departments (EDs), stratifies patients with
      acute-decompensated heart failure (ADHF) according to their 7-day mortality risk.
      We evaluated its external validity in a Spanish cohort. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      applied the EHMRG scale to ADHF patients consecutively included in the
      Epidemiology of Acute Heart Failure in Emergency departments (EAHFE) registry (29
      Spanish EDs) and measured its performance. Patients were distributed into
      quintiles according to the original and their self-defined score cutoffs. The 7
      day mortality rates were compared internally among different categories and with
      categories of Canadian cohorts. RESULTS: The EAHFE group [n: 1553 patients; 80
      (10) years; 55.6% women] had a 5.5% 7-day mortality rate and the EHMRG scale c
      statistic was 0.741 (95% confidence interval: 0.688-0.793) compared with 0.807
      (0.761-0.842) and 0.804 (0.763-0.840) obtained in the Canadian derivation and
      validation cohorts. The mortality rate of the EAHFE group mortality increased
      progressively as the quintile categories increased using intervals defined by
      either the Canadian or the Spanish EHMRG score cutoffs, although with more
      regular increments with the EAHFE-defined intervals; using the latter, patients
      at quintiles 2, 3, 4, 5a and 5b had (compared with quintile 1) odds ratios of
      1.77, 3.36, 4.44, 9.39 and 16.19, respectively. CONCLUSION: The EHMRG scale
      stratified risk in an ADHF cohort that included both palliative and nonpalliative
      patients in Spanish EDs, showing an extrapolation to a higher mortality risk
      cohort than the original derivation sample. Stratification improved when the
      score was recalibrated in the Spanish cohort.

PMID- 27622897
TI  - Alginate antacid (Gaviscon DA) chewable tablets reduce esophageal acid exposure
      in Chinese patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and heartburn symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of Gaviscon Double Action (DA) alginate antacid
      chewable tablets for reducing esophageal acid exposure in Chinese patients with
      gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). METHODS: Altogether 44 patients reporting
      moderate to severe heartburn symptoms underwent two pH monitoring visits. The
      treatment sequence was randomized to patients received DA alginate antacid or
      placebo at one visit and the alternate treatment 7 days later. After a
      standardized reflux-provoking meal, patients took four tablets of DA alginate
      antacid or placebo. Esophageal pH was measured for 4 h post-dosing using an
      electrode positioned 5 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter. The primary end
      point was the percentage of 4-h post-dosing period with pH <4. Secondary end
      points were number of acid reflux episodes (pH <4), longest reflux time and
      DeMeester scores. RESULTS: All 44 patients completed the study and provided data
      for analysis. With DA alginate antacid, the mean percentage time with pH <4 was
      5.1%, significantly less (P = 0.0003) than with placebo (14.8%). DA alginate
      antacid was statistically significantly superior (P = 0.0290) to placebo (from at
      least twofold to threefold better) for all other end-points. Two patients
      reported two mild adverse events (AEs) that resolved within a month of completing
      the study. No patients had serious and/or severe AEs and none withdrew due to
      AEs. CONCLUSIONS: DA alginate antacid was statistically significantly superior to
      placebo in reducing post-prandial acid exposure without serious clinically
      relevant health risks. These findings suggest DA alginate antacid tablets are
      appropriate for treating acid reflux in Chinese GERD patients with heartburn
      symptoms.

PMID- 27622898
TI  - Paediatric Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: European Society for Paediatric
      Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition and European Society of
      Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Guidelines.
AB  - This guideline refers to infants, children, and adolescents ages 0 to 18 years.
      The areas covered include indications for diagnostic and therapeutic
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy and ileocolonoscopy; endoscopy for foreign body
      ingestion; corrosive ingestion and stricture/stenosis endoscopic management;
      upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding; endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography; and endoscopic ultrasonography. Percutaneous endoscopic
      gastrostomy and endoscopy specific to inflammatory bowel disease has been dealt
      with in other guidelines and are therefore not mentioned in this guideline.
      Training and ongoing skill maintenance are to be dealt with in an imminent sister
      publication to this.

PMID- 27622899
TI  - Comparison of Cytokine and Efflux Transporter Expression in Pediatric Versus
      Adult-onset Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic inflammation of the colon, is
      often more severe in children than adults. Identification of altered expression
      of efflux transporters, cytokines, and suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)
      molecules in pediatric versus adult patients could provide insight into the
      differential molecular patterns related to the age and disease pathology.
      METHODS: Mucosal samples from terminal ileum and colon in pediatric (9 UC-New, 4
      UC-Remission) and adult (9 UC-New, 8 UC-Remission) patients were compared with
      healthy subjects (15 children and 10 adults) for mRNA expressions of several
      efflux transporters, cytokines, and SOCS molecules. RESULTS: The inflamed colon
      interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17A, and interferon-gamma levels were elevated in UC-New
      subgroups but close to control values in UC-Remission. IL-1beta expression was
      increased only in UC-New children. Interestingly, uninflamed ileum also showed
      increased IL-6 and IL-1beta levels in UC-New subgroups. SOCS1/SOCS3 expression
      pattern followed a trend observed for inflammatory cytokines only in children.
      Both children and adults had decreased multidrug resistance protein 1 expression
      in colon, which inversely correlated with disease score, IL-6 and interferon
      gamma levels in UC-New children. IL-2 expression was upregulated in UC-Remission,
      compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Efflux transporter expression varies between
      UC children and adults except for decreased multidrug resistance protein 1. UC is
      characterized by a dysregulated TH1 and TH17 cytokine response irrespective of
      age at disease onset, with higher cytokine levels detected in children. Increased
      IL-2 levels in remission imply a protective role for regulatory T cells (Tregs).

PMID- 27622900
TI  - Iron Deficiency in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: The Use of Zincprotoporphyrin and
      Red Blood Cell Distribution Width.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Iron deficiency (ID) in children with inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD) is either an absolute (depleted iron stores) or a functional deficiency
      (caused by chronic inflammation). Differentiating between these 2 types of ID is
      important because they require a different therapeutic approach. Zinc
      protoporphyrin (ZPP) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) are parameters
      of functional ID. Studies using these parameters to differentiate are
      nonexistent. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of and risk factors for absolute
      and functional ID in paediatric IBD patients while using ZPP and RDW. METHODS: We
      evaluated the iron status and medical charts of 59 paediatric IBD patients in a
      secondary hospital in the Netherlands. Absolute ID was defined as serum ferritin
      <15 MUg/L in the absence of infection and/or acute inflammation (C-reactive
      protein <10 mg/L). Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) was defined as absolute ID in
      combination with anaemia. Functional ID, in patients without absolute ID, was
      defined as ZPP >70 MUmol/mol haem and/or an RDW >14%. Anaemia of chronic disease
      (ACD) was defined as functional ID in combination with anaemia. RESULTS: Absolute
      and functional ID were found in 19/59 (32.2%) and 32/40 (80%) patients,
      respectively. The prevalence of IDA and ACD was 27.1% (16/59) and 20% (8/40),
      respectively. Multivariate analyses showed that absolute ID and IDA were both
      associated with a more recent IBD-diagnosis (both P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Absolute and functional ID are common in paediatric IBD patients, and this
      differentiation is important because of therapeutic consequences. Furthermore,
      absolute ID and IDA are associated with a more recent IBD-diagnosis.

PMID- 27622901
TI  - Assessing Risk of Falling in Older Adults-A Comparison of Three Methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various risk assessment methods have been developed to assess fall
      risk. Diagnostic accuracy of fall risk assessments is low and there is a scarcity
      of evidence regarding clinical effectiveness. AIMS: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical effectiveness of a standardized
      fall risk assessment relative to clinical and self-report assessment. METHODS: A
      single-site, prospective, longitudinal study was performed in a group of
      geriatric patients. Participants were patients being admitted to a geriatric
      rehabilitation hospital. The St. Thomas's risk assessment tool (STRATIFY),
      clinical assessment, and a self-report assessment (fear of falling) were used to
      assess fall risk at two time points (at baseline and 3-week follow-up). The
      primary outcome was fall events. Contingency tables were used to calculate
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive
      values. Fisher's exact test was used to test the association between assessments
      and fall events. RESULTS: A total of 124 patients participated in the study. The
      self-report technique demonstrated the highest sensitivity and negative
      predictive validity. The STRATIFY tool showed the highest specificity but the
      lowest sensitivity. The self-report technique was associated with a lower number
      of fall events. DISCUSSION: Given the lack of diagnostic accuracy of all three
      assessment techniques and the lack of evidence regarding clinical effectiveness,
      the usefulness of these fall risk assessments can be challenged. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      PRACTICE: At least in settings in which fall prevention programs are a part of
      standard care, additional time consuming assessments may not be required. LINKING
      EVIDENCE TO ACTION: It is questionable whether time-consuming assessments
      examined in this study are necessary. Further studies are needed to examine the
      diagnostic accuracy and clinical effectiveness of fall risk assessments.

PMID- 27622903
TI  - Fabrication of Efficient Low-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells by Combining
      Formamidinium Tin Iodide with Methylammonium Lead Iodide.
AB  - Mixed tin (Sn)-lead (Pb) perovskites with high Sn content exhibit low bandgaps
      suitable for fabricating the bottom cell of perovskite-based tandem solar cells.
      In this work, we report on the fabrication of efficient mixed Sn-Pb perovskite
      solar cells using precursors combining formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI3) and
      methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3). The best-performing cell fabricated using a
      (FASnI3)0.6(MAPbI3)0.4 absorber with an absorption edge of ~1.2 eV achieved a
      power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.08 (15.00)% with an open-circuit voltage
      of 0.795 (0.799) V, a short-circuit current density of 26.86(26.82) mA/cm(2), and
      a fill factor of 70.6(70.0)% when measured under forward (reverse) voltage scan.
      The average PCE of 50 cells we have fabricated is 14.39 +/- 0.33%, indicating
      good reproducibility.

PMID- 27609299
TI  - Gingival Fibromatosis with Significant De Novo Formation of Fibrotic Tissue and a
      High Rate of Recurrence.
AB  - BACKGROUND Hereditary gingival fibromatosis is characterized by slowly
      progressive enlargement of the gingiva that can present as an isolated condition
      or present as part of various syndromes. CASE REPORT An 11-year-old female
      reported with a gingival lesion that caused masticatory problems and poor oral
      hygiene. Periodontal examination revealed a dense tissue covering 30% of her
      teeth crowns within both jaws. Panoramic x-ray showed a normal bone height and
      teeth positioning. The patient did not use any medications, but a similar
      condition was also present in other family members. The patient was diagnosed
      with hereditary gingival fibromatosis. Surgery was carried out to remove excess
      of gingival tissue. Post-surgical healing was uneventful, but four weeks after
      the first surgery, the condition recurred amounting to 45% of the initial tissue
      volume presenting in the mandible, and 25% in the maxilla. Two months later, no
      significant growth was noted in the mandible, while in the maxilla, growth
      increased to 40% of the preoperative state. Analysis by polarized microscope
      showed a significant increase of thin fibrotic fibrils that contributed 80% of
      the total pool of collagen fibrils in the patient's gingiva, but only 25% in
      healthy gingiva. The patient was receiving outpatient care for follow-up every
      three months and surgical intervention had not been planned as long as her
      periodontal health was not be compromised.  CONCLUSIONS It is currently not clear
      whether the extent of the fibrosis had a mechanistic association with the ratio
      of gingival tissue re-growth in our case study. Further studies are needed to
      explain this association and improve the management of this condition. 

PMID- 27622904
TI  - Switching behaviour of individual Ag-TCNQ nanowires: an in situ transmission
      electron microscopy study.
AB  - The organic semiconductor silver-tetracyanoquinodimethane (Ag-TCNQ) exhibits
      electrical switching and memory characteristics. Employing a scanning tunnelling
      microscopy setup inside a transmission electron microscope, the switching
      behaviour of individual Ag-TCNQ nanowires (NWs) is investigated in detail. For a
      large number of NWs, the switching between a high (OFF) and a low (ON) resistance
      state was successfully stimulated by negative bias sweeps. Fitting the
      experimental I-V curves with a Schottky emission function makes the switching
      features prominent and thus enables a direct evaluation of the switching process.
      A memory cycle including writing, reading and erasing features is demonstrated at
      an individual NW. Moreover, electronic failure mechanisms due to Joule heating
      are discussed. These findings have a significant impact on our understanding of
      the switching behaviour of Ag-TCNQ. 

PMID- 27622905
TI  - Fever within 2 Weeks of Sorafenib Therapy Predicts Favorable Treatment Efficacy
      in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between
      fever within 2 weeks after the start of sorafenib therapy and treatment efficacy
      in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: One hundred
      and two patients with advanced HCC were enrolled in this study. We
      retrospectively compared patients with fever (more than 38 degrees C) within 2
      weeks after the start of sorafenib therapy (fever group, n = 34) and patients
      without fever (non-fever group, n = 68) in terms of survival, best antitumor
      response, and change in intratumor blood on contrast-enhanced computed tomography
      (CE-CT) after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy. RESULTS: Fever was the only
      significant and independent predictor of better outcomes (hazard ratio, 0.517;
      95% confidence interval, 0.319-0.838; p = 0.0071). In the fever group, the
      partial response rate, the disease control rate, and the rate of disappearance of
      arterial tumor enhancement on CE-CT after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy were
      significantly higher than those in the non-fever group (38.2 vs. 5.9%,
      respectively, p = 0.0001; 85.3 vs. 60.3%, respectively, p = 0.0103; 76.5 vs.
      35.3%, respectively, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Fever within 2 weeks after the
      start of sorafenib therapy may be a useful predictor of a favorable treatment
      response in patients with advanced HCC.

PMID- 27622907
TI  - CD271+ Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a Possible Infectious Niche for Leishmania
      infantum.
AB  - Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a serious and fatal disease. Therapeutic drugs are
      toxic and non-sterilizing. The etiological agents Leishmania infantum and
      Leishmania donovani cause active and asymptomatic diseases. Effective drugs to
      treat VL exist but unfortunately, post-treatment relapses are common. Little is
      known why drugs are non-sterilizing or how these intracellular pathogens can
      escape treatment. Here, using a murine model of VL we found that CD271+/Sca1+
      bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are readily infected in vitro and in
      vivo by L. infantum. Because BM-MSCs express potent drug efflux pumps, e.g.,
      ABCG2 it is possible that this unique intracellular infectious niche could allow
      L. infantum to escape anti-parasite drugs. 

PMID- 27622906
TI  - Comparing Trabeculectomy Outcomes between First and Second Operated Eyes: A
      Multicenter Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare surgical outcomes between the first and second operated
      eyes in patients who underwent trabeculectomy in both eyes. METHODS: This
      retrospective clinical cohort study at five clinical centers in Japan included 84
      patients with open-angle glaucoma who underwent primary trabeculectomy in both
      eyes. The primary outcome was surgical success or failure, with failure being
      defined according to three criteria: <20% reduction of the preoperative
      intraocular pressure (IOP), or Criterion A, IOP >21 mmHg; Criterion B, IOP >18
      mmHg; or Criterion C, IOP >15 mmHg. Cases of reoperation, a loss of light
      perception vision, or hypotony were also considered as "failures". RESULTS: There
      were no significant differences in success rate for any of the three criteria
      between the first and second operated eyes. For patients whose first
      trabeculectomy was successful, when the second trabeculectomy was performed >=2
      months after the first, the survival curves for all three criteria for the second
      trabeculectomy were significantly worse than those for patients waiting a shorter
      interval between trabeculectomies (Criterion A, 52.0% vs 83.6%, P = 0.0031;
      Criterion B, 51.5% vs 80.4%, P = 0.026; Criterion C, 51.1% vs 80.4%, P = 0.048).
      In multivariable analyses, a longer interval between trabeculectomies was a
      significant prognostic factor for surgical failure (Criterion A, P = 0.0055;
      Criterion B, P = 0.0023; Criterion C, P = 0.027). However, no dependency on the
      interval between trabeculectomies was found among patients whose first
      trabeculectomy failed. CONCLUSIONS: If the first trabeculectomy is successful, a
      long interval before the second trabeculectomy increases the risk of surgical
      failure in the second eye. This result has clinical implications for developing
      surgical strategies for patients with bilateral glaucoma.

PMID- 27622908
TI  - One-Step Synthesis of Pt/Graphene Composites from Pt Acid Dissolved Ethanol via
      Microwave Plasma Spray Pyrolysis.
AB  - Pt nanoparticles-laden graphene (Pt/GR) composites were synthesized in the gas
      phase from a mixture of ethanol and Pt precursor by microwave plasma spray
      pyrolysis. The morphology of Pt/GR composites has the shape of wrinkled sheets of
      paper, while Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) that are less than 2.6 nm in the mean
      diameter are uniformly well deposited on the surface of GR sheets stacked in only
      three layers. The Pt/GR composite prepared with 20 wt% of Pt had the highest
      specific surface area and electrochemical surface area of up to 402 m(2) g(-1)
      and 77 m(2) g(-1) (Pt), respectively. In addition, the composite showed superior
      electrocatalytic activity compared with commercial Pt-carbon black. The excellent
      electrocatalytic activity was attributed to the high specific surface area and
      electrochemical surface area of the Pt/GR composite directly produced by
      microwave plasma spray pyrolysis. Thus, it is clearly expected that the Pt/GR
      composite is a promising material for DMFC catalysts.

PMID- 27622911
TI  - A Special Diabetes Issue and Ingredients for a Successful Transition of Care.

PMID- 27622909
TI  - Aquaporin modulators: a patent review (2010-2015).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since the discovery of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) as a water channel, more
      than 2,000 articles, reviews and chapters have been published. The wide tissue
      expression, functional and biological roles have documented the major and
      essential physiological importance of these channels both in health and disease.
      Thus, over the years, studies have revealed essential importance of aquaporins in
      mammalian pathophysiology revealing aquaporins as potential drug targets. Areas
      covered: Starting from a brief description of the main structural and functional
      features of aquaporins, their roles in physiology and pathophysiology of
      different human diseases, this review describes the main classes of small
      molecules and biologicals patented, published from 2010 to 2015, able to regulate
      AQPs for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Expert opinion: Several patents
      report on AQP modulators, mostly inhibitors, and related pharmaceutical
      formulations, to be used for treatments of water imbalance disorders, such as
      edema. Noteworthy, a unique class of gold-based compounds as selective inhibitors
      of aquaglyceroporin isoforms may provide new chemical tools for therapeutic
      applications, especially in cancer. AQP4-targeted therapies for neuromyelitis
      optica, enhancement of AQP2 function for nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and AQP1
      5 gene transfer for the Sjogren's syndrome represent promising therapies that
      deserve further investigation by clinical trials.

PMID- 27622912
TI  - The Prepubertal Boy: Common Genital Anomalies.
AB  - The examination of the newborn is one of the most common yet crucial tasks
      performed by the pediatrician. The initial hospital visit (immediately after the
      birth), with the confirmation that an infant is healthy, often sets the tone for
      the future relationship between the physician and the family. Many routine visits
      during the first few years also find the parents looking for the same reassurance
      from their doctor. However, when there is concern for the health of the newborn,
      toddler, or young child, the physician must balance appropriate medical
      intervention with words of comfort and consolation. This article delineates the
      need for when more immediate attention is warranted from those situations where
      watchful waiting can be advised, with specific attention to the male genitalia of
      the prepubertal boy. [Pediatr Ann. 2016;45(9):e311-e313.]. 

PMID- 27622913
TI  - An 8-Year-Old Boy Presenting with Eruptive, Pruritic Rash and Cough.

PMID- 27622910
TI  - Translocator protein ligands based on N-methyl-(quinolin-4-yl)oxypropanamides
      with properties suitable for PET radioligand development.
AB  - Modifications to an N-methyl-(quinolin-4-yl)oxypropanamide scaffold were explored
      to discover leads for developing new radioligands for PET imaging of brain TSPO
      (translocator protein), a biomarker of neuroinflammation. Whereas contraction of
      the quinolinyl portion of the scaffold or cyclization of the tertiary amido group
      abolished high TSPO affinity, insertion of an extra nitrogen atom into the 2
      arylquinolinyl portion was effective in retaining sub-nanomolar affinity for rat
      TSPO, while also decreasing lipophilicity to within the moderate range deemed
      preferable for a PET radioligand. Replacement of a phenyl group on the amido
      nitrogen with an isopropyl group was similarly effective. Among others, compound
      20 (N-methyl-N-phenyl-2-[2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,8-naphthyridin-4-yloxy]propanamide)
      appears especially appealing for PET radioligand development, based on high
      selectivity and high affinity (Ki = 0.5 nM) for rat TSPO, moderate lipophilicity
      (logD = 2.48), and demonstrated amenability to labeling with carbon-11.

PMID- 27622915
TI  - The Many Faces of Diabetes.

PMID- 27622914
TI  - A 16-Year-Old Girl with Polyuria, Polydipsia, and a New-Onset Rash Around Her
      Elbows and Knees.

PMID- 27622916
TI  - Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes in Children: An Update.
AB  - Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes mellitus (CFRD) is the most common endocrine
      complication of cystic fibrosis (CF), affecting more than 50% of patients by the
      4th decade of life. CFRD is often preceded by worsening pulmonary status and
      nutritional decline. Treatment of CFRD is associated with improvements in body
      weight and pulmonary function and a reduction in pulmonary exacerbations. Because
      of the clinical significance of CFRD, diabetes screening with an oral glucose
      tolerance test (OGTT) is recommended annually for all patients with CF starting
      at age 10 years. The OGTT detects CFRD with greater sensitivity than random
      glucose or hemoglobin A1c testing. The first-line treatment for CFRD is insulin.
      The use of other treatments such as oral medications remains under study.
      [Pediatr Ann. 2016;45(9):e321-e326.]. 

PMID- 27622917
TI  - Diabetes Control and Adherence in Adolescence.
AB  - Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease that can lead to severe complications if
      poorly controlled. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to worsening diabetes
      control due to changes in physiology, family dynamics, and social interactions.
      Good diabetes control requires following a regimen of frequent blood glucose
      checks, accurate carbohydrate counts, and compliance with insulin administration.
      Patients who are challenged in controlling their diabetes do tend to respond to
      behavioral interventions; however, the effect of the intervention wanes over
      time. Using technology to provide interventions has shown promise in terms of
      improving compliance. Positive family support and adequate knowledge of the
      developmental stages is important to ensure a successful transition from
      childhood to adolescence. Providers should also incorporate a structured
      transition from adolescent to adult diabetes care. [Pediatr Ann. 2016;45(9):e327
      e331.]. 

PMID- 27622918
TI  - Endometriosis in Adolescence: Practical Rules for an Earlier Diagnosis.
AB  - Dysmenorrhea, cyclic pelvic pain, and acyclic pelvic pain are common in
      adolescent girls, and at least 10% of these girls are at risk for subsequent
      development of endometriosis. In this article we highlight practical tips for the
      management of dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain and how to diagnose
      endometriosis as early as possible and detect patients at risk for developing the
      disease in the future. We suggest five practical rules for managing adolescents
      with dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain: (1) Never underestimate the pain; (2)
      Always consider endometriosis as a possible cause of severe cyclic pain; (3)
      Obtain a detailed and accurate history before performing clinical evaluation and
      pelvic sonography; (4) Treat the pain with hormonal therapies (combined oral
      contraceptives or progestogen-only pill) and analgesics (acetaminophen and
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs); and (5) Plan frequent follow-up visits to
      re-evaluate the patient. [Pediatr Ann. 2016;45(9):e332-e335.]. 

PMID- 27622919
TI  - Friends' drinking norms and male adolescents' alcohol consumption: The moderating
      role of performance-based peer influence susceptibility.
AB  - This study examined whether the relationship between friends' drinking norms and
      male adolescents' alcohol use is moderated by performance-based peer influence
      susceptibility. Seventy-three male adolescents (M = 17 years) from three schools
      in the Netherlands were exposed to the drinking norms of "peers" (electronic
      confederates) in a chat room experiment. These peers were either popular or
      unpopular, and conveyed pro- or anti-alcohol norms. Peer influence susceptibility
      was defined as the change in adolescents' answers before and after exposure to
      the peer norms. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that the relationship
      between friends' drinking norms and adolescents' alcohol use (assessed during
      eight weekends) was moderated by susceptibility to the pro-alcohol norms of
      popular peers. This relationship was stronger for adolescents who were highly
      susceptible. These findings suggest that a behavioral measure of peer influence
      susceptibility could be useful in alcohol prevention programs to select
      adolescents at risk for negative peer socialization.

PMID- 27622920
TI  - Lactate dehydrogenase inhibitors can reverse inflammation induced changes in
      colon cancer cells.
AB  - The inflammatory microenvironment is an essential component of neoplastic lesions
      and can significantly impact on tumor progression. Besides facilitating invasive
      growth, inflammatory cytokines were also found to reprogram cancer cell
      metabolism and to induce aerobic glycolysis. Previous studies did not consider
      the possible contribution played in these changes by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).
      The A isoform of LDH (LDH-A) is the master regulator of aerobic glycolysis; it
      actively reduces pyruvate and causes enhanced lactate levels in tumor tissues. In
      cancer cells, lactate was recently found to directly increase migration ability;
      moreover, when released in the microenvironment, it can facilitate matrix
      remodeling. In this paper, we illustrate that treatment of human colon
      adenocarcinoma cells with TNF-alpha and IL-17, two pro-inflammatory cytokines,
      modifies LDH activity, causing a shift toward the A isoform which results in
      increased lactate production. At the same time, the two cytokines appeared to
      induce features of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the treated cells, such
      as reduction of E-cadherin levels and increased secretion of metalloproteinases.
      Noteworthy, oxamate and galloflavin, two inhibitors of LDH activity which reduce
      lactate production in cells, were found to relieve the inflammation-induced
      effects. These results suggest LDH-A and/or lactate as common elements at the
      cross-road between cancer cell metabolism, tumor progression and inflammation. At
      present, LDH inhibitors suitable for clinical use are actively searched as
      possible anti-proliferative agents; our data lead to hypothesize for these
      compounds a wider potential in anticancer treatment.

PMID- 27622921
TI  - Biological reference materials for extracellular vesicle studies.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate normal physiological homeostasis and
      pathological processes by facilitating intercellular communication. Research of
      EVs in basic science and clinical settings requires both methodological
      standardization and development of reference materials (RM). Here, we show
      insights and results of biological RM development for EV studies. We used a three
      step approach to find and develop a biological RM. First, a literature search was
      done to find candidates for biological RMs. Second, a questionnaire was sent to
      EV researchers querying the preferences for RM and their use. Third, a biological
      RM was selected, developed, characterized, and evaluated. The responses to the
      survey demonstrated a clear and recognized need for RM optimized for the
      calibration of EV measurements. Based on the literature, naturally occurring and
      produced biological RM, such as virus particles and liposomes, were proposed as
      RM. However, none of these candidate RMs have properties completely matching
      those of EVs, such as size and refractive index distribution. Therefore, we
      evaluated the use of nanoerythrosomes (NanoE), vesicles produced from
      erythrocytes, as a potential biological RM. The strength of NanoE is their
      resemblance to EVs. Compared to the erythrocyte-derived EVs (eryEVs), NanoE have
      similar morphology, a similar refractive index (1.37), larger diameter (70% of
      the NanoE are over 200nm), and increased positive staining for CD235a and lipids
      (Di-8-ANEPPS) (58% and 67% in NanoE vs. 21% and 45% in eryEVs, respectively).
      Altogether, our results highlight the general need to develop and validate new RM
      with similar physical and biochemical properties as EVs to standardize EV
      measurements between instruments and laboratories.

PMID- 27622922
TI  - Time and Frequency Domain Analysis of Gait Initiation in Younger and Older
      Adults.
AB  - The purpose of study was to demonstrate age-related changes during gait
      initiation (GI). Therefore, displacement, velocity, total power, mean and median
      frequency of COP trajectories were measured during phases of GI in
      anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions. The older group
      demonstrated the slower and lesser displacement in comparison with the younger
      group during anticipatory phase in AP direction and during locomotor phase in AP
      and ML directions. In addition, the median and mean frequency were greater in the
      older relative to the younger group during anticipatory phase in AP direction,
      while these were lesser in older than younger group during locomotor phase in AP
      and ML directions. Moreover, total power was greater among older than younger
      adults during the anticipatory phase in ML direction and during all phases in AP
      direction. This study suggests that COP-related parameters extracted from time
      and frequency domains have the ability to demonstrate age-related changes.

PMID- 27622923
TI  - Phonetic detail and lateralization of reading-related inner speech and of
      auditory and somatosensory feedback processing during overt reading.
AB  - Phonetic detail and lateralization of inner speech during covert sentence reading
      as well as overt reading in 32 right-handed healthy participants undergoing 3T
      fMRI were investigated. The number of voiceless and voiced consonants in the
      processed sentences was systematically varied. Participants listened to
      sentences, read them covertly, silently mouthed them while reading, and read them
      overtly. Condition comparisons allowed for the study of effects of externally
      versus self-generated auditory input and of somatosensory feedback related to or
      independent of voicing. In every condition, increased voicing modulated bilateral
      voice-selective regions in the superior temporal sulcus without any
      lateralization. The enhanced temporal modulation and/or higher spectral
      frequencies of sentences rich in voiceless consonants induced left-lateralized
      activation of phonological regions in the posterior temporal lobe, regardless of
      condition. These results provide evidence that inner speech during reading codes
      detail as fine as consonant voicing. Our findings suggest that the fronto
      temporal internal loops underlying inner speech target different temporal
      regions. These regions differ in their sensitivity to inner or overt acoustic
      speech features. More slowly varying acoustic parameters are represented more
      anteriorly and bilaterally in the temporal lobe while quickly changing acoustic
      features are processed in more posterior left temporal cortices. Furthermore,
      processing of external auditory feedback during overt sentence reading was
      sensitive to consonant voicing only in the left superior temporal cortex. Voicing
      did not modulate left-lateralized processing of somatosensory feedback during
      articulation or bilateral motor processing. This suggests voicing is primarily
      monitored in the auditory rather than in the somatosensory feedback channel. Hum
      Brain Mapp 38:493-508, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27622924
TI  - Quantitative Chemical Measurements of Vesicular Transmitters with Electrochemical
      Cytometry.
AB  - Electrochemical cytometry adds a new dimension to our ability to study the
      chemistry and chemical storage of transmitter molecules stored in nanometer
      vesicles. The approach involves the adsorption and subsequent rupture of vesicles
      on an electrode surface during which the electroactive contents are
      quantitatively oxidized (or reduced). The measured current allows us to count the
      number of molecules in the vesicles using Faraday's law and to correlate this to
      the amount of molecules released when single exocytosis events take place at
      communicating cells. The original format for this method involved a capillary
      electrophoresis separation step to singly address each vesicle, but we have more
      recently discovered that cellular vesicles tend to adsorb to carbon electrodes
      and spontaneously as well as stochastically rupture to give mostly single vesicle
      events. This approach, called impact electrochemical cytometry, even though the
      impact is perhaps not the important part of this process, has been studied and
      the vesicle rupture appears to be at the interface between the vesicle and the
      electrode and is probably driven by electroporation. The pore size and rate of
      content electrolysis are a function of the pore diameter and the presence of a
      protein core in the vesicles. In model liposomes with no protein, events appear
      extremely rapidly as the soft nanoparticles impact the electrode and the contents
      are oxidized. It appears that the proteins decorating the surface of the vesicle
      are important in maintaining a gap from the electrode and when this gap is closed
      electroporation takes place. Models of the event response times suggest the pores
      formed are small enough so we can carry out these measurements at nanotip
      electrodes and we have used this to quantify the vesicle content in living cells
      in a mode we call intracellular impact electrochemical cytometry. The development
      of electrochemical cytometry allows comparison between vesicle content and
      vesicular release and we have found that only part of the vesicle content is
      released in typical exocytotic cases measured by amperometry. This has led to the
      novel hypothesis that most exocytosis from dense core vesicles is via mechanism
      where vesicles fuse with the cell membrane, some content is released and then
      close again to be reloaded and reused. It leaves open the possibility that cells
      regulate release during individual events. This might be important in learning
      and memory and be a nonreceptor pharmaceutical target for brain-related
      disorders. Indeed, the concept of the chemo-brain observed in cisplatin-treated
      cancer patients appears to be at least in part the result of changing the
      fraction of transmitter released and we have been able to show this by using the
      combined amperometric measurement of release and electrochemical cytometry at
      model cells.

PMID- 27622925
TI  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seawater and sediments from the
      northern Liaodong Bay, China.
AB  - Levels, sources, and potential ecological risks of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface seawater and sediments from the northern Liaodong
      Bay of China were seasonally investigated. Total concentrations of 16 PAHs varied
      from 145.96ng/L to 896.58ng/L in seawater, and from 191.99ng/g to 624.44ng/g in
      sediments. PAH concentrations in seawater differed significantly, whereas those
      in sediments exhibited a relatively stable pattern across seasons. PAHs with low
      molecular weight were predominant in seawater, but PAHs with high molecular
      weight were abundant in sediments. Crop straw and coal combustion were the main
      PAH pollution sources. The current levels of PAHs in the northern Liaodong Bay
      are relatively moderate compared with those in other bays and estuaries. Sediment
      from all sampling sites is characterized by low to medium ecotoxicological risk.
      No highly negative toxic effect could occur on the organisms and ecosystems in
      the northern Liaodong Bay.

PMID- 27622926
TI  - Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected
      (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea).
AB  - This research aims to define for the first time levels and patterns of different
      litter groups (macro, meso and microplastics) in sediments from a marine area
      designed for the institution of a new marine protected area (Aeolian Archipelago,
      Italy). Microplastics resulted the principal group and found in all samples
      analyzed, with shape and colours variable between different sampling sites. MPs
      levels measured in this study are similar to values recorded in harbour sites and
      lower than reported in Adriatic Sea, while macroplastics levels are notably lower
      than in harbor sites. Sediment grain-size and island extent resulted not
      significant in determining levels and distribution of plastic debris among
      islands. In the future, following the establishment of the MPA in the study area,
      these basic data will be useful to check for potential protective effects on the
      levels and distribution of plastic debris.

PMID- 27622927
TI  - Use of baited remote underwater video (BRUV) and motion analysis for studying the
      impacts of underwater noise upon free ranging fish and implications for marine
      energy management.
AB  - Free-ranging individual fish were observed using a baited remote underwater video
      (BRUV) system during sound playback experiments. This paper reports on test
      trials exploring BRUV design parameters, image analysis and practical
      experimental designs. Three marine species were exposed to playback noise,
      provided as examples of behavioural responses to impulsive sound at 163-171dB re
      1MUPa (peak-to-peak SPL) and continuous sound of 142.7dB re 1MUPa (RMS, SPL),
      exhibiting directional changes and accelerations. The methods described here
      indicate the efficacy of BRUV to examine behaviour of free-ranging species to
      noise playback, rather than using confinement. Given the increasing concern about
      the effects of water-borne noise, for example its inclusion within the EU Marine
      Strategy Framework Directive, and the lack of empirical evidence in setting
      thresholds, this paper discusses the use of BRUV, and short term behavioural
      changes, in supporting population level marine noise management.

PMID- 27622928
TI  - Bioremediation of the Exxon Valdez oil in Prince William Sound beaches.
AB  - Oil from the Exxon Valdez laden with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) has
      persisted on some beaches in Prince William Sound, Alaska, >20years after these
      beaches became contaminated. The degradation rate of the total PAH (TPAH) is
      estimated at 1% per year. Low oxygen concentrations were found to be the major
      factor causing oil persistence, and bioremediation through the injection of
      hydrogen peroxide and nutrients deep into four beaches in PWS were conducted in
      the summers of 2011 and 2012. It was found that due to the treatment, the TPAH
      biodegradation rate was between 13% and 70% during summer 2011 and summer 2012.
      The results also showed high efficiency in the delivery of oxygen and nutrient to
      the contaminated areas of the beach. However, the approach has an environmental
      cost associated with it, and stakeholders would need to conduct a rigorous net
      environmental benefit analysis (NEBA) for pursuing the bioremediation of
      submerged contaminated sediments, especially in higher latitudes.

PMID- 27622929
TI  - Characteristics of two novel cold- and salt-tolerant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria
      from Liaohe Estuarine Wetland.
AB  - To achieve a better contaminant removal efficiency in a low-temperature and high
      salt environment, two novel strains of cold- and salt-tolerant ammonia-oxidizing
      bacteria (AOB), i.e., Ochrobactrum sp. (HXN-1) and Aquamicrobium sp. (HXN-2),
      were isolated from the surface sediment of Liaohe Estuarine Wetland (LEW), China.
      The optimization of initial ammonia nitrogen concentration, pH, carbon-nitrogen
      ratio, and petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) to improve the ammonia-oxidation
      capacity of the two bacterial strains was studied. Both bacterial strains showed
      a high ammonia nitrogen removal rate of over 80% under a high salinity of 100/00.
      Even at a temperature as low as 15 degrees C, HXN-1 and HXN-2 could achieve an
      ammonia nitrogen removal rate of 53% and 62%, respectively. The cold- and salt
      tolerant AOB in this study demonstrated a high potential for ammonia nitrogen
      removal from LEW.

PMID- 27622930
TI  - Disrupting GluA2 phosphorylation potentiates reinstatement of cocaine seeking.
AB  - Addiction is associated with changes in synaptic plasticity mediated, in part, by
      alterations in the trafficking and stabilization of AMPA receptors at synapses
      within the nucleus accumbens. Exposure to cocaine can lead to protein kinase C
      mediated phosphorylation of GluA2 AMPA subunits and this phosphorylation event
      leads to the internalization of GluA2-containing AMPARs, which are calcium
      impermeable. However, it is not clear whether this internalization is necessary
      for the expression of addictive phenotypes. Utilizing a mouse with a point
      mutation within the GluA2 subunit c-terminus, the current study demonstrates that
      disrupting PKC-mediated GluA2 phosphorylation potentiates reinstatement of both
      cue-induced cocaine seeking and cocaine conditioned reward without affecting
      operant learning, food self-administration or cocaine sensitization.
      Electrophysiological recordings revealed increased GluA2-mediated AMPA
      transmission as evidenced by increased sEPSC amplitude without any changes in
      sEPSC frequency or rectification. In support of this increase in GluA2 activity
      mediating the augmented cocaine reinstatement, we found that accumbal
      overexpression of GluA2 recapitulated this behavioral effect in wildtype mice
      while not altering reinstatement behavior in the GluA2 K882A knock-in mice. In
      addition, disrupting GluA2 phosphorylation was associated with blunted long-term
      depression in the nucleus accumbens, mimicking the anaplasticity seen following
      cocaine self-administration. Taken together these results indicate that
      disrupting GluA2 phosphorylation and increasing GluA2-mediated transmission in
      the nucleus accumbens leads to increased vulnerability to cocaine relapse.
      Further, these results indicate that modulating GluA2-containing AMPAR
      trafficking can contribute to addictive phenotypes in the absence of alterations
      in GluA2-lacking receptors. These results highlight the GluA2 phosphorylation
      site as a novel target for the development of cocaine addiction therapeutics.

PMID- 27622931
TI  - Biological risk factors for suicidal behaviors: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Prior studies have proposed a wide range of potential biological risk factors for
      future suicidal behaviors. Although strong evidence exists for biological
      correlates of suicidal behaviors, it remains unclear if these correlates are also
      risk factors for suicidal behaviors. We performed a meta-analysis to integrate
      the existing literature on biological risk factors for suicidal behaviors and to
      determine their statistical significance. We conducted a systematic search of
      PubMed, PsycInfo and Google Scholar for studies that used a biological factor to
      predict either suicide attempt or death by suicide. Inclusion criteria included
      studies with at least one longitudinal analysis using a biological factor to
      predict either of these outcomes in any population through 2015. From an initial
      screen of 2541 studies we identified 94 cases. Random effects models were used
      for both meta-analyses and meta-regression. The combined effect of biological
      factors produced statistically significant but relatively weak prediction of
      suicide attempts (weighted mean odds ratio (wOR)=1.41; CI: 1.09-1.81) and suicide
      death (wOR=1.28; CI: 1.13-1.45). After accounting for publication bias,
      prediction was nonsignificant for both suicide attempts and suicide death. Only
      two factors remained significant after accounting for publication bias-cytokines
      (wOR=2.87; CI: 1.40-5.93) and low levels of fish oil nutrients (wOR=1.09; CI:
      1.01-1.19). Our meta-analysis revealed that currently known biological factors
      are weak predictors of future suicidal behaviors. This conclusion should be
      interpreted within the context of the limitations of the existing literature,
      including long follow-up intervals and a lack of tests of interactions with other
      risk factors. Future studies addressing these limitations may more effectively
      test for potential biological risk factors.

PMID- 27622933
TI  - Analysis of 23andMe antidepressant efficacy survey data: implication of circadian
      rhythm and neuroplasticity in bupropion response.
AB  - Genetic predisposition may contribute to the differences in drug-specific, class
      specific or antidepressant-wide treatment resistance. Clinical studies with the
      genetic data are often limited in sample sizes. Drug response obtained from self
      reports may offer an alternative approach to conduct a study with much larger
      sample size. Using the phenotype data collected from 23andMe 'Antidepressant
      Efficacy and Side Effects' survey and genotype data from 23andMe's research
      participants, we conducted genome-wide association study (GWAS) on subjects of
      European ancestry using four groups of phenotypes (a) non-treatment-resistant
      depression (n=7795) vs treatment-resistant depression (TRD, n=1311), (b)
      selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) responders (n=6348) vs non
      responders (n=3340), (c) citalopram/escitalopram responders (n=2963) vs non
      responders (n=2005), and (d) norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI,
      bupropion) responders (n=2675) vs non-responders (n=1861). Each of these
      subgroups was also compared with controls (n ~ 190 000). The most significant
      association was from bupropion responders vs non-responders analysis. Variant
      rs1908557 (P=2.6 * 10(-8), OR=1.35) passed the conventional genome-wide
      significance threshold (P=5 * 10(-8)) and was located within the intron of human
      spliced expressed sequence tags in chromosome 4. Gene sets associated with long
      term depression, circadian rhythm and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
      pathway were enriched in the bupropion analysis. No single-nucleotide
      polymorphism passed genome-wide significance threshold in other analyses. The
      heritability estimates for each response group compared with controls were
      between 0.15 and 0.25, consistent with the known heritability for major
      depressive disorder.

PMID- 27622934
TI  - Consistently altered expression of gene sets in postmortem brains of individuals
      with major psychiatric disorders.
AB  - The measurement of gene expression in postmortem brain is an important tool for
      understanding the pathogenesis of serious psychiatric disorders. We hypothesized
      that major molecular deficits associated with psychiatric disease would affect
      the entire brain, and such deficits may be shared across disorders. We performed
      RNA sequencing and quantified gene expression in the hippocampus of 100 brains in
      the Stanley Array Collection followed by replication in the orbitofrontal cortex
      of 57 brains in the Stanley Neuropathology Consortium. We then identified genes
      and canonical pathway gene sets with significantly altered expression in
      schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the hippocampus and in schizophrenia,
      bipolar disorder and major depression in the orbitofrontal cortex. Although
      expression of individual genes varied, gene sets were significantly enriched in
      both of the brain regions, and many of these were consistent across diagnostic
      groups. Further examination of core gene sets with consistently increased or
      decreased expression in both of the brain regions and across target disorders
      revealed that ribosomal genes are overexpressed while genes involved in neuronal
      processes, GABAergic signaling, endocytosis and antigen processing have
      predominantly decreased expression in affected individuals compared to controls
      without a psychiatric disorder. Our results highlight pathways of central
      importance to psychiatric health and emphasize messenger RNA processing and
      protein synthesis as potential therapeutic targets for all three of the
      disorders.

PMID- 27622932
TI  - Glial contributions to visceral pain: implications for disease etiology and the
      female predominance of persistent pain.
AB  - In the central nervous system, bidirectional signaling between glial cells and
      neurons ('neuroimmune communication') facilitates the development of persistent
      pain. Spinal glia can contribute to heightened pain states by a prolonged release
      of neurokine signals that sensitize adjacent centrally projecting neurons.
      Although many persistent pain conditions are disproportionately common in
      females, whether specific neuroimmune mechanisms lead to this increased
      susceptibility remains unclear. This review summarizes the major known
      contributions of glia and neuroimmune interactions in pain, which has been
      determined principally in male rodents and in the context of somatic pain
      conditions. It is then postulated that studying neuroimmune interactions involved
      in pain attributed to visceral diseases common to females may offer a more
      suitable avenue for investigating unique mechanisms involved in female pain.
      Further, we discuss the potential for primed spinal glia and subsequent
      neurogenic inflammation as a contributing factor in the development of peripheral
      inflammation, therefore, representing a predisposing factor for females in
      developing a high percentage of such persistent pain conditions.

PMID- 27622937
TI  - Preparation and Self-Assembly Mechanism of Bovine Serum Albumin-Citrus Peel
      Pectin Conjugated Hydrogel: A Potential Delivery System for Vitamin C.
AB  - In this study, a novel hydrogel (BSA-pectin hydrogel, BPH) was prepared via a
      self-assembly method by using the natural polymers of bovine serum albumin (BSA)
      and citrus peel pectin (pectin). The rheological properties and gel
      conformational structures were determined and showed that electrostatic and
      covalent interactions between BSA and pectin were the main mechanisms for the
      formation of BPH. The morphological characteristics of BPH included a stable and
      solid three-dimensional network structure with a narrow size distribution
      (polydispersity index <0.06). BPH was used as a delivery system to load the
      functional agent vitamin C (Vc). The encapsulation efficiency (EE) and release
      properties of Vc from BPH were also investigated. The results revealed that the
      EE of Vc into BPH was approximately 65.31%, and the in vitro Vc release from BPH
      was governed by two distinct stages (i.e., burst release and sustained release)
      in different pH solutions, with release mechanisms involving diffusion, swelling,
      and erosion. Meanwhile, the stability results showed that BPH was a stable system
      with an enhanced Vc retention (73.95%) after 10 weeks of storage. Thus, this
      three-dimensional network system of BPH may be a potential delivery system to
      improve the stability and bioavailability of functional agents in both food and
      non-food fields.

PMID- 27622935
TI  - Evidence that COMT genotype and proline interact on negative-symptom outcomes in
      schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
AB  - Elevated peripheral proline is associated with psychiatric disorders, and there
      is evidence that proline is a neuromodulator. The proline dehydrogenase (PRODH)
      gene, which encodes the enzyme that catalyzes proline catabolism, maps to human
      chromosome 22q11.2, a region conferring risk of schizophrenia. In the Prodh-null
      mouse, an interaction between elevated peripheral proline and another 22q11.2
      gene, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), on neurotransmission and behavior has
      been reported. We explored the relationship between fasting plasma proline levels
      and COMT Val(158)Met genotype on symptoms (positive, negative and total) in
      schizophrenia patients. In an exploratory study we also examined symptom change
      in patients with bipolar disorder. There was a significant interaction between
      peripheral proline and COMT on negative symptoms in schizophrenia (P<0.0001,
      n=95). In COMT Val/Val patients, high proline was associated with low Scale for
      the Assessment of Negative Symptom (SANS) scores. In contrast, high proline was
      associated with high SANS scores in patients carrying a Met allele. The
      relationship between proline and COMT also appears to modify negative symptoms
      across psychiatric illness. In bipolar disorder, a significant interaction was
      also observed on negative-symptom change (P=0.007, n=43). Negative symptoms are
      intractable and largely unaddressed by current medications. These data indicate a
      significant interaction between peripheral proline and COMT genotype, influencing
      negative symptoms in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. That high proline has
      converse effects on symptoms by COMT genotype, may have implications for
      therapeutic decisions.

PMID- 27622936
TI  - The antidepressant roles of Wnt2 and Wnt3 in stress-induced depression-like
      behaviors.
AB  - Wnts-related signaling pathways have been reported to play roles in the
      pathogenesis of stress-induced depression-like behaviors. However, there is
      relatively few direct evidence to indicate the effect of Wnt ligands on this
      process. Here, we investigated the role of Wnts in mediating chronic restraint
      stress (CRS)-induced depression-like behaviors. We found that CRS induced a
      significant decrease in the expression of Wnt2 and Wnt3 in the ventral
      hippocampus (VH) but not in the dorsal hippocampus. Knocking down Wnt2 or Wnt3 in
      the VH led to impaired Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, neurogenesis deficits and
      depression-like behaviors. In contrast, overexpression of Wnt2 or Wnt3 reversed
      CRS-induced depression-like behaviors. Moreover, Wnt2 and Wnt3 activated cAMP
      response element-binding protein (CREB) and there was CREB-dependent positive
      feedback between Wnt2 and Wnt3. Finally, fluoxetine treatment increased Wnt2 and
      Wnt3 levels in the VH and knocking down Wnt2 or Wnt3 abolished the antidepressant
      effect of fluoxetine. Taken together, our study indicates essential roles for
      Wnt2 and Wnt3 in CRS-induced depression-like behaviors and antidepressant.

PMID- 27622938
TI  - Breastfeeding and IL-10 levels in children affected by cow's milk protein
      allergy: A restrospective study.
AB  - AIM: To assess the protective role of breast-feeding in infants with CMPA-related
      AEDS as well as IL-10 utility as marker of disease evolution. METHODS: 64 breast
      feeding children with CMPA-related AEDS (31 males and 33 females; mean age 5.56+/
      2.41months; 21 mild AEDS; 25 moderate AEDS; 18 severe AEDS) and 60 artificial
      feeding babies (33 males and 27 females; mean age 6.01+/-2.08months; 26 mild
      AEDS; 19 moderate AEDS; 15 severe AEDS) were evaluated. In all patients serum IL
      10 levels were detected. RESULTS: Significant Score Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD)
      index point differences between breastfed and not breastfed children (p<0.001)
      have been detected. The serum IL-10 levels were lower in children with CMPA
      related AEDS as compared to the healthy control group (p<0.001). Moreover, a
      significant inverse correlation between serum IL-10 levels and SCORAD in both
      enrolled groups has been also noted. In particular, IL-10 levels, in both groups,
      were significantly lower in children with severe symptoms. Conversely, serum IL
      10 levels were significantly increased in children with mild-severe symptoms in
      both groups. Furthermore, breastfed children, with lower severe symptoms, had
      higher serum IL-10 levels. Finally, serum total IgE levels were negatively
      correlated with serum IL-10 levels in both breastfed and non-breastfed children
      with CMPA-related AEDS (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We reported that exclusive breast
      feeding induces hyposensitization in children with CMPA-related AEDS and it is
      associated with minor disease severity and higher serum IL-10 levels, resulting
      as useful disease-monitor marker.

PMID- 27622940
TI  - Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Bismuth Telluride Exfoliation Mechanisms in
      Different Ionic Liquid Solvents.
AB  - Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) is a well-known thermoelectric material with potential
      applications in several different emerging technologies. The bulk structure is
      composed of stacks of quintuple sheets (with weak interactions between
      neighboring sheets), and the performance of the material can be significantly
      enhanced if exfoliated into two-dimensional nanosheets. In this study, eight
      different imidazolium-based ionic liquids are evaluated as solvents for the
      exfoliation and dispersion of Bi2Te3 at temperatures ranging from 350 to 550 K.
      Three distinct exfoliation mechanisms are evaluated (pulling, shearing, and
      peeling) using steered molecular dynamics simulations, and we predict that the
      peeling mechanism is thermodynamically the most favorable route. Furthermore, the
      [Tf2N-]-based ionic liquids are particularly effective at enhancing the
      exfoliation, and this performance can be correlated to the unique molecular-level
      solvation structures developed at the Bi2Te3 surfaces. This information helps
      provide insight into the molecular origins of exfoliation and solvation involving
      Bi2Te3 (and possibly other layered chalcogenide materials) and ionic liquid
      solvents.

PMID- 27622939
TI  - Altered B cell homeostasis and Toll-like receptor 9-driven response in patients
      affected by autoimmune polyglandular syndrome Type 1: Altered B cell phenotype
      and dysregulation of the B cell function in APECED patients.
AB  - APECED is a T-cell mediated disease with increased frequencies of CD8+ effector
      and reduction of FoxP3+ T regulatory cells. Antibodies against affected organs
      and neutralizing to cytokines are found in the peripheral blood. The contribution
      of B cells to multiorgan autoimmunity in Aire-/- mice was reported opening
      perspectives on the utility of anti-B cell therapy. We aimed to analyse the B
      cell phenotype of APECED patients compared to age-matched controls. FACS analysis
      was conducted on PBMC in basal conditions and following CpG stimulation. Total B
      and switched memory (SM) B cells were reduced while IgM memory were increased in
      patients. In those having more than 15 years from the first clinical
      manifestation the defect included also mature and transitional B cells; total
      memory B cells were increased, while SM were unaffected. In patients with shorter
      disease duration, total B cells were unaltered while SM and IgM memory behaved as
      in the total group. A defective B cell proliferation was detected after 4day
      stimulation. In conclusion APECED patients show, in addition to a significant
      alteration of the B cell phenotype, a dysregulation of the B cell function
      involving peripheral innate immune mechanisms particularly those with longer
      disease duration.

PMID- 27622941
TI  - A microfluidic device for antimicrobial susceptibility testing based on a broth
      dilution method.
AB  - Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial compounds is increasing at a faster rate
      than the development of new antibiotics; this represents a critical challenge for
      clinicians worldwide. Normally, the minimum inhibitory concentration of an
      antibiotic, the dosage at which bacterial growth is thwarted, provides an
      effective quantitative measure for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and
      determination of minimum inhibitory concentration is conventionally performed by
      either a serial broth dilution method or with the commercially available Etest(r)
      (Biomerieux, France) kit. However, these techniques are relatively labor
      intensive and require a significant amount of training. In order to reduce human
      error and increase operation simplicity, a simple microfluidic device that can
      perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing automatically via a broth dilution
      method to accurately determine the minimum inhibitory concentration was developed
      herein. As a proof of concept, wild-type (ATCC 29212) and vancomycin-resistant
      Enterococcus cells were incubated at five different vancomycin concentrations on
      chip, and the sample injection, transport, and mixing processes occurred within
      five reaction chambers and three reagent chambers via the chip's automatic
      dispensation and dilution functions within nine minutes. The minimum inhibitory
      concentration values measured after 24h of antibiotic incubation were similar to
      those calculated using Etest(r). With its high flexibility, reliability, and
      portability, the developed microfluidic device provides a simple method for
      antimicrobial susceptibility testing in an automated format that could be
      implemented for clinical and point-of-care applications.

PMID- 27622942
TI  - Defining the Chemistry of Infectious Diseases.

PMID- 27622944
TI  - Nanomaterials for the Treatment of Bacterial Biofilms.
AB  - Treatment of biofilm-associated infections is challenging, requiring the
      development of new therapeutic strategies. In this viewpoint, we discuss the use
      of nanoparticle-based systems as active therapeutic agents and as vehicles to
      transport drugs to the site of infection. These applications require
      understanding of the surface interactions of nanoparticles with
      bacteria/biofilms, an aspect that we likewise summarize.

PMID- 27622945
TI  - Computer-Aided Drug Discovery Approaches against the Tropical Infectious Diseases
      Malaria, Tuberculosis, Trypanosomiasis, and Leishmaniasis.
AB  - Despite the tremendous improvement in overall global health heralded by the
      adoption of the Millennium Declaration in the year 2000, tropical infections
      remain a major health problem in the developing world. Recent estimates indicate
      that the major tropical infectious diseases, namely, malaria, tuberculosis,
      trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis, account for more than 2.2 million deaths and
      a loss of approximately 85 million disability-adjusted life years annually. The
      crucial role of chemotherapy in curtailing the deleterious health and economic
      impacts of these infections has invigorated the search for new drugs against
      tropical infectious diseases. The research efforts have involved increased
      application of computational technologies in mainstream drug discovery programs
      at the hit identification, hit-to-lead, and lead optimization stages. This review
      highlights various computer-aided drug discovery approaches that have been
      utilized in efforts to identify novel antimalarial, antitubercular,
      antitrypanosomal, and antileishmanial agents. The focus is largely on
      developments over the past 5 years (2010-2014).

PMID- 27622946
TI  - Bacterial Transcription Inhibitor of RNA Polymerase Holoenzyme Formation by
      Structure-Based Drug Design: From in Silico Screening to Validation.
AB  - Bacterial transcription is a proven target for antibacterial research. However,
      most of the known inhibitors targeting transcription are from natural extracts or
      are hits from screens where the binding site remains unidentified. Using an RNA
      polymerase holoenzyme homology structure from the model Gram-positive organism
      Bacillus subtilis, we created a pharmacophore model and used it for in silico
      screening of a publicly available library for compounds able to inhibit
      holoenzyme formation. The hits demonstrated specific affinity to bacterial RNA
      polymerase and excellent activity using in vitro assays and showed no binding to
      the equivalent structure from human RNA polymerase II. The target specificity in
      live cells and antibacterial activity was demonstrated in microscopy and growth
      inhibition experiments. This is the first example of targeted inhibitor
      development for a bacterial RNA polymerase, outlining a complete discovery
      process from virtual screening to biochemical validation. This approach could
      serve as an appropriate platform for the future identification of inhibitors of
      bacterial transcription.

PMID- 27622948
TI  - A Secreted Ankyrin-Repeat Protein from Clinical Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
      Isolates Disrupts Actin Cytoskeletal Structure.
AB  - Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging, multidrug-resistant pathogen of
      increasing importance for the immunocompromised, including cystic fibrosis
      patients. Despite its significance as an emerging pathogen, relatively little is
      known regarding the specific factors and mechanisms that contribute to its
      pathogenicity. We identify and characterize a putative ankyrin-repeat protein
      (Smlt3054) unique to clinical S. maltophilia isolates that binds F-actin in vitro
      and co-localizes with actin in transfected HEK293a cells. Smlt3054 is
      endogenously expressed and secreted from clinical S. maltophilia isolates, but
      not an environmental isolate (R551-3). The in vitro binding of Smlt3054 to F
      actin resulted in a thickening of the filaments as observed by TEM. Ectopic
      expression of Smlt3054-GFP exhibits strong co-localization with F-actin, with
      distinct, retrograde F-actin waves specifically associated with Smlt3054 in
      individual cells as well as formation of dense, internal inclusions at the
      expense of retrograde F-actin waves. Collectively, our results point to an
      interaction between Smlt3054 and F-actin. Furthermore, as a potentially secreted
      protein unique to clinical S. maltophilia isolates, Smlt3054 may serve as a
      starting point for understanding the mechanisms by which S. maltophilia has
      become an emergent pathogen.

PMID- 27622947
TI  - Reduction of Influenza Virus Envelope's Fusogenicity by Viral Fusion Inhibitors.
AB  - During cell entry of an enveloped virus, the viral membrane must be fused with
      the cellular membrane. The virus envelope has a unique structure consisting of
      viral proteins and a virus-specific lipid composition, whereas the host membrane
      has its own structure with host membrane proteins. Compound 136 was previously
      found to bind in close proximity to the viral envelope and inhibit influenza
      virus entry. We showed here that the 136-treated influenza virus still caused
      hemolysis. When liposomes were used as the target membrane for 136-treated
      viruses, aberrant fusion occurred; few liposomes fused per virion, and
      glycoproteins were not distributed evenly across fusion complexes. Additionally,
      large fusion aggregates did not form, and in some instances, neck-like structures
      were found. Based on previous results and hemolysis, fusion inhibition by 136
      occurs post-scission but prior to lipid mixing.

PMID- 27622949
TI  - Central Role of the Copper-Binding Motif in the Complex Mechanism of Action of
      Ixosin: Enhancing Oxidative Damage and Promoting Synergy with Ixosin B.
AB  - Ticks transmit multiple pathogens to different hosts without compromising their
      health. Their ability to evade microbial infections is largely a result of their
      effective innate immune response including various antimicrobial peptides.
      Therefore, a deep understanding of how ticks (and other arthropod vectors)
      control microbial loads could lead to the design of broad-spectrum antimicrobial
      agents. In this paper we study the role of the amino-terminal copper and nickel
      (ATCUN)-binding sequence in the peptide ixosin, isolated from the salivary glands
      of the hard tick Ixodes sinensis. Our results indicate that the ATCUN motif is
      not essential to the potency of ixosin, but is indispensable to its oxidative
      mechanism of action. Specifically, the ATCUN motif promotes dioxygen- and copper
      dependent lipid (per)oxidation of bacterial membranes in a temporal fashion
      coinciding with the onset of bacterial death. Microscopy and studies on model
      membranes indicate that the oxidized phospholipids are utilized as potential
      targets of ixosin B (another tick salivary gland peptide) involving its
      delocalization to the bacterial membrane, thus resulting in a synergistic effect.
      Our proposed mechanism of action highlights the centrality of the ATCUN motif to
      ixosin's mechanism of action and demonstrates a novel way in which (tick)
      antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) utilize metal ions in its activity. This study
      suggests that ticks employ a variety of effectors to generate an amplified immune
      response, possibly justifying its vector competence.

PMID- 27622950
TI  - Microemulsion systems containing bioactive natural oils: an overview on the state
      of the art.
AB  - Natural oils are extremely complex mixtures containing compounds of different
      chemical nature. Some of them have physiological or therapeutic activities that
      may act either alone or in synergy. Therefore, they are used in the
      pharmaceutical, agronomic, food, sanitary and cosmetic industries. Today, the
      interest in bioactive natural oils is growing due to their immense potential to
      prevent and treat numerous human diseases. Formulation in microemulsions (MEs)
      containing natural oils appeared suitable to improve pharmaceutical and
      biopharmaceutical properties of bioactive compound derivatives from these oils.
      Microemulsion systems are thermodynamically stable, transparent, and are
      isotropic dispersions consisting of oil and water stabilized by an interfacial
      film of surfactants, typically in combination with a cosurfactant. They can
      protect labile compounds from premature degradation, control release, increase
      solubility and hence enhance the bioavailability of poorly bioavailable
      compounds. The aim of this work was to review the various advantages of bioactive
      compounds presented in natural oil loaded ME systems to be used as delivery
      systems. First, the state of the art of the parameters involved in the ME
      formation, including the basic concepts of the physicochemical formulation of the
      ME systems, and the main aspects of production and the energy responsible for
      their formation were reported. The second section describes the use of ME systems
      and reviews the recent applications of natural oil-loaded in the ME systems as
      the bioactive compound in the formulation.

PMID- 27622951
TI  - AlFe2-xCoxB2 (x = 0-0.30): TC Tuning through Co Substitution for a Promising
      Magnetocaloric Material Realized by Spark Plasma Sintering.
AB  - AlFe2B2 and AlFe2-xCoxB2 (x = 0-0.30) were synthesized from the elements in three
      different ways. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction,
      Rietveld refinements, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and magnetic
      measurements. Using Al flux the formation of AlFe2B2 single crystals is
      preferred. Arc melting enables the substitution of ~6% Co. This substitution of
      Fe by Co decreases the Curie temperature TC from 290 to 240 K. The highest Co
      substitution up to 15% is achieved by spark plasma sintering (SPS). TC is reduced
      to 205 K. In all cases an excess of Al is necessary to avoid the formation of
      ferromagnetic FeB. Al13Fe4-xCox is the common byproduct. TC and the cobalt
      content are linearly correlated. The transition paramagnetic-ferromagnetic
      remains sharp for all examples. The magnetic entropy change of the Co-containing
      samples is comparable to AlFe2B2. SPS synthesis yields, in short reaction times,
      a homogeneous and dense material with small amounts of paramagnetic Al13Fe4-xCox
      as an impurity, which can serve as sinter additive. These properties make AlFe2
      xCoxB2 a promising magnetocaloric material for applications between room
      temperature and 200 K.

PMID- 27622952
TI  - Methods in Micronutrient Metabolism.

PMID- 27622954
TI  - Inflammation and a Solution: Probiotics.
AB  - No Abstract Available.

PMID- 27622955
TI  - Inflammation and the Heart: A Commentary.
AB  - No Abstract Available.

PMID- 27622953
TI  - Adoption of pediatric-inspired acute lymphoblastic leukemia regimens by adult
      oncologists treating adolescents and young adults: A population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated superior outcomes for adolescent and young
      adult (AYA) patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are treated
      using pediatric versus adult therapeutic regimens. To the best of our knowledge,
      whether adult oncologists in the United States have adopted this approach to ALL
      in AYA patients is currently unknown. The objective of the current study was to
      provide a population-based description of ALL treatment patterns in AYA
      individuals over the past decade. METHODS: Data regarding AYA patients aged 15 to
      39 years and diagnosed with ALL between 2004 and 2014 while living in the Greater
      Bay Area were obtained from the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry (GBACR).
      Treating facilities were designated as pediatric or adult centers; induction
      treatment regimens were abstracted from registry text data fields. RESULTS: Of
      304 patients diagnosed in the GBACR catchment region, complete treatment data
      were available for 229 (75%). The location of care was identified for 296
      patients (97%) treated at 31 unique centers. Approximately 70% of AYA patients
      received induction therapy at an adult treatment center. All AYA patients who
      were treated at pediatric centers received pediatric ALL regimens. Among AYA
      patients treated by adult oncologists with complete treatment data, none received
      a pediatric regimen before 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, while the US Adult
      Intergroup C10403 pediatric-inspired ALL protocol was open to accrual, 31% of AYA
      patients treated by adult oncologists received pediatric regimens. This rate fell
      to 21% from 2013 through 2014. Adult facilities treating >= 2 AYA patients with
      ALL per year captured in the GBACR were more likely to administer pediatric
      regimens than lower volume centers (P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: As of 2014, only a
      minority of AYA patients with ALL received pediatric ALL regimens at adult cancer
      centers. Cancer 2017;122-130. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27622956
TI  - The Effects of Iontophoretic Injections of Salvia miltiorrhiza on the Maturation
      of the Arteriovenous Fistula: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.
AB  - Context * For patients undergoing hemodialysis, the native arteriovenous fistula
      (AVF) is the primary approach to vascular access (VA). VA failure is the main
      cause of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients. It has been reported
      in recent studies that the primary failure rate can be as high as 50%. Objective
      * The study investigated the effects of iontophoretic administration of Salvia
      miltiorrhiza (SM) on the maturation of the AVF. Design * The study was a
      randomized, controlled trial. Setting * The study occurred in Guangdong
      Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Guangzhou, China).
      Participants * Participants were 40 patients with chronic kidney disease at stage
      4 or 5. Intervention * Participants were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups (n
      = 20 each) after they had received an AVF operation. Patients in the control
      group were given routine care, and patients in the intervention group were given
      routine nursing in combination with an iontophoretic SM injection on a targeted
      area of the fistula after surgery. Outcome Measures * The blood flow of the AVF,
      the diameter of the artery vein shunt, and the thickness of the AVF from the
      vascular wall to the skin were observed. Results * The maturation rates of the
      AVFs after 1 mo were 50% and 85% in the control group and the intervention group,
      respectively. A significant difference existed between the 2 groups (P < .05).
      The results of the surgery were significantly different for the control and
      intervention groups, with the blood flows of the AVF being 1182.05 +/- 547.10
      mL/min and 705.55 +/- 278.63 mL/min (P < .05), respectively, and the diameters of
      the artery vein shunts being 4.51 +/- 1.47 mm and 3.54 +/- 0.67 mm (P < .05),
      respectively, after treatment. Conclusions * Iontophoretically mediated,
      transdermal delivery of an SM injection to a targeted area of the AVF can
      significantly shorten the time to maturity of the fistulae. 

PMID- 27622957
TI  - Laser Therapy and Occlusal Stabilization Splint for Temporomandibular Disorders
      in Patients With Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Randomized, Clinical Trial.
AB  - Context * Patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) report frequent and severe
      symptoms from temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The appropriate treatment of
      TMDs remains controversial. No studies have occurred on the efficacy of therapy
      with a laser or an occlusal stabilization splint in the treatment of TMDs in
      patients with FMS. Objective * The study intended to investigate the therapeutic
      effects of laser therapy and of an occlusal stabilization splint for reducing
      pain and dysfunction and improving the quality of sleep in patients with TMDs and
      FMS. Design * The research team designed a single-blinded, randomized clinical
      trial. Setting * The study took place in the research laboratory at the
      University of Granada (Granada, Spain). Participants * Participants were 58 women
      and men who had been diagnosed with FMS and TMDs and who were referred from the
      clinical setting. Intervention * Participants were randomly assigned to the
      occlusal-splint or the laser group. The laser group received a treatment protocol
      in which laser therapy was applied to the participant's tender points, and the
      occlusal-splint group underwent a treatment protocol in which an occlusal
      stabilization splint was used. Both groups underwent treatment for 12 wk.
      Outcomes Measures * Pain intensity, widespread pain, quality of sleep, severity
      of symptoms, active and passive mouth opening, and joint sounds were assessed in
      both groups at baseline and after the last intervention. The measurements used
      were (1) a visual analogue scale (VAS), (2) the Widespread Pain Index (WPI), (3)
      the Symptom Severity Scale (SSS), (4) the Patient's Global Impression of Change
      (PGIC), (5) the Pittsburgh Quality of Sleep Questionnaire Index (PSQI), (6) an
      assessment of the number of tender points, (7) a measurement of the active mouth
      opening, (8) a measurement of the vertical overlap of the incisors, and (9) the
      measurement of joint sounds during mouth opening and closing. Results * The group
      X time interaction for the 2 * 2 mixed analysis of variance found no
      statistically significant differences between the 2 treatment groups: (1) VAS, P
      = .591; (2) WPI, P = .112; (3) SSS, P = .227; (4) PGIC, P = .329; (5) number of
      tender points, P = .107; (6) right and left clicking sounds in the jaw joint
      during palpation at mouth opening, P = .723 and P = .121, respectively; and (7)
      right and left clicking sounds in the jaw joint during palpation at mouth
      closing, P = .743 and P = .698, respectively. Compared with baseline, the laser
      treatment showed significant improvements on several outcomes, including the VAS,
      P < .001; WPI, P = .003; and SSS, P = .001. Overall, the study found an average
      improvement in symptoms from baseline of 21% , P < .001, based on the PGIC.
      Conclusions * Laser therapy or an occlusal stabilization splint can be an
      alternative therapeutic treatment for reducing pain symptoms and the clicking
      sound for TMDs in patients with FMS. 

PMID- 27622958
TI  - Nutrient-dense, Plant-rich Dietary Intervention Effective at Reducing
      Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors for Worksites: A Pilot Study.
AB  - conduct interventions for health promotion and disease prevention to ameliorate
      chronic risk factors for disease, such as for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
      Likewise, nutrient-dense, plant-rich (NDPR) dietary patterns have been shown to
      be effective at preventing and improving chronic-disease conditions, including
      CVD. Objective * The study's aim was to determine the feasibility and
      effectiveness of an NDPR dietary intervention for worksites to lower CVD risk
      factors. Design * The study was a 6-wk pilot intervention using a pretest and
      posttest design. SETTING: The intervention was conducted at the Northern Arizona
      University (Flagstaff, AZ, USA) and sponsored by its Employee Assistance and
      Wellness Department. Participants * Participants were 35 employees with body mass
      indexes (BMIs) >25 kg/m2 who were ready and willing to make a lifestyle change,
      who were not currently participating in a weight loss program, and who were not
      taking any medications that could increase medical risk or had weight loss as a
      primary side effect. The average age of participants was 42.57 y; 91.4% were
      female, and 80% were Caucasian. Intervention * The intervention used a dietary
      protocol consisting of the daily consumption of greens, beans, legumes, and a
      variety of other vegetables, as well as fresh or frozen whole fruits, nuts,
      seeds, and whole grains. Participants were encouraged to minimize the consumption
      of refined grains, vegetable oils, processed foods, and animal products. Outcome
      Measures * The study measured serum lipids, height, weight, waist and hip
      circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and blood pressure. Results * Based on paired
      sample t tests and Wilcoxon signed-ranks test with a maximum level of P = .05,
      the intervention resulted in significant changes in weight, BMI, waist and hip
      measurements, high-density lipoproteins, low-density lipoproteins, and estimated
      average glucose. Conclusions * The findings favorably revealed that an NDPR
      dietary intervention that was developed for worksites was an effective approach
      for reducing CVD risk factors.

PMID- 27622959
TI  - Pilates Exercise for Hypertensive Patients: A Review of the Literature.
AB  - Systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) has a prevalence of approximately 1 billion
      cases worldwide. The main goals for its treatment involve changes in a patient's
      lifestyle, with a strategy of management that aims to increase his or her level
      of physical activity, with a recommendation for aerobic and resistance exercise.
      Some evidence has suggested that training with isometric exercises can produce
      effects similar to aerobic exercise on blood pressure reduction. Conventional
      exercises that are currently used in rehabilitation of hypertensive patients show
      low adherence, with a lack of motivation on the part of those patients. In that
      context, the Pilates method, which uses isometric exercises, has been gaining in
      popularity and worldwide acceptance, and it has the potential to be an effective
      method. The current literature review shows the possible benefits of the Pilates
      method for rehabilitation of hypertensive patients. However, even though the
      method is a promising modality, the authors have found that future research
      appears to be necessary to evaluate the benefits of Pilates for hypertensive
      patients. 

PMID- 27622960
TI  - Oxidative Stress and Low Glutathione in Common Ear, Nose, and Throat Conditions:
      A Systematic Review.
AB  - Context * Oxidative stress and tissue-damaging, oxygen (O2)-related, free-radical
      formation is inherent in human metabolism, and the tissues of the ear, nose, and
      throat (ENT) have an increased exposure to injury from those substances. Because
      glutathione (GSH) is a major component in an antioxidant defense against
      oxidative damage in ENT tissues, a review of the impact of lowered GSH and
      oxidative stress in conditions associated with the upper respiratory tract is
      warranted. Objective * The review intended to summarize the role that oxidative
      stress and GSH play. Design * The research team performed a literature review
      from 1980 to the present that was based on the following keywords: oxidative
      stress, oxidation, antioxidant, and GSH in common ENT conditions. The review
      found the following conditions: (1) rhinitis, (2) allergic rhinitis, (3) chronic
      rhinosinusitis (CRS), (4) CRS with polyps, (5) otitis media with effusion, (6)
      chronic otitis media (COM), (7) COM and cholesteatoma, (8) tympanic membrane
      sclerosis, (9) tonsillitis, (10) Meniere's disease, (11) laryngeal conditions,
      and (12) chronic cough. Results * ENT conditions have been found to be associated
      with oxidative stress and with low GSH. A limited number of the reviewed studies
      discussed antioxidant use or repletion of GSH. Although only a few reports
      support the use of GSH or antioxidants as adjuncts in the management of ENT
      conditions, no reports of side effects were found related to their use.
      Conclusions * Many ENT conditions are associated with oxidative stress and
      decreased GSH, both locally in the affected tissues and systemically. The
      oxidative stress of those conditions may be related to depletion of GSH, which is
      increased by the higher levels of O2 in the upper respiratory tract. A small
      number of studies have reported clinical benefits from the use of an antioxidant
      or GSH support. The findings of benefits and the lack of reports of side effects
      suggest that the clinical use of antioxidants and support with GSH in ENT
      conditions may be considered as adjuncts to conventional management and that more
      research is warranted. 

PMID- 27622961
TI  - Yoga Practice Improves Physiological and Biochemical Status at High Altitudes: A
      Prospective Case-control Study.
AB  - Context * High altitude (HA) is a psychophysiological stressor for natives of
      lower altitudes. Reducing the morbidity and optimizing the performance of
      individuals deployed in an HA region has been attempted and reported with varied
      results. Objective * The present study intended to explore the effects of
      comprehensive yogic practices on the health and performance of Indian soldiers
      deployed at HAs. Design * The research team designed a prospective, randomized,
      case-control study. SETTING: The study was done at Karu, Leh, India, at an
      altitude of 3445 m. Participants * Fully acclimatized soldiers in the Indian army
      were randomly selected from those posted to HA regions (ie, altitudes >3000 m).
      Intervention * The soldiers were divided into 2 groups of equal size. The first
      group, the control group, carried out the routine activities for physical
      training in the Indian army. The second group, the intervention group practiced a
      comprehensive yoga package, including physical asanas, pranayama, and meditation,
      and did not perform the physical training that the first group did. Both groups
      were monitored during their activities. Outcome Measures * A wide and
      comprehensive range of anthropometrical, physiological, biochemical, and
      psychological parameters were measured: (1) height and weight; (2) body fat
      percentage (BFP); (3) heart rate (HR); (4) respiratory rate (RR); (5) systolic
      and diastolic blood pressure (DPB); (6) peripheral saturation of oxygen; (7) end
      tidal CO2 (EtCO2); (8) chest expansion; (9) pulmonary function; (10) physical
      work capacity (VO2Max); (11) hematological variables; (12) lipid profile; (13)
      serum urea; (14) creatinine; (15) liver enzymes; (16) blood glucose; and (17)
      anxiety scores. Measurements were made at baseline and postintervention. Results
      * Two-hundred soldiers took part in the study. The yoga group showed a
      significant improvement in health indices and performance as compared with the
      control group. They had lower weights, BFPs, RRs, DBPs, and anxiety scores. They
      also had a significantly higher EtCO2, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory
      volume in the first second (FEV1), and VO2Max. Also, the yoga group showed a
      significant reduction in serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein,
      triglycerides, and blood urea as compared with their preyoga levels and with the
      exercise group. Conclusions * Practice of yoga facilitates improvements in health
      and performance at HAs and is superior to routine training with physical
      exercises. Comprehensive yogic practices are an effective modality for improving
      health and performance at HAs.

PMID- 27622963
TI  - In Vivo Targeting and Imaging of Atherosclerosis Using Multifunctional Virus-Like
      Particles of Simian Virus 40.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of death globally. Targeted imaging and
      therapeutics are desirable for the detection and treatment of the disease. In
      this study, we developed trifunctional Simian virus 40 (SV40)-based nanoparticles
      for in vivo targeting and imaging of atherosclerotic plaques. These novel
      trifunctional SV40-based nanoparticles encapsulate near-infrared quantum dots and
      bear a targeting element and a drug component. Using trifunctional SV40-based
      nanoparticles, we were able to noninvasively fluorescently image atherosclerotic
      plaques in live intact ApoE(-/-) mice. Near-infrared quantum dots encapsulated in
      the SV40 virus-like particles showed prominent optical properties for in vivo
      imaging. When different targeting peptides for vascular cell adhesion molecule-1,
      macrophages, and fibrin were used, early, developmental, and late stages of
      atherosclerosis could be targeted and imaged in live intact ApoE(-/-) mice,
      respectively. Targeted SV40 virus-like particles also delivered an increased
      concentration of the anticoagulant drug Hirulog to atherosclerosis plaques. Our
      study provides novel SV40-based nanoparticles with multivalency and
      multifunctionality suitable for in vivo imaging, molecular targeting, and drug
      delivery in atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27622964
TI  - Copper(I)-Catalyzed Ketone, Amine, and Alkyne Coupling for the Synthesis of 2
      Alkynylpyrrolidines and -piperidines.
AB  - A Cu(I)-catalyzed coupling of a omega-chloro ketone, a primary amine, and an
      alkyne is described. This protocol allows for the synthesis of alpha-quaternary
      carbons in 2-alkynyl-substituted N-heterocycles. The key step is the in situ
      generation of a cyclic ketiminium species, which has enhanced reactivity for
      alkynylation compared to acyclic ketiminium species.

PMID- 27622962
TI  - Low-dose exposure to bisphenol A in combination with fructose increases
      expression of genes regulating angiogenesis and vascular tone in juvenile Fischer
      344 rat cardiac tissue.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Epidemiological studies report associations between exposure to the
      high-volume chemical and endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) and cardiovascular
      disorders, but there is a lack of experimental studies addressing the mechanisms
      of action of BPA on the cardiovascular system. In the present study, effects on
      markers for cardiovascular function of exposure to BPA and fructose in vivo in
      rat cardiac tissues, and of BPA exposure in human cardiomyocytes in vitro, were
      investigated. MATERIALS: Juvenile female Fischer 344 rats were exposed to 5, 50,
      and 500 MUg BPA/kg bodyweight/day in their drinking water from 5 to 15 weeks of
      age, in combination with 5% fructose. Further, cultured human cardiomyocytes were
      exposed to 10 nM BPA to 1 * 104 nM BPA for six hours. Expression of markers for
      cardiovascular function and BPA target receptors was investigated using qRT-PCR.
      RESULTS: Exposure to 5 MUg BPA/kg bodyweight/day plus fructose increased mRNA
      expression of Vegf, Vegfr2, eNos, and Ace1 in rat heart. Exposure of human
      cardiomyocytes to 1 * 104 nM BPA increased mRNA expression of eNOS and ACE1, as
      well as IL-8 and NFkappabeta known to regulate inflammatory response.
      CONCLUSIONS: . Low-dose exposure of juvenile rats to BPA and fructose induced up
      regulation of expression of genes controlling angiogenesis and vascular tone in
      cardiac tissues. The observed effects of BPA in rat heart were in line with our
      present and previous studies of BPA in human endothelial cells and
      cardiomyocytes. These findings may aid in understanding the mechanisms of the
      association between BPA exposure and cardiovascular disorders reported in
      epidemiological studies.

PMID- 27622965
TI  - Genotype-by-genotype interactions between an insect and its pathogen.
AB  - Genotype-by-genotype (G*G) interactions are an essential requirement for the
      coevolution of hosts and parasites, but have only been documented in a small
      number of animal model systems. G*G effects arise from interactions between host
      and pathogen genotypes, such that some pathogen strains are more infectious in
      certain hosts and some hosts are more susceptible to certain pathogen strains. We
      tested for G*G interactions in the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) and its
      baculovirus. We infected 21 full-sib families of gypsy moths with each of 16
      isolates of baculovirus and measured the between-isolate correlations of
      infection rate across host families for all pairwise combinations of isolates.
      Mean infectiousness varied among isolates and disease susceptibility varied among
      host families. Between-isolate correlations of infection rate were generally less
      than one, indicating nonadditive effects of host and pathogen type consistent
      with G*G interactions. Our results support the presence of G*G effects in the
      gypsy moth-baculovirus interaction and provide empirical evidence that
      correlations in infection rates between field-collected isolates are consistent
      with values that mathematical models have previously shown to increase the
      likelihood of pathogen polymorphism.

PMID- 27622966
TI  - Effect of Hypothermia and Targeted Temperature Management on Drug Disposition and
      Response Following Cardiac Arrest: A Comprehensive Review of Preclinical and
      Clinical Investigations.
AB  - Targeted temperature management (TTM) has been shown to reduce mortality and
      improve neurological outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) patients and
      in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). TTM has also been
      associated with adverse drug events in the critically ill patient due to its
      effect on drug pharmacokinetics (PKs) and pharmacodynamics (PDs). We aim to
      evaluate the current literature on the effect of TTM on drug PKs and PDs
      following CA. MEDLINE/PubMed databases were searched for publications, which
      include the MeSH terms hypothermia, drug metabolism, drug transport, P450,
      critical care, cardiac arrest, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, pharmacokinetics,
      and pharmacodynamics between July 2006 and October 2015. Twenty-three studies
      were included in this review. The studies demonstrate that hypothermia impacts PK
      parameters and increases concentrations of cytochrome-P450-metabolized drugs in
      the cooling and rewarming phase. Furthermore, the current data demonstrate a
      combined effect of CA and hypothermia on drug PK. Importantly, these effects can
      last greater than 4-5 days post-treatment. Limited evidence suggests hypothermia
      mediated changes in the Phase II metabolism and the Phase III transport of drugs.
      Hypothermia also has been shown to potentially decrease the effect of specific
      drugs at the receptor level. Therapeutic hypothermia, as commonly
      deployed/applied during TTM, alters PK, and elevates concentrations of several
      commonly used medications. Hypothermia-mediated effects are an important factor
      when dosing and monitoring patients undergoing TTM treatment.

PMID- 27622967
TI  - Idiopathic delayed-onset edema surrounding deep brain stimulation leads: Insights
      from a case series and systematic literature review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is effective for some neurological and
      psychiatric conditions. Idiopathic delayed-onset edema (IDE) surrounding the
      leads has been anecdotally reported. The etiology, predisposing factors and
      prognosis of this complication are unknown. We present a multicenter case series
      of patients with IDE, and a systematic literature review, aimed at defining the
      pathophysiology and identifying appropriate treatment strategies. METHODS: IDE
      was defined as edema along the DBS lead, occurring >=72 h postoperatively, in
      absence of trauma, vascular events or infection. Information on patients with IDE
      was collected in a standardized way. A systematic search was performed in Pubmed.
      RESULTS: Twelve new patients presenting with 14 episodes of IDE are described.
      From the literature, 38 patients were identified. No common surgical aspects or
      patient-related factors were identified as risk predictors for the onset of IDE.
      Symptoms included deterioration of the stimulation effect, seizures and focal
      neurological signs. Although the condition is self-limiting, with symptoms
      resolution in 28.5 days on average, three patients underwent surgical revision
      and seven received antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: IDE is a rare complication of DBS
      procedures, presenting from few days to months after surgery. Symptoms can be
      mild and not-specific, and the condition is self-limiting. The diagnosis of IDE
      is made after exclusion of vascular events or infections. The pathophysiology is
      still unexplained. The recognition of this complication can help avoiding
      unnecessary surgical procedures (system explantation) and antibiotic treatment.

PMID- 27622969
TI  - Caffeine consumption and the 4-year progression of de novo Parkinson's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Higher caffeine consumption has been associated with reduced risk
      of Parkinson's disease (PD), and with a more benign progression of motor and non
      motor symptoms (NMS). The present observational cohort study investigated motor
      and non-motor correlates of caffeine consumption in de novo PD. METHODS: 79 newly
      diagnosed, drug naive PD patients have been included and followed up for 4 years.
      The total caffeine use was calculated with the Caffeine Consumption
      Questionnaire. Following study variables were recorded at baseline, and after 2
      and 4 years: UPDRS part III, UPDRS part IV, l-dopa Equivalent Daily Dose (LEDD),
      NMS Questionnaire (NMSQuest), and the time occurring from PD diagnosis to the
      need for l-dopa treatment. Age, gender and disease duration were included as
      covariates in the statistical models. RESULTS: The average daily caffeine
      consumption was 296.1 +/- 157.2 mg. At Cox regression models, higher caffeine
      consumption was associated with a lower rate of starting l-Dopa treatment (HR =
      0.630; 95%CI = 0.382-0.996). At the mixed-effects linear regression models
      considering the whole study period, each additional espresso cup per day (50 mg
      of caffeine) was more likely associated with 5-point lower UPDRS part III total
      score (Coef = -0.01; 95%CI = -0.02 to 0.00), with 50% reduced LEDD (Coef = -0.01;
      95%CI = -0.15 to 0.00; p = 0.021), and with 5-point lower NMSQuest total score
      (Coef = -0.01; 95%CI = -0.01 to 0.00), but not with UPDRS part IV total score
      (Coef = -0.00; 95%CI = -0.00 to 0.00). CONCLUSION: Caffeine consumption was
      associated with a reduced accrual of motor and non-motor disability during 4-year
      follow-up in de novo PD, highlighting the rationale for using adenosine A2A
      antagonists since the early phases of PD.

PMID- 27622968
TI  - Medication use in people with late stage Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism
      living at home and in institutional care in north-east England: A balance of
      symptoms and side-effects?
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with Parkinson's disease (PD) and parkinsonism living in care
      homes (residential or nursing care) in the UK represent around 10-15% of all
      people with PD and 3-5% of all care home residents. There are few previous data
      on medication use in those living in care homes with PD. In this study we aimed
      to compare medication use in a representative cohort of people with PD living in
      care homes in north-east England with those living in their own homes. METHOD:
      All people with late stage (Hoehn and Yahr III-V) idiopathic PD, PD dementia, or
      atypical parkinsonian syndromes under the care of the Northumbria Healthcare NHS
      Foundation Trust PD service on 1st January 2015 were identified. Demographic,
      disease characteristics and medication use data were collected from an audit of
      medical notes of all those identified. RESULTS: We identified 377 people who met
      the inclusion criteria, 91 (24.1%) of whom were living in a care home. Disease
      stage, age and age at disease onset were all significantly higher and levodopa
      equivalent dose significantly lower in those living in care homes, although
      disease duration and levodopa dose were not. Greater age, lower levodopa
      equivalent dose and higher disease stage were independently associated with being
      in a care home. CONCLUSIONS: Although people in care homes had more advanced
      disease, they were on a significantly lower levodopa equivalent dose. This is
      likely to be due to the requirement to balance symptom management with drug side
      effects.

PMID- 27622970
TI  - Propranolol therapy for Tardive dyskinesia: A retrospective examination.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the tolerability and effectiveness of propranolol in
      treating tardive dyskinesia (TD). BACKGROUND: TD is a disabling, often
      irreversible, movement disorder that results from chronic therapy with dopamine
      receptor blocking drugs. There are no treatments currently approved for this
      disorder. Propranolol, a beta-adrenergic blocker, has been reported to alleviate
      TD in case series and reports. METHODS: Retrospective database search of the
      Emory movement disorder clinic for TD patients treated with propranolol. All
      patients identified with at least one follow-up evaluation had records reviewed
      and responsiveness assessed. Logistic regression analysis examined for predictors
      of response. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were analyzed, mean age 63 years.
      Neuroleptics were discontinued in all patients and duration of TD at the time
      propranolol was initiated 17 months. Mean severity of TD, based on a 0-3 scale (0
      = none, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe) was 2.2. Mean response, based on a 0
      3 scale (0 = no response, 1 = mild response, 2 = moderate response, 3 = complete
      or near-complete response) was 1.4. Propranolol resulted in improvement in 64%
      and 77% of those had a moderate to complete or near-complete response. Mean daily
      dose was 69 mg and duration of therapy 14 months. Three patients stopped the
      propranolol due to adverse effects: hypotension (2), nightmares (1). Severity of
      TD and duration of propranolol therapy were associated with response. CONCLUSION:
      Low dose propranolol appears to be well tolerated and effective in treating TD. A
      prospective randomized trial is warranted.

PMID- 27622971
TI  - Clinical efficacy of grafting materials in alveolar ridge augmentation: A
      systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of grafting materials in lateral and vertical
      ridge augmentations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic review of the literature
      on the clinical use of grafting materials of the years 1995 to April 2015 was
      conducted using electronic search of PubMed and Cochrane libraries and hand
      search of eight print journals. A total of 184 papers were included, comprising
      6182 patients. Parameters evaluated were observation period [months], bone
      formation [histologic area%], defect fill [%], horizontal and vertical gain [mm],
      loss of augmented volume [mm], complication rate [%], and implant survival rate
      [%]. Results are expressed as weighted means +/- SD. RESULTS: Results were
      obtained after a weighted mean observation period of 27.4 months (range 3-168
      months). Bone formation in the augmented areas varied from 33.2 +/- 14.9% for
      allogeneic grafts to 56.0 +/- 25.6% for mixtures of autogenous and other grafting
      materials. Defect fill in dehiscence defects ranged from 51.0 +/- 13.6%
      (synthetic) to 85.8 +/- 13.4% (xenogeneic) for the different materials, with an
      overall weighted mean of 79.8 +/- 18.7%. Weighted mean horizontal gain for all
      particulate grafting materials was 3.7 +/- 1.2 mm, with variation between 2.2 +/-
      1.2 mm (synthetic) and 4.5 +/- 1.0 mm (mixtures of autogenous bone with
      allogeneic/xenogeneic grafting material) without statistical significance.
      Weighted overall mean vertical gain was 3.7 +/- 1.4 mm. Vertical gain was
      substantially higher when space-making barrier materials such as titanium meshes
      were used; however this was also associated with strong increase in complication
      rate. Block grafts achieved higher horizontal gain by approximately 1 mm. The use
      of block grafts achieved significantly increased vertical gain compared to
      particulate material only when autogenous block grafts from extraoral donor sites
      were used. CONCLUSION: Horizontal and vertical gain by 3.7 mm on average can be
      achieved using particulate materials. This can be increased by using titanium
      meshes. Substantial vertical gains beyond this dimension require the use of
      extraoral bone block grafts.

PMID- 27622972
TI  - Dental implants combined with sinus augmentation: What is the merit of bone
      grafting? A systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to systematically assess the current
      evidence on the effect of nongrafted compared to graft-assisted maxillary sinus
      floor elevation on implant survival/failure, endosinus bone gain, crestal bone
      loss, and bone density around dental implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MEDLINE
      PubMed, Cochrane-CENTRAL, and EMBASE databases were searched up to November 2015
      for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials-(CCTs),
      evaluating dental implants placed in combination with maxillary sinus elevation
      without and with bone grafting. Implant survival/failure served as the primary
      outcome, whereas endosinus bone gain, crestal bone loss, and bone density around
      dental implants were secondary outcomes. To assess possible bias, the Cochrane
      risk of bias tool was used. Data were extracted and a meta-analysis performed
      where appropriate. RESULTS: Independent screening of 3180 papers resulted in six
      eligible experiments. Heterogeneity was observed among experiments. One
      experiment showed low, three unclear, and two a high risk of bias. The assessed
      outcomes showed no significant long-term differences between groups. CONCLUSION:
      Within the limit of the current systematic review, nongrafted maxillary sinus
      floor elevation seems to be characterized by new bone formation and high implant
      survival rate comparable to bone-graft-assisted maxillary sinus floor
      augmentation. Further long-term studies are needed before definitive conclusions
      can be made.

PMID- 27622973
TI  - To what extent is joint and muscle mechanics predicted by musculoskeletal models
      sensitive to soft tissue artefacts?
AB  - Musculoskeletal models are widely used to estimate joint kinematics,
      intersegmental loads, and muscle and joint contact forces during movement. These
      estimates can be heavily affected by the soft tissue artefact (STA) when input
      positional data are obtained using stereophotogrammetry, but this aspect has not
      yet been fully characterised for muscle and joint forces. This study aims to
      assess the sensitivity to the STA of three open-source musculoskeletal models,
      implemented in OpenSim. A baseline dataset of marker trajectories was created for
      each model from experimental data of one healthy volunteer. Five hundred STA
      realizations were then statistically generated using a marker-dependent model of
      the pelvis and lower limb artefact and added to the baseline data. The STA's
      impact on the musculoskeletal model estimates was finally quantified using a
      Monte Carlo analysis. The modelled STA distributions were in line with the
      literature. Observed output variations were comparable across the three models,
      and sensitivity to the STA was evident for most investigated quantities. Shape,
      magnitude and timing of the joint angle and moment time histories were not
      significantly affected throughout the entire gait cycle, whereas magnitude
      variations were observed for muscle and joint forces. Ranges of contact force
      variations differed between joints, with hip variations up to 1.8 times body
      weight observed. Variations of more than 30% were observed for some of the muscle
      forces. In conclusion, musculoskeletal simulations using stereophotogrammetry may
      be safely run when only interested in overall output patterns. Caution should be
      paid when more accurate estimated values are needed.

PMID- 27622974
TI  - The kinematics and kinetics of riding a racehorse: A quantitative comparison of a
      training simulator and real horses.
AB  - Movement of a racehorse simulator differs to that of a real horse, but the
      effects of these differences on jockey technique have not been evaluated. We
      quantified and compared the kinematics and kinetics of jockeys during gallop
      riding on a simulator and real horses. Inertial measurement units were attached
      mid-shaft to the long bones of six jockeys and the sacrum of the horse or
      simulator. Instrumented stirrups were used to measure force. Data were collected
      during galloping on a synthetic gallop or while riding a racehorse simulator.
      Jockey kinematics varied more on a real horse compared to the simulator. Greater
      than double the peak stirrup force was recorded during gallop on real horses
      compared to the simulator. On the simulator stirrup forces were symmetrical,
      whereas on a real horse peak forces were higher on the opposite side to the lead
      limb. Asymmetric forces and lateral movement of the horse and jockey occurs away
      from the side of the lead leg, likely a result of horse trunk roll. Jockeys
      maintained a more upright trunk position on a real horse compared to simulator,
      with no change in pitch. The feet move in phase with the horse and simulator
      exhibiting similar magnitude displacements in all directions. In contrast the
      pelvis was in phase with the horse and simulator in the dorso-ventral and medio
      lateral axes while a phase shift of 180 degrees  was seen in the cranio-caudal
      direction indicating an inverted pendulum action of the jockey.

PMID- 27622975
TI  - GPCR Dynamics: Structures in Motion.
AB  - The function of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)-which represent the largest
      class of both human membrane proteins and drug targets-depends critically on
      their ability to change shape, transitioning among distinct conformations.
      Determining the structural dynamics of GPCRs is thus essential both for
      understanding the physiology of these receptors and for the rational design of
      GPCR-targeted drugs. Here we review what is currently known about the flexibility
      and dynamics of GPCRs, as determined through crystallography, spectroscopy, and
      computer simulations. We first provide an overview of the types of motion
      exhibited by a GPCR and then discuss GPCR dynamics in the context of ligand
      binding, activation, allosteric modulation, and biased signaling. Finally, we
      discuss the implications of GPCR conformational plasticity for drug design.

PMID- 27622976
TI  - Tick species, tick-borne pathogens and symbionts in an insular environment off
      the coast of Western France.
AB  - Insular environments provide ideal natural conditions to study disease ecology,
      especially emerging diseases, due to clear differentiation between local and long
      distance transmission. Such environments are of particular interest regarding
      tick-borne pathogens (TBP), since animal exchange with the mainland (along with
      any ticks they carry) is limited, and because such locations could lie on
      migratory routes for birds carrying ticks. Therefore both tick species and TBP
      may display different prevalence than those observed on the continent. As such,
      an epidemiological survey was performed on Belle-Ile-en-Mer, an island off the
      coast of Western France, in order to estimate the prevalence of tick species and
      the microorganisms they carried. Three tick species, Dermacentor marginatus, D.
      reticulatus, and Haemaphysalis punctata were collected at five different sites in
      2010 and 2011. All ticks were tested for pathogen's and symbiont's DNA by (i) PCR
      for Anaplasma spp., Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp.; (ii) real-time PCR for
      Francisella tularensis, Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLE) and Coxiella spp.
      and (iii) PCR-RLB for Babesia-Theileria spp. Pathogen DNA detected in D.
      marginatus including Borrelia spp. (18%), Rickettsia spp. (13%) which was
      identified as R. slovaca, Babesia spp. (8%), and Theileria spp. (1%). Pathogens
      detected in D. reticulatus including Rickettsia spp. (31%) identified as R.
      raoulti, Francisella-like endosymbiont (86%), and Babesia spp (21%). Pathogens
      detected in H. punctata including Rickettsia spp. (1%) identified as R.
      aeschlimannii, FLE (0.4%), Babesia spp. (18%), and Theileria spp. (7%). Anaplasma
      spp., F. tularensis, or Coxiella spp. were not detected in any of the collected
      ticks. This study represents the first epidemiological survey of the insular
      Belle-Ile-en-Mer environment. It demonstrated the presence of expected pathogens,
      consistent with reports from island veterinarians or physicians, as well as
      unexpected pathogens, raising questions about their potential introduction
      through infected animals and/or their dispersion by migratory birds.

PMID- 27622977
TI  - An 808-nm Diode Laser with a Flat-Top Handpiece Positively Photobiomodulates
      Mitochondria Activities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Photobiomodulation is proposed as a non-linear process. Only the
      action of light at a low intensity and fluence is assumed to have stimulation on
      cells; whereas a higher light intensity and fluence generates negative effects,
      exhausting the cell's energy reserve as a consequence of a too strong
      stimulation. In our work, we detected the photobiomodulatory effect of an 808-nm
      higher-fluence diode laser [64 J/cm2-1 W, continuous wave (CW)] irradiated by a
      flat-top handpiece on mitochondria activities, such as oxygen consumption,
      activity of mitochondria complexes I, II, III, and IV, and cytochrome c as well
      as ATP synthesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The experiments are performed by
      standard procedure on mitochondria purified from bovine liver. RESULTS: Our
      higher-fluence diode laser positively photobiomodulates the mitochondria oxygen
      consumption, the activity of the complexes III and IV, and the ATP production,
      with a P/O = 2.6. The other activities are not influenced. CONCLUSION: Our data
      show for the first time that even the higher fluences (64 J/cm2-1 W), similar to
      the low fluences, can photobiostimulate the mitochondria respiratory chain
      without uncoupling them and can induce an increment in the ATP production. These
      results suggest that the negative effects of higher fluences observed to date are
      not unequivocally due to higher fluence per se but might be a consequence of the
      irradiation carried by handpieces with a Gaussian profile.

PMID- 27622978
TI  - The Escherichia coli Periplasmic Aldehyde Oxidoreductase Is an Exceptional Member
      of the Xanthine Oxidase Family of Molybdoenzymes.
AB  - The xanthine oxidase (XO) family comprises molybdenum-dependent enzymes that
      usually form homodimers (or dimers of heterodimers/trimers) organized in three
      domains that harbor two [2Fe-2S] clusters, one FAD, and a Mo cofactor. In this
      work, we crystallized an unusual member of the family, the periplasmic aldehyde
      oxidoreductase PaoABC from Escherichia coli. This is the first example of an E.
      coli protein containing a molybdopterin-cytosine-dinucleotide cofactor and is the
      only heterotrimer of the XO family so far structurally characterized. The crystal
      structure revealed the presence of an unexpected [4Fe-4S] cluster, anchored to an
      additional 40 residues subdomain. According to phylogenetic analysis, proteins
      containing this cluster are widely spread in many bacteria phyla, putatively
      through repeated gene transfer events. The active site of PaoABC is highly
      exposed to the surface with no aromatic residues and an arginine (PaoC-R440)
      making a direct interaction with PaoC-E692, which acts as a base catalyst. In
      order to understand the importance of R440, kinetic assays were carried out, and
      the crystal structure of the PaoC-R440H variant was also determined.

PMID- 27622979
TI  - Dispersion of nonresonant third-order nonlinearities in GeSiSn ternary alloys.
AB  - Silicon (Si), tin (Sn), and germanium (Ge) alloys have attracted research
      attention as direct band gap semiconductors with applications in electronics and
      optoelectronics. In particular, GeSn field effect transistors can exhibit very
      high performance in terms of power reduction and operating speed because of the
      high electron drift mobility, while the SiGeSn system can be constructed using
      CMOS-compatible techniques to realize lasers, LED, and photodetectors. The wide
      Si, Ge and Sn transparencies allow the use of binary and ternary alloys extended
      to mid-IR wavelengths, where nonlinearities can also be employed. However,
      neither theoretical or experimental predictions of nonlinear features in SiGeSn
      alloys are reported in the literature. For the first time, a rigorous and
      detailed physical investigation is presented to estimate the two photon
      absorption (TPA) coefficient and the Kerr refractive index for the SiGeSn alloy
      up to 12 MUm. The TPA spectrum, the effective TPA wavelength cut-off, and the
      Kerr nonlinear refractive index have been determined as a function of alloy
      compositions. The promising results achieved can pave the way to the
      demonstration of on-chip nonlinear-based applications, including mid-IR
      spectrometer-on-a-chip, all-optical wavelength down/up-conversion, frequency comb
      generation, quantum-correlated photon-pair source generation and supercontinuum
      source creation, as well as Raman lasing.

PMID- 27622980
TI  - [When to worry about before a vascular chronic leg ulcer?].
AB  - Leg ulcers are a chronic condition. Healing can be long for venous ulcers and the
      risk of complications is significant. Infection is the most severe complication
      and can occur in the form of easily diagnosed acute bacterial dermohypodermitis
      that generally responds well to antibiotic treatment if given at an appropriate
      dose or in the form of localized infection that is more difficult to diagnosis.
      Indeed, no consensus has been reached in the literature on the clinical criteria
      to retain for the diagnosis of localized infection. Similarly, the most
      appropriate treatment remains to be established. Local care would be a logical
      starting point, followed by systemic antibiotics if this approach is
      unsuccessful. Individual conditions also should be taken into consideration
      (immunodepression, severe arteriopathy warranting more rapid use of systemic
      antibiotics). The second most frequent complication is an allergic reaction to a
      topical agent used for wound care. The rate of sensitivization in patients with
      leg ulcers is high (60 %), although the rate is declining with modern dressings.
      No product can be considered perfectly safe for these polysensitized patients.
      Dermocorticoid therapy can be very effective. Allergology tests are needed.
      Certain leg ulcers require special care from diagnosis. An arterial origin must
      be suspected for deep, or necrotic ulcers. Arterial supply must be explored
      rapidly, followed by a revascularization procedure when necessary. Highly painful
      superficial extensive necrotic ulcers due to necrotic angiodermitis require
      hospital care for skin grafts that will control the antiodermitis and provide
      pain. Carcinoma should be suspected in cases of leg ulcers with an atypical
      localization exhibiting excessive budding. A biopsy is mandatory for leg ulcers
      with an unusual course (absence of healing despite well-conducted care). 

PMID- 27622981
TI  - ERG11 mutations and upregulation in clinical itraconazole-resistant isolates of
      Candida krusei.
AB  - To better understand the association between the ERG11 gene and drug resistance
      in Candida krusei, C. krusei strains were isolated from patients from January
      2010 to May 2013. Susceptibility to 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), amphotericin B
      (AMB), voriconazole (VRC), fluconazole (FLC), and itraconazole (ITR) were tested
      by broth microdilution method. Mutations were detected using PCR amplification
      and gene sequencing. Expression levels of ERG11 were measured by real-time PCR
      and compared by a 2-tailed Student's t test between ITR-susceptible strains and
      ITR-resistant strains. In total, 15 C. krusei strains were obtained, of which
      20.00%, 53.33%, and 40.00% were resistant to 5-FC, FLC, and ITR, respectively,
      whereas all isolates were susceptible to AMB and VRC. Three synonymous codon
      substitutions were found in ERG11, including T939C, T642C, and A756T. However,
      T939C was found in both resistant and susceptible C. krusei strains. The
      expression level of ERG11 was significantly higher in resistant C. krusei strains
      (1.34 +/- 0.08) than in susceptible C. krusei strains (0.94 +/- 0.14) (t = 3.74,
      p < 0.05). Our study demonstrates that point mutations (T642C and A756T)
      accompanied with the overexpression of ERG11 might be involved in the molecular
      mechanisms of drug resistance in C. krusei.

PMID- 27622982
TI  - Are sluggish cognitive tempo symptoms associated with executive functioning in
      preschoolers?
AB  - The aim of this study is to investigate whether sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT)
      symptoms are associated with neurocognitive task performance and ratings of real
      world executive functioning (EF) in preschoolers at risk for attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The associations between parent- and
      teacher-rated SCT symptoms and neuropsychological task performance and ratings of
      EF in 61 4-year-old preschool children (51 boys, 10 girls) with self-regulation
      difficulties were examined, with regression analyses controlling for the effects
      of ADHD inattention symptoms. In the study sample, higher teacher-rated SCT
      symptoms are significantly associated with poorer performance on tasks of visual
      perceptual abilities, auditory and visual attention, sustained and selective
      attention, inhibitory control, pre-numerical/numerical concepts, and slower
      processing speed, but SCT symptoms are not significantly associated with working
      memory, attention shifting or cognitive flexibility when controlling for ADHD
      inattention. Higher parent-rated SCT symptoms are significantly associated with
      visual-perceptual abilities. ADHD inattention symptoms are more strongly
      associated than SCT with daily life EF ratings; neither parent- nor teacher-rated
      SCT symptoms are significantly associated with daily life ratings of inhibition,
      working memory, or planning/organization after controlling for ADHD inattention.
      This study suggests that SCT symptoms contribute to EF deficits at least on
      neurocognitive tasks assessing visual-perceptual/spatial abilities, attention to
      detail and processing speed, as observed in this sample of young children at risk
      for ADHD, and may be an important intervention target.

PMID- 27622983
TI  - Circadian time-place (or time-route) learning in rats with hippocampal lesions.
AB  - Circadian time-place learning (TPL) is the ability to remember both the place and
      biological time of day that a significant event occurred (e.g., food
      availability). This ability requires that a circadian clock provide phase
      information (a time tag) to cognitive systems involved in linking representations
      of an event with spatial reference memory. To date, it is unclear which neuronal
      substrates are critical in this process, but one candidate structure is the
      hippocampus (HPC). The HPC is essential for normal performance on tasks that
      require allocentric spatial memory and exhibits circadian rhythms of gene
      expression that are sensitive to meal timing. Using a novel TPL training
      procedure and enriched, multidimensional environment, we trained rats to locate a
      food reward that varied between two locations relative to time of day. After rats
      acquired the task, they received either HPC or SHAM lesions and were re-tested.
      Rats with HPC lesions were initially impaired on the task relative to SHAM rats,
      but re-attained high scores with continued testing. Probe tests revealed that the
      rats were not using an alternation strategy or relying on light-dark transitions
      to locate the food reward. We hypothesize that transient disruption and recovery
      reflect a switch from HPC-dependent allocentric navigation (learning places) to
      dorsal striatum-dependent egocentric spatial navigation (learning routes to a
      location). Whatever the navigation strategy, these results demonstrate that the
      HPC is not required for rats to find food in different locations using circadian
      phase as a discriminative cue.

PMID- 27622984
TI  - Levator ani trauma and pelvic organ prolapse - a comparison of three translabial
      ultrasound scoring systems.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to analyze the relation between the degree of
      puborectalis muscle trauma and subjective symptoms and objective findings of
      pelvic organ prolapse (POP), comparing two continuous scoring systems with a
      discrete scoring system for translabial ultrasound imaging. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      In this retrospective observational study the records of patients attending a
      tertiary urogynecological unit between January 2012 and December 2014 were
      analyzed. POP assessment included a standardized interview, clinical examination
      using Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification and four-dimensional translabial
      ultrasound. Puborectalis muscle trauma was assessed with tomographic ultrasound
      imaging using two continuous scoring systems and a previously established
      discrete system. Receiver operating characteristics and adjusted odds ratios were
      used for comparison of scoring systems in predicting symptoms and signs of POP.
      RESULTS: Of 1258 women analyzed, 52.6% complained of prolapse symptoms. On
      ultrasound imaging, 65.7% of women had sonographically significant POP. Complete
      avulsion was diagnosed in 25.3% of women, being unilateral in 13.9% and bilateral
      in 11.4%. A maximum score in the 6-point and the 12-point tomographic ultrasound
      imaging scale increased the odds for a diagnosis of any significant POP on
      ultrasound by 4.4 and 4.8 times, respectively, compared with 4.6 times for the
      discrete diagnosis of bilateral avulsion. For all avulsion scoring systems the
      relation was strongest for cystocele and uterine prolapse. CONCLUSIONS: A
      continuous avulsion scoring system based on tomographic findings does not provide
      superior performance for the prediction of subjective symptoms and objective
      findings of prolapse compared with a discrete diagnostic system of unilateral or
      bilateral avulsion.

PMID- 27622986
TI  - Functional Silver Nanoparticle as a Benign Antimicrobial Agent That Eradicates
      Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Promotes Wound Healing.
AB  - With the increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria infections, there
      is a pressed need for innovative antimicrobial agent. Here, we report a benign
      epsilon-polylysine/silver nanoparticle nanocomposite (EPL-g-butyl@AgNPs) with
      polyvalent and synergistic antibacterial effects. EPL-g-butyl@AgNPs exhibited
      good stability in aqueous solution and effective antibacterial activity against
      both Gram-negative (P. aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria without
      emergence of bacterial resistance. Importantly, the nanocomposites eradicated the
      antibiotic-resistant bacteria without toxicity to mammalian cells. Analysis of
      the antibacterial mechanism confirmed that the nanocomposites adhered to the
      bacterial surface, irreversibly disrupted the membrane structure of the bacteria,
      subsequently penetrated cells, and effectively inhibited protein activity, which
      ultimately led to bacteria apoptosis. Notably, the nanocomposites modulated the
      relative level of CD3+ T cells and CD68+ macrophages and effectively promoted
      infected wound healing in diabetic rats. This work improves our understanding of
      the antibacterial mechanism of AgNPs-based nanocomposites and offers guidance to
      activity prediction and rational design of effective antimicrobial nanoparticles.

PMID- 27622985
TI  - Temperamental approach/withdrawal and food neophobia in early childhood:
      Concurrent and longitudinal associations.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether temperamental
      approach/withdrawal processes were concurrently and longitudinally associated
      with parent ratings and behavioral observations of food neophobia at 4.5 years of
      age. Additionally, maternal feeding practices were examined as potential
      moderators of the association between toddler temperament and food neophobia.
      Data were drawn from a longitudinal study following individuals (n = 82) from
      infancy through early childhood. At 18 months of age, toddlers were observed in
      an unfamiliar laboratory setting with an experimenter and their reactions were
      coded. At 4.5 years of age, the children were again observed in an unfamiliar
      setting and were also offered three novel foods (lychee, nori, and haw jelly).
      The number of foods they refused to taste was used as a measure of behavioral
      neophobia. Finally, mothers reported on their child's food neophobia and
      temperament, as well as their own feeding practices. As expected, temperament was
      associated with concurrent measures of food neophobia at 4.5 years of age. Also,
      low approach children who exhibited high negative affect and low positive affect
      in response to novelty at 18 months of age had higher levels of food neophobia at
      4.5 years of age compared to their peers. Furthermore, evidence emerged to show
      that these neophobic tendencies in low approach children were strengthened by a
      maternal pressuring feeding style. Collectively, the results of this study
      emphasize that children who have low levels of temperamental approach are at a
      heightened risk for developing food neophobia during childhood.

PMID- 27622987
TI  - Visible light-induced solar urticaria is improved by omalizumab.

PMID- 27622988
TI  - Magnetic Nanoparticle-Mediated Targeting of Cell Therapy Reduces In-Stent
      Stenosis in Injured Arteries.
AB  - Although drug-eluting stents have dramatically reduced the recurrence of
      restenosis after vascular interventions, the nonselective antiproliferative drugs
      released from these devices significantly delay reendothelialization and vascular
      healing, increasing the risk of short- and long-term stent failure. Efficient
      repopulation of endothelial cells in the vessel wall following injury may limit
      complications, such as thrombosis, neoatherosclerosis, and restenosis, through
      reconstitution of a luminal barrier and cellular secretion of paracrine factors.
      We assessed the potential of magnetically mediated delivery of endothelial cells
      (ECs) to inhibit in-stent stenosis induced by mechanical injury in a rat carotid
      artery stent angioplasty model. ECs loaded with biodegradable superparamagnetic
      nanoparticles (MNPs) were administered at the distal end of the stented artery
      and localized to the stent using a brief exposure to a uniform magnetic field.
      After two months, magnetic localization of ECs demonstrated significant
      protection from stenosis at the distal part of the stent in the cell therapy
      group compared to both the proximal part of stent in the cell therapy group and
      the control (stented, nontreated) group: 1.7-fold (p < 0.001) less reduction in
      lumen diameter as measured by B-mode and color Doppler ultrasound, 2.3-fold (p <
      0.001) less reduction in the ratios of peak systolic velocities as measured by
      pulsed wave Doppler ultrasound, and 2.1-fold (p < 0.001) attenuation of stenosis
      as determined through end point morphometric analysis. The study thus
      demonstrates that magnetically assisted delivery of ECs is a promising strategy
      for prevention of vessel lumen narrowing after stent angioplasty procedure.

PMID- 27622989
TI  - Biocompatible silver nanoparticles reduced from Anethum graveolens leaf extract
      augments the antileishmanial efficacy of miltefosine.
AB  - Despite the existence of chemotherapy, there is no effective cure for
      leishmaniasis. In the light of recommended therapeutic regimen is attributed for
      toxicity and development of clinical resistance, exploration of an efficient
      method of drug delivery could be one of the option in reducing the dosage and
      toxicity of drugs. This work is aimed in such fashion to study the enhanced
      antileishmanial activity of miltefosine with silver-nanoparticles (AgNPs)
      synthesized by using Anethum graveolens (dill) leaf extract as reducing agent.
      AgNPs were synthesized in a single step process and characterized by UV-visible,
      X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) to
      understand the crystal structure and functional groups on their surface. TEM
      analysis showed that the synthesized AgNPs are of an average size of 35 nm. By
      performing MTT assay, we found that, AgNPs (between 20 and 100 MUM) are
      biocompatible in nature through pertaining >80% viability of macrophages.
      Furthermore, AgNPs alone (50 MUM) have not shown antileishmanial effect on
      promastigote stage of Leishmania parasite but in combination with miltefosine
      (12.5 MUM and 25 MUM), it magnifies the leishmanicidal effect of miltefosine by
      ~2-folds (i.e. AgNPs cut down the IC50 of miltefosine about to half). Scanning
      electron microscopic (SEM) observation for morphological aberration and genomic
      DNA fragmentation in promastigotes confirmed the enhanced effect of meltefosine
      in combination with AgNPs (50 MUM AgNPs plus 12.5 MUM miltefosine). Similarly,
      this combination has likely shown a slight augmentation (p = 0.057) of
      miltefosine (2.5 MUM) leishmanicidal efficacy on amastigote stage of the parasite
      in infected human macrophages by reducing their intracellular growth.

PMID- 27622991
TI  - A Strategy to Simplify the Preparation Process of Perovskite Solar Cells by Co
      deposition of a Hole-Conductor and a Perovskite Layer.
AB  - The feasibility of co-depositing a hole-conductor and a perovskite layer is
      demonstrated to simplify the preparation process of perovskite solar cells. The
      CuSCN incorporated in the perovskite layer can participate in forming the
      perovskite/CuSCN bulk-heterojunction and accelerate hole transport effectively,
      which eventually leads to a maximum power conversion efficiency of 18.1% with
      almost no J-V hysteresis.

PMID- 27622992
TI  - Controllable two-scale network architecture and enhanced mechanical properties of
      (Ti5Si3+TiBw)/Ti6Al4V composites.
AB  - Novel Ti6Al4V alloy matrix composites with a controllable two-scale network
      architecture were successfully fabricated by reaction hot pressing (RHP). TiB
      whiskers (TiBw) were in-situ synthesized around the Ti6Al4V matrix particles, and
      formed the first-scale network structure (FSNS). Ti5Si3 needles (Ti5Si3)
      precipitated in the beta phase around the equiaxed alpha phase, and formed the
      secondary-scale network structure (SSNS). This resulted in increased deformation
      compatibility accompanied with enhanced mechanical properties. Apart from the
      reinforcement distribution and the volume fraction, the ratio between Ti5Si3 and
      TiBw fraction were controlled. The prepared (Ti5Si3 + TiBw)/Ti6Al4V composites
      showed higher tensile strength and ductility than the composites with a one-scale
      microstructure, and superior wear resistance over the Ti6Al4V alloy under dry
      sliding wear conditions at room temperature.

PMID- 27622990
TI  - Induction of microRNA-17-5p by p53 protects against renal ischemia-reperfusion
      injury by targeting death receptor 6.
AB  - Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury is a leading cause of acute kidney injury; the
      pathogenesis of which remains poorly understood and effective therapies are still
      lacking. Here we tested whether microRNAs, identified as critical regulators of
      cell health and disease, are involved in this process. We found that miR-17-5p
      was significantly up-regulated during renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice
      and during hypoxia in cultured renal tubular cells. In cultured cells, miR-17-5p
      directly inhibited the expression of death receptor 6 (DR6) and attenuated
      apoptosis during hypoxia. Blockade of miR-17-5p abolished the suppression of DR6
      and facilitated caspase activation and apoptosis. In vivo, an miR-17-5p mimic
      suppressed DR6 expression and protected against renal ischemia-reperfusion
      injury. We further verified that miR-17-5p induction during renal ischemia
      reperfusion injury was dependent on p53. Inhibition of p53 with pifithrin-alpha
      or a dominant-negative mutant led to the repression of miR-17-5p expression under
      hypoxia in vitro. Moreover, miR-17-5p induction during renal ischemia-reperfusion
      injury was attenuated in proximal tubule p53 knockout mice, supporting the role
      of p53 in miR-17-5p induction in vivo. Thus, p53/miR-17-5p/DR6 is a new
      protective pathway in renal ischemia-reperfusion injury and may be targeted for
      the prevention and treatment of ischemic acute kidney injury.

PMID- 27622994
TI  - Association of respondent psychiatric comorbidity with family history of
      comorbidity: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and
      Related Conditions-III.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Substance use disorders and major psychiatric disorders are common,
      highly comorbid with each other, and familial. However, the extent to which
      comorbidity is itself familial remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to
      investigate associations between comorbidity among respondents with family
      history of comorbidity. METHODS: We analyzed data from the National Epidemiologic
      Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III to study the associations of family
      history (FH) of comorbidity among alcoholism, drug problems, depression,
      antisocial behavior, and anxiety disorders in parents and maternal and paternal
      grandparents with corresponding DSM-5 diagnostic comorbidity among respondents.
      We utilized multivariable multinomial logistic regression models controlling for
      age, sex, race, education, family income, marital status, and adverse childhood
      experiences (ACEs). RESULTS: All comorbid associations of any two disorders with
      FH were statistically significant; almost all adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for
      respondent comorbidity in the presence of FH of the parallel comorbidity exceeded
      10. ORs involving antisocial behavior in relatives and antisocial personality
      disorder in respondents were consistently larger than those for any other pairs
      of disorders. After further adjustment for ACEs, most patterns of association
      were similar but the ORs were reduced twofold to threefold. ACEs may be mediators
      in relationships between familial and respondent comorbidities. CONCLUSION:
      Further investigations of relationships among familial comorbidity, ACEs, and
      respondents' diagnoses may improve understanding of comorbidity.

PMID- 27622995
TI  - Long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary interventions in cancer survivors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer patients are mostly excluded from percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) clinical trials and oncologic history is lacking from most PCI
      registries. Thus, little is known about the clinical outcomes following PCI among
      cancer survivors. Our aim was to examine the prevalence and long-term outcome of
      cancer survivors among a large PCI patient cohort. METHODS: We retrospectively
      integrated and analyzed cardiovascular and oncologic data of 12 785 consecutive
      patients who underwent PCI between April 2004 and October 2014. Cancer survivors
      were compared with pair-matched cancer-naive patients. RESULTS: Cancer survivors
      constituted 7.8% (1005) of the patients. The mean cancer diagnosis-to-PCI
      interval was 3.6+/-3.4 years and the mean post-PCI follow-up was 6.4+/-5.9 years.
      Postmatching baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. Cancer
      survivors were referred to the catheterization laboratory because of acute
      coronary syndrome and were treated with bare-metal stents more often than cancer
      naive patients. Cancer survivors to cancer-naive patients' hazard ratio and 95%
      confidence interval were 1.46 (1.24-1.72), P value less than 0.001 for all-cause
      mortality and 1.41 (1.23-1.63), P value less than 0.001 for the composite of
      death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and
      coronary bypass surgery. Cardiac death was the leading cause of mortality in our
      hospital during follow-up in both groups, although more cancer survivors died of
      malignancy (25 vs. 5%, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Cancer survivors constitute a high
      proportion of the PCI population (one in every 13 patients) and have an ~40%
      increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and death. Cardiac disease was a
      leading cause of in-hospital mortality among these patients.

PMID- 27622993
TI  - Metabolic and hormone influences on emotion processing during menopause.
AB  - Disturbances of emotion regulation and depressive symptoms are common during the
      menopause transition. Reproductive hormone levels are not directly correlated
      with depressive symptoms, and other factors may influence mood symptoms during
      menopause. In this study, we sought to determine the role of metabolic function
      in mood symptoms during menopause, hypothesizing an association with menopause
      status and long-term glucose load. We studied 54 women across three menopause
      transition stages (15 premenopause, 11 perimenopause, and 28 postmenopause),
      examining effects of age, hormones, and metabolism on mood and neural activation
      during emotional discrimination. We assessed participants using behavioral and
      functional MRI measures of negative emotion and emotion discrimination, and
      glycated hemoglobin A1c, to assess long-term glucose load. We found that
      emotionally unpleasant images activated emotion regulation (amygdala) and
      cognitive association brain regions (prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate,
      temporal-parietal-occipital (TPO) junction, hippocampus). Cognitive association
      region activity increased with menopause stage. Perimenopausal women had left TPO
      junction activation, and postmenopausal women had prefrontal cortex, posterior
      cingulate, and TPO junction activation. Negative affect was associated with
      decreased amygdala activation, while depression symptoms and negative mood were
      associated with increased TPO junction activation. Hemoglobin A1c was associated
      with negative interpretation bias of neutral images and cognitive region
      recruitment during emotion discrimination. FSH levels, indicating menopause
      stage, were associated with negative mood. Age was not associated with any
      behavioral measures or activation patterns during the emotion task. Our results
      suggest that an interaction between metabolic and hormonal factors may influence
      emotion regulation, leading to increased risk for depression during menopause.

PMID- 27622996
TI  - Arginine deprivation for ASS1-deficient mesothelioma.

PMID- 27622998
TI  - Rifaximin and midodrine improve clinical outcome in refractory ascites including
      renal function, weight loss, and short-term survival.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: The occurrence of refractory ascites in nearly 17% of
      patients with decompensated cirrhosis is an unresolved issue. Advanced liver
      disease, functional renal impairment, and vascular insensitivity to vasopressors
      are the main causes of its refractoriness. Therefore, the aim of this study was
      to evaluate the impact on diuresis, weight loss, and short-term survival if
      midodrine and rifaximin were added to the diuretic therapy (DT). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study evaluated the eligibility of 650 patients with cirrhosis and
      refractory ascites who were selected during the period from November 2011 to May
      2015. A total of 50 patients were excluded and finally 600 were selected and
      divided into the following groups: patients exposed to DT (n=200) as a control
      group, or DT with midodrine and rifaximin group (n=400). Body weight, mean
      arterial pressure, and glomerular filtration rate were determined. Plasma renin
      and aldosterone were also determined. Follow-up was performed after 2, 6, and 12
      weeks, and then every 2 months for 24 months. RESULTS: The mean arterial pressure
      was significantly higher in the midodrine and rifaximin group (P=0.000), and
      there was a highly significant weight loss after 12 weeks (12.5 kg) (P=0.000), a
      highly significant increase in serum sodium, urine output, and urinary sodium
      excretion (P=0.000), and creatinine clearance was more reduced in the control
      group. With rifaximin and midodrine, a complete response occurred in 310 (78%)
      patients, a partial response in 72 (18%), and no response in 18 (4%) versus 30
      (15%), 110 (55%), and 60 (30%) in the control group, respectively (P=0.000).
      Midodrine and rifaximin significantly reduced paracentesis needs when compared
      with the controls (18 study patients vs. 75 DT-only patients, P=0.000).
      CONCLUSION: Adding rifaximin and midodrine to DT enhanced diuresis in refractory
      ascites with improved systemic, renal hemodynamics and short-term survival.

PMID- 27622997
TI  - Combined nivolumab and ipilimumab versus ipilimumab alone in patients with
      advanced melanoma: 2-year overall survival outcomes in a multicentre, randomised,
      controlled, phase 2 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Results from phase 2 and 3 trials in patients with advanced melanoma
      have shown significant improvements in the proportion of patients achieving an
      objective response and prolonged progression-free survival with the combination
      of nivolumab (an anti-PD-1 antibody) plus ipilimumab (an anti-CTLA-4 antibody)
      compared with ipilimumab alone. We report 2-year overall survival data from a
      randomised controlled trial assessing this treatment in previously untreated
      advanced melanoma. METHODS: In this multicentre, double-blind, randomised,
      controlled, phase 2 trial (CheckMate 069) we recruited patients from 19
      specialist cancer centres in two countries (France and the USA). Eligible
      patients were aged 18 years or older with previously untreated, unresectable
      stage III or IV melanoma and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance
      status of 0 or 1. Patients were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive an intravenous
      infusion of nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg or ipilimumab 3 mg/kg plus
      placebo, every 3 weeks for four doses. Subsequently, patients assigned to
      nivolumab plus ipilimumab received nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks until disease
      progression or unacceptable toxicity, whereas patients allocated to ipilimumab
      alone received placebo every 2 weeks during this phase. Randomisation was done
      via an interactive voice response system with a permuted block schedule (block
      size of six) and stratification by BRAF mutation status. The study funder,
      patients, investigators, and study site staff were masked to treatment
      assignment. The primary endpoint, which has been reported previously, was the
      proportion of patients with BRAFV600 wild-type melanoma achieving an investigator
      assessed objective response. Overall survival was an exploratory endpoint and is
      reported in this Article. Efficacy analyses were done on the intention-to-treat
      population, whereas safety was assessed in all treated patients who received at
      least one dose of study drug. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov,
      number NCT01927419, and is ongoing but no longer enrolling patients. FINDINGS:
      Between Sept 16, 2013, and Feb 6, 2014, we screened 179 patients and enrolled
      142, randomly assigning 95 patients to nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 47 to
      ipilimumab alone. In each treatment group, one patient no longer met the study
      criteria following randomisation and thus did not receive study drug. At a median
      follow-up of 24.5 months (IQR 9.1-25.7), 2-year overall survival was 63.8% (95%
      CI 53.3-72.6) for those assigned to nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 53.6% (95% CI
      38.1-66.8) for those assigned to ipilimumab alone; median overall survival had
      not been reached in either group (hazard ratio 0.74, 95% CI 0.43-1.26; p=0.26).
      Treatment-related grade 3-4 adverse events were reported in 51 (54%) of 94
      patients who received nivolumab plus ipilimumab compared with nine (20%) of 46
      patients who received ipilimumab alone. The most common treatment-related grade 3
      4 adverse events were colitis (12 [13%] of 94 patients) and increased alanine
      aminotransferase (ten [11%]) in the combination group and diarrhoea (five [11%]
      of 46 patients) and hypophysitis (two [4%]) in the ipilimumab alone group.
      Serious grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events were reported in 34 (36%) of
      94 patients who received nivolumab plus ipilimumab (including colitis in ten
      [11%] of 94 patients, and diarrhoea in five [5%]) compared with four (9%) of 46
      patients who received ipilimumab alone (including diarrhoea in two [4%] of 46
      patients, colitis in one [2%], and hypophysitis in one [2%]). No new types of
      treatment-related adverse events or treatment-related deaths occurred in this
      updated analysis. INTERPRETATION: Although follow-up of the patients in this
      study is ongoing, the results of this analysis suggest that the combination of
      first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab might lead to improved outcomes compared
      with first-line ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma. The results
      suggest encouraging survival outcomes with immunotherapy in this population of
      patients. FUNDING: Bristol-Myers Squibb.

PMID- 27622999
TI  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis in the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort
      Study: prevalence, risk factors, and long-term follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) represents the most
      common hepatobiliary extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD). We aimed to assess the prevalence of PSC in the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel
      Disease Cohort Study, to identify associated risk factors, and to describe the
      long-term evolution. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of patients enrolled into the
      Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study were analyzed. Logistic regression
      modeling was performed to identify risk factors for PSC. RESULTS: Among 2744
      patients [1188 ulcerative colitis (UC); 1556 Crohn's disease (CD)], 57 had PSC
      (48 UC-PSC, nine CD-PSC). The prevalence of PSC was higher in UC compared with CD
      (4.04 vs. 0.58%, P<0.001). We identified the following significant independent
      risk factors for PSC in patients with UC: male sex [odds ratio (OR) 2.771,
      P=0.022], pancolitis (OR 2.855, P=0.011), nonsmoker at diagnosis (OR 9.253,
      P=0.030), and a history of appendicectomy (OR 4.114, P=0.019). During a median
      follow-up time of 74.8 months, four (7.0%) of PSC patients developed
      cholangiocarcinoma, six (10.5%) underwent liver transplantation, and five (8.8%)
      died. Survival of IBD-PSC patients was significantly worse compared with IBD
      patients without PSC (P=0.001). UC-PSC patients developed significantly more
      frequently colorectal cancer compared with UC patients without PSC (2/48 vs.
      9/1440, P=0.017). CONCLUSION: Approximately 4% of UC patients and 0.6% of CD
      patients had PSC. Male sex, pancolitis, nonsmoker status, and a history of
      appendicectomy were significantly associated with PSC. PSC is associated with
      considerable morbidity and mortality in the long term.

PMID- 27623000
TI  - Efficacy and safety of sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular
      carcinoma: age is not a problem.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Sorafenib is the standard of care for patients with advanced
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but data on its use in the elderly are
      inconclusive. METHODS: All consecutive HCC patients who were treated in our
      institution with sorafenib since its licensing were included in the analysis.
      Patients were divided into two groups: (A) up to 75 and (B) older than 75 years
      old. Our endpoints were overall survival (OS) and time to treatment failure (TTF)
      because of disease progression or toxicity. Safety parameters and the prognostic
      effect of HCC characteristics were also investigated. RESULTS: Data from 190
      patients (157 men), median age 66 (26-87) years, were studied (A=151 and B=39).
      No significant difference in OS and TTF was detected between the two groups [7.1
      (5.5-8.7) vs. 10.4 (6.5-14.3) months, P=0.360 and 4.2 (2.3-6.2) vs. 5.6 (3.1-8.1)
      months, P=0.369, respectively]. Incidence of toxicities at all grades and dose
      reductions were comparable between groups A and B. In a multivariate setting,
      patients with Child-Pugh B score at baseline were associated with a higher risk
      of death (adjusted hazard ratio=2.17, 95% confidence interval:1.24-3.79, P=0.007)
      and treatment failure (adjusted hazard ratio=4.64, 95% confidence interval: 2.55
      8.42, P=0.001) and had shorter OS and TTF compared with patients with a Child
      Pugh A (P=0.004 and P<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Elderly patients with
      advanced HCC, when treated with sorafenib, have an equivalent clinical outcome
      with similar toxicity rates as their younger counterparts. Age alone should not
      be a discriminating factor for the management of advanced HCC with sorafenib.

PMID- 27623001
TI  - Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasonography guidance improves the quality of pathological
      diagnosis in the biopsy of focal hepatic lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (US) has improved the detection
      and characterization of focal hepatic lesions. Recently, the importance of
      obtaining high-quality samples in the biopsy of hepatic lesions has been
      increasing not only in the field of pathological diagnosis but also in molecular
      analysis for predicting the effectiveness of anticancer agents and molecular
      targeted drugs. We evaluated the utility of Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasonography
      (SEUS) in guiding percutaneous biopsy of focal hepatic lesions by comparing the
      results of histopathological diagnosis between B-mode US and SEUS guidance.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: This retrospective study examined 121 focal hepatic
      lesions in 108 patients (mean age: 63.8 years) referred for US-guided
      percutaneous biopsy. The technical success rate was defined as the percentage of
      the lesions diagnosed clearly at the initial biopsy. RESULTS: Among 121 lesions,
      56 lesions were subjected to biopsy with B-mode US guidance whereas 65 were
      subjected to SEUS guidance. The technical success rate was significantly higher
      under SEUS guidance than under B-mode US guidance (92.3 vs. 76.8%, respectively,
      P<0.05). When biopsies were performed to diagnose or rule out malignancy in
      indeterminate lesions, the technical success rate was also significantly higher
      under SEUS guidance than under B-mode US guidance (100 vs. 73.9%, respectively,
      P<0.05). SEUS guidance resulted in a significantly higher rate of successful
      single-puncture attempts compared with B-mode US guidance (55.4 vs. 35.7%,
      respectively, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: SEUS guidance is recommended for more accurate
      localization of suitable hepatic lesion biopsy areas as it increases conspicuity
      and differentiates viable areas from denaturalization or necrosis.

PMID- 27623002
TI  - MicroRNAs and ectodermal specification I. Identification of miRs and miR-targeted
      mRNAs in early anterior neural and epidermal ectoderm.
AB  - The establishment of cell lineages occurs via a dynamic progression of gene
      regulatory networks (GRNs) that underlie developmental commitment and
      differentiation. To investigate how microRNAs (miRs) function in this process, we
      compared miRs and miR targets at the initiation of the two major ectodermal
      lineages in Xenopus. We used next-generation sequencing to identify over 170 miRs
      expressed in midgastrula ectoderm expressing either noggin or a constitutively
      active BMP receptor, reflecting anterior neural or epidermal ectoderm,
      respectively; 125 had not previously been identified in Xenopus. We identified
      the locations of the pre-miR sequences in the X. laevis genome. Neural and
      epidermal ectoderm express broadly similar sets of miRs. To identify targets of
      miR-dependent translational control, we co-immunoprecipitated Argonaute
      Ribonucleoprotein (Ago-RNP) complexes from early neural and epidermal ectoderm
      and sequenced the associated RNA. The Ago-RNP RNAs from these tissues represent
      overlapping, yet distinct, subsets of genes. Moreover, the profile of Ago-RNP
      associated genes differs substantially from the profile of total RNAs in these
      tissues. We generated target predictions for the "high confidence" Ago-RNP RNAs
      using the identified ectodermal miRs; These RNAs generally had target sites for
      multiple miRs. Oct4 orthologues, as well as many of their previously identified
      transcriptional targets, are represented in the Ago-RNP pool in both tissues,
      suggesting that miR-dependent regulation contributes to the downregulation of the
      oct4 gene regulatory network and the reduction in ectodermal pluripotency.

PMID- 27623003
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of focal dermal hypoplasia: Report of three fetuses and review
      of the literature.
AB  - Focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH) is a rare syndrome characterized by pleiotropic
      features knowing to involve mostly skin and limbs. Although FDH has been
      described in children and adults, the cardinal signs of the fetal phenotype are
      not straightforward impacting the quality of the prenatal diagnosis. We describe
      in depth the ultrasound, radiological, macroscopical, and histological phenotype
      of three female fetuses with a severe form of FDH, propose a review of the
      literature and an attempt to delineate minimal and cardinal signs for FDH
      diagnosis. This report confirms the variability of FDH phenotype, highlights
      unreported FDH features, and allows delineating evocative clinical associations
      for prenatal diagnosis, namely intrauterine growth retardation, limbs
      malformations, anterior wall/diaphragm defects, and eye anomalies. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623004
TI  - So Prescription Opioid Disorders are a $78.5 Billion Problem.

PMID- 27623005
TI  - The Economic Burden of Prescription Opioid Overdose, Abuse, and Dependence in the
      United States, 2013.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: It is important to understand the magnitude and distribution of the
      economic burden of prescription opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence to inform
      clinical practice, research, and other decision makers. Decision makers choosing
      approaches to address this epidemic need cost information to evaluate the cost
      effectiveness of their choices. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the economic burden of
      prescription opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence from a societal perspective.
      DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Incidence of fatal prescription opioid
      overdose from the National Vital Statistics System, prevalence of abuse and
      dependence from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Fatal data are for
      the US population, nonfatal data are a nationally representative sample of the US
      civilian noninstitutionalized population ages 12 and older. Cost data are from
      various sources including health care claims data from the Truven Health
      MarketScan Research Databases, and cost of fatal cases from the WISQARS (Web
      based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) cost module. Criminal justice
      costs were derived from the Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts published
      by the Department of Justice. Estimates of lost productivity were based on a
      previously published study. EXPOSURE: Calendar year 2013. MAIN OUTCOMES AND
      MEASURES: Monetized burden of fatal overdose and abuse and dependence of
      prescription opioids. RESULTS: The total economic burden is estimated to be $78.5
      billion. Over one third of this amount is due to increased health care and
      substance abuse treatment costs ($28.9 billion). Approximately one quarter of the
      cost is borne by the public sector in health care, substance abuse treatment, and
      criminal justice costs. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These estimates can assist
      decision makers in understanding the magnitude of adverse health outcomes
      associated with prescription opioid use such as overdose, abuse, and dependence.

PMID- 27623006
TI  - Incidence and Predictors of Febrile Neutropenia among Early-Stage Breast Cancer
      Patients Receiving Anthracycline-Based Chemotherapy in Korea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This retrospective study was undertaken to assess the incidence of and
      risk factors for febrile neutropenia (FN) during adjuvant chemotherapy for early
      stage breast cancer (ESBC). METHODS: A multicenter survey of three tertiary
      hospitals was conducted, with data extracted from the records of ESBC patients
      treated with adjuvant chemotherapy containing AC (doxorubicin, 60 mg/m2 and
      cyclophosphamide, 600 mg/m2 every 21 days). Assessments included clinical
      characteristics, chemotherapy dose modifications, and incidence of FN. RESULTS: A
      total of 610 patients were included for analysis. The incidence of grade 4
      neutropenia and FN was 44.6 and 8.5%, respectively. Reduced relative dose
      intensity (RDI) less than 85% occurred in 11.0% of patients, and there were
      treatment delays in 12.6% of patients. Multivariate analysis identified several
      independent predictors for FN, including the presence of grade 4 neutropenia and
      pretreatment calculated estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 60 ml/min.
      CONCLUSION: Patients with ESBC are at substantial risk for FN and reduced RDI
      when treated with adjuvant AC chemotherapy. Predictive models based on risk
      factors identified in this study should enable the selective application of
      supportive measures in an effort to deliver the full dose of chemotherapy.

PMID- 27623007
TI  - Detecting Cooperativity between Transcription Factors Based on Functional
      Coherence and Similarity of Their Target Gene Sets.
AB  - In eukaryotic cells, transcriptional regulation of gene expression is usually
      achieved by cooperative transcription factors (TFs). Therefore, knowing
      cooperative TFs is the first step toward uncovering the molecular mechanisms of
      gene expression regulation. Many algorithms based on different rationales have
      been proposed to predict cooperative TF pairs in yeast. Although various types of
      rationales have been used in the existing algorithms, functional coherence is not
      yet used. This prompts us to develop a new algorithm based on functional
      coherence and similarity of the target gene sets to identify cooperative TF pairs
      in yeast. The proposed algorithm predicted 40 cooperative TF pairs. Among them,
      three (Pdc2-Thi2, Hot1-Msn1 and Leu3-Met28) are novel predictions, which have not
      been predicted by any existing algorithms. Strikingly, two (Pdc2-Thi2 and Hot1
      Msn1) of the three novel predictions have been experimentally validated,
      demonstrating the power of the proposed algorithm. Moreover, we show that the
      predictions of the proposed algorithm are more biologically meaningful than the
      predictions of 17 existing algorithms under four evaluation indices. In summary,
      our study suggests that new algorithms based on novel rationales are worthy of
      developing for detecting previously unidentifiable cooperative TF pairs. 

PMID- 27623008
TI  - The C9ORF72 GGGGCC expansion forms RNA G-quadruplex inclusions and sequesters
      hnRNP H to disrupt splicing in ALS brains.
AB  - An expanded GGGGCC hexanucleotide in C9ORF72 (C9) is the most frequent known
      cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
      It has been proposed that expanded transcripts adopt G-quadruplex (G-Q)
      structures and associate with proteins, but whether this occurs and contributes
      to disease is unknown. Here we show first that the protein that predominantly
      associates with GGGGCC repeat RNA in vitro is the splicing factor hnRNP H, and
      that this interaction is linked to G-Q formation. We then show that G-Q RNA foci
      are more abundant in C9 ALS patient fibroblasts and astrocytes compared to those
      without the expansion, and more frequently colocalize with hnRNP H. Importantly,
      we demonstrate dysregulated splicing of multiple known hnRNP H-target transcripts
      in C9 patient brains, which correlates with elevated insoluble hnRNP H/G-Q
      aggregates. Together, our data implicate C9 expansion-mediated sequestration of
      hnRNP H as a significant contributor to neurodegeneration in C9 ALS/FTD.

PMID- 27623009
TI  - Ciliary transcription factors and miRNAs precisely regulate Cp110 levels required
      for ciliary adhesions and ciliogenesis.
AB  - Upon cell cycle exit, centriole-to-basal body transition facilitates cilia
      formation. The centriolar protein Cp110 is a regulator of this process and cilia
      inhibitor, but its positive roles in ciliogenesis remain poorly understood. Using
      Xenopus we show that Cp110 inhibits cilia formation at high levels, while optimal
      levels promote ciliogenesis. Cp110 localizes to cilia-forming basal bodies and
      rootlets, and is required for ciliary adhesion complexes that facilitate Actin
      interactions. The opposing roles of Cp110 in ciliation are generated in part by
      coiled-coil domains that mediate preferential binding to centrioles over
      rootlets. Because of its dual role in ciliogenesis, Cp110 levels must be
      precisely controlled. In multiciliated cells, this is achieved by both
      transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation through ciliary transcription
      factors and microRNAs, which activate and repress cp110 to produce optimal Cp110
      levels during ciliogenesis. Our data provide novel insights into how Cp110 and
      its regulation contribute to development and cell function.

PMID- 27623010
TI  - Hypothalamic transcriptomes of 99 mouse strains reveal trans eQTL hotspots,
      splicing QTLs and novel non-coding genes.
AB  - Previous studies had shown that the integration of genome wide expression
      profiles, in metabolic tissues, with genetic and phenotypic variance, provided
      valuable insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms. We used RNA-Seq to
      characterize hypothalamic transcriptome in 99 inbred strains of mice from the
      Hybrid Mouse Diversity Panel (HMDP), a reference resource population for
      cardiovascular and metabolic traits. We report numerous novel transcripts
      supported by proteomic analyses, as well as novel non coding RNAs. High
      resolution genetic mapping of transcript levels in HMDP, reveals both local and
      trans expression Quantitative Trait Loci (eQTLs) demonstrating 2 trans eQTL
      'hotspots' associated with expression of hundreds of genes. We also report
      thousands of alternative splicing events regulated by genetic variants. Finally,
      comparison with about 150 metabolic and cardiovascular traits revealed many
      highly significant associations. Our data provide a rich resource for
      understanding the many physiologic functions mediated by the hypothalamus and
      their genetic regulation.

PMID- 27623013
TI  - Bamboo (Acidosasa edulis) shoot shell biochar: Its potential isolation and
      mechanism to perrhenate as a chemical surrogate for pertechnetate.
AB  - In this work, a biochar was prepared from bamboo (Acidosasa edulis) shoot shell
      through slow pyrolysis (under 300-700  degrees C). Characterization with various
      tools showed that the biochar surface was highly hydrophobic and also had more
      basic functional groups. Batch sorption experiments showed that the biochar had
      strong sorption ability to perrhenate (a chemical surrogate for pertechnetate)
      with maximum sorption capacity of 46.46 mg/g, which was significantly higher than
      commercial coconut shell activated carbon and some adsorbents reported
      previously. Desorption experiments showed that more than 94% of total perrhenate
      adsorbed could be recovered using 0.1 mol/L KOH as a desorption medium. Pearson
      correlation analysis showed that the recovery of perrhenate by the biochars was
      mainly through surface adsorption mechanisms involving both high hydrophobicity
      and high basic sites of biochar surface.

PMID- 27623011
TI  - A computational approach to map nucleosome positions and alternative chromatin
      states with base pair resolution.
AB  - Understanding chromatin function requires knowing the precise location of
      nucleosomes. MNase-seq methods have been widely applied to characterize
      nucleosome organization in vivo, but generally lack the accuracy to determine the
      precise nucleosome positions. Here we develop a computational approach leveraging
      digestion variability to determine nucleosome positions at a base-pair resolution
      from MNase-seq data. We generate a variability template as a simple error model
      for how MNase digestion affects the mapping of individual nucleosomes. Applied to
      both yeast and human cells, this analysis reveals that alternatively positioned
      nucleosomes are prevalent and create significant heterogeneity in a cell
      population. We show that the periodic occurrences of dinucleotide sequences
      relative to nucleosome dyads can be directly determined from genome-wide
      nucleosome positions from MNase-seq. Alternatively positioned nucleosomes near
      transcription start sites likely represent different states of promoter
      nucleosomes during transcription initiation. Our method can be applied to map
      nucleosome positions in diverse organisms at base-pair resolution.

PMID- 27623014
TI  - Chemical fractionation of radium-226 in NORM contaminated soil from oilfields.
AB  - Contamination of soil with 226Ra is a common problem in the oilfields, leading to
      costly remediation and disposal programmes. The present study focuses on the
      chemical fractionation and mobility of 226Ra in contaminated soils collected from
      an oilfield using a three-step sequential extraction procedure (BCR). The total
      activity concentrations of 226Ra in contaminated soils were measured and found to
      be in the range from 1030 +/- 90 to 7780 +/- 530 Bq kg-1, with a mean activity
      concentration of 2840 +/- 1840 Bq kg-1. The correlation between the total
      concentration of 226Ra and soil properties, mainly pH, LOI, Corg, clay and Ca,
      was investigated using the principal component analysis method (PCA). The
      chemical fractionation of 226Ra was studied using the sequential extraction
      method (BCR). The highest fraction of 226Ra (27-65%) was found to be in the acid
      reducible fraction, which suggests that 226Ra is mainly bound to FeMn oxides. The
      BCR method showed that high percentages of 226Ra were found to be in mobile soil
      phases (between 45 and 99%). Consequently, groundwater contamination could occur
      due to the remobilization of 226Ra from soils under normal environmental
      conditions. However, the obtained results could be useful to reduce the volume of
      NORM wastes generated from the oilfields and decision-making process for final
      treatment and disposal of NORM-contaminated soil.

PMID- 27623012
TI  - Origin of a folded repeat protein from an intrinsically disordered ancestor.
AB  - Repetitive proteins are thought to have arisen through the amplification of
      subdomain-sized peptides. Many of these originated in a non-repetitive context as
      cofactors of RNA-based replication and catalysis, and required the RNA to assume
      their active conformation. In search of the origins of one of the most widespread
      repeat protein families, the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR), we identified
      several potential homologs of its repeated helical hairpin in non-repetitive
      proteins, including the putatively ancient ribosomal protein S20 (RPS20), which
      only becomes structured in the context of the ribosome. We evaluated the ability
      of the RPS20 hairpin to form a TPR fold by amplification and obtained structures
      identical to natural TPRs for variants with 2-5 point mutations per repeat. The
      mutations were neutral in the parent organism, suggesting that they could have
      been sampled in the course of evolution. TPRs could thus have plausibly arisen by
      amplification from an ancestral helical hairpin.

PMID- 27623017
TI  - Surgery for mitral regurgitation in patients with aortic root aneurysm:
      Transaortic or transseptal approach?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mitral regurgitation is common in patients with aortic root aneurysm.
      Mitral valve repair (MVP) or replacement (MVR) can be performed for these
      patients through either a transverse aortotomy (TA) or transseptal approach (TS).
      This study sought to compare the early outcomes of mitral valve surgery through
      the TA and TS approaches and decide which is optimal for this subset of patients.
      METHODS: Between March 2013 and April 2015, we operated on 99 patients (81 males,
      81.8%) with aortic root aneurysm who developed mitral regurgitation. Mean age was
      47.8+/-16.5years. MVR was performed in 66 patients (TAR=27; TSR=39) and MVP in 33
      (TAP=8; TSP=25). The baseline and operative outcomes data were compared between
      patients with MVR and MVP through the TA vs TS approaches. RESULTS:
      Preoperatively, the mitral regurgitation area was significantly larger in the MVR
      than MVP groups (8.9+/-2.0 vs 7.8+/-3.8 cm2, p=0.0009), and in the TSP vs TAP
      groups (8.5+/-4.1 vs 5.6+/-1.3cm2, p=0.0049), but no significant difference was
      found between the TAR and TSR groups (8.7+/-2.2 vs 9.0+/-1.8cm2, p=0.4681); the
      aortic sinus size was significantly larger in the TAR than TSR group (66.7+/-15.8
      vs 52.1+/-8.8mm, p=0.0061). Subvalvular structure was preserved in 12 MVR
      patients (18.2%). In MVP patients, Kay annuloplasty was used in 11 (33.3%) and
      annuloplastic ring in 22 (66.7%). The times of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and
      cross-clamp in patients with TA approach were significantly shorter compared to
      those with the TS approach (139+/-34 vs 176+/-38min, p=0.0001; 101+/-26 vs 129+/
      31min, p=0.0002). No cases of mortality, stroke and renal failure occurred in the
      whole series. The amount of transfusion, lengths of ICU and hospital stay did not
      differ between patients with MVR and MVP, and between the TA and TS approaches.
      CONCLUSIONS: Both the TA and TS approaches achieved good early outcomes in MV
      surgery for patients with root aneurysm. The transverse aortotomy was associated
      with shorter CPB and cross-clamp times. Surgical approaches should be selected
      according to the underlying mitral valve etiology and the size of the aortic
      root.

PMID- 27623018
TI  - Toughness enhancement in graphene nanoplatelet/SiC reinforced Al2O3 ceramic
      hybrid nanocomposites.
AB  - This paper elucidates the effect of silicon carbide nanoparticles (SiCNP) and
      graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), on their own and together, on the densification
      behavior and fracture toughness of alumina (Al2O3) ceramic matrix. This was
      investigated by using the high-frequency induction heat sintering (HFIHS)
      process. While the addition of each nanostructure caused varying degrees of grain
      refinement and enhancement of mechanical properties, the incorporation of as
      little as 0.5 wt.% GNPs along with 5.0 wt.% SiCNP promoted uniform dispersion of
      the latter due to the lateral surface area of the graphene nanosheets with their
      two-dimensional morphology. There was an associated reduction in grain size from
      1500 to 300 nm upon the addition of both types of nanoscale reinforcements.
      Extensive electron microscopy of the as-produced nanocomposites indicated the
      presence of SiCNP within, as well as at, the grain boundary areas whereas the 2D
      GNPs anchored between neighboring grains. Fractography of the samples revealed a
      transition from a mixed intergranular/transgranular mode for SiCNP or GNP
      reinforced nanocomposites to transgranular fracture mode for the hybrid
      nanocomposites with improvements in fracture toughness and microhardness by 160
      and 27%, respectively, largely due to the synergic role of the nanostructured
      reinforcements and their distinctly different toughening mechanisms. A new
      toughening model is proposed for the hybrid nanocomposites by taking into
      consideration crack deflection and pull-out effects due to SiCNP and the atomic
      level slip-stick driven GNPs inter-layer slithering. It was found that the
      addition of GNPs facilitates SiCNP dispersion that subsequently develops dense,
      fine-grained microstructures after a short-cycle, pressure-assisted consolidation
      process. 

PMID- 27623019
TI  - Reply to glioblastoma in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland revisited: 2005 to
      2009.

PMID- 27623016
TI  - Sam68 is Overexpressed in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer and Promotes Tumor Cell
      Proliferation.
AB  - BACKGROUND Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the deadliest gynecological
      malignancy, and evidence is accumulating on how molecular markers may be
      associated with the origin and process of EOC. Sam68 (Src-associated in mitosis,
      of 68 kD), is a K homology domain RNA-binding protein that has been investigated
      as a risk factor in multiple types of tumors. The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the contribution of the Sam68 gene in the pathogenesis of EOC.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS Western blot assay and real-time quantitative PCR methods
      were performed to examine Sam68 expression in EOC tissue specimens. The
      association of Sam68 expression with clinic-pathologic variables of EOC was
      evaluated. Then gain-of-function and loss-of-function strategies were adopted to
      examine the regulation of Sam68 on the proliferation of EOC OVCAR-3 cells using
      CCK-8 and colony forming assays. RESULTS Sam68 was overexpressed in both mRNA and
      protein levels in EOC tumor tissue (n=152) in an association with malignant
      factors of EOC such as International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
      (FIGO) stage, residual tumor size (cm), histological grade, and lymph node
      metastasis. In vitro results demonstrated that Sam68 overexpression was
      upregulated while Sam68 knockdown downregulated the proliferation of EOC OVCAR-3
      cells via regulation of cell growth and colony formation. CONCLUSIONS Sam68 was
      overexpressed in EOC tissue in association with such cancer malignant factors of
      FIGO stage, histological grade, and lymph node metastasis, and also positively
      regulated the proliferation of EOC cells. Our research suggests that Sam68 might
      accelerate cell cycle progression, and present as a prognostic marker for EOC. 

PMID- 27623020
TI  - Characterization of Activity and Cardiovascular Responses During Surfing in
      Recreational Male Surfers Between the Ages of 18 and 75 Years Old.
AB  - Participation in surfing has evolved to include all age groups. Therefore, the
      purpose of this study was to determine whether activity levels and cardiovascular
      responses to surfing change with age. Surfing time and heart rate (HR) were
      measured for the total surfing session and within each activity of surfing
      (paddling, sitting, wave riding, and miscellaneous). Peak oxygen consumption
      (VO2peak) was also measured during laboratory-based simulated surfboard paddling
      on a modified swim bench ergometer. VO2peak decreased with age during simulated
      paddling (r = -.455, p < .001, n = 68). Total time surfing (p = .837) and time
      spent within each activity of surfing did not differ with age (n = 160). Mean HR
      during surfing significantly decreased with age (r = -.231, p = .004). However,
      surfing HR expressed as a percent of age-predicted maximum increased
      significantly with age. Therefore, recreational surfers across the age spectrum
      are achieving intensities and durations that are consistent with guidelines for
      cardiovascular health.

PMID- 27623021
TI  - Organocatalytic Asymmetric Cascade Reaction of 2-Hydroxyphenyl-Substituted Enones
      and Isocyanates To Construct 1,3-Benzoxazin-2-ones.
AB  - The development of a new bisguanidinium salt as a multifunctional organocatalyst
      for asymmetric cascade esterification/aza-Michael reaction between 2
      hydroxyphenyl-substituted enones and isocyanates is reported. A high level of
      enantioinduction and excellent isolated yields were achieved under mild reaction
      conditions. Enantiomerically enriched 1,3-benzoxazin-2-ones were constructed, and
      a possible catalytic model was suggested based on the mechanism-driven
      experiments.

PMID- 27623015
TI  - Postnatal and adult consequences of loss of huntingtin during development:
      Implications for Huntington's disease.
AB  - The mutation in huntingtin (mHtt) leads to a spectrum of impairments in the
      developing forebrain of Huntington's disease (HD) mouse models. Whether these
      developmental alterations are due to loss- or gain-of-function mechanisms and
      contribute to HD pathogenesis is unknown. We examined the role of selective loss
      of huntingtin (Htt) function during development on postnatal vulnerability to
      cell death. We employed mice expressing very low levels of Htt throughout
      embryonic life to postnatal day 21 (Hdhd*hyp). We demonstrated that Hdhd*hyp mice
      exhibit: (1) late-life striatal and cortical neuronal degeneration; (2)
      neurological and skeletal muscle alterations; and (3) white matter tract
      impairments and axonal degeneration. Hdhd*hyp embryos also exhibited subpallial
      heterotopias, aberrant striatal maturation and deregulation of gliogenesis. These
      results indicate that developmental deficits associated with Htt functions render
      cells present at discrete neural foci increasingly susceptible to cell death,
      thus implying the potential existence of a loss-of-function developmental
      component to HD pathogenesis.

PMID- 27623022
TI  - Tetrahydroisoquinolines in therapeutics: a patent review (2010-2015).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) is one of the 'privileged
      scaffolds', commonly found in nature. Initially, this class of compounds was
      known for its neurotoxicity. Later on, 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline
      was proved as an endogeneous Parkinsonism-preventing agent in mammals. The fused
      THIQs have been studied for their role as anticancer antibiotics. The US FDA
      approval of the trabectedin for the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, is a
      milestone in the anticancer drug discovery. Areas covered: This review covers the
      patents on various therapeutic activities of the THIQ derivatives in the years
      between 2010 and 2015. Patents were collected using a thorough search of
      Espacenet and WIPO databases. The therapeutic areas covered include cancer,
      malaria, central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular, metabolic disorders, and
      so on. This also includes several patents on specific THIQs of clinical
      importance. Expert opinion: A large number of the THIQ derivatives have been
      synthesised for various therapeutic activities, with noticeable success in the
      area of drug discovery for cancer and CNS. They may also prove to be promising
      candidates for various infectious diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV
      infection, HSV-infection, leishmaniasis, etc. They can also be developed as novel
      class of drugs for various therapeutic activities with unique mechanism of
      action.

PMID- 27623023
TI  - Branch-Selective Hydroarylation: Iodoarene-Olefin Cross-Coupling.
AB  - A combination of cobalt and nickel catalytic cycles enables a highly branch
      selective (Markovnikov) olefin hydroarylation. Radical cyclization and ring
      scission experiments are consistent with hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) generation
      of a carbon-centered radical that leads to engagement of a nickel cycle.

PMID- 27623024
TI  - Inter-individual variability and pattern recognition of surface electromyography
      in front crawl swimming.
AB  - Variability of electromyographic (EMG) recordings is a complex phenomenon rarely
      examined in swimming. Our purposes were to investigate inter-individual
      variability in muscle activation patterns during front crawl swimming and assess
      if there were clusters of sub patterns present. Bilateral muscle activity of
      rectus abdominis (RA) and deltoideus medialis (DM) was recorded using wireless
      surface EMG in 15 adult male competitive swimmers. The amplitude of the median
      EMG trial of six upper arm movement cycles was used for the inter-individual
      variability assessment, quantified with the coefficient of variation, coefficient
      of quartile variation, the variance ratio and mean deviation. Key features were
      selected based on qualitative and quantitative classification strategies to enter
      in a k-means cluster analysis to examine the presence of strong sub patterns.
      Such strong sub patterns were found when clustering in two, three and four
      clusters. Inter-individual variability in a group of highly skilled swimmers was
      higher compared to other cyclic movements which is in contrast to what has been
      reported in the previous 50years of EMG research in swimming. This leads to the
      conclusion that coaches should be careful in using overall reference EMG
      information to enhance the individual swimming technique of their athletes.

PMID- 27623025
TI  - Comparison of methods for estimating motor unit firing rate time series from
      firing times.
AB  - The central nervous system regulates recruitment and firing of motor units to
      modulate muscle tension. Estimation of the firing rate time series is typically
      performed by decomposing the electromyogram (EMG) into its constituent firing
      times, then lowpass filtering a constituent train of impulses. Little research
      has examined the performance of different estimation methods, particularly in the
      inevitable presence of decomposition errors. The study of electrocardiogram (ECG)
      and electroneurogram (ENG) firing rate time series presents a similar problem,
      and has applied novel simulation models and firing rate estimators. Herein, we
      adapted an ENG/ECG simulation model to generate realistic EMG firing times
      derived from known rates, and assessed various firing rate time series estimation
      methods. ENG/ECG-inspired rate estimation worked exceptionally well when EMG
      decomposition errors were absent, but degraded unacceptably with decomposition
      error rates of ?1%. Typical EMG decomposition error rates-even after expert
      manual review-are 3-5%. At realistic decomposition error rates, more traditional
      EMG smoothing approaches performed best, when optimal smoothing window durations
      were selected. This optimal window was often longer than the 400ms duration that
      is commonly used in the literature. The optimal duration decreased as the
      modulation frequency of firing rate increased, average firing rate increased and
      decomposition errors decreased. Examples of these rate estimation methods on
      physiologic data are also provided, demonstrating their influence on measures
      computed from the firing rate estimate.

PMID- 27623027
TI  - Comments on "French SFE/SFHTA/AFCE consensus on primary aldosteronism, part 2:
      First diagnostic steps".

PMID- 27623026
TI  - Caregiver's distress related to the patient's neuropsychiatric symptoms as a
      function of the care-setting.
AB  - Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and correlation between its
      intensity and caregiver distress were evaluated as a function of the care-setting
      in a cross-sectional study including 72 patient-caregiver dyads. The
      Neuropsychiatric Inventory and the Caregiver Distress Scale were administered.
      The most prevalent symptoms were: in the formal care-setting,
      agitation/aggression and depression/dysphoria (42.4%), and in the informal care
      setting, aberrant motor behavior (59.0%). While changes in appetite and eating
      behaviors, depression/dysphoria and irritability/lability were more prevalent in
      the formal care-setting (p < .0001, p = .011, p = .021), aberrant motor behavior
      was more prevalent in the informal care-setting (p = .007). NPS were positively
      correlated with caregiver distress. High patients' scores in hallucinations,
      sleep and night-time disturbances, anxiety, and aberrant motor behavior were the
      best predictors of professional caregiver's distress. Agitation/aggression,
      delusions, disinhibition, apathy/indifference, depression/dysphoria, and
      elation/euphoria were the best predictors of informal caregiver's distress.
      Findings may have important clinical implications.

PMID- 27623028
TI  - Embolization of thyroid arteries in a patient with compressive intrathoracic
      goiter ineligible to surgery or radioiodine therapy.

PMID- 27623030
TI  - Zika Virus: Diagnosis, Therapeutics, and Vaccine.
AB  - The current explosive epidemic of Zika virus in South and Central America, as
      well as the Caribbean, poses a global public health emergency. Here we comment on
      the challenges on development of better diagnosis and potential therapeutics and
      vaccine for Zika virus.

PMID- 27623031
TI  - Influenza Viral Hemagglutinin Peptide Inhibits Influenza Viral Entry by Shielding
      the Host Receptor.
AB  - Influenza viral infection of the host begins by the attachment of viral
      hemagglutinin to a cell surface receptor. In the current study, a hemagglutinin
      fragment peptide library was screened using an H5N1 recombinant pseudotyped viral
      system. One peptide, designated HA-pep25, showed effective antiviral activity
      against both human and avian influenza viral strains (IC50 = 12.0-51.0 MUM). A
      mechanistic study demonstrated direct binding between HA-pep25 and sialyllactose,
      which mimics the host receptor for the influenza virus. This binding was
      independent of the presence of sialic acid on the cell membrane. By generating
      alanine substitutions in HA-pep25, eight residues were identified as essential
      for the peptide's anti-influenza activity. HA-pep25 derived from hemagglutinin
      blocked influenza viral entry by shielding the host receptor on the cell
      membrane. This peptide might be a candidate drug for influenza virus entry
      inhibition and may be combined with other antivirals targeting different steps of
      the influenza viral life cycle.

PMID- 27623032
TI  - Flexible vs Rigid Epitope Conformations for Diagnostic- and Vaccine-Oriented
      Applications: Novel Insights from the Burkholderia pseudomallei BPSL2765 Pal3
      Epitope.
AB  - Peptides seldom retain stable conformations if separated from their native
      protein structure. In an immunological context, this potentially affects the
      development of selective peptide-based bioprobes and, from a vaccine perspective,
      poses inherent limits in the elicitation of cross-reactive antibodies by
      candidate epitopes. Here, a 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole-mediated stapling
      strategy was used to stabilize the native alpha-helical fold of the Pal3 peptidic
      epitope from the protein antigen PalBp (BPSL2765) from Burkholderia pseudomallei,
      the etiological agent of melioidosis. Whereas Pal3 shows no propensity to fold
      outside its native protein context, the engineered peptide (Pal3H) forms a stable
      alpha-helix, as assessed by MD, NMR, and CD structural analyses. Importantly,
      Pal3H shows an enhanced ability to discriminate between melioidosis patient
      subclasses in immune sera reactivity tests, demonstrating the potential of the
      stapled peptide for diagnostic purposes. With regard to antibody elicitation and
      related bactericidal activities, the linear peptide is shown to elicit a higher
      response. On these bases, we critically discuss the implications of epitope
      structure engineering for diagnostic- and vaccine-oriented applications.

PMID- 27623033
TI  - Classifying Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Severity: Correcting the Arterial
      Oxygen Partial Pressure to Fractional Inspired Oxygen at Altitude.
AB  - In the well-known Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome
      (ARDS), there is a recommended adjustment for arterial oxygen partial pressure to
      fractional inspired oxygen (PaO2/FIO2) at altitude, but without a reference as to
      how it was derived. 

PMID- 27623034
TI  - Expression of HER2/Neu in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The expression of HER2/neu in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia has
      been reported in previous studies. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was
      to study the expression of HER2/neu on the blasts of patients with acute leukemia
      from the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran.
      METHODS: From June 2015 to February 2016, a HER2/neu monoclonal antibody was
      added to the panel of antibodies that we routinely use in patients with acute
      leukemia. An expression of >= 30% was considered positive. RESULTS: We studied 33
      patients: 19 had de novo leukemia (57.6%), three (9.1%) were in relapse, and in
      11 (33.3%) their status could not be specified. Seventeen patients (51.5%) were
      classified as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a median expression of
      HER2/neu of 0.3% (range 0-90.2). Three patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia were positive for HER2/neu: 89.4%, 90.9%, and 62.4%. The first and third
      patient had de novo B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The second patient was
      in second relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplant. All three patients were
      categorized as high-risk at the time of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: In the studied
      Mexican population, we found a positive expression of HER2/neu in 17% of the B
      cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients, similar to previous studies in which
      the expression was found in 15-50%.

PMID- 27623035
TI  - Impact of a Movement Disorders Clinic on the trends of Parkinson's Disease
      Consultations at a Tertiary Referral Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Outpatient clinics for movement disorders provide specialized
      diagnosis and treatment services for the specific needs of this patient
      population. OBJECTIVE: Describe the impact of implementing a Movement Disorder
      Clinic on the trends of consultations per year and hospitalizations of subjects
      with Parkinson's disease at a tertiary referral center. METHODS: A retrospective
      study was carried out. We collected data from the Clinical File Archive and the
      Epidemiology Department at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery
      in Mexico. Data from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2015 were included for
      analysis. RESULTS: The number of total consultations had an increase of 632.1%
      between 1999 and 2015. Follow-up visits represented up to 95% of the
      consultations. Peaks found correlated with the inclusion of new specialists in
      the clinic. Regarding hospitalization, the number of patients discharged with a
      diagnosis of Parkinson's disease increased from a median of 17 (range 9-35) to 46
      patients (range 31-53) per year. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a
      multidisciplinary Movement Disorders Outpatient Clinic in a tertiary referral
      center had a direct impact on the total number of consultations per year, mainly
      follow-up visits. The latter may reflect in an improvement in the quality of
      care.

PMID- 27623036
TI  - Mexican Biosimilar Filgrastim for Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization
      and Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Following the release of the initial presentation of filgrastim
      (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor), several biosimilars have been developed
      worldwide. OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of a Mexican biosimilar granulocyte
      colony-stimulating factor in a single transplant center. METHODS: In a group of
      19 consecutive patients with multiple sclerosis given autografts, we employed
      granulocyte colony-stimulating factors to mobilize stem cells from the bone
      marrow to the peripheral blood, either the original granulocyte colony
      stimulating factor (n = 10) or a Mexican granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
      biosimilar (n = 9). RESULTS: The efficacy of both agents was similar in
      mobilization capacity, white blood cell count rise, stem cell collection, and
      kinetics of auto-engraftment. CONCLUSION: We conclude that both granulocyte
      colony-stimulating factor agents were similar in their efficacy to mobilize stem
      cells and usefulness in autografts.

PMID- 27623037
TI  - Estimation of the Cost-Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Screening Using Mammography
      in Mexico Through a Simulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, breast cancer is the most prevalent tumor among Mexican
      women. Screening methods such as mammography could potentially reduce the health
      and economic burden of breast cancer; however, its risk-benefit balance is still
      unclear. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of different breast cancer
      screening programs using mammography in Mexico and to contribute to the decision
      making process on this preventive measure. METHODS: A simulation study was
      performed using population data and incidence rates. Several screening programs
      were assessed using the cost-effectiveness methodology recommended by the World
      Health Organization. RESULTS: The feasible recommended screening program has an
      examination schedule periodicity of every three years, with a population coverage
      of 0, 15, 18, 20, 25, 20, 18, and 0% for the age groups of 25-40, 40-45, 45-50,
      50-55, 55-60, 60-65, 65-70, and 70-75 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Given the
      present coverage in Mexico, it is necessary to optimize our resource allocation
      to improve the country's breast cancer prevention policy.

PMID- 27623039
TI  - Chronic Hepatitis C Treatment with Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents in a Real-Life
      Setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In clinical trials, new oral direct-acting antiviral agent therapies
      have demonstrated a high sustained virological response rate in patients with
      hepatitis C virus infection. We aimed to analyze the efficacy and safety data
      from direct-acting antiviral agent interferon-free therapy in hepatitis C virus
      infection in a study performed in five different clinical settings in Mexico
      City; four private practice sites and one academic medical center in a real-world
      scenario. METHODS: Eighty-one patients were treated with seven different direct
      acting antiviral agent regimens, in which the end of treatment, sustained
      virological response at 12 weeks post-treatment, and adverse effects were
      evaluated. At their discretion, attending physicians selected the treatment
      regimens and durations. RESULTS: In total, 70.4% of the patients were female and
      the mean age was 60.7 years; 74.1% had blood transfusion as a risk factor. The
      most common genotype was 1b (70.4%). The fibrosis stage was F3 or F4 in 55.5% of
      patients; liver cirrhosis was present in 44%. The overall end of treatment
      response was 98.8%, and the rate of sustained virological response was 96%,
      independent of the regimen. Three patients did not achieve sustained virological
      response; they had cirrhosis and were treatment-experienced, and two had
      hepatocarcinoma. Non-significant adverse effects during treatment were
      documented. CONCLUSIONS: In this real-life setting in Mexico, a rate of 96% of
      sustained virological response to direct-acting antiviral agents was achieved in
      an older population of patients with advanced fibrosis. This study provides data
      that may be useful in guiding health professionals and authorities in the
      development of health policies.

PMID- 27623038
TI  - Clinical, Dialytic, and Laboratory Factors Associated With Poor Health-Related
      Quality of Life in Mexican Patients on Hemodialysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: End-stage renal disease and its treatment have a negative impact on
      the quality of life of patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical, dialytic,
      and laboratory factors associated with poor health-related quality of life in
      Mexican patients on hemodialysis. METHODS: A multicenter, cross-sectional study.
      The KDQOL-SF36 v1.3 questionnaire was applied to patients with end-stage renal
      disease on hemodialysis in different regions of Mexico. Patients were classified
      according to their overall score on the questionnaire: poor health-related
      quality of life (overall score below the median) or good health-related quality
      of life (overall score above the median). Clinical, dialytic, and laboratory
      variables associated with poor health-related quality of life were analyzed using
      linear correlation and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: We included 194
      adult patients with a median age of 55 (45-64) years. The diagnosis of poor
      health-related quality of life was present in 47.4% of patients. A poor
      correlation was found between the clinical, dialytic, and biochemical parameters
      and the health-related quality of life score (range of correlations r = -0.4 to
      0.2). Serum albumin level showed the highest number of weak, statistically
      significant correlations. Factors associated with poor health-related quality of
      life in the multivariate analysis were: time spent on hemodialysis (OR = 1.02;
      95% CI; 1.00-1.04; p = 0.02), use of a venous catheter (OR = 3.2; 95% CI: 1.36
      7.75; p = 0.01), and serum albumin < 4 g/dl (OR = 3.55; 95% CI: 1.44-8.74; p <
      0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Poor health-related quality of life was common in Mexican
      patients undergoing hemodialysis. No strong correlation was found between the
      clinical, dialytic, or laboratory factors with health-related quality of life.
      Factors associated with poor health-related quality of life were: time on
      hemodialysis, use of a venous catheter, and serum albumin level < 4 g/dl.

PMID- 27623040
TI  - IKAROS Gene Deleted B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Mexican Mestizos:
      Observations in Seven Patients and a Short Review of the Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the most frequent
      cytogenetic alterations is the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome. Recently,
      newly identified genetic alterations have been studied, among them the IKZF1
      deletion. IKZF1 encodes IKAROS, a zinc finger protein that plays an important
      role in hematopoiesis involving the regulation process of adhesion, cellular
      migration, and as a tumor suppressor. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to study the impact of
      IKAROS deletion in the evolution and prognosis of B-cell acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At a single center we prospectively studied
      patients diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and screened for
      IKZF1 deletion using the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification method.
      We did a descriptive analysis of patients positive for the IKZF1 deletion to
      determine its impact on the evolution of the disease and survival rate. RESULTS:
      Between 2010 and 2015, 16 Mexican mestizo patients with B-cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia were prospectively screened for IKZF1 deletion; seven
      (43%) were positive and were included for further analysis. The age range of
      patients was 13-60 years; six were males and one female. All cases had type B
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Of the seven patients, two died, three were lost to
      follow-up, and two continue in complete remission with treatment. Results are
      worse than those in a group of patients with non-mutated IKAROS B-cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia previously studied in our center. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      this is a small sample, the presence of IKAROS deletion in acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia patients could represent a poor-prognosis marker and was probably
      related to therapy failure. It is also possible that this variant of leukemia may
      be more prevalent in Mexico. More studies are needed to define the role of IKZF1
      deletion in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the real prevalence of the disease
      in different populations.

PMID- 27623041
TI  - Hepatitis C Virus-From Discovery to Cure: The 2016 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical
      Medical Research Award.

PMID- 27623042
TI  - Coprecipitation experiment with Sm hydroxide using a multitracer produced by
      nuclear spallation reaction: A tool for chemical studies with superheavy
      elements.
AB  - To establish a new methodology for superheavy element chemistry, the
      coprecipitation behaviors of 34 elements with samarium hydroxide were
      investigated using multitracer produced by a spallation of Ta. The chemical
      reactions were rapidly equilibrated within 10s for many elements. In addition,
      these elements exhibited individual coprecipitation behaviors, and the behaviors
      were qualitatively related to their hydroxide precipitation behaviors. It was
      demonstrated that the ammine and hydroxide complex formations of superheavy
      elements could be investigated using the established method.

PMID- 27623043
TI  - Breastdosimetry of 99mTc-balloon in complementary radiotherapy.
AB  - : Dose reinforcement in primary tumor cavity can complement conventional
      radiotherapy in patients with early breast cancer. In this study, a dosimetric
      analysis was conducted by pertechnetate-99mTc-filled balloon brachytherapy (TBB).
      METHODS: Dosimetry based on radiochromic films and on a computational voxel
      thorax model was performed. Calibration protocol achieved a mathematical
      relationship between dose and optical density in films placed on the surface at a
      distance of 0-9cm, 1cm between them, in which dose values were provided by
      MCNP(r) code. Moreover, experimental spatial dose distribution was prepared. A
      female thorax voxel model was developed in the SISCODES(r)/MCNP(r) codes.
      Additionally, experimental and computational doses at 8-10mm from balloon surface
      were compared. RESULTS: Dose from 99mTc-balloon, with 16mm diameter, 32.22GBq
      activity, and 24h exposure time, achieved 8.08+/-0.42 (Ue) and 8.82+/-1.76 (Ue)
      Gy, at a distance of 10mm from the balloon surface for the experimental data and
      computational modeling, respectively, thus showing nonsignificant difference. The
      spatial dose distribution in the chest wall, glandular tissue, breast skin, and
      lung was presented. The dosimetric findings supported the TBB modality presenting
      a suitable spatial dose distribution in the tumor bed and preserving the adjacent
      health tissues. CONCLUSION: TBB is a viable adjuvant brachytherapy modality for
      breast cancer in patients who have an appropriate indication.

PMID- 27623044
TI  - The relationship between pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia and subjective knee
      function during rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament
      reconstruction and meniscectomy: A pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Psychological responses to the initial injury and
      rehabilitation might be an important additional determinant of functional level
      outcomes after knee surgery. The objectives of this study were (1) to measure
      pain catastrophizing and kinesiophobia levels and (2) determine their association
      with self-reported subjective knee function during rehabilitation, following
      anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and meniscectomy. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study involved 41 participants. The levels of catastrophizing (Pain
      Catastrophizing Scale [PCS]), kinesiophobia (Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia [TSK
      11]), pain (Numeric Pain Rating Scale [NRS]), and subjective knee function (the
      Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score [KOOS]) were assessed before and
      after completion of 14-session rehabilitation program. RESULTS: The mean level of
      catastrophizing changed from 5.8 (SD, 0.9) to 4.2 (SD, 0.5) during rehabilitation
      (P<0.05). The mean level of kinesiophobia changed from 22.7 (SD, 0.7) to 18.4
      (SD, 0.6) (P<0.05). There was a moderate negative correlation between the PCS and
      the KOOS pain, function in daily living, knee-related quality of life subscales
      before and after rehabilitation (P<0.05). There was a moderate negative
      correlation between the TSK-11 score and the KOOS function in daily living
      subscale before and after rehabilitation (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Pain
      catastrophizing and kinesiophobia decreased during rehabilitation. A higher pain
      catastrophizing level correlated with a greater level of knee pain during
      activities, more difficulties experienced during daily activities before and
      after rehabilitation. A high level of kinesiophobia correlated with more
      difficulties experienced in daily activities and poorer knee-related quality of
      life before and after rehabilitation.

PMID- 27623045
TI  - Predictive value of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) for adverse cardiac events
      in patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
AB  - BACKGROUND: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a well-known biomarker to predict
      cardiac events following orthopedic procedures. However, further information
      regarding BNP can be completed. The present study aims to determine which of
      preoperative, postoperative or the difference between them (DVPPB) can best
      predict adverse cardiac events following TKA procedure and detect possible risk
      factors of high level of BNP. METHODS: Between Jan. 2012 and Jan. 2014. 1120
      included patients in 3 institutions have a minimum of 2-years follow-up. All
      clinical characteristics related to TKA procedure were put in total joint
      arthroplasty registry system and analyzed finally. The cut-off value of BNP
      predicting patients at increased risks of cardiac events after TKA was evaluated
      by the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Our
      results reveal DVPPB in comparison to preoperative and postoperative BNP can best
      predict cardiac events following primary TKA, and the optimal cut-off value was
      825.5 pg/ml with the highest Youden index of 0.62. Cigarette smoking, ASA
      III/IV/V, prior history of cardiac events, general anesthesia, surgery time, and
      tourniquet time are risk factors for DVPPB > 825.5 pg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: DVPPB in
      comparison to preoperative and postoperative BNP can best predict cardiac events
      following primary TKA. Cigarette smoking, ASA III/IV/V, prior history of cardiac
      events, general anesthesia, surgery time, and tourniquet time are risk factors
      for DVPPB > 825.5 pg/ml. We hope these results could be helpful to optimize
      health care among patients undergoing primary TKA.

PMID- 27623047
TI  - Modeling latency code processing in the electric sense: from the biological
      template to its VLSI implementation.
AB  - Understanding the coding of sensory information under the temporal constraints of
      natural behavior is not yet well resolved. There is a growing consensus that
      spike timing or latency coding can maximally exploit the timing of neural events
      to make fast computing elements and that such mechanisms are essential to
      information processing functions in the brain. The electric sense of mormyrid
      fish provides a convenient biological model where this coding scheme can be
      studied. The sensory input is a physically ordered spatial pattern of current
      densities, which is coded in the precise timing of primary afferent spikes. The
      neural circuits of the processing pathway are well known and the system exhibits
      the best known illustration of corollary discharge, which provides the reference
      to decoding the sensory afferent latency pattern. A theoretical model has been
      constructed from available electrophysiological and neuroanatomical data to
      integrate the principal traits of the neural processing structure and to study
      sensory interaction with motor-command-driven corollary discharge signals. This
      has been used to explore neural coding strategies at successive stages in the
      network and to examine the simulated network capacity to reproduce output neuron
      responses. The model shows that the network has the ability to resolve primary
      afferent spike timing differences in the sub-millisecond range, and that this
      depends on the coincidence of sensory and corollary discharge-driven gating
      signals. In the integrative and output stages of the network, corollary discharge
      sets up a proactive background filter, providing temporally structured excitation
      and inhibition within the network whose balance is then modulated locally by
      sensory input. This complements the initial gating mechanism and contributes to
      amplification of the input pattern of latencies, conferring network hyperacuity.
      These mechanisms give the system a robust capacity to extract behaviorally
      meaningful features of the electric image with high sensitivity over a broad
      working range. Since the network largely depends on spike timing, we finally
      discuss its suitability for implementation in robotic applications based on
      neuromorphic hardware.

PMID- 27623046
TI  - Cognitive control network anatomy correlates with neurocognitive behavior: A
      longitudinal study.
AB  - Cognitive control is the process of employing executive functions, such as
      attention, planning or working memory, to guide appropriate behaviors in order to
      achieve a specific goal. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies suggest a
      superordinate cognitive control network, comprising the dorsal regions of the
      lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and parietal
      cortex (DPC). How gray matter structure changes across this network throughout
      neurodevelopment and how these changes impact cognitive control are not yet fully
      understood. Here we investigate changes in gray matter volume of the key nodes of
      the cognitive control network using structural MRI scans from 176 participants
      aged 8-38 years. One hundred and eleven of these also completed a longitudinal
      follow-up at two years. We compare these with performance on a cognitive battery
      also measured at these two time points. We found that volume decreases in the
      cognitive control network were associated with improved performance in executive
      function (in left DLPFC and bilateral DPC), information processing (in bilateral
      dACC and right DPC) and emotion identification tasks (left DLPFC). These results
      were significant after controlling for age. Furthermore, gray matter changes were
      coordinated across the network. These findings imply age-independent synaptic
      pruning in the cognitive control network may have a role in improving performance
      in cognitive domains. This study provides insight into the direct impact of
      structural changes on behavior within this network during neurodevelopment and
      provides a normative evidence base to better understand development of cognitive
      dysfunction in brain disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 38:631-643, 2017. (c) 2016 The
      Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623048
TI  - Magnetic field sensing subject to correlated noise with a ring spin chain.
AB  - In this paper, we focus on the magnetic field sensing subject to a correlated
      noise. We use a ring spin chain with only the nearest neighbor interactions as
      our probe to estimate both the intensity B and the direction theta of the
      magnetic field when the probe reaches its steady state. We numerically calculate
      the quantum Fisher information (QFI) to characterize the estimation precision. On
      the one hand, for estimating B, we find that the coupling between spins in the
      probe plays an important role in the precision, and the largest value of the QFI
      can be achieved when theta = pi/2 together with an optimal coupling. Moreover,
      for any direction, the precision scaling can be better than the Heisenberg-limit
      (HL) with a proper coupling. On the other hand, for estimating theta, we find
      that our probe can perform a high precision detection for theta ~ pi/2, with the
      QFI much larger than that for any other directions, especially when the coupling
      is tuned to the optimal value. And we find that the precision scaling for theta ~
      pi/2 can be better than the HL, but for other directions, the precision scaling
      is only limited to the standard quantum limit (SQL). Due to the computational
      complexity we restrict the number of spins in the probe to 60.

PMID- 27623050
TI  - Four Is Better Than 1-Strength in Numbers!

PMID- 27623049
TI  - Latent typologies of posttraumatic stress disorder in World Trade Center
      responders.
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating and often chronic
      psychiatric disorder. Following the 9/11/2001 World Trade Center (WTC) attacks,
      thousands of individuals were involved in rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts.
      While a growing body of literature has documented the prevalence and correlates
      of PTSD in WTC responders, no study has evaluated predominant typologies of PTSD
      in this population. Participants were 4352 WTC responders with probable WTC
      related DSM-IV PTSD. Latent class analyses were conducted to identify predominant
      typologies of PTSD symptoms and associated correlates. A 3-class solution
      provided the optimal representation of latent PTSD symptom typologies. The first
      class, labeled "High-Symptom (n = 1,973, 45.3%)," was characterized by high
      probabilities of all PTSD symptoms. The second class, "Dysphoric (n = 1,371,
      31.5%)," exhibited relatively high probabilities of emotional numbing and
      dysphoric arousal (e.g., sleep disturbance). The third class, "Threat (n = 1,008,
      23.2%)," was characterized by high probabilities of re-experiencing, avoidance
      and anxious arousal (e.g., hypervigilance). Compared to the Threat class, the
      Dysphoric class reported a greater number of life stressors after 9/11/2001 (OR =
      1.06). The High-Symptom class was more likely than the Threat class to have a
      positive psychiatric history before 9/11/2001 (OR = 1.7) and reported a greater
      number of life stressors after 9/11/2001 (OR = 1.1). The High-Symptom class was
      more likely than the Dysphoric class, which was more likely than the Threat
      class, to screen positive for depression (83% > 74% > 53%, respectively), and to
      report greater functional impairment (High-Symptom > Dysphoric [Cohen d = 0.19],
      Dysphoric > Threat [Cohen d = 0.24]). These results may help inform assessment,
      risk stratification, and treatment approaches for PTSD in WTC and disaster
      responders.

PMID- 27623051
TI  - Correction To Wood-Derived Materials for Green Electronics, Biological Devices,
      and Energy Applications.

PMID- 27623053
TI  - Antibiotic Discovery for Mycobacteria.

PMID- 27623052
TI  - Plasmonic Nanoantennas Enable Forbidden Forster Dipole-Dipole Energy Transfer and
      Enhance the FRET Efficiency.
AB  - Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) plays a key role in biochemistry,
      organic photovoltaics, and lighting sources. FRET is commonly used as a nanoruler
      for the short (nanometer) distance between donor and acceptor dyes, yet FRET is
      equally sensitive to the mutual dipole orientation. The orientation dependence
      complicates the FRET analysis in biological samples and may even lead to the
      absence of FRET for perpendicularly oriented donor and acceptor dipoles. Here, we
      exploit the strongly inhomogeneous and localized fields in plasmonic nanoantennas
      to open new energy transfer routes, overcoming the limitations from the mutual
      dipole orientation to ultimately enhance the FRET efficiency. We demonstrate that
      the simultaneous presence of perpendicular near-field components in the
      nanoantenna sets favorable energy transfer routes that increase the FRET
      efficiency up to 50% for nearly perpendicular donor and acceptor dipoles. This
      new facet of plasmonic nanoantennas enables dipole-dipole energy transfer that
      would otherwise be forbidden in a homogeneous environment. As such, our approach
      further increases the applicability of single-molecule FRET over diffraction
      limited approaches, with the additional benefits of higher sensitivities and
      higher concentration ranges toward physiological levels.

PMID- 27623054
TI  - The Death of the "Three Ms".

PMID- 27623055
TI  - Identification of Novel Anti-mycobacterial Compounds by Screening a
      Pharmaceutical Small-Molecule Library against Nonreplicating Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis.
AB  - Identification of compounds that target metabolically diverse subpopulations of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) may contribute to shortening the course of
      treatment for tuberculosis. This study screened 270,000 compounds from
      GlaxoSmithKline's collection against Mtb in a nonreplicating (NR) state imposed
      in vitro by a combination of four host-relevant stresses. Evaluation of 166
      confirmed hits led to detailed characterization of 19 compounds for potency,
      specificity, cytotoxicity, and stability. Compounds representing five scaffolds
      depended on reactive nitrogen species for selective activity against NR Mtb, and
      two were stable in the assay conditions. Four novel scaffolds with activity
      against replicating (R) Mtb were also identified. However, none of the 19
      compounds was active against Mtb in both NR and R states. There was minimal
      overlap between compounds found active against NR Mtb and those previously
      identified as active against R Mtb, supporting the hypothesis that NR Mtb depends
      on distinct metabolic pathways for survival. 

PMID- 27623056
TI  - Peptide Targeting of an Antibiotic Prodrug toward Phagosome-Entrapped
      Mycobacteria.
AB  - Mycobacterial infections are difficult to treat due to the bacterium's slow
      growth, ability to reside in intracellular compartments within macrophages, and
      resistance mechanisms that limit the effectiveness of conventional antibiotics.
      Developing antibiotics that overcome these challenges is therefore critical to
      providing a pipeline of effective antimicrobial agents. Here, we describe the
      synthesis and testing of a unique peptide-drug conjugate that exhibits high
      levels of antimicrobial activity against M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis as well
      as clearance of intracellular mycobacteria from cultured macrophages. Using an
      engineered peptide sequence, we deliver a potent DHFR inhibitor and target the
      intracellular phagosomes where mycobacteria reside and also incorporate a beta
      lactamase-cleavable cephalosporin linker to enhance the targeting of quiescent
      intracellular beta-lactam-resistant mycobacteria. By using this type of prodrug
      approach to target intracellular mycobacterial infections, the emergence of
      antibacterial resistance mechanisms could be minimized. 

PMID- 27623058
TI  - Whole Cell Target Engagement Identifies Novel Inhibitors of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis Decaprenylphosphoryl-beta-d-ribose Oxidase.
AB  - We have targeted the Mycobacterium tuberculosis decaprenylphosphoryl-beta-d
      ribose oxidase (Mt-DprE1) for potential chemotherapeutic intervention of
      tuberculosis. A multicopy suppression strategy that overexpressed Mt-DprE1 in M.
      bovis BCG was used to profile the publically available GlaxoSmithKline
      antimycobacterial compound set, and one compound (GSK710) was identified that
      showed an 8-fold higher minimum inhibitory concentration relative to the control
      strain. Analogues of GSK710 show a clear relationship between whole cell potency
      and in vitro activity using an enzymatic assay employing recombinant Mt-DprE1,
      with binding affinity measured by fluorescence quenching of the flavin cofactor
      of the enzyme. M. bovis BCG spontaneous resistant mutants to GSK710 and a closely
      related analogue were isolated and sequencing of ten such mutants revealed a
      single point mutation at two sites, E221Q or G248S within DprE1, providing
      further evidence that DprE1 is the main target of these compounds. Finally, time
      lapse microscopy experiments showed that exposure of M. tuberculosis to a
      compound of this series arrests bacterial growth rapidly followed by a slower
      cytolysis phase. 

PMID- 27623057
TI  - Boosting Effect of 2-Phenylquinoline Efflux Inhibitors in Combination with
      Macrolides against Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium.
AB  - The identification of efflux inhibitors to be used as adjuvants alongside
      existing drug regimens could have a tremendous value in the treatment of any
      mycobacterial infection. Here, we investigated the ability of four 2-(4'
      propoxyphenyl)quinoline Staphylococcus aureus NorA efflux inhibitors (1-4) to
      reduce the efflux activity in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium
      strains. All four compounds were able to inhibit efflux pumps in both
      mycobacterial species; in particular, O-ethylpiperazinyl derivative 2 showed an
      efflux inhibitory activity comparable to that of verapamil, the most potent
      mycobacterial efflux inhibitor reported to date, and was able to significantly
      reduce the MIC values of macrolides against different M. avium strains. The
      contribution of the M. avium efflux pumps MAV_1406 and MAV_1695 to clarithromycin
      resistance was proved because they were found to be overexpressed in two M. avium
      104 isogenic strains showing high-level clarithromycin resistance. These results
      indicated a correlation between increased expression of efflux pumps, increased
      efflux, macrolide resistance, and reduction of resistance by efflux pump
      inhibitors such as compound 2. Additionally, compound 2 showed synergistic
      activity with clarithromycin, at a concentration below the cytotoxicity
      threshold, in an ex vivo experiment against M. avium 104-infected macrophages. In
      summary, the 2-(4'-propoxyphenyl)quinoline scaffold is suitable to obtain
      compounds endowed with good efflux pump inhibitory activity against both S.
      aureus and nontuberculous mycobacteria. 

PMID- 27623059
TI  - Formation and Properties of Vesicles from Cyclic Amphiphilic PS-PEO Block
      Copolymers.
AB  - Linear polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide)-polystyrene (PS-PEO-PS) block copolymers
      and corresponding cyclized PS-PEO counterparts with three different PS molecular
      weights were synthesized and self-assembled to investigate the effects arising
      from the topology. Linear PS5-PEO45-PS5 (L1) and cyclic PS10-PEO45 (C1) formed
      micelles. As previously reported for poly(n-butyl acrylate) and PEO block
      copolymers, the micelles from C1 showed more than 30  degrees C higher phase
      transition temperature (cloud point, Tc) than those from L1. Linear PS10-PEO45
      PS10 (L2) and cyclic PS20-PEO45 (C2) resulted in the formation of a structure
      called large compound micelles. Self-assembly of linear PS40-PEO48-PS40 (L3) and
      cyclic PS86-PEO48 (C3) lead to the formation of vesicles. The vesicles were
      characterized by TEM, DLS, and SLS. Remarkably, the vesicles from L3 (Tc = 69,
      59, and 48  degrees C in the presence of 1, 5, and 10 wt % of NaCl, respectively)
      were found to be somewhat more thermally stable than those from C3 (Tc = 62, 52,
      and 43  degrees C in the presence of 1, 5, and 10 wt % of NaCl, respectively).
      This trend of the thermal stability was counterintuitively opposed to the case of
      the micelles. Moreover, Tc of the vesicles was controlled by the ratio of L3 and
      C3.

PMID- 27623060
TI  - Withanolides from the stems and leaves of Physalis pubescens and their cytotoxic
      activity.
AB  - A phytochemical study of Physalis pubescens L. afforded twelve compounds,
      including six new withanolides (1, 4, and 6i-9), four new withanolide glucosides
      (2, 3, 5, and 6), and two known withanolides (10 and 11). Their structures were
      established via extensive spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configuration of 3
      was assigned using X-ray crystallography, and the absolute configurations of the
      1,2-diol moiety in 1 were determined using the in situ dimolybdenum electronic
      circular dichroism method. Compounds 7, 9, and 10 exhibited significant
      cytotoxicity against human prostate cancer cells (C4-2B and 22Rvl), human renal
      carcinoma cells (786-O, A-498, Caki-2, and ACHN), human melanoma cells (A375 and
      A375-S2), and human normal hepatic cell line (L02) with IC50 values in the range
      of 0.17-5.30MUM.

PMID- 27623061
TI  - Synthetic stigmasterol derivatives inhibit capillary tube formation, herpetic
      corneal neovascularization and tumor induced angiogenesis: Antiangiogenic
      stigmasterol derivatives.
AB  - Angiogenesis plays a critical role in initiating and promoting several diseases,
      such as cancer and herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK). Herein, we studied the
      inhibitory effect of two synthetic stigmasterol derivatives on capillary tube
      like structures and on cell migration in human umbilical vein endothelial cells
      (HUVEC): (22S,23S)-22,23-dihydroxystigmast-4-en-3-one (compound 1) and (22S,23S)
      3beta-bromo-5alpha,22,23-trihydroxystigmastan-6-one (compound 2). We also studied
      their effect on VEGF expression in IL-6 stimulated macrophages and in LMM3 breast
      cancer cells. Furthermore, we investigated the antiangiogenic activity of the
      compounds on corneal neovascularization in the murine model of HSK and in an
      experimental model of tumor-induced angiogenesis in mice. Both compounds
      inhibited capillary tube-like formation, but only compound 1 restrained cell
      migration. Compound 1, unlike compound 2, was able to reduce VEGF expression.
      Only compound 1 not only reduced the incidence and severity of corneal
      neovascularization, when administered at the onset of HSK, but it also restrained
      the development of neovascular response induced by tumor cells in mice skin. Our
      results show that compound 1 inhibits angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo.
      Therefore, compound 1 would be a promising drug in the treatment of those
      diseases where angiogenesis represents one of the main pathogenic events.

PMID- 27623062
TI  - Combination of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and solid-phase
      microextraction: An efficient hyphenated sample preparation method.
AB  - Two well-known microextraction methods, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction
      (DLLME) and solid-phase microextraction (SPME), were combined, resulting in as an
      encouraging method. The method, named DLLME-SPME, was performed based on total
      vaporization technique. For the DLLME step, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane and
      acetonitrile were used as extraction and disperser solvents, respectively.
      Halloysite nanotubes-titanium dioxide was used as the fiber coating in the SPME
      step. The method was applied for the extraction of diazinon and parathion (as the
      test compounds) in environmental water samples and fruit juices, and gas
      chromatography-corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry was used as the
      determination apparatus. Desorption temperature and time, extraction temperature
      and time, and the volume of the extracting solvent in the DLLME step were
      optimized as the effective parameters on the extraction efficiency. The relative
      standard deviations (RSDs) of intra-day were found to be 4-7% and 6-8% for
      diazinon and parathion, respectively. Also, the RSDs of inter-day were 7-9% and 8
      10% for diazinon and parathion, respectively. The limits of quantification and
      detection were obtained to be 0.015 and 0.005MUgL(-1) for diazinon, and 0.020 and
      0.007MUgL(-1) for parathion. A good linearity range (r(2)?0.993) was obtained in
      the range of 0.015-3.000 and 0.020-3.000MUgL(-1) for diazinon and parathion,
      respectively. The high enrichment factors were obtained as 3150 and 2965 for
      diazinon and parathion, respectively. This method showed high sensitivity with
      good recovery values (between 87 and 99%) for the extraction of target analytes
      in the real samples. Overall, the results revealed that the developed DLLME-SPME
      method had better extraction efficiency than DLLME and SPME alone. 

PMID- 27623063
TI  - Analytical method for the trace determination of esterified 3- and 2
      monochloropropanediol and glycidyl fatty acid esters in various food matrices.
AB  - Fatty acid esters of 3-monochloro-1,2-propanediol (3-MCPDEs), of 2-monochloro-1,3
      propanediol (2-MCPDEs) and of 2,3-epoxy-1-propanol or glycidol (GEs), which are
      considered to be deleterious to human health, may occur in a broad variety of
      food samples. A proper risk assessment of those substances requires the
      availability of robust occurrence data; in this respect concerns have been raised
      regarding the reliability of results obtained with the currently available
      methods to determine those substances in processed food. This article presents an
      indirect analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination of 3-MCPDEs, 2
      MCPDEs and GEs in a wide variety of food products after extraction by pressurised
      liquid extraction (PLE) and determination by gas chromatography mass-spectrometry
      (GC-MS). For the differentiation of MCPDEs and GEs, the latter were first
      converted to monobromopropanediol esters (MBPDEs) in acid aqueous solution of
      sodium bromide. MCPDEs and MBPDEs were then hydrolysed under acidic conditions
      followed by derivatisation of the released free (non-esterified) form in ethyl
      acetate with phenyl boronic acid (PBA). Quantification of the analytes was
      carried out using the isotopic labelled analogues of both MCPDEs and GEs. Limits
      of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of 7
      17mgkg(-1) and 13-31mgkg(-1) respectively, while the working range of the method
      was between LOQ and 1850mgkg(-1) expressed on fat basis. The developed method was
      successfully applied for the analysis of the target compounds in more than 650
      different food samples covering the following commodities: bread and rolls, fine
      bakery wares, smoked fish products, fried and roasted meat, potato based snacks
      and fried potato products, cereal-based snacks and margarines. 

PMID- 27623064
TI  - Transesterification of propylene glycol methyl ether in chromatographic reactors
      using anion exchange resin as a catalyst.
AB  - Reactive chromatography using an anion exchange resin is proposed for a
      transesterification reaction of propylene glycol methyl ether (DOWANOLTM PM) with
      ethyl acetate to produce propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (DOWANOLTM PMA).
      This reaction is studied in batch and chromatographic reactors catalyzed by an
      anion exchange resin. Several anion exchange resins are tested and compared based
      on the performance of resin as an adsorbent and a catalyst. A chromatographic
      column is packed with a selected catalyst, AMBERLITETM IRA904, and both reaction
      and chromatographic elution are studied at different temperatures and feed
      concentrations. The resulting chromatograms are fitted to a mathematical model to
      obtain adsorption equilibrium and reaction kinetic parameters by the inverse
      method. Compared to esterification investigated in a previous study,
      transesterification has advantages such as a higher conversion at lower
      temperature and easy removal of the byproduct which may lead to higher
      productivity. Deactivation of anion exchange resins is observed and potential
      solutions are suggested. 

PMID- 27623065
TI  - Extended-nano chromatography.
AB  - A novel liquid chromatographic method utilizing the extended-nano space called
      extended-nano chromatography, encompassing the 10-1000nm region, has emerged
      recently. It utilizes an extended-nano fluidic channel, which is fabricated on a
      glass chip, as a separation column. The advantages of extended-nano
      chromatography are that it uses extremely small sample volumes (attoliter to
      femtoliter) and demonstrate high separation efficiency. In this review, the
      fundamentals of extended-nano chromatography are summarized. Instrumentations to
      realize attoliter sample injections and sensitive detection methods are
      described. A fabrication method for nanochannel separation columns, including
      substrate-bonding and surface modification, is also introduced. A highly
      efficient separation was performed within several seconds, as predicted by the
      theory. Future perspectives, including living single cell analysis and ultrahigh
      performance separation, are also discussed.

PMID- 27623066
TI  - A comprehensive strategy in the development of a cyclodextrin-modified
      microemulsion electrokinetic chromatographic method for the assay of diclofenac
      and its impurities: Mixture-process variable experiments and quality by design.
AB  - A comprehensive strategy involving the use of mixture-process variable (MPV)
      approach and Quality by Design principles has been applied in the development of
      a capillary electrophoresis method for the simultaneous determination of the anti
      inflammatory drug diclofenac and its five related substances. The selected
      operative mode consisted in microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography with the
      addition of methyl-beta-cyclodextrin. The critical process parameters included
      both the mixture components (MCs) of the microemulsion and the process variables
      (PVs). The MPV approach allowed the simultaneous investigation of the effects of
      MCs and PVs on the critical resolution between diclofenac and its 2-deschloro-2
      bromo analogue and on analysis time. MPV experiments were used both in the
      screening phase and in the Response Surface Methodology, making it possible to
      draw MCs and PVs contour plots and to find important interactions between MCs and
      PVs. Robustness testing was carried out by MPV experiments and validation was
      performed following International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines. The
      method was applied to a real sample of diclofenac gastro-resistant tablets. 

PMID- 27623067
TI  - Most Cleaved Anti-Mullerian Hormone Binds Its Receptor in Human Follicular Fluid
      but Little Is Competent in Serum.
AB  - CONTEXT: Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is an important clinical marker for
      diagnosing and assessing the reproductive status and/or disorders in men and
      women. Most studies have not distinguished between levels of inactive AMH
      precursor and the cleaved noncovalent complex that binds the AMH type II receptor
      (AMHRII) and initiates signaling. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to
      measure the levels of AMH cleavage and bioactivity in human body fluids. DESIGN,
      SETTING, AND PATIENTS: AMH cleavage levels and bioactivity were measured in the
      serum of six boys and in the follicular fluid and serum of nine control women and
      13 women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: AMH
      cleavage levels were measured by capturing AMH with an anti-AMH antibody,
      followed by Western blotting. The bioactivity of cleaved AMH was assessed with an
      ELISA that measures the levels of AMH capable of binding AMHRII. RESULTS: PCOS
      women have an elevated level of AMH cleavage in their follicular fluid (24% vs 8%
      in control women), and most of the cleaved AMH can bind AMHRII. Higher levels of
      cleavage are observed in female (60%) and male (79%) serum, but very little of
      the cleaved AMH can bind AMHRII. CONCLUSIONS: These results support an autocrine
      role for AMH in the pathophysiology of PCOS in the follicle. In addition, they
      indicate that AMH undergoes interactions or structural changes after cleavage
      that prevent receptor binding, meaning, unexpectedly, that the level of cleaved
      AMH in biological fluids does not always reflect the level of bioactive AMH.

PMID- 27623068
TI  - Age- and Gender-Specific Risk of Thyroid Cancer in Patients With Familial
      Adenomatous Polyposis.
AB  - CONTEXT: The cribriform-morula variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (CMV-PTC)
      is a rare variant of PTC and is associated with familial adenomatous polyposis
      (FAP). However, the incidence and the nature of CMV-PTC among FAP patients have
      not been well characterized. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine
      the incidence and characteristics of thyroid cancer screened by neck
      ultrasonography for FAP patients. Design, Patients, and Intervention: A total of
      129 FAP patients were included in this study. Neck ultrasonography was performed
      using a 12.0-MHz transducer probe. Germline APC gene mutation was examined for by
      the protein truncation test or DNA sequencing methods. DESIGN, PATIENTS, AND
      INTERVENTION: A total of 129 FAP patients were included in this study. Neck
      ultrasonography was performed using a 12.0-MHz transducer probe. Germline APC
      gene mutation was examined for by the protein truncation test or DNA sequencing
      methods. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients (16.3%) had solid nodules, and 24 patients
      (18.6%) had benign cystic nodules. In total, PTC was found in 11 patients (16% of
      the women and 0% of the men), 8 of which were CMV-PTC and the rest were classical
      PTC. In 17 female patients with thyroid nodules, CMV-PTC occurred in 8 of 9
      patients who were 35 years age or younger but in none of the 8 patients who were
      older than 35 (P = .0004 by Fisher's exact test). The APC germline mutations in 8
      patients with CMV-PTC were present at the 5' side of the profuse type of FAP
      region (codons 1249-1330). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CMV-PTC in FAP patients
      was higher than previously reported and this type of tumor was found
      preferentially in younger (under age 35) female patients with FAP in this cohort.

PMID- 27623069
TI  - Exploring Inpatient Hospitalizations and Morbidity in Patients With Adrenal
      Insufficiency.
AB  - CONTEXT: Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) (primary AI [PAI], secondary AI
      due to a pituitary disorder [PIT] and congenital adrenal hyperplasia [CAH]) have
      reduced life expectancy; however, the underlying explanation remains unknown.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate characteristics, comorbidities, and hospitalizations in AI
      patients. DESIGN: Retrospective observational. SETTING AND POPULATION: Using a
      United States-based national payer database comprising of more than 108 million
      members, strict inclusion criteria including diagnostic codes and steroid
      prescription records were used to identify 10 383 adults with AI; 1014 with PAI,
      8818 with PIT, and 551 with CAH. Patients were matched 1:1 to controls, based on
      age (+/-5 y), gender, insurance, and region and followed for more than 12 months.
      INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic variables, comorbidities
      (diabetes mellitus [DM] types 1 and 2, depression, anxiety, hyperlipidemia,
      hypertension) and hospitalization incidence. RESULTS: Compared with controls,
      patients with AI had higher odds of DM, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia,
      depression, and anxiety, ranging from an odds ratio (OR) of 1.51 for
      hyperlipidaemia in PAI to 3.85 for DM in CAH. Odds of having DM (OR, 3.85; 95%
      confidence interval, 2.52-5.90) or anxiety (OR, 2.99; 95% confidence interval,
      2.02-4.42) compared with controls were highest in CAH, whereas depression was
      highest in PAI and PIT (OR, 2.40 and 2.55). ORs of hyperlipidaemia and
      hypertension (OR, 1.98 and 2.24) were highest in the PIT cohort. Inpatient
      admissions were more frequent in PAI (4.64:1; P < .0001) and PIT (4.00:1; P <
      .0001) than controls; infection was the most common cause for admission.
      CONCLUSION: Patients with AI carry a significant metabolic and psychiatric
      burden, with higher risk of comorbidities and hospital admissions than matched
      controls.

PMID- 27623070
TI  - Age-dependent Increases in Adrenal Cytochrome b5 and Serum 5-Androstenediol-3
      sulfate.
AB  - CONTEXT: Adrenal production of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) increases
      throughout childhood owing to expansion of the zona reticularis (ZR). ZR features
      cells with a steroidogenic phenotype distinct from that of the adjacent zona
      fasciculata, with higher expression of cytochrome b5 type A (CYB5A) and steroid
      sulfotransferase type 2A1 but decreased 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2
      (HSD3B2). In addition to DHEA-S, three adrenal Delta5-steroid sulfates could
      provide additional tools to define adrenal maturation. OBJECTIVE: This study
      sought to simultaneously measure serum levels of four adrenal Delta5-steroid
      sulfates, pregnenolone sulfate (Preg-S), 17alpha-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate
      (17OHPreg-S), DHEA-S, and 5-androstenediol-3-sulfate (Adiol-S) as a function of
      age and relate their production to the age-dependent adrenal localization of
      CYB5A. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Delta5-steroid sulfates were quantified by
      liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in sera from 247 normal children
      (129 males,118 females) age 1.5-18 y and 42 adults (20 males, 22 females).
      Immunofluorescence localized HSD3B2 and CYB5A in normal adrenal glands from
      subjects age 2-35 y. Finally, HAC15 adrenocortical cells were transduced with
      lentiviral short hairpin RNA to suppress CYB5A expression. RESULTS: Of the Delta5
      steroid sulfates quantified, DHEA-S was most abundant. Adiol-S increased in
      parallel with DHEA-S. Steroid ratios (17OHPreg-S/DHEA-S) suggested increases in
      17,20-lyase activity during childhood. Immunofluorescence analysis showed age
      related increases in ZR CYB5A immunoreactivity. Furthermore, silencing CYB5A in
      HAC15 adrenocortical cells significantly reduced DHEA-S and Adiol-S production.
      CONCLUSION: Adiol-S shows a similar age-related increase to that of DHEA-S. This
      likely results from the childhood expansion of CYB5A-expressing ZR, which
      enhances 17,20-lyase activity and the production of DHEA-S and Adiol-S.

PMID- 27623072
TI  - Association between cyclin D1 (CCND1) G870A polymorphism and gastric cancer risk:
      a meta-analysis.
AB  - Published data on the association between cyclin D1 (CCND1) G870A polymorphism
      and gastric cancer (GC) risk are inconclusive. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis
      to evaluate the relationship between CCND1 G870A polymorphism and GC risk. We
      searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science and the Cochrane Library up to June 12,
      2015 for relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
      were used to estimate the strength of associations. Nine studies published from
      2003 to 2014, with a total of 1813 cases and 2173 controls, were included in this
      meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that there was no association between
      CCND1 G870A polymorphism and GC risk in any genetic model. The subgroup analysis
      stratified by ethnicity showed an increased breast cancer risk in Caucasian based
      on heterozygote comparison (GA vs. GG: OR=1.49, 95% CI=1.06-2.10, P=0.02). We
      found the same association in population based (PB) stratified analyses by Source
      of controls (AA vs. GG: OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.01-1.93, 0.05). When stratifying by the
      type, Sex and H. pylori infection in dominant model, Interestingly, we found the
      opposite result in Male (AA + GA vs. GG: OR=0.5, 95% CI=0.33-0.76, P=0.001),
      there were no association between CCND1 G870A polymorphism and GC risk in any
      other subgroup. This meta-analysis suggests that CCND1 G870A polymorphism is a
      risk factor for susceptibility to GC in Caucasians and in general populations.
      While, CCND1 G870A polymorphism plays a possible protective effect in GC in Male.
      Further large scale multicenter epidemiological studies are warranted to confirm
      this finding.

PMID- 27623071
TI  - SP110 and PMP22 polymorphisms are associated with tuberculosis risk in a Chinese
      Tibetan population.
AB  - Susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) is partially dependent on host genetic
      variability. SP110 and PMP22 are candidate genes identified in this study as
      associated with human susceptibility to TB. Here we performed an association
      analysis in a case-control study of a Tibetan population (217 cases and 383
      controls). Using bioinformatics methods, we identified two SNPs in SP110 that may
      decrease susceptibility to TB (rs4327230, p<0.001, OR: 0.37, 95%CI: 0.25-0.55;
      rs2114591, p<0.001, OR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.45-0.78), whereas one SNP in PMP22
      appeared to increase TB risk (rs13422, p=0.003, OR: 1.45, 95%CI: 1.14-1.84). SNPs
      rs4327230 and rs2114591 remained significant after Bonferroni correction
      (p<0.00178). We found that the "GC" haplotype in SP110 was protective against TB,
      with a 64% reduction in disease risk. "CA" and "CG" in PMP22 were also associated
      with a protective effect. Our study indicates there is an association between
      specific gene polymorphisms and TB risk in a Tibetan population, and may help to
      identify those TB-affected individuals most susceptible to disease.

PMID- 27623073
TI  - Interferon-gamma deficiency protects against aging-related goblet cell loss.
AB  - Aging is a well-recognized risk factor for dry eye. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)
      has been implicated in conjunctival keratinization and goblet cell loss in dry
      eye. We investigated the role of IFN-gamma in age-related dry eye by evaluating
      young (8 weeks) and aged (15 months; 15M) C57BL/6 (B6) and IFN-gammaKO mice. Age
      effects on the conjunctiva and cornea epithelium were assessed with PAS staining
      and corneal staining, respectively. Expression of T cell-related cytokines (IL
      17A, IFN-gamma), chemokines (CXCL10 and CCL20), in the ocular surface epithelium
      was evaluated by real time PCR. A significant decrease in filled goblet cells was
      noted in 15M B6 mice and this was significantly lower than age and sex-matched
      IFN-gammaKO mice. Aged male B6 had significantly higher IFN-gamma, and CXCL10
      mRNA in their conjunctiva than female B6 mice. Aged IFN-gammaKO females had
      significantly higher IL-17A mRNA in conjunctiva than IFN-gammaKO males and B6
      mice. Corneal barrier dysfunction was observed in 15M female B6 and aged IFN
      gammaKO mice of both sexes; however it was significantly higher in IFN-gammaKO
      compared to B6 mice. While there was a significant increase in IL 17A, and CCL20
      in corneas of aged female B6 and IFN-gammaKO mice compared to males, these
      changes were more evident in aged female IFN-gammaKO group.Partial resistance of
      IFN-gammaKO mice to aging-induced goblet cell loss indicates IFN-gamma is
      involved in the age-related decline in conjunctival goblet cells. Increased
      corneal IL-17A expression paralleled corneal barrier disruption in aging female
      of both strains. IFN-gamma appears to suppress IL-17A on the ocular surface.

PMID- 27623074
TI  - inFRank: a ranking-based identification of influential genes in biological
      networks.
AB  - Capturing the predominant driver genes is critical in the analysis of high
      throughput experimental data; however, existing methods scarcely include the
      unique characters of biological networks. Herein we introduced a ranking-based
      computational framework (inFRank) to rank the proteins by their influence. Using
      inFRank, we identified the top 20 influential genes in hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). Network analysis revealed a prominent community composed of 7 influential
      genes. Intriguingly, five genes among the community were critical for mitotic
      spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), suggesting that dysregulation of SAC could be
      a distinct feature of HCC and targeting SAC-associated genes might be a promising
      therapeutic strategy. Cox regression analysis revealed that CDC20 exerted as an
      independent risk factor for patient survival, indicating that CDC20 could be a
      novel biomarker for HCC prognosis. inFRank was then used for pan-cancer study,
      and all of the most influential genes in 18 cancers were achieved. We identified
      altogether 19 genes that were important in multiple cancers, and observed that
      cancers originating from the same organ or function-related organs tended to
      share more influential genes. Collectively, our results demonstrated that the
      inFRank was a powerful approach for deep interpretation of high-throughput data
      and better understanding of complex diseases.

PMID- 27623075
TI  - Neuropeptide Y-mediated sex- and afferent-specific neurotransmissions contribute
      to sexual dimorphism of baroreflex afferent function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuropeptide-Y (NPY)-mediated
      gender-difference in blood pressure (BP) regulation are largely unknown. METHODS:
      Baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS) was evaluated by measuring the response of BP to
      phenylephrine/nitroprusside. Serum NPY concentration was determined using ELISA.
      The mRNA and protein expression of NPY receptors were assessed in tissue and
      single-cell by RT-PCR, immunoblot, and immunohistochemistry. NPY was injected
      into the nodose while arterial pressure was monitored. Electrophysiological
      recordings were performed on nodose neurons from rats by patch-clamp technique.
      RESULTS: The BRS was higher in female than male and ovariectomized rats, while
      serum NPY concentration was similar among groups. The sex-difference was detected
      in Y1R, not Y2R protein expression, however, both were upregulated upon
      ovariectomy and canceled by estrogen replacement. Immunostaining confirmed Y1R
      and Y2R expression in myelinated and unmyelinated afferents. Single-cell PCR
      demonstrated that Y1R expression/distribution was identical between A- and C
      types, whereas, expressed level of Y2R was ~15 and ~7 folds higher in Ah- and C
      types than A-types despite similar distribution. Activation of Y1R in nodose
      elevated BP, while activation of Y2R did the opposite. Activation of Y1R did not
      alter action potential duration (APD) of A-types, but activation of Y2R- and
      Y1R/Y2R in Ah- and C-types frequency-dependently prolonged APD. N-type ICa was
      reduced in A-, Ah- and C-types when either Y1R, Y2R, or both were activated. The
      sex-difference in Y1R expression was also observed in NTS. CONCLUSIONS: Sex- and
      afferent-specific expression of Neuropeptide-Y receptors in baroreflex afferent
      pathway may contribute to sexual-dimorphic neurocontrol of BP regulation.

PMID- 27623076
TI  - IGFBP6 is a novel nasopharyngeal carcinoma prognostic biomarker.
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) play critical roles in
      carcinogenesis. This study assessed the impact of IGFBP6 on the progression of
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Using immunohistochemical analysis, we found that
      IGFBP6 was differentially expressed in primary malignant NPC tissues. Clinical
      samples were divided into two groups: IGFBP6(+) and IGFBP6(-). Five years of
      follow-up revealed that overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival
      rates were significantly higher in the IGFBP6(+) than IGFBP6(-) group. We also
      used real-time PCR, ELISA and western blot assays to measure IGFBP6 levels in
      five NPC cell lines (CNE1, CNE2, HONE1, HK1 and SUNE1). All the cell lines
      expressed IGFBP6, but at different levels, reflecting disease heterogeneity. In
      addition, exogenous expression of IGFBP6 inhibited CNE2 cell proliferation and
      invasion in vitro. IGFBP6 knockdown activated the GSK3beta/beta-catenin/cyclin D1
      pathway and enhanced CNE2 tumor cell growth and metastasis in a mouse model.
      These results suggest that IGFBP6 may be an independent prognostic biomarker for
      NPC.

PMID- 27623079
TI  - Autonomous ambulatory surgery unit: A successful model.

PMID- 27623080
TI  - Electronic Effects on Narcissistic Self-Sorting in Multicomponent Self-Assembly
      of Fe-Iminopyridine meso-Helicates.
AB  - Small changes in the electron donating ability of coordinating groups have
      substantial effects on the multicomponent self-assembly of Fe (II)-iminopyridine
      based meso-helicate complexes. Both the nature of the internal diamine core and
      the terminal formylpyridine reactants control the rate of the assembly process,
      the thermodynamic favorability of the meso-helicate products, and the selective
      incorporation of different aldehyde termini into the assembly. Steric congestion
      at the coordinating ligands can prevent assembly altogether, and favorable
      incorporation of electron-rich aldehyde termini is observed, even though the rate
      of reaction is accelerated by the use of electron-poor aldehyde reactants. NMR
      and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analyses were employed to determine
      the synergistic nature of narcissistic self-sorting in this system, which depends
      on both the rigidity of the central core and the electronic donor ability of the
      aldehyde terminus. These experiments illustrate that significant control of self
      sorting and self-assembly is possible upon extremely small variations in ligand
      structure, rigidity, and donor ability.

PMID- 27623077
TI  - AAA-ATPase p97 suppresses apoptotic and autophagy-associated cell death in
      rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts.
AB  - Valosin containing protein (p97) is a chaperone implicated in a large number of
      biological processes including endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein
      degradation and autophagy. Silencing of p97 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial
      fibroblasts (RASFs) increased the amount of polyubiquitinated proteins, whereas
      silencing of its interaction partner histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) had no effect.
      Furthermore, silencing of p97 in RASFs increased not only rates of apoptotic cell
      death induced by TRAIL but also induced an autophagy-associated cell death during
      ER stress that was accompanied by the formation of polyubiquitinated protein
      aggregates and large vacuoles. Finally, we demonstrated an anti-arthritic effect
      of siRNAs targeting p97 in collagen-induced arthritis in rats. Our data indicate
      that p97 may be a new potential target in the treatment of RA.

PMID- 27623078
TI  - Unique metabolic features of pancreatic cancer stroma: relevance to the tumor
      compartment, prognosis, and invasive potential.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a dismal prognosis. The
      aggressiveness and therapeutic recalcitrance of this malignancy has been
      attributed to multiple factors including the influence of an active desmoplastic
      stroma. How the stromal microenvironment of PDAC contributes to the fatal nature
      of this disease is not well defined. In the analysis of clinical specimens, we
      observed diverse expression of the hypoxic marker carbonic anhydrase IX and the
      lactate transporter MCT4 in the stromal compartment. These stromal features were
      associated with the epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype in PDAC tumor cells, and
      with shorter patient survival. Cultured cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)
      derived from primary PDAC exhibited a high basal level of hypoxia inducible
      factor 1a (HIF1alpha) that was both required and sufficient to modulate the
      expression of MCT4. This event was associated with increased transcription and
      protein synthesis of HIF1alpha in CAFs relative to PDAC cell lines, while
      surprisingly the protein turnover rate was equivalent. CAFs utilized glucose
      predominantly for glycolytic intermediates, whereas glutamine was the preferred
      metabolite for the TCA cycle. Unlike PDAC cell lines, CAFs were resistant to
      glucose withdrawal but sensitive to glutamine depletion. Consistent with the lack
      of reliance on glucose, CAFs could survive the acute depletion of MCT4. In co
      culture and xenograft studies CAFs stimulated the invasive potential and
      metastatic spread of PDAC cell lines through a mechanism dependent on HIF1alpha
      and MCT4. Together, these data indicate that stromal metabolic features influence
      PDAC tumor cells to promote invasiveness and metastatic potential and associate
      with poor outcome in patients with PDAC.

PMID- 27623081
TI  - Efficacy of a Novel Optimized Pulsed Light Source (MaxG) for the Treatment of
      Facial Vascular Lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Facial vascular malformations can cause a number of
      functional problems, including difficulties in breathing, eating, speech, and
      mobility. Psychological problems can also arise due to the possible unpleasant
      appearance of such lesions. Further, these lesions can lead to a number of
      complications, including pain, ulceration, infection, and significant bleeding.
      Many treatments have been proposed in the literature. Laser therapy (and its
      related treatments by non-coherent light sources) is now considered the gold
      standard in the treatment of the majority of vascular lesions. METHODS: Here, we
      present our experience with a novel optimized pulsed light source for the
      treatment of vascular anomalies. In this prospective study, we evaluate the
      clinical outcomes of 30 patients treated with this method. RESULTS: Our results
      confirm the efficacy and safety of this treatment for facial vascular lesions.
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on our experience and results, we believe this device could be
      considered as both an alternative monotherapy and a useful adjunctive to the
      already existing laser instruments.

PMID- 27623082
TI  - Barriers to emergency physician diagnosis and treatment of uncontrolled chronic
      hypertension.

PMID- 27623083
TI  - Crack cocaine-induced laryngeal injury.

PMID- 27623084
TI  - Assessment of chest compression depth obtained using the PocketCPR as an
      educational tool according to smartphone attachment site.

PMID- 27623085
TI  - Can novice physicians intubate with ETView tube without Macintosh laryngoscope?
      Preliminary data.

PMID- 27623087
TI  - Differential changes in the development of motor coordination and executive
      functions in children with motor coordination impairments.
AB  - Cognitive and motor coordination skills of children with and without motor
      coordination impairments were examined with a one-year follow-up investigation.
      Initially, children were between 4 and 6 years old. Age-appropriate tests of
      executive functions (updating, switching, inhibition, interference control),
      motor coordination (the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2) and fitness
      (the Korperkoordinations-Test fur Kinder) were administered in two consecutive
      years. Several background variables (age, socioeconomic status, medical support,
      clinical interventions, leisure activities) and potential moderators (nonverbal
      intelligence, reaction time, visual perception) were controlled. The matched
      sample consisted of 48 control children and 48 children with motor coordination
      impairments. The children's executive functions dramatically improved during the
      one-year period. With regard to motor coordination performance, half of the
      impaired children caught up to the control children's level ("remission group"),
      while the remaining half showed no improvement ("persisting group"). Compared to
      the persisting group, the children in the remission group showed markedly better
      interference control at both measurement points. The correlation between
      executive functions and motor coordination is significant in the persisting
      group, but not in the remission group. The results of the study are discussed in
      the light of the role of executive functions, especially inhibition processes,
      for the automatization of motor coordination tasks.

PMID- 27623086
TI  - Platelets confound the measurement of extracellular miRNA in archived plasma.
AB  - Extracellular miRNAs are detectable in biofluids and represent a novel class of
      disease biomarker. Although many studies have utilized archived plasma for miRNA
      biomarker discovery, the effects of processing and storage have not been
      rigorously studied. Previous reports have suggested plasma samples are commonly
      contaminated by platelets, significantly confounding the measurement of
      extracellular miRNA, which was thought to be easily addressed by additional post
      thaw plasma processing. In a case-control study of archived plasma, we noted a
      significant correlation between miRNA levels and platelet counts despite post
      thaw processing. We thus examined the effects of a single freeze/thaw cycle on
      microparticles (MPs) and miRNA levels, and show that a single freeze/thaw cycle
      of plasma dramatically increases the number of platelet-derived MPs, contaminates
      the extracellular miRNA pool, and profoundly affects the levels of miRNAs
      detected. The measurement of extracellular miRNAs in archived samples is
      critically dependent on the removal of residual platelets prior to freezing
      plasma samples. Many previous clinical studies of extracellular miRNA in archived
      plasma should be interpreted with caution and future studies should avoid the
      effects of platelet contamination.

PMID- 27623088
TI  - Kinetic Control of Microtubule Morphology Obtained by Assembling Gold
      Nanoparticles on Living Fungal Biotemplates.
AB  - Self-assembly of nanoparticles on living biotemplate surfaces is a promising
      route to fabricate nano- or microstructured materials with high efficiency and
      efficacy. We used filamentous fungi to fabricate microtubules of gold
      nanoparticles through a novel approach that consists of isolating the hyphal
      growth from the nanoparticle media. This improved methodology resulted in better
      morphological control and faster adsorption kinetics, which reduced the time
      needed to form homogeneous microtubules and allowed for control of microtubule
      thickness through successive additions of nanoparticles. Differences in the
      adsorption rates due to modifications in the chemical identity of colloidal gold
      nanoparticles indicated the influence of secondary metabolites and growth media
      in the fungi metabolism, which demonstrated the need to choose not only the
      fungus biotemplate but also the correct medium to obtain microtubules with
      superior properties.

PMID- 27623089
TI  - Crystal structures of two nitroreductases from hypervirulent Clostridium
      difficile and functionally related interactions with the antibiotic
      metronidazole.
AB  - Nitroreductases (NRs) are flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-dependent enzymes that
      catalyze the biotransformation of organic nitro compounds (RNO2; R = alkyl, aryl)
      to the nitroso RN=O, hydroxylamino RNHOH, or amine RNH2 derivatives.
      Metronidazole (Mtz) is a nitro-containing antibiotic that is commonly prescribed
      for lower-gut infections caused by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium difficile.
      C. difficile infections rank number one among hospital acquired infections, and
      can result in diarrhea, severe colitis, or even death. Although NRs have been
      implicated in Mtz resistance of C. difficile, no NRs have been characterized from
      the hypervirulent R20291 strain of C. difficile. We report the first expression,
      purification, and three-dimensional X-ray crystal structures of two NRs from the
      C. difficile R20291 strain. The X-ray crystal structures of the two NRs were
      solved to 2.1 A resolution. Their homodimeric structures exhibit the classic NR
      alpha+beta fold, with each protomer binding one FMN cofactor near the dimer
      interface. Functional assays demonstrate that these two NRs metabolize Mtz with
      associated re-oxidation of the proteins. Importantly, these results represent the
      first isolation and characterization of NRs from the hypervirulent R20291 strain
      of relevance to organic RNO2 (e.g., Mtz) metabolism.

PMID- 27623090
TI  - Perceptions of oocyte banking from women intending to circumvent age-related
      fertility decline.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Women can now opt to bank their oocytes with the intention of
      increasing their chances of achieving a pregnancy after their fertility has
      declined. This exploratory study aimed to gain insight into how women,
      considering oocyte banking to circumvent age-related fertility decline, perceive
      this intervention. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study in a
      Dutch university medical center and held in-depth interviews with women on the
      waiting list for oocyte banking. We recorded the interviews, transcribed them
      verbatim and used thematic analysis. RESULTS: All women were financially
      independent and lived in single-person urban households. They opted for oocyte
      banking because they wished to share parenthood with a future partner rather than
      becoming a single parent. This strong desire was key in their interpretation of
      all aspects of the intervention. Women set aside information about the limited
      success rates and potential risks, as they were optimistic about their own
      prognosis, thought that the chances for success were equally likely as the
      chances it would fail, and because of "anticipatory regret". They perceived
      oocyte banking as a "helping hand" to achieve shared parenthood. Although women
      found the costs of the intervention high, they were willing to invest their money
      to increase their chances for shared parenthood. CONCLUSIONS: Oocyte banking
      allows women to circumvent age-related fertility decline. The prospect of
      potential shared parenthood overrules the perceived health risks and burden.
      Health professionals should take this into account when informing potential users
      of oocyte banking.

PMID- 27623091
TI  - Effects of methylphenidate on the impairment of spontaneous alternation behavior
      in mice intermittently deprived of REM sleep.
AB  - Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder
      characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. We have previously
      shown that abnormal behaviors elicited by intermittent rapid eye movement (REM)
      sleep deprivation stress may fulfill the profile of a model of ADHD. It is well
      known that the impairment of spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) in the Y-maze
      indicates inattentive features of ADHD model animals. On the other hand, it has
      been reported that nitric oxide (NO) in the hippocampus is required for SAB. In
      this study, using mice, we investigated whether intermittent REM sleep
      deprivation stress causes changes in SAB and the expression of NO synthase (NOS)
      mRNA and in the levels of NO metabolites in the hippocampus. Mice were deprived
      of REM sleep intermittently by the small-platform method (20 h/day) for 3 days.
      The SAB, the level of nitrite and expression of endothelial NOS (eNOS) and
      inducible NOS (iNOS) mRNA in the hippocampus, but not neuronal NOS (nNOS), were
      significantly decreased by intermittent REM sleep deprivation stress. The
      decreased levels of SAB, nitrite and iNOS mRNA were significantly increased by
      methylphenidate treatment, which is used clinically to treat ADHD symptoms.
      Moreover, these improvement effects of methylphenidate on SAB and the nitrite
      level were decreased by the administration of selective iNOS and eNOS inhibitors.
      However, the eNOS inhibitor decreased both nitrate and total NOx levels of the
      hippocampus in saline treated intermittent REM sleep-deprived mice. These results
      suggest that the impairment of SAB induced by intermittent REM sleep deprivation
      stress may serve as a model of the inattention symptom in ADHD. Further, the
      ameliorating effects of methylphenidate on the impairment of SAB may be mediated
      through NO production mainly by iNOS in the hippocampus of mice.

PMID- 27623094
TI  - Clinical trial design for stem cell therapies in stroke: What have we learned?
AB  - Stem cells of various sources have been investigated in a series of small, safety
      and feasibility-focused studies over the past 15 years. Understanding of
      mechanisms of action has evolved and the trial paradigms have become focused on
      two different approaches - one being an early subacute delivery of cells to
      reduce acute tissue injury and modify the tissue environment in a direction
      favourable to reparative processes (for example by being anti-inflammatory, anti
      apoptotic, and encouraging endogenous stem cell mobilisation); the other
      exploring later delivery of cells during the recovery phase after stroke to
      modulate the local environment in favour of angiogenesis and neurogenesis. The
      former approach has generally investigated intravenous or intra-arterial delivery
      of cells with an expected paracrine mode of action and no expected engraftment
      within the brain. The latter has explored direct intracerebral implantation
      adjacent to the infarct. Several relevant trials have been conducted, including
      two controlled trials of intravenously delivered bone marrow-derived cells in the
      early subacute stage, and two small single-arm phase 1 trials of intracerebrally
      implanted cells. The findings of these studies and their implications for future
      trial design are considered.

PMID- 27623093
TI  - PKCdelta knockout mice are protected from para-methoxymethamphetamine-induced
      mitochondrial stress and associated neurotoxicity in the striatum of mice.
AB  - Para-methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) is a para-ring-substituted amphetamine
      derivative sold worldwide as an illegal psychotropic drug. Although PMMA use has
      been reported to lead to severe intoxication and even death, little is known
      about the mechanism(s) by which PMMA exerts its neurotoxic effects. Here we found
      that PMMA treatment resulted in phosphorylation of protein kinase Cdelta
      (PKCdelta) and subsequent mitochondrial translocation of cleaved PKCdelta. PMMA
      induced oxidative stress was more pronounced in mitochondria than in the cytosol.
      Moreover, treatment with PMMA consistently resulted in significant reductions in
      mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial complex I activity, and
      mitochondrial Mn superoxide dismutase-immunoreactivity. In contrast, PMMA
      treatment led to a significant increase in intramitochondrial Ca2+ level.
      Treatment with PMMA also significantly increased ionized calcium binding adaptor
      molecule 1 (Iba-1)-labeled microglial activation and upregulated tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene expression. PKCdelta knockout attenuated these
      mitochondrial effects and dampened the neurotoxic effects of PMMA. Importantly,
      TNF-alpha knockout mice were significantly protected from PMMA-induced increases
      in phospho-PKCdelta expression, mitochondrial translocation of cleaved PKCdelta,
      and Iba-1-labeled microgliosis. Both rottlerin, a pharmacological inhibitor of
      PKCdelta, and etanercept, a pharmacological inhibitor of TNF-alpha, significantly
      protected against PMMA-mediated induction of apoptosis, as assessed by terminal
      deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUDP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays. In addition,
      PKCdelta knockout and TNF-alpha knockout both resulted in decreased PMMA-mediated
      induction of dopaminergic loss. Therefore, our results suggest that PKCdelta
      mediates PMMA-induced neurotoxicity by facilitating oxidative stress
      (mitochondria > cytosol), mitochondrial dysfunction, microglial activation, and
      pro-apoptotic signaling. Our results also indicate that PMMA-induced PKCdelta
      activation requires the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha.

PMID- 27623092
TI  - Kynurenine pathway metabolism following prenatal KMO inhibition and in Mecp2+/-
      mice, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - To quantify the full range of tryptophan metabolites along the kynurenine
      pathway, a liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry method was developed
      and used to analyse brain extracts of rodents treated with the kynurenine-3-mono
      oxygenase (KMO) inhibitor Ro61-8048 during pregnancy. There were significant
      increases in the levels of kynurenine, kynurenic acid, anthranilic acid and 3
      hydroxy-kynurenine (3-HK) in the maternal brain after 5 h but not 24 h, while the
      embryos exhibited high levels of kynurenine, kynurenic acid and anthranilic acid
      after 5 h which were maintained at 24 h post-treatment. At 24 h there was also a
      strong trend to an increase in quinolinic acid levels (P = 0.055). No significant
      changes were observed in any of the other kynurenine metabolites. The results
      confirm the marked increase in the accumulation of some neuroactive kynurenines
      when KMO is inhibited, and re-emphasise the potential importance of changes in
      anthranilic acid. The prolonged duration of metabolite accumulation in the embryo
      brains indicates a trapping of compounds within the embryonic CNS independently
      of maternal levels. When brains were examined from young mice heterozygous for
      the meCP2 gene - a potential model for Rett syndrome - no differences were noted
      from control mice, suggesting that the proposed roles for kynurenines in autism
      spectrum disorder are not relevant to Rett syndrome, supporting its recognition
      as a distinct, independent, condition.

PMID- 27623095
TI  - Transcranial theta-burst stimulation alters GLT-1 and vGluT1 expression in rat
      cerebellar cortex.
AB  - Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) induces changes in expression
      of proteins engaged in activity of excitatory and inhibitory systems as well as
      redox homeostasis. Our aim was to investigate the effect of single (SS) and
      repeated session (RS) of intermittent and continuous theta-burst stimulation
      (iTBS; cTBS) on the expression of vesicular and plasmatic glutamate transporters
      1 (vGluT1 and GLT-1), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and influence on
      oxidative status in rats cerebellar tissue and plasma. Redox state parameters in
      cerebellar tissue and plasma were assessed 24 h after single and 48 h after the
      last TBS session. Molecular changes were examined by immunofluorescence.
      Stimulation significantly increased thiol groups (SH) in tissue of SS iTBS group,
      and decreased in iTBS RS. Activity of glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD)
      was increased markedly in cTBS RS. Immunoreactivity of vGluT1 in cTBS RS
      decreased, while GLT-1 increased in cTBS SS and cTBS RS, compared to control.
      Present study gives insight in molecular and biochemical mechanisms by which iTBS
      and cTBS exerts its effects on rats cerebellar cortex.

PMID- 27623096
TI  - Significantly Enhanced Energy Density in Nanocomposite Capacitors Combining the
      TiO2 Nanorod Array with Poly(vinylidene fluoride).
AB  - A novel inorganic/polymer nanocomposite, using 1-dimensional TiO2 nanorod array
      as fillers (TNA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) as matrix, has been
      successfully synthesized for the first time. A carefully designed process
      sequence includes several steps with the initial epitaxial growth of highly
      oriented TNA on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass.
      Subsequently, PVDF is embedded into the nanorods by the spin-coating method
      followed by annealing and quenching processes. This novel structure with
      dispersive fillers demonstrates a successful compromise between the electric
      displacement and breakdown strength, resulting in a dramatic increase in the
      electric polarization which leads to a significant improvement on the energy
      density and discharge efficiency. The nanocomposites with various height ratios
      of fillers between the TNA and total film thickness were investigated by us. The
      results show that nanocomposite with 18% height ratio fillers obtains maximum
      increase in the energy density (10.62 J cm-3) at a lower applied electric field
      of 340 MV m-1, and it also illustrates a higher efficiency (>85%) under the
      electric field less than 100 MV m-1. Even when the electric field reached 340 MV
      m-1, the efficiency of nanocomposites can still maintained at ~70%. This energy
      density exceeds most of the previously reported TiO2-based nanocomposite values
      at such a breakdown strength, which provides another promising design for the
      next generation of dielectric nanocomposite material, by using the highly
      oriented nanorod array as fillers for the higher energy density capacitors.
      Additionally, the finite element simulation has been employed to analyze the
      distribution of electric fields and electric flux density to explore the inherent
      mechanism of the higher performance of the TNA/PVDF nanocomposites.

PMID- 27623097
TI  - Effective treatment of Fox-Fordyce disease with pulsed dye laser.

PMID- 27623099
TI  - Ranolazine for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension associated with heart
      failure with preserved ejection fraction: A pilot study.

PMID- 27623098
TI  - Aortic insufficiency in continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support
      patients is common but does not impact long-term mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aortic insufficiency (AI) is a significant long-term complication of
      continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation. We sought
      to evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes and mortality in CF-LVAD recipients.
      METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 237 patients implanted with HeartMate II CF
      LVADs at our institution from June 2005 through June 2013. We evaluated
      recipients' baseline characteristics and annual echocardiograms, grading AI
      severity as either none, trace, mild, moderate or severe. Only moderate or severe
      AI was considered clinically significant. Recipients who underwent concomitant
      aortic valve surgery or who had undergone previous prosthetic aortic valve
      implantation were excluded. RESULTS: Moderate or severe AI occurred in 32 (15.2%)
      patients. Risk factors that significantly affected the development of AI included
      older age at the time of implantation, female gender, longer duration of LVAD
      support and destination therapy designation. Freedom from moderate or severe AI
      was 94%, 76% and 65% of patients at 1, 3 and 5 years, respectively. Overall
      cohort survival based on Kaplan-Meier analysis was 78%, 59% and 42% at 1, 3 and 5
      years, respectively. There was no difference in survival between recipients who
      developed significant AI and those who did not (log-rank test, p = 0.73).
      CONCLUSIONS: In this large, single-institution study, the overall rate of AI was
      low, but increased in frequency with longer duration of LVAD support. Although AI
      development remains a concern for patients on long-term CF-LVAD support, AI
      development does not appear to impact long-term mortality.

PMID- 27623100
TI  - Note to self: Varicella zoster virus is still here.

PMID- 27623101
TI  - Near-Infrared Emission CuInS/ZnS Quantum Dots: All-in-One Theranostic
      Nanomedicines with Intrinsic Fluorescence/Photoacoustic Imaging for Tumor
      Phototherapy.
AB  - Many theranostic nanomedicines (NMs) have been fabricated by packaging imaging
      and therapeutic moieties together. However, concerns about their potential
      architecture instability and pharmacokinetic complexity remain major obstacles to
      their clinical translation. Herein, we demonstrated the use of CuInS/ZnS quantum
      dots (ZCIS QDs) as "all-in-one" theranostic nanomedicines that possess intrinsic
      imaging and therapeutic capabilities within a well-defined nanostructure. ZCIS
      QDs were exploited for multispectral optical tomography (MSOT) imaging and
      synergistic PTT/PDT therapy. Due to the intrinsic fluorescence/MSOT imaging
      ability of the ZCIS QDs, their size-dependent distribution profiles were
      successfully visualized at tumor sites in vivo. Our results showed that the
      smaller nanomedicines (ZCIS NMs-25) have longer tumor retention times, higher
      tumor uptake, and deeper tumor penetration than the larger nanomedicines (ZCIS
      NMs-80). The ability of ZCIS QDs to mediate photoinduced tumor ablation was also
      explored. Our results verified that under a single 660 nm laser irradiation, the
      ZCIS NMs had simultaneous inherent photothermal and photodynamic effects,
      resulting in high therapy efficacy against tumors. In summary, the ZCIS QDs as
      "all-in-one" versatile nanomedicines allow high therapeutic efficacy as well as
      noninvasively monitoring tumor site localization profiles by imaging techniques
      and thus hold great potential as precision theranostic nanomedicines.

PMID- 27623102
TI  - Relationship between timing of endoscopy and mortality in patients with peptic
      ulcer bleeding: a nationwide cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The optimal timing of endoscopy in patients with peptic
      ulcer bleeding (PUB) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the
      association between timing of endoscopy and mortality in PUB. METHODS: In a
      nationwide cohort study based on a database of consecutive patients admitted to
      the hospital with PUB in Denmark, patients were stratified according to the
      presence of hemodynamic instability at presentation and American Society of
      Anesthesiologists (ASA) score. Using descriptive statistics and logistic
      regression analyses, we identified optimal time frames for endoscopy and analyzed
      the association between timing of endoscopy and in-hospital mortality after
      adjusting for confounding factors. RESULTS: In total, 12,601 patients were
      included. We did not find any universal association between timing of endoscopy
      and mortality in hemodynamically stable patients with an ASA score of 1 to 2. In
      hemodynamically stable patients with an ASA score of 3 to 5, endoscopy 12 to 36
      hours after admission to the hospital was associated with lower in-hospital
      mortality (OR, .48; 95% CI, .34-.67) compared with endoscopy outside this time
      frame. In patients with hemodynamic instability, endoscopy 6 to 24 hours after
      admission to the hospital was associated with lower in-hospital mortality (OR,
      .73; 95% CI, .54-.98) compared with endoscopy outside this time frame.
      CONCLUSIONS: Timing of endoscopy is associated with mortality in patients with
      PUB and an ASA score of 3 to 5 or hemodynamic instability. Our findings suggest
      that in these patients, a period of time to optimize resuscitation and manage
      comorbidities before endoscopy may improve outcome.

PMID- 27623103
TI  - Predictive overbooking and active recruitment increases uptake of endoscopy
      appointments among African American patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Use of GI endoscopy is historically lower in nonwhite ethnic
      and racial groups compared with whites. These disparities are multifactorial but
      likely contribute to differences in GI clinical outcomes. We sought to improve
      endoscopy uptake overall and in minorities by predictive overbooking and active
      recruitment in a hospital-based GI clinic. METHODS: From January to October 2014,
      we alternated between traditional booking for Veterans Affairs Healthcare Network
      patients with a physician recommendation for endoscopy and active recruitment of
      patients to fill projected open endoscopy appointment slots. On intervention
      weeks, patients attending a GI clinic were given the opportunity to "fast track"
      to an endoscopy appointment on short notice. During control weeks, patients were
      not actively recruited. We compared uptake of endoscopy appointments in both
      groups and performed logistic regression to determine predictors of participation
      in fast-track active recruitment. RESULTS: During fast-track active recruitment
      for endoscopy, the clinic recruited an additional 111 patients for endoscopy over
      passive recruitment, including 46 African Americans (41.4%). In a logistic
      regression model controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics,
      African Americans were twice as likely (adjusted OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.26-3.17)
      than whites to participate in the fast-track option for recommended endoscopy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to actively recruit patients for endoscopy increased
      the overall percentage of GI clinic patients undergoing endoscopy and
      disproportionately improved endoscopy appointment uptake in African Americans.

PMID- 27623105
TI  - Trimming the fat: endoscopic suturing for tightening of prior endoscopic sleeve
      gastroplasty.

PMID- 27623104
TI  - Refractory anastomotic bile leaks after orthotopic liver transplantation are
      associated with hepatic artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Anastomotic bile leaks are common after orthotopic liver
      transplant (OLT), and standard treatment consists of placement of a biliary
      endoprosthesis. The objectives of this study were to identify risk factors for
      refractory anastomotic bile leaks and to determine the morbidity associated with
      refractory bile leaks after OLT. METHODS: Consecutive adult patients who
      underwent ERCP for treatment of post-OLT biliary adverse events between 2009 and
      2014 at a high-volume transplant center were retrospectively identified. A
      refractory leak was defined as a bile leak that persisted after placement of a
      plastic biliary endoprosthesis and required repeat endoscopic or surgical
      intervention. RESULTS: Forty-three subjects met study inclusion criteria. Median
      age was 57 years, and 36 (84%) subjects were men. Refractory bile leaks were
      diagnosed in 40% of subjects (17/43). Time-to-event analysis revealed an
      association between refractory bile leaks and the combined outcome of death,
      repeat transplant, or surgical biliary revision (hazard ratio, 3.78; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.25-11.45; P = .01). Hepatic artery disease was more common
      with refractory compared with treatment-responsive bile leaks (53% vs 8%, P =
      .001). CONCLUSIONS: Refractory anastomotic bile leaks after liver transplantation
      are associated with decreased event-free survival. Hepatic artery disease is
      associated with refractory leaks. Large-scale prospective studies should be
      performed to define the optimal management of patients at risk for refractory
      bile leaks.

PMID- 27623106
TI  - Editorial Comment.

PMID- 27623110
TI  - Green approaches in sample preparation of bioanalytical samples prior to
      chromatographic analysis.
AB  - Sample preparation is considered to be the most challenging step of the
      analytical procedure, since it has an effect on the whole analytical methodology,
      therefore it contributes significantly to the greenness or lack of it of the
      entire process. The elimination of the sample treatment steps, pursuing at the
      same time the reduction of the amount of the sample, strong reductions in
      consumption of hazardous reagents and energy also maximizing safety for operators
      and environment, the avoidance of the use of big amount of organic solvents, form
      the basis for greening sample preparation and analytical methods. In the last
      decade, the development and utilization of greener and sustainable
      microextraction techniques is an alternative to classical sample preparation
      procedures. In this review, the main green microextraction techniques (solid
      phase microextraction, stir bar sorptive extraction, hollow-fiber liquid phase
      microextraction, dispersive liquid - liquid microextraction, etc.) will be
      presented, with special attention to bioanalytical applications of these
      environment-friendly sample preparation techniques which comply with the green
      analytical chemistry principles.

PMID- 27623108
TI  - Evaluation of the antimicrobial efficacy of Minthostachys verticillata essential
      oil and limonene against Streptococcus uberis strains isolated from bovine
      mastitis.
AB  - Bovine mastitis is a disease that causes great economic losses per year, being
      Streptococcus uberis the main environmental pathogen involved. The aim of the
      present study was to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the
      minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Minthostachys verticillata essential
      oil and limonene for S. uberis strains isolated from bovine mastitis. In
      addition, the effect of MIC on biofilm formation was analyzed. MIC values for the
      essential oil ranged from 14.3 to 114.5mg/ml (1.56-12.5%v/v) and MBC between
      114.5 and 229mg/ml (12.5-25%v/v). MICs for limonene ranged from 3.3 to 52.5mg/ml
      (0.39-6.25%v/v) and MBC was 210mg/ml (25%v/v). Both compounds showed
      antibacterial activity and affected the biofilm formation of most of the strains
      tested. In conclusion, these compounds could be used as an alternative and/or
      complementary therapy for bovine mastitis caused by S. uberis.

PMID- 27623111
TI  - Pain in Extrapyramidal Neurodegenerative Diseases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pain is one of the most common nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson disease
      (PD) and other Parkinson plus syndromes, with a major effect on quality of life.
      The aims of the study were to examine the prevalence and characteristics of pain
      in PD and other Parkinson plus syndromes and patient use and response to pain
      medications. METHODS: The cohort consisted of 371 patients: 300 (81%) with PD and
      71 (19%) with Parkinson plus syndromes. Data on clinical parameters and pain were
      collected by questionnaire. Disease severity was measured with the Unified PD
      Rating Scale for patients with PD. RESULTS: Pain was reported by 277 patients
      (74%): 241 with PD and 36 with Parkinson plus syndromes. The prevalence of pain
      was significantly higher in the patients with PD than in the patients with
      Parkinson plus syndromes (80% vs. 50%, P<0.001) and higher in patients with
      synucleinopathies than in patients with tauopathies (70% vs. 40%, P<0.001). In
      the synucleinopathies, the most common pain was central pain (32%), whereas in
      the tauopathies only 4% of patients had central pain. Anti-Parkinson treatment
      relieved the pain in 21% of the patients with PD. Only 114 patients (48%) who
      experienced pain were treated with pain medications. The most beneficial
      analgesics were nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and medical cannabis.
      CONCLUSION: Pain is prevalent among patients with PD and Parkinsonian plus
      syndromes. Pain relief can be achieved by more intensive anti-Parkinson
      medications or pain medications.

PMID- 27623107
TI  - PI3 Kinase Pathway and MET Inhibition is Efficacious in Malignant Pleural
      Mesothelioma.
AB  - Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer that is commonly
      associated with prior asbestos exposure. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) such as
      MET and its downstream target PI3K are overexpressed and activated in a majority
      of MPMs. Here, we studied the combinatorial therapeutic efficacy of the MET/ALK
      inhibitor crizotinib, with either a pan-class I PI3K inhibitor, BKM120, or with a
      PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitor, GDC-0980, in mesothelioma. Cell viability results
      showed that MPM cells were highly sensitive to crizotinib, BKM120 and GDC-0980
      when used individually and their combination was more effective in suppressing
      growth. Treatment of MPM cells with these inhibitors also significantly decreased
      cell migration, and the combination of them was synergistic. Treatment with
      BKM120 alone or in combination with crizotinib induced G2-M arrest and apoptosis.
      Both crizotinib and BKM120 strongly inhibited the activity of MET and PI3K as
      evidenced by the decreased phosphorylation of MET, AKT and ribosomal S6 kinase.
      Using a PDX mouse model, we showed that a combination of crizotinib with BKM120
      was highly synergetic in inhibiting MPM tumor growth. In conclusion our findings
      suggest that dual inhibition of PI3K and MET pathway is an effective strategy in
      treating MPM as compared to a single agent.

PMID- 27623114
TI  - Induced Regulatory T Cells: Their Development, Stability, and Applications.
AB  - Regulatory T (Treg) cells, as central mediators of immune suppression, play
      crucial roles in many facets of immune systems. The transcription factor Foxp3
      has been characterized as a master regulator of Tregs, and is induced during
      their thymic development. Foxp3+ Tregs can also be generated from naive T cells
      after stimulation in the presence of TGF-beta and IL-2; the resulting cells are
      called induced Tregs (iTregs) when generated in vitro, or peripheral Tregs
      (pTregs) when generated in vivo. Compared to tTregs, iTregs have been shown to be
      unstable, and attempts to generate stable iTregs have been made for clinical
      applications. We review here the current knowledge on the development of pTregs,
      iTregs, and their roles and applications.

PMID- 27623115
TI  - Vertebral Body Compressive Strength Evaluated by Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry
      and Hounsfield Units In Vitro.
AB  - Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and Hounsfield unit (HU) are 2
      technologies used in vivo to assess bone mineral density and to predict fracture
      risk. However, few in vitro studies focus on the difference between the 2
      technologies in the ability to determine vertebral body compressive strength.
      Forty-two lumbar vertebrates were harvested from 7 mature goats. All the
      vertebrae were imaged using clinical computed tomography and assessed by DXA
      subsequently. The individual vertebral body was then mechanically tested to
      failure in compression, to determine ultimate load and stress. HU has a moderate
      correlation with DXA (r = 0.64). DXA has significant associations with ultimate
      load and stress (r = 0.59 and 0.69, respectively). Significant positive linear
      correlations were also found between HU and ultimate load (r = 0.65) and stress
      (r = 0.81). There was no significant difference between HU and DXA to predict the
      ultimate load (t = 0.56, p = 0.577) or the ultimate stress (t = 1.62, p = 0.112).
      HU has an equal predictive value as the DXA for whole vertebral body compressive
      strength. This work supports the application of the HU measurement using clinical
      computed tomography imaging technology to assess bone strength and fracture risk.

PMID- 27623116
TI  - [Study of defense styles, defenses and coping strategies in alcohol-dependent
      population].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Defense mechanisms have been seen to greatly change over time and
      across different definitions made by different theoretical currents. Recently
      with the definition provided by the DSM IV, defense mechanisms have integrated
      the concept of coping as a defensive factor. These mechanisms are no longer
      considered just through a psychodynamic approach but also through a cognitive and
      behavioral one. In recent years, new theories have therefore integrated these two
      components of the defensive operation. According to Chabrol and Callahan (2013),
      defense mechanisms precede coping strategies. In individuals with
      psychopathological disorders, these authors indicate a relative stability of
      these mechanisms. Also, we asked about the presence of unique characteristics
      among people with alcohol dependence. Indeed, studies conducted with people with
      alcohol dependence highlight the presence of a neurotic defense style and some
      highly immature defenses (projection, acting out, splitting and somatization). In
      terms of coping strategies, persons with alcohol dependence preferentially use
      avoidant strategies and strategies focused on emotion. However, although several
      studies have been conducted to assess coping strategies and defense styles within
      a population of individuals with an alcohol problem, at the present time none of
      them has taken into account all these aspects of defense mechanisms. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this study is therefore to study the defenses and defense styles and
      coping strategies in an alcohol-dependent population. METHOD: This multicenter
      study (3 CHU, 1 center of supportive care and prevention in addiction and 1
      clinic) received a favorable opinion of an Institutional Review Board (IRB
      Registration #: 00001072). Eighty alcohol-dependent individuals responded to a
      questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics and elements related to
      the course of consumption. Coping strategies were assessed by means of a
      questionnaire validated in French: the Brief Cope. The Defense Style
      Questionnaire-40 translated into French, but not validated, assessed defenses and
      defense style. Descriptive, comparative and correlational analysis was carried
      out using Statistica software - version 10. RESULTS: The alcohol-dependent people
      preferentially use emotion focused coping blame and less the problem focused
      coping humor. The highest immature defense is acting out. Correlational analyses
      confirm the presence of some significant relationships between defense style and
      some coping strategies. Thus, the mature style is the only defense style, which
      is linked with the problem focused strategy humor, and another one coping called
      distraction. Some singular relationships were found with these two dimensions of
      coping. Alcohol and drug disengagement show particularly strong relationships
      with immature defenses such as projection and somatization. Another singular
      result is indicated by a negative relationship between immature defenses autistic
      fantasy with the strategy expression of feelings. CONCLUSION: This study found a
      significant number of relationships between defensive styles, defenses and coping
      strategies. This research also highlights the value of an integrative approach of
      defense mechanisms for the analysis of defensive functioning of people with
      alcohol dependence. Indeed, the relationships between these elements are
      consistent and allow understanding the defensive operation as a whole to promote
      a new adapted means of support.

PMID- 27623113
TI  - Mechanisms and Consequences of Antigen Presentation by CD1.
AB  - The CD1 proteins are a family of non-polymorphic and MHC class I-related
      molecules that present lipid antigens to subsets of T lymphocytes with innate- or
      adaptive-like immune functions. Recent studies have provided new insight into the
      identity of immunogenic CD1 antigens and the mechanisms that control the
      generation and loading of these antigens onto CD1 molecules. Furthermore,
      substantial progress has been made in identifying CD1-restricted T cells and
      decoding the diverse immunological functions of distinct CD1-restricted T cell
      subsets. These findings shed new light on the contributions of the CD1 antigen
      presentation pathway to normal health and to a diverse array of pathologies, and
      provide a new impetus for exploiting this fascinating recognition system for the
      development of vaccines and immunotherapies.

PMID- 27623117
TI  - [Clinical and biological predictors of ketamine response in treatment-resistant
      major depression: Review].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to determine the clinical and biological
      predictors of the ketamine response. METHODS: A systematic research on PubMed and
      PsycINFO database was performed without limits on year of publication. RESULTS:
      The main predictive factors of ketamine response, which were found in different
      studies, were (i) a family history of alcohol dependence, (ii) unipolar
      depressive disorder, and (iii) neurocognitive impairments, especially a slower
      processing speed. Many other predictive factors were identified, but not
      replicated, such as personal history of alcohol dependence, no antecedent of
      suicide attempt, anxiety symptoms. Some biological factors were also found such
      as markers of neural plasticity (slow wave activity, brain-derived neurotrophic
      factor Val66Met polymorphism, expression of Shank 3 protein), other neurologic
      factors (anterior cingulate activity, concentration of glutamine/glutamate),
      inflammatory factors (IL-6 concentration) or metabolic factors (concentration of
      B12 vitamin, D- and L-serine, alterations in the mitochondrial beta-oxidation of
      fatty acids). This review had several limits: (i) patients had exclusively
      resistant major depressive episodes which represent a sub-type of depression and
      not all depression, (ii) response criteria were more frequently assessed than
      remission criteria, it was therefore difficult to conclude that these predictors
      were similar, and finally (iii) many studies used a very small number of
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this review found that some predictors of
      ketamine response, like basal activity of anterior cingulate or vitamin B12
      concentration, were identical to other therapeutics used in major depressive
      episode. These factors could be more specific to the major depressive episode and
      not to the ketamine response. Others, like family history of alcohol dependence,
      body mass index, or D- and L-serine were different from the other therapeutics.
      Neurocognitive impairments like slower speed processing or alterations in
      attention tests were also predictive to a good response. These predictive factors
      could be more specific to ketamine. With these different predictor factors
      (clinical and biological), it could be interesting to develop clinical strategies
      to personalize ketamine's administration.

PMID- 27623118
TI  - [Autism spectrum disorder and evaluation of perceived stress parents and
      professionals: Study of the psychometric properties of a French adaptation of the
      Appraisal of Life Event Scale (ALES-vf)].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Autism and related disorders are grouped into the category of "
      Autism Spectrum Disorder " (ASD) in the DSM-5. This appellation reflects the idea
      of a dimensional representation of autism that combines symptoms and
      characteristics that vary in severity and intensity. Despite common
      characteristics, there are varying degrees in intensity and in the onset of
      symptoms, ranging from a disability that can be very heavy with a total lack of
      communication and major disorders associated with the existence of a relative
      autonomy associated, sometimes, with extraordinary intellectual abilities.
      Parents are faced with several difficult situations, such as sleep disturbances,
      agitation, shouting, hetero violence, self-harm, learning difficulties,
      stereotyping, lack of social and emotional reciprocity, inappropriate behavior,
      etc. They can feel helpless and may experience stress related to these
      developmental and behavioral difficulties. The heterogeneity of symptoms, the
      presence of behavioral problems, the lack of reciprocity and autonomy also
      represent a challenge for practitioners in institutions and teachers at school.
      The objective of this research is to present the validation of a French
      translation of the Appraisal of Life Events Scale (ALES-vf) from Ferguson,
      Matthex and Cox, specifically adapted to the context of ASD. ALES was originally
      developed to operationalize the three dimensions of perceived stress (threat,
      loss and challenge) described by Lazarus and Folkman. METHODOLOGY: ALES-vf was
      initially translated into French and adapted to the situation of parents of
      children with ASD. It was subsequently administered to 343 parents, 150
      paramedical professionals involved with people with ASD, and 155 teachers from an
      ordinary school environment and from specialized schools, welcoming in their
      classroom at least one child with ASD. RESULTS: An exploratory factor analysis
      performed on data from 170 parents highlighted two exploratory models with four
      and three factors, slightly different from the original three-factor model of
      Ferguson and his collaborators. Confirmatory analyzes were conducted on data from
      173 other parents to test two exploratory models and the original model of
      Ferguson. It has also been tested on data from 305 professionals (paramedical
      professionals and teachers) and on the whole sample (parents and professionals).
      The results suggest a better match of the original three-factor model. In
      addition, Cronbach's alpha coefficients and inter-item correlations showed a good
      internal consistency for these three factors. Finally, variance analysis and
      regressions were performed to test the effect of the nationality of the parents,
      the child's level of autonomy, the child's level of communication, and on the
      perceived stress by experienced professionals. CONCLUSION: ALES-vf, after our
      adaptation has good psychometric properties for use not only with parents but
      also with professionals (teachers, educators, psychologists) working with
      children with ASD. Our analyses showed that the nationality of the parents does
      not significantly influence the subscales " threat " and " challenge " of ALES
      vf, which makes it usable in other Francophone countries. Specificities in the
      subscales were identified based on group membership (parents and professionals).
      For example parents get higher average scores on subscales " loss " and " threat
      " and a lower average score on the subscale " challenge ", compared to
      professionals. Finally, regarding the specifics found among professionals, the
      results show that the years of experience have an effect on perceived stress.
      Specifically, teachers and educators who have more experience perceive their work
      with children with ASD as a challenge. This is consistent with the results of
      studies showing that teachers who have had experience with children with ASD had
      less difficulty in their interventions.

PMID- 27623119
TI  - [Recognition of facial expressions of emotions by 3-year-olds depending on sleep
      and risk of depression].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The emotional process is characterized by a negative bias in
      depression, thus it was legitimate to establish if they same is true in very
      young at-risk children. Furthermore, sleep, also proposed as a marker of the
      depression risk, is closely linked in adults and adolescents with emotions. That
      is why we wanted first to better describe the characteristics of emotional
      recognition by 3-year-olds and their links with sleep. Secondly we observed, if
      found at this young age, an emotional recognition pattern indicating a
      vulnerability to depression. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We studied, in 133 children
      aged 36 months from the AuBE cohort, the number of correct answers to the task of
      recognition of facial emotions (joy, anger and sadness). Cognitive functions were
      also assessed by the WPPSI III at 3 years old, and the different sleep parameters
      (time of light off and light on, sleep times, difficulty to go to sleep and
      number of parents' awakes per night) were described by questionnaires filled out
      by mothers at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months after birth. Of these 133 children, 21
      children whose mothers had at least one history of depression (13 boys) were the
      high-risk group and 19 children (8 boys) born to women with no history of
      depression were the low-risk group (or control group). RESULTS: Overall, 133
      children by the age of 36 months recognize significantly better happiness than
      other emotions (P=0.000) with a better global recognition higher in girls (M=8.8)
      than boys (M=7.8) (P=0.013) and a positive correlation between global recognition
      ability and verbal IQ (P=0.000). Children who have less daytime sleep at 18
      months and those who sleep less at 24 months show a better recognition of sadness
      (P=0.043 and P=0.042); those with difficulties at bedtime at 18 months recognize
      less happiness (P=0.043), and those who awaken earlier at 24 months have a better
      global recognition of emotions (P=0.015). Finally, the boys of the high-risk
      group recognize sadness better than boys in the control group (P=0.015).
      CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the recognition of emotion is related to
      development with a female advantage and a link with the language skills at 36
      months of life. More importantly, we found a relationship between sleep
      characteristics and emotional recognition ability and a negative bias in
      emotional recognition in young males at risk for depression.

PMID- 27623120
TI  - [Wernicke encephalopathy: Guiding thiamine prescription].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is a medical emergency. The
      objective of this paper is to systematically review the literature published over
      the past 15 years pertaining to prophylactic and curative treatment of WE with
      thiamine. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed using Medline to
      include all studies published between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2015.
      RESULTS: Of the 316 abstracts identified, 20 met the final inclusion criteria.
      The evidence on the use of prophylactic thiamine was quite heterogeneous. The use
      of thiamine in this context largely depended on the evaluation of an individual's
      risk of developing WE. Use of prophylactic thiamine in low-risk patients is not
      universally indicated. When prescribed in this sub-population, the oral route is
      suggested but may be insufficient owing to its limited intestinal absorption and
      the high risk of non-compliance. High-risk patients need parenteral treatment
      with a recommended posology of 250 mg daily for 3 to 5 days. Intramuscular route
      is preferred in the outpatient setting, whereas intravenous route is suggested
      for inpatients. In cases where the diagnosis of WE is suspected or confirmed, a
      curative treatment with high-dose IV thiamine is justified. The evidence widely
      accepted in the literature is much clearer in this condition, with treatment
      regimens consisting of 500 mg IV 3 times daily for 3 to 5 days, followed by 250
      mg IV daily for a minimum of 3 to 5 additional days. CONCLUSION: The literature
      does indicate that thiamine should be prescribed at high dosages, with the
      parenteral routes indicated in hospital settings and in high-risk patients. Based
      on the current literature review, we suggest treatment algorithms guiding
      thiamine prescription for WE.

PMID- 27623121
TI  - [Advocacy for the establishment of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the
      "burden" of schizophrenic disorders].
AB  - This article attempts to identify and put into perspective the different
      approaches that could globally prevent the suffering induced by schizophrenia,
      from the detection of early psychosis to the impact on individual and family
      functioning and emotional health. Schizophrenia causes, at the community level, a
      number of difficult consequences and associated costs, which likely could be
      reduced if specific strategies, already known and documented internationally,
      were applied. Two areas not explored in this article: the role of medication and
      the issue of suicide prevention. In the scope of screening and early treatment,
      genetic risk, as well as the predictive ability of the clinical criteria for
      individuals at "ultra-high risk" of developing schizophrenia justify an increased
      vigilance for the detection of symptoms in order for treatment to begin earlier
      and to be more effective. These risk factors should not be neglected as the
      benefits of early management impact the course of illness and functional outcome.
      At this stage of the emergence of the disorder, it is difficult to systematize a
      therapeutic protocol. Two options are open to the clinician: "wait and watch"
      given the lack of a conclusive diagnosis and a more pro-active intervention,
      focused on the therapeutic alliance and enhancing insight and awareness. The
      second approach seems more productive but requires transparency with the patient
      and family regarding the uncertainty of the clinical situation, and an attitude
      that favors sharing information, along the lines of early psych education. Once a
      pathological stage is reached, early and accurate clinical care is fundamental.
      They depend heavily on access to care, proximity and availability to clinics or
      out-reach teams, capable of a thorough diagnostic work-up. Yet conversely, the
      availability for early and accurate clinical care faces obstacles which are
      closely related to the pejorative view of psychiatry held by the general public,
      health care professionals, and public officials. This poor image of psychiatry is
      partly due to cases of clinical decompensation, dangerous in some instances,
      underscoring why it is be important to understand and anticipate the contributory
      factors to these outcomes in the first place so as to avoid them. In this sense,
      defending a complacent and conciliatory approach can be counter-productive.
      Following developments of recent decades in other chronic diseases (diabetes,
      cancer, AIDS, severe heart disease...), the implementation of systematic clinical
      programs, treatment protocols, psycho-education to reinforce adherence to
      therapeutic measures, their simplification, the support and appreciation of the
      role of caregivers, destigmatizing due to proximity of contact, and therefore an
      increase in the use of care. Similarly, the systematic search for side-effects of
      medication and pro-actively managing to minimize their occurrence strengthen
      compliance, a recognized factor of relapse prevention. Preventable comorbidities,
      addictions, and common physical illnesses are not systematically screened
      (neoplastic diseases, diabetes, hypertension, dental health, gynecology...) in
      this population and thus also represent significant potential for a better life
      expectancy. The tools of psychosocial rehabilitation, unfortunately, are too
      infrequently used in France. Their goal is to improve the functional outcome of
      patients, a determinant of social integration and to lessen the burden shouldered
      by family and other carers, and ultimately to reduce exacerbations of the illness
      due to situations of interpersonal stress. Work has also proven its worth as a
      protective factor, as well as strengthening a sense of self-efficiency, of self
      esteem, of empowerment, of quality of life, helping attain recovery. It is clear
      that not all social and health care systems are primarily geared towards these
      objectives, although they have at their disposal, by the means described above,
      strong preventive measures for relapses. Beyond the issue of the implementation
      of clinical programs, the existing culture would benefit from being infused with
      a prioritization of resource deployment, with debates of these issues regarding
      parity for mental health services, advocated by users, and forging a place, for
      example, for the intervention of "peer supports", sociologists, social workers,
      interested beyond the disease, in community environment, employment
      opportunities, and housing. Overall, this work argues for updating our
      conceptions of clinical care, supporting the systematic implementation of modern
      models of care, and expanding the scope of our concerns regarding patients'
      lives.

PMID- 27623122
TI  - [Interest of scopolamine as a treatment of major depressive disorder].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The number of patients with depression in the world is 350 millions
      according to estimates. The search for new treatments, particularly in forms of
      resistant depression, is necessary given the growing number of patients
      experiencing treatment failure and resistance. Scopolamine, an anticholinergic
      antimuscarinic molecule, is one of the treatments under evaluation. It falls
      within the assumptions of cholinergic disruption of the pathophysiology of
      depression, at different levels (genetic, receptorial [muscarinic and glutamate
      receptors], hormonal, synaptic...). In 2006, a pilot study made to evaluate the
      role of the cholinergic system in cognitive symptoms of depression found
      unexpected results regarding the antidepressant effect of scopolamine in
      depressive patients. Since that time other studies have been conducted to
      evaluate the benefits of treatment with intravenous injections of scopolamine.
      OBJECTIVE: Our main objective was to evaluate the interest of scopolamine as an
      antidepressant treatment in depressed populations. METHODS: We conducted a
      literature review with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of treatment with
      scopolamine in uni- and bipolar patients with depressive symptoms. The protocol
      consisted of two injection blocks (each block consisting of three injections
      spaced fifteen minutes apart within three to five days) of active ingredient or
      placebo crossover. The selected patients were between 18 and 45years and had the
      DSM-IV major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder criteria. Regarding the
      methods of measurement, the primary endpoint was the reduction in scores of the
      Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) with a total response defined
      by a decrease of more than 50 % of the score and remission corresponding to a
      MADRS score<10. Seven sessions of evaluations were performed. RESULTS: The
      published results are promising in terms of efficiency with rapid antidepressant
      effect, a total response rate ranging from 59-64% and a remission rate of between
      37 and 55% in uni- and bipolar patients, which persists at least 15days. The
      treatment was well tolerated by patients with relatively mild and transient side
      effects the most common being the sensation of sleepiness that was also found in
      the placebo group. There were no serious side effects such as heart failure or
      confusion. In terms of mood, there was no becoming manic or hypomanic even for
      bipolar patients. CONCLUSION: The results are encouraging, but there is concern
      for the moment because of the few studies, so to date there is little data on the
      subject including medium and long term.

PMID- 27623123
TI  - [Comparison of medical and economic benefits of antipsychotics in the treatment
      of schizophrenia in France].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The course of schizophrenia can vary widely, and patients
      experience remission phases alternating with relapse episodes, which generally
      lead to hospitalisation and have a significant impact on the burden of disease.
      The prevalence of schizophrenia in France is estimated to be approximately
      600,000 people, with an incidence of 10,000 new patients per year. Patients with
      schizophrenia represent the largest group of hospitalised patients in French
      public institutions and specialised centres, and the French authorities recognise
      that the management of schizophrenia is a major public health concern. The Haute
      Autorite de Sante (HAS) and most of the evidence-based guidelines for the
      maintenance treatment of schizophrenia recommend long-acting injectable (LAI)
      antipsychotics to be used predominantly in the prevention of relapse for non
      compliant patients; however, in clinical practice, the use of LAIs remains low.
      OBJECTIVE: This analysis aimed to estimate and to compare the cost-effectiveness
      of the most common antipsychotic strategies in France in the management of
      schizophrenia. METHODS: A Markov model was developed to simulate the progression
      of a cohort of patients with schizophrenia through four health states (stable
      treated, stable non-treated, relapse and death) and considered up to three lines
      of treatment to account for changes in treatment management. Antipsychotics
      including aripiprazole LAI (ALAI), olanzapine LAI (OLAI), paliperidone LAI
      (PLAI), risperidone LAI (RLAI), haloperidol decanoate (HD) and oral olanzapine
      (OO) were compared in terms of costs and clinical outcomes. Thus, costs, quality
      adjusted life-years (QALYs) and number of relapses were assessed over five years
      based on three-month cycles from a French health insurance perspective with a
      discount rate of 4 %. Patients were considered to be stabilised after clinical
      decompensation and would enter the model at an initiation phase, followed by a
      prevention of relapse phase if successful. Data (e.g. relapse or discontinuation
      rates) for the initiation phase came from randomised clinical trials, whereas
      relapse rates in the prevention phase were derived from hospitalisation risks
      based on French real-life data in order to capture adherence effects. Safety and
      utility data were derived from international publications. Additionally costs
      were retrieved from French health insurance databases and publications.
      Robustness of results was assessed through deterministic and probabilistic
      sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: First and second generations of LAIs were found to
      have similar costs over five years; i.e. approximately ? 55,000, except for PLAI
      which was associated with a discounted cost of ? 50,880. Oral antipsychotics were
      found to be less costly (i.e. OO cost ? 50,379 after five years) but associated
      with a lower number of QALYs gained and relapse avoided. PLAI and RLAI were
      associated with the greatest number of QALYs gained; i.e. PLAI dominated ALAI,
      OLAI and HD and was associated with an incremental costs-effectiveness ratio
      (ICER) of ? 2411 per QALY gained versus OO. Finally, PLAI and OLAI were
      associated with the lowest number of relapses; i.e. PLAI dominated RLAI, ALAI and
      HLAI and was associated with an ICER of ? 1782 per avoided relapse compared to
      OO. OO and HD were found to have led to the highest number of relapses.
      CONCLUSION: This analysis, to the best of our knowledge, is the first of its kind
      to assess the cost-effectiveness of antipsychotics based on French observational
      data. PLAI was associated with the highest probability of being the optimal
      treatment from the French health insurance perspective.

PMID- 27623124
TI  - [Olfaction in depressive disorders: Issues and perspectives].
AB  - Research on sensorial interactions with psychiatric diseases and particularly
      with the depressive syndrome has mainly focused on visual or auditory processes
      and much less on olfaction. The depressive illness is one of the most frequent
      psychiatric diagnoses in the community, with approximately one in five women and
      one in eight men experiencing a major depressive episode during their lifetime.
      Although genetic, epigenetic, neuroanatomical, neurochemical,
      neuroendocrinological and neuroimmunological changes can be detected during
      depression, the etiology of depression remains partly unclear. The current
      explanatory models are based on two main factors, i.e. pharmacological
      dysfunctions and stress effects. In this way and because of strong connections
      between olfactory pathways and cerebral areas implied in mood regulation and
      emotions (i.e. the limbic system and prefrontal areas), the interactions between
      olfaction and depression could constitute a relevant way of research at three
      different levels. First, olfactory dysfunction observed in depression could serve
      the diagnosis and contribute to a better understanding of mechanisms implied in
      thymic pathologies. Published papers show a decrease of olfactory sensitivity in
      major depression which does not occur in bipolar or saisonal depression. Second,
      it has been shown that olfactory deficits could induce depressive symptoms. In
      this context, an animal model (olfactory bulbectomized rat) reinforces the
      hypothesis of the important role of olfaction in depression based on
      neuroanatomical and neurochemical observations. Third, several publications have
      demonstrated that odors can positively impact the depressive mood. Thus, a
      remediation by odors in depression appears to be a promising way. From several
      decades, the olfaction/depression interactions have been covered by a broad
      literature. Thus, the present review will not propose an exhaustive examination
      but aims to point out the most recently published papers and highlight their
      contributions to the understanding of olfactory processes implied in depression.

PMID- 27623125
TI  - [Interpersonal therapy (IPT) in child psychiatry and adolescent].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Depression disorder may become the first cause of morbidity by
      2030, according to the World Health Organization. It is actually one of the main
      causes of disease and handicap in children aged from 10 to 19. The major risk is
      suicide, whose prevalence is estimated, in France, around 6.7 for 100,000, which
      is probably underestimated. At present, the discussions about prescription of
      antidepressants in an adolescent's depression remain intense which is why
      psychotherapy becomes the first choice of treatment. We propose here to present
      one of them, Interpersonal PsychoTherapy (IPT), which remains largely unknown in
      France, and its adaptations in the adolescent population. PRESENTATION OF IPT:
      IPT is a brief psychotherapy, structured in twelve to sixteen sessions, which was
      created by Klerman and Weissman in the seventies inspired by the biopsychosocial
      model of Meyer, interpersonal theory of Sullivan, and attachment theory of
      Bowlby. It is divided into three parts: the initial phase, the intermediate
      phase, and the termination phase. ADAPTATION FOR ADOLESCENTS: IPT was adapted for
      adolescents by Mufson in 1993, but a few modifications must be considered.
      Parental implication is the first. Indeed, parents, rather than the adolescent,
      often ask for the consultation; but it is the latter who benefits from the
      therapy. Parents may be met at some point in the therapy, for example between
      each phase and at the end. The initial phase is very close for the adolescent as
      for the adult; but the therapist must be careful about employing the "sick role"
      which can be used by the adolescent to avoid school, and as a consequence, to
      exacerbate the interpersonal deficit. The intermediate phase focuses on one of
      the four interpersonal issues: complicated bereavement, role transition,
      interpersonal role disputes, and interpersonal deficit. Complicated bereavement
      may become problematic when prolonged or when the adolescent had complicated
      relations with the deceased. The therapist essentially works on emotion
      verbalization. The role of transition is very common during adolescence: children
      become adults, they pass from high school to college, or their parents get
      divorced, etc. The patient and the therapist work on giving up the old role with
      its emotional expression (guilt, anger, and loss), and acquiring new skills, and
      identifying positive aspects of the new role. Interpersonal role disputes are
      common during adolescence, with parents or teachers for example. To determine a
      treatment plan, the therapist may first determine the stage of the role dispute,
      among impasse, renegotiation, or dissolution, and then work on the communication
      mode of the patient. At the least, the interpersonal deficit may be the most
      difficult area to work on because of the risk of psychiatric comorbidity. The
      therapist must be especially careful about anxious disorder which may complicate
      the psychotherapy and for which IPT is not the best therapy. The termination
      phase focuses on the new skills and abilities and works on the future without
      therapy. IPT is one of the psychotherapies recommended in the treatment of
      depression disorder in the international recommendations. But in France, all
      psychotherapies are considered equally. This may be a consensual approach, but
      the authors wonder if it is the best, especially to motivate research in the
      psychotherapy field. OTHER INDICATIONS: Finally, IPT has been developed in other
      indications in the past years, and many others are presently in research
      projects: depression during pregnancy, prevention of depression relapse, eating
      disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, self-harm for example.
      CONCLUSION: Its validity, simplicity and efficacy should stimulate psychiatrists
      and residents to train themselves to IPT.

PMID- 27623126
TI  - [Autism spectrum disorders and bisphenol A: Is serotonin the lacking link in the
      chain?]
AB  - The etiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is believed to be multifactorial
      and to involve genetic and environmental components. Environmental chemical
      exposures are increasingly understood to be important in causing neurotoxicity in
      fetuses and newborns. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention in the United States suggest a substantial increase in ASD prevalence,
      only partly explicable by factors such as diagnostic substitution. Bisphenol A
      (BPA) is an ubiquitous xenoestrogen widely employed in a variety of consumer
      products including plastic and metal food and beverage containers, dental
      sealants and fillings, medical equipment and thermal receipts. Therefore, most
      people are exposed almost continuously to BPA in industrialized countries.
      Sources of BPA exposure are predominantly diet, but also through inhalation or
      dermal absorption. BPA can be measured in many human fluids and tissues including
      saliva, serum, urine, amniotic fluid, follicular fluid, placental tissue and
      breast milk. There is concern that BPA exposure may influence human brain
      development and may contribute to the increasing prevalence of neurodevelopmental
      and behavioural problems. Epigenetic mechanisms are suggested by a mouse study
      that demonstrated that BPA exposure during gestation had long lasting,
      transgenerational effects on social recognition. Previous epidemiological studies
      suggested a relationship between maternal BPA exposure and ASD. A recent study of
      46 children with ASD and 52 controls found for the first time a direct
      association between children with ASD and BPA exposure and demonstrated that BPA
      is not metabolized well in children with ASD. The metabolomic analyses showed a
      correlation between ASD and essential amino acid metabolism pathways. Essential
      amino acids are precursors of neurotransmitters, for example tryptophan for
      serotonin. Fetal and prenatal BPA exposure was suggested to perturb the
      serotonergic system in rat and mice models. On the other hand, hyperserotonemia
      was reported in approximately one-third of autistic patients and also in
      relatives. Moreover, neuroimaging studies revealed two fundamentally different
      types of serotonin synthesis abnormality in children with autism compared to age
      matched nonautistic children, a difference in whole-brain capacity and focal
      abnormalities. Finally, decreased serotonin transporter and serotonin receptor
      binding have been reported in both children and adults with autism. So, the link
      between BPA and autism could be a defect of the normal in utero or perinatal
      serotonergic system development. In France, BPA was banned in baby bottles in
      2010 and in any food or beverage packaging since January 2015. Therefore, there
      is an urgent need to find safe alternatives in the use of BPA in the manufacture
      of industrial products.

PMID- 27623127
TI  - [Pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder: An unusual form of Lafora disease].

PMID- 27623128
TI  - The Impact of Postoperative Complications on a Timely Return to Intended
      Oncologic Therapy (RIOT): the Role of Enhanced Recovery in the Cancer Journey.

PMID- 27623129
TI  - Outcomes for Critically Ill Cancer Patients in the ICU: Current Trends and
      Prediction.

PMID- 27623130
TI  - Is Volatile Anesthesia During Cancer Surgery Likely to Increase the Metastatic
      Risk?

PMID- 27623131
TI  - The Combined Blockade of beta-Adrenoceptor and COX-2 During the Perioperative
      Period to Improve Long-term Cancer Outcomes.

PMID- 27623132
TI  - Where Do You Feel Safest? Demographic Factors and Place of Birth.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The vast majority of planned out-of-hospital births in the United
      States occur among white women; no study has addressed whether black women prefer
      out-of-hospital birth less or whether this racial disparity is due to other
      causes such as constrained access. This study sought to answer the question of
      whether white and black women feel safest giving birth in out-of-hospital
      settings at different rates and whether this answer is associated with other
      socioeconomic indicators. METHODS: An interview of 634 nulliparous women during
      the third trimester of their pregnancy in Michigan provided data regarding where
      women felt safest giving birth. Feeling safest giving birth out-of-hospital was
      examined in relation to socioeconomic factors including race, age, household
      income, education, residence in a high-crime neighborhood, partnered status, and
      type of insurance. RESULTS: This study found that black and white women say they
      feel safest giving birth in out-of-hospital settings at similar rates (11.5% and
      13.1%, respectively). Logistic regression results showed that poverty and having
      education beyond high school were the only sociodemographic indicators
      significantly associated with feeling safest giving birth out-of-hospital.
      DISCUSSION: Disparities evident in planned home birth and birth center rates
      cannot be explained by racial differences in feelings toward out-of-hospital
      birth and should be addressed more specifically in public policy and future
      studies.

PMID- 27623133
TI  - Impact of targeted-volume ventilation on pulmonary dynamics in preterm infants
      with respiratory distress syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mechanical ventilation is an essential therapy in the treatment of
      respiratory failure in preterm infants. However, optimal ventilation strategy
      continues to be difficult to define. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of volume
      guarantee (VG) combined with intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) and VG
      combined with pressure support ventilation (PSV) on the pulmonary mechanics and
      short term prognosis in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome.
      METHODS: Infants of <32 weeks gestational age ventilated for respiratory distress
      syndrome were randomized to receive either SIMV + VG or PSV + VG. The patient
      characteristics, ventilator variables including PIP, PEEP, MAP, VT, dynamic
      compliance, resistance, C20/C, and neonatal outcomes (IVH, ROP, oxygen dependency
      at 28th postnatal day and 36 weeks of PMA), mortality and extubation failure were
      recorded in each groups. RESULTS: Thirty-four infants were enrolled in to the
      study: 19 patients were randomized to the SIMV + VG group, and 15 patients to the
      PSV + VG group. No significant differences were observed between the two groups
      in terms of the birth weight, gestational age, gender, multiple pregnancy,
      delivery mode, and antenatal steroid treatment. The respiratory and ventilatory
      parameters were similar in the groups. The need for reintubation were common in
      SIMV + VG group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Volume guaranteed ventilation combined
      with PSV may be a convenient method for preterm infants with RDS in terms of
      reducing postextubation atelectasis and the need for reintubation. Pediatr
      Pulmonol. 2017;52:213-216. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623135
TI  - Microsatellite instability in melanoma: a comprehensive review.
AB  - Microsatellite instability (MSI) and mismatch repair deficiency are an emerging
      issue in oncology and molecular pathology. Besides being associated with better
      clinical outcome in colon cancer, MSI also harbors the potential to predict
      response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. MSI was also observed in other solid
      tumors, including endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and melanoma, besides colon
      cancer. Strong evidence shows that MSI is a frequent event in melanoma. However,
      the data on MSI prevalence, pathogenesis, and clinical consequences in melanoma
      are limited. Therefore, we summarize the current knowledge on MSI in melanoma and
      outline future perspectives and clinical implications, including its role as a
      prognostic and/or a predictive factor.

PMID- 27623134
TI  - OMIP-036: Co-inhibitory receptor (immune checkpoint) expression analysis in human
      T cell subsets.

PMID- 27623136
TI  - Beneficial in-vitro effects of interleukin-2, interleukin-12, and their
      combination on functional and receptor characteristics of natural killer cells in
      metastatic melanoma patients with normal serum lactate dehydrogenase levels.
AB  - Considering tumor-mediated suppression of natural killer (NK) cells, the aim of
      this study was to investigate the in-vitro effects of interleukin (IL)-2 and IL
      12, as immunostimulatory cytokines, on the functional and receptor
      characteristics of NK cells and their subsets in healthy control (HC) and
      metastatic melanoma (MM) patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 27 HC
      and 35 MM patients were stimulated in vitro with IL-2, IL-12, and their
      combination for functional and phenotypic analysis. IL-2, IL-12, and primarily
      their combination, significantly induced NK cell activity, CD107a degranulation
      marker, and perforin expression in NK cells and their subsets in HC and MM
      patients. Furthermore, the combination of IL-2 and IL-12 was significantly more
      efficient than IL-12 alone in the augmentation of NK cell cytotoxicity and CD107a
      expression. Also, IL-2 and IL-12 reciprocally upregulated each other's receptors,
      IL-2Ralpha and IL-12Rbeta1/beta2, on NK cells and their subsets in MM and HCs. In
      addition, the priming of NK cells with IL-2 before IL-12 treatment led to an
      increase in the expression of both IL-12 receptors. In contrast to IL-12, IL-2
      increased activating NKG2D and DNAM-1, as well as inhibitory CD158a and CD158b
      KIRs. In addition, the cytokines investigated exerted a more potent effect on the
      increase in NK cell activity and the expression of various NK cell receptors in
      MM patients with normal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) serum levels. Therefore,
      serum LDH could represent a predictor of response to cytokine immunotherapy in MM
      patients. The optimization of combined IL-2/IL-12 therapy is needed to enhance NK
      cell functions in MM patients stratified by their LDH levels.

PMID- 27623137
TI  - The Educational Legacy of the UPR School of Tropical Medicine: Curricula,
      Faculty, Students (1926-1949).
AB  - This essay discusses the educational evolution of the University of Puerto Rico
      School of Tropical Medicine (UPR-STM) under the auspices of Columbia University.
      It takes a closer look to what was taught, who taught it and who were the
      students benefitting from the educational, learning and advanced research
      activities. It highlights some characteristics of the educational environment
      that aimed to harvest a well-trained group of scientists, academicians, and
      practitioners. It examines the characteristics of the faculty and graduates and
      their role in the teaching and dissemination of knowledge in tropical medicine
      and closely related fields. The curricula was characterized for its flexibility
      to accommodate the students' clinical and research interests. With the advent of
      the 1940s the School started offering public health professionals degrees in
      addition to the former research-based training. This brought tensions associated
      to professionalization, the diversification of purposes, the expansion without
      sufficient resources, and the opening to different levels of students.
      Maintaining a cadre of well-trained prestigious faculty was always a struggle.
      Strategies such as visiting professors and joint and ad-honorem appointments were
      used. Agreements with universities around the world, philanthropic institutions,
      professional associations, and with different branches of the local and federal
      government supplemented the resources of the School. In return, the School
      offered an environment committed to educational standards, networking and a
      wealth of data for study and discovery. 

PMID- 27623138
TI  - Dimensional Assessment of Anxiety in Puerto Rican Patients: Evaluating
      Applicability of Psychological Questionnaires.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A dimensional assessment model as a supplement to the diagnosis
      process could overcome the current pitfalls in classifying psychopathology in
      ethnic minorities. The aim of the study described herein was to examine a sample
      of Puerto Rican patients diagnosed with anxiety disorder in order to evaluate the
      psychometric properties of the specific scales that assess the following 3
      domains: clinical symptoms, personality/trait, and affective style. METHODS: 80
      subjects were recruited and interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview
      for DSM-IV to identify the presence of anxiety disorders. Following this, various
      questionnaires assessing each proposed domain were administered to the
      participants. Reliability and validity of these questionnaires were examined
      using Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis. The effect of the
      individual items of the questionnaires on the overall reliability and validity
      was assessed using factor scores component matrix. RESULTS: Analyses revealed
      moderate to high reliability and validity scores within all 3 domains. The sample
      obtained moderate to high scores on the scales comprising clinical and
      personality/trait domains. CONCLUSION: The use of self-report scales in
      accordance with the proposed dimensional framework may be an effective way to
      supplement categorical diagnoses within the Hispanic population represented by
      this sample.

PMID- 27623141
TI  - Discrimination and Health among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People in Puerto
      Rico.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the experiences of discrimination among and the perceived
      priorities for the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) people in
      Puerto Rico (PR). METHODS: Data were collected during the 2013 LGBT Pride Parade
      in San Juan, using a brief self-administered survey that included questions on
      sociodemographic characteristics, the disclosure of sexual orientation/gender
      identity, experiences of discrimination, experiences while receiving social and
      health services, and perceived healthcare priorities and needs. RESULTS: Most
      participants reported that they had disclosed their sexual orientation to at
      least one person. Discrimination due to sexual orientation/gender identity was
      most frequently reported to have occurred in school settings. At least 25% of the
      sample reported regular or negative experiences based on sexual
      orientation/gender identity when receiving government services and when looking
      for support from relatives. HIV/AIDS, mental health, and sexual health were
      identified as healthcare priorities. In bivariate analyses, mental health
      services and aging were the priorities most frequently reported among older
      participants. HIV/AIDS was the main priority only for gay men; sexual health was
      the main priority for bisexuals; and mental health was the main priority for
      lesbians. Most participants reported that their preferred modalities for health
      service provision were support groups and health education. CONCLUSION: The
      experiences of discrimination among LGBT people in PR were consistent across age
      groups and sexual orientation/gender identity. Policies and interventions to
      address discrimination in different settings are necessary. The findings also
      suggest the need to prioritize HIV services among gay men and to address mental
      and sexual health needs among lesbian and bisexual people.

PMID- 27623139
TI  - Variability of Serum Thyroglobulin Levels in Post- Thyroidectomy Patients with
      Well-Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: the ATA Guidelines.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the variability of stimulated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels
      in post-thyroidectomy patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) and
      determine the frequency of undetectable Tg in patients with evidence of
      functional thyroid tissue after a 131-I whole-body scan (WBS). METHODS: A
      retrospective record review of patients with WDTC referred to our clinic from
      1990 to 2010. Demographic data, histology, staging, imaging studies, stimulated
      Tg values, and the presence if applicable of Tg antibodies (TgAb) were
      documented. The images of whole-body radioiodine scans were reviewed to assess
      the extent of functional thyroid tissue. RESULTS: A total of 142 cases were
      evaluated with 417 studies. There were 112 women and 30 men; the median age was
      47 years. The tumor histologies included 97 papillary (4 had the Hurthle cell
      variant), 33 papillary-follicular tumor, and 12 follicular tumors; 7 were
      multifocal. ATA classification was used; groups were divided into low (55%) and
      intermediate-high risk (45%). The final analysis comprised 84 patients, having
      among them 170 studies that included Tg values in their records. The cut-off
      value for Tg was 2.0 ng/ml, and for TgAb, it was 20 IU/ml or more. Residual
      functional tissue was present in 105 (62%) cases. Discordant Tg results were
      found in 55% of the low-risk patients; of those, only 3 had TgAb. In the
      intermediate- and high-risk group, 47% had discordant results; 2 cases had TgAb.
      CONCLUSION: The variability of the Tg levels and the high frequency of discordant
      results (positive WBSs with undectable Tg levels) bring into question the
      standard recommendation of conservative management for low-risk patients. Follow
      ups should include a Tg assay and imaging studies.

PMID- 27623140
TI  - Measuring Knowledge of Cancer Screening and Prevention Strategies in HIV
      Healthcare Professionals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Due to advances in the care of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA),
      life expectancy significantly increased, putting this group vulnerable to age
      related comorbidities, such as cancer. The objective of this study was to
      describe the knowledge of cancer screening (cervical, breast, anal, colon,
      prostate) and other cancer prevention strategies (HPV vaccination, HPV testing)
      among HIV care professionals in Puerto Rico (PR). METHODS: Cross-sectional study
      using a sample of 104 HIV healthcare professionals in PR. Descriptive analyses
      were used to characterize the study sample. Logistic regression analysis was used
      to determine the relation of sociodemographic and work-related factors with
      cancer screening knowledge. RESULTS: On average, the healthcare professionals
      interviewed had been working for more than 10 years with the HIV/AIDS population
      (11.5+/-7.6 years). Multivariate analysis showed that physicians had a higher
      likelihood of having extensive knowledge of cervical (OR=3.96; 95% CI=1.23,
      12.77) and anal cancer (OR=9.4; 95% CI=2.2, 41.0) screening than other healthcare
      professionals. For anal cancer in particular, as the number of years a given
      participant had been working with people living with HIV/AIDS increased, the
      likelihood that this participant would have extensive knowledge of anal cancer
      screening significantly increased (10% year). CONCLUSION: Health education
      interventions, tailored to healthcare professionals who recently finished their
      formal education should be developed in HPV-related cancers. Such training would
      improve cancer prevention and control efforts, thereby benefitting the HIV
      population in Puerto Rico.

PMID- 27623142
TI  - Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus in the Surgical Population of the University of
      Puerto Rico Affiliated Hospitals: A Study using the Surgery Database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the surgical
      population of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR)-affiliated hospitals. METHODS:
      We examined all the surgical cases that were entered into the Surgical Database
      from April 1, 2014 through September 30, 2014. This database collects patient and
      procedural information from different surgical services of various UPR-affiliated
      hospitals (the University District Hospital, the University Pediatric Hospital,
      the UPR Carolina Hospital, the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez Oncologic Hospital, the PR
      Cardiovascular Center [thoracic service], the Pavia Hospital [colorectal
      service], and the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital [colorectal and oncological services]).
      The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (types 1 and 2 combined) was estimated, and
      the nondiabetic and diabetic groups were compared. The difference between groups
      was evaluated using a Chi2 test, Student's t-test, or ANOVA, whichever was
      appropriate, with a p-value of less than 0.05 being considered significant.
      RESULTS: Information from 2,603 surgical patients was available. The mean age of
      the group was 49 (+/-23) years. The gender distribution indicated that 56% were
      women and 44% were men. Diabetes was present in 21% of the surgical population,
      increasing to 40% in patients aged 65 and over. The surgical procedures most
      frequently required by diabetic patients were in the categories of general
      surgery (36%), colorectal surgery (22%), vascular surgery (16%) and oncologic
      surgery (14%). Complications (5%, diabetic group vs. 2%, nondiabetic group; p <
      0.05) and postoperative mortality (2%, diabetic group vs. 0.2%, nondiabetic
      group; p < 0.05) were significantly higher in the diabetic group than in the
      nondiabetic group. CONCLUSION: Our surgical population has a high prevalence of
      diabetes, and these diabetic patients showed higher complication and mortality
      rates from surgery than did the non-diabetic patients. Surgeons must consider the
      specific needs of these diabetic patients in order to provide optimal care.

PMID- 27623143
TI  - Trends in the Distribution of Opioids in Puerto Rico, 1999-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Limited information has been published about opioid prescribing
      practices in Puerto Rico. The objective of this study was to create baseline
      trends of opioids distributed over a period of fourteen years in Puerto Rico.
      METHODS: We examined data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's
      Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) for the period 1999
      2013. ARCOS data reflects the amount of controlled substances legally dispensed.
      Analyses include the distribution of opioids (in morphine milligram equivalent kg
      per 10,000 persons) by year and entity (pharmacy, hospital, practitioner).
      RESULTS: The distribution of four drugs (fentanyl, hydromorphone, methadone,
      oxycodone) increased over 100% between 1999 and 2013. The distribution of two
      drugs (hydrocodone and meperidine) declined between 1999 and 2013. Oxycodone
      distribution grew from 0.13 MME kg grams per 10,000 persons in 1999 to 0.29 MME
      kg in 2013. CONCLUSION: ARCOS data showed that the overall amount of opioid pain
      relievers distributed in Puerto Rico increased by 68% between 1999 and 2013.
      Currently, prescription opioid pain reliever overdose deaths in Puerto Rico do
      not appear to be skyrocketing as they are in the mainland U.S. However, the
      ongoing problem with prescription opioid pain reliever overdoses in certain areas
      should serve as a warning to monitor consumption of opioid pain relievers, as
      well as changes in prescription drug abuse, overdoses, and deaths.

PMID- 27623144
TI  - Impact of Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography
      (SPECT/CT) and Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) in the
      Diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Case Report.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as damage to the brain resulting from an
      external force. TBI, a global leading cause of death and disability, is
      associated with serious social, economic, and health problems. In cases of mild
      to-moderate brain damage, conventional anatomical imaging modalities may or may
      not detect the cascade of metabolic changes that have occurred or are occurring
      at the intracellular level. Functional nuclear medicine imaging and
      neurophysiological parameters can be used to characterize brain damage, as the
      former provides direct visualization of brain function, even in the absence of
      overt behavioral manifestations or anatomical findings. We report the case of a
      30-year-old Hispanic male veteran who, after 2 traumatic brain injury events,
      developed cognitive and neuropsychological problems with no clear etiology in the
      presence of negative computed tomography (CT) findings. 

PMID- 27623145
TI  - Transient AV Block as a Hemodynamic Complication of the Influenza A Virus: A Case
      Report.
AB  - Influenza virus causes annual epidemics of respiratory illness characterized by
      sudden onset of fever, malaise, myalgias, headache, cough, and other respiratory
      complains. Each year in the United States, it is estimated that this debilitating
      respiratory illness accounts for 294,000 excess hospitalizations and 36,000
      attributable deaths. Epidemiological studies describe increased cardiovascular
      mortality during influenza seasons. Cardiovascular involvement in acute influenza
      infection can occur through direct effects of the virus on the myocardium or
      through exacerbation of existing cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this
      report is to document a transient atrioventricular (AV) block with hemodynamic
      compromise after infection with the influenza virus in a patient with underlying
      cardiac disease without myocarditis. 

PMID- 27623146
TI  - A model for regulation by SynGAP-alpha1 of binding of synaptic proteins to PDZ
      domain 'Slots' in the postsynaptic density.
AB  - SynGAP is a Ras/Rap GTPase-activating protein (GAP) that is a major constituent
      of postsynaptic densities (PSDs) from mammalian forebrain. Its alpha1 isoform
      binds to all three PDZ (PSD-95, Discs-large, ZO-1) domains of PSD-95, the
      principal PSD scaffold, and can occupy as many as 15% of these PDZ domains. We
      present evidence that synGAP-alpha1 regulates the composition of the PSD by
      restricting binding to the PDZ domains of PSD-95. We show that phosphorylation by
      Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and Polo-like kinase-2
      (PLK2) decreases its affinity for the PDZ domains by several fold, which would
      free PDZ domains for occupancy by other proteins. Finally, we show that three
      critical postsynaptic signaling proteins that bind to the PDZ domains of PSD-95
      are present in higher concentration in PSDs isolated from mice with a
      heterozygous deletion of synGAP.

PMID- 27623147
TI  - QIL1 mutation causes MICOS disassembly and early onset fatal mitochondrial
      encephalopathy with liver disease.
AB  - Previously, we identified QIL1 as a subunit of mitochondrial contact site (MICOS)
      complex and demonstrated a role for QIL1 in MICOS assembly, mitochondrial
      respiration, and cristae formation critical for mitochondrial architecture
      (Guarani et al., 2015). Here, we identify QIL1 null alleles in two siblings
      displaying multiple clinical symptoms of early-onset fatal mitochondrial
      encephalopathy with liver disease, including defects in respiratory chain
      function in patient muscle. QIL1 absence in patients' fibroblasts was associated
      with MICOS disassembly, abnormal cristae, mild cytochrome c oxidase defect, and
      sensitivity to glucose withdrawal. QIL1 expression rescued cristae defects, and
      promoted re-accumulation of MICOS subunits to facilitate MICOS assembly. MICOS
      assembly and cristae morphology were not efficiently rescued by over-expression
      of other MICOS subunits in patient fibroblasts. Taken together, these data
      provide the first evidence of altered MICOS assembly linked with a human
      mitochondrial disease and confirm a central role for QIL1 in stable MICOS complex
      formation.

PMID- 27623148
TI  - Coordinated recruitment of Spir actin nucleators and myosin V motors to Rab11
      vesicle membranes.
AB  - There is growing evidence for a coupling of actin assembly and myosin motor
      activity in cells. However, mechanisms for recruitment of actin nucleators and
      motors on specific membrane compartments remain unclear. Here we report how Spir
      actin nucleators and myosin V motors coordinate their specific membrane
      recruitment. The myosin V globular tail domain (MyoV-GTD) interacts directly with
      an evolutionarily conserved Spir sequence motif. We determined crystal structures
      of MyoVa-GTD bound either to the Spir-2 motif or to Rab11 and show that a Spir
      2:MyoVa:Rab11 complex can form. The ternary complex architecture explains how
      Rab11 vesicles support coordinated F-actin nucleation and myosin force generation
      for vesicle transport and tethering. New insights are also provided into how
      myosin activation can be coupled with the generation of actin tracks. Since MyoV
      binds several Rab GTPases, synchronized nucleator and motor targeting could
      provide a common mechanism to control force generation and motility in different
      cellular processes.

PMID- 27623150
TI  - A study of the small-molecule system used to investigate the effect of arginine
      on antibody elution in hydrophobic charge-induction chromatography.
AB  - Hydrophobic charge-induction chromatography (HCIC) using 4-mercaptoethylpyridine
      (4-MEP) as the ligand is used to purify antibodies. The 4-MEP resin ligand has
      high affinity for antibodies, which makes it difficult to optimize the elution
      conditions. Recent studies showed that arginine is effective at eluting and
      purifying antibodies using the HCIC with 4-MEP. In the present study, we
      investigated the mechanism of the action of arginine on the interaction between
      butyl gallate (BG) and the 4-MEP resin as a model system for protein-4-MEP
      interactions. Equilibrium adsorption experiments showed that arginine has a
      significant effect on the desorption of BG from the 4-MEP resin and, in fact, is
      found to exhibit a greater effectiveness than guanidine and urea, which are known
      denaturants. The calculated binding free energy between a BG molecule and a 4-MEP
      resin ligand molecule using molecular dynamics simulations was qualitatively
      consistent with the experimental results. A principal component analysis of the
      simulations showed that arginine molecules intervene in the interaction between
      the BG and 4-MEP molecules at a distance of 8.5 A by entering the space between
      the phenol and pyridine planes. The present results suggest that arginine has a
      unique mechanism of interaction with the phenol-pyridine system, which should be
      associated with the effects of arginine on the protein-4-MEP systems.

PMID- 27623151
TI  - Partitioning of xylanase from Thermomyces lanuginosus in PEG/NaCit aqueous two
      phase systems: Structural and functional approach.
AB  - The structure and catalytic activity of xylanase from Thermomyces lanuginosus
      were studied in different media (containing polyethylene glycol -PEG- or salt) at
      different temperatures. The aim was to study how the native structure of the
      enzyme is affected to understand the partitioning behavior of xylanase in
      PEG/sodium citrate (PEG/NaCit) aqueous two-phase systems. The presence of PEGs of
      different molar masses slightly altered the native structure of xylanase,
      although its catalytic activity was not affected. All the polymers assayed
      protect the native structure (and catalytic activity) of xylanase against
      temperature, except for PEG1000. Surface hydrophobicity experiments showed that
      xylanase favorable interacts with PEGs. Partitioning experiments confirmed this
      result and demonstrated that PEG1000/NaCit is the best system to partition
      xylanase from Thermomyces lanuginosus, since the Kp was 17.7 +/- 0.3.

PMID- 27623152
TI  - Endoscopic skull base surgery: where on the parabola?

PMID- 27623149
TI  - Cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure as early markers of PTSD risk: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically exhibit altered
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function and sympathetic nervous system
      (SNS) activity. The goals of this study were to determine whether HPA and SNS
      alterations in the immediate aftermath of trauma predict subsequent PTSD symptom
      development and whether inconsistencies observed between studies can be explained
      by key demographic and methodological factors. This work informs secondary
      prevention of PTSD by identifying subgroups of trauma survivors at risk for PTSD.
      This meta-analysis (26 studies, N=5186 individuals) revealed that higher heart
      rate measured soon after trauma exposure was associated with higher PTSD symptoms
      subsequently (r=0.13). Neither cortisol (r=-0.07) nor blood pressure (diastolic:
      r=-0.01; systolic: r=0.02) were associated with PTSD symptoms which may be
      influenced by methodological limitations. Associations between risk markers
      (heart rate, cortisol, systolic blood pressure) and PTSD symptoms were in the
      positive direction for younger samples and negative direction for older samples.
      These findings extend developmental traumatology models of PTSD by revealing an
      age-related shift in the presentation of early risk markers. More work will be
      needed to identify risk markers and pathways to PTSD while addressing
      methodological limitations in order to shape and target preventive interventions.

PMID- 27623153
TI  - From Childhood Trauma to Adult Dissociation: The Role of PTSD and Alexithymia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mechanism of how childhood trauma leads to increased risk for
      adult dissociation is not sufficiently understood. We sought to investigate the
      predicting effects and the putatively mediating roles of PTSD and alexithymia on
      the path from childhood trauma to adult dissociation. METHODS: A total of 666 day
      clinic outpatients were administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ),
      the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS),
      and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and controlled for sex, age, and the
      Global Symptom Index (GSI). Linear regression analyses and mediation analyses
      were applied. RESULTS: Independent predictive effects on dissociation were found
      for childhood trauma, alexithymia and PDS, even after adjusting for GSI. Effects
      of childhood neglect on dissociation were slightly stronger than of abuse.
      Alexithymia did not mediate the path from childhood trauma to dissociation.
      Mediation by PDS was specific for childhood abuse, with all PTSD symptom clusters
      being significantly involved. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood abuse and neglect are
      important predictors of dissociation. While the effects of abuse are mediated by
      PTSD, the mechanism of how neglect leads to dissociation remains unclear. The
      results further support the predictive value of alexithymia for adult
      dissociation above and beyond the effects of childhood trauma, PTSD, and GSI
      scores.

PMID- 27623154
TI  - Photodynamic treatment with phenothiazinium photosensitizers kills both
      ungerminated and germinated microconidia of the pathogenic fungi Fusarium
      oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme and Fusarium solani.
AB  - The search for alternatives to control microorganisms is necessary both in
      clinical and agricultural areas. Antimicrobial photodynamic treatment (APDT) is a
      promising light-based approach that can be used to control both human and plant
      pathogenic fungi. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of photodynamic
      treatment with red light and four phenothiazinium photosensitizers (PS):
      methylene blue (MB), toluidine blue O (TBO), new methylene blue N (NMBN) and the
      phenothiazinium derivative S137 on ungerminated and germinated microconidia of
      Fusarium oxysporum, F. moniliforme, and F. solani. APDT with each PS killed
      efficiently both the quiescent ungerminated microconidia and metabolically active
      germinated microconidia of the three Fusarium species. Washing away the unbound
      PS from the microconidia (both ungerminated and germinated) before red light
      exposure reduced but did not prevent the effect of APDT. Subcelullar localization
      of PS in ungerminated and germinated microconidia and the effects of photodynamic
      treatment on cell membranes were also evaluated in the three Fusarium species.
      APDT with MB, TBO, NMBN or S137 increased the membrane permeability in
      microconidia and APDT with NMBN or S137 increased the lipids peroxidation in
      microconidia of the three Fusarium species. These findings expand the
      understanding of photodynamic inactivation of filamentous fungi with
      phenothiazinium PS.

PMID- 27623155
TI  - Supramolecular chiral host-guest nanoarchitecture induced by the selective
      assembly of barbituric acid derivative enantiomers.
AB  - Barbituric acid derivatives are prochiral molecules, i.e. they are chiral upon
      adsorption on surfaces. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that barbituric
      acid derivatives self-assemble into a chiral guest-host supramolecular
      architecture at the solid-liquid interface on graphite. The host nanoarchitecture
      has a sophisticated wavy shape pattern and paired guest molecules are nested
      insides the cavities of the host structure. Each unit cell of the host structure
      is composed of both enantiomers with a ratio of 1:1. Furthermore, the wavy
      patterns of the nanoarchitecture are formed from alternative appearance of left-
      and right-handed chiral building blocks, which makes the network heterochiral.
      The functional guest-host nanoarchitecture is the result of two-dimensional
      chiral amplification from single enantiomers to organizational heterochiral
      supramolecular self-assembly. 

PMID- 27623156
TI  - Glioblastoma in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland revisited: 2005 to 2009.

PMID- 27623157
TI  - Impact of preoperative locoregional therapy on recurrence and patient survival
      following liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
AB  - : Abstracts Objective: To evaluate the impact of preoperative locoregional
      therapy on recurrence and patient survival following liver transplantation for
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: We searched medical literature databases
      to identify appropriate studies assessing the impact of preoperative locoregional
      therapy on recurrence and patient survival following liver transplantation from
      January 1962 to April 2014. Study inclusion criteria were the existence of a
      control group, a sufficiently long follow-up period and reporting of survival
      outcomes. We then performed a meta-analysis of these studies. RESULTS: Our search
      identified 12 studies from among a possible 1105. A total of 1504 patients were
      included in our analysis. There was no significant heterogeneity among the
      studies. In the meta-analysis, preoperative locoregional therapy was not
      statistically significant in affecting five-year survival rates following liver
      transplantation (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.82
      1.38). For patients meeting the Milan criteria, preoperative locoregional therapy
      did not affect survival rates following liver transplantation (HR =1.04, 95% CI
      =0.74-1.45). The recurrence-free survival rate also had no association with
      preoperative locoregional therapy (HR =1.02, 95% CI =0.70-1.50). CONCLUSION: Our
      meta-analysis suggests that preoperative locoregional therapy has no impact on
      survival following liver transplantation for HCC.

PMID- 27623158
TI  - Anatomy without clinic is dead, clinic without anatomy is deadly.

PMID- 27623160
TI  - Regioselective Synthesis of 2,3,4-Trisubstituted Pyrroles via Pd(II)-Catalyzed
      Three-Component Cascade Reactions of Amines, Alkyne Esters, and Alkenes.
AB  - A new, efficient, and versatile Pd(II)-catalyzed oxidative three-component
      cascade reaction of diverse amines, alkyne esters, and alkenes is disclosed for
      the direct synthesis of diverse 2,3,4-trisubstituted pyrroles with broad
      functional group tolerance and in good to excellent yields. This transformation
      is supposed to proceed through the cascade formation of C(sp2)-C(sp2) and C(sp2)
      N bonds via Pd(II)-catalyzed regioselective alkene migratory insertion,
      intramolecular radical addition, and oxidation sequential processes.

PMID- 27623159
TI  - The Contribution of High-Order Metabolic Interactions to the Global Activity of a
      Four-Species Microbial Community.
AB  - The activity of a biological community is the outcome of complex processes
      involving interactions between community members. It is often unclear how to
      accurately incorporate these interactions into predictive models. Previous work
      has shown a range of positive and negative metabolic pairwise interactions
      between species. Here we examine the ability of a modified general Lotka-Volterra
      model with cell-cell interaction coefficients to predict the overall metabolic
      rate of a well-mixed microbial community comprised of four heterotrophic natural
      isolates, experimentally quantifying the strengths of two, three, and four
      species interactions. Within this community, interactions between any pair of
      microbial species were positive, while higher-order interactions, between 3 or
      more microbial species, slightly modulated community metabolism. For this simple
      community, the metabolic rate of can be well predicted only with taking into
      account pairwise interactions. Simulations using the experimentally determined
      interaction parameters revealed that spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of
      cells increased the importance of multispecies interactions in dictating function
      at both the local and global scales.

PMID- 27623161
TI  - Increased Thermoregulatory Strain When Wearing an Upper Body Compression Garment
      During Moderate Exercise in Trained Older Adults.
AB  - The efficacy of the use of an upper body compression garment (UBCG) as an
      ergogenic aid to reduce thermoregulatory strain in older adults remains unknown.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of UBCG on thermoregulatory,
      cardiorespiratory, and perceptual responses during cycling in a temperate
      environment (~25  degrees C, 66% rh) in trained older adults. Twelve cyclists
      aged 66 +/- 2 years performed an intermittent 1-hr cycling trial at 50% of the
      peak power output followed by 10 min of passive recovery. Participants were
      provided with either commercially available UBCG or a control garment in a
      randomized order. UBCG increased thermoregulatory strain during exercise, as
      indicated by a significantly higher core temperature (38.1 +/- 0.3  degrees C vs.
      37.9 +/- 0.3  degrees C; p = .04), body temperature (36.9 +/- 0.2  degrees C vs.
      36.7 +/- 0.2  degrees C; p = .01), and thermal sensation (8.0 +/- 0.4 vs. 7.5 +/-
      1.0; p = .02). These results suggest that the use of UBCG in trained older adults
      does not reduce the thermoregulatory strain during moderate exercise.

PMID- 27623162
TI  - Origin of the Different Reactivity of the Triatomic Anions HMoN- and ZrNH- toward
      Alkane: Compositions of the Active Orbitals.
AB  - The reactivity of the triatomic anions HMoN- and ZrNH- toward alkanes was
      investigated by means of mass spectrometry in conjunction with density functional
      theory calculations. HMoN- can activate C-H bond of ethane with the liberation of
      ethene and hydrogen molecules, and the generation of hydrogen molecules is the
      major reaction channel; however, no C-H bond activation of ethane was observed
      over ZrNH- ion, and the density functional theory calculations suggest this
      pathway is hampered by intrinsic energy barrier. In sharp contrast, another
      triatomic anion HNbN- can bring about methane activation under thermal
      conditions, as reported previously. A strong dependence of the chemical
      reactivity of alkane activation on compositions of active orbitals in the above
      mentioned systems is discussed. This combined experimental/computational study
      may provide new insights into the importance of compositions of active orbitals
      and their essential role in the reactions of related systems with alkanes.

PMID- 27623163
TI  - Techniques and Indications for Intraoperative Ultrasound in Horses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe our experience using intraoperative ultrasound for various
      conditions in horses. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series. SAMPLE POPULATION:
      Horses (n=113). METHODS: Medical records including surgical reports at 2 equine
      hospitals (2007-2013) were reviewed to identify ultrasound-assisted surgeries.
      The diagnosis, reasons for using intraoperative ultrasound, the technique
      employed, and the surgical procedure performed (e.g., synovial endoscopy, cut
      down, resection, dissection, curettage, and implant placement/removal) were
      recorded for each surgery. Intraoperative ultrasound was used to mark the optimal
      site for skin incision or to guide instrumentation within the tissues. The
      incision site was marked on the skin with staples. Depth soundings were taken on
      the ultrasound, using the caliper-measuring tool to facilitate dissection. For
      each surgery, the primary specialist surgeon (ACVS or ECVS) retrospectively
      recorded whether intraoperative ultrasound was helpful, unhelpful, or harmful.
      RESULTS: Intraoperative ultrasound was rated helpful in 105/113 (93%) of
      surgeries, unhelpful in 7/113 (6%), and harmful in 1/113 (1%) of surgeries.
      CONCLUSION: Intraoperative ultrasound can be a useful adjunct to surgical
      techniques for various conditions in horses.

PMID- 27623164
TI  - The Critical Role of Organic Chemistry in Drug Discovery.
AB  - Small molecules remain the backbone for modern drug discovery. They are conceived
      and synthesized by medicinal chemists, many of whom were originally trained as
      organic chemists. Support from government and industry to provide training and
      personnel for continued development of this critical skill set has been declining
      for many years. This Viewpoint highlights the value of organic chemistry and
      organic medicinal chemists in the complex journey of drug discovery as a reminder
      that basic science support must be restored.

PMID- 27623165
TI  - Family centred care before and during life-sustaining treatment withdrawal in
      intensive care: A survey of information provided to families by Australasian
      critical care nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A core component of family-centred nursing care during the provision
      of end-of-life care in intensive care settings is information sharing with
      families. Yet little is known about information provided in these circumstances.
      OBJECTIVE: To identify information most frequently given by critical care nurses
      to families in preparation for and during withdrawal of life-sustaining
      treatment. DESIGN: An online cross-sectional survey. METHODS: During May 2015,
      critical care nurses in Australia and New Zealand were invited to complete the
      Preparing Families for Treatment Withdrawal questionnaire. Data analysis included
      descriptive statistics to identify areas of information most and least frequently
      shared with families. Cross tabulations with demographic data were used to
      explore any associations in the data. RESULTS: From the responses of 159 critical
      care nurses, information related to the emotional care and support of the family
      was most frequently provided to families in preparation for and during withdrawal
      of life-sustaining treatment. Variation was noted in the frequency of provision
      of information across body systems and their associated physical changes during
      the dying process. Significant associations (p<0.05) were identified between the
      variables gender, nursing experience and critical care experiences and some of
      the information items most and least frequently provided. CONCLUSIONS: The
      provision of information during end-of-life care reflects a family-centred care
      approach by critical care nurses with information pertaining to emotional care
      and support of the family paramount. The findings of this study provide a useful
      framework for the development of interventions to improve practice and support
      nurses in communicating with families at this time.

PMID- 27623166
TI  - Sequence-Based Prediction of Protein-Carbohydrate Binding Sites Using Support
      Vector Machines.
AB  - Carbohydrate-binding proteins play significant roles in many diseases including
      cancer. Here, we established a machine-learning-based method (called sequence
      based prediction of residue-level interaction sites of carbohydrates, SPRINT-CBH)
      to predict carbohydrate-binding sites in proteins using support vector machines
      (SVMs). We found that integrating evolution-derived sequence profiles with
      additional information on sequence and predicted solvent accessible surface area
      leads to a reasonably accurate, robust, and predictive method, with area under
      receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.78 and 0.77 and Matthew's
      correlation coefficient of 0.34 and 0.29, respectively for 10-fold cross
      validation and independent test without balancing binding and nonbinding
      residues. The quality of the method is further demonstrated by having
      statistically significantly more binding residues predicted for carbohydrate
      binding proteins than presumptive nonbinding proteins in the human proteome, and
      by the bias of rare alleles toward predicted carbohydrate-binding sites for
      nonsynonymous mutations from the 1000 genome project. SPRINT-CBH is available as
      an online server at http://sparks-lab.org/server/SPRINT-CBH .

PMID- 27623167
TI  - A HTML5 open source tool to conduct studies based on Libet's clock paradigm.
AB  - Libet's clock is a well-known procedure in experiments in psychology and
      neuroscience. Examples of its use include experiments exploring the subjective
      sense of agency, action-effect binding, and subjective timing of conscious
      decisions and perceptions. However, the technical details of the apparatus used
      to conduct these types of experiments are complex, and are rarely explained in
      sufficient detail as to guarantee an exact replication of the procedure. With
      this in mind, we developed Labclock Web, a web tool designed to conduct online
      and offline experiments using Libet's clock. After describing its technical
      features, we explain how to configure specific experiments using this tool. Its
      degree of accuracy and precision in the presentation of stimuli has been
      technically validated, including the use of two cognitive experiments conducted
      with voluntary participants who performed the experiment both in our laboratory
      and via the Internet. Labclock Web is distributed without charge under a free
      software license (GPLv3) since one of our main objectives is to facilitate the
      replication of experiments and hence the advancement of knowledge in this area.

PMID- 27623168
TI  - [Long-standing painful genital ulcers in a patient with chronic lymphocytic
      leukaemia].

PMID- 27623169
TI  - Serum Procalcitonin: An Independent Predictor of Clinical Outcome in Health Care
      Associated Pneumonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early prediction of the clinical outcomes for health care-associated
      pneumonia (HCAP) patients is challenging. OBJECTIVES: This is the first study to
      evaluate procalcitonin (PCT) as a predictor of outcomes in HCAP patients.
      METHODS: We conducted an observational study based on data for HCAP patients
      prospectively collected between 2011 and 2014. Outcome variables were intensive
      care unit (ICU) admission and 30-day mortality. PCT was categorized into three
      groups: <0.5, 0.5-2.0, and >2.0 ng/ml. We analysed multiple variables including
      age, sex, comorbidities, clinical findings, and PCT group to assess their
      association with outcomes. RESULTS: Of 245 HCAP patients, 99 (40.4%) were
      admitted to an ICU and 44 (18.0%) died within 30 days. The median PCT level was
      significantly higher in the ICU admission (1.19 vs. 0.4 ng/ml; p < 0.001) and 30
      day mortality (3.3 vs. 0.4 ng/ml; p < 0.001) groups. In multivariate analysis,
      high PCT (>2.0 ng/ml) was strongly associated with ICU admission [odds ratio
      3.734, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.753-7.951; p = 0.001] and 30-day mortality
      (hazard ratio 2.254, 95% CI 1.250-5.340; p = 0.035). In receiver operating
      characteristic analysis, PCT had a poor discrimination power regarding ICU
      admission [0.695 of the area under the curve (AUC)] and a fair discrimination
      power regarding 30-day mortality in HCAP patients (0.768 of the AUC).
      CONCLUSIONS: High PCT on admission was strongly associated with ICU admission and
      30-day mortality in HCAP patients. However, application of PCT alone seems to be
      limited to predicting outcomes.

PMID- 27623170
TI  - Systematic comparison of model polymer nanocomposite mechanics.
AB  - Polymer nanocomposites render a range of outstanding materials from natural
      products such as silk, sea shells and bones, to synthesized nanoclay or carbon
      nanotube reinforced polymer systems. In contrast to the fast expanding interest
      in this type of material, the fundamental mechanisms of their mixing, phase
      behavior and reinforcement, especially for higher nanoparticle content as
      relevant for bio-inorganic composites, are still not fully understood. Although
      polymer nanocomposites exhibit diverse morphologies, qualitatively their
      mechanical properties are believed to be governed by a few parameters, namely
      their internal polymer network topology, nanoparticle volume fraction, particle
      surface properties and so on. Relating material mechanics to such elementary
      parameters is the purpose of this work. By taking a coarse-grained molecular
      modeling approach, we study an range of different polymer nanocomposites. We vary
      polymer nanoparticle connectivity, surface geometry and volume fraction to
      systematically study rheological/mechanical properties. Our models cover
      different materials, and reproduce key characteristics of real nanocomposites,
      such as phase separation, mechanical reinforcement. The results shed light on
      establishing elementary structure, property and function relationship of polymer
      nanocomposites.

PMID- 27623171
TI  - A MoS2-Based Capacitive Displacement Sensor for DNA Sequencing.
AB  - We propose an aqueous functionalized molybdenum disulfide nanoribbon suspended
      over a solid electrode as a capacitive displacement sensor aimed at determining
      the DNA sequence. The detectable sequencing events arise from the combination of
      Watson-Crick base-pairing, one of nature's most basic lock-and-key binding
      mechanisms, with the ability of appropriately sized atomically thin membranes to
      flex substantially in response to subnanonewton forces. We employ carefully
      designed numerical simulations and theoretical estimates to demonstrate excellent
      (79% to 86%) raw target detection accuracy at ~70 million bases per second and
      electrical measurability of the detected events. In addition, we demonstrate
      reliable detection of repeated DNA motifs. Finally, we argue that the use of a
      nanoscale opening (nanopore) is not requisite for the operation of the proposed
      sensor and present a simplified sensor geometry without the nanopore as part of
      the sensing element. Our results, therefore, potentially suggest a realistic,
      inherently base-specific, high-throughput electronic DNA sequencing device as a
      cost-effective de novo alternative to the existing methods.

PMID- 27623173
TI  - Ensuring an Innovative and Productive Future for the Next Generation of
      Scientists: The 2016 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical
      Science.

PMID- 27623172
TI  - Impact of ATG Dose on the Outcome of Patients Undergoing Reduced Intensity
      Conditioning Followed by Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for
      Hematological Malignancies.
AB  - Reduced intensity conditioning for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (allo-HSCT) is often proposed for patients with comorbidities. To
      enhance engraftment and limit graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), antithymoglobulin
      (ATG) is usually used. However, the dose needed remains unclear unlike
      myeloablative conditioning. In order to clarify this point, we conducted a
      retrospective study on patients who received a reduced intensity conditioning
      allo-HSCT based on a 2-day fludarabine and busulfan treatment with either 1 or 2
      days of ATG treatment. One hundred and eight patients received 2.5 mg/kg (ATG2.5)
      and another 60 patients 5 mg/kg (ATG5). The median follow-up was 36 months. The
      median overall survival was 39 months and the median disease-free survival 45
      months. In multivariate analysis, overall nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was
      independently influenced by the acute GVHD grade III-IV (p < 0.001) and ATG dose
      (30 vs. 21% for ATG5; p = 0.008). Despite heterogeneity of populations, using
      proportional-hazard assumptions, we have been able to observe in multivariate
      analysis a lower NRM in the ATG5 group. This leads to a statistically higher
      overall survival for the ATG5 group. In conclusion, 2 days of ATG decrease NRM
      independently without increasing the risk of relapse or infectious disease.

PMID- 27623174
TI  - Pulmonary ORMDL3 is critical for induction of Alternaria-induced allergic airways
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have identified the ORM (yeast)-like
      protein isoform 3 (ORMDL3) gene locus on human chromosome 17q to be a highly
      significant risk factor for childhood-onset asthma. OBJECTIVE: We sought to
      investigate in vivo the functional role of ORMDL3 in disease inception. METHODS:
      An Ormdl3-deficient mouse was generated and the role of ORMDL3 in the generation
      of allergic airways disease to the fungal aeroallergen Alternaria alternata was
      determined. An adeno-associated viral vector was also used to reconstitute ORMDL3
      expression in airway epithelial cells of Ormdl3 knockout mice. RESULTS: Ormdl3
      knockout mice were found to be protected from developing allergic airways disease
      and showed a marked decrease in pathophysiology, including lung function and
      airway eosinophilia induced by Alternaria. Alternaria is a potent inducer of
      cellular stress and the unfolded protein response, and ORMDL3 was found to play a
      critical role in driving the activating transcription factor 6-mediated arm of
      this response through Xbp1 and downstream activation of the endoplasmic reticulum
      associated degradation pathway. In addition, ORMDL3 mediated uric acid release,
      another marker of cellular stress. In the knockout mice, reconstitution of Ormdl3
      transcript levels specifically in the bronchial epithelium resulted in
      reinstatement of susceptibility to fungal allergen-induced allergic airways
      disease. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that ORMDL3, an asthma
      susceptibility gene identified by genome-wide association studies, contributes to
      key pathways that promote changes in airway physiology during allergic immune
      responses.

PMID- 27623176
TI  - MicroRNAs Modulate the Purinergic Signaling Network.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules capable of silencing mRNA
      targets. miRNA dysregulation has been linked to cancer development,
      cardiovascular and neurological diseases, lipid metabolism, and impaired
      immunity. Therefore, miRNAs are gaining interest as putative novel disease
      biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Recent studies have shown that purinergic
      surface receptors activated by extracellular nucleotides (ATP, ADP, UTP, UDP),
      and by nucleosides such as adenosine (ADO), are subject to miRNA regulation. This
      opens a new and previously unrecognized opportunity to modulate the purinergic
      network with the aim of avoiding abnormal activation of specific receptor
      subtypes. miRNA technology will hopefully contribute strategies to prevent
      purinergic-mediated tissue damage in conditions of neurodegeneration,
      atherosclerosis, transplantation, and even neoplasia.

PMID- 27623177
TI  - Editorial overview: Allergy and hypersensitivity.

PMID- 27623175
TI  - Processing Oscillatory Signals by Incoherent Feedforward Loops.
AB  - From the timing of amoeba development to the maintenance of stem cell
      pluripotency, many biological signaling pathways exhibit the ability to
      differentiate between pulsatile and sustained signals in the regulation of
      downstream gene expression. While the networks underlying this signal decoding
      are diverse, many are built around a common motif, the incoherent feedforward
      loop (IFFL), where an input simultaneously activates an output and an inhibitor
      of the output. With appropriate parameters, this motif can exhibit temporal
      adaptation, where the system is desensitized to a sustained input. This property
      serves as the foundation for distinguishing input signals with varying temporal
      profiles. Here, we use quantitative modeling to examine another property of IFFLs
      the ability to process oscillatory signals. Our results indicate that the
      system's ability to translate pulsatile dynamics is limited by two constraints.
      The kinetics of the IFFL components dictate the input range for which the network
      is able to decode pulsatile dynamics. In addition, a match between the network
      parameters and input signal characteristics is required for optimal "counting".
      We elucidate one potential mechanism by which information processing occurs in
      natural networks, and our work has implications in the design of synthetic gene
      circuits for this purpose.

PMID- 27623178
TI  - beta-d-Glucosidase as "key enzyme" for sorghum cyanogenic glucoside (dhurrin)
      removal and beer bioflavouring.
AB  - Sorghum malt used during African beer processing contains a high level of
      cyanogenic glucoside (dhurrin), up to 1375 ppm. In traditional sorghum malting
      and mashing, dhurrin is not sufficiently hydrolyzed due to uncontrolled
      germination and a high gelatinization temperature. The cyanide content of
      traditional African beers (11 ppm) is higher than the minimum dose (1 ppm)
      required to form carcinogenic ethyl carbamate during alcoholic fermentation. In
      the detoxification process, aryl-beta-d-glucosidase (dhurrinase) is the "key
      component". For significant dhurrin hydrolysis during mashing, optimizing
      dhurrinase synthesis during malting is a good solution to reduce dhurrin
      completely to below the harmful dose in the sorghum wort. Lactic acid bacteria
      which exhibit aryl-beta-d-glucosidase prior to alcoholic fermentation may help to
      reduce ethyl carbamate content in alcoholic beverages. Moreover, some specific
      beta-d-glucosidases have a dual property, being able to cleave and synthesize
      glucosides bonds and thereby generating good precursors for beer bioflavouring.

PMID- 27623179
TI  - Curcumin modulates oxidative stress and genotoxicity induced by a type II
      fluorinated pyrethroid, beta-cyfluthrin.
AB  - Present study examines the possibility of beta-cyfluthrin (beta-CYF) induced
      oxidative stress, genotoxicity, histopathological alterations and the role of
      curcumin (CUR) in alleviating its toxic effects. CUR is a naturally occurring
      phenolic compound of turmeric (Curcuma longa) and is used as a spice, food
      coloring agent and in cosmetics and medicines. CUR provides vital protection
      against many pathological conditions due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
      properties. Male Swiss albino mice were distributed into six groups, I: control,
      II: CUR (0.2%), III: beta-CYF low dose (1/20 of LD50), IV: beta-CYF high dose
      (1/10 of LD50), V: beta-CYF low dose + CUR and VI: beta-CYF high dose + CUR. Mice
      were orally administered their respective doses daily for 21 days. beta-CYF
      caused elevation in AST, ALT, LPO and decline in GPx, CAT and SOD activities. A
      significant decrease in MI and increase in chromosomal aberrations, TL, TI and TM
      was recorded in beta-CYF exposed groups. CUR co-administration modulated AST,
      ALT, LPO, GPx, CAT and SOD activity. CUR supplementation improved the MI and
      reduced the chromosomal aberrations, TL, TI and TM. beta-CYF caused serious
      pathological alterations in liver and these were alleviated by CUR. It is
      concluded that CUR scavenges ROS and renders a protection against beta-CYF
      genotoxicity.

PMID- 27623180
TI  - Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) almond oil attenuates carbon tetrachloride
      induced acute hepatic injury in rats: Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
AB  - Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a potent hepatotoxin, capable of generating free
      radicals that lead to oxidative stress and the inflammation process. Pequi almond
      oil (PAO) has been reported to possess unsaturated fatty acid and antioxidant
      compounds related to beneficial effects on oxidation and inflammatory conditions.
      The present study was undertaken to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of
      handmade and coldpressed PAO on CCl4-induced acute liver injury. The possible
      mechanisms underlying the effect on liver injury enzymes, histopathological
      parameters, lipid profile, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant and detoxification
      defense systems, as well as inflammatory parameters, were determined. Rats
      treated with PAO (3 or 6 mL/kg) for 21 days before CCl4 induction (3 mL/kg, 70%)
      showed significantly decreased levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate
      aminotransferase, milder hepatic lesions and higher levels of serum high-density
      lipoprotein compared to CCl4 group. Moreover, PAO enhanced antioxidant capacity
      by increasing hepatic glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase enzyme
      activities, as well as reducing circulating concentrations of leptin and
      inflammatory mediators such as interleukin-6, leukotrienes -4 and -5 and the
      tumor necrosis factor receptor. In summary, PAO, especially cold-pressed oil,
      attenuated the CCl4-induced alterations in serum and hepatic tissue in rats due
      to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

PMID- 27623181
TI  - Mediastinal Gray Zone Lymphoma with Features Intermediate between Classical
      Hodgkin Lymphoma and Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mediastinal gray zone lymphoma (MGZL) shares clinical characteristics
      with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) and nodular sclerosing Hodgkin
      lymphoma (NSHL). However, MGZL is extremely rare, and an appropriate treatment
      for it has not yet been established. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 8
      patients who were treated with systemic chemotherapy for MGZL between 2007 and
      2014. RESULTS: The patients with MGZL were predominantly young and male (median
      age 26 years), and 62.5% of patients had bulky disease. The overall response rate
      (ORR) and complete remission (CR) rate were both 75% (6/8) for all treated
      patients The median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was
      40.7 and 3.9 months, respectively. Most responders (4/6, 66.7%) were treated with
      R-CHOP (rituximab + cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, Oncovin and
      prednisolone) as the frontline therapy. The CR rate of patients who received R
      CHOP and those who did not was 100% (4/4) and 50% (2/4), respectively.
      Particularly striking was the finding that the median PFS of patients who
      received R-CHOP frontline chemotherapy was 11.4 months, which was superior to the
      median PFS of patients who did not receive R-CHOP. CONCLUSIONS: Of the 8 patients
      with MGZL who were treated with systemic chemotherapy, superior treatment
      responses were observed in patients who received R-CHOP as the frontline therapy.

PMID- 27623182
TI  - At what age does the risk for adverse maternal and infant outcomes increase?
      Nationwide register-based study on first births in Finland in 2005-2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is poorly understood if there are specific ages at which adverse
      outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth start to increase (threshold-ages). The
      purpose of this study was to examine at which maternal ages the use of maternity
      care and the risks for adverse maternal and infant outcomes increase. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: National data from the Finnish Medical Birth Register including all
      first-time mothers aged 20 years or over with singleton pregnancies in 2005-2014
      were analyzed (n = 228 348). Odds ratios for each outcome at different ages were
      calculated by logistic regression, using women aged 20-24 (n = 56 282) as the
      reference and adjusting for socioeconomic position and urbanity of residence. The
      threshold-age was defined as the first significant adjusted odds ratio after
      which the risk remained significant. RESULTS: The threshold-ages for use of
      maternity care varied from 25 years for cesarean section (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.03
      1.14) to 38 years for having 16 or more antenatal visits (1.13, 1.04-1.21). Four
      threshold-ages were found for maternal health outcomes: 25 years for gestational
      diabetes (OR 1.15, 1.09-1.23), 27 years for placenta previa (OR 1.75, 1.11-2.75),
      33 years for gestational hypertension (1.14, 1.03-1.27), and 38 years for
      preeclampsia (OR 1.48, 1.12-1.96). The threshold-ages for infant health outcomes
      varied from 28 years for preterm birth (37 weeks, OR 1.10, 1.02-1.19) to 36 years
      for perinatal mortality (OR 2.10, 1.44-3.07). CONCLUSIONS: Different threshold
      ages were identified. Most adverse outcomes occurred earlier than the traditional
      cut-off ages for high risk pregnancy, which have been set at 35 or 40 years.

PMID- 27623183
TI  - Effect of perceptions of menstrual blood loss and menstrual pain on women's
      quality of life.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to explore Australian women's experiences of
      menstruation and effect on quality of life (QoL). METHODS: A representative
      sample of women recruited through a commercial social research sampling
      organisation completed a detailed online questionnaire about menstruation.
      Specific detailed questions were asked about perceptions of heavy menstrual
      bleeding (HMB) and menstrual pain. RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed by
      1575 women aged 20-39 years. Most perceived their bleeding to be light (11.6%) or
      moderate (60.5%); 363 (22.5%) perceived it to be heavy and 86 (5.3%) very heavy.
      Women who experienced severe or very severe menstrual pain were significantly
      more likely to report periods as heavy or very heavy (p < .001). The prevalence
      ratios for being confined to bed during menstruation for women experiencing
      severe or very severe menstrual pain were 12.02 (95% CI: 5.71-25.31) and 15.93
      (95% CI: 7.51-33.78), respectively, compared with women experiencing no pain. The
      prevalence ratios for being confined to bed were 1.58 (95% CI: 1.11-2.24) and
      1.53 (95% CI: 1.04-2.25) for women with heavy or very heavy bleeding,
      respectively. Women who experienced severe or very severe menstrual pain
      associated with their HMB were >12 times more likely to be confined to bed for
      0.5-1 day during menstruation than if they reported HMB without pain. CONCLUSION:
      Severe menstrual pain with HMB has a much more profound effect on all aspects of
      women's QoL than HMB alone; it accounts for more days in bed and for loss of
      productivity.

PMID- 27623184
TI  - Pancreatic morpho-functional imaging as a diagnostic approach for chronic
      asymptomatic pancreatic hyperenzymemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance cholangio-pancreatography (MRCP) findings in
      people with chronic asymptomatic pancreatic hyperenzymemia (CAPH) have shifted
      the hypothesis that CAPH is always non-pathological. However, there have been no
      studies including both secretin-MRCP (S-MRCP) and endoscopic ultrasonography
      (EUS) to examine the pancreatic morphology in these subjects. AIM: To
      prospectively assess the diagnostic approach for CAPH using both pancreatic EUS
      and S-MRCP. METHODS: In a case-control prospective study from January 2010 to
      December 2014, 68 consecutive subjects with CAPH were scheduled to undergo S-MRCP
      and EUS (CAPH group) in a tertiary care setting. In the same period, the EUS
      findings of this group were compared with 68 patients examined by EUS alone for
      submucosal lesions of the gastric fundus, matched for sex and age (control
      group). RESULTS: EUS detected pancreatic alterations in 60.3% of the CAPH group
      and 13.2% of controls (p<0.001). S-MRCP showed pancreatic alterations in 51.5% in
      the CAPH group. With the combined procedures, pancreatic abnormalities were
      detected in 63.3%. The diagnoses established by the two techniques were
      concordant in 51 (75%) of the 68 CAPH subjects; in the remaining 17 (25%) the two
      methods gave additional information. CONCLUSIONS: In people with CAPH S-MRCP and
      EUS are both recommended in order to detect pancreatic abnormalities before this
      biochemical alteration is confirmed as benign CAPH, or Gullo's syndrome.

PMID- 27623186
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of liver steatosis and fibrosis in unselected patients
      with HIV mono-infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Significant liver disease may develop in HIV mono-infected patients,
      usually associated with fatty liver and/or cART exposure. We estimated the
      prevalence and predictors of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis as assessed by
      ultrasound and transient elastography (TE). METHODS: We enrolled 125 consecutive
      HIV mono-infected patients who underwent ultrasound and TE. Clinical,
      biochemical, immunological, virological features and medication history were
      analysed. RESULTS: Mean age was 39.5+/-10.3years and 91% were male. Metabolic
      syndrome (MS) was present in 9.8%, diabetes in 5.6%, hypertension in 9.7%,
      dyslipidemia in 32.8%. Increased AST and ALT were found in 5.6% and 16.8%
      respectively. Eighty-five (68%) patients were on cART (median length of treatment
      of 3 years, IQR 0-17). Hepatic steatosis was detected in 61 (55%) patients and
      was independently associated with male sex (OR 14.6, 95% CI 1.44-148.17), age (OR
      1.082, 95% CI 1.01-1.16), HOMA (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.101-5.96) and GGT (OR 1.037,
      95% CI 1.007-1.075). Significant fibrosis (stiffness>7.4kPa) was present in 22
      patients (17.6%) and was significantly associated with MS (OR 3.99, 95% CI 1.001
      16.09). CONCLUSIONS: Liver fibrosis can develop in asymptomatic HIV mono-infected
      patients. This is likely associated with NAFLD and usually manifests with normal
      transaminases. Non-invasive screening for the presence of NAFLD and fibrosis
      should be considered in the routine care of such patients.

PMID- 27623185
TI  - Perioperative chemotherapy with FOLFOX in resectable gastroesophageal
      adenocarcinoma in real life practice: An AGEO multicenter retrospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Perioperative chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin, with or
      without epirubicin, improves overall survival in resectable gastroesophageal
      junction and gastric adenocarcinoma. The aim of this retrospective multicenter
      study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of perioperative chemotherapy with
      a FOLFOX-based regimen. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled patients with
      resectable gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, who had at least 3 cycles
      of a pre-operative FOLFOX-based regimen. The primary end point was the
      feasibility of the peri-operative chemotherapy. RESULTS: We enrolled 109 patients
      from 2007 to 2012 in 12 centres. Their median age was 66, 67% were men and 73%
      had gastric tumours. The median number of chemotherapy courses was 6 with a
      median of 4 pre-operative cycles and 2 post-operative cycles. Twenty-three
      patients received at least 8 cycles of chemotherapy. In univariate analysis, the
      Karnofsky index at inclusion was the only factor associated with 8 cycles of
      chemotherapy. An R0 resection was achieved in 100 patients (95.2%). CONCLUSION:
      The FOLFOX-based perioperative regimen achieves favourable results in real life
      practice. The optimal number of chemotherapy cycle remains to be determined.
      FOLFOX regimen may be used as an alternative treatment option to a cisplatin
      based regimen in resectable gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. A prospective
      randomized trial is needed to confirm these results.

PMID- 27623187
TI  - A 12-Month Prospective Cohort Study of Symptoms of Common Mental Disorders Among
      European Professional Footballers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the 12-month incidence and comorbidity of symptoms of
      common mental disorders (CMD) among European professional footballers and to
      explore the association of potential stressors with the health conditions under
      study among those European professional footballers. DESIGN: Observational
      prospective cohort study with a follow-up period of 12 months. PARTICIPANTS: Male
      professional footballers from 5 European countries (n = 384 at baseline).
      ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS: Adverse life events, conflicts with trainer/coach,
      and career dissatisfaction were explored by using validated questionnaires. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms of distress, anxiety/depression, sleep disturbance,
      and adverse alcohol use were assessed using validated questionnaires. RESULTS: A
      total of 384 players (mean age of 27 years old; mean career duration of 8 years)
      were enrolled, of which 262 completed the follow-up period. The incidence of
      symptoms of CMD were 12% for distress, 37% for anxiety/depression, 19% for sleep
      disturbance, and 14% for adverse alcohol use. Over the follow-up period of 12
      months, approximately 13% of the participants reported 2 symptoms, 5% three
      symptoms, and 3% four symptoms. Professional footballers reporting recent adverse
      life events, a conflict with trainer/coach, or career dissatisfaction were more
      likely to report symptoms of CMD, but statistically significant associations were
      not found. CONCLUSIONS: The 12-month incidence of symptoms of CMD among European
      professional footballers ranged from 12% for symptoms of distress to 37% for
      symptoms of anxiety/depression. A professional football team typically drawn from
      a squad of 25 players can expect symptoms of CMD to occur among at least 3
      players in one season.

PMID- 27623188
TI  - Photo-induced graft-versus-host disease.
AB  - Overlap chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) associates both features of
      acute and chronic GVHD. Trigger factors for chronic GVHD are unclear. We describe
      two patients who received allogenic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and
      who later developed overlap chronic GVHD after sun exposure. Available data from
      in vivo investigations suggest ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) has a beneficial
      effect on acute and chronic GVHD. The role of sun irradiation as a trigger for
      isomorphic cutaneous GVHD has been rarely reported in the literature. Herein, we
      demonstrate for the first time, using repetitive broadband phototesting, that UVB
      triggers chronic GVHD.

PMID- 27623189
TI  - Enabling Marangoni flow at air-liquid interfaces through deposition of
      aerosolized lipid dispersions.
AB  - It has long been known that deposited drops of surfactant solution induce
      Marangoni flows at air-liquid interfaces. These surfactant drops create a surface
      tension gradient, which causes an outward flow at the fluid interface. We show
      that aqueous phospholipid dispersions may be used for this same purpose. In
      aqueous dispersions, phospholipids aggregate into vesicles that are not surface
      active; therefore, drops of these dispersions do not initiate Marangoni flow.
      However, aerosolization of these dispersions disrupts the vesicles, allowing
      access to the surface-active monomers within. These lipid monomers do have the
      ability to induce Marangoni flow. We hypothesize that monomers released from
      broken vesicles adsorb on the surfaces of individual aerosol droplets and then
      create localized surface tension reduction upon droplet deposition. Deposition of
      lipid monomers via aerosolization produces surface tensions as low as 1mN/m on
      water. In addition, aerosolized lipid deposition also drives Marangoni flow on
      entangled polymer solution subphases with low initial surface tensions (~34mN/m).
      The fact that aerosolization of phospholipids naturally found within pulmonary
      surfactant can drive Marangoni flows on low surface tension liquids suggests that
      aerosolized lipids may be used to promote uniform pulmonary drug delivery without
      the need for exogenous spreading agents.

PMID- 27623190
TI  - Responsive self-assembled nanostructured lipid systems for drug delivery and
      diagnostics.
AB  - While stimuli-responsive polymers have received a huge amount of attention in the
      literature, responsive lipid-based mesophase systems offer unique opportunities
      in biomedical applications such as drug delivery and biosensing. The different
      mesophase equilibrium structures enables dynamic switching between nanostructures
      to facilitate drug release or as a transducer for recognition events. In drug
      delivery, this behavior offers researchers the means to deliver a therapeutic
      payload at a specific rate and time i.e. 'on-demand'. This review summarizes the
      distinctive features of these multifaceted materials and aggregates the current
      state of the art research from our groups and others into the use of these
      materials as bulk gels and nanostructured dispersions for drug delivery,
      biosensing and diagnostics.

PMID- 27623191
TI  - Pathological gambling in Parkinson's disease: what are the risk factors and what
      is the role of impulsivity?
AB  - The incidence of pathological gambling in Parkinson's patients is significantly
      greater than in the general population. A correlation has been observed between
      dopamine agonist medication and the development of pathological gambling.
      However, scientists conjecture that the affected patients have underlying risk
      factors. Studies analysing Parkinson's patients have detected that patients who
      developed pathological gambling are younger, score higher on novelty-seeking
      tests, are more impulsive and are more likely to have a personal or family
      history of alcohol addiction. In addition, some genetic variations have been
      associated with the susceptibility of developing pathological gambling, which
      include mutations of DRD3, 5-HTTLPR and GRIN2B. Studies focusing on
      neurofunctional discrepancies between Parkinson's patients with and without
      pathological gambling have found increased functional activation and dopamine
      release in regions associated with the mesolimbic reward system. Furthermore,
      there is also evidence showing increased processing of reward and decreased
      activation elicited by punishment, suggesting altered learning processes.
      Furthermore, the role of deep brain stimulation of the nucleus subthalamicus (STN
      DBS) is controversial. In most Parkinson's patients, pathological gambling
      resolved after the initiation of the STN DBS, which might be explained by
      discontinuation or decrease in dopamine agonist medication. However, it has been
      also shown that some patients are more impulsive while the STN DBS is activated.
      These differences may depend on the DBS localization in the more limbic or motor
      part of the STN and their regulative effects on impulsivity. Further research is
      needed to clarify susceptibility factors for the development of pathological
      gambling in Parkinson's patients.

PMID- 27623192
TI  - Poststroke Cognitive Decline is Independent of Longitudinal Changes in Cerebral
      Hemodynamics Parameters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poststroke vascular cognitive impairment is highly prevalent with
      significant functional consequences. However, reliable biomarkers for early
      prediction of cognitive decline after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) are not well
      established. Although parenchymal imaging in patients with AIS and transient
      ischemic attack (TIA) may predict the resultant cognitive impairment, it may not
      explain the progressive deterioration after the index event. We postulated that
      longitudinal changes in cerebral hemodynamic parameters may influence the
      cognitive performance after a cerebrovascular event. METHODS: One-hundred
      consecutive AIS/TIA patients were recruited within 2 weeks following a
      cerebrovascular event. At 3-6 months, 69 patients were followed up with
      transcranial Doppler (TCD) and brief cognitive tests (Mini-Mental State
      Examination [MMSE]/Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA]). Basic demographics,
      vascular risk factors, clinical, cognitive, and neurological status were
      recorded. RESULTS: Considerable proportion (12%) of patients showed cognitive
      decline and changes in the hemodynamic parameters over 3-6 months after the index
      event. We showed that right middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis and right
      internal carotid artery/MCA tandem lesions at 3-6 months are associated with the
      change in the MMSE scores. Additionally, there was a trend toward association
      between increased pulsatility index of the right MCA and a decline in the MMSE
      score. However, we did not observe any association between cognitive decline and
      longitudinal changes in hemodynamic parameters. CONCLUSION: Although hemodynamic
      parameters deteriorate in a considerable proportion of patients during first 3-6
      months after a cerebrovascular event, cognitive decline appears to be an
      independent phenomenon.

PMID- 27623193
TI  - Item Response Theory and Computerized Adaptive Testing for Orthopaedic Outcomes
      Measures.
AB  - The use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to objectively and
      quantifiably assess patient symptomatology allows tracking of symptoms over time,
      measurement of the effect of healthcare interventions, and performance of cost
      effectiveness analyses to assess and compare the value of treatment options. Many
      of the PROMs historically used had limited versatility because they were
      developed using classical test theory, which generates static tests that are not
      comparable with other measures assessing similar outcomes. Recently developed
      PROMs, however, were designed according to the principles of the newer item
      response theory (IRT), which allows for the creation of dynamic instruments
      deliverable in a variety of forms that are readily comparable with similar
      measures. IRT also enables computerized adaptive testing to decrease the burden
      of using PROMs by allowing rapid and complete data acquisition. IRT-based
      instruments are suitable for patient care and research and have been validated in
      a variety of populations, many of which are relevant to orthopaedic populations.

PMID- 27623194
TI  - Intergenerational Neuroimaging of Human Brain Circuitry.
AB  - Neuroscientists are increasingly using advanced neuroimaging methods to elucidate
      the intergenerational transmission of human brain circuitry. This new line of
      work promises to shed light on the ontogeny of complex behavioral traits,
      including psychiatric disorders, and possible mechanisms of transmission. Here we
      highlight recent intergenerational neuroimaging studies and provide
      recommendations for future work.

PMID- 27623195
TI  - Where Are Perceptual Decisions Made in the Brain?

PMID- 27623196
TI  - Modeling the Electrostatics of Hollow Shell Suspensions: Ion Distribution, Pair
      Interactions, and Many-Body Effects.
AB  - Electrostatic interactions play a key role in hollow shell suspensions as they
      determine their structure, stability, thermodynamics, and rheology and also the
      loading capacity of small charged species for nanoreservoir applications. In this
      work, fast, reliable modeling strategies aimed at predicting the electrostatics
      of hollow shells for one, two, and many colloids are proposed and validated. The
      electrostatic potential inside and outside a hollow shell with a finite thickness
      and a specific permittivity is determined analytically in the Debye-Huckel (DH)
      limit. An expression for the interaction potential between two such hollow shells
      is then derived and validated numerically. It follows a classical Yukawa form
      with an effective charge depending on the shell geometry, permittivity, and inner
      and outer surface charge densities. The predictions of the Ornstein-Zernike (OZ)
      equation with this pair potential to determine equations of state are then
      evaluated by comparison to results obtained with a Brownian dynamics algorithm
      coupled to the resolution of the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann and Laplace
      equations (PB-BD simulations). The OZ equation based on the DLVO-like potential
      performs very well in the dilute regime as expected, but also quite well, and
      more surprisingly, in the concentrated regime in which full spheres exhibit
      significant many-body effects. These effects are shown to vanish for shells with
      small thickness and high permittivity. For highly charged hollow shells, we
      propose and validate a charge renormalization procedure. Finally, using PB-BD
      simulations, we show that the cell model predicts the ion distribution inside and
      outside hollow shells accurately in both electrostatically dilute and
      concentrated suspensions. We then determine the shell loading capacity as a
      function of salt concentration, volume fraction, and surface charge density for
      nanoreservoir applications such as drug delivery, sensing, or smart coatings.

PMID- 27623197
TI  - A Systems Biology Analysis Unfolds the Molecular Pathways and Networks of Two
      Proteobacteria in Spaceflight and Simulated Microgravity Conditions.
AB  - Bacteria are important organisms for space missions due to their increased
      pathogenesis in microgravity that poses risks to the health of astronauts and for
      projected synthetic biology applications at the space station. We understand
      little about the effect, at the molecular systems level, of microgravity on
      bacteria, despite their significant incidence. In this study, we proposed a
      systems biology pipeline and performed an analysis on published gene expression
      data sets from multiple seminal studies on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella
      enterica serovar Typhimurium under spaceflight and simulated microgravity
      conditions. By applying gene set enrichment analysis on the global gene
      expression data, we directly identified a large number of new, statistically
      significant cellular and metabolic pathways involved in response to microgravity.
      Alteration of metabolic pathways in microgravity has rarely been reported before,
      whereas in this analysis metabolic pathways are prevalent. Several of those
      pathways were found to be common across studies and species, indicating a common
      cellular response in microgravity. We clustered genes based on their expression
      patterns using consensus non-negative matrix factorization. The genes from
      different mathematically stable clusters showed protein-protein association
      networks with distinct biological functions, suggesting the plausible functional
      or regulatory network motifs in response to microgravity. The newly identified
      pathways and networks showed connection with increased survival of pathogens
      within macrophages, virulence, and antibiotic resistance in microgravity. Our
      work establishes a systems biology pipeline and provides an integrated insight
      into the effect of microgravity at the molecular systems level. KEY WORDS:
      Systems biology-Microgravity-Pathways and networks-Bacteria. Astrobiology 16, 677
      689.

PMID- 27623198
TI  - Evidence for Seismogenic Hydrogen Gas, a Potential Microbial Energy Source on
      Earth and Mars.
AB  - The oxidation of molecular hydrogen (H2) is thought to be a major source of
      metabolic energy for life in the deep subsurface on Earth, and it could likewise
      support any extant biosphere on Mars, where stable habitable environments are
      probably limited to the subsurface. Faulting and fracturing may stimulate the
      supply of H2 from several sources. We report the H2 content of fluids present in
      terrestrial rocks formed by brittle fracturing on fault planes (pseudotachylites
      and cataclasites), along with protolith control samples. The fluids are dominated
      by water and include H2 at abundances sufficient to support hydrogenotrophic
      microorganisms, with strong H2 enrichments in the pseudotachylites compared to
      the controls. Weaker and less consistent H2 enrichments are observed in the
      cataclasites, which represent less intense seismic friction than the
      pseudotachylites. The enrichments agree quantitatively with previous experimental
      measurements of frictionally driven H2 formation during rock fracturing. We find
      that conservative estimates of current martian global seismicity predict episodic
      H2 generation by Marsquakes in quantities useful to hydrogenotrophs over a range
      of scales and recurrence times. On both Earth and Mars, secondary release of H2
      may also accompany the breakdown of ancient fault rocks, which are particularly
      abundant in the pervasively fractured martian crust. This study strengthens the
      case for the astrobiological investigation of ancient martian fracture systems.
      KEY WORDS: Deep biosphere-Faults-Fault rocks-Seismic activity-Hydrogen-Mars.
      Astrobiology 16, 690-702.

PMID- 27623199
TI  - Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Coronene in the Presence of
      Perchlorate for In Situ Chemical Analysis of Martian Regolith.
AB  - The analysis of the organic compounds present in the martian regolith is
      essential for understanding the history and habitability of Mars, as well as
      studying the signs of possible extant or extinct life. To date, pyrolysis, the
      only technique that has been used to extract organic compounds from the martian
      regolith, has not enabled the detection of unaltered native martian organics. The
      elevated temperatures required for pyrolysis extraction can cause native martian
      organics to react with perchlorate salts in the regolith and possibly result in
      the chlorohydrocarbons that have been detected by in situ instruments.
      Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) extraction is an alternative to pyrolysis
      that may be capable of delivering unaltered native organic species to an in situ
      detector. In this study, we report the SCCO2 extraction of unaltered coronene, a
      representative polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), from martian regolith
      simulants, in the presence of 3 parts per thousand (ppth) sodium perchlorate.
      PAHs are a class of nonpolar molecules of astrobiological interest and are
      delivered to the martian surface by meteoritic infall. We also determined that
      the extraction efficiency of coronene was unaffected by the presence of
      perchlorate on the regolith simulant, and that no sodium perchlorate was
      extracted by SCCO2. This indicates that SCCO2 extraction can provide de-salted
      samples that could be directly delivered to a variety of in situ detectors. SCCO2
      was also used to extract trace native fluorescent organic compounds from the
      martian regolith simulant JSC Mars-1, providing further evidence that SCCO2
      extraction may provide an alternative to pyrolysis to enable the delivery of
      unaltered native organic compounds to an in situ detector on a future Mars rover.
      KEY WORDS: Biomarkers-Carbon dioxide-In situ measurement-Mars-Search for Mars'
      organics. Astrobiology 16, 703-714.

PMID- 27623200
TI  - "Standoff Biofinder" for Fast, Noncontact, Nondestructive, Large-Area Detection
      of Biological Materials for Planetary Exploration.
AB  - We developed a prototype instrument called the Standoff Biofinder, which can
      quickly locate biological material in a 500 cm(2) area from a 2 m standoff
      distance with a detection time of 0.1 s. All biogenic materials give strong
      fluorescence signals when excited with UV and visible lasers. In addition, the
      luminescence decay time of biogenic compounds is much shorter (<100 ns) than the
      micro- to millisecond decay time of transition metal ions and rare-earth ions in
      minerals and rocks. The Standoff Biofinder takes advantage of the short lifetime
      of biofluorescent materials to obtain real-time fluorescence images that show the
      locations of biological materials among luminescent minerals in a geological
      context. The Standoff Biofinder instrument will be useful for locating biological
      material during future NASA rover, lander, and crewed missions. Additionally, the
      instrument can be used for nondestructive detection of biological materials in
      unique samples, such as those obtained by sample return missions from the outer
      planets and asteroids. The Standoff Biofinder also has the capacity to detect
      microbes and bacteria on space instruments for planetary protection purposes. KEY
      WORDS: Standoff Biofinder-Luminescence-Time-resolved fluorescence-Biofluorescence
      Planetary exploration-Planetary protection-Noncontact nondestructive
      biodetection. Astrobiology 16, 715-729.

PMID- 27623201
TI  - Hot flashes: avoiding the reductionist view.

PMID- 27623202
TI  - The Woman's Health Initiative and one of many unintended consequences.

PMID- 27623203
TI  - The symptomatic menopause: the future is purchased by the present.

PMID- 27623204
TI  - Expression of SOX11, PAX5, TTF-1 and ISL-1 in medulloblastoma.
AB  - : The aim of our study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of
      SOX11, PAX5, TTF-1 and ISL-1 in medulloblastoma (MB) to investigate their
      diagnostic usefulness. METHODS: Immunohistochemical expression of PAX5 (two
      antibodies: Dako, DAK-Pax5; and BD, clone 24), TTF-1 (Dako, 8G7G3/1), SOX11
      (CL0142; Abcam) and ISL-1 (1 H9, Abcam) was analyzed using the h-score and
      Remmele score in 25 cases of MB. RESULTS: There were 18 MBs of classic and 7 of
      desmoplastic type. SOX11 was strongly expressed in all tumors. The expression of
      PAX5 was higher and more frequent in a case of DAK-Pax5 clone (25/25) than clone
      24 (6/25). ISL-1 was positive in 11 (44%) and TTF-1 in 3 (12%) cases. ISL-1
      expression correlated positively (p<0.001), while TTF-1 correlated negatively
      with the age of patients (p=0.039). PAX5 expression correlated with ISL-1
      (p=0.039) and showed a trend toward higher expression in the desmoplastic subtype
      (p=0.069). CONCLUSIONS: SOX11 is strongly and robustly expressed in MBs. PAX5
      expression pattern differs substantially among two antibody clones. TTF-1 and ISL
      1 is associated with the age of patients.

PMID- 27623205
TI  - Combined over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 2alpha gene and its long
      non-coding RNA predicts unfavorable prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LncRNA hypoxia-inducible factor-2alpha (HIF-2alpha) promoter upstream
      transcript (HIF2PUT) functions as a novel regulatory factor of osteosarcoma stem
      cells partly by controlling HIF-2alpha expression. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the clinical significance of HIF-2alpha and HIF2PUT in human
      osteosarcoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to
      detect the expression levels of HIF-2alpha mRNA and HIF2PUT in 82 surgical
      specimens of primary osteosarcoma and matched non-cancerous bone tissues. Then,
      the associations of HIF-2alpha and/or HIF2PUT expression with various
      clinicopathological features of osteosarcoma patients were statistically
      analyzed. Moreover, their prognostic value was further evaluated. RESULTS:
      Compared with non-cancerous bone tissues, HIF-2alpha mRNA and HIF2PUT expression
      were both significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma tissues (all P<0.001).
      Interestingly, the expression levels of HIF-2alpha mRNA in osteosarcoma tissues
      were positively correlated with those of HIF2PUT (r=0.28, P=0.009). Additionally,
      osteosarcoma patients with HIF-2alpha mRNA and/or HIF2PUT over-expression more
      frequently had large tumor size (all P<0.05), advanced clinical stage (all
      P<0.01) and positive distant metastasis (all P<0.01). Moreover, osteosarcoma
      patients with HIF-2alpha mRNA and/or HIF2PUT over-expression had a significantly
      shorter overall and disease-free survival (all P<0.05). Furthermore, Cox
      multivariate analysis identified that HIF-2alpha mRNA and/or HIF2PUT expression,
      clinical stage and distant metastasis were all independent and significant
      prognostic factors for both overall and disease-free survival (all P<0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: HIF-2alpha and HIF2PUT upregulation may be a common feature in human
      osteosarcomas with aggressive potency. The over-expression of the two molecules,
      alone or combined, may predict poor prognosis in osteosarcoma patients.

PMID- 27623206
TI  - Same difference: A pilot study of cyclin D1, bcl-2, AMACR, and ALDH-1 identifies
      significant differences in expression between primary colon adenocarcinoma and
      its metastases.
AB  - Tumor heterogeneity implies the possibility of significantly different expression
      of key pathways between primary and metastatic clones. Colon adenocarcinoma is
      one of the few tumors where current practice includes resection of primary and
      isolated organ metastases simultaneously without neoadjuvant therapy. We
      performed a pilot study on 28 cases of colon adenocarcinoma resected
      simultaneously with metastases in patients with no history of neoadjuvant
      therapy. We assayed matched primary and metastatic tumors from each patient with
      common diagnostic antibodies to Bcl-2, Cyclin D1, AMACR, and ALDH-1 by
      immunohistochemistry with semi-quantitative interpretation on archived formalin
      fixed, paraffin embedded samples. We were powered for large, consistent
      differences between primary and metastatic expression, and found 21 of 28 had a
      significant difference in expression of at least one of the four proteins,
      accounting for multiplicity of testing. Cyclin D1 had significantly more cases
      with differential metastatic:primary expression than would be expected by chance
      alone (p-value 0.0043), favoring higher expression in the metastatic sample. Bcl
      2 and ALDH-1 had trends in this direction (p-value 0.078 each). Proportionately
      more cases with significant differences were identified when a liver metastasis
      was tested. We conclude differences in expression between metastatic and primary
      colon adenocarcinoma within the same patient exist, and may have therapeutic and
      biomarker testing consequences.

PMID- 27623207
TI  - High grade transformation of salivary gland acinic cell carcinoma with emphasis
      on histological diagnosis and clinical implications.
AB  - Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) is commonly thought of as a low grade malignant
      salivary neoplasm, and possibly has the best prognosis of all salivary
      malignancies with a 10-year survival of almost 90%. High grade transformation
      (HGT) in these tumours is a relatively rare event but is increasingly being
      reported. HGT (formerly referred to as dedifferentiation) in acinic cell
      carcinoma has shown to drastically reduce the survival rates and its recognition
      is imperative as more aggressive clinical management is needed. We report a case
      of parotid acinic cell carcinoma in a 82-year old woman where the fine needle
      aspirate suggested either pleomorphic adenoma or the possibility of carcinoma ex
      pleomorphic adenoma. Per-operatively it became clear that the facial nerve was
      involved and the tumour mass was debulked only. The histology showed an acinic
      cell carcinoma with foci of high grade differentiation (ACC-HGT). We describe the
      histology of HGT in ACC and the most common differential diagnoses. We emphasise
      the need of very generous sampling of the tumour, as to recognise any area of
      high grade transformation, some of which can be very small. A literature review
      of ACC-HGT as well as HGT in other salivary gland neoplasms is presented. HGT of
      ACC greatly thus influences the macroscopical and microscopical evaluation of the
      specimen but also, given the high incidence of metastases and morbidity, carries
      significant treatment implications.

PMID- 27623209
TI  - Understanding the Needs of Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Results of the
      Make Your Dialogue Count Survey.
AB  - With more patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) living longer, patient
      centered communication and shared decision making between patient and oncologist
      are vital to improve care and quality of life in patients with MBC. The Make Your
      Dialogue Count survey explored emotional needs of patients at initial diagnosis
      of MBC and treatment change to increase awareness about gaps and facilitate
      communication between patients and oncologists. The survey was conducted (June
      August 2014) online, by telephone, or on paper among US women with MBC and US
      licensed medical oncologists. Patient data were unweighted. Oncologist data were
      weighted by geographic region and years in practice by sex to match actual
      proportions in the population. Statistically significant differences between
      groups were determined by standard t-test of column proportions and means at the
      95% confidence level. Between initial diagnosis of MBC and treatment change, some
      patients' attitudes and feelings adapted as their disease advanced. Fewer
      patients reported fear of the unknown (58% versus 44%) and distress over
      believing something could have been done to prevent disease progression (26%
      versus 12%), but more patients reported hope of keeping the disease stable (46%
      versus 59%) and confidence in treatment options (29% versus 37%). During their
      treatment journey, more women with children <=17 years old were distressed
      because they believed something could have been done to prevent disease
      progression versus women with children 18+ years old or no children. There were
      instances of misalignment between patient expectations and what oncologists
      actually discussed with patients. Our findings suggest that patients exhibit an
      ability to adapt during their disease. Having a shared understanding of concerns
      and needs of patients serves to strengthen the patient-oncologist alliance and
      creates a framework for oncologists to tailor disease management and coping
      strategies to improve quality of life for patients of all ages with MBC.

PMID- 27623208
TI  - Fused Ring Molecular Scaffold with 3D Architecture for Constrained
      Peptidomimetics: Polymer-Supported Stereoselective Synthesis of
      Tetrahydrobenzo[e]pyrazino[2,1-c][1,2,4]thiadiazinone 6,6-dioxide via N-Acyl
      Iminiums.
AB  - 3,4,4a,5-Tetrahydrobenzo[e]pyrazino[2,1-c][1,2,4]thiadiazin-1(2H)-one 6,6
      dioxides, molecular scaffolds with 3D architecture, were synthesized on solid
      supports via tandem N-acyl iminium ion cyclization followed by nucleophilic
      addition. The modular synthesis proceeded under mild conditions using
      commercially available building blocks and provided crude products with
      respectable purity. The synthesized compounds are applicable as fused nitrogenous
      heterocyclic compounds in drug discovery and as constrained peptidomimetics
      incorporated into a peptide backbone.

PMID- 27623210
TI  - Screening for genital chlamydia infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genital infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis are the most
      prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Screening of
      sexually active young adults to detect and treat asymptomatic infections might
      reduce chlamydia transmission and prevent reproductive tract morbidity,
      particularly pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women, which can cause tubal
      infertility and ectopic pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects and safety
      of chlamydia screening versus standard care on chlamydia transmission and
      infection complications in pregnant and non-pregnant women and in men. SEARCH
      METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Sexually Transmitted Infections Group
      Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, CINAHL, DARE, PsycINFO and Web of Science
      electronic databases up to 14 February 2016, together with World Health
      Organization International Clinical Trials Registry (ICTRP) and
      ClinicalTrials.gov. We also handsearched conference proceedings, contacted trial
      authors and reviewed the reference lists of retrieved studies. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in adult women (non-pregnant and
      pregnant) and men comparing a chlamydia screening intervention with usual care
      and reporting on a primary outcome (C. trachomatis prevalence, PID in women,
      epididymitis in men or incidence of preterm delivery). We included non-randomised
      controlled clinical trials if there were no RCTs for a primary outcome. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed trials for
      inclusion, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. We resolved
      disagreements by consensus or adjudication by a third reviewer. We described
      results in forest plots and conducted meta-analysis where appropriate using a
      fixed-effect model to estimate risk ratios (RR with 95% confidence intervals, CI)
      in intervention vs control groups. We conducted a pre-specified sensitivity
      analysis of the primary outcome, PID incidence, according to the risks of
      selection and detection bias. MAIN RESULTS: We included six trials involving
      359,078 adult women and men. One trial was at low risk of bias in all six
      specific domains assessed. Two trials examined the effect of multiple rounds of
      chlamydia screening on C. trachomatis transmission. A cluster-controlled trial in
      women and men in the general population in the Netherlands found no change in
      chlamydia test positivity after three yearly invitations (intervention 4.1% vs
      control 4.3%, RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.09, 1 trial, 317,304 participants at
      first screening invitation, low quality evidence). Uptake of the intervention was
      low (maximum 16%). A cluster-randomised trial in female sex workers in Peru found
      a reduction in chlamydia prevalence after four years (adjusted RR 0.72, 95% CI
      0.54 to 0.98, 1 trial, 4465 participants, low quality evidence).Four RCTs
      examined the effect of chlamydia screening on PID in women 12 months after a
      single screening offer. In analysis of four trials according to the intention-to
      treat principle, the risk of PID was lower in women in intervention than control
      groups, with little evidence of between-trial heterogeneity (RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.49
      to 0.94, I2 7%, 4 trials, 21,686 participants, moderate quality evidence). In a
      sensitivity analysis, the estimated effect of chlamydia screening in two RCTs at
      low risk of detection bias (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.17) was compatible with no
      effect and was lower than in two RCTs at high or unclear risk of detection bias
      (RR 0.42, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.83).The risk of epididymitis in men invited for
      screening, 12 months after a single screening offer, was 20% lower risk for
      epididymitis than in those not invited; the confidence interval was wide and
      compatible with no effect (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.42, 1 trial, 14,980
      participants, very low quality evidence).We found no RCTs of the effects of
      chlamydia screening in pregnancy and no trials that measured the harms of
      chlamydia screening. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Evidence about the effects of
      screening on C. trachomatis transmission is of low quality because of directness
      and risk of bias. There is moderate quality evidence that detection and treatment
      of chlamydia infection can reduce the risk of PID in women at individual level.
      There is an absence of RCT evidence about the effects of chlamydia screening in
      pregnancy.Future RCTs of chlamydia screening interventions should determine the
      effects of chlamydia screening in pregnancy, of repeated rounds of screening on
      the incidence of chlamydia-associated PID and chlamydia reinfection in general
      and high risk populations.

PMID- 27623211
TI  - Novel chemokine-like activities of histones in tumor metastasis.
AB  - Histones are intracellular nucleosomal components and extracellular damage
      associated molecular pattern molecules that modulate chromatin remodeling, as
      well as the immune response. However, their extracellular roles in cell migration
      and invasion remain undefined. Here, we demonstrate that histones are novel
      regulators of tumor metastasis with chemokine-like activities. Indeed, exogenous
      histones promote both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell migration and invasion
      through toll-like receptor (TLR)4, but not TLR2 or the receptor for advanced
      glycosylation end product. TLR4-mediated activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF
      kappaB) by extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is required for histone
      induced chemokine (e.g., C-C motif ligand 9/10) production. Pharmacological and
      genetic inhibition of TLR4-ERK-NF-kappaB signaling impairs histone-induced
      chemokine production and HCC cell migration. Additionally, TLR4 depletion (by
      using TLR4-/- mice and TLR4-shRNA) or inhibition of histone release/activity (by
      administration of heparin and H3 neutralizing antibody) attenuates lung
      metastasis of HCC cells injected via the tail vein of mice. Thus, histones
      promote tumor metastasis of HCC cells through the TLR4-NF-kappaB pathway and
      represent novel targets for treating patients with HCC.

PMID- 27623212
TI  - Reduced Connexin 43 expression is associated with tumor malignant behaviors and
      biochemical recurrence-free survival of prostate cancer.
AB  - Connexin 43, a gap junction protein, coordinates cell-to-cell communication and
      adhesion. Altered Connexin 43 expression associated with cancer development and
      progression. In this study, we assessed Connexin 43 expression for association
      with clinicopathological features and biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer
      after radical prostatectomy. Pathological specimens were collected from 243
      patients who underwent radical prostatectomy and from 60 benign prostatic
      hyperplasia (BPH) patients to construct tissue microarrays and
      immunohistochemical analysis of Connexin 43 expression. Kaplan-Meier curves and
      multivariable Cox proportion hazard model were performed to associate Connexin 43
      expression with postoperative biochemical recurrence-free survival (BFS).
      Connexin 43 expression was significantly reduced or lost in tumor tissues
      compared to that of BPHs (39.1% vs. 96.7%, P<0.001). Reduced Connexin 43
      expression was associated with high levels of preoperative PSA, high Gleason
      score, advanced pT stage, positive surgical margin, extracapsular extension, and
      seminal vesicle invasion (P < 0.05, for all). Kaplan-Meier curves showed that
      reduced Connexin 43 expression was associated with shortened postoperative BFS (P
      < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that reduced Connexin 43 expression, high
      Gleason score and advanced pT stage were independent predictors for BFS of
      patients (P < 0.05). Connexin 43 expression was significantly reduced or lost in
      prostate cancer tissues, which was associated with advanced clinicopathological
      features and poor BFS of patients after radical prostatectomy.

PMID- 27623215
TI  - Laparoscopic Closure of the Nephrosplenic Space in Horses with Nephrosplenic
      Colonic Entrapment: Factors Associated with Survival and Colic Recurrence.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: 1) To identify factors associated with short-term survival and time
      to death after hospital discharge in horses with nephrosplenic entrapment (NSE).
      2) To compare the frequency of recurrent colic episodes in horses with and
      without laparoscopic closure of the nephrosplenic space. STUDY DESIGN: Historical
      cohort with a nested case control. ANIMALS: Client-owned horses. METHODS: Medical
      records of horses treated for NSE from January 1, 2002 to June 1, 2014 were
      reviewed. Data collected included signalment, physical examination parameters,
      laboratory results, diagnostic findings, and treatments. Factors associated with
      short-term survival to discharge were analyzed with a multivariable logistic
      regression model and time to death after hospital discharge was analyzed with a
      Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: During the study period, 211 horses had
      231 NSE events and 192/211 (91%) horses survived to discharge. A positive
      difference in packed cell volume (PCV at admission - PCV after treatment) was
      associated with reduced odds of nonsurvival with each increment (OR: 0.899, 95%
      CI 0.816-0.991, P=.03) while the presence of concurrent alimentary lesions (OR:
      8.47, 95% CI 1.42-50.4, P=.02) were significantly associated with increased odds
      of nonsurvival in the short term. Of 156 horses that survived to discharge for
      which follow-up was available, 152 (97%) were alive for >=1 year. Increasing age
      (incremental years) at hospital admission was significantly associated with death
      after discharge (hazard ratio 1.078, 95% CI 1.002-1.16, P=.049). Recurrence of
      NSE was documented in 49/211 (23%) horses. The overall change in colic score
      indicated a reduction in colic in horses following laparoscopic closure of the
      nephrosplenic space compared with horses that did not have closure of the
      nephrosplenic space (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: An increase in PCV from admission to
      after treatment and concurrent abdominal lesions were associated with increased
      odds of nonsurvival to discharge in horses with NSE. Horses that underwent
      laparoscopic closure had reduced colic episodes compared with horses without
      laparoscopic closure.

PMID- 27623216
TI  - Variable recruitment in bundles of miniature pneumatic artificial muscles.
AB  - The natural compliance and force generation properties of pneumatic artificial
      muscles (PAMs) allow them to operate like human muscles in anthropomorphic
      robotic manipulators. Traditionally, manipulators use a single PAM or multiple
      PAMs actuated in unison in place of a human muscle. However, these standard
      manipulators can experience significant efficiency losses when operated outside
      their target performance ranges at low actuation pressures. This study considers
      the application of a variable recruitment control strategy to a parallel bundle
      of miniature PAMs as an attempt to mimic the selective recruitment of motor units
      in a human muscle. Bundles of miniature PAMs are experimentally characterized,
      their actuation behavior is modeled, and the efficiency gains and losses
      associated with the application of a variable recruitment control strategy are
      assessed. This bio-inspired control strategy allows muscle bundles to operate the
      fewest miniature PAMs necessary to achieve a desired performance objective,
      improving the muscle bundle's operating efficiency over larger ranges of force
      generation and displacement. The study also highlights the need for improved PAM
      fabrication techniques to facilitate the production of identical miniature PAMs
      for inclusion in muscle bundles.

PMID- 27623214
TI  - Heterogeneity in mechanisms of emergent resistance in pediatric T-cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Relapse in pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) remains a
      significant clinical problem and is thought to be associated with clonal
      selection during treatment. In this study we used an established pre-clinical
      model of induction therapy to increase our understanding of the effect of
      engraftment and chemotherapy on clonal selection and acquisition of drug
      resistance in vivo. Immune-deficient mice were engrafted with patient diagnostic
      specimens and exposed to a repeated combination therapy consisting of
      vincristine, dexamethasone, L-asparaginase and daunorubicin. Any re-emergence of
      disease following therapy was shown to be associated with resistance to
      dexamethasone, no resistance was observed to the other three drugs.
      Immunoglobulin/T-cell receptor gene rearrangements closely matched those in
      respective diagnosis and relapse patient specimens, highlighting that these
      clonal markers do not fully reflect the biological changes associated with drug
      resistance. Gene expression profiling revealed the significant underlying
      heterogeneity of dexamethasone-resistant xenografts. Alterations were observed in
      a large number of biological pathways, yet no dominant signature was common to
      all lines. These findings indicate that the biological changes associated with T
      ALL relapse and resistance are stochastic and highly individual, and underline
      the importance of using sophisticated molecular techniques or single cell
      analyses in developing personalized approaches to therapy.

PMID- 27623213
TI  - AKT-ions with a TWIST between EMT and MET.
AB  - The transcription factor Twist is an important regulator of cranial suture during
      embryogenesis. Closure of the neural tube is achieved via Twist-triggered
      cellular transition from an epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype, a process known
      as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), characterized by a remarkable
      increase in cell motility. In the absence of Twist activity, EMT and associated
      phenotypic changes in cell morphology and motility can also be induced, albeit
      moderately, by other transcription factor families, including Snail and Zeb.
      Aberrant EMT triggered by Twist in human mammary tumour cells was first reported
      to drive metastasis to the lung in a metastatic breast cancer model. Subsequent
      analysis of many types of carcinoma demonstrated overexpression of these unique
      EMT transcription factors, which statistically correlated with worse outcome,
      indicating their potential as biomarkers in the clinic. However, the mechanisms
      underlying their activation remain unclear. Interestingly, increasing evidence
      indicates they are selectively activated by distinct intracellular kinases,
      thereby acting as downstream effectors facilitating transduction of cytoplasmic
      signals into nucleus and reprogramming EMT and mesenchymal-epithelial transition
      (MET) transcription to control cell plasticity. Understanding these relationships
      and emerging data indicating differential phosphorylation of Twist leads to
      complex and even paradoxical functionalities, will be vital to unlocking their
      potential in clinical settings.

PMID- 27623217
TI  - Appendix Invagination Mimicking Ileocecal Intussusception in a Pediatric Patient:
      A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Appendix invagination is a rare cause of right lower quadrant
      abdominal pain. Clinical findings are not specific and can mimic a wide range of
      diseases. CASE REPORT: An 8-year-old girl was admitted with abdominal pain
      lasting for 2 weeks. Clinical and radiologic findings suggested ileocecal
      intussusception initially. A failed hydrostatic reduction attempt and subsequent
      abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography studies showed that the underlying
      pathology was invagination of the vermiform appendix. The patient was managed
      conservatively and spontaneous reduction was observed during follow-up. She
      underwent appendectomy 9 months later due to chronic appendicitis. WHY SHOULD AN
      EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Appendix invagination should be kept in
      mind while evaluating patients with suspected ileocecal intussusception. In
      distinguishing between these two conditions, a blind-ending invaginating segment
      is an important clue in favor of appendix intussusception.

PMID- 27623218
TI  - Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Intravascular Air After Lower Extremity
      Intraosseous Access.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vascular air embolism is a rare but potentially deadly phenomenon.
      Early diagnosis allows providers to initiate measures aimed at preventing further
      air entry, preventing the migration of air to the lungs, and mitigating the
      hemodynamic effects of pulmonary air embolism. CASE REPORT: An emergency
      physician used point-of-care ultrasound to identify intravascular air before
      embolization to the pulmonary vasculature. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE
      AWARE OF THIS?: Bedside ultrasound can be used as a tool for early diagnosis of
      intravascular air. Emergency physicians should be aware of the typical
      sonographic manifestations of intravascular air and the initial steps in treating
      vascular air embolism.

PMID- 27623219
TI  - A "Shark Encounter": Delayed Primary Closure and Prophylactic Antibiotic
      Treatment of a Great White Shark Bite.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Shark bites are rare but sensational injuries that are covered in the
      lay press but are not well described in the medical literature. CASE REPORT: We
      present the case of a 50-year-old man who sustained two deep puncture wounds to
      his thigh from a great white shark in the waters surrounding Isla de Guadalupe
      off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, during a caged SCUBA dive. WHY SHOULD
      AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: We discuss our strategy of closing the
      wounds in a delayed primary fashion 24 hours after injury, our antibiotic
      choices, and the patient's course and review marine pathogens and appropriate
      antibiotic coverage.

PMID- 27623220
TI  - Assessing myxozoan presence and diversity using environmental DNA.
AB  - Amplicon sequencing on a High Throughput Sequencing platform (custom barcoding)
      was used to detect and characterise myxosporean communities in environmental DNA
      samples from marine and freshwater environments and in faeces of animals that may
      serve as hosts or whose prey may host myxosporean infections. A diversity of
      myxozoans in filtered water samples and in faeces of piscivores (otters and great
      cormorants) was detected, demonstrating the suitability of lineage-specific
      amplicons for characterising otherwise difficult to sample parasite communities.
      The importance of using this approach was highlighted by the lack of myxosporean
      detection using commonly employed, broadly targeted eukaryotic primers. These
      results suggest that, despite being frequently present in eDNA samples, myxozoans
      have been generally overlooked in "eukaryote-wide" surveys. Lineage-specific
      primers, in contrast, detected 107 operational taxonomic units that were assigned
      to both the "freshwater" and "marine" myxosporean lineages. Only 7% of these OTUs
      clustered with sequences in GenBank, providing evidence for substantial
      undescribed myxosporean diversity. Many new operational taxonomic units,
      including those found in otter faeces, clustered with a clade of myxosporeans
      previously characterised by sequences from invertebrate hosts and water samples
      only. Because myxozoan species identification is heavily reliant on molecular
      signatures, lineage-specific amplicon sequencing offers an effective and non
      destructive means of improving our knowledge of myxozoan diversity. In addition,
      the analysis of myxozoan DNA in faeces of piscivores offers a potentially
      efficient method of sampling for diversity and revealing life cycles as piscivore
      activities may integrate myxozoan infections in fish over relatively broad
      spatial scales.

PMID- 27623222
TI  - Feeding Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene to Silkworms for Reinforced
      Silk Fibers.
AB  - Silkworm silk is gaining significant attention from both the textile industry and
      research society because of its outstanding mechanical properties and lustrous
      appearance. The possibility of creating tougher silks attracts particular
      research interest. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are widely studied for their use
      as reinforcement. In this work, we report mechanically enhanced silk directly
      collected by feeding Bombyx mori larval silkworms with single-walled carbon
      nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene. We found that parts of the fed carbon
      nanomaterials were incorporated into the as-spun silk fibers, whereas the others
      went into the excrement of silkworms. Spectroscopy study indicated that
      nanocarbon additions hindered the conformation transition of silk fibroin from
      random coil and alpha-helix to beta-sheet, which may contribute to increased
      elongation at break and toughness modules. We further investigated the pyrolysis
      of modified silk, and a highly developed graphitic structure with obviously
      enhanced electrical conductivity was obtained through the introduction of SWNTs
      and graphene. The successful generation of these SWNT- or graphene-embedded silks
      by in vivo feeding is expected to open up possibilities for the large-scale
      production of high-strength silk fibers.

PMID- 27623221
TI  - Assessing the psychometric properties of two food addiction scales.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While food addiction is well accepted in popular culture and
      mainstream media, its scientific validity as an addictive behavior is still under
      investigation. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Yale Food
      Addiction Scale and Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale using data from two
      community-based convenience samples. METHODS: We assessed the internal and test
      retest reliability of the Yale Food Addiction Scale and Modified Yale Food
      Addiction Scale, and estimated the sensitivity and negative predictive value of
      the Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale using the Yale Food Addiction Scale as the
      benchmark. We calculated Cronbach's alphas and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for
      internal reliability and Cohen's Kappa coefficients and 95% CIs for test-retest
      reliability. RESULTS: Internal consistency (n=232) was marginal to good, ranging
      from alpha=0.63 to 0.84. The test-retest reliability (n=45) for food addiction
      diagnosis was substantial, with Kappa=0.73 (95% CI, 0.48-0.88) (Yale Food
      Addiction Scale) and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.66-1.00) (Modified Yale Food Addiction
      Scale). Sensitivity and negative predictive value for classifying food addiction
      status were excellent: compared to the Yale Food Addiction Scale, the Modified
      Yale Food Addiction Scale's sensitivity was 92.3% (95% CI, 64%-99.8%), and the
      negative predictive value was 99.5% (95% CI, 97.5%-100%). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      analyses suggest that the Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale may be an
      appropriate substitute for the Yale Food Addiction Scale when a brief measure is
      needed, and support the continued use of both scales to investigate food
      addiction.

PMID- 27623223
TI  - In vivo genome editing as a potential treatment strategy for inherited retinal
      dystrophies.
AB  - In vivo genome editing represents an emerging field in the treatment of monogenic
      disorders, as it may constitute a solution to the current hurdles in classic gene
      addition therapy, which are the low levels and limited duration of transgene
      expression. Following the introduction of a double strand break (DSB) at the
      mutational site by highly specific endonucleases, such as TALENs (transcription
      activator like effector nucleases) or RNA based nucleases (clustered regulatory
      interspaced short palindromic repeats - CRISPR-Cas), the cell's own DNA repair
      machinery restores integrity to the DNA strand and corrects the mutant sequence,
      thus allowing the cell to produce protein levels as needed. The DNA repair
      happens either through the error prone non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway
      or with high fidelity through homology directed repair (HDR) in the presence of a
      DNA donor template. A third pathway called microhomology mediated endjoining
      (MMEJ) has been recently discovered. In this review, the authors focus on the
      different DNA repair mechanisms, the current state of the art tools for genome
      editing and the particularities of the retina and photoreceptors with regard to
      in vivo therapeutic approaches. Finally, current attempts in the field of retinal
      in vivo genome editing are discussed and future directions of research
      identified.

PMID- 27623224
TI  - Current Resources for Evidence-Based Practice, September/October 2016.

PMID- 27623225
TI  - Heterotrisomy recurrence risk: a practical maternal age-dependent approach for
      excess trisomy 21 risk calculation after a previous autosomal trisomy.
AB  - A new maternal age-dependent method to estimate absolute excess risks of trisomy
      21, either after a previous trisomy 21 (homotrisomy) or after another trisomy
      (heterotrisomy), is proposed to be added to the estimated risk by conventional
      screening methods. Excess risk at term for a subsequent trisomy 21 was calculated
      from midtrimester risks reported by Morris et al., decreasing from 0.49% at 20
      years to 0.01% at 46 years at the index pregnancy. Excess risk after a previous
      uncommon trisomy was derived from data reported by Warburton et al., decreasing
      from 0.37% at 20 years to 0.01% at 50 years.

PMID- 27623227
TI  - Rhamnolipids Mediate an Interspecies Biofilm Dispersal Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Bacterial biofilms are problematic in natural and anthropogenic environments, and
      they confer protective properties on their constituent cells, making them
      difficult to treat with conventional antibiotics. Antibiofilm strategies,
      therefore, represent a promising direction of research for treating biofilm
      infections. Natural autodispersal and interspecies dispersal signaling pathways
      provide insight into cell-cell communication mechanisms, species dynamics in
      mixed communities, and potential targets for infection therapies. Here, we
      describe a novel interspecies dispersal signaling pathway between Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. E. coli biofilms disperse in response to
      compounds in P. aeruginosa culture supernatant. Two components of the P.
      aeruginosa Las and Rhl quorum sensing systems, N-(3-oxo-dodecanoyl) homoserine
      lactone (3oxoC12HSL) and rhamnolipids, are found to act cooperatively to disperse
      E. coli biofilms. Our results indicate that rhamnolipids do not affect growth,
      biofilm development, or dispersal in E. coli but instead complement 3oxoC12HSL
      signaling by inducing selective permeability of the E. coli membrane. The
      increased target cell permeability is consistent with rhamnolipid-mediated
      removal of lipopolysaccharide from E. coli membranes and appears to selectively
      increase the permeability of lipophilic acyl homoserine lactones. This work
      suggests that rhamnolipids play a critical role in P. aeruginosa-E. coli
      interspecies signaling. Rhamnolipids and other biosurfactants may have similar
      effects in other intra- and interspecies chemical signaling pathways.

PMID- 27623226
TI  - [Increased lipoprotein(a) in a paediatric patient associated with nephrotic
      syndrome].
AB  - A common complication in paediatric patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS) is
      hyperlipidaemia. About 20% of children do not respond to treatment with
      corticosteroids, presenting with a cortico-resistant NS (CRNS), which can
      progress to kidney failure. It has been observed that paediatric patients with
      CRNS have an elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), very low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c), and triglycerides levels, as well as
      elevated Lipoprotein-a [Lp (a)] levels. The case is presented of a 5 year old
      boy, diagnosed with CRNS, presenting with dyslipidaemia with increased LDL-c, Apo
      B100, and Lp(a) levels. After the poor prognosis of the renal function,
      immunosuppressant treatment was started with tacrolimus and atorvastatin to
      control dyslipidaemia. Although tacrolimus causes an elevation of total
      cholesterol and LDL-c, the significant alterations of the children lipid profile
      suggest the existence of a high cardiovascular risk. In these cases, it would be
      interesting to have reference values in children in our health area.

PMID- 27623228
TI  - Decoupling the refractive index from the electrical properties of transparent
      conducting oxides via periodic superlattices.
AB  - We demonstrate an alternative approach to tuning the refractive index of
      materials. Current methodologies for tuning the refractive index of a material
      often result in undesirable changes to the structural or optoelectronic
      properties. By artificially layering a transparent conducting oxide with a lower
      refractive index material the overall film retains a desirable conductivity and
      mobility while acting optically as an effective medium with a modified refractive
      index. Calculations indicate that, with our refractive index change of 0.2, a
      significant reduction of reflective losses could be obtained by the utilisation
      of these structures in optoelectronic devices. Beyond this, periodic superlattice
      structures present a solution to decouple physical properties where the
      underlying electronic interaction is governed by different length scales.

PMID- 27623229
TI  - Iterative projection algorithms for ab initio phasing in virus crystallography.
AB  - Iterative projection algorithms are proposed as a tool for ab initio phasing in
      virus crystallography. The good global convergence properties of these
      algorithms, coupled with the spherical shape and high structural redundancy of
      icosahedral viruses, allows high resolution phases to be determined with no
      initial phase information. This approach is demonstrated by determining the
      electron density of a virus crystal with 5-fold non-crystallographic symmetry,
      starting with only a spherical shell envelope. The electron density obtained is
      sufficiently accurate for model building. The results indicate that iterative
      projection algorithms should be routinely applicable in virus crystallography,
      without the need for ancillary phase information.

PMID- 27623230
TI  - Social Cognitive Determinants of Physical Activity in Czech Older Adults.
AB  - We tested a social cognitive model of physical activity (PA) in the cultural
      context of the Czech Republic, a postcommunist central European country. In
      total, 546 older Czech adults (mean age = 68 years, data collected in 2013)
      completed a battery of questionnaires assessing indicators of PA and related
      social cognitive constructs, including self-efficacy, social support, and self
      regulation strategies. Subsequently, a structural equation model was used to test
      the relationship between the social cognitive constructs and PA. Our analyses
      indicated an acceptable fit of the proposed model (CFI = .911; SRMR = .046; RMSEA
      = .073). Self-regulation was predicted by self-efficacy (beta = .67) and social
      support (beta = .23), which predicted PA (beta = .45). The model explained 60.4%
      of the variance in PA self-regulation and 20.5% of the variance in PA
      participation. The results provide further evidence for the role of self-efficacy
      and social support in enabling PA in older adults, and suggest that this
      relationship is partially mediated by self-regulation.

PMID- 27623231
TI  - Using Mobile-Health to Connect Women with Cardiovascular Disease and Improve Self
      Management.
AB  - : Background/Introduction: Self-management approaches are regarded as appropriate
      methods to support patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to prevent
      secondary complications and hospitalizations. Key to successful self-management
      is the ability of individuals to enlist peer supports to help sustain motivation
      and efforts to manage their condition. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the proof of concept of a peer-support mobile-health (m-health)
      program, called Healing Circles, and explore the program's effect on self
      management, social support, and health-related quality of life in women with CVD.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healing Circles is a consumer m-health solution developed
      to facilitate peer support and self-management by connecting people with CVD in
      groups of five to nine people. Women with CVD (obstructive coronary artery
      disease) were included in this single group, pre/post study if they owned an
      iPhone/iPad with at least iOS 7.0. Participants (n = 21) used the Healing Circles
      program for a 10-week period. Self-management, social support, and health-related
      quality-of-life outcomes were assessed before and after the use of the program.
      User experiences and satisfaction were obtained during an exit interview.
      RESULTS: After 10 weeks of using the Healing Circles program, statistically
      significant improvements were observed in the participants' health behaviors (p =
      0.04), self-monitoring (p = 0.04), social support (p = 0.01), and social
      integration (p = 0.002). As well, many women had a level of high satisfaction
      with the concept of using m-health for the delivery of peer support. CONCLUSION:
      The delivery of peer and self-management support using m-health technologies is
      well received and may improve self-management and social support. More research
      is needed to test hypotheses of the effect of the Healing Circles program on
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27623232
TI  - Insights into the use of thermography to assess burn wound healing potential: a
      reliable and valid technique when compared to laser Doppler imaging.
AB  - Adequate assessment of burn wounds is crucial in the management of burn patients.
      Thermography, as a noninvasive measurement tool, can be utilized to detect the
      remaining perfusion over large burn wound areas by measuring temperature, thereby
      reflecting the healing potential (HP) (i.e., number of days that burns require to
      heal). The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinimetric properties
      (i.e., reliability and validity) of thermography for measuring burn wound HP. To
      evaluate reliability, two independent observers performed a thermography
      measurement of 50 burns. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the
      standard error of measurement (SEM), and the limits of agreement (LoA) were
      calculated. To assess validity, temperature differences between burned and
      nonburned skin (?T) were compared to the HP found by laser Doppler imaging
      (serving as the reference standard). By applying a visual method, one ?T cutoff
      point was identified to differentiate between burns requiring conservative versus
      surgical treatment. The ICC was 0.99, expressing an excellent correlation between
      two measurements. The SEM was calculated at 0.22 degrees C, the LoA at ?0.58
      degrees C and 0.64 degrees C. The ?T cutoff point was ?0.07 degrees C
      (sensitivity 80%; specificity 80%). These results show that thermography is a
      reliable and valid technique in the assessment of burn wound HP.

PMID- 27623233
TI  - Electrochemical Imaging of Photoanodic Water Oxidation Enhancements on TiO2 Thin
      Films Modified by Subsurface Aluminum Nanodimers.
AB  - Detecting metal plasmonic enhancements on the activity of semiconducting
      photoanodes for water oxidation is often obscured by the inherent electroactivity
      and instability of the metal in electrolyte. Here, we show that thin TiO2
      photoanodes modified by subsurface Al nanodimers (AlNDs) display enhancements
      that are consistent with plasmon modes. We directly observed enhancements by
      mapping the oxygen evolution rates on TiO2/AlND patterns using scanning
      electrochemical microscopy (SECM) while exciting the surface plasmons of the
      nanodimers. This study highlights the importance of sample configuration for the
      in situ characterization of metal/photoanode interactions and suggests a route
      for Al-based plasmonics applied to photoelectrochemistry.

PMID- 27623236
TI  - Contributions of transferrin to acute inflammation in the goldfish, C. auratus.
AB  - Transferrin is an evolutionary conserved protein that in addition to having a
      critical role in iron transport also has been shown to have a crucial role in
      host defence, by depriving iron from invading pathogens. Recently cleaved
      transferrin products was shown to activate macrophages in vitro. We now use an in
      vivo model of self-resolving peritonitis in goldfish, coupled with gene
      expression and protein analysis to evaluate the contributions of cleaved
      transferrin to acute inflammation. We show, for the first time, that cleaved
      transferrin products are produced in vivo early during an acute inflammatory
      response. These cleaved transferrin fragments were produced during pathogen
      induced, but not sterile, inflammation. Both macrophages and neutrophils were
      able to contribute to transferrin cleavage. However, only macrophages contributed
      to this innate process through inducible expression of transferrin. The
      appearance of transferrin cleavage products in vivo correlated with the influx of
      leukocytes but did not necessarily correlate the induction of robust respiratory
      burst and nitric oxide responses. Overall, this study adds to a growing body of
      work highlighting the role of transferrin as an immune regulator during acute
      inflammation. Given the significant conservation of this and related molecules,
      these findings have potentially broad implications for host defences and
      inflammation control across evolution.

PMID- 27623235
TI  - Breast cancer risk and protracted low-to-moderate dose occupational radiation
      exposure in the US Radiologic Technologists Cohort, 1983-2008.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although high-dose ionising radiation is associated with increased
      breast cancer risks, the association with protracted low-dose-rate exposures
      remains unclear. The US Radiologic Technologist study provides an opportunity to
      examine the association between low-to-moderate dose radiation and breast cancer
      incidence and mortality. METHODS: One thousand nine hundred and twenty-two self
      reported first primary cancers were diagnosed during 1983-2005 among 66 915
      female technologists, and 586 breast cancer deaths occurred during 1983-2008
      among 83 538 female cohort members. Occupational breast dose estimates were based
      on work histories, historical data, and, after the mid-1970s, individual film
      badge measurements. Excess relative risks were estimated using Poisson regression
      with birth cohort stratification and adjustment for menopause, reproductive
      history, and other risk factors. RESULTS: Higher doses were associated with
      increased breast cancer incidence, with an excess relative risk at 100 mGy of
      0.07 (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.005 to 0.19). Associations were strongest
      for technologists born before 1930 (excess relative risk at 100 mGy=0.16; 95% CI:
      0.03-0.39) with similar patterns for mortality among technologists born before
      1930. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational radiation to the breast was positively associated
      with breast cancer risk. The risk was more pronounced for women born before 1930
      who began working before 1950 when mean annual doses (37 mGy) were considerably
      higher than in later years (1.3 mGy). However, because of the uncertainties and
      possible systematic errors in the occupational dose estimates before 1960, these
      findings should be treated with caution.

PMID- 27623237
TI  - Extending the field of play: Revealing the dynamics between sports, health and
      place.
AB  - Although the sub-discipline of sports geography has a long fifty-year history it
      has been, at best, a sporadic endeavor. Whilst clearly indicating the fundamental
      geographical qualities of sports, it has never really taking off to the extent
      that arguably it should have given sport's social profile and importance. In way
      of a solution this paper presents triple tracks, or ways forward, that might
      circumvent this academic shortfall and cover some of the missed ground. First,
      pursuing the health component of sport far more thoroughly and in its very
      broadest sense, including its public health adoption and specific wellbeing,
      fitness and aesthetic features. Second, defining sport broadly beyond elite forms
      to include a wide-range of physical and lifestyle activities that possess
      elements of personal or interpersonal competition. Third, complementing sports
      geography by developing 'spatial sports studies' as a more expansive
      interdisciplinary field of inquiry spanning the health and social sciences.
      Indeed, these tracks potentially unearth substantial new research capacity by
      together considering the dynamics between sports, health and place.

PMID- 27623234
TI  - Biomarker analyses in REGARD gastric/GEJ carcinoma patients treated with VEGFR2
      targeted antibody ramucirumab.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis inhibition is an important strategy for cancer
      treatment. Ramucirumab, a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets VEGF
      receptor 2 (VEGFR2), inhibits VEGF-A, -C, -D binding and endothelial cell
      proliferation. To attempt to identify prognostic and predictive biomarkers,
      retrospective analyses were used to assess tumour (HER2, VEGFR2) and serum (VEGF
      C and -D, and soluble (s) VEGFR1 and 3) biomarkers in phase 3 REGARD patients
      with metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction carcinoma. METHODS: A total of
      152 out of 355 (43%) patients randomised to ramucirumab or placebo had ?1
      evaluable biomarker result using VEGFR2 immunohistochemistry or HER2,
      immunohistochemistry or FISH, of blinded baseline tumour tissue samples. Serum
      samples (32 patients, 9%) were assayed for VEGF-C and -D, and sVEGFR1 and 3.
      RESULTS: None of the biomarkers tested were associated with ramucirumab efficacy
      at a level of statistical significance. High VEGFR2 endothelial expression was
      associated with a non-significant prognostic trend toward shorter progression
      free survival (high vs low HR=1.65, 95% CI=0.84,3.23). Treatment with ramucirumab
      was associated with a trend toward improved survival in both high (HR=0.69, 95%
      CI=0.38, 1.22) and low (HR=0.73, 95% CI=0.42, 1.26) VEGFR2 subgroups. The benefit
      associated with ramucirumab did not appear to differ by tumoural HER2 expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: REGARD exploratory analyses did not identify a strong potentially
      predictive biomarker of ramucirumab efficacy; however, statistical power was
      limited.

PMID- 27623238
TI  - Effect of Laser-Activated Irrigation with Ethylene Diaminetetraacetic Acid and
      Phytic Acid on the Removal of Calcium Hydroxide and Triple Antibiotic Paste from
      Root Dentin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the efficacy of erbium, chromium:yttrium-scandium
      gallium-garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser-activated irrigation (LAI) of ethylene
      diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and phytic acid on the removal of calcium
      hydroxide (CH) and triple antibiotic paste (TAP) from root canals. BACKGROUND
      DATA: Although some studies investigated the efficacy of LAI of EDTA irrigation,
      no study has been conducted to investigate the efficacy of LAI of phytic acid in
      the removal of CH and TAP from root dentin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Root canals of
      extracted maxillary incisors (n = 80) were instrumented using rotary files and
      thereafter were split longitudinally. Following preparation of a standardized
      groove in the apical region of one root half, the roots were randomly divided
      into two groups according to the intracanal medicaments placed into the grooves:
      (1) CH and (2) TAP. The roots were reassembled, and the specimens were further
      assigned into four groups (n = 10/group) defined by the final irrigation solution
      (EDTA and phytic acid) and irrigation technique (needle irrigation and LAI) used
      for removal of the medicaments. The data were analyzed statistically using
      Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: For both EDTA and phytic acid,
      LAI was more efficient than needle irrigation in removing both CH and TAP (p <
      0.05), but none of the tested techniques completely removed CH. Irrespective of
      the tested irrigation solutions and techniques, significantly less TAP remained
      in canals (p = 0.0001), with TAP being completely removed by LAI. Irrigation with
      phytic acid showed better removal efficacy than EDTA in the absence of
      statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Er,Cr:YSGG LAI of EDTA and phytic acid
      completely removed TAP and effectively reduced CH on root dentin.

PMID- 27623239
TI  - Improved Force Field Model for the Deep Eutectic Solvent Ethaline: Reliable
      Physicochemical Properties.
AB  - In this work, we combined various parameters found in the literature for the
      choline cation, chloride anion, and ethylene glycol to set up force field models
      (FFMs) for a eutectic mixture, namely, ethaline (1:2 choline chloride/ethylene
      glycol (ChCl:2EG)). The validation of these models was carried out on the basis
      of physical and chemical properties, such as the density, expansion coefficient,
      enthalpy of vaporization, self-diffusion coefficients, isothermal
      compressibility, surface tension, and shear viscosity. After the initial
      evaluation of the FFMs, a refinement was found necessary and accomplished by
      taking into account polarization effects in a mean-field manner. This was
      achieved by rescaling the electrostatic charges of the ions based on partial
      charges derived from ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the bulk
      system. Classical all-atom MD simulations performed over a large range of
      temperatures (298.15-373.15 K) using the refined FFMs clearly showed improved
      results, allowing a better prediction of experimental properties. Specific
      structural properties (radial distribution functions and hydrogen bonding) were
      then analyzed in order to support the adequacy of the proposed refinement. The
      final selected FFM leads to excellent agreement between simulated and
      experimental data on dynamic and structural properties. Moreover, compared to the
      previously reported force field model (Perkins, S. L.; Painter, P.; Colina, C. M.
      Experimental and Computational Studies of Choline Chloride-Based Deep Eutectic
      Solvents. J. Chem. Eng. Data 2014, 59, 3652-3662), a 10% improvement in simulated
      transport properties, i.e., self-diffusion coefficients, was achieved. The
      isothermal compressibility, surface tension, and shear viscosity for ethaline are
      accessed in MD simulations for the first time.

PMID- 27623241
TI  - Superior Cycle Stability Performance of Quasi-Cuboidal CoV2O6 Microstructures as
      Electrode Material for Supercapacitors.
AB  - In this study, a rapid, facile, and environment-friendly microwave-assisted
      method followed by annealing for synthesizing the quasi-cuboidal CoV2O6 is
      developed. The as-prepared samples manifest high supercapacitor properties with a
      specific capacitance of 223 F g-1, good rate capability, and superior cycle
      stability, retaining 123.3% capacitance when the number of cycles reaches 15,000
      after determined by electrochemical tests. More importantly, the quasi-cuboidal
      CoV2O6 for the first time is introduced into the supercapacitor as a kind of
      electrode material. The superior electrochemical performance of the quasi
      cuboidal CoV2O6 will render the metal vanadium oxides as new and attractive
      active material for promising application in supercapacitors.

PMID- 27623240
TI  - The impact of bacterial colonization on graft success after total pancreatectomy
      with autologous islet transplantation: considerations for early definitive
      surgical intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether bacterial
      contamination of islets affects graft success after total pancreatectomy with
      islet autotransplantation (TPIAT). BACKGROUND: Factors associated with insulin
      independence after TPIAT are inconclusive. Although bacterial contamination does
      not preclude transplantation, the impact of bacterial contamination on graft
      success is unknown. METHODS: Patients who received TPIAT at the University of
      Virginia between January 2007 and January 2016 were reviewed. Patient charts were
      reviewed for bacterial contamination and patients were prospectively contacted to
      assess rates of insulin independence. RESULTS: There was no significant
      difference in demographic or perioperative data between patients who achieved
      insulin independence and those who did not. However, six of 27 patients analyzed
      (22.2%) grew bacterial contaminants from culture of the final islet preparations.
      These patients had significantly lower islet yield and C-peptide at most recent
      follow-up (P<.05), and none of these patients achieved insulin independence.
      CONCLUSIONS: Islet transplant solutions are often culture positive, likely
      secondary to preprocurement pancreatic manipulation and introduction of enteric
      flora. Although autotransplantation of culture-positive islets is safe, it is
      associated with higher rates of graft failure and poor islet yield. Consideration
      should be given to identify patients who may develop refractory chronic
      pancreatitis and offer early operative management to prevent bacterial
      colonization.

PMID- 27623242
TI  - Band-selective heteronuclear dipolar recoupling with dual back-to-back pulses in
      rotating solids.
AB  - We propose a robust band-selective heteronuclear 15N-13C recoupling method using
      dual back-to-back (BABA) pulses (DBP). It contains four 90 degrees  pulses in
      each rotor period and corresponding phase cycling on each channel (13C and 15N).
      DBP aims at rapid band-selective heteronuclear magnetization transfer between 15N
      and 13Calpha/13C', whose efficiency is close to that of the well-known SPECIFIC
      CP in membrane proteins with relatively short relaxation time in rotating frame
      (T1rho). Compared to SPECIFIC CP, DBP is very simple to set up and highly robust
      to RF variations. Thus, it can reduce the efforts in experimental optimization,
      especially for low-sensitive samples, and is very suitable for long-time or
      quantitative experiments. The efficacy of DBP is demonstrated by the E. coli
      diacylglycerol kinase (DAGK) proteoliposome. We anticipate that DBP would be
      useful for (segments of) membrane proteins that undergo the MUs-ms timescale
      motions in magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR.

PMID- 27623243
TI  - Regulation of Mitoflash Biogenesis and Signaling by Mitochondrial Dynamics.
AB  - Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles undergoing constant network
      reorganization and exhibiting stochastic signaling events in the form of
      mitochondrial flashes (mitoflashes). Here we investigate whether and how
      mitochondrial network dynamics regulate mitoflash biogenesis and signaling. We
      found that mitoflash frequency was largely invariant when network fragmentized or
      redistributed in the absence of mitofusin (Mfn) 1, Mfn2, or Kif5b. However, Opa1
      deficiency decreased spontaneous mitoflash frequency due to superimposing changes
      in respiratory function, whereas mitoflash response to non-metabolic stimulation
      was unchanged despite network fragmentation. In Drp1- or Mff-deficient cells
      whose mitochondria hyperfused into a single whole-cell reticulum, the frequency
      of mitoflashes of regular amplitude and duration was again unaltered, although
      brief and low-amplitude "miniflashes" emerged because of improved detection
      ability. As the network reorganized, however, the signal mass of mitoflash
      signaling was dynamically regulated in accordance with the degree of network
      connectivity. These findings demonstrate a novel functional role of mitochondrial
      network dynamics and uncover a magnitude- rather than frequency-modulatory
      mechanism in the regulation of mitoflash signaling. In addition, our data support
      a stochastic trigger model for the ignition of mitoflashes.

PMID- 27623244
TI  - Clitoral hoodplasty in females with disorders of sex development.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The surgical management of girls with masculinized genitalia is
      gradually changing towards a more conservative approach. Reports on loss of
      clitoral sensitivity and related impairment of sexual function in women after
      feminizing genital surgery in childhood have been pivotal in this evolution. An
      exposed clitoral glans is occasionally seen at follow-up, and while patients may
      complain of aesthetics, no clitoral discomfort secondary to glans exposure has
      been reported. A technique has been developed to reconstruct the clitoral hood
      and the present study reports the preliminary results. OBJECTIVES: To report the
      novel technique and preliminary results of clitoral hood reconstruction to cover
      an exposed glans after previous clitoroplasty in patients with congenital adrenal
      hyperplasia (CAH). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six female patients (mean age 13, range
      4-21 years) with CAH sought medical help for clitoral concerns after previous
      reduction clitoroplasty. In two of the six patients, the main complaint was
      clitoral hypersensitivity or even pain. The clitoral glans was completely exposed
      in all patients, who were subsequently treated with a bi-laminar V-Y clitoral
      hoodplasty to create a mobile and natural-looking clitoral hood composed of an
      inner and outer preputial skin layer. RESULTS: Postoperative covering of the
      glans was complete in five patients, and partial in one. The two patients with
      pre-operative pain became asymptomatic; all six patients were pleased with the
      cosmetic postoperative results. CONCLUSION: Clitoral hoodplasty provides simple,
      yet effective, relief for women with cosmetic concerns or clitoral discomfort
      after previous feminizing surgery.

PMID- 27623246
TI  - Characterization of a knock-in mouse model of the homozygous p.V37I variant in
      Gjb2.
AB  - The homozygous p.V37I variant in GJB2 is prevalent in East and Southeast Asians
      and may lead to mild-to-moderate hearing loss with reduced penetrance. To
      investigate the pathogenic mechanism underlying this variant, we generated a
      knock-in mouse model of homozygous p.V37I by an embryonic stem cell gene
      targeting method. Auditory brainstem response test showed that the knock-in mice
      developed progressive, mild-to-moderate hearing loss over the first 4-9 months.
      Overall no significant developmental and morphological abnormality was observed
      in the knock-in mouse cochlea, while confocal immunostaining and electron
      microscopic scanning revealed minor loss of the outer hair cells. Gene expression
      microarray analysis identified 105 up-regulated and 43 down-regulated genes in P5
      knock-in mouse cochleae (P < 0.05 adjusted by the Benjamini &Hochberg method),
      among which four top candidate genes with the highest fold-changes or implication
      to deafness Fcer1g, Nnmt and Lars2 and Cuedc1 were verified by quantitative real
      time PCR. Our study demonstrated that the homozygous p.V37I knock-in mouse
      modeled the hearing phenotype of the human patients and can serve as a useful
      animal model for further studies. The differentially expressed genes identified
      in this study may shed new insights into the understanding of the pathogenic
      mechanism and the phenotypic modification of homozygous p.V37I.

PMID- 27623248
TI  - Hierarchies of Attention and Experimental Designs: Effects of Spatial and
      Intermodal Attention Revisited.
AB  - When attention is directed to stimuli in a given modality and location,
      information processing in other irrelevant modalities at this location is
      affected too. This spread of attention to irrelevant stimuli is often interpreted
      as superiority of location selection over modality selection. However, this
      conclusion is based on experimental paradigms in which spatial attention was
      transient whereas intermodal attention was sustained. Furthermore, whether
      modality selection affects processing in the task-relevant modality at irrelevant
      locations remains an open question. Here, we addressed effects of simultaneous
      spatial and intermodal attention in an EEG study using a balanced design where
      spatial attention was transient and intermodal attention sustained or vice versa.
      Effects of spatial attention were not affected by which modality was attended and
      effects of intermodal attention were not affected by whether the stimuli were at
      the attended location or not. This suggests not only spread of spatial attention
      to task-irrelevant modalities but also spread of intermodal attention to task
      irrelevant locations. Whether spatial attention was transient or sustained did
      not alter the effect of spatial attention on visual N1 and Nd1 responses.
      Prestimulus preparatory occipital alpha band responses were affected by both
      transient and sustained spatial cueing, whereas late post-stimulus responses were
      more strongly affected by sustained than by transient spatial attention.
      Sustained but not transient intermodal attention affected late responses (>200
      msec) to visual stimuli. Together, the results undermine the universal
      superiority of spatial attention and suggest that the mode of attention
      manipulation is an important factor determining attention effects.

PMID- 27623247
TI  - Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster, Pinus pinea and Pinus sylvestris Essential Oils
      Chemotypes and Monoterpene Hydrocarbon Enantiomers, before and after Inoculation
      with the Pinewood Nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus.
AB  - Pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is the causal agent of pine
      wilt disease, a serious threat to global forest populations of conifers,
      especially Pinus spp. A time-course study of the essential oils (EOs) of 2-year
      old Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster, Pinus pinea and Pinus sylvestris following
      inoculation with the PWN was performed. The constitutive and nematode inoculation
      induced EOs components were analyzed at both the wounding or inoculation areas
      and at the whole plant level. The enantiomeric ratio of optically active main EOs
      components was also evaluated. External symptoms of infection were observed only
      in P. pinaster and P. sylvestris 21 and 15 days after inoculation, respectively.
      The EO composition analysis of uninoculated and unwounded plants revealed the
      occurrence of chemotypes for P. pinaster, P. halepensis and P. sylvestris,
      whereas P. pinea showed a homogenous EO composition. When whole plants were
      evaluated for EO and monoterpene hydrocarbon enantiomeric chemical composition,
      no relevant qualitative and quantitative differences were found. Instead, EO
      analysis of inoculated and uninoculated wounded areas revealed an increase of
      sesquiterpenes and diterpenic compounds, especially in P. pinea and P.
      halepensis, comparatively to healthy whole plants EOs.

PMID- 27623249
TI  - High-Pressure Synthesis and Ferrimagnetic Ordering of the B-Site-Ordered Cubic
      Perovskite Pb2FeOsO6.
AB  - Pb2FeOsO6 was prepared for the first time by using high-pressure and high
      temperature synthesis techniques. This compound crystallizes into a B-site
      ordered double-perovskite structure with cubic symmetry Fm3m, where the Fe and Os
      atoms are orderly distributed with a rock-salt-type manner. Structure refinement
      shows an Fe-Os antisite occupancy of about 16.6%. Structural analysis and X-ray
      absorption spectroscopy both demonstrate the charge combination to be
      Pb2Fe3+Os5+O6. A long-range ferrimagnetic transition is found to occur at about
      280 K due to antiferromagnetic interactions between the adjacent Fe3+ and Os5+
      spins with a straight (180 degrees ) Fe-O-Os bond angle, as confirmed by X-ray
      magnetic circular-dichroism measurements. First-principles theoretical
      calculations reveal the semiconducting behavior as well as the Fe3+(?)Os5+(?)
      antiferromagnetic coupling originating from the superexchange interactions
      between the half-filled 3d orbitals of Fe and t2g orbitals of Os.

PMID- 27623250
TI  - Exome sequencing coupled with mRNA analysis identifies NDUFAF6 as a Leigh gene.
AB  - We report here the case of a young male who started to show verbal fluency
      disturbance, clumsiness and gait anomalies at the age of 3.5years and presented
      bilateral striatal necrosis. Clinically, the diagnosis was compatible with Leigh
      syndrome but the underlying molecular defect remained elusive even after exome
      analysis using autosomal/X-linked recessive or de novo models. Dosage of
      respiratory chain activity on fibroblasts, but not in muscle, underlined a
      deficit in complex I. Re-analysis of heterozygous probably pathogenic variants,
      inherited from one healthy parent, identified the p.Ala178Pro in NDUFAF6, a
      complex I assembly factor. RNA analysis showed an almost mono-allelic expression
      of the mutated allele in blood and fibroblasts and puromycin treatment on
      cultured fibroblasts did not lead to the rescue of the maternal allele
      expression, not supporting the involvement of nonsense-mediated RNA decay
      mechanism. Complementation assay underlined a recovery of complex I activity
      after transduction of the wild-type gene. Since the second mutation was not
      detected and promoter methylation analysis resulted normal, we hypothesized a non
      exonic event in the maternal allele affecting a regulatory element that, in
      conjunction with the paternal mutation, leads to the autosomal recessive disorder
      and the different allele expression in various tissues. This paper confirms
      NDUFAF6 as a genuine morbid gene and proposes the coupling of exome sequencing
      with mRNA analysis as a method useful for enhancing the exome sequencing
      detection rate when the simple application of classical inheritance models fails.

PMID- 27623251
TI  - The effect of adjuvant radiation on survival in early stage clear cell ovarian
      carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) on survival in
      patients with stage I and II ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC). METHODS: Data
      collection and analysis of stage I and II OCCC patients treated at two tertiary
      centers in Toronto, between 1995 and 2014, was performed. Descriptive statistics
      and Kaplan-Meier survival probability estimates were completed. The log-rank test
      was used to compare survival curves. RESULTS: 163 patients were eligible. 44
      (27%) patients were treated with adjuvant RT: 37 of them received adjuvant
      chemotherapy (CT), and 7 had RT only. In the no-RT group, there were 119
      patients: 83 patients received adjuvant CT and 36 had no adjuvant treatment. The
      10year progression free survival (PFS) was 65% for patients treated with RT, and
      59% no-RT patients. There were a total of 41 (25%) recurrences in the cohort: 12
      (27.2%) patients in RT group and 29 (24.3%) in the no-RT group. On multivariable
      analysis, adjuvant RT was not significantly associated with an increased PFS
      (0.85 (0.44-1.63) p=0.63) or overall survival (OS) (0.84 (0.39-1.82) p=0.66). In
      the subset of 59 patients defined as high-risk: stage IC with positive cytology
      and/or surface involvement and stage II: RT was not found to be associated with a
      better PFS (HR 1.18 (95% CI: 0.55-2.54) or O S(HR 1.04 (95% CI: 0.40-2.69)).
      CONCLUSION: Adjuvant RT was not found to be associated with a survival benefit in
      patients with stage I and II ovarian clear cell carcinoma or in a high risk
      subset of patients including stage IC cytology positive/surface involvement and
      stage II patients.

PMID- 27623245
TI  - Linking the Microbiota, Chronic Disease, and the Immune System.
AB  - Chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs) are the most important causes of mortality
      in the world today and are on the rise. We now know that immune-driven
      inflammation is critical in the etiology of these diseases, though the
      environmental triggers and cellular mechanisms that lead to their development are
      still mysterious. Many CIDs are associated with significant shifts in the
      microbiota toward inflammatory configurations, which can affect the host both by
      inducing local and systemic inflammation and by alterations in microbiota-derived
      metabolites. This review discusses recent findings suggesting that shifts in the
      microbiota may contribute to chronic disease via effects on the immune system.

PMID- 27623254
TI  - Neural Inhibition of Dopaminergic Signaling Enhances Immunity in a Cell-Non
      autonomous Manner.

PMID- 27623252
TI  - Occult and subsequent cancer incidence following risk-reducing surgery in BRCA
      mutation carriers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report the frequency and features of occult carcinomas and the
      incidence of subsequent cancers following risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy
      (RRSO) in BRCA mutation carriers. METHODS: 257 consecutive women with germline
      BRCA mutations who underwent RRSO between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2014
      were identified in an Institutional Review Board approved study. All patients
      were asymptomatic with normal physical exams, CA 125 values, and imaging studies
      preoperatively, and had at least 12months of follow-up post-RRSO. All patients
      had comprehensive adnexal sectioning performed. Patient demographics and clinico
      pathologic characteristics were extracted from medical and pathology records.
      RESULTS: The cohort included 148 BRCA1, 98 BRCA2, 6 BRCA not otherwise specified
      (NOS), and 5 BRCA1 and 2 mutation carriers. Occult carcinoma was seen in 14/257
      (5.4%) of patients: 9 serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STIC), 3 tubal
      cancers, 1 ovarian cancer, and 1 endometrial cancer. Three patients (1.2%) with
      negative pathology at RRSO subsequently developed primary peritoneal serous
      carcinoma (PPSC), and 2 of 9 patients (22%) with STIC subsequently developed
      pelvic serous carcinoma. 110 women (43%) were diagnosed with breast cancer prior
      to RRSO, and 14 of the remaining 147 (9.5%) developed breast cancer following
      RRSO. Median follow-up of the cohort was 63months. CONCLUSION: In this cohort,
      5.4% of asymptomatic BRCA mutation carriers had occult carcinomas at RRSO, 86% of
      which were tubal in origin. The risk of subsequent PPSC for women with benign
      adnexa at RRSO is low; however, the risk of pelvic serous carcinoma among women
      with STIC is significantly higher.

PMID- 27623253
TI  - Over-expression of DNMT3A predicts the risk of recurrent vulvar squamous cell
      carcinomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cancer initiation and progression has been linked to aberrant
      expression of the DNA methyltransferases (DNMT), the enzymes which establish and
      maintain DNA methylation patterns throughout the genome. In this study, we
      investigated if DNMT expression in vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (VSCC) was
      related to clinical outcome. METHODS: DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B expression was
      measured in a subset of cases drawn from a cohort of consecutive women treated
      for primary VSCC at the Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre between 2001
      and 2008. Univariable and multivariable competing risk modelling was performed to
      identify whether DNMT expression was associated with local disease recurrence or
      disease morbidity. RESULTS: Over-expression of DNMT3A in the invasive component
      of the tumour was seen in 44% of tumours and was associated with an increased
      risk of local vulvar recurrence (LVR) (HR=4.51, p=0.012). This risk was found to
      increase further after adjustment for disease stage (HR=6.00, p=0.003) and groin
      node metastasis (HR=4.81, p=0.008). Over-expression of DNMT3B was associated with
      an increased risk of LVR (HR=5.69 p=0.03), however this ceased to be significant
      after adjustment for groin node metastasis. In a subset analysis, over-expression
      of DNMT3A was found to be significantly more common in VSCCs that stained
      negative for CDKN2A. CONCLUSIONS: These observations are consistent with the
      possibility that epigenetic changes contribute to vulvar neoplasia and DNMT3A
      over-expression may be useful in predicting local disease recurrence.

PMID- 27623255
TI  - Mimicry in plants.
AB  - Plant mimicry is used for two major purposes that benefit the mimic.

PMID- 27623256
TI  - Drosophila myogenesis.
AB  - The skeletal muscle system is the largest organ in motile animals, constituting
      between 35 and 55% of the human body mass, and up to 75% of the body mass in
      flying organisms like Drosophila. The flight muscles alone in flying insects
      comprise up to 65% of total body mass. Not only is the musculature the largest
      organ system, it is also exquisitely complex, with single muscles existing in
      different shapes and sizes. These different morphologies allow for such different
      functions as the high-frequency beating of a wing in a hummingbird, the dilation
      of the pupil in a human eye, or the maintenance of posture in a giraffe's neck.

PMID- 27623257
TI  - A new bee species that excavates sandstone nests.
AB  - Humanity has long been fascinated by animals with apparently unfavorable
      lifestyles [1]. Nesting habits are especially important because they can limit
      where organisms live, thereby driving population, community, and even ecosystem
      dynamics [2]. The question arises, then, why bees nest in active termite mounds
      [3] or on the rim of degassing volcanoes, seemingly preferring such hardship [4].
      Here, we present a new bee species that excavates sandstone nests, Anthophora
      (Anthophoroides) pueblo Orr (described in Supplemental Information, published
      with this article online), despite the challenges already inherent to desert
      life. Ultimately, the benefits of nesting in sandstone appear to outweigh the
      associated costs in this system.

PMID- 27623258
TI  - Regeneration: New Neurons Wire Up.
AB  - Functional repair of damage in the nervous system requires re-establishment of
      precise patterns of synaptic connectivity. A new study shows that after selective
      ablation, zebrafish retinal neurons regenerate and reconstruct some, although not
      all, of their stereotypic wiring.

PMID- 27623259
TI  - Endosymbiosis: The Remarkable Healing Powers of Wolbachia.
AB  - Wolbachia, a maternally transmitted bacterium globally present in arthropods,
      favors its own transmission by producing dramatic changes in host reproduction.
      Insight into the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms comes from the
      identification of the Wolbachia effector protein TomO, which maintains host
      germline stem cells in an undifferentiated state.

PMID- 27623260
TI  - Neurodevelopment: Three's a Crowd, Four Is a Receptor Complex.
AB  - Sensory neurons detect environmental signals with dendritic processes near the
      skin, but the molecules that direct dendritic outgrowth to this location are
      largely unknown. A new study identifies a diffusible cue that mediates
      interactions with the epidermis to guide dendritic branching.

PMID- 27623261
TI  - Ecological Genetics: A Key Gene for Mimicry and Melanism.
AB  - Mimicry and melanism in Lepidoptera provided the first convincing examples of
      natural selection in action. Genetic analysis has now shown that, surprisingly,
      mimicry in Heliconius butterflies and melanism in peppered moths are switched at
      precisely the same gene: cortex.

PMID- 27623262
TI  - Vision: Melanopsin and the Pharmacology of Photons.
AB  - Using a targeted chemogenetic approach, a new study provides evidence for a
      unique pathway for neural processing of light information from melanopsin
      ganglion cells. These results suggest how light can have both alerting and sleep
      promoting effects in mice.

PMID- 27623263
TI  - Glucose Metabolism: A Sweet Relief of Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Patients and individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease show reduced glucose
      metabolism in the brain. A new study takes advantage of a fly model of
      Alzheimer's disease to demonstrate that enhancing glucose uptake in neurons has
      strong neuroprotective effects involving improved proteostasis.

PMID- 27623264
TI  - Perceptual Inference: A Matter of Predictions and Errors.
AB  - A recent study finds that separate populations of neurons in inferotemporal
      cortex code for perceptual predictions and prediction errors, supporting
      predictive coding theories of perception.

PMID- 27623265
TI  - Protein Translocation: SecA-SecY Conformational Crosstalk Opens Channel.
AB  - A new study of the bacterial Sec translocase complex reports that ADP/ATP binding
      to SecA triggers multiple conformational changes in the SecYEG channel that may
      allow the passive directional movement of the polypeptide chain.

PMID- 27623266
TI  - Neuroscience: A Sleep Rhythm with Multiple Facets.
AB  - Sleep spindles were one of the first rhythms associated with learning and memory
      consolidation. Current research shows spindles can reflect features of trait and
      time-varying properties of neuroplasticity. A new study has now used feedback
      controlled spindle frequency stimulation to show that sleep spindles modulate
      endogenous brain electric activity and behavior.

PMID- 27623267
TI  - Plant Stem Cells.
AB  - Among the trending topics in the life sciences, stem cells have received a fair
      share of attention in the public debate - mostly in connection with their
      potential for biomedical application and therapies. While the promise of organ
      regeneration and the end of cancer have captured our imagination, it has gone
      almost unnoticed that plant stem cells represent the ultimate origin of much of
      the food we eat, the oxygen we breathe, as well the fuels we burn. Thus, plant
      stem cells may be ranked among the most important cells for human well-being.
      Research by many labs in the last decades has uncovered a set of independent stem
      cell systems that fulfill the specialized needs of plant development and growth
      in four dimensions. Surprisingly, the cellular and molecular design of these
      systems is remarkably similar, even across diverse species. In some long-lived
      plants, such as trees, plant stem cells remain active over hundreds or even
      thousands of years, revealing the exquisite precision in the underlying control
      of proliferation, self-renewal and differentiation. In this minireview, we
      introduce the basic features of the three major plant stem cell systems building
      on these facts, highlight their modular design at the level of cellular layout
      and regulatory underpinnings and briefly compare them with their animal
      counterparts.

PMID- 27623268
TI  - Kanamienamide, an Enamide with an Enol Ether from the Marine Cyanobacterium
      Moorea bouillonii.
AB  - Kanamienamide, an enamide with an enol ether, was isolated from the marine
      cyanobacterium Moorea bouillonii. The gross structure was established by
      spectroscopic analyses, and the relative stereochemistry was elucidated on the
      basis of the analyses of NOESY correlations and 1H-1H coupling constants. The
      absolute configuration was determined on the basis of the chiral HPLC analysis of
      the N-Me-Leu derived from kanamienamide. This is the first report of a natural
      product that possesses an N-Me-enamide adjacent to an enol ether. Kanamienamide
      showed growth-inhibitory activity toward HeLa cells with an IC50 value of 2.5 MUM
      and induced apoptosis-like cell death.

PMID- 27623269
TI  - Estimation of Uncertainty in Air-Water Exchange Flux and Gross Volatilization
      Loss of PCBs: A Case Study Based on Passive Sampling in the Lower Great Lakes.
AB  - Compared with dry and wet deposition fluxes, air-water exchange flux cannot be
      directly measured experimentally. Its model-based calculation contains
      considerable uncertainty because of the uncertainties in input parameters. To
      capture the inherent variability of air-water exchange flux of PCBs across the
      lower Great Lakes and to calculate their annual gross volatilization loss, 57
      pairs of air and water samples from 19 sites across Lakes Erie and Ontario were
      collected using passive sampling technology during 2011-2012. Error propagation
      analysis and Monte Carlo simulation were applied to estimate uncertainty in the
      air-water exchange fluxes. Results from both methods were similar, but error
      propagation analysis estimated a smaller uncertainty than Monte Carlo simulation
      in cases of net deposition. Maximum likelihood estimations (MLE) of wind speed
      and air temperature were recommended to quantify the site-specific air-water
      exchange flux. An assumed 30-40% of relative uncertainty in overall air-water
      mass transfer velocity was confirmed. MLEs of volatilization fluxes of total PCBs
      across Lakes Erie and Ontario were 0.78 and 0.53 ng m-2 day-1, respectively, and
      gross volatilization losses of total PCBs over the whole lakes were 74 kg year-1
      for Lake Erie and 63 kg year-1 for Lake Ontario. Mass balance analysis across
      Lake Ontario indicated that volatilization was the uppermost loss process of
      aqueous PCBs.

PMID- 27623270
TI  - Survival After Surgical Resection of Stage IV Esophageal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Five-year survival of stage IV esophageal cancer is rare. The
      treatment of advanced esophageal cancer is typically palliative and the role of
      surgery remains controversial. We sought to understand the impact of curative
      surgery on survival and identify any favorable tumor or patient characteristics
      that might make surgical resection appropriate when treating stage IV esophageal
      cancer. METHODS: A retrospective review of 3,500 esophagectomies performed at our
      institution from 1985 to 2013 identified 52 (1.5%) patients with stage IV
      esophageal cancer who underwent surgical resection with intent for cure. In 46
      (88.5%) patients, M1 disease was discovered at the time of surgery and 6 (11.5%)
      patients had known M1 disease prior to surgery. RESULTS: Median age at the time
      of surgery was 60 years (range, 31 to 81 years). The majority of patients were
      men (82.7%) with adenocarcinoma (88.5%). Neoadjuvant therapy was used in 18
      (34.6%) patients; all patients operated on after 1999 received neoadjuvant
      therapy. An Ivor Lewis esophagectomy was performed in 39 (75%) patients. Follow
      up was complete in all patients for a median of 324 days (range, 4 days to 8.5
      years). Overall, 1-year survival was 29% and 5-year survival was 6%. There was no
      significant difference in survival between patients with known preoperative
      versus intraoperative discovery of M1 disease. Factors associated with improved
      survival included neoadjuvant treatment, low T stage, and lack of alcohol use.
      CONCLUSIONS: Few patients with stage IV esophageal cancer survive long term after
      surgical resection, though 5-year survival can occur. Our current recommendation
      is that esophagectomy should not be performed for stage IV disease.

PMID- 27623271
TI  - Outcomes of Patients Who Undergo Cardiac Surgical Procedures After Liver
      Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of information available regarding the impact of
      cardiac surgical procedures on patients who have undergone previous liver
      transplantation. The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain the survival
      rate and predictors of death in this specific patient population. METHODS: This
      retrospective cohort study consisted of a consecutive series of patients with a
      functioning liver allograft who subsequently underwent cardiac surgical
      procedures between January 1991 and December 2012. The optimal Model for End
      Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score for predicting late death was identified using
      receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Risk of postoperative death was
      determined by parametric hazard analysis. RESULTS: Between January 1991 and
      December 2012, 43 patients (median age, 60 years) underwent cardiac surgical
      procedures after liver transplantation. The median interval between liver
      transplant and cardiac operation was 63 months (range, 1.1 to 217 months). Three
      operative deaths and 24 late deaths occurred. Receiver operating characteristic
      curve analysis identified the optimal preoperative and postoperative MELD score
      cut points for predicting late death as greater than 13.8 (area under the curve =
      0.674) and greater than 17 (area under the curve = 0.633), respectively. Patients
      with a preoperative MELD score of 13.8 or less had significantly greater survival
      rates than those with a MELD score greater than 13.8 (p = 0.028); patients with a
      postoperative MELD score of 17 of less had significantly greater survival rates
      than those with a MELD score greater than 17 (p < 0.001). Multivariate parametric
      hazard analysis identified postoperative peak creatinine level as a statistically
      significant predictor of death (relative risk, 1.8; p = 0.01). The 1-, 5-, and 10
      year Kaplan-Meier survival rates were 90%, 51%, and 35%, respectively;
      postoperative mortality rates followed a constant phase model with a hazard of
      death of 10% per year. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac surgical procedures can be performed
      with acceptable short-term and long-term outcomes in liver transplant recipients.
      Elevated preoperative and postoperative MELD scores and postoperative peak
      creatinine level may portend death in this cohort. There is a constant hazard of
      death of 10% per year.

PMID- 27623272
TI  - Right Minithoracotomy Versus Full Sternotomy for Mitral Valve Repair: A
      Propensity Matched Comparison.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitral valve (MV) repair through a right minithoracotomy (RT) is
      technically more demanding than through a median sternotomy (MS) and has been
      cited for a higher rate of reoperation, increased postoperative bleeding,
      thromboembolic events, poor visualization, and longer operative times. Randomized
      studies are not available, however, and specific characteristics of patients who
      undergo operation with either technique are usually highly different. Therefore,
      a propensity matching study was performed to reduce selection bias. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was made of 745 patients, 501 in group RT (67%) and 244 in
      group MS (33%), who underwent isolated MV repair between 2000 and 2010.
      Propensity matching identified 97 matched patient pairs for comparison of
      functional outcome, survival, incidence of reoperation, and quality of life after
      MV repair. RESULTS: Propensity matched patients in group RT had longer
      cardiopulmonary bypass time (120 +/- 28 versus 99 +/- 30 minutes, p < 0.001) and
      cross-clamp time (86 +/- 23.5 versus 74 +/- 25 minutes, p < 0.001). Thirty-day
      mortality was similar for both groups (RT, 0%; MS, 1%; p = 0.13). There were no
      significant differences in other outcomes such as amount of red blood cell
      transfusion, ventilation time, and hospital stay. Five-year survival in group RT
      (93.5% +/- 3.7%) versus group MS (87.4% +/- 3.6%, p = 0.556) and freedom from MV
      reoperation (93.3% +/- 2.9% versus 97.9% +/- 1.5%, respectively; p = 0.157) were
      not different. Functional outcome and quality of life variables were similar.
      CONCLUSIONS: Mitral valve surgery through a right minithoracotomy is a safe
      procedure associated with a very low operative mortality comparable to the
      standard sternotomy approach. In addition to improved cosmetics, minimally
      invasive MV surgery provides equally durable results as the standard sternotomy
      approach.

PMID- 27623273
TI  - Clinical Predictors of Persistent Mediastinal Nodal Disease After Induction
      Therapy for Stage IIIA N2 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with persistent N2 disease after induction have poor
      survival. Many of these patients may have had mediastinoscopy before induction
      therapy, making reassessment of the mediastinum by repeat mediastinoscopy
      hazardous and inaccurate. The sensitivity and specificity of endobronchial
      ultrasonography and nodal fine-needle aspiration in this setting is unclear. In
      this study, we sought to identify the clinical predictors of persistent N2
      disease after induction therapy, which may help in selecting the patients most
      likely to benefit from surgical resection. METHODS: A retrospective review of a
      prospective database (1990 to 2014) was performed to identify patients who had
      surgical resection after induction therapy for clinical stage IIIA-N2 non-small
      cell lung cancer. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to
      determine independent predictors of persistent N2 disease. RESULTS: 203 patients
      (56% female; median age 64 years) underwent potentially curative lung resection
      after induction therapy. Ninety-seven patients (48%) had pathologic nodal
      downstaging (pN0/N1), which was associated with significantly better overall
      survival compared with patients with persistent N2 disease (5 years, 56% versus
      35%, p = 0.047). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that upper or middle
      lobe location and less than 60% reduction of N2 SUVmax were independent
      predictors of persistent N2 disease. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with upper lobe tumors
      and less than 60% reduction in N2 SUVmax are more likely to have persistent N2
      disease, which is often associated with poor survival rates. These clinical
      prognostic criteria may help surgeons in stratifying patients and properly
      selecting optimal surgical candidates.

PMID- 27623275
TI  - Changes in Thoracic Surgery Experience During General Surgery Residency: A Review
      of the Case Logs From the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although exposure to thoracic surgery is mandated in general surgery
      residency, little is known about the mix of cases that residents use to meet this
      requirement and how this has changed over time. We report the experience of
      general thoracic surgery among general surgery residents using the Accreditation
      Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) database. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective review of the prospectively maintained ACGME resident case log
      database from 2003 to 2013. Thoracic cases were categorized by procedure type,
      year, and level of resident participation. A linear regression model was used to
      determine if there was a significant trend in case volumes over time. RESULTS:
      First assist volumes decreased in the 90th (-1.46 cases/year, p = 0.0012), 70th (
      0.77 cases/year, p = 0.0005), 50th (-0.46 cases/year, p = 0.0013), and 30th
      percentiles (-0.16 cases/year, p = 0.0187). Pneumonectomy volumes decreased for
      surgeons junior (-0.01 cases/year, p = 0.0013) and chief residents (-0.01
      cases/year, p = 0.005), as did open lobectomy (surgeon junior, -0.202 cases/year,
      p < 0.0001; chief, -0.08 cases/year, p <= 0.0013). Video-assisted (VATS)
      lobectomy increased for the surgeons junior (0.22 cases/year, p < 0.0001) and
      chief residents (0.045 cases/year, p < 0.0001). Surgeons junior also had
      increased volumes of VATS exploratory thoracoscopy (0.11 cases/year, p = 0.0003)
      and VATS pleurodeisis (0.13 cases/year, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Whereas total
      thoracic volumes on the whole have not changed significantly, resident
      participation as a first assistant and in key thoracic cases has decreased over
      the last 11 years, while participation in VATS and minor cases has increased.

PMID- 27623274
TI  - Initial Experience of Robotic Sleeve Resection for Lung Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify the technical aspects and
      short-term results of robotic sleeve resection for lung cancer patients. METHODS:
      Twenty-one consecutive cases of robotic sleeve resection from September 2014 to
      September 2015 were reviewed. RESULTS: There were 17 single sleeve resection
      (bronchial) and 4 double sleeve resection (bronchial and vascular) cases.
      Nineteen of 21 cases (90.5%) achieved R0 resection. The mean console time was
      120.4 +/- 37.3 minutes. The mean operation time was 158.4 +/- 42.0 minutes. There
      was no massive bleeding (800 mL or more) during operation. The mean
      intraoperative blood loss was 157.1 +/- 97.8 mL. One case (4.8%) was converted to
      thoracotomy owing to severe calcification of lymph node. There was no
      intraoperative death. The overall complication rate was 19.0%. The major
      complications were subcutaneous emphysema (14.4%), cardiac arrhythmia (9.6%),
      pneumonia (9.6%), pyothorax (9.6%), bronchial anastomosis bleeding (4.8%),
      bronchial anastomosis leakage (4.8%), and multiple organ failure (4.8%). The 30
      day mortality rate was 4.8%. The mean postoperative length of stay was 10.7 +/-
      7.6 days. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic sleeve resection is technically feasible and can
      be carried out with acceptable short-term results.

PMID- 27623276
TI  - Anterior Leaflet Augmentation With CorMatrix Porcine Extracellular Matrix in
      Twenty-Five Patients: Unexpected Patch Failures and Histologic Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study reported on the treatment of Carpentier type IIIa and type
      IIIb mitral regurgitation (MR) with a large patch anterior mitral valve leaflet
      augmentation technique using CorMatrix (CorMatrix Cardiovascular Inc, Alpharetta,
      GA) extracellular matrix (ECM). METHODS: A single-site chart review was conducted
      on patients who underwent anterior leaflet augmentation performed with the Da
      Vinci surgical robot (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) or through a median
      sternotomy. Only patients who had anterior leaflet augmentation with porcine
      intestine ECM or autologous pericardium were included. Follow-up echocardiography
      was performed on all patients. Histologic specimens were available on ECM patches
      from a subset of patients who required reoperation. RESULTS: Between August 2011
      and April 2014, 44 patients (mean age, 62.6 +/- 12.2 years) underwent anterior
      leaflet augmentation with either porcine intestinal ECM or autologous pericardium
      at the Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Two (4%) late deaths occurred,
      one in each group. One patient who underwent ECM augmentation died of non-cardiac
      related causes 7 months after discharge as a result of complications of chronic
      renal failure. The second late death occurred 5 months after discharge because of
      complications of a stroke in a patient in the pericardial augmentation group.
      Eight (32%) of the patients with ECM had recurrence of severe MR on
      echocardiography at an average time of 201 +/- 98 days. Seven (28%) patients
      required reoperation because of failure of the ECM patch including perforation
      (4%), excessive patch dilation (20%), and suture line dehiscence (4%). In
      contrast, none of the patients with pericardial augmentation developed severe MR
      or required operation. Statistical analysis of the patients with ECM augmentation
      demonstrated no correlation of the following: age; sex; comorbid conditions such
      as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension; left
      ventricular ejection fraction; surgical approach; annuloplasty size; or type of
      MR with patch failure. A lower body mass index was the only factor associated
      with recurrent severe regurgitation on univariate analysis (p = 0.039).
      Histologic study of the four available explants demonstrated intense inflammation
      without evidence of host integration. The remaining 15 (60%) patients had normal
      mitral leaflet structure and function on follow-up echocardiograms out to 12
      months. CONCLUSIONS: For type III MR, a large anterior leaflet patch technique
      with porcine ECM was associated with a 32% recurrence rate of severe MR related
      directly to patch failure. Further research and development should be performed
      on the use of ECM materials with a goal to decrease the failure rate experienced
      in this study.

PMID- 27623277
TI  - Patient Preferences in Treatment Choices for Early-Stage Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decision-making for lung cancer treatment can be complex because it
      involves both provider recommendations based on the patient's clinical condition
      and patient preferences. This study describes the relative importance of several
      considerations in lung cancer treatment from the patient's perspective. METHODS:
      A conjoint preference experiment began by asking respondents to imagine that they
      had just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Respondents then chose among procedures
      that differed regarding treatment modalities, the potential for treatment-related
      complications, the likelihood of recurrence, provider case volume, and distance
      needed to travel for treatment. Conjoint analysis derived relative weights for
      these attributes. RESULTS: A total of 225 responses were analyzed. Respondents
      were most willing to accept minimally invasive operations for treatment of their
      hypothetical lung cancer, followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT);
      they were least willing to accept thoracotomy. Treatment type and risk of
      recurrence were the most important attributes from the conjoint experiment (each
      with a relative weight of 0.23), followed by provider volume (relative weight of
      0.21), risk of major complications (relative weight of 0.18), and distance needed
      to travel for treatment (relative weight of 0.15). Procedural and treatment
      preferences did not vary with demographics, self-reported health status, or
      familiarity with the procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Survey respondents preferred
      minimally invasive operations over SBRT or thoracotomy for treatment of early
      stage non-small cell lung cancer. Treatment modality and risk of cancer
      recurrence were the most important factors associated with treatment preferences.
      Provider experience outweighed the potential need to travel for lung cancer
      treatment.

PMID- 27623278
TI  - Sinus Plication to Improve Valve Configuration in Bicuspid Aortic Valve Repair
      Early Results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous experience with repair of the regurgitant bicuspid aortic
      valve (BAV) has shown a strong influence of commissural orientation on repair
      durability. We have modified commissural orientation by asymmetric plication of
      the fused sinuses. We analyzed the results of the modified technique. METHODS:
      Between 2009 and 2014, 35 patients with BAV and commissural orientation of no
      more than 160 degrees  underwent aortic valve repair, including plication of the
      fused sinuses and circular annuloplasty. The control group consisted of 21
      historic controls undergoing operations between 2000 and 2008 but without sinus
      plication; subcommissural plication was used as annuloplasty. The groups were
      similar in most respects; differences existed in preoperative annular diameter,
      prevalence of complete fusion, use of a pericardial patch, and plication of the
      fused cusp. RESULTS: At discharge the degree of aortic regurgitation (AR) was
      significantly lower in the study group (p = 0.004). Survival after 5 years was
      100% in the study group and 95.2% in the control group after 5 and 10 years. Five
      year freedom from reoperation in the study group was 93.0% and 57.1% in the
      control group (p = 0.0013); freedom from valve replacement was 95.8% and 79.3% (p
      = 0.036). Freedom from recurrent AR grade II or higher was 67.1% in the study
      group and 33.3% in the control group (p = 0.0024). Mean postoperative peak
      gradient was significantly lower in the study group (14.3 +/- 6.5 mm Hg versus
      28.9 +/- 18.5 mm Hg, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Plicating the fused sinuses and
      thus reducing root circumference in the fused part changes commissural
      orientation of the BAV which leads to better short- and midterm stability in BAV
      repair.

PMID- 27623279
TI  - Factors Predicting Internalized Stigma Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living
      with HIV in Beijing, China.
AB  - Internalized stigma in people living with HIV is associated with negative
      outcomes including sexual risk behaviors and depression. Little research has
      focused on internalized stigma in men who have sex with men living with HIV
      (MSMLWH) in China. We measured internalized stigma and examined its potential
      predictors in a sample of 277 MSMLWH from two infectious disease specialist
      hospitals in Beijing, China. Descriptive analysis showed an intermediate high
      level of internalized stigma in these men. Multiple linear regression revealed
      that higher levels of stereotypes, negative affect, older age, lower levels of
      mastery, and limited information and emotional support were significant
      predictors of internalized stigma. Cognitive reconstruction interventions should
      be developed to change negative stereotypes and reduce internalized stigma, and
      information and emotional support should be provided to develop mastery, foster
      coping skills for internalized stigma, and alleviate negative affect. MSMLWH of
      older ages need more attention in stigma reduction programs.

PMID- 27623280
TI  - Microscale loop-mediated isothermal amplification of viral DNA with real-time
      monitoring on solution-gated graphene FET microchip.
AB  - Rapid and reliable molecular analysis of DNA for disease diagnosis is highly
      sought-after. FET-based sensors fulfill the demands of future point-of-care
      devices due to its sensitive charge sensing and possibility of integration with
      electronic instruments. However, most of the FETs are unstable in aqueous
      conditions, less sensitive and requires conventional Ag/AgCl electrode for
      gating. In this work, we propose a solution-gated graphene FET (SG-FET) for real
      time monitoring of microscale loop-mediated isothermal amplification of DNA. The
      SG-FET was fabricated effortlessly with graphene as an active layer, on-chip co
      planar electrodes, and polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic reservoir. A
      linear response of about 0.23V/pH was seen when the buffers from pH 5-9 were
      analyzed on the SG-FET. To evaluate the performance of SG-FET, we monitored the
      amplification of Lambda phage gene as a proof-of-concept. During amplification,
      protons are released, which gradually alters the Dirac point voltage (VDirac) of
      SG-FET. The resulting device was highly sensitive with a femto-level limit of
      detection. The SG-FET could easily produce a positive signal within 16.5min of
      amplification. An amplification of 10ng/MUl DNA for 1h produced a ?VDirac of
      0.27V. The sensor was tested within a range of 2*102 copies/MUl (10 fg/MUl) to
      2*108 copies/MUl (10ng/MUl) of target DNA. Development of this sensing technology
      could significantly lower the time, cost, and complications of DNA detection.

PMID- 27623281
TI  - A new s-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase-linked method for adenosine detection
      based on DNA-templated fluorescent Cu/Ag nanoclusters.
AB  - We herein describe a novel fluorescent method for the rapid and selective
      detection of adenosine by utilizing DNA-templated Cu/Ag nanoclusters (NCs) and
      employing s-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH). SAHH is allowed to promote
      hydrolysis reaction of s-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) and consequently produces
      homocysteine, which would quench the fluorescence signal from DNA-templated Cu/Ag
      nanoclusters employed as a signaling probe in this study. On the other hand,
      adenosine significantly inhibits the hydrolysis reaction and prevent the
      formation of homocysteine. Consequently, highly enhanced fluorescence signal from
      DNA-Cu/Ag NCs is retained, which could be used to identify the presence of
      adenosine. By employing this design principle, adenosine was sensitively detected
      down to 19nM with high specificity over other adenosine analogs such as AMP, ADP,
      ATP, cAMP, guanosine, cytidine, and urine. Finally, the diagnostic capability of
      this method was successfully verified by reliably detecting adenosine present in
      a real human serum sample.

PMID- 27623282
TI  - Reagentless colorimetric biosensing platform based on nanoceria within an agarose
      gel matrix.
AB  - A composite consisting of cerium oxide nanoparticles (nanoceria) and an oxidative
      enzyme co-entrapped in an agarose gel has been developed for the reagent-free
      colorimetric detection of biologically important target molecules. The oxidase,
      immobilized in the agarose matrix, promotes the oxidation of target molecules to
      generate H2O2 that subsequently induces changes in the physicochemical properties
      of nanoceria exhibiting a color change from white/light-yellow into intense
      yellow/light-orange without any requirement for additional colorimetric
      substrates. By utilizing the unique color-changing property of nanoceria
      entrapped within the agarose gel, target glucose molecules were very specifically
      detected over a wide linear range from 0.05 to 2mM, which is suitable to measure
      the serum glucose level, with excellent operational stability over two weeks at
      room temperature. The biosensor also exhibited a high degree of precision and
      reproducibility when employed to detect glucose present in real human serum
      samples. We expect that this novel nanoceria-based biosensing format could be
      readily extended to other oxidative enzymes for the convenient detection of
      various clinically important target molecules.

PMID- 27623283
TI  - Is routine transvaginal cervical length measurement cost-effective in a
      population where the risk of spontaneous preterm birth is low?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A recent meta-analysis has suggested that routine measurement of
      the cervical length should be performed in conjunction with the anomaly scan to
      identify a group of women at increased risk of preterm delivery. We decided to
      investigate whether this recommendation is justifiable in a population where the
      risk of preterm birth is low. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed 12 years of
      obstetric data from the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital. Relative
      risks of adverse outcomes from the randomized controlled trial were applied and
      we extrapolated the possible numbers of women requiring intervention. We then
      used published neonatal data to estimate the cost of neonatal care and estimated
      the costs of providing the service. RESULTS: Over 12 years from 2000 until 2011,
      there were 94 646 singleton deliveries, 1776 happening before 34 weeks.
      Spontaneous onset occurred in 882 (49.7%) of this group. These 882 births were
      studied. If we apply the figures from a randomized controlled trial, 1609 women
      (1.7% from our total population) would be expected to have a cervical length 15
      mm. If we gave vaginal progesterone to all women with a sonographically short
      cervix, we would reduce the delivery rate before 34 weeks by 27.7%. The annual
      costs of providing the service were estimated to be ?109 249 and the cost of
      immediate neonatal care was estimated to be ?380 514. CONCLUSION: Given the
      implications associated with preterm delivery, routine measurement of cervical
      length at the time of the anomaly scan may be justifiable from a cost point of
      view in a population where the risk of preterm birth is low.

PMID- 27623285
TI  - Anisocytosis: A Classical Marker of Inflammation or a New Predictive Marker in
      Patients with Primary Myelofibrosis.

PMID- 27623286
TI  - Zinc-oxide nanocoating for improvement of the antibacterial and frictional
      behavior of nickel-titanium alloy.
AB  - AIM: To fabricate a friction-reducing and antibacterial coating with zinc oxide
      (ZnO) nanoparticles on nickel-titanium (NiTi) wire. MATERIALS & METHODS: NiTi
      orthodontic wires were coated with ZnO nanoparticles using the chemical
      deposition method. Characteristics of the coating as well as the physical,
      mechanical and antibacterial properties of the wires were investigated. RESULTS:
      A stable and well-adhered ZnO coating on the NiTi wires was obtained. The
      hardness and elastic modulus of the ZnO nanocoating were 2.3 +/- 0.2 and 61.0 +/-
      3.6 GPa, respectively. The coated wires presented up to 21% reduction in the
      frictional forces and antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans. ZnO
      nanocoating significantly improved the surface quality of NiTi wires. The modulus
      of elasticity, unloading forces and austenite finish temperature were not
      significantly different after coating. CONCLUSION: This unique coating could be
      implemented into practice for safer and faster treatment to the benefit of both
      patient and clinician.

PMID- 27623284
TI  - Epistatic Gene-Based Interaction Analyses for Glaucoma in eMERGE and NEIGHBOR
      Consortium.
AB  - Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a complex disease and is one of the major
      leading causes of blindness worldwide. Genome-wide association studies have
      successfully identified several common variants associated with glaucoma;
      however, most of these variants only explain a small proportion of the genetic
      risk. Apart from the standard approach to identify main effects of variants
      across the genome, it is believed that gene-gene interactions can help elucidate
      part of the missing heritability by allowing for the test of interactions between
      genetic variants to mimic the complex nature of biology. To explain the etiology
      of glaucoma, we first performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on
      glaucoma case-control samples obtained from electronic medical records (EMR) to
      establish the utility of EMR data in detecting non-spurious and relevant
      associations; this analysis was aimed at confirming already known associations
      with glaucoma and validating the EMR derived glaucoma phenotype. Our findings
      from GWAS suggest consistent evidence of several known associations in POAG. We
      then performed an interaction analysis for variants found to be marginally
      associated with glaucoma (SNPs with main effect p-value <0.01) and observed
      interesting findings in the electronic MEdical Records and GEnomics Network
      (eMERGE) network dataset. Genes from the top epistatic interactions from eMERGE
      data (Likelihood Ratio Test i.e. LRT p-value <1e-05) were then tested for
      replication in the NEIGHBOR consortium dataset. To replicate our findings, we
      performed a gene-based SNP-SNP interaction analysis in NEIGHBOR and observed
      significant gene-gene interactions (p-value <0.001) among the top 17 gene-gene
      models identified in the discovery phase. Variants from gene-gene interaction
      analysis that we found to be associated with POAG explain 3.5% of additional
      genetic variance in eMERGE dataset above what is explained by the SNPs in genes
      that are replicated from previous GWAS studies (which was only 2.1% variance
      explained in eMERGE dataset); in the NEIGHBOR dataset, adding replicated SNPs
      from gene-gene interaction analysis explain 3.4% of total variance whereas GWAS
      SNPs alone explain only 2.8% of variance. Exploring gene-gene interactions may
      provide additional insights into many complex traits when explored in properly
      designed and powered association studies.

PMID- 27623287
TI  - Maternal Exposure to Bisphenol-A During Pregnancy Increases Pancreatic beta-Cell
      Growth During Early Life in Male Mice Offspring.
AB  - Alterations during development of metabolic key organs such as the endocrine
      pancreas affect the phenotype later in life. There is evidence that in utero or
      perinatal exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) leads to impaired glucose metabolism
      during adulthood. However, how BPA exposure during pregnancy affects pancreatic
      beta-cell growth and function in offspring during early life has not been
      explored. We exposed pregnant mice to either vehicle (control) or BPA (10 and 100
      MUg/kg.d, BPA10 and BPA100) and examined offspring on postnatal days (P) P0, P21,
      P30, and P120. BPA10 and BPA100 mice presented lower birth weight than control
      and subsequently gained weight until day 30. At that age, concentration of plasma
      insulin, C-peptide, and leptin were increased in BPA-exposed animals in the
      nonfasting state. Insulin secretion and content were diminished in BPA10 and
      maintained in BPA100 compared with control. A global gene expression analysis
      indicated that genes related with cell division were increased in islets from BPA
      treated animals. This was associated with an increase in pancreatic beta-cell
      mass at P0, P21, and P30 together with increased beta-cell proliferation and
      decreased apoptosis. On the contrary, at P120, BPA-treated animals presented
      either equal or decreased beta-cell mass compared with control and altered
      fasting glucose levels. These data suggest that in utero exposure to
      environmentally relevant doses of BPA alters the expression of genes involved in
      beta-cell growth regulation, incrementing beta-cell mass/area, and beta-cell
      proliferation during early life. An excess of insulin signaling during early life
      may contribute to impaired glucose tolerance during adulthood.

PMID- 27623288
TI  - Ghrelin Octanoylation Is Completely Stabilized in Biological Samples by Alkyl
      Fluorophosphonates.
AB  - Ghrelin is a peptide hormone involved in multiple physiological processes related
      to energy homeostasis. This hormone features a unique posttranslational serine
      octanoylation modification catalyzed by the enzyme ghrelin O-acyltransferase,
      with serine octanoylation essential for ghrelin to bind and activate its cognate
      receptor. Ghrelin deacylation rapidly occurs in circulation, with both ghrelin
      and desacyl ghrelin playing important roles in biological signaling.
      Understanding the regulation and physiological impact of ghrelin signaling
      requires the ability to rapidly protect ghrelin from deacylation in biological
      samples such as blood serum or cell lysates to preserve the relative
      concentrations of ghrelin and desacyl ghrelin. In in vitro ghrelin O
      acyltransferase activity assays using insect microsomal protein fractions and
      mammalian cell lysate and blood serum, we demonstrate that alkyl
      fluorophosphonate treatment provides rapid, complete, and long-lasting protection
      of ghrelin acylation against serine ester hydrolysis without interference in
      enzyme assay or ELISA analysis. Our results support alkyl fluorophosphonate
      treatment as a general tool for stabilizing ghrelin and improving measurement of
      ghrelin and desacyl ghrelin concentrations in biochemical and clinical
      investigations and suggest current estimates for active ghrelin concentration and
      the ghrelin to desacyl ghrelin ratio in circulation may underestimate in vivo
      conditions.

PMID- 27623289
TI  - Understanding the Interaction of Pluronics L61 and L64 with a DOPC Lipid Bilayer:
      An Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Study.
AB  - We investigate the interactions of Pluronics L61 and L64 with a
      dioleylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) lipid bilayer by atomistic molecular dynamics
      simulations using the all-atom OPLS force field. Our results show that the
      initial configuration of the polymer with respect to the bilayer determines its
      final conformation within the bilayer. When the polymer is initially placed at
      the lipid/water interface, we observe partial insertion of the polymer in a U
      shaped conformation. On the other hand, when the polymer is centered at the
      bilayer, it stabilizes to a transmembrane state, which facilitates water
      transport across the bilayer. We show that membrane thickness decreases while its
      fluidity increases in the presence of Pluronics. When the polymer concentration
      inside the bilayer is high, pore formation is initiated with L64. Our results
      show good agreement with existing experimental data and reveal that the
      hydrophilic/lipophilic balance of the polymer plays a critical role in the
      interaction mechanisms as well as in the dynamics of Pluronics with and within
      the bilayer.

PMID- 27623290
TI  - Caring for breast cancer survivors in primary care.
AB  - Women with a history of breast cancer compose the largest group of cancer
      survivors. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners can play a key role in
      caring for cancer survivors in primary care settings. This article provides a
      brief overview and synthesis of current breast cancer guidelines, other
      resources, and clinical observations that may help primary care providers to
      translate plans developed by oncology specialists into primary care delivery. 

PMID- 27623291
TI  - Evaluating postoperative fever.
AB  - Fever is one of the most common postoperative complications seen in medical and
      surgical settings. Clinicians taking care of these patients need to be able to
      differentiate between a normal physiologic response to surgery and one that may
      be pathologic. Pathologic causes should be further separated into infectious and
      noninfectious causes. A systematic approach to febrile postoperative patients can
      help clinicians make better use of resources, limit costly workups, and improve
      patient outcomes. 

PMID- 27623292
TI  - UVR protection influences fructosamine level after sun exposure of healthy
      adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seasonal variation in glycated hemoglobin levels has been observed,
      and sun exposure has been considered as one of the factors associated with this
      relationship. Fructosamine is a short-time marker of blood protein glycation.
      AIM: We investigated the effect of seven days of sunbathing on blood fructosamine
      concentration in healthy volunteers using different ultraviolet radiation (UVR)
      protections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants were assigned to one of three
      groups: group A - used a UVA and UVB absorbing sunscreen (N = 15), group B - used
      a UVB absorbing sunscreen (N = 18), and group C - followed uncontrolled sun
      protection habits (N = 22). RESULTS: Overall, the fructosamine concentration did
      not change after sun exposure (baseline 248.8 MUmol/l, 25-75%: 238.5 to 258.8
      MUmol/l vs. after 247.3 MUmol/l, 25-75%: 234.9 to 261.8 MUmol/l, P = 0.6637).
      Median change of fructosamine differed significantly between groups (A: -1.90
      MUmol/l, 25-75%: -17.10 to 1.80 MUmol/l vs. B: -3.80 MUmol/l, 25-75%: -18.50 to
      2.40 MUmol/l vs. C: +4.05 MUmol/l, 25-75%: -3.20 to 22.0 MUmol/l; one-way ANOVAP
      = 0.0277). After age adjustment and combining groups A and B, the difference in
      change of fructosamine concentration was statistically significant between groups
      A + B (decrease) vs. group C (increase, P = 0.0193). CONCLUSION: Appropriate
      sunscreen use during sunbathing resulted in decreased fructosamine
      concentrations, while inadequate UVR protection resulted in its increase.

PMID- 27623294
TI  - The social media machine.

PMID- 27623295
TI  - Type 1 diabetes & cardiovascular disease.
AB  - Individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) have a high risk of developing
      cardiovascular disease (CVD), but some risk factors can be mediated by lifestyle
      modification and medication. NPs should understand evidence-based management
      approaches to counsel patients with T1DM on appropriate self-management
      interventions to reduce the likelihood of CVD. 

PMID- 27623293
TI  - Supporting the home language of bilingual children with developmental
      disabilities: From knowing to doing.
AB  - There is a growing awareness of bilingualism and the needs of children with
      developmental disabilities who are exposed to more than one language. This
      growing awareness is paralleled by a growing research base in the area of
      bilingualism and emerging research in bilingual children with developmental
      disabilities. In this set of articles we see that there is general agreement that
      bilingualism does not increase risk for language impairment nor does intervention
      in the home language interfere with second language learning. Yet there continues
      to be challenges in putting this knowledge into practice. By better understanding
      the challenges to implementation in context we can better address the needs of
      children, families, and practitioners.

PMID- 27623296
TI  - Assessing suicide risk in older adults.
AB  - Suicide in older adults is continuing to rise and, as the older population
      increases, so will the rate of suicide. By learning more about the risk factors,
      assessment areas to explore, and ways to improve treatment, primary care
      providers can help decrease the incidence of suicidal behaviors in this
      population. 

PMID- 27623297
TI  - Complications, Readmissions, and Revisions for Spine Procedures Performed by
      Orthopedic Surgeons Versus Neurosurgeons: A Retrospective, Longitudinal Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective database analysis. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact
      of training pathway, either neurosurgical or orthopedic, on complications,
      readmissions, and revisions in spine surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      Training pathway has been shown to have an impact on outcomes in various surgical
      subspecialties. Although training pathway has not been shown to have a
      significant impact on spine surgery outcomes in the perioperative period, long
      term results are unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of
      197,682 patients receiving 1 of 3 common spine surgeries [lumbar laminectomy,
      lumbar fusion, and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF)] between 2006
      and 2010 was conducted. Patient data were obtained from a large claims database.
      Postoperative adverse effects, all-cause readmission, revision surgery rates, and
      intermediary payments in these cohorts of patients were compared between spine
      surgeons with either neurosurgical or orthopedic backgrounds. RESULTS: Patient
      demographics, hospital-stay characteristics, and medical comorbidities were
      similar between neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. The risks of surgical
      complications, all-cause readmission, and revision surgery were also similar
      between neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons across all procedure types
      assessed, with several minor exceptions: neurosurgeons had marginally higher odds
      of any complication for lumbar fusions [odds ratio (OR) 1.14; 95% confidence
      interval (CI), 1.09-1.20] and ACDFs (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.04-1.15). Neurosurgeons
      also had slightly higher rates of revision surgery for concurrent lumbar
      laminectomy with fusion (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.08-1.22), and ACDFs (OR, 1.20; 95%
      CI, 1.14-1.28). No associations between surgeon type and any particular
      complication were consistently observed for all procedure groups. There were also
      no associations between surgeon type and 30-day all-cause readmission. Median
      total intermediary payments were somewhat higher for neurosurgery patients for
      all procedure groups assessed. CONCLUSIONS: Few significant associations between
      surgeon type and patient outcomes exist in the context of spine surgery. Those
      which do are small and unlikely to be clinically meaningful. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level 3.

PMID- 27623298
TI  - Insertional Torque in Cervical Vertebrae Lateral Mass Screw Fixation: Magerl
      Technique Versus Roy-Camille Technique.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective multicenter comparison study. OBJECTIVE: To
      measure the insertional torque (IT) for cervical vertebra lateral mass screw
      (LMS) fixation using the Magerl and Roy-Camille methods, at the discretion of the
      surgeon. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Current fixation methods for patients with
      preoperative cervical spine instability use LMSs; however, few studies have
      closely examined intraoperative IT. Patients' bone quality was not measured.
      METHODS: A total of 637 posterior cervical multiaxial screws were inserted for
      LMS (C3-C6) (Magerl technique, 423; Roy-Camille technique, 214) in 107 cases.
      Patients' mean age was 66 years. Patients treated with the Magerl method were
      divided into 2 groups, with the men in the MM group and the women in the MF
      group. Similarly, patients treated with the Roy-Camille method were divided into
      2 groups, with the men in the RM group and the women in the RF group. The
      contralateral cortex was penetrated, and the IT at cerclage was measured at the
      last time. RESULTS: IT of the lateral mass screw was 53.8+/-22.4, 45.4+/-21,
      45.5+/-16.9, and 34+/-16.4 cN.m in the MM group (258), MF group (165), RM group
      (163), and RF group (51), respectively. The MM group had a significantly higher
      IT than the other 3 groups, and the RM group had a significantly higher IT than
      the RF group. When the correlation between screw length and IT was evaluated, IT
      was significantly (P<0.05) higher with a longer screw by the Magerl method.
      CONCLUSIONS: The IT was higher with the Magerl method with a longer screw. Screw
      length and IT were not correlated with the Roy-Camille method; furthermore, the
      Roy-Camille method went through bilateral cortical bone perpendicularly, so that
      IT was determined by the fixation power in the cortical part of the bone, which
      was not thought to be affected by screw length. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

PMID- 27623299
TI  - Radiographic and Clinical Outcome of Silicate-substituted Calcium Phosphate (Si
      CaP) Ceramic Bone Graft in Spinal Fusion Procedures.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the radiographic
      and clinical outcome of silicate-substituted calcium phosphate (Si-CaP), utilized
      as a graft substance in spinal fusion procedures. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      Specific properties of Si-CaP provide the graft with negative surface charge that
      can result in a positive effect on the osteoblast activity and neovascularization
      of the bone. METHODS: This study included those patients who underwent spinal
      fusion procedures between 2007 and 2011 in which Si-CaP was used as the only bone
      graft substance. Fusion was evaluated on follow-up CT scans. Clinical outcome was
      assessed using Oswestry Disability Index, Neck Disability Index, and the visual
      analogue scale (VAS) for back, leg, neck, and arm pain. RESULTS: A total of 234
      patients (516 spinal fusion levels) were studied. Surgical procedures consisted
      of 57 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, 49 anterior cervical discectomy and
      fusion, 44 extreme lateral interbody fusion, 30 posterior cervical fusions, 19
      thoracic fusion surgeries, 17 axial lumbar interbody fusions, 16 combined
      anterior and posterior cervical fusions, and 2 anterior lumbar interbody fusion.
      At a mean radiographic follow-up of 14.2+/-4.3 months, fusion was found to be
      present in 82.9% of patients and 86.8% of levels. The highest fusion rate was
      observed in the cervical region. At the latest clinical follow-up of 21.7+/-14.2
      months, all clinical outcome parameters showed significant improvement. The
      Oswestry Disability Index improved from 45.6 to 13.3 points, Neck Disability
      Index from 40.6 to 29.3, VAS back from 6.1 to 3.5, VAS leg from 5.6 to 2.4, VAS
      neck from 4.7 to 2.7, and VAS arm from 4.1 to 1.7. Of 7 cases with secondary
      surgical procedure at the index level, the indication for surgery was nonunion in
      3 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Si-CaP is an effective bone graft substitute. At the
      latest follow-up, favorable radiographic and clinical outcome was observed in the
      majority of patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level-III.

PMID- 27623300
TI  - Degenerative Spondylolisthesis in the Fifth Lumbar Vertebra and Radiographic
      Parameters: A Correlation Analysis.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the
      relationships between degenerative spondylolisthesis in the fifth lumbar vertebra
      (L5-DS) and radiographic parameters and to further determine the radiographic
      predictors of the development of L5-DS. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Degenerative
      lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) is a common degenerative disease of the spine;
      however, the correlations between L5-DS and radiographic parameters remain
      controversial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective case-control study was
      conducted in our hospital. Between 2011 and 2014, a total of 84 subjects with L5
      DS were enrolled in the DLS group, and 56 healthy volunteers were recruited to
      the control group. A series of radiographic parameters, including the bone
      mineral density, disk degenerative index, disk height, L5 vertebral size (L5-VS),
      lumbar lordosis angle (LL), sacral slope angle (SS), pelvic incidence (PI), facet
      joint angulations (FJA) of the cephalad and caudad portions, and asymmetry of the
      FJA, were measured in both groups by 3 examiners. RESULTS: The bone mineral
      density, disk degenerative index, disk height, L5-VS, LL, SS, PI, and FJA
      exhibited significant differences (P=0.014-0.045) between the DLS and control
      groups. Significant changes in the FJA of the cephalad and caudad portions in the
      L4-L5 and L5-S1 segments were observed between the 2 groups (P=0.00, 0.00),
      whereas no significant differences in the asymmetries of FJA were observed in the
      L4-L5 or L5-S1 segments (P=0.605-0.972). Among all of the parameters, the L5-VS
      (P=0.025), SS (P=0.020), LL (P=0.031), PI (P=0.014), and FJA (P=0.022) were
      identified as being associated with the DLS group by multiple logistic regression
      analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, SS, LL, PI, and a more sagittal FJA were
      proven to be risk factors for L5-DS, whereas L5-VS was found to be a likely
      protective factor against L5-DS. These parameters should be considered predictors
      of L5-DS.

PMID- 27623301
TI  - Cross-Sectional Area of the Lumbar Spine Trunk Muscle and Posterior Lumbar
      Interbody Fusion Rate: A Retrospective Study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship
      between trunk muscle cross-sectional area (MCSA) and fusion rate after posterior
      lumbar interbody fusion using pedicle screw fixation (PLIF-PSF). SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: Although trunk muscles of the lumbar spine contribute to spinal
      stability and alignment, effect of trunk muscles on spinal fusion rate and time
      to fusion is unclear. METHODS: A total of 192 adult patients with degenerative
      lumbar disease who underwent PLIF-PSF at L3-L4 or L4-L5 were included. The MCSA
      of the flexor (psoas major, PS), extensor (erector spinae, ES; multifidus, MF)
      were measured using preoperative lumbar magnetic resonance imaging at 3 segments.
      Bone union was evaluated using lumbar dynamic plain radiography. Patients were
      divided into 2 groups according to the presence of bone fusion. RESULTS: Most PS
      MCSAs in the fusion group were significantly larger than in the nonfusion group,
      except for MCSA at the L2-L3 segment (all P<0.05). In cases of ES and MF MCSAs, 4
      of 6 segments were significantly large. Multivariate analysis revealed that the
      PS MCSA at L4-L5 was an independent factor for decreased possibility of nonfusion
      status in both segments (OR=0.812, P=0.028). Pearson analysis demonstrated that
      the most trunk MCSAs were negatively correlated with time to fusion for both
      segments and PS MCSAs exhibited a significant correlation with time to fusion
      except for MCSA at the L2-L3 segment. CONCLUSIONS: Trunk MCSAs were significantly
      larger for a fusion group than a nonfusion group. As trunk MCSAs increased,
      fusion timing decreased.

PMID- 27623302
TI  - Screw Placement at the Apex Alters Surgical Outcomes of Moderate Lenke 1
      Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The objective was to
      investigate the effect of apical pedicle screw placement on surgical outcomes of
      Lenke 1 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). SUMMARY OF THE BACKGROUND DATA:
      Pedicle screw instrumentation achieves satisfactory correction of scoliosis in
      thoracic AIS patients, but the effect of apical screw placement is unclear.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Lenke 1 AIS patients with all pedicle screw
      instrumentation between January 2009 and January 2011 were reviewed. According to
      the presence of apical vertebra instrumentation, 38 patients (group A) were
      identified without apical screw placement. 25 patients (group B) instrumented
      with both concave, and convex apical screws and 50 patients (group C) with either
      concave or convex apical pedicle screw instrumentation were also enrolled
      according to matched age and Cobb angles. Cobb angle correction, apical vertebral
      derotation, misplacement of apical screws, functional outcomes, and patient
      satisfaction were evaluated. RESULTS: Demographic parameters and preoperative
      Cobb angle, curve flexibility, and apex rotation were similar among the 3 groups
      (P>0.05). Postoperatively, there was no significant difference regarding the
      number of fused vertebrae, Cobb angle correction rate, or loss of correction.
      However, the degree of apical vertebral derotation was significantly lower in
      group A (17.8%) than in groups B (49.1%) and C (34.3%) (P<0.001). In group B, 6
      screws inserted on the concavity and 5 on the convexity of the apex were
      identified as malpositioned; whereas in group C, 3 on the concavity and 2 on the
      convexity were malpositioned screws. Self-image and satisfaction were highest for
      patients in group B. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with moderate Lenke 1 AIS (Cobb
      angle, 50-70 degrees), the insertion of apical pedicle screws did not
      significantly improve curve correction, but it had a marked positive effect on
      the derotation of apical vertebrae, subsidence of the rib hump, and patient
      satisfaction.

PMID- 27623303
TI  - Effect of Drugs Associated With Bleeding Tendency on the Complications and
      Outcomes of Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective case-control study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate
      the influence of medication-related bleeding tendency on the clinical outcomes
      and complications of transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI). SUMMARY
      OF BACKGROUND DATA: TFESI may result in serious complications such as epidural
      hematoma or adhesions in patients with medication-related bleeding tendency.
      However, little is known about the true relationship between medication-related
      bleeding tendency and postprocedural complications. METHODS: Retrospective review
      of the medical records of patients who had TFESI from 2010 to 2014 was done.
      Commonly used medications such as warfarin, heparin, aspirin, clopidogrel, and
      Opalmon (limaprost alfadex) were included as medications associated with bleeding
      tendency. Patients were divided into 3 groups and the treatment outcomes for each
      group were compared: The first group used medications associated with bleeding
      tendency, but discontinued them in due time before the procedure (discontinued
      group). The second group used medications associated with bleeding tendency and
      continued receiving medication (continuing group). The third group did not use
      any medications associated with a bleeding tendency (nonmedicated group).
      RESULTS: Among 2,469 patients, 1,234 were in the discontinued group, 408 patients
      in the continuing group, and 827 patients in the nonmedicated group. There were
      no statistically significant differences between groups for the treatment
      outcomes such as the degree of pain relief, duration of improvement, and
      complication rates including symptomatic epidural hematoma. Moreover, for the
      discontinued group and continuing group, the treatment outcomes were compared
      among patients with same medication, and revealed no differences. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study demonstrated that continued use of medications associated with
      bleeding tendency does not increase epidural hematoma or symptomatic
      exacerbation, and thus should not be considered as a contraindication for TFESI.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.

PMID- 27623304
TI  - Graft Subsidence and Revision Rates Following Anterior Cervical Corpectomy: A
      Clinical Study Comparing Different Interbody Cages.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To assess the subsidence and
      revision rates associated with different interbody cages following anterior
      cervical corpectomy and reconstruction. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Different
      interbody cages are currently used for surgical reconstruction of the anterior
      and middle columns of the spine following anterior cervical corpectomy. However,
      subsidence and delayed union/nonunion associated with allograft and cage
      reconstruction are common complications, which may require revision with
      instrumentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the cases of 75 patients who
      underwent cervical corpectomy and compared the radiographic graft subsidence and
      revision rates for fibula allograft, titanium mesh cage, titanium expandable
      cage, and carbon fiber cages. Subsidence was calculated by comparing the
      immediate postoperative lateral x-ray films to those obtained during follow-up
      visits. RESULTS: The average graft subsidence was 3 mm and revision rate was 25%
      for fibula allograft versus 2.9 mm and 11.1%, 2.9 mm and 18.8% for titanium mesh
      cages and titanium expandable cages, respectively. The average graft subsidence
      for carbon fiber cages was 0.7 mm with no revision surgery in this subset.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that subsidence and revision rates following
      anterior corpectomy and interbody fusion could be minimized with the use of a
      carbon fiber cage.

PMID- 27623305
TI  - Opening the Gates: Insights into Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Channel-Mediated
      Signaling.
AB  - Recent work has expanded our understanding of the roles of cyclic nucleotide
      gated channels (CNGCs) in plant signaling. In this spotlight article, we discuss
      advances and future perspectives in determining how CNGCs mediate calcium
      signaling in response to diverse stimuli.

PMID- 27623306
TI  - High-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus modulates neuronal activity
      in the lateral habenula nucleus.
AB  - High-frequency stimulation (HFS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is often used
      to treat movement disability in advanced Parkinson's disease, but some patients
      experience debilitating psychiatric effects including depression. Interestingly,
      HFS of the STN modulates 5-HT neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) which are
      linked to depression, but the neural substrate of this effect is unknown. Here,
      we tested the effect of STN stimulation on neuronal activity in the lateral
      habenula nucleus (LHb), an important source of input to DRN 5-HT neurons and also
      a key controller of emotive behaviours. LHb neurons were monitored in
      anaesthetized rats using single-unit extracellular recording, and localization
      within the LHb was confirmed by juxtacellular labelling. HFS of the STN (130 Hz)
      evoked rapid changes in the firing rate of the majority of LHb neurons tested (38
      of 68). Some LHb neurons (19/68) were activated by HFS, while others (19/68),
      distinguished by a higher basal firing rate, were inhibited. LHb neurons that
      project to the DRN were identified using antidromic activation and collision
      testing (n = 17 neurons). Some of these neurons (5/17) were also excited by HFS
      of the STN, and others (7/17) were inhibited although this was only a statistical
      trend. In summary, HFS of the STN modulated the firing of LHb neurons, including
      those projecting to the DRN. The data identify that the STN impacts on the LHb
      DRN pathway. Moreover, this pathway may be part of the circuitry mediating the
      psychiatric effects of STN stimulation experienced by patients with Parkinson's
      disease.

PMID- 27623308
TI  - The Total Body Irradiation Schedule Affects Acute Leukemia Relapse After Matched
      T Cell-Depleted Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: We sought to determine whether the total body irradiation (TBI) schedule
      affected outcome in patients with acute leukemia in complete remission who
      received T cell-depleted allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from
      HLA identical siblings. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The study recruited 55 patients
      (median age, 48 years; age range, 20-66 years; 30 men and 25 women; 34 with acute
      myeloid leukemia and 21 with acute lymphoid leukemia). Hyperfractionated TBI
      (HTBI) (1.2 Gy thrice daily for 4 days [for a total dose of 14.4 Gy] from day -12
      to day -9) was administered to 29 patients. Single-dose TBI (STBI) (8 Gy, at a
      median dose rate of 10.7 cGy/min on day -9) was given to 26 patients. RESULTS:
      All patients achieved primary, sustained engraftment with full donor-type
      chimerism. At 10 years, the overall cumulative incidence of transplant-related
      mortality was 11% (SE, +/-0.1%). It was 7% (SE, +/-0.2%) after HTBI and 15% (SE,
      +/-0.5%) after STBI (P=.3). The overall cumulative incidence of relapse was 33%
      (SE, +/-0.5). It was 13% (SE, +/-0.5%) after HTBI and 46% (SE, +/-1%) after STBI
      (P=.02). The overall probability of disease-free survival (DFS) was 59% (SE, +/
      7%). It was 67% (SE, +/-0.84%) after HTBI and 37% (SE, +/-1.4%) after STBI
      (P=.01). Multivariate analyses showed the TBI schedule was the only risk factor
      that significantly affected relapse and DFS (P=.01 and P=.03, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with acute leukemia, HTBI is more efficacious than STBI
      in eradicating minimal residual disease after HLA-matched T cell-depleted
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, thus affecting DFS.

PMID- 27623309
TI  - Coordinated lymphangiogenesis is critical in lymph node development and
      maturation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymph node (LN) formation requires multiple but coordinated signaling
      from intrinsic and extrinsic cellular components during embryogenesis. However,
      the contribution and role of lymphatic vessels (LVs) in LN formation and
      maturation are poorly defined. Here, using lymphatic-specific reporters, Prox1
      GFP mice and Vegfc+/LacZ mice, we analyzed migration, assembly, and ingrowth of
      lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in LNs during pre- and postnatal development.
      RESULTS: Prox1+ LECs form string-like connections rather than lymph sac-like
      structures until E14.5, but the LEC coverage around LN anlagen completes before
      birth. Compared to wild-type littermates, Vegfc+/LacZ mice had markedly smaller
      LNs in neonates and adults, presumably due to the decrease in LTi cell clusters
      and migrating Prox1+ LECs during embryogenesis. In addition, Vegfc
      haploinsufficiency or inhibition of VEGFR3 signaling led to an impairment of LN
      LV ingrowth, resulting in a significant decrease in LN volume. These data
      indicate that VEGF-C/VEGFR3 signaling plays a substantial role in normal LN
      formation through proper migration and organization of LECs. CONCLUSIONS: Taken
      together, our results provide compelling evidence that the contribution of LVs
      through VEGF-C/VEGFR3 signaling is critical in LN development and maturation.
      Developmental Dynamics 245:1189-1197, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623311
TI  - Phosphorylation of BlaR1 in Manifestation of Antibiotic Resistance in Methicillin
      Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Its Abrogation by Small Molecules.
AB  - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an important human pathogen,
      has evolved an inducible mechanism for resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. We
      report herein that the integral membrane protein BlaR1, the beta-lactam
      sensor/signal transducer protein, is phosphorylated on exposure to beta-lactam
      antibiotics. This event is critical to the onset of the induction of antibiotic
      resistance. Furthermore, we document that BlaR1 phosphorylation and the
      antibiotic-resistance phenotype are both reversed in the presence of synthetic
      protein kinase inhibitors of our design, restoring susceptibility of the organism
      to a penicillin, resurrecting it from obsolescence in treatment of these
      intransigent bacteria. 

PMID- 27623312
TI  - Cell-Based High-Throughput Screening Identifies Rifapentine as an Inhibitor of
      Amyloid and Biofilm Formation in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Escherichia coli assemble functional amyloid fibers termed curli that contribute
      to bacterial adhesion, biofilm formation, and host pathogenesis. We developed a
      cell-based high-throughput screen to identify inhibitors of curli-mediated
      adhesion in the laboratory strain MC4100 and curli-associated biofilm formation
      in the uropathogenic E. coli clinical isolate UTI89. Inhibitors of biofilm
      formation can operate through many mechanisms, and such inhibitors could hold
      therapeutic value in preventing and treating urinary tract infections. The curli
      specific screen allows the identification of compounds that inhibit either curli
      expression, curli biogenesis, or adhesion by normally produced curli. In
      screening the NIH Clinical Collection of 446 compounds, we identified rifapentine
      as a potent inhibitor in both of these screens. Rifapentine is an antibiotic used
      to treat tuberculosis that targets RNA polymerase, but prevents curli-dependent
      adhesion and biofilm formation in E. coli at concentrations below those that
      affect viability. Rifapentine inhibits curli production and prevents biofilm
      formation on plastic, on agar, and at the air-liquid interface by inhibiting
      curli gene transcription. Comparisons with a cephalosporin antibiotic further
      revealed that curli production is not affected by standard antibiotic treatment
      and cell killing pressure. Thus, we reveal a new role independent of killing
      activity for rifapentine as an inhibitor of curli and curli-mediated biofilm
      formation. 

PMID- 27623307
TI  - Selective Internal Radiation Therapy With Yttrium-90 Glass Microspheres: Biases
      and Uncertainties in Absorbed Dose Calculations Between Clinical Dosimetry
      Models.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify differences that exist between dosimetry models used for 90Y
      selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Retrospectively, 37 tumors were delineated on 19 post-therapy quantitative 90Y
      single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography scans. Using
      matched volumes of interest (VOIs), absorbed doses were reported using 3
      dosimetry models: glass microsphere package insert standard model (SM), partition
      model (PM), and Monte Carlo (MC). Univariate linear regressions were performed to
      predict mean MC from SM and PM. Analysis was performed for 2 subsets: cases with
      a single tumor delineated (best case for PM), and cases with multiple tumors
      delineated (typical clinical scenario). Variability in PM from the ad hoc
      placement of a single spherical VOI to estimate the entire normal liver activity
      concentration for tumor (T) to nontumoral liver (NL) ratios (TNR) was
      investigated. We interpreted the slope of the resulting regression as bias and
      the 95% prediction interval (95%PI) as uncertainty. MCNLsingle represents MC
      absorbed doses to the NL for the single tumor patient subset; other combinations
      of calculations follow a similar naming convention. RESULTS: SM was unable to
      predict MCTsingle or MCTmultiple (p>.12, 95%PI >+/-177 Gy). However, SMsingle was
      able to predict (p<.012) MCNLsingle, albeit with large uncertainties; SMsingle
      and SMmultiple yielded biases of 0.62 and 0.71, and 95%PI of +/-40 and +/- 32 Gy,
      respectively. PMTsingle and PMTmultiple predicted (p<2E-6) MCTsingle and
      MCTmultiple with biases of 0.52 and 0.54, and 95%PI of +/-38 and +/- 111 Gy,
      respectively. The TNR variability in PMTsingle increased the 95%PI for predicting
      MCTsingle (bias = 0.46 and 95%PI = +/-103 Gy). The TNR variability in PMTmultiple
      modified the bias when predicting MCTmultiple (bias = 0.32 and 95%PI = +/-110
      Gy). CONCLUSIONS: The SM is unable to predict mean MC tumor absorbed dose. The PM
      is statistically correlated with mean MC, but the resulting uncertainties in
      predicted MC are large. Large differences observed between dosimetry models for
      90Y SIRT warrant caution when interpreting published SIRT absorbed doses. To
      reduce uncertainty, we suggest the entire NL VOI be used for TNR estimates when
      using PM.

PMID- 27623313
TI  - Lysine-Based Small Molecules That Disrupt Biofilms and Kill both Actively Growing
      Planktonic and Nondividing Stationary Phase Bacteria.
AB  - The emergence of bacterial resistance is a major threat to global health.
      Alongside this issue, formation of bacterial biofilms is another cause of concern
      because most antibiotics are ineffective against these recalcitrant microbial
      communities. Ideal future antibacterial therapeutics should possess both
      antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities. In this study we engineered lysine
      based small molecules, which showed not only commendable broad-spectrum
      antibacterial activity but also potent biofilm-disrupting properties. Synthesis
      of these lipophilic lysine-norspermidine conjugates was achieved in three simple
      reaction steps, and the resultant molecules displayed potent antibacterial
      activity against various Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus
      faecium) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) including drug-resistant
      superbugs MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), VRE (vancomycin-resistant E.
      faecium), and beta-lactam-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. An optimized compound
      in the series showed activity against planktonic bacteria in the concentration
      range of 3-10 MUg/mL, and bactericidal activity against stationary phase S.
      aureus was observed within an hour. The compound also displayed about 120-fold
      selectivity toward both classes of bacteria (S. aureus and E. coli) over human
      erythrocytes. This rapidly bactericidal compound primarily acts on bacteria by
      causing significant membrane depolarization and K(+) leakage. Most importantly,
      the compound disrupted preformed biofilms of S. aureus and did not trigger
      bacterial resistance. Therefore, this class of compounds has high potential to be
      developed as future antibacterial drugs for treating infections caused by
      planktonic bacteria as well as bacterial biofilms. 

PMID- 27623314
TI  - Synthesis and Antiribosomal Activities of 4'-O-, 6'-O-, 4"-O-, 4',6'-O- and 4",6"
      O-Derivatives in the Kanamycin Series Indicate Differing Target Selectivity
      Patterns between the 4,5- and 4,6-Series of Disubstituted 2-Deoxystreptamine
      Aminoglycoside Antibiotics.
AB  - Chemistry for the efficient modification of the kanamycin class of 4,6
      aminoglycosides at the 4'-position is presented. In all kanamycins but kanamycin
      B, 4'-O-alkylation is strongly detrimental to antiribosomal and antibacterial
      activity. Ethylation of kanamycin B at the 4"-position entails little loss of
      antiribosomal and antibacterial activity, but no increase of ribosomal
      selectivity. These results are contrasted with those for the 4,5-aminoglycosides,
      where 4'-O-alkylation of paromomycin causes only a minimal loss of activity but
      results in a significant increase in selectivity with a concomitant loss of
      ototoxicity. 

PMID- 27623315
TI  - A Synthetic Disaccharide Analogue from Neisseria meningitidis A Capsular
      Polysaccharide Stimulates Immune Cell Responses and Induces Immunoglobulin G
      (IgG) Production in Mice When Protein-Conjugated.
AB  - Some new phosphonoester-linked oligomers, stabilized analogues of the
      corresponding phosphate-bridged oligomers of Neisseria meningitidis A (MenA)
      capsular polysaccharide (CPS), were conjugated to human serum albumin (HSA), as a
      protein carrier model, and studied for immunological activities. We determined
      (i) in vitro, their biocompatibility (CAM test) and activity in inducing both T
      cell proliferation (CFSE method) and IL-2 release (ELISA), and (ii) in vivo,
      their ability to stimulate specific IgG antibody production (ELISA). All HSA
      conjugated compounds induce T cell proliferation (40% of proliferation at 10(2)
      MUM), whereas only the phosphonodisaccharide was effective (28% of proliferation
      at 10(2) MUM) among the unconjugated forms. IL-2 release confirmed these results.
      In addition, the HSA-conjugated showed in vivo the capacity of eliciting the
      production of specific IgG antibodies. In conclusion, we obtained novel
      biocompatible, water-stable, and immunoactive MenA CPS analogues. A short
      disaccharide fragment showed the unusual behavior of triggering T cell
      proliferation in vitro. 

PMID- 27623317
TI  - Intramolecular Singlet Fission in Quinoidal Bi- and Tetrathiophenes: A
      Comparative Study of Low-Lying Excited Electronic States and Potential Energy
      Surfaces.
AB  - Quinoidal bithiophene has recently been introduced ( Varnavski, O. et al. J.
      Phys. Chem. Lett. 2015 , 6 , 1375 - 1384 ) as a very promising isolated organic
      compound for intramolecular singlet fission (iSF) with an outstanding SF quantum
      yield of ~180%. In contrast, another recent study ( Ren, L. et al. J. Am. Chem.
      Soc. 2015 , 137 , 11294 - 11302 ) revealed that quinoidal tetrathiophenes have no
      activity in the iSF process and are strong fluorophores instead, with measured
      fluorescent quantum yields up to 53.1%. Using DFT and TD-DFT methods, the authors
      of the second contribution attributed the marked differences between these
      compounds to faster reverse T2 -> S1 intersystem crossing processes in the
      tetrathiophenes. To address this unprecedented discrepancy, quinoidal bithiophene
      and tetrathiophene compounds and their derivatives are carefully examined using
      the CASPT2 technique. Theoretical evidence is provided through detailed
      investigation of CASPT2 potential energy surfaces of different singlet and
      triplet states involved in the iSF process. Through comparison of the CASPT2
      results with the CASSCF and RAS-2SF data, it is found that the dynamic electron
      correlation present in the CASPT2 method plays a crucial role for correct
      description of the multiexciton nature of the triplet pair 1[TT] state in
      quinoidal bi- and tetrathiophenes. Effects of substitution and structural
      modification on iSF activity of these compounds are also examined using the
      CASPT2 method where the obtained results are in accordance with previous
      experimental predictions. These results contribute to a better understanding of
      the iSF mechanism in quinoidal systems which could be relevant for designing new
      iSF active compounds.

PMID- 27623318
TI  - Breastfeeding: A View from the Border.

PMID- 27623316
TI  - A Novel Sterol Isolated from a Plant Used by Mayan Traditional Healers Is
      Effective in Treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania donovani.
AB  - Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania
      donovani, is a global health problem affecting millions of people worldwide.
      Treatment of VL largely depends on therapeutic drugs such as pentavalent
      antimonials, amphotericin B, and others, which have major drawbacks due to drug
      resistance, toxicity, and high cost. In this study, for the first time, we have
      successfully demonstrated the synthesis and antileishmanial activity of the novel
      sterol pentalinonsterol (PEN), which occurs naturally in the root of a Mexican
      medicinal plant, Pentalinon andrieuxii. In the experimental BALB/c mouse model of
      VL induced by infection with L. donovani, intravenous treatment with liposome
      encapsulated PEN (2.5 mg/kg) led to a significant reduction in parasite burden in
      the liver and spleen. Furthermore, infected mice treated with liposomal PEN
      showed a strong host-protective TH1 immune response characterized by IFN-gamma
      production and formation of matured hepatic granulomas. These results indicate
      that PEN could be developed as a novel drug against VL. 

PMID- 27623320
TI  - Fluid-controlled tunable infrared filtering in hollow plasmonic nanofin cavities.
AB  - Subwavelength structures sustaining surface plasmons have been employed in
      numerous fields due to their small size and ability to manipulate light beyond
      the diffraction limit. Light filtering using small-size plasmonic devices is a
      promising means of portable spectroscopy for purposes such as on-site chemical
      analyses. However, most plasmonic filters can only tune the resonance band by
      modifying the geometry of the structure or changing the incident light angle.
      Here, we present a plasmonic nanofin-cavity structure having a narrow band with
      its resonance wavelength controlled by varying the fluid in the hollow cavities
      of the filter. Control of the narrow-band resonance is realized over a wide range
      because of the coupling between the stationary surface plasmons generated from
      the nanofin-cavity mode and the propagating surface plasmons. The hollow cavity
      design enables fluid to be easily injected and removed, so that the filtered band
      can be controlled without the need for a complex and bulky structure or
      application of an external voltage. 

PMID- 27623319
TI  - Review of the bioanalytical methods for the determination of methotrexate and its
      metabolites in in vitro, preclinical and clinical studies: Case studies and
      perspectives.
AB  - Methotrexate is an old drug that has found use in several therapeutic areas, such
      as cancer to treat various malignancies, rheumatoid arthtritis and inflammatory
      bowel disease. Owing to its structural properties of possessing two carboxylic
      acid groups and having low native fluorescence, it has provided technical
      challenges for development of bioanalytical methods. Also, in vivo metabolism
      leading to circulatory metabolites such as 7-hydroxymethotrexate and 2,4-diamino
      N10 -methylpteroic acid, as well as the formation of polyglutamate metabolites
      intracellularly have added further complexity for the assays in terms of the
      analytes that need to be quantified in addition to methotrexate. The present
      review is aimed at providing a concise tabular summary of chromatographic assays
      with respect to method nuances including assay/chromatographic conditions, key
      validation parameters and applicable remarks. Several case studies are reviewed
      under various subheadings to provide the challenges involved in the method
      development for methotrexate and metabolites. Finally, a discussion section is
      devoted to overall perspectives obtained from this review.

PMID- 27623321
TI  - Exercise training in COPD: What is it about intensity?
AB  - Most of the current guidelines for pulmonary rehabilitation recommend higher,
      over lower, intensity exercise training for COPD. Typically, we consider
      intensity of exercise training to be a key component of any exercise training
      programme. Whilst studies of young individuals have demonstrated that higher
      exercise training intensity results in greater improvements in exercise capacity,
      the evidence for older patients is not so clear cut. In COPD, there is limited
      evidence regarding the optimal intensity of exercise training. Using both
      physiological (peak exercise capacity) and patient-centred (e.g. quality of life)
      outcomes, it remains inconclusive if higher intensity exercise training bestows
      any greater benefit than low-intensity exercise. If we examine the data from
      interval training studies, which used both high- and low-intensity interval and
      continuous exercise, we are able to generate more data for comparison.
      Unfortunately, these data are challenging to interpret due to heterogeneity in
      how interval training was prescribed. However, when we normalize the interval
      training data for training volume and examine the change in peak cycling power,
      there is a relationship between training intensity and increase in peak power
      (Wpeak , r = 0.68, P < 0.05). Hence, whilst there is an inconclusive amount of
      evidence to support this intervention based on studies that only examined high-
      versus low-intensity continuous exercise, the additional data from interval
      training studies would suggest that higher intensity may be superior in terms of
      increases in Wpeak . Future studies should focus on establishing a threshold and
      an optimal training intensity for COPD.

PMID- 27623322
TI  - [A well-inked pneumonia... can you decrypt it?]
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We report a case of pneumonia associated with necrotic mediastinal
      lymph nodes in an immunocompetent patient. The case report illustrates the
      difficulties in making a diagnosis in necrotic mediastinal lymph nodes and
      discusses strategies to optimize sampling. OBSERVATION: A 21-year-old
      immunocompetent woman was admitted to hospital with dyspnea and fever occurring
      ten days after delivery. Physical examination, biological results and chest X-ray
      led to the diagnosis of right upper lobe pneumonia. Treatment with three broad
      spectrum antibiotics was ineffective. Thoracic CT-scan showed compressive
      mediastinal and hilar necrotic adenopathies and consolidation of the right upper
      lobe. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial needle
      aspiration was non-diagnostic. A second bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage
      and transbronchial needle aspiration performed in close collaboration with the
      mycology laboratory led to the diagnosis of cryptococcosis. Antifungal therapy
      with fluconazole resulted in a complete resolution of clinical and radiological
      signs. CONCLUSION: Although it is extremely rare, pulmonary cryptococcosis should
      be considered in immunocompetent patients presenting with necrotic pneumonia.
      Effectiveness of lymph node sampling can be improved by collaboration between
      clinicians and microbiologists.

PMID- 27623323
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27623325
TI  - Characterization of cold-associated microRNAs in the freeze-tolerant gall fly
      Eurosta solidaginis using high-throughput sequencing.
AB  - Significant physiological and biochemical changes are observed in freeze-tolerant
      insects when confronted with cold temperatures. These insects have adapted to
      winter by retreating into a hypometabolic state of diapause and implementing
      cryoprotective mechanisms that allow them to survive whole body freezing.
      MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a family of short ribonucleic acids, are emerging as likely
      molecular players underlying the process of cold adaptation. Unfortunately, the
      data is sparse concerning the signature of miRNAs that are modulated following
      cold exposure in the freeze-tolerant goldenrod gall fly Eurosta solidaginis.
      Leveraging for the first time a next-generation sequencing approach,
      differentially expressed miRNAs were evaluated in 5 degrees C and -15 degrees C
      exposed E. solidaginis larvae. Next-generation sequencing expression data was
      subsequently validated by qRT-PCR for selected miRNA targets. Results demonstrate
      24 differentially expressed freeze-responsive miRNAs. Notable, miR-1-3p, a miRNA
      modulated at low temperature in another cold-hardy insect, and miR-14-3p, a miRNA
      associated with stress response in the fruit fly, were shown to be significantly
      up-regulated in -15 degrees C-exposed larvae. Overall, this work identifies, for
      the first time in a high-throughput manner, differentially expressed miRNAs in
      cold-exposed E. solidaginis larvae and further clarifies an emerging signature of
      miRNAs modulated at low temperatures in cold-hardy insects.

PMID- 27623324
TI  - Superior isolation of antigen-specific brain infiltrating T cells using manual
      homogenization technique.
AB  - Effective recovery of activated brain infiltrating lymphocytes is critical for
      investigations involving murine neurological disease models. To optimize
      lymphocyte recovery, we compared two isolation methods using brains harvested
      from seven-day Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) and TMEV-OVA
      infected mice. Brains were processed using either a manual dounce based approach
      or enzymatic digestion using type IV collagenase. The resulting cell suspensions
      from these two techniques were transferred to a percoll gradient, centrifuged,
      and lymphocytes were recovered. Flow cytometric analysis of CD45hi cells showed
      greater percentage of CD44hiCD62lo activated lymphocytes and CD19+ B cells using
      the dounce method. In addition, we achieved a 3-fold greater recovery of
      activated virus-specific CD8 T cells specific for the immunodominant Db:VP2121
      130 and engineered Kb:OVA257-264 epitopes through manual dounce homogenization
      approach as compared to collagenase digest. A greater percentage of viable cells
      was also achieved through dounce homogenization. Therefore, we conclude that
      manual homogenization is a superior approach to isolate activated T cells from
      the mouse brain.

PMID- 27623327
TI  - Folic Acid.

PMID- 27623326
TI  - Phagocytosis of hemozoin by RAW 264.7 cells, but not THP-1 cells, promotes
      infection by Leishmania donovani with a nitric oxide-independent mechanism.
AB  - During its intra-erythrocytic development, the malaria parasite Plasmodium
      falciparum synthesizes insoluble hemozoin (HZ) crystals that are released into
      the circulation upon rupture of parasitized red blood cells, and rapidly
      phagocytized by host mononuclear cells. Here, HZ persists undigested, causing
      functional impairment and possibly leading to increased host susceptibility to
      secondary infections. In patients with malaria and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) co
      infections, HZ-loaded macrophages are likely to co-harbor Leishmania donovani
      parasites, but whether this might influence the course of the Leishmania
      infection is unknown. In this study, L. donovani amastigote growth was monitored
      in mouse RAW 264.7 macrophages and PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells previously
      exposed to increasing amounts of HZ or its synthetic analogue beta-hematin (BH).
      Latex beads were used as a phagocytic control. Data demonstrate that phagocytosis
      of HZ and BH by RAW 264.7 cells promoted infection therein by L. donovani
      parasites in a dose-dependent fashion. Similar results were not observed when
      using THP-1 cells, despite a clear persistence of undigested heme up to 48h after
      phagocytosis. Conditioning with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/interferon (IFN)-gamma
      prior to Leishmania infection triggered the release in RAW 264.7 cells of nitric
      oxide (NO), a highly leishmanicidal metabolite. However, neither HZ nor BH pre
      ingestion were able to inhibit NO production following stimulation with LPS/IFN
      gamma, suggesting that the HZ- and BH-promoting effect on L. donovani infection
      occurred with an NO-independent mechanism. In conclusion, these preliminary
      findings highlight a possible detrimental effect of HZ on the course of VL,
      warranting further investigation into the clinical relevance of the current
      models.

PMID- 27623328
TI  - [Sweet heart. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a 49-year-old man].

PMID- 27623329
TI  - [Ovarian carcinoid tumor responsible of permanent facial erythrosis and flushings
      during sexual intercourse].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ovarian neuroendocrine tumors are extremely rare. In the ovary, the
      term of neuroendocrine tumor is usually related to carcinoid tumors although it
      may be sometimes applied to neuroendocrine carcinomas of non-small cells or small
      cells cancers usually occurring in the lungs. These carcinoid tumors may develop
      de novo or from other tumors including teratomas. CASE REPORT: We report a
      patient who presented with an ovarian carcinoid tumor developed, near or from a
      dermoid cyst, which was original by its mode of discovery in the dermatology
      department. Indeed, the patient consulted because of permanent facial erythrosis,
      with flushes but also facial telangiectasias. During medical examination, classic
      symptoms of carcinoid syndrome including heart disease were obvious. The
      occurrence of flushes during coitus should evoke pelvic tumor location.
      CONCLUSION: A carcinoid syndrome is naturally evoked in the presence of flushes
      but it must also be part of the differential diagnosis in a patient with facial
      erythrosis or telangiectasias, especially if they are associated with diarrhea or
      right heart failure. The prognosis of carcinoid heart disease is considerably
      better in case of ovarian location than when it is a primitive carcinoid tumor of
      lung or from gastrointestinal tract.

PMID- 27623330
TI  - [Faintness in emergency departments is frequent, benign but expensive: An
      epidemiologic study of hospitalization's risk factors to reduce overcrowdings of
      emergency departments].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We assessed (i) the frequency of consultations for faintness in the
      Emergency department (ED) of a University hospital centre (UHC), (ii) clinical
      epidemiology and (iii) cost of faintness, taking a particular interest into the
      determining risk factors for hospitalization. METHODS: This epidemiological study
      has been conducted retrospectively, from data obtained for every patient having
      consulted for faintness in ED of Reims UHC (01/01/12-03/31/12). Every medical
      record was classified as syncope/lipothymia/brief consciousness loss on one hand
      and as syncope according to the definition of the French Health High Authority
      (FHHA). RESULTS: Three hundred and forty-one patients out of 5953 (5.7%) were
      referred for faintness during the study period. Medical records were analysed for
      296 patients. Sixty-two point eight percent were women, with a median age of
      43years. Physical examination was normal for 57% of patients. For 48% of cases,
      there was no complete consciousness loss thus corresponding to lipothymia, which
      is not taken into account by the FHHA definition. Median length of stay in the ED
      was 4hours and 67 patients (22.6%) were hospitalized. Minimal estimated cost was
      280,000 euros. Risk factors independently associated with hospitalization were
      age>=60 and complete consciousness loss unlike predisposing circumstances to
      vagal hypertonia. CONCLUSION: Age>=60 and complete consciousness loss seemed to
      be associated with hospitalization.

PMID- 27623331
TI  - [Internal medicine and general hospital medicine].

PMID- 27623333
TI  - Individual Differences in Foveal Shape: Feasibility of Individual Maps Between
      Structure and Function Within the Macular Region.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recently in glaucoma, different mapping schemes to combine structural
      and functional information within the macula have been proposed. This paper aims
      to investigate whether the changes in foveal shape parameters are important in
      the mapping between structure and function within the macular region. METHODS:
      Twenty younger adults (aged 24- to 33-years old) and 10 older adults (aged 62- to
      76-years old) participated. On each subject, four foveally-centered radial
      spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans with 45 degrees  of
      separation between each scan were acquired. After scan acquisition, foveal shape
      was extracted by fitting a previously proposed model that has been used to
      customize structure-function mapping in the macular region. Three parameters were
      obtained from the scans and then compared: the central thickness, the maximum
      thickness, and the radius. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the
      foveal shape parameters between subjects. There was no main effect of the scan
      axis for the central thickness; however, there was an interaction between the
      scan axis and maximum thickness and between the scan axis and radius. With
      respect to the effect of age, we did not find a main effect for the central
      thickness, the maximum thickness or the radius, although this parameter
      approached statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, we demonstrated
      that the foveal shape is different for different subjects, but predictable
      superiorly and inferiorly within an individual. Our study highlights features
      important for the development of individually customized structure-function maps
      for the investigation of glaucomatous damage in the macular region.

PMID- 27623332
TI  - Ubiquitous marine bacterium inhibits diatom cell division.
AB  - Intricate relationships between microorganisms structure the exchange of
      molecules between taxa, driving their physiology and evolution. On a global
      scale, this molecular trade is an integral component of biogeochemical cycling.
      As important microorganisms in the world's oceans, diatoms and bacteria have a
      large impact on marine biogeochemistry. Here, we describe antagonistic effects of
      the globally distributed flavobacterium Croceibacter atlanticus on a
      phylogenetically diverse group of diatoms. We used the model diatom Thalassiosira
      pseudonana to study the antagonistic impact in more detail. In co-culture, C.
      atlanticus attaches to T. pseudonana and inhibits cell division, inducing diatom
      cells to become larger and increase in chlorophyll a fluorescence. These changes
      could be explained by an absence of cytokinesis that causes individual T.
      pseudonana cells to elongate, accumulate more plastids and become polyploid.
      These morphological changes could benefit C. atlanticus by augmenting the
      colonizable surface area of the diatom, its photosynthetic capabilities and
      possibly its metabolic secretions.

PMID- 27623334
TI  - Reevaluation of the Retinal Dystrophy Due to Recessive Alleles of RGR With the
      Discovery of a Cis-Acting Mutation in CDHR1.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mutation of RGR, encoding retinal G-protein coupled receptor was
      originally reported in association with retinal dystrophy in 1999. A single
      convincing recessive variant segregated perfectly in one family of five affected
      and two unaffected siblings. At least one further individual, homozygous for the
      same variant has since been reported. The aim of this report was to reevaluate
      the findings in consideration of data from a whole genome sequencing (WGS) study
      of a large cohort of retinal dystrophy families. METHODS: Whole genome sequencing
      was performed on 599 unrelated probands with inherited retinal disease. Detailed
      phenotyping was performed, including clinical evaluation, electroretinography,
      fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence imaging (FAF) and spectral-domain
      optical coherence tomography (OCT). RESULTS: Overall we confirmed that affected
      individuals from six unrelated families were homozygous for both the reported RGR
      p.Ser66Arg variant and a nearby frameshifting deletion in CDHR1
      (p.Ile841Serfs119*). All had generalized rod and cone dysfunction with severe
      macular involvement. An additional proband was heterozygous for the same
      CDHR1/RGR haplotype but also carried a second null CDHR1 mutation on a different
      haplotype. A comparison of the clinical presentation of the probands reported
      here with other CDHR1-related retinopathy patients shows the phenotypes to be
      similar in presentation, severity, and rod/cone involvement. CONCLUSIONS: These
      data suggest that the recessive retinal disorder previously reported to be due to
      homozygous mutation in RGR is, at least in part, due to variants in CDHR1 and
      that the true consequences of RGR knock-out on human retinal structure and
      function are yet to be determined.

PMID- 27623335
TI  - Mutations in Linkage Disequilibrium With Putative Disease-Causing Mutations.

PMID- 27623338
TI  - Obesity and the association with maternal mental health symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between maternal obesity and mood
      disorders including depression, anxiety, stress, and pregnancy-specific stress
      during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: This was a planned secondary analysis of a
      prospective cohort study investigating factors associated with preterm delivery.
      The cohort included women who initiated prenatal care before 20 weeks with a
      singleton pregnancy. Maternal mental health was assessed using four standard
      psychosocial behavioral measures to screen for depression, pregnancy-specific
      stress, anxiety, and stress. Screen positive scores for each tool were
      established based on previously published "high" scores. RESULTS: Of the 1010
      women included in the cohort, 355 (35.1%) were obese. There was no significant
      difference in the number of obese women with stress (64.2% versus 68.4%, p =
      0.18), pregnancy-specific stress (26.2% versus 22.1%, p = 0.15), or anxiety
      (38.6% versus 41.2%, p = 0.42); however, a greater number of obese women did
      report symptoms consistent with major depression when compared to women with BMIs
      <30 (30.4% versus 21.2%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Obese women had higher rates of
      depression in early pregnancy compared to nonobese women. As many of the health
      behavior interventions for obese women during pregnancy have proven ineffective,
      incorporating depression screening and treatment into prenatal care may improve
      perinatal outcomes.

PMID- 27623336
TI  - Macular SD-OCT Outcome Measures: Comparison of Local Structure-Function
      Relationships and Dynamic Range.
AB  - PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that the macular ganglion cell layer (GCL)
      thickness demonstrates a stronger structure-function (SF) relationship and
      extends the useful range of macular measurements compared with combined macular
      inner layer or full thickness. METHODS: Ninety-eight glaucomatous eyes and eight
      normal eyes with macular spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)
      volume scans and 10-2 visual fields were enrolled. Inner plexiform layer (IPL),
      GCL, macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), ganglion cell-inner plexiform
      layer (GCIPL), ganglion cell complex (GCC), and full thickness (FT) measurements
      were calculated for 8 * 8 arrays of 3 degrees  superpixels. Main outcome measures
      were local structure-function relationships between macular superpixels and
      corresponding sensitivities on 10-2 fields after adjusting for ganglion cell
      displacement, dynamic range of measurements, and the change point (total
      deviation value where macular parameters reached measurement floor). RESULTS:
      Median (interquartile range [IQR]) mean deviation was -7.2 (-11.6 to -3.2) dB in
      glaucoma eyes. Strength of SF relationships was highest for GCIPL, GCL, GCC, and
      IPL (rho = 0.635, 0.627, 0.621, and 0.577, respectively; P <= 0.046 for
      comparisons against GCIPL). Highest SF correlations coincided with the peak of
      GCL thickness, where the dynamic range was widest for FT (81.1 MUm), followed by
      GCC (65.7 MUm), GCIPL (54.9 MUm), GCL (35.2 MUm), mRNFL (27.5 MUm), and IPL (20.9
      MUm). Change points were similar for all macular parameters (-7.8 to -8.9 dB).
      CONCLUSIONS: GCIPL, GCL, and GCC demonstrated comparable SF relationships while
      FT, GCC, and GCIPL had the widest dynamic range. Measurement of GCL did not
      extend the range of useful structural measurements. Measuring GCL does not
      provide any advantage for detection of progression with current SD-OCT
      technology.

PMID- 27623339
TI  - Effect of desiccation on oxidative stress and antioxidant response of the black
      tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon.
AB  - In the present study, the oxidative stress and antioxidant response in
      hepatopancreas of the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon under desiccation stress
      were studied, such as activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx and POD),
      oxidative damage to lipid and protein which indexed by contents of LPO, MDA,
      protein carbonyl (PC) and ROS production, and the expression of HSP70 and
      ferritin gene. The duration of desiccation significantly influenced the shrimp
      survival, and the mortality rates were 10% and 55.0% after desiccation 0.5 h and
      3 h, respectively. Compared with the control group, after exposed to desiccation
      stress, the content of LPO, MDA, PC and ROS production in hepatopancreas
      increased significantly. SOD, CAT and POD activity in hepatopancreas increased
      significantly at 0.5 h, but decreased markedly at 1 h. GPx activity in
      hepatopancreas increased significantly at 0.5 h and 1 h, then decreased
      significantly at 3 h. The transcript levels of HSP70 and ferritin gene in
      hepatopancreas increased significantly at 1 h. HE staining showed that
      desiccation induced damage symptoms in hepatopancreas of P. monodon. These
      results revealed that desiccation could induce oxidative stress and antioxidant
      response via confusion of antioxidant enzymes activity and gene transcript level
      in hepatopancreas of P. monodon, and the time of shrimp under desiccation should
      lower than 0.5 h.

PMID- 27623337
TI  - Novel RP1L1 Variants and Genotype-Photoreceptor Microstructural Phenotype
      Associations in Cohort of Japanese Patients With Occult Macular Dystrophy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the clinical and genetic characteristics of Japanese
      patients with occult macular dystrophy (OMD) in a nationwide multicenter study.
      METHODS: Twenty-three patients from 21 families with clinically diagnosed OMD
      were studied at 10 institutions throughout Japan. Ophthalmologic examinations
      including spectral-domain optic coherence tomography were performed. Patients
      were classified into two phenotype groups: a classical group having both blurred
      ellipsoid zone and absence of interdigitation zone of the photoreceptors, and a
      nonclassical group lacking at least one of these two features. Whole-exome
      sequencing, direct sequencing, and in silico molecular analysis were performed to
      detect the pathogenic RP1L1 variants. Statistical associations between the
      phenotype and genotypes based on the presence of pathogenic RP1L1 variants were
      investigated. RESULTS: There were 12 families with the classical findings and 9
      families with the nonclassical findings. Nine pathogenic RP1L1 missense variants
      were identified in 12 families (57%) including three reported variants, namely,
      p.R45W, p.S1199C, and p.G1200A, and six novel variants, p.G221R, p.T1194M,
      p.T1196I, p.G1200D, p.G1200V, and p.V1201G. The pathogenic missense variants in
      seven families (33%) were located between amino acid numbers 1196 and 1201. A
      significant association was found between the photoreceptor microstructural
      phenotypes and molecular genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The spectrum of the morphologic
      phenotypes and pathogenic RP1L1 variants was documented in a well-characterized
      Japanese cohort with OMD. A unique motif including six amino acids (1196-1201)
      downstream of the doublecortin domain could be a hot spot for RP1L1 pathogenic
      variants. The significant association of the morphologic phenotypes and genotypes
      indicates that there are two types of pathophysiology underlying the occult
      macular dysfunction syndrome: a hereditary OMD with the classical phenotype
      (Miyake's disease), and a nonhereditary OMD-like syndrome with progressive occult
      maculopathy.

PMID- 27623340
TI  - Effects on intestinal microbiota and immune genes of Solea senegalensis after
      suspension of the administration of Shewanella putrefaciens Pdp11.
AB  - The interaction host-intestinal microbiota is essential for the immunological
      homeostasis of the host. Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics are promising
      tools for the manipulation of the intestinal microbiota towards beneficial
      effects to the host. The objective of this study was to evaluate the modulation
      effect on the intestinal microbiota and the transcription of genes involved in
      the immune response in head kidney of Solea senegalensis after administration of
      diet supplemented with the prebiotic alginate and the probiotic Shewanella
      putrefaciens Pdp11 CECT 7627 (SpPdp11). The results showed higher adaptability to
      dietary changes in the intestinal microbiota of fish fed diet with alginate and
      SpPdp11 together compared to those fish that received an alginate-supplemented
      diet. The alginate-supplemented diet produced up-regulation of genes encoding
      proteins involved in immunological responses, such as complement, lysozyme G and
      transferrin, and oxidative stress, such as NADPH oxidase and glutation
      peroxidase. On the other hand, the administration of alginate combined with
      SpPdp11 resulted in a significant increase of the transcription of genes encoding
      for glutation peroxidase and HSP70, indicating a potential protective effect of
      SpPdp11 against oxidative stress. In addition, these effects were maintained
      after the suspension of the probiotic treatment. The relationship between the
      modulation of the intestinal microbiota and the expression of genes with
      protective effect against the oxidative stress was demonstrated by the Principal
      Components Analysis.

PMID- 27623341
TI  - PcToll2 positively regulates the expression of antimicrobial peptides by
      promoting PcATF4 translocation into the nucleus.
AB  - Drosophila Toll and mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of
      evolutionarily conserved immune receptors that play a crucial role in the first
      line defense against intruded pathogens. Activating transcription factor 4
      (ATF4), a member of the ATF/CREB transcription factor family, is an important
      factor that participates in TLR signaling and other physiological processes.
      However, in crustaceans, whether ATF4 homologs were involved in TLR signaling
      remains unclear. In the current study, we identified a Toll homolog PcToll2 and a
      novel ATF4 homolog PcATF4 from Procambarus clarkii, and analyzed the likely
      regulatory activity of PcATF4 in PcToll2 signaling. The complete cDNA sequence of
      PcToll2 was 4175 bp long containing an open reading frame of 2820 bp encoding a
      939-amino acid protein, and the cDNA sequence of PcATF4 was 2027 bp long with an
      open reading frame of 1296 bp encoding a 431-amino acid protein. PcToll2 and
      human TLR4 shared the high identity and they were grouped into a cluster.
      Furthermore, PcToll2 had a close relationship with other shrimp TLRs that
      possessed potential antibacterial activity. PcToll2 was highly expressed in the
      hemocytes, heart and gills, while PcATF4 mainly distributed in gills. Upon
      challenge with Vibrio parahemolyticus, PcToll2 and PcATF4 together with the
      antimicrobial peptides of ALF1 and ALF2 were significantly up-regulated in the
      hemocytes, and the PcATF4 was translocated into the nucleus. After PcToll2
      silencing and challenge with Vibrio, the translocation of PcATF4 into the nucleus
      was inhibited and the expression of ALF1 and ALF2 was reduced, but the expression
      of PcDorsal and PcSTAT was not affected. Furthermore, after PcATF4 knockdown and
      challenge with or without Vibrio, the expression of ALF1 and ALF2 was also
      decreased while the expression of PcToll2 was upregulated. These results
      suggested that PcToll2 might regulate the expression of ALF1 and ALF2 by
      promoting the import of PcATF4, instead of the routine transcription factor
      PcDorsal, into the nucleus participating in the immune defense against Gram
      negative bacteria.

PMID- 27623343
TI  - Engineering Soluble Human Paraoxonase 2 for Quorum Quenching.
AB  - Many pathogenic bacteria utilize quorum sensing (QS) systems to regulate the
      expression of their virulence genes and promote the formation of biofilm, which
      renders pathogens with extreme resistance to conventional antibiotic treatments.
      As a novel approach for attenuating antibiotic resistance and in turn fighting
      chronic infections, enzymatic inactivation of QS signaling molecules, such as N
      acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), holds great promises. Instead of using bacterial
      lactonases that can evoke immune response when administered, we focus on the
      human paraoxonase 2 (huPON2). However, insolubility when heterologously
      overexpressed hinders its application as anti-infection therapeutics. In this
      study, huPON2 was engineered for soluble expression with minimal introduction of
      foreign sequences. On the basis of structure modeling, degenerate linkers were
      exploited for the removal of hydrophobic helices of huPON2 without disrupting its
      folding structure and thus retaining its enzymatic function. High soluble
      expression levels were achieved with a yield of 76 mg of fully human PON2
      variants per liter of culture media. Particularly, two clones, D2 and E3, showed
      significant quorum quenching (QQ) bioactivities and effectively impeded
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa swimming and swarming motilities, signs of an early stage
      of biofilm formation. In addition, by correlating QQ with luminescence signal
      readouts, quantitative analysis of QQ toward natural or non-natural AHL-regulator
      combinations suggested that D2 and E3 exhibited strong lactone hydrolysis
      activities toward five AHLs of different side chain lengths and modifications
      widely utilized by a variety of biomedically important pathogens.

PMID- 27623342
TI  - Changes in intracellular copper concentration and copper-regulating gene
      expression after PC12 differentiation into neurons.
AB  - It is suspected that some neurodegenerative diseases are a result of the
      disturbance of copper (Cu) homeostasis, although it remains unclear whether the
      disturbance of Cu homeostasis has aberrant effects on neurons. Herein, we
      investigated Cu metabolism specifically in neurons in terms of changes in the
      intracellular Cu concentration and the expression of Cu-regulating genes, such as
      Cu transporters and metallothioneins (MTs), before and after the differentiation
      of rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12 cells) into neurons. After the
      differentiation, Cu and Zn imaging with fluorescent probes revealed an increase
      in intracellular Cu concentration. The concentrations of other essential metals,
      which were determined by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, were
      not altered. The mRNA expression of the Cu influx transporter, Ctr1, was
      decreased after the differentiation, and the differentiated cells acquired
      tolerance to Cu and cisplatin, another substrate of Ctr1. In addition, the
      expression of MT-3, a brain-specific isoform, was increased, contrary to the
      decreased expression of MT-1 and MT-2. Taken together, the differentiation of
      PC12 cells into neurons induced MT-3 expression, thereby resulting in
      intracellular Cu accumulation. The decrease in Ctr1 expression was assumed to be
      a response aimed at abolishing the physiological accumulation of Cu after the
      differentiation.

PMID- 27623344
TI  - Relationships of Muscle Echo Intensity with Walking Ability and Physical Activity
      in the Very Old Population.
AB  - This study investigated the relationships between muscle echo intensity (EI),
      physical activity (PA), and functional mobility in 108 Japanese (88-92 years). We
      measured EI and muscle thickness (MT) at the midpoint of the anterior superior
      iliac spine and patella using B-mode ultrasound. Light and moderate-to-vigorous
      PA (LPA and MVPA) were assessed with a triaxial accelerometer. The timed up and
      go (TUG) test was used to measure for functional mobility. EI, but not MT, was
      significantly associated with both TUG scores (beta = 0.17, p = .047) and MVPA
      (beta = -0.31, p = .01) when adjusted by potential confounders. However,
      association between EI and TUG disappeared after adjusted for MVPA. Meanwhile,
      MVPA was significantly associated with TUG scores independent of EI (beta = 
      0.35, p < .001). Although EI of anterior thigh muscles might be a weaker
      predictor of functional morbidity than MVPA, it is a noninvasive and practical
      approach for assessing muscle quality in the very old.

PMID- 27623347
TI  - Single dose of an adenovirus vectored mouse interferon-alpha protects mice from
      lethal EV71 challenge.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes hand-foot-and-mouth diseases as well as neurological
      complications in young children. Interferon (IFN) can inhibit the replication of
      many viruses with low cytotoxic effects. Previously, an adenovirus vectored mouse
      interferon-alpha (DEF201), subtype 5, was generated by Wu et al, 2007. In this
      study, the antiviral effects of DEF201 against EV71 were evaluated in a murine
      model. 6-day-old BALB/c mice were administered a single dose of DEF201 before or
      after infection with lethal dose of EV71. The survival rate, clinical symptoms,
      tissue viral loads and histology pathogenesis were evaluated. IFN gene expression
      following a single dose of DEF201 maintained high concentrations of 100-9000
      pg/mL for more than 7 days in mice serum. Pre-infection administration of a
      single dose of 106 PFU of DEF201 offered full protection of the mice against EV71
      infection compared with the empty Ad5 vector control. In addition, virus load in
      DEF201-treated mice muscle tissue was significantly decreased as compared with
      empty vector control. Histopathology analysis revealed that DEF201 significantly
      prevented the development of severe tissue damage with reduction of viral antigen
      in the murine muscle tissue. Post-infection treatment at 6 h offered full
      protection and partial protection at 12 h, indicating that DEF201 could be used
      as an anti-EV71 therapeutic agent in early stage of EV71 infection. In addition,
      our study showed that DEF201 enhanced the neutralization ability of serum in EV71
      vaccinated mice, implying that DEF201 could promote the production of specific
      anti-EV71 antibodies. In conclusion, single dose of DEF201 is highly efficacious
      as a prophylactic agent against EV71 infection in vivo.

PMID- 27623345
TI  - A competitive ELISA for species-independent detection of Crimean-Congo
      hemorrhagic fever virus specific antibodies.
AB  - Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) circulates in many countries of
      Asia, Africa, and Europe. CCHFV can cause a severe hemorrhagic fever in humans
      with case-fatality rates of up to 80%. CCHF is considered to be one of the major
      emerging diseases spreading to and within Europe. Ticks of the genus Hyalomma
      function as vector as well as natural reservoir of CCHFV. Ticks feed on various
      domestic animals (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats) and on wildlife (e.g. hares,
      hedgehogs). Those animal species play an important role in the life cycle of the
      ticks as well as in amplification of CCHFV. Here we present a competitive ELISA
      (cELISA) for the species-independent detection of CCHFV-specific antibodies. For
      this purpose nucleocapsid (N) protein specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were
      generated against an Escherichia coli (E. coli) expressed CCHFV N-protein. Thirty
      three mAbs reacted with homologous and heterologous recombinant CCHFV antigens in
      ELISA and Western blot test and 20 of those 33 mAbs reacted additionally in an
      immunofluorescence assay with eukaryotic cells expressing the N-protein. Ten mAbs
      were further characterized in a prototype of the cELISA and nine of them competed
      with positive control sera of bovine origin. The cELISA was established by using
      the mAb with the strongest competition. For the validation, 833 sera from 12
      animal species and from humans were used. The diagnostic sensitivity and
      specificity of the cELISA was determined to be 95% and 99%, respectively, and 2%
      of the sera gave inconclusive results. This cELISA offers the possibility for
      future large-scale screening approaches in various animal species to evaluate
      their susceptibility to CCHFV infection and to identify and monitor the
      occurrence of CCHFV.

PMID- 27623346
TI  - The antiviral effect of mollusk mucus on measles virus.
AB  - Measles is a viral disease highly contagious spread by respiratory transmission.
      Although infection can be controlled by vaccination, numerous cases of measles
      have been registered in many areas of the world, highlighting the need for
      additional interventions. Terrestrial gastropods exude mucus on their body
      surface when traveling, to protect the body from mechanical injury, desiccation
      or contact with harmful substances. The mucus of mollusks has been studied as a
      source of new natural compounds with diverse biological activities. In this
      study, the antiviral activity of the mucus of the land slug P. boraceiensis was
      demonstrated in vitro using Vero cells infected with measles virus. The crude
      sample and four fractions were tested in cultures infected with measles virus and
      the antiviral activity was assessed by the cytopathic effect in infected cell
      cultures as well as by immunofluorescence and qPCR. Fractions 39 and 50 of the
      mucus from P. boraceiensis were analyzed by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS and infrared
      spectroscopy. A mixture of polyunsaturated fatty acids was found in the two
      fractions. A reduction in the growth of the measles virus was observed, measured
      by qPCR, with a protection index of 80% in Vero cells infected with measles and
      treated with fraction 39. Fraction 39 exhibited the best antiviral action in
      vitro and high contents of hydroxy-tritriacontapentaenoic acid and hydroxy
      pentatriacontapentaenoic acid were found in this fraction.

PMID- 27623348
TI  - Long-term outcome after early cyclosporine withdrawal in kidney transplantation:
      ten years after.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite long-term side effects, calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) remain a
      cornerstone of immunosuppression in renal transplantation. Few trials assessed
      the long-term outcome after early CNI withdrawal. METHODS: This intention-to
      treat study assessed the 10-year outcome of 108 patients randomly converted from
      a cyclosporine (CsA)-mycophenolate mofetil (MMF)-prednisone regimen to a dual
      therapy (CsA-prednisone or MMF-prednisone) at 3 months postgraft. RESULTS: At 10
      years, 3.7% in the CsA group and 35.2% in the MMF group remained on the protocol
      regimen (P<.001). eGFR was higher in the MMF group (64.4+/-21 vs 49.7+/-14.7
      mL/min/1.73 m2, P<.001), although acute rejection (12 vs 4 in the CsA group,
      P=.03) and Class II DSA incidences were increased. CNI-related toxicity (P=.019)
      and moderate-to-severe IF/TA (P=.004) were higher in the CsA group. Ten-year
      graft and patient survivals were not different. In multivariate analysis, acute
      rejection remained the strongest predictor of graft loss (HR=11.64, 95% CI [5.05
      26.79], P<.0001). CONCLUSIONS: MMF withdrawal largely failed due to CNI toxicity,
      while CsA withdrawal led to increased graft failure due to uncontrolled acute
      rejection without increasing graft survival. From this study, it remains unclear
      which patients could benefit from limiting CNI exposure.

PMID- 27623350
TI  - Intracellular regulation of TNF activity in health and disease.
AB  - Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFalpha, TNF) is a key mediator and regulator of
      mammalian immune responses in healthy organisms and in diseased conditions. TNF
      governs development of the immune system, cell survival signaling pathways,
      proliferation and regulates metabolic processes. Whereas TNF-induced NF-kappaB
      and MAP pro-survival kinase activities constitute its major biochemical
      functions, TNF can also stimulate cell death in certain pathological situations.
      TNF-induced signal transduction pathways are tightly regulated through
      ubiquitination and phosphorylation of molecules partaking in all TNF-dependent
      membrane-associated and intracellular protein signaling complexes. Deregulated
      TNF signaling in individuals carrying naturally occurring genetic mutations in
      proteins that mediate TNF signaling, or in corresponding genetically modified
      animal models, results in severe pathologies. In this review we will describe the
      current knowledge of TNF signaling and its relevance for human health.

PMID- 27623351
TI  - Study on binding and fluorescence energy transfer efficiency of Rhodamine B with
      Pluronic F127-gold nanohybrid using optical spectroscopy methods.
AB  - This work focuses on the binding efficiency and fluorescence resonance energy
      transfer (FRET) of fluorescent dye Rhodamine B (Rh B) to Pluronic F127-gold
      nanohybrid. The formation of gold nanoparticles inside Rh B doped Pluronic F127
      copolymer have been characterized using dynamic light scattering study, HR-TEM
      images, UV-visible spectra and fluorescence studies. Fluorescence quenching and
      the constant fluorescence lifetime of the Rhodamine B present in the cavity of
      Pluronic F127-gold nanohybrid suggested a strong binding ability (3.5*103Lmol-1),
      static nature of quenching and better energy transfer efficiency of fluorescent
      dye towards Pluronic F127-gold (Au) nanohybrids.

PMID- 27623353
TI  - The Impact of a Worksite-Based Diabetes Prevention Intervention: A Pilot Study.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a program to prevent the
      development of type 2 diabetes among participants with prediabetes. The program
      focused on a healthy eating style, behavior modification, daily physical
      activity, and achieving a healthy weight. This was a retrospective observational
      analysis of a pilot program designed to prevent diabetes among employees with
      prediabetes. This intervention involved 12-16 weeks of nutrition counseling with
      the registered dietitian and participation in physical activity of at least 150
      min/week. The primary outcome for this study was the prevention of type 2
      diabetes. Secondary outcome measures included changes in the following
      biometrics: body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood
      press (DBP), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol, waist circumference, and
      triglyceride levels. The diabetes prevention intervention was associated with
      significant improvements in glucose (-6.6%), A1c (-2.9%), weight (-5.5%), BMI (
      5.5%), SBP (-4.9%), DBP (-3.9%), total cholesterol (-5.0%), LDL-C (-7.0%), and
      triglycerides (-13.9%). After the 12-16-week intervention, the prevalence of
      prediabetes was reduced by 31% by fasting blood glucose or A1c levels. Baseline
      A1c, baseline glucose level, age, and number of sessions attended were all
      significant predictors of the odds of transitioning out of the prediabetes stage,
      controlling for all other covariates in the model. This pilot study suggests that
      the implementation of a worksite diabetes prevention intervention can help
      employees transition from a prediabetes status to no risk of diabetes.

PMID- 27623352
TI  - Cornstalk-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Partly Graphitized Carbon as Efficient Metal
      Free Catalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Microbial Fuel Cells.
AB  - The low electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the
      high cost of cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are the important
      factors that limit the practical applications. The metal-free nitrogen (N)-doped
      partly graphitized carbon (NPGC) as cathode catalyst is prepared at different
      temperatures (700-1050  degrees C) by using waste cornstalks as the carbon source
      and melamine as the N source. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction,
      specific surface areas, and transmission electron microscopy have been used, in
      parallel with electrochemical activity tests including rotating disk electrode
      (RDE) and power output, to clarify how the active constituents and structure of
      NPGC influence the MFCs performance. Carbonization temperature has a significant
      effect on the porous structure and N-doped defects (pyridinic, pyrrolic, and
      graphitic N), which correspondingly influence the amount of active sites, ORR
      activity and long-time running durability in MFCs. The abundant functional oxygen
      containing groups in the porous structure (1177.76 m2 g-1) of NPGC (1000  degrees
      C) contribute to the fast adsorption of molecular O2 onto the carbon skeleton.
      The N-induced charge delocalization facilitates the chemisorption of O2 and
      cleavage of O-O bonds to effectively enhance the four-electron O2 reduction on
      NPGC electrode. The maximum power density of NPGC-1000 is 1122 mW m-2 in MFCs,
      which is higher than that of Pt/C (988 mW m-2), and only has a decline of 10.2%
      after 80 days. This work provides a metal-free, high-efficiency, and cost
      effective ORR electrocatalyst for MFCs.

PMID- 27623349
TI  - Lymphotoxin in physiology of lymphoid tissues - Implication for antiviral
      defense.
AB  - Lymphotoxin (LT) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily of
      cytokines which serves multiple functions, including the control of lymphoid
      organ development and maintenance, as well as regulation of inflammation and
      autoimmunity. Although the role of LT in organogenesis and maintenance of
      lymphoid organs is well established, the contribution of LT pathway to
      homeostasis of lymphoid organs during the immune response to pathogens is less
      understood. In this review, we highlight recent advances on the role of LT
      pathway in antiviral immune responses. We discuss the role of LT signaling in
      lymphoid organ integrity, type I IFN production and regulation of protection and
      immunopathology during viral infections. We further discuss the potential of
      therapeutic targeting LT pathway for controlling immunopathology and antiviral
      protection.

PMID- 27623354
TI  - Independent association of PD-L1 expression with noninactivated VHL clear cell
      renal cell carcinoma-A finding with therapeutic potential.
AB  - Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is an aggressive tumor that is
      characterized in most cases by inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene VHL. The
      VHL/HIF/VEGF pathway thus plays a major role in angiogenesis and is currently
      targeted by anti-angiogenic therapy. The emergence of resistance is leading to
      the use of targeted immunotherapy against immune checkpoint PD1/PDL1 that
      restores antitumor immune response. The correlation between VHL status and PD-L1
      expression has been little investigated. In this study, we retrospectively
      reviewed 98 consecutive cases of ccRCC and correlated PD-L1 expression by
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) with clinical data (up to 10-year follow-up),
      pathological criteria, VEGF, PAR-3, CAIX and PD-1 expressions by IHC and complete
      VHL status (deletion, mutation and promoter hypermethylation). PD-L1 expression
      was observed in 69 ccRCC (70.4%) and the corresponding patients had a worse
      prognosis, with a median specific survival of 52 months (p = 0.03). PD-L1
      expression was significantly associated with poor prognostic factors such as a
      higher ISUP nucleolar grade (p = 0.01), metastases at diagnosis (p = 0.01), a
      sarcomatoid component (p = 0.04), overexpression of VEGF (p = 0.006), and
      cytoplasmic PAR-3 expression (p = 0.01). PD-L1 expression was also associated
      with dense PD-1 expression (p = 0.007) and with ccRCC with 0 or 1 alteration(s)
      (non-inactivated VHL tumors; p = 0.007) that remained significant after
      multivariate analysis (p = 0.004 and p = 0.024, respectively). Interestingly, all
      wild-type VHL tumors (no VHL gene alteration, 11.2%) expressed PD-L1. In this
      study, we found PD-L1 expression to be associated with noninactivated VHL tumors
      and in particular wild-type VHL ccRCC, which may benefit from therapies
      inhibiting PD-L1/PD-1.

PMID- 27623357
TI  - The Palliative Performance Scale Predicts Three- and Six-Month Survival in Older
      Adult Patients Admitted to the Hospital through the Emergency Department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is often little information on long-term prognosis available
      for Emergency Medicine physicians when decisions on admission, treatment, or
      consultations are being made for patients. There is a new focus to understand if
      palliative support should be offered in the emergency department (ED) and the
      Palliative Performance Scale (PPS), a screening tool used in other settings in
      palliative care, has been little used in the ED. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this
      study was to assess the prognostic value of the PPS in predicting three- and six
      month survival in patients admitted through the ED. DESIGN: A prospective cohort
      study. SETTING/SUBJECTS: We evaluated 123 patients over the age of 55 years
      admitted through the ED of a tertiary care hospital in New England in November
      and December of 2013. MEASUREMENTS: Each patient's PPS score was evaluated
      initially in the ED, with follow-up assessments of PPS and survival at three and
      six months. RESULTS: Baseline PPS for the 123 patients was 72 +/- 22. Information
      on 72 subjects (58.5%) at three months was 60 assessed and 12 deaths. Information
      on 47 subjects (38.2%) at six months was 26 assessed and 21 deaths (nine further
      deaths from three months). There were no significant differences in the
      demographics or PPS score in those evaluated and those lost to follow-up at three
      or six months. Patients with an initial PPS score of 30 or less had 14% survival
      at six months. CONCLUSION: In this small preliminary study, The PPS score may
      predict survival in patients admitted to the hospital through the ED. The ease of
      use holds promise that use of the PPS in the ED may help ED physicians predict
      survival and plan for better disposition, advocate for patient wishes, and
      initiate palliative care consultation.

PMID- 27623355
TI  - A polymorphic (GA/CT)n- SSR influences promoter activity of Tryptophan
      decarboxylase gene in Catharanthus roseus L. Don.
AB  - Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) of polypurine-polypyrimidine type motifs occur
      very frequently in the 5' flanks of genes in plants and have recently been
      implicated to have a role in regulation of gene expression. In this study, 2
      accessions of Catharanthus roseus having (CT)8 and (CT)21 varying motifs in the
      5'UTR of Tryptophan decarboxylase (Tdc) gene, were investigated for its role in
      regulation of gene expression. Extensive Tdc gene expression analysis in the 2
      accessions was carried out both at the level of transcription and translation.
      Transcript abundance was estimated using Northern analysis and qRT-PCR, whereas
      the rate of Tdc gene transcription was assessed using in-situ nuclear run-on
      transcription assay. Translation status of Tdc gene was monitored by
      quantification of polysome associated Tdc mRNA using qRT-PCR. These observations
      were validated through transient expression analysis using the fusion construct
      [CaM35S:(CT)8-21:GUS]. Our study demonstrated that not only does the length of
      (CT)n -SSRs influences the promoter activity, but the presence of SSRs per se in
      the 5'-UTR significantly enhances the level of gene expression. We termed this
      phenomenon as "microsatellite mediated enhancement" (MME) of gene expression.
      Results presented here will provide leads for engineering plants with enhanced
      amounts of medicinally important alkaloids.

PMID- 27623356
TI  - Association of type II secretory phospholipase A2 and surfactant protein D with
      the pulmonary oxygenation potential in patients with septic shock during
      polymyxin-B immobilized fiber-direct hemoperfusion.
AB  - This study was undertaken to analyze the association of type II secretory
      phospholipase A2 (sPLA2 -II) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) with the pulmonary
      oxygenation potential in patients with septic shock during polymyxin-B
      immobilized fiber-direct hemoperfusion (PMX-DHP). The study was conducted in 25
      patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome
      (ARDS). PMX-DHP lowered the blood endotoxin level in all patients. Following PMX
      DHP, there were decreases from day 0 -> day 1 -> day 2 in both the mean plasma
      sPLA2 -II level (340 -> 260 -> 189 ng/mL) and plasma SP-D level (483 -> 363 ->
      252 ng/mL). The PaO2/FiO2 ratio (P/F ratio) rose (210 -> 237 -> 262) in all
      patients. Upon the onset of ALI or ARDS, there was a significant negative
      correlation between the sPLA2 -II level and the P/F ratio. Furthermore, there was
      a significant positive correlation between the sPLA2 -II and TNF-alpha levels.
      The results suggest that as the blood endotoxin levels were lowered by the PMX
      DHP, the inflammatory reactions were suppressed, with suppressed formation of
      sPLA2 -II and improved pulmonary oxygenation potential. The results also
      suggested possible involvement of TNF-alpha in the production of sPLA2 -II.

PMID- 27623358
TI  - Detection and Toxicity Evaluation of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Medicinal Plants
      Gynura bicolor and Gynura divaricata Collected from Different Chinese Locations.
AB  - Two edible plants in Southeast Asia, Gynura bicolor and G. divaricata, are not
      only known to be nutritive but also useful as medicinal herbs. Previous
      phytochemical investigation of Gynura species showed the presence of hepatotoxic
      pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), indicating the toxic risk of using these two
      plants. The present study was designed to analyze the distribution of PA
      components and tried to evaluate the preliminary toxicity of these two Gynura
      species. Eight samples of G. bicolor and G. divaricata from five different
      Chinese locations were collected and their specific PAs were qualitatively
      characterized by applying an UPLC/MS/MS spectrometry method. Using a pre-column
      derivatization HPLC method, the total retronecine ester-type PAs in their
      alkaloids extracts were quantitatively estimated as well. Finally, their
      genotoxicity was investigated with an effective high-throughput screening method
      referred to as VitotoxTM test and their potential cytotoxicity was tested on
      HepG2 cells. It was found that different types of PAs were widely present in
      Gynura species collected from south of China. Among them, no significant
      genotoxic effects were detected with serial concentrations through the present in
      vitro assay. However, the cytotoxicity assay of Gynura plants collected from
      Jiangsu displayed weak activity at the concentration of 100 mg/ml. It is
      important to note that this research validates in part the indication that the
      use of Gynura species requires caution.

PMID- 27623360
TI  - Revisiting the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ): Assessing
      physical activity among individuals with schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with schizophrenia tend to have low levels of physical
      activity (PA) which contributes to high rates of physical comorbidities. Valid
      and reliable methods of assessing PA are essential for advancing health research.
      Ten years after initial validation of the Short-Form International Physical
      Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), this study expands on the initial validation study
      by examining retest reliability over a 4-week period, assessing validity with a
      larger sample, and comparing validity of the IPAQ to a 24-hour recall
      alternative. METHODS: Participants completed the IPAQ at baseline and 4weeks
      later, along with a 24-hour PA recall at week 4. At week 3 participants wore
      waist accelerometers for 7days. Spearman's correlation coefficients and Bland
      Altman plots were calculated based on weekly minutes of moderate to vigorous PA
      (MVPA). RESULTS: Test-retest reliability for the self-administered IPAQ was
      rho=0.47, p<0.001 for MVPA. Correlation between IPAQ assessment and accelerometer
      determined MVPA was rho=0.30, p=0.003. The 24-hour recall correlated
      significantly with MVPA on the previous day rho=0.27, p=0.012. A Bland-Altman
      plot indicated the IPAQ-SF underreported by -119.2min (-72%) on average compared
      to accelerometry (95% limits of agreement -1017.1 to 778.7min, -292% to 147%).
      CONCLUSION: Compared to previous IPAQ validation work in this population,
      criterion validity was similar, but reliability was lower over a 4-week period.
      MVPA criterion validity of the 24-hour recall was comparable to the 7-day self
      report IPAQ. Findings further support that the IPAQ is a suitable assessment tool
      for epidemiological studies. Objective measures of physical activity are
      recommended for intervention assessment.

PMID- 27623359
TI  - Childhood pegboard task predicts adult-onset psychosis-spectrum disorder among a
      genetic high-risk sample.
AB  - Motor abnormalities have been established as a core aspect of psychosis-spectrum
      disorders, with numerous studies identifying deficits prior to clinical symptom
      presentation. Additional research is needed to pinpoint standardized motor
      assessments associated with psychosis-spectrum disorders prior to illness onset
      to enhance prediction and understanding of etiology. With a long history of
      findings among people with diagnosable psychosis-spectrum disorders, but little
      research conducted during the premorbid phase, pegboard tasks are a viable and
      understudied measure of premorbid for psychosis motor functioning. In the current
      study, examining data from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort, the Simultaneous Pegs
      Test was performed with children (n=244, aged 10-13) at genetic high risk for
      psychosis (n=94) and controls (n=150). Findings suggest that children who
      eventually developed a psychosis-spectrum disorder (n=33) were less likely to
      successfully complete the task within time limit relative to controls (chi2(2,
      N=244)=6.94, p=0.03, phi=0.17). Additionally, children who eventually developed a
      psychosis-spectrum disorder took significantly longer to complete the task
      relative to controls (chi2(2, N=244)=7.06, p=0.03, phi=0.17). As pegboard
      performance is thought to tap both diffuse and specific brain networks, findings
      suggest that pegboard tests may be useful premorbid measures of motor functioning
      among those on a trajectory towards a psychosis-spectrum disorder.

PMID- 27623361
TI  - Ambiguity aversion in schizophrenia: An fMRI study of decision-making under risk
      and ambiguity.
AB  - When making decisions in everyday life, we often have to choose between uncertain
      outcomes. Economic studies have demonstrated that healthy people tend to prefer
      options with known probabilities (risk) than those with unknown probabilities
      (ambiguity), which is referred to as "ambiguity aversion." However, it remains
      unclear how patients with schizophrenia behave under ambiguity, despite growing
      evidence of their altered decision-making under uncertainty. In this study,
      combining economic tools and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we
      assessed the attitudes toward risk/ambiguity and investigated the neural
      correlates during decision-making under risk/ambiguity in schizophrenia. Although
      no significant difference in attitudes under risk was observed, patients with
      schizophrenia chose ambiguity significantly more often than the healthy controls.
      Attitudes under risk and ambiguity did not correlate across patients with
      schizophrenia. Furthermore, unlike in the healthy controls, activation of the
      left lateral orbitofrontal cortex was not increased during decision-making under
      ambiguity compared to under risk in schizophrenia. These results suggest that
      ambiguity aversion, a well-established subjective bias, is attenuated in patients
      with schizophrenia, highlighting the need to distinguish between risk and
      ambiguity when assessing decision-making under these situations. Our findings,
      comprising important clinical implications, contribute to improved understanding
      of the mechanisms underlying altered decision-making in patients with
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 27623362
TI  - Use of structured decision-making to explicitly incorporate environmental process
      understanding in management of coastal restoration projects: Case study on
      barrier islands of the northern Gulf of Mexico.
AB  - Coastal ecosystem management typically relies on subjective interpretation of
      scientific understanding, with limited methods for explicitly incorporating
      process knowledge into decisions that must meet multiple, potentially competing
      stakeholder objectives. Conversely, the scientific community lacks methods for
      identifying which advancements in system understanding would have the highest
      value to decision-makers. A case in point is barrier island restoration, where
      decision-makers lack tools to objectively use system understanding to determine
      how to optimally use limited contingency funds when project construction in this
      dynamic environment does not proceed as expected. In this study, collaborative
      structured decision-making (SDM) was evaluated as an approach to incorporate
      process understanding into mid-construction decisions and to identify priority
      gaps in knowledge from a management perspective. The focus was a barrier island
      restoration project at Ship Island, Mississippi, where sand will be used to close
      an extensive breach that currently divides the island. SDM was used to estimate
      damage that may occur during construction, and guide repair decisions within the
      confines of limited availability of sand and funding to minimize adverse impacts
      to project objectives. Sand was identified as more limiting than funds, and
      unrepaired major breaching would negatively impact objectives. Repairing minor
      damage immediately was determined to be generally more cost effective (depending
      on the longshore extent) than risking more damage to a weakened project. Key gaps
      in process-understanding relative to project management were identified as the
      relationship of island width to breach formation; the amounts of sand lost during
      breaching, lowering, or narrowing of the berm; the potential for minor breaches
      to self-heal versus developing into a major breach; and the relationship between
      upstream nourishment and resiliency of the berm to storms. This application is a
      prototype for using structured decision-making in support of engineering projects
      in dynamic environments where mid-construction decisions may arise; highlights
      uncertainty about barrier island physical processes that limit the ability to
      make robust decisions; and demonstrates the potential for direct incorporation of
      process-based models in a formal adaptive management decision framework.

PMID- 27623363
TI  - Varied effects of untreated textile wastewater onto soil carbon mineralization
      and associated biochemical properties of a dryland agricultural soil.
AB  - Wastewater is an alternative, valuable and cost effective resource for irrigation
      in water-scarce arid and sami-arid regions of the world including Pakistan. Soils
      near urban centers are cultivated for vegetable and cash crops using untreated
      wastewater. Current study was performed with objectives of assessing impacts of
      untreated textile wastewater on some soil chemical, biological and enzymatic
      activities. The microcosm incubation study used a clay loam soil that received 0
      (distilled-water), 25, 50 and 100% wastewater concentrations and incubated for 30
      and 60 days under optimum temperature and moisture conditions. Soil respiration
      was measured periodically throughout the experiment over 60 days. After the
      incubation periods of 30- and 60-d, soils were destructively analyzed for pH,
      electrical conductivity (EC), water extractable organic matter (WEOM), microbial
      biomass carbon (MBC), microbial metabolic quotient (qCO2) and dehydrogenase
      enzymatic activity. Results revealed that wastewater and incubation time
      significantly altered chemical, biological and enzymatic properties of soils. The
      observed large surge in soil respiration, at initial stage, was stimulated by
      dissolved organic matter in wastewater. Dehydrogenase activity increased
      significantly with increasing wastewater concentrations. Increase in qCO2 with
      wastewater concentration and incubation time suggested more stress to
      microorganisms but also enhanced microbial activity under stress to synthesize
      biomass. We found significant positive (R2 = 0.64, p < 0.001) relationship
      between soil respiration and MBC, however, correlation between WEOM and MBC was
      significant negative (R2 = 0.18, p < 0.01) indicating a dynamic mismatch between
      carbon substrate, soil respiration and buildup of MBC pool. Wastewater
      concentration and incubation time interaction had significant (p < 0.01) effect
      on WEOM suggesting that WEOM accumulated over time and comparatively less
      utilized by microorganisms. Short- and long-term effects of untreated wastewater
      on soil physico-chemical and biological health should be assessed before its use
      for crop production.

PMID- 27623364
TI  - Fate of aerobic granular sludge in the long-term: The role of EPSs on the
      clogging of granular sludge porosity.
AB  - This work aims to investigate the stability of aerobic granular sludge in the
      long term, focusing on the clogging of the granular sludge porosity exerted by
      the extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs). The effects of different cycle
      lengths (short and long-term cycle) on the granular sludge stability were
      investigated. Results obtained outlined that during the short duration cycle, the
      formation and breakage of the aerobic granules were continuously observed. During
      this period, the excess of EPS production contributed to the clogging of the
      granules porosity, causing their breakage in the long run. During the long
      duration cycle, the extended famine period entailed a greater EPSs consumption by
      bacteria, thus limiting the clogging of the porosity, and allowed obtaining
      stable aerobic granules. Reported results demonstrated that an excess in EPSs
      content could be detrimental to the stability of aerobic granular sludge in the
      long-term.

PMID- 27623365
TI  - Market power in auction and efficiency in emission permits allocation.
AB  - This paper analyzes how to achieve the cost-effectiveness by initial allocation
      of CO2 emission permits when a single dominant firm in production market has
      market power in auction, and compare two prevalent allocation patterns, mixed
      allocation and single auction. We show how the firm with market power may
      manipulate the auction price, thereby this leads to fail to achieve cost
      effective solution by auction unless the total permits for allocation equal to
      the effective emissions cap. Provided that the market power firm receives
      strictly positive free permits, the effective emissions cap of mixed allocation
      is larger than that of single auction. The production market share of dominant
      firm is increasing with the free permits it holds. Finally, we examine the
      compliance costs and welfare of mixed allocation and single auction, the result
      show that the former is preferred to the later when policy makers consider
      economic welfare without welfare cost due to CO2 emissions.

PMID- 27623367
TI  - Thermophilic and hyper-thermophilic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and
      fat, oil and grease: Evaluating and modeling methane production.
AB  - Renewable energy and clean environment are two crucial requirements for our
      modern world. Low cost, energy production and limited environmental impact make
      anaerobic digestion (AD) a promising technology for stabilizing organic waste and
      in particular, sewage waste. The anaerobic co-digestion of thickened waste
      activated sludge (TWAS) and sewage treatment plant trapped fat, oil and grease
      (FOG) using different FOG-TWAS mixtures (20, 40, 60 and 80% of FOG based on total
      volatile solids (TVS)) were investigated in this study using both thermophilic
      (55 +/- 1  degrees C) and two stages hyper-thermophilic/thermophilic (70 +/- 1 
      degrees C and 55 +/- 1  degrees C) anaerobic co-digestion. The hyper-thermophilic
      co-digestion approach as a part of the co-digestion process has been shown to be
      very useful in improving the methane production. During hyper-thermophilic
      biochemical methane potential (BMP) assay testing the sample with 60% FOG (based
      on TVS) has been shown to significantly increase the maximum methane production
      to 673.1 +/- 14.0 ml of methane as compared to 316.4 +/- 14.3 ml of methane for
      the control sample. This represents a 112.7% increase in methane production
      compared to the control sample considered in this paper. These results signify
      the importance of hyper-thermophilic digestion to the co-digestion of TWAS-FOG
      field.

PMID- 27623366
TI  - Silicon occurrence, uptake, transport and mechanisms of heavy metals, minerals
      and salinity enhanced tolerance in plants with future prospects: A review.
AB  - Recently, heavy metals pollution due to industrialization and urbanization, use
      of untreated wastewater and unreasonable use of pesticides and fertilizers is
      increasing rapidly, resulting in major threat to the environment and contaminate
      soils. Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element in the earth crust after
      oxygen. Although it's higher accumulation in plants, yet Si has not been listed
      as essential nutrient however, considered as beneficial element for growth of
      plants particularly in stressed environment. Research to date has demonstrated
      that silicon helps the plants to alleviate the various biotic and abiotic
      stresses. This review article presents a comprehensive update about Si and heavy
      metals, minerals and salinity stresses, and contained the progress about Si so
      far done worldwide in the light of previous studies to evaluate the ecological
      importance of Si. Moreover, this review will also be helpful to understand the Si
      uptake ability and its benefits on plants grown under stressed environment.
      Further research needs for Si-mediated mitigation of heavy metals and mineral
      nutrients stresses are also discussed.

PMID- 27623368
TI  - Responses of soluble microbial products and extracellular polymeric substances to
      the presence of toxic 2,6-dichlorophenol in aerobic granular sludge system.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the responses of soluble microbial
      products (SMP) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) to the presence of
      toxic 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP) in aerobic granular sludge (AGS) system. Batch
      experiment showed that NH4+-N removal efficiency significantly decreased from
      99.6% to 47.2% in the toxic 2,6-DCP of 20 mg/L. Moreover, the inhibition degrees
      of 2,6-DCP on (SOUR)H, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were 7.8%,
      32.1% and 9.5%, respectively. The main components of SMP, including protein (PN)
      and polysaccharide (PS) increased from 2.3 +/- 0.74 and 16.8 +/- 0.12 mg/L to
      66.4 +/- 0.56 and 18.0 +/- 0.19 mg/L in the presence of 2,6-DCP. Three
      dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) spectroscopy identified
      tryptophan PN-like, humic acid-like and fulvic acid-like substances in the
      control SMP, and their fluorescence intensities increased after exposure to 2,6
      DCP. Synchronous fluorescence spectra suggested that the fluorescence quenching
      between EPS and 2,6-DCP was a static quenching process. The obtained results
      could provide insightful information on the responses of microbial products to
      AGS in the presence of toxic chlorophenols.

PMID- 27623369
TI  - Timely monitoring of Asian Migratory locust habitats in the Amudarya delta,
      Uzbekistan using time series of satellite remote sensing vegetation index.
AB  - The Asian Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria migratoria L.) is a pest that
      continuously threatens crops in the Amudarya River delta near the Aral Sea in
      Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Its development coincides with the growing period of
      its main food plant, a tall reed grass (Phragmites australis), which represents
      the predominant vegetation in the delta and which cover vast areas of the former
      Aral Sea, which is desiccating since the 1960s. Current locust survey methods and
      control practices would tremendously benefit from accurate and timely spatially
      explicit information on the potential locust habitat distribution. To that aim,
      satellite observation from the MODIS Terra/Aqua satellites and in-situ
      observations were combined to monitor potential locust habitats according to
      their corresponding risk of infestations along the growing season. A Random
      Forest (RF) algorithm was applied for classifying time series of MODIS enhanced
      vegetation index (EVI) from 2003 to 2014 at an 8-day interval. Based on an
      independent ground truth data set, classification accuracies of reeds posing a
      medium or high risk of locust infestation exceeded 89% on average. For the 12
      year period covered in this study, an average of 7504 km2 (28% of the observed
      area) was flagged as potential locust habitat and 5% represents a permanent high
      risk of locust infestation. Results are instrumental for predicting potential
      locust outbreaks and developing well-targeted management plans. The method offers
      positive perspectives for locust management and treatment of infested sites
      because it is able to deliver risk maps in near real time, with an accuracy of
      80% in April-May which coincides with both locust hatching and the first control
      surveys. Such maps could help in rapid decision-making regarding control
      interventions against the initial locust congregations, and thus the efficiency
      of survey teams and the chemical treatments could be increased, thus potentially
      reducing environmental pollution while avoiding areas where treatments are most
      likely to cause environmental degradation.

PMID- 27623370
TI  - Toluene biodegradation in an algal-bacterial airlift photobioreactor: Influence
      of the biomass concentration and of the presence of an organic phase.
AB  - The potential of algal-bacterial symbiosis for off-gas abatement was investigated
      for the first time by comparatively evaluating the performance of a bacterial
      (CB) and an algal-bacterial (PB) airlift bioreactors during the treatment of a 6
      g m-3 toluene laden air emission. The influence of biomass concentration and of
      the addition of a non-aqueous phase was also investigated. A poor and fluctuating
      performance was recorded during the initial stages of the experiment, which was
      attributed to the low biomass concentration present in both reactors and to the
      accumulation of toxic metabolites. In this sense, an increase in the dilution
      rate from 0.23 to 0.45 d-1 and in biomass concentration from ~1 to ~5 g L-1
      resulted in elimination capacities (ECs) of 300 g m-3 h-1 (corresponding to
      removal efficiencies ~ 90%). Microalgae activity allowed for a reduction in the
      emitted CO2 and an increase in dissolved O2 concentration in the PB. However,
      excess biomass growth over 11 g L-1 hindered light penetration and severely
      decreased photosynthetic activity. The addition of silicone oil at 20% (on a
      volume basis) stabilized system performance, leading to dissolved O2
      concentrations of 7 mg L-1 and steady ECs of 320 g m-3 h-1 in the PB. The ECs
      here recorded were considerably higher than those previously reported in toluene
      degrading bioreactors. Finally, microbial population analysis by DGGE-sequencing
      demonstrated the differential specialization of the microbial community in both
      reactors, likely resulting in different toluene degradation pathways and
      metabolites production.

PMID- 27623371
TI  - High mercury accumulation in two subtropical evergreen forests in South China and
      potential determinants.
AB  - Forests play an important role in global mercury (Hg) cycling. To explain the
      high Hg accumulation in subtropical forest ecosystems, we studied temporal
      dynamics of Hg, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S) in forest soil profiles,
      as well as litterfall flux and precipitation, in an old-growth moist evergreen
      broadleaf (EB) forest and a mossy coppice (MC) forest from South China over seven
      years. The mean soil Hg concentration was 257 +/- 14 ng g-1 in the O-horizon and
      248 +/- 15 ng g-1 in the A-horizon for the EB forest, and 94 +/- 27 ng g-1 in the
      O-horizon and 70 +/- 11 ng g-1 in the A-horizon for the MC forest. Annual
      variations in Hg concentration were suggested to be associated with variations in
      precipitation and litterfall biomass. Significant vertical Hg transport was only
      observed in the MC forest, which was attributed to its lower organic matter
      content. Correlation and stoichiometry analyses further suggested that the
      dynamics in Hg concentration in the forest floor was also closely linked to the
      variation in S concentration. Additionally, the difference in the soil Hg pool
      between these two forests was attributed to different litterfall biomass fluxes.

PMID- 27623372
TI  - Impact analysis of traffic-related air pollution based on real-time traffic and
      basic meteorological information.
AB  - With the rapid development of urbanization and motorization in China, traffic
      related air pollution has become a major component of air pollution which
      constantly jeopardizes public health. This study proposes an integrated framework
      for estimating the concentration of traffic-related air pollution with real-time
      traffic and basic meteorological information and also for further evaluating the
      impact of traffic-related air pollution. First, based on the vehicle emission
      factor models sensitive to traffic status, traffic emissions are calculated
      according to the real-time link-based average traffic speed, traffic volume, and
      vehicular fleet composition. Then, based on differences in meteorological
      conditions, traffic pollution sources are divided into line sources and point
      sources, and the corresponding methods to determine the dynamic affecting areas
      are also proposed. Subsequently, with basic meteorological data, Gaussian
      dispersion model and puff integration model are applied respectively to estimate
      the concentration of traffic-related air pollution. Finally, the proposed
      estimating framework is applied to calculate the distribution of CO concentration
      in the main area of Beijing, and the population exposure is also calculated to
      evaluate the impact of traffic-related air pollution on public health. Results
      show that there is a certain correlation between traffic indicators (i.e.,
      traffic speed and traffic intensity) of the affecting area and traffic-related CO
      concentration of the target grid, which indicates the methods to determine the
      affecting areas are reliable. Furthermore, the reliability of the proposed
      estimating framework is verified by comparing the predicted and the observed
      ambient CO concentration. In addition, results also show that the traffic-related
      CO concentration is higher in morning and evening peak hours, and has a heavier
      impact on public health within the Fourth Ring Road of Beijing due to higher
      population density and higher CO concentration under calm wind condition in this
      area.

PMID- 27623373
TI  - Fish and fisheries in the Lower Rhine 1550-1950: A historical-ecological
      perspective.
AB  - Regulation and intensive use of most of the world's large rivers, has led to
      dramatic decline and even to extinction of riverine fish populations like salmon
      and sturgeon in the river Rhine. In general this decline is considered an
      unwelcome side-effect of the Industrial Revolution and large-scale river
      regulation (c. 1800), but the deterioration of stocks of some species may have
      started well before the 19th century. For the river Rhine, data on fish landings
      as proxies of abundance in the period 1550-1950 can be derived from historical
      market prices, fisheries taxation and fishery and fish auctions statistics,
      especially for commercially interesting species like Atlantic salmon, sturgeon,
      Allis shad and Twaite shad. Most data from which abundance of these species can
      be derived, however, appear to be missing in historical sources until decline of
      the investigated species sets in and the species become economically scarce
      goods. Atlantic salmon in the Rhine catchment appears to be already in decline
      during Early Modern Times (post 1500 AD) after which time river regulation,
      pollution and intensified fisheries finished off the remaining stocks in the 20th
      century. Salmon decline caused a cascade in the River Rhine ecosystem as
      fisheries shifted to, especially, Allis shad and Twaite shad, followed by (near
      )extinction of these species. Dropping yields of salmon fishery did not lead to
      increased sturgeon fishery, although numbers of sturgeon also dwindled to
      extinction in the river Rhine. The onset of sturgeon decline appears to coincide
      with the period of the first large regulation works. It is shown that historical
      ecological data on fish abundance can quantitatively underpin detrimental long
      term processes in river ecosystems.

PMID- 27623374
TI  - Zero-valent iron treatment of dark brown colored coffee effluent: Contributions
      of a core-shell structure to pollutant removals.
AB  - The decolorization and total organic carbon (TOC) removal of dark brown colored
      coffee effluent by zero-valent iron (ZVI) have been systematically examined with
      solution pH of 3.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 under oxic and anoxic conditions. The
      optimal decolorization and TOC removal were obtained at pH 8.0 with oxic
      condition. The maximum efficiencies of decolorization and TOC removal were 92.6
      and 60.2%, respectively. ZVI presented potential properties for pollutant removal
      at nearly neutral pH because of its core-shell structure in which shell or iron
      oxide/hydroxide layer on ZVI surface dominated the decolorization and TOC removal
      of coffee effluent. To elucidate the contribution of the core-shell structure to
      removals of color and TOC at the optimal condition, the characterization of ZVI
      surface by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy dispersive X-ray
      spectroscope (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
      (XPS) was conducted. It was confirmed that the core-shell structure was formed
      and the shell on ZVI particulate surface and the precipitates formed during the
      course of ZVI treatment consisted of iron oxides and hydroxides. They were
      significantly responsible for decolorization and TOC removal of coffee effluent
      via adsorption to shell on ZVI surface and inclusion into the precipitates rather
      than the oxidative degradation by OH radicals and the reduction by emitted
      electrons. The presence of dissolved oxygen (DO) enhanced the formation of the
      core-shell structure and as a result improved the efficiency of ZVI treatment for
      the removal of colored components in coffee effluents. ZVI was found to be an
      efficient material toward the treatment of coffee effluents.

PMID- 27623375
TI  - Catalytic Membrane Reactor Immobilized with Alloy Nanoparticle-Loaded Protein
      Fibrils for Continuous Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol.
AB  - A catalytic membrane reactor, which contains a membrane matrix and a catalytic
      film of alloy nanoparticle-loaded beta-lactoglobulin fibrils (NPs@beta-LGF), was
      developed for the continuous-flow reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The Cu-Ag
      and Cu-Ag-Au alloy NPs were synthesized using beta-LGF as a scaffold and
      stabilizing agent. In this process, the Cu nanoclusters were formed in the
      initial stage and were able to promote the synthesis of Ag0, which acts as a
      reducing agent for the rapid formation of Au0. Furthermore, a catalytic membrane
      reactor was constructed by depositing the NPs@beta-LGFs on a membrane matrix. The
      catalytic activity of the Cu-Ag-Au alloy NPs was higher than that of the Cu-Ag
      alloy NPs, using the reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP as a model reaction. The observed
      rate constant in the continuous-flow system is also higher than that in the batch
      system. In addition, these catalytic membrane reactors had good operating
      stability and antibacterial activity.

PMID- 27623376
TI  - Estimation of Split Renal Function With 99mTc-DMSA SPECT: Comparison Between 3D
      Volumetric Assessment and 2D Coronal Projection Imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Split renal function (SRF) can be estimated with 99mTc-labeled
      dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) SPECT cortical renal scintigraphy on either 2D
      projected images or 3D images. The purpose of this study was to determine whether
      there is a significant difference between SRF values calculated with the 2D
      method and those calculated with the 3D method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      retrospective study was performed with 99mTc-DMSA SPECT images of 316 patients
      (age range, 1-26 years). All images were reconstructed by filtered back
      projection. An automated computational method was developed to estimate SRF using
      both 2D projection images and direct 3D images. A paired t test was used to
      evaluate the difference between SRFs determined with the two methods and the
      association between the magnitude of the differences and kidney size, patient
      age, and SRF. RESULTS: There was strong correlation between SRFs estimated with
      the 2D and 3D methods (r = 0.94, p < 0.001). There was small significant
      difference (0.14% +/- 0.86%, p = 0.003) in SRFs obtained with the two methods.
      The difference was clinically negligible and independent of renal length (p =
      0.698), volume (p = 0.297), and patient age (p = 0.768) but was associated with
      SRF (p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: For determination of split renal function, 99mTc
      DMSA SPECT renal scintigraphy 2D coronal projection images perform as well as and
      are simpler to analyze than 3D images.

PMID- 27623377
TI  - Cilia and Nuclear Pore Proteins: Pore No More?
AB  - Nuclear pore proteins at the base of cilia were thought to regulate transport
      into cilia. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Del Viso et al. (2016) challenge
      this view, showing instead that pore proteins localize to ciliary basal bodies
      and that their perturbation leads to congenital heart disease.

PMID- 27623378
TI  - A Nucleoporin at the Meiotic Kinetochore.
AB  - In this issue of Developmental Cell, Hattersley et al. (2016) use the unique
      biology of meiosis I, in which the cell can exit the division without reforming
      the nuclear envelope, to uncover an intriguing role of the nucleoporin MEL-28 in
      mediating chromosome segregation via its interaction with PP1 at the kinetochore.

PMID- 27623379
TI  - A Radical Break: Restraining Neutrophil Migration.
AB  - When neutrophils infiltrate a site of inflammation, they have to stop at the
      right place to exert their effector function. In this issue of Developmental
      Cell, Wang et al. (2016) show that neutrophils sense reactive oxygen species via
      the TRPM2 channel to arrest migration at their target site.

PMID- 27623380
TI  - Rac-ing from Epithelial Secretor to Eater.
AB  - Mammary epithelial phagocytosis is critical for removal of apoptotic cells during
      involution, but the mechanisms governing this process are largely unknown. In
      this issue of Developmental Cell, Akhtar et al. (2016) provide insight into
      mechanisms regulating involution, demonstrating that Rac1 drives the switch from
      differentiation to phagocytosis in mammary epithelium.

PMID- 27623381
TI  - A Nucleoporin Docks Protein Phosphatase 1 to Direct Meiotic Chromosome
      Segregation and Nuclear Assembly.
AB  - During M-phase entry in metazoans with open mitosis, the concerted action of
      mitotic kinases disassembles nuclei and promotes assembly of kinetochores-the
      primary microtubule attachment sites on chromosomes. At M-phase exit, these major
      changes in cellular architecture must be reversed. Here, we show that the
      conserved kinetochore-localized nucleoporin MEL-28/ELYS docks the catalytic
      subunit of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1c) to direct kinetochore disassembly
      dependent chromosome segregation during oocyte meiosis I and nuclear assembly
      during the transition from M phase to interphase. During oocyte meiosis I, MEL-28
      PP1c disassembles kinetochores in a timely manner to promote elongation of the
      acentrosomal spindles that segregate homologous chromosomes. During nuclear
      assembly, MEL-28 recruits PP1c to the periphery of decondensed chromatin, where
      it directs formation of a functional nuclear compartment. Thus, a pool of
      phosphatase activity associated with a kinetochore-localized nucleoporin
      contributes to two key events that occur during M-phase exit in metazoans:
      kinetochore disassembly and nuclear reassembly.

PMID- 27623382
TI  - A Conserved Role for Girdin in Basal Body Positioning and Ciliogenesis.
AB  - Primary cilia are ubiquitous sensory organelles that mediate diverse signaling
      pathways. Cilia position on the cell surface is determined by the location of the
      basal body (BB) that templates the cilium. The mechanisms that regulate BB
      positioning in the context of ciliogenesis are largely unknown. Here we show that
      the conserved signaling and scaffolding protein Girdin localizes to the proximal
      regions of centrioles and regulates BB positioning and ciliogenesis in
      Caenorhabditis elegans sensory neurons and human RPE-1 cells. Girdin depletion
      alters localization of the intercentriolar linker and ciliary rootlet component
      rootletin, and rootletin knockdown in RPE-1 cells mimics Girdin-dependent
      phenotypes. C. elegans Girdin also regulates localization of the apical junction
      component AJM-1, suggesting that in nematodes Girdin may position BBs via
      rootletin- and AJM-1-dependent anchoring to the cytoskeleton and plasma membrane,
      respectively. Together, our results describe a conserved role for Girdin in BB
      positioning and ciliogenesis.

PMID- 27623383
TI  - Rac1 Controls Both the Secretory Function of the Mammary Gland and Its Remodeling
      for Successive Gestations.
AB  - An important feature of the mammary gland is its ability to undergo repeated
      morphological changes during each reproductive cycle with profound tissue
      expansion in pregnancy and regression in involution. However, the mechanisms that
      determine the tissue's cyclic regenerative capacity remain elusive. We have now
      discovered that Cre-Lox ablation of Rac1 in mammary epithelia causes gross
      enlargement of the epithelial tree and defective alveolar regeneration in a
      second pregnancy. Architectural defects arise because loss of Rac1 disrupts
      clearance in involution following the first lactation. We show that Rac1 is
      crucial for mammary alveolar epithelia to switch from secretion to a phagocytic
      mode and rapidly remove dying neighbors. Moreover, Rac1 restricts the extrusion
      of dying cells into the lumen, thus promoting their eradication by live
      phagocytic neighbors while within the epithelium. Without Rac1, residual milk and
      cell corpses flood the ductal network, causing gross dilation, chronic
      inflammation, and defective future regeneration.

PMID- 27623385
TI  - The association between dry needling-induced twitch response and change in pain
      and muscle function in patients with low back pain: a quasi-experimental study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between dry needling-induced twitch
      response and change in pain, disability, nociceptive sensitivity, and lumbar
      multifidus muscle function, in patients with low back pain (LBP). DESIGN: Quasi
      experimental study. SETTING: Department of Defense Academic Institution.
      PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-six patients with mechanical LBP (38 men, 28 women, age: 41.3
      [9.2] years). INTERVENTIONS: Dry needling treatment to the lumbar multifidus
      muscles between L3 and L5 bilaterally. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Examination
      procedures included numeric pain rating, the Modified Oswestry Disability Index,
      pressure algometry, and real-time ultrasound imaging assessment of lumbar
      multifidus muscle function before and after dry needling treatment. Pain pressure
      threshold (PPT) was used to measure nocioceptive sensitivity. The percent change
      in muscle thickness from rest to contraction was calculated to represent muscle
      function. Participants were dichotomized and compared based on whether or not
      they experienced at least one twitch response on the most painful side and spinal
      level during dry needling. RESULTS: Participants experiencing local twitch
      response during dry needling exhibited greater immediate improvement in lumbar
      multifidus muscle function than participants who did not experience a twitch
      (thickness change with twitch: 12.4 [6]%, thickness change without twitch: 5.7
      [11]%, mean difference adjusted for baseline value, 95%CI: 4.4 [1 to 8]%).
      However, this difference was not present after 1-week, and there were no between
      groups differences in disability, pain intensity, or nociceptive sensitivity.
      CONCLUSIONS: The twitch response during dry needling might be clinically
      relevant, but should not be considered necessary for successful treatment.

PMID- 27623386
TI  - Do COPD patients taught pursed lips breathing (PLB) for dyspnoea management
      continue to use the technique long-term? A mixed methodological study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether COPD patients taught pursed lips breathing
      (PLB) for dyspnoea management continue to use the technique long-term and, if so,
      their experience of this. DESIGN: A mixed methodological approach using semi
      structured telephone interviews, a focus group and observation of current PLB
      technique was used. Qualitative analysis was based on grounded theory. SETTING:
      Participants were recruited from the two inner city London (UK) boroughs.
      PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of 13 patients with COPD taught PLB 6 to 24
      months previously. 11 participants took part in the telephone interviews; focus
      group participation and observed PLB was 5/11 and 6/11 respectively. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: A thematic analysis of interviews and focus group; observation of PLB
      technique. RESULTS: Nine reported on-going use of PLB with 8 reporting definite
      benefit. Observed technique showed ongoing ability for PLB to reduce RR and
      increase SpO2. Four distinct themes emerged from the data: use of PLB when short
      of breath due to physical activity (8/9), increased confidence and reduced panic
      (4/9), use as an exercise (3/9), use at night (3/9). Those that had discontinued
      PLB had done so because it didn't help (2) and they had forgotten/were too busy
      to continue. CONCLUSION: This study found 9 of 13 of patients taught PLB
      continued with long-term use and 8 of 13 reporting definite benefit from PLB. The
      role of PLB in increasing patients' confidence in their ability to manage their
      breathlessness and, use at night, were novel findings.

PMID- 27623387
TI  - Multiple metals exposure, elevated blood glucose and dysglycemia among Chinese
      occupational workers.
AB  - AIMS: Exposure to metals may adversely affect cardiometabolic health. The aim of
      this study is to directly evaluate the roles of multiple metals exposure in
      glucose homeostasis, the dysfunction of which has been linked to diabetes and
      cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis
      of baseline data from 464 metal-exposed workers who participated in a large
      prospective occupational study in China (Jinchang Cohort). The logistic
      regression model was used to evaluate the association between urinary metal
      levels and high fasting plasma glucose (high-FPG) (>= 75th percentile) and
      dysglycemia. RESULTS: Increasing levels of urinary nickel were prospectively
      associated with high-FPG: multivariable odds ratios (ORs) were 1.00 for the 1st
      quartile (lowest), 1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60-2.43) for the 2nd
      quartile, 1.64 (0.78-3.49) for the 3rd quartile and 3.17 (1.38-7.30) for the 4th
      quartile (highest) (P-trend=0.004). The positive associations were also observed
      between urinary zinc and high-FPG (4th vs. 1st quartile=2.71, 95%CI: 1.26-5.84, P
      trend=0.01). Inverse associations between urinary cobalt and risk of high-FPG and
      dysglycemia were observed (P-trend <0.05). For dysglycemia, the positive trends
      of increasing levels of urinary nickel and zinc still remained, although urinary
      nickel was no longer statistically significant. A significant association between
      urinary arsenic and dysglycemia was also found. However, no associations were
      observed between urinary copper, cadmium, and risk of high-FPG or dysglycemia.
      CONCLUSION: Multiple urinary metals, particularly arsenic, nickel, zinc, and
      cobalt, were associated with elevated blood glucose among Chinese occupational
      workers, supporting the notion that metal exposure plays a critical role in the
      development of diabetes.

PMID- 27623384
TI  - PIKfyve Regulates Vacuole Maturation and Nutrient Recovery following Engulfment.
AB  - The scavenging of extracellular macromolecules by engulfment can sustain cell
      growth in a nutrient-depleted environment. Engulfed macromolecules are contained
      within vacuoles that are targeted for lysosome fusion to initiate degradation and
      nutrient export. We have shown that vacuoles containing engulfed material undergo
      mTORC1-dependent fission that redistributes degraded cargo back into the
      endosomal network. Here we identify the lipid kinase PIKfyve as a regulator of an
      alternative pathway that distributes engulfed contents in support of
      intracellular macromolecular synthesis during macropinocytosis, entosis, and
      phagocytosis. We find that PIKfyve regulates vacuole size in part through its
      downstream effector, the cationic transporter TRPML1. Furthermore, PIKfyve
      promotes recovery of nutrients from vacuoles, suggesting a potential link between
      PIKfyve activity and lysosomal nutrient export. During nutrient depletion,
      PIKfyve activity protects Ras-mutant cells from starvation-induced cell death and
      supports their proliferation. These data identify PIKfyve as a critical regulator
      of vacuole maturation and nutrient recovery during engulfment.

PMID- 27623388
TI  - Imbalance between HDAC and HAT activities drives aberrant STAT1/MyD88 expression
      in macrophages from type 1 diabetic mice.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the hypothesis that alteration in histone
      acetylation/deacetylation triggers aberrant STAT1/MyD88 expression in macrophages
      from diabetics. Increased STAT1/MyD88 expression is correlated with sterile
      inflammation in type 1 diabetic (T1D) mice. METHODS: To induce diabetes, we
      injected low-doses of streptozotocin in C57BL/6 mice. Peritoneal or bone marrow
      differentiated macrophages were cultured in 5mM (low) or 25mM (high glucose).
      ChIP analysis of macrophages from nondiabetic or diabetic mice was performed to
      determine acetylation of lysine 9 in histone H3 in MyD88 and STAT1 promoter
      regions. Macrophages from diabetic mice were treated with the histone
      acetyltransferase inhibitor anacardic acid (AA), followed by determination of
      mRNA expression by qPCR. RESULTS: Increased STAT1 and MyD88 expression in
      macrophages from diabetic but not naive mice cultured in low glucose persisted
      for up to 6days. Macrophages from diabetic mice exhibited increased activity of
      histone acetyltransferases (HAT) and decreased histone deacetylases (HDAC)
      activity. We detected increased H3K9Ac binding to Stat1/Myd88 promoters in
      macrophages from T1D mice and AA in vitro treatment reduced STAT1 and MyD88 mRNA
      expression. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: These results indicate that histone
      acetylation drives elevated Stat1/Myd88 expression in macrophages from diabetic
      mice, and this mechanism may be involved in sterile inflammation and diabetes
      comorbidities.

PMID- 27623389
TI  - Corneal thickness differences between type 2 diabetes and non-diabetes subjects
      during preoperative laser surgery examination.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the differences in corneal thickness between type 2 diabetes
      subjects with HbA1c under 7.0% and non-diabetes subjects during their
      preoperative laser surgery examinations. METHODS: The mean of five consecutive
      corneal thickness measurements at the central and mid-peripheral cornea was
      obtained by means of noncontact scanning-slit corneal topography (Orbscan
      Topography System II; Orbscan, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, USA) in 35 myopic non
      insulin dependent type 2 diabetes subjects (17 males and 18 females) and 48
      healthy myopic controls (23 males and 25 females). RESULTS: The corneal thickness
      values at the central and mid-peripheral cornea were significantly higher in the
      diabetic group (p<.001). The diabetic subjects presented the highest thickness
      value in the superior cornea (n=22; 62.9%) followed by the nasal (n=9; 25.7%) and
      the temporal (n=4; 11.4%) cornea, but never in the inferior cornea. The control
      subjects presented the highest thickness value in the superior cornea (n=19;
      39.6%) followed by the nasal (n=18; 37.5%), the inferior (n=6; 12.5%), and the
      temporal (n=3; 6.3%) cornea. The central corneal thickness (CCT) of the diabetes
      patients was not statistically correlated with their HbA1c (r2=.078; p=.104),
      body mass index (r2=.007; p=.633), and time from diagnosis of diabetes (r2=.025;
      p=.363), but it was correlated with their corneal endothelial cell density values
      (r2=.543; p<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes subjects with HbA1c under 7.0% who are
      candidates for laser refractive surgery present thicker corneas than their age
      matched control subjects. In these patients, there is a correlation between their
      CCT values and their corneal endothelial cell density values, so when higher CCT
      values were found, lower corneal endothelial cell density values were observed.

PMID- 27623390
TI  - Increasing the miR-126 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with
      diabetic foot ulcers treated with maggot debridement therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: miR-126 may increase angiogenesis in patients with diabetic foot
      ulcers (DFUs) treated with maggot debridement therapy (MDT). METHODS: Real-time
      quantitative PCR was used to detect expression of miR-126 mRNA in the peripheral
      blood among the non-diabetic population, type 2 diabetes mellitus patients
      without DFU, and patients with DFUs of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The expression
      of miR-126 mRNA in the peripheral blood of patients with DFUs was observed before
      and after MDT. Finally, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were
      utilized to explore miR-126 mRNA expression with maggot excretions/secretions
      (ES). RESULTS: In the patients with DFUs, the miR-126 mRNA expression level in
      the peripheral blood was less than that type 2 diabetes mellitus patients without
      DFU, and much lower than that in the non-diabetic population (P<0.001). The miR
      126 expression level was significantly increased in those DFU patients treated
      with MDT (P<0.05). Finally, using HUVEC co-cultured with ES, we showed the ES
      increased miR-126 expression in vitro (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: MDT upregulates the
      miR-126 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with DFUs.

PMID- 27623392
TI  - Positive feedback role of TRPC3 in TNF-alpha-mediated vasogenic edema formation
      induced by status epilepticus independent of ETB receptor activation.
AB  - Brain-blood barrier (BBB) disruption results in vasogenic edema, which is
      involved in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. Following status epilepticus (SE), up
      regulated transient receptor potential canonical channel-3 (TRPC3), a Ca2+
      permeable cation channels in endothelial cells, is relevant to vasogenic edema
      formation in the rat piriform cortex. In addition, pyrazole-3 (Pyr-3, a TRPC3
      inhibitor) attenuated SE-induced vasogenic edema. However, the upstream
      regulators of TRPC3 expression in vasogenic edema formation have been unclear. In
      the present study, soluble tumor necrosis factor p55 receptor (sTNFp55R, a TNF
      alpha inhibitor), SN50 (a nuclear factor-kappaB (NFkappaB) inhibitor), BQ-788 (an
      endothelin B (ETB) receptor inhibitor) and Pyr-3 effectively prevented vasogenic
      edema following SE. sTNFp55R and SN50 (but not BQ-788) attenuated SE-induced up
      regulation of endothelial TRPC3 expression. Pyr-3 ameliorated SE-induced NFkappaB
      p65-Thr435 phosphorylation and ETB receptor expression. In addition, Pyr-3
      mitigated NFkappaB p65-Thr435 phosphorylation induced by recombinant TNF-alpha.
      These findings indicate that TNF-alpha-mediated NFkappaB p65-Thr435
      phosphorylation may up-regulate TRPC3 expression, which participates in vasogenic
      edema formation via increasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression
      following SE, independent of ETB receptor activation. Therefore, we suggest that
      TRPC3 may be involved in a positive feedback loop of NFkappaB/ETB receptor
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 27623391
TI  - Assessment of the feasibility of using transrectal ultrasound for postimplant
      dosimetry in low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy.
AB  - A study was performed to establish whether transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-based
      postimplant dosimetry (PID) is both practically feasible and comparable to
      computed tomography (CT)-based PID, recommended in current published guidelines.
      In total, 22 patients treated consecutively at a single cancer center with low
      dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy for early-stage prostate cancer had a transrectal
      ultrasound performed immediately after implant (d0-TRUS) and computed tomography
      scan 30 days after implant (d30-CT). Postimplant dosimetry planning was performed
      on both image sets and the results were compared. The interobserver
      reproducibility of the transrectal ultrasound postimplant dosimetry planning
      technique was also assessed. It was noticed that there was no significant
      difference in mean prostate D90 (136.5Gy and 144.4Gy, p = 0.2197), V100 (86.4%
      and 89.1%, p = 0.1480) and V150 (52.0% and 47.8%, p = 0.1657) for d30-CT and d0
      TRUS, respectively. Rectal doses were significantly higher for d0-TRUS than d30
      CT. Urethral doses were available with d0-TRUS only. We have shown that d0-TRUS
      PID is a useful tool for assessing the quality of an implant after low-dose-rate
      prostate brachytherapy and is comparable to d30-CT PID. There are clear
      advantages to its use in terms of resource and time efficiency both for the
      clinical team and the patient.

PMID- 27623393
TI  - Adenosine A1 receptor antagonist mitigates deleterious effects of sleep
      deprivation on adult neurogenesis and spatial reference memory in rats.
AB  - Sleep deprivation (SD) upsurges intracellular levels of adenosine, impairs adult
      neuronal cell proliferation (NCP) and cognition while caffeine, a non-selective
      adenosine A1 receptor (A1R) antagonist improves cognition and adult NCP during
      SD. We examined the selective antagonistic effects of adenosine A1R using 8
      cyclopentyl-1,3-dimethylxanthine (8-CPT) on impairment of spatial reference
      memory and adult NCP during 48h SD. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were sleep
      deprived for 48h, using an automatic cage vibrating stimulus based on animal
      activity. Spatial reference memory was tested as a measure of cognitive
      performance employing Morris Water Maze. Rats were given 8-CPT dissolved in 50%
      dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), twice daily (10mg/kg, i.p.) along with 5-bromo-2
      deoxyuridine (BrdU) (50mg/kg/day, i.p.). The rats treated with 8-CPT showed
      significantly short mean latency and path-length to reach the platform compared
      to the SD rats. Consistent with these findings, 8-CPT-treated group was found to
      have significantly increased the number of BrdU, Ki-67 and doublecortin (DCX)
      positive cells. However, no significant difference was seen in NeuN expression in
      the Dentate Gyrus (DG). Brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) expression in the
      DG and CA1 region was observed to decrease significantly after SD and be rescued
      by 8-CPT treatment. Furthermore, latency to reach platform showed a negative
      correlation with number of BrdU, DCX type-1 cells and BDNF expression in DG.
      Thus, it may be concluded that treatment with 8-CPT, an adenosine A1R antagonist
      during SD mitigates SD induced decline in spatial reference memory and adult NCP
      possibly via up regulation of BDNF levels in DG and CA1 regions.

PMID- 27623394
TI  - Self-Assembled Molecular Gear: A 4:1 Complex of Rh(III)Cl Tetraarylporphyrin and
      Tetra(p-pyridyl)cavitand.
AB  - The components of a 4:1 mixture of Rh(III)Cl tetrakis(4-methylphenyl)porphyrin 1
      and a bowl-shaped tetra(4-pyridyl)cavitand 4 self-assemble into a 4:1 complex
      14*4 via Rh-pyridyl axial coordination bonds. The single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction analysis and variable-temperature (VT) (1)H NMR study of 14*4
      indicated that 14*4 behaves as a quadruple interlocking gear with an inner space,
      wherein (i) four subunits-1 are gear wheels and four p-pyridyl groups in subunit
      4 are axes of gear wheels, (ii) one subunit-1 and two adjacent subunits-1
      interlock with one another cooperatively, and (iii) four subunits-1 in 14*4
      rotate quickly at 298 K on the NMR time scale. Together, the extremely strong
      porphyrin-Rh-pyridyl axial coordination bond, the rigidity of the methylene
      bridge cavitand as a scaffold of the pyridyl axes, and the cruciform arrangement
      of the interdigitating p-tolyl groups as the teeth moiety of the gear wheels in
      the assembling 14-unit make 14*4 function as a quadruple interlocking gear in
      solution. The gear function of 14*4 was also supported by the rotation behaviors
      of other 4:1 complexes: 24*4 and 34*4 obtained from Rh(III)Cl tetrakis[4-(4
      methylphenyl)phenyl]porphyrin 2 or Rh(III)Cl tetrakis(3,5
      dialkoxyphenyl)porphyrin 3 and 4 also served as quadruple interlocking gears,
      whereas 14*5 obtained from 1 and tetrakis[4-(4-pyridyl)phenyl]cavitand 5 did not
      behave as a gear. The results of activation parameters (DeltaH(?), DeltaS(?), and
      DeltaG(?)) obtained from Eyring plots based on line-shape analysis of the VT (1)H
      NMR spectra of 14*4, 24*4, and 34*4 also support the interlocking rotation
      (geared coupled rotation) mechanism.

PMID- 27623395
TI  - Insights into peptide-membrane interactions of newly synthesized, nitroxide
      containing analogs of the peptaibiotic trichogin GA IV using EPR.
AB  - Trichogin GA IV is a short-length (10-amino acid long), mostly hydrophobic,
      peptaibiotic with an N-terminal fatty acyl chain and a C-terminal 1,2-amino
      alcohol. A cardinal role of the terminal moieties in the cytotoxic activity of
      trichogin has been recently found. Previously, peptide orientation and dynamics
      of trichogin analogs in the membrane were studied using methyl ester derivatives.
      Therefore, in the present work we synthesized several trichogin analogs with
      naturally occurring terminal groups to verify whether these moieties have any
      effect on peptide-membrane interaction. These trichogin analogs, both neutral and
      carrying a positively charged Lys residue, bear the nitroxide-containing alpha
      amino acid TOAC to study them using EPR spectroscopy. Vesicles were used to
      investigate orientation and penetration depth of the peptide at room temperature.
      Bicelles were employed to evaluate the order, dynamics, and orientation of the
      peptide at a near physiological temperature. In addition, the position of the N
      terminal 1-octanoyl chain in the membrane was studied by labeling it with a
      nitroxide. The secondary structure of the peptides in vesicles was studied by CD
      spectroscopy showing that they adopt a mostly alpha-helical structure. In
      vesicles, the analogs insert below the lipid headgroups with the helix axis
      oriented parallel to the membrane surface at a peptide-to-lipid (P:L) ratio of
      1:100. The presence of the single, positively charged Lys residue does not alter
      the orientation adopted by the peptides. In bicelles at P:L ratios 1:100 and
      1:60, the peptide adopts a transmembrane orientation characterized by a very low
      orientational order, whereas at a 1:15 P:L ratio it severely disrupts the
      membrane. Our data shows that overall orientation and insertion in model
      membranes of the native trichogin GA IV are strictly comparable to those of its
      methyl ester analogs previously examined.

PMID- 27623396
TI  - A newly developed silymarin nanoformulation as a potential antidiabetic agent in
      experimental diabetes.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to develop a new stable nanoformulation of silymarin (SM)
      with optimum enhanced oral bioavailability and to evaluate its effect as well as
      mechanism of action as a superior antidiabetic agent over native SM using
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SM-loaded pluronic
      nanomicelles (SMnp) were prepared and fully characterized. Biochemical parameters
      were performed as well as histological, confocal and reverse-transcription
      polymerase chain reaction studies on pancreatic target tissues. RESULTS &
      CONCLUSION: SMnp were found to improve significantly the antihyperglycemic,
      antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic properties as compared with native SM. In
      addition, SMnp was found to be a more efficient agent over SM in the management
      of diabetes and its associated complications due to its superior bioavailability
      in vivo, and the controlled release profile of SM. [Formula: see text].

PMID- 27623398
TI  - Characterization of the early local immune response to Ixodes ricinus tick bites
      in human skin.
AB  - Little is known about the immunomodulation by tick saliva during a natural tick
      bite in human skin, the site of the tick-host interaction. We examined the
      expression of chemokines, cytokines and leucocyte markers on the mRNA levels and
      histopathologic changes in human skin biopsies of tick bites (n=37) compared to
      unaffected skin (n=9). Early tick-bite skin lesions (<24 hours of tick
      attachment) were characterized by a predominance of macrophages and dendritic
      cells, elevated mRNA levels of macrophage chemoattractants (CCL2, CCL3, CCL4) and
      neutrophil chemoattractants (CXCL1, CXCL8), of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL
      1beta, and the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-5. In contrast, the numbers of
      lymphocytes and mRNA levels of lymphocyte cell markers (CD4, CD8, CD19),
      lymphocyte chemoattractants (CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, CXCL13, CCL1, CCL22),
      dendritic cell chemoattractants (CCL20), and other pro- (IL-6, IL-12p40, IFN
      gamma, TNF-alpha) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, TGF-beta) did not
      differ from normal skin. With longer tick attachment (>24 hours), the numbers of
      innate immune cells and mediators (not significantly) declined, whereas the
      numbers of lymphocytes (not significantly) increased. Natural tick bites by
      Ixodes ricinus ticks initially elicit a strong local innate immune response in
      human skin. Beyond 24 hours of tick attachment, this response usually becomes
      less, perhaps because of immunomodulation by tick saliva.

PMID- 27623397
TI  - Impact of Alzheimer's Disease, Lewy Body and Vascular Co-Pathologies on Clinical
      Transition to Dementia in a National Autopsy Cohort.
AB  - AIMS: We examined the effect of vascular or Lewy body co-pathologies in subjects
      with autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the rate of cognitive and
      functional decline and transition to dementia. METHODS: In an autopsy sample of
      prospectively characterized subjects from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating
      Center database, neuropathology diagnosis was used to define the groups of pure
      AD (pAD, n = 84), mixed vascular and AD (ADV, n = 54), and mixed Lewy body
      disease and AD (ADLBD, n = 31). Subjects had an initial Clinical Dementia Rating
      Global (CDR-G) score <1, Mini-Mental State Examination >=15, a final visit CDR-G
      >1, >=3 evaluations, and Braak tangle stage >=III. We compared the rate of
      cognitive and functional decline between the groups. RESULTS: The rate of
      functional and cognitive decline was lower for ADV, and ADV patients had less
      severe deficits on CDR-G and the CDR-Sum of Boxes scores at the last visit than
      pAD and ADLBD patients. No significant differences were noted between ADLBD and
      pAD patients. After controlling for age at death, the odds of reaching CDR >=1 at
      the last visit were lower in the ADV subjects compared to the pAD subjects.
      CONCLUSIONS: The mean rate of functional and cognitive decline among ADV subjects
      was slower than among either pAD or ADLBD patients. Vascular pathology did not
      increase the odds of attaining CDR >=1 when occurring with AD in this national
      cohort.

PMID- 27623399
TI  - ICD risk stratification studies - EU-CERT-ICD and the European perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE: In patients with ischemic or non-ischemic
      cardiomyopathy and impaired left ventricular ejection fraction, treatment with
      implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has been shown to improve survival
      and guidelines recommend their use for primary prevention of sudden cardiac
      death. Experts disagree regarding the validity of decade-old trial results as the
      basis for this recommendation, therefore, reconsideration of prophylactic ICD
      treatment is needed. EU-CERT-ICD, DANISH-ICD AND DO-IT: In order to update the
      evidence on prophylactic ICD treatment, several prospective studies are underway
      in Europe. The prospective EU-CERT-ICD cohort study (NCT 02064192) is enrolling
      2500 patients and compares patients undergoing first ICD implantation with
      controls with an earlier clinical decision to go without ICD implantation
      strictly unrelated to the study. The DANISH ICD study (NCT 00542945) has
      randomized 1000 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and an LVEF <=35% (1:1 ICD
      implantation vs. control). The prospective DO-IT multicenter registry will
      include 1500 ICD patients in multiple Dutch high-volume implanting centers. Due
      to the widespread use of ICD therapy, new randomized trials seem not
      straightforward to envisage in many countries. CONCLUSION: The above described
      ICD studies will provide additional evidence regarding the effectiveness of
      primary prophylactic ICDs in Europe and may have an impact on ICD treatment
      guidelines. They could also help to design randomized trials in low risk
      patients.

PMID- 27623401
TI  - Corrigendum to "FUTURE-2: Results from an open-label, long-term safety and
      tolerability extension study using the pediatric FormUlation of bosenTan in
      pUlmonary arterial hypeRtEnsion" [Int. J. Cardiol. 202 (2016) 52-58].

PMID- 27623400
TI  - Unplanned transfer from the telemetry unit to the intensive care unit in
      hospitalized patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most patients presenting with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS)
      are admitted to telemetry units. While telemetry is an appropriate level of care,
      acute complications requiring a higher level of care in the intensive care unit
      (ICU) occur. PURPOSE: Among patients admitted to telemetry for suspected ACS, we
      determine the frequency of unplanned ICU transfer, and examine whether ECG
      changes indicative of myocardial ischemia, and/or symptoms preceded unplanned
      transfer. METHOD: This was a secondary analysis from a study assessing occurrence
      rates for transient myocardial ischemia (TMI) using a 12-lead Holter. Clinicians
      were blinded to Holter data as it was used in the context research; off-line
      analysis was performed post discharge. Hospital telemetry monitoring was
      maintained as per hospital protocol. TMI was defined as >1mm ST-segment ? or ?,
      in >1 ECG lead, >1minute. Symptoms were assessed by chart review. RESULTS: In 409
      patients (64+/-13years), most were men (60%), Caucasian (93%), and had a history
      of coronary artery disease (47%). Unplanned transfer to the ICU occurred in 9
      (2.2%), was equivalent by gender, and age (no transfer 64+/-13years vs transfer
      67+/-11years). Four patients were transferred following unsuccessful percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI) attempt, four due to recurrent angina, and one due to
      renal and hepatic failure. Mean time from admission to transfer was 13+/-6hours,
      mean time to ECG detected ischemia was 6+/-5hours, and 8.8+/-5hours for symptoms
      prompting transfer. In two patients ECG detected ischemia and acute symptoms
      prompting transfer were simultaneous. In five patients, ECG detected ischemia was
      clinically silent. All patients eventually had symptoms that prompted transfer to
      the ICU. In all nine patients, there was no documentation or nursing notes
      regarding bedside ECG monitor changes prior to unplanned transfer. Hospital
      length of stay was longer in the unplanned transfer group (2days +/- 2 versus
      6days +/- 4; p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with suspected ACS, while
      unplanned transfer from telemetry to ICU is uncommon, it is associated with
      prolonged hospitalization. Two primary scenarios were identified; (1) following
      unsuccessful PCI, and (2) recurrent angina. Symptoms prompting unplanned transfer
      occurred, but happened on average 8.8 hours after hospital admission; whereas ECG
      detected ischemia preceding unplanned transfer occurred on average 6 hours after
      hospital admission.

PMID- 27623402
TI  - Hyperparasitism by the bacteriophage (Caudovirales) infecting Candidatus
      Xenohaliotis californiensis (Rickettsiales-like prokaryote) parasite of wild
      abalone Haliotis fulgens and Haliotis corrugata from the Peninsula of Baja
      California, Mexico.
AB  - Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis (CXc) is a Rickettsiales-like prokaryote
      that is considered the causal agent of Withering Syndrome (WS), a chronic disease
      of abalone, from the west coast of North America and it is listed by the
      International Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as a reportable agent due to
      its pathogenicity. This bacterium in red abalone Haliotis rufescens, black
      abalone Haliotis cracherodii, and yellow abalone Haliotis corrugata from
      California, US and Baja California, Mexico has been found to be infected by a
      bacteriophage. To date, there is no information on the epizootiology of CXc and
      its bacteriophage in natural populations of abalone; furthermore, it is unknown
      if the bacteriophage was also present in CXc infecting blue abalone Haliotis
      fulgens. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution,
      prevalence and intensity of CXc, as well as to determine the distribution and
      prevalence of the bacteriophage and to study interactions between host sex and
      hyperparasitism in blue abalone and yellow abalone. Tissue samples were obtained
      from seven localities where the commercial capture of wild abalone is carried
      out. Samplings were conducted throughout the 2012-2013 capture seasons and a
      total of 182 blue abalone and 170 yellow abalone were obtained. The prevalence
      and intensity of CXc and the prevalence of the bacteriophage were determined by
      histology. The identity of CXc was confirmed by PCR, product sequence analysis
      and in situ hybridization while the identity of the bacteriophage was
      corroborated by TEM. The prevalence of CXc infected and uninfected by the
      bacteriophage was 80% in blue abalone and 62% in yellow abalone. Low infection
      intensities were found in 86% of blue abalone and 82% of yellow abalone.
      Infection intensity was significantly higher in undifferentiated yellow abalone.
      The bacteriophage in CXc showed a prevalence of 22% and 31% in blue abalone and
      yellow abalone respectively. These results show that CXc and its bacteriophage
      are widely distributed in the peninsula of Baja California and that they are well
      established in natural populations of blue abalone and yellow abalone.
      Additionally, this data constitutes the first record of a bacteriophage in blue
      abalone.

PMID- 27623403
TI  - Both Generic and Protein-Specific Tolerance Predictors Are Needed.

PMID- 27623404
TI  - Cancer Genetics May Aid Diagnostics of Developmental Disorders.

PMID- 27623405
TI  - Gram-Negative Resistance.

PMID- 27623407
TI  - Investigational Agents for the Treatment of Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections: A
      Reality Check.
AB  - Antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are, arguably, the most difficult
      organisms to treat, with a limited number of new antibiotics in the development
      pipeline. Currently 24 new agents in phase 1, phase 2, or phase 3 clinical
      development were identified for the potential treatment of infections caused by
      Gram-negative bacteria. Of these agents, most are improved iterations of known
      antibiotic classes, including new aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, beta-lactamase
      inhibitors, quinolones, and tetracyclines with greater potency or a broader
      spectrum of activity. However, novel structures also appear, with host defense
      peptide mimetics, boronic acid, and bridged diazabicyclooctane beta-lactamase
      inhibitors and unique bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors. Most of the new agents
      have received a Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation that may
      help to accelerate FDA drug approvals. Because resistance will inevitably arise
      to any antibacterial agent, it will be necessary to continue to identify
      additional new agents in the future. 

PMID- 27623408
TI  - Zinc Chelation by a Small-Molecule Adjuvant Potentiates Meropenem Activity in
      Vivo against NDM-1-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae.
AB  - The widespread emergence of antibiotic drug resistance has resulted in a
      worldwide healthcare crisis. In particular, the extensive use of beta-lactams, a
      highly effective class of antibiotics, has been a driver for pervasive beta
      lactam resistance. Among the most important resistance determinants are the
      metallo-beta-lactamases (MBL), which are zinc-requiring enzymes that inactivate
      nearly all classes of beta-lactams, including the last-resort carbapenem
      antibiotics. The urgent need for new compounds targeting MBL resistance
      mechanisms has been widely acknowledged; however, the development of certain
      types of compounds-namely metal chelators-is actively avoided due to host
      toxicity concerns. The work herein reports the identification of a series of zinc
      selective spiro-indoline-thiadiazole analogues that, in vitro, potentiate beta
      lactam antibiotics against an MBL-carrying pathogen by withholding zinc
      availability. This study demonstrates the ability of one such analogue to inhibit
      NDM-1 in vitro and, using a mouse model of infection, shows that combination
      treatment of the respective analogue with meropenem results in a significant
      decrease in bacterial burden in contrast to animals that received antibiotic
      treatment alone. These results support the therapeutic potential of these
      chelators in overcoming antibiotic resistance. 

PMID- 27623410
TI  - Gene Expression Variability Underlies Adaptive Resistance in Phenotypically
      Heterogeneous Bacterial Populations.
AB  - The root cause of the antibiotic resistance crisis is the ability of bacteria to
      evolve resistance to a multitude of antibiotics and other environmental toxins.
      The regulation of adaptation is difficult to pinpoint due to extensive phenotypic
      heterogeneity arising during evolution. Here, we investigate the mechanisms
      underlying general bacterial adaptation by evolving wild-type Escherichia coli
      populations to dissimilar chemical toxins. We demonstrate the presence of
      extensive inter- and intrapopulation phenotypic heterogeneity across adapted
      populations in multiple traits, including minimum inhibitory concentration,
      growth rate, and lag time. To search for a common response across the
      heterogeneous adapted populations, we measured gene expression in three stress
      response networks: the mar regulon, the general stress response, and the SOS
      response. While few genes were differentially expressed, clustering revealed that
      interpopulation gene expression variability in adapted populations was distinct
      from that of unadapted populations. Notably, we observed both increases and
      decreases in gene expression variability upon adaptation. Sequencing select genes
      revealed that the observed gene expression trends are not necessarily
      attributable to genetic changes. To further explore the connection between gene
      expression variability and adaptation, we propagated single-gene knockout and
      CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) interference
      strains and quantified impact on adaptation to antibiotics. We identified
      significant correlations that suggest genes with low expression variability have
      greater impact on adaptation. This study provides evidence that gene expression
      variability can be used as an indicator of bacterial adaptive resistance, even in
      the face of the pervasive phenotypic heterogeneity underlying adaptation. 

PMID- 27623411
TI  - ABM Clinical Protocol #23: Nonpharmacological Management of Procedure-Related
      Pain in the Breastfeeding Infant, Revised 2016.
AB  - A central goal of The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is the development of
      clinical protocols for managing common medical problems that may impact
      breastfeeding success. These protocols serve only as guidelines for the care of
      breastfeeding mothers and infants and do not delineate an exclusive course of
      treatment or serve as standards of medical care. Variations in treatment may be
      appropriate according to the needs of an individual patient. These guidelines are
      not intended to be all-inclusive, but to provide a basic framework for physician
      education regarding breastfeeding.

PMID- 27623409
TI  - Bisthiazolidines: A Substrate-Mimicking Scaffold as an Inhibitor of the NDM-1
      Carbapenemase.
AB  - Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria resistant to almost all beta-lactam antibiotics
      are a major public health threat. Zn(II)-dependent or metallo-beta-lactamases
      (MBLs) produced by these bacteria inactivate most beta-lactam antibiotics,
      including the carbapenems, which are "last line therapies" for life-threatening
      Gram-negative infections. NDM-1 is a carbapenemase belonging to the MBL family
      that is rapidly spreading worldwide. Regrettably, inhibitors of MBLs are not yet
      developed. Here we present the bisthiazolidine (BTZ) scaffold as a structure with
      some features of beta-lactam substrates, which can be modified with metal-binding
      groups to target the MBL active site. Inspired by known interactions of MBLs with
      beta-lactams, we designed four BTZs that behave as in vitro NDM-1 inhibitors with
      Ki values in the low micromolar range (from 7 +/- 1 to 19 +/- 3 MUM). NMR
      spectroscopy demonstrated that they inhibit hydrolysis of imipenem in NDM-1
      producing Escherichia coli. In vitro time kill cell-based assays against a
      variety of bacterial strains harboring blaNDM-1 including Acinetobacter baumannii
      show that the compounds restore the antibacterial activity of imipenem. A crystal
      structure of the most potent heterocycle (L-CS319) in complex with NDM-1 at 1.9 A
      resolution identified both structural determinants for inhibitor binding and
      opportunities for further improvements in potency. 

PMID- 27623412
TI  - Impacts of combined sewer overflows on a large urban river - Understanding the
      effect of different management strategies.
AB  - To support decision makers in planning effective combined sewer overflow (CSO)
      management strategies an integrated modelling and impact assessment approach has
      been developed and applied for a large urban area in Berlin, Germany. It consists
      of an urban drainage model, a river water quality model and a tool for the
      quantification of adverse dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions in the river, one of
      the main stressors for urban lowland rivers. The coupled model was calibrated
      successfully with average Nash-Sutcliffe-efficiencies for DO in the river of 0.61
      and 0.70 for two validation years. Moreover, the whole range of observed DO
      concentrations after CSO down to 0 mg L-1 is simulated by the model. A local
      sensitivity analysis revealed that in the absence of CSO dissolved oxygen
      principally depends on phytoplankton dynamics. Regarding CSO impacts, it was
      shown that 97% of the observed DO deficit can be explained by the three processes
      (i) mixing of river water with CSO spill water poor in DO, (ii) reduced
      phytoplankton activity due to CSO-induced turbidity and (iii) degradation of
      organic matter by heterotrophic bacteria. As expected, process (iii) turned out
      to be the most important one. However depending on the time lag after CSO the
      other processes can become dominant. Given the different involved processes, we
      found that different mitigation schemes tested in a scenario analysis can reduce
      the occurrence of critical DO deficits in the river by 30-70%. Overall, the study
      demonstrates that integrated sewer-river-models can be set up to represent CSO
      impacts under complex urban conditions. However, a significant effort in
      monitoring and modelling is a requisite for achieving reliable results.

PMID- 27623413
TI  - The control of N-nitrosodimethylamine, Halonitromethane, and Trihalomethane
      precursors by Nanofiltration.
AB  - Nanofiltration (NF) is a promising technology for removing precursors of
      disinfection byproducts (DBPs) from source waters prior to oxidant addition in
      water treatment. The aims of this study were to investigate (i) the removal
      efficiencies of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), halonitromethane (HNM), and
      trihalomethane (THM) precursors by NF membranes from different source water types
      (i.e. surface water, wastewater impacted surface water, and municipal and
      industrial wastewater treatment effluents), (ii) the impact of membrane type, and
      (iii) the effects of background water components (i.e., pH, ionic strength, and
      Ca2+) on the removal of selected DBP precursors from different source waters. The
      results showed the overall precursor removal efficiencies were 57-83%, 48-87%,
      and 72-97% for NDMA, HNM, and THM precursors, respectively. The removal of NDMA
      precursors decreased with the increases in average molecular weight cut off and
      negative surface charge of NF membranes tested, while the removal of THM
      precursors was slightly affected. pH changes increased the removal of NDMA
      precursors, but pH did not affect the removal of THM and HNM precursors in
      municipal WWTP effluent. On the other hand, pH changes had little or no effect on
      DBP removal from industrial WWTP effluent. In addition, regardless of the
      membrane type or background water type/characteristics, ionic strength did not
      show any impact on DBP precursor removals. Lastly, an increase in Ca2+
      concentration enhanced the removal of NDMA precursors while a slight decrease and
      no effect was observed for THM and HNM precursors, respectively, in municipal
      WWTP effluent.

PMID- 27623415
TI  - Management of Foreign Body Removal in Children by Flexible Bronchoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rigid bronchoscopy remains the gold standard in many countries to
      remove airway foreign bodies (FBs). We aimed to analyze the feasibility of airway
      FB removal in children, primarily by flexible bronchoscopy through a laryngeal
      mask. METHODS: Between 2008 and 2013, 62 children with suspected airway FB who
      underwent flexible bronchoscopy were analyzed in a retrospective chart review at
      a tertiary university hospital with respect to clinical presentation and medical
      management. RESULTS: In 28/62 children (45.2%) an airway FB could be found and in
      all patients removed by flexible bronchoscopy. Additional 19/34 children (55.8%),
      in which no FB was found, showed macroscopic evidence of prior FB aspiration. The
      most frequently removed airway FBs were nuts (13/28; 46.4%) followed by other
      organic airway FBs (9/28; 32.2%) and nonorganic airway FBs (6/28; 21.4%). All FBs
      were uneventfully removed with a grasping forceps (16/28; 57.1%), basket forceps
      (9/28; 32.2%), suction (2/28; 7.1%), or polypectomy snare (1/28; 3.6%). Children
      with proven airway FB were significantly younger than children without an airway
      FB (24 vs. 27 mo). Adjuvant antibiotic therapy was given in 15/28 (53.6%)
      children with proven airway FB and 13/34 (38.2%) without, steroids in 24/28
      (85.7%) and 21/34 (61.8%), respectively. In 6/28 (9.7%) children epinephrine
      intrabronchial was used to mobilize the airway FB during bronchoscopy.
      CONCLUSION: In an optimized clinical setting, flexible bronchoscopy can be
      regarded as a feasible procedure to remove airway FB through a laryngeal mask.
      Short-term and long-term outcome is favorable.

PMID- 27623414
TI  - Validation of a new domiciliary diagnosis device for automatic diagnosis of
      patients with clinical suspicion of OSA.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnoea is a prevalent and
      considerably underdiagnosed disease. The development of cost-effective, home
      based, automatic diagnostic devices to improve the diagnosis accessibility is
      therefore essential. METHODS: In this study, a new portable polygraph (BTI-APNiA)
      was used to validate automatic scoring. This five-channel device records
      respiratory flow, oxygen saturation, heart rate, body position and snoring. The
      validation was performed in two phases. In the first phase, manual and automatic
      scorings of a new respiratory polygraphy (RP) device (BTI-APNiA) were compared.
      In the second phase, automatic analysis performed with BTI-APNiA was compared
      with manual scoring of a validated RP device (Embletta Gold). RESULTS: Phase I
      was completed by 424 patients (50.5% males, 52.2 +/- 12.4 years, BMI of 25.4 +/-
      4.8 kg/m2 and Epworth Sleepiness Scale score of 8.0 +/- 4.0). Manual and
      automatic analysis resulted in an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) of 13.7 +/- 12.7
      and 14.0 +/- 12.5 (P > 0.05), respectively. The interclass correlation
      coefficient (ICC) was 0.99 (P < 0.001). During Phase II, 28 patients were
      evaluated (72.0% men, 49.1 +/- 10.9 years, BMI of 27.1 +/- 4.2 kg/m2 and Epworth
      Sleepiness Scale score of 7.5 +/- 4.2). Manual analysis of Embletta Gold
      recordings indicated an AHI of 12.3 +/- 14.0, while automatic analysis of the BTI
      APNiA was 13.4 +/- 14.7 (P > 0.05). The ICC was 0.68 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The
      automatic analysis of the BTI-APNiA is as accurate as manual analysis of AHI.
      This automatic analysis compared well with the manual analysis of a validated RP
      device (Embletta Gold).

PMID- 27623416
TI  - Small Sample Lung Biopsy Findings in Patients With Clinicoradiologic Suspicion of
      Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease-Pulmonary Capillary Hemangiomatosis.
AB  - Pulmonary venoocclusive disease (PVOD) and pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis
      (PCH) form a sinister subgroup of pulmonary arterial hypertension where the
      predominant pathology lies in the pulmonary veins and capillaries, thus making
      the use of pulmonary vasodilators potentially dangerous in these patients.
      Radiologically, the presence of centrilobular nodules, interlobular septal
      thickening, and significant mediastinal adenopathy are useful in identifying this
      subgroup from patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The combination of
      all three has a sensitivity of 66% and a specificity of 100% in identifying this
      subgroup. We present a case series of 3 patients who were radiologically
      suspected to have PVOD or PCH and in whom pathologic corroborative evidence
      suggestive of PVOD and PCH was found in small sample lung biopsy specimens:
      transbronchial lung biopsy (2 patients) and trucut biopsy of the postmortem lung
      (1 patient). Histopathology, in our patients, showed pulmonary arteriole smooth
      muscle proliferation and narrowing, capillary proliferation, intimal fibrosis of
      pulmonary veins and arteries, interstitial fibrosis, interstitial foreign body
      type of multinucleate giant cells, and aggregates of alveolar and interstitial
      hemosiderophages. In conclusion, histopathology of small lung biopsy samples can
      provide useful corroborative pathologic evidence in patients with
      clinicoradiologic suspicion of PVOD-PCH.

PMID- 27623417
TI  - Bronchoscopic Findings in a Patient With Alkaptonuria: Black Bronchoscopy.

PMID- 27623418
TI  - Intractable Pneumothorax Treated With Endobronchial Watanabe Spigots.
AB  - Pneumothorax secondary to nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease is often
      intractable and associated with high mortality. An endobronchial Watanabe spigot
      (EWS) is a silicon plug developed for bronchoscopic bronchial occlusion. Here we
      report a case of intractable pneumothorax secondary to nontuberculous
      mycobacterial lung disease successfully treated using EWSs. Occlusion of the
      multiple ectatic bronchi connected to the bronchopleural fistula was essential
      for optimal effect of the EWSs.

PMID- 27623419
TI  - Incidental Life-Threatening Diagnosis During Endobronchial Ultrasound
      Bronchoscopy.

PMID- 27623420
TI  - Congestive Adenopathy: A Mediastinal Sequela of Volume Overload.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endosonography has improved our ability to reach thoracic lymph nodes
      and to diagnose pathologic conditions with nodal involvement and has lowered the
      threshold for biopsy. The purpose of this study was to avoid unnecessary
      procedures, it is important to recognize benign adenopathy. Congestive heart
      failure (CHF) is both common and a common cause of adenopathy. The purpose of
      this study was to study the association between CHF and adenopathy and to
      describe the typical presentation of congestive adenopathy. METHODS: We performed
      a retrospective correlation of computed tomographic (CT) and laboratory findings
      for patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of CHF. RESULTS: Of 500
      patients admitted with a diagnosis of CHF, 215 appeared to have CT scans of the
      chest, and not to have a potentially confounding etiology of adenopathy. The
      incidence of adenopathy in this study group was 68%. Pulmonary edema on CT and
      pleural effusion were both significantly associated with adenopathy (P<0.01 for
      both). The pattern of congestive adenopathy was one of enlargement of several
      mediastinal nodes and less likely to involve hilar nodes and single stations in
      isolation. CONCLUSION: Congestive adenopathy is common in patients with evidence
      for acute volume overload. The pattern of presentation should allow clinicians to
      recognize congestive adenopathy and to separate it from other adenopathy for
      which biopsy might be appropriate.

PMID- 27623421
TI  - Diagnostic Yield of Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy Using a Curved-tip
      Catheter to Aid in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) may aid in the
      diagnosis of solitary pulmonary lesions with a lower complication rate than
      conventional diagnostic modalities. A curved-tip catheter is now available for
      use with ENB; however, the diagnostic yield of this device has not been
      previously reported. METHODS: A single-center, single-operator retrospective
      chart review was performed on patients who underwent ENB for the diagnosis of
      pulmonary lesions. A curved-tip catheter was used in all procedures; angle
      options were chosen depending on lesion location. After navigation to the target
      lesion, fine-needle aspiration, brushings, biopsies, and bronchoalveolar lavage
      were performed in all patients. Correct localization was confirmed with
      fluoroscopy. RESULTS: Thirty-one consecutive patients underwent ENB between
      February and October 2014. The mean lesion size was 1.8 cm (range, 0.4 to 4.0 cm)
      and 35% were in the right upper lobe. The probe tip was navigated to the target
      lesion in all cases. A diagnosis was obtained in 30/31 patients (96.8%). Twenty
      two (71%) had a definitive histologic diagnosis of malignancy. One case was
      nondiagnostic requiring a repeat fine-needle aspiration. The remaining 8
      nonmalignant cases were followed radiologically and demonstrated no progression
      of lesion size through at least 1 year. Fiducials were placed in 48% of cases.
      There were 2 pneumothoraces (6.5%), one of which required chest tube placement
      (3.2%). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the curved-tip catheter is a useful
      modality for diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions with ENB. The diagnostic
      yield of ENB using this catheter was superior to that reported in other studies
      utilizing straight catheters.

PMID- 27623422
TI  - Tracheobronchial Airway Necrosis: An Atypical Presentation of Recurrent
      Osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27623425
TI  - Data: The good, the bad, and the ugly.

PMID- 27623423
TI  - Intrabronchial Voriconazole is a Safe and Effective Measure for Hemoptysis
      Control in Pulmonary Aspergilloma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemoptysis is common in pulmonary aspergilloma. Current treatment
      modalities such as surgical resection or bronchial artery embolization (BAE) are
      limited by lack of technical expertise and risk of recurrence, respectively. We
      describe our experience of treating aspergilloma and hemoptysis with
      bronchoscopic instillation of voriconazole. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      records of patients with symptomatic aspergilloma undergoing bronchoscopic
      voriconazole instillation. Four sessions were carried out at weekly intervals
      using 400 mg voriconazole dissolved in 20 mL 0.9% normal saline. RESULTS: A total
      of 82 subjects were evaluated [66 males; mean (SD) age, 43.2 (14.1) y]. The
      commonest underlying etiology was posttubercular sequelae (95.1%). Of these, 18
      patients (22%) had BAE within the last 1 year. The mean (SD) size of aspergilloma
      was 4.5 cm (1.5 cm). Following voriconazole instillation, 25 patients (30.5%) had
      significant resolution of hemoptysis after first session, and 52 patients (68.3%)
      after the second session. Transient postprocedure cough (n=38; 46.3%) was the
      commonest procedure-related adverse event. Follow-up CT (n=47) showed reduction
      in aspergilloma size in 54% and no change in 40.4%. The median (IQR) hemoptysis
      free period was 12 months (IQR, 9 to 15.5 mo). Recurrence of significant
      hemoptysis occurred in 24 (29.3%) patients during a median follow-up of 14.5
      months (IQR, 9-18 mo). A history of prior BAE and baseline aspergilloma size were
      significantly associated with recurrence of significant hemoptysis. CONCLUSION:
      Intrabronchial voriconazole instillation seems to be a safe and effective
      modality for hemoptysis control in pulmonary aspergilloma.

PMID- 27623426
TI  - Care transitions at the end of life.

PMID- 27623428
TI  - Measuring Visual Memory in Its Native Format.

PMID- 27623429
TI  - Incidence of Modern Alumina Ceramic and Alumina Matrix Composite Femoral Head
      Failures in Nearly 6 Million Hip Implants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of improvements in ceramic materials and manufacturing, the
      incidence of ceramic failures has decreased over time. Recent concerns with
      corrosion have contributed to an increase in ceramic ball head utilization. The
      purpose of this study is to report the incidence of modern alumina bearing
      failures from a single major ceramic manufacturer in nearly 6 million hip
      implants and to identify trends in the modes of failure of these implants.
      METHODS: Beginning in the year 2000, CeramTec AG (Plochingen, Germany) began a
      comprehensive program for reporting and gathering failure data on its products.
      From January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2013, over 3.2 million pure alumina (PA)
      and 2.78 million alumina matrix composite (AMC) ceramic ball heads were implanted
      worldwide. During this period, there were 672 PA and 28 AMC femoral head
      fractures. The fractures were analyzed with respect to time to failure, head
      size, and implant factors. RESULTS: The incidence of clinical fractures of modern
      PA femoral heads and AMC femoral heads was 1 in 5000 (0.0201%) and 1 in 100,000
      (0.0010%), respectively (P < .0001). The majority of implant failures (80%)
      occurred within 48 months following surgery (P < .01). Fractures were usually
      associated with specific events such as trauma, mismatched components, and
      dislocations. Large-diameter PA heads were associated with a lower rate of
      fracture compared to smaller-diameter femoral heads (0.0316% for 28-mm heads vs
      0.0080% for heads 32 mm or greater [P < .01]). Similar trends were observed with
      AMC heads. The neck lengths of the femoral ball heads were also a factor: a short
      taper 28-mm ball head was more likely to fracture compared to other neck lengths
      (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Modern PA ceramic heads are reliable with extremely low
      risk of fracture. The reliability is even better with AMC heads.

PMID- 27623427
TI  - Long-term effects of chronic nicotine on emotional and cognitive behaviors and
      hippocampus cell morphology in mice: comparisons of adult and adolescent nicotine
      exposure.
AB  - Nicotine dependence is associated with increased risk for emotional, cognitive
      and neurological impairments later in life. This study investigated the long-term
      effects of nicotine exposure during adolescence and adulthood on measures of
      depression, anxiety, learning and hippocampal pyramidal cell morphology. Mice
      (C57BL/6J) received saline or nicotine for 12 days via pumps implanted on
      postnatal day 32 (adolescent) or 54 (adults). Thirty days after cessation of
      nicotine/saline, mice were tested for learning using contextual fear
      conditioning, depression-like behaviors using the forced swim test or anxiety
      like behaviors with the elevated plus maze. Brains from nicotine- or saline
      exposed mice were processed with Golgi stain for whole neuron reconstruction in
      the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus. Results demonstrate higher depression
      like responses in both adolescent and adult mice when tested during acute
      nicotine withdrawal. Heightened depression-like behaviors persisted when tested
      after 30 days of nicotine abstinence in mice exposed as adolescents, but not
      adults. Adult, but not adolescent, exposure to nicotine resulted in increased
      open-arm time when tested after 30 days of abstinence. Nicotine exposure during
      adolescence caused deficits in contextual fear learning indicated by lower levels
      of freezing to the context as compared with controls when tested 30 days later.
      In addition, reduced dendritic length and complexity in the apical CA1 branches
      in adult mice exposed to nicotine during adolescence were found. These results
      demonstrate that nicotine exposure and withdrawal can have long-term effects on
      emotional and cognitive functioning, particularly when nicotine exposure occurs
      during the critical period of adolescence.

PMID- 27623430
TI  - The anatomy of the thrips Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Thysanoptera, Thripidae)
      and its specific features caused by miniaturization.
AB  - A new set of data on the internal and external structure of the adult and larva
      of the thrips Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouche, 1833) is presented. The
      structure of the internal systems of this thrips was revealed using modern
      methods of 3D computer modelling. The changes in shape and relative size are
      discussed as an outcome of miniaturization in comparison to the supposed ancestor
      of this species. The layout of the internal systems of thrips is compared to
      those of other insects similar in size: beetles of the families Ptiliidae and
      Corylophidae and wasps of the families Mymaridae and Trichogrammatidae.

PMID- 27623431
TI  - Cardiotoxic effects of the Vipera ammodytes ammodytes venom fractions in the
      isolated perfused rat heart.
AB  - The nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes ammodytes) is the most venomous European
      snake. Its venom is known as haematotoxic, myotoxic and neurotoxic but it exerts
      also cardiotoxic effects. To further explore the cardiotoxicity of the venom we
      separated it into four fractions by gel filtration chromatography. Three
      fractions that contain polypeptides (A, B, and C) were tested for their effects
      on isolated rat heart. Heart rate (HR), incidence of arrhythmias
      (atrioventricular (AV) blocks, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation,
      and asystolia), coronary flow (CF), systolic, developed and diastolic left
      ventricular pressure (LVP) were measured before, during, and after the
      application of venom fractions in three different concentrations. Fraction A,
      containing proteins of 60-100 kDa, displayed no effect on the rat heart.
      Fractions B and C disturbed heart functioning in similar way, but with different
      potency that was higher by the latter. This was manifested by significant
      decrease of HR and CF, the increase of diastolic, and the decrease of systolic
      and developed LVPs. All hearts treated with fraction C in the final CF
      concentrations 22.5 and 37.5 MUg/mL suffered rapid and irreversible asystolia
      without AV blockade. They underwent also ventricular fibrillation and ventricular
      tachycardia. Fraction B affected hearts only at the highest dose inducing
      asystolia in all hearts, ventricular fibrillation in 80% and ventricular
      tachycardia in 70% of the hearts. Venom fraction C induced 71% of all recorded
      heart rhythm disturbances, significantly more than fraction B, which induced 29%.
      Most abundant proteins in fraction C were secreted phospholipases A2 among which
      the venom component acting on the heart is most probably to be looked for.

PMID- 27623432
TI  - Vitamin K for Newborns.

PMID- 27623433
TI  - The influence of protein malnutrition on biological and immunomodulatory aspects
      of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Tissues that require a great supply of nutrients and possess high metabolic
      demands, such as lympho-hemopoietics tissues, are the first to be affected by
      protein malnutrition (PM). Thus, PM directly affects hemopoiesis and the
      production and function of immune cells. Consequently, malnourished individuals
      are more susceptible to infections. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have
      immunomodulatory properties and are important in the formation of lympho
      hemopoietic stroma. Since an adequate supply of nutrients is essential to sustain
      stroma formation, which is mainly constituted of MSCs and differentiated cells
      originated from them, this study investigated whether PM would influence some
      biological and immunomodulatory aspects of MSCs. Two-month-old Balb/c mice were
      divided into control and malnourished groups receiving normoproteic or
      hypoproteic diets, respectively (12% and 2% of protein) for 28 days. MSCs
      obtained from control (MSCct) and malnourished (MSCmaln) animals were
      characterized. In addition, the proliferation rate and cell cycle protein
      expression were determined, but no differences in these parameters were observed.
      In order to evaluate whether PM affects the immunomodulatory properties of MSCs,
      the expression of NFkappaB and STAT-3, and the production of IL-1alpha, IL-1beta,
      IL-6, IL-10, TGF-beta and TNF-alpha by MSCs were assessed. MSCmaln expressed
      lower levels of NF-kappaB and the production of IL-1beta, IL-6 and TGF-beta was
      significantly influenced by PM. Furthermore, MSCct and MSCmaln culture
      supernatants affected lymphocyte and macrophage proliferation. However, MSCmaln
      did not reduce the production of IFN-gamma nor stimulate the production of IL-10
      in lymphocytes in the same manner as observed in MSCct. Overall, this study
      implied that PM modifies immunosuppressive properties of MSCs.

PMID- 27623434
TI  - Tailor-made approach for selective isolation and elution of low-density
      lipoproteins by immunoaffinity sorbent on silica.
AB  - Immunoaffinity procedure was developed for isolation of low density lipoprotein
      (LDL) from biological samples by using silica-derived immunoaffinity sorbent.
      Sorbent was prepared by immobilization of monoclonal anti-apoB-100 antibody onto
      macroporous silica particles, using carefully optimized binding chemistry.
      Binding capacity of the sorbent towards LDL was determined by batch extraction
      experiments with solutions of isolated LDL in phosphate-buffered saline, and
      found to be 8 mg LDL/g. The bound LDL fraction was readily released from the
      sorbent by elution with ammonia at pH 11.2. The total time needed for isolation
      procedure was less than 1 h, with LDL recoveries being essentially quantitative
      for samples containing less than 0.3 mg LDL/mL. With higher concentrations,
      recoveries were less favorable, most probably due to irreversible adsorption
      caused by LDL aggreggation. However, reusability studies with isolated LDL at
      concentration 0.2 mg/mL indicate that the developed immunoaffinity material may
      be used for multiple binding-release cycles, with minor losses in binding
      capacity. Finally, the sorbent was successfully applied to isolation of LDL from
      diluted plasma. Apart from its practical implications for LDL isolation, this
      study provides crucial insights into issues associated with LDL-sorbent
      interactions, and may be useful in future efforts directed to development of
      lipoprotein isolation approaches.

PMID- 27623435
TI  - Separating full-length protein from aggregating proteolytic products using filter
      flow-through purification.
AB  - Separation of full-length protein from proteolytic products is challenging, since
      the properties used to isolate the protein can also be present in proteolytic
      products. Many separation techniques risk non-specific protein adhesion and/or
      require a lot of time, enabling continued proteolysis and aggregation after
      lysis. We demonstrate that proteolytic products aggregate for two different
      proteins. As a result, full-length protein can be rapidly separated from these
      fragments by filter flow-through purification, resulting in a substantial protein
      purity enhancement. This rapid approach is likely to be useful for intrinsically
      disordered proteins, whose repetitive sequence composition and flexible nature
      can facilitate aggregation.

PMID- 27623436
TI  - Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance in a general adult population
      in Korea: additive association of sarcopenia and obesity with insulin resistance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance (IR) is a major factor associated with type 2
      diabetes. Using homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), we
      aimed to elucidate the factors associated with IR risk, especially the cumulative
      effect of obesity and sarcopenia on IR. METHODS: A total of 8,707 adults from the
      fourth and fifth Korean National Health and Examination Surveys were studied.
      Laboratory, anthropometric and lifestyle factors were analysed to reveal their
      association with HOMA-IR and IR risk. Subjects were divided into four groups
      according to the presence of obesity and sarcopenia to identify their effect on
      IR risk. RESULTS: We found that high triglycerides and alanine aminotransferase,
      low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, obesity and sarcopenia were independent
      risk factors for IR in both sexes. Obese men with sarcopenia had a significantly
      higher risk of IR than men who were obese or sarcopenic (but not both). The
      additive effect of sarcopenia with obesity on IR risk was not observed in women.
      Cut-offs of HOMA-IR for determining IR were calculated as 75 percentile value of
      young healthy subpopulation, 2.19 in men and 2.18 in women. These cut-offs could
      distinguish individuals with impaired fasting glucose from normal ones, with a
      sensitivity of 65.4% (men) and 73.3% (women), and a specificity of 68.8% (men)
      and 69.4% (women). CONCLUSION: These data showed that obese men with sarcopenia
      exhibited a significantly higher IR risk than obese, nonsarcopenic men. In women,
      body composition did not affect IR if they were already obese.

PMID- 27623439
TI  - Direct assay for endo-alpha-mannosidase substrate preference on correctly folded
      and misfolded model glycoproteins.
AB  - We previously reported a unique assay system for UDP-glucose glycoprotein
      glucosyltransferase (UGGT) toward glycoprotein folding intermediates during the
      folding process. The assay involved the in vitro folding of both high-mannose
      type oligosaccharyl crambin, which yielded only the correctly folded glycoprotein
      form (M9-glycosyl-native-crambin), and its mutant, which yielded misfolded
      glycoproteins (M9-glycosyl-misfolded-crambin), in the presence of UGGT. The
      process successfully yielded both mono-glucosylated M9-glycosyl-native-crambin
      (G1M9-glycosyl-native-crambin) and M9-glycosyl-misfolded-crambin (G1M9-glycosyl
      misfolded-crambin). Here, we report the use of our in vitro folding system to
      evaluate the substrate preference of Golgi endo-alpha-mannosidase against G1M9
      native and -misfolded glycoprotein forms. In our assay Golgi endo-alpha
      mannosidase removed Glc-alpha-1-3-Man unit from G1M9-native and -misfolded
      crambins clearly proving that Golgi endo-alpha-mannosidase does not have specific
      preference for correctly folded or misfolded protein structure.

PMID- 27623441
TI  - Estimating the Landauer-Buttiker transmission function from single molecule break
      junction experiments.
AB  - When investigating the electronic response properties of molecules, experiments
      often measure conductance whereas computation predicts the transmission
      probability. Although Landauer-Buttiker theory usually relates the two,
      comparison between experiment and computation remains difficult because
      experimental data (specifically those from break junctions) are statistical and
      computational results are deterministic. In this work we develop tools to
      quantitatively estimate-with error bars-the shape of the Landauer-Buttiker
      transmission function directly from experimental statistics on conductance and
      thermopower (if the latter is also available). We subsequently apply these tools
      to existing data, demonstrating a rigorous statistical comparison between
      experimental and computational results on molecular electron transport. 

PMID- 27623438
TI  - New insights into Nod factor biosynthesis: Analyses of chitooligomers and lipo
      chitooligomers of Rhizobium sp. IRBG74 mutants.
AB  - Soil-dwelling, nitrogen-fixing rhizobia signal their presence to legume hosts by
      secreting lipo-chitooligomers (LCOs) that are decorated with a variety of
      chemical substituents. It has long been assumed, but never empirically shown,
      that the LCO backbone is synthesized first by NodC, NodB, and NodA, followed by
      addition of one or more substituents by other Nod proteins. By analyzing a
      collection of in-frame deletion mutants of key nod genes in the bacterium
      Rhizobium sp. IRBG74 by mass spectrometry, we were able to shed light on the
      possible substitution order of LCO decorations, and we discovered that the
      prevailing view is probably erroneous. We found that most substituents could be
      transferred to a short chitin backbone prior to acylation by NodA, which is
      probably one of the last steps in LCO biosynthesis. The existence of substituted,
      short chitin oligomers offers new insights into symbiotic plant-microbe
      signaling.

PMID- 27623440
TI  - Site-directed mutagenesis of bacterial cellulose synthase highlights sulfur-arene
      interaction as key to catalysis.
AB  - Cellulose is one of the most abundant biological polymers on Earth, and is
      synthesized by the cellulose synthase complex in cell membranes. Although many
      cellulose synthase genes have been identified over the past 25 years, functional
      studies of cellulose synthase using recombinant proteins have rarely been
      conducted. In this study, we conducted a functional analysis of cellulose
      synthase with site-directed mutagenesis, by using recombinant cellulose synthase
      reconstituted in living Escherichia coli cells that we recently constructed
      (cellulose-synthesizing E. coli, CESEC). We demonstrated that inactivating
      mutations at an important amino acid residue reduced cellulose production. In
      this study, an interesting loss-of-function mutation occurred on Cys308, whose
      main chain carbonyl plays an important role for locating the cellulose terminus.
      Mutating this cysteine to serine, thus changing sulfur to oxygen in the side
      chain, abolished cellulose production in addition to other apparent detrimental
      mutations. This unexpected result highlights that the thiol side-chain of this
      cysteine plays an active role in catalysis, and additional mutation experiments
      indicated that the sulfur-arene interaction around Cys308 is a key in cellulose
      synthesizing activity. Data obtained by CESEC shed light on the function of
      cellulose synthase in living cells, and will deepen our understanding of the
      mechanism of cellulose synthase.

PMID- 27623442
TI  - Corrigendum to GFP to BFP Conversion: A Versatile Assay for the Quantification of
      CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Genome Editing.

PMID- 27623437
TI  - Predictive and prognostic value of preoperative serum tumor markers in resectable
      adenosqamous lung carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adenosquamous carcinoma is a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer.
      The prognostic and predictive value of preoperative serum tumor markers and
      frequency of EGFR mutations in adenosquamous lung carcinoma are unclear. METHODS:
      We retrospectively analyzed data and samples collected from 106 radically
      resected adenosquamous lung carcinoma patients with pathological stage I-IIIA
      between 2008 and 2013. Correlations between serum tumor marker levels and EGFR
      mutations as well as survival parameters were analyzed and prognostic factors
      were identified. RESULTS: Of the 106 adenosquamous lung carcinoma patients, 29
      (27.4%) harbored EGFR mutations. By univariate analysis, advanced clinical stage
      (P = 0.009 for disease-free survival [DFS]; P = 0.046 for overall survival [OS]),
      larger tumor size (P = 0.001 for DFS; P = 0.002 for OS), regional lymph node
      metastasis (P = 0.024 for DFS; P = 0.030 for OS), higher NSE level (P = 0.002 for
      DFS; P < 0.001 for OS), and higher TMI (tumor marker index) (P = 0.009 for OS)
      were significantly correlated with a worse prognosis. By multivariate analysis,
      NSE (P = 0.014) was confirmed as independent predictor for DFS, while NSE (P =
      0.001) and TMI (P = 0.038) were independent prognostic factors for OS.
      CONCLUSION: Adenosquamous lung carcinoma is an aggressive malignancy with
      relatively high EGFR mutation frequency. Elevated preoperative NSE level and TMI
      are adverse predictive and prognostic indicators.

PMID- 27623443
TI  - From Cryptic Toward Canonical Pre-mRNA Splicing in Pompe Disease: a Pipeline for
      the Development of Antisense Oligonucleotides.
AB  - While 9% of human pathogenic variants have an established effect on pre-mRNA
      splicing, it is suspected that an additional 20% of otherwise classified variants
      also affect splicing. Aberrant splicing includes disruption of splice sites or
      regulatory elements, or creation or strengthening of cryptic splice sites. For
      the majority of variants, it is poorly understood to what extent and how these
      may affect splicing. We have identified cryptic splicing in an unbiased manner.
      Three types of cryptic splicing were analyzed in the context of pathogenic
      variants in the acid alpha-glucosidase gene causing Pompe disease. These involved
      newly formed deep intronic or exonic cryptic splice sites, and a natural cryptic
      splice that was utilized due to weakening of a canonical splice site. Antisense
      oligonucleotides that targeted the identified cryptic splice sites repressed
      cryptic splicing at the expense of canonical splicing in all three cases, as
      shown by reverse-transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis
      and by enhancement of acid alpha-glucosidase enzymatic activity. This argues for
      a competition model for available splice sites, including intact or weakened
      canonical sites and natural or newly formed cryptic sites. The pipeline described
      here can detect cryptic splicing and correct canonical splicing using antisense
      oligonucleotides to restore the gene defect.

PMID- 27623445
TI  - Lipid Nanoparticle Delivery of siRNA to Osteocytes Leads to Effective Silencing
      of SOST and Inhibition of Sclerostin In Vivo.
AB  - Sclerostin is a protein secreted by osteocytes that is encoded by the SOST gene;
      it decreases bone formation by reducing osteoblast differentiation through
      inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway. Silencing the SOST gene using RNA
      interference (RNAi) could therefore be an effective way to treat osteoporosis.
      Here, we investigate the utility of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations of
      siRNA to silence the SOST gene in vitro and in vivo. It is shown that primary
      mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) provide a useful model system in which the SOST
      gene can be induced by incubation in osteogenic media, allowing development of
      optimized SOST siRNA for silencing the SOST gene. Incubation of MEF cells with
      LNP containing optimized SOST siRNA produced significant, prolonged knockdown of
      the induced SOST gene in vitro, which was associated with an increase in
      osteogenic markers. Intravenous (i.v.) administration of LNP containing SOST
      siRNA to mice showed significant accumulation of LNP in osteocytes in compact
      bone, depletion of SOST mRNA and subsequent reduction of circulating sclerostin
      protein, establishing the potential utility for LNP siRNA systems to promote bone
      formation. 

PMID- 27623444
TI  - Reprogramming the Dynamin 2 mRNA by Spliceosome-mediated RNA Trans-splicing.
AB  - Dynamin 2 (DNM2) is a large GTPase, ubiquitously expressed, involved in membrane
      trafficking and regulation of actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. DNM2 mutations
      cause autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy which is a rare congenital
      myopathy characterized by skeletal muscle weakness and histopathological features
      including nuclear centralization in absence of regeneration. No curative
      treatment is currently available for the DNM2-related autosomal dominant
      centronuclear myopathy. In order to develop therapeutic strategy, we evaluated
      here the potential of Spliceosome-Mediated RNA Trans-splicing technology to
      reprogram the Dnm2-mRNA in vitro and in vivo in mice. We show that classical 3'
      trans-splicing strategy cannot be considered as accurate therapeutic strategy
      regarding toxicity of the pre-trans-splicing molecules leading to low rate of
      trans-splicing in vivo. Thus, we tested alternative strategies devoted to prevent
      this toxicity and enhance frequency of trans-splicing events. We succeeded to
      overcome the toxicity through a 5'-trans-splicing strategy which also allows
      detection of trans-splicing events at mRNA and protein levels in vitro and in
      vivo. These results suggest that the Spliceosome-Mediated RNA Trans-splicing
      strategy may be used to reprogram mutated Dnm2-mRNA but highlight the potential
      toxicity linked to the molecular tools which have to be carefully investigated
      during preclinical development. 

PMID- 27623449
TI  - Landscape: William Pachner.

PMID- 27623446
TI  - Cell-contact-dependent activation of CD4+ T cells by adhesion molecules on
      synovial fibroblasts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine how cell-cell contact with synovial fibroblasts (SF)
      influence on the proliferation and cytokine production of CD4+ T cells. METHODS:
      Naive CD4+ T cells were cultured with SF from rheumatoid arthritis patients,
      stimulated by anti-CD3/28 antibody, and CD4+ T cell proliferation and IFN
      gamma/IL-17 production were analyzed. To study the role of adhesion molecules,
      cell contact was blocked by transwell plate or anti-intracellular adhesion
      molecule-1 (ICAM-1)/vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1) antibody. To study
      the direct role of adhesion molecules for CD4+ T cells, CD161+ or CD161- naive
      CD4+ T cells were stimulated on plastic plates coated by recombinant ICAM-1 or
      VCAM-1, and the source of IFN-gamma/IL-17 were analyzed. RESULTS: SF enhanced
      naive CD4+ T cell proliferation and IFN-gamma/IL-17 production in cell-contact
      and in part ICAM-1-/VCAM-1-dependent manner. Plate-coated ICAM-1 and VCAM-1
      enhanced naive CD4+ T cell proliferation and IFN-gamma production, while VCAM-1
      efficiently promoting IL-17 production. CD161+ naive T cells upregulating LFA-1
      and VLA-4 were the major source of IFN-gamma/IL-17 upon interaction with ICAM
      1/VCAM-1. CONCLUSION: CD4+ T cells rapidly expand and secrete IFN-gamma/IL-17
      upon cell-contact with SF via adhesion molecules. Interfering with ICAM-1-/VCAM-1
      may be beneficial for inhibiting RA synovitis.

PMID- 27623450
TI  - Determining Value and Price in Health Care.

PMID- 27623451
TI  - Congress to Address Shortage of General Surgeons.

PMID- 27623452
TI  - Republicans Critical of White House for Zika Reaching the United States.

PMID- 27623453
TI  - Giving Police Alternatives to Lethal Force.

PMID- 27623454
TI  - Cancer Moonshot Stalls on the Launch Pad.

PMID- 27623455
TI  - Infants at Risk of HCV Infection.

PMID- 27623456
TI  - Salmonella in Backyard Poultry.

PMID- 27623458
TI  - Snakes on a Dock.

PMID- 27623457
TI  - Reframing Prevention in the Era of Health Reform.

PMID- 27623459
TI  - From Volume to Value in Health Care: The Work Begins.

PMID- 27623460
TI  - The Next Chapter in Cost-effectiveness Analysis.

PMID- 27623461
TI  - Implementation of a Value-Driven Outcomes Program to Identify High Variability in
      Clinical Costs and Outcomes and Association With Reduced Cost and Improved
      Quality.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Transformation of US health care from volume to value requires
      meaningful quantification of costs and outcomes at the level of individual
      patients. OBJECTIVE: To measure the association of a value-driven outcomes tool
      that allocates costs of care and quality measures to individual patient
      encounters with cost reduction and health outcome optimization. DESIGN, SETTING,
      AND PARTICIPANTS: Uncontrolled, pre-post, longitudinal, observational study
      measuring quality and outcomes relative to cost from 2012 to 2016 at University
      of Utah Health Care. Clinical improvement projects included total hip and knee
      joint replacement, hospitalist laboratory utilization, and management of sepsis.
      EXPOSURES: Physicians were given access to a tool with information about
      outcomes, costs (not charges), and variation and partnered with process
      improvement experts. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Total and component inpatient
      and outpatient direct costs across departments; cost variability for Medicare
      severity diagnosis related groups measured as coefficient of variation (CV); and
      care costs and composite quality indexes. RESULTS: From July 1, 2014, to June 30,
      2015, there were 1.7 million total patient visits, including 34 000 inpatient
      discharges. Professional costs accounted for 24.3% of total costs for inpatient
      episodes ($114.4 million of $470.4 million) and 41.9% of total costs for
      outpatient visits ($231.7 million of $553.1 million). For Medicare severity
      diagnosis related groups with the highest total direct costs, cost variability
      was highest for postoperative infection (CV = 1.71) and sepsis (CV = 1.37) and
      among the lowest for organ transplantation (CV <= 0.43). For total joint
      replacement, a composite quality index was 54% at baseline (n = 233 encounters)
      and 80% 1 year into the implementation (n = 188 encounters) (absolute change,
      26%; 95% CI, 18%-35%; P < .001). Compared with the baseline year, mean direct
      costs were 7% lower in the implementation year (95% CI, 3%-11%; P < .001) and 11%
      lower in the postimplementation year (95% CI, 7%-14%; P < .001). The hospitalist
      laboratory testing mean cost per day was $138 (median [IQR], $113 [$79-160]; n =
      2034 encounters) at baseline and $123 (median [IQR], $99 [$66-147]; n = 4276
      encounters) in the evaluation period (mean difference, -$15; 95% CI, -$19 to 
      $11; P < .001), with no significant change in mean length of stay. For a pilot
      sepsis intervention, the mean time to anti-infective administration following
      fulfillment of systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria in patients with
      infection was 7.8 hours (median [IQR], 3.4 [0.8-7.8] hours; n = 29 encounters) at
      baseline and 3.6 hours (median [IQR], 2.2 [1.0-4.5] hours; n = 76 encounters) in
      the evaluation period (mean difference, -4.1 hours; 95% CI, -9.9 to -1.0 hours; P
      = .02). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Implementation of a multifaceted value-driven
      outcomes tool to identify high variability in costs and outcomes in a large
      single health care system was associated with reduced costs and improved quality
      for 3 selected clinical projects. There may be benefit for individual physicians
      to understand actual care costs (not charges) and outcomes achieved for
      individual patients with defined clinical conditions.

PMID- 27623463
TI  - Recommendations for Conduct, Methodological Practices, and Reporting of Cost
      effectiveness Analyses: Second Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and
      Medicine.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Since publication of the report by the Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in
      Health and Medicine in 1996, researchers have advanced the methods of cost
      effectiveness analysis, and policy makers have experimented with its application.
      The need to deliver health care efficiently and the importance of using analytic
      techniques to understand the clinical and economic consequences of strategies to
      improve health have increased in recent years. OBJECTIVE: To review the state of
      the field and provide recommendations to improve the quality of cost
      effectiveness analyses. The intended audiences include researchers, government
      policy makers, public health officials, health care administrators, payers,
      businesses, clinicians, patients, and consumers. DESIGN: In 2012, the Second
      Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine was formed and included 2 co
      chairs, 13 members, and 3 additional members of a leadership group. These members
      were selected on the basis of their experience in the field to provide broad
      expertise in the design, conduct, and use of cost-effectiveness analyses. Over
      the next 3.5 years, the panel developed recommendations by consensus. These
      recommendations were then reviewed by invited external reviewers and through a
      public posting process. FINDINGS: The concept of a "reference case" and a set of
      standard methodological practices that all cost-effectiveness analyses should
      follow to improve quality and comparability are recommended. All cost
      effectiveness analyses should report 2 reference case analyses: one based on a
      health care sector perspective and another based on a societal perspective. The
      use of an "impact inventory," which is a structured table that contains
      consequences (both inside and outside the formal health care sector), intended to
      clarify the scope and boundaries of the 2 reference case analyses is also
      recommended. This special communication reviews these recommendations and others
      concerning the estimation of the consequences of interventions, the valuation of
      health outcomes, and the reporting of cost-effectiveness analyses. CONCLUSIONS
      AND RELEVANCE: The Second Panel reviewed the current status of the field of cost
      effectiveness analysis and developed a new set of recommendations. Major changes
      include the recommendation to perform analyses from 2 reference case perspectives
      and to provide an impact inventory to clarify included consequences.

PMID- 27623464
TI  - A Public Health Perspective on Mental and Medical Comorbidity.

PMID- 27623462
TI  - Association Between Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and Subsequent
      Infective Endocarditis and In-Hospital Death.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Limited data exist on clinical characteristics and outcomes of
      patients who had infective endocarditis after undergoing transcatheter aortic
      valve replacement (TAVR). OBJECTIVE: To determine the associated factors,
      clinical characteristics, and outcomes of patients who had infective endocarditis
      after TAVR. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The Infectious Endocarditis after
      TAVR International Registry included patients with definite infective
      endocarditis after TAVR from 47 centers from Europe, North America, and South
      America between June 2005 and October 2015. EXPOSURE: Transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement for incidence of infective endocarditis and infective endocarditis
      for in-hospital mortality. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Infective endocarditis and
      in-hospital mortality after infective endocarditis. RESULTS: A total of 250 cases
      of infective endocarditis occurred in 20 006 patients after TAVR (incidence, 1.1%
      per person-year; 95% CI, 1.1%-1.4%; median age, 80 years; 64% men). Median time
      from TAVR to infective endocarditis was 5.3 months (interquartile range [IQR],
      1.5-13.4 months). The characteristics associated with higher risk of progressing
      to infective endocarditis after TAVR was younger age (78.9 years vs 81.8 years;
      hazard ratio [HR], 0.97 per year; 95% CI, 0.94-0.99), male sex (62.0% vs 49.7%;
      HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.13-2.52), diabetes mellitus (41.7% vs 30.0%; HR, 1.52; 95%
      CI, 1.02-2.29), and moderate to severe aortic regurgitation (22.4% vs 14.7%; HR,
      2.05; 95% CI, 1.28-3.28). Health care-associated infective endocarditis was
      present in 52.8% (95% CI, 46.6%-59.0%) of patients. Enterococci species and
      Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequently isolated microorganisms (24.6%;
      95% CI, 19.1%-30.1% and 23.3%; 95% CI, 17.9%-28.7%, respectively). The in
      hospital mortality rate was 36% (95% CI, 30.0%-41.9%; 90 deaths; 160 survivors),
      and surgery was performed in 14.8% (95% CI, 10.4%-19.2%) of patients during the
      infective endocarditis episode. In-hospital mortality was associated with a
      higher logistic EuroSCORE (23.1% vs 18.6%; odds ratio [OR], 1.03 per 1% increase;
      95% CI, 1.00-1.05), heart failure (59.3% vs 23.7%; OR, 3.36; 95% CI, 1.74-6.45),
      and acute kidney injury (67.4% vs 31.6%; OR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.42-5.11). The 2-year
      mortality rate was 66.7% (95% CI, 59.0%-74.2%; 132 deaths; 115 survivors).
      CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among patients undergoing TAVR, younger age, male sex,
      history of diabetes mellitus, and moderate to severe residual aortic
      regurgitation were significantly associated with an increased risk of infective
      endocarditis. Patients who developed endocarditis had high rates of in-hospital
      mortality and 2-year mortality.

PMID- 27623465
TI  - Colchicine and Prevention of Cardiovascular Events.
AB  - CLINICAL QUESTION: Is continuous long-term treatment with colchicine associated
      with lower rates of all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction and higher
      rates of adverse events? BOTTOM LINE: Continuous long-term treatment with
      colchicine may be associated with lower rates of myocardial infarction, but may
      be associated with higher rates of gastrointestinal adverse events.

PMID- 27623466
TI  - Five-Year Survival After Endosonography vs Mediastinoscopy for Mediastinal Nodal
      Staging of Lung Cancer.

PMID- 27623467
TI  - Sodium Excretion, Cardiovascular Disease, and Chronic Kidney Disease.

PMID- 27623468
TI  - Sodium Excretion, Cardiovascular Disease, and Chronic Kidney Disease.

PMID- 27623469
TI  - Sodium Excretion, Cardiovascular Disease, and Chronic Kidney Disease.

PMID- 27623470
TI  - Microaggressions During Medical Training.

PMID- 27623471
TI  - Evaluating Elevated Hemoglobin.

PMID- 27623472
TI  - Microaggressions During Medical Training-Reply.

PMID- 27623473
TI  - Evaluating Elevated Hemoglobin-Reply.

PMID- 27623474
TI  - Like a Garment.

PMID- 27623475
TI  - Public Decency and Public Health.

PMID- 27623476
TI  - Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis.

PMID- 27623477
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27623478
TI  - Community-Based Exercise Intervention for Gait and Functional Fitness Improvement
      in an Older Population: Study Protocol.
AB  - Functional fitness (FF) and gait ability in older populations have been
      associated with increased survival rates, fall prevention, and quality of life.
      One possible intervention for the improvement of FF is well-structured exercise
      programs. However, there are inconsistent findings regarding the effects of
      exercise interventions in the maintenance of gait parameters. The aim of this
      protocol is to develop a community-based exercise intervention targeting an older
      population. The intervention aim is the improvement of gait parameters and FF. A
      control trial with follow-up will be performed. The primary outcome variables
      will be plantar pressure gait parameters. The secondary outcome variables will be
      aerobic endurance, lower limb strength, agility, and balance. These variables
      will be recorded at baseline and after 12, 24, and 36 weeks, in the intervention
      and control groups. If effective, this protocol can be used by exercise
      professionals in improving community exercise programs.

PMID- 27623479
TI  - Customized sequential multiplex PCR for accurate and early determination of
      invasive pneumococcal serotypes found in India.
AB  - For accurate and earlier detection of invasive pneumococcal serogroup/serotypes
      from India, we have rearranged the African sequence of multiplex PCR provided by
      the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. This modified approach can
      successfully be adapted for earlier serotype detection of 95% of the pneumococcal
      strains prevalent in India.

PMID- 27623480
TI  - Prospective study of the clinical performance of three BACTEC media in a modern
      emergency department: Plus Aerobic/F, Plus Anaerobic/F, and Anaerobic Lytic/F.
AB  - The performance of 3 blood culture bottles (BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F, Plus
      Anaerobic/F, and Anaerobic Lytic/F) were analyzed with clinical specimens
      collected from 688 Emergency Department patients. A total of 270 strains
      belonging to 33 species were identified, with E. coli and S. aureus as the most
      frequently detected. Overall recovery rate (RR) of bacteria and yeast was
      equivalent in the Plus Aerobic/F vials (208 of 270 isolates; 77.0%) and Anaerobic
      Lytic/F vials (206 isolates; 76.3%) and significantly better than in the Plus
      Anaerobic/F vials (189 isolates; 70.0%). Median time to detection (TTD) was
      earliest with the Anaerobic Lytic/F vials (12.0h) compared with the Plus
      Aerobic/F (14.6h) and Plus Anaerobic/F vials (15.4h). Positivity rate (PR) was
      similar for Anaerobic Lytic/F vials (76.9%) and Plus Aerobic/F vials (76.5%), but
      better if compared with Plus Anaerobic/F vials (69.4%). The PR and TTD for the
      combination of Plus Aerobic/F with Anaerobic Lytic/F (94.5% and 12.3h,
      respectively) was significantly better than with Plus Aerobic/F with Plus
      Anaerobic/F (87.8% and 14.1h).

PMID- 27623481
TI  - Predictors of persistent diarrhea in norovirus enteritis after solid organ
      transplantation.
AB  - Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients may develop protracted diarrheal illness
      from norovirus. We performed a retrospective chart review between January 2010
      and April 2014 to identify predictors of persistent diarrhea in transplant
      recipients with norovirus enteritis. A total of 152 SOT recipients with mean age
      of 31.5 years (SD 23.1) were included: 43.4% male, 34.2% pediatric patients.
      Allograft types were abdominal 136 (89.5%) (kidney [39.5%], liver-small bowel
      [23%], other [27%]) and thoracic 16 (10.5%). The median time to diagnosis of
      first norovirus enteritis episode from date of transplantation was 1.7 (0.3-5.3)
      years. At time of presentation, diarrhea was present in 141 (93%). Thirty percent
      had persistent diarrhea at 2 weeks. Hospitalization was required for treatment in
      121 (80%) of episodes with the mean length of stay of 10+/-15.2 days. Most (91%)
      infections were due to norovirus genogroup II, and gastrointestinal coinfections
      were seen in 23 (19%) norovirus enteritis episodes. Nausea at time of diagnosis
      (P=.002) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in the preceding 90 days (P=.036)
      were identified as independent risk factors for persistent diarrhea using
      univariate and multivariable logistic regression. Our study shows that nausea on
      presentation and prior CMV infection were associated with persistent diarrhea in
      patients with norovirus enteritis.

PMID- 27623483
TI  - Photoreactive Initiator for Surface-Initiated ATRP on Versatile Polymeric
      Substrates.
AB  - We synthesized 4-azidophenylcarbonyloxyethyl-2-bromoisobutyrate (AzEBI) for
      construction of a polymer brush layer on a desired area on various polymeric
      substrates. After 3.0 min of exposure to UV irradiation, the phenylazide groups
      of AzEBI decomposed and formed covalent bonds with the polymeric substrate
      surfaces to introduce an initiator of atom transfer radical polymerization
      (ATRP). The reaction area of AzEBI was regulated using a photomask during
      photoreaction and surface initiated ATRP of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl
      phosphorylcholine (MPC) occurred on the desired part of the surface. In the area
      with poly(MPC), the surface was superhydrophilic and the adhesion of HeLa cell
      was effectively suppressed. The AzEBI allows the construction of polymer brush
      layer in anywhere and would expand the potential application of ATRP to prepare
      polymer brush layer on polymeric substrates. 

PMID- 27623482
TI  - The impact of periconceptional maternal stress on fecundability.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the association between periconceptional self-reported stress
      levels and fecundability in women. METHODS: Daily stress was reported on a scale
      from 1 to 4 (lowest to highest) among 400 women who completed daily diaries
      including data on lifestyle and behavioral factors, menstrual characteristics,
      contraceptive use, and intercourse for up to 20 cycles or until pregnancy.
      Discrete survival analysis was used to estimate the associations between self
      reported stress during specific windows of the menstrual cycle and fecundability
      (cycles at risk until pregnancy), adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS:
      One hundred thirty-nine women became pregnant. During the follicular phase, there
      was a 46% reduction in fecundability for a 1-unit increase in self-reported
      stress during the estimated ovulatory window (fecundability odds ratio [FOR] =
      0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35-0.84) and an attenuated trend for the
      preovulatory window (FOR = 0.73; 95% CI 0.48-1.10). During the luteal phase,
      higher stress was associated with increased probability of conception (FOR =
      1.63, 95% CI 1.07-2.50), possibly due to reverse causality. CONCLUSIONS: Higher
      stress during the ovulatory window may reduce probability of conception; however,
      once conception occurs, changes in the hormonal milieu and/or knowledge of the
      pregnancy may result in increased stress. These findings reinforce the need for
      encouraging stress management techniques in the aspiring and expecting mother.

PMID- 27623484
TI  - The Frequency and Health Benefits of Physical Activity for Older Adults.
AB  - The benefits of physical activity (PA) for older adults have been demonstrated in
      reduced prevalence of common chronic conditions, improved mental health,
      decreased cognitive decline, and reduced mortality rates. Less is understood
      concerning the health impacts of light-to-moderate intensity PA. The purpose of
      this study was to estimate light-to-moderate PA frequency levels-low (0-2
      days/week), intermediate (3-4 days/week) and high (>=5 days/week)-among AARP
      Medicare Supplement insureds, identify characteristics, and estimate the
      association of PA levels with the prevalence of selected chronic conditions,
      health care utilization, and expenditures. In 2015, surveys were sent to a random
      sample of insureds. PA was determined from survey responses querying self
      reported days per week of at least 30 minutes of light-to-moderate PA.
      Multivariate regression models, adjusting for confounding covariates and survey
      nonresponse bias, were utilized to determine the characteristics and association
      of intermediate and high PA levels with health outcomes. In a second analysis,
      results were stratified by age groups: 65-69, 70-79, and >=80 years. Among survey
      respondents (n = 17,676), 23.3%, 33.9%, and 42.9% engaged in low, intermediate,
      and high PA, respectively. The strongest predictors of intermediate and high PA
      included being male, younger, self-reporting better health, using fewer
      prescription drugs, and being less likely to be diagnosed with common chronic
      conditions or depression. Those engaged in intermediate and high PA, overall and
      across age groups, had significantly lower health care utilization and
      expenditures and lower prevalence of most chronic conditions. Efforts to increase
      intermediate and high levels of PA among older adults should be encouraged.

PMID- 27623485
TI  - The Roles of Fathers' Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Adult Offspring's
      Differentiation of the Self in the Intergenerational Transmission of Captivity
      Trauma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This prospective study aims to assess the role of fathers'
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (PTSS), the course of these
      symptoms over the years, and the relationship between these symptoms and their
      adult offspring's own PTSS and level of differentiation of self. METHOD: A sample
      of 123 Israeli father-child dyads (79 ex-prisoners of war [ex-POWs] dyads and a
      comparison group of 44 veterans' dyads) completed self-report measures. The
      fathers participated in 2 waves of measurements (1991 and 2008), while the
      offspring took part in 2013-2014. RESULTS: Increase in the fathers' PTSS over the
      years was related to high levels of his offspring's PTSS. Among ex-POWs'
      offspring, self-differentiation mediated the association between the father's
      PTSS and offspring's PTSS. Thus, a greater increase in the ex-POWs' PTSS over
      time was correlated to lower levels of the offspring's self-differentiation,
      which in turn was correlated to higher rates of PTSS. CONCLUSION: Veterans' PTSS
      as well as offspring's self-differentiation are mechanisms of the
      intergenerational transmission of captivity trauma.

PMID- 27623486
TI  - From Zirconium Nanograins to Zirconia Nanoneedles.
AB  - Combinations of three simple techniques were utilized to gradually form zirconia
      nanoneedles from zirconium nanograins. First, a physical vapor deposition
      magnetron sputtering technique was used to deposit pure zirconium nanograins on
      top of a substrate. Second, an anodic oxidation was applied to fabricate zirconia
      nanotubular arrays. Finally, heat treatment was used at different annealing
      temperatures in order to change the structure and morphology from nanotubes to
      nanowires and subsequently to nanoneedles in the presence of argon gas. The size
      of the pure zirconium nanograins was estimated to be approximately 200-300 nm.
      ZrO2 nanotubular arrays with diameters of 70-120 nm were obtained. Both
      tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 were observed after annealing at 450  degrees C
      and 650  degrees C. Only a few tetragonal peaks appeared at 850  degrees C, while
      monoclinic ZrO2 was obtained at 900  degrees C and 950  degrees C. In assessing
      the biocompatibility of the ZrO2 surface, the human cell line MDA-MB-231 was
      found to attach and proliferate well on surfaces annealed at 850  degrees C and
      450  degrees C; however, the amorphous ZrO2 surface, which was not heat treated,
      did not permit extensive cell growth, presumably due to remaining fluoride.

PMID- 27623487
TI  - Aggressive behavior and hair cortisol levels in captive Dorcas gazelles (Gazella
      dorcas) as animal-based welfare indicators.
AB  - Ensuring welfare in captive wild animal populations is important not only for
      ethical and legal reasons, but also to maintain healthy individuals and
      populations. An increased level of social behaviors such as aggression can reduce
      welfare by causing physical damage and chronic stress to animals. Recently,
      cortisol in hair has been advanced as a non-invasive indicator to quantify long
      lasting stress in many species. The sensitivity of social behavior and hair
      cortisol concentration was evaluated in several groups of dorcas gazelles
      (Gazella dorcas). Four different groups of gazelles from three different zoos
      were observed and the expression of intra-specific affiliative and negative
      social behaviors was assessed across the different groups. Hair samples were
      taken from sub-groups of animals and analyzed for cortisol concentrations.
      Significant differences between groups of dorcas gazelles were found in frequency
      of negative social behavior and hair cortisol concentration. Despite the low
      sample size, these two parameters had a positive Spearman correlation coefficient
      (rs  = +0.80, P = 0.20). These results suggest that hair cortisol levels are
      sensitive to differences in the social structure of dorcas gazelles. Zoo Biol.
      35:467-473, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623488
TI  - Improving Prognostic Web Calculators: Violation of Preferential Risk
      Independence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Web-based applications are available for prognostication of
      individual patients. These prognostic models were developed for groups of
      patients. No one is the average patient, and using these calculators to inform
      individual patients could provide misleading results. OBJECTIVE: This article
      gives an example of paradoxical results that may emerge when indices used for
      prognosis of the average person are used for care of an individual patient.
      METHODS: We calculated the expected mortality risks of stomach cancer and its
      associated comorbidities. Mortality risks were calculated using data from 140,699
      Veterans Administration nursing home residents. RESULTS: On average, a patient
      with hypertension has a higher risk of mortality than one without hypertension.
      Surprisingly, among patients with lung cancer, hypertension is protective and
      reduces risk of mortality. This paradoxical result is explained by how group
      level, average prognosis could mislead individual patients. In particular,
      average prognosis of lung cancer patients reflects the impact of various
      comorbidities that co-occur in lung cancer patients. The presence of
      hypertension, a relatively mild comorbidity of lung cancer, indicates that more
      serious comorbidities have not occurred. It is not that hypertension is
      protective; it is the absence of more serious comorbidities that is protective.
      The article shows how the presence of these anomalies can be checked through the
      mathematical concept of preferential risk independence. CONCLUSION: Instead of
      reporting average risk scores, web-based calculators may improve accuracy of
      predictions by reporting the unconfounded risks.

PMID- 27623489
TI  - Nitric Oxide Releasing Coronary Stent: A New Approach Using Layer-by-Layer
      Coating and Liposomal Encapsulation.
AB  - The sustained or controlled release of nitric oxide (NO) can be the most
      promising approach for the suppression or prevention of restenosis and thrombosis
      caused by stent implantation. The aim of this study is to investigate the
      feasibility in the potential use of layer-by-layer (LBL) coating with a NO donor
      containing liposomes to control the release rate of NO from a metallic stent.
      Microscopic observation and surface characterizations of LBL-modified stents
      demonstrate successful LBL coating with liposomes on a stent. Release profiles of
      NO show that the release rate is sustained up to 5 d. In vitro cell study
      demonstrates that NO release significantly enhances endothelial cell
      proliferation, whereas it markedly inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation.
      Finally, in vivo study conducted with a porcine coronary injury model proves the
      therapeutic efficacy of the NO-releasing stents coated by liposomal LBL
      technique, supported by improved results in luminal healing, inflammation, and
      neointimal thickening except thrombo-resistant effect. As a result, all these
      results demonstrate that highly optimized release rate and therapeutic dose of NO
      can be achieved by LBL coating and liposomal encapsulation, followed by
      significantly efficacious outcome in vivo.

PMID- 27623491
TI  - About Rapid Aspirin Desensitization in Coronary Artery Disease Patients.
      Response.

PMID- 27623490
TI  - Improvement in Risk Stratification in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
      Using a Combination of the Tumor Marker CA125 and the Logistic EuroSCORE.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Conventional risk scores have not been accurate in
      predicting peri- and postprocedural risk of patients undergoing transcatheter
      aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Elevated levels of the tumor marker
      carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) have been linked to adverse outcomes after TAVI.
      We studied the additional value of CA125 to that of the EuroSCORE in predicting
      long-term mortality after TAVI. METHODS AND RESULTS: During a median follow-up of
      59 weeks, 115 of 422 patients (27%) died after TAVI. Mortality was higher with
      elevated CA125 (> 30 U/mL) and EuroSCORE (> median) (47% vs 20%, P<.001 and 38%
      vs 16%, P<.001, respectively). In the multivariable analysis, CA125 (> 30 U/mL)
      remained an independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 2.16; 95%
      confidence interval [95%CI], 1.48-3.15; P<.001) and improved the predictive
      capability of the model (C-statistic: 0.736 vs 0.731) and the net
      reclassification index (51% 95%CI, 33-73) with an integrated discriminative
      improvement of 3.5% (95%CI, 0.5-8.4). A new variable (CA125-EuroSCORE) was
      created, with the combinations of the 2 possible binary states of these variables
      (+, elevated, -, not elevated; C1: CA125- EuroSCORE-; C2: CA125+ EuroSCORE-; C3:
      CA125- EuroSCORE+; C4: CA125+ EuroSCORE+). Patients in C1 exhibited the lowest
      cumulative mortality rate (14% [26 of 181]). Mortality was intermediate for C2
      (CA125 > 30 U/mL and EuroSCORE <= median) and C3 (CA125 <= 30 U/mL and EuroSCORE
      > median): 27% (8 of 30) and 28% (37 of 131), respectively. Patients in C4 (CA125
      > 30 U/mL and EuroSCORE > median) exhibited the highest mortality (55% [44 of
      80], P-value for trend<.001). CONCLUSIONS: CA125 offers additional prognostic
      information beyond that obtained by the EuroSCORE. Elevation of both markers was
      associated with a poor prognosis.

PMID- 27623492
TI  - Insufficient Lipid Control in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: An
      Unresolved Problem. Response.

PMID- 27623493
TI  - Correction in Article by Gil-Ortega et al. "Spanish Catheter Ablation Registry.
      14th Official Report of the Spanish Society of Cardiology Working Group on
      Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias (2014)". Rev Esp Cardiol. 2015;68:1127-37.

PMID- 27623494
TI  - Consensus Document on Polypill and Secondary Prevention. Does It Include Patients
      With Stents? Response.

PMID- 27623495
TI  - Impaired Picture Arrangement subscores (WAIS-III) associated with decreased place
      orientation and frontal/occipital blood flow in Alzheimer's disease: Implications
      for social judgment dysfunction. The Osaki-Tajiri Project.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients manifest not only memory impairment but also
      deficit of social judgment. However, contrary to frequently recognized deficit,
      only two neuropsychological tests have been established for assessing "judgment"
      : the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument domain Abstraction & judgment and
      the Picture Arrangement subscale of WAIS-III. For the former, we previously
      reported an association with decreased regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the
      left parietal lobe. Herein, we analyzed the scores of the Picture Arrangement
      test. Forty-nine AD patients were classified into two groups, i.e., the high and
      low PA score groups. The 99mTc-ECD SPECT investigation was performed with the
      voxel-based analysis using SPM5. The Mini-Mental State Examination subscores of
      "place orientation" showed a correlation with the PA scores. The low PA score
      group exhibited significantly decreased rCBFs in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus
      (LIFG), Left Superior Frontal Gyrus (LSFG) and Right Occipital Lobe (ROL),
      compared with the high PA score group. The ability of PA may be associated with
      the place orientation, which may be necessary to re-arrange the pictures. The ROL
      was related to visual recognition. The LSFG may be involved in executive function
      or "frontal reasoning."

PMID- 27623496
TI  - [The delivery of therapeutic plasma: Therapeutic plasma of today and tomorrow].
AB  - Since plasma for direct therapeutic use comprises no cellular fraction, it has
      long stood for a standardized and rather simple component; meanwhile, rules for
      its issuing to patients have long been strict. During the very last years, there
      has been a paradigm shift as novel indications have raised and possible needs for
      distinct types of plasma depending on the missing clotting factors in the
      patient. During the same period of time, plasma inactivated by solvent-detergent,
      which was a labile component in France, has been re-qualified by European
      authorities as a plasma derived-drug. The French recommendations for use of
      plasma - though quite recently revised (2012) - are disputed by some experts and
      would merit a revisit. This state-of-the art manuscript aims at presenting the
      novel situation of therapeutic plasma and suggesting possible evolution.

PMID- 27623497
TI  - Influence of Age and Apical Diameter on the Success of Endodontic Regeneration
      Procedures.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Treatment of immature permanent teeth with necrotic pulp and apical
      pathosis constitutes a challenge for endodontists. The present study was done to
      evaluate the effect of age and apical diameter on the regenerative potential of
      young permanent immature teeth with necrotic pulps. METHODS: Immature necrotic
      permanent maxillary incisors (n = 40) of patients 9-18 years old were divided
      into 2 groups according to the treatment protocol: group Y (younger age group), 9
      13 years and group O (older age group), 14-18 years. Each group was further
      subdivided into 2 subgroups according to apical diameter, subgroup (n) (narrower
      diameter) between 0.5 and 1 mm and subgroup (w) (wider diameter) equal to or
      greater than 1 mm. Revascularization procedures were performed for all patients.
      Follow-up was done for up to 12 months. Standardized radiographs were digitally
      evaluated for increase in root length and thickness and decrease in apical
      diameter. RESULTS: After the follow-up period, most of the cases demonstrated
      radiographic evidence of periapical healing. Group Y showed significant
      progressive increase in root length and width and decrease in apical diameter.
      Subgroup (w) representing wider apical diameter showed significant progress as
      well. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that revascularization procedures can be
      implemented in any age ranging from 9 to 18 years; however, younger age groups
      were better candidates for revascularization procedure than older ones. Regarding
      the apical diameter, regeneration procedures were successful with apical
      diameters as small as 0.5 mm. However, teeth with preoperative wider diameters
      (>=1 mm) demonstrated greater increase in root thickness, length, and apical
      narrowing.

PMID- 27623498
TI  - Supplementary Steps for Removing Hard Tissue Debris from Isthmus-containing Canal
      Systems.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this ex vivo study was to evaluate the percentage
      reduction of accumulated hard tissue debris (AHTD) in the mesial root canal
      system of mandibular molars under different final irrigation regimens by means of
      micro-computed tomographic imaging. METHODS: Sixty curved mesial roots of
      mandibular molars with 2 independent canals joint apically by an isthmus
      (Vertucci type II) were selected. Specimens were scanned at a resolution of 12.5
      MUm, anatomically matched, and distributed into 3 groups (n = 20) according to
      the preparation protocol: Self-Adjusting File (SAF; ReDent Nova, Ra'anana,
      Israel), Reciproc (VDW GmbH, Munich, Germany), and Revo-S (Micro-Mega, Besancon,
      France) systems. Then, each group was subdivided into 2 subgroups (n = 10)
      according to the final irrigation protocol with the SAF or EndoVac system (Discus
      Dental, Culver City, CA). The percentage volume and percentage reduction of AHTD
      after root canal preparation and final irrigation protocols were statistically
      compared using 1-way analysis of variance, the paired sample and the independent
      Student's t tests. The level of significance was set at 5%. RESULTS: Within
      groups, the mean percentage volume was significantly reduced after the final
      irrigation procedures in either the SAF (from 1.52%-1.78% to 1.01%-1.20%) or
      EndoVac (from 2.11%-2.23% to 1.31%-1.52%) subgroups (P < .05). In the
      experimental groups, the mean percentage reduction of AHTD ranged from 29.15%
      39.90% after the irrigation protocols, with no statistical difference between
      groups (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: None of the irrigation approaches succeeded in
      rendering the mesial root canal system free of AHTD. A similar percentage
      reduction of AHTD was achieved after final irrigation protocols using either the
      SAF or EndoVac system.

PMID- 27623499
TI  - In Vitro Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Root Canal Sealers against Enterococcus
      faecalis: A Systematic Review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the outcomes
      of in vitro studies of root canal sealers for their antimicrobial effectiveness
      against Enterococcus faecalis on the basis of direct contact test. METHODS: An
      exhaustive literature search was performed by using MEDLINE, Scopus, TRIP, and
      OpenThesis databases, followed by an extensive hand search of references of
      identified articles. Two independent reviewers evaluated the studies for
      eligibility against inclusion and exclusion criteria and performed data
      abstraction and risk of bias evaluations. RESULTS: A total of 31 articles were
      assessed for eligibility. Of these, 24 met the inclusion criteria and were
      included in the systematic review. A considerable heterogeneity was found in the
      methodologies of included studies. Therefore, it was not feasible to perform meta
      analysis. Majority of the studies reported that different categories of freshly
      prepared sealers possessed some form of positive antimicrobial activity against
      E. faecalis for up to 24 hours. Antimicrobial efficacy was lost as the material
      set. Moderate evidence was found for no antimicrobial activity of aged (2-day to
      7-day set) sealer samples across all categories. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence
      indicated positive antimicrobial activity of freshly mixed sealers against E.
      faecalis. Antimicrobial efficacy was lost as the material set, with no bacterial
      growth inhibition by 2-day to 7-day set sealer samples. However, the studies
      included in this review presented medium to high risk of bias. This review
      identified the need for the development of standardized methods to evaluate
      antimicrobial activity of root canal sealers in in vitro studies.

PMID- 27623501
TI  - Foreword to the Second Set of WFUMB Guidelines and Recommendations on the
      Clinical Use of Ultrasound Elastography.

PMID- 27623500
TI  - Diagnostic Performance of Shear Wave Elastography Parameters Alone and in
      Combination with Conventional B-Mode Ultrasound Parameters for the
      Characterization of Thyroid Nodules: A Prospective, Dual-Center Study.
AB  - The aims of our study were to determine whether shear wave elastography (SWE) can
      improve the conventional B-mode differentiation of thyroid lesions, determine the
      most accurate SWE parameter for differentiation and assess the influence of
      microcalcifications and chronic autoimmune thyroiditis on SWE values. We examined
      119 patients with 169 thyroid nodules who prospectively underwent B-mode
      ultrasound and SWE using the same ultrasound machine. The parameters assessed
      using SWE were: mean elasticity within the entire lesion (SWE-whole) and mean
      (SWE-mean) and maximum (SWE-max) elasticity for a 2-mm-diameter region of
      interest in the stiffest portion of the lesion, excluding microcalcifications.
      The discriminant powers of a generalized estimating equation model including B
      mode parameters only and a generalized estimation equation model including both B
      mode and SWE parameters were assessed and compared using the area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve, in association with pathologic
      verification. In total, 50 and 119 malignant and benign lesions were detected. In
      generalized estimated equation regression, the B-mode parameters associated with
      higher odds ratios (ORs) for malignant lesions were microcalcifications (OR =
      4.3), hypo-echogenicity (OR = 3.13) and irregular margins (OR = 10.82). SWE-max
      was the only SWE independent parameter in differentiating between malignant and
      benign tumors (OR = 2.95). The area under the curve for the B-mode model was
      0.85, whereas that for the model combining B-mode and SWE parameters was 0.87.
      There was no significant difference in mean SWE values between patients with and
      without chronic autoimmune thyroiditis. The results of the present study suggest
      that SWE is a valuable tool for the characterization of thyroid nodules, with SWE
      max being a significant parameter in differentiating benign and malignant
      lesions, independent of conventional B-mode parameters. The combination of SWE
      parameters and conventional B-mode parameters does not significantly improve the
      diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules. The presence of microcalcifications can
      influence the SWE-whole value, whereas the presence of chronic autoimmune
      thyroiditis may not.

PMID- 27623503
TI  - Synthesis of Aluminosilicates Containing a Ba(Sr)-O-Al-O-Si Arrangement of
      Natural Feldspar Mineral.
AB  - We report a facile route to multicomponent complexes of [M{(MU
      ddbfo)2Al(OSiR3)2}2] (M = Ba, Sr; ddbfoH = 2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethylbenzofuran-7
      ol; R = Ph, OtBu) as new efficient single-source routes to barium and strontium
      celsian feldspar Ba(Sr)Al2Si2O8. The resulting complexes were characterized by
      elemental analysis, IR and NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction. These compounds calcined at 1100  degrees C to give porous material
      Ba(Sr)Al2Si2O8.2SiO2 as an amorphous silica matrix containing spherical oxide
      nanocrystals of celsian feldspar of ca. 5 nm diameter, as evidenced by
      transmission and scanning electron microscopies.

PMID- 27623502
TI  - Echocardiographic Characterization of the Inferior Vena Cava in Trained and
      Untrained Females.
AB  - The aim of the study was to explore the long- and short-axis dimensions, shape
      and collapsibility of the inferior vena cava in 46 trained and 48 untrained
      females (mean age: 21 +/- 2 y). Echocardiography in the subcostal view revealed a
      larger expiratory long-axis diameter (mean: 24 +/- 3 vs. 20 +/- 3 mm, p < 0.001)
      and short-axis area (mean: 5.5 +/- 1.5 vs. 4.7 +/- 1.4 cm2, p = 0.014) in trained
      females. IVC shape (the ratio of short-axis major to minor diameters) and the
      relative decrease in IVC dimension with inspiration were similar for the two
      groups. The IVC long-axis diameter reflected short-axis minor diameter and was
      correlated to maximal oxygen uptake (r = 0.52, p < 0.01). In summary, the results
      indicate that trained females have a larger IVC similar in shape and respiratory
      decrease in dimensions to that of untrained females. The long-axis diameter
      corresponded closely to short-axis minor diameter and, thus, underestimates
      maximal IVC diameter.

PMID- 27623504
TI  - Subchondroplasty: What the Radiologist Needs to Know.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Subchondroplasty is a novel minimally invasive procedure that is used
      to treat painful bone marrow lesions in patients with knee osteoarthritis or
      insufficiency fractures. The objective of this article is to describe the
      surgical technique and the pre- and postoperative imaging findings of a small
      case series acquired at a single center. CONCLUSION: The radiologist should be
      familiar with the anticipated postoperative imaging appearances after
      subchondroplasty and the potential complications.

PMID- 27623505
TI  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis stimulates key genes of the phenylpropanoid
      biosynthesis and stilbenoid production in grapevine leaves in response to downy
      mildew and grey mould infection.
AB  - Grapevine (Vitis spp) is susceptible to serious fungal diseases usually
      controlled by chemical treatments. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are
      obligate plant symbionts which can stimulate plant defences. We investigated the
      effect of mycorrhization on grapevine stilbenoid defences. Vitis vinifera cvs
      Chasselas, Pinot noir and the interspecific hybrid Divico, on the rootstock 41B,
      were mycorrhized with Rhizophagus irregularis before leaf infection by Plasmopara
      viticola or Botrytis cinerea. Gene expression analysis showed an up-regulation of
      PAL, STS, and ROMT, involved in the stilbenoid biosynthesis pathway, in plant
      leaves, 48 h after pathogen inoculation. This defense response could be
      potentiated under AMF colonization, with an intensity level depending on the
      gene, the plant cultivar and/or the pathogen. We also showed that higher amounts
      of active forms of stilbenoids (i.e trans-form of resveratrol, epsilon- and delta
      viniferins and pterostilbene) were produced in mycorrhized plants of the three
      genotypes in comparison with non-mycorrhized ones, 10 days post-inoculation with
      either pathogen. These results support the hypothesis that AMF root colonization
      enhances defence reactions against a biotrophic and a necrotrophic pathogen, in
      the aerial parts of grapevine.

PMID- 27623506
TI  - Transcriptome altered by latent human cytomegalovirus infection on THP-1 cells
      using RNA-seq.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been recognized as a cause of severe, sometimes
      life-threatening disease in congenitally infected newborns as well as in
      immunocompromised individuals. However, the molecular mechanisms of the host
      virus interaction remain poorly understood. Here, we profiled the expression of
      mRNAs and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in THP-1 cells using the emerging RNA-seq
      to investigate the transcriptional changes during HCMV latent infection. At 4
      days post HCMV infection, a total of 169,008,624 sequence reads and 180,616
      transcripts were obtained, respectively. Of these transcripts, 1,354 noncoding
      genes and 12,952 protein-coding genes were observed in Refseq database.
      Differential gene expression analysis identified 2,153 differentially expressed
      genes (DEGs) between HCMV-infected and mock-infected THP-1 cells, including 1,098
      up-regulated genes and 1,055 down-regulated genes. These regulated genes were
      involved in pathways of apoptosis, inflammatory response and cell cycle
      progression, all of which may be implicated in viral pathogenesis. In addition,
      646 lncRNAs (208 known lncRNAs and 438 novel lncRNAs) were upregulated and 424
      (140 known and 284 novel) were downregulated in infected THP-1 cells. These
      findings have provided a dynamic scenario of DE candidate genes and lncRNAs at
      the virus-host interface and clearly warrant further experimental investigation
      associated with HCMV infection.

PMID- 27623507
TI  - Proton-sensing G protein-coupled receptors as regulators of cell proliferation
      and migration during tumor growth and wound healing.
AB  - Dysregulation of pH is a feature of both tumor growth and tissue repair. In
      tumors, microenvironmental changes, like in lactate metabolism, lead to altered
      intra- and extracellular pH (pHi , pHe ) and vice versa. In wounds, barrier
      disruption results in extensive variations in pHe on the wound surface. It is
      known that altered extracellular proton concentrations have a major impact on
      cell turnover and migration as well as on the metabolic activity of cells
      involved in tumor spread and wound closure. The proton-sensing G protein-coupled
      receptors (GPCRs) GPR4, GPR65 (TDAG8), GPR68 (OGR1) and GPR132 (G2A) are
      activated via a decrease in pHe and transduce this signal to molecular
      intracellular pathways. Based on the current knowledge, we speculate on the role
      of proton-sensing GPCRs in wound healing and on their potential as mechanistic
      linkers of tumor growth and tissue repair.

PMID- 27623508
TI  - Immunotherapy in head and neck cancer: Harnessing profit on a system disruption.
AB  - Immune system deregulation and evasion play a key role in cancers' evolution and
      progression, including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).
      Development of basic research proposed a whole new vision of cancer treatment,
      based on a strong biological rational, and targeting intrinsic deregulations.
      Immunotherapies provide an encouraging strategy for patients' improved outcomes.
      Immune-based therapies could act on cancer growth and/or development throughout
      many pathways. If cetuximab is for now the only monoclonal antibody approved for
      SCCHN management, other strategies, e.g. immune checkpoints openers, are arousing
      enthusiasm. Clinical trials are multiplying in patients with recurrent/metastatic
      SCCHN and primary results offer promising outcomes. Prospects of combining
      various immunotherapies with more established treatments, such as chemotherapy
      and radiotherapy, seem very encouraging and could provide synergistic benefits.
      Ongoing phase III clinical trials should soon enlighten us on the next "standard
      of care" for SCCHN. In the present review we summarized the different
      immunotherapy strategies that are currently under clinical investigation for
      SCCHN' medical care.

PMID- 27623509
TI  - Combining Type I Interferons and 5-Aza-2'-Deoxycitidine to Improve Anti-Tumor
      Response against Melanoma.
AB  - Resistance to IFN-I-induced antineoplastic effects has been reported in many
      tumors and arises, in part, from epigenetic silencing of IFN-stimulated genes by
      DNA methylation. We hypothesized that restoration of IFN-stimulated genes by co
      administration of the demethylating drug 5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine (decitabine
      [DAC]) may enhance the susceptibility to IFN-I-mediated antitumoral effects in
      melanoma. We show that combined administration of IFN-I and DAC significantly
      inhibits the growth of murine and human melanoma cells, both in vitro and in
      vivo. Compared with controls, DAC/IFN-I-treated melanoma cells exhibited reduced
      cell growth, augmented apoptosis, and diminished migration. Moreover, IFN-I and
      DAC synergized to suppress the growth of three-dimensional human melanoma
      spheroids, altering tumor architecture. These direct antitumor effects correlated
      with induction of the IFN-stimulated gene Mx1. In vivo, DAC/IFN-I significantly
      reduced melanoma growth via stimulation of adaptive immunity, promoting tumor
      infiltrating CD8+ T cells while inhibiting the homing of immunosuppressive CD11b+
      myeloid cells and regulatory T cells. Accordingly, exposure of human melanoma
      cells to DAC/IFN-I induced the recruitment of immune cells toward the tumor in a
      Matrigel (Corning Life Sciences, Kennebunkport, ME)-based microfluidic device.
      Our findings underscore a beneficial effect of DAC plus IFN-I combined treatment
      against melanoma through both direct and immune-mediated anti-tumor effects.

PMID- 27623512
TI  - World Gastroenterology Organisation Global Guideline Hepatitis B: September 2015.

PMID- 27623513
TI  - World Gastroenterology Organisation Global Guidelines Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A
      Global Perspective Update September 2015.

PMID- 27623511
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and microbiodistribution of 64Cu-labeled collagen-binding
      peptides in chronic myocardial infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and
      microbiodistribution of Cu-labeled collagen-binding peptides. METHODS: The
      affinity constant (KD), association (ka), and dissociation rate constant (kd) for
      the peptide collagelin or its analog (named CRPA) binding to collagen were
      measured by biolayer interferometric analysis. Rats (n=4-5) with myocardial
      infarction or normal were injected intravenously with the Cu-labeled peptides or
      Cu-DOTA as a control. Dynamic PET imaging was performed for 60 min at 7-8 weeks
      after infarct. Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET imaging was performed to
      identify the viable myocardium. To validate the PET images, slices of heart
      samples from the base to the apex were analyzed using autoradiography and
      histology. RESULT: The peptides bound to collagen with a KD of ~0.9 umol/l. The
      Cu-peptides and Cu-DOTA accumulated in the infarct area (confirmed by
      autoradiography and histology images) within 1 min of injection and were excreted
      rapidly through the renal system. The blood clearance curves were biphasic with
      elimination half-lives of 21.9+/-2.4, 26.2+/-4.6, and 21.2+/-2.1 min for Cu-CRPA,
      Cu-collagelin, and the control Cu-DOTA, respectively. The clearance half-lives
      from the focal fibrotic tissue (24.1+/-1.5, 25.6+/-8.0, and 21.4+/-1.3 min,
      respectively) and remote myocardium (20.8+/-0.7, 21.0+/-5.5, and 19.1+/-2.4 min,
      respectively) were not significantly different. The uptake ratios of infarct-to
      remote myocardium (1.93+/-0.18, 2.15+/-0.38, and 1.88+/-0.08, respectively) for
      Cu-CRPA, Cu-collagelin, and Cu-DOTA remained stable for the time period between
      10 and 60 min. CONCLUSION: The distribution of the Cu-collagelin probes
      corresponds to the heterogeneous distribution of expanded extracellular space in
      the setting of myocardial infarction. The overall washout rate from the fibrous
      tissue was determined by the slow washout rate (t1/2>=20 min) of the peptides
      from the extracellular space to the vasculature, not by the dissociation rate
      (t1/2<2 min) of the Cu-peptides from collagen.

PMID- 27623514
TI  - World Digestive Health Day 2016 and Gastro 2016: EGHS-WGO International Congress
      in Abu Dhabi.

PMID- 27623510
TI  - Down-Regulation of CD62L Shedding in T Cells by CD39+ Regulatory T Cells Leads to
      Defective Sensitization in Contact Hypersensitivity Reactions.
AB  - Injection of regulatory T cells (Tregs) followed by sensitization with 2,4,6
      trinitrochlorobenzene induced a transient increase in size and cellularity of
      skin-draining lymph nodes (LNs) in mice. This led us to hypothesize that Tregs
      may affect the trafficking of T cells from and to peripheral LNs. Two to three
      hours after sensitization, we found fewer CD8+ T cells expressing CD62L in LNs
      compared with untreated controls. Injection of wild-type Tregs prevented this
      down-regulation of CD62L. In contrast, Tregs devoid of the adenosine triphosphate
      (ATP)-degrading ecto-enzyme CD39 were unable to do so. As for the mechanism of
      CD62L regulation, we found that ATP, which is released in skin upon hapten
      exposure, is inducing the protease ADAM17 in LN-residing T cells via engagement
      of P2X7 ATP receptors. ADAM17 cleaves CD62L from the surface of CD8+ T cells,
      which in turn provide a signal for T cells to leave the LNs. This regulation of
      CD62L is disturbed by the presence of Tregs, because Tregs remove extracellular
      ATP from the tissue by activity of CD39 and, therefore, abrogate the shedding of
      CD62L. Thus, these data indicate that the regulation of ATP turnover by Tregs in
      skin and LNs is an important modulator for immune responses.

PMID- 27623515
TI  - The Author's Reply: inappropriate adrenoreceptor blockade prior to
      pheochromocytoma removal - 'A timely reappraisal'.

PMID- 27623517
TI  - Use of HbA1c to diagnose type 2 diabetes mellitus among high risk Sri Lankan
      adults.
AB  - AIM: Even though, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was found to be effective in
      predicting diabetes especially in Caucasians there is limited evidence of its
      diagnostic utility in high risk Sri Lankan adults. This study aimed to determine
      the optimal HbA1c cut-off points for detecting diabetes in a high risk population
      in Sri Lanka. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This community based study consisted of 254
      previously healthy adults with history of diabetes in one or more first-degree
      relatives. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) , glucose tolerance test (GTT) and HbA1c
      were measured in all and GTT was used as a reference to diagnose diabetes.
      Receiver operating characteristic curve was created to find the optimum HbA1c cut
      off value to predict diabetes. RESULTS: Prevalence of diabetes was 12.2% (n=31)
      with FPG and 16.1% (n=41) with GTT. Prevalence rose to 27.6% (P<0.01) when HbA1c
      with cut-off of >=6.5% was used as the diagnostic test. The ROC curves showed the
      HbA1c threshold of 6.3% provided the optimum balance between sensitivity (80.5%)
      and specificity (79%). In compared to GTT, FPG had only a modest sensitivity
      (65%) in diagnosing diabetes in this high risk population. CONCLUSION: Our study
      showed that optimum HbA1C cut-off for detecting diabetes was 6.3% and it had
      better sensitivity, but lower specificity than FPG. This study further showed
      that the prevalence of diabetes would become double if HbA1c is used over FPG to
      screen this high risk population.

PMID- 27623520
TI  - Thinking with your stomach? Gut feelings on microbiome modulation of brain
      structure and function (Commentary on Luczynski et al.).

PMID- 27623518
TI  - Variability of breathing during wakefulness while using CPAP predicts adherence.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The standard therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)
      is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. However, long-term
      adherence remains at ~50% despite improvements in behavioural and educational
      interventions. Based on prior work, we explored whether regularity of breathing
      during wakefulness might be a physiologic predictor of CPAP adherence. METHODS:
      Of the 117 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with OSA and prescribed CPAP,
      79 CPAP naive patients were enrolled in this prospective study. During CPAP
      initiation, respiratory signals were collected using respiratory inductance
      plethysmography while wearing CPAP during wakefulness in a seated position.
      Breathing regularity was assessed by the coefficient of variation (CV) for breath
      by-breath estimated tidal volume (VT ) and total duration of respiratory cycle
      (Ttot). In a derivation group (n = 36), we determined the cut-off CV value which
      predicted poor CPAP adherence at the first month of therapy, and verified the
      validity of this predetermined cut-off value in the remaining participants
      (validation group; n = 43). RESULTS: In the derivation group, the CV for
      estimated VT was significantly higher in patients with poor adherence than with
      good adherence (median (interquartile range): 44.2 (33.4-57.4) vs 26.0 (20.4
      33.2), P < 0.001). The CV cut-off value for estimated VT for poor CPAP adherence
      was 34.0, according to a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. In the
      validation group, the CV value for estimated VT >34.0 confirmed to be predicting
      poor CPAP adherence (sensitivity, 0.78; specificity, 0.83). CONCLUSION: At the
      initiation of therapy, breathing regularity during wakefulness while wearing CPAP
      is an objective predictor of short-term CPAP adherence.

PMID- 27623521
TI  - Ultrasound frequency analysis for identification of aggregates and cement paste
      in concrete.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to identify specific frequencies related to
      aggregates and cement paste during concrete hydration, by performing a Fourier
      analysis of the ultrasonic response of concrete specimens to different excitation
      frequencies. This identification will reduce the high influence of aggregates in
      the ultrasound signal analysis, enabling a better assessment of changes occurring
      in the cement paste. Thirty-five cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 100mm
      and a length of 200mm were cast with a water to cement ratio=0.60. Thirty
      specimens were destructively tested at 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 and 28days for their
      compressive strength. The remaining five specimens were non-destructively tested
      at 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 28 and 56days using longitudinal and transversal ultrasonic
      wave transducers with frequencies from 50kHz to 500kHz. Analysis of the evolution
      in frequency observed in the specimens identified variations related to
      progressive hydration of the cement paste, in contrast with the invariant
      behavior of the inert aggregates. Results show that it is possible to distinguish
      the behavior of cement paste and aggregates in the frequency domain. As a
      consequence, it should be possible in future research to evaluate more
      efficiently different phenomena that affect only the cement paste.

PMID- 27623516
TI  - Altered cortical beta-band oscillations reflect motor system degeneration in
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Continuous rhythmic neuronal oscillations underpin local and regional cortical
      communication. The impact of the motor system neurodegenerative syndrome
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on the neuronal oscillations subserving
      movement might therefore serve as a sensitive marker of disease activity.
      Movement preparation and execution are consistently associated with modulations
      to neuronal oscillation beta (15-30 Hz) power. Cortical beta-band oscillations
      were measured using magnetoencephalography (MEG) during preparation for,
      execution, and completion of a visually cued, lateralized motor task that
      included movement inhibition trials. Eleven "classical" ALS patients, 9 with the
      primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) phenotype, and 12 asymptomatic carriers of ALS
      associated gene mutations were compared with age-similar healthy control groups.
      Augmented beta desynchronization was observed in both contra- and ipsilateral
      motor cortices of ALS patients during motor preparation. Movement execution
      coincided with excess beta desynchronization in asymptomatic mutation carriers.
      Movement completion was followed by a slowed rebound of beta power in all
      symptomatic patients, further reflected in delayed hemispheric lateralization for
      beta rebound in the PLS group. This may correspond to the particular involvement
      of interhemispheric fibers of the corpus callosum previously demonstrated in
      diffusion tensor imaging studies. We conclude that the ALS spectrum is
      characterized by intensified cortical beta desynchronization followed by delayed
      rebound, concordant with a broader concept of cortical hyperexcitability,
      possibly through loss of inhibitory interneuronal influences. MEG may potentially
      detect cortical dysfunction prior to the development of overt symptoms, and thus
      be able to contribute to the assessment of future neuroprotective strategies. Hum
      Brain Mapp 38:237-254, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623522
TI  - Free and forced vibrations of SC-cut quartz crystal rectangular plates with the
      first-order Mindlin plate equations.
AB  - Mindlin plate theory was used to provide accurate solutions to thickness-shear
      vibrations of plates, which have a much higher frequency than usual flexural
      vibrations and are the functioning modes of quartz crystal resonators. The
      vibration frequency solutions obtained with the Mindlin plate theory are proven
      being accurate along with mode shapes. In this paper, straight-crested wave
      solutions of free and forced vibrations of doubly rotated SC-cut of quartz
      crystal plates of rectangular shapes with four free edges are obtained with
      validated Mindlin plate equations. A procedure has been established for the
      calculation of dispersion relations, frequency spectra, mode shapes, and
      capacitance ratios of forced vibrations needed in resonator design.

PMID- 27623523
TI  - Effectiveness of a Treatment Involving Soft Tissue Techniques and/or Neural
      Mobilization Techniques in the Management of Tension-Type Headache: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of a protocol involving soft tissue techniques
      and/or neural mobilization techniques in the management of patients with frequent
      episodic tension-type headache (FETTH) and those with chronic tension-type
      headache (CTTH). DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled before and
      after trial. SETTING: Rehabilitation area of the local hospital and a private
      physiotherapy center. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=97; 78 women, 19 men) diagnosed
      with FETTH or CTTH were randomly assigned to groups A, B, C, or D. INTERVENTIONS:
      (A) Placebo superficial massage; (B) soft tissue techniques; (C) neural
      mobilization techniques; (D) a combination of soft tissue and neural mobilization
      techniques. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The pressure pain threshold (PPT) in the
      temporal muscles (points 1 and 2) and supraorbital region (point 3), the
      frequency and maximal intensity of pain crisis, and the score in the Headache
      Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) were evaluated. All variables were assessed before the
      intervention, at the end of the intervention, and 15 and 30 days after the
      intervention. RESULTS: Groups B, C, and D had an increase in PPT and a reduction
      in frequency, maximal intensity, and HIT-6 values in all time points after the
      intervention as compared with baseline and group A (P<.001 for all cases). Group
      D had the highest PPT values and the lowest frequency and HIT-6 values after the
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The application of soft tissue and neural mobilization
      techniques to patients with FETTH or CTTH induces significant changes in PPT, the
      characteristics of pain crisis, and its effect on activities of daily living as
      compared with the application of these techniques as isolated interventions.

PMID- 27623525
TI  - The influence of changes in land use and landscape patterns on soil erosion in a
      watershed.
AB  - It is very important to have a good understanding of the relation between soil
      erosion and landscape patterns so that soil and water conservation in river
      basins can be optimized. In this study, this relationship was explored, using the
      Liusha River Watershed, China, as a case study. A distributed water and sediment
      model based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was developed to
      simulate soil erosion from different land use types in each sub-basin of the
      Liusha River Watershed. Observed runoff and sediment data from 1985 to 2005 and
      land use maps from 1986, 1995, and 2000 were used to calibrate and validate the
      model. The erosion modulus for each sub-basin was calculated from SWAT model
      results using the different land use maps and 12 landscape indices were chosen
      and calculated to describe the land use in each sub-basin for the different
      years. The variations in instead of the absolute amounts of the erosion modulus
      and the landscape indices for each sub-basin were used as the dependent and
      independent variables, respectively, for the regression equations derived from
      multiple linear regression. The results indicated that the variations in the
      erosion modulus were closely related to changes in the large patch index, patch
      cohesion index, modified Simpson's evenness index, and the aggregation index.
      From the regression equation and the corresponding landscape indices, it was
      found that watershed erosion can be reduced by decreasing the physical
      connectivity between patches, improving the evenness of the landscape patch
      types, enriching landscape types, and enhancing the degree of aggregation between
      the landscape patches. These findings will be useful for water and soil
      conservation and for optimizing the management of watershed landscapes.

PMID- 27623526
TI  - Land-use and hydroperiod affect kettle hole sediment carbon and nitrogen
      biogeochemistry.
AB  - Kettle holes are glaciofluvially created depressional wetlands that collect
      organic matter (OM) and nutrients from their surrounding catchment. Kettle holes
      mostly undergo pronounced wet-dry cycles. Fluctuations in water table, land-use,
      and management can affect sediment biogeochemical transformations and perhaps
      threaten the carbon stocks of these unique ecosystems. We investigated sediment
      and water of 51 kettle holes in NE Germany that differ in hydroperiod (i.e. the
      duration of the wet period of a kettle hole) and land-use. Our objectives were 1)
      to test if hydroperiod and land management were imprinted on the isotopic values
      (delta13C, delta15N) and C:N ratios of the sediment OM, and 2) to characterize
      water loss dynamics and kettle hole-groundwater connectivity by measuring the
      stable delta18O and deltaD isotope values of kettle hole water over several
      years. We found the uppermost sediment layer reflected recent OM inputs and short
      term processes in the catchment, including land-use and management effects.
      Deeper sediments recorded the degree to which OM is processed within the kettle
      hole related to the hydroperiod. We see clear indications for the effects of wet
      dry cycles for all kettle holes, which can lead to the encroachment of
      terrestrial plants. We found that the magnitude of evaporation depended on the
      year, season, and land-use type, that kettle holes are temporarily coupled to
      shallow ground water, and, as such, kettle holes are described best as partially
      closed to open systems.

PMID- 27623527
TI  - Significant trade-off for the impact of Grain-for-Green Programme on ecosystem
      services in North-western Yunnan, China.
AB  - Ecological restoration can mitigate human disturbance to the natural environment
      and restore ecosystem functions. China's Grain-for-Green Programme (GFGP) has
      been widely adopted in the last 15years and exerted significant impact on land
      use and ecosystem services. North-western Yunnan is one of the key areas of GFGP
      implementation in the upper Yangtze River. Promotion of ecosystem services in
      this region is of great importance to the ecological sustainability of Yangtze
      River watershed. In this study, remote sensing and modelling techniques are
      applied to analyse the impact of GFGP on ecosystem services. Results show that
      the transformation from non-irrigated farmland to forestland could potentially
      improve soil conservation by 24.89%. Soil conservation of restored forest was
      78.17% of retained forest while net primary production (NPP) already reached
      88.65%, which suggested different recovery rates of NPP and soil conservation.
      Increasing extent of GFGP implementation improved soil conservation but decreased
      NPP and water yield at sub-watershed scale, which revealed trade-offs between
      ecosystem services under ecological restoration. Future ecosystem management and
      GFGP policy-making should consider trade-offs of ecosystem services in order to
      achieve sustainable provision of ecosystem services.

PMID- 27623524
TI  - An intestinal microRNA modulates the homeostatic adaptation to chronic oxidative
      stress in C. elegans.
AB  - Adaptation to an environmental or metabolic perturbation is a feature of the
      evolutionary process. Recent insights into microRNA function suggest that
      microRNAs serve as key players in a robust adaptive response against stress in
      animals through their capacity to fine-tune gene expression. However, it remains
      largely unclear how a microRNA-modulated downstream mechanism contributes to the
      process of homeostatic adaptation. Here we show that loss of an intestinally
      expressed microRNA gene, mir-60, in the nematode C. elegans promotes an adaptive
      response to chronic - a mild and long-term - oxidative stress exposure. The
      pathway involved appears to be unique since the canonical stress-responsive
      factors, such as DAF-16/FOXO, are dispensable for mir-60 loss to enhance
      oxidative stress resistance. Gene expression profiles revealed that genes
      encoding lysosomal proteases and those involved in xenobiotic metabolism and
      pathogen defense responses are up-regulated by the loss of mir-60. Detailed
      genetic studies and computational microRNA target prediction suggest that
      endocytosis components and a bZip transcription factor gene zip-10, which
      functions in innate immune response, are directly modulated by miR-60 in the
      intestine. Our findings suggest that the mir-60 loss facilitates adaptive
      response against chronic oxidative stress by ensuring the maintenance of cellular
      homeostasis.

PMID- 27623528
TI  - Country-level net primary production distribution and response to drought and
      land cover change.
AB  - Carbon sequestration by terrestrial ecosystems can offset emissions and thereby
      offers an alternative way of achieving the target of reducing the concentration
      of CO2 in the atmosphere. Net primary production (NPP) is the first step in the
      sequestration of carbon by terrestrial ecosystems. This study quantifies moderate
      resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) NPP from 2000 to 2014 at the country
      level along with its response to drought and land cover change. Our results
      indicate that the combined NPP for 53 countries represents >90% of global NPP.
      From 2000 to 2014, 29 of these 53 countries had increasing NPP trends, most
      notably the Central African Republic (23gC/m2/y). The top three and top 12
      countries accounted for 30% and 60% of total global NPP, respectively, whereas
      the mean national NPP per unit area in the countries with the 12 lowest values
      was only around ~300gC/m2/y - the exception to this was Brazil, which had an NPP
      of 850gC/m2/y. Large areas of Russia, Argentina, Peru and several countries in
      southeast Asia showed a marked decrease in NPP (~15gC/m2/y). About 37% of the NPP
      decrease was caused by drought while ~55% of NPP variability was attributed to
      changes in water availability. Land cover change explained about 20% of the NPP
      variability. Our findings support the idea that government policies should aim
      primarily to improve water management in drought-afflicted countries; land
      use/land cover change policy could also be used as an alternative method of
      increasing NPP.

PMID- 27623529
TI  - Raw and biologically treated paper mill wastewater effluents and the recipient
      surface waters: Cytotoxic and genotoxic activity and the presence of endocrine
      disrupting compounds.
AB  - Paper mill effluents are complex mixtures containing different toxic compounds
      including endocrine-disrupting (EDCs) and genotoxic compounds. In the present
      study non-concentrated raw and biologically treated wastewaters from two paper
      mill plants with different paper production technologies i) Paper mill A uses
      virgin fibres, and ii) Paper mill B uses recycled fibres for paper production and
      the corresponding receiving surface waters, were assessed for their
      cytotoxic/genotoxic activity with SOS/umuC, Ames MPF 98/100 Aqua, and comet assay
      with human hepatoma HepG2 cells. In addition the levels of seven selected EDCs
      were quantified in wastewater samples and receiving surface waters. All
      investigated EDCs were confirmed in raw and biologically treated effluents from
      both paper mills with concentrations being markedly higher in Paper mill B
      effluents. In the receiving surface waters three of the studied EDCs were
      determined downstream of both paper mills effluent discharge. The wastewater
      samples and the recipient surface water samples from Paper mill A were not
      mutagenic for bacteria and did not induce DNA damage in HepG2 cells. On the
      contrary, half of the raw wastewater samples from Paper mill B were mutagenic
      whereas biologically treated wastewater and the recipient surface water samples
      were negative. In HepG2 cells most of the raw and biologically treated wastewater
      samples from Paper mill B as well as surface water samples collected downstream
      of Paper mill B effluent discharge induced DNA damage. The results confirmed that
      genotoxic contaminants were present only in wastewaters from Paper mill B that
      uses recycled fibres for paper production, and that the combined aerobic and
      anaerobic wastewater treatment procedure efficiently reduced contaminants that
      are bacterial mutagens, but not those that induce DNA damage in HepG2 cells. This
      study highlights that in addition to chemical analyses bioassays are needed for a
      comprehensive toxicological evaluation of complex wastewater samples.

PMID- 27623530
TI  - Converting beach-cast seagrass wrack into biochar: A climate-friendly solution to
      a coastal problem.
AB  - Excessive accumulation of plant 'wrack' on beaches as a result of coastal
      development and beach modification (e.g. groin installation) is a global problem.
      This study investigated the potential for converting beach-cast seagrass wrack
      into biochar as a 'climate-friendly' disposal option for resource managers. Wrack
      samples from 11 seagrass species around Australia were initially screened for
      their biochar potential using pyrolysis techniques, and then two species -
      Posidonia australis and Zostera muelleri - underwent detailed analyses. Both
      species had high levels of refractory materials and high conversion efficiency
      (48-57%) of plant carbon into biochar carbon, which is comparable to high-quality
      terrestrial biochar products. P. australis wrack gave higher biochar yields than
      Z. muelleri consistent with its higher initial carbon content. According to 13C
      NMR, wrack predominantly comprised carbohydrates, protein, and lignin. Aryl
      carbon typical of pyrogenic materials dominated the spectrum of the thermally
      altered organic materials. Overall, this study provides the first data on the
      feasibility of generating biochar from seagrass wrack, showing that biocharring
      offers a promising climate-friendly alternative to disposal of beach wrack in
      landfill by avoiding a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that would
      otherwise occur if wrack was left to decompose.

PMID- 27623532
TI  - Task-Oriented Training with Computer Games for People with Rheumatoid Arthritis
      or Hand Osteoarthritis: A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the feasibility of a clinical trial on a novel, home-based
      task-oriented training with conventional hand exercises in people with rheumatoid
      arthritis or hand osteoarthritis. To explore the experiences of participants who
      completed their respective home exercise programmes. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Thirty volunteer participants aged between 30 and 60 years and diagnosed with
      rheumatoid arthritis or hand osteoarthritis were proposed for a single-center,
      assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov :
      NCT01635582). Participants received task-oriented training with interactive
      computer games and objects of daily life or finger mobility and strengthening
      exercises. Both programmes were home based and were done four sessions per week
      with 20 minutes each session for 6 weeks. Major feasibility outcomes were number
      of volunteers screened, randomized, and retained; completion of blinded
      assessments, exercise training, and home exercise sessions; equipment and data
      management; and clinical outcomes of hand function. Reaching the recruitment
      target in 18 months and achieving exercise compliance >80% were set as success
      criteria. Concurrent with the trial, focus group interviews explored experiences
      of those participants who completed their respective programmes. RESULTS: After
      trial initiation, revisions in inclusion criteria were required to promote
      recruitment. A total of 17 participants were randomized and 15 were retained.
      Completion of assessments, exercise training, and home exercise sessions;
      equipment and data collection and management demonstrated excellent feasibility.
      Both groups improved in hand function outcomes and exercise compliance was above
      85%. Participants perceived both programmes as appropriate and acceptable.
      Participants who completed task-oriented training also agreed that playing
      different computer games was enjoyable, engaging, and motivating. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings demonstrate initial evidence on recruitment, feasibility of trial
      procedures, and acceptability of task-oriented training in people with rheumatoid
      arthritis or hand osteoarthritis. Since the pilot trial was unsuccessful in
      participant recruitment, a large trial will not follow.

PMID- 27623531
TI  - Comprehensive assessment of soil erosion risk for better land use planning in
      river basins: Case study of the Upper Blue Nile River.
AB  - In the drought-prone Upper Blue Nile River (UBNR) basin of Ethiopia, soil erosion
      by water results in significant consequences that also affect downstream
      countries. However, there have been limited comprehensive studies of this and
      other basins with diverse agroecologies. We analyzed the variability of gross
      soil loss and sediment yield rates under present and expected future conditions
      using a newly devised methodological framework. The results showed that the basin
      generates an average soil loss rate of 27.5tha-1yr-1 and a gross soil loss of ca.
      473Mtyr-1, of which, at least 10% comes from gully erosion and 26.7% leaves
      Ethiopia. In a factor analysis, variation in agroecology (average factor
      score=1.32) and slope (1.28) were the two factors most responsible for this high
      spatial variability. About 39% of the basin area is experiencing severe to very
      severe (>30tha-1yr-1) soil erosion risk, which is strongly linked to population
      density. Severe or very severe soil erosion affects the largest proportion of
      land in three subbasins of the UBNR basin: Blue Nile 4 (53.9%), Blue Nile 3
      (45.1%), and Jema Shet (42.5%). If appropriate soil and water conservation
      practices targeted ca. 77.3% of the area with moderate to severe erosion (>15tha
      1yr-1), the total soil loss from the basin could be reduced by ca. 52%. Our
      methodological framework identified the potential risk for soil erosion in large
      scale zones, and with a more sophisticated model and input data of higher spatial
      and temporal resolution, results could be specified locally within these risk
      zones. Accurate assessment of soil erosion in the UBNR basin would support
      sustainable use of the basin's land resources and possibly open up prospects for
      cooperation in the Eastern Nile region.

PMID- 27623533
TI  - High performance PbSe colloidal quantum dot vertical field effect
      phototransistors.
AB  - Here, vertical field effect phototransistors (VFEPTs) based on lead selenide
      colloidal quantum dots (PbSe CQDs) for infrared photo detection were
      investigated, using Au/Ag nanowires as the source transparent electrode. VFEPTs
      have the advantage of easy fabrication of ultrashort channel length devices, as
      the channel length is simply determined here by the PbSe CQDs active layer's
      thickness (260 nm). In ultrashort channels, photo-excited carriers quickly (in
      nanoseconds) transfer to the drain. As soon as a hole (electron) reaches the
      drain, a hole (electron) is replenished from the source. Accordingly, multiple
      holes circulate in the ultrashort channel following a single electron-hole photo
      generation. As a result, the device exhibits superior photoconductive properties
      over the lateral structure. PbSe CQD VFEPTs show ambipolar operation under low
      voltage down to one volt at room temperature. Moreover, high photo responsivity
      and high specific detectivity of 2 * 10(4) A W(-1) and 7 * 10(12) Jones are also
      achieved in the devices under 808 nm laser illumination. The transparent
      electrode-based near infrared VFEPTs prepared through this self-assembly solution
      process show promise for applications in electronics and photoelectronics. 

PMID- 27623535
TI  - Checking the lists: A systematic review of electronic checklist use in health
      care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We conducted a literature search to examine the effects and
      experiences surrounding the transition from paper to electronic checklists in
      healthcare settings. We explore the types of electronic checklists being used in
      health care, how and where they were evaluated and seek to identify the successes
      and failures of using electronic checklists in healthcare, including use of
      checklists to ensure completeness of documentation in the electronic medical
      record. BACKGROUND: Formalized checklist use as a memory and decision aid in
      aviation has resulted in significant increases in safety in that domain.
      Checklists have also been successfully introduced to reduce errors in some areas
      of healthcare; however, in some contexts checklists failed to provide some of the
      expected benefits. Adapting and integrating checklists electronically into the
      healthcare workflow provides opportunities and challenges that need to be better
      understood to make checklist adoption a success in health care. METHOD: We
      conducted a literature search of the English language literature in MEDLINE using
      PubMed for peer-reviewed literature of implementation and use of electronic or
      computerized checklists related to clinical or healthcare use. We reviewed the
      studies and included in this review those papers that discussed in depth the
      development process and that conducted controlled studies to assess the
      effectiveness of checklists and the evaluation of their acceptance in the
      clinical context. RESULTS: The literature search using the keywords electronic
      checklist OR computerized checklist returned a total of 23 peer-reviewed papers.
      Out of these 15 were included in the review, with 8 excluded because they did not
      evaluate checklist use for patient care. APPLICATION: More rigorous application
      of known principles and methods from Human Computer Interaction research and the
      behavioral sciences can provide a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of
      the conditions that affect the development and use of checklists.

PMID- 27623534
TI  - Veterans Like Me: Formative evaluation of a patient decision aid design.
AB  - Patient decision aids are tools intended to facilitate shared decision-making.
      Currently development of a patient decision aid is resource intensive: it
      requires a decision-specific review of the scientific literature by experts to
      ascertain the potential outcomes under different treatments. The goal of this
      project was to conduct a formative evaluation of a generalizable, scalable
      decision aid component we call Veterans Like Me (VLme). VLme mines EHR data to
      present the outcomes of individuals "like you" on different treatments to the
      user. These outcome are presented through a combination of an icon array and
      simulated narratives. Twenty-six patients participated in semi-structured
      interviews intended to elicit feedback on the tool's functional and interface
      design. The interview focused on the filters users desired with which to make
      cases similar to them, the kinds of outcomes they wanted presented, and their
      envisioned use of the tool. The interview also elicited participants information
      needs and salient factors related to the therapeutic decision. The interview
      transcripts were analyzed using an iteratively refined coding schema and content
      analysis. . Participants generally expressed enthusiasm for the tool's design and
      functionality. Our analysis identified desired filters for users to view patients
      like themselves, outcome types that should be included in future iterations of
      the tool (e.g. patient reported outcomes), and information needs that need to be
      addressed for patients to effectively participate in shared decision making.
      Implications for the integration of our findings into the design of patient
      decision aids are discussed.

PMID- 27623536
TI  - SPNsim: A database of simulated solitary pulmonary nodule PET/CT images
      facilitating computer aided diagnosis.
AB  - The aim of the present work was to design and develop a database of simulated
      solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) in pairs of computed tomography (CT) and
      positron emission tomography (PET) images, using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation
      methods. We have developed an SPN image modeling pipeline to feed the database
      entitled SPNsim. The database is web-accessible and it is contains two subsets of
      simulated PET/CT SPN images. The first subset is currently composed of 1000 cases
      containing pairs of the transaxial CT and the corresponding PET slice with
      various types of simulated SPNs, presented as individual records. The second
      subset contains pairs of the transaxial CT and the corresponding PET slice of
      simulated SPNs, presenting cases of graded difficulty in diagnosis. The users of
      the database will have the ability to set queries in order to retrieve cases with
      certain characteristics, as well as characterized image sets. All images are
      freely available and may be downloaded from the website. SPNsim provides a useful
      reference data set for training and evaluation of computer aided detection (CAD)
      and diagnosis (CADx) systems focusing on SPN.

PMID- 27623538
TI  - Effects of structured education program on organ donor designation of nursing
      students and their families: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the effect of education programs on changing
      attitudes and behaviors of participants and their families toward deceased organ
      donation. METHODS: The subjects of this randomized trial were Japanese nursing
      students who were not previously designated organ donors. They were randomly
      assigned to either the education program or information booklet group. The
      program comprised a lecture followed by group discussion and information booklet.
      The primary outcome was self-reported organ donor designation. Outcomes were
      assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS: Data of 203 (99.0%) students were analyzed.
      At study end, seven of 102 students (6.9%) of the program group and one of 101
      students (1.0%) of the booklet group consented to donate organs (proportion ratio
      6.93 [95% CI 0.87-55.32]). There were significant between-group differences in
      willingness to consent for donation (54.9% vs 39.6%; proportion ratio 1.39 [95%
      CI 1.03-1.87]), family discussion (31.4% vs 15.9%; 1.98 [1.16-3.38]), and organ
      donor designation of family members (11.8% vs 2.0%; 5.94 [1.36-25.88]). No group
      differences were found in willingness for organ donation by students and family
      members. CONCLUSION: Although there were no significant between-group differences
      in organ donor designation, the program seems to indirectly promote consent to
      organ donation by their families.

PMID- 27623537
TI  - Mice produced by mitotic reprogramming of sperm injected into haploid
      parthenogenotes.
AB  - Sperm are highly differentiated and the activities that reprogram them for
      embryonic development during fertilization have historically been considered
      unique to the oocyte. We here challenge this view and demonstrate that mouse
      embryos in the mitotic cell cycle can also directly reprogram sperm for full-term
      development. Developmentally incompetent haploid embryos (parthenogenotes)
      injected with sperm developed to produce healthy offspring at up to 24% of
      control rates, depending when in the embryonic cell cycle injection took place.
      This implies that most of the first embryonic cell cycle can be bypassed in sperm
      genome reprogramming for full development. Remodelling of histones and genomic 5'
      methylcytosine and 5'-hydroxymethylcytosine following embryo injection were
      distinct from remodelling in fertilization and the resulting 2-cell embryos
      consistently possessed abnormal transcriptomes. These studies demonstrate
      plasticity in the reprogramming of terminally differentiated sperm nuclei and
      suggest that different epigenetic pathways or kinetics can establish totipotency.

PMID- 27623540
TI  - Perspectives on Root Causes of High Utilization that Extend Beyond the Patient.

PMID- 27623539
TI  - Enzymatically Biodegradable Polyrotaxane-Deferoxamine Conjugates for Iron
      Chelation.
AB  - Chelation therapy is frequently used to help reduce excess iron in the body, but
      current chelators such as deferoxamine (DFO) are plagued by short blood
      circulation times, which necessitates infusions and can cause undesirable toxic
      side effects in patients. To address these issues, polyrotaxanes (PR) were
      synthesized by threading alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD) onto poly(ethylene glycol)
      bis(amine) (PEG-BA, MW 3400 g/mol) capped with enzymatically cleavable bulky Z-L
      phenylalanine (Z-L Phe) moieties. The resulting PR was conjugated to DFO and
      hydroxypropylated to generate the final polyrotaxane-DFO (hPR-DFO). The iron
      chelating capability of hPR-DFO was verified by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy
      and the ability of materials to degrade into smaller CD-conjugated DFO fragments
      (hCD-DFO) in the presence of the protease was confirmed via gel permeation
      chromatography. In vitro studies in iron-overloaded macrophages reveal that hPR
      DFO can significantly reduce the cytotoxicity of the drug while maintaining its
      chelation efficacy, and that it is more rapidly endocytosed and trafficked to
      lysosomes of iron-overloaded cells in comparison to non-iron-overloaded
      macrophages. In vivo studies indicate that iron-overloaded mice treated with hPR
      DFO displayed lower serum ferritin levels (a measure of iron burden in the body)
      and could eliminate excess iron by both the renal and fecal routes. Moreover,
      there was no gross evidence of acute toxicological damage to the liver or spleen.

PMID- 27623543
TI  - Sensory innervation of the dorsomedial segment of the hand due to the radial
      nerve as deviation from normal: Traumatic injury of this anomalous branch.

PMID- 27623544
TI  - Corrigendum to "Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids stimulate cellular fatty
      acid uptake in human placental choriocarcinoma (Bewo) cells" [Placenta (2009)
      1037-1044].

PMID- 27623542
TI  - Increasing the dietary supply of carotenoids through forage supplementation:
      Effect on nitrogen and mineral retention in captive Golden pheasants
      (Chrysolophus pictus).
AB  - This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding different levels
      of green forages on feed consumption, nutrient and mineral utilization in Golden
      pheasants (GP). Twenty-seven female GP (BW 617-635 g) were randomly distributed
      into three groups of nine birds each in an experiment based on completely
      randomized design (CRD). Birds in group T1 were fed a conventional zoo diet
      containing 1.4% green forages; however, the diets of the birds in groups T2 and
      T3 contained 2.7% and 5.0% of green forages, respectively. Intake of total
      carotenoids increased with increased level of green forages in the diet. Apparent
      retention of N, Ca, and Zn was higher in GP laying hens fed diet containing 5.0%
      green forages as compared to those fed conventional diet containing 1.4% green
      forages. Results of the present study indicate that inclusion of 5% green forage
      in the diet of GP would improve the utilization of N, Ca, and Zn without any
      adverse effect on intake and utilization of other nutrients. Data related to
      nutrient intake, basal endogenous losses (BEL) and coefficient of retention (COR)
      of N, Ca, P, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn are novel and may be of use for future
      research. Zoo Biol. 35:522-532, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623541
TI  - Development of a SNP array and its application to genetic mapping and diversity
      assessment in pepper (Capsicum spp.).
AB  - The development and application of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is in
      its infancy for pepper. Here, a set of 15,000 SNPs were chosen from the
      resequencing data to develop an array for pepper with 12,720 loci being
      ultimately synthesized. Of these, 8,199 (~64.46%) SNPs were found to be scorable
      and covered ~81.18% of the whole genome. With this array, a high-density
      interspecific genetic map with 5,569 SNPs was constructed using 297 F2
      individuals, and genetic diversity of a panel of 399 pepper elite/landrace lines
      was successfully characterized. Based on the genetic map, one major QTL, named
      Up12.1, was detected for the fruit orientation trait. A total of 65 protein
      coding genes were predicted within this QTL region based on the current
      annotation of the Zunla-1 genome. In summary, the thousands of well-validated SNP
      markers, high-density genetic map and genetic diversity information will be
      useful for molecular genetics and innovative breeding in pepper. Furthermore, the
      mapping results lay foundation for isolating the genes underlying variation in
      fruit orientation of Capsicum.

PMID- 27623545
TI  - Bioactive phenols as potential neuroinflammation inhibitors from the leaves of
      Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge.
AB  - Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge is a medicinal plant and also a valuable cash crop
      used for production of edible oil and biofuels in China. In our previous
      research, systematical phytochemical and bioactive profiles of different parts
      from X. sorbifolia have been obtained. Here we describe the effective phenols
      from the leaves of X. sorbifolia, which could function as natural
      neuroinflammation inhibitors. As a result, 23 compounds were characterized as the
      phenols from the leaves of X. sorbifolia by means of chromatographical methods
      and spectroscopic analysis. Among them, flavonoids quercetin3-O-beta-d
      glucopyarnoside (IC50 13.39+/-1.27MUM), catechin (IC50 9.52+/-2.18MUM), and
      phenylpropanoids syringaresinol-4-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (IC50 3.08+/-1.77MUM),
      4-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-trans-p-coumaric acid (IC50 9.08+/-1.23MUM) exhibited
      much stronger inhibiting effect on NO production than that of the positive
      control minocycline (IC50 37.04+/-2.09MUM) in LPS-induced BV2 cells.

PMID- 27623546
TI  - Antiplasmodial activity of alkyl-substituted 1,2-dioxetanes against Plasmodium
      falciparum.
AB  - This article reports the in vitro antiplasmodial activity of two endoperoxides of
      the class 1,2-dioxetanes against Plasmodium falciparum: bis(adamantyl)-1,2
      dioxetane and 3,3,4,4-tetramethyl-1,2-dioxetane. The results reveal that
      bis(adamantyl)-1,2-dioxetane displays substantial antiplasmodial activity, at
      least two orders of magnitude higher than that of artemisinin, while 3,3,4,4
      tetramethyl-1,2-dioxetane is less active.

PMID- 27623547
TI  - Evaluation of canthinone alkaloids as cerebral protective agents.
AB  - Considerable attention has been paid to cerebral protective drugs as a potential
      therapy for dementia. Screening of a natural compound library here resulted in
      identification of five canthinone alkaloids, viz., picrasidine L (1), picrasidine
      O (2), eurycomine E (3), 3-ethyl-canthin-5,6-dione (4), and 3-ethyl-4-methoxy
      canthin-5,6-dione (5), as novel cerebral protective agents. The structure
      activity relationship indicated that C-4, C-9, and N-3 substitutions greatly
      affected their cerebral protective effect. Among these, compound 2 exhibited a
      cerebral protective effect through suppressing neuronal hyperexcitability due to
      an increase in the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamic acid. Furthermore,
      compound 2 did not affect heart rate and mean systolic blood pressure. This
      investigation suggests that compound 2 has potential for further development as a
      cerebral protective drug.

PMID- 27623548
TI  - Columnaristerol A, a novel 19-norsterol from the Formosan octocoral Nephthea
      columnaris.
AB  - Columnaristerol A (1), a rare natural 19-norsterol possessing a 10beta-hydroxy
      group was isolated from the Formosan octocoral Nephthea columnaris, and its
      structure was elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Sterol 1 was found to be a
      cytotoxic agent that exhibited in vitro moderate cytotoxic activity against MOLT
      4 and SUP-T1 human leukemia-lymphoma cell lines.

PMID- 27623549
TI  - Antitubercular and cytotoxic tigliane-type diterpenoids from Croton tiglium.
AB  - Five new tigliane diterpene esters (1-5), highly oxygenated tetracyclic
      diterpenoid carbon skeleton, together with three known analogues (6-8) were
      isolated from the leaves of Croton tiglium. Extensive NMR and mass spectroscopic
      analysis were used to elucidate their structures. Most of the isolated compounds
      were tested for their cytotoxic and antitubercular activities. Among them, the
      cytotoxic activities of these tigliane-type diterpenes strongly depend on the
      species of the tumor cells. Especially, these bioactivity compounds showed strong
      cytotoxic activities against the K562 cell line, and their inhibition effects
      were close to the positive control Taxol. Furthermore, compounds 1, 2, 6, and 7
      showed potent antitubercular activities with MIC values of 19.5, 20.9, 20.5, and
      13.4MUM, respectively.

PMID- 27623550
TI  - Facile synthesis and 18F-radiolabeling of alpha4beta1-specific LLP2A
      aryltrifluoroborate peptidomimetic conjugates.
AB  - The peptidomimetic, LLP2A, is a specific, high-affinity ligand for alpha4beta1
      integrin receptors. Previously, several PEGylated LLP2A conjugates were evaluated
      in vivo as imaging agents for the detection of lymphoma, leukemia, multiple
      myeloma and melanoma tumours via NIR-fluorescence, 111In-SPECT, and 64Cu- and
      68Ga-PET imaging. Despite these successes, to date there is no report of an 18F
      labeled LLP2A conjugate. Notably, fluorine-18 is a preferred radionuclide for PET
      imaging, yet its short half-life and general inactivity under aqueous conditions
      present challenges for peptide labeling. A simple method for labeling complex
      biomolecules can be achieved with arylboronic acids that readily capture aqueous
      [18F]-fluoride ion resulting in an 18F-labeled aryltrifluoroborate ([18F]-ArBF3-)
      radioprosthetic group. Herein, we present the first radiosynthesis of an 18F
      labeled LLP2A conjugate by both one-step 18F-labeling and one-pot two-step 18F
      labeling post-'click' conjugation of the 18F-alkynyl-ArBF3- prosthetic.
      Competition with a fluorescent conjugate of LLP2A demonstrated specific binding
      of the non-radioactive isotopolog ArBF3--PEG2-LLP2A to alpha4beta1 integrin
      expressing MOLT-4 leukemia cells, as evidenced and confirmed by fluorescence
      microscopy. This work provides a key first step in the development of an
      expanding library of [18F]-R-BF3--LLP2A radiotracers for PET imaging.

PMID- 27623551
TI  - A synergistic antitumor effect of polyphyllin I and formosanin C on
      hepatocarcinoma cells.
AB  - Polyphyllin I (PPI) and formosanin C (FC) were regarded as effective and
      imperative components isolated from Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS) and exhibited
      strong anti-tumor effects on a variety of cancers. With the wide application of
      complex mixtures in clinics, synergistic interactions are of vital importance in
      phytomedicine. Therefore, it is of inherent importance to study whether there is
      a synergistic anti-tumor effect on PPI and FC from one herb. In this study, the
      viability was detected by MTT assay. The combination index (CI) analysis was used
      to assess their synergistic effect. Consequently, there was a synergistic anti
      tumor effect between PPI and FC at a ratio of 1:1. The CI value was less than
      1.0. Their combination significantly increased their single G1 phase arrest and
      mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway. Meanwhile, PPI and FC reduced the
      ability of cell migration. In conclusion, polyphyllin I and formosanin C showed a
      synergistic anti-tumor effect on hepatocarcinoma cells. The findings would
      provide the foundation for the use of RPS in the future.

PMID- 27623553
TI  - Experimental metagenomics and ribosomal profiling of the human skin microbiome.
AB  - The skin is the largest organ in the human body, and it is populated by a large
      diversity of microbes, most of which are co-evolved with the host and live in
      symbiotic harmony. There is increasing evidence that the skin microbiome plays a
      crucial role in the defense against pathogens, immune system training and
      homoeostasis, and microbiome perturbations have been associated with pathological
      skin conditions. Studying the skin resident microbial community is thus essential
      to better understand the microbiome-host crosstalk and to associate its specific
      configurations with cutaneous diseases. Several community profiling approaches
      have proved successful in unravelling the composition of the skin microbiome and
      overcome the limitations of cultivation-based assays, but these tools remain
      largely inaccessible to the clinical and medical dermatology communities. The
      study of the skin microbiome is also characterized by specific technical
      challenges, such as the low amount of microbial biomass and the extensive human
      DNA contamination. Here, we review the available community profiling approaches
      to study the skin microbiome, specifically focusing on the practical experimental
      and analytical tools necessary to generate and analyse skin microbiome data. We
      describe all the steps from the initial samples collection to the final data
      interpretation, with the goal of enabling clinicians and researchers who are not
      familiar with the microbiome field to perform skin profiling experiments.

PMID- 27623552
TI  - Exploring Delirium's Heterogeneity: Association Between Arousal Subtypes at
      Initial Presentation and 6-Month Mortality in Older Emergency Department
      Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine how delirium subtyped by level of arousal at initial
      presentation affects 6-month mortality. DESIGN: This was a preplanned secondary
      analysis of two prospective cohort studies. SETTING: Academic tertiary care
      emergency department (ED). PARTICIPANTS: 1,084 ED patients who were 65 years old
      or older. MEASUREMENTS: At the time of enrollment, trained research personnel
      performed the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit and the
      Richmond Agitation Sedation Score to determine delirium and level of arousal,
      respectively. Patients were categorized as having no delirium, delirium with
      normal arousal, delirium with decreased arousal, or delirium with increased
      arousal. Death was ascertained by medical record review and the Social Security
      Death Index. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to analyze the
      association between delirium arousal subtypes and 6-month mortality. RESULTS:
      Delirium with normal arousal was the only subtype that was significantly
      associated with increased 6-month mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.1, 95%
      confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-7.4) compared with the no delirium group after
      adjusting for confounders. The HRs for delirium with decreased and increased
      arousal were 1.4 (95% CI: 0.9-2.1) and 1.3 (95% CI: 0.3-5.4), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Delirious ED patients with normal arousal at initial presentation
      had a threefold increased hazard of death within 6 months compared with patients
      without delirium. There was a trend towards increased hazard of death in
      delirious ED patients with decreased arousal, but this relationship did not reach
      statistical significance. These data suggest that subtyping delirium by arousal
      may have prognostic value but requires confirmation with a larger study.

PMID- 27623555
TI  - The Pancreatic Duct Ligated (Mini)pig as a Model for Pancreatic Exocrine
      Insufficiency in Man.
AB  - Modern therapy of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) using pancreatic enzyme
      replacement therapy (PERT) has largely been very effective and has greatly helped
      in improving the nutritional status of patients with PEI and in increasing the
      life expectancy in cystic fibrosis. It is believed that the use of predictable
      large animal models could play an important role in assessing and developing new
      therapies. This article reviews the pancreatic duct ligated (adult) minipig as a
      chronic model of total PEI, with a detailed look at the influence of PEI and
      response to PERT on prececal compared to fecal digestibility, to directly
      investigate effects on protein and starch digestion and absorption. In addition,
      the piglet with PEI is reviewed as a model for PEI in young patients with the aim
      of further improving the therapy and nutritional status of young patients with
      cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 27623554
TI  - Antidepressant-like effects and cognitive enhancement of the total phenols
      extract of Hemerocallis citrina Baroni in chronic unpredictable mild stress rats
      and its related mechanism.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Depression induce distressed emotional state and
      cognitive deficits simultaneously, which both should be improved in the
      treatment. Hemerocallis citrina Baroni (HC) is a traditional herbal medicine in
      Eastern-Asia areas and the total phenols extract of HC (HCPE) contains the main
      active ingredients. It has been reported that HC has the emotional improvement
      effect. But the cognitive effect of HC was seldom researched. AIM OF THE STUDY:
      We designed to evaluate the antidepressant and cognitive improvement effect of
      HCPE using a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model, and the potential
      mechanisms were explored by investigating the corticosterone (CORT), monoamine
      neurotansmitters, brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and oxidative stress.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The depression rats were induced by CUMS procedures and
      treated with HCPE (10, 20, 40mg/kg/day, by gastric gavage). The antidepressant
      effect was evaluated by sucrose preference test, open field test and body weight,
      while the cognitive improvement was investigated using morris water maze test.
      Besides, the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters in the hippocampus and frontal
      cortex were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass
      spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The serum CORT and BDNF in hippocampus were test using
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. The oxidative stress indicators
      in frontal cortex were also analyzed. RESULTS: HCPE (40mg/kg) improved the
      emotion and cognition related behaviors in depression effectively. Moreover, HCPE
      increased the neurotransmitters concentration (5-HT, DA and NE) in the
      hippocampus and frontal cortex compared with CUMS rats. Meanwhile, the CUMS
      induced changes of serum corticosterone level and the hippocampus BDNF level were
      reversed. Besides, HCPE reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) in the frontal cortex of
      model rats. CONCLUSION: It suggested that HCPE could improve the depression-like
      emotional status and associated cognitive deficits in CUMS rats, which might be
      mediated by regulation of neurotransmitters and BDNF levels in brain, alleviation
      of corticosterone level as well as the alleviation of oxidative stress.

PMID- 27623556
TI  - Identification of Novel Serum Autoantibodies for Differential Diagnosis of
      Autoimmune Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The lack of specific biochemical markers is a major drawback for the
      diagnosis of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP). The aims were to characterize the
      autoantibody profiles in AIP and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and to
      identify circulating autoantibodies that could be diagnostic markers
      differentiating PDAC and the AIP subtypes. METHODS: Tissue lysates obtained from
      the resected pancreas of patients with AIP and patients with PDAC were separated
      by 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis subsequently immunoblotted
      with autologous sera. The immunoreactive spots were subjected to nanoscale liquid
      chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry to identify serum
      autoantibodies to tissue-derived autoantigens associated with AIP and PDAC.
      Autoantibody concentrations for selected autoantigens were assessed by enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: A total of 115 immunoreactive spots were
      identified by 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis/immunobloting.
      Nanoscale liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry
      based analysis revealed 68 autoantigens in AIP, 26 in PDAC, and 21 present in
      both diseases. Assessment of 13 selected AIP autoantibody serum levels revealed
      that 7 of them had significantly higher titers in AIP versus PDAC. IgG-directed
      against transaldolase could significantly differentiate between the 2 AIP
      subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: The novel panel of AIP autoantibodies is promising to
      supplement the predictive tests for AIP of the currently known autoantigens and
      represent a basis for a combined blood test to differentiate AIP from PDAC in the
      future.

PMID- 27623557
TI  - Negative Impact of Biliary Candidiasis on Early and Late Postoperative
      Complications After Pancreatoduodenectomy Usefulness of the CHROMagar Candida
      Plate for Identification.

PMID- 27623558
TI  - Septic Complications After Pancreatoduodenectomy for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma:
      Are Increased Gut Permeability and Inflammatory Serum Markers Responsible?

PMID- 27623559
TI  - Cellular Arrangement of Endocrine and Exocrine Glands in Rat Pancreas: Interface
      Between Langerhans Islets and Pancreatic Exocrine Glands.

PMID- 27623560
TI  - Feasibility of Immunohistochemistry on Endoscopic Ultrasound Fine-Needle
      Aspiration Samples for Evaluating Predictive Biomarkers in Pancreatic Cancer
      Management.

PMID- 27623562
TI  - Central Effects of Leptin on Glucose Homeostasis are Modified during Pregnancy in
      the Rat.
AB  - Despite increased leptin concentrations during pregnancy, fat mass and food
      intake are increased. The satiety response to central leptin is suppressed,
      indicating a state of leptin insensitivity in the hypothalamus. Although the
      regulation of food intake is a major function of leptin, this hormone also
      influences a wide range of functions within the body. These actions include the
      regulation of glucose homeostasis, which undergoes major adaptation in the
      maternal body to generate optimal conditions for foetal development and growth.
      The present study aimed to investigate the effects of central leptin treatment on
      glucose homeostasis in pregnant rats to determine whether pregnancy-induced
      leptin insensitivity is functionally specific, and to further investigate changes
      in glucose homeostasis during pregnancy. After an overnight fast, nonpregnant and
      day 14 pregnant rats received an i.c.v. injection of leptin (100 ng or 4 MUg) or
      vehicle then underwent a glucose tolerance test (GTT). Further groups of
      nonpregnant and day 14 pregnant rats were killed 30 min after leptin (doses
      ranging from 40 ng-4 MUg) or vehicle i.c.v. injections for western blot analysis
      of phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and phospho
      Akt in various hypothalamic nuclei. Central leptin injection prior to a GTT lead
      to lowered basal insulin concentrations and impaired glucose tolerance in
      nonpregnant female rats, whereas the same doses of leptin had no significant
      effect on glucose tolerance in day 14 pregnant rats, indicating that, similar to
      the satiety actions of leptin, the effects of leptin on glucose homeostasis are
      suppressed during pregnancy. Furthermore, in the arcuate nucleus and ventromedial
      and dorsomedial nuclei of the hypothalamus, comprising three leptin-sensitive
      areas, there was no evidence that leptin induced Akt phosphorylation despite
      significant increases in phospho-STAT3, suggesting that leptin does not act
      through phospho-Akt in these areas in female rats.

PMID- 27623561
TI  - Transcranial doppler re-screening of subjects who participated in STOP and STOP
      II.
AB  - In children with Sickle Cell Disease, the combination of risk stratification with
      Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (TCD) and selective chronic red cell transfusion
      (CRCT-the STOP Protocol) is one of the most effective stroke prevention
      strategies in medicine. How fully it is being implemented is unclear. Nineteen of
      26 sites that conducted the two pivotal clinical trials (STOP and STOP II)
      participated in Post STOP, a comprehensive medical records review assessing
      protocol implementation in the 10-15 years since the trials ended. Professional
      abstractors identified medical records in the Post STOP era in 2851 (74%) of the
      3,840 children who took part in STOP and/or STOP II, and documented TCD
      rescreening, maintenance of CRCT in those at risk, and stroke. Among 1,896
      children eligible for TCD rescreening (target group), evidence of any rescreening
      was found in 1,090 (57%). There was wide site variation in TCD rescreening
      ranging from 18% to 91% of eligible children. Both younger age and having a
      conditional TCD during STOP/II were associated with a higher likelihood of having
      a TCD in Post STOP. Sixty eight new abnormal, high risk cases were identified.
      Despite clear evidence of benefit the STOP protocol is not fully implemented even
      at experienced sites. Site variation suggests that system improvements might
      remove barriers to implementation and result in even greater reduction of
      ischemic stroke in children with SCD. Am. J. Hematol. 91:1191-1194, 2016. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27623564
TI  - Dutch Translation of the Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire: Reassessment of
      Reliability and Validity.
AB  - The Manchester-Oxford Foot questionnaire (MOxFQ) is a 16-item patient reported
      outcome measure developed and validated for use in clinical trials involving foot
      surgery. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric
      properties of the Dutch translation of the MOxFQ in patients who had undergone a
      hallux valgus correction. A total of 79 patients who had undergone hallux valgus
      correction completed the Medical Outcomes Study short-form 36-item questionnaire
      (SF-36) and MOxFQ before and after surgery. We evaluated the construct validity
      of the SF-36 versus the MOxFQ and the test-retest reliability. The test-retest
      reliability was excellent. The internal consistency of the Dutch MOxFQ was high
      (Cronbach's alpha of 0.74 to 0.86). The construct validity can be regarded as
      good, with moderate to high correlations between the Dutch MOxFQ and Dutch SF-36
      subscales. In conclusion, the Dutch version of the MOxFQ demonstrated good
      reliability and validity compared with the SF-36 for use in patient groups that
      have undergone hallux valgus correction.

PMID- 27623563
TI  - MacoNPV baculovirus midgut-specific gene expression during infection of the
      bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata.
AB  - Baculoviruses have two forms, occlusion derived virus (ODV) which is responsible
      for primary infection in host midgut tissue and budded virus (BV), which infects
      all other host tissues during secondary infection. This study examined the
      primary infection by ODV of midgut cells of bertha armyworm Mamestra configurata
      fourth instar larvae and measured the expression of viral genes over a time
      course of infection. Both digital PCR and RNA sequencing methods showed the
      profile of transcription to be different from those produced by AcMNPV BV
      infection of in vitro cell cultures. This included having unique collections of
      genes expressed early, as well as much greater late gene expression of p6.9 and
      much reduced expression of polh and p10. These differences likely reflect
      characteristics unique to the critical step of in vivo midgut cell infection, and
      provide insights into the processes that regulate viral gene expression in
      different host tissues.

PMID- 27623567
TI  - Predicting the Influence of Microvascular Structure On Tumor Response to
      Radiotherapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate how theoretical
      predictions of tumor response to radiotherapy (RT) depend on the morphology and
      spatial representation of the microvascular network. METHODS: A hybrid multiscale
      model, which couples a cellular automaton model of tumor growth with a model for
      oxygen transport from blood vessels, is used to predict the viable fraction of
      cells following one week of simulated RT. Both artificial and biologically
      derived three-dimensional (3-D) vessel networks of well vascularized tumors are
      considered and predictions compared with 2-D descriptions. RESULTS: For
      literature-derived values of the cellular oxygen consumption rate there is little
      difference in predicted viable fraction when 3-D network representations of
      biological or artificial vessel networks are employed. Different 2-D
      representations are shown to either over- or under-estimate viable fractions
      relative to the 3-D cases, with predictions based on point-wise descriptions
      shown to have greater sensitivity to vessel network morphology. CONCLUSION: The
      predicted RT response is relatively insensitive to the morphology of the
      microvessel network when 3-D representations are adopted, however, sensitivity is
      greater in certain 2-D representations. SIGNIFICANCE: By using realistic 3-D
      vessel network geometries this study shows that real and artificial network
      descriptions and assumptions of spatially uniform oxygen distributions lead to
      similar RT response predictions in relatively small tissue volumes. This suggests
      that either a more detailed description of oxygen transport in the
      microvasculature is required or that the oxygen enhancement ratio used in the
      well known linear-quadratic RT response model is relatively insensitive to
      microvascular structure.

PMID- 27623572
TI  - Modeling and Pre-Treatment of Photon-Starved CT Data for Iterative
      Reconstruction.
AB  - An increasing number of X-ray CT procedures are being conducted with drastically
      reduced dosage, due at least in part to advances in statistical reconstruction
      methods that can deal more effectively with noise than can traditional
      techniques. As data become photon-limited, more detailed models are necessary to
      deal with count rates that drop to the levels of system electronic noise. We
      present two options for sinogram pre-treatment that can improve the performance
      of photon-starved measurements, with the intent of following with model-based
      image reconstruction. Both the local linear minimum mean-squared error (LLMMSE)
      filter and pointwise Bayesian restoration (PBR) show promise in extracting
      useful, quantitative information from very low-count data by reducing local bias
      while maintaining the lower noise variance of statistical methods. Results from
      clinical data demonstrate the potential of both techniques.

PMID- 27623573
TI  - Accurate Cervical Cell Segmentation from Overlapping Clumps in Pap Smear Images.
AB  - Accurate segmentation of cervical cells in Pap smear images is an important step
      in automatic pre-cancer identification in the uterine cervix. One of the major
      segmentation challenges is overlapping of cytoplasm, which has not been well
      addressed in previous studies. To tackle the overlapping issue, this paper
      proposes a learning-based method with robust shape priors to segment individual
      cell in Pap smear images to support automatic monitoring of changes in cells,
      which is a vital prerequisite of early detection of cervical cancer. We define
      this splitting problem as a discrete labeling task for multiple cells with a
      suitable cost function. The labeling results are then fed into our dynamic multi
      template deformation model for further boundary refinement. Multi-scale deep
      convolutional networks are adopted to learn the diverse cell appearance features.
      We also incorporated high-level shape information to guide segmentation where
      cell boundary might be weak or lost due to cell overlapping. An evaluation
      carried out using two different datasets demonstrates the superiority of our
      proposed method over the state-of-the-art methods in terms of segmentation
      accuracy.

PMID- 27623574
TI  - Analysis of Negatively Focused Ultrasound Detectors in Optoacoustic Tomography.
AB  - In optoacoustic tomography, negatively focused transducers may be used for
      improving the tangential image resolution while preserving a high signal-to-noise
      ratio. Commonly, image reconstruction in such scenarios is facilitated by the use
      of the virtual-detector approach. Although the validity of this approach has been
      experimentally verified, it is based on an approximation whose effect on
      optoacoustic image reconstruction has not yet been studied. In this paper, we
      analyze the response of negatively focused acoustic detectors in 2D in both time
      and frequency domains. Based on this analysis, tradeoffs between the detector
      size, curvature, and sensitivity are formulated. In addition, our analysis
      reveals the geometrical underpinning of the virtual-detector approximation and
      quantifies its deviation from the exact solution. The error involved in the
      virtual-detector approximation is studied in image reconstruction simulations and
      its effect on image quality is shown. The theoretical tools developed in this
      work may be used in the design of new optoacoustic detection geometries as well
      as for improved image reconstruction.

PMID- 27623575
TI  - MitoGen: A Framework for Generating 3D Synthetic Time-Lapse Sequences of Cell
      Populations in Fluorescence Microscopy.
AB  - The proper analysis of biological microscopy images is an important and complex
      task. Therefore, it requires verification of all steps involved in the process,
      including image segmentation and tracking algorithms. It is generally better to
      verify algorithms with computer-generated ground truth datasets, which, compared
      to manually annotated data, nowadays have reached high quality and can be
      produced in large quantities even for 3D time-lapse image sequences. Here, we
      propose a novel framework, called MitoGen, which is capable of generating ground
      truth datasets with fully 3D time-lapse sequences of synthetic fluorescence
      stained cell populations. MitoGen shows biologically justified cell motility,
      shape and texture changes as well as cell divisions. Standard fluorescence
      microscopy phenomena such as photobleaching, blur with real point spread function
      (PSF), and several types of noise, are simulated to obtain realistic images. The
      MitoGen framework is scalable in both space and time. MitoGen generates visually
      plausible data that shows good agreement with real data in terms of image
      descriptors and mean square displacement (MSD) trajectory analysis. Additionally,
      it is also shown in this paper that four publicly available segmentation and
      tracking algorithms exhibit similar performance on both real and MitoGen
      generated data. The implementation of MitoGen is freely available.

PMID- 27623576
TI  - Towards Quantitative Evaluation of Tissue Absorption Coefficients Using Light
      Fluence Correction in Optoacoustic Tomography.
AB  - Optoacoustic tomography is a fast developing imaging modality, combining the high
      contrast available from optical excitation of tissue with the high resolution and
      penetration depth of ultrasound detection. Light is subject to both absorption
      and scattering when traveling through tissue; adequate knowledge of tissue
      optical properties and hence the spatial fluence distribution is required to
      create an optoacoustic image that is directly proportional to chromophore
      concentrations at all depths. Using data from a commercial multispectral
      optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) system, we implemented an iterative optimization
      for fluence correction based on a finite-element implementation of the delta
      Eddington approximation to the Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE). We demonstrate
      a linear relationship between the image intensity and absorption coefficients
      across multiple wavelengths and depths in phantoms. We also demonstrate improved
      feature visibility and spectral recovery at depth in phantoms and with in vivo
      measurements, suggesting our approach could in the future enable quantitative
      extraction of tissue absorption coefficients in biological tissue.

PMID- 27623577
TI  - High-Speed In Situ Observation System for Sonoporation of Cells With Size- and
      Position-Controlled Microbubbles.
AB  - A high-speed in situ microscopic observation system developed for basic studies
      on mechanisms of sonoporation is introduced in this paper. The main part of the
      system is an inverted-type fluorescence microscope, and a high-speed camera of 20
      MHz in a maximum framing rate was used to visualize the dynamics of cavitation
      bubbles that causes a sonoporation effect. Differential interference contrast and
      fluorescence techniques were used for sensitive visualization of cell changes
      during sonoporation. The system is also equipped with optical tweezers that can
      move a microbubble of several microns in size by using a donut-shaped light beam.
      In situ microscopic observation of sonoporation was carried out using a cell with
      a size- and position-controlled microbubble. The experimental results showed that
      the ability of cells to repair sonoporation-induced damage depends on their
      membrane tension, indicating the usefulness of the observation system as a basic
      tool for the investigation of sonoporation phenomena.

PMID- 27623579
TI  - A GPU-Parallelized Eigen-Based Clutter Filter Framework for Ultrasound Color Flow
      Imaging.
AB  - Eigen-filters with attenuation response adapted to clutter statistics in color
      flow imaging (CFI) have shown improved flow detection sensitivity in the presence
      of tissue motion. Nevertheless, its practical adoption in clinical use is not
      straightforward due to the high computational cost for solving
      eigendecompositions. Here, we provide a pedagogical description of how a real
      time computing framework for eigen-based clutter filtering can be developed
      through a single-instruction, multiple data (SIMD) computing approach that can be
      implemented on a graphical processing unit (GPU). Emphasis is placed on the
      single-ensemble-based eigen-filtering approach (Hankel singular value
      decomposition), since it is algorithmically compatible with GPU-based SIMD
      computing. The key algebraic principles and the corresponding SIMD algorithm are
      explained, and annotations on how such algorithm can be rationally implemented on
      the GPU are presented. Real-time efficacy of our framework was experimentally
      investigated on a single GPU device (GTX Titan X), and the computing throughput
      for varying scan depths and slow-time ensemble lengths was studied. Using our
      eigen-processing framework, real-time video-range throughput (24 frames/s) can be
      attained for CFI frames with full view in azimuth direction (128 scanlines), up
      to a scan depth of 5 cm ( lambda pixel axial spacing) for slow-time ensemble
      length of 16 samples. The corresponding CFI image frames, with respect to the
      ones derived from non-adaptive polynomial regression clutter filtering, yielded
      enhanced flow detection sensitivity in vivo, as demonstrated in a carotid imaging
      case example. These findings indicate that the GPU-enabled eigen-based clutter
      filtering can improve CFI flow detection performance in real time.

PMID- 27623580
TI  - Design of Tunable Ultrasonic Receivers for Efficient Powering of Implantable
      Medical Devices With Reconfigurable Power Loads.
AB  - Miniaturized ultrasonic receivers are designed for efficient powering of
      implantable medical devices with reconfigurable power loads. Design parameters
      that affect the efficiency of these receivers under highly variable load
      conditions, including piezoelectric material, geometry, and operation frequency,
      are investigated. Measurements were performed to characterize electrical
      impedance and acoustic-to-electrical efficiency of ultrasonic receivers for off
      resonance operation. Finally, we propose, analyze, and demonstrate adaptive
      matching and frequency tuning techniques using two different reconfigurable
      matching networks for typical implant loads from 10 [Formula: see text] to 1 mW.
      Both simulations and measurements show a significant increase in total implant
      efficiency (up to 50 percentage points) over this load power range when operating
      off-resonance with the proposed matching networks.

PMID- 27623581
TI  - Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Fourier Beamformation Using Virtual Sources.
AB  - An efficient Fourier beamformation algorithm is presented for multistatic
      synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging using virtual sources. The concept is based
      on the frequency domain wavenumber algorithm from radar and sonar and is extended
      to a multielement transmit/receive configuration using virtual sources. Window
      functions are used to extract the azimuth processing bandwidths and weight the
      data to reduce side lobes in the final image. Field II simulated data and SARUS
      (Synthetic Aperture Real-time Ultrasound System) measured data are used to
      evaluate the results in terms of point spread function, resolution, contrast,
      signal-to-noise ratio, and processing time. Lateral resolutions of 0.53 and 0.66
      mm are obtained for Fourier Beamformation Using Virtual Sources (FBV) and delay
      and sum (DAS) on point target simulated data. Corresponding axial resolutions are
      0.21 mm for FBV and 0.20 mm for DAS. The results are also consistent over
      different depths evaluated using a simulated phantom containing several point
      targets at different depths. FBV shows a better lateral resolution at all depths,
      and the axial and cystic resolutions of -6, -12, and -20 dB are almost the same
      for FBV and DAS. To evaluate the cyst phantom metrics, three different criteria
      of power ratio, contrast ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio have been used.
      Results show that the algorithms have a different performance in the cyst center
      and near the boundary. FBV has a better performance near the boundary; however,
      DAS is better in the more central area of the cyst. Measured data from phantoms
      are also used for evaluation. The results confirm applicability of FBV in
      ultrasound, and 20 times less processing time is attained in comparison with DAS.
      Evaluating the results over a wide variety of parameters and having almost the
      same results for simulated and measured data demonstrates the ability of FBV in
      preserving the quality of image as DAS, while providing a more efficient
      algorithm with 20 times less computations.

PMID- 27623582
TI  - Text-Line Detection in Camera-Captured Document Images Using the State Estimation
      of Connected Components.
AB  - Camera-based text processing has attracted considerable attention and numerous
      methods have been proposed. However, most of these methods have focused on the
      scene text detection problem and relatively little work has been performed on
      camera-captured document images. In this paper, we present a text-line detection
      algorithm for camera-captured document images, which is an essential step toward
      document understanding. In particular, our method is developed by incorporating
      state estimation (an extension of scale selection) into a connected component
      (CC)-based framework. To be precise, we extract CCs with the maximally stable
      extremal region algorithm and estimate the scales and orientations of CCs from
      their projection profiles. Since this state estimation facilitates a merging
      process (bottom-up clustering) and provides a stopping criterion, our method is
      able to handle arbitrarily oriented text-lines and works robustly for a range of
      scales. Finally, a text-line/non-text-line classifier is trained and non-text
      candidates (e.g., background clutters) are filtered out with the classifier.
      Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms conventional
      methods on a standard dataset and works well for a new challenging dataset.

PMID- 27623583
TI  - Joint Video Stitching and Stabilization From Moving Cameras.
AB  - In this paper, we extend image stitching to video stitching for videos that are
      captured for the same scene simultaneously by multiple moving cameras. In
      practice, videos captured under this circumstance often appear shaky. Directly
      applying image stitching methods for shaking videos often suffers from strong
      spatial and temporal artifacts. To solve this problem, we propose a unified
      framework in which video stitching and stabilization are performed jointly.
      Specifically, our system takes several overlapping videos as inputs. We estimate
      both inter motions (between different videos) and intra motions (between
      neighboring frames within a video). Then, we solve an optimal virtual 2D camera
      path from all original paths. An enlarged field of view along the virtual path is
      finally obtained by a space-temporal optimization that takes both inter and intra
      motions into consideration. Two important components of this optimization are
      that: 1) a grid-based tracking method is designed for an improved robustness,
      which produces features that are distributed evenly within and across multiple
      views and 2) a mesh-based motion model is adopted for the handling of the scene
      parallax. Some experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness
      of our approach on various consumer-level videos and a Plugin, named "Video
      Stitcher" is developed at Adobe After Effects CC2015 to show the processed
      videos.

PMID- 27623584
TI  - Large-Scale Cross-Modality Search via Collective Matrix Factorization Hashing.
AB  - By transforming data into binary representation, i.e., Hashing, we can perform
      high-speed search with low storage cost, and thus, Hashing has collected
      increasing research interest in the recent years. Recently, how to generate
      Hashcode for multimodal data (e.g., images with textual tags, documents with
      photos, and so on) for large-scale cross-modality search (e.g., searching
      semantically related images in database for a document query) is an important
      research issue because of the fast growth of multimodal data in the Web. To
      address this issue, a novel framework for multimodal Hashing is proposed, termed
      as Collective Matrix Factorization Hashing (CMFH). The key idea of CMFH is to
      learn unified Hashcodes for different modalities of one multimodal instance in
      the shared latent semantic space in which different modalities can be effectively
      connected. Therefore, accurate cross-modality search is supported. Based on the
      general framework, we extend it in the unsupervised scenario where it tries to
      preserve the Euclidean structure, and in the supervised scenario where it fully
      exploits the label information of data. The corresponding theoretical analysis
      and the optimization algorithms are given. We conducted comprehensive experiments
      on three benchmark data sets for cross-modality search. The experimental results
      demonstrate that CMFH can significantly outperform several state-of-the-art cross
      modality Hashing methods, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed CMFH.

PMID- 27623585
TI  - Multitask Learning of Compact Semantic Codebooks for Context-Aware Scene
      Modeling.
AB  - In the past few decades, we have witnessed the success of bag-of-features (BoF)
      models in scene classification, object detection, and image segmentation. Whereas
      it is also well acknowledged that the limitation of BoF-based methods lies in the
      low-level feature encoding and coarse feature pooling. This paper proposes a
      novel scene classification method, which leverages several semantic codebooks
      learned in a multitask fashion for robust feature encoding, and designs a context
      aware image representation for efficient feature pooling. Apart from conventional
      universal codebook learning approaches, the proposed method encodes each class of
      local features with a unique semantic codebook, which captures the distinct
      distribution of different semantic classes more effectively. Instead of learning
      each semantic codebook separately, we learn a compact global codebook, of which
      each semantic codebook is a sparse subset, with a two-stage iterative multitask
      learning algorithm. While minimizing the clustering divergence, the semantic
      codeword assignment is solved by submodular optimization simultaneously. Built
      upon the global and semantic codebooks, a context-aware image representation is
      further developed to encode both global and semantic features in image
      representation via contextual quantization, semantic response computation, and
      semantic pooling. Extensive experiments have been conducted to validate the
      effectiveness of the proposed method on various public benchmarks with several
      popular local features.

PMID- 27623586
TI  - Efficient Non-Consecutive Feature Tracking for Robust Structure-From-Motion.
AB  - Structure-from-motion (SfM) largely relies on feature tracking. In image
      sequences, if disjointed tracks caused by objects moving in and out of the field
      of view, occasional occlusion, or image noise are not handled well, corresponding
      SfM could be affected. This problem becomes severer for large-scale scenes, which
      typically requires to capture multiple sequences to cover the whole scene. In
      this paper, we propose an efficient non-consecutive feature tracking framework to
      match interrupted tracks distributed in different subsequences or even in
      different videos. Our framework consists of steps of solving the feature
      "dropout" problem when indistinctive structures, noise or large image distortion
      exists, and of rapidly recognizing and joining common features located in
      different subsequences. In addition, we contribute an effective segment-based
      coarse-to-fine SfM algorithm for robustly handling large data sets. Experimental
      results on challenging video data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed
      system.

PMID- 27623587
TI  - Contour Restoration of Text Components for Recognition in Video/Scene Images.
AB  - Text recognition in video/natural scene images has gained significant attention
      in the field of image processing in many computer vision applications, which is
      much more challenging than recognition in plain background images. In this paper,
      we aim to restore complete character contours in video/scene images from gray
      values, in contrast to the conventional techniques that consider edge
      images/binary information as inputs for text detection and recognition. We
      explore and utilize the strengths of zero crossing points given by the Laplacian
      to identify stroke candidate pixels (SPC). For each SPC pair, we propose new
      symmetry features based on gradient magnitude and Fourier phase angles to
      identify probable stroke candidate pairs (PSCP). The same symmetry properties are
      proposed at the PSCP level to choose seed stroke candidate pairs (SSCP). Finally,
      an iterative algorithm is proposed for SSCP to restore complete character
      contours. Experimental results on benchmark databases, namely, the ICDAR family
      of video and natural scenes, Street View Data, and MSRA data sets, show that the
      proposed technique outperforms the existing techniques in terms of both quality
      measures and recognition rate. We also show that character contour restoration is
      effective for text detection in video and natural scene images.

PMID- 27623597
TI  - Enhancing Variable Friction Tactile Display Using an Ultrasonic Travelling Wave.
AB  - In Variable Friction Tactile Displays, an ultrasonic standing wave can be used to
      reduce the friction coefficient between a user's finger sliding and a vibrating
      surface. However, by principle, the effect is limited by a saturation due to the
      contact mechanics, and very low friction levels require very high vibration
      amplitudes. Besides, to be effective, the user's finger has to move. We present a
      device which uses a travelling wave rather than a standing wave. We present a
      control that allows to realize such a travelling wave in a robust way, and thus
      can be implemented on various plane surfaces. We show experimentally that the
      force produced by the travelling wave has two superimposed contributions. The
      first one is equal to the friction reduction produced by a standing of the same
      vibration amplitude. The second produces a driving force in the opposite
      direction of the travelling wave. As a result, the modulation range of the
      tangential force on the finger can be extended to zero and even negative values.
      Moreover, the effect is dependant on the relative direction of exploration with
      regards to the travelling wave, which is perceivable and confirmed by a psycho
      physical study.

PMID- 27623606
TI  - Return-For Good This Time-to Practicing in the Context of Families and
      Communities.

PMID- 27623604
TI  - Lower Placental Leptin Promoter Methylation in Association with Fine Particulate
      Matter Air Pollution during Pregnancy and Placental Nitrosative Stress at Birth
      in the ENVIRONAGE Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Particulate matter with a diameter <= 2.5 MUm (PM2.5) affects human
      fetal development during pregnancy. Oxidative stress is a putative mechanism by
      which PM2.5 may exert its effects. Leptin (LEP) is an energy-regulating hormone
      involved in fetal growth and development. OBJECTIVES: We investigated in
      placental tissue whether DNA methylation of the LEP promoter is associated with
      PM2.5 and whether the oxidative/nitrosative stress biomarker 3-nitrotyrosine (3
      NTp) is involved. METHODS: LEP DNA methylation status of 361 placentas from the
      ENVIRONAGE birth cohort was assessed using bisulfite-PCR-pyrosequencing.
      Placental 3-NTp (n = 313) was determined with an ELISA assay. Daily PM2.5
      exposure levels were estimated for each mother's residence, accounting for
      residential mobility during pregnancy, using a spatiotemporal interpolation
      model. RESULTS: After adjustment for a priori chosen covariates, placental LEP
      methylation was 1.4% lower (95% CI: -2.7, -0.19%) in association with an
      interquartile range increment (7.5 MUg/m3) in second-trimester PM2.5 exposure and
      0.43% lower (95% CI: -0.85, -0.02%) in association with a doubling of placental 3
      NTp content. CONCLUSIONS: LEP methylation status in the placenta was negatively
      associated with PM2.5 exposure during the second trimester, and with placental 3
      NTp, a marker of oxidative/nitrosative stress. Additional research is needed to
      confirm our findings and to assess whether oxidative/nitrosative stress might
      contribute to associations between PM2.5 and placental epigenetic events.
      Potential consequences for health during the neonatal period and later in life
      warrant further exploration. Citation: Saenen ND, Vrijens K, Janssen BG, Roels
      HA, Neven KY, Vanden Berghe W, Gyselaers W, Vanpoucke C, Lefebvre W, De Boever P,
      Nawrot TS. 2017. Lower placental leptin promoter methylation in association with
      fine particulate matter air pollution during pregnancy and placental nitrosative
      stress at birth in the ENVIRONAGE cohort. Environ Health Perspect 125:262-268;
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP38.

PMID- 27623607
TI  - Latin American Physical Educators' Intention to Teach Individuals With
      Disabilities.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze Latin American physical education (PE) teachers' intentions
      toward teaching students with disabilities. PARTICIPANTS: 474 in-service PE
      teachers from 5 different Latin American countries. METHOD: Descriptive survey.
      Data were collected using a modified version of the Physical Educators' Intention
      Toward Teaching Individuals With Disabilities Survey. Multiple-regression
      analysis showed significant differences in the attitudes of teachers by gender,
      the number of adapted-PE courses taken, and years of experience working with
      individuals with disabilities. RESULTS: The predictor variables had a significant
      impact on the participants' intentions toward teaching children with
      disabilities; however, the effects of these predictor variables differed between
      countries.

PMID- 27623605
TI  - Fetal Thyroid Function, Birth Weight, and in Utero Exposure to Fine Particle Air
      Pollution: A Birth Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid hormones are critical for fetal development and growth.
      Whether prenatal exposure to fine particle air pollution (<= 2.5 MUm; PM2.5)
      affects fetal thyroid function and what the impact is on birth weight in normal
      healthy pregnancies have not been studied yet. OBJECTIVES: We studied the impact
      of third-trimester PM2.5 exposure on fetal and maternal thyroid hormones and
      their mediating role on birth weight. METHODS: We measured the levels of free
      thyroid hormones (FT3, FT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in cord blood
      (n = 499) and maternal blood (n = 431) collected after delivery from mother-child
      pairs enrolled between February 2010 and June 2014 in the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort
      with catchment area in the province of Limburg, Belgium. RESULTS: An
      interquartile range (IQR) increment (8.2 MUg/m3) in third-trimester PM2.5
      exposure was inversely associated with cord blood TSH levels (-11.6%; 95% CI: 
      21.8, -0.1) and the FT4/FT3 ratio (-62.7%; 95% CI: -91.6, -33.8). A 10th-90th
      percentile decrease in cord blood FT4 levels was associated with a 56 g decrease
      in mean birth weight (95% CI: -90, -23). Assuming causality, we estimated that
      cord blood FT4 mediated 21% (-19 g; 95% CI: -37, -1) of the estimated effect of
      an IQR increment in third-trimester PM2.5 exposure on birth weight. Third
      trimester PM2.5 exposure was inversely but not significantly associated with
      maternal blood FT4 levels collected 1 day after delivery (-4.0%, 95% CI: -8.0,
      0.2 for an IQR increment in third-trimester PM2.5). CONCLUSIONS: In our study
      population of normal healthy pregnancies, third-trimester exposure to PM2.5 air
      pollution was associated with differences in fetal thyroid hormone levels that
      may contribute to reduced birth weight. Additional research is needed to confirm
      our findings in other populations and to evaluate potential consequences later in
      life.

PMID- 27623608
TI  - Comparison of Static Balance on a Platform in Young Adults With Down Syndrome
      Before and After a Dance Program.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to compare postural control in static standing in
      young adults with and without Down syndrome (DS), with eyes closed and eyes open,
      before and after an 18-wk dance-based training program. The study included 11
      young people with DS age 20.5 (1.3) yr and 11 without DS age 20.2 (2.0) yr. All
      parameters were recorded before and after the training program. Parameters
      related to center of pressure (COP; closed and open eyes) were recorded from a
      platform with the participant in bipedal standing position during 30 s. The
      results suggest that young people with DS have worse COP control in both visual
      conditions (closed and open eyes) and are affected by visual information in a
      different way than their peers without DS. In the group of young adults with DS,
      the dance-based training program improved some parameters related to the use of
      visual input in controlling COP. 

PMID- 27623609
TI  - How Do Adults With Down Syndrome Perceive Physical Activity?
AB  - Adults with Down syndrome (DS) tend to have low physical activity levels, which
      may relate to how they perceive participation in physical activities. The current
      study entailed interviews with 30 adults with DS (age 18-71 yr, 18 women) to
      examine how they perceived physical activity, exercise, and sport. Through
      qualitative analysis informed by grounded theory, the investigators found that
      adults with DS have positive perceptions of physical activity that center on
      enjoyment. Three facets of enjoyment were identified: interaction, achievement,
      and process. Interaction reflected enjoyment of social contact with others
      including relatives, peers, caregivers, and animals. Achievement involved
      enjoyment of achieving particular ends including accomplishment of tasks,
      material rewards, formation of athletic identities, and improvement of health.
      Process represented enjoyment from performing a particular activity itself. This
      multifaceted enjoyment expressed by adults with DS may facilitate physical
      activity and should be considered when developing programs to improve their well
      being. 

PMID- 27623610
TI  - The Effects of Acute Intense Physical Exercise on Postural Stability in Children
      With Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - This study evaluated the effects of intense physical exercise on postural
      stability of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Center of pressure (CoP) was
      measured in 9 typically developing (TD) children and 8 with CP before and after a
      maximal aerobic shuttle-run test (SRT) using a single force plate.
      Anteroposterior and mediolateral sway velocities, sway area, and sway regularity
      were calculated from the CoP data and compared between pre- and postexercise
      levels and between groups. Children with CP demonstrated significantly higher pre
      SRT CoP velocities than TD children in the sagittal (18.6 +/- 7.6 vs. 6.75 1.78
      m/s) and frontal planes (15.4 +/- 5.3 vs. 8.04 +/- 1.51 m/s). Post-SRT, CoP
      velocities significantly increased for children with CP in the sagittal plane
      (27.0 +/- 1.2 m/s), with near-significant increases in the frontal plane (25.0 +/
      1.5m/s). Similarly, children with CP evidenced larger sway areas than the TD
      children both pre- and postexercise. The diminished postural stability in
      children with CP after short but intense physical exercise may have important
      implications including increased risk of falls and injury. 

PMID- 27623611
TI  - A Documentary Analysis of Abstracts Presented in European Congresses on Adapted
      Physical Activity.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to identify trends in research abstracts published
      in the books of abstracts of the European Congress of Adapted Physical Activity
      from 2004 to 2012. A documentary analysis of the contents of 459 abstracts was
      completed. Data were coded based on subcategories used in a previous study by
      Zhang, deLisle, and Chen (2006) and by Porretta and Sherrill (2005): number of
      authors, data source, sample size, type of disability, data analyses, type of
      study, and focus of study. Descriptive statistics calculated for each subcategory
      revealed an overall picture of the state and trends of scientific inquiry in
      adapted physical activity research in Europe. 

PMID- 27623612
TI  - Communication, Sport and Disability: The Case of Power Soccer.
AB  - No abstract available for this article. 

PMID- 27623613
TI  - Digest July 2016.
AB  - No abstract available for this article. 

PMID- 27623614
TI  - Cessation of use of trivalent oral polio vaccine and introduction of inactivated
      poliovirus vaccine worldwide, 2016.

PMID- 27623615
TI  - Performance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance and incidence of
      poliomyelitis, 2016.

PMID- 27623616
TI  - Findings of research misconduct.

PMID- 27623617
TI  - Genomic prediction using models with dominance and imprinting effects for backfat
      thickness and average daily gain in Danish Duroc pigs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dominance and imprinting genetic effects have been shown to
      contribute to genetic variance for certain traits but are usually ignored in
      genomic prediction of complex traits in livestock. The objectives of this study
      were to estimate variances of additive, dominance and imprinting genetic effects
      and to evaluate predictions of genetic merit based on genomic data for average
      daily gain (DG) and backfat thickness (BF) in Danish Duroc pigs. METHODS:
      Corrected phenotypes of 8113 genotyped pigs from breeding and multiplier herds
      were used. Four Bayesian mixture models that differed in the type of genetic
      effects included: (A) additive genetic effects, (AD) additive and dominance
      genetic effects, (AI) additive and imprinting genetic effects, and (ADI)
      additive, dominance and imprinting genetic effects were compared using Bayes
      factors. The ability of the models to predict genetic merit was compared with
      regard to prediction reliability and bias. RESULTS: Based on model ADI, narrow
      sense heritabilities of 0.18 and 0.31 were estimated for DG and BF, respectively.
      Dominance and imprinting genetic effects accounted for 4.0 to 4.6 and 1.3 to 1.4
      % of phenotypic variance, respectively, which were statistically significant.
      Across the four models, reliabilities of the predicted total genetic values (GTV,
      sum of all genetic effects) ranged from 16.1 (AI) to 18.4 % (AD) for DG and from
      30.1 (AI) to 31.4 % (ADI) for BF. The least biased predictions of GTV were
      obtained with model AD, with regression coefficients of corrected phenotypes on
      GTV equal to 0.824 (DG) and 0.738 (BF). Reliabilities of genomic estimated
      breeding values (GBV, additive genetic effects) did not differ significantly
      among models for DG (between 16.5 and 16.7 %); however, for BF, model AD provided
      a significantly higher reliability (31.3 %) than model A (30.7 %). The least
      biased predictions of GBV were obtained with model AD with regression
      coefficients of 0.872 for DG and 0.764 for BF. CONCLUSIONS: Dominance and genomic
      imprinting effects contribute significantly to the genetic variation of BF and DG
      in Danish Duroc pigs. Genomic prediction models that include dominance genetic
      effects can improve accuracy and reduce bias of genomic predictions of genetic
      merit.

PMID- 27623618
TI  - A case of late-onset, thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis with ryanodine
      receptor and titin antibodies and concomitant granulomatous myositis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder, which has
      only rarely been reported to co-manifest with myositis. The diagnosis of
      concomitant myositis in patients with myasthenia gravis is clinically
      challenging, and requires targeted investigations for the differential diagnosis,
      including EMG, autoantibody assays, muscle biopsy and, importantly, imaging of
      the mediastinum for thymoma screening. CASE PRESENTATION: This report presents a
      case-vignette of a 72-year-old woman with progressive proximal muscle weakness
      and myalgias, diagnosed with thymoma-associated myasthenia and bioptically
      verified granulomatous myositis, with positive autoantibody status for ryanodine
      receptor and titin antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of concurrent myositis
      and myasthenia gravis, especially in the presence of ryanodine receptor and titin
      antibodies, should lead neurologists to adopt different treatment strategies
      compared to those applied in myasthenia or myositis alone. Moreover, further
      evidence is warranted that titin and, particularly, ryanodine receptor antibodies
      may co-occur or be pathophysiologically involved in myasthenia-myositis cases.

PMID- 27623619
TI  - Treatment with high-dose recombinant human hyaluronidase-facilitated subcutaneous
      immune globulins in patients with juvenile dermatomyositis who are intolerant to
      intravenous immune globulins: a report of 5 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-dose intravenous immune globulins (IVIg) are frequently used in
      refractory juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) but are often poorly tolerated. High
      dose recombinant human hyaluronidase-facilitated subcutaneous immune globulins
      (fSCIg) allow the administration of much higher doses of immune globulins than
      conventional subcutaneous immune globulin therapy and may be an alternative to
      IVIg. The safety and efficacy of fSCIg therapy in JDM is unknown. CASE
      PRESENTATION: In this retrospective case series, five patients with steroid
      refractory severe JDM were treated with high-dose fSCIg due to IVIg adverse
      effects (severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, difficult venous access). Peak serum
      IgG levels, muscle enzymes, the childhood myositis assessment scale and adverse
      effects were retrieved for at least 6 months following intiation of fSCIg. Data
      were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Patients initially received fSCIg 1 g/kg
      every 14 days, resulting in median IgG peak levels of 1901 mg/dl (1606-2719
      mg/dl), compared to median IgG peak and trough levels while previously receiving
      IVIg of 2741 mg/dl (2429-2849 mg/dl) and 1351 mg/dl (1156-1710 mg/dl). Additional
      antirheumatic therapies consisted of low-dose glucocorticoid therapy,
      methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil and/or rituximab. Two patients maintained
      clinically inactive disease and three patients had only a partial treatment
      response. In the three patients with partial treatment response, fSCIg 1 g/kg was
      then given on days 1 and 6 of every 28-day cycle resulting in IgG peak levels of
      between 2300-2846 mg/dl (previously 1606-1901 mg/dl on the biweekly regimen),
      resulting in clinically inactive disease in two of the three patients. There were
      no relevant adverse effects that limited continuation of fSCIg treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: High-dose fSCIg is well-tolerated in patients with JDM and high peak
      serum IgG levels can be achieved which may be important for treatment success.
      High-dose fSCIg may therefore be an alternative to high-dose IVIg and deserves
      further study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This is a case series and data were
      retrospectively registered.

PMID- 27623620
TI  - Repeated iodine-125 seed implantations combined with external beam radiotherapy
      for the treatment of locally recurrent or metastatic stage III/IV non-small cell
      lung cancer: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrent or metastatic lung cancer is difficult to manage. This
      retrospective study aimed to assess the efficacy of repeated iodine-125 seed
      implantations combined with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for locally
      recurrent or metastatic stage-III/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS:
      Eighteen previously treated stage-III/IV NSCLC patients with local or metastatic
      recurrences underwent 1-to-3 iodine-125 implantations. Six of these patients
      received palliative EBRT and six patients received combined chemotherapy using
      gemcitabine and cisplatin. Near-term treatment efficacy was evaluated 3 months
      after seed implantation by comparing changes in tumor size on computed tomography
      images; the evaluated outcomes were complete response, partial response, stable
      disease, and local tumor control rate. Long-term efficacy was assessed based on 1
      and 2-year survival rates. RESULTS: Patients were followed up for 6 to 50
      months. The overall (i.e., complete + partial) response rate was 87.4 %. The
      local control rates after the first, second, and third years were 94.1, 58.8 and
      41.2 %, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrated that
      repeated implantation of radioactive particles combined with EBRT is a safe
      treatment that effectively controlled local recurrence and metastasis of stage
      III/IV NSCLC.

PMID- 27623621
TI  - Efficacy and safety assessment of acupuncture and nimodipine to treat mild
      cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral infarction frequently leads to mild cognitive impairment
      (MCI). Prompt management of MCI can prevent vascular dementia and improve patient
      outcome. This single center randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the
      efficacy and safety of acupuncture and nimodipine to treat post-cerebral
      infarction MCI. METHODS: A total of 126 Chinese patients with post-cerebral
      infarction MCI recruited from the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University
      of Traditional Chinese Medicine between April 2013 and June 2014 were randomized
      at 1:1: 1 ratio into nimodipine alone (30 mg/time and 3 times daily), acupuncture
      alone (30 min/time, 6 times/week), and nimodipine + acupuncture groups. The
      treatments were 3 months. Cognitive function was evaluated using Montreal
      Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale at enrollment interview, at the end of 3-month
      therapy, and at the post-treatment 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: The per-protocol
      set included 39, 40, and 40 patients from nimodipine alone, acupuncture alone,
      and the combination group, respectively, was analyzed. Intra-group comparison
      revealed that MoCA score at the follow-up improved significantly by 15.8 +/-
      10.9, 20.9 +/- 13.8 %, and 30.2 +/- 19.7 % compared with the baseline MoCA for
      nimodipine alone, acupuncture alone, and the combination group, respectively.
      Inter-group comparison demonstrated that the combination therapy improved MoCA
      score (5.5 +/- 2.2) at significantly higher extent than nimodipine alone (3.1 +/-
      1.8) and acupuncture alone (4.3 +/- 2.3) at the follow-up (All P < 0.05), and
      significantly higher proportion of patients in acupuncture alone group (80 %) and
      the combination therapy group (90 %) than in nimodipine alone group (56.4 %)
      showed >=12 % MoCA score improvement compared with the baseline MoCA (All P <
      0.05). No adverse event was reported during the study. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture
      may be used as an additional therapy to conventional pharmacological treatment to
      further improve the clinical outcomes of patients with post-cerebral infarction
      MCI. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial
      Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn/ , Unique Identifier: ChiCTR-IOR-15007366 ).
      The date of registration is November 4, 2015.

PMID- 27623623
TI  - Characterization of Genital Dissatisfaction in a National Sample of U.S. Men.
AB  - Male genital satisfaction is an important aspect of psychosocial and sexual
      health. The Index of Male Genital Image (IMGI) is a new scale that measures
      perceptions of male genitalia. We aim to characterize genital satisfaction using
      the IMGI and correlate dissatisfaction with sexual activity. We conducted a
      nationally representative survey of non-institutionalized adults aged 18-65 years
      residing in the U.S. In total, 4198 men completed the survey and 3996 (95.2 %)
      completed the IMGI. Men reported highest satisfaction with the shape of their
      glans (64 %), lowest satisfaction with the length of their flaccid penis size (27
      %), and neutrality with the scent of their genitals (44 %). No demographic
      characteristics (age, race, sexual orientation, education, location, and income)
      were significantly associated with genital dissatisfaction. Men who were
      dissatisfied with their genitals were less likely to report being sexually active
      (73.5 %) than those who were satisfied (86.3 %). Penetrative vaginal sex (85.2
      vs. 89.5 %) and receptive oral intercourse (61.0 vs. 66.2 %) were reported less
      by dissatisfied men. Overall, most U.S. men were satisfied with their genitals;
      however, a subset (14 %) report low genital satisfaction, which included men of
      all ages, races, and socioeconomic groups. Low genital satisfaction is associated
      with a decrease in sexual activity. These results provide clinicians and health
      educators a baseline of genital satisfaction to provide education and
      reassurance.

PMID- 27623625
TI  - Accessorized DPI: a Shortcut towards Flexibility and Patient Adaptability in Dry
      Powder Inhalation.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this work, a novel powder dispersion add-on device, the AOS (Axial
      Oscillating Sphere), was studied in conjunction with commercially available DPI
      devices to improve the powder dispersion. METHODS: An ordered mixture of
      formoterol fumarate and lactose was selected. We studied in two laboratories
      located at different altitudes the dispensing and dispersion of the drug at
      different flow rates, paying particular attention to a number of metrics of Fine
      Particle Dose (FPD). RESULTS: Two novel findings emerged from the data collected.
      First, the aerosol quality, measured as fine particle dose, can be increased by
      adding the accessory promoting the dispersion and de-aggregation of the
      formulation. The second finding was that, albeit the emitted dose was independent
      of altitude, the drug/lactose carrier DPI aerosolizing performance changed with
      the altitude of testing. In particular, fine particle dose depended on both
      altitude and device configuration. The RS01 inhaler without the AOS accessory
      used at higher altitude gave the lowest FPD values. By combining the AOS
      accessory with the DPI, however, the performance dependence on
      altitude/atmospheric pressure was essentially removed. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing
      inhaler performance can be achieved using an add-on accessory that enhances
      aerosol dispersion and minimizes flow rate dependency.

PMID- 27623622
TI  - Do early life factors affect the development of knee osteoarthritis in later
      life: a narrative review.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) mainly affects older populations; however, it is possible
      that early life factors contribute to the development of OA in later life. The
      aim of this review is to describe the association between childhood or early
      adulthood risk factors and knee pain, structural imaging markers and development
      of knee OA in later life. A narrative overview of the literature synthesising the
      findings of literature retrieved from searches of computerised databases and
      manual searches was conducted. We found that only a few studies have explored the
      long-term effect of childhood or early adulthood risk factors on the markers of
      joint health that predispose people to OA or joint symptoms. High body mass index
      (BMI) and/or overweight status from childhood to adulthood were independently
      related to knee pain and OA in later life. The findings regarding the association
      between strenuous physical activity and knee structures in young adults are still
      conflicting. However, a favourable effect of moderate physical activity and
      fitness on knee structures is reported. Childhood physical activity and
      performance measures had independent beneficial effects on knee structures
      including knee cartilage in children and young adults. Anterior knee pain
      syndrome in adolescence could lead to the development of patellofemoral knee OA
      in the late 40s. Furthermore, weak evidence suggests that childhood malalignment,
      socioeconomic status and physical abuse are associated with OA in later life. The
      available evidence suggests that early life intervention may prevent OA in later
      life.

PMID- 27623626
TI  - The impact of postpartum hemoglobin levels on maternal quality of life after
      delivery: a prospective exploratory study.
AB  - Postpartum anemia has been associated with postpartum morbidities, such as
      depression and poor cognition. However, it is unclear whether postpartum anemia
      is associated with reduced health-related quality of life. We performed a
      prospective study to examine the relations between postpartum Hb levels with
      postpartum health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We collected data from 60
      women intending vaginal delivery and assessed HRQoL and maternal fatigue on
      admission and on the first postpartum day using the RAND 36-Item Short-Form
      Health Survey (SF-36) and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI),
      respectively. Maternal Hb levels were measured on admission and on the first
      postpartum day. We also assessed patients for postpartum depression using the
      Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). We performed unadjusted and
      multivariate linear regression (adjusting for maternal age, parity, mode of
      delivery, and race) to assess the associations between postdelivery Hb with each
      subscale of the SF-36 and MFI. The mean predelivery and postpartum Hb levels were
      12.3 (1.2) and 10.8 (1.4) g/dl, respectively. In our unadjusted and adjusted
      regression analyses, we observed no statistically significant associations
      between postpartum Hb levels with any SF-36 or MFI subscale (P > 0.05). Based on
      the EPDS, only one patient was depressed; her postpartum Hb was 11.2 g/dl. Our
      findings suggest that postpartum Hb levels may not influence HRQoL or fatigue.
      However, our findings may only apply to women without predelivery anemia, severe
      blood loss or moderate-to-severe anemia after delivery. Future studies are needed
      to determine whether postpartum Hb influences HRQoL among women with moderate or
      severe postpartum anemia.

PMID- 27623627
TI  - How can we help haematological cancer survivors cope with the changes they
      experience as a result of their cancer?
AB  - Haematological cancer often necessitates that individuals make significant
      lifestyle and behaviour changes to protect themselves against infections. It is
      essential that haematological cancer survivors receive the support and
      information they require to adjust to such changes. This cross-sectional survey
      of 259 haematological cancer survivors found that over two thirds of
      haematological cancer survivors would like to receive more detailed information
      or help with: diet and nutrition that takes into account their diagnosis and
      treatment, how to manage the symptoms from the cancer and/or treatment, signs and
      symptoms to be aware of that may indicate a possible infection and appropriate
      exercise. Over a third of survivors reported that they had to make changes to
      reduce their chance of infection, with social restriction the most commonly
      reported area of change survivors made. Improving communication and access to
      care and providing additional emotional support may assist survivors in making
      these additional changes. Healthcare providers should use this information to
      better support haematological cancer survivors in dealing with the effects
      haematological cancer has on their life.

PMID- 27623628
TI  - Detection of the value of consecutive serum total light chain (sTLC) in patients
      diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
AB  - There are limited data on serum total light chain (sTLC) in lymphoma and its
      relative role on the outcome of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients.
      Blood samples from 46 cases newly diagnosed with DLBCL were collected
      consecutively during chemotherapy to detect sTLC, IgG, IgA, and IgM levels.
      Clinical data and survival outcomes were analyzed according to the results of
      sTLC measurements. In summary, 22 patients (47.8 %) had abnormal k or lambda
      light chain, respectively, and 6 patients (13.0 %) had both abnormal k and lambda
      light chains before chemotherapy. Patients with elevated k light chain more
      frequently displayed multiple extra-nodal organ involvement (P = 0.01) and had an
      inferior overall survival (OS) (P = 0.041) and progression-free survival (PFS) (P
      = 0.044) compared to patients with normal level of k light chain. Furthermore,
      patients with elevated level of both k and lambda also exhibited significant
      association with shorter OS (P = 0.002) and PFS (P = 0.009). Both elevated k
      alone and concurrent elevated k and lambda had independent adverse effects on PFS
      (P = 0.031 and P = 0.019, respectively). sTLC level was reduced gradually by
      treatment in this study and reached the lowest point after the fourth cycle of
      chemotherapy, which was consistent with the disease behavior during chemotherapy.
      Considering the small sample size of this study, these results should be
      confirmed in a larger prospective study.

PMID- 27623675
TI  - Bioseguridad in Mexico: Pursuing Security between Local and Global Biologies.
AB  - In the aftermath of the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 influenza, scientists in Mexico
      sought to develop bioseguridad, that is, to protect biological life in Mexico by
      safely conducting research on infectious disease. Drawing on ethnographic
      research in laboratories and with scientists in Mexico, I look at how scientists
      make claims about local differences in regulations, infrastructure, bodies, and
      culture. The scientists working with infectious microbes sought to establish how
      different microbial ecologies, human immune systems, and political and regulatory
      systems made the risks of research different in Mexico from other countries. In
      developing bioseguridad, the idea of globalized biology that animates many public
      health projects was undermined as scientists attended to the elements of place
      that affected human health and safety. Scientists argued for the importance of
      local biologies, generating tension with global public health projects and
      regulations premised on the universality of biology.

PMID- 27623676
TI  - Clinical Drug Development in Epilepsy Revisited: A Proposal for a New Paradigm
      Streamlined Using Extrapolation.
AB  - Data from clinical trials in adults, extrapolated to predict benefits in
      paediatric patients, could result in fewer or smaller trials being required to
      obtain a new drug licence for paediatrics. This article outlines the place of
      such extrapolation in the development of drugs for use in paediatric epilepsies.
      Based on consensus expert opinion, a proposal is presented for a new paradigm for
      the clinical development of drugs for focal epilepsies. Phase I data should
      continue to be collected in adults, and phase II and III trials should
      simultaneously recruit adults and paediatric patients aged above 2 years. Drugs
      would be provisionally licensed for children subject to phase IV collection of
      neurodevelopmental safety data in this age group. A single programme of trials
      would suffice to license the drug for use as either adjunctive therapy or
      monotherapy. Patients, clinicians and sponsors would all benefit from this new
      structure through cost reduction and earlier access to novel treatments. Further
      work is needed to elicit the views of patients, their parents and guardians as
      appropriate, regulatory authorities and bodies such as the National Institute for
      Health and Care Excellence (UK).

PMID- 27623678
TI  - Symmetry-Based Tight Binding Modeling of Halide Perovskite Semiconductors.
AB  - On the basis of a general symmetry analysis, this paper presents an empirical
      tight-binding (TB) model for the reference Pm-3m perovskite cubic phase of halide
      perovskites of general formula ABX3. The TB electronic band diagram, with and
      without spin orbit coupling effect of MAPbI3 has been determined based on state
      of the art density functional theory results including many body corrections
      (DFT+GW). It affords access to various properties, including distorted
      structures, at a significantly reduced computational cost. This is illustrated
      with the calculation of the band-to-band absorption spectrum, the variation of
      the band gap under volumetric strain, as well as the Rashba effect for a uniaxial
      symmetry breaking. Compared to DFT approaches, this empirical model will help to
      tackle larger issues, such as the electronic band structure of large
      nanostructures, including many-body effects, or heterostructures relevant to
      perovskite device modeling suited to the description of atomic-scale features.

PMID- 27623677
TI  - Ex vivo reversal of effects of rivaroxaban evaluated using thromboelastometry and
      thrombin generation assay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In major bleeding events, the new direct oral anticoagulants pose a
      great challenge for physicians. The aim of the study was to test for ex vivo
      reversal of the direct oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban with various non-specific
      reversal agents: prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC), activated prothrombin
      complex concentrate (aPCC), recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa), and
      fibrinogen concentrate (FI). METHODS: Blood was obtained from healthy volunteers
      and from patients treated with rivaroxaban. Blood samples from healthy volunteers
      were spiked with rivaroxaban to test the correlation between rivaroxaban
      concentration and coagulation tests. Patient blood samples were spiked with
      various concentrations of the above-mentioned agents and analysed using
      thromboelastometry and thrombin generation. RESULTS: When added in vitro,
      rivaroxaban was significantly (P<0.05) correlated with ROTEM(r)
      thromboelastometry EXTEM (extrinsic coagulation pathway) clotting time (CT), time
      to maximal velocity (MaxV-t), and with all measured thrombin generation
      parameters. In vivo, CT, MaxV-t, lag time, and peak thrombin generation (Cmax)
      were significantly correlated with rivaroxaban concentrations. Regarding reversal
      of rivaroxaban, all tested agents significantly (P<0.05) reduced EXTEM CT, but to
      different extents: rFVIIa by 68%, aPCC by 47%, PCC by 17%, and FI by 9%. Only
      rFVIIa reversed EXTEM CT to baseline values. Both PCC (+102%) and aPCC (+232%)
      altered overall thrombin generation (area under the curve) and increased Cmax
      (+461% for PCC, +87.5% for aPCC). CONCLUSIONS: Thromboelastometry and thrombin
      generation assays do not favour the same reversal agents for rivaroxaban
      anticoagulation. Controlled clinical trials are urgently needed to establish
      doses and clinical efficacy of potential reversal agents. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: EudracCT trial no. 213-00474-30.

PMID- 27623681
TI  - Rivaroxaban real-world evidence: Validating safety and effectiveness in clinical
      practice.
AB  - Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard of clinical
      research as they use rigorous methodologies, detailed protocols, pre-specified
      statistical analyses and well-defined patient cohorts. However, RCTs do not take
      into account the complexity of real-world clinical decision-making. To tackle
      this, real-world data are being increasingly used to evaluate the long-term
      safety and effectiveness of a given therapy in routine clinical practice and in
      patients who may not be represented in RCTs, addressing key clinical questions
      that may remain. Real-world evidence plays a substantial role in supporting the
      use of non-vitamin K antagonist (VKA) oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in clinical
      practice. By providing data on patient profiles and the use of anticoagulation
      therapies in routine clinical practice, real-world evidence expands the current
      awareness of NOACs, helping to ensure that clinicians are well-informed on their
      use to implement patient-tailored clinical decisions. There are various issues
      with current anticoagulation strategies, including under- or overtreatment and
      frequent monitoring with VKAs. Real-world studies have demonstrated that NOAC use
      is increasing (Dresden NOAC registry and Global Anticoagulant Registry in the
      FIELD-AF [GARFIELD-AF]), as well as reaffirming the safety and effectiveness of
      rivaroxaban previously observed in RCTs (XArelto on preveNtion of sTroke and non
      central nervoUS system systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial
      fibrillation [XANTUS] and IMS Disease Analyzer). This article will describe the
      latest updates in real-world evidence across a variety of methodologies, such as
      non-interventional studies (NIS), registries and database analyses studies. It is
      anticipated that these studies will provide valuable clinical insights into the
      management of thromboembolism, and enhance the current knowledge on anticoagulant
      use and outcomes for patients.

PMID- 27623680
TI  - Exploring unmet needs in venous and arterial thromboembolism with rivaroxaban.
AB  - The vast clinical research programme for the direct, oral factor Xa inhibitor
      rivaroxaban has generated a wealth of data since the first rivaroxaban approval
      in 2008 for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing
      elective hip or knee replacement surgery. While rivaroxaban is widely used across
      a spectrum of seven indications, there is continuous commitment to investigating
      its wider benefits in new indications and attempts to refine current evidence.
      Key data from recently completed randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have shown
      that rivaroxaban is a feasible anticoagulation option for patients with non
      valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) undergoing cardioversion or catheter
      ablation. Now, a number of Phase II and III RCTs are underway that seek to
      uncover further roles for rivaroxaban in patients at risk of thrombosis and aim
      to improve quality of life. This article will introduce and provide context for
      these RCTs in the contemporary management of arterial and venous thromboembolism
      in the following underserved areas: Patients with both NVAF and acute coronary
      syndrome (ACS) requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); patients with
      embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS); patients who require transcatheter
      aortic valve replacement (TAVR); patients with acute or chronic coronary artery
      disease (CAD; including those with heart failure [HF]); those at risk of or
      suffering from cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) and those requiring long-term
      anticoagulation. It is hoped that this collection of studies provides clarity
      around the use of rivaroxaban as a fundamental component of antithrombotic
      therapy in an array of clinical situations.

PMID- 27623682
TI  - Spotlight on advances in VTE management: CALLISTO and EINSTEIN CHOICE.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is associated with numerous complications and high
      mortality rates. Patients with cancer are at high risk of developing cancer
      associated thrombosis (CAT), and VTE recurrence is common. Evidence supporting
      use of non-vitamin K antagonist (VKA) oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients
      with cancer is lacking - direct comparisons between NOACs and low-molecular
      weight heparin (LMWH) are needed, along with patient-reported outcomes. Cancer
      Associated thrombosis - expLoring soLutions for patients through Treatment and
      Prevention with RivarOxaban (CALLISTO) is an international research programme
      exploring the potential of the direct, oral factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban for
      the prevention and treatment of CAT, supplementing existing data from EINSTEIN
      DVT and EINSTEIN PE. Here, we focus on four CALLISTO studies: A Study to Evaluate
      the Efficacy and Safety of Rivaroxaban Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in
      Ambulatory Cancer Participants receiving Chemotherapy (CASSINI), Anticoagulation
      Therapy in SELECTeD Cancer Patients at Risk of Recurrence of Venous
      Thromboembolism (SELECT-D), Rivaroxaban in the Treatment of Venous
      Thromboembolism in Cancer Patients - a Randomized Phase III Study (CONKO-011) and
      a database analysis. Optimal anticoagulation duration for VTE treatment has
      always been unclear. Following favourable results for rivaroxaban 20 mg once
      daily (Q. D.) for secondary VTE prevention (EINSTEIN EXT), EINSTEIN CHOICE is
      assessing rivaroxaban safety and (20 mg Q. D. or 10 mg Q. D.) vs acetylsalicylic
      acid (ASA), and will investigate whether an alternative rivaroxaban dose (10 mg
      Q. D.) could offer long-term VTE protection. It is anticipated that results from
      these studies will provide important answers and expand upon current evidence for
      rivaroxaban in VTE management.

PMID- 27623683
TI  - Spotlight on unmet needs in stroke prevention: The PIONEER AF-PCI, NAVIGATE ESUS
      and GALILEO trials.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major healthcare concern, being associated with an
      estimated five-fold risk of ischaemic stroke. In patients with AF, anticoagulants
      reduce stroke risk to a greater extent than acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) or dual
      antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with ASA plus clopidogrel. Non-vitamin K antagonist
      oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are now a widely-accepted therapeutic option for
      stroke prevention in non-valvular AF (NVAF). There are particular patient types
      with NVAF for whom treatment challenges remain, owing to sparse clinical data,
      their high-risk nature or a need to harmonise anticoagulant and antiplatelet
      regimens if co-administered. This article focuses on three randomised controlled
      trials (RCTs) that are investigating the utility of rivaroxaban, a direct, oral,
      factor Xa inhibitor, in additional areas of stroke prevention where data for
      anticoagulants are lacking: oPen-label, randomized, controlled, multicentre study
      explorIng twO treatmeNt stratEgiEs of Rivaroxaban and a dose-adjusted oral
      vitamin K antagonist treatment (PIONEER AF-PCI); New Approach riVaroxoban
      Inhibition of factor Xa in a Global trial vs Aspirin to prevenT Embolism in
      Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source (NAVIGATE ESUS); and Global study comparing
      a rivAroxaban-based antithrombotic strategy to an antipLatelet-based strategy
      after transcatheter aortIc vaLve rEplacement to Optimize clinical outcomes
      (GALILEO). Data from these studies present collaborative efforts to build upon
      existing registrational Phase III data for rivaroxaban, driving the need for
      effective and safe treatment of a wider range of patients for stroke prevention.

PMID- 27623679
TI  - Cortical Bone Porosity: What Is It, Why Is It Important, and How Can We Detect
      It?
AB  - There is growing recognition of the role of micro-architecture in osteoporotic
      bone loss and fragility. This trend has been driven by advances in imaging
      technology, which have enabled a transition from measures of mass to micro
      architecture. Imaging trabecular bone has been a key research focus, but advances
      in resolution have also enabled the detection of cortical bone micro
      architecture, particularly the network of vascular canals, commonly referred to
      as 'cortical porosity.' This review aims to provide an overview of what this
      level of porosity is, why it is important, and how it can be characterized by
      imaging. Moving beyond a 'trabeculocentric' view of bone loss holds the potential
      to improve diagnosis and monitoring of interventions. Furthermore, cortical
      porosity is intimately linked to the remodeling process, which underpins bone
      loss, and thus a larger potential exists to improve our fundamental understanding
      of bone health through imaging of both humans and animal models.

PMID- 27623684
TI  - Spotlight on real-world evidence for the treatment of DVT: XALIA.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising both deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and
      pulmonary embolism (PE), is a serious and common cardiovascular disease
      associated with the risk of chronic complications, recurrent VTE events and even
      death. The treatment landscape has, in recent years, seen a paradigm shift from
      the use of traditional anticoagulants (low-molecular-weight heparin [LMWH]
      overlapping with and followed by a vitamin K antagonist [VKA]) to non-VKA oral
      anticoagulants (NOACs). This class of agents, encompassing direct factor Xa
      inhibitors and direct thrombin inhibitors have shown non-inferior efficacy and
      better safety to standard of care in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The
      direct, oral factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban was the first to be approved for
      treatment of acute DVT and PE and secondary prevention of recurrent VTE events
      based on data from EINSTEIN DVT and EINSTEIN PE, respectively. Real-world
      evidence now helps to further support data from RCTs, and also bridges the gap
      for physicians regarding any areas of clinical uncertainty that may not be
      addressed by RCTs. XA inhibition with rivaroxaban for Long-term and Initial
      Anticoagulation in venous thromboembolism (XALIA) was the first large,
      prospective, observational, real-world study that has investigated the safety and
      effectiveness profile of rivaroxaban in patients with DVT and PE associated with
      DVT in routine clinical practice. This article will present the key clinical
      outcomes from this important global non-interventional study, and will discuss
      remaining questions to be addressed in Phase IV studies.

PMID- 27623686
TI  - Don't ignore the skeleton in the psychiatric closet.

PMID- 27623685
TI  - Assessing fitness to drive-A validation study on patients with mild cognitive
      impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is no consensus yet on how to determine which patients with
      cognitive impairment are able to drive a car safely and which are not. Recently,
      a strategy was composed for the assessment of fitness to drive, consisting of
      clinical interviews, a neuropsychological assessment, and driving simulator
      rides, which was compared with the outcome of an expert evaluation of an on-road
      driving assessment. A selection of tests and parameters of the new approach
      revealed a predictive accuracy of 97.4% for the prediction of practical fitness
      to drive on an initial sample of patients with Alzheimer's dementia. The aim of
      the present study was to explore whether the selected variables would be equally
      predictive (i.e., valid) for a closely related group of patients; that is,
      patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: Eighteen patients with
      mild cognitive impairment completed the proposed approach to the measurement of
      fitness to drive, including clinical interviews, a neuropsychological assessment,
      and driving simulator rides. The criterion fitness to drive was again assessed by
      means of an on-road driving evaluation. The predictive validity of the fitness to
      drive assessment strategy was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic
      (ROC) analyses. RESULTS: Twelve patients with MCI (66.7%) passed and 6 patients
      (33.3%) failed the on-road driving assessment. The previously proposed approach
      to the measurement of fitness to drive achieved an overall predictive accuracy of
      94.4% in these patients. The application of an optimal cutoff resulted in a
      diagnostic accuracy of 100% sensitivity toward unfit to drive and 83.3%
      specificity toward fit to drive. Further analyses revealed that the
      neuropsychological assessment and the driving simulator rides produced rather
      stable prediction rates, whereas clinical interviews were not significantly
      predictive for practical fitness to drive in the MCI patient sample. CONCLUSIONS:
      The selected measures of the previously proposed approach revealed adequate
      accuracy in identifying fitness to drive in patients with MCI. Furthermore, a
      combination of neuropsychological test performance and simulated driving behavior
      proved to be the most valid predictor of practical fitness to drive.

PMID- 27623688
TI  - Total Synthesis of the Complete Protective Antigen of Vibrio cholerae O139.
AB  - The first chemical synthesis of the complete protective O-antigen of a human
      disease-causing pathogenic bacterium is described. The synthesis involved a
      protecting-group strategy that facilitated the regioselectivity of the key
      transformations, stereoselective glycosylation reactions, and enabled the one
      step global deprotection of the completely assembled, fully protected,
      phosphorylated hexasaccharide by hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis. The final amino
      group-functionalized, linker-equipped antigen was obtained in a form ready for
      conjugation to suitable carriers, for example, proteins, to yield immunogens.

PMID- 27623689
TI  - Quality of qualitative studies centred on patients in family practice: a
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Qualitative research is often used in the field of general medicine.
      Our objective was to evaluate the quality of published qualitative studies
      conducted using individual interviews or focus groups centred on patients
      monitored in general practice. METHODS: We have undertaken a review of the
      literature in the PubMed and Embase databases of articles up to February 2014.
      The selection criteria were qualitative studies conducted using individual
      interviews or focus groups, centred on patients monitored in general practice.
      The articles chosen were analysed and evaluated using a score established from
      the Relevance, Appropriateness, Transparency and Soundness (RATS) grid. RESULTS:
      The average score of the 52 studies chosen was 28 out of 42. The criteria least
      often present were the description of the patients who chose not to participate
      in the study, the justification of the end of data collection, the discussion of
      the influence of the researchers and the discussion of the confidentiality of the
      data. The criteria most frequently described were an explicit research question,
      justified and in relation to existing knowledge, the agreement of the ethical
      committee and the presence of quotations. The number of studies and the score
      increased from year-to-year. The score was independent of the impact factor of
      the journal. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the qualitative research was published in
      reviews with a low impact factor, our results suggest that this research
      responded to the quality criteria of the RATS grid. The evaluation scored using
      RATS could be useful for authors or reviewers and for literature reviews.

PMID- 27623687
TI  - Functiogenesis of the embryonic central nervous system revealed by optical
      recording with a voltage-sensitive dye.
AB  - Clarification of the functiogenesis of the embryonic central nervous system (CNS)
      has long been problematic, because conventional electrophysiological techniques
      have several limitations. First, early embryonic neurons are small and fragile,
      and the application of microelectrodes is challenging. Second, the simultaneous
      monitoring of electrical activity from multiple sites is limited, and as a
      consequence, spatiotemporal response patterns of neural networks cannot be
      assessed. We have applied multiple-site optical recording with a voltage
      sensitive dye to the embryonic CNS and paved a new way to analyze the
      functiogenesis of the CNS. In this review, we discuss key points of optical
      recording in the embryonic CNS and introduce recent progress in optical
      investigations on the embryonic CNS with special emphasis on the development of
      the chick olfactory system. The studies clearly demonstrate the usefulness of
      voltage-sensitive dye recording as a powerful tool for elucidating the functional
      organization of the vertebrate embryonic CNS.

PMID- 27623690
TI  - GLITTER: a web-based application for gene link inspection through tissue-specific
      coexpression.
AB  - Accumulating evidence supports the polygenic nature of most complex diseases,
      suggesting the involvement of many susceptibility genes with small effect sizes.
      Although hundreds of genes may underlie the genetic architecture of complex
      diseases, those involved in a given disease are probably not randomly
      distributed, but likely to be functionally related. Protein-protein interaction
      networks have been used to evaluate the functional relatedness of susceptibility
      genes. However, these networks do not account for tissue specificity, are limited
      to protein-coding genes, and are typically biased by incomplete biological
      knowledge. Here, we present Gene Link Inspector Through Tissue-specific
      coExpRession (GLITTER), a web-based application for assessing the functional
      relatedness of susceptibility genes, either coding or noncoding, according to
      tissue-specific gene expression profiles. GLITTER can also shed light on the
      specific tissues in which susceptibility genes might exert their functions. We
      further demonstrate examples of how GLITTER can evaluate the functional
      relatedness of susceptibility genes underlying schizophrenia and breast cancer,
      and provide clues about etiology.

PMID- 27623691
TI  - Emergency radiology and mass casualty incidents-report of a mass casualty
      incident at a level 1 trauma center.
AB  - The aims of this article are to describe the events of a recent mass casualty
      incident (MCI) at our level 1 trauma center and to describe the radiology
      response to the event. We also describe the findings and recommendations of our
      radiology department after-action review. An MCI activation was triggered after
      an amphibious military vehicle, repurposed for tourist activities, carrying 37
      passengers, collided with a charter bus carrying 45 passengers on a busy highway
      bridge in Seattle, WA, USA. There were 4 deaths at the scene, and 51 patients
      were transferred to local hospitals following prehospital scene triage. Nineteen
      patients were transferred to our level 1 trauma center. Eighteen casualties
      arrived within 72 min. Sixteen arrived within 1 h of the first patient arrival,
      and 1 casualty was transferred 3 h later having initially been assessed at
      another hospital. Eighteen casualties (94.7 %) underwent diagnostic imaging in
      the emergency department. Of these 18 casualties, 15 had a trauma series
      (portable chest x-ray and x-ray of pelvis). Whole-body trauma computed tomography
      scans (WBCT) were performed on 15 casualties (78.9 %), 12 were immediate and
      performed during the initial active phase of the MCI, and 3 WBCTs were delayed.
      The initial 12 WBCTs were completed in 101 min. The mean number of radiographic
      studies performed per patient was 3 (range 1-8), and the total number of injuries
      detected was 88. The surge in imaging requirements during an MCI can be
      significant and exceed normal operating capacity. This report of our radiology
      experience during a recent MCI and subsequent after-action review serves to
      provide an example of how radiology capacity and workflow functioned during an
      MCI, in order to provide emergency radiologists and response planners with
      practical recommendations for implementation in the event of a future MCI.

PMID- 27623692
TI  - ImmunoCAP(r) ISAC and Microtest for multiplex allergen testing in people with
      difficult to manage allergic disease: a systematic review and cost analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergy is a form of immune-mediated exaggerated sensitivity
      (hypersensitivity) to a substance that is either inhaled, swallowed, injected or
      comes into contact with the skin. Foreign substances that provoke allergies are
      called allergens. It has been claimed that multiplex allergen testing may help in
      diagnosing the cause of symptoms in patients with an unclear cause of allergy or
      who are allergic to more than one substance. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate multiplex
      allergen testing [devices that can measure the presence of multiple
      immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in a patient's blood at the same time], by
      assessing (1) clinical effectiveness (allergy symptoms, incidence of acute
      exacerbations, mortality, adverse events of testing and treatment, health-care
      presentations or admissions, health-related quality of life); (2) effects on
      treatment (diet, immunotherapy medications, other potential testing); (3) any
      additional diagnostic information provided by multiplex allergen testing; and (4)
      cost-effectiveness (cost of different assessment strategies). METHODS: Fifteen
      databases were searched from 2005 to April 2015, including MEDLINE (via OvidSp),
      MEDLINE In-Process Citations, MEDLINE Daily Update, PubMed (National Library of
      Medicine), EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Database of Abstracts of Reviews
      of Effects (DARE), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database, Science Citation
      Index (SCI), Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S), BIOSIS
      Previews, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS),
      National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HTA programme, and the US Food and
      Drug Administration (FDA); supplementary searches of conference proceedings and
      trials registries were performed. Review methods followed published guidance from
      the Cochrane Collaboration and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination,
      University of York, UK. The methodological quality of included studies was
      assessed using appropriate published tools or a review-specific tool designed by
      the project team. Studies were summarised in a narrative synthesis. Owing to a
      lack of data on the clinical effectiveness of multiplex allergen testing, no long
      term cost-effectiveness model was developed. A conceptual model structure was
      developed and cost analyses were performed to examine the short-term costs of
      various possible diagnostic pathways. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in
      the review. The very limited available data indicated that the addition of
      multiplex allergen testing [ImmunoCAP((r)) Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip
      (ISAC), Thermo Fisher Scientific/Phadia AB, Uppsala, Sweden] to standard
      diagnostic work-up can change the clinicians' views on the diagnosis, management
      and treatment of patients. There was some indication that the use of ImmunoCAP
      ISAC testing may be useful to guide decisions on the discontinuation of
      restrictive diets, the content of allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT)
      prescriptions, and whether or not patients should receive SIT. However, none of
      the studies that we identified reported any information on clinical outcomes
      subsequent to changes in treatment or management. There was some evidence that
      ImmunoCAP ISAC may be useful for discriminating allergens that are structurally
      similar and are recognised by the same IgE antibody (cross-immunoreactive). No
      data were available for Microtest (Microtest Matrices Ltd, London, UK). Detailed
      cost analyses suggested that multiplex allergen testing would have to result in a
      substantial reduction of the proportions of patients receiving single IgE testing
      and oral food challenge tests in order to be cost-saving in the short term.
      CONCLUSIONS: No recommendations for service provision can be made based on the
      analyses included in this report. It is suggested that a consensus-based protocol
      for the use of multiplex allergen testing be developed. The clinical
      effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the proposed protocol should then be
      assessed by comparing long-term clinical and quality of life outcomes and
      resource use in patients managed using the protocol with those managed using a
      standard diagnostic pathway. STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as
      PROSPERO CRD42015019739. FUNDING: This project was a Diagnostic Assessment Report
      commissioned by the NIHR HTA programme on behalf of the National Institute for
      Health and Care Excellence.

PMID- 27623693
TI  - Mobile-bearing TKA improved the anteroposterior joint stability in mid-flexion
      range comparing to fixed-bearing TKA.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Proper anteroposterior (AP) joint displacement is an important
      indicator of good clinical outcome following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We
      hypothesized that a newly introduced mobile-bearing posterior stabilized (PS)
      prosthesis reduces the AP joint displacement. The aim of this study is to compare
      the AP joint displacement between a newly introduced mobile-bearing PS TKA in one
      knee and a conventional fixed-bearing PS TKA in other knee. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: 82 knees in 41 patients who had bilateral TKAs were investigated. All
      the patients received a conventional fixed-bearing PS prosthesis in one knee and
      a highly congruent mobile-bearing PS prosthesis in the other knee. AP joint
      displacement was measured using the KT-2000 arthrometer, at 30 degrees  and 75
      degrees  in flexion, at average of 3.3 years after the operation. RESULTS: AP
      joint displacements at 30 degrees  in flexion were 6 +/- 3 mm in the knees with
      the mobile-bearing PS prosthesis and 9 +/- 4 mm in the knee with fixed-bearing PS
      prosthesis (p < 0.001). AP joint displacements at 75 degrees  in flexion were 4
      +/- 2 mm in the knees with the mobile-bearing PS prosthesis and 6 +/- 3 mm in the
      knee with fixed-bearing PS prosthesis (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      suggested that the design of the prosthesis can improve the AP joint stability in
      mid-flexion range.

PMID- 27623694
TI  - Rectal perforation after incision of the vaginal canal following incorrect
      insertion of a Vagi-Pipe into the rectum during total laparoscopic hysterectomy.

PMID- 27623695
TI  - Heterogeneity and scatter effects on Ir-192 brachytherapy dose distribution.
AB  - We studied the effects of the presence of an air cavity and scatter due to
      patient size on dose distribution near an Iriduim-192 brachytherapy source (Ir
      192). The source was modeled using Monte Carlo (MC) code MCNP5. The Radial dose,
      gL(r), and the anisotropy function, F(r,theta) specified by the AAPM TG-43 have
      been determined and compared with the consensus data (AAPM report No. 229). We
      compared our MC results to the measured dose distribution using an EBT3
      Gafchromic(r) film measurement. The dose was determined in the presence of an air
      cavity of 3, 5, and 7mm diameters located at 2mm distance from Ir-192. The dose
      was also determined for Ir-192 centered in 30*30*30cm3 and 80*80*80cm3 water
      phantoms. The MC results of gL(r) and F(r,theta) agreed with the consensus data
      to within 2% and 3%, respectively. The MC and the measured dose distributions
      agreed well with a maximum difference of 8.2% at the periphery of the film. The
      dose at 10cm from the Ir-192 source with a full scattering medium (80*80*80cm3)
      was 7% higher compared to the dose in (30*30*30cm3) water phantom. The dose to
      water in the presence of a 3, 5, and 7mm diameter air cavity increased by an
      average of 3%, 6%, and 9%, respectively, compared to the dose with no air cavity.
      Ignoring scatter effects and the heterogeneity correction in the presence of an
      air cavity can lead to significant errors in dose delivered to patients.

PMID- 27623696
TI  - An effective calculation method for an overlap volume histogram descriptor and
      its application in IMRT plan retrieval.
AB  - To effectively calculate an overlap volume histogram (OVH) descriptor and improve
      intensity modulated radiation treatment (IMRT) planning by basing it on previous
      plans with similar features, a method based on morphology for OVH calculation was
      proposed and a novel similarity measurement was employed for retrieval of a
      suitable IMRT plan. First, the minimum and maximum distances between the tumor
      and organs at risk (OARs) were calculated as the start and end points for
      contraction or expansion, and a suitable step size for contraction or expansion
      was determined according to these distances. Then, a dilation or erosion
      morphology operator was employed to compute the OVH descriptor. Finally, the
      performance of IMRT plan retrieval was evaluated, where the area between OVH
      descriptors was taken as the similarity measurement, and a 3D reconstruction for
      each case was also performed for visual comparison. Twenty-eight nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma (NPC) cases were evaluated. The results show that OVH descriptors can
      be calculated effectively with the proposed method, and match well to the 3D
      geometrical features of the tumor and OARs. Further, the IMRT plan retrieval
      results match well based on a visual inspection of their 3D geometrical features,
      and an increase of the area between OVH descriptors leads to a decrease of visual
      similarity. Therefore, the proposed method can be used effectively for the
      calculation of an OVH descriptor as well as the retrieval of similar IMRT cases.

PMID- 27623698
TI  - Cephenemyiosis, an emergent myiasis in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) from
      northwestern Spain.
AB  - Cephenemyia stimulator larvae cause a specific myiasis in roe deer, which is
      widely distributed in Europe. In Spain, this parasite was detected by the first
      time in 2005, coinciding with a high mortality of this ruminant especially in
      northwest of the country. The aim of this study was to analyse the results
      obtained by necropsy and ELISA to elucidate when the first infestation by C.
      stimulator in roe deer from northwestern Spain occurred, as well as to determine
      the influence of some intrinsic factors on the prevalence and intensity of
      infestation. During 1994-2000, none seropositive roe deer was observed by ELISA.
      However, from 2007 to 2014, 38 % of animals were seropositive. The results of the
      necropsy pointed that prevalence and intensity of infestation had increased over
      the years. There was a positive and significant correlation between the number of
      animals harbouring C. stimulator larvae and seroprevalence values. This
      significant correlation was also observed between the seroprevalence and mean
      intensity of infestation. Adult roe deer showed higher prevalence and intensity
      of infestation than younger reaching statistical significance. It is also
      detected that the prevalence of infestation was significantly higher in males
      than in females although the mean number of larvae found in females were higher
      than in males. The combined use of direct and indirect techniques demonstrated a
      high prevalence of C. stimulator infestation in roe deer in the northwest of
      Spain, which certainly highlights the importance of this myiasis during the last
      years.

PMID- 27623697
TI  - Ultrastructural, ssrDNA sequencing of Myxobolus prochilodus and Myxobolus
      porofilus and details of the interaction with the host Prochilodus lineatus.
AB  - Myxobolus prochilodus and Myxobolus porofilus are parasites of Prochilodus
      lineatus, an economically important South American fish found in La Plata and
      Paraiba do Sul river basins. This study focusing on parasite-host interaction
      provides an ultrastructural and phylogenetic analysis, the latter based on ssrDNA
      sequencing of these parasites respectively infecting the gill filaments and fins
      of P. lineatus taken from the Mogi Guacu River, Sao Paulo, Brazil. A total of 13
      adult specimens were examined in this study. The prevalence of infection was 7.69
      % for M. prochilodus and 15.38 % for M. porofilus. Phylogenetic analysis showed
      M. prochilodus and M. porofilus clustered in a subclade composed of parasites of
      the Prochilodontidae family. In M. prochilodus infecting gill filaments, where
      cellular degeneration in the epithelium was observed, the plasmodia were
      surrounded by a capsule composed of layers of fibrocyte-like cells, with cellular
      projections joined to the projections of other fibrocyte-like cells by
      desmosomes, and more externally typical fibroblast layers. Some granular
      leukocytes were seen interspersed among these layers. In M. porofilus infecting
      the fins, the capsule of connective tissue was represented only by loosely
      arranged collagen fibers, and no granular leucocytes were observed. Finally,
      several unusual vacuoles with filamentous content and some characteristics
      usually described as degenerative alterations, as myelin figure, were noted in
      plasmodia and pansporoblasts of both myxosporean species. The possible influence
      of inflammatory response and xenobiotics was considered to be the explanation for
      the alterations observed in Myxobolus species and its host.

PMID- 27623699
TI  - Scolicidal and apoptotic activities of albendazole sulfoxide and albendazole
      sulfoxide-loaded PLGA-PEG as a novel nanopolymeric particle against Echinococcus
      granulosus protoscoleces.
AB  - Treatment failures of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) with albendazole (ABZ)
      have attributed to its low solubility and poor drug absorption rate, resulting in
      low drug level in plasma. The scolicidal effects of ABZ-loaded liposome
      nanoparticles have recently evaluated; however, these particles have several
      challenges due to their low encapsulated load. This investigation was designed to
      evaluate and compare in vitro apoptotic activities of ABZ sulfoxide (ABZs) and
      ABZs-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-PEG against protoscoleces
      (PSCs). ABZs-loaded PLGA-PEG was prepared by a double-emulsion method (W1/O/W2).
      Various concentrations of ABZs and ABZs-loaded PLGA-PEG (50, 100, 150, and 200
      MUg/ml) were experimentally tested against PSC of CE at different exposure times
      (5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min). ABZs-loaded PLGA-PEG at concentrations of 150 and
      200 MUg/ml was able to act at a 100 % scolicidal rate in all exposure times (5 to
      60 min), while ABZs at a concentration of 200 MUg/ml demonstrated 94, 100, and
      100 % mortality rates following 20, 30, and 60 min of exposure times,
      respectively. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of caspase-3 was assessed by
      semi-quantitative RT-PCR after 15 h of exposure. Caspase-3 mRNA expression was
      higher in both PSC treated with ABZs and PSC treated with ABZs-loaded PLGA-PEG
      than that in control groups (P < 0.05). No significant difference was observed
      between the apoptotic intensity of PSC treated with ABZs and that of PSC treated
      with ABZs-loaded PLGA-PEG (P > 0.05). DNA fragmentation assay and ultrastructural
      changes revealed that ABZs and ABZs-loaded PLGA-PEG induced the apoptosis of PSC
      by activation of caspase-3. The higher permeability and scolicidal rate of ABZs
      loaded PLGA-PEG can be addressed as an effectual alternative strategy to improve
      the treatment of human CE.

PMID- 27623700
TI  - Cost-effective initial assessment strategies for thyroid nodules in iodine
      adequate areas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the initial assessment of thyroid nodules, thyrotropin (TSH) has
      very low sensitivity for assessing functional thyroid nodules (FTNs). The false
      negativity in FTNs and the false positivity in non-FTNs misinterpreted by TSH
      will raise unnecessary assessment costs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
      explore the values of the TSH and color flow Doppler sonography (CFDS) combined
      strategies in reducing the unnecessary assessment costs. METHODS: 2383 patients
      with thyroid nodules were retrospectively analyzed, including 107 FTNs and 2276
      non-FTNs. Four strategies including TSH, CFDS, Combination 1 (TSH+/CFDS+,
      TSH+/CFDS-, and TSH-/CFDS+ defined as positive; TSH-/CFDS- defined as negative)
      and Combination 2 (TSH+/CFDS+ defined as positive; TSH+/CFDS-, TSH-/CFDS+, and
      TSH-/CFDS- defined as negative) were separately used for initial assessment. The
      four strategies were compared using the testing cost ratio of fine-needle
      aspiration (FNA) to thyroid scintigraphy (TS) (marked as CFNA/TS) as main outcome
      measure. RESULTS: Compared with TSH, Combination 1 prevented 15.89 % of FTNs from
      unnecessary FNA, but increased the number of non-FTNs subjected to unnecessary
      99mTc-TS by 9.31 %. Combination 2 prevented 5.32 % of non-FTNs from unnecessary
      TS, but increased the number of FTNs subjected to unnecessary FNA by 18.69 %.
      When CFNA/TS was <6.05, the lowest total cost was found in Combination 2. The TSH
      and Combination 1 were optimal at 6.05 <= CFNA/TS <= 12.47 and CFNA/TS > 12.47,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The combined strategies can be used to supplement TSH
      in the initial assessment of thyroid nodules in iodine-adequate areas, depending
      on the testing costs of FNA and TS.

PMID- 27623702
TI  - Fake peer-review in research publication: revisiting research purpose and
      academic integrity.

PMID- 27623701
TI  - Pre-emptive intrathecal vancomycin therapy reduces external ventricular drain
      infection: a single centre retrospective case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: External ventricular drain (EVD)-related infection is a significant
      source of morbidity in neurosurgical patients. Recently, there has been a drive
      to adopt new catheters with bactericidal properties to reduce infection rates. We
      propose that the use of standard catheters combined with pre-emptive intrathecal
      vancomycin (ITV) 10 mg daily provides an effective alternative. DESIGN:
      Retrospective study of all patients with EVDs between 2010 and 2012, comparing
      infection rates in those who did and did not receive pre-emptive ITV. All EVDs
      were of the standard silicon catheter type. CSF infection was defined, as per
      Centre for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, as clinical suspicion +/- positive
      CSF gram stain/culture or leucocytosis. Infection rates were compared using
      Pearson's chi-squared test. RESULTS: 262 EVDs were included in the study, of
      which 111 were managed with pre-emptive ITV. The infection rate was 2.7% in the
      vancomycin group and 11.9% in the control group (p<.01). There were no cases of
      vancomycin-resistant infection in either group. CONCLUSION: The use of pre
      emptive ITV is associated with a significantly lower EVD infection rate. This
      compares favourably with those reported in the literature for bactericidal
      catheters.

PMID- 27623703
TI  - Microchimerism of male origin in a cohort of Danish girls.
AB  - Male microchimerism, the presence of a small number of male cells, in women has
      been attributed to prior pregnancies. However, male microchimerism has also been
      reported in women with only daughters, in nulliparous women and prepubertal girls
      suggesting that other sources of male microchimerism must exist. The aim of the
      present study was to examine the presence of male microchimerism in a cohort of
      healthy nulliparous Danish girls aged 10-15 y using DNA extracted from cells from
      whole blood (buffy coats) and report the association with potential sources of
      male cells. A total of 154 girls were studied of which 21 (13.6%) tested positive
      for male microchimerism. There was a tendency that girls were more likely to test
      positive for male microchimerism if their mothers previously had received
      transfusion, had given birth to a son or had had a spontaneous abortion.
      Furthermore, the oldest girls were more likely to test positive for male
      microchimerism. However, less than half of microchimerism positivity was
      attributable to these factors. In conclusion, data suggest that male
      microchimerism in young girls may originate from an older brother either full
      born or from a discontinued pregnancy or from transfusion during pregnancy. We
      speculate that sexual intercourse may be important but other sources of male
      cells likely exist in young girls.

PMID- 27623704
TI  - The association between mechanical and biochemical/histological characteristics
      in diabetic and non-diabetic plantar soft tissue.
AB  - Diabetes, and the subsequent complication of lower limb ulcers leading to
      potential amputation, remains an important health care problem in United States,
      even with declining amputation rates. It has been well documented that diabetes
      can alter the mechanical properties (i.e., increased stiffness) of the plantar
      soft tissue, although this finding is not universal. Similarly, biochemical, and
      histological changes have been found in the plantar soft tissue, but, as with the
      mechanical changes, these findings are not consistent across all studies. Our
      group's work has demonstrated that diabetes increases plantar soft tissue modulus
      and increases elastic septal thickness. The purpose of the current study was to
      explore the association between mechanical, biochemical and histological
      properties. Using previously collected data, a linear mixed effects regression
      was conducted. The correlations were weak; of the 32 that were tested, only 3
      (modulus to septal thickness when location was accounted for, energy loss to
      total collagen, and energy loss to collagen/elastin ratio) were statistically
      significant, none with an R2 greater than 0.10. The main differences in the means
      were increased tissue stiffness and increased septal wall thickness, both trends
      were supported in the literature. However, as the correlations were weak, it is
      likely that another unexamined biochemical factor (perhaps collagen crosslinking)
      is associated with the mechanical tissue changes.

PMID- 27623705
TI  - A pediatric animal model to evaluate the effects of disuse on musculoskeletal
      growth and development.
AB  - Prolonged immobilization in hospitalized children can lead to fragility fractures
      and muscle contractures and atrophy. The purpose of this study was to develop a
      lower-extremity disuse rabbit model with musculoskeletal changes similar to those
      observed in children subjected to prolonged immobilization. Six-week-old rabbits
      were randomly assigned to control (CTRL, n=4) or bilateral sciatic and femoral
      neurectomy (bSFN, n=4) groups. Trans-axial helical CT scans of each rabbit's hind
      limbs were acquired after eight weeks. The rabbits were then euthanized and the
      tibiae and calcanea were harvested from each rabbit. MUCT imaging was performed
      on the tibiae and calcanea mid-diaphysis. Four-point bending, gas pycnometry, and
      ashing were then performed on each tibia. All comparisons reflect the differences
      between the bSFN and CTRL rabbits. Significant decreases in tibiae bone mineral
      density (>=9.41%, p<=0.006), axial rigidity (>=50.47%, p<=0.02), and soft tissue
      mass (55.25%, p=0.006) were observed from the trans-axial helical CT scans. The
      MUCT results indicated significant detriments in tibia and calcaneus cortical
      thickness and bone volume fraction (p<=0.011). Significant changes in stiffness,
      yield load, ultimate load, and ultimate displacement (>=30.05%, p<=0.025) were
      observed from mechanical testing. These data indicate that limb disuse at a time
      of rapid musculoskeletal growth severely impairs muscle and bone development,
      reflecting the musculoskeletal complications observed in children with chronic
      medical conditions causing immobilization. Interventions to reduce these
      musculoskeletal complications in children are urgently needed. This disuse rabbit
      model will be useful in pre-clinical studies evaluating novel interventions for
      improving pediatric musculoskeletal health.

PMID- 27623707
TI  - Research integrity: Avoiding plagiarism, dual publication and data fragmentation.

PMID- 27623706
TI  - The amikacin research program: a stepwise approach to validate dosing regimens in
      neonates.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: For safe and effective use of antibacterial agents in neonates,
      specific knowledge on the pharmacokinetics (PK) and its covariates is needed.
      This necessitates a stepwise approach, including prospective validation. Areas
      covered: We describe our approach throughout almost two decades to improve
      amikacin exposure in neonates. A dosing regimen has been developed and validated
      using pharmacometrics, considering current weight, postnatal age, perinatal
      asphyxia, and ibuprofen use. This regimen has been developed based on clinical
      and therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) data collected during routine care, and
      subsequently underwent prospective validation. A similar approach has been
      scheduled to quantify the impact of hypothermia. Besides plasma observations,
      datasets on deep compartment PK were also collected. Finally, the available
      literature on developmental toxicology (hearing, renal) of amikacin is
      summarized. Expert opinion: The amikacin model reflects a semi-physiological
      function for glomerular filtration. Consequently, this model can be used to
      develop dosing regimens for other aminoglycosides or to validate physiology-based
      pharmacokinetic models. Future studies should explore safety with incorporation
      of covariates like pharmacogenetics, biomarkers, and long-term outcomes. This
      includes a search for mechanisms of developmental toxicity. Following knowledge
      generation and grading the level of evidence in support of data, dissemination
      and implementation initiatives are needed.

PMID- 27623708
TI  - Residue Geometry Networks: A Rigidity-Based Approach to the Amino Acid Network
      and Evolutionary Rate Analysis.
AB  - Amino acid networks (AANs) abstract the protein structure by recording the amino
      acid contacts and can provide insight into protein function. Herein, we describe
      a novel AAN construction technique that employs the rigidity analysis tool,
      FIRST, to build the AAN, which we refer to as the residue geometry network (RGN).
      We show that this new construction can be combined with network theory methods to
      include the effects of allowed conformal motions and local chemical environments.
      Importantly, this is done without costly molecular dynamics simulations required
      by other AAN-related methods, which allows us to analyse large proteins and/or
      data sets. We have calculated the centrality of the residues belonging to 795
      proteins. The results display a strong, negative correlation between residue
      centrality and the evolutionary rate. Furthermore, among residues with high
      closeness, those with low degree were particularly strongly conserved. Random
      walk simulations using the RGN were also successful in identifying allosteric
      residues in proteins involved in GPCR signalling. The dynamic function of these
      residues largely remain hidden in the traditional distance-cutoff construction
      technique. Despite being constructed from only the crystal structure, the results
      in this paper suggests that the RGN can identify residues that fulfil a dynamical
      function.

PMID- 27623709
TI  - Comparison of the superelasticity of different nickel-titanium orthodontic
      archwires and the loss of their properties by heat treatment.
AB  - The aim of this work is to describe and compare mechanical properties of eight
      widely used nickel-titanium orthodontic wires under uniform testing conditions
      and to determine the influence of the heat treatments on the loss of the
      superelasticity. Ten archwires from two batches from eight different
      manufacturers were evaluated. A three-point bending test was performed, in
      accordance with ISO 15841:2006, on 80 round nickel-titanium archwire segments of
      0.016 inch. To obtain a load-deflection curve, the centre of each segment was
      deflected to 3.1 mm and then unloaded until force became zero. On the unloading
      curve, deflection at the end of the plateau and forces delivered at that point,
      and at 3, 2, 1 and 0.5 mm of deflection, were recorded. Plateau slopes were
      calculated from 3 and from 2 mm of deflection. Data obtained were statistically
      analysed to determine inter-brand, intra-brand and inter-batch differences (P <
      0.05). The results show that at 2 mm of deflection, maximum differential force
      exerted among brands [Nitinol SuperElastic (1.999N)-Sentalloy M (1.001 N)] was
      0.998 N (102 gf). The Nitinol SuperElastic plateau slope (0.353 N/mm) was the
      only one that was statistically different from 2 mm of deflection, as compared
      with the other brand values (0.129-0.155 N/mm). Damon Optimal Force described the
      gentlest slope from 3 mm of deflection (0.230 N/mm) and one of the longest
      plateaus. Titanol and Orthonol showed the most notable intra-brand differences,
      whereas inter-batch variability was significant for Nitinol (Henry Schein), Euro
      Ni-Ti and Orthonol. Superelasticity degree and exerted forces differed
      significantly among brands. Superelasticity of Nitinol SuperElastic was not
      observed, while Damon Optimal Force and Proclinic Ni-Ti Superelastico (G&H)
      showed the most superelastic curves. Intra-brand and inter-batch differences were
      observed in some brands. In all cases, the heat treatment at 600  degrees C
      produces precipitation in the matrix. The precipitates are rich in titanium and
      this fact produce changes in the chemical composition of the matrix and the loss
      of the superelasticity. At 400  degrees C these precipitates are not produced and
      the forces delivered by the wires are very similar with wires untreated. 

PMID- 27623710
TI  - Topological band-order transition and quantum spin Hall edge engineering in
      functionalized X-Bi(111) (X = Ga, In, and Tl) bilayer.
AB  - Functionalized X-Bi bilayers (X = Ga, In, and Tl) with halogens bonded on their
      both sides have been recently claimed to be the giant topological insulators due
      to the strong band inversion strengths. Employing the first-principles electronic
      structure calculation, we find the topological band order transition from the
      order p - p - s of the X-Bi bilayers with halogens on their both sides to the new
      order p - s - p of the bilayers (especially for X = Ga and In) with halogen on
      one side and hydrogen on the other side, where the asymmetric hydrogen bonding
      simulates the substrate. We further find that the p - s bulk band gap of the
      bilayer bearing the new order p - s - p sensitively depends on the electric
      field, which enables a meaningful engineering of the quantum spin Hall edge state
      by controlling the external electric field.

PMID- 27623711
TI  - Virulence factors associated with Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and their
      role in promoting periodontal diseases.

PMID- 27623712
TI  - The association between maternal smoking and placenta abruption: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several epidemiological studies have determined that maternal smoking
      can increase the risk of placenta abruption. To date, only a meta-analysis has
      been performed for assessing the relationship between smoking and placenta
      abruption. This meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the association between
      smoking and the risk of placenta abruption. METHODS: A literature search was
      conducted in major databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus from the
      earliest possible year to April 2016. The heterogeneity across studies was
      explored by Q-test and I2 statistic. The publication bias was assessed using
      Begg's and Egger's tests. The results were reported using odds ratio (OR)
      estimate with its 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a random effects model.
      RESULTS: The literature search yielded 1167 publications until April 2016 with 4
      309 610 participants. Based on OR estimates obtained from case-control and cohort
      studies, there was a significant association between smoking and placenta
      abruption (1.80; 95% CI: 1.75, 1.85). Based on the results of cohort studies,
      smoking and placenta abruption had a significant association (relative risk
      ratio: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.51, 1.80). CONCLUSIONS: Based on reports in
      epidemiological studies, we showed that smoking is a risk factor for placenta
      abruption.

PMID- 27623713
TI  - Mandatory responses to public health and safety recommendations issued by
      coroners: a content analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the extent to which mandatory responses to
      coronial recommendations in one state of Australia (Victoria) provided a clear
      picture of action taken by organisations to protect public health and safety.
      METHOD: Analysis of organisations' responses to recommendations issued by
      coroners over the first three years of Victoria's newly introduced mandatory
      response regime was carried out. RESULTS: Most responses were provided to the
      court within the legislated three-month timeframe and were signed by persons in
      senior or executive management. Analysis of 282 recommendation-response pairs,
      found that less than half (44%) provided explicit statements about whether action
      had or would be taken. In the remaining 56% of responses there was no explicit
      statement of action or intent. Ambiguity in the response was strongly associated
      with lack of implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the founding
      objectives of Victoria's innovative mandatory response regime are being
      compromised by the opacity of many response letters. Implications for public
      health: Recommendations from the coroner can profoundly affect whether the
      community is exposed to unsafe practices, policies and products, but without such
      compliance, the potential for the coroner to make a meaningful contribution to
      protecting public and safety is substantially compromised.

PMID- 27623714
TI  - Molecular dynamics simulation of the behaviour of water in nano-confined ionic
      liquid-water mixtures.
AB  - This work describes the behaviour of water molecules in 1-butyl-3
      methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid under nanoconfinement, between
      graphene sheets. By means of molecular dynamics simulations, the adsorption of
      water molecules at the graphene surface is studied. A depletion of water
      molecules in the vicinity of the neutral and negatively charged graphene
      surfaces, and their adsorption at the positively charged surface are observed in
      line with the preferential hydration of the ionic liquid anions. The findings are
      appropriately described using a two-level statistical model. The confinement
      effect on the structure and dynamics of the mixtures is thoroughly analyzed using
      the density and the potential of mean force profiles, as well as by the
      vibrational densities of the states of water molecules near the graphene surface.
      The orientation of water molecules and the water-induced structural transitions
      in the layer closest to the graphene surface are also discussed.

PMID- 27623717
TI  - Sugar industry paid for dietary research in 1960s, analysis shows.

PMID- 27623716
TI  - Diagnosing colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease in primary care: The
      usefulness of tests for faecal haemoglobin, faecal calprotectin, anaemia and iron
      deficiency. A prospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Abdominal complaints are common reasons to consult primary care but
      they are seldom caused by colorectal cancer (CRC), high-risk adenomas (HRAs), or
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Reliable diagnostic aids would be helpful in
      deciding which patients to refer for bowel imaging. Our aim was to assess the
      value of a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) and a faecal calprotectin (FC) test
      in detecting CRC, HRAs and IBD in primary care, and the value of combining these
      tests with anaemia and iron-deficiency tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      prospective study included 373 consecutive patients that received a FIT or a FC
      test ordered by a primary care physician. We collected samples for FITs, FC
      tests, full blood counts and iron-deficiency tests. Physicians were instructed to
      refer patients with a positive FIT or FC test (cut-off >=100MUg/g) for bowel
      imaging. The patients' presenting symptoms were recorded. Patients were followed
      for 2 years. RESULTS: The best test for detecting CRC and IBD was the combination
      of the FIT and haemoglobin concentration. This test had a sensitivity,
      specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 100%,
      61.7%, 11.7% and 100%, respectively. The FIT detected a significantly larger
      proportion of CRC, HRAs and IBD than the FC test (0.92 versus 0.46, 95%
      confidence interval 0.22-0.67). CONCLUSION: A negative FIT combined with a normal
      haemoglobin concentration could rule out CRC and IBD with a high degree of
      safety. This could be useful in prioritising referrals for bowel imaging from
      primary care.

PMID- 27623719
TI  - The Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal: The journey so far ....

PMID- 27623718
TI  - New phytochemicals as potential human anti-aging compounds: Reality, promise, and
      challenges.
AB  - Aging is an inevitable process influenced by genetic, lifestyle, and
      environmental factors. Indirect evidence shows that several phytochemicals can
      have anti-aging capabilities, although direct evidence in this field is still
      limited. This report aims to provide a critical review on aspects related to the
      use of novel phytochemicals as anti-aging agents, to discuss the obstacles found
      when performing most anti-aging study protocols in humans, and to analyze future
      perspectives. In addition to the extensively studied resveratrol, epicatechin,
      quercetin, and curcumin, new phytochemicals have been reported to act as anti
      aging agents, such as the amino acid L-theanine isolated from green tea, and the
      lignans arctigenin and matairesinol isolated from Arctium lappa seeds.
      Furthermore, this review discusses the application of several new extracts rich
      in phytochemicals with potential use in anti-aging therapies. Finally, this
      review also discusses the most important biomarkers to test anti-aging
      interventions, the necessity of conducting epidemiological studies and the need
      of clinical trials with adequate study protocols for humans.

PMID- 27623715
TI  - Endogenous reactive oxygen species cause astrocyte defects and neuronal
      dysfunctions in the hippocampus: a new model for aging brain.
AB  - The etiology of astrocyte dysfunction is not well understood even though neuronal
      defects have been extensively studied in a variety of neuronal degenerative
      diseases. Astrocyte defects could be triggered by the oxidative stress that
      occurs during physiological aging. Here, we provide evidence that intracellular
      or mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) at physiological levels can cause
      hippocampal (neuronal) dysfunctions. Specifically, we demonstrate that astrocyte
      defects occur in the hippocampal area of middle-aged Tet-mev-1 mice with the
      SDHCV69E mutation. These mice are characterized by chronic oxidative stress. Even
      though both young adult and middle-aged Tet-mev-1 mice overproduced MitoSOX Red
      detectable mitochondrial ROS compared to age-matched wild-type C57BL/6J mice,
      only young adult Tet-mev-1 mice upregulated manganese and copper/zinc superoxide
      dismutase (Mn- and Cu/Zn-SODs) activities to eliminate the MitoSOX Red-detectable
      mitochondrial ROS. In contrast, middle-aged Tet-mev-1 mice accumulated both
      MitoSOX Red-detectable mitochondrial ROS and CM-H2 DCFDA-detectable intracellular
      ROS. These ROS levels appeared to be in the physiological range as shown by
      normal thiol and glutathione disulfide/glutathione concentrations in both young
      adult and middle-aged Tet-mev-1 mice relative to age-matched wild-type C57BL/6J
      mice. Furthermore, only middle-aged Tet-mev-1 mice showed JNK/SAPK activation and
      Ca2+ overload, particularly in astrocytes. This led to decreasing levels of glial
      fibrillary acidic protein and S100beta in the hippocampal area. Significantly,
      there were no pathological features such as apoptosis, amyloidosis, and lactic
      acidosis in neurons and astrocytes. Our findings suggest that the age-dependent
      physiologically relevant chronic oxidative stress caused astrocyte defects in
      mice with impaired mitochondrial electron transport chain functionality.

PMID- 27623720
TI  - Evaluation of two injection sclerosants in the treatment of symptomatic
      haemorrhoids in Nigerians.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of
      5% phenol in almond oil with 50% dextrose water as sclerosants in the treatment
      of first- to third-degree haemorrhoids. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a
      prospective, comparative study conducted on eighty patients with first-, second-
      and third-degree haemorrhoids who consented to treatment by injection
      sclerotherapy with either 5% phenol in almond oil or 50% dextrose water. They
      were randomised equally into two groups. RESULTS: A total of eighty patients
      including 58 males and 22 females whose age ranged from 19 to 61 years were
      included in the study. Bleeding was the chief symptom which was present in 78
      (97.5%) patients, and there was complete resolution of this in 92.3% and 89.7% in
      the 5% phenol in almond oil and 50% dextrose water groups, respectively, at 6
      months (P = 0.905). Similar degrees of resolution were noted for anal protrusion
      (89.1% and 85.3% in the 5% phenol in almond oil and 50% dextrose water group,
      respectively, P = 0.899). The overall complication rate was 3.6% with anal mucosa
      ulceration being the only complication, occurring in three patients who had 5%
      phenol in almond oil. Peri-procedure pain, patients satisfaction and
      acceptability were not significantly different in both groups (P = 0.912, 0.928
      and 0.926 respectively). CONCLUSION: Five percent phenol in almond oil and 50%
      dextrose water are equally effective sclerosants in the treatment of haemorrhoids
      with very low complication rates.

PMID- 27623722
TI  - An assessment of sexual maturation among school girls in Abakaliki Metropolis,
      Ebonyi State, South-East Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sexual maturation is an important milestone which starts between 8
      and 14 years in girls. However, varying ages of onset of sexual maturation have
      been reported in different environments, with more recent studies showing earlier
      ages of onset in girls. There is therefore need to describe the sexual maturation
      of girls in each environment. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 6
      18-year-old school girls in Abakaliki. One thousand one hundred and fifty-five
      girls were selected through multi-staged sampling. They were interviewed, and
      sexual maturation was assessed using breast and pubic hair development. RESULTS:
      Pubic hair development occurred earliest at a mean age of 9.87 +/- 2.19 years.
      Breast development followed at a mean age of 10.53 +/- 2.38 years. The mean age
      for menarche was 12.82 +/- 1.29 years, which chronologically occurred between
      sexual maturity rating stages 3 and 4. Overweight/obesity was found to be
      correlated with an earlier age of onset of sexual maturation (P < 0.05).
      Participants belonging to the upper socioeconomic class also had earlier age of
      onset of sexual maturation (P < 0.05). Compared with earlier studies, positive
      secular trend for earlier maturation was found using pubic hair development,
      breast development and menarche as markers of onset of maturation.
      CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: Against the background of the present findings of a
      continuing secular trend of earlier sexual maturation in Igbo girls, there is a
      need to provide relevant information to parents/guardians and to reduce puberty
      related anxiety. This will go a long way in improving quality of parental support
      for adolescents during this crucial period.

PMID- 27623721
TI  - Efficacy of intravenous tramadol in the control of shivering following spinal
      anaesthesia for caesarean section.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of
      intravenous tramadol in control of shivering in obstetric patients under spinal
      anaesthesia and to determine the minimal dose of tramadol that is effective.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, randomised, double-blind, cross
      sectional study of 144 pregnant women at term who had an indication for caesarean
      section. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups at the occurrence
      of shivering. Group T0.5 received 0.5 mg/kg of tramadol (n = 47), Group T0.25
      received 0.25 mg/kg tramadol (n = 47) and Group TNS received 0.05 ml/kg of normal
      saline (n = 46). Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for
      Social Sciences version 17. RESULTS: There were no significant differences
      between the groups with regard to age, weight and duration of surgery. There was
      a statistically significant difference in the time of cessation of shivering
      after the treatment for various groups (P = 0.000). A total of 80.1% responded to
      the treatment in Group T0.5, while for Group T0.25 and TNS, a total of 44.7% and
      4.3%, respectively, responded. There were statistically significant differences
      in the recurrence rates of shivering among the groups (P = 0.000). CONCLUSION:
      Tramadol is effective in control of shivering during spinal anaesthesia in
      obstetric patients. Tramadol 0.5 mg/kg controlled shivering better than 0.25
      mg/kg. Therefore, 0.5 mg/kg of tramadol can be used to manage shivering following
      caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia.

PMID- 27623723
TI  - Associations between ocular biometry and anthropometric measurements in a
      Nigerian population.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study aimed at determining the associations between ocular biometry
      and anthropometric measurements in a Nigerian adult population. SUBJECTS AND
      METHODS: Participants were healthy members of staff and students of Obafemi
      Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife. The height and weight
      were measured, and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Ocular axial length
      (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), keratometric readings (K) and corneal radius
      of curvature were measured with the IOL Master. Data were analysed with SPSS
      version 16 (IBM Corporation), and associations between ocular biometric variables
      and anthropometric measurements were explored. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty
      healthy participants aged 18-60 years (mean age: 34.8 +/- 11.2 years) were
      enrolled. Height was significantly positively correlated with AL (r = 0.37, P<
      0.01) and ACD (r = 0.17, P = 0.01) and negatively correlated with K (r = -0.28,
      P< 0.01). A significant positive correlation was found between weight and AL (r =
      0.13, P = 0.02) while the BMI was only negatively correlated with ACD (r = -0.11,
      P = 0.04). In multivariate analysis, the relationship between height and AL (R2 =
      0.58, P< 0.01) as well as ACD (R2= 0.11, P< 0.01) persisted. The relationship
      between weight and AL and that between BMI and ACD were totally abolished after
      controlling for age and height. CONCLUSION: The body height is independently
      associated with ocular AL and ACD while the body weight and BMI are not
      independently associated with any of the ocular biometric indices studied.

PMID- 27623724
TI  - Presbyopia and near spectacle correction coverage among public school teachers in
      Ifo Township, South-West Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presbyopia is an age-related loss of lens accommodation resulting in
      difficulty in performing near task with attendant effect on the quality of life.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of
      presbyopia and presbyopic spectacle correction coverage among public school
      teachers in Ifo township, with a view to providing a baseline information that
      could be useful for advocacy and planning appropriate intervention. STUDY DESIGN:
      The study was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six
      hundred public school teachers aged 30 years and above were examined in 25
      clusters using a multistage random sampling technique with probability
      proportional to size. Questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic
      data, sources of spectacle and barriers to spectacle use. All participants
      underwent a standardised protocol including visual acuity assessment (distance
      and near acuity), anterior and posterior segment examinations and refraction.
      RESULTS: Six hundred teachers were examined with an age range of 30-61 years. The
      mean age was 44.7 +/- 7.5 years and the male to female ratio was 1:2.2. The
      prevalence of presbyopia was 81.3% and 38.5% of the presbyopic teachers did not
      have presbyopic correction. However, the average age of onset of presbyopia was
      earlier in females 33 years compared to 36 years observed in males, although not
      statistically significant (P = 0.88). The presbyopic correction coverage was
      61.5%. One hundred and eighty-six (62%) presbyopic teachers obtained their
      spectacle from opticians, and the main barriers to the use of near vision
      spectacle were lack of awareness (23.7%) and cost (13.7%). CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrated a high prevalence of presbyopia among public school teachers in Ifo
      town, South-West Nigeria, but less presbyopic spectacle correction coverage.

PMID- 27623725
TI  - Spectrum and prevalence of thyroid diseases seen at a tertiary health facility in
      Sagamu, South-West Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of goitrous swelling has reduced in Nigeria since the
      introduction of salt iodisation programme. Thyroid disorders are the second most
      common endocrine disorder after diabetes mellitus worldwide. They present to
      general outpatient, medical and surgical clinics accompanied by great anxiety and
      poor health-related quality of life. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine and
      describe the spectrum of thyroid disorders seen at Olabisi Onabanjo University
      Teaching Hospital over a 10-year period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a
      retrospective analysis of records of patients who presented to the hospital with
      thyroid swellings over a 10-year period (June 2004 to June 2014).
      Clinicopathological and demographic data obtained from hospital records in 175
      patients diagnosed by clinical examination, thyroid ultrasound, hormone profile
      and histological confirmation in cases that had surgery were analysed for this
      study. RESULTS: The records of 175 patients were obtained comprising 151 (86.3%)
      females and 24 (13.7%) males (female to male ratio of 6.3:1) with age range from
      18 to 76 years and mean age of 42.3 years, standard deviation 13.5. With clinical
      diagnosis, distribution of thyroid diseases was simple goitre 103 (58.9%), toxic
      goitre 64 (36.6%), hypothyroidism 3 (1.7%), malignant goitre 4 (2.3%) and
      thyroiditis 1 (0.6%). The age group of 30-49 years had the highest prevalence of
      the thyroid diseases 100 (57.2%) while the extremes of age, below 20 and over 70
      years had the least (5.1 and 2.9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: The prevalent form
      of thyroid diseases seen at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital was
      simple goitre and most common in females. Studies on autoimmunity and other
      goitrogens are required to further elucidate the cause of this high prevalence.

PMID- 27623726
TI  - Evaluation of administration of discharge against medical advice: Ethico-legal
      considerations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) portends serious ethico-legal
      consequences for healthcare givers. Several studies have described its prevalence
      and pattern but hardly any to evaluate adherence to standards by medical staff
      while administering DAMA in developing countries. OBJECTIVES: The objective of
      this study is to evaluate adherence of medical staff to standard protocols during
      the administration of DAMA in a public secondary hospital in Ondo State.
      METHODOLOGY: In a descriptive, retrospective study we examined case files and
      DAMA forms of in-patients who obtained DAMA between April 2014 and September 2015
      for design, signatories and completeness. Data were analysed by means of SPSS
      version 17. RESULTS: A total of 235 patients (male:female, 1.03:1) who obtained
      DAMA out of 7465 in-patients were studied. Their mean age was 40.5 +/- 19.3 years
      (range, 17-110 years). The overall hospital DAMA prevalence was 3.2%. DAMA forms
      were inadequately designed, deficient and not protective against litigation.
      Improper processing of DAMA was high (66.7%). The only signatories in the DAMA
      forms were the nurses (8.5%) and patients' relatives (100%). There was no
      physician entry in the forms. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to standard DAMA protocol by
      medical staff was poor. Update courses on ethico-legal matters, adopting a
      discharge planning team, upgrading of DAMA forms and stressing global best
      practices will reduce or eliminate risk of litigations.

PMID- 27623727
TI  - Neonatal septicaemia, bacterial isolates and antibiogram sensitivity in Maiduguri
      North-Eastern Nigeria.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim and objective of the study was to determine the
      incidence, bacterial isolates and the antibiogram sensitivity of the isolates in
      neonates with septicaemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The neonates with clinical
      diagnosis of neonatal septicaemia (NNS) were consecutively enrolled into our
      special care baby unit. The patients were investigated including blood cultures,
      cerebrospinal fluid cultures and urine among others. Data were analysed with
      Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 16.0 (SPSS Inc.,
      Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: Forty-six neonates (42.0%) had a positive blood
      culture, while 64 (58.0%) were blood culture-negative. Eighteen (39.1%) of those
      septicaemic neonates with positive blood culture were inborn, while 28 (60.9%)
      were outborn. The incidence of NNS was 5.9/1000 live births. The male-to-female
      ratio among septicaemic neonates was 1.9:1. The common risk factors for NNS were
      prolonged rupture of membrane, prematurity and low socioeconomic status of
      parents among others. Common clinical features were fever, poor feeding,
      excessive crying, tachypnoea and hepatomegaly. Staphylococcus aureus 16 (69.6%)
      and Streptococcus pyogenes 5 (21.8%) were the predominant Gram-positive organisms
      isolated whereas Escherichia coli 9 (39.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae 7 (30.4%)
      were the predominant Gram-negative organisms isolated. S. aureus was sensitive to
      cephalosporins and quinolones, but resistant to penicillins. E. coli and K.
      pneumoniae showed a high resistance (16.7% and 25.6%, respectively) to commonly
      used aminoglycoside such as gentamycin. CONCLUSION: The burden of NNS was high
      with high mortality in the study centre. The sensitivity pattern had remarkably
      changed; however, a combination of cephalosporins such as cefuroxime and
      gentamycin is still a good option.

PMID- 27623728
TI  - Oral health knowledge, awareness and associated practices of pre-school
      children's mothers in Greater Noida, India.
AB  - AIM: To assess the oral health knowledge, awareness and associated exercised
      practices of pre-school children's mothers in Greater Noida, India. SUBJECTS AND
      METHODS: The sampling frame for this study was chosen via convenient sampling. It
      comprised 598 mothers of children aged between 2 and 5 years, attending the
      paediatrics division of a government and four private hospitals in Greater Noida.
      A pre-tested questionnaire was distributed to the participants which comprised
      questions on the participant's sociodemographic characteristics and 23 statements
      regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices towards their child's oral
      health. Data were analysed using SPSS 21.0. P < 0.05 was considered statistically
      significant. RESULTS: The study showed that merely 24.9% of the participating
      mothers had good knowledge and 29.1% and 12.5% exhibited poor attitude and
      practices, respectively, towards their child's oral health. Knowledge about the
      role of fluorides, causes and prevention of dental caries, gum disease,
      malocclusion, appropriate timing of commencing of toothbrushing and importance of
      frequent dental visit was found to be inadequate among the participants. The
      knowledge varied significantly with respect to age (P = 0.04), education (P =
      0.00) and working status (P = 0.006) of the mothers. CONCLUSION: The study
      participants exhibited poor knowledge and attitude towards their child's oral
      heath which was leading to the adoption of poor oral health practices by these
      mothers. Thus, to improve the oral health of children, appropriate practices and
      measures should be promoted among their parents/guardians.

PMID- 27623730
TI  - Corrigendum: Ultra-low Thermal Conductivity in Si/Ge Hierarchical Superlattice
      Nanowire.

PMID- 27623729
TI  - Essential values of cocaine and non-drug alternatives predict the choice between
      them.
AB  - This study investigated the relationship between reinforcer value and choice
      between cocaine and two non-drug alternative reinforcers in rats. The essential
      value (EV, a behavioral economic measure based on elasticity of demand) of
      intravenous cocaine and food (Experiment 1) or saccharin (Experiment 2) was
      determined in the first phase of each experiment. Food had higher EV than
      cocaine, whereas the EVs of cocaine and saccharin did not differ. In the second
      phase of each experiment, rats were allowed to make mutually exclusive choices
      between cocaine and the non-drug alternative reinforcer. The main findings were
      that the EV of cocaine was a positive predictor of cocaine preference and the EV
      of food or saccharin was a negative predictor of cocaine preference. An analysis
      of within-session patterns of choice behavior revealed sequential dependencies,
      whereby rats were more likely to choose cocaine on a particular trial after
      having chosen the non-drug alternative on previous trials. When the time between
      choices was increased, these sequential dependencies disappeared. The results of
      these experiments are consistent with the suggestion that addiction-like behavior
      involves both overvaluation of drug reinforcers and undervaluation of non-drug
      reinforcers.

PMID- 27623731
TI  - Hepatocyte Concentrations of Indocyanine Green Reflect Transfer Rates Across
      Membrane Transporters.
AB  - Perioperative imaging with indocyanine green (ICG) is developing to increase
      safety in dissecting anatomical structures during hepatobiliary surgery. Images
      obtained with the fluorescence camera rely on concentrations measured in liver
      regions of interest. However, how ICG sinusoidal uptake and hepatocyte
      elimination rates generate ICG hepatocyte concentrations is largely unknown. To
      investigate such issue and better understand the role of membrane transporters in
      generating ICG hepatocyte concentrations, we perfused ICG in livers isolated from
      normal livers. Whether the well-known transporter inhibitor rifampicin modifies
      hepatocyte ICG concentrations was also studied. The dye has a very high and
      constant extraction ratio (96%) into hepatocytes. This persistent high extraction
      ratio generates a huge uphill concentration gradient across the sinusoidal
      membrane: from 5 MUM (sinusoids) to 1600 MUM (liver). When inside hepatocytes,
      ICG has low hepatocyte elimination (7 nmol/min.) and liver concentrations do not
      decrease much over time. Moreover, the tiny hepatocyte ICG efflux is mainly due
      to ICG return back to sinusoids (90%). Rifampicin slightly inhibits ICG uptake
      into hepatocytes and when inside hepatocytes blocks ICG efflux into bile
      canaliculi. In contrast, it increases ICG efflux back to sinusoids with
      significant decrease in ICG liver concentrations. Imaging with ICG in the
      perioperative period reflects the high hepatocyte concentrations and relies on
      the high extraction ratio across hepatocyte sinusoidal membrane. Although ICG
      concentrations are low in bile ducts, they are adequate for a good visualization
      and avoid bile duct injury.

PMID- 27623732
TI  - Comparison of All-Inside Arthroscopic and Open Techniques for the Modified
      Brostrom Procedure for Ankle Instability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No reported study has compared clinical and radiologic outcomes
      between an all-inside arthroscopic modified Brostrom operation (MBO) and an open
      MBO. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical and radiologic outcomes of
      all-inside arthroscopic and open MBOs. METHODS: From August 2012 to July 2014, 48
      patients were included. They were divided into 2 groups: all-inside arthroscopic
      MBO (25 patients) and open MBO (23 patients). The American Orthopaedic Foot &
      Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score, visual analog scale (VAS) score, and
      Karlsson score were used to evaluate clinical outcomes. Anterior talar
      translation and talar tilt were used to evaluate radiologic outcomes. All
      patients had lateral ankle instability. MBO was performed in 87 patients. Of
      these, 50 patients met the inclusion criteria. All patients had giving way,
      persistent pain, and an inability to resume their preinjury activity level for
      more than 6 months. Patients were randomized into 2 groups, all-inside
      arthroscopic MBO and open MBO, using a permuted block randomization method.
      Clinical outcome evaluations were performed preoperatively, at 6 weeks and 6
      months postoperatively, and at a final follow-up at a minimum of 12 months
      postoperatively using the Karlsson score, the AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score, and
      pain VAS scores. Radiologic outcome evaluations were performed preoperatively and
      at 1 year postoperatively at final follow-up using anterior talar translation,
      and talar tilt angle. RESULTS: After randomization, 25 ankles were allocated to
      the all-inside arthroscopic MBO group and 25 to the open MBO group. Two ankles in
      the open MBO group were excluded from the analysis because they were lost to
      follow-up. Thus, evaluations were performed for 25 ankles in the all-inside
      arthroscopic MBO group and 23 in the open MBO group. There was no difference in
      age, gender, symptom duration, preoperative AOFAS, VAS, Karlsson scores, anterior
      talar translation, or talar tilt between the 2 groups (all P > .05). At the final
      follow-up, the AOFAS, VAS, and the Karlsson scores had improved significantly in
      both groups (P < .001). There was no difference in the Karlsson, AOFAS, or VAS
      scores, anterior talar translation, or talar tilt between the 2 groups at final
      follow-up (all P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in the clinical or
      radiologic outcome between the all-inside arthroscopic MBO and open MBO for the
      treatment of lateral ankle instability at up to 1 year after surgery. An all
      inside arthroscopic MBO should be considered carefully in patients who have
      lateral ankle instability. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, randomized controlled
      trial.

PMID- 27623733
TI  - Can computed tomography and carbon monoxide transfer coefficient diagnose an
      asthma-like phenotype in COPD?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Post-mortem and computed tomography (CT) studies
      indicated that emphysema is a feature of COPD even in the 'blue bloater/chronic
      bronchitis' type. We aim to test the hypothesis that the non-emphysematous
      patients are distinct from the main body of COPD and are more akin to asthmatic
      patients. METHODS: We studied 54 patients with COPD. Emphysema was measured by
      Goddard's visual scoring of CT scan and the carbon monoxide transfer coefficient
      (KCO). Bronchial biopsy was offered for thickness of basement membrane (BM) (>=7
      um) as a marker of remodelling in irreversible asthma. Spirometry was repeated
      after therapy with Budesonide/Formoterol for 1 year. RESULTS: The non
      emphysematous phenotype were 24 of 54 patients (44%) by CT scan and 23 of 54
      patients (43%) by KCO, showing agreement in 53 out of 54 patients. The non
      emphysematous patients were younger, had higher forced expiratory volume in 1 s
      (FEV1 ) (median 61% vs 49.7%), greater prevalence of hypertrophy of nasal
      turbinates and higher serum IgE. The emphysematous phenotype had lower BMI and
      greater dyspnoea score. The BM was thickened in 11 of 14 and 0 of 10 patients in
      the non-emphysematous and emphysematous groups, respectively. Three patients
      without emphysema and a normal BM normalized their FEV1 upon receiving inhaled
      corticosteroid (ICS)/long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA). All the non-emphysematous
      improved their FEV1 after ICS/LABA (median = 215 mL). The median decline in the
      emphysematous was -65 mL. CONCLUSION: The non-emphysematous phenotype of COPD
      displays important features of asthma: clinical picture, histology and response
      to ICS. CT and KCO can predict spirometric response to ICS/LABA.

PMID- 27623735
TI  - The comparison of 5-field conformal radiotherapy techniques for the treatment of
      prostate cancer: The best for femoral head sparing.
AB  - External radiotherapy is a standard treatment procedure for localized prostate
      cancer. Given the relatively high long term survival treatment complications have
      been brought in center of attention. In this planning study, between 2012 and
      2014, CT simulation data of 90 consecutive high-risk prostate cancer patients
      were collected. In the first phase, all were planned for whole pelvis irradiation
      up to 46Gy in 23 daily fractions. In the second phase, only the prostate gland
      was the target of radiation. Next, the subjects were divided randomly into three
      groups and each received a unique 5field conformal radiation plan including Plan
      A (Gantry angle: 0, 60, 120, 240, and 300), Plan B (Gantry angles: 0, 90, 120,
      240, and 270) and Plan C (Gantry angles: 0, 60, 90, 270, and 300). The total dose
      was 70Gy. For each patient, the rectum, bladder, and both femoral heads were
      contoured as the at risk organs (OAR). From dose volume histograms, the
      proportional dose of PTV V100, the bladder and rectum V80 and V90 and femoral
      head V50 and V100 were calculated in all subjects and compared across plans. A
      statistically significant difference in the femoral head V50 and V100 was found
      between our studied 5field plans so that in Plan A (beam angles: 0, 60, 120, 240
      and 300) less dose was received by both heads of femur. This study suggests that
      5 field treatment planning including an anterior, two anterior oblique and two
      posterior oblique portals to be more proper for 3D conformal radiotherapy in
      order to spare femoral head with acceptable PTV coverage, and bladder and rectal
      doses.

PMID- 27623736
TI  - Dosimetric analysis of testicular doses in prostate intensity-modulated and
      volumetric-modulated arc radiation therapy at different energy levels.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidental testicular doses during
      prostate radiation therapy with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and
      volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) at different energies. Dosimetric
      data of 15 patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer who were treated with
      radiotherapy were analyzed. The prescribed dose was 78Gy in 39 fractions.
      Dosimetric analysis compared testicular doses generated by 7-field intensity
      modulated radiotherapy and volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy with a single
      arc at 6, 10, and 15MV energy levels. Testicular doses calculated from the
      treatment planning system and doses measured from the detectors were analyzed.
      Mean testicular doses from the intensity-modulated radiotherapy and volumetric
      modulated arc radiotherapy per fraction calculated in the treatment planning
      system were 16.3 +/- 10.3cGy vs 21.5 +/- 11.2cGy (p = 0.03) at 6MV, 13.4 +/-
      10.4cGy vs 17.8 +/- 10.7cGy (p = 0.04) at 10MV, and 10.6 +/- 8.5cGy vs 14.5 +/-
      8.6cGy (p = 0.03) at 15MV, respectively. Mean scattered testicular doses in the
      phantom measurements were 99.5 +/- 17.2cGy, 118.7 +/- 16.4cGy, and 193.9 +/-
      14.5cGy at 6, 10, and 15MV, respectively, in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy
      plans. In the volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy plans, corresponding
      testicular doses per course were 90.4 +/- 16.3cGy, 103.6 +/- 16.4cGy, and 139.3
      +/- 14.6cGy at 6, 10, and 15MV, respectively. In conclusions, this study was the
      first to measure the incidental testicular doses by intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy and volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy plans at different energy
      levels during prostate-only irradiation. Higher photon energy and volumetric
      modulated arc radiotherapy plans resulted in higher incidental testicular doses
      compared with lower photon energy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy plans.

PMID- 27623734
TI  - Consumer Product Chemicals in Indoor Dust: A Quantitative Meta-analysis of U.S.
      Studies.
AB  - Indoor dust is a reservoir for commercial consumer product chemicals, including
      many compounds with known or suspected health effects. However, most dust
      exposure studies measure few chemicals in small samples. We systematically
      searched the U.S. indoor dust literature on phthalates, replacement flame
      retardants (RFRs), perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), synthetic fragrances, and
      environmental phenols and estimated pooled geometric means (GMs) and 95%
      confidence intervals for 45 chemicals measured in >=3 data sets. In order to rank
      and contextualize these results, we used the pooled GMs to calculate residential
      intake from dust ingestion, inhalation, and dermal uptake from air, and then
      identified hazard traits from the Safer Consumer Products Candidate Chemical
      List. Our results indicate that U.S. indoor dust consistently contains chemicals
      from multiple classes. Phthalates occurred in the highest concentrations,
      followed by phenols, RFRs, fragrance, and PFASs. Several phthalates and RFRs had
      the highest residential intakes. We also found that many chemicals in dust share
      hazard traits such as reproductive and endocrine toxicity. We offer
      recommendations to maximize comparability of studies and advance indoor exposure
      science. This information is critical in shaping future exposure and health
      studies, especially related to cumulative exposures, and in providing evidence
      for intervention development and public policy.

PMID- 27623737
TI  - Dosimetric comparison of lung stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment plans
      using averaged computed tomography and end-exhalation computed tomography images:
      Evaluation of the effect of different dose-calculation algorithms and
      prescription methods.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to quantitatively evaluate differences in dose
      distributions calculated using various computed tomography (CT) datasets, dose
      calculation algorithms, and prescription methods in stereotactic body
      radiotherapy (SBRT) for patients with early-stage lung cancer. Data on 29
      patients with early-stage lung cancer treated with SBRT were retrospectively
      analyzed. Averaged CT (Ave-CT) and expiratory CT (Ex-CT) images were
      reconstructed for each patient using 4-dimensional CT data. Dose distributions
      were initially calculated using the Ave-CT images and recalculated (in the same
      monitor units [MUs]) by employing Ex-CT images with the same beam arrangements.
      The dose-volume parameters, including D95, D90, D50, and D2 of the planning
      target volume (PTV), were compared between the 2 image sets. To explore the
      influence of dose-calculation algorithms and prescription methods on the
      differences in dose distributions evident between Ave-CT and Ex-CT images, we
      calculated dose distributions using the following 3 different algorithms: x-ray
      Voxel Monte Carlo (XVMC), Acuros XB (AXB), and the anisotropic analytical
      algorithm (AAA). We also used 2 different dose-prescription methods; the
      isocenter prescription and the PTV periphery prescription methods. All
      differences in PTV dose-volume parameters calculated using Ave-CT and Ex-CT data
      were within 3 percentage points (%pts) employing the isocenter prescription
      method, and within 1.5%pts using the PTV periphery prescription method,
      irrespective of which of the 3 algorithms (XVMC, AXB, and AAA) was employed. The
      frequencies of dose-volume parameters differing by >1%pt when the XVMC and AXB
      were used were greater than those associated with the use of the AAA, regardless
      of the dose-prescription method employed. All differences in PTV dose-volume
      parameters calculated using Ave-CT and Ex-CT data on patients who underwent lung
      SBRT were within 3%pts, regardless of the dose-calculation algorithm or the dose
      prescription method employed.

PMID- 27623739
TI  - A functional link between hyphal maintenance and quorum sensing in Candida
      albicans.
AB  - Morphogenesis in Candida albicans requires hyphal initiation and maintenance, and
      both processes are regulated by the fungal quorum sensing molecule (QSM)
      farnesol. We show that deletion of C. albicans EED1, which is crucial for hyphal
      extension and maintenance, led to a dramatically increased sensitivity to
      farnesol, and thus identified the first mutant hypersensitive to farnesol.
      Furthermore, farnesol decreased the transient filamentation of an eed1Delta
      strain without inducing cell death, indicating that two separate mechanisms
      mediate quorum sensing and cell lysis by farnesol. To analyze the cause of
      farnesol hypersensitivity we constructed either hyperactive or deletion mutants
      of factors involved in farnesol signaling, by introducing the hyperactive
      RAS1G13V or pADH1-CYR1CAT allele, or deleting CZF1 or NRG1 respectively. Neither
      of the constructs nor the exogenous addition of dB-cAMP was able to rescue the
      farnesol hypersensitivity, highlighting that farnesol mediates its effects not
      only via the cAMP pathway. Interestingly, the eed1Delta strain also displayed
      increased farnesol production. When eed1Delta was grown under continuous medium
      flow conditions, to remove accumulating QSMs from the supernatant, maintenance of
      eed1Delta filamentation, although not restored, was significantly prolonged,
      indicating a link between farnesol sensitivity, production, and the hyphal
      maintenance-defect in the eed1Delta mutant strain.

PMID- 27623738
TI  - Acetazolamide Mitigates Astrocyte Cellular Edema Following Mild Traumatic Brain
      Injury.
AB  - Non-penetrating or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is commonly experienced in
      accidents, the battlefield and in full-contact sports. Astrocyte cellular edema
      is one of the major factors that leads to high morbidity post-mTBI. Various
      studies have reported an upregulation of aquaporin-4 (AQP4), a water channel
      protein, following brain injury. AZA is an antiepileptic drug that has been shown
      to inhibit AQP4 expression and in this study we investigate the drug as a
      therapeutic to mitigate the extent of mTBI induced cellular edema. We
      hypothesized that mTBI-mediated astrocyte dysfunction, initiated by increased
      intracellular volume, could be reduced when treated with AZA. We tested our
      hypothesis in a three-dimensional in vitro astrocyte model of mTBI. Samples were
      subject to no stretch (control) or one high-speed stretch (mTBI) injury. AQP4
      expression was significantly increased 24 hours after mTBI. mTBI resulted in a
      significant increase in the cell swelling within 30 min of mTBI, which was
      significantly reduced in the presence of AZA. Cell death and expression of S100B
      was significantly reduced when AZA was added shortly before mTBI stretch.
      Overall, our data point to occurrence of astrocyte swelling immediately following
      mTBI, and AZA as a promising treatment to mitigate downstream cellular mortality.

PMID- 27623740
TI  - Safety aspects of the production of foods and food ingredients from insects.
AB  - At present, insects are rarely used by the European food industry, but they are a
      subject of growing interest as an alternative source of raw materials. The risks
      associated with the use of insects in the production of foods and food
      ingredients have not been sufficiently investigated. There is a lack of
      scientifically based knowledge of insect processing to ensure food safety,
      especially when these processes are carried out on an industrial scale. This
      review focuses on the safety aspects that need to be considered regarding the
      fractionation of insects for the production of foods and food ingredients.

PMID- 27623741
TI  - Light-tunable Fano resonance in metal-dielectric multilayer structures.
AB  - High-Q optical Fano resonances realized in a variety of plasmonic nanostructures
      and metamaterials are very much promising for the development of new potent
      photonic devices, such as optical sensors and switches. One of the key issues in
      the development is to establish ways to effectively modulate the Fano resonance
      by external perturbations. Dynamic tuning of the Fano resonance applying the
      mechanical stress and electric fields has already been demonstrated. Here, we
      demonstrate another way of tuning, i.e., photo-tuning of the Fano resonance. We
      use a simple metal-dielectric multilayer structure that exhibits a sharp Fano
      resonance originating from coupling between a surface plasmon polariton mode and
      a planar waveguide mode. Using a dielectric waveguide doped with azo dye
      molecules that undergo photoisomerization, we succeeded in shifting the Fano
      resonance thorough photo-modulation of the propagation constant of the waveguide
      mode. The present work demonstrates the feasibility of photo-tuning of the Fano
      resonance and opens a new avenue towards potential applications of the Fano
      resonance.

PMID- 27623743
TI  - Transforming growth factor-beta signaling is upregulated in sporadic inclusion
      body myositis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this study we aimed to determine whether transforming growth
      factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling is dysregulated in sporadic inclusion body
      myositis (sIBM) muscle samples. METHODS: We examined TGF-beta signaling markers
      in muscle samples from 24 sIBM patients and compared them with those from 10
      dermatomyositis (DM) patients using immunohistochemistry and Western blot
      analyses. RESULTS: Compared with the DM muscle fibers, the sIBM muscle fibers
      exhibited greater TGF-beta, TGF-beta receptor type I (TbetaRI), and TGF-beta
      receptor type II (TbetaRII) immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm, as well as greater
      phosphorylated Smad2 (pSmad2) immunoreactivity in the myonuclei. The signal
      intensities of TGF-beta, TbetaRI, and TbetaRII immunoreactivity correlated
      significantly with muscle fiber cross-sectional areas. Western blot analyses
      indicated higher expression levels of TGF-beta, TbetaRI, TbetaRII, and pSmad2 in
      the sIBM muscle samples than in the DM muscle samples. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      indicate that upregulation of TGF-beta signaling may be an important molecular
      event in sIBM. Muscle Nerve 55: 741-747, 2017.

PMID- 27623742
TI  - Laser thermal therapy monitoring using complex differential variance in optical
      coherence tomography.
AB  - Conventional thermal therapy monitoring techniques based on temperature are often
      invasive, limited by point sampling, and are indirect measures of tissue injury,
      while techniques such as magnetic resonance and ultrasound thermometry are
      limited by their spatial resolution.  The visualization of the thermal
      coagulation zone at high spatial resolution is particularly critical to the
      precise delivery of thermal energy to epithelial lesions. In this work, an
      integrated thulium laser thermal therapy monitoring system was developed based on
      complex differential variance (CDV), which enables the 2D visualization of the
      dynamics of the thermal coagulation process at high spatial and temporal
      resolution with an optical frequency domain imaging system. With proper
      calibration to correct for noise, the CDV-based technique was shown to accurately
      delineate the thermal coagulation zone, which is marked by the transition from
      high CDV upon heating to a significantly reduced CDV once the tissue is
      coagulated, in 3 different tissue types ex vivo: skin, retina, and esophagus. The
      ability to delineate thermal lesions in multiple tissue types at high resolution
      opens up the possibility of performing microscopic image-guided procedures in a
      vast array of epithelial applications ranging from dermatology, ophthalmology, to
      gastroenterology and beyond.

PMID- 27623744
TI  - The impact of an expanded genetic testing program and selective oophorectomy on
      the incidence of ovarian cancer in West Pomerania.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a regional population-based
      genetic testing program on the incidence of ovarian cancer in West Pomerania.
      Between 1999 and 2010, a total of 37,552 women ages 35 to 70 were tested for
      three BRCA1 founder mutations at the outpatient genetics clinic of the Pomeranian
      Medical University in Szczecin, Poland. A total of 641 women were found to carry
      a mutation (1.7%) and of these, 220 had a prophylactic oophorectomy (34.3%). A
      total of 12 women had an occult cancer diagnosed at the time of prophylactic
      oophorectomy (5.5%). We estimate that 26 more ovarian cancers would have been
      diagnosed by January 2015 in the absence of these oophorectomies and that an
      additional 25 cancers will be prevented in the future (total 51). During this
      period, 1611 ovarian cancers were diagnosed in the region; therefore we estimate
      that approximately 1.6% of ovarian cancers were prevented between 1999 and 2015
      by our genetic testing program. We conclude that the prophylactic oophorectomies
      performed between 1999 and 2010 as a result of widespread BRCA1 mutation testing
      have reduced the incidence of ovarian cancer in Pomerania by a small amount
      (about 1.6%), and that the impact of genetic testing will increase in the coming
      years.

PMID- 27623745
TI  - Calculating the Cost and Risk of Comorbidities in Total Joint Arthroplasty in the
      United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With increased scrutiny regarding the cost and safety of health care
      delivery, there is increasing interest in judicious patient selection for total
      joint arthroplasty (TJA) procedures. It is unknown which comorbidities incur the
      greatest increase in risk to the patient and cost to the system after TJA.
      Therefore, this study sought to characterize the association of common
      preoperative comorbidities with both the risk for postoperative in-hospital
      complications and the total hospital cost in patients undergoing TJA. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort study was conducted using the National Inpatient Sample. All
      elective, unilateral, primary or revision total knee or hip arthroplasty
      procedures in patients aged 40-95 years from 2008 to 2012 were identified. Common
      preoperative comorbidities were identified with use of clinical comorbidity
      software. Risk of complication and cost were calculated for each comorbidity.
      RESULTS: A total of 4,323,045 patients were identified. Patient comorbidities
      increased the risk of major postoperative complications, with the highest risk
      associated with congestive heart failure (CHF; relative risk [RR], 4.402),
      valvular heart disease (VHD; RR, 3.209), and chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD; RR, 2.813). Likewise, comorbidities increased overall hospital
      costs, with the largest additional costs associated with coagulopathy (+$3787),
      CHF (+$3701), and electrolyte disorders (+$3179). The cumulative number of
      comorbidities was associated with increased risk (R2 = 0.86) and cost (R2 =
      0.90). CONCLUSION: The findings of our study suggest that greater comorbidity
      burden is associated with increased risk and cost in TJA. Specifically, this
      article identifies the patient comorbidities that incur the greatest increase in
      postoperative complications (CHF, VHD, COPD) and cost (coagulopathy, CHF,
      electrolyte disorders) after TJA.

PMID- 27623746
TI  - Social carry-over effects underpin trans-seasonally linked structure in a wild
      bird population.
AB  - Spatial structure underpins numerous population processes by determining the
      environment individuals' experience and which other individuals they encounter.
      Yet, how the social landscape influences individuals' spatial decisions remains
      largely unexplored. Wild great tits (Parus major) form freely moving winter
      flocks, but choose a single location to establish a breeding territory over the
      spring. We demonstrate that individuals' winter social associations carry-over
      into their subsequent spatial decisions, as individuals breed nearer to those
      they were most associated with during winter. Further, they also form territory
      boundaries with their closest winter associates, irrespective of breeding
      distance. These findings were consistent across years, and among all demographic
      classes, suggesting that such social carry-over effects may be general. Thus,
      prior social structure can shape the spatial proximity, and fine-scale
      arrangement, of breeding individuals. In this way, social networks can influence
      a wide range of processes linked to individuals' breeding locations, including
      other social interactions themselves.

PMID- 27623747
TI  - Refinement of the androgen response element based on ChIP-Seq in androgen
      insensitive and androgen-responsive prostate cancer cell lines.
AB  - Sequence motifs are short, recurring patterns in DNA that can mediate sequence
      specific binding for proteins such as transcription factors or DNA modifying
      enzymes. The androgen response element (ARE) is a palindromic, dihexameric motif
      present in promoters or enhancers of genes targeted by the androgen receptor
      (AR). Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) we refined AR
      binding and AREs at a genome-scale in androgen-insensitive and androgen
      responsive prostate cancer cell lines. Model-based searches identified more than
      120,000 ChIP-Seq motifs allowing for expansion and refinement of the ARE. We
      classified AREs according to their degeneracy and their transcriptional
      involvement. Additionally, we quantified ARE utilization in response to somatic
      copy number amplifications, AR splice-variants, and steroid treatment. Although
      imperfect AREs make up 99.9% of the motifs, the degree of degeneracy correlates
      negatively with validated transcriptional outcome. Weaker AREs, particularly ARE
      half sites, benefit from neighboring motifs or cooperating transcription factors
      in regulating gene expression. Taken together, ARE full sites generate a reliable
      transcriptional outcome in AR positive cells, despite their low genome-wide
      abundance. In contrast, the transcriptional influence of ARE half sites can be
      modulated by cooperating factors.

PMID- 27623748
TI  - Network analysis of depression and anxiety symptom relationships in a psychiatric
      sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Researchers have studied psychological disorders extensively from a
      common cause perspective, in which symptoms are treated as independent indicators
      of an underlying disease. In contrast, the causal systems perspective seeks to
      understand the importance of individual symptoms and symptom-to-symptom
      relationships. In the current study, we used network analysis to examine the
      relationships between and among depression and anxiety symptoms from the causal
      systems perspective. METHOD: We utilized data from a large psychiatric sample at
      admission and discharge from a partial hospital program (N = 1029, mean treatment
      duration = 8 days). We investigated features of the depression/anxiety network
      including topology, network centrality, stability of the network at admission and
      discharge, as well as change in the network over the course of treatment.
      RESULTS: Individual symptoms of depression and anxiety were more related to other
      symptoms within each disorder than to symptoms between disorders. Sad mood and
      worry were among the most central symptoms in the network. The network structure
      was stable both at admission and between admission and discharge, although the
      overall strength of symptom relationships increased as symptom severity decreased
      over the course of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Examining depression and anxiety
      symptoms as dynamic systems may provide novel insights into the maintenance of
      these mental health problems.

PMID- 27623750
TI  - Neurons in the primate dorsal striatum signal the uncertainty of object-reward
      associations.
AB  - To learn, obtain reward and survive, humans and other animals must monitor,
      approach and act on objects that are associated with variable or unknown rewards.
      However, the neuronal mechanisms that mediate behaviours aimed at uncertain
      objects are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that a set of neurons in an
      internal-capsule bordering regions of the primate dorsal striatum, within the
      putamen and caudate nucleus, signal the uncertainty of object-reward
      associations. Their uncertainty responses depend on the presence of objects
      associated with reward uncertainty and evolve rapidly as monkeys learn novel
      object-reward associations. Therefore, beyond its established role in mediating
      actions aimed at known or certain rewards, the dorsal striatum also participates
      in behaviours aimed at reward-uncertain objects.

PMID- 27623749
TI  - An integrative study identifies KCNC2 as a novel predisposing factor for
      childhood obesity and the risk of diabetes in the Korean population.
AB  - Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. To unravel the genetic
      determinants of obesity-associated diabetes, we performed a genome-wide study
      using the 1,000 Genomes-based imputation in a Korean childhood cohort (KoCAS-1, n
      = 484) and carried out de novo replication in an independent population (KoCAS-2,
      n = 1,548). A novel variant (rs10879834) with multiple diverse associations for
      obesity-related traits was also found to be replicated in an adult cohort (KARE,
      n = 8,842). Functional annotations using integrative epigenetic analyses
      identified biological significance and regulatory effects with an inverse
      methylation-expression correlation (cg27154343 in the 5'-UTR of the KCNC2 gene),
      tissue-specific enhancer mark (H3K4me1), and pathway enrichment (insulin
      signaling). Further functional studies in cellular and mouse models demonstrated
      that KCNC2 is associated with anti-obesogenic effects in the regulation of
      obesity-induced insulin resistance. KCNC2 shRNA transfection induced endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER) stress and hepatic gluconeogenesis. Overproduction of KCNC2
      decreased ER stress, and treatment with metformin enhanced KCNC2 expression.
      Taken together, these data suggest that reduction of KCNC2 is associated with
      modified hepatic gluconeogenesis and increased ER stress on obesity-mediated
      diabetic risk. An integrative multi-omics analysis might reveal new functional
      and clinical implications related to the control of energy and metabolic
      homeostasis in humans.

PMID- 27623751
TI  - Morphology, Ultrastructure and Possible Functions of Antennal Sensilla of
      Sitodiplosis mosellana Gehin (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae).
AB  - To better understand the olfactory receptive mechanisms involved in host
      selection and courtship behavior of Sitodiplosis mosellana (Diptera:
      Cecidomyiidae), one of the most important pests of wheat, scanning and
      transmission electron microscopy were used to examine the external morphology and
      ultrastructure of the antennal sensilla. The moniliform antennae exhibit obvious
      sexual dimorphism: antennae of the males are markedly longer than those of the
      females. Furthermore, each male flagellomere consists of two globular nodes,
      whereas each female flagellomere is cylindrical. Seven types of sensilla were
      identified in both sexes. Two types of s. chaetica have a lumen without dendrites
      and thick walls, suggesting that they are mechanoreceptors. S. trichodea and s.
      circumfila are typical chemoreceptors, possessing thin multiporous walls
      encircling a lumen with multiple dendrites. There are significantly more s.
      trichodea in female than in male, which may be related to host plant
      localization. In contrast, male s. circumfila are highly elongated compared to
      those of females, perhaps for pheromone detection. Peg-shaped s. coeloconica are
      innervated with unbranched dendrites extending from the base to the distal tip.
      Type 1 s. coeloconica, which have deep longitudinal grooves and finger-like
      projections on the surface, may serve as olfactory or humidity receptors, whereas
      type 2 s. coeloconica, smooth with a terminal pore, may be contact
      chemoreceptors. Also, this is the first report of Bohm' bristles at proximal
      scape on antennae of Cecidomyiid species potentially functioning as
      mechanoreceptors. 

PMID- 27623755
TI  - The hydration status of young female elite soccer players during an official
      tournament.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hydration status of elite female soccer players is a concern,
      especially during high-volume training periods or tournaments. Furthermore,
      scientific literature on this topic is scarce to non-existent. Therefore, the
      primary aim of this study was to evaluate the hydration status in elite youth
      female soccer players during an official tournament. The secondary aim was to
      identify a possible relationship between pre-training hydration status and fluid
      intake. METHODS: Eighteen players were followed during eight consecutive days.
      Urine specific gravity was used to assess hydration status. Body weight was
      monitored before and after every training and match, whilst individual fluid
      intake was only registered during training. The players were informed about their
      hydration status on day 5. RESULTS: On days 1 to 4, the percentage of players who
      were at least minimally hypohydrated ranged between 44% and 78%. On day 5 (rest
      day), all the players were at least minimally hypohydrated. After the information
      session on day 5, the relative number of euhydrated players increased to 89% on
      both day 6 (training day) and day 7 (match day). On the final day (rest day), all
      players were either minimally hypohydrated or hypohydrated. Furthermore, a
      moderate and significant negative correlation (r=-0.44; N.=54; P=0.01) was found
      between fluid intake during and USG value before the training sessions.
      CONCLUSIONS: The data illustrates that the hydration status of this population of
      elite youth female soccer players may be suboptimal and is of substantial concern
      on rest days during this tournament under temperate conditions. Receiving
      personal advice about rehydration seems to have a positive effect.

PMID- 27623754
TI  - A scoping review of what is known of the physical health of adults with autism
      spectrum disorder.
AB  - Little research has been carried out on the physical health of people with autism
      spectrum disorder (ASD). From the studies conducted with both children and
      adults, few studies have moved beyond retrospective record analysis and survey
      and conducted health assessment. The majority of the studies are from the United
      States of America with a small number conducted in Europe. A scoping review was
      conducted to determine what is known of the physical health of adults with ASD
      and to identify research gaps. In addition to studies of adults, this review
      includes studies of children to determine possible health trajectories. From the
      findings, it can be stated with confidence that people with ASD have a high rate
      of comorbidity and increased risk for chronic disease.

PMID- 27623752
TI  - Evaluation of frozen tissue-derived prognostic gene expression signatures in FFPE
      colorectal cancer samples.
AB  - Defining molecular features that can predict the recurrence of colorectal cancer
      (CRC) for stage II-III patients remains challenging in cancer research. Most
      available clinical samples are Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE).
      NanoString nCounter(r) and Affymetrix GeneChip(r) Human Transcriptome Array 2.0
      (HTA) are the two platforms marketed for high-throughput gene expression
      profiling for FFPE samples. In this study, to evaluate the gene expression of
      frozen tissue-derived prognostic signatures in FFPE CRC samples, we evaluated the
      expression of 516 genes from published frozen tissue-derived prognostic
      signatures in 42 FFPE CRC samples measured by both platforms. Based on HTA
      platform-derived data, we identified both gene (99 individual genes, FDR < 0.05)
      and gene set (four of the six reported multi-gene signatures with sufficient
      information for evaluation, P < 0.05) expression differences associated with
      survival outcomes. Using nCounter platform-derived data, one of the six multi
      gene signatures (P < 0.05) but no individual gene was associated with survival
      outcomes. Our study indicated that sufficiently high quality RNA could be
      obtained from FFPE tumor tissues to detect frozen tissue-derived prognostic gene
      expression signatures for CRC patients.

PMID- 27623756
TI  - Effects of plyometric exercise training with external weights on punching ability
      of experienced amateur boxers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During competition, a boxer must continue to deliver high-impact
      punches despite increasing fatigue. It is unclear whether the effects of
      plyometric training using external weights are transferred to sport-specific
      movements such as punching. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects
      of a 4-week cycle of plyometric training with external weights on punching
      ability. METHODS: The study involved eight male amateur boxers aged 22.3+/-2.5
      years with at least 7 years of competitive experience. They performed 12
      plyometric training sessions, each comprising eight exercises of various muscle
      groups performed at maximum movement velocity. Six drills were performed with
      external weights, and two drills were performed using the body weight as
      resistance. All exercises required coordination. The punching ability was tested
      at baseline and after the 4 weeks of training using the Kiktest-100 boxing bag.
      RESULTS: The force of single punches and the frequency of punches within a series
      did not change from before to after the 4 weeks, except for increased power in
      the rear-hand low punch (P<0.05). However, there was an increase in summative
      force and energy output within 3 s and 8 s, and in a series of eight 8-s tests
      (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Four weeks of plyometric training with external weights
      did not change the maximum punching power or movement frequency significantly,
      but had a beneficial effect on punching power endurance in boxers.

PMID- 27623757
TI  - Acute supplementation of L-arginine affects neither strength performance nor
      nitric oxide production.
AB  - BACKGROUND: L-arginine is a semi-essential amino acid involved in nitric oxide
      production. As nitric oxide is an important vasodilator, L-arginine
      supplementation would increase blood perfusion and, subsequently, muscle
      performance during exercises. The aim of this study was to determine the acute
      effect of L-arginine supplementation on strength performance and nitric oxide
      levels in healthy trained individuals. METHODS: In a double-blind, placebo
      controlled, cross-over study, 12 men were randomly assigned to L-arginine or
      placebo supplementation. Subjects received 6 g of L-arginine or placebo 60
      minutes before strength test (maximum number of repetitions, 3 sets at 70% of one
      repetition maximum on bench press and at 80% of one repetition maximum on knee
      extensions, 2 minutes of rest between sets and exercises). Blood samples were
      collected before supplementation and 6 min after exercise. RESULTS: Plasma
      nitrite levels did not significantly change after L-arginine or placebo
      supplementation and strength-training exercise (placebo, from 13.01+/-1.18 to
      11.83+/-2.81 mM; L-arginine, from 10.95+/-4.09 to 11.99+/-2.5 mM). There was a
      significant reduction in the number of repetitions performed from set 1 to set 3
      in each set of both bench press and knee extension, but no significant
      interactions were observed between placebo and L-arginine. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results do not support the use of L-arginine as an ergogenic aid for strength
      performance, at least in context of acute use immediately before resistance
      exercise performance.

PMID- 27623753
TI  - The extracellular matrix - the under-recognized element in lung disease?
AB  - The lung is composed of airways and lung parenchyma, and the extracellular matrix
      (ECM) contains the main building blocks of both components. The ECM provides
      physical support and stability to the lung, and as such it has in the past been
      regarded as an inert structure. More recent research has provided novel insights
      revealing that the ECM is also a bioactive environment that orchestrates the
      cellular responses in its environs. Changes in the ECM in the airway or
      parenchymal tissues are now recognized in the pathological profiles of many
      respiratory diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Only recently have we begun to
      investigate whether these ECM changes result from the disease process, or whether
      they constitute a driving factor that orchestrates the pathological outcomes.
      This review summarizes our current knowledge of the alterations in the ECM in
      asthma, COPD, and IPF, and the contributions of these alterations to the
      pathologies. Emerging data suggest that alterations in the composition, folding
      or rigidity of ECM proteins may alter the functional responses of cells within
      their environs, and in so doing change the pathological outcomes. These
      characteristics highlight potential avenues for targeting lung pathologies in the
      future. This may ultimately contribute to a better understanding of chronic lung
      diseases, and novel approaches for finding therapeutic solutions. (c) 2016 The
      Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of
      Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

PMID- 27623758
TI  - Ankle brachial index for the diagnosis of lower limb peripheral arterial disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) of the lower limb is common, with
      prevalence of both symptomatic and asymptomatic disease estimated at 13% in the
      over 50 age group. Symptomatic PAD affects about 5% of individuals in Western
      populations between the ages of 55 and 74 years. The most common initial symptom
      of PAD is muscle pain on exercise that is relieved by rest and is attributed to
      reduced lower limb blood flow due to atherosclerotic disease (intermittent
      claudication). The ankle brachial index (ABI) is widely used by a variety of
      healthcare professionals, including specialist nurses, physicians, surgeons and
      podiatrists working in primary and secondary care settings, to assess signs and
      symptoms of PAD. As the ABI test is non-invasive and inexpensive and is in
      widespread clinical use, a systematic review of its diagnostic accuracy in people
      presenting with leg pain suggestive of PAD is highly relevant to routine clinical
      practice. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of the ankle brachial
      index (ABI) - also known as the ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) - for the
      diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease in people who experience leg pain on
      walking that is alleviated by rest. SEARCH METHODS: We carried out searches of
      the following databases in August 2013: MEDLINE (Ovid SP),Embase (Ovid SP), the
      Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) (EBSCO), Latin
      American and Caribbean Health Sciences (LILACS) (Bireme), Database of Abstracts
      of Reviews of Effects and the Health Technology Assessment Database in The
      Cochrane Library, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Conference
      Proceedings Citation Index - Science, the British Library Zetoc Conference search
      and Medion. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included cross-sectional studies of ABI in
      which duplex ultrasonography or angiography was used as the reference standard.
      We also included cross-sectional or diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) cohort studies
      consisting of both prospective and retrospective studies.Participants were adults
      presenting with leg pain on walking that was relieved by rest, who were tested in
      primary care settings or secondary care settings (hospital outpatients only) and
      who did not have signs or symptoms of critical limb ischaemia (rest pain,
      ischaemic ulcers or gangrene).The index test was ABI, also called the ankle
      brachial pressure index (ABPI) or the Ankle Arm Index (AAI), which was performed
      with a hand-held doppler or oscillometry device to detect ankle vessels. We
      included data collected via sphygmomanometers (both manual and aneroid) and
      digital equipment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently
      replicated data extraction by using a standard form, which included an assessment
      of study quality, and resolved disagreements by discussion. Two review authors
      extracted participant-level data when available to populate 2*2 contingency
      tables (true positives, true negatives, false positives and false
      negatives).After a pilot phase involving two review authors working
      independently, we used the methodological quality assessment tool the Quality
      Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2), which incorporated our
      review question - along with a flow diagram to aid reviewers' understanding of
      the conduct of the study when necessary and an assessment of risk of bias and
      applicability judgements. MAIN RESULTS: We screened 17,055 records identified
      through searches of databases. We obtained 746 full-text articles and assessed
      them for relevance. We scrutinised 49 studies to establish their eligibility for
      inclusion in the review and excluded 48, primarily because participants were not
      patients presenting solely with exertional leg pain, investigators used no
      reference standard or investigators used neither angiography nor duplex
      ultrasonography as the reference standard. We excluded most studies for more than
      one reason.Only one study met the eligibility criteria and provided limb-level
      accuracy data from just 85 participants (158 legs). This prospective study
      compared the manual doppler method of obtaining an ABI (performed by untrained
      personnel) with the automated oscillometric method. Limb-level data, as reported
      by the study, indicated that the accuracy of the ABI in detecting significant
      arterial disease on angiography is superior when stenosis is present in the
      femoropopliteal vessels, with sensitivity of 97% (95% confidence interval (CI)
      93% to 99%) and specificity of 89% (95% CI 67% to 95%) for oscillometric ABI, and
      sensitivity of 95% (95% CI 89% to 97%) and specificity of 56% (95% CI 33% to 70%)
      for doppler ABI. The ABI threshold was not reported. Investigators attributed the
      lower specificity for doppler to the fact that a tibial or dorsalis pedis pulse
      could not be detected by doppler in 12 of 27 legs with normal vessels or non
      significant lesions. The superiority of the oscillometric (automated) method for
      obtaining an ABI reading over the manual method with a doppler probe used by
      inexperienced operators may be a clinically important finding. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Evidence about the accuracy of the ankle brachial index for the
      diagnosis of PAD in people with leg pain on exercise that is alleviated by rest
      is sparse. The single study included in our review provided only limb-level data
      from a few participants. Well-designed cross-sectional studies are required to
      evaluate the accuracy of ABI in patients presenting with early symptoms of
      peripheral arterial disease in all healthcare settings. Another systematic review
      of existing studies assessing the use of ABI in alternative patient groups,
      including asymptomatic, high-risk patients, is required.

PMID- 27623759
TI  - Validation of current procedural terminology codes for rotavirus vaccination
      among infants in two commercially insured US populations.
AB  - PURPOSE: We validated procedure codes used in health insurance claims for
      reimbursement of rotavirus vaccination by comparing claims for monovalent live
      attenuated human rotavirus vaccine (RV1) and live, oral pentavalent rotavirus
      vaccine (RV5) to medical records. METHODS: Using administrative data from two
      commercially insured United States populations, we randomly sampled vaccination
      claims for RV1 and RV5 from a cohort of infants aged less than 1 year from an
      ongoing post-licensure safety study of rotavirus vaccines. The codes for RV1 and
      RV5 found in claims were confirmed through medical record review. The positive
      predictive value (PPV) of the Current Procedural Terminology codes for RV1 and
      RV5 was calculated as the number of medical record-confirmed vaccinations divided
      by the number of medical records obtained. RESULTS: Medical record review
      confirmed 92 of 104 RV1 vaccination claims (PPV: 88.5%; 95% CI: 80.7-93.9%) and
      98 of 113 RV5 vaccination claims (PPV: 86.7%; 95% CI: 79.1-92.4%). Among the 217
      medical records abstracted, only three (1.4%) of vaccinations were misclassified
      in claims-all were RV5 misclassified as RV1. The medical records corresponding to
      9 RV1 and 15 RV5 claims contained insufficient information to classify the type
      of rotavirus vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: Misclassification of rotavirus vaccines is
      infrequent within claims. The PPVs reported here are conservative estimates as
      those with insufficient information in the medical records were assumed to be
      incorrectly coded in the claims. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27623760
TI  - A Wnt Pathway Activator Induces Apoptosis and Cell Death in Mouse Monocytic
      Leukemia Cells.
AB  - A Wnt agonist, 2-amino-4-[3,4-(methylenedioxy)benzylamino]-6-(3-methoxyphenyl)
      pyrimidine, is a cell-permeable pyrimidine compound that has been shown to mimic
      the effect of Wnt. In this study, leukemic mouse cell lines, RAW 264.7 and
      J774.1, were incubated with the Wnt agonist. The Wnt agonist showed cell death in
      the concentration of 1-10 MUM. The Wnt agonist did not show inhibition of GSK
      3beta activity but induced beta-catenin accumulation in the nucleus. The Wnt
      agonist showed caspase-independent cell death, but no further involvement in cell
      death ER stress signaling. Here we discuss the possible mechanism of Wnt agonist
      induced apoptotic cell death in RAW 264.7 cells.

PMID- 27623762
TI  - The Endothelium as a Target for Chronic Stress.

PMID- 27623761
TI  - Chloroquine Suppresses the Development of Hypertension in Spontaneously
      Hypertensive Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Innate immune system responses to damage-associated molecular
      patterns (DAMPs) are involved in hypertension. However, the mechanisms of this
      contribution are not well understood. Circulating mitochondrial DNA is a DAMP
      that activates Toll-like receptor (TLR) 9 and is elevated in spontaneously
      hypertensive rats (SHR). Therefore, we hypothesized that lysosomotropic agent
      chloroquine (CQ) would impair TLR9 signaling, as well as prevent the development
      of hypertension and immune cell recruitment to the vasculature, in SHR. METHODS:
      Initially, adult SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats (12 weeks old), as well as a
      group of young SHR (5 weeks old), were treated with CQ (40mg/kg/day) or vehicle
      (saline) via intraperitoneal injections for 21 days and then TLR9-myeloid
      differentiation primary response protein (MyD88) signaling proteins were assessed
      in mesenteric resistance arteries (MRA) via western blot. Subsequently, young SHR
      and WKY were treated from 5-8 weeks of age and then were allowed to mature
      without further treatment. Blood pressure was measured pretreatment,
      posttreatment, and after maturation, and immune cell recruitment to the
      vasculature was measured via flow cytometry after maturation. RESULTS: In MRA
      from adult SHR, CQ increased the expression of MyD88-dependent proteins, whereas
      young SHR MRA exhibited a decrease. This inhibition was subsequently associated
      with suppression of blood pressure, as well as decreased counts of circulating T
      cells and vascular infiltrating leukocytes in SHR, when CQ was administered
      during the prehypertensive phase. CONCLUSIONS: These data bring into question the
      participation of TLRs during the maintenance phase of hypertension and promote
      the exploration of innate immune system therapy during the critical developmental
      phase.

PMID- 27623763
TI  - Healthcare Applications of Smart Watches. A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize research studies
      involving the use of smart watch devices for healthcare. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
      was chosen as the systematic review methodology. We searched PubMed, CINAHL Plus,
      EMBASE, ACM, and IEEE Xplore. In order to include ongoing clinical trials, we
      also searched ClinicalTrials.gov. Two investigators evaluated the retrieved
      articles for inclusion. Discrepancies between investigators regarding article
      inclusion and extracted data were resolved through team discussion. RESULTS: 356
      articles were screened and 24 were selected for review. The most common
      publication venue was in conference proceedings (13, 54%). The majority of
      studies were published or presented in 2015 (19, 79%). We identified two
      registered clinical trials underway. A large proportion of the identified studies
      focused on applications involving health monitoring for the elderly (6, 25%).
      Five studies focused on patients with Parkinson's disease and one on cardiac
      arrest. There were no studies which reported use of usability testing before
      implementation. DISCUSSION: Most of the reviewed studies focused on the
      chronically ill elderly. There was a lack of detailed description of user
      centered design or usability testing before implementation. Based on our review,
      the most commonly used platform in healthcare research was that of the Android
      Wear. The clinical application of smart watches as assistive devices deserves
      further attention. CONCLUSION: Smart watches are unobtrusive and easy to wear.
      While smart watch technology supplied with biosensors has potential to be useful
      in a variety of healthcare applications, rigorous research with their use in
      clinical settings is needed.

PMID- 27623764
TI  - To adopt, to adapt, or to contextualise? The big question in clinical practice
      guideline development.
AB  - AIM: Developing new clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can be time-consuming and
      expensive. A more efficient approach could be to adopt, adapt or contextualise
      recommendations from existing good quality CPGs so that the resultant guidance is
      tailored to the local context. RESULTS: The first steps are to search for
      international CPGs that have a similar purpose, end-users and patients to your
      situation. The second step is to critically appraise the methodological quality
      of the CPGs to ensure that your guidance is based on credible evidence. Then the
      decisions begin. Can you simply 'adopt' this (parent) clinical practice
      guidelines, and implement the recommendations in their entirety, without any
      changes, in your setting? If so, then no further work is required. However this
      situation is rare. What is more likely, is that even if recommendations from the
      parent clinical practice guidelines can be adopted, how they are implemented
      needs to address local issues. Thus you may need to 'contextualise' the guidance,
      by addressing implementation issues such as local workforce, training, health
      systems, equipment and/or access to services. Generally this means that
      additional information is required (Practice/Context Points) to support effective
      implementation of the clinical practice guidelines recommendations. In some
      cases, you may need to 'adapt' the guidance, where you will make changes to the
      recommendations so that care is relevant to your local environments. This may
      involve additional work to search for local research, or obtain local consensus,
      regarding how best to adapt recommendations. For example, adaptation might
      reflect substituting one drug for another (drugs have similar effects, but the
      alternative drug to the recommended one may be cheaper, more easily obtained or
      more culturally acceptable). There is lack of standardisation of clinical
      practice guidelines terminology, leading clinical practice guideline activities
      often being poorly conceptualised or reported. We provide an approach that would
      help improve efficiency and standardisation of clinical practice guidelines
      activities.

PMID- 27623765
TI  - Genomic prediction of survival time in a population of brown laying hens showing
      cannibalistic behavior.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mortality due to cannibalism causes both economic and welfare
      problems in laying hens. To limit mortality due to cannibalism, laying hens are
      often beak-trimmed, which is undesirable for animal welfare reasons. Genetic
      selection is an alternative strategy to increase survival and is more efficient
      by taking heritable variation that originates from social interactions into
      account, which are modelled as the so-called indirect genetic effects (IGE).
      Despite the considerable heritable variation in survival time due to IGE, genetic
      improvement of survival time in laying hens is still challenging because the
      detected heritable variation of the trait with IGE is still limited, ranging from
      0.06 to 0.26, and individuals that are still alive at the end of the recording
      period are censored. Furthermore, survival time records are available late in
      life and only on females. To cope with these challenges, we tested the hypothesis
      that genomic prediction increases the accuracy of estimated breeding values (EBV)
      compared to parental average EBV, and increases response to selection for
      survival time compared to a traditional breeding scheme. We tested this
      hypothesis in two lines of brown layers with intact beaks, which show
      cannibalism, and also the hypothesis that the rate of inbreeding per year is
      lower for genomic selection than for the traditional breeding scheme. RESULTS AND
      DISCUSSION: The standard deviation of genomic prediction EBV for survival time
      was around 22 days for both lines, indicating good prospects for selection
      against mortality in laying hens with intact beaks. Genomic prediction increased
      the accuracy of the EBV by 35 and 32 % compared to the parent average EBV for the
      two lines. At the current reference population size, predicted response to
      selection was 91 % higher when using genomic selection than with the traditional
      breeding scheme, as a result of a shorter generation interval in males and
      greater accuracy of selection in females. The predicted rate of inbreeding per
      generation with truncation selection was substantially lower for genomic
      selection than for the traditional breeding scheme for both lines. CONCLUSIONS:
      Genomic selection for socially affected traits is a promising tool for the
      improvement of survival time in laying hens with intact beaks.

PMID- 27623767
TI  - Screening of traditional Chinese medicines with therapeutic potential on chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease through inhibiting oxidative stress and
      inflammatory response.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health
      problem and gives arise to severe chronic morbidity and mortality in the world.
      Inflammatory response and oxidative stress play dominant roles in the
      pathological mechanism of COPD, and have been regarded to be two important
      targets for the COPD therapy. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) possess
      satisfying curative effects on COPD under guidance of the TCM theory in China,
      and merit in-depth investigations as a resource of lead compounds. METHODS: One
      hundred ninety-six of TCMs were collected, and extracted to establish a TCM
      extract library, and then further evaluated for their potency on inhibitions of
      oxidative stress and inflammatory response using NADP(H):quinone oxidoreductase
      (QR) assay and nitric oxide (NO) production assay, respectively. RESULTS: Our
      investigation observed that 38 of the tested TCM extracts induced QR activity in
      hepa 1c1c7 murine hepatoma cells, and 55 of them inhibited NO production in RAW
      264.7 murine macrophages at the tested concentrations. Noteworthily, 20 of TCM
      extracts simultaneously inhibited oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.
      CONCLUSION: The observed bioactive TCMs, particularly these 20 TCMs with dual
      inhibitory effects, might be useful for the treatment of COPD. More importantly,
      the results of the present research afford us an opportunity to discover new lead
      molecules as COPD therapeutic agents from these active TCMs.

PMID- 27623768
TI  - Recovery of Serum Cholesterol Predicts Survival After Left Ventricular Assist
      Device Implantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advanced systolic heart failure is associated with myocardial and
      systemic metabolic abnormalities, including low levels of total cholesterol and
      low-density lipoprotein. Low cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein have been
      associated with greater mortality in heart failure. Implantation of a left
      ventricular assist device (LVAD) reverses some of the metabolic derangements of
      advanced heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cohort was retrospectively
      assembled from 2 high-volume implantation centers, totaling 295 continuous-flow
      LVAD recipients with >=2 cholesterol values available. The cohort was
      predominantly bridge-to-transplantation (67%), with median age of 59 years and
      49% ischemic heart failure cause. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein,
      high-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride levels all significantly increased
      after LVAD implantation (median values from implantation to 3 months post
      implantation 125-150 mg/dL, 67-85 mg/dL, 32-42 mg/dL, and 97-126 mg/dL,
      respectively). On Cox proportional hazards modeling, patients achieving recovery
      of total cholesterol levels, defined as a median or greater change from pre
      implantation to 3 months post-LVAD implantation, had significantly better
      unadjusted survival (hazard ratio, 0.445; 95% confidence interval, 0.212-0.932)
      and adjusted survival (hazard ratio, 0.241; 95% confidence interval, 0.092-0.628)
      than those without cholesterol recovery after LVAD implantation. The continuous
      variable of total cholesterol at 3 months post implantation and the cholesterol
      increase from pre implantation to 3 months were also both significantly
      associated with survival during LVAD support. CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of
      continuous-flow LVAD support was associated with significant recovery of all 4
      lipid variables. Patients with a greater increase in total cholesterol by 3
      months post implantation had superior survival during LVAD support.

PMID- 27623766
TI  - WNT5A signaling impairs breast cancer cell migration and invasion via mechanisms
      independent of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: WNT5A (-/-) mammary tissue has been shown to exhibit increased ductal
      elongation, suggesting elevated mammary cell migration. Increased epithelial cell
      migration/invasion has often but not always been linked to the epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT). In the current study, we investigated the loss of
      WNT5A in HB2 human mammary epithelial cells and hypothesized that this loss
      increased their invasion via the EMT. Based on these results, we postulated that
      suppression of breast cancer cell migration and invasion by WNT5A is due to EMT
      reversal. METHODS: WNT5A was transiently knocked down using specific siRNAs,
      whereas WNT5A signaling was induced in MDA-MB468 and MDA-MB231 breast cancer
      cells by stably transfecting cells with WNT5A or treating them with recombinant
      WNT5A (rWNT5A). Changes in EMT markers, CD44, pAKT and AKT expression were
      assessed using Western blotting and immunofluorescence. The physiological
      relevance of altered WNT5A signaling was assessed using migration and invasion
      assays. RESULTS: WNT5A knockdown in HB2 mammary epithelial cells resulted in EMT
      like changes and increased invasiveness, and these changes were partially
      reversed by the addition of rWNT5A. These data suggest that WNT5A might inhibit
      breast cancer cell migration and invasion by a similar EMT reversal. Contrary to
      our expectations, we did not observe any changes in the EMT status of breast
      cancer cells, either after treatment with rWNT5A or stable transfection with a
      WNT5A plasmid, despite the parallel WNT5A-induced inhibition of migration and
      invasion. Instead, we found that WNT5A signaling impaired CD44 expression and its
      downstream signaling via AKT. Moreover, knocking down CD44 in breast cancer cells
      using siRNA impaired cell migration and invasion. CONCLUSIONS: WNT5A bi
      directionally regulates EMT in mammary epithelial cells, thereby affecting their
      migration and invasion. However, the ability of WNT5A to inhibit breast cancer
      cell migration and invasion is an EMT-independent mechanism that, at least in
      part, can be explained by decreased CD44 expression.

PMID- 27623769
TI  - Influence of Clinical Trial Site Enrollment on Patient Characteristics, Protocol
      Completion, and End Points: Insights From the ASCEND-HF Trial (Acute Study of
      Clinical Effectiveness of Nesiritide in Decompensated Heart Failure).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most international acute heart failure trials have failed to show
      benefit with respect to key end points. The impact of site enrollment and
      protocol execution on trial performance is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      assessed the impact of varying site enrollment volume among all 7141 acute heart
      failure patients from the ASCEND-HF trial (Acute Study of Clinical Effectiveness
      of Nesiritide in Decompensated Heart Failure). Overall, 398 sites enrolled >=1
      patient, and median enrollment was 12 patients (interquartile range, 5-23).
      Patients from high enrolling sites (>60 patients/site) tended to have lower
      ejection fraction, worse New York Heart Association functional class, and lower
      utilization of guideline-directed medical therapy but fewer comorbidities and
      lower B-type natriuretic peptide level. Every 10 patient increase (up to 100
      patients) in site enrollment correlated with lower likelihood of protocol
      noncompletion (odds ratio, 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89-0.98). After
      adjustment, increasing site enrollment predicted higher risk of persistent
      dyspnea at 6 hours (per 10 patient increase: odds ratio 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03)
      but not at 24 hours (odds ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.00). Higher site enrollment
      was independently associated with lower risk of 30-day death or rehospitalization
      (per 10 patient increase: odds ratio, 0.98, 95% CI, 0.96-0.99) but not 180-day
      mortality (hazard ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.01). The influence of increasing
      site enrollment on clinical end points varied across geographic regions with
      strongest associations in Latin America and Asia-Pacific (all interaction
      P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In this large, acute heart failure trial, site enrollment
      correlated with protocol completion and was independently associated with trial
      end points. Individual and regional site performance present challenges to be
      considered in design of future acute heart failure trials. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00475852.

PMID- 27623771
TI  - Site Selection and Performance in Clinical Trials: The Need for Better
      Understanding.

PMID- 27623770
TI  - Ultrasonic Assessment of Myocardial Microstructure in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
      Sarcomere Mutation Carriers With and Without Left Ventricular Hypertrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The noninvasive assessment of altered myocardium in patients with
      genetic mutations that are associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)
      remains challenging. In this pilot study, we evaluated whether a novel
      echocardiography-based assessment of myocardial microstructure, the signal
      intensity coefficient (SIC), could detect tissue-level alterations in HCM
      sarcomere mutation carriers with and without left ventricular hypertrophy.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 3 groups of genotyped individuals: sarcomere
      mutation carriers with left ventricular hypertrophy (clinical HCM; n=36),
      mutation carriers with normal left ventricular wall thickness (subclinical HCM;
      n=28), and healthy controls (n=10). We compared measurements of echocardiographic
      SIC with validated assessments of cardiac microstructural alteration, including
      cardiac magnetic resonance measures of interstitial fibrosis (extracellular
      volume fraction), as well as serum biomarkers (NTproBNP, hs-cTnI, and PICP). In
      age-, sex-, and familial relation-adjusted analyses, the SIC was quantitatively
      different across subjects with overt HCM, subclinical HCM, and healthy controls
      (P<0.001). Compared with controls, the SIC was 61% higher in overt HCM and 47%
      higher in subclinical HCM (P<0.001 for both). The SIC was significantly
      correlated with extracellular volume (r=0.72; P<0.01), with left ventricular mass
      and E' velocity (r=0.45, -0.60, respectively; P<0.01 for both), and with serum
      NTproBNP levels (r=0.36; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the SIC
      could serve as a noninvasive quantitative tool for assessing altered myocardial
      tissue characteristics in patients with genetic mutations associated with HCM.
      Further studies are needed to determine whether the SIC could be used to identify
      subclinical changes in patients at risk for HCM and to evaluate the effects of
      interventions.

PMID- 27623774
TI  - Immunogenic peptide mimotopes from an epitope of Escherichia coli O157 LPS.
AB  - Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a subtype of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli that is
      associated with haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
      Studies of populations in endemic areas have reported that the presence of
      specific antibodies against the O157 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is associated with
      a lower incidence of diarrhoea and HUS. Phage display and IgG anti-O157 LPS
      antibodies were used in the present study to select peptide mimotopes of O157 LPS
      expressed in protein III of the M13 phage. Synthetic peptides (SP) were designed
      using the derived amino acid sequences obtained from DNA nucleotides of 63
      selected phagotopes. The LxP/YP/SxL motif was identified in five of the phagotope
      amino acid sequences. Antibody responses against the phagotopes and their
      corresponding SPs were evaluated. SP12, one of the designed SP, induced the
      production of antibodies against the homologous peptide (1:800) and O157 LPS
      (1:200). The specificity of anti-SP12 antiserum was confirmed by analyzing its
      response to SP3, an SP with a different amino acid sequence than that of SP12, as
      well as against an E. coli LPS different from O157. Competitive studies with SP12
      and O157 LPS showed a significant decrease in anti-SP12 and anti-LPS O157
      antiserum responses against SP12 and O157 LPS, respectively. Eighteen (82%) of
      the 22 human serum samples with positive reactivity against E coli O157 LPS
      reacted with SP12 SP (cut-off >0.4). These results support the idea that SP12 is
      an immunogenic mimotope of O157 LPS.

PMID- 27623773
TI  - Profiling bovine blastocyst microRNAs using deep sequencing.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to control several reproductive functions, including
      oocyte maturation, implantation and early embryonic development. Recent advances
      in deep sequencing have allowed the analysis of all miRNAs of a sample. However,
      when working with embryos, due to the low RNA content, miRNA profiling is
      challenging because of the relatively large amount of total RNA required for
      library preparation protocols. In the present study we compared three different
      procedures for RNA extraction and prepared libraries using pools of 30 bovine
      blastocysts. In total, 14 of the 15 most abundantly expressed miRNAs were common
      to all three procedures. Furthermore, using miRDeep discovery and annotation
      software (Max Delbruck Center), we identified 1363 miRNA sequences, of which bta
      miR-10b and bta-miR-378 were the most abundant. Most of the 179 genes identified
      as experimentally validated (86.6%) or predicted targets (13.4%) were associated
      with cancer canonical pathways. We conclude that reliable analysis of bovine
      blastocyst miRNAs can be achieved using the procedures described herein. The
      repeatability of the results across different procedures and independent
      replicates, as well as their consistency with results obtained in other species,
      support the biological relevance of these miRNAs and of the gene pathways they
      modulate in early embryogenesis.

PMID- 27623772
TI  - Infliximab reduces peripheral inflammation, neuroinflammation, and extracellular
      GABA in the cerebellum and improves learning and motor coordination in rats with
      hepatic encephalopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripheral inflammation contributes to the neurological alterations
      in hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Neuroinflammation and altered GABAergic
      neurotransmission mediate cognitive and motor alterations in rats with HE. It
      remains unclear (a) if neuroinflammation and neurological impairment in HE are a
      consequence of peripheral inflammation and (b) how neuroinflammation impairs
      GABAergic neurotransmission. The aims were to assess in rats with HE whether
      reducing peripheral inflammation with anti-TNF-alpha (1) prevents cognitive
      impairment and motor in-coordination, (2) normalizes neuroinflammation and
      extracellular GABA in the cerebellum and also (3) advances the understanding of
      mechanisms linking neuroinflammation and increased extracellular GABA. METHODS:
      Rats with HE due to portacaval shunt (PCS) were treated with infliximab.
      Astrocytes and microglia activation and TNF-alpha and IL-1beta were analyzed by
      immunohistochemistry. Membrane expression of the GABA transporters GAT-3 and GAT
      1 was analyzed by cross-linking with BS3. Extracellular GABA was analyzed by
      microdialysis. Motor coordination was tested using the beam walking and learning
      ability using the Y maze task. RESULTS: PCS rats show peripheral inflammation,
      activated astrocytes, and microglia and increased levels of TNF-alpha and IL
      1beta. Membrane expression of GAT-3 and extracellular GABA are increased, leading
      to impaired motor coordination and learning ability. Infliximab reduces
      peripheral inflammation, microglia, and astrocyte activation and
      neuroinflammation and normalizes GABAergic neurotransmission, motor coordination,
      and learning ability. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroinflammation is associated with altered
      GABAergic neurotransmission and increased GAT-3 membrane expression and
      extracellular GABA (a); peripheral inflammation is a main contributor to the
      impairment of motor coordination and of the ability to learn the Y maze task in
      PCS rats (b); and reducing peripheral inflammation using safe procedures could be
      a new therapeutic approach to improve cognitive and motor function in patients
      with HE

PMID- 27623776
TI  - Nebivolol suppresses cardiac ryanodine receptor-mediated spontaneous Ca2+ release
      and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.
AB  - beta-Blockers are a standard treatment for heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias.
      There are ~30 commonly used beta-blockers, representing a diverse class of drugs
      with different receptor affinities and pleiotropic properties. We reported that
      among 14 beta-blockers tested previously, only carvedilol effectively suppressed
      cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2)-mediated spontaneous Ca2+ waves during store
      Ca2+ overload, also known as store overload-induced Ca2+ release (SOICR). Given
      the critical role of SOICR in arrhythmogenesis, it is of importance to determine
      whether there are other beta-blockers that suppress SOICR. Here, we assessed the
      effect of other commonly used beta-blockers on RyR2-mediated SOICR in HEK293
      cells, using single-cell Ca2+ imaging. Of the 13 beta-blockers tested, only
      nebivolol, a beta-1-selective beta-blocker with nitric oxide synthase (NOS)
      stimulating action, effectively suppressed SOICR. The NOS inhibitor (N-nitro-l
      arginine methyl ester) had no effect on nebivolol's SOICR inhibition, and the NOS
      activator (histamine or prostaglandin E2) alone did not inhibit SOICR. Hence,
      nebivolol's SOICR inhibition was independent of NOS stimulation. Like carvedilol,
      nebivolol reduced the opening of single RyR2 channels and suppressed spontaneous
      Ca2+ waves in intact hearts and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular
      tachycardia (CPVT) in the mice harboring a RyR2 mutation (R4496C). Interestingly,
      a non-beta-blocking nebivolol enantiomer, (l)-nebivolol, also suppressed SOICR
      and CPVT without lowering heart rate. These data indicate that nebivolol, like
      carvedilol, possesses a RyR2-targeted action that suppresses SOICR and SOICR
      evoked VTs. Thus, nebivolol represents a promising agent for Ca2+-triggered
      arrhythmias.

PMID- 27623775
TI  - Quaternary structures of opsin in live cells revealed by FRET spectrometry.
AB  - Rhodopsin is a prototypical G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that initiates
      phototransduction in the retina. The receptor consists of the apoprotein opsin
      covalently linked to the inverse agonist 11-cis retinal. Rhodopsin and opsin have
      been shown to form oligomers within the outer segment disc membranes of rod
      photoreceptor cells. However, the physiological relevance of the observed
      oligomers has been questioned since observations were made on samples prepared
      from the retina at low temperatures. To investigate the oligomeric status of
      opsin in live cells at body temperatures, we utilized a novel approach called
      Forster resonance energy transfer spectrometry, which previously has allowed the
      determination of the stoichiometry and geometry (i.e. quaternary structure) of
      various GPCRs. In the current study, we have extended the method to additionally
      determine whether or not a mixture of oligomeric forms of opsin exists and in
      what proportion. The application of this improved method revealed that opsin
      expressed in live Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells at 37 degrees C exists as
      oligomers of various sizes. At lower concentrations, opsin existed in an
      equilibrium of dimers and tetramers. The tetramers were in the shape of a near
      rhombus. At higher concentrations of the receptor, higher-order oligomers began
      to form. Thus, a mixture of different oligomeric forms of opsin is present in the
      membrane of live CHO cells and oligomerization occurs in a concentration
      dependent manner. The general principles underlying the concentration-dependent
      oligomerization of opsin may be universal and apply to other GPCRs as well.

PMID- 27623778
TI  - The silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) is a positive regulator of the Notch
      pathway in Drosophila.
AB  - The silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) has been shown to have negative
      effects on the Notch pathway in several contexts. We bring evidence that Sirt1
      has a positive effect on Notch activation in Drosophila, in the context of
      sensory organ precursor specification and during wing development. The phenotype
      of Sirt1 mutant resembles weak Notch loss-of-function phenotypes, and genetic
      interactions of Sirt1 with the components of the Notch pathway also suggest a
      positive role for Sirt1 in Notch signalling. Sirt1 is necessary for the efficient
      activation of enhancer of split [E(spl)] genes by Notch in S2N cells.
      Additionally, the Notch-dependent response of several E(spl) genes is sensitive
      to metabolic stress caused by 2-deoxy-d-glucose treatment, in a Sirt1-dependent
      manner. We found Sirt1 associated with several proteins involved in Notch
      repression as well as activation, including the cofactor exchange factor Ebi
      (TBL1), the RLAF/LAF histone chaperone complex and the Tip60 acetylation complex.
      Moreover, Sirt1 participates in the deacetylation of the CSL transcription factor
      Suppressor of Hairless. The role of Sirt1 in Notch signalling is, therefore, more
      complex than previously recognized, and its diverse effects may be explained by a
      plethora of Sirt1 substrates involved in the regulation of Notch signalling.

PMID- 27623777
TI  - Identification of key phosphorylation sites in PTH1R that determine arrestin3
      binding and fine-tune receptor signaling.
AB  - The parathyroid hormone receptor 1 (PTH1R) is a member of family B of G-protein
      coupled receptors (GPCRs), predominantly expressed in bone and kidney where it
      modulates extracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and bone turnover. It is well
      established that phosphorylation of GPCRs constitutes a key event in regulating
      receptor function by promoting arrestin recruitment and coupling to G-protein
      independent signaling pathways. Mapping phosphorylation sites on PTH1R would
      provide insights into how phosphorylation at specific sites regulates cell
      signaling responses and also open the possibility of developing therapeutic
      agents that could target specific receptor functions. Here, we have used mass
      spectrometry to identify nine sites of phosphorylation in the C-terminal tail of
      PTH1R. Mutational analysis revealed identified two clusters of serine and
      threonine residues (Ser489-Ser495 and Ser501-Thr506) specifically responsible for
      the majority of PTH(1-34)-induced receptor phosphorylation. Mutation of these
      residues to alanine did not affect negatively on the ability of the receptor to
      couple to G-proteins or activate extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2. Using
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer and bioluminescence resonance energy
      transfer to monitor PTH(1-34)-induced interaction of PTH1R with arrestin3, we
      show that the first cluster Ser489-Ser495 and the second cluster Ser501-Thr506
      operated in concert to mediate both the efficacy and potency of ligand-induced
      arrestin3 recruitment. We further demonstrate that Ser503 and Thr504 in the
      second cluster are responsible for 70% of arrestin3 recruitment and are key
      determinants for interaction of arrestin with the receptor. Our data are
      consistent with the hypothesis that the pattern of C-terminal tail
      phosphorylation on PTH1R may determine the signaling outcome following receptor
      activation.

PMID- 27623779
TI  - Cyclic electron flow: facts and hypotheses.
AB  - Over the last 15 years, research into the process of cyclic electron flow in
      photosynthesis has seen a huge resurgence. Having been considered by some in the
      early 1990s as a physiologically unimportant artefact, it is now recognised as
      essential to normal plant growth. Here, we provide an overview of the major
      developments covered in this special issue of photosynthesis research. 

PMID- 27623780
TI  - Far-red light photoacclimation (FaRLiP) in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7335.
      II.Characterization of phycobiliproteins produced during acclimation to far-red
      light.
AB  - Phycobilisomes (PBS) are antenna complexes that harvest light for photosystem
      (PS) I and PS II in cyanobacteria and some algae. A process known as far-red
      light photoacclimation (FaRLiP) occurs when some cyanobacteria are grown in far
      red light (FRL). They synthesize chlorophylls d and f and remodel PS I, PS II,
      and PBS using subunits paralogous to those produced in white light. The FaRLiP
      strain, Leptolyngbya sp. JSC-1, replaces hemidiscoidal PBS with pentacylindrical
      cores, which are produced when cells are grown in red or white light, with PBS
      with bicylindrical cores when cells are grown in FRL. This study shows that the
      PBS of another FaRLiP strain, Synechococcus sp. PCC 7335, are not remodeled in
      cells grown in FRL. Instead, cells grown in FRL produce bicylindrical cores that
      uniquely contain the paralogous allophycocyanin subunits encoded in the FaRLiP
      cluster, and these bicylindrical cores coexist with red-light-type PBS with
      tricylindrical cores. The bicylindrical cores have absorption maxima at 650 and
      711 nm and a low-temperature fluorescence emission maximum at 730 nm. They
      contain ApcE2:ApcF:ApcD3:ApcD2:ApcD5:ApcB2 in the approximate ratio
      2:2:4:6:12:22, and a structural model is proposed. Time course experiments showed
      that bicylindrical cores were detectable about 48 h after cells were transferred
      from RL to FRL and that synthesis of red-light-type PBS continued throughout a 21
      day growth period. When considered in comparison with results for other FaRLiP
      cyanobacteria, the results here show that acclimation responses to FRL can differ
      considerably among FaRLiP cyanobacteria.

PMID- 27623781
TI  - The Influence of Prior Modes of Growth, Temperature, Medium, and Substrate
      Surface on Biofilm Formation by Antibiotic-Resistant Campylobacter jejuni.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of bacterial
      gastrointestinal food-borne infection worldwide. It has been suggested that
      biofilm formation may play a role in survival of these bacteria in the
      environment. In this study, the influence of prior modes of growth (planktonic or
      sessile), temperatures (37 and 42  degrees C), and nutrient conditions (nutrient
      broth and Mueller-Hinton broth) on biofilm formation by eight C. jejuni strains
      with different antibiotic resistance profiles was examined. The ability of these
      strains to form biofilm on different abiotic surfaces (stainless steel, glass,
      and polystyrene) as well as factors potentially associated with biofilm formation
      (bacterial surface hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation, and initial attachment) was
      also determined. The results showed that cells grown as sessile culture generally
      have a greater ability to form biofilm (P < 0.05) compared to their planktonic
      counterparts. Biofilm was also greater (P < 0.05) in lower nutrient media, while
      growth at different temperatures affects biofilm formation in a strain-dependent
      manner. The strains were able to attach and form biofilms on different abiotic
      surfaces, but none of them demonstrated strong, complex, or structured biofilm
      formation. There were no clear trends between the bacterial surface
      hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation, attachment, and biofilm formation by the
      strains. This finding suggests that environmental factors did affect biofilm
      formation by C. jejuni, and they are more likely to persist in the environment in
      the form of mixed-species rather than monospecies biofilms.

PMID- 27623782
TI  - Basic MR sequence parameters systematically bias automated brain volume
      estimation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Automated brain MRI morphometry, including hippocampal volumetry
      for Alzheimer disease, is increasingly recognized as a biomarker. Consequently, a
      rapidly increasing number of software tools have become available. We tested
      whether modifications of simple MR protocol parameters typically used in clinical
      routine systematically bias automated brain MRI segmentation results. METHODS:
      The study was approved by the local ethical committee and included 20 consecutive
      patients (13 females, mean age 75.8 +/- 13.8 years) undergoing clinical brain MRI
      at 1.5 T for workup of cognitive decline. We compared three 3D T1 magnetization
      prepared rapid gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequences with the following parameter
      settings: ADNI-2 1.2 mm iso-voxel, no image filtering, LOCAL- 1.0 mm iso-voxel no
      image filtering, LOCAL+ 1.0 mm iso-voxel with image edge enhancement. Brain
      segmentation was performed by two different and established analysis tools,
      FreeSurfer and MorphoBox, using standard parameters. RESULTS: Spatial resolution
      (1.0 versus 1.2 mm iso-voxel) and modification in contrast resulted in relative
      estimated volume difference of up to 4.28 % (p < 0.001) in cortical gray matter
      and 4.16 % (p < 0.01) in hippocampus. Image data filtering resulted in estimated
      volume difference of up to 5.48 % (p < 0.05) in cortical gray matter. CONCLUSION:
      A simple change of MR parameters, notably spatial resolution, contrast, and
      filtering, may systematically bias results of automated brain MRI morphometry of
      up to 4-5 %. This is in the same range as early disease-related brain volume
      alterations, for example, in Alzheimer disease. Automated brain segmentation
      software packages should therefore require strict MR parameter selection or
      include compensatory algorithms to avoid MR parameter-related bias of brain
      morphometry results.

PMID- 27623783
TI  - Vertebral artery and osseous anomalies characteristic at the craniocervical
      junction diagnosed by CT and 3D CT angiography in normal Czech population:
      analysis of 511 consecutive patients.
AB  - There are numerous indications for stabilization using instrumentation of the
      upper cervical spine. This area is comprised of sophisticated anatomy. There is
      no study describing bony and vascular anomalies of this area in the middle
      European population. The main aim of this study was to investigate prevalence of
      any vertebral artery (VA) variations and osseous anomalies in the region of the
      craniocervical junction in a large sample of Czech patients based on three
      dimensional computed tomographic angiography (3D CTA). The VA has a variable
      course through C2 before it passes above its groove on the posterior arch of C1.
      The artery can course more medially, more posteriorly or more superiorly, thus
      limiting the diameter of the bony elements used as landmarks for the safe
      insertion of metalwork. This is known as a high-riding VA (HRVA). The VA was
      considered HRVA in this study if the thickness of the C2 isthmus was less than 5
      mm and/or the C2 internal height was less than 2 mm and/or the width of the C2
      pedicle was less than 4 mm. The prevalence of ponticulus posticus (PP) was also
      identified. Following the VA variations in the V3 segment of the artery were
      persistent first intersegmental artery (FIA), fenestration (FEN) of the VA, and
      the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) branch originating from the C1/2
      part of VA. Records of 511 patients from our institution were analyzed. The mean
      age of the patients was 63.6 years. One hundred and twenty-three (24.1 %)
      patients were identified to have HRVA, 30 (6 %) present on both sides. The age of
      patient over 70 years and female sex were found to be significant risk factors
      for HRVA presence. The prevalence of a nearby PICA branch was 4 %, FIA was 0.4 %,
      and FEN was 0.2 %. The presence of PP was identified in 14.3 % of patients. The
      HRVA and PP are common anomalies in the Czech population, and routine
      preoperative high-resolution CT evaluation is mandatory to prevent the VA injury
      when C1-C2 instrumentation is planned. The female sex and age over 70 years were
      found to be the most important factors for HRVA presence. The FIA and the FEN VA
      were rare in our study contrary to reports published from Asia, showing as many
      as a 10 % the VA presence over the starting point for C1 lateral screw. On the
      basis of the infrequent occurrence of these anomalies, we do not recommend
      routine CT angiography when upper cervical spine instrumentation in the normal
      population is planned.

PMID- 27623784
TI  - Selective sweeps in Cryptocercus woodroach antifungal proteins.
AB  - We identified the antifungal gene termicin in three species of Cryptocercus
      woodroaches. Cryptocercus represents the closest living cockroach lineage of
      termites, which suggests that the antifungal role of termicin evolved prior to
      the divergence of termites from other cockroaches. An analysis of Cryptocercus
      termicin and two beta-1,3-glucanase genes (GNBP1 and GNBP2), which appear to work
      synergistically with termicin in termites, revealed evidence of selection in
      these proteins. We identified the signature of past selective sweeps within GNBP2
      from Cryptocercus punctulatus and Cryptocercus wrighti. The signature of past
      selective sweeps was also found within termicin from Cryptocercus punctulatus and
      Cryptocercus darwini. Our analysis further suggests a phenotypically identical
      variant of GNBP2 was maintained within Cryptocercus punctulatus, Cryptocercus
      wrighti, and Cryptocercus darwini while synonymous sites diverged. Cryptocercus
      termicin and GNBP2 appear to have experienced similar selective pressure to that
      of their termite orthologues in Reticulitermes. This selective pressure may be a
      result of ubiquitous entomopathogenic fungal pathogens such as Metarhizium. This
      study further reveals the similarities between Cryptocercus woodroaches and
      termites.

PMID- 27623785
TI  - CORR (r) Tumor Board: What are the Functional Results, Complications, and
      Outcomes of Using a Custom Unipolar Wrist Hemiarthroplasty for Treatment of Grade
      III Giant Cell Tumors of the Distal Radius?

PMID- 27623786
TI  - CORR Insights(r): What are the Functional Results, Complications, and Outcomes of
      Using a Custom Unipolar Wrist Hemiarthroplasty for Treatment of Grade III Giant
      Cell Tumors of the Distal Radius?

PMID- 27623787
TI  - CORR Insights(r): T1rho Hip Cartilage Mapping in Assessing Patients With Cam
      Morphology: How Can We Optimize the Regions of Interest?

PMID- 27623788
TI  - CORR Insights(r): What Risks are Associated with Primary THA in Recipients of
      Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation?

PMID- 27623789
TI  - Letter to the Editor on "Vitamin D-binding protein, vitamin D status and serum
      bioavailable 25(OH)D of young Asian Indian males working in outdoor and indoor
      environments".

PMID- 27623790
TI  - The influence of the sensory neurotransmitter calcitonin gene-related peptide on
      bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from ovariectomized rats.
AB  - In order to explore the effects of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) on bone
      mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) from ovariectomized (OVX) rats, an OVX rat model
      was used. An ELISA was performed to examine the changes in CGRP level in the
      plasma and skeleton. The BMSCs from the sham rats were designated group A. The
      BMSCs from the OVX rats (groups B, C, D and E) were treated with different
      concentrations of CGRP (10-6, 10-8, 10-10 and 0 M) in vitro. The proliferation
      and osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of the BMSCs were
      evaluated. BMSCs sheets and Bio-Oss(r) mixtures were transplanted into nude mice
      to observe the effects of CGRP on bone formation in vivo. The level of CGRP was
      decreased by almost 27 and 17 % in the plasma and bone, respectively, in OVX rats
      compared with sham rats (p < 0.05). Treatment with CGRP increased the
      proliferation and mineralization of BMSCs, and significantly decreased the lipid
      accumulation of BMSCs in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of Runx2 and
      Osterix was upregulated, but the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma was significantly downregulated in groups B, C and D compared with
      group E (p < 0.05). Micro computed tomography showed no difference between the
      images of the planted mixtures. Hematoxylin and eosin stain revealed the
      formation of slightly more hard bone-like structures in groups B and C. These
      results suggested that CGRP played a role in adjusting bone mass and strength by
      promoting the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, as well as
      significantly suppressing the adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs.

PMID- 27623793
TI  - Safety of Mebendazole Use During Lactation: A Case Series Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mebendazole is an effective drug widely used in the treatment of
      parasitic infections. Although theoretically considered as safe during lactation,
      no studies have evaluated its potential adverse effects in infants of
      breastfeeding mothers. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the safety of mebendazole
      in infants of lactating women treated with the drug. METHODS: Women referred for
      consultation regarding mebendazole use were invited to participate in the study.
      Overall 45 lactating women treated with various protocols of mebendazole were
      recruited in this case series study. RESULTS: Regardless of the treatment
      protocol used (single or repeated doses) mebendazole was well tolerated and was
      not associated with any adverse effects in infants of lactating mothers. There
      was mild GI irritability in two treated women. CONCLUSION: This study provides
      first evidence in humans as to the safety of mebendazole in breastfeeding.

PMID- 27623792
TI  - A Tailored Approach to the Treatment of a Patient with a Severe Dynamic
      Manifestation of Rosacea: A Case Report.
AB  - Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease that can manifest as a spectrum of
      symptoms including erythema, inflammatory lesions, edema, and telangiectasia.
      Treatment decisions need to be adapted to reflect the nature and severity of the
      different symptoms present. In this report, we discuss the case of a female
      patient diagnosed with severe, inflamed papulopustular rosacea (PPR) presenting
      with a large number of inflammatory lesions and severe background erythema. This
      patient responded well to a treatment regimen consisting of a short course of
      antibiotics in combination with a corticosteroid, followed by monotherapy with
      isotretinoin to reduce the inflammation. Brimonidine gel, used as needed, was
      then added to isotretinoin to target the remaining background erythema. This case
      of severe PPR required a combinatorial treatment regimen to effectively target
      all symptoms present. The patient continued to apply topical metronidazole
      throughout the different treatment regimens prescribed over the course of almost
      1 year. Use of topical metronidazole helped to repair and protect the skin
      barrier, which minimized the occurrence of dermatological adverse events when
      topical treatments were used. We conclude that in patients with severe disease
      and an important inflammatory component, a rapid response can be obtained with a
      multimodal, tailored approach that also includes treatment to repair and protect
      the skin barrier.

PMID- 27623794
TI  - Statistical experimental designs for the production of secondary metabolites in
      plant cell suspension cultures.
AB  - Statistical experimental designs, also known as the "design of experiments" (DoE)
      approach, are widely used to improve not only technical processes but also to
      answer questions in the agricultural, medical and social sciences. Although many
      articles have been published about the application of DoE in these fields, few
      studies have addressed the use of DoE in the plant sciences, particularly in the
      context of plant cell suspension cultures (PCSCs). Compounds derived from PCSCs
      can be developed as pharmaceuticals, chemical feedstocks and cosmetic
      ingredients, and statistical experimental designs can be used to improve the
      productivity of the cells and the yield and/or quality of the target compounds in
      a cost efficient manner. In this article, we summarize recent findings concerning
      the application of statistical approaches to improve the performance of PCSCs and
      discuss the potential future applications of this approach.

PMID- 27623791
TI  - Kinematic outcomes following ACL reconstruction.
AB  - Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction aims to restore the translational
      and rotational motion to the knee joint that is lost after injury. However,
      despite technical advancements, clinical outcomes are less than ideal,
      particularly in return to previous activity level. A major issue is the inability
      to standardize treatment protocols due to variations in materials and approaches
      used to accomplish ACL reconstruction. These include surgical techniques such as
      the transtibial and anteromedial portal methods that are currently under use and
      the wide availability of graft types that will be used to reconstruct the ACL. In
      addition, concomitant soft tissue injuries to the menisci and capsule are
      frequently present after ACL injury and, if left unaddressed, can lead to
      persistent instability even after the ACL has been reconstructed. Advances in the
      field of biomechanics that help to objectively measure motion of the knee joint
      may provide more precise data than current subjective clinical measurements.
      These technologies include extra-articular motion capture systems that measure
      the movement of the tibia in relation to the femur. With data gathered from these
      devices, a threshold for satisfactory knee stability may be established in order
      to correctly identify a successful reconstruction following ACL injury.

PMID- 27623795
TI  - Surface-engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae displaying alpha-acetolactate
      decarboxylase from Acetobacter aceti ssp xylinum.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To convert alpha-acetolactate into acetoin by an alpha-acetolactate
      decarboxylase (ALDC) to prevent its conversion into diacetyl that gives beer an
      unfavourable buttery flavour. RESULTS: We constructed a whole Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae cell catalyst with a truncated active ALDC from Acetobacter aceti ssp
      xylinum attached to the cell wall using the C-terminal anchoring domain of alpha
      agglutinin. ALDC variants in which 43 and 69 N-terminal residues were absent
      performed equally well and had significantly decreased amounts of diacetyl during
      fermentation. With these cells, the highest concentrations of diacetyl observed
      during fermentation were 30 % less than those in wort fermented with control
      yeasts displaying only the anchoring domain and, unlike the control, virtually no
      diacetyl was present in wort after 7 days of fermentation. CONCLUSIONS: Since
      modification of yeasts with ALDC variants did not affect their fermentation
      performance, the display of alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase activity is an
      effective approach to decrease the formation of diacetyl during beer
      fermentation.

PMID- 27623796
TI  - Intramuscular injection of mechano growth factor E domain peptide regulated
      expression of memory-related sod, miR-134 and miR-125b-3p in rat hippocampus
      under simulated weightlessness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of memory-related antioxidant genes and
      miRNAs under simulated weightlessness and the regulation of mechano growth factor
      (MGF) E domain, the peptide preventing nerve damage. RESULTS: Igf-iea and mgf
      mRNA levels, expression of antioxidant genes sod1 and sod2 and levels of miR-134
      and miR-125b-3p increased in rat hippocampus after 14 days tail suspension to
      simulate weightlessness which was inhibited with intramuscular injection of E
      domain peptide. Therefore, administration of MGF E domain peptide could reverse
      increased expressions of memory-related igf-iea, mgf, sod1, sod2, miR-134 and miR
      125b-3p in rat hippocampus under simulated weightlessness. CONCLUSIONS: MGF may
      regulate the redox state and miRNA-targeted NR-CREB signaling, and intramuscular
      injection may be the alternative administration because of its safety,
      convenience and ability to pass through the blood brain barrier.

PMID- 27623797
TI  - Application of CRISPRi in Corynebacterium glutamicum for shikimic acid
      production.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To construct, test and exploit the CRISPRi system for enhancement of
      shikimic acid production with Corynebacterium glutamicum. RESULTS: The CRISPRi
      system was used to regulate C. glutamicum gene expression at the transcriptional
      level. Hfq protein-mediated small regulatory RNAs system was compared with
      CRISPRi system. The more efficient CRISPRi system was used to adjust the
      metabolic flux involving the shikimic acid (SA) synthetic pathway. In 11
      candidate genes, including transcription regulator, three targets were effective
      for increasing SA production. Through over-expression of ncgl1512 and down
      regulating the expression of ncgl2008, ncgl2809, ncgl1856, the titers of SA
      increased 115 % to 7.76 g/l in 250 ml flasks and 23.8 g/l in 5 l fermentor, which
      is the highest shikimic acid yield reported for C. glutamicum. CONCLUSIONS:
      CRISPRi system was constructed and is a high-performance and time-saving method
      to manipulate multiple genes in C. glutamicum for shikimic acid production.
      Moreover, CRISPRi-system was also effective in regulating the expression of a
      transcription regulator.

PMID- 27623798
TI  - [Operative technique for percutaneous nephrolithotomy].
AB  - Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a well-established minimally invasive
      treatment option for removal of kidney stones. This technique has now replaced
      open stone surgery for virtually all indications. This article describes the
      indications, the surgical technique and the complication management of PCNL.

PMID- 27623799
TI  - A new definition and properties of the similarity value between two protein
      structures.
AB  - Knowledge regarding the 3D structure of a protein provides useful information
      about the protein's functional properties. Particularly, structural similarity
      between proteins can be used as a good predictor of functional similarity. One
      method that uses the 3D geometrical structure of proteins in order to compare
      them is the similarity value (SV). In this paper, we introduce a new definition
      of the SV measure for comparing two proteins. To this end, we consider the mass
      of the protein's atoms and concentrate on the number of protein's atoms to be
      compared. This defines a new measure, called the weighted similarity value (WSV),
      adding physical properties to geometrical properties. We also show that our
      results are in good agreement with the results obtained by TM-SCORE and DALILITE.
      WSV can be of use in protein classification and in drug discovery.

PMID- 27623801
TI  - A two-stage review process for randomized controlled trials: the ultimate
      solution for publication bias?

PMID- 27623802
TI  - In reply: A two-stage review process for randomized controlled trials: the
      ultimate solution for publication bias?

PMID- 27623800
TI  - Anti-wrinkle and anti-whitening effects of juca (Libidibia ferrea Mart.)
      extracts.
AB  - Skin aging is a natural process of the human body that may be accelerated due to
      extrinsic causes. Libidibia ferrea, popularly known as juca, is a small tree,
      which possesses an abundant phenolic composition with potential antioxidant and
      enzymatic inhibition activities. Thus, this work aimed to investigate the anti
      wrinkle and anti-whitening potentials of juca trunk bark (LFB) and pod (LFP)
      extracts. A comprehensive analysis of LFB and LFP phenolic composition was
      accomplished by means of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Effects on skin degradation were assessed by inhibitory
      enzymatic activity against elastase, hyaluronidase and collagenase through
      colorimetric assays. Cellular viability in B16F10 and primary fibroblasts were
      determined by Trypan Blue exclusion assay. Anti-melanogenic effects on B16F10
      cells were evaluated using cellular tyrosinase, melanin content, western blot,
      and RT-qPCR analyses. Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and
      metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-2 and MMP-9) was determined by gelatin zymography and
      western blot methodologies. LC-MS/MS analyses of LFB and LFP extracts allowed the
      characterization of 18 compounds, among them, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and
      secoridoids. Additionally the pod and trunk bark compositions were compared.
      Hyaluronidase inhibitory activity for both extracts, LFB (IC50 = 8.5 +/- 0.8
      ug/mL) and LFP (IC50 = 16 +/- 0.5 ug/mL), was stronger than standard rutin (IC50
      = 27.6 +/- 0.06). Pro-MMP-2 was significantly inhibited by both extracts. LFB and
      LFP decreased the melanin content in B16F10 due to tyrosinase inhibitory
      activity. L. ferrea extracts has high potential as a cosmetic ingredient due to
      its anti-wrinkle and depigmentant effects.

PMID- 27623804
TI  - In vitro cultures of ectodermal monolayers from the model sea anemone
      Nematostella vectensis.
AB  - We report here a novel approach for the extraction, isolation and culturing of
      intact ectodermal tissue layers from a model marine invertebrate, the sea anemone
      Nematostella vectensis. A methodology is described in which a brief exposure of
      the animal to the mucolytic agent N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) solution triggers the
      dislodging of the ectodermis from its underlying basement membrane and mesoglea.
      These extracted fragments of cell sheets adherent to culture-dish substrates,
      initially form 2D monolayers that are transformed within 24 h post-isolation into
      3D structures. These ectodermal tissues were sustained in vitro for several
      months, retaining their 3D structure while continuously releasing cells into the
      surrounding media. Cultures were then used for cell type characterizations and,
      additionally, the underlying organization of actin filaments in the 3D structures
      are demonstrated. Incorporation of BrdU and immunohistochemical labeling using p
      histone H3 primary antibody were performed to compare mitotic activities of
      ectodermal cells originating from intact and from in vivo regenerating animals.
      Results revealed no change in mitotic activities at 2 h after bisection and a
      1.67-, 1.71- and 3.74-fold increase over 24, 48 and 72 h of regeneration,
      respectively, depicting a significant correlation coefficient (p < 0.05; R 2 =
      0.74). A significant difference was found only between the control and 3-day
      regenerations (p = 0.016). Cell proliferation was demonstrated in the 3D
      ectodermis after 6 culturing days. Moreover, monolayers that were subjected to
      Ca++/Mg++ free medium for the first 2 h after isolation and then replaced by
      standard medium, showed, at 6 days of culturing, profuse appearance of positive p
      histone H3-labeled nuclei in the 3D tissues. Cytochalasin administered throughout
      the culturing period abolished all p-histone H3 labeling. This study thus depicts
      novel in vitro tissue culturing of ectodermal layers from a model marine
      invertebrate, demonstrating the ease with which experiments can be performed and
      cellular and molecular pathways can be revealed, thus opening studies on 2D
      tissue organizations and morphogenesis as well as the roles of cellular
      components in the formation of tissues in this organism.

PMID- 27623803
TI  - A novel culture platform for fast proliferation of human annulus fibrosus cells.
AB  - Tissue engineering provides a promising approach to treat degenerative disc
      disease, which usually requires a large quantity of seed cells. A simple and
      reliable in vitro culture system to expand seed cells in a timely fashion is
      necessary to implement the application clinically. Here, we sought to establish a
      cost-effective culture system for expanding human annulus fibrosus cells using
      extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins as culture substrates. Cells were cultured
      onto a plastic surface coated with various types of ECMs, including fibronectin,
      vitronectin, collagen type I, gelatin and cell-free matrix deposited by human
      nucleus pulposus cells. AF cell morphology, growth, adhesion and phenotype
      (anabolic and catabolic markers) were assessed by microscopy, real-time RT-PCR,
      western blotting, zymography, immunofluorescence staining and biochemical assays.
      Fibronectin, collagen and gelatin promoted cell proliferation and adhesion in a
      dose-dependent manner. Fibronectin elevated mRNA expression of proteoglycan and
      enhanced glycosaminoglycan production. Both collagen and gelatin increased
      protein expression of type II collagen. Consistent with increased cell adhesion,
      collagen and fibronectin promoted formation of focal adhesion complexes in the
      cell-matrix junction, suggesting enhanced binding of the actin network with both
      ECM substrates. On the other hand, fibronectin, collagen and gelatin decreased
      expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in media.
      Finally, a mixture of fibronectin (1.7 MUg/mL) and collagen (1.3 MUg/mL) was
      identified as the most promising in vitro culture substrate system in promoting
      proliferation and maintaining anabolic-catabolic balance. Our method provides a
      simple and cost-effective platform for tissue engineering applications in
      intervertebral disc research.

PMID- 27623806
TI  - Performance-based robotic assistance during rhythmic arm exercises.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rhythmic and discrete upper-limb movements are two fundamental motor
      primitives controlled by different neural pathways, at least partially. After
      stroke, both primitives can be impaired. Both conventional and robot-assisted
      therapies mainly train discrete functional movements like reaching and grasping.
      However, if the movements form two distinct neural and functional primitives,
      both should be trained to recover the complete motor repertoire. Recent studies
      show that rhythmic movements tend to be less impaired than discrete ones, so
      combining both movement types in therapy could support the execution of movements
      with a higher degree of impairment by movements that are performed more stably.
      METHODS: A new performance-based assistance method was developed to train
      rhythmic movements with a rehabilitation robot. The algorithm uses the assist-as
      needed paradigm by independently assessing and assisting movement features of
      smoothness, velocity, and amplitude. The method relies on different building
      blocks: (i) an adaptive oscillator captures the main movement harmonic in state
      variables, (ii) custom metrics measure the movement performance regarding the
      three features, and (iii) adaptive forces assist the patient. The patient is
      encouraged to improve performance regarding these three features with assistance
      forces computed in parallel to each other. The method was tested with simulated
      jerky signals and a pilot experiment with two stroke patients, who were
      instructed to make circular movements with an end-effector robot with assistance
      during half of the trials. RESULTS: Simulation data reveal sensitivity of the
      metrics for assessing the features while limiting interference between them. The
      assistance's effectiveness with stroke patients is established since it (i)
      adapts to the patient's real-time performance, (ii) improves patient motor
      performance, and (iii) does not lead the patient to slack. The smoothness
      assistance was by far the most used by both patients, while it provided no active
      mechanical work to the patient on average. CONCLUSION: Our performance-based
      assistance method for training rhythmic movements is a viable candidate to
      complement robot-assisted upper-limb therapies for training a larger motor
      repertoire.

PMID- 27623809
TI  - Simple blood test for heart failure should be more widely available, say MPs.

PMID- 27623807
TI  - Explanatory models of adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from urban
      centers of central Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes, which is increasing as a public health problem in
      the low resource settings of Africa has been associated with the high prevalence
      of micro-vascular complications and increasing levels of macro-vascular
      complications. There is evidence from the developed world that understanding
      patient perceptions of chronic illness is important to design effective
      strategies for helping patients manage these conditions. This study utilized
      Kleinman's model to explore the illness perceptions of type 2 diabetes patients
      attending treatment in Addis Ababa and Butajira (Ethiopia) and better understand
      how they manage their illness. DESIGN: Qualitative interviews were conducted to
      elicit the explanatory models of purposively sampled type 2 diabetes patients
      attending treatment in three hospitals in central Ethiopia until saturation of
      key emerging themes was achieved. Analysis of interview transcripts was guided by
      Kleinman's model. RESULTS: A total of 39 participants, 24 from Addis Ababa and
      the rest from Butajira took part in the study. This study revealed that patients'
      explanatory models were informed by both the traditional and biomedical models
      with emotional distress evident in some of the participants. The traditional
      model seemed to reflect the strong religious and cultural influences for the
      majority of study participants. The findings also revealed that symptoms played
      significant roles in how patients viewed their illness including assessment of
      its severity. Most were uncertain about the cause of their illness, with those
      expressing certainty citing factors over which they believed they had little or
      no control. This may have contributed to the perceptions about the use of
      religious healing and traditional medicines in a complementary or alternative
      manner to the biomedical regimen which could affect their adherence to
      recommended regimens and their health outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study suggests
      the need for a strong diabetes care program that is sensitive to patients'
      experiences of their illness including emotional distress. Individuals providing
      the diabetes care should consider local and individual contexts and strive to
      make their approach patient-centered and engage active participation of patients.
      There appears to be a need for better training of health providers in different
      areas including health communications and the fundamentals of mental healthcare.

PMID- 27623808
TI  - A quality improvement initiative for delayed umbilical cord clamping in very low
      birthweight infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to clinical benefits, delayed cord clamping (DCC) is recommended
      in infants born before 37 weeks gestational age. The objective was to institute a
      delayed cord clamping program and to evaluate clinical outcomes one year after
      initiation. METHODS: This study occured at Christiana Care Health System, a
      tertiary care facility with a 52 bed level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
      A multidisciplinary team created a departmental policy, a DCC protocol and
      educational programs to support the development of a DCC program. A year after
      initiation of DCC, we evaluated two cohorts of very low birth weight (VLBW)
      infants (<1500 g) prior to (Cohort 1) and after initiation (Cohort 2) of DCC (n =
      136 and n = 142 respectively). Chart review was conducted to evaluate demographic
      data and clinical outcomes. Analysis was completed with a retrospective, cohort
      analysis on an intention-to-treat basis. RESULTS: There were no differences in
      demographic factors between the two cohorts. We demonstrated a 73 % compliance
      rate with the delayed cord clamping protocol and a decrease in the percentage of
      VLBW infants requiring red blood cell transfusion from 53.7 to 35.9 % (p =
      0.003). We also found a decreased need for respiratory support in the second
      cohort with no increases in the balancing measures of admission hypothermia and
      jaundice requiring phototherapy. During the Control Phase ongoing monitoring and
      education has led to a 93.7 % compliance rate. CONCLUSIONS: A multidisciplinary
      team including key leadership from the obstetric and pediatric departments
      allowed for the rapid and safe implementation of DCC.

PMID- 27623805
TI  - Prehospital control of life-threatening truncal and junctional haemorrhage is the
      ultimate challenge in optimizing trauma care; a review of treatment options and
      their applicability in the civilian trauma setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Exsanguination following trauma is potentially preventable.
      Extremity tourniquets have been successfully implemented in military and civilian
      prehospital care. Prehospital control of bleeding from the torso and junctional
      area's remains challenging but offers a great potential to improve survival
      rates. This review aims to provide an overview of potential treatment options in
      both clinical as preclinical state of research on truncal and junctional
      bleeding. Since many options have been developed for application in the military
      primarily, translation to the civilian situation is discussed. METHODS: Medline
      (via Pubmed) and Embase were searched to identify known and potential prehospital
      treatment options. Search terms were|: haemorrhage/hemorrhage, exsanguination,
      junctional, truncal, intra-abdominal, intrathoracic, intervention,
      haemostasis/hemostasis, prehospital, en route, junctional tourniquet, REBOA,
      resuscitative thoracotomy, emergency thoracotomy, pelvic binder, pelvic sheet,
      circumferential. Treatment options were listed per anatomical site: axilla,
      groin, thorax, abdomen and pelvis Also, the available evidence was graded in
      (pre) clinical stadia of research. RESULTS: Identified treatment options were
      wound clamps, injectable haemostatic sponges, pelvic circumferential stabilizers,
      resuscitative thoracotomy, resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the
      aorta (REBOA), intra-abdominal gas insufflation, intra-abdominal self-expanding
      foam, junctional and truncal tourniquets. A total of 70 papers on these
      aforementioned options was retrieved. No clinical reports on injectable
      haemostatic sponges, intra-abdominal insufflation or self-expanding foam
      injections and one type of junctional tourniquets were available. CONCLUSION:
      Options to stop truncal and junctional traumatic haemorrhage in the prehospital
      arena are evolving and may offer a potentially great survival advantage. Because
      of differences in injury pattern, time to definitive care, different prehospital
      scenario's and level of proficiency of care providers; successful translation of
      various military applications to the civilian situation has to be awaited.
      Overall, the level of evidence on the retrieved adjuncts is extremely low.

PMID- 27623810
TI  - A novel technique for repair of mid-penile hypospadias using a preputial skin
      flap: results of 110 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several techniques have been used to repair mid-penile hypospadias;
      however, high failure rates and major complications have been reported. In this
      study, we describe a novel technique using a well-vascularized flap of the inner
      and outer preputial skin. METHODS: A total of 110 male children with hypospadias
      underwent repair by our technique between 2008 and 2015. The inclusion criteria
      were children with mid-penile or slightly more proximal hypospadias, with or
      without ventral chordae, and an intact prepuce of the cobra eyes variety.
      Recurrent cases, patients with other preputial types, and circumcised children
      were excluded from this study. The prepared flap was sutured in its natural
      longitudinal orientation to the created urethral plate strip to form a neo
      urethra over a urethral catheter. Outcome measures included surgical success
      without the formation of a urethra-cutaneous fistula, no ischaemia of the flaps,
      glans dehiscence or infection and functional outcome and cosmetic appearance.
      RESULTS: The median follow-up duration was 3.3 years. There were 63 cases of mid
      penile hypospadias (57.3 %), and in 47 cases (42.7 %), the meatus was slightly
      more proximal. The age of the patients ranged from 1.1 to 8.0 years, with a mean
      age of 4.6 +/- 1.2 years. Surgery was successful in 106 (96.4 %) cases. Minor
      complications occurred in 11 patients (10 %) and included oedema of glans in ten
      patients and bluish discoloration on the ventral aspect of the glans close to the
      suture line in three patients. All patients improved within 2 weeks after
      surgery. Long-term follow-up revealed a properly functioning urethra with a
      forward, projectile, single, compact, and rifled urinary stream of adequate
      calibre and cosmetically acceptable repair. No cases of meatal retraction, meatal
      stenosis, urethral stricture, or acquired urethral diverticulum occurred.
      DISCUSSION: Our technique is different from the split prepuce in situ technique.
      We create a narrow strip of the urethral plate that facilitates glanular closure,
      and we use the inner and adjacent outer skin in a vertical manner to preserve
      excess skin for penile coverage. Prepuce is split at midline to preserve more
      preputial skin with favourable dartos tissue for penile skin coverage. The glans
      is closed using a stitch-by-stitch method that has not been described previously.
      CONCLUSION: This study presents a novel technique for mid-penile hypospadias
      repair using a preputial skin flap with excellent results in terms of short- and
      long-term outcomes.

PMID- 27623811
TI  - Phytohormones signaling and crosstalk regulating leaf angle in rice.
AB  - Leaf angle is an important agronomic trait in rice (Oryza sativa L.). It affects
      both the efficiency of sunlight capture and nitrogen reservoirs. The erect leaf
      phenotype is suited for high-density planting and thus increasing crop yields.
      Many genes regulate leaf angle by affecting leaf structure, such as the lamina
      joint, mechanical tissues, and the midrib. Signaling of brassinosteroids (BR),
      auxin (IAA), and gibberellins (GA) plays important roles in the regulation of
      lamina joint bending in rice. In addition, the biosynthesis and signaling of BR
      are known to have dominant effects on leaf angle development. In this review, we
      summarize the factors and genes associated with the development of leaf angle in
      rice, outline the regulatory mechanisms based on the signaling of BR, IAA, and
      GA, and discuss the contribution of crosstalk between BR and IAA or GA in the
      formation of leaf angle. Promising lines of research in the transgenic
      engineering of rice leaf angle to increase grain yield are proposed.

PMID- 27623812
TI  - Stemness-related transcriptional factors and homing gene expression profiles in
      hepatic differentiation and cancer.
AB  - Stem cell transcriptional signature activation is an essential event in the
      development of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the differential
      expression profile of three pluripotency-associated genes (OCT4, NANOG, and
      SOX2), G-protein-coupled chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and the ligand (CXCL2), and
      alpha feto-protein (AFP) in hepatogenic differentiated stem cells and in sera of
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.
      Mesenchymal stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood were differentiated
      using hepatogenic differentiation media. Serum specimens were collected from 96
      patients (32 cirrhotic HCV, 32 early HCC, and 32 late HCC) and 96 controls. Real
      time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed
      for relative quantification of the 6 target genes using LIVAC method. In silico
      network analysis was also executed to explore the pluripotency and tumorigenic
      regulatory circuits in liver cancer. The expression levels of all genes declined
      gradually during the stages of stem cell differentiation. On univariate and
      multivariate analyses, NANOG, CXCR4 and AFP were significantly up-regulated in
      HCC patients with late clinical stage. In contrast, SOX2 and CXCL2 were markedly
      over-expressed in cirrhotic patients and could be used for clear demarcation
      between cirrhotic and HCC patients in our cases. In conclusion, our data
      highlight the potential role of SOX2 stem cell marker and CXCL2 chemokine in
      liver cell degeneration and fibrogenesis in HCV-induced hepatic cirrhosis in our
      sample of the Egyptian population. In addition, the significant association of
      NANOG and CXCR4 high-expression with late HCC, could contribute to the
      acquisition of stem cell-like properties in hepatic cancer and dissemination in
      late stages, respectively. Taken together, our results could have a potential
      application in HCC prognosis and treatment.

PMID- 27623813
TI  - Transdifferentiation Requires iNOS Activation: Role of RING1A S-Nitrosylation.
AB  - RATIONALE: We have previously shown that innate immunity is necessary for
      transdifferentiation of fibroblasts to endothelial cells. A major signaling
      molecule involved in innate immunity is inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS).
      Accordingly, we hypothesized that iNOS-generated nitric oxide (NO) might enhance
      transdifferentiation. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the role of NO in epigenetic
      plasticity during transdifferentiation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We exposed the BJ
      fibroblasts to transdifferentiation formulation that included endothelial growth
      factors and innate immune activator polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid to induce
      endothelial cells. Generation of transdifferentiated endothelial cells was
      associated with iNOS expression and NO elaboration. In the absence of
      polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, or in the presence of antagonists of NFkappaB
      (nuclear factor kappa B) or iNOS activity, NO synthesis and induce endothelial
      cell generation was reduced. Furthermore, genetic knockout (in murine embryonic
      fibroblasts) or siRNA knockdown (in BJ fibroblasts) of iNOS nearly abolished
      transdifferentiation, an effect that could be reversed by iNOS overexpression.
      Notably, polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid induced nuclear localization of iNOS,
      and its binding to, and nitrosylation of, the epigenetic modifier ring finger
      protein 1A (RING1A) as assessed by immunostaining, Co-IP, and mass spectrometry.
      Nitrosylation of RING1A reduced its binding to chromatin and reduced global
      levels of repressive histone marker H3K27 trimethylation. Overexpression of a
      mutant form of RING1A (C398A) lacking the nitrosylation site almost abrogated
      transdifferentiation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our data indicate that during
      transdifferentiation, innate immune activation increases iNOS generation of NO to
      S-nitrosylate RING1A, a key member of the polycomb repressive complex.
      Nitrosylation of RING1A reduces its binding to chromatin and decreases H3K27
      trimethylation level. The release of epigenetic repression by nitrosylation of
      RING1A is critical for effective transdifferentiation.

PMID- 27623815
TI  - CO2 Biofixation of Actinobacillus succinogenes Through Novel Amine-Functionalized
      Polystyrene Microsphere Materials.
AB  - CO2-derived succinate production was enhanced by Actinobacillus succinogenes
      through polystyrene (PSt) microsphere materials for CO2 adsorption in bioreactor,
      and the adhesion forces between A. succinogenes bacteria and PSt materials were
      characterized. Synthesized uniformly sized and highly cross-linked PSt
      microspheres had high specific surface areas. After modification with amine
      functional groups, the novel amine-functionalized PSt microspheres exhibited a
      high adsorption capacity of 25.3 mg CO2/g materials. After addition with the
      functionalized microspheres into the culture broth, CO2 supply to the cells
      increased. Succinate production by A. succinogenes can be enhanced from 29.6 to
      48.1 g L-1. Moreover, the characterization of interaction forces between A.
      succinogenes cells and the microspheres indicated that the maximal adhesive force
      was about 250 pN. The amine-functionalized PSt microspheres can adsorb a large
      amount of CO2 and be employed for A. succinogenes anaerobic cultivation in
      bioreactor for high-efficiency production of CO2-derived succinate.

PMID- 27623816
TI  - Effects of pH and Carbon Source on Synechococcus PCC 7002 Cultivation: Biomass
      and Carbohydrate Production with Different Strategies for pH Control.
AB  - Synechococcus PCC 7002 is an interesting species in view of industrial production
      of carbohydrates. The cultivation performances of this species are strongly
      affected by the pH of the medium, which also influences the carbohydrate
      accumulation. In this work, different methods of pH control were analyzed, in
      order to obtain a higher production of both Synechococcus biomass and
      carbohydrates. To better understand the influence of pH on growth and
      carbohydrate productivity, manual and automatic pH regulation in CO2 and
      bicarbonate system were applied. The pH value of 8.5 resulted the best to achieve
      both of these goals. From an industrial point of view, an alternative way to
      maintain the pH practically constant during the entire period of cultivation is
      the exploitation of the bicarbonate-CO2 buffer system, with the double aim to
      maintain the pH in the viability range and also to provide the amount of carbon
      required by growth. In this condition, a high concentration of biomass (6 g L-1)
      and carbohydrate content (around 60 %) were obtained, which are promising in view
      of a potential use for bioethanol production. The chemical equilibrium of C-N-P
      species was also evaluated by applying the ionic balance equations, and a
      relation between the sodium bicarbonate added in the medium and the equilibrium
      value of pH was discussed.

PMID- 27623814
TI  - Comparison of plasma amino acid profile-based index and CA125 in the diagnosis of
      epithelial ovarian cancers and borderline malignant tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously developed a new plasma amino acid profile-based index
      (API) to detect ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers. Here, we compared API
      to serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125) for distinguishing epithelial ovarian
      malignant tumors from benign growths. METHODS: API and CA125 were measured
      preoperatively in patients with ovarian tumors, which were later classified into
      59 epithelial ovarian cancers, 21 epithelial borderline malignant tumors, and 97
      benign tumors including 40 endometriotic cysts. The diagnostic accuracy and
      cutoff points of API were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      curves. RESULTS: The area under the ROC curves showed the equivalent performance
      of API and CA125 to discriminate between malignant/borderline malignant and
      benign tumors (both 0.77), and API was superior to CA125 for discrimination
      between malignant/borderline malignant lesions and endometriotic cysts (API, 0.75
      vs. CA125, 0.59; p < 0.05). At the API cutoff level of 6.0, API and CA125 had
      equal positive rates of detecting cancers and borderline malignancies (API, 0.71
      vs. CA125, 0.74; p = 0.84) or cancers alone (API, 0.73 vs. CA125, 0.85; p =
      0.12). However, API had a significantly lower detection rate of benign
      endometriotic cysts (0.35; 95 % CI, 0.21-0.52) compared with that of CA125 (0.65;
      95 % CI, 0.48-0.79) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: API is an effective new tumor marker
      to detect ovarian cancers and borderline malignancies with a low false-positive
      rate for endometriosis. A large-scale prospective clinical study using the cutoff
      value of API determined in this study is warranted to validate API for practical
      clinical use.

PMID- 27623817
TI  - Less reduction of psychosocial problems among adolescents with unmet
      communication needs.
AB  - Patient-professional communication has been suggested to be a major determinant
      of treatment outcomes in psychosocial care for children and adolescents. However,
      the mechanisms involved are largely unknown and no longitudinal studies have been
      performed. Our aim was, therefore, to assess over the course of 1 year, the
      impact of patient-centered communication on psychosocial problems of adolescents
      in psychosocial care, including the routes mediating this impact. We obtained
      data on 315 adolescents, aged 12-18 years, enrolled in child and adolescent
      social or mental health care. We assessed patient-centered communication by
      comparing the needs and experiences of adolescents with regard to three aspects
      of communication: affective quality, information provision, and shared decision
      making. Changes in psychosocial problems comprised those reported by adolescents
      and their parents between baseline and 1 year thereafter. Potential mediators
      were treatment adherence, improvement of understanding, and improvement in self
      confidence. We found a relationship between unmet needs for affective quality,
      information provision, and shared decision-making and less reduction of
      psychosocial problems. The association between the unmet need to share in
      decision-making and less reduction of psychosocial problems were partially
      mediated by less improvement in self-confidence (30 %). We found no mediators
      regarding affective quality and information provision. Our findings confirm that
      patient-centered communication is a major determinant of treatment outcomes in
      psychosocial care for adolescents. Professionals should be aware that tailoring
      their communication to individual patients' needs is vital to the effectiveness
      of psychosocial care.

PMID- 27623820
TI  - 1,4-Dioxane degradation potential of members of the genera Pseudonocardia and
      Rhodococcus.
AB  - In recent years, several strains capable of degrading 1,4-dioxane have been
      isolated from the genera Pseudonocardia and Rhodococcus. This study was conducted
      to evaluate the 1,4-dioxane degradation potential of phylogenetically diverse
      strains in these genera. The abilities to degrade 1,4-dioxane as a sole carbon
      and energy source and co-metabolically with tetrahydrofuran (THF) were evaluated
      for 13 Pseudonocardia and 12 Rhodococcus species. Pseudonocardia dioxanivorans
      JCM 13855T, which is a 1,4-dioxane degrading bacterium also known as P.
      dioxanivorans CB1190, and Rhodococcus aetherivorans JCM 14343T could degrade 1,4
      dioxane as the sole carbon and energy source. In addition to these two strains,
      ten Pseudonocardia strains could degrade THF, but no Rhodococcus strains could
      degrade THF. Of the ten Pseudonocardia strains, Pseudonocardia acacia JCM 16707T
      and Pseudonocardia asaccharolytica JCM 10410T degraded 1,4-dioxane co
      metabolically with THF. These results indicated that 1,4-dioxane degradation
      potential, including degradation for growth and by co-metabolism with THF, is
      possessed by selected strains of Pseudonocardia and Rhodococcus, although THF
      degradation potential appeared to be widely distributed in Pseudonocardia.
      Analysis of soluble di-iron monooxygenase (SDIMO) alpha-subunit genes in THF
      and/or 1,4-dioxane degrading strains revealed that not only THF and 1,4-dioxane
      monooxygenases but also propane monooxygenase-like SDIMOs can be involved in 1,4
      dioxane degradation.

PMID- 27623818
TI  - Outpatient antipsychotic drug use in children and adolescents in Germany between
      2004 and 2011.
AB  - Studies from different countries showed increasing use of antipsychotics in
      pediatric patients. However, these studies were methodologically limited and
      could not assess underlying diagnoses and off-label use sufficiently. This is the
      first study to examine antipsychotic prescriptions in a representative sample of
      minors over a long period, looking at changes regarding substances and drug
      classes, underlying diagnoses, and the rate of off-label use. Claims data of
      about two million pediatric subjects were used to calculate annual prevalences
      and incidence rates of antipsychotic prescriptions for the years 2004-2011.
      Analyses were stratified by sex, age, and drug type. Numbers of prescriptions,
      frequencies of diseases/disorders, the prescribing physicians' specialties, and
      the share of off-label prescriptions were examined. During the study period, the
      prevalence of antipsychotic prescriptions ranged between 2.0 and 2.6 per 1000
      minors. Antipsychotic prescriptions in children younger than 6 years decreased
      from 2.42 per 1000 subjects in 2004 to 0.48 in 2011. Among antipsychotic users,
      47.0 % had only one prescription and hyperkinetic disorder was, by far, the most
      frequent diagnosis. The annual share of off-label prescriptions varied between
      61.0 and 69.5 %. Antipsychotics were mainly prescribed to manage aggressive and
      impulsive behaviors in hyperkinetic disorder patients. This explains the high
      share of off-label prescriptions but raises concerns, since efficacy and safety
      of antipsychotics in this indication have not been sufficiently investigated. The
      decreasing antipsychotic use in younger children and the high proportion of
      antipsychotic users with one-time prescriptions are striking and should be
      further investigated in the future.

PMID- 27623819
TI  - Associations of attention-deficit/hyperactivity and other childhood disorders
      with psychotic experiences and disorders in adolescence.
AB  - Prodromal symptoms of psychosis are associated with an increased risk of
      transition, functional impairment, poor mental health, and unfavorable
      developmental prospects. Existing interventions targeting the prodrome are non
      satisfactory. It may thus be more promising to attempt to identify risk factors
      in the premorbid phase preceding the prodrome to increase the chances of
      successful preventive approaches. Here, we investigate whether childhood mental
      disorders in general and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
      specifically indicate a risk for subsequent psychotic experiences and disorders.
      We used a sample from the prospective Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and
      Children (N = 5528). When the participants were 7 years old, mental disorders
      were assigned according to the DSM-IV. In standardized interviews, psychotic
      experiences were assessed at age 12 and psychotic disorders at age 18. We
      examined the associations of each of the childhood mental disorders alone and in
      combination with psychotic experiences at age 12 and psychotic disorders at age
      18 using logistic regression. Compared to participants without a disorder,
      participants with a mental disorder had a higher risk of psychotic experiences at
      age 12 (OR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.28-2.27) and of psychotic disorders at age 18 (OR
      2.31, 95 % CI 1.03-5.15). Particularly, the ADHD combined subtype at age 7 was
      strongly associated with psychotic experiences at age 12 (OR 3.26, 95 % CI 1.74
      6.10). As expected, childhood mental disorders are risk indicators of psychotic
      experiences and disorders. To improve prevention, health care professionals need
      to screen for psychotic experiences in children with non-psychotic disorders.

PMID- 27623822
TI  - Patient safety in otolaryngology: a descriptive review.
AB  - Human evaluation and judgement may include errors that can have disastrous
      results. Within medicine and healthcare there has been slow progress towards
      major changes in safety. Healthcare lags behind other specialised industries,
      such as aviation and nuclear power, where there have been significant
      improvements in overall safety, especially in reducing risk of errors. Following
      several high profile cases in the USA during the 1990s, a report titled "To Err
      Is Human: Building a Safer Health System" was published. The report extrapolated
      that in the USA approximately 50,000 to 100,000 patients may die each year as a
      result of medical errors. Traditionally otolaryngology has always been regarded
      as a "safe specialty". A study in the USA in 2004 inferred that there may be 2600
      cases of major morbidity and 165 deaths within the specialty. MEDLINE via PubMed
      interface was searched for English language articles published between 2000 and
      2012. Each combined two or three of the keywords noted earlier. Limitations are
      related to several generic topics within patient safety in otolaryngology. Other
      areas covered have been current relevant topics due to recent interest or new
      advances in technology. There has been a heightened awareness within the
      healthcare community of patient safety; it has become a major priority. Focus has
      shifted from apportioning blame to prevention of the errors and implementation of
      patient safety mechanisms in healthcare delivery. Type of Errors can be divided
      into errors due to action and errors due to knowledge or planning. In healthcare
      there are several factors that may influence adverse events and patient safety.
      Although technology may improve patient safety, it also introduces new sources of
      error. The ability to work with people allows for the increase in safety netting.
      Team working has been shown to have a beneficial effect on patient safety. Any
      field of work involving human decision-making will always have a risk of error.
      Within Otolaryngology, although patient safety has evolved along similar themes
      as other surgical specialties; there are several specific high-risk areas.
      Medical error is a common problem and its human cost is of immense importance.
      Steps to reduce such errors require the identification of high-risk practice
      within a complex healthcare system. The commitment to patient safety and quality
      improvement in medicine depend on personal responsibility and professional
      accountability.

PMID- 27623821
TI  - Is gentamycin delivery via sustained-release vehicles a safe and effective
      treatment for refractory Meniere's disease? A critical analysis of published
      interventional studies.
AB  - The aim of this study is to review the literature on sustained-release vehicles
      delivering gentamycin in the inner ear of patients suffering from Meniere's
      disease (MD), and critically assess their respective clinical effectiveness and
      safety. A systematic literature review was conducted in Medline and other
      database sources until January 2016, along with critical analysis of pooled data.
      Overall, six prospective and four retrospective studies were systematically
      analyzed. The total number of treated patients was 320. A 2 year patient follow
      up was only reported in 40 % of studies. Inner ear gentamycin delivery using
      sustained-release vehicles is associated with improved vertigo control (strength
      of recommendation B), and quality of life (strength of recommendation B) in MD
      sufferers. In addition, dynamic-release devices seem to achieve high rates of
      improvement in the appearance of tinnitus (65.4 %) and aural pressure (76.2 %).
      By contrast, percentages of complete and partial hearing loss appear unacceptably
      high (31.08 and 23.38 % of patients, respectively), compared to historical data
      involving simple intratympanic gentamycin injections. Sustained-release vehicles
      for gentamycin delivery may have a role in the management of MD patients who have
      previously failed intratympanic gentamycin injections, or those who have already
      lost serviceable hearing. Their use as first line treatment over single
      intratympanic injections for all MD patients, who do not respond to conservative
      treatment should be discouraged.

PMID- 27623823
TI  - Effect of budesonide and azelastine on histamine signaling regulation in human
      nasal epithelial cells.
AB  - Both glucocorticoids and H1-antihistamines are widely used on patients with
      airway diseases. However, their direct effects on airway epithelial cells are not
      fully explored. Therefore, we use the primary culture of human nasal epithelial
      cells (HNEpC) to delineate in vitro mucosal responses to above two drugs. HNEpC
      cells were cultured with/without budesonide and azelastine. The growth rate at
      each group was recorded and measured as population double time (PDT). The
      histamine1-receptor (H1R), muscarinic1-receptor (M1R) and M3R were measured using
      immunocytochemistry and western blotting after 7-days treatment. Then, we used
      histamine and methacholine to stimulate the mucus secretion from HNEpC and
      observed the MUC5AC expression in culture supernatants. Concentration-dependent
      treatment-induced inhibition of HNEpC growth rate was observed. Cells incubated
      with azelastine proliferated significantly slower than that with budesonide and
      the combined use of those drugs led to significant PDT prolong. The
      immunocytochemistry showed the H1R, M1R and M3R were obviously located in the
      cell membrane without apparent difference after treatment. However, western
      blotting showed that budesonide can significantly up-regulate the H1R, M1R and
      M3R level while azelastine had opposite effects. Histamine and methacholine
      stimulated MUC5AC secretion was greater in cells treated with budesonide but was
      lesser in those treated with azelastine, as compared to controls. Our data
      suggest that both budesonide and azelastine can significantly inhibit HNEpC
      proliferation, and therefore, be helpful in against airway remodeling. Long-term
      use of budesonide might amplify histamine signaling and result in airway
      hyperreactivity to stimulants by enhancing H1R, M1R and M3R expression while
      azelastine can oppose this effect. Therefore, combined use of those two drugs in
      patients with chronic inflammatory airway diseases may be an ideal option.

PMID- 27623824
TI  - Efficiency of lung ventilation for people performing wind instruments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wind instruments musicians are particularly prone to excessive
      respiratory efforts. Prolonged wind instruments performing may lead to changes in
      respiratory tracts and thus to respiratory muscles overload. It may result in
      decreasing lung tissue pliability and, as a consequence, in emphysema. Aim of the
      research has been to describe basic spirometric parameters for wind players and
      causes of potential changes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Slow and forced spirometry
      with the use of Micro Lab Viasys (Micro Medical, Great Britain) was conducted on
      31 wind musicians (group A). A survey concerning playing time and frequency,
      weight of instruments, and education on diaphragmatic breathing was conducted.
      The control group included 34 healthy persons at similar age (group B). The
      results were statistically described using Excel and Statistica programmes.
      RESULTS: The respiratory parameters were within the range of physiological norms
      and forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) exceeded
      in both groups the values of 100%. Forced vital capacity and expiratory vital
      capacity (EVC) values were significantly lower in the group of musicians than in
      the control group (p < 0.001). In 45% the group A used diaphragmatic breathing,
      in 31% of examinees mixed respiratory tract was observed. The significant
      discrepancy of individual parameters was obtained regarding age and the length of
      time when performing wind instrument. CONCLUSIONS: Spirometric parameters
      relative to standards may prove a good respiratory capacity. Peak expiratory flow
      (PEF) and FEV1 may indicate that a proper technique of respiration during
      performance was acquired. The length of time when performing wind instrument may
      influence parameters of dynamic spirometry. Med Pr 2016;67(4):427-433.

PMID- 27623826
TI  - Factors affecting Polish nurses' willingness to recommend the hospital as a place
      of care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nurses constitute the major professional group offering constant
      hospital patients' care. Willingness to recommend their hospital reflects
      confidence in the offered care, satisfaction and identification with the work
      place. The aim of the present study has been to investigate which elements of
      hospital environment and nurse personal related factors predict recommendation of
      the hospital as a place of care by employed nurses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cross
      sectional, correlation study was, based on 1723 self-reported, anonymous
      questionnaires of nurses working in 30 acute hospitals. Data was analyzed using
      the logistic regression model, with general estimation equations. RESULTS: About
      25% of nurses were unwilling to recommend their hospital as the place of care.
      The odds ratio (OR) of the lack of willingness to recommend the hospital was
      related to assessment of patients' safety (OR = 0.28, 95% confidence interval
      (CI): 0.18-0.46, p = 0.00), decrease in the quality of patient care during the
      preceding year (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.41-0.93, p = 0.02), overall work conditions
      (OR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.22-0.57, p = 0.00), weak cooperation between nurses and
      physicians (OR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.25-0.54, p = 0.00), poor work schedule
      flexibility (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55- 0.99, p = 0.04) and educational
      opportunities (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54-0.95, p = 0.02) and the level of nurses
      depersonalization (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.18-1.68, p = 0.00). CONCLUSIONS: The
      hospital manager should consider strategies which improve patients' safety and
      the staff working conditions. Thanks to that they will also achieve better and
      more competitive image of the hospital in the local community. Med Pr
      2016;67(4):447-454.

PMID- 27623825
TI  - Heart disease attributed to occupational noise, vibration and other co-exposure:
      Self-reported population-based survey among Bulgarian workers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main mortality cause worldwide.
      Noise and vibration are considered to be occupational risk factors, but little is
      known about their cardiovascular effects in Bulgaria in terms of gender and
      various professional groups. The aim of this study has been to investigate the
      risk of prevalent CVD, associated with occupational noise and vibration exposure.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of the data from 3 waves
      of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2001-2010 - a nationally
      representative cross-sectional questionnaire survey covering 3149 workers aged >=
      15 years in Bulgaria. Data on self-reported heart disease were linked to self
      reported occupational noise and vibration, adjusting for other factors. Results
      from the 3 waves were pooled together using the inverse variance heterogeneity
      (IVhet) meta-analysis. RESULTS: For noise, the risk was elevated among women
      (relative risk (RR) = 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53-3.01), but not men
      (RR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.14-1.65). Long-term workers had RR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.60
      1.69. For vibration, the risk was increased in all participants. It was higher
      among men (RR = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.60-4.09) than it was among women (RR = 1.32, 95%
      CI: 0.77-2.27). Among long-term, industrial, and service workers it was RR =
      1.56, 95% CI: 1.02-2.40; RR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.61-1.98, and RR = 1.18, 95% CI:
      0.57-2.46, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational vibration was a risk factor
      for prevalent heart disease in Bulgaria. Noise was an alleged risk factor only
      among long-term workers and women. Med Pr 2016;67(4):435-445.

PMID- 27623827
TI  - [Comparison of exposure to stress and analysis of ways of coping with stress
      among freight transport and public transport drivers].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fast progress in a lot of economic sectors has greatly contributed to
      a growing role of road transportation systems, including freight transport and
      passenger transport. The job of professional drivers is regarded as extremely
      hard and dangerous, it is associated with high risk of health loss and even life
      loss. This profession is also associated with mental burden, the main cause of
      the absence at work and alarming number of road accidents. The aim of study was
      to compare exposure to stress, check the level of stress and ways to cope with
      stress in 2 groups of drivers (N = 187). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was
      carried out among public transport drivers and freight transport drivers. The
      authors' own questionnaire and 2 psychological tests: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS
      10) and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory and Inventory to Measure Coping Strategies
      with Stress (Mini-COPE) were used as the study tools. RESULTS: The level of
      stress is high in both groups, mostly due to a similar type of work. Both groups
      practice similar ways to cope with stress, but active ways predominate.
      CONCLUSIONS: The work of a professional driver is considered as extremely
      stressful. The level of stress among professional drivers should be under
      continuous control. Employers should introduce preventive programs and educate
      employees about some professional ways to cope with stress. Med Pr 2016;67(4):455
      466.

PMID- 27623829
TI  - [Thermal load at workstations in the underground coal mining: Results of research
      carried out in 6 coal mines].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statistics shows that almost half of Polish extraction in underground
      mines takes place at workstations where temperature exceeds 28 degrees C. The
      number of employees working in such conditions is gradually increasing,
      therefore, the problem of safety and health protection is still growing. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: In the present study we assessed the heat load of employees at
      different workstations in the mining industry, taking into account current
      thermal conditions and work costs. The evaluation of energy cost of work was
      carried out in 6 coal mines. A total of 221 miners employed at different
      workstations were assessed. Individual groups of miners were characterized and
      thermal safety of the miners was assessed relying on thermal discomfort index.
      RESULTS: The results of this study indicate considerable differences in the
      durations of analyzed work processes at individual workstations. The highest
      average energy cost was noted during the work performed in the forehead. The
      lowest value was found in the auxiliary staff. The calculated index of discomfort
      clearly indicated numerous situations in which the admissible range of thermal
      load exceeded the parameters of thermal load safe for human health. It should be
      noted that the values of average labor cost fall within the upper, albeit
      admissible, limits of thermal load. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study
      indicate that in some cases work in mining is performed in conditions of thermal
      discomfort. Due to high variability and complexity of work conditions it becomes
      necessary to verify the workers' load at different workstations, which largely
      depends on the environmental conditions and work organization, as well as on the
      performance of workers themselves. Med Pr 2016;67(4):477-498.

PMID- 27623828
TI  - [The role of a tool in measuring negative consequences of workaholism].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Analyzes of negative consequences of workaholism are ambiguous, and
      various studies have been conducted with different measurement tools. Thus, the
      objective of the current research was to find the answer to the question about
      relationships between workaholism measured with varied tools and mental health,
      stress experienced in life and at work, negative affect, and work-family
      conflicts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted in a group of 178
      subjects (71 men, 107 women, aged 23-66), with a minimum work experience of 4
      years. To measure workaholism 4 different research tools, based on different
      conceptualization of this construct, were used: Workaholism Battery (Work-Bat) by
      Spence and Robbins, Work Addiction Risk Test (WART) by Robinson, Scale of
      Workaholism as Behavioral Tendencies (SWBT) by Mudrack and Naughton, and The
      Scale of Being Absorbed by Work (SZAP) by Golinska. To measure possible
      consequences of workaholism the following tools were employed: General Health
      Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) by Goldberg, Scale of Work-Family/Family-Work Conflict
      (WFC/FWC) by Netemeyer et al., Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by Cohen et al.,
      Brief Scale of Vocational Stress (BSVS) by Stanton et al. and Mood Scale by
      Wojciszke and Baryla. RESULTS: The strongest relationships between workaholism
      and its negative consequences for the functioning of the unit can be observed
      using 2 diagnostic methods, respectively: WART and SZAP adapted by Golinska.
      Other diagnostic tools (Work-Bat and SWBT) have insignificant relationships with
      possible negative consequences of workaholism. CONCLUSIONS: The applied method of
      measuring workaholism seems to be of great importance in predicting possible
      consequences-different conceptualizations of phenomena leading to different
      results, which is important for researchers and practitioners involved in the
      issue of workaholism. There is a need for further work on the conceptualization
      and operationalization of the workaholism phenomenon. Med Pr 2016;67(4):467-476.

PMID- 27623830
TI  - [Use of personal protective equipment under occupational exposure to
      cytostatics].
AB  - BACKGROUND: A growing number of cancer cases enhances the usage of cytostatic
      agents and thereby contributes to the increase in the number of health care
      workers occupationally exposed to cytostatics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This article
      presents the results of the survey aimed at obtaining data on the reduction of
      occupational exposure through using personal protective equipment by the medical
      and pharmaceutical personnel involved in handling cytostatics. The questionnaires
      were sent by mail or e-mail to oncology hospitals and pharmacies preparing
      cytostatic drugs. Responses were received from 94 people employed in these
      workplaces. The main questions concerned the forms of cytostatics; job
      activities; types of personal protective equipment used and working time under
      exposure to cytotoxic drugs. RESULTS: The majority (over 90%) of the healthcare
      personnel declared the use of personal protective equipment when working under
      conditions of exposure to cytostatic drugs. Depending on the type of protection,
      15-35% of people reported that the most frequent time of their single use of the
      apron, the overalls, the gloves, the cap, the goggles or the respirators did not
      exceed few minutes. Gloves were changed most frequently. However, half of the
      responses indicated that the time after which the respondents removed protection
      equipment greatly differed. CONCLUSIONS: Almost the whole group of respondents
      applied personal protective equipment when working under exposure to cytostatics.
      However, personal protective equipment was not used every time in case of
      exposure. The medical and pharmaceutical staff worked under exposure to
      cytostatics for a few or even dozen hours during the working day. Med Pr
      2016;67(4):499-508.

PMID- 27623831
TI  - [Determination of thoracic and inhalable fraction of sulfuric acid(VI) in
      workplace air].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The article presents the results of the determination of the
      inhalable and thoracic fraction of sulfuric acid(VI) in 3 workplaces producing or
      processing this chemical. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To collect thoracic fractions of
      sulfuric acid(VI) Parallel Particle Impactor (PPI) was used. To isolate inhalable
      fraction of sulfuric acid(VI) from the air we used a sampler developed at the
      Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), United Kingdom. Parallel Particle
      Impactor and IOM samplers worked with pumps at a flow of 2 l/min. For the
      chromatographic determination of the inhalable and thoracic fraction of sulfuric
      acid(VI) in workplace the ion chromatography with conductometric detection was
      used. RESULTS: Depending on the sampling place the concentration of thoracic
      fraction of sulfuric acid(VI) was: 0.0015-0.01 mg/m3 in workplace A, 0.0019-0.25
      mg/m3 in workplace B, and 0.002-0.01 mg/m3 in workplace C. Of 22 tested
      workstations in workplace B only 7 exceeded the threshold limit value (TLV) for
      the concentration of thoracic fraction of sulfuric acid(VI). CONCLUSIONS: The
      results confirmed the utility of PPI for sampling the thoracic fraction of
      sulfuric acid(VI). The studies show that at 22 workstations in the establishments
      producing or processing sulfuric acid(VI) thoracic fraction of acid is emitted to
      the work environment. The collected data showed that the thoracic fraction of
      sulfuric acid(VI) represents on average 64% of the inhalable fraction. Med Pr
      2016;67(4):509-515.

PMID- 27623832
TI  - [Hypersensitivity pneumonitis: Diagnostic criteria, treatment, prognosis and
      prevention].
AB  - Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is caused by inhalation of environmental
      antigens. Farmers and bird keepers are most frequently affected by this desease.
      The HP diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms (cough, dyspnea) in a person
      exposed to environmental antigens, and the presence of characteristic changes in
      high resolution chest computed tomography (HRCT) (bilateral, mosaic, ground glass
      opacities in the middle and lower lung zones, ill-defined centrilobular nodules
      and the sign of air-trapping on expiration). This type of HRCT pattern is most
      frequently found in the patients with subacute HP. Bronchioloalveolar lavage
      fluid (BALF) examination is helpful in establishing the HP diagnosis, when the
      increased total number of cells, with the predominance of T lymphocytes (> 50%),
      and the increased number of neutrophils (> 3%) and mastocytes (> 1%) are found.
      The presence of specific serum precipitins increases the likelihood of HP. In
      case of atypical clinical presentation, lung biopsy is recommended. The
      diagnostic criterion of HP is the presence of ill-defined non-necrotising
      granulomas, after excluding other granulomatous lung diseases. The prevention and
      treatment of HP is based on the elimination of the antigen from the environment.
      Corticosteroids may contribute to the improvement in the acute and sub-acute form
      of the disease but their long term effectiveness is uncertain. The prognosis of
      HP patients is generally perceived as good, especially in those patients in whom
      antigen avoidance is possible. Nevertheless, in some patients progressive
      pulmonary fibrosis and development of severe respiratory insufficiency is
      observed. Med Pr 2016;67(4):517-527. 

PMID- 27623833
TI  - [Psychological contract in the light of flexible employment: The review of
      studies].
AB  - Changing employment relations between employees and employers due to the
      increasing employment flexibility have contributed to the development of a new
      paradigm to analyze these relations based on the concept of psychological
      contract. This paradigm might be particularly relevant in Poland where the
      employment flexibility understood as the number of workers with temporary
      contracts is the highest in Europe. In this paper the concept of psychological
      contract is presented along with the existing findings related to its range,
      balance and contract fulfilment vs. contract breach. The results of studies
      showing the differences in psychological contract of temporary and permanent
      workers are also presented. The majority of them indicate that psychological
      contracts of temporary workers are limited in their extent, less balanced and
      asymmetric (to workers' disadvantage), as well as more transactional in their
      nature than those of permanent workers. The temporary workers' well-being and
      attitudes towards work and their reaction to psychological contract breach
      largely depends on their preferences for this type of employment, on their
      qualifications and on a labor market situation. Med Pr 2016;67(4):529-536. 

PMID- 27623834
TI  - [Cocaine - Characteristics and addiction].
AB  - Cocaine use leads to health, social and legal problems. The aim of this paper is
      to discuss cocaine action, addicts characteristics, use patterns and
      consequences, as well as addiction treatment methods. A literature review was
      based on the Medline, PubMed, Polish Medical Bibliography databases and the
      Silesian Library resources. The Police and Central Statistical Office statistics,
      as well as the World Health Organization, the European Monitoring Centre for
      Drugs and Drug Addiction and the National Office for Combating Drug Addiction
      reports were used. Cocaine leads to mood improvement, appetite decrease, physical
      and intellectual activity enhancement, euphoria, inflated self-esteem, social
      networking ease and increased sexual desire. Cocaine hydrochloride is mainly used
      intranasaly, but also as intravenous and subcutaneous injections. Cocaine use and
      first addiction treatment fall in later age compared to other psychoactive
      substances. There is a high men to women ratio among addicts. There is a
      relationship between cocaine addiction, the presence of other disorders and
      genetic predisposition to addiction development. Polish reports indicate higher
      popularity of cocaine among people with a high economic and social status.
      Although Poland is a country with the low percentage of cocaine use, its
      popularity is growing. The consequences of cocaine use concern somatic and mental
      health problems, socioeconomic and legal conditions. The drug plays a role in
      crimes and traffic accidents. Because of the risks associated with cocaine use,
      it has been listed in a register of drugs attached to the Act on Counteracting
      Drug Addiction. Addiction treatment includes psychological, pharmacological and
      harm reduction strategies. Med Pr 2016;67(4):537-544. 

PMID- 27623835
TI  - [Simulator sickness and its measurement with Simulator Sickness Questionnaire
      (SSQ)].
AB  - One of the most common methods for studying the simulator sickness issue is the
      Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) (Kennedy et al., 1993). Despite the
      undoubted popularity of the SSQ, this questionnaire has not as yet been
      standardized and translated, which could allow us to use it in Poland for
      research purposes. The aim of our article is to introduce the SSQ to Polish
      readers, both researchers and practitioners. In the first part of this paper, the
      studies using the SSQ are discussed, whereas the second part consists of the
      description of the SSQ test procedure and the calculation method of sample
      results. Med Pr 2016;67(4):545-555. 

PMID- 27623836
TI  - Can scleroderma be induced by anesthetics? Case report.
AB  - Occupational exposure to solvents is consistently associated with the risk of
      systemic sclerosis. We pose the question of whether the occupational exposure to
      anesthetics may favor the occurrence of this disease. This paper describes an
      incidence of systemic sclerosis in the case of an anesthesiologist who had been
      occupationally exposed to high doses of anesthetic in the operating room.
      Anecdotal cases in the literature give limited support to the causal association
      of the occupational exposure to anesthetics and systemic sclerosis. The extremely
      limited number of workers exposed makes it necessary to report all cases observed
      in order to assess the degree of the occupational risk for anesthesiologists. Med
      Pr 2016;67(4):557-560. 

PMID- 27623837
TI  - Higher Cerebrospinal Fluid pH may Contribute to the Development of Delayed
      Cerebral Ischemia after Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.
AB  - Recent investigations have shown that many factors may cause delayed cerebral
      ischemia (DCI) after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). To find new
      potential contributors to DCI, this retrospective study compared gas data in the
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between patients with and without DCI. The subjects
      were 61 consecutive patients with SAH classified as Fisher group III on admission
      computed tomography scans, whose aneurysms were obliterated by clipping or
      coiling within 24 h post-SAH. Thirty-three patients were treated with CSF
      drainage. CSF samples were chronologically obtained from CSF drains or lumbar
      taps. Patients with DCI were more frequently treated with CSF drainage,
      especially cisternal drainage, and were associated with significantly higher pH
      and lower partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) in the CSF compared with
      patients without DCI, although CSF concentrations of bicarbonate ion as well as
      arterial blood gas data were not different between the two groups. Total
      hemoglobin concentrations in the drained or tapped CSF were higher in patients
      with no DCI compared with patients with DCI at any sampling time, suggesting that
      CSF hemoglobin was not efficiently removed in patients with DCI. This study
      revealed higher CSF pH and lower CSF PCO2 as new potential contributors to the
      development of DCI, which might result from inappropriate CSF drainage that
      failed to remove clot and acid metabolites in it efficiently. Both of the
      disturbed CSF gas and inappropriate CSF drainage may cause constriction of the
      arteries and arterioles, leading to DCI.

PMID- 27623838
TI  - Pepo aphid-borne yellows virus: a new species in the genus Polerovirus.
AB  - Pepo aphid-borne yellows virus (PABYV) has been proposed as a putative
      representative of a new species in the genus Polerovirus in the family
      Luteoviridae. The genomes of two South African (SA) isolates of cucurbit
      infecting PABYV were described in this record. Total RNA, extracted from a
      pattypan (Cucurbita pepo L.) and a baby marrow (C. pepo L.) leaf samples, was
      subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the HiSeq Illumina platform.
      Sanger sequencing was subsequently used to authenticate the integrity of PABYV's
      genome generated from de novo assembly of the NGS data. PABYV genome of SA
      isolates consists of 5813 nucleotides and displays an organisation typical of
      poleroviruses. Genome sequence comparisons of the SA PABYV isolates to other
      poleroviruses support the classification of PABYV as a new species in the genus
      Polerovirus. Recombination analyses showed that PABYV and Cucurbit aphid-borne
      yellows virus (CABYV) shared the same ancestor for the genome part situated
      between breaking points. Phylogenetic analyses of the RNA-dependent RNA
      polymerase and the coat protein genes showed that SA PABYV isolates shared
      distant relationship with CABYV and Suakwa aphid-borne yellows virus. Based on
      our results, we propose that PABYV is a distinct species in the genus
      Polerovirus.

PMID- 27623839
TI  - Molecular characterization and genetic diversity of bovine Kobuvirus, Brazil.
AB  - It is suggested that Bovine kobuvirus (BKV) is involved in the etiology of
      gastroenteric diseases especially among calves; however, this association remains
      unknown. This study evaluated 216 fecal samples from cattle with and without
      diarrhea symptoms obtained from different regions of Brazil. A 216 bp fragment of
      the BKV 3D gene was amplified by RT-PCR in 14.4 % (31/216) of the studied
      samples, and 17 samples were subjected to nucleotide sequencing. All positive
      samples were obtained from animals aged less than 5 months, and most of animals
      presented diarrhea (p < 0.05). Phylogenetic analyses showed that the obtained
      sequences were grouped within the genogroup 2 of BKV forming subclades specific
      for each Brazilian municipality sampled. In addition, the alignment of the
      sequences revealed differences of nucleotides between sequences from different
      locations. Our results indicate for the first time that there is a regional
      genotypic differentiation of BKV in Brazil.

PMID- 27623840
TI  - Prevalence of microcephaly in Europe: population based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:  To provide contemporary estimates of the prevalence of microcephaly
      in Europe, determine if the diagnosis of microcephaly is consistent across
      Europe, and evaluate whether changes in prevalence would be detected using the
      current European surveillance performed by EUROCAT (the European Surveillance of
      Congenital Anomalies). DESIGN:  Questionnaire and population based observational
      study. SETTING:  24 EUROCAT registries covering 570 000 births annually in 15
      countries. PARTICIPANTS:  Cases of microcephaly not associated with a genetic
      condition among live births, fetal deaths from 20 weeks' gestation, and
      terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly at any gestation. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES:  Prevalence of microcephaly (1 Jan 2003-31 Dec 2012) analysed with
      random effects Poisson regression models to account for heterogeneity across
      registries. RESULTS:  16 registries responded to the questionnaire, of which 44%
      (7/16) used the EUROCAT definition of microcephaly (a reduction in the size of
      the brain with a skull circumference more than 3 SD below the mean for sex, age,
      and ethnic origin), 19% (3/16) used a 2 SD cut off, 31% (5/16) were reliant on
      the criteria used by individual clinicians, and one changed criteria between 2003
      and 2012. Prevalence of microcephaly in Europe was 1.53 (95% confidence interval
      1.16 to 1.96) per 10 000 births, with registries varying from 0.4 (0.2 to 0.7) to
      4.3 (3.6 to 5.0) per 10 000 (chi(2)=338, df=23, I(2)=93%). Registries with a 3 SD
      cut off reported a prevalence of 1.74 per 10 000 (0.86 to 2.93) compared with
      those with the less stringent 2 SD cut off of 1.21 per 10 000 (0.21 to 2.93). The
      prevalence of microcephaly would need to increase in one year by over 35% in
      Europe or by over 300% in a single registry to reach statistical significance
      (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS:  EUROCAT could detect increases in the prevalence of
      microcephaly from the Zika virus of a similar magnitude to those observed in
      Brazil. Because of the rarity of microcephaly and discrepant diagnostic criteria,
      however, the smaller increases expected in Europe would probably not be detected.
      Clear diagnostic criteria for microcephaly must be adopted across Europe.

PMID- 27623841
TI  - The Greek version of Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI): translation,
      cultural adaptation, and validation in patients with rotator cuff tear.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt a Greek version of
      the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) questionnaire and to validate its
      usage in Greek patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A forward and backward
      translation was performed, and the final version of the Greek questionnaire was
      administered to 134 outpatients (mean age 47.4 +/- 14.5) with rotator cuff tear
      under conservative treatment. The questionnaire was re-administered 2-5 days
      later to assess test-retest reliability. Patients completed the Greek SPADI, the
      Greek version of the Quick DASH (Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand
      Questionnaire) and the EuroQoL EQ-5D. 102 of the 134 questionnaires were
      considered valid. RESULTS: The internal consistencies of the SPADI total and its
      subscales measured with Cronbach's alpha coefficient were high (0.932 for SPADI
      Total, 0.899 for SPADI-Disability, 0.905 for SPADI-Pain). Intraclass correlation
      coefficients showed excellent test-retest reliability (0.899 for Disability,
      0.902 for Pain, and 0.929 for total SPADI). A significantly high positive
      correlation was found between the SPADI total score and its subscales, and Quick
      DASH for Pain and Disability. Significant correlations were also found between
      SPADI scales and EQ-5D variables. There was a moderate positive correlation with
      the variables "self-reliance" (r = 0.66), "common activities" (r = 0.58), and
      "pain/discomfort" (r = 0.49), and a weaker correlation with the "mobility"
      variable (r = 0.20). Factor analysis (PAF method) revealed a bidimensional
      formation of the SPADI. Eight items (five pain/three disability) weighted the
      first factor by >0.5, and five disability items weighted the second factor.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Greek SPADI represents a valid and reliable tool for measuring
      pain and disability in patients with painful shoulder disorders. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level 3.

PMID- 27623842
TI  - Applying mathematical models to predict resident physician performance and
      alertness on traditional and novel work schedules.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2011 the U.S. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
      began limiting first year resident physicians (interns) to shifts of <=16
      consecutive hours. Controversy persists regarding the effectiveness of this
      policy for reducing errors and accidents while promoting education and patient
      care. Using a mathematical model of the effects of circadian rhythms and length
      of time awake on objective performance and subjective alertness, we
      quantitatively compared predictions for traditional intern schedules to those
      that limit work to <= 16 consecutive hours. METHODS: We simulated two traditional
      schedules and three novel schedules using the mathematical model. The traditional
      schedules had extended duration work shifts (>=24 h) with overnight work shifts
      every second shift (including every third night, Q3) or every third shift
      (including every fourth night, Q4) night; the novel schedules had two different
      cross-cover (XC) night team schedules (XC-V1 and XC-V2) and a Rapid Cycle
      Rotation (RCR) schedule. Predicted objective performance and subjective alertness
      for each work shift were computed for each individual's schedule within a team
      and then combined for the team as a whole. Our primary outcome was the amount of
      time within a work shift during which a team's model-predicted objective
      performance and subjective alertness were lower than that expected after 16 or 24
      h of continuous wake in an otherwise rested individual. RESULTS: The model
      predicted fewer hours with poor performance and alertness, especially during
      night-time work hours, for all three novel schedules than for either the
      traditional Q3 or Q4 schedules. CONCLUSIONS: Three proposed schedules that
      eliminate extended shifts may improve performance and alertness compared with
      traditional Q3 or Q4 schedules. Predicted times of worse performance and
      alertness were at night, which is also a time when supervision of trainees is
      lower. Mathematical modeling provides a quantitative comparison approach with
      potential to aid residency programs in schedule analysis and redesign.

PMID- 27623843
TI  - Recent advances of adapter proteins in the regulation of heart diseases.
AB  - Heart diseases are major causes of mortality. Cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial
      infarction (MI), viral cardiomyopathy, ischemic and reperfusion (I/R) heart
      injury finally lead to heart failure and death. Insulin and IGF1 signal pathways
      play key roles in normal cardiomyocyte growth and physiological cardiac
      hypertrophy while inflammatory signal pathway is associated with pathological
      cardiac hypertrophy, MI, viral cardiomyopathy, I/R heart injury, and heart
      failure. Adapter proteins are the major family proteins, which transduce signals
      from insulin, IGF1, or cytokine receptors to the downstream pathways and have
      been shown to regulate variety of heart diseases. Here, we summarized the recent
      advances in understanding the physiological and pathological roles of adapter
      proteins in heart failure.

PMID- 27623844
TI  - Protein complex detection based on partially shared multi-view clustering.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Protein complexes are the key molecular entities to perform many
      essential biological functions. In recent years, high-throughput experimental
      techniques have generated a large amount of protein interaction data. As a
      consequence, computational analysis of such data for protein complex detection
      has received increased attention in the literature. However, most existing works
      focus on predicting protein complexes from a single type of data, either physical
      interaction data or co-complex interaction data. These two types of data provide
      compatible and complementary information, so it is necessary to integrate them to
      discover the underlying structures and obtain better performance in complex
      detection. RESULTS: In this study, we propose a novel multi-view clustering
      algorithm, called the Partially Shared Multi-View Clustering model (PSMVC), to
      carry out such an integrated analysis. Unlike traditional multi-view learning
      algorithms that focus on mining either consistent or complementary information
      embedded in the multi-view data, PSMVC can jointly explore the shared and
      specific information inherent in different views. In our experiments, we compare
      the complexes detected by PSMVC from single data source with those detected from
      multiple data sources. We observe that jointly analyzing multi-view data benefits
      the detection of protein complexes. Furthermore, extensive experiment results
      demonstrate that PSMVC performs much better than 16 state-of-the-art complex
      detection techniques, including ensemble clustering and data integration
      techniques. CONCLUSIONS: In this work, we demonstrate that when integrating
      multiple data sources, using partially shared multi-view clustering model can
      help to identify protein complexes which are not readily identifiable by
      conventional single-view-based methods and other integrative analysis methods.
      All the results and source codes are available on https://github.com/Oyl
      CityU/PSMVC .

PMID- 27623846
TI  - A short history of inositol lipids.
AB  - The diverse family of inositol lipids is now known to be central to many aspects
      of cell biology. The route from the first discovery of inositol to our present
      day knowledge of inositol lipids spans more than 150 years and is long and
      complex. This is a brief account of some of the most important stages along that
      route.

PMID- 27623847
TI  - Comparative analyses of isoforms of the calcium-independent
      phosphatidylethanolamine N-acyltransferase PLAAT-1 in humans and mice.
AB  - N-Acylphosphatidylethanolamines (NAPEs) are a class of glycerophospholipids,
      which are known as precursors for different bioactive N-acylethanolamines. We
      previously reported that phospholipase A/acyltransferase-1 (PLAAT-1), which was
      originally found in mammals as a tumor suppressor, catalyzes N-acylation of
      phosphatidylethanolamines to form NAPEs. However, recent online database
      suggested the presence of an uncharacterized isoform of PLAAT-1 with an extra
      sequence at the N terminus. In the present study, we examined the occurrence,
      intracellular localization, and catalytic properties of this longer isoform, as
      well as the original shorter isoform from humans and mice. Our results showed
      that human tissues express the longer isoform but not the short isoform at all.
      In contrast, mice expressed both isoforms with different tissue distribution.
      Unlike the cytoplasmic localization of the shorter isoform, the long isoform was
      found in both cytoplasm and nucleus, inferring that the extra sequence harbors a
      nuclear localization signal. As assayed with purified proteins, neither isoform
      required calcium for full activity. Moreover, the overexpression of each isoform
      remarkably increased cellular NAPE levels. These results conclude that the new
      long isoform of PLAAT-1 is a calcium-independent N-acyltransferase existing in
      both cytoplasm and nucleus and suggest a possible formation of NAPEs in various
      membrane structures including nuclear membrane. J. Lipid Res 2016. 57: 2051-2060.

PMID- 27623849
TI  - Practice Patterns in Distinguishing Between Background Pain and Breakthrough Pain
      During Patient Education: a Korean Physician Survey.
AB  - This study sought to explore the association between physician practice patterns
      and patient education, with a focus on breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP). A
      nationwide online survey was conducted by 92 Korean physicians. Thirteen
      questions on Korean physician's assessment, prescription, patient education
      practices, and knowledge regarding BTcP were administered. Based on their
      responses, physicians were divided using two methods: (1) by their patient
      education practices, where the "education group" always explained the distinction
      between background pain and BTcP and the "less education group" which explained
      it less frequently; and (2) by their definition of BTcP, as occurring "after
      control of background pain" or "regardless of background pain." We compared
      practice patterns using Fisher's exact test or Student's t test and performed
      multiple logistic regression analysis. The "education group" (65 physicians, 70.7
      %) was more likely than the "less education group" to assess BTcP meticulously
      (odds ratio [OR] 17.13, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 4.98-58.94), prepare rescue
      medications in advance (OR 3.67, 95 % CI 1.36-9.90), and give explicit
      instructions regarding medications (OR 36.68, 95 % CI 5.63-239.15). Physicians
      who defined BTcP as occurring "after control of background pain" were more likely
      to explain how to take rescue medication (P < 0.05) than physicians who defined
      BTcP as occurring "regardless of background pain." Korean physicians' BTcP
      practice patterns may be affected by whether they consistently educate patients
      on the distinction between background pain and BTcP, regardless of their
      knowledge of the definition of BTcP.

PMID- 27623848
TI  - Cytokine-induced release of ceramide-enriched exosomes as a mediator of cell
      death signaling in an oligodendroglioma cell line.
AB  - Th1 pro-inflammatory cytokines, i.e., TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma, in combination are
      known to induce cell death in several cell types, including oligodendrocytes, but
      the mechanism of their synergistic cytotoxicity is unclear. Although ceramide
      (Cer) has been implicated in cytokine- and stress-induced cell death, its
      intracellular levels alone cannot explain cytokine synergy. We considered the
      possibility that Cer released as part of extracellular vesicles may contribute to
      cytokine-induced synergistic cell death. Using a human oligodendroglioma (HOG)
      cell line as a model, here we show that exosomes derived from TNF-alpha-treated
      "donor" cells, while being mildly toxic to fresh cultures (similar to individual
      cytokines), induce enhanced cell death when added to IFN-gamma-primed target
      cultures in a fashion resembling the effect of cytokine combination. Further, the
      sphingolipid profiles of secreted exosomes, as determined by HPLC-MS/MS, revealed
      that the treatment with the cytokines time-dependently induced the formation and
      exosomal release, in particular of C16-, C24-, and C24:1-Cer species; C16-, C24-,
      and C24:1-dihydroCer species; and C16-, C24-, and C24:1-SM species. Finally,
      exogenous C6-Cer or C16-Cer mimicked and enhanced the cytotoxic effects of the
      cytokines upon HOG cells, thereby supporting the cell death-signaling role of
      extracellular Cer.

PMID- 27623851
TI  - Characterization of re-grown floc size and structure: effect of mixing conditions
      during floc growth, breakage and re-growth process.
AB  - The impact of mixing speed in three stages-before breakage, during breakage, and
      after breakage-on re-grown floc properties was investigated by using a non
      intrusive optical sampling and digital image analysis technique, respectively.
      And then, on the basis of different influence extent of mixing speed during each
      stage on size and structure of re-grown flocs, coagulation performance with
      varying mixing speed was analyzed. The results indicated that the broken flocs
      could not re-grow to the size before breakage in all cases. Furthermore,
      increasing mixing intensity contributed to the re-formation of smaller flocs with
      higher degree of compactness. For slow mixing before breakage, an increase in
      mixing speed had less influence on re-grown floc properties due to the same
      breakage strength during breakage, resulting in inconspicuous variation of
      coagulation efficiency. For rapid mixing during breakage, larger mixing speed
      markedly decreased the coagulation efficiency. This could be attributed that
      mixing speed during breakage generated greater influence on re-grown floc size.
      However, as slow mixing after breakage was elevated, the coagulation efficiency
      presented significant rise, indicating that slow mixing after breakage had more
      influence on re-grown floc structure upon re-structuring and re-arrangement
      mechanism.

PMID- 27623850
TI  - Degradation of orange dyes and carbamazepine by soybean peroxidase immobilized on
      silica monoliths and titanium dioxide.
AB  - In this paper, the removal of three common dyes (orange I, orange II, and
      methylorange) and of the anticonvulsant drug carbamazepine from aqueous solutions
      by means of enzymatic and photocatalytic treatment was studied. Soybean
      peroxidase (SBP) was used as biocatalyst, both free in solution and immobilized
      on silica monoliths, and titanium dioxide as photocatalyst. The combination of
      the two catalysts led to a faster (about two to four times) removal of all the
      orange dyes compared to the single systems. All the dyes were completely removed
      within 2 h, also in the presence of immobilized SBP. As for carbamazepine,
      photocatalytic treatment prevails on the enzymatic degradation, but the
      synergistic effect of two catalysts led to a more efficient degradation;
      carbamazepine's complete disappearance was achieved within 60 min with combined
      system, while up to 2 h is required with TiO2 only.

PMID- 27623852
TI  - Influence of imazethapyr and quizalofop-p-ethyl application on microbial biomass
      and enzymatic activity in peanut grown soil.
AB  - A field experiment was conducted to examine the degradation and impact of two
      post-emergence herbicides (imazethapyr and quizalofop-p-ethyl) on soil ecosystems
      at a half recommended rate (HRE), recommended rate (RE), and double recommended
      rate (DRE) during kharif peanut cultivation. Herbicides were innocuous to soil
      microbial activity at HRE, however, showed some significant influences at RE and
      DRE, and exerted temporary toxic effects on microbial biomass carbon and
      fluorescein diacetate hydrolyzing activity. Dehydrogenase activity also declined
      for a shorter period except imazethapyr application at DRE. Acid phosphatase
      activity was inhibited whereas alkaline phosphatase activity fluctuated between
      promotion and inhibition, but promotion was predominant suggesting a direct role
      of alkaline soil environment. Soil NH4+ and NO3- nitrogen were increased by the
      herbicides at initial (after 7 days) and last phases (after 30 days),
      respectively. After an early period of inhibition, urease activity returned to
      the control level after 30 days. Dissipation of imazethapyr residues fitted best
      to bi-exponential order rate kinetics at DRE and RE, whereas it followed first
      order rate kinetics at HRE. The residues of quizalofop-p-ethyl were found only up
      to 1 day after application suggesting its rapid conversion to active acid
      metabolites. Both the herbicides had transient harmful effects on most of the
      soil microbiological parameters.

PMID- 27623854
TI  - Nitrate and carbon matter removals from real effluents using Si/BDD electrode.
AB  - This work investigated the electrochemical treatment of four real effluents which
      were municipal wastewater (MWW), human urine (HU), river water (Wadi), and
      slaughterhouse wastewater (SHWW). The treatment was performed on a Boron-Doped
      Diamond (BDD) as anode/cathode material with an applied current density of 35.7
      mA cm-2 and without any reagent addition. Effluent characterization before
      treatment indicated that nitrogen pollution existed essentially as
      ammonium/ammonia ions, low level of nitrate, and in some cases as nitrite form.
      Organic pollution was also determined by COD values which were 920, 7300, 320,
      and 2280 mg O2 L-1 for MWW, HU, Wadi, and SHWW effluents, respectively. The
      effectiveness of the electrochemical oxidation/reduction was assessed by
      nitrogenous compounds and COD removals. Obtained removals underlined the
      simultaneous oxidation and reduction at the BDD interfaces of the main species
      present in the real effluents as well as the electro-generated ones. Results
      confirmed the high performance of BDD electrode for removal of coexistent
      pollutants from the studied matrix. The oxidation of organic matter and
      ammonium/ammonia as well as the kinetic of COD degradation was rapid in acidic
      medium (HU case) than that in neutral and alkaline medium (MWW, Wadi, and SHWW).
      Moreover, the phytotoxicity test showed less toxic behavior only in the cases of
      MWW and SHWW with a Germination Index equal to 58.8 and 72.2 %, respectively. The
      EC and ACE were also evaluated for all studied wastewaters, and the lowest EC
      value (0.03 kWh (g COD)-1) was obtained for the more charged effluent (HU).

PMID- 27623853
TI  - The relationship between ambient carbon monoxide and heart rate variability-a
      systematic world review-2015.
AB  - The objective of this report is to systematically review the literature
      pertaining to the evidence of the relationship between environmental carbon
      monoxide (CO) and heart rate variability (HRV). For this purpose, reports
      published in English scientific journals were critically reviewed by the authors
      employing PRISMA guidelines. Fifteen studies performed in China, Finland, Israel,
      Mexico, Taiwan, and the USA were identified as eligible to be included in the
      review. Out of these, 10 studies found a significant relationship between CO and
      HRV. However, while a proportion of these studies found an increase in
      parasympathetic tone, other studies found an increase in sympathetic tone.
      Methodological differences across these studies, including population understudy,
      sample size, measurement techniques, and accounting for intervening variables do
      not pave the way for a consensual conclusion. In conclusion, the lack of
      consistent results on the relationship between CO and HRV as reflected by the
      present review calls for more research employing appropriate indoor and outdoor
      ecological designs that account for possible interaction effects and individual
      differences. Involvement of olfactory receptors is suggested as a possible
      underlying mechanism for both short response latencies as well as for the
      diversity between individuals and samples investigated.

PMID- 27623855
TI  - Toxic evaluations of sediments in Tokyo Bay, Japan, using Japanese medaka
      embryos.
AB  - Toxic risks of sediments collected from seven sites in Tokyo Bay were evaluated
      using Japanese medaka embryos. Those sediments with slight pore water were placed
      in grass petri dishes without overlying water. The most remarkable effect in the
      field sediment was to cause hatching delay in embryos, and the longest time until
      hatching took was 12.5 +/- 1.6 days post-fertilization (dpf), although that in
      control group was 10.1 +/- 0.7 dpf. A significant delay in hatching was observed
      at four sites. Because total carbon concentrations were relatively high in
      sediments at three of these four sites, several chemicals were expected to be
      residues in these sites and could cause their delay. Although extreme mortality
      was not observed at all sites, sediments collected from the site close to
      Kawasaki city induced 10 % mortality. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)
      concentrations were remarkably high at this site compared with other sites, and
      thus PAH toxicities could be causing the mortality. Concentration of heavy metals
      such as cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in sediments were also determined, but no
      clear relationship was found between toxicities to embryos and the distribution
      of their concentrations.

PMID- 27623856
TI  - Degradation of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) by UV-254 nm/H2O2 photochemical oxidation:
      kinetics and influence of various process parameters.
AB  - Degradation of dibuytl phthalate (DBP), a plasticizer and also a widely
      distributed endocrine disruptor, by UV-254 nm/H2O2 advanced oxidation process
      (AOP) was investigated in this study. A significant DBP removal of 77.1 % at an
      initial concentration of 1.0 MUM was achieved at UV fluence of 160 mJ/cm2,
      initial H2O2 dosage of 1.0 mM, and pH of 7.6 +/- 0.1. The DBP degradation
      exhibited a pseudo-first-order reaction kinetic pattern, with the rate constants
      linearly increasing with increasing H2O2 dosage while decreasing with increasing
      initial DBP concentration and pH value in a specific range. DBP destruction was
      significantly inhibited in the presence of alkalinity and natural organic matter
      (NOM), two known factors that should be taken a serious consideration of in the
      research and design of UV/H2O2-based AOPs. Presence of common inorganic anions
      (i.e., Cl-, SO42-, and NO3-) and metal cations (i.e., Fe3+ and Zn2+) had a slight
      impact on the degradation of DBP, although Cu2+ could improve the degradation
      efficiency even at a concentration as low as 0.01 mg/L, suggesting a strong
      potential of applying UV/H2O2 for the removal of DBP with an environmental
      relevant level of copper.

PMID- 27623857
TI  - Assessment of elemental composition and properties of copper smelter-affected
      dust and its nano- and micron size fractions.
AB  - A comprehensive approach has been developed to the assessment of composition and
      properties of atmospherically deposited dust in the area affected by a copper
      smelter. The approach is based on the analysis of initial dust samples, dynamic
      leaching of water soluble fractions in a rotating coiled column (RCC) followed by
      the determination of recovered elements and characterization of size, morphology
      and elemental composition of nano-, submicron, and micron particles of dust
      separated using field-flow fractionation in a RCC. Three separated size fractions
      of dust (<0.2, 0.2-2, and >2 MUm) were characterized by static light scattering
      and scanning electron microscopy, whereupon the fractions were analyzed by ICP
      AES and ICP-MS (after digestion). It has been evaluated that toxic elements,
      which are characteristics for copper smelter emissions (As, Cu, Zn), are
      accumulated in fraction >2 MUm. At the same time, up to 2.4, 3.1, 8.2, 6.7 g/kg
      of As, Cu, Zn, Pb, correspondently, were found in nanoparticles (<0.2 MUm). It
      has been also shown that some trace elements (Sn, Sb, Ag, Bi, and Tl) are
      accumulated in fraction <0.2, and their content in this fraction may be one order
      of magnitude higher than that in the fraction >2 MUm, or the bulk sample. It may
      be assumed that Sn, Sb, Ag, Bi, Tl compounds are adsorbed onto the finest dust
      particles as compared to As, Cu, Zn compounds, which are directly emitted from
      the copper smelter as microparticles.

PMID- 27623858
TI  - Trace metals in target tissues and stomach contents of the top predator sailfish
      Istiophorus platypterus from the Eastern Pacific: concentrations and contrasting
      behavior of biomagnification.
AB  - Cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc were analyzed in the dorsal muscle, liver, gonad,
      and stomach contents of 67 sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus, from the Eastern
      Pacific. Muscle exhibited the following pattern (MUg/g wet weight): Zn (15.05 +/-
      1.24) > Cu (0.461 +/- 0.026) > Cd (0.434 +/- 0.099) > Pb (0.025 +/- 0.001); liver
      Zn (119.1 +/- 7.6) > Cd (95.1 +/- 11.0) > Cu (39.7 +/- 2.6) > Pb (0.047 +/-
      0.004); and gonad Zn (96.8 +/- 7.8) > Cd (2.16 +/- 0.38) > Cu (2.08 +/- 0.14) >
      Pb (0.033 +/- 0.003). Significant (p < 0.05) correlations were observed between
      elements, length, and weight. I. platypterus feed mainly on fishes and
      cephalopods with variable concentrations (MUg/g wet weight) of Cd (0.081-11.41),
      Pb (0.002-0.057), Cu (0.204-4.35), and Zn (3.23-86.6). Of the four analyzed
      elements, only Pb was biomagnified (BMF = 1.85). According to the regulatory
      limits, muscle exhibited Cd concentrations higher than the Official Mexican
      Standard, WHO, FDA (28 % of samples), and the European Union (40 %) regulations.

PMID- 27623860
TI  - Approach to the management of pregnancy in patients with pseudoxanthoma
      elasticum: a review.
AB  - Management of pregnancy in patients with rare diseases is often guided by
      incomplete knowledge because of a lack of high-quality case control studies or
      single-centre experience. Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an autosomal
      recessive metabolic disorder that results in calcification of elastic fibres of
      the skin, retina, and arteries, leading to skin lesions, eventual central visual
      loss, and potential arterial insufficiency in most patients. It is due to
      mutations in ABCC6, which encodes the eponymous membrane transport protein. We
      review the literature on pregnancy in PXE, including the effects of the diseases
      on pregnancy and its complications, the effect of PXE on the foetus, and the
      effects of pregnancy on PXE, and conclude that in the majority of pregnancies in
      women with PXE, the outcome for mother, baby, and the disease is uneventful. We
      also provide recommendations for managing pregnancy in PXE.

PMID- 27623859
TI  - Ciliated protozoa community of a combined UASB-activated sludge system in
      southeastern Brazil.
AB  - The aims of the present study were (1) to evaluate the abundance and taxonomic
      composition of ciliated protozoa in the activated sludge of a full-scale combined
      anaerobic-aerobic system operating in a tropical country and (2) to study the
      relationship between the effluent quality, the physicochemical variables, and the
      ciliates present in the operating system. The total ciliate fauna of the
      activated sludge of the Picarrao Wastewater Treatment Plant (Picarrao WWTP) was
      composed of 36 morphospecies belonging to 33 genera. These included 21 species
      observed in the activated sludge samples on the day of collection and 15 species
      found in cultures. The activated sludge of the Picarrao WWTP contained a
      diversified ciliate community composed mainly of indicator organisms. The most
      frequently occurring morphospecies were Aspidisca cicada, Vorticella spp.,
      Gastronauta aloisi, Acineria uncinata, and Epistylis plicatilis complex. These
      results showed that satisfactory operating conditions prevailed at the Picarrao
      WWTP. In the combined UASB-activated sludge system, the presence of Aspidisca
      cicada suggests the occurrence of denitrification in the process while the
      presence of Acineria uncinata and G. alosi indicates the removal of carbonaceous
      organic matter.

PMID- 27623862
TI  - Electronic cigarettes and smoking cessation in England.

PMID- 27623861
TI  - Risk of serious infections with immunosuppressive drugs and glucocorticoids for
      lupus nephritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To perform a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to
      compare the risk of serious infections with immunosuppressive medications and
      glucocorticoids in lupus nephritis. METHODS: A trained librarian performed two
      searches: (1) PubMed for all lupus nephritis trials from the end dates for the
      systematic review for the 2012 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) lupus
      nephritis treatment guidelines and the 2012 Cochrane Systematic Review on
      treatments for lupus nephritis, to September 2013; and (2) PubMed and SCOPUS for
      all lupus trials (excluding lupus nephritis) from inception to February 2014, to
      obtain additional trials for harms data in any lupus patient. The search was
      updated to May 2016. Duplicate title/abstract review and duplicate data
      abstractions by two abstractors independently was performed for all eligible
      studies, including those studies abstracted for the 2012 ACR lupus nephritis
      treatment guidelines and the 2012 Cochrane Systematic Review on lupus nephritis
      treatments. We performed a systematic review and a Bayesian NMA, including
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of immunosuppressive drugs or glucocorticoids
      in patients with lupus nephritis assessing serious infection risk. Markov chain
      Monte Carlo methods were used to model 95 % credible intervals (CrI). Sensitivity
      analyses examined the robustness of estimates. RESULTS: A total of 32 RCTs with
      2611 patients provided data. There were 26 two-arm, five three-arm, and one four
      arm trials. We found that tacrolimus was associated with significantly lower risk
      of serious infections compared to glucocorticoids, cyclophosphamide (CYC),
      mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and azathioprine (AZA) with odds ratios (95 % CrI)
      of 0.33 (0.12-0.88), 0.37 (0.15-0.87), 0.340 (0.18-0.81), and 0.32 (0.12-0.81),
      respectively. Conversely, CYC low dose (LD), CYC high dose (HD), and HD
      glucocorticoids were associated with higher odds of serious infections compared
      to tacrolimus, ranging from 4.84 to 12.83. We also found that MMF followed by AZA
      (MMF-AZA) was associated with significantly lower risk of serious infections as
      compared to CYC LD, CYC HD, CYC-AZA, or HD glucocorticoids with odds ratios (95 %
      CrI) of 0.09 (0.01-0.76), 0.07 (0.01-0.54), 0.14 (0.02-0.71), and 0.03 (0.00
      0.56), respectively. Estimates were similar to pair-wise meta-analyses.
      Sensitivity analyses that varied estimate (odds ratio vs. Peto's odds ratio),
      method (random vs. fixed effects model), data (sepsis vs. serious infection data;
      exclusion of observational studies), treatment grouping (CYC and CYC HD as a
      combined treatment group vs. separate), made little/no difference to these
      estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Tacrolimus and MMF-AZA combination were associated with
      lower risk of serious infections compared to other immunosuppressive drugs or
      glucocorticoids for lupus nephritis. In conjunction with comparative efficacy
      data, these data can help patients make informed decisions about treatment
      options for lupus nephritis. PROSPERO REGISTRATION: CRD42016032965.

PMID- 27623864
TI  - NBLDA: negative binomial linear discriminant analysis for RNA-Seq data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) has become a powerful technology to
      characterize gene expression profiles because it is more accurate and
      comprehensive than microarrays. Although statistical methods that have been
      developed for microarray data can be applied to RNA-Seq data, they are not ideal
      due to the discrete nature of RNA-Seq data. The Poisson distribution and negative
      binomial distribution are commonly used to model count data. Recently, Witten
      (Annals Appl Stat 5:2493-2518, 2011) proposed a Poisson linear discriminant
      analysis for RNA-Seq data. The Poisson assumption may not be as appropriate as
      the negative binomial distribution when biological replicates are available and
      in the presence of overdispersion (i.e., when the variance is larger than or
      equal to the mean). However, it is more complicated to model negative binomial
      variables because they involve a dispersion parameter that needs to be estimated.
      RESULTS: In this paper, we propose a negative binomial linear discriminant
      analysis for RNA-Seq data. By Bayes' rule, we construct the classifier by fitting
      a negative binomial model, and propose some plug-in rules to estimate the unknown
      parameters in the classifier. The relationship between the negative binomial
      classifier and the Poisson classifier is explored, with a numerical investigation
      of the impact of dispersion on the discriminant score. Simulation results show
      the superiority of our proposed method. We also analyze two real RNA-Seq data
      sets to demonstrate the advantages of our method in real-world applications.
      CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a new classifier using the negative binomial model
      for RNA-seq data classification. Our simulation results show that our proposed
      classifier has a better performance than existing works. The proposed classifier
      can serve as an effective tool for classifying RNA-seq data. Based on the
      comparison results, we have provided some guidelines for scientists to decide
      which method should be used in the discriminant analysis of RNA-Seq data. R code
      is available at http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/~xwan/NBLDA.R or
      https://github.com/yangchadam/NBLDA.

PMID- 27623863
TI  - Effect of heated naringenin on immunomodulatory properties and cellular
      antioxidant activity.
AB  - Naringenin is one of the most popular flavonoids derived from citrus. It has been
      reported to be an effective anti-inflammatory compound. Citrus fruit may be used
      raw, cooked, stewed, or boiled. The present study was conducted to investigate
      the effect of thermal processes on naringenin in its immunomodulatory and
      cellular antioxidant activities. The effects of flavonoids on B and T cell
      proliferation were assessed on splenocytes stimulated or not with mitogens.
      However, their effects on cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and natural killer (NK)
      activities were assessed in splenocytes co-incubated with target cells. The
      amount of nitric oxide production and the lysosomal enzyme activity were
      evaluated in vitro on mouse peritoneal macrophages. Cellular antioxidant activity
      in splenocytes and macrophages was determined by measuring the fluorescence of
      the dichlorofluorescin (DCF). Our findings revealed that naringenin induces B
      cell proliferation and enhances NK activity. The highest concentration of native
      naringenin exhibits a significant proliferation of T cells, induces CTL activity,
      and inhibits cellular oxidation in macrophages. Conversely, it was observed that
      when heat-processed, naringenin improves the cellular antioxidant activity in
      splenocytes, increases the cytotoxic activity of NK cells, and suppresses the
      cytotoxicity of T cells. However, heat treatment maintains the anti-inflammatory
      potency of naringenin.

PMID- 27623866
TI  - Results and Functional Outcomes of Structural Fresh Osteochondral Allograft
      Transfer for Treatment of Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus in a Highly Active
      Population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Structural fresh osteochondral allograft transfer is an appropriate
      treatment option for large osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs),
      specifically lesions involving the shoulder of the talus. Sparse literature
      exists regarding functional outcome following this surgery in high-demand
      populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a 2-year period, a single surgeon
      performed 8 structural allograft transfers for treatment of large OLTs in an
      active duty US military population. Lesion morphology and magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) stage were recorded. Preoperative and latest postoperative American
      Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot-ankle and pain visual analog
      scores were compared. RESULTS: Eight male service members with mean age 34.4
      years underwent structural allograft transfer for OLTs with mean MRI stage of 4.9
      and a mean lesion volume of 2247.1 mm3. Preoperative mean AOFAS hindfoot-ankle
      score was 49.6, and mean pain visual analog score was 6.9. At mean follow-up of
      28.5 months, postoperative mean AOFAS score was 73, and mean pain visual analog
      score was 4.5, representing overall improvements of 47% and 35%, respectively.
      Three patients were considered treatment failures secondary to continued ankle
      disability (2) or graft resorption requiring ankle arthrodesis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite modest improvements in short-term functional outcome scores, large
      osteochondral lesions requiring structural allograft transfer remain difficult to
      treat, particularly in high-demand patient populations. Surgeons should counsel
      patients preoperatively on realistic expectations for return to function
      following structural allograft transfer procedures. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Level IV:
      Retrospective study.

PMID- 27623865
TI  - Modification of Distal Tibiofibular Relationship After a Mild Syndesmotic Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hypothesis of this study is that a sprain or tear of 1 or more of
      the 3 syndesmotic ligaments will result in a significant change in the osseous
      anatomy relationship when comparing injured to uninjured syndesmosis. Our
      secondary objective was to determine whether injuries to the syndesmosis as
      diagnosed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be found using static
      imaging. METHODS: This is a descriptive radiological study of ankle MRI reports
      over a 12-year period, from 2 different institutions, and divided in two groups:
      normal and injured syndesmotic ligaments. A series of 6 lengths and 2 angles were
      measured on MRI axial views that describe the rotation, lateral, and
      anteroposterior translational relation between the distal tibia and fibula.
      Parameters from injured and uninjured ankles were compared using Student's t
      test. RESULTS: Fifty uninjured syndesmosis were compared to 64 injured
      syndesmoses. The majority of syndesmosis injuries concerned either an anterior
      inferior tibiofibular ligament sprain or tear. There was a significant difference
      in the anatomic position of the tibia and the fibula between injured and
      uninjured syndesmosis. CONCLUSIONS: The anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
      is the most commonly injured ligament in the syndesmosis in sports injury and
      results in subtle variations in the syndesmotic anatomy, which plain radiographs
      cannot assess. Because of the previously validated computed tomography scan
      measurement, this study demonstrates a potential to identify syndesmotic injury
      on other more accessible imaging modalities, such as computed tomography scan, by
      using a well-defined measurement system. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Diagnostic, Level
      III : Retrospective, Radiologic Study.

PMID- 27623867
TI  - Usefulness of Lung Ultrasound in Neonatal Congenital Heart Disease (LUSNEHDI):
      Lung Ultrasound to Assess Pulmonary Overflow in Neonatal Congenital Heart
      Disease.
AB  - This study aimed to explore the pattern of lung ultrasound (LUS) in newborns with
      congenital heart disease (CHD) and to investigate the accuracy of LUS assessing
      pulmonary overflow (PO) during the first days of life. Lung ultrasound was
      performed in 51 newborns during the first days of life, and newborns were
      classified in two groups depending on the predisposition to develop POas
      evaluated by the abundance of B-lines. The results were compared to the physical
      examination (PE), chest X-ray, and echocardiography. In both groups there were no
      differences in abundance of B-lines during the first days of life, but those with
      a type of CHD with a trend to develop PO had a higher B-lines score after 72 h (p
      < 0.05) with a good correlation with echocardiography findings and with a better
      sensibility than PE and chest X-ray. We found that LUS is a reliable tool for the
      diagnosis of PO and may be useful to monitor and optimize therapy, which should
      be further validated in multicentre studies.

PMID- 27623869
TI  - Impaired social cognition in violent offenders: perceptual deficit or cognitive
      bias?
AB  - Aggressive behavior is assumed to be associated with certain patterns of social
      information processing. While some theories link aggression to a tendency to
      interpret ambiguous stimuli as hostile (i.e., enhanced sensitivity to anger),
      others assume an insufficient ability to perceive emotional expressions,
      particularly fear. Despite compelling evidence to support both theories, no
      previous study has directly investigated the predictions made by these two
      accounts in aggressive populations. The aim of the current study was to test
      processing patterns for angry and fearful facial expressions in violent offenders
      (VOs) and healthy controls (CTLs) and their association with self-reported
      aggression and psychopathy scores. In Experiment 1, we assessed perceptual
      sensitivity to neutral-emotional (angry, fearful, happy) blends in a task which
      did not require categorization, but an indication whether the stimulus is neutral
      or emotional. In Experiment 2, we assessed categorization performance for
      ambiguous fearful-happy and angry-happy blends. No group differences were
      revealed in Experiment 1, while Experiment 2 indicated a deficit in the
      categorization of ambiguous fearful blends in the VO group. Importantly, this
      deficit was associated with both self-reported psychopathy and aggression in the
      VO, but not the CTL group. The current study provides evidence for a deficient
      categorization of fearful expressions and its association with self-reported
      aggression and psychopathy in VOs, but no support for heightened sensitivity to
      anger. Furthermore, the current findings indicate that the deficit is tied to
      categorization but not detection stages of social information processing.

PMID- 27623870
TI  - Caveolin-1: a novel prognostic biomarker of radioresistance in cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Caveolin-1 is a membrane protein highly expressed in many tumors and
      plays an important role in tumor progression and metastasis. This review
      describes the structure of the Caveolin-1 protein and its pre-clinical and
      clinical significance, demonstrating that Caveolin-1 is a novel biomarker for
      radioresistance which has the promising potential to improve the clinical outcome
      of cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment. SUMMARY: Targeted radiation
      therapy has shown immense benefits for cancer treatment. However, one of the
      major challenges for effective clinical outcome of radiation therapy for cancer
      patients is the development of radioresistance during radiation treatment. As a
      consequence, radiation therapy becomes a less effective modality for successful
      clinical outcome. Furthermore, a radioresistant tumor has the ability to repair
      its genome, and therefore becomes more aggressive and metastasizes. The plausible
      mechanisms for tumor radioresistance include the rapid DNA repair, somatic
      mutations in tumor oncogenes, aberrant activation of kinase pathways, and changes
      in the tumor microenvironment including tumor hypoxia, tumor vasculature, and
      cancer stem cells. Caveolin-1 is significantly upregulated in certain cancer
      cells and aberrantly mediates downstream signaling mechanisms. Notably, numerous
      recent research reports have shown the role of Caveolin-1 in tumor
      radioresistance and poor treatment outcome. Thus, Caveolin-1 could be a novel
      prognostic biomarker to monitor tumor radioresistance in cancer patients
      undergoing radiation therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Caveolin-1 has the promising potential
      to become a novel prognostic biomarker to monitor tumor radioresistance and
      radiation response specifically in the prostate, pancreas, and lung cancer.

PMID- 27623868
TI  - Epigenetic Control of Reprogramming and Transdifferentiation by Histone
      Modifications.
AB  - Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotent stem cells or transdifferentiate
      to another lineage cell type. Much efforts have been made to unravel the
      epigenetic mechanisms underlying the cell fate conversion. Histone modifications
      as the major epigenetic regulator are implicated in various aspects of
      reprogramming and transdifferentiation. Here, we discuss the roles of histone
      modifications on reprogramming and transdifferentiation and hopefully provide new
      insights into induction and promotion of the cell fate conversion by modulating
      histone modifications.

PMID- 27623927
TI  - Insulin receptor substrate-1 time-dependently regulates bone formation by
      controlling collagen Ialpha2 expression via miR-342.
AB  - Insulin promotes bone formation via a well-studied canonical signaling pathway.
      An adapter in this pathway, insulin-receptor substrate (IRS)-1, has been
      implicated in the diabetic osteopathy provoked by impaired insulin signaling. To
      further investigate IRS-1's role in the bone metabolism, we generated Irs-1
      deficient Irs-1smla/smla mice. These null mice developed a spontaneous mutation
      that led to an increase in trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) in 12-mo-old, but not in
      2-mo-old mice. Analyses of the bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) from these mice
      revealed their differential expression of osteogenesis-related genes and miRNAs.
      The expression of miR-342, predicted and then proven to target the gene encoding
      collagen type Ialpha2 (COL1A2), was reduced in BMSCs derived from Irs-1-null
      mice. COL1A2 expression was then shown to be age dependent in osteoblasts and
      BMSCs derived from Irs-1smla/smla mice. After the induction of osteogenesis in
      BMSCs, miR-342 expression correlated inversely with that of Col1a2 Further,
      Col1a2-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
      activity and inhibited BMSC differentiation into osteocyte-like cells, both in
      wild-type (WT) and Irs-1smla/smla mice. Conversely, in Irs-1smla/smla osteocytes
      overexpressing COL1A2, ALP-positive staining was stronger than in WT osteocytes.
      In summary, we uncovered a temporal regulation of BMSC differentiation/bone
      formation, controlled via Irs-1/miR-342 mediated regulation of Col1a2 expression.
      Guo, Y., Tang, C.-Y., Man, X.-F., Tang, H.-N., Tang, J., Wang, F., Zhou, C.-L.,
      Tan, S.-W., Feng, Y.-Z., Zhou, H.-D. Insulin receptor substrate-1 time
      dependently regulates bone formation by controlling collagen Ialpha2 expression
      via miR-342.

PMID- 27623930
TI  - Important role of endocannabinoid signaling in the development of functional
      vision and locomotion in zebrafish.
AB  - The developmental role of the endocannabinoid system still remains to be fully
      understood. Here, we report the presence of a complete endocannabinoid system
      during zebrafish development and show that the genes that code for enzymes that
      catalyze the anabolism and catabolism (mgll and dagla) of the endocannabinoid, 2
      AG (2-arachidonoylglycerol), as well as 2-AG main receptor in the brain,
      cannabinoid receptor type 1, are coexpressed in defined regions of axonal growth.
      By using morpholino-induced transient knockdown of the zebrafish Daglalpha
      homolog and its pharmacologic rescue, we suggest that synthesis of 2-AG is
      implicated in the control of axon formation in the midbrain-hindbrain region and
      that animals that lack Daglalpha display abnormal physiological behaviors in
      tests that measure stereotyped movement and motion perception. Our results
      suggest that the well-established role for 2-AG in axonal outgrowth has
      implications for the control of vision and movement in zebrafish and, thus, is
      likely common to all vertebrates.-Martella, A., Sepe, R. M., Silvestri, C., Zang,
      J., Fasano, G., Carnevali, O., De Girolamo, P., Neuhauss, S. C. F., Sordino, P.,
      Di Marzo, V. Important role of endocannabinoid signaling in the development of
      functional vision and locomotion in zebrafish.

PMID- 27623928
TI  - Targeting iodothyronine deiodinases locally in the retina is a therapeutic
      strategy for retinal degeneration.
AB  - Recent studies have implicated thyroid hormone (TH) signaling in cone
      photoreceptor viability. Using mouse models of retinal degeneration, we found
      that antithyroid treatment preserves cones. This work investigates the
      significance of targeting intracellular TH components locally in the retina. The
      cellular TH level is mainly regulated by deiodinase iodothyronine (DIO)-2 and -3.
      DIO2 converts thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3), which binds to the TH
      receptor, whereas DIO3 degrades T3 and T4. We examined cone survival after
      overexpression of DIO3 and inhibition of DIO2 and demonstrated the benefits of
      these manipulations. Subretinal delivery of AAV5-IRBP/GNAT2-DIO3, which directs
      expression of human DIO3 specifically in cones, increased cone density by 30-40%
      in a Rpe65-/- mouse model of Lebers congenital amaurosis (LCA) and in a Cpfl1
      mouse with Pde6c defect model of achromatopsia, compared with their respective
      untreated controls. Intravitreal and topical delivery of the DIO2 inhibitor
      iopanoic acid also significantly improved cone survival in the LCA model mice.
      Moreover, the expression levels of DIO2 and Slc16a2 were significantly higher in
      the diseased retinas, suggesting locally elevated TH signaling. We show that
      targeting DIOs protects cones, and intracellular inhibition of TH components
      locally in the retina may represent a novel strategy for retinal degeneration
      management.-Yang, F., Ma, H., Belcher, J., Butler, M. R., Redmond, T. M., Boye,
      S. L., Hauswirth, W. W., Ding, X.-Q. Targeting iodothyronine deiodinases locally
      in the retina is a therapeutic strategy for retinal degeneration.

PMID- 27623929
TI  - Oleoylethanolamine and palmitoylethanolamine modulate intestinal permeability in
      vitro via TRPV1 and PPARalpha.
AB  - Cannabinoids modulate intestinal permeability through cannabinoid receptor 1
      (CB1). The endocannabinoid-like compounds oleoylethanolamine (OEA) and
      palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) play an important role in digestive regulation, and
      we hypothesized they would also modulate intestinal permeability. Transepithelial
      electrical resistance (TEER) was measured in human Caco-2 cells to assess
      permeability after application of OEA and PEA and relevant antagonists. Cells
      treated with OEA and PEA were stained for cytoskeletal F-actin changes and lysed
      for immunoassay. OEA and PEA were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry. OEA (applied apically, logEC50 -5.4) and PEA (basolaterally,
      logEC50 -4.9; apically logEC50 -5.3) increased Caco-2 resistance by 20-30% via
      transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV)-1 and peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha. Preventing their degradation (by inhibiting
      fatty acid amide hydrolase) enhanced the effects of OEA and PEA. OEA and PEA
      induced cytoskeletal changes and activated focal adhesion kinase and ERKs 1/2,
      and decreased Src kinases and aquaporins 3 and 4. In Caco-2 cells treated with
      IFNgamma and TNFalpha, OEA (via TRPV1) and PEA (via PPARalpha) prevented or
      reversed the cytokine-induced increased permeability compared to vehicle (0.1%
      ethanol). PEA (basolateral) also reversed increased permeability when added 48 or
      72 h after cytokines (P < 0.001, via PPARalpha). Cellular and secreted levels of
      OEA and PEA (P < 0.001-0.001) were increased in response to inflammatory
      mediators. OEA and PEA have endogenous roles and potential therapeutic
      applications in conditions of intestinal hyperpermeability and inflammation.
      Karwad, M. A., Macpherson, T., Wang, B., Theophilidou, E., Sarmad, S., Barrett,
      D. A., Larvin, M., Wright, K. L., Lund, J. N., O'Sullivan, S. E.
      Oleoylethanolamine and palmitoylethanolamine modulate intestinal permeability in
      vitro via TRPV1 and PPARalpha.

PMID- 27623931
TI  - [Burnout in Nursing Professionals Performing Overtime Workdays in Emergency and
      Critical Care Departments. Spain].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Burnout syndrome is a disorder that seriously affects people who
      suffer it, the institutions in which they work and the quality of healthcare. It
      is of great interest to advance in burnout research for its possible prevention.
      The aim of this work was to study the levels of burnout syndrome in nurses of
      emergency department with overtime workdays and to know the relationship between
      burnout and personality characteristics. METHODS: Multicenter cross-sectional
      study with a sample of 1225 emergency nurses from the Andalusian Health Service.
      Demographic, social and occupational variables were recorded. Burnout was
      assessed with Maslach Burnout Inventory and personality factors with NEO-Five
      Factor Inventory. Descriptive analysis of the variables, independent means
      hypothesis contrast and bayesian analysis were done. RESULTS: 44.1% of nurses who
      perform overtime workdays have high burnout versus a 38% for those without such
      overload. These differences have been also found in burnout dimensions,
      especially in emotional exhaustion (15.3% versus 10.8%) and depersonalization
      (17.9% versus 11.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Overtime workdays performed by emergency
      nurses seems to have a negative on them and it could also influence the
      development of burnout syndrome.

PMID- 27623932
TI  - [Motivations and Perceived Barriers to Initiate or Sustain Breastfeeding among
      Spanish Women].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Breastfeeding for its multiple benefits is the best cost-effective
      health intervention and should be a public health priority. The aim of this study
      was to determine motivations and barriers perceived by mothers to initiate or to
      maintain breastfeeding. METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational study was
      carried in 2013 out among 569 mothers resident in Spain, with children under the
      age of 2, who completed a structured questionnaire. A two-stage sampling,
      stratified by Autonomous Communities and non-probabilistic within each community
      was used. RESULTS: 88% of the mothers were breastfeeding their children or had
      breastfed. At the time of the survey 66.6% had stopped breastfeeding, and the
      average age for weaning was 6.4 (SD 3.8) months. The main reason for stopping
      breastfeeding was maternal perceptions of insufficient milk supply (29%). The
      second reason was going back to work (18%). 67% of the mothers said that they
      made the decision to breastfeed on their own. The main disadvantages reported
      were: the difficulty to reconcile breastfeeding and work (43%), breastfeeding in
      public places (39%), more frequent nighttime awakenings (62%) and the reduced
      weight gain of the baby (29%). Going back to work was the main reason for
      choosing formula feeding (34%) and also for initiating partial breastfeeding
      (39%). CONCLUSIONS: The main disadvantages reported were: the difficulty to
      reconcile breastfeeding and work, breastfeeding in public places, more frequent
      nighttime awakenings and the reduced weight gain of the baby. Going back to work
      was the main reason for choosing formula feeding and also for initiating partial
      breastfeeding.

PMID- 27623934
TI  - Opportunities for Preventing Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is rapidly increasing in incidence in many
      Western societies, requires demanding treatment, and is associated with a poor
      prognosis, therefore preventive measures are highly warranted. To assess the
      opportunities for prevention, we reviewed the available literature and identified
      seven main potentially preventive targets. Preventive effects were found on the
      basis of medium-level observational evidence following treatment of
      gastroesophageal reflux disease (using both medication and surgery) and tobacco
      smoking cessation, which should be clinically recommended among exposed patients.
      Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs appear to prevent EAC, and the limited
      existing data also indicate a protective effect of medication with statins or
      hormone replacement therapy in women, but current evidence is insufficient to
      guide clinical decision-making regarding these drugs. The evidence is presently
      insufficient to assess the potentially preventive role of weight loss. Whether
      avoidance of eradication of Helicobacter pylori prevents EAC is not studied, but
      there is no evidence that such eradication increases symptoms of gastroesophageal
      reflux or prevalence of erosive esophagitis. The introduction of preventive
      actions should be tailored toward high-risk individuals, that is, older men with
      obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease and individuals with Barrett
      esophagus rather than the population at large. Cancer Prev Res; 9(11); 828-34.
      (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27623935
TI  - Hb E-beta-Thalassemia in Five Indian States.
AB  - Hb E [beta26(B8)Glu->Lys; HBB: c.79G > A]-beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) has an
      extremely variable clinical presentation. We report the clinical features of
      these patients from five Indian states together with their hematological and
      molecular characteristics. Seventy-eight Hb E-beta-thal patients from different
      regions [West Bengal (30), Maharashtra (21), Uttar Pradesh (13), Bihar (11),
      Orissa (3)] were clinically evaluated along with hematological profiles and
      molecular characteristics (beta-thal mutations, XmnI polymorphisms, alpha
      genotypes). Twenty-nine of the 78 patients had a mild clinical presentation
      (clinical score 2.2 +/- 1.1), while 15 had moderate severity (clinical score 6.1
      +/- 1.2) with occasional transfusion needs, and 34 patients were severely
      affected (clinical score 8.2 +/- 0.5) requiring regular blood transfusions. The
      age at clinical presentation in the severely affected patients was lower (6
      months-10 years) as compared to those with milder symptoms (2 years-34 years).
      Thirty-four patients showed splenomegaly (spleen >=3 cm below the costal margin)
      and five patients were splenectomized. The severe beta+ IVS1-5 (G > C) (HBB: c.92
      + 5G > C) was the most common beta-thal mutation, while seven other mutations
      were also seen. The XmnI [+/+] and [-/-] polymorphisms were seen in 24.1 and
      10.3% of mildly affected patients and 14.7 and 17.6% of severely affected
      patients respectively. A single alpha gene deletion (-alpha3.7/alphaalpha) was
      found in 20.7% of mildly affected and 5.9% of severely affected patients,
      respectively. No specific differences in the clinical, hematological or molecular
      characteristics were observed in the Hb E-beta-thal patients from various
      geographic regions or different ethnic groups.

PMID- 27623936
TI  - Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes and Pathways for Myofiber
      Characteristics in Soleus Muscles between Chicken Breeds Differing in Meat
      Quality.
AB  - In the modern chicken industry, fast-growing broilers have undergone strong
      artificial selection for muscle growth, which has led to remarkable phenotypic
      variations compared with slow-growing chickens. However, the molecular mechanism
      underlying these phenotypes differences remains unknown. In this study, a
      systematic identification of candidate genes and new pathways related to myofiber
      development and composition in chicken Soleus muscle (SOL) has been made using
      gene expression profiles of two distinct breeds: Qingyuan partridge (QY), a slow
      growing Chinese breed possessing high meat quality and Cobb 500 (CB), a
      commercial fast-growing broiler line. Agilent cDNA microarray analyses were
      conducted to determine gene expression profiles of soleus muscle sampled at
      sexual maturity age of QY (112 d) and CB (42 d). The 1318 genes with at least 2
      fold differences were identified (P < 0.05, FDR <0.05, FC >= 2) in SOL muscles of
      QY and CB chickens. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to muscle
      development, energy metabolism or lipid metabolism processes were examined
      further in each breed based on Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, and 11 genes involved
      in these processes were selected for further validation studies by qRT-PCR. In
      addition, based on KEGG pathway analysis of DEGs in both QY and CB chickens, it
      was found that in addition to pathways affecting myogenic fibre-type development
      and differentiation (pathways for Hedgehog & Calcium signaling), energy
      metabolism (Phosphatidylinositol signaling system, VEGF signaling pathway, Purine
      metabolism, Pyrimidine metabolism) were also enriched and might form a network
      with pathways related to muscle metabolism to influence the development of
      myofibers. This study is the first stage in the understanding of molecular
      mechanisms underlying variations in poultry meat quality. Large scale analyses
      are now required to validate the role of the genes identified and ultimately to
      find molecular markers that can be used for selection or to optimize rearing
      practices.

PMID- 27623933
TI  - beta-Cryptoxanthin Reduced Lung Tumor Multiplicity and Inhibited Lung Cancer Cell
      Motility by Downregulating Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor alpha7 Signaling.
AB  - Despite the consistent association between a higher intake of the provitamin A
      carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin (BCX) and a lower risk of lung cancer among
      smokers, potential mechanisms supporting BCX as a chemopreventive agent are
      needed. We first examined the effects of BCX on 4-[methyl nitrosamino]-1-[3
      pyridyl]-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung tumorigenesis in A/J mice. BCX
      supplementation was given daily to the mice starting 2 weeks prior to the
      injection of NNK and continued 16 weeks after NNK injection. BCX supplementation
      resulted in a dose-dependent increase of BCX concentration in both serum and
      lungs of the mice without a significant alteration of vitamin A (retinol and
      retinyl palmitate) concentration. BCX significantly reduced the multiplicity of
      the NNK-induced lung tumor by 52% to 63% compared with the NNK-treated mice
      without BCX supplementation. The protective effect of BCX in the lungs was
      associated with reductions of both mRNA and protein of the homopentameric
      neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha7 (alpha7-nAChR), which has been
      implicated in lung tumorigenesis. We then conducted an in vitro cell culture
      study and found that BCX treatment suppressed alpha7-nAChR expression and
      inhibited the migration and invasion of alpha7-nAChR-positive lung cancer cells
      but not in cells lacking alpha7-nAChR. The activities of BCX were significantly
      attenuated by activators of alpha7-nAChR/PI3K signaling or by overexpression of
      constitutively active PI3K. Collectively, the results suggest that BCX inhibits
      lung tumorigenesis and cancer cell motility through the downregulation of alpha7
      nAChR/PI3K signaling, independent of its provitamin A activity. Therefore, BCX
      can be used as a chemopreventive agent or a chemotherapeutic compound against
      lung cancer. Cancer Prev Res; 9(11); 875-86. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27623937
TI  - MicroRNA-195 regulates proliferation, migration, angiogenesis and autophagy of
      endothelial progenitor cells by targeting GABARAPL1.
AB  - Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common type of venous thrombosis. Successful
      resolution of DVT-related thrombi is important in the treatment of DVT.
      Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic
      choice for DVT-related thrombus resolution; however, the clinical application of
      EPCs faces many challenges. In the present study, the expression of miR-582, miR
      195 and miR-532 under hypoxic or normoxic conditions was measured using
      quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR) and the results showed that the
      increased fold of miR-195 was highest in human EPCs (hEPCs) under hypoxic
      conditions. Then the role and regulating mechanism of miR-195 in improving the
      function of EPCs was investigated. To investigate the effect of miR-195
      inhibition on the autophagy of hEPCs, the expression of the autophagy-related
      genes LC3B and beclin1 was examined using western blotting, and the formation of
      autophagosomes was observed using TEM. The results indicated that the inhibition
      of miR-195 expression could promote autophagy of hEPCs. In addition, we
      investigated the role of miR-195 on the proliferation, migration and angiogenesis
      of hEPCs under hypoxia. The results revealed that miR-195 inhibition promotes
      cell proliferation, migration and angiogenesis of hEPCs under hypoxia.
      Furthermore, GABA type A receptor associated protein like 1 (GABARAPL1) was
      identified as a directed target of miR-195 and GABARAPL1 silencing could decrease
      the effect of miR-195 knockdown on cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis
      and autophagy of hEPCs under hypoxia. Together, these results indicate that miR
      195 regulates cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis and autophagy of hEPCs
      by targeting GABARAPL1.

PMID- 27623938
TI  - Association between selenium intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer: a meta
      analysis of observational studies.
AB  - Quantification of the association between the intake of selenium and risk of
      pancreatic cancer is still conflicting. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to
      summarize the evidence from epidemiological studies of selenium intake with the
      risk of pancreatic cancer. Pertinent studies were identified by a search of
      PubMed and Web of Knowledge to July 2016. The random-effect model was used.
      Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were conducted. Data from six studies
      including 1424 pancreatic cancer cases were used in this meta-analysis. Pooled
      results suggested that highest selenium intake amount compared with lowest amount
      was significantly associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer [summary relative
      risk (RR)=0.659, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.489-0.889, I2=47.6%]. The
      associations were significant both in case-control studies [RR=0.618, 95%CI=0.399
      0.956, I2=59.1%] and Americas [RR=0.570, 95%CI=0.357-0.909, I2=65.6%]. No
      publication bias was found. Our analysis suggested that the higher intake of
      selenium might reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 27623939
TI  - Plant genotypes affect aboveground and belowground herbivore interactions by
      changing chemical defense.
AB  - Spatially separated aboveground (AG) and belowground (BG) herbivores are closely
      linked through shared host plants, and both patterns of AG-BG interactions and
      plant responses may vary among plant genotypes. We subjected invasive (USA) and
      native (China) genotypes of tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) to herbivory by the
      AG specialist leaf-rolling weevil Heterapoderopsis bicallosicollis and/or the
      root-feeding larvae of flea beetle Bikasha collaris. We measured leaf damage and
      leaves rolled by weevils, quantified beetle survival, and analyzed flavonoid and
      tannin concentrations in leaves and roots. AG and BG herbivores formed negative
      feedbacks on both native and invasive genotypes. Leaf damage by weevils and the
      number of beetle larvae emerging as adults were higher on invasive genotypes.
      Beetles reduced weevil damage and weevils reduced beetle larval emergence more
      strongly for invasive genotypes. Invasive genotypes had lower leaf and root
      tannins than native genotypes. BG beetles decreased leaf tannins of native
      genotypes but increased root tannins of invasive genotypes. AG herbivory
      increased root flavonoids of invasive genotypes while BG herbivory decreased leaf
      flavonoids. Invasive genotypes had lower AG and BG herbivore resistance, and
      negative AG-BG herbivore feedbacks were much stronger for invasive genotypes.
      Lower tannin concentrations explained overall better AG and BG herbivore
      performances on invasive genotypes. However, changes in tannins and flavonoids
      affected AG and BG herbivores differently. These results suggest that divergent
      selection on chemical production in invasive plants may be critical in regulating
      herbivore performances and novel AG and BG herbivore communities in new
      environments.

PMID- 27623941
TI  - IGF-I receptor as an emerging potential molecular-targeted for hepatocellular
      carcinoma in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Abnormal expression of insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) is
      associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression with largely unknown
      mechanisms. In this study, IGF-IR expression among different HCC cell lines and
      silencing its gene transcription on effects of HCC were investigated by short
      hairpin RNA (shRNA). Specific shRNA was successfully transfected into Bel-7404 or
      PLC/PRF/5 cells with 90 or 71 % efficiency. The inhibiting rate of IGF-IR at mRNA
      level were 54.9 % in Bel-7404 or 59.6 % in PLC/PRF/5 cells in accordance with its
      protein suppression, with the cell cycles at the G1 phase arrest and decreasing
      cyclinD1 via promoting apoptosis in vitro. With the xenograft models of PLC/PRF/5
      cells inserted specific shRNA in vivo, the tumor-forming time (14.0 +/- 1.1 days)
      or tumor volume (143 +/- 24 mm3) in the shRNA group was significantly lengthened
      or smaller than those in the control group (7.2 +/- 0.8 days or 372 +/- 46 mm3, P
      < 0.001) or in the neg-shRNA group (7.5 +/- 1.0 days or 350 +/- 50 mm3, P <
      0.001). Silencing the IGF-IR gene transcription inhibited cell proliferation or
      xenograft tumor growth of HCC, suggesting that IGF-IR might be a novel potential
      target for HCC gene therapy.

PMID- 27623940
TI  - Aberrant microRNA expression in tumor mycosis fungoides.
AB  - Herein, miRNA candidates relevant to mycosis fungoides were investigated to
      provide data on the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of the
      disease. The miRNA expression profile of skin biopsies from patients with tumor
      stage MF (tMF) and normal donors was compared using miRNA microarrays. Overall,
      154 miRNAs were found differentially expressed between tMF and the control cohort
      with the majority of them being up-regulated (57 %). Among the upregulated
      miRNAs, miR-3177, miR-514b-3p, miR-1267, and miR-1282 were exclusively detected
      in 70 % of tMF. Additional upregulated miRNAs included miR-34a, miR-29a, let-7a*,
      and miR-210, while miR-200c* was identified among the downregulated ones.
      Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to further investigate
      the expression profiles of miR-34a and miR-29a and validated the overexpression
      of miR-34a. Enrichment studies revealed that the target genes of the
      differentially expressed miRNAs were important in several cancer-related
      signaling pathways. The overlapping relationship of the target genes among tMF,
      Sezary syndrome, and atopic dermatitis revealed several common and disease
      specific genes. Collectively, our study modulated miR-34a as a candidate
      oncogenic molecule and miR-29a as a putative tumor suppressor highlighting their
      promising potential in the molecular pathogenesis of tMF.

PMID- 27623942
TI  - Global methylation profiling to identify epigenetic signature of gallbladder
      cancer and gallstone disease.
AB  - Promoter methylation in various tumor suppressor genes is reported to influence
      gallbladder carcinogenesis. Here, we aimed to identify methylation status in
      gallbladder cancer (GBC) by performing a comprehensive genome-wide DNA
      methylation profiling. The methylation status of 485,577 CpG sites were
      investigated using Illumina's Infinium Human Methylation 450 BeadChip array in 24
      tissues (eight each of tumor, adjacent non-tumor, and gallstone). About 33,443
      differentially methylated sites (DMRs) were obtained in the whole human genome,
      of which 24,188 (72 %) were hypermethylated and 9255 (28 %) were hypomethylated.
      The data also revealed that majority of the DMRs are localized on the proximal
      promoter region [Transcription start sites (TSS200, TSS1500) and 5' untranslated
      region (5'UTR)] and first exon. Exclusion of first exon detected a total of
      10,123 (79 %) hypermethylated and 2703 (21 %) hypomethylated sites. Comparative
      analysis of the later with our differential proteomics data resulted in
      identification of 7 hypermethylated or down-regulated (e.g., FBN1, LPP, and SOD3)
      and 61 hypomethylated or up-regulated markers (e.g., HBE1, SNRPF, TPD52) for GBC.
      These genes could be further validated on the basis of their
      methylation/expression status in order to identify their utility to be used as
      biomarker/s for early diagnosis and management of GBC.

PMID- 27623944
TI  - IL-13 receptor alpha2 stimulates human glioma cell growth and metastasis through
      the Src/PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
AB  - Glioma is a malignant tumor that affects all kinds of people all over the world.
      It demonstrates remarkable infiltrative and invasive features. The high
      expression of interleukin-13 receptor subunit alpha-2 (IL-13Ralpha2) reportedly
      plays a pivotal role in some cancers. However, whether IL-13Ralpha2 contributes
      to glioma remains unknown. This study demonstrates that IL-13Ralpha2 is
      significantly up-regulated in human glioma tissue samples. It is also associated
      with late stages of disease progression and diminished survival in glioma
      patients. Gain- and loss-of-function studies demonstrate that IL-13Ralpha2
      promotes the growth, migration, and invasion of glioma cells. In addition,
      mechanistic investigations show that IL-13Ralpha2 activates Scr,
      phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K), Akt, and mTOR. Also, restraining Scr in
      glioma cells attenuates the activation of Scr/PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway by IL
      13Ralpha2, whereas the silencing of Scr markedly rescues the pro-invasive effect
      of IL-13Ralpha2. In conclusion, our results suggest that the high expression of
      IL-13Ralpha2 is significantly associated with the growth and metastasis of human
      glioma cells via the Scr/PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, while IL-13Ralpha2 may be a
      potential therapeutic target for glioma treatment.

PMID- 27623945
TI  - Hint1 suppresses migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in
      vitro by modulating girdin activity.
AB  - Histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 1 (Hint1) is a haploinsufficient tumor
      suppressor gene. Its role in cancer cell migration has not been previously
      speculated. In the current study, we examined the expression of Hint1 in
      metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      patients and further elucidated the effect of Hint1 expression on girdin
      expression and phosphorylation of AKT and ERK1/2 and on the migration of HCC
      cells in vitro. Expression of Hint1 and girdin in primary HCC tissues and
      metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes was determined by RT-PCR assays. HepG2
      cells were transfected with plasmid vectors overexpressing Hint1 or small
      interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting Hint1, girdin, Hint1 plus girdin, or the
      scrambled RNA. Migration and invasion of HCC cells were examined by wound and
      Transwell assays. Protein expression was detected by immunofluorescence and
      immunoblotting assays. RT-PCR assays revealed that the messenger RNA (mRNA)
      transcript levels of Hint1 were markedly lower than those of primary HCC tissues
      and non-metastatic lymph nodes (P < 0.01). By contrast, the mRNA transcript
      levels of girdin were significantly higher than non-metastatic lymph nodes (P <
      0.05). Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of HINT1 resulted in a significant increase
      in the mRNA transcript levels of girdin in HepG2 cells (P < 0.05). Wound assays
      and Transwell assays showed that Hint1 knockdown by siRNA significantly enhanced
      the migration and invasion of HepG2 cells compared to HepG2 cells transfected
      with scrambled siRNA. Hint1 knockdown also led to significantly increased
      phosphorylation of girdin and AKT in HepG2 cells (P < 0.05), which, however, was
      effectively aborted by girdin knockdown by siRNA (P < 0.05). Hint1 is
      downregulated in metastatic lymph nodes and is implicated in migration and
      invasion of HCC cells in vitro by modulating girdin and AKT expression and
      phosphorylation. The Hint1-girdin-AKT signaling axis should be further dissected
      for its role in HCC migration and invasion and may be therapeutically targeted to
      suppress tumor growth and metastasis.

PMID- 27623946
TI  - The impact of the design of payment scales on the willingness to pay for health
      gains.
AB  - The questionnaire format applied in a CV study represents the way in which the
      WTP estimates are obtained. Payment scales are often used in CV studies as the
      questionnaire format of choice. The study summarized here analyzes the impact of
      the design of two payment scales (PS) on the monetary value of QALY gains. The
      scales differed in terms of their end-points, mid points, and coarseness. We
      judged the performance of the two PS against several indicators: the average WTP
      per QALY estimates, post-estimation uncertainty levels, the existence of mid
      point concentration, and the dependency on end-points. Our results show that PS
      design influences respondents' WTP values. The results also suggest that a more
      detailed scale with a more realistic range may help respondents to elicit values
      closer to their "true" WTP values, hence produce higher-quality outcomes. Further
      research and pretesting strategies are suggested to explore and minimize the
      effects of PS design on WTP estimates, which may ultimately increase the quality
      of WTP estimates.

PMID- 27623948
TI  - An alternative effector gene at the type 2 diabetes-associated TCF7L2 locus?

PMID- 27623943
TI  - Tumour biology of obesity-related cancers: understanding the molecular concept
      for better diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - Obesity continues to be a major global problem. Various cancers are related to
      obesity and proper understanding of their aetiology, especially their molecular
      tumour biology is important for early diagnosis and better treatment. Genes play
      an important role in the development of obesity. Few genes such as leptin, leptin
      receptor encoded by the db (diabetes), pro-opiomelanocortin, AgRP and NPY and
      melanocortin-4 receptors and insulin-induced gene 2 were linked to obesity.
      MicroRNAs control gene expression via mRNA degradation and protein translation
      inhibition and influence cell differentiation, cell growth and cell death.
      Overexpression of miR-143 inhibits tumour growth by suppressing B cell lymphoma
      2, extracellular signal-regulated kinase-5 activities and KRAS oncogene. Cancers
      of the breast, uterus, renal, thyroid and liver are also related to obesity. Any
      disturbance in the production of sex hormones and insulin, leads to distortion in
      the balance between cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The
      possible mechanism linking obesity to cancer involves alteration in the level of
      adipokines and sex hormones. These mediators act as biomarkers for cancer
      progression and act as targets for cancer therapy and prevention. Interestingly,
      many anti-cancerous drugs are also beneficial in treating obesity and vice versa.
      We also reviewed the possible link in the mechanism of few drugs which act both
      on cancer and obesity. The present review may be important for molecular
      biologists, oncologists and clinicians treating cancers and also pave the way for
      better therapeutic options.

PMID- 27623949
TI  - Introduction of a new electronic medical record system has mixed effects on first
      surgical case efficiency metrics.
AB  - To evaluate the effect of deploying a new electronic medical record (EMR) system
      on first case starts in the operating room. Data on first case start times were
      collected after implementation of a new EMR (Epic) from June 2015 to May 2016,
      which replaced a legacy system of both paper and electronic records. These were
      compared to data from the same months in the three proceeding years. First
      patient in room (FPIR) on time was true if the patient was in operating room
      before 7:35 AM (or 9:35 AM on Wednesdays) and first case on time start (FCOTS)
      was true if completion of anesthetic induction was less than 20 min after the
      patient entered the operating room (or 35 min for cardiac and neurosurgery).
      Times beyond these cutoffs were quantified as FPIR and FCOTS delays in minutes.
      Average delays were compared by month with two-sample t tests and 95 % confidence
      intervals. There was a significant increase in FPIR delays in the first month
      (11.07 vs. 3.47 min, p < 0.0001), which abated by the fifth month. Post
      implementation FCOTS delays improved by the third month (4.53 vs. 7.10 min, p <
      0.0001). Both results persisted throughout the study. First month FPIR delays
      were not limited to any one specialty. EMRs have the potential to improve
      hospital workflows, but are not without learning curves. FPIR and FCOTS delays
      return to baseline after a few months, and in the case of FCOTS, can improve
      beyond baseline.

PMID- 27623950
TI  - Psychological Distress and Enrollment in Medicaid.
AB  - Adults with poor mental health may want and need insurance to obtain care, but
      symptoms may impede enrollment into public health insurance. This study compares
      Medicaid enrollment responses to eligibility expansions by mental health status
      using a sample of non-elderly adults in both the 2000-2011 Medical Expenditure
      Panel Survey and the National Health Interview Survey (N = 27,494). The impact of
      Medicaid income eligibility thresholds (defined as the maximum family income
      level allowed in each state to be considered eligible for Medicaid) on Medicaid
      enrollment was estimated from linear regression models allowing for differential
      enrollment responses by mental and physical health status. Increasing income
      eligibility thresholds by 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL) was associated
      with a five-percentage-point increase in the probability of Medicaid enrollment
      in the non-disabled population under 300% FPL. The enrollment response to
      Medicaid expansions prior to the Affordable Care Act was stronger for adults
      symptomatic of psychological distress compared with adults without distress and
      compared to adults with chronic physical health problems.

PMID- 27623947
TI  - Investigation of gene-diet interactions in the incretin system and risk of type 2
      diabetes: the EPIC-InterAct study.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The gut incretin hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and
      glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) have a major role in the
      pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Specific genetic and dietary factors have
      been found to influence the release and action of incretins. We examined the
      effect of interactions between seven incretin-related genetic variants in GIPR,
      KCNQ1, TCF7L2 and WFS1 and dietary components (whey-containing dairy, cereal
      fibre, coffee and olive oil) on the risk of type 2 diabetes in the European
      Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-InterAct study.
      METHODS: The current case-cohort study included 8086 incident type 2 diabetes
      cases and a representative subcohort of 11,035 participants (median follow-up:
      12.5 years). Prentice-weighted Cox proportional hazard regression models were
      used to investigate the associations and interactions between the dietary factors
      and genes in relation to the risk of type 2 diabetes. RESULTS: An interaction (p
      = 0.048) between TCF7L2 variants and coffee intake was apparent, with an inverse
      association between coffee and type 2 diabetes present among carriers of the
      diabetes risk allele (T) in rs12255372 (GG: HR 0.99 [95% CI 0.97, 1.02] per cup
      of coffee; GT: HR 0.96 [95% CI 0.93, 0.98]); and TT: HR 0.93 [95% CI 0.88,
      0.98]). In addition, an interaction (p = 0.005) between an incretin-specific
      genetic risk score and coffee was observed, again with a stronger inverse
      association with coffee in carriers with more risk alleles (0-3 risk alleles: HR
      0.99 [95% CI 0.94, 1.04]; 7-10 risk alleles: HR 0.95 [95% CI 0.90, 0.99]). None
      of these associations were statistically significant after correction for
      multiple testing. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our large-scale case-cohort study
      provides some evidence for a possible interaction of TCF7L2 variants and an
      incretin-specific genetic risk score with coffee consumption in relation to the
      risk of type 2 diabetes. Further large-scale studies and/or meta-analyses are
      needed to confirm these interactions in other populations.

PMID- 27623951
TI  - Doped Graphene for DNA Analysis: the Electrochemical Signal is Strongly
      Influenced by the Kind of Dopant and the Nucleobase Structure.
AB  - Doping graphene with heteroatoms can alter the electronic and electrochemical
      properties of the starting material. Contrasting properties should be expected
      when the doping is carried out with electron donating species (n-type dopants) or
      with electron withdrawing species (p-type dopants). This in turn can have a
      profound influence on the electroanalytical performance of the doped material
      being used for the detection of specific probes. Here we investigate the
      electrochemical oxidation of DNA bases adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine on
      two heteroatom-doped graphene platforms namely boron-doped graphene (p-type
      dopant) and nitrogen-doped graphene (n-type dopant). We found that overall, boron
      doped graphene provided the best response in terms of electrochemical signal
      sensitivity for all bases. This is due to the electron deficiency of boron-doped
      graphene, which can promote the oxidation of DNA bases, as opposed to nitrogen
      doped graphene which possesses an excess of electrons. Moreover, also the
      structure of the nucleobase was found to have significant influence on the
      obtained signal. Our study may open new frontiers in the electrochemical
      detection of DNA bases which is the first step for label-free DNA analysis.

PMID- 27623952
TI  - Changes in biochemical analytes in female dogs with subclinical Ancylostoma spp.
      infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ancylostoma spp. is one of the most prevalent canine intestinal
      nematode infections which usually causes subclinical disease in adult dogs and
      has zoonotic implications. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore and
      evaluate the possible pathophysiological changes that Ancylostoma spp. could
      produce in female dogs naturally infected but without clinical signs of disease,
      by screening a wide variety of biochemical markers for potential changes. Samples
      of feces and blood of 45 dogs were collected and fecal flotation and zinc
      sulphate centrifugal flotation were performed. The biochemical analytes
      determined were: the acute-phase proteins C-reactive protein (CRP) and
      haptoglobin (Hp); the lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL); the
      serum iron profile: iron, unsaturated iron binding-capacity (UIBC), and ferritin;
      the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChe); the pancreatic profile: amylase, lipase,
      and trypsin-like immunoreactivity (TLI); the oxidative stress markers: total
      antioxidant capacity (TAC) and paraoxonase -1 (PON-1), along with total protein,
      albumin, and insulin-like growth factor - 1 (IGF - 1). Ancylostoma spp. eggs were
      detected in 29/45 dogs (64.4 %). Dogs were divided into two groups according to
      the results of fecal flotation methods. Group 1: negative fecal floatation (n =
      16), and Group 2: subclinical infection with the observation of Ancylostoma spp.
      type eggs/x 40 objective fields (n = 29). RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U test was used
      to compare the biochemical analyte results between the two groups (P < 0.05).
      Significant increases in CRP (MUg/mL) (median): non-infected dogs: 5.5;
      subclinically infected dogs 18.7; P = 0.03, Hp (g/L) (median): G1: 2.4; G2: 3.3;
      P = 0.03, and UIBC (MUg/dL) (median): non-infected dogs: 139.4; subclinically
      infected dogs: 216; P = 0.0015, and significantly decreased iron (MUg/dL)
      (median): non-infected dogs: 202.5; subclinically infected dogs: 125.7; P =
      0.0041, IGF-1 (ng/mL) (median): non-infected dogs: 224; subclinically infected
      dogs: 123; P = 0.02, and albumin (g/dL) (median): non-infected dogs: 2.8;
      subclinically infected dogs: 2.5; P = 0.04 concentrations were observed in dogs
      with subclinical Ancylostoma spp. infection when compared to non-infected dogs.
      CONCLUSION: These findings provide an overview of the biochemical effects
      produced by patent Ancylostoma spp. in naturally infected dogs without any
      evident clinical signs of disease, which could be considered in differential
      diagnosis, especially in an endemic area for this parasite.

PMID- 27623954
TI  - Integrative oncology: are we doing enough to integrate psycho-education?

PMID- 27623955
TI  - Smart Utilization of Carbon Dots in Semiconductor Photocatalysis.
AB  - Efficient capture of solar energy will be critical to meeting the energy needs of
      the future. Semiconductor photocatalysis is expected to make an important
      contribution in this regard, delivering both energy carriers (especially H2 ) and
      valuable chemical feedstocks under direct sunlight. Over the past few years,
      carbon dots (CDs) have emerged as a promising new class of metal-free
      photocatalyst, displaying semiconductor-like photoelectric properties and showing
      excellent performance in a wide variety of photoelectrochemical and
      photocatalytic applications owing to their ease of synthesis, unique structure,
      adjustable composition, ease of surface functionalization, outstanding electron
      transfer efficiency and tunable light-harvesting range (from deep UV to the near
      infrared). Here, recent advances in the rational design of CDs-based
      photocatalysts are highlighted and their applications in photocatalytic
      environmental remediation, water splitting into hydrogen, CO2 reduction, and
      organic synthesis are discussed.

PMID- 27623953
TI  - Fungal Aflatoxins Reduce Respiratory Mucosal Ciliary Function.
AB  - Aflatoxins are mycotoxins secreted by Aspergillus flavus, which can colonize the
      respiratory tract and cause fungal rhinosinusitis or bronchopulmonary
      aspergillosis. A. flavus is the second leading cause of invasive aspergillosis
      worldwide. Because many respiratory pathogens secrete toxins to impair
      mucociliary immunity, we examined the effects of acute exposure to aflatoxins on
      airway cell physiology. Using air-liquid interface cultures of primary human
      sinonasal and bronchial cells, we imaged ciliary beat frequency (CBF),
      intracellular calcium, and nitric oxide (NO). Exposure to aflatoxins (0.1 to 10
      MUM; 5 to 10 minutes) reduced baseline (~6-12%) and agonist-stimulated CBF.
      Conditioned media (CM) from A. fumigatus, A. niger, and A. flavus cultures also
      reduced CBF by ~10% after 60 min exposure, but effects were blocked by an anti
      aflatoxin antibody only with A. flavus CM. CBF reduction required protein kinase
      C but was not associated with changes in calcium or NO. However, AFB2 reduced NO
      production by ~50% during stimulation of the ciliary-localized T2R38 receptor.
      Using a fluorescent reporter construct expressed in A549 cells, we directly
      observed activation of PKC activity by AFB2. Aflatoxins secreted by respiratory
      A. flavus may impair motile and chemosensory functions of airway cilia,
      contributing to pathogenesis of fungal airway diseases.

PMID- 27623956
TI  - Creating a contemporary clerkship curriculum: the flipped classroom model in
      emergency medicine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The teaching modality of "flipping the classroom" has garnered recent
      attention in medical education. In this model, the lecture and homework
      components are reversed. The flipped classroom lends itself to more interaction
      in "class" and theoretically improved clinical decision-making. Data is lacking
      for this model for students in emergency medicine clerkships. We trialed the
      flipped classroom in our fourth-year student clerkship. Our aim was to learn
      student and faculty facilitator perceptions of the experience, as it has not been
      done previously in this setting. We evaluated this in two ways: (1) participant
      perception of the experience and (2) facilitator (EM physician educator)
      perception of student preparation, participation, and knowledge synthesis.
      METHODS: With permission from its creators, we utilized an online video series
      derived from the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine. Students were
      provided the link to these 1 week prior to the classroom experience as the
      "homework." We developed patient cases generated from the videos that we
      discussed during class in small-group format. Afterward, students were surveyed
      about the experience using four-point Likert items and free-text comments and
      also were evaluated by the facilitator on a nine-point scale. RESULTS: Forty-six
      clerkship students participated. Students deemed the online modules useful at 2.9
      (95 % CI 2.7-3.2). Further, they reported the in-class discussion to be of high
      value at 3.9 (95 % CI 3.8-4.0), much preferred the flipped classroom to
      traditional lecturing at 3.8 (95 % CI 3.6-3.9), and rated the overall experience
      highly at 3.8 (95 % CI 3.7-3.9). Based on preparation, participation, and
      knowledge synthesis, the facilitator judged participants favorably at 7.4 (95 %
      CI 7.0-7.8). Students commented that the interactivity, discussion, and medical
      decision-making were advantages of this format. CONCLUSIONS: Students found high
      value in the flipped classroom and prefer it to traditional lecturing, citing
      interactivity and discussion as the main reasons. The facilitator also viewed
      that the students were not only well prepared for the flipped classroom but that
      they also actively participated in and synthesized knowledge adequately during
      this experience. This study supports the use of the flipped classroom for EM
      clerkship students as a valuable, preferable teaching technique.

PMID- 27623957
TI  - The long-term effects of probiotics in the therapy of ulcerative colitis: A
      clinical study.
AB  - AIM: Intestinal dysbiosis seems to be the leading cause of inflammatory bowel
      diseases, and probiotics seems to represent the proper support against their
      occurrence. Actually, probiotic blends and anti-inflammatory drugs represent a
      weapon against inflammatory bowel diseases. The present study evaluates the long
      term (2 years) effects of combination therapy (mesalazine plus a probiotic blend
      of Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium
      bifidus strain BGN4) on ulcerative colitis activity. METHOD: Sixty patients with
      moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis were enrolled: 30 of them were treated with
      a single daily oral administration of mesalazine 1200 mg; 30 patients received a
      single daily oral administration of mesalazine 1200 mg and a double daily
      administration of a probiotic blend of Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus
      acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus strain BGN4. The treatment was carried
      out for two years and the clinical response evaluated according to the Modified
      Mayo Disease Activity Index. RESULTS: All patients treated with combination
      therapy showed better improvement compared to the controls. In particular, the
      beneficial effects of probiotics were evident even after two years of treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: A long-term treatment modality of anti-inflammatory drugs and
      probiotics is viable and could be an alternative to corticosteroids in mild-to
      moderate ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 27623958
TI  - Population surveillance for microcephaly.

PMID- 27623960
TI  - Rare central venous catheter malposition - an ultrasound-guided approach would be
      helpful: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A central venous catheter enables the measurement of hemodynamic
      variations, such as accurate central venous pressure; catheter malposition may
      induce potentially fatal complications. This case report describes a rare central
      venous catheter tip malposition in the right internal mammary artery. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 56-year-old Japanese woman who presented with severe pneumonia
      secondary to scleroderma was treated under ventilator support because of acute
      respiratory failure. A right central venous catheter was inserted using a
      landmark technique to monitor central venous pressure and administer medications.
      However, central venous waveforms detected by the catheter using a pressure lot
      transducer were later found to be absent. Further imaging studies, including
      plain radiography, computed tomography, and angiography, confirmed central venous
      catheter malposition in the internal mammary artery. Her right internal mammary
      artery was embolized using two interlocking detachable coils, and the central
      venous catheter was removed from her internal mammary artery without further
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: Internal mammary artery malposition is a rare but
      potentially lethal complication of central venous catheter catheterization;
      however, caution should be taken regarding the assessment of risk factors and
      management of a severe complication. An ultrasound-guided approach would be
      helpful.

PMID- 27623962
TI  - Ommaya reservoir implantation for the treatment of contralateral progressive
      traumatic subdural effusion secondary to decompressive craniectomy: a case
      report.
AB  - This report describes a new method for the treatment of traumatic subdural
      effusion (TSE). Following Ommaya reservoir implantation, a patient with
      contralateral progressive TSE secondary to decompressive craniectomy after
      traumatic brain injury made a good postoperative recovery.

PMID- 27623959
TI  - BmncRNAdb: a comprehensive database of non-coding RNAs in the silkworm, Bombyx
      mori.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may play critical roles in a wide
      range of developmental processes of higher organisms. Recently, lncRNAs have been
      widely identified across eukaryotes and many databases of lncRNAs have been
      developed for human, mouse, fruit fly, etc. However, there is rare information
      about them in the only completely domesticated insect, silkworm (Bombyx mori).
      DESCRIPTION: In this study, we systematically scanned lncRNAs using the available
      silkworm RNA-seq data and public unigenes. Finally, we identified and collected
      6281 lncRNAs in the silkworm. Besides, we also collected 1986 microRNAs (miRNAs)
      from previous studies. Then, we organized them into a comprehensive and web-based
      database, BmncRNAdb. This database offers a user-friendly interface for data
      browse and online analysis as well as the three online tools for users to predict
      the target genes of lncRNA or miRNA. CONCLUSIONS: We have systematically
      identified and collected the silkworm lncRNAs and constructed a comprehensive
      database of the silkworm lncRNAs and miRNAs. This work gives a glimpse into
      lncRNAs of the silkworm and lays foundations for the ncRNAs study of the silkworm
      and other insects in the future. The BmncRNAdb is freely available at
      http://gene.cqu.edu.cn/BmncRNAdb/index.php .

PMID- 27623961
TI  - Continuous detection and genetic diversity of human rotavirus A in sewage in
      eastern China, 2013-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotavirus is the leading viral agent for pediatric gastroenteritis.
      However, the case-based surveillance for rotavirus is limited in China, and its
      circulation in the environment is not well investigated. METHODS: From 2013 to
      2014, rotavirus was detected in raw sewage samples of Jinan and Linyi by
      quantitative PCR (qPCR) and conventional reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR).
      After sequenced and genotyped, sequences analysis was conducted. RESULTS: A total
      of 46 sewage samples were collected monthly for the detection of rotavirus, and
      rotavirus was positive in 43 samples (93.5 %, 43/46). By quantitative assessment,
      the concentrations of rotavirus in raw sewage ranged from 4.1 * 10(3) to 1.3 *
      10(6) genome copies (GC)/L in Jinan, and from 1.5 * 10(3) to 3.0 * 10(5) GC/L in
      Linyi. A total of 318 sequences of 5 G-genotypes and 318 sequences of 5 P
      genotypes were obtained. G9 (91.8 %, 292/318) and P[8] (56.0 %, 178/318) were the
      most common G- and P-genotype, respectively. Multiple transmission lineages were
      recognized in these genotypes. Interestingly, an intragenic recombination event
      between two G9 lineages was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided the first
      report of comprehensive environmental surveillance for rotavirus in China. The
      results suggest that the concentration of rotavirus in raw sewage was high, and
      multiple rotavirus transmission lineages continuously co-circulated in Shandong.

PMID- 27623963
TI  - Microbial Degradation of Polyhydroxyalkanoates with Different Chemical
      Compositions and Their Biodegradability.
AB  - The study addresses degradation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) with different
      chemical compositions-the polymer of 3-hydroxybutyric acid [P(3HB)] and
      copolymers of P(3HB) with 3-hydroxyvalerate [P(3HB/3HV)], 4-hydroxybutyrate
      [P(3HB/4HB)], and 3-hydroxyhexanoate [P(3HB/3HHx)] (10-12 mol%)-in the agro
      transformed field soil of the temperate zone. Based on their degradation rates at
      21 and 28  degrees C, polymers can be ranked as follows: P(3HB/4HB) > P(3HB/3HHx)
      > P(3HB/3HV) > P(3HB). The microbial community on the surface of the polymers
      differs from the microbial community of the soil with PHA specimens in the
      composition and percentages of species. Thirty-five isolates of bacteria of 16
      genera were identified as PHA degraders by the clear zone technique, and each of
      the PHA had both specific and common degraders. P(3HB) was degraded by bacteria
      of the genera Mitsuaria, Chitinophaga, and Acidovorax, which were not among the
      degraders of the three other PHA types. Roseateles depolymerans, Streptomyces
      gardneri, and Cupriavidus sp. were specific degraders of P(3HB/4HB). Roseomonas
      massiliae and Delftia acidovorans degraded P(3HB/3HV), and Pseudoxanthomonas sp.,
      Pseudomonas fluorescens, Ensifer adhaerens, and Bacillus pumilus were specific
      P(3HB/3HHx) degraders. All four PHA types were degraded by Streptomyces.

PMID- 27623964
TI  - Scytonemin Plays a Potential Role in Stabilizing the Exopolysaccharidic Matrix in
      Terrestrial Cyanobacteria.
AB  - Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic oxygen-evolving prokaryotes that are distributed
      in diverse habitats. They synthesize the ultraviolet (UV)-screening pigments,
      scytonemin (SCY) and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), located in the
      exopolysaccharide (EPS) matrix. Multiple roles for both pigments have gradually
      been recognized, such as sunscreen ability, antioxidant activity, and heat
      dissipation from absorbed UV radiation. In this study, a filamentous terrestrial
      cyanobacterium Nostoc flagelliforme was used to evaluate the potential
      stabilizing role of SCY on the EPS matrix. SCY (~3.7 %) was partially removed
      from N. flagelliforme filaments by rinsing with 100 % acetone for 5 s. The
      physiological damage to cells resulting from this treatment, in terms of
      photosystem II activity parameter Fv/Fm, was repaired after culturing the sample
      for 40 h. The physiologically recovered sample was further desiccated by natural
      or rapid drying and then allowed to recovery for 24 h. Compared with the normal
      sample, a relatively slower Fv/Fm recovery was observed in the SCY-partially
      removed sample, suggesting that the decreased SCY concentration in the EPS matrix
      caused cells to suffer further damage upon desiccation. In addition, the SCY
      partially removed sample could allow the release of MAAs (~25 %) from the EPS
      matrix, while the normal sample did not. Therefore, damage caused by drying of
      the former resulted from at least the reduction of structural stability of the
      EPS matrix as well as the loss of partial antioxidant compounds. Considering that
      an approximately 4 % loss of SCY led to this significant effect, the structurally
      stabilizing potential of SCY on the EPS matrix is crucial for terrestrial
      cyanobacteria survival in complex environments.

PMID- 27623965
TI  - Influence of Macrofaunal Burrows on Extracellular Enzyme Activity and Microbial
      Abundance in Subtropical Mangrove Sediment.
AB  - Bioturbation and bioirrigation induced by burrowing macrofauna are recognized as
      important processes in aquatic sediment since macrofaunal activities lead to the
      alteration of sediment characteristics. However, there is a lack of information
      on how macrofauna influence microbial abundance and extracellular enzyme activity
      in mangrove sediment. In this study, the environmental parameters, extracellular
      enzyme activities, and microbial abundance were determined and their
      relationships were explored. Sediment samples were taken from the surface (S) and
      lower layer (L) without burrow, as well as crab burrow wall (W) and bottom of
      crab burrow (B) located at the Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong. The results
      showed that the burrowing crabs could enhance the activities of oxidase and
      hydrolases. The highest activities of phenol oxidase and acid phosphatase were
      generally observed in B sediment, while the highest activity of N-acetyl
      glucosaminidase was found in W sediment. The enzymatic stoichiometry indicated
      that the crab-affected sediment had similar microbial nitrogen (N) and
      phosphorous (P) availability relative to carbon (C), lower than S but higher than
      L sediment. Furthermore, it was found that the highest abundance of both bacteria
      and fungi was shown in S sediment, and B sediment presented the lowest abundance.
      Moreover, the concentrations of phosphorus and soluble phenolics in crab-affected
      sediment were almost higher than the non-affected sediment. The alterations of
      phenolics, C/P and N/P ratios as well as undetermined environmental factors by
      the activities of crabs might be the main reasons for the changes of enzyme
      activity and microbial abundance. Finally, due to the important role of phenol
      oxidase and hydrolases in sediment organic matter (SOM) decomposition, it is
      necessary to take macrofaunal activities into consideration when estimating the C
      budget in mangrove ecosystem in the future.

PMID- 27623966
TI  - Dietary Carotenoid Supplementation Enhances the Cutaneous Bacterial Communities
      of the Critically Endangered Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree).
AB  - The rapid spread of infectious disease has resulted in the decline of animal
      populations globally. Amphibians support a diversity of microbial symbionts on
      their skin surface that help to inhibit pathogen colonisation and reduce disease
      susceptibility and virulence. These cutaneous microbial communities represent an
      important component of amphibian immune defence, however, very little is known
      about the environmental factors that influence the cutaneous microbiome. Here, we
      characterise the cutaneous bacterial communities of a captive colony of the
      critically endangered Australian southern corroboree frog, Pseudophyrne
      corroboree, and examine the effect of dietary carotenoid supplementation on
      bacterial abundance, species richness and community composition. Individuals
      receiving a carotenoid-supplemented diet exhibited significantly higher bacterial
      abundance and species richness as well as an altered bacterial community
      composition compared to individuals that did not receive dietary carotenoids. Our
      findings suggest that dietary carotenoid supplementation enhances the cutaneous
      bacteria community of the southern corroboree frog and regulates the presence of
      bacteria species within the cutaneous microbiome. Our study is the second to
      demonstrate that carotenoid supplementation can improve amphibian cutaneous
      bacterial community dynamics, drawing attention to the possibility that dietary
      manipulation may assist with the ex situ management of endangered species and
      improve resilience to lethal pathogens such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
      (Bd).

PMID- 27623967
TI  - Obesity treatment by very low-calorie-ketogenic diet at two years: reduction in
      visceral fat and on the burden of disease.
AB  - The long-term effect of therapeutic diets in obesity treatment is a challenge at
      present. The current study aimed to evaluate the long-term effect of a very low
      calorie-ketogenic (VLCK) diet on excess adiposity. Especial focus was set on
      visceral fat mass, and the impact on the individual burden of disease. A group of
      obese patients (n = 45) were randomly allocated in two groups: either the very
      low-calorie-ketogenic diet group (n = 22), or a standard low-calorie diet group;
      (n = 23). Both groups received external support. Adiposity parameters and the
      cumulative number of months of successful weight loss (5 or 10 %) over a 24-month
      period were quantified. The very low-calorie-ketogenic diet induced less than 2
      months of mild ketosis and significant effects on body weight at 6, 12, and 24
      months. At 24 months, a trend to regress to baseline levels was observed;
      however, the very low-calorie-ketogenic diet induced a greater reduction in body
      weight (-12.5 kg), waist circumference (-11.6 cm), and body fat mass (-8.8 kg)
      than the low-calorie diet (-4.4 kg, -4.1 cm, and -3.8 kg, respectively; p <
      0.001). Interestingly, a selective reduction in visceral fat measured by a
      specific software of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)-scan (-600 g vs. 
      202 g; p < 0.001) was observed. Moreover, the very low-calorie-ketogenic diet
      group experienced a reduction in the individual burden of obesity because
      reduction in disease duration. Very low-calorie-ketogenic diet patients were 500
      months with 5 % weight lost vs. the low-calorie diet group (350 months; p <
      0.001). In conclusion, a very low-calorie-ketogenic diet was effective 24 months
      later, with a decrease in visceral adipose tissue and a reduction in the
      individual burden of disease.

PMID- 27623969
TI  - Proposal for a novel management of indeterminate thyroid nodules on the basis of
      cytopathological subclasses.
AB  - Indeterminate thyroid nodules include heterogeneous lesions that could benefit
      from a differential management. Our aim is to better define the management of the
      Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class III and IV nodules, by
      identifying cytological subcategories among Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid
      Cytopathology class III associated with different clinical risk, by means of
      ultrasound, repeated FNAB, and BRAFV600E molecular analysis. We also evaluated
      the outcome of nodules not operated, over a 5-year follow-up. Out of 460 nodules
      (269 Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class III and 191
      Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class IV), 344 were operated
      on surgical group and 116 followed-up conservatively (follow-up group). Bethesda
      System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class III was divided into four
      subcategories on the basis of cytomorphological features (III-1, III-2, III-3,
      III-4). Clinical risk was defined on the basis of histological, cytological, and
      ultrasound data. Malignancy was higher in Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid
      Cytopathology class III vs. Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology
      class IV (34.4 vs. 26.2 %; p < 0.01). Papillary thyroid carcinoma was the most
      frequent cancer in each Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class
      (35 %). BRAFV600E diagnostic accuracy was 87 %. Repeated FNAB reclassified as
      benign nearly 40 % of nodules, selecting patients where surgery could be spared.
      Significant nodule growth occurred in 13.7 % of nodules, belonging mostly to
      Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class III-2 and Bethesda
      System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class IV. Overall clinical risk was
      higher in Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology III-1, III-4, and
      IV classes. We propose a differential management of Bethesda System for Reporting
      Thyroid Cytopathology III and IV classes and related subcategories: surgery may
      be indicated in Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology class III-1,
      III-4, and IV; a conservative follow-up avoiding repeated FNAB may be
      appropriated in class III-3, while repeated FNAB may be useful in class III-2.

PMID- 27623968
TI  - Glycated albumin: from biochemistry and laboratory medicine to clinical practice.
AB  - This review summarizes current knowledge about glycated albumin. We review the
      changes induced by glycation on the properties of albumin, the pathological
      implications of high glycated albumin levels, glycated albumin quantification
      methods, and the use of glycated albumin as a complementary biomarker for
      diabetes mellitus diagnosis and monitoring and for dealing with long-term
      complications. The advantages and limits of this biomarker in different clinical
      settings are also discussed.

PMID- 27623970
TI  - Evaluation of patient-reported outcomes data in structured diabetes education
      intervention: 2-year follow-up data of patient empowerment programme.
AB  - To examine the effects of a structured group-based education programme, patient
      empowerment programme (PEP), compared with usual care on 2-year changes in
      patient-reported outcomes (PRO) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). A
      prospective observational study of 715 patients (PEP/non-PEP: 390/325) was
      conducted to complete the baseline PRO survey and followed up for 2 years. Health
      related quality of life (HRQOL) was measured using the short-form 12 at baseline
      and annually at two follow-up assessments, which yielded physical and mental
      component summary and SF-6D preference-based scores. Perceived control over
      diabetes and general health status were measured using the patient enablement
      instrument (PEI) and global rating scale (GRS) at follow-ups. When compared with
      non-PEP, PEP participants significantly reported improvement in health condition
      (GRS score > 0; 24.55 % vs 10.16 %; odds ratio = 2.502; P = 0.018) in 2 years and
      enabled the self-perceived control over diabetes (PEI score > 0; 72.20 % vs 38.40
      %; odds ratio = 3.25; P < 0.001) in 1-year follow-up but no sustained effects in
      year 2 (52.65 % vs 39.04 %; odds ratio = 1.366; P = 0.265). There were no
      significant differences between PEP and non-PEP groups in the changes in quality
      of life scores (all P > 0.05) at 1 year. Although HRQOL scores deteriorated over
      2-year period in both groups, PEP participants reported similar changes in HRQOL
      scores to that of non-PEP. PEP for DM patients preserved self-perceived disease
      control and health condition, whereas PEP participants perceived their HRQOL
      similar to that of non-PEP participants. Findings of PRO should be considered
      alongside clinical outcomes when evaluating the overall benefits of PEP.

PMID- 27623972
TI  - Population data and mutation rates of 19 STR loci in seven provinces from China
      based on GoldeneyeTM DNA ID System 20A.
AB  - Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis is a primary tool in forensic casework.
      Population data and mutation rates of STRs are very important for paternity
      testing and forensic genetics. However, the population data and mutation rates of
      STRs in Han nationality based on large samples have still not been fully
      described in China. In this study, the allelic frequencies, forensic parameters,
      and mutation rate of 19 STR loci (D19S433, D5S818, D21S11, D18S51, D6S1043,
      D3S1358, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSFIPO, PentaD, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX, Penta E,
      TH01, D12S391, D2S1338, and FGA) based on the GoldeneyeTM DNA ID System 20A in
      Southern China Han nationality among seven provinces were investigated.
      Furthermore, population stratification of Southern China Han nationality among
      seven provinces was established. The multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot based on
      genetic distances (Fst) showed that the studied populations can be clustered into
      two major groups. However, relationships among populations were weak (Fst <
      0.0043). A total of 376 cases of mutation were detected from the 19 selected loci
      in 15,396 meioses. The average mutation rate for the 19 loci was estimated to be
      1.3 * 10-3 per meiosis. The mutation was mainly single step; the paternal
      mutation rate was higher than the maternal; and paternal mutation rate increases
      with paternal age.

PMID- 27623971
TI  - Serotonin-1A receptor alterations in depression: a meta-analysis of molecular
      imaging studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postmortem studies of people who have successfully committed suicide
      and people with depression have implicated the serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) receptor
      system in the pathophysiology of depression. Several molecular imaging studies
      have investigated alterations in 5-HT1A receptors in patients with depression
      using positron emission tomography and have reported conflicting results.
      METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of studies investigating the relationship
      between depression and 5-HT1A binding. We conducted a comprehensive search of
      Medline, Embase, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Springer databases for relevant
      studies published between January 1999 and October 2015. The meta-analysis was
      conducted in accordance with the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in
      Epidemiology guidelines. RESULTS: Ten studies were included, comprising 218
      patients with depression and 261 healthy controls. The results of these studies
      indicated a reduction in 5-HT1A receptors in mesiotemporal cortex, yielding a
      summary effect estimate of -0.8 (95 % CI -1.36, -0.24). Smaller reductions were
      reported in 5-HT1A receptor binding in the hippocampus, raphe nuclei, insular,
      anterior cingulate cortex and occipital cortex of people with depression. No
      clear effect of depression on 5-HT1A receptors was detected in the amygdala.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reduced 5-HT1A receptor binding was associated with the pathology of
      depression and predicted altered serotonergic neurotransmission in various brain
      regions. These findings increase our understanding of the neurophysiological
      processes underlying depression.

PMID- 27623973
TI  - Extensive unusual lesions on a large number of immersed human victims found to be
      from cookiecutter sharks (Isistius spp.): an examination of the Yemenia plane
      crash.
AB  - Accurate determination of the origin and timing of trauma is key in medicolegal
      investigations when the cause and manner of death are unknown. However,
      distinction between criminal and accidental perimortem trauma and postmortem
      modifications can be challenging when facing unidentified trauma. Postmortem
      examination of the immersed victims of the Yemenia airplane crash (Comoros, 2009)
      demonstrated the challenges in diagnosing extensive unusual circular lesions
      found on the corpses. The objective of this study was to identify the origin and
      timing of occurrence (peri- or postmortem) of the lesions.A retrospective
      multidisciplinary study using autopsy reports (n = 113) and postmortem digital
      photos (n = 3 579) was conducted. Of the 113 victims recovered from the crash, 62
      (54.9 %) presented unusual lesions (n = 560) with a median number of 7 (IQR 3 ~
      13) and a maximum of 27 per corpse. The majority of lesions were elliptic (58 %)
      and had an area smaller than 10 cm2 (82.1 %). Some lesions (6.8 %) also showed
      clear tooth notches on their edges. These findings identified most of the lesions
      as consistent with postmortem bite marks from cookiecutter sharks (Isistius
      spp.). It suggests that cookiecutter sharks were important agents in the
      degradation of the corpses and thus introduced potential cognitive bias in the
      research of the cause and manner of death. A novel set of evidence-based
      identification criteria for cookiecutter bite marks on human bodies is developed
      to facilitate more accurate medicolegal diagnosis of cookiecutter bites.

PMID- 27623975
TI  - Can first trimester maternal serum follistatin like 3 levels predict developing
      gestational diabetes mellitus?
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the first trimester
      maternal serum levels of follistatin like 3 (FSTL3) are altered in patients who
      develop gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: This is a prospective
      nested case-control study that included 170 singleton pregnant women recruited in
      their first trimester. All women were followed up until the delivery and 144 of
      them completed the study. The maternal serum levels of FSTL3 were measured at 11
      14 weeks of gestation. The GDM-affected women (n = 19) were compared with the GDM
      free control women (n = 125) for potential serum biomarkers including the FSTL3
      levels. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in maternal age, maternal
      pre-pregnancy body mass index, and neonatal birth weight between the GDM group
      and the GDM-free control group. Women with GDM had significantly greater weight
      gain during pregnancy than the women without GDM. Serum concentration of
      glycosylated hemoglobin was significantly higher in women with GDM. There were no
      significant differences in serum FSTL3 levels (p = 0.578) between the GDM group
      and the GDM-free control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the first
      trimester maternal serum FSTL3 levels are not altered in women who develop GDM
      and thus do not support the use of serum FSTL3 levels for early prediction of
      GDM.

PMID- 27623974
TI  - Morphologic and Functional Heart Abnormalities Associated to High Modified Tei
      Index in Hypertensive Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: LV dysfunction develops early in hypertension, even previously to
      left ventricular remodeling. AIMS: To determine the frequency of morphologic and
      functional heart abnormalities associated to abnormal modified Tei Index in
      untreated hypertensive (HBP) patients (p) with preserved ejection fraction (pEF).
      METHODS: Case-control study. Three groups: (1) HBP without left ventricular
      hypertrophy (LVH); (2) HBP with LVH; (3) non-HBP controls. Ejection fraction >54
      % identified pEF. LVH measured by Devereux method. Systolic and diastolic
      functions assessed by standard echocardiography and tissue Doppler. 2013 ESH/ESC
      Hypertension Guidelines normal values were considered. Tei index measured at the
      lateral and septal LV walls in apical 4-chamber view by tissue Doppler, value
      >0.40 considered abnormal. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: multifactorial ANOVA test
      adjusted by sex and age, p < 0.05 statistically significant. RESULTS: The study
      included 14 controls, 88 HBP p without LVH, and 19 HBP p with LVH. The HBP p
      sample mean age was 58.7 +/- 13.5 years and 52 (44.1 %) were males. Mean Tei
      Index was 0.35 +/- 0.03 in controls; 0.42 +/- 0.05 in HBP without LVH; and 0.42
      +/- 0.06 in HBP with LVH (p < 0.025). Abnormal Tei Index was present in 2p (14.3
      %) controls; 64 p (72.7 %) HBP without LVH; and 15 p (78.9 %) HBP with LVH (p <
      0.0009). Tissue Doppler's wave was 8.4 +/- 0.9 cm/s in controls; 8 +/- 1.6 cm/s
      in HBP without LVH and 7.8 +/- 1.1 cm/s in HBP with LVH. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Left
      ventricular dysfunction is frequent in HBP p, even without LVH; (2) modified
      tissue Doppler Tei index is a useful tool for the diagnosis of left ventricular
      dysfunction.

PMID- 27623976
TI  - A comparative study of room temperature ionic liquids and their organic solvent
      mixtures near charged electrodes.
AB  - The structural properties of electrolytes consisting of solutions of ionic
      liquids in a polar solvent at charged electrode surfaces are investigated using
      classical atomistic simulations. The studied electrolytes consisted of
      tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate (NEt4-BF4), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium
      tetrafluoroborate (c2mim-BF4) and 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate
      (c8mim-BF4) salts dissolved in acetonitrile solvent. We discuss the influence of
      electrolyte concentration, chemical structure of the ionic salt, temperature,
      conducting versus semiconducting nature of the electrode, electrode geometry and
      surface roughness on the electric double layer structure and capacitance and
      compare these properties with those obtained for pure room temperature ionic
      liquids. We show that electrolytes consisting of solutions of ions can behave
      quite differently from pure ionic liquid electrolytes.

PMID- 27623977
TI  - Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the main meal quality index when
      applied in the UK population.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and
      reliability of the Main Meal Quality Index when applied on the UK population.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: The indicator was developed to assess meal quality in different
      populations, and is composed of 10 components: fruit, vegetables (excluding
      potatoes), ratio of animal protein to total protein, fiber, carbohydrate, total
      fat, saturated fat, processed meat, sugary beverages and desserts, and energy
      density, resulting in a score range of 0-100 points. The performance of the
      indicator was measured using strategies for assessing content validity, construct
      validity, discriminant validity and reliability, including principal component
      analysis, linear regression models and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: The indicator
      presented good reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The Main Meal Quality Index has been
      shown to be valid for use as an instrument to evaluate, monitor and compare the
      quality of meals consumed by adults in the United Kingdom.

PMID- 27623978
TI  - Allergen advisory statements for wheat: do they help US consumers with celiac
      disease make safe food choices?

PMID- 27623979
TI  - Why do women stop breast-feeding? Results from a contemporary prospective study
      in a cohort of Australian women.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Australian guidelines recommend infants be breast-fed for
      at least their first year of life; however, for a variety of reasons many mothers
      cease breast-feeding before this age. The objective of this study was to
      determine the reasons why women stop breast-feeding their infant completely, in
      relation to the age of the infant. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Primiparous Australian women
      aged between 18 and 40 years underwent a self-administered questionnaire-based
      birth cohort study on infant-feeding attitudes, behaviours and feeding patterns.
      Data were extracted from the demographic questionnaire and from questionnaires
      administered at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months of infant age between October 2010 and
      September 2011. RESULTS: Breast-feeding initiation in this cohort was 97%;
      however, by 52 weeks of infant age 46% of mothers had completely ceased breast
      feeding. In those mothers who had ceased breast-feeding before 26 weeks the most
      common reason was 'I did not have enough milk'. In those mothers who had
      completely stopped breast-feeding between 26 and 52 weeks the most common reason
      reported as being very important in the decision to cease breast-feeding was 'My
      baby lost interest'. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal concerns regarding breast trauma, milk
      supply and infant satiety were central mediators of breast-feeding duration among
      these Queensland women. Further research into the antecedents of sucking
      pathologies and reasons for nipple trauma is indicated. Health professionals can
      assist women to recognise cues of hunger and satiety in their infants and
      understand the dynamics and natural history of breast-feeding to prolong breast
      feeding relationships.

PMID- 27623980
TI  - Relevance of non-nutritional calories in mechanically ventilated critically ill
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Overfeeding in critically ill patients is associated with
      many complications. Propofol, dextrose infusion and citrate dialysis provide non
      nutritional calories (NNCs), potentially causing overfeeding. The relevance of
      NNCs for total caloric intake has not been systematically studied.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: We retrospectively studied adult mechanically ventilated
      intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving enteral nutrition with or without
      supplemental parenteral nutrition. Primary outcome was the proportion of NNCs
      (from dextrose, propofol and trisodium citrate) to the total energy intake during
      the first 7 days after ICU admission. In addition, NNC intake groups were
      compared. RESULTS: In total, we identified 146 patients: 142 patients with NNC
      median value of 580 kcal (interquartile range 310-1043 kcal) over 7 days and 4
      patients without NNC intake. The mean proportion of NNCs was larger during the
      first days after ICU admission (30.7-36.1%), because of the start-up phase of the
      nutrition. In the 'propofol' group and the 'dextrose' group this proportion
      levelled off at 6% on day 4. A more stable proportion of 18% was found during the
      first 7 days of ICU admission in the 'citrate' group. CONCLUSIONS: The mean
      proportion of NNCs in patients who receive dextrose and/or propofol is low (6%);
      however, in individual patients it may comprise one-third of the total daily
      calories. Patients receiving trisodium citrate have higher mean non-nutritional
      intakes (18%). As NNC intake can be marked in individual patients, close
      monitoring is warranted when administering high-dose propofol or trisodium
      citrate anticoagulation to prevent overfeeding.

PMID- 27623981
TI  - Long-term treatment of phenylketonuria with a new medical food containing large
      neutral amino acids.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive disease
      caused by deficient activity of phenylalanine hydroxylase. A low phenylalanine
      (Phe) diet is used to treat PKU. The diet is very restrictive, and dietary
      adherence tends to decrease as patients get older. Methods to improve dietary
      adherence and blood Phe control are continuously under investigation.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: A new formula Phe-neutral amino acid (PheLNAA) has been tested
      in this study with the purpose of improving the compliance and lowering blood
      phenylalanine. The formula has been tested for nitrogen balance, and it is
      nutritionally complete. It is fortified with more nutritional additives that can
      be deficient in the PKU diet, such as B12, Biotin, DHA, Lutein and increased
      levels of large neutral amino acids to help lower blood Phe. The new formula has
      been tested on 12 patients with a loading test of 4 weeks. RESULTS: Fifty-eight
      percent of patients had a significant decline in blood Phe concentration from
      baseline throughout the study. The PheLNAA was well tolerated with excellent
      compliance and without illnesses during the study. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion,
      the new formula is suitable for life-long treatment of PKU, and it offers the PKU
      clinic a new choice for treatment.

PMID- 27623983
TI  - Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration with HLA-B, -DRB1 and 
      DQB1 genetic polymorphisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene region associates
      with the risk for several autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. An
      association between vitamin D deficiency and several autoimmune diseases has been
      suggested. We tested the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD)
      concentrations and HLA alleles in pregnant Finnish women. SUBJECTS/METHODS: HLA-B
      (n=395), HLA-DRB1 (n=501) and HLA-DQB1 (n=475) alleles were genotyped in pregnant
      women (mothers of children who later developed type 1 diabetes and mothers of non
      diabetic children). HLA-B alleles were divided into supertypes that share similar
      peptide-binding specificity. Serum 25OHD concentration had been previously
      measured in these women from sera collected during the first trimester of
      pregnancy. Multiple testing was controlled for using the false discovery rate
      method. RESULTS: An association was found between 25OHD concentration and HLA-B44
      supertype (P=0.009); women with HLA-B44 supertype (B*18, B*37, B*40 and B*44
      alleles) had lower 25OHD concentrations. No association was found between HLA
      DRB1 or -DQB1 alleles and 25OHD concentration. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we
      found for the first time an association between HLA genetic polymorphisms and
      25OHD concentration. In future studies, the mechanistic background of this
      association and the role of vitamin D in the regulation of HLA gene expression
      should be investigated.

PMID- 27623982
TI  - Effect of inulin-type fructans on blood lipid profile and glucose level: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to
      assess the effects of inulin-type fructans (ITF) on human blood lipids and
      glucose homeostasis associated with metabolic abnormalities, including
      dyslipidemia, overweight or obesity, and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: The MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were
      systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) before January
      2016. Human trials that investigated the effects of ITF supplementation on the
      lipid profile, fasting glucose and insulin were included using Review Manager
      5.3. RESULTS: Twenty RCTs with 607 adult participants were included in this
      systematic review and meta-analysis. In the overall analysis, the supplementation
      of ITF reduced only the low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) (mean
      difference (MD): -0.15; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.29, -0.02; P=0.03)
      without affecting the other endpoints. Within the T2DM subgroup analysis, ITF
      supplementation was positively associated with a decreased fasting insulin
      concentration (MD: -4.01; 95% CI: -5.92, -2.09; P<0.0001) and increased high
      density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) (MD: 0.07; 95% CI: 0, 0.14; P=0.05).
      Moreover, a reduced fasting glucose tendency was identified only in the T2DM
      subgroup (MD: -0.42; 95% CI: -0.90, 0.06; P=0.09). There was a potential
      publication bias, and few trials were available for the T2DM subgroup analysis.
      CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the use of ITF may have benefits for LDL-c reduction
      across all study populations, whereas HDL-c improvement and glucose control were
      demonstrated only in the T2DM subgroup. Thus, additional, well-powered, long
      term, randomized clinical trials are required for a definitive conclusion.
      Overall, ITF supplementation may provide a novel direction for improving the
      lipid profile and glucose metabolism.

PMID- 27623984
TI  - Stability of physical activity, fitness components and diet quality indices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity (PA), a high level of fitness and a high
      diet quality are positively associated with health. However, information about
      stability of fitness components and diet quality indices is limited. This study
      aimed to evaluate stability of those parameters. METHODS: This study includes 652
      adults (men=57.56 (10.28) years; women=55.90 (8.34) years at follow-up) who
      participated in 2002-2004 and returned for follow-up at the Policy Research
      Centre Leuven in 2012-2014. Minutes sport per day and Physical activity level
      (PAL) were calculated from the Flemish Physical Activity Computerized
      Questionnaire. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), morphological fitness (MORF; body
      mass index and waist circumference) and metabolic fitness (METF) (blood
      cholesterol and triglycerides) were used as fitness components. Diet quality
      indices (Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI), Diet Quality Index (DQI), Mediterranean
      Diet Score (MDS)) were calculated from a diet record. Tracking coefficients were
      calculated using Pearson/Spearman correlation coefficients (rPearson) and intra
      class correlation coefficients (rICC). RESULTS: In both men (rPearson&ICC=0.51)
      and women (rPearson=0.62 and rICC=0.60) PAL showed good stability, while minutes
      sport remained stable in women (rPearson&ICC=0.57) but less in men
      (rPearson&ICC=0.45). Most fitness components remained stable (r?0.50) except some
      METF components in women. In general the diet quality indices and their
      components were unstable (r<0.50). CONCLUSIONS: PAL and the majority of the
      fitness components remained stable, while diet quality was unstable over 10
      years. For unstable parameters such as diet quality measurements are needed at
      both time points in prospective research.

PMID- 27623986
TI  - Spatiotemporal analysis of traffic emissions in over 5000 municipal districts in
      Brazil.
AB  - : Exposure to traffic emission is harmful to human health. Emission inventories
      are essential to public health policies aiming at protecting human health,
      especially in areas with incomplete or nonexistent air pollution monitoring
      networks. In Brazil, for example, only 1.7% of municipal districts have a
      monitoring network, and only a few studies have reported data on vehicle emission
      inventories. No studies have presented emission inventories by municipality. In
      this study, we predicted vehicular emissions for 5570 municipal districts in
      Brazil during the period 2001-2012. We used a top-down method to estimate
      emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the pollutant with the highest emissions, with
      approximately 190 million tons per year during the period 2001-2012). For the
      other traffic-related pollutants, we predicted annual emissions of 1.5 million
      tons for carbon monoxide (CO), 1.2 million tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 209,000
      tons of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), 58,000 tons of particulate matter (PM),
      and 42,000 tons for methane (CH4). From 2001 to 2012, CO, NMHC, and PM emissions
      decreased by 41, 33, and 47%, respectively, whereas those CH4, NOx, and CO2
      increased by 2, 4, and 84%, respectively. We estimated uncertainties in our study
      and found that NOx was the pollutant with the lowest percentage difference, 8%,
      and NMHC with the highest one, 30%. For CO, CH4, CO2, and PM, the values were 22,
      14, 21, and 20%, respectively. Finally, we found that during 2001 and 2012
      emissions increased in the Northwest and Northeast. In contrast, pollutant
      emissions, except for CO2, decreased in the Southeast, South, and part of
      Midwest. Our predictions can be critical to efforts developing cost-effective
      public policies tailored to individual municipal districts in Brazil.
      IMPLICATIONS: Emission inventories may be an alternative approach to provide data
      for air quality forecasting in areas where air quality data are not available.
      This approach can be an effective tool in developing spatially resolved emission
      inventories.

PMID- 27623985
TI  - Decreasing prevalence and time trend of gastroschisis in 14 cities of Liaoning
      Province: 2006-2015.
AB  - To identify trends in the prevalence of gastroschisis on the basis of a large
      population-based observation study with cases identified by the Liaoning Birth
      Defects Registry including 14 cities over the course of a 10-year period. Data
      were obtained from the aforementioned registry which was maintained by the
      Liaoning Women and Children's Health Hospital, a comprehensive care institution
      as well as being responsible for the women's and children's health care guidance
      in this province. Gastroschisis prevalence, percent change, annual percent change
      (APC), and contribution rates of each city were calculated. We observed 747 cases
      of gastroschisis among 3,248,954 live births, for a prevalence of 2.30 per 10,000
      births. The gastroschisis prevalence significantly decreased by 12.63% per year
      in Liaoning Province. Although the decreasing trends were observed in all these
      14 cities, significant results were only observed in Shenyang (APC = -16.31%),
      Tieling (APC = -20.23%), and Chaoyang (APC = -13.50%). Notably, Tieling,
      Shenyang, and Yingkou were the three major cities which contributed almost 37.17%
      of the decreasing trend of gastroschisis in Liaoning Province. In conclusion, our
      findings demonstrate that the prevalence of gastroschisis has been decreasing
      during the recent decade among 14 cities in Liaoning Province.

PMID- 27623987
TI  - NMR-based urinary profiling of lactulose/mannitol ratio used to assess the
      altered intestinal permeability in acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF)
      patients.
AB  - The article presents a simplified NMR-based protocol for urinary profiling of
      lactulose/mannitol ratio (LMR) and demonstrates here its utility to assess
      increased intestinal permeability (IP) in patients with acute on chronic liver
      failure (ACLF). ACLF is a serious clinical complication associated with chronic
      liver disease (cirrhosis). The major risk factor in its development is increased
      IP ('leaky gut'), which has been linked to disease progression and to infectious
      complications. However, IP has seldom been investigated in patients with ACLF,
      even though patients frequently report gastrointestinal disorders and associated
      complications. To this end, we first optimized the NMR-based targeted profiling
      of urinary metabolites (i.e. actulose, mannitol, and creatinine) and subsequently
      used this resulted protocol (a) first to evaluate the altered IP in ACLF patients
      and then (b) to explore its utility for monitoring the treatment response in
      these patients. The normal profiles were obtained for 7 age and sex matched
      healthy volunteers. The results revealed that the urinary LMR excretion was
      significantly higher in ACLF patients compared to normal controls (median ~0.7,
      range (0.12-2.84), vs median ~0.11, range (0.02-0.28), p < 0.001) suggesting that
      the ACLF patients' exhibit altered IP. However, the LMR excretion in six
      clinically improved follow-up ACLF patients was comparable to normal controls
      indicating restored IP after the treatment. The protocol-as demonstrated here
      with ACLF-is equally applicable for evaluating IP or mucosal barrier function in
      other intestinal disorders with reasonable sensitivity and specificity,
      highlighting its general utility. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27623988
TI  - Metal-Free Synthesis of Highly Substituted Pyridines by Formal [2+2+2]
      Cycloaddition under Mild Conditions.
AB  - The synthesis of pyridines through direct intermolecular cycloaddition of alkynes
      and nitriles is a contemporary challenge in organic synthesis. A Bronsted acid
      mediated formal [2+2+2] cycloaddition of heteroalkynes and nitriles was developed
      that proceeds under mild conditions. This constitutes a modular approach to
      highly substituted pyridine cores.

PMID- 27623989
TI  - Molecular Cloning and Expression Profile of Toll-Like Receptor 3 from an Indian
      Coldwater Fish, Schizothorax richardsonii(Gray).
AB  - The innate immune system recognizes pathogens through pattern recognition
      receptors (PRRs), and toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the most important
      PRRs. TLR3 is a unique member of TLR family that recognizes double-stranded RNA
      (dsRNA), a viral replication intermediate. There is a variation in its response
      among diverse fish species toward the same stimulants. We identified and cloned
      TLR3 from Indian snow trout, Schizothorax richardsonii and carried out its
      expression analysis in un-induced and poly (I:C) challenged fish. It has an open
      reading frame (ORF) of 2712 bases that encodes a polypeptide of 904 amino acids.
      The molecular weight of the polypeptide was predicted to be 102.4482 kDa with an
      isoelectric point of 7.40. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) was carried out
      after 24 hours of poly (I:C) treatment and expression of TLR3 was analyzed in
      different tissues. As compared with untreated fish the poly (I:C) challenged fish
      revealed significantly high expression of TLR3 in kidney followed by liver and
      gills.

PMID- 27623990
TI  - A novel points system to predict the prognosis of ulnar neuropathy at the elbow.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this study we aimed to identify prognostic factors of ulnar
      neuropathy at the elbow (UNE) and developed a scoring system to establish the
      prognosis. METHODS: We collected baseline clinical, electrophysiologic, and
      ultrasonographic data from 2 cohorts. The outcomes for all patients were
      determined on follow-up. Prognostic factors were determined using single and
      multiple variable analyses. A points system was developed to determine the risk
      for an unfavorable outcome. RESULTS: Of the 220 patients with UNE 178 (81%) could
      be re-evaluated. Four variables were retained in the prediction model for a
      points system. An unfavorable outcome was associated with right-sided UNE, more
      severe weakness of the abductor digiti minimi (ADM), and more pronounced ulnar
      nerve thickening. A compound muscle action potential amplitude reduction across
      the elbow of >=16% (particularly if >= 50%) was associated with a more favorable
      outcome. CONCLUSION: Outcome in UNE may be predicted by scoring 4 parameters.
      Muscle Nerve 55: 698-705, 2017.

PMID- 27623991
TI  - An Update on the Surgical Treatment for Transgender Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: As gender dysphoria is becoming increasingly accepted in the
      general population, the number of patients seeking gender reassignment surgery is
      increasing. Although not every patient with gender dysphoria requires surgery,
      medical practitioners taking care of these individuals should be aware of the
      different surgical options. AIM: To review current gender reassignment surgical
      techniques and update the clinician. METHODS: A review of the literature was
      performed focusing on the most recent techniques of gender reassignment surgery.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Main outcomes included a historical review of gender
      confirmation surgery leading to the techniques of choice in different divisions.
      For the vaginal lining, penile-scrotal skin flaps remain the technique of choice,
      and the gold standard for a phalloplasty remains the radial forearm flap.
      RESULTS: Surgical techniques for male-to-female gender reassignment consist of
      facial feminization surgery, voice surgery, breast augmentation, orchiectomy, and
      vaginoplasty. Female-to-male gender reassignment surgery includes facial
      masculinization surgery, subcutaneous mastectomy, and phalloplasty procedures.
      CONCLUSION: Penile-scrotal skin flaps remain the technique of choice for the
      vaginal lining, although indications for a vaginoplasty with intestinal transfer
      are becoming more common. The gold standard for a phalloplasty remains the free
      radial forearm flap.

PMID- 27623993
TI  - Core Outcome Sets (COS) for clinical trials in health- and nursing science: the
      case of Incontinence-Associated Dermatitis (IAD).

PMID- 27623992
TI  - Epigenetic loss of putative tumor suppressor SFRP3 correlates with poor prognosis
      of lung adenocarcinoma patients.
AB  - Secreted frizzled related protein 3 (SFRP3) contains a cysteine-rich domain (CRD)
      that shares homology with Frizzled CRD and regulates WNT signaling. Independent
      studies showed epigenetic silencing of SFRP3 in melanoma and hepatocellular
      carcinoma. Moreover, a tumor suppressive function of SFRP3 was shown in androgen
      independent prostate and gastric cancer cells. The current study is the first to
      investigate SFRP3 expression and its potential clinical impact on non-small cell
      lung carcinoma (NSCLC). WNT signaling components present on NSCLC subtypes were
      preliminary elucidated by expression data of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We
      identified a distinct expression signature of relevant WNT signaling components
      that differ between adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Of
      interest, canonical WNT signaling is predominant in LUAD samples and non
      canonical WNT signaling is predominant in LUSC. In line, high SFRP3 expression
      resulted in beneficial clinical outcome for LUAD but not for LUSC patients.
      Furthermore, SFRP3 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in NSCLC tissue
      compared to normal lung samples. TCGA data verified the reduction of SFRP3 in
      LUAD and LUSC patients. Moreover, DNA hypermethylation of SFRP3 was evaluated in
      the TCGA methylation dataset resulting in epigenetic inactivation of SFRP3
      expression in LUAD, but not in LUSC, and was validated by pyrosequencing of our
      NSCLC tissue cohort and in vitro demethylation experiments. Immunohistochemistry
      confirmed SFRP3 protein downregulation in primary NSCLC and indicated abundant
      expression in normal lung tissue. Two adenocarcinoma gain-of-function models were
      used to analyze the functional impact of SFRP3 on cell proliferation and
      regulation of CyclinD1 expression in vitro. Our results indicate that SFRP3 acts
      as a novel putative tumor suppressor gene in adenocarcinoma of the lung possibly
      regulating canonical WNT signaling.

PMID- 27623995
TI  - Impact of different environmental conditions on the aggregation of biogenic U(IV)
      nanoparticles synthesized by Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20.
AB  - This study investigates the impact of specific environmental conditions on the
      formation of colloidal U(IV) nanoparticles by the sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB,
      Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20). The reduction of soluble U(VI) to less soluble
      U(IV) was quantitatively investigated under growth and non-growth conditions in
      bicarbonate or 1,4-piperazinediethanesulfonic acid (PIPES) buffered environments.
      The results showed that under non-growth conditions, the majority of the reduced
      U nanoparticles aggregated and precipitated out of solution. High resolution
      transmission electron microscopy revealed that only a very small fraction of
      cells had reduced U precipitates in the periplasmic spaces in the presence of
      PIPES buffer, whereas in the presence of bicarbonate buffer, reduced U was also
      observed in the cytoplasm with greater aggregation of biogenic U(IV) particles at
      higher initial U(VI) concentrations. The same experiments were repeated under
      growth conditions using two different electron donors (lactate and pyruvate) and
      three electron acceptors (sulfate, fumarate, and thiosulfate). In contrast to the
      results of the non-growth experiments, even after 0.2 MUm filtration, the
      majority of biogenic U(IV) remained in the aqueous phase resulting in potentially
      mobile biogenic U(IV) nanoparticles. Size fractionation results showed that U(IV)
      aggregates were between 18 and 200 nm in diameter, and thus could be very mobile.
      The findings of this study are helpful to assess the size and potential mobility
      of reduced U nanoparticles under different environmental conditions, and would
      provide insights on their potential impact affecting U(VI) bioremediation efforts
      at subsurface contaminated sites.

PMID- 27623994
TI  - "Hot" acetogenesis.
AB  - Thermophilic microorganisms as well as acetogenic bacteria are both considered
      ancient. Interestingly, only a few species of bacteria, all belonging to the
      family Thermoanaerobacteraceae, are described to conserve energy from acetate
      formation with hydrogen as electron donor and carbon dioxide as electron
      acceptor. This review reflects the metabolic differences between Moorella spp.,
      Thermoanaerobacter kivui and Thermacetogenium phaeum, with focus on the
      biochemistry of autotrophic growth and energy conservation. The potential of
      these thermophilic acetogens for biotechnological applications is discussed
      briefly.

PMID- 27623996
TI  - Review of Pharmacokinetic Data of Different Drug Classes in Goto-Kakizaki Rats, a
      Non-obese Model for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Case Studies and Perspectives.
AB  - Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats represent a unique non-obese and lean model with
      manifestation of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) broadly mimicking the human T2DM
      development. Therefore, in addition to the use of GK rats to test the efficacy of
      drugs, it may represent a great tool to study the influence of altered
      physiological process and/or organ specific pathophysiological changes (i.e.,
      liver, kidney, etc.) on the disposition of drugs. The objectives of the review
      were: (a) to compile the published pharmacokinetic data of several drugs, such as
      cephalexin, cyclosporine, exendin-4, gliclazide, grepafloxacin, rosuvastatin,
      salsalate, salicylic acid, and theophylline, in GK rats relative to normal rats;
      and (b) critically evaluate the possible role of physiologically altered
      processes on the pharmacokinetics of reviewed drugs. The drugs chosen for this
      review provided a spread of various physiological processes and represented
      reasonable pool of published data set to fulfil the objectives of the review. The
      use of GK rats for gathering pharmacokinetic data may aid in making decisions on
      candidate selection and/or anticipating clinical pharmacology-related issues to
      the aid drug development in the diabetes area. However, given the interplay and
      complexities of multiple pathways governing drug disposition, caution needs to be
      exercised in data interpretation.

PMID- 27623997
TI  - Diabetes improvement and resolution following laparoscopic vertical sleeve
      gastrectomy (LVSG) versus laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB)
      procedures: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is growing in both developed and
      developing countries and is strongly linked with the prevalence of obesity.
      Bariatric surgical procedures such as laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy
      (LVSG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) are increasingly being
      utilized to manage related comorbid chronic conditions, including type 2
      diabetes. METHODS: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was
      undertaken using the PRISMA guidelines to investigate the postoperative impact on
      diabetes resolution following LVSG versus LRYGB. RESULTS: Seven RCTs involving a
      total of 732 patients (LVSG n = 365, LRYGB n = 367) met inclusion criteria.
      Significant diabetes resolution or improvement was reported with both procedures
      across all time points. Similarly, measures of glycemic control (HbA1C and
      fasting blood glucose levels) improved with both procedures, with earlier
      improvements noted in LRYGB that stabilized and did not differ from LVSG at 12
      months postoperatively. Early improvements in measures of insulin resistance in
      both procedures were also noted in the studies that investigated this.
      CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review of RCTs suggests that both LVSG and LRYGB are
      effective in resolving or improving preoperative type 2 diabetes in obese
      patients during the reported 3- to 5-year follow-up periods. However, further
      studies are required before longer-term outcomes can be elucidated. Areas
      identified that need to be addressed for future studies on this topic include
      longer follow-up periods, standardized definitions and time point for reporting,
      and financial analysis of outcomes obtained between surgical procedures to better
      inform procedure selection.

PMID- 27623999
TI  - Novel immunotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lung cancers remain the principal cause of death cancer-related
      worldwide with a poor survival rate at five years from diagnosis. In patients
      with NSCLC harboring specific genetic alterations the anti EGFR TKIs and the ALK
      TKIs have improved the response rate and the quality of life compared to standard
      platinum-based chemotherapy. New approaches possibly applicable at the major of
      patients are needed. Areas covered: The discovery that the immune system plays a
      fundamental role in the fight against cancer. The cancer cells use mechanisms
      able to avoid the immune control has led to the development of drugs able to
      overcome this escape route. The best known checkpoint pathways are the CTLA-4 and
      PD-1/PD-L1; they suppress T-cell activity in different ways: CTLA-4 regulates T
      cell activity at an early stage whereas PD-1 regulates later effector T-cell
      activity within tissue and tumors. The best characterized checkpoint inhibitors
      in advanced NSCLC setting are ipilimumab and tremelimumab, (anti-CTLA-4
      antibodies), nivolumab and pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1 antibodies), atezolizumab and
      durvalumab (anti-PD-L1 antibodies). Nivolumab and pembrolizumab have received the
      FDA and EMA approval for the treatment of NSCLC in second-line setting. Expert
      commentary: The role played by tumor microenvironment may be the next area of
      research to overcome the resistance at the checkpoint inhibitors as well as the
      identification of biomarkers to better select patients. In addition checkpoint
      inhibitors are investigate in combination with other agent involved in immune
      control with promising results in solid tumors.

PMID- 27623998
TI  - Characterization of rickettsiae in ticks in northeastern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tick-borne rickettsioses are considered important emerging zoonoses
      worldwide, but their etiological agents, rickettsiae, remain poorly characterized
      in northeastern China, where many human cases have been reported during the past
      several years. Here, we determined the characteristics of Rickettsia spp.
      infections in ticks in this area. METHODS: Ticks were collected by flagging
      vegetation from Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces of northeastern China followed
      by morphological identification. The presence of Rickettsia spp. in ticks was
      detected by PCR targeting the 23S-5S ribosomal RNA intergenic spacer, citrate
      synthase (gltA) gene, and 190-kDa outer membrane protein gene (ompA). The newly
      generated sequences were subjected to phylogenetic analysis using the software
      MEGA 6.0. RESULTS: The overall infection rate of Rickettsia spp. was 6.12 %.
      Phylogenetic analyses based on the partial gltA and ompA genes demonstrated that
      rickettsiae detected in the ticks belong to four species, including "Candidatus
      Rickettsia tarasevichiae", Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, Rickettsia raoultii, and
      a potential new species isolate. The associated tick species were also
      identified, i.e. Dermacentor nuttalli and Dermacentor silvarum for R. raoultii,
      Haemaphysalis concinna and Haemaphysalis longicornis for R. heilongjiangensis,
      and Ixodes persulcatus for "Ca. R. tarasevichiae". All Rickettsia spp. showed
      significantly high infection rates in ticks from Heilongjiang when compared to
      Jilin Province. CONCLUSION: Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, R. raoultii and "Ca. R.
      tarasevichiae" are widely present in the associated ticks in northeastern China,
      but more prevalent in Heilongjiang Province. The data of this study increase the
      information on the distribution of Rickettsia spp. in northeastern China, which
      have important public health implications in consideration of their recent
      association with human diseases.

PMID- 27624000
TI  - Transmissive liquid-crystal device for correcting primary coma aberration and
      astigmatism in biospecimen in two-photon excitation laser scanning microscopy.
AB  - All aberrations produced inside a biospecimen can degrade the quality of a three
      dimensional image in two-photon excitation laser scanning microscopy. Previously,
      we developed a transmissive liquid-crystal device to correct spherical
      aberrations that improved the image quality of a fixed-mouse-brain slice treated
      with an optical clearing reagent. In this study, we developed a transmissive
      device that corrects primary coma aberration and astigmatism. The motivation for
      this study is that asymmetric aberration can be induced by the shape of a
      biospecimen and/or by a complicated refractive-index distribution in a sample;
      this can considerably degrade optical performance even near the sample surface.
      The device's performance was evaluated by observing fluorescence beads. The
      device was inserted between the objective lens and microscope revolver and
      succeeded in improving the spatial resolution and fluorescence signal of a bead
      image that was originally degraded by asymmetric aberration. Finally, we
      implemented the device for observing a fixed whole mouse brain with a sloping
      surface shape and complicated internal refractive-index distribution. The
      correction with the device improved the spatial resolution and increased the
      fluorescence signal by ?2.4*. The device can provide a simple approach to
      acquiring higher-quality images of biospecimens.

PMID- 27624001
TI  - Risk-profiles and outcomes of multi-foetal pregnancies in adolescent mothers.
AB  - In this retrospective review of 468 mothers with a multi-foetal pregnancy in
      Detroit, we describe the risk-profiles and the obstetrical, maternal and foetal
      outcomes of multi-foetal pregnancy in 59 (13%) adolescents. Overall, most mothers
      were African American, did not have private insurance and all were unmarried. For
      most mothers, this was their first pregnancy (59.3%) and their first delivery
      (69.5%). Almost 50% presented to triage at least once during their pregnancy.
      Anaemia (78%) and hypertensive disorders (18.6%) were common in this age group.
      The majority of adolescents delivered preterm as 81.4% were <37 weeks and 49%
      were <34 weeks. Furthermore, the majority of infants (79%) had low birth weights
      (median: 1975 g, range: 365-3405 g). This contemporary report emphasises the need
      for multidisciplinary prenatal management and specialist supervision, as multi
      foetal pregnancies in adolescents pose real risks and impact obstetrical,
      maternal and neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 27624002
TI  - Allergy-specific Phenome-Wide Association Study for Immunogenes in Turkish
      Children.
AB  - To dissect the role of immunogenetics in allergy and asthma, we performed a
      phenome-wide association study in 974 Turkish children selected from a cross
      sectional study conducted using ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and
      Allergies in Children) Phase II tools. We investigated 9 loci involved in
      different immune functions (ADAM33, ADRB2, CD14, IL13, IL4, IL4R, MS4A2,
      SERPINE1, and TNF) with respect to 116 traits assessed through blood tests,
      hypertonic saline challenge tests, questionnaires, and skin prick tests. Multiple
      associations were observed for ADAM33: rs2280090 was associated with reduced
      MEF240% (i.e., the ratio of Mean Expiratory Flow after 240s of hypertonic saline
      inhalation with respect to the age- and ancestry-matched reference value) and
      with an increased risk of allergic bronchitis (p = 1.77*10(-4) and p = 7.94*10(
      4), respectively); rs3918396 was associated with wheezing and eczema comorbidity
      (p = 3.41*10(-4)). IL4 rs2243250 was associated with increased FEV240 (Forced
      Expiratory Flow Volume after 240s of hypertonic saline inhalation; p = 4.81*10(
      4)) and CD14 rs2569190 was associated with asthma diagnosis (p = 1.36*10(-3)).
      ADAM33 and IL4 appeared to play a role in the processes linked to allergic airway
      inflammation and lung function. Due to its association with wheezing and eczema
      comorbidity, ADAM33 may also be involved in the atopic march.

PMID- 27624004
TI  - Efficient Production of Fluorescent Transgenic Rats using the piggyBac
      Transposon.
AB  - Rats with fluorescent markers are of great value for studies that trace lineage
      specific development, particularly those assessing the differentiation potential
      of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The piggyBac (PB) transposon is widely used for
      the efficient introduction of genetic modifications into genomes, and has already
      been successfully used to produce transgenic mice and rats. Here, we generated
      transgenic rats carrying either the desRed fluorescent protein (RFP) gene or the
      enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene by injecting pronuclei with PB
      plasmids. We showed that the transgenic rats expressed the RFP or eGFP gene in
      many organs and had the capability to transmit the marker gene to the next
      generation through germline integration. In addition, rat embryonic stem cells
      (ESCs) carrying an RFP reporter gene can be derived from the blastocysts of the
      transgenic rats. Moreover, the RFP gene can be detected in chimeras derived from
      RFP ESCs via blastocyst injection. This work suggests that PB-mediated
      transgenesis is a powerful tool to generate transgenic rats expressing
      fluorescent proteins with high efficiency, and this technique can be used to
      derive rat ESCs expressing a reporter protein.

PMID- 27624057
TI  - Predictive modeling of microbial single cells: A review.
AB  - In practice, food products tend to be contaminated with food-borne pathogens at a
      low inoculum level. However, the huge potential risk cannot be ignored because
      microbes may initiate high-speed growth suitable conditions during the food
      chain, such as transportation or storage. Thus, it is important to perform
      predictive modeling of microbial single cells. Several key aspects of microbial
      single-cell modeling are covered in this review. First, based on previous
      studies, the techniques of microbial single-cell data acquisition and growth data
      collection are presented in detail. In addition, the sources of microbial single
      cell variability are also summarized. Due to model microbial growth, traditional
      deterministic mathematical models have been developed. However, most models fail
      to make accurate predictions at low cell numbers or at the single-cell level due
      to high cell-to-cell heterogeneity. Stochastic models have been a subject of
      great interest; and these models take into consideration the variability in
      microbial single-cell behavior.

PMID- 27624003
TI  - Curcumin protects ANIT-induced cholestasis through signaling pathway of FXR
      regulated bile acid and inflammation.
AB  - Cholestasis is a clinically significant symptom and widely associated with liver
      diseases, however, there are very few effective therapies for cholestasis.
      Danning tablet (DNT, a Chinese patent medicine preparation) has been clinically
      used to treat human liver and gallbladder diseases for more than 20 years in
      China. However, which ingredients of DNT contributed to this beneficial effect
      and their mechanistic underpinnings have been largely unknown. In the present
      study, we discovered that DNT not only demonstrated greater benefits for
      cholecystitis patients after cholecystectomy surgery in clinic but also showed
      protective effect against alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT)-induced cholestasis
      model in rodent. Curcumin, one major compound derived from DNT, exerted the
      protective effect against cholestasis through farnesoid X receptor (FXR), which
      has been focused as potential therapeutic targets for treating cholestasis. The
      underlying mechanism of curcumin against cholestasis was restoring bile acid
      homeostasis and antagonizing inflammatory responses in a FXR-dependent manner and
      in turn contributed to overall cholestasis attenuation. Collectively, curcumin
      can be served as a potential treatment option for liver injury with cholestasis.

PMID- 27624005
TI  - The Crystal Structure of Peroxiredoxin Asp f3 Provides Mechanistic Insight into
      Oxidative Stress Resistance and Virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus.
AB  - Invasive aspergillosis and other fungal infections occur in immunocompromised
      individuals, including patients who received blood-building stem cell
      transplants, patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), and others.
      Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by immune cells, which incidentally
      is defective in CGD patients, is considered to be a fundamental process in
      inflammation and antifungal immune response. Here we show that the peroxiredoxin
      Asp f3 of Aspergillus fumigatus inactivates ROS. We report the crystal structure
      and the catalytic mechanism of Asp f3, a two-cysteine type peroxiredoxin. The
      latter exhibits a thioredoxin fold and a homodimeric structure with two
      intermolecular disulfide bonds in its oxidized state. Replacement of the Asp f3
      cysteines with serine residues retained its dimeric structure, but diminished Asp
      f3's peroxidase activity, and extended the alpha-helix with the former
      peroxidatic cysteine residue C61 by six residues. The asp f3 deletion mutant was
      sensitive to ROS, and this phenotype was rescued by ectopic expression of Asp f3.
      Furthermore, we showed that deletion of asp f3 rendered A. fumigatus avirulent in
      a mouse model of pulmonary aspergillosis. The conserved expression of Asp f3
      homologs in medically relevant molds and yeasts prompts future evaluation of Asp
      f3 as a potential therapeutic target.

PMID- 27624058
TI  - Immunoseq: the identification of functionally relevant variants through targeted
      capture and sequencing of active regulatory regions in human immune cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The observation that the genetic variants identified in genome-wide
      association studies (GWAS) frequently lie in non-coding regions of the genome
      that contain cis-regulatory elements suggests that altered gene expression
      underlies the development of many complex traits. In order to efficiently make a
      comprehensive assessment of the impact of non-coding genetic variation in immune
      related diseases we emulated the whole-exome sequencing paradigm and developed a
      custom capture panel for the known DNase I hypersensitive site (DHS) in immune
      cells - "Immunoseq". RESULTS: We performed Immunoseq in 30 healthy individuals
      where we had existing transcriptome data from T cells. We identified a large
      number of novel non-coding variants in these samples. Relying on allele specific
      expression measurements, we also showed that our selected capture regions are
      enriched for functional variants that have an impact on differential allelic gene
      expression. The results from a replication set with 180 samples confirmed our
      observations. CONCLUSIONS: We show that Immunoseq is a powerful approach to
      detect novel rare variants in regulatory regions. We also demonstrate that these
      novel variants have a potential functional role in immune cells.

PMID- 27624061
TI  - The effect of anaesthesia on the infant brain.
AB  - Pre-clinical studies have consistently found that most general anaesthetics
      produce accelerated apoptosis in the developing brain. The effect has been seen
      in species ranging from the nematode to the non-human primate. A variety of other
      effects are also seen. There is also some evidence that animals exposed to
      anaesthesia are at increased risk of deficits in memory and learning. The effects
      are only seen with prolonged exposure. There are numerous problems in translating
      these findings to human clinical scenarios. Several human cohort studies have
      found an association between surgery in infancy and increased risk of poorer
      neurobehavioural outcome; however the possibility of confounding factors such as
      co-morbidity and surgery itself make it impossible to determine if these
      associations are due to anaesthesia toxicity. A recent trial and cohort studies
      suggest that an exposure of less than an hour does not increase the risk of poor
      outcome.

PMID- 27624060
TI  - The Effects of Molecular Hydrogen and Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid on Paraquat
      Induced Production of Reactive Oxygen Species and TNF-alpha in Macrophages.
AB  - The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of molecular hydrogen (H2)
      and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on
      paraquat (PQ)-stimulated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in macrophages. First, the PQ optimal
      concentration was determined in RAW264.7 macrophage by treating serum-starved
      cells with PQ at 0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 mM. We evaluated at 1, 2 and 8 h
      (1) cell viability (by means of trypan blue exclusion method), (2) intracellular
      ROS levels (with a fluorescent DCFH-DA probe), and (3) TNF-alpha level in the
      culture media (determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA).
      Subsequently, mouse RAW267.4 macrophages were treated with PQ in combination with
      SAHA and/or H2 for 8 h. PQ exerted a significant stimulatory but nontoxic effect
      on RAW267.4 macrophages at 0.1 mM. This PQ concentration was used in the
      subsequent experiments. H2 and H2 combined with SAHA evoked a greater reduction
      in PQ-induced ROS production than SAHA alone, especially at 2 and 8 h. At 1 and 2
      h, treatments involving H2 caused a greater decrease in PQ-induced production of
      TNF-alpha than the corresponding treatments without H2. However, at 8 h,
      treatment with SAHA evoked more pronounced effects on TNF-alpha than treatment
      without SAHA. H2 decreases PQ-induced ROS production and attenuates early PQ
      induced TNF-alpha production whereas SAHA reduces the late phase of the PQ
      induced TNF-alpha production in macrophages. The effects are enhanced by the
      combination of H2 and SAHA.

PMID- 27624062
TI  - Volumetric analysis of formation of the complex of G-quadruplex DNA with hemin
      using high pressure.
AB  - DNA guanine-quadruplexes (G-quadruplexes) complexed with the Fe-containing
      porphyrin, hemin (iron(III)-protoporphyrin IX), can catalyze oxidation reactions.
      This so-called DNAzyme has been widely used in the field of DNA nanotechnology.
      To improve DNAzyme properties, we sought to elucidate the interaction mechanism
      between G-quadruplex DNA and hemin. Here, we performed volumetric analyses of
      formation of the complex between an oligonucleotide with the sequence of human
      telomeric DNA (h-telo) and hemin. The G-quadruplex DNA alone and the G-quadruplex
      DNA-hemin complex were destabilized with increasing pressure in Na+ buffer. The
      pressure required to destabilize the h-telo-hemin complex was less in K+
      containing buffer than in buffer with Na+, which indicates that there was a
      smaller volumetric change upon h-telo formation in K+ buffer than in Na+ buffer.
      The calculated change in h-telo-hemin binding volume (?Vb) in the Na+ buffer was
      2.5mLmol-1, whereas it was -41.7 in mLmol-1 the K+ buffer. The DNAzyme activity
      in the K+ buffer was higher than that in the Na+ buffer at atmospheric pressure.
      Interestingly, the pressure effect on the destabilization of the h-telo-hemin
      complex in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol)200 (PEG200) was repressed
      compared to that in the absence of PEG200. These results suggest that differences
      in volumetric parameters reflect different mechanisms of interaction between
      hemin and h-telo due to differences in both the fit of hemin into the h-telo
      structure and hydration. Thus, the pressure-based thermodynamic analysis provided
      important information about complex formation and could be a useful index to
      improve function of DNAzymes.

PMID- 27624059
TI  - Paeonol Suppresses Neuroinflammatory Responses in LPS-Activated Microglia Cells.
AB  - In this work, we assessed the anti-inflammatory effects of paeonol (PAE) in LPS
      activated N9 microglia cells, as well as its underlying molecular mechanisms. PAE
      had no adverse effect on the viability of murine microglia N9 cell line within a
      broad range (0.12~75 MUM). When N9 cell line was activated by LPS, PAE (0.6, 3,
      15 MUM) significantly suppressed the release of proinflammatory products, such as
      nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2),
      demonstrated by the ELISA assay. Moreover, the levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)
      and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were significantly reduced in PAE
      treated N9 microglia cells. We also examined some proteins involved in immune
      signaling pathways and found that PAE treatment significantly decreased the
      expression of TLR4, MyD88, IRAK4, TNFR-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), p-IkB-alpha,
      and NF-kB p65, as well as the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway
      molecules p-P38, p-JNK, and p-ERK, indicating that PAE might act on these
      signaling pathways to inhibit inflammatory responses. Overall, we found that PAE
      had anti-inflammatory effect on LPS-activated N9 microglia cells, possibly via
      inhibiting the TLR4 signaling pathway, and it could be a potential drug therapy
      for inflammation-associated neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27624064
TI  - Erratum to: Olfactory cues from pathogenic fungus affect the direct of motion of
      termites, Coptotermes formosanus.

PMID- 27624063
TI  - The role of common genetic variants in atrial fibrillation.
AB  - This review focuses on the genetic basis of atrial fibrillation (AF) and the role
      of variants in the susceptibility of developing the disease. AF is the most
      common cardiac arrhythmia affecting 1-2% of the general population. Studies in
      the last decade have demonstrated that AF, and in particular lone AF, has a
      substantial genetic component. A number of genome-wide association studies (GWAS)
      have indicated that common genetic variants, more precisely the so called single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with AF. Presently more than 10
      genomic regions have been identified using this approach. Highly penetrant
      variants in lone AF have also been described in a number of cases. Furthermore,
      familial AF, although rare, have been recognized for many years. Variants
      associated with AF have been identified in more than 40 genes, including cardiac
      gap junction proteins, ion channels and beta subunits. The evidence for some of
      these findings is not as strong as the evidence for the common variants. All in
      all, it is a complex picture, as both gain- and loss of function variants have
      been identified in a number of the genes. This review will focus on the common
      variants associated with AF. The pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for AF
      are still far from completely understood, and it is assumed that this arrhythmia
      represents a complex interplay of genetic predispositions, arrhythmogenic
      contributors such as electrolytes and inflammatory stimuli as well as
      contributions from concomitant cardiac and non-cardiac diseases.

PMID- 27624065
TI  - Adult Parasitoids of Honeydew-Producing Insects Prefer Honeydew Sugars to Cover
      their Energetic Needs.
AB  - To meet their carbohydrate requirements, adult parasitoids exploit a broad range
      of sugar resources, including floral and extrafloral nectar and honeydew.
      Although honeydew might be the predominant sugar source, especially in
      agricultural systems, it often is nutritionally inferior to sugar sources like
      nectar. Given its broad availability, it may be expected that sugar-feeding
      insects have evolved specialized adaptations to deal with this typically inferior
      sugar source. This would apply especially to organisms that have a close
      association with honeydew producers. Here, we hypothesized that parasitoids of
      honeydew-producing insects should show a pronounced response to sugars, such as
      fructose, sucrose, melezitose, and trehalose, and to a lesser extent glucose. To
      test this hypothesis, we investigated sugar consumption, feeding behavior and
      survival of the aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi on several sugars (equiweight
      solutions). Our results show that A. ervi adults consumed typical honeydew sugars
      (sucrose, fructose, trehalose, and melezitose) the most, while consuming
      considerably less glucose or melibiose. Rhamnose, which does not occur in aphid
      honeydew, was not, or was only marginally, consumed. When different sugars were
      provided at the same time, A. ervi adults preferred sucrose or fructose over
      glucose or melezitose. Furthermore, pre-exposure to sucrose or fructose
      significantly reduced subsequent intake of glucose, suggesting an acquired
      distaste for glucose after being previously exposed to highly preferred sugars
      such as sucrose and fructose. Altogether, this study shows that A. ervi adults
      prefer sugars (fructose, melezitose, trehalose, and sucrose) that are
      overrepresented in aphid honeydew and show a lower preference to one (glucose)
      that is underrepresented in honeydew.

PMID- 27624067
TI  - Reactivity to uncertain threat as a familial vulnerability factor for alcohol use
      disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When sober, problematic drinkers display exaggerated reactivity to
      threats that are uncertain (U-threat). Since this aversive affective state can be
      alleviated via acute alcohol intoxication, it has been posited that individuals
      who exhibit heightened reactivity to U-threat at baseline are motivated to use
      alcohol as a means of avoidance-based coping, setting the stage for excessive
      drinking. To date, however, no study has attempted to characterize the
      dispositional nature of exaggerated reactivity to U-threat and test whether it is
      a vulnerability factor or exclusively a disease marker of problematic alcohol
      use. METHOD: The current investigation utilized a family study design to address
      these gaps by examining whether (1) reactivity to U-threat is associated with
      risk for problematic alcohol use, defined by family history of alcohol use
      disorder (AUD) and (2) reactivity to U-threat is correlated amongst adult
      biological siblings. A total of 157 families, and 458 individuals, participated
      in the study and two biological siblings completed a threat-of-shock task
      designed to probe reactivity to U-threat and predictable threat (P-threat).
      Startle potentiation was collected as an index of aversive responding. RESULTS:
      Within biological siblings, startle potentiation to U-threat [intraclass
      correlation (ICC) = 0.35] and P-threat (ICC = 0.63) was significantly correlated.
      In addition, independent of an individuals' own AUD status, startle potentiation
      to U-threat, but not P-threat, was positively associated with risk for AUD (i.e.
      AUD family history). CONCLUSION: This suggests that heightened reactivity to U
      threat may be a familial vulnerability factor for problematic drinking and a
      novel prevention target for AUD.

PMID- 27624066
TI  - Pheromones and Other Semiochemicals for Monitoring Rare and Endangered Species.
AB  - As global biodiversity declines, biodiversity and conservation have become ever
      more important research topics. Research in chemical ecology for conservation
      purposes has not adapted to address this need. During the last 10-15 years, only
      a few insect pheromones have been developed for biodiversity and conservation
      studies, including the identification and application of pheromones specifically
      for population monitoring. These investigations, supplemented with our knowledge
      from decades of studying pest insects, demonstrate that monitoring with
      pheromones and other semiochemicals can be applied widely for conservation of
      rare and threatened insects. Here, I summarize ongoing conservation research, and
      outline potential applications of chemical ecology and pheromone-based monitoring
      to studies of insect biodiversity and conservation research. Such applications
      include monitoring of insect population dynamics and distribution changes,
      including delineation of current ranges, the tracking of range expansions and
      contractions, and determination of their underlying causes. Sensitive and
      selective monitoring systems can further elucidate the importance of insect
      dispersal and landscape movements for conservation. Pheromone-based monitoring of
      indicator species will also be useful in identifying biodiversity hotspots, and
      in characterizing general changes in biodiversity in response to landscape,
      climatic, or other environmental changes.

PMID- 27624068
TI  - Understanding patient-centredness: contrasting expert versus patient perspectives
      on vasopressor therapy for shock.

PMID- 27624069
TI  - Evaluation of Abbreviated Impactor Measurements (AIM) and Efficient Data Analysis
      (EDA) for Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs) Against the Full-Resolution Next Generation
      Impactor (NGI).
AB  - The full-resolution next generation impactor (NGI) and three abbreviated impactor
      systems were used to obtain the apparent aerodynamic particle size distribution
      (APSD) and other quality measures for marketed dry powder inhalers (DPIs) using
      the compendial method and efficient data analysis (EDA). APSD for the active
      pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in Spiriva(r) Handihaler(r), Foradil(r)
      Aerolizer(r), and Relenza(r) Diskhaler(r) was obtained using a full-resolution
      NGI at 39, 60, and 90 L/min, respectively. Two reduced NGI (rNGI) configurations,
      the filter-only configuration (rNGI-f) and the modified-cup configuration (rNGI
      mc), and the fast-screening impactor (FSI) with appropriate inserts to provide a
      5-MUm cut size were evaluated. The fine particle dose (FPD) obtained using the
      FSI for Spiriva was statistically similar to that obtained using the full NGI.
      However, the FPD for both Foradil and Relenza obtained using the FSI was
      significantly different from that obtained using the full NGI. Despite this, no
      significant differences were observed for the fine particle fraction (FPF)
      obtained using the FSI relative to that obtained from the full NGI for any of the
      DPIs. The use of abbreviated impactor systems appears promising with good
      agreement observed with the full-resolution NGI, except for small differences
      observed for the rNGI-mc configuration. These small differences may be product-
      and/or flow rate-specific, and further evaluation will be required to resolve
      these differences.

PMID- 27624070
TI  - Mapping and validation of major quantitative trait loci for kernel length in wild
      barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kernel length is an important target trait in barley (Hordeum vulgare
      L.) breeding programs. However, the number of known quantitative trait loci
      (QTLs) controlling kernel length is limited. In the present study, we aimed to
      identify major QTLs for kernel length, as well as putative candidate genes that
      might influence kernel length in wild barley. RESULTS: A recombinant inbred line
      (RIL) population derived from the barley cultivar Baudin (H. vulgare ssp.
      vulgare) and the long-kernel wild barley genotype Awcs276 (H.vulgare ssp.
      spontaneum) was evaluated at one location over three years. A high-density
      genetic linkage map was constructed using 1,832 genome-wide diversity array
      technology (DArT) markers, spanning a total of 927.07 cM with an average interval
      of approximately 0.49 cM. Two major QTLs for kernel length, LEN-3H and LEN-4H,
      were detected across environments and further validated in a second RIL
      population derived from Fleet (H. vulgare ssp. vulgare) and Awcs276. In addition,
      a systematic search of public databases identified four candidate genes and four
      categories of proteins related to LEN-3H and LEN-4H. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      establishes a fundamental research platform for genomic studies and marker
      assisted selection, since LEN-3H and LEN-4H could be used for accelerating
      progress in barley breeding programs that aim to improve kernel length.

PMID- 27624071
TI  - Aurora kinase-A overexpression in mouse mammary epithelium induces mammary
      adenocarcinomas harboring genetic alterations shared with human breast cancer.
AB  - Recent data from The Cancer Genome Atlas analysis have revealed that Aurora
      kinase A (AURKA) amplification and overexpression characterize a distinct subset
      of human tumors across multiple cancer types. Although elevated expression of
      AURKA has been shown to induce oncogenic phenotypes in cells in vitro, findings
      from transgenic mouse models of Aurora-A overexpression in mammary glands have
      been distinct depending on the models generated. In the present study, we report
      that prolonged overexpression of AURKA transgene in mammary epithelium driven by
      ovine beta-lactoglobulin promoter, activated through multiple pregnancy and
      lactation cycles, results in the development of mammary adenocarcinomas with
      alterations in cancer-relevant genes and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.
      The tumor incidence was 38.9% (7/18) in Aurora-A transgenic mice at 16 months of
      age following 4-5 pregnancy cycles. Aurora-A overexpression in the tumor tissues
      accompanied activation of Akt, elevation of Cyclin D1, Tpx2 and Plk1 along with
      downregulation of ERalpha and p53 proteins, albeit at varying levels. Microarray
      comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analyses of transgenic mouse mammary
      adenocarcinomas revealed copy gain of Glp1r and losses of Ercc5, Pten and Tcf7l2
      loci. Review of human breast tumor transcriptomic data sets showed association of
      these genes at varying levels with Aurora-A gain of function alterations. Whole
      exome sequencing of the mouse tumors also identified gene mutations detected in
      Aurora-A overexpressing human breast cancers. Our findings demonstrate that
      prolonged overexpression of Aurora-A can be a driver somatic genetic event in
      mammary adenocarcinomas associated with deregulated tumor-relevant pathways in
      the Aurora-A subset of human breast cancer.

PMID- 27624073
TI  - Reduced immune response to polymeric micelles coating sialic acids.
AB  - Effects of sialic acid coatings on polymeric micelle consisting of
      poly(sarcosine)-block-poly(l-lactic acid) (Lactosome) in the aim of prevention of
      the accelerated blood clearance (ABC) phenomenon are studied. Two kinds of the
      sialic acid-presenting Lactosomes targeting the immunosuppressive receptors of
      Siglec-G and CD22 have been successfully prepared. Lactosome presenting 5-N
      acetylneuraminic acid or 5-N-acetylneuraminyl-alpha(2->6)-galactosyl-beta(1->4)-N
      acetylglucosamine at the nanocarrier surface diminished the ABC phenomenon due to
      the reduction of the anti-poly(sarcosine) IgM production. Further, the sialic
      acid moieties could interact possibly with Siglec-E on immune cell to suppress
      phagocytosis of the opsonized nanocarriers.

PMID- 27624072
TI  - A proteomic analysis of chondrogenic, osteogenic and tenogenic constructs from
      ageing mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have prospective applications in
      regenerative medicine and tissue engineering but to what extent phenotype and
      differentiation capacity alter with ageing is uncertain. Consequently, any loss
      in functionality with age would have profound consequences for the maintenance of
      tissue viability and the quality of tissues. Proteomics enables the set of
      proteins responsible for a particular cell phenotype to be identified, as well as
      enabling insights into mechanisms responsible for age-related alterations in
      musculoskeletal tissues. Few proteomic studies have been undertaken regarding age
      related effects on tissue engineered into cartilage and bone, and none for
      tendon. This study provides a proteome inventory for chondrogenic, osteogenic and
      tenogenic constructs synthesised from human MSCs, and elucidates proteomic
      alterations as a consequence of donor age. METHODS: Human bone-marrow derived
      MSCs from young (n = 4, 21.8 years +/- 2.4SD) and old (n = 4, 65.5 years +/-
      8.3SD) donors were used to make chondrogenic, osteogenic and tenogenic tissue
      engineered constructs. We utilised an analytical method relying on extracted
      peptide intensities as a label-free approach for peptide quantitation by liquid
      chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results were validated using western blotting.
      RESULTS: We identified proteins that were differentially expressed with ageing;
      128 proteins in chondrogenic constructs, 207 in tenogenic constructs and four in
      osteogenic constructs. Differentially regulated proteins were subjected to
      bioinformatic analysis to ascertain their molecular functions and the signalling
      pathways. For all construct types, age-affected proteins were involved in altered
      cell survival and death, and antioxidant and cytoskeletal changes. Energy and
      protein metabolism were the principle pathways affected in tenogenic constructs,
      whereas lipid metabolism was strongly affected in chondrogenic constructs and
      mitochondrial dysfunction in osteogenic constructs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      imply that further work on MSC-based therapeutics for the older population needs
      to focus on oxidative stress protection. The differentially regulated proteome
      characterised by this study can potentially guide translational research
      specifically aimed at effective clinical interventions.

PMID- 27624074
TI  - Application of oxime-diversification to optimize ligand interactions within a
      cryptic pocket of the polo-like kinase 1 polo-box domain.
AB  - By a process involving initial screening of a set of 87 aldehydes using an oxime
      ligation-based strategy, we were able to achieve a several-fold affinity
      enhancement over one of the most potent previously known polo-like kinase 1
      (Plk1) polo-box domain (PBD) binding inhibitors. This improved binding may result
      by accessing a newly identified auxiliary region proximal to a key hydrophobic
      cryptic pocket on the surface of the protein. Our findings could have general
      applicability to the design of PBD-binding antagonists.

PMID- 27624075
TI  - Exploration of insights, opportunities and caveats provided by the X-ray
      structures of hSERT.
AB  - The recently reported X-ray structures of the human serotonin (5-HT) transporter
      SERT with bound inhibitors open new opportunities for drug discovery at SERT,
      selectivity design with respect to other neurotransmitter sodium transporters,
      and enhanced understanding of the molecular events involved in SERT action.
      Through computational and structural analyses, we explore the binding and
      migration of 5-HT at SERT. Consistent with earlier studies of leucine migration
      at the bacterial homolog of SERT, LeuT, we find multiple potential 'stopover'
      sites for 5-HT binding at SERT including the two (transmembrane S1 and
      extracellular vestibule S2) seen in the binding of the SSRI (S)-citalopram (S
      Cit) to SERT, as well as other sites. Docking studies reveal the possibility of
      both hetero- (S-Cit+5-HT) and homo-dimeric (5-HT+5-HT) co-binding at both these
      sites which may explain earlier published allosteric activity observations and
      provide novel design strategies. Comparisons with substrate bound X-ray
      structures of the dopamine transporter reveal a number of potential sources of
      selectivity, some of which may be 'artificial' including target based, species
      related, experimental design related, and ligand dependent examples including
      substrate versus inhibitor related features.

PMID- 27624077
TI  - A diastereoselective synthesis of tetrahydro- and dihydro-pyrido[2,3-c]coumarin
      derivatives via a one-pot three-component Povarov reaction catalyzed by
      bismuth(III) chloride.
AB  - A diastereoselective synthesis of tetrahydro- and dihydro-pyrido[2,3-c]coumarin
      derivatives has been achieved via a one-pot three-component aza-Diels-Alder
      reaction of aromatic aldehydes, 3-aminocoumarin and dienophiles catalyzed by
      BiCl3. NOE studies proved that exo-isomers were obtained in all cases with high
      selectivity. The reaction proceeded at room temperature providing good yields of
      products as well as applicability on a wide range of substrates. Among all the
      synthesized derivatives, compounds 4i and 4k showed promising DPPH radical
      scavenging activity as compared to other tested derivatives.

PMID- 27624076
TI  - Design and synthesis of curcumin derivatives as tau and amyloid beta dual
      aggregation inhibitors.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. In an AD patient's
      brain, senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, the abnormal aggregates of
      amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide and tau protein, are observed as the two major
      hallmarks of this disease. To develop a new drug for treatment of AD, we have
      designed and synthesized a series of curcumin derivatives and evaluated their
      inhibitory activities against both tau and Abeta aggregation. In this study, we
      describe the development of the more potent aggregation inhibitor 3-[(1E)-2-(1H
      indol-6-yl)ethenyl]-5-[(1E)-2-[2-methoxy-4-(2-pyridylmethoxy) phenyl] ethenyl]-1H
      pyrazole (compound 4, PE859). This compound has a better pharmacokinetic profile
      and pharmacological efficacy in vivo than curcumin, making it suitable as a drug
      for AD.

PMID- 27624078
TI  - Dihydropyrimidinones and -thiones with improved activity against human
      polyomavirus family members.
AB  - Human polyomaviruses are generally latent but can be reactivated in patients
      whose immune systems are suppressed. Unfortunately, current therapeutics for
      diseases associated with polyomaviruses are non-specific, have undefined
      mechanisms of action, or exacerbate the disease. We previously reported on a
      class of dihydropyrimidinones that specifically target a polyomavirus-encoded
      protein, T antigen, and/or inhibit a cellular chaperone, Hsp70, that is required
      for virus replication. To improve the antiviral activity of the existing class of
      compounds, we performed Biginelli and modified multi-component reactions to
      obtain new 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and -thiones for biological
      evaluation. We also compared how substituents at the N-1 versus N-3 position in
      the pyrimidine affect activity. We discovered that AMT580-043, a N-3 alkylated
      dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-thione, inhibits the replication of a disease-causing
      polyomavirus in cell culture more potently than an existing drug, cidofovir.

PMID- 27624079
TI  - Synthesis of d-labeled and unlabeled ethyl succinic anhydrides and application to
      quantitative analysis of peptides by isotope differential mass spectrometry.
AB  - Ethyl succinic anhydride and its d5-labeled version have been synthesized and
      applied to quantitative analysis of peptides in combination with MALDI or ESI
      mass spectrometry. These modifiers react with amino groups in the N-termini and
      lysine side chains in proteins, and therefore the combination of these modifiers
      was shown to be a useful tool for quantification of peptides and hence for
      proteomics research.

PMID- 27624081
TI  - Nuclear magnetic resonance studies reveal stabilization of parallel G-quadruplex
      DNA [d(T2G4T)]4 upon binding to protoberberine alkaloid coralyne.
AB  - Stabilization of G-quadruplex DNA structures in human telomeric and proto
      oncogenic promoter regions upon ligand binding has evolved as a viable anti
      cancer strategy. We have studied interaction of coralyne, a human telomerase
      inhibiting protoberberine alkaloid, with parallel stranded tetrameric G
      quadruplex DNA [d(T2G4T)]4 using Circular Dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic
      resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Appearance of induced CD band and the Diffusion
      Ordered NMR Spectroscopy (DOSY) experiments confirm the formation of well defined
      coralyne-DNA complex. 1H and 31P NMR studies reveal that coralyne specifically
      recognizes T2pG3 and G6pT7 steps in DNA. Guanine imino protons indicate that
      coralyne binding induces thermal stabilization of the G-quadruplex DNA by >20
      degrees C. The observed specific changes and thermal stabilization of DNA upon
      binding may be attributed to inhibition of telomerase by coralyne.

PMID- 27624082
TI  - Hb Kalavasos [HBA2: c.275T > A; p.Leu92His]: a Novel alpha Chain Hemoglobin
      Variant.
AB  - We present a case of a novel pathogenic variant, Hb Kalavasos [alpha91(FG3)Leu
      >His (alpha2); HBA2: c.275T > A; p.Leu92His (NM_000517.4)]; this codon was
      previously numbered 91 on the alpha2-globin gene that was discovered following
      routine Hb A1c testing on a 65-year-old female of Cypriot origin. The band, seen
      by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) but not capillary zone
      electrophoresis (CZE), was confirmed as a hitherto undescribed a chain variant,
      that we have named Hb Kalavasos for the Cypriot village of family origin of the
      proband.

PMID- 27624080
TI  - LAT1 activity of carboxylic acid bioisosteres: Evaluation of hydroxamic acids as
      substrates.
AB  - Large neutral amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) is a solute carrier protein located
      primarily in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that offers the potential to deliver
      drugs to the brain. It is also up-regulated in cancer cells, as part of a tumor's
      increased metabolic demands. Previously, amino acid prodrugs have been shown to
      be transported by LAT1. Carboxylic acid bioisosteres may afford prodrugs with an
      altered physicochemical and pharmacokinetic profile than those derived from
      natural amino acids, allowing for higher brain or tumor levels of drug and/or
      lower toxicity. The effect of replacing phenylalanine's carboxylic acid with a
      tetrazole, acylsulfonamide and hydroxamic acid (HA) bioisostere was examined.
      Compounds were tested for their ability to be LAT1 substrates using both cis
      inhibition and trans-stimulation cell assays. As HA-Phe demonstrated weak
      substrate activity, its structure-activity relationship (SAR) was further
      explored by synthesis and testing of HA derivatives of other LAT1 amino acid
      substrates (i.e., Tyr, Leu, Ile, and Met). The potential for a false positive in
      the trans-stimulation assay caused by parent amino acid was evaluated by
      conducting compound stability experiments for both HA-Leu and the corresponding
      methyl ester derivative. We concluded that HA's are transported by LAT1. In
      addition, our results lend support to a recent account that amino acid esters are
      LAT1 substrates, and that hydrogen bonding may be as important as charge for
      interaction with the transporter binding site.

PMID- 27624083
TI  - Fungal endophytes for sustainable crop production.
AB  - This minireview highlights the importance of endophytic fungi for sustainable
      agriculture and horticulture production. Fungal endophytes play a key role in
      habitat adaptation of plants resulting in improved plant performance and plant
      protection against biotic and abiotic stresses. They encode a vast variety of
      novel secondary metabolites including volatile organic compounds. In addition to
      protecting plants against pathogens and pests, selected fungal endophytes have
      been used to remove animal toxicities associated with fungal endophytes in
      temperate grasses, to create corn and rice plants that are tolerant to a range of
      biotic and abiotic stresses, and for improved management of post-harvest control.
      We argue that practices used in plant breeding, seed treatments and agriculture,
      often caused by poor knowledge of the importance of fungal endophytes, are among
      the reasons for the loss of fungal endophyte diversity in domesticated plants and
      also accounts for the reduced effectiveness of some endophyte strains to confer
      plant benefits. We provide recommendations on how to mitigate against these
      negative impacts in modern agriculture.

PMID- 27624084
TI  - The plant is crucial: specific composition and function of the phyllosphere
      microbiome of indoor ornamentals.
AB  - The plant microbiome is a key determinant of plant health. Less is known about
      the phyllosphere microbiota and its driving factors in built environments. To
      study the variability of the microbiome in relation to plant genotype and climate
      under different controlled conditions, we investigated 14 phylogenetically
      diverse plant species grown in the greenhouses of the Botanical Garden in Graz
      (Austria). All investigated plants showed specific bacterial abundances of up to
      10(6) CFU cm(-2) on their leaves. Bacterial diversity (H('): 2.4-7.9) and number
      of putative OTUs (461-2013) were strongly plant species dependent. Statistical
      analysis showed a significantly higher correlation of community composition to
      plant genotype in comparison to the ambient climatic variables. In addition to
      the microbiome structure, we studied the antagonistic potential towards the
      foliar pathogen Botrytis cinerea as functional indicator. A high proportion of
      isolates (up to 58%) were able to inhibit pathogen growth by production of
      volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Data of structure and function were linked:
      frequently isolated VOCs producers (e.g. Bacillus and Stenotrophomonas) were
      highly present in phyllosphere communities, which were dominated by members of
      Firmicutes This study indicates that indoor ornamentals feature a distinct,
      stable microbiota on leaves irrespective of the indoor climate.

PMID- 27624085
TI  - A Whole Other Story: Inclusive Victimhood Narratives Reduce Competitive
      Victimhood and Intergroup Hostility.
AB  - Conflict narratives, having at their core the belief that the ingroup suffered
      more than the outgroup (competitive victimhood), are key in maintaining
      conflicts. Three experiments conducted with Jewish Israelis (Study 1), Turkish
      Kurds (Study 2), and Americans (Study 3) tested whether conflict narratives can
      reduce conflict. Studies 1 and 3 showed that people respond to inclusive
      victimhood narratives that emphasize both ingroup and outgroup suffering with a
      reduction in competitive victimhood and, in turn, reduced support for aggressive
      policies-but only when people were relatively less concerned that acknowledgment
      of outgroup suffering might risk loss of third-party support. Study 2 further
      found that inclusive narratives reduce conflict for low-power groups, yet without
      being moderated by concern. Together, these studies show that inclusive
      victimhood narratives can reduce conflict when people are not concerned about
      losing third-party support. The important role of third parties in conflict
      resolution is discussed.

PMID- 27624086
TI  - Statement of Institutional Concern.
AB  - Forster, J., Epstude, K., & Ozelsel, A. (2009). Why love has wings and sex has
      not: how reminders of love and sex influence creative and analytic thinking.
      Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1479-1491. (Original DOI:
      10.1177/0146167209342755).

PMID- 27624087
TI  - Hyperglycaemia and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes: systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:  To assess the association between maternal glucose concentrations
      and adverse perinatal outcomes in women without gestational or existing diabetes
      and to determine whether clear thresholds for identifying women at risk of
      perinatal outcomes can be identified. DESIGN:  Systematic review and meta
      analysis of prospective cohort studies and control arms of randomised trials.
      DATA SOURCES:  Databases including Medline and Embase were searched up to October
      2014 and combined with individual participant data from two additional birth
      cohorts. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES:  Studies including pregnant
      women with oral glucose tolerance (OGTT) or challenge (OGCT) test results, with
      data on at least one adverse perinatal outcome. APPRAISAL AND DATA EXTRACTION: 
      Glucose test results were extracted for OGCT (50 g) and OGTT (75 g and 100 g) at
      fasting and one and two hour post-load timings. Data were extracted on induction
      of labour; caesarean and instrumental delivery; pregnancy induced hypertension;
      pre-eclampsia; macrosomia; large for gestational age; preterm birth; birth
      injury; and neonatal hypoglycaemia. Risk of bias was assessed with a modified
      version of the critical appraisal skills programme and quality in prognostic
      studies tools. RESULTS:  25 reports from 23 published studies and two individual
      participant data cohorts were included, with up to 207 172 women (numbers varied
      by the test and outcome analysed in the meta-analyses). Overall most studies were
      judged as having a low risk of bias. There were positive linear associations with
      caesarean section, induction of labour, large for gestational age, macrosomia,
      and shoulder dystocia for all glucose exposures across the distribution of
      glucose concentrations. There was no clear evidence of a threshold effect. In
      general, associations were stronger for fasting concentration than for post-load
      concentration. For example, the odds ratios for large for gestational age per 1
      mmol/L increase of fasting and two hour post-load glucose concentrations (after a
      75 g OGTT) were 2.15 (95% confidence interval 1.60 to 2.91) and 1.20 (1.13 to
      1.28), respectively. Heterogeneity was low between studies in all analyses.
      CONCLUSIONS:  This review and meta-analysis identified a large number of studies
      in various countries. There was a graded linear association between fasting and
      post-load glucose concentration across the whole glucose distribution and most
      adverse perinatal outcomes in women without pre-existing or gestational diabetes.
      The lack of a clear threshold at which risk increases means that decisions
      regarding thresholds for diagnosing gestational diabetes are somewhat arbitrary.
      Research should now investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of applying
      different glucose thresholds for diagnosis of gestational diabetes on perinatal
      and longer term outcomes. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:  PROSPERO
      CRD42013004608.

PMID- 27624089
TI  - In vivo electrical application on titanium implants stimulating bone formation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present in vivo study was to measure the
      bone implant contact area after electrical stimulation of dental implants.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ninety titanium dental implants (6 mm * 11.5 mm) with a
      smooth surface were placed in six male Beagle dogs and then the implant-bone
      interfaces was assessed by histological analyses after 7 and 15 d. The 12-mo-old
      dogs, with a weight of 15 kg, were randomly divided into two groups based on the
      duration of bone healing: 7 and 15 d. Also, implants were divided into three
      groups based on electrical stimulation: group A, 10 MUA; group B, 20 MUA; and
      group C, control group. The electrical current was applied by an electrical
      device coupled to the implant connection. RESULTS: After 7 d of electrical
      stimulation, no statistical differences in bone-implant interface contact area
      were observed. However, a significantly higher bone-implant interface contact
      area was recorded for group B than for groups A and C (p < 0.01) after 15 d. No
      statistical difference was observed between groups A and C (p > 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: The electrical stimulation of dental implants can generate a larger
      area of bone-implant interface contact as a result of bone formation. Factors
      such as different electrical current intensity and duration should be studied in
      further work to clarify the potential of this method.

PMID- 27624088
TI  - Understanding Ebola: the 2014 epidemic.
AB  - Near the end of 2013, an outbreak of Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) began in Guinea,
      subsequently spreading to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. As this epidemic
      grew, important public health questions emerged about how and why this outbreak
      was so different from previous episodes. This review provides a synthetic
      synopsis of the 2014-15 outbreak, with the aim of understanding its unprecedented
      spread. We present a summary of the history of previous epidemics, describe the
      structure and genetics of the ebolavirus, and review our current understanding of
      viral vectors and the latest treatment practices. We conclude with an analysis of
      the public health challenges epidemic responders faced and some of the lessons
      that could be applied to future outbreaks of Ebola or other viruses.

PMID- 27624091
TI  - Do dentists from rural areas practice in rural areas?

PMID- 27624090
TI  - Rewiring cellular metabolism via the AKT/mTOR pathway contributes to host defence
      against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human and murine cells.
AB  - Cells in homeostasis metabolize glucose mainly through the tricarboxylic acid
      cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, while activated cells switch their basal
      metabolism to aerobic glycolysis. In this study, we examined whether metabolic
      reprogramming toward aerobic glycolysis is important for the host response to
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Through transcriptional and metabolite analysis
      we show that Mtb induces a switch in host cellular metabolism toward aerobic
      glycolysis in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The metabolic
      switch is TLR2 dependent but NOD2 independent, and is mediated in part through
      activation of the AKT-mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway. We show that
      pharmacological inhibition of the AKT/mTOR pathway inhibits cellular responses to
      Mtb both in vitro in human PBMCs, and in vivo in a model of murine tuberculosis.
      Our findings reveal a novel regulatory layer of host responses to Mtb that will
      aid understanding of host susceptibility to Mtb, and which may be exploited for
      host-directed therapy.

PMID- 27624092
TI  - Fracture resistance of endodontically treated molars restored with horizontal
      fiberglass posts or indirect techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of the many possibilities for endodontically restoring the
      posterior teeth and the high prevalence of restoration failures, this topic
      continues to be of major concern. A composite resin (CR) restoration reinforced
      by a horizontal fiberglass post may improve the fracture resistance of
      endodontically treated teeth. The authors investigated this possibility by
      comparing the fracture resistance of molars restored with direct techniques with
      that of molars restored with indirect techniques. METHODS: The authors divided 50
      extracted sound third molars into 5 groups: sound teeth, onlay (ON), inlay (IN),
      direct CR, and transfixed fiberglass post (TFP) plus direct CR. The authors
      performed standardized mesio-occlusodistal cavity preparations and endodontic
      treatments. The authors cemented indirect restorations of Lava Ultimate (3M ESPE)
      adhesively in the ON and IN groups. The authors restored CR group teeth directly
      with Filtek Z230 XT (3M ESPE). In the TFP group, the authors transfixed 2
      fiberglass posts horizontally and restored the teeth directly with CR.
      Thereafter, the authors submitted the teeth to cyclic fatigue loading with
      500,000 cycles at 200 newtons. The authors tested fracture resistance in newtons
      in a universal testing machine. The authors analyzed data with 1-way analysis of
      variance and a Tukey test (P < .05). RESULTS: Sound teeth had the highest
      fracture resistance. ON had the highest recovery of resistance, followed by TFP.
      CR had the lowest recovery, which was similar to that of IN. CONCLUSIONS:
      Endodontically treated molars restored with TFP plus CR had fracture resistance
      similar to those restored with ON, which was higher than that for IN or CR only.
      PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Horizontal TFPs placed inside a composite restoration had
      the same performance as did ON restorations.

PMID- 27624093
TI  - Inorganic Double Helices in Semiconducting SnIP.
AB  - SnIP is the first atomic-scale double helical semiconductor featuring a 1.86 eV
      bandgap, high structural and mechanical flexibility, and reasonable thermal
      stability up to 600 K. It is accessible on a gram scale and consists of a racemic
      mixture of right- and left-handed double helices composed by [SnI] and [P]
      helices. SnIP nanorods <20 nm in diameter can be accessed mechanically and
      chemically within minutes.

PMID- 27624094
TI  - Characterization of the effects of n-butanol on the cell envelope of E. coli.
AB  - Biofuel alcohols have severe consequences on the microbial hosts used in their
      biosynthesis, which limits the productivity of the bioconversion. The cell
      envelope is one of the most strongly affected structures, in particular, as the
      external concentration of biofuels rises during biosynthesis. Damage to the cell
      envelope can have severe consequences, such as impairment of transport into and
      out of the cell; however, the nature of butanol-induced envelope damage has not
      been well characterized. In the present study, the effects of n-butanol on the
      cell envelope of Escherichia coli were investigated. Using enzyme and
      fluorescence-based assays, we observed that 1 % v/v n-butanol resulted in the
      release of lipopolysaccharides from the outer membrane of E. coli and caused
      'leakiness' in both outer and inner membranes. Higher concentrations of n
      butanol, within the range of 2-10 % (v/v), resulted in inner membrane protrusion
      through the peptidoglycan observed by characteristic blebs. The findings suggest
      that strategies for rational engineering of butanol-tolerant bacterial strains
      should take into account all components of the cell envelope.

PMID- 27624095
TI  - O-heterocyclic derivatives with antibacterial properties from marine bacterium
      Bacillus subtilis associated with seaweed, Sargassum myriocystum.
AB  - The brown seaweed, Sargassum myriocystum associated with heterotrophic bacterium,
      Bacillus subtilis MTCC 10407 (JF834075) exhibited broad-spectra of potent
      antibacterial activities against pathogenic bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio
      vulnificus, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. B. subtilis MTCC 10407 was found to be
      positive for polyketide synthetase (pks) gene, and therefore, was considered to
      characterize secondary metabolites bearing polyketide backbone. Using bioassay
      guided fractionation, two new antibacterial O-heterocyclic compounds belonging to
      pyranyl benzoate analogs of polyketide origin, with activity against pathogenic
      bacteria, have been isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of B. subtilis MTCC
      10407. In the present study, the secondary metabolites of B. subtilis MTCC 10407
      with potent antibacterial action against bacterial pathogens was recognized to
      represent the platform of pks-1 gene-encoded products. Two homologous compounds 3
      (3-(methoxycarbonyl)-4-(5-(2-ethylbutyl)-5,6-dihydro-3-methyl-2H-pyran-2-yl)
      butyl benzoate) and 4 [2-(8-butyl-3-ethyl-3,4,4a,5,6,8a-hexahydro-2H-chromen-6
      yl)-ethyl benzoate] also have been isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of
      host seaweed S. myriocystum. The two compounds isolated from ethyl acetate
      extract of S. myriocystum with lesser antibacterial properties shared similar
      structures with the compounds purified from B. subtilis that suggested the
      ecological and metabolic relationship between these compounds in seaweed
      bacterial relationship. Tetrahydropyran-2-one moiety of the tetrahydropyrano
      [3,2b]-pyran-2(3H)-one system of 1 might be cleaved by the metabolic pool of
      seaweeds to afford methyl 3-(dihydro-3-methyl-2H-pyranyl)-propanoate moiety of 3,
      which was found to have no significant antibacterial activity. It is therefore
      imperative that the presence of dihydro-methyl-2H-pyran-2-yl propanoate system is
      essentially required to impart the greater activity. The direct involvement of
      polarisability (Pl) with the target bioactivity in 2 implied that inductive
      (field/polar) rather than the steric effect (parachor) appears to be the key
      factor influencing the induction of antibacterial activity. The present work may
      have a footprint on the use of novel O-heterocyclic polyketide products from
      seaweed-associated bacterium for biotechnological, food, and pharmaceutical
      applications mainly as novel antimicrobial secondary metabolites.

PMID- 27624096
TI  - Study of extracellular polymeric substances in the biofilms of a suspended
      biofilter for nitric oxide removal.
AB  - The extraction and quantitative analysis of extracellular polymeric substances
      (EPS) have been frequently reported in studies of activated sludge. However,
      little is currently known about the EPS in the biofilms of biofilter systems.
      This study investigates the EPS in biofilms of Chelatococcus daeguensis TAD1
      established in a suspended biofilter for nitric oxide (NO) removal under
      thermophilic conditions. Polysaccharide was the main EPS component under all
      experimental operation conditions of the aerobic biofilter, although the EPS
      contents and components varied under different operating conditions. As the
      concentration of the inlet NO varied from 200 to 2000 mg/m3, the EPS and protein
      contents generally increased. At the highest inlet concentration (2000 mg/m3),
      the EPS and protein contents reached 0.118 and 0.055 mg/g, respectively
      (representing increases of 7.3 and 35 %, respectively, over the inlet
      concentration of 200 mg/m3). In contrast, the polysaccharide content was quite
      stable against inlet NO concentration. Decreasing the empty bed residence time
      increased the EPS and polysaccharide contents, but exerted little effect on the
      protein content. Varying the pH of the circulating fluid from 4 to 8 changed the
      EPS and its components in complex ways. We also found a strong correlation
      between the total EPS content and the NO removal efficiency. Therefore, it is
      possible to take EPS into consideration for biofilter control.

PMID- 27624097
TI  - Differentiation of foodborne bacteria using NIR hyperspectral imaging and
      multivariate data analysis.
AB  - The potential for near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging and multivariate data
      analysis to be used as a rapid non-destructive tool for detection and
      differentiation of bacteria was investigated. NIR hyperspectral images were
      collected of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis,
      Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis grown on agar for 20 h at 37
      degrees C. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to mean-centred data.
      Standard normal variate (SNV) correction and the Savitzky-Golay technique was
      applied (2nd derivative, 3rd-order polynomial; 25 point smoothing) to wavelengths
      in the range of 1103 to 2471 nm. Chemical differences between colonies which
      appeared similar in colour on growth media (B. cereus, E. coli and S.
      enteritidis.) were evident in the PCA score plots. It was possible to distinguish
      B. cereus from E. coli and S. enteritidis along PC1 (59 % sum of squares (SS))
      and between E. coli and S. enteritidis in the direction of PC2 (6.85 % SS). S.
      epidermidis was separated from B. cereus and S. aureus along PC1 (37.5 % SS) and
      was attributed to variation in amino acid and carbohydrate content. Two clusters
      were evident in the PC1 vs. PC2 PCA score plot for the images of S. aureus and S.
      epidermidis, thus permitting distinction between species. Differentiation between
      genera (similarly coloured on growth media), Gram-positive and Gram-negative
      bacteria and pathogenic and non-pathogenic species was possible using NIR
      hyperspectral imaging. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)
      models were used to confirm the PCA data. The best predictions were made for B.
      cereus and Staphylococcus species, where results ranged from 82.0 to 99.96 %
      correctly predicted pixels.

PMID- 27624098
TI  - The multidisciplinary art and science of cancer care: integrating psycho
      oncology.

PMID- 27624099
TI  - Is the endoscopic third ventriculostomy success score an appropriate tool to
      inform clinical decision-making?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The endoscopic third ventriculostomy success score (ETVSS) is a
      model, which provides each patient with a prediction of the outcome of endoscopic
      third ventriculostomy. The objective of this study was to determine if there is
      clinical value to the use of the ETVSS in the decision for ETV. METHODS:
      Prospectively collected data on all ETV procedures with the Republic of Ireland
      in children <=16 years of age, totalling 112, from 2008 to 2014 was analysed. The
      percentage chance of success at six months was retrospectively calculated
      according to the ETVSS. A multivariable model, comprising the risk factors from
      the ETVSS - age, aetiology and previous shunt - was created and its performance
      compared to that of the ETVSS. RESULTS: The ETVSS achieved an AUC of 0.61 (95%
      CI: 0.49-0.71) with a sensitivity and specificity of 50% and 76%, respectively,
      at its optimal cutoff. The ETVSS was not significantly well calibrated in this
      cohort and there was a limited net benefit on decision curve analysis in
      comparison with the strategy of performing ETV in all patients. The multivariable
      model achieved an AUC of 0.67 (95% CI: 0.56-0.78), was well calibrated and was
      associated with a superior net benefit over that of the ETVSS. CONCLUSION: The
      ETVSS represents the future of patient risk stratification with an easy to use,
      individualised approach for each patient. The ETVSS has performed adequately in
      this study. However, through the addition of novel risk factors, the continuous
      updating of the model and recalibration where needed, the ETVSS can become a tool
      that the paediatric neurosurgeon cannot do without.

PMID- 27624100
TI  - Leucine supplementation stimulates protein synthesis and reduces degradation
      signal activation in muscle of newborn pigs during acute endotoxemia.
AB  - Sepsis disrupts skeletal muscle proteostasis and mitigates the anabolic response
      to leucine (Leu) in muscle of mature animals. We have shown that Leu stimulates
      muscle protein synthesis (PS) in healthy neonatal piglets. To determine if
      supplemental Leu can stimulate PS and reduce protein degradation (PD) signaling
      in neonatal muscle during endotoxemia, overnight-fasted neonatal pigs were
      infused for 8 h with LPS or saline while plasma amino acids, glucose, and insulin
      were maintained at fasting levels during pancreatic-substrate clamps. Leu or
      saline was infused during the last hour. Markers of PS and PD were determined in
      skeletal muscle. Compared with controls, Leu increased PS in longissimus dorsi
      (LD), gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles. LPS decreased PS in these three muscles
      by 36%, 28%, and 38%, but Leu antagonized that reduction by increasing PS by 84%,
      81%, and 83%, respectively, when supplemented to LPS. Leu increased eukaryotic
      translation initiation factor (eIF)3b-raptor interactions, eIF4E-binding protein
      1, and S6 kinase 1 phosphorylation as well as eIF4E.eIF4G complex formation in
      LD, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles of control and LPS-treated pigs. In LD
      muscle, LPS increased the light chain (LC)3-II-to-LC3 ratio and muscle-specific
      RING finger (MuRF-1) abundance but not atrogin-1 abundance or AMP-activated
      protein kinase-alpha phosphorylation. Leu supplementation to LPS-treated pigs
      reduced the LC3-II-to-LC3 ratio, MuRF-1 abundance, and AMP-activated protein
      kinase-alpha phosphorylation compared with LPS alone. In conclusion, parenteral
      Leu supplementation attenuates the LPS-induced reduction in PS by stimulating
      mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1-dependent translation and may reduce PD
      by attenuating autophagy-lysosome and MuRF-1 signaling in neonatal skeletal
      muscle.

PMID- 27624101
TI  - Zinc finger protein 407 overexpression upregulates PPAR target gene expression
      and improves glucose homeostasis in mice.
AB  - The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) family of nuclear receptors
      is central to the pathophysiology and treatment of metabolic disease through the
      receptors' ability to regulate the expression of genes involved in glucose
      homeostasis, adipogenesis, and lipid metabolism. However, the mechanism by which
      PPAR is regulated remains incompletely understood. We generated a transgenic
      mouse strain (ZFP-TG) that overexpressed Zfp407 primarily in muscle and heart.
      Transcriptome analysis by RNA-Seq identified 1,300 differentially expressed genes
      in the muscle of ZFP-TG mice, among which PPAR target genes were significantly
      enriched. Among the physiologically important PPARgamma target genes, Glucose
      transporter (Glut)-4 mRNA and protein levels were increased in heart and muscle.
      The increase in Glut4 and other transcriptional effects of Zfp407 overexpression
      together decreased body weight and lowered plasma glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR
      scores relative to control littermates. When placed on high-fat diet, ZFP-TG mice
      remained more glucose tolerant than their wild-type counterparts. Cell-based
      assays demonstrated that Zfp407 synergistically increased the transcriptional
      activity of all PPAR subtypes, PPARalpha, PPARgamma, and PPARdelta. The increased
      PPAR activity was not associated with increased PPAR mRNA or protein levels,
      suggesting that Zfp407 posttranslationally regulates PPAR activity. Collectively,
      these results demonstrate that Zfp407 overexpression improved glucose
      homeostasis. Thus, Zfp407 represents a new drug target for treating metabolic
      disease.

PMID- 27624102
TI  - Saturated fatty acids activate caspase-4/5 in human monocytes, triggering IL
      1beta and IL-18 release.
AB  - Obesity is associated with metabolic tissue infiltration by monocyte-derived
      macrophages. Saturated fatty acids contribute to proinflammatory gene induction
      in tissue-embedded immune cells. However, it is unknown how circulating
      monocytes, the macrophage precursors, react to high-fat environments. In
      macrophages, saturated fatty acids activate inflammatory pathways and, notably,
      prime caspase-associated inflammasomes. Inflammasome-activated IL-1beta
      contributes to type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that 1) human monocytes from
      obese patients show caspase activation, and 2) fatty acids trigger this response
      and consequent release of IL-1beta/IL-18. Human peripheral blood monocytes were
      sorted by flow cytometry, and caspase activity was measured with a FLICA dye
      based assay. Blood monocytes from obese individuals exhibited elevated caspase
      activity. To explore the nature and consequence of this activity, human THP1
      monocytes were exposed to saturated or unsaturated fatty acids. Caspase activity
      was revealed by isoform-specific cleavage and enzymatic activity; cytokine
      expression/release was measured by qPCR and ELISA. Palmitate, but not
      palmitoleate, increased caspase activity in parallel to the release of IL-1beta
      and IL-18. Palmitate induced eventual monocyte cell death with features of
      pyroptosis (an inflammation-linked cell death program involving caspase-4/5),
      scored through LDH release, vital dye influx, cell volume changes, and nuclear
      morphology. Notably, selective gene silencing or inhibition of caspase-4/5
      reduced palmitate-induced release of IL-1beta and IL-18. In summary, monocytes
      from obese individuals present elevated caspase activity. Mechanistically,
      palmitate activates a pyroptotic program in monocytes through caspase-4/5,
      causing inflammatory cytokine release, additional to inflammasomes. These
      caspases represent potential, novel, therapeutic targets to taper obesity
      associated inflammation.

PMID- 27624104
TI  - Erratum to: A novel bedside test for ACPA: the CCPoint test is moving the
      laboratory to the rheumatologist's office.

PMID- 27624103
TI  - Development of a reliable automated screening system to identify small molecules
      and biologics that promote human beta-cell regeneration.
AB  - Numerous compounds stimulate rodent beta-cell proliferation; however, translating
      these findings to human beta-cells remains a challenge. To examine human beta
      cell proliferation in response to such compounds, we developed a medium
      throughput in vitro method of quantifying adult human beta-cell proliferation
      markers. This method is based on high-content imaging of dispersed islet cells
      seeded in 384-well plates and automated cell counting that identifies
      fluorescently labeled beta-cells with high specificity using both nuclear and
      cytoplasmic markers. beta-Cells from each donor were assessed for their function
      and ability to enter the cell cycle by cotransduction with adenoviruses encoding
      cell cycle regulators cdk6 and cyclin D3. Using this approach, we tested 12
      previously identified mitogens, including neurotransmitters, hormones, growth
      factors, and molecules, involved in adenosine and Tgf-1beta signaling. Each
      compound was tested in a wide concentration range either in the presence of basal
      (5 mM) or high (11 mM) glucose. Treatment with the control compound harmine, a
      Dyrk1a inhibitor, led to a significant increase in Ki-67+ beta-cells, whereas
      treatment with other compounds had limited to no effect on human beta-cell
      proliferation. This new scalable approach reduces the time and effort required
      for sensitive and specific evaluation of human beta-cell proliferation, thus
      allowing for increased testing of candidate human beta-cell mitogens.

PMID- 27624105
TI  - [A Case of Primary Adrenal Malignant Lymphoma with Inferior Vena Cava Thrombus].
AB  - We report a case of primary adrenal malignant lymphoma with inferior vena cava
      thrombus which was successfully treated by surgical resection and chemotherapy. A
      77-year-old woman complained of right back pain. Computed tomography and magnetic
      resonance imaging showed right adrenal tumor which had a diameter of 27 mm with
      inferior vena cava thrombus. Under the diagnosis of malignant adrenal tumor,
      surgical resection and vena cava replacement were performed. Histopathological
      examination revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. After the operation, she
      received 6 courses of adjuvant chemotherapy, and has been alive without evidence
      of recurrence for 3 years. 

PMID- 27624106
TI  - [Metastasis to the Tongue from Renal Cell Carcinoma 10 Years after Nephrectomy :
      A Case Report].
AB  - A 71-year-old woman underwent left radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma
      (clear cell carcinoma, pT1bN0M0) ten years previously. She noticed a tumor on the
      tip of her tongue and was admitted for dental and oral surgery. The tumor was
      about 10 mm in size, and tumor resection was done. It was pathologically
      diagnosed as clear cell carcinoma, which was metastasis of renal cell carcinoma.
      Computer tomography scan during the same period revealed left hilar lymph node
      and bilateral lung metastases. We chose to use sunitinib as the treatment for the
      metastases. Computer tomography revealed a complete response (CR) after sunitinib
      treatment was given for 10 months, and we are still continuing the treatment to
      maintain the CR status. 

PMID- 27624107
TI  - [A Case of Xp.11.2 Traslocational Renal Cell Carcinoma Diagnosed by Fluorescence
      in Situ Hybridization (FISH)].
AB  - A 72-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with complaints of macro
      hematuria. The radiographic evaluation including computed tomography (CT) and
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested it to be renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in
      her right kidney. She underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy. We diagnosed her with
      renal cell carcinoma associated with Xp11.2 translocation/TFE3 gene fusion, based
      on pathological findings and break apart of transcription factor E3 (TFE3)by
      fluorescence in situ hybridization. She was free of recurrence at 8 months
      postoperatively. 

PMID- 27624108
TI  - [Emphysematous Pyelonephritis with Cardio-Pulmonary Arrest : A Case Report].
AB  - A 40-year-old woman withuntreated type II diabetes mellitus was discovered
      withcardiopulmonary arrest in her room. On admission, she had ventricular
      fibrillation. After cardiopulmonary resuscitation, her own pulse restarted. The
      plasma glucose was 722 mg/dl and venous PH was 6.704. Abdominal computed
      tomography revealed gas within the parenchyma of the left kidney. We diagnosed
      her with emphysematous pyelonephritis and conducted emergency nephrectomy.
      Urinary and blood cultures were positive for Escherichia coli. Antibiotic therapy
      was initiated with doripenem and she was restrictively treated with intravenous
      insulin to control her plasma glucose. On the 8th day of hospital stay, she
      underwent resection of the small intestine because of necrosis. After
      multidisciplinary therapy, she was discharged with complete resolution of the
      infection. 

PMID- 27624109
TI  - [A Case of Hyperammonemia Caused by Urinary Tract Infection Due to Urease
      Producing Bacteria].
AB  - We present here a rare case of hyperammonemia without liver dysfunction or portal
      systemic shunting. The patient was an 80-year-old woman with a history of
      neurogenic bladder. She was admitted to a nearby hospital for vomiting, diarrhea
      and consciousness disturbance. Two days after admission, she was transferred to
      our hospital because of persistant consciousness disturbance. Laboratory data
      revealed hyperammonemia, but there was no indication of liver dysfunction.
      Moreover abdominal computed tomography did not reveal any clear finding of liver
      disease or portal-systemic shunting, but we noted multiple large bladder
      diverticula. Antibiotic therapy, tracheal intubation, ventilator management and
      bladder catheterization were performed. The patient's level of consciousness
      improved rapidly. Urinary culture revealed Bacteroides ureolyticus (urease
      producing bacteria). The patient was diagnosed with hyperammonemia and a urinary
      tract infection due to urease-producing bacteria. Thus, physicians should be
      aware that obstructive urinary tract infections due to urease-producing bacteria
      can also be the cause of hyperammonemia. 

PMID- 27624110
TI  - [Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of the Bladder : A Case Report].
AB  - A 39-year-old female visited our hospital because of a bladder tumor. Computed
      tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed a retrovesical tumor in dome of
      the bladder. Cystoscopy showed edematous inflammatory changes of the mucosa of
      the bladder wall. We diagnosed her with urachal carcinoma from cystoscopy finding
      and image inspections. She received partial cystectomy with pelvic
      lymphadenectomy. Histopathological examination revealed inflammatory
      myofibroblastic tumor because these specimens presented positive for anaplastic
      lymphoma kinase in immunohistochemical studies. She has been followed up for 16
      months without any evidence of local recurrence. 

PMID- 27624111
TI  - [A Case of Emphysematous Cystitis with Bladder Diverticulum].
AB  - Emphysematous cystitis (EC) is a rare form of acute complicated urinary tract
      infection (UTI). We report a case of EC with bladder diverticulum. A 77-year-old
      man who had a medical history of diabetes mellitus was admitted to our hospital
      with the chief complaint of macrohematuria and pneumaturia. Based on the findings
      of an abdominal computed tomography and cystoscopy, the diagnosis of EC and
      bladder diverticulum was made with its characteristic feature being gas within
      the bladder wall and lumen and a cystic lesion from the bladder. His condition
      improved immediately with a combination of bladder drainage and appropriate
      antibiotics. The cystography revealed a very large diverticulum causing
      incomplete bladder emptying and stagnation of urine. We considered diabetes
      mellitus and a large amount of residual urine after urination due to bladder
      diverticulum and neurogenic bladder as the possible causal factors of EC in this
      case. 

PMID- 27624112
TI  - [A Case of Traumatic Dislocation of the Penis].
AB  - We report a rare case of a traumatic dislocation of the penis. The patient was a
      39-year-old man who was ambulanced to our hospital because of a motorbike
      accident. He was diagnosed to have a pelvic fracture. He was admitted to our
      department because of his urinary retention and lower abdominal pain. Only the
      penile skin was left as the genital organ, and neither the penis nor the glans
      penis was palpable. As the computed tomography scan of the abdomen revealed the
      dislocation of the penis under the skin in the foreside of the pubic bone,
      urinary retention due to the traumatic dislocation of the penis was diagnosed,
      and a percutaneous cystostomy was performed. After improvement of his general
      condition, the patient was transferred to our department for the evaluation of
      the perineal region, including the lower urinary tract, and for the treatment of
      the traumatic dislocation of the penis. First, as hematoma and abscess in the
      left spermatic cord were suspected by magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvic
      region, removal of the hematoma and abscess in the left spermatic cord as well as
      an anterograde cystoscopy were performed under lumbar anesthesia, and the absence
      of urethral injury was confirmed. After infection control, repositioning of the
      penis was jointly performed with the Department of Plastic Surgery of our
      hospital under general anesthesia. After the operation, spontaneous urination was
      observed and erectile function was observed to be normal. 

PMID- 27624113
TI  - [Intra-Abdominal Germ Cell Tumor in Persistent Mullerian Duct Syndrome].
AB  - A 46-year-old man was admitted to hospital presenting with a lower abdominal
      mass. The patient's testes were not palpable in the scrotum, and the levels of
      lactic dehydrogenase, alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin were all
      elevated. Enhanced computed tomography revealed that the lumen of the mass had
      penetrated the prostate. Pathological analysis of biopsy tissue indicated that
      the mass was a seminoma. Residual tumor resection was performed after
      chemotherapy. On histological examination, the lumen proved to be a Mullerian
      structure. Our diagnosis was an intra-abdominal germ cell tumor and persistent
      Mullerian duct syndrome. 

PMID- 27624114
TI  - Inbreeding load and purging: implications for the short-term survival and the
      conservation management of small populations.
AB  - Using computer simulations, we evaluate the effects of genetic purging of
      inbreeding load in small populations, assuming genetic models of deleterious
      mutations which account for the typical amount of load empirically observed. Our
      results show that genetic purging efficiently removes the inbreeding load of both
      lethal and non-lethal mutations, reducing the amount of inbreeding depression
      relative to that expected without selection. We find that the minimum effective
      population size to avoid severe inbreeding depression in the short term is of the
      order of Ne~70 for a wide range of species' reproductive rates. We also carried
      out simulations of captive breeding populations where two contrasting management
      methods are performed, one avoiding inbreeding (equalisation of parental
      contributions (EC)) and the other forcing it (circular sib mating (CM)). We show
      that, for the inbreeding loads considered, CM leads to unacceptably high
      extinction risks and, as a result, to lower genetic diversity than EC. Thus we
      conclude that methods aimed at enhancing purging by intentional inbreeding should
      not be generally advised in captive breeding conservation programmes.

PMID- 27624115
TI  - The effects of resource availability and the demographic transition on the
      genetic correlation between number of children and grandchildren in humans.
AB  - Studies of evolutionary change require an estimate of fitness, and lifetime
      reproductive success is widely used for this purpose. However, many species face
      a trade-off between the number and quality of offspring and in such cases number
      of grandoffspring may better represent the genetic contribution to future
      generations. Here, we apply quantitative genetic methods to a genealogical data
      set on humans from Finland to address how the genetic correlation between number
      of children and grandchildren is influenced by the severity of the trade-off
      between offspring quality and quantity, as estimated by different levels of
      resource access among individuals in the population. Further, we compare the
      genetic correlation before and after the demographic transition to low mortality
      and fertility rates. The genetic correlation was consistently high (0.79-0.92)
      with the strongest correlations occurring in individuals with higher access to
      resources and before the demographic transition, and a tendency for lower
      correlations in resource poor individuals and after the transition. These results
      indicate that number of grandoffspring is a slightly better predictor of long
      term genetic fitness than number of offspring in a human population across a
      range of environmental conditions, and more generally, that patterns of resource
      availability need to be taken into account when estimating genetic covariances
      with fitness.

PMID- 27624116
TI  - Genome-wide analysis highlights genetic dilution in Algerian sheep.
AB  - Algeria represents a reservoir of genetic diversity with local sheep breeds
      adapted to a large range of environments and showing specific features necessary
      to deal with harsh conditions. This remarkable diversity results from the
      traditional management of dryland by pastoralists over centuries. Most of these
      breeds are poorly productive, and the economic pressure leads farmers to realize
      anarchic cross-breeding (that is, not carried out in the framework of selection
      plans) with the hope to increase animal's conformation. In this study, eight of
      the nine local Algerian sheep breeds (D'men, Hamra, Ouled-Djellal, Rembi,
      Sidaoun, Tazegzawt, Berber and Barbarine) were investigated for the first time by
      genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. At an international scale,
      Algerian sheep occupied an original position shaped by relations with African and
      European (particularly Italian) breeds. The strong genetic proximity with
      Caribbean and Brazilian breeds confirmed that the genetic make-up of these
      American breeds was largely influenced by the Atlantic slave trade. At a national
      scale, an alarming genetic dilution of the Berber (a primitive breed) and the
      Rembi was observed, as a consequence of uncontrolled mating practices with Ouled
      Djellal. A similar, though less pronounced, phenomenon was also detected for the
      Barbarine, another ancestral breed. Genetic originality appeared to be better
      preserved in Tazegzawt, Hamra, D'men and Sidaoun. These breeds should be given
      high priority in the establishment of conservation plans to halt their
      progressive loss. For Berber and Barbarine that also occur in the bordering
      neighbor countries, urgent concerted transnational actions are needed.

PMID- 27624117
TI  - Efficiency of genomic selection for breeding population design and phenotype
      prediction in tomato.
AB  - Genomic selection (GS), which uses estimated genetic potential based on genome
      wide genotype data for a breeding selection, is now widely accepted as an
      efficient method to improve genetically complex traits. We assessed the potential
      of GS for increasing soluble solids content and total fruit weight of tomato. A
      collection of big-fruited F1 varieties was used to construct the GS models, and
      the progeny from crosses was used to validate the models. The present study
      includes two experiments: a prediction of a parental combination that generates
      superior progeny and the prediction of progeny phenotypes. The GS models
      successfully predicted a better parent even if the phenotypic value did not vary
      substantially between candidates. The GS models also predicted phenotypes of
      progeny, although their efficiency varied depending on the parental cross
      combinations and the selected traits. Although further analyses are required to
      apply GS in an actual breeding situation, our results indicated that GS is a
      promising strategy for future tomato breeding design.

PMID- 27624118
TI  - Ischemic stroke classification and risk of embolism in patients with Chagas
      disease.
AB  - Ischemic stroke (IS) and Chagas disease are strongly related. Nevertheless,
      little attention has been paid to this association and its natural history. The
      current guidelines concerning the management and secondary prevention of IS are
      largely based on the incomplete information or extrapolation of knowledge from
      other stroke etiologies. We performed a retrospective study which compared stroke
      etiologies among a cohort of hospitalized patients with IS and Chagas disease.
      The Instituto de Pesquisa Evandro Chagas/Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz (IPEC/FIOCRUZ)
      embolic score was also used to identify and evaluate the risk of embolism in this
      population. A total of 86 patients were included in the analysis. The mean age of
      the study population was 58 years, and 60 % were men. According to the Trial of
      Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) Classification, 45 % of the strokes
      were of undetermined etiology and 45 % of cardioembolic origin, while the Stop
      Stroke Study/Causative Classification System (SSS/CCS) TOAST indicated that 34 %
      were undetermined and 50 % cardioembolic (p < 0.01); 44 % of these patients were
      classified as having a high embolic risk according to the IPEC/FIOCRUZ score.
      Among the undetermined causes, 83.3 % fulfilled the criteria for embolic stroke
      of undetermined source (ESUS). The SSS/CCS TOAST etiological classification
      system was superior to the classical TOAST criteria in identifying a
      cardioembolic etiology in patients with ischemic stroke and Chagas disease. The
      IPEC/FIOCRUZ score did not correlate with the number of patients who were
      determined to have cardioembolic stroke etiologies. The current guidelines for
      stroke prevention should be reviewed in this population.

PMID- 27624119
TI  - High incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome after deep brain stimulation in
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - We observed several cases of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) revealed after
      subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD).
      115 consecutive PD patients who underwent STN-DBS between 2010 and 2014 at the
      Neurological Hospital in Lyon were retrospectively included. CTS was accepted as
      the diagnosis only if clinical examination and ENMG both confirmed it. Nine
      patients (7.8 %) developed CTS in the 2 years following surgery, which is far
      beyond the 2.7/1000 incidence in the general population. The present study shows
      an overrepresentation of CTS occurrence after STN-DBS in PD.

PMID- 27624120
TI  - 'De novo' Col4A2 mutation in a patient with migraine, leukoencephalopathy, and
      small carotid aneurysms.

PMID- 27624121
TI  - The clinical spectrum and natural history of pure akinesia with gait freezing.
AB  - Gait freezing as a presenting and relatively restricted condition is uncommon but
      a distinctive disorder. This entity was initially defined as "pure akinesia with
      gait freezing", and later a neuropathological substrate of progressive
      supranuclear palsy has been recognized. Limited studies have reported the
      clinical evolution after presentation, which is important for patient counseling.
      The objective of this study was to assess the demographic and clinical features,
      treatment-response, neuroimaging, and evolution of pure akinesia with gait
      freezing. A retrospective review of patients with this phenotype as previously
      defined was performed. Patients included had no or minimal limb rigidity and/or
      bradykinesia and no resting tremor, and all underwent neuroimaging of the brain
      after onset. Inclusion criteria were met by 30 patients, who were followed up to
      21 years after symptom onset. During their course, 28 patients had falls (93 %),
      12 patients had dysarthria (40 %), and 13 had handwriting changes (43 %). All
      patients had progression of their gait disorder over time, but with a variable
      interval until falls occurred. None of the patients developed vertical gaze palsy
      or met diagnostic criteria for an alternative parkinsonian disorder. Pure
      akinesia with gait freezing is a distinctive disorder that can be recognized in
      the clinic. Despite the previously reported progressive supranuclear palsy-like
      neuropathology, the clinical course is much less aggressive and disabling than
      classic Richardson syndrome, although fall risk eventually develops in nearly all
      patients. Bradykinesia, tremor, and rigidity do not develop, distinguishing pure
      akinesia with gait freezing from Parkinson's disease and other parkinsonian
      disorders.

PMID- 27624122
TI  - Altered processing of otolithic information in isolated lateral medullary
      infarction.
AB  - Ocular and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) evaluate the
      function of otolithic pathways in central as well as peripheral vestibular
      disorders. This study aimed to determine the associations and dissociations of
      otolithic dysfunction in lateral medullary infarction (LMI), the most well-known
      disorder of central vestibulopathy. At the Dizziness Clinic of a referral-based
      University Hospital, 45 patients with isolated LMI (28 men, mean age = 55.6 +/-
      12.5) had evaluation of the ocular tilt reaction (OTR), tilt of the subjective
      visual vertical (SVV), and ocular and cervical VEMPs from Janurary 2011 to August
      2015 during the acute phase, 1-11 days from the symptom onset (median = 2 days).
      Almost all (42/45, 93 %) patients showed at least one component of the OTR or SVV
      tilt that was invariably ipsiversive. In contrast, oVEMPs were abnormal only in
      12 (27 %) and cVEMPs in 13 (29 %) patients. Only three patients showed abnormal
      results in all the tests of the OTR, SVV tilt, and ocular and cervical VEMPs.
      Abnormal oVEMPs were more common in patients with the OTR than those without (38
      vs 6 %, Pearson X 2 test, p = 0.021). In contrast, abnormality of cVEMPs showed
      no correlation with the presence of OTR (28 vs 31 %, Pearson X 2 test, p =
      0.795). In patients with LMI, ipsiversive OTR is invariable, but abnormalities of
      oVEMPs and cVEMPs were much less common and mostly dissociated even in the
      patients with abnormal results. This discrepancy in otolithic dysfunction
      suggests different anatomical substrates and/or dissimilar reciprocal modulation
      for processing of each otolithic signal in central vestibular structures located
      in the dorsolateral medulla.

PMID- 27624123
TI  - Corticoefferent pathways in pure lower motor neuron disease: a diffusion tensor
      imaging study.
AB  - Criteria for assessing upper motor neuron pathology in lower motor neuron disease
      (LMND) still remain major issues in clinical diagnosis. This study was designed
      to investigate patients with the clinical diagnosis of adult pure LMND by use of
      whole brain based diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to delineate alterations of
      corticoefferent pathways in vivo. Comparison of fractional anisotropy (FA) maps
      was performed by whole brain-based spatial statistics for 37 LMND patients vs. 53
      matched controls to detect white matter structural alterations. LMND patients
      were clinically differentiated in fast and slow progressors. Furthermore, tract
      specific alterations were investigated by fiber tracking techniques according to
      the staging hypothesis for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The analysis of
      white matter structural connectivity demonstrated widespread and characteristic
      patterns of alterations in patients with LMND, predominantly along the
      corticospinal tract (CST), with multiple clusters of regional FA reductions in
      the motor system at p < 0.05 (corrected for multiple comparisons). Fast
      progressing LMND showed substantial CST involvement, while slow progressors
      showed less CST alterations. In the tract-specific analysis according to the ALS
      staging pattern as suggested by Braak, fast progressing LMND showed significant
      alterations of ALS-related tract systems beyond the CST compared to slow
      progressors and controls. In clinically pure LMND patients, the involvement of
      corticoefferent fibers was demonstrated, in particular along the CST, supporting
      the hypothesis that LMND is a phenotypical variant of ALS. This finding suggests
      to treat these patients like ALS, including the opportunity to participate in
      clinical trials.

PMID- 27624124
TI  - Not a Simple Tether: Binding of Toxoplasma gondii AMA1 to RON2 during Invasion
      Protects AMA1 from Rhomboid-Mediated Cleavage and Leads to Dephosphorylation of
      Its Cytosolic Tail.
AB  - Apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) is a receptor protein on the surface of
      Toxoplasma gondii that plays a critical role in host cell invasion. The ligand to
      which T gondii AMA1 (TgAMA1) binds, TgRON2, is secreted into the host cell
      membrane by the parasite during the early stages of invasion. The TgAMA1-TgRON2
      complex forms the core of the "moving junction," a ring-shaped zone of tight
      contact between the parasite and host cell membranes, through which the parasite
      pushes itself during invasion. Paradoxically, the parasite also expresses
      rhomboid proteases that constitutively cleave the TgAMA1 transmembrane domain.
      How can TgAMA1 function effectively in host cell binding if its extracellular
      domain is constantly shed from the parasite surface? We show here that when
      TgAMA1 binds the domain 3 (D3) peptide of TgRON2, its susceptibility to cleavage
      by rhomboid protease(s) is greatly reduced. This likely serves to maintain
      parasite-host cell binding at the moving junction, a hypothesis supported by data
      showing that parasites expressing a hypercleavable version of TgAMA1 invade less
      efficiently than wild-type parasites do. Treatment of parasites with the D3
      peptide was also found to reduce phosphorylation of S527 on the cytoplasmic tail
      of TgAMA1, and parasites expressing a phosphomimetic S527D allele of TgAMA1
      showed an invasion defect. Taken together, these data suggest that TgAMA1-TgRON2
      interaction at the moving junction protects TgAMA1 molecules that are actively
      engaged in host cell penetration from rhomboid-mediated cleavage and generates an
      outside-in signal that leads to dephosphorylation of the TgAMA1 cytosolic tail.
      Both of these effects are required for maximally efficient host cell invasion.
      IMPORTANCE: Nearly one-third of the world's population is infected with the
      protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which causes life-threatening disease in
      neonates and immunocompromised individuals. T. gondii is a member of the phylum
      Apicomplexa, which includes many other parasites of veterinary and medical
      importance, such as those that cause coccidiosis, babesiosis, and malaria.
      Apicomplexan parasites grow within their hosts through repeated cycles of host
      cell invasion, parasite replication, and host cell lysis. Parasites that cannot
      invade host cells cannot survive or cause disease. AMA1 is a highly conserved
      protein on the surface of apicomplexan parasites that is known to be important
      for invasion, and the work presented here reveals new and unexpected insights
      into AMA1 function. A more complete understanding of the role of AMA1 in invasion
      may ultimately contribute to the development of new chemotherapeutics designed to
      disrupt AMA1 function and invasion-related signaling in this important group of
      human pathogens.

PMID- 27624125
TI  - Thrombin Cleavage of Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1
      Inhibits Cytoadherence.
AB  - Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains one of the most deadly infections
      worldwide. The pathogenesis of the infection results from the sequestration of
      infected erythrocytes (IRBC) in vital organs, including the brain, with resulting
      impairment of blood flow, hypoxia, and lactic acidosis. Sequestration occurs
      through the adhesion of IRBC to host receptors on microvascular endothelium by
      Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), a large family of
      variant surface antigens, each with up to seven extracellular domains that can
      bind to multiple host receptors. Consequently, antiadhesive therapies directed at
      single endothelial adhesion molecules may not be effective. In this study, we
      demonstrated that the serine protease thrombin, which is pivotal in the
      activation of the coagulation cascade, cleaved the major parasite adhesin on the
      surface of IRBC. As a result, adhesion under flow was dramatically reduced, and
      already adherent IRBC were detached. Thrombin cleavage sites were mapped to the
      Duffy binding-like delta1 (DBLdelta1) domain and interdomains 1 and 2 in the
      PfEMP1 of the parasite line IT4var19. Furthermore, we observed an inverse
      correlation between the presence of thrombin and IRBC in cerebral malaria
      autopsies of children. We investigated a modified (R67A) thrombin and thrombin
      inhibitor, hirugen, both of which inhibit the binding of substrates to exosite I,
      thereby reducing its proinflammatory properties. Both approaches reduced the
      barrier dysfunction induced by thrombin without affecting its proteolytic
      activity on PfEMP1, raising the possibility that thrombin cleavage of variant
      PfEMP1 may be exploited as a broadly inhibitory antiadhesive therapy. IMPORTANCE:
      Plasmodium falciparum malaria is the third leading cause of mortality due to a
      pathogen, with 214 million people infected and 438,000 deaths annually. The
      adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IRBC) to microvascular
      endothelium is a major pathological process in severe malaria. While the recent
      implementation of artemisinin-based antimalarial therapy for severe malaria
      improves patient survival by targeting all parasite stages, antiparasite drugs
      alone may not immediately reverse pathophysiological processes in occluded
      vessels. Here we show that thrombin, an enzyme intimately involved in the
      clotting process, cleaves the main parasite adhesin expressed on the surface of
      IRBC, thereby preventing and reversing the binding of IRBC to endothelial cells.
      This beneficial effect of thrombin can be achieved by modified thrombins that
      cause significantly less clotting and vessel leakage while preserving the ability
      to cleave the parasite protein. Our results provide the basis for using modified
      thrombins as adjunctive therapy in severe malaria.

PMID- 27624126
TI  - DNA Supercoiling Regulates the Motility of Campylobacter jejuni and Is Altered by
      Growth in the Presence of Chicken Mucus.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans,
      but relatively little is known about the global regulation of virulence factors
      during infection of chickens or humans. This study identified DNA supercoiling as
      playing a key role in regulating motility and flagellar protein production and
      found that this supercoiling-controlled regulon is induced by growth in chicken
      mucus. A direct correlation was observed between motility and resting DNA
      supercoiling levels in different strains of C. jejuni, and relaxation of DNA
      supercoiling resulted in decreased motility. Transcriptional analysis and Western
      immunoblotting revealed that a reduction in motility and DNA supercoiling
      affected the two-component regulatory system FlgRS and was associated with
      reduced FlgR expression, increased FlgS expression, and aberrant expression of
      flagellin subunits. Electron microscopy revealed that the flagellar structure
      remained intact. Growth in the presence of porcine mucin resulted in increased
      negative supercoiling, increased motility, increased FlgR expression, and reduced
      FlgS expression. Finally, this supercoiling-dependent regulon was shown to be
      induced by growth in chicken mucus, and the level of activation was dependent on
      the source of the mucus from within the chicken intestinal tract. In conclusion,
      this study reports for the first time the key role played by DNA supercoiling in
      regulating motility in C. jejuni and indicates that the induction of this
      supercoiling-induced regulon in response to mucus from different sources could
      play a critical role in regulating motility in vivo IMPORTANCE: Although
      Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, very
      little is understood about how this pathogen controls the expression of genes
      involved in causing disease. This study for the first time identifies DNA
      supercoiling as a key regulator of motility in C. jejuni, which is essential for
      both pathogenesis and colonization. Altering the level of DNA supercoiling
      results in changes in motility levels, as well as changes in the expression of
      genes involved in flagellar gene regulation. Furthermore, spontaneous clones of
      the organism with different motility profiles have altered DNA supercoiling
      levels. Finally, mucus was identified as a key stimulator of changes in DNA
      supercoiling, and it was shown that mucus from different sites in the chicken
      intestine induced different levels of DNA supercoiling. In conclusion, this study
      implicates DNA supercoiling as a key regulator of motility in C. jejuni in vivo
      during colonization of the mucus layer.

PMID- 27624127
TI  - Maintenance of Transcription-Translation Coupling by Elongation Factor P.
AB  - Under conditions of tight coupling between translation and transcription, the
      ribosome enables synthesis of full-length mRNAs by preventing both formation of
      intrinsic terminator hairpins and loading of the transcription termination factor
      Rho. While previous studies have focused on transcription factors, we
      investigated the role of Escherichia coli elongation factor P (EF-P), an
      elongation factor required for efficient translation of mRNAs containing
      consecutive proline codons, in maintaining coupled translation and transcription.
      In the absence of EF-P, the presence of Rho utilization (rut) sites led to an ~30
      fold decrease in translation of polyproline-encoding mRNAs. Coexpression of the
      Rho inhibitor Psu fully restored translation. EF-P was also shown to inhibit
      premature termination during synthesis and translation of mRNAs encoding
      intrinsic terminators. The effects of EF-P loss on expression of polyproline
      mRNAs were augmented by a substitution in RNA polymerase that accelerates
      transcription. Analyses of previously reported ribosome profiling and global
      proteomic data identified several candidate gene clusters where EF-P could act to
      prevent premature transcription termination. In vivo probing allowed detection of
      some predicted premature termination products in the absence of EF-P. Our
      findings support a model in which EF-P maintains coupling of translation and
      transcription by decreasing ribosome stalling at polyproline motifs. Other
      regulators that facilitate ribosome translocation through roadblocks to prevent
      premature transcription termination upon uncoupling remain to be identified.
      IMPORTANCE: Bacterial mRNA and protein syntheses are often tightly coupled, with
      ribosomes binding newly synthesized Shine-Dalgarno sequences and then translating
      nascent mRNAs as they emerge from RNA polymerase. While previous studies have
      mainly focused on the roles of transcription factors, here we investigated
      whether translation factors can also play a role in maintaining coupling and
      preventing premature transcription termination. Using the polyproline synthesis
      enhancer elongation factor P, we found that rapid translation through potential
      stalling motifs is required to provide efficient coupling between ribosomes and
      RNA polymerase. These findings show that translation enhancers can play an
      important role in gene expression by preventing premature termination of
      transcription.

PMID- 27624130
TI  - Eukaryotic-Like Virus Budding in Archaea.
AB  - Similar to many eukaryotic viruses (and unlike bacteriophages), viruses infecting
      archaea are often encased in lipid-containing envelopes. However, the mechanisms
      of their morphogenesis and egress remain unexplored. Here, we used dual-axis
      electron tomography (ET) to characterize the morphogenesis of Sulfolobus spindle
      shaped virus 1 (SSV1), the prototype of the family Fuselloviridae and
      representative of the most abundant archaea-specific group of viruses. Our
      results show that SSV1 assembly and egress are concomitant and occur at the
      cellular cytoplasmic membrane via a process highly reminiscent of the budding of
      enveloped viruses that infect eukaryotes. The viral nucleoprotein complexes are
      extruded in the form of previously unknown rod-shaped intermediate structures
      which have an envelope continuous with the host membrane. Further maturation into
      characteristic spindle-shaped virions takes place while virions remain attached
      to the cell surface. Our data also revealed the formation of constricted ring
      like structures which resemble the budding necks observed prior to the ESCRT
      machinery-mediated membrane scission during egress of various enveloped viruses
      of eukaryotes. Collectively, we provide evidence that archaeal spindle-shaped
      viruses contain a lipid envelope acquired upon budding of the viral nucleoprotein
      complex through the host cytoplasmic membrane. The proposed model bears a clear
      resemblance to the egress strategy employed by enveloped eukaryotic viruses and
      raises important questions as to how the archaeal single-layered membrane
      composed of tetraether lipids can undergo scission. IMPORTANCE: The replication
      of enveloped viruses has been extensively studied in eukaryotes but has remained
      unexplored for enveloped viruses infecting Archaea Here, we provide a sequential
      view on the assembly and egress of SSV1, a prototypic archaeal virus. The
      observed process is highly similar to the budding of eukaryotic enveloped
      viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus, influenza virus, and Ebola
      virus. The present study is the first to characterize such a phenomenon in
      archeal cells, showing that membrane budding is not an exclusive feature of
      eukaryotic viruses. Our results provide significant insights into the biogenesis
      and architecture of unique, spindle-shaped virions that infect archaea.
      Furthermore, our findings open doors for future inquiries into (i) the evolution
      of the virus budding process, (ii) mechanistic details of virus-mediated membrane
      scission in Archaea, and (iii) elucidation of virus- and host-encoded molecular
      players responsible for archaeal membrane and surface remodeling.

PMID- 27624129
TI  - Activation of the DNA Damage Response Is a Conserved Function of HIV-1 and HIV-2
      Vpr That Is Independent of SLX4 Recruitment.
AB  - There has been extraordinary progress in understanding the roles of lentiviral
      accessory proteins in antagonizing host antiviral defense proteins. However, the
      precise primary function of the accessory gene Vpr remains elusive. Here we
      suggest that engagement with the DNA damage response is an important function of
      primate lentiviral Vpr proteins because of its conserved function among diverse
      lentiviral lineages. In contrast, we show that, for HIV-1, HIV-2, and related Vpr
      isolates and orthologs, there is a lack of correlation between DNA damage
      response activation and interaction with the host SLX4 protein complex of
      structure specific endonucleases; some Vpr proteins are able to interact with
      SLX4, but the majority are not. Using the clustered regularly interspaced short
      palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 method to knock out SLX4, we formally showed
      that HIV-1 and HIV-2 Vpr orthologs can still activate the DNA damage response and
      cell cycle arrest in the absence of SLX4. Together, our data suggest that
      activation of the DNA damage response, but not SLX4 interaction, is conserved and
      therefore indicative of an important function of Vpr. Our data also indicate that
      Vpr activates the DNA damage response through an SLX4-independent mechanism that
      remains uncharacterized. IMPORTANCE: HIV-1 and HIV-2 belong to a family of
      viruses called lentiviruses that infect at least 40 primate species, including
      humans. Lentiviruses have been circulating in primates for at least 5 million
      years. In order to better fight HIV, we must understand the viral and host
      factors necessary for infection, adaptation, and transmission of these viruses.
      Using the natural variation of HIV-1, HIV-2, and related lentiviruses, we have
      investigated the role of the DNA damage response in the viral life cycle. We have
      found that the ability of lentiviruses to activate the DNA damage response is
      largely conserved. However, we also found that the SLX4 host factor is not
      required for this activation, as was previously proposed. This indicates that the
      DNA damage response is an important player in the viral life cycle, and yet the
      mechanism(s) by which HIV-1, HIV-2, and other primate lentiviruses engage the DNA
      damage response is still unknown.

PMID- 27624128
TI  - Klebsiella pneumoniae Siderophores Induce Inflammation, Bacterial Dissemination,
      and HIF-1alpha Stabilization during Pneumonia.
AB  - Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative pathogen responsible for a wide range of
      infections, including pneumonia and bacteremia, and is rapidly acquiring
      antibiotic resistance. K. pneumoniae requires secretion of siderophores, low
      molecular-weight, high-affinity iron chelators, for bacterial replication and
      full virulence. The specific combination of siderophores secreted by K.
      pneumoniae during infection can impact tissue localization, systemic
      dissemination, and host survival. However, the effect of these potent iron
      chelators on the host during infection is unknown. In vitro, siderophores deplete
      epithelial cell iron, induce cytokine secretion, and activate the master
      transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) protein that
      controls vascular permeability and inflammatory gene expression. Therefore, we
      hypothesized that siderophore secretion by K. pneumoniae directly contributes to
      inflammation and bacterial dissemination during pneumonia. To examine the effects
      of siderophore secretion independently of bacterial growth, we performed
      infections with tonB mutants that persist in vivo but are deficient in
      siderophore import. Using a murine model of pneumonia, we found that siderophore
      secretion by K. pneumoniae induces the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6), CXCL1,
      and CXCL2, as well as bacterial dissemination to the spleen, compared to
      siderophore-negative mutants at an equivalent bacterial number. Furthermore, we
      determined that siderophore-secreting K. pneumoniae stabilized HIF-1alpha in vivo
      and that bacterial dissemination to the spleen required alveolar epithelial HIF
      1alpha. Our results indicate that siderophores act directly on the host to induce
      inflammatory cytokines and bacterial dissemination and that HIF-1alpha is a
      susceptibility factor for bacterial invasion during pneumonia. IMPORTANCE:
      Klebsiella pneumoniae causes a wide range of bacterial diseases, including
      pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and sepsis. To cause infection, K.
      pneumoniae steals iron from its host by secreting siderophores, small iron
      chelating molecules. Classically, siderophores are thought to worsen infections
      by promoting bacterial growth. In this study, we determined that siderophore
      secreting K. pneumoniae causes lung inflammation and bacterial dissemination to
      the bloodstream independently of bacterial growth. Furthermore, we determined
      that siderophore-secreting K. pneumoniae activates a host protein, hypoxia
      inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha, and requires it for siderophore-dependent
      bacterial dissemination. Although HIF-1alpha can protect against some infections,
      it appears to worsen infection with K. pneumoniae Together, these results
      indicate that bacterial siderophores directly alter the host response to
      pneumonia in addition to providing iron for bacterial growth. Therapies that
      disrupt production of siderophores could provide a two-pronged attack against K.
      pneumoniae infection by preventing bacterial growth and preventing bacterial
      dissemination to the blood.

PMID- 27624131
TI  - Examining a DNA Replication Requirement for Bacteriophage lambda Red- and Rac
      Prophage RecET-Promoted Recombination in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Recombineering, in vivo genetic engineering with bacteriophage homologous
      recombination systems, is a powerful technique for making genetic modifications
      in bacteria. Two systems widely used in Escherichia coli are the Red system from
      phage lambda and RecET from the defective Rac prophage. We investigated the in
      vivo dependence of recombineering on DNA replication of the recombining substrate
      using plasmid targets. For lambda Red recombination, when DNA replication of a
      circular target plasmid is prevented, recombination with single-stranded DNA
      oligonucleotides is greatly reduced compared to that under replicating
      conditions. For RecET recombination, when DNA replication of the targeted plasmid
      is prevented, the recombination frequency is also reduced, to a level identical
      to that seen for the Red system in the absence of replication. The very low level
      of oligonucleotide recombination observed in the absence of any phage
      recombination functions is the same in the presence or absence of DNA
      replication. In contrast, both the Red and RecET systems recombine a
      nonreplicating linear dimer plasmid with high efficiency to yield a circular
      monomer. Therefore, the DNA replication requirement is substrate dependent. Our
      data are consistent with recombination by both the Red and RecET systems
      occurring predominately by single-strand annealing rather than by strand
      invasion. IMPORTANCE: Bacteriophage homologous recombination systems are widely
      used for in vivo genetic engineering in bacteria. Single- or double-stranded
      linear DNA substrates containing short flanking homologies to chromosome targets
      are used to generate precise and accurate genetic modifications when introduced
      into bacteria expressing phage recombinases. Understanding the molecular
      mechanism of these recombination systems will facilitate improvements in the
      technology. Here, two phage-specific systems are shown to require exposure of
      complementary single-strand homologous targets for efficient recombination; these
      single-strand regions may be created during DNA replication or by single-strand
      exonuclease digestion of linear duplex DNA. Previously, in vitro studies reported
      that these recombinases promote the single-strand annealing of two complementary
      DNAs and also strand invasion of a single DNA strand into duplex DNA to create a
      three-stranded region. Here, in vivo experiments show that recombinase-mediated
      annealing of complementary single-stranded DNA is the predominant recombination
      pathway in E. coli.

PMID- 27624132
TI  - Tandemly Integrated HPV16 Can Form a Brd4-Dependent Super-Enhancer-Like Element
      That Drives Transcription of Viral Oncogenes.
AB  - In cancer cells associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, the viral
      genome is very often found integrated into the cellular genome. The viral
      oncogenes E6 and E7 are transcribed from the viral promoter, and integration
      events that alter transcriptional regulation of this promoter contribute to
      carcinogenic progression. In this study, we detected highly enriched binding of
      the super-enhancer markers Brd4, MED1, and H3K27ac, visible as a prominent
      nuclear focus by immunofluorescence, at the tandemly integrated copies of HPV16
      in cells of the cervical neoplasia cell line W12 subclone 20861. Tumor cells are
      often addicted to super-enhancer-driven oncogenes and are particularly sensitive
      to disruption of transcription factor binding to the enhancers. Treatment of
      20861 cells with bromodomain inhibitors displaced Brd4 from the HPV integration
      site, greatly decreased E6/E7 transcription, and inhibited cellular
      proliferation. Thus, Brd4 activates viral transcription at this integration site,
      and strong selection for E6/E7 expression can drive the formation of a super
      enhancer-like element to promote oncogenesis. IMPORTANCE: Oncogenic human
      papillomaviruses play an essential role in the development of cervical cancer,
      and growth of these cancer cells requires continued expression of the viral E6
      and E7 oncogenes. Integration of the virus into the host genome often results in
      deregulation of E6 and E7 expression, which provides a selective growth advantage
      and increases genetic instability of infected cells. We show here that tandemly
      integrated copies of the viral genome can form a super-enhancer-like element that
      drives E6/E7 transcription. Targeted disruption of factors binding to this
      element decreases viral transcription and causes cell death. Thus, cancer cells
      that harbor integrated HPV could be targeted by therapeutics that disrupt super
      enhancer function.

PMID- 27624134
TI  - Oral health among children with congenital heart defects in Western Norway.
AB  - AIM: This was to describe oral health in children with congenital heart defects
      (CHD), to evaluate association of different background variables with oral
      health, and to compare caries prevalence at dentine level with caries data in the
      general population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 5-year-old children
      in Western Norway with a need for lifelong follow-up due to CHD were invited to
      participate (n = 100). Children born in 2005, 2006, and 2007 underwent a
      comprehensive oral health examination during the period 2010-2012. Caries
      prevalence at the dentine level was compared with data available for 5-year-old
      children from the general population of Western Norway (n = 18,974). RESULTS: The
      response rate was 67 %. Caries prevalence in children with CHD at d1-5mft was
      37.3 % and at d3-5mft 25.4 %. Few children (n = 4) had experienced fillings,
      indicating an unmet need for operative treatment. Enamel lesions (d1-2s) exceeded
      dentine lesions (d3-5s) in the study group, 60 % versus 40 %, indicating a
      significant need of non-operative treatment. At dentine level, caries prevalence
      in children with CHD was significantly higher than in children in the general
      population (25.4 versus 18.3 %). Erosion was more prevalent than caries (50.7
      versus 37.3 %). In total, 37.3 % of all children had d3-5mfs caries, erosion
      (grades 3 or 4), developmental defects of enamel (DDE) with post-eruptive
      breakdown of enamel and exposure into dentine, or combinations of the diagnoses.
      Investigated background factors did not significantly affect caries, erosion, or
      DDE. CONCLUSION: More than a third of the children with CHD were found to have an
      oral health status that may imply risk for systemic hazardous effects.

PMID- 27624133
TI  - Global Identification of Biofilm-Specific Proteolysis in Candida albicans.
AB  - Candida albicans is a fungal species that is part of the normal human microbiota
      and also an opportunistic pathogen capable of causing mucosal and systemic
      infections. C. albicans cells proliferate in a planktonic (suspension) state, but
      they also form biofilms, organized and tightly packed communities of cells
      attached to a solid surface. Biofilms colonize many niches of the human body and
      persist on implanted medical devices, where they are a major source of new C.
      albicans infections. Here, we used an unbiased and global substrate-profiling
      approach to discover proteolytic activities produced specifically by C. albicans
      biofilms, compared to planktonic cells, with the goal of identifying potential
      biofilm-specific diagnostic markers and targets for therapeutic intervention.
      This activity-based profiling approach, coupled with proteomics, identified Sap5
      (Candidapepsin-5) and Sap6 (Candidapepsin-6) as major biofilm-specific proteases
      secreted by C. albicans Fluorogenic peptide substrates with selectivity for Sap5
      or Sap6 confirmed that their activities are highly upregulated in C. albicans
      biofilms; we also show that these activities are upregulated in other Candida
      clade pathogens. Deletion of the SAP5 and SAP6 genes in C. albicans compromised
      biofilm development in vitro in standard biofilm assays and in vivo in a rat
      central venous catheter biofilm model. This work establishes secreted proteolysis
      as a promising enzymatic marker and potential therapeutic target for Candida
      biofilm formation. IMPORTANCE: Biofilm formation by the opportunistic fungal
      pathogen C. albicans is a major cause of life-threatening infections. This work
      provides a global characterization of secreted proteolytic activity produced
      specifically by C. albicans biofilms. We identify activity from the proteases
      Sap5 and Sap6 as highly upregulated during C. albicans biofilm formation and
      develop Sap-cleavable fluorogenic substrates that enable the detection of
      biofilms from C. albicans and also from additional pathogenic Candida species.
      Furthermore, SAP5 and SAP6 deletions confirm that both proteases are required for
      proper biofilm development in vitro and in vivo We propose that secreted
      proteolysis is a promising marker for the diagnosis and potential therapeutic
      targeting of Candida biofilm-associated infections.

PMID- 27624135
TI  - Clinical Next Generation Sequencing Outperforms Standard Microbiological Culture
      for Characterizing Polymicrobial Samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Humans suffer from infections caused by single species or more
      complex polymicrobial communities. Identification of infectious bacteria commonly
      employs microbiological culture, which depends upon the in vitro propagation and
      isolation of viable organisms. In contrast, detection of bacterial DNA using next
      generation sequencing (NGS) allows culture-independent microbial profiling,
      potentially providing important new insights into the microbiota in clinical
      specimens. METHODS: NGS 16S rRNA gene sequencing (NGS16S) was compared with
      culture using (a) synthetic polymicrobial samples for which the identity and
      abundance of organisms present were precisely defined and (b) primary clinical
      specimens. RESULTS: Complex mixtures of at least 20 organisms were well resolved
      by NGS16S with excellent reproducibility. In mixed bacterial suspensions (107
      total genomes), we observed linear detection of a target organism over a 4-log
      concentration range (500-3 * 106 genomes). NGS16S analysis more accurately
      recapitulated the known composition of synthetic samples than standard
      microbiological culture using nonselective media, which distorted the relative
      abundance of organisms and frequently failed to identify low-abundance pathogens.
      However, extended quantitative culture using selective media for each of the
      component species recovered the expected organisms at the proper abundance,
      validating NGS16S results. In an analysis of sputa from cystic fibrosis patients,
      NGS16S identified more clinically relevant pathogens than standard culture.
      CONCLUSIONS: Biases in standard, nonselective microbiological culture lead to a
      distorted characterization of polymicrobial mixtures. NGS16S demonstrates
      enhanced reproducibility, quantification, and classification accuracy compared
      with standard culture, providing a more comprehensive, accurate, and culture-free
      analysis of clinical specimens.

PMID- 27624136
TI  - Measurement of Hematocrit in Dried Blood Spots Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy:
      Robust, Fast, and Nondestructive.

PMID- 27624137
TI  - Analysis of Base-Position Error Rate of Next-Generation Sequencing to Detect
      Tumor Mutations in Circulating DNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detecting single-nucleotide variations and insertions/deletions in
      circulating tumor DNA is challenging because of their low allele frequency. The
      clinical use of circulating tumor DNA to characterize tumor genetic alterations
      requires new methods based on next-generation sequencing. METHODS: We developed a
      method based on quantification of error rate of each base position [position
      error rate (PER)]. To identify mutations, a binomial test was used to compare the
      minor-allele frequency to the measured PER at each base position. This process
      was validated in control samples and in 373 plasma samples from patients with
      lung or pancreatic cancer. RESULTS: Minimal mutated allele frequencies were 0.003
      for single-nucleotide variations and 0.001 for insertions/deletions. Independent
      testing performed by droplet digital PCR (n = 231 plasma samples) showed strong
      agreement with the base-PER method (kappa = 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: Targeted next
      generation sequencing analyzed with the base-PER method represents a robust and
      low cost method to detect circulating tumor DNA in patients with cancer.

PMID- 27624138
TI  - Glycated Albumin Identifies Prediabetes Not Detected by Hemoglobin A1c: The
      Africans in America Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Following immigration to the US, many Africans transition from a low
      normal to a high-normal or overweight body mass index (BMI). This weight change
      is associated with a high rate of prediabetes in the nonobese. Studies in East
      Asians reveal that glycated albumin is effective in identifying prediabetes in
      nonobese Asians. Whether this is true in African immigrants is unknown.
      Therefore, we evaluated the ability of hemoglobin A1c (Hb A1c) and glycated
      albumin to detect prediabetes in nonobese (BMI <30 kg/m2) and obese (BMI >=30
      kg/m2) African immigrants. METHODS: Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) were
      performed in 236 self-identified healthy African immigrants [mean (SD) BMI 27.6
      (4.4) kg/m2]. Prediabetes diagnosis was based on glucose criteria for the OGTT.
      Diagnostic sensitivity of Hb A1c and glycated albumin was determined by
      thresholds at the upper quartile for each [Hb A1c >=5.7% (39 mmol/mol), glycated
      albumin >=13.77%]. RESULTS: Based on glucose criteria for the OGTT, prediabetes
      was detected in 36% (85/236). BMI and Hb A1c were positively correlated (r =
      0.22, P < 0.001), whereas BMI and glycated albumin were negatively correlated (r
      = -0.24, P < 0.001). Although the sensitivities of Hb A1c and glycated albumin
      were similar in nonobese immigrants (37% vs 42%, P = 0.75), prediabetes was
      detected in 21 nonobese Africans by glycated albumin alone, in 18 by Hb A1c
      alone, and in 4 by both tests. Therefore, sensitivity of the combined tests was
      better than for Hb A1c alone(72% vs 37%, P < 0.01). In the obese, Hb A1c was a
      much better diagnostic test than glycated albumin (64% vs 16%, P < 0.01) and
      combining the tests did not improve sensitivity (72% vs 64%, P = 0.50).
      CONCLUSIONS: Glycated albumin contributes by identifying prediabetes not detected
      by Hb A1c in nonobese African immigrants. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT00001853.

PMID- 27624140
TI  - Major determinants of survival and length of stay in the neonatal intensive care
      unit of newborns from women with premature preterm rupture of membranes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the predictors of outcome in terms of length of stay in the
      neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and survival of neonates from women with
      preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). METHODS: A population-based
      retrospective study including 331 singleton pregnant women with PPROM at 24-34
      gestational weeks between January 2013 and December 2015 was conducted.
      Gestational age at delivery, birth weight, route of delivery, newborn gender,
      maternal age, oligohydramnios, premature retinopathy (ROP), necrotising
      enterocolitis (NEC), sepsis, fetal growth retardation (FGR), intracranial
      hemorrhagia (ICH), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), respiratory distress
      syndrome (RDS), primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), congenital cardiac disease
      (CCD), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), use of cortisol (betamethasone) and
      maternal complications including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and
      chorioamnionitis were used to predict neonatal outcomes in terms of length of
      stay in the NICU and survival. RESULTS: In linear regression analyses, birth
      weight, ROP, CCD, BPD, PDA, NEC and preeclampsia were significant confounders for
      length of stay in the NICU. Among them, birth weight was the most powerful
      confounder for prolongation of the NICU stay (t: -6.43; p < 0.001). In
      multivariate logistic regression analyses, birth weight, PDA, ROP and PPH were
      significantly correlated with neonatal survival. PPH was the most powerful
      confounder in neonatal survival (beta: 7.22; p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Prematurity
      related complications are the most important problems for which precautions
      should be taken. Therefore, premature deliveries should be avoided to prevent
      infection and to prolong the latent period in cases of PPROM in order to decrease
      prematurity-related outcomes.

PMID- 27624141
TI  - Mas receptor contributes to pregnancy-induced cardiac remodeling.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated a protective effect of the Ang-(1-7)/Mas
      receptor axis on pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Also, the involvement of Mas
      receptor in the exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy has been suggested. However,
      the role of the Ang-(1-7)/Mas receptor on pregnancy-induced cardiac remodeling
      remains unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the participation of
      the Mas receptor in the development of the cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis
      induced by gestation. Female Wistar rats were shared in 3 groups: control ,
      pregnant , and pregnant treated with Mas receptor antagonist A-779 . Wild type
      (WT) and Mas-knockout mice (KO) were distributed in non-pregnant  and pregnant 
      groups. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured by tail-cuff plethysmography.
      The medial part of the left ventricle (LV) was collected for histological
      analysis. Echocardiographic analysis was used to evaluate the cardiac function.
      SBP was not changed by pregnancy or A-779 treatment in the Wistar rats.
      Pharmacological blockade or genetic deletion of Mas receptor attenuates the
      pregnancy-induced myocyte hypertrophy. The treatment with A-779 or genetic
      deletion of the Mas receptor increased the collagen III deposition in LV from
      pregnant animals without changing the fibroblast proliferation. KO mice presented
      a lower ejection fraction, fraction shortening, stroke volume and higher end
      systolic volume compared to WT. Interestingly, the pregnancy restored these
      parameters. In conclusion, these data show that while Mas receptor blockade or
      deletion decreases physiological hypertrophy of pregnancy, it is associated with
      more extracellular matrix deposition. These alterations are associated with
      improvement of the cardiac function through Mas-independent mechanism.

PMID- 27624142
TI  - Potential role of microRNA-10b down-regulation in cardiomyocyte apoptosis in
      aortic stenosis patients.
AB  - MicroRNAs have been associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis, a process involved
      in myocardial remodelling in aortic valve (Av) stenosis (AS). Our aim was to
      analyse whether the dysregulation of myocardial microRNAs was related to
      cardiomyocyte apoptosis in AS patients. Endomyocardial biopsies were obtained
      from 28 patients with severe AS (based on pressure gradients and Av area)
      referred for Av replacement and from necropsies of 10 cardiovascular disease-free
      control subjects. AS patients showed an increased (P<0.001) cardiomyocyte
      apoptotic index (CMAI) compared with controls. Two clusters of patients were
      identified according to the CMAI: group 1 (CMAI <= 0.08%; n=16) and group 2 (CMAI
      > 0.08%; n=12). Group 2 patients presented lower cardiomyocyte density (P<0.001)
      and ejection fraction (P<0.05), and higher troponin T levels (P<0.05), prevalence
      of heart failure (HF; P<0.05) and NT-proBNP levels (P<0.05) than those from group
      1. miRNA expression profile analysed in 5 patients randomly selected from each
      group showed 64 microRNAs down-regulated and 6 up-regulated (P<0.05) in group 2
      compared with group 1. Those microRNAs with the highest fold-change were
      validated in the full two groups corroborating that miR-10b, miR-125b-2* and miR
      338-3p were down-regulated (P<0.05) in group 2 compared with group 1 and control
      subjects. These three microRNAs were inversely correlated (P<0.05) with the CMAI.
      Inhibition of miR-10b induced an increase (P<0.05) of apoptosis and increased
      expression (P<0.05) of apoptosis protease-activating factor-1 (Apaf-1) in HL-1
      cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, myocardial down-regulation of miR-10b may be
      involved in increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis in AS patients, probably through
      Apaf-1 up-regulation, contributing to cardiomyocyte damage and to the development
      of HF.

PMID- 27624139
TI  - Impact of school-based vegetable garden and physical activity coordinated health
      interventions on weight status and weight-related behaviors of ethnically
      diverse, low-income students: Study design and baseline data of the Texas, Grow!
      Eat! Go! (TGEG) cluster-randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coordinated, multi-component school-based interventions can improve
      health behaviors in children, as well as parents, and impact the weight status of
      students. By leveraging a unique collaboration between Texas AgriLife Extension
      (a federal, state and county funded educational outreach organization) and the
      University of Texas School of Public Health, the Texas Grow! Eat! Go! Study
      (TGEG) modeled the effectiveness of utilizing existing programs and volunteer
      infrastructure to disseminate an enhanced Coordinated School Health program. The
      five-year TGEG study was developed to assess the independent and combined impact
      of gardening, nutrition and physical activity intervention(s) on the prevalence
      of healthy eating, physical activity and weight status among low-income
      elementary students. The purpose of this paper is to report on study design,
      baseline characteristics, intervention approaches, data collection and baseline
      data. METHODS: The study design for the TGEG study consisted of a factorial group
      randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which 28 schools were randomly assigned to
      one of 4 treatment groups: (1) Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) only
      (Comparison), (2) CATCH plus school garden intervention [Learn, Grow, Eat & Go!
      (LGEG)], (3) CATCH plus physical activity intervention [Walk Across Texas (WAT)],
      and (4) CATCH plus LGEG plus WAT (Combined). The outcome variables include
      student's weight status, vegetable and sugar sweetened beverage consumption,
      physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Parents were assessed for home
      environmental variables including availability of certain foods, social support
      of student health behaviors, parent engagement and behavior modeling. RESULTS:
      Descriptive data are presented for students (n = 1369) and parents (n = 1206) at
      baseline. The sample consisted primarily of Hispanic and African American (53 %
      and 18 %, respectively) and low-income (i.e., 78 % eligible for Free and Reduced
      Price School Meals program and 43 % food insecure) students. On average, students
      did not meet national guidelines for vegetable consumption or physical activity.
      At baseline, no statistical differences for demographic or key outcome variables
      among the 4 treatment groups were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The TGEG study targets a
      population of students and parents at high risk of obesity and related chronic
      conditions, utilizing a novel and collaborative approach to program formulation
      and delivery, and a rigorous, randomized study design.

PMID- 27624143
TI  - Complement C5a induces PD-L1 expression and acts in synergy with LPS through
      Erk1/2 and JNK signaling pathways.
AB  - Severe bacterial infection results in both uncontrolled inflammation and immune
      suppression in septic patients. Although there is ample evidence that complement
      activation provokes overwhelming pro-inflammatory responses, whether or not it
      plays a role in immune suppression in this case is unclear. Here, we identify
      that complement C5a directly participates in negative regulation of immune
      responses to bacteria-induced inflammation in an ex vivo model of human whole
      blood. Challenge of whole blood with heat-killed Pseudomonas aeruginosa induces
      PD-L1 expression on monocytes and the production of IL-10 and TGF-beta, which we
      show to be inhibited by C5a blockade. The induction of PD-L1 expression by C5a is
      via C5aR1but not C5aR2. Furthermore, C5a synergises with P. aeruginosa LPS in
      both PD-L1 expression and the production of IL-10 and TGF-beta. Mechanistically,
      C5a contributes to the synergy in PD-L1 expression by specifically activating
      Erk1/2 and JNK signaling pathways. Our study reveals a new role for C5a in
      directly promoting immunosuppressive responses. Therefore, aberrant production of
      complement C5a during bacterial infection could have broader effect on
      compromising host defense including the induction of immune suppression.

PMID- 27624144
TI  - Effects of a switch from tenofovir- to abacavir-based antiretroviral therapy,
      with or without atazanavir, on renal function.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-associated renal dysfunction
      may abate when TDF is replaced with abacavir (ABC). The extent to which the third
      drug atazanavir contributes to renal dysfunction is unclear. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was conducted on adults who had plasma viral load
      (pVL)<200 copies/mL for>=six months while receiving TDF/lamivudine (3TC) - or
      TDF/emtricitabine (FTC)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART), then switched to
      ABC/3TC while retaining the third drug in the ART regimen. CD4, pVL, creatinine,
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum phosphorus, urine albumin to
      creatinine ratio and serum lipids were compared between pre-switch baseline and
      3, 6 and 12 months after the switch to ABC. RESULTS: A total of 286 patients
      switched from TDF to ABC between 2004 and 2014: 232 (81%) male, median age 48
      years (interquartile range (IQR) 42, 56). The third drug was atazanavir (+/-
      ritonavir) in 141 (49%) cases. The pVL was<50 copies/mL in 93 to 96% at all time
      points. Median serum creatinine was 93 umol/L (IQR 80-111) at baseline and
      decreased to 88 umol/L (IQR 78-98) at 12 months after the switch to ABC. Median
      eGFR increased from 74 (IQR 60-88) mL/min at baseline to 80 mL/min (IQR 69-89) at
      12 months. Results were not significantly different between patients on
      atazanavir versus those on another third drug. CONCLUSIONS: Viral suppression was
      maintained among patients who switched from TDF/3TC or TDF/FTC to ABC/3TC. Serum
      creatinine and eGFR improved up to 12 months after switching to ABC/3TC,
      irrespective of whether or not patients were also receiving atazanavir+/
      ritonavir.

PMID- 27624146
TI  - Effects of an acute cannabidiol treatment on cocaine self-administration and cue
      induced cocaine seeking in male rats.
AB  - Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive compound that is the second most abundant
      component of cannabis. It has been shown to have a potential therapeutic value
      for a wide range of disorders, including anxiety, psychosis, and depression.
      Recently, it was suggested that cannabidiol might be a potential treatment for
      heroin craving and relapse. Here we investigated the effects of an acute
      treatment with cannabidiol on cocaine self-administration and cue-induced cocaine
      seeking in rats. Rats were trained to press a lever to self-administer cocaine
      (0.5 mg/kg/infusion), first under a fixed interval 20 s (FI-20 s) and then under
      a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. Cocaine self-administration
      under a PR schedule of reinforcement was not attenuated by cannabidiol injections
      (5.0 mg/kg and 10.0 mg/kg; i.p.) when tested 30 min and 24 h after treatment.
      Cannabidiol treatment (5.0 mg/kg or 10.0 mg/kg) also did not attenuate cue
      induced cocaine seeking in rats after a withdrawal period of 14 days. In
      contrast, treatment with cannabidiol (10.0 mg/kg; i.p.) resulted in a
      statistically significant anxiolytic effect in the elevated plus-maze. Our
      findings suggest that, under the conditions described here, an acute cannabidiol
      treatment has a minimal effect on a rat model of cocaine intake and relapse.

PMID- 27624145
TI  - [Optic disc swelling : A compilation of relevant differential diagnoses].
AB  - Optic disc oedema describes blurred optic disc margins. It describes an
      unspecific clinical sign with various possible underlying causal mechanisms. The
      correct diagnosis and the detection of the underlying disease is however of
      special clinical importance. This article summarizes the most important
      differential diagnoses and gives advice to find the correct diagnosis.

PMID- 27624147
TI  - Modelling the cognitive and neuropathological features of schizophrenia with
      phencyclidine.
AB  - Here, Reynolds and Neill describe the studies that preceded and followed
      publication of this paper, which reported a deficit in parvalbumin (PV), a
      calcium-binding protein found in GABA interneurons known to be reduced in
      schizophrenia patients, in conjunction with a deficit in reversal learning in an
      animal model for schizophrenia. This publication resulted from common research
      interests: Reynolds in the neurotransmitter pathology of schizophrenia, and Neill
      in developing animal models for schizophrenia symptomatology. The animal model,
      using a sub-chronic dosing regimen (sc) with the non-competitive NMDA receptor
      antagonist PCP (phencyclidine), evolved from previous work in rats (for PCP) and
      primates (for cognition). The hypothesis of a PV deficit came from emerging
      evidence for a GABAergic dysfunction in schizophrenia, in particular a deficit in
      PV-containing GABA interneurons. Since this original publication, a PV deficit
      has been identified in other animal models for schizophrenia, and the PV field
      has expanded considerably. This includes mechanistic work attempting to identify
      the link between oxidative stress and GABAergic dysfunction using this scPCP
      model, and assessment of the potential of the PV neuron as a target for new
      antipsychotic drugs. The latter has included development of a molecule targeting
      KV3.1 channels located on PV-containing GABA interneurons which can restore both
      PV expression and cognitive deficits in the scPCP model.

PMID- 27624148
TI  - Effects of tetrahydrocannabinol on balance and gait in patients with dementia: A
      randomised controlled crossover trial.
AB  - Oral tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is currently studied for its possible efficacy on
      dementia-related neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), but might lead to increased
      risk of falling. This was a randomised, double-blind, crossover study to evaluate
      the effects of THC on mobility in dementia patients. Eighteen community-dwelling
      patients ( Mage=77 years) received 1.5 mg of oral THC twice daily and placebo, in
      random order, for three days, separated by a four-day washout. Balance and gait
      were assessed using SwayStarTM and GAITRiteTM within two hours after
      administration, in two consecutive intervention periods, under the following
      conditions: standing with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC), preferred speed
      walking with and without a cognitive dual task. THC significantly increased sway
      during standing EC (roll angle 0.32[+/-0.6] degrees , p=0.05; pitch angle 1.04[+/
      1.5] degrees , p=0.009; pitch velocity 1.96[+/-3.3] degrees /s, p=0.02), but not
      during standing EO. During preferred speed walking, THC increased stride length
      (4.3[+/-5.4] cm, p=0.005) and trunk sway (pitch angle 1.18[+/-1.6] degrees ,
      p=0.005). No effects were observed during dual task walking. No differences in
      the number and type of adverse events were found, and no falls occurred after
      administration of THC. This study showed that 3 mg of THC per day has a benign
      adverse event profile regarding mobility and was well tolerated by community
      dwelling dementia patients.

PMID- 27624149
TI  - Parallel role for the dopamine D1 receptor in gambling and amphetamine
      reinforcement in healthy volunteers.
AB  - This study investigated the role of dopamine, and specifically the D1 receptor
      (D1R), in the reinforcing effects of a slot-machine game in healthy volunteers (
      n=30). To compare gambling and drug effects, subjects received the prototypic
      psychostimulant drug d-amphetamine (AMPH; 20 mg) in a multi-session, placebo
      controlled design. To isolate D1R, half the subjects were pretreated with the
      preferential D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol (HAL; 3 mg), and the other half
      with the mixed D1-D2 antagonist fluphenazine (FLU; 3 mg) before the game (Phase
      I) and AMPH (Phase II). HAL decreased and FLU increased the post-game desire to
      gamble and post-AMPH desire to take AMPH again, as well as amphetamine scale
      ratings on the Addiction Research Center Inventory after gambling and AMPH. The
      effects of the antagonists on desire to gamble and to take AMPH again were
      significantly intercorrelated. HAL increased and FLU decreased the salience of
      negative affective words on a rapid reading task after both reinforcers. HAL also
      decreased the salience of gambling words after AMPH. Both reinforcers increased
      diastolic blood pressure equally under antagonists and placebo. Results indicate
      that D1R plays a parallel role in the psychostimulant-like, incentive
      motivational, and salience-enhancing effects of gambling and AMPH. Moderate D1R
      activation appears to optimize these effects in healthy subjects.

PMID- 27624150
TI  - Association of the GRIN2B rs2284411 polymorphism with methylphenidate response in
      attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the possible association between two NMDA subunit gene
      polymorphisms (GRIN2B rs2284411 and GRIN2A rs2229193) and treatment response to
      methylphenidate (MPH) in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
      METHODS: A total of 75 ADHD patients aged 6-17 years underwent 6 months of MPH
      administration. Treatment response was defined by changes in scores of the ADHD
      IV Rating Scale (ADHD-RS), clinician-rated Clinical Global Impression-Improvement
      (CGI-I), and Continuous Performance Test (CPT). The association of the GRIN2B and
      GRIN2A polymorphisms with treatment response was analyzed using logistic
      regression analyses. RESULTS: The GRIN2B rs2284411 C/C genotype showed
      significantly better treatment response as assessed by ADHD-RS inattention (
      p=0.009) and CGI-I scores ( p=0.009), and there was a nominally significant
      association in regard to ADHD-RS hyperactivity-impulsivity ( p=0.028) and total (
      p=0.023) scores, after adjusting for age, sex, IQ, baseline Clinical Global
      Impression-Severity (CGI-S) score, baseline ADHD-RS total score, and final MPH
      dose. The GRIN2B C/C genotype also showed greater improvement at the CPT response
      time variability ( p<0.001). The GRIN2A G/G genotype was associated with a
      greater improvement in commission errors of the CPT compared to the G/A genotype
      ( p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the GRIN2B rs2284411 genotype
      may be an important predictor of MPH response in ADHD.

PMID- 27624151
TI  - Novelty-seeking trait predicts the effect of methylphenidate on creativity.
AB  - In recent years the use of psychostimulants for cognitive enhancement in healthy
      individuals with no psychiatric disorders has been on the rise. However, it is
      still unclear whether psychostimulants improve certain cognitive functions at the
      cost of others, and how these psychostimulants interact with individual
      personality differences. In the current study, we investigated whether the effect
      of one common stimulant, methylphenidate (MPH), on creativity is associated with
      novelty seeking. Thirty-six healthy adults, without attention-deficit
      hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomology, were assigned randomly in a double
      blind fashion to receive MPH or placebo. We found that the effect of MPH on
      creativity was dependent on novelty-seeking (NS) personality characteristics of
      the participants. MPH increased creativity in individuals with lower NS, while it
      reduced creativity levels in individuals with high NS. These findings highlight
      the role of the dopaminergic system in creativity, and indicate that among
      healthy individuals NS can be seen as a predictor of the effect of MPH on
      creativity.

PMID- 27624152
TI  - Effects of an NMDA antagonist on the auditory mismatch negativity response to
      transcranial direct current stimulation.
AB  - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive form of brain
      stimulation which uses a weak constant current to alter cortical excitability and
      activity temporarily. tDCS-induced increases in neuronal excitability and
      performance improvements have been observed following anodal stimulation of brain
      regions associated with visual and motor functions, but relatively little
      research has been conducted with respect to auditory processing. Recently, pilot
      study results indicate that anodal tDCS can increase auditory deviance detection,
      whereas cathodal tDCS decreases auditory processing, as measured by a brain-based
      event-related potential (ERP), mismatch negativity (MMN). As evidence has shown
      that tDCS lasting effects may be dependent on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)
      receptor activity, the current study investigated the use of dextromethorphan
      (DMO), an NMDA antagonist, to assess possible modulation of tDCS's effects on
      both MMN and working memory performance. The study, conducted in 12 healthy
      volunteers, involved four laboratory test sessions within a randomised, placebo
      and sham-controlled crossover design that compared pre- and post-anodal tDCS over
      the auditory cortex (2 mA for 20 minutes to excite cortical activity temporarily
      and locally) and sham stimulation (i.e. device is turned off) during both DMO (50
      mL) and placebo administration. Anodal tDCS increased MMN amplitudes with placebo
      administration. Significant increases were not seen with sham stimulation or with
      anodal stimulation during DMO administration. With sham stimulation (i.e. no
      stimulation), DMO decreased MMN amplitudes. Findings from this study contribute
      to the understanding of underlying neurobiological mechanisms mediating tDCS
      sensory and memory improvements.

PMID- 27624154
TI  - Asymmetric hydration structure around calcium ion restricted in micropores
      fabricated in activated carbons.
AB  - The adsorbed phase and hydration structure of an aqueous solution of Ca(NO3)2
      restricted in micropores fabricated in activated carbons (ACs) having different
      average pore widths (0.63 and 1.1 nm) were investigated with the analysis of
      adsorption isotherms and x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectra on Ca K
      edge. The adsorbed density of Ca(2+) per unit micropore volume in the narrower
      pore was higher than in the wider pore, while the adsorbed amount per unit mass
      of carbon with the narrower pore was half of the amount of ACs with the larger
      pore. On the other hand, variations in the bands assigned to double-electron (KM
      I) and 1s  ->  3d excitations in XAFS spectra demonstrate the formation of a
      distorted hydration cluster around Ca(2+) in the micropore, although the
      structural parameters of hydrated Ca(2+) in the micropores were almost consistent
      with the bulk aqueous solution, as revealed by the analysis of extended XAFS
      (EXAFS) spectra. In contrast to the hydration structure of monovalent ions such
      as Rb(+), which generally presents a dehydrated structure in smaller than 1 nm
      micropores in ACs, the present study clearly explains that the non-spherically
      symmetric structure of hydrated Ca(2+) restricted in carbon micropores whose
      sizes are around 1 nm is experimentally revealed where any dehydration phenomena
      from the first hydration shell around Ca(2+) could not be observed.

PMID- 27624153
TI  - Prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and non-verbal
      cognitive functioning in childhood.
AB  - Selective serotonin reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are frequently used during
      pregnancy. Evidence about the long-term consequences of prenatal SSRI exposure on
      child neurodevelopment is controversial. We prospectively investigated whether
      prenatal SSRI exposure was associated with childhood non-verbal cognition in a
      population-based study, and contrasted it to exposure to depressive symptoms
      (without SSRIs). We included 71 children prenatally exposed to SSRIs, 385
      children prenatally exposed to maternal depressive symptoms and 5427 unexposed
      children. Child executive functioning was assessed by maternal report at 4 years
      ( n=4020). Non-verbal intelligence was measured at 5 years ( n=5001) and children
      were tested with a neuropsychological battery at 7 years ( n=1194). Prenatal SSRI
      exposure was not related to maternal reported executive function at 4 years, nor
      was it related with observed non-verbal intelligence at age 5 or
      neuropsychological function at 7 years. Exposure to untreated maternal depressive
      symptoms was related to maternal reported shifting problems and emotional control
      problems at 4 years. No associations between exposure to depressive symptoms and
      observed non-verbal IQ at 5 years or neuropsychological function at 7 years were
      found. This population-based study suggests that neither SSRI use nor untreated
      depressive symptoms during pregnancy had a major impact on child non-verbal
      cognition.

PMID- 27624156
TI  - Commentary: Systematic assessment of duration and intensity of anodal
      transcranial direct current stimulation on primary motor cortex excitability.

PMID- 27624155
TI  - P2X-mediated AMPA receptor internalization and synaptic depression is controlled
      by two CaMKII phosphorylation sites on GluA1 in hippocampal neurons.
AB  - Plasticity at excitatory synapses can be induced either by synaptic release of
      glutamate or the release of gliotransmitters such as ATP. Recently, we showed
      that postsynaptic P2X2 receptors activated by ATP released from astrocytes
      downregulate synaptic AMPAR, providing a novel mechanism by which glial cells
      modulate synaptic activity. ATP- and lNMDA-induced depression in the CA1 region
      of the hippocampus are additive, suggesting distinct molecular pathways. AMPARs
      are homo-or hetero-tetramers composed of GluA1-A4. Here, we first show that P2X2
      mediated AMPAR inhibition is dependent on the subunit composition of AMPAR. GluA3
      homomers are insensitive and their presence in heteromers alters P2X-mediated
      inhibition. Using a mutational approach, we demonstrate that the two CaMKII
      phosphorylation sites S567 and S831 located in the cytoplasmic Loop1 and C
      terminal tail of GluA1 subunits, respectively, are critical for P2X2-mediated
      AMPAR inhibition recorded from co-expressing Xenopus oocytes and removal of
      surface AMPAR at synapses of hippocampal neurons imaged by the super-resolution
      dSTORM technique. Finally, using phosphorylation site-specific antibodies, we
      show that P2X-induced depression in hippocampal slices produces a
      dephosphorylation of the GluA1 subunit at S567, contrary to NMDAR-mediated LTD.
      These findings indicate that GluA1 phosphorylation of S567 and S831 is critical
      for P2X2-mediated AMPAR internalization and ATP-driven synaptic depression.

PMID- 27624158
TI  - Safety and effectiveness of microsurgical clipping, endovascular coiling, and
      stent assisted coiling for unruptured anterior communicating artery aneurysms: a
      systematic analysis of observational studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Treatment outcomes for unruptured anterior communicating artery (ACoA)
      aneurysms are not well established. We aimed to investigate the safety and
      effectiveness of microsurgical clipping (MC), endovascular coiling (EC), and
      stent assisted coiling (SAC) of unruptured ACoA aneurysms to aid pretreatment
      clinical decisions. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted
      using the Ovid Medline and EMBASE electronic databases, encompassing all English
      language studies reporting treatment outcomes for unruptured ACoA aneurysms
      published between 2005 and 2015. The analyses were directed towards patient
      focused outcomes: good therapeutic outcome (Glasgow Outcome Score of 5 (GOS 5),
      modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-1), poor therapeutic outcome (GOS 1-4, mRS
      2-6), 30 day mortality, recurrence/retreatment rates, and post-treatment
      subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). RESULTS: 14 studies with 862 treated aneurysms
      were included (EC, n=372; MC, n=401; SAC, n=89). EC resulted in significantly
      lower treatment related morbidity compared with MC or SAC (EC 0.8%, MC 4.4%, SAC
      7.9%; p=0.001); treatment related mortality occurred in 0%, 0.3%, and 1.1%, for
      EC, MC, and SAC, respectively. MC resulted in significantly lower angiographic
      recurrence (EC 7.2%, MC 0%, SAC 12.3%; p<0.001) and retreatment (EC 4.9%, MC 0%,
      SAC 6.8%; p=0.001). SAH from the treated aneurysm was not reported with any
      treatment modality. CONCLUSIONS: While there are limitations to the data, EC
      resulted in a more favorable clinical outcome, and MC resulted in more robust
      aneurysm repair, for unruptured ACoA aneurysms. SAC had a higher treatment
      morbidity risk than EC, without reduction in retreatment rate. All treatments
      were effective in preventing SAH. The current pooled analysis of treatment
      outcomes provides a useful aid to pretreatment clinical decision making.

PMID- 27624159
TI  - Deamidation Reactions of Asparagine- and Glutamine-Containing Dipeptides
      Investigated by Ion Spectroscopy.
AB  - Deamidation is a major fragmentation channel upon activation by collision induced
      dissociation (CID) for protonated peptides containing glutamine (Gln) and
      asparagine (Asn) residues. Here, we investigate these NH3-loss reactions for four
      Asn- and Gln-containing protonated peptides in terms of the resulting product ion
      structures using infrared ion spectroscopy with the free electron laser FELIX.
      The influence of the side chain length (Asn versus Gln) and of the amino acid
      sequence on the deamidation reaction has been examined. Molecular structures for
      the product ions are determined by comparison of experimental IR spectra with
      spectra predicted by density functional theory (DFT). The reaction mechanisms
      identified for the four dipeptides AlaAsn, AsnAla, AlaGln, and GlnAla are not the
      same. For all four dipeptides, primary deamidation takes place from the amide
      side chain (and not from the N-terminus) and, in most cases, resembles the
      mechanisms previously identified for the protonated amino acids asparagine and
      glutamine. Secondary fragmentation reactions of the deamidation products have
      also been characterized and provide further insight in - and confirmation of -
      the identified mechanisms. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive molecular
      structure map of the deamidation chemistry of this series of dipeptides.
      Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27624157
TI  - Mathematical modelling of lymphatic filariasis elimination programmes in India:
      required duration of mass drug administration and post-treatment level of
      infection indicators.
AB  - BACKGROUND: India has made great progress towards the elimination of lymphatic
      filariasis. By 2015, most endemic districts had completed at least five annual
      rounds of mass drug administration (MDA). The next challenge is to determine when
      MDA can be stopped. We performed a simulation study with the individual-based
      model LYMFASIM to help clarify this. METHODS: We used a model-variant for Indian
      settings. We considered different hypotheses on detectability of antigenaemia
      (Ag) in relation to underlying adult worm burden, choosing the most likely
      hypothesis by comparing the model predicted association between community-level
      microfilaraemia (Mf) and antigenaemia (Ag) prevalence levels to observed data
      (collated from literature). Next, we estimated how long MDA must be continued in
      order to achieve elimination in different transmission settings and what Mf and
      Ag prevalence may still remain 1 year after the last required MDA round. The
      robustness of key-outcomes was assessed in a sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Our
      model matched observed data qualitatively well when we assumed an Ag detection
      rate of 50 % for single worm infections, which increases with the number of adult
      worms (modelled by relating detection to the presence of female worms). The
      required duration of annual MDA increased with higher baseline endemicity and
      lower coverage (varying between 2 and 12 rounds), while the remaining residual
      infection 1 year after the last required treatment declined with transmission
      intensity. For low and high transmission settings, the median residual infection
      levels were 1.0 % and 0.4 % (Mf prevalence in the 5+ population), and 3.5 % and
      2.0 % (Ag prevalence in 6-7 year-old children). CONCLUSION: To achieve
      elimination in high transmission settings, MDA must be continued longer and
      infection levels must be reduced to lower levels than in low-endemic communities.
      Although our simulations were for Indian settings, qualitatively similar patterns
      are also expected in other areas. This should be taken into account in decision
      algorithms to define whether MDA can be interrupted. Transmission assessment
      surveys should ideally be targeted to communities with the highest pre-control
      transmission levels, to minimize the risk of programme failure.

PMID- 27624160
TI  - Laser-Induced Acoustic Desorption Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization via VUV
      Generating Microplasmas.
AB  - We demonstrate the first application of laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD)
      and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) as a mass spectrometric method
      for detecting low-polarity organics. This was accomplished using a Lyman-alpha
      (10.2 eV) photon generating microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) microplasma
      photon source in conjunction with the addition of a gas-phase molecular dopant.
      This combination provided a soft desorption and a relatively soft ionization
      technique. Selected compounds analyzed include alpha-tocopherol, perylene,
      cholesterol, phenanthrene, phylloquinone, and squalene. Detectable surface
      concentrations as low as a few pmol per spot sampled were achievable using test
      molecules. The combination of LIAD and APPI provided a soft desorption and
      ionization technique that can allow detection of labile, low-polarity,
      structurally complex molecules over a wide mass range with minimal fragmentation.
      Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27624161
TI  - Untargeted Metabolomics Strategies-Challenges and Emerging Directions.
AB  - Metabolites are building blocks of cellular function. These species are involved
      in enzyme-catalyzed chemical reactions and are essential for cellular function.
      Upstream biological disruptions result in a series of metabolomic changes and, as
      such, the metabolome holds a wealth of information that is thought to be most
      predictive of phenotype. Uncovering this knowledge is a work in progress. The
      field of metabolomics is still maturing; the community has leveraged proteomics
      experience when applicable and developed a range of sample preparation and
      instrument methodology along with myriad data processing and analysis approaches.
      Research focuses have now shifted toward a fundamental understanding of the
      biology responsible for metabolomic changes. There are several types of
      metabolomics experiments including both targeted and untargeted analyses. While
      untargeted, hypothesis generating workflows exhibit many valuable attributes,
      challenges inherent to the approach remain. This Critical Insight comments on
      these challenges, focusing on the identification process of LC-MS-based
      untargeted metabolomics studies-specifically in mammalian systems. Biological
      interpretation of metabolomics data hinges on the ability to accurately identify
      metabolites. The range of confidence associated with identifications that is
      often overlooked is reviewed, and opportunities for advancing the metabolomics
      field are described. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27624162
TI  - Changes in aerobic performance, body composition, and physical activity in polar
      explorers during a year-long stay at the polar station in the Arctic.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in physical activity, aerobic
      performance, and body composition in polar explorers during a 1-year stay at the
      polar station. The study group consisted of 10 people, including 8 men and 2
      women. Aerobic performance (maximal oxygen uptake), physical activity, body mass,
      and composition were evaluated for the polar explores of the Polish Polar Station
      prior to departure, and then during their stay at the station for a period of 1
      year. The measurements were performed every 3 months. Compared to the
      measurements taken before going to the polar station, aerobic performance
      significantly (p = 0.02) increased in the first 3 months of residing at the polar
      station and then remained relatively stable for the following duration of the
      stay. In the first 3 months of the stay, we also observed the highest level of
      physical activity in participants. In the polar explorers, no significant (p >
      0.05) body fatness changes were noted. Nonetheless, lean body mass, body mass,
      and BMI significantly increased compared to the measurements taken before
      departure to the polar station. The greatest changes in aerobic performance,
      physical activity, and body composition were observed during the first 3 months
      after arrival to the Arctic and then, despite changing biometeorological
      conditions, they remained stable for the next months of the stay. We recommend
      the introduction of a physical preparation program before departing to the polar
      station to improve explorers' physical fitness, so that they can meet the
      physical challenges they are faced with immediately after arrival to the polar
      station.

PMID- 27624163
TI  - Parental awareness and perception for correct use of child restraint systems and
      airbags in Brazil.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to obtain information about the
      current knowledge and habits of parents who transport children in cars in Brazil.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using specifically designed self
      report questionnaires to parents of children attending a private pediatric office
      in a town in southwest Brazil. Data were collected regarding children's age,
      gender, height, and weight and possession of an automobile child restraint system
      (CRS), its type, frequency and adequacy of use, and reasons for not possessing or
      not using the devices. Parents were asked whether their cars were equipped with
      airbags and about the use of the restraints in seats with airbags. RESULTS: We
      interviewed parents of 293 children transported in cars who met the criteria for
      use of a CRS. Children were younger than 1 year in 15.3% of the cases, between 1
      and 4 years in 38.6%, and older than 4 in 46.1%. Cars were equipped with CRS in
      78.5% of the cases, but in only 58% of the cases was the device proper for
      child's age and adequately installed in the seat. Among owners of the devices,
      84.3% reported that they always used it. Reasons for infrequency were forgetting
      the device at home or in another car (6.4%), the child disliking the device
      (3.2%), or the false impression that the child was grown enough not to use it
      (3.2%)l 87.1% did not justify why they did not always use the CRS. Considering
      type of CRS, correct installation of the seat, and frequency of use, only 44.4%
      of children under 1 year, 69.9% of those 1 to 4 years, and 52.6% over age 4 were
      protected. Only 28.6% of the parents knew that children should never be
      positioned in a seat with active airbags. CONCLUSION: Considering appropriateness
      for age, correctness of installation (in the back seat in the correct
      orientation), and frequency of use, only 50.85% (149/293) of the children were
      reported as always protected with a CRS. Children between 1 and 4 years were more
      likely to always use a CRS in this Brazilian survey. We were also able to
      identify an important gap in the knowledge about airbags among parents. Further
      efforts are needed to correct those distortions.

PMID- 27624165
TI  - Exploring ligand dissociation pathways from aminopeptidase N using random
      acceleration molecular dynamics simulation.
AB  - Aminopeptidase N (APN) is a zinc-dependent ectopeptidase involved in cell
      proliferation, secretion, invasion, and angiogenesis, and is widely recognized as
      an important cancer target. However, the mechanisms whereby ligands leave the
      active site of APN remain unknown. Investigating ligand dissociation processes is
      quite difficult, both in classical simulation methods and in experimental
      approaches. In this study, random acceleration molecular dynamics (RAMD)
      simulation was used to investigate the potential dissociation pathways of ligand
      from APN. The results revealed three pathways (channels A, B and C) for ligand
      release. Channel A, which matches the hypothetical channel region, was the most
      preferred region for bestatin to dissociate from the enzyme, and is probably the
      major channel for the inner bound ligand. In addition, two alternative channels
      (channels B and C) were shown to be possible pathways for ligand egression.
      Meanwhile, we identified key residues controlling the dynamic features of APN
      channels. Identification of the dissociation routes will provide further
      mechanistic insights into APN, which will benefit the development of more
      promising APN inhibitors. Graphical Abstract The release pathways of bestatin
      inside active site of aminopeptidase N were simulated using RAMD simulation. 

PMID- 27624164
TI  - Subsequent risk of ipsilateral and contralateral invasive breast cancer after
      treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ: incidence and the effect of radiotherapy
      in a population-based cohort of 10,090 women.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the effect of different treatment strategies on the risk of
      subsequent invasive breast cancer (IBC) in women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma
      in situ (DCIS). METHODS: Up to 15-year cumulative incidences of ipsilateral IBC
      (iIBC) and contralateral IBC (cIBC) were assessed among a population-based cohort
      of 10,090 women treated for DCIS in the Netherlands between 1989 and 2004.
      Multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate associations of
      treatment with iIBC risk. RESULTS: Fifteen years after DCIS diagnosis, cumulative
      incidence of iIBC was 1.9 % after mastectomy, 8.8 % after BCS+RT, and 15.4 %
      after BCS alone. Patients treated with BCS alone had a higher iIBC risk than
      those treated with BCS+RT during the first 5 years after treatment. This
      difference was less pronounced for patients <50 years [hazard ratio (HR) 2.11, 95
      % confidence interval (CI) 1.35-3.29 for women <50, and HR 4.44, 95 % CI 3.11
      6.36 for women >=50, P interaction  < 0.0001]. Beyond 5 years of follow-up, iIBC
      risk did not differ between patients treated with BCS+RT or BCS alone for women
      <50. Cumulative incidence of cIBC at 15 years was 6.4 %, compared to 3.4 % in the
      general population. CONCLUSIONS: We report an interaction of treatment with age
      and follow-up period on iIBC risk, indicating that the benefit of RT seems to be
      smaller among younger women, and stressing the importance of clinical studies
      with long follow-up. Finally, the low cIBC risk does not justify contralateral
      prophylactic mastectomies for many women with unilateral DCIS.

PMID- 27624166
TI  - Theoretical study on the metabolic mechanisms of levmepromazine by cytochrome
      P450.
AB  - Levomepromazine, an "older" typical neuroleptic, is widely applied in psychiatry
      for the treatment of schizophrenia. The biotransformation of Levomepromazine
      remains elusive up to now, but found to result in the formation of different
      derivatives that may contribute to the therapeutic and/or side-effects of the
      parent drug. The present work aims to resolve the metabolic details of
      Levomepromazine catalyzed by cytochrome P450, an important heme-containing enzyme
      superfamily, based on DFT calculation. Two main metabolic pathways have been
      addressed, S-oxidation and N-demethylation. The mechanistic conclusions have
      revealed a stepwise transfer of two electrons mechanism in S-oxidation reaction.
      N-demethylation is a two-step reaction, including the rate-determining N-methyl
      hydroxylation which proceeds via the single electron transfer (SET) mechanism and
      the subsequent C-N bond fission through a water-assisted enzymatic proton
      transfer process. N-demethylation is more feasible than S-oxidation due to its
      lower activation energy and N-desmethyllevomepromazine therefore is the most
      plausible metabolite of Levomepromazine. Each metabolic pathway proceeds in a
      spin-selective manner (SSM) mechanism, predominately via the LS state of Cpd I.
      Our observations are in good accordance with the experimental results, which can
      provide some general implications for the metabolic mechanism of Levomepromazine
      like drugs. Graphical abstract The metabolic mechanisms of levmepromazine by
      cytochrome P450. 

PMID- 27624167
TI  - Early transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt in US patients hospitalized
      with acute esophageal variceal bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Early transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS)
      used as preventive therapy prior to recurrent bleeding has been recommended in
      patients presenting with acute esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB) who are at high
      risk of further bleeding and death. We investigated the impact of early TIPS on
      outcomes of US patients hospitalized with EVB from 2000 to 2010. METHODS: The
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was queried to identify patients with EVB
      and decompensated cirrhosis (because early TIPS is recommended only in high-risk
      patients). The primary outcome was in-hospital death, and secondary outcomes
      included rebleeding and hepatic encephalopathy. Early preventive TIPS was defined
      by placement within 3 days of hospitalization for acute EVB after one session of
      endoscopic therapy. Rescue TIPS was defined as TIPS after two interventions for
      EVB. RESULTS: The study included 142 539 patients. From 2000 to 2010, the age
      adjusted in-hospital mortality rate decreased 37.2% from 656 per 100 000 to 412
      per 100 000 (P <0.01), while early and rescue TIPS increased (0.22% to 0.70%; P <
      0.01 and 1.1% to 6.1%; P < 0.01). On multivariate analysis, as compared with no
      TIPS, early TIPS was associated with decreased inpatient mortality (risk ratio
      [RR] = 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84-0.90) and rebleeding (RR = 0.56;
      95% CI, 0.45-0.71) without an increase in hepatic encephalopathy (RR = 1.01; 95%
      CI, 0.93-1.11). CONCLUSION: Early preventive TIPS in patients with EVB and
      decompensated cirrhosis was associated with significant in-hospital reductions in
      rebleeding and mortality without a significant increase in encephalopathy in
      "real-world" US clinical practice.

PMID- 27624169
TI  - Modeling the impact of climate change on wild Piper nigrum (Black Pepper) in
      Western Ghats, India using ecological niche models.
AB  - The center of diversity of Piper nigrum L. (Black Pepper), one of the highly
      valued spice crops is reported to be from India. Black pepper is naturally
      distributed in India in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot and is the only
      known existing source of its wild germplasm in the world. We used ecological
      niche models to predict the potential distribution of wild P. nigrum in the
      present and two future climate change scenarios viz (A1B) and (A2A) for the year
      2080. Three topographic and nine uncorrelated bioclim variables were used to
      develop the niche models. The environmental variables influencing the
      distribution of wild P. nigrum across different climate change scenarios were
      identified. We also assessed the direction and magnitude of the niche centroid
      shift and the change in niche breadth to estimate the impact of projected climate
      change on the distribution of P. nigrum. The study shows a niche centroid shift
      in the future climate scenarios. Both the projected future climate scenarios
      predicted a reduction in the habitat of P. nigrum in Southern Western Ghats,
      which harbors many wild accessions of P. nigrum. Our results highlight the impact
      of future climate change on P. nigrum and provide useful information for
      designing sound germplasm conservation strategies for P. nigrum.

PMID- 27624170
TI  - Porous extraction paddle: a solid-phase extraction technique for studying the
      urine metabolome.
AB  - RATIONALE: A method was needed to accomplish solid-phase extraction of a large
      urine volume in a convenient way where resources are limited, towards a goal of
      metabolome and xenobiotic exposome analysis at another, distant location.
      METHODS: A porous extraction paddle (PEP) was set up, comprising a porous nylon
      bag containing extraction particles that is flattened and immobilized between two
      stainless steel meshes. Stirring the PEP after attachment to a shaft of a motor
      mounted on the lid of the jar containing the urine accomplishes extraction. The
      bag contained a mixture of nonpolar and partly nonpolar particles to extract a
      diversity of corresponding compounds. RESULTS: Elution of a urine-exposed, water
      washed PEP with aqueous methanol containing triethylammonium acetate (conditions
      intended to give a complete elution), followed by MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS, demonstrated
      that a diversity of compounds had been extracted ranging from uric acid to
      peptides. CONCLUSIONS: The PEP allows the user to extract a large liquid sample
      in a jar simply by turning on a motor. The technique will be helpful in
      conducting metabolomics and xenobiotic exposome studies of urine, encouraging the
      extraction of large volumes to set up a convenient repository sample (e.g. 2 g of
      exposed adsorbent in a cryovial) for shipment and re-analysis in various ways in
      the future, including scaled-up isolation of unknown chemicals for
      identification. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27624168
TI  - Long-term effect of sitagliptin on endothelial function in type 2 diabetes: a sub
      analysis of the PROLOGUE study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As a sub-analysis of the PROLOGUE study, we evaluated the long-term
      effect of sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, on endothelial
      function in the conduit brachial artery in patients with type 2 diabetes.
      METHODS: In the PROLOGUE study, patients were randomly assigned to either add-on
      sitagliptin treatment (sitagliptin group) or continued conventional
      antihyperglycemic treatment (conventional group). Among the 463 participants in
      the PROLOGUE study, FMD was measured in 17 patients in the sitagliptin group and
      18 patients in the conventional group at the beginning and after 12 and 24 months
      of treatment. RESULTS: HbA1c levels were significantly decreased after 12 and 24
      months of treatment compared to baseline values in both groups (7.0 +/- 0.4 vs.
      6.6 +/- 0.3 and 6.6 +/- 0.4 % in the sitagliptin group; 7.0 +/- 0.6 vs. 6.6 +/-
      0.7 and 6.6 +/- 0.7 % in the conventional group; P < 0.05, respectively). There
      was no significant difference between FMD values at baseline and after 12 and 24
      months in the sitagliptin group (4.3 +/- 2.6 vs. 4.4 +/- 2.1 and 4.4 +/- 2.3 %, P
      = 1.0, respectively). Although FMD had a tendency to increase from 4.3 +/- 2.4 %
      at baseline to 5.2 +/- 1.9 % after 12 months and 5.1 +/- 2.2 % after 24 months in
      the conventional group, there was no significant difference between FMD values at
      baseline and after 12 and 24 months (P = 0.36 and 0.33, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: Add-on sitagliptin to conventional antihyperglycemic drugs in
      patients with type 2 diabetes did not alter endothelial function in the conduit
      brachial artery measured by FMD during a 2-year study period. Sitagliptin may be
      used without concern for an adverse effect on endothelial function in patients
      with type 2 diabetes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: University hospital Medical Information
      Network (UMIN) Center: ID UMIN000004490.

PMID- 27624171
TI  - Comparison of ultrasound biomicroscopy and ultrasonographic parameters in eyes
      with phacomorphic glaucoma and eyes with mature cataract.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare data on anatomical and biometric parameters, and their
      combination, obtained by using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and A-scan in eyes
      with phacomorphic glaucoma (PG) and eyes with mature cataract and to determine
      differences that may predispose to development of PG. METHODS: Eighty patients
      (80 eyes) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Anterior chamber
      parameters, namely anterior chamber depth (ACD), angle-opening distance (AOD),
      iris-lens contact distance (ILCD), and trabecular-ciliary process distance
      (TCPD), among other parameters, were assessed by UBM (35 MHz), while axial length
      (AL) and lenticular thickness (LT) were determined by A-scan biometry. Absolute
      lenticular position (ALP) and relative lenticular position (RLP) were also
      compared. RESULTS: The mean AL of eyes with PG was less (P = 0.64) than the mean
      AL of eyes with mature cataract. The mean ILCD value in eyes with PG (1.30 +/-
      0.78 mm) was significantly higher (P = 0.0015) than that in eyes with mature
      cataract (0.86 +/- 0.32 mm). The mean AOD value in eyes with PG (0.15 +/- 0.10
      mm) was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than that in eyes with mature cataract
      (0.23 +/- 0.06 mm); similarly, the mean RLP value in eyes with PG (0.20 +/- 0.02)
      was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than that in eyes with mature cataract (0.17
      +/- 0.02). TCPD showed negative correlation with LT r = -0.514; P = 0.017, r 2 =
      0.264, in eyes with phacomorphic glaucoma and mature cataracts showed significant
      negative correlation of ILCD with AL (r = -0.575; P = 0.025, r 2 = 0.330).
      CONCLUSION: The results of UBM examination suggest that there are multiple
      mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of PG, namely crowding of the anterior
      segment, increased iris-lens contact distance, and a more pronounced anterior
      shift of the lens. Simultaneous evaluation of anatomic and biometric parameters
      can improve diagnostic accuracy in predicting cases at risk for PG.

PMID- 27624172
TI  - Ocular residual astigmatism (ORA) in pre-cataract eyes prior to and after
      refractive lens exchange.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to analyze ocular residual astigmatism (ORA) before
      and after implantation of two different optical types of non-toric multifocal
      intraocular lenses (MIOL) in pre-cataract patients. This retrospective cohort
      study analyzed 72 eyes from 72 consecutive patients after MIOL surgery . To
      investigate magnitude and axis of astigmatic changes, the concepts of true
      corneal astigmatism and Alpins vector method were applied. There were no
      statistically significant between-group differences prior to surgery. The mean
      refractive surgically induced astigmatism (RSIA) (P = 0.063) and the topographic
      SIA (TSIA) (P = 0.828) did not differ significantly between the lenses, and the
      summated vector mean for ORA was reduced in terms of magnitude by approximately
      0.30 Diopter. ORA in pseudophakic eyes mainly results from the posterior corneal
      surface and less from IOL tilting, postoperative posterior capsule shrinkage, or
      secondary cataract.

PMID- 27624174
TI  - Double-layered cell transfer technology for bone regeneration.
AB  - For cell-based medicine, to mimic in vivo cellular localization, various tissue
      engineering approaches have been studied to obtain a desirable arrangement of
      cells on scaffold materials. We have developed a novel method of cell
      manipulation called "cell transfer technology", enabling the transfer of cultured
      cells onto scaffold materials, and controlling cell topology. Here we show that
      using this technique, two different cell types can be transferred onto a scaffold
      surface as stable double layers or in patterned arrangements. Various
      combinations of adherent cells were transferred to a scaffold, amniotic membrane,
      in overlapping bilayers (double-layered cell transfer), and transferred cells
      showed stability upon deformations of the material including folding and
      trimming. Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells from periodontal ligaments
      (PDLSC) and osteoblasts, using double-layered cell transfer significantly
      enhanced bone formation, when compared to single cell type transplantation. Our
      findings suggest that this double-layer cell transfer is useful to produce a cell
      transplantation material that can bear two cell layers. Moreover, the
      transplantation of an amniotic membrane with PDLSCs/osteoblasts by cell transfer
      technology has therapeutic potential for bone defects. We conclude that cell
      transfer technology provides a novel and unique cell transplantation method for
      bone regeneration.

PMID- 27624176
TI  - Capsule Commentary on Winkelman et al., Health Insurance Trends and Access to
      Behavioral Healthcare Among Justice-Involved Individuals-United States, 2008
      2014.

PMID- 27624173
TI  - Intravitreal Diclofenac plus Bevacizumab versus Bevacizumab alone in treatment
      naive diabetic macular edema: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate the short-term effects of a single
      intravitreal injection of 1.25 mg Bevacizumab combined with 300 lg/0.1 mL
      Diclofenac (IVB/D) versus 1.25 mg intravitreal Bevacizumab (IVB) alone in the
      treatment of naive diabetic macular edema (DME). In this prospective, randomized
      clinical trial, 80 eyes were included in the final analysis; 42 and 38 of which
      in the IVB and IVB/D groups, respectively. The primary outcome measure was a
      change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in logMAR at week 4. The secondary
      outcomes included changes in central macular thickness (CMT), macular volume, and
      potential injection-related complications. Significant improvement of BCVA was
      demonstrated in both study arms (mean reductions in LogMAR: -0.088 +/- 0.278, 
      0.228 +/- 0.330 for IVB and IVB/D, respectively). The difference in BCVA changes
      was in favor of IVB/D; however, not to a statistically significant level (P =
      0.160). Significant reduction of CMT was documented in both study arms (mean
      reductions: 82.43 +/- 160.09 and 153.26 +/- 163.85 for IVB and IVB + IVD,
      respectively). Comparison of CMT changes between groups showed that IVB/D reduced
      CMT more than that of IVB (P = 0.04). Effects on macular volume corresponded to
      those of CMT. No injection-related complications or significant alterations in
      intraocular pressure were observed in any of the study arms. In treatment-naive
      DME, superiority of IVB/D combination therapy over IVB monotherapy may exist;
      especially as regards anatomical features. In our therapeutic arsenal for DME,
      IVD can be added as an adjunct to Bevacizumab.

PMID- 27624175
TI  - A grape seed procyanidin extract inhibits HDAC activity leading to increased
      Pparalpha phosphorylation and target-gene expression.
AB  - SCOPE: Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have emerged as epigenetic regulators of risk
      factors associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS), and certain botanical
      extracts have proven to be potent HDAC inhibitors. Understanding the role of
      dietary procyanidins in HDAC inhibition is important in exploring the therapeutic
      potential of natural products. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were gavaged with vehicle
      (water) or grape seed procyanidin extract (GSPE, 250 mg/kg) and terminated 14 h
      later. Liver and serum were harvested to assess the effect of GSPE on HDAC
      activity, histone acetylation, Pparalpha activity and target-gene expression, and
      serum lipid levels. RESULTS: GSPE increased histone acetylation and decreased
      Class I HDAC activity in vivo, and dose-dependently inhibited recombinant HDAC2
      and 3 activities in vitro. Accordingly, Pparalpha gene and phosphorylated protein
      expression were increased, as were target genes involved in fatty acid
      catabolism, suggesting increased Pparalpha activity. Serum fibroblast growth
      factor 21 (Fgf21) was elevated, and triglyceride levels were reduced by 28%.
      CONCLUSION: GSPE regulates HDAC and Pparalpha activities to modulate lipid
      catabolism and reduce serum triglycerides in vivo.

PMID- 27624177
TI  - Primary health care for Aboriginal women and children in the year after birth:
      findings from a population-based study in South Australia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the extent to which Aboriginal women access primary
      care for themselves and their infant in the year after childbirth. METHOD: Cross
      sectional population-based survey of women giving birth to Aboriginal babies in
      South Australia between July 2011 and June 2013. RESULTS: A total of 344 women
      took part in the study 4-9 months after giving birth. The majority had seen a
      primary health care practitioner since the birth: 86% had seen a Child and Family
      Health Service (CaFHS) nurse, 81% a general practitioner (GP), and 61% an
      Aboriginal health worker (AHW). Women living in remote areas were more likely to
      have seen primary care practitioners than women living in Adelaide (GP: OR 2.3,
      95% CI 1.0-5.2; CaFHS: OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-5.8; AHW: OR 5.2, 95% CI 2.8-9.8).
      Around 16% of women with gestational diabetes and 10% with hypertension had not
      seen a GP since the birth, and 24% of women who had a low birthweight infant had
      not seen a CaFHS nurse. CONCLUSIONS: Despite high prevalence of maternal and
      infant morbidity, a sizeable minority of women did not access primary care
      practitioners postpartum. Implications for public health: Stronger efforts are
      needed to ensure Aboriginal women and families receive appropriate postnatal
      follow-up.

PMID- 27624178
TI  - High-load preconditioning of human soft tissue hamstring grafts: An in vitro
      biomechanical analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: In order to minimize viscoelastic elongation of ACL reconstruction
      grafts, preconditioning protocols have been employed in clinical practice prior
      to final graft fixation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two separate
      high-load static preconditioning protocols of double-looped semitendinosus
      gracilis grafts and compare these results to both a current clinical protocol and
      a control group with no preconditioning protocol applied. It was hypothesized
      that a high-load, static preconditioning protocol would minimize graft elongation
      during a simulated progressive early rehabilitation compared to both the "89 N"
      clinical protocol and control groups. METHODS: Grafts were randomly allocated
      into four preconditioning study groups: (1) control (no preconditioning), (2)
      clinical protocol (89 N for 15 min), (3) high-load, short duration (600 N for 20
      s), and (4) high-load, long duration (600 N for 15 min). After preconditioning,
      grafts were cyclically loaded between 10 and 400 N at 0.5 Hz for 450 cycles to
      simulate early postoperative rehabilitation. Graft displacement (elongation) was
      recorded during both preconditioning and cyclic loading. RESULTS: Increased
      preconditioning load magnitude and duration significantly reduced graft
      elongation during cyclic loading (p < 0.05) which corresponded to an inverse
      relationship with increased elongation during preconditioning. The "600 N for 15
      min" protocol resulted in significantly less elongation during simulated early
      rehabilitation than both the control group and the "89 N for 15 min" protocol (p
      < 0.001, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Graft elongation during simulated early
      rehabilitation was significantly reduced by a high-load preconditioning protocol
      applied for an extended period of time compared to a current common clinical
      protocol and grafts that were not preconditioned. In addition, the amount of
      elongation during simulated early rehabilitation was similar between grafts
      preconditioned using the current clinical practice protocol and the high
      load/short-duration protocol, implying that the latter could potentially induce
      the same viscoelastic changes in soft tissue grafts as the current clinical
      practice. The "600 N for 20 s" preconditioning protocol may provide similar
      postoperative results as the clinical protocol, "89 N for 15 min", and also
      reduce or maintain operative time. A high-load preconditioning protocol that
      reduces graft elongation may benefit patients undergoing ACL reconstruction,
      especially for cases of failed primary reconstruction, genu recurvatum, and
      increased tibial slope, where maintaining graft length is imperative to restore
      knee stability.

PMID- 27624179
TI  - The anterior cruciate ligament: a study on its bony and soft tissue anatomy using
      novel 3D CT technology.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to visualize both the
      tibial and femoral bony insertion surfaces and second, to describe the anterior
      cruciate ligament (ACL) geometrically, using novel 3D CT imaging. In addition,
      new concepts of best-fit cylinder and central axis are introduced and evaluated.
      METHODS: Eight unpaired knees of embalmed cadavers were used in this study.
      Following the dissection process, the ACL was injected with a contrast medium for
      CT imaging. The obtained CT images in extension, 45 degrees , 90 degrees  and
      full flexion were segmented and rendered in 3D allowing morphological and
      morphometric analysis of the ACL. Anatomical footprint centres, femoral and
      tibial footprint surface area, best-fit ACL-cylinder intersection area, best-fit
      ACL-cylinder/footprint coverage ratio, best-fit ACL-cylinder central axis
      projections at the tibial and femoral footprint in the four positions were used
      to describe the anatomy of the ACL, based on the Bernard, Hertel and Amis grid.
      RESULTS: Based on these parameters, with the best-fit cylinder representing the
      bulk of the ACL, a changing fibre-recruitment pattern was seen with a moving
      position of the central axis from posterior to anterior on the femoral and tibial
      footprint, going from extension to flexion. Furthermore, the numerical data show
      an increase in tibial footprint coverage by the best-fit cylinder through the ACL
      when the knee is progressively flexed, whereas an inverse relationship was seen
      on the femoral side. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to describe the detailed
      anatomy of the human ACL with respect to its course and footprints using a 3D
      approach. It confirms the large difference and inter-patient variability between
      the tibial and femoral footprint area with the former being significantly
      smaller. The best-fit cylinder concept illustrates the recruitment pattern of the
      native ACL where in extension the postero-lateral fibres are recruited and in
      flexion rather the antero-medial bundle, which can be valuable information in
      reconstructive purposes. The best-fit cylinder and central axis concept offers
      additional insights into the optimal tunnel placement at the tibial and femoral
      footprint in order to cover the largest portion of the native ACL soft tissue,
      aiming for optimal ACL reconstruction.

PMID- 27624180
TI  - The need for secondary resurfacing is affected by trochlear height in total knee
      arthroplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to compare the rate of secondary
      resurfacing in a consecutive series of five different total knee arthroplasty
      (TKA) systems. It was our hypothesis that different TKA design features such as
      sulcus angle or trochlear height influence the rate of secondary resurfacing.
      METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on data from patients who underwent
      TKA without primary patellar resurfacing from 2004 to 2012 in an university
      affiliated hospital. The study cohort included 784 TKA patients (m:f = 302:482,
      mean age at surgery +/- SD 71 +/- 10). Five different cruciate-retaining TKA
      systems were used consecutively (Group A, Triathlon, Stryker, Switzerland (n =
      296), Group B, PFC Sigma, DepuySynthes, Switzerland (n = 215), Group C, LCS,
      DepuySynthes, Switzerland (n = 81), Group D, Balansys, Mathys, Switzerland (n =
      128), Group E, Duracon, Stryker, Switzerland (n = 64)). Data were retrospectively
      obtained from hospital archives. Patients demographics, age at surgery, type of
      TKA were noted. In addition, TKA component position was assessed on radiographs
      with respect to "The knee society total knee arthroplasty roentgenographic
      evaluation and scoring system" (TKA-RESS). Pearson Chi-square test was used to
      compare differences between groups (p < 0.05). There were no significant
      differences between the groups in terms of age, gender, and radiological
      outcomes. RESULTS: Twenty-six of 784 patients (3.3 %) underwent secondary
      resurfacing due to patellofemoral pain. In group A 4/296 patients (1.4 %), in
      group B 15/215 patients (7 %), in group C 5/81 patients (6.2 %), in group D 1/128
      patients (0.8 %), in group E 1/64 patients (1.6 %) underwent secondary patellar
      resurfacing during follow-up. Significantly higher rates of secondary patellar
      resurfacing were seen in groups B and C when compared to the others (p < 0.001).
      It was found that the trochlear height in these TKA was higher than in the
      others. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings of this study, trochlear height
      influences the need for secondary patellar resurfacing. The resurfacing rate
      ranged from 1 to 7 %, with the highest rate in the PFC Sigma TKA. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, Level III.

PMID- 27624181
TI  - Living with sub-optimal glycaemic control: the experiences of Type 2 diabetes
      diagnosis and education.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of diagnosis and
      education for people living with Type 2 diabetes who have sub-optimal glycaemic
      control. BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is a global
      concern. Many people have difficulty maintaining optimal glycaemic control with
      up to 50% having HbA1c levels higher than recommended. A range of factors that
      have been suggested as possibly contributing to this, however, little is known
      about how their experience of diagnosis, education and support to attempt to
      understand the context of their self-management practices. DESIGN: A qualitative
      thematic analysis of interviews conducted with people with sub-optimal glycaemic
      control prior to their participation in an intervention study. METHOD: Thirty
      participants taking part in a psychosocial/educational intervention for people
      with sub-optimal glycaemic control were interviewed in 2012 before the
      intervention commenced. These interviews explored each participant's experience
      of the diagnosis and associated education. The interviews were transcribed and a
      thematic analysis was conducted. FINDINGS: Almost all the participants had been
      shocked at receiving the diagnosis and felt it had been a moral indictment on
      their lifestyle. Many had been given the impression that they had a mild form of
      diabetes and most had been given very little information on self-management that
      they had found useful. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that for the participants
      there was a considerable gap between the rhetoric of person-centred services and
      the reality of the experiences of diagnosis and education for the self-management
      of Type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27624184
TI  - Inpatient smoking cessation - turn to your clinical pharmacist.

PMID- 27624183
TI  - Exome genotyping, linkage disequilibrium and population structure in loblolly
      pine (Pinus taeda L.).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is one of the most widely planted and
      commercially important forest tree species in the USA and worldwide, and is an
      object of intense genomic research. However, whole genome resequencing in
      loblolly pine is hampered by its large size and complexity and a lack of a good
      reference. As a valid and more feasible alternative, entire exome sequencing was
      hence employed to identify the gene-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) and to genotype the sampled trees. RESULTS: The exons were captured in the
      ADEPT2 association mapping population of 375 clonally-propagated loblolly pine
      trees using NimbleGen oligonucleotide hybridization probes, and then exome
      enriched genomic DNA fragments were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2500
      platform. Oligonucleotide probes were designed based on 199,723 exons (~49 Mbp)
      partitioned from the loblolly pine reference genome (PineRefSeq v. 1.01). The
      probes covered 90.2 % of the target regions. Capture efficiency was high; on
      average, 67 % of the sequence reads generated for each tree could be mapped to
      the capture target regions, and more than 70 % of the captured target bases had
      at least 10X sequencing depth per tree. A total of 972,720 high quality SNPs were
      identified after filtering. Among them, 53 % were located in coding regions
      (CDS), 5 % in 5' or 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) and 42 % in non-target and non
      coding regions, such as introns and adjacent intergenic regions collaterally
      captured. We found that linkage disequilibrium (LD) decayed very rapidly, with
      the correlation coefficient (r (2)) between pairs of SNPs linked within single
      scaffolds decaying to half maximum (r (2) = 0.22) within 55 bp, to r (2) = 0.1
      within 192 bp, and to r (2) = 0.05 within 451 bp. Population structure analysis
      using unlinked SNPs demonstrated the presence of two main distinct clusters
      representing western and eastern parts of the loblolly pine range included in our
      sample of trees. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results demonstrated the efficiency of
      exome capture for genotyping species such as loblolly pine with a large and
      complex genome. The highly diverse genetic variation reported in this study will
      be a valuable resource for future genetic and genomic research in loblolly pine.

PMID- 27624185
TI  - Biomass-Derived Renewable Aromatics: Selective Routes and Outlook for p-Xylene
      Commercialisation.
AB  - Methylbenzenes are among the most important organic chemicals today and, among
      them, p-xylene deserves particular attention because of its production volume and
      its application in the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). There is
      great interest in producing this commodity chemical more sustainably from biomass
      sources, particularly driven by manufacturers willing to produce more sustainable
      synthetic fibres and PET bottles for beverages. A renewable source for p-xylene
      would allow achieving this goal with minimal disruption to existing processes for
      PET production. Despite the fact that recently some routes to renewable p-xylene
      have been identified, there is no clear consensus on their feasibility or
      implications. We have critically reviewed the current state-of-the-art with focus
      on catalytic routes and possible outlook for commercialisation. Pathways to
      obtain p-xylene from a biomass-derived route include methanol-to-aromatics (MTA),
      ethanol dehydration, ethylene dimerization, furan cycloaddition or catalytic fast
      pyrolysis and hydrotreating of lignin. Some of the processes identified suggest
      near-future possibilities, but also more speculative or longer-term sources for
      synthesis of p-xylene are highlighted.

PMID- 27624182
TI  - Manipulation of the host cell membrane by human gamma-herpesviruses EBV and KSHV
      for pathogenesis.
AB  - The cell membrane regulates many physiological processes including cellular
      communication, homing and metabolism. It is therefore not surprising that the
      composition of the host cell membrane is manipulated by intracellular pathogens.
      Among these, the human oncogenic herpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and
      Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) exploit the host cell membrane to
      avoid immune surveillance and promote viral replication. Accumulating evidence
      has shown that both EBV and KSHV directly encode several similar membrane
      associated proteins, including receptors and receptor-specific ligands (cytokines
      and chemokines), to increase virus fitness in spite of host antiviral immune
      responses. These proteins are expressed individually at different phases of the
      EBV/KSHV life cycle and employ various mechanisms to manipulate the host cell
      membrane. In recent decades, much effort has been made to address how these
      membrane-based signals contribute to viral tumorigenesis. In this review, we
      summarize and highlight the recent understanding of how EBV and KSHV similarly
      manipulate host cell membrane signals, particularly how remodeling of the cell
      membrane allows EBV and KSHV to avoid host antiviral immune responses and favors
      their latent and lytic infection.

PMID- 27624186
TI  - Graphene Quantum Dots Functionalized with 4-Amino-2, 2, 6, 6
      Tetramethylpiperidine-N-Oxide as Fluorescence "Turn-ON" Nanosensors.
AB  - In this study, we report on the fabrication of simple and rapid graphene quantum
      dots (GQDs)-based fluorescence "turn-ON" nanoprobes for sensitive and selective
      detection of ascorbic acid (AA). Pristine GQDs and S and N co-doped-GQDs (SN
      GQDs) were functionalized with 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxide (4
      amino-TEMPO, a nitroxide free radical). The nitroxide free radicals efficiently
      quenched the fluorescence of the GQDs and upon interaction of the nanoconjugates
      with ascorbic acid, the quenched fluorescence was restored. The linear ranges
      recorded were 0.5-5.7 MUM and 0.1-5.5 MUM for GQDs-4-amino-TEMPO and SN-GQDs
      4amino-TEMPO nanoprobes, respectively. Limits of detection were found to be 60 nM
      and 84 nM for SN-GQDS-4-amino-TEMPO and GQDs-4-amino-TEMPO for AA detection,
      respectively. This novel fluorescence "turn-ON" technique showed to be highly
      rapid and selective towards AA detection.

PMID- 27624187
TI  - From oil spills to barley growth - oil-degrading soil bacteria and their
      promoting effects.
AB  - Heavy contamination of soils by crude oil is omnipresent in areas of oil recovery
      and exploitation. Bioremediation by indigenous plants in cooperation with
      hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms is an economically and ecologically feasible
      means to reclaim contaminated soils. To study the effects of indigenous soil
      bacteria capable of utilizing oil hydrocarbons on biomass production of plants
      growing in oil-contaminated soils eight bacterial strains were isolated from
      contaminated soils in Kazakhstan and characterized for their abilities to degrade
      oil components. Four of them, identified as species of Gordonia and Rhodococcus
      turned out to be effective degraders. They produced a variety of organic acids
      from oil components, of which 59 were identified and 7 of them are hitherto
      unknown acidic oil metabolites. One of them, Rhodococcus erythropolis SBUG 2054,
      utilized more than 140 oil components. Inoculating barley seeds together with
      different combinations of these bacterial strains restored normal growth of the
      plants on contaminated soils, demonstrating the power of this approach for
      bioremediation. Furthermore, we suggest that the plant promoting effect of these
      bacteria is not only due to the elimination of toxic oil hydrocarbons but
      possibly also to the accumulation of a variety of organic acids which modulate
      the barley's rhizosphere environment.

PMID- 27624188
TI  - Association between electronic cigarette use and changes in quit attempts,
      success of quit attempts, use of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy, and use of
      stop smoking services in England: time series analysis of population trends.
AB  - OBJECTIVES:  To estimate how far changes in the prevalence of electronic
      cigarette (e-cigarette) use in England have been associated with changes in quit
      success, quit attempts, and use of licensed medication and behavioural support in
      quit attempts. DESIGN:  Time series analysis of population trends. PARTICIPANTS: 
      Participants came from the Smoking Toolkit Study, which involves repeated, cross
      sectional household surveys of individuals aged 16 years and older in England.
      Data were aggregated on about 1200 smokers quarterly between 2006 and 2015.
      Monitoring data were also used from the national behavioural support programme;
      during the study, 8 029 012 quit dates were set with this programme. SETTING: 
      England. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:  Prevalence of e-cigarette use in current smokers
      and during a quit attempt were used to predict quit success. Prevalence of e
      cigarette use in current smokers was used to predict rate of quit attempts.
      Percentage of quit attempts involving e-cigarette use was also used to predict
      quit attempts involving use of prescription treatments, nicotine replacement
      therapy (NRT) on prescription and bought over the counter, and use of behavioural
      support. Analyses involved adjustment for a range of potential confounders.
      RESULTS:  The success rate of quit attempts increased by 0.098% (95% confidence
      interval 0.064 to 0.132; P<0.001) and 0.058% (0.038 to 0.078; P<0.001) for every
      1% increase in the prevalence of e-cigarette use by smokers and e-cigarette use
      during a recent quit attempt, respectively. There was no clear evidence for an
      association between e-cigarette use and rate of quit attempts (beta 0.025; 95%
      confidence interval -0.035 to 0.085; P=0.41), use of NRT bought over the counter
      (beta 0.006; -0.088 to 0.077; P=0.89), use of prescription treatment (beta 
      0.070; -0.152 to 0.013; P=0.10), or use of behavioural support (beta -0.013; 
      0.102 to 0.077; P=0.78). A negative association was found between e-cigarette use
      during a recent quit attempt and use of NRT obtained on prescription (beta 
      0.098; -0.189 to -0.007; P=0.04). CONCLUSION:  Changes in prevalence of e
      cigarette use in England have been positively associated with the success rates
      of quit attempts. No clear association has been found between e-cigarette use and
      the rate of quit attempts or the use of other quitting aids, except for NRT
      obtained on prescription, where the association has been negative.Study
      registration The analysis plan was preregistered (https://osf.io/fbgj2/).

PMID- 27624190
TI  - New section in EJNMMI and Annals of Nuclear Medicine.

PMID- 27624189
TI  - How to scan who: the delicate balance between selecting the patient and selecting
      the imaging protocol.

PMID- 27624191
TI  - Effective and equivalent dose minimization for personnel in PET procedures: how
      far are we from the goal?

PMID- 27624193
TI  - Corrigendum: Identification of cancer-driver genes in focal genomic alterations
      from whole genome sequencing data.

PMID- 27624194
TI  - Unidirectional Emission of a Site-Controlled Single Quantum Dot from a Pyramidal
      Structure.
AB  - Emission control of a quantum emitter made of semiconductor materials is of
      significance in various optical applications. Specifically, the realization of
      efficient quantum emitters is important because typical semiconductor quantum
      dots are associated with low extraction efficiency levels due to their high
      refractive index contrast. Here, we report bright and unidirectional emission
      from a site-controlled InGaN quantum dot formed on the apex of a silver-coated
      GaN nanopyramidal structure. We show that the majority of the extracted light
      from the quantum dot is guided toward the bottom of the pyramid with high
      directionality. We also demonstrate that nanopyramid structures can be detached
      from a substrate, thus demonstrating great potential of this structure in various
      applications. To clarify the directional radiation, the far-field radiation
      pattern is measured using Fourier microscopy. This scheme will pave the way
      toward the realization of a bright and unidirectional quantum emitter along with
      easy fabrication and large-area reproducibility.

PMID- 27624195
TI  - Evaluation of Practicing sustainable Industrial Solid Waste Minimization by
      Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia: Strengths and Weaknesses.
AB  - Malaysia is facing an increasing trend in industrial solid waste generation due
      to industrial development.Thus there is a paramount need in taking a serious
      action to move toward sustainable industrial waste management. The main aim of
      this study is to assess practicing solid waste minimization by manufacturing
      firms in Shah Alam industrial state, Malaysia. This paper presents a series of
      descriptive and inferential statistical analysis regarding the level and effects
      of practicing waste minimization methods, and seriousness of barriers preventing
      industries from practicing waste minimization methods. For this purpose the
      survey questions were designed such that both quantitative (questionnaire) and
      qualitative (semi-structures interview) data were collected concurrently.
      Analysis showed that, the majority of firms (92%) dispose their wastes rather
      than practice other sustainable waste management options. Also waste minimization
      methods such as segregation of wastes, on-site recycle and reuse, improve
      housekeeping and equipment modification were found to have significant
      contribution in waste reduction (p<0.05). Lack of expertise (M=3.50), lack of
      enough information (M= 3.54), lack of equipment modification (M= 3.16) and lack
      of specific waste minimization guidelines (M=3.49) have higher mean scores
      comparing with other barriers in different categories. These data were
      interpreted for elaborating of SWOT and TOWS matrix to highlight strengths,
      weaknesses, threats and opportunities. Accordingly, ten policies were recommended
      for improvement of practicing waste minimization by manufacturing firms as the
      main aim of this research. Implications This manuscript critically analysis waste
      minimization practices by manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Both qualitative and
      quantitative data collection and analysis were conducted to formulate SWOT and
      TOWS matrix in order to recommend policies and strategies for improvement of
      solid waste minimization by manufacturing industries. The results contribute to
      the knowledge and the findings of this study provide a useful baseline
      information and data on industrial solid waste generation and waste minimization
      practice.

PMID- 27624196
TI  - Mentoring: what's in it for both of us?

PMID- 27624192
TI  - PKA inhibits WNT signalling in adrenal cortex zonation and prevents malignant
      tumour development.
AB  - Adrenal cortex physiology relies on functional zonation, essential for production
      of aldosterone by outer zona glomerulosa (ZG) and glucocorticoids by inner zona
      fasciculata (ZF). The cortex undergoes constant cell renewal, involving
      recruitment of subcapsular progenitors to ZG fate and subsequent lineage
      conversion to ZF identity. Here we show that WNT4 is an important driver of WNT
      pathway activation and subsequent ZG differentiation and demonstrate that PKA
      activation prevents ZG differentiation through WNT4 repression and WNT pathway
      inhibition. This suggests that PKA activation in ZF is a key driver of WNT
      inhibition and lineage conversion. Furthermore, we provide evidence that
      constitutive PKA activation inhibits, whereas partial inactivation of PKA
      catalytic activity stimulates beta-catenin-induced tumorigenesis. Together, both
      lower PKA activity and higher WNT pathway activity lead to poorer prognosis in
      adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) patients. These observations suggest that PKA acts
      as a tumour suppressor in the adrenal cortex, through repression of WNT
      signalling.

PMID- 27624197
TI  - Implementing collaborative and peer-assisted learning.

PMID- 27624198
TI  - A model for teaching occupational medicine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite its relevance to medical practice, occupational medicine has
      been poorly represented in undergraduate training. This article describes a model
      for the teaching of occupational medicine to student doctors. METHODS: The model
      comprises two didactic lectures, a student-selected component (SSC) of five
      interactive two-hour sessions and one occupational medicine objective structured
      clinical examination (OSCE) station in the final MB ChB clinical exam. Interested
      final-year students are invited to join the SSC. In session 1, students discuss
      the scope of occupational medicine practice, which includes a job title
      occupational illness quiz, the use of environmental measurements and audiovisual
      recordings of selected workplaces. Sessions 2-4 involve visits to workplaces such
      as a laundry, a foundry and a bakery, during which students are asked to record
      relevant hazards to health, their controls, health effects and how occupational
      causality might be determined. The final session allows students to present their
      findings and gain feedback from the occupational physicians and their peers.
      Occupational medicine has been poorly represented in undergraduate training
      RESULTS: Twenty-seven student doctors chose to undertake the SSC in three cycles.
      Students appreciated the relevance of the specialty and the opportunity to
      systematically evaluate workplaces. Eighty per cent of all final-year medical
      students (n = 250) passed the occupational medicine station in the OSCE in 2014.
      CONCLUSIONS: This model for the teaching of occupational medicine links work and
      medical practice at three stages of undergraduate training and could be adopted
      by all medical schools. The SSC gave students skills for undertaking illness
      prevention, workplace evaluation and risk assessment that they had not previously
      encountered.

PMID- 27624199
TI  - Identity transition: first-in-family medical students.

PMID- 27624200
TI  - Mentorship in the health professions.

PMID- 27624201
TI  - Hold my hand while you misdiagnose me.

PMID- 27624202
TI  - Medical students' comfort with children.

PMID- 27624203
TI  - A response to the high flyers.

PMID- 27624205
TI  - Learning anatomy from the internet: authors' response.

PMID- 27624204
TI  - Response to: Learning anatomy from the internet.

PMID- 27624206
TI  - Survey of medical students' use of social media.

PMID- 27624207
TI  - Blood collection and use in the United States: you can't manage what you can't
      measure.

PMID- 27624208
TI  - Stimulating erythropoiesis before hip fracture repair for reducing blood
      transfusion: should we change the hemoglobin cutoff level for defining anemia in
      females?

PMID- 27624209
TI  - Implementing a "Why give 2 when 1 will do?" Choosing Wisely campaign.

PMID- 27624211
TI  - Barcode error analysis.

PMID- 27624212
TI  - Reply to concerns regarding dropping the term "possible TRALI".

PMID- 27624213
TI  - Letter of response to Peters and Vlaar commentary.

PMID- 27624214
TI  - Effect of prosthetic restoration on implant survival and success.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of prosthetic
      restoration on the survival of implants and on the incidence of implant-related
      complications. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From a prospectively documented clinical
      study, 1569 implants placed in 630 patients (mean age 59.56 years) were
      evaluated. Selection criteria were a conventional loading protocol, prosthetic
      restoration with at least one follow-up, and a minimum observation period of 9
      months. Implants that failed before prosthetic restoration were excluded. The
      sample included 1345 tissue-level implants and 104 bone-level implants
      (Straumann), and 120 Replace implants (Nobel Biocare). The observation period
      ranged between 9 months and 11 years after prosthetic restoration (mean 4.0
      years; SD 2.5). The implants were restored with single crowns (n = 557), fixed
      dental prostheses (n = 594), or removable dental prostheses (RDP) (n = 418). In
      the RDP group, 356 implants were restored with telescoping crowns, 22 with bar
      units 24 with bar joints, and 16 with locator attachments. The incidence of
      implant-related complications and failures was analyzed by use of Kaplan-Meier
      survival curves. Cox regression analysis was used to identify possible risk
      factors. RESULTS: Twenty-seven failures (1.8%; loosened or removed implants) were
      observed after prosthetic restoration; the incidence of failure was 3% for
      implants placed in males and 1% for implants placed in females. Other factors had
      no effect on the incidence of failure. Peri-implantitis (n = 29) and marginal
      bone loss >2 mm without acute inflammation (n = 6) also resulted in a 4%
      incidence of severe implant-related complications (62 of 1569; success 96%). Cox
      regression analysis revealed combined tooth-implant-supported restorations as a
      significant risk-reducing factor for severe implant-related complications (hazard
      ratio, HR = 0.34; P = 0.04). There was, furthermore, a tendency toward a greater
      incidence of complications for implants restored with RDPs than for single crowns
      (P = 0.08). Other factors, for example location (anterior/posterior,
      maxilla/mandible), age, sex, or implant placement combined with bone
      augmentation, had no significant effect on the incidence of implant-related
      complications (P values ranging between 0.16 and 0.94). CONCLUSIONS: The type of
      support has a small but significant effect on implant prognosis. For detailed
      analysis of the effects of loading by different types of prosthetic restoration,
      larger sample sizes are required.

PMID- 27624215
TI  - Post-ischemic Myoclonic Status Following Cardiac Arrest in Young Drug Users.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myoclonic status may be observed following cardiac arrest and has
      previously been identified as a poor prognostic indicator in regard to return of
      neurologic function. We describe a unique situation in post-cardiac arrest
      patients with myoclonic status and hypothesize possible predictors of a good
      neurologic outcome. METHODS: Case series. RESULTS: We illustrate two cases of
      cardiac arrest due to a respiratory cause in young patients with evidence of
      illicit drug use at the time of hospital admission that suffered post-ischemic
      myoclonic status. These patients subsequently recovered with good neurologic
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: On rare occasions, myoclonic status does not imply a poor
      functional outcome following cardiac arrest. Other clinical and demographic
      characteristics including young age, presence of illicit substances, and primary
      respiratory causes of arrest may contribute to a severe clinical presentation,
      with a subsequent good neurologic outcome in a small subset of patients.

PMID- 27624216
TI  - Knockdown of Long Noncoding RNA NR_026689 Inhibits Proliferation and Invasion and
      Increases Apoptosis in Ovarian Carcinoma HO-8910PM Cells.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of gynecological cancer-related
      deaths worldwide. We investigated the role of a newly discovered long noncoding
      RNA, NR_026689, in cell proliferation, metastasis, and apoptosis in ovarian
      cancer cells. Our results showed that NR_026689 was overexpressed in both
      clinical ovarian cancer patients and cultured ovarian cancer cells. Knockdown of
      NR_026689 in HO-8910PM cells significantly decreased the cell proliferative rate
      and the ability to form colonies. Transwell assays revealed that depletion of
      NR_026689 suppressed cell migration ability by 68% and cell invasive capacity by
      71% in HO-8910PM cells. Moreover, specific shRNAs against NR_026689 notably
      promoted cell apoptosis in HO-8910PM cells by upregulating the expression of
      proapoptotic proteins, including caspase 3, caspase 9, cytochrome C, and PARP.
      Our study suggests an oncogenic potential of NR_026689 in ovarian cancer and
      might provide novel clues for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer in
      the clinic.

PMID- 27624217
TI  - Butelase-Mediated Macrocyclization of d-Amino-Acid-Containing Peptides.
AB  - Macrocyclic compounds have received increasing attention in recent years. With
      their large surface area, they hold promise for inhibiting protein-protein
      interactions, a chemical space that was thought to be undruggable. Although many
      chemical methods have been developed for peptide macrocyclization, enzymatic
      methods have emerged as a promising new economical approach. Thus far, most
      enzymes have been shown to act on l-peptides; their ability to cyclize d-amino
      acid-containing peptides has rarely been documented. Herein we show that
      macrocycles consisting of d-amino acids, except for the Asn residue at the
      ligating site, were efficiently synthesized by butelase 1, an Asn/Asp-specific
      ligase. Furthermore, by using a peptide-library approach, we show that butelase 1
      tolerates most of the d-amino acid residues at the P1'' and P2'' positions.

PMID- 27624218
TI  - Ventilator-induced central venous pressure variation can predict fluid
      responsiveness in post-operative cardiac surgery patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ventilator-induced dynamic hemodynamic parameters such as stroke
      volume variation (SVV) and pulse pressure variation (PPV) have been shown to
      predict fluid responsiveness in contrast to static hemodynamic parameters such as
      central venous pressure (CVP). We hypothesized that the ventilator-induced
      central venous pressure variation (CVPV) could predict fluid responsiveness.
      METHODS: Twenty-two elective cardiac surgery patients were studied post
      operatively on the intensive care unit during mechanical ventilation with tidal
      volumes of 6-8 ml/kg without spontaneous breathing efforts or cardiac arrhythmia.
      Before and after administration of 500mL hydroxyethyl starch, SVV and PPV were
      measured using pulse contour analysis by modified Modelflow(r) , while CVP was
      obtained from a central venous catheter positioned in the superior vena cava.
      CVPV was calculated as 100 * (CVPmax -CVPmin )/[(CVPmax + CVPmin) /2]. RESULTS:
      Nineteen patients (86%) were fluid responders defined as an increase in cardiac
      output of >= 15% after fluid administration. CVPV decreased upon fluid loading in
      responders, but not in non-responders. Baseline CVP values showed no correlation
      with a change in cardiac output in contrast to baseline SVV (r = 0.60, P =
      0.003), PPV (r = 0.58, P = 0.005), and CVPV (r = 0.63, P = 0.002). Baseline
      values of SVV > 9% and PPV > 8% could predict fluid responsiveness with a
      sensitivity of 89% and 95%, respectively, both with a specificity of 100%.
      Baseline CVPV could identify all fluid responders and non-responders correctly at
      a cut-off value of 12%. There was no difference between the area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curves of SVV, PPV, and CVPV. CONCLUSION: The
      use of ventilator-induced CVPV could predict fluid responsiveness similar to SVV
      and PPV in post-operative cardiac surgery patients.

PMID- 27624219
TI  - Understanding Special Olympics Experiences from the Athlete Perspectives Using
      Photo-Elicitation: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many individuals with intellectual disabilities experience challenges
      to participating in organized sport, despite its known benefits. The aim of this
      qualitative study was to understand the experiences of participating in sport
      (Special Olympics) from the perspectives of athletes with intellectual
      disabilities. METHODS: Five participants (13-33 years of age) took part in a
      photo-elicitation project during a 1-month period. RESULTS: Our thematic analysis
      of participant photographs and descriptions revealed the following athlete
      themes: 'Connectedness' and 'Training in Sport'. CONCLUSION: Photo-elicitation
      was a useful and important tool in assisting athlete participants to communicate
      their motivations to participate in sport in ways that using traditional verbal
      interviewing would not.

PMID- 27624221
TI  - Previous challenges and current progress-the use of total artificial hearts in
      patients with end-stage heart failure.

PMID- 27624220
TI  - Ultra-strong and damage tolerant metallic bulk materials: A lesson from
      nanostructured pearlitic steel wires.
AB  - Structural materials used for safety critical applications require high strength
      and simultaneously high resistance against crack growth, referred to as damage
      tolerance. However, the two properties typically exclude each other and research
      efforts towards ever stronger materials are hampered by drastic loss of fracture
      resistance. Therefore, future development of novel ultra-strong bulk materials
      requires a fundamental understanding of the toughness determining mechanisms. As
      model material we use today's strongest metallic bulk material, namely, a
      nanostructured pearlitic steel wire, and measured the fracture toughness on
      micron-sized specimens in different crack growth directions and found an
      unexpected strong anisotropy in the fracture resistance. Along the wire axis the
      material reveals ultra-high strength combined with so far unprecedented damage
      tolerance. We attribute this excellent property combination to the anisotropy in
      the fracture toughness inducing a high propensity for micro-crack formation
      parallel to the wire axis. This effect causes a local crack tip stress relaxation
      and enables the high fracture toughness without being detrimental to the
      material's strength.

PMID- 27624222
TI  - Eosinophilia in infants with food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome in
      Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many Japanese infants with food protein-induced enterocolitis
      syndrome (FPIES) show eosinophilia, which has been thought to be a characteristic
      of food protein-induced proctocolitis (FPIP). METHODS: To elucidate the
      characteristics of eosinophilia in Japanese FPIES patients, 113 infants with non
      IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergy due to cow's milk were enrolled and
      classified into FPIES (n = 94) and FPIP (n = 19). RESULTS: The percentage of
      peripheral blood eosinophils (Eo) was increased in most FPIES patients (median,
      7.5%), which was comparable with that in FPIP patients (9.0%). Among FPIES
      patients, Eo was the highest in patients who had vomiting, bloody stool, and
      diarrhea simultaneously (12.9%) and lowest in patients with diarrhea alone
      (3.2%). Eo showed a significant positive correlation with the incidence of
      vomiting (Cramer's V = 0.31, p < 0.005) and bloody stool (Cramer's V = 0.34, p <
      0.0005). A significant difference was found in Eo between early- (<=10 days, n =
      56) and late-onset (>10 days, n = 38) FPIES (median, 9.8% vs. 5.4%; p < 0.005).
      IL-5 production by peripheral blood T cells stimulated with cow's milk protein in
      early-onset FPIES was significantly higher than that in late-onset FPIES (67.7
      pg/mL vs. 12.5 pg/mL, p < 0.01), and showed a significant positive correlation
      with Eo (rs = 0.60, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated two types of
      eosinophilia in Japanese FPIES infants: conspicuous and mild eosinophilia in
      early- and late-onset FPIES patients, respectively. Conspicuous eosinophilia in
      early-onset FPIES is suggested to be caused by abnormally high IL-5 production.

PMID- 27624223
TI  - How safe is Bubble Soccer?
AB  - Traumatic neurologic injury in contact sports is a rare but serious consequence
      for its players. These injuries are most commonly associated with high-impact
      collisions, for example in football, but are found in a wide variety of sports.
      In an attempt to minimize these injuries, sports are trying to increase safety by
      adding protection for participants. Most recently is the seemingly 'safe' sport
      of Bubble Soccer, which attempts to protect its players with inflatable plastic
      bubbles. We report a case of a 16-year-old male sustaining a cervical spine burst
      fracture with incomplete spinal cord injury while playing Bubble Soccer. To our
      knowledge, this is the first serious neurological injury reported in the sport.

PMID- 27624277
TI  - 7th Japan Bioanalysis Forum symposium: regulated bioanalysis, to a new stage.
AB  - Tower Hall Funabori, Tokyo, Japan, 9-10 March 2016 At the 7th Japan Bioanalysis
      Forum symposium, bioanalytical methods and processes were discussed with
      authorities after the issuing of bioanalytical method validation guidelines (EMA
      and Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) and draft guidance (US FDA).
      Method establishment and bioanalysis of biomarkers were discussed with a focus on
      scientific validation. Bioanalytical methods for antibody-drug conjugates, the
      potential of MS imaging and microsampling activity in drug development were
      introduced. Discussion groups presented and openly discussed their results with
      about 300 attendees. This manuscript provides an overview of the highlights of
      the symposium. 

PMID- 27624224
TI  - Myelomatous Involvement of the Central Nervous System.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Limited data exist with respect to the outcome and optimal
      treatment of patients with myelomatous involvement of the central nervous system
      (CNS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 4060 patients with multiple myeloma (MM),
      evaluated at Mayo Clinic from 1998 to 2014, 29 (0.7%) had identifiable CNS
      involvement, established by the presence of atypical plasma cells in the
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and/or identification of intraparenchymal or meningeal
      involvement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A cohort of 87 MM patients
      without CNS disease served as the control group (1:3), matched by diagnosis date
      and gender. RESULTS: Plasma cells were detected in the CSF in 87% and MRI
      findings consistent with CNS involvement were noted in 82% of the patients. A
      bone marrow plasma cell labeling index of >= 3%, the presence of disease at other
      extramedullary sites, or peripheral blood plasma cells of > 800 per 150,000
      events were associated with an odds ratio of 7.1, 10.3, and 14, respectively, for
      the risk of CNS involvement. Overall survival (OS) from the diagnosis of MM was
      significantly shorter in the CNS-MM group (median 40 months; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 24-56 months) than in the control group (median, 93 months; 95%
      CI, 67-129 months). OS was 3.4 months from the detection of CNS disease. Patients
      who underwent autologous stem cell transplantation after CNS involvement (n = 7)
      had a median OS of 19 months (95% CI, 10-67 months) from the detection of CNS
      involvement. CONCLUSION: Myelomatous involvement of the CNS is a rare
      complication that portends a poor survival. Current therapeutic approaches appear
      to be largely ineffective for this subset of patients with MM.

PMID- 27624278
TI  - RETHINKING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY ACCESS IN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY
      ASSESSMENT: REACTIONS TO POLICY FORUM DISCUSSIONS.
AB  - The need to progress and innovate in health technology assessment (HTA) is a must
      in a continuously changing environment. The HTAi Policy Forum reflected on two
      specific areas for development where it was thought there was need for careful
      consideration and deliberation during the main annual meeting in February 2016.
      The study by Husereau et al. (1) in this journal presents the discussions
      resulting from this Forum. To further share the deliberations of the Forum and
      with a view to opening this debate to the wider HTA community, a panel session
      during the HTAi Annual Meeting in Tokyo was organized. Presentations at the panel
      included a summary of the HTAi Policy Forum discussions and perspectives from a
      patient, a representative of healthcare system provider, and a representative
      from an HTA organization and industry. This letter presents the issues raised in
      the panel session.

PMID- 27624279
TI  - Relation between Helicobacter pylori infection and severe pre-eclampsia
      complicated by intrauterine growth restriction in a rural area in Egypt.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of Helicobacter pylori
      (HP) infection with severe pre-eclampsia (PE) complicated by intrauterine growth
      restriction using rapid stool antigen test in a rural area in Egypt. Maternal
      stool samples were collected from 50 pregnant women diagnosed with PE-associated
      intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and from 50 women with healthy pregnancies
      (control) between 34 and 38 weeks of gestation. HP stool antigen (HPSA) was
      measured using a monoclonal antibody test, which is an immuno-chromatographic
      assay that uses antibody-coated colloidal gold. A significantly higher percentage
      of HPSA positive women were found among PE cases complicated by IUGR (76%)
      compared to healthy pregnancies (32%) (p < .0001). However, in the PE/IUGR group,
      neonatal weight was not significantly lower in HPSA positive patients compared to
      HPSA negative patients (p = .08). This led to our conclusion that Helicobacter
      pylori infection has a possible role in the etiopathogenesis of PE with IUGR with
      no evident effect on its severity.

PMID- 27624276
TI  - Redox/methylation mediated abnormal DNA methylation as regulators of ambient fine
      particulate matter-induced neurodevelopment related impairment in human neuronal
      cells.
AB  - Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been implicated as a risk factor for
      neurodevelopmental disorders including autism in children. However, the
      underlying biological mechanism remains unclear. DNA methylation is suggested to
      be a fundamental mechanism for the neuronal responses to environmental cues. We
      prepared whole particle of PM2.5 (PM2.5), water-soluble extracts (Pw), organic
      extracts (Po) and carbon core component (Pc) and characterized their chemical
      constitutes. We found that PM2.5 induced significant redox imbalance, decreased
      the levels of intercellular methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine and caused global
      DNA hypomethylation. Furthermore, PM2.5 exposure triggered gene-specific promoter
      DNA hypo- or hypermethylation and abnormal mRNA expression of autism candidate
      genes. PM2.5-induced DNA hypermethylation in promoter regions of synapse related
      genes were associated with the decreases in their mRNA and protein expression.
      The inhibiting effects of antioxidative reagents, a methylation-supporting agent
      and a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor demonstrated the involvement of
      redox/methylation mechanism in PM2.5-induced abnormal DNA methylation patterns
      and synaptic protein expression. The biological effects above generally followed
      a sequence of PM2.5 >= Pwo > Po > Pw > Pc. Our results implicated a novel
      epigenetic mechanism for the neurodevelopmental toxicity of particulate air
      pollution, and that eliminating the chemical components could mitigate the
      neurotoxicity of PM2.5.

PMID- 27624280
TI  - Hb Olivet (HBA1: C.40G > A; p.Ala14Thr), a Novel Silent Hemoglobin Variant in Two
      Families of Distinct Origin.
AB  - We report two families, members of which are carriers of a novel hemoglobin (Hb)
      variant that was named Hb Olivet [alpha13(A11)Ala->Thr (alpha1) (GCC > ACC);
      HBA1: c.40G > A; p.Ala14Thr]. The analysis of these cases allowed a clear
      description of this anomaly that behaves as a silent Hb. In the first family, of
      Portuguese ethnicity living in France, the proband, a 24-year-old male and his 57
      year-old mother, both appeared to be carriers. The son presented with borderline
      mean corpuscular volume (MCV), while the mother was normocytic and normochromic.
      Hemoglobin separation on capillary electrophoresis (CE) was normal, while a
      slightly asymmetric peak was observed on high performance liquid chromatography
      (HPLC). In a second family, originally from Surinam but living in The
      Netherlands, the proband, a 6-year-old girl, showed a mild microcytosis at low
      ferritin levels. The abnormal Hb was inherited from the mother who was clearly
      iron depleted, was not present in the sister and brother of the proband. The
      microcytic hypochromic anemia was only shown in two out of a total of four
      carriers. It therefore seems likely that iron depletion is causative as two
      carriers are completely normal. Characterization and genotype/phenotype
      correlation are briefly described.

PMID- 27624282
TI  - Effect of Orbital Hybridization on Spin-Polarized Tunneling across Co/C60
      Interfaces.
AB  - The interaction between ferromagnetic surfaces and organic semiconductors leads
      to the formation of hybrid interfacial states. As a consequence, the local
      magnetic moment is altered, a hybrid interfacial density of states (DOS) is
      formed, and spin-dependent shifts of energy levels occur. Here, we show that this
      hybridization affects spin transport across the interface significantly. We
      report spin-dependent electronic transport measurements for tunnel junctions
      comprising C60 molecular thin films grown on top of face-centered-cubic (fcc)
      epitaxial Co electrodes, an AlOx tunnel barrier, and an Al counter electrode.
      Since only one ferromagnetic electrode (Co) is present, spin-polarized transport
      is due to tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR). An in-plane TAMR ratio
      of approximately 0.7% has been measured at 5 K under application of a magnetic
      field of 800 mT. The magnetic switching behavior shows some remarkable features,
      which are attributed to the rotation of interfacial magnetic moments. This
      behavior can be ascribed to the magnetic coupling between the Co thin films and
      the newly formed Co/C60 hybridized interfacial states. Using the Tedrow-Meservey
      technique, the tunnel spin polarization of the Co/C60 interface was found to be
      43%.

PMID- 27624281
TI  - Thiol dependent intramolecular locking of Orai1 channels.
AB  - Store-operated Ca(2+) entry mediated by STIM1-gated Orai1 channels is essential
      to activate immune cells and its inhibition or gain-of-function can lead to
      immune dysfunction and other pathologies. Reactive oxygen species interacting
      with cysteine residues can alter protein function. Pretreatment of the Ca(2+)
      selective Orai1 with the oxidant H2O2 reduces ICRAC with C195, distant to the
      pore, being its major redox sensor. However, the mechanism of inhibition remained
      elusive. Here we combine experimental and theoretical approaches and show that
      oxidation of Orai1 leads to reduced subunit interaction, slows diffusion and that
      either oxidized C195 or its oxidomimetic mutation C195D located at the exit of
      transmembrane helix 3 virtually eliminates channel activation by intramolecular
      interaction with S239 of transmembrane helix 4, thereby locking the channel in a
      closed conformation. Our results demonstrate a novel mechanistic model for ROS
      mediated inhibition of Orai1 and identify a candidate residue for pharmaceutical
      intervention.

PMID- 27624284
TI  - Thermal Behavior of d-Ribose Adsorbed on Silica: Effect of Inorganic Salt
      Coadsorption and Significance for Prebiotic Chemistry.
AB  - Understanding ribose reactivity is a crucial step in the "RNA world" scenario
      because this molecule is a component of all extant nucleotides that make up RNA.
      In solution, ribose is unstable and susceptible to thermal destruction. We
      examined how ribose behaves upon thermal activation when adsorbed on silica,
      either alone or with the coadsorption of inorganic salts (MgCl2 , CaCl2 , SrCl2 ,
      CuCl2 , FeCl2 , FeCl3 , ZnCl2 ). A combination of 13 C NMR, in situ IR, and TGA
      analyses revealed a variety of phenomena. When adsorbed alone, ribose remains
      stable up to 150  degrees C, at which point ring opening is observed, together
      with minor oxidation to a lactone. All the metal salts studied showed specific
      interactions with ribose after dehydration, resulting in the formation of
      polydentate metal ion complexes. Anomeric equilibria were affected, generally
      favoring ribofuranoses. Zn2+ stabilized ribose up to higher temperatures than
      bare silica (180 to 200  degrees C). Most other cations had an adverse effect on
      ribose stability, with ring opening already upon drying at 70  degrees C. In
      addition, alkaline earth cations catalyzed the dehydration of ribose to furfural
      and, to variable degrees, its further decarbonylation to furan. Transition-metal
      ions with open d-shells took part in redox reactions with ribose, either as
      reagents or as catalysts. These results allow the likelihood of prebiotic
      chemistry scenarios to be evaluated, and may also be of interest for the
      valorization of biomass-derived carbohydrates by heterogeneous catalysis.

PMID- 27624283
TI  - MDM2 promoter SNP55 (rs2870820) affects risk of colon cancer but not breast-,
      lung-, or prostate cancer.
AB  - Two functional SNPs (SNP285G > C; rs117039649 and SNP309T > G; rs2279744) have
      previously been reported to modulate Sp1 transcription factor binding to the
      promoter of the proto-oncogene MDM2, and to influence cancer risk. Recently, a
      third SNP (SNP55C > T; rs2870820) was also reported to affect Sp1 binding and
      MDM2 transcription. In this large population based case-control study, we
      genotyped MDM2 SNP55 in 10,779 Caucasian individuals, previously genotyped for
      SNP309 and SNP285, including cases of colon (n = 1,524), lung (n = 1,323), breast
      (n = 1,709) and prostate cancer (n = 2,488) and 3,735 non-cancer controls, as
      well as 299 healthy African-Americans. Applying the dominant model, we found an
      elevated risk of colon cancer among individuals harbouring SNP55TT/CT genotypes
      compared to the SNP55CC genotype (OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.01-1.30). The risk was
      found to be highest for left-sided colon cancer (OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.00-1.45)
      and among females (OR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.01-1.74). Assessing combined genotypes,
      we found the highest risk of colon cancer among individuals harbouring the
      SNP55TT or CT together with the SNP309TG genotype (OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.00
      1.46). Supporting the conclusions from the risk estimates, we found colon cancer
      cases carrying the SNP55TT/CT genotypes to be diagnosed at younger age as
      compared to SNP55CC (p = 0.053), in particular among patients carrying the
      SNP309TG/TT genotypes (p = 0.009).

PMID- 27624285
TI  - Two in a bed: The influence of couple sleeping and chronotypes on relationship
      and sleep. An overview.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize research on couple sleeping with respect to gender
      specific differences and chronotype. METHODS: Systematic review of the
      literature. RESULTS: Millions of adults around the world share their beds with a
      partner. This may be an expression of intimacy and attachment and tends to
      intensify romantic relationships. Yet, couple sleeping still has underestimated
      implications for the quality of the relationship, quality of sleep and for
      physical and psychological health which are not consistently positive.
      Implications for research and therapy are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the
      people involved perhaps not even being aware of their nocturnal interactions, it
      is important that sleeping together becomes a subject of discussion.
      ABBREVIATIONS: REM: rapid eye movement; QOL: quality of life; OSA: obstructive
      sleep apnea; CPAP: continuous positive airway pressure.

PMID- 27624286
TI  - Will gemcitabine monotherapy be dethroned as the adjuvant chemotherapy in
      pancreatic adenocarcinoma?

PMID- 27624288
TI  - Essential Oil from Sweet Potato Vines, a Potential New Natural Preservative, and
      an Antioxidant on Sweet Potato Tubers: Assessment of the Activity and the
      Constitution.
AB  - Pathogenic fungi and oxidation are the major factors that cause the deterioration
      of sweet potatoes and also cause the loss of quality that makes consumption
      unsafe. In the present study, the in vitro results demonstrate that the essential
      oil from sweet potato vines exhibits significantly enhanced activity compared to
      that of the control. Furthermore, the essential oil can actively inhibit the
      growth of some common microorganisms inducing pathogenic bacteria and fungi
      (inhibition rates above 50% at low concentrations). A total of 31 constituents
      were identified using GC-MS and confirmed that linalool and p-hydroxybenzoic acid
      are the major active ingredients. The experiment involving actual tubers showed
      that the essential oil could retains its quality and effectiveness again the
      fungus disease. This suggests that it could be used in the food industry to
      increase the shelf life of stored produce (tubers) to ensure food safety without
      the use of additives or preservatives.

PMID- 27624287
TI  - Six Versus Twelve Months Clopidogrel Therapy After Drug-Eluting Stenting in
      Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: An ISAR-SAFE Study Subgroup Analysis.
AB  - In patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) the optimal duration of
      dual-antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation remains
      unclear. At 6 months after intervention, patients receiving clopidogrel were
      randomly assigned to either a further 6-month period of placebo or clopidogrel.
      The primary composite endpoint was death, myocardial infarction, stent
      thrombosis, stroke, or major bleeding 9 months after randomization. The ISAR-SAFE
      trial was terminated early due to low event rates and slow recruitment. 1601/4000
      (40.0%) patients presented with ACS and were randomized to 6 (n = 794) or 12
      months (n = 807) clopidogrel. The primary endpoint occurred in 14 patients (1.8%)
      receiving 6 months of clopidogrel and 17 patients (2.2%) receiving 12 months;
      hazard ratio (HR) 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41-1.68, P = 0.60. There
      were 2 (0.3%) cases of stent thrombosis in each group; HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.14-7.09,
      P = >0.99. Major bleeding occurred in 3 patients (0.4%) receiving 6 months
      clopidogrel and 5 (0.6%) receiving 12 months; HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.15-2.49, P =
      0.49. There was no significant difference in net clinical outcomes after DES
      implantation in ACS patients treated with 6 versus 12 months clopidogrel.
      Ischaemic and bleeding events were low beyond 6-months.

PMID- 27624290
TI  - Implant osseointegration in irradiated bone: an experimental study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of
      radiotherapy on the osseointegration of dental implants in the tibia and the
      action of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as an adjuvant therapy. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A total of 18 rabbits received two implants in each tibial epiphysis,
      totalizing 72 implants. The control group (group I) was composed by six rabbits
      and did not receive radiotherapy. The test groups (II and III) received a single
      dose of 1727 cGy. Group II was composed by six irradiated animals and group III
      by six animals that received irradiation and PRP during implant placement. The
      implant success rate, the bone-implant contact (BIC), and the bone volume were
      analyzed. RESULTS: There was no osseointegration in four of the implants, three
      in group II and one in group III. Total BIC was significantly higher in group I,
      when compared to the other groups. There was a significant difference of osteoid
      BIC only between irradiated animals (group II, 8.5%; group III, 4.7%; p = 0.001).
      On the other hand, the mineralized BIC was significantly higher in group I.
      Furthermore, group II had a lower mineralized BIC than group III (p = 0.002).
      Bone volume was higher in the control group (41.3%), followed by group III
      (33.4%) and II (25.1%), with differences between groups I and II (p = 0.001) and
      groups II and III (p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that both
      the bone volume and BIC were higher in the control group. However, the failure
      rates of the implants were low in both irradiated groups. The PRP was a positive
      adjuvant in the osseointegration process.

PMID- 27624291
TI  - Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty using corneas from elderly
      donors.

PMID- 27624289
TI  - Increased autophagy in CD4+ T cells of rheumatoid arthritis patients results in T
      cell hyperactivation and apoptosis resistance.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease hallmarked by aberrant
      cellular homeostasis, resulting in hyperactive CD4+ T cells that are more
      resistant to apoptosis. Both hyperactivation and resistance to apoptosis may
      contribute to the pathogenicity of CD4+ T cells in the autoimmune process. A
      better knowledge of the mechanisms determining such impaired homeostasis could
      contribute significantly to both the understanding and the treatment of the
      disease. Here we investigated whether autophagy, is dysregulated in CD4+ T cells
      of RA patients, resulting in disturbed T-cell homeostasis. We demonstrate that
      the rate of autophagy is significantly increased in CD4+ T cells from RA
      patients, and that increased autophagy is also a feature of in vitro activated
      CD4+ T cells. The increased apoptosis resistance observed in CD4+ T cells from RA
      patients was significantly reversed upon autophagy inhibition. These mechanisms
      may contribute to RA pathogenesis, as autophagy inhibition reduced both arthritis
      incidence and disease severity in a mouse collagen induced arthritis mouse model.
      Conversely, in Atg5flox/flox -CD4-Cre+ mice, in which all T cells are autophagy
      deficient, T cells showed impaired activation and proliferation. These data
      provide novel insight into the pathogenesis of RA and underscore the relevance of
      autophagy as a promising therapeutic target.

PMID- 27624293
TI  - Using publicly reported hospital data to predict obstetric quality.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the association between obstetric outcomes and publicly
      reported hospital data on patient satisfaction, surgical quality measures and
      medical outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hospitals in the Nationwide Inpatient
      Sample in 2011 were linked to Hospital Compare, a source of hospital data on
      patient satisfaction, quality and mortality for medical conditions. The risk
      adjusted hospital-level rates of obstetric morbidity, episiotomy and lacerations
      were compared across the hospitals and reported as the absolute reduction in risk
      (ARR). RESULTS: We identified 528 708 women. There was no association between any
      of the metrics and risk-adjusted obstetric morbidity (range -0.15% to 0.03%
      difference). Hospitals with a high mortality rate for pneumonia had a 0.38% (95%
      CI: 0.13% to 0.64%) higher rate of risk-adjusted third- and fourth-degree
      lacerations, while hospitals with a higher death rate for myocardial infarction
      had a -0.74% (95% CI, -1.34% to -0.14%) lower risk-adjusted episiotomy rate. The
      differences in the remainder of the publicly reported metrics and the risk
      adjusted rates of third- and fourth-degree lacerations and episiotomy were small
      and not statistically significant (p  > 0.05). CONCLUSION: There is little
      association between currently available, publically reported hospital data and
      obstetric quality. Obstetric-specific hospital measures of quality and
      satisfaction are needed.

PMID- 27624292
TI  - Measurement of lamina and prelaminar thicknesses of both eyes in patients with
      unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: Thinning of the lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT) and prelaminar tissue
      thickness (PT) has been observed in patients with glaucoma, and branch retinal
      vein occlusion (BRVO) is reportedly related to glaucoma. To test the hypothesis
      that thinning of the LCT and PT occurs in patients with BRVO, we investigated
      possible correlations of the LCT and PT in BRVO-affected eyes and fellow eyes and
      compared these values with age-, sex-, and underlying disease-matched eyes.
      METHOD: The study included 50 patients (50 eyes) with unilateral BRVO and 35
      control subjects (35 eyes). The LCT and PT were measured using the enhanced depth
      imaging mode of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: The mean
      LCT and PT in BRVO-affected eyes (208.26 +/- 33.36 and 155.70 +/- 76.89 MUm,
      respectively) were significantly thinner than those in the normal control eyes
      (260.41 +/- 43.25 and 201.74 +/- 74.97 MUm, respectively) (P = 0.000 and P =
      0.008, respectively). The mean LCT and PT in the fellow eyes (204.97 +/- 37.57
      and 147.06 +/- 71.33 MUm, respectively) were also statistically thinner than
      those in the control group (P = 0.000 and P = 0.004, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:
      The LCT and PT in BRVO-affected eyes and fellow eyes were thinner than those in
      eyes of normal control subjects. Thinning of the LCT and PT may be associated
      with BRVO as well as glaucoma, suggesting that the two diseases have the similar
      structural abnormalities in the lamina cribrosa and prelaminar tissues.

PMID- 27624294
TI  - Medication Nonadherence After Lung Transplantation in Adult Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our objective was to identify potential avenues for resource
      allocation and patient advocacy to improve outcomes by evaluating the association
      between recipient sociodemographic and patient characteristics and medication
      nonadherence after lung transplantation. METHODS: States US adult, lung-only
      transplantations per the United Network for Organ Sharing database were analyzed
      from October 1996 through December 2006, based on the period during which
      nonadherence information was recorded. Generalized linear models were used to
      determine the association of demographic, disease, and transplantation center
      characteristics with early nonadherence (defined as within the first year after
      transplantation) as well as late nonadherence (years 2 to 4 after
      transplantation). Outcomes comparing adherent and nonadherent patients were also
      evaluated. RESULTS: Patients (n = 7,284) were included for analysis. Early and
      late nonadherence rates were 3.1% and 10.6%, respectively. Factors associated
      with early nonadherence were Medicaid insurance compared with private insurance
      (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.45, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16 to 5.15), and
      black race (AOR 2.38, 95% CI: 1.08 to 5.25). Medicaid insurance and black race
      were also associated with late nonadherence (AOR 2.38, 95% CI: 1.51 to 3.73 and
      OR 1.73, 95% CI: 1.04 to 2.89, respectively), as were age 18 to 20 years (AOR
      3.41, 95% CI: 1.29 to 8.99) and grade school or lower education (AOR 1.88, 95%
      CI: 1.05 to 3.35). Early and late nonadherence were both associated with
      significantly shorter unadjusted survival (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Identifying
      patients at risk of nonadherence may enable resource allocation and patient
      advocacy to improve outcomes.

PMID- 27624295
TI  - Intraoperative Vein Graft Preservation: What Is the Solution?
AB  - Saphenous vein graft (SVG) disease and subsequent vein graft failure remain a
      major problem after coronary artery bypass graft operations. In an effort to
      mitigate loss of endothelial viability, the vein is stored, intraoperatively, in
      a preservation solution. However, human SVG samples demonstrate endothelial
      denudation and dysfunction after such storage, the severity of which varies,
      depending on the medium. The paucity of clinical data evaluating preservation
      solutions is illustrated by the absence of optimal procedural protocol. This
      review evaluates the potential efficacy of different storage solutions in
      preserving vein grafts, in relation to a mechanistic understanding of SVG
      pathophysiology.

PMID- 27624296
TI  - Prolonged Cross-Clamping During Aortic Valve Replacement Is an Independent
      Predictor of Postoperative Morbidity and Mortality: Analysis of the Japan
      Cardiovascular Surgery Database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to determine whether aortic cross-clamp
      duration (ACCD) was directly related to postoperative morbidity and mortality
      rates and to identify the inflection point of ACCD for increased mortality and
      morbidity rates in patients who had undergone isolated aortic valve replacement
      (AVR) for aortic stenosis. METHODS: From the Japan Cardiovascular Surgery
      Database, we extracted data from 16,272 patients with AS who underwent isolated
      AVR between January 2008 and December 2012. We evaluated postoperative mortality
      and morbidity rates after stratifying patients into five groups based on ACCD
      (<60 minutes, >=60 to <90 minutes, >=90 to <120 minutes, >=120 to <150 minutes,
      and >=150 minutes). RESULTS: The overall hospital mortality rate was 2.8%.
      Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that the odds ratio for operative
      mortality increased as ACCD incrementally increased and was markedly higher for
      ACCD of 150 minutes or longer (odds ratio, 2.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.66 to
      4.32; p < 0.001). There were significant increases in risks of reoperation for
      bleeding for ACCD of120 minutes or longer, stroke for ACCD of 60 minutes or
      longer, deep sternal infection for ACCD of 120 minutes or longer, ventilation for
      more than 24 hours for ACCD of 90 minutes or longer, and new requirement for
      dialysis for ACCD of 150 minutes or longer. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged ACCD offers an
      independent predictor of postoperative morbidity and mortality after isolated AVR
      for AS despite recent technologic advances and surgical refinements.

PMID- 27624299
TI  - A likely case of goiter in the Madonna col Bambino dormiente (1465/1470) by
      Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506).

PMID- 27624298
TI  - Breast cancer and thyroid diseases: analysis of 867 consecutive cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of breast
      cancer with thyroid diseases. Many authors have already studied the possible
      relationship between these two diseases, but the results are nowadays
      conflicting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study examining 867 patients with breast
      cancer (862 women and 5 men, average age = 61 years old) of whom 141 also had
      thyroid disease evaluated the recurrence of thyroid diseases and their
      association with different types of breast cancer. Statistical analyses were
      performed using SPSS software for Windows; we used nonparametric tests (Chi
      square and Mann-Whitney), and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05.
      RESULTS: We found a significant association between breast cancer diagnosed after
      menopause and thyroid disease (p < 0.003). Moreover, we analyzed the role of
      thyroid autoimmunity identifying an association between chronic autoimmune
      thyroiditis and breast cancer diagnosed before menopause (p < 0.05). Regarding
      receptor profile of breast carcinoma, we have found an increased expression of
      estrogen receptors in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis compared to patients
      with any other thyroid diseases (p < 0.03). Contrariwise, we do not have found
      any difference between the group with every thyroid disease and the group without
      thyroid disease (p < 1.00). We did not find other statistically significant
      associations with breast cancer's parameters like family history, tumor size,
      lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, cancer clinical and pathological
      stage, differentiation grade and expression of Ki67, p53 and Her2 in the two main
      groups with or without thyroid disease. Likewise, we did not found other
      statistically significant association between hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism
      and breast cancer.

PMID- 27624300
TI  - Incident diabetic foot ulcers and mortality in hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 27624301
TI  - Understanding the pseudocapacitance of RuO2 from joint density functional theory.
AB  - Pseudocapacitors have been experimentally studied for many years in electric
      energy storage. However, first principles understanding of the pseudocapacitive
      behavior is still not satisfactory due to the complexity involved in modeling
      electrochemistry. In this paper, we applied joint density functional theory
      (JDFT) to simulate the pseudocapacitive behavior of RuO2, a prototypical
      material, in a model electrolyte. We obtained from JDFT a capacitive curve which
      showed a redox peak position comparable to that in the experimental cyclic
      voltammetry (CV) curve. We found that the experimental turning point from double
      layer to pseudocapacitive charge storage at low scan rates could be explained by
      the hydrogen adsorption at low coverage. As the electrode voltage becomes more
      negative, H coverage increases and causes the surface-structure change, leading
      to bended -OH bonds at the on-top oxygen atoms and large capacitance. This H
      coverage-dependent capacitance can explain the high pseudocapacitance of hydrous
      RuO2. Our work here provides a first principles understanding of the
      pseudocapacitance for RuO2 in particular and for transition-metal oxides in
      general.

PMID- 27624297
TI  - The treatment of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycaemia in adults: an update.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycaemia (HH) is challenging due
      to the rarity of this condition and the difficulty of differential diagnosis. The
      aim of this article is to give an overview of the recent literature on the
      management of adult HH. METHODS: A search for reviews, original articles,
      original case reports between 1995 and 2016 in PubMed using the following
      keywords: hyperinsulinemic hypoglycaemia, insulinoma, nesidioblastosis, gastric
      bypass, autoimmune hypoglycaemia, hyperinsulinism, treatment was performed.
      RESULTS: One hundred and forty articles were selected and analysed focusing on
      the most recent treatments of HH. CONCLUSIONS: New approaches to treatment of HH
      are available including mini-invasive surgical techniques and alternative local
      regional ablative therapy for benign insulinoma and everolimus for malignant
      insulinoma. A correct differential diagnosis is of paramount importance to avoid
      unnecessary surgical operations and to implement the appropriate treatment mainly
      in the uncommon forms of HH, such as nesidioblastosis and autoimmune
      hypoglycaemia.

PMID- 27624302
TI  - Effects of climatological parameters in modeling and forecasting seasonal
      influenza transmission in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In temperate regions, influenza epidemics occur in the winter and
      correlate with certain climatological parameters. In African tropical regions,
      the effects of climatological parameters on influenza epidemics are not well
      defined. This study aims to identify and model the effects of climatological
      parameters on seasonal influenza activity in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. METHODS: We
      studied the effects of weekly rainfall, humidity, and temperature on laboratory
      confirmed influenza cases in Abidjan from 2007 to 2010. We used the Box-Jenkins
      method with the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) process to
      create models using data from 2007-2010 and to assess the predictive value of
      best model on data from 2011 to 2012. RESULTS: The weekly number of influenza
      cases showed significant cross-correlation with certain prior weeks for both
      rainfall, and relative humidity. The best fitting multivariate model (ARIMAX
      (2,0,0) _RF) included the number of influenza cases during 1-week and 2-weeks
      prior, and the rainfall during the current week and 5-weeks prior. The
      performance of this model showed an increase of >3 % for Akaike Information
      Criterion (AIC) and 2.5 % for Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) compared to
      the reference univariate ARIMA (2,0,0). The prediction of the weekly number of
      influenza cases during 2011-2012 with the best fitting multivariate model (ARIMAX
      (2,0,0) _RF), showed that the observed values were within the 95 % confidence
      interval of the predicted values during 97 of 104 weeks. CONCLUSION: Including
      rainfall increases the performances of fitted and predicted models. The timing of
      influenza in Abidjan can be partially explained by rainfall influence, in a
      setting with little change in temperature throughout the year. These findings can
      help clinicians to anticipate influenza cases during the rainy season by
      implementing preventive measures.

PMID- 27624303
TI  - Amyloidogenic amyloid-beta-peptide variants induce microbial agglutination and
      exert antimicrobial activity.
AB  - Amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides are the main components of the plaques found in the
      brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, Abeta peptides are also
      detectable in secretory compartments and peripheral blood contains a complex
      mixture of more than 40 different modified and/or N- and C-terminally truncated
      Abeta peptides. Recently, anti-infective properties of Abeta peptides have been
      reported. Here, we investigated the interaction of Abeta peptides of different
      lengths with various bacterial strains and the yeast Candida albicans. The
      amyloidogenic peptides Abeta1-42, Abeta2-42, and Abeta3p-42 but not the non
      amyloidogenic peptides Abeta1-40 and Abeta2-40 bound to microbial surfaces. As
      observed by immunocytochemistry, scanning electron microscopy and Gram staining,
      treatment of several bacterial strains and Candida albicans with Abeta peptide
      variants ending at position 42 (Abetax-42) caused the formation of large
      agglutinates. These aggregates were not detected after incubation with Abetax-40.
      Furthermore, Abetax-42 exerted an antimicrobial activity on all tested pathogens,
      killing up to 80% of microorganisms within 6 h. Abeta1-40 only had a moderate
      antimicrobial activity against C. albicans. Agglutination of Abeta1-42 was
      accelerated in the presence of microorganisms. These data demonstrate that the
      amyloidogenic Abetax-42 variants have antimicrobial activity and may therefore
      act as antimicrobial peptides in the immune system.

PMID- 27624305
TI  - Identification of a gene involved in the regulation of hyphal growth of Epichloe
      festucae during symbiosis.
AB  - Secreted proteins, those involved in cell wall biogenesis, are likely to play a
      role in communication in the symbiotic interaction between the fungal endophyte
      Epichloe festucae with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), particularly given
      the close association between fungal hyphae and the plant cell wall. Our
      hypothesis was that secreted proteins are likely to be responsible for
      establishing and maintaining a normal symbiotic relationship. We analyzed an
      endophyte EST database for genes with predicted signal peptide sequences. Here,
      we report the identification and characterization of rhgA; a gene involved in the
      regulation of hyphal growth in planta In planta analysis of DeltarhgA mutants
      showed that disruption of rhgA resulted in extensive unregulated hyphal growth.
      This phenotype was fully complemented by insertion of the rhgA gene and suggests
      that rhgA is important for maintaining normal hyphal growth during symbiosis.

PMID- 27624306
TI  - Spotlight on...Pascale Cossart.

PMID- 27624304
TI  - Molecular Profiling of Phagocytic Immune Cells in Anopheles gambiae Reveals
      Integral Roles for Hemocytes in Mosquito Innate Immunity.
AB  - The innate immune response is highly conserved across all eukaryotes and has been
      studied in great detail in several model organisms. Hemocytes, the primary immune
      cell population in mosquitoes, are important components of the mosquito innate
      immune response, yet critical aspects of their biology have remained
      uncharacterized. Using a novel method of enrichment, we isolated phagocytic
      granulocytes and quantified their proteomes by mass spectrometry. The data
      demonstrate that phagocytosis, blood-feeding, and Plasmodium falciparum infection
      promote dramatic shifts in the proteomic profiles of An. gambiae granulocyte
      populations. Of interest, large numbers of immune proteins were induced in
      response to blood feeding alone, suggesting that granulocytes have an integral
      role in priming the mosquito immune system for pathogen challenge. In addition,
      we identify several granulocyte proteins with putative roles as membrane
      receptors, cell signaling, or immune components that when silenced, have either
      positive or negative effects on malaria parasite survival. Integrating existing
      hemocyte transcriptional profiles, we also compare differences in hemocyte
      transcript and protein expression to provide new insight into hemocyte gene
      regulation and discuss the potential that post-transcriptional regulation may be
      an important component of hemocyte gene expression. These data represent a
      significant advancement in mosquito hemocyte biology, providing the first
      comprehensive proteomic profiling of mosquito phagocytic granulocytes during
      homeostasis blood-feeding, and pathogen challenge. Together, these findings
      extend current knowledge to further illustrate the importance of hemocytes in
      shaping mosquito innate immunity and their principal role in defining malaria
      parasite survival in the mosquito host.

PMID- 27624309
TI  - The Relevance of Mammalian Peroxiredoxins to the Gametogenesis, Embryogenesis,
      and Pregnancy Outcomes.
AB  - Peroxiredoxin (PRX) defines a family that provides antioxidant defense in
      different cell types by removing reactive oxygen species (ROS) through conserved
      active cysteines, with the support of other types of antioxidants such as
      thioredoxin, glutaredoxin, and glutathione peroxidase. By regulation of
      intracellular ROS levels, the mammalian PRXs influence a variety of reproductive
      processes including gamete maturation, fertilization, and embryo development.
      Experimental mice lacking PRXs developed normally, but some showed accelerated
      decrease in fertility with aging, suggesting that deficiency of PRXs did not have
      lethal consequences for reproduction. The aim of this review is to summarize the
      role of mammalian PRXs in the reproductive performance.

PMID- 27624307
TI  - Auditory Deprivation Does Not Impair Executive Function, But Language Deprivation
      Might: Evidence From a Parent-Report Measure in Deaf Native Signing Children.
AB  - Deaf children are often described as having difficulty with executive function
      (EF), often manifesting in behavioral problems. Some researchers view these
      problems as a consequence of auditory deprivation; however, the behavioral
      problems observed in previous studies may not be due to deafness but to some
      other factor, such as lack of early language exposure. Here, we distinguish these
      accounts by using the BRIEF EF parent report questionnaire to test for behavioral
      problems in a group of Deaf children from Deaf families, who have a history of
      auditory but not language deprivation. For these children, the auditory
      deprivation hypothesis predicts behavioral impairments; the language deprivation
      hypothesis predicts no group differences in behavioral control. Results indicated
      that scores among the Deaf native signers (n = 42) were age-appropriate and
      similar to scores among the typically developing hearing sample (n = 45). These
      findings are most consistent with the language deprivation hypothesis, and
      provide a foundation for continued research on outcomes of children with early
      exposure to sign language.

PMID- 27624310
TI  - State of the ART: Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the United States.
AB  - This review provides a brief look at the state of the assisted reproductive
      technologies (ARTs) in the United States in 2016. In 2013, the most recent year
      for which data are available through the Society for Assisted Reproductive
      Technology (SART) of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and
      the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 190 773 total
      cycles of ART. Live births ranged from 40.1% per cycle initiated in women younger
      than 35 years to 4.5% live births per cycle initiated in women older than 42
      years. US clinics must report their outcomes to the CDC. Society for Assisted
      Reproductive Technology clinics must report through the SART, which maintains
      rigorous quality assurance and validation programs. Society for Assisted
      Reproductive Technology member clinics must abide by minimum standards set by the
      SART and the ASRM, which include educational and other requirements for
      professionals participating in in vitro fertilization programs as well as
      standards for the laboratories. Assisted reproductive technology in the United
      States is a highly regulated field on a voluntary basis with excellent clinical
      results.

PMID- 27624308
TI  - A generalized framework for computational design and mutational scanning of T
      cell receptor binding interfaces.
AB  - T-cell receptors (TCRs) have emerged as a new class of therapeutics, most
      prominently for cancer where they are the key components of new cellular
      therapies as well as soluble biologics. Many studies have generated high affinity
      TCRs in order to enhance sensitivity. Recent outcomes, however, have suggested
      that fine manipulation of TCR binding, with an emphasis on specificity may be
      more valuable than large affinity increments. Structure-guided design is ideally
      suited for this role, and here we studied the generality of structure-guided
      design as applied to TCRs. We found that a previous approach, which successfully
      optimized the binding of a therapeutic TCR, had poor accuracy when applied to a
      broader set of TCR interfaces. We thus sought to develop a more general purpose
      TCR design framework. After assembling a large dataset of experimental data
      spanning multiple interfaces, we trained a new scoring function that accounted
      for unique features of each interface. Together with other improvements, such as
      explicit inclusion of molecular flexibility, this permitted the design new
      affinity-enhancing mutations in multiple TCRs, including those not used in
      training. Our approach also captured the impacts of mutations and substitutions
      in the peptide/MHC ligand, and recapitulated recent findings regarding TCR
      specificity, indicating utility in more general mutational scanning of TCR-pMHC
      interfaces.

PMID- 27624312
TI  - Commentary: The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by
      neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs.

PMID- 27624313
TI  - The effectiveness of lane departure warning systems-A reduction in real-world
      passenger car injury crashes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate the safety benefits of in
      vehicle lane departure warning (LDW) and lane keeping aid (LKA) systems in
      reducing relevant real-world passenger car injury crashes. METHODS: The study
      used an induced exposure method, where LDW/LKA-sensitive and nonsensitive crashes
      were compared for Volvo passenger cars equipped with and without LDW/LKA systems.
      These crashes were matched by car make, model, model year, and technical
      equipment; that is, low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) called City
      Safety (CS). The data were extracted from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data
      Acquisition database (STRADA) and consisted of 1,853 driver injury crashes that
      involved 146 LDW-equipped cars, 11 LKA-equipped cars, and 1,696 cars without
      LDW/LKA systems. RESULTS: The analysis showed a positive effect of the LDW/LKA
      systems in reducing lane departure crashes. The LDW/LKA systems were estimated to
      reduce head-on and single-vehicle injury crashes on Swedish roads with speed
      limits between 70 and 120 km/h and with dry or wet road surfaces (i.e., not
      covered by ice or snow) by 53% with a lower limit of 11% (95% confidence interval
      [CI]). This reduction corresponded to a reduction of 30% with a lower limit of 6%
      (95% CI) for all head-on and single-vehicle driver injury crashes (including all
      speed limits and all road surface conditions). CONCLUSIONS: LDW/LKA systems were
      estimated to lower the driver injury risk in crash types that the systems are
      designed to prevent; that is, head-on and single-vehicle crashes. Though these
      are important findings, they were based on a small data set. Therefore, further
      research is desirable to evaluate the effectiveness of LDW/LKA systems under real
      world conditions and to differentiate the effectiveness between technical
      solutions (i.e., LDW and LKA) proposed by different manufacturers.

PMID- 27624311
TI  - Coronary lesion characteristics with mismatch between fractional flow reserve
      derived from CT and invasive catheterization in clinical practice.
AB  - High diagnostic performance of noninvasive fractional flow reserve computed from
      CT (FFR-CT) was recently reported in prospective multicenter trials. The aims of
      this study were to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FFR-CT in clinical
      practice and to examine the lesion characteristics showing a mismatch between FFR
      CT and invasive FFR. A total of 20 patients (29 vessels) with suspected coronary
      artery disease were included. All patients underwent invasive coronary
      angiography and invasive FFR according to coronary artery CT angiography (CCTA)
      findings. The same raw data used for CCTA were used to evaluate FFR-CT. Results
      from FFR-CT were compared with invasively measured FFR. A positive ischemia was
      defined as FFR <0.80. Analyses from three vessels in two patients were not
      evaluated because of severe calcification or motion artifacts. The diagnostic
      accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of FFR-CT per-vessel basis were 81, 100,
      and 69 %, respectively. To find the reason for mismatch in positive ischemia,
      lesion characteristics determined with CCTA were compared between the matched
      group and the mismatched group. A significant difference in bifurcation lesions
      with positive remodeling was observed between the matched group and the
      mismatched group (p < 0.01). The high sensitivity of FFR-CT may provide an
      additional support to the use of CCTA, although particular attention should be
      paid when using FFR-CT in bifurcation lesions with positive remodeling.

PMID- 27624314
TI  - Dual treatment with sofosbuvir plus ribavirin is as effective as triple therapy
      with pegylated interferon plus sofosbuvir plus ribavirin in predominant genotype
      3 patients with chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Sofosbuvir (SOF) was the first directly acting antiviral made
      available for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in India. We describe our "real life"
      experience of using SOF with ribavirin (RBV) with or without pegylated interferon
      (Peg-IFN) in predominant genotype 3 patients with CHC. METHODS: A total of 158
      patients (men 99 [62.6%], mean age 40.3 +/- 12.8 years) with CHC treated with
      dual therapy (SOF + RBV) for 24 weeks or triple therapy (Peg-IFN + SOF + RBV) for
      12 weeks were included prospectively. Patients with co-infection, decompensated
      liver disease, and post-organ transplantation were excluded. Data were analysed
      for the preference of treatment regimen, end of treatment response (ETR),
      sustained virological response at 12 weeks, and side effects. RESULTS: Genotype 3
      was the predominant genotype (105 [66.4%]) followed by genotype 1 (40 [25.3%])
      and genotype 4 (13[8.2%]). Forty-eight (30.37%) patients had cirrhosis (LSM >= 13
      kPa), and 30 (19%) were treatment experienced with Peg-IFN + RBV. A total of 103
      (65.18%) patients received dual therapy, and 55 (34.81%) received triple therapy.
      Resentment to receive injections, inaccessibility to a facility, fear of
      injection or its side effects, and financial constraints were the reasons to
      refuse triple therapy. All patients in triple therapy group and all but two
      patients (98%) in the dual therapy group attained ETR. All those who achieved ETR
      achieved sustained virological response at 12 weeks in both groups. But for
      anemia in three patients (two in triple, one in dual therapy), there were no
      major side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with CHC prefer an oral treatment
      with directly acting antivirals. Both oral and interferon-based regimens achieve
      high response rate.

PMID- 27624315
TI  - Experimental infection of horses with Rickettsia rickettsii.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rickettsia rickettsii is vectored by ticks, and some vertebrate hosts
      can be sources of infection to ticks during bacteremic periods. In Brazil, the
      main vector for R. rickettsii is the tick Amblyomma sculptum, a member of the A.
      cajennense complex. Horses, in turn, are one of the major hosts for A. sculptum.
      In this study, horses experimentally infected with R. rickettsii were assessed
      for clinical changes and their capability to transmit the infection to A.
      sculptum ticks. METHODS: Four horses were infected with R. rickettsii through
      either intraperitoneal injection or infestation with R. rickettsii-infected A.
      sculptum ticks. Simultaneously, the animals were infested with non-infected A.
      sculptum ticks. The horses were monitored for 30 days by clinical examination,
      hematological and biochemical tests, real-time PCR of blood for the detection of
      Rickettsia, and inoculation of blood in guinea pigs. IgG antibody titers were
      followed until the horses have shown seronegativity or until the end of the
      experiment. Uninfected ticks that fed on horses were subjected to real-time PCR
      and/or were fed on susceptible rabbits. RESULTS: The horses showed no clinical,
      hematological or blood biochemical alterations, and bacteremia was not detected
      by real-time PCR or by inoculation of horse blood into guinea pigs. Anti-R.
      rickettsii antibodies were detected in horses from 10 days to 2 years after
      infection. Uninfected ticks, after feeding on infected horses, showed 2.1 %
      positivity in real-time PCR, but failed to transmit the infection to rabbits at a
      next feeding stage. CONCLUSIONS: Rickettsia rickettsii-infected horses did not
      manifest illness and are not competent amplifier hosts of R. rickettsii for A.
      sculptum ticks.

PMID- 27624316
TI  - Two-Dimensional Fluorescence Difference Spectroscopy to Characterize
      Nanoparticles and their Interactions.
AB  - Two dimensional fluorescence difference spectroscopy (2D FDS) detects
      nanoparticle interactions following surface functionalization and biomolecule
      loading by generating a spectral signature of the fluorescent intensity per
      excitation and emission wavelengths. Comparing metal oxide nanoparticles revealed
      a unique spectral signature per material composition. 2D FDS showed to be
      sensitive to changes in surface properties between ZnO NPs synthesized by
      different methods. ZnO NP loaded with glycol chitosan, polyacrylic acid (PAA), or
      methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) exhibited a distinct spectral signature shift.
      ZnO NP loaded with Torula Yeast RNA (TYRNA)(640 nm), polyinosinic: polycytidylic
      acid (pIC)(680 nm), or splice switching oligonucleotide (SSO)(650 nm) each
      revealed a shift in emission. Ras-Binding domain (RBD) at three concentrations
      (25, 37.5, 50 MUg/mL) showed that fluorescent intensity was inversely related to
      the concentration of protein loaded. These data support 2D FDS as a novel
      technique in identifying nanoparticles and their surface interactions as a
      quality assurance tool.

PMID- 27624317
TI  - Rat health status affects bioavailability, target tissue levels, and bioactivity
      of grape seed flavanols.
AB  - SCOPE: Studying the flavanol metabolism is essential to identify bioactive
      compounds, as beneficial effects of flavanols have been attributed to their
      metabolic products. However, host-related factors, including pathological
      conditions, may affect flavanol metabolism and, thus, their bioactivity. This
      study aims to elucidate whether hypertension affects grape seed flavanol
      metabolism, influencing their bioactivity in relation to hypertension. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Grape seed flavanols' effect on blood pressure (BP) was studied in
      spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and healthy Wistar rats 6 h after grape
      seed extract administration (375 mg/kg). Animals were then sacrificed, and plasma
      bioavailability and aorta distribution of flavanol metabolites were studied by
      HPLC-MS/MS in both the groups. Grape seed flavanols were only able to decrease BP
      in SHR. Plasma total flavanol metabolites showed similar levels, being the
      difference noticed in specific metabolites' concentrations. Specifically,
      microbial metabolites showed quantitative and qualitative differences between
      both health states. Moreover, aorta total concentrations were found decreased in
      SHR. Interestingly, flavanol microbial metabolites were specifically increased
      SHR aortas, showing qualitative differences in small phenolic forms. CONCLUSION:
      This study demonstrates important differences in bioactivity and target tissue
      metabolite levels between healthy and diseased rats, indicating potential
      metabolites responsible of the anti-hypertensive effect.

PMID- 27624318
TI  - Changes in the Transnational Family Structures of Mexican Farm Workers in the Era
      of Border Militarization.
AB  - Historically, undocumented Mexican farm workers migrated circularly, leaving
      family behind in Mexico on short trips to the United States. Scholars have argued
      that border militarization has disrupted circular migration as the costs of
      crossing the border lead to longer stays, increased settlement, and changing
      transnational family practices. Yet, no study has explored changes in the
      transnational family structures of Mexico-U.S. migrants that span the era of
      border militarization. Using data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey,
      we document a dramatic shift away from transnational family life (as measured by
      location of residence of dependent children) among undocumented Mexican farm
      workers and a less dramatic shift among documented Mexican farm workers in the
      United States between 1993 and 2012. These trends are not explained by changes in
      the sociodemographic characteristics of farm workers or by changing demographic
      conditions or rising violence in Mexico. One-half of the trend can be accounted
      for by lengthened duration of stay and increased connections to the United States
      among the undocumented, but none of the trend is explained by these measures of
      settlement among the documented, suggesting that some Mexican farm workers adopt
      new family migration strategies at first migration. Increases in border control
      are associated with lower likelihood that children reside in Mexico-a finding
      that holds up to instrumental variable techniques. Our findings confirm the
      argument that U.S. border militarization-a policy designed to deter undocumented
      migration-is instead disrupting transnational family life between Mexico and the
      United States and, in doing so, is creating a permanent population of
      undocumented migrants and their children in the United States.

PMID- 27624319
TI  - Predictors of Marital Dissolution During a Period of Rapid Social Change:
      Evidence From South Asia.
AB  - Few studies have examined the causes and consequences of marital dissolution in
      non-Western settings. This article explores the fundamental factors that may
      predict marital dissolution in a mainly agrarian setting in South Asia, where
      collectivism has historically been valued over individualism and where life is
      centered on the family. Using event history analyses with retrospective life
      history data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study conducted in rural Nepal, I
      explore the possible predictors of marital dissolution. Results suggest that
      couples in which wives married at older ages and chose their spouse in
      conjunction with their parents face lower risk of marital dissolution, while
      wives' work increases the risk. Moreover, couples married for longer durations
      and couples who have more children face lower risks of marital dissolution. The
      influences of many of these factors have changed over the last few decades,
      pointing toward the important role of changing social context on marital
      trajectories.

PMID- 27624320
TI  - Black-White Differences in Sex and Contraceptive Use Among Young Women.
AB  - This study examines black-white and other sociodemographic differences in young
      women's sexual and contraceptive behaviors, using new longitudinal data from a
      weekly journal-based study of 1,003 18- to 19-year-old women spanning 2.5 years.
      We investigate hypotheses about dynamic processes in these behaviors during early
      adulthood in order to shed light on persisting racial differences in rates of
      unintended pregnancies in the United States. We find that net of other
      sociodemographic characteristics and adolescent experiences with sex and
      pregnancy, black women spent less time in relationships and had sex less
      frequently in their relationships than white women, but did not differ in the
      number of relationships they formed or in their frequency or consistency of
      contraceptive use within relationships. Black women were more likely to use less
      effective methods for pregnancy prevention (e.g., condoms) than white women, who
      tended to use more effective methods (e.g., oral contraceptives). And although
      the most effective method for pregnancy prevention-long-acting reversible
      contraception (LARC)-was used more often by black women than white women, LARC
      use was low in both groups. In addition, black women did not differ from white
      women in their number of discontinuations or different methods used and had fewer
      contraceptive method switches. Further, we find that net of race and adolescent
      experiences with sex and pregnancy, women from more-disadvantaged backgrounds had
      fewer and longer (and thus potentially more serious) relationships, used
      contraception less frequently (but not less consistently), and used less
      effective methods (condoms) than women from more-advantaged backgrounds.

PMID- 27624322
TI  - Temporary Life Changes and the Timing of Divorce.
AB  - Marriage is a risky undertaking that people enter with incomplete information
      about their partner and their future life circumstances. A large literature has
      shown how new information gained from unforeseen but long-lasting or permanent
      changes in life circumstances may trigger a divorce. We extend this literature by
      considering how information gained from a temporary change in life circumstances
      in our case, a couple having a child with infantile colic-may affect divorce
      behavior. Although persistent life changes are known to induce divorce, we argue
      that a temporary stressful situation allows couples more quickly to discern the
      quality of their relationship, in some cases leading them to divorce sooner than
      they otherwise would have. We formalize this argument in a model of Bayesian
      updating and test it using data from Denmark. We find that the incidence of
      infantile colic shortens the time to divorce or disruption among couples who
      would have split up anyway.

PMID- 27624321
TI  - Determinants of Mexico-U.S. Outward and Return Migration Flows: A State-Level
      Panel Data Analysis.
AB  - Using a unique panel data set of state-to-state outward and return migration
      flows between Mexico and the United States from 1995 to 2012, this study is the
      first to analyze Mexico-U.S. migration at the state level and explore
      simultaneously the effect of economic, environmental, and social factors in
      Mexico over two decades. Pairing origin and destination states and controlling
      for a rich structure of fixed effects, we find that income positively impacts
      migration outflows, especially for Mexican states of origin with a recent
      migration history and for low-educated migrant flows, suggesting the existence of
      credit constraints. We find evidence that drought causes more out-migration,
      while other climatic shocks have no effect. Violence is found to increase out
      migration flows from border states and to decrease migration from other Mexican
      states, especially where violence is directed at migrants. Last, return flows are
      larger when income growth at destination is lower, consistent with the
      accumulation of savings as a primary motivation of migrants. Exploring the impact
      of the crisis, we find evidence of significant changes in the geography of
      migration flows. Traditional flows are drying up, and new migration corridors are
      rising, with implications on the composition of the Mexican population in the
      United States. Although the effect of income on flows in both directions is
      unchanged by the crisis, the negative effect of violence on out-migration tends
      to reverse at the end of the period. Overall, this study emphasizes the interest
      of analyzing disaggregated flows at the infra-country level.

PMID- 27624323
TI  - Explaining the Effect of Parent-Child Coresidence on Marriage Formation: The Case
      of Japan.
AB  - Many single adult children in countries around the world live with their parents.
      Such coresidence has been thought to delay the transition to first marriage,
      although the exact reasons for the delay have not been sufficiently examined.
      Using panel data from Japan, we investigate whether changes in never-married
      adults' residential status lead to alterations in their marital aspirations,
      courtship behaviors, romantic opportunities, and perceived obstacles to marrying.
      Our estimation of fixed-effects models helps address potential bias caused by
      single individuals' selection into living in the parental home. The analysis
      indicates that living with parents is associated with a lower probability of
      forming romantic relationships, thereby decelerating the transition to first
      marriage. The never-married, however, do not desire marriage less, put less
      effort into finding romantic partners, or have fewer opportunities to meet
      potential partners when coresiding with parents. Overall, the findings suggest
      that living in the parental home increases never-married men's contentment with
      their immediate social environment, whereas it decreases women's psychological
      readiness to transition into adult roles, making both men and women less eager to
      settle into a romantic relationship.

PMID- 27624324
TI  - Metachronous gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma-a rare clinical
      manifestation.
AB  - Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents a rare tumor entity accounting for
      approximately 3 % of all malignancies in the adult population. Approximately 30 %
      of all patients suffering from RCC develop metastases after nephrectomy and
      another 30 % of patients suffer from synchronous metastases at the date of
      diagnosis. Gallbladder metastases represent an extremely rare clinical condition
      and up to date there are only 35 published cases of gallbladder metastasis from
      RCC. Surgical resection should be the treatment of choice in any case based on
      the reported data in literature. In spite of the small series of cases, survival
      can be improved even in patients suffering from additional sites of metastases. 

PMID- 27624325
TI  - Does frequency of restless legs syndrome and poor sleep quality increase with age
      in irritable bowel syndrome?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disease
      which leads to a reduction in the quality of life. Restless legs syndrome (RLS)
      and the incidence of poor sleep quality (PSQ) are known to increase in IBS. In
      this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and association of RLS and PSQ
      in a young population. METHODS: A total of 112 IBS patients (46 constipation
      predominant IBS, 17 diarrhea predominant IBS, 23 mixed IBS and 26 unsubtyped IBS)
      and 106 healthy controls were included in the study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality
      Index (PSQI) and the 2012 revised diagnostic criteria of the International
      Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group were used in the groups. RESULTS: In the
      patients with IBS and the control group, the respective results obtained were as
      follows: presence of PSQ 16 (13.4 %) and 5 (4.7 %) and presence of RLS 10 (8.9 %)
      and 4 (3.7 %), respectively. There were significant differences between the two
      groups in terms of these values. According to the PSQI, the mean global PSQI
      scores of patients with IBS and control group were 7.61+/-3.9 and 4.5+/-3.7,
      respectively (P = 0.01). While PSQ was detected in 21 out of 218 participants,
      RLS was detected in 14. PSQ and RLS coexisted in nine of the participants and all
      of them were IBS patients. CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies and our study reveal
      that the frequency of RLS and PSQ increases in IBS. However, this result is a
      lower rate compared to previous studies. The controlled and prospective studies
      with larger numbers of cases which demonstrate the real frequency.

PMID- 27624326
TI  - Acute myocardial infarction as a manifestation of systemic vasculitis.
AB  - Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the major causes of mortality and
      morbidity worldwide. In Central Europe, causes of AMI other than atherosclerosis
      are unusual. Coronary artery vasculitis is one potential non-atherosclerotic
      process causing AMI. Herein, the authors depict a very rare case of AMI as a
      clinical manifestation of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), a necrotizing systemic
      vasculitis. A 49-year-old male patient presented to our clinic with abdominal
      pain and markedly elevated concentrations of C-reactive protein, creatinine and
      high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T. Electrocardiography showed new
      repolarization abnormalities in aVF and III. Besides PAN-typical angiographic
      findings, including bilateral renal artery microaneuryms as well as different
      arterial occlusions, coronary angiography displayed a complete thrombotic
      occlusion of the right coronary artery without any other coronary pathology. The
      present case report demonstrates AMI as very rare but deleterious complication in
      patients suffering from PAN, and highlights that this life-threatening event can
      occur even at a very early stage of PAN-related coronary affection.

PMID- 27624327
TI  - Comparison of rapid hybridization-based pathogen identification and resistance
      evaluation in sepsis using the Verigene(r) device paired with "good old culture".
AB  - Rapid microbial diagnostics is important for septicemic patients. The current
      gold standard is blood culture with consecutive pathogen identification and
      antimicrobial susceptibility testing. However, these culture-based methods need
      at least 48 h.The aim of this study was to compare Verigene(r) (Nanosphere,
      Northbrook, IL, USA), a rapid hybridization-based method, with conventional
      culture-based methods for detection of pathogens and resistance markers from
      positive blood cultures of septic patients.In 85 of 100 tested blood culture
      samples (85 %), pathogen identification as well as resistance profile were
      identical in Verigene and conventional culture. In 4 %, discordant results were
      observed. In 9 %, conventional culture revealed a pathogen ID or resistance
      phenotype not included in the Verigene panel. In 2 % no Verigene result was
      available.In conclusion, Verigene offers the availability of fast and reliable
      pathogen identification and resistance profile determination, which may result in
      an earlier start of adequate antimicrobial treatment.

PMID- 27624328
TI  - Impact of bivalirudin on mortality and bleeding complications in acute coronary
      syndrome patients undergoing invasive revascularization : A real world
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a retrospective analysis of a prospective single center registry
      we compared the use of bivalirudin, unfractionated heparin (UFH) monotherapy, UFH
      + abciximab in 1240 consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)
      undergoing stent implantation. RESULTS: Bivalirudin was associated with
      tendentially reduced in-hospital minor or major bleeding rates compared to UFH
      monotherapy (5.9 % vs. 9.4 % adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.82, 95 % confidence
      interval CI 0.45-1.51, p = 0.53) and compared to the pooled UFH group (5.9 % vs.
      11.9 %, adjusted OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.36-1.08, p = 0.09) but with significantly
      lower bleeding hazards compared to UFH + abciximab (5.9 % vs. 16 %, adjusted OR
      0.41, 95 % CI 0.22-0.78, p < 0.01). After 3 years of follow-up, adjusted
      cardiovascular mortality rates were similar between all groups, particularly
      between bivalirudin vs. UFH monotherapy (hazard ratio HR 1.12, 95 % CI 0.58-2.16,
      p = 0.73) and vs. UFH + abciximab (HR 0.91, 95 % CI 0.40-2.10, p = 0.83). Acute
      or subacute stent thrombosis occurred at a rate of 0.8 % with no significant
      differences between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective analysis in a
      real world situation of medium to high-risk ACS patients undergoing invasive
      revascularization confirmed the results of most large-scale randomized trials by
      demonstrating reduced bleeding rates in favor of bivalirudin vs. UFH + GPI but
      with no significant differences between treatment strategies for long-term all
      cause and cardiovascular mortality.

PMID- 27624329
TI  - Haplotype analyses of the c.1027C>T and c.2167_2168delAT recurrent truncating
      mutations in the breast cancer-predisposing gene PALB2.
AB  - PURPOSE: Breast cancer-predisposing mutations PALB2 c.1027C>T (p.Gln343*) and
      PALB2 c.2167_2168delAT have each been observed multiple times in breast cancer
      families of Italian ancestry. More recently, the c2167_2168delAT mutation was
      identified in unrelated breast cancer cases of various ancestries. For each
      mutation, we investigated whether the origin was multiple mutational events (a
      "hot-spot") or a single event (a founder allele). METHODS: We genotyped and
      reconstructed haplotypes for 36 participants of Italian, Italian-American,
      Hispanic, and Nigerian ancestries, using seven short tandem repeat (STR) markers
      that covered 3 Megabases within and flanking PALB2 on chromosome 16. RESULTS: For
      PALB2 c.1027C>T, a shared haplotype with a minimum size of 150 kb was shared by
      all 19 carriers investigated, all of Italian ancestry. This result suggests that
      this allele arose as a single event in a shared ancestor. For PALB2
      c.2167_2168delAT, all 12 carriers from American-Italian and Italian families
      shared a 1-Mb haplotype, the 3 Hispanic carriers shared a different haplotype of
      size 2 Mb, and the Nigerian carrier had different alleles at all 7 STR markers.
      These results suggest that PALB2 c.2167_2168delAT arose multiple times, but that
      within each population, PALB2 c.2167_2168delAT likely represents a single
      mutational event. CONCLUSION: We identified two PALB2 mutations that are founder
      alleles in Italian families, one of which is, independently, also a founder
      mutation in American-Hispanic breast cancers.

PMID- 27624330
TI  - Long-term outcome in young women with breast cancer: a population-based study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Whether young age at diagnosis of breast cancer is an independent risk
      factor for death remains controversial, and the question whether young age should
      be considered in treatment decisions is still to be answered. METHODS: From a
      population-based cohort of 22,017 women with breast cancer, all women <35 years
      (n = 471) were compared to a random sample of 700 women aged 35-69 years from the
      same cohort. Information on patient and tumor characteristics, treatment, and
      follow-up was collected from the medical records. Tissue microarrays were
      produced for analysis of classical biomarkers. Breast cancer-specific survival
      (BCSS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS), and locoregional recurrence-free
      survival (LRFS) by age were compared using women 50-69 years as reference.
      RESULTS: At 10 years follow-up, women <35 years and 35-39 years had a worse BCSS
      [age <35 years 69 % (HR 2.75, 95 % CI 1.93-3.94), age 35-39 years 76 % (HR 2.33,
      95 % CI 1.54-3.52), age 40-49 years 84 % (HR 1.53, 95 % CI 0.97-2.39), and age 50
      69 years 89 % (reference)]. The worse BCSS was statistically significant in
      stages I-IIa and Luminal B tumors. At multivariate analysis age <35 years and 35
      39 years confined a risk in LRFS (HR 2.13, 95 % CI 1.21-3.76 and HR 1.97, 95 % CI
      1.06-3.68) but not in DDFS and BCSS. In the subgroup of women <40 years with
      luminal tumors stage I-IIa, low age remained an independent risk factor also in
      DDFS (HR 1.87, 95 % CI 1.03-3.44). CONCLUSION: Young women have a high risk of
      systemic disease even when diagnosed in an early stage. The excess risk of
      relapse is most pronounced in Luminal B tumors, where low age is an independent
      prognostic factor of DDFS and LRFS.

PMID- 27624332
TI  - Enhancement of astaxanthin production in Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous by
      efficient method for the complete deletion of genes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Red yeast, Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous is the only yeast known to
      produce astaxanthin, an anti-oxidant isoprenoid (carotenoid) widely used in the
      aquaculture, food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The potential of this
      microorganism as a platform cell factory for isoprenoid production has been
      recognized because of high flux through its native terpene pathway. Recently, we
      developed a multiple gene expression system in X. dendrorhous and enhanced the
      mevalonate synthetic pathway to increase astaxanthin production. In contrast, the
      mevalonate synthetic pathway is suppressed by ergosterol through feedback
      inhibition. Therefore, releasing the mevalonate synthetic pathway from this
      inhibition through the deletion of genes involved in ergosterol synthesis is a
      promising strategy to improve isoprenoid production. An efficient method for
      deleting diploid genes in X. dendrorhous, however, has not yet been developed.
      RESULTS: Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous was cultivated under gradually increasing
      concentrations of antibiotics following the introduction of antibiotic resistant
      genes to be replaced with target genes. Using this method, double CYP61 genes
      encoding C-22 sterol desaturases relating to ergosterol biosynthesis were deleted
      sequentially. This double CYP61 deleted strain showed decreased ergosterol
      biosynthesis compared with the parental strain and single CYP61 disrupted strain.
      Additionally, this double deletion of CYP61 genes showed increased astaxanthin
      production compared with the parental strain and the single CYP61 knockout
      strain. Finally, astaxanthin production was enhanced by 1.4-fold compared with
      the parental strain, although astaxanthin production was not affected in the
      single CYP61 knockout strain. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we developed a system
      to completely delete target diploid genes in X. dendrorhous. Using this method,
      we deleted diploid CYP61 genes involved in the synthesis of ergosterol that
      inhibits the pathway for mevalonate, which is a common substrate for isoprenoid
      biosynthesis. The resulting decrease in ergosterol biosynthesis increased
      astaxanthin production. The efficient method for deleting diploid genes developed
      in this study has the potential to improve industrial production of various
      isoprenoids in X. dendrorhous.

PMID- 27624331
TI  - Risk factors associated with oroantral perforation during surgical removal of
      maxillary third molar teeth.
AB  - PURPOSE: The relationship between radiographic findings and the occurrence of
      oroantral perforation is controversial. Few studies have quantitatively analyzed
      the risk factors contributing to oroantral perforation, and no study has reported
      multivariate analysis of the relationship(s) between these various factors. This
      retrospective study aims to fill this void. METHODS: Various risk factors for
      oroantral perforation during maxillary third molar extraction were investigated
      by univariate and multivariate analysis. The proximity of the roots to the
      maxillary sinus floor (root-sinus [RS] classification) was assessed using
      panoramic radiography and classified as types 1-5. The relationship between the
      maxillary second and third molars was classified according to a modified version
      of the Archer classification. The relative depth of the maxillary third molar in
      the bone was classified as class A-C, and its angulation relative to the long
      axis of the second molar was also recorded. RESULTS: Performance of an incision
      (OR 5.16), mesioangular tooth angulation (OR 6.05), and type 3 RS classification
      (i.e., significant superimposition of the roots of all posterior maxillary teeth
      with the sinus floor; OR 10.18) were all identified as risk factors with
      significant association to an outcome of oroantral perforation. CONCLUSION: To
      our knowledge, this is the first multivariate analysis of the risk factors for
      oroantral perforation during surgical extraction of the maxillary third molar.
      This RS classification may offer a new predictive parameter for estimating the
      risk of oroantral perforation.

PMID- 27624333
TI  - Twenty-four-hour blood pressure profile, orthostatic hypotension, and cardiac
      dysautonomia in elderly type 2 diabetic hypertensive patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between
      orthostatic hypotension (OH), defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure
      (SBP) >=20 mmHg and/or a decrease in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >=10 mmHg,
      and 24-h ambulatory BP profile in elderly hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients.
      METHODS: After a 2-week antihypertensive wash-out period, 200 hypertensive well
      controlled diabetic outpatients, aged 65-75 years, underwent a clinical
      examination, including BP measurements, ECG, 24-h ABP monitoring (ABPM), an
      orthostatic test, and three tests for cardiovascular autonomic function
      assessment [deep breathing, heart rate (HR) variability, resting HR]. RESULTS:
      According to their nighttime BP profile, patients were divided into three groups:
      dippers (n = 86) (BP fall during nighttime >=10 %), non-dippers (n = 80) (BP fall
      during nighttime 0-10 %), and reverse dippers (n = 34) (nighttime BP > daytime
      BP). Orthostatic test produced a significantly greater orthostatic SBP fall in
      dippers and even more in reverse dippers. In these latter, a significant fall was
      observed also in DBP. Prevalence of OH was 9.3 % in dippers, 30 % in non-dippers,
      and 79.4 % in reverse dippers. CONCLUSIONS: In elderly hypertensive type 2
      diabetics, a blunted nocturnal BP fall is associated with OH and autonomic
      dysfunction. These data suggest that ABPM should be performed in the assessment
      of hypertensive diabetic patients in whom the cardiovascular dysautonomia is
      suspected or the signs of it are present (such as OH).

PMID- 27624334
TI  - Responding to families with complex needs: a national survey of child and family
      health nurses.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which Australian child
      and family health nurses work with families with complex needs and how their
      practice responds to the needs of these families. BACKGROUND: Many families with
      young children face challenges to their parenting capacity, potentially placing
      their children at risk of poorer developmental outcomes. Nurses increasingly work
      with families with mental health problems, trauma histories and/or substance
      dependence. Universal child health services must respond effectively to these
      challenges, to address health inequalities and to promote the best outcomes for
      all children and families. DESIGN: The descriptive study used cross-sectional
      data from the first national survey of child and family health nurses in
      Australia, conducted during 2011. METHODS: Survey data reported how often, where
      and how child and family health nurses worked with families with complex needs
      and their confidence in nursing tasks. FINDINGS: Many, but not all, of the 679
      respondents saw families with complex needs in their regular weekly caseload.
      Child and family health nurses with diverse and complex caseloads reported using
      varied approaches to support their clients. They often undertook additional
      professional development and leadership roles compared with nurses who reported
      less complex caseloads. Most respondents reported high levels of professional
      confidence. CONCLUSION: For health services providing universal support and early
      intervention for families at risk, the findings underscore the importance of
      appropriate education, training and support for child and family health
      professionals. The findings can inform the organization and delivery of services
      for families in Australia and internationally.

PMID- 27624336
TI  - Prescription opioid dispensing and prescription opioid poisoning: Population data
      from Victoria, Australia 2006 to 2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe recent trends in opioid prescribing and prescription
      opioid poisoning resulting in hospitalisation or death in Victoria, Australia.
      METHOD: This is a population-based ecological study of residents of Victoria,
      2006 - 14. Australian Bureau of Statistics residential population data were
      combined with Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) opioid prescription data,
      Victorian Admitted Episodes Data (VAED) and cause of death data. RESULTS: Annual
      opioid dispensings increased by 78% in 2006 - 13, from 0.33 to 0.58 per
      population. Opioid use increased with age: in 2013, 14% of Victorian residents
      aged >=65 years filled at least one oxycodone prescription. In 2006 - 14,
      prescription opioid related hospital admissions increased by 6.8% per year, from
      107 to 187 /1,000,000 person-years; 56% were due to intentional self-poisoning.
      Annual deaths increased from 21 to 28 /1,000,000 persons, in 2007 - 11.
      Admissions and deaths peaked at 25-44 years. CONCLUSIONS: Although both opioid
      prescribing and poisoning have increased, there is discrepancy between the
      exposed group (dispensings increased with age) and those with adverse
      consequences (rates peaked at ages 25-44 years). IMPLICATIONS: A better
      understanding is needed of drivers of prescribing and adverse consequences.
      Together with monitoring of prescribing and poisoning, this will facilitate early
      detection and prevention of a public health problem.

PMID- 27624337
TI  - Charge Transport in Two-Photon Semiconducting Structures for Solar Fuels.
AB  - Semiconducting heterostructures are emerging as promising light absorbers and
      offer effective electron-hole separation to drive solar chemistry. This
      technology relies on semiconductor composites or photoelectrodes that work in the
      presence of a redox mediator and that create cascade junctions to promote surface
      catalytic reactions. Rational tuning of their structures and compositions is
      crucial to fully exploit their functionality. In this review, we describe the
      possibilities of applying the two-photon concept to the field of solar fuels. A
      wide range of strategies including the indirect combination of two semiconductors
      by a redox couple, direct coupling of two semiconductors, multicomponent
      structures with a conductive mediator, related photoelectrodes, as well as two
      photon cells are discussed for light energy harvesting and charge transport.
      Examples of charge extraction models from the literature are summarized to
      understand the mechanism of interfacial carrier dynamics and to rationalize
      experimental observations. We focus on a working principle of the constituent
      components and linking the photosynthetic activity with the proposed models. This
      work gives a new perspective on artificial photosynthesis by taking simultaneous
      advantages of photon absorption and charge transfer, outlining an encouraging
      roadmap towards solar fuels.

PMID- 27624335
TI  - Co-Rumination Exacerbates Stress Generation among Adolescents with Depressive
      Symptoms.
AB  - Through stress generation, individuals' own thoughts and behaviors can actually
      lead to increases in their experience of stress. Unfortunately, stress generation
      is especially common among individuals who are already suffering from elevated
      depressive symptoms. However, despite the acknowledgement that some individuals
      with depressive symptoms generate greater stress than others, few studies have
      identified specific factors that could exacerbate stress generation among
      individuals with depressive symptoms. The present study examines co-rumination as
      a factor that might exacerbate stress generation among adolescents with
      depressive symptoms using a short-term longitudinal design. Considering these
      processes among adolescents was critical given that many youth experience
      increases in depressive symptoms at this developmental stage and that co
      rumination also becomes more common at adolescence. Participants were 628
      adolescents (326 girls; 302 boys) who reported on their depressive symptoms,
      experiences of stress, and co-rumination with a best friend. Interpersonal
      stressors (peer and family stress) and non-interpersonal stressors (school and
      sports stress) were assessed. Consistent with past research, adolescents with
      depressive symptoms experienced greater interpersonal and non-interpersonal
      stress over time. Importantly, co-rumination interacted with both depressive
      symptoms and gender in predicting increases in peer stress. Depressive symptoms
      predicted the generation of peer stress only for girls who reported high levels
      of co-rumination with friends. Implications for protecting youth with depressive
      symptoms against stress generation are discussed.

PMID- 27624339
TI  - Streptavidin Modified ZnO Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator for Detection of Tumor
      Marker Mucin 1.
AB  - A ZnO-based film bulk acoustic resonator has been fabricated using a magnetron
      sputtering technology, which was employed as a biosensor for detection of mucin
      1. The resonant frequency of the thin-film bulk acoustic resonator was located
      near at 1503.3 MHz. The average electromechanical coupling factor [Formula: see
      text] and quality factor Q were 2.39 % and 224, respectively. Using the specific
      binding system of avidin-biotin, the streptavidin was self-assembled on the top
      gold electrode as the sensitive layer to indirectly test the MUC1 molecules. The
      resonant frequency of the biosensor decreases in response to the mass loading in
      range of 20-500 nM. The sensor modified with the streptavidin exhibits a high
      sensitivity of 4642.6 Hz/nM and a good selectivity. 

PMID- 27624338
TI  - Poor medication adherence to bisphosphonates and high self-perception of aging in
      elderly female patients with osteoporosis.
AB  - Non-adherence to bisphosphonates exposes the elderly female osteoporosis patients
      to an increased risk of fracture. This was one of the first studies to explore
      the relationship between medication adherence and self-perception of aging.
      Feelings of lacking control and expectations for negative events, beliefs of
      illness's chronic duration nature, and its linkage with aging were associated
      with of poor medication adherence. INTRODUCTION: To examine the relationship
      between medication adherence to bisphosphonates and self-perception of aging in
      elderly female patients with osteoporosis. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional
      survey. A convenience sample of 245 elderly female patients with osteoporosis
      prescribed regular oral bisphosphonate therapy was recruited from three tertiary
      hospitals in China. Sociodemographic and osteoporosis-related data, Morisky
      Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) and Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ)
      data were collected. RESULTS: Mean adherence score measured by MMAS-8 was 4.46(SD
      = 1.91; range, 0.25-7.00). Percentages of good and poor adherence were 28.6 and
      71.4 %, which showed a poor medication adherence. Six domains of APQ
      statistically significantly associated with medication adherence. Interestingly,
      with control of age, educational status, marital status, and symptoms
      accompanying osteoporosis as covariates in the multivariate linear regression
      model, the effects of three domains disappeared. Significantly, worse adherence
      was observed in those patients who had higher feelings of lack of control, more
      expectations for negative events, more beliefs of osteoporosis's chronic duration
      nature and its linkage with aging. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that feelings of
      lacking control, expectations for negative events, beliefs of illness's chronic
      duration nature, and its linkage with aging were associated with poor medication
      adherence in elderly female patients with osteoporosis. Concerns about self
      perception of aging need to be addressed in order to improve medication
      adherence.

PMID- 27624341
TI  - Porous Silicon Nanocomposites with Combined Hard and Soft Magnetic Properties.
AB  - Magnetic nanostructures of two ferromagnetic metals have been combined within
      porous silicon, and the magnetic switching behavior of the resulting porous
      silicon/metal nanocomposite has been modified by varying the arrangement. The two
      magnetic materials are Ni and Co, whereas Co is the magnetic harder one. These
      "hard/soft" magnetic nanocomposites have been achieved by two different routes.
      On the one hand, double-sided porous silicon has been used whereas one side has
      been filled with Ni nanostructures and the other one with Co nanostructures. On
      the other hand, Ni and Co have been deposited within one porous layer
      alternatingly. The filling of the pores has been carried out by electrodeposition
      with varying the deposition parameters. In systems which offer two distinct
      slopes of the hysteresis curves due to the different saturation behavior of the
      two types of deposited metal, magnetic exchange coupling is not present. For
      samples which show smooth hysteresis curves exchange, coupling between the Ni and
      Co nanostructures seems to be present. The aim is to control especially the
      structure size of the soft and the hard magnetic materials and the distance
      between them at the nanoscale to optimize exchange coupling resulting in a
      maximum energy product. 

PMID- 27624340
TI  - In Vitro Effects of Hollow Gold Nanoshells on Human Aortic Endothelial Cells.
AB  - Gold nanoparticles are emerging as promising biomedical tools due to their unique
      nanoscale characteristics. Our purpose was to synthesize a hollow-shaped gold
      nanoparticle and to investigate its effect on human aortic endothelial cells
      (HAECs) in vitro. Hollow gold nanoshells with average 35-nm diameters and 10-nm
      shell thickness were obtained by galvanic replacement using quasi-spherical
      nanosilver as sacrifice-template. Our results showed that hollow gold nanoshells
      in the culture medium could be internalized into the cytoplasm of HAECs. No
      cytotoxicity effect of hollow gold nanoshells on HAECs was observed within the
      test concentrations (0-0.8 MUg/mL) and test exposure period (0-72 h) by
      tetrazolium dye assay. Meanwhile, the release of cell injury biomarker, lactate
      dehydrogenase, was not significantly higher than that from control cells (without
      hollow gold nanoshells). The concentrations of vasodilators, nitric oxide, and
      prostacyclin I-2 were not changed, but the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 was
      decreased by hollow gold nanoshells treatment in HAECs. HAECs exposed to hollow
      gold nanoshells resulted in suppressing expressions of genes involved in
      apoptosis and activating expressions of genes of adhesion molecules. Moreover, we
      demonstrated by in vitro endothelial tube formation that hollow gold nanoshells
      (0.8 MUg/mL) could not inhibit angiogenesis by the HAECs. Altogether, these
      results indicate that the structure and major function of HAECs would not be
      disrupted by hollow gold nanoshell treatment. 

PMID- 27624342
TI  - Sandman is a Sleep Switch in Drosophila.

PMID- 27624343
TI  - Oxidative stress and cytotoxic effects of silver ion in mouse lung macrophages
      J774.1 cells.
AB  - Silver is commonly used as a disinfectant, and chronic exposure to silver may
      cause argyria, resulting in a gray-blue discoloration of human skin. However, the
      mechanism for cellular toxicity of silver has not been well explained. We studied
      the mode of cell death, the ratio of glutathione disulfide/glutathione, induction
      of metallothionein and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in J774.1
      cells together with activation of antioxidant responsive element and nuclear
      factor-kappaB in CHO cells following exposure to silver ion (Ag+ ) to investigate
      the mechanism by which Ag+ causes lethal effects. Ag+ increased phosphorylation
      levels of extracellular signal-regulated, c-Jun N-terminal and p38 mitogen
      activated protein kinases and remarkably increased the ratio of glutathione
      disulfide/glutathione in both a time- and concentration-dependent manner.
      Luciferase reporter gene assays revealed that antioxidant responsive element and
      nuclear factor-kappaB were activated following exposure to Ag+ . In addition,
      exposure to Ag+ increased the mRNA and protein levels of metallothionein. We
      investigated whether or not Ag+ killed J774.1 cells by inducing apoptosis. Ag+
      increased the activity of caspase-3/7 which was abrogated by caspase 3 and pan
      caspase inhibitors. However, these inhibitors did not ameliorate the cytotoxic
      effects of Ag+ , suggesting that Ag+ causes oxidative stress, which leads to
      necrotic rather than apoptotic cell death in J774.1 cells by decreasing
      functional sulfhydryl groups including glutathione in the cells. Copyright (c)
      2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27624344
TI  - Ectopically expressed glutaredoxin ROXY19 negatively regulates the detoxification
      pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are small proteins which bind glutathione to
      either reduce disulfide bonds or to coordinate iron sulfur clusters. Whereas
      these well-established functions are associated with ubiquitously occurring GRXs
      that encode variants of a CPYC or a CGFS motif in the active center, land plants
      also possess CCxC/S-type GRXs (named ROXYs) for which the biochemical functions
      are yet unknown. ROXYs physically and genetically interact with bZIP
      transcription factors of the TGA family. In Arabidopsis, ectopically expressed
      ROXY19 (originally named GRX480 or GRXC9) negatively regulates expression of
      jasmonic acid/ethylene-induced defense genes through an unknown mechanism that
      requires at least one of the redundant transcription factors TGA2, TGA5 or TGA6.
      RESULTS: Ectopically expressed ROXY19 interferes with the activation of TGA
      dependent detoxification genes. Similar to the tga2 tga5 tga6 mutant, 35S:ROXY19
      plants are more susceptible to the harmful chemical TIBA (2,3,5-triiodobenzoic
      acid). The repressive function of ROXY19 depends on the integrity of the active
      site, which can be either CCMC or CPYC but not SSMS. Ectopic expression of the
      related GRX ROXY18/GRXS13 also led to increased susceptibility to TIBA,
      indicating potential functional redundancy of members of the ROXY gene family.
      This redundancy might explain why roxy19 knock-out plants did not show a
      phenotype with respect to the regulation of the TIBA-induced detoxification
      program. Complementation of the tga2 tga5 tga6 mutant with either TGA5 or
      TGA5C186S, in which the single potential target-site of ROXY19 had been
      eliminated, did not reveal any evidence for a critical redox modification that
      might be important for controlling the detoxification program. CONCLUSIONS:
      ROXY19 and related proteins of the ROXY gene family can function as negative
      regulators of TGA-dependent promoters controlling detoxification genes.

PMID- 27624346
TI  - Impact on Smoking Behavior of the New Zealand Annual Increase in Tobacco Tax:
      Data for the Fifth and Sixth Year of Increases.
AB  - Introduction: New Zealand has implemented a series of seven annual increases in
      tobacco tax since 2010. All tax increases, except for the first in the series,
      were preannounced. It is unusual for governments to introduce small, persistent,
      and predictable increases in tobacco tax, and little is known about the impact of
      such a strategy. This paper evaluates the impact of the fifth and sixth annual
      increases. Methods: Smokers' behaviors were self-reported during the 3-month
      period before, and the 3-month period after, the two annual increases. Responses
      to the two increases were analyzed separately, and generalized estimating
      equations models were used to control for sociodemographic variables, recent quit
      attempts, and the research design. Results: Findings were consistent across
      years. The proportion of participants who made a smoking-related (54%-56% before
      and after each tax increase) or product-related change (fifth tax increase: 17%
      19%; sixth tax increase: 21%-22%) did not significantly alter from before to
      after each tax increase. However, it should be noted that the proportion of
      participants making smoking-related changes was generally high, even prior to
      each increase. For example, before the 2015 tax increase, 1% reported quitting
      completely, 21% trying to quit, and 53% cutting down. Conclusions: In New
      Zealand, with its series of annual tobacco tax increases since 2010, there were
      no significant changes in smoking- or product-related behavior associated with
      the fifth and sixth increases. Nevertheless, overall cessation-related activity
      was high, with a majority of participants reporting either quitting and/or
      cutting down recently. Implications: Little is known about the impact of small,
      persistent, predictable tobacco tax increases on smoking behavior. This study
      evaluated the impact of the fifth (in 2014) and sixth (2015) tax increases in an
      annual series implemented in New Zealand. Although there were no detectable
      changes in smoking behaviors from before to after each tax increase, self
      reported cessation-related activity was high overall (i.e., even prior to each
      increase). Given that there are multiple possible interpretations for these
      findings, more in-depth time-series analyses are needed to understand how such a
      tax strategy influences smoking behavior.

PMID- 27624347
TI  - Corrigendum: Knocking down of heat-shock protein 27 directs differentiation of
      functional glutamatergic neurons from placenta-derived multipotent cells.

PMID- 27624345
TI  - Using Social Marketing Theory as a Framework for Understanding and Increasing HPV
      Vaccine Series Completion Among Hispanic Adolescents: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - HPV vaccine series completion rates among adolescent Hispanic females and males
      (~39 and 21 %, respectively) are far below the Healthy People 80 % coverage goal.
      Completion of the 3-dose vaccine series is critical to reducing the incidence of
      HPV-associated cancers. This formative study applies social marketing theory to
      assess the needs and preferences of Hispanic mothers in order to guide the
      development of interventions to increase HPV vaccine completion. We conducted 51
      in-depth interviews with Hispanic mothers of adolescents to identify the key
      concepts of social marketing theory (i.e., the four P's: product, price, place
      and promotion). Results suggest that a desire complete the vaccine series,
      vaccine reminders and preventing illnesses and protecting their children against
      illnesses and HPV all influence vaccination (product). The majority of Completed
      mothers did not experience barriers that prevented vaccine series completion and
      Initiated mothers perceived a lack of health insurance and the cost of the
      vaccine as potential barriers. Informational barriers were prevalent across both
      market segments (price). Clinics are important locations for deciding to complete
      the vaccine series (place). They are the preferred sources to obtain information
      about the HPV vaccine thus making them ideal locations to deliver intervention
      messages, followed by television, the child's school and brochures (promotion).
      Increasing HPV vaccine coverage among Hispanic adolescents will reduce the rates
      of HPV-associated cancers and the cervical cancer health disparity among Hispanic
      women. This research can inform the development of an intervention to increase
      HPV vaccine series completion in this population.

PMID- 27624348
TI  - Observation of acceleration and deceleration in gigaelectron-volt-per-metre
      gradient dielectric wakefield accelerators.
AB  - There is urgent need to develop new acceleration techniques capable of exceeding
      gigaelectron-volt-per-metre (GeV m(-1)) gradients in order to enable future
      generations of both light sources and high-energy physics experiments. To address
      this need, short wavelength accelerators based on wakefields, where an intense
      relativistic electron beam radiates the demanded fields directly into the
      accelerator structure or medium, are currently under intense investigation. One
      such wakefield based accelerator, the dielectric wakefield accelerator, uses a
      dielectric lined-waveguide to support a wakefield used for acceleration. Here we
      show gradients of 1.347+/-0.020 GeV m(-1) using a dielectric wakefield
      accelerator of 15 cm length, with sub-millimetre transverse aperture, by
      measuring changes of the kinetic state of relativistic electron beams. We follow
      this measurement by demonstrating accelerating gradients of 320+/-17 MeV m(-1).
      Both measurements improve on previous measurements by and order of magnitude and
      show promise for dielectric wakefield accelerators as sources of high-energy
      electrons.

PMID- 27624349
TI  - Surface Sensing of Quantum Dots by Electron Spins.
AB  - The nanoscale design of quantum dots (QDs) requires advanced analytical
      techniques. However, those that are commonly used do not have sufficient
      sensitivity or spatial resolution. Here, we use magnetic resonance techniques
      combined with paramagnetic Mn impurities in PbS QDs for sensitive probing of the
      QD surface and environment. In particular, we reveal inequivalent proton spin
      relaxations of the capping ligands and solvent molecules, strengths and
      anisotropies of the Mn nuclear spin interactions, and Mn nuclei distances with ~1
      A sensitivity. These findings demonstrate the potential of magnetically doped QDs
      as sensitive magnetic nanoprobes and the use of electron spins for surface
      sensing.

PMID- 27624350
TI  - Trends and spatial patterns of fine-resolution aerosol optical depth-derived
      PM2.5 emissions in the Northeast United States from 2002 to 2013.
AB  - : Clarifying the trends in quantity, location, and causes of PM2.5 (particulate
      matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 MUm) emission changes is critical for
      evaluating and improving emission control strategies and reduce the risk posed to
      human health. According to the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) released by the
      U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a general downward trend in PM2.5
      emissions has been observed in the United States over the past decade. Although
      this trend is representative at the national level, it lacks the precision to
      locate emission hotspots at a finer scale. Moreover, the changes reported in the
      NEI are likely confounded by periodic modification of inventory methods, and
      imprecision for area sources. In this regard, it is imperative to acquire
      emission inventories with as much spatial and temporal details as possible to
      further our knowledge of particle emissions, exposure levels, and associated
      health risks. In this study, we employed the PEIRS (Particle Emission Inventory
      using Remote Sensing) approach (Tang et al., 2016) predict triennial-averaged
      emissions at 1 km * 1 km resolution across the Northeast United States from 2002
      to 2013. Notably, the PEIRS approach is able to capture both primary emission and
      secondary formation of PM2.5. Regional emission trends were evaluated using
      quantile regression, and source-oriented trends were modeled with land use
      regression. The analysis found a regional decrease in PM2.5 emissions of 3.3
      tons/yr/km2 (18%) over the 12-yr period. Furthermore, the rate of emission change
      at the extremes of the emission distribution was significantly different than
      that of the mean. Both quantile regression and spatial trends imply that the
      majority of the reduction in PM2.5 emissions was attributable to highly developed
      spaces such as metropolitan areas and important traffic corridors. This urban
      rural disparity was particularly apparent during the cold season. Indirect
      evidence suggested that the emission decline during the warm season is primarily
      attributed to less secondary particle formation. These findings warrant closer
      investigation of the impact of seasonality on PM2.5 emissions. IMPLICATIONS:
      Emission trend analysis provides crucial information for evaluating and enhancing
      the efficacies of emission control strategies as well as studying air pollution
      associated health risks. In this study, the patterns and trends of year-round and
      seasonal PM2.5 emission over the Northeast United States are presented at a
      spatial resolution of 1 km * 1 km for the period of 2002-2012.

PMID- 27624351
TI  - Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation versus redo surgical aortic valve
      replacement in patients with failed aortic bioprostheses.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve implantation (ViV) is a new
      treatment for failing bioprostheses (BP) in patients with high surgical risk.
      However, comparative data, using standard repeat surgical aortic valve
      replacement (redo-SAVR), are scarce. We compared outcomes after ViV with those
      after conventional redo-SAVR in two European centres with established
      interventional programmes. METHODS: In-hospital databases were retrospectively
      screened for patients >=60 years, treated for failing aortic BP. Cases of
      infective endocarditis or combined procedures were excluded. End-points were
      adjudicated according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC-2)
      criteria. RESULTS: From 2002 to 2015, 130 patients were treated (ViV: n = 71,
      redo-SAVR: n = 59). Age and logistic EuroSCORE I scores were higher with ViV
      (78.6 +/- 7.5 vs 72.9 +/- 6.6 years, P < 0.01; 25.1 +/- 18.9 vs 16.8 +/- 9.3%, P
      < 0.01). The 30-day mortality rate was not significantly different (4.2 and 5.1%,
      respectively) (P = 1.0). Device success was achieved in 52.1% (ViV) and 91.5% (P
      < 0.01). No stroke was observed after ViV but in 3.4% after redo-SAVR (P = 0.2).
      Intensive care stay was longer after redo-SAVR (3.4 +/- 2.9 vs 2.0 +/- 1.8 days,
      P < 0.01). Mean transvalvular gradients were higher post-ViV (19.7 +/- 7.7 vs12.2
      +/- 5.7 mmHg, P < 0.01), whereas the rate of permanent pacemaker implantation was
      lower (9.9 vs 25.4%, P < 0.01). Survival rates at 90 and180 days were 94.2 and
      92.3% vs 92.8 and 92.8% (P = 0.87), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a higher
      risk profile in the ViV group, early mortality rates were not different compared
      with those of surgery. Although ViV resulted in elevated transvalvular gradients
      and therefore a lower rate of device success, mortality rates were similar to
      those with redo-SAVR. At present, both techniques serve as complementary
      approaches, and allow individualized patient care with excellent outcomes.

PMID- 27624352
TI  - Surgical rescue after left anterior descending catheter entrapment causing
      cardiogenic shock.
AB  - Entrapment or device loss during percutaneous coronary intervention is a rare but
      potentially fatal complication. Percutaneous retrieval is possible but surgery
      can be required on an emergency basis. We present the case of an entrapped
      balloon catheter in the left anterior descending coronary artery during an
      elective percutaneous coronary intervention. The patient developed acute
      myocardial ischaemia and cardiac arrest. Emergency surgical intervention with
      device retrieval and distal bypass grafting was life-saving.

PMID- 27624354
TI  - Efficacy of Ramelteon for delirium after lung cancer surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of Ramelteon for
      the prevention of delirium after lung cancer surgery in elderly patients.
      METHODS: Medical records of patients over 70 years old, who underwent anatomical
      pulmonary resection for lung cancer at our institution from January 2013 to
      December 2015, were reviewed. Patients treated in 2013 and 2014 were used as a
      control group. Ramelteon was administered daily for 7 days after surgery. The
      incidence of delirium was determined based on the Intensive Care Delirium
      Screening Checklist (ICDSC). Scores of >=4 and 1-3 points were used for the
      diagnoses of delirium and a pre-delirious state, respectively. RESULTS: There
      were 24 patients in the Ramelteon group and 58 patients in the control group.
      ICDSC scores of >=4 points were found for no patients in the Ramelteon group and
      5 (9%) in the control group, whereas 21 (88%) and 49 (85%) patients, in the
      respective groups, had ICDSC scores of 0 points. The average incidence of events,
      associated with delirium, showed a trend of being lower in the Ramelteon group
      (0.25 +/- 0.74 vs 1.58 +/- 4.93, P = 0.061), and all events in the Ramelteon
      group occurred on the day of surgery. Thus, only one day was required for
      complete recovery from delirium in the Ramelteon group, whereas 8 days were
      needed in the control group. The peak delirious state occurred after 5 days in
      the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Ramelteon is likely to reduce the incidence and
      intensity of delirium after surgery for lung cancer in elderly patients.

PMID- 27624353
TI  - Laser lead extraction allows for safe and effective removal of single- and dual
      coil implantable cardioverter defibrillator leads: A single-centre experience
      over 12 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Lead extraction in patients with multiple or old leads of an
      implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is challenging. As adhesions are
      common at the side of the shock coils, we investigated success and procedural
      complication rates of laser lead extraction procedures in single- and dual-coil
      leads. METHODS: Between January 2001 and June 2013, 41 single- and 145 dual-coil
      ICD leads were extracted from 171 patients using laser sheaths. Procedural data,
      success rates and complications were collected into a database and
      retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 58.2 +/- 16.1 years.
      The mean time from initial lead implantation to extraction was 50.3 +/- 18.4 and
      45.8 +/- 14.5 months in the single- and dual-coil group, respectively (P = 0.1).
      In the single-coil group, complete procedural success was achieved in 36 of 37
      (97.3%) cases, and clinical success in all cases (100.0%). In the dual-coil
      group, complete procedural success was seen in 131 out of 134 (97.8%) patients,
      and clinical success in 132 of 134 cases (98.5%). The transvenous extraction
      failed in 2 cases (1.5%). The overall complication rate was 2.7% in the single
      coil group and 3.7% in the dual-coil group, respectively (P = 1.0). No deaths
      occurred during the 30-day follow-up. The mean laser treatment time was 1.8 +/-
      1.5 min for the single-coil group and 2.5 +/- 1.2 min for dual-coil group (P =
      0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Laser lead extraction allows for safe and effective removal
      of ICD leads. Compared with single-coil leads, the extraction of dual-coil leads
      is associated with longer laser treatment times but without statistically
      significant differences in complications and procedural success rates.

PMID- 27624356
TI  - Pulmonary root translocation for borderline complex coarctation of aorta and
      multiple ventricular septal defects.
AB  - We describe a case of complex left ventricular outflow tract obstruction,
      multiple muscular ventricular septal defects, aortic coarctation and a
      hypoplastic aortic arch, where staged biventricular repair was performed
      successfully using pulmonary root translocation.

PMID- 27624355
TI  - Impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch on early haemodynamic status after aortic
      valve replacement.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) has been reported to impact early
      haemodynamic status and early mortality after prosthetic aortic valve replacement
      (AVR) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). The aim of this study was to assess
      the impact of PMM on early haemodynamic status after AVR using vasoactive
      inotropic dependency index (VDI), postoperative pressures and end-organ
      perfusion. METHODS: A total of 183 patients with AS were included in this
      prospective cohort study, and underwent elective AVR with or without combined
      coronary artery bypass graft surgery. PPM was defined as a projected indexed
      effective orifice area of <=0.85 cm2/m2, and was present in 27.9% of the
      patients. The primary end-point was the VDI [VDI = vasoactive-inotropic
      score/mean arterial pressure] measured upon admission to the intensive care unit
      (POD0) and on the morning of the first postoperative day (POD1). The secondary
      end-points were the following: mean left atrial pressure, mean central venous
      pressure, fluid balance, brain natriuretic peptide, troponin I, glomerular
      filtration rate and lactate levels on POD0 and POD1. RESULTS: No significant
      differences in VDI were observed between the no PPM and PPM groups on POD0 (0.08
      +/- 0.48 vs 0.05 +/- 0.13, respectively, P = 0.622) or on POD1 (0.09 +/- 0.40 vs
      0.06 +/- 0.13, respectively; P = 0.583). The mean arterial pressure, mean left
      atrial pressure, central venous pressure, troponin I, glomerular filtration rate
      and lactate levels did not differ between the two groups on POD0 and POD1, as
      well as fluid balance and brain natriuretic peptide on POD1. CONCLUSIONS: PPM is
      not associated with early haemodynamic status impairment and end-organ perfusion
      after AVR. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00699673.

PMID- 27624357
TI  - The extracellular matrix patch implanted in the right ventricle evaluated with
      cardiovascular magnetic resonance protocol to assess regional physio-mechanical
      properties.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: An extracellular matrix patch was implanted in the porcine right
      ventricle for in situ myocardial regeneration. A newly developed cardiovascular
      magnetic resonance protocol was utilized to investigate the regional physio
      mechanical function of the patch. METHODS: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance was
      performed at 60-day after the porcine right ventricular wall full thickness
      substitution with an extracellular matrix cardiac patch (n = 5). Dacron patches
      and remote normal right ventricle served as control (n = 5/each). Late gadolinium
      enhancement, strain encoding and rest perfusion were measured for scar/patch
      detection, regional contractility and tissue perfusion. Image analyses were
      performed by two observers to validate interobserver reproducibility. RESULTS:
      All imaging sequences were successfully obtained. The patches were located with
      late gadolinium enhancement imaging in 95% accuracy. All the parameters
      demonstrated significant differences among extracellular matrix, Dacron and
      normal myocardium (P < 0.05), which correlated with histological findings,
      including constructive remodelling with nascent myocardium and profound
      vasculogenesis/angiogenesis in extracellular matrix patches, and scar formation
      in Dacron. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated good interobserver reproducibility
      with minimal bias (strain encoding/peak strain: mean difference = -0.32%, 95%
      limits of agreement = -1.2 to 0.57, correlation = 0.97; rest perfusion/relative
      maximum upslope: mean difference = -0.74, 95% limits of agreement = -2.0 to 0.53,
      correlation = 0.92), along with excellent correlation obtained from linear
      regression (strain encoding: R2 = 0.93; rest perfusion: R2 = 0.85). CONCLUSIONS:
      With the cardiovascular magnetic resonance protocol, we successfully confirmed
      early signs of functional myocardial regeneration in implanted extracellular
      matrix patches. This approach is promising in assessing in situ regional physio
      mechanical properties and degree of regeneration of implanted tissue-engineered
      materials.

PMID- 27624358
TI  - A Loeys-Dietz patient with a transatlantic odyssey: repeated aortic root surgery
      ending with a huge left main coronary aneurysm.
AB  - We present a patient who required several aortic root procedures. Finally, a huge
      aneurysm of the left main coronary artery required emergency surgery after a
      failed transcatheter procedure.

PMID- 27624359
TI  - Does neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy increase survival in patients with resectable
      oesophageal cancer?
AB  - A best evidence topic in cardiothoracic surgery was written according to a
      structured protocol. The question addressed was whether trimodal therapy
      [neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in addition to surgery] improves survival
      in patients with resectable oesophageal cancer. Altogether 565 studies were
      identified using the below-mentioned search. Eleven represented the best evidence
      to answer the clinical question. The author, journal, date and country of
      publication, patient group, relevant outcomes and weaknesses are tabulated. All
      11 studies were randomized controlled trials comparing surgery with trimodal
      therapy, 5 of which showed a survival advantage with combined treatment. The
      remaining six randomized controlled trials showed no difference between trimodal
      therapy and surgery alone. The 3-year survival for trimodal treatment varied
      between 19.3 and 58% compared with that for surgery alone which varied between 7
      and 53%. Five of these studies compared trimodal therapy with surgery in terms of
      resection margins, three of which showed that trimodal therapy led to increased
      R0 resection rate. One study focused on the differences between adenocarcinoma
      and squamous cell tumours, and described equivalent effects of trimodal therapy
      in terms of survival. One randomized controlled trial showed improved survival in
      patients with complete regression of their tumour following induction treatment.
      Two studies suggested that induction treatment may lead to a higher operative
      mortality; however, an increase in disease-free survival was noted in one of the
      two studies. We conclude that trimodal therapy for resectable oesophageal cancer
      offers similar or even improved results compared with surgery alone in terms of
      survival. Furthermore, it is likely that there is an advantage for those patients
      who have a complete pathological response following induction treatment.

PMID- 27624360
TI  - Surgical revascularization for premature coronary artery disease in second and
      third decade of life.
AB  - Coronary artery bypass grafting surgery may be needed in children and young
      adults for significant premature coronary artery occlusive disease. We report a
      case series of seven patients who underwent surgical revascularization in their
      second and third decade of life for significant multivessel coronary artery
      occlusive disease due to unusual causes.

PMID- 27624361
TI  - Surgical treatment of a giant left main aneurysm.
AB  - Coronary artery aneurysms are a rare finding and even more any coronary dilation
      having a diameter 1.5 times greater than the adjacent artery qualified as giant.
      No established treatment protocol exists. We report the case of a 75-year old man
      with a clinical symptom of chest pain on exertion, worsening in the last 6
      months, who was diagnosed with a giant left main aneurysm. Surgical ligation of
      the proximal left anterior descending artery and first diagonal and triple
      bypass, using saphenous vein graft to vascularize the proximal circumflex artery,
      left anterior descending artery and first diagonal, was performed.

PMID- 27624362
TI  - Feeling lonely in an unfamiliar place: older people's experiences of life close
      to death in a nursing home.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to deepen the understanding of how older persons
      living in a nursing home experience life close to death. BACKGROUND: A move to
      and a life in a nursing home while being close to death is a reality for many
      older people in Sweden. Being able to express thoughts and feelings about death
      has been described as both crucial for sustaining personhood as well as for
      establishing a meaningful existence at the end of life. Important are the
      experiences of older people living in nursing homes who are approaching death.
      METHOD: Six older people were interviewed on one to four occasions. A total of 16
      interviews were conducted with the participants. An interpretative approach was
      chosen. FINDINGS: The main interpretation, Feeling lonely in an unfamiliar place,
      is based on three themes (i) Waiting for death, with the subthemes death as a
      release and thinking of oneself as dead; (ii) Subordinate oneself to values and
      norms of the staff, with the subthemes feeling offended and feeling trapped; and
      (iii) Keep the courage up. The older people's lives were characterised by
      feelings of aloneness in an unfamiliar place which contributed to a sense of
      existential loneliness. They experienced few opportunities to discuss their
      thoughts of life and death, including preparations for passing away. CONCLUSION
      AND IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: It is of importance for professionals to be able to
      meet older people as they are and respect them as human beings in their
      transitions, before, during and after the move to a nursing home. It is important
      to find ways to support older people's wellbeing and identity near death.

PMID- 27624364
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27624363
TI  - Ice slurry ingestion does not enhance self-paced intermittent exercise in the
      heat.
AB  - This study aimed to determine if ice slurry ingestion improved self-paced
      intermittent exercise in the heat. After a familiarisation session, 12 moderately
      trained males (30.4 +/- 3.4 year, 1.8 +/- 0.1 cm, 73.5 +/- 14.3 kg, VO2max 58.5
      +/- 8.1 mL/kg/min) completed two separate 31 min self-paced intermittent
      protocols on a non-motorised treadmill in 30.9 +/- 0.9  degrees C, 41.1 +/- 4.0%
      RH. Thirty minutes prior to exercise, participants consumed either 7.5 g/kg ice
      slurry (0.1 +/- 0.1  degrees C) (ICE) or 7.5 g/kg water (23.4 +/- 0.9  degrees C)
      (CONTROL). Despite reductions in Tc (DeltaTc : -0.51 +/- 0.3  degrees C, P <
      0.05) and thermal sensation prior to exercise, ICE did not enhance self-paced
      intermittent exercise compared to CONTROL. The average speed during the walk
      (CONTROL: 5.90 +/- 1.0 km, ICE: 5.90 +/- 1.0 km), jog (CONTROL: 8.89 +/- 1.7 km,
      ICE: 9.11 +/- 1.5 km), run (CONTROL: 12.15 +/- 1.7 km, ICE: 12.54 +/- 1.5 km) and
      sprint (CONTROL: 17.32 +/- 1.3 km, ICE: 17.18 +/- 1.4 km) was similar between
      conditions (P > 0.05). Mean Tsk , Tb , blood lactate, heart rate and RPE were
      similar between conditions (P > 0.05). The findings suggest that lowering Tc
      prior to self-paced intermittent exercise does not translate into an improved
      performance.

PMID- 27624365
TI  - Cobalt-Doped FeS2 Nanospheres with Complete Solid Solubility as a High
      Performance Anode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Considering that the high capacity, long-term cycle life, and high-rate
      capability of anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is a bottleneck
      currently, a series of Co-doped FeS2 solid solutions with different Co contents
      were prepared by a facile solvothermal method, and for the first time their Na
      storage properties were investigated. The optimized Co0.5 Fe0.5 S2 (Fe0.5) has
      discharge capacities of 0.220 Ah g(-1) after 5000 cycles at 2 A g(-1) and 0.172
      Ah g(-1) even at 20 A g(-1) with compatible ether-based electrolyte in a voltage
      window of 0.8-2.9 V. The Fe0.5 sample transforms to layered Nax Co0.5 Fe0.5 S2 by
      initial activation, and the layered structure is maintained during following
      cycles. The redox reactions of Nax Co0.5 Fe0.5 S2 are dominated by
      pseudocapacitive behavior, leading to fast Na(+) insertion/extraction and durable
      cycle life. A Na3 V2 (PO4 )3 /Fe0.5 full cell was assembled, delivering an
      initial capacity of 0.340 Ah g(-1) .

PMID- 27624366
TI  - Intracerebral hemorrhage in a middle-aged cocaine user despite normal blood
      pressures.

PMID- 27624367
TI  - Optimal wrist positioning for radial arterial cannulation in adults: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wrist extension is commonly taught as part of the radial artery
      cannulation technique. Currently the degree of wrist extension required to
      optimize cannulation success remains inconclusive. This is the first meta
      analysis to investigate optimal wrist positioning for radial artery cannulation.
      METHODS: Five major databases (CINAHL, SCOPUS, PubMed, Medline and Web of
      Science) were systematically searched until June 2016. All studies were assessed
      for level of evidence and risk of bias. The data for each outcome was then
      assessed via a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Five studies including 500 patients were
      found. There is moderate evidence to support 45 degrees  wrist angulation for
      improved radial artery cannulation. Radial arterial height is likely to be
      increased at 45 degrees , cannulation time is significantly faster and success
      rates are likely higher than at other degrees of angulation. However, this
      evidence is confounded by the significant heterogeneity (I2 >75%) which is at
      least in part related to a high proportion of healthy young volunteers who were
      amongst the studied populations. CONCLUSION: This review found moderate evidence
      in support of a 45 degrees  wrist angulation to facilitate arterial cannulation,
      however the results are largely limited by the external validity of the data
      collected given the restrictive populations studied. Any further studies
      investigating the effect of altering wrist angulation on radial artery
      cannulation should focus on populations who are either likely to require arterial
      cannulation or predisposed to difficult access.

PMID- 27624368
TI  - Periorbital melanosis.

PMID- 27624369
TI  - Investigation of oxidant and antioxidant levels in patients with acute stroke in
      the emergency service.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to identify oxidative stress and the
      disruption in the oxidant-antioxidant balance in the acute phase of stroke and,
      therefore, to detect markers that will guide in the diagnosis and treatment of
      stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-six patients who were admitted to Antalya
      Training and Research Hospital Emergency Department between June 2013 and
      December 2013 and who were diagnosed as having stroke were enrolled in this
      study. The control group consisted of 40 healthy volunteers. Blood samples
      collected from all participants were screened for albumin, ischemic modified
      albumin (IMA), IMA/albumin ratio (IMAR), total antioxidant status, total oxidant
      status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI). RESULTS: Sixty (70%) patients
      were diagnosed as having acute cerebral infarction (ACI) and 26 (30%) as having
      acute intracerebral hemorrhage (AIH). Statistically significant difference was
      found between AIH and control groups in terms of albumin, IMAR, TOS, OSI levels
      (P < .001, P < .001, P < .001, and P < .001, respectively). Statistically
      significant difference was found between ACI and control groups in terms of
      albumin, IMA, IMAR, TOS, and OSI levels (P < .001, P = .045, P < .001, P < .001,
      and P < .001, respectively). There was no difference between ACI patients with
      detected acute infarcts on cranial computed tomographic scans (n = 31) and ACI
      patients with normal cranial computed tomography results (n = 29) in terms of
      oxidant-antioxidant levels. There was a significant difference between patients
      admitted within 3 hours and healthy adults regarding the levels of IMAR, TOS, and
      OSI (P < .001, P < .001, and P < .001, respectively). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:
      It was seen that oxidant-antioxidant balance was impaired in favor of oxidants in
      ACI and AIH. In addition, impairment in oxidant-antioxidant balance was found in
      the early stages of ACI. Therefore, these biomarkers can be used especially in
      the early diagnosis of thrombolytic therapy candidates in ACI.

PMID- 27624370
TI  - Relationship between chest compression depth and novice rescuer body weight
      during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study determined if rescuer body weight is a major determinant of
      chest compression depth (CCD) among novice rescuers by analyzing the results of
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skill tests among medical students and
      determined the body weight threshold for those unable to achieve adequate CCD.
      METHODS: Retrospective analysis of CPR test results was performed. A total of 107
      medical students completed the tests, which included 5 cycles of CPR. Data were
      collected using a ResusciAnne SkillReporter. Anthropometric data including
      participant body weight, body mass index, and height were also collected. The
      relationships between CCD and anthropometric data were evaluated by Pearson
      correlation coefficient. In addition, univariate linear regression analysis was
      used to assess the association between body weight and CCD. RESULTS: The highest
      positive correlation was found between CCD and body weight (r = 0.636, P < .001).
      Body weight correlated with CCD by as much as 40.5% (R2 = 40.5, P < .001). Using
      a regression model, we described the association between body weight and CCD as
      follows: expected CCD (mm) = 0.46 * body weight + 17.59. The regression equation
      shows that rescuers weighing more than 70.5 kg could achieve a CCD of 50 mm.
      CONCLUSIONS: Rescuer body weight is a major determinant of CCD in novice
      rescuers. Based on these findings, if 2 or more rescuers are available to perform
      CPR, chest compression should preferentially be performed by rescuers of healthy
      weight or overweight.

PMID- 27624380
TI  - A painless lump in the arm.

PMID- 27624381
TI  - Use of psychotropic drugs in patients with autism spectrum disorders: a
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to examine prevalence and patterns of
      psychopharmacotherapy in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD:
      A systematic literature search in PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO was performed,
      including articles published up to November 18, 2015. RESULTS: A total of 47
      studies (data collection: 1976-2012), encompassing >300 000 individuals with ASD,
      were included. The prevalence of psychopharmacotherapy ranged from 2.7% to 80%
      (median (overall): 45.7%; median (children): 41.9%; median (adults): 61.5%), with
      psychotropic polypharmacy occurring in 5.4-54% (median: 23.0%). Regarding drug
      classes, antipsychotics were most frequently used, followed by attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication and antidepressants. Both older
      age and psychiatric comorbidity were associated with higher prevalences of
      psychopharmacotherapy and psychotropic polypharmacy. There were no time trends in
      psychopharmacotherapy prevalence observable. CONCLUSION: Despite a lack of
      pharmacological treatment options for ASD core symptoms, the prevalence of
      psychopharmacotherapy and polypharmacy in ASD patients is considerable, which is
      probably due to the treatment of non-core ASD symptoms and psychiatric
      comorbidities. While there is some evidence for the use of antipsychotics and
      ADHD medication for these indications, the use of antidepressants should be
      limited to selected cases.

PMID- 27624383
TI  - Overexpression of miR-140 Inhibits Proliferation of Osteosarcoma Cells via
      Suppression of Histone Deacetylase 4.
AB  - miRNAs play a pivotal role in the development and progression of osteosarcoma
      (OS). Previous studies indicated that miR-140 acts as a tumor suppressor in many
      cancers. However, its accurate expression and exact function in OS cells remain
      unknown. Herein, we demonstrated the lower expression of miR-140 in 40 paired OS
      tissues. Restoring miR-140 expression in OS cells had a marked effect on
      inhibiting cell proliferation and invasion, inducing cell apoptosis in vitro, and
      suppressing tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, a bioinformatics prediction indicated
      that the histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) is a target gene of miR-140 and is
      involved in miR-140-mediated suppressive effects. In conclusion, our findings
      show that miR-140 acts as a tumor suppressor in OS by targeting HDAC4.

PMID- 27624382
TI  - Effects of exposure to bisphenol A and ethinyl estradiol on the gut microbiota of
      parents and their offspring in a rodent model.
AB  - Gut dysbiosis may result in various diseases, such as metabolic and
      neurobehavioral disorders. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs),
      including bisphenol A (BPA) and ethinyl estradiol (EE), especially during
      development, may also increase the risk for such disorders. An unexplored
      possibility is that EDC-exposure might alter the gut microbial composition. Gut
      flora and their products may thus be mediating factors for the disease-causing
      effects of these chemicals. To examine the effects of EDCs on the gut microbiome,
      female and male monogamous and biparental California mice (Peromyscus
      californicus) were exposed to BPA (50 mg/kg feed weight) or EE (0.1 ppb) or
      control diet from periconception through weaning. 16s rRNA sequencing was
      performed on bacterial DNA isolated from fecal samples, and analyses performed
      for P0 and F1 males and females. Both BPA and EE induced generational and sex
      dependent gut microbiome changes. Many of the bacteria, e.g. Bacteroides,
      Mollicutes, Prevotellaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, Akkermansia, Methanobrevibacter,
      Sutterella, whose proportions increase with exposure to BPA or EE in the P0 or F1
      generation are associated with different disorders, such as inflammatory bowel
      disease (IBD), metabolic disorders, and colorectal cancer. However, the
      proportion of the beneficial bacterium, Bifidobacterium, was also elevated in
      fecal samples of BPA- and EE-exposed F1 females. Intestinal flora alterations
      were also linked to changes in various metabolic and other pathways. Thus, BPA
      and EE exposure may disrupt the normal gut flora, which may in turn result in
      systemic effects. Probiotic supplementation might be an effective means to
      mitigate disease-promoting effects of these chemicals.

PMID- 27624385
TI  - Antioxidant-Rich Fraction of Urtica dioica Mediated Rescue of Striatal Mito
      Oxidative Damage in MPTP-Induced Behavioral, Cellular, and Neurochemical
      Alterations in Rats.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) having a complex and multi-factorial neuropathology
      includes mainly the degeneration of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway, which
      is a cumulative effect of depleted endogenous antioxidant enzymes, increased
      oxidative DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, excitotoxicity, and
      neuroinflammation. The present study was designed to investigate the
      neuroprotective effect of a potent antioxidant from Urtica dioica in a 1-methyl-4
      phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of parkinsonism. MPTP was
      administered intranigrally for the induction of PD in male Wistar rats.
      Behavioral alterations were assessed in between the study period. Animals were
      sacrificed immediately after behavioral session, and different biochemical,
      cellular, and neurochemical parameters were measured. Intranigrally repeated
      administration of MPTP showed significant impairment of motor co-ordination and
      marked increase of mito-oxidative damage and neuroinflammation in rats.
      Intranigral MPTP significantly decreases the dopamine and its metabolites with
      impairment of dopaminergic cell density in rat brain. However, post-treatment
      with the potent antioxidant fraction of Urtica dioica Linn. (UD) (20, 40, 80
      mg/kg) improved the motor function, mito-oxidative defense alteration
      significantly and dose dependently in MPTP-treated rats. In addition, the potent
      antioxidant fraction of UD attenuated the pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha
      and IL-beta) and restored the level of dopamine and its metabolites in MPTP
      induced PD in rats. Moreover, minocycline (30 mg/kg) with lower dose of UD (20
      mg/kg) had significantly potentiated the protective effect of minocycline as
      compared to its effect with other individual drug-treated groups. In conclusion,
      Urtica dioica protected the dopaminergic neurons probably by reducing mito
      oxidative damage, neuroinflammation, and cellular alteration along with enhanced
      neurotrophic potential. The above results revealed that the antioxidant rich
      fraction of UD contain flavonoids and phenolic compounds, which have a promising
      approach in therapeutics of PD.

PMID- 27624386
TI  - Neuronal NOS Induces Neuronal Differentiation Through a PKCalpha-Dependent
      GSK3beta Inactivation Pathway in Hippocampal Neural Progenitor Cells.
AB  - We investigated the role of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the neuronal
      differentiation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) from hippocampi of E16.5 rat
      embryos. The production of nitric oxide (NO) and nNOS expression increased
      markedly during neuronal differentiation as did the expression of neurotrophin-3
      (NT3), neurotrophin-4/5 (NT 4/5), and synapsin I. nNOS siRNA or the nNOS
      inhibitor, 7-nitroindazole (7-NI), decreased expression of the neurotrophins and
      synapsin I, and suppressed neurite outgrowth. These results suggest that nNOS
      plays a critical role in neuronal differentiation of hippocampal NPCs. nNOS
      mediated neuronal differentiation is controlled by calcineurin since cyclosporin
      A (CsA), a calcineurin inhibitor, decreased nNOS activation and NO production,
      and inhibited neurite outgrowth. We found that inactivation of glycogen synthase
      kinase-3 beta (GSK3beta) resulting from activation of protein kinase C alpha
      (PKCalpha) is involved in the nNOS-mediated neuronal differentiation. Moreover,
      lithium chloride (LiCl), a GSK3beta inhibitor, increased neuronal differentiation
      by inhibiting the proliferation of NPCs. Taken together, these results suggest
      that neuronal differentiation is dependent on calcineurin-mediated activation of
      nNOS; this induces PKCalpha-dependent inactivation of GSK3beta, which leads to
      inhibition of the proliferation of hippocampal NPCs.

PMID- 27624384
TI  - High-Intensity Swimming Exercise Decreases Glutamate-Induced Nociception by
      Activation of G-Protein-Coupled Receptors Inhibiting Phosphorylated Protein
      Kinase A.
AB  - Several studies in humans have reported that improved pain control is associated
      with exercise in a variety of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis,
      fibromyalgia, and neuropathic pain. Despite the growing amount of experimental
      data on physical exercise and nociception, the precise mechanisms through which
      high-intensity exercise reduces pain remain elusive. Since the glutamatergic
      system plays a major role in pain transmission, we firstly analyzed if physical
      exercise could be able to decrease glutamate-induced nociception through G
      protein-coupled receptor (G-PCR) activation. The second purpose of this study was
      to examine the effect of exercising upon phosphorylation of protein kinase A
      (PKA) isoforms induced by intraplantar (i.pl.) glutamate injection in mice. Our
      results demonstrate that high-intensity swimming exercise decreases nociception
      induced by glutamate and that i.pl. or intrathecal injections of cannabinoid,
      opioid, and adenosine receptor antagonists, AM281, naloxone, and 1,3-dipropyl-8
      cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX), respectively, prevent this effect. Furthermore, the
      peripheral A1 and opioid receptors, but not CB1, are also involved in exercise's
      effect. We also verified that glutamate injection increases levels of
      phosphorylated PKA (p-PKA). High-intensity swimming exercise significantly
      prevented p-PKA increase. The current data show the direct involvement of the
      glutamatergic system on the hyponociceptive effect of high-intensity swimming
      exercise as well as demonstrate that physical exercise can activate multiple
      intracellular pathways through G-PCR activation, which share the same endogenous
      mechanism, i.e., inhibition of p-PKA.

PMID- 27624388
TI  - Inter-professional education of prospective speech-language therapists and
      primary school teachers through shared professional practice placements.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preliminary studies of inter-professional education (IPE) among
      student speech-language therapists (SLTs) and student teachers suggest that
      workshop-based applications are beneficial in preparing participants for elements
      of collaborative practice. Situating IPE within the students' professional
      practice placements may provide another useful avenue to develop attitudes,
      knowledge and skills for inter-professional collaboration. Research examining the
      impact of different approaches to IPE is required to advance our understanding of
      effective design and evaluation of such initiatives. AIMS: To understand how
      student SLTs and student teachers develop competency for collaborative practice
      when co-working during professional practice placements to support children's
      speech and literacy development. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A case study design was
      used to monitor the impact of the IPE. Student SLTs (n = 4) were paired with
      student teachers (n = 4) to participate in shared professional practice
      placements in junior school classrooms. An inductive thematic analysis of
      interviews conducted with participants after the IPE was employed to explore the
      development of competencies in collaborative practice. Change in inter
      disciplinary knowledge and perceptions over the IPE was evaluated via survey to
      further explore the development of collaborative competencies. OUTCOMES &
      RESULTS: Integration of qualitative and quantitative findings suggested that
      participants began to develop four broad areas of collaborative competency:
      understanding of professional roles and expertise, communication skills to
      support shared decision-making, inter-dependency in supporting children's
      learning, and flexibility to implement alternative instructional practices.
      Interview analysis also revealed factors related to the facilitators and learning
      contexts that supported and/or limited the collaboration between participants.
      CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Shared placement experiences between student SLTs and
      student teachers may be an effective method for building participants'
      competencies in multiple aspects of collaborative practice. Active facilitation
      by both SLT and classroom teacher supervisors alongside careful consideration of
      learning contexts (e.g., classroom structure) will help to ensure that learning
      is maximized for prospective professionals.

PMID- 27624387
TI  - Tissue-Engineered Regeneration of Hemisected Spinal Cord Using Human Endometrial
      Stem Cells, Poly epsilon-Caprolactone Scaffolds, and Crocin as a Neuroprotective
      Agent.
AB  - Loss of motor and sensory function as a result of neuronal cell death and axonal
      degeneration are the hallmarks of spinal cord injury. To overcome the hurdles and
      achieve improved functional recovery multiple aspects, it must be taken into
      account. Tissue engineering approaches by coalescing biomaterials and stem cells
      offer a promising future for treating spinal cord injury. Here we investigated
      human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) as our cell source. Electrospun poly
      epsilon-caprolactone (PCL) scaffolds were used for hEnSC adhesion and growth.
      Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the attachment and survival of stem
      cells on the PCL scaffolds. The scaffold-stem cell construct was transplanted
      into the hemisected spinal cords of adult male rats. Crocin, an ethanol
      extractable component of Crocus sativus L., was administered to rats for 15
      consecutive days post injury. Neurite outgrowth and axonal regeneration were
      investigated using immunohistochemical staining for neurofilament marker NF-H and
      luxol-fast blue (LFB) staining, respectively. TNF-alpha staining was performed to
      determine the inflammatory response in each group. Functional recovery was
      assessed via the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scale. Results showed that PCL
      scaffolds seeded with hEnSCs restored the continuity of the damaged spinal cord
      and decreased cavity formation. Additionally, hEnSC-seeded scaffolds contributed
      to the functional recovery of the spinal cord. Hence, hEnSC-seeded PCL scaffolds
      may serve as promising transplants for spinal cord tissue engineering purposes.
      Furthermore, crocin had an augmenting effect on spinal cord regeneration and
      proved to exert neuroprotective effects on damaged neurons and may be further
      studied as a promising drug for spinal cord injury.

PMID- 27624389
TI  - A Simple Adaptive Transfer Function for Deriving the Central Blood Pressure
      Waveform from a Radial Blood Pressure Waveform.
AB  - Generalized transfer functions (GTFs) are available to compute the more relevant
      central blood pressure (BP) waveform from a more easily measured radial BP
      waveform. However, GTFs are population averages and therefore may not adapt to
      variations in pulse pressure (PP) amplification (ratio of radial to central PP).
      A simple adaptive transfer function (ATF) was developed. First, the transfer
      function is defined in terms of the wave travel time and reflection coefficient
      parameters of an arterial model. Then, the parameters are estimated from the
      radial BP waveform by exploiting the observation that central BP waveforms
      exhibit exponential diastolic decays. The ATF was assessed using the original
      data that helped popularize the GTF. These data included radial BP waveforms and
      invasive reference central BP waveforms from cardiac catheterization patients.
      The data were divided into low, middle, and high PP amplification groups. The ATF
      estimated central BP with greater accuracy than GTFs in the low PP amplification
      group (e.g., central systolic BP and PP root-mean-square-errors of 3.3 and 4.2 mm
      Hg versus 6.2 and 7.1 mm Hg; p <= 0.05) while showing similar accuracy in the
      higher PP amplification groups. The ATF may permit more accurate, non-invasive
      central BP monitoring in elderly and hypertensive patients.

PMID- 27624390
TI  - Recognizing the Importance of Vaccine Confidence.

PMID- 27624391
TI  - Diffusion imaging studies of Huntington's disease: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) could detect abnormal brain
      microstructural alterations. DTI studies of Huntington's Disease(HD) have yielded
      inconsistent results. OBJECTIVE: To integrate the existing DTI studies of HD and
      explore the validity of DTI to detect microstructural damages in HD brain via
      meta-analysis. METHODS: Systematic and comprehensive searches of the databases
      were performed for DTI studies of HD. The data from the studies that met our
      inclusion criteria were extracted and analyzed using the CMA2 software. Random
      effect models were utilized to minimize the potential between-study
      heterogeneity. One-way sensitivity analysis was conducted to test the robustness
      of the results. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 140 pre-symptomatic HD
      (PreHD), 235 symptomatic HD (SymHD) patients and 302 controls, revealing
      significantly increased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the caudate, putamen, and
      globus pallidus, while decreased FA in the corpus callosum of both PreHD and
      SymHD patients compared with controls. In addition, significantly increased mean
      diffusivity (MD) was identified in the putamen and thalamus of both PreHD and
      SymHD patients, and in the caudate of SymHD patients, while no significant
      difference in MD in the caudate of PreHD patients. In the corpus callosum, there
      was a significant increase of radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity in SymHD
      patients compared with controls. Meta-regression showed gender-based difference
      in MD values of the caudate. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis provides further
      evidence that DTI detects microstructural damage of both white matter and gray
      matter even in PreHD gene carriers. MD is less sensitive than FA in detecting
      structural changes in PreHD.

PMID- 27624393
TI  - The National Adult Reading Test: restandardisation against the Wechsler Adult
      Intelligence Scale-Fourth edition.
AB  - Since publication in 1982, the 50-item National Adult Reading Test (NART; Nelson,
      1982; NART-R; Nelson & Willison, 1991) has remained a widely adopted method for
      estimating premorbid intelligence both for clinical and research purposes.
      However, the NART has not been standardised against the most recent revisions of
      the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III; Wechsler, 1997, and WAIS-IV;
      Wechsler, 2008). Our objective, therefore, was to produce reliable standardised
      estimates of WAIS-IV IQ from the NART. Ninety-two neurologically healthy British
      adults were assessed and regression equations calculated to produce population
      estimates of WAIS-IV full-scale IQ (FSIQ) and constituent index scores. Results
      showed strong NART/WAIS-IV FSIQ correlations with more moderate correlations
      observed between NART error and constituent index scores. FSIQ estimates were
      closely similar to the published WAIS and WAIS-R estimates at the high end of the
      distribution, but at the lower end were approximately equidistant from the highly
      discrepant WAIS (low) and WAIS-R (high) values. We conclude that the NART is
      likely to remain an important tool for estimating the impact of neurological
      damage on general cognitive ability. We advise caution in the use of older
      published WAIS and/or WAIS-R estimates for estimating premorbid WAIS-IV FSIQ,
      particularly for those with low NART scores.

PMID- 27624392
TI  - Excitatory Amino acid transporter expression in the essential tremor dentate
      nucleus and cerebellar cortex: A postmortem study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have revealed a link between
      essential tremor (ET) and the gene SLC1A2, which encodes excitatory amino acid
      transporter type 2 (EAAT2). We explored EAAT biology in ET by quantifying EAAT2
      and EAAT1 levels in the cerebellar dentate nucleus, and expanded our prior
      analysis of EAAT2 levels in the cerebellar cortex. OBJECTIVE: To quantify EAAT2
      and EAAT1 levels in the cerebellar dentate nucleus and cerebellar cortex of ET
      cases vs. CONTROLS:  METHODS: We used immunohistochemistry to quantify EAAT2 and
      EAAT1 levels in the dentate nucleus of a discovery cohort of 16 ET cases and 16
      controls. Furthermore, we quantified EAAT2 levels in the dentate nucleus in a
      replicate cohort (61 ET cases, 25 controls). Cortical EAAT2 levels in all 77 ET
      cases and 41 controls were quantified. RESULTS: In the discovery cohort, dentate
      EAAT2 levels were 1.5-fold higher in 16 ET cases vs. 16 controls (p = 0.007), but
      EAAT1 levels did not differ significantly (p = 0.279). Dentate EAAT2 levels were
      1.3-fold higher in 61 ET cases vs. 25 controls in the replicate cohort (p =
      0.022). Cerebellar cortical EAAT2 levels were 20% and 40% lower in ET cases vs.
      controls in the discovery and the replicate cohorts (respective p values = 0.045
      and < 0.001). CONCLUSION: EAAT2 expression is enhanced in the ET dentate nucleus,
      in contrast to differentially reduced EAAT2 levels in the ET cerebellar cortex,
      which might reflect a compensatory mechanism to maintain excitation-inhibition
      balance in cerebellar nuclei.

PMID- 27624394
TI  - Technical aspects of revision and functional outcome after revision of the Oxford
      unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study analysed the technical aspects of revision of the Oxford
      unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (OUKA) and functional results after revision.
      METHODS: In a historic cohort study we analysed all revised OUKAs that were
      primarily implanted at our clinic over a 10-year period (1998-2009). The primary
      aim was to investigate surgical difficulties encountered during revision surgery
      of the OUKA. Outcomes were the knee society score (KSS), WOMAC (Western Ontario
      and McMaster Universities), SF-36, VAS pain and VAS satisfaction after revision.
      RESULTS: During the study period, 331 OUKAs were inserted. With an average follow
      up of six years and five months (range one month to nine years and eight months),
      there were 44 (13.3%) OUKAs that needed one or more revision surgery procedures.
      The average time to revision was three years and eight months (range one month to
      nine years and five months). The main reasons for revision surgery were bearing
      dislocation, malpositioning or loosening of a component and progression of
      osteoarthritis. Most revisions, mainly conversion to primary total knee
      arthroplasty (TKA), gave few surgical problems. Minor bone loss that needed no
      augmentation was seen most frequently. The functional outcomes after revision
      surgery were moderate. CONCLUSION: A limited amount of surgical difficulty during
      revision of OUKA was found; in all total revision cases a primary TKA was
      implanted. However, in most patients there were moderate functional results as
      well as disappointing pain and satisfaction scores after revision.

PMID- 27624396
TI  - Comprehensive approach for predicting toxicological effects of ionic liquids on
      several biological systems using unified descriptors.
AB  - The challenge and opportunity for design of environmentally-benign ionic liquids
      (ILs) would start from prediction of their toxicological effects on several
      endpoints solely based on the structural formulas. Especially, a comprehensive
      yet simple equation able to predict several biological responses to IL toxicity
      is of much advantage. Therefore, based on 50 toxicity testing systems on ILs a
      comprehensively approachable prediction method was developed. For the modelling,
      approximately 1600 toxicity values measured by several biological systems and an
      amended linear free energy relationship (LFER) model were used. Since the
      toxicological activities of an IL could be differently described according to
      sensitivity of toxicity testing systems, the sensitivity of each of toxicity
      testing systems was also estimated in the modelling. By statistical analysis with
      the calculated descriptors, a LFER model was built. Also the sensitivity value of
      each system on the basis of the comprehensively approachable model was
      numerically estimated. In results, it was observed that the combination of single
      model and sensitivity terms was able to predict each of 50 toxicological effects
      of ILs with R(2) of 0.593~0.978, and SE of 0.098~0.699 log unit, and the total
      data set with R(2) of 0.901 and SE of 0.426 log unit.

PMID- 27624397
TI  - The relation between mood, activity, and interaction in long-term dementia care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to identify the degree of association between
      mood, activity engagement, activity location, and social interaction during
      everyday life of people with dementia (PwD) living in long-term care facilities.
      METHOD: An observational study using momentary assessments was conducted. For all
      115 participants, 84 momentary assessments of mood, engagement in activity,
      location during activity, and social interaction were carried out by a researcher
      using the tablet-based Maastricht Electronic Daily Life Observation-tool.
      RESULTS: A total of 9660 momentary assessments were completed. The mean age of
      the 115 participants was 84 and most (75%) were women. A negative, neutral, or
      positive mood was recorded during 2%, 25%, and 73% of the observations,
      respectively. Positive mood was associated with engagement in activities, doing
      activities outside, and social interaction. The type of activity was less
      important for mood than the fact that PwD were engaged in an activity. Low mood
      was evident when PwD attempted to have social interaction but received no
      response. CONCLUSION: Fulfilling PwD's need for occupation and social interaction
      is consistent with a person-centred dementia care focus and should have priority
      in dementia care.

PMID- 27624398
TI  - COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF HERPES ZOSTER VACCINATION IN ITALIAN ELDERLY
      PERSONS.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Herpes zoster (HZ) is characterized by a painful skin rash. Its main
      complication is postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), pain persisting or occurring after
      the rash onset. HZ treatment aims to reduce acute pain, impede the onset
      complications, and disease progression. The aim of this study was to assess the
      cost-effectiveness of HZ vaccination compared with no vaccination strategy,
      within the Italian context. METHODS: The natural history of HZ and PHN was mapped
      through a Markov model with lifetime horizon. A population of patients aged
      between 60 and 79 years was hypothesized. Third party payer (Italian National
      Health Service, I-NHS) and societal perspectives were adopted. Data were derived
      from literature. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratio of the vaccination equaled EUR 11,943 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY)
      under the I-NHS perspective and EUR 11,248 per QALY under the societal
      perspective. Considering a cost-effectiveness threshold of EUR 30,000/QALY, the
      multi-way sensitivity analysis showed that vaccination is cost-effective
      regardless of the perspective adopted, in 99 percent of simulations.

PMID- 27624399
TI  - Iliopsoas muscle abscess after adjuvant radiation therapy in adenocarcinoma of
      cervix.

PMID- 27624400
TI  - Preeclampsia with and without intrauterine growth restriction-Two
      pathogenetically different entities?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the differences in
      histopathological features of basal decidua and placenta in cases of preeclampsia
      with or without fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). METHODS: A
      prospective case-control study included a study group consisting of 30 pregnant
      women with preeclampsia completed by cesarean section (CS), in 19 of whom
      preeclampsia was associated with IUGR, and in 11 it was not. The control group
      consisted of 20 healthy pregnant women delivered by elective CS. Placentas and
      samples of placental bed obtained during CS were histopathologically (HP)
      analyzed after hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemical labeling of
      Cytokeratin 7 (CK7) trophoblastic cells in decidua. RESULTS: Regarding the HP
      changes in the spiral arteries in preeclampsia, the most frequent features were
      inadequate transformation of spiral arteries with poor trophoblastic invasion
      (70.0%) and fibrinoid necrosis of the media (66.7%), and rarely acute atherosis
      (33.3%) and thrombosis (30.0%). Villous hypermaturity was more frequently found
      in placentas of patients with preeclampsia with IUGR (p < 0.05), while there were
      no differences between subgroups of preeclampsia with and without IUGR regarding
      some of HP alterations of placental bed. CONCLUSION: Alterations of the placental
      bed in terms of decidual vasculopathy are more the characteristics of the
      preeclampsia itself than IUGR, while changes in placental villi primarily follow
      the presence of IUGR, which could indicate that preeclampsia with and without
      IUGR are two pathogenetically different entities.

PMID- 27624403
TI  - Synthesis, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of Ba2Ni3F10 Nanowires.
AB  - A low-temperature hydrothermal route has been developed, and pure phase Ba2Ni3F10
      nanowires have been successfully prepared under optimized conditions. Under the
      325 nm excitation, the Ba2Ni3F10 nanowires exhibit three emission bands with peak
      positions locating at 360, 530, and 700 nm, respectively. Combined with the first
      principles calculations, the photoluminescence property can be explained by the
      electron transitions between the t2g and eg orbitals. Clear hysteresis loops
      observed below the temperature of 60 K demonstrates the weak ferromagnetism in
      Ba2Ni3F10 nanowires, which has been attributed to the surface strain of
      nanowires. Exchange bias with blocking temperature of 55 K has been observed,
      which originates from the magnetization pinning under the cooling field due to
      antiferromagnetic core/weak ferromagnetic shell structure of Ba2Ni3F10 nanowires.

PMID- 27624401
TI  - Novel arginine-containing peptides MBJ-0173 and MBJ-0174 from Mortierella alpina
      f28740.

PMID- 27624402
TI  - The impact of the HbA1c level of type 2 diabetics on the structure of
      haemoglobin.
AB  - This study explores the impact of HbA1c levels on the structure of haemoglobin
      (Hb) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Seventy-four diabetic patients were
      classified into the following two groups based on their level of HbA1c: group A,
      patients with good glycaemic control (HbA1c < 7.0%, n = 36); group B, patients
      with persistent hyperglycaemia (HbA1c >= 9.0%, n = 38). Thirty-four healthy
      people served as controls (group H). Hb structure was examined by Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and diabetic erythrocytes were modelled
      to estimate the impact of glucose on these cells and Hb. Increasing glucose
      concentrations altered both erythrocyte parameters and the Hb secondary
      structure. Group B differed significantly from group H (p < 0.05): in the former,
      the ordered Hb secondary structure had a strong tendency to transform into a
      disordered secondary structure, decreasing structural stability. We presumed here
      that high HbA1c levels might be a factor contributing to Hb structural
      modifications in diabetic patients. FTIR spectral analysis can provide a novel
      way to investigate the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27624404
TI  - Application of Species Distribution Modeling for Avian Influenza surveillance in
      the United States considering the North America Migratory Flyways.
AB  - Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has recently (2014-2015) re-emerged in
      the United States (US) causing the largest outbreak in US history with 232
      outbreaks and an estimated economic impact of $950 million. This study proposes
      to use suitability maps for Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) to identify
      areas at high risk for HPAI outbreaks. LPAI suitability maps were based on wild
      bird demographics, LPAI surveillance, and poultry density in combination with
      environmental, climatic, and socio-economic risk factors. Species distribution
      modeling was used to produce high-resolution (cell size: 500m x 500m) maps for
      Avian Influenza (AI) suitability in each of the four North American migratory
      flyways (NAMF). Results reveal that AI suitability is heterogeneously distributed
      throughout the US with higher suitability in specific zones of the Midwest and
      coastal areas. The resultant suitability maps adequately predicted most of the
      HPAI outbreak areas during the 2014-2015 epidemic in the US (i.e. 89% of HPAI
      outbreaks were located in areas identified as highly suitable for LPAI). Results
      are potentially useful for poultry producers and stakeholders in designing risk
      based surveillance, outreach and intervention strategies to better prevent and
      control future HPAI outbreaks in the US.

PMID- 27624405
TI  - Enantiodivergent Synthesis of (+)- and (-)-Pyrrolidine 197B: Synthesis of trans
      2,5-Disubstituted Pyrrolidines by Intramolecular Hydroamination.
AB  - A highly efficient, diastereoselective, iron(III)-catalyzed intramolecular
      hydroamination/cyclization reaction involving alpha-substituted amino alkenes is
      described. Thus, enantiopure trans-2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidines and trans-5
      substituted proline derivatives were synthesized by means of a combination of
      enantiopure starting materials, easily available from l-alpha-amino acids, with
      sustainable metal catalysts such as iron(III) salts. The scope of this
      methodology is highlighted in an enantiodivergent approach to the synthesis of
      both (+)- and (-)-pyrrolidine 197B alkaloids from l-glutamic acid. In addition, a
      computational study was carried out to gain insight into the complete
      diastereoselectivity of the transformation.

PMID- 27624406
TI  - Effect of permanent pacemaker on mortality after transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established
      treatment for high-grade aortic valve stenosis in patients found unfit for open
      heart surgery. The method may cause cardiac conduction disorders requiring
      permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation, and the long-term effect of PPM
      implantation remains ambiguous. Design One hundred sixty-eight patients who
      underwent TAVI from 2008 to 2012 were included. Patient characteristics, ECGs and
      PPM data were collected through medical records. Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox
      regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: Forty subjects were excluded,
      leaving 128 patients for final inclusion. 41 (32%) received a PPM (mean age 82
      vs. 80 in patients without PPM, p = .06) within 30 days of the TAVI procedure.
      Median follow-up was ~4 years and 37 (29%) died. One-year mortality was 14% for
      non-PPM patients vs. 2% in PPM patients, and mortality at 5yrs 70% vs. 54%,
      respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed higher mortality in patients
      without PPM (p = .008). In multivariate survival analysis significant variables
      were: No PPM (HR 2.6; CI 1.1-6.2; p = .03), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (HR 2.4; CI 1.2-5.0; p = .02) and either pre- or post-procedural chronic or
      paroxystic atrial fibrillation (HR 2.3; CI 1.2-4.7; p= .02). CONCLUSION: TAVI
      patients with a PPM had better survival than patients in whom a PPM was not
      implanted.

PMID- 27624407
TI  - Targeting EGFR mutation in non-small-cell lung cancer: challenges and future
      perspectives.

PMID- 27624409
TI  - The pluralization of septum.

PMID- 27624410
TI  - Interaction between Mimic Lipid Membranes and Acylated and Nonacylated Cyanidin
      and Its Bioactivity.
AB  - We investigated the effects of acylated cyanidin-3-O-beta-(6"-O-E-p-coumaroyl
      sambubioside)-5-O-beta-glucoside (C3-cs-5G) and nonacylated cyanidin, cyanidin
      3,5-di-O-beta-glucoside (C3,5G) and cyanidin-3-O-beta-glucoside (C3G), on cell
      mimic membranes (MM) that reflected the membrane lipid composition of tumor
      cells. The relationship between structural derivatives of cyanidin (Cy-d),
      membrane interactivity, their antioxidant activity, and interaction with albumin
      were characterized. Studies showed that Cy-d caused an increase in packing order
      mainly in the hydrophilic region of the membranes. Cy-d have shown high
      antioxidant activity against liposome oxidation induced by AAPH and ability to
      bind to albumin through a static quenching mechanism. The results showed that
      glycosylation number and the presence of aromatic acid attached to sugars
      affected the membrane properties, according to the sequence C3-cs-5G > C3,5G >
      C3G. It can be stated that Cy-d in the process of interaction with MM caused a
      rigidifying effect, which is fundamental for understanding their anticancer and
      antioxidant activity and is one of the possible pharmaceutical mechanisms.

PMID- 27624408
TI  - Gene deleted live attenuated Leishmania vaccine candidates against visceral
      leishmaniasis elicit pro-inflammatory cytokines response in human PBMCs.
AB  - Currently no effective vaccine is available for human visceral leishmaniasis(VL)
      caused by Leishmania donovani. Previously, we showed that centrin1 and p27gene
      deleted live attenuated Leishmania parasites (LdCen1(-/-) and Ldp27(-/-)) are
      safe, immunogenic and protective in animal models. Here, to assess the correlates
      of protection, we evaluated immune responses induced by LdCen1(-/-) and Ldp27(-/
      ) in human blood samples obtained from healthy, healed VL (HVL), post kala-azar
      dermal leishmaniasis(PKDL) and VL subjects. Both parasites infected human
      macrophages, as effectively as the wild type parasites. Further, LdCen1(-/-) and
      Ldp27(-/-) strongly stimulated production of pro-inflammatory cytokines
      including, IL-12, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-17 in the PBMCs
      obtained from individuals with a prior exposure to Leishmania (HVL and PKDL).
      There was no significant stimulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4 and IL
      10). Induction of Th1 biased immune responses was supported by a remarkable
      increase in IFN-gamma secreting CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells and IL-17 secreting
      CD4(+) cells in PBMCs from HVL cases with no increase in IL-10 secreting T cells.
      Hence, LdCen1(-/-) and Ldp27(-/-) are promising as live vaccine candidates
      against VL since they elicit strong protective immune response in human PBMCs
      from HVL, similar to the wild type parasite infection, mimicking a naturally
      acquired protection following cure.

PMID- 27624411
TI  - Effective size of density-dependent populations in fluctuating environments.
AB  - Reliable estimates of effective population size Ne are of central importance in
      population genetics and evolutionary biology. For populations that fluctuate in
      size, harmonic mean population size is commonly used as a proxy for (multi-)
      generational effective size. This assumes no effects of density dependence on the
      ratio between effective and actual population size, which limits its potential
      application. Here, we introduce density dependence on vital rates in a
      demographic model of variance effective size. We derive an expression for the
      ratio Ne/N in a density-regulated population in a fluctuating environment. We
      show by simulations that yearly genetic drift is accurately predicted by our
      model, and not proportional to 1/(2N) as assumed by the harmonic mean model,
      where N is the total population size of mature individuals. We find a negative
      relationship between Ne/N and N. For a given N, the ratio depends on variance in
      reproductive success and the degree of resource limitation acting on the
      population growth rate. Finally, our model indicate that environmental
      stochasticity may affect Ne/N not only through fluctuations in N, but also for a
      given N at a given time. Our results show that estimates of effective population
      size must include effects of density dependence and environmental stochasticity.

PMID- 27624395
TI  - Molecular pathways driving disease-specific alterations of intestinal epithelial
      cells.
AB  - Due to the fact that chronic inflammation as well as tumorigenesis in the gut is
      crucially impacted by the fate of intestinal epithelial cells, our article
      provides a comprehensive overview of the composition, function, regulation and
      homeostasis of the gut epithelium. In particular, we focus on those aspects which
      were found to be altered in the context of inflammatory bowel diseases or
      colorectal cancer and also discuss potential molecular targets for a disease
      specific therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 27624412
TI  - Increased expression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 and 2 in
      inflamed human gingiva.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Periodontitis is an infectious disease in which the
      host immune and inflammatory responses play essential roles in resistance to
      bacterial infection, as well as the induction of tissue destruction if the immune
      response is dysregulated. The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells
      (TREMs) modulates inflammatory and innate immune signaling. TREM-1 is considered
      as an amplifier of the immune response, while TREM-2 is a negative regulator that
      has yet to be explored in periodontal disease before. We hypothesized that TREMs
      participated in the innate immune responses during the pathogenesis of
      periodontitis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate TREM-1 and TREM-2
      expression in the gingival tissues from patients with chronic periodontitis and
      healthy subjects as well as their correlation with clinical periodontal
      parameters. This study is the first to identify TREM-2 in periodontal tissue, as
      well as the protein expression changes of TREM-1 and TREM-2 in periodontal
      tissues. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Gingival tissue sections were collected from 31
      healthy subjects and 53 patients with chronic periodontitis. Immunohistochemistry
      and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were employed to evaluate
      the protein and mRNA expression of these receptors in gingival tissues. The
      recorded clinical parameters were probing depth, clinical attachment loss, plaque
      index and bleeding on probing. RESULTS: In addition to myeloid cells in gingival
      connective tissues, TREM-1 and TREM-2 were also found expressed in gingival
      epithelial cells. In particular, TREM-1 was detected in almost all gingival
      epithelium from both healthy and inflamed biopsies. The expression levels of TREM
      1 and TREM-2 were significantly increased in the periodontitis group compared to
      the healthy group. Increased levels of these receptors are to be positively
      correlated with site-specific periodontal parameters. CONCLUSION: The increased
      expression of TREM-1 and TREM-2 levels in periodontitis may confer diagnostic and
      potential therapeutic targets as well as indicating their association with the
      clinical severity of the disease.

PMID- 27624413
TI  - Effect of skin coverage method following subcuticular suturing on wound infection
      rates at cesarean delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of
      cyanoacrylate skin glue following subcuticular skin closure was associated with a
      decrease in wound outcomes in comparison with subcuticular closure plus Steri
      strips at cesarean delivery. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of
      patients undergoing cesarean delivery at a single center over a two-year period.
      The primary outcome of wound infection and secondary outcomes of wound separation
      and composite wound complication rate were assessed throughout the six-week
      postpartum period. RESULTS: Of 660 women who met inclusion criteria, 35 (5.3%)
      experienced a wound infection and 90 (13.6%) experienced a wound separation. The
      composite wound complication rate was 16.4% (n = 108). Of the 515 cases with a
      skin coverage method noted, use of skin glue was associated with a marginal
      decrease in wound infections (p = 0.057), as well as a significantly reduced
      incidence of wound separation (p = 0.03) and composite wound complications (p =
      0.006). CONCLUSION: Cyanoacrylate skin glue may be superior to Steri-strips for
      wound separation and composite wound complication rates when utilized with
      subcuticular suture at the time of cesarean delivery and may yield some benefit
      for prevention of wound infection.

PMID- 27624414
TI  - Insecticide resistance and size assortative mating in females of the maize weevil
      (Sitophilus zeamais).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Random mating is a common assumption in studies of insecticide
      resistance evolution, but seldom tested despite its potential consequences.
      Therefore, the existing evidence of female choice and insecticide resistance in
      populations of the maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais), a key pest of stored
      cereals, led to the assessment of mating preferences and their association with
      insecticide resistance in this species. RESULTS: Mixed lines of a maize weevil
      colony were established from field-collected populations, which after 5 months of
      natural breeding were selected for deltamethrin resistance for five generations,
      reaching over 100-fold resistance. Mating preference was significantly based on
      the partner size, measured as body mass (chi2  = 5.83, df = 1, P = 0.016).
      Susceptible females preferred heavier males for mating (chi2  = 5.83, df = 1, P =
      0.015), a trait that was more frequently associated with deltamethrin resistance
      (chi2  = 7.38, df = 1, P = 0.007). Deltamethrin resistance compromised daily
      fertility, although the reduced offspring production observed in matings between
      susceptible females and resistant males was negligible. CONCLUSION: Susceptible
      female weevils prefer larger (and heavier) males to mate, a trait associated with
      deltamethrin resistance, favouring the maintenance and spread of the resistant
      phenotype in the population. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27624416
TI  - The effects of dication symmetry on ionic liquid electrolytes in supercapacitors.
AB  - The effects of dication symmetry on the structure and capacitance of the
      electrical double layers (EDLs) of dicationic ionic liquids (DILs) near graphene
      electrodes were investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in this work.
      Symmetrical 1-hexyl-3-dimethylimidazolium
      di[bis(trifluoromethyl)imide]([C6(mim)2](Tf2N)2) and asymmetrical 1-(1
      trimethylammonium-yl-hexyl)-3-methylimidazolium di[bis(trifluoro-methanesulfonyl)
      imide] ([C6(tma)(mim)](Tf2N)2) were both employed. Radial distribution function
      (RDF) analysis of the two DILs revealed a shorter distance between the cation
      anion pairs in symmetrical [C6(mim)2](Tf2N)2), which was attributed to the
      closely packed imidazolium ring-anion pairs. In contrast, the trimethylammonium
      head groups and anions exhibit a relatively longer distance, but a stronger
      correlation in asymmetrical [C6(tma)(mim)](Tf2N)2. In addition, it was
      illustrated that more symmetrical DIL ions in EDLs are distributed near graphite
      electrodes and exhibit closer distances to the electrode, which is most probably
      due to the parallel orientation of imidazolium rings, reducing the distance
      between the cation and the graphene. In contrast, asymmetrical DILs, with one
      trimethylammonium head group and one imidazolium ring in the dications, are
      loosely packed due to their tilting orientation near graphene surfaces. However,
      the capacitance-potential (C-V) curves of the two DILs are almost the same,
      regardless of the opposite sign of potential of zero charge (PZC), indicating the
      insignificant influence of dication symmetry on the capacitance of DIL-based
      supercapacitors.

PMID- 27624415
TI  - Claudins in cancer: bench to bedside.
AB  - The claudin family, in mammals, encoded by at least 27 members of a single
      ancestral gene, CLDN, is the main constituent as integral membrane proteins of
      tight junctions. It has been shown that the expression levels of claudins are
      often decreased or that their expressions are absent in human neoplasias. These
      findings are consistent with the well-accepted concept that carcinogenesis is
      accompanied by the disruption or loss of functional tight junctions. In contrast,
      accumulating data have showed elevated or aberrant expression of claudins in
      various cancers, indicating specific roles of claudins in tumorigenesis.
      Importantly, dysregulated claudins play an oncogenic role or conversely have a
      tumor-suppressive effect depending on target tissues or cell types, and thus,
      they contribute to tumor development and progression. Although tight junctions
      are intercellular structures in epithelial cells, specific roles of claudins in
      cancer are supported by the evidence that TJs are not simple static constituents
      for establishing cell adhesion structures but are also cell signaling components
      that have functions in receiving environmental cues and transmitting signals
      inside cells. Since the expression profile of claudins is associated with
      patients' outcome and prognosis in several cancer types, an understanding of the
      expression pattern and subcellular localization of claudins in various
      pathologies will lead to the establishment of claudins as useful biomarkers for
      the detection and diagnosis of cancers.

PMID- 27624417
TI  - Recognition of emotional facial expressions in anxious and nonanxious depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression have each been independently associated with
      impairments in emotional face recognition. However, little is known about the
      nature of these impairments when anxiety and depression co-occur. METHODS: This
      post-hoc analysis evaluated the relationship between anxiety status and
      performance on the Emotional Expression Multimorph Task within a clinical sample
      of individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). RESULTS: Participants with
      anxious depression (n=14) and nonanxious depression (n=14) completed the
      Emotional Expression Multimorph Task. Those with anxious depression required
      greater intensity of emotion to identify both happy (p=.01) and sad (p=.04)
      facial expressions than those with nonanxious depression. Severity of anxiety
      also correlated with greater intensity of emotion required to detect sad faces.
      Contrary to prediction, hypervigilance to angry and fearful facial expressions
      was not observed in anxious depression. LIMITATIONS: The present study did not
      include an anxiety-only group for comparison, and did not assess state anxiety at
      time of administration. In addition, the extent to which the experimental task
      correlates with social functioning is not fully understood. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest a diminished sensitivity to happy and sad facial expressions
      specific to anxious depression, but not a hypervigilance toward threatening
      facial expressions. Further research on the nature of emotion recognition in
      anxiety and depression may inform improved clinical interventions.

PMID- 27624418
TI  - Risky use and misuse of alcohol and cigarettes in psychiatric inpatients: a
      screening questionnaire study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental disorders are associated with an increased prevalence of
      substance use disorders (SUDs). Despite this comorbidity being firmly
      established, alcohol and nicotine risky use and misuse are not routinely and
      systematically assessed in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is
      to examine the prevalence of risky use of alcohol, alcohol use disorder (AUD),
      smoking, and nicotine use disorder in people with psychiatric diagnoses and their
      association with age, gender, and occupational functioning. METHOD: Participants
      were 210 patients from an inpatient psychiatric ward. Three self-reporting
      questionnaires were used: the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT),
      the Lubeck Alcoholism Screening Test (LAST), and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine
      Dependence (FTND). RESULTS: Risky alcohol use or AUD was found in more than one
      third of patients and was more common in males than in females (p<0.01) and in
      young people as compared to older adults (p=0.04). Current nicotine consumption
      concerned over a half participants and was significantly associated with risky
      alcohol use and AUD (p<0.01). Patients with current SUD had the highest
      prevalence of both smoking (80%) and alcohol misuse (80%). Low occupational
      functioning was associated with both alcohol use (p=0.02) and concurrent alcohol
      and SUDs (p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Both alcohol and nicotine risky use and misuse
      are highly prevalent in people with psychiatric disorders and their concurrent
      abuse is common. The simultaneous use of different screening questionnaires
      allows the identification not only of people with frank use disorders, but also
      those with harmful use, facilitating early detection of people at risk.

PMID- 27624419
TI  - Do spirituality and religiousness differ with regard to personality and recovery
      from depression? A follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The studies show that both spirituality and religiousness are
      protective for mental health. Personality is related with course and outcome of
      depression, as well as spirituality and religiousness, and their relations toward
      to recovery from depression are underresearched. This study followed influence of
      spirituality and religiousness on course and outcome of depression in patients
      with depressive episode, controlled for personality dimensions. METHODS: The
      patients were assessed with self-report measures of depression (Beck Depression
      Inventory), spirituality (WHO-Quality of Life-Spiritual, Religious, Personal
      Beliefs), religiousness (Duke University Religion Index) and personality
      (Temperament and Character Inventory). Ninety nine patients finished a year long
      follow up. RESULTS: Higher spirituality influenced recovery of depression in
      patients with depressive episode, but religiousness did not show to be
      significant predictor of recovery for depression. Dimension harm avoidance was
      significant predictor of improvement of depression in all points of measurement.
      LIMITATIONS: Some limitations of this research are small sample size, usage of
      the self-report measures of depression in follow-up period, and the predominantly
      Catholic affiliation of the participants that can impact the generalizability of
      our data to other denominations. CONCLUSION: Spirituality and dimension harm
      avoidance are significant predictors of recovery from depression during a year
      long follow up.

PMID- 27624420
TI  - Differences between female suicidal patients with family history of suicide
      attempt and family history of completed suicide.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Family history of suicidal behavior and suicide are both risk factors
      for suicide. However, the effects of family history of suicide versus suicide
      attempts on patient suicidal behavior remain unclear. The aim of the present
      study was to understand if family history of suicide as compared to family
      history of suicide attempts or no family history of suicidal behavior evidences
      different associations with suicidal behavior among psychiatric patients. METHOD:
      Participants included 157 female patients between the ages of 18 and 65years
      admitted at the Dr. Braulio A. Moyano Neuropsychiatric Women's Hospital. RESULTS:
      Seventy-nine patients (50.3%) reported no family history of suicidal behavior
      (NFHSB), while 78 patients (49.7%) reported a family history of suicidal
      behavior. Specifically, 41 patients (26.1%) reported a family history of suicide
      attempt (FHSA) and 37 patients (23.6%) reported a family history of suicide
      (FHS). These groups showed significant differences between family history of
      psychopathology and number of previous suicide attempts. Patients with an FHSA
      were more likely to present with a greater number of previous suicide attempts as
      compared to patients with NFHSB and FHS. CONCLUSION: There is an association
      between the number of suicide attempts and family history of suicide attempts in
      female patients hospitalized for suicidal behavior.

PMID- 27624421
TI  - Obsessive compulsive symptoms are associated with better functioning
      independently of cognition in schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although the relationship of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs)
      with both cognition and social functioning (SF) has already been the focus of
      research in schizophrenia, the moderation of the relationship of OCSs with SF by
      cognition has not been explored to date. We investigated the association of OCSs
      with SF and its interaction with cognition in schizophrenia. METHODS: We
      recruited 110 schizophrenia patients and assessed OCSs (Yale-Brown Scale),
      schizophrenia symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), SF (Strauss
      Carpenter Scale) and cognition. 51 patients had one obsessive-compulsive symptom
      or more, whereas 59 patients had no obsessive compulsive-symptom, according to
      the Yale-Brown Scale. We mainly investigated: a) the predictive effect of OCSs on
      SF, controlling for cognition, illness duration and symptoms' severity and b) the
      moderating effect of cognition on the OCSs-SF relationship. RESULTS: The mean
      score of OCSs for patients having at least one symptom was 13.43 (SD=8.32).
      Higher OCSs predicted increased SF (B=0.98, t=2.41, df=88, p=0.018). This
      relationship was driven by the association of compulsions with job functioning
      (B=0.074, t=2.029, df=88, p=0.046). Patients without OCSs demonstrated worse
      functioning compared with those having at least one obsessive-compulsive symptom
      (mean difference=2.496, t=3.732, df=88, p<0.001). We failed to find evidence that
      cognition moderates the effect of OCSs on SF. CONCLUSION: There may be a
      beneficial effect of OCSs on SF in patients with schizophrenia which is
      independent of their cognitive performance.

PMID- 27624422
TI  - Potential impact of internet addiction and protective psychosocial factors onto
      depression among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents - direct, mediation and moderation
      effects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internet addiction (IA) is a risk factor while some psychosocial
      factors can be protective against depression among adolescents. Mechanisms of IA
      onto depression in terms of mediations and moderations involving protective
      factors are unknown and were investigated in this study. METHODS: A
      representative cross-sectional study was conducted among Hong Kong Chinese
      secondary school students (n=9518). RESULTS: Among males and females, prevalence
      of depression at moderate or severe level (CES-D>=21) was 38.36% and 46.13%, and
      that of IA (CIAS>63) was 17.64% and 14.01%, respectively. Adjusted for socio
      demographics, depression was positively associated with IA [males: adjusted odds
      ratio (AOR)=4.22, 95% CI=3.61-4.94; females: AOR=4.79, 95% CI=3.91-5.87] and
      negatively associated with psychosocial factors including self-esteem, positive
      affect, family support, and self-efficacy (males: AOR=0.76-0.94; females:
      AOR=0.72-0.92, p<.05). The positive association between IA and depression was
      partially mediated by the protective psychosocial factors (mainly self-esteem)
      across sexes. Through significant moderations, IA also reduced magnitude of
      protective effects of self-efficacy and family support among males and that of
      positive affect among both sexes against depression. CONCLUSIONS: The high IA
      prevalence contributes to increased risk of prevalent depression through its
      direct effect, mediation (reduced level of protective factors) and moderation
      (reduced magnitude of protective effects) effects. Understanding to mechanisms
      between IA and depression through protective factors is enhanced. Screening and
      interventions for IA and depression are warranted, and should cultivate
      protective factors, and unlink negative impact of IA onto levels and effects of
      protective factors.

PMID- 27624423
TI  - Self-evaluation and objective assessment of cognition in major depression and
      attention deficit disorder: Implications for clinical practice.

PMID- 27624424
TI  - Major depressive disorder and subthreshold depression in prepubertal children
      from the Danish National Birth Cohort.

PMID- 27624426
TI  - Self concepts, health locus of control and cognitive functioning associated with
      health-promoting lifestyles in schizophrenia.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study aimed to investigate the relationship among self concepts,
      health locus of control, cognitive functioning and health-promoting lifestyles in
      patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. We examined health-promoting lifestyles
      through self-efficacy, self-esteem, health locus of control and neurocognitive
      factors. METHOD: Fifty-six people with schizophrenia were enrolled in the study
      group. All subjects participated in the self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem
      Scale), self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale), health locus of control (The
      Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales), health-promoting lifestyles
      (Health Promotion Life-style Profile-II) and a series of neurocognitive measures.
      FINDINGS: Stepwise regression analysis revealed that self-efficacy, internal
      health locus of control and attentional set-shifting accounted for 42% of the
      variance in total health-promoting lifestyles scores. Self-efficacy, self-esteem,
      internal and powerful others health locus of control and attentional set-shifting
      were significant predictors for domains of health-promoting lifestyles,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Study findings can help mental health professionals
      maintain and improve health-promoting behaviors through a better understanding of
      self-esteem, self-efficacy, health locus of control and neurocognitive
      functioning among people with schizophrenia.

PMID- 27624425
TI  - Contribution of long duration of undiagnosed bipolar disorder to high frequency
      of relapse: A naturalistic study in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With attention to misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder (BP), long
      duration of undiagnosed bipolar disorder (DUBP) had been reported recently in
      years. This study aims to investigate the contributions of long DUBP to the
      frequency of relapse in bipolar patients, and explore affect factors of DUBP.
      METHOD: From 26 hospitals throughout China, 3896 participants diagnosed with BP
      according to International Classification of Diseases 10th criteria were enrolled
      in this study. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected from medical
      records and specific questionnaires through clinical interviews with patients and
      their relatives. RESULTS: (1) Our results showed that the mean of DUBP was
      40.52months. In total, 779 patients (19.995%) reported DUBP greater than 5years,
      and 1931 patients (49.564%) reported their DUBP greater than 2years. The number
      of mood episodes was averaged 5.44, and the frequency ratio of (hypo) mania to
      depressive episodes was 1.49 (3.27/2.19). (2) Multiple linear regression analysis
      revealed that DUBP was significantly contributed to the number of relapse
      (Beta=0.072, p<0.001) after considering the confounding including gender, age at
      study entry, age of onset, age of first (hypo) manic episodes, age of first
      depressive episodes, type of first episodes and family history of mental illness.
      (3) Factors including age at the study entry (Beta=0.526, p<0.001), age of onset
      (Beta=-1.654, p<0.001), age of first (hypo) manic episode (Beta=0.348, p<0.001),
      age of first depressive episode (Beta=0.983, p<0.001), depression as the type of
      first episode (Beta=0.058, p<0.001) and family history of mental illness
      (Beta=0.029, p<0.05) were significantly contributed to long DUBP. CONCLUSION: It
      was concluded that long DUBP might lead to high frequent relapse in bipolar
      patients. The factors correlated with long DUBP include older age, early age of
      onset, depression as the type of first episode and family history of mental
      illness. The findings of our study suggest emergency task to early reorganization
      of bipolar disorder, and improving clinicians' recognition of bipolar disorder
      from patients with depressive episodes, especially in children and adolescents.

PMID- 27624427
TI  - Diagnostic profiles of adult psychiatric outpatients with and without attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Despite growing recognition that attention deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent, impairing, and comorbid disorder that
      persists into adulthood, reports on the nature and extent of its psychiatric
      comorbidities have been mixed to date. This study compared the prevalence rates
      of all major Axis I disorders as well as borderline personality disorder in an
      unselected sample of adult psychiatric outpatients with and without ADHD.
      METHODS: As part of the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and
      Services (MIDAS) project, we administered a DSM-IV-based semi-structured
      diagnostic interview assessing ADHD and other psychiatric disorders to 1134
      patients presenting for initial evaluation at an outpatient psychiatric practice.
      Logistic regression analyses were used to compare the rates of each disorder in
      patients with versus without an ADHD diagnosis (both overall and by Combined and
      Inattentive type). RESULTS: Patients with (versus without) any ADHD diagnosis had
      significantly higher rates of bipolar disorder, social phobia, impulse control
      disorders, eating disorders, and BPD, and significantly lower rates of major
      depressive disorder and adjustment disorder (all p<.05). Patients with (versus
      without) ADHD-Inattentive type had significantly higher rates of social phobia
      and eating disorders, whereas those with (versus without) the ADHD-Combined type
      had significantly higher rates of bipolar disorder, alcohol dependence, and BPD
      (all p<.05). CONCLUSION: In this novel investigation of the psychiatric profiles
      of an unselected sample of treatment-seeking adult outpatients with versus
      without ADHD, a distinct pattern of comorbidities emerged across subtypes, with
      implications for the accurate assessment and treatment of patients presenting for
      psychiatric care.

PMID- 27624428
TI  - Relation of formal thought disorder to symptomatic remission and social
      functioning in schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this cross-sectional study is to examine the relation of
      formal thought disorder (FTD) with symptomatic remission (SR) and social
      functioning in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: The study was carried out
      with a sample consisting of 117 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according
      to DSM-IV. The patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome
      Scale (PANSS), the Thought and Language Index (TLI), and the Personal and Social
      Performance Scale (PSP). We used logistic regression in order to determine the
      relation between FTD and SR and linear regression to identify the strength of
      association between FTD and social functioning. RESULTS: Logistic regression
      analysis revealed that poverty of speech (odds ratio: 1.47, p<0.01) and peculiar
      logic (odds ratio: 1.66, p=0.01) differentiated the remitted patients from the
      non-remitted ones. Linear regression analysis showed that the PSP total score was
      associated with poverty of speech and peculiar logic items of the TLI (B=-0.23,
      p<0.01, B=-0.24, p=0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that
      poverty of speech and peculiar logic are the specific domains of FTD which are
      related to both SR status and social functioning in patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 27624429
TI  - Borderline Personality Disorder and Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5):
      Dimensional personality assessment with DSM-5.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis has been considered
      highly controversial. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
      5th edition (DSM-5) proposes an alternative hybrid diagnostic model for
      personality disorders (PD), and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) has
      adequate psychometric properties and has been widely used for the assessment of
      the dimensional component. METHODS: Our aim was to analyze the utility of the
      personality traits presented in Section III of the DSM-5 for BPD diagnosis in an
      outpatient clinical sample, using the Spanish version of the PID-5. Two clinical
      samples were studied: BPD sample (n=84) and non-BPD sample (n=45). Between-sample
      differences in PID-5 scores were analyzed. RESULTS: The BPD sample obtained
      significantly higher scores in most PID-5 trait facets and domains. Specifically
      and after regression logistic analyses, in BPD patients, the domains of Negative
      Affectivity and Disinhibition, and the trait facets of emotional lability, [lack
      of] restricted affectivity, and impulsivity were more significantly associated
      with BPD. CONCLUSIONS: Although our findings are only partially consistent with
      the algorithm proposed by DSM-5, we consider that the combination of the PID-5
      trait domains and facets could be useful for BPD dimensional diagnosis, and could
      further our understanding of BPD diagnosis complexity.

PMID- 27624430
TI  - Temperament and characteristics related to attention deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibits
      symptoms, such as attention deficit and impulsivity, that make it difficult for
      patients to manage social activities. In this study, we investigated the
      association of adult ADHD symptoms with temperament and character dimensions,
      taking into account possible sex interactions. METHOD: A total of 2917 (1462
      males and 1455 females) college students completed the 140 5-point Likert items
      on the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised Short version (TCI-RS) and the
      Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Rated Scale (ASRS). According to
      the ASRS score, subjects were classified into the control group, the inattentive
      ADHD symptom (IA) group, or the hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptom (HI) group.
      Additionally, the scores of the four temperament dimensions and the three
      character dimensions were compared. RESULTS: In the IA and HI groups, the NS and
      HA levels of the temperament dimension were high and the PS level was low
      compared with the control group. In the character dimension, the levels of SD and
      CO were significantly lower in the ADHD groups than in the control group
      (P<0.001). Meanwhile, the ST level in the HI group was significantly higher than
      in the control group. In the regression analysis after age and gender correction,
      NS and SD in the IA group and NS, CO, and ST in the HI group were associated with
      adult ADHD symptoms. CONCLUSION: The current findings suggest that high novelty
      seeking may be related to adult ADHD symptoms in the temperament dimension.
      Furthermore, some character dimensions were associated with adult ADHD symptoms.

PMID- 27624431
TI  - An association between the PPARalpha-L162V polymorphism and nicotine dependency
      among patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with schizophrenia are more likely to be smokers than the
      general population, which makes them an interesting group with which to study the
      etiology of nicotine dependency. We studied the prevalence of a gene variant of
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) in schizophrenia,
      together with nicotine dependency, to investigate whether the PPARalpha-L162V
      polymorphism (rs1800206) influences nicotine dependency in schizophrenia. Given
      evidence suggesting that smoking influences the severity of schizophrenia,
      together with our recent data linking the PPARalpha-L162V polymorphism to
      clinical manifestations of schizophrenia (in the Croatian population), we
      hypothesized that interactions between the two (smoking and the PPARalpha-L162V
      polymorphism) might contribute to disease onset and scores for the Positive and
      Negative Syndrome Scale. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to
      investigate the possible associations between the PPARalpha gene and nicotine
      dependency. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Genotyping was performed for 267 chronically
      ill schizophrenia patients (males/females: 140/127) by polymerase chain reaction.
      RESULTS: A significant excess of PPARalpha-L162V genotypes and PPARalpha-162V
      alleles were detected among female smokers in comparison to female nonsmokers
      (18.2% vs. 2.0%, and 9.1% vs. 1.0%, p<0.01, respectively). We also revealed a
      significant PPARalpha genotype-smoking interaction that predicted positive
      symptom severity among male patients (F=4.43, p<0.05). These data indicated that
      the PPARalpha-L162V heterozygous genotype, depending on smoking status, might be
      of relevance as either protective, or a risk factor, for the severity of positive
      symptoms. No interaction between the PPARalpha-L162V polymorphism and smoking for
      the time of onset of schizophrenia was detected (p>0.05, respectively).
      CONCLUSION: We demonstrated two significant yet weak effects. The first showed an
      effect of the PPARalpha-L162V polymorphism on the risk of nicotine dependency.
      The second linked the PPARalpha genotype-smoking interaction to positive symptoms
      severity among schizophrenia patients; both effects manifested in a gender
      specific fashion.

PMID- 27624433
TI  - Characteristics of suicide completers and attempters in rural Chinese population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the similarities and differences between
      suicide completers and attempters in rural China. METHODS: Two paired case
      control studies of completed suicide and suicide attempts were conducted in rural
      Shandong, China. This analysis included 409 suicide attempters (SA) with a mean
      age of 43.90 (SD=13.31), 117 suicide completers (SC) with a mean age of 50.38
      (SD=13.02) and their controls matched by gender, age (within 3years), and
      residence. Logistic regression models were used to examine risk factors of
      suicide attempts and completed suicide and the differences between SA and SC.
      RESULTS: Compared to their matched controls, suicide attempters and completers
      shared the following common risk factors: low levels of education (middle school
      or under) (OR, 95% CI: 2.79, 1.40-5.55 for SA and 16.98, 1.59-181.60 for SC),
      negative life events (OR, 95% CI: 7.37, 4.73-11.50 for SA and 21.08, 4.74-93.71
      for SC), and mental disorders (OR, 95% CI: 7.52, 3.85-14.69 for SA and 22.39,
      2.65-189.60 for SC). Compared to suicide attempts, completed suicide was
      associated with the following risk factors: male gender (OR, 95% CI: 1.75, 1.06
      2.90), advancing age (OR, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.00-1.04), poor family economic status
      (OR, 95% CI: 6.74, 3.22-14.13), prior suicide attempts (OR, 95% CI: 2.43, 1.18
      4.97), family suicide history (OR, 95% CI: 2.59, 1.33-5.06), high suicide intent
      (OR, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.05-1.27), and highly lethal methods (OR, 95% CI: 13.65, 6.51
      28.59). CONCLUSIONS: Although suicide completers and attempters share some common
      risk factors, suicide completers are more likely to have prior suicide attempts,
      family suicide history, and higher suicidal intent, and to use highly lethal
      methods in rural Chinese.

PMID- 27624432
TI  - Comorbid intermittent explosive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder:
      Clinical correlates and relationship to suicidal behavior.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with both
      aggressive and suicidal behavior. Recent research suggests that the diagnosis of
      intermittent explosive disorder (IED), an impulse-control disorder characterized
      by repeated impulsive aggressive behavior, may help to identify individuals at
      risk for attempting suicide. Given the relationship between anger and PTSD, there
      is likely to be an increased prevalence of IED among individuals with PTSD;
      however, little is known about the overlap in these two disorders, including how
      individuals with comorbid IED and PTSD may differ from those with either disorder
      alone. The purpose of this study is to examine the clinical correlates of
      comorbid IED and PTSD and the contribution of these two disorders (among others)
      to lifetime suicide attempt and characteristics of suicidal behavior. METHOD: In
      a large sample of community research volunteers (N=1460), we compared individuals
      with PTSD, IED, and comorbid PTSD and IED on measures of current mood, trait
      aggression, and trait impulsivity. We also examined the contributions of PTSD,
      IED, and other syndromal and personality disorders to the prediction of lifetime
      aggression and lifetime suicide attempt, and their relationship to
      characteristics of suicide attempts, including level of intent, use of violent
      versus non-violent means, and the medical seriousness of the attempt. RESULTS:
      Comorbid PTSD and IED was associated with significantly elevated levels of
      depression, anxiety, anger, aggression, and impulsivity, as well as with high
      rates of comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders. IED (beta=.56, p<.001),
      but not PTSD, significantly and uniquely predicted lifetime aggressive behavior.
      Both IED and PTSD were associated with lifetime suicide attempt in multivariate
      analysis (ORs: 1.6 and 1.6, ps<.05). The results show that IED, when comorbid
      with PTSD, identifies a subgroup of individuals with particularly high levels of
      aggressive behavior and a high rate of suicide attempt (41.4% in this sample).
      CONCLUSION: These findings add support to the notion that the diagnosis of IED
      may aid in identifying individuals at risk for aggressive and suicidal behavior.

PMID- 27624434
TI  - Reliability and clinical usefulness of the personality inventory for DSM-5 in
      clinically referred adolescents: A preliminary report in a sample of Italian
      inpatients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) provides
      the opportunity to integrate the needed developmental perspective in the
      assessment of personality pathology. Based on this model, Krueger and colleagues
      (2012) developed the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5), which
      operationalizes the proposed DSM-5 traits. METHODS: Eighty-five consecutively
      admitted Italian adolescent inpatients were administered the Italian translation
      of the PID-5, in order to obtain preliminary data on PID-5 reliability and
      clinical usefulness in clinically referred adolescents. RESULTS: With the
      possible exception of the PID-5 Suspiciousness scale, all other PID-5 scales
      evidenced adequate internal consistency reliability (i.e., Cronbach's alpha
      values of at least .70, most being greater than .80). Our data seemed to yield at
      least partial support for the construct validity of the PID-5 scales also in
      clinical adolescents, at least in terms of patterns of associations with
      dimensionally assessed DSM-5 Section II PDs that were also included in the DSM-5
      AMPD (excluding Antisocial PD because of the participants' minor age). Finally,
      our data suggested that the clinical usefulness of the PID-5 in adolescent
      inpatients may extend beyond PDs to profiling adolescents at risk for life
      threatening suicide attempts. In particular, PID-5 Depressivity, Anhedonia, and
      Submissiveness trait scales were significantly associated with adolescents'
      history of life-threatening suicide attempts, even after controlling for a number
      of other variables, including mood disorder diagnosis. DISCUSSION: As a whole,
      our study may provide interesting, albeit preliminary data as to the clinical
      usefulness of PID-5 in the assessment of adolescent inpatients.

PMID- 27624436
TI  - Care burden of parents of adult children with mental illness: The role of
      associative stigma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Parents of offspring with mental illness must endure endless child
      care burden despite their old age, and must cope with associative stigma. This
      study analyzed the mediator effect of associative stigma on relationships between
      the main stressors, psychiatric symptoms and lowered social function of offspring
      with mental illness, assessed by the parents, and their care burden. METHOD: 215
      parents caring for an adult child with mental illness in Korea were surveyed
      (Mage=60.68, SD=13.58; 74.4% mothers). They were asked to assess the psychiatric
      symptoms and social function of their offspring, the stigma they experienced, and
      the objective/subjective care burdens they felt. RESULTS: Our findings suggest
      that the symptoms and function of offspring directly affect the care burden of
      parents, but also have an indirect effect mediated by associative stigma. Among
      the predictor variables, symptoms have a greater effect on the
      subjective/objective burden and associative stigma than social function.
      CONCLUSIONS: We suggest strategies for parents to overcome associative stigma and
      emphasize the professional endeavor required to meet the service needs of elderly
      parents taking care of an adult child with mental illness.

PMID- 27624435
TI  - Child behavior checklist profiles in adolescents with bipolar and depressive
      disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) profiles in
      youths with bipolar and depressive disorders. METHODS: Seventy-four subjects with
      a mean age of 14.9+/-1.6years (36 boys) with mood disorders and their parents
      were recruited from September 2011 to June 2013 in the Department of Psychiatry,
      Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Diagnosis of mood disorder and comorbid
      psychiatric disorder was confirmed by child psychiatrists using the Schedule for
      Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children - Present and
      Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL). The parents of the subjects completed the Parent
      General Behavior Inventory-10-item Mania Scale (P-GBI-10M), Parent-version of
      Mood Disorder Questionnaire (P-MDQ), ADHD rating scale (ARS) and CBCL. The
      adolescents completed the 76-item Adolescent General Behavior Inventory (A-GBI),
      Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Adolescent-version of Mood Disorder
      Questionnaire (A-MDQ). RESULTS: When adjusted for gender and the comorbidity with
      ADHD, the Withdrawn and Anxious/Depressed subscale scores of the CBCL were higher
      in subjects with bipolar disorder than in those with depressive disorder. Higher
      scores of A-GBI Depressive subscale, A-MDQ and BDI were shown in subjects with
      bipolar disorder than in those with depressive disorder. There was no significant
      difference on CBCL-DP, P-GBI-10M, P-MDQ, A-GBI Hypomanic/Biphasic subscale and
      ARS between two groups. All eight subscales of the CBCL positively correlated
      with the P-GBI-10M and P-MDQ scores, and seven of all eight subscales of the CBCL
      positively correlated with A-GBI Depressive and Hypomanic/Biphasic subscales. The
      BDI score was positively associated with the Withdrawn, Somatic Complaints,
      Anxious/Depressed, and Social Problems subscale scores. CBCL-DP score was
      strongly correlated with manic/hypomanic symptoms measured by P-GBI-10M and P-MDQ
      (r=0.771 and 0.826). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the CBCL could be used
      for measuring mood symptoms and combined psychopathology, especially
      internalizing symptoms, in youth with mood disorder. However, CBCL-DP had limited
      ability to differentiate bipolar from depressive disorder, at least in
      adolescents.

PMID- 27624437
TI  - Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus modulates sensitivity to
      decision outcome value in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease is
      known to cause a subtle but important adverse impact on behaviour, with
      impulsivity its most widely reported manifestation. However, precisely which
      computational components of the decision process are modulated is not fully
      understood. Here we probe a number of distinct subprocesses, including temporal
      discount, outcome utility, instrumental learning rate, instrumental outcome
      sensitivity, reward-loss trade-offs, and perseveration. We tested 22 Parkinson's
      Disease patients both on and off subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN
      DBS), while they performed an instrumental learning task involving financial
      rewards and losses, and an inter-temporal choice task for financial rewards. We
      found that instrumental learning performance was significantly worse following
      stimulation, due to modulation of instrumental outcome sensitivity. Specifically,
      patients became less sensitive to decision values for both rewards and losses,
      but without any change to the learning rate or reward-loss trade-offs. However,
      we found no evidence that DBS modulated different components of temporal
      impulsivity. In conclusion, our results implicate the subthalamic nucleus in a
      modulation of outcome value in experience-based learning and decision-making in
      Parkinson's disease, suggesting a more pervasive role of the subthalamic nucleus
      in the control of human decision-making than previously thought.

PMID- 27624440
TI  - Standards for Reporting Research Results: Implications for the Field of Health
      Education.

PMID- 27624439
TI  - Augmented repair of radial meniscus tear with biomimetic electrospun scaffold: an
      in vitro mechanical analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large radial tears that disrupt the circumferential fibers of the
      meniscus are associated with reduced meniscal function and increased risk of
      joint degeneration. Electrospun fibrous scaffolds can mimic the topography and
      mechanics of fibrocartilaginous tissues and simultaneously serve as carriers of
      cells and growth factors, yet their incorporation into clinically relevant suture
      repair techniques for radial meniscus tears is unexplored. The purposes of this
      study were to (1) evaluate the effect of fiber orientation on the tensile
      properties and suture-retention strength of multilayered electrospun scaffolds
      and (2) determine the mechanical effects of scaffold inclusion within a surgical
      repair of a simulated radial meniscal tear. The experimental hypothesis was that
      augmentation with a multilayered scaffold would not compromise the strength of
      the repair. METHODS: Three multilayered electrospun scaffolds with different
      fiber orientations were fabricated-aligned, random, and biomimetic. The
      biomimetic scaffold was comprised of four layers in the following order (deep to
      superficial)-aligned longitudinal, aligned transverse, aligned longitudinal, and
      random-respectively corresponding to circumferential, radial, circumferential,
      and superficial collagen fibers of the native meniscus. Material properties
      (i.e., ultimate stress, modulus, etc.) of the scaffolds were determined in the
      parallel and perpendicular directions, as was suture retention strength. Complete
      radial tears of lateral bovine meniscus explants were repaired with a double
      horizontal mattress suture technique, with or without inclusion of the biomimetic
      scaffold sheath. Both repair groups, as well as native controls, were cyclically
      loaded between 5 and 20 N for 500 cycles and then loaded to failure. Clamp-to
      clamp distance (i.e., residual elongation) was measured following various cycles.
      Ultimate load, ultimate elongation, and stiffness, were also determined. Group
      differences were evaluated by one-way ANOVA or Student's t-test where
      appropriate. RESULTS: Aligned scaffolds possessed the most anisotropic mechanical
      properties, whereas random scaffolds showed uniform properties in the parallel
      and perpendicular directions. In comparison, the biomimetic scaffold possessed
      moduli in the parallel (68.7 +/- 14.7 MPa) and perpendicular (39.4 +/- 11.6 MPa)
      directions that respectively approximate the reported circumferential and radial
      tensile properties of native menisci. The ultimate suture retention load of the
      biomimetic scaffold in the parallel direction (7.2 +/- 1.6 N) was significantly
      higher than all other conditions (p < 0.001). Biomimetic scaffold augmentation
      did not compromise mechanical properties when compared against suture repair in
      terms of residual elongation after 500 cycles (scaffold: 5.05 +/- 0.89 mm vs.
      repair: 4.78 +/- 1.24 mm), ultimate failure load (137.1 +/- 31.0 N vs. 124.4 +/-
      21.4 N), ultimate elongation (12.09 +/- 5.89 mm vs. 10.14 +/- 4.61 mm), and
      stiffness (20.8 +/- 3.6 vs. 18.4 +/- 4.7 N/mm). CONCLUSIONS: While multilayered
      scaffold sheets were successfully fabricated to mimic the ultrastructure and
      anisotropic tensile properties of native menisci, improvements in suture
      retention strength or adoption of superior surgical techniques will be needed to
      further enhance the mechanical strength of repairs of radial meniscal tears.

PMID- 27624441
TI  - Scientific Reporting: Raising the Standards.
AB  - This article is based on a presentation that was made at the 2014 annual meeting
      of the editorial board of Health Education & Behavior. The article addresses
      critical issues related to standards of scientific reporting in journals,
      including concerns about external and internal validity and reporting bias. It
      reviews current reporting guidelines, effects of adopting guidelines, and offers
      suggestions for improving reporting. The evidence about the effects of guideline
      adoption and implementation is briefly reviewed. Recommendations for adoption and
      implementation of appropriate guidelines, including considerations for journals,
      are provided.

PMID- 27624438
TI  - Basic science of osteoarthritis.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent, disabling disorder of the joints that affects
      a large population worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure. This
      review provides critical insights into the basic knowledge on OA that may lead to
      innovative end efficient new therapeutic regimens. While degradation of the
      articular cartilage is the hallmark of OA, with altered interactions between
      chondrocytes and compounds of the extracellular matrix, the subchondral bone has
      been also described as a key component of the disease, involving specific
      pathomechanisms controlling its initiation and progression. The identification of
      such events (and thus of possible targets for therapy) has been made possible by
      the availability of a number of animal models that aim at reproducing the human
      pathology, in particular large models of high tibial osteotomy (HTO). From a
      therapeutic point of view, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising
      option for the treatment of OA and may be used concomitantly with functional
      substitutes integrating scaffolds and drugs/growth factors in tissue engineering
      setups. Altogether, these advances in the fundamental and experimental knowledge
      on OA may allow for the generation of improved, adapted therapeutic regimens to
      treat human OA. 

PMID- 27624442
TI  - Failure to Report Effect Sizes: The Handling of Quantitative Results in Published
      Health Education and Behavior Research.
AB  - Given the American Psychological Association's strong recommendation to always
      report effect sizes in research, scholars have a responsibility to provide
      complete information regarding their findings. The purposes of this study were to
      (a) determine the frequencies with which different effect sizes were reported in
      published, peer-reviewed articles in health education, promotion, and behavior
      journals and (b) discuss implications for reporting effect size in social science
      research. Across a 4-year time period (2010-2013), 1,950 peer-reviewed published
      articles were examined from the following six health education and behavior
      journals: American Journal of Health Behavior, American Journal of Health
      Promotion, Health Education & Behavior, Health Education Research, Journal of
      American College Health, and Journal of School Health Quantitative features from
      eligible manuscripts were documented using Qualtrics online survey software. Of
      the 1,245 articles in the final sample that reported quantitative data analyses,
      approximately 47.9% (n = 597) of the articles reported an effect size. While 16
      unique types of effect size were reported across all included journals, many of
      the effect sizes were reported with little frequency across most journals.
      Overall, odds ratio/adjusted odds ratio (n = 340, 50.1%), Pearson r/r(2) (n =
      162, 23.8%), and eta squared/partial eta squared (n = 46, 7.2%) accounted for the
      most frequently used effect size. Quality research practice requires both testing
      statistical significance and reporting effect size. However, our study shows that
      a substantial portion of published literature in health education and behavior
      lacks consistent reporting of effect size.

PMID- 27624443
TI  - Condom use and incarceration among STI clinic attendees in the Deep South.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incarceration history is associated with lower rates of condom use
      and increased HIV risk. Less is known about duration of incarceration and
      multiple incarcerations' impact on condom use post-release. METHODS: In the
      current study, we surveyed 1,416 adults in Mississippi about their incarceration
      history and sexual risk behaviors. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were
      used to test associations between duration of incarceration, multiple
      incarcerations, socio-demographic factors, substance use, sexual behavior, and
      event level condom use at last sex. RESULTS: After adjusting for covariates,
      having been incarcerated for at least 6 months two or more times remained
      significantly associated with condomless sex. CONCLUSIONS: This study found a
      strong, independent relationship between condom use and multiple, long-term
      incarceration events among patients in an urban STI clinic in the Deep South. The
      results suggest that duration of incarceration and multiple incarcerations have
      significant effects on sexual risk behaviors, underscoring the deleterious impact
      of long prison or jail sentences on population health. Our findings also suggest
      that correctional health care professionals and post-release providers might
      consider offering comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and those
      providing community care should consider screening for previous incarceration as
      a marker of risk.

PMID- 27624444
TI  - The effect of spectacle treatment in patients with mild traumatic brain injury: a
      pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Visual symptoms and dysfunctions may be a part of the long-term
      issues following mild traumatic brain injury. These issues may have an impact on
      near work and reading, and thus affect activities of daily life and the ability
      to return to work. The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of spectacle
      treatment on near work-related visual symptoms, visual function and reading
      performance in patients with persisting symptoms after mild traumatic brain
      injury. METHODS: Eight patients with persisting symptoms after mild traumatic
      brain injury and anomalies of binocular function were included. Binocular
      function, visual symptoms and reading performance were assessed before and after
      spectacle treatment. Reading eye movements were recorded with eye tracking.
      RESULTS: Four patients showed a considerable symptom reduction along with minor
      improvement in clinical visual measures. Reading performance improved in four
      patients; however, the relationship to symptom reduction was inconsistent. The
      improvement was correlated to reduced average number of fixations per word (r = 
      0.89, p = 0.02), reduced proportion of regressive saccades (r = -0.93, p = 0.01)
      and a significant increase of mean progressive saccade length (p = 0.03).
      CONCLUSION: This pilot study found that spectacle treatment, specifically
      directed at optimising near task visual function, significantly reduced symptoms
      in 50 per cent of patients and improved reading performance in 50 per cent. While
      promising, lack of placebo control and lack of correlation between reading
      performance and symptom improvements means we cannot decipher mechanisms without
      further study.

PMID- 27624445
TI  - Spinal cord infarction as a rare complication of fat embolism syndrome following
      bilateral intramedullary nailing of femur fractures.
AB  - Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a rare and potentially fatal complication
      occurring most often after long bone or pelvic fractures and orthopaedic
      procedures. It can consist of pulmonary, central nervous system and cutaneous
      manifestations. The exact pathophysiology of emboli reaching the arterial
      circulation is poorly understood.1 It is suggested that this may occur by either
      'paradoxical' embolism or microembolism.2 3 Its true incidence is unknown but
      increases in the presence of multiple closed fractures. It can be a diagnostic
      dilemma for clinicians and if suspected diffusion-weighted MRI is the modality of
      choice for the investigation of the central nervous system.4 We present the case
      of a 22-year-old man who developed multifocal cerebral infarcts, a right-sided
      cerebellar infarct and an infarct in the anterior cord bilaterally at the level
      of C5-C6 as a result of FES. 

PMID- 27624446
TI  - Aspergillosis complicating a microwave ablation cavity.
AB  - We present a case of a patient who following chemotherapy developed semi-invasive
      pulmonary aspergillosis and an aspergilloma in a lung cavity previously formed by
      microwave ablation (MWA). A 55-year-old woman presented with cough and shortness
      of breath after finishing three cycles of chemotherapy for a metastatic nerve
      sheath tumour. She had been treated by MWA for pulmonary metastases 2 years
      previously which resulted in a residual right apical lung cavity.
      Postchemotherapy imaging showed that this cavity had enlarged, developed a
      thicker wall and contained lobulated soft tissue with a crescent sign on coronal
      reformats. In addition, the patient's Aspergillus-specific IgG was markedly
      raised. Treatment with itraconazole improved the symptoms and reduced the cavity
      size and wall thickness. This case shows that persisting lung cavities after MWA
      are a potential site for semi-invasive aspergillosis and has implications for the
      timing of chemotherapy in patient with metastatic lung disease. 

PMID- 27624447
TI  - Immunotherapy in a rare case of primary pelvic retroperitoneal melanoma.
AB  - Recent advances in novel immunotherapeutic and targeted therapeutic agents have
      increased treatment options in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma.
      However, evidence in the literature on whether or not extracutaneous melanoma
      will acquire an equivalent advantage from these therapies is very scarce. In
      general, extracutaneous melanomas are rare and aggressive melanomas, which are
      clinically and biologically unique, with higher incidence of metastatic disease
      and poor prognosis. In this case report, we present a very rare case of a 54-year
      old woman with primary pelvic retroperitoneal melanoma treated with an anti-PD-1
      antibody, pembrolizumab. Furthermore, we explore the role of novel
      immunotherapies in the treatment of advanced melanoma. 

PMID- 27624448
TI  - Giant oesophageal leiomyoma causing severe hypertension.
AB  - Leiomyoma is the most common oesophageal tumour and is symptomatic in about half
      of the patients. Dysphagia is the most common symptom. A 41-year-old woman
      presented with recent onset of severe orthostatic hypertension. During the
      cardiological work-up, a mediastinal mass was found at transthoracic
      echocardiogram. Further investigation (upper gastrointestinal endoscopy,
      endoscopic ultrasonography, CT scan and cardiac MRI) confirmed the diagnosis of a
      large oesophageal submucosal mass compressing the supradiaphragmatic inferior
      vena cava. The mass was resected through a minimally invasive right thoracoscopic
      approach with complete relief of symptoms and compression on the vena cava. 

PMID- 27624449
TI  - Familial hypomagnesaemia with secondary hypocalcaemia.
AB  - Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation and plays an essential
      role in neuronal, skeletal and cardiac tissue. Hypomagnesaemia can cause
      hypocalcaemia by inhibiting parathyroid hormone release and inducing resistance
      at its receptor sites. Untreated hypomagnesaemia can lead to tetany, recurrent
      seizures, status epilepticus and life-threatening arrhythmias. Primary
      hypomagnesaemia with secondary hypocalcaemia (HSH) is a rare metabolic disorder
      of intestinal magnesium absorption. The condition typically presents in the
      neonatal period with neuromuscular excitability and seizures refractory to
      antiepileptic therapy. Early diagnosis and prompt magnesium replacement are
      essential to prevent death or long-term neurodevelopmental sequelae. Fewer than a
      hundred cases are reported in the literature. Recent advances have added
      significantly to our understanding of the genetic basis of HSH. We report the
      presentation and long-term follow-up of an affected female who was found to have
      a mutation in the transient receptor potential melastatin 6 (TRPM6) gene,
      encoding a transient receptor potential cation channel. 

PMID- 27624450
TI  - Diagnosis and treatment of a rare sinonasal neuroendocrine tumour: adding to the
      evidence.
AB  - Sinonasal neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are rare, aggressive neoplasms with a
      high recurrence potential. There are no robust protocols for the management of
      these tumours. An 81-year-old man presented with an incidental sinonasal mass
      visualised on CT scan of head. Over the next few weeks he developed new onset,
      progressively worsening headache, right eye ptosis and restricted extraocular
      movements. Imaging confirmed a rapidly enlarging tumour involving the right nasal
      cavity and the orbit. Biopsy showed a large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the
      right ethmoidal sinus. The patient was treated with concurrent cisplatin
      chemotherapy and radiation. Repeat imaging showed decrease in tumour volume. The
      patient continues to do well and follows up regularly with our oncology service.
      Current protocols comprising chemotherapy after radiation are based on limited
      studies. A regimen involving concurrent chemoradiation also appears to aid in
      tumour volume reduction. Additional studies are required to formulate robust
      clinical protocols for management of sinonasal NETs. 

PMID- 27624451
TI  - Huge nasal mucosal malignant melanoma in a patient with lack of BRAF V600E
      mutation.

PMID- 27624452
TI  - Correctly identifying responses is critical for understanding homeostatic and
      allostatic regulation.
AB  - Homeostasis stabilizes critical biological variables within appropriate limits
      via corrective regulatory effector responses that adequately counter disturbing
      effects. Identifying individual effects and responses, and distinguishing their
      individual influences on a regulated state, is challenging. Studying effector
      responses can reveal regulatory phenomena that depart from homeostasis into the
      realm of allostasis. 

PMID- 27624453
TI  - Mechanistic Modelling of DNA Repair and Cellular Survival Following Radiation
      Induced DNA Damage.
AB  - Characterising and predicting the effects of ionising radiation on cells remains
      challenging, with the lack of robust models of the underlying mechanism of
      radiation responses providing a significant limitation to the development of
      personalised radiotherapy. In this paper we present a mechanistic model of
      cellular response to radiation that incorporates the kinetics of different DNA
      repair processes, the spatial distribution of double strand breaks and the
      resulting probability and severity of misrepair. This model enables predictions
      to be made of a range of key biological endpoints (DNA repair kinetics,
      chromosome aberration and mutation formation, survival) across a range of cell
      types based on a set of 11 mechanistic fitting parameters that are common across
      all cells. Applying this model to cellular survival showed its capacity to
      stratify the radiosensitivity of cells based on aspects of their phenotype and
      experimental conditions such as cell cycle phase and plating delay (correlation
      between modelled and observed Mean Inactivation Doses R(2) > 0.9). By explicitly
      incorporating underlying mechanistic factors, this model can integrate knowledge
      from a wide range of biological studies to provide robust predictions and may act
      as a foundation for future calculations of individualised radiosensitivity.

PMID- 27624454
TI  - Desmoplastic astrocytoma: new insights into its clinical profile, diagnosis, and
      treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Desmoplastic astrocytoma (DA) is a rare intracranial tumor which
      usually affects pediatric patients. The aim of this study is to describe the
      clinical features and management of DA based on a joint analysis of the cases
      reported in the scientific literature. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A thorough review
      was carried out, gathering those pathologically proven DAs reported since the
      first description of this entity. Two new own cases were included in order to
      illustrate this review. Epidemiological, clinical, radiological, therapeutic, and
      follow-up data were analyzed with the software SPSS version 20. RESULTS: A total
      of 52 DAs were recorded. Most cases occurred in the first 2 years of life,
      although older patients were also reported. Patients mainly presented symptoms
      and signs of elevated intracranial pressure. According to their radiological
      features, we were able to classify DAs in four main groups, with distinct
      differential diagnosis and prognosis. After treatment, 14.2 % of patients
      presented persistent neurological impairment and the mortality rate was close to
      10 %. CONCLUSION: DAs can be diagnosed at any age from birth to adolescence.
      These neoplasms can show up a wider range of radiological morphologies than
      previously thought. Surgery represents the treatment of choice for DAs, although
      chemotherapy can also be useful in the setting of recurrence or progression of
      the disease. Those DAs lacking classic radiological features, especially type 4
      tumors, were linked with a poorer clinical outcome.

PMID- 27624455
TI  - Analysis of DNA Replication by Optical Mapping in Nanochannels.
AB  - DNA replication is essential to maintain genome integrity in S phase of the cell
      division cycle. Accumulation of stalled replication forks is a major source of
      genetic instability, and likely constitutes a key driver of tumorigenesis. The
      mechanisms of regulation of replication fork progression have therefore been
      extensively investigated, in particular with DNA combing, an optical mapping
      technique that allows the stretching of single molecules and the mapping of
      active region for DNA synthesis by fluorescence microscopy. DNA linearization in
      nanochannels has been successfully used to probe genomic information patterns
      along single chromosomes, and has been proposed to be a competitive alternative
      to DNA combing. Yet this conjecture remains to be confirmed experimentally. Here,
      two complementary techniques are established to detect the genomic distribution
      of tracks of newly synthesized DNA in human cells by optical mapping in
      nanochannels. Their respective advantages and limitations are compared, and
      applied them to detect deregulations of the replication program induced by the
      antitumor drug hydroxyurea. The developments here thus broaden the field of
      applications accessible to nanofluidic technologies, and can be used in the
      future as part for molecular diagnostics in the context of high throughput cancer
      drug screening.

PMID- 27624457
TI  - Three-dimensional culture system can induce expression of casein in immortalized
      bovine mammary epithelial cells.
AB  - Primary bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) are not ideal models for long
      term studies of lactation mechanisms because these cells in a monolayer culture
      system cannot be polarized to simulate the physiological functions in vitro. We
      investigate the effects of different culture models and karyotypes on casein
      expression in a three-dimensional (3D) culture system. The immortalized cells'
      karyotypes were analyzed at passages 10, 20, 30 and 40 to detect the effects of
      chromosome stability. Western blotting examined that whether or not the
      immortalized cells at passages 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 could induce expression
      of casein in a 3D culture system. The proper polarization of the acinar
      structures was monitored. BMECs were successfully immortalized. The cell
      karyotype at passage 30 remained at 60 chromosomes and the average value was 57.1
      +/- 0.40 after passage 40. The polarized protein's levels were up-regulated in 3D
      culture compared to 2D culture. Expression of alphas1, beta and kappa-casein
      could be detectable in a passage range in 3D culture. Expression of alphas2
      casein was undetectable in all experimental groups. However, all casein
      expressions were barely detectable in traditional 2D culture system. Therefore,
      3D culture system is an important tool for the long-term study of lactation
      mechanisms in vitro.

PMID- 27624456
TI  - Agricultural chemicals: life changer for mosquito vectors in agricultural
      landscapes?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although many mosquito species develop within agricultural landscapes
      where they are potentially exposed to agricultural chemicals (fertilizers and
      pesticides), the effects of these chemicals on mosquito biology remain poorly
      understood. This study investigated the effects of sublethal concentrations of
      four agricultural chemicals on the life history traits of Anopheles arabiensis
      and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. METHODS: Field and laboratory experiments
      were conducted to examine how sublethal concentrations of four agricultural
      chemicals: an insecticide (cypermethrin), a herbicide (glyphosate), and two
      nitrogenous fertilizers (ammonium sulfate and diammonium phosphate) alter
      oviposition site selection, emergence rates, development time, adult body size,
      and longevity of An. arabiensis and Cx. quinquefasciatus. RESULTS: Both mosquito
      species had preference to oviposit in fertilizer treatments relative to pesticide
      treatments. Emergence rates for An. arabiensis were significantly higher in the
      control and ammonium sulfate treatments compared to cypermethrin treatment, while
      emergence rates for Cx. quinquefasciatus were significantly higher in the
      diammonium phosphate treatment compared to glyphosate and cypermethrin
      treatments. For both mosquito species, individuals from the ammonium sulfate and
      diammonium phosphate treatments took significantly longer time to develop
      compared to those from cypermethrin and glyphosate treatments. Although not
      always significant, males and females of both mosquito species tended to be
      smaller in the ammonium sulfate and diammonium phosphate treatments compared to
      cypermethrin and glyphosate treatments. There was no significant effect of the
      agrochemical treatments on the longevity of either mosquito species. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results demonstrate that the widespread use of agricultural chemicals to
      enhance crop production can have unexpected effects on the spatial distribution
      and abundance of mosquito vectors of malaria and lymphatic filariasis.

PMID- 27624459
TI  - Recommendations for Probiotic Use-2015 Update: Proceedings and Consensus Opinion:
      Erratum.

PMID- 27624458
TI  - Polypoid Mass Mimicking Recurrence of Gastric Cancer at the Site of Endoscopic
      Submucosal Dissection.

PMID- 27624460
TI  - Sexual orientation and its impact on sexual behaviour of young people aged 15-29:
      a cross-sectional study.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine whether there was a direct relation
      between sexual orientation and sexual practices involving penetration; to analyse
      whether condom use in the first sexual relation was conditioned by sexual
      orientation; to verify whether consistent condom use in sexual relations was
      determined by sexual orientation. BACKGROUND: Recent research suggests that
      sexual orientation (i.e. heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality) is a
      determining factor in high-risk sexual behaviour. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study
      with purposive sampling. METHODS: Data were collected between March 2013-April
      2014 from 900 participants (524 males and 376 females). All participants were 15
      29 years of age. Their mean age was 20.93 years. The participants were given a
      socio-demographic survey as well as a psychometric test on high-risk sexual
      behaviour, which had been used in previous studies. RESULTS: There were no
      statistically significant differences in relation to sexual orientation and
      sexual practices involving penetration either in the general model for both sexes
      or in the models for men and women. It was also found that sexual orientation did
      not significantly affect condom use in the first sexual relation. Furthermore,
      consistent condom use had a protector effect in the general model for homosexuals
      and bisexuals. In the model for men, this was also true for homosexuals and in
      the model for women, this was the case for bisexuals. CONCLUSION: Condom use in
      the first sexual relation was similar in all sexual orientations. However, the
      sexual orientation of the subject was found to be a determining factor in
      consistent condom use.

PMID- 27624461
TI  - Falls risk assessment outcomes and factors associated with falls for older
      Indigenous Australians.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of falls and associated risk factors in
      older Indigenous Australians, and compare the accuracy of validated falls risk
      screening and assessment tools in this population in classifying fall status.
      METHOD: Cross-sectional study of 289 Indigenous Australians aged >=45 years from
      the Kimberley region of Western Australia who had a detailed assessment including
      self-reported falls in the past year (n=289), the adapted Elderly Falls Screening
      Tool (EFST; n=255), and the Falls Risk for Older People-Community (FROP-Com)
      screening tool (3 items, n=74) and FROP-Com falls assessment tool (n=74).
      RESULTS: 32% of participants had >=1 fall in the preceding year, and 37.3% were
      classified high falls risk using the EFST (cut-off >=2). In contrast, for the 74
      participants assessed with the FROP-Com, only 14.9% were rated high risk, 35.8%
      moderate risk, and 49.3% low risk. The FROP-Com screen and assessment tools had
      the highest classification accuracy for identifying fallers in the preceding year
      (area under curve >0.85), with sensitivity/specificity highest for the FROP-Com
      assessment (cut-off >=12), sensitivity=0.84 and specificity=0.73. CONCLUSIONS:
      Falls are common in older Indigenous Australians. The FROP-Com falls risk
      assessment tool appears useful in this population, and this research suggests
      changes that may improve its utility further.

PMID- 27624462
TI  - Utilization of healthcare services and renewal of health insurance membership:
      evidence of adverse selection in Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Utilization of healthcare in Ghana's novel National Health Insurance
      Scheme (NHIS) has been increasing since inception with associated high claims
      bill which threatens the scheme's financial sustainability. This paper
      investigates the presence of adverse selection by assessing the effect of
      healthcare utilization and frequency of use on NHIS renewal. METHOD: Routine
      enrolment and utilization data from 2008 to 2013 in two regions in Ghana was
      analyzed. Pearson Chi-square test was performed to test if the proportion of
      insured who utilize healthcare in a particular year and renew membership the
      following year is significantly different from those who utilize healthcare and
      drop-out. Logistic regressions were estimated to examine the relationship between
      healthcare utilization and frequency of use in previous year and NHIS renewal in
      current year. RESULTS: We found evidence suggestive of the presence of adverse
      selection in the NHIS. Majority of insured who utilized healthcare renewed their
      membership whiles most of those who did not utilize healthcare dropped out. The
      likelihood of renewal was significantly higher for those who utilize healthcare
      than those who did not and also higher for those who make more health facility
      visits. CONCLUSION: The NHIS claims bill is high because high risk individuals
      who self-select into the scheme makes more health facility visits and creates
      financial sustainability problems. Policy makers should adopt pragmatic ways of
      enforcing mandatory enrolment so that low risk individuals remain enrolled; and
      sustainable ways of increasing revenue whiles ensuring that the societal
      objectives of the scheme are not compromised.

PMID- 27624463
TI  - Graphitic Carbon Nitride Film: An Emerging Star for Catalytic and Optoelectronic
      Applications.
AB  - Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) is a unique organic semiconductor that has been
      widely applied as a visible-light-driven photocatalyst. However, these
      applications are primarily based on g-CN powders. Applications of g-CN in devices
      are hindered because of difficulties associated with the synthesis of high
      quality g-CN films. This work reviews the latest advances in g-CN films. The
      deposition methods are summarized and the structural, optical, and electronic
      properties of g-CN films and their applications in catalysis, solar cells, and
      light-emitting diodes are outlined. Moreover, the challenges remaining in this
      field are also discussed.

PMID- 27624464
TI  - 2016 updated MASCC/ESMO consensus recommendations: prevention of radiotherapy
      induced nausea and vomiting.
AB  - PURPOSE: Radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV) are distressing
      symptoms. Evidence-based guidelines should facilitate the prescription of the
      best possible antiemetic prophylaxis. As part of the MASCC/ESMO Antiemetic
      Guidelines Update 2016, a thorough review of the literature concerning RINV since
      the 2009 update was required. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature
      including data published from June 2009 to May 2015 was performed. Committee VII
      (RINV) under the MASCC/ESMO Antiemetic Guidelines Update Committee assessed the
      literature. RESULTS: The searches yielded 926 records, 906 records were excluded,
      leaving 20 records for full text assessment, and 18 publications were finally
      included. The only fully published randomized studies in prevention of RINV were
      two negative studies in acupuncture and green tea, respectively. No data to
      support new recommendations for antiemetic prophylaxis in RINV was available.
      However, based on expert opinions, the committee agreed on changes in emetic risk
      level for certain sites of irradiation. CONCLUSIONS: The serotonin receptor
      antagonists are still the corner stone in antiemetic prophylaxis of nausea and
      vomiting induced by high and moderate emetic risk radiotherapy. The studies
      available since the last update did not change recommendations for antiemetic
      prophylaxis. The emetogenicity of craniospinal radiotherapy was reclassified from
      low to moderate emetic level along with some other minor changes. In the future,
      RINV prophylaxis in single fraction, multiple fraction, and in concomitant chemo
      radiotherapy still need to be explored with regard to the different classes and
      combinations of antiemetic drugs.

PMID- 27624465
TI  - The multidimensional burden of informal caregivers in primary malignant brain
      tumor.
AB  - PURPOSE: Informal caregivers (ICs) provide care and improve the quality of life
      of patients with malignant brain tumor. We analyze the impact of their
      involvement on themselves from a triple perspective. METHODS: Home-dwelling
      patients with primary malignant brain tumor underwent a medical examination. ICs
      burden was evaluated by a self-administered postal questionnaire. Objective
      burden (Informal Care Time, ICT), subjective burden (Zarit Burden Inventory,
      ZBI), and financial burden (valuation of lost earnings using the Replacement and
      Opportunity Cost Methods, RCM, OCM) were evaluated. RESULTS: ICs (N = 84) were
      principally women (87 %) and spouses (64 %), of mean age 55 years, who assisted
      patients of mean age 53 years and with a mean KPS score of 61 (range = 30-90, med
      = 60). Subjective burden was moderate (mean ZBI = 30). Objective burden was high
      (mean ICT = 11.7 h/day), mostly consisting of supervision time. Higher subjective
      and objective burden were associated with poorer functional status (KPS) but not
      with a higher level of cognitive disorders in multivariate analyses. Other
      independent associated factors were bladder dysfunction and co-residency for
      objective burden and working and a poor social network for subjective burden. The
      56 working ICs made work arrangements (75 %) that impacted their wages (36 %) and
      careers (30 %). Financial burden due to uncompensated caregiving hours for
      Activities of Daily Living had a mean monetary value from ?677(RCM) to ?1683(OCM)
      per month (i.e., ranging from ?8124 to ?20196 per year). CONCLUSIONS: IC burden
      is multidimensional. Greater provision of formal care, more IC support programs,
      and economic interventions targeting IC employment and finances are needed.

PMID- 27624467
TI  - Erratum to: 2016 updated MASCC/ESMO consensus recommendations: Prevention of
      nausea and vomiting following moderately emetogenic chemotherapy.

PMID- 27624466
TI  - Psychological distress of cancer patients with children under 18 years and their
      partners-a longitudinal study of family relationships using dyadic data analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: With increasing age at pregnancy, the likelihood of cancer affecting a
      family with children under 18 is rising and the issue of parents with cancer is
      gaining importance. Here, we examined the level of anxiety and depression, social
      support, and partnership satisfaction of cancer patients with children under 18
      years and their partners as well as the dyadic patient-partner relationship
      concerning psychological distress and predictor variables. METHODS: We used a
      longitudinal survey, recruiting patients with children under legal age and their
      partners (t1 = post therapy, t2 = 6 months after t1, t3 = 12 months after t1).
      Patients and partners completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS),
      the Oslo 3-item Social Support Scale (OSS-3), and the Abbreviated Dyadic
      Adjustment Scale (ADAS). We surveyed 161 cancer patients and 115 partners by mail
      (t1). Anxiety and depression were compared to German normative data. Dyadic
      relationships of three variables (social support, partnership satisfaction, and
      employment) and the psychological distress of 81 patient-partner dyads were
      analyzed with a structural equation model to estimate the actor-partner
      interdependence model. RESULTS: After cancer therapy, 28.3 % of the patients and
      46.2 % of their partners had moderate to high levels of anxiety and 17.9 % and
      23.1 % had moderate to high levels of depression, respectively. Partners' levels
      of anxiety (p = 0.002) and depression (p = 0.018) had decreased significantly
      over the 1-year period post therapy. We found no changes in patients' anxiety (p
      = 0.444) and depression (p = 0.636) over time. Anxiety and depression did not
      differ on pair level (p = 0.120-0.928). The level of anxiety in patients and
      partners was significantly higher than that in the general population (p < 0.001
      0.006). The analyses of the dyadic relationships showed a positive effect of
      social support on psychological distress of the patient (beta = -0.206, p < 0.2).
      Social support (beta = -0.448, p < 0.001), employment (beta = -0.509, p < 0.01),
      and satisfaction with partnership (beta = -0.448, p < 0.001) showed a positive
      impact on psychological well-being of the partner. CONCLUSIONS: A cancer
      experience within a family is a large burden for both patients and partners,
      highlighting the high incidence of anxiety. The results indicate that couples
      coping with cancer tend to react as an emotional system rather than as
      individuals. Patients' reintegration in employment is as important as encouraging
      partners in their working activities. The findings underline the importance of
      continuing social support for patients and their partners.

PMID- 27624468
TI  - Estimation of myocardial strain from non-rigid registration and highly
      accelerated cine CMR.
AB  - Sparsely sampled cardiac cine accelerated acquisitions show promise for faster
      evaluation of left-ventricular function. Myocardial strain estimation using image
      feature tracking methods is also becoming widespread. However, it is not known
      whether highly accelerated acquisitions also provide reliable feature tracking
      strain estimates. Twenty patients and twenty healthy volunteers were imaged with
      conventional 14-beat/slice cine acquisition (STD), 4* accelerated 4-beat/slice
      acquisition with iterative reconstruction (R4), and a 9.2* accelerated 2
      beat/slice real-time acquisition with sparse sampling and iterative
      reconstruction (R9.2). Radial and circumferential strains were calculated using
      non-rigid registration in the mid-ventricle short-axis slice and inter-observer
      errors were evaluated. Consistency was assessed using intra-class correlation
      coefficients (ICC) and bias with Bland-Altman analysis. Peak circumferential
      strain magnitude was highly consistent between STD and R4 and R9.2 (ICC = 0.876
      and 0.884, respectively). Average bias was -1.7 +/- 2.0 %, p < 0.001, for R4 and 
      2.7 +/- 1.9 %, p < 0.001 for R9.2. Peak radial strain was also highly consistent
      (ICC = 0.829 and 0.785, respectively), with average bias -11.2 +/- 18.4 %, p <
      0.001, for R4 and -15.0 +/- 21.2 %, p < 0.001 for R9.2. STD circumferential
      strain could be predicted by linear regression from R9.2 with an R2 of 0.82 and a
      root mean squared error of 1.8 %. Similarly, radial strain could be predicted
      with an R2 of 0.67 and a root mean squared error of 21.3 %. Inter-observer errors
      were not significantly different between methods, except for peak circumferential
      strain R9.2 (1.1 +/- 1.9 %) versus STD (0.3 +/- 1.0 %), p = 0.011. Although small
      systematic differences were observed in strain, these were highly consistent with
      standard acquisitions, suggesting that accelerated myocardial strain is feasible
      and reliable in patients who require short acquisition durations.

PMID- 27624469
TI  - Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a telerehabilitation approach to group
      adapted tango instruction for people with Parkinson disease.
AB  - People with Parkinson disease (PD) demonstrate improvements in motor function
      following group tango classes, but report long commutes as a barrier to
      participation. To increase access, we investigated a telerehabilitation approach
      to group tango instruction. Twenty-six people with mild-to-moderate PD were
      assigned based on commute distance to either the telerehabilitation group
      (Telerehab) or an in-person instruction group (In-person). Both groups followed
      the same twice-weekly, 12-week curriculum with the same instructor. Feasibility
      metrics were participant retention, attendance and adverse events. Outcomes
      assessed were balance, PD motor sign severity and gait. Participant retention was
      85% in both groups. Attendance was 87% in the Telerehab group and 84% in the In
      person group. No adverse events occurred. Balance and motor sign severity
      improved significantly over time ( p < 0.001) in both groups, with no significant
      group * time effects. Gait did not significantly change. Since a priori
      feasibility criteria were met or exceeded, and there were no notable outcome
      differences between the two instruction approaches, this pilot study suggests a
      telerehabilitation approach to group tango class for people with PD is feasible
      and may have similar outcomes to in-person instruction.

PMID- 27624470
TI  - Genetic landscape of meningioma.
AB  - Meningioma is the most common intracranial tumor, arising from arachnoid cells of
      the meninges. Monosomy 22 and inactivating mutations of NF2 are well-known
      genetic alterations of meningiomas. More recently, mutations in TRAF7, AKT1,
      KLF4, SMO, and PIK3CA were identified by next-generation sequencing. We here
      reviewed 553 meningiomas for the mutational patterns of the six genes. NF2
      aberration was observed in 55 % of meningiomas. Mutations of TRAF7, AKT1, KLF4,
      PIK3CA, and SMO were identified in 20, 9, 9, 4.5, and 3 % of cases, respectively.
      Altogether, 80 % of cases harbored at least one of the genetic alterations in
      these genes. NF2 alterations and mutations of the other genes were mutually
      exclusive with a few exceptions. Clinicopathologically, tumors with mutations in
      TRAF7/AKT1 and SMO shared specific features: they were located in the anterior
      fossa, median middle fossa, or anterior calvarium, and most of them were
      meningothelial or transitional meningiomas. TRAF7/KLF4 type meningiomas showed
      different characteristics in that they occurred in the lateral middle fossa and
      median posterior fossa as well as anterior fossa and median middle fossa, and
      contained a secretory meningioma component. We also discuss the mutational
      hotspots of these genes and other genetic/cytogenetic alterations contributing to
      tumorigenesis or progression of meningiomas.

PMID- 27624471
TI  - A Phase II pilot trial to evaluate safety and efficacy of ferroquine against
      early Plasmodium falciparum in an induced blood-stage malaria infection study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ferroquine (SSR97193) is a candidate anti-malarial currently
      undergoing clinical trials for malaria. To better understand its pharmacokinetic
      (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) parameters the compound was tested in the
      experimentally induced blood stage malaria infection model in volunteers.
      METHODS: Male and non-pregnant female aged 18-50 years were screened for this
      phase II, controlled, single-centre clinical trial. Subjects were inoculated with
      ~1800 viable Plasmodium falciparum 3D7A-infected human erythrocytes, and treated
      with a single-dose of 800 mg ferroquine. Blood samples were taken at defined time
      points to measure PK and PD parameters. The blood concentration of ferroquine and
      its active metabolite, SSR97213, were measured on dry blood spot samples by ultra
      performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
      Parasitaemia and emergence of gametocytes were monitored by quantitative PCR.
      Safety was determined by recording adverse events and monitoring clinical
      laboratory assessments during the course of the study. RESULTS: Eight subjects
      were enrolled into the study, inoculated with infected erythrocytes and treated
      with 800 mg ferroquine. Ferroquine was rapidly absorbed with maximal exposure
      after 4-8 and 4-12 h exposure for SSR97213. Non-compartmental PK analysis
      resulted in estimates for half-lives of 10.9 and 23.8 days for ferroquine and
      SSR97213, respectively. Parasite clearance as reported by parasite reduction
      ratio was 162.9 (95 % CI 141-188) corresponding to a parasite clearance half-life
      of 6.5 h (95 % CI: 6.4-6.7 h). PK/PD modelling resulted in a predicted minimal
      parasiticidal concentration of 20 ng/mL, and the single dosing tested in this
      study was predicted to maintain an exposure above this threshold for 454 h (37.8
      days). Although ferroquine was overall well tolerated, transient elevated
      transaminase levels were observed in three subjects. Paracetamol was the only
      concomitant treatment among the two out of these three subjects that may have
      played a role in the elevated transaminases levels. No clinically significant ECG
      abnormalities were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The parameters and PK/PD model derived
      from this study pave the way to the further rational development of ferroquine as
      an anti-malarial partner drug. The safety of ferroquine has to be further
      explored in controlled human trials. Trial registration anzctr.org.au
      (registration number: ACTRN12613001040752), registered 18/09/2013.

PMID- 27624472
TI  - Rapid Evolutionary Rates and Unique Genomic Signatures Discovered in the First
      Reference Genome for the Southern Ocean Salp, Salpa thompsoni (Urochordata,
      Thaliacea).
AB  - A preliminary genome sequence has been assembled for the Southern Ocean salp,
      Salpa thompsoni (Urochordata, Thaliacea). Despite the ecological importance of
      this species in Antarctic pelagic food webs and its potential role as an
      indicator of changing Southern Ocean ecosystems in response to climate change, no
      genomic resources are available for S. thompsoni or any closely related
      urochordate species. Using a multiple-platform, multiple-individual approach, we
      have produced a 318,767,936-bp genome sequence, covering >50% of the estimated
      602 Mb (+/-173 Mb) genome size for S. thompsoni Using a nonredundant set of
      predicted proteins, >50% (16,823) of sequences showed significant homology to
      known proteins and ~38% (12,151) of the total protein predictions were associated
      with Gene Ontology functional information. We have generated 109,958 SNP variant
      and 9,782 indel predictions for this species, serving as a resource for future
      phylogenomic and population genetic studies. Comparing the salp genome to
      available assemblies for four other urochordates, Botryllus schlosseri, Ciona
      intestinalis, Ciona savignyi and Oikopleura dioica, we found that S. thompsoni
      shares the previously estimated rapid rates of evolution for these species. High
      mutation rates are thus independent of genome size, suggesting that rates of
      evolution >1.5 times that observed for vertebrates are a broad taxonomic
      characteristic of urochordates. Tests for positive selection implemented in PAML
      revealed a small number of genes with sites undergoing rapid evolution, including
      genes involved in ribosome biogenesis and metabolic and immune process that may
      be reflective of both adaptation to polar, planktonic environments as well as the
      complex life history of the salps. Finally, we performed an initial survey of
      small RNAs, revealing the presence of known, conserved miRNAs, as well as novel
      miRNA genes; unique piRNAs; and mature miRNA signatures for varying developmental
      stages. Collectively, these resources provide a genomic foundation supporting S.
      thompsoni as a model species for further examination of the exceptional rates and
      patterns of genomic evolution shown by urochordates. Additionally, genomic data
      will allow for the development of molecular indicators of key life history events
      and processes and afford new understandings and predictions of impacts of climate
      change on this key species of Antarctic pelagic ecosystems.

PMID- 27624473
TI  - Dynamic DTI (dDTI) shows differing temporal activation patterns in post-exercise
      skeletal muscles.
AB  - OBJECT: To assess post-exercise recovery of human calf muscles using dynamic
      diffusion tensor imaging (dDTI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: DTI data (6 directions, b
      = 0 and 400 s/mm2) were acquired every 35 s from seven healthy men using a 3T
      MRI, prior to (4 volumes) and immediately following exercise (13 volumes, ~7.5
      min). Exercise consisted of 5-min in-bore repetitive dorsiflexion-eversion foot
      motion with 0.78 kg resistance. Diffusion tensors calculated at each time point
      produced maps of mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), radial
      diffusivity (RD), and signal at b = 0 s/mm2 (S0). Region-of-interest (ROI)
      analysis was performed on five calf muscles: tibialis anterior (ATIB), extensor
      digitorum longus (EDL) peroneus longus (PER), soleus (SOL), and lateral
      gastrocnemius (LG). RESULTS: Active muscles (ATIB, EDL, PER) showed significantly
      elevated initial MD post-exercise, while predicted inactive muscles (SOL, LG) did
      not (p < 0.0001). The EDL showed a greater initial increase in MD (1.90 * 10
      4mm2/s) than ATIB (1.03 * 10-4mm2/s) or PER (8.79 * 10-5 mm2/s) (p = 7.40 * 10
      4), and remained significantly elevated across more time points than ATIB or PER.
      Significant increases were observed in post-exercise EDL S0 relative to other
      muscles across the majority of time points (p < 0.01 to p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      dDTI can be used to differentiate exercise-induced changes between muscles. These
      differences are suggested to be related to differences in fiber composition.

PMID- 27624474
TI  - Non-gadolinium dynamic angiography of the neurovasculature using arterial spin
      labeling MRI: preliminary experience in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We demonstrate the potential clinical utility of a 4D non-gadolinium
      dynamic angiography technique based on arterial spin-labeling called contrast
      inherent inflow enhanced multi-phase angiography (CINEMA) in pediatric patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: CINEMA was qualitatively compared to conventional time-of
      flight (TOF) angiography in a cohort of 31 pediatric patients at 3 Tesla.
      RESULTS: CINEMA data were successfully acquired and reconstructed in all patients
      with no image artifacts. There were no cases where CINEMA was rated inferior to
      TOF in depicting intracranial vessel conspicuity. In 19 cases, CINEMA was rated
      equivalent to TOF and in the 12 remaining cases CINEMA was rated superior to TOF.
      CONCLUSION: There is a steadily rising concern in adults and children over the
      potential effects of intracranial deposition of gadolinium. CINEMA is therefore a
      viable alternative in dynamic neurovascular imaging.

PMID- 27624475
TI  - Experiences of Sex Education and Sexual Awareness in Young Adults with Autism
      Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - The research investigated feelings towards sex education and sexual awareness in
      young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data were generated from the
      sexual knowledge, experiences, feelings and needs questionnaire (McCabe et al.
      1999), the sexual awareness questionnaire (Snell et al. 1991) and semi-structured
      interviews. Twenty typically developing and 20 ASD individuals participated.
      Feelings toward sex education did not differ between the groups, but the groups
      differed significantly on measures of sexual awareness. Negative experiences of
      sex education and issues of vulnerability, social anxiety, and confused sexuality
      were prominent features of the qualitative interviews. This report suggest that
      mainstream sex and relationship education is not sufficient for people with ASD,
      specific methods and curricular are necessary to match their needs.

PMID- 27624477
TI  - Human life as digitised data assemblage: health, wealth and biopower in Gary
      Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story.

PMID- 27624478
TI  - The medical science fiction of James White: Inside and Outside Sector General.
AB  - James White was a Northern Irish science fiction author working in the subgenre
      of medical science fiction from the mid-1950s to the end of the twentieth
      century. The aim of this article is to introduce White to scholars working in the
      medical humanities, pointing to features of interest and critiquing the more
      excessive utopian impulses of the author. The article covers White's Sector
      General series, set on a vast intergalactic hospital, as well as the author's
      standalone fictions.

PMID- 27624479
TI  - Peak and Trough.

PMID- 27624476
TI  - Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Action Prediction in Children and Adults with
      Autism Spectrum Condition.
AB  - Recent research suggests that impaired action prediction is at the core of social
      interaction deficits in autism spectrum condition (ASC). Here, we targeted two
      cognitive mechanisms that are thought to underlie the prediction of others'
      actions: statistical learning and efficiency considerations. We measured
      proactive eye movements of 10-year-old children and adults with and without ASC
      in anticipation of an agent's repeatedly presented action. Participants with ASC
      showed a generally weaker tendency to generate action predictions. Further
      analyses revealed that statistical learning led to systematic accurate action
      predictions in the control groups. Participants with ASC were impaired in their
      ability to use frequency information for action predictions. Our findings inform
      etiological models of impaired social interaction in ASC.

PMID- 27624480
TI  - Synergistic effect of atorvastatin and cyanidin-3-glucoside against angiotensin
      II-mediated vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration through MAPK
      and PI3K/Akt pathways.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) in
      synergy with atorvastatin, even when it is used in low concentrations. Human
      aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) were used to verify the synergistic mechanism
      of atorvastatin and C3G against angiotensin II-induced proliferation and
      migration. BrdU incorporation assay was used to evaluate cell proliferation.
      Wound healing and Boyden chamber assays were used to investigate cell migration.
      The cell cycle was examined using flow cytometry. The results revealed that
      atorvastatin and C3G exhibit a synergistic effect in ameliorating HASMC
      proliferation and migration by enhancing cell cycle arrest. In addition, these
      effects also decreased mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity by
      attenuating the expression of phospho-p38, phospho-extracellular signaling
      regulated kinase 1/2, and phospho-c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Furthermore, the
      combination of atorvastatin and C3G modulated the PI3K/Akt pathway and
      upregulated p21Cip1, which was associated with decreases in cyclin D1 and phospho
      retinoblastoma expressions. The synergistic effect of atorvastatin and C3G
      induced anti-proliferation and anti-migration through MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways
      mediated by AT1R. These results suggest that the synergistic effect of
      atorvastatin and C3G may be an alternative therapy for atherosclerosis patients.

PMID- 27624481
TI  - Guhong injection protects against focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury via
      anti-inflammatory effects in rats.
AB  - Guhong injection (GHI), composed of aceglutamide and safflower aqueous extract,
      has been used clinically for the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases such as
      cerebral embolism, hemorrhage and mental deterioration. In this paper, we
      reported the results of the first study on the anti-inflammatory effects of GHI
      in murine focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Adult male SD rats
      were randomly divided into six groups: Sham group, I/R group, GHI-L group (2.5
      mL/kg), GHI-M group (5 mL/kg), GHI-H group (10 mL/kg) and Nimodipine group. I/R
      injury was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 1.5 h followed
      by reperfusion for 24 h. Compared with I/R group, rats treated with GHI showed
      dose dependent reductions in neurological defect scores and cerebral infarct
      volume. GHI obviously down-regulated nitric oxide (NO), inducible NO synthase
      (iNOS), myeloperoxidase (MPO), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), TNF-alpha (tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha) and C reactive protein (CRP) levels in serum. Moreover,
      histological examination by H&E staining showed that clear cell outline, less
      vacuolated spaces and largely surviving neurons were observed in GHI-treated
      rats. The immunohistochemical staining revealed that GHI administration
      significantly diminished the positive expressions of intercellular cell adhesion
      molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and nuclear factor-kappaB p65 (NF-kappaB p65) in brain
      tissues. Western blot analysis for ICAM, NF-kappaB p65 and iNOS further
      solidified the above findings. All these results demonstrate that GHI exerts a
      strong and ameliorative effect on cerebral I/R injury in rats possibly through
      the inhibition of inflammation.

PMID- 27624482
TI  - Activin A upregulates PTGS2 expression and increases PGE2 production in human
      granulosa-lutein cells.
AB  - Activin A is one of the members of transforming growth factor-beta superfamily
      that is expressed in human large luteal cells, and may act in an
      autocrine/paracrine manner to regulate luteal function. Prostaglandin
      endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) enzyme and its derivative, prostaglandin E2
      (PGE2), play significant roles in the regulation of corpus luteum formation and
      maintenance. To date, whether activin A can induce the expression of PTGS2 and
      the production of PGE2 in human granulosa-lutein cells is largely unknown. The
      aim of this study was to examine the effects of activin A on the regulation of
      PTGS2 expression and PGE2 production in human granulosa-lutein cells, and to
      investigate the underlying signal transduction mechanisms. In this study, the
      immortalized (SVOG cells) and primary human granulosa-lutein cells were used as
      the cell models. A TGF-beta/activin type I receptor inhibitor, SB431542 and small
      interfering RNAs were used to investigate the activin A-induced downstream
      signaling pathway. We have demonstrated that activin A upregulated the expression
      of PTGS2 and increased the production of PGE2 via an ACVR1B-mediated SMAD2/3
      SMAD4 signaling pathway. Our results suggest that activin A may be involved in
      the modulation of human corpus luteum formation via the induction of PTGS2
      expression and PGE2 production.

PMID- 27624483
TI  - CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutation revealed cytoplasmic tail is dispensable for IZUMO1
      function and male fertility.
AB  - IZUMO1 is a protein found in the head of spermatozoa that has been identified as
      essential for sperm-egg fusion. Its binding partner in the egg has been
      discovered (JUNO); however, the roles of several domains within IZUMO1 remain
      unexplored. One such domain is the C-terminus, which undergoes major
      phosphorylation changes in the cytoplasmic portion of the protein during rat
      epididymal transit. However, the cytoplasmic tail of IZUMO1 in many species is
      highly variable, ranging from 55 to one amino acid. Therefore, to understand the
      role of the cytoplasmic tail of IZUMO1 in mouse, we utilised the gene
      manipulation system of CRISPR/Cas9 to generate a point mutation resulting in a
      premature stop codon, producing mice with truncated IZUMO1. Mice without the
      cytoplasmic tail of IZUMO1 showed normal fertility but decreased the amount of
      protein, indicating that whilst this region is important for the expression level
      of IZUMO1, it is dispensable for fertilisation in the mouse.

PMID- 27624484
TI  - Macrophages promote the growth and invasion of endometrial stromal cells by
      downregulating IL-24 in endometriosis.
AB  - Macrophages play an important role in the origin and development of
      endometriosis. Estrogen promoted the growth of decidual stromal cells (DSCs) by
      downregulating the level of interleukin (IL)-24. The aim of this study was to
      clarify the role and mechanism of IL-24 and its receptors in the regulation of
      biological functions of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) during endometriosis.
      The level of IL-24 and its receptors in endometrium was measured by
      immunohistochemistry. In vitro analysis was used to measure the level of IL-24
      and receptors and the biological behaviors of ESCs. Here, we found that the
      expression of IL-24 and its receptors (IL-20R1 and IL-20R2) in control
      endometrium was significantly higher than that in eutopic and ectopic endometrium
      of women with endometriosis. Recombinant human IL-24 (rhIL-24) significantly
      inhibited the viability of ESCs in a dosage-dependent manner. Conversely,
      blocking IL-24 with anti-IL-24 neutralizing antibody promoted ESCs viability. In
      addition, rhIL-24 could downregulate the invasiveness of ESCs in vitro After co
      culture, macrophages markedly reduced the expression of IL-24 and IL-20R1 in
      ESCs, but not IL-22R1. Moreover, macrophages significantly restricted the
      inhibitory effect of IL-24 on the viability, invasion, the proliferation relative
      gene Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclooxygenase2 (COX
      2), and the stimulatory effect on the tumor metastasis suppressor gene CD82 in
      ESCs. These results indicate that the abnormally low level of IL-24 in ESCs
      possibly induced by macrophages may lead to the enhancement of ESCs'
      proliferation and invasiveness and contribute to the development of
      endometriosis.

PMID- 27624485
TI  - Oral anticoagulation with vitamin K inhibitors and determinants of successful
      self-management in primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-management may be an option to monitor oral anticoagulant
      therapy in health systems, but before recommending it, we need to assess
      patients' ability to take on this task. The purpose of the study was to describe
      patients' ability to self-manage and associated factors. METHODS: This was a 3
      year prospective quasi-experimental study with a control group. Overall, 333
      patients on anticoagulant therapy from seven primary care health centres of the
      Basque Health Service were included in the intervention group and followed up for
      6 months after the intervention, assessing their ability to self-test and self
      manage. The intervention consisted of a patient training programme, providing
      detailed information on their condition and its treatment, and practical training
      in how to use a portable blood coagulation monitor and adjust their anticoagulant
      dose. Comparisons were made with a control group (333 patients receiving OAT
      under usual care from the same seven health centres). Outcome variables were
      ability to self-manage, quality of the outcome (in terms of time in therapeutic
      range), and quality of life in the intervention group, and general patient
      characteristics (age and sex), clinical variables (reason for OAT, INR range),
      and quality of the outcome (in terms of percentage of INR measurements in range
      and complications) in both groups. RESULTS: Overall, 26.13 % of patients invited
      to participate in the intervention agreed. Of these, 99 % successfully learned to
      self-manage their OAT. Just 4.2 % did not complete the follow-up, in all cases
      for reasons unrelated to self-management, and 4.5 % required additional learning
      support. Outcomes were better than under usual care in terms of percentage of INR
      measurements in range (12 %), rate of complications (4 %) and quality of life
      (9.2 %). LIMITATIONS: Patients were only followed-up period for 6 months and the
      study was conducted in a single health organization. Though patients eligible to
      participate were selected randomly, they were not randomly allocated to the
      groups. This is a potential source of selection bias. Data needed to calculate in
      range time were not collected from controls; rather the results for the self
      management group were compared with external data from other studies.
      CONCLUSIONS: Almost all participants achieved competency in self-management, with
      no differences by age, sex, concurrent illnesses, polypharmacy or educational
      level. The greatest barrier to self-management was the attitude of patients
      themselves and those around them. Self-management in primary care is a good
      alternative to usual care, patients having longer times in therapeutic range and
      fewer complications, and improving their quality of life. Remote management is a
      good support tool. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT01878539.

PMID- 27624488
TI  - Erratum: Advances in mapping malaria for elimination: fine resolution modelling
      of Plasmodium falciparum incidence.

PMID- 27624486
TI  - The NF-YC-RGL2 module integrates GA and ABA signalling to regulate seed
      germination in Arabidopsis.
AB  - The antagonistic crosstalk between gibberellic acid (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA)
      plays a pivotal role in the modulation of seed germination. However, the
      molecular mechanism of such phytohormone interaction remains largely elusive.
      Here we show that three Arabidopsis NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y C (NF-YC) homologues NF-YC3,
      NF-YC4 and NF-YC9 redundantly modulate GA- and ABA-mediated seed germination.
      These NF-YCs interact with the DELLA protein RGL2, a key repressor of GA
      signalling. The NF-YC-RGL2 module targets ABI5, a gene encoding a core component
      of ABA signalling, via specific CCAAT elements and collectively regulates a set
      of GA- and ABA-responsive genes, thus controlling germination. These results
      suggest that the NF-YC-RGL2-ABI5 module integrates GA and ABA signalling pathways
      during seed germination.

PMID- 27624487
TI  - Self-reported quality of life and self-esteem in sad and anxious school children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common in childhood, however
      problems in need of intervention may not be identified. Children at risk for
      developing more severe problems can be identified based on elevated symptom
      levels. Quality of life and self-esteem are important functional domains and may
      provide additional valuable information. METHODS: Schoolchildren (n = 915), aged
      9-13, who considered themselves to be more anxious or sad than their peers,
      completed self-reports of anxiety (Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for children
      (MASC-C), depression (The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire; SMFQ), quality
      of life (Kinder Lebensqualitat Fragebogen; KINDL) and self-esteem (Beck self
      concept inventory for youth (BSCI-Y) at baseline of a randomized controlled
      indicative study. Using multivariate analyses, we examined the relationships
      between internalizing symptoms, quality of life and self-esteem in three at-risk
      symptom groups. We also examined gender and age differences. RESULTS: 52.1 % of
      the screened children scored above the defined at-risk level reporting elevated
      symptoms of either Anxiety and Depression (Combined group) (26.6 %), Depression
      only (15.4 %) or Anxiety only (10.2 %). One-way ANOVA analysis showed significant
      mean differences between the symptom groups on self-reported quality of life and
      self-esteem. Regression analysis predicting quality of life and self-esteem
      showed that in the Depression only group and the Combined group, symptom levels
      were significantly associated with lower self-reported scores on both functional
      domains. In the Combined group, older children reported lower quality of life and
      self-esteem than younger children. Internalizing symptoms explained more of the
      variance in quality of life than in self-esteem. Symptoms of depression explained
      more of the variance than anxious symptoms. Female gender was associated with
      higher levels of internalizing symptoms, but there was no gender difference in
      quality of life and self-esteem. CONCLUSION: Internalizing symptoms were
      associated with lower self-reported quality of life and self-esteem in children
      in the at-risk groups reporting depressive or depressive and anxious symptoms. A
      transdiagnostic approach targeting children with internalizing symptoms may be
      important as an early intervention to change a possible negative trajectory.
      Tailoring the strategies to the specific symptom pattern of the child will be
      important to improve self-esteem. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration in
      Clinical trials: NCT02340637 , June 12, 2014.

PMID- 27624489
TI  - Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 Is a Urinary Biomarker and Pathogenic Mediator of
      Kidney Fibrosis.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7), a secreted zinc- and calcium-dependent
      endopeptidase, is a transcriptional target of canonical Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling. Because Wnt/beta-catenin is activated in diseased kidney, we
      hypothesized that urinary MMP-7 level may be used as a noninvasive surrogate
      biomarker for fibrotic lesions. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a cross
      sectional study, measuring urinary MMP-7 levels in a cohort of 102 patients with
      CKD. Compared with normal subjects, patients with various kidney disorders had
      markedly elevated urinary levels of MMP-7. Furthermore, urinary MMP-7 levels
      closely correlated with renal fibrosis scores in patients. In mice, knockout of
      MMP-7 ameliorated the fibrotic lesions and expression of matrix genes induced by
      obstructive injury. Genetic ablation of MMP-7 also preserved E-cadherin protein
      expression and substantially reduced the expression of total and dephosphorylated
      beta-catenin and the de novo expression of vimentin and fibroblast-specific
      protein 1 in renal tubules of obstructed kidneys. In vitro, MMP-7 proteolytically
      degraded E-cadherin in proximal tubular cells, leading to beta-catenin liberation
      and nuclear translocation and induction of beta-catenin target genes by a
      mechanism independent of Wnt ligands. Finally, pharmacologic inhibition of MMP-7
      immediately after obstructive injury reduced renal fibrosis in vivo These results
      suggest that MMP-7 not only can serve as a noninvasive biomarker but also is an
      important pathogenic mediator of kidney fibrosis.

PMID- 27624491
TI  - Health Monitoring and Management for Manufacturing Workers in Adverse Working
      Conditions.
AB  - In adverse working conditions, environmental parameters such as metallic dust,
      noise, and environmental temperature, directly affect the health condition of
      manufacturing workers. It is therefore important to implement health monitoring
      and management based on important physiological parameters (e.g., heart rate,
      blood pressure, and body temperature). In recent years, new technologies, such as
      body area networks, cloud computing, and smart clothing, have allowed the
      improvement of the quality of services. In this article, we first give five-layer
      architecture for health monitoring and management of manufacturing workers. Then,
      we analyze the system implementation process, including environmental data
      processing, physical condition monitoring and system services and management, and
      present the corresponding algorithms. Finally, we carry out an evaluation and
      analysis from the perspective of insurance and compensation for manufacturing
      workers in adverse working conditions. The proposed scheme will contribute to the
      improvement of workplace conditions, realize health monitoring and management,
      and protect the interests of manufacturing workers. 

PMID- 27624490
TI  - Gli1+ Pericyte Loss Induces Capillary Rarefaction and Proximal Tubular Injury.
AB  - Peritubular capillary rarefaction is hypothesized to contribute to the increased
      risk of future CKD after AKI. Here, we directly tested the role of Gli1+ kidney
      pericytes in the maintenance of peritubular capillary health, and the
      consequences of pericyte loss during injury. Using bigenic Gli1-CreERt2;
      R26tdTomato reporter mice, we observed increased distance between Gli1+ pericytes
      and endothelial cells after AKI (mean+/-SEM: 3.3+/-0.1 um before injury versus
      12.5+/-0.2 um after injury; P<0.001). Using a genetic ablation model, we asked
      whether pericyte loss alone is sufficient for capillary destabilization. Ten days
      after pericyte ablation, we observed endothelial cell damage by electron
      microscopy. Furthermore, pericyte loss led to significantly reduced capillary
      number at later time points (mean+/-SEM capillaries/high-power field: 67.6+/-4.7
      in control versus 44.1+/-4.8 at 56 days; P<0.05) and increased cross-sectional
      area (mean+/-SEM: 21.9+/-0.4 um2 in control versus 24.1+/-0.6 um2 at 10 days;
      P<0.01 and 24.6+/-0.6 um2 at 56 days; P<0.001). Pericyte ablation also led to
      hypoxic focal and subclinical tubular injury, reflected by transient expression
      of Kim1 and vimentin in scattered proximal tubule segments. This analysis
      provides direct evidence that AKI causes pericyte detachment from capillaries,
      and that pericyte loss is sufficient to trigger transient tubular injury and
      permanent peritubular capillary rarefaction.

PMID- 27624492
TI  - Determination of Spatial Distribution of Children Treated in Children Oncology
      Clinic with the Aid of Geographic Information Systems.
AB  - The main objective of this research is to examine child cancer cases in
      Zonguldak/Turkey descriptively in epidemiological aspect with the help of GIS.
      Universe of the study is composed of 60 children between 1 and 19 years old who
      were treated in Children Oncology Clinic with a diagnosis of cancer. Whole
      universe was reached without selecting a sample in the study. Data were collected
      by using a form prepared by obtaining expert advice and they were applied to
      children and their parents at study dates. Results were expressed as percentages.
      Chi-Square test was used in intergroup comparisons, results were assessed within
      95 % confidence interval and p < 0.05 was considered as statistically
      significant. Variables that were used in the study were assessed, recorded in
      prepared data collection form and distribution maps were produced. When disease
      diagnosis of the children participated in the study were evaluated, the most
      observed three types are ALL with 33.3 % (n = 20), Medullablastoma with 13.3 % (n
      = 8) and Hodgkin-nonHodgkin Lymphoma with 11.7 % (n = 7). Kdz. Eregli with 31.7 %
      (n = 19), Center with 31.7 % (n = 19), and Caycuma with 18.3 % (n = 11) are the
      first-three counties where the cases were mostly observed. Statistically
      significant difference was found (p = 0.016) comparing disease diagnosis with
      living place, and distribution maps of the number of cancer cases were produced. 

PMID- 27624493
TI  - A Standard-Based and Context-Aware Architecture for Personal Healthcare Smart
      Gateways.
AB  - The rising availability of Personal Health Devices (PHDs) capable of Personal
      Network Area (PAN) communication and the desire of keeping a high quality of life
      are the ingredients of the Connected Health vision. In parallel, a growing number
      of personal and portable devices, like smartphones and tablet computers, are
      becoming capable of taking the role of health gateway, that is, a data collector
      for the sensor PHDs. However, as the number of PHDs increase, the number of other
      peripherals connected in PAN also increases. Therefore, PHDs are now competing
      for medium access with other devices, decreasing the Quality of Service (QoS) of
      health applications in the PAN. In this article we present a reference
      architecture to prioritize PHD connections based on their state and requirements,
      creating a healthcare Smart Gateway. Healthcare context information is extracted
      by observing the traffic through the gateway. A standard-based approach was used
      to identify health traffic based on ISO/IEEE 11073 family of standards. A
      reference implementation was developed showing the relevance of the problem and
      how the proposed architecture can assist in the prioritization. The reference
      Smart Gateway solution was integrated with a Connected Health System for the
      Internet of Things, validating its use in a real case scenario. 

PMID- 27624494
TI  - An ICT-Based Platform to Monitor Protocols in the Healthcare Environment.
AB  - Procedures from the healthcare domain involve highly critical actions as they may
      pose a risk for patients' life. Therefore, a large effort is devoted to the
      standardization in clinical praxis and to the control of quality for these
      protocols in order to minimize hazards. In this line, this work is compelled to
      provide an ICT-based support to carry out these controls in a simple and
      effective manner. Using a methodology based on HACCP and taking advantage of
      Semantic tools, a holistic platform of services for traceability and control of
      processes has been designed and implemented. The applied paradigm is based on the
      use of Control Points as singular points to generate traces using observations
      and measures relevant for the processes considered. Based on those, it is
      possible to offer services for advanced querying and knowledge inference. The
      local deployment just requires regular mobile phones or tablets making this
      solution cost-effective and easily replicable. 

PMID- 27624495
TI  - Existence and control of Legionella bacteria in building water systems: A review.
AB  - Legionellae are waterborne bacteria which are capable of causing potentially
      fatal Legionnaires' disease (LD), as well as Pontiac Fever. Public concern about
      Legionella exploded following the 1976 outbreak at the American Legion conference
      in Philadelphia, where 221 attendees contracted pneumonia and 34 died. Since that
      time, a variety of different control methods and strategies have been developed
      and implemented in an effort to eradicate Legionella from building water systems.
      Despite these efforts, the incidence of LD has been steadily increasing in the
      U.S. for more than a decade. Public health and occupational hygiene professionals
      have maintained an active debate regarding best practices for management and
      control of Legionella. Professional opinion remains divided with respect to the
      relative merits of performing routine sampling for Legionella, vs. the passive,
      reactive approach that has been largely embraced by public health officials and
      facility owners. Given the potential risks and ramifications associated with
      waiting to assess systems for Legionella until after disease has been identified
      and confirmed, a proactive approach of periodic testing for Legionella, along
      with proper water treatment, is the best approach to avoiding large-scale disease
      outbreaks.

PMID- 27624496
TI  - Chronic anal fissure: morphometric analysis of the anal canal at 3.0 Tesla MR
      imaging.
AB  - : OBJECTiVE: To compare the morphometric data relating to the muscular structures
      of the anal canal, in patients with chronic anal fissure and in control group,
      examined at a 3.0 Tesla MR system. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty-seven consecutive
      patients with chronic anal fissure and randomly selected 40 patients who had no
      claims for perianal disease during their life time were included in the study. T2
      weighted sagittal, high-resolution (HR) T2-weighted, and contrast-enhanced fat
      suppressed T1-weighted oblique axial and oblique coronal images were
      retrospectively analyzed by two observers in consensus. Thickness of sphincteric
      muscles, anal canal length, anorectal angle, thickness of anococcygeal ligament,
      depth of Minor triangle, width between subcutaneous sphincters, vascularity of
      posterior commissure, visibility of posterosuperior projection of external
      sphincter, and angle between the distal anal canal and posterosuperior projection
      of external sphincter (H angle) in patients and in controls were compared and
      analyzed using t test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman correlation. RESULTS:
      The patients with chronic anal fissure had longer anal canal (51.50 mm +/- 0.91
      vs. 44.11 mm +/- 0.71; p = 0.000), thicker internal anal sphincter muscle at mid
      anal level (4.18 +/- 0.15 vs. 3.39 +/- 0.07; p = 0.007), and wider space between
      subcutaneous external sphincters (11.39 +/- 0.50 vs. 6.89 +/- 0.22; p = 0.000).
      In patients, there was a positive correlation between H angle and external
      sphincter thickness at proximal (r = 0.347; p = 0.021), middle (r = 0427; p =
      0.000), and distal (r = 0.518; p = 0.000)) levels of the anal canal. CONCLUSiON:
      3.0 Tesla MR imaging provides detailed information about the morphometric changes
      in the anal sphincter muscles in patients with chronic anal fissure.

PMID- 27624497
TI  - Sonographic evaluation of deep endometriosis: protocol for a US radiology
      practice.
AB  - Endometriosis is a common condition with significant morbidity, including pain
      and subfertility, which is often subject to a delay in diagnosis. Ultrasound has
      been successfully utilized, mostly outside North America, to preoperatively stage
      deep endometriosis, but in these international settings, imaging is typically
      performed solely by expert radiologists and gynecologists. We outline a method
      for detailed sonographic survey of the lower abdomen and pelvis to ensure optimum
      detection and communication of disease extent that is geared to radiologists
      practicing ultrasound in the United States, with the use of diagnostic medical
      sonographers.

PMID- 27624498
TI  - Short-term efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization with epirubicin-loaded
      superabsorbent polymer microspheres for hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison with
      conventional transarterial chemoembolization.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare the short-term efficacy of transarterial
      chemoembolization (TACE) with epirubicin-loaded superabsorbent polymer embolics
      (SAP) and conventional TACE in TACE-naive patients with unresectable
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients (mean age,
      72.8 years; hepatitis C, 46%; BCLC-A or B, 52% or 48%) treated with TACE with SAP
      during 2013-2015 and 55 consecutive patients (mean age, 71.8 years; hepatitis C,
      40%; BCLC-A or B, 51% or 49%) treated with conventional TACE during 2011-2013
      were evaluated. Safety evaluations were based on CTCAE ver. 4.0. Short-term
      efficacies, i.e., at 1 month after TACE, were assessed using the European
      Association for the Study of the Liver criteria. Overall survival rates were
      calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Short-term response markers were
      analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: There was no
      significant difference in the incidence of any grade of adverse events. The
      objective response rates were 50% and 62% in patients treated with TACE with SAP
      and with conventional TACE, respectively (P = 0.358). The overall survival rates
      were not significantly different (P = 0.810); the 1-year survival rates and the
      median survival time of the patients treated with TACE with SAP and with
      conventional TACE were 76% and 74%, and 18 months and 21 months, respectively.
      Overall survival was related to the short-term response. An alpha-fetoprotein
      level <1,000 ng/mL was a significant short-term response marker on multivariate
      analysis. CONCLUSIONS: For TACE-naive patients, TACE with SAP and conventional
      TACE had comparable safety and short-term efficacies.

PMID- 27624499
TI  - An overview of PET/MR, focused on clinical applications.
AB  - Hybrid PET/MR scanners are innovative imaging devices that simultaneously or
      sequentially acquire and fuse anatomical and functional data from magnetic
      resonance (MR) with metabolic information from positron emission tomography (PET)
      (Delso et al. in J Nucl Med 52:1914-1922, 2011; Zaidi et al. in Phys Med Biol
      56:3091-3106, 2011). Hybrid PET/MR scanners have the potential to greatly impact
      not only on medical research but also, and more importantly, on patient
      management. Although their clinical applications are still under investigation,
      the increased worldwide availability of PET/MR scanners, and the growing
      published literature are important determinants in their rising utilization for
      primarily clinical applications. In this manuscript, we provide a summary of the
      physical features of PET/MR, including its limitations, which are most relevant
      to clinical PET/MR implementation and to interpretation. Thereafter, we discuss
      the most important current and emergent clinical applications of such hybrid
      technology in the abdomen and pelvis, both in the field of oncologic and non
      oncologic imaging, and we provide, when possible, a comparison with clinically
      consolidated imaging techniques, like for example PET/CT.

PMID- 27624500
TI  - Deinococcus persicinus sp. nov., a radiation-resistant bacterium from soil.
AB  - Two Gram-stain-negative, oxidase-negative, catalase-positive, aerobic and coccus
      shaped bacterial strains, KSY3-6T and JSH6-18, were isolated from soil in South
      Korea. Strains KSY3-6T and JSH6-18 showed high resistance to gamma-ray and UVC
      irradiation. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains KSY3-6T and JSH6-18 showed a
      novel subline within the genus Deinococcus in the family Deinococcaceae. They
      shared 94.8-86.4 % nucleotide similarities with other species of the genus
      Deinococcus. Strain KSY3-6T exhibited high DNA-DNA hybridization values with JSH6
      18 (77+/-0.8 %). The two strains showed typical chemotaxonomic characteristics of
      the genus Deinococcus, including the presence of menaquinone 8 (MK-8) as
      predominant respiratory quinone and C16 : 0, C17 : 0cyclo and summed feature 3
      (C16 : 1omega7c/C16: 1omega6c) as major fatty acids. The G+C content of the DNA
      of strains KSY3-6T and JSH6-18 was 62.0 and 62.4 mol%, respectively. Polar lipids
      in strains KSY3-6T and JSH6-18 were mainly phosphoglycolipids. Based on their
      phenotypic and genotypic properties, strains KSY3-6T and JSH6-18 should be
      classified as representatives of a novel species in the genus Deinococcus, for
      which the name Deinococcus persicinus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is
      KSY3-6T (=KCTC 33787T=JCM 31313T). The reference strain is JSH6-18 (=KCTC
      33788=JCM 31312).

PMID- 27624501
TI  - Junior doctors' High Court challenge to Jeremy Hunt.

PMID- 27624502
TI  - Hepatitis B virus infection in children of HBV-related chronic liver disease
      patients: a study of intra-familial HBV transmission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HBV-infected patients are potential sources of intra-familial
      transmission. We studied HBV transmission and molecular characteristics within
      families of HBV-related chronic liver disease (CLD) patients. METHODS: Family
      members [index cases (ICs), spouses, and 1-18-year-old children] of HBV-related
      CLD patients were tested for HBsAg, anti-HBc, and anti-HBs. HBsAg-positive
      subjects were tested for HBeAg/anti-HBe. Anti-HBc-positive children together with
      their family members were further investigated for HBV DNA. Sequences of positive
      isolates were analyzed over surface, precore (PC) and basal core promoter (BCP)
      regions. RESULTS: Among 94 children of 46 ICs, the prevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBc,
      and anti-HBs was 10 (10.6 %), 19 (20.2 %), and 46 (48.9 %), respectively. Thirty
      eight (40.4 %) children were seronegative, indicating susceptibility to HBV
      infection. HBV DNA was identified in all ICs, 4 spouses, and 16 children. Having
      both parents with HBsAg positive and at least two HBV carriers in the households
      were significant risk factors of intra-familial transmission. HBV
      genotype/subtype distributions were comparable between children and ICs/spouses,
      with predominance of genotype B. The majority of HBV DNA sequences found in
      children were identical to their corresponding ICs-particularly mothers-including
      mutation patterns in the surface, PC, and BCP regions. Recognized mutations
      associated with HBsAg detection and/or vaccination failure, T140I, T143S/M,
      G145R, and Y161F, were identified in 20 subjects; while mutations linked to HBeAg
      defective variants, PC G1896A and BCP A1762T/G1764A, were found in 7 and 11
      subjects, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Children of HBV-related CLD patients were at
      increased risk of HBV infection through multi-modal transmission routes despite
      negative parental HBsAg and HBeAg status.

PMID- 27624503
TI  - Elbasvir/grazoprevir for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
AB  - Hepatitis C is the leading cause of progressive liver fibrosis worldwide and
      results in cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and death. Successful treatment
      for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has rapidly evolved in recent years to a well
      tolerated, highly efficacious all-oral therapy. Elbasvir/grazoprevir (Zepatier)
      is the newest of the oral combinations of HCV direct-acting agents that was
      approved by the US Federal Drug Administration. This review focuses on the
      pharmacology, mechanism of action and clinical trial data that support the use of
      this new combination treatment for HCV infection. The data suggest that Zepatier
      offers an excellent treatment efficacy, safety and tolerability in HCV treatment
      naive and experienced patients and those with and without cirrhosis across
      multiple genotypes. Also, it has the selective advantage of safety and efficacy
      in patients with renal disease, especially in those with end-stage renal disease
      and/or hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 27624504
TI  - Glucose fluctuations reduce quality of sleep and of life in patients with liver
      cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbance and decreased health-related quality of life
      (HRQOL) are significant complaints in patients with liver cirrhosis. Although the
      etiology of these complications is unclear, we propose that glucose intolerance
      may be a predisposing factor. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the
      relationship between glucose intolerance and these complications. METHODS: We
      assessed continuous glucose monitoring in 43 patients with chronic liver disease.
      Among these patients, 36 completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the
      36-Item Short-form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Neuropsychological Test (NPT).
      We also assessed the change in glucose fluctuations between preoperative periods
      and 1 year after liver transplantation in 13 patients. RESULTS: Standard
      deviation (SD) of blood glucose was 24.15 +/- 13.52. SD values correlated to
      glucose metabolism measures, including HbA1c and glycoalbumin. SD values also
      correlated to markers of liver fibrosis, including type IV collagen. Twenty-one
      patients (58.3 %) were classified as "poor" sleepers, with a global PSQI score
      >=6. Glucose fluctuations correlated with the global PSQI score (r = 0.456, p =
      0.008) and the SF-36 score (r = 0.434, p = 0.013). Multivariate regression
      analysis identified SD values as an independent risk factor for sleep disturbance
      (r = 0.12, p = 0.039) and decreased HRQOL (r = -0.32, p = 0.024). SD values did
      not correlate with the NPT. SD values were also improved in 11 (84.6 %) patients
      1 year after liver transplantation. CONCLUSION: Abnormal glucose fluctuations are
      a risk factor for sleep disturbance and decrease of HRQOL in patients with
      cirrhosis.

PMID- 27624505
TI  - Carvedilol versus propranolol effect on hepatic venous pressure gradient at 1
      month in patients with index variceal bleed: RCT.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) plus beta blocker is the
      mainstay treatment after index bleed to prevent rebleed. Primary objective of
      this study was to compare EVL plus propranolol versus EVL plus carvedilol on
      reduction of HVPG after 1 month of therapy. METHODS: Patients of cirrhosis
      presenting with index esophageal variceal bleed received standard treatment
      (Somatostatin therapy f/b EVL) following which HVPG was measured and patients
      were randomized to propranolol or carvedilol group if HVPG was >12 mmHg. Standard
      endotherapy protocol was continued in both groups. HVPG was again measured at 1
      month of treatment. RESULTS: Out of 129 patients of index esophageal variceal
      bleed, 59 patients were eligible and randomized into carvedilol (n = 30) and
      propranolol (n = 29). At 1 month of treatment, decrease in heart rate, mean
      arterial blood pressure (MAP) and HVPG was significant within each group (p =
      0.001). Percentage decrease in MAP was significantly more in carvedilol group as
      compared to propranolol group (p = 0.04). Number of HVPG responders (HVPG
      decrease >20 % or below 12 mmHg) was significantly more in carvedilol group
      (22/29) as compared to propranolol group (14/28), p = 0.04. CONCLUSION:
      Carvedilol is more effective in reducing portal pressure in patients with
      cirrhosis with esophageal bleed. Though a larger study is required to
      substantiate this, the results in this study are promising for carvedilol.
      Clinical trials online government registry (CTRI/2013/10/004119). Trial
      registration number CTRI/2013/10/004119.

PMID- 27624506
TI  - Variable presentation of Fraser syndrome in two fetuses and a novel mutation in
      FRAS1.
AB  - We report on a consanguineous family with three pregnancies affected with Fraser
      syndrome. We note severe brachydactyly is a manifestation of Fraser syndrome and
      found a novel homozygous splice site variation c.3293-2A>T in FRAS1. We would
      like to highlight variable manifestations of Fraser syndrome and the presence of
      oligohydramnios in the antenatal period often makes prenatal diagnosis clinically
      challenging.

PMID- 27624507
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Citywide Emergency Department Care
      Coordination Program to Reduce Prescription Opioid Related Emergency Department
      Visits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing prescription overdose deaths have demonstrated the need
      for safer emergency department (ED) prescribing practices for patients who are
      frequent ED users. OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that the care of frequent ED users
      would improve using a citywide care coordination program combined with an ED care
      coordination information system, as measured by fewer ED visits by and decreased
      controlled substance prescribing to these patients. METHODS: We conducted a
      multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) across all EDs in a metropolitan
      area; 165 patients with the most ED visits for complaints of pain were
      randomized. For the treatment arm, drivers of ED use were identified by medical
      record review. Patients and their primary care providers were contacted by phone.
      Each patient was discussed at a community multidisciplinary meeting where
      recommendations for ED care were formed. The ED care recommendations were stored
      in an ED information exchange system that faxed them to the treating ED provider
      when the patient presented to the ED. The control arm was subjected to treatment
      as usual. RESULTS: The intervention arm experienced a 34% decrease (incident rate
      ratios = 0.66, p < 0.001; 95% confidence interval 0.57-0.78) in ED visits and an
      80% decrease (odds ratio = 0.21, p = 0.001) in the odds of receiving an opioid
      prescription from the ED relative to the control group. Declines of 43.7%, 53.1%,
      52.9%, and 53.1% were observed in the treatment group for morphine milligram
      equivalents, controlled substance pills, prescriptions, and prescribers,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: This RCT showed the effectiveness of a citywide ED care
      coordination program in reducing ED visits and controlled substance prescribing.

PMID- 27624508
TI  - Acute Porphyria Presenting as Major Trauma: Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute porphyria is historically known as "the little imitator" in
      reference to its reputation as a notoriously difficult diagnosis. Variegate
      porphyria is one of the four acute porphyrias, and can present with both
      blistering cutaneous lesions and acute neurovisceral attacks involving abdominal
      pain, neuropsychiatric features, neuropathy, hyponatremia, and a vast array of
      other nonspecific clinical features. CASE REPORT: A 40-year-old man presented to
      the Emergency Department (ED) as a major trauma call, having been found in an
      "acutely confused state" surrounded by broken glass. Primary survey revealed:
      hypertension, tachycardia, abdominal pain, severe agitation, and confusion with
      an encephalopathy consistent with acute delirium, a Glasgow Coma Scale score of
      13, and head-to-toe "burn-like" abrasions. Computed tomography was unremarkable,
      and blood tests demonstrated hyponatremia, acute kidney injury, and a
      neutrophilic leukocytosis. The next of kin eventually revealed a past medical
      history of variegate porphyria. The patient was experiencing an acute attack and
      received supportive management prior to transfer to intensive care, subsequently
      making a full recovery. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: This
      case highlights the importance of recognizing acute medical conditions in
      patients thought to be suffering from major trauma. Acute porphyria should be
      considered in any patient with abdominal pain in combination with
      neuropsychiatric features, motor neuropathy, or hyponatremia. Patients often
      present to the ED without any medical history, and accurate diagnosis can be
      essential in the acute setting to minimize morbidity and mortality. The label of
      the major trauma call must be taken with great caution, and a broad differential
      diagnosis must be maintained throughout a diligent and thorough primary survey.

PMID- 27624511
TI  - Response.

PMID- 27624510
TI  - Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitor Use: An Under-Reported Cause of Profuse Nasal
      Bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors enhance penile erection and
      have gained popularity not only for erectile dysfunction, but also in
      recreational settings. Nevertheless, adverse effects have been associated with
      their use, with nasal bleeding among them. PDE-5 inhibitor action is materialized
      through the inhibition of the cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) enzyme. cGMP
      is present at several sites of the human body in addition to the corpus
      cavernosum, leading to the adverse effects associated with its nonselective
      inhibition. CASE REPORTS: Two male patients with severe epistaxis who were taking
      PDE-5 inhibitors for erectile dysfunction or recreational purposes are discussed.
      Surgical intervention was required in both patients to control the nasal
      hemorrhage. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Nasal bleeding
      in patients who are taking PDE-5 inhibitors might represent an under-reported
      cause of epistaxis because of the unwillingness of most male patients to discuss
      issues pertaining their use without hesitation. Yet such episodes are rather
      profuse. This is especially true when the venous engorgement caused in the nasal
      mucosa by the smooth muscle relaxant effect of PDE-5 inhibitors is combined with
      a second event (e.g., specific drugs or blood dyscrasia). Emergency physicians
      should be also aware of the possibility that in the coming years the number of
      such cases might increase because of the increased use of these medications for
      erectile dysfunction or recreational purposes. It is likely that these patients
      could not be managed conservatively, but would rather require referral to an Ear,
      Nose, and Throat Department for surgical intervention.

PMID- 27624509
TI  - Ondansetron Oral Dissolve Tab vs. Oral Solution in Children Presenting to the
      Emergency Department with Gastroenteritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ondansetron is often used in the emergency department (ED) to promote
      oral rehydration in children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE), yet medication
      solutions administered orally may be poorly tolerated in this population.
      OBJECTIVES: We compared the tolerability of ondansetron oral dissolve tab (ODT)
      to oral solution (OS) in children presenting to the ED with AGE. METHODS: Using
      alternate-day controlled clinical trial design, children aged 3 months to 10
      years received either ondansetron ODT or OS. Our primary outcome was early
      vomiting (within 15 min of drug administration). The secondary outcome was
      intravenous (i.v.) fluid administration. RESULTS: There were 462/534 eligible
      children who met study criteria. Demographics, severity, and duration of illness
      were similar between groups. Using intention-to-treat analysis, early vomiting
      occurred in 8/209 ODT vs. 19/253 OS children (3.8% vs. 7.5%; odds ratio [OR]
      0.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.18-1.21). Using as-treated analysis, 6/222
      (2.7%) children receiving ODT experienced early vomiting, compared with 21/221
      (9.5%) of the OS group (OR 0.26; 95% CI 0.09-0.70). The proportion of children
      discharged without i.v. fluids was not different (intention-to-treat: ODT = 91.4%
      (191/209), OS = 94.1% (238/253), OR 1.49, 95% CI 0.69-3.28; as-treated: ODT =
      92.3% (205/222), OS = 93.2% (206/221), OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.40-1.93). CONCLUSIONS:
      Using a conservative intention-to-treat analysis, we found that children
      presenting to an ED with AGE did not have statistically less early vomiting with
      ondansetron ODT as compared with OS. However, our as-treated analysis
      demonstrates that children receiving ondansetron ODT experienced early vomiting
      approximately one-third as often as those receiving OS. The rate of i.v. fluid
      administration was no different between groups regardless of the type of analysis
      used.

PMID- 27624512
TI  - Lysosomal Acid Lipase Deficiency Unmasked in Two Children With Nonalcoholic Fatty
      Liver Disease.
AB  - Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D) is a classic lysosomal storage disorder
      characterized by accumulation of cholesteryl ester and triglyceride. Although it
      is associated with progressive liver injury, fibrosis, and end-stage liver
      disease in children and adolescents, LAL-D frequently presents with nonspecific
      signs that overlap substantially with other, more common, chronic conditions like
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), metabolic syndrome, and certain
      inherited dyslipidemias. We present 2 children with NAFLD who achieved clinically
      significant weight reduction through healthy eating and exercise, but who failed
      to have the anticipated improvements in aminotransferases and gamma-glutamyl
      transferase. Liver biopsies performed for these "treatment failures" demonstrated
      significant microvesicular steatosis, prompting consideration of coexisting
      metabolic diseases. In both patients, lysosomal acid lipase activity was low and
      LIPA gene testing confirmed LAL-D. We propose that LAL-D should be considered in
      the differential diagnosis when liver indices in patients with NAFLD fail to
      improve in the face of appropriate body weight reduction.

PMID- 27624514
TI  - Sustained Implementation of Evidence-based Programs in Disadvantaged Communities:
      A Conceptual Framework of Supporting Factors.
AB  - This paper presents a review of the empirical literature for studies evaluating
      factors that facilitate and create barriers to sustained program implementation
      in disadvantaged communities. It outlines study methodology and sustainment
      outcomes and proposes a conceptual model that involves implementation sustainment
      support for providers delivering evidence-based health and family services in
      disadvantaged communities. Sustained program implementation in the community
      setting is a significant issue as only 43% of studies reported successfully
      sustained programs. The review identified 18 factors that facilitate success and
      create barriers to program sustainment. The factors are synthesized into three
      themes; program characteristics, workplace capacity, and process and interaction
      factors. The majority of factors map onto commonly cited sustainability
      influences in implementation science. However, there was an additional focus for
      studies included in this review on the importance of factors such as program
      burden, program familiarity and perceived competence in program skills, workplace
      support for the program, staff mobility and turnover, supervision and peer
      support, and ongoing technical assistance. The need to use a conceptual framework
      and develop measures to guide and evaluate capacity building in EBP
      implementation and sustainment in low-resource community settings is highlighted.

PMID- 27624513
TI  - Collaborative Care for Adolescents With Persistent Postconcussive Symptoms: A
      Randomized Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postconcussive and co-occurring psychological symptoms
      are not uncommon after sports-related concussion and are associated with
      functional impairment and societal costs. There is no evidence-based treatment
      targeting postconcussive symptoms in children and adolescents. The goal of this
      study was to test a collaborative care intervention model with embedded cognitive
      behavioral therapy, care management, and psychopharmacological consultation. We
      hypothesized that patients in collaborative care would demonstrate greater
      reductions in postconcussive, depressive, and anxiety symptoms and improvement in
      functioning over the course of 6 months, compared with usual care control.
      METHODS: Patients aged 11 to 17 years with persistent symptoms >=1 month after
      sports-related concussion were randomly assigned to receive collaborative care (n
      = 25) or care as usual (n = 24). Patients were assessed before randomization and
      after 1, 3, and 6 months. Groups were compared over time via linear mixed effects
      regression models. RESULTS: Adolescents assigned to collaborative care
      experienced clinically and statistically significant improvements in
      postconcussive symptoms in addition to functional gains at 6 months compared with
      controls. Six months after the baseline assessment, 13.0% of intervention
      patients and 41.7% of control patients reported high levels of postconcussive
      symptoms (P = .03), and 78% of intervention patients and 45.8% of control
      patients reported >=50% reduction in depression symptoms (P = .02). No changes
      between groups were demonstrated in anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Orchestrated
      efforts to systematically implement collaborative care treatment approaches for
      slow-to-recover adolescents may be useful given the reductions in postconcussive
      and co-occurring psychological symptoms in addition to improved quality of life.

PMID- 27624515
TI  - Does the recording medium influence phonetic transcription of cleft palate
      speech?
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, analyses of cleft palate speech based on phonetic
      transcriptions have become common. However, the results vary considerably among
      different studies. It cannot be excluded that differences in assessment
      methodology, including the recording medium, influence the results. AIMS: To
      compare phonetic transcriptions from audio and audio/video recordings of cleft
      palate speech by means of outcomes of per cent correct consonants (PCC) and
      differences in consonant transcriptions. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Thirty-two 3-year
      olds born with cleft palate were audio and audio/video recorded while performing
      a single-word test by picture naming. The recordings were transcribed according
      to the International Phonetic Alphabet. The transcriptions from the audio and the
      audio/video recordings were analysed with regard to PCC, differences in the use
      of phonetic consonant symbols and the use of diacritics. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: PCC
      was higher when the calculation was based on transcriptions from audio recordings
      than when based on audio/video recordings. No such differences were seen when age
      appropriate consonant processes were scored as correct. Consonants were not
      excluded as often in the transcriptions from audio/video recordings as they were
      in the transcriptions from audio recordings, and more target consonants were
      transcribed as dental/alveolar in the transcriptions from audio/video recordings
      and palatal/velar/uvular in the transcriptions from audio recordings than vice
      versa. Further, interdental articulation, linguolabial articulation and audible
      nasal air leakage were more common in the transcriptions from audio/video
      recordings than in those from audio recordings. All these differences were
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Phonetic transcription is
      influenced to some extent by visual cues. However, as long as age-appropriate
      articulatory and phonological simplification processes are scored as correct when
      evaluating consonant production in the speech of young children born with cleft
      palate using phonetic transcription, the recording medium does not seem to affect
      the results.

PMID- 27624516
TI  - A novel, validated risk score to predict surgical site infection after
      pancreaticoduodenectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) outcomes have improved,
      complications including surgical site infection (SSI) remain common. We present a
      stratification tool to predict risk for SSI after PD. METHODS: Data was
      retrospectively reviewed on all patients undergoing PD at a tertiary hospital
      (9/2011-8/2014). Potential SSI risk factors identified by univariate analysis
      were incorporated into a multivariate logistic regression model. The resulting
      odds ratios were converted into a point system to create an SSI risk score with
      internal validation. RESULTS: Six hundred seventy nine patients underwent PD and
      were chronologically split into derivation (443 patients) and validation (236
      patients) groups. There was no difference in demographics or perioperative
      outcomes between groups. Overall thirty-day SSI was observed in 17.2% (n = 117).
      Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiation, intraoperative red blood cell
      transfusion, operative time greater than 7 h, preoperative bile stent/drain, and
      vascular resection were associated with SSI in univariate analysis (all p <
      0.05). On multivariate analysis, preoperative bile stent/drain and neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy were independent predictors of SSI, each assigned 1 point (both p <
      0.001). Patients with 0, 1, and 2 points, respectively, had 0%, 32%, and 64%
      predicted risk of SSI (AUC = 0.73, R2 = 0.93). The model performed equivalently
      in the validation group (AUC = 0.77, R2 = 0.99). CONCLUSION: This novel,
      validated risk score accurately predicts SSI risk after pancreaticoduodenectomy.
      Identifying the highest risk patients can help target interventions to reduce
      SSI.

PMID- 27624518
TI  - Diet during pregnancy: Women's knowledge of and adherence to food safety
      guidelines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As a precaution against acquiring food-borne illnesses, guidelines
      recommend women avoid some foods during pregnancy. AIMS: To examine among women
      receiving antenatal care: (i) level of knowledge and self-reported adherence to
      guidelines about foods that should be avoided during pregnancy; and (ii)
      associated socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: Women attending a public
      outpatient clinic who were: pregnant or had recently given birth; 18 years or
      older; able to complete an English language survey with minimal assistance; and
      had at least one prior antenatal appointment for their current pregnancy, were
      asked to complete a cross-sectional survey. RESULTS: In total 223 women (64%
      consent rate) participated. Knowledge of foods to avoid during pregnancy was
      poor, with 83% of women incorrectly identifying at least one unsafe food as safe
      to consume. The average knowledge score for foods to avoid during pregnancy was
      7.9 (standard deviation = 3.4; median = 9; interquartile range: 6-11; n = 218)
      out of a possible score of 12. Having more general practice (GP) visits for
      antenatal care and fewer tertiary antenatal visits were significantly associated
      with higher knowledge. Women with a higher number of GP visits and those
      receiving care in a high-risk clinic were more likely to be adherent to
      guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of pregnant women have poor knowledge of
      food avoidance guidelines and continue to consume foods that put them at risk.

PMID- 27624517
TI  - The Use of a Novel NanoLuc -Based Reporter Phage for the Detection of Escherichia
      coli O157:H7.
AB  - Rapid detection of the foodborne pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 is of vital
      importance for public health worldwide. Among detection methods, reporter phages
      represent unique and sensitive tools for the detection of E. coli O157:H7 from
      food as they are host-specific and able to differentiate live cells from dead
      ones. Upon infection, target bacteria become identifiable since reporter genes
      are expressed from the engineered phage genome. The E. coli O157:H7 bacteriophage
      PhiV10 was modified to express NanoLuc luciferase (Nluc) derived from the deep
      sea shrimp Oplophorus gracilirostris. Once infected by the PhiV10 reporter phage,
      E. coli O157:H7 produces a strong bioluminescent signal upon addition of
      commercial luciferin (Nano-Glo((r))). Enrichment assays using E. coli O157:H7
      grown in LB broth with a reporter phage concentration of 1.76 * 10(2) pfu ml(-1)
      are capable of detecting approximately 5 CFU in 7 hours. Comparable detection was
      achieved within 9 hours using 9.23 * 10(3) pfu ml(-1) of phage in selective
      culture enrichments of ground beef as a representative food matrix. Therefore we
      conclude that this NanoLuc reporter phage assay shows promise for detection of E.
      coli O157:H7 from food in a simple, fast and sensitive manner.

PMID- 27624519
TI  - Loneliness and depressive symptoms: the moderating role of the transition into
      retirement.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The transition to retirement implies significant changes in daily
      routine and in the social environment. More specifically, it requires more self
      directed efforts in order to stay socially engaged. Hence, for those who suffer
      from loneliness, the transition to retirement could result in increased
      depressive symptoms due to the lack of structured daily routine. METHODS: We used
      two waves of the Health and Retirement Study, and tested whether the transition
      to retirement between the two waves moderates the effects of loneliness on
      depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The transition to retirement moderated the effect
      of loneliness in wave 1 on depressive symptoms in wave 2, such that for those who
      retired, the effect was stronger in comparison to those who stayed employed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although many manage to easily transition into retirement, lonely
      older workers are at increased risk for maladjustment and the experience of
      depressive symptoms following retirement. This group could perhaps benefit from
      interventions aimed at increasing daily social interactions and establishing a
      socially satisfying routine.

PMID- 27624520
TI  - An LP1 analogue, selective MOR agonist with a peculiar pharmacological profile,
      used to scrutiny the ligand binding domain.
AB  - The hypothesis that central analgesia with reduced side effects is obtainable by
      occupying an 'allosteric' site in the MOR ligand binding domain requires the
      development of new ligands with peculiar pharmacological profile to be used as
      tools. New benzomorphan derivatives, analogues of LP1, a multitarget MOR
      agonist/DOR antagonist, were designed to examine in depth MOR ligand binding
      domain. Compound 5, bearing a diphenylic N-substituent on the benzomorphan
      nucleus, showed an affinity (KiMU=0.5+/-0.2nM) comparable to that of LP1 and a
      better selectivity versus DOR and KOR. It elicits antinociceptive effects in ex
      vivo (GPI) and in vivo. This new compound engages receptor amino acidic residues
      not reached by LP1 and by other established MOR ligands. Molecular modeling
      studies, conducted on 5 and on several reference compounds, allowed us to propose
      possible residues in the MOR ligand binding domain essential for their
      interactions with 'orthosteric' and 'allosteric' binding sites.

PMID- 27624521
TI  - Molecular docking studies, biological and toxicity evaluation of
      dihydroisoquinoline derivatives as potential anticancer agents.
AB  - We report a study of a series of isoquinoline derivatives, including their
      synthesis, in vitro microsomal leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) inhibition and
      antiproliferative activity on cancer cell lines. Among fourteen tested compounds,
      one (compound 3b) was determined to have good activity against LAP and
      significant antiproliferative activity against HL-60 human promyelocytic
      leukemia, Burkitt's lymphoma Raji, camptothecin resistant CEM/C2 leukemia cells
      with mutated catalytic site of topoisomerase I, its parental cell line CCRF/CEM
      and LoVo colon cancer. Its influence on the cell cycle was also observed.
      Moreover, we have confirmed that antiproliferative activity towards cancer cells
      is due to LAP inhibition. Docking simulation based on positioning compound 3b
      into the LAP active site was performed to explore the possible binding mode. The
      compound was able to form hydrogen bonds with Gly362 and coordinate zinc ions,
      which was previously suggested to be essential for inhibitory activity. Compound
      3b was also characterized with a good selectivity index for cancer versus normal
      mammalian cells. Toxicological studies involving examination of skin
      sensitization, acute skin irritation/corrosion, acute dermal toxicity, acute oral
      toxicity and acute eye irritation/corrosion established that compound 3b is safe
      for use.

PMID- 27624522
TI  - Convergent 18F-labeling and evaluation of N-benzyl-phenethylamines as 5-HT2A
      receptor PET ligands.
AB  - Positron emission tomography (PET) investigations of the 5-HT2A receptor (5
      HT2AR) system can be used as a research tool in diseases such as depression,
      Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. We have previously developed a 11C-labeled
      agonist PET ligand ([11C]Cimbi-36), and the aim of this study was to identify a
      18F-labeled analogue of this PET-ligand. Thus, we developed a convergent
      radiochemical approach giving easy access to 5 different 18F-labeled ligands
      structurally related to Cimbi-36 from a common 18F-labeled intermediate. After
      intravenous injection, all ligands entered the pig brain. However, since within
      scan intervention with ketanserin, a known orthosteric 5-HT2A receptor
      antagonist, did not result in significant blocking, the radioligands seem
      unsuitable for neuroimaging of the 5-HT2AR in vivo.

PMID- 27624523
TI  - Synthesis, molecular modeling and SAR study of novel pyrazolo[5,1
      f][1,6]naphthyridines as CB2 receptor antagonists/inverse agonists.
AB  - Pyrazolo[5,1-f][1,6]naphthyridine-carboxamide derivatives were synthesized and
      evaluated for the affinity at CB1 and CB2 receptors. Based on the AgOTf and
      proline-cocatalyzed multicomponent methodology, the ethyl 5-(p-tolyl)pyrazolo[5,1
      f][1,6]naphthyridine-2-carboxylate (12) and ethyl 5-(2,4
      dichlorophenyl)pyrazolo[5,1-f][1,6]naphthyridine-2-carboxylate (13) intermediates
      were synthesized from the appropriate o-alkynylaldehydes, p-toluenesulfonyl
      hydrazide and ethyl pyruvate. Most of the novel compounds feature a p-tolyl (8a
      i) or a 2,4-dichlorophenyl (8j) motif at the C5-position of the tricyclic
      pyrazolo[5,1-f][1,6]naphthyridine scaffold. Structural variation on the
      carboxamide moiety at the C2-position includes basic monocyclic, terpenoid and
      adamantine-based amines. Among these derivatives, compound 8h (N-adamant-1-yl-5
      (p-tolyl)pyrazolo[5,1-f][1,6]naphthyridine-2-carboxamide) exhibited the highest
      CB2 receptor affinity (Ki=33nM) and a high degree of selectivity
      (KiCB1/KiCB2=173:1), whereas a similar trend in the near nM range was seen for
      the bornyl analogue (compound 8f, Ki=53nM) and the myrtanyl derivative 8j
      (Ki=67nM). Effects of 8h, 8f and 8j on forskolin-stimulated cAMP levels were
      determined, showing antagonist/inverse agonist properties for such compounds.
      Docking studies conducted for these derivatives and the reference
      antagonist/inverse agonist compound 4 (SR144528) disclosed the specific pattern
      of interactions probably related to the pyrazolo[5,1-f][1,6]naphthyridine
      scaffold as CB2 inverse agonists.

PMID- 27624524
TI  - Discovery of novel free fatty acid receptor 1 agonists bearing triazole core via
      click chemistry.
AB  - The free fatty acid receptor 1 (FFA1/GPR40) is a novel antidiabetic target based
      on particular mechanism in enhancing glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Most
      of reported FFA1 agonists, however, have been suffered from relatively high
      lipophilicity and molecular weight. Aiming to develop potent agonists with
      improved physicochemical property, 25 compounds containing triazole scaffold and
      various carboxylic acid fragments were synthesized via the click chemistry. Among
      them, the optimal lead compound 26 with relatively low lipophicity (LogD7.4=1.95)
      and molecular weight (Mw = 391.78) exhibited a considerable FFA1 agonistic
      activity (36.15%). In addition, compound 26 revealed a significant improvement in
      the glucose tolerance with a 21.4% and 14.2% reduction of glucose AUC0-2h in
      normal ICR mice and type 2 diabetic C57BL/6 mice, respectively. All of these
      results demonstrated that compound 26 was considered to be a promising lead
      compound suitable for further optimization.

PMID- 27624525
TI  - New potently bioactive alkaloids from Crinum erubescens.
AB  - Antimalarial bioassay-guided fractionation of the swamp lily Crinum erubescens
      led to the isolation of four compounds with potent antiplasmodial activity.
      Compounds 1 and 2 were determined from their spectroscopic data to be the known
      pesticidal compound cripowellin A and the known pesticidal and antiproliferative
      compound cripowellin B. 1D and 2D-NMR techniques were used to determine the
      identities of 3 and 4 as the new compounds cripowellin C and D. A fifth compound
      was identified as the known alkaloid hippadine, which was inactive against
      Plasmodium falciparum. The antiplasmodial IC50 values of compounds 1-4 were
      determined to be 30+/-2, 180+/-20, 26+/-2, and 260+/-20nM, respectively, and
      their antiproliferative IC50 values against the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell
      line were 11.1+/-0.4, 16.4+/-0.1, 25+/-2, and 28+/-1nM.

PMID- 27624526
TI  - Optimization of pyrimidinol antioxidants as mitochondrial protective agents: ATP
      production and metabolic stability.
AB  - Previously we described a novel series of pyrimidinol antioxidants and their
      structural optimization as potential therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative and
      mitochondrial disorders. Our initial lead compound was a potent antioxidant in
      vitro, but was subsequently found to exhibit poor stability to oxidative
      metabolism. The current study focused on balancing potency with metabolic
      stability through structural modification, and involved modifications at
      positions 2 and 4 of the pyrimidinol redox core, likely sites of oxidative
      metabolism. Eight new analogues have been prepared and their ability to suppress
      lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and to preserve
      mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim) and support ATP production, has been
      investigated. The metabolic stability of the prepared compounds was also assessed
      in vitro using bovine liver microsomes to obtain preliminary insight on this
      class of compounds. This study revealed the complexity of balancing reasonable
      metabolic stability with efficient antioxidant properties. While a few analogues
      appear promising, especially in terms of metabolic stability, a 4-isopropoxy
      derivative conserved the favorable biological activity and exhibited good
      metabolic stability. The favorable metabolic stability conferred by the
      combination of the azetidine and isopropoxy moieties in analogue 6 makes this
      compound an excellent candidate for further evaluation.

PMID- 27624527
TI  - Synthesis of (benzimidazol-2-yl)aniline derivatives as glycogen phosphorylase
      inhibitors.
AB  - A series of (benzimidazol-2-yl)-aniline (1) derivatives has been synthesized and
      evaluated as glycogen phosphorylase (GP) inhibitors. Kinetics studies revealed
      that compounds displaying a lateral heterocyclic residue with several heteroatoms
      (series 3 and 5) exhibited modest inhibitory properties with IC50 values in the
      400-600MUM range. Arylsulfonyl derivatives 7 (Ar: phenyl) and 9 (Ar: o
      nitrophenyl) of 1 exhibited the highest activity (series 2) among the studied
      compounds (IC50 324MUM and 357MUM, respectively) with stronger effect than the p
      tolyl analogue 8.

PMID- 27624528
TI  - A diffusion tensor imaging atlas of white matter in tree shrew.
AB  - Tree shrews are small mammals now commonly classified in the order of Scandentia,
      but have relatively closer affinity to primates than rodents. The species has a
      high brain-to-body mass ratio and relatively well-differentiated neocortex, and
      thus has been frequently used in neuroscience research, especially for studies on
      vision and neurological/psychiatric diseases. The available atlases on tree shrew
      brain provided only limited information on white matter (WM) anatomy. In this
      study, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to study the WM anatomy of tree
      shrew, with the goal to establish an image-based WM atlas. DTI and T2-weighted
      anatomical images were acquired in vivo and from fixed brain samples.
      Deterministic tractography was used for three-dimensional reconstruction and
      rendering of major WM tracts. Myelin and neurofilaments staining were used to
      study the microstructural properties of certain WM tracts. Taking into account
      prior knowledge on tree shrew neuroanatomy, tractography results, and comparisons
      to the homologous structures in rodents and primates, an image-based WM atlas of
      tree shrew brain was constructed, which is available to research community upon
      request.

PMID- 27624529
TI  - Grade of the inner cell mass, but not trophectoderm, predicts live birth in fresh
      blastocyst single transfers.
AB  - Debate continues over which morphological parameter is most important in
      selecting blastocysts for transfer. We aimed to investigate which parameter more
      accurately predicts the occurrence of a live birth by designing a retrospective
      cohort study of 1084 fresh elective single blastocyst transfers. Primary outcome
      was live birth rate (LBR) and secondary outcomes were implantation, clinical
      pregnancy and early pregnancy loss rates. Blastocyst expansion and inner cell
      mass (ICM), but not trophoectoderm, were associated with LBR in the definitive
      multivariable regression analysis. When ICM grade dropped from A to C the
      likelihood of achieving a live birth was reduced by 55% (OR= 0.45, 95% CI 0.26
      0.79, p = .005). These results were similar for clinical pregnancy rates. Early
      pregnancy loss rates of embryos with ICM grade C were more than double (38.0%)
      compared to those of grades A (15.95%) and B (17.17%, p = .002). The transfer of
      an embryo with an optimal inner cell mass reduces early pregnancy loss and
      increases the likelihood of a live birth. We did not find any significant
      association between trophectoderm and LBR in the multivariable analysis in
      contrast with recent studies.

PMID- 27624530
TI  - Call for unpublished findings.

PMID- 27624531
TI  - Permeation of topically applied Magnesium ions through human skin is facilitated
      by hair follicles.
AB  - Magnesium is an important micronutrient essential for various biological
      processes and its deficiency has been linked to several inflammatory disorders in
      humans. Topical magnesium delivery is one of the oldest forms of therapy for skin
      diseases, for example Dead Sea therapy and Epsom salt baths. Some anecdotal
      evidence and a few published reports have attributed amelioration of inflammatory
      skin conditions to the topical application of magnesium. On the other hand,
      transport of magnesium ions across the protective barrier of skin, the stratum
      corneum, is contentious. Our primary aim in this study was to estimate the extent
      of magnesium ion permeation through human skin and the role of hair follicles in
      facilitating the permeation. Upon topical application of magnesium solution, we
      found that magnesium penetrates through human stratum corneum and it depends on
      concentration and time of exposure. We also found that hair follicles make a
      significant contribution to magnesium penetration. 

PMID- 27624532
TI  - Hypomagnesemia associated with hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy: an
      observational study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Serum magnesium is frequently low in patients with hypocalcemia
      after total thyroidectomy. The aim of the present study was to analyze the
      variations in serum magnesium and calcium concentrations after total
      thyroidectomy, and the relationship between both ions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      conducted an observational study of 142 patients who had undergone total
      thyroidectomy, measuring serum calcium and magnesium levels preoperatively and on
      the day following surgery. The incidence of postoperative hypocalcemia was
      compared with that of postoperative hypomagnesemia. RESULTS: A total of 142,
      total thyroidectomies were performed: 54 patients (38%) presented with
      hypocalcemia on the first postoperative day. A marked decrease in blood magnesium
      in the group of patients with hypocalcemia was observed when compared to those
      with normal calcemia on the first postoperative day (mean variation respectively,
      0.125 +/- 0.065 mmol/L versus 0.035 +/- 0.020 mmol/L; P = 0.0002). CONCLUSION:
      Hypomagnesemia is significantly associated with early hypocalcemia following
      thyroidectomy.

PMID- 27624533
TI  - Changes in circulating levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 induced by short
      term dietary magnesium deficiency in rats.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a potent regulator of phosphorus (P) and
      vitamin D metabolism. Long-term dietary magnesium (Mg) deficiency increases
      circulating levels of FGF23, whereas the effects of short-term dietary Mg
      deficiency are unclear. Thus, the present study investigated whether short-term
      dietary Mg deficiency affects circulating levels of FGF23. We also assessed
      changes in renal mRNA expression of vitamin D metabolizing enzymes and type II
      sodium-phosphate (Na/Pi) cotransporters, since these are regulated by FGF23. Rats
      were fed a control diet (control group) or an Mg-deficient diet (Mg-deficient
      group) for 2, 4 or 7 days. Serum Mg levels were significantly lower in the Mg
      deficient group than in the control group at all time points. Serum FGF23 levels
      were significantly higher in the Mg-deficient group than in the control group at
      day 7. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D-24-hydroxylase (24(OH)ase) mRNA levels were
      significantly higher in the Mg-deficient group than in the control group at day 7
      . No significant differences in types IIa and IIc Na/Pi cotransporter mRNA levels
      were observed between the control and Mg-deficient groups. These results suggest
      that dietary Mg deficiency causes a rapid increase in circulating levels of FGF23
      and renal 24(OH)ase mRNA levels. 

PMID- 27624534
TI  - Robust entanglement between a movable mirror and atomic ensemble and entanglement
      transfer in coupled optomechanical system.
AB  - We propose a scheme for the creation of robust entanglement between a movable
      mirror and atomic ensemble at the macroscopic level in coupled optomechanical
      system. We numerically simulate the degree of entanglement of the bipartite
      macroscopic entanglement and show that it depends on the coupling strength
      between the cavities and is robust with respect to the certain environment
      temperature. Inspiringly and surprisingly, according to the reported relation
      between the mechanical damping rate and the mechanical frequency of the movable
      mirror, the numerical simulation result shows that such bipartite macroscopic
      entanglement persists for environment temperature up to 170 K, which breaks the
      liquid nitrogen cooling and liquid helium cooling and largely lowers down the
      experiment cost. We also investigate the entanglement transfer based on this
      coupled system. The scheme can be used for the realization of quantum memories
      for continuous variable quantum information processing and quantum-limited
      displacement measurements.

PMID- 27624535
TI  - Hierarchical heterogeneity in mammary tumors and its regulation by autophagy.
AB  - Intra-tumor heterogeneity can be attributed in part to the ability of tumor cells
      to acquire traits associated with less differentiated cells. In MMTV-PyMT mammary
      tumors, this hierarchical heterogeneity can be illustrated with the use of
      ITGB1/CD29hi ITGB3/CD61+ markers to enrich for mammary stem-like cells and ALDH+
      to identify luminal progenitor-like cells. Macroautophagy/autophagy appears to be
      important for maintaining the cancer stem-like traits of both these populations.
      Interestingly, the regulation of these distinct cancer stem-like cells by
      autophagy occurs through EGFR-STAT3 and TGFB/TGF-beta-SMAD pathways,
      respectively. These findings indicate that autophagy plays a significant role in
      cancer stem-like cells, and distinct cancer stem-like cells within a tumor may
      require different treatment modalities.

PMID- 27624536
TI  - Harnessing bacteriocin biology as targeted therapy in the GI tract.
AB  - Recently, our laboratory demonstrated that bacteriocins produced by commensal
      enterococci provide an advantage in niche maintenance in the highly competitive
      environment of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Bacterial production of
      bacteriocins is a conserved defense strategy to help establish an ecological
      niche. Bacteriocin-encoding genes in enterococci are often carried on mobile
      genetic elements, including conjugative plasmids, enabling the transfer of such
      traits to other community members in a shared niche. Use of a novel mouse model
      for enterococcal colonization of the GI tract allowed us to investigate
      enterococcal dynamics and the role of enterococcal bacteriocins in the mouse GI
      tract. We examined the role of bacteriocin-21, carried on the pPD1 plasmid, in
      enterococcal colonization of the gut. We discovered that Enterococcus faecalis
      (EF) harboring pPD1 effectively colonizes the GI tract by using Bac-21 to
      eliminate its competition. In our study, we also present evidence for active
      conjugation in the GI tract, a strategy EF uses to enhance the number of
      bacteriocin producers in a given niche and eliminate bacteriocin-susceptible
      populations. Using an engineered strain of EF that is capable of producing Bac-21
      but impaired in its conjugation ability, we were able to reduce pre-existing
      colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococci in the mouse gut. Thus, our
      results suggest a novel therapeutic strategy to de-colonize antibiotic-resistant
      enterococci from the GI tract of patients and thereby prevent the emergence of
      resistant enterococcal infections that are otherwise difficult, or impossible, to
      treat.

PMID- 27624538
TI  - Boundaries of participation in care home settings: Use of the Swedish token jasa
      by a person with dementia.
AB  - This article is a conversation analytic study of how one elderly person with
      dementia and her interlocutors interact in a care home setting. Participation is
      studied in the form of responsive action of the person with dementia, focusing on
      the Swedish response token 'jasa,' which has not previously been analysed in
      detail. The central claim is that even though the sequential placement of the
      response token indicates interactional competence, other factors reveal limited
      competence and communication impairment. First, the person with dementia's use of
      gaze is reduced, and she seems to rely on the auditory but not on the visual
      channel. Second, the interlocutors do not in all situations treat her as a
      ratified participant in spite of her attempts to contribute to the interaction.
      This study contributes both to the study of participation in the context of
      communication impairment and to the study of response tokens in Swedish.

PMID- 27624537
TI  - Persistent inflammatory state after photoreceptor loss in an animal model of
      retinal degeneration.
AB  - Microglia act as the resident immune cells of the central nervous system,
      including the retina. In response to damaging stimuli microglia adopt an
      activated state, which can progress into a phagocytic phenotype and play a
      potentially harmful role by eliciting the expression and release of pro
      inflammatory cytokines. The aim of the present study was to assess longitudinal
      changes in microglia during retinal degeneration in the homozygous P23H rat, a
      model of dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Microglial phenotypes, morphology and
      density were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and cytokine
      antibody array. In addition, we performed electroretinograms to evaluate the
      retinal response. In the P23H retina, sclera, choroid and ciliary body,
      inflammatory cells increased in number compared with the control at all ages
      analyzed. As the rats became older, a higher number of amoeboid MHC-II(+) cells
      were observed in the P23H retina, which correlated with an increase in the
      expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These findings suggest that, in the
      P23H model, retinal neuroinflammation persists throughout the rat's life span
      even after photoreceptor depletion. Therefore, the inclusion of anti-inflammatory
      drugs at advanced stages of the neurodegenerative process may provide better
      retinal fitness so the remaining cells could still be used as targets of cellular
      or gene therapies.

PMID- 27624539
TI  - Inhibition of early development stages of rust fungi by the two fungal
      metabolites cyclopaldic acid and epi-epoformin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rusts are a noxious group of plant diseases affecting major
      economically important crops. Crop protection is largely based on chemical
      control. There is a renewed interest in the discovery of natural products as
      alternatives to synthetic fungicides for control. In this study we tested two
      fungal metabolites, namely cyclopaldic acid and epi-epoformin, for their
      effectiveness in reducing early stages of development of two major rust fungi
      from the genera Puccinia and Uromyces, P. triticina and U. pisi. Spore
      germination and appressorium formation were assessed on pretreated detached
      leaves under controlled conditions. Cyclopaldic acid and epi-epoformin were also
      tested in infected plants in order to evaluate the level of control achieved by
      treatments both before and after inoculation. RESULTS: Cyclopaldic acid and epi
      epoformin were strongly effective in inhibiting fungal germination and
      penetration of both rust species studied. This effect was not dose dependent.
      These results were further confirmed in planta by spraying the metabolites on
      plant leaves, which reduced fungal developmental of U. pisi and P. triticina at
      values comparable with those obtained by application of the fungicide.
      CONCLUSION: Our results further demonstrate the potential of fungal metabolites
      as natural alternatives to synthetic fungicides for the control of crop pathogens
      of economic importance as rusts. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27624540
TI  - Examining health literacy disparities in the United States: a third look at the
      National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the United States, disparities in health literacy parallel
      disparities in health outcomes. Our research contributes to how diverse
      indicators of social inequalities (i.e., objective social class, relational
      social class, and social resources) contribute to understanding disparities in
      health literacy. METHODS: We analyze data on respondents 18 years of age and
      older (N = 14,592) from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)
      restricted access data set. A series of weighted Ordinary Least Squares (OLS)
      regression models estimate the association between respondent's demographic
      characteristics, socioeconomic status (SES), relational social class, social
      resources and an Item Response Theory (IRT) based health literacy measure.
      RESULTS: Our findings are consistent with previous research on the social and SES
      determinants of health literacy. However, our findings reveal the importance of
      relational social status for understanding health literacy disparities in the
      United States. Objective indicators of social status are persistent and robust
      indicators of health literacy. Measures of relational social status such as civic
      engagement (i.e., voting, volunteering, and library use) are associated with
      higher health literacy levels net of objective resources. Social resources
      including speaking English and marital status are associated with higher health
      literacy levels. CONCLUSIONS: Relational indicators of social class are related
      to health literacy independent of objective social class indicators. Civic
      literacy (e.g., voting and volunteering) are predictors of health literacy and
      offer opportunities for health intervention. Our findings support the notion that
      health literacy is a social construct and suggest the need to develop a
      theoretically driven conceptual definition of health literacy that includes a
      civic literacy component.

PMID- 27624541
TI  - Replicating Cardiovascular Condition-Birth Month Associations.
AB  - Independent replication is vital for study findings drawn from Electronic Health
      Records (EHR). This replication study evaluates the relationship between seasonal
      effects at birth and lifetime cardiovascular condition risk. We performed a
      Season-wide Association Study on 1,169,599 patients from Mount Sinai Hospital
      (MSH) to compute phenome-wide associations between birth month and CVD. We then
      evaluated if seasonal patterns found at MSH matched those reported at Columbia
      University Medical Center. Coronary arteriosclerosis, essential hypertension,
      angina, and pre-infarction syndrome passed phenome-wide significance and their
      seasonal patterns matched those previously reported. Atrial fibrillation,
      cardiomyopathy, and chronic myocardial ischemia had consistent patterns but were
      not phenome-wide significant. We confirm that CVD risk peaks for those born in
      the late winter/early spring among the evaluated patient populations. The
      replication findings bolster evidence for a seasonal birth month effect in CVD.
      Further study is required to identify the environmental and developmental
      mechanisms.

PMID- 27624542
TI  - Obstetric morbidity and socio-cultural predictors of ruptured uterus among women
      in Southeast Nigeria.
AB  - This study determined the incidence, obstetric morbidity and the socio-cultural
      factors associated with ruptured uterus. A 6-year prospective review of ruptured
      uterus and an enquiry into socio-cultural barriers to specialised care was
      conducted. The incidence of ruptured uterus was 12 per 1000 deliveries.
      Occurrence was common in uneducated (78/116; 67.2%), unbooked (110/116; 94.8%)
      and rural women (112/116; 96.6%). The major causes were prolonged obstructed
      labour (104/116; 89.7%) and injudicious use of oxytocics (90/116; 77.6%). The
      maternal and perinatal case fatality rates were 18.1% and 96.6%, respectively.
      Complications resulted from haemorrhage and sepsis. Lack of birth plan (97/116;
      79.3%) and unskilled birth attendance (110/116; 94.8%) were major socio-cultural
      risk factors. There was an association between education (p = 0.001), parity (p =
      0.002), residence (<0.001), type of birth attendance (<0.001) and ruptured
      uterus. Women in low-income settings face threats of complications and death from
      uterine rupture, owing to preventable socio-cultural barriers of accessing
      specialised obstetric care.

PMID- 27624543
TI  - Anterolateral Ligament of the Fetal Knee: An Anatomic and Histological Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anterolateral ligament (ALL) of the knee has recently been
      described in detail. Most studies of the ALL have been conducted in adults;
      therefore, little is known about the anatomy and histology of the ALL in younger
      patients, and nothing is known about the fetal presence of the ALL. PURPOSE: To
      evaluate the ALL in human fetuses to determine its presence or absence and to
      describe its microscopic anatomy and histological features compared with the
      findings of studies conducted in adults. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory
      study. METHODS: Twenty human fetal cadaveric specimens were used. The mean age of
      the fetuses was 28.64 +/- 3.20 weeks. The ALL was dissected in the anterolateral
      region of the knee, and its anatomic parameters, including its origin, insertion,
      and path in relation to known adjacent anatomic landmarks, in addition to its
      length, width, and thickness over the path toward the tibia, were measured. After
      dissection, the ALL was removed en bloc with a portion of the lateral meniscus
      for histological analysis of 4-MUm sections, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and
      immunohistochemical staining for type I collagen. RESULTS: The ALL was located in
      all dissected knees. Its origin was located at a mean distance of 1.87 mm from
      the origin of the lateral collateral ligament, with variations from the center of
      the lateral epicondyle to posterior and proximal to it, and it exhibited an
      anterior-inferior path toward the tibia, an insertion in the lateral meniscus
      approximately 2.08 mm anterior to the popliteal tendon, and another insertion in
      the tibia between the Gerdy tubercle and the fibular head at 2.46 mm below the
      articular cartilage. The histological sections of the ALL showed well-organized,
      dense collagenous tissue fibers with elongated fibroblasts (mean, 1631
      fibroblasts/mm2) and a predominance of type I collagen. CONCLUSION: The ALL is
      present during fetal development, with anatomic and histological features similar
      to those of the adult ALL. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The findings of this study help to
      better understand the ALL's anatomy and histology from the fetal period to
      adulthood. The study presents the existence of the ALL since fetal development,
      emphasizes the characterization of the ALL, and brings important information to
      future pediatric ALL lesion studies.

PMID- 27624544
TI  - Age-related risk factors with nonfatal traffic accidents in urban areas in
      Maringa, Parana, Brazil.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to analyze the factors associated with the
      occurrence of nonfatal traffic accidents regarding age. METHODS: A retrospective,
      transversal, and analytical study was carried out in the municipality of Maringa,
      Parana, Brazil, based on data from Boletins de Ocorrencia de Acidente de Transito
      ("Police Occurrence Bulletins"; BOATs). Following probability sampling, the
      sociodemographic aspects, logistics, environmental conditions, and time of
      occurrence of 418 cases of accidents were analyzed. The age of the victims was
      considered to be the dependent variable. The data were analyzed using descriptive
      statistics and bivariate, multivariate, and variance analysis, considering a
      confidence interval of 95% and a significance level of 5% (P <.05). RESULTS:
      Results revealed that young people (15-29 years) were twice as likely to be
      hospitalized due to severe injuries. Young motorcyclists had a 2.5 times greater
      chance of suffering accidents (P <.001); the use of other vehicles such as cars,
      bicycles, buses, and trucks represented a protective factor for this group (P
      <.05). Multiple logistic regression revealed that the main predictors for the
      occurrence of accidents were being single, having over 8 years of education,
      having had a driver's license for less than 3 years, roads with low luminosity,
      and driving at night. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic, environmental, and logistical
      factors were associated with morbidity due to traffic accidents among young
      people. These results challenge society and policy makers to create more
      effective strategies to minimize this serious public health problem.

PMID- 27624547
TI  - Design of Selenium-Based Chiral Chemical Probes for Simultaneous Enantio- and
      Chemosensing of Chiral Carboxylic Acids with Remote Stereogenic Centers by NMR
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - Selenium-based enantiopure chiral chemical probes have been designed in a modular
      way starting from available amino alcohols. The probes developed were found to be
      efficient in chemoselective interaction with carboxylic functions of chiral
      substrates leading to diastereomeric amide formation and in sensing alpha-, beta
      , and remote (up to seven bonds away from the carboxylic group) chiral centers by
      using 77 Se NMR spectroscopy. As a result, it was possible to determine the
      enantiomeric ratio of structurally diverse individual chiral acids including
      polyfunctional compounds and drugs with high accuracy. An approach to analyzing
      the crude reaction mixtures has been successfully developed by using bifunctional
      selenium- and fluorine-containing chiral probes. More importantly, it was
      revealed that, based on the 77 Se NMR data obtained, it is possible to obtain
      primary information about the location and nature of the substituents at the
      chiral center (chemo- and enantiosensing), which can simplify the structural
      elucidation of complex compounds. The derivatization procedure takes as little as
      5 min and can be performed directly in an NMR tube followed by NMR measurements
      without any isolation and purification steps.

PMID- 27624545
TI  - Circulating free soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 during late first trimester
      in relation with placental volume as a surrogate for trophoblastic production: a
      physiology study in low-risk cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on first-trimester circulating soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase
      1 (sFlt-1) and ischemic placental disease is limited and conflicting. This study
      aimed to study its physiology in relation to trophoblastic mass as the source of
      production. METHODS: Low-risk (representing normal placentation) women from 11
      0/7 to 13 6/7 weeks' gestation were prospectively enrolled. Selective measurement
      of serum free sFlt-1 using a new automated assay from 100 eligible subjects was
      analyzed with gestational age, maternal weight, fetal crown-rump length (CRL),
      and mean uterine artery Doppler pulsatility index (PI). Placental volume
      (surrogate for trophoblastic mass) was estimated using 3-dimensional ultrasound
      and was assessed for its association with serum free sFlt-1. RESULTS: There was
      no significant association between serum free sFlt-1 and placental volume in
      either arithmetic (r = 0.053, p = 0.600), logarithmic (r = 0.005, p = 0.963), or
      quartile (p = 0.703) scale. There was a significant negative correlation between
      free sFlt-1 level and maternal weight (r=-0.213, p = 0.033). No significant
      correlation was found between free sFlt-1 level and gestational age (r = 0.007, p
      = 0.947), CRL (r = 0.027, p = 0.788), and uterine artery Doppler mean PI (r =
      0.020, p = 0.828). CONCLUSIONS: Lack of correlation between circulating free sFlt
      1 level and placental volume suggests that trophoblasts are not its major source
      during first trimester with presumably physiologic placentation.

PMID- 27624546
TI  - Combined effects of starvation and butyrate on autophagy-dependent gingival
      epithelial cell death.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Bacteria in the dental biofilm surrounding marginal
      gingival grooves cause periodontal diseases. Numerous bacteria within the biofilm
      consume nutrients from the gingival crevicular fluid. Furthermore, some gram
      negative bacteria in mature dental biofilms produce butyrate. Thus, gingival
      epithelial cells in close proximity to mature dental biofilms are at risk of both
      starvation and exposure to butyrate. In the present study, we determined the
      combined effects of starvation and butyrate exposure on gingival epithelial cell
      death and the underlying mechanisms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Ca9-22 cell line
      was used as an in vitro counterpart of gingival epithelial cells. Cell death was
      measured as the amount of total DNA in the dead cells using SYTOX Green dye,
      which penetrates through membranes of dead cells and emits fluorescence when it
      intercalates into double-stranded DNA. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)
      activity, the amount of autophagy, and acetylation of histone H3 were determined
      using western blot. Gene expression levels of microtubule-associated protein 1
      light chain 3b (lc3b) were determined using quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Butyrate-induced cell death occurred in a
      dose-dependent manner whether cells were starved or fed. However, the induction
      of cell death was two to four times higher when cells were placed under
      starvation conditions compared to when they were fed. Moreover, both starvation
      and butyrate exposure induced AMPK activity and autophagy. While AMPK
      inactivation resulted in decreased autophagy and butyrate-induced cell death
      under conditions of starvation, AMPK activation resulted in butyrate-induced cell
      death when cells were fed. Combined with the results of our previous report,
      which demonstrated butyrate-induced autophagy-dependent cell death, the results
      of this study suggest that the combination of starvation and butyrate exposure
      activates AMPK inducing autophagy and subsequent cell death. Notably, this
      combination markedly induced LC3B production and the induction was attenuated by
      AMPK inhibition. LC3B knockdown, in turn, significantly decreased butyrate
      induced cell death. Therefore, AMPK-dependent LC3B induction apparently plays an
      important role in butyrate-induced cell death. There was a lack of correspondence
      between the levels of AMPK activation and LC3B induction; this may reflect the
      histone deacetylase-inhibitory capacity of butyrate on histone proteins.
      CONCLUSION: Taken together, starvation and butyrate exposure promote autophagy
      via AMPK signaling, while the histone deacetylase-inhibitory effects of butyrate
      alter chromatin to transcriptionally active state, resulting in strong LC3B
      induction and subsequent cell death. These findings may help improve the
      understanding of the cellular processes underlying periodontal disease
      initiation.

PMID- 27624548
TI  - Patterns of physiological decline due to age and selection in Drosophila
      melanogaster.
AB  - In outbred sexually reproducing populations, age-specific mortality rates reach a
      plateau in late life following the exponential increase in mortality rates that
      marks aging. Little is known about what happens to physiology when cohorts
      transition from aging to late life. We measured age-specific values for
      starvation resistance, desiccation resistance, time-in-motion, and geotaxis in
      ten Drosophila melanogaster populations: five populations selected for rapid
      development and five control populations. Adulthood was divided into two stages,
      the aging phase and the late-life phase according to demographic data. Consistent
      with previous studies, we found that populations selected for rapid development
      entered the late-life phase at an earlier age than the controls. Age-specific
      rates of change for all physiological phenotypes showed differences between the
      aging phase and the late-life phase. This result suggests that late life is
      physiologically distinct from aging. The ages of transitions in physiological
      characteristics from aging to late life statistically match the age at which the
      demographic transition from aging to late life occurs, in all cases but one.
      These experimental results support evolutionary theories of late life that depend
      on patterns of decline and stabilization in the forces of natural selection.

PMID- 27624550
TI  - High risk of pleural plaques and parenchymal abnormalities in women living in
      Biancavilla (Italy).
AB  - Fluoro-edenite is a natural mineral species first isolated in Biancavilla,
      Sicily, used for construction of houses and roads, with health effects allegedly
      the same as those of asbestos. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the
      risks of pleural plaques and parenchymal abnormalities in women living in
      Biancavilla through a retrospective cross-sectional study. The evaluation pointed
      out a relative risk of pleural plaques of 39.67 (95% CI: 11.33-138.82) and 27.67
      (95% CI: 5.43-141.00) for parenchymal abnormalities as well. These findings have
      prompted urge to extend the screening on the possible abnormalities of the
      respiratory tract to all Biancavilla's population, particularly in those aged
      more than 30 years.

PMID- 27624551
TI  - PRRT2: from Paroxysmal Disorders to Regulation of Synaptic Function.
AB  - In the past few years, proline-rich transmembrane protein (PRRT)2 has been
      identified as the causative gene for several paroxysmal neurological disorders.
      Recently, an important role of PRRT2 in synapse development and function has
      emerged. Knock down of the protein strongly impairs the formation of synaptic
      contacts and neurotransmitter release. At the nerve terminal, PRRT2 endows
      synaptic vesicle exocytosis with Ca2+ sensitivity by interacting with proteins of
      the fusion complex and with the Ca2+ sensors synaptotagmins (Syts). In the
      postsynaptic compartment, PRRT2 interacts with glutamate receptors. The study of
      PRRT2 and of its mutations may help in refining our knowledge of the process of
      synaptic transmission and elucidating the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to
      derangement of network function in paroxysmal disorders.

PMID- 27624549
TI  - Maintenance therapy with decitabine in younger adults with acute myeloid leukemia
      in first remission: a phase 2 Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study (CALGB 10503).
AB  - In this prospective phase 2 clinical trial conducted by Cancer and Leukemia Group
      B (CALGB, now the Alliance), we studied decitabine as maintenance therapy for
      younger adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who remained in first complete
      remission (CR1) following intensive induction and consolidation. Given that
      decitabine is clinically active in AML and with hypomethylating activity distinct
      from cytotoxic chemotherapy, we hypothesized that 1 year of maintenance therapy
      would improve disease-free survival (DFS) for AML patients <60 years, who did not
      receive allogeneic stem cell transplantation in CR1. After blood count recovery
      from final consolidation, patients received decitabine at 20 mg/m2 intravenously
      daily for 4-5 days, every 6 weeks for eight cycles. One hundred and thirty-four
      patients received decitabine and 85 (63%) had favorable risk AML. The median
      number of cycles received was 7 (range: 1-8) and the primary reason for
      discontinuation was relapse. DFS at 1 year and 3 years was 79% and 54%,
      respectively. These results are similar to the outcomes in the historical control
      comprising similar patients treated on recent CALGB trials. Thus, maintenance
      with decitabine provided no benefit overall. Standard use of decitabine
      maintenance in younger AML patients in CR1 is not warranted. This trial was
      registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00416598.

PMID- 27624552
TI  - A case of undifferentiated-type mucosal gastric cancer with multiple lymph node
      metastases fulfilling the curative criteria for endoscopic resection according to
      routine pathological analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic resection is accepted as the standard treatment for early
      mucosal gastric cancer, and its indications have recently been expanded while its
      long-term outcomes are still unclear. Herein, we present a didactic case of
      undifferentiated-type mucosal gastric cancer fulfilling the expanded indication
      and curative criteria for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), having
      synchronous multiple lymph node metastases. CASE PRESENTATION: A 40-year-old
      woman was found to have a Helicobacter pylori infection at a standard health
      check with no abdominal symptoms. She received an upper gastrointestinal
      endoscopy and found to have an undifferentiated-type mucosal gastric cancer with
      the size of 15 mm in diameter without ulceration, which fulfilled the expanded
      indication for ESD. According to patient's preference, we performed laparoscopy
      assisted distal gastrectomy with D1+ lymph node dissection, and routine
      pathological analysis revealed a predominantly signet ring cell carcinoma limited
      to the mucosa without ulceration or any vessel involvement; on the other hand, 15
      lymph node metastases were detected. Then, we added deep sectioning of the whole
      tumoral area at a thickness of 20 MUm and immunohistochemical analyses. As the
      result, an isolated lymphatic capillary involvement of the extremely superficial
      submucosa was identified in a single histological section, and pathological
      diagnosis was corrected to ly1. She received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy
      with an S-1 oral agent and had no recurrence under strict surveillance for 1 year
      postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: When we perform ESD for undifferentiated-type
      gastric cancer, deep sectioning of the whole tumoral area into thin slices and
      immunohistochemical staining using D2-40 should be practically considered.

PMID- 27624554
TI  - Improving Sensitivity and Reproducibility of SERS Sensing in Microenvironments
      Using Individual, Optically Trapped Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy(SERS)
      Probes.
AB  - Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensors offer many advantages for
      chemical analyses, including the ability to provide chemical specific information
      and multiplexed detection capability at specific locations. However, to have
      operative SERS sensors for probing microenvironments, probes with high signal
      enhancement and reproducibility are necessary. To this end, dynamic enhancement
      of SERS (i.e., in-situ amplification of signal-to-noise and signal-to-background
      ratios) from individual probes has been explored. In this paper, we characterize
      the use of optical tweezers to amplify SERS signals as well as suppress
      background signals via trapping of individual SERS active probes. This
      amplification is achieved through a steady presence of a single "hot" particle in
      the focus of the excitation laser. In addition to increases in signal and
      concomitant decreases in non-SERS backgrounds, optical trapping results in an
      eightfold increase in the stability of the signal as well. This enhancement
      strategy was demonstrated using both single and multilayered SERS sub-micron
      probes, producing combined signal enhancements of 24-fold (beyond the native 106
      SERS enhancement) for a three-layered geometry. The ability to dynamically
      control the enhancement offers the possibility to develop SERS-based sensors and
      probes with tailored sensitivities. In addition, since this trapping enhancement
      can be used to observe individual probes with low laser fluences, it could offer
      particular interest in probing the composition of microenvironments not amenable
      to tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy or other scanning probe methods (e.g.,
      intracellular analyses, etc.).

PMID- 27624553
TI  - A case of small intestinal endometrioid adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Endometriosis generally occurs in the ovary. Intestinal endometriosis is rare.
      About 1 % of all endometriosis cases become malignant. Malignant transformation
      of small intestinal endometriosis is very rare. A 55-year-old woman who underwent
      total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and omentectomy
      for endometriosis 7 years ago presented to her primary care doctor with melena. A
      tumor was detected in the right lower abdomen by ultrasonography. The doctor
      referred her to our hospital. Computed tomography demonstrated a lobulated tumor
      ventral to the right common iliac vessels. Magnetic resonance imaging
      demonstrated that the tumor had heterogeneous intensity on T2-weighted images.
      Several small cysts with high intensity were observed caudal to the tumor on T2
      weighted images. We performed partial small intestinal resection for the lesion.
      The tumor was diagnosed as endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the small intestine.
      She has been relapse-free for 5 years after surgery. Only three cases of
      malignant transformation of small intestinal endometriosis have been reported
      previously. It is very rare for long-term survival to be obtained with surgery
      alone, as in our case. This case report highlights the imaging findings for
      malignant transformation of intestinal endometriosis. 

PMID- 27624555
TI  - Mid-Infrared Waveguides: A Perspective.
AB  - Significant advancements in waveguide technology in the mid-infrared (MIR) regime
      during recent decades have assisted in establishing MIR spectroscopic and sensing
      technologies as a routine tool among nondestructive analytical methods. In this
      review, the evolution of MIR waveguides along with state-of-the-art technologies
      facilitating next-generation MIR chem/bio sensors will be discussed introducing a
      classification scheme defining three "generations" of MIR waveguides: (1)
      conventional internal reflection elements as "first generation" waveguides; (2)
      MIR-transparent optical fibers as "second generation" waveguides; and most
      recently introduced(3) thin-film structures as "third generation" waveguides.
      Selected application examples for these each waveguide category along with future
      trends will highlight utility and perspectives for waveguide-based MIR
      spectroscopy and sensing systems.

PMID- 27624557
TI  - Initial foot contact and related kinematics affect impact loading rate in
      running.
AB  - This study assessed kinematic differences between different foot strike patterns
      and their relationship with peak vertical instantaneous loading rate (VILR) of
      the ground reaction force (GRF). Fifty-two runners ran at 3.2 m . s-1 while we
      recorded GRF and lower limb kinematics and determined foot strike pattern:
      Typical or Atypical rearfoot strike (RFS), midfoot strike (MFS) of forefoot
      strike (FFS). Typical RFS had longer contact times and a lower leg stiffness than
      Atypical RFS and MFS. Typical RFS showed a dorsiflexed ankle (7.2 +/- 3.5 degrees
      ) and positive foot angle (20.4 +/- 4.8 degrees ) at initial contact while MFS
      showed a plantar flexed ankle (-10.4 +/- 6.3 degrees ) and more horizontal foot
      (1.6 +/- 3.1 degrees ). Atypical RFS showed a plantar flexed ankle (-3.1 +/- 4.4
      degrees ) and a small foot angle (7.0 +/- 5.1 degrees ) at initial contact and
      had the highest VILR. For the RFS (Typical and Atypical RFS), foot angle at
      initial contact showed the highest correlation with VILR (r = -0.68). The
      observed higher VILR in Atypical RFS could be related to both ankle and foot
      kinematics and global running style that indicate a limited use of known
      kinematic impact absorbing "strategies" such as initial ankle dorsiflexion in MFS
      or initial ankle plantar flexion in Typical RFS.

PMID- 27624556
TI  - NOX2 amplifies acetaldehyde-mediated cardiomyocyte mitochondrial dysfunction in
      alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) resulting from excess alcohol consumption is an
      important cause of heart failure (HF). Although it is assumed that the
      cardiotoxicity of the ethanol (EtOH)-metabolite acetaldehyde (ACA) is central for
      its development and progression, the exact mechanisms remain obscure. Murine
      cardiomyocytes (CMs) exposed to ACA or EtOH showed increased superoxide (O2(*-))
      levels and decreased mitochondrial polarization, both being normalized by NADPH
      oxidase (NOX) inhibition. C57BL/6 mice and mice deficient for the ACA-degrading
      enzyme mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2(-/-)) were fed a 2% EtOH diet
      for 5 weeks creating an ACA-overload. 2% EtOH-fed ALDH-2(-/-) mice exhibited a
      decreased cardiac function, increased heart-to-body and lung-to-body weight
      ratios, increased cardiac levels of the lipid peroxidation product
      malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as increased NOX activity and NOX2/glycoprotein
      91(phox) (NOX2/gp91(phox)) subunit expression compared to 2% EtOH-fed C57BL/6
      mice. Echocardiography revealed that ALDH-2(-/-)/gp91(phox-/-) mice were
      protected from ACA-overload-induced HF after 5 weeks of 2% EtOH-diet,
      demonstrating that NOX2-derived O2(*-) contributes to the development of ACM.
      Translated to human pathophysiology, we found increased gp91(phox) expression in
      endomyocardial biopsies of ACM patients. In conclusion, ACM is promoted by ACA
      driven mitochondrial dysfunction and can be improved by ablation of
      NOX2/gp91(phox). NOX2/gp91(phox) therefore might be a potential pharmacological
      target to treat ACM.

PMID- 27624559
TI  - SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL VALUE JUDGMENTS FOR ORPHAN DRUGS IN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY
      ASSESSMENT.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We explore how broader aspects of a treatment's value and the impact
      of the condition on patients not captured by routine health technology assessment
      (HTA) methods using clinical and economic evidence, defined as "other
      considerations," may influence HTA processes in different settings. METHODS:
      Countries included were England, Scotland, Sweden, and France. Data sources were
      the publicly available reports on HTA recommendations. Ten drugs with European
      Medicines Agency orphan designation and appraised in England were selected.
      Qualitative thematic analysis was used to systematically identify and code all
      "other considerations" based on a previously developed methodological framework,
      which also coded whether it was provided by stakeholders, and how it influenced
      the decision. RESULTS: A classification framework of scientific and social value
      judgments was developed and used throughout the study. A total of 125 "other
      considerations" were identified and grouped into ten subcategories based on the
      information provided. Eighteen to 100 percent of these, depending on the agency,
      were put forward as one of the main reasons for the final decision potentially
      contributing to accepting a higher incremental cost-effectiveness ratio or
      uncertain evidence. Some of these were nonquantified or nonelicited and pertained
      to the assessor's judgment. A taxonomy of these value judgments was created to be
      used in future cases. Results also contributed to better defining the
      determinants of social value and improving accountability for reasonableness.
      CONCLUSIONS: The systematic identification of the scientific and social value
      judgments enables to better understanding the dimensions of value, which can be
      used to improve their transparency and consistent use across decisions and
      settings.

PMID- 27624558
TI  - The enhanced atorvastatin hepatotoxicity in diabetic rats was partly attributed
      to the upregulated hepatic Cyp3a and SLCO1B1.
AB  - Liver injury is a common adverse effect of atorvastatin. This study aimed to
      investigate atorvastatin-induced hepatotoxicity in diabetic rats induced by high
      fat diet combined with streptozotocin. The results showed that 40 mg/kg
      atorvastatin was lethal to diabetic rats, whose mean survival time was 6.2 days.
      Severe liver injury also occurred in diabetic rats treated with 10 mg/kg and 20
      mg/kg atorvastatin. The in vitro results indicated that atorvastatin cytotoxicity
      in hepatocytes of diabetic rats was more severe than normal and high-fat diet
      feeding rats. Expressions and activities of hepatic Cyp3a and SLCO1B1 were
      increased in diabetic rats, which were highly correlated with hepatotoxicity.
      Antioxidants (glutathione and N-Acetylcysteine), Cyp3a inhibitor ketoconazole and
      SLCO1B1 inhibitor gemfibrozil suppressed cytotoxicity and ROS formation in
      primary hepatocytes of diabetic rats. In HepG2 cells, up-regulations of CYP3A4
      and SLCO1B1 potentiated hepatotoxicity and ROS generation, whereas knockdowns of
      CYP3A4 and SLCO1B1 as well as CYP3A4/SLCO1B1 inhibitions showed the opposite
      effects. Phenobarbital pretreatment was used to induce hepatic Cyp3a and SLCO1B1
      in rats. Phenobarbital aggravated atorvastatin-induced hepatotoxicity, while
      decreased plasma exposure of atorvastatin. All these findings demonstrated that
      the upregulations of hepatic Cyp3a and SLCO1B1 in diabetic rats potentiated
      atorvastatin-induced hepatotoxicity via increasing ROS formation.

PMID- 27624560
TI  - Species characteristics of lead in sea foods collected from coastal water of
      Fujian, Southeastern of China.
AB  - Various sea foods including fish, shellfish and shrimp were collected from
      different coastal areas of Fujian in China, and their Pb species characteristics
      were investigated in detail. The results indicated that there are two different
      species characteristics of Pb existing in sea food samples. About half of samples
      were detected to have only Pb(2+), and another half of samples were detected to
      have both Pb(2+) and trimethyl lead (TML). The results also revealed that Pb
      species characteristics in the sea foods rather depend on the species of sea food
      than the sampling area. In comparison with shellfish/shrimp samples, fish samples
      have higher concentrations of TML and Pb(2+). Especially, the average
      concentration of TML in the TML-detected fish samples is about 3 times of that in
      the TML-detected shellfish/shrimp samples, indicating that fish has stronger
      ability to uptake and accumulate TML. The concentrations of total lead in all
      samples are lower than the maximum allowable limit of national standard,
      suggesting that the sea foods collected from Fujian are safe for consumption. By
      considering that TAL has more toxicity than Pb(2+), the effect of TML in sea
      foods on the human health should be paid more attention in the future.

PMID- 27624562
TI  - Manometric findings in relation to functional outcomes in different types of
      anorectal malformations.
AB  - AIMS: To compare anorectal manometry (AM) in patients with different types of
      anorectal malformations (ARMs) in relation to functional outcomes. METHODS: A
      single-institution, cross-sectional study. After ethical approval, all patients
      >=7years old treated for anterior anus (AA), perineal fistula (PF), vestibular
      fistula (VF), or rectourethral fistula (RUF) from 1983 onwards were invited to
      answer the Rintala bowel function score (BFS) questionnaire and to attend
      anorectal manometry (AM). Patients with mild ARMs (AA females and PF males) had
      been treated with minimally invasive perineal procedures. Females with VF/PF and
      males with RUF had undergone internal-sphincter saving sagittal repairs. RESULTS:
      55 of 132 respondents (42%; median age 12 (7-29) years; 42% male) underwent AM.
      Patients with mild ARMs displayed good anorectal function after minimally
      invasive treatments. The median anal resting and squeeze pressures among patients
      with mild ARMs (60 cm H2O and 116 cm H2O respectively) were significantly higher
      than among patients with more severe ARMs (50 cm H2O, and 80cm H2O respectively;
      p<=0.002). The rectoanal inhibitory reflex was preserved in 100% of mild ARMs and
      83% of patients with more severe malformations after IAS-saving sagittal repair.
      The functional outcome was poor in 4/5 patients with an absent RAIR (BFS<=11 or
      antegrade continence enema-dependence). Rectal sensation correlated significantly
      with the BFS. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the appropriateness of our
      minimally invasive approaches to the management of mild ARMs, and IAS-saving
      anatomical repairs for patients with more severe malformations. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27624561
TI  - First meeting "Cystic echinococcosis in Chile, update in alternatives for control
      and diagnostics in animals and humans".
AB  - This report summarizes the outcomes of a meeting on cystic echinococcosis (CE) in
      animals and humans in Chile held in Santiago, Chile, between the 21st and 22nd of
      January 2016. The meeting participants included representatives of the
      Departamento de Zoonosis, Ministerio de Salud (Zoonotic Diseases Department,
      Ministry of Health), representatives of the Secretarias Regionales del Ministerio
      de Salud (Regional Department of Health, Ministry of Health), Instituto Nacional
      de Desarrollo Agropecuario (National Institute for the Development of Agriculture
      and Livestock, INDAP), Instituto de Salud Publica (National Institute for Public
      Health, ISP) and the Servicio Agricola y Ganadero (Animal Health Department,
      SAG), academics from various universities, veterinarians and physicians. Current
      and future CE control activities were discussed. It was noted that the EG95
      vaccine was being implemented for the first time in pilot control programmes,
      with the vaccine scheduled during 2016 in two different regions in the South of
      Chile. In relation to use of the vaccine, the need was highlighted for acquiring
      good quality data, based on CE findings at slaughterhouse, previous to initiation
      of vaccination so as to enable correct assessment of the efficacy of the vaccine
      in the following years. The current world's-best-practice concerning the use of
      ultrasound as a diagnostic tool for the screening population in highly endemic
      remote and poor areas was also discussed. 

PMID- 27624563
TI  - Safety and cost-effectiveness of port removal outside of the operating room among
      pediatric patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The current emphasis on fiscally responsible health spending in the era
      of the Affordable Care Act and other health care reform necessitates cost
      conscious delivery of care. "Value" in health care is defined as the quality of
      care divided by the cost. As such, health systems optimize value by providing the
      most cost-effective care possible without sacrificing safety or outcomes.
      Elective, minimal risk surgical procedures in children may be value-enhanced by
      moving from an operating room (OR) to a more cost-efficient setting. The purpose
      of this study was to assess the safety and cost of performing the removal of
      implantable central venous access devices ("ports") in locations other than the
      main OR. METHODS: We compared port removal at three sites: 1. Main OR, 2.
      Satellite OR, and 3. Clinic Procedure Room. This was a mixed-methods study
      including a retrospective review of medical records and prospective
      observation/interviewing. To calculate cost without the inherent biases of
      hospital charges, costs, and payments, we utilized the methodology of time-driven
      activity based costing. Specifically, we recorded time spent by the patient in
      hospital facilities and with health care personnel. This duration was then
      weighted with the hourly cost of each health care professional and hospital
      space. The Mann-Whitney U test compared time and cost across the three sites.
      Overall cost at each site was divided by overall cost at the referent site (Main
      OR) to obtain a ratio of cost savings. RESULTS: A total of 120 patients (40 per
      site) were included in the analysis. Demographic and clinical factors were not
      significantly different between sites. No complication occurred with port removal
      at any site. Time of the entire care episode was significantly decreased in the
      Clinic (median 161min, 95% confidence interval [CI] 134-188min), compared to the
      Main OR (median 235min, 95% confidence interval [CI] 209-251min) or Satellite OR
      (median 228min, 95% confidence interval [CI] 211-245min). Overall cost was
      decreased by 25% (95% CI: 13-34%) at the Clinic and by 6% (95% CI: -2-11%) at the
      Satellite OR, compared to the Main OR (referent, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: In our
      study, port removal in the Clinic Procedure Room was not associated with
      increased risk of negative outcomes. Shifting port removal from the Main OR to
      the Clinic may result in substantial cost savings.

PMID- 27624564
TI  - Addressing the causes of late mortality in infants with congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite improvements of neonatal intensive care, mortality among
      patients born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), remains high, and there
      is a significant late mortality in this cohort. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study
      was to evaluate the causes of death among 251 consecutive CDH patients treated at
      our institution during the last 26years period. METHODS: Retrospective review of
      all causes of death between 1990 and 2015 of the CDH cohort prospectively
      collected in a database. RESULTS: Of the 251 CDH patients treated in our
      department since 1990, 49 were not alive by the end of 2015. Thirty-six patients
      (14%) died before discharge, and 13 (5%) after the first care event. The mean age
      at death was 262days (+/-653days, median 34days). Eighty six % (42 cases) of the
      fatalities occurred during the first year of life, more than half of the patients
      died before 1month of age and only 13% after the age of 1year (7 patients) (late
      mortality). The causes of early mortality (before 1year of age) were mainly
      cardio-respiratory, whereas GI complications occurred in the late mortality
      group. CONCLUSION: The most common cause of death among CDH patients is
      respiratory insufficiency and associated pulmonary hypertension, and most of the
      fatalities occur before 1year of age. Among older patients, gastrointestinal
      morbidity as cause of death is highly represented. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 27624565
TI  - A closer look at non-accidental trauma: Caregiver assault compared to non
      caregiver assault.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of non-accidental
      trauma (NAT) patients compared to other trauma (OT) patients across the state of
      Florida. In addition, NAT and OT patients with a mechanism of injury of assault
      were further analyzed. METHODS: A statewide database was reviewed from January
      2010 to December 2014 for patients aged 0-18years who presented following trauma.
      Patients were sorted by admitting diagnosis into two groups: rule out NAT and all
      other diagnoses. Patients with a mechanism of assault were subanalyzed and
      outcomes were compared. RESULTS: There were 46,557 patients included. NAT
      patients were younger, had more severe injuries and had a higher mortality rate
      compared to OT patients. Assault was the mechanism of injury in 95% of NAT
      patients. NAT assault patients were younger, required more intensive care unit
      (ICU) resources, and had a higher mortality rate compared to other assault
      patients. CONCLUSION: Non-accidental trauma patients require more resources and
      have a higher mortality rate compared to accidental trauma patients, and these
      differences remain even when controlling for the mechanism of injury. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27624566
TI  - Damaged anal canal as a cause of fecal incontinence after surgical repair for
      Hirschsprung disease - a preventable and under-reported complication.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fecal incontinence after the surgical repair of Hirschsprung
      disease is a potentially preventable complication that carries a negative impact
      on patient's quality of life. METHODS: Patients that were previously operated for
      Hirschsprung disease and presented to our bowel management clinic with the
      complaint of fecal incontinence were retrospectively reviewed. All patients
      underwent a rectal examination under anesthesia looking for anatomic explanations
      for their incontinence. RESULTS: One hundred three patients were identified. 54
      patients had a damaged anal canal. 22 patients also had a patulous anus. The
      operative reports mentioned the pectinate line in 32 patients, in 12 it was not
      mentioned, and in 10 patients the operative report was not available. All
      patients with a damaged anal canal suffered from true fecal incontinence; 45 of
      them are on daily enemas (41 are clean and 4 are still having "accidents"), 7 are
      not doing bowel management due to noncompliance and 2 patients have a permanent
      ileostomy. 49 patients did not have a damaged anal canal, 25 of those responded
      to changes in diet and medication and are having voluntary bowel movements.
      CONCLUSION: Fecal incontinence may occur after an operation for Hirschsprung
      disease. When the anal canal is damaged, incontinence is always present, severe,
      and probably permanent. The preservation of the anal canal may avoid this
      complication.

PMID- 27624567
TI  - [Acceptance of preventive home visits among frail elderly persons : Participants
      an non-participants in a Follow-up after 2 and 4 years within the LUCAS
      longitudinal study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of preventive home visits (PHV) is to support
      independent living of elderly people. The target group is a matter of discussion
      and acceptance so far seems to have been low. The target group favored in studies
      were persons with functional impairments living independently; therefore,
      acceptance of this offer by frail persons and characteristics of participants and
      non-participants were studied. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All participants classified
      as frail in the longitudinal urban cohort ageing study (LUCAS; BMBF Fkz 01ET0708
      13/01, ET1002A-D/01EL1407) were randomized (RCT) in 2007/2008 into an
      intervention group (174 persons) and a control group (379 persons). Participants
      in the intervention group were offered the option of a PHV. Sociodemographic and
      health-related characteristics were compared between the participants with a PHV,
      non-participants and controls at baseline and after 2 and 4 years. Non
      participants who refused the offer of the PHV were asked about their reasons.
      RESULTS: There were 64 persons (36.8 %) in the intervention group classified as
      frail who accepted the offer of a PHV. Of these, significantly more lived alone,
      tended to be female with a higher educational level and with less need of care.
      After 2 years significantly more persons in the group without PHV had died and
      after 4 years more participants with PHV reported a depressive mood. There were
      no other significant differences between the groups. Half of the reasons not to
      accept the PHV that were reported by the non-participants were because of health
      related or psychological problems and one third because of lack of interest or
      need for PHV. CONCLUSION: The offer of PHV to frail elderly persons with an
      unlimited age was associated with a relatively high acceptance. The high number
      of refusals by non-participants with functional impairments is remarkable and
      needs further investigation.

PMID- 27624568
TI  - Balanced excitation and inhibition in temperature responses to meth.
AB  - Fatal hyperthermia after administration of various amphetamines is well-known
      clinical phenomenon, however, there is no consistent theory explaining its
      etiology and/or pathogenesis. Dose-dependence of temperature responses to
      methamphetamine is intricate. Recently, using mathematical modeling it was
      suggested that delicate interplay of excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms
      underlies this complexity. 

PMID- 27624569
TI  - Integrase strand-transfer inhibitor polymorphic and accessory resistance
      substitutions in patients with acute/recent HIV infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The most recent guidelines suggest using integrase strand-transfer
      inhibitors (InSTIs) as the preferred antiretroviral regimens for naive HIV
      infected individuals. However, resistance to InSTIs is not monitored in many
      centres at baseline. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of InSTI
      resistance substitutions in newly diagnosed patients with acute/recent HIV
      infection. METHODS: Genotypic drug resistance tests were performed in all
      consecutive patients prospectively enrolled with a documented infection of <6
      months, from 12 May 2015 to 12 May 2016. Sequences were obtained by high
      throughput sequencing. RESULTS: Five out of 36 consecutive patients (13.89%, 95%
      CI = 4.67-29.5) with acute/recent HIV infection were detected to have strains
      carrying InSTI polymorphisms or substitutions conferring low-level resistance to
      raltegravir and elvitegravir. Four patients had the 157Q polymorphism and one
      patient had the Q95K substitution. All cases were MSM patients infected with
      subtype B strains. Viral loads ranged from 2.92 to 6.95 log10 copies/mL. In all
      cases, the mutational viral load was high. Three patients initiated dolutegravir
      based regimens and became undetectable at first viral load control. There were no
      major viral or epidemiological differences when compared with patients without
      InSTI substitutions. CONCLUSIONS: Although signature InSTI substitutions (such as
      Y143R/C, N155H or Q148K/R/H) were not detected, polymorphisms and substitutions
      conferring low-level resistance to raltegravir and elvitegravir were frequently
      found in a baseline genotypic test. All cases were infected with subtype B, the
      most frequent in Europe. In the context of primary HIV infection, virological
      response should be carefully monitored to evaluate the impact of these InSTI
      polymorphisms and substitutions.

PMID- 27624570
TI  - Antibiotic prescriptions for suspected respiratory tract infection in primary
      care in South America.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe and compare antibiotic prescribing patterns for primary
      care patients with respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in four South American
      countries. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study. General
      practitioners (GPs) from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay registered data
      about all consultations of patients with suspected RTIs in the winter of 2014
      (June-August). Variation in antibiotic prescriptions was assessed using a two
      level hierarchical logistic model. RESULTS: Participating GPs (n = 171)
      registered 11 446 patients with suspected RTI; 3701 (33%) of these received an
      antibiotic prescription. There was a wide variation across countries in the use
      and selection of antibiotics. For example, 94% of patients with acute bronchitis
      were prescribed antibiotics in Bolivia, while in Uruguay only 21% received
      antibiotics. Amoxicillin was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic across
      countries, but prescription rates varied between 45% in Bolivia and 69% in
      Uruguay. Compared with the overall mean prescribing rate, and after adjusting for
      clinical presentation and demographics, prescribing of antibiotics varied by a
      factor of 6, the OR ranging from 0.37 (95% CI = 0.21-0.65) in Uruguay to 2.58
      (95% CI = 1.66-4) in Bolivia. CONCLUSIONS: The large variation in use and
      selection of antibiotics across countries is not explained by different patient
      populations. It could be explained by diagnostic uncertainty and contextual
      characteristics beyond clinical practice. Reducing uncertainty and country
      variation requires greater support from the healthcare systems by providing GPs
      with evidence-based guidelines and tools to apply them.

PMID- 27624572
TI  - Polymyxin monotherapy or in combination against carbapenem-resistant bacteria:
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to summarize available data on
      polymyxin-based combination therapy or monotherapy for carbapenem-resistant Gram
      negative bacteria. METHODS: This is a systematic review. We included
      observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing polymyxin
      monotherapy versus polymyxin-based combination therapy in adult patients with
      infections caused by carbapenem-resistant or carbapenemase-producing Gram
      negative bacteria. Only named antibiotic regimens were included. The primary
      outcome was 30 day mortality. Unadjusted OR (uOR) and adjusted OR where available
      with 95% CI were pooled in random-effects meta-analyses. RESULTS: Twenty-two
      studies including 28 comparisons were included. Polymyxin monotherapy was
      associated with a uOR of 1.58 (95% CI = 1.03-2.42) for mortality compared with
      polymyxin/carbapenem combination therapy (seven observational studies, 537
      patients), without heterogeneity. Subgrouping studies to serious and critical
      risk of bias resulted in uORs of 0.94 (95% CI = 0.42-2.09) and 1.94 (95% CI =
      1.17-3.23), respectively. Mortality was significantly higher with polymyxin
      monotherapy compared with combination therapy with tigecycline, aminoglycosides
      or fosfomycin (potentially double-coverage regimens): uOR of 1.57 (95% CI = 1.06
      2.32) overall (10 observational studies and 1 RCT, 585 patients, no
      heterogeneity) and uOR of 2.09 (95% CI = 1.21-3.6) for Klebsiella pneumoniae
      bacteraemia (7 observational studies, 285 patients, no heterogeneity); very low
      quality evidence. Two RCTs and one observational study assessing
      rifampicin/colistin combination therapy for Acinetobacter baumannii infections
      showed no difference in mortality compared with colistin monotherapy; moderate
      quality evidence. CONCLUSIONS: The significant association observed in
      observational studies between polymyxin monotherapy and mortality cannot be taken
      as proof of combination therapy effects due to the low quality of the evidence.
      The only three RCTs to date show no effect of rifampicin/colistin or
      fosfomycin/colistin on mortality for Acinetobacter infections.

PMID- 27624571
TI  - High prevalence of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in
      community-onset bloodstream infections in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Community-onset bloodstream infections (COBSIs) caused by ESBL
      producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) and ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae
      (ESBL-KP) are increasing globally. This study aimed to investigate the
      epidemiology and risk factors of ESBL-EC and ESBL-KP in COBSIs in China. METHODS:
      A prospective, multicentre study was performed in 28 tertiary hospitals from
      September 2013 to November 2014. All isolates and ESBLs were microbiologically
      characterized. A statistical analysis of risk factors was performed using binary
      logistic regression. The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov
      (NCT01961206). RESULTS: A total of 919 consecutive episodes of COBSIs were
      reported and 640 E. coli and 279 K. pneumoniae isolates (non-duplicate) were
      collected. According to the criteria, 662 (72.0%) cases were classified as having
      community-acquired bloodstream infections, while the remaining 257 (28.0%) were
      classified as having healthcare-associated bloodstream infections. The
      proportions of ESBL producers were 55.5% (355/640) among E. coli isolates and
      16.5% (46/279) among K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. Healthcare-associated
      infections, obstructive urinary tract disease, previous surgical history and use
      of a cephalosporin antibiotic within 3 months were independent predictors of
      COBSIs caused by ESBL-EC. Heart failure was the only independent risk factor for
      COBSIs due to ESBL-KP. Age was not independently associated with infections
      caused by ESBL producers. CTX-M-14 was the most common ESBL genotype and was
      widespread throughout the country. CONCLUSIONS: ESBL producers are highly
      prevalent in COBSIs in China, especially among cases caused by E. coli. For these
      resistant pathogens, clinicians should consider adequate empirical therapy, and
      different risk factors for prediction should be used in this country.

PMID- 27624573
TI  - Electric potential calculation in molecular simulation of electric double layer
      capacitors.
AB  - For the molecular simulation of electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), a
      number of methods have been proposed and implemented to determine the one
      dimensional electric potential profile between the two electrodes at a fixed
      potential difference. In this work, we compare several of these methods for a
      model LiClO4-acetonitrile/graphite EDLC simulated using both the traditional
      fixed-charged method (FCM), in which a fixed charge is assigned a priori to the
      electrode atoms, or the recently developed constant potential method (CPM) (2007
      J. Chem. Phys. 126 084704), where the electrode charges are allowed to fluctuate
      to keep the potential fixed. Based on an analysis of the full three-dimensional
      electric potential field, we suggest a method for determining the averaged one
      dimensional electric potential profile that can be applied to both the FCM and
      CPM simulations. Compared to traditional methods based on numerically solving the
      one-dimensional Poisson's equation, this method yields better accuracy and no
      supplemental assumptions.

PMID- 27624575
TI  - Cardiac Safety Profile of First Dose of Fingolimod for Relapsing-Remitting
      Multiple Sclerosis in Real-World Settings: Data from a German Prospective Multi
      Center Observational Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fingolimod was the first oral therapy approved for the treatment of
      relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Due to its action on cardiac
      sphingosine 1-phosphate receptors, fingolimod is leading to a transient decrease
      in heart rate (HR) and the occurrence of rare and asymptomatic self-limited
      atrioventricular (AV) blocks. This German non-interventional clinical study aimed
      to assess the cardiac safety profile in RRMS patients during at least 6 h after
      the initial treatment or restart after interruption of fingolimod in real-world
      settings. METHODS: The GoCARD study (German National Health Authorities, BfArM,
      CFTY720DDE18, NIS334) was a prospective, multi-center non-interventional study
      which was conducted in neurological and other medical practices or hospitals,
      qualified to routinely assess electrocardiogram (ECG) findings. Data were
      collected through interviews, clinical evaluations (notably ECGs), and laboratory
      tests. Medical history, vital signs, and a 12-lead ECG were assessed before
      fingolimod administration. After the first dose, a 6 h ECG was performed and
      vital signs (blood pressure and HR) were measured hourly. The occurrence of
      bradycardia (HR <=45 beats per minute [BPM]), AV blocks (2nd degree Mobitz type I
      or higher), and corrected QT interval (QTc) intervals was also documented.
      RESULTS: More than 95% of physicians adhered to the cardiac monitoring
      recommendations. The observation of 217 patients in 42 study centers showed that
      while 35.9% of the patients had any cardiac risk profile, none of them
      experienced a bradycardia during the 6 h post-dose observation. Overall, only
      1.8% of all patients displayed bradycardia (HR <=45 BPM) during 6 h after
      treatment initiation. Moreover, in this cohort, none of the patients showed a new
      or persistent onset AV block (2nd degree Mobitz type I or higher) or QTc >=500
      ms. CONCLUSION: Altogether, these data confirm that the first-dose observation
      after fingolimod initiation is usually uneventful (even in patients with pre
      existing cardiovascular risk factors of this cohort) and that the rarely observed
      events remained asymptomatic and self-limited. FUNDING: Novartis Pharma GmbH,
      Nurnberg, Germany.

PMID- 27624574
TI  - PARP10 deficiency manifests by severe developmental delay and DNA repair defect.
AB  - DNA repair mechanisms such as nucleotide excision repair (NER) and translesion
      synthesis (TLS) are dependent on proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a DNA
      polymerase accessory protein. Recently, homozygosity for p.Ser228Ile mutation in
      the PCNA gene was reported in patients with neurodegeneration and impaired NER.
      Using exome sequencing, we identified a homozygous deleterious mutation,
      c.648delAG, in the PARP10 gene, in a patient suffering from severe developmental
      delay. In agreement, PARP10 protein was absent from the patient cells. We have
      previously shown that PARP10 is recruited by PCNA to DNA damage sites and is
      required for DNA damage resistance. The patient cells were significantly more
      sensitive to hydroxyurea and UV-induced DNA damage than control cells, resulting
      in increased apoptosis, indicating DNA repair impairment in the patient cells.
      PARP10 deficiency joins the long list of DNA repair defects associated with
      neurodegenerative disorders, including ataxia telangiectasia, xeroderma
      pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome, and the recently reported PCNA mutation.

PMID- 27624576
TI  - 3D Printing of Highly Conductive Nanocomposites for the Functional Optimization
      of Liquid Sensors.
AB  - The utilization of 3D printing of highly conductive (sigma ~ 2350 S m-1 ) polymer
      composite structures for the functional optimization of scaffold-shaped liquid
      sensors is demonstrated. This study can open the pathway of the application of 3D
      printing of conductive composites for optimization of structures useful for
      various applications such as smart sensors in textile or in the field of
      electronics.

PMID- 27624577
TI  - Evaluating the effect of knowledge, attitude and practice on self-management in
      patients with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a common disease imposing a great economic
      burden to health systems. As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Iran has grown
      over the past decades, it has become necessary to evaluate the level of
      knowledge, attitude and practice of type 2 diabetic patients in our country for
      policy planning to increase the patients' awareness of diabetes and its
      complications and, in the long run, decrease costs of treatment. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of patients
      with diabetes and its relationship with self-managing of disease and quality of
      life. METHODS: This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the knowledge,
      attitude, self-reported practice, self-care and health-related quality of life
      (HRQoL) among patients attending diabetes clinic of Torfeh academic hospital in
      Tehran, Iran, during April to June 2014. The study population comprised of 120
      type 2 diabetic patients aged above 30 years receiving anti-diabetic medications
      visiting Torfeh's outpatient diabetes clinic for follow-up care. Face-to-face
      interviews were carried out to fill five questionnaires evaluating patients'
      knowledge, attitude, practice, self-care and HRQoL. Demographic characteristics
      were recorded at the beginning of the study. Laboratory data were extracted from
      patients' most recent medical documents. Data were analyzed using Statistical
      Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21. RESULTS: 120 type 2 diabetic
      patients (86 female and 34 male patients) with mean age of 55.98 +/- 9.50 years
      were evaluated. The mean score of knowledge, attitude, practice, self-care and
      HRQoL was 67.99 +/- 10.38, 73.43 +/- 11.84, 64.69 +/- 16.63, 58.22 +/- 12.24 and 
      1.13 +/- 0.6, respectively. There was a significant negative relationship between
      HbA1c and patients' practice. We did not find any correlation between patients'
      knowledge, attitude or practice and their HRQoL. There was a significant direct
      relationship between patients' knowledge with their attitude and practice.
      CONCLUSION: This study observed a good level of knowledge, attitude and practice
      but a low level of self-care and HRQoL among patients. As knowledge and attitude
      have a direct relationship with practice and the number of people with diabetes
      continues to rise, we can help patients improve practice and decrease the burden
      of diabetes complications and their related expenditures by increasing their
      knowledge.

PMID- 27624578
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor alpha increases following sleep in young adults with type 1
      diabetes.

PMID- 27624579
TI  - Islet amyloid polypeptide response to maximal hyperglycemia and arginine is
      altered in impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - AIMS: Pancreatic islet amyloid deposition is a characteristic feature of type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is co-secreted with
      insulin, but its secretion profile and relationship to insulin and C-peptide in
      response to glucose and non-glucose stimuli has not been clearly defined.
      METHODS: Forty subjects (13 NGT, 12 IGT and 15 T2DM) participated in an OGTT and
      two-step hyperglycemic (225 and 400 mg/dl) clamp (80 min/step) followed by an IV
      arginine bolus. Acute insulin (AIR), C-peptide (ACPR) and IAPP (AIAR) responses
      during each hyperglycemic step and following arginine (AIRArg) were assessed.
      RESULTS: AIR and ACPR during both hyperglycemic steps and after arginine
      progressively decreased from NGT to IGT to T2DM. Fasting IAPP concentrations were
      higher in T2DM compared to NGT and IGT subjects. The acute IAPP0-10 was markedly
      decreased only in T2DM, while the acute IAPP80-90 response during the second step
      (80-160 min) of hyperglycemic clamp and in response to arginine was markedly
      impaired in both IGT and T2DM. The ratio of IAPP/C-peptide during the first (225
      mg/dl) and second step (400 mg/dl), and in response to arginine, was decreased in
      T2DM versus both NGT and IGT (p < 0.01). The acute IAPP0-10 correlated with ACPR0
      10 (r = 0.665, p < 0.001) and AIR0-10 (r = 0.543, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Basal
      IAPP secretion is higher in T2DM and IGT versus NGT but is reduced in response to
      hyperglycemia and arginine. The IAPP/C-peptide ratio is reduced with prolonged
      and more severe hyperglycemia in T2DM individuals. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      NCT00845182.

PMID- 27624580
TI  - Acute macular neuroretinopathy in a young hypertensive patient.

PMID- 27624581
TI  - Computed Tomography-Detected Central Lymph Node Metastasis in Ultrasonography
      Node-Negative Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: Is It Really Significant?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of the limitations in ultrasonography (US), the advantages of
      computed tomography (CT) for detecting central lymph node (LN) metastasis have
      been suggested in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS: First, we compared
      the diagnostic accuracy of US and CT for detecting central LN metastasis in 6577
      central neck levels from 3668 PTC patients. Second, to examine the clinical
      impact of CT-detected central LN metastasis (CT cN1a) in PTC patients with
      clinically node negative in US (US cN0), we selected two groups: group I
      comprised 1245 US cN0 PTC patients who did not have CT scans and did not undergo
      central neck dissection (CND), while group II comprised 348 US cN0 and CT cN1a
      PTC patients who underwent CND. After propensity score matching, 254 matched
      pairs were yielded. RESULTS: For detecting central LN metastasis, CT showed
      significantly higher sensitivity (38.9 vs. 27.5 %; p < 0.001) and accuracy (66.1
      vs. 63.2 %; p < 0.001) than US. Furthermore, US + CT showed significantly higher
      sensitivity (47.8 vs. 27.5 %; p < 0.001) and accuracy (69.0 vs. 63.2 %; p <
      0.001) than US. After matching, radioactive iodine ablation (81.5 vs. 85.8 %; p =
      0.235) and locoregional recurrence (p = 0.663) were not significantly different
      between groups I and II. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the diagnostic advantages of
      preoperative CT, 'CT-based CND' in US cN0 PTC patients did not significantly
      influence postoperative management and locoregional recurrence. The strategy for
      the management of central neck in PTC patients can be sufficiently determined by
      US only.

PMID- 27624582
TI  - Perineural Invasion is a Major Prognostic and Predictive Factor of Response to
      Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Stage I-II Colon Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perineural invasion (PNI) in colon cancer (CC) has been associated
      with poorer prognosis even in stage II disease (T3-4 N0 M0). The aim of this
      study is to analyze prognostic histopathologic factors in stage II colon cancer
      in patients treated with curative surgery as established in National
      Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. METHODS: From a prospective database of
      CC cases, 507 patients with stage I-II disease who had undergone curative
      resection from January 2000 and December 2012 were identified. Of these patients,
      17 % received 5-flurouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Together with
      demographic and anatomic variables, we also studied perineural and lymphovascular
      invasion, degree of differentiation, and their correlation with disease-free
      survival. RESULTS: Perineural invasion was identified in 57 patients (11.2 %) and
      lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in 82 (16.2 %) of the 507 patients. Perineural
      invasion was associated with LVI, the depth of invasion of the wall of the colon,
      and location of the tumor. Overall and disease-free survival of the complete
      series at 5 and 10 years was 89.5, 85.2, 83.2 and 81.6 %, respectively. In the
      PNI positive patients, disease-free survival at 5 years was significantly lower
      than in those without PNI (73.5 vs 88.6 %; p = 0.02). Multivariate analysis
      showed the presence of PNI to be a significant independent prognostic factor for
      disease-free survival (p = 0.025). Adjuvant chemotherapy reversed the impact of
      PNI on 5- to 10-year disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: PNI a major prognostic
      and predictive factor in stage II colon cancer, and our results support the use
      of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with PNI.

PMID- 27624583
TI  - Surgical Strategy and Outcomes in Duodenal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The surgical management of duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors
      (DGIST) is poorly characterized. Limited resection may be technically feasible
      and oncologically safe, but anatomic considerations may compromise the resection
      margins due to the proximity of critical structures, thereby necessitating more
      extensive resections such as pancreaticoduodenectomy. METHODS: Patients
      undergoing surgery for DGIST at two institutions from 1994 to 2014 were
      identified. Clinicopathologic and survival data were analyzed to compare outcomes
      in patients treated with limited or radical resection. RESULTS: Sixty patients
      underwent surgery for DGIST. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed in 38 % while
      the rest underwent limited resections. The most common type of limited resection
      was wedge resection and primary closure (49 %) followed by segmental resection
      with an end-to-end or side-to-side duodenojejunostomy (27 %). The
      pancreaticoduodenectomy group tended to have larger tumors with the majority
      located in D2/3 (87 %) and at the mesenteric border (91 %). The
      pancreaticoduodenectomy group also had significantly greater intraoperative blood
      loss, longer operative time, longer hospital stay, and higher 90-day morbidity
      and readmission rates. The 5-year relapse-free survival, recurrence-free
      survival, and overall survival for the pancreaticoduodenectomy versus limited
      resection were 81 versus 56 % (p = 0.05), 64 versus 53 % (p = 0.5), and 76 versus
      72 % (p = 0.6), respectively. A surgical algorithm based on the location and size
      of the tumor is proposed. CONCLUSIONS: Limited resection of DGIST is safe, but
      may be associated with lower 5-year relapse-free survival.
      Pancreaticoduodenectomy is recommended for selected patients with DGIST when an
      R0 resection cannot be performed without removing the ampulla or part of the
      pancreas.

PMID- 27624584
TI  - Prediction of peptide binding to a major histocompatibility complex class I
      molecule based on docking simulation.
AB  - Binding between major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules and
      immunogenic epitopes is one of the most important processes for cell-mediated
      immunity. Consequently, computational prediction of amino acid sequences of MHC
      class I binding peptides from a given sequence may lead to important biomedical
      advances. In this study, an efficient structure-based method for predicting
      peptide binding to MHC class I molecules was developed, in which the binding free
      energy of the peptide was evaluated by two individual docking simulations. An
      original penalty function and restriction of degrees of freedom were determined
      by analysis of 361 published X-ray structures of the complex and were then
      introduced into the docking simulations. To validate the method, calculations
      using a 50-amino acid sequence as a prediction target were performed. In 27
      calculations, the binding free energy of the known peptide was within the top 5
      of 166 peptides generated from the 50-amino acid sequence. Finally, demonstrative
      calculations using a whole sequence of a protein as a prediction target were
      performed. These data clearly demonstrate high potential of this method for
      predicting peptide binding to MHC class I molecules.

PMID- 27624586
TI  - Attachment and perceived stress in patients with ulcerative colitis, a case
      control study.
AB  - : WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic
      inflammatory disorder associated with high perceived psychological stress. The
      attachment theory provides a psychodynamic perspective to investigate the
      relationship between close interpersonal relationships and stress in UC.
      Researchers have hypothesized that the chronic illness might affect personality
      trait as the attachment style of patients. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING
      KNOWLEDGE?: UC patients exhibit a more pronounced attachment insecurity that, in
      turn, resulted as a determinant of psychological stress. This study suggests that
      UC could determine a shift towards insecurity in the attachment style that, in
      turn, promotes psychological stress and increases the risk of psychopathologies.
      WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: The more accurate knowledge of
      attachment insecurity in patients with chronic disorders such as UC may help the
      nurses to face with often dysfunctional patients' styles of manifesting distress,
      patterns of help seeking and expectations of health professionals. The knowledge
      of psychopathological mechanisms in patients with UC could improve the prevention
      and treatment of psychological disorders in affected patients. ABSTRACT:
      Introduction Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic disorder characterized by
      recurrent intestinal symptoms. The attachment theory provides a psychodynamic
      perspective to investigate the relationship between interpersonal relationships
      and stress in UC. Aim The aim of this study was to compare the attachment
      dimensions between UC patients and controls and to evaluate the impact of these
      dimensions on perceived stress in patients. Method In all, 101 patients with UC
      completed the attachment style questionnaire and the perceived stress
      questionnaire (PSQ). Clinical and psychometric parameters were added as predictor
      variables in a regression with the PSQ score as dependent variable. One hundred
      and five healthy subjects took part in the study as controls. Results Compared to
      controls, UC patients exhibited greater scores in relationships as secondary,
      need for approval and preoccupation with relationships. In UC, disease activity,
      confidence and preoccupation with relationships resulted predictors of perceived
      stress. Discussion Compared to healthy controls, UC patients exhibited more
      pronounced attachment insecurity that, in turn, was a significant predictor of
      the perceived stress. Implications for practice The knowledge of attachment
      insecurity may help the nurses and all health care providers to face with
      dysfunctional patients' styles of manifesting distress, help seeking and
      expectations of health professionals.

PMID- 27624585
TI  - Overcoming the Challenges of Unstructured Data in Multisite, Electronic Medical
      Record-based Abstraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unstructured data encountered during retrospective electronic medical
      record (EMR) abstraction has routinely been identified as challenging to reliably
      abstract, as these data are often recorded as free text, without limitations to
      format or structure. There is increased interest in reliably abstracting this
      type of data given its prominent role in care coordination and communication, yet
      limited methodological guidance exists. OBJECTIVES: As standard abstraction
      approaches resulted in substandard data reliability for unstructured data
      elements collected as part of a multisite, retrospective EMR study of hospital
      discharge communication quality, our goal was to develop, apply and examine the
      utility of a phase-based approach to reliably abstract unstructured data. This
      approach is examined using the specific example of discharge communication for
      warfarin management. RESEARCH DESIGN: We adopted a "fit-for-use" framework to
      guide the development and evaluation of abstraction methods using a 4-step, phase
      based approach including (1) team building; (2) identification of challenges; (3)
      adaptation of abstraction methods; and (4) systematic data quality monitoring.
      MEASURES: Unstructured data elements were the focus of this study, including
      elements communicating steps in warfarin management (eg, warfarin initiation) and
      medical follow-up (eg, timeframe for follow-up). RESULTS: After implementation of
      the phase-based approach, interrater reliability for all unstructured data
      elements demonstrated kappa's of >=0.89-an average increase of +0.25 for each
      unstructured data element. CONCLUSIONS: As compared with standard abstraction
      methodologies, this phase-based approach was more time intensive, but did
      markedly increase abstraction reliability for unstructured data elements within
      multisite EMR documentation.

PMID- 27624587
TI  - Systematic review of patient preference and adherence to the correct use of
      graduated compression stockings to prevent deep vein thrombosis in surgical
      patients.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to explore patient preference and adherence to
      thigh and knee length graduated compression stockings for the prevention of deep
      vein thrombosis in surgical patients. BACKGROUND: Hospitalised patients are at
      risk of developing deep vein thrombosis. Mechanical methods of prophylaxis
      include compression stockings, available as knee or thigh length. Patient
      adherence to correct stocking use is of critical importance to their
      effectiveness. DESIGN: Systematic review of quantitative evidence. DATA SOURCES:
      Eleven databases were searched from inception to 2013 for systematic reviews of
      compression stockings. Reviews were screened for relevant primary studies and
      update searches of eight electronic sources were undertaken (2010-2014). REVIEW
      METHODS: Randomised controlled trials and observational studies of surgical
      patients using compression stockings were quality assessed and data were
      extracted on patient adherence and preference. A narrative summary is presented.
      RESULTS: Nine randomised controlled trials and seven observational studies were
      included in the systematic review. There was substantial variation between
      studies in terms of patient characteristics, interventions and methods of outcome
      assessment. CONCLUSION: Patient adherence was generally higher with knee length
      than thigh length stockings. However, the studies reflect patient adherence in a
      hospital setting only, where patients are observed by healthcare professionals;
      it is likely that adherence reduces once patients have been discharged from
      hospital. Patients preferred knee length stockings over thigh length stockings.
      In many clinical settings, any difference in efficacy between thigh length and
      knee length stockings may be rendered irrelevant by patient preference for and
      likely better adherence to knee length stockings.

PMID- 27624588
TI  - Preferential attention towards the eye-region amongst individuals with insomnia.
AB  - People with insomnia often perceive their own facial appearance as more tired
      compared with the appearance of others. Evidence also highlights the eye-region
      in projecting tiredness cues to perceivers, and tiredness judgements often rely
      on preferential attention towards this region. Using a novel eye-tracking
      paradigm, this study examined: (i) whether individuals with insomnia display
      preferential attention towards the eye-region, relative to nose and mouth
      regions, whilst observing faces compared with normal-sleepers; and (ii) whether
      an attentional bias towards the eye-region amongst individuals with insomnia is
      self-specific or general in nature. Twenty individuals with DSM-5 Insomnia
      Disorder and 20 normal-sleepers viewed 48 neutral facial photographs (24 of
      themselves, 24 of other people) for periods of 4000 ms. Eye movements were
      recorded using eye-tracking, and first fixation onset, first fixation duration
      and total gaze duration were examined for three interest-regions (eyes, nose,
      mouth). Significant group * interest-region interactions indicated that,
      regardless of the face presented, participants with insomnia were quicker to
      attend to, and spent more time observing, the eye-region relative to the nose and
      mouth regions compared with normal-sleepers. However, no group * face * interest
      region interactions were established. Thus, whilst individuals with insomnia
      displayed preferential attention towards the eye-region in general, this effect
      was not accentuated during self-perception. Insomnia appears to be characterized
      by a general, rather than self-specific, attentional bias towards the eye-region.
      These findings contribute to our understanding of face perception in insomnia,
      and provide tentative support for cognitive models of insomnia demonstrating that
      individuals with insomnia monitor faces in general, with a specific focus around
      the eye-region, for cues associated with tiredness.

PMID- 27624589
TI  - The Influence of Water Vapor on the Stability and Processing of Hybrid Perovskite
      Solar Cells Made from Non-Stoichiometric Precursor Mixtures.
AB  - We investigated the influence of moisture on methylammonium lead iodide
      perovskite (MAPbI3 ) films and solar cells derived from non-stoichiometric
      precursor mixtures. We followed both the structural changes under controlled air
      humidity through in situ X-ray diffraction, and the electronic behavior of
      devices prepared from these films. A small PbI2 excess in the films improved the
      stability of the perovskite compared to stoichiometric samples. We assign this to
      excess PbI2 layers at the perovskite grain boundaries or to the termination of
      the perovskite crystals with Pb and I. In contrast, the MAI-excess films composed
      of smaller perovskite crystals showed increased electronic disorder and reduced
      device performance owing to poor charge collection. Upon exposure to moisture
      followed by dehydration (so-called solvent annealing), these films recrystallized
      to form larger, highly oriented crystals with fewer electronic defects and a
      remarkable improvement in photocurrent and photovoltaic efficiency.

PMID- 27624590
TI  - The electrophotonic silicon biosensor.
AB  - The emergence of personalized and stratified medicine requires label-free, low
      cost diagnostic technology capable of monitoring multiple disease biomarkers in
      parallel. Silicon photonic biosensors combine high-sensitivity analysis with
      scalable, low-cost manufacturing, but they tend to measure only a single
      biomarker and provide no information about their (bio)chemical activity. Here we
      introduce an electrochemical silicon photonic sensor capable of highly sensitive
      and multiparameter profiling of biomarkers. Our electrophotonic technology
      consists of microring resonators optimally n-doped to support high Q resonances
      alongside electrochemical processes in situ. The inclusion of electrochemical
      control enables site-selective immobilization of different biomolecules on
      individual microrings within a sensor array. The combination of photonic and
      electrochemical characterization also provides additional quantitative
      information and unique insight into chemical reactivity that is unavailable with
      photonic detection alone. By exploiting both the photonic and the electrical
      properties of silicon, the sensor opens new modalities for sensing on the
      microscale.

PMID- 27624591
TI  - Frequent Activation Delay-Induced Mechanical Dyssynchrony and Dysfunction in the
      Systemic Right Ventricle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with systemic right ventricles frequently experience
      progressive heart failure and conduction abnormalities leading to abnormal
      ventricular activation. Activation delay-induced mechanical dyssynchrony can
      contribute to ventricular failure and is identified by a classic strain pattern
      of paradoxical opposing wall motion that is an excellent predictor of response to
      cardiac resynchronization therapy in adults with left bundle branch block. The
      specific aims of this study were to compare right ventricular (RV) mechanics in
      an adult systemic right ventricle population versus control subjects, evaluate
      the feasibility of this RV strain pattern analysis, and determine the frequency
      of the classic pattern. METHODS: Young adults (n = 25) with d-transposition of
      the great arteries, status post Mustard or Senning palliation (TGA-MS), were
      ambispectively enrolled and compared with healthy young adults (n = 30) who were
      prospectively enrolled. All subjects were imaged using novel three-apical view
      (18-segment) RV longitudinal speckle-tracking strain analysis (EchoPAC) and
      electrocardiographic data. RESULTS: Patients with TGA-MS had diminished RV global
      peak systolic strain compared with control subjects (-12.0 +/- 4.0% vs -23.3 +/-
      2.3%, P < .001). Most patients with TGA-MS had intrinsic or left ventricular
      paced right bundle branch block. A classic pattern was present in 11 of 25
      subjects (44%), but this pattern would have been missed in four of 11 based only
      on the RV four-chamber (six-segment) model. Only three subjects underwent cardiac
      resynchronization therapy. Both subjects who had the classic pattern responded to
      cardiac resynchronization therapy, whereas the one nonresponder did not have the
      classic pattern. CONCLUSION: Systemic right ventricles demonstrated decreased
      function and increased mechanical dyssynchrony. The classic pattern of activation
      delay-induced mechanical dyssynchrony was frequently seen in this TGA-MS
      population and associated with activation delays. This comprehensive RV approach
      demonstrated incremental value.

PMID- 27624593
TI  - Prognostic Value of Left Atrial Strain in Outpatients with De Novo Heart Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left atrial (LA) dysfunction has been related to symptom onset in
      patients with heart failure (HF). However, the potential prognostic role of LA
      function has been scarcely studied in outpatients with new-onset HF symptoms.
      METHODS: Consecutive outpatients with suspected HF onset evaluated at a one-stop
      clinic were screened. HF diagnosis was performed according to current guidelines.
      LA function was analyzed in patients in sinus rhythm by speckle-tracking
      echocardiography, determining LA peak strain rate after atrial contraction
      (LASRa) as a surrogate of atrial contractile function. Yearly prospective follow
      up was conducted to report cardiovascular hospital admission or death. Patients
      without HF in sinus rhythm were followed as a control group. Survival curves were
      estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-four
      outpatients were included (mean age, 74 +/- 10 years; 67% women) with a median
      follow-up duration of 44.4 months (interquartile range, 31-58 months). Final
      diagnosis was 29.9% non-HF and 70.1% HF. More than two in five patients with HF
      (44.4%) had AF (n = 48), and 55.6% (n = 60) were in sinus rhythm. The latter were
      divided according to LASRa tertile: highest, -1.93 +/- 0.39 sec-1; middle, -1.08
      +/- 0.21 sec-1; and lowest, -0.47 +/- 0.18 sec-1. At the end of follow-up,
      patients with atrial fibrillation had a low event-free survival rate (56.3%),
      similar to those in the lower LASRa tertile (55.0%). The non-HF group had the
      best prognosis, and the higher and middle LASRa tertiles had intermediate
      prognoses (event-free survival, 85%, 75%, and 70%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:
      The study of contractile LA function in outpatients with new-onset HF provides
      prognostic stratification. The early identification of patients at higher risk on
      the basis of their atrial function would allow focusing on them independently of
      their final diagnoses.

PMID- 27624594
TI  - National leadership needed on HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) access in
      Australia.

PMID- 27624592
TI  - Assessment of Diastolic Function in Single-Ventricle Patients After the Fontan
      Procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with functional single ventricles after the Fontan procedure
      have abnormal cardiac mechanics. The aims of this study were to determine factors
      that influence diastolic function and to describe associations of diastolic
      function with current clinical status. METHODS: Echocardiograms were obtained as
      part of the Pediatric Heart Network Fontan Cross-Sectional Study. Diastolic
      function grade (DFG) was assessed as normal (grade 0), impaired relaxation (grade
      1), pseudonymization (grade 2), or restrictive (grade 3). Studies were also
      classified dichotomously (restrictive pattern present or absent). Relationships
      between DFG and pre-Fontan variables (e.g., ventricular morphology, age at
      Fontan, history of volume-unloading surgery) and current status (e.g., systolic
      function, valvar regurgitation, exercise performance) were explored. RESULTS: DFG
      was calculable in 326 of 546 subjects (60%) (mean age, 11.7 +/- 3.3 years).
      Overall, 32% of patients had grade 0, 9% grade 1, 37% grade 2, and 22% grade 3
      diastolic function. Although there was no association between ventricular
      morphology and DFG, there was an association between ventricular morphology and
      E', which was lowest in those with right ventricular morphology (P < .001); this
      association remained significant when using Z scores adjusted for age (P < .001).
      DFG was associated with achieving maximal effort on exercise testing (P = .004);
      the majority (64%) of those not achieving maximal effort had DFG 2 or 3. No
      additional significant associations of DFG with laboratory or clinical measures
      were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of diastolic function by current
      algorithms results in a high percentage of patients with abnormal DFG, but few
      clinically or statistically significant associations were found. This may imply a
      lack of impact of abnormal diastolic function on clinical outcomes in this
      cohort, or it may indicate that the methodology may not be applicable to
      pediatric patients with functional single ventricles.

PMID- 27624595
TI  - Imaging the antimicrobial mechanism(s) of cathelicidin-2.
AB  - Host defence peptides (HDPs) have the potential to become alternatives to
      conventional antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine. The HDP chicken
      cathelicidin-2 (CATH-2) has immunomodulatory and direct killing activities at
      micromolar concentrations. In this study the mechanism of action of CATH-2
      against Escherichia coli (E. coli) was investigated in great detail using a
      unique combination of imaging and biophysical techniques. Live-imaging with
      confocal fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that FITC-labelled CATH-2 mainly
      localized at the membrane of E. coli. Upon binding, the bacterial membrane was
      readily permeabilized as was shown by propidium iodide influx into the cell.
      Concentration- and time-dependent effects of the peptide on E. coli cells were
      examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). CATH-2 treatment was found to
      induce dose-dependent morphological changes in E. coli. At sub-minimal inhibitory
      concentrations (sub-MIC), intracellular granulation, enhanced vesicle release and
      wrinkled membranes were observed, while membrane breakage and cell lysis occurred
      at MIC values. These effects were visible within 1-5 minute of peptide exposure.
      Immuno-gold TEM showed CATH-2 binding to bacterial membranes. At sub-MIC values
      the peptide rapidly localized intracellularly without visible membrane
      permeabilization. It is concluded that CATH-2 has detrimental effects on E. coli
      at concentrations that do not immediately kill the bacteria.

PMID- 27624596
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum-directed recombinant mRNA displays subcellular localization
      equal to endogenous mRNA during transient expression in CHO cells.
AB  - When expressing pharmaceutical recombinant proteins in mammalian cells, the
      protein is commonly directed through the secretory pathway, in a signal peptide
      dependent manner, to acquire specific post-translational modifications and to
      facilitate secretion into the culture medium. One key premise for this is the
      direction of the mRNA encoding the recombinant protein to the surface of the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) for subsequent protein translocation into the
      secretory pathway. To evaluate the efficiency of this process in Chinese hamster
      ovary (CHO) cells, the subcellular localization of recombinant mRNA encoding the
      therapeutic proteins, erythropoietin (EPO) and Rituximab, was determined. The
      results show that ER-directed recombinant mRNAs exhibited an efficient
      recruitment to the ER when compared to an endogenous ER-directed mRNA, with no
      cytoplasmic translation of ER-directed recombinant proteins observed. These
      observations indicate that the recombinant mRNA, encoding ER-directed proteins,
      follows the same distribution pattern as endogenous mRNA directed towards the ER.
      Furthermore, the previous established fractionation method proves to be an
      efficient tool to study not only recombinant mRNA localization, but also
      recombinant protein trafficking between the ER and cytosol in CHO cells.

PMID- 27624597
TI  - Reply to the Comment on: "Prediction of Diabetes Remission in Morbidly Obese
      Patients After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass".

PMID- 27624598
TI  - Long-lasting effects of adolescent oxycodone exposure on reward-related behavior
      and gene expression in mice.
AB  - RATIONALE: Prescription opioid abuse and transition to heroin use are growing
      problems in the USA. However, the long-term consequences of adolescent
      prescription opioid abuse on subsequent drug use and affective-like behavior are
      unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine if adolescent exposure to
      oxycodone alters the rewarding effects of morphine, anxiety-like behavior, and
      reward-related gene expression later in adulthood. METHODS: Adolescent male
      C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to oxycodone (3 mg/kg/day) via osmotic minipumps for 28
      days. Following a 28-day withdrawal period, mice were tested in morphine
      conditioned place preference paradigm (CPP), morphine sensitization, open field,
      marble burying, and forced swim (FST) tests. To determine if effects were
      specific to adolescent exposure, adult mice were exposed to oxycodone for 28 days
      and underwent 28 days of withdrawal prior to the same behavioral testing
      schedule. Expression of reward-related genes including dopamine receptor 1 (D1)
      and dopamine transporter (DAT) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral
      tegmental area (VTA) was examined. RESULTS: Adolescent oxycodone exposure
      significantly increased (300 %) response to morphine CPP during adulthood and
      significantly reduced D1 expression (30 %) in the NAc and DAT expression (75 %)
      in the VTA. Adult oxycodone exposure did not affect subsequent responses to
      morphine CPP. Oxycodone exposure did not affect the development of morphine
      sensitization or affective-like behaviors. Corticosterone response to a stressor
      (FST) was significantly reduced (65 %) in mice exposed to oxycodone during
      adolescence but not adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent oxycodone exposure
      enhances rewarding effects of morphine in adulthood with no effect on other
      affective-like behaviors.

PMID- 27624599
TI  - The role of regulator of G protein signaling 4 in delta-opioid receptor-mediated
      behaviors.
AB  - RATIONALE: Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins act as negative
      modulators of G protein signaling. RGS4 has been shown to negatively modulate G
      protein signaling mediated by the delta opioid receptor (DOPr) in vitro. However,
      the role of RGS4 in modulating DOPr-mediated behaviors in vivo has not been
      elucidated. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the ability of the
      DOPr agonist SNC80 to induce DOPr-mediated antinociception, antihyperalgesia,
      antidepressant-like effects, and convulsions in wild-type and RGS4 knockout mice.
      METHODS: Antinociception was assessed in the acetic acid stretch assay.
      Antihyperalgesia was measured in a nitroglycerin-induced thermal hyperalgesia
      assay. Antidepressant-like effects were evaluated in the forced swim and tail
      suspension tests. Mice were also observed for convulsive activity post-SNC80
      treatment. SNC80-induced phosphorylation of MAP kinase in striatal tissue from
      RGS4 wild-type and knockout mice was quantified by Western blot. DOPr number from
      forebrain tissue was measured using [3H]DPDPE saturation binding. RESULTS:
      Elimination of RGS4 potentiated SNC80-induced antinociception and
      antihyperalgesia. SNC80-induced antidepressant-like effects were potentiated in
      RGS4 knockout mice in the forced swim test but not in the tail suspension test.
      Additionally, RGS4 knockout did not alter SNC80-induced convulsions. SNC80
      induced phosphorylation of MAP kinase was potentiated in striatum from RGS4
      knockout mice. Loss of RGS4 did not affect total DOPr number. CONCLUSIONS:
      Overall, these findings demonstrate that reduction of RGS4 functionally may
      increase the therapeutic index of SNC80. These results provide the first evidence
      of differential regulation of DOPr-mediated behaviors by RGS proteins and G
      protein signaling pathways.

PMID- 27624601
TI  - Methemoglobinemia resulting from exposure in a confined space: Exothermic self
      polymerization of 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) material.
AB  - A worker attempting to remove solidified material inside a confined space
      (storage tank) suffered severe methemoglobinemia and almost died. The tank
      contained liquid 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate monomer that had solidified
      after an equipment power failure caused excessive heating. Wearing a full-face
      elastomeric air-purifying respirator and Tyvek(r) coveralls, the worker used
      pneumatic air hammers to break up the solid material. After two tank entries
      totaling slightly less than one hour, the worker complained of headache and
      dizziness and within two hours of exiting the tank, he was admitted to the
      hospital in severe respiratory distress. During his eight-week hospital course,
      he suffered a cardiac arrest among other complications. An investigation into the
      cause of the worker's illness used onsite gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
      which identified aniline and p-toluidine vapor within the tank, attributable to
      overheating that led to formation of the solid material. Both are well-known
      causes of methemoglobinemia, and had the initial characterization of the confined
      space atmosphere adequately identified the hazards present appropriate
      engineering controls and personal protective equipment could have allowed the
      tank entrant to work safely in the space.

PMID- 27624600
TI  - The impact of type 2 diabetes on health related quality of life in Bangladesh:
      results from a matched study comparing treated cases with non-diabetic controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the association between diabetes and health
      related quality of life (HRQL) in lower-middle income countries. This study aimed
      to investigate HRQL among individuals with and without diabetes in Bangladesh.
      METHODS: The analysis is based on data of a case-control study, including 591
      patients with type 2 diabetes (cases) who attended an outpatient unit of a
      hospital in Dhaka and 591 age -and sex-matched individuals without diabetes
      (controls). Information about socio-demographic characteristics, health
      conditions, and HRQL were assessed in a structured interview. HRQL was measured
      with the EuroQol (EQ) visual analogue scale (VAS) and the EQ five-dimensional
      (5D) descriptive system. The association between diabetes status and quality of
      life was examined using multiple linear and logistic regression models. RESULTS:
      Mean EQ-VAS score of patients with diabetes was 11.5 points lower (95 %-CI: 
      13.5, -9.6) compared to controls without diabetes. Patients with diabetes were
      more likely to report problems in all EQ-5D dimensions than controls, with the
      largest effect observed in the dimensions 'self-care' (OR = 5.9; 95 %-CI: 2.9,
      11.8) and 'mobility' (OR = 4.5; 95 %-CI: 3.0, -6.6). In patients with diabetes,
      male gender, high education, and high-income were associated with higher VAS
      score and diabetes duration and foot ulcer associated with lower VAS scores.
      Other diabetes-related complications were not significantly associated with HRQL.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the impact of diabetes on HRQL in the
      Bangladeshi population is much higher than what is known from western populations
      and that unlike in western populations comorbidities/complications are not the
      driving factor for this effect.

PMID- 27624602
TI  - Breast reconstruction using free medial circumflex femoral artery perforator
      flaps: intraoperative anatomic study and clinical results [corrected].
AB  - BACKGROUND: A free fascioadipocutaneous flap obtained from the medial thigh is
      suitable for breast reconstruction in Asian women with a small-to-moderate breast
      size. In this region, both a medial circumflex femoral artery perforator flap
      (MCFAp flap) and a posterior medial thigh perforator flap (PMTp flap) are
      options, based on perforators from the deep femoral vessels. Here, we evaluated
      the anatomic basis of the medial circumflex femoral artery (MCFA) perforators
      from the medial circumflex femoral vessels. METHODS: Between July 2010 and June
      2014, 53 patients (55 flaps) underwent breast reconstruction using a
      fascioadipocutaneous flap from the medial thigh. MCFA perforators larger than or
      equal to 0.5 mm in this region were investigated. The following parameters were
      recorded intraoperatively: number of perforators, perforator locations, distance
      of the perforating point from the proximal thigh crease and anterior border of
      the gracilis muscle. RESULTS: The total number of perforators was 131, with a
      mean of 2.4. The number of perforators coursing through the gracilis muscle
      (gracilis perforators) was the largest, followed by septocutaneous perforator
      coursing between the adductor longus and gracilis muscle. The average perforating
      point was located 6.5 cm below the proximal thigh crease and 2.2 cm from the
      anterior border of the gracilis muscle. Of the 102 procedures performed since
      2006, 15 flaps were elevated as MCFAp flaps and there was no major complication.
      CONCLUSIONS: In some cases, MCFA perforators are dominant in this region compared
      to PMT perforators. A perforator map can be helpful for identifying adequate MCFA
      perforators intraoperatively.

PMID- 27624604
TI  - Functionalization of Azacalixaromatics by Cu(II)-Catalyzed Oxidative Cross
      Coupling Reaction between the Arene C-H Bond and Boronic Acids.
AB  - Catalyzed by Cu(ClO4)2.6H2O under mild aerobic conditions using air as the
      oxidant, azacalix[1]arene[3]pyridines underwent a highly efficient oxidative
      cross-coupling reaction with a large number of aryl-, alkenyl-, and alkylboronic
      acids to afford diverse functionalized macrocycles. Stoichiometric reactions of
      an arylboronic acid with isolated and structurally well-defined high valent
      organocopper compounds indicated the involvement of arylcopper(II) rather than
      arylcopper(III) species as an organometallic intermediate in catalysis.

PMID- 27624603
TI  - The effect of tolvaptan on renal excretion of electrolytes and urea nitrogen in
      patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adequate fluid management is an important component of patient care
      following cardiac surgery. Our aim in this study was to determine the benefits of
      tolvaptan, an oral selective vasopressin-2 receptor antagonist that causes
      electrolyte-free water diuresis, in postoperative fluid management. We
      prospectively examined the effect of tolvaptan on renal excretion of electrolytes
      and urea nitrogen in cardiac surgery patients. METHODS: Patients undergoing
      coronary artery bypass surgery were randomized to receive conventional loop
      diuretics (Group C, n = 30) or conventional loop diuretic therapy plus tolvaptan
      (Group T, n = 27). Fractional excretions of sodium (FENA), potassium (FEK) and
      urea nitrogen (FEUN) were measured in both groups during post-surgical
      hospitalization. RESULTS: Urine output was greater with tolvaptan (Group T) than
      without it (Group C), and some patients in Group C required intravenous as well
      as oral loop diuretics. Serum sodium concentrations decreased after surgery in
      Group C, but were unchanged in Group T (postoperative day [POD] 3, 139.8 +/- 3.5
      vs. 142.3 +/- 2.6 mEq/L, p = 0.006). However, postoperative FENA values in Group
      C did not decrease, and the values were similar in both groups. Serum potassium
      levels remained lower and FEK values remained higher than the preoperative
      values, but only in Group C (all p < 0.05). BUN increased postoperatively in both
      groups, but it remained higher than its preoperative value only in Group C (all p
      < 0.01). Group T showed an initial increase in BUN, which peaked and then
      returned to its preoperative value within a week. The FEUN increased
      postoperatively in both groups, but the change was more pronounced in Group T
      (POD7, 52.7 +/- 9.3 vs. 58.2 +/- 6.5 %, p = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: Renal excretion
      of sodium and potassium reflects the changes in serum concentration in patients
      treated with tolvaptan. Patients treated only with loop diuretics showed a
      continuous excretion of sodium and potassium that led to electrolyte imbalance,
      whereas the combination of loop diuretics and tolvaptan increased renal urea
      nitrogen elimination. Tolvaptan therefore appears to be an effective diuretic
      that minimally affects serum electrolytes while adequately promoting the
      elimination of urea nitrogen from the kidneys in patients undergoing coronary
      artery bypass surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The present study is registered with
      the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (ID: UMIN000011039 ).

PMID- 27624605
TI  - Dependence to legally prescribed opioid analgesics in a university hospital in
      Medellin-Colombia: an observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In some countries the misuse and diversion of prescribed opioid
      analgesic is increasing considerably, but there is no official data regarding the
      situation in Colombia. The aim of this study was to identify all dependent to
      opioid analgesics legally prescribed patients that were treated in a University
      Hospital in Medellin, Colombia during 4 years and to characterize this
      population. METHODS: Observational study in a University Hospital in Medellin,
      Colombia, searching for patients with ICD-10 codes related with opioid related
      disorders, adverse events or pain and treated between January 2011 and December
      2014. RESULTS: Sixty patients with opioid dependence according to DSM-IV criteria
      were found from 3332 clinical charts reviewed. The median age was 43 years.
      Although all patients met the DSM-IV criteria, 33 % of patients were wrongly
      diagnosed by other ICD-10 codes. Almost all patient (88 %) initiated opioids
      after medical prescription although the adherence to pain scale was low (25 %).
      The median time of consumption was 48 months. Tramadol was the opioid more
      frequently used by patients, followed by morphine and oxycodone. A statistically
      significant higher consumption of other psychotropic substances was observed in
      male than female (P = 0.005 by Fisher's test). After be diagnosed, 55 % of
      patients gone a methadone-based replacement therapy. CONCLUSION: Legally
      prescribed opioid dependence was belatedly diagnosed in 60 patients in a
      University hospital, after prolonged use of drugs to treat chronic pain and with
      low adherence to pain scale or guidelines. This is the first report in Colombia.

PMID- 27624606
TI  - Clinicopathological features of idiopathic membranous nephropathy combined with
      IgA nephropathy: a retrospective analysis of 9 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The concomitant presence of idiopathic membranous nephropathy and IgA
      nephropathy is rare. Here, we report 9 cases of phospholipase-A2-receptor (PLA2R)
      positive idiopathic membranous nephritis combined with IgA nephropathy, while
      reviewing publications regarding the pathological characteristics of this
      glomerolonephritis complication. CASE PRESENTATION: Nine cases of renal biopsy
      tissues were retrospectively reviewed, including the clinicopathological
      features, the results of the immunofluorescence assays, and the electron
      microscopic examination. The patients mainly presented proteinuria and
      microscopic hematuria, and the serum anti-PLA2R was detected as positive in all
      of the patients. Histologically, a wide thickening of the glomerular basement
      membrane was observed in each of the 9 cases. Additionally, there existed mild
      hyperplasia in the mesangial cell and the matrix of the mesangial area.
      Immunofluorescence assays showed prominent glomerular granular staining on the
      glomerular capillary loops for IgG (++/+++), IgG4 (++/++++), and PLA2R (+/++). In
      addition, moderate IgA positive stains were focally or sparsely limited to the
      mesangial areas. Electron microscopy revealed subepithelial and mesangial
      electron-dense deposits. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the case analyses
      indicated that idiopathic membranous nephropathy combined with IgA nephropathy
      possess the clinicopathological features found in both components. It is
      suggested that serum anti-PLA2R and tissue PLA2R are important biomarkers that
      can assist in the diagnosis of idiopathic membranous nephropathy associated with
      IgA nephropathy.

PMID- 27624607
TI  - "It Really Takes a Village": A Socio-Ecological Model of Resilience for
      Prevention Among Economically Disadvantaged Ethnic Minority Youth.
AB  - Promoting resilience prevents maladaptation among economically disadvantaged
      ethnic minority (EDEM) youth. EDEM youth need access to a variety of assets and
      promotive factors (i.e., resources) in the family, school, and community system
      to counter risks and promote positive adaptation. However, the field lacks a
      socio-ecological model of resilience for prevention targeted towards EDEM youth.
      We aim to review assets and promotive factors in the family, school, and
      community systems to present a socio-ecological model of resilience for the
      prevention of negative educational and health outcomes among EDEM youth. We
      reorient the social ecologies of EDEM youth from "at risk" to "at promise"
      focusing on family and community-centered prevention models. We discuss
      implications for the design of prevention strategies as well as their
      implementation and methodological challenges. 

PMID- 27624608
TI  - Web-Based Prevention of Parenting Difficulties in Young, Urban Mothers Enrolled
      in Post-Secondary Education.
AB  - Research consistently indicates that young mothers are at elevated risk for
      adverse social and economic risks. Recent attention has been paid to the value of
      maternal educational attainment for their children's economic and social
      outcomes. Pursuit of post-secondary education requires mothers to balance
      multiple roles, potentially stressing the parent-child relationship. Yet, almost
      no studies have addressed parenting and associated stress in young mothers
      enrolled in post-secondary education, and no preventive intervention trials have
      been conducted. We screened young mothers (<25 years at child's birth) pursuing
      post-secondary education in an urban, inner city college for study inclusion
      based on elevated parenting stress, and participated in a randomized controlled
      trial to assess the efficacy of a web-based parenting intervention (Triple P
      Online) in reducing parenting stress and dysfunctional discipline (N = 52).
      Mothers were randomly assigned to the web-based parenting program condition or to
      a waitlist control condition. Mothers who completed at least the first four core
      modules of the online program had lower scores on the Parenting Scale's subscales
      (Overreactivity, Verbosity, and Laxness), compared to those who did not complete
      four or more modules. No intervention effects were obtained for parenting stress.
      The current study provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy of this online
      parenting program for reducing risk for dysfunctional discipline in student
      mothers. Future research is warranted to replicate these findings, and to test
      whether provision of supplemental support for implementation, or briefer program
      formats may promote both program compliance and outcomes related to reducing
      parenting stress.

PMID- 27624609
TI  - Providing prostate cancer survivorship care in Japan: Implications from the USA
      care model.
AB  - Despite an increasing number of prostate cancer survivors in Japan, the current
      delivery of prostate cancer survivorship care is insufficient and lacks a
      multidisciplinary approach. We carried out a study to characterize prostate
      cancer survivorship care in Japan, examine the Japanese workforce available to
      deliver survivorship care, introduce a conceptual framework for survivorship and
      identify opportunities to improve Japanese survivorship care. We systematically
      searched PubMed for prostate cancer survivorship care studies, including those
      from Japan. We also searched the internet for prostate cancer guidelines relevant
      to survivorship care. We found 392 articles, of which 71 were relevant, read in
      detail and reported here. In Japan, survivorship care is mostly provided by
      urologists. Primary care as a specialty does not exist in Japan, and there are no
      independent nurse practitioners or physician assistants to assist with
      survivorship care. Japanese quality of life studies characterize the long-term
      effects of prostate cancer treatment, but routine use of patient-reported
      outcomes is not common in Japan. In the USA, in light of a growing comprehensive
      awareness of challenges facing survivors and their providers, the American Cancer
      Society prostate cancer survivorship care guidelines serve as a tool for
      optimizing the management of long-term treatment effects and coordination of
      care. In order to deliver high-quality survivorship care in Japan, urologists
      need to establish collaborations with other disciplines within the delivery
      system. A multidisciplinary guideline for prostate cancer survivorship care in
      Japan appears warranted.

PMID- 27624610
TI  - Spotlights on our sister journals: ChemPhysChem 18/2016.

PMID- 27624611
TI  - Intestinal injury in the rat model of 17alpha-ethynylestradiol-induced
      intrahepatic cholestasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although the intimate relationship between liver and gut has been
      previously reported under physiological and pathological conditions, intestinal
      involvement in the process of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy remains
      unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate intestinal changes in 17alpha
      ethynylestradiol (EE)-induced cholestatic rat model. METHODS: Liver injury was
      assessed by HE stain and serum biochemical parameters were measured. Intestinal
      transit was determined using ink marks. Neuronal protein expressions in the
      intestine were analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: EE treatment induced liver
      damage, including severe bile duct hyperplasia, portal edema, portal
      infiltration, a loss of hepatic structure in periportal areas and increased serum
      levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline
      phosphatase and total bilirubin. Large areas of inflammatory cell infiltration
      and increased myeloperoxidase activity were observed in the intestine of EE
      induced cholestatic rats. The EE-treated group showed increased intestinal
      transit and malondialdehyde levels, while the glutathione content and superoxide
      dismutase activity were notably decreased, together with decreased protein gene
      product 9.5 and neuronal nitric oxide synthase expression in the ileum and colon.
      Furthermore, choline acetyltransferase expression was significantly decreased in
      the ileum, whereas no change was observed in the colon of EE-treated rats.
      CONCLUSION: EE-induced liver damage is associated with oxidative stress,
      inflammation and neural loss in the intestine, which may lead to altered
      intestinal motility.

PMID- 27624613
TI  - Comment on Buecking et al.: Functional implications of femoral offset following
      hemiarthroplasty for displaced femoral neck fracture.

PMID- 27624614
TI  - Optimistic bias in young adults for cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory
      diseases: A pilot study on smokers and drinkers.
AB  - Optimistic bias defines the tendency for human beings to underrate risk when it
      pertains to themselves compared with their view of risk pertaining to other
      people in the same conditions. The aim of this work is to investigate the
      optimistic bias in risk perception and health-related behaviours for three
      specific conditions in a young adult sample: cancer, respiratory disorders and
      cardiovascular diseases. Young adults showed an optimistic bias related to
      cancer, and to cardiovascular diseases. Our findings suggest that optimistic bias
      is linked to specific behavioural patterns, largely widespread in young adults,
      such as tobacco cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption.

PMID- 27624612
TI  - Transient fusion ensures granule replenishment to enable repeated release after
      IgE-mediated mast cell degranulation.
AB  - To ensure normal immune function, mast cells employ different pathways to release
      mediators. Here, we report a thus far unknown capacity of mast cells to recycle
      and reuse secretory granules after an antigen-evoked degranulation process under
      physiological conditions; this phenomenon involves the existence of a recycling
      secretory granule pool that is available for release in a short time scale. Rapid
      endocytic modes contributed to the recycling of ~60% of the total secretory
      granule population, which involved kiss-and-run and cavicapture mechanisms,
      causing retention of the intragranular matrix. We found the presence of normal
      size granules and giant actomyosin- and dynamin-dependent granules, which were
      characterized by large quantal content. These large structures allowed the
      recovered mast cells to release a large amount of 5-HT, compensating for the
      decrease in the number of exocytosed secretory granules. This work uncovers a new
      physiological role of the exo-endocytosis cycle in the immunological plasticity
      of mast cells and reveals a new property of their biological secretion.

PMID- 27624615
TI  - Alcohol drinking patterns in young people: A survey-based study.
AB  - Binge drinking represents a major clinical and public health concern. Here, we
      investigated the prevalence of binge drinking and its related consequences, in a
      population of young adults. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 4275
      healthy subjects. In the overall sample, the percentage of binge drinkers was
      67.6 per cent; among regular alcohol users, 79.5 per cent reported episodes of
      binge drinking. Among binge drinkers, several serious consequences were
      identified (staggering and stuttering, amnesia, loss of control, aggressiveness,
      sexual disinhibition). Raising awareness about the seriousness of binge drinking
      may help health care providers to identify cases early on and provide appropriate
      treatments.

PMID- 27624616
TI  - Physical health, community participation and schizophrenia.
AB  - Our objective is to identify links between physical health and community
      participation among individuals with schizophrenia or a psychosis mental illness.
      Semi-structured qualitative and quantitative interviews and community tours were
      conducted over 10 months ( N = 30). Interviews were transcribed and analyzed
      using a grounded theory coding strategy. Physical health played an important role
      in community participation both as a cause and consequence. Key processes
      included mobility issues impeding physical community involvement; a multi
      directional relationship between social relationships, community involvement, and
      physical health; identity as a mechanism linking physical health problems and
      community engagement; and the potential for community-based mental health
      programs.

PMID- 27624617
TI  - Uliginosibacterium paludis sp. nov., isolated from a marsh.
AB  - A novel bacterial strain, designated KBP-13T, was isolated from a water sample
      taken from the Banping Lake Wetland Park in Taiwan and characterized using a
      polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of strain KBP-13T were Gram-stain-negative,
      aerobic, poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate-accumulating, motile rods that formed light
      yellow colonies. Growth occurred at 15-40  degrees C (optimum, 30-40  degrees C),
      at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 6.0) and with 0-2 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0 %).
      Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain KBP-13T
      belonged to the genus Uliginosibacterium within the family Rhodocyclaceae of the
      class Betaproteobacteria and its most closely related neighbour was
      Uliginosibacterium gangwonense 5YN10-9T with sequence similarity of 96.0 %.
      Strain KBP-13T contained summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1omega7c and/or C16 :
      1omega6c), C16 : 0 and C14 : 0 as predominant fatty acids. The major respiratory
      quinone was Q-8. The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA was 65.1 mol%. The polar
      lipid profile consisted of a mixture of phosphatidylethanolamine,
      phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, one uncharacterized
      aminophospholipid, one uncharacterized aminolipid, two uncharacterized
      phospholipids and three uncharacterized glycolipids. On the basis of the
      genotypic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, strain KBP-13T represents a novel
      species in the genus Uliginosibacterium, for which the name Uliginosibacterium
      paludis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KBP-13T (=BCRC 80903T=LMG
      28837T=KCTC 42655T).

PMID- 27624618
TI  - Development of a Multi-Target Contingency Management Intervention for HIV
      Positive Substance Users.
AB  - Contingency management (CM) interventions generally target a single behavior such
      as attendance or drug use. However, disease outcomes are mediated by complex
      chains of both healthy and interfering behaviors enacted over extended periods of
      time. This paper describes a novel multi-target contingency management (CM)
      program developed for use with HIV positive substance users enrolled in a CTN
      multi-site study (0049 Project HOPE). Participants were randomly assigned to
      usual care (referral to health care and SUD treatment) or 6-months strength-based
      patient navigation interventions with (PN+CM) or without (PN only) the CM
      program. Primary outcome of the trial was viral load suppression at 12-months
      post-randomization. Up to $1160 could be earned over 6 months under escalating
      schedules of reinforcement. Earnings were divided among eight CM targets; two PN
      related (PN visits; paperwork completion; 26% of possible earnings), four health
      related (HIV care visits, lab blood draw visits, medication check, viral load
      suppression; 47% of possible earnings) and two drug-use abatement (treatment
      entry; submission of drug negative UAs; 27% of earnings). The paper describes
      rationale for selection of targets, pay amounts and pay schedules. The CM program
      was compatible with and fully integrated into the PN intervention. The study
      design will allow comparison of behavioral and health outcomes for participants
      receiving PN with and without CM; results will inform future multi-target CM
      development.

PMID- 27624619
TI  - An overview of the oxytocin-oxytocin receptor signaling network.
AB  - Oxytocin, a nine amino acid long neuropeptide hormone, is synthesized in the
      hypothalamus and stored and released from the neural lobe of the pituitary gland.
      Although commonly known for its central role in the regulation of parturition and
      lactation, oxytocin signaling also plays a key role in modulating social
      behavior, evoking contentment, initiating maternal behavior, inducing trust,
      generosity and bonding in humans and animals. Oxytocin signaling can prove to be
      of great importance in therapeutics and drug targeting because of its diverse
      range of actions. However, a well annotated map of oxytocin signaling pathway is
      currently lacking in the publicly available pathway resources. Therefore, we
      systematically curated the available signaling information of oxytocin from
      published literature and collated the data to develop a more complete map. We
      cataloged 66 molecules belonging to oxytocin signaling pathway, which included 9
      protein-protein interactions, 39 post-translational modifications, 14 protein
      translocation events and 22 activation/inhibition events. Further, Oxytocin
      signaling network data is made freely available to academic fraternity by
      integrating this into NetPath ( http://www.netpath.org /), a freely available
      human signaling pathway resource developed previously by our group.

PMID- 27624620
TI  - Inter-rater reliability for speech-language therapists' judgement of oesophageal
      abnormality during oesophageal visualization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oesophageal abnormalities are common findings in a speech-language
      therapy videofluoroscopy clinic. Fluoroscopic screening involving oropharynx
      alone fails to identify these patients. Oesophageal screening as an adjunct to
      videofluoroscopy is gaining popularity. Yet currently, little is known about the
      reliability of speech and language therapists' judgement of the oesophageal
      phase. AIM: To measure the inter-rater reliability of oesophageal abnormality
      judgement in speech and language therapists during upright videofluoroscopy.
      METHODS & PROCEDURES: Seventy-four speech and language therapists were trained in
      oesophageal physiology and oesophageal visualization. Participants were asked to
      provide a rating of bolus transit (> or <15 s) for 10 segments of
      videofluoroscopy with oesophageal visualization showing ingestion of one 20 ml
      fluid barium bolus. Participants then provided a binary judgement of (1) the
      presence of stasis, (2) the presence of redirection and (3) the need for referral
      for further investigation. If stasis were present, they then rated the level of
      stasis as cervical, aortic or thoracic. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Participants achieved
      substantial agreement for bolus transit time, presence of stasis, presence of
      redirection and need for referral (K = 1.0.63.63 and .61 respectively). The level
      of stasis achieved only fair agreement (K = .22) with disagreement primarily
      between aortic, thoracic or aortic/thoracic across clinicians. CONCLUSIONS &
      IMPLICATIONS: Speech and language therapists demonstrated substantial agreement
      in judging oesophageal abnormality during videofluoroscopy. Oesophageal screening
      as an adjunct to videofluoroscopy can be used reliably in trained clinicians.

PMID- 27624621
TI  - Senior doctors must support junior colleagues, say medical royal colleges.

PMID- 27624623
TI  - Preliminary research informing policy on remote alcohol monitoring in criminal
      justice: the Scottish experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the views of Scottish offenders on the impact of alcohol
      on their experience of offending and their lives in general. Furthermore, to
      explore their views on the concept of remote alcohol monitoring (RAM) as a way to
      address alcohol misuse upon liberation from prison. METHODS: A convenience sample
      of 12 serving offenders participated in one of three focus groups. Data were
      analysed using the principles of thematic analysis. RESULTS: Analysis of the data
      revealed the significant impact of alcohol on the lives of the participants. Key
      themes included the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption; the association
      of alcohol with harm; the association of alcohol with offending; the previous
      attempts to reduce alcohol consumption and possible reasons for failure; and the
      views of participants on the utility of RAM in relation to crime prevention.
      CONCLUSIONS: Participants had significant issues with alcohol misuse prior to
      incarceration that had impacted on their offending and resulted in both health
      and social harms. Participants were generally positive but pragmatic about RAM,
      recognising that technology alone may not be enough to change deeply ingrained
      and addictive behaviours.

PMID- 27624622
TI  - Safety and Tolerability of Neladenoson Bialanate, a Novel Oral Partial Adenosine
      A1 Receptor Agonist, in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure.
AB  - We studied safety and tolerability of neladenoson bialanate, a novel oral
      selective partial adenosine A1 receptor agonist that maintains the
      cardioprotective effects of adenosine without the undesired side effects of a
      full agonist, in 2 pilot studies in patients with heart failure with reduced
      ejection fraction (HFrEF). The beta-blocker interaction study was a single-blind,
      placebo-controlled study on the effects of a 30-mg single dose of neladenoson
      bialanate on atrioventricular (AV) conduction in 11 patients with HFrEF treated
      with beta-blockers. The PARSiFAL pilot study was a double-blind, placebo
      controlled study on the effects of a 7-day treatment with 10 or 20 mg neladenoson
      bialanate or placebo in 31 patients with HFrEF on beta-blocker therapy. In the
      beta-blocker interaction study with 11 HFrEF patients, no second- or third-degree
      AV block was detected on 48-hour Holter monitoring. In the 31 HFrEF patients
      included in the PARSiFAL pilot study, no second- or third-degree AV blocks were
      observed during 24-hour Holter monitoring, and no effects were seen on heart rate
      and blood pressure. Median absolute changes in LVEF, measured by cardiac magnetic
      resonance, were 1.9% (interquartile range -1.1 to 4.3), 0.3% (-1.4 to 2.7), and
      2.2% (0.4 to 4.5), in the placebo, 10-mg, and 20-mg groups, respectively.
      Treatment of HFrEF patients with the novel partial adenosine A1 agonist
      neladenoson bialanate appeared to be safe in 2 small pilot studies, and no
      atrioventricular conduction disorders or neurological side effects were observed.
      No significant early changes in cardiac function were detected.

PMID- 27624624
TI  - Intimate partner violence as a predictor of marital disruption in rural Rakai,
      Uganda: a longitudinal study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We assessed the association between intimate partner violence (IPV)
      and union disruption (divorce or separation) in the rural Ugandan setting of
      Rakai District. METHODS: We analyzed longitudinal data collected from April 1999
      to June 2006, from 6834 women (15-49 years) living in 50 communities in Rakai.
      Participants were either officially married, traditionally married or in a
      consensual union during one or more surveys and completed at least one follow-up
      survey. The primary outcome was union disruption through divorce or separation
      from the primary sexual partner. RESULTS: Past year IPV ranged from 6.49 %
      (severe physical abuse) to 31.99 % (emotional abuse). Severe physical IPV was
      significantly associated with divorce/separation, after adjusting for other
      covariates (aOR = 1.80, 95 % CI 1.01-3.22). Another predictor of union disruption
      was a woman having two or more sexual partners in the past year (aOR = 8.42, 95 %
      CI 5.97-11.89). Factors protecting against divorce/separation included an
      increasing number of co-resident biological children and longer duration of
      union. CONCLUSIONS: IPV, particularly severe physical abuse, is an important risk
      factor for union disruption. Marital counseling, health education and
      interventions should address the role of IPV on the wellbeing of women and the
      stability of couples in Uganda.

PMID- 27624625
TI  - Violence and abuse of internally displaced women survivors of the 2010 Haiti
      earthquake.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Limited research following disasters suggests that internally
      displaced women are disproportionately vulnerable to violence and abuse. An
      interdisciplinary collaborative of researchers and practitioners in Haiti, the US
      Virgin Islands, and the US Mainland investigated gender-based violence (GBV) pre-
      and post-earthquake and health outcomes among Haitian women living in tent
      cities/camps following the 2010 earthquake. METHODS: A comparative descriptive
      correlational design using culturally sensitive and language appropriate computer
      assisted interviews of 208 internally displaced women 2011-2013. RESULTS: Found
      high rates of violence and abuse both before (71.2 %) and after (75 %) p = 0.266,
      the earthquake primarily perpetrated by boy friends or husbands. Significantly
      more mental and physical health problems were reported by abused than non-abused
      women. The majority (60-78 %) of abused women did not report personal or
      community tolerance for violence and abuse, but acknowledged a community context
      of limited involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Coordinated planning and implementation of
      needed interventions are essential to provide a balanced approach to the care of
      displaced women after natural disasters with sensitivity to the abusive
      experiences of many women both before and after the disasters.

PMID- 27624626
TI  - Screening for autism identifies behavioral disorders in children functional
      defecation disorders.
AB  - This study prospectively assessed whether positive screening surveys for autism
      spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children with functional defecation disorders (FDDs)
      accurately identify ASD. Parents of children (4-12 years) who met Rome III
      criteria for functional constipation (FC), FC with fecal incontinence (FI) and
      functional nonretentive FI (FNRFI) completed two ASD screening surveys. Children
      with positive screens were referred for psychological evaluation, and a year
      later, follow-up surveys were conducted. Of the 97 study participants, 30.9 %
      were diagnosed with FC, 62.9 % with FC with FI, and 6.2 % with FNRFI. ASD surveys
      were positive for 27 children (27.8 %). New DSM diagnoses were made in 10 out of
      the 15 children that completed further evaluation. Two (2.1 %) met criteria for
      ASD, and 12 (12.4 %) met criteria for other behavioral disorders. Average SRS and
      SCQ-L scores were higher in subjects with FC with FI as compared to FC alone and
      in those who reported no improvement versus those who reported improvement 1 year
      later. CONCLUSION: While positive ASD screening surveys did not correctly
      identify ASD in the majority, it did help to identify other unrecognized
      behavioral disorders in children with FDD. High screening scores were more common
      in children with FC with FI and in children with poorer responses to current
      medical treatments. WHAT IS KNOWN: *A prior study found that 29 % of children
      with FDD scored positive on ASD screening questionnaires. *Whether positive
      screens correctly identify ASD in children with FDD is unknown. What is New:
      *This study shows that positive ASD screens do not correctly identify ASD in
      children with FDD. However, the use of ASD screening questionnaires can identify
      previously unrecognized and untreated behavioral/developmental disorders in
      children with FDD. *High screening scores are more common in children with FC
      with FI and in children with poorer responses to current medical treatments.

PMID- 27624627
TI  - The course of positional cranial deformation from 3 to 12 months of age and
      associated risk factors: a follow-up with 3D imaging.
AB  - Deformational plagiocephaly is reported in up to 46.6 % of healthy infants, with
      the highest point prevalence at around 3 months of age. Few prospective studies
      on the natural course of skull deformation have been conducted, and we know of no
      studies using 3D imaging starting from the highest point prevalence period. In
      this prospective, population-based cohort study, we describe the course of
      cranial asymmetry and shape in an unselected population using 3D
      stereophotogrammetry and investigate factors associated with late cranial
      deformation and failure to recover from previous deformation. We evaluated 99
      infants at 3, 6, and 12 months of age. We acquired 3D craniofacial images and
      performed structured clinical examinations and parental interviews at each visit.
      Eight outcome variables, representing different aspects of cranial shape, were
      calculated from a total of 288 3D images. Scores of asymmetry-related variables
      improved throughout the observation period. However, the rate of correction for
      cranial asymmetry decreased as the infants grew older, also in relation to the
      rate of head growth, and a significant amount of asymmetry was still present at
      12 months. Positional preference at 3 months predicted an unfavorable course of
      cranial asymmetry after 3 months, increasing the risk for DP persisting. What is
      known: * The prevalence of deformational plagiocephaly spontaneously decreases
      after the first months of life. * Limited neck range of motion and infant
      positional preference increase the risk of deformational plagiocephaly during the
      first months of life. What is new: * Positional preference at 3 months predicts
      an unfavorable spontaneous course of deformation also from three to 12 months of
      age, presenting a potential target for screening and treatment. * The spontaneous
      rate of correction for cranial asymmetry decreases after 6 months of age, also in
      relation to the rate of head growth.

PMID- 27624629
TI  - The efficacy and safety of external cephalic version after a previous caesarean
      delivery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: External cephalic version (ECV) in the presence of a uterine scar is
      still considered a relative contraindication despite encouraging studies of the
      efficacy and safety of this procedure. We present our experience with this
      patient population, which is the largest cohort published to date. AIMS: To
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of ECV in the setting of a prior caesarean
      delivery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 158 patients with a fetus presenting
      as breech, who had an unscarred uterus, had an ECV performed. Similarly, 158
      patients with a fetus presenting as breech, and who had undergone a prior
      caesarean delivery also underwent an ECV. Outcomes were compared. RESULTS: ECV
      was successfully performed in 136/158 (86.1%) patients in the control group. Of
      these patients, 6/136 (4.4%) delivered by caesarean delivery. In the study group,
      117/158 (74.1%) patients had a successful ECV performed. Of these patients,
      12/117 (10.3%) delivered by caesarean delivery. There were no significant
      complications in either of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: ECV may be successfully
      performed in patients with a previous caesarean delivery. It is associated with a
      high success rate, and is not associated with an increase in complications.

PMID- 27624628
TI  - Panel-Based Population Next-Generation Sequencing for Inherited Retinal
      Degenerations.
AB  - Inherited retinopathies affect approximately two and a half million people
      globally, yet the majority of affected patients lack clear genetic diagnoses
      given the diverse range of genes and mutations implicated in these conditions. We
      present results from a next-generation sequencing study of a large inherited
      retinal disease patient population, with the goal of providing clear and
      actionable genetic diagnoses. Targeted sequencing was performed on 539
      individuals from 309 inherited retinal disease pedigrees. Causative mutations
      were identified in the majority (57%, 176/309) of pedigrees. We report the
      association of many previously unreported variants with retinal disease, as well
      as new disease phenotypes associated with known genes, including the first
      association of the SLC24A1 gene with retinitis pigmentosa. Population statistics
      reporting the genes most commonly implicated in retinal disease in the cohort are
      presented, as are some diagnostic conundrums that can arise during such studies.
      Inherited retinal diseases represent an exemplar group of disorders for the
      application of panel-based next-generation sequencing as an effective tool for
      detection of causative mutations.

PMID- 27624630
TI  - Cough Augmentation Techniques in the Critically Ill: A Canadian National Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Critically ill mechanically ventilated patients experience impaired
      airway clearance due to ineffective cough and impaired secretion mobilization.
      Cough augmentation techniques, including mechanical insufflation-exsufflation (MI
      E), manually assisted cough, and lung volume recruitment, improve cough
      efficiency. Our objective was to describe use, indications, contraindications,
      interfaces, settings, complications, and barriers to use across Canada. METHODS:
      An e-mail survey was sent to nominated local survey champions in eligible
      Canadian units (ICUs, weaning centers, and intermediate care units) with 4
      telephone/e-mail reminders. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 157 of 238
      (66%); 78 of 157 units (50%) used cough augmentation, with 50 (64%) using MI-E,
      53 (68%) using manually assisted cough, and 62 (79%) using lung volume
      recruitment. Secretion clearance was the most common indication (MI-E, 92%;
      manually assisted cough, 88%; lung volume recruitment, 76%), although the most
      common units (44%) used it <50% of the time. Use during weaning from invasive (MI
      E, 21%; manually assisted cough, 39%; lung volume recruitment, 3%) and
      noninvasive ventilation (MI-E, 21%; manually assisted cough, 33%; lung volume
      recruitment, 21%) was infrequent. The most common diagnoses were neuromuscular
      disease (97%) and spinal cord injury (83%). Pneumothorax was the most frequently
      identified absolute contraindication for MI-E (93%) and lung volume recruitment
      (83%); rib fracture was most frequently identified for manually assisted cough
      (69%). MI-E mean inspiratory pressure was 31 cm H2O, and expiratory pressure was 
      32 cm H2O. Mucus plugging requiring tracheostomy inner change was the most
      frequent complication for MI-E (23%), chest pain for manually assisted cough
      (36%), and hypotension for lung volume recruitment (17%). The most commonly cited
      barriers were lack of expertise (70%), knowledge (65%), and resources (52%).
      CONCLUSIONS: We found moderate adoption of cough augmentation techniques,
      particularly for secretion management. Lack of expertise and knowledge are
      potentially modifiable barriers addressed with educational interventions.

PMID- 27624631
TI  - Evaluating How Post-Bronchodilator Vital Capacities Affect the Diagnosis of
      Obstruction in Pulmonary Function Tests.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the ratio of FEV1 to the vital capacity (VC) is universally
      accepted as the cornerstone of pulmonary function test (PFT) interpretation, FVC
      remains in common use. We sought to determine what the differences in PFT
      interpretation were when the largest measured vital capacity (VCmax) was used
      instead of the FVC. METHODS: We included 12,238 consecutive PFTs obtained for
      routine clinical care. We interpreted all PFTs first using FVC in the
      interpretation algorithm and then again using the VCmax, obtained either before
      or after administration of inhaled bronchodilator. RESULTS: Six percent of PFTs
      had an interpretive change when VCmax was used instead of FVC. The most common
      changes were: new diagnosis of obstruction and exclusion of restriction
      (previously suggested by low FVC without total lung capacity measured by body
      plethysmography). A nonspecific pattern occurred in 3% of all PFT interpretations
      with FVC. One fifth of these 3% produced a new diagnosis of obstruction with
      VCmax. The largest factors predicting a change in PFT interpretation with VCmax
      were a positive bronchodilator response and the administration of a
      bronchodilator. Larger FVCs decreased the odds of PFT interpretation change.
      Surprisingly, the increased numbers of PFT tests did not increase odds of PFT
      interpretation change. CONCLUSIONS: Six percent of PFTs have a different
      interpretation when VCmax is used instead of FVC. Evaluating borderline or
      ambiguous PFTs using the VCmax may be informative in diagnosing obstruction and
      excluding restriction.

PMID- 27624632
TI  - Respiratory Management of Perioperative Obese Patients.
AB  - With a rising incidence of obesity in the United States, anesthesiologists are
      faced with a larger volume of obese patients coming to the operating room as well
      as obese patients with ever-larger body mass indices (BMIs). While there are many
      cardiovascular and endocrine issues that clinicians must take into account when
      caring for the obese patient, one of the most prominent concerns of the
      anesthesiologist in the perioperative setting should be the status of the lung.
      Because the pathophysiology of reduced lung volumes in the obese patient differs
      from that of the ARDS patient, the best approach to keeping the obese patient's
      lung open and adequately ventilated during mechanical ventilation is unique.
      Although strong evidence and research are lacking regarding how to best ventilate
      the obese surgical patient, we aim with this review to provide an assessment of
      the small amount of research that has been conducted and the pathophysiology we
      believe influences the apparent results. We will provide a basic overview of the
      anatomy and pathophysiology of the obese respiratory system and review studies
      concerning pre-, intra-, and postoperative respiratory care. Our focus in this
      review centers on the best approach to keeping the lung recruited through the
      prevention of compression atelectasis and the maintaining of physiological lung
      volumes. We recommend the use of PEEP via noninvasive ventilation (NIV) before
      induction and endotracheal intubation, the use of both PEEP and periodic
      recruitment maneuvers during mechanical ventilation, and the use of PEEP via NIV
      after extubation. It is our hope that by studying the underlying mechanisms that
      make ventilating obese patients so difficult, future research can be better
      tailored to address this increasingly important challenge to the field of
      anesthesia.

PMID- 27624633
TI  - Young people's perceptions of smartphone-enabled self-testing and online care for
      sexually transmitted infections: qualitative interview study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Control of sexually transmitted infections (STI) is a global public
      health priority. Despite the UK's free, confidential sexual health clinical
      services, those at greatest risk of STIs, including young people, report barriers
      to use. These include: embarrassment regarding face-to-face consultations; the
      time-commitment needed to attend clinic; privacy concerns (e.g. being seen
      attending clinic); and issues related to confidentiality. A smartphone-enabled
      STI self-testing device, linked with online clinical care pathways for treatment,
      partner notification, and disease surveillance, is being developed by the eSTI(2)
      consortium. It is intended to benefit public health, and could do so by
      increasing testing among populations which underutilise existing services and/or
      by enabling rapid provision of effective treatment. We explored its acceptability
      among potential users. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted in 2012 with
      25 sexually-experienced 16-24 year olds, recruited from Further Education
      colleges in an urban, high STI prevalence area. Thematic analysis was undertaken.
      RESULTS: Nine females and 16 males participated. 21 self-defined as Black; three,
      mixed ethnicity; and one, Muslim/Asian. 22 reported experience of STI testing,
      two reported previous STI diagnoses, and all had owned smartphones. Participants
      expressed enthusiasm about the proposed service, and suggested that they and
      their peers would use it and test more often if it were available. Utilizing
      sexual healthcare was perceived to be easier and faster with STI self-testing and
      online clinical care, which facilitated concealment of STI testing from
      peers/family, and avoided embarrassing face-to-face consultations. Despite these
      perceived advantages to privacy, new privacy concerns arose regarding
      communications technology: principally the risk inherent in having evidence of
      STI testing or diagnosis visible or retrievable on their phone. Some concerns
      arose regarding the proposed self-test's accuracy, related to self-operation and
      the technology's novelty. Several expressed anxiety around the possibility of
      being diagnosed and treated without any contact with healthcare professionals.
      CONCLUSIONS: Remote STI self-testing and online care appealed to these young
      people. It addressed barriers they associated with conventional STI services,
      thus may benefit public health through earlier detection and treatment. Our
      findings underpin development of online care pathways, as part of ongoing
      research to create this complex e-health intervention.

PMID- 27624635
TI  - Trends in Hospital Inpatient Admissions Following Early Medicaid Expansion in
      California.
AB  - The Affordable Care Act is expected to profoundly affect inpatient hospital
      utilization, both as a result of expansions in insurance coverage as well as
      payment and delivery system reforms. The objective of this study is to examine
      changes in inpatient utilization between 2010 and 2013 in California, following a
      Medicaid expansion and implementation of the Delivery System Reform Incentive
      Payment program. Findings show that between 2010 and 2013: (a) the overall number
      of inpatient admissions increased, mainly because an increase in Medicaid
      admissions exceeded the decrease in uninsured admissions; (b) the number of
      preventable admissions did not change; (c) preventable admissions decreased at
      safety net hospitals that received Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment funds
      relative to other safety net hospitals. The results suggest that delivery system
      reforms may help offset the upward pressures on utilization and costs due to
      coverage expansions.

PMID- 27624634
TI  - A Nationwide Assessment of the Association of Smoking Bans and Cigarette Taxes
      With Hospitalizations for Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and
      Pneumonia.
AB  - Multiple studies claim that public place smoking bans are associated with
      reductions in smoking-related hospitalization rates. No national study using
      complete hospitalization counts by area that accounts for contemporaneous
      controls including state cigarette taxes has been conducted. We examine the
      association between county-level smoking-related hospitalization rates and
      comprehensive smoking bans in 28 states from 2001 to 2008. Differences-in
      differences analysis measures changes in hospitalization rates before versus
      after introducing bans in bars, restaurants, and workplaces, controlling for
      cigarette taxes, adjusting for local health and provider characteristics. Smoking
      bans were not associated with acute myocardial infarction or heart failure
      hospitalizations, but lowered pneumonia hospitalization rates for persons ages 60
      to 74 years. Higher cigarette taxes were associated with lower heart failure
      hospitalizations for all ages and fewer pneumonia hospitalizations for adults
      aged 60 to 74. Previous studies may have overestimated the relation between
      smoking bans and hospitalizations and underestimated the effects of cigarette
      taxes.

PMID- 27624636
TI  - Moving Beyond Blind Men and Elephants: Providing Total Estimated Annual Costs
      Improves Health Insurance Decision Making.
AB  - Health insurance is among the most important financial and health-related
      decisions that people make. Choosing a health insurance plan that offers
      sufficient risk protection is difficult, in part because total expected health
      care costs are not transparent. This study examines the effect of providing total
      costs estimates on health insurance decisions using a series of hypothetical
      choice experiments given to 7,648 individuals responding to the fall 2015 Health
      Reform Monitoring Survey. Participants were given two health scenarios presented
      in random order asking which of three insurance plans would best meet their
      needs. Half received total estimated costs, which increased the probability of
      choosing a cost-minimizing plan by 3.0 to 10.6 percentage points, depending on
      the scenario ( p < .01). With many consumers choosing or failing to switch out of
      plans that offer insufficient coverage, incorporating insights on consumer
      decision making with personalized information to estimate costs can improve the
      quality of health insurance choices.

PMID- 27624637
TI  - Pathophysiology of the disturbed angiogenesis in hemophilia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It has been reported an increase of angiogenesis and vascular
      remodeling in hemophilic arthropathy. Therefore, antiangiogenic drugs could be
      useful in the management of hemophilic arthropathy. The aim of this review paper
      is to revise the role of angiogenesis in hemophilic arthropathy. AREAS COVERED:
      This article is a narrative review of the pathophysiology of the disturbed
      angiogenesis in hemophilia and the potential role of antiangiogenic drugs in
      nonhemophilia patients Expert commentary: Antiangiogenic drugs could be helpful
      in the future for the treatment of hemarthroses in hemophilic arthropathy.
      However, despite some recent reports emphasizing the role of angiogenesis in
      hemophilia, as these drugs have never been investigated for the treatment of
      hemophilic arthropathy in PWH, it is clear that they are not indicated.

PMID- 27624638
TI  - Imaging the lung: the old ways and the new.
AB  - Our understanding of lung biology can be greatly enhanced by studying embryonic
      and postnatal lung development, and the perturbations which occur during disease.
      Imaging techniques provide a unique insight into these processes. A wide variety
      of imaging techniques have been used to study the lungs at various stages of
      development and disease, ranging from histological stains to more novel
      techniques such as single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), intravital
      microscopy (IVM), and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Each of these tools
      can be used to elicit different information about the lungs and each has its own
      unique advantages and disadvantages for pulmonary research. In this review we
      assess some of the most commonly-used and novel imaging techniques available for
      lung research today.

PMID- 27624639
TI  - The Cost-Effectiveness of Cervical Self-Sampling to Improve Routine Cervical
      Cancer Screening: The Importance of Respondent Screening History and Compliance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing allows women to self-collect
      cervico-vaginal cells at home (i.e., self-sampling). Using primary data from a
      randomized pilot study, we evaluated the long-term consequences and cost
      effectiveness of using self-sampling to improve participation to routine cervical
      cancer screening in Norway. METHODS: We compared a strategy reflecting screening
      participation (using reminder letters) to strategies that involved mailing self
      sampling device kits to women noncompliant to screening within a 5- or 10-year
      period under two scenarios: (A) self-sampling respondents had moderate under
      screening histories, or (B) respondents to self-sampling had moderate and severe
      under-screening histories. Model outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years
      (QALY) and lifetime costs. The "most cost-effective" strategy was identified as
      the strategy just below $100,000 per QALY gained. RESULTS: Mailing self-sampling
      device kits to all women noncompliant to screening within a 5- or 10-year period
      can be more effective and less costly than the current reminder letter policy;
      however, the optimal self-sampling strategy was dependent on the profile of self
      sampling respondents. For example, "10-yearly self-sampling" is preferred
      ($95,500 per QALY gained) if "5-yearly self-sampling" could only attract moderate
      under-screeners; however, "5-yearly self-sampling" is preferred if this strategy
      could additionally attract severe under-screeners. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted self
      sampling of noncompliers likely represents good value-for-money; however, the
      preferred strategy is contingent on the screening histories and compliance of
      respondents. IMPACT: The magnitude of the health benefit and optimal self
      sampling strategy is dependent on the profile and behavior of respondents. Health
      authorities should understand these factors prior to selecting and implementing a
      self-sampling policy. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(1); 95-103. (c)2016
      AACR.

PMID- 27624641
TI  - Flash (Ultra-Rapid) Spark-Plasma Sintering of Silicon Carbide.
AB  - A new ultra-rapid process of flash spark plasma sintering is developed. The idea
      of flash spark plasma sintering (or flash hot pressing - FHP) stems from the
      conducted theoretical analysis of the role of thermal runaway phenomena for
      material processing by flash sintering. The major purpose of the present study is
      to theoretically analyze the thermal runaway nature of flash sintering and to
      experimentally address the challenge of uncontrollable thermal conditions by the
      stabilization of the flash sintering process through the application of the
      external pressure. The effectiveness of the developed FHP technique is
      demonstrated by the few seconds-long consolidation of SiC powder in an industrial
      spark plasma sintering device. Specially designed sacrificial dies heat the pre
      compacted SiC powder specimens to a critical temperature before applying any
      voltage to the powder volume and allowing the electrode-punches of the SPS device
      setup to contact the specimens and pass electric current through them under
      elevated temperatures. The experimental results demonstrate that flash sintering
      phenomena can be realized using conventional SPS devices. The usage of hybrid
      heating SPS devices is pointed out as the mainstream direction for the future
      studies and utilization of the new flash hot pressing (ultra-rapid spark plasma
      sintering) technique.

PMID- 27624640
TI  - Prenatal and Postnatal Medical Conditions and the Risk of Brain Tumors in
      Children and Adolescents: An International Multicenter Case-Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have evaluated the effect of medical diagnostic
      radiation on brain tumors. Recent cohort studies have reported an increased risk
      associated with exposure to head CT scans. METHODS: Information regarding medical
      conditions, including prenatal and postnatal exposure to medical diagnostic
      radiation, was obtained from CEFALO, a multicenter case-control study performed
      in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland through face-to-face interview.
      Eligible cases of childhood and adolescent brain tumors (CABT) were ages 7 to 19
      years, diagnosed between January 1, 2004 and August 31, 2008, and living in the
      participating countries (n = 352). The cases were matched by age, sex, and region
      to 646 population-based controls. RESULTS: Prenatal exposure to medical
      diagnostic radiation and postnatal exposure to X-rays were not associated with
      CABTs. A higher risk estimate of CABTs, although not statistically significant,
      was found for exposure to head CT scan (OR, 1.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.82
      4.22). The associations with head injury, febrile seizure, fever in the first 12
      weeks, and general anesthesia were close to unity. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal or
      postnatal medical conditions, including medical diagnostic radiation, were not
      associated with CABTs. On the basis of small numbers of exposed children, we
      observed a nonsignificant increased risk for CT scans of the head. IMPACT: We
      have presented additional evidence, suggesting that exposure to head CT scan may
      be associated with the occurrence of CABTs. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev;
      26(1); 110-5. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27624643
TI  - Enhanced patient involvement in Swedish aphasia intervention.
AB  - The present article is a case study in which participation is investigated in
      terms of the use of interactional practices that enhance the involvement of a man
      with severe aphasia in activities that aim to capture his and his wife's
      experiences of everyday communication, and their views of his speech and language
      intervention. Five practices are identified: 1) collaborative telling, 2)
      formulations, 3) yes/no questions, 4) declaratives and 5) hint-and-guess
      strategies. It is demonstrated how participants' (wife, a speech and language
      pathologist, and two research assistants) use of these practices are beneficial
      for making the viewpoints of the man with aphasia come across, despite his
      communication difficulties. Results are discussed in light of the importance of
      finding ways to make patients influence their own intervention, both in terms of
      a raised awareness of facilitative interactional practices and of activities such
      as interviews and retrospection sessions with patients and their significant
      others.

PMID- 27624642
TI  - A survey for selected avian viral pathogens in backyard chicken farms in Finland.
AB  - Backyard poultry are regaining popularity in Europe and increased interest in the
      health and management of non-commercial farms has resulted. Furthermore,
      commercial poultry farm owners have become concerned about the risk represented
      by contagious avian diseases that nearby backyard poultry could transmit. Fifty
      one voluntary backyard chicken farms were visited between October 2012 and
      January 2013. Blood samples and individual cloacal swabs were collected from 457
      chickens. In 44 farms (86%), one or more of the tested chickens had antibodies
      against avian encephalomyelitis and chicken infectious anaemia viruses, 24 farms
      (47%) had chickens seropositive for infectious bronchitis virus, 10 farms (20%)
      had chickens seropositive for infectious bursal disease virus, six farms (12%)
      had chickens seropositive for infectious laryngotracheitis virus and two farms
      (5.4%) had chickens seropositive for avian influenza virus. No farms had chickens
      seropositive for Newcastle disease virus. Of the 51 farms, five (10%) had
      chickens positive for coronavirus reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction. A phylogenetic analysis showed that all backyard chicken coronaviruses
      collected were QX type infectious bronchitis viruses. All chickens tested for
      avian influenza and Newcastle disease viruses using real time reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction were negative. To our knowledge, there is
      no evidence to date to suggest that these diseases would have been transmitted
      between commercial and non-commercial flocks.

PMID- 27624644
TI  - Ectopic osteogenic capacity of freshly isolated adipose-derived stromal vascular
      fraction cells supported with platelet-rich plasma: A simulation of
      intraoperative procedure.
AB  - Bone defects represent a serious problem in cranio-maxillofacial surgery.
      Autologous adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells in combination
      with biological factors and bone substitutes were previously proposed as
      alternative to bone grafting. By simulating an intraoperative procedure we
      examined osteogenic capacity of the combination of two autologous components,
      freshly isolated adipose-derived SVF cells, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP),
      delivered on bone mineral matrix (BMM) carrier (SPB group) in mice ectopic bone
      forming model. Implantation of BMM only (B group) was a control. The presence of
      adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) in SVF was detected by immunocytochemical
      analysis. Expression of bone- and endothelial-related genes was compared between
      freshly isolated SVF and ADSCs obtained from SVF after in vitro cultivation. The
      implants were analyzed using expression analysis of bone-related genes at one,
      two, four and eight weeks and histochemical, immunohistochemical and
      histomorphometrical analyses at two and eight weeks after implantation. Freshly
      isolated adipose-derived SVF contained ADSCs and exhibited promising osteogenic
      and vasculogenic capacity. At two and four weeks, significantly higher expression
      of bone-related genes was detected in SPB group compared to B group. The signs of
      osteogenic process were more pronounced in SPB than in B implants. By the end of
      experiment, percentage of infiltrated tissue and vascularization was
      significantly higher in SPB than in B implants. Adipose-derived SVF cells, PRP
      and BMM rapidly initiated osteogenesis what makes this combination promising
      candidate for treatment of bone defects.

PMID- 27624645
TI  - Effects of Charitable Versus Monetary Incentives on the Acceptance of and
      Adherence to a Pedometer-Based Health Intervention: Study Protocol and Baseline
      Characteristics of a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research has so far benefited from the use of pedometers in physical
      activity interventions. However, when public health institutions (eg, insurance
      companies) implement pedometer-based interventions in practice, people may
      refrain from participating due to privacy concerns. This might greatly limit the
      applicability of such interventions. Financial incentives have been successfully
      used to influence both health behavior and privacy concerns, and may thus have a
      beneficial effect on the acceptance of pedometer-based interventions. OBJECTIVE:
      This paper presents the design and baseline characteristics of a cluster
      randomized controlled trial that seeks to examine the effect of financial
      incentives on the acceptance of and adherence to a pedometer-based physical
      activity intervention offered by a health insurance company. METHODS: More than
      18,000 customers of a large Swiss health insurance company were allocated to a
      financial incentive, a charitable incentive, or a control group and invited to
      participate in a health prevention program. Participants used a pedometer to
      track their daily physical activity over the course of 6 months. A Web-based
      questionnaire was administered at the beginning and at the end of the
      intervention and additional data was provided by the insurance company. The
      primary outcome of the study will be the participation rate, secondary outcomes
      will be adherence to the prevention program, physical activity, and health status
      of the participants among others. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics indicate that
      residence of participants, baseline physical activity, and subjective health
      should be used as covariates in the statistical analysis of the secondary
      outcomes of the study. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in western cultures
      testing the effectiveness of financial incentives with regard to a pedometer
      based health intervention offered by a large health insurer to their customers.
      Given that the incentives prove to be effective, this study provides the basis
      for powerful health prevention programs of public health institutions that are
      easy to implement and can reach large numbers of people in need.

PMID- 27624646
TI  - Kanner, Asperger, and Frankl: A third man at the genesis of the autism diagnosis.
AB  - Scholars have long speculated about how Kanner and Asperger's descriptions of
      autistic behavior appeared just 1 year apart in America and Austria even as World
      War II had severed communication between the two countries. Both conspiracy and
      serendipity have been alleged, but a simpler explanation has now emerged.
      Autistic knowledge crossed the Atlantic with Georg Frankl-a previously
      unrecognized "man in the middle" who followed his fiance to America. The evidence
      presented here fills in many blanks and suggests both Kanner and Asperger
      benefited from Frankl's insight. He was a guiding force for both men: unseen
      until now because he left very little in the way of published papers. To the end
      of their lives, Kanner and Asperger described their conditions as separate and
      distinct. Today, they are both part of the Autism Spectrum in Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). This article explains how and
      why Kanner and Asperger saw their descriptions as different. It makes the case
      that Georg Frankl helped both men see autism as we know it today and first saw
      the breadth of that continuum.

PMID- 27624647
TI  - Active but not inactive granulomatosis with polyangiitis is associated with
      decreased and phenotypically and functionally altered CD56(dim) natural killer
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of natural killer (NK) cells in granulomatosis with
      polyangiitis (GPA) is poorly understood. We recently reported that peripheral
      blood NK cell percentages correlate with the suppression of GPA activity (cohort
      I). The purpose of the current study was to further characterize NK cell subsets,
      phenotype and function in a second GPA cohort (cohort II). METHODS: Peripheral
      blood lymphocyte subsets were analyzed at a clinical diagnostic laboratory.
      Clinical data were extracted from medical records and patients were grouped
      according to their activity state (remission vs. active/non-remission). Separate
      analysis (cohort II, n = 22) and combined analysis (cohorts I and II, n = 34/57)
      of NK cell counts/percentages was performed. NK cell subsets and phenotypes were
      analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry. Cytotoxicity assays were performed using
      (51)Cr-labeled K562 target cells. RESULTS: In cohort II, NK cell counts were
      lower than the lower limit of normal in active GPA, despite normal percentages
      due to lymphopenia. NK cell counts, but not other lymphocyte counts, were
      significantly higher in remission. Combined analysis of cohorts I and II
      confirmed decreased NK cell counts in active GPA and increased percentages in
      long-term remission. Follow-up measurements of six patients revealed increasing
      NK cell percentages during successful induction therapy. Multicolor analysis from
      cohort II revealed that in active GPA, the CD56(dim) subset was responsible for
      decreased NK cell counts, expressed more frequently CD69, downregulated the Fc
      receptor CD16 and upregulated the adhesion molecule CD54, the chemokine receptor
      CCR5 and the activating receptor NKG2C. In remission, these markers were
      unaltered or marginally altered. All other receptors investigated (NKp30, NKp44,
      NKp46, NKG2D, DNAM1, 2B4, CRACC, 41BB) remained unchanged. Natural cytotoxicity
      was not detectable in most patients with active GPA, but was restored in
      remission. CONCLUSIONS: NK cell numbers correlate inversely with GPA activity.
      Reduced CD56(dim) NK cells in active GPA have an activated phenotype, which
      intriguingly is associated with profound deficiency in cytotoxicity. These data
      suggest a function for NK cells in the pathogenesis and/or modulation of
      inflammation in GPA. NK cell numbers, phenotype (CD16, CD69, NKG2C) or overall
      natural cytotoxicity are promising candidates to serve as clinical biomarkers to
      determine GPA activity.

PMID- 27624648
TI  - Cost-effectiveness analysis of quadrivalent versus trivalent influenza vaccine in
      Taiwan: A lifetime multi-cohort model.
AB  - A government-funded trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) program to prevent seasonal
      influenza was implemented in Taiwan since 1998. However, mismatch between the
      vaccine and circulating strains may occur. Alternatively, a quadrivalent
      influenza vaccine (QIV) includes all 4 influenza lineages could minimize the risk
      of mismatches. Therefore, QIV could be considered as an alternative strategy to
      enhance protection against seasonal influenza. The objective of the study was to
      analyze, from a governmental perspective, the cost-effectiveness of using QIV vs.
      TIV as a vaccination strategy in Taiwan. A lifetime multi-cohort, static Markov
      model was constructed with 9 age groups to assess the costs and effectiveness of
      QIV vs. TIV. Direct costs were obtained from a database released by the Ministry
      of Health and Welfare. Outcomes included life-years gained, quality-adjusted life
      years (QALYs) gained, influenza cases avoided and incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratios (ICERs). The discount rate of costs and effectiveness was set at 3.5% and
      the time horizon used in the model was 100 y. Results show that a vaccination
      strategy utilizing QIV instead of TIV would bring an additional 10,557 QALYs at
      an extra cost of US$39.4 million, yielding an ICER of US$3,015.07 per QALY
      gained. When setting the willingness-to-pay threshold at US$10,000, compared to
      TIV, the probability that QIV would be cost-effective was 98%. Sensitivity
      analyses show that ICER was sensitive to the changes of circulation of influenza
      virus subtypes and vaccine mismatch. From a governmental perspective, the QIV
      vaccination could be considered as a cost-effective strategy within the context
      of public health in Taiwan.

PMID- 27624649
TI  - Longitudinal assessment of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in lupus nephritis
      as a biomarker of disease activity.
AB  - Urinary MCP-1 (uMCP-1) levels reflect lupus nephritis (LN) disease activity.
      However, long-term prospective studies evaluating it as a biomarker are lacking.
      SLE patients with active nephritis (AN), active disease without nephritis (ANR),
      and inactive disease (ID) were enrolled. AN patients were followed up every 3
      months for 1 year. Urine and serum samples were collected at baseline from all
      and at follow-up visits in AN group. Urine samples from healthy subjects (HC),
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and diabetic nephropathy (DM) patients (20 each)
      served as controls. Serum (sMCP-1) and uMCP-1 was measured using ELISA. Urinary
      values were normalized for creatinine excretion. Nonparametric tests were used. A
      total of 121 SLE patients were enrolled. Baseline uMCP-1 was significantly higher
      in AN as compared to ANR, ID, HC, and RA (p < 0.001), but it was not different
      from DM and showed good correlation with rSLEDAI and SLEDAI (r = 0.52 and 0.47, p
      < 0.001) but not with sMCP-1. On ROC analysis to differentiate between AN and
      ANR, uMCP-1 performed better than sMCP-1, anti-dsDNA antibodies, C3 and C4. uMCP
      1 and not sMCP-1 decreased significantly at all follow-up visits (p < 0.001).
      uMCP-1 remained persistently elevated in a patient who developed CKD and rose
      before conventional markers in two patients with relapse of LN. uMCP-1 correlates
      well with LN disease activity and helps differentiate between AN and ANR
      patients. Its levels fall with treatment and may have a potential to predict poor
      response and relapse of LN. uMCP-1 is most likely generated locally in the
      kidney.

PMID- 27624650
TI  - Assessment of a vaginal device for delivery of the impacted foetal head at
      caesarean section.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess a new device (Tydeman Tube) designed to
      facilitate delivery of the impacted foetal head at caesarean section. Standard
      digital vaginal technique and the Tydeman Tube were each used to elevate the
      foetal head on a validated full dilatation caesarean simulator. Greater elevation
      of the foetal head was achieved with the Tydeman Tube than digital technique
      (mean difference +9.1 mm, p < 0.001). Although greater force was applied to
      achieve this elevation (mean difference +0.42 Kgf, p < 0.001), the force was
      spread over a greater area (6.97 cm2 versus 2.0 cm2). Therefore, mean pressures
      applied to the foetal head were lower (mean difference -2.3 Kg cm2, p < 0.001).
      The first uses of the Tydeman Tube in clinical practice were described.
      Clinicians found it easy to use and effective (mean score 7.7/10). The Tydeman
      Tube is an effective tool for delivering the impacted foetal head on a simulator
      and its initial use in clinical practise has proved positive.

PMID- 27624651
TI  - A unifying theory for the functional architecture of endothermic
      thermoregulation.
AB  - Developing a unifying theory for the functional architecture of endothermic
      thermoregulation has been proven to be a challenging endeavor. Three papers
      published in this issue of Temperature take a closer look at this problem and add
      interesting views to our knowledge about the way that endothermic
      thermoregulation works. 

PMID- 27624653
TI  - Solitary adrenal metastasis from early-stage dedifferentiated endometrial
      carcinoma: CT findings and review of the literature.

PMID- 27624654
TI  - Monitoring and mechanisms of insecticide resistance in Chilo suppressalis
      (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), with special reference to diamides.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis Walker (Lepidoptera:
      Crambidae), is one of the most economically important pests of rice in Asia.
      Chemical control remains the most efficient primary means for controlling this
      pest. RESULTS: Significant variations among field populations in their resistance
      to seven insecticides were observed. The populations exhibited LC50 values that
      ranged between 0.605 and 108.088 mg AI L-1 for chlorantraniliprole and between
      0.046 and 3.919 mg AI L-1 for flubendiamide. The YY14 population collected from
      Yuyao in Zhejiang Province in 2014 showed a moderate resistance level to the two
      diamides, i.e. up to 77.6-fold and 42.6-fold for chlorantraniliprole and
      flubendiamide respectively. Synergism tests and biochemical assays showed no
      obvious correlations between diamide resistance and three detoxifying enzymes.
      Sequence comparison of the ryanodine receptor gene between the YY14 resistant
      population and susceptible population revealed that a glycine to glutamic acid
      substitution (G4910E) was presented in the YY14 population. CONCLUSION: G4910E
      mutation might be involved in the resistance evolution of C. suppressalis to the
      diamides. An appropriate insecticide resistance management programme should be
      established to maintain the effectiveness of the insecticides and to ensure
      sustainable management. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27624655
TI  - Editorial: Peculiarities of unruptured internal carotid artery bifurcation
      aneurysms.

PMID- 27624652
TI  - Bexarotene targets autophagy and is protective against thromboembolic stroke in
      aged mice with tauopathy.
AB  - Stroke is a highly debilitating, often fatal disorder for which current therapies
      are suitable for only a minor fraction of patients. Discovery of novel, effective
      therapies is hampered by the fact that advanced age, primary age-related
      tauopathy or comorbidities typical to several types of dementing diseases are
      usually not taken into account in preclinical studies, which predominantly use
      young, healthy rodents. Here we investigated for the first time the
      neuroprotective potential of bexarotene, an FDA-approved agent, in a co-morbidity
      model of stroke that combines high age and tauopathy with thromboembolic cerebral
      ischemia. Following thromboembolic stroke bexarotene enhanced autophagy in the
      ischemic brain concomitantly with a reduction in lesion volume and amelioration
      of behavioral deficits in aged transgenic mice expressing the human P301L-Tau
      mutation. In in vitro studies bexarotene increased the expression of autophagy
      markers and reduced autophagic flux in neuronal cells expressing P301L-Tau.
      Bexarotene also restored mitochondrial respiration deficits in P301L-Tau neurons.
      These newly described actions of bexarotene add to the growing amount of
      compelling data showing that bexarotene is a potent neuroprotective agent, and
      identify a novel autophagy-modulating effect of bexarotene.

PMID- 27624657
TI  - Mannose-binding lectin gene polymorphism in relation to periodontal infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) plays an important role in
      innate immunity. MBL deficiency is usually caused by mutations in exon 1 of the
      MBL structural gene (MBL2). Our aim was to investigate MBL2 polymorphisms and
      their relation to salivary levels of periodontal inflammatory/tissue destruction
      markers and two major periodontitis-associated bacteria. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Salivary samples from 222 subjects were available for genotyping by
      pyrosequencing. The subjects between 40 and 60 years of age and having a minimum
      of 20 teeth were divided into three periodontal groups: 80 had generalized
      periodontitis, 65 had localized periodontitis and 77 were periodontitis-free. A
      comparison between their MBL2 genotypes and salivary detection rates and levels
      of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis as well as
      interleukin -1beta, matrix metalloproteinase -8, and tissue inhibitor of matrix
      metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 was performed. RESULTS: The frequencies of the MBL2
      wild-type (A/A), heterozygote variants (A/O) and homozygote variants (O/O) were
      69.4%, 26.6% and 4%, respectively. In A. actinomycetemcomitans-positive subjects
      having homozygote or heterozygote MBL2 variants, the salivary concentrations of
      IL-1beta (p = 0.010) were elevated and those of TIMP-1 (p = 0.001) were
      decreased. In addition their matrix metalloproteinase -8/TIMP-1 ratio was higher
      (p < 0.001) and they had more pocket teeth (p = 0.012) than subjects negative for
      A. actinomycetemcomitans. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the carriage of
      A. actinomycetemcomitans may facilitate extended periodontal inflammation and
      destruction in subjects with a variant form of human MBL2.

PMID- 27624658
TI  - Effects of Biowastes Released by Mechanically Damaged Muscle Cells on the
      Propagation of Deep Tissue Injury: A Multiphysics Study.
AB  - Deep tissue injuries occur in muscle tissues around bony prominences under
      mechanical loading leading to severe pressure ulcers. Tissue compression can
      potentially compromise lymphatic transport and cause accumulation of metabolic
      biowastes, which may cause further cell damage under continuous mechanical
      loading. In this study, we hypothesized that biowastes released by mechanically
      damaged muscle cells could be toxic to the surrounding muscle cells and could
      compromise the capability of the surrounding muscle cells to withstand further
      mechanical loadings. In vitro, we applied prolonged low compressive stress (PLCS)
      and short-term high compressive stress to myoblasts to cause cell damage and
      collected the biowastes released by the damaged cells under the respective
      loading scenarios. In silico, we used COMSOL to simulate the compressive stress
      distribution and the diffusion of biowastes in a semi-3D buttock finite element
      model. In vitro results showed that biowastes collected from cells damaged under
      PLCS were more toxic and could compromise the capability of normal myoblasts to
      resist compressive damage. In silico results showed that higher biowastes
      diffusion coefficient, higher biowastes release rate, lower biowastes tolerance
      threshold and earlier timeline of releasing biowastes would cause faster
      propagation of tissue damage. This study highlighted the importance of biowastes
      in the development of deep tissue injury to clinical pressure ulcers under
      prolonged skeletal compression.

PMID- 27624659
TI  - Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Ruptured Mitral Chordae Tendineae.
AB  - The chordal structure is a part of mitral valve geometry that has been commonly
      neglected or simplified in computational modeling due to its complexity. However,
      these simplifications cannot be used when investigating the roles of individual
      chordae tendineae in mitral valve closure. For the first time, advancements in
      imaging, computational techniques, and hardware technology make it possible to
      create models of the mitral valve without simplifications to its complex
      geometry, and to quickly run validated computer simulations that more
      realistically capture its function. Such simulations can then be used for a
      detailed analysis of chordae-related diseases. In this work, a comprehensive
      model of a subject-specific mitral valve with detailed chordal structure is used
      to analyze the distinct role played by individual chordae in closure of the
      mitral valve leaflets. Mitral closure was simulated for 51 possible chordal
      rupture points. Resultant regurgitant orifice area and strain change in the
      chordae at the papillary muscle tips were then calculated to examine the role of
      each ruptured chorda in the mitral valve closure. For certain subclassifications
      of chordae, regurgitant orifice area was found to trend positively with ruptured
      chordal diameter, and strain changes correlated negatively with regurgitant
      orifice area. Further advancements in clinical imaging modalities, coupled with
      the next generation of computational techniques will enable more physiologically
      realistic simulations.

PMID- 27624660
TI  - Hemodynamic Influence on Smooth Muscle Cell Kinetics and Phenotype During Early
      Vein Graft Adaptation.
AB  - Pathologic vascular adaptation following local injury is the primary driver for
      accelerated intimal hyperplasia and an occlusive phenotype. Smooth muscle cell
      (SMC) proliferation within the wall, and migration into the developing intima, is
      a major component of this remodeling response. The primary objective in the
      current study was to investigate the effect of the local biomechanical forces on
      early vein graft adaptation, specifically focusing on the spatial and temporal
      response of SMC proliferation and conversion from a contractile to synthetic
      architecture. Taking advantage of the differential adaptation that occurs during
      exposure to divergent flow environments, vein grafts were implanted in rabbits to
      create two distinct flow environments and harvested at times ranging from 2 h to
      28 days. Using an algorithm for the virtual reconstruction of unfixed, histologic
      specimens, immunohistochemical tracking of DNA synthesis, and high-throughput
      transcriptional analysis, the spatial and temporal changes in graft morphology,
      cell proliferation, and SMC phenotype were catalogued. Notable findings include a
      burst of cell proliferation at 7 days post-implantation, which was significantly
      augmented by exposure to a reduced flow environment. Compared to the adjacent
      media, proliferation rates were 3-fold greater in the intima, and a specific
      spatial distribution of these proliferating cells was identified, with a major
      peak in the sub-endothelial region and a second peak centering on the internal
      elastic lamina. Genomic markers of a contractile SMC phenotype were reduced as
      early as 2 h post-implantation and reached a nadir at 7 days. Network analysis of
      upstream regulatory pathways identified GATA6 and KLF5 as important transcription
      factors that regulate this shift in SMC phenotype.

PMID- 27624661
TI  - [Outcome of intensive medical care for inflammatory rheumatic diseases].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Very little is known about the outcome of patients with
      inflammatory rheumatic diseases in intensive care units (ICU). This retrospective
      study investigated the results of intensive medical treatment in these patients
      and the reliability of scoring systems used for the prediction of survival.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A case group consisting of 50 patients suffering from
      inflammatory rheumatic diseases was generated by analysis of patient records from
      the ICU at the University Hospital for Internal Medicine in Halle (Saale) in the
      years 2001-2010. The APACHE II score and SAPS II were used to estimate the
      probable mortality rate. The data were compared to those of a control group
      consisting of 72 patients treated on the ICU and suffering from non-inflammatory
      joint diseases. RESULTS: In the case group a higher mortality rate (38 % vs. 20.8
      %) and a higher frequency of respiratory, nephrogenic and cardiovascular
      complications were observed. In addition, these patients more often underwent
      artificial ventilation (66 % vs. 35 %) and had a higher rate of infections (74 %
      vs. 40.3 %) compared to the control group. In patients with inflammatory
      rheumatic diseases the SAPS II was not useful for correctly predicting mortality,
      whereas the APACHE II score showed sufficient agreement with the actual mortality
      rate. CONCLUSION: Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases displayed a
      poorer outcome compared with the control group in the course of the intensive
      care treatment. Universally applied scoring systems used to predict mortality are
      of limited value in this patient population.

PMID- 27624662
TI  - Enhanced Amplification and Fan-Out Operation in an All-Magnetic Transistor.
AB  - Development of all-magnetic transistor with favorable properties is an important
      step towards a new paradigm of all-magnetic computation. Recently, we showed such
      possibility in a Magnetic Vortex Transistor (MVT). Here, we demonstrate enhanced
      amplification in MVT achieved by introducing geometrical asymmetry in a three
      vortex sequence. The resulting asymmetry in core to core distance in the three
      vortex sequence led to enhanced amplification of the MVT output. A cascade of
      antivortices travelling in different trajectories including a nearly elliptical
      trajectory through the dynamic stray field is found to be responsible for this
      amplification. This asymmetric vortex transistor is further used for a successful
      fan-out operation, which gives large and nearly equal gains in two output
      branches. This large amplification in magnetic vortex gyration in magnetic vortex
      transistor is proposed to be maintained for a network of vortex transistor. The
      above observations promote the magnetic vortex transistors to be used in complex
      circuits and logic operations.

PMID- 27624663
TI  - Constructing Interconsistent, Reasonable, and Predictive Models for Both the
      Kinetic and Thermodynamic Properties of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors.
AB  - Accumulated evidence suggests that the in vivo biological potency of a ligand is
      more strongly correlated with the binding/unbinding kinetics than the equilibrium
      thermodynamics of the protein-ligand interaction (PLI). However, the existing
      experimental and computational techniques are largely insufficient and limited in
      large-scale measurements or accurate predictions of the kinetic properties of
      PLI. In this work, elaborate efforts have been made to develop interconsistent,
      reasonable, and predictive models of the association rate constant (kon),
      dissociation rate constant (koff), and equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of
      a series of HIV protease inhibitors with different structural skeletons. The
      results showed that nine Volsurf descriptors derived from water (OH2) and
      hydrophobic (DRY) probes are key molecular determinants for the kinetic and
      thermodynamic properties of HIV-1 protease inhibitors. To the best of our
      knowledge, this is the first time that interconsistent and reasonable models with
      strong prediction power have been established for both the kinetic and
      thermodynamic properties of HIV protease inhibitors.

PMID- 27624664
TI  - Mesoporous Non-stacked Graphene-receptor Sensor for Detecting Nerve Agents.
AB  - A novel gas sensor consisting of porous, non-stacked reduced graphene oxide
      (NSrGO)-heaxfluorohydoroxypropanyl benzene (HFHPB) nanosheets was successfully
      fabricated, allowing the detection of dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP), similar
      to sarin toxic gas. The HFHPB group was chemically grafted to the NSrGO via a
      diazotization reaction to produce NSrGO-HFHPB. The NSrGO-HFHPB 3D film has a
      mesoporous structure with a large pore volume and high surface area that can
      sensitively detect DMMP and concurrently selectively signal the DMMP through the
      chemically-attached HFHPB. The DMMP uptake of the mesoporous NSrGO-HFHPB was
      240.03 Hz, 12 times greater than that of rGO-HFHPB (20.14 Hz). In addition, the
      response rate of NSrGO-HFHPB was faster than that of rGO-HFHPB, an approximately
      3 times more rapid recovery due to the mesoporous structure of the NSrGO-HFHPB.
      The NSrGO-HFHPB sensor exhibited long-term stability due to the use of robust
      carbon and resulting high resistance to humidity.

PMID- 27624665
TI  - The syntheses of isotopically labelled CB-1 antagonists for the treatment of
      obesity.
AB  - BMS-725519, BMS-811064, and BMS-812204 are potent and selective central
      cannabinoid receptor antagonists that have been investigated for the treatment of
      human obesity. To further understand their biotransformation profiles,
      radiolabelled and stable-labelled products were required. This paper describes
      the utility of [14 C]1,1-carbonyldiimidazole as a radiolabelling reagent for the
      syntheses of carbonyl-labelled [14 C]BMS-725519, [14 C]BMS-811064, and [14 C]BMS
      812204. The syntheses of stable-labelled [13 C6 ]BMS-725519 and [13 CD313 CD2
      ]BMS-812204 synthesized from of [13 C6 ]4-chloroacetophenone and [13 CD313 CD2
      ]iodoethane, respectively, are also described.

PMID- 27624666
TI  - Evolutionary constraints of warning signals: A genetic trade-off between the
      efficacy of larval and adult warning coloration can maintain variation in signal
      expression.
AB  - To predict evolutionary responses of warning signals under selection, we need to
      determine the inheritance pattern of the signals, and how they are genetically
      correlated with other traits contributing to fitness. Furthermore, protective
      coloration often undergoes remarkable changes within an individual's lifecycle,
      requiring us to quantify the genetic constraints of adaptive coloration across
      all the relevant life stages. Based on a 12 generation pedigree with > 11,000
      individuals of the wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis), we show that high
      primary defense as a larva (large warning signal) results in weaker defenses as
      adult (less efficient warning color), due to the negative genetic correlation
      between the efficacy of larval and adult warning coloration. However, production
      of effective warning coloration as a larva did not incur any life-history costs
      and was positively genetically correlated with reproductive output. These results
      provide novel insights into the evolutionary constraints on protective coloration
      in animals, and explain the maintenance of variation in the signal expression
      despite the strong directional selection by predators. By analyzing the genetic
      and environmental effects on warning signal and life-history traits in all
      relevant life stages, we can accurately determine the mechanisms shaping the
      evolutionary responses of phenotypic traits under different selection
      environments.

PMID- 27624668
TI  - ROCS-derived features for virtual screening.
AB  - Rapid overlay of chemical structures (ROCS) is a standard tool for the
      calculation of 3D shape and chemical ("color") similarity. ROCS uses unweighted
      sums to combine many aspects of similarity, yielding parameter-free models for
      virtual screening. In this report, we decompose the ROCS color force field into
      color components and color atom overlaps, novel color similarity features that
      can be weighted in a system-specific manner by machine learning algorithms. In
      cross-validation experiments, these additional features significantly improve
      virtual screening performance relative to standard ROCS.

PMID- 27624669
TI  - Non-Ablative Fractional Laser to Facilitate Transdermal Delivery.
AB  - The advances in laser technology have led to its rapidly expanding applications
      in dermatology. This study aims at the novel use of a non-ablative fractional
      laser to enhance transdermal permeation of diclofenac sodium and sumatriptan
      succinate. The effects of the laser on skin were characterized visually with dye
      binding, scanning electron microscopy, pore permeability index, and histology. In
      vitro transdermal permeation of drugs through laser treated and untreated human
      dermatomed skin was analyzed over 24 h and quantified by HPLC. Drug transport
      through untreated skin resulted in transdermal delivery of 72.61 MUg/cm2 +/-
      50.35 and 22.80 +/- 0.64 MUg/cm2 of diclofenac sodium and sumatriptan succinate,
      respectively. Laser treatment of skin significantly increased (p < 0.005)
      delivery of diclofenac sodium to 575.66 +/- 207.18 MUg/cm2 and sumatriptan
      succinate to 498.32 +/- 97.54 MUg/cm2. This is a first of its kind study that
      demonstrates the use of 1410 nm non-ablative fractional laser to enhance
      transdermal permeation of 2 small molecular weight drugs.

PMID- 27624667
TI  - Skin scarification with Plasmodium falciparum peptide vaccine using synthetic TLR
      agonists as adjuvants elicits malaria sporozoite neutralizing immunity.
AB  - Malaria eradication will require a combination of vector control, chemotherapy
      and an easily administered vaccine. Sterile immunity can be elicited in humans by
      immunization with sporozoites, the infective stage injected by bite of the
      mosquito vector, however, whole parasite vaccines present formidable logistical
      challenges for production, storage and administration. The "gold standard" for
      infectious disease eradiation, the Smallpox Eradication Programme, utilized mass
      immunization using the skin scarification (SS) route. SS may more closely mimic
      the natural route of malaria infection initiated by sporozoites injected by
      mosquito bite which elicits both neutralizing antibodies and protective cell
      mediated immunity. We investigated the potential of SS immunization using a
      malaria repeat peptide containing a protective B cell epitope of Plasmodium
      falciparum, the most lethal human species, and delivery vehicles containing TLR
      agonists as adjuvants. In a murine model, SS immunization with peptide in
      combination with TLR-7/8 and -9 agonists elicited high levels of systemic
      sporozoite neutralizing antibody, Th1- type CD4+ T cells and resistance to
      challenge by bites of infected mosquitoes. SS provides the potential to elicit
      humoral immunity to target Plasmodium at multiple stages of its complex life
      cycle.

PMID- 27624670
TI  - A comparison of clofarabine with ara-C, each in combination with daunorubicin as
      induction treatment in older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia.
AB  - The study was designed to compare clofarabine plus daunorubicin vs
      daunorubicin/ara-C in older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) or high
      risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Eight hundred and six untreated patients in
      the UK NCRI AML16 trial with AML/high-risk MDS (median age, 67 years; range 56
      84) and normal serum creatinine were randomised to two courses of induction
      chemotherapy with either daunorubicin/ara-C (DA) or daunorubicin/clofarabine
      (DClo). Patients were also included in additional randomisations; +/- one dose of
      gemtuzumab ozogamicin in course 1; 2v3 courses and +/- azacitidine maintenance.
      The primary end point was overall survival. The overall response rate was 69%
      (complete remission (CR) 60%; CRi 9%), with no difference between DA (71%) and
      DClo (66%). There was no difference in 30-/60-day mortality or toxicity:
      significantly more supportive care was required in the DA arm even though
      platelet and neutrophil recovery was significantly slower with DClo. There were
      no differences in cumulative incidence of relapse (74% vs 68%; hazard ratio (HR)
      0.93 (0.77-1.14), P=0.5); survival from relapse (7% vs 9%; HR 0.96 (0.77-1.19),
      P=0.7); relapse-free (31% vs 32%; HR 1.02 (0.83-1.24), P=0.9) or overall survival
      (23% vs 22%; HR 1.08 (0.93-1.26), P=0.3). Clofarabine 20 mg/m2 given for 5 days
      with daunorubicin is not superior to ara-C+daunorubicin as induction for older
      patients with AML/high-risk MDS.

PMID- 27624671
TI  - Key messages from the BFR14 trial of the French Sarcoma Group.
AB  - The BRF14 trial is a prominent study that investigated the effect of prolonged
      imatinib treatment in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor patients. The key
      messages deduced from this study are as follows: imatinib drastically improved
      progression-free and overall survival in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor
      patients. Treatment ought to be maintained indefinitely in nonprogressing
      patients, as interruption entails a high risk of progression, even in patients in
      complete response. Imatinib rechallenge is effective, achieving new disease
      control in patients progressing after imatinib interruption. Rechallenge response
      profiles reflect the initial responses, albeit of poorer quality. Imatinib
      interruption does not affect the incidence of secondary resistance; however, the
      imatinib-free interval influences the time to secondary resistance. Specific
      clinical, biological and molecular characteristics seem to identify the patients
      who are long responders to imatinib. Surgery of residual disease after maximal
      imatinib response improves progression-free and overall survival.

PMID- 27624672
TI  - Wild capuchin monkeys adjust stone tools according to changing nut properties.
AB  - Animals foraging in their natural environments need to be proficient at
      recognizing and responding to changes in food targets that affect accessibility
      or pose a risk. Wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) use stone
      tools to access a variety of nut species, including otherwise inaccessible foods.
      This study tests whether wild capuchins from Serra da Capivara National Park in
      Brazil adjust their tool selection when processing cashew (Anacardium spp.) nuts.
      During the ripening process of cashew nuts, the amount of caustic defensive
      substance in the nut mesocarp decreases. We conducted field experiments to test
      whether capuchins adapt their stone hammer selection to changing properties of
      the target nut, using stones of different weights and two maturation stages of
      cashew nuts. The results show that although fresh nuts are easier to crack,
      capuchin monkeys used larger stone tools to open them, which may help the monkeys
      avoid contact with the caustic hazard in fresh nuts. We demonstrate that capuchin
      monkeys are actively able to distinguish between the maturation stages within one
      nut species, and to adapt their foraging behaviour accordingly.

PMID- 27624673
TI  - The value of virtual conferencing for ecology and conservation.
AB  - The objectives of conservation science and dissemination of its research create a
      paradox: Conservation is about preserving the environment, yet scientists spread
      this message at conferences with heavy carbon footprints. Ecology and
      conservation science depend on global knowledge exchange-getting the best science
      to the places it is most needed. However, conference attendance from developed
      countries typically outweighs that from developing countries that are
      biodiversity and conservation hotspots. If any branch of science should be trying
      to maximize participation while minimizing carbon emissions, it is conservation.
      Virtual conferencing is common in other disciplines, such as education and
      humanities, but it is surprisingly underused in ecology and conservation.
      Adopting virtual conferencing entails a number of challenges, including logistics
      and unified acceptance, which we argue can be overcome through planning and
      technology. We examined 4 conference models: a pure-virtual model and 3 hybrid
      hub-and-node models, where hubs stream content to local nodes. These models
      collectively aim to mitigate the logistical and administrative challenges of
      global knowledge transfer. Embracing virtual conferencing addresses 2 essential
      prerequisites of modern conferences: lowering carbon emissions and increasing
      accessibility for remote, time- and resource-poor researchers, particularly those
      from developing countries.

PMID- 27624674
TI  - Thermal Stability of Oxidized Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Competitive
      Elimination and Decomposition Reaction Depending on the Degree of
      Functionalization.
AB  - The thermal stability of oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with
      various degrees of oxidation was investigated. The oxidized SWNTs exhibited lower
      absorption and radial breathing mode (RBM) peaks and a higher intensity ratio of
      the D band to the G band (D/G) in their absorption and Raman spectra than those
      of the pristine SWNTs. After the thermal treatment, the D/G ratio of the oxidized
      SWNTs almost recovered its original intensity, regardless of the degree of
      oxidation. The absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and RBM peaks could not
      recover their original intensities when the oxidation degree was high. The
      results indicate that the elimination and decomposition reactions proceeded
      competitively depending on the degree of oxidation. In addition, a new PL peak
      was observed in the near-infrared region, and the PL peak intensity increased
      with the subsequent thermal treatment. The theoretical calculations provided an
      insight into the possible pathways for the decomposition of oxidized SWNTs,
      showing that the O2 elimination and CO/CO2 evolution proceed competitively during
      thermal treatment.

PMID- 27624675
TI  - Phase behaviour and structure of a superionic liquid in nonpolarized
      nanoconfinement.
AB  - The ion-ion interactions become exponentially screened for ions confined in
      ultranarrow metallic pores. To study the phase behaviour of an assembly of such
      ions, called a superionic liquid, we develop a statistical theory formulated on
      bipartite lattices, which allows an analytical solution within the Bethe-lattice
      approach. Our solution predicts the existence of ordered and disordered phases in
      which ions form a crystal-like structure and a homogeneous mixture, respectively.
      The transition between these two phases can potentially be first or second order,
      depending on the ion diameter, degree of confinement and pore ionophobicity. We
      supplement our analytical results by three-dimensional off-lattice Monte Carlo
      simulations of an ionic liquid in slit nanopores. The simulations predict
      formation of ionic clusters and ordered snake-like patterns, leading to
      characteristic close-standing peaks in the cation-cation and anion-anion radial
      distribution functions.

PMID- 27624676
TI  - Sigmoid-vaginal fistula during bevacizumab treatment diagnosed by fistulography.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: There have been several reports describing
      rectovaginal fistula development after bevacizumab treatment, and these fistulas
      were diagnosed by CT scan or colonoscopy. We report a case of sigmoid-vaginal
      fistula diagnosed by fistulography. CASE DESCRIPTION: The case is a 53-year-old
      woman who was treated for chronic myelogenous leukaemia and gynaecological
      cancers 8 years previously. At 52 years of age, she was diagnosed with colon
      cancer and had a partial colectomy performed. One year after surgery, colon
      cancer recurred, and she was treated with anticancer agents, including
      bevacizumab. During chemotherapy, she complained of a foul smelling discharge
      from the vagina. Fistulography revealed a sigmoid-vaginal fistula. WHAT IS NEW
      AND CONCLUSION: This is the first report of vaginal fistulography performed on a
      patient who was treated with bevacizumab. Fistulography may be useful for
      detecting sigmoid-vaginal fistula.

PMID- 27624677
TI  - Unsupportive parenting and internalising behaviour problems in children with or
      without intellectual disability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with intellectual disability (ID) are at heightened risk for
      developing other psychological disorders, including internalising disorders.
      Anxiety and depression have been shown to be familial, and parenting is a
      contributing factor to the development of these disorders. To extend this
      research, we examined the extent to which mother and father depression and
      negative, unsupportive parenting related to child internalising behaviour
      problems, in children with ID or with typical development (TD). METHOD:
      Participants were 156 mother and father dyads and their children, assessed at
      ages 4 and 5 years. We examined parent (mother and father) and child delay status
      (ID and TD) in relation to measures of both observed and self-reported
      unsupportive, negative parenting. Utilising moderation models, we examined the
      relationship between parental depression, unsupportive/negative parenting and
      child internalising behaviour problems. RESULTS: Unsupportive, negative parenting
      differed based on parent gender and child delay status. In addition, father
      depression was a significant moderator of the relationship between unsupportive
      parenting and child internalising behaviour problems. CONCLUSIONS: Children with
      ID were found to be at higher risk of experiencing unsupportive, negative
      parenting than children with TD. Children of depressed fathers were especially
      vulnerable to developing internalising behaviour problems in an unsupportive
      parenting context.

PMID- 27624678
TI  - A systematic review of methods to assess intake of fruits and vegetables among
      healthy European adults and children: a DEDIPAC (DEterminants of DIet and
      Physical Activity) study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evidence suggests that health benefits are associated with consuming
      recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables (F&V), yet standardised assessment
      methods to measure F&V intake are lacking. The current review aims to identify
      methods to assess F&V intake among children and adults in pan-European studies
      and inform the development of the DEDIPAC (DEterminants of DIet and Physical
      Activity) toolbox of methods suitable for use in future European studies. DESIGN:
      A literature search was conducted using three electronic databases and by hand
      searching reference lists. English-language studies of any design which assessed
      F&V intake were included in the review. SETTING: Studies involving two or more
      European countries were included in the review. SUBJECTS: Healthy, free-living
      children or adults. RESULTS: The review identified fifty-one pan-European studies
      which assessed F&V intake. The FFQ was the most commonly used (n 42), followed by
      24 h recall (n 11) and diet records/diet history (n 7). Differences existed
      between the identified methods; for example, the number of F&V items on the FFQ
      and whether potatoes/legumes were classified as vegetables. In total, eight
      validated instruments were identified which assessed F&V intake among adults,
      adolescents or children. CONCLUSIONS: The current review indicates that an agreed
      classification of F&V is needed in order to standardise intake data more
      effectively between European countries. Validated methods used in pan-European
      populations encompassing a range of European regions were identified. These
      methods should be considered for use by future studies focused on evaluating
      intake of F&V.

PMID- 27624679
TI  - Establishing routines to cope with the loneliness associated with widowhood: a
      narrative analysis.
AB  - : WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Loneliness in older adults has been identified
      as an important public health issue in many countries. Widowhood is a time when
      many older people experience loneliness. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING
      KNOWLEDGE?: Little is known about strategies that are effective in mitigating
      experiences of loneliness and this paper explores this with older people who have
      been through the process. The narratives of the older people in this study
      described a trajectory in which loneliness was experienced as both a loss of
      spouse and a loss of routines that enabled them to maintain connections with
      others. This trajectory moved onto the establishment of new routines that enabled
      connections to be developed. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Loneliness
      is strongly associated with depression and anxiety in the elderly and mental
      health nurses should be encouraged to screen for loneliness when undertaking
      assessments. Interventions that facilitate the development of meaningful routines
      could be integrated into mental health nursing care of older people. ABSTRACT:
      Background Loneliness in older people is a public health concern in many Western
      countries. While not necessarily a symptom of mental disorder, it is often
      associated with depression and anxiety. Widowhood is a transition period during
      which many older people experience acute loneliness but over time develops
      strategies to manage it. Little is known about effective strategies that older
      people have used to manage the experience. The strategies older people used to
      manage this was the focus of this paper. Aim The aim was to examine older widows'
      experiences of loneliness. Design The design of this study was a qualitative
      narrative analysis with thematic analysis and the participants were 40 older
      widow/widowers aged between 70 and 97 years. Findings The study found that the
      participants negotiated the experience of loneliness following widowhood from an
      acute phase of experiencing an absence and the associated loss of routine
      connection to the establishment of new routines that provided new connections and
      a new sense of identity as an individual rather than a couple. Conclusions It is
      important for mental health nurses to screen for loneliness and be able to
      facilitate interventions that may alleviate the experience of loneliness.

PMID- 27624680
TI  - Antipsychotic long-acting injections: A community-based study from 2007 to 2014
      of prescribing trends and characteristics associated with initiation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of the introduction of newer antipsychotic long
      acting injections (LAIs) on trends in LAI prescribing and characteristics
      associated with initiation of LAIs in naturalistic conditions. METHODS: The study
      was performed using reimbursement data from the French Insurance Healthcare
      system. Prescribing trends were investigated from 2007 to 2014 in 382,572 persons
      aged 18years and over. Characteristics associated with delay in transition from
      oral antipsychotic to LAIs were explored in a cohort of 6904 persons newly
      treated with an oral antipsychotic using multivariate survival analyses. RESULTS:
      LAI prescribing rates slightly increased over the study period. The likelihood of
      being prescribed LAIs was stable for FGA LAIs (around 1.8 per 1000) (aOR=0.99,
      95%CI 0.98-1.00) and increased for SGA LAIs from 0.5 to 1 per 1000 (aOR=1.11,
      95%CI 1.08-1.14). In persons initiating an LAI (n=288), shorter transition from
      oral antipsychotic to LAI was independently predicted by male gender, younger
      age, dispensing of an oral SGA and a higher number of oral antipsychotics
      dispensed over the follow-up. Transition was longer in persons dispensed
      antidepressants or mood-stabilizers over the follow-up. Male gender, low income
      and higher number of antipsychotics were associated only with shorter transition
      to FGA LAIs, while initial prescription by a public practitioner, no mood
      stabilizer dispensing and lack of somatic severe chronic condition were
      associated only with SGA LAIs dispensing. CONCLUSIONS: It is of interest to
      explore whether similar prescribing trends are observed in other countries and to
      further assess the effectiveness of new LAIs in real-life conditions.

PMID- 27624681
TI  - Progressive disability and prefrontal shrinkage in schizophrenia patients with
      poor outcome: A 3-year longitudinal study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a severe disabling disorder with heterogeneous
      illness courses. In this longitudinal study we characterized schizophrenia
      patients with poor and good outcome (POS, GOS), using functional and imaging
      metrics. Patients were defined in accordance to Keefe's criteria (i.e.
      Kraepelinian and non-Kraepelinian patients). METHODS: 35 POS patients, 35 GOS
      patients and 76 healthy controls (H) underwent clinical, functioning and magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) assessments twice over three years of follow-up.
      Information on psychopathology, treatment, disability (using the World Health
      Organization Disability Assessment Scale II, WHO-DAS-2) and prefrontal morphology
      was collected. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex
      (OFC) were manually traced. RESULTS: At baseline, subjects with POS showed
      significantly decreased right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) white matter
      volumes (WM) compared to healthy controls and GOS patients (POS VS HC, p<0.001;
      POS vs GOS, p=0.03), with shrinkage of left DLPFC WM volumes at follow up
      (t=2.66, p=0.01). Also, POS patients had higher disability in respect to GOS
      subjects both at baseline and after 3years at the WHO-DAS-2 (p<0.05). DISCUSSION:
      Our study supports the hypothesis that POS is characterized by progressive
      deficits in brain structure and in "real-life" functioning. These are
      particularly notable in the DLPFC.

PMID- 27624682
TI  - Hidden lattice instabilities as origin of the conductive interface between
      insulating LaAlO3 and SrTiO3.
AB  - The metallic interface between insulating LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 opens up the field of
      oxide electronics. With more than a decade of researches on this heterostructure,
      the origin of the interfacial conductivity, however, remains unsettled. Here we
      resolve this long-standing puzzle by atomic-scale observation of electron-gas
      formation for screening hidden lattice instabilities, rejuvenated near the
      interface by epitaxial strain. Using atomic-resolution imaging and electron
      spectroscopy, the generally accepted notions of polar catastrophe and cation
      intermixing for the metallic interface are discounted. Instead, the conductivity
      onset at the critical thickness of 4-unit cell LaAlO3 on SrTiO3 substrate is
      accompanied with head-to-head ferroelectric-like polarizations across the
      interface due to strain-rejuvenated ferroelectric-like instabilities in the
      materials. The divergent depolarization fields of the head-to-head polarizations
      cast the interface into an electron reservoir, forming screening electron gas in
      SrTiO3 with LaAlO3 hosting complementary localized holes. The ferroelectric-like
      polarizations and electron-hole juxtaposition reveal the cooperative nature of
      metallic LaAlO3/SrTiO3.

PMID- 27624683
TI  - Store turnover as a predictor of food and beverage provider turnover and
      associated dietary intake estimates in very remote Indigenous communities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Determine how very-remote Indigenous community (RIC) food and beverage
      (F&B) turnover quantities and associated dietary intake estimates derived from
      only stores, compare with values derived from all community F&B providers.
      METHODS: F&B turnover quantity and associated dietary intake estimates (energy,
      micro/macronutrients and major contributing food types) were derived from 12
      months transaction data of all F&B providers in three RICs (NT, Australia). F&B
      turnover quantities and dietary intake estimates from only stores (plus only the
      primary store in multiple-store communities) were expressed as a proportion of
      complete F&B provider turnover values. Food types and macronutrient distribution
      (%E) estimates were quantitatively compared. RESULTS: Combined stores F&B
      turnover accounted for the majority of F&B quantity (98.1%) and absolute dietary
      intake estimates (energy [97.8%], macronutrients [>=96.7%] and micronutrients
      [>=83.8%]). Macronutrient distribution estimates from combined stores and only
      the primary store closely aligned complete provider estimates (<=0.9% absolute).
      Food types were similar using combined stores, primary store or complete provider
      turnover. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Evaluating combined stores F&B turnover
      represents an efficient method to estimate total F&B turnover quantity and
      associated dietary intake in RICs. In multiple-store communities, evaluating only
      primary store F&B turnover provides an efficient estimate of macronutrient
      distribution and major food types.

PMID- 27624684
TI  - TRPM4-mediated control of FcepsilonRI-evoked Ca(2+) elevation comprises enhanced
      plasmalemmal trafficking of TRPM4 channels in connective tissue type mast cells.
AB  - TRPM4 proteins form Ca(2+)-activated non selective cation (CAN) channels that
      affect transmembrane Ca(2+)-influx by determining the membrane potential. Tight
      control of the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration is essential for mast cell
      responses. In this study, we analyzed the expression of TRPM4 in peritoneal mast
      cells (PCMC) as a model for connective tissue type mast cells with respect to
      FcepsilonRI-evoked calcium changes and the subcellular localization of
      fluorescently labeled TRPM4 using two viral transduction systems before and
      following antigen stimulation. Our results show that TRPM4 is expressed in PCMCs,
      is an essential constituent of the endogenous CAN channels in PCMCs and regulates
      antigen-evoked increases in intracellular calcium that are significantly enhanced
      in TRPM4-deficient PCMCs. Compared to PCMCs analyzed before antigen stimulation,
      the cells depict a substantially increased localization of TRPM4 proteins towards
      the plasma membrane after FcepsilonRI stimulation. Thus, TRPM4 functions as a
      limiting factor for antigen evoked calcium rise in connective tissue type mast
      cells and concurrent translocation of TRPM4 into the plasma membrane is part of
      this mechanism.

PMID- 27624685
TI  - Miniaturization of aqueous two-phase extraction for biological applications: From
      micro-tubes to microchannels.
AB  - Aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) is a biocompatible liquid-liquid (L-L)
      separation technique that has been under research for several decades towards the
      purification of biomolecules, ranging from small metabolites to large animal
      cells. More recently, with the emergence of rapid-prototyping techniques for
      fabrication of microfluidic structures with intricate designs, ATPE gained an
      expanded range of applications utilizing physical phenomena occurring exclusively
      at the microscale. Today, research is being carried simultaneously in two
      different volume ranges, mL-scale (microtubes) and nL-scale (microchannels). The
      objective of this review is to give insight into the state of the art at both
      microtube and microchannel-scale and to analyze whether miniaturization is
      currently a competing or divergent technology in a field of applications
      including bioseparation, bioanalytics, enhanced fermentation processes,
      catalysis, high-throughput screening and physical/chemical compartmentalization.
      From our perspective, both approaches are worthy of investigation and, depending
      on the application, it is likely that either (i) one of the approaches will
      eventually become obsolete in particular research areas such as purification at
      the preparative scale or high-throughput screening applications; or (ii) both
      approaches will function as complementing techniques within the bioanalytics
      field.

PMID- 27624686
TI  - Modulation of sphingosine receptors influences circadian pattern of cardiac
      autonomic regulation.
AB  - Fingolimod is an oral sphingosine-1-phospate (S1P) receptor modulator for the
      treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In addition to
      therapeutic effects on lymphoid and neural tissue, fingolimod influences
      cardiovascular system by specific S1P-receptor modulation. The effects of S1P
      receptor modulation on the endogenous circadian pattern of cardiac autonomic
      regulation (CAR), however, are not known. We examined the effects of fingolimod
      on the circadian pattern of CAR Ambulatory 24-h ECG recordings were undertaken in
      27 RRMS patients before fingolimod (baseline), at the day of fingolimod
      initiation (1D) and after 3 months of fingolimod treatment (3M). The mean time
      between two consecutive R-peaks (RR-interval) and mean values for measures of
      heart rate variability (HRV) in time- and frequency domain were calculated from
      ECG recording at daytime and nighttime. The mean night:day-ratio of RR-interval
      was 1.23 +/- 0.12 at baseline, decreased temporarily at 1D (1.16 +/- 0.12; P <
      0.01) and was higher at 3M (1.32 +/- 0.11; P < 0.001) than at baseline. The
      night:day-ratio of HRV parameters reflecting parasympathetic cardiac regulation
      (pNN50, rMSSD, HFnu) decreased at 1D but recovered back to baseline at 3M (P <
      0.05 for all). On the other hand, the night:day-ratio of TP, a parameter
      reflecting overall HRV gradually decreased and was lower at 3M than at baseline
      (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that physiological relation between the
      circadian pattern of RR-interval and overall HRV as well as parasympathetic
      cardiac regulation becomes uncoupled during fingolimod treatment. In addition,
      fingolimod shifts the circadian equilibrium of CAR toward greater daytime
      dominance of overall HRV Accordingly, S1P-receptor modulation influences
      circadian pattern of CAR.

PMID- 27624687
TI  - The effect of an acute bout of resistance exercise on carotid artery strain and
      strain rate.
AB  - Arterial wall mechanics likely play an integral role in arterial responses to
      acute physiological stress. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the impact
      of low and moderate intensity double-leg press exercise on common carotid artery
      (CCA) wall mechanics using 2D vascular strain imaging. Short-axis CCA ultrasound
      images were collected in 15 healthy men (age: 21 +/- 3 years; stature: 176.5 +/-
      6.2 cm; body mass; 80.6 +/- 15.3 kg) before, during, and immediately after short
      duration isometric double-leg press exercise at 30% and 60% of participants' one
      repetition maximum (1RM: 317 +/- 72 kg). Images were analyzed for peak
      circumferential strain (PCS), peak systolic and diastolic strain rate (S-SR and D
      SR), and arterial diameter. Heart rate (HR), systolic and diastolic blood
      pressure (SBP and DBP) were simultaneously assessed and arterial stiffness
      indices were calculated post hoc. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed that
      during isometric contraction, PCS and S-SR decreased significantly (P < 0.01)
      before increasing significantly above resting levels post exercise (P < 0.05 and
      P < 0.01, respectively). Conversely, D-SR was unaltered throughout the protocol
      (P = 0.25). No significant differences were observed between the 30% and 60% 1RM
      trials. Multiple regression analysis highlighted that HR, BP, and arterial
      diameter did not fully explain the total variance in PCS, S-SR, and D-SR Acute
      double-leg press exercise is therefore associated with similar transient changes
      in CCA wall mechanics at low and moderate intensities. CCA wall mechanics likely
      provide additional insight into localized intrinsic vascular wall properties
      beyond current measures of arterial stiffness.

PMID- 27624689
TI  - Current state-of-the-art hyperpolarized 13C-acetate-to-acetylcarnitine imaging is
      not indicative of the altered balance between glucose and fatty acid utilization
      associated with diabetes.

PMID- 27624690
TI  - Exploring chainsaw operator occupational exposure to carbon monoxide in forestry.
AB  - Exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) emitted by chainsaws can negatively impact
      health in forestry workers. This exploratory study measures CO concentration
      within the breathing zone of chainsaw operators during motor-manual operations,
      and discusses the potential influences on CO exposure levels. A CO monitoring
      instrument was paired with a concurrent video recording of task activities to
      enable correlation of exact working operations to critical exposure levels.
      Multiple streams of meteorological data were also collected from sensors worn by
      the eight professional tree fellers/log makers. Time-weighted averages were
      applied to investigate levels of CO exposure during a nominal 1-hr monitoring
      period. The differing task demands and environment were found to influence worker
      exposure to CO, supporting previous research. Pending further investigation, a
      number of possible actions are recommended to reduce observed high exposure
      levels and/or emission concentration.

PMID- 27624688
TI  - Increased hemoglobin-oxygen affinity ameliorates bleomycin-induced hypoxemia and
      pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - Although exertional dyspnea and worsening hypoxia are hallmark clinical features
      of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), no drug currently available could treat
      them. GBT1118 is a novel orally bioavailable small molecule that binds to
      hemoglobin and produces a concentration-dependent left shift of the oxygen
      hemoglobin dissociation curve with subsequent increase in hemoglobin-oxygen
      affinity and arterial oxygen loading. To assess whether pharmacological
      modification of hemoglobin-oxygen affinity could ameliorate hypoxemia associated
      with lung fibrosis, we evaluated GBT1118 in a bleomycin-induced mouse model of
      hypoxemia and fibrosis. After pulmonary fibrosis and hypoxemia were induced,
      GBT1118 was administered for eight consecutive days. Hypoxemia was determined by
      monitoring arterial oxygen saturation, while the severity of pulmonary fibrosis
      was assessed by histopathological evaluation and determination of collagen and
      leukocyte levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. We found that hemoglobin
      modification by GBT1118 had strong antihypoxemic therapeutic effects with
      improved arterial oxygen saturation to near normal level. Moreover, GBT1118
      treatment significantly attenuated bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, collagen
      accumulation, body weight loss, and leukocyte infiltration. This study is the
      first to suggest the beneficial effects of hemoglobin modification in fibrotic
      lungs and offers a promising and novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of
      hypoxemia associated with chronic fibrotic lung disorders in human, including
      IPF.

PMID- 27624691
TI  - Direct Regioselective [3 + 2]-Cyclization Reactions of Ambivalent
      Electrophilic/Nucleophilic beta-Chlorovinyl Dithianes: Access to Cyclopentene
      Derivatives.
AB  - The highly regioselective and operationally straightforward [3 + 2] cyclizations
      of beta-chlorovinyl dithianes with alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds have
      been developed. This protocol provides direct access to highly functionalized
      cyclopentenes with perfect chemo- and regioselectivities under extremely mild
      reaction conditions. In particular, the unprecedented cyclization allows for the
      selective preparation of hydroxylated cyclopentenes.

PMID- 27624692
TI  - Does 2 L Polyethylene Glycol Plus Ascorbic Acid Increase the Risk of Renal
      Impairment Compared to 4 L Polyethylene Glycol?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based solutions is the gold
      standard for bowel preparation. However, PEG use might be associated with the
      risk of acute kidney injury. AIMS: We aimed to compare the safety of 2 L PEG plus
      ascorbic acid (AA) versus 4 L PEG. METHODS: Health examinees that underwent
      colonoscopy and blood tests on the same day at our center were included in this
      retrospective study. All subjects were prescribed either 2 L PEG plus AA or 4 L
      PEG for the bowel preparation prior to the colonoscopy. The incidences of
      electrolyte imbalance and renal impairment after colonic preparation were
      investigated. Renal impairment was determined if the subject's estimated
      glomerular filtration rate was measured less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. RESULTS: Of
      the 29,789 cases, 14,790 received 2 L PEG plus AA (group A) and 14,999 received 4
      L PEG (group B) for colonic preparation. Renal impairment occurred more commonly
      in group A (n = 467, 3.2 %) than in group B (n = 189, 1.3 %). Electrolyte changes
      such as hypernatremia and hyperkalemia were more common in group A than group B,
      whereas hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and hypophosphatemia were more common in group
      B than group A. Old age, male sex, and the use of 2 L PEG plus AA were
      independent risk factors for renal impairment. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence strongly
      suggests that acute kidney injury is more likely to occur when 2 L PEG plus AA is
      used for the bowel preparation than when 4 L PEG is used. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: KCT0001703.

PMID- 27624693
TI  - Real-world cardiovascular assessment of mirabegron treatment in patients with
      overactive bladder and concomitant cardiovascular disease: Results of a Japanese
      post-marketing study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of 25 or 50 mg mirabegron on cardiovascular end
      points and adverse drug reactions in real-world Japanese patients with overactive
      bladder and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: Participants had overactive bladder,
      a history of/coexisting cardiovascular disease and a 12-lead electrocardiogram
      carried out <=7 days before initiating 4 weeks of mirabegron treatment. Patients
      with "serious cardiovascular disease" (class III or IV on the New York Heart
      Association functional classification and further confirmed by expert analysis)
      were excluded. Patient demographics, physical characteristics and cardiovascular
      history were recorded. After 4 weeks, patients underwent another
      electrocardiogram. Incidence of cardiovascular adverse drug reactions and change
      from baseline in electrocardiogram parameters (RR, PR, QRS intervals,
      Fridericia's corrected QT and heart rate) were assessed. RESULTS: Of 316 patients
      registered, 236 met criteria and had baseline/post-dose electrocardiograms: 61.9%
      male; 60.2% aged >=75 years; 93.6% with coexisting cardiovascular disease,
      notably, arrhythmia (67.8%) and angina pectoris (19.1%). Starting mirabegron
      daily doses were 25 mg (19.9%) or 50 mg (80.1%). The incidence of cardiovascular
      adverse drug reactions was 5.51%. After 4 weeks, the mean heart rate increased by
      1.24 b.p.m. (statistically significant, but clinically acceptable as per previous
      trials). No significant changes were observed in PR, QRS or Fridericia's
      corrected QT. No significant correlations in the total population or age-/sex
      segregated subgroups were observed between baseline Fridericia's corrected QT and
      change at 4 weeks. No correlation for heart rate versus change from baseline
      heart rate with treatment was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Mirabegron was well
      tolerated in real-world Japanese patients with overactive bladder and coexisting
      cardiovascular disease. No unexpected cardiovascular safety concerns were
      observed.

PMID- 27624695
TI  - Letter to the Editor Concerning the Letter: Gerostamoulos D., Elliott S., Walls
      H.C., Peters F.T., Lynch M., Drummer O.H. (2016) To Measure or Not to Measure?
      That is the NPS Question. Journal of Analytical Toxicology 40, 318-320.

PMID- 27624694
TI  - Carbon ion radiotherapy for desmoid tumor of the abdominal wall: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Desmoid tumors, which are associated with familial adenomatous
      polyposis (FAP), tend to occur frequently in the abdominal wall and mesentery.
      Currently, there are no recognized treatments other than surgery, and frequent
      surgeries result in gastrointestinal obstructions and functional gastrointestinal
      disorders. CASE PRESENTATION: After surgery that was performed on a 39-year-old
      patient with FAP, we performed a second tumor excision which was the procedure
      used for frequently occurring mesenteric desmoid tumors. It was determined that
      the enlarged tumor would be difficult to operate on through an abdominal
      incision. Subsequently, the carbon ion radiotherapy of 50 Gy was then performed
      on the patient. Three years later, the tumor still remains reduced in size. In
      addition, we have not observed any negative effect on the digestive tract.
      CONCLUSIONS: This is the first instance that the carbon ion radiotherapy has been
      effective for the unresected desmoid tumor, and it is believed that this will
      become the one effective option for the treatment of desmoid tumors.

PMID- 27624696
TI  - Evaluating Oral Fluid as a Screening Tool for Lead Poisoning.
AB  - CONTEXT: Screening for lead poisoning is necessary in young children, but
      obtaining the needed blood sample is unpleasant and sometimes very difficult. Use
      of an alternative screening method that is less unpleasant and less difficult
      would likely help to increase the percent of children receiving screening.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the correlation of oral fluid and blood lead in a
      clinical setting, and to ascertain the acceptability and feasibility of obtaining
      oral fluid from a young child in the clinical setting. METHODS: Oral fluid
      samples were collected from a convenience sample of 431 children aged 6 months to
      5 years already due to receive a blood lead test in a primary care clinic. Blood
      lead results obtained at the same time were available for 407 children. The
      results of the two tests were compared with the blood lead test considered to be
      the "gold standard". Data analysis used Pearson correlations, scatter plots,
      linear regression, ANOVA and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: 431 patients had
      oral fluid samples available for analysis, and 407 patients had blood samples
      available. Patients who had both blood concentrations <5 ug/dL and oral fluid
      values below the screening cutoff value were 223, while eight had both blood
      concentrations >= 5 ug/dL and oral fluid values above the screening threshold.
      Elevated oral fluid but blood lead values less than the value recommended for
      further intervention occurred in 176; no patients had elevated blood lead values
      with below-intervention oral fluid values. The negative predictive value of an
      oral fluid lead below the screening cutoff value was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The use
      of oral fluid to screen for elevated body burdens of lead instead of the usual
      blood lead sample is feasible with a negative predictive value of 100%, while
      eliminating the need for blood for lead screening in more than half of these
      children.

PMID- 27624697
TI  - Effective endoscopic treatment of Mallory-Weiss syndrome using Glasgow-Blatchford
      score and Forrest classification.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is limited data on whether scoring systems can be used to
      predict clinical outcomes in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to
      Mallory-Weiss syndrome (MWS). We aimed to evaluate whether the Glasgow-Blatchford
      score (GBS) could be effective in predicting clinical outcomes of bleeding MWS
      and to investigate the predictive ability of the Forrest classification for
      rebleeding and assess the effective endoscopic modalities for bleeding control in
      MWS. METHODS: From January 2004 to December 2012 168 patients were diagnosed with
      MWS in the Asan Medical Center Emergency Department. We analyzed their clinical
      outcomes, including endoscopic treatment, transfusion and admission as well as
      the rates of rebleeding and mortality using GBS and the Forrest classification,
      retrospectively. RESULTS: Endoscopic treatment was applied to patients. The GBS
      was significantly higher in patients treated with endoscopic therapy than in the
      conservative treatment group (6.8 +/- 3.7 vs 5.1 +/- 4.7, P = 0.011). In patients
      with a GBS of >6 the rates of endoscopic treatment and rebleeding and the need
      for transfusion and admission were significantly higher (all P < 0.05). The
      Forrest classification was able to predict recurrent bleeding (area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve 0.723, 95% confidence interval 0.609
      0.836, P = 0.025). Hemoclip-based therapy and band ligation achieved higher
      success rates than did injection therapy alone in preventing rebleeding (96.4%,
      88.9% and 71.4%, P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: In MWS, GBS might be useful for
      predicting clinical outcomes and the Forrest classification in predicting
      recurrent bleeding.

PMID- 27624698
TI  - Overexpression of OsHox32 Results in Pleiotropic Effects on Plant Type
      Architecture and Leaf Development in Rice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Class III homeodomain Leu zipper (HD-Zip III) gene family plays
      important roles in plant growth and development. Here, we analyze the function of
      OsHox32, an HD-Zip III family member, and show that it exhibits pleiotropic
      effects on regulating plant type architecture and leaf development in rice.
      RESULTS: Transgenic lines overexpressing OsHox32 (OsHox32-OV) produce narrow
      leaves that roll towards the adaxial side. Histological analysis revealed a
      decreased number of bulliform cells in OsHox32-OV lines. In addition, the angle
      between the leaf and culm was reduced, resulting in an erect plant phenotype. The
      height of the plants was reduced, resulting in a semi-dwarf phenotype. In
      addition, the chlorophyll level was reduced, resulting in a decrease in the
      photosynthetic rate, but water use efficiency was significantly improved,
      presumably due to the rolled leaf phenotype. OsHox32 exhibited constitutive
      expression in different organs, with higher mRNA levels in the stem, leaf sheath,
      shoot apical meristems and young roots, suggesting a role in plant-type and leaf
      development. Moreover, OsHox32 mRNA levels were higher in light and lower in the
      dark under both long-day and short-day conditions, indicating that OsHox32 may be
      associated with light regulation. Photosynthesis-associated and chlorophyll
      biosynthesis-associated genes were down-regulated to result in the reduction of
      photosynthetic capacity in OsHox32-OV lines. mRNA level of six rice YABBY genes
      is up-regulated or down-regulated by OsHox32, suggesting that OsHox32 may
      regulate the architecture of plant type and leaf development by controlling the
      expression of YABBY genes in rice. In addition, OsHox32 mRNA level was induced by
      the phytohormones, indicating that OsHox32 may be involved in phytohormones
      regulatory pathways. CONCLUSIONS: OsHox32, an HD-Zip III family member, plays
      pleiotropic effects on plant type architecture and leaf development in rice.

PMID- 27624699
TI  - Protein-controlled versus restricted protein versus low protein diets in managing
      patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease: a single centre experience in
      Australia.
AB  - Nutrition has been an important part of medical management in patients with
      chronic kidney disease for more than a century. Since the 1970s, due to
      technological advances in renal replacement therapy (RRT) such as dialysis and
      transplantation, the importance of nutrition intervention in non-dialysis stages
      has diminished. In addition, it appears that there is a lack of high-level
      evidence to support the use of diet therapy, in particular the use of low protein
      diets to slow down disease progression. However, nutrition abnormalities are
      known to emerge well before dialysis is required and are associated with poor
      outcomes post-commencing dialysis. To improve clinical outcomes it is prudent to
      incorporate practice research and quality audits into routine care, as part of
      the continuous clinical practice improvement process. This article summarises the
      experience of and current practices in a metropolitan tertiary teaching hospital
      in Sydney, Australia.

PMID- 27624701
TI  - Varsity Medical Ethics Debate 2015: should nootropic drugs be available under
      prescription on the NHS?
AB  - The 2015 Varsity Medical Ethics debate convened upon the motion: "This house
      believes nootropic drugs should be available under prescription". This annual
      debate between students from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, now in its
      seventh year, provided the starting point for arguments on the subject. The
      present article brings together and extends many of the arguments put forward
      during the debate. We explore the current usage of nootropic drugs, their safety
      and whether it would be beneficial to individuals and society as a whole for them
      to be available under prescription. The Varsity Medical Debate was first held in
      2008 with the aim of allowing students to engage in discussion about ethics and
      policy within healthcare. The event is held annually and it is hoped that this
      will allow future leaders to voice a perspective on the arguments behind topics
      that will feature heavily in future healthcare and science policy. This year the
      Oxford University Medical Society at the Oxford Union hosted the debate.

PMID- 27624700
TI  - New risk factors and new tendency for central nervous system relapse in patients
      with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), central
      nervous system (CNS) relapse is uncommon but is nearly always fatal. This study
      aimed to determine the risk factors for CNS relapse in DLBCL patients and to
      evaluate the efficacy of rituximab and intrathecal chemotherapy prophylaxis for
      CNS relapse reduction. METHODS: A total of 511 patients with newly diagnosed
      DLBCL treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 2003
      and December 2012 were included in the study. Among these patients, 376 received
      R-CHOP regimen (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and
      prednisone) as primary treatment, and 135 received CHOP regimen
      (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) as primary
      treatment. Intrathecal chemotherapy prophylaxis (methotrexate plus cytarabine)
      was administered to those who were deemed at high risk for CNS relapse. In the
      entire cohort and in the R-CHOP set in particular, the Kaplan-Meier method
      coupled with the log-rank test was used for univariate analysis, and the Cox
      proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. Differences were
      evaluated using a two-tailed test, and P < 0.05 was considered significant.
      RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 46 months, 25 (4.9%) patients experienced CNS
      relapse. There was a trend of reduced occurrence of CNS relapse in patients
      treated with rituximab; the 3-year cumulative CNS relapse rates were 7.1% in CHOP
      group and 2.7% in R-CHOP group (P = 0.045). Intrathecal chemotherapy prophylaxis
      did not confer much benefit in terms of preventing CNS relapse. Bone involvement
      [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38-12.77], renal
      involvement (HR = 3.85, 95% CI 1.05-14.19), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) >110 U/L
      (HR = 3.59, 95% CI 1.25-10.34), serum albumin (ALB) <35 g/L (HR = 3.63, 95% CI
      1.25-10.51), treatment with rituximab (HR = 0.34, 95% CI 0.12-0.96), and a time
      to complete remission <= 108 days (HR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.06-0.78) were independent
      predictive factors for CNS relapse in the entire cohort. Bone involvement (HR =
      4.44, 95% CI 1.08-18.35), bone marrow involvement (HR = 11.70, 95% CI 2.24
      60.99), and renal involvement (HR = 10.83, 95% CI 2.27-51.65) were independent
      risk factors for CNS relapse in the R-CHOP set. CONCLUSIONS: In the present
      study, rituximab decreased the CNS relapse rate of DLBCL, whereas intrathecal
      chemotherapy prophylaxis alone was not sufficient for preventing CNS relapse.
      Serum levels of ALB and ALP, and the time to complete remission were new
      independent predictive factors for CNS relapse in the patients with DLBCL. In the
      patients received R-CHOP regimen, a trend of increased CNS relapse was found to
      be associated with extranodal lesions.

PMID- 27624703
TI  - A potential role for glycated cross-links in abdominal aortic aneurysm disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a risk factor for atherosclerotic disease but negatively
      associated with the development and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm
      (AAA). Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are increased in diabetes and
      renders the vascular matrix more resistant to proteolysis. We assessed the
      concentration of AGEs in AAA biopsies obtained from diabetic and nondiabetic
      patients and hypothesized that (nonenzymatic) glycation of AAA tissue protects
      against proteolytic breakdown of collagen. METHODS: AAA biopsies were collected
      from 30 diabetic and 30 matched nondiabetic AAA patients at the time of open
      repair. Aortic control samples from 10 nondiabetic and 16 diabetic patients were
      collected, and concentrations of the AGE cross-link pentosidine was measured.
      Furthermore, noncross-linking AGEs (adducts), as well as proteolytic enzymes
      known to play a role in aneurysm development (matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]-2,
      MMP-9, cathepsin B and S) were quantified. Ex vivo, nondiabetic AAA biopsies were
      glycated and measured subsequently for collagen type I release. RESULTS:
      Pentosidine concentrations in AAA wall biopsies were increased in patients with
      diabetes compared with nondiabetics 9.4 (5.0-13.5) vs 6.0 (2.5-9.6) pmol/MUmol
      lysine (P = .02). Increased pentosidine concentrations were also observed in
      nonaneurysmatic aortic wall biopsies from diabetic patients. In diabetic AAA
      vascular wall tissue, pentosidine concentration was negatively correlated with
      aortic diameter (r = -0.43; P = .02). Ex vivo glycated AAA biopsies were
      resistant against MMP-induced collagen type I degradation as compared with
      controls (7.0 vs 10.4 MUg/L; P = .02). No differences were observed for AGEs that
      are not forming cross-links. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that cross
      linking AGEs like pentosidine play a protective role in AAA progression in
      diabetic patients.

PMID- 27624702
TI  - Substantiated Childhood Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization
      in Young Adulthood: A Birth Cohort Study.
AB  - Little is known about the associations between various types of childhood
      maltreatment and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in
      early adulthood. This study examines the extent to which childhood experiences of
      maltreatment increase the risk for intimate partner violence victimization in
      early adulthood. Data for the present study are from 3322 young adults (55 %
      female) of the Mater Hospital-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy with
      the mean age of 20.6 years. The Mater Hospital-University of Queensland Study of
      Pregnancy is a prospective Australian pre-birth cohort study of mothers
      consecutively recruited during their first antenatal clinic visit at Brisbane's
      Mater Hospital from 1981 through to 1983. Participants completed the Composite
      Abuse Scale at 21-year follow-up and linked this dataset to agency recorded
      substantiated cases of childhood maltreatment. In adjusted models, the odds of
      reporting emotional intimate partner violence victimization were 1.84, 2.64 and
      3.19 times higher in physically abused, neglected and emotionally abused
      children, respectively. Similarly, the odds of physical intimate partner violence
      victimization were 1.76, 2.31, 2.74 and 2.76 times higher in those children who
      had experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse,
      respectively. Harassment was 1.63 times higher in emotionally abused children.
      The odds of severe combined abuse were 3.97 and 4.62 times greater for
      emotionally abused and neglected children, respectively. The strongest
      associations involved reports of child emotional abuse and neglect and multiple
      forms of intimate partner violence victimization in young adulthood. Childhood
      maltreatment is a chronic adversity that is associated with specific and multiple
      forms of intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood.

PMID- 27624704
TI  - Examining chronic care patient preferences for involvement in health-care
      decision making: the case of Parkinson's disease patients in a patient-centred
      clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient-centred care is a recommended model of care for Parkinson's
      disease (PD). It aims to provide care that is respectful and responsive to
      patient preferences, values and perspectives. Provision of patient-centred care
      should entail considering how patients want to be involved in their care.
      OBJECTIVE: To understand the participation preferences of patients with PD from a
      patient-centred care clinic in health-care decision-making processes. DESIGN,
      SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Mixed-methods study with early-stage Parkinson's
      disease patients from a patient-centred care clinic. Study involved a modified
      Autonomy Preference Index survey (N=65) and qualitative, semi-structured in-depth
      interviews, analysed using thematic qualitative content analysis (N=20,
      purposefully selected from survey participants). Interviews examined (i) the
      patient preferences for involvement in health-care decision making; (ii) patient
      perspectives on the patient-physician relationship; and (iii) patient preferences
      for communication of information relevant to decision making. RESULTS:
      Preferences for participation in decision making varied between individuals and
      also within individuals depending on decision type, relational and contextual
      factors. Patients had high preferences for communication of information, but with
      acknowledged limits. The importance of communication in the patient-physician
      relationship was emphasized. DISCUSSION: Patient preferences for involvement in
      decision making are dynamic and support shared decision making. Relational
      autonomy corresponds to how patients envision their participation in decision
      making. Clinicians may need to assess patient preferences on an on-going basis.
      CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the complexities of decision-making processes.
      Improved understanding of individual preferences could enhance respect for
      persons and make for patient-centred care that is truly respectful of individual
      patients' wants, needs and values.

PMID- 27624705
TI  - Responsiveness and MCID Estimates for CAT, CCQ, and HADS in Patients With COPD
      Undergoing Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Prospective Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary rehabilitation enhances health status and mood status in
      patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim was to
      determine the responsiveness of St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ),
      COPD Assessment Test (CAT), COPD Clinical Questionnaire (CCQ), and Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with
      COPD, and estimate minimum clinically important differences (MCIDs) for CAT, CCQ,
      and HADS. DESIGN: A prospective analysis. MCIDs were estimated with anchor-based
      (anchor: SGRQ) and distribution-based methods. Newly estimated MCIDs were
      compared to known MCID estimates from a systematic literature search. SETTING:
      Newly estimated MCIDs were calculated in patients treated in pulmonary
      rehabilitation. PARTICIPANTS: A subsample of 419 individuals with COPD (55.4%
      male, mean age 64.3 +/- 8.8 years) were included from the Chance study.
      MEASUREMENTS: Health status was measured with SGRQ, CAT, and CCQ, before and
      after pulmonary rehabilitation. Mood status was assessed using HADS. RESULTS: 419
      patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in the first second 37.3% +/- 12.1%
      predicted) completed pulmonary rehabilitation. SGRQ (-9.1 +/- 14.0 points), CAT (
      3.0 +/- 6.8 points), CCQ (-0.6 +/- 0.9 points), HADS-Anxiety (-1.7 +/- 3.7
      points), and HADS-Depression (-2.1 +/- 3.7 points) improved significantly. New
      MCIDs were estimated for CAT (range: -3.8 to -1.0 points), CCQ (range: -0.8 to 
      0.2 points), HADS-Anxiety (range: -2.0 to -1.1 points), and HADS-Depression
      (range: -1.8 to -1.4 points). CONCLUSIONS: The SGRQ, CAT, CCQ, and HADS are
      responsive to pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD. We propose MCID
      estimates ranging between -3.0 and -2.0 points for CAT; -0.5 and -0.3 points for
      CCQ, -1.8 and -1.3 points for HADS-Anxiety, and -1.7 and -1.5 points for HADS
      Depression.

PMID- 27624706
TI  - Why we need a harmonized name for atopic dermatitis/atopic eczema/eczema!

PMID- 27624707
TI  - Is there an association between season of birth and blood DNA methylation in
      adulthood?

PMID- 27624708
TI  - National-Level Wetland Policy Specificity and Goals Vary According to Political
      and Economic Indicators.
AB  - Growing recognition of the importance of wetlands to human and ecosystem well
      being has led countries worldwide to implement wetland protection policies.
      Different countries have taken different approaches to wetland protection by
      implementing various policies, including territorial exclusion, market-based
      offsetting, and incentive programs for land users. Our objective was to describe
      the relationship between components of national-level wetland protection policies
      and national characteristics, including natural resource, economic, social, and
      political factors. We compiled data on the wetland policies of all 193 countries
      recognized by the U.N. and described the relationships among wetland policy goals
      and wetland protection mechanisms using non-metric multidimensional scaling. The
      first non-metric multidimensional scaling axis strongly correlated with whether a
      country had a wetland-specific environmental policy in place. Adoption of a
      comprehensive, wetland-specific policy was positively associated with degree of
      democracy and a commitment to establishing protected areas. The second non-metric
      multidimensional scaling axis defined a continuum of policy goals and mechanisms
      by which wetlands are protected, with goals to protect wetland ecosystem services
      on one end of the spectrum and goals to protect biodiversity on the other. Goals
      for protecting ecosystem services were frequently cited in policy documents of
      countries with agriculture-based economies, whereas goals associated with wetland
      biodiversity tended to be associated with tourism-based economies. We argue that
      the components of a country's wetland policies reflect national-level resource
      and economic characteristics. Understanding the relationship between the type of
      wetland policy countries adopt and national-level characteristics is critical for
      international efforts to protect wetlands.

PMID- 27624709
TI  - Balancing the Ecological Function of Residential Stormwater Ponds with Homeowner
      Landscaping Practices.
AB  - Stormwater ponds are installed in urban developments to provide the ecosystem
      services of flood control and water treatment. In coastal areas, these ponds are
      connected to watersheds that can drain directly into protected estuaries, making
      their design, function, and maintenance critical to environmental protection.
      However, stormwater ponds in residential areas are increasingly managed as
      aesthetic amenities that add value to real estate rather than as engineered
      devices with special maintenance requirements. To help extend the life of
      neighborhood stormwater systems and improve ecosystem services, homeowners should
      follow best management practices for nutrient management and add shoreline
      plantings and non-invasive, beneficial aquatic plants to their ponds. This study
      used focus group and survey research to document the knowledge, behaviors, and
      attitudes of homeowners living near stormwater ponds in a master-planned
      community in Florida. The study was designed to use a social marketing research
      approach to promote Extension best practices. Findings indicate that many
      residents were aware of the functional components of stormwater systems and
      respondents' receptivity to best management practices was mediated by age, their
      attitudes about water quality and whether their home was adjacent to a pond.
      These findings can be used to target Extension audiences and improve adoption of
      stormwater pond best management practices for increased protection of water
      quality.

PMID- 27624710
TI  - Proposal of a type strain for Frankia alni (Woronin 1866) Von Tubeuf 1895,
      emended description of Frankia alni, and recognition of Frankia casuarinae sp.
      nov. and Frankia elaeagni sp. nov.
AB  - Before the establishment of pure cultures, the species Frankia alni, 'Frankia
      casuarinae' and 'Frankia elaeagni' were proposed to encompass all causal agents
      of the nitrogen-fixing root nodules of dicotyledonous plants from the genera
      Alnus, Casuarina or Elaeagnus. The sole Frankia species with a validly published
      name, the type species F. alni, was described by Woronin (1866) as present in the
      root of alder. Until now no type strain has been designated for F. alni, even
      though the absence of a type strain has seriously inhibited the application of
      modern taxonomic methods to the genus Frankia. Thus, we propose that strain
      ACN14aT, isolated in pure culture from Alnus viridis ssp. crispa with
      morphological properties matching the original description of F. alni, be
      recognized as the type strain of this species according to Rule 18f of the
      International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria. We compared ACN14aT to two
      strains, CcI3T and BMG5.12T, isolated from Casuarina cunninghamiana and Elaeagnus
      angustifolia, respectively, based on chemotaxonomy, phenotype microarray data and
      molecular data retrieved from genome sequences. All three tested strains grew as
      branched hyphae, produced vesicles and multilocular sporangia containing non
      motile spores and metabolized short fatty acids, TCA-cycle intermediates and
      carbohydrates. Chemotaxonomically, the three strains were indistinguishable with
      respect to phospholipids (phosphatidylinositol, diphosphatidylglycerol,
      glycophospholipids and phosphatidylglycerol) and cell-sugar composition (glucose,
      mannose, ribose, rhamnose, galactose and xylose, with the latter two being
      diagnostic for the genus). The major fatty acids identified in all three strains
      were iso-C16 : 0, C17 : 1omega8c, C15 : 0, C17 : 0 and C16 : 0. ACN14aT and
      BMG5.12T also shared C15 : 1omega6c, while C18 : 1omega9c was found to be unique
      to BMG5.12T. The major menaquinones identified in all three novel type strains
      were MK-9(H8), MK-9(H6) and MK-9(H4). MK-9(H2) was shared by ACN14aT and
      BMG5.12T, while MK-10(H4) and MK-8(H4) were only found in BMG5.12T. Analysis of
      16S rRNA gene sequences showed 98.1-98.9 % identity between strains ACN14aT,
      CcI3T and BMG5.12T. Digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between the three type
      strains were well below 70 %. These results confirm the separation of the strains
      into three distinct species, Frankia alni, Frankia casuarinae sp. nov. and
      Frankia elaeagni sp. nov. Thus, we propose ACN14aT (=DSM 45986T=CECT 9034T),
      CcI3T (=DSM 45818T=CECT 9043T) and BMG5.12T (=DSM 46783T=CECT 9031T) as the
      respective type strains.

PMID- 27624711
TI  - The synthetic antimicrobial peptide 19-2.5 attenuates mitochondrial dysfunction
      in cardiomyocytes stimulated with human sepsis serum.
AB  - Septic cardiomyopathy affects up to 70% of patients with septic shock and the
      derangement of cardiac mitochondrial function contributes to the likelihood of
      death. However, at present, there is no specific therapeutic drug available. The
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC
      1alpha) and coactivator-1beta (PGC-1beta) modulate members of the PPARs, which
      regulate mitochondrial energy metabolism and the production of mitochondrial
      reactive oxygen species in the heart. This study investigated the potential of
      the newly developed synthetic antimicrobial peptide 19-2.5 (Pep2.5) to attenuate
      mitochondrial dysfunction in murine cardiomyocytes stimulated with serum from
      septic shock patients. Pep2.5 treatment attenuated the suppression of PPAR-alpha,
      PPAR-gamma ( P = 0.0004 and P = 0.0001, respectively) and PGC-1alpha/beta ( P =
      0.0008 and P = 0.0147, respectively) in cardiomyocytes stimulated with serum from
      septic shock patients compared with untreated cells. Pep2.5 treatment enhanced
      the mitochondrial maximum respiration ( P < 0.0001), increased cellular ATP
      levels ( P < 0.0001) and reduced the production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen
      species. Thus, the administration of Pep2.5 may have the potential as a promising
      therapeutic approach in septic cardiomyopathy by attenuating mitochondrial
      dysfunction in the septic heart.

PMID- 27624712
TI  - Reoperations after primary breast conserving surgery in women with invasive
      breast cancer in Catalonia, Spain: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although complete tumor resection is accepted as the best means to
      reduce recurrence, reoperations after lumpectomy are a common problem in breast
      cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the reoperation rates after primary
      breast conserving surgery in invasive breast cancer cases diagnosed in Catalonia,
      Spain, between 2005 and 2011 and to identify variations based on patient and
      tumour characteristics. METHODS: Women with invasive incident breast cancer
      identified from the Patient's Hospital Discharge Database [174.0-174.9 codes of
      the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical
      Modification (ICD-9-CM) as the primary diagnosis] and receiving primary breast
      conserving surgery were included in the study and were followed up to 3 and 12
      months by collecting information about repeat breast cancer surgery. RESULTS:
      Reoperation rates after primary breast conserving surgery decreased from 13.0 %
      in 2005 to 11.7 % in 2011 at 3 months and from 14.2 % in 2005 to 12.9 % in 2011
      at 12 months' follow-up. While breast conservation reoperations saw a slight, non
      significant increase in the same period (from 5.7 to 7.3 % at 3 months, and from
      6.0 to 7.5 % at 12 months), there was a significant decrease in radical
      reoperation (from 7.3 to 4.4 % at 3 months and from 8.2 to 5.4 % at 12 months).
      Overall, additional breast surgeries decreased among younger women. CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite the rise of breast conserving surgery, reoperation rates following
      initial lumpectomy in Catalonia decreased by 10 % at 3 and 12 months' follow-up,
      remaining low and almost unchanged. Ultimately, there was also a significant
      decrease in mastectomies.

PMID- 27624713
TI  - Rise in BNP despite appropriate acute decompensated heart failure treatment :
      Patient characteristics and outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) tends to decrease in response to
      successful treatment of decompensated heart failure (HF). We identified
      characteristics and outcomes of patients whose BNP levels rise during admission
      despite appropriate decongestive therapy. METHODS: Patients enrolled in the
      ESCAPE trial admitted with acute systolic HF were divided into two groups
      according to whether or not BNP increased during the period from admission (T0)
      to discharge (T1). The study endpoint was 6-month all-cause mortality. RESULTS:
      Of 245 patients (age 56 years, 75 % men) admitted with acute systolic HF, 67
      (27.3 %) had a higher BNP at T1 relative to T0. Despite similar degrees of
      congestion at T0, patients with BNP rise at T1 had less degree of decongestion
      from T0 to T1 as evident in the lower frequency of patients who had resolution of
      jugular venous distension (39.7 vs. 59.5 %, P = 0.01) and orthopnea (32.2 vs.
      48.8 %, P = 0.029) at T1, in addition to lower reduction in IVC diameter during
      inspiration (P = 0.001) and expiration (P = 0.002) and less weight loss (P =
      0.04). Patients with BNP rise at T1 were more likely to die (29.9 vs. 15.7 %,
      univariate OR 2.28, 95 % CI 1.177-4.414, P = 0.015) despite a lower BNP at T0
      (492 vs. 1260 pg/ml, P < 0.001). Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that a
      higher BNP at T1 independently predicts 6-month mortality (hazard ratio 1.95, 95
      % CI 1.067-3.578, P = 0.03) after adjustment for age, sodium, creatinine, and
      NYHA class-all at discharge. Kaplan-Meier analysis comparing survival in patients
      with or without BNP rise on discharge showed a significant intergroup difference
      (log-rank P value = 0.017). CONCLUSION: Higher BNP levels on discharge identifies
      a subset of patients with lower degree of decongestion from T0 to T1 and higher 6
      month mortality.

PMID- 27624715
TI  - Mental illness and terrorism.

PMID- 27624714
TI  - Prognostic relevance of high atonal homolog-1 expression in Merkel cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has recently been reported that atonal homolog 1 (ATOH1) gene is
      down-regulated in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) and thus may represent a tumor
      suppressor gene. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to test for ATOH1 gene mutations and
      expression levels in MCC tissues and cell lines. METHODS: Genomic DNA isolation
      and amplification via PCR was successfully performed in 33 MCCs on formalin-fixed
      paraffin-embedded tissue and three MCC cell lines, followed by Sanger sequencing
      of the whole ATOH1 gene to detect genomic aberrations. ATOH1 mRNA levels were
      determined by RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry of ATOH1 was performed to quantify
      protein expression in tumor samples and cell lines. RESULTS: Neither in any of
      the 33 MCC tissue samples nor in the three cell lines ATOH1 mutations were
      present. ATOH1 was expressed in all lesions, albeit at different expression
      levels. Univariate analysis revealed that the total immunohistology score
      significantly correlated with the occurrence of tumor relapse (r = 0.57; P =
      0.0008). This notion was confirmed in multivariate analysis suggesting that ATOH1
      expression is a potential independent predictor for tumor relapse in MCC patients
      (P = 0.028). MCC-related death also correlated with ATOH1 expression (r = 0.4; P
      = 0.025); however, ATOH1 expression did not retain its predictive value in the
      regression model. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to anecdotal reports ATOH1 expression
      is not lost by genetic alterations in MCC. However, protein expression of ATOH1
      is increased in advanced MCC indicating that ATOH1 is involved in MCC
      progression.

PMID- 27624716
TI  - Evolutionary History of the Nesophontidae, the Last Unplaced Recent Mammal
      Family.
AB  - The mammalian evolutionary tree has lost several major clades through recent
      human-caused extinctions. This process of historical biodiversity loss has
      particularly affected tropical island regions such as the Caribbean, an area of
      great evolutionary diversification but poor molecular preservation. The most
      enigmatic of the recently extinct endemic Caribbean mammals are the
      Nesophontidae, a family of morphologically plesiomorphic lipotyphlan insectivores
      with no consensus on their evolutionary affinities, and which constitute the only
      major recent mammal clade to lack any molecular information on their phylogenetic
      placement. Here, we use a palaeogenomic approach to place Nesophontidae within
      the phylogeny of recent Lipotyphla. We recovered the near-complete mitochondrial
      genome and sequences for 17 nuclear genes from a ~750-year-old Hispaniolan
      Nesophontes specimen, and identify a divergence from their closest living
      relatives, the Solenodontidae, more than 40 million years ago. Nesophontidae is
      thus an older distinct lineage than many extant mammalian orders, highlighting
      not only the role of island systems as "museums" of diversity that preserve
      ancient lineages, but also the major human-caused loss of evolutionary history.

PMID- 27624718
TI  - Gender Differences in Longitudinal Trajectories of Change in Physical, Social,
      and Cognitive/Sedentary Leisure Activities.
AB  - Objective: We examined changes in participation in cognitive, social, and
      physical leisure activities across middle and older adulthood and tested
      moderation of trajectories of change in participation by gender. Method: In all,
      1,398 participants in the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) completed
      a 7-item leisure activity questionnaire up to 4 times over 17 years. Mean
      baseline age was 64.9 years (range = 36-91); 59% were women. Factor analysis
      identified physical, social, and cognitive/sedentary leisure activity
      participation factors. Age-based latent growth curve models adjusted for marital
      status, gender, education, depressive symptoms, and physical health were used.
      Results: Overall, results indicated stability in social activities, increase in
      cognitive/sedentary activities, and decrease in physical activities, as well as
      accelerated decline in all three types of activities after about the age of 70
      years. Social activity remained mostly stable for women and declined for men.
      Women reported higher levels of cognitive/sedentary leisure activity across the
      study. Both men and women declined in physical leisure activity. Variance in
      leisure activities increased with age; men demonstrated more variance in social
      activities and women in physical activities. Conclusions: Understanding change in
      leisure activities with age and by gender can have important implications for
      interventions and for use of leisure activity data in epidemiological research.

PMID- 27624719
TI  - An Excel Spreadsheet Model for States and Districts to Assess the Cost-Benefit of
      School Nursing Services.
AB  - This paper describes a user-friendly, Excel spreadsheet model and two data
      collection instruments constructed by the authors to help states and districts
      perform cost-benefit analyses of school nursing services delivered by full-time
      school nurses. Prior to applying the model, states or districts need to collect
      data using two forms: "Daily Nurse Data Collection Form" and the "Teacher
      Survey." The former is used to record daily nursing activities, including number
      of student health encounters, number of medications administered, number of
      student early dismissals, and number of medical procedures performed. The latter
      is used to obtain estimates for the time teachers spend addressing student health
      issues. Once inputs are entered in the model, outputs are automatically
      calculated, including program costs, total benefits, net benefits, and benefit
      cost ratio. The spreadsheet model, data collection tools, and instructions are
      available at the NASN website ( http://www.nasn.org/The/CostBenefitAnalysis ).

PMID- 27624717
TI  - Fast, Accurate and Automatic Ancient Nucleosome and Methylation Maps with
      epiPALEOMIX.
AB  - The first epigenomes from archaic hominins (AH) and ancient anatomically modern
      humans (AMH) have recently been characterized, based, however, on a limited
      number of samples. The extent to which ancient genome-wide epigenetic landscapes
      can be reconstructed thus remains contentious. Here, we present epiPALEOMIX, an
      open-source and user-friendly pipeline that exploits post-mortem DNA degradation
      patterns to reconstruct ancient methylomes and nucleosome maps from shotgun
      and/or capture-enrichment data. Applying epiPALEOMIX to the sequence data
      underlying 35 ancient genomes including AMH, AH, equids and aurochs, we
      investigate the temporal, geographical and preservation range of ancient
      epigenetic signatures. We first assess the quality of inferred ancient epigenetic
      signatures within well-characterized genomic regions. We find that tissue
      specific methylation signatures can be obtained across a wider range of DNA
      preparation types than previously thought, including when no particular
      experimental procedures have been used to remove deaminated cytosines prior to
      sequencing. We identify a large subset of samples for which DNA associated with
      nucleosomes is protected from post-mortem degradation, and nucleosome positioning
      patterns can be reconstructed. Finally, we describe parameters and conditions
      such as DNA damage levels and sequencing depth that limit the preservation of
      epigenetic signatures in ancient samples. When such conditions are met, we
      propose that epigenetic profiles of CTCF binding regions can be used to help data
      authentication. Our work, including epiPALEOMIX, opens for further investigations
      of ancient epigenomes through time especially aimed at tracking possible
      epigenetic changes during major evolutionary, environmental, socioeconomic, and
      cultural shifts.

PMID- 27624720
TI  - Minimal important improvement thresholds for the six-minute walk test in a knee
      arthroplasty cohort: triangulation of anchor- and distribution-based methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is a commonly used metric for measuring
      change in mobility after knee arthroplasty, however, what is considered an
      improvement after surgery has not been defined. The determination of important
      change in an outcome assessment tool is controversial and may require more than
      one approach. This study, nested within a combined randomised and observational
      trial, aimed to define a minimal important improvement threshold for the 6MWT in
      a knee arthroplasty cohort through a triangulation of methods including patient
      perceived anchor-based thresholds and distribution-based thresholds. METHODS:
      Individuals with osteoarthritis performed a 6MWT pre-arthroplasty then at 10 and
      26 weeks post-surgery. Each rated their perceived improvement in mobility post
      surgery on a 7-point transition scale anchored from "much better" to "much
      worse". Based on these responses the cohort was dichotomised into 'improved' and
      'not improved'. The thresholds for patient-perceived improvements were then
      identified using two receiver operating curve methods producing sensitivity and
      specificity indices. Distribution-based change thresholds were determined using
      two methods utilising effect size (ES). Agreement between the anchor- and
      distribution-based methods was assessed using kappa. RESULTS: One hundred fifty
      eight from 166 participants in the randomised cohort and 222 from 243 in the
      combined randomised and observational cohort were included at 10 and 26 weeks,
      respectively. The slightly or more patient-perceived improvement threshold at 26
      weeks (an absolute improvement of 26 m) was the only one to demonstrate
      sensitivity and specificity results both better than chance. At 10- and 26-weeks,
      the ES based on the mean change score divided by the baseline standard deviation
      (SD), was an absolute change of 24.5 and 37.9 m, respectively. The threshold
      based on a moderate ES (a 0.5 SD of the baseline score) was a change of 55.0 and
      55.4 m at 10- and 26-weeks, respectively. The level of agreement between the 26
      week anchor-based and distribution-based minimal absolute changes was very good
      (k = 0.88 (95 % CI 0.81 0.95)). CONCLUSION: A valid threshold of improvement for
      the 6MWT can only be proposed for changes identified from baseline to 26 weeks
      post-surgery. The level of agreement between anchor- and distribution-based
      methods indicates that a true minimal or more threshold of meaningful improvement
      following surgery is likely within the ranges proposed by the triangulation of
      all four methods, that is, 26 to 55 m.

PMID- 27624721
TI  - Mitochondrial dysfunction is an important cause of neurological deficits in an
      inflammatory model of multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Neuroinflammation can cause major neurological dysfunction, without
      demyelination, in both multiple sclerosis (MS) and a mouse model of the disease
      (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; EAE), but the mechanisms remain
      obscure. Confocal in vivo imaging of the mouse EAE spinal cord reveals that
      impaired neurological function correlates with the depolarisation of both the
      axonal mitochondria and the axons themselves. Indeed, the depolarisation
      parallels the expression of neurological deficit at the onset of disease, and
      during relapse, improving during remission in conjunction with the deficit.
      Mitochondrial dysfunction, fragmentation and impaired trafficking were most
      severe in regions of extravasated perivascular inflammatory cells. The
      dysfunction at disease onset was accompanied by increased expression of the rate
      limiting glycolytic enzyme phosphofructokinase-2 in activated astrocytes, and by
      selective reduction in spinal mitochondrial complex I activity. The metabolic
      changes preceded any demyelination or axonal degeneration. We conclude that
      mitochondrial dysfunction is a major cause of reversible neurological deficits in
      neuroinflammatory disease, such as MS.

PMID- 27624722
TI  - Reelin Regulates the Maturation of Dendritic Spines, Synaptogenesis and Glial
      Ensheathment of Newborn Granule Cells.
AB  - Significance Statement: The extracellular protein Reelin has an important role in
      neurological diseases, including epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease and psychiatric
      diseases, targeting hippocampal circuits. Here we address the role of Reelin in
      the development of synaptic contacts in adult-generated granule cells (GCs), a
      neuronal population that is crucial for learning and memory and implicated in
      neurological and psychiatric diseases. We found that the Reelin pathway controls
      the shapes, sizes, and types of dendritic spines, the complexity of multisynaptic
      innervations and the degree of the perisynaptic astroglial ensheathment that
      controls synaptic homeostasis. These findings show a pivotal role of Reelin in GC
      synaptogenesis and provide a foundation for structural circuit alterations caused
      by Reelin deregulation that may occur in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 27624724
TI  - Vitamin D attenuates inflammation, fatty infiltration, and cartilage loss in the
      knee of hyperlipidemic microswine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joint is a degenerative process
      resulting in cartilage loss. Recent evidence suggests that OA is not merely a
      disease of cartilage but a disease of the entire knee joint and that inflammation
      may play an important role. OA has been associated with vitamin D deficiency.
      Vitamin D as an immunomodulator and anti-inflammatory agent may attenuate
      inflammation in the knee. The aim of this study was to assess the anti
      inflammatory effect of vitamin D on inflammation in the knee. METHODS: This study
      was conducted with 13 microswine on a high cholesterol diet categorized into
      three groups of vitamin D-deficient, vitamin D-sufficient, and vitamin D
      supplementation. After 1 year, microswine were killed, and their knee joint
      tissues were harvested. Histological and immunofluorescence studies were carried
      out on the tissue specimens to evaluate the effect of vitamin D status. RESULTS:
      Histological and immunofluorescence studies of the knee joint tissues showed (1)
      increased inflammation in the knee joint tissues, (2) fatty infiltration in
      quadriceps muscle, patellar tendon, and collateral ligaments, and (3) chondrocyte
      clustering in the vitamin D-deficient and vitamin D-sufficient groups compared
      with the vitamin D supplementation group. Architectural distortion of the
      quadriceps muscle, patellar tendon, and collateral ligaments was also seen in the
      areas of inflammatory foci and fatty infiltration in the vitamin D-deficient
      group. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased inflammation and fatty infiltration in the vitamin
      D supplementation group suggest the potential role of vitamin D in attenuating
      inflammation and fatty infiltration as well as in protecting the architecture of
      the tissue in the knee joint.

PMID- 27624725
TI  - Clinical radiological correlation in E200K familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
AB  - The use of diffusion MRI improved the accuracy of diagnosis in Creutzfeldt-Jakob
      disease (CJD) and expanded our knowledge of the changes occurring in the brain
      during the disease. The aim of this study was to test whether in patients with
      E200K familial CJD (fCJD) the clinical severity correlates with the disease
      burden as reflected by the extent of cortical involvement in DWI MRI. Consecutive
      fCJD patients were examined by a neurologist who performed several tests
      including the CJD neurological scale (CJD-NS), MiniMental status examination
      (MMSE), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and the
      expanded disability status scale (EDSS). A simultaneously acquired MRI was
      analyzed by measuring the extent of cortical involvement in the DWI axial
      sequence. Correlations were tested for using Pearson test. Fifty-two fCJD
      patients (35 males, mean age 59.4 +/- 5.7 years) were recruited to the study.
      Significant negative correlation was found between the extent of cortical
      involvement and the cognitive performance of the patients as reflected by their
      MMSE and FAB scores. In addition, a significant positive correlation was found
      between the MRI and the clinical disease severity scales CJD-NS and EDSS. The
      correlation between clinical scales of severity and cognitive dysfunction and the
      disease burden confirms the reliability of the CJD-NS scale. Further studies are
      warranted to examine whether MRI may serve not only for diagnosis but also as a
      biomarker for follow-up of disease progression and the efficacy of potential
      treatments.

PMID- 27624726
TI  - Anatomy and cervical dystonia : "Dysfunction follows form".
AB  - At first glance, cervical dystonia might be an illustration of the well-known
      proposition "function follows form". Nevertheless, cervical dystonia is a highly
      non-physiological condition, which cannot be reproduced by healthy subjects and
      does not respond to the usual physiological rules. "Dysfunction follows form"
      might be the most accurate aphorism to define cervical dystonia. Taking into
      account this situation and recent insights, the anatomic approach needs to be
      adapted to allow a better understanding of semiology and to improve botulinum
      toxin therapy. In this review dealing with a new approach to cervical dystonia,
      we develop some practical anatomical concepts concerning the head and neck
      complex. Knowledge of cervical spine and muscular dysfunctions in cervical
      dystonia is an essential stage in treating cervical dystonia patients with
      botulinum toxin.

PMID- 27624723
TI  - The Italian dementia with Lewy bodies study group (DLB-SINdem): toward a
      standardization of clinical procedures and multicenter cohort studies design.
AB  - Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) causes elevated outlays for the National Health
      Systems due to high institutionalization rate and patients' reduced quality of
      life and high mortality. Furthermore, DLB is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's
      disease. These data motivate harmonized multicenter longitudinal cohort studies
      to improve clinical management and therapy monitoring. The Italian DLB study
      group of the Italian Neurological Society for dementia (SINdem) developed and
      emailed a semi-structured questionnaire to 572 national dementia centers (from
      primary to tertiary) to prepare an Italian large longitudinal cohort. The
      questionnaire surveyed: (1) prevalence and incidence of DLB; (2) clinical
      assessment; (3) relevance and availability of diagnostic tools; (4)
      pharmacological management of cognitive, motor, and behavioural disturbances; (5)
      causes of hospitalization, with specific focus on delirium and its treatment.
      Overall, 135 centers (23.6 %) contributed to the survey. Overall, 5624 patients
      with DLB are currently followed by the 135 centers in a year (2042 of them are
      new patients). The percentage of DLB patients was lower (27 +/- 8 %) than that of
      Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (56 +/- 27 %) patients. The
      majority of the centers (91 %) considered the clinical and neuropsychological
      assessments as the most relevant procedure for a DLB diagnosis. Nonetheless, most
      of the centers has availability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; 95 %),
      electroencephalography (EEG; 93 %), and FP-CIT single photon emission
      computerized tomography (SPECT; 75 %) scan for clinical applications. It will be,
      therefore, possible to recruit a large harmonized Italian cohort of DLB patients
      for future cross-sectional and longitudinal multicenter studies.

PMID- 27624727
TI  - Using Syndemics Theory to Investigate Risk and Protective Factors Associated with
      Condomless Sex Among Youth Living with HIV in 17 U.S. Cities.
AB  - Identifying risk and protective factors associated with condomless sex among
      youth living with HIV is imperative for developing effective HIV prevention
      strategies. A cross-sectional sample of 1728 participants, 12-26 years of age,
      recruited from adolescent medicine clinics in 17 U.S. cities completed an audio
      computer assisted self-interview with questions about their substance use,
      psychosocial factors, and attitudinal and behavioral factors. Guided by syndemics
      theory, a path analysis was used to assess the interrelations of these factors.
      Analyses of model fit statistics indicated statistically significant direct
      pathways between substance use, psychosocial factors, self-efficacy for risk
      reduction, alternative risk-reduction attitudes and behaviors and condomless sex.
      The total indirect effect of self-efficacy for risk-reduction on condomless sex
      through alternative risk-reduction attitudes and behaviors was also significant.
      Multi-faceted, tailored interventions that address individual risk and protective
      factors and their combined synergistic effects are urgently needed to prevent
      condomless sex among this population.

PMID- 27624728
TI  - Psychological Distress Moderates the Intention-Behavior Association for Sexual
      Partner Concurrency Among Adults.
AB  - Research suggests that intentions are an important determinant of sexual risk
      behavior. However, this association is often weaker than hypothesized. This
      research investigated whether psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety)
      can help to explain the intentions-behavior gap. We used data from 397 patients
      seeking care at an STI clinic to test whether the association between partner
      concurrency intentions and behavior 3 months later was moderated by distress.
      Intentions predicted concurrency behavior only among less-distressed individuals;
      however, exploratory analyses for condom use did not demonstrate this effect.
      Comprehensive sexual health intervention programs should address affective
      determinants of risk behavior.

PMID- 27624729
TI  - Cost-utility of HIV Testing Programs Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in the
      United States.
AB  - Few groups in the United States (US) are as heavily affected by HIV as men who
      have sex with men (MSM), yet many MSM remain unaware of their infection. HIV
      diagnosis is important for decreasing onward transmission and promoting effective
      treatment for HIV, but the cost-effectiveness of testing programs is not well
      established. This study reports on the costs and cost-utility of the MSM Testing
      Initiative (MTI) to newly diagnose HIV among MSM and link them to medical care.
      Cost and testing data in 15 US cities from January 2013 to March 2014 were
      prospectively collected and combined to determine the cost-utility of MTI in each
      city in terms of the cost per Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) saved from payer
      and societal perspectives. The total venue-based HIV testing costs ranged from
      $18,759 to $564,284 for nine to fifteen months of MTI implementation. The cost
      saving threshold for HIV testing of MSM was $20,645 per new HIV diagnosis.
      Overall, 27,475 men were tested through venue-based MTI, of whom 807 (3 %) were
      newly diagnosed with HIV. These new diagnoses were associated with approximately
      47 averted HIV infections. The cost per QALY saved by implementation of MTI in
      each city was negative, indicating that MTI venue-based testing was cost-saving
      in all cities. The cost-utility of social network and couples testing strategies
      was, however, dependent on whether the programs newly diagnosed MSM. The cost per
      new HIV diagnosis varied considerably across cities and was influenced by both
      the local cost of MSM testing implementation and by the seropositivity rate of
      those reached by the HIV testing program. While the cost-saving threshold for HIV
      testing is highly achievable, testing programs must successfully reach
      undiagnosed HIV-positive individuals in order to be cost-effective. This
      underscores the need for HIV testing programs which target and engage populations
      such as MSM who are most likely to have undiagnosed HIV to maximize programmatic
      benefit and cost-utility.

PMID- 27624731
TI  - Abstracts from the 12th Congress of the European Hip Society.
AB  - Abstracts from the 12th Congress of the European Hip Society, 6-9 September 2016,
      Munich, Germany. 

PMID- 27624730
TI  - Welcome address.

PMID- 27624734
TI  - Applying proteomics to research for optic nerve regeneration in glaucoma: what's
      on the horizon?

PMID- 27624732
TI  - Severe familial hypercholesterolemia impairs the regulation of coronary blood
      flow and oxygen supply during exercise.
AB  - Accelerated development of coronary atherosclerosis is a defining characteristic
      of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). However, the recent data highlight a
      significant cardiovascular risk prior to the development of critical coronary
      stenosis. We, therefore, examined the hypothesis that FH produces coronary
      microvascular dysfunction and impairs coronary vascular control at rest and
      during exercise in a swine model of FH. Coronary vascular responses to drug
      infusions and exercise were examined in chronically instrumented control and FH
      swine. FH swine exhibited ~tenfold elevation of plasma cholesterol and diffuse
      coronary atherosclerosis (20-60 % plaque burden). Similar to our recent findings
      in the systemic vasculature in FH swine, coronary smooth muscle nitric oxide
      sensitivity was increased in vivo and in vitro with maintained endothelium
      dependent vasodilation in vivo in FH. At rest and during exercise, FH swine
      exhibited increased myocardial O2 extraction resulting in reduced coronary venous
      SO2 and PO2 versus control. During exercise in FH swine, the transmural
      distribution of coronary blood flow was unchanged; however, a shift toward
      anaerobic cardiac metabolism was revealed by increased coronary arteriovenous
      H(+) concentration gradient. This shift was associated with a worsening of
      cardiac efficiency (relationship between cardiac work and O2 consumption) in FH
      during exercise owing, in part, to a generalized reduction in stroke volume which
      was associated with increased left atrial pressure in FH. Our data highlight a
      critical role for coronary microvascular dysfunction as a contributor to impaired
      myocardial O2 balance, cardiac ischemia, and impaired cardiac function prior to
      the development of critical coronary stenosis in FH.

PMID- 27624733
TI  - A hidden Markov model for decoding and the analysis of replay in spike trains.
AB  - We present a hidden Markov model that describes variation in an animal's position
      associated with varying levels of activity in action potential spike trains of
      individual place cell neurons. The model incorporates a coarse-graining of
      position, which we find to be a more parsimonious description of the system than
      other models. We use a sequential Monte Carlo algorithm for Bayesian inference of
      model parameters, including the state space dimension, and we explain how to
      estimate position from spike train observations (decoding). We obtain greater
      accuracy over other methods in the conditions of high temporal resolution and
      small neuronal sample size. We also present a novel, model-based approach to the
      study of replay: the expression of spike train activity related to behaviour
      during times of motionlessness or sleep, thought to be integral to the
      consolidation of long-term memories. We demonstrate how we can detect the time,
      information content and compression rate of replay events in simulated and real
      hippocampal data recorded from rats in two different environments, and verify the
      correlation between the times of detected replay events and of sharp wave/ripples
      in the local field potential.

PMID- 27624735
TI  - Microfluidic Platform for Assessment of Therapeutic Proteins Using Molecular
      Charge Modulation Enhanced Electrokinetic Concentration Assays.
AB  - Therapeutic proteins (TPs) are critical in modern medicine, yet shortage of TPs
      in disaster situations and remote areas remains a worldwide challenge.
      Manufacturing and real-time release of TPs on demand at the point-of-care is
      considered the key to this issue, which requires reliable and rapid analytics
      techniques for quality assurance. Herein we report a microfluidic platform that
      could be implemented in-line and at the point-of-care for real-time decision
      making about the quality of a TP. The in vivo efficacy and duration of efficacy
      of TPs were assessed by the equilibrium and kinetics of TP and TP receptor (TPR)
      binding, using electrokinetic concentration (EC) and molecular charge modulation
      (MCM). EC can simultaneously concentrate and separate bound and unbound species
      in an assay based on electrical mobility, allowing for the quantification of
      binding. MCM enables the application of EC to arbitrary TPs by enhancing the
      mobility differences between TPs, TPRs, and TP-TPR complexes. This technology is
      homogeneous and overcomes many practical challenges of conventional heterogeneous
      assays. We developed various formats of assays for equilibrium and kinetic
      analysis and rapid determination of degradation of TPs, obtaining results
      comparable to state-of-the-art technologies with significantly less time (<1 h)
      and simpler setup. Finally, we demonstrated that the results of MCM-EC based
      assays correlated well with those from mass spectrometry and cell-based assay,
      which are the industrial standards for quality testing of TPs.

PMID- 27624737
TI  - Safety of Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants in Clinical Practice:
      Focus on Rivaroxaban in Stroke Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - Despite direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have overcome the most relevant
      limitations of vitamin K antagonists, many patients with atrial fibrillation are
      not receiving the appropriate anticoagulant therapy. In addition, when patients
      are anticoagulated with DOACs, some of them are not taking the dose recommended
      in the summary of product characteristics. This may be related, at least in part,
      to the concern about the applicability of findings from randomized clinical
      trials to real-life patients. In this context, performing studies in daily
      clinical practice to assess the efficacy and safety of DOACs in real-world
      setting is mandatory. The aim of this review is to update the current evidence
      regarding safety of rivaroxaban in clinical practice. The Rivaroxaban Once Daily
      Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for
      Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET-AF) showed
      that rivaroxaban was at least as effective as warfarin for preventing stroke or
      systemic embolism, with similar rates of major bleeding but with lesser risk of
      intracranial and fatal bleedings. Data from noninterventional studies and
      registries have confirmed the good results of ROCKET-AF. Even more, rates of
      bleeding may be inferior in real-life patients, since they have a lower risk
      profile than those included in ROCKET-AF.

PMID- 27624736
TI  - Attitudinal variables and a possible mediating mechanism for vaccination practice
      in health care workers of a local hospital in L'Aquila (Italy).
AB  - Active immunization is an important concern for health care workers (HCWs)
      susceptible subjects and potential sources of infection for patients. However,
      the vaccine coverage for vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) is below recommended
      standards. The aims of the study were to estimate the hospitals' HCWs'
      susceptibility and vaccination coverage rates for VPDs and to analyze the role of
      HCWs' attitudes and knowledge as determinants of the immunization practices. A
      cross-sectional study enrolled 334 HCWs (physicians, nurses, others) at local
      hospital in L'Aquila (Italy). By means of an anonymous questionnaire, self-report
      data about history of disease and active vaccination for seasonal influenza,
      chickenpox, measles-mumps-rubella and hepatitis B were collected, as well as
      attitudes and knowledge about vaccination in HCWs. The employees showed high
      levels of susceptibility and insufficient vaccination coverage rates,
      particularly for influenza. Specific trends were detected for different VPDs
      across age strata and professional categories, not always consistent with
      literature. Overall, the level of knowledge about recommended vaccination for
      HCWs was low, in all categories. The active immunization status against influenza
      was found the most clearly associated with difference levels in 3 psychometric
      variables: personal responsibility, beliefs on usefulness and beliefs on risk of
      vaccination. A mediation mechanism was analyzed between these constructs, and an
      interesting indirect effect was highlighted for beliefs that could enhance the
      advantage of increased responsibility for HCWs. Further effort in research is
      needed to evaluate the black-box of longitudinal intervention studies (education,
      environmental changes, policies), to improve HCWs immunization.

PMID- 27624738
TI  - Antithrombin Administration During Intravenous Heparin Anticoagulation in the
      Intensive Care Unit: A Single-Center Matched Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - Unfractionated heparin (UFH) is a frequently utilized indirect anticoagulant that
      induces therapeutic effect by enhancing antithrombin (AT)-mediated procoagulant
      enzyme inhibition. In suspected heparin resistance (HR) during cardiopulmonary
      bypass, AT activity may be decreased and AT supplementation helps restore UFH
      responsiveness. The benefit of AT supplementation in HR over longer durations of
      UFH therapy is unclear. The objective of this study was to describe and evaluate
      the use of AT III concentrate in the intensive care units (ICUs) at our
      institution for improving UFH therapy response over 72 hours. A total of 44
      critically ill patients were included in the analysis-22 patients received at
      least 1 dose of AT and 22 patients received no AT. Thirty (68.2%) of the 44
      patients were receiving mechanical circulatory support. Baseline characteristics
      were similar between groups. The average AT activity prior to AT supplementation
      was 57.9% in the treatment group, and the median cumulative dose of AT was 786.5
      U (9.26 U/kg) per patient. There were no significant differences observed in
      proportion of time spent in therapeutic range (31.9% vs 35.2%, P = .65), time to
      therapeutic goal (16.5 vs 15.5 hours, P = .97), or patients who experienced a
      bleeding event (5 vs 5, P = .99) between groups. In conclusion, AT
      supplementation had minimal impact on anticoagulant response in this cohort of
      ICU patients with mild to moderate HR receiving a prolonged UFH infusion.
      Additional research is needed to define AT activity targets and to standardize AT
      supplementation practices in patients receiving prolonged heparin infusion.

PMID- 27624739
TI  - Heat-shock protein 70 expression in the equine cornea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Expression of the 70-kDa heat-shock protein (HSP70) has been
      demonstrated in normal canine corneal epithelium, and inducible expression has
      been suggested to facilitate wound resolution through organized migration,
      proliferation, and adhesion of the corneal epithelial cells. Diminished
      expression of HSP70 may therefore contribute to prolonged healing in the
      pathologic cornea of other companion animal species, including the horse. ANIMAL
      STUDIED: Normal and pathologic equine cornea was evaluated to determine whether
      the expression of HSP70 is correlated with appropriate corneal epithelial wound
      healing. PROCEDURES: Paraffin-embedded tissue from normal equine cornea and
      therapeutic keratectomies of sterile keratopathies was subject to routine
      immunohistochemistry for HSP70. RESULTS: Normal equine corneas exhibited the
      baseline expression of HSP70 in the nuclei of all epithelial cells as well as the
      cytoplasm of the basal epithelium. Expression of HSP70 in suspected immune
      mediated keratitis was localized to the cytoplasm of basal epithelial cells and
      nuclei of all epithelial cells, similar to the normal equine cornea. Expression
      in indolent ulcers was diminished; weak, diffuse staining was noted in the
      cytoplasm of all epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the
      expression of HSP70 is induced in the normal equine cornea during re
      epithelialization and may be altered in sterile keratopathies.

PMID- 27624741
TI  - Ecophysiology matters: linking inorganic carbon acquisition to ecological
      preference in four species of microalgae (Chlorophyceae).
AB  - The effect of CO2 supply is likely to play an important role in algal ecology.
      Since inorganic carbon (Ci ) acquisition strategies are very diverse among
      microalgae and Ci availability varies greatly within and among habitats, we
      hypothesized that Ci acquisition depends on the pH of their preferred natural
      environment (adaptation) and that the efficiency of Ci uptake is affected by CO2
      availability (acclimation). To test this, four species of green algae originating
      from different habitats were studied. The pH-drift and Ci uptake kinetic
      experiments were used to characterize Ci acquisition strategies and their ability
      to acclimate to high and low CO2 conditions and high and low pH was evaluated.
      Results from pH drift experiments revealed that the acidophile and acidotolerant
      Chlamydomonas species were mainly restricted to CO2 , whereas the two
      neutrophiles were efficient bicarbonate users. CO2 compensation points in low CO2
      -acclimated cultures ranged between 0.6 and 1.4 MUM CO2 and acclimation to
      different culture pH and CO2 conditions suggested that CO2 concentrating
      mechanisms were present in most species. High CO2 acclimated cultures adapted
      rapidly to low CO2 condition during pH-drifts. Ci uptake kinetics at different pH
      values showed that the affinity for Ci was largely influenced by external pH,
      being highest under conditions where CO2 dominated the Ci pool. In conclusion, Ci
      acquisition was highly variable among four species of green algae and linked to
      growth pH preference, suggesting that there is a connection between Ci
      acquisition and ecological distribution.

PMID- 27624740
TI  - Predictors of Interventional Treatment Use for Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer
      Patients.
AB  - Venous thromboembolic disease is a major cause of morbidity in cancer patients.
      The Perspective database was used to identify patients with solid tumors and a
      diagnosis of VTE from 2006 to 2012. We examined use of IVC filters, thrombolysis,
      and thrombectomy. Among 32,545 patients, 23.1% received an IVC filter, 1.9%
      thrombolytic therapy, and 0.4% underwent thrombectomy. Use of IVC filters
      decreased between 2006 and 2012 (23.4% to 21.2%, p = 0.012). Older patients,
      uninsured patients, Hispanics, and those with more comorbidities were more likely
      to undergo filter placement while patients at rural hospitals were less likely to
      receive an IVC filter (p < 0.05 for all). 

PMID- 27624742
TI  - Google Street View as an alternative method to car surveys in large-scale
      vegetation assessments.
AB  - Car surveys (CS) are a common method for assessing the distribution of alien
      invasive plants. Google Street View (GSV), a free-access web technology where
      users may experience a virtual travel along roads, has been suggested as a cost
      effective alternative to car surveys. We tested if we could replicate the results
      from a countrywide survey conducted by car in Portugal using GSV as a remote
      sensing tool, aiming at assessing the distribution of Eucalyptus globulus Labill.
      wildlings on roadsides adjacent to eucalypt stands. Georeferenced points gathered
      along CS were used to create road transects visible as lines overlapping the road
      in GSV environment, allowing surveying the same sampling areas using both
      methods. This paper presents the results of the comparison between the two
      methods. Both methods produced similar models of plant abundance, selecting the
      same explanatory variables, in the same hierarchical order of importance and
      depicting a similar influence on plant abundance. Even though the GSV model had a
      lower performance and the GSV survey detected fewer plants, additional variables
      collected exclusively with GSV improved model performance and provided a new
      insight into additional factors influencing plant abundance. The survey using GSV
      required ca. 9 % of the funds and 62 % of the time needed to accomplish the CS.
      We conclude that GSV may be a cost-effective alternative to CS. We discuss some
      advantages and limitations of GSV as a survey method. We forecast that GSV may
      become a widespread tool in road ecology, particularly in large-scale vegetation
      assessments. 

PMID- 27624743
TI  - Sap flow characteristics and their response to environmental variables in a
      desert riparian forest along lower Heihe River Basin, Northwest China.
AB  - Hysteresis, related to tree sap flow and associated environmental variables,
      plays a critical ecological role in the comprehensive understanding of forest
      water use dynamics. Nevertheless, only limited researches related to this unique
      ecological phenomenon have been conducted to date in desert riparian forests
      under extreme arid regions. Populus euphratica Oliv sap flow velocity (VS) was
      measured during the 2012 growing season using the heat ratio method, at the same
      time as environmental variables, such as photosynthetically active radiation
      (PAR), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and leaf water potential. We found clockwise
      patterns of hysteresis between VS and VPD but anticlockwise patterns between VS
      and PAR. Pronounced hysteretic VS lag time, a function of PAR and VPD, was
      approximately 1.0~1.5 and -0.5 h, respectively. Hysteresis was primarily caused
      by the biophysical declining in canopy conductance. Sigmoid response of VS to
      synthetic meteorological variables was enhanced by approximately 56 % after
      hysteresis calibration to sunny days. Consequently, hysteresis can be seen as a
      protection mechanism for plants to avoid the overlapping of peak VS and
      environmental variables. Furthermore, the consistent presence of hysteresis
      suggested that estimating of plant water use in large temporal and spatial models
      may require certain provisions to different VS responses to variables between
      morning and afternoon and between seasons. 

PMID- 27624744
TI  - Occurrence of nonylphenol and bisphenol A in household water pipes made of
      different materials.
AB  - We assessed the occurrence of nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) in tap water
      supplied through polyvinyl chloride (PVC), stainless steel, and galvanized pipes.
      Water samples were collected from selected households in Taipei and Kaohsiung
      (Northern and Southern Taiwan, respectively) in different seasons to elucidate
      the effects of pipeline materials and ambient temperatures on NP and BPA
      concentrations in tap water. We detected higher concentrations of NP in tap water
      from households using PVC pipes (64-195 ng/L) than from those using stainless
      steel pipes (17-44 ng/L) and galvanized pipes (27-96 ng/L). To verify that water
      can absorb NP and BPA from PVC pipes, we sealed Milli-Q and tap water in PVC and
      stainless steel pipes to assess the potential release of NP and BPA from the
      pipes into the water. Both NP and BPA concentrations initially increased with
      contact time in the PVC pipes, and the concentration profiles during the
      retention appeared to be more strongly affected by ambient temperatures.
      Concentration variations in the stainless steel pipes were smaller than those in
      the PVC pipes. 

PMID- 27624745
TI  - Complexation of lead by organic matter in Luanda Bay, Angola.
AB  - Speciation is defined as the distribution of an element among different chemical
      species. Although the relation between speciation and bioavailability is complex,
      the metal present as free hydrated ion, or as weak complexes able to dissociate,
      is usually more bioavailable than the metal incorporated in strong complexes or
      adsorbed on colloidal or particulate matter. Among the analytical techniques
      currently available, anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) has been one of the most
      used in the identification and quantification of several heavy metal species in
      aquatic systems. This work concerns the speciation study of lead, in original
      (natural, non-filtered) and filtered water samples and in suspensions of
      particulate matter and sediments from Luanda Bay (Angola). Complexes of lead with
      organics were identified and quantified by differential pulse anodic stripping
      voltammetry technique. Each sample was progressively titrated with a Pb(II)
      standard solution until complete saturation of the organic ligands. After each
      addition of Pb(II), the intensity, potential and peak width of the voltammetric
      signal were measured. The results obtained in this work show that more than 95 %
      of the lead in the aquatic environment is bound in inert organic complexes,
      considering all samples from different sampling sites. In sediment samples, the
      lead is totally (100 %) complexed with ligands adsorbed on the particles surface.
      Two kinds of dominant lead complexes, very strong (logK >11) and strong to
      moderately strong (8< logK <11), were found, revealing the lead affinity for the
      stronger ligands. 

PMID- 27624747
TI  - Factors associated with generic health-related quality of life in adult asthma
      patients in Germany: Cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Given a 9% lifetime prevalence of asthma in Germany and the
      impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that goes along with it, it
      is important to understand parameters affecting HRQOL in asthma patients.
      Objective of this study was therefore to determine factors associated with
      generic HRQOL in asthma patients. METHODS: Data for cross-sectional analyses were
      obtained from the baseline of an ongoing cohort study. INCLUSION CRITERIA:
      physician-diagnosed asthma; age >=18 years; disease duration >=3 months; no acute
      psychiatric/neurological disease; sufficient knowledge of German. HRQOL was
      assessed by the Short Form 12 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-12), which
      comprises a physical (PCS-12) and a mental component (MCS-12). Information on a
      broad range of parameters potentially influencing HRQOL was collected by
      examining the patients' medical records and via a self-administered
      questionnaire. Those parameters were of socio-demographic, disease-specific,
      treatment-related or psychosocial nature. We conducted multivariable linear
      regression analyses to assess determinants of HRQOL. RESULTS: In total, 196
      asthma patients participated in the study (mean age: 48 years (range: 18-90);
      60.2% females). In multivariable analysis, PCS-12 was negatively associated with
      older age, being female, insufficient disease control, higher number of
      medications in tablet form and reporting symptoms of depression. MCS-12 was
      negatively associated with being female, living alone, insufficient disease
      control, and reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression. CONCLUSIONS: Focusing
      on disease control and screening for depression and anxiety may be promising
      approaches to improve HRQOL in adult asthma patients. If a patient shows alarming
      symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, the patient should then be referred for
      psychiatric treatment.

PMID- 27624746
TI  - Quantitative assessment of myocardial blood flow in coronary artery disease by
      cardiovascular magnetic resonance: comparison of Fermi and distributed parameter
      modeling against invasive methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mathematical modeling of perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance
      (CMR) data allows absolute quantification of myocardial blood flow and can
      potentially improve the diagnosis and prognostication of obstructive coronary
      artery disease (CAD), against the current clinical standard of visual
      assessments. This study compares the diagnostic performance of distributed
      parameter modeling (DP) against the standard Fermi model, for the detection of
      obstructive CAD, in per vessel against per patient analysis. METHODS: A pilot
      cohort of 28 subjects (24 included in the final analysis) with known or suspected
      CAD underwent adenosine stress-rest perfusion CMR at 3T. Data were analysed using
      Fermi and DP modeling against invasive coronary angiography and fractional flow
      reserve, acquired in all subjects. Obstructive CAD was defined as luminal
      stenosis of >=70 % alone, or luminal stenosis >=50 % and fractional flow reserve
      <=0.80. RESULTS: On ROC analysis, DP modeling outperformed the standard Fermi
      model, in per vessel and per patient analysis. In per patient analysis, DP
      modeling-derived myocardial blood flow at stress demonstrated the highest
      sensitivity and specificity (0.96, 0.92) in detecting obstructive CAD, against
      Fermi modeling (0.78, 0.88) and visual assessments (0.79, 0.88), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: DP modeling demonstrated consistently increased diagnostic
      performance against Fermi modeling and showed that it may have merit for
      stratifying patients with at least one vessel with obstructive CAD. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION:  CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01368237
      Registered 6 of June 2011. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01368237.

PMID- 27624748
TI  - Women's questions about medicines in pregnancy - An analysis of calls to an
      Australian national medicines call centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For many medicines, safe use during pregnancy is not established and
      adherence is often poor due to safety concerns. Therefore, it is important to
      identify consumers' medicines information needs during pregnancy. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective, mixed methods analysis was conducted on eight years of
      pregnancy-related calls to an Australian national medicines call centre. The call
      profile of pregnancy and non-pregnancy-related questions were compared. Medicines
      involved in pregnancy calls were categorised by class (Anatomical Therapeutic
      Chemical (ATC)3 level), and Therapeutic Goods Administration pregnancy category.
      Questions in these calls were also themed by pregnancy stage. RESULTS: We
      identified 4573 pregnancy-related and 118 547 non-pregnancy-related calls. The
      caller profile for pregnancy-related calls was female (93.7%), asking for herself
      (83.0%), and while 70.1% of questions involved one medicine, 9.6% involved three
      or more medicines. Pregnancy enquiries were prompted more often by conflicting
      information, inadequate information or desire for a second opinion. For 1166
      calls, where the stage of pregnancy was available, most questions concerned
      safety. Medication classified as 'safe' during pregnancy accounted for 34% of
      these questions. After antidepressants, most calls were made about over-the
      counter (OTC) medicines (paracetamol, dexchlorpheniramine, codeine). Safe
      treatment for everyday conditions was of increasing concern as the pregnancy
      progressed. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women are concerned about the safety of
      medication use in pregnancy and a significant proportion overestimate risk.
      Psychotropic medication and fertility are strong drivers to seek information
      during preconception. Everyday illnesses and self-medication with OTC medication
      are a common concern throughout pregnancy, even though many medicines are safe to
      use.

PMID- 27624749
TI  - Serum cystatin is a useful marker for the diagnosis of acute kidney injury in
      critically ill children: prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been associated with high morbidity and
      mortality rates among critically ill children. Cystatin C is a protease
      inhibitor, and studies have shown that it is a promising marker for the early
      diagnosis of AKI. Our goal in this study was to assess whether serum cystatin C
      could serve as an accurate marker for the diagnosis of AKI. METHODS: This
      prospective study was undertaken in the pediatric intensive care unit at King
      Abdulaziz University Hospital. Serum creatinine and serum cystatin C levels were
      both measured in patients on admission (0 h) and at 6, 12, and 24 h after
      admission. AKI was diagnosed according to the modified pRIFLE criteria. Receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the utility
      of serum cystatin C for diagnosing AKI. RESULTS: A total of 62 patients were
      enrolled in this study, and 32 were diagnosed with AKI according to the modified
      pRIFLE criteria (51.4 %). The area under the ROC curve for serum cystatin
      indicated that it was a good marker for the diagnosis of AKI at 0, 6, 12 and 24
      h, with sensitivities of 78, 94, 94 and 83 %, respectively. However, the
      specificities of serum cystatin C at 0, 6, 12, and 24 h were 57, 57, 60 and 50 %,
      respectively. The optimal cutoff value was 0.645 mg/L. The area under the ROC for
      serum creatinine showed sensitivities of 50, 65.4, 69.2 and 57.7 % and
      specificities of 67.7, 70, 60 and 70 % at 0, 6, 12 and 24 h, respectively. The
      optimal cutoff value for serum creatinine was 30 MUmol/l. Comparisons of ROC
      curves revealed that serum cystatin C was superior to serum creatinine for the
      diagnosis of AKI at 12 h (p = 0.03), but no differences were detected at 0, 6 or
      24 h. CONCLUSION: Serum cystatin is a sensitive, but not a specific, marker for
      the diagnosis of AKI in critically ill children.

PMID- 27624750
TI  - Twelve-year natural history of a gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type.
AB  - A 77-year-old woman underwent an upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy screening
      examination, and a 10-mm reddish, submucosal tumor-like lesion was found on the
      posterior wall of the fornix. Biopsy was performed, but there was no evidence of
      malignancy, so annual follow-up by UGI endoscopy was decided upon. After 12
      years, examination of another biopsy specimen revealed an adenocarcinoma of the
      fundic gland type. There had been no significant change in the size or shape of
      the lesion over the long follow-up period. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)
      was performed, and en bloc resection was achieved. Histopathologically, the tumor
      appeared as a flat elevated lesion measuring 11 * 10 mm. It was composed of
      irregularly shaped glands and invaded the submucosa up to 300 um.
      Immunohistochemical examination involving specific antibodies to pepsinogen I,
      MIST-1, MUC6, and H+/K+-ATPase confirmed the fundic gland differentiation of the
      irregularly shaped glands together with a very low Ki-67 labeling index. Thus,
      gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland type (GAFG) was diagnosed. Four years
      have passed since the ESD, and there has been no recurrence. To the best of our
      knowledge, this is the first report of the long-term natural history of GAFG.
      Over the 12 years, no morphologic changes were observed; the tumor remained
      within the submucosal layer. Our observations in this case strengthen the notion
      that GAFG is a specific type of gastric adenocarcinoma of low-grade malignancy.

PMID- 27624752
TI  - Expert judgment and uncertainty regarding the protection of imperiled species.
AB  - Decisions concerning the appropriate listing status of species under the U.S.
      Endangered Species Act (ESA) can be controversial even among conservationists.
      These decisions may determine whether a species persists in the near term and
      have long-lasting social and political ramifications. Given the ESA's mandate
      that such decisions be based on the best available science, it is important to
      examine what factors contribute to experts' judgments concerning the listing of
      species. We examined how a variety of factors (such as risk perception, value
      orientations, and norms) influenced experts' judgments concerning the appropriate
      listing status of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) population in the
      Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Experts were invited to complete an online survey
      examining their perceptions of the threats grizzly bears face and their listing
      recommendation. Although experts' assessments of the threats to this species were
      strongly correlated with their recommendations for listing status, this
      relationship did not exist when other cognitive factors were included in the
      model. Specifically, values related to human use of wildlife and norms (i.e., a
      respondent's expectation of peers' assessments) were most influential in listing
      status recommendations. These results suggest that experts' decisions about
      listing, like all human decisions, are subject to the use of heuristics (i.e.,
      decision shortcuts). An understanding of how heuristics and related biases affect
      decisions under uncertainty can help inform decision making about threatened and
      endangered species and may be useful in designing effective processes for
      protection of imperiled species.

PMID- 27624751
TI  - Selective Co-Encapsulation Inside an M6 L4 Cage.
AB  - There is broad interest in molecular encapsulation as such systems can be
      utilized to stabilize guests, facilitate reactions inside a cavity, or give rise
      to energy-transfer processes in a confined space. Detailed understanding of
      encapsulation events is required to facilitate functional molecular
      encapsulation. In this contribution, it is demonstrated that Ir and Rh-Cp-type
      metal complexes can be encapsulated inside a self-assembled M6 L4 metallocage
      only in the presence of an aromatic compound as a second guest. The individual
      guests are not encapsulated, suggesting that only the pair of guests can fill the
      void of the cage. Hence, selective co-encapsulation is observed. This principle
      is demonstrated by co-encapsulation of a variety of combinations of metal
      complexes and aromatic guests, leading to several ternary complexes. These
      experiments demonstrate that the efficiency of formation of the ternary complexes
      depends on the individual components. Moreover, selective exchange of the
      components is possible, leading to formation of the most favorable complex.
      Besides the obvious size effect, a charge-transfer interaction may also
      contribute to this effect. Charge-transfer bands are clearly observed by UV/Vis
      spectrophotometry. A change in the oxidation potential of the encapsulated
      electron donor also leads to a shift in the charge-transfer energy bands. As
      expected, metal complexes with a higher oxidation potential give rise to a higher
      charge-transfer energy and a larger hypsochromic shift in the UV/Vis spectrum.
      These subtle energy differences may potentially be used to control the binding
      and reactivity of the complexes bound in a confined space.

PMID- 27624753
TI  - In vivo and ex vivo 19-fluorine magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy of
      beta-cells and pancreatic islets using GLUT-2 specific contrast agents.
AB  - The assessment of the beta-cell mass in experimental models of diabetes and
      ultimately in patients is a hallmark to understand the relationship between
      reduced beta-cell mass/function and the onset of diabetes. It has been shown
      before that the GLUT-2 transporter is highly expressed in both beta-cells and
      hepatocytes and that D-mannoheptulose (DMH) has high uptake specificity for the
      GLUT-2 transporter. As 19-fluorine MRI has emerged as a new alternative method
      for MRI cell tracking because it provides potential non-invasive localization and
      quantification of labeled cells, the purpose of this project is to validate beta
      cell and pancreatic islet imaging by using fluorinated, GLUT-2 targeting
      mannoheptulose derivatives (19 FMH) both in vivo and ex vivo. In this study, we
      confirmed that, similar to DMH, 19 FMHs inhibit insulin secretion and increase
      the blood glucose level in mice temporarily (approximately two hours). We were
      able to assess the distribution of 19 FMHs in vivo with a temporal resolution of
      about 20 minutes, which showed a quick removal of 19 FMH from the circulation
      (within two hours). Ex vivo MR spectroscopy confirmed a preferential uptake of 19
      FMH in tissue with high expression of the GLUT-2 transporter, such as liver,
      endocrine pancreas and kidney. No indication of further metabolism was found. In
      summary, 19 FMHs are potentially suitable for visualizing and tracking of GLUT-2
      expressed cells. However, current bottlenecks of this technique related to the
      quick clearance of the compound and relative low sensitivity of 19 F MRI need to
      be overcome. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27624754
TI  - Identification of Differentiation-Related Proteins in Gastric Adenocarcinoma
      Tissues by Proteomics.
AB  - There is a significant correlation between the degree of tumor differentiation
      and the survival of patients with gastric cancers. In this report, we compared
      proteomic differences between poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma
      tissues and well-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma tissues in order to
      identify differentiation-related proteins that may be closely correlated with
      differentiation of gastric cancer pathogenesis. We identified 7 proteins, of
      which calreticulin precursor, tapasinERP57 heterodimer, pyruvate kinase isozymes
      M1/M2 isoform M2, class Pi glutathione S-transferase, and chain A crystal
      structure of human enolase 1 were upregulated in poorly differentiated gastric
      adenocarcinoma compared with well-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma, while
      myosin-11 isoform SM2A and actin alpha cardiac were downregulated. Two of them,
      pyruvate kinase isozymes M1/M2 isoform M2 and enolase 1 are enzymes involved in
      glycolytic pathway. The upregulation of pyruvate kinase isozymes M1/M2 isoform M2
      and enolase 1 in poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma was confirmed by
      Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, we observed 107 cases
      with gastric adenocarcinoma and found that the high expression of pyruvate kinase
      isozymes M1/M2 isoform M2 and enolase 1 correlates with tumor size (P = .0001 and
      P = .0017, respectively), depth of invasion (P = .0024 and P = .0261,
      respectively), and poor prognosis of patients. In conclusion, with this proteomic
      analysis, pyruvate kinase isozymes M1/M2 isoform M2 and enolase 1 were identified
      upregulated in poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma comparing with well
      differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. The expression level of pyruvate kinase
      isozymes M1/M2 isoform M2 and enolase 1 was significantly correlated with overall
      survival. Some of them would be differentiation-related cancer biomarkers and are
      associated with tumor metastasis, invasion, and prognosis.

PMID- 27624755
TI  - Coetzeea brasiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov. isolated from larvae of Anopheles
      darlingi.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped strain, Braz8T, isolated from larvae of
      Anopheles darlingi was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic
      analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain Braz8T was related
      most closely to species of the genus Thorsellia, with 95.6, 96.5 and 96.6 %
      similarity to the type strains of Thorsellia anophelis, Thorsellia kandunguensis
      and Thorsellia kenyensis, respectively, and formed a separate branch in the
      phylogenetic tree next to the monophyletic cluster of the genus Thorsellia.
      Chemotaxonomic data supported the allocation of the strain to the family
      Thorselliaceae. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1omega7c, C16 : 0 and C14 : 0.
      The quinone system was composed of ubiquinones Q-8 and Q-7 (1 : 0.3), the
      predominant polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol,
      and the polyamine pattern showed the major compound putrescine. However,
      qualitative and quantitative differences in the major polyamine, polar lipid
      profile and fatty acid patterns distinguished strain Braz8T from species of the
      genus Thorsellia. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, average
      nucleotide identity, DNA-DNA hybridization, multilocus sequence analysis as well
      as physiological and biochemical tests distinguished strain Braz8T both
      genotypically and phenotypically from the three Thorsellia species but also
      showed its placement in the family Thorselliaceae. Thus, strain Braz8T is
      considered to represent a novel species of a new genus most closely related to
      the genus Thorsellia, for which the name Coetzeea brasiliensis gen. nov., sp.
      nov. is proposed. The type strain of Coetzeea brasiliensis is Braz8T (=LMG
      29552T=CIP 111088T).

PMID- 27624756
TI  - Who 'likes' alcohol? Young Australians' engagement with alcohol marketing via
      social media and related alcohol consumption patterns.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of 'liking' alcohol marketing social media pages,
      and determine related alcohol consumption patterns among young Australians.
      METHODS: Participants were 1,001 Australians aged 15-29 years who completed a
      cross-sectional online survey. Logistic regression and ordinal logistic
      regression were used. RESULTS: A quarter (249/1001, 24.9%) liked at least one of
      the alcohol marketing social media pages, most commonly brands of spirits, cider
      and alcohol retailers. Underage participants were as likely as older participants
      to report liking these pages. Alcohol marketing social media use was
      significantly and independently associated with male gender, living outside a
      major city, ever using illegal drugs and early age of first alcohol consumption
      (all p<0.05). Alcohol marketing social media use (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5-2.8,
      p=<0.001) was independently associated with higher categories on the AUDIT-C,
      indicating riskier alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Liking or following alcohol
      marketing pages is common regardless of age, and associated with riskier alcohol
      consumption, among young Australians. IMPLICATIONS: There is a need to develop
      strategies to reduce the exposure to, and potential impact of, alcohol marketing
      social media pages on young Australians, and ensure these pages are neither
      accessible to nor targeting underage social media users.

PMID- 27624757
TI  - The Arabidopsis sickle Mutant Exhibits Altered Circadian Clock Responses to Cool
      Temperatures and Temperature-Dependent Alternative Splicing.
AB  - The circadian clock allows plants to anticipate and respond to daily changes in
      ambient temperature. Mechanisms establishing the timing of circadian rhythms in
      Arabidopsis thaliana through temperature entrainment remain unclear. Also
      incompletely understood is the temperature compensation mechanism that maintains
      consistent period length within a range of ambient temperatures. A genetic screen
      for Arabidopsis mutants affecting temperature regulation of the PSEUDO-RESPONSE
      REGULATOR7 promoter yielded a novel allele of the SICKLE (SIC) gene. This mutant,
      sic-3, and the existing sic-1 mutant both exhibit low-amplitude or arrhythmic
      expression of core circadian clock genes under cool ambient temperature cycles,
      but not under light-dark entrainment. sic mutants also lengthen free running
      period in a manner consistent with impaired temperature compensation. sic mutant
      alleles accumulate LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) and CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED1
      (CCA1) splice variants, among other alternatively spliced transcripts, which is
      exacerbated by cool temperatures. The cca1-1 lhy-20 double mutant is epistatic to
      sic-3, indicating the LHY and CCA1 splice variants are needed for sic-3 circadian
      clock phenotypes. It is not expected that SIC is directly involved in the
      circadian clock mechanism; instead, SIC likely contributes to pre-mRNA
      metabolism, and the splice variants that accumulate in sic mutants likely affect
      the circadian clock response to cool ambient temperature.

PMID- 27624759
TI  - Workplace Bullying in Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the extent and nature of
      workplace bullying among General Surgery trainees and consultants in Australia.
      DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: An online questionnaire survey of General
      Surgery trainees and consultant surgeons in Australia was conducted between March
      and May 2012. Prevalence of bullying was measured using both a definition of
      workplace bullying and the revised Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-R). Sources
      of bullying were also examined, as well as the barriers and outcomes of formal
      reporting of bullying. RESULTS: The response rate was 34 % (370/1084) with 41 %
      (n = 152) of respondents being trainees. Overall, 47 % (n = 173) of respondents
      reported having been bullied to some degree and 68 % (n = 250) reported having
      witnessed bullying of surgical colleagues in the last 12 months. The prevalence
      of bullying was significantly higher in trainees and females, with 64 % of
      trainees and 57 % of females experiencing some degree of bullying. The majority
      of respondents (83 %) had experienced at least one negative behavior in the last
      12 months, but 38 % experienced at least one negative behavior on a weekly or
      daily basis. The persistent negative behaviors that represent work-related
      bullying most commonly experienced were 'having opinions ignored' and 'being
      exposed to an unmanageable workload.' Consultant surgeons were the most common
      source of bullying for both trainees and consultants, with administration the
      next common source. Of those who reported being bullied, only 18 % (n = 32) made
      a formal complaint. CONCLUSIONS: Despite increased awareness and interventions,
      workplace bullying remains a significant problem within General Surgery in
      Australia. The findings in this study serve as a baseline for future
      questionnaires to monitor the effectiveness of implemented anti-bullying
      interventions.

PMID- 27624760
TI  - Simple and fast fabrication of superhydrophobic metal wire mesh for efficiently
      gravity-driven oil/water separation.
AB  - Superhydrophobic metal wire mesh (SMWM) has frequently been applied for the
      selective and efficient separation of oil/water mixture due to its porous
      structure and special wettability. However, current methods for the modification
      of metal wire mesh to be superhydrophobic suffered from problems with respect to
      complex experimental procedures or time-consuming process. In this study, a very
      simple, time-saving and single-step electrospray method was proposed to fabricate
      SMWM and the whole procedure required about only 2min. The morphology, surface
      composition and wettability of the SMWM were all evaluated, and the oil/water
      separation ability was further investigated. In addition, a commercial available
      sponge covered with SMWM was fabricated as an oil adsorbent for the purpose of
      oil recovery. This study demonstrated a convenient and fast method to modify the
      metal wire mesh to be superhydrophobic and such simple method might find
      practical applications in the large-scale removal of oils.

PMID- 27624758
TI  - The Developmental Regulator SEEDSTICK Controls Structural and Mechanical
      Properties of the Arabidopsis Seed Coat.
AB  - Although many transcription factors involved in cell wall morphogenesis have been
      identified and studied, it is still unknown how genetic and molecular regulation
      of cell wall biosynthesis is integrated into developmental programs. We
      demonstrate by molecular genetic studies that SEEDSTICK (STK), a transcription
      factor controlling ovule and seed integument identity, directly regulates PMEI6
      and other genes involved in the biogenesis of the cellulose-pectin matrix of the
      cell wall. Based on atomic force microscopy, immunocytochemistry, and chemical
      analyses, we propose that structural modifications of the cell wall matrix in the
      stk mutant contribute to defects in mucilage release and seed germination under
      water-stress conditions. Our studies reveal a molecular network controlled by STK
      that regulates cell wall properties of the seed coat, demonstrating that
      developmental regulators controlling organ identity also coordinate specific
      aspects of cell wall characteristics.

PMID- 27624761
TI  - Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in surface sediments from
      Shantou Bay, China: Sources, seasonal variations and inventories.
AB  - Sediments from Shantou Bay, China, were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls
      (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) for the first time. The
      concentrations of PCBs and OCPs were 0.54-55.5ngg-1 and 2.19-16.9ngg-1 (dry
      weight), respectively. Source identification showed that tri-CBs and penta-CBs
      were manufactured and used in the last century, while usage of antifouling paint
      might still serve as a significant source of sediment DDT. Concentrations of PCBs
      and HCHs significantly (p<0.05) increased after wet season, suggesting that
      atmospheric deposition and surface runoff played an important role in
      distribution of historical pollutants. Additionally, the adverse biological
      effects could occasionally occur for DDT in sediments. The mass inventories were
      preliminarily calculated for PCBs (90.1ngcm-2 and 0.09tons) and OCPs (61.8ngcm-2
      and 0.062tons) in Shantou Bay, while as part of the "reservoir" of organochlorine
      compounds to the global ocean, its role cannot be neglected.

PMID- 27624762
TI  - A three-line lateral flow biosensor for logic detection of microRNA based on Y
      shaped junction DNA and target recycling amplification.
AB  - A rapid, sensitive, and accurate detection strategy for microRNA 16 (miR-16) was
      developed, which combined the convenience of lateral flow biosensors (LFBs), the
      design flexibility of Y-shaped junction DNA probe, and the enhancement ability of
      endonuclease-assisted target recycling amplification. The system is composed of a
      molecular beacon (MB) probe, an assistant probe, and endonuclease Nt.BbvCI, which
      plays the role of signal translation and amplification. In the presence of the
      target microRNAs (miRNAs), three chains of nucleic acid could hybridize with each
      other to form a Y-shaped junction structure, which could be recognized by the
      endonuclease Nt.BbvCI. The MB probe was efficiently cleaved by endonuclease and
      produced two new DNA fragments, while the regenerated assistant probe and target
      were hybridized to another MB probe and entered into the next cycle of the
      amplification. In this way, the detection of the readily biodegradable miRNA was
      turned into the detection of two DNA fragments in the LFB. Meanwhile, the
      detection of two different DNAs would improve the accuracy and effectively avoid
      false results. The amplified products containing DNA fragments were then applied
      to the lateral flow nucleic acid biosensor (LFNAB) with two test zones, on which
      specific DNA probes were designed. The formed DNA-DNA/gold nanoparticle (GNP)
      conjugates were captured and accumulated to produce two red bands in two test
      zones. The logic judgment of the two test zones provided more accurate and
      convincing results. Under optimal conditions, the visual detection limit of miR
      16 in aqueous solutions was 0.1 pM, which is 100-1000 times lower than that of
      visual or colorimetric methods in the literature. It could be used for on-field
      and point-of-care testing and meet the urgent demand of sensitive and selective
      miRNA detection in remote rural areas without costly equipment. The system
      displayed good universality, compatibility, high specificity, and stability of
      miRNA detection, which revealed significant potentiality in biomedical diagnosis.
      Graphical abstract A simple and rapid approach for microRNA-16 (miR-16) detection
      was developed based on Y-shaped junction DNA probe and the endonuclease-assisted
      target recycling amplification using lateral flow biosensors.

PMID- 27624763
TI  - A new method for the determination of peak distribution across a two-dimensional
      separation space for the identification of optimal column combinations.
AB  - For the identification of the optimal column combinations, a comparative
      orthogonality study of single columns and columns coupled in series for the first
      dimension of a microscale two-dimensional liquid chromatographic approach was
      performed. In total, eight columns or column combinations were chosen. For the
      assessment of the optimal column combination, the orthogonality value as well as
      the peak distributions across the first and second dimension was used. In total,
      three different methods of orthogonality calculation, namely the Convex Hull, Bin
      Counting, and Asterisk methods, were compared. Unfortunately, the first two
      methods do not provide any information of peak distribution. The third method
      provides this important information, but is not optimal when only a limited
      number of components are used for method development. Therefore, a new concept
      for peak distribution assessment across the separation space of two-dimensional
      chromatographic systems and clustering detection was developed. It could be shown
      that the Bin Counting method in combination with additionally calculated
      histograms for the respective dimensions is well suited for the evaluation of
      orthogonality and peak clustering. The newly developed method could be used
      generally in the assessment of 2D separations. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27624764
TI  - Simultaneous determination of 24 personal care products in fish muscle and liver
      tissues using QuEChERS extraction coupled with ultra pressure liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer
      analyses.
AB  - A sensitive and selective quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe
      (QuEChERS) extraction combined with dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE)
      cleanup method was developed to simultaneously extract a wide range of personal
      care products (16 biocides, 4 synthetic musks, and 4 benzotriazoles) in fish
      muscle and liver tissues. In order to get satisfactory recoveries, different
      extraction parameters were optimized, including extraction salts and d-SPE
      materials, extraction solvents and acetic acid contents in organic phase, and the
      ratios of solvent and water. Ultra pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to analyze the
      target compounds in the extracts. Among the 24 personal care products, the
      recoveries in the range of 70-120 % were obtained for 20, 19, and 12 analytes in
      fish muscle at the spiking concentrations of 10, 5, and 1 ng/g ww, respectively,
      and for 13, 12, and 11 analytes in liver at the spiking concentrations of 40, 20,
      and 4 ng/g ww, respectively. Method quantification limits (MQLs) of all analytes
      were 0.02-2.12 ng/g ww for fish muscle and 0.22-12.2 ng/g ww for fish liver
      tissues. The method was successfully applied to wild fish samples collected from
      Dongjiang River, south China. Twenty-one and 17 of the analytes were found in
      fish muscle and liver samples, respectively, in at least one site of the river
      with the concentrations between below MQLs and 119 ng/g ww, respectively.
      Graphical abstract Achieved satisfactory recoveries, high precision, and low
      method quantification limits (MQLs) for PCPs in wild fish tissues by QuEChERS
      procedure optimization combined with UPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS analyses.

PMID- 27624765
TI  - Hepatic cirrhosis and recovery as reflected by Raman spectroscopy: information
      revealed by statistical analysis might lead to a prognostic biomarker.
AB  - Hepatic cirrhosis is a severe chronic disease of the liver accompanied by massive
      changes in the physiology of the cells constituting the hepatic tissue. Success
      or failing of a therapeutic effort is difficult to recognize because of its late
      manifestation in the tissue morphology. In this study, the complex course of
      hepatic cirrhosis and its regression is followed in a rodent carbon tetrachloride
      model. Raman spectroscopy, which senses molecular vibrations and reflects the
      molecular composition of a sample, was applied to gain label- and destruction
      free insights into the process of cirrhosis and to conclude on the hepatic
      disease state on the cellular level. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and
      immunofluorescence labeling were used to obtain complementary information. False
      color images derived from maps of Raman spectra by spectral unmixing revealed
      individual nucleus positions giving structural information. Spectral data
      unraveled chemical changes associated with liver damage on the cellular level.
      Upon carbon tetrachloride treatment, a higher lipid content and the presence of
      catabolic products indicated cirrhosis in tissue samples. Furthermore, 77 % of
      the Raman spectra recorded from treated rats were classified as diseased, whereas
      96 % of the Raman spectra recorded from untreated rats were classified as
      healthy. Importantly, samples from rats that experienced a recovery period
      revealed a chemical composition highly similar to the ones from healthy rats
      while morphologically clear signs of tissue damage were still obvious. Eighty
      three percent of their Raman spectra were classified as healthy. The vibrational
      fingerprint of tissue provides characteristic information that might serve as
      prognostic biomarker. Graphical Abstract Images of hematoxylin and eosin stained
      tissue slices together with an average Raman spectrum belonging to healthy and
      cirrhotic rat liver, respectively, visualize morphological and spectral
      differences between the two states of the liver.

PMID- 27624766
TI  - Total alpha-synuclein levels in human blood cells, CSF, and saliva determined by
      a lipid-ELISA.
AB  - The validity of alpha-synuclein (alpha-Syn) as a biomarker for Parkinson's
      disease (PD) is still under investigation. Conventional methods for capture and
      quantitation of alpha-Syn protein in human samples are primarily based on anti
      alpha-Syn antibodies. Specific and competent antibodies were raised against alpha
      Syn. However, capture by anti-alpha-Syn antibodies may be limited to specific
      epitope recognition, attributed to protein structure or post-translational
      modifications. Hence, antibody-based methods for alpha-Syn capture raise a
      concern regarding their efficacy to detect the intracellular, unfolded alpha-Syn
      pool. An alternative is alpha-Syn capture by membrane lipids, i.e., to utilize
      the biochemical property of alpha-Syn to specifically bind membrane lipids and
      acquire a characteristic structure following binding. We determined alpha-Syn
      levels in human samples using immobilized lipids for alpha-Syn capture. The
      lipids used for alpha-Syn capture consist of phosphatidyl inositol (PI),
      phosphatidyl serine (PS), and phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE). Addition of mono
      sialoganglioside, GM1 ganglioside, to the immobilized lipids significantly
      improved alpha-Syn detection. Following capture, the lipid-bound alpha-Syn was
      detected using an anti-alpha-Syn antibody. Total alpha-Syn levels in whole blood
      cells (WBC), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and saliva were determined by the lipid
      ELISA method.

PMID- 27624767
TI  - NMR study of Met-1 human Angiogenin: (1)H, (13)C, (15)N backbone and side-chain
      resonance assignment.
AB  - Here, we report the high yield expression and preliminary structural analysis via
      solution hetero-nuclear NMR spectroscopy of the recombinant Met-1 human
      Angiogenin. The analysis reveals a well folded as well as, a monomeric
      polypeptide. Tauhe sequence-specific assignment of its (1)H, (15)N and (13)C
      resonances at high percentage was obtained. Also, using TALOS+ its secondary
      structure elements were determined.

PMID- 27624768
TI  - [Therapeutic drug monitoring and individual dosing of antibiotics during sepsis :
      Modern or just "trendy"?]
AB  - Pharmacokinetic variability of anti-infective drugs due to pathophysiological
      changes by severe sepsis and septic shock is a well-known problem for critically
      ill patients resulting in suboptimal serum and most likely tissue concentrations
      of these agents.To cover a wide range of potential pathogens, high concentrations
      of broad spectrum anti-infectives have to reach the site of infection.
      Microbiological susceptibility testing (susceptible, intermediate, resistant)
      don't take the pharmacokinetic variability into account and are based on data
      generated by non-critically ill patients. But inter-patient variability in
      distribution and elimination of anti-infective drugs in ICU patients is extremely
      high and also highly unpredictable. Drug clearance of mainly renally eliminated
      drugs and thus the required dose can differ up to 10-fold due to the variability
      in renal function in patients with severe infections. To assure a timely and
      adequate anti-infective regime, individual dosing and therapeutic drug monitoring
      (TDM) seem to be appropriate tools in the setting of pathophysiological changes
      in pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmakodynamics (PD) due to severe sepsis. In the
      case of known minimal inhibitory concentration, PK/PD indices (time or peak
      concentration dependent activity) and measured serum level can provide an optimal
      target concentration for the individual drug and patient.Modern anti-infective
      management for ICU patients includes more than the choice of drug and prompt
      application. Individual dosing, optimized prolonged infusion time and TDM give
      way to new and promising opportunities in infection control.

PMID- 27624771
TI  - Histomonosis in poultry: previous and current strategies for prevention and
      therapy.
AB  - Histomonosis is a parasitic disease of poultry with worldwide prevalence. The
      disease can cause morbidity and mortality in chicken and turkey flocks entailing
      severe economic losses. In the first half of the last century, there was a high
      demand to control histomonosis as the turkey industry was severely affected by
      the disease. Consequently, numerous chemical compounds were tested for their
      efficacy against Histomonas meleagridis with varying outcomes, that are
      summarized and specified in this review. At the same time, preliminary attempts
      to protect birds with cultured histomonads indicated the possibility of
      vaccination. Several years ago antihistomonal drugs were banned in countries with
      tight regulations on pharmaceuticals in order to comply with the demand of
      consumer protection. As a consequence, outbreaks of histomonosis in poultry
      flocks increased and the disease became endemic again. New approaches to prevent
      and treat histomonosis are, therefore, needed and recently performed studies
      focused on various areas to combat the disease, from alternative chemotherapeutic
      substances to plant-derived compounds until vaccination, altogether reviewed
      here. Considering existing regulations and the overall outcome of experimental
      studies, it can be concluded that vaccination is very promising, despite the fact
      that various challenges need to be addressed until the first ever developed
      vaccine based upon live flagellates in human or bird medicine can be marketed.

PMID- 27624769
TI  - Comparative analysis of linker histone H1, MeCP2, and HMGD1 on nucleosome
      stability and target site accessibility.
AB  - Chromatin architectural proteins (CAPs) bind the entry/exit DNA of nucleosomes
      and linker DNA to form higher order chromatin structures with distinct
      transcriptional outcomes. How CAPs mediate nucleosome dynamics is not well
      understood. We hypothesize that CAPs regulate DNA target site accessibility
      through alteration of the rate of spontaneous dissociation of DNA from
      nucleosomes. We investigated the effects of histone H1, high mobility group D1
      (HMGD1), and methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2), on the biophysical properties
      of nucleosomes and chromatin. We show that MeCP2, like the repressive histone H1,
      traps the nucleosome in a more compact mononucleosome structure. Furthermore,
      histone H1 and MeCP2 hinder model transcription factor Gal4 from binding to its
      cognate DNA site within the nucleosomal DNA. These results demonstrate that MeCP2
      behaves like a repressor even in the absence of methylation. Additionally, MeCP2
      behaves similarly to histone H1 and HMGD1 in creating a higher-order chromatin
      structure, which is susceptible to chromatin remodeling by ISWI. Overall, we show
      that CAP binding results in unique changes to nucleosome structure and dynamics.

PMID- 27624770
TI  - Social Determinants of Depression Among Hispanic Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression is the number one cause of disability in the world.
      Hispanic women are at a higher risk for depression than Caucasian and African
      American women. This is in part due to multiple social determinants of health
      that affect the individual, family, aggregates, and community. OBJECTIVE: To
      investigate the social determinants of depression among Hispanic women in South
      Florida. DESIGN: This is a secondary cross-sectional data analysis. A total of
      280 Hispanic women from South Florida between 18 and 50 years of age were
      analyzed. RESULTS: Depression is prevalent among Hispanic women in South Florida
      (37.5%). Education, health status, and living with partner were significant
      predictors of depression in the sample. CONCLUSION: Development of a culturally
      tailored risk assessment tool that highlights the social determinants of
      depression in Hispanic women is essential, as it could be used as a standard
      practice in primary care and other appropriate settings.

PMID- 27624772
TI  - Warfarin and Newer Agents: What the Oral Surgeon Needs to Know.
AB  - The new direct oral anticoagulants-dabigatran etexilate, rivaroxaban, and
      apixaban- have predictable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles and are
      alternatives to warfarin. However, many surgeons are wary of these drugs, as
      there is limited evidence on how to manage bleeding in patients taking them, and
      only recently has a specific antidote been developed to reverse their
      anticoagulant effect. Management of the newer agents requires careful adherence
      to primary measures of bleeding care, knowledge of their mechanism of action, and
      familiarity with the unapproved and untested reversal strategies that may be
      required in patients with life-threatening bleeding.

PMID- 27624773
TI  - Heparin and Lovenox: What the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Needs to Know.
AB  - For the oral and maxillofacial surgeon, many patients will be on heparin products
      during surgery. So far, there is no standardized approach to treating
      anticoagulated patients during oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures. When a
      patient is on heparin therapy, heparin may be stopped 4 to 6 hours before surgery
      and resumed once hemostasis is achieved, usually within 24 hours. If low
      molecular-weight heparin is administered, the treatment is generally stopped at
      least 12 hours before surgery and then resumed in a similar fashion. Local
      measures are generally enough to provide adequate hemostasis.

PMID- 27624774
TI  - Blood Products: What Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Need to Know.
AB  - Blood products are routinely used to manage various coagulation and hematological
      disorders. However, there is a debate in the medical literature concerning the
      appropriate use of blood and blood products. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons must
      have a basic knowledge and understanding of the various available products. A
      consultation with each patient's hematologist is always advised in order to
      decrease the risk of adverse events and improve the patient's safety.

PMID- 27624775
TI  - Interventional Radiology and Bleeding Disorders: What the Oral and Maxillofacial
      Surgeon Needs to Know.
AB  - Endovascular techniques are essential for controlling acute head and neck
      bleeding that cannot be controlled by local or systemic measures. Detailed
      knowledge of the head and neck vascular anatomy, advances in catheterization
      techniques, and the availability of new embolic materials have improved the
      safety, efficacy, and predictability of these procedures. To improve patient
      safety, the oral and maxillofacial surgeon must be familiar with these
      techniques.

PMID- 27624776
TI  - Process evaluation of five tailored programs to improve the implementation of
      evidence-based recommendations for chronic conditions in primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there is evidence that tailored implementation strategies
      can be effective, there is little evidence on which methods of tailoring improve
      the effect. We designed and evaluated five tailored programs (TPs) each
      consisting of various strategies. The aim of this study was to examine (a) how
      determinants of practice prioritized in the design phase of the TPs were
      perceived by health care professionals who had been exposed to the TPs and
      whether they suggested other important determinants of practice and (b) how
      professionals used the offered strategies and whether they suggested other
      strategies that might have been more effective. METHODS: We conducted a mixed
      method process evaluation linked to five cluster-randomized trials carried out in
      five European countries to implement recommendations for five chronic conditions
      in primary care settings. The five TPs used a total of 28 strategies which aimed
      to address 38 determinants of practice. Interviews of professionals in the
      intervention groups and a survey of professionals in the intervention and control
      groups were performed. Data collection was conducted by each research team in the
      respective national language. The interview data were first analyzed inductively
      by each research team, and subsequently, a meta-synthesis was conducted. The
      survey was analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: We conducted 71 interviews; 125
      professionals completed the survey. The survey showed that 76 % (n = 29) of
      targeted determinants of practice were perceived as relevant and 95 % (n = 36) as
      being modified by the implementation interventions by 66 to 100 % of
      professionals. On average, 47 % of professionals reported using the strategies
      and 51 % considered them helpful, albeit with substantial variance between
      countries and strategies. In the interviews, 89 determinants of practice were
      identified, of which 70 % (n = 62) had been identified and 45 % (n = 40) had been
      prioritized in the design phase. The interviewees suggested 65 additional
      strategies, of which 54 % (n = 35) had been identified and 20 % (n = 13) had been
      prioritized, but not selected in the final programs. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      largely confirmed the perceived relevance of the targeted determinants of
      practice. This contrasts with the fact that no impact of the trials on the
      implementation of the recommendations could be observed. The findings suggest
      that better methods for prioritization of determinants and strategies are needed.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: Each of the five trials was registered separately in
      recognized trial registries. Details are given in the respective trial outcome
      papers.

PMID- 27624778
TI  - ROS-dependent HMGB1 secretion upregulates IL-8 in upper airway epithelial cells
      under hypoxic condition.
AB  - High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) mediates various functions according to the
      location. We tried to investigate the role of HMGB1 in upper airway under hypoxic
      conditions. We cultured primary normal human nasal epithelium (NHNE) cells under
      hypoxic conditions and evaluated the movement of HMGB1 by western blotting,
      immunofluorescence, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) level was evaluated to estimate the translocation mechanism
      of HMGB1. The role of secreted HMGB1 was evaluated by ELISA assay. Furthermore,
      we collected human nasal mucosa samples and nasal lavage fluids from patients
      conditioned under hypoxic and non-hypoxic environment, and compared the
      expression of HMGB1 in human nasal mucosa samples by immunohistochemistry and the
      levels of HMGB1 in lavage fluids using ELISA assay. Hypoxia induced translocation
      of HMGB1 into the extracellular area and it was dependent on ROS produced by dual
      oxidase 2. Secreted HMGB1 was involved in the upregulation of interleukin (IL)-8.
      In human samples, HMGB1 was translocated from nucleus to the cytoplasm in hypoxic
      conditioned nasal mucosa. HMGB1 was increased in nasal lavage samples of chronic
      rhinosinusitis patients, whose sinus mucosa was supposed to be hypoxic as
      compared with controls. We suggest that HMGB1 is secreted in hypoxic condition
      via ROS-dependent mechanism and secreted HMGB1 participates in IL-8 upregulation
      mediating inflammatory response.

PMID- 27624777
TI  - Inhibition of S-Adenosylmethionine-Dependent Methyltransferase Attenuates
      TGFbeta1-Induced EMT and Metastasis in Pancreatic Cancer: Putative Roles of miR
      663a and miR-4787-5p.
AB  - : The identification of epigenetic reversal agents for use in combination
      chemotherapies to treat human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) remains an
      unmet clinical need. Pharmacologic inhibitors of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2
      (EZH2) are emerging as potential histone methylation reversal agents for the
      treatment of various solid tumors and leukemia; however, the surprisingly small
      set of mRNA targets identified with EZH2 knockdown suggests novel mechanisms
      contribute to their antitumorigenic effects. Here, 3-deazaneplanocin-A (DZNep),
      an inhibitor of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase and EZH2 histone lysine-N
      methyltransferase, significantly reprograms noncoding microRNA (miRNA) expression
      and dampens TGFbeta1-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT) signals in
      pancreatic cancer. In particular, miR-663a and miR-4787-5p were identified as
      PDAC-downregulated miRNAs that were reactivated by DZNep to directly target
      TGFbeta1 for RNA interference. Lentiviral overexpression of miR-663a and miR-4787
      5p reduced TGFbeta1 synthesis and secretion in PDAC cells and partially
      phenocopied DZNep's EMT-resisting effects, whereas locked nucleic acid (LNA)
      antagomiRNAs counteracted them. DZNep, miR-663a, and miR-4787-5p reduced tumor
      burden in vivo and metastases in an orthotopic mouse pancreatic tumor model.
      Taken together, these findings suggest the epigenetic reprogramming of miRNAs by
      synthetic histone methylation reversal agents as a viable approach to attenuate
      TGFbeta1-induced EMT features in human PDAC and uncover putative miRNA targets
      involved in the process. IMPLICATIONS: The findings support the potential for
      synthetic histone methylation reversal agents to be included in future epigenetic
      chemotherapeutic combination therapies for pancreatic cancer. Mol Cancer Res;
      14(11); 1124-35. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27624779
TI  - Bacterial virulence factor inhibits caspase-4/11 activation in intestinal
      epithelial cells.
AB  - The human pathogen enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), as well as the mouse
      pathogen Citrobacter rodentium, colonize the gut mucosa via attaching and
      effacing lesion formation and cause diarrheal diseases. EPEC and C. rodentium
      type III secretion system (T3SS) effectors repress innate immune responses and
      infiltration of immune cells. Inflammatory caspases such as caspase-1 and caspase
      4/11 are crucial mediators of host defense and inflammation in the gut via their
      ability to process cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18. Here we
      report that the effector NleF binds the catalytic domain of caspase-4 and
      inhibits its proteolytic activity. Following infection of intestinal epithelial
      cells (IECs) EPEC inhibited caspase-4 and IL-18 processing in an NleF-dependent
      manner. Depletion of caspase-4 in IECs prevented the secretion of mature IL-18 in
      response to infection with EPECDeltanleF. NleF-dependent inhibition of caspase-11
      in colons of mice prevented IL-18 secretion and neutrophil influx at early stages
      of C. rodentium infection. Neither wild-type C. rodentium nor C.
      rodentiumDeltanleF triggered neutrophil infiltration or IL-18 secretion in Cas11
      or Casp1/11-deficient mice. Thus, IECs have a key role in modulating early innate
      immune responses in the gut via a caspase-4/11-IL-18 axis, which is targeted by
      virulence factors encoded by enteric pathogens.

PMID- 27624781
TI  - Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) and/or cryotherapy in skeletal muscle
      restitution, what is better? A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled
      clinical trial.
AB  - Cryotherapy for post-exercise recovery remains widely used despite the lack of
      quality evidence. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) studies (with both low-level
      laser therapy and light-emitting diode therapy) have demonstrated positive
      scientific evidence to suggest its use. The study aims to evaluate PBMT and
      cryotherapy as a single or combined treatment on skeletal muscle recovery after
      eccentric contractions of knee extensors. Fifty healthy male volunteers were
      recruited and randomized into five groups (PBMT, cryotherapy, cryotherapy + PBMT,
      PMBT + cryotherapy, or placebo) for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo
      controlled trial that evaluated exercise performance (maximum voluntary
      contraction (MVC)), delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and muscle damage
      (creatine kinase (CK)). Assessments were performed at baseline; immediately
      after; and at 1, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. Comparator treatments was performed 3 min
      after exercise and repeated at 24, 48, and 72 h. PBMT was applied employing a
      cordless, portable GameDayTM device (combination of 905 nm super-pulsed laser and
      875- and 640-nm light-emitting diodes (LEDs); manufactured by Multi Radiance
      MedicalTM, Solon - OH, USA), and cryotherapy by flexible rubber ice packs. PBMT
      alone was optimal for post-exercise recovery with improved MVC, decreased DOMS,
      and CK activity (p < 0.05) from 24 to 96 h compared to placebo, cryotherapy, and
      cryotherapy + PBMT. In the PBMT + cryotherapy group, the effect of PBMT was
      decreased (p > 0.05) but demonstrated significant improvement in MVC, decreased
      DOMS, and CK activity (p < 0.05). Cryotherapy as single treatment and cryotherapy
      + PBMT were similar to placebo (p > 0.05). We conclude that PBMT used as single
      treatment is the best modality for enhancement of post-exercise restitution,
      leading to complete recovery to baseline levels from 24 h after high-intensity
      eccentric contractions.

PMID- 27624780
TI  - IL-17A-mediated neutrophil recruitment limits expansion of segmented filamentous
      bacteria.
AB  - Specific components of the intestinal microbiota are capable of influencing
      immune responses such that a mutualistic relationship is established. In mice,
      colonization with segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB) induces T-helper-17 (Th17)
      cell differentiation in the intestine, yet the effector functions of interleukin
      (IL)-17A in response to SFB remain incompletely understood. Here we report that
      colonization of mice with SFB-containing microbiota induced IL-17A- and CXCR2
      dependent recruitment of neutrophils to the ileum. This response required
      adaptive immunity, as Rag-deficient mice colonized with SFB-containing microbiota
      failed to induce IL-17A, CXCL1 and CXCL2, and displayed defective neutrophil
      recruitment to the ileum. Interestingly, neutrophil depletion in wild-type mice
      resulted in significantly augmented Th17 responses and SFB expansion, which
      correlated with impaired expression of IL-22 and antimicrobial peptides. These
      data provide novel insight into a dynamic IL-17A-CXCR2-neutrophil axis during
      acute SFB colonization and demonstrate a central role for neutrophils in limiting
      SFB expansion.

PMID- 27624782
TI  - Photobiomodulation therapy on collagen type I and III, vascular endothelial
      growth factor, and metalloproteinase in experimentally induced tendinopathy in
      aged rats.
AB  - This study investigates the effect of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) on
      collagen type I and III, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), and vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF) in experimentally induced tendinopathy in female aged rats.
      Tendinopathy was induced by the Achilles tendoncollagenase peritendinous. Forty
      two Wistar rats (Norvegicus albinus) were used; groups consisted of 36 aged
      animals (18 months old; mean body weight, 517.7 +/- 27.54 g) and 6 adult animals
      (12 weeks old; mean body weight, 266+/- 19.30 g). The animals were divided into
      three groups: control, aged tendinopathy, and aged tendinopathy PBMT; the aged
      groups were subdivided based on time to euthanasia: 7, 14, and 21 days. PBMT
      involved a gallium-arsenide-aluminum laser (Theralaser, DMC(r)) with active
      medium operating at wavelength 830 +/- 10 nm, 50 mW power, 0.028 cm2 laser beam,
      107 J/cm2 energy density, 1.8 W/cm2 power density, and an energy of 3 J per
      point. The laser was applied by direct contact with the left Achilles tendon
      during 60 s per point at a frequency of three times per week, until the
      euthanasia date (7, 14, and 21 days). VEGF, MMP-3, and MMP-9 were analyzed by
      immunohistochemistry, and collagen type I and III by Sirius red. PBMT increased
      the deposition of collagen type I and III in a gradual manner, with significant
      differences relative to the group aged tendonitis (p < 0.001), and in relation to
      VEGF (p < 0.001); decreased expression of MMP-3 and 9 were observed in group aged
      tendinopathy (p < 0.001). PBMT, therefore, increased the production of collagen
      type I and III, downregulated the expression of MMP-3 and MMP-9, and upregulated
      that of VEGF, with age and age-induced hormonal deficiency.

PMID- 27624785
TI  - Inspiring Collaboration: The Legacy of Theo Colborn's Transdisciplinary Research
      on Fracking.
AB  - This article describes Dr Theo Colborn's legacy of inspiring complementary and
      synergistic environmental health research and advocacy. Colborn, a founder of
      endocrine disruption research, also stimulated study of hydraulic fracturing
      (fracking). In 2014, the United States led the world in oil and gas production,
      with fifteen million Americans living within one mile of an oil or gas well.
      Colborn pioneered efforts to understand and control the impacts of this sea
      change in energy production. In 2005, her research organization The Endocrine
      Disruption Exchange (TEDX) developed a database of chemicals used in natural gas
      extraction and their health effects. This database stimulated novel scientific
      and social scientific research and informed advocacy by (1) connecting
      communities' diverse health impacts to chemicals used in natural gas development,
      (2) inspiring social science research on open-source software and hardware for
      citizen science, and (3) posing new scientific questions about the endocrine
      disrupting properties of fracking chemicals.

PMID- 27624783
TI  - Effect of photobiomodulation on ischemia/reperfusion-induced renal damage in
      diabetic rats.
AB  - This study was designed to investigate the possible effect of photobiomodulation
      (PBM) on renal damage induced by ischemia reperfusion (IR) in diabetic rats.
      Twenty streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were randomly distributed into two
      groups, containing ten rats each: IR group (G1) and IR + PBM group (G2). After
      the right nephrectomy, the ischemia was produced in the left kidney for 30 min,
      followed by the reperfusion for 24 h. Then, a 685-nm laser diode with an output
      power of 15 mW (spot size = 0.28 cm2 and energy density = 3.2 J/cm2) was
      employed. PBM was carried out by irradiating the rats over six points on the skin
      over the left kidney region three times, i.e., immediately after skin suturing
      and 1 and 2 h after initiating reperfusion for 6 min. At the end of reperfusion
      period, the rats were anesthetized, and blood samples were collected and used for
      the estimation of renal function (blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine).
      Then, the left kidney was harvested for histological and biochemical examination.
      The serum levels of BUN and creatinine were significantly higher in G1 compared
      to G2 (P < 0.05). G1 had higher renal malondialdehyde (MDA) levels compared to G2
      (P < 0.05). Renal IR in diabetic rats (G1) resulted in a significant decrease in
      renal tissue glutathione (GSH) (P < 0.05) when compared to laser-treated rats
      (G2). A significant restoration was observed in the levels of superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) (P < 0.05) and catalase (CAT) (P < 0.05) in G2 as compared to G1.
      The levels of nitric oxide (NO) were increased in G1 in comparison to G2 (P <
      0.05). The myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was significantly higher in the renal
      tissue of G1 than that of G2 (P < 0.05). In addition, specimens from the G1 had a
      significantly greater histological injury than those from the G2 (P < 0.05). The
      results of present investigation revealed that PBM attenuated kidney damage
      induced by renal IR in diabetic rats.

PMID- 27624786
TI  - On the hydrophilicity of electrodes for capacitive energy extraction.
AB  - The so-called Capmix technique for energy extraction is based on the cyclic
      expansion of electrical double layers to harvest dissipative energy arising from
      the salinity difference between freshwater and seawater. Its optimal performance
      requires a careful selection of the electrical potentials for the charging and
      discharging processes, which must be matched with the pore characteristics of the
      electrode materials. While a number of recent studies have examined the effects
      of the electrode pore size and geometry on the capacitive energy extraction
      processes, there is little knowledge on how the surface properties of the
      electrodes affect the thermodynamic efficiency. In this work, we investigate the
      Capmix processes using the classical density functional theory for a realistic
      model of electrolyte solutions. The theoretical predictions allow us to identify
      optimal operation parameters for capacitive energy extraction with porous
      electrodes of different surface hydrophobicity. In agreement with recent
      experiments, we find that the thermodynamic efficiency can be much improved by
      using most hydrophilic electrodes.

PMID- 27624784
TI  - Self-weighing behavior in individuals with eating disorders.

PMID- 27624788
TI  - Recognition by Rats of Binary Taste Solutions and Their Components.
AB  - This behavioral study investigated how rats conditioned to binary mixtures of
      preferred and aversive taste stimuli, respectively, responded to the individual
      components in a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm. The preference of
      stimuli was determined based on the initial results of 2 bottle preference test.
      The preferred stimuli included 5mM sodium saccharin (Sacc), 0.03M NaCl (Na), 0.1M
      Na, 5mM Sacc + 0.03M Na, and 5mM Sacc + 0.2mM quinine hydrochloride (Q), whereas
      the aversive stimuli tested were 1.0M Na, 0.2mM Q, 0.3mM Q, 5mM Sacc + 1.0M Na,
      and 5mM Sacc + 0.3mM Q. In CTA tests where LiCl was the unconditioned stimulus,
      the number of licks to the preferred binary mixtures and to all tested preferred
      components were significantly less than in control rats. No significant
      difference resulted between the number of licks to the aversive binary mixtures
      or to all tested aversive components. However, when rats pre-exposed to the
      aversive components contained of the aversive binary mixtures were conditioned to
      these mixtures, the number of licks to all the tested stimuli was significantly
      less than in controls. Rats conditioned to components of the aversive binary
      mixtures generalized to the binary mixtures containing those components. These
      results suggest that rats recognize and remember preferred and aversive taste
      mixtures as well as the preferred and aversive components of the binary mixtures,
      and that pre-exposure before CTA is an available method to study the recognition
      of aversive taste stimuli.

PMID- 27624787
TI  - ATPase activity of Plasmodium falciparum MLH is inhibited by DNA-interacting
      ligands and dsRNAs of MLH along with UvrD curtail malaria parasite growth.
AB  - Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum is the major disease burden all over the
      world. Recently, the situation has deteriorated because the malarial parasites
      are becoming progressively more resistant to numerous commonly used antimalarial
      drugs. Thus, there is a critical requirement to find other means to restrict and
      eliminate malaria. The mismatch repair (MMR) machinery of parasite is quite
      unique in several ways, and it can be exploited for finding new drug targets.
      MutL homolog (MLH) is one of the major components of MMR machinery, and along
      with UvrD, it helps in unwinding the DNA. We have screened several DNA
      interacting ligands for their effect on intrinsic ATPase activity of PfMLH
      protein. This screening suggested that several ligands such as daunorubicin,
      etoposide, ethidium bromide, netropsin, and nogalamycin are inhibitors of the
      ATPase activity of PfMLH, and their apparent IC50 values range from 2.1 to 9.35
      MUM. In the presence of nogalamycin and netropsin, the effect was significant
      because in their presence, the V max value dropped from 1.024 MUM of hydrolyzed
      ATP/min to 0.596 and 0.643 MUM of hydrolyzed ATP/min, respectively. The effect of
      double-stranded RNAs of PfMLH and PfUvrD on growth of P. falciparum 3D7 strain
      was studied. The parasite growth was significantly inhibited suggesting that
      these components belonging to MMR pathway are crucial for the survival of the
      parasite.

PMID- 27624789
TI  - Theranostic Polyaminocarboxylate-Cyanine-Transferrin Conjugate for Anticancer
      Therapy and Near-Infrared Optical Imaging.
AB  - Iron chelation therapy has been recognized as a promising antitumor therapeutic
      strategy. Herein we report a novel theranostic agent for targeted iron chelation
      therapy and near-infrared (NIR) optical imaging of cancers. The theranostic agent
      was prepared by incorporation of a polyaminocarboxylate-based cytotoxic chelating
      agent (N-NE3TA; 7-[2-[(carboxymethyl)amino]ethyl]-1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4
      diacetic acid) and a NIR fluorescent cyanine dye (Cy5.5) onto a tumor-targeting
      transferrin (Tf). The N-NE3TA-Tf conjugate (without Cy5.5) was characterized and
      evaluated for antiproliferative activity in HeLa, HT29, and PC3 cancer cells,
      which have elevated expression levels of the transferrin receptor (TfR). The N
      NE3TA-Tf conjugate displayed significant inhibitory activity against all three
      cancer cell lines. The NIR dye Cy5.5 was then incorporated into N-NE3TA-Tf, and
      the resulting cytotoxic and fluorescent transferrin conjugate N-NE3TA-Tf-Cy5.5
      was shown by microscopy to enter TfR-overexpressing cancer cells. This
      theranostic conjugate has potential application for dual use in targeted iron
      chelation cancer therapy and NIR fluorescence imaging.

PMID- 27624790
TI  - Could abatacept directly target expanded plasmablasts in IgG4-related disease?

PMID- 27624791
TI  - A multicentre randomised controlled trial to compare the pharmacokinetics,
      efficacy and safety of CT-P10 and innovator rituximab in patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate pharmacokinetic equivalence of CT-P10 and innovator
      rituximab (RTX) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with inadequate
      responses or intolerances to antitumour necrosis factor agents. METHODS: In this
      randomised phase I trial, patients with active RA were randomly assigned (2:1) to
      receive 1000 mg CT-P10 or RTX at weeks 0 and 2 (alongside continued methotrexate
      therapy). Primary endpoints were area under the serum concentration-time curve
      from time zero to last quantifiable concentration (AUC0-last) and maximum serum
      concentration after second infusion (Cmax). Additional pharmacokinetic
      parameters, efficacy, pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity and safety were also
      assessed. Data are reported up to week 24. RESULTS: 103 patients were assigned to
      CT-P10 and 51 to RTX. The 90% CIs for the ratio of geometric means (CT-P10/RTX)
      for both primary endpoints were within the bioequivalence range of 80%-125% (AUC0
      last: 97.7% (90% CI 89.2% to 107.0%); Cmax: 97.6% (90% CI 92.0% to 103.5%)).
      Pharmacodynamics and efficacy were comparable between groups. Antidrug antibodies
      were detected in 17.6% of patients in each group at week 24. CT-P10 and RTX
      displayed similar safety profiles. CONCLUSIONS: CT-P10 and RTX demonstrated
      equivalent pharmacokinetics and comparable efficacy, pharmacodynamics,
      immunogenicity and safety. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01534884.

PMID- 27624792
TI  - Regulatory T cells control strain specific resistance to Experimental Autoimmune
      Prostatitis.
AB  - Susceptibility to autoimmune diseases results from the encounter of a complex and
      long evolved genetic context with a no less complex and changing environment.
      Major actors in maintaining health are regulatory T cells (Treg) that primarily
      dampen a large subset of autoreactive lymphocytes escaping thymic negative
      selection. Here, we directly asked whether Treg participate in defining
      susceptibility and resistance to Experimental Autoimmune Prostatitis (EAP). We
      analyzed three common laboratory strains of mice presenting with different
      susceptibility to autoimmune prostatitis upon immunization with prostate
      proteins. The NOD, the C57BL/6 and the BALB/c mice that can be classified along a
      disease score ranging from severe, mild and to undetectable, respectively. Upon
      mild and transient depletion of Treg at the induction phase of EAP, each model
      showed an increment along this score, most remarkably with the BALB/c mice
      switching from a resistant to a susceptible phenotype. We further show that
      disease associates with the upregulation of CXCR3 expression on effector T cells,
      a process requiring IFNgamma. Together with recent advances on environmental
      factors affecting Treg, these findings provide a likely cellular and molecular
      explanation to the recent rise in autoimmune diseases incidence.

PMID- 27624794
TI  - Can horses read emotional cues from human faces? Re-analysis of Smith et al.
      (2016).

PMID- 27624793
TI  - LS8 cell apoptosis induced by NaF through p-ERK and p-JNK - a mechanism study of
      dental fluorosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible biological mechanism of dental fluorosis
      at a molecular level. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cultured LS8 were incubated with
      serum-free medium containing selected concentrations of NaF (0 ~ 2 mM) for either
      24 or 48 h. Subcellular microanatomy was characterized using TEM; meanwhile,
      selected biomolecules were analysed using various biochemistry techniques.
      Transient transfection was used to modulate a molecular pathway for apoptosis.
      RESULTS: Apoptosis of LS8 was induced by NaF treatment that showed both time and
      concentration dependency. The activity of caspase-3, -8, -9 was found to be
      increased with NaF in a dose-dependent manner. Western blot revealed that the
      protein expression of p-ERK and p-JNK were decreased, while the expression of p
      P38 was increased. Inhibition of the p-ERK and p-JNK pathways resulted in a
      similar decrease for caspase-3. CONCLUSION: During NaF-induced apoptosis of LS8,
      p-ERK and p-JNK were closely associated with induction of apoptosis, which might
      be a mechanism of dental fluorosis.

PMID- 27624795
TI  - Meniscus ascent by thrips (Thysanoptera).
AB  - Meniscus climbing using a fixed body posture has been well documented for various
      aquatic and neustonic insects, but is not known from small flying insects that
      inadvertently become trapped on water surfaces. Here, we show that thrips (order
      Thysanoptera) can ascend a meniscus by arching their non-wetting bodies to
      translate head-first and upward along a water surface; if initially oriented
      backwards, they can turn by 180 degrees  to ascend head-first, and climb upward
      on a surrounding boundary. Using variable-concentration sucrose solutions, we
      show that translational and climbing speeds during meniscus ascent vary inversely
      with fluid viscosity. Becoming trapped in water is a frequent event for flying
      insects, and given that most of them are very small, dedicated behaviours to
      escape water may be commonplace among pterygotes.

PMID- 27624797
TI  - Misinformed leaders lose influence over pigeon flocks.
AB  - In animal groups where certain individuals have disproportionate influence over
      collective decisions, the whole group's performance may suffer if these
      individuals possess inaccurate information. Whether in such situations leaders
      can be replaced in their roles by better-informed group mates represents an
      important question in understanding the adaptive consequences of collective
      decision-making. Here, we use a clock-shifting procedure to predictably
      manipulate the directional error in navigational information possessed by
      established leaders within hierarchically structured flocks of homing pigeons
      (Columba livia). We demonstrate that in the majority of cases when leaders hold
      inaccurate information they lose their influence over the flock. In these cases,
      inaccurate information is filtered out through the rearrangement of hierarchical
      positions, preventing errors by former leaders from propagating down the
      hierarchy. Our study demonstrates that flexible decision-making structures can be
      valuable in situations where 'bad' information is introduced by otherwise
      influential individuals.

PMID- 27624798
TI  - Horses give functionally relevant responses to human facial expressions of
      emotion: a response to Schmoll (2016).

PMID- 27624796
TI  - Heterokairy: a significant form of developmental plasticity?
AB  - There is a current surge of research interest in the potential role of
      developmental plasticity in adaptation and evolution. Here we make a case that
      some of this research effort should explore the adaptive significance of
      heterokairy, a specific type of plasticity that describes environmentally driven,
      altered timing of development within a species. This emphasis seems warranted
      given the pervasive occurrence of heterochrony, altered developmental timing
      between species, in evolution. We briefly review studies investigating
      heterochrony within an adaptive context across animal taxa, including examples
      that explore links between heterokairy and heterochrony. We then outline how
      sequence heterokairy could be included within the research agenda for
      developmental plasticity. We suggest that the study of heterokairy may be
      particularly pertinent in (i) determining the importance of non-adaptive
      plasticity, and (ii) embedding concepts from comparative embryology such as
      developmental modularity and disassociation within a developmental plasticity
      framework.

PMID- 27624800
TI  - Localized primary amyloidosis of the breast: a case report and review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary amyloidosis of the breast is an unusual benign disease that
      mostly occurs in postmenopausal elderly women. Amyloidosis is the deposition of
      amorphous protein within tissues. Breast biopsy is necessary to make a definite
      diagnosis in order to avoid unnecessary surgical methods. Localized primary
      amyloidosis of the breast has a good prognosis. However, secondary amyloidosis is
      a systemic disease and has a poor prognosis. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the
      case of a 77-year-old female with primary amyloidosis of the breast. She noticed
      a lump in her left breast. Mammographic and ultrasonographic examinations
      indicated breast cancer. However, core needle biopsy showed amyloidosis, not
      cancer of the breast. For further examinations, the patient visited the
      outpatient clinics of the hematology, dermatology, and gastroenterology
      departments. She underwent bone marrow aspiration, computed tomography, cardiac
      ultrasonography, random skin biopsy, gastrofiberscopy, and colonofiberscopy.
      Plasma cell myeloma and systemic amyloidosis were ruled out, and localized breast
      amyloidosis was highly suspected. Lumpectomy was performed to make a definite
      diagnosis, and histological evaluations revealed that this patient had localized
      amyloidosis of the breast, and the deposited amyloid protein was of the amyloid
      light chain kappa type. CONCLUSIONS: Breast biopsy is necessary in order to avoid
      unnecessary surgical technique. A diagnosis should be achieved only through a
      histological evaluation. The main treatment of localized primary amyloidosis of
      the breast is surgical removal.

PMID- 27624799
TI  - An APOC3 3'UTR variant associated with plasma triglycerides levels and coronary
      heart disease by creating a functional miR-4271 binding site.
AB  - Apolipoprotein C-III (APOC3) is a key regulator of plasma triglycerides levels.
      Increasing evidence has shown that loss-of-function mutations in APOC3 is
      associated with reduction in plasma triglycerides levels and will confer a
      benefit in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease. However, these
      favorable mutations were extremely distribution discrepant among different
      ethnics. In this study, the APOC3 gene was resequenced and we identified a common
      variant which located in the microRNA-binding site in APOC3 and would affect its
      expression and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). The molecular mechanism
      was explored. We found that the T allele of rs4225 suppressed APOC3 translation
      by facilitating miR-4271 binding, but not the G allele. Subjects carrying the GG
      genotype had higher plasma APOC3 levels (p for trend = 0.03) than those with the
      TT genotype. Furthermore, the T allele was significantly associated with
      decreased triglyceride levels [Beta (SE): -0.024 (0.020), P = 0.03]. Finally, the
      case-control study suggested that the TT genotype resulted in a significant
      reduction in overall CHD risk [OR, 0.89 (95% confidence interval, 0.77-0.98), P =
      0.009]. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that the rs4225 in the 3'-UTR
      of APOC3 might contribute to the risk of CHD by interfering with miR-4271
      binding.

PMID- 27624801
TI  - The effects of archipelago spatial structure on island diversity and endemism:
      predictions from a spatially-structured neutral model.
AB  - Islands are particularly suited to testing hypotheses about the ecological and
      evolutionary mechanisms underpinning community assembly. Yet the complex spatial
      arrangements of real island systems have received little attention from both
      empirical studies and theoretical models. Here, we investigate the extent to
      which the spatial structure of archipelagos affects species diversity and
      endemism. We start by proposing a new spatially structured neutral model that
      explicitly considers archipelago structure, and then investigate its predictions
      under a diversity of scenarios. Our results suggest that considering the spatial
      structure of archipelagos is crucial to understanding their diversity and
      endemism, with structured island systems acting both as "museums" and "cradles"
      of biodiversity. These dynamics of diversification may change the traditionally
      expected pattern of decrease in species richness with distance from the mainland,
      even potentially leading to increasing patterns for taxa with high speciation
      rates in archipelagos off species-poor continental areas. Our results also
      predict that, within spatially structured archipelagos, metapopulation dynamics
      and evolutionary processes can generate higher diversity on islands more
      centrally placed than at the periphery. We derive from our results a set of
      theoretical predictions, potentially testable with empirical data.

PMID- 27624802
TI  - Moral disengagement and callous-unemotional traits: A longitudinal study of
      Italian adolescents with a disruptive behaviour disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional traits have been proposed as risk factors for a
      poorer prognosis in young people with disruptive behaviour disorders.
      Identification of factors that may cause or maintain elevated levels of such
      traits could help in developing targeted therapeutic interventions. Some previous
      studies have investigated the role of moral cognitive mechanisms, such as moral
      disengagement, but these previous studies focused primarily on normal or 'at
      risk' samples. AIM: We aimed to evaluate associations and possible interactions
      between moral disengagement as a cognitive dimension and callous-unemotional
      traits as an affective dimension in adolescents with disruptive behaviour
      disorders. METHOD: We recruited 55 adolescents with a disruptive behaviour
      disorder from a community care hospital in Pisa. They were evaluated at baseline
      and after one year with measures that included a moral disengagement scale, the
      Antisocial Process Screening Device, to assess callous traits, and the Youth Self
      Report, to explore externalising behaviour problems. RESULTS: Structural equation
      modelling showed that higher initial moral disengagement scores were associated
      with later higher levels of callous-unemotional traits in adolescents and vice
      versa, even after, respectively, controlling for previous levels of callous
      traits and moral disengagement. CONCLUSION: As impairments in either cognitive or
      affective traits may predispose to problematic development of the other, our
      findings would suggest that screening at the earliest opportunity possible for
      both moral disengagement and callous-unemotional traits among children with
      disruptive behaviour disorders could help to map natural outcome pathways and
      thus tailor more accurate interventions for prevention of antisocial or criminal
      behaviour. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27624804
TI  - Photochemical Formation of Dibenzosilacyclohept-4-yne for Cu-Free Click Chemistry
      with Azides and 1,2,4,5-Tetrazines.
AB  - Photochemical generation of dibenzosilacyclohept-4-yne 3 from the corresponding
      cyclopropenone 1 and its copper-free click reactions are reported. Steady-state
      irradiation, kinetic, and transient absorption spectroscopy studies revealed that
      strained alkyne 3 is rapidly (<5 ns) and efficiently (Phi = 0.58-0.71)
      photoreleased from 1 and undergoes remarkably fast, selective, and high-yielding
      1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with benzyl azide (~20 M-1 s-1) or [4 + 2] inverse
      electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction with 1,2,4,5-tetrazines (~260 M-1 s-1) in
      both methanol and acetonitrile.

PMID- 27624803
TI  - The ventriculoatrial relationship after atrial overdrive pacing can help
      differentiate atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia from junctional
      tachycardia.
AB  - PURPOSE: Differentiating between atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia
      (AVNRT) and non-reentrant junctional tachycardia (JT) is difficult but highly
      necessary for catheter ablation. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      whether the ventriculoatrial (VA) relationship after atrial overdrive pacing
      (AOP) could help to distinguish AVNRT from JT. METHODS: Thirty-eight AVNRT and 21
      JT patients who were induced by infusion of isoproterenol after successful AVNRT
      ablation were paced through the high right atrium or coronary sinus until the
      ventricles were constantly captured. After the pacing was stopped, the intervals
      of postpacing VA (VAP) and tachycardia VA (VAT) were measured if the pacing did
      not terminate tachycardia. RESULTS: Thirty-five (92.1 %) cases were captured by
      119 AOPs (119/175) without terminating tachycardia in the 38 cases of AVNRT. Of
      the 35 cases, 34 (97.1 %) showed VAP-VAT < 22.55 ms in all successful AOPs (116
      times). The remaining case showed VAP-VAT > 294.9 ms in one AOP and VAP-VAT <
      22.55 ms in two AOPs. All 21 JT cases could be captured successfully by all
      (105/105) AOPs and showed VAP-VAT > 294.9 ms. VAP-VAT < 22.55 ms had 118/118 (100
      %) specificity for AVNRT, and the VAP-VAT > 294.9 ms response was 105/105 (100 %)
      sensitive for JT. CONCLUSIONS: The VA relationship after AOP could help
      distinguish AVNRT from JT. VAP-VAT < 22.55 ms was specific for AVNRT, and VAP-VAT
      > 294.9 ms for JT in the overwhelming majority, except for the rare instance of
      AVNRT with a double ventricular response.

PMID- 27624805
TI  - Blockade of beta-catenin signaling attenuates toluene diisocyanate-induced
      experimental asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aberrant activation of beta-catenin signaling by both WNT-dependent
      and WNT-independent pathways has been demonstrated in asthmatic airways, which is
      thought to contribute critically in remodeling of the airways. Yet, the exact
      role of beta-catenin in asthma is very poorly defined. As we have previously
      reported abnormal expression of beta-catenin in a toluene diisocyanate (TDI)
      induced asthma model, in this study, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of two
      small molecules XAV-939 and ICG-001 in TDI-asthmatic male BALB/c mice, which
      selectively block beta-catenin-mediated transcription. METHODS: Male BALB/c mice
      were sensitized and challenged with TDI to generate a chemically induced asthma
      model. Inhibitors of beta-catenin, XAV-939, and ICG-001 were respectively given
      to the mice through intraperitoneally injection. RESULTS: TDI exposure led to a
      significantly increased activity of beta-catenin, which was then confirmed by a
      luciferase assay in 16HBE transfected with the TOPFlash reporter plasmid.
      Treatment with either XAV-939 or ICG-001 effectively inhibited activation of beta
      catenin and downregulated mRNA expression of beta-catenin-targeted genes in TDI
      asthmatic mice, paralleled by dramatically attenuated TDI-induced
      hyperresponsiveness and inflammation of the airway, alleviated airway goblet cell
      metaplasia and collagen deposition, decreased Th2 inflammation, as well as lower
      levels of TGFbeta1, VEGF, HMGB1, and IL-1beta. CONCLUSION: The results showed
      that beta-catenin is a principal mediator of TDI-induced asthma, proposing beta
      catenin as a promising therapeutic target in asthma.

PMID- 27624806
TI  - Identification and Characterization of Small-Molecule Inhibitors to Selectively
      Target the DFG-in over the DFG-out Conformation of the B-Raf Kinase V600E Mutant
      in Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - V600E is the most common mutation in the B-Raf kinase domain and the B-RafV600E
      mutant has been recognized as an attractive target of colorectal cancer. Here,
      the structural dynamics of V600E-induced conformational conversion in the B-Raf
      activation loop (A-loop) was characterized in detail using a computational
      simulation strategy. The simulations revealed that the V600E mutation would
      induce A-loop flipping from DFG-out to DFG-in, and the approved B-Raf inhibitor
      vemurafenib exhibits strong selectivity for the mutant over the wild-type kinase.
      The selectivity is closely associated with the kinase conformation, which can be
      influenced directly by the V600E mutation. The molecular structure of vemurafenib
      was applied to a chemical similarity search against a large library of drug/lead
      like compounds, from which three hits with high structural similarity were
      identified, and their inhibitory activities against both the wild-type and mutant
      kinases were measured by in vitro kinase assay, from which two compounds were
      determined to possess higher selectivity for the B-RafV600E mutant than for the
      wild type (5.2- and 3.1-fold, respectively). They can potently inhibit the kinase
      mutant with IC50  = 54 and 76 nM, respectively. Structural analysis suggested
      that specific noncovalent interactions play a crucial role in the selectivity of
      B-Raf inhibitors.

PMID- 27624808
TI  - Optimal tachycardia programming in ICDs : Recommendations in the post-MADIT-RIT
      era.
AB  - Optimal implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) programming can reduce the
      incidence of inappropriate shock therapy and improve prognosis in patients with
      an ICD. Only after results from randomized trials became available was the
      "safety first" feeling overcome that mandated early shock therapy, waived the use
      of antitachycardia pacing and forced shock therapy after a time of 30 s expired,
      even if tachycardia discriminators would have withheld the therapy. The strong
      evidence to limit ICD therapy to longer ventricular tachycardia (VT) should not
      result in individually dangerous ICD programming, particularly in patients with a
      high risk of slow VT (known monomorphic VT, post VT ablation, during treatment
      with amiodarone, very dilated left ventricle). Monitoring zones may aid to detect
      unexpected slow VT and to explain symptoms such as presyncope without exposing
      the patient to an unnecessary risk of inappropriate therapy. This review
      summarizes our current knowledge on optimal ICD programming and explains exactly
      how we should program device parameters in practice in single- or dual-chamber
      ICDs by different manufacturers and in different groups of patients. 

PMID- 27624807
TI  - An Irish outbreak of New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)-1 carbapenemase
      producing Enterobacteriaceae: increasing but unrecognized prevalence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) may cause healthcare
      associated infections with high mortality rates. New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase
      1 (NDM-1) is among the most recently discovered carbapenemases. AIM: To report
      the first outbreak of NDM-1 CPE in Ireland, including microbiological and
      epidemiological characteristics, and assessing the impact of infection prevention
      and control measures. METHODS: This was a retrospective microbiological and
      epidemiological review. Cases were defined as patients with a CPE-positive
      culture. Contacts were designated as roommates or ward mates. FINDINGS: This
      outbreak involved 10 patients with a median age of 71 years (range: 45-90),
      located in three separate but affiliated healthcare facilities. One patient was
      infected (the index case); the nine others were colonized. Nine NDM-1-producing
      Klebsiella pneumoniae, an NDM-1-producing Escherichia coli and a K. pneumoniae
      carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacter cloacae were detected between week 24,
      2014 and week 37, 2014. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis demonstrated similarity.
      NDM-1-positive isolates were meropenem resistant with minimum inhibitory
      concentrations (MICs) ranging from 12 to 32 MUg/mL. All were tigecycline
      susceptible (MICs <=1 MUg/mL). One isolate was colistin resistant (MIC 4.0
      MUg/mL; mcr-1 gene not detected). In 2015, four further NDM-1 isolates were
      detected. CONCLUSION: The successful management of this outbreak was achieved via
      the prompt implementation of enhanced infection prevention and control practices
      to prevent transmission. These patients did not have a history of travel outside
      of Ireland, but several had frequent hospitalizations in Ireland, raising
      concerns regarding the possibility of increasing but unrecognized prevalence of
      NDM-1 and potential decline in value of travel history as a marker of
      colonization risk.

PMID- 27624810
TI  - [The First World Championship of Device Electrogram Interpretation].
AB  - During the CARDIOSTIM/EUROPACE meeting in Nice, France, the First World
      Championship of Device Electrogram (EGM) Interpretation was held and more than
      120 physicians participated actively. In the first round, questions on 20 EGMs
      had to be answered, and the eight finalists had to solve another seven EGM
      questions before gold, silver, and bronze medals were distributed. This activity
      prepared by STIMUPRAT - an organization in which electrophysiologists, other
      physicians, residents, fellows, and students share their tracings and thoughts
      with others - demonstrates that knowledge about the way devices think and
      document their events is not only important so as to optimize the treatment of
      device patients but can also be great fun. 

PMID- 27624809
TI  - Sensing and detection in Medtronic implantable cardioverter defibrillators.
AB  - Ensuring sensing and detection of ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular
      fibrillation (VF) was a prerequisite for the clinical trials that established the
      survival benefit of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). However, for
      decades, a high incidence of unnecessary shocks limited patients' and physicians'
      acceptance of ICD therapy. Oversensing, misclassification of supraventricular
      tachycardia (SVT) as VT, and self-terminating VT accounted for the vast majority
      of unnecessary shocks. Medtronic ICDs utilize sensitive baseline settings with
      minimal blanking periods to ensure accurate sensing of VF, VT, and SVT
      electrograms. Programmable algorithms reject oversensing caused by far-field R
      waves, T waves, and non-physiologic signals caused by lead failure. A robust
      hierarchy of SVT-VT discriminators minimize misclassification of SVT as VT. These
      features, combined with evidence-based programming, have reduced the 1-year
      inappropriate shock rate to 1.5 % for dual-/triple-chamber ICDs and to 2.5 % for
      single-chamber ICDs. 

PMID- 27624812
TI  - The impact of sexuality concerns on teenage pregnancy: a consequence of
      heteronormativity?
AB  - In countries such as the USA, a substantial percentage of teenage pregnancies are
      intentional, and desire for pregnancy increases risk. Black US Americans have
      been found to be less accepting of homosexuality than their non-Black peers,
      which may result in minority ethnic teenagers demonstrating heterosexual
      orientation through attempting pregnancy. Young, socioeconomically disadvantaged
      African Americans were surveyed longitudinally regarding attitudes about their
      sexuality, pregnancy intentions and other psychosocial factors. Young people who
      reported being somewhat concerned about their sexual orientation were nearly four
      times more likely to report attempting pregnancy compared to those who were not
      at all concerned. This relationship held true while accounting for the
      significant effect of religion, sense of community, hopelessness and numerous
      demographic factors. The current study suggests that uncertainty regarding sexual
      orientation, potentially due to social stigma, may impact pregnancy attempts
      among young Black people from disadvantaged communities.

PMID- 27624811
TI  - A Rapid and Efficient Luminescence-based Method for Assaying
      Phosphoglycosyltransferase Enzymes.
AB  - Phosphoglycosyltransferases (PGTs) are families of integral membrane proteins
      with intriguingly diverse architectures. These enzymes function to initiate many
      important biosynthetic pathways including those leading to peptidoglycan, N
      linked glycoproteins and lipopolysaccharide O-antigen. In spite of tremendous
      efforts, characterization of these enzymes remains a challenge not only due to
      the inherent difficulties associated with the purification of integral membrane
      proteins but also due to the limited availability of convenient assays. Current
      PGT assays include radioactivity-based methods, which rely on liquid-liquid or
      solid-liquid extractions, multienzyme systems linked to lactate dehydrogenase and
      NAD(+) generation, and HPLC-based approaches, all of which may suffer from low
      sensitivity and low throughput. Herein, we present the validation of a new
      luminescence-based assay (UMP-Glo) for measuring activities of PGT enzymes. This
      assay measures UMP, the by-product of PGT reactions, in a sensitive and
      quantitative manner by measuring the luminescence output in a discontinuous
      coupled assay system. The assay is rapid and robust in nature, and also
      compatible with microtiter plate formats. Activity and kinetic parameters of
      PglC, a PGT from Campylobacter jejuni, were quickly established using this assay.
      The efficacy of the assay was further corroborated using two different PGTs; PglC
      from Helicobacter pullorum and WecA from Thermatoga maritima.

PMID- 27624813
TI  - Enhancing classroom participation of students with intellectual and developmental
      disabilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have
      been found to participate less in school-based activities. PURPOSE: This study
      aimed to examine the effectiveness of a combined in-service and collaborative
      consultation intervention model for enhancing classroom participation of students
      with IDD. METHOD: The Collaborative Consultation for Participation of Students
      With IDD (Co-PID) program involved a multidisciplinary team (an occupational
      therapist and 17 teachers) as well as 35 students and was compared to an in
      service program (20 teachers and 34 students). Students were 8 to 20 years old.
      The programs aimed to enhance three classroom participation components:
      communicating, choosing, and initiating. FINDINGS: The Co-PID was found to
      significantly improve students' participation in all areas, whereas the
      participation of the students in the in-service group decreased. IMPLICATIONS: A
      school-based multidisciplinary intervention program for students with IDD,
      combining in-service and collaborative consultation (e.g., Co-PID), may assist in
      enhancing classroom participation among students with IDD.

PMID- 27624814
TI  - Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer: successful systematic implementation of a
      group approach to genetic counselling.
AB  - The increase in referrals to cancer genetics clinics, partially associated with
      the "Angelina Jolie effect", presents a challenge to existing services, many are
      already running at full capacity. More efficient ways to deliver genetic
      counselling are therefore urgently needed. We now systematically offer group
      instead of standard individual counselling to patients with suspected Hereditary
      Breast and Ovarian Cancer. Group sessions last 30 min. The first twenty consist
      of a presentation by the genetic counsellor, the next ten of a discussion
      involving a cancer geneticist and a psychologist. A short individual consultation
      ensues, where personal and family issues are addressed and consent obtained.
      Blood is drawn afterwards. Satisfaction and knowledge are evaluated. We report
      data for the Oct-2014-Aug-2015 period. 210 patients attended group counselling,
      up to eight simultaneously. We always fitted them within a 4-h time frame. Mean
      satisfaction score was 41/43. Knowledge scores increased from 3.1/6 to 4.9/6 post
      counselling (p value < 2.2 * 10-16). Thanks to group counselling, we have
      withstood increases in referrals without compromising care. The "Angelina Jolie
      effect" and rapid developments in personalized medicine threaten to overwhelm
      cancer genetics clinics. In this context, our innovative approach should ensure
      that all patients have access to approved services.

PMID- 27624816
TI  - Multi-society presidents' page: The value of membership in your sub-specialty
      society.

PMID- 27624815
TI  - Protocol Outlines for Parts 1 and 2 of the Prospective Endoscopy III Study for
      the Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer: Validation of a Concept Based on Blood
      Biomarkers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Programs for population screening of colorectal cancer (CRC) have
      been implemented in several countries with fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) as
      the preferred platform. However, the major obstacle for a feces-based testing
      method is the limited compliance that reduces the clinical sensitivity for
      detection of participants with non-symptomatic CRC. Therefore, research
      approaches have been initiated to develop screening concepts based on biomarkers
      in blood. Preliminary results show that protein, genetic, epigenetic, and
      metabolomic components may be valuable in blood-based screening concepts,
      particularly when combinations of the various components appear to lead to
      significant improvements. OBJECTIVES: The protocol described in this paper
      focuses on the validation of concepts based on biomarkers in blood in a major
      population screened by FIT. METHODS: In Part 1, participants will be identified
      and included through the Danish CRC Screening Program comprising initial FIT and
      subsequent colonoscopy to those with a positive result. Blood samples will be
      collected from 8000 FIT-positive participants, who are offered subsequent
      colonoscopy. Findings and interventions at colonoscopy together with personal
      data including co-morbidity will be recorded. Blood samples and data will also be
      collected from 6000 arbitrarily chosen participants with negative FIT. In Part 2,
      blood samples and data will be collected from 30,000 FIT-negative participants
      three times within 4 years. The blood samples will be analyzed using various in
      house and commercially available manual and automated analysis platforms.
      RESULTS: We anticipate Part 1 to terminate late August 2016 and Part 2 to
      terminate late September 2022. The results from Parts 1 and 2 will be presented
      within 12 to 18 months from termination. CONCLUSIONS: The purpose of this study
      is to improve the efficacy of identifying participants with neoplastic bowel
      lesions, to identify false negative participants, to identify participants at
      risk of interval neoplastic lesions, to improve the compliance in screening
      sessions, and to establish guidelines for out-patient follow-up of at-risk
      participants based on combinations of blood-based biomarkers.

PMID- 27624817
TI  - 2016 ACC/ASE/ASNC/HRS/SCAI Health Policy Statement on Integrating the Healthcare
      Enterprise : Developed in Collaboration With the Healthcare Information and
      Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for
      Women with Heart Disease. Endorsed by Digital Imaging and Communications in
      Medicine (DICOM), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS),
      Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise USA, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise
      International, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), and WomenHeart: The
      National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

PMID- 27624818
TI  - The impact of prompt gamma compensation on myocardial blood flow measurements
      with rubidium-82 dynamic PET.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rubidium-82 myocardial perfusion imaging is a well-established
      technique for assessing myocardial ischemia. With continuing interest on
      myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) measurements, there
      is a requirement to fully appreciate the impact of technical aspects of the
      process. One such factor for rubidium-82 is prompt gamma compensation (PGC). This
      study aims to assess the impact of PGC on MBF and MFR calculated from dynamic Rb
      82 data. METHODS: Dynamic rest and stress images were acquired on a Siemens
      Biograph mCT and reconstructed with and without PGC in 50 patients (29 male). MBF
      and MFR were measured in the three main coronary territories as well as globally.
      RESULTS: With PGC, statistically significant reductions in MBF were observed in
      LAD (-6.9%), LCx (-4.8%), and globally (-6.5%) but only in obese patients.
      Significant increases in MBF were observed in RCA (+6.4%) in only nonobese
      patients. In very obese patients, differences of up to 40% in MBF were observed
      between PGC and non-PGC images. In nearly all cases, similar PGC differences were
      observed at stress and rest so there were no significant differences in MFR;
      however, in a small number of very obese patients, differences in excess of 20%
      were observed. CONCLUSION: PGC results in statistically significant changes in
      MBF, with the greatest reductions observed in the LAD and LCx territories of
      obese patients. In most cases, the impact on stress and rest data is of similar
      relative magnitudes and changes to MFR are small.

PMID- 27624819
TI  - Optical thermometry based on level anticrossing in silicon carbide.
AB  - We report a giant thermal shift of 2.1 MHz/K related to the excited-state zero
      field splitting in the silicon vacancy centers in 4H silicon carbide. It is
      obtained from the indirect observation of the optically detected magnetic
      resonance in the excited state using the ground state as an ancilla.
      Alternatively, relative variations of the zero-field splitting for small
      temperature differences can be detected without application of radiofrequency
      fields, by simply monitoring the photoluminescence intensity in the vicinity of
      the level anticrossing. This effect results in an all-optical thermometry
      technique with temperature sensitivity of 100 mK/Hz(1/2) for a detection volume
      of approximately 10(-6) mm(3). In contrast, the zero-field splitting in the
      ground state does not reveal detectable temperature shift. Using these
      properties, an integrated magnetic field and temperature sensor can be
      implemented on the same center.

PMID- 27624820
TI  - Successful Recovery and Transplantation of 11 Organs Including Face, Bilateral
      Upper Extremities, and Thoracic and Abdominal Organs From a Single Deceased Organ
      Donor.
AB  - We report on the to date largest recovery of 11 organs from a single deceased
      donor with the transplantation of face, bilateral upper extremities, heart, 1
      lung, liver (split for 2 recipients), kidneys, pancreas, and intestine. Although
      logistically challenging, this case demonstrates the feasibility and safety of
      the recovery of multiple thoracic and abdominal organs with multiple vascular
      composite allotransplants and tissues. Our experience of 8 additional successful
      multiple vascular composite allotransplants, thoracic, and abdominal organ
      recoveries suggests that such procedures are readily accomplishable from the same
      deceased donor. 

PMID- 27624822
TI  - Inability of Haemophilus haemolyticus to invade respiratory epithelial cells in
      vitro.

PMID- 27624821
TI  - An Intronless beta-amyrin Synthase Gene is More Efficient in Oleanolic Acid
      Accumulation than its Paralog in Gentiana straminea.
AB  - Paralogous members of the oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) family encode a diversity
      of enzymes that are important in triterpenoid biosynthesis. This report describes
      the isolation of the Gentiana straminea gene GsAS2 that encodes a beta-amyrin
      synthase (betaAS) enzyme. Unlike its previously isolated paralog GsAS1, GsAS2
      lacks introns. Its predicted protein product was is a 759 residue polypeptide
      that shares high homology with other known beta-amyrin synthases (betaASs).
      Heterologously expressed GsAS2 generates more beta-amyrin in yeast than does
      GsAS1. Constitutive over-expression of GsAS2 resulted in a 5.7 fold increase in
      oleanolic acid accumulation, while over-expression of GsAS1 led to a 3 fold
      increase. Additionally, RNAi-directed suppression of GsAS2 and GsAS1 in G.
      straminea decreased oleonolic acid levels by 65.9% and 21% respectively,
      indicating that GsAS2 plays a more important role than GsAS1 in oleanolic acid
      biosynthesis in G. straminea. We uses a docking model to explore the catalytic
      mechanism of GsAS1/2 and predicted that GsAS2, with its Y560, have higher
      efficiency than GsAS1 and mutated versions of GsAS2 in beta-amyrin produce. When
      the key residue in GsAS2 was mutagenized, it produced about 41.29% and 71.15%
      less beta-amyrin than native, while the key residue in GsAS1 was mutagenized to
      that in GsAS2, the mutant produced 38.02% more beta-amyrin than native GsAS1.

PMID- 27624823
TI  - Breast cancer and screening in persons with an intellectual disability living in
      institutions in France.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe, among a population of women with intellectual
      disabilities (ID) living in institutions in France, the characteristics in whom
      breast cancer (BC) was diagnosed and of those who participated in BC screening.
      METHODS: Study was performed in 2009 among a random, representative sample of
      women with ID living in institutions in France. Participants answered a
      questionnaire either directly by themselves, or with the help of an intermediary.
      RESULTS: In total, 978 women with ID aged over 18 years were included, and 14
      were diagnosed with BC. The incidence observed in this sample of women with ID is
      similar to that of the general population (standardised incidence ratio, SIR
      0.857, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42-1.53). Average age at diagnosis was 47.8
      years, and the risk of developing BC before the age of 50 was 2.03% (0.4-3.66).
      This risk was not significantly different from that of the general population
      (2.4%, 1.0-3.78). Obesity was almost twice as frequent in women who had BC as
      compared to those without BC (43% vs. 22.5%, P = 0.0196). Among the 310 women
      aged >50 years and eligible for the national BC screening programme, 238 (77%)
      had already had at least one mammogram, and 199 had had it within the previous 2
      years. Adherence to the screening programme was 64.2% (199/310) in the
      participating institutions. This rate was slightly higher than the national
      average of 62% for the same period. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show
      that BC is equally as frequent among women with ID living in institutions as in
      the general population, and occurs at around the same age. Obesity was
      significantly more frequent among women in whom BC was diagnosed in our study.
      Participation in BC screening is slightly higher among women with ID living in
      institutions than among the general population.

PMID- 27624825
TI  - Plant development: a Special Issue.

PMID- 27624824
TI  - Establishment of SV40 large T antigen-immortalized bovine liver sinusoidal cell
      lines and their immunological responses to deoxynivalenol and lipopolysaccharide.
AB  - Immortalized bovine sinusoidal cell lines provide useful tools to study the
      immunological responses in the liver to the gastrointestinal tract-derived toxic
      substances, which may cause systemic symptoms in the affected livestock. Here, we
      established two immortalized bovine liver sinusoidal cell lines, endothelial-like
      B46, and myofibroblast-like A26, from primary cultures of bovine liver cells by
      the transfection with SV40 large T antigen. The pro-inflammatory cytokine
      responses in these cell lines to deoxynivalenol (DON) and lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS) were then compared to those in the primary bovine Kupffer cells (BKC). BKC
      were highly responsive to LPS, showing increased levels of IL-1alpha, IL-1beta,
      IL-6, and TNF-alpha mRNA 3 h after stimulation. DON induced similar pro
      inflammatory cytokine responses in BKC, except for IL-6. The endothelial B46
      cells exhibited upregulation of IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 3 h after
      stimulation by LPS. In contrast to the stimulation by LPS, B46 had relatively low
      pro-inflammatory cytokine responses to DON, except for IL-1alpha, which was
      moderately induced at 3 h and increased at 24 h after stimulation. The
      myofibroblast-like A26 cells exhibited low responses in the induction of pro
      inflammatory cytokines to LPS or DON; however, the expression of IL-6 was
      significantly observed 3 h after DON stimulation. Our results suggest that bovine
      liver sinusoidal cells have distinctive pro-inflammatory cytokine responses
      against harmful substances, and these immune responses might determine the
      consequence of systemic inflammations in the diseased animal.

PMID- 27624826
TI  - Ian Sussex: simple tools, clever experiments and new insights into plant
      development.
AB  - Ian Sussex, who began his career at a time when the most powerful tool available
      to plant developmental biologists was a scalpel, helped transform the discipline
      of plant developmental biology into the dynamic, sophisticated field that it is
      today. He did this through his own research, through an influential book that he
      wrote with his friend and colleague Taylor Steeves, and through his many students
      and post-doctoral fellows, to whom he gave the greatest gift a scientist can
      receive - the freedom to do whatever they wanted.

PMID- 27624828
TI  - The Sussex signal: insights into leaf dorsiventrality.
AB  - The differentiation of a leaf - from its inception as a semicircular bulge on the
      surface of the shoot apical meristem into a flattened structure with specialized
      upper and lower surfaces - is one of the most intensely studied processes in
      plant developmental biology. The large body of contemporary data on leaf
      dorsiventrality has its origin in the pioneering experiments of Ian Sussex, who
      carried out these studies as a PhD student in the early 1950s. Here, we review
      his original experiments in their historical context and describe our current
      understanding of this surprisingly complex process. Finally, we postulate
      possible candidates for the 'Sussex signal' - the elusive meristem-derived factor
      that first ignited interest in this important developmental problem.

PMID- 27624827
TI  - Mechanisms of auxin signaling.
AB  - The plant hormone auxin triggers complex growth and developmental processes. Its
      underlying molecular mechanism of action facilitates rapid switching between
      transcriptional repression and gene activation through the auxin-dependent
      degradation of transcriptional repressors. The nuclear auxin signaling pathway
      consists of a small number of core components. However, in most plants each
      component is represented by a large gene family. The modular construction of the
      pathway can thus produce diverse transcriptional outputs depending on the
      cellular and environmental context. Here, and in the accompanying poster, we
      outline the current model for TIR1/AFB-dependent auxin signaling with an emphasis
      on recent studies.

PMID- 27624829
TI  - CLAVATA-WUSCHEL signaling in the shoot meristem.
AB  - Shoot meristems are maintained by pluripotent stem cells that are controlled by
      CLAVATA-WUSCHEL feedback signaling. This pathway, which coordinates stem cell
      proliferation with differentiation, was first identified in Arabidopsis, but
      appears to be conserved in diverse higher plant species. In this Review, we
      highlight the commonalities and differences between CLAVATA-WUSCHEL pathways in
      different species, with an emphasis on Arabidopsis, maize, rice and tomato. We
      focus on stem cell control in shoot meristems, but also briefly discuss the role
      of these signaling components in root meristems.

PMID- 27624830
TI  - Developing a 'thick skin': a paradoxical role for mechanical tension in
      maintaining epidermal integrity?
AB  - Plant aerial epidermal tissues, like animal epithelia, act as load-bearing layers
      and hence play pivotal roles in development. The presence of tension in the
      epidermis has morphogenetic implications for organ shapes but it also constantly
      threatens the integrity of this tissue. Here, we explore the multi-scale
      relationship between tension and cell adhesion in the plant epidermis, and we
      examine how tensile stress perception may act as a regulatory input to preserve
      epidermal tissue integrity and thus normal morphogenesis. From this, we identify
      parallels between plant epidermal and animal epithelial tissues and highlight a
      list of unexplored questions for future research.

PMID- 27624831
TI  - MADS-domain transcription factors and the floral quartet model of flower
      development: linking plant development and evolution.
AB  - The floral quartet model of floral organ specification poses that different
      tetramers of MIKC-type MADS-domain transcription factors control gene expression
      and hence the identity of floral organs during development. Here, we provide a
      brief history of the floral quartet model and review several lines of recent
      evidence that support the model. We also describe how the model has been used in
      contemporary developmental and evolutionary biology to shed light on enigmatic
      topics such as the origin of land and flowering plants. Finally, we suggest a
      novel hypothesis describing how floral quartet-like complexes may interact with
      chromatin during target gene activation and repression.

PMID- 27624832
TI  - Helical growth in plant organs: mechanisms and significance.
AB  - Many plants show some form of helical growth, such as the circular searching
      movements of growing stems and other organs (circumnutation), tendril coiling,
      leaf and bud reversal (resupination), petal arrangement (contortion) and leaf
      blade twisting. Recent genetic findings have revealed that such helical growth
      may be associated with helical arrays of cortical microtubules and of overlying
      cellulose microfibrils. An alternative mechanism of coiling that is based on
      differential contraction within a bilayer has also recently been identified and
      underlies at least some of these growth patterns. Here, I provide an overview of
      the genes and cellular processes that underlie helical patterning. I also discuss
      the diversity of helical growth patterns in plants, highlighting their potential
      adaptive significance and comparing them with helical growth patterns in animals.

PMID- 27624833
TI  - Enhancing crop yield by optimizing plant developmental features.
AB  - A number of plant features and traits, such as overall plant architecture, leaf
      structure and morphological features, vascular architecture and flowering time
      are important determinants of photosynthetic efficiency and hence the overall
      performance of crop plants. The optimization of such developmental traits thus
      has great potential to increase biomass and crop yield. Here, we provide a
      comprehensive review of these developmental traits in crop plants, summarizing
      their genetic regulation and highlighting the potential of manipulating these
      traits for crop improvement. We also briefly review the effects of domestication
      on the developmental features of crop plants. Finally, we discuss the potential
      of functional genomics-based approaches to optimize plant developmental traits to
      increase yield.

PMID- 27624834
TI  - Fruit shape diversity in the Brassicaceae is generated by varying patterns of
      anisotropy.
AB  - Fruits exhibit a vast array of different 3D shapes, from simple spheres and
      cylinders to more complex curved forms; however, the mechanism by which growth is
      oriented and coordinated to generate this diversity of forms is unclear. Here, we
      compare the growth patterns and orientations for two very different fruit shapes
      in the Brassicaceae: the heart-shaped Capsella rubella silicle and the near
      cylindrical Arabidopsis thaliana silique. We show, through a combination of
      clonal and morphological analyses, that the different shapes involve different
      patterns of anisotropic growth during three phases. These experimental data can
      be accounted for by a tissue-level model in which specified growth rates vary in
      space and time and are oriented by a proximodistal polarity field. The resulting
      tissue conflicts lead to deformation of the tissue as it grows. The model allows
      us to identify tissue-specific and temporally specific activities required to
      obtain the individual shapes. One such activity may be provided by the valve
      identity gene FRUITFULL, which we show through comparative mutant analysis to
      modulate fruit shape during post-fertilisation growth of both species. Simple
      modulations of the model presented here can also broadly account for the variety
      of shapes in other Brassicaceae species, thus providing a simplified framework
      for fruit development and shape diversity.

PMID- 27624835
TI  - Can preventive care activities in general practice be sustained when financial
      incentives and external audit plus feedback are removed? ACCEPt-able: a cluster
      randomised controlled trial protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Financial incentives and audit plus feedback on performance are two
      strategies commonly used by governments to motivate general practitioners (GP) to
      undertake specific healthcare activities. However, in recent years, governments
      have reduced or removed incentive payments without evidence of the potential
      impact on GP behaviour and patient outcomes. This trial (known as ACCEPt-able)
      aims to determine whether preventive care activities in general practice are
      sustained when financial incentives and/or external audit plus feedback on
      preventive care activities are removed. The activity investigated is annual
      chlamydia testing for 16- to 29-year-old adults, a key preventive health strategy
      within this age group. METHODS/DESIGN: ACCEPt-able builds on a large cluster
      randomised controlled trial (RCT) that evaluated a 3-year chlamydia testing
      intervention in general practice. GPs were provided with a support package to
      facilitate annual chlamydia testing of all sexually active 16- to 29-year-old
      patients. This package included financial incentive payments to the GP for each
      chlamydia test conducted and external audit plus feedback on each GP's chlamydia
      testing rates. ACCEPt-able is a factorial cluster RCT in which general practices
      are randomised to one of four groups: (i) removal of audit plus feedback-continue
      to receive financial incentive payments for each chlamydia test; (ii) removal of
      financial incentive payments-continue to receive audit plus feedback; (iii)
      removal of financial incentive payments and audit plus feedback; and (iv)
      continue financial incentive payments and audit plus feedback. The primary
      outcome is chlamydia testing rate measured as the proportion of sexually active
      16- to 29-year-olds who have a GP consultation within a 12-month period and at
      least one chlamydia test. DISCUSSION: This will be the first RCT to examine the
      impact of removal of financial incentive payments and audit plus feedback on the
      chlamydia testing behaviour of GPs. This trial is particularly timely and will
      increase our understanding about the impact of financial incentives and audit
      plus feedback on GP behaviour when governments are looking for opportunities to
      control healthcare budgets and maximise clinical outcomes for money spent. The
      results of this trial will have implications for supporting preventive health
      measures beyond the content area of chlamydia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has
      been registered on the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (
      ACTRN12614000595617 ).

PMID- 27624838
TI  - Challenges following discharge from acute psychiatric inpatient care in Japan:
      patients' perspectives.
AB  - : WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: A lack of transitional care covering the period
      from psychiatric hospital discharge to community mental health care can increase
      the likelihood of illness recurrence or readmission of discharged patients. WHAT
      THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: The participants expressed the view that
      discontinuity between inpatient and community life was a post-discharge challenge
      after being involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric emergency ward. These
      challenges arose from the dissatisfaction with inpatient treatment, inability to
      coordinate post-discharge life WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Patients
      should be able to disclose their feelings about their own experiences in
      inpatient care settings and the current challenges in community care settings in
      an open manner. An advocate should be appointed in acute psychiatric inpatient
      care settings to reflect patients' own feelings and individual needs to
      transitional care without bias to inpatient and community care providers.
      ABSTRACT: Introduction Psychiatric care in Japan usually comprises inpatient care
      provided during lengthy hospital stays. Recently, policies for shortening
      psychiatric hospital stays have been aggressively pursued. However, appropriate
      transitional care is not always provided for acute psychiatric inpatient care.
      Aim We elucidated patients' challenges immediately after hospital discharge
      following acute psychiatric inpatient care to clarify how to improve inpatient
      care and post-discharge follow-ups. Method This study utilized a qualitative
      descriptive study design and incorporated patient interviews. Participants
      comprised 18 patients who experienced involuntary admission following a diagnosis
      of schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Inductive qualitative content analysis was
      used to create codes and categories from interview transcripts. Findings The core
      category of post-discharge challenges that emerged was 'separating life as an
      inpatient from community life'. This comprised two subcategories:
      'dissatisfaction with the inpatient care received' and 'lack of abilities to
      coordinate lifestyle following discharge'. Discussion Patients should be able to
      disclose their feelings about their experiences in inpatient care settings and
      the current challenges in community care settings openly. Implications for
      practice Advocate (e.g. peer staff) should be appointed in acute psychiatric
      inpatient care settings to reflect patients' feelings and individual needs to
      transitional care without bias to inpatient and community care providers.

PMID- 27624836
TI  - Sustained wakefulness and visual attention: moderation by chronotype.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Attentional networks are sensitive to sleep deprivation and
      increased time awake. However, existing evidence is inconsistent and may be
      accounted for by differences in chronotype or time-of-day. We examined the
      effects of sustained wakefulness over a normal "socially constrained" day
      (following 18 h of sustained wakefulness), following a night of normal sleep, on
      visual attention as a function of chronotype. METHODS: Twenty-six good sleepers
      (mean age 25.58; SD 4.26; 54 % male) completed the Attention Network Test (ANT)
      at two time points (baseline at 8 am; following 18-h sustained wakefulness at 2
      am). The ANT provided mean reaction times (RTs), error rates, and the efficiency
      of three attentional networks-alerting, orienting, and executive
      control/conflict. The Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire measured chronotype.
      RESULTS: Mean RTs were longer at time 2 compared to time 1 for those with
      increasing eveningness; the opposite was true for morningness. However, those
      with increasing morningness exhibited longer RT and made more errors, on
      incongruent trials at time 2 relative to those with increasing eveningness. There
      were no significant main effects of time or chronotype (or interactions) on
      attentional network scores. CONCLUSION: Sustained wakefulness produced
      differential effects on visual attention as a function of chronotype. Whilst
      overall our results point to an asynchrony effect, this effect was moderated by
      flanker type. Participants with increasing eveningness outperformed those with
      increasing morningness on incongruent trials at time 2. The preservation of
      executive control in evening-types following sustained wakefulness is likely
      driven by differences in circadian phase between chronotypes across the day.

PMID- 27624839
TI  - Study of solvent effects on the stability constant and ionic mobility of the
      dibenzo-18-crown-6 complex with potassium ion by affinity capillary
      electrophoresis.
AB  - The effect of solvent on the strength of noncovalent interactions and ionic
      mobility of the dibenzo-18-crown-6 complex with K+ in water/organic solvents was
      investigated by using affinity capillary electrophoresis. The proportion of
      organic solvent (methanol, ethanol, propan-2-ol, and acetonitrile) in the
      mixtures ranged from 0 to 100 vol.%. The stability constant, KKL , and actual
      ionic mobility of the dibenzo-18-crown-6-K+ complex were determined by the
      nonlinear regression analysis of the dependence of the effective electrophoretic
      mobility of dibenzo-18-crown-6 on the concentration of K+ (added as KCl) in the
      background electrolyte (25 mM lithium acetate, pH 5.5, in the above mixed hydro
      organic solvents). Competitive interaction of the dibenzo-18-crown-6 with Li+ was
      observed and quantified in mixtures containing more than 60 vol.% of the organic
      solvent. However, the stability constant of the dibenzo-18-crown-6-Li+ complex
      was in all cases lower than 0.5 % of KKL . The log KKL increased approximately
      linearly in the range 1.62-4.98 with the increasing molar fraction of organic
      solvent in the above mixed solvents and with similar slopes for all four organic
      solvents used in this study. The ionic mobilities of the dibenzo-18-crown-6-K+
      complex were in the range (6.1-43.4) * 10-9 m2 V-1 s-1 .

PMID- 27624837
TI  - A Conserved cis-Regulatory Module Determines Germline Fate through Activation of
      the Transcription Factor DUO1 Promoter.
AB  - The development of the male germline within pollen relies upon the activation of
      numerous target genes by the transcription factor DUO POLLEN1 (DUO1). The
      expression of DUO1 is restricted to the male germline and is first detected
      shortly after the asymmetric division that segregates the germ cell lineage.
      Transcriptional regulation is critical in controlling DUO1 expression, since
      transcriptional and translational fusions show similar expression patterns. Here,
      we identify key promoter sequences required for the germline-specific regulation
      of DUO1 transcription. Combining promoter deletion analyses with phylogenetic
      footprinting in eudicots and in Arabidopsis accessions, we identify a cis
      regulatory module, Regulatory region of DUO1 (ROD1), which replicates the
      expression pattern of DUO1 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We show that
      ROD1 from the legume Medicago truncatula directs male germline-specific
      expression in Arabidopsis, demonstrating conservation of DUO1 regulation among
      eudicots. ROD1 contains several short conserved cis-regulatory elements,
      including three copies of the motif DNGTGGV, required for germline expression and
      tandem repeats of the motif YAACYGY, which enhance DUO1 transcription in a
      positive feedback loop. We conclude that a cis-regulatory module conserved in
      eudicots directs the spatial and temporal expression of the transcription factor
      DUO1 to specify male germline fate and sperm cell differentiation.

PMID- 27624841
TI  - Recurrent postpartum haemorrhage following transcatheter arterial permanent
      embolisation using N-butyl cyanoacrylate requiring repeat embolisation with
      transient gelatine sponge: Lessons for clinical practice.

PMID- 27624842
TI  - Characterization of Endocytic Vesicles Using Magnetic Microbeads Coated with
      Signaling Ligands.

PMID- 27624840
TI  - The emerging role of obesity, diet and lipid metabolism in prostate cancer.
AB  - Obesity is associated with an increased risk of a number of serious medical
      conditions, including cancer. As far as prostate cancer is concerned, obesity is
      associated with an increased risk of high-grade tumors, which is possibly related
      to lower androgen levels. Diet may also affect prostate cancer risk since
      countries with a higher dietary fat intake also present higher prostate cancer
      mortality rates. Interestingly, prostate cancer is associated with a number of
      metabolic alterations that may provide valuable diagnostic and therapeutic
      targets. This review explores the available clinical as well as biological
      evidence supporting the relationship between obesity, diet, alteration in
      metabolic pathways and prostate cancer.

PMID- 27624843
TI  - Reduced neurotrophic factor level is the early event before the functional
      neuronal deficiency in high-fat diet induced obese mice.
AB  - Neurodegeneration is considered one of the possible complications of high fat
      diet (HFD) induced obesity. Much evidence has shown the close relationship
      between HFD and dementia at comparatively later stage of neuronal injury. It is
      so far not clear that the initial events of neuronal injury resulting from HFD
      and obesity. In the present research, obese mouse model achieved by 3-month HFD
      was applied for the investigation of the possible neuronal deficiency before the
      obvious cognitive decline. We found that 3-month HFD has already increased the
      average level of body weight of mice. But almost no obvious cognitive defect was
      observed. At such time point, we detected the cleavage of amyloid precursor
      protein (APP), including the expression and maturation level of alpha- and beta
      secretase and proteolytic fragment soluble APP. Results showed similar readout
      between HFD and normal diet (ND) mice. Besides, neuronal inflammation and brain
      blood barrier permeability were also detected. No obvious changes could be
      observed between HFD and ND mice. Surprisingly, the first detectable neuronal
      changes was showed to be the downregulation of some neurotrpic factors, like
      neuronal growth factor beta and brain derived neurotrophic factor, together with
      the activity of specific receptors, like Trk receptor phosphorylation. All the
      data piled up indicated that the early neuronal change in HFD induced obese mice
      was the downregulation of some neurotrophic factors. The results may provide the
      potential clue to therapeutic and preventive strategy for HFD induced cognitive
      decline.

PMID- 27624844
TI  - Inhibition of Src family kinases improves cognitive function after
      intraventricular hemorrhage or intraventricular thrombin.
AB  - Intraventricular hemorrhage causes spatial memory loss, but the mechanism remains
      unknown. Our recent studies demonstrated that traumatic brain injury activates
      Src family kinases, which cause spatial memory loss. To test whether the spatial
      memory loss was due to blood in the ventricles, which activated Src family
      kinases, we infused autologous whole blood or thrombin into the lateral
      ventricles of adult rats to model non-traumatic intraventricular hemorrhage.
      Hippocampal neuron loss was examined 1 day to 5 weeks later. Spatial memory
      function was assessed 29 to 33 days later using the Morris water maze. Five weeks
      after the ventricular injections of blood or thrombin, there was death of most
      hippocampal neurons and significant memory deficits compared with sham operated
      controls. These data show that intraventricular thrombin is sufficient to kill
      hippocampal neurons and produce spatial memory loss. In addition, systemic
      administration of the non-specific Src family kinase inhibitor PP2 or
      intraventricular injection of siRNA-Fyn, a Src family kinase family member,
      prevented hippocampal neuronal loss and spatial memory deficits following
      intraventricular hemorrhage. The data support the conclusions that thrombin
      mediates the hippocampal neuronal cell death and spatial memory deficits produced
      by intraventricular blood and that these can be blocked by non-specific
      inhibition of Src family kinases or by inhibiting Fyn.

PMID- 27624845
TI  - Generation of self-clusters of galectin-1 in the farnesyl-bound form.
AB  - Ras protein is involved in a signal transduction cascade in cell growth, and
      cluster formation of H-Ras and human galectin-1 (Gal-1) complex is considered to
      be crucial to achieve its physiological roles. It is considered that the complex
      is formed through interactions between Gal-1 and the farnesyl group (farnesyl
      dependent model), post-translationally modified to the C-terminal Cys, of H-Ras.
      We investigated the role of farnesyl-bound Gal-1 in the cluster formation by
      analyzing the structure and properties of Gal-1 bound to farnesyl thiosalicylic
      acid (FTS), a competitive inhibitor of the binding of H-Ras to Gal-1. Gal-1
      exhibited self-cluster formation upon interaction with FTS, and small- and large
      size clusters were formed depending on FTS concentration. The galactoside-binding
      pocket of Gal-1 in the FTS-bound form was found to play an important role in
      small-size cluster formation. Large-size clusters were likely formed by the
      interaction among the hydrophobic sites of Gal-1 in the FTS-bound form. The
      present results indicate that Gal-1 in the FTS-bound form has the ability to form
      self-clusters as well as intrinsic lectin activity. Relevance of the self
      clustering of FTS-bound Gal-1 to the cluster formation of the H-Ras-Gal-1complex
      was discussed by taking account of the farnesyl-dependent model and another (Raf
      dependent) model.

PMID- 27624848
TI  - How Wnt Signaling Builds the Brain: Bridging Development and Disease.
AB  - Wnt/beta-catenin signaling plays a crucial role throughout all stages of brain
      development and remains important in the adult brain. Accordingly, many
      neurological disorders have been linked to Wnt signaling. Defects in Wnt
      signaling during neural development can give rise to birth defects or lead to
      neurological dysfunction later in life. Developmental signaling events can also
      be hijacked in the adult and result in disease. Moreover, knowledge about the
      physiological role of Wnt signaling in the brain might lead to new therapeutic
      strategies for neurological diseases. Especially, the important role for Wnt
      signaling in neural differentiation of pluripotent stem cells has received much
      attention as this might provide a cure for neurodegenerative disorders. In this
      review, we summarize the versatile role of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling during
      neural development and discuss some recent studies linking Wnt signaling to
      neurological disorders.

PMID- 27624846
TI  - Sex differences in the behavioral sequelae of chronic ethanol exposure.
AB  - Rates of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) differ between men and women, and there is
      also marked variation between sexes in the effects of acute and chronic alcohol.
      In parallel to observations in humans, prior studies in rodents have described
      male/female differences across a range of ethanol-related behaviors, including
      ethanol drinking. Nonetheless, there remain gaps in our knowledge of the role of
      sex in moderating the effects of ethanol, particularly in models of chronic
      ethanol exposure. The goal of the current study was to assess various behavioral
      sequelae of exposing female C57BL/6J mice to chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE)
      via ethanol vapors. Following four weeks of CIE exposure, adult male and female
      mice were compared for ethanol drinking in a two-bottle paradigm, for sensitivity
      to acute ethanol intoxication (via loss of righting reflex [LORR]) and for
      anxiety-like behaviors in the novelty-suppressed feeding and marble burying
      assays. Next, adult and adolescent females were tested on two different two
      bottle drinking preparations (fixed or escalating ethanol concentration) after
      CIE. Results showed that males and females exhibited significantly blunted
      ethanol-induced LORR following CIE, whereas only males showed increased anxiety
      like behavior after CIE. Increased ethanol drinking after CIE was also specific
      to males, but high baseline drinking in females may have occluded detection of a
      CIE-induced effect. The failure to observe elevated drinking in females in
      response to CIE was also seen in females exposed to CIE during adolescence,
      regardless of whether a fixed or escalating ethanol-concentration two-bottle
      procedure was employed. Collectively, these data add to the literature on sex
      differences in ethanol-related behaviors and provide a foundation for future
      studies examining how the neural consequences of CIE might differ between males
      and females.

PMID- 27624849
TI  - Clinical Significance of Circulating Osteopontin Levels in Patients With Lung
      Cancer and Correlation With VEGF and MMP-9.
AB  - Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional cytokine involved in carcinogenesis. Serum
      levels of OPN, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and matrix
      metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were measured by ELISA in 90 lung cancer patients.
      OPN levels were elevated in patients compared to controls (p <.0001). Smokers,
      patients with worse performance status, and weight loss exhibited higher OPN
      levels (p =.0012,.00036, and.0003, respectively). Increased OPN levels were
      associated with worse survival (p =.0018). Finally, OPN levels were positively
      correlated with both VEGF (p =.0008) and MMP-9 (p <.0001). OPN might serve as a
      prognostic biomarker, and the positive correlation between OPN and both VEGF and
      MMP-9 could implicate new insights in tumor angiogenesis. 

PMID- 27624847
TI  - The association between cognitive function and subsequent depression: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Despite a growing interest in understanding the cognitive deficits associated
      with major depressive disorder (MDD), it is largely unknown whether such deficits
      exist before disorder onset or how they might influence the severity of
      subsequent illness. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a systematic
      review and meta-analysis of longitudinal datasets to determine whether cognitive
      function acts as a predictor of later MDD diagnosis or change in depression
      symptoms. Eligible studies included longitudinal designs with baseline measures
      of cognitive functioning, and later unipolar MDD diagnosis or symptom assessment.
      The systematic review identified 29 publications, representing 34 unique samples,
      and 121 749 participants, that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Quantitative
      meta-analysis demonstrated that higher cognitive function was associated with
      decreased levels of subsequent depression (r = -0.088, 95% confidence interval. 
      0.121 to -0.054, p < 0.001). However, sensitivity analyses revealed that this
      association is likely driven by concurrent depression symptoms at the time of
      cognitive assessment. Our review and meta-analysis indicate that the association
      between lower cognitive function and later depression is confounded by the
      presence of contemporaneous depression symptoms at the time of cognitive
      assessment. Thus, cognitive deficits predicting MDD likely represent deleterious
      effects of subclinical depression symptoms on performance rather than premorbid
      risk factors for disorder.

PMID- 27624852
TI  - Exploring beyond the oral mucosa in patients affected with autoimmune blistering
      diseases: the importance of endoscopic procedures.
AB  - Autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBD) comprise several entities characterized by
      the presence of autoantibodies targeted against structural proteins either in
      desmosomes or in the dermoepidermal junction of polystratified squamous
      epithelium. Patients develop blisters, erosions in cutaneous surfaces or mucosas.
      Diagnosis is based on the characteristic mucocutaneous lesions, the typical
      findings on histological studies and direct immunofluorescence assays, and the
      presence of specific autoantibodies against the epidermal antigens. It may not be
      possible for dermatologists to appropriately explore the nose and throat (NT).
      Thus, a clinical exploration by endoscopic procedures of NT may be a useful tool
      during the conventional dermatological exam. The aims of this review are to draw
      attention to the most frequent NT manifestations in AIBD patients, and underline
      the utility of endoscopic procedures to achieve a more successful and rationale
      management of patients. Additionally, we will provide brief information related
      to the anatomical structures and type of epithelium in NT areas which may explain
      the extent and type of NT involvement in AIBD. Endoscopic exploration in AIBD
      patients is important for several reasons. Firstly, it will allow the real NT
      mucosal involvement in each patient to be determined, thus making a differential
      diagnosis during the endoscopic exam possible, based on the localization of
      mucosal lesions. Secondary mucosal morbidity can also be ruled out. Secondly, the
      clinical response to treatment may be established, especially in NT mucosa, as
      these are anatomical areas subjected to important local traumas, and
      physiological functions such as breathing, swallowing, speech production and
      phonation may be damaged. Therefore, a multidisciplinary management in AIBD is
      mandatory by both dermatologists and otorhinolaryngologists, adding the clinical
      exploration by endoscopic procedures of NT to the conventional dermatological
      exam in all AIBD patients, irrespective of whether they exhibit associated
      symptoms.

PMID- 27624851
TI  - Real-time observation of DNA recognition and rejection by the RNA-guided
      endonuclease Cas9.
AB  - Binding specificity of Cas9-guide RNA complexes to DNA is important for genome
      engineering applications; however, how mismatches influence target
      recognition/rejection kinetics is not well understood. Here we used single
      molecule FRET to probe real-time interactions between Cas9-RNA and DNA targets.
      The bimolecular association rate is only weakly dependent on sequence; however,
      the dissociation rate greatly increases from <0.006 s(-1) to >2 s(-1) upon
      introduction of mismatches proximal to protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM),
      demonstrating that mismatches encountered early during heteroduplex formation
      induce rapid rejection of off-target DNA. In contrast, PAM-distal mismatches up
      to 11 base pairs in length, which prevent DNA cleavage, still allow formation of
      a stable complex (dissociation rate <0.006 s(-1)), suggesting that extremely slow
      rejection could sequester Cas9-RNA, increasing the Cas9 expression level
      necessary for genome-editing, thereby aggravating off-target effects. We also
      observed at least two different bound FRET states that may represent distinct
      steps in target search and proofreading.

PMID- 27624854
TI  - Two-dose seasonal influenza vaccine coverage and timeliness among children aged 6
      months through 3 years: An evidence from the 2010-11 to the 2014-15 seasons in
      Zhejiang province, east China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the coverage and timeliness of seasonal influenza vaccine
      vaccination (SIV) among children aged 6 months to 3 years from the 2010-11
      through the 2014-15 seasons. METHODS: Children registered in Zhejiang Provincial
      Immunization Information System (ZJIIS) and needed 2 seasonal influenza vaccine
      doses in a given season from 2010-11 to 2014-15 were enrolled. Socio-economic
      information and SIV records of target children were extracted from ZJIIS on 1
      January 2016. Any (>=1 dose) and full (2 doses) vaccination coverage by December
      1 and March 31 as well as interval between 2 doses were calculated. Trends of
      coverage over time and determinants on fully vaccination coverage and interval
      between 2 doses were assessed. RESULTS: Full SIV overage by Mar 31 increased from
      the 2010-11 to the 2014-15 seasons (2.60% vs 2.92%). Less than 1% of children
      received 2 doses by December 1. The interval between 2 doses among fully
      vaccinated children decreased over time (2010-11: 68.32 days; 2014-15: 49.51
      days; p < 0.05). Age, socio-economic development level of resident areas were
      inversely associated with full vaccination coverage and resident children had a
      significantly higher full vaccination coverage. Younger age, resident children,
      receiving vaccination from higher service frequency clinics and clinics with
      morning and afternoon sessions were positive determinants of a shorter interval
      between 2 doses. CONCLUSION: Majority of children aged 6 months to 3 years
      remained at risk of incomplete and delayed SIV. The importance of the 2-dose SIV
      recommendation needs to be emphasized and effective interventions needs to be
      implemented to improve the completeness and the timeliness of SIV.

PMID- 27624853
TI  - Tyrosine decarboxylase activity of Enterococcus mundtii: new insights into
      phenotypic and genetic aspects.
AB  - Few information is available about the tyraminogenic potential of the species
      Enterococcus mundtii. In this study, two plant-derived strains of E. mundtii were
      selected and investigated to better understand the phenotypic behaviour and the
      genetic mechanisms involved in tyramine accumulation. Both the strains
      accumulated tyramine from the beginning of exponential phase of growth,
      independently on the addition of tyrosine to the medium. The strains accumulated
      also 2-phenylethylamine, although with lower efficiency and in greater extent
      when tyrosine was not added. Accordingly, the tyrosine decarboxylase (tyrDC) gene
      expression level increased during the exponential phase with tyrosine added,
      while it remained constant and high without precursor. The genetic organization
      as well as sequence identity levels of tyrDC and tyrosine permease (tyrP) genes
      indicated a correlation with those of phylogenetically closer enterococcal
      species, such as E. faecium, E. hirae and E. durans; however, the gene Na+/H+
      antiporter (nhaC) that usually follow tyrP is missing. In addition, BLAST
      analysis revealed the presence of additional genes encoding for decarboxylase and
      permease in the genome of several E. mundtii strains. It is speculated the
      occurrence of a duplication event and the acquisition of different specificity
      for these enzymes that deserves further investigations.

PMID- 27624856
TI  - Questioning public perception, conservation policy, and recovery actions for
      honeybees in North America.

PMID- 27624855
TI  - Canine ocular onchocerciasis: a retrospective review of the diagnosis, treatment,
      and outcome of 16 cases in New Mexico (2011-2015).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical exam findings, treatment and outcomes of 16
      dogs diagnosed with ocular onchocerciasis in New Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Records of dogs diagnosed by the primary author were reviewed (2011-2015).
      Records that were accessible and included a diagnosis of Onchocerca lupi by
      histopathologic or molecular identification of the nematode were included.
      RESULTS: Sixteen cases were included. 3/16 dogs were treated with year-round
      heartworm prophylaxis prior to infection. Clinical exam findings included
      conjunctival hyperemia and/or episcleral injection (16/16), focal subconjunctival
      mass(es) (14/16), retinal detachment (7/16), corneal edema (4/16), chemosis
      (3/16), corneal opacity (2/16), exophthalmia (1/16), glaucoma (1/16), strabismus
      (1/16), blepharospasm (1/16), and vitreal degeneration (1/16). Ocular involvement
      was unilateral in 7/16 dogs and bilateral in 9/16 dogs. The diagnosis was
      confirmed via histologic identification of the nematodes and/or PCR. Treatment
      consisted of medical management or a combination medical and surgical management.
      Known or suspected recurrence of disease was documented in 10 dogs. CONCLUSIONS:
      Canine ocular onchocerciasis is endemic in New Mexico. Histopathology and
      molecular identification are useful diagnostic tools. Medical management alone
      was successful in many cases.

PMID- 27624857
TI  - Compression stockings for preventing deep vein thrombosis in airline passengers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Air travel might increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). It
      has been suggested that wearing compression stockings might reduce this risk.
      This is an update of the review first published in 2006. OBJECTIVES: To assess
      the effects of wearing compression stockings versus not wearing them for
      preventing DVT in people travelling on flights lasting at least four hours.
      SEARCH METHODS: For this update the Cochrane Vascular Information Specialist
      (CIS) searched the Specialised Register (10 February 2016). In addition, the CIS
      searched the Cochrane Register of Studies (CENTRAL (2016, Issue 1)). SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Randomised trials of compression stockings versus no stockings in
      passengers on flights lasting at least four hours. Trials in which passengers
      wore a stocking on one leg but not the other, or those comparing stockings and
      another intervention were also eligible. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review
      authors independently selected trials for inclusion and extracted data. We sought
      additional information from trialists where necessary. MAIN RESULTS: One new
      study that fulfilled the inclusion criteria was identified for this update.
      Eleven randomised trials (n = 2906) were included in this review: nine (n = 2821)
      compared wearing graduated compression stockings on both legs versus not wearing
      them; one trial (n = 50) compared wearing graduated compression tights versus not
      wearing them; and one trial (n = 35) compared wearing a graduated compression
      stocking on one leg for the outbound flight and on the other leg on the return
      flight. Eight trials included people judged to be at low or medium risk of
      developing DVT (n = 1598) and two included high-risk participants (n = 1273). All
      flights had a duration of more than five hours.Fifty of 2637 participants with
      follow-up data available in the trials of wearing compression stockings on both
      legs had a symptomless DVT; three wore stockings, 47 did not (odds ratio (OR)
      0.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 0.25, P < 0.001; high-quality
      evidence). There were no symptomless DVTs in three trials. Sixteen of 1804 people
      developed superficial vein thrombosis, four wore stockings, 12 did not (OR 0.45,
      95% CI 0.18 to 1.13, P = 0.09; moderate-quality evidence). No deaths, pulmonary
      emboli or symptomatic DVTs were reported. Wearing stockings had a significant
      impact in reducing oedema (mean difference (MD) -4.72, 95% CI -4.91 to -4.52;
      based on six trials; low-quality evidence). A further two trials showed reduced
      oedema in the stockings group but could not be included in the meta-analysis as
      they used different methods to measure oedema. No significant adverse effects
      were reported. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is high-quality evidence that airline
      passengers similar to those in this review can expect a substantial reduction in
      the incidence of symptomless DVT and low-quality evidence that leg oedema is
      reduced if they wear compression stockings. Quality was limited by the way that
      oedema was measured. There is moderate-quality evidence that superficial vein
      thrombosis may be reduced if passengers wear compression stockings. We cannot
      assess the effect of wearing stockings on death, pulmonary embolism or
      symptomatic DVT because no such events occurred in these trials. Randomised
      trials to assess these outcomes would need to include a very large number of
      people.

PMID- 27624859
TI  - Strengthening research to improve hypertensive patient outcomes in Peru.

PMID- 27624858
TI  - Simple and rapid detection of Tilletia horrida causing rice kernel smut in rice
      seeds.
AB  - A simple and rapid method for the detection of Tilletia horrida, the causal agent
      of rice kernel smut, in rice seeds is developed based on specific polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR). To design the specific primers for the detection of T.
      horrida, partial sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA region of T.
      horrida, T. controversa, T. walkeri, T. ehrhartae, T. indica and T. caries were
      analyzed and compared. A 503-bp fragment was amplified with the designed primers
      from the T. horrida genomic DNA. However, no PCR product was obtained from the
      DNA of other five Tilletia species and 22 fungal plant pathogens tested in the
      present work indicating the specificity of the primers for the detection of T.
      horrida. The PCR was performed by directly using the spores, isolated from the 21
      different rice seed samples, as template DNA. The T. horrida was detected in 6 of
      the samples, indicating that 28.6% of the rice samples were contaminated with the
      kernel smut pathogen. This simple PCR based diagnostic assay can be applied for
      the direct and rapid detection and identification of T. horrida to screen large
      numbers of rice seed samples.

PMID- 27624860
TI  - Pharmacy and primary care perspectives on e-prescribing in a rural community: A
      focused ethnography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic prescribing (ERx) is the ability for prescriber to send a
      digital prescription directly to a pharmacist through a dedicated secure network.
      A number of federally funded incentives such as the health information technology
      for economic and clinical health (HITECH) and Meaningful Use standards have led
      to ERx implementation. ERx is an integral part of primary care practice and today
      most community pharmacies are enabled to accept e-prescriptions. Little is known
      about the experience of rural pharmacists, primary care providers and patients
      regarding e-prescribing. This paper reports on the results of ERx from their
      perspectives. The findings are a portion of a larger qualitative descriptive
      study focused on the meaning of Meaningful Use in remote rural communities. One
      remote rural community in the Pacific Northwest was used for this research
      endeavor. OBJECTIVES: Explore understandings of e-prescribing from both
      pharmacist and primary care provider perspective. Explore patients'
      understandings and experiences of e-prescribing. METHODS: The conceptual model
      for this research was the Ecological Transactional Model. This model informed the
      research design, interview questions and analysis. A qualitative descriptive
      methodology - focused ethnography was used for this study. Six key informant
      interviews, 14 patient interviews and 15 hours of participant observation
      provided the data. Data analysis occurred collectively between a social pharmacy
      researcher, a primary care nurse practitioner-researcher and pharmacy graduate
      students. The research qualitatively identified contextual understandings and
      dimensions of ERx in this setting. RESULTS: Based on a focused ethnographic
      methodology, contextual understandings of rurality and role identity, both
      pharmacist and primary care provider, were explored. Perspectives on ERx of
      patients, clinic manager and RN staff were also elicited. Three dimensions of ERx
      were identified - technological, structural and communication. DISCUSSION: The
      structural, technological and communication dimensions are essential in
      understanding e-prescribing across settings and addressing digital divides in our
      health care system. Implications for interprofessional pharmacy education were
      addressed. Understanding the rural context and the need for role adaptability has
      implications for health care policy. Additional research is needed on the role of
      the rural pharmacist and how best to interact with primary care providers and
      patients.

PMID- 27624861
TI  - Development of a Terpenoid Alkaloid-like Compound Library Based on the Humulene
      Skeleton.
AB  - Many natural terpenoid alkaloid conjugates show biological activity because their
      structures contain both sp3 -rich terpenoid scaffolds and nitrogen-containing
      alkaloid scaffolds. However, their biosynthesis utilizes a limited set of
      compounds as sources of the terpenoid moiety. The production of terpenoid
      alkaloids containing various types of terpenoid moiety may provide useful,
      chemically diverse compound libraries for drug discovery. Herein, we report the
      construction of a library of terpenoid alkaloid-like compounds based on Lewis
      acid-catalyzed transannulation of humulene diepoxide and subsequent sequential
      olefin metathesis. Cheminformatic analysis quantitatively showed that the
      synthesized terpenoid alkaloid-like compound library has a high level of three
      dimensional-shape diversity. Extensive pharmacological screening of the library
      has led to the identification of promising compounds for the development of
      antihypolipidemic drugs. Therefore, the synthesis of terpenoid alkaloid-like
      compound libraries based on humulene is well suited to drug discovery. Synthesis
      of terpenoid alkaloid-like compounds based on several natural terpenoids is an
      effective strategy for producing chemically diverse libraries.

PMID- 27624862
TI  - The relative availability of inorganic carbon and inorganic nitrogen influences
      the response of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum to elevated CO2.
AB  - This work originates from three facts: (i) changes in CO2 availability influence
      metabolic processes in algal cells; (ii) Spatial and temporal variations of
      nitrogen availability cause repercussions on phytoplankton physiology; (iii)
      Growth and cell composition are dependent on the stoichiometry of nutritional
      resources. In this study, we assess whether the impact of rising pCO2 is
      influenced by N availability, through the impact that it would have on the C/N
      stoichiometry, in conditions of N sufficiency. Our experiments used the
      dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum, which we cultured under three CO2
      regimes (400, 1,000, and 5,000 ppmv, pH of 8.1) and either variable (the NO3-
      concentration was always 2.5 mmol . L-1 ) or constant (NO3- concentration varied
      to maintain the same Ci /NO3- ratio at all pCO2 ) Ci /NO3- ratio. Regardless of N
      availability, cells had higher specific growth rates, but lower cell dry weight
      and C and N quotas, at elevated CO2 . The carbohydrate pool size and the C/N was
      unaltered in all treatments. The lipid content only decreased at high pCO2 at
      constant Ci /NO3- ratio. In the variable Ci /NO3- conditions, the relative
      abundance of Rubisco (and other proteins) also changed; this did not occur at
      constant Ci /NO3- . Thus, the biomass quality of P. reticulatum for grazers was
      affected by the Ci /NO3- ratio in the environment and not only by the pCO2 , both
      with respect to the size of the main organic pools and the composition of the
      expressed proteome.

PMID- 27624863
TI  - Comment on "Nanoparticle Enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for
      Microdrop Analysis at subppm Level": Several Issues to Consider When
      Quantitatively Measuring Fluids Using Nanoparticle-Enhanced Laser-Induced
      Breakdown Spectroscopy.

PMID- 27624864
TI  - Dentin caries risk indicators in 1-year-olds. A two year follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early childhood caries (ECC) risk factors are suspected to vary
      between regions with different caries prevalence. AIM: Identify ECC risk factors
      for 1-year-olds predicting dentin caries at 3 years of age in a region with low
      caries prevalence. DESIGN: Caries risk was assessed by dental hygienist or dental
      assistant in 779 one-year-olds. The oral mutans streptococci (MS) score was
      performed from a tooth surface or (in pre-dentate children) from oral mucosa. A
      parental questionnaire with questions regarding family factors (siblings with or
      without caries), general health, food habits (night meals, breastfeeding, other
      beverage than water), oral hygiene habits and emerged teeth were answered by
      parents of the 1-year-olds. Dentin caries was assessed when the children were 3
      year-olds. Simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were used for
      identification of caries-associated factors. RESULTS: An increased caries risk
      was assessed in 4.4% of the 1-year-olds. Dentin caries was found in 2.6% of the 3
      year-olds. Caries risk at 1 year was associated with caries at 3 years (OR = 6.5,
      p = .002). Multiple regression analysis found the variables Beverages other than
      water (OR = 7.1, p < 0.001), Caries in sibling (OR = 4.8, p = .002), High level
      of MS (score 2-3) (OR = 3.4, p = .03) and Night meal (OR = 3.0, p = .03) to be
      associated with caries. The single variables Beverage other than water between
      meals and Caries in sibling were more reliable than Caries risk assessed
      performed by dental personnel. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioural, family and microbial
      factors are important when assessing caries risk among 1-year-olds in a region
      with low caries experience.

PMID- 27624866
TI  - Making anti-cytokine therapy more selective: Studies in mice.
AB  - Cytokines are involved in a wide range of functions shaping the normal immune
      response, yet inflammatory changes in the immune system due to dysregulated
      cytokine signaling may lead to the induction of autoimmunity. Cytokine inhibitors
      have revolutionized the treatment of many autoimmune diseases in recent years.
      Systemic cytokine ablation, however, is often associated with the development of
      adverse side effects and some patients simply do not respond to therapy. TNF, IL
      1 and IL-6 are the best characterized proinflammatory cytokines considered as the
      main therapeutic targets for the treatment of several autoimmune and inflammatory
      diseases. But can anti-cytokine therapy become more selective and thus more
      efficient? This mini-review discusses several recently emerging paradigms and
      summarizes current experimental attempts to validate them in mouse studies.

PMID- 27624865
TI  - Airway and peripheral urokinase plasminogen activator receptor is elevated in
      asthma, and identifies a severe, nonatopic subset of patients.
AB  - RATIONALE: Genetic polymorphisms in the asthma susceptibility gene, urokinase
      plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR/PLAUR) have been associated with lung
      function decline and uPAR blood levels in asthma subjects. Preliminary studies
      have identified uPAR elevation in asthma; however, a definitive study regarding
      which clinical features of asthma uPAR may be driving is currently lacking.
      OBJECTIVES: We aimed to comprehensively determine the uPAR expression profile in
      asthma and control subjects utilizing bronchial biopsies and serum, and to relate
      uPAR expression to asthma clinical features. METHODS: uPAR levels were determined
      in control (n = 9) and asthmatic (n = 27) bronchial biopsies using
      immunohistochemistry, with a semi-quantitative score defining intensity in
      multiple cell types. Soluble-cleaved (sc) uPAR levels were determined in serum
      through ELISA in UK (cases n = 129; controls n = 39) and Dutch (cases n = 514;
      controls n = 96) cohorts. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In bronchial tissue,
      uPAR was elevated in inflammatory cells in the lamina propria (P = 0.0019),
      bronchial epithelial (P = 0.0002) and airway smooth muscle cells (P = 0.0352) of
      patients with asthma, with uPAR levels correlated between the cell types. No
      correlation with disease severity or asthma clinical features was identified.
      scuPAR serum levels were elevated in patients with asthma (1.5-fold; P = 0.0008),
      and we identified an association between high uPAR serum levels and severe,
      nonatopic disease. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel data that elevated
      airway and blood uPAR is a feature of asthma and that blood uPAR is particularly
      related to severe, nonatopic asthma. The findings warrant further investigation
      and may provide a therapeutic opportunity for this refractory population.

PMID- 27624868
TI  - Improving the diagnosis of eosinophilic asthma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diagnosing eosinophilic asthma is important, because uncontrolled
      eosinophilic airway inflammation is associated with reduced response to
      glucocorticoids and increased risk of severe exacerbations. AREAS COVERED:
      Currently, the diagnosis of eosinophilic asthma is based on measurements of
      sputum eosinophils, which is time consuming and requires specific technical
      expertise. Therefore, biomarkers such as blood eosinophils, FeNO, serum IgE and
      periostin are being used as surrogates. These biomarkers can be used separately
      or in combination, and their accuracy to detect sputum eosinophilia depends on
      cut-off values. The demonstration of eosinophils in sputum is no guarantee for
      response to treatment with current biological agents targeting Type 2
      inflammation, because several molecular pathways may lead to eosinophilic
      inflammation. In the near future, the results of large trials using 'omics'
      technologies will certainly identify new, more 'upstream' biomarkers of
      eosinophilic inflammation, that will ultimately lead to the ideal targeted
      treatment for patients with eosinophilic asthma. Expert commentary: Of currently
      used surrogate markers to diagnose eosinophilic asthma, blood eosinophils and
      FeNO have the highest diagnostic accuracy, in particular if used in combination
      to rule in or rule out eosinophilic asthma. For patients who cannot be classified
      by these biomarkers alone, the clinical profile may be of help.

PMID- 27624867
TI  - Alternol, a natural compound, exerts an anti-tumour effect on osteosarcoma by
      modulating of STAT3 and ROS/MAPK signalling pathways.
AB  - Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most frequent primary malignant bone tumour. Alternol, a
      novel compound purified from microbial fermentation products exerts anti-tumour
      effects across several cancer types. The effect of alternol on human OS remains
      to be elucidated. We first evaluated the anti-tumour effect of alternol in
      several human OS cell lines in vitro and investigated its underlying mechanism.
      Alternol inhibited OS cell proliferation, migration and induced caspase-dependent
      apoptosis, G2/M cell cycle arrest in a dose and time-dependent manner. Moreover,
      alternol treatment inhibited signal transducer and activator of transcription-3
      (STAT3) phosphorylation in 143B and MG63 human OS cells, as evaluated using a
      STAT3-dependent dual luciferase reporter system. Exposure to alternol resulted in
      excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and Jun amino-terminal kinases
      (JNK), extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2) and p38 activation.
      Furthermore, alternol-induced cell death was significantly restored in the
      presence of the ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) or a caspase inhibitor Z
      VAD-FMK. NAC also prevented G2/M phase arrest and phosphorylation of mitogen
      activated protein kinases (MAPK), but did not reverse STAT3 inactivation.
      Finally, alternol suppressed tumour growth in vivo in the nude mouse OS tibia
      orthotopic model. Immunohistochemistry revealed that alternol treatment resulted
      in down-regulation of phosph-STAT3 Tyr705 and up-regulation of cleaved caspase-3
      and phosph-SAPK (Stress-activated protein kinases)/JNK expression. Taken
      together, our results reveal that alternol suppresses cell proliferation,
      migration and induces apoptosis, cell cycle arrest by modulating of ROS-dependent
      MAPK and STAT3 signalling pathways in human OS cells. Therefore, alternol is a
      promising candidate for developing anti-tumour drugs target OS.

PMID- 27624870
TI  - Boston children's hospital community asthma initiative: Five-year cost analyses
      of a home visiting program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the costs and benefits of the Boston Children's Hospital
      Community Asthma Initiative (CAI) through reduction of Emergency Department (ED)
      visits and hospitalizations for the full pilot-phase program participants.
      METHODS: A cost-benefit analyses was conducted using hospital administrative data
      to determine an adjusted Return on Investment (ROI): on all 268 patients enrolled
      in the CAI program during the 33-month pilot program phase of CAI intervention
      between October 1, 2005 and June 30, 2008 using a comparison group of 818
      patients from a similar cohort in neighboring ZIP codes without CAI intervention.
      Cost data through June 30, 2013 were used to examine cost changes and calculate
      an adjusted ROI over a 5-year post-intervention period. RESULTS: CAI patients had
      a cost reduction greater than the comparison group of $1,216 in Year 1 (P =
      0.001), $1,320 in Year 2 (P < 0.001), $1,132 (P = 0.002) in Year 3, $1,123 (P =
      0.004) in Year 4, and $997 (P = 0.022) in Year 5. Adjusting for the cost savings
      for the comparison group, the cost savings from the intervention resulted in an
      adjusted ROI of 1.91 over 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based,
      multidisciplinary, coordinated disease management programs can decrease the
      incidence of costly hospitalizations and ED visits from asthma. An ROI of greater
      than one, as found in this cost analysis, supports the business case for the
      provision of community-based asthma services as part of patient-centered medical
      homes and Accountable Care Organizations.

PMID- 27624869
TI  - A FRET biosensor reveals spatiotemporal activation and functions of aurora kinase
      A in living cells.
AB  - Overexpression of AURKA is a major hallmark of epithelial cancers. It encodes the
      multifunctional serine/threonine kinase aurora A, which is activated at metaphase
      and is required for cell cycle progression; assessing its activation in living
      cells is mandatory for next-generation drug design. We describe here a Forster's
      resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor detecting the conformational changes
      of aurora kinase A induced by its autophosphorylation on Thr288. The biosensor
      functionally replaces the endogenous kinase in cells and allows the activation of
      the kinase to be followed throughout the cell cycle. Inhibiting the catalytic
      activity of the kinase prevents the conformational changes of the biosensor.
      Using this approach, we discover that aurora kinase A activates during G1 to
      regulate the stability of microtubules in cooperation with TPX2 and CEP192. These
      results demonstrate that the aurora kinase A biosensor is a powerful tool to
      identify new regulatory pathways controlling aurora kinase A activation.

PMID- 27624871
TI  - Familial early puberty: presentation and inheritance pattern in 139 families.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mechanism that initiates the onset of puberty is largely unknown
      but the age of onset is mainly under genetic control and influenced by
      environmental factors including nutrition. The coexistence in the same family of
      central precocious puberty and advanced puberty, both representing early puberty,
      suggests that they may represent a clinical spectrum of the same trait due to
      early activation of the GnRH pulse generator. We therefore evaluated the mode of
      inheritance of early puberty in a large series of familial cases. METHODS: A
      retrospective, single center study was carried out on 154 probands (116 girls and
      38 boys), from 139 families seen for idiopathic central precocious puberty (onset
      before 8 years in girls and 9-10 years in boys, n = 93) and/or advanced puberty
      (onset between 8 and 10 years in girls and 10 and 11 years in boys, n = 61) seen
      over a period of 8 years. RESULTS: Of the 139 families, 111 (80.4 %) had at least
      one affected 1st degree relatives, 17 (12 %) had only 2nd, 5 (3.6 %) only 3rd and
      3 (2.2 %) had both 2nd and 3rd degree affected individuals. In the two remaining
      families, the unaffected mother had affected girls from two unaffected fathers.
      In the majority of families the inheritance of the phenotype was consistent with
      autosomal dominant mode of transmission with incomplete penetrance. An
      exclusively maternal mode of transmission could be observed or inferred in 83
      families, paternal in only 2 families (p < 0.0001) and both maternal and paternal
      modes in 15 families. In the 139 families, 374 cases of early puberty were
      identified of whom 315 (84.2 %) were affected females and 59 (15.8 %) affected
      males (p < 0.0001). Twenty one percent of families had exclusively precocious
      puberty, 25 % had exclusively advanced puberty and 54 % had combinations of both.
      CONCLUSIONS: The data confirm the high incidence of affected girls with familial
      early puberty. The mode of inheritance of the phenotype is predominantly
      maternal. More than half of the families included both precocious and advanced
      puberty suggesting similar genetic factors.

PMID- 27624873
TI  - Impaired Japanese encephalitis virus replication in p62/SQSTM1 deficient mouse
      embryonic fibroblasts.
AB  - The role of the autophagy adaptor protein p62/SQSTM1 in Japanese encephalitis
      virus (JEV) replication in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) was investigated.
      Amounts of JEV RNA and E protein were significantly smaller in p62-deficient
      cells than wild-type cells at 24 hr post-infection (p.i.). JEV RNA quantitation
      and viral plaque assays showed significant reductions in viral titers in p62
      deficient cell culture fluid. Our results indicate that JEV replication is
      impaired in p62-deficient MEFs, suggesting that p62 positively regulates JEV
      replication in host cells.

PMID- 27624872
TI  - Visible-absorption spectroscopy as a biomarker to predict treatment response and
      prognosis of surgically resected esophageal cancer.
AB  - The application of optical absorption spectra in prognostic prediction has hardly
      been investigated. We developed and evaluated a novel two dimensional absorption
      spectrum measurement system (TDAS) for use in early diagnosis, evaluating
      response to chemoradiation, and making prognostic prediction. The absorption
      spectra of 120 sets of normal and tumor tissues from esophageal cancer patients
      were analyzed with TDAS ex-vivo. We demonstrated the cancerous tissue, the tissue
      from patients with a poor concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) response, and the
      tissue from patients with an early disease progression each had a readily
      identifiable common spectral signature. Principal component analysis (PCA)
      classified tissue spectra into distinct groups, demonstrating the feasibility of
      using absorption spectra in differentiating normal and tumor tissues, and in
      predicting CCRT response, poor survival and tumor recurrence (efficiencies of
      75%, 100% and 85.7% respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that patients
      identified as having poor-response, poor-survival and recurrence spectral
      signatures were correlated with increased risk of poor response to CCRT (P =
      0.012), increased risk of death (P = 0.111) and increased risk of recurrence (P =
      0.030) respectively. Our findings suggest that optical absorption microscopy has
      great potential to be a useful tool for pre-operative diagnosis and prognostic
      prediction of esophageal cancer.

PMID- 27624876
TI  - Selection of reference genes for gene expression analysis by real-time qPCR in
      avian cells infected with infectious bronchitis virus.
AB  - Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) causes infectious bronchitis in poultry, a
      respiratory disease that is a source of major economic loss to the poultry
      industry. Detection and the study of the molecular pathogenesis of the virus
      often involve the use of real-time quantitative PCR assays (qPCR). To account for
      error within the experiments, the levels of target gene transcription are
      normalized to that of suitable reference genes. Despite publication of the MIQE
      (Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments)
      guidelines in 2009, single un-tested reference genes are often used for
      normalization of qPCR assays in avian research studies. Here, we use the geNorm
      algorithm to identify suitable reference genes in different avian cell types
      during infection with apathogenic and pathogenic strains of IBV. We discuss the
      importance of selecting an appropriate experimental sample subset for geNorm
      analysis, and show the effect that this selection can have on resultant reference
      gene selection. The effects of inappropriate normalization on the transcription
      pattern of a cellular signalling gene, AKT1, and the interferon-inducible, MX1,
      were studied. We identify the possibility of the misinterpretation of qPCR data
      when an inappropriate normalization strategy is employed. This is most notable
      when measuring the transcription of AKT1, where changes are minimal during
      infection.

PMID- 27624875
TI  - Socioeconomic Differences in Use of Low-Value Cancer Screenings and
      Distributional Effects in Medicare.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Consuming low-value health care not only highlights inefficient
      resource use but also brings an important concern regarding the economics of
      disparities. We identify the relation of socioeconomic characteristics to the use
      of low-value cancer screenings in Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) settings, and
      quantify the amount subsidized from nonusers and taxpayers to users of these
      screenings. DATA SOURCES: 2007-2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, Medicare
      FFS claims, and the Area Health Resource Files. STUDY DESIGN: Our sample included
      enrollees in FFS Part B for the entire calendar year. We excluded beneficiaries
      with a claims-documented or self-reported history of targeted cancers, or those
      enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare Advantage plans. We identified use of low-value
      Pap smears, mammograms, and prostate-specific antigen tests based on established
      algorithms, and estimated a logistic model with year dummies separately for each
      test. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Secondary data analyses. PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: We found a statistically significant positive association between
      privileged socioeconomic characteristics and use of low-value screenings. Having
      higher income and supplemental private insurance strongly predicted more net
      subsidies from Medicare. CONCLUSIONS: FFS enrollees who are better off in terms
      of sociodemographic characteristics receive greater subsidies from taxpayers for
      using low-value cancer screenings.

PMID- 27624877
TI  - A Multifaceted Nurse- and Web-Based Intervention for Improving Adherence to
      Treatment in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: Rationale and Design of the
      MIRROR Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor adherence to medication is one of the limitations in the
      treatment of cardiovascular diseases, thereby increasing the risk of premature
      death, hospital admissions, and related costs. There is a need for simple and
      easy-to-implement interventions that are based on patients' perspectives,
      beliefs, and perceptions of their illness and medication. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective is to test the effectivity of this intervention to improve medication
      adherence in patients with established cardiovascular disease, that is, in
      secondary prevention. METHODS: In this study the effect of a personalized
      visualization of cardiovascular risk levels through a website aiming at
      supporting self management in combination with a group consultation and
      communication intervention by a nurse on adherence to treatment in 600 patients
      with manifest cardiovascular diseases will be assessed. The health belief model
      was chosen as main theoretical model for the intervention. RESULTS: Primary
      outcome is adherence to treatment calculated by refill data. Secondary outcomes
      include the Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire and the Modified Morisky
      Scale. Patients are followed for one year. Results are expected by 2015.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study assesses adherence to treatment in a high-risk
      cardiovascular population by applying an intervention that addresses patients'
      capacity and practical barriers as well as patients' beliefs and perceptions of
      their illness and medication. CLINICALTRIAL: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01449695;
      https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01449695 (Archived by WebCite at
      http://www.webcitation.org/6kCzkIKH3).

PMID- 27624878
TI  - Current-generating 'double layer shoe' with a porous sole.
AB  - We present a principle and a simple theory of a novel reverse electroactuator, in
      which the electrical current is generated by pumping an electrolytic liquid into
      nonwetting pores of a polarized electrode. The theory establishes the
      relationship between the variation of external pressure and the electrical
      current. The effective current density is amplified by the high porosity of the
      electrode. The suggested principle can be implemented into the design of a shoe
      which will generate an AC current simply by walking. Estimates of typical
      parameters and operation regimes of such a device suggest that one can easily
      generate a peak current density of ~17 mA cm(-2). This would produce some 1.7 A
      from each shoe at 0.65 W average power density, without hampering walking.

PMID- 27624874
TI  - Associations of the MCM6-rs3754686 proxy for milk intake in Mediterranean and
      American populations with cardiovascular biomarkers, disease and mortality:
      Mendelian randomization.
AB  - Controversy persists on the association between dairy products, especially milk,
      and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Genetic proxies may improve dairy intake
      estimations, and clarify diet-disease relationships through Mendelian
      randomization. We meta-analytically (n <= 20,089) evaluated associations between
      a lactase persistence (LP) SNP, the minichromosome maintenance complex component
      6 (MCM6)-rs3754686C>T (nonpersistence>persistence), dairy intake, and CVD
      biomarkers in American (Hispanics, African-American and Whites) and Mediterranean
      populations. Moreover, we analyzed longitudinal associations with milk, CVD and
      mortality in PREDIMED), a randomized Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) intervention
      trial (n = 7185). The MCM6-rs3754686/MCM6-rs309180 (as proxy), LP-allele (T) was
      strongly associated with higher milk intake, but inconsistently associated with
      glucose and lipids, and not associated with CVD or total mortality in the whole
      population. Heterogeneity analyses suggested some sex-specific associations. The
      T-allele was associated with higher CVD and mortality risk in women but not in
      men (P-sex interaction:0.005 and 0.032, respectively), mainly in the MedDiet
      group. However, milk intake was not associated with CVD biomarkers, CVD or
      mortality either generally or in sub-groups. Although MCM6-rs3754686 is a good
      milk intake proxy in these populations, attributing its associations with CVD and
      mortality in Mediterranean women to milk is unwarranted, as other factors
      limiting the assumption of causality in Mendelian randomization may exist.

PMID- 27624879
TI  - alpha-Mangostin-encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles inhibit pancreatic carcinogenesis
      by targeting cancer stem cells in human, and transgenic (Kras(G12D), and
      Kras(G12D)/tp53R270H) mice.
AB  - Activation of sonic hedgehog (Shh) in cancer stem cell (CSC) has been
      demonstrated with aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer. In order to enhance the
      biological activity of alpha-mangostin, we formulated mangostin-encapsulated PLGA
      nanoparticles (Mang-NPs) and examined the molecular mechanisms by which they
      inhibit human and KC mice (Pdx(Cre);LSL-Kras(G12D)) pancreatic CSC
      characteristics in vitro, and pancreatic carcinogenesis in KPC
      (Pdx(Cre);LSLKras(G12D);LSL-Trp53(R172H)) mice. Mang-NPs inhibited human and
      Kras(G12D) mice pancreatic CSC characteristics in vitro. Mang-NPs also inhibited
      EMT by up-regulating E-cadherin and inhibiting N-cadherin and transcription
      factors Slug, and pluripotency maintaining factors Nanog, c-Myc, and Oct4.
      Furthermore, Mang-NPs inhibited the components of Shh pathway and Gli targets. In
      vivo, Mang-NPs inhibited the progression of pancreatic intraneoplasia to
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and liver metastasis in KPC mice. The inhibitory
      effects of Mang-NPs on carcinogenesis in KPC mice were associated with
      downregulation of pluripotency maintaining factors (c-Myc, Nanog and Oct4), stem
      cell markers (CD24 and CD133), components of Shh pathway (Gli1, Gli2, Patched1/2,
      and Smoothened), Gli targets (Bcl-2, XIAP and Cyclin D1), and EMT markers and
      transcription factors (N-cadherin, Slug, Snail and Zeb1), and upregulation of E
      cadherin. Overall, our data suggest that Mang-NPs can inhibit pancreatic cancer
      growth, development and metastasis by targeting Shh pathway.

PMID- 27624880
TI  - Designs for phase I trials in ordered groups.
AB  - We propose a new design for dose finding for cytotoxic agents in two ordered
      groups of patients. By ordered groups, we mean that prior to the study there is
      clinical information that would indicate that for a given dose one group would be
      more susceptible to toxicities than patients in the other group. The designs are
      evaluated relative to two previously proposed designs for ordered groups over a
      range of scenarios generated randomly from a family of dose-toxicity curves.
      Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27624883
TI  - Synthesis and Antiviral Activity Evaluation of Nitroporphyrins and Nitrocorroles
      as Potential Agents against Human Cytomegalovirus Infection.
AB  - Different nitroporphyrinoid derivatives were synthesized and studied as potential
      agents against human Cytomegalovirus. Interestingly, two nitrocorroles display
      strong activity against human Cytomegalovirus with IC 50 < 0.5 MUM. These
      compounds also possess antiproliferative activities without detected in vivo
      toxicity. Therefore, nitrocorroles appear for the first time as potential active
      compounds that can be applied in human health. 

PMID- 27624884
TI  - Bicyclic and Tricyclic "Expanded" Nucleobase Analogues of Sofosbuvir: New
      Scaffolds for Hepatitis C Therapies.
AB  - Given the impressive success of Gilead's Sofosbuvir, many laboratories, including
      ours, have explored the unique 2'-sugar modification (2'-Me, 2'-F) of nucleoside
      analogues in the hopes of exploiting the biological activity that this unique
      modification has imparted to the nucleoside scaffold. In that regard, we have
      combined our tricyclic "expanded" purine base motif with the 2'-Me, 2'-F sugar
      modification. Although the synthesis of these complex molecules proved to be
      nontrivial, with the best results coming from a linear approach, the overall
      strategy resulted in highly promising biological results for several of the
      target compounds, including their corresponding McGuigan ProTides. Modest
      activity against HCV was observed with inhibitory concentrations of as low as 20
      MUM. 

PMID- 27624881
TI  - QTL meta-analysis of root traits in Brassica napus under contrasting phosphorus
      supply in two growth systems.
AB  - A high-density SNP-based genetic linkage map was constructed and integrated with
      a previous map in the Tapidor x Ningyou7 (TNDH) Brassica napus population, giving
      a new map with a total of 2041 molecular markers and an average marker density
      which increased from 0.39 to 0.97 (0.82 SNP bin) per cM. Root and shoot traits
      were screened under low and 'normal' phosphate (Pi) supply using a 'pouch and
      wick' system, and had been screened previously in an agar based system. The P
      efficient parent Ningyou7 had a shorter primary root length (PRL), greater
      lateral root density (LRD) and a greater shoot biomass than the P-inefficient
      parent Tapidor under both treatments and growth systems. Quantitative trait loci
      (QTL) analysis identified a total of 131 QTL, and QTL meta-analysis found four
      integrated QTL across the growth systems. Integration reduced the confidence
      interval by ~41%. QTL for root and shoot biomass were co-located on chromosome A3
      and for lateral root emergence were co-located on chromosomes A4/C4 and C8/C9.
      There was a major QTL for LRD on chromosome C9 explaining ~18% of the phenotypic
      variation. QTL underlying an increased LRD may be a useful breeding target for P
      uptake efficiency in Brassica.

PMID- 27624885
TI  - Activating NRF1-BRAF and ATG7-RAF1 fusions in anaplastic pleomorphic
      xanthoastrocytoma without BRAF p.V600E mutation.

PMID- 27624886
TI  - The quality and effectiveness of interventions that target multiple risk factors
      among young people: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify evaluations of interventions that target multiple risk
      factors in high-risk young people, describe their characteristics, critique their
      methodological quality and summarise their effectiveness. METHODS: A search of
      the literature published between 2009 and 2014 identified 13 evaluations of
      interventions that targeted multiple risk factors, compared to 95 evaluations
      that targeted single risk factors. The methodological adequacy of the 13
      evaluation studies was analysed using the Quality Assessment Tool for
      Quantitative Studies and information regarding characteristics and intervention
      effectiveness was extracted and summarised. RESULTS: There were very few outcome
      evaluation studies of interventions that targeted multiple risk factors, relative
      to single risk factors, among high-risk young people. Of the identified studies,
      half were methodologically weak. Interventions delivered in community settings
      targeted a greater number of risk factors, while those delivered in a school or
      health setting reported a higher proportion of statistically significant
      outcomes. No economic analyses were conducted. Conclusions and Implications for
      Public Health: More methodologically rigorous evaluations of interventions
      targeting multiple risk factors among high-risk young people are required,
      especially for those delivered in community settings. Four key areas for
      improvement are: i) more precisely defining the risk factors experienced by high
      risk young people; ii) achieving greater consistency across interventions; iii)
      standardising outcome measures; and iv) conducting economic analyses.

PMID- 27624888
TI  - Clarifying misunderstandings and misinterpretations about proton pump inhibitor
      responsive oesophageal eosinophilia.

PMID- 27624890
TI  - Thumb-sucking, Amish and the hygiene hypothesis.

PMID- 27624887
TI  - Epigenetics in liver disease: from biology to therapeutics.
AB  - Knowledge of the fundamental epigenetic mechanisms governing gene expression and
      cellular phenotype are sufficiently advanced that novel insights into the
      epigenetic control of chronic liver disease are now emerging. Hepatologists are
      in the process of shedding light on the roles played by DNA methylation,
      histone/chromatin modifications and non-coding RNAs in specific liver
      pathologies. Alongside these discoveries are advances in the technologies for the
      detection and quantification of epigenetic biomarkers, either directly from
      patient tissue or from body fluids. The premise for this review is to survey the
      recent advances in the field of liver epigenetics and to explore their potential
      for translation by industry and clinical hepatologists for the design of novel
      therapeutics and diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers. In particular, we present
      findings in the context of hepatocellular carcinoma, fibrosis and non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease, where there is urgent unmet need for new clinical
      interventions and biomarkers.

PMID- 27624889
TI  - Targeting protein geranylgeranylation slows tumor development in a murine model
      of prostate cancer metastasis.
AB  - The isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway (IBP) plays a critical role in providing
      substrates and enzymes necessary for the post-translational modification and thus
      activation of a number of proteins involved in prostate cancer metastasis.
      Previous work by our lab found novel compound disodium [(6Z,11E,15E)-9
      [bis(sodiooxy)phosphoryl]-17-hydroxy-2,6,12,16-tetramethyheptadeca-2,6,11,15
      tetraen-9-yl]phosphonate (GGOHBP), which inhibits the IBP enzyme geranylgeranyl
      diphosphate synthase (GGDPS), reduced protein geranylgeranylation without
      altering protein farnesylation. This activity significantly reduced adrenal gland
      tumor burden in a murine model of human prostate cancer metastasis which relied
      on treatment of established disease. The present study determined the ability of
      GGDPS inhibition to slow the development of prostate cancer metastasis in a
      preventative murine model. Using tail vein injection of human derived PC-3
      prostate cancer cells 4 d after initiating daily GGOHBP or vehicle treatments, we
      found GGOHBP significantly reduced whole body tumor burden, significantly slowed
      the development of tumors, and prolonged overall survival as compared to vehicle
      treated animals. The observed reduction in soft tissue tumor burden corresponded
      to a biochemical reduction in Rap1A geranylgeranylation, which for prostate
      cancer is important in its own merit and which serves as a surrogate marker for
      Rho family, i.e. Rac, protein modification. This effect was present in all
      treated mice pointing to strong target engagement, which was not observed in non
      tumor burdened tissues or control mice. Our findings reiterate a role for protein
      geranylgeranylation in the development of prostate cancer metastasis in vivo.

PMID- 27624892
TI  - Folding to Curved Surfaces: A Generalized Design Method and Mechanics of Origami
      based Cylindrical Structures.
AB  - Origami structures enrich the field of mechanical metamaterials with the ability
      to convert morphologically and systematically between two-dimensional (2D) thin
      sheets and three-dimensional (3D) spatial structures. In this study, an in-plane
      design method is proposed to approximate curved surfaces of interest with
      generalized Miura-ori units. Using this method, two combination types of crease
      lines are unified in one reprogrammable procedure, generating multiple types of
      cylindrical structures. Structural completeness conditions of the finite
      thickness counterparts to the two types are also proposed. As an example of the
      design method, the kinematics and elastic properties of an origami-based circular
      cylindrical shell are analysed. The concept of Poisson's ratio is extended to the
      cylindrical structures, demonstrating their auxetic property. An analytical model
      of rigid plates linked by elastic hinges, consistent with numerical simulations,
      is employed to describe the mechanical response of the structures. Under
      particular load patterns, the circular shells display novel mechanical behaviour
      such as snap-through and limiting folding positions. By analysing the geometry
      and mechanics of the origami structures, we extend the design space of mechanical
      metamaterials and provide a basis for their practical applications in science and
      engineering.

PMID- 27624891
TI  - Effects of temperature on feed intake and plasma chemistry after exhaustive
      exercise in triploid brown trout (Salmo trutta L).
AB  - The physiological effect of temperature on feed intake and haematological
      parameters after exhaustive swimming in diploid and triploid brown trout (Salmo
      trutta) was investigated. Trout were exposed to an incremental temperature
      challenge (2  degrees C/day) from ambient (6  degrees C) to either 10 or 19 
      degrees C. Feed intake profiles did not differ between ploidy at 10  degrees C;
      however, triploids had a significantly higher total feed intake at 19  degrees C.
      After 24 days, each temperature-ploidy group was exposed to exhaustive swimming
      for 10 min. The haematological response differed between ploidy, with the
      magnitude of the response affected by temperature and ploidy. Post-exercise, acid
      base and ionic differences were observed. Plasma lactate increased significantly
      from rest for both temperature and ploidy groups, but glucose increased
      significantly at higher temperature. Post-exercise, triploids at 19  degrees C
      had significantly higher osmolality and cholesterol than diploids, but
      differences were resumed within 4 h. Elevated alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in fish at higher temperature suggested greater
      tissue damage; however, both ploidy responded similarly. Despite no significant
      differences in deformity prevalence, the type and location of deformities
      observed differed between ploidy (decreased intervertebral space with higher
      prevalence in tail area and fin regions for diploids, while vertebral
      compression, fusion in cranial and caudal trunks for triploids). These results
      suggest triploids have greater appetite than diploids at elevated temperature and
      that triploids suffer similar blood disturbances after exercise as diploids.
      These findings have implications for the management of freshwater ecosystems and
      suggest that stocking triploid brown trout may offer an alternative to diploid
      brown trout.

PMID- 27624893
TI  - Radiation Doses to Patients in Interventional Coronary Procedures-Estimation of
      Updated National Reference Levels by Dose Audit.
AB  - The objective of this study was to estimate the French national updated reference
      levels (RLs) for coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI) by a dose audit from a large data set of unselected procedures and in
      standard-sized patients. Kerma-area product (PKA), air kerma at interventional
      point (Ka,r), fluoroscopy time (FT), and the number of registered frames (NFs)
      and runs (NRs) were collected from 51 229 CAs and 42 222 PCIs performed over a 12
      month period at 61 French hospitals. RLs estimated by the 75th percentile in CAs
      and PCIs performed in unselected patients were 36 and 78 Gy.cm2 for PKA, 498 and
      1285 mGy for Ka,r, 6 and 15 min for FT, and 566 and 960 for NF, respectively.
      These values were consistent with the RLs calculated in standard-sized patients.
      The large difference in dose between sexes leads us to propose specific RLs in
      males and females. The results suggest a trend for a time-course reduction in RLs
      for interventional coronary procedures.

PMID- 27624894
TI  - Direct Dose Measurement On Patient During Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
      Procedures Using Radiophotoluminescence Glass Dosimeters.
AB  - The purpose of this research was to measure accurate patient entrance skin dose
      and maximum skin absorbed dose (MSD) to prevent radiation skin injuries in
      percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). We directly measured the MSD on 50
      PCIs by using multiple radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeters and a modified
      dosimetry gown. Also, we analysed the correlation between the MSD and indirect
      measurement parameters, such as fluoroscopic time (FT), dose-area product (DAP)
      and cumulative air kerma (C-AK). There were very strong correlations between MSD
      and FT, DAP and C-AK, with the correlation between MSD and C-AK being the
      strongest (r = 0.938). In conclusion, the regression lines using MSD as an
      outcome value (y) and C-AK as predictor variables (x) were y = 1.12x (R2 =
      0.880). From the linear regression equation, MSD is estimated to be ~1.12 times
      that of C-AK in real time.

PMID- 27624895
TI  - Neuropsychological assessment of 86-year-old man with Broca's aphasia complaining
      of memory difficulties.
AB  - We report the clinical assessment of J.P., an 86 year-old man with Broca's
      aphasia complaining of memory problems. Our aim was to objectively investigate
      his level of cognitive functioning using standardized neuropsychological tests in
      order to determine the nature of his memory impairment. J.P.'s medical history
      included left-middle cerebral artery (left-MCA) stroke, high frequency hearing
      loss, macular degeneration, and a recent hospitalization related to a fall.
      Results from his neuropsychological testing and from information gathered during
      the clinical interview with his wife suggested that a deficit in executive
      functioning might have been the source for some of his perceived memory problems.
      We were unable to detect any progressive cognitive decline that might have been
      suggestive of something more sinister. Despite his age J.P. was a fully
      functioning and highly contributing member of his society who was completing
      quite complex activities of daily living (ADLs). We provided J.P. with a
      compensatory set of strategies in order for him to circumvent his executive
      difficulties and impairment in expressive language. In the elderly population
      survivors of stroke are continuing to rise with improvements in drug treatment
      and primary care. This case study is important as it provides information on
      neuropsychological assessment in aphasia; and draws attention to valuable
      information in a client's clinical history that might help clarify the prognosis.

PMID- 27624896
TI  - Role of anterior piriform cortex in the acquisition of conditioned flavour
      preference.
AB  - Flavour aversion learning (FAL) and conditioned flavour preference (CFP)
      facilitate animal survival and play a major role in food selection, but the
      neurobiological mechanisms involved are not completely understood.
      Neuroanatomical bases of CFP were examined by using Fos immunohistochemistry to
      record neuronal activity. Rats were trained over eight alternating one-bottle
      sessions to acquire a CFP induced by pairing a flavour with saccharin (grape was
      CS+ in Group 1; cherry in Group 2; in Group 3, grape/cherry in half of animals;
      Group 4, grape/cherry in water). Animals were offered the grape flavour on the
      day immediately after the training and their brains were processed for c-Fos.
      Neurons evidencing Fos-like immunoreactivity were counted in the infralimbic
      cortex, nucleus accumbens core, and anterior piriform cortex (aPC). Analysis
      showed a significantly larger number of activated cells after learning in the aPC
      alone, suggesting that the learning process might have produced a change in this
      cortical region. Ibotenic lesions in the aPC blocked flavour-taste preference but
      did not interrupt flavour-toxin FAL by LiCl. These data suggest that aPC cells
      may be involved in the formation of flavour preferences and that the integrity of
      this region may be specifically necessary for the acquisition of a CFP.

PMID- 27624897
TI  - Intravesical Botulinum Toxin A Injections for Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial
      Cystitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND The role of intravesical botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injections in
      bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) has not been clearly
      defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate high-level evidence regarding the
      efficacy and safety of BTX-A injections for BPS/IC. MATERIAL AND METHODS We
      conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, and
      conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all available randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled studies assessing BTX-A injections for
      BPS/IC. RESULTS Seven RCTs and 1 retrospective study were identified based on the
      selection criteria. Pooled analyses showed that although BTX-A was associated
      with a slightly larger volume of post-void residual urine (PVR) (weighted mean
      difference [WMD] 10.94 mL; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 3.32 to 18.56; p=0.005),
      patients in this group might benefit from greater reduction in pelvic pain (WMD 
      1.73; 95% CI -3.16 to -0.29; p=0.02), Interstitial Cystitis Problem Index (ICPI)
      scores (WMD -1.25; 95% CI -2.20 to -0.30; p=0.01), and Interstitial Cystitis
      Symptom Index (ICSI) scores (WMD -1.16; 95% CI -2.22 to -0.11; p=0.03), and
      significant improvement in daytime frequency of urination (WMD -2.36; 95% CI 
      4.23 to -0.49; p=0.01) and maximum cystometric capacity (MCC) (WMD 50.49 mL; 95%
      CI 25.27 to 75.71; p<0.00001). Nocturia, maximal urinary flow rate, dysuria, and
      urinary tract infection did not differ significantly between the 2 groups.
      CONCLUSIONS Intravesical BTX-A injections might offer significant improvement in
      bladder pain symptoms, daytime urination frequency, and MCC for patients with
      refractory BPS/IC, with a slightly larger PVR. Further well-designed, large-scale
      RCTs are required to confirm the findings of this analysis. 

PMID- 27624898
TI  - Disparate prevalence of toxigenic and nontoxigenic Clostridium difficile among
      distinct adult patient populations in a single institution.
AB  - Clostridium difficile (CD) disease remains a costly and important hospital
      associated infection. Although nontoxigenic CD is detected by some CD testing
      methods, can interfere with some detection algorithms and has been suggested as a
      treatment for CD disease, little is known about the relative occurrence of
      toxigenic and nontoxigenic CD in a single institution.We used both chromogenic
      and selective agar media to recover CD isolates and a molecular method to detect
      the toxin B gene from over 2400 fresh unformed stool specimens with isolates
      further tested for the toxin B gene. We recovered 74 nontoxigenic and 306
      toxigenic CD isolates for which a collection site could be assigned.The frequency
      of recovery of toxigenic and nontoxigenic CD for each hospital location and the
      ratio of toxigenic to nontoxigenic CD were calculated. Although the overall
      prevalence of toxigenic and nontoxigenic CD was 12.7 % and 3.1 %, respectively,
      on some wards, 48 % of all CD were nontoxigenic, while on other wards, <=5 % were
      nontoxigenic.The disparate ratios of nontoxigenic CD to toxigenic CD presented
      here for the various 'groups' within the adult veteran population are important
      to the ongoing discussion and reexamination of other published work on the
      occurrence of toxigenic and nontoxigenic CD, for evaluating the performance of CD
      detection tests, for designing infection control strategies and in ultimately
      understanding both CD carriage and disease.

PMID- 27624899
TI  - A Case of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Developing Within a Red-Ink Tattoo.
AB  - Cutaneous reactions to tattoos are well reported and include allergic reactions,
      infections, and foreign body granuloma or may be a presenting sign of
      sarcoidosis. There have been very few reported cases of squamous cell carcinoma
      (SCC) arising in tattoo-treated skin. We report a case of SCC arising within a
      red-ink tattoo and discuss the potential the role of chronic low-grade
      inflammation in pathogenesis. This should serve to raise awareness of potential
      tattoo-related serious adverse effects.

PMID- 27624900
TI  - Prospective Case Series of Cutaneous Adverse Effects Associated With Dabrafenib
      and Trametinib.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dabrafenib, a novel selective small-molecule inhibitor of BRAF, has
      been shown to increase overall survival in patients with unresectable metastatic
      melanoma harboring the BRAF V600E mutation. The development of resistance has led
      to combination therapy with selective MEK inhibitor trametinib. Compared with
      vemurafenib, dabrafenib is a more recent BRAF inhibitor approved by the Food and
      Drug Administration in May 2013 for metastatic melanoma; fewer data are available
      in the current literature regarding cutaneous toxicity. OBJECTIVES: We sought to
      present additional cutaneous side effects of dabrafenib and trametinib and follow
      their evolution and management. METHODS: We carried out a prospective study of 14
      patients treated with dabrafenib alone or with trametinib. Patients were followed
      every 4 weeks, and we collected detailed cutaneous symptoms, photos, and biopsy
      specimens. RESULTS: All patients presented with at least 1 adverse skin reaction.
      The mean duration of treatment was 24 weeks. The most common adverse effect was
      papillomas (7/14), followed by palmoplantar hyperkeratosis (5/14), alopecia
      (5/14), and seborrheic dermatitis-like eruption (2/14). Three patients who
      received trametinib developed an acneiform eruption (3/5). One patient developed
      a keratoacanthoma-like squamous cell carcinoma. Side effects presented as early
      as 2 weeks after starting therapy, with a mean time of onset of 9 weeks.
      CONCLUSION: Selective BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and MEK inhibitor trametinib are
      associated with multiple skin adverse effects. Given their recent approval and
      the potential for malignant lesions to develop on treatment, awareness of
      potential adverse effects and their management is necessary.

PMID- 27624902
TI  - [New aspects in the treatment of thyroid cancer : Highlights of the ASCO Annual
      Meeting 2016].
AB  - The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) took place
      at the beginning of June 2016 in Chicago. This year a total of 28 studies on the
      treatment of patients with thyroid cancer were presented, described in this
      review article according to the degree of cancer cell differentiation. The
      leading curative treatment modality is still surgery. In contrast, kinase
      inhibitors are being used increasingly within palliative concepts. The latest
      state of the art of thyroid cancer treatment, both surgical and medical, is
      summarized in this review. 

PMID- 27624901
TI  - Use of antimigraine medications and information needs during pregnancy and
      breastfeeding: a cross-sectional study among 401 Norwegian women.
AB  - PURPOSE: Migraine is highly prevalent among women of fertile age. The main
      objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence and patterns of use of
      antimigraine medications during pregnancy and breastfeeding and to identify
      maternal and migraine-related factors associated with medication use during
      pregnancy. METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional internet-based survey among
      pregnant women and new mothers with migraine conducted in Norway from October 1,
      2013 to February 1, 2014. Descriptive statistics were used to explore patterns of
      medication use, and logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the
      association between maternal socio-demographic and migraine-related factors and
      use of antimigraine medications during pregnancy. RESULTS: Of the total 401
      respondents, 34.9 % were pregnant and 65.1 % had delivered within the last 18
      months. The majority reported use of antimigraine medications during pregnancy
      (73.3 %) and postpartum (64.8 %), yet less than a third considered their migraine
      to be optimally treated during pregnancy (31.7 %) and the breastfeeding period
      (27.2 %). The patterns of medication use markedly changed during pregnancy and
      postpartum. Women with moderate or severe migraine were more likely to use
      antimigraine medications during pregnancy compared to women with mild migraine.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite the fact that antimigraine medications were commonly used,
      the majority of the women felt that their migraine was suboptimally treated
      during pregnancy and postpartum. There was a decline in the use of medicines in
      pregnancy and postpartum, and the patterns of use markedly changed. Efforts to
      improve treatment of women with migraine during pregnancy and breastfeeding
      should be undertaken.

PMID- 27624903
TI  - [Study results of primary therapy for head and neck tumors : Highlights of the
      2016 ASCO Annual Meeting].
AB  - At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2016,
      results of current trials dealing with primary therapy for head and neck squamous
      cell carcinoma (HNSCC) were presented. Current trials investigate in particular
      therapy regimens for the treatment of locally advanced HNSCC. Concomitant
      chemoradiotherapy (CRT) remains the standard therapy approach. Current trials
      focus on sequential chemoradiation with modifications in induction chemotherapy
      (ICT) or the subsequent CRT schedule. Studies investigating the combination of
      targeted therapy with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody
      cetuximab and concomitant, sequential, or adjuvant therapy were presented. The
      most important trials are summarized in this article. 

PMID- 27624904
TI  - [Immunotherapy for HNSCC : Quo vadis?].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunotherapy remains a hot topic with an endless stream of new
      upcoming clinical trials. The results of studies to date are promising for second
      line palliative treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The
      next step is testing these strategies in randomized trials for first-line and
      curative treatment in an adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and primarily nonsurgical
      setting. So far, established biomarkers have not proven reliable enough to
      predict response rates precisely. OBJECTIVES: On occasion of the annual meeting
      of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), we aimed to invesitage the
      future of immunotherapies. METHODS: We collected the most promising upcoming
      studies alongside current research in the field of biomarkers with a  view to
      interesting new immunotherapeutic strategies. RESULTS: The search for appropriate
      biomarkers in particular seems to be a central research objective in the short
      term. There is a broad range of new agents that will be tested in clinical trials
      as well as the combination of immunotherapy with chemo- and chemoradiotherapy or
      other immune-modulating drugs. CONCLUSION: The real challenge will be to find the
      most fitting therapy for each patient out of a large panel of available regimens.
      Therefore, it is most important to find a set of reliable biomarkers that
      together could predict treatment response.

PMID- 27624905
TI  - Cultural Adaptation of the Group Lifestyle Balance Program for Chinese Americans.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to develop and evaluate a culturally
      adapted, language-translated diabetes prevention program for Chinese Americans.
      METHODS: This pilot study had a single-group repeated-measures design.
      Participants were 25 first-generation (n = 20) or second-generation (n = 5)
      Chinese Americans at risk for diabetes because of overweight (using the Asian
      specific criterion of body mass index >= 23) and either prediabetes or metabolic
      syndrome. The 16-session program was administered over 6 months in separate
      Mandarin (n = 9) and English (n = 16) groups. Outcomes were assessed at baseline
      and at 3 and 6 months. Four participants dropped out. Multilevel regression
      models were used to examine change in study outcomes over time. RESULTS:
      Participants lost an average of 5.4% of their body weight across the 6 months of
      the study. Self-report questionnaires suggested improved dietary intake and
      increased physical activity. Both total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      levels improved. There were no statistically significant changes in fasting
      plasma glucose or A1C levels. Participants reported high satisfaction with and
      acceptance of the program. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that the culturally
      adapted Group Lifestyle Balance program for Chinese Americans was both acceptable
      and effective. The culturally adapted program warrants further examination using
      scientific approaches for dissemination and implementation.

PMID- 27624906
TI  - TGFbeta and FGF promote tendon progenitor fate and act downstream of muscle
      contraction to regulate tendon differentiation during chick limb development.
AB  - The molecular programme underlying tendon development has not been fully
      identified. Interactions with components of the musculoskeletal system are
      important for limb tendon formation. Limb tendons initiate their development
      independently of muscles; however, muscles are required for further tendon
      differentiation. We show that both FGF/ERK MAPK and TGFbeta/SMAD2/3 signalling
      pathways are required and sufficient for SCX expression in chick undifferentiated
      limb cells, whereas the FGF/ERK MAPK pathway inhibits Scx expression in mouse
      undifferentiated limb mesodermal cells. During differentiation, muscle
      contraction is required to maintain SCX, TNMD and THBS2 expression in chick
      limbs. The activities of FGF/ERK MAPK and TGFbeta/SMAD2/3 signalling pathways are
      decreased in tendons under immobilisation conditions. Application of FGF4 or
      TGFbeta2 ligands prevents SCX downregulation in immobilised limbs. TGFbeta2 but
      not FGF4 prevent TNMD and THBS2 downregulation under immobilisation conditions.
      We did not identify any intracellular crosstalk between both signalling pathways
      in their positive effect on SCX expression. Independently of each other, both FGF
      and TGFbeta promote tendon commitment of limb mesodermal cells and act downstream
      of mechanical forces to regulate tendon differentiation during chick limb
      development.

PMID- 27624907
TI  - Screening and identifying antioxidants from Oplopanax elatus using 2,2'-diphenyl
      1-picrylhydrazyl with off-line two-dimensional HPLC coupled with diode array
      detection and tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
AB  - The root of Oplopanax elatus (Nakai) Nakai has a well-known history of use for
      the treatment of diseases such as neurasthenia, cardiovascular disorders, and
      cancer by the native people in northeast China. It is important to screen and
      identify the bioactive molecules from its root rapidly. Hereby, an off-line two
      dimensional high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array
      detection and tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry together with 2,2'-diphenyl
      1-picrylhydrazyl was established to screen antioxidants from the root of O.
      elatus. A Waters cyanogen column (150 * 3.9 mm, id, 4 MUm) was used for the first
      dimensional liquid chromatography, while a Hypersil BDS-C18 column (250 * 4.6 mm,
      id, 5 MUm) was installed for the second dimension liquid chromatographic
      analysis. Twenty-eight compounds had been tentatively identified from the
      methanol extract of the air-dried root of O. elatus including six polyynes and
      eight phenolic derivatives were screened with antioxidant activity. The developed
      method could be expedient for screening and identifying antioxidants from O.
      elatus.

PMID- 27624908
TI  - Occult hepatitis B virus infection: clinical implications in tuberculosis
      treatment.
AB  - Occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) is characterized by the absence of HBsAg
      and persistence of the virus genome (HBV-DNA) in liver tissue and/or blood. OBI
      has been reported in several clinical contexts. However, the clinical
      significance of OBI in tuberculosis (TB) treatment is unknown. We investigated
      the OBI prevalence and its impact on the risk of drug-induced liver injury (DILI)
      during TB treatment. This was a prospective cohort study with one hundred
      patients who were treated for TB from 2008 to 2015. Laboratory, clinical and
      demographic data of TB patients were extracted from medical records. Based on HBV
      DNA testing of serum samples, an OBI prevalence of 12% was established; almost
      half of these patients had both anti-HBc and anti-HBs serological markers. Low
      CD4+ cell counts have been shown to be a risk factor for OBI among TB patients co
      infected with HIV (P=.036). High DILI incidence was observed in this study. A
      multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was conducted and identified OBI (HR
      2.98, 95% CI 1.30-6.86) as the strongest predictor for DILI when adjusted to CD4+
      cell count (HR 0.38, 95% CI 0.17-0.90), ALT before TB treatment (HR 1.37, 95% CI
      0.81-2.32) and TB extrapulmonary clinical form (HR 2.91, 95% CI 1.75-7.21). The
      main aim of this study was to highlight DILI as a clinical outcome during
      treatment of TB patients with OBI. Therefore, HBV-DNA testing should be
      considered routinely in monitoring DILI, and also in other clinical implications
      associated with OBI, reduce morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 27624909
TI  - Cadherin tales: Regulation of cadherin function by endocytic membrane
      trafficking.
AB  - Cadherins are the primary adhesion molecules in adherens junctions and desmosomes
      and play essential roles in embryonic development. Although significant progress
      has been made in understanding cadherin structure and function, we lack a clear
      vision of how cells confer plasticity upon adhesive junctions to allow for
      cellular rearrangements during development, wound healing and metastasis.
      Endocytic membrane trafficking has emerged as a fundamental mechanism by which
      cells confer a dynamic state to adhesive junctions. Recent studies indicate that
      the juxtamembrane domain of classical cadherins contains multiple endocytic
      motifs, or "switches," that can be used by cellular membrane trafficking
      machinery to regulate adhesion. The cadherin-binding protein p120-catenin (p120)
      appears to be the master regulator of access to these switches, thereby
      controlling cadherin endocytosis and turnover. This review focuses on p120 and
      other cadherin-binding proteins, ubiquitin ligases, and growth factors as key
      modulators of cadherin membrane trafficking.

PMID- 27624910
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging and H-proton Spectroscopy assessment of maternal and
      foetal brains in a case of pregnancy-associated Wernicke encephalopathy.

PMID- 27624911
TI  - Corrigendum: Crustal movements due to Iceland's shrinking ice caps mimic magma
      inflow signal at Katla volcano.

PMID- 27624912
TI  - Anharmonic Vibrational Analyses of Pentapeptide Conformations Explored with
      Enhanced Sampling Simulations.
AB  - An accurate theoretical prediction of the vibrational spectrum of polypeptides
      remains to be a challenge due to (1) their conformational flexibility and (2) non
      negligible anharmonic effects. The former makes the search for conformers that
      contribute to the spectrum difficult, and the latter requires an expensive,
      quantum mechanical calculation for both electrons and vibrations. Here, we
      propose a new theoretical approach, which implements an enhanced conformational
      sampling by the replica-exchange molecular dynamics method, a structural
      clustering to identify distinct conformations, and a vibrational structure
      calculation by the second-order vibrational quasi-degenerate perturbation theory
      (VQDPT2). A systematic mode-selection scheme is developed to reduce the cost of
      VQDPT2 and the generation of a potential energy surface by the electronic
      structure calculation. The proposed method is applied to a pentapeptide, SIVSF
      NH2, for which the infrared spectrum has recently been measured in the gas phase
      with high resolution in the OH and NH stretching region. The theoretical spectrum
      of the lowest energy conformer is obtained with a mean absolute deviation of 11.2
      cm-1 from the experimental spectrum. Furthermore, the NH stretching frequencies
      of the five lowest energy conformers are found to be consistent with the
      literature values measured for small peptides with a similar secondary structure.
      Therefore, the proposed method is a promising way to analyze the vibrational
      spectrum of polypeptides.

PMID- 27624913
TI  - Casting wider nets for anxiety and depression: disability-driven cross-diagnostic
      subtypes in a large cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In search of empirical classifications of depression and anxiety,
      most subtyping studies focus solely on symptoms and do so within a single
      disorder. This study aimed to identify and validate cross-diagnostic subtypes by
      simultaneously considering symptoms of depression and anxiety, and disability
      measures. METHOD: A large cohort of adults (Lifelines, n = 73 403) had a full
      assessment of 16 symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders, and measurement of
      physical, social and occupational disability. The best-fitting subtyping model
      was identified by comparing different hybrid mixture models with and without
      disability covariates on fit criteria in an independent test sample. The best
      model's classes were compared across a range of external variables. RESULTS: The
      best-fitting Mixed Measurement Item Response Theory model with disability
      covariates identified five classes. Accounting for disability improved
      differentiation between people reporting isolated non-specific symptoms
      ['Somatic' (13.0%), and 'Worried' (14.0%)] and psychopathological symptoms
      ['Subclinical' (8.8%), and 'Clinical' (3.3%)]. Classes showed distinct
      associations with clinically relevant external variables [e.g. somatization: odds
      ratio (OR) 8.1-12.3, and chronic stress: OR 3.7-4.4]. The Subclinical class
      reported symptomatology at subthreshold levels while experiencing disability. No
      pure depression or anxiety, but only mixed classes were found. CONCLUSIONS: An
      empirical classification model, incorporating both symptoms and disability
      identified clearly distinct cross-diagnostic subtypes, indicating that diagnostic
      nets should be cast wider than current phenomenology-based categorical systems.

PMID- 27624914
TI  - Antigen-specific immunoreactivity and clinical outcome following vaccination with
      glioma-associated antigen peptides in children with recurrent high-grade gliomas:
      results of a pilot study.
AB  - Recurrent high-grade gliomas (HGGs) of childhood have an exceedingly poor
      prognosis with current therapies. Accordingly, new treatment approaches are
      needed. We initiated a pilot trial of vaccinations with peptide epitopes derived
      from glioma-associated antigens (GAAs) overexpressed in these tumors in HLA-A2+
      children with recurrent HGG that had progressed after prior treatments. Peptide
      epitopes for three GAAs (EphA2, IL13Ralpha2, survivin), emulsified in Montanide
      ISA-51, were administered subcutaneously adjacent to intramuscular injections of
      poly-ICLC every 3 weeks for 8 courses, followed by booster vaccines every 6
      weeks. Primary endpoints were safety and T-cell responses against the GAA
      epitopes, assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) analysis.
      Treatment response was evaluated clinically and by magnetic resonance imaging.
      Twelve children were enrolled, 6 with glioblastoma, 5 with anaplastic
      astrocytoma, and one with malignant gliomatosis cerebri. No dose-limiting non-CNS
      toxicity was encountered. ELISPOT analysis, in ten children, showed GAA responses
      in 9: to IL13Ralpha2 in 4, EphA2 in 9, and survivin in 3. One child had presumed
      symptomatic pseudoprogression, discontinued vaccine therapy, and responded to
      subsequent treatment. One other child had a partial response that persisted
      throughout 2 years of vaccine therapy, and continues at >39 months. Median
      progression-free survival (PFS) from the start of vaccination was 4.1 months and
      median overall survival (OS) was 12.9 months. 6-month PFS and OS were 33 and 73
      %, respectively. GAA peptide vaccination in children with recurrent malignant
      gliomas is generally well tolerated, and has preliminary evidence of
      immunological and modest clinical activity.

PMID- 27624915
TI  - Expression and prognostic impact of immune modulatory molecule PD-L1 in
      meningioma.
AB  - While immunotherapy may offer promising new approaches for high grade
      meningiomas, little is currently known of the immune landscape in meningiomas. We
      sought to characterize the immune microenvironment and a potentially targetable
      antigen mesothelin across WHO grade I-III cases of meningiomas, and how
      infiltrating immune populations relate to patient outcomes. Immunohistochemistry
      was performed on tissue microarrays constructed from 96 meningioma cases. The
      cohort included 16 WHO grade I, 62 WHO grade II, and 18 WHO grade III tumors.
      Immunohistochemistry was performed using antibodies against CD3, CD8, CD20, CD68,
      PD-L1, and mesothelin. Dual staining using anti-PD-L1 and anti-CD68 antibodies
      was performed, and automated cell detection and positive staining detection
      algorithms were utilized. Greater degree of PD-L1 expression was found in higher
      grade tumors. More specifically, higher grade tumors contained increased numbers
      of intratumoral CD68-, PD-L1+ cells (p = 0.022), but did not contain higher
      numbers of infiltrating CD68+, PD-L1+ cells (p = 0.30). Higher PD-L1+/CD68-
      expression was independently predictive of worse overall survival in our cohort
      when accounting for grade, performance status, extent of resection, and
      recurrence history (p = 0.014). Higher expression of PD-L1+/CD68- was also
      present in tumors that had undergone prior radiotherapy (p = 0.024).
      Approximately quarter of meningiomas overexpressed mesothelin to levels
      equivalent to those found in pancreatic carcinomas and malignant mesotheliomas.
      The association with poor survival outcomes in our study suggests that PD-L1 may
      play a significant biologic role in the aggressive phenotype of higher grade
      meningiomas. Thus, immunotherapeutic strategies such as checkpoint inhibition may
      have clinical utility in PD-L1 overexpressing meningiomas.

PMID- 27624917
TI  - Does response rate of chemotherapy with molecular target agents correlate with
      the conversion rate and survival in patients with unresectable colorectal liver
      metastases?: A systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate whether the response rate of chemotherapy
      with molecular target agents correlates with the conversion rate, R0 resection
      rate, and survival in patients with initially unresectable colorectal liver
      metastases (CRLM). METHODS: We reviewed the literature of prospective, controlled
      trials of systemic chemotherapy for patients with unresectable liver-only CRLM,
      including resectable extrahepatic metastases. Pearson's correlation coefficients
      were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 26 patient groups from 18 studies were
      reviewed. The response rate was significantly correlated with the conversion rate
      (r = 0.66) and R0 resection rate (r = 0.43) in overall patients. In subgroup
      analysis, only the conversion rate in patients with chemotherapy only (r = 0.75)
      and anti-EGFR therapy (r = 0.78) were significantly strongly correlated with the
      response rate. A non-significant strong trend toward correlation between response
      and conversion rates was observed in patients with bevacizumab (r = 0.73, p =
      0.10). The regression line in the scatter plot of patients using bevacizumab
      showed a less steep slope. This indicated that conversion rates were relatively
      less affected by response rates under anti-VEGF therapy compared with the other
      patient groups. The response rate in chemotherapy-only patients was significantly
      correlated with median progression-free survival (r = 0.61) and overall survival
      (r = 0.66). CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy without molecular target agents and with
      anti-EGFR agents shows similar results of correlation between response and
      conversion/R0 resection rates. Under anti-VEGF therapy, conversion would be
      expected, even with a relatively lower response rate.

PMID- 27624916
TI  - Improving survival and local control in rectal cancer in Catalonia (Spain) in the
      context of centralisation: A full cycle audit assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rectal cancer surgery in Catalonia has been involved in a process of
      centralisation. We assessed the impact of this health policy strategy on quality
      of care and clinical results. METHODS: We compared patterns of care and clinical
      outcomes of all rectal cancer patients receiving radical surgery for the first
      time in public hospitals in two time periods, before (2005 and 2007) and after
      (2011-2012) centralisation, analysing indicators of care quality according to the
      regional clinical practice guidelines. Clinical outcomes at two years were also
      assessed. RESULTS: A total of 3780 patients were included. From 2005 to 2012, the
      proportion of patients treated surgically for the first time in centres whose
      annual surgical caseload was more than 11 increased from 84.0% to 90.4%. The rate
      of locoregional recurrence at two years fell from 4.5 to 3.06/100 person-years (p
      = 0.005). The crude mortality rate at three months, one and two years was reduced
      by 55%, 40% and 34% (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Improvements in quality of care
      might be associated with the centralisation of surgery and with the selective
      focus effect derived from the process of auditing. Our results support the
      continuation of clinical auditing and surveillance of authorised centres.

PMID- 27624919
TI  - The 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
      (ECCMID) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

PMID- 27624918
TI  - Role of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in the Pathology of Ageing in COPD:
      Potential Therapeutic Interventions.
AB  - Ageing is defined as a progressive decline of homeostasis that occurs after the
      reproductive phase of life is complete, which is thought to arise because of
      impaired DNA repair following damage. This leads to an increased risk of disease
      or death. Ageing is one of the most important risk factors for most chronic
      diseases. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represents an important
      component of the increasingly prevalent multiple chronic debilitating diseases
      that are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in the elderly.
      There is increasing evidence that the pathogenesis of COPD is linked to an
      accelerated ageing process. This review discusses the evidence supporting a
      number of mechanisms, including oxidative stress and ageing, in the pathogenesis
      of COPD. Greater understanding of these mechanisms leads to novel therapeutic
      interventions targeted at this heterogeneous disease.

PMID- 27624920
TI  - Towards optical polarization control of laser-driven proton acceleration in foils
      undergoing relativistic transparency.
AB  - Control of the collective response of plasma particles to intense laser light is
      intrinsic to relativistic optics, the development of compact laser-driven
      particle and radiation sources, as well as investigations of some laboratory
      astrophysics phenomena. We recently demonstrated that a relativistic plasma
      aperture produced in an ultra-thin foil at the focus of intense laser radiation
      can induce diffraction, enabling polarization-based control of the collective
      motion of plasma electrons. Here we show that under these conditions the electron
      dynamics are mapped into the beam of protons accelerated via strong charge
      separation-induced electrostatic fields. It is demonstrated experimentally and
      numerically via 3D particle-in-cell simulations that the degree of ellipticity of
      the laser polarization strongly influences the spatial-intensity distribution of
      the beam of multi-MeV protons. The influence on both sheath-accelerated and
      radiation pressure-accelerated protons is investigated. This approach opens up a
      potential new route to control laser-driven ion sources.

PMID- 27624922
TI  - Liver-specific G0 /G1 switch gene 2 (G0s2) expression promotes hepatic insulin
      resistance by exacerbating hepatic steatosis in male Wistar rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatic steatosis is strongly associated with insulin resistance. It
      has been reported that G0 /G1 switch gene 2 (G0s2) inhibits the lipolytic
      activity of adipose triglyceride lipase, which is a major lipase in the liver as
      well as in adipocytes. Moreover, G0s2 protein content is increased in the livers
      of high-fat diet (HFD)-fed rats. In the present study, we investigated the effect
      of hepatic G0s2 on insulin sensitivity in male Wistar rats. METHODS: Male Wistar
      rats were fed a 60% HFD for 4 weeks. After 3 weeks of feeding, rats were injected
      with adenovirus-expressing green fluorescent protein (Ad-GFP; control) or
      adenovirus-expressing mouse G0s2 (Ad-G0s2). On Day 7 after injection, a
      euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp study was performed in rats fasted for 8 h.
      RESULTS: Body weight and fasting glucose levels were not significantly different
      between the Ad-GFP and Ad-G0s2 groups. During the clamp study, the glucose
      infusion rate required for euglycemia decreased significantly by 16% in the Ad
      G0s2 compared with Ad-GFP group. The insulin-suppressed hepatic glucose output
      increased significantly in the Ad-G0s2 group, but the insulin-stimulated glucose
      disposal rate was not significantly different between the two groups. Consistent
      with the clamp data, insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt decreased
      significantly in livers of rats injected with Ad-G0s2. Furthermore, Oil Red O
      staining indicated that overexpression of G0s2 protein in the liver promoted
      hepatic steatosis by 2.5-fold in HFD-fed rats. CONCLUSION: The results of the
      present study indicate that hepatic G0s2 protein may promote hepatic insulin
      resistance by exacerbating hepatic steatosis.

PMID- 27624921
TI  - A Popular myth - low-histamine diet improves chronic spontaneous urticaria - fact
      or fiction?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CsU) is a frequent dermatological
      disease that might last for months or years with high impact on quality of life.
      Known causes are autoreactive phenomena, infections or intolerances, rarely IgE
      mediated allergies. One-third of CsU patients benefit from a low-pseudoallergen
      diet. Additionally, it is often discussed, that reducing histamine ingestion
      alone might improve clinical symptoms and quality of life in CsU patients despite
      the uncertain role of the histamine-degrading enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO).
      OBJECTIVE: Aim of this study was to investigate the impact of low-histamine diet
      on symptoms and quality of life in patients with CsU. METHODS: Patients suffering
      from CsU accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms were included in the study.
      They underwent low-histamine diet for at least 3 weeks. During the whole study,
      urticaria activity score (UAS) was recorded daily in a patient's diary. Quality
      of life was assessed during screening, baseline and post diet visits by
      completing questionnaires (DLQI and Cu-Q(2)oL). DAO activity was measured before
      and after elimination diet. RESULTS: A total of 75% of the patients had a benefit
      from the low-histamine diet. Thirty-four of 56 patients (61%) reached the primary
      endpoint of the study, an improvement of UAS 4 of >=3. Overall, a significant
      reduction from 9.05 to 4.23 points (P = 0.004) was achieved; the average
      reduction in a strongly affected subgroup was 8.59 points (P < 0.001). DAO
      activity remained stable. CONCLUSION: Low-histamine diet is a therapeutically
      useful, simple and cost-free tool to decrease symptoms and increase quality of
      life in CsU patients with gastrointestinal involvement. Further research is
      needed to understand the role of diamine oxidase.

PMID- 27624923
TI  - Intraocular pressure in the smallest primate aging model: the gray mouse lemur.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the practicability of common
      tonometers used in veterinary medicine for rapid intraocular pressure (IOP)
      screening, to calibrate IOP values gained by the tonometers, and to define a
      reference IOP value for the healthy eye in a new primate model for aging
      research, the gray mouse lemur. STUDIED ANIMALS AND PROCEDURES: TonoVet(r) and
      the TonoPenTM measurements were calibrated manometrically in healthy enucleated
      eyes of mouse lemurs euthanized for veterinary reasons. For comparison of the
      practicability of both tonometers as a rapid IOP assessment tool for living mouse
      lemurs, the IOP of 24 eyes of 12 animals held in the hand was measured. To define
      a standard reference value for IOP in mouse lemurs, 258 healthy animals were
      measured using the TonoVet(r) . RESULTS: Intraocular pressure measurements for
      the TonoVet(r) can be corrected using the formula: y = 0.981 + (1.962*TonoVet(r)
      value), and those for the TonoPenTM using that of y = 5.38 + (1.426*TonoPenTM
      value). The calibrated IOP for a healthy mouse lemur eye was 20.3 +/- 2.8 mmHg.
      The TonoVet(r) showed advantages in practicability, for example, small corneal
      contact area, short and painless corneal contact, shortened total time spent on
      investigation, as well as the more accurate measured values. IOP measurements of
      healthy mouse lemur eyes were not affected by age, sex, eye side, or colony.
      CONCLUSION: Tonometry using TonoVet(r) is the more practicable assessment tool
      for IOP measurement of the tiny eyes of living mouse lemurs. Pathological
      deviations can be identified based on the described reference value.

PMID- 27624924
TI  - Long-term outcome of full plastic jacket treatment for bare metal in-stent
      restenosis.
AB  - We report the long-term outcome of a case of "full plastic jacket" treatment
      consisting of three bioresorbable scaffolds to manage a subtotally occluded left
      anterior descending artery with associated severe bare metal in-stent restenosis.
      Angiography 36months' post procedure revealed an excellent result with negative
      fractional flow reserve result. Bioresorbable scaffolds may be an attractive
      option for in-stent restenosis due to the avoidance of an additional metallic
      layer, and this case is unusual regarding the total scaffold length used and long
      term angiographic follow-up.

PMID- 27624925
TI  - The city as a refuge for insect pollinators.
AB  - Research on urban insect pollinators is changing views on the biological value
      and ecological importance of cities. The abundance and diversity of native bee
      species in urban landscapes that are absent in nearby rural lands evidence the
      biological value and ecological importance of cities and have implications for
      biodiversity conservation. Lagging behind this revised image of the city are
      urban conservation programs that historically have invested in education and
      outreach rather than programs designed to achieve high-priority species
      conservation results. We synthesized research on urban bee species diversity and
      abundance to determine how urban conservation could be repositioned to better
      align with new views on the ecological importance of urban landscapes. Due to
      insect pollinators' relatively small functional requirements-habitat range, life
      cycle, and nesting behavior-relative to larger mammals, we argue that pollinators
      put high-priority and high-impact urban conservation within reach. In a rapidly
      urbanizing world, transforming how environmental managers view the city can
      improve citizen engagement and contribute to the development of more sustainable
      urbanization.

PMID- 27624928
TI  - Reply to Comment on "Nanoparticle Enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
      for Microdrop Analysis at subppm Level".

PMID- 27624926
TI  - Hook2, a microtubule-binding protein, interacts with Par6alpha and controls
      centrosome orientation during polarized cell migration.
AB  - Polarity protein complexes function during polarized cell migration and a subset
      of these proteins localizes to the reoriented centrosome during this process.
      Despite these observations, the mechanisms behind the recruitment of these
      polarity complexes such as the aPKC/PAR6alpha complex to the centrosome are not
      well understood. Here we identify Hook2 as an interactor for the aPKC/PAR6alpha
      complex that functions to localize this complex at the centrosome. We first
      demonstrate that Hook2 is essential for the polarized Golgi re-orientation
      towards the migration front. Depletion of Hook2 results in a decrease of
      PAR6alpha at the centrosome during cell migration, while overexpression of Hook2
      in cells induced the formation of aggresomes with the recruitment of PAR6alpha,
      aPKC and PAR3. In addition, we demonstrate that the interaction between the C
      terminal domain of Hook2 and the aPKC-binding domain of PAR6alpha localizes
      PAR6alpha to the centrosome during cell migration. Our data suggests that Hook2,
      a microtubule binding protein, plays an important role in the regulation of
      PAR6alpha recruitment to the centrosome to bridge microtubules and the aPKC/PAR
      complex. This data reveals how some of the polarity protein complexes are
      recruited to the centrosome and might regulate pericentriolar and microtubule
      organization and potentially impact on polarized migration.

PMID- 27624929
TI  - Soft tissue sarcoma in the dog - part 1: a current review.
AB  - Soft tissue sarcomas are derived from tissues of mesenchymal origin. Although
      local recurrence following surgical resection is the characteristic challenge in
      their management, 40% dogs with high-grade tumours may also develop metastatic
      disease, despite successful local control. Soft tissue sarcoma is a complex
      disease and there are many uncertainties regarding the biology and optimal
      clinical management. There are currently no diagnostic tests that can reliably
      predict the amount of surgical margin required for a particular tumour, so there
      can be a mismatch between treatment and disease. Historically, the tendency has
      been to always recommend wide excision margins but this is not fully supported by
      recent evidence. A selection bias for less aggressive soft tissue sarcomas in
      primary care practice can account for good outcomes that are achieved despite
      narrow surgical excision margins. On the other hand, inappropriately conservative
      treatment will adversely affect outcomes for patients with more aggressive
      disease. This review provides an update on the current understanding of
      management of canine soft tissue sarcomas.

PMID- 27624930
TI  - Student Response Systems and Learning: Perceptions of the Student.
AB  - To assess student perception of learning and use of a student response system
      (SRS) as a teaching/learning strategy. Survey methods were used to explore
      student perceptions of learning and use of student response systems as a
      pedagogical strategy. Fifty-nine graduate students participated in the survey
      post completion of two graduate intervention courses. Overall, there was a
      positive response to the use of SRS's in the classroom. All of the students
      (100%) recommended the continued use of the clickers for various reasons. The
      primary benefit reported by students related to providing immediate feedback, the
      opportunity to manipulate and revisit the content, and the ability to check for
      understanding within a class session. Students recommended the continued use of
      the SRS in classes to support acquisition of content and exam preparation. The
      student reported technology difficulties as the only the negative to SRS use in
      the classroom. Instructor perception was that the addition of the SRS devices
      added a new way to interact with the students. Suggestions for incorporating the
      use of a SRS devices into classroom instruction are offered.

PMID- 27624927
TI  - The Thiophene "Sigma-Hole" as a Concept for Preorganized, Specific Recognition of
      G?C Base Pairs in the DNA Minor Groove.
AB  - In spite of its importance in cell function, targeting DNA is under-represented
      in the design of small molecules. A barrier to progress in this area is the lack
      of a variety of modules that recognize G?C base pairs (bp) in DNA sequences. To
      overcome this barrier, an entirely new design concept for modules that can bind
      to mixed G?C and A?T sequences of DNA is reported herein. Because of their
      successes in biological applications, minor-groove-binding heterocyclic cations
      were selected as the platform for design. Binding to A?T sequences requires
      hydrogen-bond donors whereas recognition of the G-NH2 requires an acceptor. The
      concept that we report herein uses pre-organized N-methylbenzimidazole (N-MeBI)
      thiophene modules for selective binding with mixed bp DNA sequences. The
      interaction between the thiophene sigma hole (positive electrostatic potential)
      and the electron-donor nitrogen of N-MeBI preorganizes the conformation for
      accepting an hydrogen bond from G-NH2 . The compound-DNA interactions were
      evaluated with a powerful array of biophysical methods and the results show that
      N-MeBI-thiophene monomer compounds can strongly and selectively recognize single
      G?C bp sequences. Replacing the thiophene with other moieties significantly
      reduces binding affinity and specificity, as predicted by the design concept.
      These results show that the use of molecular features, such as sigma-holes, can
      lead to new approaches for small molecules in biomolecular interactions.

PMID- 27624931
TI  - Incidental Cold Agglutinins in Cardiac Surgery: Intraoperative Surprises and Team
      Based Problem-Solving Strategies During Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

PMID- 27624932
TI  - Modern diagnostic methods for urinary tract infections.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial
      infections and constitute for a considerable number of all antibiotic
      prescriptions. The surge of multi-resistant bacteria has significantly
      complicated empirical treatment leading to wide use of broad-spectrum
      antibiotics, further driving resistance development. New ways to detect and
      quantify host and bacterial molecules in urine promise opportunities to improve
      diagnostics of UTIs, which can translate to new approaches in treatment regimens.
      Areas covered: Limitations of traditional techniques like urine dipsticks and
      microscopy, biomarkers as potential aid in differentiating the different types of
      bacteriuria, limitations of traditional and alternative urine culture are
      discussed. Additionally, the strengths and limitations of modern bacterial
      detection and identification methods such as flow cytometry, mass spectrometry,
      near-infrared spectroscopy, nucleic acid based technologies, isothermal
      microcalorimetry, biosensors and modern test strips in the scope of UTIs are
      covered. Literature search was performed using Pubmed, focusing on recent
      publications about diagnostics and ABS/AMS in urinary tract infections. Expert
      commentary: We comment on the potential impact of new technologies with a focus
      on antibiotic stewardship and speculate how the abundance of technological
      methods may change the way UTIs are perceived and diagnosed in the future.

PMID- 27624933
TI  - Phospholipase Cbeta-TRAX Association Is Required for PC12 Cell Differentiation.
AB  - When treated with nerve growth factor, PC12 cells will differentiate over the
      course of several days. Here, we have followed changes during differentiation in
      the cellular levels of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase Cbeta (PLCbeta)
      and its activator, Galphaq, which together mediate Ca2+ release. We also followed
      changes in the level of the novel PLCbeta binding partner TRAX (translin
      associated factor X), which promotes RNA-induced gene silencing. We find that the
      level of PLCbeta increases 4-fold within 24 h, whereas Galphaq increases only 1.4
      fold, and this increase occurs ~24 h later than PLCbeta. Alternately, the level
      of TRAX remains constant over the 72 h tested. When PLCbeta1 or TRAX is down
      regulated, differentiation does not occur. The impact of PLCbeta on
      differentiation appears independent of Galphaq as down-regulating Galphaq at
      constant PLCbeta does not affect differentiation. Forster resonance energy
      transfer studies after PLCbeta association with its partners indicate that
      PLCbeta induced soon after nerve growth factor treatment associates with TRAX
      rather than Galphaq Functional measurements of Ca2+ signals to assess the
      activity of PLCbeta-Galphaq complexes and measurements of the reversal of
      siRNA(GAPDH) to assess the activity of PLCbeta-TRAX complexes additionally
      suggest that the newly synthesized PLCbeta associates with TRAX to impact RNA
      induced silencing. Taken together, our studies show that PLCbeta, through its
      ability to bind TRAX and reverse RNA silencing of specific genes, plays a key
      role in switching PC12 cells to their differentiated state.

PMID- 27624934
TI  - The C-terminal Helix of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Elongation Factor Ts Tunes EF-Tu
      Dynamics to Modulate Nucleotide Exchange.
AB  - Little is known about the conservation of critical kinetic parameters and the
      mechanistic strategies of elongation factor (EF) Ts-catalyzed nucleotide exchange
      in EF-Tu in bacteria and particularly in clinically relevant pathogens. EF-Tu
      from the clinically relevant pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa shares over 84%
      sequence identity with the corresponding elongation factor from Escherichia coli
      Interestingly, the functionally closely linked EF-Ts only shares 55% sequence
      identity. To identify any differences in the nucleotide binding properties, as
      well as in the EF-Ts-mediated nucleotide exchange reaction, we performed a
      comparative rapid kinetics and mutagenesis analysis of the nucleotide exchange
      mechanism for both the E. coli and P. aeruginosa systems, identifying helix 13 of
      EF-Ts as a previously unnoticed regulatory element in the nucleotide exchange
      mechanism with species-specific elements. Our findings support the base side
      first entry of the nucleotide into the binding pocket of the EF-Tu.EF-Ts binary
      complex, followed by displacement of helix 13 and rapid binding of the phosphate
      side of the nucleotide, ultimately leading to the release of EF-Ts.

PMID- 27624935
TI  - Ring-Mesh Model of Proteoglycan Glycosaminoglycan Chains in Tendon based on Three
      dimensional Reconstruction by Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy.
AB  - Tendons are composed of collagen fibrils and proteoglycan predominantly
      consisting of decorin. Decorin is located on the d-band of collagen fibrils, and
      its glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains have been observed between collagen fibrils
      with transmission electron microscopy. GAG chains have been proposed to interact
      with each other or with collagen fibrils, but its three-dimensional organization
      remains unclear. In this report, we used focused ion beam scanning electron
      microscopy to examine the three-dimensional organization of the GAG chain in the
      Achilles tendon of mature rats embedded in epoxy resin after staining with
      Cupromeronic blue, which specifically stains GAG chains. We used 250 serial back
      scattered electron images of longitudinal sections with a 10-nm interval for
      reconstruction. Three-dimensional images revealed that GAG chains form a ring
      mesh-like structure with each ring surrounding a collagen fibril at the d-band
      and fusing with adjacent rings to form the planar network. This ring mesh model
      of GAG chains suggests that more than two GAG chains may interact with each other
      around collagen fibrils, which could provide new insights into the roles of GAG
      chains.

PMID- 27624936
TI  - Biophysical Characterization of a Thermoalkaliphilic Molecular Motor with a High
      Stepping Torque Gives Insight into Evolutionary ATP Synthase Adaptation.
AB  - F1F0 ATP synthases are bidirectional molecular motors that translocate protons
      across the cell membrane by either synthesizing or hydrolyzing ATP. Alkaliphile
      ATP synthases are highly adapted, performing oxidative phosphorylation at high pH
      against an inverted pH gradient (acidin/alkalineout). Unlike mesophilic ATP
      synthases, alkaliphilic enzymes have tightly regulated ATP hydrolysis activity,
      which can be relieved in the presence of lauryldimethylamine oxide. Here, we
      characterized the rotary dynamics of the Caldalkalibacillus thermarum TA2.A1 F1
      ATPase (TA2F1) with two forms of single molecule analysis, a magnetic bead duplex
      and a gold nanoparticle. TA2F1 rotated in a counterclockwise direction in both
      systems, adhering to Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a maximum rotation rate
      (Vmax) of 112.4 revolutions/s. TA2F1 displayed 120 degrees  unitary steps coupled
      with ATP hydrolysis. Torque measurements revealed the highest torque (52.4
      piconewtons) derived from an F1 molecule using fluctuation theorem. The
      implications of high torque in terms of extreme environment adaptation are
      discussed.

PMID- 27624937
TI  - Transcriptional Regulation of Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor Coding Exon IX:
      ROLE OF NUCLEAR RESPIRATORY FACTOR 2.
AB  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an active neurotrophin abundantly
      expressed throughout the nervous system. It plays an important role in synaptic
      transmission, plasticity, neuronal proliferation, differentiation, survival, and
      death. The Bdnf gene in rodents has eight non-coding exons and only a single
      coding exon (IX). Despite its recognized regulation by neuronal activity,
      relatively little is known about its transcriptional regulation, and even less
      about the transcription factor candidates that may play such a role. The goal of
      the present study was to probe for such a candidate that may regulate exon IX in
      the rat Bdnf gene. Our in silico analysis revealed tandem binding sites for
      nuclear respiratory factor 2 (NRF-2) on the promoter of exon IX. NRF-2 is of
      special significance because it co-regulates the expressions of mediators of
      energy metabolism (cytochrome c oxidase) and mediators of neuronal activity
      (glutamatergic receptors). To test our hypothesis that NRF-2 also regulates the
      Bdnf gene, we performed electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), chromatin
      immunoprecipitation (ChIP), promoter cloning, and site-directed mutagenesis, real
      time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and Western blotting analysis. Results indicate
      that NRF-2 functionally regulates exon IX of the rat Bdnf gene. The binding sites
      of NRF-2 are conserved between rats and mice. Overexpressing NRF-2 up-regulated
      the expression of Bdnf exon IX, whereas knocking down NRF-2 down-regulated such
      expression. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis that NRF-2, in
      addition to regulating the coupling between neuronal activity and energy
      metabolism, also regulates the expression of BDNF, which is intimately associated
      with energy-demanding neuronal activity.

PMID- 27624938
TI  - Calcium Signaling Is Dispensable for Receptor Regulation of Endothelial Barrier
      Function.
AB  - Endothelial barrier function is tightly regulated by plasma membrane receptors
      and is crucial for tissue fluid homeostasis; its dysfunction causes disease,
      including sepsis and inflammation. The ubiquitous activation of Ca2+ signaling
      upon phospholipase C-coupled receptor ligation leads quite naturally to the
      assumption that Ca2+ signaling is required for receptor-regulated endothelial
      barrier function. This widespread hypothesis draws analogy from smooth muscle and
      proposes the requirement of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-generated Ca2+
      signaling in activating the endothelial contractile apparatus and generating
      interendothelial gaps. Notwithstanding endothelia being non-excitable in nature,
      the hypothesis of Ca2+-induced endothelial contraction has been invoked to
      explain actions of GPCR agonists that either disrupt or stabilize endothelial
      barrier function. Here, we challenge this correlative hypothesis by showing a
      lack of causal link between GPCR-generated Ca2+ signaling and changes in human
      microvascular endothelial barrier function. We used three endogenous GPCR
      agonists: thrombin and histamine, which disrupt endothelial barrier function, and
      sphingosine-1-phosphate, which stabilizes barrier function. The qualitatively
      different effects of these three agonists on endothelial barrier function occur
      independently of Ca2+ entry through the ubiquitous store-operated Ca2+ entry
      channel Orai1, global Ca2+ entry across the plasma membrane, and Ca2+ release
      from internal stores. However, disruption of endothelial barrier function by
      thrombin and histamine requires the Ca2+ sensor stromal interacting molecule-1
      (STIM1), whereas sphingosine-1-phosphate-mediated enhancement of endothelial
      barrier function occurs independently of STIM1. We conclude that although STIM1
      is required for GPCR-mediated disruption of barrier function, a causal link
      between GPCR-induced cytoplasmic Ca2+ increases and acute changes in barrier
      function is missing. Thus, the cytosolic Ca2+-induced endothelial contraction is
      a cum hoc fallacy that should be abandoned.

PMID- 27624939
TI  - Novel Insights into the PKCbeta-dependent Regulation of the Oxidoreductase
      p66Shc.
AB  - Dysfunctional mitochondria contribute to the development of many diseases and
      pathological conditions through the excessive production of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS), and, where studied, ablation of p66Shc (p66) was beneficial. p66
      translocates to the mitochondria and oxidizes cytochrome c to yield H2O2, which
      in turn initiates cell death. PKCbeta-mediated phosphorylation of serine 36 in
      p66 has been implicated as a key regulatory step preceding mitochondrial
      translocation, ROS production, and cell death, and PKCbeta thus may provide a
      target for therapeutic intervention. We performed a reassessment of PKCbeta
      regulation of the oxidoreductase activity of p66. Although our experiments did
      not substantiate Ser36 phosphorylation by PKCbeta, they instead provided evidence
      for Ser139 and Ser213 as PKCbeta phosphorylation sites regulating the pro-oxidant
      and pro-apoptotic function of p66. Mutation of another predicted PKCbeta
      phosphorylation site also located in the phosphotyrosine binding domain,
      threonine 206, had no phenotype. Intriguingly, p66 with Thr206 and Ser213 mutated
      to glutamic acid showed a gain-of-function phenotype with significantly increased
      ROS production and cell death induction. Taken together, these data argue for a
      complex mechanism of PKCbeta-dependent regulation of p66 activation involving
      Ser139 and a motif surrounding Ser213.

PMID- 27624941
TI  - Regulation of L-type Ca2+ Channel Activity and Insulin Secretion by Huntingtin
      associated Protein 1.
AB  - Huntingtin-associated protein 1 (Hap1) was originally identified as a protein
      that binds to the Huntington disease protein, huntingtin. Growing evidence has
      shown that Hap1 participates in intracellular trafficking via its association
      with various microtubule-dependent transporters and organelles. Recent studies
      also revealed that Hap1 is involved in exocytosis such as insulin release from
      pancreatic beta-cells. However, the mechanism underlying the action of Hap1 on
      insulin release remains to be investigated. We found that Hap1 knock-out mice had
      a lower plasma basal insulin level than control mice. Using cultured pancreatic
      beta-cell lines, INS-1 cells, we confirmed that decreasing Hap1 reduces the
      number of secreted vesicles and inhibits vesicle exocytosis. Electrophysiology
      and imaging of intracellular Ca2+ measurements demonstrated that Hap1 depletion
      significantly reduces the influx of Ca2+ mediated by L-type Ca2+ channels (Cav).
      This decrease is not due to reduced expression of Cav1.2 channel mRNA but results
      from the decreased distribution of Cav1.2 on the plasma membrane of INS-1 cells.
      Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching showed a defective movement of Cav1.2
      in Hap1 silencing INS-1 cells. Our findings suggest that Hap1 is important for
      insulin secretion of pancreatic beta-cells via regulating the intracellular
      trafficking and plasma membrane localization of Cav1.2, providing new insight
      into the mechanisms that regulate insulin release from pancreatic beta-cells.

PMID- 27624943
TI  - BCR-ABL Testing by Polymerase Chain Reaction in Patients With Neutrophilia: The
      William Beaumont Hospital Experience and the Case for Rational Laboratory Test
      Requests.
AB  - Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm resulting from
      the fusion of the BCR-ABL genes, forming the Philadelphia chromosome. The
      diagnosis is often suspected when there is leukocytosis with left shift and
      basophilia. Confirmation of the diagnosis requires a demonstration of BCR-ABL by
      polymerase chain reaction. Using data from the William Beaumont laboratory data
      registry, we conducted a retrospective review of all the orders for BCR-ABL tests
      sent to the clinical pathology laboratory between March 11, 2014 and September
      12, 2014. We concluded that the presence of concurrent neutrophilia and
      basophilia has a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI, 69.15% to 100%) and specificity of
      100% (95% CI, 93.15% to 100%) in the initial diagnosis of CML. Our results
      suggest that the presence of both neutrophilia and basophilia should be used as a
      threshold for the placement of orders for BCR-ABL in the initial diagnosis of CML
      in patients with leukocytosis with left shift and provide a basis for a reduction
      in health care spending. Restricting BCR-ABL tests to this population would save
      approximately $198 million annually in national health care spending.

PMID- 27624940
TI  - Selective Assembly of Na,K-ATPase alpha2beta2 Heterodimers in the Heart: DISTINCT
      FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES AND ISOFORM-SELECTIVE INHIBITORS.
AB  - The Na,K-ATPase alpha2 subunit plays a key role in cardiac muscle contraction by
      regulating intracellular Ca2+, whereas alpha1 has a more conventional role of
      maintaining ion homeostasis. The beta subunit differentially regulates
      maturation, trafficking, and activity of alpha-beta heterodimers. It is not known
      whether the distinct role of alpha2 in the heart is related to selective assembly
      with a particular one of the three beta isoforms. We show here by
      immunofluorescence and co-immunoprecipitation that alpha2 is preferentially
      expressed with beta2 in T-tubules of cardiac myocytes, forming alpha2beta2
      heterodimers. We have expressed human alpha1beta1, alpha2beta1, alpha2beta2, and
      alpha2beta3 in Pichia pastoris, purified the complexes, and compared their
      functional properties. alpha2beta2 and alpha2beta3 differ significantly from both
      alpha2beta1 and alpha1beta1 in having a higher K0.5K+ and lower K0.5Na+ for
      activating Na,K-ATPase. These features are the result of a large reduction in
      binding affinity for extracellular K+ and shift of the E1P-E2P conformational
      equilibrium toward E1P. A screen of perhydro-1,4-oxazepine derivatives of digoxin
      identified several derivatives (e.g. cyclobutyl) with strongly increased
      selectivity for inhibition of alpha2beta2 and alpha2beta3 over alpha1beta1 (range
      22-33-fold). Molecular modeling suggests a possible basis for isoform
      selectivity. The preferential assembly, specific T-tubular localization, and low
      K+ affinity of alpha2beta2 could allow an acute response to raised ambient K+
      concentrations in physiological conditions and explain the importance of
      alpha2beta2 for cardiac muscle contractility. The high sensitivity of alpha2beta2
      to digoxin derivatives explains beneficial effects of cardiac glycosides for
      treatment of heart failure and potential of alpha2beta2-selective digoxin
      derivatives for reducing cardiotoxicity.

PMID- 27624944
TI  - Facilitating Teamwork in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology.
AB  - A case of a young adult patient in the days immediately after a cancer diagnosis
      illustrates the critical importance of three interrelated core coordinating
      mechanisms-closed-loop communication, shared mental models, and mutual trust-of
      teamwork in an adolescent and young adult multidisciplinary oncology team. The
      case illustrates both the opportunities to increase team member coordination and
      the problems that can occur when coordination breaks down. A model for teamwork
      is presented, which highlights the relationships among these coordinating
      mechanisms and demonstrates how balance among them works to optimize team
      function and patient care. Implications for clinical practice and research
      suggested by the case are presented.

PMID- 27624942
TI  - The oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate activates the mTOR signalling pathway.
AB  - The identification of cancer-associated mutations in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA)
      cycle enzymes isocitrate dehydrogenases 1 and 2 (IDH1/2) highlights the
      prevailing notion that aberrant metabolic function can contribute to
      carcinogenesis. IDH1/2 normally catalyse the oxidative decarboxylation of
      isocitrate into alpha-ketoglutarate (alphaKG). In gliomas and acute myeloid
      leukaemias, IDH1/2 mutations confer gain-of-function leading to production of the
      oncometabolite R-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) from alphaKG. Here we show that
      generation of 2HG by mutated IDH1/2 leads to the activation of mTOR by inhibiting
      KDM4A, an alphaKG-dependent enzyme of the Jumonji family of lysine demethylases.
      Furthermore, KDM4A associates with the DEP domain-containing mTOR-interacting
      protein (DEPTOR), a negative regulator of mTORC1/2. Depletion of KDM4A decreases
      DEPTOR protein stability. Our results provide an additional molecular mechanism
      for the oncogenic activity of mutant IDH1/2 by revealing an unprecedented link
      between TCA cycle defects and positive modulation of mTOR function downstream of
      the canonical PI3K/AKT/TSC1-2 pathway.

PMID- 27624946
TI  - Leveraging Emerging Technologies and the "Internet of Things" to Improve the
      Quality of Cancer Care.

PMID- 27624945
TI  - "Winging It": How Older Breast Cancer Survivors Persist With Aromatase Inhibitor
      Treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are an important and effective hormonal
      adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Up to 50% of women stop AIs
      prematurely, missing a valuable therapeutic intervention. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      We used grounded theory methodology to conduct in-depth, semistructured
      interviews and analyze data among patients with breast cancer diagnosed at age 65
      years or older who were receiving an AI. The goal of the interviews was to
      understand decision making regarding persisting with AIs. Interview transcripts
      were systematically analyzed to identify emergent categories and relationships.
      RESULTS: Interviews were conducted with 27 women. After completion of primary
      treatment, women in our sample found themselves "winging it" as they faced
      substantial struggles with infrequent support during this new phase of the cancer
      trajectory. Self-management of AI adverse effects occurred in the contexts of
      older age and early survivorship. "Bearing it" emerged as another important
      management process regarding the impact of AIs on quality of everyday life. The
      complex decision to persist with the AI involved weighing the possibility of a
      cancer-free future against the burden of adverse effects. Women relied on
      informal networks for support, rather than oncology providers, highlighting the
      need for practical self-management strategies. The notion of a tipping point in
      persistence revealed their susceptibility to early discontinuation. CONCLUSION:
      This study provides insight into potential decisional pathways leading to early
      discontinuation of AIs among older women with breast cancer. Better support is
      needed for these women.

PMID- 27624947
TI  - Using Experience-Based Design to Improve the Care Experience for Patients With
      Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Despite the importance of the patient care experience to quality and
      outcome, the literature detailing the care experience in patients with pancreatic
      cancer is limited. METHODS: To elicit the experience of patients with pancreatic
      cancer for care redesign, we deployed experience-based design, an emerging
      methodology based on identification of events of high emotional content, known as
      touch points, to delineate qualitatively what matters most to patients and
      families. We defined touch points through direct observations, interviews, and a
      focus group. We then used experience questionnaires to measure emotional content
      and develop an experience map to graphically display the fluctuating emotional
      journey through the care processes. Study subjects were patients with pancreatic
      cancer who were cared for at Virginia Mason Medical Center, family caregivers,
      and staff. Redesign was initiated through an all-day improvement event in
      September 2013. RESULTS: During 2013 and 2014, we cared for 485 new patients with
      pancreatic cancer, the majority of whom had local disease at diagnosis. The
      response rate for the experience questionnaire was 23% (117 of 500 questionnaires
      distributed). The experience-based design results were often contrary to staff
      preconceptions of the care experience for patients with pancreatic cancer, and
      contributed to redesign in three key areas: understanding and documenting patient
      goals and values, providing better resources for caregivers/families, and
      improving care coordination and support services. CONCLUSION: Experience-based
      design enabled us to understand the care experience and associated emotional
      content for patients with pancreatic cancer and their caregivers. This knowledge
      then supported care redesign targeted at areas of high negative emotional
      content.

PMID- 27624949
TI  - Shared Goal Setting in Team-Based Geriatric Oncology.
AB  - We present the case of a 92-year-old man, MH, who was given a diagnosis of
      colorectal cancer. His primary care physician, surgeon, geriatric oncologist, and
      family members all played important roles in his care. MH's case is an example of
      a lack of explicit shared goal setting by the health care providers with the
      patient and family members and how that impeded care planning and health. This
      case demonstrates the importance of explicitly discussing and establishing shared
      goals in team-based cancer care delivery early on and throughout the care
      process, especially for older adults. Each individual member's goals should be
      understood as they fit within the overarching shared team goals. We emphasize
      that shared goal setting and alignment of individual goals is a dynamic process
      that must occur several times at critical decision points throughout a patient's
      care continuum. Providers and researchers can use this illustrative case to
      consider their own work and contemplate how shared goal setting can improve
      patient-centered care and health outcomes in various team-based care settings.
      Shared goal setting among team members has been demonstrated to improve outcomes
      in other contexts. However, we stress, that little investigation into the impact
      of shared goal setting on team-based cancer care delivery has been conducted. We
      list immediate research goals within team-based cancer care delivery that can
      provide a foundation for the understanding of the process and outcomes of shared
      goal setting.

PMID- 27624948
TI  - Resolving Rivalries and Realigning Goals: Challenges of Clinical and Research
      Multiteam Systems.
AB  - This article describes the care processes for a 64-year-old man with newly
      diagnosed advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who was enrolled in a first-line
      clinical trial of a new immunotherapy regimen. The case highlights the concept of
      multiteam systems in cancer clinical research and clinical care. Because clinical
      research represents a highly dynamic entity-with studies frequently opening,
      closing, and undergoing modifications-concerted efforts of multiple teams are
      needed to respond to these changes while continuing to provide consistent, high
      level care and timely, accurate clinical data. The case illustrates typical
      challenges of multiteam care processes. Compared with clinical tasks that are
      routinely performed by single teams, multiple-team care greatly increases the
      demands for communication, collaboration, cohesion, and coordination among team
      members. As the case illustrates, the described research team and clinical team
      are separated, resulting in suboptimal function. Individual team members interact
      predominantly with members of their own team. A considerable number of team
      members lack regular interaction with anyone outside their team. Accompanying
      this separation, the teams enact rivalries that impede collaboration. The teams
      have misaligned goals and competing priorities that create competition.
      Collective identity and cohesion across the two teams are low. Research team and
      clinical team members have limited knowledge of the roles and work of individuals
      outside their team. Recommendations to increase trust and collaboration are
      provided. Clinical providers and researchers may incorporate these themes into
      development and evaluation of multiteam systems, multidisciplinary teams, and
      cross-functional teams within their own institutions.

PMID- 27624950
TI  - Reliability, Validity, and Feasibility of a Computer-Based Geriatric Assessment
      for Older Adults With Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, reliability, and
      validity of a computer-based geriatric assessment via two methods of electronic
      data capture ( SupportScreen and REDCap) compared with paper-and-pencil data
      capture among older adults with cancer. METHODS: Eligible patients were >= 65
      years old, had a cancer diagnosis, and were fluent in English. Patients were
      randomly assigned to one of four arms, in which they completed the geriatric
      assessment twice: (1) REDCap and paper and pencil in sessions 1 and 2; (2) REDCap
      in both sessions; (3) SupportScreen and paper and pencil in sessions 1 and 2; and
      (4) SupportScreen in both sessions. The feasibility, reliability, and validity of
      the computer-based geriatric assessment compared with paper and pencil were
      evaluated. RESULTS: The median age of participants (N = 100) was 71 years (range,
      65 to 91 years) and the diagnosis was solid tumor (82%) or hematologic malignancy
      (18%). For session 1, REDCap took significantly longer to complete than paper and
      pencil (median, 21 minutes [range, 11 to 44 minutes] v median, 15 minutes [range,
      9 to 29 minutes], P < .01) or SupportScreen (median, 16 minutes [range, 6 to 38
      minutes], P < .01). There were no significant differences in completion times
      between SupportScreen and paper and pencil ( P = .50). The computer-based
      geriatric assessment was feasible. Few participants (8%) needed help with
      completing the geriatric assessment (REDCap, n = 7 and SupportScreen, n = 1), 89%
      reported that the length was "just right," and 67% preferred the computer-based
      geriatric assessment to paper and pencil. Test-retest reliability was high
      (Spearman correlation coefficient >= 0.79) for all scales except for social
      activity. Validity among similar scales was demonstrated. CONCLUSION: Delivering
      a computer-based geriatric assessment is feasible, reliable, and valid.
      SupportScreen methodology is preferred to REDCap.

PMID- 27624952
TI  - Reduction of postoperative adhesion development.
AB  - Despite use of meticulous surgical techniques, and regardless of surgical access
      via laparotomy or laparoscopy, postoperative adhesions develop in the vast
      majority of women undergoing abdominopelvic surgery. Such adhesions represent not
      only adhesion reformation at sites of adhesiolysis, but also de novo adhesion
      formation at sites of surgical procedures. Application of antiadhesion adjuvants
      compliment the benefits of meticulous surgical techniques, providing an
      opportunity to further reduce postoperative adhesion development. Improved
      understanding of the pathophysiology of adhesion development and distinguishing
      variations in the molecular biologic mechanisms from adhesion-free peritoneal
      repair represent future opportunities to improve the reduction of postoperative
      adhesions. Optimization of the reduction of postoperative adhesions will likely
      require identification of unique, personalized approaches in each individual,
      representing interindividual variation in peritoneal repair processes.

PMID- 27624953
TI  - Ascl1 represses the mesendoderm induction in Xenopus.
AB  - Ascl1 is a multi-functional regulator of neural development in invertebrates and
      vertebrates. Ectopic expression of Ascl1 can generate functional neurons from non
      neural somatic cells. The abnormal expression of ASCL1 has been reported in
      several types of carcinomas. We have previously identified Ascl1 as a crucial
      maternal regulator of the germ layer pattern formation in Xenopus Functional
      studies have indicated that the maternally-supplied Ascl1 renders embryonic cells
      a propensity to adopt neural fates on one hand, and represses the mesendoderm
      formation on the other. However, it remains unclear how Ascl1 achieves its
      repressor function during the activation of mesendoderm genes by VegT. Here, we
      performed series of gain- and loss-of-function experiments and found that: (i)
      VegT, the maternal mesendoderm determinant in Xenopus, is required for the
      deposition of H3K27ac and H3K9ac at its target gene loci during mesendoderm
      induction; (ii) Ascl1 and VegT antagonistically modulate the deposition of
      acetylated histone marks at mesendoderm gene loci; (iii) Ascl1 overexpression
      reduces the VegT-occupancy at mesendoderm gene loci; (iv) Ascl1 but not Neurog2
      possesses a repressive activity during mesendoderm induction. These findings
      reveal a novel repressive function for Ascl1 in inhibiting non-neural fates
      during early Xenopus embryogenesis.

PMID- 27624954
TI  - Molecular typing and genetic characterization of Mycobacterium avium subsp.
      hominissuis isolates from humans and swine in Japan.
AB  - Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) causes disease in both humans and
      swine; however, the genetic variations in MAH isolates are unclear. The aim of
      this study was to elucidate the genetic variations in MAH isolates from humans
      and swine in Japan. We analysed the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer
      (ITS) sequence and variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) using the
      Mycobacterium avium tandem repeat loci, prevalence of ISMav6 and clarithromycin
      resistance for MAH isolates from patients with pulmonary MAC (pMAC) disease
      (n=69), and HIV-seropositive and blood culture-positive (HIV-MAC) patients (n=28)
      and swine (n=23). In the minimum spanning tree based on VNTR analysis, swine MAC
      isolates belonged to a cluster distinguishable from that of human pMAC isolates.
      Isolates from HIV-MAC were scattered throughout both clusters. The three major
      distinct sequevars, Mav-A, Mav-B and Mav-F, were determined according to 16S-23S
      rDNA ITS sequence analysis in addition to three new sequevars, Mav-Q, Mav-R and
      Mav-S. Mav-A and Mav-F comprised the majority of human pMAC strains; in contrast,
      Mav-B predominated in swine isolates. Distribution of ITS sequevars in the
      minimum spanning tree based on VNTR analysis showed similar clusters of isolates
      from different origins, i.e. human pMAC, HIV-MAC and swine. These results,
      together with ISMav6 possession and clarithromycin resistance, revealed the
      genetic diversity of MAH strains recovered from humans and swine. Molecular
      epidemiology and genetic characterization in the present study showed the
      distinctive genetic evolutionary lineage of MAH strains isolated from human pMAC
      diseases and swine.

PMID- 27624955
TI  - Effectiveness of Prenatal Versus Postpartum Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular
      Pertussis Vaccination in Preventing Infant Pertussis.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Most severe and fatal cases of pertussis occur in infants <8 weeks
      of age, before initiation of the primary pertussis vaccine series. Women are
      recommended to receive tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap)
      vaccine at the start of the third trimester of each pregnancy to optimize
      transplacental transfer of antibodies to the fetus. This recommendation was made
      by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices based on immunogenicity
      data, and no studies in the United States have yet evaluated the effectiveness of
      this strategy in reducing pertussis incidence in infants. METHODS:  We evaluated
      a cohort of mothers with documented Tdap vaccination histories in the California
      Immunization Registry to determine whether infants whose mothers received Tdap
      vaccine at 27-36 weeks gestation had a lower risk of pertussis at <8 weeks of age
      than infants born to women who received Tdap vaccine within 14 days post partum.
      RESULTS:  Tdap vaccination received at 27-36 weeks gestation was found to be 85%
      (95% confidence interval, 33%-98%) more effective than postpartum Tdap
      vaccination at preventing pertussis in infants <8 weeks of age . Vaccination at
      27-36 weeks gestation was more effective at preventing pertussis in infant than
      vaccination during the second trimester. CONCLUSIONS:  Tdap vaccination at 27-36
      weeks gestation was 85% more effective than postpartum vaccination at preventing
      pertussis in infants <8 weeks of age. Efforts should be made by prenatal care
      providers to provide Tdap vaccine to pregnant women during routine prenatal
      visits at the earliest opportunity between 27 and 36 weeks gestation.

PMID- 27624956
TI  - Effectiveness of Prenatal Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular Pertussis
      Vaccination on Pertussis Severity in Infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  All US women are recommended to receive a tetanus, diphtheria, and
      acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine at 27-36 weeks gestation during each pregnancy
      to reduce the risk of pertussis to their infants. The impact of this strategy on
      severity of disease among infected infants has not been evaluated. METHODS:  We
      use a retrospective cohort study design evaluating whether pertussis-infected
      infants born in 2011-2015 whose mothers received Tdap vaccine during pregnancy
      had less severe pertussis, resulting in a lower risk of hospitalization or
      intensive care unit admission compared with infants born to unvaccinated mothers.
      RESULTS:  Infected infants of vaccinated mothers were significantly less likely
      to be hospitalized and had significantly shorter hospital stays compared with
      infants born to unvaccinated mothers, after adjustment for chronological and
      gestational age and receipt of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular
      pertussis vaccine. Unadjusted and adjusted vaccine effectiveness for preventing
      hospitalization among infants with pertussis was 72% (95% confidence interval
      [CI], 49%-85%) and 58% (95% CI 15%-80%), respectively. No infants born to
      vaccinated mothers required intubation or died of pertussis. CONCLUSIONS: 
      Infants with pertussis whose mothers received Tdap during pregnancy had a
      significantly lower risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission and
      shorter hospital stays. Prenatal Tdap vaccination is a critical strategy for
      reducing the morbidity and mortality from pertussis.

PMID- 27624957
TI  - Editorial Commentary: Ceftazidime-Avibactam and Carbapenem-Resistant
      Enterobacteriaceae: "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat".

PMID- 27624961
TI  - Loss of a Class A Penicillin-Binding Protein Alters beta-Lactam Susceptibilities
      in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - Recent studies have renewed interest in beta-lactam antibiotics as a potential
      treatment for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. To explore the opportunities
      and limitations of this approach, we sought to better understand potential
      resistance mechanisms to beta-lactam antibiotics in M. tuberculosis. We
      identified mutations in the penicillin-binding protein (PBP) ponA2 that were able
      to confer some degree of resistance to the cephalosporin subclass of beta
      lactams. Surprisingly, deletion of ponA2 also confers resistance, demonstrating
      that beta-lactam resistance can spontaneously arise from PBP loss of function. We
      show that ponA2 mutants resistant to the cephalosporin subclass of beta-lactams
      in fact show increased susceptibility to meropenem, a carbapenem that is known to
      target l,d-transpeptidases, thereby suggesting that in the absence of PonA2, an
      alternative mode of peptidoglycan synthesis likely becomes essential. Consistent
      with this hypothesis, a negative genetic selection identified the l,d
      transpeptidase ldtMt2 as essential in the absence of ponA2. The mechanism of beta
      lactam resistance we outline is consistent with emerging models of beta-lactam
      killing, while the investigation of ponA2 downstream and synthetic lethal genes
      sheds light on the mechanism of cell wall biosynthesis and the interaction
      between conventional PBPs and l,d-transpeptidases.

PMID- 27624958
TI  - Clinical Outcomes, Drug Toxicity, and Emergence of Ceftazidime-Avibactam
      Resistance Among Patients Treated for Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae
      Infections.
AB  - Thirty-seven carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)-infected patients were
      treated with ceftazidime-avibactam. Clinical success and survival rates at 30
      days were 59% (22/37) and 76% (28/37), respectively. In 23% (5/22) of clinical
      successes, CRE infections recurred within 90 days. Microbiologic failure rate was
      27% (10/37). Ceftazidime-avibactam resistance was detected in 30% (3/10) of
      microbiologic failures.

PMID- 27624959
TI  - Clinical Manifestations and Molecular Characterization of Pertactin-Deficient and
      Pertactin-Producing Bordetella pertussis in Children, Philadelphia 2007-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Bordetella pertussis strains lacking expression of pertactin, a
      bacterial adhesin and vaccine target, are emerging. There are limited data on
      disease manifestations of mutant strains in children. We sought to compare
      clinical manifestations of pertactin-deficient and pertactin-producing B.
      pertussis infection in infants and describe corresponding molecular
      characteristics. METHODS:  Molecular characterization of archived B. pertussis
      isolates (collected January 2007 to March 2014) included Western blot analysis,
      pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), polymerase chain reaction, and pertactin
      gene sequencing. Medical record review compared epidemiologic and clinical
      courses of pertactin-producing and pertactin-deficient B. pertussis infections.
      RESULTS:  Sixty of 72 B. pertussis isolates were viable for analysis. Within the
      cohort of infants, the median age was 95 days, 90% received <=1 dose of vaccine,
      and 72% were hospitalized. Pertactin deficiency was first noted in 2008, and its
      prevalence increased over time (68% overall prevalence). There were no
      statistically significant differences in presenting symptoms or signs,
      hospitalization, intensive care, respiratory support, or laboratory results
      related to pertactin expression. Illness length was shorter in pertactin
      deficient group (mean difference, 3.2 days; P = .04); no difference was noted in
      the subgroup of infants <4 months old. Molecular analyses identified 11 PFGE
      profiles (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention profile No. 002 predominant,
      47%). In 41 pertactin-deficient strains, sequencing identified 2 stop codon and 3
      IS481 locations disrupting the prn gene. Mutations and nucleotide positions were
      not unique to PFGE type, nor were they clustered in time. CONCLUSIONS:  In this
      cohort of predominantly unimmunized infants, clinical disease did not differ
      between infection with pertactin-deficient and those with pertactin-producing B.
      pertussis. Molecular analyses demonstrated remarkable PFGE strain diversity, with
      multiple mechanisms and molecular sites of pertactin inactivation.

PMID- 27624962
TI  - Aryl-alkyl-lysines: Membrane-Active Small Molecules Active against Murine Model
      of Burn Infection.
AB  - Infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens continue to be
      significant contributors to human morbidity. The recent advent of New Delhi
      metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (blaNDM-1) producing pathogens, against which few drugs
      remain active, has aggravated the problem even further. This paper shows that
      aryl-alkyl-lysines, membrane-active small molecules, are effective in treating
      infections caused by Gram-negative pathogens. One of the compounds of the study
      was effective in killing planktonic cells as well as dispersing biofilms of Gram
      negative pathogens. The compound was extremely effective in disrupting preformed
      biofilms and did not select resistant bacteria in multiple passages. The compound
      retained activity in different physiological conditions and did not induce any
      toxic effect in female Balb/c mice until concentrations of 17.5 mg/kg. In a
      murine model of Acinetobacter baumannii burn infection, the compound was able to
      bring the bacterial burden down significantly upon topical application for 7
      days.

PMID- 27624964
TI  - Glycopeptide Antibiotic To Overcome the Intrinsic Resistance of Gram-Negative
      Bacteria.
AB  - The emergence of drug resistance along with a declining pipeline of clinically
      useful antibiotics has made it vital to develop more effective antimicrobial
      therapeutics, particularly against difficult-to-treat Gram-negative pathogens
      (GNPs). Many antibacterial agents, including glycopeptide antibiotics such as
      vancomycin, are inherently inactive toward GNPs because of their inability to
      cross the outer membrane of these pathogens. Here, we demonstrate, for the first
      time, lipophilic cationic (permanent positive charge) vancomycin analogues were
      able to permeabilize the outer membrane of GNPs and overcome the inherent
      resistance of GNPs toward glycopeptides. Unlike vancomycin, these analogues were
      shown to have a high activity against a variety of multidrug-resistant clinical
      isolates such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
      and Acinetobacter baumannii. In the murine model of carbapenem-resistant A.
      baumannii infection, the optimized compound showed potent activity with no
      observed toxicity. The notable activity of these compounds is attributed to the
      incorporation of new membrane disruption mechanisms (cytoplasmic membrane
      depolarization along with outer and inner (cytoplasmic) membrane
      permeabilization) into vancomycin. Therefore, our results indicate the potential
      of the present vancomycin analogues to be used against drug-resistant GNPs, thus
      strengthening the antibiotic arsenal for combating Gram-negative bacterial
      infections.

PMID- 27624963
TI  - 6-O-Branched Oligo-beta-glucan-Based Antifungal Glycoconjugate Vaccines.
AB  - With the rapid growth in fungal infections and drug-resistant fungal strains,
      antifungal vaccines have become an especially attractive strategy to tackle this
      important health problem. beta-Glucans, a class of extracellular carbohydrate
      antigens abundantly and consistently expressed on fungal cell surfaces, are
      intriguing epitopes for antifungal vaccine development. beta-Glucans have a
      conserved beta-1,3-glucan backbone with sporadic beta-1,3- or beta-1,6-linked
      short glucans as branches at the 6-O-positions, and the branches may play a
      critical role in their immunologic functions. To study the immunologic properties
      of branched beta-glucans and develop beta-glucan-based antifungal vaccines, three
      branched beta-glucan oligosaccharides with 6-O-linked beta-1,6-tetraglucose, beta
      1,3-diglucose, and beta-1,3-tetraglucose branches on a beta-1,3-nonaglucan
      backbone, which mimic the structural epitopes of natural beta-glucans, were
      synthesized and coupled with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) to form novel
      synthetic conjugate vaccines. These glycoconjugates were proved to elicit strong
      IgG antibody responses in mice. It was also discovered that the number, size, and
      structure of branches linked to the beta-glucan backbone had a significant impact
      on the immunologic property. Moreover, antibodies induced by the synthetic
      oligosaccharide-KLH conjugates were able to recognize and bind to natural beta
      glucans and fungal cells. Most importantly, these conjugates elicited effective
      protection against systemic Candida albicans infection in mice. Thus, branched
      oligo-beta-glucans were identified as functional epitopes for antifungal vaccine
      design and the corresponding protein conjugates as promising antifungal vaccine
      candidates.

PMID- 27624965
TI  - Mechanism of Poliovirus Resistance to Host Phosphatidylinositol-4 Kinase III beta
      Inhibitor.
AB  - Phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase III beta (PI4KB) and oxysterol-binding protein
      (OSBP) family I have been identified as the major targets of anti-enterovirus
      drug candidates. Resistance mutations in poliovirus (PV) to these inhibitors have
      been identified in viral 3A protein, represented by a G5318A (3A-Ala70Thr)
      mutation, but the mechanism of viral resistance to host PI4KB/OSBP inhibitors
      remained unknown. In this study, we found that a G5318A mutation enhances the
      basal levels of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) and of the 3A protein and
      decreases the levels of the 3AB protein during PV replication. The 3A protein
      acted as a major effector responsible for the resistance to PI4KB inhibitor, but
      did not enhance the PI4KB activity in vitro in contrast to the 2C, 2BC, 3AB, and
      3D proteins. The 3AB protein acted as the primary target of a G5318A mutation and
      also as an effector. We identified novel resistance mutations to a PI4KB
      inhibitor [C5151U (3A-T14M) and C5366U (3A-H86Y) mutations] and found that there
      is a positive correlation between the extent of the resistance phenotype and the
      levels of the 3A proteins. These results suggested that the 3A protein
      overproduced by enhanced processing of the 3AB protein with the resistance
      mutations overcomes the inhibitory effect of PI4KB inhibitor on PV replication
      independently of the hyperactivation of the PI4KB/OSBP pathway.

PMID- 27624967
TI  - Acinetobactin Isomerization Enables Adaptive Iron Acquisition in Acinetobacter
      baumannii through pH-Triggered Siderophore Swapping.
AB  - Pathogenic strains of Acinetobacter baumannii excrete multiple siderophores that
      enhance iron scavenging from host sources. The oxazoline siderophore pre
      acinetobactin undergoes an unusual non-enzymatic isomerization, producing the
      isoxazolidinone acinetobactin. In this study, we explored the kinetics,
      mechanism, and biological consequence of this siderophore swapping. Pre
      acinetobactin is excreted to the extracellular space where the isomerization to
      acinetobactin occurs with a pH-rate profile consistent with 5-exo-tet cyclization
      at C5' with clean stereochemical inversion. Pre-acinetobactin persists at pH <6,
      and acinetobactin is rapidly formed at pH >7, matching each siderophore's pH
      preference for iron(III) chelation and A. baumannii growth promotion.
      Acinetobactin isomerization provides two siderophores for the price of one,
      enabling A. baumannii to sequester iron over a broad pH range likely to be
      encountered during the course of an infection.

PMID- 27624966
TI  - Crystal Structures of Trimethoprim-Resistant DfrA1 Rationalize Potent Inhibition
      by Propargyl-Linked Antifolates.
AB  - Multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, notably Escherichia coli and Klebsiella
      pneumoniae, have become major health concerns worldwide. Resistance to effective
      therapeutics is often carried by class I and II integrons that can confer
      insensitivity to carbapenems, extended spectrum beta-lactamases, the antifolate
      trimethoprim, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides. Specifically of interest to
      the study here, a prevalent gene (dfrA1) coding for an insensitive dihydrofolate
      reductase (DHFR) confers 190- or 1000-fold resistance to trimethoprim for K.
      pneumoniae and E. coli, respectively. Attaining inhibition of both the wild-type
      and resistant forms of the enzyme is critical for new antifolates. For several
      years, we have been developing the propargyl-linked antifolates (PLAs) as
      effective inhibitors against trimethoprim-resistant DHFR enzymes. Here, we show
      that the PLAs are active against both the wild-type and DfrA1 DHFR proteins. We
      report two high-resolution crystal structures of DfrA1 bound to potent PLAs. The
      structure-activity relationships and crystal structures will be critical in
      driving the design of broadly active inhibitors against wild-type and resistant
      DHFR.

PMID- 27624968
TI  - CENH3 morphogenesis reveals dynamic centromere associations during synaptonemal
      complex formation and the progression through male meiosis in hexaploid wheat.
AB  - During meiosis, centromeres in some species undergo a series of associations, but
      the processes and progression to homologous pairing is still a matter of debate.
      Here, we aimed to correlate meiotic centromere dynamics and early telomere
      behaviour to the progression of synaptonemal complex (SC) construction in
      hexaploid wheat (2n = 42) by triple immunolabelling of CENH3 protein marking
      functional centromeres, and SC proteins ASY1 (unpaired lateral elements) and ZYP1
      (central elements in synapsed chromosomes). We show that single or multiple
      centromere associations formed in meiotic interphase undergo a progressive
      polarization (clustering) at the nuclear periphery in early leptotene, leading to
      formation of the telomere bouquet. Critically, immunolabelling shows the dynamics
      of these presynaptic centromere associations and a structural reorganization of
      the centromeric chromatin coinciding with key events of synapsis initiation from
      the subtelomeric regions. As short stretches of subtelomeric synapsis emerged at
      early zygotene, centromere clusters lost their strong polarization, gradually
      resolving as individual centromeres indicated by more than 21 CENH3 foci
      associated with unpaired lateral elements. Only following this centromere
      depolarization were homologous chromosome arms connected, as observed by the
      alignment and fusion of interstitial ZYP1 loci elongating at zygotene so synapsis
      at centromeres is a continuation of the interstitial synapsis. Our results thus
      reveal that centromere associations are a component of the timing and progression
      of chromosome synapsis, and the gradual release of the individual centromeres
      from the clusters correlates with the elongation of interstitial synapsis between
      the corresponding homologues.

PMID- 27624971
TI  - Maternal Social Information Processing and the Frequency and Severity of Mother
      Perpetrated Physical Abuse.
AB  - The frequency and severity of physical abuse influences children's outcomes, yet
      little theory-based research has explored what predicts its course. This study
      examined the potential role of social information processing (SIP) factors in the
      course of abuse. Mothers with histories of perpetrating physical abuse ( N = 62)
      completed measures of SIP, and the frequency and severity of mother-perpetrated
      physical abuse were collected from Child Protection Services records. Poorer
      problem-solving capacities were significantly related to greater frequency of
      physical abuse. Hostile attributions toward children were positively associated
      with abuse severity. Controlling for demographics and co-occurrence of neglect,
      SIP factors together accounted for a significant proportion of variance in the
      frequency of physical abuse, but not severity. With the exception of unrealistic
      expectations, preliminary evidence supported a link between maternal SIP and the
      course of abuse perpetration. Future research directions and implications for
      intervention are discussed.

PMID- 27624969
TI  - The PCP pathway regulates Baz planar distribution in epithelial cells.
AB  - The localisation of apico-basal polarity proteins along the Z-axis of epithelial
      cells is well understood while their distribution in the plane of the epithelium
      is poorly characterised. Here we provide a systematic description of the planar
      localisation of apico-basal polarity proteins in the Drosophila ommatidial
      epithelium. We show that the adherens junction proteins Shotgun and Armadillo, as
      well as the baso-lateral complexes, are bilateral, i.e. present on both sides of
      cell interfaces. In contrast, we report that other key adherens junction
      proteins, Bazooka and the myosin regulatory light chain (Spaghetti squash) are
      unilateral, i.e. present on one side of cell interfaces. Furthermore, we
      demonstrate that planar cell polarity (PCP) and not the apical determinants
      Crumbs and Par-6 control Bazooka unilaterality in cone cells. Altogether, our
      work unravels an unexpected organisation and combination of apico-basal,
      cytoskeletal and planar polarity proteins that is different on either side of
      cell-cell interfaces and unique for the different contacts of the same cell.

PMID- 27624970
TI  - Fecal metabolome of the Hadza hunter-gatherers: a host-microbiome integrative
      view.
AB  - The recent characterization of the gut microbiome of traditional rural and
      foraging societies allowed us to appreciate the essential co-adaptive role of the
      microbiome in complementing our physiology, opening up significant questions on
      how the microbiota changes that have occurred in industrialized urban populations
      may have altered the microbiota-host co-metabolic network, contributing to the
      growing list of Western diseases. Here, we applied a targeted metabolomics
      approach to profile the fecal metabolome of the Hadza of Tanzania, one of the
      world's few remaining foraging populations, and compared them to the profiles of
      urban living Italians, as representative of people in the post-industrialized
      West. Data analysis shows that during the rainy season, when the diet is
      primarily plant-based, Hadza are characterized by a distinctive enrichment in
      hexoses, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and acylcarnitines, while deplete
      in the most common natural amino acids and derivatives. Complementary to the
      documented unique metagenomic features of their gut microbiome, our findings on
      the Hadza metabolome lend support to the notion of an alternate microbiome
      configuration befitting of a nomadic forager lifestyle, which helps maintain
      metabolic homeostasis through an overall scarcity of inflammatory factors, which
      are instead highly represented in the Italian metabolome.

PMID- 27624972
TI  - Topological phase transition and quantum spin Hall edge states of antimony few
      layers.
AB  - While two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators (TI's) initiated the field of
      topological materials, only very few materials were discovered to date and the
      direct access to their quantum spin Hall edge states has been challenging due to
      material issues. Here, we introduce a new 2D TI material, Sb few layer films.
      Electronic structures of ultrathin Sb islands grown on Bi2Te2Se are investigated
      by scanning tunneling microscopy. The maps of local density of states clearly
      identify robust edge electronic states over the thickness of three bilayers in
      clear contrast to thinner islands. This indicates that topological edge states
      emerge through a 2D topological phase transition predicted between three and four
      bilayer films in recent theory. The non-trivial phase transition and edge states
      are confirmed for epitaxial films by extensive density-functional-theory
      calculations. This work provides an important material platform to exploit
      microscopic aspects of the quantum spin Hall phase and its quantum phase
      transition.

PMID- 27624973
TI  - Intraspecific competition, not predation, drives lizard tail loss on islands.
AB  - Tail autotomy is mainly considered an antipredator mechanism. Theory suggests
      that predation pressure relaxes on islands, subsequently reducing autotomy rates.
      Intraspecific aggression, which may also cause tail loss, probably intensifies on
      islands due to the higher abundance. We studied whether tail autotomy is mostly
      affected by predation pressure or by intraspecific competition. We further
      studied whether predator abundance or predator richness is more important in this
      context. To test our predictions, we examined multiple populations of two gecko
      species: Kotschy's gecko (Mediodactylus kotschyi; mainland and 41 islands) and
      the Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus; mainland and 17 islands),
      and estimated their abundance together with five indices of predation. In both
      species, autotomy rates are higher on islands and decline with most predation
      indices, in contrast with common wisdom, and increase with gecko abundance. In M.
      kotschyi, tail-loss rates are higher on predator and viper-free islands, but
      increase with viper abundance. We suggest that autotomy is not simply, or maybe
      even mainly, an antipredatory mechanism. Rather, such defence mechanisms are a
      response to complex direct and indirect biotic interactions and perhaps, in the
      case of tail autotomy in insular populations, chiefly to intraspecific
      aggression.

PMID- 27624974
TI  - DNA methylation in urothelial carcinoma.
AB  - DNA methylation alterations are common in urothelial carcinoma, a prevalent
      cancer worldwide caused predominantly by chemical carcinogens. Recent studies
      have proposed sets of hypermethylated genes as promising diagnostic and
      prognostic biomarkers from urine or tissue samples, which require validation.
      Other studies have revealed intriguing links between specific carcinogens and DNA
      methylation alterations in cancer tissues or blood that might clarify
      carcinogenesis mechanisms and aid prevention. Like DNA methylation alterations,
      mutations in chromatin regulators are frequent, underlining the importance of
      epigenetic changes. However, the relations between the two changes and their
      functions in urothelial carcinogenesis remain unclear. Transcription factor genes
      with altered methylation deserve particular interest. Elucidating the functional
      impact of methylation changes is a prerequisite for their therapeutic targeting.

PMID- 27624975
TI  - Selection of specific inhibitor peptides in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA) of cardiac troponin I using immuno-dominant epitopes as competitor.
AB  - Human cardiac troponin I (cTni) is the gold marker for early diagnosis of
      myocardial infarction. In this regard, four immune-dominant epitopes of cTni were
      predicted and their 3D structures were determined. Thereafter, the competitive
      performance of the peptides was monitored with the developed polyclonal antibody
      based indirect competitive ELISA; a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50)
      of 0.49 (ug/mL) and detection limit of 0.037 (ug/mL) were achieved for
      recombinant cTni. The competitive ELISA determined sensitivity levels of 0.306,
      0.141, 0.960, and 0.155 (ug/mL), respectively, for each peptide as competitor. We
      indicated that two of the selected epitopes have significant sensitivity scales
      and inhibition ability.

PMID- 27624976
TI  - Copeptin in obese children and adolescents: relationships to body mass index,
      cortisol and gender.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Copeptin has been reported to be associated with stress, obesity and
      the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adults. However, data in childhood are scarce.
      Therefore, we studied the relationships between copeptin, cortisol, puberty and
      parameters of the MetS in children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PATIENTS: A
      total of 51 obese children (10.8 +/- 3.2 years, 39% male, 45% prepubertal, body
      mass index standard deviation score (BMI-SDS) 2.77 +/- 0.56) and 24 lean children
      of similar age, gender and pubertal stage. MEASUREMENTS: Copeptin, serum
      cortisol, 24-h urinary free cortisol, BMI-SDS and, as parameters of the MetS,
      insulin resistance index (HOMA), HbA1c, uric acids, blood pressure and lipids.
      RESULTS: Copeptin levels were significantly (P = 0.047) higher in obese children
      (5.8 +/- 2.8pmol/l) compared to lean children (4.6 +/- 2.2pmol/l). BMI-SDS (beta
      coefficient 0.38 +/- 0.35, P =0.033), but not any parameter of the MetS, was
      significantly related to copeptin in multiple linear regression analyses adjusted
      for age, gender and pubertal stage. A 24-h urinary free cortisol (beta
      coefficient 0.13 +/- 0.06, P < 0.001), but not serum cortisol, was significantly
      related to copeptin in multiple linear regression analyses adjusted for age,
      gender, pubertal stage and BMI-SDS. Pubertal boys (6.6 +/- 2.8pmol/l)
      demonstrated significantly (P = 0.042) higher copeptin levels compared to
      pubertal girls (4.8 +/- 2.6pmol/l), while copeptin concentrations did not differ
      between prepubertal girls and boys. CONCLUSIONS: Copeptin levels are related to
      24-h urinary free cortisol in obese children. Pubertal boys, but not prepubertal
      boys, demonstrated higher copeptin levels than girls, suggesting that sex
      hormones are involved in the regulation of copeptin levels. Further studies are
      necessary to understand the relationship between obesity, cortisol, gender,
      pubertal stage and copeptin levels.

PMID- 27624977
TI  - Enteric neurons from Parkinson's disease patients display ex vivo aberrations in
      mitochondrial structure.
AB  - Based on autopsy material mitochondrial dysfunction has been proposed being part
      of the pathophysiological cascade of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, in living
      patients, evidence for such dysfunction is scarce. As the disease presumably
      starts at the enteric level, we studied ganglionic and mitochondrial
      morphometrics of enteric neurons. We compared 65 ganglia from 11 PD patients
      without intestinal symptoms and 41 ganglia from 4 age-matched control subjects.
      We found that colon ganglia from PD patients had smaller volume, contained
      significantly more mitochondria per ganglion volume, and displayed a higher total
      mitochondrial mass relative to controls. This suggests involvement of
      mitochondrial dysfunction in PD at the enteric level. Moreover, in PD patients
      the mean mitochondrial volume declined in parallel with motor performance.
      Ganglionic shrinking was evident in the right but not in the left colon. In
      contrast, mitochondrial changes prevailed in the left colon suggesting that a
      compensatory increase in mitochondrial mass might counterbalance mitochondrial
      dysfunction in the left colon but not in the right colon. Reduction in ganglia
      volume and combined mitochondrial morphometrics had both predictive power to
      discriminate between PD patients and control subjects, suggesting that both
      parameters could be used for early discrimination between PD patients and healthy
      individuals.

PMID- 27624981
TI  - Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation: Are We as Successful as We Believe We Are?

PMID- 27624980
TI  - Relationships between individual-tree mortality and water-balance variables
      indicate positive trends in water stress-induced tree mortality across North
      America.
AB  - Accounting for water stress-induced tree mortality in forest productivity models
      remains a challenge due to uncertainty in stress tolerance of tree populations.
      In this study, logistic regression models were developed to assess species
      specific relationships between probability of mortality (Pm ) and drought,
      drawing on 8.1 million observations of change in vital status (m) of individual
      trees across North America. Drought was defined by standardized (relative) values
      of soil water content (Ws,z ) and reference evapotranspiration (ETr,z ) at each
      field plot. The models additionally tested for interactions between the water
      balance variables, aridity class of the site (AC), and estimated tree height (h).
      Considering drought improved model performance in 95 (80) per cent of the 64
      tested species during calibration (cross-validation). On average, sensitivity to
      relative drought increased with site AC (i.e. aridity). Interaction between water
      balance variables and estimated tree height indicated that drought sensitivity
      commonly decreased during early height development and increased during late
      height development, which may reflect expansion of the root system and decreasing
      whole-plant, leaf-specific hydraulic conductance, respectively. Across North
      America, predictions suggested that changes in the water balance caused mortality
      to increase from 1.1% yr-1 in 1951 to 2.0% yr-1 in 2014 (a net change of 0.9 +/-
      0.3% yr-1 ). Interannual variation in mortality also increased, driven by
      increasingly severe droughts in 1988, 1998, 2006, 2007 and 2012. With strong
      confidence, this study indicates that water stress is a common cause of tree
      mortality. With weak-to-moderate confidence, this study strengthens previous
      claims attributing positive trends in mortality to increasing levels of water
      stress. This 'learn-as-we-go' approach - defined by sampling rare drought events
      as they continue to intensify - will help to constrain the hydraulic limits of
      dominant tree species and the viability of boreal and temperate forest biomes
      under continued climate change.

PMID- 27624978
TI  - Integrin alpha6/Akt/Erk signaling is essential for human breast cancer resistance
      to radiotherapy.
AB  - Integrin alpha6 (ITGA6), a transmembrane glycoprotein adhesion receptor protein,
      is widely upregulated in many types of tumors and promotes migration and invasion
      in cancer cells. However, the role that the ITGA6-associated signaling network
      plays in radiosensitivity in breast cancer has not been described. The expression
      of ITGA6 was examined in human breast cancer and normal breast cell lines using
      western blot analysis. We also explored the role of ITGA6 in the regulation of
      radiation sensitivity in breast cancer using the colony formation assays, cell
      cycle analyses, apoptosis assays and immunofluorescence analyses. The results
      showed that the protein and mRNA expression levels of ITGA6 was higher in breast
      cancer cells than in normal cells. ITGA6 protectived responses to radiotherapy in
      breast cancer cells by altering cell apoptosis, DNA damage repair and cell-cycle
      regulation. Furthermore, ITGA6 enhanced radiation resistance via PI3K/Akt and
      MEK/Erk signaling. In addition, overexpressing ITGA6 promoted radiation
      resistance in cells, and this effect was neutralized by the PI3K inhibitor
      LY294002 and MEK inhibitor U0126. Taken together, these findings indicate that
      ITGA6 might be involved in a mechanism that underlies radiation resistance and
      that ITGA6 could be a potential target for therapies aimed at overcoming
      radiation resistance in breast cancer.

PMID- 27624982
TI  - TREATMENT SWITCHING: STATISTICAL AND DECISION-MAKING CHALLENGES AND APPROACHES.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Treatment switching refers to the situation in a randomized
      controlled trial where patients switch from their randomly assigned treatment
      onto an alternative. Often, switching is from the control group onto the
      experimental treatment. In this instance, a standard intention-to-treat analysis
      does not identify the true comparative effectiveness of the treatments under
      investigation. We aim to describe statistical methods for adjusting for treatment
      switching in a comprehensible way for nonstatisticians, and to summarize views on
      these methods expressed by stakeholders at the 2014 Adelaide International
      Workshop on Treatment Switching in Clinical Trials. METHODS: We describe three
      statistical methods used to adjust for treatment switching: marginal structural
      models, two-stage adjustment, and rank preserving structural failure time models.
      We draw upon discussion heard at the Adelaide International Workshop to explore
      the views of stakeholders on the acceptability of these methods. RESULTS:
      Stakeholders noted that adjustment methods are based on assumptions, the validity
      of which may often be questionable. There was disagreement on the acceptability
      of adjustment methods, but consensus that when these are used, they should be
      justified rigorously. The utility of adjustment methods depends upon the decision
      being made and the processes used by the decision-maker. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment
      switching makes estimating the true comparative effect of a new treatment
      challenging. However, many decision-makers have reservations with adjustment
      methods. These, and how they affect the utility of adjustment methods, require
      further exploration. Further technical work is required to develop adjustment
      methods to meet real world needs, to enhance their acceptability to decision
      makers.

PMID- 27624979
TI  - Affective decision-making moderates the effects of automatic associations on
      alcohol use among drug offenders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study used a dual-process model of cognition in order to
      investigate the possible influence of automatic and deliberative processes on
      lifetime alcohol use in a sample of drug offenders. OBJECTIVE: The objective was
      to determine if automatic/implicit associations in memory can exert an influence
      over an individual's alcohol use and if decision-making ability could potentially
      modify the influence of these associations. METHODS: 168 participants completed a
      battery of cognitive tests measuring implicit alcohol associations in memory
      (verb generation) as well as their affective decision-making ability (Iowa
      Gambling Task). Structural equation modeling procedures were used to test the
      relationship between implicit associations, decision-making, and lifetime alcohol
      use. RESULTS: Results revealed that among participants with lower levels of
      decision-making, implicit alcohol associations more strongly predicted higher
      lifetime alcohol use. CONCLUSION: These findings provide further support for the
      interaction between a specific decision function and its influence over automatic
      processes in regulating alcohol use behavior in a risky population. Understanding
      the interaction between automatic associations and decision processes may aid in
      developing more effective intervention components.

PMID- 27624983
TI  - TREATMENT SWITCHING IN CANCER TRIALS: ISSUES AND PROPOSALS.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Treatment switching occurs when patients in a randomized clinical
      trial switch from the treatment initially assigned to them to another treatment,
      typically from the control to experimental treatment. This study discusses the
      issues this raises and possible approaches to addressing them in trials of cancer
      drugs. METHODS: Stakeholders from around the world were invited to a 1.5-day
      Workshop in Adelaide, Australia. This study attempts to capture the key points
      from the discussion and the perspectives of the various stakeholder groups, but
      is not a formal consensus statement. RESULTS: Treatment switching raises
      challenging ethical issues with arguments for and against allowing it. It is
      increasingly common in cancer drug trials and presents challenges for the
      interpretation of results by regulators, clinicians, patients, and payers.
      Proposals are offered for good practice in the design, management, and analysis
      of trials and wider development programs for cancer drugs in which treatment
      switching has occurred or is likely to. Recommendations are also offered for
      further action to improve understanding of the importance and challenges of
      treatment switching and to promote agreement between key stakeholders on
      guidelines and other steps to address these challenges. CONCLUSIONS: The handling
      of treatment switching in trials is of concern to all stakeholders. On the basis
      of the discussions at the Adelaide International Workshop, there would appear to
      be common ground on approaches to addressing treatment switching in cancer trials
      and scope for the development of formal guidelines to inform the work of
      regulators, payers, industry, trial designers and other stakeholders.

PMID- 27624984
TI  - Comparison of different statistical approaches to evaluate morphometric sperm
      subpopulations in men.
AB  - This study was designed to characterize morphometric sperm subpopulations in
      normozoospermic men by using different statistical methods and examining their
      suitability to classify correctly different sperm nuclear morphologies present in
      human ejaculates. Ejaculates from 21 normozoospermic men were collected for the
      study. After semen collection and analysis, samples were prepared for
      morphometric determination. At least 200 spermatozoa per sample were assessed for
      sperm morphometry by computer-assisted sperm morphometry analysis (CASA-Morph)
      using fluorescence. Clustering and discriminant procedures were performed to
      identify sperm subpopulations from the morphometric data obtained. Clustering
      procedures resulted in the classification of spermatozoa into three morphometric
      subpopulations (large-round 30.4%, small-round 46.6%, and large-elongated 22.9%).
      In the second analysis, using discriminant methods, the classification was made
      independently of size and shape. Three morphological categories according to
      nuclear size (small <10.90 MUm2, intermediate 10.91-13.07 MUm2, and large >13.07
      MUm2) and four categories were defined on 400 canonical cells (100 * 4) from 10
      men according to sperm nuclear shape (oval, pyriform, round, and elongated).
      Thereafter, the resulting classification functions were used to categorize 4200
      spermatozoa from 21 men. Differences in the class distribution were observed
      among men from both clustering and discriminant procedures. It was concluded that
      the combination of CASA-Morph fluorescence-based technology with multivariate
      cluster or discriminant analyses provides new information on the description of
      different morphometric sperm subpopulations in normal individuals, and that
      important variations in the distribution of morphometric sperm subpopulations may
      exist between men, with possible functional implications.

PMID- 27624985
TI  - Morphometric and kinematic sperm subpopulations in split ejaculates of
      normozoospermic men.
AB  - This study was designed to analyze the sperm kinematic and morphometric
      subpopulations in the different fractions of the ejaculate in normozoospermic
      men. Ejaculates from eight normozoospermic men were collected by masturbation in
      three fractions after 3-5 days of sexual abstinence. Analyses of sperm motility
      by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA-Mot), and of sperm morphometry by
      computer-assisted sperm morphometry analysis (CASA-Morph) using fluorescence were
      performed. Clustering and discriminant procedures were performed to identify
      sperm subpopulations in the kinematic and morphometric data obtained. Clustering
      procedures resulted in the classification of spermatozoa into three kinematic
      subpopulations (slow with low ALH [35.6% of all motile spermatozoa], with
      circular trajectories [32.0%], and rapid with high ALH [32.4%]), and three
      morphometric subpopulations (large-round [33.9% of all spermatozoa], elongated
      [32.0%], and small [34.10%]). The distribution of kinematic sperm subpopulations
      was different among ejaculate fractions (P < 0.001), with higher percentages of
      spermatozoa exhibiting slow movements with low ALH in the second and third
      portions, and with a more homogeneous distribution of kinematic sperm
      subpopulations in the first portion. The distribution of morphometric sperm
      subpopulations was also different among ejaculate fractions (P < 0.001), with
      more elongated spermatozoa in the first, and of small spermatozoa in the third,
      portion. It is concluded that important variations in the distribution of
      kinematic and morphometric sperm subpopulations exist between ejaculate
      fractions, with possible functional implications.

PMID- 27624986
TI  - Toxic effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor 1254) on human sperm
      motility.
AB  - Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are common environmental contaminants that
      represent a considerable risk to reproductive toxicity in exposed human
      populations. Although some experimental studies have suggested an association
      between the levels of PCBs and semen quality, the direct effects of PCBs on human
      sperm parameters remain largely unexplored. To this aim, a short-term in vitro
      incubation experiment that better imitated the putative exposure of sperm to
      Aroclor 1254 (a commercial PCB mixture) in male reproduction tissue was
      conducted. Human sperm were incubated with various concentrations (0, 1, 5, or 25
      mg l-1) of Aroclor 1254 for different amounts of time (3 and 6 h) in vitro. Sperm
      motility parameters were analyzed with computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA).
      The proportion of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim)
      and the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were detected to
      explore the probable cause of sperm impairment. Human sperm exposed to continuous
      Aroclor 1254 exhibited: (i) reduced sperm motility and kinematic parameters, (ii)
      a proportion of sperm with high DeltaPsim that decreased in a dose-dependent
      manner (P < 0.05), and (iii) increased levels of ROS compared with controls (P <
      0.05). In conclusion, Aroclor 1254 can decrease sperm motility, which may
      culminate in increased ROS and general mitochondrial dysfunction, thus affecting
      the fertilization potential of sperm. Our findings suggest a broader
      understanding of the effect of Aroclor 1254 on human sperm.

PMID- 27624987
TI  - A comparative study of the morphometry of sperm head components in cattle, sheep,
      and pigs with a computer-assisted fluorescence method.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the sperm nuclear and acrosomal morphometry
      of three species of domestic artiodactyls; cattle (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis
      aries), and pigs (Sus scrofa). Semen smears of twenty ejaculates from each
      species were fixed and labeled with a propidium iodide-Pisum sativum agglutinin
      (PI/PSA) combination. Digital images of the sperm nucleus, acrosome, and whole
      sperm head were captured and analyzed. The use of the PI/PSA combination and CASA
      Morph fluorescence-based method allowed the capture, morphometric analysis, and
      differentiation of most sperm nuclei, acrosomes and whole heads, and the
      assessment of acrosomal integrity with a high precision in the three species
      studied. For the size of the head and nuclear area, the relationship between the
      three species may be summarized as bull > ram > boar. However, for the other
      morphometric parameters (length, width, and perimeter), there were differences in
      the relationships between species for sperm nuclei and whole sperm heads. Bull
      sperm acrosomes were clearly smaller than those in the other species studied and
      covered a smaller proportion of the sperm head. The acrosomal morphology, small
      in the bull, large and broad in the sheep, and large, long, and with a pronounced
      equatorial segment curve in the boar, was species-characteristic. It was
      concluded that there are clear variations in the size and shape of the sperm head
      components between the three species studied, the acrosome being the structure
      showing the most variability, allowing a clear distinction of the spermatozoa of
      each species.

PMID- 27624989
TI  - Computer-assisted sperm morphometry fluorescence-based analysis has potential to
      determine progeny sex.
AB  - This study was designed to determine the ability of computer-assisted sperm
      morphometry analysis (CASA-Morph) with fluorescence to discriminate between
      spermatozoa carrying different sex chromosomes from the nuclear morphometrics
      generated and different statistical procedures in the bovine species. The study
      was divided into two experiments. The first was to study the morphometric
      differences between X- and Y-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa (SX and SY,
      respectively). Spermatozoa from eight bulls were processed to assess
      simultaneously the sex chromosome by FISH and sperm morphometry by fluorescence
      based CASA-Morph. SX cells were larger than SY cells on average (P < 0.001)
      although with important differences between bulls. A simultaneous evaluation of
      all the measured features by discriminant analysis revealed that nuclear area and
      average fluorescence intensity were the variables selected by stepwise
      discriminant function analysis as the best discriminators between SX and SY. In
      the second experiment, the sperm nuclear morphometric results from CASA-Morph in
      nonsexed (mixed SX and SY) and sexed (SX) semen samples from four bulls were
      compared. FISH allowed a successful classification of spermatozoa according to
      their sex chromosome content. X-sexed spermatozoa displayed a larger size and
      fluorescence intensity than nonsexed spermatozoa (P < 0.05). We conclude that the
      CASA-Morph fluorescence-based method has the potential to find differences
      between X- and Y-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa in bovine species although more
      studies are needed to increase the precision of sex determination by this
      technique.

PMID- 27624990
TI  - Normozoospermic versus teratozoospermic domestic cats: differential testicular
      volume, sperm morphometry, and subpopulation structure during epididymal
      maturation.
AB  - Teratozoospermia (<40% morphologically normal spermatozoa/ejaculate) is a
      frequent phenomenon in feline species. This research was carried out to study the
      possible differences in testicular volume, differential sperm morphometric
      traits, and potential differences regarding the sperm subpopulational structure
      during epididymal sperm maturation in teratozoospermic feline donors. Epididymal
      sperm samples were collected from the caput (R1), corpus (R2), and cauda (R3)
      epididymidis in two donor groups (N: normozoospermic; T: teratozoospermic).
      Aliquots were assessed for concentration, viability, motility, and acrosomal
      integrity. Sperm morphometric descriptors from CASA-Morph analysis were analyzed
      by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and clustering analyses. Irrespective
      of the group analyzed, PCA revealed two Principal Components (PCs) for each
      epididymal region explaining more than the 93% of the variance. Surprisingly, the
      number of subpopulations remained constant in regions R1-R2-R3 irrespective of
      the donor group analyzed. However, the distribution of these subpopulations was
      found to be structurally different and strongly influenced by the epididymal
      region and the donor group. In conclusion, testicular morphometry and the sperm
      subpopulation structure were different in N and T donors. The alterations in
      subpopulations during epididymal maturation could be used as a potential clinical
      indicator of teratozoospermic individuals since an important influence of
      teratozoospermia on sperm subpopulation structure has been demonstrated.

PMID- 27624988
TI  - Importance of sperm morphology during sperm transport and fertilization in
      mammals.
AB  - After natural or artificial insemination, the spermatozoon starts a journey from
      the site of deposition to the place of fertilization. However, only a small
      subset of the spermatozoa deposited achieves their goal: to reach and fertilize
      the egg. Factors involved in controlling sperm transport and fertilization
      include the female reproductive tract environment, cell-cell interactions, gene
      expression, and phenotypic sperm traits. Some of the significant determinants of
      fertilization are known (i.e., motility or DNA status), but many sperm traits are
      still indecipherable. One example is the influence of sperm dimensions and shape
      upon transport within the female genital tract towards the oocyte. Biophysical
      associations between sperm size and motility may influence the progression of
      spermatozoa through the female reproductive tract, but uncertainties remain
      concerning how sperm morphology influences the fertilization process, and whether
      only the sperm dimensions per se are involved. Moreover, such explanations do not
      allow the possibility that the female tract is capable of distinguishing fertile
      spermatozoa on the basis of their morphology, as seems to be the case with
      biochemical, molecular, and genetic properties. This review focuses on the
      influence of sperm size and shape in evolution and their putative role in sperm
      transport and selection within the uterus and the ability to fertilize the
      oocyte.

PMID- 27624991
TI  - Parental pre-pregnancy BMI influences on offspring BMI and waist circumference at
      21 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prospective association between parental pre
      pregnancy BMI and adult male and female offspring BMI and waist circumference
      (WC). METHODS: Sub-sample of 2,229 parent-offspring pairs with parental pre
      pregnancy BMI and offspring BMI and WC at 21 years were used from the MUSP (Mater
      University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy cohort). Multivariable results were
      adjusted for maternal factors around pregnancy (e.g. gestational weight and
      smoking during pregnancy) and offspring factors in early life (e.g. birth weight)
      and at 14 years (e.g. sports participation and mealtime with family). RESULTS:
      After adjustments for confounders, each unit increase in paternal and maternal
      BMI, the BMI of young adult offspring increased by 0.33kg/m2 and 0.35kg/m2 , and
      the WC increased by 0.76 cm and 0.62 cm, respectively. In the combination of
      parents' weight status, offspring at 21 years were six times the risk being
      overweight/obese (OW/OB) when both parents were OW/OB, compared to offspring of
      healthy weight parents. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal parental BMI are independently
      related to adult offspring BMI and WC. IMPLICATIONS: Both prenatal paternal
      maternal weight status are important determinants of offspring weight status in
      long-term. Further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying
      mechanisms.

PMID- 27624992
TI  - Molecular Dynamics of Photosystem II Embedded in the Thylakoid Membrane.
AB  - Photosystem II (PSII) is one of the key protein complexes in photosynthesis. We
      introduce a coarse grained model of PSII and present the analysis of 60 MUs
      molecular dynamics simulations of PSII in both monomeric and dimeric form,
      embedded in a thylakoid membrane model that reflects its native lipid
      composition. We describe in detail the setup of the protein complex and the many
      natural cofactors and characterize their mobility. Overall we find that the
      protein subunits and cofactors are more flexible toward the periphery of the
      complex as well as near the PLQ exchange cavity and at the dimer interface. Of
      all cofactors, beta-carotenes show the highest mobility. Some of the beta
      carotenes diffuse in and out of the protein complex via the thylakoid membrane.
      In contrast with the PSII dimer, the monomeric form adopts a tilted conformation
      in the membrane, with strong interactions between the soluble PsbO subunit and
      the glycolipid headgroups. Interestingly, the tilted conformation causes buckling
      of the membrane. Together, our results provide an unprecedented view of PSII
      dynamics on a microsecond time scale. Our data may be used as basis for the
      interpretation of experimental data as well as for theoretical models describing
      exciton energy transfer.

PMID- 27624993
TI  - Investigation of the chemical markers for experiential quality evaluation of
      crude aconite by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS.
AB  - Many foods and herbs are experientially classified into different commodity
      grades in commercial circulation. Regarding the hypertoxic herb aconite, large
      samples are considered to be of better quality. However, this experiential
      classification lacks a scientific basis. In this study, we focused on the quality
      diversity among different grades and studied it using the minimum lethal dose
      assay and a novel ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with time
      of-flight mass spectrometry method. Toxicity assay result suggested grade I
      aconite had the lowest toxicity (p < 0.05). Using this method with partial least
      squares-discriminant analysis, we discovered nine chemomarkers, including
      neoline, songorine, fuziline, mesaconitine, talatizidine, dexyaconitine,
      talatisamine, hypaconitine, and fuzitine. Considering their toxicity and
      activity, we found the levels of toxic ingredients hypaconitine, dexyaconitine,
      and mesaconitine in grade I were lower than those in grade II (p < 0.01), while
      the levels of efficacy ingredients songorine, talatisamine, and neoline were the
      highest in grade I (p < 0.01). Further study demonstrated that the quality
      variation was associated with plant tissue development and toxic ingredient
      distribution law. Our results provide scientific evidence for the experiential
      quality evaluation of aconite, and it will be of great utility for other foods
      and herbs.

PMID- 27624995
TI  - Erratum: Genetic variability in a frozen batch of MCF-7 cells invisible in
      routine authentication affecting cell function.

PMID- 27624994
TI  - Symptom clusters and survival in Portuguese patients with advanced cancer.
AB  - This study aimed to identify clusters of symptoms, to determine the patient
      characteristics associated with identified, and determine their strength of
      association with survival in patients with advanced cancer (ACPs). Consecutively
      eligible ACPs not receiving cancer-specific treatment, and referred to a Tertiary
      Palliative Care Clinic, were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. At first
      consultation, patients rated 9 symptoms through the Edmonton Symptom Assessment
      System (0-10 scale) and 10 others using a Likert scale (1-5). Principal component
      analysis was used in an exploratory factor analysis to identify. Of 318 ACPs, 301
      met eligibility criteria with a median (range) age of 69 (37-94) years. Three SCs
      were identified: neuro-psycho-metabolic (NPM) (tiredness, lack of appetite, lack
      of well-being, dyspnea, depression, and anxiety); gastrointestinal (nausea,
      vomiting, constipation, hiccups, and dry mouth) and sleep impairment (insomnia
      and sleep disturbance). Exploratory factor analysis accounted for 40% of variance
      of observed variables in all SCs. Shorter survival was observed for patients with
      the NPM cluster (58 vs. 23, P < 0.001), as well as for patients with two or more
      SCs (45 vs. 21, P = 0.005). In a multivariable model for survival at 30-days, age
      (HR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.97-0.99; P = 0.008), hospitalization at inclusion (HR: 2.27;
      95% CI: 1.47-3.51; P < 0.001), poorer performance status (HR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.24
      2.89; P = 0.003), and NPM (HR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.17-2.31; P = 0.005), were
      associated with worse survival. Three clinically meaningful SC in patients with
      advanced cancer were identifiable. The NPM cluster and the presence of two or
      more SCs, had prognostic value in relation to survival.

PMID- 27624996
TI  - Pregnancy is possible on long-term home parenteral nutrition in patients with
      chronic intestinal failure: Results of a long term retrospective observational
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) improves survival and quality
      of life in patients with chronic intestinal failure (IF). Few cases of pregnancy
      on HPN have been published. The aim of this study was to report pregnancy cases
      on long-term HPN in benign IF. METHODS: This retrospective study included all
      pregnant patients on HPN from 4 HPN referral centers. Data on demographics,
      ongoing pathology, HPN type, maternal and newborn complications were collected.
      RESULTS: From 1984 to 2014, 21 pregnancies occurred in 15 patients (short bowel
      syndrome (n = 11), motility disorders (n = 3), mucosal disease (n = 1)) of whom
      14 occurred after 2010. Median follow-up was 12 years. Median HPN duration before
      pregnancy was 8 years. HPN was adapted monthly during pregnancy, with close
      monitoring and supplementations. Energy intake was regularly increased and median
      maternal weight gain was 10 kg. Median age at the first pregnancy was 27 years.
      In 55% of cases, the newborn was preterm. Maternal complications occurred in 67%
      of cases (mainly due to underlying disease or HPN complications). There were 3
      post-partum hemorrhages and 6 hypotrophic newborns. Eighteen infants were healthy
      and 2 chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) were suspected. CONCLUSION:
      Our series, the largest reported to date, shows that pregnancy is possible in HPN
      patients but the complication rate is high. A specific support is necessary,
      particularly in CIPO patients. As pregnancies have increased over the last 15
      years, physicians practicing in HPN referral centers should be aware of the need
      for implementing a specific multidisciplinary monitoring in HPN patients
      considering pregnancy.

PMID- 27624999
TI  - Industrial Applications of Gold Catalysis.
AB  - Gold catalysis has recently found its first large-scale applications in the
      chemical industry. This Minireview provides a critical analysis of the success
      factors and of the main obstacles that had to be overcome on the long way from
      the discovery to the commercialization of gold catalysts. The insights should be
      useful to researchers in both academia and industry working on the development of
      tomorrow's gold catalysts to tackle significant environmental and economic
      issues.

PMID- 27625000
TI  - Operative morbidity and mortality in octogenarians after carotid endarterectomy:
      a propensity score matching study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carotid endarterectomy remains the most effective surgical treatment
      for reducing the risk of stroke in patients with significant carotid stenosis. In
      fact, endovascular approach is associated with a higher incidence of
      perioperative and long-term minor stroke when compared to carotid endarterectomy
      although long-term functional outcome and risk of major stroke are similar.
      However, advanced age resulted to be associated with an increased risk of
      complications after carotid endarterectomy. Therefore we decided to evaluate the
      outcome of carotid endarterectomy in octogenarians in our high-volume centre.
      METHODS: Data of all patients who underwent CEA between June 2009 and December
      2014 were retrospectively recorded. Patients were categorized as <80 and >=80
      years of age. Propensity score matching based on baseline clinical variables was
      performed to correct for any bias. Primary outcome was the difference in combined
      stroke and death. Secondary outcomes included incidence of myocardial infarction,
      surgical reintervention, unplanned intensive care unit admission and length of
      hospital stay (LOS). RESULTS: A total of 2,463 carotid endarterectomies were
      performed, including 439 patients >=80 years of age. After propensity score
      adjustment all octogenarians were matched one-to-one to younger patients. No
      differences in combined stroke and death were found (1.10% in octogenarians vs.
      0.46% in younger patients; p=0.45). Octogenarians had an increased length of
      hospital stay when compared to younger patients (3.1+/-0.7 vs. 3.4+/-1.3 days;
      p=0.0001). No differences in other secondary outcomes were found. CONCLUSIONS:
      Age >= 80 years doesn't entail an increased perioperative risk after carotid
      endarterectomy. Hence, surgical carotid revascularization in octogenarians can be
      regarded as a safe and viable alternative to best medical therapy alone when
      performed in high-volume centers.

PMID- 27624998
TI  - Contamination-controlled high-throughput whole genome sequencing for influenza A
      viruses using the MiSeq sequencer.
AB  - Accurate full-length genomic sequences are important for viral phylogenetic
      studies. We developed a targeted high-throughput whole genome sequencing (HT-WGS)
      method for influenza A viruses, which utilized an enzymatic cleavage-based
      approach, the Nextera XT DNA library preparation kit, for library preparation.
      The entire library preparation workflow was adapted for the Sentosa SX101, a
      liquid handling platform, to automate this labor-intensive step. As the enzymatic
      cleavage-based approach generates low coverage reads at both ends of the cleaved
      products, we corrected this loss of sequencing coverage at the termini by
      introducing modified primers during the targeted amplification step to generate
      full-length influenza A sequences with even coverage across the whole genome.
      Another challenge of targeted HTS is the risk of specimen-to-specimen cross
      contamination during the library preparation step that results in the calling of
      false-positive minority variants. We included an in-run, negative system control
      to capture contamination reads that may be generated during the liquid handling
      procedures. The upper limits of 99.99% prediction intervals of the contamination
      rate were adopted as cut-off values of contamination reads. Here, 148 influenza
      A/H3N2 samples were sequenced using the HTS protocol and were compared against a
      Sanger-based sequencing method. Our data showed that the rate of specimen-to
      specimen cross-contamination was highly significant in HTS.

PMID- 27625001
TI  - A prospective comparative study to assess the effect of maternal smoking at 37
      weeks on Doppler flow velocity waveforms as well as foetal birth weight and
      placental weight.
AB  - Maternal smoking is known to have adverse effects on the foetus. This study aimed
      to evaluate the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on arterial blood
      flow velocities in the foetal-placental-maternal circulation, and the
      pathophysiological relationship with placental and foetal birth weight. A total
      of 148 singleton pregnancies in 59 smokers and 89 non-smoking controls were
      examined during the 37th week of gestation. Blood flow in the maternal uterine,
      foetal umbilical and middle cerebral arteries was analysed with Doppler
      ultrasonography. Statistically significant differences in Doppler waveforms were
      detected in the foetal umbilical artery (UmbA) (p < 0.05), but neither in uterine
      nor foetal middle cerebral arteries (p > 0.05). Both infant birthweight and
      placental weight were significantly decreased by maternal smoking (p< 0.001 for
      both). Maternal smoking during pregnancy did not affect either maternal uterine
      or foetal middle cerebral arterial blood flow, but caused abnormal blood flow in
      the foetal UmbA.

PMID- 27624997
TI  - Palmitoyl-carnitine production by blood cells associates with the concentration
      of circulating acyl-carnitines in healthy overweight women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Circulating acyl-carnitines (acyl-CNTs) are associated with insulin
      resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in both rodents and humans. However,
      the mechanisms whereby circulating acyl-CNTs are increased in these conditions
      and their role in whole-body metabolism remains unknown. The purpose of this
      study was to determine if, in humans, blood cells contribute in production of
      circulating acyl-CNTs and associate with whole-body fat metabolism. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Eight non-diabetic healthy women (age: 47 +/- 19 y; BMI: 26 +/- 1 kg.m
      2) underwent stable isotope tracer infusion and hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp
      study to determine in vivo whole-body fatty acid flux and insulin sensitivity.
      Blood samples collected at baseline (0 min) and after 3 h of clamp were used to
      determine the synthesis rate of palmitoyl-carnitine (palmitoyl-CNT) in vitro. The
      fractional synthesis rate of palmitoyl-CNT was significantly higher during
      hyperinsulinemia (0.788 +/- 0.084 vs. 0.318 +/- 0.012%.hr-1, p = 0.001); however,
      the absolute synthesis rate (ASR) did not differ between the periods (p = 0.809)
      due to ~30% decrease in blood palmitoyl-CNT concentration (p = 0.189) during
      hyperinsulinemia. The ASR of palmitoyl-CNT significantly correlated with the
      concentration of acyl-CNTs in basal (r = 0.992, p < 0.001) and insulin (r =
      0.919, p = 0.001) periods; and the basal ASR significantly correlated with plasma
      palmitate oxidation (r = 0.764, p = 0.027). CONCLUSION: In women, blood cells
      contribute to plasma acyl-CNT levels and the acyl-CNT production is linked to
      plasma palmitate oxidation, a marker of whole-body fat metabolism. Future studies
      are needed to confirm the role of blood cells in acyl-CNT and lipid metabolism
      under different physiological (i.e., in response to meal) and pathological (i.e.,
      hyperlipidemia, IR and T2D) conditions.

PMID- 27625002
TI  - Free Esophageal Perforation Following Hybrid Visceral Debranching and Distal
      Endograft Extension to Repair a Ruptured Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm.
AB  - Free esophageal perforation following a hybrid visceral debranching and distal
      endograft extension to repair a ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA)
      is a rare complication. The authors report a 56-year-old male who underwent
      elective thoracic endovascular aortic repair of a thoracic aneurysm. Four and a
      half years later, he presented with a new aneurysm extending from the distal end
      of the thoracic stent graft to the aortic bifurcation involving all the visceral
      arterial branches. The TAAA ruptured while he was awaiting an elective repair,
      and as a result, he underwent an emergency hybrid procedure. This involved
      debranching the visceral arterial branches including autotransplantation of the
      left kidney and distal endograft extension. Postoperatively, he developed free
      esophageal perforation secondary to ischemic necrosis requiring esophageal
      resection and gastric pull-up. The patient was well 6 months after the
      gastrointestinal restorative procedure. Thus, esophageal perforation following an
      emergency hybrid repair of ruptured TAAA is a rare complication, and a successful
      outcome depends on early recognition and surgical exclusion of the ruptured
      viscus.

PMID- 27625003
TI  - Development of rapidly dissolving pellets within the Quality by Design approach.
AB  - The purpose of this study was the development of novel, fast disintegrating,
      effervescent pellets by employing the direct pelletization technique as a single
      step process. In line with the Quality by Design (QbD) regulatory framework,
      statistical experimental design was extensively applied to correlate significant
      formulation and process variables with the critical quality attributes of the
      product. Pellets were studied with regards to sphericity, size and size
      distribution. In contrast to the existing multiparticulate platforms, this
      development integrated only water-soluble excipients to facilitate the
      multifunctional use of the final dosage form. The application of a screening
      fractional factorial design augmented to a full factorial design set the roadmap
      for the rational selection of the composition and process parameters, revealing
      in parallel the positive contribution of the powder feeder on the CQAs, when the
      critical process and formulation factors were properly adjusted. The response
      surface methodology was exploited for the final process optimization phase, which
      allowed the construction of appropriate mathematical models connecting the input
      variables and the CQAs under study. The implementation of the desirability
      function, lead to the optimum formulation and process settings for the production
      of pellets with narrow size distribution and geometric mean diameter of
      approximately 800 MUm. In conclusion, using a lean approach supported by design
      of experiments (DoE) techniques within the QbD framework, a novel multifunctional
      formulation platform has been developed.

PMID- 27625004
TI  - Femoral Screw Divergence via the Anteromedial Portal Using an Outside-In
      Retrograde Drill in Bone-Patella Tendon-Bone Anterior Cruciate Ligament
      Reconstruction: A Cadaveric Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess screw divergence when inserting an interference screw for a
      bone-patellar tendon-bone graft using an outside-in technique with a retrograde
      drill to create the femoral tunnel. METHODS: Ten cadaver specimens underwent
      anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with a bone-patellar tendon-bone
      autograft, with 23-mm-deep tunnels created by a retrograde drill outside-in
      technique. Drilling angles were based on a previous study that established the
      optimal angles to recreate the anterior cruciate ligament footprint. To ensure
      that screw insertion angles matched the angle of socket drilling, a marking pen
      was used to transpose 2 lines on the skin of the anterior knee corresponding to
      the drill in both the coronal and axial planes with the knee held at 90 degrees 
      of flexion. The femoral-sided bone plug was affixed with a 7 * 23 mm interference
      screw through an anteromedial portal. Computed tomography scans were used to
      calculate coronal and sagittal screw-tunnel divergence. RESULTS: The median screw
      divergence in the coronal plane was 2.79 degrees , with a range of 1.1 degrees 
      to 17.2 degrees . Of 10 specimens, 8 had no divergence (0 degrees  to 5 degrees
      ), 0 screws were between 5 degrees  and 10 degrees , 1 screw was between 10
      degrees  and 15 degrees , and 1 screw was between 15 degrees  and 20 degrees .
      The 95% confidence interval was 3.73 degrees  to 11.69 degrees . No screws had
      >=20 degrees  of divergence. In the sagittal plane, the median screw divergence
      was 5.68 degrees , with a range of 1.2 degrees  to 18.7 degrees . Five specimens
      had no divergence (0 degrees  to 5 degrees ), 3 screws were between 5 degrees 
      and 10 degrees , 0 screws were between 10 degrees  and 15 degrees , and 2 screws
      were between 15 degrees  and 20 degrees  of divergence. The 95% confidence
      interval was 3.73 degrees  to 11.69 degrees . No screws had >=20 degrees  of
      divergence. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that 80% of screws
      diverted less than 5 degrees  in the coronal plane. In the sagittal plane, only
      50% of screws were found to have divergence of 5 degrees  or less. No screw in
      either plane had divergence of greater than or equal to 20 degrees . CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: When using a retrograde drill, a skin marking technique is a useful
      aid in placing interference screws with acceptable angles of divergence when
      using an inside-out technique.

PMID- 27625005
TI  - Hip Arthroscopy in Patients Age 40 or Older: A Systematic Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To (1) report clinical outcomes, complication rates, and total hip
      arthroplasty (THA) conversion rates for patients age 40 or older who underwent
      hip arthroscopy, and (2) report any age-related predictors of outcome identified
      in the literature. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed were searched for
      relevant studies and pertinent data were abstracted from eligible studies. No
      meta-analysis was performed because of heterogeneity amongst studies. RESULTS:
      Seventeen studies were included in this review comprising 16,327 patients,
      including 9,954 patients age 40 or older. All studies reported statistically
      significant improvements in outcomes after hip arthroscopy for femoral
      osteochondroplasty, labral repair, or unspecified indications. In patients 40 or
      older who underwent labral debridement, these improvements were not clinically
      significant. Obesity and osteoarthritic changes predicted poorer outcomes. Only 1
      of 3 studies directly comparing the 2 groups found that patients 40 or older had
      a significantly less improvement in a standardized hip outcome score than
      patients under 40 after hip arthroscopy, but all found that patients 40 or older
      had significantly higher rates of THA conversion. The rate of conversion to THA
      was 18.1% for patients 40 or older, 23.1% for patients over 50, and 25.2% for
      patients over 60 with a mean of 25.0 months to THA. CONCLUSIONS: Indications for
      hip arthroscopy including femoral osteochondroplasty and labral repair resulted
      in clinically significant improvements in patients 40 or older in most research
      studies examined in this review, whereas labral debridement did not produce
      clinically significant improvements postoperatively in the same studies. In these
      studies, the rate of conversion to THA is higher than in patients under 40 and
      increases with each decade of life, with many individual studies showing a
      significant increase in the rate of THA conversion. Hip arthroscopy may be
      suitable for some patients 40 or older, but patient selection is key and patients
      should be informed of the higher risk of conversion to THA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level IV, systematic review of Level III and IV studies.

PMID- 27625006
TI  - Vertebral hemangiomas in the thoracic spine of multiple sclerosis patients are
      connected with fewer demyelinating lesions at the same level. Possible impact on
      pathophysiology and clinical course.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Mechanisms of angiogenesis regulate multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions'
      evolution, displaying both neuroprotective and harmful effects. Factors
      traditionally considered as purely angiogenic, like vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF), exert complex heterogenous actions on both neural and vascular
      malformation-derived tissues. Aim of this retrospective study was to examine, for
      the first time, potential associations between the presence of common vascular
      malformations, like vertebral hemangiomas (VHs), and several clinico-radiological
      MS parameters. METHODS: 236 MS patients who were followed in our Outpatient
      Clinic were recruited in this study. Outcome measures concerned demographics,
      disease-derived variables, and MS-lesions' distribution in VHs - positive and
      negative patients. All data were collected retrospectively. Potential
      correlations were assessed with univariate statistical analyses (p = 0.05),
      followed by multivariate regression models, for purposes of confounder-effects
      elimination. RESULTS: VH presence showed significant negative correlations with
      presence of MS lesions in the thoracic (p = 0.005 for thoracic VHs), but not the
      cervical cord. Trends towards negative associations of VH presence with
      subtentorial MS lesions and positive family history for MS were also observed.
      DISCUSSION: Our observations suggest that VH presence may reduce the risk of
      thoracic demyelinating lesions in MS patients. They could be explained as part of
      a multifaceted angiogenic process, concomitantly enhancing neural repair and
      abnormal hemangioma vascularization.

PMID- 27625007
TI  - "You need to be an advocate for yourself": Factors associated with decision
      making regarding influenza and pneumococcal vaccine use among US older adults
      from within a large metropolitan health system.
AB  - In the United States, influenza and pneumonia account significantly to emergency
      room use and hospitalization of adults >65 y. The Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention recommends use of the annual influenza vaccine and 2 pneumococcal
      vaccines for older adults to decrease risks of morbidity and mortality. However,
      actual vaccine up-take is estimated at 61.3% for pneumococcal vaccines and 65%
      for influenza vaccine in the 2013-2014 season. Vaccine up-take is affected by
      multiple socio-cultural and economic factors including general healthcare access
      and utilization, social networks and norms, communication with health providers
      and health information sources, as well as perceptions related to vaccines and
      targeted diseases. In this study, 8 focus group discussions (total N = 48) were
      conducted with adults 65+ years living in urban and suburban communities in the
      Detroit Metropolitan Area. The research objective was to increase understanding
      of barriers and facilitators to vaccine up-take in this age cohort within the
      context of general healthcare availability and accessibility, social networks,
      information sources, and personal perceptions of diseases and vaccines. The data
      suggest the need to integrate broader health care service experiences, concepts
      of knowledge of one's own well-being and vulnerabilities, and self-advocacy as
      factors associated with older adults' vaccine-use decisions. These data also
      support recognition of multiple levels of vaccine acceptance which can be disease
      specific. Implications include potential for increasing vaccine up-take through
      general improvement in health care delivery and services, as well as specific
      vaccine-focused patient and provider education programs.

PMID- 27625008
TI  - Estimation of genetic (co)variances of Gompertz growth function parameters in
      pigs.
AB  - The objective of this study was to estimate genetic (co)variances for the
      Gompertz growth function parameters, asymptotic mature weight (A), the ratio of
      mature weight to birthweight (B) and rate of maturation (k), using alternative
      modelling approaches. The data set consisted of 51 893 live weight records from
      10 201 growing pigs. The growth of each pig was modelled using the Gompertz model
      employing either a two-step fixed effect or mixed model approach or a one-step
      mixed model approach using restricted maximum likelihood for the estimation of
      genetic (co)variance. Heritability estimates for the Gompertz growth function
      parameters, A (0.40), B (0.69) and k (0.45), were greatest for the one-step
      approach, compared with the two-step fixed effects approach, A (0.10), B (0.33)
      and k (0.13), and the two-step mixed model approach, A (0.17), B (0.32) and k
      (0.18). Inferred genetic correlations (i.e. correlations of estimated breeding
      values) between growth function parameters within models ranged from -0.78 to
      0.76, and across models ranged from 0.28 to 0.73 for parameter A, 0.75 to 0.88
      for parameter B and 0.09 to 0.37 for parameter k. Correlations between predicted
      daily sire live weights based on the Gompertz growth curve parameters' estimated
      breeding values from 60 to 200 days of age between all three modelled approaches
      were moderately to strongly correlated (0.75 to 0.95). Results from this study
      provide heritability estimates for biologically interpretable parameters of pig
      growth through the quantification of genetic (co)variances, thereby facilitating
      the estimation of breeding values for inclusion in breeding objectives to aid in
      breeding and selection decisions.

PMID- 27625010
TI  - Identification of new key genes for type 1 diabetes through construction and
      analysis of protein-protein interaction networks based on blood and pancreatic
      islet transcriptomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which pancreatic
      beta-cells are destroyed by infiltrating immune cells. Bilateral cooperation of
      pancreatic beta-cells and immune cells has been proposed in the progression of
      T1D, but as yet no systems study has investigated this possibility. The aims of
      the study were to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms and identify key
      genes associated with T1D risk using a network biology approach. METHODS:
      Interactome (protein-protein interaction [PPI]) and transcriptome data were
      integrated to construct networks of differentially expressed genes in peripheral
      blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and pancreatic beta-cells. Centrality,
      modularity, and clique analyses of networks were used to get more meaningful
      biological information. RESULTS: Analysis of genes expression profiles revealed
      several cytokines and chemokines in beta-cells and their receptors in PBMCs,
      which is supports the dialogue between these two tissues in terms of PPIs.
      Functional modules and complexes analysis unraveled most significant biological
      pathways such as immune response, apoptosis, spliceosome, proteasome, and
      pathways of protein synthesis in the tissues. Finally, Y-box binding protein 1
      (YBX1), SRSF protein kinase 1 (SRPK1), proteasome subunit alpha1/ 3, (PSMA1/3), X
      ray repair cross complementing 6 (XRCC6), Cbl proto-oncogene (CBL), SRC proto
      oncogene, non-receptor tyrosine kinase (SRC), phosphoinositide-3-kinase
      regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1), phospholipase C gamma 1 (PLCG1), SHC adaptor
      protein1 (SHC1) and ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 N (UBE2N) were identified as
      key markers that were hub-bottleneck genes involved in functional modules and
      complexes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provide new insights into network biomarkers
      that may be considered potential therapeutic targets.

PMID- 27625011
TI  - Recurrent GNAO1 Mutations Associated With Developmental Delay and a Movement
      Disorder.
AB  - In 2 unrelated patients with axial hypotonia, developmental delay and a
      hyperkinetic movement disorder, a missense mutation was found in codon 209 of the
      GNAO1 gene. From the still scarce literature on GNAO1 mutations, a clear genotype
      phenotype correlation emerged. From the 26 patients reported thus far, 12
      patients had epileptic encephalopathy, and 14 had a developmental delay and a
      hyperkinetic movement disorder. All but 1 of the latter patients had missense
      mutations in GNAO1 codon 209 or 246, which thus appear to be mutation hotspots.
      At least 2 sibling pairs showed that the recurrence risk after 1 affected child
      with a GNAO1 mutation might be relatively high (5-15%), due to apparent gonadal
      mosaicism in the parents.

PMID- 27625012
TI  - Barriers to Seizure Management in Schools: Perceptions of School Nurses.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess school nurses' perceptions of barriers to
      optimal management of seizures in schools. Eighty-three school nurses completed
      an electronic survey. Most agreed they felt confident they could identify a
      seizure (97.6%), give rectal diazepam (83.8%), and handle cluster seizures
      (67.1%), but fewer were confident they could give intranasal midazolam (63.3%),
      had specific information about a student's seizures (56.6%), or could swipe a
      vagus nerve stimulator magnet (47.4%). Nurses were more likely to be available at
      the time of a seizure in rural (17/20) (85%) versus suburban (21/34) (62%) or
      urban (8/25) (32%) schools (P = .001). School nurses are comfortable managing
      seizures in the school setting. However, a specific seizure plan for each child
      and education on intranasal midazolam and vagus nerve stimulator magnet use are
      needed. A barrier in urban schools is decreased availability of a nurse to
      identify seizures and administer treatment.

PMID- 27625013
TI  - Repeat Concussion and Recovery Time in a Primary Care Pediatric Office.
AB  - The authors enrolled 95 patients in a primary care office who presented with a
      concussion. Of these patients, 63% were sport concussions. The authors matched 90
      of these patients to children in the authors' practice presenting for sports
      physicals or regular check-ups in the following demographics: age, participating
      in a particular sport, having attention-deficit disorder/attention-deficit
      hyperactivity disorder, gender, and grade. The authors found the odds of
      recurrent concussions, in a primary care pediatric office, to be a ratio of 2.909
      (95% confidence interval 1.228-7.287). Recovery time for repeat concussion versus
      an initial concussion was analyzed. Patients with a recurrent concussion after a
      year recovered an average of 12.0 days after injury versus 13.4 days for those
      with no previous concussion (NS). Patients with a recurrent concussion within a
      year recovered a mean of 6.27 (SD 1.29) days sooner than patients with no
      previous concussion (P < .0001). This unexpected finding is preliminary, and the
      authors encourage further research.

PMID- 27625014
TI  - Habituation as Parameter for Prediction of Mental Development in Healthy Preterm
      Infants: An Electrophysiological Pilot Study.
AB  - The aim of this prospective pilot study was to evaluate the predictive value of
      discrimination and habituation, which was measured by mismatch negativity in 17
      healthy very preterm (mean gestational age 27.4 weeks; range 25.0-31.3) and 16
      term (mean gestational age 40.3 weeks; range 37.9-41.7) born infants at term
      equivalent age. Developmental outcome was measured by Bayley Scales of Infant
      Development-I in 13 preterm and 13 term-born children at a mean age of 21.7
      months (+/-2.18) and 18.5 months (+/-1.9), respectively. No differences in
      amplitude and latency of the mismatch negativity were found between both groups
      at term equivalent age. Within the preterm group habituation capacity was
      positively correlated with the Mental Developmental Index (r = .654, P = .008)
      and Performance Developmental Index (r = .482, P = .048) at 21 months. Early
      learning capability, as measured by habituation, may be associated with a better
      prognosis for early mental development in healthy preterm infants.

PMID- 27625009
TI  - Reference curves for CD4 T-cell count response to combination antiretroviral
      therapy in HIV-1-infected treatment-naive patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to provide a reference for the CD4 T-cell
      count response in the early months after the initiation of combination
      antiretroviral therapy (cART) in HIV-1-infected patients. METHODS: All patients
      in the Collaboration of Observational HIV Epidemiological Research Europe
      (COHERE) cohort who were aged >= 18 years and started cART for the first time
      between 1 January 2005 and 1 January 2010 and who had at least one available
      measurement of CD4 count and a viral load <= 50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL at 6 months
      (+/- 3 months) after cART initiation were included in the study. Unadjusted and
      adjusted references curves and predictions were obtained using quantile
      regressions. RESULTS: A total of 28 992 patients were included in the study. The
      median CD4 T-cell count at treatment initiation was 249 [interquartile range
      (IQR) 150, 336] cells/MUL. The median observed CD4 counts at 6, 9 and 12 months
      were 382 (IQR 256, 515), 402 (IQR 274, 543) and 420 (IQR 293, 565) cells/MUL. The
      two main factors explaining the variation of CD4 count at 6 months were AIDS
      stage and CD4 count at cART initiation. A CD4 count increase of >= 100 cells/mL
      is generally required in order that patients stay 'on track' (i.e. with a CD4
      count at the same percentile as when they started), with slightly higher gains
      required for those starting with CD4 counts in the higher percentiles. Individual
      predictions adjusted for factors influencing CD4 count were more precise.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reference curves aid the evaluation of the immune response early
      after antiretroviral therapy initiation that leads to viral control.

PMID- 27625015
TI  - The Role of Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in the Evaluation of the Whole Brain in
      Isolated Unilateral Polymicrogyria.
AB  - The aim is to evaluate normal-appearing brain regions in isolated unilateral
      polymicrogyria patients and compare them with controls by using diffusion
      weighted imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient. The diffusion-weighted
      images (b = 0-1000 s/mm2) of 10 pediatric patients (7 boys, 3 girls; mean age =
      5.8 +/- 4.3 years) with isolated unilateral polymicrogyria and age-sex matched 10
      control patients were assessed retrospectively. There was a significant increase
      in apparent diffusion coefficient values of white matter underlying
      polymicrogyria, uninvolved white matter, deep gray matter (thalami, lentiform
      nuclei, caudate nuclei) and corpus callosum in polymicrogyria patients compared
      to control group (P < .01). The whole brain might be affected in isolated
      unilateral polymicrogyria patients. The abnormal deep gray matter in
      polymicrogyria patients would indicate a new point of view for pediatric
      neurologists about the probability of additional future neurological disorders.

PMID- 27625017
TI  - A Case of Huge Solitary Fibrous Tumor in Bladder.

PMID- 27625018
TI  - Interventional Closure of Secundum Type Atrial Septal Defects in Infants Less
      Than 10 Kilograms: Indications and Procedural Outcome.
AB  - AIMS: This study set out to assess indications, feasibility, complications, and
      clinical outcome of percutaneous transcatheter device closure of atrial septal
      defects (ASDs) in infants with a bodyweight below 10 kg. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Retrospective single center chart and echocardiography review study from 8/2005
      12/2013. Twenty-eight children with ASD (13 female) with a median age of 1.15
      years (0.2-2.8) and a median weight of 7.2 kg (4.5-9.9) were analyzed.
      Indications for early ASD closure were failure to thrive (n = 15, 54%),
      bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) with supplemental oxygen dependency (n = 7,
      25%), and genetic syndromes with suspected pulmonary hypertension (n = 12, 43%).
      Device implantation was successful in all patients without any periprocedural
      mortality or major complication. Clinical outcome after a median follow-up period
      of 2.1 years (0.25-7.3) revealed no residual shunt and a significant decrease of
      right ventricular volume load. Patients with pulmonary hypertension experienced a
      significant reduction of pulmonary artery/RV pressure. Patients also showed
      decreased supplemental oxygen dependency and less cardiac medications, but no
      significant "catch-up growth" in those with failure to thrive. CONCLUSION:
      Interventional ASD closure in children weighing less than 10 kg can be performed
      without any additional major risks and shows a favorable outcome, especially in
      selected patients with significant non cardiac co-morbidities.

PMID- 27625016
TI  - Clinical Effect of Dose Escalation After Disease Progression in Patients With
      Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the variability in drug levels with tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      (TKIs) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), dose escalation
      at the occurrence of progressive disease (PD) might have antitumor effects.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data from patients with mRCC who were treated at the
      Cleveland Clinic with TKIs and received a dose escalation after PD in accordance
      with Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST), version 1.1, were
      retrospectively reviewed. Patient- and disease-related data were collected and
      summarized as frequency counts and percentages or medians and ranges. The Kaplan
      Meier method was used to summarize the treatment duration for the escalated
      doses. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were identified. Most patients (82%) were
      men; the median age at diagnosis was 58 years (range, 40-71 years). The most
      common histologic type was clear cell (73%). Axitinib was the most frequently
      escalated agent after PD (17 patients), followed by sunitinib (3 patients), and
      pazopanib (2 patients). Before PD, the median treatment duration was 6.8 months
      (range, 1.6-50.6 months). Of the 18 patients with evaluable tumor measurements
      after dose escalation, 14 (78%) had a decrease in tumor burden. The median
      decrease in tumor burden after dose escalation was 14% (range, 2%-58%); 4
      patients (22%) had decreases >=10%, 2 (11%) >=20%, and 4 (22%) >30% (RECIST
      partial response). At the last follow-up examination, 5 patients (23%) continued
      to be treated at escalated doses. The median duration of escalated therapy was
      estimated at 10.1 months (range, 0.6 to 37.9 months). CONCLUSION: Dose escalation
      of TKIs after PD for select patients with mRCC can lead to a reduction in tumor
      burden and extend the duration of therapy.

PMID- 27625020
TI  - Internal Oligoguanidinium-Based Cellular Transporter Enhances Antisense Efficacy
      of Morpholinos in In Vitro and Zebrafish Model.
AB  - An efficient cellular transporter is highly desirable for the therapeutic
      applications of antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligonucleotides (PMOs)
      as Vivo-PMO and PPMO have limitations for in vivo study. We report here a novel
      internally tetraguanidinium-linked nonpeptidic cellular transporter having a
      conformationally rigid backbone composed of pharmacologically compatible
      heterocyclic six-membered rings which internalizes efficiently into cells in full
      growth medium and ubiquitously distributed into zebrafish embryos. It efficiently
      transports antisense PMO in vitro and in vivo zebrafish embryos. Comparative
      study with Gene Tools Vivo-PMO revealed that our cellular-transporter conjugated
      PMO shows better antisense efficacy.

PMID- 27625019
TI  - Subpathway-CorSP: Identification of metabolic subpathways via integrating
      expression correlations and topological features between metabolites and genes of
      interest within pathways.
AB  - Metabolic pathway analysis is a popular strategy for comprehensively researching
      metabolites and genes of interest associated with specific diseases. However, the
      traditional pathway identification methods do not accurately consider the
      combined effect of these interesting molecules and neglects expression
      correlations or topological features embedded in the pathways. In this study, we
      propose a powerful method, Subpathway-CorSP, for identifying metabolic subpathway
      regions. This method improved on original pathway identification methods by using
      a subpathway identification strategy and emphasizing expression correlations
      between metabolites and genes of interest based on topological features within
      the metabolic pathways. We analyzed a prostate cancer data set and its metastatic
      sub-group data set with detailed comparison of Subpathway-CorSP with four
      traditional pathway identification methods. Subpathway-CorSP was able to identify
      multiple subpathway regions whose entire corresponding pathways were not detected
      by traditional pathway identification methods. Further evidences indicated that
      Subpathway-CorSP provided a robust and efficient way of reliably recalling cancer
      related subpathways and locating novel subpathways by the combined effect of
      metabolites and genes. This was a novel subpathway strategy based on
      systematically considering expression correlations and topological features
      between metabolites and genes of interest within given pathways.

PMID- 27625021
TI  - Enantioselective Phase-Transfer Catalyzed alpha-Sulfanylation of Isoxazolidin-5
      ones: An Entry to beta2,2 -Amino Acid Derivatives.
AB  - An unprecedented enantioselective alpha-functionalization of C4-substituted N
      alkoxycarbonyl isoxazolidin-5-ones, readily available platforms from Meldrum's
      acid derivatives, by N-sulfanylphthalimide (PhthSR) electrophiles was achieved
      upon an efficient phase-transfer catalytic approach, mediated by a commercial N
      spiro quaternary ammonium catalyst. Two catalytic activities of the in situ
      formed R4 N+ Phth- species were highlighted, the phtalimidate being involved in
      the anion metathesis event and likely as a Bronsted base. This sequence offers a
      straightforward access to alpha,alpha-disubstituted isoxazolidinones, which
      turned out to be useful precursors of alpha-sulfanyl-beta2,2 -amino acid
      derivatives.

PMID- 27625024
TI  - Factors Influencing Head and Neck Surgical Oncologists' Transition from Curative
      to Palliative Treatment Goals.
AB  - Objective The factors influencing head and neck surgical oncologists' goals of
      care and decisions to initiate conversations about transitioning to palliative
      intent treatment for patients with limited curative treatment options are
      incompletely understood. Lack of guidance for physicians on this topic can lead
      to inconsistent utilization of palliative services, as well as confusing,
      upsetting experiences for patients and families. We review the literature
      investigating the clinical factors, inter- and intrapersonal factors, and
      financial and health care system considerations that head and neck cancer
      physicians weigh during this decision-making process. Data Sources PubMed. Review
      Methods Selected literature on head and neck surgical oncologists' decision
      making in end-of-life care and palliative therapy was reviewed and analyzed
      thematically. Conclusions Physicians taking into account patients' clinical
      trajectories often overestimate the negative impact of head and neck cancer
      symptoms on their quality of life, suggesting that patients' expectations of
      quality of life should be discussed early, before communication barriers arise.
      How head and neck clinicians perceive and are influenced by patients' desired
      degree of autonomy, which varies greatly depending on the severity of illness, is
      still unclear. Patients' financial and insurance status affects decision making
      about hospice care. Finally, physician demographics (eg, age, subspecialization,
      practice setting), emotions, and philosophical background may exert unconscious
      biases that have not been fully determined for head and neck surgical
      oncologists. Implications for Practice A more comprehensive understanding of the
      head and neck surgical oncologist's approach toward considering a transition to
      therapy with palliative intent may help guide advancements in this complex
      counseling process, leading to improvements in patient care, quality of life, and
      outcomes.

PMID- 27625023
TI  - HIF-1alpha in Myeloid Cells Promotes Adipose Tissue Remodeling Toward Insulin
      Resistance.
AB  - Adipose tissue hypoxia is an important feature of pathological adipose tissue
      expansion. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) in adipocytes reportedly
      induces oxidative stress and fibrosis, rather than neoangiogenesis via vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A. We previously reported that macrophages in
      crown-like structures (CLSs) are both hypoxic and inflammatory. In the current
      study, we examined how macrophage HIF-1alpha is involved in high-fat diet (HFD)
      induced inflammation, neovascularization, hypoxia, and insulin resistance using
      mice with myeloid cell-specific HIF-1alpha deletion that were fed an HFD. Myeloid
      cell-specific HIF-1alpha gene deletion protected against HFD-induced
      inflammation, CLS formation, poor vasculature development in the adipose tissue,
      and systemic insulin resistance. Despite a reduced expression of Vegfa in
      epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), the preadipocytes and endothelial cells
      of HIF-1alpha-deficient mice expressed higher levels of angiogenic factors,
      including Vegfa, Angpt1, Fgf1, and Fgf10 in accordance with preferable eWAT
      remodeling. Our in vitro study revealed that lipopolysaccharide-treated bone
      marrow-derived macrophages directly inhibited the expression of angiogenic
      factors in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Thus, macrophage HIF-1alpha is involved not only
      in the formation of CLSs, further enhancing the inflammatory responses, but also
      in the inhibition of neoangiogenesis in preadipocytes. We concluded that these
      two pathways contribute to the obesity-related physiology of pathological adipose
      tissue expansion, thus causing systemic insulin resistance.

PMID- 27625022
TI  - Peripheral Blood Transcriptomic Signatures of Fasting Glucose and Insulin
      Concentrations.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified genetic loci
      associated with glycemic traits. However, characterizing the functional
      significance of these loci has proven challenging. We sought to gain insights
      into the regulation of fasting insulin and fasting glucose through the use of
      gene expression microarray data from peripheral blood samples of participants
      without diabetes in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) (n = 5,056), the Rotterdam
      Study (RS) (n = 723), and the InCHIANTI Study (Invecchiare in Chianti) (n = 595).
      Using a false discovery rate q <0.05, we identified three transcripts associated
      with fasting glucose and 433 transcripts associated with fasting insulin levels
      after adjusting for age, sex, technical covariates, and complete blood cell
      counts. Among the findings, circulating IGF2BP2 transcript levels were positively
      associated with fasting insulin in both the FHS and RS. Using 1000 Genomes
      imputed genotype data, we identified 47,587 cis-expression quantitative trait
      loci (eQTL) and 6,695 trans-eQTL associated with the 433 significant insulin
      associated transcripts. Of note, we identified a trans-eQTL (rs592423), where the
      A allele was associated with higher IGF2BP2 levels and with fasting insulin in an
      independent genetic meta-analysis comprised of 50,823 individuals. We conclude
      that integration of genomic and transcriptomic data implicate circulating IGF2BP2
      mRNA levels associated with glucose and insulin homeostasis.

PMID- 27625026
TI  - Demographic, Seasonal, and Geographic Differences in Emergency Department Visits
      for Epistaxis.
AB  - Objective To determine the demographics and seasonal and geographic variation of
      epistaxis in the United States. Study Design Retrospective cohort analysis based
      on data from Medicare claims. Setting Emergency department visits. Subjects and
      Methods We used a 5% sample of Medicare data from January 2012 to December 2012.
      Our cohort included patients with an incident diagnosis of epistaxis during a
      visit to the emergency department, excluding those with a diagnosis in the prior
      12 months. Demographics included age, sex, race, and ethnicity. We compared the
      rate of emergency department visits for epistaxis by geographic division and
      individual states. Results In the 5% sample of Medicare data, 4120 emergency
      department visits for incident epistaxis were identified in 2012. Our results
      showed an increase in the emergency department visits for epistaxis with age.
      Compared with patients <65 years old, patients who were 66 to 76, 76 to 85, and
      >85 years old were 1.36 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.23-1.50), 2.37 (95%
      CI, 2.14-2.62), and 3.24 (95% CI, 2.91-3.62) more likely to present with
      epistaxis, respectively. Men were 1.24 (95% CI, 1.17-1.32) times more likely to
      present with epistaxis than women. Blacks were 1.23 (95% CI, 1.10-1.36) times
      more likely to present with epistaxis when compared with non-Hispanic whites.
      Epistaxis emergency department visits were 40% lower in the summer months versus
      winter. The seasonal variation was more pronounced in the northern versus
      southern United States. Conclusion Emergency department visits for epistaxis
      increase with age and appear to be seasonal, with a more pronounced variation in
      the northern versus southern United States.

PMID- 27625025
TI  - Auricular Split-Thickness Skin Graft for Ear Canal Coverage.
AB  - Split-thickness skin graft (STSG) continues to be the preferred means of external
      auditory canal (EAC) reconstruction. We thus sought to describe our experience
      using skin from the posterior aspect of the auricle (SPAA) as a donor site in EAC
      reconstruction. Grafts were, on average, 5 * 10 mm in size and obtained with a
      No. 10 blade after tumescence injection. The cases of 39 patients who underwent
      41 procedures were retrospectively reviewed. Of the 38 patients with both 3- and
      6-month follow-ups, no postoperative stenosis or bony exposure occurred. STSG
      from the SPAA can be a good option in EAC reconstruction. Total EAC/tympanic
      membrane coverage can be obtained with STSG from the SPAA.

PMID- 27625027
TI  - Volumetric Growth of Cervical Schwannoma as a Predictor of Surgical Intervention.
AB  - Objective Cervical schwannomas are benign tumors that commonly present as
      asymptomatic masses and are managed with observation, radiation, or surgery. To
      our knowledge, the rate of volumetric change seen on serial imaging is not
      currently used to determine surgical candidacy. We assess average growth rates
      and determine whether growth rate of cervical schwannoma predicts having
      undergone surgery. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Quaternary
      academic medical center. Subjects and Methods Patients were identified with at
      least 2 imaging studies and pathologic or imaging characteristics of cervical
      schwannoma. Volume was calculated with the formula 4/3pi xyz, with x, y, and z
      representing the 3 orthogonal dimensions. Volume and rate of volume change were
      compared among observed, surgical, and gamma knife groups. Results Thirteen
      patients were identified and divided into subgroups: surgical (n = 5),
      observation (n = 6), and gamma knife (n = 2). Mean follow-up time was 21 months
      (range, 1-80 months) and not significantly different among subgroups. The average
      changes in volume were 3.61 cm3/mo (entire group), -2.75 cm3/mo (observation),
      11.97 cm3/mo (surgery), and 1.78 cm3/mo (gamma knife). Average initial volume for
      the entire group was 124.4 cm3 (range, 5-608 cm3) and 142 cm3 (range 5-613) at
      follow-up. The surgical group had a statistically significant change in volume (
      P = .03). A statistically significant difference in growth rate was seen between
      the surgical and observation groups ( P = .016) and between the surgical group
      and all nonsurgical patients ( P = .011). Conclusions Rate of tumor growth can be
      used in the evaluation of patients with cervical schwannoma, and it may predict
      surgical intervention.

PMID- 27625028
TI  - Nonadherence to Guideline Recommendations for Tympanostomy Tube Insertion in
      Children Based on Mega-database Claims Analysis.
AB  - Objective To estimate the nonadherence rate of pressure equalization
      (tympanostomy) tube (PET) placement in the preceding 3-year period before release
      of the 2013 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
      clinical practice guideline (CPG). Study Design Analysis of the Truven Health
      MarketScan Research Databases (2010-2012). Subjects and Methods Medical claims
      data from 2010 to 2012 were analyzed. Children aged <=12 years with otitis media
      (OM)-related diagnoses were identified. Adherence and nonadherence rates for OM
      and PET placement were analyzed through administrative codes extrapolated from
      the key action statements (KASs) of the CPG. KASs were aggregated to estimate the
      overall nonadherence and determine areas for quality improvement. Results A total
      of 9,726,411 visits with OM-associated codes among 3,710,730 children were
      identified: 2.9% (80,451 of 3,239,700) were considered nonadherent to KAS 1
      because a code for PET placement occurred with a first episode of OM with
      effusion <3 months; 52.1% (14,534 of 27,913) underwent PET placement for OM with
      effusion of >3 months and had a concurrent hearing loss code. For those without
      hearing loss who underwent PET placement, 48.3% (52,921 of 109,583) had a
      diagnosis code indicating risk for speech, language, or learning problems. For
      each KAS, we found heterogeneity of computed nonadherence rates by region, age,
      and season. Conclusion Before guideline dissemination, we found low to moderate
      rates of nonadherence to guideline recommendation. Deeper analysis of mega
      databases could provide better insights for measurement of guideline adherence.
      The expansion of administrative and clinical databases provides a unique
      opportunity to investigate the impact of CPGs.

PMID- 27625030
TI  - Analysis of Epstein-Barr virus and cellular gene expression during the early
      phases of Epstein-Barr virus lytic induction.
AB  - In order to develop novel host/pathogen real-time PCR assays for routine
      diagnostic use, early gene expression patterns from both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)
      and Raji cells were examined after inducing the lytic life cycle using 12-O
      tetradecanoyl-13-phorbol ester and sodium butyrate. Real-time PCR identified
      several highly induced (>90-fold) EBV lytic genes over a 48 h time course during
      the lytic induction phase. Latent genes were induced at low levels during this
      phase. The cellular response to lytic viral replication is poorly understood.
      Whole human genome microarray analysis identified 113 cellular genes regulated
      twofold or more by EBV, including 63 upregulated and 46 downregulated genes, over
      a 24 h time course post-induction. The most upregulated gene was CHI3L1, a
      chitinase-3-like 1 protein (18.1-fold; P<0.0084), and the most downregulated gene
      was TYMS, a thymidylate synthetase (-7.6-fold). Gene Ontology enrichment analysis
      using MetaCore software revealed cell cycle (core), cell cycle (role of anaphase
      promoting complex) in cell cycle regulation) and lymphatic diseases as the most
      significantly represented biological network processes, canonical pathways and
      disease biomarkers, respectively. Chemotaxis, DNA damage and inflammation (IL-4
      signalling) together with lymphoproliferative disorders and non-Hodgkin's
      lymphoma were significantly represented biological processes and disease
      biomarkers.

PMID- 27625029
TI  - A Novel Mutation in Helical Domain 2 of NOD2 in Sporadic Blau Syndrome.
AB  - We report a 12-year-old girl who presented with bilateral granulomatous anterior
      uveitis accompanied by boggy arthritis of knee and ankle joints, intermittent
      fever, and nodular skin rash. She was diagnosed with sporadic Blau syndrome
      (early-onset sarcoidosis) based on above clinical signs and presence of non
      necrotising granuloma on iris biopsy. DNA sequencing revealed a previously
      unreported heterozygous mutation consisting of a G>A transition in exon 4 of the
      NOD2 gene. This resulted in a glutamic acid to lysine substitution in helical
      domain 2 of the nucleotide binding and oligomerization (NACHT) region, possibly
      reducing efficiency of auto-inhibition in NOD2 signaling. Interestingly, the
      ocular inflammation resolved completely following therapeutic vitrectomy in both
      eyes whereas the systemic symptoms of fever and arthritis continued to wax and
      wane while on treatment with oral methotrexate and corticosteroids.

PMID- 27625031
TI  - Utilization of Needles in the Surgical Reduction of Labia Minora: A Simple and
      Cost-Effective Way to Reduce Operating Time.

PMID- 27625032
TI  - In Vivo Changes of Breast Perfusion After Augmentation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Revision surgeries after breast augmentation are associated with an
      increased risk of complications (eg, nipple areolar complex [NAC]) necrosis.
      Consequently, maintaining perfusion to the NAC is a critical aspect of secondary
      breast surgery. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine in vivo
      changes in perfusion to the NAC after implant breast augmentation using magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) technology. METHODS: High-resolution 3 Tesla MRI images
      of 10 women (20 breasts) with previous breast augmentation were compared to a
      control population of 15 women (30 breasts). Perforators from the internal
      mammary artery and lateral thoracic artery were examined for the diameter of the
      originating perforator, distance between the nipple and most distally visualized
      point of the medial and lateral perforator, and dominance pattern between the
      medial vs lateral perforators. RESULTS: No difference was found in the caliber of
      the medial vessels in the implant group compared to the control group. In
      contrast, the caliber of the lateral blood vessels trended towards being 20%
      larger in diameter in the augmented breasts. The distances between the nipple and
      the medial and lateral vessels increased. The frequencies in the distribution of
      dominance were not significantly different between the implant group and the
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, medial and lateral blood supply to the NAC
      are preserved in the augmented patient. Our results suggest a slight delay effect
      that seems to increase the caliber of the lateral perforators. In addition, the
      tissue expansion provided by the implants effectively increases the length of
      both perforators. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Therapeutic.

PMID- 27625033
TI  - Commentary on: Incidence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
      Carrier Status in Patients Undergoing Post-Mastectomy Breast Reconstruction.

PMID- 27625034
TI  - Zones of Adhesion of the Abdomen: Implications for Abdominoplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The elucidation of the superficial fascial system (SFS) by Lockwood
      in 1991 has been the cornerstone of our understanding of abdominal excisional
      dynamics for the last 25 years. The SFS can be used for closure and,
      appropriately mobilized, for tension transmission in abdominoplasty, and lower
      body lifts. The pattern of SFS adhesion to muscle fascia and the zones of
      adhesion was also described but there are inconsistencies between the description
      and clinical experience. OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to better describe
      the pattern of subcutaneous tissue adhesion to the trunk. METHODS: Twenty pre
      abdominoplasty patients were studied. A series of points were marked around the
      trunk and the skin moved in four opposing directions. The excursions were
      measured and the median plotted on a diagram. Two fresh cadavers were also
      dissected, removing all subcutaneous tissue circumferentially from the trunk
      muscle fascia and marking the strength of the adhesion with a colored pin. Three
      grades of adhesion were mapped. RESULTS: In the current study, maximal laxity was
      shown in the mid-lower abdomen and the anterior and lateral chest. Laxity was
      limited in the anterior and posterior midlines, over the lower back, and the
      lateral upper thigh. The cadaver dissection mapped adhesion which correlated with
      the skin laxity diagram. CONCLUSIONS: The detailed skin adhesion map better
      explains features of surface anatomy. Incorporating this understanding a tension
      vector of abdominoplasty closure obliquely inwards is proposed to maximally
      harvest the laxity of the anterior and lateral chest and to create further
      lowering and narrowing of the waist.

PMID- 27625035
TI  - Association of Discrimination and Stress With Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in
      Ethnic Minority Women.
AB  - Psychological stressors can contribute to adverse health outcomes and lead to
      health disparities. To examine associations among psychological stressors,
      coping, blood pressure, body mass index, and body fat in ethnic minority women,
      we conducted a secondary analysis using data from 178 African American and
      Hispanic/Latina women who completed measures of perceived racial discrimination
      and stress, coping, blood pressure, and body composition. The mean age of
      participants was 45.3 (+/-9.3 years), and most were obese (74.2%) and had
      prehypertensive systolic blood pressure (125.7 +/- 14.6 mmHg). Hierarchical
      multiple regression models indicated a significant negative relationship between
      racial discrimination and percent body fat, and positive associations between
      stress and blood pressure. Coping did not moderate the association between racial
      discrimination and blood pressure or body composition. Health care providers
      should consider psychological stressors as underlying causes for hypertension and
      address tailored stress-reduction coping strategies when treating African
      American and Hispanic/Latina women with hypertension.

PMID- 27625036
TI  - Adelmidrol, a Palmitoylethanolamide Analogue, as a New Pharmacological Treatment
      for the Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Leukocyte infiltration, improved levels of intercellular adhesion molecule 1
      (ICAM-1), and oxidative stress in the colon are the principal factors in
      inflammatory bowel disease. The goal of the current study was to explore the
      effects of adelmidrol, an analog of the anti-inflammatory fatty acid amide
      signaling molecule palmitoylethanolamide, in mice subjected to experimental
      colitis. Additionally, to clarify whether the protective action of adelmidrol is
      dependent on the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors
      (PPARs), we investigated the effects of a PPARgamma antagonist, GW9662, on
      adelmidrol action. Adelmidrol (10 mg/kg daily, o.s.) was tested in a murine
      experimental model of colitis induced by intracolonic administration of
      dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid. Nuclear factor-kappaB translocation, cyclooxygenase
      2, and phosphoextracellular signal-regulated kinase, as well as tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha and interleukin-1beta, were significantly increased in colon tissues
      after dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid administration. Immunohistochemical staining
      for ICAM-1, P-selectin, nitrotyrosine, and poly(ADP)ribose showed a positive
      staining in the inflamed colon. Treatment with adelmidrol decreased diarrhea,
      body weight loss, and myeloperoxidase activity. Adelmidrol treatment, moreover,
      reduced nuclear factor-kappaB translocation, cyclooxygenase-2, and
      phosphoextracellular signal-regulated kinase expression; proinflammatory cytokine
      release; and the incidence of nitrotyrosine and poly(ADP)ribose in the colon. It
      also decreased the upregulation of ICAM-1 and P-selectin. Adelmidrol treatment
      produced a reduction of Bax and an intensification of Bcl-2 expression. This
      study clearly demonstrates that adelmidrol exerts important anti-inflammatory
      effects that are partly dependent on PPARgamma, suggesting that this molecule may
      represent a new pharmacologic approach for inflammatory bowel disease treatment.

PMID- 27625037
TI  - Current Knowledge and Perspectives on Histamine H1 and H2 Receptor Pharmacology:
      Functional Selectivity, Receptor Crosstalk, and Repositioning of Classic
      Histaminergic Ligands.
AB  - H1 and H2 histamine receptor antagonists, although developed many decades ago,
      are still effective for the treatment of allergic and gastric acid-related
      conditions. This article focuses on novel aspects of the pharmacology and
      molecular mechanisms of histamine receptors that should be contemplated for
      optimizing current therapies, repositioning histaminergic ligands for new
      therapeutic uses, or even including agonists of the histaminergic system in the
      treatment of different pathologies such as leukemia or neurodegenerative
      disorders. In recent years, new signaling phenomena related to H1 and H2
      receptors have been described that make them suitable for novel therapeutic
      approaches. Crosstalk between histamine receptors and other membrane or nuclear
      receptors can be envisaged as a way to modulate other signaling pathways and to
      potentiate the efficacy of drugs acting on different receptors. Likewise, biased
      signaling at histamine receptors seems to be a pharmacological feature that can
      be exploited to investigate nontraditional therapeutic uses for H1 and H2 biased
      agonists in malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia and to avoid undesired
      side effects when used in standard treatments. It is hoped that the molecular
      mechanisms discussed in this review contribute to a better understanding of the
      different aspects involved in histamine receptor pharmacology, which in turn will
      contribute to increased drug efficacy, avoidance of adverse effects, or
      repositioning of histaminergic ligands.

PMID- 27625043
TI  - Asymmetric cyanation of imines via dipeptide-derived organophosphine dual-reagent
      catalysis.
AB  - Over the past few decades, enantioselective phosphine organocatalysis has evolved
      rapidly into a highly efficient catalytic strategy for a range of useful
      reactions. However, as restricted by the traditional catalytic modes, some
      important reactions, such as asymmetric Strecker-type reactions, have thus far
      been out of reach of this strategy. Reported herein is an application of
      enantioselective phosphine organocatalysis for asymmetric Strecker-type
      reactions, enabled by a dual-reagent catalyst system in which the key
      organophosphorus zwitterion intermediate, generated in situ by mixing a chiral
      dipeptide-derived multifunctional organophosphine with methyl acrylate, is used
      as a highly efficient chiral Lewis base catalyst. The high efficiency of this
      catalytic system is demonstrated in the asymmetric cyanation of isatin-derived
      ketimines and azomethine aldimines as well as in the kinetic resolution of
      racemic 3-substituted azomethines. Mechanistic studies provide experimental
      evidence for the intermediacy of the putative zwitterion and its role as a
      catalytically active Lewis base.

PMID- 27625038
TI  - GluN2D-Containing N-methyl-d-Aspartate Receptors Mediate Synaptic Transmission in
      Hippocampal Interneurons and Regulate Interneuron Activity.
AB  - N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are ionotropic glutamatergic receptors
      that have been implicated in learning, development, and neuropathological
      conditions. They are typically composed of GluN1 and GluN2A-D subunits. Whereas a
      great deal is known about the role of GluN2A- and GluN2B-containing NMDARs, much
      less is known about GluN2D-containing NMDARs. Here we explore the subunit
      composition of synaptic NMDARs on hippocampal interneurons. GluN2D mRNA was
      detected by single-cell PCR and in situ hybridization in diverse interneuron
      subtypes in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The GluN2D subunit was detectable
      by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry in all subfields of the hippocampus in
      young and adult mice. In whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from acute hippocampal
      slices, (+)-CIQ, the active enantiomer of the positive allosteric modulator CIQ,
      significantly enhanced the amplitude of the NMDAR component of miniature
      excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in CA1 interneurons but not in
      pyramidal cells. (+)-CIQ had no effect in slices from Grin2d-/- mice, suggesting
      that GluN2D-containing NMDARs participate in excitatory synaptic transmission
      onto hippocampal interneurons. The time course of the NMDAR component of the
      mEPSC was unaffected by (+)-CIQ potentiation and was not accelerated in slices
      from Grin2d-/- mice compared with wild-type, suggesting that GluN2D does not
      detectably slow the NMDAR EPSC time course at this age. (+)-CIQ increased the
      activity of CA1 interneurons as detected by the rate and net charge transfer of
      spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) recorded from CA1 pyramidal
      cells. These data provide evidence that interneurons contain synaptic NMDARs
      possessing a GluN2D subunit, which can influence interneuron function and signal
      processing.

PMID- 27625045
TI  - Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 activity is associated with urine albumin excretion in
      type 1 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: The inability of kidneys to prevent urinary protein leakage represents the
      earliest sign of renal damage in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Recent data
      suggest the possible nephroprotective role of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4)
      inhibitors. We aimed to investigate whether serum DPP-4 activity is associated
      with urine albumin excretion (UAE) in patients with type 1 diabetes (type 1 DM).
      METHODS: DPP-4 activity and UAE measurement were performed in 113 patients with
      type 1 DM and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) within normal range. They were
      divided into three groups according to UAE tertiles. RESULTS: Worse lipid profile
      and higher waist circumference were observed in the group with highest DPP-4
      activity. Patients within lowest UAE tertile group had lowest DPP-4 activity
      value (p<0.001) compared to group within second and third tertile of UAE. DPP-4
      activity correlated with systolic blood pressure (rho=0.142; p=0.001), HbA1c
      (rho=0.133; p=0.013) and UAE (rho=0.349; p<0.001). In the linear regression
      analysis when DPP-4 activity was adjusted for age, gender, disease duration,
      HbA1c, waist circumference, the use of ACEI and hypolipemic agents the
      association remained significant; UAE increased for 8.136mg/24h by each increase
      of DPP-4 activity of 1U/L (p<0.008). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that serum
      DPP-4 activity is associated with albuminuria in type 1 diabetes. This arises the
      question whether the use of DPP-4 inhibitors might serve as an additional
      therapeutic strategy to prevent proteinuria in patients with DKD.

PMID- 27625044
TI  - Genetically Low Vitamin D Levels, Bone Mineral Density, and Bone Metabolism
      Markers: a Mendelian Randomisation Study.
AB  - Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) is associated with osteoporosis and
      osteoporotic fracture, but it remains uncertain whether these associations are
      causal. We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study of 1,824 postmenopausal
      Chinese women to examine whether the detected associations between serum 25OHD
      and bone mineral density (BMD) and bone metabolism markers were causal. In
      observational analyses, total serum 25OHD was positively associated with BMD at
      lumbar spine (P = 0.003), femoral neck (P = 0.006) and total hip (P = 0.005), and
      was inversely associated with intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) (P = 8.18E-09) and
      procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP) (P = 0.020). By contract, the
      associations of bioavailable and free 25OHD with all tested outcomes were
      negligible (all P > 0.05). The use of four single nucleotide polymorphisms, GC
      rs2282679, NADSYN1-rs12785878, CYP2R1-rs10741657 and CYP24A1-rs6013897, as
      candidate instrumental variables in MR analyses showed that none of the two stage
      least squares models provided evidence for associations between serum 25OHD and
      either BMD or bone metabolism markers (all P > 0.05). We suggest that after
      controlling for unidentified confounding factors in MR analyses, the associations
      between genetically low serum 25OHD and BMD and bone metabolism markers are
      unlikely to be causal.

PMID- 27625047
TI  - Assessment of Performance Validity Using Embedded Saccadic and Manual Indices on
      a Continuous Performance Test.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In addition to manual (i.e., "button press") metrics, oculomotor
      metrics demonstrate considerable promise as tools for detecting invalid
      responding in neurocognitive assessment. This study was conducted to evaluate
      saccadic and manual metrics from a computerized continuous performance test as
      embedded indices of performance validity. METHOD: Receiver operating
      characteristic analyses, logistic regressions, and ANOVAs were performed to
      evaluate saccadic and manual metrics in classification of healthy adults
      instructed to feign deficits ("Fake Bad" group; n = 24), healthy adults
      instructed to perform their best ("Best Effort" group; n = 26), and adults with a
      history of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) who passed a series of validity
      indices ("mTBI-Pass" group; n = 19). RESULTS: Several saccadic and manual metrics
      achieved outstanding classification accuracy between Fake Bad versus Best Effort
      and mTBI-Pass groups, including variability (consistency) of saccadic and manual
      response time (RT), saccadic commission errors, and manual omission errors. Very
      large effect sizes were obtained between Fake Bad and Best Effort groups (Cohen's
      d range: 1.89-2.90; r range: .75-.78) as well as between Fake Bad and mTBI-Pass
      groups (Cohen's d range: 1.32-2.21; r range: .69-.71). The Fake Bad group
      consistently had higher saccadic and manual RT variability, more saccadic
      commission errors, and more manual omission errors than the Best Effort and mTBI
      Pass groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are the first to demonstrate that eye
      movements can be used to detect invalid responding in neurocognitive assessment.
      These results also provide compelling evidence that concurrently measured
      saccadic and manual metrics can detect invalid responding with high levels of
      sensitivity and specificity.

PMID- 27625046
TI  - In vitro inhibition of human papillomavirus following use of a carrageenan
      containing vaginal gel.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess in vitro efficacy of Divine 9, a carrageenan-based vaginal
      lubricant that is being studied as a microbicide to inhibit HPV16 pseudovirus
      (PsV) infection. METHODS: Sexually active US women between 19 and 35years without
      prior HPV vaccination or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were instructed to
      use Divine 9 vaginally with an applicator either before sex only or before and
      after intercourse. Women who applied a single dose of gel returned for
      cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) collection 1, 4 or 8-12h after intercourse versus
      those who applied gel before and after intercourse returned 1, 4 or 8-12h after
      the second gel dose. Carrageenan concentrations were assessed using an ELISA
      assay and the inhibitory activity was assessed using a PsV-based neutralization
      assay against HPV16 infection. Carrageenan concentrations and the percentage of
      PsV16 inhibition were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS:
      Thirteen women were enrolled and thirty specimens from different time-points were
      assessed. 87% of CVL samples had detectable carrageenans with levels decreasing
      over time from intercourse. 93% of CVL samples had detectable PsV16 inhibition
      with median inhibition of 97.5%. PsV16 inhibition decreased over time, but
      remained high, with median inhibition of 98.1%, 97.4% and 83.4% at 1, 4 and 8
      12h, respectively. Higher carrageenan concentrations were associated with higher
      levels of PsV16 inhibition (rho=0.69). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of a
      human study investigating in vitro HPV inhibition of a carrageenan-based vaginal
      lubricant with CVL collected after sexual intercourse. We demonstrate excellent
      efficacy in preventing PsV16 infection.

PMID- 27625048
TI  - Normative Data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Middle-Aged and Elderly
      Quebec-French People.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Given that aging is associated with higher risk of cognitive decline
      and dementia, improving early detection of cognitive impairment has become a
      research and clinical priority. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a
      screening instrument used to assess different aspects of cognition. Despite its
      widespread use, norms adjusted to the sociodemographics of Quebec-French people
      are not yet available. Such norms are however important because performance on
      neuropsychological tests varies according to sociodemographic variables including
      age, sex, and education. As such, the present study aimed to establish normative
      data for the MoCA in middle-aged and elderly Quebec-French population. METHOD:
      For that purpose, 1,019 community-dwelling older adults aged between 41 and 98
      were recruited. Participants from 12 recruiting sites completed the MoCA.
      Regression-based normative data were produced and cross-validated with a
      validation sample (n = 200). RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated that older
      age, lower education level, and male sex were associated with poorer MoCA scores.
      The best predictive model included age (p < .001), education (p < .001), sex (p <
      .001), and a quadratic term for education (education X education; p < .001). This
      model explained a significant amount of variance of the MoCA score (p < .001, R2
      = 0.26). A regression equation to calculate Z scores is presented. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study provides normative data for the MoCA test in the middle-aged and
      elderly French-Quebec people. These data will facilitate more accurate detection
      and follow-up of the risk of cognitive impairment in this population, taking into
      account culture, age, education, and sex.

PMID- 27625051
TI  - Isolated Double Chambered Right Ventricle in an Adult Imaged With Magnetic
      Resonance.

PMID- 27625049
TI  - Moyamoya vasculopathy - Patient demographics and characteristics in the Finnish
      population.
AB  - Background and purpose Moyamoya vasculopathy, a rare steno-occlusive progressive
      cerebrovascular disorder, has not been thoroughly studied in Caucasian
      populations. We established a registry of Finnish patients treated at the
      Helsinki University Hospital, to collect and report demographic and clinical
      data. Methods We collected data both retrospectively and prospectively from all
      the patients with a moyamoya vasculopathy referred to our hospital between
      January 1987 and December 2014. All patients underwent a neurological outpatient
      clinic visit. Results We diagnosed 61 patients (50 females, 10 children) with
      moyamoya vasculopathy. The mean age at the disease-onset was 31.5 +/- 17.9 years.
      The two most common presenting symptoms were ischemic stroke (n = 31) and
      hemorrhage (n = 8). Forty-four percent underwent revascularization surgery, and
      70% were prescribed antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The results support in
      part the Western phenotype of the disease considering the later presentation and
      larger female predominance compared to the Asian moyamoya vasculopathy reports.
      However, the proportion of ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes is closer to
      Japanese population than German population. The absence of familial cases points
      to a different genetic profile in the Finnish patients.

PMID- 27625050
TI  - Curcumin inhibits angiogenesis by up-regulation of microRNA-1275 and microRNA
      1246: a promising therapy for treatment of corneal neovascularization.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Curcumin (capable of inhibiting angiogenic growth of human umbilical
      vein endothelial cells [HUVECs]), can be employed in vitro as a model of
      pathogenesis of corneal neovascularization (CRNV). The aim of this study was to
      explore regulatory mechanisms of microRNA (miR) levels after curcumin treatment.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expression profiles of miRs in curcumin-treated HUVECs
      were investigated by miR microassay. Specific mimics and inhibitors of miR-1275
      or miR-1246 were transfected into HUVECs. Then, their target genes, vascular
      endothelial growth factor B (VEGFB) and nuclear transcription factor kappa B
      acting protein (NKAP) were detected by quantitative real-time PCR, Western
      blotting assay or immunofluorescence assay. Cell proliferation and cell cycle
      parameters were measured with the help of CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: MiR-1275 and miR-1246 expression levels were up-regulated by curcumin.
      Administration of the specific mimics and inhibitors of the two miRs led to
      significant changes in expression of VEGFB and NKAP as well as the indicators
      related to angiogenesis. Anti-angiogenic effect of curcumin depended on
      expression patterns of the two miRs in that inhibition of either miR interfered
      with the effect of curcumin. Furthermore, overexpression of NKAP interrupted
      effects of curcumin on the cells. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our findings
      demonstrate that curcumin inhibited HUVEC proliferation by up-regulation of miR
      1275 and miR-1246.

PMID- 27625052
TI  - Does integrated training in evidence-based medicine (EBM) in the general practice
      (GP) specialty training improve EBM behaviour in daily clinical practice? A
      cluster randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is an important element in the general
      practice (GP) specialty training. Studies show that integrating EBM training into
      clinical practice brings larger benefits than stand-alone modules. However, these
      studies have neither been performed in GP nor assessed EBM behaviour of former
      trainees in daily clinical practice. SETTING: GP specialty training in the
      Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: All 82 third year GP trainees who started their final
      third year in 2011 were approached for inclusion, of whom 79 (96%) participated:
      39 in the intervention group and 40 in the control group. INTERVENTION:
      Integrated EBM training, in which EBM is embedded closely within the clinical
      context by joint assignments for the trainee and supervisor in daily practice,
      and teaching sessions based on dilemmas from actual patient consultations.
      COMPARISON: Stand-alone EBM training at the institute only. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
      OUTCOMES: Our primary outcome was EBM behaviour, assessed by measuring guideline
      adherence (incorporating rational, motivated deviation) and information-seeking
      behaviour. Our secondary outcomes were EBM attitude and EBM knowledge. Data were
      acquired using logbooks and questionnaires, respectively. Analyses were performed
      using mixed models. RESULTS: Logbook data were available from 76 (96%) of the
      participating trainees at baseline (7614 consultations), 60 (76%) at the end of
      the third year (T1, 4973 consultations) and 53 (67%) 1 year after graduation (T2,
      3307 consultations). We found no significant differences in outcomes between the
      2 groups, with relative risks for guideline adherence varying between 0.96 and
      0.99 (95% CI 0.86 to 1.11) at T1, and 0.99 and 1.10 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.25) at T2,
      and for information-seeking behaviour between 0.97 and 1.16 (95% CI 0.70 to 1.91)
      and 0.90 and 1.10 (95% CI 0.70 to 1.32), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated
      EBM training compared with stand-alone EBM training does not improve EBM
      behaviour, attitude or knowledge of (future) GPs.

PMID- 27625053
TI  - Sequential simulation (SqS) of clinical pathways: a tool for public and patient
      engagement in point-of-care diagnostics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Public and patient engagement (PPE) is fundamental to healthcare
      research. To facilitate effective engagement in novel point-of-care tests
      (POCTs), the test and downstream consequences of the result need to be
      considered. Sequential simulation (SqS) is a tool to represent patient journeys
      and the effects of intervention at each and subsequent stages. This case study
      presents a process evaluation of SqS as a tool for PPE in the development of a
      volatile organic compound-based breath test POCT for the diagnosis of
      oesophagogastric (OG) cancer. SETTING: Three 3-hour workshops in central London.
      PARTICIPANTS: 38 members of public attended a workshop, 26 (68%) had no prior
      experience of the OG cancer diagnostic pathway. INTERVENTIONS: Clinical pathway
      SqS was developed from a storyboard of a patient, played by an actor, noticing
      symptoms of oesophageal cancer and following a typical diagnostic pathway. The
      proposed breath testing strategy was then introduced and incorporated into a
      second SqS to demonstrate pathway impact. Facilitated group discussions followed
      each SqS. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Evaluation was conducted
      through pre-event and postevent questionnaires, field notes and analysis of
      audiovisual recordings. RESULTS: 38 participants attended a workshop. All
      participants agreed they were able to contribute to discussions and like the idea
      of an OG cancer breath test. Five themes emerged related to the proposed new
      breath test including awareness of OG cancer, barriers to testing and diagnosis,
      design of new test device, new clinical pathway and placement of test device. 3
      themes emerged related to the use of SqS: participatory engagement, simulation
      and empathetic engagement, and why participants attended. CONCLUSIONS: SqS
      facilitated a shared immersive experience for participants and researchers that
      led to the coconstruction of knowledge that will guide future research activities
      and be of value to stakeholders concerned with the invention and adoption of
      POCT.

PMID- 27625054
TI  - Modelling study to estimate the health burden of foodborne diseases: cases,
      general practice consultations and hospitalisations in the UK, 2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To generate estimates of the burden of UK-acquired foodborne disease
      accounting for uncertainty. DESIGN: A modelling study combining data from
      national public health surveillance systems for laboratory-confirmed infectious
      intestinal disease (IID) and outbreaks of foodborne disease and 2 prospective,
      population-based studies of IID in the community. The underlying data sets
      covered the time period 1993-2008. We used Monte Carlo simulation and a Bayesian
      approach, using a systematic review to generate Bayesian priors. We calculated
      point estimates with 95% credible intervals (CrI). SETTING: UK, 2009. OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Pathogen-specific estimates of the number of cases, general practice
      (GP) consultations and hospitalisations for foodborne disease in the UK in 2009.
      RESULTS: Bayesian approaches gave slightly more conservative estimates of overall
      health burden (~511 000 cases vs 566 000 cases). Campylobacter is the most common
      foodborne pathogen, causing 280 400 (95% CrI 182 503-435 693) food-related cases
      and 38 860 (95% CrI 27 160-55 610) GP consultations annually. Despite this, there
      are only around 562 (95% CrI 189-1330) food-related hospital admissions due to
      Campylobacter, reflecting relatively low disease severity. Salmonella causes the
      largest number of hospitalisations, an estimated 2490 admissions (95% CrI 607
      9631), closely followed by Escherichia coli O157 with 2233 admissions (95% CrI
      170-32 159). Other common causes of foodborne disease include Clostridium
      perfringens, with an estimated 79 570 cases annually (95% CrI 30 700-211 298) and
      norovirus with 74 100 cases (95% CrI 61 150-89 660). Other viruses and protozoa
      ranked much lower as causes of foodborne disease. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 models
      yielded similar estimates of the burden of foodborne illness in the UK and show
      that continued reductions in Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. coli O157, C.
      perfringens and norovirus are needed to mitigate the impact of foodborne disease.

PMID- 27625056
TI  - Correction: Changes in Saturday outpatient volume and billings after introducing
      the Saturday incentive programme to clinics in South Korea: a longitudinal cohort
      study using claims data from 2012 to 2014.

PMID- 27625057
TI  - Correction: Association between human resources and risk of hospitalisation in
      end-stage renal disease outpatients receiving haemodialysis: a longitudinal
      cohort study using claim data during 2013-2014.

PMID- 27625055
TI  - All-cause mortality risk in elderly individuals with disabilities: a
      retrospective observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Disability is considered an important issue that affects the elderly
      population. This study aimed to explore the relationship between disability and
      all-cause mortality in US elderly individuals. DESIGN: Retrospective and
      longitudinal designs. SETTING: Data from the National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2002) conducted by the National Center for Health
      Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. PARTICIPANTS: A
      total of 1834 participants in the age range 60-84 years from NHANES 1999-2002.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We acquired five major domains of disability (activities
      of daily living (ADL), general physical activities (GPA), instrumental ADL
      (IADL), lower extremity mobility (LEM) and leisure and social activities (LSA))
      through self-reporting. We applied an extended-model approach with Cox
      (proportional hazards) regression analysis to investigate the relationship
      between different features of disability and all-cause mortality risk in the
      study population. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 5.7 years, 77 deaths
      occurred. An increased risk of all-cause mortality was identified in elderly
      individuals with disability after adjustment for potential confounders (HR 2.23;
      95% CI 1.29 to 3.85; p=0.004). Participants with more than one domain of
      disability were associated with a higher risk of mortality (ptrend=0.047).
      Adjusted HRs and 95% CIs for each domain of disability were 2.53 (1.49 to 4.31),
      1.99 (0.93 to 4.29), 1.74 (0.72 to 4.16), 1.57 (0.76 to 3.27) and 1.52 (0.93 to
      2.48) for LEM, LSA, ADL, IADL and GPA, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of
      this study support an increased association between disability and all-cause
      mortality in the elderly in the USA. Disability in LEM may be a good predictor of
      high risk of all-cause mortality in elderly subjects.

PMID- 27625058
TI  - What do young people think about their school-based sex and relationship
      education? A qualitative synthesis of young people's views and experiences.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although sex and relationship education (SRE) represents a key strand
      in policies to safeguard young people and improve their sexual health, it
      currently lacks statutory status, government guidance is outdated and a third of
      UK schools has poor-quality SRE. We aimed to investigate whether current
      provision meets young people's needs. DESIGN: Synthesis of qualitative studies of
      young people's views of their school-based SRE. SETTING: Eligible studies
      originated from the UK, Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan,
      Iran, Brazil and Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Studies of students aged 4-19 in full-time
      education, young adults <=19 (not necessarily in full-time education) or adults
      <=25 if recalling their experiences of school-based SRE. RESULTS: -69
      publications were identified, with 55 remaining after quality appraisal
      (representing 48 studies). The synthesis found that although sex is a potent and
      potentially embarrassing topic, schools appear reluctant to acknowledge this and
      attempt to teach SRE in the same way as other subjects. Young people report
      feeling vulnerable in SRE, with young men anxious to conceal sexual ignorance and
      young women risking sexual harassment if they participate. Schools appear to have
      difficulty accepting that some young people are sexually active, leading to SRE
      that is out of touch with many young people's lives. Young people report that SRE
      can be negative, gendered and heterosexist. They expressed dislike of their own
      teachers delivering SRE due to blurred boundaries, lack of anonymity,
      embarrassment and poor training. CONCLUSIONS: SRE should be 'sex-positive' and
      delivered by experts who maintain clear boundaries with students. Schools should
      acknowledge that sex is a special subject with unique challenges, as well as the
      fact and range of young people's sexual activity, otherwise young people will
      continue to disengage from SRE and opportunities for safeguarding and improving
      their sexual health will be reduced.

PMID- 27625059
TI  - Self-reported physical and mental health of Australian carers: a cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report on self-reported physical and mental health of informal
      carers in rural regions of New South Wales, Australia. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      community-based sample (n=222) of carers completed a questionnaire incorporating
      self-reported measures of health from validated international instruments
      including Medical Outcomes Study Scale (SF-36), the Centre for Epidemiology
      Depression (CES-D) and Kessler-10 (K-10) Psychological Distress Scales, along
      with information on participant demographics and other key caregiving
      characteristics such as health condition of care recipient. RESULTS: Rural
      carers' self-reported health was poor as evident on the SF-36 Physical and Mental
      Health component scores as well as each individual domain of the SF-36. Results
      from the CES-D and K-10 scores indicated very high rates of depressive symptoms
      and psychological distress. Over 70% of carers within the current study had CES-D
      scores indicative of depressive symptoms. Scores on the K-10 indicate almost half
      the carers were experiencing high levels of psychological distress, which is over
      4 times the rate reported in the general Australian population. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: Results from this study were compared to Australian population
      normative data and were found to be significantly below Australian age-matched
      population norms for SF-36, CES-D and K-10. These findings illustrate the poor
      health profile of informal carers relative to the general Australian population,
      especially in terms of depressive symptoms and psychological distress. This
      highlights the need for additional support for rural carers in order to ease the
      accumulated mental and physical health burdens of this group.

PMID- 27625060
TI  - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of invasive versus conservative
      management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Current management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is
      variable, with little evidence from randomised controlled trials to guide
      treatment. Guidelines emphasise intervention in many patients, which involves
      chest drain insertion, hospital admission and occasionally surgery. However,
      there is evidence that conservative management may be effective and safe, and it
      may also reduce the risk of recurrence. Significant questions remain regarding
      the optimal initial approach to the management of PSP. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This
      multicentre, prospective, randomised, open label, parallel group, non-inferiority
      study will randomise 342 participants with a first large PSP to conservative or
      interventional management. To maintain allocation concealment, randomisation will
      be performed in real time by computer and stratified by study site. Conservative
      management will involve a period of observation prior to discharge, with
      intervention for worsening symptoms or physiological instability. Interventional
      treatment will involve insertion of a small bore drain. If drainage continues
      after 1 hour, the patient will be admitted. If drainage stops, the drain will be
      clamped for 4 hours. The patient will be discharged if the lung remains inflated.
      Otherwise, the patient will be admitted. The primary end point is the proportion
      of participants with complete lung re-expansion by 8 weeks. Secondary end points
      are as follows: days in hospital, persistent air leak, predefined complications
      and adverse events, time to resolution of symptoms, and pneumothorax recurrence
      during a follow-up period of at least 1 year. The study has 95% power to detect
      an absolute non-inferiority margin of 9%, assuming 99% successful expansion at 8
      weeks in the invasive treatment arm. The primary analysis will be by intention to
      treat. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Local ethics approval has been obtained for all
      sites. Study findings will be disseminated by publication in a high-impact
      international journal and presentation at major international Emergency Medicine
      and Respiratory meetings. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12611000184976; Pre
      results.

PMID- 27625061
TI  - Longitudinal changes in neurodevelopmental outcomes between 18 and 36 months in
      children with prenatal triptan exposure: findings from the Norwegian Mother and
      Child Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study sought to determine whether changes in neurodevelopmental
      outcomes between 18 and 36 months of age were associated with prenatal exposure
      to triptan medications, a class of 5-HT receptor agonists used in the treatment
      of migraine. METHOD: Using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study,
      a prospective birth cohort that includes nearly 40% of all pregnancies in Norway
      from 1999 to 2008, we identified 50 469 mother-child dyads who met inclusion
      criteria and were present for at least one follow-up assessment at 18 or 36
      months postpartum. Neurodevelopment was assessed using the Child Behaviour
      Checklist, the Emotionality, Activity, and Shyness Questionnaire, and the Ages
      and Stages Questionnaire. We used generalised estimating equations to evaluate
      change from 18 to 36 months for children prenatally exposed to triptans, relative
      to contrast groups, and used marginal structural models with inverse probability
      of treatment and censoring weights to address time-varying exposure and
      confounding as well as loss to follow-up. RESULTS: Among eligible participants
      (n=50 469), 1.0% used a triptan during pregnancy, 2.0% used triptans prior to
      pregnancy only, 8.0% reported migraine without triptan use and 89.0% had no
      history of migraine. Children with prenatal triptan exposure had greater
      increases in emotionality (r-RR 2.18, 95% CI 1.03 to 4.53) and activity problems
      (r-RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.8) compared to children born to mothers who
      discontinued triptan use prior to pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Prenatal triptan
      exposure was associated with changes over time in externalising-type behaviours
      such as emotionality and activity, but not with internalising-type behaviours.

PMID- 27625062
TI  - Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers in the UK: appraisal of systematic
      reviews and policy options.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The UK Department of Health recommends annual influenza vaccination
      for healthcare workers, but uptake remains low. For staff, there is uncertainty
      about the rationale for vaccination and evidence underpinning the recommendation.
      OBJECTIVES: To clarify the rationale, and evidence base, for influenza
      vaccination of healthcare workers from the occupational health, employer and
      patient safety perspectives. DESIGN: Systematic appraisal of published systematic
      reviews. RESULTS: The quality of the 11 included reviews was variable; some
      included exactly the same trials but made conflicting recommendations. 3 reviews
      assessed vaccine effects in healthcare workers and found 1 trial reporting a
      vaccine efficacy (VE) of 88%. 6 reviews assessed vaccine effects in healthy
      adults, and VE was consistent with a median of 62% (95% CI 56 to 67). 2 reviews
      assessed effects on working days lost in healthcare workers (3 trials), and 3
      reported effects in healthy adults (4 trials). The meta-analyses presented by the
      most recent reviews do not reach standard levels of statistical significance, but
      may be misleading as individual trials suggest benefit with wide variation in
      size of effect. The 2013 Cochrane review reported absolute effects close to 0 for
      laboratory-confirmed influenza, and hospitalisation for patients, but excluded
      data on clinically suspected influenza and all-cause mortality, which had shown
      potentially important effects in previous editions. A more recent systematic
      review reports these effects as a 42% reduction in clinically suspected influenza
      (95% CI 27 to 54) and a 29% reduction in all-cause mortality (95% CI 15 to 41).
      CONCLUSIONS: The evidence for employer and patient safety benefits of influenza
      vaccination is not straightforward and has been interpreted differently by
      different systematic review authors. Future uptake of influenza vaccination among
      healthcare workers may benefit from a fully transparent guideline process by a
      panel representing all relevant stakeholders, which clearly communicates the
      underlying rationale, evidence base and judgements made.

PMID- 27625063
TI  - Longitudinal cohort study to determine effectiveness of a novel simulated case
      and feedback system to improve clinical pathway adherence in breast, lung and GI
      cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined whether a measurement and feedback system led to
      improvements in adherence to clinical pathways. DESIGN: The M-QURE (Moffitt
      Quality, Understanding, Research and Evidence) Initiative was introduced in 2012
      to enhance and improve adherence to pathways at Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) in
      three broad clinical areas: breast, lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. M
      QURE used simulated patient vignettes based on MCC's Clinical Pathways to
      benchmark clinician adherence and monitor change over three rounds of
      implementation. SETTING: MCC, located in Tampa, Florida, a National Cancer
      Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center. PARTICIPANTS: Three non-overlapping
      cohorts at MCC (one each in breast, lung and GI) totalling 48 providers
      participated in this study, with each member of the multidisciplinary team
      (composed of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons and advanced
      practice providers) invited to participate. INTERVENTIONS: Each participant was
      asked to complete a set of simulated patient vignettes over three rounds within
      their own cancer specialty. Participants were required to complete all assigned
      vignettes over each of the three rounds, or they would be excluded from this
      study. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Increased domain and overall provider care
      adherence to clinical pathways, as scored by blinded physician abstractors.
      RESULTS: We found significant improvements in pathway adherence between the third
      and first rounds of data collection particularly for workup and treatment of
      cancer cases. By clinical grouping, breast improved by 13.6% (p<0.001), and lung
      improved by 12.1% (p<0.001) over baseline, whereas GI showed a decrease of 1.4%
      (p=0.68). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical pathway adherence improved in a short timeframe
      for breast and lung cancers using group-level measurement and individual
      feedback. This suggests that a measurement and feedback programme may be a useful
      tool to improve clinical pathway adherence.

PMID- 27625064
TI  - Determinants of general practitioner's cancer-related gut feelings-a prospective
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) use gut feelings to diagnose cancer in an
      early stage, but little is known about its impact. METHOD: Prospective cohort
      study of patients in 44 general practices throughout the Netherlands, from
      January 2010 until December 2013. GPs completed a questionnaire regarding gut
      feelings, patient and GP characteristics, if they noticed a cancer-related gut
      feeling during patient consultation. Follow-up questionnaires were sent 3 months
      later requesting information about the patient's diagnosis. chi(2), univariate
      and multivariate logistic regression and multilevel analyses were performed.
      RESULTS: A gut feeling (N=366) is most often triggered by weight loss (24%, N=85)
      and rare GP visits (22%, N=76), but all triggers were not predictive of cancer in
      a multivariate analysis. Most GPs (95%) acted immediately on the gut feeling,
      either referring to a specialist or by performing additional medical tests. The
      average positive predictive value of cancer-related gut feeling was 35%, and it
      increased with 2% for every year a patient becomes older, and with 3% for every
      year a GP becomes older. CONCLUSIONS: GP's gut feeling for cancer proves to be a
      useful tool in diagnosing cancer and its relative high predicting value increases
      if the GP is older or more experienced and when the patient is older. How can
      younger GPs be trained to increase the predictive value of their gut feeling?

PMID- 27625065
TI  - Performance of p16INK4a ELISA as a primary cervical cancer screening test among a
      large cohort of HIV-infected women in western Kenya: a 2-year cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A biomarker with increased specificity for cervical dysplasia compared
      with human papillomavirus (HPV) testing would be an attractive option for
      cervical cancer screening among HIV-infected women in resource-limited settings.
      p16(INK4a) has been explored as a biomarker for screening in general populations.
      DESIGN: A 2-year cross-sectional study. SETTING: 2 large HIV primary care clinics
      in western Kenya. PARTICIPANTS: 1054 HIV-infected women in western Kenya
      undergoing cervical cancer screening as part of routine HIV care from October
      2010 to November 2012. INTERVENTIONS: Participants underwent p16(INK4a) specimen
      collection and colposcopy. Lesions with unsatisfactory colposcopy or suspicious
      for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+ (CIN2+; including CIN2/3 or invasive
      cervical cancer) were biopsied. Following biopsy, disease status was determined
      by histopathological diagnosis. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We
      measured the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of p16(INK4a) ELISA
      for CIN2+ detection among HIV-infected women and compared them to the test
      characteristics of current screening methods used in general as well as HIV
      infected populations. RESULTS: Average p16(INK4a) concentration in cervical
      samples was 37.4 U/mL. After colposcopically directed biopsy, 127 (12%) women
      were determined to have CIN2+. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed
      an area under the curve of 0.664 for p16(INK4a) to detect biopsy-proven CIN2+. At
      a p16(INK4a) cut-off level of 9 U/mL, sensitivity, specificity, positive and
      negative predictive values were 89.0%, 22.9%, 13.6% and 93.8%, respectively. The
      overall p16(INK4a) positivity at a cut-off level of 9 U/mL was 828 (78.6%) women.
      There were 325 (30.8%) cases of correct p16(INK4a) prediction to detect or rule
      out CIN2+, and 729 (69.2%) cases of incorrect p16(INK4a) prediction. CONCLUSIONS:
      p16(INK4a) ELISA did not perform well as a screening test for CIN2+ detection
      among HIV-infected women due to low specificity. Our study contributes to the
      ongoing search for a more specific alternative to HPV testing for CIN2+
      detection.

PMID- 27625067
TI  - Medical undergraduate primary care teaching across the UK: what is being taught?
AB  - BACKGROUND: All UK medical schools use primary care settings to deliver their
      undergraduate courses. However there is no national undergraduate curriculum for
      primary care and it is thought that the learning objectives of primary care
      teaching vary considerably between medical schools. AIM: The overall aim was to
      establish what is being taught within and by primary care across UK medical
      schools. We did this by collating learning objectives from the primary care
      department at each school. In order to categorise and compare the list of
      learning objectives from each school we mapped the learning objectives to the
      postgraduate curriculum of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).
      DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross sectional survey sent to heads of teaching of primary
      care at all 32 UK medical schools. METHOD: GP teacher handbooks for primary care
      modules at each medical school were requested. Information was extracted based on
      key headings from the RCGP postgraduate curriculum. RESULTS: Topics taught by
      primary care at all medical schools include: consulting and communication skills,
      leading and working in teams, and developing yourself and others. Novel topics,
      taught at a few medical schools include: learning disability, genetics and multi
      morbidity. The majority of medical schools address aspects of over half of the
      RCGP postgraduate curriculum headings in their learning objectives for primary
      care. CONCLUSION: This project provides valuable information about primary care
      teaching at an undergraduate level across the UK. Although it confirms widespread
      variation in learning objectives, it also highlights considerable common ground
      and opportunities for sharing teaching resources between schools.

PMID- 27625066
TI  - Exploring the experiences of substitute decision-makers with an exception to
      consent in a paediatric resuscitation randomised controlled trial: study protocol
      for a qualitative research study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prospective informed consent is required for most research
      involving human participants; however, this is impracticable under some
      circumstances. The Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research
      Involving Humans (TCPS) outlines the requirements for research involving human
      participants in Canada. The need for an exception to consent (deferred consent)
      is recognised and endorsed in the TCPS for research in individual medical
      emergencies; however, little is known about substitute decision-maker (SDM)
      experiences. A paediatric resuscitation trial (SQUEEZE) (NCT01973907) using an
      exception to consent process began enrolling at McMaster Children's Hospital in
      January 2014. This qualitative research study aims to generate new knowledge on
      SDM experiences with the exception to consent process as implemented in a
      randomised controlled trial. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The SDMs of children enrolled
      into the SQUEEZE pilot trial will be the sampling frame from which ethics study
      participants will be derived. DESIGN: Qualitative research study involving
      individual interviews and grounded theory methodology. PARTICIPANTS: SDMs for
      children enrolled into the SQUEEZE pilot trial. SAMPLE SIZE: Up to 25 SDMs.
      Qualitative methodology: SDMs will be invited to participate in the qualitative
      ethics study. Interviews with consenting SDMs will be conducted in person or by
      telephone, taped and professionally transcribed. Participants will be encouraged
      to elaborate on their experience of being asked to consent after the fact and how
      this process occurred. ANALYSIS: Data gathering and analysis will be undertaken
      simultaneously. The investigators will collaborate in developing the coding
      scheme, and data will be coded using NVivo. Emerging themes will be identified.
      ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This research represents a rare opportunity to
      interview parents/guardians of critically ill children enrolled into a
      resuscitation trial without their knowledge or prior consent. Findings will
      inform implementation of the exception to consent process in the planned
      definitive SQUEEZE trial and support development of evidence-based ethics
      guidelines.

PMID- 27625069
TI  - Impact of dental National Partnership Agreements on public dental service waiting
      lists in Queensland.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Analyse the Queensland Dental Public Service waiting list from 2013 to
      2015 while various funding agreements between the federal and state and territory
      governments were in place. METHODS: Queensland Public Dental Service waiting list
      is open data and is updated monthly. This analysis reports on the changing number
      of people waiting for care and the percentage of people waiting beyond the
      reasonable period. RESULTS: While the number of people waiting decreased when
      funding was specifically allocated to "blitz the dental public waiting list",
      these have since increased back to pre-blitz period numbers. The percentage now
      waiting beyond the reasonable period has decreased from 57% to 28% over the study
      period. CONCLUSIONS: While the 'blitz' was successful in reducing waiting list
      numbers, this was not sustained. The deferred federal funding to
      states/territories for dental services may have worsened the situation.
      Implications for Public Health: While an injection of funds to reduce the waiting
      list is important and has had an impact, to adequately address oral health will
      require not just continuing funding, but also a shift away from the current
      curative 'downstream' approach towards a health-promotive 'upstream' approach.
      This will reduce not only the cost of treatment, but also waiting lists.

PMID- 27625068
TI  - Characterization of human mitochondrial ferritin promoter: identification of
      transcription factors and evidences of epigenetic control.
AB  - Mitochondrial ferritin (FtMt) is an iron storage protein belonging to the
      ferritin family but, unlike the cytosolic ferritin, it has an iron-unrelated
      restricted tissue expression. FtMt appears to be preferentially expressed in cell
      types characterized by high metabolic activity and oxygen consumption, suggesting
      a role in protecting mitochondria from iron-dependent oxidative damage. The human
      gene (FTMT) is intronless and its promoter region has not been described yet. To
      analyze the regulatory mechanisms controlling FTMT expression, we characterized
      the 5' flanking region upstream the transcriptional starting site of FTMT by in
      silico enquiry of sequences conservation, DNA deletion analysis, and ChIP assay.
      The data revealed a minimal promoter region and identified the presence of SP1,
      CREB and YY1 as positive regulators, and GATA2, FoxA1 and C/EBPbeta as inhibitors
      of the transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, the FTMT transcription is
      increased by acetylating and de-methylating agent treatments in K562 and HeLa
      cells. These treatments up-regulate FtMt expression even in fibroblasts derived
      from a Friedreich ataxia patient, where it might exert a beneficial effect
      against mitochondrial oxidative damage. The expression of FTMT appears regulated
      by a complex mechanism involving epigenetic events and interplay between
      transcription factors.

PMID- 27625070
TI  - Effects of exercise on alterations in redox homeostasis in elite male and female
      endurance athletes using a clinical point-of-care test.
AB  - Exercise causes alterations in redox homeostasis (ARH). Measuring ARH in elite
      athletes may aid in the identification of training tolerance, fatigued states,
      and underperformance. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined ARH
      in elite male and female distance runners at sea level. The monitoring of ARH in
      athletes is hindered by a lack of reliable and repeatable in-the-field testing
      tools and by the rapid turnaround of results. We examined the effects of various
      exercise intensities on ARH in healthy (non-over-reached) elite male and female
      endurance athletes using clinical point-of-care (POC) redox tests, referred to as
      the free oxygen radical test (FORT) (pro-oxidant) and the free oxygen radical
      defence (FORD) (antioxidant). Elite male and female endurance athletes (n = 22)
      completed a discontinuous incremental treadmill protocol at submaximal running
      speeds and a test to exhaustion. Redox measures were analyzed via blood sampling
      at rest, warm-up, submaximal exercise, exhaustion, and recovery. FORD was
      elevated above rest after submaximal and maximal exercise, and recovery (p <
      0.05, d = 0.87-1.55), with only maximal exercise and recovery increasing FORT (p
      < 0.05, d = 0.23-0.32). Overall, a decrease in oxidative stress in response to
      submaximal and maximal exercise was evident (p < 0.05, d = 0.46). There were no
      gender differences for ARH (p > 0.05). The velocity at lactate threshold (vLT)
      correlated with the FORD response at rest, maximal exercise, and recovery (p <
      0.05). Using the clinical POC redox test, an absence of oxidative stress after
      exhaustive exercise is evident in the nonfatigued elite endurance athlete. The
      blood antioxidant response (FORD) to exercise appears to be related to a key
      marker of aerobic fitness: vLT.

PMID- 27625071
TI  - Transition from paediatric to adult care: what makes it easier for parents?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess differences between parents of adolescents with chronic
      illness (CI) going through a self-reported easy or difficult transfer. METHODS:
      Seventy-two parents of CI youths who had already transferred to adult care were
      divided according to whether they considered that the transfer had been easy (n =
      45) or difficult (n = 27). We performed a bivariate analysis comparing both
      groups and variables with a significance level < .1 were included in a logistic
      regression. Results are presented as adjusted odds ratio (aOR). RESULTS: Over one
      third of parents (27/72) reported a difficult transfer. At the multivariate
      level, higher socioeconomic status (aOR: 7.74), parents feeling ready for
      transfer (aOR: 6.54) and a good coordination between teams (aOR: 7.66) were
      associated with an easy transfer. CONCLUSIONS: An easy transfer for parents is
      associated with feeling ready and considering that the coordination between teams
      is good. Health providers should consider these requisites for a successful
      transfer.

PMID- 27625072
TI  - Multipolar, time-dynamical model for the loss compensation and lasing of a
      spherical plasmonic nanoparticle spaser immersed in an active gain medium.
AB  - The plasmonic response of a metal nanoparticle in the presence of surrounding
      gain elements is studied, using a space and time-dependent model, which
      integrates a quantum formalism to describe the gain and a classical treatment for
      the metal. Our model fully takes into account the influence of the system
      geometry (nanosphere) and offers for the first time, the possibility to describe
      the temporal evolution of the fields and the coupling among the multipolar modes
      of the particle. We calculate the lasing threshold value for all multipoles of
      the spaser, and demonstrate that the dipolar one is lowest. The onset of the
      lasing instability, in the linear regime, is then studied both with and without
      external field forcing. We also study the behaviour of the system below the
      lasing threshold, with the external field, demonstrating the existence of an
      amplification regime where the nanoparticle's plasmon is strongly enhanced as the
      threshold is approached. Finally, a qualitative discussion is provided on later,
      non-linear stages of the dynamics and the approach to the steady-state of the
      spaser; in particular, it is shown that, for the considered geometry, the spasing
      is necessarily multi-modal and multipolar modes are always activated.

PMID- 27625073
TI  - Kar9 controls the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of yeast EB1.
AB  - The precise temporal and spatial concentration of microtubule-associated proteins
      (MAPs) within the cell is fundamental to ensure chromosome segregation and
      correct spindle positioning. MAPs form an intricate web of interactions among
      each other and compete for binding sites on microtubules. Therefore, when
      assessing cellular phenotypes upon MAP up- or downregulation, it is important to
      consider the protein interaction network between individual MAPs. Here, we show
      that changes in the amounts of the spindle positioning factor Kar9 specifically
      affect the distribution of yeast EB1 on spindle microtubules, without influencing
      other microtubule-associated interacting partners of Kar9, i.e. yeast XMAP215 and
      CLIP-170. Alterations in the distribution of yeast EB1 explain chromosome
      segregation defects upon knockout, overexpression or stabilization of Kar9 and
      provide an example for non-linear effects on MAP behavior after perturbation of
      their equilibrium.

PMID- 27625074
TI  - Impact of religious attendance on psychosocial outcomes for individuals with
      traumatic brain injury: A NIDILRR funded TBI Model Systems study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To (1) identify demographic characteristics of individuals with
      traumatic brain injury (TBI) who attend religious services, (2) understand the
      relationship between attending religious services and psychosocial outcomes and
      (3) examine the independent contribution of religious service attendance to
      psychosocial outcomes while controlling for demographic characteristics,
      functional status and geographic location at 1, 5 and 10-years post injury.
      DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional cohort study using secondary data analysis
      of the TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) National Database (NDB). PARTICIPANTS: TBIMS NDB
      participants who completed 1, 5 or 10-year follow-up interview with data on
      religious attendance. A total of 5573 interviews were analysed. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Satisfaction with Life scale (SWLS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7),
      Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Participation Assessment with Recombined
      Tools-Objective Social sub-scale. RESULTS: Approximately half of the sample was
      attending religious services at each time point. Attendance was a significant
      protective factor for each outcome across all three-time periods. After
      controlling for demographic characteristics, functional status and geographic
      makeup, religious attendance contributed a small but significant amount of unique
      variance in all models except for GAD-7 at years 1 and 10. DISCUSSION: This study
      highlights the benefits of religious attendance on psychosocial outcomes post
      TBI. Implications for rehabilitation are discussed.

PMID- 27625075
TI  - Modelling effects of nonbreeders on population growth estimates.
AB  - Adult individuals that do not breed in a given year occur in a wide range of
      natural populations. However, such nonbreeders are often ignored in theoretical
      and empirical population studies, limiting our knowledge of how nonbreeders
      affect realized and estimated population dynamics and potentially impeding
      projection of deterministic and stochastic population growth rates. We present
      and analyse a general modelling framework for systems where breeders and
      nonbreeders differ in key demographic rates, incorporating different forms of
      nonbreeding, different life histories and frequency-dependent effects of
      nonbreeders on demographic rates of breeders. Comparisons of estimates of
      deterministic population growth rate, lambda, and demographic variance, sigmad2,
      from models with and without distinct nonbreeder classes show that models that do
      not explicitly incorporate nonbreeders give upwardly biased estimates of sigmad2,
      particularly when the equilibrium ratio of nonbreeders to breeders, Nnb*/Nb*, is
      high. Estimates of lambda from empirical observations of breeders only are
      substantially inflated when individuals frequently re-enter the breeding
      population after periods of nonbreeding. Sensitivity analyses of diverse
      parameterizations of our model framework, with and without negative frequency
      dependent effects of nonbreeders on breeder demographic rates, show how changes
      in demographic rates of breeders vs. nonbreeders differentially affect lambda. In
      particular, lambda is most sensitive to nonbreeder parameters in long-lived
      species, when Nnb*/Nb*>0, and when individuals are unlikely to breed at several
      consecutive time steps. Our results demonstrate that failing to account for
      nonbreeders in population studies can obscure low population growth rates that
      should cause management concern. Quantifying the size and demography of the
      nonbreeding section of populations and modelling appropriate demographic
      structuring is therefore essential to evaluate nonbreeders' influence on
      deterministic and stochastic population dynamics.

PMID- 27625076
TI  - Disappearance of Idiopathic Outflow Tract Premature Ventricular Contractions
      After Catheter Ablation of Overt Accessory Pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple mechanisms have been proposed for idiopathic premature
      ventricular contractions (PVCs) originating from the outflow tracts (OTs). Recent
      observations such as the coexistence of these arrhythmias with atrioventricular
      nodal reentrant tachycardias and the association between discrete prepotentials
      and successful ablation sites of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) from the OTs
      suggest a common link. OBJECTIVE: In this case series we draw attention to a
      unique association between accessory pathways (APs) and idiopathic PVCs from the
      OTs, disappearing after AP ablation. METHODS: We identified 6 cases in
      collaboration with several international electrophysiology centers, which
      presented with pre-excitation in association with OT, and in 1 case inflow tract
      (IT), PVCs on 12-lead surface ECG. RESULTS: Six cases displayed pre-excitation
      and PVCs, in 5 cases originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT)
      and in 1 case from the right ventricular inflow tract (RVIT). In all patients,
      PVCs were monomorphic and had fixed coupling intervals, in 3 cases presenting in
      bigeminy. Catheter ablation of the AP led to the simultaneous disappearance of
      PVCs in 5 of 6 cases. The sites of ablation were remote from the OTs in all these
      cases. In most cases, the occurrence of OT PVCs was closely associated with the
      presence of pre-excitation. CONCLUSION: The coexistence of pre-excitation and
      PVCs from the OTs and the fact that in 5 of 6 cases PVCs disappeared after AP
      ablation suggests a common mechanism for arrhythmia genesis.

PMID- 27625079
TI  - Cervical nerve root anomaly: Report of a case and review of the literature.

PMID- 27625077
TI  - Integrating miRNA and gene expression profiling analysis revealed regulatory
      networks in gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
AB  - AIM: Currently, little is known about differences in miRNA expression between
      KIT/PDGFRA mutant and KIT/PDGFRA wild-type (WT)-SDH deficient gastrointestinal
      stromal tumors (GIST). This prompted us to perform an integrated multiple
      expression profile of miRNA and mRNA, constructing an original miRNA-mRNA
      regulatory network in KIT/PDGFRA WT-SDH deficient GIST patients. PATIENTS &
      METHODS: Analyses were carried out on KIT/PDGFRA mutant versus KIT/PDGFRA WT-SDH
      deficient GIST. Genome-wide miRNA and gene-expression analysis were performed
      using Agilent Human miRNA microarray and Affimetrix array, respectively. RESULTS:
      Three potential regulatory networks (IGF1R -> miR-139-5p/miR-455/let-7b, cyclin
      dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) -> miR-139-5p/let-7b and CD44 -> miR-330-3p) were
      identified. CONCLUSION: The miR-139-5p, 455-5p and let-7b signature, in
      particular, may represent an important therapeutic target in KIT/PDGFRA WT-SDH
      deficient GIST, usually characterized by IGF1R overexpression.

PMID- 27625078
TI  - Impact of sex on prognostic host factors in surgical patients with lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer has markedly poorer survival in men. Recognized important
      prognostic factors are divided into host, tumour and environmental factors.
      Traditional staging systems that use only tumour factors to predict prognosis are
      of limited accuracy. By examining sex-based patterns of disease-specific survival
      in non-small cell lung cancer patients, we determined the effect of sex on the
      prognostic value of additional host factors. METHODS: Two cohorts of patients
      treated surgically with curative intent between 2000 and 2009 were utilized. The
      primary cohort was from Melbourne, Australia, with an independent validation set
      from the American Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.
      Univariate and multivariate analyses of validated host-related prognostic factors
      were performed in both cohorts to investigate the differences in survival between
      men and women. RESULTS: The Melbourne cohort had 605 patients (61% men) and SEER
      cohort comprised 55 681 patients (51% men). Disease-specific 5-year survival
      showed men had statistically significant poorer survival in both cohorts (P <
      0.001); Melbourne men at 53.2% compared with women at 68.3%, and SEER 53.3% men
      and 62.0% women were alive at 5 years. Being male was independently prognostic
      for disease-specific mortality in the Melbourne cohort after adjustment for
      ethnicity, smoking history, performance status, age, pathological stage and
      histology (hazard ratio = 1.54, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-2.16, P = 0.012).
      CONCLUSIONS: Sex differences in non-small cell lung cancer are important
      irrespective of age, ethnicity, smoking, performance status and tumour, node and
      metastasis stage. Epidemiological findings such as these should be translated
      into research and clinical paradigms to determine the factors that influence the
      survival disadvantage experienced by men.

PMID- 27625080
TI  - Pharmacology and psychiatry at the origins of Greek medicine: The myth of
      Melampus and the madness of the Proetides.
AB  - Melampus is a seer-healer of Greek myth attributed with having healed the young
      princesses of Argos of madness. Analysis of this legend and its sources sheds
      light on the early stages of the "medicalizing" shift in the history of ancient
      Greek medicine. Retrospective psychological diagnosis suggests that the
      descriptions of the youths' madness rose from actual observation of behavioral
      and mental disorders. Melampus is credited with having healed them by
      administering hellebore. Pharmacological analysis of botanical specimens proves
      that Helleborus niger features actual neurological properties effective in the
      treatment of mental disorders. The discussion aims at examining the rational
      aspects of the treatment of mental conditions in Greco-Roman antiquity.

PMID- 27625082
TI  - Olmesartan Reduces New-onset Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Fibrillation Burden
      after Dual-chamber Pacemaker Implantation in Atrioventricular Block Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequent tachyarrhythmia in
      patients with a permanent pacemaker. Angiotensin II receptor antagonists have a
      protective effect against the occurrence of AF in patients with heart diseases.
      This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of olmesartan in the prevention of
      new-onset AF and AF burden in atrioventricular block (AVB) patients with dual
      chamber (DDD) pacemaker implantation. METHODS: This was a single-center,
      prospective, randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical study. A total of 116
      AVB patients, who received DDD pacemakers implantation with the percentage of
      ventricular pacing (VP%) >=40% from April 22, 2011 to December 24, 2012, were
      prospectively randomized to olmesartan group (20 mg per day; n = 57) or control
      group (n = 59). Patients were followed up using pacemaker programming, 12-lead
      electrocardiography in the intrinsic sinus rhythm, laboratory examinations, and
      transthoracic echocardiography at 24 months. Atrial high rate events (AHREs) were
      defined as 180 beats/min over a minimum of 5 min. AF burden was calculated by the
      number of hours with AHREs divided by the number of measurement hours. RESULTS:
      Ten (17.5%) patients in the olmesartan group and 24 patients (40.7%) in the
      control group occurred new-onset AF, and the difference between two groups was
      statistically significant (P = 0.04). AF burden was lower in olmesartan group
      than that in control group (8.02 +/- 3.10% vs. 13.66 +/- 6.14%, P = 0.04). There
      were no significant differences in mean days to the first occurrence of AHREs and
      mean cumulative numbers of AHREs between two groups (P = 0.89 and P = 0.42,
      respectively). Moreover, olmesartan group had smaller values of maximal P-wave
      durations and P-wave dispersion (PD) after 24 months follow-up compared with the
      control group (109.5 +/- 7.4 ms vs. 113.4 +/- 7.1 ms, P = 0.00; and 40.6 +/- 4.5
      ms vs. 43.3 +/- 4.4 ms, P = 0.02, respectively). Left ventricular end-diastolic
      diameter and left ventricular ejection fraction were not significantly different
      between two groups (both P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that 24
      month of olmesartan therapy could reduce new-onset AF and AF burden in patients
      with DDD pacemakers. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR-TRC-12004443;
      http://www.chictrdb.org.

PMID- 27625083
TI  - Incidence and Risk Factors of Deep Venous Thrombosis in Asymptomatic Iliac Vein
      Compression: A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) may be associated with iliac vein
      compression. Up to now, the majority of data has come from a retrospective study
      about the correlation between DVT and iliac vein compression. This prospective
      study was to determine the incidence of DVT in individuals with iliac vein
      compression and identify risk factors predictive of DVT. METHODS: A total of 500
      volunteers without symptoms of venous diseases of lower extremities and overt
      risk factors of deep venous thrombosis between October 2011 and September 2012 in
      Shijitan Hospital were enrolled in this cohort study. All the participants
      underwent contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) to evaluate iliac
      vein compression. Baseline demographic information and degree of iliac vein
      compression were collected. They were categorized into >=50% or <50% iliac vein
      compression group. Ultrasound examination was performed to screen DVT at the time
      of CT examination and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the examination. Primary event
      was DVT of ipsilateral lower extremity. Correlation between DVT and iliac vein
      compression was estimated by multivariate Logistic regression after adjusting for
      age, gender, malignancy, surgery/immobilization, chemotherapy/hormonal therapy,
      and pregnancy. RESULTS: In 500 volunteers, 8.8% (44) had >=50% iliac vein
      compression and 91.2% (456) had <50% iliac vein compression. Ipsilateral DVT
      occurred in six volunteers including two in iliofemoral vein, two in popliteal
      vein, and two in calf vein within 1 year. Univariate analysis showed that the
      incidence of DVT was 6.8% in >=50% compression group, significantly higher than
      that in <50% compression group (0.7%) (chi2 = 12.84, P = 0.01). Patients with
      malignancy had significantly higher incidence of DVT than those without
      malignancy (chi2 = 69.60,P< 0.01). Multivariate Logistic regression indicated
      that iliac vein compression and malignancy were independent risk factors of DVT.
      After adjustment for malignancy, patients with >=50% iliac vein compression had
      10-fold increased risk of developing DVT (adjusted relative risk [RR] = 10.162,
      95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.149-89.865, P = 0.037). In subgroup analysis,
      patients with malignancy and >=50% iliac vein compression had 12-fold increased
      the risk of DVT than those without malignance and >=50% compression (RR = 12.389,
      95% CI: 2.327-65.957, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Iliac vein compression is common,
      but the incidence of DVT is low. Only individuals with >=50% iliac vein
      compression or compression combined with other risk factors might have
      significantly increased the risk of DVT. Further study is recommended to improve
      prevention strategies for DVT in significant iliac vein compression.

PMID- 27625084
TI  - Comparison of the Outcomes of Modified Artificial Chordae Technique for Mitral
      Regurgitation through Right Minithoracotomy or Median Sternotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Right minithoracotomy (RM) has been proven to be a safe and effective
      approach for mitral valve surgery, but the differences of artificial chordae
      technique between RM and median sternotomy (MS) were seldom reported. Here, we
      compared the outcomes of modified artificial chordae technique for mitral
      regurgitation (MR) through RM or MS approaches. METHODS: One hundred and eighteen
      consecutive adult patients who received mitral valve repair with artificial
      chordae and annuloplasty for MR through RM (n = 58) or MS (n = 60) from January
      2006 to January 2015 were analyzed. RESULTS: All of the selected patients
      underwent mitral valve repair successfully without any complication during the
      surgery. There was no significant difference between RM group and MS group in
      cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time, and early postoperative
      complications. However, compared with the MS group, the RM group had shorter
      hospital stay and faster surgical recovery. At a mean follow-up of 44.8 +/- 25.0
      months, the freedom from more than moderate MR was 93.9% +/- 3.5% in RM group and
      94.8% +/- 2.9% in MS group at 3 years postoperatively. Log-rank test showed that
      there was no significant difference in the freedom from recurrent significant MR
      between the two groups (chi2 = 0.247, P = 0.619). Multivariate analysis revealed
      that the presence of mild MR at discharge was the independent risk factor for the
      recurrent significant MR. CONCLUSION: Right minithoracotomy can achieve the
      similar therapeutic effects with MS for the patients who received modified
      artificial chordae technique for treating MR.

PMID- 27625085
TI  - Comparative Study between Robotic Total Thyroidectomy with Central Lymph Node
      Dissection via Bilateral Axillo-breast Approach and Conventional Open Procedure
      for Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A large proportion of the patients with papillary thyroid
      microcarcinoma are young women. Therefore, minimally invasive endoscopic
      thyroidectomy with central neck dissection (CND) emerged and showed well-accepted
      results with improved cosmetic outcome, accelerated healing, and comforting the
      patients. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of robotic
      total thyroidectomy with CND via bilateral axillo-breast approach (BABA),
      compared with conventional open procedure in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.
      METHODS: One-hundred patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma from March
      2014 to January 2015 in Jinan Military General Hospital of People's Liberation
      Army (PLA) were randomly assigned to robotic group or conventional open approach
      group (n = 50 in each group). The total operative time, estimated intraoperative
      blood loss, numbers of lymph node removed, visual analog scale (VAS),
      postoperative hospital stay time, complications, and numerical scoring system
      (NSS, used to assess cosmetic effect) were analyzed. RESULTS: The robotic total
      thyroidectomy with CND via BABA was successfully performed in robotic group.
      There were no conversion from the robotic surgeries to open or endoscopic
      surgery. The subclinical central lymph node metastasis rate was 35%. The mean
      operative time of the robotic group was longer than that of the conventional open
      approach group (118.8 +/- 16.5 min vs. 90.7 +/- 10.3 min, P < 0.05). The study
      showed significant differences between the two groups in terms of the VASs (2.1
      +/- 1.0 vs. 3.8 +/- 1.2, P < 0.05) and NSS (8.9 +/- 0.8 vs. 4.8 +/- 1.7, P <
      0.05). The differences between the two groups in the estimated intraoperative
      blood loss, postoperative hospital stay time, numbers of lymph node removed,
      postoperative thyroglobulin levels, and complications were not statistically
      significant (all P > 0.05). Neither iatrogenic implantation nor metastasis
      occurred in punctured porous channel or chest wall in both groups. Postoperative
      cosmetic results were very satisfactory in the robotic group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Robotic total thyroidectomy with CND via BABA is safe and effective for Chinese
      patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma who worry about the neck scars.

PMID- 27625086
TI  - Commentary on: Comparative Study between Robotic Total Thyroidectomy with Central
      Lymph Node Dissection via Bilateral Axillo-breast Approach and Conventional Open
      Procedure for Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma.

PMID- 27625087
TI  - Expression and Clinical Significance of Cytokeratin-19 and Thymidine Kinase-1 in
      Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the clinical value of cytokeratin-19 (CK19) and thymidine kinase-1
      (TK1) in advanced gastrointestinal cancer remains controversial, we investigated
      their expression and clinical significance in this disease. METHODS: A total of
      171 advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients were prospectively enrolled in this
      study. The mRNA level of CK19 was detected using quantitative real-time reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in all patients, along with a
      control group of fifty healthy individuals. Furthermore, detection of TK1 protein
      was carried out in 96 patients using a chemiluminescence dot blot assay. The
      primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) time. RESULTS: Positive CK19 mRNA
      expression was detected in 74 (43.3%) of the 171 patients and positive TK1
      expression was detected in 66 (68.8%) of the 96 patients. Furthermore, of the 96
      patients, 36 (37.5%) were positive for both TK1 protein and CK19 mRNA, 30 (31.3%)
      were negative for TK1 protein, and 15 (15.6%) were negative for TK1 protein and
      positive for CK19 mRNA. The results indicated that patients who were positive for
      CK19 mRNA expression had significantly shorter OS times than those who were
      negative for it (median OS 7.7 vs. 9.7 months, respectively; P = 0.02). Moreover,
      patients who were positive for CK19 mRNA and TK1 protein expression had shorter
      OS times (median OS 6.1 months) than those who were positive for CK19 mRNA and
      negative for TK1 protein expression (median OS 9.1 months; P = 0.028). Positive
      CK19 mRNA expression was significantly associated with shorter OS in the
      univariate analysis (P = 0.027). Based on a multivariate Cox regression analysis,
      CK19 mRNA together with TK1 protein expression (P = 0.024) was an independent
      predictor for OS in gastrointestinal cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      suggest that positive expression of CK19 mRNA and TK1 protein is closely
      correlated with poor prognosis in advanced gastrointestinal cancer. Furthermore,
      both CK19 and TK1 are possible gastrointestinal cancer biomarkers.

PMID- 27625088
TI  - Comparison Study of Polysomnographic Features in Multiple System Atrophy
      cerebellar Types Combined with and without Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior
      Disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The brain stem is found to be impaired in multiple system atrophy
      cerebellar types (MSA-C). Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD)
      is reported as a marker of progressive brain stem dysfunction. Few systematic
      studies about the sleep disturbances in MSA-C patients combined with or without
      RBD were reported. This study aimed to explore the polysomnographic (PSG)
      features of sleep disturbances between MSA-C patients with and without RBD.
      METHODS: Totally, 46 MSA-C patients (23 with RBD, and 23 without RBD) were
      enrolled in this study. All patients underwent a structured interview for their
      demographic data, history of sleep pattern, and movement disorders; and then,
      overnight video-PSG was performed in each patient. All the records were evaluated
      by specialists at the Sleep Medicine Clinic for RBD and the Movement Disorder
      Clinic for MSA-C. The Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous
      variables, and the Chi-square test for categorical variables were used in this
      study. RESULTS: MSA-C patients with RBD had younger visiting age (52.6 +/- 7.4
      vs. 56.7 +/- 6.0 years, P = 0.046) and shorter duration of the disease (12.0
      [12.0, 24.0] vs. 24.0 [14.0, 36.0] months, P = 0.009) than MSA-C patients without
      RBD. MSA-C with RBD had shorter REM sleep latency (111.7 +/- 48.2 vs. 157.0 +/-
      68.8 min, P = 0.042), higher percentage of REM sleep (14.9% +/-4.0% vs. 10.0% +/-
      3.2%, P = 0.019), and lower Stage I (9.5% +/-7.2% vs. 15.9% +/-8.0%, P = 0.027)
      than MSA-C without RBD. Moreover, MSA-C patients with RBD had more decreased
      sleep efficiency (52.4% +/-12.6% vs. 65.8% +/-15.9%, P = 0.029) than that without
      RBD. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the RBD, MSA-C patients with RBD had other more
      severe sleep disturbances than those without RBD. The sleep disorders of MSA
      patients might be associated with the progress of the disease.

PMID- 27625089
TI  - Surgical Outcomes of Trabeculotomy in Newborns with Primary Congenital Glaucoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early surgical intervention is required for the primary congenital
      glaucoma (PCG). There are currently few reports on the surgical outcomes in
      infants with PCG. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of
      trabeculotomy and the postoperative visual outcomes in Chinese newborns with PCG
      within 4 weeks of birth. METHODS: A total of 21 eyes of 12 patients with PCG who
      underwent primary trabeculotomy within 4 weeks of birth were retrospectively
      studied. Preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal
      clarity and diameter, axial length and optic disc cupping, visual acuity and
      postoperative refractive error, success rates, and complications were evaluated.
      Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was applied to evaluate the success rates.
      RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 46.9 +/- 34.4 months (range: 12-122 months).
      The postoperative IOP was significantly lower than the preoperative IOP at all of
      the follow-up visits (P < 0.001). The complete success rates for all eyes at 1,
      2, 3, and 5 years postoperatively were 90.5%, 85.7%, 85.7%, and 85.7%,
      respectively. The IOPs of the three patients who needed antiglaucomatous
      medications postoperatively were also well controlled. At the last visit, the
      cornea became clear, and the cup-to-disc ratio decreased significantly (P = 0.01)
      although the horizontal corneal diameter did not change significantly (P = 0.11).
      Visual acuities were able to be recorded in eight eyes at the last visit, among
      which six eyes had a best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better. There were
      no severe intraoperative or postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS:
      Trabeculotomy proves to be a safe and effective treatment in reducing IOP in this
      group of Chinese newborns with PCG. The outcomes of vision function were
      satisfactory in most of the patients.

PMID- 27625090
TI  - Living near a Major Road in Beijing: Association with Lower Lung Function, Airway
      Acidification, and Chronic Cough.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of near-road pollution on lung function in China have not
      been well studied. We aimed to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to
      traffic-related air pollution on lung function, airway inflammation, and
      respiratory symptoms. METHODS: We enrolled 1003 residents aged 57.96 +/- 8.99
      years living in the Shichahai Community in Beijing. Distances between home
      addresses and the nearest major roads were measured to calculate home-road
      distance. We used the distance categories 1, 2, and 3, representing <100 m, 100
      200 m, and >200 m, respectively, as the dose indicator for traffic-related air
      pollution exposure. Lung function, exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH, and
      interleukin 6 levels were measured. As a follow-up, 398 participants had a second
      lung function assessment about 3 years later, and lung function decline was also
      examined as an outcome. We used regression analysis to assess the impacts of home
      road distance on lung function and respiratory symptoms. As the EBC biomarker
      data were not normally distributed, we performed correlation analysis between
      home-road distance categories and EBC biomarkers. RESULTS: Participants living a
      shorter distance from major roads had lower percentage of predicted value of
      forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1% -1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.20
      to -2.89). The odds ratio for chronic cough was 2.54 (95% CI: 1.57-4.10) for
      category 1 and 1.97 (95% CI: 1.16-3.37) for category 2, compared with category 3.
      EBC pH was positively correlated with road distance (rank correlation coefficient
      of Spearman [rs] = 0.176, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term exposure to traffic
      related air pollution in people who live near major roads in Beijing is
      associated with lower lung function, airway acidification, and a higher
      prevalence of chronic cough. EBC pH is a potential useful biomarker for
      evaluating air pollution exposure.

PMID- 27625091
TI  - Decreased Diagnostic Accuracy of Multislice Coronary Computed Tomographic
      Angiography in Women with Atypical Angina Symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) coronary angiography (CAG) is a
      noninvasive technique with a reported high diagnostic accuracy for coronary
      artery disease (CAD). Women, more frequently than men, are known to develop
      atypical angina symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether
      the diagnostic accuracy of MSCT in women with atypical presentation differs from
      that in men. METHODS: We enrolled 396 in-hospital patients (141 women and 255
      men) with suspected or proven CAD who successively underwent both MSCT and
      invasive CAG. CAD was defined as any coronary stenosis of >=50% on conventional
      invasive CAG, which was used as the reference standard. The patients were divided
      into typical and atypical groups based on their symptoms of angina pectoris. The
      diagnostic accuracy of MSCT, including its sensitivity, specificity, negative
      predictive value, and positive predictive value (PPV), was calculated to
      determine the usefulness of MSCT in assessing stenoses. The diagnostic
      performance of MSCT was also assessed by constructing receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: The PPV (91% vs. 97%, chi2 = 5.705, P <
      0.05) and diagnostic accuracy (87% vs. 93%, chi2 = 5.093,P< 0.05) of MSCT in
      detecting CAD were lower in women than in men. Atypical presentation was an
      independent influencing factor on the diagnostic accuracy of MSCT in women (odds
      ratio = 4.94, 95% confidence intervals: 1.16-20.92, Walds = 4.69, P < 0.05).
      Compared with those in the atypical group, women with typical angina pectoris had
      higher PPV (98% vs. 74%, chi2 = 17.283. P < 0.001), diagnostic accuracy (93% vs.
      72%, chi2 = 9.571, P < 0.001), and area under the ROC curve (0.91 vs. 0.64, Z =
      2.690, P < 0.01) in MSCT diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Although MSCT is a reliable
      diagnostic modality for the exclusion of significant coronary artery stenoses in
      all patients, gender and atypical symptoms might have some influence on its
      diagnostic accuracy.

PMID- 27625092
TI  - Echocardiographic Follow-up of Robotic Mitral Valve Repair for Mitral
      Regurgitation due to Degenerative Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitral valve (MV) repair can now be carried out through small
      incisions with the use of robotic assistance. Previous reports have demonstrated
      the excellent clinical result of robotic MV repair for degenerative mitral
      regurgitation (MR). However, there has been limited information regarding the
      echocardiographic follow-up of these patients. The present study was therefore to
      evaluate the echocardiographic follow-up outcomes after robotic MV repair in
      patients with MR due to degenerative disease of the MV. METHODS: A retrospective
      analysis was undertaken using data from the echocardiographic database of our
      department. Between March 2007 and February 2015, 84 patients with degenerative
      MR underwent robotic MV repair. The repair techniques included leaflet resection
      in 67 patients (79.8%), artificial chordae in 20 (23.8%), and ring annuloplasty
      in 79 (94.1%). Eighty-one (96.4%) of the 84 patients were eligible for
      echocardiographic follow-up assessment, and no patients were lost to follow-up.
      RESULTS: At a median echocardiographic follow-up of 36.0 months (interquartile
      range 14.3-59.4 months), four patients (4.9%) developed recurrent mild MR, and no
      patients had more than mild MR. Mean MR grade, left atrial diameter (LAD), left
      ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), and left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF) were significantly decreased when compared with preoperative
      values. Mean MR grade decreased from 3.96 +/- 0.13 to 0.17 +/- 0.49 (Z = -8.456,
      P < 0.001), LAD from 43.8 +/- 5.9 to 35.5 +/- 3.8 mm (t = 15.131, P < 0.001),
      LVEDD from 51.0 +/- 5.0 to 43.3 +/- 2.2 mm (t = 14.481,P< 0.001), and LVEF from
      67.3 +/- 7.0% to 63.9 +/- 5.1% (t = 4.585, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Robotic MV
      repair for MR due to degenerative disease is associated with a low rate of
      recurrent MR, and a significant improvement in MR grade, LAD, and LVEDD, but a
      significant decrease in LVEF at echocardiographic follow-up.

PMID- 27625093
TI  - Acute and Chronic Changes and Predictive Value of Tpeak-Tend for Ventricular
      Arrhythmia Risk in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prolongation of the Tpeak-Tend (TpTe) interval as a measurement of
      transmural dispersion of repolarization (TDR) is an independent risk factor for
      chronic heart failure mortality. However, the cardiac resynchronization therapy's
      (CRT) effect on TDR is controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate
      CRTs acute and chronic effects on repolarization dispersion. Furthermore, we
      aimed to investigate the relationship between TpTe changes and ventricular
      arrhythmia. METHODS: The study group consisted of 101 patients treated with CRT
      defibrillator (CRT-D). According to whether TpTe was shortened, patients were
      grouped at immediate and 1-year follow-up after CRT, respectively. The
      echocardiogram index and ventricular arrhythmia were observed and compared in
      these subgroups. RESULTS: For all patients, TpTe slightly increased immediately
      after CRT-D implantation, and then decreased at the 1-year follow-up (from 107 +/
      23 to 110 +/- 21 ms within 24 h, to 94 +/- 24 ms at 1-year follow-up, F =
      19.366,P< 0.001). No significant difference in the left ventricular reverse
      remodeling and ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) episodes
      between the TpTe immediately shortened and TpTe immediately nonshortened groups.
      However, patients in the TpTe at 1-year shorten had a higher rate of the left
      ventricular (LV) reverse remodeling (65% vs. 44%, chi2 = 4.495, P = 0.038) and
      less VT/VF episodes (log-rank test, chi2 = 10.207, P = 0.001) compared with TpTe
      1-year nonshortened group. TpTe immediately after CRT-D independently predicted
      VT/VF episodes at 1-year follow-up (hazard ratio [HR], 1.030; P = 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with TpTe shortened at 1-year after CRT had a higher rate
      of LV reverse remodeling and less VT/VF episodes. The acute changes of TpTe after
      CRT have minimal value on mechanical reverse remodeling and ventricular
      arrhythmia.

PMID- 27625094
TI  - HBcrAg Identifies Patients Failing to Achieve HBeAg Seroconversion Treated with
      Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2b.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of serum hepatitis B virus core
      related antigens (HBcrAg) for predicting hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)
      seroconversion in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients treated with
      conventional interferon (IFN) alfa-2b or pegylated IFN. METHODS: Fifty-eight
      patients were enrolled: 29 for the training group and 29 for the validating
      group. HBcrAg was measured at baseline, week 12, end of the treatment, and 12-
      and 24-week follow-ups. Sixteen patients in the training group were enrolled in
      the long-term follow-up (LTFU), during which time the dynamics of the HBcrAg was
      monitored. RESULTS: The serum HBcrAg level gradually declined during treatment
      among the HBeAg seroconversion patients of the training group (from baseline,
      week 12, end of the treatment, 12-week follow-up to 24-week follow-up were
      110,245 kU/ml, 3760 kU/ml, 7410 kU/ml, 715 kU/ml, 200 kU/ml, respectively).
      HBcrAg <19,565 kU/ml at week 24, HBcrAg <34,225 kU/ml at 12-week follow-up, and
      HBcrAg decrease >=0.565 log10kU/ml from the baseline to the end of treatment
      (EOT) had negative predictive values (NPVs) of 100% for HBeAg seroconversion at
      the end of follow-up, whereas the positive predictive values (PPVs) were 30.77%,
      26.67%, and 25.00%, respectively. The patients with HBeAg seroconversion at the
      end of 24-week follow-up remained in seroconversion during the LTFU, during which
      time their serum HBcrAg levels steadily declined or even became undetectable,
      ranging from 0 to 2.1 kU/ml. CONCLUSIONS: Effective antiviral treatment can
      decrease HBcrAg levels in the serum. The NPVs of HBcrAg for predicting HBeAg
      seroconversion at 24-week follow-up was 100%, but the PPVs were not satisfactory
      (all <31%). The serum HBcrAg levels of the patients with HBeAg seroconversion at
      the end of the 24-week follow-up steadily declined or even became undetectable
      during the LTFU.

PMID- 27625095
TI  - Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of Patients with Nontuberculous
      Mycobacterium Bloodstream Infection in a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Beijing,
      China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM) bloodstream infection (BSI) is
      relatively rare. We aimed in this study to evaluate the clinical characteristics,
      laboratory evaluation, and outcomes of patients with NTM BSI. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of inpatients with NTM BSI at our
      institution between January 2008 and January 2015 and recorded clinical
      parameters including age, gender, underlying disease, clinical manifestation,
      organs involved with NTM disease, species of NTM, laboratory data, treatment and
      outcome of these patients. We also reviewed the reported cases and case series of
      NTM BSI by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and Wanfang databases. Data of normal
      distribution were expressed by mean +/- standard deviation (SD). Data of
      nonnormal distribution were expressed by median and interquartile range (IQR).
      RESULTS: Among the ten patients with NTM BSI, the median age was 51 years (IQR 29
      57 years) and three patients were males. Eight patients were immunocompromised,
      with underlying diseases including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
      (one patient), rheumatic diseases (two patients), breast cancer (one patient),
      myelodysplastic syndrome (two patients), and aplastic anemia (two patients).
      Other organ(s) involved were lung (two patients), endocardium (two patients),
      brain, spinal cord, and soft tissue (one each patient). The median lymphocyte was
      0.66 * 109/L (IQR 0.24-1.93 * 109/L). The median cluster of differentiation 4
      (CD4) cell count was 179/mm3 (IQR 82-619/mm3). Five patients died (three with
      hematological diseases, one with breast cancer, and one with rheumatic disease),
      three recovered, and two were lost to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: We reported all
      cases in our hospital diagnosed with bloodstream NTM infection that was rarely
      reported. In this group of patients, patients usually had a high fever and could
      have multiple organ involvements. All patients with poor prognosis had underlying
      diseases.

PMID- 27625096
TI  - Sulfur Dioxide Inhibits Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase Signaling to
      Attenuate Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation in Angiotensin II-induced
      Hypertensive Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clarifying the mechanisms underlying vascular smooth muscle cell
      (VSMC) proliferation is important for the prevention and treatment of vascular
      remodeling and the reverse of hyperplastic lesions. Previous research has shown
      that the gaseous signaling molecule sulfur dioxide (SO2) inhibits VSMC
      proliferation, but the mechanism for the inhibition of the angiotensin II (AngII)
      induced VSMC proliferation by SO2has not been fully elucidated. This study was
      designed to investigate if SO2inhibited VSMC proliferation in mice with
      hypertension induced by AngII. METHODS: Thirty-six male C57 mice were randomly
      divided into control, AngII, and AngII + SO2groups. Mice in AngII group and AngII
      + SO2group received a capsule-type AngII pump implanted under the skin of the
      back at a slow-release dose of 1000 ng.kg-1.min-1. In addition, mice in AngII +
      SO2received intraperitoneal injections of SO2donor. Arterial blood pressure of
      tail artery was determined. The thickness of the aorta was measured by elastic
      fiber staining, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and phosphorylated
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (P-ERK) were detected in aortic tissues.
      The concentration of SO2 in serum and aortic tissue homogenate supernatant was
      measured using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence
      determination. In the in vitro study, VSMC of A7R5 cell lines was divided into
      six groups: control, AngII, AngII + SO2, PD98059 (an inhibitor of ERK
      phosphorylation), AngII + PD98059, and AngII + SO2 + PD98059. Expression of PCNA,
      ERK, and P-ERK was determined by Western blotting. RESULTS: In animal experiment,
      compared with the control group, AngII markedly increased blood pressure (P <
      0.01) and thickened the aortic wall in mice (P < 0.05) with an increase in the
      expression of PCNA (P < 0.05). SO2, however, reduced the systemic hypertension
      and the wall thickness induced by AngII (P < 0.05). It inhibited the increased
      expression of PCNA and P-ERK induced by AngII (P < 0.05). In cell experiment,
      PD98059, an ERK phosphorylation inhibitor, blocked the inhibitory effect of SO2on
      VSMC proliferation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ERK signaling is involved in the
      mechanisms by which SO2inhibits VSMC proliferation in AngII-induced hypertensive
      mice via ERK signaling.

PMID- 27625097
TI  - Inhibitory Role of Pentraxin-3 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death
      worldwide. Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a member of the PTX superfamily. Here, we
      investigated the role of PTX3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
      METHODS: The effect of PTX3 on ESCC cell proliferation, colony formation,
      apoptosis, migration, and invasion was investigated using cell viability assays,
      colony formation assays, flow cytometry, and migration and invasion assays. The
      effect of PTX3 on the tumorigenicity of ESCC in vivo was investigated with
      xenograft studies in nude mice. RESULTS: PTX3 overexpression in ESCC cells
      reduced cellular proliferation and colony formation (P < 0.05) and increased the
      rate of apoptosis (P < 0.05). PTX3 expression had no significant effect on the
      migratory or invasive potential of ESCC cells. In our mouse model of human ESCC,
      we achieved 100% successful tumor establishment. Compared with the control and
      empty vector-expressing groups, the PTX3-expressing group formed significantly
      smaller tumors (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that PTX3 might play
      an inhibitory role in ESCC.

PMID- 27625098
TI  - Pathogenesis and Individualized Treatment for Postural Tachycardia Syndrome in
      Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is one of the major causes of
      orthostatic intolerance in children. We systematically reviewed the pathogenesis
      and the progress of individualized treatment for POTS in children. DATA SOURCES:
      The data analyzed in this review are mainly from articles included in PubMed and
      EMBASE. STUDY SELECTION: The original articles and critical reviews about POTS
      were selected for this review. RESULTS: Studies have shown that POTS might be
      related to several factors including hypovolemia, high catecholamine status,
      abnormal local vascular tension, and decreased skeletal muscle pump activity. In
      addition to exercise training, the first-line treatments mainly include oral
      rehydration salts, beta-adrenoreceptor blockers, and alpha-adrenoreceptor
      agonists. However, reports about the effectiveness of various treatments are
      diverse. By analyzing the patient's physiological indexes and biomarkers before
      the treatment, the efficacy of medication could be well predicted. CONCLUSIONS:
      The pathogenesis of POTS is multifactorial, including hypovolemia, abnormal
      catecholamine state, and vascular dysfunction. Biomarker-directed individualized
      treatment is an important strategy for the management of POTS children.

PMID- 27625099
TI  - Endovascular Catheter-guided Forceps Biopsy for the Diagnosis of Suspected
      Pulmonary Artery Sarcoma: A Preliminary Study of Eight Cases.

PMID- 27625100
TI  - Biatrial Macroreentry Atrial Tachycardia after Atrial Fibrillation Ablation.

PMID- 27625101
TI  - Cerebral Abscesses Revealing Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations.

PMID- 27625102
TI  - A Case on Acute Burkholderia pseudomallei Pericarditis.

PMID- 27625103
TI  - Monoclonal B-cell Lymphocytosis in a Patient with Wegener Granulomatosis: A Case
      Report and Update on 2016 World Health Organization Classification.

PMID- 27625104
TI  - Paraplegia as Manifestation of an Isolated Central Nervous System Relapse
      Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in a Woman with
      Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

PMID- 27625105
TI  - A Novel Mutation of Filamin A Gene in a Chinese Family with Periventricular
      Nodular Heterotopia.

PMID- 27625106
TI  - Acute Angioedema in a Patient Who Received Ketamine and Succinylcholine: A Case
      Report.

PMID- 27625107
TI  - Parotid Gland as Initial Metastatic Site of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

PMID- 27625108
TI  - Diagnosing Kearns-Sayre Syndrome Requires Genetic Confirmation.

PMID- 27625110
TI  - Rational engineering of a virulence gene from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      facilitates proteomic analysis of a natural protein N-terminus.
AB  - Mass spectrometry (MS) for the detection of proteins is an indispensable tool for
      evaluating the biological processes of the proteome. Proteomics frequently
      requires proteolysis of proteins into peptide fragments. Proteins can be
      refractory to ideal proteolysis at the sequence level rendering them difficult to
      analyze by routine proteomics methods. EsxA (ESAT-6, Early Secreted Antigen,
      6kDa) is a major virulence determinant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause
      of human tuberculosis. EsxA is routinely used to evaluate mycobacterial virulence
      in the laboratory and as a biomarker for tuberculosis in humans. The sequence of
      EsxA hinders deeper MS analysis beyond routine detection. Here we engineer the
      sequence of EsxA to add desirable tryptic properties aimed at improving complex
      MS analysis. We demonstrate that EsxA variants are amenable to MS analysis and
      remain functional in established in vitro and ex vivo assays of Esx-1-function.
      We provide the first demonstration of molecular engineering to specifically
      improve MS analysis of individual microbial proteins.

PMID- 27625112
TI  - Corrigendum: Genome-wide analysis of tomato long non-coding RNAs and
      identification as endogenous target mimic for microRNA in response to TYLCV
      infection.

PMID- 27625111
TI  - ASPP2 involvement in p53-mediated HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 neurotoxicity
      in mice cerebrocortical neurons.
AB  - The mechanisms behind HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorders are still
      unclear. Apoptosis-stimulating protein 2 of p53 (ASPP2) is a damage-inducible p53
      binding protein that stimulates p53-mediated apoptosis and transactivates
      proapoptotic and cell cycle regulatory genes. It has been reported that ASPP2 has
      a specific regulatory function in the death of retinal ganglion cells and the
      development of Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we used p53 and ASPP2 knockout
      mice and primary cerebrocortical neuron culture to analyze the role of the
      interaction between ASPP2 with p53 in HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120-induced
      neurotoxicity. The results showed that 10 ng/mL gp120 protein might stimulate p53
      overexpression and translocation to the nucleus, and 30 ng/mL gp120 protein could
      stimulate both p53 and ASPP2 translocation to the nucleus, but only with p53
      overexpression. The primary cultured neurons of p53(-/-)ASPP2(+/-) mice had a
      higher survival rate than p53(-/-) mice under gp120 protein stress. The
      interaction of ASPP2 with p53 induced by a high dose of gp120 stimulated Bax
      transcription and contributed to caspase-3 cleavage, and ASPP2-siRNA attenuated
      gp120 induced neuron death through inhibition of Bax expression. These results
      suggest that ASPP2 plays an important role in p53-mediated neuronal apoptosis
      under gp120 stress.

PMID- 27625109
TI  - Higher rates of triple-class virological failure in perinatally HIV-infected
      teenagers compared with heterosexually infected young adults in Europe.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the time to, and risk factors
      for, triple-class virological failure (TCVF) across age groups for children and
      adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV infection and older adolescents and
      adults with heterosexually acquired HIV infection. METHODS: We analysed
      individual patient data from cohorts in the Collaboration of Observational HIV
      Epidemiological Research Europe (COHERE). A total of 5972 participants starting
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) from 1998, aged < 20 years at the start of ART for
      those with perinatal infection and 15-29 years for those with heterosexual
      infection, with ART containing at least two nucleoside reverse transcriptase
      inhibitors (NRTIs) and a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or
      a boosted protease inhibitor (bPI), were followed from ART initiation until the
      most recent viral load (VL) measurement. Virological failure of a drug was
      defined as VL > 500 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL despite >= 4 months of use. TCVF was
      defined as cumulative failure of two NRTIs, an NNRTI and a bPI. RESULTS: The
      median number of weeks between diagnosis and the start of ART was higher in
      participants with perinatal HIV infection compared with participants with
      heterosexually acquired HIV infection overall [17 (interquartile range (IQR) 4
      111) vs. 8 (IQR 2-38) weeks, respectively], and highest in perinatally infected
      participants aged 10-14 years [49 (IQR 9-267) weeks]. The cumulative proportion
      with TCVF 5 years after starting ART was 9.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 7.0
      12.3%] in participants with perinatally acquired infection and 4.7% (95% CI 3.9
      5.5%) in participants with heterosexually acquired infection, and highest in
      perinatally infected participants aged 10-14 years when starting ART (27.7%; 95%
      CI 13.2-42.1%). Across all participants, significant predictors of TCVF were
      those with perinatal HIV aged 10-14 years, African origin, pre-ART AIDS, NNRTI
      based initial regimens, higher pre-ART viral load and lower pre-ART CD4.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a beneficial effect of starting ART before
      adolescence, and starting young people on boosted PIs, to maximize treatment
      response during this transitional stage of development.

PMID- 27625114
TI  - Efficient Synthesis of Dimethyl Ether from Methanol in a Bifunctional Zeolite
      Membrane Reactor.
AB  - A sandwich FAU-LTA zeolite dual-layer membrane has been developed and used as a
      catalytic membrane reactor for the synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME). In the top
      H-FAU layer with mild acidity, methanol is dehydrated to DME. The other reaction
      product, water, is removed in situ through a hydrophilic Na-LTA layer, which is
      located between the porous alumina support and the H-FAU top layer. The
      combination of mild acidity with the continuous removal of water results in high
      methanol conversion (90.9 % at 310  degrees C) and essentially 100 % DME
      selectivity. Furthermore, owing to the selective and continuous removal of water
      through the Na-LTA membrane, catalyst deactivation can be effectively suppressed.

PMID- 27625113
TI  - Measurement and reversal of the direct oral anticoagulants.
AB  - Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) offer noninferior efficacy and improved safety
      compared to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for the prevention and treatment of
      venous thromboembolism and for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in
      nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Unlike VKAs, DOACs do not require routine
      laboratory monitoring of anticoagulant effect and dose adjustment. In certain
      situations, however, laboratory assessment of anticoagulant effect may be
      desirable. Here we review the utility of currently available assays for
      assessment of DOAC effect and recommend an optimal assessment strategy for each
      drug, including calibrated dilute thrombin time or ecarin-based assays for
      dabigatran and calibrated anti-Xa activity assays for the factor Xa inhibitors.
      We also discuss reversal strategies, both specific and nonspecific, for each
      drug, including the preferential use of idarucizumab for the reversal of
      dabigatran and two agents, andexanet and ciraparantag, currently under
      development for the reversal of rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban.

PMID- 27625115
TI  - Chemokine CXCL1 mediated neutrophil recruitment: Role of glycosaminoglycan
      interactions.
AB  - The chemokine CXCL1/MGSA plays a pivotal role in the host immune response by
      recruiting and activating neutrophils for microbial killing at the tissue site.
      CXCL1 exists reversibly as monomers and dimers, and mediates its function by
      binding glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and CXCR2 receptor. We recently showed that both
      monomers and dimers are potent CXCR2 agonists, the dimer is the high-affinity GAG
      ligand, lysine and arginine residues located in two non-overlapping domains
      mediate GAG interactions, and there is extensive overlap between GAG and receptor
      binding domains. To understand how these structural properties influence in vivo
      function, we characterized peritoneal neutrophil recruitment of a trapped monomer
      and trapped dimer and a panel of WT lysine/arginine to alanine mutants. Monomers
      and dimers were active, but WT was more active indicating synergistic
      interactions promote recruitment. Mutants from both domains showed reduced GAG
      heparin binding affinities and reduced neutrophil recruitment, providing
      compelling evidence that both GAG-binding domains mediate in vivo trafficking.
      Further, mutant of a residue that is involved in both GAG binding and receptor
      signaling showed the highest reduction in recruitment. We conclude that GAG
      interactions and receptor activity of CXCL1 monomers and dimers are fine-tuned to
      regulate neutrophil trafficking for successful resolution of tissue injury.

PMID- 27625117
TI  - Determination of selected fatty acids in dried sweat spot using gas
      chromatography with flame ionization detection.
AB  - A method is described for the determination of fatty acids in dried sweat spot
      and plasma samples using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection.
      Plasma and dried sweat spot samples were obtained from a group of blood donors.
      The sweat was collected from each volunteer during exercise. Sweat was spotted
      onto collection paper containing butylated hydroxytoluene. Fatty acids were
      derivatized with acetyl chloride in methanol to form methyl esters of fatty
      acids. The fatty acids in dried sweat spot samples treated with butylated
      hydroxytoluene and stored at -20 degrees C were stable for 3 months. Our results
      indicate that sweat contains, among fatty acids with short chain, also fatty
      acids with long chain and unsaturated fatty acids. Linear relationships between
      percentage content of selected fatty acids in dried sweat spot and plasma were
      observed.

PMID- 27625118
TI  - Device therapy: ICDs in nonischaemic heart failure.

PMID- 27625116
TI  - A super gene expression system enhances the anti-glioma effects of adenovirus
      mediated REIC/Dkk-3 gene therapy.
AB  - Reduced expression in immortalized cells/Dickkopf-3 (REIC/Dkk-3) is a tumor
      suppressor and therapeutic gene in many human cancers. Recently, an adenovirus
      REIC vector with the super gene expression system (Ad-SGE-REIC) was developed to
      increase REIC/Dkk-3 expression and enhance therapeutic effects compared with the
      conventional adenoviral vector (Ad-CAG-REIC). In this study, we investigated the
      in vitro and in vivo effects of Ad-SGE-REIC on malignant glioma. In U87DeltaEGFR
      and GL261 glioma cells, western blotting confirmed that robust upregulation of
      REIC/Dkk-3 expression occurred in Ad-SGE-REIC-transduced cells, most notably
      after transduction at a multiplicity of infection of 10. Cytotoxicity assays
      showed that Ad-SGE-REIC resulted in a time-dependent and significant reduction in
      the number of malignant glioma cells attaching to the bottom of culture wells.
      Xenograft and syngeneic mouse intracranial glioma models treated with Ad-SGE-REIC
      had significantly longer survival than those treated with the control vector Ad
      LacZ or with Ad-CAG-REIC. This study demonstrated the anti-glioma effect of Ad
      SGE-REIC, which may represent a promising strategy for the treatment of malignant
      glioma.

PMID- 27625119
TI  - Atrial fibrillation: FIRE or ICE? Cryoablation not inferior, not superior.

PMID- 27625120
TI  - 2016 ESC and ACC/AHA/HFSA heart failure guideline update - what is new and why is
      it important?
AB  - Heart failure (HF) is a global epidemic affecting millions of individuals
      worldwide. Although important progress has been made in the management of HF,
      this condition remains a common cause of morbidity and death. Since the
      publication of the previous sets of guidelines for the management of HF, new
      diagnostic and therapeutic options for HF have emerged. Now, both the ESC and the
      ACC/AHA/HFSA have simultaneously published an update of their guidelines
      incorporating, among others, recommendations for the use of new pharmacological
      therapies for the treatment of HF. For this Viewpoint article, we have asked the
      chairs of the ESC Task Force, the chairs of the ACC/AHA/HFSA Writing Committee,
      and an independent opinion leader in the field to offer their expert insight into
      the new guidelines, highlighting what is new, what the main differences are
      between the two sets of guidelines, and what steps should be taken to improve the
      guidelines in future updates.

PMID- 27625121
TI  - The optimal time between clinical brain death diagnosis and confirmation using CT
      angiography: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In several countries, a computed tomography angiography (CTA) is used
      to confirm brain death (BD). A six-hour interval is recommended between clinical
      diagnosis and CTA acquisition despite the lack of strong evidence to support this
      interval. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal timing for CTA in
      the confirmation of BD. METHODS: This retrospective observational study enrolled
      all adult patients admitted between January 2009 and December 2013 to the
      intensive care units of a French university hospital with clinically diagnosed BD
      and at least one CTA performed as a confirmatory test. The CTAs were identified
      as conclusive (e.g. yielding confirmation of BD) or inconclusive (e.g. showing
      persistent brain circulation). RESULTS: One hundred and four patients (sex ratio
      M/F 1.8; age 55 years [41-64]) underwent 117 CTAs. CTAs confirmed cerebral
      circulatory arrest in 94 cases yielding a sensitivity of 80%. Inconclusive CTAs
      were performed earlier than conclusive ones (2 hours [1-3] vs. 4 hours [2-9],
      P=0.03) and were associated with decompressive craniectomy (5 cases [23%] vs. 6
      cases [7%], P=0.05) and the failure to complete full neurological examination (5
      cases [23%] vs. 4 cases [5%], P=0.02). Six hours after BD clinical diagnosis, the
      proportion of conclusive CTA was only 51%, with progressive increase overtime
      with more than 80% of conclusive CTA after 12 hours. CONCLUSIONS: A 12-hour
      interval might be appropriate in order to limit the risk of inconclusive CTAs.

PMID- 27625122
TI  - The effectiveness of core stabilization exercise in adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Core stabilization training is used to improve postural balance in
      musculoskeletal problems. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the effectiveness of stabilization training in adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis. STUDY DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial, pretest-posttest design.
      METHODS: In total, 25 subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were randomly
      divided into two groups: stabilization group ( n = 12) and control group ( n =
      13). The stabilization group received core stabilization in addition to
      traditional rehabilitation, and the control group received traditional
      rehabilitation for 10 weeks. Assessment included Cobb's angle on radiograph,
      apical vertebral rotation in Adam's test, trunk asymmetry (Posterior Trunk
      Symmetry Index), cosmetic trunk deformity (Trunk Appearance Perception Scale),
      and quality of life (Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire). RESULTS: Inter
      group comparisons showed significantly greater improvements in the mean change in
      lumbar apical vertebral rotation degree and the pain domain of Scoliosis Research
      Society-22 in the stabilization group than those in the control group ( p <
      0.05). No significant differences were observed for other measurements between
      the groups; however, trends toward greater improvement were observed in the
      stabilization group. CONCLUSION: Core stabilization training in addition to
      traditional exercises was more effective than traditional exercises alone in the
      correction of vertebral rotation and reduction of pain in adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis. Clinical relevance Stabilization exercises are more effective in
      reducing rotation deformity and pain than traditional exercises in the
      conservative rehabilitation of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. These
      improvements suggest that stabilization training should be added to
      rehabilitation programs in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

PMID- 27625123
TI  - [Clinical analyses of the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal
      rhinosinusitis: report of 14 cases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Through the retrospective analysis of the clinical data in 14 cases of
      invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFRS), the clinical characteristics, diagnosis
      and treatment of this disease were evaluated. METHODS: Fourteen clinically
      confirmed cases of IFRS since January 2008 to October 2015 were
      evaluated.collected, the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis
      were analyzed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding for clinical
      reference. Fourteen patients were confirmed by pathological examination as IFRS,
      including 9 cases of aspergillus, 4 cases of mucor, and 1 case of rhinocerebral
      zygomycosis; including 5 cases of acute IFRS, 9 cases of chronic IFRS. All
      patients were treated with endoscopic surgery and intravenous antifungal therapy.
      RESULTS: Nine cases of chronic IFRS (including 1 case of mucor, 7 cases of
      aspergillus and 1 case of rhinocerebral zygomycosis) were cured, but the vision
      loss, diplopia or blindness, hard palate perforation remained. Five cases of
      acute IFRS included 3 cases of mucor and 2 cases of aspergillus. Among the 3
      cases of mucor, 2 cases were died and 1 case was cured. Among the 2 cases of
      aspergillus, 1 patient was cured and the other patient died of electrolyte
      disorder after discharge from hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IFRS usually
      have diabetes. After the active surgical cleaning of lesion tissue and the
      systematic antifungal treatment with adequate dosage, these patients would have a
      better result. IFRS caused by mucor is ofen dangerous.

PMID- 27625124
TI  - [Managements and prognostic analyses in patients with invasive fungal
      rhinosinusitis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the survival outcomes of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis by
      analyzing the clinical features. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed
      for cases of invasive fungal sinusitis proved by histological analysis between
      March 2006 and November 2015. All relevant factors including interval from the
      onset of symptoms to initiation of diagnosis, clinical characteristics, features
      of CT and MRI, treatment and prognosis were collected. A total of 18 patients (10
      males; 8 females) were identified. The median age was 54 years old. Three
      patients suffered from acute invasive fungal sinusitis, while the other 15
      suffered from chronic invasive fungal sinusitis. RESULTS: The mean duration
      between onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 5 months. The most common symptom was
      headache (10/18), followed by visual disturbance (7/18), nasal obstruction
      (4/18), facial numbness and pain (2/18) and diplopia(2/18). Two patients had
      diabetes mellitus; one patient had ankylosing spondylitis receiving
      immunosuppressive drugs treatment for one year. Four patients had the disease
      confined in the sinus. Complications of this disease included orbital apex
      involvement in 6 patients, intraorbital and optic nerve involvement in 3
      patients, cavernous sinus involvement in 5 patients, pterygopalatine fossa and
      infratemporal fossa involvement in 5 patients, intracranial extension involvement
      in 3 patients. Fungal species included aspergillus (15 cases) and mucor (3
      cases). Seventeen patients received intravenous antifungal therapy after surgery.
      The duration of follow-up ranged from 1 to 60 months. Two patients reoccurred and
      one patient died of the disease. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic debridement combined with
      intravenous antifungals is efficacious in the management of invasive fungal
      sinusitis.

PMID- 27625125
TI  - [Effect of Amphotericin B on human nasal ciliary beat frequency].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Amphotericin B on ciliary beat frequency
      (CBF) in in vitro cultured human nasal epithelial cells. METHODS: Human nasal
      epithelial cells derived from uncinate process or inferior turbinate of six
      patients were cultured in vitro, and treated with different concentrations of
      Amphotericin B(0.25,0.5,1.0,2.0,4.0 MUg/ml)over a peroid of 7~10 d; normal
      saline(NS)was used as a negative control. CBF was detected before treatment and
      recorded continuously for 20 min after treatment. RESULTS: CBF of epithelial
      cells in normal saline (NS) control group showed no significant changes in 20
      min(F=0.351, P>0.05); Amphotericin B at 0.25 MUg/ml(F=0.286, P>0.05), 0.5
      MUg/ml(F=0.468, P>0.05) or 1.0 MUg/ml(F=0.383, P>0.05) did not affect epithelial
      CBF in 20 min measurement period; Amphotericin B at 2.0 MUg/ml decreased
      epithelial CBF with time(F=1.908, P<0.05), significant changes were observed
      after 7 min of drug treatment; Amphotericin B at 4.0 MUg/ml decreased epithelial
      CBF with time(F=8.223, P<0.05), significant changes were observed after 6 min of
      drug treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Amphotericin B caused a dose-dependent decrease of
      human nasal CBF. Therefore, the influence of this drug on ciliary function should
      be considered when nasal topically applied.

PMID- 27625126
TI  - [Correlation between bedside triple test by videonystagmoscope and caloric test].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between rapid bedside triple test and
      caloric test. METHOD: We reviewed clinical records of 313 consecutive patients
      presenting with vertigo at our ear-nose-throat clinic.RESULTS of bedside
      vestibular tests in all patients were compared with caloric test. The
      sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the
      triple test relative to caloric test were calculated. RESULTS: Compared with the
      caloric test results, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive
      value(PPV), and negative predictive value(NPV) of the triple test were 65.1%,
      94.0%, 90.5% and 75.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: As a predictive screening for
      patients with vertigo, the bedside triple test is a rapid, reliable tool for
      clinical diagnosis.

PMID- 27625128
TI  - [Effect of lamina papyracea ingression on orbito-ocular complications after
      functional endoscopic sinus surgery].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of lamina papyracea ingression on orbito-ocular
      complications after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). METHODS: Data of
      computed tomography (CT) and post-FESS complications were analysed in 483
      patients undergoing FESS from October 2013 to November 2015. According to the
      condition of lamina papyracea, these patients were divided into lamina papyracea
      ingression group (ingression group) and normal group. All data were analyzed to
      observe the effect of lamina papyracea ingression on orbito-ocular complications.
      RESULTS: The patients with lamina papyracea ingression were found to be 11.2 %
      (54/483). Of the 54 patients, 18 had grade-Ilamina papyracea ingression, 25 had
      grade-IIlamina papyracea ingression and 11 had grade-III lamina papyracea
      ingression. The incidence of orbito-ocular complications in normal group was 2.6%
      (11/429) and the incidence of orbito-ocular complications in the ingression group
      was 16.7% (9/54). The difference was significant(chi(2)=20.61, P<0.01)
      CONCLUSION: Before FESS, the paranasal sinus CT should be carefully reviewed to
      find if there is lamina papyracea ingression, so as to avoid the orbito-ocular
      complications.

PMID- 27625127
TI  - [The sex difference of speech evoked auditory brainstem responses in children and
      young adults].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the sex difference of the speech
      ABR in young adults and school age children. METHODS: Speech-ABR of eighty normal
      hearing subjects including twenty four school-age children(12 girls and boys, age
      from 6 to 12 years old) and fifty six young adults(male 29, female 27, age from
      20 to 34 years old) were recorded. The speech syllable /da/ as stimulus sound was
      transmitted to right ear by insert earphones in speech-ABR test. RESULTS: 1
      Females had a shorter latency than males in transient response (waves V, A and O)
      and sustained response (waves D, E and F) of speech-ABR (P<0.05, respectively).
      The amplitudes of transient response (waves V and A) and sustained response
      (waves D, E and F) in females were also significantly larger than those in males
      (P<0.05, respectively), except for amplitude of peak O (P>0.05). The V/A slope in
      females was significantly steeper than that in males[(-0.43+/-0.13)vs(-0.25+/
      0.08), P<0.01]. 2The amplitude and latency of speech-ABR in transient response
      (waves V, A and O) and sustained response (waves D, E and F) were not
      significantly different between boys and girls. Only the V/A slope in girls was
      significantly steeper than that in boys [(-0.46+/-0.12)vs(-0.35+/-0.15), P<0.05].
      3The latency of speech-ABR was significantly prolonged in young men when compared
      with boys in both transient response (waves V, A and O) (P<0.05, respectively)
      and sustained response (waves D and F, P<0.05, respectively), except for wave E
      (P>0.05). The amplitude of speech-ABR showed a statistically significant decrease
      (P<0.05, respectively) only in wave A, D and F. Contrarily, the decrease in
      response amplitudes of waves V, E and O were not statistically significant
      (P>0.05, respectively). The V/A slope was steeper in boys than in young men,
      which was statistically significant (P<0.05). 4 In girls and young women, peak
      latency and magnitude of speech-ABR showed similar characteristics. No
      significant differences were found in either transient response or sustained
      response. The V/A slope between girls and young women was similar without
      significant difference (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The female adults have shorter wave
      latency and larger amplitude of speech-ABR than males, which suggests that
      females have better speech encoding in brainstem. There are few differences
      between female and girls in wave latency and amplitude. The speech encoding in
      brainstem in young men tends to become worse than in boys. It implies that the
      increase of androgen might weaken the ability of the speech encoding in
      brainstem.

PMID- 27625129
TI  - [The expression and significance of pepsin in laryngeal carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between pepsin induced by
      laryngopharyngeal reflux and laryngeal carcinoma. METHODS: Patients with vocal
      cord leukoplakia(n=18) and laryngeal carcinoma(n=21) encountered in Nanfang
      Hospital between December 2012 and April 2014 were included and sixteen healthy
      volunteers were recruited as control. Laryngeal biopsy specimens were taken from
      the patients with laryngeal carcinoma, or vocal cord leukoplakia and control
      subjects for the immunohistochemical study of pepsin. The correlation between
      pepsin expression and reflux events of 24 hour multichannel intraluminal
      impedance-pH monitoring (MII-pH) was analyzed. RESULTS: The patients with
      laryngeal carcinoma showed the highest expression of pepsin, followed by the
      patients with vocal cord leukoplakia and control subjects, with significant
      difference among the three groups (in strong positive expression, the constituent
      ratio of each group are 0/16,1/18 and 4/21, P<0.01). The presence of pepsin was
      associated with upright and total laryngopharyngeal acid reflux (P<0.05),
      including acid reflux episodes, the percentage of times that the pH was below
      four, the percentages of acid reflux time and average acid removal time. There
      was a significant correlation between the pepsin level and the esophageal acid
      reflux parameters (P<0.05) except supine the percentage of time that the pH was
      below four. CONCLUSIONS: Pepsin expression in laryngeal tissue increases in
      patients with vocal cord leukoplakia and laryngeal carcinoma, contributing to the
      development of laryngopharyngeal carcinogenesis.

PMID- 27625130
TI  - [Study on the electrophsiological properties in the stria vascularis pericytes in
      cochlear of guinea pig].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper was to study the electrophysiological
      properties and the type of potassium channels on cell membrane in the stria
      vascularis pericytes in cochlear of guinea pig. METHODS: Firstly examined the
      expression of the stria vascularis pericytes by desmin, a marker of pericytes, in
      cochlear of guinea pig with immunofluorescent method. Using whole-cell patch
      clamp recording techniques to observe electrophysiological properties in the
      cochlear pericytes in stria vascularis of guinea pig. RESULTS: Pericytes were
      predominately distributed in the capillaries of cochlea.The average membrane
      capacitance, resistance, and potential of a single pericyte in stria vascularis
      were(5.9+/-0.3)pF, (2.2+/-0.3)GOmega and (-30.9+/-1.2)mV, respectively by using
      patch clamp technique. In addition, the average current density of cochlear
      pericyte was voltage-sensitive (Vh from 0 to + 60 mV, in 20 mV steps). The
      pericytes exhibited outward current and this property could be blocked by TEA
      (tetraethylammonium) 1 mmol/L, a large-conductance calcium-activated potassium
      channel(BKCa)inhibitor and 4-AP (4-aminopyridine) 1 mmol/L, a voltage-dependent
      K(+) channels(KV) channel blocker. TEA blocked the outward current from (296.2+/
      35.9)pA to (163.7+/-16.8)pA and 4-AP blocked the outward current from (248.7+/
      39.8)pA to (158.0+/-38.0)pA. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that pericytes in
      stria vascularis have BKCa and KV channels.

PMID- 27625131
TI  - [The effects of beta-elemene on rabbit VX2 laryngeal carcinoma and factors
      associated with tumor growth and metastasis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inhibition effect of beta-elemene on the growth and
      metastasis of laryngeal carcinoma and the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Sixty
      six rabbits were vaccinated with suspension of VX2 cancer tissues to establish a
      rabbit laryngeal carcinoma model and then they were randomly treated with the
      injection of 0.9% sodium chloride solution (as a control), cisplatin, or beta
      elemene from the seventh day after vaccination. The rabbits were sacrificed three
      weeks after vaccination. The laryngeal tumor was dissected. and the volume of
      tumor and the inhibitory rate of tumor growth were measured. The expressions of
      PCNA (proliferation cell nuclear antigen), Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2) and VEGF-D
      (vascular endothelial growth factor D) in tumor were semiquantitatively examined
      by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The inhibition rates of tumor growth in beta
      elemene-treated group and the cisplatin-treated group were 48.5% and 51.4%,
      respectively. The expressions of Bcl-2 in beta-elemene-treated group and
      cisplatin-treated group were significantly lower than the control (P<0.05), but
      with no significant difference between beta-elemene-treated group and cisplatin
      treated group. The expression of PCNA in beta-elemene-treated group was
      significantly decreased compared to control group (P<0.05). The expression of
      VEGF-D in beta-elemene-treated group was lower than that in control group or the
      cisplatin-treated group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: beta-elemene can inhibit the growth
      of rabbit VX2 laryngeal tumor, which may be associated with the inhibition of
      factors related to tumor growth and metastasis.

PMID- 27625132
TI  - [Removal of laryngeal cancer with thyroid cartilage membrane excision and repair
      of laryngeal cavity with outside thyroid cartilage membrane flap of healthy side:
      oncologic and functional outcomes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy and feasibility of removal of laryngeal cancer
      with thyroid cartilage membrane excision and repair of laryngeal cavity by the
      outside thyroid cartilage membrane flap of healthy side. METHODS: A total of 28
      patients were reviewed who underwent the removal of laryngeal cancer with thyroid
      cartilage membrane excision combined with the repair of laryngeal cavity by the
      outside thyroid cartilage membrane flap in our hospital between 2005 and 2011.
      Respiratory function, swallowing function, and voice quality of patients after
      surgery were evaluated. Survival and recurrence were observed with the follow up
      of five years. RESULTS: The decannulation rate was 96.4%. Aspiration rate was
      10.7%, but aspiration was completely revolved by swallowing training in the
      patients. All patients had the voice quality required for communication although
      they complained of hoarseness after surgery. Tumor recurrence was found in one
      patient and cervical lymph node metastasis in 2 patients. The three-year and five
      year survival rates were 89.3% and 85.7% respectively. CONCLUSION: This surgical
      procedure was applicable in some of patients with T2 laryngeal cancer, with good
      laryngeal functions after surgery.

PMID- 27625133
TI  - [Comparative study of core needle biopsy and fine needle aspiration cytology in
      the diagnosis of neck lymph node diseases with contrast-enhanced ultrasound].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacies of core needle biopsy and fine needle
      aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of neck lymph node diseases with contrast
      enhanced ultrasound. METHODS: A total of 105 patients with enlargement cervical
      lymph nodes were randomly divided into two groups, 49 in group A and 56 in group
      B. All patients were firstly examined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound to
      determine the targeted lymph node and the puncture point. Core needle biopsy was
      performed in Group A and tissues were fixed by with 10% formaldehyde; Fine needle
      aspiration cytology was performed in Group B and extracts were smeared and fixed
      with 95% alcohol. RESULTS: The success rates of sampling were 100.0% in group A
      and 96.4% in group B. The positive rates of pathological examinations were 97.9%
      in group A; and 82.1% in group B, with a significant difference between two
      groups (chi(2) = 6.97, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The pathologically positive rates of
      core needle biopsy is higher than that of fine needle aspiration cytology for the
      diagnosis of neck lymph node diseases with contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

PMID- 27625134
TI  - [A misdiagnostic case of facial nerve neurinoma concurrent with middle ear
      cholesteatoma].

PMID- 27625135
TI  - [Angiosarcoma of cavum conchae invades parotid gland: a case report].

PMID- 27625136
TI  - [Chondrosarcoma of the hyoid bone: a case report].

PMID- 27625137
TI  - [Effect of cochlear implantation on sound localization for patients with
      unilateral sensorineural hearing loss].
AB  - The aim of this review was to examine the current literature regarding
      application of cochlear implantation on patients with unilateral sensorineural
      hearing loss (USNHL) for improvement on sound localization. The literature were
      searched in the PubMed database with 'cochlear implantation AND single-sided
      deafness' or 'cochlear implantation AND unilateral deafness' as keywords. The
      publication date of the articles was up to 2015-2-12. A total of 12 articles were
      included. The results show that the ability of sound localization for most of the
      USNHL subjects (90%) with cochlear implantation was significantly improved than
      that without CI, which suggests that CI is a superior auditory rehabilitation
      treatment than BAHA and CROS hearing aids for patients with USNHL, because of the
      re-establishment of the benefits of binaural hearing. In addition, the benefit of
      CI for USNHL requires a period of auditory experience or training. About 30%
      subjects showed significantly improvement on sound localization ability after CI
      worked for three months. For most of the patients (90%), the sound localization
      ability improved after CI worked for six months. When CI worked for nine months,
      all the subjects would show improvement on sound localization ability. Sound
      localization of the USNHL subjects with a CI is based primarily on interaural
      level differences (ILD) while interaural time differences (ITD) provide little
      advantage or probably not perceptible at all. The younger subject suffers from
      USNHL, the stronger the plasticity of the auditory center shows, which results in
      more obvious degeneration of the affected side and adaptive enhancement of the
      contralateral side of the auditory pathway. Similarly, the longer duration of
      USNHL lead to more obvious degeneration of the affected side and adaptive
      enhancement of the contralateral side. An adaptive enhancement of auditory
      pathway corresponding to the healthy ear will rely more on the monaural spatial
      cues that available to the intact ear to improve the sound localization in the
      horizontal plane. Contrarily, the degeneration of auditory pathway corresponding
      to the USNHL may be limited to re-reorganize from auditory deprivation even after
      CI, which may increase the risk that a few subjects cannot re-establish the
      binaural benefits after CI. Therefore, patients with USNHL should accept CI as
      soon as possible to obtain good binaural benefits, especially for sound
      localization. 

PMID- 27625138
TI  - [Advances in the research of BRAF(V600E) gene mutation correlated with papillary
      thyroid carcinoma].
AB  - The increase in the incidence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a serious
      threat to public health. V-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog
      B(BRAF)(V600E) gene mutation is not only the common genetics factors, but also is
      the early event in process of thyroid carcinogenesis. We mainly illustrate the
      mechanism of BRAF(V600E) gene in genesis and development of PTC and the
      correlation of BRAF(V600E) gene mutation and the clinicopathological
      characteristics of PTC. Finally, we briefly summarize some scientific
      achievements about tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeted for BRAF(V600E) gene and
      their clinical prospect in terms of translation medicine concept. In summary,
      BRAF(V600E) gene is expected to be a new molecular marker of PTC, which will take
      a new hope for individualized precise treatment for patients with PTC. 

PMID- 27625139
TI  - [Diagnosis and treatment of allergic fungal rhinosinusitis].

PMID- 27625141
TI  - Sp1 transcription factor promotes TMEPAI gene expression and contributes to cell
      proliferation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: TMEPAI (transmembrane prostate androgen-induced protein) has been
      reported to be overexpressed during tumour progression; however, little is known
      concerning transcriptional mechanisms regulating TMEPAI gene expression.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, the TMEPAI gene promoter has been
      identified and characterized, and the effects of Sp1 on TMEPAI-induced viability
      of A549 cells were evaluated, using MTT and colony formation assays. RESULTS: We
      found that the sequence between -298 and +24 consists of basal promoter activity
      for TMEPAI. Further analysis indicated that two Sp1-binding sites are crucial for
      maintaining basal transcriptional activity of the TMEPAI promoter, and chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assays confirmed direct binding of Sp1 to the TMEPAI
      promoter. In addition, Sp1 up-regulated TMEPAI protein expression, as well as Sp1
      promoting TMEPAI-induced cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate
      that the sequence between -298 and +24 consists of the basal promoter activity
      for TMEPAI. Sp1 promotes TMEPAI expression and contributes to cell proliferation.

PMID- 27625140
TI  - Roles of Human CYP2A6 and Monkey CYP2A24 and 2A26 Cytochrome P450 Enzymes in the
      Oxidation of 2,5,2',5'-Tetrachlorobiphenyl.
AB  - 2,5,2',5'-Tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB) induced type I binding spectra with
      cytochrome P450 (P450) 2A6 and 2A13, with Ks values of 9.4 and 0.51 uM,
      respectively. However, CYP2A6 oxidized 2,5,2',5'-TCB to form 4-hydroxylated
      products at a much higher rate (~1.0 minute-1) than CYP2A13 (~0.02 minute-1)
      based on analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Formation of
      4-hydroxy-2,5,2',5'-TCB by CYP2A6 was greater than that of 3-hydroxy-2,5,2',5'
      TCB and three other hydroxylated products. Several human P450 enzymes, including
      CYP1A1, 1A2, 1B1, 2B6, 2D6, 2E1, 2C9, and 3A4, did not show any detectable
      activities in oxidizing 2,5,2',5'-TCB. Cynomolgus monkey CYP2A24, which shows 95%
      amino acid identity to human CYP2A6, catalyzed 4-hydroxylation of 2,5,2',5'-TCB
      at a higher rate (~0.3 minute-1) than CYP2A26 (93% identity to CYP2A6, ~0.13
      minute-1) and CYP2A23 (94% identity to CYP2A13, ~0.008 minute-1). None of these
      human and monkey CYP2A enzymes were catalytically active in oxidizing other TCB
      congeners, such as 2,4,3',4'-, 3,4,3',4'-, and 3,5,3',5'-TCB. Molecular docking
      analysis suggested that there are different orientations of interaction of
      2,5,2',5'-TCB with the active sites (over the heme) of human and monkey CYP2A
      enzymes, and that ligand interaction energies (U values) of bound protein-ligand
      complexes show structural relationships of interaction of TCBs and other ligands
      with active sites of CYP2A enzymes. Catalytic differences in human and monkey
      CYP2A enzymes in the oxidation of 2,5,2',5'-TCB are suggested to be due to amino
      acid changes at substrate recognition sites, i.e., V110L, I209S, I300F, V365M,
      S369G, and R372H, based on the comparison of primary sequences.

PMID- 27625142
TI  - Efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin in Asian patients: A pooled analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin, a sodium-glucose
      cotransporter 2 inhibitor, has been demonstrated predominantly in Western
      populations. This study examined the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin in
      Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from eight Phase IIb/III
      double-blind trials of up to 24 weeks, treated with placebo (n = 497) or
      dapagliflozin 5 mg (n = 491) or 10 mg (n = 465). METHODS: Efficacy was assessed
      in the pooled population receiving dapagliflozin 5, 10 mg or placebo over 24
      weeks. Safety and tolerability were assessed by collating data for overall
      adverse events (AEs) and AEs of special interest over the 24-week period.
      RESULTS: Demographic and baseline characteristics were comparable across
      treatment groups. Placebo-corrected adjusted mean changes from baseline at 24
      weeks in the dapagliflozin 5 and 10 mg groups, respectively, were -0.52% and 
      0.58% for HbA1c and -1.34 and -1.80 kg for body weight. Modest reductions in
      blood pressure were also noted with dapagliflozin. Overall, 56.5%, 53.6%, and
      58.7% of patients in the placebo and dapagliflozin 5 and 10 mg groups,
      respectively, experienced AEs, compared with 2.8%, 4.1%, and 2.4% experiencing
      serious AEs. Genital infections were more frequent with dapagliflozin 10 mg than
      placebo, whereas the pattern for urinary tract infections was less clear. A
      transient reduction in mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was noted with
      dapagliflozin, but was not associated with an increased frequency of serious
      renal AEs. In contrast, placebo-corrected reductions in urinary albumin :
      creatinine ratio in patients with albuminuria at baseline suggest a potential
      renoprotective effect of dapagliflozin. CONCLUSION: Dapagliflozin was efficacious
      and well tolerated in Asian patients with T2DM.

PMID- 27625143
TI  - Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic investigation of cyclodextrin-mediated
      asenapine maleate in situ nasal gel for improved bioavailability.
AB  - Asenapine maleate (AM) is used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Its oral and
      sublingual bioavailability is <2% and 35%, respectively, due to first pass
      metabolism and poor solubility. To avoid first pass metabolism and to enhance
      solubility at all nasal pH conditions, thermo-responsive in situ nasal gel
      containing asenapine maleate-hydroxyl propyl beta cyclodextrin inclusion complex
      (AM-HPbetaCD) was prepared in the present study. Inclusion complex (1:1 molar
      ratio) was characterized using UV spectroscopy, FITR and XRD techniques. Selected
      formulation (F8b) contained a thermo-sensitive polymer poloxamer 407 which formed
      gel at 23%w/v concentration and a mucoadhesive polymer PVP K 30 (0.3%w/v) in
      temperature range of 29-34  degrees c. It was analyzed for pH, clarity, gelation
      temperature, mucoadhesive strength, gel strength and rheological parameters using
      Anton paar compact rheometer. This formulation was subjected to in vitro drug
      diffusion study using the Franz diffusion cell. Maximum % drug diffusion was
      obtained at the end of 120 min (99.1 +/- 0.44%w/v). Dissolution in simulated
      nasal fluid was 92.33 +/- 0.15%w/v at the end of 120 min. Locomotor activity was
      improved with nasal gel containing AM-HPbetaCD as compared to AM and AM-HPbetaCD
      oral solution in rats. Cmax for nasal gel was found to be more (9 ng/ml) as
      compared to AM-HPbetaCD (5.5 ng/mL) and oral standard solution (2 ng/ml). Tmax
      was found to be 1.5 h. AUC and thus bioavailability in rats by nasal route was
      increased by 2.5 fold.

PMID- 27625144
TI  - Performance of the XLIMUS Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent in Very Complex
      Lesions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Stent delivery failure may occur especially when treating complex
      coronary artery stenosis. XLIMUS (CARDIONOVUM GmbH, Bonn, Germany) is a new
      sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) with the following features: 1) cobalt chromium
      stent platform, with low (73 MUm) strut thickness, (2) biodegradable polymer, and
      3) potent antiproliferative drug (Sirolimus). Preliminary data suggest that
      XLIMUS SES may be ideal for the treatment of complex lesions. METHODS: In this
      registry, we assessed the deliverability, safety, and efficacy of percutaneous
      coronary interventions (PCI) using the XLIMUS SES in patients undergoing elective
      PCI in native coronary vessels for complex de novo lesions, including severe
      calcification, severe tortuosity, and chronic total occlusion. The primary
      objective of the study is the delivery success of the XLIMUS SES. The secondary
      objective is the 1-year rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE; including all
      cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and repeat revascularization).
      RESULTS: A total of 200 consecutive patients with 255 lesions were included.
      Delivery success was obtained in 196 (98%) patients and in 251 (98.4%) lesions.
      The XLIMUS SES was successfully implanted on the first attempt with a single
      guidewire in 176 (88%) patients and in 208 (81.6%) lesions. Additional techniques
      to facilitate stent delivery (i.e., buddy wire, anchoring-balloon, or GuideLiner
      catheter) were necessary in 47 (18.4%) lesions. Failure in XLIMUS SES
      implantation occurred in 4 (1.6%) lesions. MACE rate at 1 year was 9%.
      CONCLUSIONS: This registry supports the positive performance of the XLIMUS SES in
      the treatment of complex coronary artery lesions.

PMID- 27625145
TI  - Specific Lipid Binding of Membrane Proteins in Detergent Micelles Characterized
      by NMR and Molecular Dynamics.
AB  - Many membrane proteins bind specifically to lipids as an integral component of
      their structures. The ability of detergents to support lipid binding is thus an
      important consideration when solubilizing membrane proteins for structural
      studies. In particular, the zwitterionic phosphocholine (PC)-based detergents,
      which have been widely used in solution NMR studies of channels and transporters,
      are controversial because of their strong solubilization power and thus perceived
      as more denaturing than nonionic detergents such as the maltosides. Here, we
      investigate the ability of the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier (AAC) to
      specifically bind cardiolipin, a mitochondrial lipid important for the carrier
      function, in dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles. We found that in DPC, the AAC
      specifically binds cardiolipin in a manner consistent with the bound cardiolipins
      found in the crystal structures of the AAC determined in n-decyl beta-d
      maltoside. Our results suggest that PC detergent is compatible with specific
      lipid binding and that PC detergent mixed with the relevant lipid represents a
      viable solubilization system for NMR studies of membrane proteins.

PMID- 27625146
TI  - Periapical Microsurgery: The Effects of Locally Injected Dexamethasone on Pain,
      Swelling, Bruising, and Wound Healing.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this prospective, double-blind, randomized clinical
      trial was to evaluate the postoperative healing of endodontic periapical
      microsurgery after local administration of dexamethasone. METHODS: Sixty patients
      were divided into 2 groups. The dexamethasone group received a single local
      submucosal injection of 4 mg dexamethasone, and the placebo group received a
      submucosal injection of saline solution at the conclusion of standardized
      periapical microsurgery. Acetaminophen and hydrocodone/acetaminophen were
      prescribed for pain relief. A Likert-like 6-point scale was used for self
      evaluation of pain, bruising, swelling, and wound healing at 24, 48, 72, 96 hours
      and at 1 week. The number of tablets taken was registered. Data were analyzed
      using the chi-square and Fisher exact tests at a significance level of P < .05.
      RESULTS: No improvements in pain, bruising, and wound healing were registered at
      any time interval. No difference was found in the number of tablets taken for
      pain relief. Subjects who received the dexamethasone injection reported less
      swelling 24 hours after periapical microsurgery (P < .05) but showed no
      significant benefit for the longer follow-up periods. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      shows that a 4-mg dose of dexamethasone administered through a local submucosal
      injection after periapical microsurgery has minimal impact on pain, bruising, and
      apparent wound healing at any time over a 7-day interval, and the impact on
      swelling seems limited.

PMID- 27625147
TI  - Evaluation of the Root Canal Morphology of Molars by Using Cone-beam Computed
      Tomography in a Brazilian Population: Part I.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: One of the factors influencing the success of endodontic treatment
      is anatomic knowledge of the root canal system. Because of the difficulties of
      using conventional radiographic methods to evaluate root canals, cone-beam
      computed tomography (CBCT) has been very useful for evaluating the morphology of
      root canals. The purpose of this study was to use CBCT to evaluate differences in
      the anatomy of the mandibular first molars with respect to the patient's sex and
      the location of the tooth in a Brazilian population. METHODS: The study included
      CBCT images from 198 patients (106 women and 92 men), representing a total of 342
      teeth. RESULTS: Of the 342 mandibular first molars included in the study, 0.3%
      had 2 canals, 75.1% had 3 canals, 23.7% had 4 canals, and 0.9% had 5 canals. The
      ages of the patients ranged from 19 to 81 years old, with an average age of 48.9
      years. Women were more likely to have 2 canals on the distal root of the right
      side than men were (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Because the Brazilian population has
      differences in root canal morphology compared with other populations around the
      world, further studies are needed to aid endodontic diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 27625148
TI  - Eight-Year Retrospective Study of the Critical Time Lapse between Root Canal
      Completion and Crown Placement: Its Influence on the Survival of Endodontically
      Treated Teeth.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of factors
      associated with various coronal restorative modalities after root canal treatment
      (RCT) on the survival of endodontically treated teeth (ETT) and to assess the
      effect of time lapse between RCT and crown placement after RCT to form a tooth
      loss hazard model. METHODS: Computerized analysis was performed for all patients
      who received posterior RCT from 2008 to 2016 in the graduate endodontic
      department. Data collected included dates of RCT, type of post-endodontic
      restoration, and time of extraction if extracted. Teeth that received crown after
      RCT were also divided into 2 groups: receiving crown before 4 months and after 4
      months after RCT. Data were analyzed by using Kaplan-Meier log-rank test and Cox
      regression model (alpha = 0.05) by using SPPS Statistic 21. RESULTS: Type of
      restoration after RCT significantly affected the survival of ETT (P = .001). ETT
      that received composite/amalgam buildup restorations were 2.29 times more likely
      to be extracted compared with ETT that received crown (hazard ratio, 2.29;
      confidence interval, 1.29-4.06; P = .005). Time of crown placement after RCT was
      also significantly correlated with survival rate of ETT (P = .001). Teeth that
      received crown 4 months after RCT were almost 3 times more likely to get
      extracted compared with teeth that received crown within 4 months of RCT (hazard
      ratio, 3.38; confidence interval, 1.56-6.33; P = .002). CONCLUSIONS: Patients may
      benefit by maintaining their natural dentition by timely placement of crown after
      RCT, which otherwise may have been extracted and replaced by implant because of
      any delay in crown placement.

PMID- 27625150
TI  - A unique and often overlooked cause of Blepharophimosis: "Whistling face
      syndrome".

PMID- 27625149
TI  - Thiol-based switch mechanism of virulence regulator AphB modulates oxidative
      stress response in Vibrio cholerae.
AB  - Bacterial pathogens display versatile gene expression to adapt to changing
      surroundings. For example, Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera,
      utilizes distinct genetic programs to combat reactive oxygen species (ROS) in
      aquatic environments or during host infection. We previously reported that the
      virulence activator AphB in V. cholerae is involved in ROS resistance. Here by
      performing a genetic screen, we show that AphB represses ROS resistance gene
      ohrA, which is also repressed by another regulator, OhrR. Reduced forms of both
      AphB and OhrR directly bind to the ohrA promoter and repress its expression,
      whereas organic hydroperoxides such as cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) deactivate AphB
      and OhrR. OhrA is critical for V. cholerae adult mouse colonization but is
      dispensable when the mice are treated with antioxidants. Furthermore, similar to
      our previous finding that AphB and OhrR exhibit different reduction rates during
      the shift from oxic to anoxic environments, we found that AphB is also oxidized
      more slowly than OhrR under peroxide stress or exposure to oxygen. This
      differential regulation optimizes the expression of ohrA and contributes to V.
      cholerae's ability to survive in a variety of environmental niches that contain
      different levels of ROS.

PMID- 27625151
TI  - Synthesis and mechanisms of action of novel harmine derivatives as potential
      antitumor agents.
AB  - A series of novel harmine derivatives bearing a benzylindine substituent in
      position-1 of beta-carboline ring were synthesized and evaluated as antitumor
      agents. The N2-benzylated beta-carboline derivatives 3a-g represented the most
      interesting anticancer activities and compound 3c was found to be the most active
      agent to diverse cancer cell lines such as gastric carcinoma, melanoma and
      colorectal cancer. Notably, compound 3c showed low toxicity to normal cells. The
      treatment significantly induced cell apoptosis. Mechanistically, PI3K/AKT
      signaling pathway mediated compound 3c-induced apoptosis. Compound 3c inhibited
      phosphorylation of AKT and promoted the production of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS). The ROS scavenger, LNAC and GSH, could disturb the effect of compound 3c
      induced apoptosis and PI3K activity inhibitor LY294002 synergistically enhanced
      compound 3c efficacy. Moreover, the results from nude mice xenograft model showed
      that compound 3c treatment effectively inhibited tumor growth and decreased tumor
      weight. Collectively, our results demonstrated that compound 3c exerts apoptotic
      effect in cancer cells via suppression of phosphorylated AKT and evocation of ROS
      generation, which suggested that compound 3c might be served as a promising
      therapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

PMID- 27625154
TI  - Energy expenditure estimation in beta-blocker-medicated cardiac patients by
      combining heart rate and body movement data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of energy expenditure provides an opportunity to
      monitor physical activity during cardiac rehabilitation. However, the available
      assessment methods, based on the combination of heart rate (HR) and body movement
      data, are not applicable for patients using beta-blocker medication. Therefore,
      we developed an energy expenditure prediction model for beta-blocker-medicated
      cardiac rehabilitation patients. METHODS: Sixteen male cardiac rehabilitation
      patients (age: 55.8 +/- 7.3 years, weight: 93.1 +/- 11.8 kg) underwent a physical
      activity protocol with 11 low- to moderate-intensity common daily life
      activities. Energy expenditure was assessed using a portable indirect
      calorimeter. HR and body movement data were recorded during the protocol using
      unobtrusive wearable devices. In addition, patients underwent a symptom-limited
      exercise test and resting metabolic rate assessment. Energy expenditure
      estimation models were developed using multivariate regression analyses based on
      HR and body movement data and/or patient characteristics. In addition, a HR-flex
      model was developed. RESULTS: The model combining HR and body movement data and
      patient characteristics showed the highest correlation and lowest error (r2 =
      0.84, root mean squared error = 0.834 kcal/minute) with total energy expenditure.
      The method based on individual calibration data (HR-flex) showed lower accuracy
      (i2 = 0.83, root mean squared error = 0.992 kcal/minute). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results show that combining HR and body movement data improves the accuracy of
      energy expenditure prediction models in cardiac patients, similar to methods that
      have been developed for healthy subjects. The proposed methodology does not
      require individual calibration and is based on the data that are available in
      clinical practice.

PMID- 27625156
TI  - Novel harmful recessive haplotypes for reproductive traits in pigs.
AB  - Harmful recessive haplotypes for reproductive and fertility traits have
      previously been detected in cattle, but so far, no studies have been published
      for pigs. The aim of this study was to locate chromosomal regions with putative
      lethal haplotypes and estimate the effects of the identified haplotypes on
      reproductive traits in the Finnish Yorkshire pig breed. We used marker genotypes
      of 871 Finnish Yorkshire AI boars, genotyped with Illumina's PorcineSNP60
      BeadChip. The analysed traits were number of stillborn piglets in first (NSB1)
      and later (NSB2) parities, total number of piglets born in first and later
      parities and piglet mortality between birth and weaning in first and later
      parities. A haplotype was claimed as a putative lethal if it was common in the
      population, but no homozygous animals were found. We detected altogether 26
      putative lethal haplotypes, but only one haplotype on chromosome 8 (position
      107.0-113.3 Mb) was significantly associated with traits NSB1 and NSB2. Three
      possible candidate genes were found in this chromosomal region: MAD2LI, FGF2 and
      ANXA5. Further analysis is needed to confirm the role of these genes on pig
      reproductive performance.

PMID- 27625157
TI  - Biofilms of vaginal Lactobacillus in vitro test.
AB  - This paper focuses on biofilms of Lactobacillus spp. - a type of normal flora
      isolated from healthy human vaginas of women of childbearing age; thereupon, it
      broadens the research scope of investigation of vaginal normal flora. The static
      slide culture method was adopted to foster biofilms, marked by specific
      fluorescence staining. Laser scanning confocal and scanning electron microscopy
      were used to observe the microstructure of the biofilms. Photographs taken from
      the microstructure were analysed to calculate the density of the biofilms. The
      body of Lactobacillus spp., though red, turned yellow when interacting with the
      green extracellular polysaccharides. The structure of the biofilm and aquaporin
      within the biofilm were imaged. Lactobacillus density increases over time. This
      study provides convincing evidence that Lactobacillus can form biofilms and grow
      over time in vitro. This finding establishes an important and necessary condition
      for selecting proper strains for the pharmaceutics of vaginal ecology.

PMID- 27625155
TI  - Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and cancer among survivors of
      myocardial infarction: A 20-year follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested a carcinogenic effect of exposure to
      traffic-related air pollution. Recently, higher rates of cancer incidence were
      observed among myocardial infarction survivors compared with the general
      population. We examined the association between chronic exposure to nitrogen
      oxides, a proxy measure for traffic-related air pollution, and cancer incidence
      and mortality in a cohort of myocardial infarction patients. METHODS: Patients
      aged <=65 years admitted to hospital in central Israel with a first myocardial
      infarction in 1992-1993 were followed to 2013 for cancer incidence and cause
      specific mortality. Data on sociodemographic and cancer risk factors were
      obtained, including time-varying information on smoking. Using land use
      regression models, annual averages of nitrogen oxides during follow-up were
      estimated individually according to home addresses. Cox proportional hazards
      models were constructed to study the relationships with cancer outcomes. RESULTS:
      During a mean follow-up of 16 (SD 7) years, 262 incident cancers and 105 cancer
      deaths were identified among 1393 cancer-free patients at baseline (mean age 54
      years; 81% men). In adjusted models, a 10 ppb increase in mean nitrogen oxide
      exposure was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.06 (95% confidence interval
      (CI) 0.96-1.18) for cancer incidence and HR of 1.08 (95% CI 0.93-1.26) for cancer
      mortality. The association with lung, bladder, kidney or prostate cancer
      (previously linked to air pollution) was stronger (HR 1.16; 95% CI 1.00-1.33).
      CONCLUSIONS: Chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution may constitute an
      environmental risk factor for cancer post-myocardial infarction. Variation in the
      strength of association between specific cancers needs to be explored further.

PMID- 27625158
TI  - Effects of seed priming, salinity and methyl jasmonate treatment on bioactive
      composition of Brassica oleracea var. capitata (white and red varieties) sprouts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brassica spp. sprouts are rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds,
      especially glucosinolates and phenolic acid derivatives, and the composition of
      these young germinating seeds can be altered by several external factors. In this
      study two cabbage varieties (Brassica oleracea var. capitata, red and white) were
      studied using seed priming (KCl 50 mmol L-1 ; NaCl 150 mmol L-1 ) and MeJA
      spraying (25 umol L-1 ) to elicit the phytochemical content of edible sprouts.
      RESULTS: The red variety was richer in glucosinolates and phenolic compounds than
      the white one but not in mineral nutrients. Seed priming enhanced the potassium
      (K) content and flavonols in both varieties, while the total content of
      glucosinolates was reduced after seed priming only in the red variety. The white
      variety responded better than the red one to KCl seed priming, increasing the
      flavonols (89%). Salinity did not induce any change in the phytochemical content
      of these two varieties. Elicitation with sprayed MeJA was effective in
      significantly increasing the content of indolic glucosinolates glucobrassicin
      (5.7-fold) and neoglucobrassicin (9.7-fold) in the red cultivar. In the white
      variety, in addition to glucobrassicin (19.4-fold) and neoglucobrassicin (9.4
      fold), 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin (2.3-fold) was also enhanced. MeJA also elicited
      significant amounts of anthocyanins (41%) and chlorogenic acid derivatives (329%)
      in the white variety. CONCLUSION: KCl seed priming and MeJA elicitation promoted
      the phytochemical composition of the cabbage varieties, especially in the white
      variety. The application of NaCl resulted in less efficient elicitation. (c) 2016
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27625159
TI  - Splenic marginal zone lymphoma: An indolent malignancy leading to the development
      of neurolymphomatosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute neuropathic pain and weakness with a sensory level in a
      patient with a history of lymphoma has a broad differential diagnosis. Evaluation
      of such a presentation often includes MRI, neurophysiologic studies, and
      cerebrospinal fluid evaluation. We report a patient with splenic marginal zone
      lymphoma who developed acute weakness, sensory loss, and neuropathic pain due to
      neurolymphomatosis. METHODS: Clinical evaluation, MRI of the lumbar spine,
      cerebrospinal fluid evaluation, electrodiagnostic (EDx) studies, and biopsy of a
      dorsal nerve root were undertaken. RESULTS: EDx studies were consistent with an
      acute, acquired demyelinating sensorimotor polyradiculoneuropathy. Treatment with
      intravenous immunoglobulin and plasma exchange did not lead to clinical
      improvement. Ultimately, biopsy of a dorsal nerve root was performed and revealed
      neurolymphomatosis. CONCLUSION: This case emphasizes that, when it can be
      performed safely, biopsy for suspected neurolymphomatosis is imperative for
      appropriate diagnosis and treatment. Muscle Nerve 55: 440-444, 2017.

PMID- 27625160
TI  - Idiopathic polyhydramnios at term and pregnancy outcomes: a multicenter
      observational study.
AB  - AIM: To assess pregnancy outcomes in pregnancies with idiopathic polyhydramnios
      at term. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 106 225 term
      pregnancies from 37 hospitals in China. Maternal and fetal outcomes in
      pregnancies with idiopathic polyhydramnios were compared with pregnancies with
      normal amniotic fluid. The primary outcome was intra-uterine fetal death (IUFD).
      RESULTS: In all, 307 out of 106 225 (0.3%) had idiopathic polyhydramnios at term,
      276 of which were mild and 31 of which were moderate-severe. Compared to term
      pregnancies with normal amniotic fluid, pregnancies idiopathic polyhydramnios was
      associated with over 24-fold higher risk for IUFD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]
      24.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.3-82.0), macrosomia (aOR 2.8, 95%CI 2.0
      3.8), malpresentation (aOR 2.5, 95%CI 1.7-3.7), cesarean delivery (aOR 2.5, 95%CI
      1.7-3.7) and low APGAR scores at 5 min (aOR 4.3, 95%CI 2.4-7.8), which increased
      with severity of idiopathic polyhydramnios. CONCLUSION: Term pregnancies with
      idiopathic polyhydramnios, especially moderate-severe ones are at a significantly
      increased rate for adverse pregnancy outcome. Increased antepartum surveillance
      of fetal well-being and timed delivery are warranted.

PMID- 27625161
TI  - Future climate stimulates population out-breaks by relaxing constraints on
      reproduction.
AB  - When conditions are stressful, reproduction and population growth are reduced,
      but when favourable, reproduction and population size can boom. Theory suggests
      climate change is an increasingly stressful environment, predicting extinctions
      or decreased abundances. However, if favourable conditions align, such as an
      increase in resources or release from competition and predation, future climate
      can fuel population growth. Tests of such population growth models and the
      mechanisms by which they are enabled are rare. We tested whether
      intergenerational increases in population size might be facilitated by
      adjustments in reproductive success to favourable environmental conditions in a
      large-scale mesocosm experiment. Herbivorous amphipod populations responded to
      future climate by increasing 20 fold, suggesting that future climate might relax
      environmental constraints on fecundity. We then assessed whether future climate
      reduces variation in mating success, boosting population fecundity and size. The
      proportion of gravid females doubled, and variance in phenotypic variation of
      male secondary sexual characters (i.e. gnathopods) was significantly reduced.
      While future climate can enhance individual growth and survival, it may also
      reduce constraints on mechanisms of reproduction such that enhanced intra
      generational productivity and reproductive success transfers to subsequent
      generations. Where both intra and intergenerational production is enhanced,
      population sizes might boom.

PMID- 27625163
TI  - Association between outer retinal alterations and microvascular changes in
      intermediate stage age-related macular degeneration: an optical coherence
      tomography angiography study.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate associations between changes in retinal vessels and
      alterations detected by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)
      scans in intermediate stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS:
      Thirty eyes of 30 patients with intermediate dry AMD were enrolled in the study.
      Of the cohort study, 15 eyes (changes-AMD group) showed OCT changes preceding the
      development of drusen-associated atrophy. A control group of healthy subjects was
      selected for statistical comparisons. All patients underwent an ophthalmologic
      evaluation, including OCT angiography (OCTA) and SD-OCT scans. Main outcome
      measures were superficial vessel density, deep vessel density, macular thickness.
      RESULTS: Foveal macular thickness was 215.2+/-32.9 MUm in changes-AMD patients
      and was significantly thinner than no changes-AMD patients (248.3+/-23.3 MUm,
      p=0.002) and healthy subjects (268.1+/-19.2 MUm, p<0.0001). Furthermore, in the
      parafoveal area, the thicknesses of both the inner retina and the outer retina
      were reduced in the changes-AMD group, after comparison with the two other
      groups. Parafoveal superficial vascular plexus flow density was 43.3+/-2.7% in
      changes-AMD patients and was decreased compared with the no changes-AMD group
      (48.7+/-3.3%, p=0.003) and healthy controls (50.4+/-6.1%, p=0.001). A direct
      correlation of the superficial plexus flow density with the inner retina
      parafoveal macular thickness (R2=0.761, p=0.028) was found. CONCLUSIONS: We
      demonstrated an association between SD-OCT signs and retinal blood supply in
      patients with intermediate AMD and we showed that patients with signs predicting
      development of geographic atrophy have a reduced flow in superficial vascular
      plexus and damage of the inner and the outer retina.

PMID- 27625164
TI  - Morphological and functional changes in recalcitrant diabetic macular oedema
      after intravitreal dexamethasone implant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of dexamethasone implant in eyes affected by
      recalcitrant diabetic macular oedema (DME) associated with proliferative diabetic
      retinopathy (PDR). METHODS: Thirteen consecutive patients with centre-involving
      DME associated with PDR, central macular thickness (CMT) >=300 um, previous
      therapy with panretinal photocoagulation, focal/grid laser treatment and anti
      vascular endothelial growth factor injection were prospectively enrolled. A
      complete ophthalmological examination included: best-corrected visual acuity
      (BCVA) assessment, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and fluorescein
      angiography. After the first dexamethasone implant, each patient was evaluated on
      a bi-monthly basis and re-treated according to persistence/recurrence of DME from
      the fourth month on. Primary outcome measures were the changes in mean BCVA and
      CMT at the 12-month examination. Secondary outcome measures included changes to
      the outer retinal layers. RESULTS: BCVA improved from 0.99+/-0.31 LogMAR
      (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; Snellen Equivalent: 20/196) to
      0.77+/-0.25 LogMAR (Snellen Equivalent: 20/117) (p<0.001) at the 12-month
      examination. CMT passed from baseline value 510+/-169 um to 423+/-171 um
      (p=0.018) at 12 months. The data showed a significant improvement in the
      integrity of the external limiting membrane (ELM, p=0.02), the ellipsoid zone
      (EZ, p=0.025) and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE, p=0.008), significantly
      correlated with the upturn in BCVA. CONCLUSIONS: Dexamethasone implant results in
      a recovery of morphology of the outer retinal layers even in patients displaying
      a compromised clinical situation. The qualitative status of the ELM and EZ might
      provide prognostic value for the final visual acuity and disease regression.

PMID- 27625165
TI  - Heart rate control with oral metoprolol in a patient with Short Bowel Syndrome.

PMID- 27625162
TI  - Proteinase activated receptor-2 counterbalances the vascular effects of
      endothelin-1 in fibrotic tight-skin mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The majority of the severe vascular complications in
      fibrosis are a consequence of a deregulated activity of mediators controlling
      vasomotor tone. One of the most important of these mediators is endothelin-1 (ET
      1). Here, we have investigated the role of proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR2)
      in the vascular dysfunction in a model of fibrosis, using tight-skin (Tsk) mice.
      EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Aortas were collected from Tsk, transgenic over-expressing
      PAR2 (TgPAR2), PAR2 deficient (PAR2-/- ) or the corresponding WT mice.
      Histological and immunohistochemistry analysis for alpha-smooth muscle actin,
      PAR2 and ET-1 receptors were performed on aorta sections. Vascular responses to
      phenylephrine, ET-1 and PAR2 activating peptide (PAR2-AP) were assessed on aortic
      rings. KEY RESULTS: In aortas from Tsk mice, responses to phenylephrine were
      reduced, contractions to ET-1 were increased and vasorelaxation to PAR2-AP was
      enhanced. These alterations matched changes observed in whole vessel architecture
      such as vascular fibre re-organization, increased collagen deposition and
      enhanced alpha-smooth muscle actin expression. Expression of both ETA receptors
      and PAR2 was enhanced in Tsk mice. Antagonism of PAR2 potentiated vascular
      effects of ET-1, whereas antagonism of ETA receptors increased vasorelaxation
      induced by PAR2-AP. In TgPAR2 mice, responses to ET-1 and ET-1 plasma levels were
      reduced. Conversely, PAR2-/- mice showed enhanced ET-1 induced contraction in
      aortic rings and higher circulating ET-1 levels. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:
      Our data show that PAR2 counterbalanced enhanced contractions to ET-1 in aortas
      from Tsk mice. PAR2 could represent a possible target for novel drugs in the
      treatment of vascular complications in fibrosis. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is
      part of a themed section on Targeting Inflammation to Reduce Cardiovascular
      Disease Risk. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.22/issuetoc and
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcp.v82.4/issuetoc.

PMID- 27625166
TI  - Time trends of technology mediated communication with friends among bullied and
      not bullied children in four Nordic countries between 2001 and 2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Friends are important in childhood and adolescence, especially to
      bullied children. Technology mediated communication (TMC) could be used both to
      develop and maintain friendship. The present study examined (1) trends in the use
      of TMC with friends between 2001 and 2010; (2) possible differences between
      bullied and not bullied children and (3) differences between children with few
      close friends and children with several close friends. METHODS: Data were
      obtained from three waves of the serial cross-sectional Health Behaviour in
      School-Aged Children survey conducted in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden
      during 2001/2002, 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. The total sample consisted of 65 953
      children aged 11, 13 and 15. RESULTS: Two trends were observed. The first trend
      showed an increased use of TMC in all countries. Children that were not bullied
      and/or had several close friends had increased their use of TMC with friends from
      2001 to 2010. The second trend was applicable only for bullied children with few
      close friends; they had not as other children increased their use of TMC and thus
      remained at the same levels as in 2001/2002. CONCLUSIONS: Bullied children with
      few close friends were excluded from communication forums that usually allow
      children to maintain and develop friendships. This is a concern because friends
      are important during childhood and adolescence, especially for bullied children.

PMID- 27625167
TI  - Classification and Surgical Repair of Injuries Sustained During Transvenous Lead
      Extraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injuries to cardiac and venous structures during pacemaker and
      defibrillator lead extraction are serious complications that have been studied
      poorly. The incidence of these injuries is unknown but likely underestimated. No
      systematic multicenter review of these injuries or their management has been
      undertaken. METHODS AND RESULTS: We interrogated our mandatory administrative
      database for all excimer laser extractions that sustained a cardiac or venous
      injury in the province of British Columbia. Injuries were classified according to
      presentation and compared with respect to nature of injury, type of repair,
      utilization of cardiopulmonary bypass, and outcome. Of 1082 excimer laser
      extractions over 19 years, 33 sustained an injury (3.0%). The majority of
      injuries occurred in women (21/33; 63.6%), and median age of oldest lead
      extracted was 10.8 (7.5, 12.2) years. A type 1 presentation, defined as
      circulatory collapse, was found in 12/33 patients (36.4%). A type 2 presentation,
      defined as progressive hypotension responsive to treatment, was found in 20/33
      patients (60.6%). Over half the patients had a moderate or large injury, and
      cardiopulmonary bypass was required in 13 patients with extensive injury. Despite
      the presence of devastating injuries, the immediate availability of aggressive
      salvage measures resulted in a survival of 87.9% of patients at 30 days.
      CONCLUSIONS: The immediate availability of a cardiovascular surgeon,
      perfusionist, and cardiopulmonary bypass pump facilitates lifesaving repair of
      injuries sustained during laser lead extraction. The size and complexity of
      injury correlates closely with the presentation, blood loss, and need for
      cardiopulmonary bypass to facilitate repair.

PMID- 27625168
TI  - Mechanisms of Posterior Fascicular Tachycardia: The Relationship Between High
      Frequency Potentials and the Ventricular Myocardium.

PMID- 27625169
TI  - The Fast Zone for Reentry.

PMID- 27625171
TI  - Idiopathic Outflow Tract Ventricular Arrhythmia Ablation: Are We Ablating Too
      Much or Too Little?

PMID- 27625170
TI  - Prevalence and Electrocardiographic and Electrophysiological Characteristics of
      Idiopathic Ventricular Arrhythmias Originating From Intramural Foci in the Left
      Ventricular Outflow Tract.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) originating from the left
      ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) sometimes require catheter ablation from both
      the endocardial and epicardial sides for their elimination, suggesting the
      presence of intramural VA foci. This study investigated the prevalence and
      electrocardiographic and electrophysiological characteristics of these idiopathic
      intramural LVOT VAs when compared with the idiopathic endocardial and epicardial
      LVOT VAs. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 82 consecutive VAs with origins in the
      aortomitral continuity (n=30), LV summit (n=34), and intramural site (n=18). The
      maximum deflection index (the time to the maximum deflection in the precordial
      leads/QRS duration) was the largest in LV summit VAs (0.52+/-0.07), smallest in
      aortomitral continuity VAs (0.45+/-0.06), and midrange in intramural VAs (0.49+/
      0.05). The electrocardiographic and electrophysiological characteristics of the
      intramural LVOT VAs were similar to those of the aortomitral continuity VAs. The
      intramural LVOT VAs exhibited a significantly smaller R-wave amplitude ratio in
      leads III to II, and ratio of the Q-wave amplitude in leads aVL to aVR, and a
      significantly earlier and later local ventricular activation time relative to the
      QRS onset at the His bundle and successful ablation sites than the LV summit VAs,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Intramural sites account for a significant proportion
      of LVOT VAs. The electrocardiographic and electrophysiological characteristics of
      the idiopathic intramural LVOT VAs were midrange between those of the idiopathic
      endocardial and epicardial LVOT VAs, and more similar to those of the idiopathic
      endocardial LVOT VAs than those of the idiopathic epicardial LVOT VAs.

PMID- 27625173
TI  - A simple method of tuning parallel cascade controllers for unstable FOPTD
      systems.
AB  - A simple method is proposed to design parallel cascade controllers for open loop
      unstable processes. A proportional (P)controller is considered for the secondary
      loop and a proportional integral (PI) controller is considered for the primary
      loop (P/PI control configuration). Coefficients of the corresponding powers of s
      (Laplace variable), in the numerator is matched with the coefficients of the
      corresponding powers of s in the denominator of a closed loop transfer function
      for a servo problem. Three simulation case studies are considered in this paper.
      The first case involves a stable secondary loop process and an unstable primary
      process, the second case involves both unstable primary and secondary processes
      and the third one, a simulation application to a nonlinear bioreactor model
      equations. For comparison purposes, P/PI controller design is also carried out by
      improved simultaneous relay autotuning method, synthesis method and minimizing
      ISE criterion method. It is found that the proposed method gives a better
      performance. Robust stability analysis using the complimentary sensitivity
      function is carried out. The present method is found to be more robust.

PMID- 27625172
TI  - New Hinfinity control approaches for interval time-delay systems with
      disturbances and their applications.
AB  - In this paper, the Hinfinity performance and control problems for linear systems
      with interval state or input delays and disturbances are investigated. In order
      to exploit more information on the delay range, the quadruple -integral terms and
      quadratic forms of triple integrals are introduced into the Lyapunov-Krasovskii
      functional (LKF). Particularly, an improved integral inequality is developed for
      estimation of the cross terms in triple-integral type, which displays significant
      improvement over the Wirtinger inequality. As a result, a less conservative
      Hinfinity performance criterion is derived without requiring many slack
      variables. Based on the criterion, the Hinfinity controller design approaches are
      obtained. Besides the numerical examples, the applications to the practical
      systems are also provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed
      approaches.

PMID- 27625174
TI  - Addressing the challenges of cross-jurisdictional data linkage between a national
      clinical quality registry and government-held health data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the challenges of obtaining state and nationally held data
      for linkage to a non-government national clinical registry. METHODS: We reviewed
      processes negotiated to achieve linkage between the Australian Stroke Clinical
      Registry (AuSCR), the National Death Index, and state held hospital data. Minutes
      from working group meetings, national workshop meetings, and documented
      communications with health department staff were reviewed and summarised.
      RESULTS: Time from first application to receipt of data was more than two years
      for most state data-sets. Several challenges were unique to linkages involving
      identifiable data from a non-government clinical registry. Concerns about
      consent, the re-identification of data, duality of data custodian roles and data
      ownership were raised. Requirements involved the development of data flow
      methods, separating roles and multiple governance and ethics approvals. Approval
      to link death data presented the fewest barriers. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge,
      this is the first time in Australia that person-level data from a clinical
      quality registry has been linked to hospital and mortality data across multiple
      Australian jurisdictions. Implications for Public Health: The administrative load
      of obtaining linked data makes projects such as this burdensome but not
      impossible. An improved national centralised strategy for data linkage in
      Australia is urgently needed.

PMID- 27625175
TI  - Neuroprotective effect of docosahexaenoic acid nanoemulsion on erectile function
      in a rat model of bilateral cavernous nerve injury.
AB  - There is an unmet need for treatment of erectile dysfunction resulting from
      radical prostatectomy and cavernous nerve (CN) injury. Given the neuroprotective
      properties of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), we investigated its effect on penile
      functional and structural recovery in a rat model of bilateral cavernous nerve
      injury. Rats were subject to CN injury and received intraperitoneal
      administration of either vehicle or a DHA nanoemulsion (nano-DHA) at 10, 50, or
      250 MUg/kg. Functional testing and histological analyses were performed at 28
      days post-injury. The maximum intracavernosal pressure (ICP) and other measures
      of erectile function were significantly higher in the nano-DHA groups than in the
      vehicle group (p < 0.05). The ratio of area of expression of neuronal nitric
      oxide synthase (nNOS)/beta-III tubulin, numbers of axon and smooth muscle cell
      content were significantly higher in the 50 MUg/kg nano-DHA group than in the
      vehicle group (p < 0.05). A qualitative increase in the smooth muscle
      cells/collagen ratio and decrease in apoptosis was observed in the nano-DHA
      groups relative to the vehicle group: however, these differences were not
      statistically significant. Our data demonstrate that nano-DHA, particularly the
      50 MUg/kg regimen, improves erectile function after bilateral CN injury in rats
      by neuroprotection and other anti-fibrotic and anti-apoptotic mechanisms.

PMID- 27625177
TI  - Oscillation of mineral compositions in Core SG-1b, western Qaidam Basin, NE
      Tibetan Plateau.
AB  - Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau since the Late Miocene has greatly affected the
      nature of sediments deposited in the Qaidam Basin. However, due to the scarcity
      of continuously dated sediment records, we know little about how minerals
      responded to this uplift. In order to understand this response, we here present
      results from the high-resolution mineral profile from a borehole (7.3-1.6 Ma) in
      the Basin, which shows systematic oscillations of various evaporite and clay
      minerals that can be linked to the variation of regional climate and tectonic
      history. In particular, x-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses show that carbonate
      minerals consist mainly of calcite and aragonite, with minor ankerite and
      dolomite. Evaporates consist of gypsum, celesite and halite. Clay minerals are
      principally Fe-Mg illite, mixed layers of illite/smectite and chlorite, with
      minor kaolinite and smectite. Following implications can be drawn from the
      oscillations of these minerals phases: (a) the paleolake was brackish with high
      salinity after 7.3 Ma, while an abrupt change in the chemical composition of
      paleolake water (e.g. Mg/Ca ratio, SO4(2-) concentration, salinity) occurred at
      3.3 Ma; (b) the three changes at ~6.0 Ma, 4.5-4.1 Ma and 3.3 Ma were in response
      to rapid erosions/uplift of the basin;

PMID- 27625176
TI  - High-throughput sequencing-based analysis of endogenetic fungal communities
      inhabiting the Chinese Cordyceps reveals unexpectedly high fungal diversity.
AB  - Chinese Cordyceps, known in Chinese as "DongChong XiaCao", is a parasitic complex
      of a fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) and a caterpillar. The current study
      explored the endogenetic fungal communities inhabiting Chinese Cordyceps. Samples
      were collected from five different geographical regions of Qinghai and Tibet, and
      the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-1 sequences from each sample
      were obtained using Illumina high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that
      Ascomycota was the dominant fungal phylum in Chinese Cordyceps and its soil
      microhabitat from different sampling regions. Among the Ascomycota, 65 genera
      were identified, and the abundant operational taxonomic units showed the
      strongest sequence similarity to Ophiocordyceps, Verticillium, Pseudallescheria,
      Candida and Ilyonectria Not surprisingly, the genus Ophiocordyceps was the
      largest among the fungal communities identified in the fruiting bodies and
      external mycelial cortices of Chinese Cordyceps. In addition, fungal communities
      in the soil microhabitats were clustered separately from the external mycelial
      cortices and fruiting bodies of Chinese Cordyceps from different sampling
      regions. There was no significant structural difference in the fungal communities
      between the fruiting bodies and external mycelial cortices of Chinese Cordyceps.
      This study revealed an unexpectedly high diversity of fungal communities
      inhabiting the Chinese Cordyceps and its microhabitats.

PMID- 27625178
TI  - Innovative treatment trains of bottom ash (BA) from municipal solid waste
      incineration (MSWI) in Germany.
AB  - The industrial sector of bottom ash (BA) treatment from municipal solid waste
      incineration (MSWI) in Germany is currently changing. In order to increase the
      recovery rates of metals or to achieve a higher quality of mineral aggregates
      derived from BA, new procedures have been either implemented to existing plants
      or completely new treatment plants have been built recently. Three treatment
      trains, which are designated as entire sequences of selected processing
      techniques of BA, are introduced and compared. One treatment train is mainly
      characterized by usage of a high speed rotation accelerator whereas another is
      operating completely without crushing. In the third treatment train the BA is
      processed wet directly after incineration. The consequences for recovered metal
      fractions and the constitution of remaining mineral aggregates are discussed in
      the context of legislative and economical frameworks. Today the recycling or
      disposal options of mineral residues still have a high influence on the
      configuration and the operation mode of the treatment trains of BA despite of the
      high value of recovered metals.

PMID- 27625179
TI  - Upgraded bio-oil production via catalytic fast co-pyrolysis of waste cooking oil
      and tea residual.
AB  - Catalytic fast co-pyrolysis (co-CFP) offers a concise and effective process to
      achieve an upgraded bio-oil production. In this paper, co-CFP experiments of
      waste cooking oil (WCO) and tea residual (TR) with HZSM-5 zeolites were carried
      out. The influences of pyrolysis reaction temperature and H/C ratio on pyrolytic
      products distribution and selectivities of aromatics were performed. Furthermore,
      the prevailing synergetic effect of target products during co-CFP process was
      investigated. Experimental results indicated that H/C ratio played a pivotal role
      in carbon yields of aromatics and olefins, and with H/C ratio increasing, the
      synergetic coefficient tended to increase, thus led to a dramatic growth of
      aromatics and olefins yields. Besides, the pyrolysis temperature made a
      significant contribution to carbon yields, and the yields of aromatics and
      olefins increased at first and then decreased at the researched temperature
      region. Note that 600 degrees C was an optimum temperature as the maximum yields
      of aromatics and olefins could be achieved. Concerning the transportation fuel
      dependence and security on fossil fuels, co-CFP of WCO and TR provides a novel
      way to improve the quality and quantity of pyrolysis bio-oil, and thus
      contributes bioenergy accepted as a cost-competitive and promising alternative
      energy.

PMID- 27625180
TI  - Potential for energy recovery and greenhouse gas mitigation from municipal solid
      waste using a waste-to-material approach.
AB  - Energy recovery and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastes are getting
      noticed in recent years. This study evaluated the potential for energy recovery
      and GHG mitigation from municipal solid waste (MSW) with a waste-to-material
      (WTM) approach. Waste generated in Taiwan contains a large amount of paper, food
      waste, and plastics, which previously were mostly sent to waste-to-energy (WTE)
      plants for incineration. However, the mitigation of GHGs by the WTM approach has
      been especially successful in the recycling of metals (averaging 1.83*106kgCO2
      eq/year) and paper (averaging 7.38*105kgCO2-eq/year). In addition, the recycling
      of paper (1.33*1010kWh) and plastics (1.26*1010kWh) has contributed greatly to
      energy saving. Both metal and glass are not suitable for incineration due to
      their low energy content. The volumes of paper and food waste contained in the
      MSW are positively related to the carbon concentration, which may contribute to
      increased GHGs during incineration. Therefore, the recycling of paper, metals,
      and food waste is beneficial for GHG mitigation. Measures to reduce GHGs were
      also suggested in this study. The development of the WTM approach may be helpful
      for the proper management of MSW with regards to GHG mitigation. The results of
      this study can be a successful example for other nations.

PMID- 27625182
TI  - Day-to-day variability of post-concussion-like symptoms reported over time by a
      non-concussed cohort.
AB  - PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To explore the change (trend) in post-concussion-like symptoms
      reported over time. RESEARCH DESIGN: Longitudinal study. METHODS AND PROCEDURES:
      University students aged 18-30 years self-reported their symptoms experienced on
      a daily basis. Each participant was contacted via a text message each day during
      one of three pre-defined time zones to complete the Sport Concussion Assessment
      Tool 2 (SCAT2) post-concussion symptom scale on 7 consecutive days. MAIN OUTCOMES
      AND RESULTS: One hundred and ten (26 males and 84 females) students completed the
      study on all 7 days. Only two meaningful clusters emerged and comprised of a
      total of 105 participants. The primary cluster included 85 participants who
      showed a relatively stable pattern in their symptoms reported over time.
      Meanwhile, a second cluster comprised of 20 participants who demonstrated a
      decreasing trend in the reported symptom scores. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicated
      that non-concussed participants exhibited considerable individual variability in
      the symptom scores reported over time. However, some participants showed a
      systematic decreasing trend in their symptom scores reported over the 7 days.
      Caution must be exercised in interpreting the serial symptom scores that are
      obtained following a concussion, given that this study was conducted in a non
      concussed cohort.

PMID- 27625181
TI  - Mitotic cells form actin-based bridges with adjacent cells to provide
      intercellular communication during rounding.
AB  - In order to achieve accurate chromosome segregation, eukaryotic cells undergo a
      dramatic change in morphology to obtain a spherical shape during mitosis.
      Interphase cells communicate directly with each other by exchanging ions and
      small molecules via gap junctions, which have important roles in controlling cell
      growth and differentiation. As cells round up during mitosis, the gap junctional
      communication between mitotic cells and adjacent interphase cells ceases. Whether
      mitotic cells use alternative mechanisms for mediating direct cell-cell
      communication during rounding is currently unknown. Here, we have studied the
      mechanisms involved in the remodeling of gap junctions during mitosis. We further
      demonstrate that mitotic cells are able to form actin-based plasma membrane
      bridges with adjacent cells during rounding. These structures, termed "mitotic
      nanotubes," were found to be involved in mediating the transport of cytoplasm,
      including Rab11-positive vesicles, between mitotic cells and adjacent cells.
      Moreover, a subpool of the gap-junction channel protein connexin43 localized in
      these intercellular bridges during mitosis. Collectively, the data provide new
      insights into the mechanisms involved in the remodeling of gap junctions during
      mitosis and identify actin-based plasma membrane bridges as a novel means of
      communication between mitotic cells and adjacent cells during rounding.

PMID- 27625183
TI  - Emergence of event cascades in inhomogeneous networks.
AB  - There is a commonality among contagious diseases, tweets, and neuronal firings
      that past events facilitate the future occurrence of events. The spread of events
      has been extensively studied such that the systems exhibit catastrophic chain
      reactions if the interaction represented by the ratio of reproduction exceeds
      unity; however, their subthreshold states are not fully understood. Here, we
      report that these systems are possessed by nonstationary cascades of event
      occurrences already in the subthreshold regime. Event cascades can be harmful in
      some contexts, when the peak-demand causes vaccine shortages, heavy traffic on
      communication lines, but may be beneficial in other contexts, such that
      spontaneous activity in neural networks may be used to generate motion or store
      memory. Thus it is important to comprehend the mechanism by which such cascades
      appear, and consider controlling a system to tame or facilitate fluctuations in
      the event-occurrences. The critical interaction for the emergence of cascades
      depends greatly on the network structure in which individuals are connected. We
      demonstrate that we can predict whether cascades may emerge, given information
      about the interactions between individuals. Furthermore, we develop a method of
      reallocating connections among individuals so that event cascades may be either
      impeded or impelled in a network.

PMID- 27625184
TI  - Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cholesteatoma Using PROPELLER at
      1.5T: A Single-Centre Retrospective Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity,
      and positive and negative predictive values of the diffusion-weighted
      periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction
      (PROPELLER) technique in the detection of cholesteatoma at our institution with
      surgical confirmation in all cases. METHODS: A retrospective review of 21
      consecutive patients who underwent diffusion-weighted PROPELLER magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) on a 1.5T MRI scanner prior to primary or revision/second
      look surgery for suspected cholesteatoma from 2009-2012 was performed. RESULTS:
      Diffusion-weighted PROPELLER had a sensitivity of 75%, specificity of 60%,
      positive predictive value of 86%, and negative predictive value of 43%. In the 15
      patients for whom the presence or absence of cholesteatoma was correctly
      predicted, there were 2 cases where the reported locations of diffusion
      restriction did not correspond to the location of the cholesteatoma observed at
      surgery. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our retrospective study, we conclude that
      diffusion-weighted PROPELLER MRI is not sufficiently accurate to replace second
      look surgery at our institution.

PMID- 27625186
TI  - Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Edmonton, Canada: Source apportionment and
      potential risk for human health.
AB  - To design effective PM2.5 control strategies in urban centers, there is a need to
      better understand local and remote sources influencing PM2.5 levels and
      associated risk to public health. An investigation of PM2.5 levels, sources and
      potential human health risk associated with trace elements in the PM2.5 was
      undertaken in Edmonton over a 6-year period (September 2009-August 2015). The
      geometric mean PM2.5 concentration of was 7.11 MUg/m3 (interquartile range, IQR =
      4.83-10.08 MUg/m3). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor modeling
      identified secondary organic aerosol (SOA) as the major contributor (2.2 MUg/m3,
      27%), followed by secondary nitrate (1.3 MUg/m3, 17%) and secondary sulfate (1.2
      MUg/m3, 15%). Other local sources included transportation (1.1 MUg/m3, 14%) and
      industry-related emissions (0.26 MUg/m3, 3.4%), biomass burning (1.0 MUg/m3, 13%)
      and soil (0.54 MUg/m3, 6.8%). Five factors (i.e., SOA, secondary nitrate,
      secondary sulfate, transportation and biomass burning) contributed more than 85%
      to PM2.5 for the 2009-2015 period. Geometric (arithmetic) mean and maximum
      ambient air concentrations for hazardous trace elements of public health concern
      in PM2.5 during the study period were below United States regulatory agency
      chronic and acute health risk screening criteria. Carcinogenic and non
      carcinogenic risk of trace elements and source-specific risk values were well
      below acceptable and safe levels of risks recommended by regulatory agencies.
      More work is needed to understand the origin of potential SOA and wintertime wood
      burning sources in Edmonton and the surrounding region and to apply source-risk
      apportionment using all available hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) including
      organic compounds to better interpret the potential health risk posed by various
      sources in urban areas.

PMID- 27625185
TI  - Bias due to participant overlap in two-sample Mendelian randomization.
AB  - Mendelian randomization analyses are often performed using summarized data. The
      causal estimate from a one-sample analysis (in which data are taken from a single
      data source) with weak instrumental variables is biased in the direction of the
      observational association between the risk factor and outcome, whereas the
      estimate from a two-sample analysis (in which data on the risk factor and outcome
      are taken from non-overlapping datasets) is less biased and any bias is in the
      direction of the null. When using genetic consortia that have partially
      overlapping sets of participants, the direction and extent of bias are uncertain.
      In this paper, we perform simulation studies to investigate the magnitude of bias
      and Type 1 error rate inflation arising from sample overlap. We consider both a
      continuous outcome and a case-control setting with a binary outcome. For a
      continuous outcome, bias due to sample overlap is a linear function of the
      proportion of overlap between the samples. So, in the case of a null causal
      effect, if the relative bias of the one-sample instrumental variable estimate is
      10% (corresponding to an F parameter of 10), then the relative bias with 50%
      sample overlap is 5%, and with 30% sample overlap is 3%. In a case-control
      setting, if risk factor measurements are only included for the control
      participants, unbiased estimates are obtained even in a one-sample setting.
      However, if risk factor data on both control and case participants are used, then
      bias is similar with a binary outcome as with a continuous outcome. Consortia
      releasing publicly available data on the associations of genetic variants with
      continuous risk factors should provide estimates that exclude case participants
      from case-control samples.

PMID- 27625187
TI  - Spontaneous Reduction of a Hydroborane To Generate a B-B Single Bond by the Use
      of a Lewis Pair.
AB  - The ansa-aminohydroborane 1-NMe2 -2-(BH2 )C6 H4 crystallizes in an unprecedented
      type of dimer containing a B-H bond activated by one FLP moiety. Upon mild
      heating and without the use of any catalyst, this molecule liberates one
      equivalent of hydrogen to generate a diborane molecule. The synthesis and
      structural characterization of these new compounds, as well as the kinetic
      monitoring of the reaction and the DFT investigation of its mechanism, are
      reported.

PMID- 27625190
TI  - Oesophageal cancer: Defining tumour subtypes in oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27625191
TI  - Viral hepatitis: 'Immune tolerance' in HBV infection: danger lurks.

PMID- 27625192
TI  - Transplantation: Donor BMI >30 not a contraindication for LDLT.

PMID- 27625188
TI  - Therapeutic intervention in oropharyngeal dysphagia.
AB  - Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a frequent consequence of several medical aetiologies,
      and even considered part of the normal ageing process. Early and accurate
      identification provides the opportunity for early implementation of dysphagia
      treatments. This Review describes the current state of the evidence related to
      dysphagia therapies - focusing on treatments most clinically utilized and of
      current interest to researchers. Despite successes in select studies, the level
      of evidence to support the efficacy of these treatments remains limited.
      Heterogeneity exists across studies in both how interventions are administered
      and how their therapeutic value is assessed, thereby making it difficult to
      establish external validation. Future work needs to address these caveats. Also,
      to be most efficacious, dysphagia therapies need to account for influences from
      pre-morbid patient characteristics as these factors have potential to increase
      the risk of dysphagia and the resulting complications of aspiration, malnutrition
      and psychological burden. Dysphagia therapies therefore need to incorporate the
      medical aetiology that is at its root, the resulting swallow physiology captured
      from comprehensive clinical and/or instrumental assessments, and the existing
      needs and supports of patients.

PMID- 27625193
TI  - Viral hepatitis: Response-guided strategy to reduce DAA duration for hepatitis C.

PMID- 27625194
TI  - Pancreatic cancer: gammadelta T cells support PDAC.

PMID- 27625189
TI  - Screening and diagnosis of HBV in low-income and middle-income countries.
AB  - HBV testing and diagnosis of HBV-related liver disease in low-income and middle
      income countries differs substantially from that in developed countries in terms
      of access to resources and expensive technologies requiring highly specialized
      staff. For identification and classification of HBV infection, genomic
      amplification methods to detect and quantify HBV DNA are often nonexistent or
      available only in central laboratories of major cities. When samples from
      peripheral locations do arrive, delays in receiving results generate loss to
      follow-up. Testing is often limited to measurement of hepatitis B surface antigen
      (HBsAg), alanine aminotransferase levels, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet
      ratio index and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) to determine indications for
      antiviral therapy (AVT). Utilization of AVT is limited by cost and availability,
      particularly when patients are not covered by health insurance. The natural
      history of HBV infection is influenced by genotypes B and C in East Asia, where
      decades of immune tolerance have led to mostly vertical transmission; in sub
      Saharan Africa, where genotypes A1 and E predominate, infection is transmitted
      horizontally between young children, followed by a nonreplicative phase. In both
      regions, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are common and would be
      considerably ameliorated by AVT. Implementation of the HBV vaccine since the
      1990s in Asia and 2000s in Africa has decreased the incidence of HBV, but vaccine
      failure and insufficiently effective prevention remain concerning issues.

PMID- 27625196
TI  - Infection: Distinct Salmonella Enteritidis lineages dictate disease in different
      settings.

PMID- 27625197
TI  - Blood pressure measurements in the ankle are not equivalent to blood pressure
      measurements in the arm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood pressure (BP) is often measured on the ankle in the emergency
      department (ED), but this has never been shown to be an acceptable alternative to
      measurements performed on the arm. OBJECTIVE: To establish whether the
      differences between arm and ankle non-invasive BP measurements were clinically
      relevant (i.e. a difference of >=10 mmHg). METHODS: This was a prospective cross
      sectional study in an urban ED making use of a convenience sample of 201 patients
      (18 - 50 years of age) who were not in need of emergency medical treatment. BP
      was measured in the supine position on both arms and ankles with the correct size
      cuff according to the manufacturer's guidelines. The arm and ankle BP
      measurements were compared. RESULTS: There was a clinically and statistically
      significant difference between arm and ankle systolic BP (SBP) and mean arterial
      pressure (MAP) (-13 mmHg, 95% confidence interval (CI) -28 - 1 mmHg and -5 mmHg,
      95% CI -13 - 4 mmHg, respectively), with less difference in diastolic BP (DBP) (2
      mmHg, 95% CI -7 - 10 mmHg). Only 37% of SBP measurements and 83% of MAP
      measurements were within an error range of 10 mmHg, while 95% of DBP measurements
      agreed within 10 mmHg. While the average differences (or the bias) were generally
      not large, large variations in individual patients (indicating poor precision)
      made the prediction of arm BP from ankle measurements unreliable. CONCLUSION:
      Ankle BP cannot be used as a substitute for arm BP in the ED.

PMID- 27625198
TI  - Recent advances in the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea.
AB  - Affecting a large number of middle-aged, frequently overweight subjects,
      obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep related breathing
      disorder. Partial or complete upper airway (UA) collapse during sleep causing
      repeated apneic episodes, which is the leading pathophysiological mechanism
      underlying the disorder, results in arterial oxygen desaturation and recurrent
      arousals from sleep to re-establish airway patency. Untreated OSA is commonly
      associated with a range of adverse consequences, including cardiovascular
      complications, such as arterial and/or pulmonary hypertension, arrhythmias,
      stroke, as well as diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, and motor vehicle
      accidents. Evidence-based guidelines are presently available for the diagnosis
      and management of OSA, and a variety of updated testing and treatment procedures
      and devices including some that are able to identify the site and degree of
      airway obstruction are becoming increasingly available. As the "one size fits
      all" approach falls to the wayside, a tailored personal therapeutic strategy is
      becoming increasingly popular in the field of sleep medicine. The aim of this
      review is to provide an overview for practicing clinicians on recent advances in
      the evaluation and management of obstructive sleep apnea in adults.

PMID- 27625199
TI  - Methods of epigenome editing for probing the function of genomic imprinting.
AB  - The curious patterns of imprinted gene expression draw interest from several
      scientific disciplines to the functional consequences of genomic imprinting.
      Methods of probing the function of imprinting itself have largely been indirect
      and correlational, relying heavily on conventional transgenics. Recently, the
      burgeoning field of epigenome editing has provided new tools and suggested
      strategies for asking causal questions with site specificity. This perspective
      article aims to outline how these new methods may be applied to questions of
      functional imprinting and, with this aim in mind, to suggest new dimensions for
      the expansion of these epigenome-editing tools.

PMID- 27625195
TI  - IgG4-related hepatobiliary disease: an overview.
AB  - IgG4-related hepatobiliary diseases are part of a multiorgan fibroinflammatory
      condition termed IgG4-related disease, and include IgG4-related sclerosing
      cholangitis (IgG4-SC) and IgG4-related hepatopathy. These diseases can present
      with biliary strictures and/or mass lesions, making them difficult to
      differentiate from primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) or other hepatobiliary
      malignancies. Diagnosis is based on a combination of clinical, biochemical,
      radiological and histological findings. However, a gold standard diagnostic test
      is lacking, warranting the identification of more specific disease markers. Novel
      assays - such as the serum IgG4:IgG1 ratio and IgG4:IgG RNA ratio (which
      distinguish IgG4-SC from PSC with high serum IgG4 levels), and plasmablast
      expansion to recognize IgG4-SC with normal serum IgG4 levels - require further
      validation. Steroids and other immunosuppressive therapies can lead to clinical
      and radiological improvement when given in the inflammatory phase of the disease,
      but evidence for the efficacy of treatment regimens is limited. Progressive
      fibrosclerotic disease, liver cirrhosis and an increased risk of malignancy are
      now recognized outcomes. Insights into the genetic and immunological features of
      the disease have increased over the past decade, with an emphasis on HLAs, T
      cells, circulating memory B cells and plasmablasts, chemokine-mediated
      trafficking, as well as the role of the innate immune system.

PMID- 27625201
TI  - The Peroneus Quartus Muscle in a Locking Phenomenon of the Ankle: A Case Report.
AB  - We present the case of a 64-year-old female who was referred to us with an
      unexplained clicking and locking phenomenon of the right ankle. The magnetic
      resonance imaging findings suggested a longitudinal tear of the peroneus brevis
      tendon. During tendoscopy, not only was a Raikin type B intrasheath tendon
      subluxation visible, but also a peroneus quartus muscle. The peroneus brevis tear
      was tubularized and the peroneus quartus muscle resected, which resolved the
      patient's complaints.

PMID- 27625200
TI  - Umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells are reduced in neonates born to women in
      spontaneous preterm labor.
AB  - PROBLEM: Preterm neonates are highly susceptible to infection. Neonatal host
      defense against infection seems to be maintained by the temporal presence of
      immunosuppressive CD71+ erythroid cells. The aim of this study was to investigate
      whether umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells are reduced in neonates born to
      women who undergo spontaneous preterm labor/birth. METHOD OF STUDY: Umbilical
      cord blood samples (n=155) were collected from neonates born to women who
      delivered preterm with (n=39) and without (n=12) spontaneous labor or at term
      with (n=82) and without (n=22) spontaneous labor. Time-matched maternal
      peripheral blood samples were also included (n=111). Mononuclear cells were
      isolated from these samples, and CD71+ erythroid cells were identified and
      quantified as CD3-CD235a+CD71+ cells by flow cytometry. RESULTS: (i) The
      proportion of CD71+ erythroid cells was 50-fold higher in cord blood than in
      maternal blood; (ii) a reduced number and frequency of umbilical cord CD71+
      erythroid cells were found in neonates born to women who underwent spontaneous
      preterm labor compared to those born to women who delivered preterm without
      labor; (iii) umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells were fewer in neonates born to
      term pregnancies, regardless of the process of labor, than in those born to women
      who delivered preterm without labor; and (iv) no differences were seen in
      umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells between neonates born to women who underwent
      spontaneous preterm labor and those born to women who delivered at term with
      labor. CONCLUSION: Umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells are reduced in neonates
      born to women who had undergone spontaneous preterm labor.

PMID- 27625203
TI  - THE ART OF BIG DATA.
AB  - Sarah Webb explores the processes, challenges, and skills involved in visualizing
      large biological data sets.

PMID- 27625204
TI  - [Letter to the Editor] NaOH concentration and streptavidin bead type are key
      factors for optimal DNA aptamer strand separation and isolation.
AB  - Address correspondence to Geoffrey K. Kilili or Christine M. Karbiwnyk,
      Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, US Food and Drug Administration,
      Winchester, MA, 01890. E-mail: Geoffrey.Kilili@fda.hhs.gov or
      Christine.Karbiwnyk@fda.hhs.gov.

PMID- 27625205
TI  - Reuse of E-plate cell sensor arrays in the xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analyzer.
AB  - The xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analyzer (RTCA) is a non-invasive, impedence-based
      biosensor system that can measure cell viability, migration, growth, spreading,
      and proliferation. Changes in cell morphology and behavior are continuously
      monitored in real time using microelectronics located in the wells of RTCA E
      plates. According to the manufacturer's recommendation, E-plates are single-use
      and disposable. Here, we show that E-plates can be regenerated and reused several
      times without significantly effecting experimental results.

PMID- 27625206
TI  - Simplified development of multiplex real-time PCR through master mix augmented by
      universal fluorogenic reporters.
AB  - Mediator probe (MP) PCR is a real-time PCR approach that uses standardized
      universal fluorogenic reporter oligonucleotides (UR) in conjunction with label
      free sequence-specific probes. To enable multiplex real-time MP PCR, we designed
      a set of five optimized URs with different fluorescent labels. Performance of the
      optimized URs was verified in multiplex real-time MP PCR for the detection of a
      pentaplex food panel and a quadruplex methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) panel. Results were comparable to corresponding multiplex hydrolysis probe
      (HP) PCR, also designated as TaqMan PCR. Analyses of MRSA DNA standards and DNA
      extracted from patient swab samples showed improved lower limits of detection
      (LoDs) by a factor of 2-5 when using quadruplex real-time MP PCR instead of HP
      PCR. The novel set of standardized URs we present here simplifies development of
      multiplex real-time PCR assays by requiring only the design of label-free probes.
      In the future, real-time PCR master mixes could be augmented with up to five
      standardized fluorogenic URs, each emitting light at a different wavelength.

PMID- 27625207
TI  - An integrated system for synchronous culture of animal cells under controlled
      conditions.
AB  - The cell cycle has fundamental effects on cell cultures and their products. Tools
      to synchronize cultured cells allow the study of cellular physiology and
      metabolism at particular cell cycle phases. However, cells are most often
      arrested by methods that alter their homeostasis and are then cultivated in
      poorly controlled environments. Cell behavior could then be affected by the
      synchronization method and culture conditions used, and not just by the
      particular cell cycle phase under study. Moreover, only a few viable cells are
      recovered. Here, we designed an integrated system where a large number of cells
      from a controlled bioreactor culture is separated by centrifugal elutriation at
      high viabilities. In contrast to current elutriation methods, cells are injected
      directly from a bioreactor into an injection loop, allowing the introduction of a
      large number of cells into the separation chamber without stressful
      centrifugation. A low pulsation peristaltic pump increases the stability of the
      elutriation chamber. Using this approach, a large number of healthy cells at each
      cell cycle phase were obtained, allowing their direct inoculation into fully
      instrumented bioreactors. Hybridoma cells synchronized and cultured in this
      system behaved as expected for a synchronous culture.

PMID- 27625208
TI  - Characterization of aggregate load and pattern in living yeast cells by flow
      cytometry.
AB  - Protein aggregation is both a hallmark of and a driving force for a number of
      diseases. It is therefore important to identify the nature of these aggregates
      and the mechanism(s) by which the cell counteracts their detrimental properties.
      Currently, the study of aggregation in vivo is performed primarily using
      fluorescently tagged versions of proteins and analyzing the aggregates by
      fluorescence microscopy. While this strategy is considered the gold standard, it
      has several limitations, particularly with respect to its suitability for high
      throughput screening (HTS). Here, using a GFP fusion of the well-characterized
      yeast prion amyloid protein [PSI+], we demonstrate that flow cytometry, which
      utilizes the same physical principles as fluorescence microscopy, can be used to
      determine the aggregate load and pattern in live and fixed yeast cells.
      Furthermore, our approach can easily be applied to high-throughput analyses such
      as screenings with a yeast deletion library.

PMID- 27625209
TI  - High-throughput sequencing of forensic genetic samples using punches of FTA cards
      with buccal swabs.
AB  - Here, we demonstrate that punches from buccal swab samples preserved on FTA cards
      can be used for high-throughput DNA sequencing, also known as massively parallel
      sequencing (MPS). We typed 44 reference samples with the HID-Ion AmpliSeq
      Identity Panel using washed 1.2 mm punches from FTA cards with buccal swabs and
      compared the results with those obtained with DNA extracted using the EZ1 DNA
      Investigator Kit. Concordant profiles were obtained for all samples. Our protocol
      includes simple punch, wash, and PCR steps, reducing cost and hands-on time in
      the laboratory. Furthermore, it facilitates automation of DNA sequencing.

PMID- 27625210
TI  - Isogyres - Manifestation of Spin-orbit interaction in uniaxial crystal: A closed
      fringe Fourier analysis of conoscopic interference.
AB  - Discovered in 1813, the conoscopic interference pattern observed due to light
      propagating through a crystal, kept between crossed polarizers, shows
      isochromates and isogyres, respectively containing information about the dynamic
      and geometric phase acquired by the beam. We propose and demonstrate a closed
      fringe Fourier analysis method to disentangle the isogyres from the isochromates,
      leading us to the azimuthally varying geometric phase and its manifestation as
      isogyres. This azimuthally varying geometric phase is shown to be the underlying
      mechanism for the spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion observed in a
      diverging optical field propagating through a z-cut uniaxial crystal. We extend
      the formalism to study the optical activity mediated uniaxial-to-biaxial
      transformation due to a weak transverse electric field applied across the
      crystal. Closely associated with the phase and polarization singularities of the
      optical field, the formalism enables us to understand crystal optics in a new
      way, paving the way to anticipate several emerging phenomena.

PMID- 27625212
TI  - Incidence of normal white cell count and C-reactive protein in adults with acute
      appendicitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Normal C-reactive protein (CRP) and white cell count (WCC) are often
      used to exclude a diagnosis of acute appendicitis in the Emergency Department
      (ED). Retrospective review of 281 adult patients with acute appendicitis was
      performed to study the incidence of normal CRP and WCC on admission and examine
      any possible predisposing factors. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of patient
      clinical records yielded CRP, WCC, operative diagnosis, time of symptom onset,
      imaging results and history and examination features. Case-control analysis was
      performed with patients with normal CRP and WCC considered the case group and
      those with raised CRP or WCC considered controls. Groups were compared using Mann
      Whitney U-test and chi-squared analysis. RESULTS: Of 281 consecutive patients
      with histologically proven appendicitis, 24 (8.54%) had normal CRP and WCC on
      presentation to ED. There were no significant differences in age, sex or time to
      blood collection between groups. Three patients had normal WCC and CRP and an
      Alvarado score of 4 or less on presentation. Three patients had persistently
      normal CRP and WCC on repeated testing. There was a trend towards earlier
      presentation in patients with normal CRP and WCC with 75.0% versus 58.4%
      presenting within 24 h of symptom onset (OR 2.14, P = 0.112). CONCLUSION: Acute
      appendicitis remains diagnostically challenging and cannot be excluded on the
      basis of normal CRP and WCC. Serial clinical and biochemical assessment is
      warranted in patients with acute abdominal pain, particularly in those presenting
      early after symptom onset.

PMID- 27625214
TI  - Some lessons I have learned (Sometimes the hard way).

PMID- 27625215
TI  - The tortuous path of the plantar response: A tedious argument.

PMID- 27625211
TI  - Beyond CDR-grafting: Structure-guided humanization of framework and CDR regions
      of an anti-myostatin antibody.
AB  - Antibodies are an important class of biotherapeutics that offer specificity to
      their antigen, long half-life, effector function interaction and good
      manufacturability. The immunogenicity of non-human-derived antibodies, which can
      be a major limitation to development, has been partially overcome by humanization
      through complementarity-determining region (CDR) grafting onto human acceptor
      frameworks. The retention of foreign content in the CDR regions, however, is
      still a potential immunogenic liability. Here, we describe the humanization of an
      anti-myostatin antibody utilizing a 2-step process of traditional CDR-grafting
      onto a human acceptor framework, followed by a structure-guided approach to
      further reduce the murine content of CDR-grafted antibodies. To accomplish this,
      we solved the co-crystal structures of myostatin with the chimeric (Protein
      Databank (PDB) id 5F3B) and CDR-grafted anti-myostatin antibody (PDB id 5F3H),
      allowing us to computationally predict the structurally important CDR residues as
      well as those making significant contacts with the antigen. Structure-based
      rational design enabled further germlining of the CDR-grafted antibody, reducing
      the murine content of the antibody without affecting antigen binding. The overall
      "humanness" was increased for both the light and heavy chain variable regions.

PMID- 27625216
TI  - Hydrocephalus and vasculitis delay therapeutic responses in tuberculous
      meninigitis: The neurologist's perspective.

PMID- 27625217
TI  - Clinical indicators of an early therapeutic response in tuberculous meningitis.

PMID- 27625218
TI  - The enigma of tuberculous vasculopathy - Is it time to review our dogmas?

PMID- 27625219
TI  - Tuberculous vasculitis: The neurosurgeon's perspective.

PMID- 27625220
TI  - Role of surgery for small petrous apex meningiomas causing refractory trigeminal
      neuropathy in the minimally invasive era.

PMID- 27625202
TI  - Prevalence of and factors associated with depression among people living with HIV
      in France.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Depression is common among people living with HIV (PLWHIV) and is
      associated with poorer therapeutic outcomes and risky behaviours. We sought to
      estimate the prevalence of major depressive episode (MDE) across PLWHIV groups,
      to compare this with its prevalence in the general population and to assess
      factors associated with it. METHODS: We used data from the Agence Nationale de
      Recherche sur le Sida et les Hepatites Virales (ANRS)-Vespa2 study, a national
      study on a representative sample of PLWHIV conducted in France in 2011. The short
      form of the depression module of the World Health Organization's Composite
      International Diagnostic Instrument (CIDI-SF) was used to characterize the
      occurrence of an MDE during the previous year. MDE prevalence was assessed among
      the various groups of PLWHIV and compared with that in the general population,
      accounting for the sociodemographic characteristics of the two populations, using
      multivariate Poisson regression models. The same method was used to assess
      associated factors. RESULTS: MDE prevalence was 28.1% among PLWHIV, ranging from
      10.9 to 55.7% across groups. Compared with the general population by sex,
      regardless of sexual orientation and origin, MDE prevalence was 5.1-fold higher
      in HIV-infected men who have sex with men [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.9-6.6],
      3.1-fold higher in non-sub-Saharan African (SSA) heterosexual men (95% CI 2.2
      4.4), 1.6-fold higher in SSA migrant men (95% CI 0.9-2.6), 2.6-fold higher in non
      SSA heterosexual women (95% CI 2.1-3.3), and 1.9-fold higher in SSA migrant women
      (95% CI 1.5-2.5). In the HIV-infected population, MDE was positively related to
      unemployment, material deprivation, disclosure, experience of discrimination, and
      untreated hepatitis C, and negatively related to age. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence
      of depression varied across the different groups of PLWHIV, with levels much
      higher than in the general population. Moreover, there was a strong association
      with socioeconomic status and HIV experience.

PMID- 27625221
TI  - Surgery versus radiosurgery in control of facial pain caused by small meningiomas
      of the petrous apex.

PMID- 27625223
TI  - The present status and future possibility of day care neurosurgery in India.

PMID- 27625222
TI  - Out-patient brain tumor surgery.

PMID- 27625224
TI  - Identification of the sensory and motor fascicles in the peripheral nerve: A
      historical review and recent progress.
AB  - The aim of the study was to critically review the clinical approach to
      distinguish the sensory and motor nerve fascicles of the peripheral nerve system
      and to explore potential novel techniques to meet the clinical needs. The
      principles and shortcomings of the currently used methods for identification of
      sensory and motor nerve fascicles, including nerve morphology, electrical
      stimulation, spectroscopy, enzymohistochemistry staining (acetylcholinesterase
      [AchE], carbonic anhydrase [CA] and choline acetyltransferase [ChAC]
      histochemistry staining methods), and immunochemical staining were systematically
      reviewed. The progress in diffusion tensor imaging, proteomic approaches, and
      quantum dots (QDs) assessment in clinical applications to identify sensory or
      motor fascicles has been discussed. Traditional methods such as physical and
      enzymohistochemical methods are not suitable for the precise differentiation of
      sensory and motor nerve fascicles. Immunohistochemical staining using AchE, CA,
      and ChAC is promising in differentiation of sensory and motor nerve fascicles.
      Diffusion tensor imaging can reflect morphological details of nerve fibers.
      Proteomics can reveal the dynamics of specific proteins discriminating sensory
      and motor fascicles. QDs, with their size-dependent optical properties, make them
      the ideal protein markers for identification of the sensory or motor nerves.
      Diffusion tensor imaging, proteomics and QDs-imaging will facilitate the clinical
      identification of motor and sensory nerve fascicles, help in improving surgical
      success rates and assist in postoperative functional recovery. 

PMID- 27625225
TI  - Is outpatient brain tumor surgery feasible in India?
AB  - The current trend in all fields of surgery is towards less invasive procedures
      with shorter hospital stays. The reasons for this change include convenience to
      patients, optimal resource utilization, and cost saving. Technological advances
      in neurosurgery, aided by improvements in anesthesia, have resulted in surgery
      that is faster, simpler, and safer with excellent perioperative recovery. As a
      result of improved outcomes, some centers are performing brain tumor surgery on
      an outpatient basis, wherein patients arrive at the hospital the morning of their
      procedure and leave the hospital the same evening, thus avoiding an overnight
      stay in the hospital. In addition to the medical benefits of the outpatient
      procedure, its impact on patient satisfaction is substantial. The economic
      benefits are extremely favorable for the patient, physician, as well as the
      hospital. In high volume centers, a day surgery program can exist alongside those
      for elective and emergency surgeries, providing another pathway for patient care.
      However, due to skepticism surrounding the medicolegal aspects, and how radical
      the concept at first sounds, these procedures have not gained widespread
      popularity. We provide an overview of outpatient brain tumor surgery in the
      western world, discussing the socioeconomic, medicolegal, and ethical issues
      related to its adaptability in a developing nation. 

PMID- 27625227
TI  - Polymyalgia rheumatica and risk of cerebrovascular accident: A systematic review
      and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several chronic inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis
      and systemic lupus erythematosus, have been linked to an increased risk of
      cerebrovascular accident (CVA), but the data on polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)
      remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta
      analysis of observational studies that reported odds ratio, relative risk, hazard
      ratio, or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of CVA in patients with
      PMR versus non-PMR controls. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI)
      were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method of
      DerSimonian and Laird. RESULTS: Three retrospective cohort studies and one cross
      sectional study were identified and included in the data analysis. We found a
      significantly elevated CVA risk in patients with PMR, with the pooled risk ratio
      of 1.87 (95% CI, 1.43-2.43). The statistical heterogeneity was high, with an I2
      of 91%. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated a statistically significantly
      increased CVA risk among patients with PMR.

PMID- 27625228
TI  - Polymyalgia rheumatica and the risk of cerebrovascular accident.

PMID- 27625230
TI  - Electrophysiological features of Gullian Barre syndrome: Newer insights.

PMID- 27625226
TI  - Hydrocephalus and vasculitis delay therapeutic responses in tuberculous
      meninigitis: Results of Haydarpasa-III study.
AB  - AIMS: There is no report on the factors affecting the resolution of symptoms
      related to meningitis during treatment of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Thus, we
      examined the factors associated with early therapeutic responses. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This multicenter study included 507 patients with microbiologically
      confirmed TBM. However, 94 patients eligible for the analysis were included in
      this study from 24 centers. Six out of 94 patients died and the statistical
      analysis was performed with 88 survivors. Early and late responder groups were
      compared in the statistical analysis. P < 0.05 were considered to show a
      significant difference. RESULTS: In the multivariate analysis, the presence of
      vasculitis (P = 0.029, OR = 10.491 [95% CI, 1.27-86.83]) was found to be
      significantly associated with a delayed fever response whereas hydrocephalus was
      associated with altered mental status for >9 days duration (P = 0.005, OR = 5.740
      [95% CI, 1.68-19.57]). According to linear regression analysis, fever was
      significantly persisting (>7 days) in the presence of vasculitis (17.5 vs. 7, P<
      0.001) and hydrocephalus (11 vs. 7, P = 0.029). Hydrocephalus was significantly
      associated with persisting headache (21 vs. 12, P = 0.025), delayed recovery of
      consciousness (19.5 vs. 7, P = 0.001), and a delay in complete recovery (21 vs.
      14, P = 0.007) in the linear regression analysis. Following institution of
      treatment, the complaints seemed to disappear in up to 2 weeks among TBM
      survivors. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of hydrocephalus or vasculitis, one week
      of anti-tuberculosis treatment seems to be adequate for the resolution of TBM
      symptoms. Hydrocephalus and vasculitis delay the resolution of TBM symptoms in
      response to antimycobacterial treatment.

PMID- 27625229
TI  - Electrophysiological observations in critically ill Guillain-Barre syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Respiratory muscle paralysis is a serious complication of Guillain
      Barre syndrome (GBS). Factors that govern duration and recovery from respiratory
      paralysis are unclear. AIM: To correlate electrophysiological parameters in
      critically ill GBS with duration of mechanical ventilation and outcome at
      discharge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of a large cohort (n=93; M:F 59:34; mean
      age: 33.51+21.4 years) of critically-ill patients with GBS seen over one decade
      was retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The duration of mechanical ventilation was
      <15 days (n = 38), 16-30 days (n = 24), and >30 days (n = 31). Majority of the
      patients had a demyelinating electrophysiology. Reduced amplitude or absent motor
      potentials correlated with requirement for longer duration of ventilation.
      Inexcitable sensory nerves were more common in patients who could be weaned off
      from the ventilator within 15 days. There was no relation between the conduction
      blocks in motor nerves and the duration of ventilation. Low amplitude of median
      nerve correlated with a poor outcome at hospital discharge as assessed by Hughes
      disability scale. CONCLUSION: Distinct patterns of electrophysiological
      abnormalities are noted in patients and they correlate with the duration of
      mechanical ventilation. Future studies to unravel the underlying
      pathophysiological processes that govern the patterns of progression and recovery
      in the critically ill patients with GBS will pave way for the development of
      better and more potent therapies that will hasten recovery, when combined with
      the prevalent treatment modalities including plasmapheresis and intravenous
      immunoglobulin.

PMID- 27625231
TI  - High-fat simple carbohydrate feeding impairs central and peripheral monoamine
      metabolic pathway triggering the onset of metabolic syndrome in C57Bl/6J mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown disturbances in an individual monoamine
      pathway but have not studied metabolic pathways at the onset and progression of
      metabolic syndrome (MetS). Aims, Settings, and Design: The aim of this study was
      to investigate the effect of high-fat simple carbohydrate (HFSC) diet on central
      (hypothalamic) and peripheral (plasma and urine) monoamine metabolic pathways
      during the development of metabolic syndrome in C57BL/6J mice. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Monoamines were analyzed in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th month after
      feeding mice the HFSC diet or the control diet using the high performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC) system (Shimadzu, Japan). Data was statistically analyzed
      (by Student's t-test) using Graph Pad Instat Version 3.1. Post statistical
      analysis, Bonferroni correction was applied to the results of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and
      5th month in order to calculate the correct error in the study. RESULTS:
      Significantly lower hypothalamic, plasma, and urine dopamine, and higher
      hypothalamic and plasma levels of norepinephrine and normetanephrine levels were
      observed in the HFSC diet fed C57BL/6J mice as compared to the control diet fed
      C57BL/6J mice after 5 months of feeding. No consistent changes were observed in
      other brain regions. The turnover ratio indicated that the lower dopamine levels
      in the HFSC diet fed C57BL/6J mice was due to the increased formation of
      norepinephrine and homovanillic acid. CONCLUSION: HFSC diet impairs the central
      and peripheral dopaminergic and noradrenergic pathways in mice as evidenced by
      the disturbances in their hypothalamic, plasma, and urine levels and this might
      be one of the early factors contributing towards the development of the MetS.

PMID- 27625233
TI  - Advantages of telestroke in rural areas.

PMID- 27625232
TI  - Telestroke in resource-poor developing country model.
AB  - CONTEXT: Telemedicine is a major effort to tackle the uneven availability of
      facilities for thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke. We present a telestroke
      model introduced in a small hilly state of Himachal Pradesh in India. AIMS: To
      provide acute ischemic stroke treatment with tissue plasminogen activator in all
      district hospitals of Himachal Pradesh with computerized axial tomographic scan
      facility through Telemedicine. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Smartphone-based hub and
      spoke telestroke model was used with two tertiary care hospitals (with
      neurologists) as hub and 17 district hospitals (without onsite neurologists) as
      spokes. SUBJECT AND METHODS: The telestroke project was launched in the state of
      Himachal Pradesh in April 2014. Medical officers in district hospitals (Medicine
      graduates and Internal Medicine postgraduates) were trained in the treatment of
      stroke through workshops. Tissue plasminogen activator was made available at all
      these centers, free of cost through hospital pharmacies. Four neurologists at two
      tertiary care centers were made available for consultation on phone. RESULTS:
      Between June 2014 and May 2015, a total of 26 patients received thrombolysis
      under the telestroke project at nine district hospitals without onsite presence
      of a neurologist. Eight patients were females and 18 males. The age of patients
      ranged from 26 to 80 years. Only 2 patients developed an intracranial bleed
      following thrombolysis, and both were nonfatal. CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone-based
      telestroke services may be a much cheaper alternative to video-conferencing-based
      telestroke services and are more portable with less technical glitches. To the
      best of our knowledge, this is the first telestroke model being reported from
      India. It seems to be the way forward in providing timely treatment in acute
      ischemic stroke in underserved and resource poor settings.

PMID- 27625235
TI  - Anatomic variations of the fornix and its clinical implications.

PMID- 27625234
TI  - Flattened sheet-like fornix forming a "Cobra Hood" deformity: A previously
      unreported variant of fornix anatomy and its implication for surgical approaches
      to the third ventricle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fornix is the main efferent tract from the hippocampus and is an
      important component of the memory pathways. Variations in the anatomy of the
      fornix are not commonly encountered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The anatomy of the
      fornix was studied in 30 cadavers of normal adult healthy males who had died in
      road accidents. The full extent of the hippocampus was prosected up to the tail
      under the magnoscope. RESULTS: In 10 of the 30 brains, the crura and the body of
      fornix were bilaterally broad and flat like a sheet, rather than the usual
      compact bundle, forming a cobra-like hood over the roof of the third ventricle.
      The maximum width was approximately 16 mm on the right side (mean: 11.7 mm) and
      11 mm on the left (mean: 8.5mm). CONCLUSION: Knowledge of this variation will be
      useful during the transcallosal approach to third ventricle tumors, especially
      while going subchoroidal, because an unexpected lateral span of the fornix in the
      surgical corridor can result in inadvertent injury to it, leading to memory
      defects.

PMID- 27625236
TI  - An algorithmic approach for clinical management of low back pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low back pain is caused by a variety of conditions. When conventional
      imaging failed, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was superior
      to scintigraphy in identifying the pathology. Injection therapies are often
      helpful in treating the pathology. AIM: To determine the cause of chronic low
      backache in individuals with normal conventional imaging (radiographs, computed
      tomography and magnetic resonance imaging), to determine the specific pathology
      using scintigraphic studies and diagnostic blocks; and, to treat the individuals
      with various spinal injection techniques and determine their efficacy. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: All the patients having chronic back pain on presentation in the
      outpatient clinic from April 2013 to October 2014 were prospectively evaluated.
      RESULTS: The 40 patients included in the study were followed up pre- and post
      operatively with various pain scales (visual analogue scale [VAS], Oswestry
      disability index [ODI] and short form health survery 36 [SF36]). The mean age at
      presentation was 41.3 years. Female patients formed the predominant subgroup in
      the study (57.5% female and 42.5% male patients). Pain indices like VAS and ODI
      were helpful in assessing the efficacy of spinal injections. Preoperative and
      postoperative pain scale assessment, supplemented by a SPECT evaluation of the
      sacroiliac and facet joints, showed a statistically significant difference, which
      correlated with clinically significant pain relief. CONCLUSIONS: SPECT imaging is
      helpful in diagnosing sacroiliac joint syndrome and facetal syndrome. Epidural
      injections were a better choice in cases of low backache, where clinically, the
      patient had no signs of sacroiliac joint syndrome and facetal syndrome. Spinal
      injections with steroid and local anaesthetic had better relief. Radiotracer
      uptake at the pain generating area is a good predictor of outcome. Image guided
      spinal injection improves the accuracy of the injection.

PMID- 27625237
TI  - Is intracranial pressure monitoring useful in children with severe traumatic
      brain injury?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intracranial pressure monitoring (ICP) is considered as optional for
      management of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. AIMS: This study
      was performed to determine whether ICP monitoring is beneficial in the managing
      severe TBI in children. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Neurosurgical intensive care unit
      (ICU) of a tertiary care referral center; prospective observational study.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Children aged 16 years or less with severe TBI defined as
      "postresuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 or less admitted to an
      ICU" were enrolled. All children underwent standard treatment for TBI as
      indicated. ICP monitoring was done in 30 cases and was not done in 20 cases. The
      outcome in both the groups was assessed using Glasgow outcome scale. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS: The characteristics of the patients in the two groups were compared
      using independent sample T test for continuous variables and chi-square and Mann
      Whitney test for nonparametric variables. RESULTS: The children who did not
      undergo ICP monitoring required more number of doses of hyperosmolar agents.
      However, the duration of ventilation and length of ICU stay were significantly
      shorter in children who did not undergo ICP monitoring. The outcome was
      unfavorable in 16.7% of children who underwent ICP monitoring as compared with
      55% of children who did not undergo ICP monitoring; this difference was
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: ICP-targeted therapy results in significantly better
      outcome in children with severe TBI.

PMID- 27625238
TI  - Is intracranial pressure monitoring useful in children with severe traumatic
      brain injury?

PMID- 27625239
TI  - Prediction of facial nerve position in large vestibular schwannomas using
      diffusion tensor imaging tractography and its intraoperative correlation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Resection of large Vestibular Schwannomas (VSs) can be associated with
      postoperative facial nerve injury. Diffusion-based tractography has emerged as a
      powerful tool for three-dimensional imaging and reconstruction of white matter
      fibers; however, tractography of the cranial nerves has not been well studied. In
      this prospective study, we aim to predict the position of facial nerve in large
      VSs (>3 cm) using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) tractography and correlate it
      with the intraoperative finding of the position of facial nerve. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Twenty patients with a large VS (>3 cm) undergoing surgery were
      subjected to preoperative DTI to predict the position of the facial nerve in
      relation to the tumor. The surgeon was blinded to the results of the preoperative
      DTI tractography. A comparative analysis was then made during operation. The
      location of the facial nerve in relation to the tumor was recorded during surgery
      using facial nerve stimulator. RESULTS: Of the 20 patients who underwent DTI
      tractography, it was not possible to preoperatively identify facial nerve in one
      patient. In another patient, although DTI tractography predicted the position of
      facial nerve, it was not identified intraoperatively. In the remaining 18
      patients, DTI tractography accurately predicted the facial nerve position. The
      predicted position was in synchronization with the intraoperative facial nerve
      position in 16 patients (89% concordance). It was discordant in two patients
      (11%), but this was not found to be statistically significant (P = -0.3679).
      CONCLUSION: This study validates the reliability of facial nerve DTI-based fiber
      tracking for prediction of the facial nerve position in patients with large VSs.
      The reliable preoperative visualization of facial nerve location in relation to
      the VS will allow surgeons to plan tumor removal accordingly and may increase the
      safety of surgery.

PMID- 27625240
TI  - Localising cranial nerves in the cerebellopontine angle tumors using tractography
      prior to surgery for vestibular schwannomas.

PMID- 27625241
TI  - Role of surgery for small petrous apex meningiomas causing refractory trigeminal
      neuropathy in the minimally invasive era.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiosurgery seems to be a very appealing option for patients having
      a small petrous apex meningioma and presenting with trigeminal neuralgia,
      presumably because of the lower risk and cost involved. The aim of this study was
      to analyze the results of our surgical series of petrous apex meningioma
      presenting with trigeminal neuralgia, and to determine the efficacy of
      neurosurgical treatment with regard to pain control. The procedure-related
      complication and morbidity rates were also evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      is a retrospective study of 17 patients with a small (<3 cm) petrous apex
      meningioma. The included patients were refractory to medical treatment for
      trigeminal neuralgia and were deemed as surgical candidates. Postoperatively, the
      patients were assessed for pain relief according to the Barrow Neurological
      Institute (BNI) scale. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
      Magnetic resonance imaging was also performed after 6 weeks to assess the
      radicality of resection. RESULTS: In a median follow-up of approximately 2 years,
      the study showed that 14 of the 17 (82.4%) patients had complete pain relief,
      with very low morbidity and no mortality, and 100% tumor control. According to
      the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) scale for the assessment of postoperative
      pain relief, 52.9, 23.5, 5.9, 11.8, and 5.9% of patients had grades I, II, IIIa,
      IIIb, and IV in terms of their pain relief, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In our
      population of patients, surgery proved to be successful in providing symptomatic
      relief, with low morbidity and no mortality, and was comparable with other
      studies involving the minimally invasive modalities. However, these results
      warrant further follow-up, with recruitment of more patients, to demonstrate
      whether or not, surgery should be the primary choice of treatment in this
      subgroup of patients.

PMID- 27625242
TI  - Myoclonus-dystonia: An under-recognized entity - Report of 5 cases.
AB  - Hereditary myoclonus-dystonia (DYT 11) is caused by the epsilon-sarcoglycan
      (SGCE) mutation. The clinical details and investigations of cases diagnosed with
      myoclonus-dystonia were reviewed. We describe 5 patients (3 families) with
      myoclonus-dystonia diagnosed at our center. Majority of the patients had the
      classical phenotype with few atypical features (adult-onset disease and onset in
      lower limbs). Four patients carried a mutant variant in the SGCE-gene. A
      diagnosis of myoclonus-dystonia should be considered in cognitively normal
      patients with early-onset myoclonus (that may occur both at rest and/or action)
      with or without dystonia and with or without psychiatric-disturbances. 

PMID- 27625243
TI  - "Os" omovertebrale variants prove it to be a misnomer.
AB  - There are only a few case reports comprising exclusively of os omovertebrale.
      Here, we discuss various types, varied clinical presentations, associated
      abnormalities, and management strategies of this abnormality. We retrospectively
      analyzed three patients with os omovertebrale and their clinical presentation,
      and also reviewed the limited available literature. Patients were evaluated
      clinically and radiologically to diagnose this abnormality as well as the
      associated abnormalities. Two patients were operated for neurological deficits
      attributed to this deformity. It is quite common to miss this abnormality when it
      is of osseocartilaginous or fibrous type, especially when it is asymptomatic and
      not associated with Sprengel's scapula. By analyzing our patients and other
      reported cases, we have proposed a classification system. In addition, we discuss
      varied clinical presentations and their practical application. Os omovertebrale
      is a rare abnormality. It should be kept in mind and managed when encountered in
      clinical practice. The classification and clinicoradiological correlations
      described here can be useful to individualize management issues. 

PMID- 27625244
TI  - Role of mTOR signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of subependymal giant cell
      astrocytoma - A study of 28 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subependymal giant cell astrocytomas (SEGA) are slow-growing benign
      intraventricular tumors, the pathogenesis of which is debated. Recent studies
      have shown that tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) 1 and TSC2 genes are linked to
      the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) cell signaling pathway. We aimed to
      analyze TSC1 and TSC2 gene mutation, hamartin and tuberin protein expression, and
      protein expression of mTOR signaling cascade in a series of SEGA to determine
      their role in pathogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight SEGA cases were
      retrieved from archival material. Immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin
      fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue using antibodies against tuberin, hamartin,
      phospho-p70S6 kinase, S6 ribosomal protein, phospho-S6 ribosomal protein, phospho
      4E-BP1, Stat3, and phospho-Stat3. Mutation analysis of TSC1 (exons 15 and 17) and
      TSC2 (exons 33, 39, and 40) was done by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Loss of
      immunoexpression of either hamartin or tuberin was found in 19 cases (68%).
      Pathogenic point mutations in selected exons of TSC1 and TSC2 genes were present
      in 5 of 20 cases studied. Robust expression of mTOR downstream signaling
      molecules phospho-p70S6 kinase (100%), S6 ribosomal protein (82%), phospho-S6
      ribosomal protein (64%), phospho-4E-BP1 (64%), and Stat3 (100%) was seen. Four
      cases (14%) showed immunopositivity for phospho-Stat3. There was no significant
      correlation of these markers with immunoloss of tuberin and hamartin.
      SIGNIFICANCE: There is a definite role for TSC1 and TSC2 genes in the
      pathogenesis of SEGA as evidenced by loss of protein expression and presence of
      mutations. Strong expression of mTOR downstream signaling proteins indicates
      activation of mTOR pathway in these tumors, suggesting that proteins in this
      pathway may have the potential to serve as therapeutic targets in these patients.

PMID- 27625245
TI  - Role of transcranial Doppler in cerebrovascular disease.
AB  - Transcranial Doppler (TCD) is the only noninvasive modality for the assessment of
      real-time cerebral blood flow. It complements various anatomic imaging modalities
      by providing physiological-flow related information. It is relatively cheap,
      easily available, and can be performed at the bedside. It has been suggested as
      an essential component of a comprehensive stroke centre. In addition to its
      importance in acute cerebrovascular ischemia, its role is expanding in the
      evaluation of cerebral hemodynamics in various disorders of the brain. The
      "established" clinical indications for the use of TCD include cerebral ischemia,
      sickle cell disease, detection of right-to-left shunts, subarachnoid hemorrhage,
      periprocedural or surgical monitoring, and brain death. We present the role of
      TCD in acute cerebrovascular ischemia, sonothrombolysis, and intracranial
      stenosis. 

PMID- 27625246
TI  - Evaluation of peripheral nerve lesions with high-resolution ultrasonography and
      color Doppler.
AB  - PURPOSE: Traditionally, peripheral nerve lesions are diagnosed on the basis of
      clinical history, physical examination, and electrophysiological studies, and the
      role of imaging studies has been limited. The purpose of the study was to assess
      the usefulness of sonography in diagnosing peripheral nerve lesions. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Thirty adult patients with peripheral nerve lesion/s and 30 healthy
      adult volunteers were included in the study, and sonography of the relevant
      peripheral nerve/s was done. The mean cross-sectional area (CSA) of the involved
      nerves were compared using Student t-test. RESULTS: The study included patients
      with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), carpal tunnel syndrome, leprosy,
      peripheral nerve tumor, and peripheral nerve trauma. There was a significant
      increase in CSA of the median nerve and ulnar nerve in DPN patients, and of the
      median nerve within the carpal tunnel in carpal tunnel syndrome (P < 0.0001) as
      compared to age and sex-matched controls. Sonography showed significant
      thickening of both the ulnar and median nerves in patients with leprosy. On
      sonography, schwannoma and neurofibroma had a similar appearance and showed
      internal vascularity. In case of neural trauma, sonography allowed precise
      localization of the site and type of nerve injury. CONCLUSION: High-resolution
      sonography is useful in characterizing peripheral nerve lesions and can
      complement other diagnostic investigations such as the nerve conduction study. It
      is easily available and has the potential to become the first modality for the
      evaluation of focal peripheral nerve disorders.

PMID- 27625247
TI  - Neurology at Sanjay Gandhi PGI: Beginning, progress and hope.
AB  - High quality publications, patient care and educational standard have made Sanjay
      Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, India a
      favored destination for the patients and medical students, for getting treatment
      and education, respectively. The current article traces the history and milestone
      of the Department of Neurology, SGPGIMS, Lucknow and summarizes its achievements
      and facilities. The uniqueness of the department lies in being sensitive to the
      expectation of the patients, students and its faculty's own aspirations in
      research, keeping the patient as the center of focus. 

PMID- 27625249
TI  - Anti-Ri antibody-mediated paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration: A rare,
      treatable yet poorly recognized entity.

PMID- 27625251
TI  - TRPM6 mutation: A novel cause of "reversible" infantile epileptic encephalopathy.

PMID- 27625250
TI  - Pediatric subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma presenting as
      paraparesis: An unreported manifestation.

PMID- 27625252
TI  - Idiopathic hypertrophic cervical pachymeningitis - A rare report.

PMID- 27625253
TI  - Topiramate-induced bilateral angle closure glaucoma and myopic shift.

PMID- 27625254
TI  - Multiple sclerosis activated by anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (Etanercept) and
      the genetic risk.

PMID- 27625255
TI  - Adult onset Niemann-Pick type C disease: Two different presentations.

PMID- 27625256
TI  - Central precocious puberty in children with devastating brain damage: Two cases.

PMID- 27625257
TI  - An unusual case of Wernicke's encephalopathy with intrauterine fetal death
      following hyperemesis gravidarum.

PMID- 27625259
TI  - Amyloid myopathy: An underdiagnosed entity.

PMID- 27625258
TI  - Myotonic dystrophy type 2 presenting as inflammatory myopathy.

PMID- 27625260
TI  - Wernekink commissure syndrome.

PMID- 27625261
TI  - A report on the first case of Tourette syndrome associated with segmental
      agenesis of corpus callosum.

PMID- 27625262
TI  - Disseminated cysticercosis.

PMID- 27625263
TI  - Disseminated cysticercosis: Many issues are still unresolved.

PMID- 27625264
TI  - Is complete excision the key to cure for Cladophialophora bantiana brain abscess?
      A review of literature.

PMID- 27625265
TI  - Intracranial Rosai-Dorfman disease: An rare entity with an uncommon presentation.

PMID- 27625266
TI  - Acquired Chiari malformation secondary to tuberculous arachnoiditis of the lumbar
      spine.

PMID- 27625267
TI  - Follicle stimulating hormone secreting pituitary macroadenoma in males: A rare
      entity.

PMID- 27625268
TI  - Lumbar paraspinal primary high-grade leiomyosarcoma mimicking an extraforaminal
      schwannoma.

PMID- 27625269
TI  - "Waning crescent moon" - A new sign or an imaging artifact.

PMID- 27625270
TI  - Xanthogranuloma of the sellar region.

PMID- 27625271
TI  - Falx stitch for retraction of the superior sagittal sinus-technical note.

PMID- 27625272
TI  - Penetrating injury of the posterior cranial fossa by a stone.

PMID- 27625273
TI  - Bronchogenic intraspinal cyst - A rare case of spinal cystic space occupying
      lesion.

PMID- 27625274
TI  - Calcific tendinitis of the longus colli muscle: A rare cause of neck pain.

PMID- 27625275
TI  - Bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria: An interesting presentation of malformation
      of cortical development in an adult.

PMID- 27625276
TI  - Loeys-Dietz syndrome.

PMID- 27625277
TI  - Early diagnosis of Varicella-zoster virus sciatic neuropathy by MRI neurography.

PMID- 27625279
TI  - Hyperdense lenticulostriate artery sign.

PMID- 27625278
TI  - Aspergillus arteritis of the right internal carotid artery resulting in massive
      stroke.

PMID- 27625280
TI  - Scalpel sign of dorsal arachnoid web.

PMID- 27625281
TI  - 3-Hemi syndrome secondary to porencephalic cyst.

PMID- 27625282
TI  - Hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia syndrome.

PMID- 27625283
TI  - Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis and Marfan syndrome - A picturesque combination.

PMID- 27625285
TI  - Bilateral ulnar neuropathy at the elbow secondary to Charcot-joint associated
      with Chiari malformation and syringomyelia.

PMID- 27625284
TI  - Focal brain herniation into a dural venous sinus: An incidental rare entity.

PMID- 27625287
TI  - Author's reply: Cell therapy for neurological disorders: The elusive goal.

PMID- 27625286
TI  - Cell therapy for neurological disorders.

PMID- 27625289
TI  - The middle path, the beaten path, or the uncharted path: Is neurosurgical
      decision making at a crossroad?

PMID- 27625288
TI  - Zika virus: New interest in neurology.

PMID- 27625290
TI  - Prescription writing: Time to revisit!

PMID- 27625291
TI  - Simulated neurosurgical reality: Could it fall short of the real thing?

PMID- 27625292
TI  - Epidemiology of neurological disorders in India: An erratum.

PMID- 27625293
TI  - The 'Olympics' of wound care arrives in Europe.

PMID- 27625295
TI  - Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound upregulates pro-myelination indicators of Schwann
      cells enhanced by co-culture with adipose-derived stem cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Peripheral nerve injuries are a common occurrence, resulting in
      considerable patient suffering; it also represents a major economic burden on
      society. To improve treatment options following peripheral nerve injuries,
      scientists aim to find a way to promote Schwann cell (SC) myelination to help
      nerves to carry out their functions effectively. In this study, we investigated
      myelination ability of SCs, regulated by co-culture with adipose-derived stem
      cells (ASCs) or low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS), and synergistic effects
      of combined treatments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Schwann cells were co-cultured
      with or without ASCs, and either left untreated or treated with LIPUS for 10
      min/d for 1, 4 or 7 days. Effects of LIPUS and ASC co-culture on pro-myelination
      indicators of SCs were analysed by real-time PCR (RT-PCR), Western blotting and
      immunofluorescence staining (IF). RESULTS: Our results indicate that ASC-SC co
      culture and LIPUS, together or individually, promoted mRNA levels of epidermal
      growth factor receptor 3 (EGFR3/ErbB3), neuregulin1 (NRG1), early growth response
      protein 2 (Egr2/Krox20) and myelin basic protein (MBP), with corresponding
      increases in protein levels of ErbB3, NRG1 and Krox20. Interestingly, combination
      of ASC-SC co-culture and LIPUS displayed the most remarkable effects. CONCLUSION:
      We demonstrated that ASCs upregulated pro-myelination indicators of SCs by
      indirect contact (through co-culture) and that effects could be potentiated by
      LIPUS. We conclude that LIPUS, as a mechanical stress, may have potential in
      nerve regeneration with potential clinical relevance.

PMID- 27625296
TI  - Masked hypoglycemia in pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoglycemia is a major hindrance for optimal glycemic control in
      women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on insulin. In the present study,
      masked hypoglycemia (glucose <2.77mmol/L for >=30 min) was estimated in pregnant
      women using a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. METHODS: Twenty
      pregnant women with GDM on insulin (cases) and 10 age-matched euglycemic pregnant
      women (controls) between 24 and 36 weeks gestation were recruited. Both groups
      performed self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and underwent CGM for 72 h to
      assess masked hypoglycemia. Masked hypoglycemic episodes were further stratified
      into two groups based on interstitial glucose (2.28-2.77 and <=2.22 mmol/L).
      RESULTS: Masked hypoglycemia was recorded in 35% (7/20) of cases and 40% (4/10)
      of controls using CGM, with an average of 1.28 and 1.25 episodes per subject,
      respectively. Time spent at glucose levels between 2.28 and 2.77 mmol/L did not
      differ between the two groups (mean 114 vs 90 min; P = 0.617), but cases spent a
      longer time with glucose <=2.2 mmol/L. Babies born to women with GDM were
      significantly lighter than those born to controls (2860 vs 3290 g; P = 0.012).
      There was no significant difference in birth weight within the groups among
      babies born to women with or without hypoglycemia. CONCLUSION: Euglycemic
      pregnant women and those with GDM on insulin had masked hypoglycemia. Masked
      hypoglycemia was not associated with adverse maternal or fetal outcomes.
      Therefore, low glucose levels in the hypoglycemic range may represent a
      physiologic adaptation in pregnancy. This response is exaggerated in women with
      GDM on insulin.

PMID- 27625298
TI  - Introduction: Photochemistry in Organic Synthesis.

PMID- 27625297
TI  - Splenic CD11c(low)CD45RB(high) dendritic cells derived from endotoxin-tolerant
      mice attenuate experimental acute liver failure.
AB  - Endotoxin tolerance (ET) is suggested to attenuate the severity of acute liver
      failure (ALF) in mice, possibly through both innate and adaptive immunity.
      However, the involvement of regulatory dendritic cells (DCregs) in ET has not
      been fully elucidated. In this study, their effect on ALF in mice was
      investigated. Splenic DCregs from ET-exposed mice (ET-DCregs) showed lower
      expression levels of CD40, CD80, and MHC-II markers and stronger inhibition of
      allogenic T cells and regulation of IL-10 and IL-12 secretion than splenic DCregs
      from normal mice (nDCregs). Moreover, the mRNA and protein levels of TNF-alpha
      and P65 in splenic ET-DCregs were significantly lower than those in the splenic
      nDCregs. The survival rate was significantly increased and liver injury was
      mitigated in mice with ALF treated with splenic ET-DCregs. In addition, A20
      expression was decreased in the liver of ALF mice, but elevated after infusion of
      splenic nDCregs and ET-DCregs, and a much higher elevation was observed after
      infusing the latter cells. The functionality of splenic DCregs was altered after
      ET exposure, contributing to protection of the livers against D-GalN/LPS-induced
      ALF.

PMID- 27625300
TI  - Radiological findings in labial basal cell carcinoma: A case report with perineal
      ultrasound and magnetic resonance images.

PMID- 27625299
TI  - Acute central effects of alarin on the regulation on energy homeostasis.
AB  - Hypothalamic neuropeptides influence the main components of energy balance:
      metabolic rate, food intake, body weight as well as body temperature, by exerting
      either an overall anabolic or catabolic effect. The contribution of alarin, the
      most recently discovered member of the galanin peptide family to the regulation
      of energy metabolism has been suggested. Our aim was to analyze the complex
      thermoregulatory and food intake-related effects of alarin in rats. Adult male
      Wistar rats received different doses of alarin (0.3; 1; 3 and 15MUg corresponding
      approximately to 0.1, 0.33, 1, and 5 nmol, respectively)
      intracerebroventricularly. Regarding thermoregulatory analysis, oxygen
      consumption (indicating metabolic rate), core temperature and heat loss (assessed
      by tail skin temperature) were recorded in an Oxymax indirect calorimeter system
      complemented with thermocouples and Benchtop thermometer. In order to investigate
      potential prostaglandin-mediated mechanisms of the hyperthermic effect of alarin,
      effects of intraperitoneally applied non-selective (indomethacin, 2mg/kg) or
      selective cyclooxygenase inhibitor (COX-2 inhibitor meloxicam, 1; 2mg/kg) were
      tested. Effects of alarin on daytime and nighttime spontaneous food intake, as
      well as, 24-h fasting-induced re-feeding were recorded in an automated FeedScale
      system. Alarin increased oxygen consumption with simultaneous suppression of heat
      loss leading to a slow coordinated rise in core temperature. Both applied COX
      inhibitors suppressed this action. Alarin failed to induce daytime food intake,
      but suppressed spontaneous nighttime and also fasting-induced re-feeding food
      intake. Alarin appears to elicit a slow anorexigenic and prostaglandin-mediated,
      fever-like hyperthermic response in rats. Such a combination would characterize a
      catabolic mediator. The potential involvement of alarin in sickness behavior may
      be assumed.

PMID- 27625301
TI  - Vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7) prevents age-related deterioration of trabecular bone
      microarchitecture at the tibia in postmenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Clinical studies suggest that vitamin K2 protects against bone loss
      and fractures; however, its effect on bone quality has never been investigated.
      We investigated the effect of vitamin MK-7 on undercarboxylated osteocalcin
      (ucOC), and bone mass and quality. DESIGN: We conducted a randomised, placebo
      controlled, double-blinded clinical trial. METHODS: We investigated the effect of
      MK-7 375 ug for 12 months on bone mineral density (BMD) measured by dual X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA), bone microarchitecture measured by high-resolution
      peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HRpQCT) and biochemical bone
      turnover markers in 148 postmenopausal women with osteopenia. All of them were
      supplemented with calcium and vitamin D. RESULTS: ucOC decreased in the MK-7
      group (-65.6 (59.1; 71.0) %) (median (CI)) compared with the placebo group (-6.4
      (-13.5; 1.2) %) after 3 months (P < 0.01). HRpQCT after 12 months demonstrated
      that trabecular number in tibia was unchanged in the MK-7-group (-0.1 +/- 1.9%)
      (mean +/- s.d.) and decreased in the placebo group (-3.5 +/- 2.2%), trabecular
      spacing was unchanged in the MK-7 group (+1.2 +/- 8.0%) and increased in the
      placebo group (+4.5 +/- 9.7%), and trabecular thickness was unchanged in the MK-7
      group (+0.2 +/- 1.7%) and increased in the placebo group (+4.0 +/- 2.2%) (between
      group changes for all: P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between
      the groups in HRpQCT-derived parameters at the radius or in BMD at any site.
      CONCLUSION: The changes in bone microarchitecture in the placebo group are
      consistent with the age-related deterioration of trabecular structure, with a
      loss of trabeculae and a greater mean thickness of the remaining trabeculae. This
      suggests that vitamin MK-7 preserves trabecular bone structure at the tibia.

PMID- 27625302
TI  - Prevalence and lethality among patients with histoplasmosis and AIDS in the
      Midwest Region of Brazil.
AB  - Histoplasmosis is a systemic mycosis that is considered an important public
      health problem. In this work, we performed a descriptive, observational, cross
      sectional and retrospective study with a secondary data analysis of medical
      records from 2000 to 2012 at a tertiary hospital. The study sample consisted of
      275 patients with laboratory-confirmed Disseminated Histoplasmosis (DH)/AIDS. The
      results showed that the prevalence of DH associated with AIDS was 4.4%. The
      majority of patients were young adult men with fever in 84.2%, cough in 63.4%,
      weight loss in 63.1%, diarrhoea in 44.8% and skin manifestations in 27.6% of
      patients. In the overall cohort, the CD4 counts were low, but not significantly
      different in survivors and non-survivors. Higher levels of urea and lower levels
      of haemoglobin and platelets were observed in non-survivor patients (<.05). The
      global lethality was 71.3% (196/275). The results with high prevalence and
      lethality highlight the need to adopt measures to facilitate early diagnosis,
      proper treatment and improved prognosis.

PMID- 27625303
TI  - Copper and cobalt accumulation in plants: a critical assessment of the current
      state of knowledge.
AB  - This review synthesizes contemporary understanding of copper-cobalt (Cu-Co)
      tolerance and accumulation in plants. Accumulation of foliar Cu and Co to > 300
      MUg g-1 is exceptionally rare globally, and known principally from the Copperbelt
      of Central Africa. Cobalt accumulation is also observed in a limited number of
      nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulator plants occurring on ultramafic soils around the
      world. None of the putative Cu or Co hyperaccumulator plants appears to comply
      with the fundamental principle of hyperaccumulation, as foliar Cu-Co accumulation
      is strongly dose-dependent. Abnormally high plant tissue Cu concentrations occur
      only when plants are exposed to high soil Cu with a low root to shoot
      translocation factor. Most Cu-tolerant plants are Excluders sensu Baker and
      therefore setting nominal threshold values for Cu hyperaccumulation is not
      informative. Abnormal accumulation of Co occurs under similar circumstances in
      the Copperbelt of Central Africa as well as sporadically in Ni hyperaccumulator
      plants on ultramafic soils; however, Co-tolerant plants behave physiologically as
      Indicators sensu Baker. Practical application of Cu-Co accumulator plants in
      phytomining is limited due to their dose-dependent accumulation characteristics,
      although for Co field trials may be warranted on highly Co-contaminated mineral
      wastes because of its relatively high metal value.

PMID- 27625304
TI  - CHK1 as a therapeutic target to bypass chemoresistance in AML.
AB  - The nucleoside analog cytarabine, an inhibitor of DNA replication fork
      progression that results in DNA damage, is currently used in the treatment of
      acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We explored the prognostic value of the expression
      of 72 genes involved in various aspects of DNA replication in a set of 198 AML
      patients treated by cytarabine-based chemotherapy. We unveiled that high
      expression of the DNA replication checkpoint gene CHEK1 is a prognostic marker
      associated with shorter overall, event-free, and relapse-free survivals and
      determined that the expression of CHEK1 can predict more frequent and earlier
      postremission relapse. CHEK1 encodes checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1), which is
      activated by the kinase ATR when DNA replication is impaired by DNA damage. High
      abundance of CHK1 in AML patient cells correlated with higher clonogenic ability
      and more efficient DNA replication fork progression upon cytarabine treatment.
      Exposing the patient cells with the high abundance of CHK1 to SCH900776, an
      inhibitor of the kinase activity of CHK1, reduced clonogenic ability and
      progression of DNA replication in the presence of cytarabine. These results
      indicated that some AML cells rely on an efficient CHK1-mediated replication
      stress response for viability and that therapeutic strategies that inhibit CHK1
      could extend current cytarabine-based treatments and overcome drug resistance.
      Furthermore, monitoring CHEK1 expression could be used both as a predictor of
      outcome and as a marker to select AML patients for CHK1 inhibitor treatments.

PMID- 27625305
TI  - Targeting the kinase activities of ATR and ATM exhibits antitumoral activity in
      mouse models of MLL-rearranged AML.
AB  - Among the various subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), those with
      chromosomal rearrangements of the MLL oncogene (AML-MLL) have a poor prognosis.
      AML-MLL tumor cells are resistant to current genotoxic therapies because of an
      attenuated response by p53, a protein that induces cell cycle arrest and
      apoptosis in response to DNA damage. In addition to chemicals that damage DNA,
      efforts have focused on targeting DNA repair enzymes as a general
      chemotherapeutic approach to cancer treatment. Here, we found that inhibition of
      the kinase ATR, which is the primary sensor of DNA replication stress, induced
      chromosomal breakage and death of mouse AML(MLL) cells (with an MLL-ENL fusion
      and a constitutively active N-RAS independently of p53. Moreover, ATR inhibition
      as a single agent exhibited antitumoral activity, both reducing tumor burden
      after establishment and preventing tumors from growing, in an immunocompetent
      allograft mouse model of AML(MLL) and in xenografts of a human AML-MLL cell line.
      We also found that inhibition of ATM, a kinase that senses DNA double-strand
      breaks, also promoted the survival of the AML(MLL) mice. Collectively, these data
      indicated that ATR or ATM inhibition represent potential therapeutic strategies
      for the treatment of AML, especially MLL-driven leukemias.

PMID- 27625306
TI  - Chemical proteomic map of dimethyl fumarate-sensitive cysteines in primary human
      T cells.
AB  - Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an electrophilic drug that is used to treat autoimmune
      conditions, including multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. The mechanism of action
      of DMF is unclear but may involve the covalent modification of proteins or DMF
      serving as a prodrug that is converted to monomethyl fumarate (MMF). We found
      that DMF, but not MMF, blocked the activation of primary human and mouse T cells.
      Using a quantitative, site-specific chemical proteomic platform, we determined
      the DMF sensitivity of >2400 cysteine residues in human T cells. Cysteines
      sensitive to DMF, but not MMF, were identified in several proteins with
      established biochemical or genetic links to T cell function, including protein
      kinase Ctheta (PKCtheta). DMF blocked the association of PKCtheta with the
      costimulatory receptor CD28 by perturbing a CXXC motif in the C2 domain of this
      kinase. Mutation of these DMF-sensitive cysteines also impaired PKCtheta-CD28
      interactions and T cell activation, designating the C2 domain of PKCtheta as a
      key functional, electrophile-sensing module important for T cell biology.

PMID- 27625307
TI  - General, but not myeloid or type II lung epithelial cell, myeloid differentiation
      factor 88 deficiency abrogates house dust mite induced allergic lung
      inflammation.
AB  - Asthma is a highly prevalent chronic allergic inflammatory disease of the airways
      affecting people worldwide. House dust mite (HDM) is the most common allergen
      implicated in human allergic asthma. HDM-induced allergic responses are thought
      to depend upon activation of pathways involving Toll-like receptors and their
      adaptor protein myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88). We sought here to
      determine the role of MyD88 in myeloid and type II lung epithelial cells in the
      development of asthma-like allergic disease using a mouse model. Repeated
      exposure to HDM caused allergic responses in control mice characterized by influx
      of eosinophils into the bronchoalveolar space and lung tissue, lung pathology and
      mucus production and protein leak into bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. All these
      responses were abrogated in mice with a general deficiency of MyD88 but unaltered
      in mice with MyD88 deficiency, specifically in myeloid or type II lung epithelial
      cells. We conclude that cells other than myeloid or type II lung epithelial cells
      are responsible for MyD88-dependent HDM-induced allergic airway inflammation.

PMID- 27625308
TI  - Can a print-based intervention increase screening for first degree relatives of
      people with colorectal cancer? A randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness of a targeted print-based intervention to
      improve screening adherence in first degree relatives of people with colorectal
      cancer (CRC). METHODS: People with CRC and their adult first degree relatives
      were identified through a population-based cancer registry and randomly allocated
      as a family unit to the intervention or control condition. The control group
      received general information about CRC screening. The intervention group received
      printed advice regarding screening that was targeted to their risk level.
      Screening adherence was assessed at baseline and at 12 months via self report.
      RESULTS: 752 (25%) index cases and 574 (34%) eligible first degree relatives
      consented to take part in the trial and completed baseline interviews. At 12
      months, 58% of first degree relatives in the control group and 61% in the
      intervention group were adherent to screening guidelines (mixed effects logistic
      regression group by time interaction effect =2.7; 95%CI=1.2-5.9; P=0.013).
      Subgroup analysis indicated that the intervention was only effective for those
      with the lowest risk. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of personalised risk information may
      have a modest effect on adherence to CRC screening recommendations among first
      degree relatives of people diagnosed with CRC. IMPLICATIONS: Improved strategies
      for identifying and engaging first degree relatives are needed to maximise the
      population impact of the intervention.

PMID- 27625310
TI  - Corrigendum: N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) -based score
      can predict in-hospital mortality in patients with heart failure.

PMID- 27625309
TI  - Haemoglobin in pelvic fluid rescues Fallopian tube epithelial cells from reactive
      oxygen species stress and apoptosis.
AB  - Fallopian tube fimbrial epithelium is considered to be the major site of origin
      of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma, with p53 loss being the earliest and
      universal change. We previously reported that reactive oxygen species (ROS) in
      the ovulatory follicular fluids (FFs) are mutagenic and cytotoxic to fimbrial
      epithelial cells, which are bathed in the peritoneal fluid mixed with FFs. Here,
      we observed that ferryl haemoglobin (Hb), which was abundantly present in
      ovulatory FFs and pelvic peritoneal fluids, could rescue p53-deficient
      immortalized fimbrial epithelial (FE25) cells and oviduct epithelial cells from
      Trp53-null mice from lethal ovulatory ROS stress. Ferryl Hb and FF containing
      high Hb levels protected FE25 cells from apoptosis, mainly by consuming
      extracellular ROS and reducing NADPH oxidase-mediated cell death. The remaining
      extracellular ROS could still induce DNA double-strand breaks in the fimbrial
      epithelial cells. Our study revealed that ferryl Hb in peritoneal fluid rescued
      ROS-stressed, DNA-damaged fimbrial epithelial cells from death, and suggested
      that peritoneal blood from various sources may contribute to the ovulation
      induced transformation of Fallopian tube epithelium. Copyright (c) 2016
      Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27625311
TI  - Attention induced neural response trade-off in retinotopic cortex under load.
AB  - The effects of perceptual load on visual cortex response to distractors are well
      established and various phenomena of 'inattentional blindness' associated with
      elimination of visual cortex response to unattended distractors, have been
      documented in tasks of high load. Here we tested an account for these effects in
      terms of a load-induced trade-off between target and distractor processing in
      retinotopic visual cortex. Participants were scanned using fMRI while performing
      a visual-search task and ignoring distractor checkerboards in the periphery.
      Retinotopic responses to target and distractors were assessed as a function of
      search load (comparing search set-sizes two, three and five). We found that
      increased load not only increased activity in frontoparietal network, but also
      had opposite effects on retinotopic responses to target and distractors. Target
      related signals in areas V2-V3 linearly increased, while distractor response
      linearly decreased, with increased load. Critically, the slopes were equivalent
      for both load functions, thus demonstrating resource trade-off. Load effects were
      also found in displays with the same item number in the distractor hemisphere
      across different set sizes, thus ruling out local intrahemispheric interactions
      as the cause. Our findings provide new evidence for load theory proposals of
      attention resource sharing between target and distractor leading to inattentional
      blindness.

PMID- 27625312
TI  - Identification of Viruses in Cases of Pediatric Acute Encephalitis and
      Encephalopathy Using Next-Generation Sequencing.
AB  - Acute encephalitis/encephalopathy is a severe neurological syndrome that is
      occasionally associated with viral infection. Comprehensive virus detection
      assays are desirable because viral pathogens have not been identified in many
      cases. We evaluated the utility of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for detecting
      viruses in clinical samples of encephalitis/encephalopathy patients. We first
      determined the sensitivity and quantitative performance of NGS by comparing the
      NGS-determined number of sequences of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in clinical
      serum samples with the HHV-6 load measured using real-time PCR. HHV-6 was
      measured as it occasionally causes neurologic disorders in children. The
      sensitivity of NGS for detection of HHV-6 sequences was equivalent to that of
      real-time PCR, and the number of HHV-6 reads was significantly correlated with
      HHV-6 load. Next, we investigated the ability of NGS to detect viral sequences in
      18 pediatric patients with acute encephalitis/encephalopathy of unknown etiology.
      A large number of Coxsackievirus A9 and mumps viral sequences were detected in
      the cerebrospinal fluid of 2 and 1 patients, respectively. In addition, Torque
      teno virus and Pepper mild mottle viral sequences were detected in the sera of
      one patient each. These data indicate that NGS is useful for detection of
      causative viruses in patients with pediatric encephalitis/encephalopathy.

PMID- 27625315
TI  - Clinical trial IDs need to be validated prior to publication because hundreds of
      invalid National Clinical Trial Identifications are regularly entering MEDLINE.

PMID- 27625313
TI  - Virulence Differences among Melissococcus plutonius Strains with Different
      Genetic Backgrounds in Apis mellifera Larvae under an Improved Experimental
      Condition.
AB  - European foulbrood (EFB) caused by Melissococcus plutonius is an important
      bacterial disease of honeybee larvae. M. plutonius strains can be grouped into
      three genetically distinct groups (CC3, CC12 and CC13). Because EFB could not be
      reproduced in artificially reared honeybee larvae by fastidious strains of CC3
      and CC13 previously, we investigated a method to improve experimental conditions
      using a CC3 strain and found that infection with a potassium-rich diet enhanced
      proliferation of the fastidious strain in larvae at the early stage of infection,
      leading to the appearance of clear clinical symptoms. Further comparison of M.
      plutonius virulence under the conditions revealed that the representative strain
      of CC12 was extremely virulent and killed all tested bees before pupation,
      whereas the CC3 strain was less virulent than the CC12 strain, and a part of the
      infected larvae pupated. In contrast, the tested CC13 strain was avirulent, and
      as with the non-infected control group, most of the infected brood became adult
      bees, suggesting differences in the insect-level virulence among M. plutonius
      strains with different genetic backgrounds. These strains and the improved
      experimental infection method to evaluate their virulence will be useful tools
      for further elucidation of the pathogenic mechanisms of EFB.

PMID- 27625314
TI  - A randomized study of multimedia informational aids for research on medical
      practices: Implications for informed consent.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Participant understanding is a key element of informed consent
      for enrollment in research. However, participants often do not understand the
      nature, risks, benefits, or design of the studies in which they take part.
      Research on medical practices, which studies standard interventions rather than
      new treatments, has the potential to be especially confusing to participants
      because it is embedded within usual clinical care. Our objective in this
      randomized study was to compare the ability of a range of multimedia
      informational aids to improve participant understanding in the context of
      research on medical practices. METHODS: We administered a web-based survey to
      members of a proprietary online panel sample selected to match national US
      demographics. Respondents were randomized to one of five arms: four content
      equivalent informational aids (animated videos, slideshows with voice-over,
      comics, and text) and one no-intervention control. We measured knowledge of
      research on medical practices using a summary knowledge score from 10 questions
      based on the content of the informational aids. We used analysis of variance and
      paired t-tests to compare knowledge scores between arms. RESULTS: There were 1500
      completed surveys (300 in each arm). Mean knowledge scores were highest for the
      slideshows with voice-over (65.7%), followed by the animated videos (62.7%),
      comics (60.7%), text (57.2%), and control (50.3%). Differences between arms were
      statistically significant except between the slideshows with voice-over and
      animated videos and between the animated videos and comics. Informational aids
      that included an audio component (animated videos and slideshows with voice-over)
      had higher knowledge scores than those without an audio component (64.2% vs
      59.0%, p < .0001). There was no difference between informational aids with a
      character-driven story component (animated videos and comics) and those without.
      CONCLUSION: Our results show that simple multimedia aids that use a dual-channel
      approach, such as voice-over with visual reinforcement, can improve participant
      knowledge more effectively than text alone. However, the relatively low knowledge
      scores suggest that targeted informational aids may be needed to teach some
      particularly challenging concepts. Nonetheless, our results demonstrate the
      potential to improve informed consent for research on medical practices using
      multimedia aids that include simplified language and visual metaphors.

PMID- 27625316
TI  - A Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Imaging of the Activity of Methionine
      Sulfoxide Reductase A in Cells.
AB  - Methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MsrA) is an enzyme involved in redox balance
      and signaling, and its aberrant activity is implicated in a number of diseases
      (for example, Alzheimer's disease and cancer). Since there is no simple small
      molecule tool to monitor MsrA activity in real time in vivo, we aimed at
      developing one. We have designed a BODIPY-based probe called (S)-Sulfox-1, which
      is equipped with a reactive sulfoxide moiety. Upon reduction with a model MsrA
      (E. coli), it exhibits a bathochromic shift in the fluorescence maximum. This
      feature was utilized for the real-time ratiometric fluorescent imaging of MsrA
      activity in E. coli cells. Significantly, our probe is capable of capturing
      natural variations of the enzyme activity in vivo.

PMID- 27625317
TI  - scan_tcga tools for integrated epigenomic and transcriptomic analysis of tumor
      subgroups.
AB  - AIM: The Cancer Genome Atlas contains multiple levels of genomic data (mutation,
      gene expression, DNA methylation, copy number variation) for 33 cancer types for
      almost 11,000 patients. However, a dearth of appropriate software tools makes it
      difficult for bench scientists to use these data effectively. MATERIALS &
      METHODS: Here, we present a suite of flexible, fast and command line-based
      scripts that will allow retrieval and analysis of DNA methylation (tool:
      scan_tcga_methylation.awk), mRNA (tool: scan_tcga_mRNA.awk) and miRNA expression
      (tool: scan_tcga_miRNAs.awk) from cancer genome atlas network level 3 data.
      RESULTS: We demonstrate the utility of these tools by analyzing DNA methylation
      and mRNA expression signatures of 60 frequently deregulated cancer genes and also
      of 30 miRNAs in primary (n = 102) and metastatic melanoma patients (n = 367).
      CONCLUSION: Our analysis illustrates the validity of the scan_tcga tools and
      reveals the epigenomic signatures and importance of identifying smaller patient
      subgroups with distinct molecular profiles.

PMID- 27625318
TI  - Incidence and causes of urolithiasis in children between 0-2 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urolithiasis (UL) is a common problem in pediatric nephrology
      practice. About 9-23% of all pediatric UL cases consist of patients under 1 years
      old. The aim of the present study was to determine etiologic causes, clinical
      features and short term prognosis of urolithiasis in the first two years of life.
      METHODS: Two-hundred children between 0-2 years of age (mean age 10.3+/-6.1
      months) with urolithiasis were included to the study. All children were
      completely evaluated for urolithiasis etiology. Patients were followed for at
      least 1 year with 3-month follow-up intervals. RESULTS: The mean follow-up
      duration was 36.2 months. Family history was positive for urolithiasis in 99
      (49.5%) patients. The cause of admission were urinary tract infection and related
      symptoms in 101 (50.5%), incidentally during imaging for other causes in 40
      (20%), stone passage in 21 (10.5%), hematuria in 18 (9%), voiding difficulty in
      14 (7%) and antenatal detected urinary anomaly in 6 (3%) patients. Accompanying
      urinary anomalies (anatomical defects) in 51 (25.5%) patients were detected
      primarily including vesiculoureteral reflux (VUR) in 32 (62.9%) of them.
      Development of new stones was determined in 45 (22.5%) patients in the first
      year, in 15 (22%) patients in the second year and in 8 (36.3%) patients in the
      third year. CONCLUSIONS: In result, among pediatric urinary stone diseases,
      infantile UL appears to be a seperate clinical entity in terms of both the
      etiological characteristics and the clinical course of the disease. Furthermore,
      when an infant is presented with nonspecific symptoms for kidney stone, a renal
      ultrasonography could be performed for detecting nephrolithiasis.

PMID- 27625319
TI  - Single massive abdominoscrotal hydrocele in adults: should orchiectomy always be
      performed?

PMID- 27625320
TI  - Development and validation of the Italian version of the Intermittent Self
      Catheterization Questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intermittent self catheterization questionnaire (ISC-Q) is a
      questionnaire exploring four issues related to self-intermittent catheterization
      (ISC): ease of use, convenience, discreteness and psychological well-being. The
      aim of the study was to develop and validate the Italian version of the ISC-Q.
      METHODS: Two independent translations of the ISC-Q were performed and compared by
      an expert committee. A back translation to English was made by a linguistic
      expert, blinded to the original version. Patients using ISC to void their bladder
      were from 19 different spinal cord units; questionnaires were examined
      anonymously in a single center. A subgroup of 47 patients repeated the test at 2
      weeks distance and completed the Qualiveen questionnaire to assess the convergent
      validity of ISC-Q. The internal consistency was determined from Cronbach's alpha
      coefficient. Criterion validity was determined through the concurrent use of
      Qualiveen. Reliability was performed by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient and
      test-retest. The sensitivity was determined by the effect size-based estimate for
      small change (ES) and Minimal Detectable Change 95 (MDC95). In the study 217
      subjects (65.6% males, 34.4% females) were enrolled. Mean age: 43+/-10.1 years.
      Mean duration of ISC: 3.3+/-6.9 years. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.79
      to 0.81. Pearson correlation between the different parts of ISC-Q and total score
      ranged from 0.24 to 0.78. ICC values were higher than 0.9. Convergent validity
      was faint to null. ES ranged from 3.8 to 6 points. MDC95 ranged from 4.1 to 12.1.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Italian ISC-Q has the same psychometric characteristics of the
      original questionnaire. ISC-Q is a valid, reliable and sensitive patient related
      outcome, specifically focused on ISC. our work provides a new validated measure
      for Italian patients to explore in future studies the role and impact of ISC.

PMID- 27625322
TI  - Metabolism: Mitophagy turns beige adipocytes white.

PMID- 27625325
TI  - 13th Biennial Congress of the European Association of Oral Medicine, 15-17
      September 2016, Torino, Italy.

PMID- 27625327
TI  - Immunotherapy in urological malignancies: can you take your knowledge to the next
      level?

PMID- 27625321
TI  - Internetwork competition for monomers governs actin cytoskeleton organization.
AB  - Cells precisely control the formation of dynamic actin cytoskeleton networks to
      coordinate fundamental processes, including motility, division, endocytosis and
      polarization. To support these functions, actin filament networks must be
      assembled, maintained and disassembled at the correct time and place, and with
      proper filament organization and dynamics. Regulation of the extent of filament
      network assembly and of filament network organization has been largely attributed
      to the coordinated activation of actin assembly factors through signalling
      cascades. Here, we discuss an intriguing model in which actin monomer
      availability is limiting and competition between homeostatic actin cytoskeletal
      networks for actin monomers is an additional crucial regulatory mechanism that
      influences the density and size of different actin networks, thereby contributing
      to the organization of the cellular actin cytoskeleton.

PMID- 27625328
TI  - Some prostate cancers are invisible to magnetic resonance imaging!

PMID- 27625329
TI  - Cutaneous ureterostomy: 'back to the future'.

PMID- 27625326
TI  - Brain white matter changes in CPAP-treated obstructive sleep apnea patients with
      residual sleepiness.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate white matter (WM) structural alterations using diffusion
      tensor imaging (DTI) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients, with or without
      residual sleepiness, following adherent continuous positive airway pressure
      (CPAP) treatment. Possible quantitative relationships were explored between the
      DTI metrics and two clinical assessments of somnolence. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty-nine male patients (30-55 years old) with a confirmed diagnosis of OSA
      were recruited. The patients were treated with CPAP therapy only. The Psychomotor
      Vigilance Task (PVT) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were performed after CPAP
      treatment and additionally administered at the time of the magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) scan. Based on the PVT results, the patients were divided into a
      nonsleepy group (lapses <=5) and a sleepy group (lapses >5). DTI was performed at
      3T, followed by an analysis using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to
      investigate the differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD),
      axial diffusivity (lambda1 ), and radial diffusivity (lambda23 ) between the two
      groups. RESULTS: A higher MD (P < 0.05) was observed in the sleepy group than the
      nonsleepy group in the whole-brain TBSS analysis in the WM. The increased MD
      (17.8% of the fiber tracts; P < 0.05) was caused primarily by an elevated
      lambda23 . Axial diffusivity (lambda1 ) exhibited no significant difference (P >
      0.17). The alterations in FA or MD of individual fiber tracts occurred mainly in
      the internal/external capsule, corona radiata, corpus callosum, and sagittal
      stratum regions. The FA and MD values correlated with the PVT and ESS assessments
      from all patients (R >= 0.517, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Global and regional WM
      alterations, as revealed by DTI, can be a possible mechanism to explain why OSA
      patients with high levels of CPAP use can have differing responses to treatment.
      Compromised myelin sheath, indicated by increased radial diffusivity, can be
      involved in the underlying WM changes. Evidence level: 1 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING
      2017;45:1371-1378.

PMID- 27625330
TI  - Managing expectations after radical prostatectomy; time to change.

PMID- 27625331
TI  - HOXB13 mutations and prostate cancer risk.

PMID- 27625332
TI  - Prognostic Investigations of Expression Level of Two Genes FasL and Ki-67 as
      Independent Prognostic Markers of Human Retinoblastoma.
AB  - In this study, expression of FasL and Ki-67 messenger RNA (FasL and Ki-67 mRNA)
      in human retinoblastoma (HRB) was examined by the immunohistochemistry method and
      quantitative real-time PCR. Positive expression of Ki-67 in tumor cells was
      detected in 16 of 30 patients (53.33%), and only 9 (30%) of the tissues from
      patients with retinoblastoma showed positive staining for FasL. Our results
      revealed that FasL expression was significantly higher in tumor tissue with
      invasion compared with the noninvasion form (p = 0.033). Ki-67 expression was
      markedly increased in tumor tissues with invasion compared with the noninvasion
      group (p = 0.04), but no significant correlation was found between FasL
      expression and differentiation (p > 0.05). In addition, Ki-67 expression was
      strongly linked to differentiation (p < 0.002). Expression of these FasL was
      correlated with shorter overall survival of patients, but its expression was not
      significantly associated with overall survival (p = 0.15). The impact of Ki-67
      expression on survival in patients was also evaluated. Ki-67 expression level was
      not found to be significantly associated with shorter survival (Kaplan-Meier; p =
      0.09). Univariate analysis revealed that massive choroidal invasion was
      correlated with poor prognosis. Taken together, the data suggest that massive
      choroidal invasion is also an important indicator of poor prognosis for HRB.

PMID- 27625333
TI  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation outcomes in children with hemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pediatric patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)
      may develop refractory respiratory or cardiac failure that warrants consideration
      for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. The purposes of this
      study were to describe the use and outcomes of ECMO in pediatric HLH patients, to
      identify risk factors for hospital mortality and to compare their ECMO use and
      outcomes to the ECMO population as a whole. METHODS: Pediatric patients (? 18
      years) with a diagnosis of HLH in the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
      (ELSO) Registry were included. RESULTS: Between 1983 and 2014, data for 30
      children with HLH were available in the ELSO registry and all were included in
      this study. All cases occurred in the last decade. Of the 30 HLH patients, 24
      (80%) had a respiratory indication for ECMO and six (20%) had a cardiac
      indication (of which 4 were E-CPR and 2 cardiac failure). Of the 24 respiratory
      ECMO patients, 63% were placed on VA ECMO. Compared with all pediatric patients
      in the ELSO registry during the study period (n=17,007), HLH patients had worse
      hospital survival (non-HLH 59% vs HLH 30%, p=0.001). In pediatric HLH patients,
      no pre-ECMO risk factors for mortality were identified. The development of a
      hemorrhagic complication on ECMO was associated with decreased mortality
      (p=0.01). Comparing HLH patients with respiratory failure to patients with other
      immune compromised conditions, the overall survival rate is similar (HLH 38% vs.
      non-HLH immune compromised 31%, p=0.64). CONCLUSIONS: HLH is an uncommon
      indication for ECMO and these patients have increased mortality compared to the
      overall pediatric ECMO population. These data should be factored into decision
      making when considering ECMO for pediatric HLH patients.

PMID- 27625334
TI  - Effects of conventional CPB and mini-CPB on neutrophils CD162, CD166 and CD195
      expression.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cardiac surgery is known to trigger a systemic inflammatory response.
      While the use of conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) results in profound
      inflammation, modified mini-CPB is considered less harmful. We evaluated the
      impact of cardiac surgery on the expression of CD162, CD166, CD195 molecules and
      their association with the type of CPB used. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-four
      patients were enrolled in our study. Twelve of them were operated using
      conventional CPB while the other twelve patients underwent surgery with mini-CPB.
      Blood samples were analysed by flow cytometry. We observed a significant increase
      in median fluorescence intensity of CD162 and CD195 that peaked instantly after
      surgery and normalized to the baseline value on the 1st day post surgery, whereas
      CD166 was initially down-regulated and its median fluorescence intensity (MFI)
      value increased to the baseline in the next few days. CONCLUSION: We observed
      immediate changes in the expression of CD162, CD166, and CD195 molecules on the
      neutrophils after surgery in both study groups of patients. The intensity of the
      observed changes was significantly greater in the group of patients who underwent
      conventional CPB compared to patients who underwent mini-CPB cardiac surgery.

PMID- 27625335
TI  - Salvage myocardial revascularisation in spontaneous left main coronary artery
      dissection with cardiogenic shock - the role of mechanical circulatory support.
AB  - Spontaneous left main coronary artery dissection is a rare cause of acute
      coronary events or sudden cardiac death, constituting less than 1% of all
      epicardial coronary artery dissections. It is often fatal and is mostly
      recognized at post-mortem examination in young victims of sudden death. More than
      70% of the reported cases occurred in women, particularly during pregnancy and
      the peripartum period and those on oral contraceptives. The clinical presentation
      is highly variable and prognosis varies widely, depending predominantly on the
      speed of diagnosis. Treatment options include medical therapy, revascularization
      with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI) and mechanical circulatory support in cases of cardiogenic shock. We report
      a case of spontaneous dissection of the left main stem coronary artery, with
      extension into the left coronary territory, which occurred in a 41-year-old lady,
      complicated by profound cardiogenic shock requiring recovery with extracorporeal
      mechanical circulatory support after salvage myocardial revascularization.

PMID- 27625336
TI  - Effects of Di-isononyl Phthalate on Neuropeptide Y Expression in Differentiating
      Human Neuronal Cells.
AB  - Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is an abundant neuropeptide in the mammalian brain important
      for behavioural consequences of stress and energy metabolism. We have addressed
      possible effects of the phthalate DiNP on NPY expression in human SH-SY5Y cells,
      a neuronal in vitro differentiation model. Pico- to nanomolar doses of DiNP and
      its metabolite MiNP resulted in decreased NPY mRNA and peptide expression in
      retinoid-differentiated cells. Thus, dys-regulated NPY may be an adverse outcome
      for exposure to low doses of DiNP in human beings.

PMID- 27625337
TI  - Combination of Whole Genome Sequencing, Linkage, and Functional Studies
      Implicates a Missense Mutation in Titin as a Cause of Autosomal Dominant
      Cardiomyopathy With Features of Left Ventricular Noncompaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High throughput next-generation sequencing techniques have made whole
      genome sequencing accessible in clinical practice; however, the abundance of
      variation in the human genomes makes the identification of a disease-causing
      mutation on a background of benign rare variants challenging. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Here we combine whole genome sequencing with linkage analysis in a 3
      generation family affected by cardiomyopathy with features of autosomal dominant
      left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy. A missense mutation in the giant
      protein titin is the only plausible disease-causing variant that segregates with
      disease among the 7 surviving affected individuals, with interrogation of the
      entire genome excluding other potential causes. This A178D missense mutation,
      affecting a conserved residue in the second immunoglobulin-like domain of titin,
      was introduced in a bacterially expressed recombinant protein fragment and
      biophysically characterized in comparison to its wild-type counterpart. Multiple
      experiments, including size exclusion chromatography, small-angle x ray
      scattering, and circular dichroism spectroscopy suggest partial unfolding and
      domain destabilization in the presence of the mutation. Moreover, binding
      experiments in mammalian cells show that the mutation markedly impairs binding to
      the titin ligand telethonin. CONCLUSIONS: Here we present genetic and functional
      evidence implicating the novel A178D missense mutation in titin as the cause of a
      highly penetrant familial cardiomyopathy with features of left ventricular
      noncompaction. This expands the spectrum of titin's roles in cardiomyopathies. It
      furthermore highlights that rare titin missense variants, currently often ignored
      or left uninterpreted, should be considered to be relevant for cardiomyopathies
      and can be identified by the approach presented here.

PMID- 27625339
TI  - Antifungal susceptibility testing of Malassezia yeast: comparison of two
      different methodologies.
AB  - All Malassezia species are lipophilic; thus, modifications are required in
      susceptibility testing methods to ensure their growth. Antifungal susceptibility
      of Malassezia species using agar and broth dilution methods has been studied.
      Currently, few tests using disc diffusion methods are being performed. The aim
      was to evaluate the in vitro susceptibility of Malassezia yeast against
      antifungal agents using broth microdilution and disc diffusion methods, then to
      compare both methodologies. Fifty Malassezia isolates were studied. Microdilution
      method was performed as described in reference document and agar diffusion test
      was performed using antifungal tablets and discs. To support growth, culture
      media were supplemented. To correlate methods, linear regression analysis and
      categorical agreement was determined. The strongest linear association was
      observed for fluconazole and miconazole. The highest agreement between both
      methods was observed for itraconazole and voriconazole and the lowest for
      amphotericin B and fluconazole. Although modifications made to disc diffusion
      method allowed to obtain susceptibility data for Malassezia yeast, variables
      cannot be associated through a linear correlation model, indicating that
      inhibition zone values cannot predict MIC value. According to the results, disc
      diffusion assay may not represent an alternative to determine antifungal
      susceptibility of Malassezia yeast.

PMID- 27625338
TI  - Alternative Splicing, Internal Promoter, Nonsense-Mediated Decay, or All Three:
      Explaining the Distribution of Truncation Variants in Titin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Truncating mutations in the giant sarcomeric gene Titin are the most
      common type of genetic alteration in dilated cardiomyopathy. Detailed studies
      have amassed a wealth of information about truncating variant position in cases
      and controls. Nonetheless, considerable confusion exists as to how to interpret
      the pathogenicity of these variants, hindering our ability to make useful
      recommendations to patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Building on our recent
      discovery of a conserved internal promoter within the Titin gene, we sought to
      develop an integrative statistical model to explain the observed pattern of Titin
      truncation variants in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and population
      controls. We amassed Titin truncation mutation information from 1714 human
      dilated cardiomyopathy cases and >69 000 controls and found 3 factors explaining
      the distribution of Titin mutations: (1) alternative splicing, (2) whether the
      internal promoter Cronos isoform was disrupted, and (3) whether the distal C
      terminus was targeted (in keeping with the observation that truncation variants
      in this region escape nonsense-mediated decay and continue to be incorporated in
      the sarcomere). A model using these 3 factors had strong predictive performance
      with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.81.
      Accordingly, individuals with either the most severe form of dilated
      cardiomyopathy or whose mutations demonstrated clear family segregation
      experienced the highest risk profile across all 3 components. CONCLUSIONS: We
      conclude that quantitative models derived from large-scale human genetic and
      phenotypic data can be applied to help overcome the ever-growing challenges of
      genetic data interpretation. Results of our approach can be found at
      http://cvri.ucsf.edu/~deo/TTNtruncationvariant.html.

PMID- 27625340
TI  - Baraitser-Winter cerebrofrontofacial syndrome.
AB  - Baraitser-Winter cerebrofrontofacial syndrome (BWCFF) (BRWS; MIM #243310, 614583)
      is a rare developmental disorder affecting multiple organ systems. It is
      characterised by intellectual disability (mild to severe) and distinctive facial
      appearance (metopic ridging/trigonocephaly, bilateral ptosis, hypertelorism). The
      additional presence of cortical malformations (pachygyria/lissencephaly) and
      ocular colobomata are also suggestive of this syndrome. Other features include
      moderate short stature, contractures, congenital cardiac disease and
      genitourinary malformations. BWCFF is caused by missense mutations in the
      cytoplasmic beta- and gamma-actin genes ACTB and ACTG1. We provide an overview of
      the clinical characteristics (including some novel findings in four recently
      diagnosed patients), diagnosis, management, mutation spectrum and genetic
      counselling.

PMID- 27625341
TI  - Editor's Choice- Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes among patients with
      acute coronary syndromes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previously undetected dysglycaemia is common among patients with
      acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). The aim of this study was to identify the most
      reliable method of diagnosing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and prediabetes in
      ACS patients. METHODS: Patients admitted to the coronary care unit with ACSs and
      no previous history of T2DM were consecutively included in the study. Glucose
      metabolism was measured by glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose
      (FPG) and 2-hour plasma glucose (2hPG) with a standard oral glucose tolerance
      test during hospital admission, and this process was repeated 3 months later. In
      this study, the diagnosis of T2DM required at least two measurements above the
      diabetes cut-off point according to current American Diabetes Association and
      World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS: A total of 250 patients were
      included in the study. T2DM was diagnosed in 7.2%. The sensitivities for
      detecting T2DM were 33.3%, 61.1% and 77.8% during admission and 27.8%, 61.1% and
      72.2% at follow-up for HbA1c, FPG and 2hPG, respectively. The positive predictive
      values (PPVs) for diagnosing T2DM were 100%, 91.7% and 51.9% during admission and
      71.4%, 91.7% and 65.0% at follow-up for HbA1c, FPG and 2hPG, respectively. The
      specificities and negative predictive values were high for all methods. By
      combining all measurements, the sensitivity was 100% and the PPV was 44.2%, while
      the combination of all HbA1c and FPG measurements provided 88.9% sensitivity and
      80.0% PPV. CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of T2DM can be reliably carried out by repeated
      measurements of FPG and HbA1c in ACS patients, with limited added value of an
      oral glucose tolerance test.

PMID- 27625343
TI  - Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio Below 30 mg/g is a Predictor of Incident
      Hypertension and Cardiovascular Mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microalbuminuria is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD)
      mortality, but whether lower levels of urine albumin excretion similarly predict
      CVD is uncertain. We investigated associations between urine albumin:creatinine
      ratio (UACR) <30 mg/g, and incident hypertension, incident diabetes mellitus, and
      all-cause and CVD mortality, during a maximum of 11 years of follow-up. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Individuals (37 091) in a health screening program between 2002 and
      2012 with baseline measurements of UACR were studied. Cox proportional hazards
      models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for incident
      hypertension, incident diabetes mellitus, and mortality outcomes (lowest UACR
      quartile as reference) at follow-up. For linear risk trends, the quartile rank
      was used as a continuous variable in regression models. Nine-hundred sixty-three
      cases of incident hypertension, 511 cases of incident diabetes mellitus, and 349
      deaths occurred during follow-up. In the fully adjusted models, there was a
      significant HR for the association between UACR and incident hypertension
      (highest UACR quartile HR 1.95 [95% CI 1.51, 2.53], P-value for trend across UACR
      quartiles P<0.001). In contrast, the association between UACR and incident
      diabetes mellitus was not significant (highest UACR quartile, HR 1.15 [95% CI
      0.79, 1.66], P-value for trend P=0.20). For CVD mortality, with increasing UACR
      quartiles, there was a significant increase in HR across quartiles, P=0.029, (for
      all-cause mortality, P=0.078). CONCLUSIONS: Low levels of albuminuria, UACR below
      30 mg/g, are associated with increased risk of incident hypertension and CVD
      mortality at follow-up, but are not associated with increased risk of incident
      diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27625342
TI  - Variants in the SCN5A Promoter Associated With Various Arrhythmia Phenotypes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutations in the coding sequence of SCN5A, which encodes the cardiac
      Na(+) channel alpha subunit, have been associated with inherited susceptibility
      to various arrhythmias. Variable expression of SCN5A is a possible mechanism
      responsible for this pleiotropic effect; however, it is unknown whether variants
      in the promoter and regulatory regions of SCN5A also modulate the risk of
      arrhythmias. METHODS AND RESULTS: We resequenced the core promoter region of
      SCN5A and the regulatory regions of SCN5A transcription in 1298 patients with
      arrhythmia phenotypes (atrial fibrillation, n=444; sinus node dysfunction, n=49;
      conduction disease, n=133; Brugada syndrome, n=583; and idiopathic ventricular
      fibrillation, n=89). We identified 26 novel rare variants in the SCN5A promoter
      in 29 patients affected by various arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation, n=6; sinus
      node dysfunction, n=1; conduction disease, n=3; Brugada syndrome, n=14;
      idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, n=5). The frequency of rare variants was
      higher in patients with arrhythmias than in controls. In the alignment with
      chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data, the majority of variants were
      located at regions bound by transcription factors. Using a luciferase reporter
      assay, 6 variants (Brugada syndrome, n=3; idiopathic ventricular fibrillation,
      n=2; conduction disease, n=1) were functionally characterized, and each displayed
      decreased promoter activity compared with the wild-type sequences. We also
      identified rare variants in the regulatory region that were associated with
      atrial fibrillation, and the variant decreased promoter activity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Variants in the core promoter region and the transcription regulatory region of
      SCN5A were identified in multiple arrhythmia phenotypes, consistent with the idea
      that altered SCN5A transcription levels modulate susceptibility to arrhythmias.

PMID- 27625346
TI  - Hypoglycemia in Frail Elderly Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Treated With
      Sulfonylurea.

PMID- 27625344
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Alirocumab 150 mg Every 4 Weeks in Patients With
      Hypercholesterolemia Not on Statin Therapy: The ODYSSEY CHOICE II Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The PCSK9 antibody alirocumab (75 mg every 2 weeks; Q2W) as
      monotherapy reduced low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by 47%.
      Because the option of a monthly dosing regimen is convenient, ODYSSEY CHOICE II
      evaluated alirocumab 150 mg Q4W in patients with inadequately controlled
      hypercholesterolemia and not on statin (majority with statin-associated muscle
      symptoms), receiving treatment with fenofibrate, ezetimibe, or diet alone.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients were randomly assigned to placebo, alirocumab 150
      mg Q4W or 75 mg Q2W (calibrator arm), with dose adjustment to 150 mg Q2W at week
      (W) 12 if W8 predefined LDL-C target levels were not met. The primary efficacy
      endpoint was LDL-C percentage change from baseline to W24. Mean baseline LDL-C
      levels were 163.9 mg/dL (alirocumab 150 mg Q4W, n=59), 154.5 mg/dL (alirocumab 75
      mg Q2W, n=116), and 158.5 mg/dL (placebo, n=58). In the alirocumab 150 mg Q4W and
      75 mg Q2W groups (49.1% and 36.0% of patients received dose adjustment,
      respectively), least-squares mean LDL-C changes from baseline to W24 were -51.7%
      and -53.5%, respectively (placebo [+4.7%]; both groups P<0.0001 versus placebo).
      In total, 63.9% and 70.3% of alirocumab-treated patients achieved their LDL-C
      targets at W24. Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 77.6% (alirocumab
      150 mg Q4W), 73.0% (alirocumab 75 mg Q2W), and 63.8% (placebo) of patients, with
      injection-site reactions among the most common treatment-emergent adverse events.
      CONCLUSIONS: Alirocumab 150 mg Q4W can be considered in patients not on statin
      with inadequately controlled hypercholesterolemia as a convenient option for
      lowering LDL-C. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.
      Unique identifier: NCT02023879.

PMID- 27625347
TI  - Comment on "Pattern-Reversal Visual Evoked Potential Parameters and Migraine in
      the Teenage Population".

PMID- 27625345
TI  - Associations Between Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor and Monocyte
      Chemotactic Protein 1 in Plasma and First-Time Coronary Events: A Nested Case
      Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myeloid cells play a central role in atherosclerosis. We investigated
      the associations between the plasma levels of growth factors and chemokines that
      regulate myeloid cell homeostasis and function and the risk of first-time acute
      coronary events in middle-aged persons. METHODS AND RESULTS: We measured baseline
      plasma levels of macrophage colony-stimulating factor; monocyte chemotactic
      protein 1; C-C motif chemokine ligands 3, 4, and 20; C-X-C motif chemokine
      ligands 1, 6, and 16; and C-X3-C motif chemokine ligand 1 in 292 participants who
      had a coronary event during follow-up and 366 controls matched for age, sex, and
      time of inclusion who remained event free. Study participants were recruited from
      the Malmo Diet and Cancer Study population cohort and had no previous history of
      coronary artery disease. We found a strong independent negative association
      between macrophage colony-stimulating factor and incident coronary events in a
      forward stepwise Cox proportional hazards model including all biomarkers
      alongside the classic Framingham risk factors (age, sex, smoking, total
      cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure),
      diabetes mellitus, and medication. Conversely, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 had
      the strongest independent positive association with the outcome. The addition of
      macrophage colony-stimulating factor and monocyte chemotactic protein 1
      significantly improved the predictive ability of a model including traditional
      risk factors alone (C statistic 0.81 [95% CI 0.78-0.84] versus 0.67 [95% CI 0.63
      0.71]; net reclassification index 0.52 [0.42-0.62]; P<0.001). The combined model
      led to a 54% net downclassification of participants who did not have a coronary
      event during follow-up and was particularly effective in the intermediate-risk
      group. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of macrophage colony-stimulating factor and low
      levels of monocyte chemotactic protein 1 in plasma characterize middle-aged
      persons at low risk to develop clinically manifested coronary artery disease.

PMID- 27625350
TI  - Causality, Correlation, and Cardiac Disease: Does Smoking Cause Cardiac
      Hypertrophy and Diastolic Dysfunction?

PMID- 27625349
TI  - Smoking and Cardiac Structure and Function in the Elderly: The ARIC Study
      (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking has been associated with higher risk of incident
      heart failure independent of coronary artery disease, but the impact of tobacco
      use on cardiac structure and function in the general population is uncertain.
      This study evaluated the relationship between smoking and echocardiographic
      measures in a large elderly cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 4580
      participants free of overt coronary artery disease, heart failure, and
      significant valvular disease from the fifth visit of the ARIC study
      (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) who underwent transthoracic
      echocardiography. Participants were classified into 3 categories based on self
      reported smoking habits: never (43.2%), former (50.5%), and current smokers
      (6.3%). Pack-years and years of smoking were also estimated. Compared with never
      smokers, current smokers had greater left ventricular (LV) mass index (80.4+/-1.1
      versus 76.7+/-0.4 g/m(2); P<0.001), LV mass/volume ratio (1.93+/-0.03 versus
      1.83+/-0.03 g/mL; P<0.001), higher prevalence of LV hypertrophy (15% versus 9%;
      P=0.008), and worse diastolic function, as reflected by higher E/E' ratio (11.7+/
      0.2 versus 10.9+/-0.1; P<0.001), after adjusting for potential confounding
      factors. In contrast, former smokers showed similar echocardiographic features
      when compared with never smokers. Furthermore, estimated pack-years and years of
      smoking, measures of cumulative cigarette exposure, were associated with greater
      LV mass index, LV mass/volume ratio, and worse diastolic function (higher E/E'
      ratio) in current smokers after multivariable analysis (all P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Active smoking and cumulative cigarette exposure were associated with subtle
      alterations in LV structure and function in an elderly, community-based
      population free of overt coronary artery disease and heart failure.

PMID- 27625352
TI  - Heartbeat: Is atrial fibrillation ablation effective in patients with
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?

PMID- 27625351
TI  - Intranasal Opioid Administration in Rhesus Monkeys: PET Imaging and
      Antinociception.
AB  - The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of intranasally administered
      opioids in rhesus monkeys using the tail-withdrawal assay, and to correlate these
      effects with measures of receptor occupancy using positron emission tomography
      (PET) imaging. Initial experiments characterized the antinociceptive effects of
      intranasal (IN) fentanyl and buprenorphine relative to intramuscular (IM)
      injection. Fentanyl (0.010-0.032 mg/kg) and buprenorphine (0.1-1.0 mg/kg)
      produced dose-dependent increases in tail-withdrawal latency that did not differ
      between routes of delivery. The second experiment compared the ability of IN and
      intravenous (IV) naloxone (NLX) to block the antinociceptive effects IV fentanyl,
      and to measure receptor occupancy at equipotent doses of NLX using PET imaging.
      IN and IV NLX (0.0032-0.032 mg/kg) produced dose-dependent decreases in fentanyl
      induced antinociception. Again, there was no difference observed in overall
      potency between routes. PET imaging showed that IV and IN NLX produced similar
      decreases in receptor occupancy as measured by [11C]carfentanil blocking,
      although there was a trend for IV NLX to produce marginally greater occupancy
      changes. This study validated the first procedures to evaluate the IN effects of
      opioids in rhesus monkeys.

PMID- 27625353
TI  - The Knowing-Doing Gap in Advance Directives in Asian Americans: The Role of
      Education and Acculturation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purposes of the present study were (1) to explore the completion
      rate of advance directives (ADs) in a sample of Asian Americans and (2) to
      examine the direct and moderating effects of knowledge of AD, education, and
      acculturation in predicting AD completion. Education and acculturation were
      conceptualized as moderators in the link between knowledge and completion of ADs.
      METHODS: Using data from 2609 participants in the 2015 Asian American Quality of
      Life survey (aged 18-98), logistic regression analyses on AD completion were
      conducted, testing both direct and moderating effects. RESULTS: The overall AD
      completion rate in sample was about 12%. The AD knowledge and acculturation
      independently predicted AD completion. No direct effect of education was found;
      however, it interacted with AD knowledge. The AD knowledge was more likely to be
      translated into completion in the group with higher education. CONCLUSIONS: The
      AD completion rate observed in the present sample of Asian Americans was much
      lower than that of the US general population (26%-36%). The interactive role of
      education helps to explain the gap between AD knowledge and completion and
      suggests intervention strategies.

PMID- 27625354
TI  - Safe Use of Subcutaneous Diphenhydramine in the Inpatient Hospice Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diphenhydramine (DPH) is most commonly used via oral, topical,
      intramuscular (IM) and intravenous (IV) routes for the palliation of pruritus,
      treatment of extrapyramidal symptoms, management of parkinsonism and for allergic
      reactions. However, many hospice patients are unable to take oral medications
      and/or do not have IV access. Moreover, topical administration has a relatively
      slow rate of absorption. For this reason, in the hospice setting it is not
      uncommon for diphenhydramine to be administered via the subcutaneous (SC) route
      secondary to its ease of access, low infection rates and its low levels of
      discomfort. In contrast, outside the hospice setting, subcutaneous DPH has not
      been widely used, primarily because of a handful of case reports published in the
      1990's that report skin necrosis following subcutaneous administration of DPH for
      local anesthesia. Since these early case reports, however, there has been very
      little in the way of research to examine this further. The aim of this study is
      to provide objective data concerning the safe use of subcutaneous
      diphenhydramine, as part of our efforts to improve upon safe practices in our
      organization. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of records from 6 of our
      inpatient hospice units obtained from our pharmacy database for patients who
      received at least one subcutaneous injection of diphenhydramine between 2012
      2015. Selected patients were then subsequently screened for post-administration
      skin necrosis, as recorded in our quality assurance database during the same time
      period. RESULTS: A total of 648 diphenhydramine subcutaneous injections were
      administered in109 individual patients. None of the patients were reported to
      have an adverse cutaneous reaction. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective review
      demonstrates that subcutaneous diphenhydramine injection is a safe alternative to
      oral and other parenteral routes, and may be particularly valuable in terminally
      ill patients, who are often unable to swallow and are without IV access.

PMID- 27625355
TI  - Clinical Outcomes of Zirconia Dental Implants: A Systematic Review
AB  - To determine the survival rate and marginal bone loss (MBL) of zirconia dental
      implants restored with single crowns or fixed dental prostheses. An electronic
      search was conducted up to November 2015 (without any restriction regarding the
      publication time) through the databases MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, and
      EMBASE to identify randomized controlled clinical trials and prospective clinical
      trials including >15 patients. Primary outcomes were survival rate and MBL.
      Furthermore, the influence of several covariates on MBL was evaluated.
      Qualitative assessment and statistical analyses were performed. This review was
      conducted according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta
      analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for systematic reviews. With the applied search
      strategy, 4,196 titles could be identified. After a screening procedure, 2
      randomized controlled clinical trials and 7 prospective clinical trials remained
      for analyses. In these trials, a total of 326 patients received 398 implants. The
      follow-up ranged from 12 to 60 mo. Implant loss was mostly reported within the
      first year, especially within the healing period. Thereafter, nearly constant
      survival curves could be observed. Therefore, separate meta-analyses were
      performed for the first and subsequent years, resulting in an implant survival
      rate of 95.6% (95% confidence interval: 93.3% to 97.9%) after 12 mo and,
      thereafter, an expected decrease of 0.05% per year (0.25% after 5 y).
      Additionally, a meta-analysis was conducted for the mean MBL after 12 mo,
      resulting in 0.79 mm (95% confidence interval: 0.73 to 0.86 mm). Implant bulk
      material and design, restoration type, and the application of minor augmentation
      procedures during surgery, as well as the modes of temporization and loading, had
      no statistically significant influence on MBL. The short-term cumulative survival
      rates and the MBL of zirconia implants in the presented systematic review are
      promising. However, additional data are still needed to confirm the long-term
      predictability of these implants.

PMID- 27625356
TI  - Aubrey Sheiham: Iconoclast and Dental Public Health Pioneer.

PMID- 27625359
TI  - Respective contributions of single and compound granule fusion to secretion by
      activated platelets.
AB  - Although granule secretion is pivotal in many platelet responses, the fusion
      routes of alpha and delta granule release remain uncertain. We used a 3D
      reconstruction approach based on electron microscopy to visualize the spatial
      organization of granules in unstimulated and activated platelets. Two modes of
      exocytosis were identified: a single mode that leads to release of the contents
      of individual granules and a compound mode that leads to the formation of granule
      to-granule fusion, resulting in the formation of large multigranular
      compartments. Both modes occur during the course of platelet secretion. Single
      fusion events are more visible at lower levels of stimulation and early time
      points, whereas large multigranular compartments are present at higher levels of
      agonist and at later time points. Although alpha granules released their contents
      through both modes of exocytosis, delta granules underwent only single
      exocytosis. To define the underlying molecular mechanisms, we examined platelets
      from vesicle-associated membrane protein 8 (VAMP8) null mice. After weak
      stimulation, compound exocytosis was abolished and single exocytosis decreased in
      VAMP8 null platelets. Higher concentrations of thrombin bypassed the VAMP8
      requirement, indicating that this isoform is a key but not a required factor for
      single and/or compound exocytosis. Concerning the biological relevance of our
      findings, compound exocytosis was observed in thrombi formed after severe laser
      injury of the vessel wall with thrombin generation. After superficial injury
      without thrombin generation, no multigranular compartments were detected. Our
      studies suggest that platelets use both modes of membrane fusion to control the
      extent of agonist-induced exocytosis.

PMID- 27625357
TI  - Late acute graft-versus-host disease: a prospective analysis of clinical outcomes
      and circulating angiogenic factors.
AB  - Late acute (LA) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is persistent, recurrent, or new
      onset acute GVHD symptoms occurring >100 days after allogeneic hematopoietic cell
      transplantation (HCT). The aim of this analysis is to describe the onset, course,
      morbidity, and mortality of and examine angiogenic factors associated with LA
      GVHD. A prospective cohort of patients (n = 909) was enrolled as part of an
      observational study within the Chronic GVHD Consortium. Eighty-three patients
      (11%) developed LA GVHD at a median of 160 (interquartile range, 128-204) days
      after HCT. Although 51 out of 83 (61%) achieved complete or partial response to
      initial therapy by 28 days, median failure-free survival was only 7.1 months (95%
      confidence interval, 3.4-19.1 months), and estimated overall survival (OS) at 2
      years was 56%. Given recently described alterations of circulating angiogenic
      factors in classic acute GVHD, we examined whether alterations in such factors
      could be identified in LA GVHD. We first tested cases (n = 55) and controls (n =
      50) from the Chronic GVHD Consortium and then validated the findings in 37 cases
      from Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium. Plasma amphiregulin (AREG;
      an epidermal growth factor [EGF] receptor ligand) was elevated, and an AREG/EGF
      ratio at or above the median was associated with inferior OS and increased
      nonrelapse mortality in both cohorts. Elevation of AREG was detected in classic
      acute GVHD, but not chronic GVHD. These prospective data characterize the
      clinical course of LA GVHD and demonstrate alterations in angiogenic factors that
      make LA GVHD biologically distinct from chronic GVHD.

PMID- 27625360
TI  - Evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of macrophage reprogramming in
      multiple myeloma.
AB  - Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are important components of the multiple
      myeloma (MM) microenvironment that support malignant plasma cell survival and
      resistance to therapy. It has been proposed that macrophages (MO) retain the
      capacity to change in response to stimuli that can restore their antitumor
      functions. Here, we investigated several approaches to reprogram MO as a novel
      therapeutic strategy in MM. First, we found tumor-limiting and tumor-supporting
      capabilities for monocyte-derived M1-like MO and M2-like MO, respectively, when
      mixed with MM cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Multicolor confocal microscopy
      revealed that MM-associated MO displayed a predominant M2-like phenotype in the
      bone marrow of MM patient samples, and a high expression of the pro-M2 cytokine
      macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). To reprogram the protumoral M2-like
      MO present in MM toward antitumoral M1-like MO, we tested the pro-M1 cytokine
      granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) plus blockade of the M2
      cytokines macrophage colony-stimulating factor or MIF. The combination of GM-CSF
      plus the MIF inhibitor 4-iodo-6-phenyl-pyrimidine achieved the best reprogramming
      responses toward an M1 profile, at both gene and protein expression levels, as
      well as remarkable tumoricidal effects. Furthermore, this combined treatment
      elicited MO-dependent therapeutic responses in MM xenograft mouse models, which
      were linked to upregulation of M1 and reciprocal downregulation of M2 MO markers.
      Our results reveal the therapeutic potential of reprogramming MO in the context
      of MM.

PMID- 27625361
TI  - GPI-80 expression highly purifies human cord blood-derived primitive CD34
      negative hematopoietic stem cells.

PMID- 27625358
TI  - A trial of unrelated donor marrow transplantation for children with severe sickle
      cell disease.
AB  - Children with sickle cell disease experience organ damage, impaired quality of
      life, and premature mortality. Allogeneic bone marrow transplant from an HLA
      matched sibling can halt disease progression but is limited by donor
      availability. A Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN)
      phase 2 trial conducted from 2008 to 2014 enrolled 30 children aged 4 to 19
      years; 29 were eligible for evaluation. The primary objective was 1-year event
      free survival (EFS) after HLA allele-matched (at HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 loci)
      unrelated donor transplant. The conditioning regimen included alemtuzumab,
      fludarabine, and melphalan. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis included
      calcineurin inhibitor, short-course methotrexate, and methylprednisolone.
      Transplant indications included stroke (n = 12), transcranial Doppler velocity
      >200 cm/s (n = 2), >=3 vaso-occlusive pain crises per year (n = 12), or >=2 acute
      chest syndrome episodes (n = 4) in the 2 years preceding enrollment. Median
      follow-up was 26 months (range, 12-62 months); graft rejection was 10%. The 1-
      and 2-year EFS rates were 76% and 69%, respectively. The corresponding rates for
      overall survival were 86% and 79%. The day 100 incidence rate of grade II-IV
      acute GVHD was 28%, and the 1-year incidence rate of chronic GVHD was 62%; 38%
      classified as extensive. There were 7 GVHD-related deaths. A 34% incidence of
      posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome was noted in the first 6 months.
      Although the 1-year EFS met the prespecified target of >=75%, this regimen cannot
      be considered sufficiently safe for widespread adoption without modifications to
      achieve more effective GVHD prophylaxis. The BMT CTN #0601 trial was registered
      at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00745420.

PMID- 27625362
TI  - Clinical importance of ADAMTS13 activity during remission in patients with
      acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

PMID- 27625363
TI  - Distinct bilineal leukemia immunophenotypes are not genetically determined.

PMID- 27625364
TI  - Eclipsed mitral regurgitation: an unusual cause of acute heart failure.
AB  - Aims: So far, a total of five patients with eclipsed mitral regurgitation (MR)
      have been reported in the literature by three different teams. The aim of this
      article was to detail clinical and echocardiographic characteristics, and outcome
      of patients presenting eclipsed MR. Methods and results: We defined eclipsed MR
      as spontaneous appearance, at rest, from 1 min to the next of an acute
      restriction in the motion of mitral leaflets preventing coaptation and leading to
      massive MR in patients with normal left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left
      ventricular ejection fraction >45%, and baseline MR <=2. Spontaneous regression
      occurred within 30 min, and no obvious trigger such as acute hypertension, new
      onset arrhythmia, or myocardial ischaemia is present. Clinical data, ECG,
      echocardiographic data, surgery report, and follow-up status of six patients with
      eclipsed MR are reported: all were post-menopausal women with median age of 74
      [57-80] years presenting hypertension (4/6), chronic kidney disease (5/6), or
      chronic anaemia (4/6). Five out of six patients experienced acute pulmonary
      oedema requiring hospitalization and underwent mitral valve replacement because
      of heart failure recurrence. Two patients died in the first days after surgery
      while the three others are free of symptoms at, respectively, 56, 18, and 10
      months follow-up. Conclusion: Eclipsed MR is a clinical and echocardiographic
      syndrome responsible for heart failure with preserved EF. It is presently
      underdiagnosed and should be evoked in cases of recurrent acute pulmonary oedema
      without obvious trigger, in particular in patients presenting discordant
      evaluation of MR severity over time.

PMID- 27625365
TI  - Three-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography of the aortic valve and root:
      changes in aortic root dilation and aortic regurgitation.
AB  - Aims: It has been hypothesized that in response to dilation of the aortic root,
      the aortic valve cusps may remodel to prevent aortic regurgitation (AR). The aim
      of the present study was to evaluate the association between aortic cusp
      dimensions and aortic root geometry. Methods and results: Three-dimensional
      transoesophageal echocardiography was performed in 40 patients with aortic root
      dilation (mean age 57 +/- 12 years, 75% men, 35% bicuspid aortic valve) and 20
      controls with a normal aortic root (mean age 61 +/- 13 years, 65% men). Aortic
      valve geometry was measured, and the ratio between closed cusp area and
      sinotubular junction (STJ) area as a measure of the aortic cusp remodelling
      relative to the aortic root dilation was assessed. Patients with aortic root
      dilation with tricuspid aortic valve (n = 26) showed significant increase in
      aortic cusp size. However, the closed cusp area to STJ area ratio was smaller in
      dilated aortic roots [0.88 (95% confidence interval: 0.78-0.98)] compared with
      normal aortic roots [1.22 (95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.41); P = 0.002]. In
      addition, in patients with central AR, there was insufficient cusp tissue, as
      suggested by a closed cusp area to STJ area ratio of 0.75 (95% confidence
      interval: 0.67-0.82), compared with relative excess of cusp tissue in eccentric
      AR with a ratio of 1.14 (95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.27; P < 0.001).
      Conclusion: Aortic root dilation was associated with significant increase in
      aortic valve cusp size. However, this increase seemed insufficient to match
      aortic root size, particularly in central AR, whereas in eccentric AR, there was
      relative abundance of cusp tissue resulting in relative cusp prolapse.

PMID- 27625366
TI  - Fat and cardiovascular risk: the role of Cardiac CT.

PMID- 27625367
TI  - HIT initiative: senior-junior interviews.

PMID- 27625368
TI  - Prognostic impact of late gadolinium enhancement in the risk stratification of
      heart transplant patients.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of the present study was to assess the association of the presence
      and amount of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) at cardiac magnetic resonance
      (CMR) with cardiovascular adverse events in patients with orthotopic heart
      transplantation (HTx). METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled 48 patients (mean age,
      54.7 +/- 14.6 years; 37 men) at various stages after HTx. All patients underwent
      standard CMR at 1.5 T, to characterize both cardiac anatomy and LGE. Late
      gadolinium enhancement was detected in 26 patients (54%). All-cause and
      cardiovascular mortalities, and a composite of major adverse cardiovascular
      events (MACE) recurrence were evaluated during the follow-up period for a median
      of 5.16 years. Ten patients (21%) died and 26 (54%) were readmitted because of
      MACE. Multivariate Cox analysis identified as independent predictors of MACE a
      diagnosis of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) (HR 3.63; 1.5-8.7 95% CI; P =
      0.0039), left ventricular end systolic volume index (HR 1.04; 95% CI 1.01-1.079;
      P = 0.008), LGE mass (HR 1.04; 1.01-1.06 95% CI; P = 0.0007), LGE % of left
      ventricular mass (HR 1.083; 1.03-1.13 95% CI; P = 0.0002). Independent predictors
      of all-cause death were CAV (HR 6.33; 95% CI 1.33-30.03; P = 0.0201), LGE mass
      (HR 1.04; 1.01-1.07 95% CI; P = 0.005), LGE % of left ventricular mass (HR 1.075;
      1.02-1.13 95% CI; P = 0.007). Patients with CAV had a risk of MACE by 5 years of
      67% (95% CI 0.309-0.851%); the addition of 7.9 LGE % to the risk model increased
      the predicted risk to 88% (95% CI 0.572-0.967%). CONCLUSIONS: The current study
      demonstrated that the presence of CAV and the total amount of LGE have a
      significant independent association with MACE and mortality in HTx patients.

PMID- 27625369
TI  - Returning to contingency: the forward trauma team.
AB  - During Herrick 19, Main Operating Base Price Role 1 treatment facility saw one of
      the busiest periods of Role 1 trauma care within the British Afghanistan
      campaign. Within 5 months 73 trauma casualties were treated, 48 of whom were
      category A. This article shares the experiences of this Role 1 and its unusual
      context, and discusses the relevance with regard to future medical planning. The
      focus is on the human element; a fundamental of all military operations yet one
      that is often overlooked. We consider the team construct and the team members of
      Role 1 and suggest how this team and its leaders can be optimally prepared,
      supported and maintained, and then safely disassembled. We also consider how best
      this team can be placed within the battle group formation in order to provide the
      highest standard of care.

PMID- 27625370
TI  - The impact of sleep deprivation in military surgical teams: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fatigue in military operations leads to safety and operational
      problems due to a decrease in alertness and performance. The primary method of
      counteracting the effects of sleep deprivation is to increase nightly sleep time,
      which in operational situations is not always feasible. History has taught us
      that surgeons and surgical teams are finite resources that cannot operate on
      patients indefinitely. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using the
      search terms 'sleep' and 'deprivation' examining the impact of sleep deprivation
      on cognitive performance in military surgical teams. Studies examining outcomes
      on intensive care patients and subjects with comorbidities were not addressed in
      this review. RESULTS: Sleep deprivation in any 'out-of-hours' surgery has a
      significant impact on overall morbidity and mortality. Sleep deprivation in
      surgeons and surgical trainees negatively impacts cognitive performance and puts
      their own and patients' health at risk. All published research lacks consensus
      when defining 'sleep deprivation' and 'rested' states. It is recognised that it
      would be unethical to conduct a well-designed randomised controlled trial, to
      determine the effects of fatigue on performance in surgery; however, there is a
      paucity between surrogate markers and applying simulated results to actual
      clinical performance. This requires further research. Recommended methods of
      combating fatigue include: prophylactically 'sleep-banking' prior to known
      periods of sleep deprivation, napping, use of stimulant or alerting substances
      such as modafinil, coordinated work schedules to reduce circadian
      desynchronisation and regular breaks with enforced rest periods. CONCLUSIONS: A
      forward surgical team will become combat-ineffective after 48 hours of continuous
      operations. This systematic review recommends implementing on-call periods of no
      more than 12 hours in duration, with adequate rest periods every 24 hours. Drug
      therapies and sleep banking may, in the short term, prevent negative effects of
      acute sleep deprivation.

PMID- 27625371
TI  - Urinary frequency and dysuria in an older woman.

PMID- 27625372
TI  - Atrial appendage occlusion for stroke prevention in patients with atrial
      fibrillation.

PMID- 27625373
TI  - Cardiac CT: present and future applications.

PMID- 27625375
TI  - Brief Screening of Vascular Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Cerebral
      Autosomal-Dominant Arteriopathy With Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy
      Without Dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical
      infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a monogenic form of cerebral small
      vessel disease leading to early-onset stroke and dementia, with younger patients
      frequently showing subclinical deficits in cognition. At present, there are no
      targeted cognitive screening measures for this population. However, the Brief
      Memory and Executive Test (BMET) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
      have shown utility in detecting cognitive impairment in sporadic small vessel
      disease. This study assesses the BMET and the MoCA as clinical tools for
      detecting mild cognitive deficits in CADASIL. METHODS: Sixty-six prospectively
      recruited patients with CADASIL, and 66 matched controls completed the BMET, with
      a subset of these also completing the MoCA. Receiver operating characteristic
      curves were calculated to examine the sensitivity and specificity of clinical
      cutoffs for the detection of vascular cognitive impairment and reduced activities
      of daily living. RESULTS: Patients with CADASIL showed more cognitive impairment
      overall and were poorer on both executive/processing and memory indices of the
      BMET relative to controls. The BMET showed good accuracy in predicting vascular
      cognitive impairment (85% sensitivity and 84% specificity) and impaired
      instrumental activities of daily living (92% sensitivity and 77% specificity).
      The MoCA also showed good predictive validity for vascular cognitive impairment
      (80% sensitivity and 78% specificity) and instrumental activities of daily living
      (75% sensitivity and 76% specificity). The most important background predictor of
      vascular cognitive impairment was a history of stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      indicate that the BMET and the MoCA are clinically useful and sensitive screening
      measures for early cognitive impairment in patients with CADASIL.

PMID- 27625376
TI  - Antiphospholipid Antibodies and the Risk of Stroke in Urban and Rural Tanzania: A
      Community-Based Case-Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The burden of stroke is high in sub-Saharan Africa, and
      improved knowledge of risk factors is needed. Antiphospholipid antibodies are a
      common acquired stroke risk factor in young individuals. Antiphospholipid
      antibodies may be induced by infectious diseases. Sub-Saharan Africa has a high
      infectious burden, and we analyzed the contribution of antiphospholipid
      antibodies to the risk of stroke in an incident population from rural and urban
      Tanzania. METHODS: Stroke cases and age- and sex-matched community-acquired
      controls from the rural Hai district and urban Dar-es-Salaam areas of Tanzania
      were recruited in a wider study of stroke incidence between June 2003 and June
      2006. Lupus anticoagulant, anticardiolipin, anti-beta2-glycoprotein I, and
      antiphosphatidylserine/prothrombin antibodies were determined in stored plasma,
      as well as IgG antibodies against Treponema pallidum. RESULTS: Data from 158
      stroke cases and 369 controls were analyzed. Thirty cases (19%) and 4 controls
      (1%) had a lupus anticoagulant (odds ratio, 20.8; 95% confidence interval, 7.2
      60.5). Anticardiolipin IgG was the only other antiphospholipid antibody subtype
      associated with increased stroke risk (odds ratio, 2.1; 95% confidence interval,
      1.0-4.3), but this association disappeared when corrected for IgG antibodies
      against Treponema pallidum results. The prevalence of anti-beta2-glycoprotein I
      IgG antibodies in the Tanzanian healthy population was high when Dutch cutoff
      values were applied (67%), whereas presence of anti-beta2-glycoprotein I IgM was
      associated with a reduced stroke risk (odds ratio 0.3; 95% confidence interval,
      0.1-1.1). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of lupus anticoagulant is a strong, and to
      date unrecognized, risk factor for stroke in Tanzania, especially in young and
      middle-aged individuals.

PMID- 27625377
TI  - Blood Flow Into Basilar Tip Aneurysms: A Predictor for Recanalization After Coil
      Embolization.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemodynamic forces may play a role in the recanalization
      of coiled aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence
      of presurgical hemodynamics on the efficacy of coil embolization for basilar tip
      aneurysms. METHODS: We identified 82 patients who underwent endovascular coil
      embolization for basilar tip aneurysms with a follow-up of >1 year. Presurgical
      hemodynamics were investigated using computational fluid dynamics with 3
      dimensional data derived from rotational angiography. During postprocessing, we
      quantified the rate of net flow entering the aneurysm through its neck and
      calculated the proportion of the aneurysmal inflow rate to the basilar artery
      flow rate. In addition, we investigated the correlation between the basilar
      bifurcation configuration and the hemodynamics. RESULTS: Twenty-five of the 82
      patients were excluded because of difficult vascular geometry reconstruction.
      Among the 57 examined patients, angiographic recanalization was observed in 19
      patients (33.3%). The proportion of the aneurysmal inflow rate to the basilar
      artery flow rate and a coil packing density <30% were independent and significant
      predictors for the recanalization of coiled aneurysms. Additional investigation
      revealed that a small branch angle formed by the basilar artery and the posterior
      cerebral artery increased blood flow into the aneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: The
      proportion of the aneurysmal inflow rate to the basilar artery flow rate,
      influenced by the basilar bifurcation configuration, was an independent and
      significant predictor for recanalization after coil embolization in basilar tip
      aneurysms.

PMID- 27625374
TI  - FBW7 suppression leads to SOX9 stabilization and increased malignancy in
      medulloblastoma.
AB  - SOX9 is a master transcription factor that regulates development and stem cell
      programs. However, its potential oncogenic activity and regulatory mechanisms
      that control SOX9 protein stability are poorly understood. Here, we show that
      SOX9 is a substrate of FBW7, a tumor suppressor, and a SCF (SKP1/CUL1/F-box)-type
      ubiquitin ligase. FBW7 recognizes a conserved degron surrounding threonine 236
      (T236) in SOX9 that is phosphorylated by GSK3 kinase and consequently degraded by
      SCFFBW7alpha Failure to degrade SOX9 promotes migration, metastasis, and
      treatment resistance in medulloblastoma, one of the most common childhood brain
      tumors. FBW7 is either mutated or downregulated in medulloblastoma, and in cases
      where FBW7 mRNA levels are low, SOX9 protein is significantly elevated and this
      phenotype is associated with metastasis at diagnosis and poor patient outcome.
      Transcriptional profiling of medulloblastoma cells expressing a degradation
      resistant SOX9 mutant reveals activation of pro-metastatic genes and genes linked
      to cisplatin resistance. Finally, we show that pharmacological inhibition of
      PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway activity destabilizes SOX9 in a GSK3/FBW7-dependent manner,
      rendering medulloblastoma cells sensitive to cytostatic treatment.

PMID- 27625378
TI  - Remote Lower White Matter Integrity Increases the Risk of Long-Term Cognitive
      Impairment After Ischemic Stroke in Young Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Poststroke cognitive impairment occurs frequently in
      young patients with ischemic stroke (18 through 50 years of age). Accumulating
      data suggest that stroke is associated with lower white matter integrity remote
      from the stroke impact area, which might explain why some patients have good long
      term cognitive outcome and others do not. Given the life expectancy of decades in
      young patients, we therefore investigated remote white matter in relation to long
      term cognitive function. METHODS: We included all consecutive first-ever ischemic
      stroke patients, left/right hemisphere, without recurrent stroke or transient
      ischemic attack during follow-up, aged 18 through 50 years, admitted to our
      university medical center between 1980 and 2010. One hundred seventeen patients
      underwent magnetic resonance imaging scanning including a T1-weighted scan, a
      diffusion tensor imaging scan, and completed a neuropsychological assessment.
      Patients were compared with a matched stroke-free control group (age, sex, and
      education matched). Cognitive impairment was defined as >1.5 SD below the mean
      cognitive index score of controls and no cognitive impairment as <=1 SD. Tract
      Based Spatial Statistics was used to assess the white matter integrity
      (fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity). RESULTS: About 11 years after
      ischemic stroke, lower remote white matter integrity was associated with a worse
      long-term cognitive performance. A lower remote white matter integrity, even in
      the contralesional hemisphere, was observed in cognitively impaired patients
      (n=25) compared with cognitively unimpaired patients (n=71). CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings indicate that although stroke has an acute onset, it might have long
      lasting effects on remote white matter integrity and thereby increases the risk
      of long-term cognitive impairment.

PMID- 27625379
TI  - Association Between Carotid Bulb Diaphragm and Ischemic Stroke in Young Afro
      Caribbean Patients: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Carotid bulb diaphragm (CBD) has been described in young
      carotid ischemic stroke (CIS) patients, especially in blacks. However, the
      prevalence of CBD in CIS patients is unknown, and whether CBD is a risk factor
      for CIS remains unclear. We assessed the association between CBD and incident CIS
      in a population-based study. METHODS: We selected all young (<55 years) CIS
      patients from a 1-year population-based cohort study in the Afro-Caribbean
      population of Martinique in 2012. All patients had a comprehensive work-up
      including a computed tomographic angiography. We calculated CIS associated with
      ipsilateral CBD incidence with 95% confidence intervals using Poisson
      distribution. We then selected age- and sex-matched controls among young (<55
      years) Afro-Caribbean stroke-free patients admitted for a road crash who
      routinely had computed tomographic angiography. Odds ratio (ORs) were calculated
      by conditional logistic regression adjusted for hypertension, dyslipidemia,
      diabetes and smoking. RESULTS: CIS associated with ipsilateral CBD incidence was
      3.8 per 100 000 person-years (95% confidence interval, 1.4-6.1). Prevalence of
      ipsilateral CBD was 23% in all CIS and 37% in undetermined CIS patients. When
      restricted to undetermined CIS, CBD prevalence was 24 times higher than that in
      controls (adjusted OR, 24.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-325.6). CONCLUSIONS:
      CBD is associated with an increased risk of ipsilateral CIS in young Afro
      Caribbean population.

PMID- 27625380
TI  - Strictly Lobar Cerebral Microbleeds Are Associated With Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Different distributions of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs)
      are associated with distinct pathological mechanisms. Lobar CMBs are thought to
      be related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy, whereas deep or infratentorial CMBs
      are related to hypertensive vasculopathy. The present study aimed to evaluate the
      effects of CMBs and their locations on a variety of cognitive domains. METHODS:
      Study subjects were selected from the community-based I-Lan Longitudinal Aging
      Study. We assessed cognitive domains, including verbal memory, language,
      visuospatial executive function, and verbal executive function. CMBs were
      evaluated using 3T susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS:
      We studied 959 subjects (mean+/-SD, 62.5+/-8.6 years; 425 [44.3%] men). CMBs were
      found in 14.2% of the population. We classified subjects with CMBs into 2
      different groups based on the locations of their CMBs: (1) deep or infratentorial
      (85 subjects, 8.8% of population) and (2) strictly lobar (49, 5.1%). Multivariate
      linear analysis showed that strictly lobar CMBs were significantly associated
      with deficits in global cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination) and
      visuospatial executive function, as determined by the copy test of the Taylor
      complex figure test and the clock drawing test. We adjusted our results for age,
      sex, years of education, cardiovascular risk factors, and other markers of
      cerebral small vessel disease, lacunes, and white matter hyperintensity. Deep or
      infratentorial CMBs were not associated with changes in cognitive function in our
      population. CONCLUSIONS: Strictly lobar, but not deep or infratentorial, CMBs are
      associated with changes in cognitive function, especially in visuospatial
      executive functions. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy may be the underlying pathology
      associated with CMB-related cognitive impairment.

PMID- 27625381
TI  - ASPECTS (Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score) Assessment of the Perfusion
      Diffusion Mismatch.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Rapid and reliable assessment of the perfusion-weighted
      imaging (PWI)/diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) mismatch is required to promote
      its wider application in both acute stroke clinical routine and trials. We tested
      whether an evaluation based on the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score
      (ASPECTS) reliably identifies the PWI/DWI mismatch. METHODS: A total of 232
      consecutive patients with acute middle cerebral artery stroke who underwent
      pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging (PWI and DWI) were retrospectively
      evaluated. PWI-ASPECTS and DWI-ASPECTS were determined blind from manually
      segmented PWI and DWI volumes. Mismatch-ASPECTS was defined as the difference
      between PWI-ASPECTS and DWI-ASPECTS (a high score indicates a large mismatch). We
      determined the mismatch-ASPECTS cutoff that best identified the volumetric
      mismatch, defined as VolumeTmax>6s/VolumeDWI>=1.8, a volume difference>=15 mL,
      and a VolumeDWI<70 mL. RESULTS: Inter-reader agreement was almost perfect for PWI
      ASPECTS (kappa=0.95 [95% confidence interval, 0.90-1]), and DWI-ASPECTS
      (kappa=0.96 [95% confidence interval, 0.91-1]). There were strong negative
      correlations between volumetric and ASPECTS-based assessments of DWI lesions
      (rho=-0.84, P<0.01) and PWI lesions (rho=-0.90, P<0.01). Receiver operating
      characteristic curve analysis showed that a mismatch-ASPECTS >=2 best identified
      a volumetric mismatch, with a sensitivity of 0.93 (95% confidence interval, 0.89
      0.98) and a specificity of 0.82 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.89).
      CONCLUSIONS: The mismatch-ASPECTS method can detect a true mismatch in patients
      with acute middle cerebral artery stroke. It could be used for rapid screening of
      patients with eligible mismatch, in centers not equipped with ultrafast
      postprocessing software.

PMID- 27625383
TI  - Hospital Variation in Home-Time After Acute Ischemic Stroke: Insights From the
      PROSPER Study (Patient-Centered Research Into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and
      Effectiveness Research).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke survivors identify home-time as a high-priority
      outcome; there are limited data on factors influencing home-time and home-time
      variability among discharging hospitals. METHODS: We ascertained home-time (ie,
      time alive out of a hospital, inpatient rehabilitation facility, or skilled
      nursing facility) at 90 days and 1-year post discharge by linking data from Get
      With The Guidelines-Stroke Registry patients (>=65 years) to Medicare claims.
      Using generalized linear mixed models, we estimated adjusted mean home-time for
      each hospital. Using linear regression, we examined associations between hospital
      characteristics and risk-adjusted home-time. RESULTS: We linked 156 887 patients
      with ischemic stroke at 989 hospitals to Medicare claims (2007-2011). Hospital
      mean home-time varied with an overall unadjusted median of 59.5 days over the
      first 90 days and 270.2 days over the first year. Hospital factors associated
      with more home-time over 90 days included higher annual stroke admission volume
      (number of ischemic stroke admissions per year); South, West, or Midwest
      geographic regions (versus Northeast); and rural location; 1-year patterns were
      similar. Lowest home-time quartile patients (versus highest) were more likely to
      be older, black, women, and have more comorbidities and severe strokes. Home-time
      variation decreased after risk adjustment (interquartile range, 57.4-61.4 days
      over 90 days; 266.3-274.2 days over 1 year). In adjusted analyses, increasing
      annual stroke volume and rural location were associated with significantly more
      home-time. CONCLUSIONS: In older ischemic stroke survivors, home-time post
      discharge varies by hospital annual stroke volume, severity of case-mix, and
      region. In adjusted analyses, annual ischemic stroke admission volume and rural
      location were associated with more home-time post stroke.

PMID- 27625385
TI  - Reporting Standards for Preclinical Studies of Stroke Therapy.

PMID- 27625384
TI  - Applicability of Clinical Trials in an Unselected Cohort of Patients With
      Intracerebral Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patient selection in clinical trials on intracerebral
      hemorrhage (ICH) affects overall applicability of results. We estimated
      eligibility for completed, ongoing, and planned clinical trials in an unselected
      cohort of patients with ICH. METHODS: Large clinical ICH trials were identified
      using trial registration databases. Each trial's inclusion criteria were applied
      to a consecutive group of patients with ICH from the prospective hospital-based
      Lund Stroke Register. Survival status was obtained from the National Census
      Office and 90-day poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale >=4) from the
      Swedish Stroke Register or medical files. RESULTS: Among 253 patients with ICH,
      estimated eligibility proportions ranged between 2% and 36% for the 11 identified
      clinical trials. Patients not eligible for any trial (n=96) had more
      intraventricular hemorrhage, lower baseline level of consciousness, higher rates
      of cerebellar ICH, and lower rates of lobar ICH (P<=0.001). Thirty-day case
      fatality for noneligible patients was 54% versus 18% among patients eligible in
      >=1 trial (95% confidence interval, 44%-64% versus 13%-25%; P<0.001). Noneligible
      ICH patients more frequently had poor functional outcome (75% versus 48%; 95%
      confidence interval, 65%-83% versus 40%-56%; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is
      large variation in proportions of patients with ICH eligible for inclusion in
      clinical trials and over a third of patients with ICH are not eligible for any
      trial.

PMID- 27625386
TI  - Validation of a Modified CHA2DS2-VASc Score for Stroke Risk Stratification in
      Asian Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Nationwide Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The age threshold for an increased stroke risk for
      patients with atrial fibrillation may be different for Asians and non-Asians. We
      hypothesized that a modified CHA2DS2-VASc (congestive heart failure,
      hypertension, age >=75, diabetes mellitus, prior stroke or transient ischemic
      attack, vascular disease, age 65-74 years, female) scheme, mCHA2DS2-VASc, which
      assigned one point for patients aged 50 to 74 years, may perform better than
      CHA2DS2-VASc score for stroke risk stratification in Asians. METHODS: This study
      used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, which included 224
      866 newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation patients. The predictive accuracies of
      ischemic stroke of CHA2DS2-VASc and mCHA2DS2-VASc scores were compared among 124
      271 patients without antithrombotic therapies. From the whole cohort, 15 948
      patients had a CHA2DS2-VASc score 0 (males) or 1 (females), and 8654 patients had
      an mCHA2DS2-VASc score 1 (males) or 2 (females). The latter were categorized into
      3 groups, that is, no treatment, antiplatelet therapy, and warfarin, and the
      risks of ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) were compared.
      RESULTS: During a follow-up of 538 653 person-years, 21 008 patients experienced
      ischemic stroke. The mCHA2DS2-VASc performed better than CHA2DS2-VASc score in
      predicting ischemic stroke assessed by C indexes and net reclassification index.
      For 8654 patients having an mCHA2DS2-VASc score of 1 (males) or 2 (females)
      because of the resetting of the age threshold, use of warfarin was associated
      with a 30% lower risk of ischemic stroke and a similar risk of ICH compared with
      nontreatment. Net clinical benefit analyses also favored the use of warfarin in
      different weighted models. CONCLUSIONS: In this Asian atrial fibrillation cohort,
      the mCHA2DS2-VASc score performed better than the CHA2DS2-VASc and would further
      identify atrial fibrillation patients who may derive a positive net clinical
      benefit from oral anticoagulation.

PMID- 27625387
TI  - Diagnosis and management of esophageal achalasia.
AB  - Achalasia is a rare esophageal motility disorder that is usually idiopathic in
      origin. It is characterized by dysphagia, and patients often have chest pain,
      regurgitation, weight loss, and an abnormal barium radiograph showing esophageal
      dilation with narrowing at the gastroesophageal junction. Abnormal or absent
      esophageal peristalsis and impaired relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter
      (LES) are typically seen on esophageal manometry. The advent of high resolution
      manometry (HRM) has allowed more precise diagnosis of achalasia, subtype
      designation, and differentiation from other esophageal motor disorders with an
      initial seminal publication in 2008 followed by further refinements of what has
      been termed the Chicago classification. Potential treatments include drugs,
      endoscopic botulinum toxin injection, balloon dilation, traditional surgery
      (usually laparoscopic Heller myotomy; LHM), and a novel, less invasive, natural
      orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) approach to Heller myotomy termed
      peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). The first human POEM was performed in 2008,
      with the first publication appearing in 2010 and evidence now rapidly
      accumulating showing POEM to be comparable to traditional surgery in terms of
      clinical success and radiologic and manometric post-therapy outcomes. This review
      discusses the diagnosis and management of achalasia with particular emphasis on
      the recent developments of HRM and POEM, which arguably represent the most
      important advances in the field since the advent of laparoscopic Heller myotomy
      in the 1990s. 

PMID- 27625388
TI  - Hospital Admission and Emergency Department Utilization in an Infant Medicaid
      Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In the first year of life, the rate of
      rehospitalization for infants has been shown to be between 4.4% and 9.5%.
      Reducing avoidable health care utilization is a population health priority. The
      goal of this study was to identify maternal and infant factors associated with
      rehospitalization and emergency department (ED) utilization in a cohort of
      newborn Medicaid recipients. METHODS: A longitudinal database was created by
      linking mother-infant dyads giving birth at a regional perinatal referral center
      with Delaware state Medicaid data. Multivariable logistic regression and negative
      binomial regression were used to examine inpatient hospitalization and ED
      utilization within 6 months after birth. RESULTS: The study cohort included 4112
      infants; 452 (11.0%) were rehospitalized, and 1680 (41%) used the ED within 6
      months of birth. Variables independently associated with inpatient
      rehospitalization included NICU admission (odds ratio [OR]: 1.7 [95% confidence
      interval (CI): 1.3-2.3]), maternal bipolar diagnosis (OR: 1.5 [95% CI: 1.1-2.2]),
      count of maternal prenatal hospital admissions (OR: 1.3 [95% CI: 1.1-1.5]), and
      count of maternal ED visits (OR: 1.08 [95% CI: 1.04-1.1]). Black race (incident
      rate ratio [IRR]: 1.2 [95% CI: 1.1-1.3]), fall birth (IRR: 1.2 [95% CI: 1.01
      1.3]), count of maternal ED visits (IRR: 1.1 [95% CI: 1.09-1.12]), number of
      maternal medications (IRR: 1.02 [95% CI: 1.01-1.03]), and maternal age (IRR: 0.97
      [95% CI: 0.96-0.98]) were associated with ED utilization. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      newborn Medicaid population, multiple maternal factors (including age, race, and
      mental health diagnoses) were associated with health care utilization in the 6
      months after initial hospital discharge. Our data provide potential risk factors
      for targeted intervention and suggest that maternal factors should be considered
      in identifying a population at risk for rehospitalization and ED utilization.

PMID- 27625390
TI  - The PathoYeastract database: an information system for the analysis of gene and
      genomic transcription regulation in pathogenic yeasts.
AB  - We present the PATHOgenic YEAst Search for Transcriptional Regulators And
      Consensus Tracking (PathoYeastract - http://pathoyeastract.org) database, a tool
      for the analysis and prediction of transcription regulatory associations at the
      gene and genomic levels in the pathogenic yeasts Candida albicans and C. glabrata
      Upon data retrieval from hundreds of publications, followed by curation, the
      database currently includes 28 000 unique documented regulatory associations
      between transcription factors (TF) and target genes and 107 DNA binding sites,
      considering 134 TFs in both species. Following the structure used for the
      YEASTRACT database, PathoYeastract makes available bioinformatics tools that
      enable the user to exploit the existing information to predict the TFs involved
      in the regulation of a gene or genome-wide transcriptional response, while
      ranking those TFs in order of their relative importance. Each search can be
      filtered based on the selection of specific environmental conditions,
      experimental evidence or positive/negative regulatory effect. Promoter analysis
      tools and interactive visualization tools for the representation of TF regulatory
      networks are also provided. The PathoYeastract database further provides simple
      tools for the prediction of gene and genomic regulation based on orthologous
      regulatory associations described for other yeast species, a comparative genomics
      setup for the study of cross-species evolution of regulatory networks.

PMID- 27625389
TI  - In vivo single-RNA tracking shows that most tRNA diffuses freely in live
      bacteria.
AB  - Transfer RNA (tRNA) links messenger RNA nucleotide sequence with amino acid
      sequence during protein synthesis. Despite the importance of tRNA for
      translation, its subcellular distribution and diffusion properties in live cells
      are poorly understood. Here, we provide the first direct report on tRNA diffusion
      localization in live bacteria. We internalized tRNA labeled with organic
      fluorophores into live bacteria, applied single-molecule fluorescence imaging
      with single-particle tracking and localized and tracked single tRNA molecules
      over seconds. We observed two diffusive species: fast (with a diffusion
      coefficient of ~8 MUm2/s, consistent with free tRNA) and slow (consistent with
      tRNA bound to larger complexes). Our data indicate that a large fraction of
      internalized fluorescent tRNA (>70%) appears to diffuse freely in the bacterial
      cell. We also obtained the subcellular distribution of fast and slow diffusing
      tRNA molecules in multiple cells by normalizing for cell morphology. While fast
      diffusing tRNA is not excluded from the bacterial nucleoid, slow diffusing tRNA
      is localized to the cell periphery (showing a 30% enrichment versus a uniform
      distribution), similar to non-uniform localizations previously observed for mRNA
      and ribosomes.

PMID- 27625392
TI  - A small protein inhibits proliferating cell nuclear antigen by breaking the DNA
      clamp.

PMID- 27625391
TI  - ChIA-PET2: a versatile and flexible pipeline for ChIA-PET data analysis.
AB  - ChIA-PET2 is a versatile and flexible pipeline for analyzing different types of
      ChIA-PET data from raw sequencing reads to chromatin loops. ChIA-PET2 integrates
      all steps required for ChIA-PET data analysis, including linker trimming, read
      alignment, duplicate removal, peak calling and chromatin loop calling. It
      supports different kinds of ChIA-PET data generated from different ChIA-PET
      protocols and also provides quality controls for different steps of ChIA-PET
      analysis. In addition, ChIA-PET2 can use phased genotype data to call allele
      specific chromatin interactions. We applied ChIA-PET2 to different ChIA-PET
      datasets, demonstrating its significantly improved performance as well as its
      ability to easily process ChIA-PET raw data. ChIA-PET2 is available at
      https://github.com/GuipengLi/ChIA-PET2.

PMID- 27625394
TI  - Maps of context-dependent putative regulatory regions and genomic signal
      interactions.
AB  - Gene transcription is regulated mainly by transcription factors (TFs). ENCODE and
      Roadmap Epigenomics provide global binding profiles of TFs, which can be used to
      identify regulatory regions. To this end we implemented a method to
      systematically construct cell-type and species-specific maps of regulatory
      regions and TF-TF interactions. We illustrated the approach by developing maps
      for five human cell-lines and two other species. We detected ~144k putative
      regulatory regions among the human cell-lines, with the majority of them being
      ~300 bp. We found ~20k putative regulatory elements in the ENCODE heterochromatic
      domains suggesting a large regulatory potential in the regions presumed
      transcriptionally silent. Among the most significant TF interactions identified
      in the heterochromatic regions were CTCF and the cohesin complex, which is in
      agreement with previous reports. Finally, we investigated the enrichment of the
      obtained putative regulatory regions in the 3D chromatin domains. More than 90%
      of the regions were discovered in the 3D contacting domains. We found a
      significant enrichment of GWAS SNPs in the putative regulatory regions. These
      significant enrichments provide evidence that the regulatory regions play a
      crucial role in the genomic structural stability. Additionally, we generated maps
      of putative regulatory regions for prostate and colorectal cancer human cell
      lines.

PMID- 27625395
TI  - A feedback loop comprising PRMT7 and miR-24-2 interplays with Oct4, Nanog, Klf4
      and c-Myc to regulate stemness.
AB  - Self-renewal and pluripotency are two fundamental characteristics of embryonic
      stem cells (ESCs) and are controlled by diverse regulatory factors, including
      pluripotent factors, epigenetic regulators and microRNAs (miRNAs). Although
      histone methyltransferases are key epigenetic regulators, whether and how a
      histone methyltransferase forms a network with miRNAs and the core pluripotent
      factor system to regulate ESC stemness is little known. Here, we show that the
      protein arginine methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) is a pluripotent factor essential
      for the stemness of mouse ESCs. PRMT7 repressed the miR-24-2 gene encoding miR-24
      3p and miR-24-2-5p by upregulating the levels of symmetrically dimethylated H4R3.
      Notably, miR-24-3p targeted the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of the major
      pluripotent factors Oct4, Nanog, Klf4 and c-Myc, whereas miR-24-2-5p silenced
      Klf4 and c-Myc expression. miR-24-3p and miR-24-2-5p also targeted the 3'UTR of
      their repressor gene Prmt7 miR-24-3p and miR-24-2-5p induced mouse ESC
      differentiation, and their anti-sense inhibitors substantially reversed
      spontaneous differentiation of PRMT7-depleted mouse ESCs. Oct4, Nanog, Klf4 and c
      Myc positively regulated Prmt7 expression. These findings define miR-24-3p and
      miR-24-2-5p as new anti-pluripotent miRNAs and also reveal a novel epigenetic
      stemness-regulatory mechanism in which a double-negative feedback loop consisting
      of PRMT7 and miR-24-3p/miR24-2-5p interplays with Oct4, Nanog, Klf4 and c-Myc to
      control ESC stemness.

PMID- 27625393
TI  - Identifying proteins that bind to specific RNAs - focus on simple repeat
      expansion diseases.
AB  - RNA-protein complexes play a central role in the regulation of fundamental
      cellular processes, such as mRNA splicing, localization, translation and
      degradation. The misregulation of these interactions can cause a variety of human
      diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Recently, many
      strategies have been developed to comprehensively analyze these complex and
      highly dynamic RNA-protein networks. Extensive efforts have been made to purify
      in vivo-assembled RNA-protein complexes. In this review, we focused on commonly
      used RNA-centric approaches that involve mass spectrometry, which are powerful
      tools for identifying proteins bound to a given RNA. We present various RNA
      capture strategies that primarily depend on whether the RNA of interest is
      modified. Moreover, we briefly discuss the advantages and limitations of in vitro
      and in vivo approaches. Furthermore, we describe recent advances in quantitative
      proteomics as well as the methods that are most commonly used to validate robust
      mass spectrometry data. Finally, we present approaches that have successfully
      identified expanded repeat-binding proteins, which present abnormal RNA-protein
      interactions that result in the development of many neurological diseases.

PMID- 27625397
TI  - Co-dependence between trypanosome nuclear lamina components in nuclear stability
      and control of gene expression.
AB  - The nuclear lamina is a filamentous structure subtending the nuclear envelope and
      required for chromatin organization, transcriptional regulation and maintaining
      nuclear structure. The trypanosomatid coiled-coil NUP-1 protein is a lamina
      component functionally analogous to lamins, the major lamina proteins of metazoa.
      There is little evidence for shared ancestry, suggesting the presence of a
      distinct lamina system in trypanosomes. To find additional trypanosomatid lamina
      components we identified NUP-1 interacting proteins by affinity capture and mass
      spectrometry. Multiple components of the nuclear pore complex (NPC) and a second
      coiled-coil protein, which we termed NUP-2, were found. NUP-2 has a punctate
      distribution at the nuclear periphery throughout the cell cycle and is in close
      proximity to NUP-1, the NPCs and telomeric chromosomal regions. RNAi-mediated
      silencing of NUP-2 leads to severe proliferation defects, gross alterations to
      nuclear structure, chromosomal organization and nuclear envelope architecture.
      Further, transcription is altered at telomere-proximal variant surface
      glycoprotein (VSG) expression sites (ESs), suggesting a role in controlling ES
      expression, although NUP-2 silencing does not increase VSG switching.
      Transcriptome analysis suggests specific alterations to Pol I-dependent
      transcription. NUP-1 is mislocalized in NUP-2 knockdown cells and vice versa,
      implying that NUP-1 and NUP-2 form a co-dependent network and identifying NUP-2
      as a second trypanosomatid nuclear lamina component.

PMID- 27625399
TI  - Travel vaccination recommendations and endemic infection risks in solid organ
      transplantation recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are often heavily
      immunosuppressed and consequently at risk of serious illness from vaccine
      preventable viral and bacterial infections or with endemic fungal and parasitic
      infections. We review the literature to provide guidance regarding the timing and
      appropriateness of vaccination and pathogen avoidance related to the
      immunological status of SOT recipients. METHODS: A PUBMED search ([Vaccination OR
      vaccine] AND/OR ["specific vaccine"] AND/OR [immunology OR immune response OR
      cytokine OR T lymphocyte] AND transplant was performed. A review of the
      literature was performed in order to develop recommendations on vaccination for
      SOT recipients travelling to high-risk destinations. RESULTS: Whilst
      immunological failure of vaccination in SOT is primarily the result of impaired B
      cell responses, the role of T-cells in vaccine failure and success remains
      unknown. Vaccination should be initiated at least 4 weeks prior to SOT or more
      than 6 months post-SOT. Avoidance of live vaccination is generally recommended,
      although some live vaccines may be considered in the specific situations (e.g.
      yellow fever). The practicing physician requires a detailed understanding of
      region-specific endemic pathogen risks. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a vaccination and
      endemic pathogen guide for physicians and travel clinics involved in the care of
      SOT recipients. In addition, recommendations based on timing of anticipated
      immunological recovery and available evidence regarding vaccine immunogenicity in
      SOT recipients are provided to help guide pre-travel consultations.

PMID- 27625400
TI  - Evidence-based risk assessment and communication: a new global dengue-risk map
      for travellers and clinicians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: International travel can expose travellers to pathogens not commonly
      found in their countries of residence, like dengue virus. Travellers and the
      clinicians who advise and treat them have unique needs for understanding the
      geographic extent of risk for dengue. Specifically, they should assess the need
      for prevention measures before travel and ensure appropriate treatment of illness
      post-travel. Previous dengue-risk maps published in the Centers for Disease
      Control and Prevention's Yellow Book lacked specificity, as there was a binary
      (risk, no risk) classification. We developed a process to compile evidence,
      evaluate it and apply more informative risk classifications. METHODS: We
      collected more than 839 observations from official reports, ProMED reports and
      published scientific research for the period 2005-2014. We classified each
      location as frequent/continuous risk if there was evidence of more than 10 dengue
      cases in at least three of the previous 10 years. For locations that did not fit
      this criterion, we classified locations as sporadic/uncertain risk if the
      location had evidence of at least one locally acquired dengue case during the
      last 10 years. We used expert opinion in limited instances to augment available
      data in areas where data were sparse. RESULTS: Initial categorizations classified
      134 areas as frequent/continuous and 140 areas as sporadic/uncertain. CDC subject
      matter experts reviewed all initial frequent/continuous and sporadic/uncertain
      categorizations and the previously uncategorized areas. From this review, most
      categorizations stayed the same; however, 11 categorizations changed from the
      initial determinations. CONCLUSIONS: These new risk classifications enable
      detailed consideration of dengue risk, with clearer meaning and a direct link to
      the evidence that supports the specific classification. Since many infectious
      diseases have dynamic risk, strong geographical heterogeneities and varying data
      quality and availability, using this approach for other diseases can improve the
      accuracy, clarity and transparency of risk communication.

PMID- 27625398
TI  - Identification of non-coding genetic variants in samples from hypoxemic
      respiratory disease patients that affect the transcriptional response to hypoxia.
AB  - A wide range of diseases course with an unbalance between the consumption of
      oxygen by tissues and its supply. This situation triggers a transcriptional
      response, mediated by the hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs), that aims to restore
      oxygen homeostasis. Little is known about the inter-individual variation in this
      response and its role in the progression of disease. Herein, we sought to
      identify common genetic variants mapping to hypoxia response elements (HREs) and
      characterize their effect on transcription. To this end, we constructed a list of
      genome-wide HIF-binding regions from publicly available experimental datasets and
      studied the genetic variability in these regions by targeted re-sequencing of
      genomic samples from 96 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 144 obstructive
      sleep apnea patients. This study identified 14 frequent variants disrupting
      potential HREs. The analysis of the genomic regions containing these variants by
      means of reporter assays revealed that variants rs1009329, rs6593210 and
      rs150921338 impaired the transcriptional response to hypoxia. Finally, using
      genome editing we confirmed the functional role of rs6593210 in the
      transcriptional regulation of EGFR. In summary, we found that inter-individual
      variability in non-coding regions affect the response to hypoxia and could
      potentially impact on the progression of pulmonary diseases.

PMID- 27625401
TI  - Effectiveness of twice a week prophylaxis with atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone(r))
      in long-term travellers to West Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend daily dosing of atovaquone-proguanil
      (AP), beginning a day before travel to endemic areas and continuing for 7 days
      after departure. Adherence of long-term travellers to daily malaria
      chemoprophylaxis tends to be poor, even when residing in highly endemic malaria
      regions. Evidence from a volunteer challenging study suggests that non-daily,
      longer intervals dosing of AP provides effective protection against Plasmodium
      falciparum This study examines the effectiveness of twice weekly AP prophylaxis
      in long-term travellers to highly endemic P. falciparum areas in West Africa.
      METHODS: An observational surveillance study aimed to detect prophylactic
      failures associated with twice weekly AP, during the years 2013-2014, among long
      term expatriates in two sites in West Africa. The expatriates were divided
      according to the malaria prophylaxis regimen taken: AP twice weekly; mefloquine
      once weekly and a group refusing to take prophylaxis. Malaria events were
      recorded for each group. The incidence-density of malaria was calculated by
      dividing malaria events per number of person-months at risk. RESULTS: Among 122
      expatriates to West Africa the malaria rates were: 11.7/1000 person-months in the
      group with no-prophylaxis (n = 63); 2.06/1000 person-months in the 40 expatriates
      taking mefloquine (P = 0.006) and no cases of malaria (0/391 person-months, P =
      0.01) in the twice weekly AP group (n = 33). CONCLUSIONS: No prophylaxis failures
      were detected among the group of expatriates taking AP prophylaxis twice weekly
      compared with 11.7/1000 person-months among the no-prophylaxis group. Twice
      weekly AP prophylaxis may be an acceptable approach for long-term travellers who
      are unwilling to adhere to malaria chemoprophylaxis guidelines.

PMID- 27625402
TI  - Insurance Coverage and Heart Transplant Outcomes.

PMID- 27625403
TI  - Health Insurance Trajectories and Long-Term Survival After Heart Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health insurance status at heart transplantation influences recipient
      survival, but implications of change in insurance for long-term outcomes are
      unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: Adults aged 18 to 64 receiving first-time
      orthotopic heart transplants between July 2006 and December 2013 were identified
      in the United Network for Organ Sharing registry. Patients surviving >1 year were
      categorized according to trajectory of insurance status (private compared with
      public) at wait listing, transplantation, and 1-year follow-up. The most common
      insurance trajectories were continuous private coverage (44%), continuous public
      coverage (27%), and transition from private to public coverage (11%). Among
      patients who survived to 1 year (n=9088), continuous public insurance (hazard
      ratio =1.36; 95% confidence interval 1.19, 1.56; P<0.001) and transition from
      private to public insurance (hazard ratio =1.25; 95% confidence interval 1.04,
      1.50; P=0.017) were associated with increased mortality hazard relative to
      continuous private insurance. Supplementary analyses of 11 247 patients included
      all durations of post-transplant survival and examined post-transplant private-to
      public and public-to-private transitions as time-varying covariates. In these
      analyses, transition from private to public insurance was associated with
      increased mortality hazard (hazard ratio =1.25; 95% confidence interval 1.07,
      1.47; P=0.005), whereas transition from public to private insurance was
      associated with lower mortality hazard (hazard ratio =0.78; 95% confidence
      interval 0.62, 0.97; P=0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Transition from private to public
      insurance after heart transplantation is associated with worse long-term
      outcomes, compounding disparities in post-transplant survival attributed to
      insurance status at transplantation. By contrast, post-transplant gain of private
      insurance among patients receiving publicly funded heart transplants was
      associated with improved outcomes.

PMID- 27625404
TI  - Variation in Hospital Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rates Following Transcatheter
      Aortic Valve Replacement in the United States: A Report From the Society of
      Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapy
      Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) to treat
      aortic stenosis in the United States is growing, yet little is known about the
      variation in procedural outcomes in community practice. We developed a TAVR in
      hospital mortality risk model and used it to quantify variation in mortality
      rates across United States (US) TAVR centers. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed
      data from 22 248 TAVR procedures performed at 318 sites participating in the
      Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve
      Therapy Registry (November 2011 to October 2014). A Bayesian hierarchical model
      was developed to estimate hospital-specific risk-adjusted mortality rates
      adjusting for 40 patient baseline factors. A total of 1130 in-hospital deaths
      (5.1%) were observed. Reliability-adjusted risk-adjusted mortality rate estimates
      ranged from 3.4% to 7.7% with an interquartile range of 4.8% to 5.4%. A patient's
      predicted odds of dying was 80% higher if treated by a hospital 1 standard
      deviation above the mean compared with a hospital 1 standard deviation below the
      mean (odds ratio =1.8; 95% credible interval, 1.4%-2.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Risk
      modeling of TAVR in-hospital mortality revealed variation in risk-adjusted
      mortality rates during the US early commercial experience. Transcatheter Valve
      Therapy Registry analyses using this model will support research, feedback
      reporting, and the identification of factors associated with quality.

PMID- 27625405
TI  - Regional Learning Collaboratives Produce Rapid and Sustainable Improvements in
      Stroke Thrombolysis Times.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reduction in door-to-needle (DTN) times in patients with acute
      ischemic stroke treated with tissue-type plasminogen activator is associated with
      improved outcomes. We hypothesized that a learning collaborative would rapidly
      reduce DTN times at Chicago's primary stroke centers. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      analyzed data from all adult patients with out-of-hospital ischemic stroke
      hospitalized between January 1, 2010 and March 31, 2015 and who received tissue
      type plasminogen activator in the emergency department at 15 primary stroke
      centers in Chicago and 15 primary stroke centers in St. Louis. We implemented a
      structured learning collaborative in Chicago in quarter 1 of 2013 that included
      (1) a quality improvement leader, (2) stroke content expert, (3)
      multidisciplinary teams from each site, (4) a targeted goal for the program (DTN
      time <60 minutes in >50% of patients treated with tissue-type plasminogen
      activator), and (5) face-to-face meetings with on-site visits. We used
      interrupted time-series analysis to compare the impact of the learning
      collaborative on DTN times in Chicago pre- and post implementation and also
      concurrently versus St. Louis. We prespecified adjustment for mode of arrival,
      emergency medical services prenotification, and onset-to-arrival times. P values
      less than 0.05 were considered significant. In adjusted analysis, the reduction
      in DTN time within 1 quarter of implementation was 15.5 minutes (P=0.046) at
      Chicago sites versus 1.17 minutes at St. Louis sites (P=0.601). CONCLUSIONS:
      Using a learning collaborative model at Chicago's 15 primary stroke centers, we
      observed major reductions in DTN times within 1 quarter of implementation.
      Regional collaboration and best practices sharing should be a model for rapid and
      sustainable system-wide quality improvement.

PMID- 27625406
TI  - Assessing Hospital Performance for Emerging Technologies: Essential but Elusive.

PMID- 27625407
TI  - Predictors of Rehospitalization Among Adults With Congenital Heart Disease Are
      Lesion Specific.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Readmission is responsible for a large proportion of inpatient care
      costs in adult congenital heart disease. There are, however, few data available
      to identify at-risk patients or to suggest strategies for intervention to prevent
      rehospitalization. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted an analysis of admissions in
      patients over the age of 18 years with a 3-digit International Classification of
      Diseases-Ninth Revision code of 745 to 747 from the State Inpatient Databases of
      Arkansas (2008-2010), California (2003-2012), Florida (2005-2012), Hawaii (2006
      2010), Nebraska (2003-2011), and New York (2005-2012). We investigated index
      admission diagnoses most commonly associated with 1-year readmission and the most
      common reasons for readmission. We then selected variables we thought would be
      associated with increased rates of 1-year readmission and constructed
      multivariable regression models grouping patients by congenital lesion, to
      examine the relative contribution of the specified variables to readmission risk
      for each lesion. A total of 64 420 patients were included in the final analysis.
      Thirty-nine percent of patients experienced a readmission within 12 months of an
      index admission. Compared with those who did not experience a readmission, those
      who did were more likely to have had a primary diagnosis of congestive heart
      failure at the time of index admission, and the most common diagnoses at the time
      of readmission were congestive heart failure and arrhythmia. There is lesion
      specific heterogeneity in risk factors for readmission. CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with adult congenital heart disease have high rates of readmission, predominantly
      for congestive heart failure and arrhythmia. Predictors of readmission are lesion
      specific, and future strategies aimed at decreasing readmission rate will likely
      need to be individualized.

PMID- 27625408
TI  - How do consumers perceive differences in risk across nicotine products? A review
      of relative risk perceptions across smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, nicotine
      replacement therapy and combustible cigarettes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature regarding relative risk
      perceptions (RRPs) across non-combustible nicotine products. DATA SOURCES:
      MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched for articles published up to October
      2014. STUDY SELECTION: Of the 5266 records identified, articles not published in
      English that did not quantitatively assess RRPs across categories of non
      combustible nicotine products were excluded, yielding 55 records. DATA
      EXTRACTION: One reviewer extracted measures and findings of RRPs for product
      comparisons of smokeless tobacco (SLT), e-cigarettes (ECs) and nicotine
      replacement therapy (NRT) to one another, and to combustible cigarettes (CCs).
      DATA SYNTHESIS: A total of 157 samples from 54 studies were included in the
      analyses. The accuracy of RRPs differed based on the products being compared:
      although the accuracy of RRPs was variable across studies, substantial
      proportions of respondents reported inaccurate beliefs about the relative
      harmfulness of SLT versus CCs, as well as of ECs versus NRT. In addition, in most
      studies, respondents did not know the relative harmfulness of SLT versus NRT. In
      contrast, respondents in many studies correctly perceived NRT and ECs as less
      harmful than CCs. Cigarette smokers and users of non-combustible nicotine
      products tended to correctly perceive the relative harmfulness of products more
      often than non-users. Measures used to assess RRPs varied across studies, with
      different approaches characterised by certain strengths and limitations.
      CONCLUSIONS: The highly variable and context-specific nature of non-combustible
      nicotine product RRPs have direct implications for researchers and present
      several challenges for policymakers working with modified risk products,
      including issues of measurement, health risk communication and behaviour change.

PMID- 27625409
TI  - Impact of the Spanish smoking legislations in the adoption of smoke-free rules at
      home: a longitudinal study in Barcelona (Spain).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of two Spanish smoking legislations in the
      adoption of voluntary smoke-free-homes rules in Spain. METHODS: This is a
      longitudinal study, before and after the implementation of two national smoking
      bans (in 2005 and 2010), in a representative sample (n=1245) of non
      institutionalised adults (>=16 years) from Barcelona (Spain) surveyed in 2004
      2005 and followed up in 2013-2014. The final sample analysed was 736 individuals
      (400 women and 336 men). We defined smoking rules in the houses as complete (when
      smoking was not allowed in the household), partial (when smoking was allowed in
      some places inside the house) or absent (when smoking was allowed everywhere). We
      calculated relative changes in the prevalence of smoking rules in homes before
      and after 2 national smoking legislations by means of prevalence ratios (PRs) and
      their 95% CIs. RESULTS: The households with voluntary smoke-free rules (complete
      or partial) relatively increased 31% after Spanish smoking bans (from 55.6% to
      72.6%, p<0.001). The houses with complete rules relatively increased 57% (from
      23.9% to 37.6%, p<0.001) whereas the houses with partial rules increased 11%
      (from 31.7% to 35.0%, p=0.148). The increase of any type of rules (complete and
      partial) was statistically significantly independent of sex (PR between 1.29 and
      1.33), age (PR between 1.24 and 1.33), educational level (PR between 1.19 and
      1.47) and minimum age in house (PR between 1.12 and 1.40). However, this increase
      was statistically and significantly higher only among never smokers (PR=1.46) at
      baseline. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of the smoke-free regulations in public
      and work places in Spain was associated with an increasing of voluntary adoption
      of smoke-free rules in homes. According to our data, the Spanish smoking bans did
      not shift the tobacco consumption from public and work places to private places
      (homes).

PMID- 27625410
TI  - Qualitative exploration of young adult RYO smokers' practices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco often elicits negative
      connotations of a lower class product, uptake and use by young adult smokers has
      grown because RYO is more cost-effective than tailor-made (TM) cigarettes. We
      explored the practices and beliefs young adults develop to distance themselves
      from unattractive stereotypes of RYO smokers. METHODS: We conducted 20 in-depth
      interviews with New Zealand young adult RYO users aged between 18 and 30 years,
      and used thematic analysis to interpret the transcripts. RESULTS: We identified
      three themes: establishing the superiority of RYO tobacco; creating and enacting
      usage rituals, and ritual disruption. Participants regarded RYO tobacco as more
      natural and better-tasting; they used it to control their tobacco use and
      facilitate interactions with others. Many described rolling rituals where they
      used specific artefacts and microbehaviours to construct cigarettes they saw as
      personal and artisanal. Several, though not all, disliked unattractively coloured
      papers as these disrupted the value their rituals created. CONCLUSIONS: Young
      adults imbue RYO tobacco with positive attributes, many of which centre on
      rolling rituals or draw on widely held misperceptions of RYO tobacco as less
      harmful. Excise tax increases could counter perceptions of RYO as more cost
      effective while mandating that dissuasively coloured paper could disrupt reduced
      harm connotations. However, evidence that erroneous harm beliefs are widespread
      and entrenched may justify restricting or eliminating the key artefact-the
      product itself.

PMID- 27625411
TI  - Froghopper-inspired direction-changing concept for miniature jumping robots.
AB  - To improve the maneuverability and agility of jumping robots, several researchers
      have studied steerable jumping mechanisms. This steering ability enables robots
      to reach a particular target by controlling their jumping direction. To this end,
      we propose a novel direction-changing concept for miniature jumping robots. The
      proposed concept allows robots to be steerable while exerting minimal effects on
      jumping performance. The key design principles were adopted from the froghopper's
      power-producing hind legs and the moment cancellation accomplished by
      synchronized leg operation. These principles were applied via a pair of
      symmetrically positioned legs and conventional gears, which were modeled on the
      froghopper's anatomy. Each leg has its own thrusting energy, which improves
      jumping performance by allowing the mechanism to thrust itself with both power
      producing legs. Conventional gears were utilized to simultaneously operate the
      legs and cancel out the moments that they induce, which minimizes body spin. A
      prototype to verify the concept was built and tested by varying the initial
      jumping posture. Three jumping postures (synchronous, asynchronous, and single
      legged) were tested to investigate how synchronization and moment cancelling
      affect jumping performance. The results show that synchronous jumping allows the
      mechanism to change direction from -40 degrees  to 40 degrees , with an improved
      take-off speed. The proposed concept can only be steered in a limited range of
      directions, but it has potential for use in miniature jumping robots that can
      change jumping direction with a minimal drop in jumping performance.

PMID- 27625413
TI  - ERRATUM.

PMID- 27625412
TI  - Two tributaries of the electrical double layer.

PMID- 27625415
TI  - Physiological characterization of the hematophagy of Ornithodoros rostratus
      (Acari: Argasidae) on live hosts.
AB  - Ornithodoros rostratus is an argasid tick and its importance is based on its
      hematophagy and the resulting transmission of pathogens such as Rickettsia
      rickettsii and Coxiella burnetii to its vertebrate hosts. In the face of a lack
      of physiological studies related to hematophagy in argasid ticks, this paper aims
      to identify and characterize the events that occur throughout the feeding by O.
      rostratus on live hosts. Electrical signals and alterations on the feeding site
      were monitored using intravital microscopy and electromyography. The analyses
      allowed for the characterization of four distinct events: suction, salivation,
      chelicerae movements and inactivity. Feeding was divided into two distinct
      phases: (1) penetration of mouthparts (when only salivation and chelicerae
      movements occurred) and the formation of the feeding pool (salivation and
      chelicerae movements with the first signs of suction) and (2) engorgement, during
      which chelicerae movements ceased and blood intake took place in feeding
      complexes (salivation followed by suction). Variations in patterns of the
      electrical signals, suction frequency and salivation showed four distinct sub
      phases: (2a) suction with electrical signals of irregular shape, increased
      suction frequency and decreased salivation frequency throughout blood feeding;
      (2b) suction with electrical signals of symmetrical shape, high suction rates
      (3.8 Hz on average) and feeding complexes lasting for 7.7 s; (2c) suction with
      electrical signals of irregular shape, high suction frequency and feeding complex
      lasting 11.5 s; and (2d) electrical signals with no profile and the longest
      feeding complexes (14.5 s). Blood feeding ended with the withdrawal of the
      mouthparts from the host's skin.

PMID- 27625416
TI  - Morphological changes in senescing petal cells and the regulatory mechanism of
      petal senescence.
AB  - Petal senescence, or programmed cell death (PCD) in petals, is a developmentally
      regulated and genetically programmed process. During petal senescence, petal
      cells show morphological changes associated with PCD: tonoplast rupture and rapid
      destruction of the cytoplasm. This type of PCD is classified as vacuolar cell
      death or autolytic PCD based on morphological criteria. In PCD of petal cells,
      characteristic morphological features including an autophagy-like process,
      chromatin condensation, and nuclear fragmentation are also observed. While the
      phytohormone ethylene is known to play a crucial role in petal senescence in some
      plant species, little is known about the early regulation of ethylene-independent
      petal senescence. Recently, a NAC (NAM/ATAF1,2/CUC2) transcription factor was
      reported to control the progression of PCD during petal senescence in Japanese
      morning glory, which shows ethylene-independent petal senescence. In ethylene
      dependent petal senescence, functional analyses of transcription factor genes
      have revealed the involvement of a basic helix-loop-helix protein and a
      homeodomain-leucine zipper protein in the transcriptional regulation of the
      ethylene biosynthesis pathway. Here we review the recent advances in our
      knowledge of petal senescence, mostly focusing on the morphology of senescing
      petal cells and the regulatory mechanisms of PCD by senescence-associated
      transcription factors during petal senescence.

PMID- 27625417
TI  - Nutrient deficiencies modify the ionomic composition of plant tissues: a focus on
      cross-talk between molybdenum and other nutrients in Brassica napus.
AB  - The composition of the ionome is closely linked to a plant's nutritional status.
      Under certain deficiencies, cross-talk induces unavoidable accumulation of some
      nutrients, which upsets the balance and modifies the ionomic composition of plant
      tissues. Rapeseed plants (Brassica napus L.) grown under controlled conditions
      were subject to individual nutrient deficiencies (N, K, P, Ca, S, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn,
      Mn, Mo, or B) and analyzed by inductively high-resolution coupled plasma mass
      spectrometry to determine the impact of deprivation on the plant ionome. Eighteen
      situations of increased uptake under mineral nutrient deficiency were identified,
      some of which have already been described (K and Na, S and Mo, Fe, Zn and Cu).
      Additionally, as Mo uptake was strongly increased under S, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, or B
      deprivation, the mechanisms underlying the accumulation of Mo in these deficient
      plants were investigated. The results suggest that it could be the consequence of
      multiple metabolic disturbances, namely: (i) a direct disturbance of Mo
      metabolism leading to an up-regulation of Mo transporters such as MOT1, as found
      under Zn or Cu deficiency, which are nutrients required for synthesis of the Mo
      cofactor; and (ii) a disturbance of S metabolism leading to an up-regulation of
      root SO42- transporters, causing an indirect increase in the uptake of Mo in S,
      Fe, Mn, and B deficient plants.

PMID- 27625418
TI  - Evaluation of the performance of C. DIFF QUIK CHEK COMPLETE and its usefulness in
      a hospital setting with a high prevalence of Clostridium difficile infection.
AB  - Rapid and accurate diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is crucial
      for patient care, infection control, and efficient surveillance. We evaluated C.
      DIFF QUIK CHEK COMPLETE (QCC; TechLab), which detects glutamate dehydrogenase
      (GDH) antigen (QCC-Ag) and toxin A/B (QCC-Tox) simultaneously, and compared it to
      the laboratory diagnostics for CDI currently in use in a tertiary hospital
      setting with a high prevalence of CDI. QCC, RIDASCREEN C. difficile toxin A/B
      assay (Toxin EIA; R-Biopharm AG), chromID C. difficile agar (bioMerieux) culture
      (ChromID culture), and Xpert C. difficile PCR assay (Xpert PCR; Cepheid) were
      performed according to the manufacturers' instructions. Performances of the
      assays were compared against that of Xpert PCR as a reference. Of the 231 loose
      stool specimens, 83 (35.9%) were positive by Xpert PCR. The sensitivity,
      specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 97.6%, 93.9%,
      90.0%, and 98.6%, respectively, for QCC-Ag and 55.4%, 100%, 100%, and 80.0%,
      respectively, for QCC-Tox. The median threshold cycle values of the QCC-Tox(+)
      specimens were lower than those of the QCC-Tox(-) specimens. Results of QCC as an
      initial screening test were confirmed in 81.0% (187/231) of samples; these
      specimens did not require further testing. QCC is a rapid, easy, and cost
      effective method that would be a useful first-line screening assay for laboratory
      diagnosis of CDI in a tertiary hospital with a high prevalence of CDI. A two-step
      algorithm using QCC as an initial screening tool, followed by Xpert PCR as a
      confirmatory test, is a practical and cost-effective approach.

PMID- 27625419
TI  - Commentary: Can New Drug-Eluting Stents Put an End to the Debate?

PMID- 27625420
TI  - Should a Tapered Stent Be Considered in TEVAR of Type B Dissection?

PMID- 27625422
TI  - Core Concept: Topological insulators promise computing advances, insights into
      matter itself.

PMID- 27625421
TI  - The Importance of Ground Critical Care Transport.
AB  - Critical care transport (CCT) teams are specialized transport services, comprised
      of highly trained paramedics, nurses, and occasionally respiratory therapists,
      offering an expanded scope of practice beyond advanced life support (ALS)
      emergency medical service teams. We report 4 cases of patients with severe acute
      respiratory distress syndrome from influenza in need of extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation evaluation at a tertiary care center, transported by ground. Our
      medical center did not previously have a ground CCT service, and therefore, in
      these cases, a physician and/or a respiratory therapist was sent with the
      paramedic team. In all 4 cases, the ground transport team enhanced the intensive
      care provided to these patients prior to arrival at the tertiary care center. In
      2 of the cases, although limited by the profound hypoxemia, the team decreased
      the pressures and tidal volumes in an effort to approach evidence-based
      ventilator goals. In 3 cases, they stopped bicarbonate drips being used to treat
      mixed metabolic and respiratory acidosis, and in 1 case, they administered
      furosemide. In 1 case, they started cisatracurium, and in 3 others, they
      initiated inhaled epoprostenol. Existing literature supports the use of CCT teams
      over ALS teams for transport of the most critically ill patients, and helicopter
      CCT is not always available or practical. Therefore, offering comparable air and
      ground options, with similar staffing and resources, is a hallmark of a mature
      medical system with an integrated approach to CCT.

PMID- 27625424
TI  - Role of dystroglycan in limiting contraction-induced injury to the sarcomeric
      cytoskeleton of mature skeletal muscle.
AB  - Dystroglycan (DG) is a highly expressed extracellular matrix receptor that is
      linked to the cytoskeleton in skeletal muscle. DG is critical for the function of
      skeletal muscle, and muscle with primary defects in the expression and/or
      function of DG throughout development has many pathological features and a severe
      muscular dystrophy phenotype. In addition, reduction in DG at the sarcolemma is a
      common feature in muscle biopsies from patients with various types of muscular
      dystrophy. However, the consequence of disrupting DG in mature muscle is not
      known. Here, we investigated muscles of transgenic mice several months after
      genetic knockdown of DG at maturity. In our study, an increase in susceptibility
      to contraction-induced injury was the first pathological feature observed after
      the levels of DG at the sarcolemma were reduced. The contraction-induced injury
      was not accompanied by increased necrosis, excitation-contraction uncoupling, or
      fragility of the sarcolemma. Rather, disruption of the sarcomeric cytoskeleton
      was evident as reduced passive tension and decreased titin immunostaining. These
      results reveal a role for DG in maintaining the stability of the sarcomeric
      cytoskeleton during contraction and provide mechanistic insight into the cause of
      the reduction in strength that occurs in muscular dystrophy after lengthening
      contractions.

PMID- 27625426
TI  - High-throughput single-cell gene-expression profiling with multiplexed error
      robust fluorescence in situ hybridization.
AB  - Image-based approaches to single-cell transcriptomics, in which RNA species are
      identified and counted in situ via imaging, have emerged as a powerful complement
      to single-cell methods based on RNA sequencing of dissociated cells. These image
      based approaches naturally preserve the native spatial context of RNAs within a
      cell and the organization of cells within tissue, which are important for
      addressing many biological questions. However, the throughput of these image
      based approaches is relatively low. Here we report advances that lead to a
      drastic increase in the measurement throughput of multiplexed error-robust
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH), an image-based approach to single
      cell transcriptomics. In MERFISH, RNAs are identified via a combinatorial
      labeling approach that encodes RNA species with error-robust barcodes followed by
      sequential rounds of single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH)
      to read out these barcodes. Here we increase the throughput of MERFISH by two
      orders of magnitude through a combination of improvements, including using
      chemical cleavage instead of photobleaching to remove fluorescent signals between
      consecutive rounds of smFISH imaging, increasing the imaging field of view, and
      using multicolor imaging. With these improvements, we performed RNA profiling in
      more than 100,000 human cells, with as many as 40,000 cells measured in a single
      18-h measurement. This throughput should substantially extend the range of
      biological questions that can be addressed by MERFISH.

PMID- 27625425
TI  - Development of the main olfactory system and main olfactory epithelium-dependent
      male mating behavior are altered in Go-deficient mice.
AB  - In mammals, initial detection of olfactory stimuli is mediated by sensory neurons
      in the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) and the vomeronasal organ (VNO). The
      heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein Go is widely expressed in the MOE and VNO of
      mice. Early studies indicated that Go expression in VNO sensory neurons is
      critical for directing social and sexual behaviors in female mice [Oboti L, et
      al. (2014) BMC Biol 12:31]. However, the physiological functions of Go in the MOE
      have remained poorly defined. Here, we examined the role of Go in the MOE using
      mice lacking the alpha subunit of Go Development of the olfactory bulb (OB) was
      perturbed in mutant mice as a result of reduced neurogenesis and increased cell
      death. The balance between cell types of OB interneurons was altered in mutant
      mice, with an increase in the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive
      interneurons at the expense of calbindin-positive interneurons. Sexual behavior
      toward female mice and preference for female urine odors by olfactory sensory
      neurons in the MOE were abolished in mutant male mice. Our data suggest that Go
      signaling is essential for the structural and functional integrity of the MOE and
      for specification of OB interneurons, which in turn are required for the
      transmission of pheromone signals and the initiation of mating behavior with the
      opposite sex.

PMID- 27625428
TI  - Angiogenic neovessels promote tissue hypoxia.

PMID- 27625429
TI  - Persistent Inflammation in Treated HIV Disease.

PMID- 27625427
TI  - Box C/D guide RNAs recognize a maximum of 10 nt of substrates.
AB  - Box C/D RNAs guide site-specific 2'-O-methylation of RNAs in archaea and
      eukaryotes. The spacer regions between boxes C to D' and boxes C' to D contain
      the guide sequence that can form a stretch of base pairs with substrate RNAs. The
      lengths of spacer regions and guide-substrate duplexes are variable among C/D
      RNAs. In a previously determined structure of C/D ribonucleoprotein (RNP), a 12
      nt-long spacer forms 10 bp with the substrate. How spacers and guide-substrate
      duplexes of other lengths are accommodated remains unknown. Here we analyze how
      the lengths of spacers and guide-substrate duplexes affect the modification
      activity and determine three structures of C/D RNPs assembled with different
      spacers and substrates. We show that the guide can only form a duplex of a
      maximum of 10 bp with the substrate during modification. Slightly shorter
      duplexes are tolerated, but longer duplexes must be unwound to fit into a capped
      protein channel for modification. Spacers with <12 nucleotides are defective,
      mainly because they cannot load the substrate in the active conformation. For
      spacers with >12 nucleotides, the excessive unpaired sequences near the box C/C'
      side are looped out. Our results provide insight into the substrate recognition
      mechanism of C/D RNA and refute the RNA-swapped model for dimeric C/D RNP.

PMID- 27625431
TI  - Cytokines and T-Cell Homeostasis in HIV Infection.
AB  - Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is characterized by
      progressive CD4(+) T-cell depletion and CD8(+) T-cell expansion, and CD4(+) T
      cell depletion is linked directly to the risk for opportunistic infections and
      infection-associated mortality. With suppression of HIV replication by
      antiretroviral therapy, circulating CD4(+) Tcell numbers typically improve while
      CD8(+) T-cell expansion persists, and both CD4(+) T-cell cytopenia and CD8(+) T
      cell expansion are associated with morbidity and mortality. In this brief review,
      we report on the role that selected homeostatic and inflammatory cytokines may
      play both in the failure of CD4(+) T-cell restoration and the CD8(+) T-cell
      expansion that characterize HIV infection. 

PMID- 27625430
TI  - Immunologic Biomarkers, Morbidity, and Mortality in Treated HIV Infection.
AB  - Despite marked improvements in the modern treatment era, human immunodeficiency
      virus (HIV)-infected individuals, particularly those who initiated antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) at advanced disease stages, continue to have increased age-related
      morbidity and mortality, compared with the general population. Immune activation
      and inflammation persist despite suppressive ART and predict many of these
      morbidities. The goal of this review is to examine the evidence suggesting a link
      between the persistent inflammatory state and morbidity and mortality in this
      setting, to describe the impact of early ART initiation on these factors, and to
      highlight important unanswered questions for the field. We also advance a
      hypothesis to explain why some morbidities-and their root inflammatory drivers
      may be prevented more than others by early ART initiation. 

PMID- 27625432
TI  - Gut Mucosal Barrier Dysfunction, Microbial Dysbiosis, and Their Role in HIV-1
      Disease Progression.
AB  - Distinct pathological events occur within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of
      Asian macaques with progressive simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection and
      humans with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection that are
      critical in shaping disease course. These events include depletion and functional
      alteration of GI-resident CD4(+) T cells, loss of antigen-presenting cells, loss
      of innate lymphocytes, and possible alterations to the composition of the gut
      microbiota. These contribute to structural damage to the GI tract and systemic
      translocation of GI tract microbial products. These translocated microbial
      products directly stimulate the immune system, and there is now overwhelming
      evidence that this drives chronic immune activation in HIV-1 and SIV infection.
      While combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) in HIV-1-infected subjects generally
      allows for immune reconstitution in peripheral blood, reconstitution of the GI
      tract occurs at a much slower pace, and both immunological and structural
      abnormalities persist in the GI tract. Importantly, studies of large cohorts of
      individuals have linked suboptimal GI reconstitution to residual inflammation and
      heightened morbidities in HIV-1-infected cART recipients. As a result, current
      era treatments aimed at augmenting restoration of the GI tract hold promise in
      returning cART recipients to full health.

PMID- 27625434
TI  - From Wasting to Obesity: The Contribution of Nutritional Status to Immune
      Activation in HIV Infection.
AB  - The impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on innate and adaptive
      immune activation occurs in the context of host factors, which serve to augment
      or dampen the physiologic response to the virus. Independent of HIV infection,
      nutritional status, particularly body composition, affects innate immune
      activation through a variety of conditions, including reduced mucosal barrier
      defenses and microbiome dysbiosis in malnutrition and the proinflammatory
      contribution of adipocytes and stromal vascular cells in obesity. Similarly, T
      cell activation, proliferation, and cytokine expression are reduced in the
      setting of malnutrition and increased in obesity, potentially due to adipokine
      regulatory mechanisms restraining energy-avid adaptive immunity in times of
      starvation and exerting a paradoxical effect in overnutrition. The response to
      HIV infection is situated within these complex interactions between host
      nutritional health and immunologic function, which contribute to the varied
      phenotypes of immune activation among HIV-infected patients across a spectrum
      from malnutrition to obesity. 

PMID- 27625436
TI  - Headache with markedly hypodense cerebral venous sinuses.

PMID- 27625435
TI  - Cardiovascular Disease, Statins, and HIV.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients are at an increased risk of
      serious, non-AIDS-defining comorbidities, even in the setting of viral
      suppression with combination antiretroviral therapy. This increased risk is due
      in part to immune dysfunction and heightened inflammation and immune activation
      associated with chronic HIV infection. Statins have wide-reaching
      immunomodulatory effects, and their use in the HIV-infected population may be of
      particular benefit. In this article, we review the pathogenesis of increased
      inflammation during HIV infection and how it contributes to the risk of
      cardiovascular disease among HIV-infected individuals. We then we review the
      immunomodulatory effects of statins and how they may attenuate the risk of
      cardiovascular disease and other comorbidities in this unique patient population.

PMID- 27625433
TI  - Cytomegalovirus and HIV: A Dangerous Pas de Deux.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults who take stable antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) are at risk for early onset of age-related diseases. This is likely
      due to a complex interaction between traditional risk factors, HIV infection
      itself, and other factors, such as underlying immune dysfunction and persistent
      inflammation. HIV disrupts the balance between the host and coinfecting microbes,
      worsening control of these potential pathogens. For example, HIV-infected adults
      are more likely than the general population to have subclinical bursts of
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) replication at mucosal sites. Production of antigens can
      activate the immune system and stimulate HIV replication, and it could contribute
      to the pathogenesis of adverse outcomes of aging, like cardiovascular disease and
      neurocognitive impairment. Further investigation of the relationships between
      CMV, immune dysfunction, and unsuccessful aging during chronic HIV infection is
      warranted. 

PMID- 27625437
TI  - Selection and estimation for mixed graphical models.
AB  - We consider the problem of estimating the parameters in a pairwise graphical
      model in which the distribution of each node, conditioned on the others, may have
      a different exponential family form. We identify restrictions on the parameter
      space required for the existence of a well-defined joint density, and establish
      the consistency of the neighbourhood selection approach for graph reconstruction
      in high dimensions when the true underlying graph is sparse. Motivated by our
      theoretical results, we investigate the selection of edges between nodes whose
      conditional distributions take different parametric forms, and show that
      efficiency can be gained if edge estimates obtained from the regressions of
      particular nodes are used to reconstruct the graph. These results are illustrated
      with examples of Gaussian, Bernoulli, Poisson and exponential distributions. Our
      theoretical findings are corroborated by evidence from simulation studies.

PMID- 27625438
TI  - Nicotine dependence among workers: Is it a time for smoke-free workplaces!

PMID- 27625439
TI  - Prediction equations for diffusing capacity (transfer factor) of lung for North
      Indians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prediction equations for diffusing capacity of lung for carbon
      monoxide (DLCO), alveolar volume (VA), and DLCO/VA using the current
      standardization guidelines are not available for Indian population. The present
      study was carried out to develop equations for these parameters for North Indian
      adults and examine the ethnic diversity in predictions. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      DLCO was measured by single-breath technique and VA by single-breath helium
      dilution using standardized methodology in 357 (258 males, 99 females) normal
      nonsmoker adult North Indians and DLCO/VA was computed. The subjects were
      randomized into training and test datasets for development of prediction
      equations by multiple linear regressions and for validation, respectively.
      RESULTS: For males, the following equations were developed: DLCO, -7.813 + 0.318
      * ht -0.624 * age + 0.00552 * age(2); VA, -8.152 + 0.087 * ht -0.019 * wt;
      DLCO/VA, 7.315 - 0.037 * age. For females, the equations were: DLCO, -44.15 +
      0.449 * ht -0.099 * age; VA, -6.893 + 0.068 * ht. A statistically acceptable
      prediction equation was not obtained for DLCO/VA in females. It was therefore
      computed from predicted DLCO and predicted VA. All equations were internally
      valid. Predictions of DLCO by Indian equations were lower than most Caucasian
      predictions in both males and females and greater than the Chinese predictions
      for males. CONCLUSION: This study has developed validated prediction equations
      for DLCO, VA, and DLCO/VA in North Indians. Substantial ethnic diversity exists
      in predictions for DLCO and VA with Caucasian equations generally yielding higher
      values than the Indian or Chinese equations. However, DLCO/VA predicted by the
      Indian equations is slightly higher than that by other equations.

PMID- 27625440
TI  - Ultrasound-guided versus computed tomography-scan guided biopsy of pleural-based
      lung lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) guided biopsies have long been the standard
      technique to obtain tissue from the thoracic cavity and is traditionally
      performed by interventional radiologists. Ultrasound (US) guided biopsy of
      pleural-based lesions, performed by pulmonologists is gaining popularity and has
      the advantage of multi-planar imaging, real-time technique, and the absence of
      radiation exposure to patients. In this study, we aim to determine the diagnostic
      accuracy, the time to diagnosis after the initial consult placement, and the
      complications rates between the two different modalities. METHODS: A
      retrospective study of electronic medical records was done of patients who
      underwent CT-guided biopsies and US-guided biopsies for pleural-based lesions
      between 2005 and 2014 and the data collected were analyzed for comparing the two
      groups. RESULTS: A total of 158 patients underwent 162 procedures during the
      study period. 86 patients underwent 89 procedures in the US group, and 72
      patients underwent 73 procedures in the CT group. The overall yield in the US
      group was 82/89 (92.1%) versus 67/73 (91.8%) in the CT group (P = 1.0). Average
      days to the procedure was 7.2 versus 17.5 (P = 0.00001) in the US and CT group,
      respectively. Complication rate was higher in CT group 17/73 (23.3%) versus 1/89
      (1.1%) in the US group (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: For pleural-based lesions the
      diagnostic accuracy of US guided biopsy is similar to that of CT-guided biopsy,
      with a lower complication rate and a significantly reduced time to the procedure.

PMID- 27625441
TI  - Who will teach the teachers: An analysis of the inhaler technique of Indian
      patients and health care providers in a tertiary health care centre.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The proper use of inhalers is essential for ensuring proper control
      of the disease. Various studies have shown high levels of improper use and lack
      of knowledge of the correct technique among patients with asthma. However, less
      data are available on how health care workers (HCW's) use inhalers. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study was conducted at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Mumbai. We
      evaluated the pMDI technique in 141 consecutive adult asthmatics and 100 HCW's.
      All patients and HCW's were graded out of 10 points for following 10 steps. These
      were derived from Melani et al.'s study on inhaler mishandling. RESULTS:
      Techniques of 141 patients and 100 HCW's (55 nurses and 45 doctors) were
      analyzed. The average technique score among patients ranged from 0 to 10 with a
      mean of 4.65 +/- 2.00. The combined score for health workers ranged from 3 to 9
      with a mean of 5.45 +/- 1.47. Doctors had a higher score of 6.35 +/- 1.33 as
      opposed to the nurses' score of 4.70 +/- 1.13 (P < 0.05). There was no
      significant difference between scores of nurses and patients (P > 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the need for better education of not only
      patients but also health care providers regarding the appropriate use of inhaler
      devices in order to achieve optimal control of obstructive airway diseases.

PMID- 27625442
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of nicotine dependence among construction site workers:
      A cross-sectional study in Delhi.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Workers represent half the world's population and are major
      contributors to economic and social development. Tobacco consumption in
      construction site workers has been considered a big challenge. OBJECTIVES: (1) To
      assess the prevalence of nicotine dependence among tobacco users. (2) To study
      the correlates of nicotine dependence among the construction site workers.
      METHODOLOGY: A cross sectional study was conducted using a predesigned and
      pretested structured proforma. The study was conducted among all construction
      site workers aged 18yrs and above in campus of Hamdard Institute of Medical
      Sciences and Research and associated HAH centenary hospital, New Delhi. Karl
      Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence Questionnaire was used to assess dependence on
      nicotine. RESULTS: The mean age of construction site workers was 32.04+/-11.6
      years. Among the workers, majority (91%) were tobacco user. Among the users, 60%
      found it difficult to refrain from smoking/chewing in places where use of tobacco
      is not allowed (e.g. hospitals, government offices, cinemas, Libraries etc). 55%
      of the users smoked or chewed tobacco during the first hours after waking than
      during the rest of the day. On multivariate analysis, the factors which were
      found to be significantly associated with nicotine dependence were lower income
      group (OR 2.57, CI:1.66-3.99), smokeless tobacco use (OR 2.36, CI:1.30-4.27) and
      lower education (OR = 2.86 (95% CI 1.97-4.16) for illiterate). DISCUSSION: The
      prevalence of tobacco use (91%) among construction workers is very high compared
      to that in the general population. Recognition of construction sites as work
      places and proper implementation of law is needed.

PMID- 27625443
TI  - Thoracoscopic evaluation of 129 cases having undiagnosed exudative pleural
      effusions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical thoracoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure used in
      diagnostic and therapeutic applications for pleural diseases. In this study, we
      describe our experience in the outcome and analysis of thoracoscopy in
      undiagnosed pleural effusion presenting to our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This is a prospective study conducted over last 2 years. We performed
      thoracoscopy in 129 cases of undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions using rigid
      thoracoscope. Clinical, radiological, cyto and histopathological data of the
      patients were collected prospectively and analyzed. RESULTS: The overall
      diagnostic yield of thoracoscopic pleural biopsy was 110/129 (85.2%) in patients
      with undiagnosed pleural effusion, and 19/129 (14.8%) patients remained
      unexplained. Histopathological diagnosis confirmed malignancy in 66.4% patients
      (both primary and metastatic pleural carcinoma), tuberculosis in 28.2%, others
      including parapneumonic effusion in 4 cases followed by multiple myeloma, lupus
      pleuritis, and pulmonary langerhans cell histiocytosis in one case each.
      Procedure-related mortality was nil. Minor complications related to the procedure
      include hemorrhage, subcutaneous emphysema, etc. CONCLUSION: Thoracoscopy is
      relatively a safe and well-tolerated procedure with high diagnostic accuracy in
      undiagnosed pleural effusions, decreasing the need of formal diagnostic
      thoracotomy. Every chest physician must, therefore, consider this procedure to
      decrease the time lag in achieving the final diagnosis and to initiate the
      treatment as early as possible.

PMID- 27625444
TI  - Comparative study of clinico-bacterio-radiological profile and treatment outcome
      of smokers and nonsmokers suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death and disease
      worldwide. Tobacco smoking has been linked as a risk factor for TB. This study
      was aimed to affirm the strength of association between smoking and pulmonary TB.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pulmonary TB patients aged between 18 and 65 years were
      enrolled and followed-up until treatment completion. Two consecutive sputum
      smears were examined from each patient for the presence of acid-fast bacilli
      (AFB) using Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Radiological severity of disease was
      assessed using guidelines of National TB Association of USA. Sputum smears for
      AFB were graded for positivity as per WHO Revised National TB Control Programme
      criteria. Response was determined in terms of sputum conversion at the end of
      intensive phase and final treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Sputum smear grading of 3+
      increased from 12.5% to 68.18% and 66.66% as smoking index increased from <100 to
      100-299 and >300 (P < 0.05). In nonsmokers, 79.2% patients had minimal disease
      while only 4.2% had advanced disease as compared to smokers where 52.4% had
      moderate disease, 26.2% advanced disease, and 21.4% minimal disease (P < 0.01).
      Smokers had significantly lower treatment success rate (69%) as against
      nonsmokers and former smokers (93.8% and 90.9%, respectively, P = 0.001) owing to
      a higher default rate among smokers (28.5%) than nonsmokers (6.3%) and former
      smokers (9.1%). CONCLUSION: Smokers during initial presentation, as well as at
      end of the treatment demonstrate more radiological findings, cavitary disease,
      and worse sputum AFB smear grading. Smokers also have a poorer treatment success
      rate largely due to high percentage of default rate thus suggesting noncompliance
      as a main confounder to treatment success. Focus needs to be made to reduce
      defaulters which are more common among smokers.

PMID- 27625445
TI  - Ventilator-associated pneumonia: A persistent healthcare problem in Indian
      Intensive Care Units!
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial
      infection acquired by patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). However, there
      are scarce clinical data, particularly from Indian ICUs on the occurrence of this
      infection. AIMS: To collect data on the incidence, microbiological profile, and
      outcomes of patients with VAP. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Tertiary level, medical
      surgical ICU; prospective, observational study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All
      patients who were mechanically ventilated for >48 h in the ICU during the study
      were enrolled. VAP was diagnosed according to the Centre for Disease Control
      (CDC) criteria. RESULTS: A total of 95 (38%) patients developed VAP infections,
      an incidence of 40.1 VAP infections/1000 mechanical ventilation days. These were
      predominantly caused by Gram-negative organisms, especially the Acinetobacter
      species (58 isolates, 53.2%). Many of the VAP-causing isolates (27.3%)
      demonstrated multidrug resistance. Patients with VAP infections experienced a
      significantly longer ICU stay (13 days [Interquartile Range (IQ) range = 10-21]
      vs. 6 days [IQ = 4-8], P < 0.0001) and total hospital stay (21 days [IQ = 14-33]
      vs. 11 days [IQ = 6-18], P < 0.0001). While the overall mortality rates were
      similar between patients with or without VAP infections, (68.4% vs. 61.3%, P =
      0.200), on subgroup analysis, elderly patients (>60 years) and those with higher
      Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores at admission had
      significantly greater mortality rates if they acquired a VAP infection (P =
      0.010). CONCLUSIONS: VAP continues to be a major threat to patients who are
      admitted for mechanical ventilation into the critical care unit, emphasizing the
      urgent need for infection control measures.

PMID- 27625446
TI  - Evaluation of a Mapleson D CPAP system for weaning of mechanical ventilation in
      pediatric patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over the last years, we have used a flow-inflating bag circuit with a
      nasotracheal or nasopharyngeal tube as an interface to deliver effective CPAP
      support in infants ("Mapleson D CPAP system"). The primary goal of this study was
      to assess the usefulness of the "Mapleson D CPAP system" for weaning of
      mechanical ventilation (MV) in infants who received MV over 24 h. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: All infants who received MV for more than 24 h in the last year were
      enrolled in the study. Demographic data included age, gender, weight, and
      admission diagnosis. Heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen
      saturation were measured during MV, 2 h after the nasotracheal Mapleson D CPAP
      system and 2 h after extubation. Patients were classified into two groups:
      patients MV more than 48 h, and patients with MV fewer than 48 h. P < 0.05 was
      considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 50 children were
      enrolled in the study, with a median age was 34 +/- 45 months (range, 1-59
      months) and median weight was 11.98 +/- 9.31 kg (range, 1-48 kg). Median duration
      of MV was 480 h (range, 2-570). There were no significant differences in PaO2,
      PaCO2, and pH among MV, 2 h after the nasotracheal Mapleson D CPAP system and 2 h
      after extubation and spontaneous ventilation with the nasopharyngeal Mapleson D
      CPAP system or with nasal prongs. The overall extubation failure rate was 26% (n
      = 13). Weight and age were significantly associated with extubation failure (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Mapleson D CPAP system, in our opinion, is a useful and
      safe alternative to more complex and expensive noninvasive CPAP and BiPAP weaning
      from MV in infants.

PMID- 27625447
TI  - Respiratory papillomas.
AB  - Papillomas are known to occur in the lower respiratory tract. They are however,
      rare compared to their occurrence in the upper respiratory tract. These are
      generally exophytic tumors in the more proximal upper airways however cases with
      more distal location with an inverted growth pattern have also been described in
      the literature. These can be solitary or multiple and multifocality associated
      with multiple papillomas in the upper respiratory/aerodigestive tract. The four
      major types of respiratory papillomas are (1) Recurrent respiratory papillomas,
      (2) solitary squamous papillomas, (3) solitary glandular papillomas, (4) mixed
      papillomas. We review the incidence, etiopathology, diagnosis, and possible
      treatment modalities and algorithms for these respiratory papillomas. 

PMID- 27625448
TI  - Glued lungs: Sticky and tricky.
AB  - We report a male patient who underwent bronchoscopic instillation of glue to
      control moderate hemoptysis which later led to the development of postobstructive
      pneumonia and extensive foreign body reaction in the bronchial wall and the lung
      distal to the glue application. He continued to have intermittent hemoptysis and
      underwent bronchial artery embolization. However, recurrent moderate hemoptysis
      eventually led to pneumonectomy, which showed severe foreign body reaction in
      bronchi- and post-obstructive changes in the lung parenchyma and the draining
      lymph nodes. This case highlights a serious complication of intrabronchial
      cyanoacrylate gluing to control bleeding in hemoptysis, which might warrant its
      very cautious use in moderate hemoptysis although surgical modality is considered
      the definitive treatment in life-threatening hemoptysis. 

PMID- 27625449
TI  - Hemorrhagic sarcoid pleural effusion: A rare entity.
AB  - Involvement of pleura by sarcoidosis remains a rare manifestation and varies from
      pleural effusion, pneumothorax, pleural thickening, hydropneumothorax, trapped
      lung, hemothorax, or chylothorax. Sarcoid pleural effusions presenting as
      hemorrhagic effusions are even more rare. We report a case of active pulmonary
      sarcoidosis presenting as hemorrhagic pleural effusion requiring tissue diagnosis
      to rule out malignancy. The rarity of the presentation prompted us to report this
      case. 

PMID- 27625450
TI  - A fatty cough.
AB  - Lipoid pneumonia is a rare form of pneumonia caused by accumulation of exogenous
      or endogenous lipids in the pulmonary system. Symptoms can often range from being
      asymptomatic to presenting with chest pain, fevers and shortness of breath. High
      resolution CT and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) remain important in establishing
      the diagnosis. The treatment of lipoid pneumonia includes stopping the offending
      agents and providing supportive therapy. The use of anti-inflammatory agents has
      shown some benefit in severe cases. 

PMID- 27625451
TI  - Botryomycosis in a lung cavity.
AB  - Botryomycosis is a rare pyogranulomatous disease characterized by suppurative and
      often granulomatous bacterial infection of the skin, soft tissues and viscera.
      Only about 90 cases have been reported in world literature till date: 75% of them
      are cases of cutaneous botryomycosis. Of the 18 reported cases of primary
      pulmonary botryomycosis, only one had histologically proven botryomycosis in a
      lung cavity. We report here a case of primary pulmonary botryomycosis occurring
      in a lung cavity, which is to the best of our knowledge first such case from
      India. The index case was a 62 year old female who presented to us with recurrent
      episodes of non-massive streaky hemoptysis with CT chest revealing 'Air Crescent'
      sign with a probable fungal ball in a left upper lobe cavity. Left upper
      pulmonary lobectomy was done and histopathology of the cavitary tissue revealed
      Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon and features suggestive of Botryomycosis. Tissue
      culture from the cavitary specimen grew Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Botryomycosis can
      mimic Aspergilloma radiologically as was seen in our case, but therapy is often a
      combination of both medical and surgical measures unlike Aspergilloma. 

PMID- 27625452
TI  - Use of cryoprobe for removal of a large tracheobronchial foreign body during
      flexible bronchoscopy.
AB  - Foreign body (FB) inhalation in the tracheobronchial tree is an infrequently
      encountered event in adults. The diagnosis is suspected in the presence of a
      clinical history of aspiration and the presence of respiratory symptoms.
      Management involves confirmation by flexible bronchoscopy, which may be both
      diagnostic as well as therapeutic. However, in certain situations including those
      with large FB, FB embedded in granulation tissue or FB with very smooth margins,
      rigid bronchoscopy may be superior to flexible bronchoscopy in the retrieval of
      the FB. An alternative to rigid bronchoscopy in such situations may be the use of
      a cryoprobe. Herein, we describe a patient with a large tracheobronchial FB
      causing a complete collapse of the left lung and hypoxemia. The FB was
      successfully extracted using a cryoprobe during flexible bronchoscopy, obviating
      the need for rigid bronchoscopy. 

PMID- 27625454
TI  - Aspergillus pseudomembranous tracheobronchitis in an immunocompetent individual:
      A diagnostic conundrum with therapeutic challenge.
AB  - Aspergillus tracheobronchitis is an extremely uncommon manifestation of
      Aspergillus infection. Most of the cases described in the literature are in the
      immunosuppressed individuals and is almost uniformly fatal. Immunocompetent
      individuals do manifest the disease, but the disease if diagnosed early can be
      appropriately treated and thus can be life-saving. Here, we describe a similar
      case which was diagnosed only at autopsy. 

PMID- 27625453
TI  - Diffuse parenchymal lung disease in a case of chronic arsenic exposure.
AB  - A 42-year-old housewife, the resident of rural part of West Bengal, presented
      with gradually progressive exertional dyspnea associated with a dry cough for
      last 3 years clinical features were suggestive of diffuse parenchymal lung
      disease (DPLD). Her chest X-ray posteroanterior view and high resolution computed
      tomography scan of the thorax showed bilateral patchy ground glass opacities and
      reticulonodular pattern. Search for the etiology revealed classical skin findings
      of chronic arsenic exposure in the form of generalized darkening and thickening
      of skin and keratotic lesions over the palms and soles and classical raindrop
      pigmentation over leg which was present for last 7 years subsequently her
      bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, hair, nail, and drinking water showed significant
      amount of arsenic contamination. By exclusion of all known causes of DPLD, we
      concluded that it was a case of DPLD due to chronic arsenic exposure. To the best
      of our knowledge, only few case report of DPLD in chronic arsenicosis has been
      reported till date. 

PMID- 27625455
TI  - Unilateral right pulmonary artery agenesis and congenital cystic adenomatoid
      malformation of the right lung with Ortner's syndrome.
AB  - We report a 2.5-year-old girl who presented with hoarseness of voice since 3
      months of age and failure to thrive. Chest X-ray showed cardiomegaly with a
      deviation of the trachea and mediastinum to the right side. Two-dimensional
      echocardiography showed decreased flow across the right pulmonary artery, a small
      atrial septal defect (ASD) with a right-to-left shunt, and a dilated right atrium
      and right ventricle with severe tricuspid regurgitation suggestive of severe
      pulmonary hypertension. A silent large patent ductus arteriosus was also seen.
      Multiple detector computerized tomography aortogram confirmed the findings of
      absent right pulmonary artery and hypoplastic right lung with small cystic
      lesions suggestive of congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation in the right
      lower lobe. Hoarseness of voice was due to the left vocal cord palsy probably
      secondary to severe pulmonary hypertension (Ortner's syndrome). 

PMID- 27625456
TI  - Decision changing in the operating room: The importance of the surgeon's
      certainty and a well prepared team.

PMID- 27625457
TI  - Dual diaphragmatic anomalies.
AB  - Although diaphragmatic anomalies such as an eventration and hiatus hernia are
      commonly encountered in incidental chest X-ray imaging, the presence of
      concomitant multiple anomalies is extremely rare. This is all the more true in
      adults. Herein, we present the case of a 75-year-old female, while undergoing a
      routine chest X-ray imaging, was found to have eventration of right hemidiaphragm
      along with a hiatus hernia as well. 

PMID- 27625458
TI  - An unusual cause for cyanosis.

PMID- 27625459
TI  - Cannon ball appearance on radiology in a middle-aged diabetic female.
AB  - Pulmonary tuberculosis is commonly presented as cavitary lesion and
      infiltrations. It commonly involves upper lobe. Lower lobe involvement is less
      common. Various atypical presentations of tuberculosis on radiology are reported
      like mass, solitary nodule, multi lober involvement including lower lobes.
      Atypical presentations are more commo in patients with immunocompromised
      conditions like Diabetes Mellitus, anemia, renal failure, liver diseases, HIV
      infection, malignancy, patients on immunosuppressive therapy. Cannon ball
      presentation of pulmonary tuberculosis is extremely rare and not so common.
      Common causes of cannon ball presentation in lung are metastasis, fungal
      infections, Wegener's grannulomatosis, sarcoidosis, etc. We report here a case of
      middle year female with diabetes mellitus presented with atypical symptoms with
      cannon ball appearance on radiology and found to be of tuberculosis in origin.
      Thus any patients with immunocompromised condition can present with atypical
      manifestation of tuberculosis either clinically or radiologicaly in high endemic
      countries for tuberculosis. 

PMID- 27625460
TI  - Extramedullary hematopoiesis presenting as an asymptomatic posterior mediastinal
      mass: An unusual presentation.

PMID- 27625461
TI  - Isolated unilateral pulmonary vein atresia.

PMID- 27625462
TI  - A case of disseminated bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma masquerading
      as nonresolving pneumonia.

PMID- 27625463
TI  - Is obstructive sleep apnea more common in adults with arrhythmias?

PMID- 27625464
TI  - A long-standing endobronchial non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Designed to be cured.

PMID- 27625465
TI  - Body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise index is not modified
      after 6 months therapy with roflumilast in a cohort of patients with chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease.

PMID- 27625466
TI  - Bronchoalveolar lavage and high-resolution computed tomography in interstitial
      lung disease.

PMID- 27625467
TI  - Response to bronchoalveolar lavage and high-resolution computed tomography in
      interstitial lung disease.

PMID- 27625468
TI  - High resolution computed tomography in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      patients: Do not forget radiation hazard.

PMID- 27625469
TI  - Cardiac troponin trends and severity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      exacerbation: Are limits properly associated for Intensive Care Unit outcome?

PMID- 27625470
TI  - Congenital lobar emphysema: Pitfalls in diagnosis.

PMID- 27625471
TI  - Postpericardiotomy syndrome: What a pulmonologist must know.

PMID- 27625472
TI  - The journey of liver transplantation: Milestones covered and the road ahead.

PMID- 27625473
TI  - Resurfacing of ketamine: The subanesthetic paradigm.

PMID- 27625475
TI  - Role of ketamine for analgesia in adults and children.
AB  - Ketamine an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocking agent and a
      dissociative anesthetic with neurostimulatory side effects. In recent years,
      multiple research trials as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggest
      the usefulness of ketamine as a strong analgesic used in subanesthetic
      intravenous doses, and also as a sedative. In addition, ketamine was noted to
      possess properties of anti-tolerance, anti-hyperalgesia and anti-allodynia most
      likely secondary to inhibition of the NMDA receptors. Tolerance, hyperalgesia and
      allodynia phenomena are the main components of opioid resistance, and
      pathological pain is often seen in the clinical conditions involving neuropathic
      pain, opioid-induced hyperalgesia, and central sensitization with allodynia or
      hyperalgesia. All these conditions are challenging to treat. In low doses,
      ketamine does not have major adverse dysphoric effects and also has the favorable
      effects of reduced incidence of opioid-induced nausea and vomiting. Therefore,
      ketamine can be a useful adjunct for pain control after surgery. Additional
      studies are required to determine the role of ketamine in the immediate
      postoperative period after surgical interventions known to produce severe pain
      and in the prevention and treatment of chronic pain. 

PMID- 27625474
TI  - Intraoperative lung ultrasound: A clinicodynamic perspective.
AB  - In the era of evidence-based medicine, ultrasonography has emerged as an
      important and indispensable tool in clinical practice in various specialties
      including critical care. Lung ultrasound (LUS) has a wide potential in various
      surgical and clinical situations for timely and easy detection of an impending
      crisis such as pulmonary edema, endobronchial tube migration, pneumothorax,
      atelectasis, pleural effusion, and various other causes of desaturation before it
      clinically ensues to critical level. Although ultrasonography is frequently used
      in nerve blocks, airway handling, and vascular access, LUS for routine
      intraoperative monitoring and in crisis management still necessitates
      recognition. After reviewing the various articles regarding the use of LUS in
      critical care, we found, that LUS can be used in various intraoperative
      circumstances similar to Intensive Care Unit with some limitations. Except for
      few attempts in the intraoperative detection of pneumothorax, LUS is hardly used
      but has wider perspective for routine and crisis management in real-time. If
      anesthesiologists add LUS in their routine monitoring armamentarium, it can
      assist to move a step ahead in the dynamic management of critically ill and high
      risk patients. 

PMID- 27625476
TI  - Hepatic resection is associated with reduced postoperative opioid requirement.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Postoperative pain can significantly affect surgical
      outcomes. As opioid metabolism is liver-dependent, any reduction in hepatic
      volume can lead to increased opioid concentrations in the blood. The hypothesis
      of this retrospective study was that patients undergoing open hepatic resection
      would require less opioid for pain management than those undergoing open
      pancreaticoduodenectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from 79 adult patients who
      underwent open liver resection and eighty patients who underwent open
      pancreaticoduodenectomy at our medical center between January 01, 2010 and June
      30, 2013 were analyzed. All patients received both general and neuraxial
      anesthesia. Postoperatively, patients were managed with a combination of epidural
      and patient-controlled analgesia. Pain scores and amount of opioids administered
      (morphine equivalents) were compared. A multivariate lineal regression was
      performed to determine predictors of opioid requirement. RESULTS: No significant
      differences in pain scores were found at any time point between groups.
      Significantly more opioid was administered to patients having
      pancreaticoduodenectomy than those having a hepatic resection at time points:
      Intraoperative (P = 0.006), first 48 h postoperatively (P = 0.001), and the
      entire length of stay (LOS) (P = 0.002). Statistical significance was confirmed
      after controlling for age, sex, body mass index, and American Society of
      Anesthesiologists physical status classification (adjusted P = 0.006). Total
      hospital LOS was significantly longer after pancreaticoduodenectomy (P = 0.03). A
      multivariate lineal regression demonstrated a lower opioid consumption in the
      hepatic resection group (P = 0.03), but there was no difference in opioid use
      based on the type of hepatic resection. CONCLUSION: Patients undergoing open
      hepatic resection had a significantly lower opioid requirement in comparison with
      patients undergoing open pancreaticoduodenectomy. A multicenter prospective
      evaluation should be performed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 27625477
TI  - Nasal mask ventilation is better than face mask ventilation in edentulous
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Face mask ventilation of the edentulous patient is often
      difficult as ineffective seating of the standard mask to the face prevents
      attainment of an adequate air seal. The efficacy of nasal ventilation in
      edentulous patients has been cited in case reports but has never been
      investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Consecutive edentulous adult patients
      scheduled for surgery under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation,
      during a 17-month period, were prospectively evaluated. After induction of
      anesthesia and administration of neuromuscular blocker, lungs were ventilated
      with a standard anatomical face mask of appropriate size, using a volume
      controlled anesthesia ventilator with tidal volume set at 10 ml/kg. In case of
      inadequate ventilation, the mask position was adjusted to achieve best-fit.
      Inspired and expired tidal volumes were measured. Thereafter, the face mask was
      replaced by a nasal mask and after achieving best-fit, the inspired and expired
      tidal volumes were recorded. The difference in expired tidal volumes and airway
      pressures at best-fit with the use of the two masks and number of patients with
      inadequate ventilation with use of the masks were statistically analyzed.
      RESULTS: A total of 79 edentulous patients were recruited for the study. The
      difference in expiratory tidal volumes with the use of the two masks at best-fit
      was statistically significant (P = 0.0017). Despite the best-fit mask placement,
      adequacy of ventilation could not be achieved in 24.1% patients during face mask
      ventilation, and 12.7% patients during nasal mask ventilation and the difference
      was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Nasal mask ventilation is more
      efficient than standard face mask ventilation in edentulous patients.

PMID- 27625478
TI  - Phenylephrine infusion for spinal-induced hypotension in elective cesarean
      delivery: Does preload make a difference?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patients undergoing elective cesarean delivery (CD) have a
      high-risk of spinal-induced hypotension (SIH). We hypothesized that a colloid
      preload would further reduce SIH when compared with a crystalloid preload.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty-two healthy parturients undergoing elective CD were
      included in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups (41 patients
      in each group) to receive either Lactated Ringer's solution (1500 ml) or
      hydroxyethyl starch (6% in normal saline, 500 ml) 30 min prior to placement of
      spinal anesthesia. All patients were treated with a phenylephrine infusion (100
      mcg/min), titrated during the study. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference
      between groups with regards to the incidence of hypotension (10.8% in the colloid
      group vs. 27.0% in the crystalloid group, P = 0.12). There was also no difference
      between groups with respect to bradycardia, APGAR scores, and nausea and
      vomiting. Significantly less phenylephrine (1077.5 +/- 514 mcg) was used in the
      colloid group than the crystalloid group (1477 +/- 591 mcg, P = 0.003).
      CONCLUSION: The preload with 6% of hydroxyethyl starch before CD might be
      beneficial for the prevention of SIH.

PMID- 27625479
TI  - Comparison of quality of the surgical field after controlled hypotension using
      esmolol and magnesium sulfate during endoscopic sinus surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Most vital aspect of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (ESS) is an
      optimal visibility in the surgical field. This invariably requires controlled
      hypotension to facilitate surgical dissection and to decrease operative time. We
      used esmolol and magnesium sulfate to achieve controlled hypotension and assessed
      the quality of the surgical field in ESS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 30
      patients undergoing ESS, were enrolled in three parallel groups of 10 patients
      each in a prospective randomized double-blind study. "Magnesium Sulfate group"
      received magnesium sulfate 40 mg/kg intravenously (i.v.) as a bolus over 10 min
      before induction of anesthesia, followed by 15-30 mg/kg/h through infusion.
      "Esmolol group" received 0.5 mg/kg i.v. bolus over 10 min after induction
      followed by 150-300 MUg/kg/min infusion and "control group" received normal
      saline in same volume schedule. The primary aim was to assess the quality of
      surgical field, using Fromme scale. Category Scale values of all the three groups
      were compared using Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. Hemodynamic
      data was compared using ANOVA test. RESULTS: Quality of the surgical field was
      better in both magnesium sulfate and esmolol groups as compared to the control
      group. Durations of anesthesia and surgery were significantly lower in esmolol
      group as compared to the control group. Blood loss was comparable in all the
      three groups. CONCLUSION: Quality of the surgical field was better in esmolol and
      magnesium sulfate groups as compared to control group. Duration of surgery was
      significantly less in esmolol group as compared to other two groups.

PMID- 27625480
TI  - A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study to evaluate
      analgesic activity of Terminalia chebula in healthy human volunteers using a
      mechanical pain model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To evaluate analgesic activity and safety of single oral
      dose (1000 mg) of Terminalia chebula using a mechanical pain model in healthy
      human volunteers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twelve healthy volunteers were randomized
      to receive either single oral dose of 2 capsules of T. chebula 500 mg each or
      identical placebo capsules in a double-blinded manner. Mechanical pain was
      assessed using Ugo basile analgesy meter (Randall-Selitto test) before and 3 h
      after administration of test drug. The parameters evaluated were pain threshold
      force and time; pain tolerance force and time. A washout period of 1-week was
      given for crossover between active drug and placebo. RESULTS: Terminalia chebula
      significantly increased the mean percentage change for pain threshold force and
      time, and pain tolerance force and time compared to placebo (P < 0.001). The mean
      percentage change for pain threshold force and time (20.8% and 21.0%) was
      increased more than that of pain tolerance force and time (13.4% and 13.4%). No
      adverse drug reaction was reported with either of the study medications during
      the study period. CONCLUSION: T. chebula significantly increased pain threshold
      and pain tolerance compared to placebo. Both the study medications were well
      tolerated. Further multiple dose studies may be needed to establish the analgesic
      efficacy of the drug in patients suffering from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid
      arthritis and other painful conditions.

PMID- 27625481
TI  - Reliability and validity of a tool to assess airway management skills in
      anesthesia trainees.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Gaining expertise in procedural skills is essential for
      achieving clinical competence during anesthesia training. Supervisors have the
      important responsibility of deciding when the trainee can be allowed to perform
      various procedures without direct supervision while ensuring patient safety. This
      requires robust and reliable assessment techniques. Airway management with bag
      mask ventilation and tracheal intubation are routinely performed by anesthesia
      trainees at induction of anesthesia and to save lives during a cardiorespiratory
      arrest. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the construct validity, and
      inter-rater and test-retest reliability of a tool designed to assess competence
      in bag-mask ventilation followed by tracheal intubation in anesthesia trainees.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
      Tracheal intubation and bag-mask ventilation skills in 10 junior and 10 senior
      anesthesia trainees were assessed by two investigators on two occasions at a 3-4
      weeks interval, using a procedure-specific assessment tool. RESULTS: Average
      kappa value for inter-rater reliability was 0.91 and 0.99 for the first and
      second assessments, respectively, with an average agreement of 95%. The average
      agreement for test-retest reliability was 82% with a kappa value of 0.39. Senior
      trainees obtained higher scores compared to junior trainees in all areas of
      assessment, with a significant difference for patient positioning,
      preoxygenation, and laryngoscopy technique, depicting good construct validity.
      CONCLUSION: The tool designed to assess bag-mask ventilation and tracheal
      intubation skills in anesthesia trainees demonstrated excellent inter-rater
      reliability, fair test-retest reliability, and good construct validity. The
      authors recommend its use for formative and summative assessment of junior
      anesthesia trainees.

PMID- 27625482
TI  - Comparison of block characteristics of spinal anesthesia following intravenous
      dexmedetomidine and clonidine.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Different routes of administration of alpha2 adrenergic
      receptor agonists have been found to prolong the duration of spinal block.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients, aged 18-60 years, of ASA
      physical status I or II posted for elective fixation of fractures of lower limb
      under spinal anesthesia were selected. Spinal anesthesia was administered with
      2.5 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine mixed with 10 MUg fentanyl. The patients were
      randomized to receive intravenous (IV) dexmedetomidine 1 MUg/kg/h for 15 min
      followed by infusion of 0.3 MUg/kg/h (Group I), IV Clonidine 2 MUg/kg/h for 15
      min followed by infusion of 0.5 MUg kg/h (Group II) or 15 ml of normal saline for
      15 min followed by infusion at 50 ml/h (Group III). Motor and sensory blockade
      was evaluated using bromage score and pin prick method respectively. RESULTS: The
      median block height in all groups was T8. Time to achieve block height was
      fastest in Group I. Time of regression of sensory block to T12/L1 dermatome was
      230.75 +/- 21.25 min (Group I), 196.25 +/- 20.27 min (Group II) and 163.88 +/-
      15.46 min (Group III) respectively. Regression of motor blocks to Bromage 0/1 was
      274 +/- 21.25 min, 234.25 +/- 32.41 min and 130.12 +/- 20.70 min in Groups I, II
      and III respectively. Bradycardia was seen in one patient in Group I and two
      patients in Group II. Hypotension was seen in five patients in Group I and seven
      patients in Group II. First requirement for postoperative analgesic was after
      353.13 +/- 39.60 min, 314.38 +/- 30.64 min and 193.25 +/- 17.74 min in Groups I,
      II and III respectively. CONCLUSION: IV alpha2 agonists are useful adjuvants for
      prolongation of the duration of spinal block. IV dexmedetomidine produces a
      better clinical profile compared to clonidine.

PMID- 27625483
TI  - A comparative study of clonidine and dexmedetomidine as an adjunct to bupivacaine
      in supraclavicular brachial plexus block.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Various additives are mixed with local anesthetic agents to
      increase the quality of block in regional anesthesia. We compared clonidine and
      dexmedetomidine as an adjunct to bupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus
      block with respect to the onset and duration of sensory and motor block and
      duration of analgesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty American Society of
      Anesthesiologists Grades I and II patients scheduled for various orthopedic
      surgeries of the upper limb under supraclavicular brachial plexus block were
      divided into two equal groups in a randomized, double-blind manner. Patients were
      assigned randomly to one of the two groups. In Group C (n = 30), 39 ml of 0.25%
      bupivacaine plus 1 ml (1 MUg/kg) clonidine and in Group D (n = 30), 39 ml of
      0.25% bupivacaine plus 1 ml (1 MUg/kg) dexmedetomidine were given. The onset and
      duration of sensory and motor block, duration of analgesia, and quality of
      anesthesia were studied in both the groups. RESULTS: There was no statistically
      significant difference in the onset of sensory and motor block in both the
      groups. The durations of sensory and motor block were 316.67 +/- 45.21 and 372.67
      +/- 44.48 min, respectively, in Group C, whereas they were 502.67 +/- 43.78 and
      557.67 +/- 38.83 min, respectively, in Group D. The duration of analgesia was
      349.33 +/- 42.91 min, significantly less in Group C compared to 525.33 +/- 42.89
      min in Group D (P < 0.001). The quality of anesthesia was significantly better in
      dexmedetomidine group compared to clonidine group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The
      addition of dexmedetomidine prolongs the durations of sensory and motor block and
      duration of analgesia and improves the quality of anesthesia as compared with
      clonidine when injected with bupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus
      block.

PMID- 27625484
TI  - Tracheal intubation with volatile induction and target bispectral index of 25
      versus 40: A randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A target bispectral index (BIS) value of 40 is considered
      adequate for depth of anesthesia, but no consensus exists regarding BIS value for
      tracheal intubation without neuromuscular blocking drugs. The aim of this
      randomized, double-blinded study was to compare the total duration from
      sevoflurane induction to tracheal intubation at a BIS value of 25 or 40. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: This study was a prospective, randomized and observer-blinded
      clinical trial. After approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee and written
      informed consent, 80 patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical
      status I-II, aged 20-60 years, of either sex, requiring general anesthesia with
      tracheal intubation were enrolled. The patients were randomized to either Group
      BIS40-intubation at a target BIS value of 40 +/- 5 or group BIS25-intubation at a
      target BIS value of 25 +/- 5. The intubating conditions, hemodynamic, and adverse
      effects were observed in both the groups. RESULTS: This study showed that the
      total time required from induction to tracheal intubation was 4.9 +/- 0.9 min in
      group BIS40 as compared to 6.3 +/- 0.5 min in group BIS25 (P = 0.001) using two
      tailed sample t-test. The mean intubation score was 6.5 +/- 0.9 in group BIS40,
      and 5.1 +/- 0.7 in group BIS25 (P = 0.001) using Mann-Whitney U-test. CONCLUSION:
      The time to achieve target BIS value of 25 was greater as compared to target BIS
      value of 40 during sevoflurane induction but provided better intubating
      conditions in the absence of neuromuscular agents.

PMID- 27625485
TI  - Comparison of preanesthetic sedation in pediatric patients with oral and
      intranasal midazolam.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Preoperative anxiety in children leading to postoperative
      negative changes and long-term behavioral problems needs better preanesthetic
      sedation. Across the world, midazolam is the most commonly used premedicant in
      pediatric patients. The fact that no single route has achieved universal
      acceptance for its administration suggests that each route has its own merits and
      demerits. This study compares oral midazolam syrup and intranasal midazolam spray
      as painless and needleless systems of drug administration for preanesthetic
      sedation in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: With randomization, Group O (30
      children): Received oral midazolam syrup 0.5 mg/kg and Group IN (30 children):
      Received intranasal midazolam spray 0.2 mg/kg. Every child was observed for
      acceptance of drug, response to drug administration, sedation scale, separation
      score, acceptance to mask, recovery score and side effects of drug. Data were
      analyzed using Student's t-test, standard error of the difference between two
      means and Chi-square test. RESULTS: In Group O and IN, 15/30 children (50%) and
      7/30 children (23%) accepted drug easily (P < 0.05); 4/22 children (18%) in Group
      O and 11/20 children (55%) in Group IN cried after drug administration (P <
      0.05). In both the groups, sedation at 20 min after premedication (Group O [80%]
      24/30 vs. Group IN [77%] 23/30), parental separation and acceptance to mask were
      comparable (P > 0.05); 12/30 children (40%) in Group IN showed transient nasal
      irritation. CONCLUSION: Oral midazolam and intranasal midazolam spray produce
      similar anxiolysis and sedation, but acceptance of drug and response to drug
      administration is better with oral route.

PMID- 27625486
TI  - Air medical transportation in India: Our experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Long distance air travel for medical needs is on the
      increase worldwide. The condition of some patients necessitates specially
      modified aircraft, and monitoring and interventions during transport by trained
      medical personnel. This article presents our experience in domestic and
      international interhospital air medical transportation from January 2010 to
      January 2014. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hospital records of all air medical
      transportation undertaken to the institute during the period were analyzed for
      demographics, primary etiology, and events during transport. RESULTS: 586
      patients, 453 (77.3%) males and 133 (22.6%) females of ages 46.7 +/- 12.6 years
      and 53.4 +/- 9.7 years were transported by us to the institute. It took 3030
      flying hours with an average of 474 +/- 72 min for each mission. The most common
      indication for transport was cardiovascular diseases in 210 (35.8%) and central
      nervous system disease in 120 (20.4%) cases. The overall complication rate was
      5.3% There was no transport related mortality. CONCLUSION: Cardiac and central
      nervous system ailments are the most common indication for air medical
      transportation. These patients may need attention and interventions as any
      critical patient in the hospital but in a difficult environment lacking space and
      help. Air medical transport carries no more risk than ground transportation.

PMID- 27625487
TI  - Sequential organ failure assessment scoring and prediction of patient's outcome
      in Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The objective was to determine the accuracy of sequential
      organ failure assessment (SOFA) score in predicting outcome of patients in
      Intensive Care Unit (ICU). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-four consecutive patients
      between 15 and 80 years admitted to ICU over 8 weeks period were studied
      prospectively. Three patients were excluded. SOFA score was determined 24 h
      postadmission to ICU and subsequently every 48 h for the first 10 days. Patients
      were followed till discharge/death/transfer from the ICU. Initial SOFA score,
      highest and mean SOFA scores were calculated and correlated with mortality and
      duration of stay in ICU. RESULTS: The mortality rate was 39% and the mean
      duration of stay in the ICU was 9 days. The maximum score in survivors (3.92 +/-
      2.17) was significantly lower than nonsurvivors (8.9 +/- 3.45). The initial SOFA
      score had a strong statistical correlation with mortality. Cardiovascular score
      on day 1 and 3, respiratory score on day 7, and coagulation profile on day 3
      correlated significantly with the outcome. Duration of the stay did not correlate
      with the survival (P = 0.461). CONCLUSION: SOFA score is a simple, but effective
      prognostic indicator and evaluator for patient progress in ICU. Day 1 SOFA can
      triage the patients into risk categories. For further management, mean and
      maximum score help determine the severity of illness and can act as a guide for
      the intensity of therapy required for each patient.

PMID- 27625488
TI  - Factors affecting recovery of postoperative bowel function after pediatric
      laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Laparoscopic pediatric surgery allows a rapid postoperative
      rehabilitation and hospital discharge. However, the optimal postoperative pain
      management preserving advantages of this surgical technique remains to be
      determined. This study aimed to identify factors affecting the postoperative
      recovery of bowel function after laparoscopic surgery in children. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis of factors affecting recovery of bowel function
      in children and infants undergoing laparoscopic surgery between January 1, 2009
      and September 30, 2009, was performed. Factors included were: Age, weight, extent
      of surgery (extensive, regional or local), chronic pain (sickle cell disease or
      chronic intestinal inflammatory disease), American Society of Anaesthesiologists
      status, postoperative analgesia (ketamine, morphine, nalbuphine, paracetamol,
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], nefopam, regional analgesia) both
      in the Postanesthesia Care Unit and in the surgical ward; and surgical
      complications. Data analysis used classification and regression tree analysis
      (CART) with a 10-fold cross validation. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty six
      patients were included in the analysis. Recovery of bowel function depended upon:
      The extent of surgery, the occurrence of postoperative surgical complications,
      the administration of postoperative morphine in the surgical ward, the
      coadministration of paracetamol and NSAIDs and/or nefopam in the surgical ward
      and the emergency character of the surgery. The CART method generated a decision
      tree with eight terminal nodes. The percentage of explained variability of the
      model and the cross validation were 58% and 49%, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Multimodal analgesia using nonopioid analgesia that allows decreasing
      postoperative morphine consumption should be considered for the speed of bowel
      function recovery after laparoscopic pediatric surgery.

PMID- 27625489
TI  - Novel drug development for neuromuscular blockade.
AB  - Pharmacological advances in anesthesia in recent decades have resulted in safer
      practice and better outcomes. These advances include improvement in anesthesia
      drugs with regard to efficacy and safety profiles. Although neuromuscular
      blockers were first introduced over a half century ago, few new neuromuscular
      blockers and reversal agents have come to market and even fewer have remained as
      common clinically employed medications. In recent years, newer agents have been
      studied and are presented in this review. With regard to nondepolarizer
      neuromuscular blocker agents, the enantiomers Gantacurium and CW002, which are
      olefinic isoquinolinium diester fumarates, have shown potential for clinical
      application. Advantages include ultra rapid reversal of neuromuscular blockade
      via cysteine adduction and minimal systemic hemodynamic effects with
      administration. 

PMID- 27625490
TI  - Anesthesia for peroral endoscopic myotomy: A retrospective case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a safe and minimally
      invasive modality regarded as the first-line management of all types of
      achalasia. POEM is performed under general anesthesia with endotracheal
      intubation using an orally inserted flexible fiberscope. The aim of this study is
      to describe the anesthetic management of POEM for achalasia. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A chart review of 21 patients who underwent POEM for achalasia at our
      center from March 2013 to June 2015 was performed. RESULTS: In the 21 patients,
      the end-tidal carbon dioxide was elevated following esophageal carbon dioxide
      insufflation and required adjustments in ventilation. POEM was successfully
      completed, and the patients were extubated immediately afterward. Subcutaneous
      emphysema occurred in five patients. Complications such as mediastinitis, pleural
      effusion, pneumoperitoneum, and pneumomediastinum were managed conservatively.
      Esophageal perforation occurred in one patient and needed surgical intervention.
      CONCLUSION: For patients with achalasia, POEM offers the efficacy of surgery with
      the lower cost and morbidity of an endoscopic procedure. Prevention of aspiration
      and carbon dioxide insufflation-related complications are the two aspects that
      demand vigilance from the anesthesiologist.

PMID- 27625492
TI  - Social media: Mine of opportunities but tread with caution!

PMID- 27625491
TI  - Contemporary social network sites: Relevance in anesthesiology teaching,
      training, and research.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The phenomenal popularity of social networking sites has been used
      globally by medical professionals to boost professional associations and
      scientific developments. They have tremendous potential to forge professional
      liaisons, generate employment,upgrading skills and publicizing scientific
      achievements. We highlight the role of social networking mediums in influencing
      teaching, training and research in anaesthesiology. BACKGROUND: The growth of
      social networking sites have been prompted by the limitations of previous
      facilities in terms of ease of data and interface sharing and the amalgamation of
      audio visual aids on common platforms in the newer facilities. REVIEW:
      Contemporary social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,Linkedn etc
      and their respective features based on anaesthesiology training or practice have
      been discussed. A host of advantages which these sites confer are also discussed.
      Likewise the potential pitfalls and drawbacks of these facilities have also been
      addressed. CONCLUSION: Social networking sites have immense potential for
      development of training and research in Anaesthesiology. However responsible and
      cautious utilization is advocated.

PMID- 27625493
TI  - Carisoprodol withdrawal syndrome resembling neuroleptic malignant syndrome:
      Diagnostic dilemma.
AB  - Soma (Carisoprodol) is N-isopropyl-2 methyl-2-propyl-1,3-propanediol dicarbamate;
      a commonly prescribed, centrally acting skeletal muscle relaxant. Neuroleptic
      malignant syndrome (NMS) is a potentially life-threatening adverse effect of
      antipsychotic agents. Although diagnostic criteria for NMS have been established,
      it should be recognized that atypical presentations occur and more flexible
      diagnostic criteria than currently mandated, may be warranted. We wish to report
      a postoperative case of bilateral knee replacement who presented with
      carisoprodol (Soma) withdrawal resembling NMS that was a diagnostic dilemma.
      Subsequently, it was successfully treated with oral baclofen in absence of sodium
      dantrolene. 

PMID- 27625494
TI  - Anesthetic management of robot-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy.
AB  - Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare disorder involving neuromuscular junction. In
      conjunction with medical therapy, thymectomy is a known modality of treatment of
      MG and has shown to increase the probability of remission and overall symptomatic
      improvement. For minimally invasive thymectomy, video-.assisted thoracoscopic
      surgery has been the preferred surgical approach till recently. The robotic
      surgical procedure must necessarily bring new challenges to the anesthesiologists
      to effectively meet the specific requirements of the technique. At present, there
      is a paucity of literature regarding the anesthetic concerns of robotic assisted
      thymectomy, patient in question specifically posed a challenge since different
      maneuvers and techniques had to be tried to obtain optimum surgical conditions
      with stable ventilatory and hemodynamic parameters. Concerns of patient
      positioning and hemodynamic monitoring have also been discussed. 

PMID- 27625496
TI  - Research in anesthesiology: Time to look beyond quantitative studies.

PMID- 27625495
TI  - Intractable sacroiliac joint pain treated with peripheral nerve field
      stimulation.
AB  - As many as 62% low back pain patients can have sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain. There
      is limited (to poor) evidence in regards to long-term pain relief with
      therapeutic intra-articular injections and/or conventional (heat or pulsed)
      radiofrequency ablations (RFAs) for SIJ pain. We report our pain-clinic
      experience with peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNFS) for two patients of
      intractable SIJ pain. They had reported absence of long-term pain relief (pain
      relief >50% for at least 2 weeks postinjection and at least 3 months post-RFA)
      with SIJ injections and SIJ RFAs. Two parallel permanent 8-contact subcutaneous
      stimulating leads were implanted under the skin overlying their painful SIJ.
      Adequate stimulation in the entire painful area was confirmed. For implantable
      pulse generator placement, a separate subcutaneous pocket was made in the upper
      buttock below the iliac crest level ipsilaterally. During the pain-clinic follow
      up period, the patients had reduced their pain medications requirements by half
      with an additional report of more than 50% improvement in their functional
      status. The first patient passed away 2 years after the PNFS procedure due to
      medical causes unrelated to his chronic pain. The second patient has been
      comfortable with PNFS-induced analgesic regimen during her pain-clinic follow-up
      during last 5 years. In summary, PNFS can be an effective last resort option for
      SIJ pain wherein conventional interventional pain techniques have failed, and
      analgesic medication requirements are escalating or causing unwarranted side
      effects. 

PMID- 27625497
TI  - When being good is missing the point: Closing the loop.

PMID- 27625498
TI  - Pneumothorax in neonates: Complication during endotracheal intubation, diagnosis,
      and management.

PMID- 27625499
TI  - Anesthetic management of a known case of serotonin syndrome undergoing renal
      transplant.

PMID- 27625500
TI  - Large gastric wood bezoar: Anesthesia implications.

PMID- 27625501
TI  - Comments on "Cesarean section under local anesthesia:" A step forward or
      backward?

PMID- 27625502
TI  - Cylinder flow meter assembly explosion: A preventable complication.

PMID- 27625503
TI  - Sub dural hematoma due to long term carbamazepine therapy.

PMID- 27625504
TI  - Anesthesia in a patient with gitelman syndrome.

PMID- 27625505
TI  - Central venous catheter misplacement and the guidewire.

PMID- 27625506
TI  - Malpositioning of pulmonary artery catheter into the inferior vena cava in a
      liver transplant recipient.

PMID- 27625507
TI  - Operating table tipping: A reminder of electrical safety in the operating room.

PMID- 27625508
TI  - Epidural anesthesia for labor pain and cesarean section in a parturient with
      arthrogryposis multiplex congenita.

PMID- 27625509
TI  - Tracheoesophageal fistula repair in a neonate with tetralogy of Fallot: An
      anesthetic challenge.

PMID- 27625510
TI  - Inverted mask ventilation in a postrhinoplasty patient: Our experience.

PMID- 27625511
TI  - Bilateral rectus sheath block for single-incision laparoscopic tubal ligation in
      a cardiac patient.

PMID- 27625512
TI  - Use of point of care ultrasound for removal of foreign body: "Early screening of
      the neighborhood is the key".

PMID- 27625513
TI  - Perioperative implication of sudden manifestation of carcinoid tumor masquerading
      as insulinoma.

PMID- 27625514
TI  - Pictorial handover of neuro-anesthesia cases in between the shifts.

PMID- 27625515
TI  - Congenital heart disease profile: Four perspectives.

PMID- 27625516
TI  - Birth prevalence of congenital heart disease: A cross-sectional observational
      study from North India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the birth prevalence and pattern of congenital heart disease
      (CHD) using echocardiography in babies born in a community hospital of North
      India. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study conducted over a period of
      3 years. Newborns born over a specific 8-h period of the day were recruited in
      the study. They underwent routine clinical examination and pulse oximetry,
      followed by screening echocardiography for diagnosing a CHD. RESULTS: A total of
      20,307 newborns were screened, among which 874 had abnormal echocardiograms; 687
      had insignificant CHDs, 164 had significant CHDs, and 24 had other abnormal
      cardiac findings. The birth prevalence of significant CHDs was 8.07 per 1000 live
      births; 131 newborns had an acyanotic CHD (79.9%) and 33 a cyanotic CHD (20.1%).
      Ventricular septal defect (VSD) was the most common acyanotic CHD, present in 116
      newborns, giving a prevalence of 5.7/1000 live births. Among the cyanotic CHD,
      transposition of great arteries was most common (prevalence 0.34/1000 live
      births). CONCLUSION: The CHD birth prevalence in our study is similar to the
      reported worldwide birth prevalence. Acyanotic CHD (mostly VSD) is seen in about
      three-fourths of babies born with CHD. The more sinister cyanotic CHD is present
      in remaining 25%.

PMID- 27625517
TI  - Pattern of congenital heart disease in a developing country tertiary care center:
      Factors associated with delayed diagnosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the delay in diagnosis of various types of congenital
      heart defects in children and factors associated with such delay. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: For this observational study, 354 patients having congenital heart
      disease (CHD) presenting for the first time to the Department of Cardiology,
      Children's Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015,
      were enrolled after obtaining informed verbal consent from the guardian of each
      child. Demographical profile and various factors under observation were recorded.
      RESULTS: Among the 354 enrolled children (M: F 1.7:1) with age ranging from 1 to
      176 months (median 24 months), 301 (85.1%) had delayed diagnosis of CHD (mainly
      acyanotic 65.3%), with median delay (8 months). Main factors for delay were
      delayed first consultation to a doctor (37.2%) and delayed diagnosis by a health
      professional (22.5%). Other factors included delayed referral to a tertiary care
      hospital (13.3%), social taboos (13.0%), and financial constraints (12.3%). Most
      children were delivered outside hospital settings (88.7%). Children with siblings
      less than two (40%) were less delayed than those having two or more siblings
      (60%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of congenital heart defect was delayed in
      majority of patients. Multiple factors such as lack of adequately trained health
      system and socioeconomic constraints were responsible for the delay. There is a
      need to develop an efficient referral system and improve public awareness in
      developing countries for early diagnosis and management of such children.

PMID- 27625518
TI  - Profile and risk factors for congenital heart defects: A study in a tertiary care
      hospital.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are an important cause of mortality
      and morbidity in children representing a major global health burden. It is thus
      important to determine their prevalence and spectrum and identify risk factors
      associated with the development of heart defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case
      control study was carried out in the Department of Pediatrics and Center of
      Cardiology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh,
      Uttar Pradesh, India, from February 2014 to August 2015. All patients referred
      with complaints or clinical examination suggestive of CHDs were further evaluated
      with echocardiography. On Echocardiography, patients having CHDs were included as
      cases and those having a normal echocardiographic study were included as
      controls. Healthy controls were also included. 400 cases and 400 controls were
      thus identified; preterms having patent ductus arteriosus and patent foramen
      ovale and those with acquired heart defects were excluded. Risk factors among
      cases and controls were further studied. RESULTS: Acyanotic heart defects were
      290 (72.50%) of the total heart defects, whereas the contribution of cyanotic
      heart defects was 110 (27.50%). Out of all CHDs, ventricular septal defect was
      the most common lesion with contribution of 152 (38%) cases, whereas among the
      cyanotic heart defects, Tetralogy of Fallot was the most common lesion (18% of
      total cases). Out of the total 400 cases, 261 were males (65.25%). On univariate
      analysis, paternal age (odds ratio, OR, 2.01), bad obstetric history (OR, 2.65),
      antenatal febrile illness (OR, 4.12), and advanced maternal age (OR, 3.28) were
      found to increase the risk of CHD whereas intake of multivitamin (OR, 3.02) was
      found to be protective. The risk factors were further analyzed with multivariate
      logistic regression analysis and all the above factors were found to be
      significantly associated. CONCLUSION: We noted that the profile of CHD in our
      population was similar to the published literature although many were missed
      during infancy and detected later in life. Several antenatal factors were found
      to be associated with the incidence of congenital heart disease emphasizing the
      need to prioritize antenatal care and counseling to pregnant mothers along with
      good maternal nutrition and folic acid supplementation.

PMID- 27625519
TI  - Factors determining outcomes in grown up patients operated for congenital heart
      diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of grown ups with congenital heart diseases (GUCHs) is
      steadily increasing. AIMS: To analyze factors predicting early cardiac morbidity
      following cardiac surgery in GUCH at a tertiary care center. SETTING AND DESIGN:
      Retrospective study at a multispeciality tertiary referral center. METHODS:
      Between January 2004 and December 2014, 1432 patients >=13 years of age
      (acyanotic defects: 843, cyanotic defects: 589) underwent surgery for congenital
      heart defects. Factors associated with early cardiac morbidity were analyzed.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Univariable and multivariable analysis of all factors
      affecting outcomes. RESULTS: On multivariate analysis, previous sternotomy,
      aortic cross-clamp time >45 min, cyanosis, and emergency procedure were
      independent predictors of early morbidity with respective odds ratios (ORs) of
      12.4, 3.6, 2.6, and 8.1. For more precise estimation, a risk score was generated.
      Taking the log odds with each of these four as respective weights, a score was
      generated. The variables were previous sternotomy (2.5), aortic cross-clamp >45
      min (1.3), emergency procedure (2.1), and cyanosis (0.9), if the respective
      condition is present, zero otherwise. The score ranged from 0 to 4.5. The average
      value of the score based on the four variables was significantly higher in cases
      with morbidity (1.85 +/- 1.17) vs. (0.75 +/- 0.88), P < 0.001. Distribution of
      scores was significantly different between patients with and without morbidity.
      Sixty-seven percent patients without any morbidity had score <1 compared to 24.6%
      with morbidity. Only 0.9% patients without morbidity had score of >=3 compared to
      16.4% patients with morbidity. Compared with patients having score <1, patients
      with scores 1-2 had OR of 3.4, 2-3 had OR of 6.0, and >3 had OR of 48.7.
      CONCLUSION: GUCH can be safely operated when adequate caution is taken in the
      presence of independent predictors such as previous sternotomy, aortic clamp time
      >45 min, cyanosis, and emergency procedure.

PMID- 27625520
TI  - The "excluding" suture technique for surgical closure of ventricular septal
      defects: A retrospective study comparing the standard technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conventional methods of closure of ventricular septal defects involve
      placement of sutures 4-5 mm from the posterior inferior margin. This study
      compares the conventional method with an alternative technique wherein sutures
      are placed along the edge of the defect thereby "excluding" the conduction system
      and the tensor apparatus of the tricuspid valve from the suture line. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Between January 2013 and January 2016, 409 consecutive patients were
      retrospectively reviewed and divided into two matched groups. Group A (n = 174)
      underwent closure using the alternative technique and Group B (n = 235) with the
      conventional technique. Patients with isolated ventricular septal defects (VSDs)
      (n = 136) were separately analyzed as were infants within this subset. RESULTS:
      Immediate postoperative results were similar with no statistically significant
      differences in either group in terms of incidence of residual defects or
      postoperative tricuspid regurgitation. There was however a significantly
      increased incidence of post operative complete heart block (CHB) among patients
      in the conventional group (P = 0.02). Incidence of temporary heart block that
      reverted to sinus rhythm was also more in the conventional method group (Group B)
      (P = 0.03) as was right bundle branch block (P <= 0.05) in all the subsets of
      patients analyzed. CONCLUSION: Surgical closure of VSDs can be accomplished by
      placing sutures along the margins or away with comparable results. The incidence
      of CHB, however, seems to be less when the "excluding" technique is employed.

PMID- 27625521
TI  - Thromboembolism and anticoagulation after Fontan surgery.
AB  - This review attempts to answer the common questions faced by a clinician
      regarding thromboembolism and thromboprophylaxis in patients following Fontan
      surgery. The review is in an easy to understand question and answer format and
      discusses the currently available literature on the subject in an attempt to
      arrive at practical clinically relevant solutions. Patients who have undergone
      the Fontan operation are at a high risk for thromboembolism. Based on available
      evidence, there is a strong rationale for thromboprophylaxis. However, it is not
      clear as to which agent should be administered to prevent thromboembolic events.
      While the available evidence suggests that antiplatelet agents alone may be as
      good as oral anticoagulants, there is a need for a large multicenter randomized
      control trial comparing these two common strategies to deliver a clear verdict. 

PMID- 27625522
TI  - Cardiovascular collapse with attempted pericardial drain withdrawal.
AB  - Cardiac tamponade is a rare but serious emergency condition in the pediatric
      population. As treatment, a pericardial drain is often placed to evacuate the
      fluid. We present a case of a 4-year-old girl with cardiac tamponade secondary to
      renal failure. After the tamponade resolved, she suffered cardiovascular collapse
      upon attempted drain withdrawal. This case highlights an unusual cause for
      cardiovascular collapse, which occurred on blind removal of a pericardial drain. 

PMID- 27625523
TI  - Modified pediatric Bentall procedure: A novel technique in a rare case.
AB  - Aneurysms of ascending aorta are rarely seen in pediatric age group. Only few
      cases with Marfans syndrome have been reported in the literature. Preferred
      treatment for these children has been the standard Bentall procedure (aortic root
      replacement with composite graft prosthesis). We report a 4-year-old male child
      with huge aneurysm of ascending aorta and aortic root dilation with severe aortic
      regurgitation, having phenotypic features of Loeys-Dietz syndrome type I. He
      underwent Bentall procedure with a novel modification (medial trap-door technique
      for coronary reimplantation). Short-term result of this procedure is encouraging
      and he is asymptomatic for the last 14 months of follow-up. 

PMID- 27625524
TI  - Modified Stumper technique for acute postoperative bifurcation stenosis causing
      right ventricular failure after Ross procedure.
AB  - In this report, we describe a 15-year-old patient who underwent a Ross procedure
      for a regurgitant bicuspid aortic valve and ascending aortic dilation. After the
      operation was over, he could not be separated from cardiopulmonary bypass and was
      noted to have isolated right ventricular failure. This report takes the reader
      through the diagnostic evaluation, highlights the importance of invasive
      assessment in the immediate postoperative period, and discusses successful
      transcatheter intervention in the acute postoperative setting. 

PMID- 27625525
TI  - Acquired Fontan paradox in isolated right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
AB  - A 44-year-old woman presented with features of congestive heart failure.
      Echocardiography revealed severe right ventricular dysfunction along with passive
      minimally pulsatile pulmonary blood flow suggesting very high systemic venous
      pressures. This was confirmed with cardiac catheterization in which the pressures
      of superior vena cava and inferior vena cava (19 mmHg) were higher than the
      pulmonary artery pressures (17 mmHg). Elevation of systemic venous pressures
      above the pulmonary venous pressures, Fontan paradox, to drive the forward flow,
      is a specific feature of artificially created cavopulmonary shunts. Late stage of
      isolated right ventricular cardiomyopathy resulted in the spontaneous evolution
      of Fontan circulation with a nonfunctional right ventricle in this patient. 

PMID- 27625526
TI  - Hepatoazygos venous shunt for Fontan completion after Kawashima operation.
AB  - Fontan completion after prior Kawashima repair for single ventricle with
      interruption of the inferior vena cava can be accomplished by various methods. We
      describe a patient who underwent the connection of hepatic to hemiazygos vein
      that we believe would be superior to the conventional cavopulmonary connection in
      our patient. 

PMID- 27625527
TI  - Unusual method of creation of a transcatheter fenestration in an extracardiac
      conduit Fontan circulation.
AB  - Failing Fontan physiology in univentricular hearts manifest with protein-losing
      enteropathy, plastic bronchitis, low cardiac output, and recurrent effusions.
      Transcatheter creation of fenestration in a failing Fontan may be useful in
      alleviating the symptoms by improving the cardiac output. It is traditionally
      achieved by puncturing through the conduit from femoral or jugular venous access.
      In the absence of good venous path, transhepatic access provides a direct route
      for needle puncture of the conduit. If marked intimal ingrowth into the conduit
      results in increasing rigidity and makes the conduit nonyielding, alternative
      approaches may be needed. A successful creation of pulmonary artery to atrial
      roof communication through the potential space of transverse sinus using a
      covered stent is presented. 

PMID- 27625528
TI  - Anatomically corrected malposed great arteries misdiagnosed as transposition of
      great arteries: Diagnosis on fetal echocardiography.
AB  - We present a diagnosis of isolated anatomically corrected malposed great arteries
      on fetal echocardiography at 31 weeks of gestation period. The patient was
      referred to our institute with a diagnosis of suspected transposition of great
      arteries. 

PMID- 27625529
TI  - Balloon valvotomy for rheumatic valvar stenosis in a patient with complex
      congenital heart disease.

PMID- 27625530
TI  - Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis and acute rheumatic fever: An uncommon
      coincidence.

PMID- 27625531
TI  - Fetal balloon aortic valvotomy: Celebrating first birthday.

PMID- 27625532
TI  - Multiple pericardial abscesses in a child with known chronic granulomatous
      disease.

PMID- 27625533
TI  - Neurovascular Complications of the Upper Extremity Following Cardiovascular
      Procedures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular procedures are common and are trending toward
      endovascular interventions. With this increase in endovascular procedures, there
      is also increasing awareness of upper extremity morbidity resulting from
      treatment. METHODS: Articles indexed within PubMed between the years 1975 and
      2015 that discussed such complications were reviewed. RESULTS: Percutaneous
      radial artery access can lead to nerve ischemia, especially in the setting of an
      incomplete arterial arch, whereas radial artery harvesting for bypass surgery
      more commonly causes frank tissue ischemia and radial neuropathy. Transulnar
      catheterization may cause ischemic hand injuries, while transbrachial angiography
      has resulted in compartment syndrome. Injuries to the nerves themselves often
      result from surgical equipment, such as sternal retractors, or from patient
      positioning leading to compression of the ulnar nerve. For percutaneous radial
      artery access, the incidence of ischemic injury is as high as 24%, whereas nerve
      injury is too rare to be estimated. In the setting of radial artery harvesting,
      ischemic injury is limited to case reports, and radial neuropathy is estimated to
      occur in as many as 25% of patients at discharge. Open heart surgery is the
      primary setting in which equipment or patient positioning plays a role, affecting
      10% of patients with brachial plexus injuries and 15% with ulnar neuropathies.
      CONCLUSION: Complications following cardiovascular interventions are varied and
      are typically associated with specific procedures. Careful preoperative and
      postoperative assessments of patients may aid in preventing, minimizing, and
      treating these often undiagnosed complications.

PMID- 27625535
TI  - Treatment of Rolando Fractures by Open Reduction and Internal Fixation using Mini
      T-Plate and Screws.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rolando fractures being intra-articular fractures of the most
      mobile joint of the thumb, assume significance because any residual incongruity
      of the articular surface may result in loss of motion as well as secondary
      osteoarthritis and hence serious disability. This fracture continues to pose
      difficulties to the treating surgeons and although several treatment options have
      been described for these fractures, there are no definite guidelines. METHODS:
      The present study describes the results of open reduction and internal fixation
      of nine Rolando fractures with large and single fragments, using mini T-plate and
      screws. RESULTS: At 3-year follow-up all the fractures had united, functional
      results were excellent or good in most cases, and all the patients had returned
      to previous activities. Significant complications such as deep infection and loss
      of reduction were not encountered in any patient. CONCLUSION: Open reduction and
      internal fixation with mini T-plates in properly selected cases of Rolando
      fracture with large and single palmar and dorsal articular fragments offers
      several advantages such as allowing direct visualization of the joint, removal of
      interposed soft tissues, and exact anatomical restoration of the articular
      surface. The fixation in most cases is rigid enough to allow early mobilization
      without loss of reduction. Thus, complications such as stiffness as well as
      future arthrosis may be minimized. However, the technique is demanding and needs
      high degree of precision. The possibility of implant removal should be discussed
      beforehand with the patient.

PMID- 27625534
TI  - Pathomechanics and Management of Secondary Complications Associated with Tendon
      Adhesions Following Flexor Tendon Repair in Zone II.
AB  - Despite the number of rehabilitation strategies and guidelines developed to
      maximize the gliding amplitude of repaired tendons, secondary complications, such
      as decreased range of motion and stiffness associated with tendon adhesions,
      commonly arise. If left untreated, these early complications may lead to
      secondary pathomechanical changes resulting in fixed deformities and decreased
      function. Therefore, an appropriate treatment regimen must not only include
      strategies to maintain the integrity of the repaired tendon, but must also avoid
      secondary complications due to reduced gliding amplitude. This review presents a
      biomechanical analysis of the dynamics of tendon gliding following repair in zone
      II and rehabilitation strategies to minimize secondary complications related with
      tendon adhesions. 

PMID- 27625536
TI  - Retrospective Review of Air Transportation Use for Upper Extremity Amputations at
      a Level-1 Trauma Center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Air transportation to tertiary care centers of patients with upper
      extremity amputations has been utilized in hopes of reducing the time to
      potential replantation; however, this mode of transportation is expensive and not
      all patients will undergo replantation. The purpose of this study is to review
      the appropriateness and cost of air transportation in upper extremity
      amputations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients transported by aircraft
      with upper extremity amputations in a 7-year period at a level-1 trauma center
      were retrospectively reviewed. The distance traveled was recorded, along with the
      times of the injury, referral, transportation duration, arrival, and start of the
      operation. The results of the transfer were defined as replantation or revision
      amputation. RESULTS: Overall, 47 patients were identified with 43 patients going
      to the operating room, but only 14 patients (30%) undergoing replantation.
      Patients arrived at the tertiary hand surgery center with a mean time of 182.3
      minutes following the injury, which includes 105.2 minutes of transportation
      time. The average distance traveled was 105.4 miles (range, 22-353 miles). The
      time before surgery of those who underwent replantation was 154.6 minutes. The
      average cost of transportation was $20,482. DISCUSSION: Air transportation for
      isolated upper extremity amputations is costly and is not usually the determining
      factor for replantation. The type of injury and patients' expectations often
      dictate the outcome, and these may be better determined at the time of referral
      with use of telecommunication photos, discussion with a hand surgeon, and patient
      counseling. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27625537
TI  - Hand Society and Matching Program Web Sites Provide Poor Access to Information
      Regarding Hand Surgery Fellowship.
AB  - The Internet is a common resource for applicants of hand surgery fellowships,
      however, the quality and accessibility of fellowship online information is
      unknown. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the accessibility of hand
      surgery fellowship Web sites and to assess the quality of information provided
      via program Web sites. Hand fellowship Web site accessibility was evaluated by
      reviewing the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) on November 16,
      2014 and the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) fellowship directories on
      February 12, 2015, and performing an independent Google search on November 25,
      2014. Accessible Web sites were then assessed for quality of the presented
      information. A total of 81 programs were identified with the ASSH directory
      featuring direct links to 32% of program Web sites and the NRMP directory
      directly linking to 0%. A Google search yielded direct links to 86% of program
      Web sites. The quality of presented information varied greatly among the 72
      accessible Web sites. Program description (100%), fellowship application
      requirements (97%), program contact email address (85%), and research
      requirements (75%) were the most commonly presented components of fellowship
      information. Hand fellowship program Web sites can be accessed from the ASSH
      directory and, to a lesser extent, the NRMP directory. However, a Google search
      is the most reliable method to access online fellowship information. Of
      assessable programs, all featured a program description though the quality of the
      remaining information was variable. Hand surgery fellowship applicants may face
      some difficulties when attempting to gather program information online. Future
      efforts should focus on improving the accessibility and content quality on hand
      surgery fellowship program Web sites. 

PMID- 27625538
TI  - Litigation and Malpractice in Carpal Tunnel Surgery: An Analysis of 60 Successful
      Claims Over a 10-Year Period (2002-2012).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Carpal tunnel surgery represents a significant source of litigation
      in hand surgery. The aim of this work was to evaluate the burden of successful
      litigation relating to this type of hand surgery in England. Secondary measures
      looked at identifying the most common causes of successful legal action. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted on the National Health Service
      Litigation Authority (NHSLA) database. All successful carpal tunnel surgery
      related claims over a 10-year period from 2002 to 2012 were identified. A total
      of 60 claims were retrieved and analyzed. RESULTS: The total cost of successful
      claims to the NHS was L3.9 million. This compromised L2.4 million in damages,
      with L1.5 million in legal costs (22% in NHS legal costs, the remainder the
      claimants costs). The mean cost of settling a claim was L65,440 (range L350
      L397,134). The commonest cause of the claim was nerve damage. The average damages
      paid in relation to this injury was L55,460. Additional surgery and poor outcome
      were the next commonest cause of successful proceedings, with average damages of
      L28,984. CONCLUSION: Legal action in relation to carpal tunnel surgery is a
      considerable source of cost to hand surgeons and the NHS. The complexity of
      resolving these cases is reflected in the associated legal costs, which represent
      a significant proportion of payouts. With improved understanding of factors
      instigating successful legal proceedings physicians can recognize areas, where
      practice and training can be improved, and steps can be taken to minimize injury.

PMID- 27625540
TI  - Thumb Replantation Using the Superficial Palmar Branch of the Radial Artery.
AB  - The thumb is the most important part of the hand. If thumb is amputated, all
      efforts should be made to replant it to preserve hand functions. Good functional
      outcome can be obtained with successful thumb replantation than with other
      reconstructive surgery. We present a case of thumb amputation of a 44 -year-old
      male with severe damage to the soft tissues and bony structures of the radial
      part of the hand. We performed the replantation anastomosing the superficial
      palmar branch of the radial artery as donor artery as the proximal part of thumb
      digital arteries were severely damaged due to crush injury and got favorable
      result. 

PMID- 27625541
TI  - Median Nerve Compression Caused by Brachial Pseudoaneurysm: Report of Two Cases
      and Review of the Literature.

PMID- 27625539
TI  - Outcomes of Concomitant Fractures of the Radial Head and Capitellum: The "Kissing
      Lesion".
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radial head compression against the capitellum may cause concomitant
      fracture of the capitellum. The purpose of this study was to investigate if
      radial head fracture type is associated with a concomitant fracture of the
      capitellum. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were identified from five area hospitals.
      We retrieved records of patients older than 18 years of age who underwent
      treatment for concomitant capitellum fracture and radial head fracture between
      January 2002 and January 2013. Patients with olecranon fractures or trochlea
      fractures were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 10 patients with a radial head
      fracture and a concomitant capitellum fracture were included. Based on the
      operative reports, nine radial head fractures were classified as Hotchkiss
      modification of the Mason classification type II, and one was classified as type
      I. Based on the available radiographs and computed tomography, three capitellum
      fractures were type I, and seven were type II according to the Grantham
      classification. CONCLUSION: Surgeons have to be alert to capitellar damage in
      case of a Hotchkiss type II radial head fracture. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: This is a
      level IV, therapeutic, retrospective study.

PMID- 27625542
TI  - Iatrogenic Acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

PMID- 27625543
TI  - Recurrent Interdigital Pilonidal Sinus in a Dog Groomer.

PMID- 27625544
TI  - Pathological Avulsion Fracture of the Flexor Digitorum Profundus after
      Enchondroma-Case Report.

PMID- 27625545
TI  - Disruption of the Thumb Dorsal Extensor Mechanism in Two Catchers.

PMID- 27625546
TI  - Closed Extensor Digitorum Communis Tendons Rupture at the Musculotendinous
      Junction: A Case Report.

PMID- 27625547
TI  - Scratch Collapse Test Is a Useful Clinical Sign in Assessing Long Thoracic Nerve
      Entrapment.
AB  - The scratch collapse test (SCT) is a relatively new clinical test in which a
      positive result implies entrapment neuropathy of the nerve tested. Initially
      described for carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes, subsequent authors have found
      it useful for the assessment of median, ulna, radial, axillary, and common
      peroneal nerves. We report a case illustrating the value of the SCT in the
      clinical assessment of thoracic nerve entrapment. 

PMID- 27625548
TI  - Traction Tinel Sign.

PMID- 27625549
TI  - Dental Development in Patients with Hypophosphatemia Rickets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypophosphatemic Rickets (HR) is a disease that affects mineralized
      structures including bone and dentine, studies on dental development in these
      patients are scarce with equivocal results. AIM: To assess dental development of
      a group of children with (HR) and to compare that to healthy matched controls,
      and to assess relationship between delayed medical treatment and dental
      development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a controlled cross-sectional study
      carried out on a sample of 21 children with HR and healthy age and sex matched
      controls, diseased children were diagnosed at different ages. Dental age was
      assessed using Demirjian et al method. The difference between ages of study and
      control groups was assessed using t-test, Pearson correlation was used to test
      relationship between age of commencement of treatment and dental development
      delay. RESULTS: Most HR subjects demonstrated dental delay ranging from 0.2 to
      2.5 years which was significant (p-value = 0.028). The difference between dental
      age of the study and control groups was statistically significant using paired t
      test. There was no correlation between age of commencement of treatment and
      amount of dental delay. CONCLUSION: Dental development was significantly delayed
      in a group of HR patients compared to matched healthy controls. Delay in
      commencement of treatment may lead to a permanent deficit in dental development.

PMID- 27625550
TI  - Biomechanical Stress Analysis of Mandibular First Permanent Molar; Restored with
      Amalgam and Composite Resin: A Computerized Finite Element Study.
AB  - Normal mastication with its varying magnitude and direction generates
      considerable reactionary stresses in teeth and their supporting tissues. The
      structure of the human tooth and its supporting tissues is a complex assemblage
      of materials of varied mechanical properties. The finite element method (FEM), a
      modern technique of numerical stress analysis, has the great advantage of being
      applicable to solids of irregular geometry and heterogeneous material properties
      and therefore ideally suited to the examination of structural behavior of teeth.
      The mandibular first permanent molar is one of the earliest permanent teeth to
      erupt in the oral cavity and hence most prone to caries. The purpose of the
      present study was to construct a two-dimensional FE model of the mandibular first
      permanent molar and its supporting structures, using a FE software called NISA II
      Display III, EMRC, USA to study the following: * To compare stress distributions
      patterns when a modeled Class I Cavity was restored with dental amalgam and
      composite resin. * To compare the stress distributions pattern when the load was
      applied to different to locations, i.e.: At the mesial cusp tip, and at the
      center of the occlusal surface. Both amalgam and composite resin showed similar
      stress distribution pattern, however, the magnitudes of stresses generated in the
      tooth restored with composite resin were higher. Thus, amalgam is a better
      restorative material in distributing stresses. 

PMID- 27625551
TI  - Analysis of Reporting Pattern in Children Aged 7 to 14 Years with Traumatic
      Injuries to Permanent Teeth.
AB  - AIM: To analyze the pattern of traumatic injuries to permanent anterior teeth
      reporting to the dental department with regards to age, gender, cause, proportion
      of different types of injury and time of reporting. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Children aged 7 to 14 years with trauma or related sequelae were included. The
      data was collected retrospectively on the basis of case history, clinical
      findings, radiographs and vitality tests. Ellis' classification was used to
      record injuries to anterior teeth. RESULTS: Boys had more injuries with the
      highest injuries at 12 years. Various causes of trauma included Falls, RTA, hits
      by object/person and bicycle related. The most common injury reported were cases
      of Ellis' class IV (50.7%) and the maxillary central incisors being the teeth
      most frequently involved (75%). The time lapsed after injury was more than 1 year
      in 42.8% cases and 62% cases reported with complications. CONCLUSION: Our
      findings suggest that a large number of cases reported in the age group 10 to 13
      years with Class IV Ellis' fracture largely when symptoms appear. Reporting was
      delayed by more than a year in several cases, the barriers for which need to be
      analyzed, to develop strategies regarding prevention of traumatic injuries and
      their consequences.

PMID- 27625552
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of Antimicrobial Efficacy of MTAD, 3% NaOCI and Propolis
      Against E Faecalis.
AB  - AIM: The present study sought to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of 3% NaOCl,
      Biopure MTAD (Tulsa Dentsply, Tulsa, OK) and Brazilian ethanolic extract of
      propolis (EEP) against Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis). METHODOLOGY: The
      study utilized 55 extracted human permanent teeth with single root canal. The
      samples were decoronated, instrumented and sterilized. The teeth were infected
      with E faecalis for 48 hours. The teeth were divided randomly into 3 groups
      according to the irrigants used and kept in contact with the respective irrigant
      for 5 minutes. All the samples were incubated in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth
      for 96 hours. Disinfection of the samples was determined based on presence or
      absence of turbidity in the BHI broth 96 hours later. Statistical analysis was
      done using Chi-square test. RESULTS: All the samples treated with MTAD showed
      complete absence of turbidity, while all the 15 teeth treated with propolis
      showed presence of turbidity, 8 out of 15 teeth treated with NaOCl showed
      presence of turbidity. Statistical analysis of the data using chi-square test
      showed significant difference between the groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The
      study concluded that MTAD was more effective than 3% NaOCl and propolis against
      E. faecalis.

PMID- 27625553
TI  - Assessment of Growth Using Mandibular Canine Calcification Stages and Its
      Correlation with Modified MP3 Stages.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning for
      growing children must involve growth prediction, especially in the treatment of
      skeletal problems. Studies have shown that a strong association exists between
      skeletal maturity and dental calcification stages. The present study was
      therefore taken up to provide a simple and practical method for assessing
      skeletal maturity using a dental periapical film and standard dental X-ray
      machine, to compare the developmental stages of the mandibular canine with that
      of developmental stages of modified MP3 and to find out if any correlation
      exists, to determine if the developmental stages of the mandibular canine alone
      can be used as a reliable indicator for assessment of skeletal maturity. METHODS:
      A total of 160 periapical radiographs (80 males and 80 females), of the
      mandibular right canine and the MP3 region was taken and assessed according to
      the Dermirjian's stages of dental calcification and the modified MP3 stages.
      RESULTS: The correlation between the developmental stages of MP3 and the
      mandibular right canine in male and female groups, is of high statistical
      significance (p = 0.001). The correlation coefficient between MP3 stages and
      developmental stages of mandibular canine and chronological age in male and
      females was found to be not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between the
      mandibular canine calcification stages and MP3 stages was found to be
      significant. The developmental stages of the mandibular canine could be used very
      reliably as a sole indicator for assessment of skeletal maturity.

PMID- 27625554
TI  - Parental Attitude towards the Provision of Nonsurgical Oral Health Care to
      Children with Oral Clefts: An Epidemiological Survey.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the attitudes of parents of 3 to 8 years old children with cleft
      lip and palate towards the provision of pediatric dental health care and assess
      the experience of dentistry in general dental practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      questionnaire was distributed to parents of 100 children in the age group of 3 to
      8 years old with cleft lip and palate who visited the cleft lip and palate center
      in KS Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore. RESULTS: Out of the hundred patients, 66%
      of the patients registered directly at the cleft center for their deformity. Only
      20% of these children visited a local dental practitioner for their dental health
      care. 42% had neither undergone any dental treatment nor received any dietary or
      oral hygiene advices. Regarding the provision of the dental treatment, 74% wanted
      a pediatric dentist to provide dental check-up and treatment at the cleft center,
      whereas, 24% preferred a dental practitioner close to their home and 2% does not
      want treatment anywhere. CONCLUSION: The survey indicates that there is parental
      support for the pediatric dental assessment at the cleft center with subsequent
      arrangement of dental treatment with their local dental practitioners. The
      majority wanted a pediatric dentist to provide the dental check-up and treatment
      at the cleft center.

PMID- 27625555
TI  - Importance of Oral Hygiene Habits in Mentally Disabled Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main factor related to gingival/periodontal problems in disabled
      individuals is the inadequacy of the plaque removal from the teeth. Motor
      coordination problems and muscular limitation in neuromuscularly disabled
      individuals along with the difficulty in understanding the importance of oral
      hygiene in mentally disabled individuals have resulted in the progression of
      inflammatory diseases. CASE REPORT: This report describes a case of cerebral
      palsy child who developed gingival hyperplasia due to poor oral hygiene practices
      which remarkably improved by proper motivation and adaptation of oral hygiene
      measures. CONCLUSION: It is important that the caretakers especially mother is
      informed about the importance of maintaining proper oral hygiene and the harmful
      effects of not doing so. It forms our duty to guide them towards maintaining good
      oral hygiene and thereby help in improving overall health of these children.

PMID- 27625556
TI  - Clinical Applications of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate: Report of Four Cases.
AB  - The greatest threats to developing teeth are dental caries and traumatic
      injuries. The primary goal of all restorative treatment is to maintain pulp
      vitality so that normal root development or apexogenesis can occur. If pulpal
      exposure occurs, then a pulpotomy procedure aims to preserve pulp vitality to
      allow for normal root development. Historically, calcium hydroxide has been the
      material of choice for pulpotomy procedures. Recently, an alternative material
      called mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) has demonstrated the ability to induce
      hard-tissue formation in pulpal tissue. This article describes the clinical and
      radiographic outcome of a series of cases involving the use of MTA in pulpotomy,
      apexogenesis and apexification procedures and root perforations repair. 

PMID- 27625557
TI  - Dental Considerations in the Management of Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia.
AB  - Glanzmann's thrombasthenia, is one of the rarest congenital, genetically
      inherited platelet disorder. It has an incidence of about 1:1,000,000, but is
      more common in populations with increased consanguinity. Glanzmann's
      thrombasthenia is characterized by deficiency or dysfunction of glycoprotein (GP)
      lib and Ilia, which are the receptors of fibrinogen. Both sexes are equally
      affected. Typical mucocutaneous bleeding occurs at birth or early infancy.
      Obtaining appropriate dental history of excessive bleeding after dental
      extraction, unexplained spontaneous mucocutaneous bleeding, gingival bleeding
      during teething or shedding of deciduous teeth and petechiae, ecchymoses or
      purpura on mucous membranes can play an important part in diagnosis. Hence, the
      pediatric dentist plays a very crucial role for prompt diagnosis and management
      of Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. Presenting here is a known case of Glanzmann's
      thrombasthenia, of a 6-year-old girl who required to undergo dental extraction
      and its successful management using an "acrylic-splint" along with the placement
      of "Calgigraf-Ag Foam". 

PMID- 27625558
TI  - Familial Cleidocranial Dysplasia.
AB  - Cleidocranial dysplasia or mutational dysostosis or cleidocranial dysostosis is a
      generalized skeletodental dysplastic disorder, inherited in an autosomal dominant
      pattern. The expression of this disorder can vary widely in severity, even within
      the same family. This is a relatively rare disease and has no standard effective
      treatment option as of yet. Here we present a case report of affected mother and
      son with classical manifestations of the disease. 

PMID- 27625560
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 27625559
TI  - Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia: Prosthetic and Endodontic Management.
AB  - Individuals affected by ectodermal dysplasia syndromes have abnormalities of the
      glands, tooth buds, hair follicles, and nail development. Oral finding in
      ectodermal dysplasia patient are significant and can include multiple
      abnormalities of the dentition such as anodontia, hy-podontia or malformed and
      widely spaced peg like teeth, loss of occlusal vertical dimension, protuberant
      lips and lack of normal alveolar ridge development. This clinical report
      describes a combined surgical, pedodontic, and prosthodontic approach for the
      treatment of a patient with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia. 

PMID- 27625561
TI  - The Effect of Ovine Secreted Soluble Factors on Human Dermal Papilla Cell
      Aggregation.
AB  - CONTEXT: In androgenetic alopecia, follicular miniaturization and dynamic changes
      to the hair cycle produce patterned baldness. The most effective treatment for
      baldness is hair transplantation surgery. The major limitation to hair
      transplantation is the availability of donor hair from the relatively unaffected
      occipital scalp. Hair induction with in vitro expansion of donor follicle
      populations has the potential to overcome this. The major obstacle to this is
      that in vitro expansion of human dermal papilla cell (DPC) colonies is associated
      with irreversible loss of aggregative behavior and hair follicle-inductive
      potential. In contrast, cultured ovine DPCs maintain these properties after
      extensive proliferation. AIMS: To determine whether aggregating ovine DPC secrete
      factors that enhance the aggregative behavior or inductive potential of human
      DPC. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fluorescently-labelled ovine DPC were mixed in culture
      with human DPC at passage number seven-nine, which had lost their aggregative
      behavior. The effects of different culture substrates and medium compositions on
      aggregative behavior were determined. Ovine and human papilla cells were co
      cultured, separated by a permeable membrane to determine whether the ovine cells
      secrete soluble factors that affect human papilla cells. RESULTS: In direct co
      culture experiments, well-formed aggregates were produced by 90:10 human:ovine
      and 50:50 human:ovine DPC mixtures. In contrast, unmixed human DPC remained in a
      monolayer state after 18 days. Both human and ovine DPC had a higher tendency to
      aggregate in medium containing 20% (v/v) lamb serum (LS) compared to 10% (v/v)
      fetal calf serum (FCS). In co-culture experiments separated with permeable
      membrane, the human DPC aggregates were bigger and more rapidly formed with the
      addition of ovine secreted soluble factors. CONCLUSIONS: Soluble factors secreted
      by ovine DPC and present in LS increase the aggregative behavior of human DPC.
      These molecules might improve follicle inductiveness of human DPCs for the
      purpose of hair replacement therapy.

PMID- 27625562
TI  - A Comparison of Vertical and Transverse Sections in the Histological Diagnosis of
      Alopecia Areata Scalp Biopsy Specimens.
AB  - CONTEXT: Both vertical and transverse sections are used for the diagnosis of
      alopecia areata. However when a single biopsy is submitted the pathologist has to
      decide which type is better. AIMS: To compare the diagnostic histological
      features in vertical and transverse sections in alopecia areata scalp biopsy
      specimens. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Tertiary Care Hospital. Comparative Study.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 patients were enrolled in the study. Two
      four mm punch biopsy were taken. One was used to take vertical sections and the
      other for transverse section and histological features of alopecia areata noted
      in both. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square test, percentage. RESULTS:
      Diagnosis of alopecia areata could be made in 30 (100%) cases in transverse
      sections and 28 cases (93.3%) in vertical sections. The number of hair follicles
      available for evaluation was more in the transverse section. Nanogen follicles
      and miniaturization of follicles were better visualized in the transverse
      sections. However the catagen and telogen follicles were noted in both vertical
      and transverse sections but the number and the ratio of anagen and telogen hair
      follicles could be better assessed in the transverse sections. Presence of
      peribulbar lymphocytic infiltrate, eosinophils and pigment casts were noted in
      both transverse and vertical sections. CONCLUSIONS: Transverse sections provide a
      better assessment of the histological features of alopecia areata than vertical
      sections and thus should be preferred.

PMID- 27625563
TI  - Serum Vitamin D3 Level in Patients with Female Pattern Hair Loss.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is the most common cause of alopecia
      in women, characterized by diffuse nonscarring hair loss in frontal, central, and
      parietal areas of the scalp. Pathophysiology of FPHL is still not well known, and
      it is probably a multifactorial genetic trait. FPHL is also observed in women
      without increased androgen levels, which raises the likelihood of androgen
      independent mechanisms and explains the lack of response to antiandrogen
      treatments in some patients. Vitamin D is a factor that has recently been
      considered in dealing with these patients. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the serum levels of Vitamin D in patients with FPHL and compare it with
      healthy controls. METHODS: In this case-control study, 45 women with FPHL were
      evaluated as well as the same number of healthy women matched for age, hours
      spent under sunlight per day, and body mass index. Serum 25(OH) D3 level was
      measured using ELISA. RESULTS: 60% of FPHL patients were in 15-30 years old age
      group with the mean standard deviation (SD) age of 29.11 (7.30) years. In the
      majority of patients (66.7%), severity of hair loss was Ludwig I. Mean (SD) serum
      Vitamin D3 level in patient and control group was 13.45 (8.40) and 17.16 (8.96),
      respectively. T-test showed a significant difference between the two groups in
      terms of Vitamin D3 serum levels (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated
      the correlation between the incidence of FPHL and decreased serum levels of
      Vitamin D3. It is recommended to evaluate serum Vitamin D3 levels as well as
      other hormone assays in these patients.

PMID- 27625564
TI  - Characterization of Ovine Dermal Papilla Cell Aggregation.
AB  - CONTEXT: The dermal papilla (DP) is a condensation of mesenchymal cells at the
      proximal end of the hair follicle, which determines hair shaft size and regulates
      matrix cell proliferation and differentiation. DP cells have the ability to
      regenerate new hair follicles. These cells tend to aggregate both in vitro and in
      vivo. This tendency is associated with the ability of papilla cells to induce
      hair growth. However, human papilla cells lose their hair-inducing activity in
      later passage number. Ovine DP cells are different from human DP cells since they
      do not lose their aggregative behavior or hair-inducing activity in culture.
      Nonetheless, our understanding of ovine DP cells is still limited. AIM: The aim
      of this study was to observe the expression of established DP markers in ovine
      cells and their association with aggregation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ovine DP
      cells from three different sheep were compared. Histochemistry,
      immunoflourescence, and polymerase chain reaction experiments were done to
      analyze the DP markers. RESULTS: We found that ovine DP aggregates expressed all
      the 16 markers evaluated, including alkaline phosphatase and versican. Expression
      of the versican V0 and V3 isoforms, neural cell adhesion molecule, and corin was
      increased significantly with aggregation, while hey-1 expression was
      significantly decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the stable expression of numerous
      markers suggests that aggregating ovine DP cells have a similar phenotype to
      papillae in vivo. The stability of their molecular phenotype is consistent with
      their robust aggregative behavior and retained follicle-inducing activity after
      prolonged culture. Their phenotypic stability in culture contrasts with DP cells
      from other species, and suggests that a better understanding of ovine DP cells
      might provide opportunities to improve the hair-inducing activity and therapeutic
      potential of human cells.

PMID- 27625565
TI  - Hyperprolactinemia and Hirsutism in Patients Without Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hirsutism is one of the most important diseases that lead women to
      refer to dermatology clinic. Hyperprolactinemia is one of the causes of
      hirsutism. The aim of this study was to determine prolactin (PRL) levels in
      hirsute women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, hirsute
      patients were evaluated. For all of the patients, 2 or 3 days after mense
      starting, hormone level tests were performed, and 200 patients that had not
      polycystic ovary syndrome enrolled to the study. A questionnaire of history and
      physical examination were performed. Data have been analyzed with SPSS version
      21. RESULTS: Hyperprolactinemia were seen in 25 patients (12.5%). There was no
      significant relation between marital statuses, galactorrhoea, positive family
      history, and infertility with hyperprolactinemia. But significant relation was
      seen between irregular mense and hyperprolactinemia. CONCLUSION: Although
      hyperprolactinemia is the rare cause of hirsutism, the prevalence of
      hyperprolactinemia was high in our study. Thus, PRL level in hirsute patients
      should be evaluate.

PMID- 27625567
TI  - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome with Alopecia: A Rare Case Report with
      Review of Literature.
AB  - A 17-year-old girl presented with alopecia involving lateral margins of the scalp
      with primary amenorrhea. There was no history of parental consanguinity, and no
      other siblings were having similar complaints. Her secondary sexual characters
      were well developed with hypoplastic vagina. Histopathological findings from
      scalp biopsy showed features of alopecia areata. Ultrasonography of abdomen and
      pelvis revealed the absence of uterus and the right kidney. Follicle-stimulating
      hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, testosterone, and thyroid function test
      was within normal limits. The patient had normal 46, XX Karyotype. Till date,
      only four case reports of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome with
      alopecia has been reported. We are reporting the first case of MRKH syndrome with
      alopecia with normal gonadal function in world's literature. 

PMID- 27625566
TI  - The Perceived Stigma in Patients with Alopecia and Mental Disorder: A Comparative
      Study.
AB  - AIM: We aimed to measure the perceived stigma, especially in patients with
      alopecia areata (AA) and to compare the results with patients with mental
      disorder (MD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included forty patients with AA
      who were consecutively recruited from dermatology outpatient clinic and 42
      patients with MD who were consecutively recruited from psychiatric outpatient
      clinic. The presence of a MD was assessed by the Diagnostic and Statistical
      Manual of Mental Disorder Fourth Edition. All participants were asked to complete
      the 28 items modified stigmatization questionnaire. RESULTS: Total and all
      subscale scores of stigmatization questionnaire scale were higher in the group of
      patients with AA than in the patients with MD. CONCLUSION: AA is a condition that
      leads to more self-stigmatization than MD.

PMID- 27625568
TI  - Linear Alopecia Areata.
AB  - Alopecia areata (AA) over scalp is known to present in various shapes and extents
      of hair loss. Typically it presents as circumscribed patches of alopecia with
      underlying skin remaining normal. We describe a rare variant of AA presenting in
      linear band-like form. Only four cases of linear alopecia have been reported in
      medical literature till today, all four being diagnosed as lupus erythematosus
      profundus. 

PMID- 27625569
TI  - A Solitary Facial Nodule with an Uncharacteristic Histopathology.
AB  - Collision or contiguous tumors refer to the combined existence of two or more
      tumors in a single lesion. In the skin, these growths could closely mimic other
      cutaneous tumors, thus making diagnosis difficult. We hereby report a dual tumor,
      comprising pilomatricoma, and eccrine syringofibroadenoma, which to the best of
      our knowledge have not been previously reported in medical literature. 

PMID- 27625570
TI  - A 14-year-old Boy with an Irregularly Bordered, Erythematous, Alopecic Patch of
      the Scalp.

PMID- 27625571
TI  - Essential Trichomegaly of the Eyelashes.

PMID- 27625572
TI  - Whole exome sequencing of extreme age-related macular degeneration phenotypes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Demographic, environmental, and genetic risk factors for age-related
      macular degeneration (AMD) have been identified; however, a substantial portion
      of the variance in AMD disease risk and heritability remains unexplained. To
      identify AMD risk variants and generate hypotheses for future studies, we
      performed whole exome sequencing for 75 individuals whose phenotype was not well
      predicted by their genotype at known risk loci. We hypothesized that these
      phenotypically extreme individuals were more likely to carry rare risk or
      protective variants with large effect sizes. METHODS: A genetic risk score was
      calculated in a case-control set of 864 individuals (467 AMD cases, 397 controls)
      based on 19 common (>=1% minor allele frequency, MAF) single nucleotide variants
      previously associated with the risk of advanced AMD in a large meta-analysis of
      advanced cases and controls. We then selected for sequencing 39 cases with
      bilateral choroidal neovascularization with the lowest genetic risk scores to
      detect risk variants and 36 unaffected controls with the highest genetic risk
      score to detect protective variants. After minimizing the influence of 19 common
      genetic risk loci on case-control status, we targeted single variants of large
      effect and the aggregate effect of weaker variants within genes and pathways.
      Single variant tests were conducted on all variants, while gene-based and pathway
      analyses were conducted on three subsets of data: 1) rare (<=1% MAF in the
      European population) stop, splice, or damaging missense variants, 2) all rare
      variants, and 3) all variants. All analyses controlled for the effects of age and
      sex. RESULTS: No variant, gene, or pathway outside regions known to be associated
      with risk for advanced AMD reached genome-wide significance. However, we
      identified several variants with substantial differences in allele frequency
      between cases and controls with strong additive effects on affection status after
      controlling for age and sex. Protective effects trending toward significance were
      detected at two loci identified in single-variant analyses: an intronic variant
      in FBLN7 (the gene encoding fibulin 7) and at three variants near pyridoxal
      (pyridoxine, vitamin B6) kinase (PDXK). Aggregate rare-variant analyses suggested
      evidence for association at ASRGL1, a gene previously linked to photoreceptor
      cell death, and at BSDC1. In known AMD loci we also identified 29 novel or rare
      damaging missense or stop/splice variants in our sample of cases and controls.
      CONCLUSIONS: Identified variants and genes may highlight regions important in the
      pathogenesis of AMD and are key targets for replication.

PMID- 27625573
TI  - Biological Networks for Cancer Candidate Biomarkers Discovery.
AB  - Due to its extraordinary heterogeneity and complexity, cancer is often proposed
      as a model case of a systems biology disease or network disease. There is a
      critical need of effective biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and/or outcome
      prediction from system level analyses. Methods based on integrating omics data
      into networks have the potential to revolutionize the identification of cancer
      biomarkers. Deciphering the biological networks underlying cancer is undoubtedly
      important for understanding the molecular mechanisms of the disease and
      identifying effective biomarkers. In this review, the networks constructed for
      cancer biomarker discovery based on different omics level data are described and
      illustrated from recent advances in the field. 

PMID- 27625574
TI  - Stability-Indicating High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Assay for the
      Determination of Sulthiame in Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms.
AB  - A stability-indicating assay by reversed-phase high performance liquid
      chromatography method was developed and validated for the determination of
      sulthiame (STM). The chromatographic separation was achieved on a reversed-phase
      NovaPack C18 column and an isocratic mobile phase consisting of deionized
      water:methanol (70:30, v/v). The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min (ultraviolet detection
      at 210 nm). The STM was separated within 2.83 min. The linearity of the method
      was demonstrated in the range of 20.0-200.0 MUg/mL and a coefficient of
      determination of r (2) = 0.9999. The limits of detection and quantification were
      4.2 and 9.5 MUg/mL, respectively. The intraday and interday precisions were less
      than 1%. Accuracy of the method ranged from 98.3% to 101.7%, with a relative
      standard deviation of <1%. STM was degraded by accelerated breakdown in alkaline,
      acidic, or oxidative stress conditions. This method allows accurate and reliable
      determination of STM for drug stability assay in pharmaceutical studies. 

PMID- 27625577
TI  - Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated with Severity of Acute Coronary Syndrome in
      Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and High Rates of Sun Exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with cardiovascular risk
      factors, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Evidence shows that patients
      with low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentrations have a higher risk of
      developing coronary artery disease. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to
      assess vitamin D as a predictor of the severity in diabetics with acute coronary
      syndrome (ACS). METHODS: A total of 166 patients were diagnosed with ACS. Serum
      25OHD concentrations were analyzed, and risk factors for ACS were evaluated.
      RESULTS: Patients diagnosed as having acute myocardial infarction with elevation
      of the ST segment had a higher rate of 25OHD, <20 ng/mL compared to >=30 ng/mL
      (47.8% * 13.4%, P = 0.03). Diabetics with vitamin D deficiency had more
      multivessel lesions in the coronary angiography than non-diabetics (69% * 31.8%,
      P = 0.007). After adjustments for confounders, serum 25OHD remained associated
      with more severe disease. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with
      more severe ACS and is a predictor of more extensive coronary lesions in patients
      with T2DM.

PMID- 27625578
TI  - Risky health behaviors among students in Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi
      Arabia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Risky behaviors are those that potentially expose people to harm,
      or significant risk of harm, which prevent them from reaching their potential in
      life and which can cause significant morbidity or mortality. OBJECTIVES: The
      objectives of the study were to determine the overall prevalence of risky
      behaviors among university students; to determine the prevalence of smoking,
      drifting, fast driving and physical inactivity among university students; and to
      determine the associations between such behavior and demographic characteristics.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational cross-sectional study conducted in three
      colleges. The data were randomly collected from 340 students aged 18-30 years
      from February to March 2015 using a self-administered questionnaire in Arabic.
      The data were entered using SPSS v 22.0. Mean and standard deviation were
      calculated for quantitative variables, and frequency and percentages were
      computed for categorical variables. Chi-square or Fisher's Exact test, as
      appropriate, were used to test for statistical significance. RESULTS: The overall
      prevalence of risky behaviors (smoking, drifting, fast driving, and physical
      inactivity) among students was 47.35%. Overall, 28% of the students were smokers,
      25.2% were involved in drifting, 60.9% reported driving fast, and 66.4% were
      physically inactive. The age between 18-20 years was significantly associated
      with higher rates of drifting, fast driving, and physical inactivity. CONCLUSION:
      The prevalence of risky behaviors among university students was high. Physical
      inactivity and fast driving were the most common identified risky behaviors.
      Increasing awareness of these risks in the youth may significantly decrease
      related morbidities, complications, and even mortalities.

PMID- 27625579
TI  - Using prefrailty to detect early disability.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In an aging population, new strategies are required to identify
      individuals at risk of adverse health outcomes. Frailty syndrome is related to
      negative health events. This increased risk may be used to identify individuals
      in which interventions can delay the onset of physical and functional
      complications. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the
      onset of frailty and the beginning of functional disability. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional observational study with consecutive sampling
      to analyze 146 patients aged seventy and older who come to the primary care
      center. The level of frailty was registered according to fatigue, resistance,
      ambulation, illnesses, and loss of weight scale. Disability for Instrumental
      Activities of Daily Live dependency, comorbidity, and social risk factors was
      registered too. RESULTS: The prevalence of frailty and prefrailty was 17.8% and
      39%, respectively, and were associated with age, level of disability, and the
      presence of gastrointestinal disease. Prefrail patients had initial levels of
      dependency, while those who were not frail were mostly independent. CONCLUSION:
      Frailty syndrome is easily detectable. The intermediate stage known as prefrailty
      is related to the start of the functional disability. The syndrome screening
      identifies individuals at risk in whom we can potentially intervene to delay the
      onset of the syndrome and delay functional disability. Control of comorbidity in
      frail patients must be studied. Screening age could be set in patients between 75
      and 81 years old.

PMID- 27625576
TI  - Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Diagnosis and Clinical Manifestations.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a parenchymal lung disease characterized
      by progressive interstitial fibrosis. The clinical course of IPF can be
      unpredictable and may be punctuated by acute exacerbations. Although much
      progress is being made in unraveling the mechanisms underlying IPF, effective
      therapy for improving survival remains elusive. Longitudinal disease profiling,
      especially in terms of clinical manifestations in a large cohort of patients,
      should lead to proper management of the patients and development of new
      treatments for IPF. Appropriate multidisciplinary assessment in ongoing
      registries is required to achieve this. This review summarizes the current status
      of the diagnosis and clinical manifestations of IPF. 

PMID- 27625580
TI  - Attitudes and perceptions towards HPV vaccination among young women in Saudi
      Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rising incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical
      cancer can be reduced by effective vaccination. Saudi Food and Drug
      Administration approved prophylactic HPV vaccine in 2010 for females of 11-26
      years. OBJECTIVES: To determine the awareness of HPV infection, its health sequel
      and the attitude and barriers to the acceptance of HPV vaccine by young women in
      Saudi Arabia. Dynamics influencing the decision of patients and parents regarding
      vaccination were assessed to foster effective and strategically focused
      interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients of Family Medicine department,
      King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh were invited to
      participate in this study from January 2012 to June 2014. A culturally sensitive
      and specially designed questionnaire was administered using an interview-based
      model to assess the knowledge, perception, and associated sociodemographic
      factors of HPV. RESULTS: A total of 325 patients participated as per the
      inclusion criteria: 87.4% were Saudis, 53.5% had university or higher education
      and 65.2% were adolescents (age 11-19 years). The questionnaire was answered by
      participants (50.8%) or guardians (49.2%). About 34.5% of the population was
      aware of HPV infection, and 27.4% were aware of its relation with cervical
      cancer. However, awareness of the HPV vaccine, perception of its prevention of
      cervical cancer and other HPV-related disease was relatively low (32.3%), Saudis
      (29.9%) versus non-Saudis (48.8%) (P = 0.016). More guardians (41.2%) were aware
      of the HPV vaccine and its impact than participants (27.9%) (P = 0.01). Higher
      educational background (43.1%) increased the knowledge of HPV compared to less
      than high school education (24.5%) (odds ratio: 2.33; 95% confidence interval:
      1.44-3.76). Nearly 64.3% of participants agreed, and 35.7% refused to receive the
      HPV vaccine. CONCLUSION: Knowledge and perception of HPV infection as an sexually
      transmitted infections and its vaccine was significantly low in this cohort of
      patients. Higher age and educational levels directly correlated with increased
      knowledge of HPV infection and its complications. It is recommended that
      awareness should be raised, and access to HPV vaccination increased to help
      reduce the health care burden of HPV sequelae in the Kingdom.

PMID- 27625581
TI  - Serum Vitamin B12 and thyroid hormone levels in Saudi patients with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationship between Vitamin B12 levels and thyroid
      hormones in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One
      hundred and ten patients with MS were recruited for this study after
      Institutional Review Board approval. All patients signed a written informed
      consent form and donated a single blood sample. Plasma Vitamin B12 levels,
      triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroxine (T4) hormone levels were measured. Data were
      analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software.
      RESULTS: Analysis of Vitamin B12 levels in 110 patients with MS revealed that 65%
      had normal levels of Vitamin B12 (200-900 pg/ml), 30% had low levels of Vitamin
      B12 (<200 pg/ml), and 5% high levels of Vitamin B12 (higher than 900 pg/ml).
      Further analysis of patients with low levels of Vitamin B12 revealed that this
      cohort exhibited a significantly high number of patients with low levels of the
      thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) (P < 0.005).
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests a relationship between Vitamin B12 levels and
      thyroid hormones. This opens the possibility that the use of therapies that
      increase triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) levels might be beneficial to
      patients with MS.

PMID- 27625582
TI  - Efficacy of patient discharge instructions: A pointer toward caregiver friendly
      communication methods from pediatric emergency personnel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Discharge instructions are vital in postemergency patient care to
      help the caregiver understand the diagnosis and identify symptoms which require
      prompt readmission. In general, oral or written instructions are provided on
      discharge. However, there is a dearth of information on the efficacy of discharge
      instructions provided by physicians in KSA. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy
      of discharge instructions for postpediatrics emergency visit. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This observational cross-sectional survey conducted in the Department of
      Paediatric Emergency at King Abdul Aziz Medical City, Riyadh, KSA, included 173
      literate adult caregivers who had given their consent. Those who had been on
      admission earlier and been discharged from the emergency department were
      excluded. Demographic data and variables like knowledge of medicine and treatment
      follow-up were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS
      version 16. RESULTS: Verbal only, written only, or both verbal and written
      discharge instructions were provided. Written and verbal instructions, when
      provided together, were the most effective modes of communication with
      caregivers. The majority of the respondents were unaware of the follow-up plan
      (64.16%), unable to identify problems that would necessitate a follow-up
      (58.96%), and unable to identify the signs and symptoms that would require a
      revisit (62.43%) irrespective of the mode of instruction. However, more attention
      is necessary because of the 34.68% of the subjects who left the hospital without
      discharge instructions. CONCLUSIONS: Instructions given both verbally and in
      writing were observed to be more effective than verbal only or written only. The
      effectiveness of discharge instructions was highly influenced by the level of
      education of the caregivers. Improved caregiver friendly methods of communication
      from the pediatric emergency health-care team are necessary for the delivery of
      discharge instructions.

PMID- 27625583
TI  - Clinical presentation and treatment outcome of molar pregnancy: Ten years
      experience at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical presentation and treatment outcome of molar
      pregnancy at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Reviewed medical records of all molar pregnancy cases among all the
      deliveries at a tertiary care hospital in Dammam from 2005 to 2014, after
      approval by institutional ethical review committee. Data abstracted included
      patient's age, parity, presenting symptoms, gestational age at diagnosis, uterine
      size, ultrasonographic findings, BhCG level at the time of diagnosis and at
      follow-up after evacuation, and blood loss during evacuation. Data was entered
      and analyzed using Excel; frequency distribution for categorical variables and
      descriptive statistics for continuous variables were computed. RESULTS: Of a
      total of 25,000 deliveries in ten years, 22 cases of complete molar pregnancy
      were encountered: 0.9 cases of molar pregnancy per 1000 pregnancies. Majority of
      patients (63.7%) were older than 35 years, and were nulliparous (45.5%). The
      commonest symptom was vaginal bleeding (86.4%) followed by hyperemesis gravidarum
      (41.0%); Hyperthyroidism was seen in 1 patient (4.5%). Ovarian enlargement by
      theca-lutin cyst was seen in 3 patients (13.6%). The majority of patients (63.6%)
      had normal BhCG within 9 weeks (63 days) after suction curettage. The majority of
      the cases followed a benign course. CONCLUSION: Aged older than 35 years seems a
      risk factor and vaginal bleeding is the commonest presenting symptom. Early
      booking of pregnant women to antenatal care clinics and routine first trimester
      ultrasound made diagnosis easier and earlier before complications appear.

PMID- 27625584
TI  - Perceived stress and associated factors among medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stress and its psychological manifestations are currently a major
      source of concern. Medical education poses challenging and potentially
      threatening demands for students throughout the world. OBJECTIVES: To determine
      the prevalence and factors associated with perceived stress in medical students
      in the College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health
      Sciences, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This was a cross-sectional study on all medical students of batches 9, 10, and
      11, which constituted all the enrolled students. Data were collected using a
      questionnaire based on the Kessler10 psychological distress instrument with a
      total score ranging from 10 to 50 points in addition to some sociodemographic
      characteristics. Appropriate statistical test procedures were used to study the
      magnitude of stress and its risk factors. RESULTS: Mean stress score of the
      eighty participants was 26.03 +/- 9.7. Students with severe stress constituted
      33.8%, and 30% were well. Severe stress was significantly associated with female
      gender and junior level. Nervousness, feeling hopeless, feeling restless, and
      depressed were the most important factors affecting students' stress scores.
      Factor analysis revealed three hidden factors for stress in this group, namely,
      depression, nervousness, and age. CONCLUSION: Stress in medical students is
      prevalent and significantly associated with the female gender and the junior
      level. Implementation of coping programs is necessary.

PMID- 27625585
TI  - Patients' attitudes towards the participation of medical students in clinical
      examination and care in Western Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients are essential for the acquisition and
      development of medical students clinical skills for their tasks. The study aimed
      to identify factors that influence patients' attitudes towards the involvement of
      medical students in clinical examination and care in Western Saudi Arabia.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire was
      conducted among Saudi and non-Saudi patients at two university hospitals in
      Jeddah, Western Saudi Arabia. Information sought included demographic
      characteristics (age, gender, educational level, job, income, and marital
      status); patients' attitude and comfort level towards different types of
      students' involvement; factors influencing patients' cooperation with medical
      students (students' level of training, manner, skills, and attire. All these were
      assessed on a five-point Likert scale. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS v
      19. RESULTS: Four hundred and seventeen adult patients participated. Fifty-one
      percent indicated a positive attitude towards involving medical students in
      clinical examination and care. Female and young patients (<45 years old) were
      more likely to be negative in their attitude and be less comfortable towards
      involving medical students in their care. The highest overall mean comfort score
      was with medical students taking history followed by observations and less
      invasive examination. Patients' mean confidence scores regarding students' attire
      were the highest for female traditional attire and for scrub suit for males.
      CONCLUSION: Of the influential factors that could affect patients' willingness to
      cooperate with medical students, clinical skills followed by manner and level of
      training ranked first. Ensuring that students mastered specific procedures before
      coming into direct contact with patients using patient simulators, for example,
      would improve patients' acceptance of student participation.

PMID- 27625575
TI  - Reactive Oxygen Species: Physiological and Physiopathological Effects on Synaptic
      Plasticity.
AB  - In the mammalian central nervous system, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation
      is counterbalanced by antioxidant defenses. When large amounts of ROS accumulate,
      antioxidant mechanisms become overwhelmed and oxidative cellular stress may
      occur. Therefore, ROS are typically characterized as toxic molecules, oxidizing
      membrane lipids, changing the conformation of proteins, damaging nucleic acids,
      and causing deficits in synaptic plasticity. High ROS concentrations are
      associated with a decline in cognitive functions, as observed in some
      neurodegenerative disorders and age-dependent decay of neuroplasticity.
      Nevertheless, controlled ROS production provides the optimal redox state for the
      activation of transductional pathways involved in synaptic changes. Since ROS may
      regulate neuronal activity and elicit negative effects at the same time, the
      distinction between beneficial and deleterious consequences is unclear. In this
      regard, this review assesses current research and describes the main sources of
      ROS in neurons, specifying their involvement in synaptic plasticity and
      distinguishing between physiological and pathological processes implicated. 

PMID- 27625587
TI  - Promotion of voluntary blood donation among hospital employees.

PMID- 27625586
TI  - Parents' perception of children's obesity, in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although the prevalence of childhood obesity has
      increased significantly in Saudi Arabia, parents are unable to appreciate obesity
      in their child. The objective of the study was to identify the percentage of
      parents who misclassify the status of child's weight, and determine whether there
      is a difference between those parents whose children are overweight and obese and
      those with children of normal weight. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional
      study included 601 children aged 6-10 years. The children were recruited from the
      primary schools located in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The body mass index of the
      children was assessed in the school, and their parents responded to a self
      administered questionnaire which contained questions on parental perception of
      the children's weight/obesity status. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS.
      RESULTS: Parents with overweight/obese children had significantly more
      misclassification than those with normal weight children. Ninety percent of
      parents of the 81 overweight children misclassified and reported that their child
      had normal weight, while 65% of parents of the 61 obese children, misclassified
      the child's weight status. CONCLUSIONS: The level of misclassification of
      children's weight status by parents is high. Saudi parents with overweight and
      obese children do not recognize their child's weight status. Parents' awareness
      of childhood obesity and its negative health impact needs to be improved.

PMID- 27625588
TI  - Comment on: Social anxiety disorder in Saudi adolescent boys: Prevalence,
      subtypes, and parenting styles as a risk factor.

PMID- 27625590
TI  - Chondroprotective effect of high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid on
      osteoarthritic chondrocytes in a co-cultivation inflammation model with M1
      macrophages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is described by an imbalance between anabolic and
      catabolic processes in the affected joint. This dysregulation of metabolism
      affects not only chondrocytes within cartilage tissue but also the cells of the
      synovial membrane across the border of the joint. An important factor in OA is
      the low viscosity of the synovial fluid. High-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid
      (HA) can be used to increase the viscosity and also reduce inflammatory
      processes. The purpose was to establish an in vitro inflammation model and to
      evaluate the effects of high-molecular-weight HA in a co-cultivation inflammation
      model of osteoarthritic chondrocytes and M1 macrophages. METHODS: For the
      establishment of the inflammation model THP-1 cells were, at first,
      differentiated to M0 macrophages and then activated to the M1 subtype after 5
      days of resting period. Surface markers, cytokine release, and gene expression,
      were analyzed to examine the successful differentiation. In the inflammation
      model, the defined M1 macrophages were co-cultivated with osteoarthritic
      chondrocytes for 2 days, with and without the addition of 10 % HA and further
      analyzed for chondrogenic gene expression markers and the release of cytokines in
      the supernatant. RESULTS: The differentiation and activation process was
      successful as M1 macrophages expressed higher levels of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines and specific genes. Similarly, the surface marker CD14 was
      significantly decreased compared to M0 macrophages. For the co-culture system,
      the analysis of gene expression showed that HA increased the expression of
      cartilage-specific genes while catabolic-encoding genes exhibited lower
      expression levels than the control group. This positive effect of HA was also
      demonstrated by the measurement of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as their level
      decreased. CONCLUSION: Our study implies that high-molecular-weight HA has a
      chondroprotective effect in the present co-cultivation inflammation model, as it
      decreases pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases anabolic factors.

PMID- 27625589
TI  - Safety climate and readiness for implementation of evidence and person centered
      practice - A national study of registered nurses in general surgical care at
      Swedish university hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rationale behind this study is the increasing research on
      relationships between patient safety, evidence based practice and person centered
      care, and the growing interest in outcomes of surgical patients. The aim of this
      study was to explore the safety climate and readiness to implement evidence-based
      and person centered care as perceived by registered nurses in Swedish surgical
      care. METHODS: The design was an exploratory, cross-sectional survey carried out
      in a national Swedish context. Data were collected through the Safety Attitudes
      Questionnaire (SAQ - Short form) and the Context Assessment Index (CAI). RESULTS:
      In total, 1570 questionnaires were distributed, of which 727 were returned,
      giving a response rate of 46.3 %. The results revealed that in general, the
      safety climate in Swedish surgical care is positively related to readiness for
      evidence-based and person centered care, although specific management and
      cultural factors may be more sensitive and represent targets for improvement.
      CONCLUSION: This study presents new knowledge regarding the safety climate and
      readiness to implement evidence based practice and person centered care in
      general surgical wards in university hospitals and indicates important
      associations between these two areas. While RNs generally reported positive job
      satisfaction and a good team work culture in their units, there were indications
      that improvements in organizational management are needed.

PMID- 27625591
TI  - Bidirectional Expression of Metabolic, Structural, and Immune Pathways in Early
      Myopia and Hyperopia.
AB  - Myopia (short-sightedness) affects 1.45 billion people worldwide, many of whom
      will develop sight-threatening secondary disorders. Myopic eyes are characterized
      by excessive size while hyperopic (long-sighted) eyes are typically small. The
      biological and genetic mechanisms underpinning the retina's local control of
      these growth patterns remain unclear. In the present study, we used RNA
      sequencing to examine gene expression in the retina/RPE/choroid across 3 days of
      optically-induced myopia and hyperopia induction in chick. Data were analyzed for
      differential expression of single genes, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA)
      was used to identify gene sets correlated with ocular axial length and refraction
      across lens groups. Like previous studies, we found few single genes that were
      differentially-expressed in a sign-of-defocus dependent manner (only BMP2 at 1
      day). Using GSEA, however, we are the first to show that more subtle shifts in
      structural, metabolic, and immune pathway expression are correlated with the eye
      size and refractive changes induced by lens defocus. Our findings link gene
      expression with the morphological characteristics of refractive error, and
      suggest that physiological stress arising from metabolic and inflammatory pathway
      activation could increase the vulnerability of myopic eyes to secondary
      pathologies. 

PMID- 27625592
TI  - Nucleus Accumbens Shell and mPFC but Not Insula Orexin-1 Receptors Promote
      Excessive Alcohol Drinking.
AB  - Addiction to alcohol remains a major social and economic problem, in part because
      of the high motivation for alcohol that humans exhibit and the hazardous binge
      intake this promotes. Orexin-1-type receptors (OX1Rs) promote reward intake under
      conditions of strong drives for reward, including excessive alcohol intake. While
      systemic modulation of OX1Rs can alter alcohol drinking, the brain regions that
      mediate this OX1R enhancement of excessive drinking remain unknown. Given the
      importance of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and anterior insular cortex (aINS) in
      driving many addictive behaviors, including OX1Rs within these regions, we
      examined the importance of OX1Rs in these regions on excessive alcohol drinking
      in C57BL/6 mice during limited-access alcohol drinking in the dark cycle.
      Inhibition of OX1Rs with the widely used SB-334867 within the medial NAc Shell
      (mNAsh) significantly reduced drinking of alcohol, with no effect on saccharin
      intake, and no effect on alcohol consumption when infused above the mNAsh. In
      contrast, intra-mNAsh infusion of the orexin-2 receptor TCS-OX2-29 had no impact
      on alcohol drinking. In addition, OX1R inhibition within the aINS had no effect
      on excessive drinking, which was surprising given the importance of aINS-NAc
      circuits in promoting alcohol consumption and the role for aINS OX1Rs in driving
      nicotine intake. However, OX1R inhibition within the mPFC did reduce alcohol
      drinking, indicating cortical OXR involvement in promoting intake. Also, in
      support of the critical role for mNAsh OX1Rs, SB within the mNAsh also
      significantly reduced operant alcohol self-administration in rats. Finally,
      orexin ex vivo enhanced firing in mNAsh neurons from alcohol-drinking mice, with
      no effect on evoked EPSCs or input resistance; a similar orexin increase in
      firing without a change in input resistance was observed in alcohol-naive mice.
      Taken together, our results suggest that OX1Rs within the mNAsh and mPFC, but not
      the aINS, play a central role in driving excessive alcohol drinking. 

PMID- 27625593
TI  - Biomusic: An Auditory Interface for Detecting Physiological Indicators of Anxiety
      in Children.
AB  - For children with profound disabilities affecting communication, it can be
      extremely challenging to identify salient emotions such as anxiety. If left
      unmanaged, anxiety can lead to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other
      psychological diagnoses. Physiological signals of the autonomic nervous system
      are indicative of anxiety, but can be difficult to interpret for non-specialist
      caregivers. This paper evaluates an auditory interface for intuitive detection of
      anxiety from physiological signals. The interface, called "Biomusic," maps
      physiological signals to music (i.e., electrodermal activity to melody; skin
      temperature to musical key; heart rate to drum beat; respiration to a "whooshing"
      embellishment resembling the sound of an exhalation). The Biomusic interface was
      tested in two experiments. Biomusic samples were generated from physiological
      recordings of typically developing children (n = 10) and children with autism
      spectrum disorders (n = 5) during relaxing and anxiety-provoking conditions.
      Adult participants (n = 16) were then asked to identify "anxious" or "relaxed"
      states by listening to the samples. In a classification task with 30 Biomusic
      samples (1 relaxed state, 1 anxious state per child), classification accuracy,
      sensitivity, and specificity were 80.8% [standard error (SE) = 2.3], 84.9% (SE =
      3.0), and 76.8% (SE = 3.9), respectively. Participants were able to form an early
      and accurate impression of the anxiety state within 12.1 (SE = 0.7) seconds of
      hearing the Biomusic with very little training (i.e., < 10 min) and no contextual
      information. Biomusic holds promise for monitoring, communication, and
      biofeedback systems for anxiety management. 

PMID- 27625594
TI  - Implication of Genetic Deletion of Wdr13 in Mice: Mild Anxiety, Better
      Performance in Spatial Memory Task, with Upregulation of Multiple Synaptic
      Proteins.
AB  - WDR13 expresses from the X chromosome and has a highly conserved coding sequence.
      There have been multiple associations of WDR13 with memory. However, its detailed
      function in context of brain and behavior remains unknown. We characterized the
      behavioral phenotype of 2 month old male mice lacking the homolog of WDR13 gene
      (Wdr13 (-/0)). Taking cue from analysis of its expression in the brain, we chose
      hippocampus for molecular studies to delineate its function. Wdr13 (-/0) mice
      spent less time in the central area of the open field test (OFT) and with the
      novel object in novel object recognition test (NOR) as compared to the wild-type.
      However, these mice didn't show any significant changes in total time spent in
      arms or in frequency of arm entries in elevated plus maze (EPM). In the absence
      of Wdr13, there was a significant upregulation of synaptic proteins, viz., SYN1,
      RAB3A, CAMK2A etc. accompanied with increased spine density of hippocampal CA1
      neurons and better spatial memory in mice as measured by increased time spent in
      the target quadrant of Morris water maze (MWM) during probe test. Parallel study
      from our lab has established c-JUN, ER alpha/beta, and HDAC 1,3,7 as interacting
      partners of WDR13. WDR13 represses transcription from AP1 (c-JUN responsive) and
      Estrogen Receptor Element (ERE) promoters. We hypothesized that absence of Wdr13
      would result in de-regulated expression of a number of genes including multiple
      synaptic genes leading to the observed phenotype. Knocking down Wdr13 in Neuro2a
      cell lines led to increased transcripts of Camk2a and Nrxn2 consistent with in
      vivo results. Summarily, our data provides functional evidence for the role of
      Wdr13 in brain. 

PMID- 27625595
TI  - Causal Interrogation of Neuronal Networks and Behavior through Virally Transduced
      Ivermectin Receptors.
AB  - The causal interrogation of neuronal networks involved in specific behaviors
      requires the spatially and temporally controlled modulation of neuronal activity.
      For long-term manipulation of neuronal activity, chemogenetic tools provide a
      reasonable alternative to short-term optogenetic approaches. Here we show that
      virus mediated gene transfer of the ivermectin (IVM) activated glycine receptor
      mutant GlyRalpha1 (AG) can be used for the selective and reversible silencing of
      specific neuronal networks in mice. In the striatum, dorsal hippocampus, and
      olfactory bulb, GlyRalpha1 (AG) promoted IVM dependent effects in representative
      behavioral assays. Moreover, GlyRalpha1 (AG) mediated silencing had a strong and
      reversible impact on neuronal ensemble activity and c-Fos activation in the
      olfactory bulb. Together our results demonstrate that long-term, reversible and
      re-inducible neuronal silencing via GlyRalpha1 (AG) is a promising tool for the
      interrogation of network mechanisms underlying the control of behavior and memory
      formation. 

PMID- 27625597
TI  - Editorial: At Risk for Neuropsychiatric Disorders: An Affective Neuroscience
      Approach to Understanding the Spectrum.

PMID- 27625596
TI  - Cortical Plasticity and Olfactory Function in Early Blindness.
AB  - Over the last decade, functional brain imaging has provided insight to the
      maturation processes and has helped elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms
      involved in brain plasticity in the absence of vision. In case of congenital
      blindness, drastic changes occur within the deafferented "visual" cortex that
      starts receiving and processing non visual inputs, including olfactory stimuli.
      This functional reorganization of the occipital cortex gives rise to compensatory
      perceptual and cognitive mechanisms that help blind persons achieve perceptual
      tasks, leading to superior olfactory abilities in these subjects. This view
      receives support from psychophysical testing, volumetric measurements and
      functional brain imaging studies in humans, which are presented here. 

PMID- 27625598
TI  - Electrophysiological Correlates of the Autobiographical Implicit Association Test
      (aIAT): Response Conflict and Conflict Resolution.
AB  - The autobiographical IAT (aIAT) is an implicit behavioral instrument that can
      detect autobiographical memories encoded in an individual's mind by measuring how
      quickly this person can categorize and associate sentences related to a specific
      event with the logical dimensions true and false. Faster categorization when an
      event (e.g., I went to Paris) is associated with the dimension true than false
      indicates that that specific event is encoded as true in the individual's mind.
      The aim of this study is to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of
      the aIAT, used as a memory-detection technique (i.e., to identify which of two
      events is true). To this end, we recorded ERPs while participants performed an
      aIAT assessing which of two playing cards they had previously selected. We found
      an increased N200 and a decreased LPC (or P300) at the fronto-central sites when
      participants associated the selected playing card with the dimension false than
      true. Notably, both components have been previously and consistently reported in
      studies investigating deception. These results suggest that associating a true
      autobiographical event with the concept of false may involve the same cognitive
      processes associated with deception. 

PMID- 27625599
TI  - Calibration of the Leg Muscle Responses Elicited by Predictable Perturbations of
      Stance and the Effect of Vision.
AB  - Motor adaptation due to task practice implies a gradual shift from deliberate
      control of behavior to automatic processing, which is less resource- and effort
      demanding. This is true both for deliberate aiming movements and for more
      stereotyped movements such as locomotion and equilibrium maintenance. Balance
      control under persisting critical conditions would require large conscious and
      motor effort in the absence of gradual modification of the behavior. We defined
      time-course of kinematic and muscle features of the process of adaptation to
      repeated, predictable perturbations of balance eliciting both reflex and
      anticipatory responses. Fifty-nine sinusoidal (10 cm, 0.6 Hz) platform
      displacement cycles were administered to 10 subjects eyes-closed (EC) and eyes
      open (EO). Head and Center of Mass (CoM) position, ankle angle and Tibialis
      Anterior (TA) and Soleus (Sol) EMG were assessed. EMG bursts were classified as
      reflex or anticipatory based on the relationship between burst amplitude and
      ankle angular velocity. Muscle activity decreased over time, to a much larger
      extent for TA than Sol. The attenuation was larger for the reflex than the
      anticipatory responses. Regardless of muscle activity attenuation, latency of
      muscle bursts and peak-to-peak CoM displacement did not change across
      perturbation cycles. Vision more than doubled speed and the amount of EMG
      adaptation particularly for TA activity, rapidly enhanced body segment
      coordination, and crucially reduced head displacement. The findings give new
      insight on the mode of amplitude- and time-modulation of motor output during
      adaptation in a balancing task, advocate a protocol for assessing flexibility of
      balance strategies, and provide a reference for addressing balance problems in
      patients with movement disorders. 

PMID- 27625600
TI  - Neurophysiologic Correlates of Post-stroke Mood and Emotional Control.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Emotional disturbance is a common complication of stroke significantly
      affecting functional recovery and quality of life. Identifying relevant
      neurophysiologic markers associated with post-stroke emotional disturbance may
      lead to a better understanding of this disabling condition, guiding the
      diagnosis, development of new interventions and the assessments of treatment
      response. METHODS: Thirty-five subjects with chronic stroke were enrolled in this
      study. The emotion sub-domain of Stroke Impact Scale (SIS-Emotion) was used to
      assess post-stroke mood and emotional control. The relation between SIS-Emotion
      and neurophysiologic measures was assessed by using covariance mapping and
      univariate linear regression. Multivariate analyses were conducted to identify
      and adjust for potential confounders. Neurophysiologic measures included power
      asymmetry and coherence assessed by electroencephalography (EEG); and motor
      threshold, intracortical inhibition (ICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF)
      measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). RESULTS: Lower scores on SIS
      Emotion was associated with (1) frontal EEG power asymmetry in alpha and beta
      bands, (2) central EEG power asymmetry in alpha and theta bands, and (3) lower
      inter-hemispheric coherence over frontal and central areas in alpha band. SIS
      Emotion also correlated with higher ICF and MT in the unlesioned hemisphere as
      measured by TMS. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study using EEG
      and TMS to index neurophysiologic changes associated with post-stroke mood and
      emotional control. Our results suggest that inter-hemispheric imbalance measured
      by EEG power and coherence, as well as an increased ICF in the unlesioned
      hemisphere measured by TMS might be relevant markers associated with post-stroke
      mood and emotional control which can guide future studies investigating new
      diagnostic and treatment modalities in stroke rehabilitation.

PMID- 27625601
TI  - Parkinsonian Balance Deficits Quantified Using a Game Industry Board and a
      Specific Battery of Four Paradigms.
AB  - This study describes a cost-effective screening protocol for parkinsonism based
      on combined objective and subjective monitoring of balance function. Objective
      evaluation of balance function was performed using a game industry balance board
      and an automated analyses of the dynamic of the center of pressure in time,
      frequency, and non-linear domains collected during short series of stand up tests
      with different modalities and severity of sensorial deprivation. The subjective
      measurement of balance function was performed using the Dizziness Handicap
      Inventory questionnaire. Principal component analyses on both objective and
      subjective measurements of balance function allowed to obtained a specificity and
      selectivity for parkinsonian patients (vs. healthy subjects) of 0.67 and 0.71
      respectively. The findings are discussed regarding the relevance of cost
      effective balance-based screening system as strategy to meet the needs of broader
      and earlier screening for parkinsonism in communities with limited access to
      healthcare. 

PMID- 27625603
TI  - Intensive Treatment with Ultrasound Visual Feedback for Speech Sound Errors in
      Childhood Apraxia.
AB  - Ultrasound imaging is an adjunct to traditional speech therapy that has shown to
      be beneficial in the remediation of speech sound errors. Ultrasound biofeedback
      can be utilized during therapy to provide clients with additional knowledge about
      their tongue shapes when attempting to produce sounds that are erroneous. The
      additional feedback may assist children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) in
      stabilizing motor patterns, thereby facilitating more consistent and accurate
      productions of sounds and syllables. However, due to its specialized nature,
      ultrasound visual feedback is a technology that is not widely available to
      clients. Short-term intensive treatment programs are one option that can be
      utilized to expand access to ultrasound biofeedback. Schema-based motor learning
      theory suggests that short-term intensive treatment programs (massed practice)
      may assist children in acquiring more accurate motor patterns. In this case
      series, three participants ages 10-14 years diagnosed with CAS attended 16 h of
      speech therapy over a 2-week period to address residual speech sound errors. Two
      participants had distortions on rhotic sounds, while the third participant
      demonstrated lateralization of sibilant sounds. During therapy, cues were
      provided to assist participants in obtaining a tongue shape that facilitated a
      correct production of the erred sound. Additional practice without ultrasound was
      also included. Results suggested that all participants showed signs of
      acquisition of sounds in error. Generalization and retention results were mixed.
      One participant showed generalization and retention of sounds that were treated;
      one showed generalization but limited retention; and the third showed no evidence
      of generalization or retention. Individual characteristics that may facilitate
      generalization are discussed. Short-term intensive treatment programs using
      ultrasound biofeedback may result in the acquisition of more accurate motor
      patterns and improved articulation of sounds previously in error, with varying
      levels of generalization and retention. 

PMID- 27625602
TI  - Observing Grasping Actions Directed to Emotion-Laden Objects: Effects upon
      Corticospinal Excitability.
AB  - The motor system is recruited whenever one executes an action as well as when one
      observes the same action being executed by others. Although it is well
      established that emotion modulates the motor system, the effect of observing
      other individuals acting in an emotional context is particularly elusive. The
      main aim of this study was to investigate the effect induced by the observation
      of grasping directed to emotion-laden objects upon corticospinal excitability
      (CSE). Participants classified video-clips depicting the right-hand of an actor
      grasping emotion-laden objects. Twenty video-clips differing in terms of valence
      but balanced in arousal level were selected. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were
      then recorded from the first dorsal interosseous using transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (TMS) while the participants observed the selected emotional video
      clips. During the video-clip presentation, TMS pulses were randomly applied at
      one of two different time points of grasping: (1) maximum grip aperture, and (2)
      object contact time. CSE was higher during the observation of grasping directed
      to unpleasant objects compared to pleasant ones. These results indicate that when
      someone observes an action of grasping directed to emotion-laden objects, the
      effect of the object valence promotes a specific modulation over the motor
      system. 

PMID- 27625604
TI  - Fitness and ERP Indices of Cognitive Control Mode during Task Preparation in
      Preadolescent Children.
AB  - A growing number of studies conducted over the past decade have demonstrated that
      greater aerobic fitness is associated with superior cognitive control in
      preadolescent children. Several studies have suggested that the relationship
      between fitness and cognitive control may be attributed to differential reliance
      on proactive vs. reactive cognitive control modes. However, this contention has
      remained speculative, and further studies are needed to better elucidate this
      relationship. We designed the present study to test the hypothesis that use of
      cognitive control modes would differ as a function of childhood fitness. We
      compared performance of lower-fit and higher-fit children on a modified AX
      continuous performance task, commonly used to examine shifts in the use of
      proactive and reactive control, along with cue-P3 and contingent negative
      variation (CNV) of event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Results indicated that
      higher-fit children exhibited greater response accuracy for BX (non-target cue -
      target probe) relative to AY (target cue - non-target probe) trials, whereas
      lower-fit children had comparable response accuracies for AY and BX trials.
      Because enhanced BX performance and impaired AY performance may be attributed to
      the proactive use of context information, these results suggest that greater
      childhood fitness is associated with more effective utilization of proactive
      control. Higher-fit children also exhibited larger cue-P3 amplitude and smaller
      CNV amplitude for BX relative to AY trials, with no such effect of trial type in
      lower-fit children. These ERP results suggest that greater fitness is associated
      with more effective utilization of cue information and response preparation more
      appropriate to trial type, supporting the behavioral findings. The present study
      provides novel insights into the relationship between fitness and cognition from
      the perspective of cognitive control mode during task preparation. 

PMID- 27625605
TI  - Effects of Telephone Counseling Intervention by Pharmacists (TelCIP) on
      Medication Adherence; Results of a Cluster Randomized Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of a pharmacist telephone counseling
      intervention on patients' medication adherence. DESIGN: Pragmatic cluster
      randomized controlled trial. SETTING: 53 Community pharmacies in The Netherlands.
      PARTICIPANTS: Patients >=18 years initiating treatment with antidepressants,
      bisphosphonates, Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS)-inhibitors, or statins (lipid
      lowering drugs). Pharmacies in arm A provided the intervention for
      antidepressants and bisphosphonates and usual care for RAS-inhibitors and
      statins. Pharmacies in arm B provided the intervention for RAS-inhibitors and
      statins and usual care for antidepressants and bisphosphonates. INTERVENTION:
      INTERVENTION consisted of a telephone counseling intervention 7-21 days after the
      start of therapy. Counseling included assessment of practical and perceptual
      barriers and provision of information and motivation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Primary outcome was refill adherence measured over 1 year expressed as continuous
      outcome and dichotomous (refill rate>=80%). Secondary outcome was discontinuation
      within 1 year. RESULTS: In the control arms 3627 patients were eligible and in
      the intervention arms 3094 patients. Of the latter, 1054 patients (34%) received
      the intervention. Intention to treat analysis showed no difference in adherence
      rates between the intervention and the usual care arm (74.7%, SD 37.5
      respectively 74.5%, 37.9). More patients starting with RAS-inhibitors had a
      refill ratio >=80% in the intervention arm compared to usual care (81.4 vs. 74.9%
      with odds ratio (OR) 1.43, 95%CI 1.11-1.99). Comparing patients with counseling
      to patients with usual care (per protocol analysis), adherence was statistically
      significant higher for patients starting with RAS-inhibitors, statins and
      bisphosphonates. Patients initiating antidepressants did not benefit from the
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone counseling at start of therapy improved
      adherence in patients initiating RAS-inhibitors. The per protocol analysis
      indicated an improvement for lipid lowering drugs and bisphosphonates. No effect
      for on adherence in patients initiating antidepressants was found. The trial was
      registered at www.trialregister.nl under the identifier NTR3237.

PMID- 27625606
TI  - Activation of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtype 4 Is Essential for
      Cholinergic Stimulation of Gastric Acid Secretion: Relation to D
      Cell/Somatostatin.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors exist in five subtypes
      (M1~M5), and they are widely expressed in various tissues to mediate diverse
      autonomic functions, including gastric secretion. In the present study, we
      demonstrated, using M1~M5 KO mice, the importance of M4 receptors in carbachol
      (CCh) stimulation of acid secretion and investigated how the secretion is
      modulated by the activation of M4 receptors. METHODS: C57BL/6J mice of wild-type
      (WT) and M1-M5 KO were used. Under urethane anesthesia, acid secretion was
      measured in the stomach equipped with an acute fistula. CCh (30 MUg/kg) was given
      subcutaneously (s.c.) to stimulate acid secretion. Atropine or octreotide (a
      somatostatin analog) was given s.c. 20 min before the administration of CCh.
      CYN154806 (a somatostatin SST2 receptor antagonist) was given i.p. 20 min before
      the administration of octreotide or CCh. RESULTS: CCh caused an increase of acid
      secretion in WT mice, and the effect was totally inhibited by prior
      administration of atropine. The effect of CCh was similarly observed in the
      animals lacking M1, M2 or M5 receptors but significantly decreased in M3 or M4 KO
      mice. CYN154806, the SST2 receptor antagonist, dose-dependently and significantly
      reversed the decreased acid response to CCh in M4 but not M3 KO mice. Octreotide,
      the somatostatin analog, inhibited the secretion of acid under CCh-stimulated
      conditions in WT mice. The immunohistochemical study showed the localization of
      M4 receptors on D cells in the stomach. Serum somatostatin levels in M4 KO mice
      were higher than WT mice under basal conditions, while those in WT mice were
      significantly decreased in response to CCh. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest
      that under cholinergic stimulation the acid secretion is directly mediated by M3
      receptors and indirectly modified by M4 receptors. It is assumed that the
      activation of M4 receptors inhibits the release of somatostatin from D cells and
      minimizes the acid inhibitory effect of somatostatin through SST2 receptors,
      resulting in enhancement of the acid response mediated by M3 receptors on
      parietal cells.

PMID- 27625608
TI  - Combining QSAR Modeling and Text-Mining Techniques to Link Chemical Structures
      and Carcinogenic Modes of Action.
AB  - There is an increasing need for new reliable non-animal based methods to predict
      and test toxicity of chemicals. Quantitative structure-activity relationship
      (QSAR), a computer-based method linking chemical structures with biological
      activities, is used in predictive toxicology. In this study, we tested the
      approach to combine QSAR data with literature profiles of carcinogenic modes of
      action automatically generated by a text-mining tool. The aim was to generate
      data patterns to identify associations between chemical structures and biological
      mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Using these two methods, individually and
      combined, we evaluated 96 rat carcinogens of the hematopoietic system, liver,
      lung, and skin. We found that skin and lung rat carcinogens were mainly
      mutagenic, while the group of carcinogens affecting the hematopoietic system and
      the liver also included a large proportion of non-mutagens. The automatic
      literature analysis showed that mutagenicity was a frequently reported endpoint
      in the literature of these carcinogens, however, less common endpoints such as
      immunosuppression and hormonal receptor-mediated effects were also found in
      connection with some of the carcinogens, results of potential importance for
      certain target organs. The combined approach, using QSAR and text-mining
      techniques, could be useful for identifying more detailed information on
      biological mechanisms and the relation with chemical structures. The method can
      be particularly useful in increasing the understanding of structure and activity
      relationships for non-mutagens. 

PMID- 27625609
TI  - Effects of Tocotrienols on Insulin Secretion-Associated Genes Expression of Rat
      Pancreatic Islets in a Dynamic Culture.
AB  - Tocotrienols (T3) are well-known for their antioxidant properties besides showing
      therapeutic potential in clinical complications such as hyperlipidemia induced by
      diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of delta-T3, gamma
      T3, and alpha-T3 on insulin secretion-associated genes expression of rat
      pancreatic islets in a dynamic culture. Pancreatic islets freshly isolated from
      male Wistar rats were treated with T3 for 1 h at 37 degrees C in a microfluidic
      system with continuous operation. The cells were collected for total RNA
      extraction and reverse-transcribed, followed by measurement of insulin secretion
      associated genes expression using quantitative real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. Molecular docking experiments were performed to gain insights on how
      the T3 bind to the receptors. Short-term exposure of delta- and gamma-T3 to
      pancreatic beta cells in a stimulant glucose condition (16.7 mM) significantly
      regulated preproinsulin mRNA levels and insulin gene transcription. In contrast,
      alpha-T3 possessed less ability in the activation of insulin synthesis level.
      Essentially, potassium chloride (KCl), a beta cell membrane depolarising agent
      added into the treatment further enhanced the insulin production. delta- and
      gamma-T3 revealed significantly higher quantitative expression in most of the
      insulin secretion-associated genes groups containing 16.7 mM glucose alone and
      16.7 mM glucose with 30 mM KCl ranging from 600 to 1200 MUM (p < 0.05). The
      findings suggest the potential of delta-T3 in regulating insulin synthesis and
      glucose-stimulated insulin secretion through triggering pathway especially in the
      presence of KCl. 

PMID- 27625607
TI  - Exercise-Induced Release of Pharmacologically Active Substances and Their
      Relevance for Therapy of Hepatic Injury.
AB  - Chronic liver disease (CLD) features constant parenchymal injury and repair
      together with an increasing hepatic impairment, finally leading to fibrosis and
      cirrhosis and a heightened risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Closely
      related to the rise in obesity, the worldwide prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease, the most common form of CLD, has reached an epidemic dimension and
      is estimated to afflict up to 46% of the general population, including more than
      one out of three U.S. citizens. Up to now there is no effective drug treatment
      available, which is why recommendations encompass both exercise programs and
      changes in dietary habits. Exercise is well-known for unleashing potent anti
      inflammatory effects, which can principally counteract liver inflammation and
      chronic low-grade inflammation. This review article summarizes the underlying
      mechanisms responsible for the exercise-mediated anti-inflammatory effects,
      illustrates the application in animal models as well as in humans, and highlights
      the therapeutic value when possible. Based on the available results there is no
      doubt that exercise can even be beneficial in an advanced stage of liver disease
      and it is the goal of this review article to provide evidence for the therapeutic
      impact on fibrosis, cirrhosis, and HCC and to assess whether exercise might be of
      value as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of CLD. In principle, all exercise
      programs carried out in these high-risk patients should be guided and observed by
      qualified healthcare professionals to guarantee the patients' safety.
      Nevertheless, it is also necessary to additionally determine the optimal amount
      and intensity of exercise to maximize its value, which is why further studies are
      essential. 

PMID- 27625610
TI  - Impaired Neovascularization and Reduced Capillary Supply in the Malignant vs. Non
      malignant Course of Experimental Renovascular Hypertension.
AB  - Malignant hypertension develops in some cases of hypertension but not in others.
      We hypothesized that an impaired neovascularization and a reduced capillary
      supply characterizes the malignant course of experimental hypertension. Two
      kidney, one-clip renovascular hypertension was induced in rats; controls (sham)
      were sham operated. To distinguish malignant hypertension from non-malignant
      hypertension, we considered two factors: weight loss, and the number of typical
      vascular lesions (onion skin lesions and fibrinoid necroses) per kidney section
      of the nonclipped kidney. Animals in the upper half for both criteria were
      defined as malignant hypertensives. After 5 weeks, mean arterial blood pressure
      was elevated to the same degree in malignant hypertension and non-malignant
      hypertension whereas plasma renin and aldosterone were significantly higher in
      malignant hypertensives. The expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 was
      elevated (up to 14-fold) in non-malignant but significantly more increased (up to
      36-fold) in malignant hypertensive rats, compared to sham. As a bioassay for
      neovascularization, the area of granulation tissue ingrowth in polyvinyl discs
      (implanted subcutaneously) was reduced in malignant hypertension compared to non
      malignant hypertension and sham, while there was no difference between non
      malignant hypertension and sham. The number of renal and left ventricular
      capillaries was significantly lower in malignant hypertension compared to non
      malignant hypertension, as was the number of proliferating endothelial cells. We
      conclude that an impaired neovascularization and capillarization occurs in
      malignant renovascular hypertension but not in the non-malignant course of the
      disease despite comparable blood pressure levels. This might contribute to the
      unique vascular lesions and progressive target organ damage observed in malignant
      hypertension. 

PMID- 27625613
TI  - The Role of Interactional Quality in Learning from Touch Screens during Infancy:
      Context Matters.
AB  - Interactional quality has been shown to enhance learning during book reading and
      play, but has not been examined during touch screen use. Learning to apply
      knowledge from a touch screen is complex for infants because it involves transfer
      of learning between a two-dimensional (2D) screen and three-dimensional (3D)
      object in the physical world. This study uses a touch screen procedure to examine
      interactional quality measured via maternal structuring, diversity of maternal
      language, and dyadic emotional responsiveness and infant outcomes during a
      transfer of learning task. Fifty 15-month-old infants and their mothers
      participated in this semi-naturalistic teaching task. Mothers were given a 3D
      object, and a static image of the object presented on a touch screen. Mothers had
      5 min to teach their infant that a button on the real toy works in the same way
      as a virtual button on the touch screen (or vice versa). Overall, 64% of infants
      learned how to make the button work, transferring learning from the touch screen
      to the 3D object or vice versa. Infants were just as successful in the 3D to 2D
      transfer direction as they were in the 2D to 3D transfer direction. A cluster
      analysis based on emotional responsiveness, the proportion of diverse maternal
      verbal input, and amount of maternal structuring resulted in two levels of
      interactional quality: high quality and moderate quality. A logistic regression
      revealed the level of interactional quality predicted infant transfer. Infants
      were 19 times more likely to succeed and transfer learning between the touch
      screen and real object if they were in a high interactional quality dyad, even
      after controlling for infant activity levels. The present findings suggest that
      interactional quality between mother and infant plays an important role in making
      touch screens effective teaching tools for infants' learning. 

PMID- 27625611
TI  - The Calcium-Sensing Receptor and the Reproductive System.
AB  - Active placental transport of maternal serum calcium (Ca(2+)) to the offspring is
      pivotal for proper development of the fetal skeleton as well as various organ
      systems. Moreover, extracellular Ca(2+) levels impact on distinct processes in
      mammalian reproduction. The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) translates changes in
      extracellular Ca(2+)-concentrations into cellular reactions. This review
      summarizes current knowledge on the expression of CaSR and its putative functions
      in reproductive organs. CaSR was detected in placental cells mediating materno
      fetal Ca(2+)-transport such as the murine intraplacental yolk sac (IPYS) and the
      human syncytiotrophoblast. As shown in casr knock-out mice, ablation of CaSR
      downregulates transplacental Ca(2+)-transport. Receptor expression was reported
      in human and rat ovarian surface epithelial (ROSE) cells, where CaSR activation
      stimulates cell proliferation. In follicles of various species a role of CaSR
      activation in oocyte maturation was suggested. Based on studies in avian
      follicles, the activation of CaSR expressed in granulosa cells may support the
      survival of follicles after their selection. CaSR in rat and equine sperms was
      functionally linked to sperm motility and sperm capacitation. Implantation
      involves complex interactions between the blastocyst and the uterine epithelium.
      During early pregnancy, CaSR expression at the implantation site as well as in
      decidual cells indicates that CaSR is important for blastocyst implantation and
      decidualization in the rat uterus. Localization of CaSR in human extravillous
      cytotrophoblasts suggests a role of CaSR in placentation. Overall, evidence for
      functional involvement of CaSR in physiologic mammalian reproductive processes
      exists. Moreover, several studies reported altered expression of CaSR in cells of
      reproductive tissues under pathologic conditions. However, in many tissues we
      still lack knowledge on physiological ligands activating CaSR, CaSR-linked G
      proteins, activated intracellular signaling pathway, and functional relevance of
      CaSR activation. Clearly, more work is required in the future to decode the
      complex physiologic and pathophysiologic relationship of CaSR and the mammalian
      reproductive system. 

PMID- 27625612
TI  - Attachment Theory and Maternal Drug Addiction: The Contribution to Parenting
      Interventions.
AB  - Children's emotional and relational development can be negatively influenced by
      maternal substance abuse, particularly through a dysfunctional caregiving
      environment. Attachment Theory offers a privileged framework to analyze how drug
      addiction can affect the quality of adult attachment style, parenting attitudes
      and behaviors toward the child, and how it can have a detrimental effect on the
      co-construction of the attachment bond by the mother and the infant. Several
      studies, as a matter of fact, have identified a prevalence of insecure patterns
      among drug-abusing mothers and their children. Many interventions for mothers
      with Substance Use Disorders have focused on enhancing parental skills, but they
      have often overlooked the emotional and relational features of the mother-infant
      bond. Instead, in recent years, a number of protocols have been developed in
      order to strengthen the relationship between drug-abusing mothers and their
      children, drawing lessons from Attachment Theory. The present study reviews the
      literature on the adult and infant attachment style in the context of drug
      addiction, describing currently available treatment programs that address
      parenting and specifically focus on the mother-infant bond, relying on Attachment
      Theory. 

PMID- 27625614
TI  - Neural Plastic Effects of Working Memory Training Influenced by Self-perceived
      Stress in Stroke: A Case Illustration.
AB  - This case study examined the effects of auditory working memory (WM) training on
      neuroplastic changes in stroke survivors and how such effects might be influenced
      by self-perceived stress. Two participants with a history of stroke participated
      in the study. One of them had a higher level of self-perceived stress. Both
      participants underwent a course of auditory WM training and completed baseline
      and post-training assessments such as self-perceived stress, performance
      satisfaction questionnaires, behavioral task performance, and functional magnetic
      resonance imaging. They were trained on a computerized auditory WM task (n-back)
      5 days a week for 6 weeks, for a total of 20 h. Participant 1 had high levels of
      perceived stress, both pre- and post-training, and showed improvement on the
      satisfaction aspect of functional engagement only. Participant 2 had lower levels
      of perceived stress and demonstrated improvements on all performance tasks.
      Neuroimaging results showed evidence of improved neural efficiency on the trained
      task for participant 2. The results shed light on the need to evaluate
      psychological influences, e.g., stress, when studying the neuroplastic changes in
      people with stroke. However, the case design approach and other factors that
      might have positively influenced outcomes mean that these results must be
      interpreted with a great deal of caution. Future studies using a larger sample
      are recommended to verify the findings. 

PMID- 27625615
TI  - On The (Un)importance of Working Memory in Speech-in-Noise Processing for
      Listeners with Normal Hearing Thresholds.
AB  - With the advent of cognitive hearing science, increased attention has been given
      to individual differences in cognitive functioning and their explanatory power in
      accounting for inter-listener variability in the processing of speech in noise
      (SiN). The psychological construct that has received much interest in recent
      years is working memory. Empirical evidence indeed confirms the association
      between WM capacity (WMC) and SiN identification in older hearing-impaired
      listeners. However, some theoretical models propose that variations in WMC are an
      important predictor for variations in speech processing abilities in adverse
      perceptual conditions for all listeners, and this notion has become widely
      accepted within the field. To assess whether WMC also plays a role when listeners
      without hearing loss process speech in adverse listening conditions, we surveyed
      published and unpublished studies in which the Reading-Span test (a widely used
      measure of WMC) was administered in conjunction with a measure of SiN
      identification, using sentence material routinely used in audiological and
      hearing research. A meta-analysis revealed that, for young listeners with
      audiometrically normal hearing, individual variations in WMC are estimated to
      account for, on average, less than 2% of the variance in SiN identification
      scores. This result cautions against the (intuitively appealing) assumption that
      individual variations in WMC are predictive of SiN identification independently
      of the age and hearing status of the listener. 

PMID- 27625616
TI  - Young Children's Development of Fairness Preference.
AB  - Fairness is one of the most important foundations of morality and may have played
      a key role in the evolution of cooperation in humans beings. As an important type
      of fairness concern, inequity aversion is the preference for fairness and the
      resistance to inequitable outcomes. To examine the early development of fairness
      preference in young children, sixty 2- and 3-year-old children were recruited to
      examine young children's preferences for fairness using a forced choice paradigm.
      We tested how toddlers acted when they took charge of distributing resources (two
      candies) to themselves and others and when they were the recipients of both other
      advantageous distribution and self-advantageous distribution. Different
      alternative options were paired with the same fair option in the two conditions.
      In the other-advantageous condition, children had fewer resources in the
      alternative options than others, whereas their resources in the alternative
      options were greater than others' in the self-advantageous condition. The results
      showed that more children displayed fairness preferences when they distributed
      resources between two friends than when they distributed resources between a
      friend and themselves. In both scenarios, 3-year-old children were more likely to
      demonstrate fairness preference than 2-year-old children. The findings suggest
      that inequity aversion develops in young children and increases with age over the
      course of early childhood. When they were recipients, there was a trend in young
      children's preference for fairness in the other-advantageous condition compared
      with the self-advantageous condition. This suggests that children might tend to
      be more likely to display inequity aversion when they are in a disadvantageous
      position. 

PMID- 27625617
TI  - Effects of Type of Agreement Violation and Utterance Position on the Auditory
      Processing of Subject-Verb Agreement: An ERP Study.
AB  - Previous ERP studies have often reported two ERP components-LAN and P600-in
      response to subject-verb (S-V) agreement violations (e.g., the boys (*) runs).
      However, the latency, amplitude and scalp distribution of these components have
      been shown to vary depending on various experiment-related factors. One factor
      that has not received attention is the extent to which the relative perceptual
      salience related to either the utterance position (verbal inflection in utterance
      medial vs. utterance-final contexts) or the type of agreement violation (errors
      of omission vs. errors of commission) may influence the auditory processing of S
      V agreement. The lack of reports on these effects in ERP studies may be due to
      the fact that most studies have used the visual modality, which does not reveal
      acoustic information. To address this gap, we used ERPs to measure the brain
      activity of Australian English-speaking adults while they listened to sentences
      in which the S-V agreement differed by type of agreement violation and utterance
      position. We observed early negative and positive clusters (AN/P600 effects) for
      the overall grammaticality effect. Further analysis revealed that the mean
      amplitude and distribution of the P600 effect was only significant in contexts
      where the S-V agreement violation occurred utterance-finally, regardless of type
      of agreement violation. The mean amplitude and distribution of the negativity did
      not differ significantly across types of agreement violation and utterance
      position. These findings suggest that the increased perceptual salience of the
      violation in utterance final position (due to phrase-final lengthening)
      influenced how S-V agreement violations were processed during sentence
      comprehension. Implications for the functional interpretation of language-related
      ERPs and experimental design are discussed. 

PMID- 27625619
TI  - Editorial: Reward Processing in Motivational and Affective Disorders.

PMID- 27625618
TI  - Self-Criticism: A Measure of Uncompassionate Behaviors Toward the Self, Based on
      the Negative Components of the Self-Compassion Scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) as a single measure has
      been pointed out as problematic by many authors and its originally proposed
      structure has repeatedly been called into question. The negative facets of this
      construct are more strongly related to psychopathology than the positive
      indicators. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the different
      structures proposed for the SCS, including a new measure based only on the
      negative factors, and to assess the psychometric features of the more plausible
      solution. METHOD: The study employed a cross-sectional and cross-cultural design.
      A sample of Brazilian (n = 406) and Spanish (n = 416) primary care professionals
      completed the SCS, and other questionnaires to measure psychological health
      related variables. The SCS factor structure was estimated using confirmatory
      factor analysis by the maximum likelihood method. Internal consistency was
      assessed by squaring the correlation between the latent true variable and the
      observed variables. The relationships between the SCS and other constructs were
      analyzed using Spearman's r s . RESULTS: The structure with the best fit was
      comprised of the three negative first-order factors of "self-judgment",
      "isolation" and "over-identification", and one negative second-order factor,
      which has been named "self-criticism" [CFI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.06 (90% CI = 0.05
      0.07); SRMR = 0.05]. This solution was supported by both samples, presented
      partial metric invariance [CFI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.06 (90% CI = 0.05-0.06); SRMR =
      0.06], and showed significant correlations with other health-related
      psychological constructs. Reliability was adequate for all the dimensions (R >=
      0.70). CONCLUSIONS: The original structure proposed for the SCS was not supported
      by the data. Self-criticism, comprising only the negative SCS factors, might be a
      measure of uncompassionate behaviors toward the self, with good psychometric
      properties and practical implications from a clinical point of view, reaching a
      stable structure and overcoming possible methodological artifacts.

PMID- 27625620
TI  - Classes in Translating and Interpreting Produce Differential Gains in Switching
      and Updating.
AB  - The present longitudinal study was intended to investigate whether the two
      bilingual experiences of written translation and consecutive interpreting
      (featured with similar language switching experience but different processing
      demands) would produce different cognitive control effects in young adults. Three
      groups of Chinese-English young adult bilinguals, who differed mainly in their
      half-year long bilingual experience: one for general L2 training, one for written
      translation and one for oral consecutive interpreting, were tested twice on the
      number Stroop, switching color-shape and N-back tasks. The results show that the
      interpreting experience produced significant cognitive advantages in switching
      (switch cost) and updating, while the translating experience produced marginally
      significant improvements in updating. The findings indicate that the experience
      of language switching under higher processing demands brings more domain-general
      advantages, suggesting that processing demand may be a decisive factor for the
      presence or absence of the hot-debated bilingual advantages. 

PMID- 27625621
TI  - iPads and the Use of "Apps" by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Do They
      Promote Learning?
AB  - The advent of electronic tablets, such as Apple's iPad, has opened up the field
      of learning via technology, and the use of electronic applications ("apps") on
      these devices continues to dramatically rise. Children with communication and
      social impairment, specifically those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), often
      use educational and recreational apps within the context of their home and school
      settings. Here we examine in which contexts learning via this medium may be
      beneficial, and outline recommendations for the use of electronic tablets and the
      design features for apps to promote learning in this population that is
      characterized by a unique profile of needs and heterogeneous ability levels. 

PMID- 27625622
TI  - Investigating on the Methodology Effect When Evaluating Lucid Dream.
AB  - Lucid dreaming (LD) is a state of consciousness in which the dreamer is aware
      that he or she is dreaming and can possibly control the content of his or her
      dream. To investigate the LD prevalence among different samples, researchers have
      used different types of methodologies. With regard to retrospective self-report
      questionnaire, two ways of proceeding seem to emerge. In one case, a definition
      of LD is given to participants ("During LD, one is-while dreaming-aware of the
      fact that one is dreaming. It is possible to deliberately wake up, to control the
      dream action, or to observe passively the course of the dream with this
      awareness"), while in the other instances, participants are presented separate
      questions targeting specific LD indicators (dream awareness and dream control).
      In the present study, we measured LD frequency in a sample of French student in
      order to investigate for possible disparities in LD frequency depending on the
      type of questionnaire as outlined above. Moreover, we also study links between
      the prevalence of LD as assessed, respectively, by each questionnaire with
      various factors such as Vividness of Mental Imagery and Parasomnia. Results
      revealed no significant difference between LD frequencies across questionnaires.
      For the questionnaire with definition (DefQuest), 81.05% of participants reported
      experience of LD once or more. Concerning the questionnaire based on LD
      indicators (AwarContQuest), 73.38% of participants reported having experienced LD
      once or more. However, with regard to the correlations analysis, links between LD
      prevalence and factors such as Vividness of Mental Imagery and Parasomnia, varied
      across questionnaires. This result is an argument suggesting that researchers
      should be careful when investigating links between LD and other factors. The type
      of methodology may influence findings on LD research. Further studies are needed
      to investigate on the methodology effect in LD research namely on the respective
      weight of awareness and control. 

PMID- 27625623
TI  - Perceiving Time Differences When You Should Not: Applying the El Greco Fallacy to
      Hypnotic Time Distortions.
AB  - The way we experience and estimate time - subjective time - does not
      systematically correspond to objective time (the physical duration of an event).
      Many factors can influence subjective time and lead to mental dilation or
      compression of objective time. The emotional valence of stimuli or the levels of
      attention or expectancy are known to modulate subjective time even though
      objective time is constant. Hypnosis too is known to alter people's perception of
      time. However, it is not known whether hypnotic time distortions are intrinsic
      perceptual effects, based for example on the changing rate of an internal clock,
      or rather the result of a response to demand characteristics. Here we
      distinguished the theories using the logic of the El Greco fallacy. When
      participants initially had to compare the duration of two successive events -with
      the same duration - while in "trance," they responded that the second event was
      on average longer than the first event. As both events were estimated in
      "trance," if hypnosis had impacted on an internal clock, they should have been
      affected to the same extent. Conversely, when only the first event was in
      "trance," there was no difference in perceived duration. The findings conform to
      an El Greco fallacy effect and challenge theories of hypnotic time distortion
      arguing that "trance" itself changes subjective time. 

PMID- 27625624
TI  - Affective Teacher-Student Relationships and Students' Externalizing Behavior
      Problems: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - This meta-analysis of 57 primary studies with 73,933 students shows strong links
      between affective teacher-student relationships (TSRs) and students'
      externalizing behavior problems (EBPs). Moreover, students' culture, age, gender,
      and the report types of EBPs moderated these effects. The negative correlation
      between positive indicators of affective TSRs and students' EBPs was stronger (a)
      among Western students than Eastern ones, (b) for students in the lower grades of
      primary school than for other students, (c) when rated by teachers or parents
      than by students or peers, and (d) among females than among males. In contrast,
      the positive correlation between negative indicators of affective TSRs and
      students' EBPs was stronger (a) among Eastern students than Western ones, (b) for
      students in the higher grades of primary school than for other students, and 

PMID- 27625625
TI  - Approaching the Discriminatory Work Environment as Stressor: The Protective Role
      of Job Satisfaction on Health.
AB  - Discrimination is a complex phenomenon with adverse consequences at personal and
      organizational levels. Past studies have demonstrated that workers who are
      victims of discrimination might show less job satisfaction, less organizational
      commitment and worse levels of health and productivity. Although most research
      has focused on the effects of discrimination on victims, less is known about the
      extent to which discrimination produces consequences on workers who perceive the
      existence of a discriminatory work environment. The goal of this article is to
      analyze the consequences of the perception of a discriminatory work environment
      on employees' health. The importance of this relationship is studied taking into
      account the mediating effect of job satisfaction. In order to reach this goal a
      cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 1633 Italian workers (male
      = 826, female = 764), employed in private and public sectors, and in different
      hierarchical positions. Results suggest that the perception of a discriminatory
      work environment is negatively associated with employees' health. This
      relationship is partially mediated by job satisfaction (R (2) = 0.17). This study
      demonstrates that perceiving a discriminatory work environment might have a
      negative impact on workers' health. A higher level of job satisfaction might
      buffer this effect. These findings have several practical implications. On the
      one hand, Human Resource Managers need to intervene in order to recognize and
      diminish implicit biases, creating a healthy and inclusive environment (e.g.,
      through training, diversity policies, etc.). On the other hand, promoting job
      satisfaction (e.g., providing mechanisms of voice) might help workers to preserve
      their well-being, coping with the negative effects of a discriminatory work
      environment. 

PMID- 27625626
TI  - Social Transmission of Experience of Agency: An Experimental Study.
AB  - The sense of controlling one's own actions is fundamental to normal human mental
      function, and also underlies concepts of social responsibility for action.
      However, it remains unclear how the wider social context of human action
      influences sense of agency. Using a simple experimental design, we investigated,
      for the first time, how observing the action of another person or a robot could
      potentially influence one's own sense of agency. We assessed how observing
      another's action might change the perceived temporal relationship between one's
      own voluntary actions and their outcomes, which has been proposed as an implicit
      measure of sense of agency. Working in pairs, participants chose between two
      action alternatives, one rewarded more frequently than the other, while watching
      a rotating clock hand. They judged, in separate blocks, either the time of their
      own action, or the time of a tone that followed the action. These were compared
      to baseline judgements of actions alone, or tones alone, to calculate the
      perceptual shift of action toward outcome and vice versa. Our design focused on
      how these two dependent variables, which jointly provide an implicit measure of
      sense of agency, might be influenced by observing another's action. In the
      observational group, each participant could see the other's actions. Multivariate
      analysis showed that the perceived time of action and tone shifted progressively
      toward the actual time of outcome with repeated experience of this social
      situation. No such progressive change occurred in other groups for whom a barrier
      hid participants' actions from each other. However, a similar effect was observed
      in the group that viewed movements of a human-like robotic hand, rather than
      actions of another person. This finding suggests that observing the actions of
      others increases the salience of the external outcomes of action and this effect
      is not unique to observing human agents. Social contexts in which we see others
      controlling external events may play an important role in mentally representing
      the impact of our own actions on the external world. 

PMID- 27625627
TI  - Does Emotional Intelligence have a "Dark" Side? A Review of the Literature.
AB  - Emotional intelligence (EI) was once touted as the panacea for a satisfying and
      successful life. Consequently, there has been much emphasis on developing
      interventions to promote this personal resource in applied settings. Despite
      this, a growing body of research has begun to identify particular contexts when
      EI does not appear helpful and may even be deleterious to a person, or those they
      have contact with, suggesting a "dark" side to the construct. This paper provides
      a review of emergent literature to examine when, why and how trait and ability EI
      may contribute to negative intrapersonal (psychological ill-health; stress
      reactivity) and interpersonal outcomes (emotional manipulation; antisocial
      behavior). Negative effects were found to operate across multiple contexts
      (health, academic, occupational) however these were often indirect, suggesting
      that outcomes depend on pre-existing qualities of the person. Literature also
      points to the possibility of "optimal" levels of EI-both within and across EI
      constructs. Uneven profiles of self-perceptions (trait facets) or actual
      emotional skills contribute to poorer outcomes, particularly emotional awareness,
      and management. Moreover, individuals who possess high levels of skill but have
      lower self-perceptions of their abilities fare worse that those with more
      balanced profiles. Future research must now improve methodological and
      statistical practices to better capture EI in context and the negative corollary
      associated with high levels. 

PMID- 27625628
TI  - Perceptual Load Affects Eyewitness Accuracy and Susceptibility to Leading
      Questions.
AB  - Load Theory (Lavie, 1995, 2005) states that the level of perceptual load in a
      task (i.e., the amount of information involved in processing task-relevant
      stimuli) determines the efficiency of selective attention. There is evidence that
      perceptual load affects distractor processing, with increased inattentional
      blindness under high load. Given that high load can result in individuals failing
      to report seeing obvious objects, it is conceivable that load may also impair
      memory for the scene. The current study is the first to assess the effect of
      perceptual load on eyewitness memory. Across three experiments (two video-based
      and one in a driving simulator), the effect of perceptual load on eyewitness
      memory was assessed. The results showed that eyewitnesses were less accurate
      under high load, in particular for peripheral details. For example, memory for
      the central character in the video was not affected by load but memory for a
      witness who passed by the window at the edge of the scene was significantly worse
      under high load. High load memories were also more open to suggestion, showing
      increased susceptibility to leading questions. High visual perceptual load also
      affected recall for auditory information, illustrating a possible cross-modal
      perceptual load effect on memory accuracy. These results have implications for
      eyewitness memory researchers and forensic professionals. 

PMID- 27625629
TI  - Complexity As Key to Designing Cognitive-Friendly Environments for Older People.
AB  - The lived environment is the arena where our cognitive skills, preferences, and
      attitudes come together to determine our ability to interact with the world. The
      mechanisms through which lived environments can benefit cognitive health in older
      age are yet to be fully understood. The existing literature suggests that
      environments which are perceived as stimulating, usable and aesthetically
      appealing can improve or facilitate cognitive performance both in young and older
      age. Importantly, optimal stimulation for cognition seems to depend on
      experiencing sufficiently stimulating environments while not too challenging.
      Environmental complexity is an important contributor to determining whether an
      environment provides such an optimal stimulation. The present paper reviews a
      selection of studies which have explored complexity in relation to perceptual
      load, environmental preference and perceived usability to propose a framework
      which explores direct and indirect environmental influences on cognition, and to
      understand these influences in relation to aging processes. We identify ways to
      define complexity at different environmental scales, going from micro low-level
      perceptual features of scenes, to design qualities of proximal environments
      (e.g., streets, neighborhoods), to broad geographical areas (i.e., natural vs.
      urban environments). We propose that studying complexity at these different
      scales will provide new insight into the design of cognitive-friendly
      environments. 

PMID- 27625630
TI  - Differential Involvement of the Anterior Temporal Lobes in Famous People
      Semantics.
AB  - The ability to recognize a famous person occurs through semantic memory. Previous
      neuroimaging studies have shown that the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) are
      involved in the recognition of famous people. However, it is still a matter of
      debate whether the semantic processing of names or pictures of famous people has
      an impact on the activation of ATLs. The aim of this study was to explore the
      pattern of activation associated with a semantic processing of famous people
      based on face and written name stimuli. Fifteen healthy young individuals
      participated in our fMRI study, in which they were asked to perform a semantic
      categorization judgment task, based on profession, of visually presented
      pictures, and names of famous people. Neuroimaging findings showed a common
      pattern of activation for faces and names mainly involving the inferior frontal
      regions, the posterior temporal lobe, the visual cortex, and the ATLs. We found
      that the comparison names vs. pictures lead to significant activation in the
      anterior superior temporal gyrus. On the other hand, faces vs. names seemed
      associated with increased activation in the medial ATL. Moreover, our results
      demonstrated that the functional connectivity network anchored to the medial ATL,
      compared to the anterior STG, is more connected to the bilateral occipital lobe
      and fusiform gyrus that are regions implicated in the visual system and visual
      processing of faces. This study provides critical evidence of the differential
      involvement of ATL regions in semantics of famous people. 

PMID- 27625632
TI  - Negative Role of the Environmental Endocrine Disruptors in the Human
      Neurodevelopment.
AB  - The endocrine disruptors (EDs) are able to influence the endocrine system,
      mimicking or antagonizing hormonal molecules. They are bio-persistent for their
      degradation resistance in the environment. Our research group has investigated by
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) the EDs presence in 35 brain
      samples, coming from 27 cases of sudden intrauterine unexplained death syndrome
      (SIUDS) and 8 cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), collected by
      centralization in the last year (2015). More in detail, a mixture of 25 EDs has
      been subjected to analytical procedure, following standard protocols. Among the
      target analytes, some organochlorine pesticides, that is alpha-chlordane, gamma
      chlordane, heptachlor, p,p-DDE, p,p-DDT, and the two most commonly used
      organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), chlorpyrifos and chlorfenvinfos, have been
      found in seven and three samples, respectively. The analytical procedure used to
      detect the presence of environmental EDs in cortex samples has been successfully
      implemented on SIUDS and SIDS victims. The environmental EDs have been found to
      be able to overcome the placental barrier, reaching also the basal ganglia
      assigned to the control of the vital functions. This finding, related to the OPPs
      bio-persistence, implies a conceptual redefinition of the fetal-placental and
      fetal blood-brain barriers: not real safety barriers but simply time-deferral
      mechanisms of absorption. 

PMID- 27625631
TI  - Non-Monotonic Relation between Noise Exposure Severity and Neuronal Hyperactivity
      in the Auditory Midbrain.
AB  - The occurrence of tinnitus can be linked to hearing loss in the majority of
      cases, but there is nevertheless a large degree of unexplained heterogeneity in
      the relation between hearing loss and tinnitus. Part of the problem might be that
      hearing loss is usually quantified in terms of increased hearing thresholds,
      which only provides limited information about the underlying cochlear damage.
      Moreover, noise exposure that does not cause hearing threshold loss can still
      lead to "hidden hearing loss" (HHL), i.e., functional deafferentation of auditory
      nerve fibers (ANFs) through loss of synaptic ribbons in inner hair cells. While
      it is known that increased hearing thresholds can trigger increases in
      spontaneous neural activity in the central auditory system, i.e., a putative
      neural correlate of tinnitus, the central effects of HHL have not yet been
      investigated. Here, we exposed mice to octave-band noise at 100 and 105 dB SPL to
      generate HHL and permanent increases of hearing thresholds, respectively.
      Deafferentation of ANFs was confirmed through measurement of auditory brainstem
      responses and cochlear immunohistochemistry. Acute extracellular recordings from
      the auditory midbrain (inferior colliculus) demonstrated increases in spontaneous
      neuronal activity (a putative neural correlate of tinnitus) in both groups.
      Surprisingly, the increase in spontaneous activity was most pronounced in the
      mice with HHL, suggesting that the relation between hearing loss and neuronal
      hyperactivity might be more complex than currently understood. Our computational
      model indicated that these differences in neuronal hyperactivity could arise from
      different degrees of deafferentation of low-threshold ANFs in the two exposure
      groups. Our results demonstrate that HHL is sufficient to induce changes in
      central auditory processing, and they also indicate a non-monotonic relationship
      between cochlear damage and neuronal hyperactivity, suggesting an explanation for
      why tinnitus might occur without obvious hearing loss and conversely why hearing
      loss does not always lead to tinnitus. 

PMID- 27625633
TI  - Alterations of Phosphodiesterases in Adrenocortical Tumors.
AB  - Alterations in the cyclic (c)AMP-dependent signaling pathway have been implicated
      in the majority of benign adrenocortical tumors (ACTs) causing Cushing syndrome
      (CS). Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are enzymes that regulate cyclic nucleotide
      levels, including cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Inactivating mutations
      and other functional variants in PDE11A and PDE8B, two cAMP-binding PDEs,
      predispose to ACTs. The involvement of these two genes in ACTs was initially
      revealed by a genome-wide association study in patients with micronodular
      bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia. Thereafter, PDE11A or PDE8B genetic
      variants have been found in other ACTs, including macronodular adrenocortical
      hyperplasias and cortisol-producing adenomas. In addition, downregulation of
      PDE11A expression and inactivating variants of the gene have been found in
      hereditary and sporadic testicular germ cell tumors, as well as in prostatic
      cancer. PDEs confer an increased risk of ACT formation probably through,
      primarily, their action on cAMP levels, but other actions might be possible. In
      this report, we review what is known to date about PDE11A and PDE8B and their
      involvement in the predisposition to ACTs. 

PMID- 27625634
TI  - Metagenomic and PCR-Based Diversity Surveys of [FeFe]-Hydrogenases Combined with
      Isolation of Alkaliphilic Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria from the Serpentinite
      Hosted Prony Hydrothermal Field, New Caledonia.
AB  - High amounts of hydrogen are emitted in the serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal
      field of the Prony Bay (PHF, New Caledonia), where high-pH (~11), low-temperature
      (< 40 degrees C), and low-salinity fluids are discharged in both intertidal and
      shallow submarine environments. In this study, we investigated the diversity and
      distribution of potentially hydrogen-producing bacteria in Prony hyperalkaline
      springs by using metagenomic analyses and different PCR-amplified DNA sequencing
      methods. The retrieved sequences of hydA genes, encoding the catalytic subunit of
      [FeFe]-hydrogenases and, used as a molecular marker of hydrogen-producing
      bacteria, were mainly related to those of Firmicutes and clustered into two
      distinct groups depending on sampling locations. Intertidal samples were
      dominated by new hydA sequences related to uncultured Firmicutes retrieved from
      paddy soils, while submarine samples were dominated by diverse hydA sequences
      affiliated with anaerobic and/or thermophilic submarine Firmicutes pertaining to
      the orders Thermoanaerobacterales or Clostridiales. The novelty and diversity of
      these [FeFe]-hydrogenases may reflect the unique environmental conditions
      prevailing in the PHF (i.e., high-pH, low-salt, mesothermic fluids). In addition,
      novel alkaliphilic hydrogen-producing Firmicutes (Clostridiales and Bacillales)
      were successfully isolated from both intertidal and submarine PHF chimney
      samples. Both molecular and cultivation-based data demonstrated the ability of
      Firmicutes originating from serpentinite-hosted environments to produce hydrogen
      by fermentation, potentially contributing to the molecular hydrogen balance in
      situ. 

PMID- 27625635
TI  - Molecular Characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae Causing Community- and
      Hospital-Acquired Infections in Shanghai, China.
AB  - Streptococcus agalactiae, a colonizing agent in pregnant women and the main cause
      of neonatal sepsis and meningitis, has been increasingly associated with invasive
      disease in nonpregnant adults. We collected a total of 87 non-repetitive S.
      agalactiae isolates causing community-acquired (CA) and hospital-acquired (HA)
      infections in nonpregnant adults from a teaching hospital in Shanghai between
      2009 and 2013. We identified and characterized their antibiotic resistance,
      sequence type (ST), serotype, virulence, and biofilm formation. The most frequent
      STs were ST19 (29.9%), ST23 (16.1%), ST12 (13.8%), and ST1 (12.6%). ST19 had
      significantly different distributions between CA- and HA-group B Streptococci
      (GBS) isolates. The most frequent serotypes were III (32.2%), Ia (26.4%), V
      (14.9%), Ib (13.8%), and II (5.7%). Serotype III/ST19 was significantly
      associated with levofloxacin resistance in all isoates. The HA-GBS multidrug
      resistant rate was much higher than that of CA-GBS. Virulence genes pavA, cfb
      were found in all isolates. Strong correlations exist between serotype Ib (CA and
      HA) and surface protein genes spb1 and bac, serotype III (HA) and surface protein
      gene cps and GBS pilus cluster. The serotype, epidemic clone, PFGE-based
      genotype, and virulence gene are closely related between CA-GBS and HA-GBS, and
      certain serotypes and clone types were significantly associated with antibiotic
      resistance. However, CA-GBS and HA-GBS still had significant differences in their
      distribution of clone types, antibiotic resistance, and specific virulence genes,
      which may provide a basis for infection control. 

PMID- 27625636
TI  - Influence of Growth Phase, pH, and Temperature on the Abundance and Composition
      of Tetraether Lipids in the Thermoacidophile Picrophilus torridus.
AB  - The abundance and composition of glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT)
      and glycerol tribiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GTGT) lipids were determined as a
      function of growth phase as a proxy for nutrient availability, the pH of growth
      medium, and incubation temperature in cultures of the thermoacidophile
      Picrophilus torridus. Regardless of the cultivation condition, the abundance of
      GDGTs and GTGTs was greater in the polar than core fraction, with a marked
      decrease in core GDGTs in cultures harvested during log phase growth. These data
      are consistent with previous suggestions indicating that core GDGTs are re
      functionalized during polar lipid synthesis. Under all conditions examined, polar
      lipids were enriched in a GDGT with 2 cyclopentyl rings (GDGT-2), indicating GDGT
      2 is the preferred lipid in this taxon. However, lag or stationary phase grown
      cells or cells subjected to pH or thermal stress were enriched in GDGTs with 4,
      5, or 6 rings and depleted in GDGTs with 1, 2, 3, rings relative to log phase
      cells grown under optimal conditions. Variation in the composition of polar GDGT
      lipids in cells harvested during various growth phases tended to be greater than
      in cells cultivated over a pH range of 0.3-1.1 and a temperature range of 53-63
      degrees C. These results suggest that the growth phase, the pH of growth medium,
      and incubation temperature are all important factors that shape the composition
      of tetraether lipids in Picrophilus. The similarity in enrichment of GDGTs with
      more rings in cultures undergoing nutrient, pH, and thermal stress points to GDGT
      cyclization as a generalized physiological response to stress in this taxon. 

PMID- 27625637
TI  - The Aspergillus flavus Histone Acetyltransferase AflGcnE Regulates Morphogenesis,
      Aflatoxin Biosynthesis, and Pathogenicity.
AB  - Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) help regulate fungal development and the
      production of secondary metabolites. In this study, we determined that the HAT
      AflGcnE influenced morphogenesis and aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus
      flavus. We observed that AflGcnE localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm during
      the conidial production and germination stages, while it was located mainly in
      the nucleus during the hyphal development stage. Deletion of AflgcnE inhibited
      the growth of A. flavus and decreased the hydrophobicity of the cell surface. The
      DeltaAflgcnE mutant exhibited a lack of asexual sporulation and was unable to
      generate sclerotia. Additionally, AflgcnE was required to maintain cell wall
      integrity and genotoxic stress responses. Importantly, the DeltaAflgcnE mutant
      did not produce aflatoxins, which was consistent with a significant down
      regulation of aflatoxin gene expression levels. Furthermore, our data revealed
      that AflgcnE is a pathogenicity factor required for colonizing maize seeds. In
      summary, we revealed that A. flavus AflGcnE is crucial for morphological
      development, aflatoxin biosynthesis, stress responses, and pathogenicity. Our
      findings help clarify the functional divergence of GcnE orthologs, and may
      provide a possible target for controlling A. flavus infections of agriculturally
      important crops. 

PMID- 27625639
TI  - Construction of a Multiplex Promoter Reporter Platform to Monitor Staphylococcus
      aureus Virulence Gene Expression and the Identification of Usnic Acid as a Potent
      Suppressor of psm Gene Expression.
AB  - As antibiotic resistance becomes phenomenal, alternative therapeutic strategies
      for bacterial infections such as anti-virulence treatments have been advocated.
      We have constructed a total of 20 gfp-luxABCDE dual-reporter plasmids with
      selected promoters from S. aureus virulence-associated genes. The plasmids were
      introduced into various S. aureus strains to establish a gfp-lux based multiplex
      promoter reporter platform for monitoring S. aureus virulence gene expressions in
      real time to identify factors or compounds that may perturb virulence of S.
      aureus. The gene expression profiles monitored by luminescence correlated well
      with qRT-PCR results and extrinsic factors including carbon dioxide and some
      antibiotics were shown to suppress or induce the expression of virulence factors
      in this platform. Using this platform, sub-inhibitory ampicillin was shown to be
      a potent inducer for the expression of many virulence factors in S. aureus.
      Bacterial adherence and invasion assays using mammalian cells were employed to
      measure S. aureus virulence induced by ampicillin. The platform was used for
      screening of natural extracts that perturb the virulence of S. aureus and usnic
      acid was identified to be a potent repressor for the expression of psm. 

PMID- 27625638
TI  - The Role of Bacterial Secretion Systems in the Virulence of Gram-Negative Airway
      Pathogens Associated with Cystic Fibrosis.
AB  - Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common lethal inherited disorder in Caucasians.
      It is caused by mutation of the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)
      gene. A defect in the CFTR ion channel causes a dramatic change in the
      composition of the airway surface fluid, leading to a highly viscous mucus layer.
      In healthy individuals, the majority of bacteria trapped in the mucus layer are
      removed and destroyed by mucociliary clearance. However, in the lungs of patients
      with CF, the mucociliary clearance is impaired due to dehydration of the airway
      surface fluid. As a consequence, patients with CF are highly susceptible to
      chronic or intermittent pulmonary infections, often causing extensive lung
      inflammation and damage, accompanied by a decreased life expectancy. This mini
      review will focus on the different secretion mechanisms used by the major
      bacterial CF pathogens to release virulence factors, their role in resistance and
      discusses the potential for therapeutically targeting secretion systems. 

PMID- 27625640
TI  - The Complete Genome Sequence of the Nicotine-Degrading Bacterium Shinella sp.
      HZN7.

PMID- 27625641
TI  - Primary Succession of Nitrogen Cycling Microbial Communities Along the
      Deglaciated Forelands of Tianshan Mountain, China.
AB  - Structural succession and its driving factors for nitrogen (N) cycling microbial
      communities during the early stages of soil development (0-44 years) were studied
      along a chronosequence in the glacial forelands of the Tianshan Mountain No.1
      glacier in the arid and semi-arid region of central Asia. We assessed the
      abundance and population of functional genes affiliated with N-fixation (nifH),
      nitrification (bacterial and archaeal amoA), and denitrification (nirK/S and
      nosZ) in a glacier foreland using molecular methods. The abundance of functional
      genes significantly increased with soil development. N cycling community
      compositions were also significantly shifted within 44 years and were structured
      by successional age. Cyanobacterial nifH gene sequences were the most dominant N
      fixing bacteria and its relative abundance increased from 56.8-93.2% along the
      chronosequence. Ammonia-oxidizing communities shifted from the Nitrososphaera
      cluster (AOA-amoA) and the Nitrosospira cluster ME (AOB-aomA) in younger soils (0
      and 5 years) to communities dominated by soil and sediment 1 (AOA-amoA) and
      Nitrosospira Cluster 2 Related (AOB-aomA) in older soils (>=17 years). Most of
      the denitrifers closest relatives were potential aerobic denitrifying bacteria,
      and some other types of denitrifying bacteria (like autotrophic nitrate-reducing,
      sulfide-oxidizing bacteria and denitrifying phosphorus removing bacteria) were
      also detected in all soil samples. The regression analysis showed that N cycling
      microbial communities were dominant in younger soils (0-5 years) and
      significantly correlated with soil total carbon, while communities that were most
      abundant in older soils were significantly correlated with soil total nitrogen.
      These results suggested that the shift of soil C and N contents during the
      glacial retreat significantly influenced the abundance, composition and diversity
      of N cycling microbial communities. 

PMID- 27625642
TI  - Correlations of Host Genetics and Gut Microbiome Composition.
AB  - The human gut microbiome has a considerable impact on host health. The long list
      of microbiome-related health disorders raises the question of what in fact
      determines microbiome composition. In this review we sought to understand how the
      host itself impacts the structure of the gut microbiota population, specifically
      by correlations of host genetics and gut microbiome composition. Host genetic
      profile has been linked to differences in microbiome composition, thus suggesting
      that host genetics can shape the gut microbiome of the host. However, cause
      consequence mechanisms behind these links are still unclear. A survey of the
      possible mechanisms allowing host genetics to shape microbiota composition in the
      gut demonstrated the major role of metabolic functions and the immune system. A
      considerable impact of other factors, such as diet, may outweigh the effects of
      host genetic background. More studies are necessary for good understanding of the
      relations between the host genetic profile, gut microbiome composition, and host
      health. According to the idea of personalized medicine, patient-tailored
      management of microbiota content remains a fascinating area for further inquiry. 

PMID- 27625643
TI  - Determination of Dehydrogenase Activities Involved in D-Glucose Oxidation in
      Gluconobacter and Acetobacter Strains.
AB  - Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are known for rapid and incomplete oxidation of an
      extensively variety of alcohols and carbohydrates, resulting in the accumulation
      of organic acids as the final products. These oxidative fermentations in AAB are
      catalyzed by PQQ- or FAD- dependent membrane-bound dehydrogenases. In the present
      study, the enzyme activity of the membrane-bound dehydrogenases [membrane-bound
      PQQ-glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH), D-gluconate dehydrogenase (GADH) and membrane
      bound glycerol dehydrogenase (GLDH)] involved in the oxidation of D-glucose and D
      gluconic acid (GA) was determined in six strains of three different species of
      AAB (three natural and three type strains). Moreover, the effect of these
      activities on the production of related metabolites [GA, 2-keto-D-gluconic acid
      (2KGA) and 5-keto-D-gluconic acid (5KGA)] was analyzed. The natural strains
      belonging to Gluconobacter showed a high mGDH activity and low activity in GADH
      and GLDH, whereas the Acetobacter malorum strain presented low activity in the
      three enzymes. Nevertheless, no correlation was observed between the activity of
      these enzymes and the concentration of the corresponding metabolites. In fact,
      all the tested strains were able to oxidize D-glucose to GA, being maximal at the
      late exponential phase of the AAB growth (24 h), which coincided with D-glucose
      exhaustion and the maximum mGDH activity. Instead, only some of the tested
      strains were capable of producing 2KGA and/or 5KGA. In the case of Gluconobacter
      oxydans strains, no 2KGA production was detected which is related to the absence
      of GADH activity after 24 h, while in the remaining strains, detection of GADH
      activity after 24 h resulted in a high accumulation of 2KGA. Therefore, it is
      possible to choose the best strain depending on the desired product composition.
      Moreover, the sequences of these genes were used to construct phylogenetic trees.
      According to the sequence of gcd, gene coding for mGDH, Acetobacter and
      Komagataeibacter were phylogenetically more closely related each other than with
      Gluconobacter. 

PMID- 27625645
TI  - Linking Microbial Enzymatic Activities and Functional Diversity of Soil around
      Earthworm Burrows and Casts.
AB  - The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of earthworms (Lumbricidae) on
      the enzymatic activity and microbial functional diversity in the burrow system
      [burrow wall (BW) 0-3 mm, transitional zone (TZ) 3-7 mm, bulk soil (BS) > 20 mm
      from the BW] and cast aggregates of a loess soil under a pear orchard. The
      dehydrogenase, beta-glucosidase, protease, alkaline phosphomonoesterase, and acid
      phosphomonoesterase enzymes were assessed using standard methods. The functional
      diversity (catabolic potential) was assessed using the Average Well Color
      Development and Richness Index following the community level physiological
      profiling from Biolog Eco Plates. All measurements were done using soil from each
      compartment immediately after in situ sampling in spring. The enzymatic activites
      including dehydrogenase, protease, beta-glucosidase and alkaline
      phosphomonoesterase were appreciably greater in the BW or casts than in BS and
      TZ. Conversely, acid phosphomonoesterase had the largest value in the BS. Average
      Well Color Development in both the TZ and the BS (0.98-0.94 A590 nm) were more
      than eight times higher than in the BWs and casts. The lowest richness index in
      the BS (15 utilized substrates) increased by 86-113% in all the other
      compartments. The PC1 in principal component analysis mainly differentiated the
      BWs and the TZ. Utilization of all substrate categories was the lowest in the BS.
      The PC2 differentiated the casts from the other compartments. The enhanced
      activity of a majority of the enzymes and increased microbial functional
      diversity in most earthworm-influenced compartments make the soils less
      vulnerable to degradation and thus increases the stability of ecologically
      relevant processes in the orchard ecosystem. 

PMID- 27625644
TI  - Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass-Spectrometry
      (MALDI-TOF MS) Based Microbial Identifications: Challenges and Scopes for
      Microbial Ecologists.
AB  - Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass-spectrometry
      (MALDI-TOF MS) based biotyping is an emerging technique for high-throughput and
      rapid microbial identification. Due to its relatively higher accuracy,
      comprehensive database of clinically important microorganisms and low-cost
      compared to other microbial identification methods, MALDI-TOF MS has started
      replacing existing practices prevalent in clinical diagnosis. However,
      applicability of MALDI-TOF MS in the area of microbial ecology research is still
      limited mainly due to the lack of data on non-clinical microorganisms. Intense
      research activities on cultivation of microbial diversity by conventional as well
      as by innovative and high-throughput methods has substantially increased the
      number of microbial species known today. This important area of research is in
      urgent need of rapid and reliable method(s) for characterization and de
      replication of microorganisms from various ecosystems. MALDI-TOF MS based
      characterization, in our opinion, appears to be the most suitable technique for
      such studies. Reliability of MALDI-TOF MS based identification method depends
      mainly on accuracy and width of reference databases, which need continuous
      expansion and improvement. In this review, we propose a common strategy to
      generate MALDI-TOF MS spectral database and advocated its sharing, and also
      discuss the role of MALDI-TOF MS based high-throughput microbial identification
      in microbial ecology studies. 

PMID- 27625646
TI  - Fungal Assemblages in Different Habitats in an Erman's Birch Forest.
AB  - Recent meta-analyses of fungal diversity using deeply sequenced marker genes
      suggest that most fungal taxa are locally distributed. However, little is known
      about the extent of overlap and niche partitions in total fungal communities or
      functional guilds within distinct habitats on a local forest scale. Here, we
      compared fungal communities in endosphere (leaf interior), phyllosphere (leaf
      interior and associated surface area) and soil samples from an Erman's birch
      forest in Changbai Mountain, China. Community structures were significantly
      differentiated in terms of habitat, with soil having the highest fungal richness
      and phylogenetic diversity. Endophytic and phyllosphere fungi of Betula ermanii
      were more phylogenetically clustered compared with the corresponding soil fungi,
      indicating the ability of that host plants to filter and select their fungal
      partners. Furthermore, the majority of soil fungal taxa were soil specialists,
      while the dominant endosphere and phyllosphere taxa were aboveground generalists,
      with soil and plant foliage only sharing <8.2% fungal taxa. Most of the fungal
      taxa could be assigned to different functional guilds; however, the assigned
      guilds showed significant habitat specificity with variation in relative
      abundance. Collectively, the fungal assemblages in this Erman's birch forest were
      strictly niche specialized and constrained by weak migration among habitats. The
      findings suggest that phylogenetic relatedness and functional guilds' assignment
      can effectively interpret the certain ecological processes. 

PMID- 27625647
TI  - Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Fruit Pulp Processing Byproducts and
      Potential Probiotic Properties of Selected Lactobacillus Strains.
AB  - This study aimed to identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in byproducts of fruit
      (Malpighia glabra L., Mangifera indica L., Annona muricata L., and Fragaria vesca
      L.) pulp processing. Fifty strains of LAB were identified using matrix-assisted
      laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and
      16S rRNA gene sequence (16S rRNA) analysis. Species belonging to Lactobacillus
      genus were the predominant LAB in all fruit pulp processing byproducts. The
      average congruency between the MALDI-TOF MS and 16S rRNA in LAB species
      identification reached 86%. Isolates of L. plantarum, L. brevis, L. pentosus, L.
      lactis and L. mesenteroides were identified with 100% congruency. MALDI-TOF MS
      and 16S rRNA analysis presented 86 and 100% efficiency of LAB species
      identification, respectively. Further, five selected Lactobacillus strains (L.
      brevis 59, L. pentosus 129, L. paracasei 108, L. plantarum 49, and L. fermentum
      111) were evaluated for desirable probiotic-related properties and growth
      behavior on two different cultivation media. The exposure to pH 2.0 sharply
      decreased the counts of the different Lactobacillus strains after a 1 or 2 h
      incubation, while varied decreases were noted after 3 h of exposure to pH 3.0.
      Overall, the exposure to pH 5.0 and to bile salts (0.15, 0.30, and 1.00%) did not
      decrease the counts of the Lactobacillus strains. All tested Lactobacillus
      strains presented inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella
      Typhimurium, Salmonella Enteritidis, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli,
      and presented variable susceptibility to different antibiotics. The selected
      Lactobacillus strains presented satisfactory and reproducible growth behavior. In
      conclusion, MALDI-TOF MS and 16S rRNA analysis revealed high efficiency and
      congruency for LAB species identification, and the selected Lactobacillus strains
      may be candidates for further investigation of novel probiotic strains. 

PMID- 27625648
TI  - Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Didymella bryoniae by Visual Loop-Mediated
      Isothermal Amplification Assay.
AB  - Didymella bryoniae is a pathogenic fungus that causes gummy stem blight (GSB) in
      Cucurbitaceae crops (e.g., cantaloupe, muskmelon, cucumber, and watermelon). GSB
      produces lesions on the stems and leaves, and can also be spread by seeds. Here,
      we developed a rapid, visual, and sensitive loop-mediated amplification (LAMP)
      assay for D. bryoniae detection based on sequence-characterized amplified regions
      (GenBank accession nos GQ872461 and GQ872462) common to the two random
      amplification of polymorphic DNA group genotypes (RGI and RGII) of D. bryoniae;
      ideal conditions for detection were optimized for completion in 45 min at 63
      degrees C. The sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP assay were further
      analyzed in comparison with those of a conventional polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR). The sensitivity of the LAMP assay was 1000-fold higher than that of
      conventional PCR with a detection limit of 0.1 fg MUL(-1) of targeted DNA. The
      LAMP assay could be accomplished in about 45 min, with the results visible to the
      naked eye. The assay showed high specificity in discriminating all D. bryoniae
      isolates from seven other fungal pathogens that occur in Cucurbitaceae crops. The
      LAMP assay also detected D. bryoniae infection in young muskmelon leaves with
      suspected early symptoms of GSB disease. Hence, the technique has great potential
      for developing rapid and sensitive visual detection methods for the D. bryoniae
      pathogen in crops and seeds. This method has potential application in early
      prediction of disease and reducing the risk of epidemics. 

PMID- 27625649
TI  - Detection of Thermal Sublethal Injury in Escherichia coli via the Selective
      Medium Plating Technique: Mechanisms and Improvements.
AB  - In food preservation, the synergistic combination of different technologies aims
      to maximize the total lethality of the process and minimize the intensity of each
      hurdle. This is especially the case when at least one of the treatments can cause
      sublethal (reparable) injury in a great proportion of the population, so that
      sublethally injured cells can end up being entirely inactivated by the other
      hurdle(s). The selective medium plating technique (SMPT) is extensively used to
      enumerate bacterial sublethal injury after inimical treatments, being sodium
      chloride added to the recovery medium to detect damaged bacterial envelopes.
      However, little work has been done to explain the reasons for the inability of
      sublethally injured cells to outgrow in selective agar media, whereas they are
      able to grow in non-selective agar. In the present paper, the performance of SMPT
      on Escherichia coli cells after heat treatments is explored by applying different
      selective agents in the recovery media, using mutants lacking factors involved in
      osmoregulation, and also by examining the integrity of the cytoplasmic membrane.
      In view of the results, the possibility of a specific toxic effect of Na(+) as
      the main mechanism under SMPT was discarded, since the same level of sublethal
      injury was detected using KCl instead of NaCl. The synthesis of the
      osmoprotectant trehalose determined the maximum osmotolerance of intact cells to
      the selective agents, but was not crucial in the quantification of sublethal
      injury. Moreover, for the first time, the extent of sublethal injury detected via
      SMPT was directly correlated with the physical loss of integrity of the cell
      membrane in 99.999% of the initial population. This was achieved through
      statistical analysis of flow cytometry data using propidium iodide-exclusion
      technique when that dye was added before thermal treatments. The present work
      confirms the adequacy of SMPT as a tool for detecting the occurrence and quantity
      of sublethally injured cells after thermal treatments and thus, for efficiently
      designing the combination of heat with other preservation techniques. We also
      propose the study of statistical analysis from flow cytometry data for a more
      rapid quantification of bacterial sublethal injury in a broad detection range. 

PMID- 27625650
TI  - A Well-Controlled Experimental System to Study Interactions of Cytotoxic T
      Lymphocytes with Tumor Cells.
AB  - While T cell-based immunotherapies are steadily improving, there are still many
      patients who progress, despite T cell-infiltrated tumors. Emerging evidence
      suggests that T cells themselves may provoke immune escape of cancer cells. Here,
      we describe a well-controlled co-culture system for studying the dynamic T cell -
      cancer cell interplay, using human melanoma as a model. We explain starting
      material, controls, and culture parameters to establish reproducible and
      comparable cultures with highly heterogeneous tumor cells. Low passage melanoma
      cell lines and melanoma-specific CD8+ T cell clones generated from patient blood
      were cultured together for up to 3 days. Living melanoma cells were isolated from
      the co-culture system by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. We demonstrate that
      the characterization of isolated melanoma cells is feasible using flow cytometry
      for protein expression analysis as well as an Agilent whole human genome
      microarray and the NanoString technology for differential gene expression
      analysis. In addition, we identify five genes (ALG12, GUSB, RPLP0, KRBA2, and
      ADAT2) that are stably expressed in melanoma cells independent of the presence of
      T cells or the T cell-derived cytokines IFNgamma and TNFalpha. These genes are
      essential for correct normalization of gene expression data by NanoString.
      Further to the characterization of melanoma cells after exposure to CTLs, this
      experimental system might be suitable to answer a series of questions, including
      how the affinity of CTLs for their target antigen influences the melanoma cell
      response and whether CTL-induced gene expression changes in melanoma cells are
      reversible. Taken together, our human T cell - melanoma cell culture system is
      well suited to characterize immune-related mechanisms in cancer cells. 

PMID- 27625652
TI  - Development of Novel Glyphosate-Tolerant Japonica Rice Lines: A Step Toward
      Commercial Release.
AB  - Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide for its low cost and high
      efficiency. However, it is rarely applied directly in rice field due to its
      toxicity to rice. Therefore, glyphosate-tolerant rice can greatly decrease the
      cost of rice production and provide a more effective weed management strategy.
      Although, several approaches to develop transgenic rice with glyphosate tolerance
      have been reported, the agronomic performances of these plants have not been well
      evaluated, and the feasibility of commercial production has not been confirmed
      yet. Here, a novel glyphosate-tolerant gene cloned from the bacterium
      Isoptericola variabilis was identified, codon optimized (designated as I.
      variabilis-EPSPS (*)), and transferred into Zhonghua11, a widely used japonica
      rice cultivar. After systematic analysis of the transgene integration via PCR,
      Southern blot and flanking sequence isolation, three transgenic lines with only
      one intact I. variabilis-EPSPS (*) expression cassette integrated into intergenic
      regions were identified. Seed test results showed that the glyphosate tolerance
      of the transgenic rice was about 240 times that of wild type on plant medium. The
      glyphosate tolerance of transgenic rice lines was further evaluated based on
      comprehensive agronomic performances in the field with T3 and T5generations in a
      2-year assay, which showed that they were rarely affected by glyphosate even when
      the dosage was 8400 g ha(-1). To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration
      of the development of glyphosate-tolerant rice lines based on a comprehensive
      analysis of agronomic performances in the field. Taken together, the results
      suggest that the selected glyphosate-tolerant rice lines are highly tolerant to
      glyphosate and have the possibility of commercial release. I. variabilis-EPSPS
      (*) also can be a promising candidate gene in other species for developing
      glyphosate-tolerant crops. 

PMID- 27625653
TI  - In silico Transcriptional Regulatory Networks Involved in Tomato Fruit Ripening.
AB  - Tomato fruit ripening is a complex developmental programme partly mediated by
      transcriptional regulatory networks. Several transcription factors (TFs) which
      are members of gene families such as MADS-box and ERF were shown to play a
      significant role in ripening through interconnections into an intricate network.
      The accumulation of large datasets of expression profiles corresponding to
      different stages of tomato fruit ripening and the availability of bioinformatics
      tools for their analysis provide an opportunity to identify TFs which might
      regulate gene clusters with similar co-expression patterns. We identified two
      TFs, a SlWRKY22-like and a SlER24 transcriptional activator which were shown to
      regulate modules by using the LeMoNe algorithm for the analysis of our microarray
      datasets representing four stages of fruit ripening, breaker, turning, pink and
      red ripe. The WRKY22-like module comprised a subgroup of six various calcium
      sensing transcripts with similar to the TF expression patterns according to real
      time PCR validation. A promoter motif search identified a cis acting element, the
      W-box, recognized by WRKY TFs that was present in the promoter region of all six
      calcium sensing genes. Moreover, publicly available microarray datasets of
      similar ripening stages were also analyzed with LeMoNe resulting in TFs such as
      SlERF.E1, SlERF.C1, SlERF.B2, SLERF.A2, SlWRKY24, SLWRKY37, and MADS-box/TM29
      which might also play an important role in regulation of ripening. These results
      suggest that the SlWRKY22-like might be involved in the coordinated regulation of
      expression of the six calcium sensing genes. Conclusively the LeMoNe tool might
      lead to the identification of putative TF targets for further physiological
      analysis as regulators of tomato fruit ripening. 

PMID- 27625655
TI  - Insights into the Genetic Relationships and Breeding Patterns of the African Tea
      Germplasm Based on nSSR Markers and cpDNA Sequences.
AB  - Africa is one of the key centers of global tea production. Understanding the
      genetic diversity and relationships of cultivars of African tea is important for
      future targeted breeding efforts for new crop cultivars, specialty tea
      processing, and to guide germplasm conservation efforts. Despite the economic
      importance of tea in Africa, no research work has been done so far on its genetic
      diversity at a continental scale. Twenty-three nSSRs and three plastid DNA
      regions were used to investigate the genetic diversity, relationships, and
      breeding patterns of tea accessions collected from eight countries of Africa. A
      total of 280 African tea accessions generated 297 alleles with a mean of 12.91
      alleles per locus and a genetic diversity (H S) estimate of 0.652. A STRUCTURE
      analysis suggested two main genetic groups of African tea accessions which
      corresponded well with the two tea types Camellia sinensis var. sinensis and C.
      sinensis var. assamica, respectively, as well as an admixed "mosaic" group whose
      individuals were defined as hybrids of F2 and BC generation with a high
      proportion of C. sinensis var. assamica being maternal parents. Accessions known
      to be C. sinensis var. assamica further separated into two groups representing
      the two major tea breeding centers corresponding to southern Africa (Tea Research
      Foundation of Central Africa, TRFCA), and East Africa (Tea Research Foundation of
      Kenya, TRFK). Tea accessions were shared among countries. African tea has
      relatively lower genetic diversity. C. sinensis var. assamica is the main tea
      type under cultivation and contributes more in tea breeding improvements in
      Africa. International germplasm exchange and movement among countries within
      Africa was confirmed. The clustering into two main breeding centers, TRFCA, and
      TRFK, suggested that some traits of C. sinensis var. assamica and their
      associated genes possibly underwent selection during geographic differentiation
      or local breeding preferences. This study represents the first step toward
      effective utilization of differently inherited molecular markers for exploring
      the breeding status of African tea. The findings here will be important for
      planning the exploration, utilization, and conservation of tea germplasm for
      future breeding efforts in Africa. 

PMID- 27625657
TI  - Increased Permeability of the Aquaporin SoPIP2;1 by Mercury and Mutations in Loop
      A.
AB  - Aquaporins (AQPs) also referred to as Major intrinsic proteins, regulate
      permeability of biological membranes for water and other uncharged small polar
      molecules. Plants encode more AQPs than other organisms and just one of the four
      AQP subfamilies in Arabidopsis thaliana, the water specific plasma membrane
      intrinsic proteins (PIPs), has 13 isoforms, the same number as the total AQPs
      encoded by the entire human genome. The PIPs are more conserved than other plant
      AQPs and here we demonstrate that a cysteine residue, in loop A of SoPIP2;1 from
      Spinacia oleracea, is forming disulfide bridges. This is in agreement with
      studies on maize PIPs, but in contrast we also show an increased permeability of
      mutants with a substitution at this position. In accordance with earlier
      findings, we confirm that mercury increases water permeability of both wild type
      and mutant proteins. We report on the slow kinetics and reversibility of the
      activation, and on quenching of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence as a potential
      reporter of conformational changes associated with activation. Hence, previous
      studies in plants based on the assumption of mercury as a general AQP blocker
      have to be reevaluated, whereas mercury and fluorescence studies of isolated PIPs
      provide new means to follow structural changes dynamically. 

PMID- 27625656
TI  - An Ethylene-Protected Achilles' Heel of Etiolated Seedlings for Arthropod
      Deterrence.
AB  - A small family of Kunitz protease inhibitors exists in Arabidopsis thaliana, a
      member of which (encoded by At1g72290) accomplishes highly specific roles during
      plant development. Arabidopsis Kunitz-protease inhibitor 1 (Kunitz-PI;1), as we
      dubbed this protein here, is operative as cysteine PI. Activity measurements
      revealed that despite the presence of the conserved Kunitz-motif the bacterially
      expressed Kunitz-PI;1 was unable to inhibit serine proteases such as trypsin and
      chymotrypsin, but very efficiently inhibited the cysteine protease RESPONSIVE TO
      DESICCATION 21. Western blotting and cytolocalization studies using mono-specific
      antibodies recalled Kunitz-PI;1 protein expression in flowers, young siliques and
      etiolated seedlings. In dark-grown seedlings, maximum Kunitz-PI;1 promoter
      activity was detected in the apical hook region and apical parts of the
      hypocotyls. Immunolocalization confirmed Kunitz-PI;1 expression in these organs
      and tissues. No transmitting tract (NTT) and HECATE 1 (HEC1), two transcription
      factors previously implicated in the formation of the female reproductive tract
      in flowers of Arabidopsis, were identified to regulate Kunitz-PI;1 expression in
      the dark and during greening, with NTT acting negatively and HEC1 acting
      positively. Laboratory feeding experiments with isopod crustaceans such as
      Porcellio scaber (woodlouse) and Armadillidium vulgare (pillbug) pinpointed the
      apical hook as ethylene-protected Achilles' heel of etiolated seedlings. Because
      exogenous application of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic
      acid (ACC) and mechanical stress (wounding) strongly up-regulated HEC1-dependent
      Kunitz-PI;1 gene expression, our results identify a new circuit controlling
      herbivore deterrence of etiolated plants in which Kunitz-PI;1 is involved. 

PMID- 27625651
TI  - The Role of Animal Models in the Study of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
      and GvHD: A Historical Overview.
AB  - Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is the only therapeutic option for many
      hematological malignancies, but its applicability is limited by life-threatening
      complications, such as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). The last decades have
      seen great advances in the understanding of BMT and its related complications; in
      particular GvHD. Animal models are beneficial to study complex diseases, as they
      allow dissecting the contribution of single components in the development of the
      disease. Most of the current knowledge on the therapeutic mechanisms of BMT
      derives from studies in animal models. Parallel to BMT, the understanding of the
      pathophysiology of GvHD, as well as the development of new treatment regimens,
      has also been supported by studies in animal models. Pre-clinical experimentation
      is the basis for deep understanding and successful improvements of clinical
      applications. In this review, we retrace the history of BMT and GvHD by
      describing how the studies in animal models have paved the way to the many
      advances in the field. We also describe how animal models contributed to the
      understanding of GvHD pathophysiology and how they are fundamental for the
      discovery of new treatments. 

PMID- 27625654
TI  - Small RNA Regulators of Plant-Hemipteran Interactions: Micromanagers with
      Versatile Roles.
AB  - Non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) in plants have important roles in regulating
      biological processes, including development, reproduction, and stress responses.
      Recent research indicates significant roles for sRNA-mediated gene silencing
      during plant-hemipteran interactions that involve all three of these biological
      processes. Plant responses to hemipteran feeding are determined by changes in the
      host transcriptome that appear to be fine-tuned by sRNAs. The role of sRNA in
      plant defense responses is complex. Different forms of sRNAs, with specific modes
      of action, regulate changes in the host transcriptome primarily through post
      transcriptional gene silencing and occasionally through translational repression.
      Plant genetic resistance against hemipterans provides a model to explore the
      regulatory roles of sRNAs in plant defense. Aphid-induced sRNA expression in
      resistance genotypes delivers a new paradigm in understanding the regulation of R
      gene-mediated resistance in host plants. Unique sRNA profiles, including changes
      in sRNA biogenesis and expression can also provide insights into susceptibility
      to insect herbivores. Activation of phytohormone-mediated defense responses
      against insect herbivory is another hallmark of this interaction, and recent
      studies have shown that regulation of phytohormone signaling is under the control
      of sRNAs. Hemipterans feeding on resistant plants also show changes in insect
      sRNA profiles, possibly influencing insect development and reproduction. Changes
      in insect traits such as fecundity, host range, and resistance to insecticides
      are impacted by sRNAs and can directly contribute to the success of certain
      insect biotypes. In addition to causing direct damage to the host plant,
      hemipteran insects are often vectors of viral pathogens. Insect anti-viral RNAi
      machinery is activated to limit virus accumulation, suggesting a role in insect
      immunity. Virus-derived long sRNAs strongly resemble insect piRNAs, leading to
      the speculation that the piRNA pathway is induced in response to viral infection.
      Evidence for robust insect RNAi machinery in several hemipteran species is of
      immense interest and is being actively pursued as a possible tool for insect
      control. RNAi-induced gene silencing following uptake of exogenous dsRNA was
      successfully demonstrated in several hemipterans and the presence of sid-1 like
      genes support the concept of a systemic response in some species. 

PMID- 27625658
TI  - Exogenously Applied Plant Growth Regulators Enhance the Morpho-Physiological
      Growth and Yield of Rice under High Temperature.
AB  - A 2-year experiment was conducted to ascertain the effects of exogenously applied
      plant growth regulators (PGR) on rice growth and yield attributes under high day
      (HDT) and high night temperature (HNT). Two rice cultivars (IR-64 and
      Huanghuazhan) were subjected to temperature treatments in controlled growth
      chambers and four different combinations of ascorbic acid (Vc), alpha-tocopherol
      (Ve), brassinosteroids (Br), methyl jasmonates (MeJA), and triazoles (Tr) were
      applied. High temperature severely affected rice morphology, and also reduced
      leaf area, above-, and below-ground biomass, photosynthesis, and water use
      efficiency, while increased the leaf water potential of both rice cultivars.
      Grain yield and its related attributes except number of panicles, were reduced
      under high temperature. The HDT posed more negative effects on rice physiological
      attributes, while HNT was more detrimental for grain formation and yield. The
      Huanghuazhan performed better than IR-64 under high temperature stress with
      better growth and higher grain yield. Exogenous application of PGRs was helpful
      in alleviating the adverse effects of high temperature. Among PGR combinations,
      the Vc+Ve+MejA+Br was the most effective treatment for both cultivars under high
      temperature stress. The highest grain production by Vc+Ve+MejA+Br treated plants
      was due to enhanced photosynthesis, spikelet fertility and grain filling, which
      compensated the adversities of high temperature stress. Taken together, these
      results will be of worth for further understanding the adaptation and survival
      mechanisms of rice to high temperature and will assist in developing heat
      resistant rice germplasm in future. 

PMID- 27625659
TI  - Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations of Brassica nigra Introgression Lines from
      Somatic Hybridization: A Resource for Cauliflower Improvement.
AB  - Broad phenotypic variations were obtained previously in derivatives from the
      asymmetric somatic hybridization of cauliflower "Korso" (Brassica oleracea var.
      botrytis, 2n = 18, CC genome) and black mustard "G1/1" (Brassica nigra, 2n = 16,
      BB genome). However, the mechanisms underlying these variations were unknown. In
      this study, 28 putative introgression lines (ILs) were pre-selected according to
      a series of morphological (leaf shape and color, plant height and branching, curd
      features, and flower traits) and physiological (black rot/club root resistance)
      characters. Multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that these
      plants contained 18 chromosomes derived from "Korso." Molecular marker (65 simple
      sequence repeats and 77 amplified fragment length polymorphisms) analysis
      identified the presence of "G1/1" DNA segments (average 7.5%). Additionally, DNA
      profiling revealed many genetic and epigenetic differences among the ILs,
      including sequence alterations, deletions, and variation in patterns of cytosine
      methylation. The frequency of fragments lost (5.1%) was higher than presence of
      novel bands (1.4%), and the presence of fragments specific to Brassica carinata
      (BBCC 2n = 34) were common (average 15.5%). Methylation-sensitive amplified
      polymorphism analysis indicated that methylation changes were common and that
      hypermethylation (12.4%) was more frequent than hypomethylation (4.8%). Our
      results suggested that asymmetric somatic hybridization and alien DNA
      introgression induced genetic and epigenetic alterations. Thus, these ILs
      represent an important, novel germplasm resource for cauliflower improvement that
      can be mined for diverse traits of interest to breeders and researchers. 

PMID- 27625660
TI  - Agriculture in West Africa in the Twenty-First Century: Climate Change and
      Impacts Scenarios, and Potential for Adaptation.
AB  - West Africa is known to be particularly vulnerable to climate change due to high
      climate variability, high reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and limited economic
      and institutional capacity to respond to climate variability and change. In this
      context, better knowledge of how climate will change in West Africa and how such
      changes will impact crop productivity is crucial to inform policies that may
      counteract the adverse effects. This review paper provides a comprehensive
      overview of climate change impacts on agriculture in West Africa based on the
      recent scientific literature. West Africa is nowadays experiencing a rapid
      climate change, characterized by a widespread warming, a recovery of the
      monsoonal precipitation, and an increase in the occurrence of climate extremes.
      The observed climate tendencies are also projected to continue in the twenty
      first century under moderate and high emission scenarios, although large
      uncertainties still affect simulations of the future West African climate,
      especially regarding the summer precipitation. However, despite diverging future
      projections of the monsoonal rainfall, which is essential for rain-fed
      agriculture, a robust evidence of yield loss in West Africa emerges. This yield
      loss is mainly driven by increased mean temperature while potential wetter or
      drier conditions as well as elevated CO2 concentrations can modulate this effect.
      Potential for adaptation is illustrated for major crops in West Africa through a
      selection of studies based on process-based crop models to adjust cropping
      systems (change in varieties, sowing dates and density, irrigation, fertilizer
      management) to future climate. Results of the cited studies are crop and region
      specific and no clear conclusions can be made regarding the most effective
      adaptation options. Further efforts are needed to improve modeling of the monsoon
      system and to better quantify the uncertainty in its changes under a warmer
      climate, in the response of the crops to such changes and in the potential for
      adaptation. 

PMID- 27625662
TI  - Potential Global-Local Inconsistency in Species-Area Relationships Fitting.
AB  - The Species-Area Relationship (SAR) has been widely employed to assess species
      diversity and predict species extinction. Thus far, although many functions were
      proposed to fit SAR based on field observations or simulation results, the shape
      of SAR curve has been debated extensively over decades. Here we uncover a
      potential global-local inconsistency in SARs fitting simulation blocked by the
      limitation of large area sampling before. The results indicated that power and
      logarithm SAR formulas were good for the fitting if the sampling area range is
      not large which is also the practical sampling interval in the field. However,
      for the logarithm SAR fitting, a sigmoid curve occurred in the log10 Area-Number
      of Species plane, and for the power SAR fitting, the curve is convex instead of a
      straight line as assumed when linear regression was applied. In conclusion,
      neither the power SAR nor the logarithm SAR fitted to simulated data is linear at
      large sampling range as commonly assumed in previous studies, no matter the
      distribution of species abundance is log-normal or negative-binomial, which
      unmasks the global-local inconsistency in SARs fitting. Thus, misestimates of
      total number of species or other derivation parameters can occur if the fitted
      relationship is extrapolated beyond the range of the small and intermediate
      sampling size. 

PMID- 27625661
TI  - The SOD Gene Family in Tomato: Identification, Phylogenetic Relationships, and
      Expression Patterns.
AB  - Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are critical antioxidant enzymes that protect
      organisms from reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by adverse conditions, and
      have been widely found in the cytoplasm, chloroplasts, and mitochondria of
      eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an
      important economic crop and is cultivated worldwide. However, abiotic and biotic
      stresses severely hinder growth and development of the plant, which affects the
      production and quality of the crop. To reveal the potential roles of SOD genes
      under various stresses, we performed a systematic analysis of the tomato SOD gene
      family and analyzed the expression patterns of SlSOD genes in response to abiotic
      stresses at the whole-genome level. The characteristics of the SlSOD gene family
      were determined by analyzing gene structure, conserved motifs, chromosomal
      distribution, phylogenetic relationships, and expression patterns. We determined
      that there are at least nine SOD genes in tomato, including four Cu/ZnSODs, three
      FeSODs, and one MnSOD, and they are unevenly distributed on 12 chromosomes.
      Phylogenetic analyses of SOD genes from tomato and other plant species were
      separated into two groups with a high bootstrap value, indicating that these SOD
      genes were present before the monocot-dicot split. Additionally, many cis
      elements that respond to different stresses were found in the promoters of nine
      SlSOD genes. Gene expression analysis based on RNA-seq data showed that most
      genes were expressed in all tested tissues, with the exception of SlSOD6 and
      SlSOD8, which were only expressed in young fruits. Microarray data analysis
      showed that most members of the SlSOD gene family were altered under salt- and
      drought-stress conditions. This genome-wide analysis of SlSOD genes helps to
      clarify the function of SlSOD genes under different stress conditions and
      provides information to aid in further understanding the evolutionary
      relationships of SOD genes in plants. 

PMID- 27625664
TI  - Fighting Sharka in Peach: Current Limitations and Future Perspectives.
AB  - Sharka, caused by Plum Pox Virus (PPV), is by far the most important infectious
      disease of peach [P. persica (L.) Batsch] and other Prunus species. The
      progressive spread of the virus in many important growing areas throughout Europe
      poses serious issues to the economic sustainability of stone fruit crops, peach
      in particular. The adoption of internationally agreed-upon rules for diagnostic
      tests, strain-specific monitoring schemes and spatial-temporal modeling of virus
      spread, are all essential for a more effective sharka containment. The EU
      regulations on nursery activity should be modified based on the zone delimitation
      of PPV presence, limiting open-field production of propagation materials only to
      virus-free areas. Increasing the efficiency of preventive measures should be
      augmented by the short-term development of resistant cultivars. Putative sources
      of resistance/tolerance have been recently identified in peach germplasm,
      although the majority of novel resistant sources to PPV-M have been found in
      almond. However, the complexity of introgression from related-species imposes the
      search for alternative strategies. The use of genetic engineering, particularly
      RNA interference (RNAi)-based approaches, appears as one of the most promising
      perspectives to introduce a durable resistance to PPV in peach germplasm,
      notwithstanding the well-known difficulties of in vitro plant regeneration in
      this species. In this regard, rootstock transformation to induce RNAi-mediated
      systemic resistance would avoid the transformation of numerous commercial
      cultivars, and may alleviate consumer resistance to the use of GM plants. 

PMID- 27625665
TI  - Metabolism of Flavonoids in Novel Banana Germplasm during Fruit Development.
AB  - Banana is a commercially important fruit, but its flavonoid composition and
      characteristics has not been well studied in detail. In the present study, the
      metabolism of flavonoids was investigated in banana pulp during the entire
      developmental period of fruit. 'Xiangfen 1,' a novel flavonoid-rich banana
      germplasm, was studied with 'Brazil' serving as a control. In both varieties,
      flavonoids were found to exist mainly in free soluble form and quercetin was the
      predominant flavonoid. The most abundant free soluble flavonoid was cyanidin-3-O
      glucoside chloride, and quercetin was the major conjugated soluble and bound
      flavonoid. Higher content of soluble flavonoids was associated with stronger
      antioxidant activity compared with the bound flavonoids. Strong correlation was
      observed between antioxidant activity and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride
      content, suggesting that cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride is one of the major
      antioxidants in banana. In addition, compared with 'Brazil,' 'Xiangfen 1' fruit
      exhibited higher antioxidant activity and had more total flavonoids. These
      results indicate that soluble flavonoids play a key role in the antioxidant
      activity of banana, and 'Xiangfen 1' banana can be a rich source of natural
      antioxidants in human diets. 

PMID- 27625663
TI  - Overexpression of AtEDT1/HDG11 in Chinese Kale (Brassica oleracea var.
      alboglabra) Enhances Drought and Osmotic Stress Tolerance.
AB  - Plants are constantly challenged by environmental stresses, including drought and
      high salinity. Improvement of drought and osmotic stress tolerance without yield
      decrease has been a great challenge in crop improvement. The Arabidopsis ENHANCED
      DROUGHT TOLERANCE1/HOMEODOMAIN GLABROUS11 (AtEDT1/HDG11), a protein of the class
      IV HD-Zip family, has been demonstrated to significantly improve drought
      tolerance in Arabidopsis, rice, and pepper. Here, we report that AtEDT1/HDG11
      confers drought and osmotic stress tolerance in the Chinese kale. AtEDT1/HDG11
      overexpression lines exhibit auxin-overproduction phenotypes, such as long
      hypocotyls, tall stems, more root hairs, and a larger root system architecture.
      Compared with the untransformed control, transgenic lines have significantly
      reduced stomatal density. In the leaves of transgenic Chinese kale plants,
      proline (Pro) content and reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzyme activity was
      significantly increased after drought and osmotic stress, particularly compared
      to wild kale. More importantly, AtEDT1/HDG11-overexpression leads to abscisic
      acid (ABA) hypersensitivity, resulting in ABA inhibitor germination and induced
      stomatal closure. Consistent with observed phenotypes, the expression levels of
      auxin, ABA, and stress-related genes were also altered under both normal and/or
      stress conditions. Further analysis showed that AtEDT1/HDG11, as a transcription
      factor, can target the auxin biosynthesis gene YUCC6 and ABA response genes ABI3
      and ABI5. Collectively, our results provide a new insight into the role of
      AtEDT1/HDG11 in enhancing abiotic stress resistance through auxin- and ABA
      mediated signaling response in Chinese kale. 

PMID- 27625666
TI  - Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the Mitogen-Activated
      Protein Kinase Gene Family in Cassava.
AB  - Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) play central roles in plant
      developmental processes, hormone signaling transduction, and responses to abiotic
      stress. However, no data are currently available about the MAPK family in
      cassava, an important tropical crop. Herein, 21 MeMAPK genes were identified from
      cassava. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that MeMAPKs could be classified into
      four subfamilies. Gene structure analysis demonstrated that the number of introns
      in MeMAPK genes ranged from 1 to 10, suggesting large variation among cassava
      MAPK genes. Conserved motif analysis indicated that all MeMAPKs had typical
      protein kinase domains. Transcriptomic analysis suggested that MeMAPK genes
      showed differential expression patterns in distinct tissues and in response to
      drought stress between wild subspecies and cultivated varieties. Interaction
      networks and co-expression analyses revealed that crucial pathways controlled by
      MeMAPK networks may be involved in the differential response to drought stress in
      different accessions of cassava. Expression of nine selected MAPK genes showed
      that these genes could comprehensively respond to osmotic, salt, cold, oxidative
      stressors, and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling. These findings yield new insights
      into the transcriptional control of MAPK gene expression, provide an improved
      understanding of abiotic stress responses and signaling transduction in cassava,
      and lead to potential applications in the genetic improvement of cassava
      cultivars. 

PMID- 27625668
TI  - Brassinosteroids Improve Quality of Summer Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) by
      Balancing Biosynthesis of Polyphenols and Amino Acids.
AB  - Summer grown green tea is less popular due to bitterness and high astringency,
      which are attributed to high levels of tea polyphenols (TP) and low levels of
      amino acids (AA) in tea leaves (Camellia sinensis L.). Brassinosteroids (BRs), a
      group of steroidal plant hormones can regulate primary and secondary metabolism
      in a range of plant species under both normal and stress conditions. However,
      specific effects of BRs on the photosynthesis of tea plants and the quality of
      summer green tea are largely unknown. Here we show that 24-epibrassinolide (EBR),
      a bioactive BR, promoted photosynthesis in tea plants in a concentration
      dependent manner. Stimulation in photosynthesis by EBR resulted in an increased
      summer tea yield. Although all tested concentrations (0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and
      1.0 ppm) of EBR increased concentrations of TP and AA, a moderate concentration
      (0.5 ppm) caused the highest decrease in TP to AA ratio, an important feature of
      quality tea. Time-course analysis using 0.5 ppm EBR as foliar spray revealed that
      TP or AA concentration increased as early as 3 h after EBR application, reaching
      the highest peak at 24 h and that remained more or less stable. Importantly, such
      changes in TP and AA concentration by EBR resulted in a remarkably decreased but
      stable TP to AA ratio at 24 h and onward. Furthermore, concentrations of
      catechins and theanine increased, while that of caffeine remained unaltered
      following treatment with EBR. EBR improved activity of phenylalanine ammonia
      lyase (PAL) and glutamine: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase (GOGAT) enzymes
      involved in catechins and theanine biosynthesis, respectively. Transcript
      analysis revealed that transcript levels of CsPAL and CsGS peaked as early as 6
      h, while that of CsGOGAT peaked at 12 h following application of EBR, implying
      that EBR increased the concentration of TP and AA by inducing their biosynthesis.
      These results suggest a positive role of BR in enhancing green tea quality, which
      might have potential implication in improving quality of summer tea. 

PMID- 27625667
TI  - Identification and Comparative Analysis of microRNA in Wheat (Triticum aestivum
      L.) Callus Derived from Mature and Immature Embryos during In vitro Culture.
AB  - Feasible and efficient tissue culture plays an important role in plant genetic
      engineering. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) immature embryos (IMEs) are preferred
      for tissue culture to mature embryos (MEs) because IMEs easily generate
      embryogenic callus, producing large number of plants. The molecular mechanisms of
      regulation and the biological pathways involved in embryogenic callus formation
      in wheat remain unclear. Here, microRNAs (miRNAs) potentially involved in
      embryogenic callus formation and somatic embryogenesis were identified through
      deep sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs) and analyzed with bioinformatics tools. Six
      sRNA libraries derived from calli of IMEs and MEs after 3, 6, or 15 d of culture
      (DC) were constructed and sequenced. A total of 85 known miRNAs were identified,
      of which 30, 33, and 18 were differentially expressed (P < 0.05) between the IME
      and ME libraries at 3, 6, and 15 DC, respectively. Additionally, 171 novel and 41
      candidate miRNAs were also identified, of the novel miRNA, 69, 67, and 37 were
      differentially expressed (P < 0.05) between the two types of libraries at 3, 6,
      and 15 DC, respectively. The expression patterns of eight known and eight novel
      miRNAs were validated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      Gene ontology annotation of differentially expressed miRNA targets provided
      information regarding the underlying molecular functions, biological processes,
      and cellular components involved in embryogenic callus development. Functional
      miRNAs, such as miR156, miR164, miR1432, miR398, and miR397, differentially
      expressed in IMEs and MEs might be related to embryogenic callus formation and
      somatic embryogenesis. This study suggests that miRNA plays an important role in
      embryogenic callus formation and somatic embryogenesis in wheat, and our data
      provide a useful resource for further research. 

PMID- 27625669
TI  - Analysis of Network Topologies Underlying Ethylene Growth Response Kinetics.
AB  - Most models for ethylene signaling involve a linear pathway. However,
      measurements of seedling growth kinetics when ethylene is applied and removed
      have resulted in more complex network models that include coherent feedforward,
      negative feedback, and positive feedback motifs. The dynamical responses of the
      proposed networks have not been explored in a quantitative manner. Here, we
      explore (i) whether any of the proposed models are capable of producing growth
      response behaviors consistent with experimental observations and (ii) what
      mechanistic roles various parts of the network topologies play in ethylene
      signaling. To address this, we used computational methods to explore two general
      network topologies: The first contains a coherent feedforward loop that inhibits
      growth and a negative feedback from growth onto itself (CFF/NFB). In the second,
      ethylene promotes the cleavage of EIN2, with the product of the cleavage
      inhibiting growth and promoting the production of EIN2 through a positive
      feedback loop (PFB). Since few network parameters for ethylene signaling are
      known in detail, we used an evolutionary algorithm to explore sets of parameters
      that produce behaviors similar to experimental growth response kinetics of both
      wildtype and mutant seedlings. We generated a library of parameter sets by
      independently running the evolutionary algorithm many times. Both network
      topologies produce behavior consistent with experimental observations, and
      analysis of the parameter sets allows us to identify important network
      interactions and parameter constraints. We additionally screened these parameter
      sets for growth recovery in the presence of sub-saturating ethylene doses, which
      is an experimentally-observed property that emerges in some of the evolved
      parameter sets. Finally, we probed simplified networks maintaining key features
      of the CFF/NFB and PFB topologies. From this, we verified observations drawn from
      the larger networks about mechanisms underlying ethylene signaling. Analysis of
      each network topology results in predictions about changes that occur in network
      components that can be experimentally tested to give insights into which, if
      either, network underlies ethylene responses. 

PMID- 27625670
TI  - Construction of a High-Density Genetic Map Based on Large-Scale Marker
      Development in Mango Using Specific-Locus Amplified Fragment Sequencing (SLAF
      seq).
AB  - Genetic maps are particularly important and valuable tools for quantitative trait
      locus (QTL) mapping and marker assisted selection (MAS) of plant with desirable
      traits. In this study, 173 F1 plants from a cross between Mangifera indica L.
      "Jin-Hwang" and M. indica L. "Irwin" and their parent plants were subjected to
      high-throughput sequencing and specific-locus amplified fragment (SLAF) library
      construction. After preprocessing, 66.02 Gb of raw data containing 330.64 M reads
      were obtained. A total of 318,414 SLAFs were detected, of which 156,368 were
      polymorphic. Finally, 6594 SLAFs were organized into a linkage map consisting of
      20 linkage groups (LGs). The total length of the map was 3148.28 cM and the
      average distance between adjacent markers was 0.48 cM. This map could be
      considered, to our knowledge, the first high-density genetic map of mango, and
      might form the basis for fine QTL mapping and MAS of mango. 

PMID- 27625671
TI  - Phylogeny and Expression Analyses Reveal Important Roles for Plant PKS III Family
      during the Conquest of Land by Plants and Angiosperm Diversification.
AB  - Polyketide synthases (PKSs) utilize the products of primary metabolism to
      synthesize a wide array of secondary metabolites in both prokaryotic and
      eukaryotic organisms. PKSs can be grouped into three distinct classes, types I,
      II, and III, based on enzyme structure, substrate specificity, and catalytic
      mechanisms. The type III PKS enzymes function as homodimers, and are the only
      class of PKS that do not require acyl carrier protein. Plant type III PKS
      enzymes, also known as chalcone synthase (CHS)-like enzymes, are of particular
      interest due to their functional diversity. In this study, we mined type III PKS
      gene sequences from the genomes of six aquatic algae and 25 land plants (1
      bryophyte, 1 lycophyte, 2 basal angiosperms, 16 core eudicots, and 5 monocots).
      PKS III sequences were found relatively conserved in all embryophytes, but not
      exist in algae. We also examined gene expression patterns by analyzing available
      transcriptome data, and identified potential cis-regulatory elements in upstream
      sequences. Phylogenetic trees of dicots angiosperms showed that plant type III
      PKS proteins fall into three clades. Clade A contains CHS/STS-type enzymes coding
      genes with diverse transcriptional expression patterns and enzymatic functions,
      while clade B is further divided into subclades b1 and b2, which consist of
      anther-specific CHS-like enzymes. Differentiation regions, such as amino acids
      196-207 between clades A and B, and predicted positive selected sites within
      alpha-helixes in late appeared branches of clade A, account for the major
      diversification in substrate choice and catalytic reaction. The integrity and
      location of conserved cis-elements containing MYB and bHLH binding sites can
      affect transcription levels. Potential binding sites for transcription factors
      such as WRKY, SPL, or AP2/EREBP may contribute to tissue- or taxon-specific
      differences in gene expression. Our data shows that gene duplications and
      functional diversification of plant type III PKS enzymes played a critical role
      in the ancient conquest of the land by early plants and angiosperm
      diversification. 

PMID- 27625673
TI  - Novel In vitro Procedures for Rearing a Root-Feeding Pest (Heteronychus arator)
      of Grasslands.
AB  - Optimizing plant protection against insect herbivory relies on testing plant
      defense mechanisms and how the insect response to these defensive strategies.
      Such experiments benefit from using insects generated from standardized rearing
      protocols since this reduces stochastic variation. Such protocols can be
      challenging to devise, however, especially for root herbivores. These insects
      generally have complex and long life cycles, which are often only poorly
      described. Moreover, using field-captured root herbivores is often suboptimal
      because it involves extensive excavation from sites selected by chance (their
      location is not obvious) and larval stages are frequently indistinguishable
      beyond the family level. We investigated in vitro procedures to improve the
      availability of the African Black Beetle (ABB) Heteronychus arator, an invasive
      alien pest in both Australia and New Zealand. Native to Africa, this scarab
      beetle has established in Australian and New Zealand grasslands, pastures, and
      crops. Adults feed on the stem of young plants just beneath the soil surface.
      During the mating season, gravid females lay eggs in the soil, giving rise to
      larvae feeding on grass roots, causing severe damage, and impairing plant growth.
      Here, we propose laboratory approaches to collect eggs from field-captured adult
      beetles, to hatch eggs, and to rear neonate larvae to adults. We propose that
      these methods will provide plant scientists and entomologists with a better and
      more controlled supply of ABB larvae for laboratory and field assays. In turn,
      this will assist with the collection of important information for the management
      of this insect pest and enhanced protection of plants in crop and grassland
      ecosystems. 

PMID- 27625672
TI  - Proteomic Studies on the Effects of Lipo-Chitooligosaccharide and Thuricin 17
      under Unstressed and Salt Stressed Conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Plants, being sessile organisms, are exposed to widely varying environmental
      conditions throughout their life cycle. Compatible plant-microbe interactions
      favor plant growth and development, and help plants deal with these environmental
      challenges. Microorganisms produce a diverse range of elicitor molecules to
      establish symbiotic relationships with the plants they associate with, in a given
      ecological niche. Lipo-chitooligosaccharide (LCO) and Thuricin 17 (Th17) are two
      such compounds shown to positively influence plant growth of both legumes and non
      legumes. Arabidopsis thaliana responded positively to treatment with the
      bacterial signal compounds LCO and Th17 in the presence of salt stress (up to 250
      mM NaCl). Shotgun proteomics of unstressed and 250 mM NaCl stressed A. thaliana
      rosettes (7 days post stress) in combination with the LCO and Th17 revealed many
      known, putative, hypothetical, and unknown proteins. Overall, carbon and energy
      metabolic pathways were affected under both unstressed and salt stressed
      conditions when treated with these signals. PEP carboxylase, Rubisco-oxygenase
      large subunit, pyruvate kinase, and proteins of photosystems I and II were some
      of the noteworthy proteins enhanced by the signals, along with other stress
      related proteins. These findings suggest that the proteome of A. thaliana
      rosettes is altered by the bacterial signals tested, and more so under salt
      stress, thereby imparting a positive effect on plant growth under high salt
      stress. The roles of the identified proteins are discussed here in relation to
      salt stress adaptation, which, when translated to field grown crops can be a
      crucial component and of significant importance in agriculture and global food
      production. The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the
      ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD004742. 

PMID- 27625674
TI  - Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Putative Genes Involved in the
      Biosynthesis of Xanthanolides in Xanthium strumarium L.
AB  - Xanthium strumarium L. is a traditional Chinese herb belonging to the Asteraceae
      family. The major bioactive components of this plant are sesquiterpene lactones
      (STLs), which include the xanthanolides. To date, the biogenesis of
      xanthanolides, especially their downstream pathway, remains largely unknown. In
      X. strumarium, xanthanolides primarily accumulate in its glandular trichomes. To
      identify putative gene candidates involved in the biosynthesis of xanthanolides,
      three X. strumarium transcriptomes, which were derived from the young leaves of
      two different cultivars and the purified glandular trichomes from one of the
      cultivars, were constructed in this study. In total, 157 million clean reads were
      generated and assembled into 91,861 unigenes, of which 59,858 unigenes were
      successfully annotated. All the genes coding for known enzymes in the upstream
      pathway to the biosynthesis of xanthanolides were present in the X. strumarium
      transcriptomes. From a comparative analysis of the X. strumarium transcriptomes,
      this study identified a number of gene candidates that are putatively involved in
      the downstream pathway to the synthesis of xanthanolides, such as four unigenes
      encoding CYP71 P450s, 50 unigenes for dehydrogenases, and 27 genes for
      acetyltransferases. The possible functions of these four CYP71 candidates are
      extensively discussed. In addition, 116 transcription factors that are highly
      expressed in X. strumarium glandular trichomes were also identified. Their
      possible regulatory roles in the biosynthesis of STLs are discussed. The global
      transcriptomic data for X. strumarium should provide a valuable resource for
      further research into the biosynthesis of xanthanolides. 

PMID- 27625675
TI  - A Natural Light/Dark Cycle Regulation of Carbon-Nitrogen Metabolism and Gene
      Expression in Rice Shoots.
AB  - Light and temperature are two particularly important environmental cues for plant
      survival. Carbon and nitrogen are two essential macronutrients required for plant
      growth and development, and cellular carbon and nitrogen metabolism must be
      tightly coordinated. In order to understand how the natural light/dark cycle
      regulates carbon and nitrogen metabolism in rice plants, we analyzed the
      photosynthesis, key carbon-nitrogen metabolites, and enzyme activities, and
      differentially expressed genes and miRNAs involved in the carbon and nitrogen
      metabolic pathway in rice shoots at the following times: 2:00, 6:00, 10:00,
      14:00, 18:00, and 22:00. Our results indicated that more CO2 was fixed into
      carbohydrates by a high net photosynthetic rate, respiratory rate, and stomatal
      conductance in the daytime. Although high levels of the nitrate reductase
      activity, free ammonium and carbohydrates were exhibited in the daytime, the
      protein synthesis was not significantly facilitated by the light and temperature.
      In mRNA sequencing, the carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related differentially
      expressed genes were obtained, which could be divided into eight groups:
      photosynthesis, TCA cycle, sugar transport, sugar metabolism, nitrogen transport,
      nitrogen reduction, amino acid metabolism, and nitrogen regulation. Additionally,
      a total of 78,306 alternative splicing events have been identified, which
      primarily belong to alternative 5' donor sites, alternative 3' acceptor sites,
      intron retention, and exon skipping. In sRNA sequencing, four carbon and nitrogen
      metabolism-related miRNAs (osa-miR1440b, osa-miR2876-5p, osa-miR1877 and osa
      miR5799) were determined to be regulated by natural light/dark cycle. The
      expression level analysis showed that the four carbon and nitrogen metabolism
      related miRNAs negatively regulated their target genes. These results may provide
      a good strategy to study how natural light/dark cycle regulates carbon and
      nitrogen metabolism to ensure plant growth and development. 

PMID- 27625676
TI  - Mutual Interactions between Aquaporins and Membrane Components.
AB  - In recent years, a number of studies have been focused on the structural
      evaluation of protein complexes in order to get mechanistic insights into how
      proteins communicate at the molecular level within the cell. Specific sites of
      protein-aquaporin interaction have been evaluated and new forms of regulation of
      aquaporins described, based on these associations. Heterotetramerizations of
      aquaporin isoforms are considered as novel regulatory mechanisms for plasma
      membrane (PIPs) and tonoplast (TIPs) proteins, influencing their intrinsic
      permeability and trafficking dynamics in the adaptive response to changing
      environmental conditions. However, protein-protein interaction is an extensive
      theme that is difficult to tackle and new methodologies are being used to study
      the physical interactions involved. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation and
      the identification of cross-linked peptides based on tandem mass spectra, that
      are complementary to other methodologies such as heterologous expression, co
      precipitation assays or confocal fluorescence microscopy, are discussed in this
      review. The chemical composition and the physical characteristics of the lipid
      bilayer also influence many aspects of membrane aquaporins, including their
      functionality. The molecular driving forces stabilizing the positions of the
      lipids around aquaporins could define their activity, thereby altering the
      conformational properties. Therefore, an integrative approach to the relevance of
      the membrane-aquaporin interaction to different processes related to plant cell
      physiology is provided. Finally, it is described how the interactions between
      aquaporins and copolymer matrixes or biological compounds offer an opportunity
      for the functional incorporation of aquaporins into new biotechnological
      advances. 

PMID- 27625678
TI  - Induction of Silencing in Plants by High-Pressure Spraying of In vitro
      Synthesized Small RNAs.
AB  - In this report, we describe a method for the delivery of small interfering RNAs
      (siRNAs) into plant cells. In vitro synthesized siRNAs that were designed to
      target the coding region of a GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN (GFP) transgene were
      applied by various methods onto GFP-expressing transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana
      plants to trigger RNA silencing. In contrast to mere siRNA applications,
      including spraying, syringe injection, and infiltration of siRNAs that all failed
      to induce RNA silencing, high pressure spraying of siRNAs resulted in efficient
      local and systemic silencing of the GFP transgene, with comparable efficiency as
      was achieved with biolistic siRNA introduction. High-pressure spraying of siRNAs
      with sizes of 21, 22, and 24 nucleotides (nt) led to local GFP silencing. Small
      RNA deep sequencing revealed that no shearing of siRNAs was detectable by high
      pressure spraying. Systemic silencing was basically detected upon spraying of 22
      nt siRNAs. Local and systemic silencing developed faster and more extensively
      upon targeting the apical meristem than spraying of mature leaves. 

PMID- 27625677
TI  - Dormant and after-Ripened Arabidopsis thaliana Seeds are Distinguished by Early
      Transcriptional Differences in the Imbibed State.
AB  - Seed dormancy is a genetically controlled block preventing the germination of
      imbibed seeds in favorable conditions. It requires a period of dry storage (after
      ripening) or certain environmental conditions to be overcome. Dormancy is an
      important seed trait, which is under selective pressure, to control the seasonal
      timing of seed germination. Dormant and non-dormant (after-ripened) seeds are
      characterized by large sets of differentially expressed genes. However, little
      information is available concerning the temporal and spatial transcriptional
      changes during early stages of rehydration in dormant and non-dormant seeds. We
      employed genome-wide transcriptome analysis on seeds of the model plant
      Arabidopsis thaliana to investigate transcriptional changes in dry seeds upon
      rehydration. We analyzed gene expression of dormant and after-ripened seeds of
      the Cvi accession over four time points and two seed compartments (the embryo and
      surrounding single cell layer endosperm), during the first 24 h after sowing.
      This work provides a global view of gene expression changes in dormant and non
      dormant seeds with temporal and spatial detail, and these may be visualized via a
      web accessible tool (http://www.wageningenseedlab.nl/resources). A large
      proportion of transcripts change similarly in both dormant and non-dormant seeds
      upon rehydration, however, the first differences in transcript abundances become
      visible shortly after the initiation of imbibition, indicating that changes
      induced by after-ripening are detected and responded to rapidly upon rehydration.
      We identified several gene expression profiles which contribute to differential
      gene expression between dormant and non-dormant samples. Genes with enhanced
      expression in the endosperm of dormant seeds were overrepresented for stress
      related Gene Ontology categories, suggesting a protective role for the endosperm
      against biotic and abiotic stress to support persistence of the dormant seed in
      its environment. 

PMID- 27625679
TI  - Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Networks in the Grape Berry Illustrate That it
      Takes More Than Flavonoids to Fight Against Ultraviolet Radiation.
AB  - Plants are constantly challenged by environmental fluctuations. In response, they
      have developed a wide range of morphological and biochemical adaptations
      committed to ameliorate the effects of abiotic stress. When exposed to higher
      solar radiation levels, plants activate the synthesis of a large set of enzymes
      and secondary metabolites as part of a complex sunscreen and antioxidant defense
      mechanism. Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) has become a widely used system for
      studying adaptive responses to this type of stress since changes in berry
      composition, positively influenced by increased ultraviolet (UV) radiation
      levels, improve the quality of wines subsequently produced. Despite the fact that
      most of the attention has been directed toward the synthesis of flavonoids,
      recent transcriptomic and metabolomic studies have shown that stilbenoids and
      isoprenoids (e.g., terpenes and carotenoids) are also an important part of the
      grape UV-response machinery. This minireview focuses on the latest findings
      referring to the metabolic responses of grapes to UV radiation and proposes a
      model for its transcriptional control. Depending on the berry developmental stage
      and the type of radiation (i.e., irradiance level, exposure length), increased UV
      levels activate different metabolic pathways through the activity of master
      regulators belonging to the basic Leucine Zipper Domain (bZIP) and R2R3-MYB
      transcription factor families. This transcriptional control is influenced by the
      interaction of other environmental factors such as light, temperature or soil
      water availability. In grapevine, phenylpropanoids are part of, but are not the
      whole story, in the fight against radiation damage. 

PMID- 27625680
TI  - The ongoing search for simplifying fractional flow reserve assessment: the role
      of contrast medium.

PMID- 27625681
TI  - Protected percutaneous coronary intervention - a new road for success in treating
      complex patients.

PMID- 27625683
TI  - Efficacy of coronary fractional flow reserve using contrast medium compared to
      adenosine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR) is recommended as the gold
      standard method in evaluating intermediate coronary stenoses. However, there are
      significant debates concerning the agents and the timing of the measurement. AIM:
      To compare the contrast medium induced Pd/Pa ratio (CMR) with the FFR. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: We enrolled 28 consecutive patients with 34 intermediate lesions who
      underwent coronary FFR measurement by intracoronary (i.c.) adenosine. After
      baseline Pd/Pa was calculated, a single contrast medium (Iomeron) injection of 6
      ml (3 ml/s) was performed manually. Within 10 s after the contrast medium
      injection, the CMR was calculated. Bolus injection of i.c. adenosine was
      performed to induce maximal hyperemia (from 60 ug to 600 ug), and when it was <=
      0.80, the intermediate lesion was considered as significant. RESULTS: After bolus
      i.c. adenosine, 12 lesions of 34 (35.3%) were identified as significant. The CMR
      value was 0.86 +/-0.06 (range: 0.71-0.97). There were no significant differences
      between FFR and CMR values (p = 0.108). A substantial positive correlation
      between adenosine and contrast values was detected (0.886 and p < 0.001). Good
      agreement in Bland-Altman analysis was revealed (mean bias was 0.027, 95%
      confidence interval 0.038-0.092). Receiver operating characteristics curve
      analysis showed 90.9% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity for a cut-off value of
      0.85 for the CMR compared to FFR (<= 0.80). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that
      measuring the CMR is a feasible method compared to FFR. The CMR may be used in
      situations where adenosine cannot be administered.

PMID- 27625682
TI  - Conduction disturbances after transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedures 
      predictors and management.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become a safe and efficient
      alternative to cardiac surgery in patients with severe aortic stenosis. In many
      countries the number of performed TAVI procedures equals the number of surgical
      implantations. Indications for TAVI are becoming more liberal, allowing a wider
      spectrum of patients to benefit from the advantages of transcatheter therapy. Due
      to its invasive nature, TAVI is associated with some complications such as
      conduction disturbances. Although these disturbances are usually not lethal, they
      have a great influence on patients' state and long term-survival. The most
      relevant and common are His' bundle branch blocks, atrioventricular blocks, and
      need for permanent pacemaker implantation. With the frequency at 10% to even 50%,
      conduction abnormalities are among the most important TAVI-related adverse
      events. Risk factors for conduction disturbances include age, anatomy of the
      heart, periprocedural factors, type of implanted valve, and comorbidities.
      Severity of occurring complications varies; therefore selection of a proper
      treatment approach is required. Considered as the most effective management,
      permanent pacemaker implantation turned out to negatively influence both recovery
      and survival. Moreover, there is no expert consensus on use of resynchronization
      therapy after TAVI. In this paper, the authors present a comprehensive analysis
      of the most common conduction disturbances accompanying TAVI, factors related to
      their occurrence, and treatment approach. 

PMID- 27625684
TI  - Evaluation of safety and efficacy of NexGen - an ultrathin strut and hybrid cell
      design cobalt-chromium bare metal stent implanted in a real life patient
      population - the Polish NexGen Registry.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite the dominance of drug-eluting stents in modern
      interventional cardiology, there is still a niche for bare metal stents. AIM: The
      aim of the Polish NexGen registry was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a
      new generation cobalt-chromium NexGen stent in a real life patient population.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective multi-center registry was conducted in five
      clinical sites of American Heart of Poland. Three hundred and eighty-three
      patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with NexGen stent
      implantation were included. Clinical follow-up was performed at 1, 6 and 12
      months. Additionally, a group of 42 randomly selected patients underwent control
      angiography at 6 months (10.96% of study population). The primary endpoint was
      occurrence of target vessel revascularization (TVR) at 6-month follow-up.
      Angiographic endpoints included rates of binary restenosis and late lumen loss at
      6-month follow-up based on QCA analysis. Multivessel disease was present in more
      than 70% of patients, and 52.4% of lesions were complex. The main indications for
      angiography were non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (54.8%) and ST
      elevation myocardial infarction (34.99%). RESULTS: At 6-month follow-up 47
      (12.7%) patients reached the primary endpoint of TVR. The composite of major
      acute cardiac event rates at 30-day and 6- and 12-month follow-up was 6.01% (n =
      23), 18.5% (n = 69) and 25.21% (n = 92) respectively. Control angiography
      performed after 6 months showed in-stent late loss of 0.66 +/-0.71 mm and a
      binary restenosis rate of 16.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that PCI with the
      NexGen stent is safe and effective at 6- and 12-month follow-up. Angiographic
      results showed a satisfactory restenosis rate and low late lumen loss.

PMID- 27625685
TI  - The relation of platelet-lymphocyte ratio and coronary collateral circulation in
      patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recently, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has emerged as a
      significant inflammatory marker and a novel predictor of major adverse
      consequences in cardiovascular disease. AIM: In this study, we aimed to explore
      the relationship between PLR and coronary collateral circulation (CCC) in
      patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Clinical and laboratory data of 386 patients who underwent coronary
      angiography were evaluated retrospectively. The patients were classified into 2
      groups as follows: poor CCC (group 1: Rentrop grades 0-1) and good CCC (group 2:
      Rentrop grades 2-3). The PLR was calculated from the complete blood count.
      RESULTS: The PLR values of the patients with poor CCC were significantly higher
      than those of patients with good CCC (153.9 +/-26.6 vs. 129.8 +/-23.5, p <
      0.001). In the multiple logistic regression tests, PLR (odds ratio: 1.51, 95%
      confidence interval: 1.27-1.74; p < 0.001) and hs-CRP (odds ratio: 1.56, 95% CI:
      1.03-2.11; p < 0.001) were found to be independent predictors of poor CCC. The
      receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis yielded a cutoff value of
      140.5 for PLR to predict poor CCC with 79% sensitivity and 71% specificity, with
      the area under the ROC curve being 0.792 (95% CI: 0.721-0.864). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study revealed that high PLR is independently associated with poor coronary
      collateral circulation in patients with NSTEMI.

PMID- 27625686
TI  - Application of new balloon catheters in the treatment of congenital heart
      defects.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Balloon angioplasty (BAP) and aortic or pulmonary balloon
      valvuloplasty (BAV, BPV) are well-established treatment options in congenital
      heart defects. Recently, significant technological progress has been made and new
      catheters have been implemented in clinical practice. AIM: To analyze the results
      of BAP, BAV and BPV with the new balloon catheter Valver and its second
      generation Valver II, which the company Balton (Poland) launched and developed.
      These catheters have not been clinically evaluated yet. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      performed 64 interventions with Valver I and Valver II. With Valver I the
      following procedures were performed: 17 BPV (including 9 in tetralogy of Fallot -
      TOF), 10 BAV and 27 BAP in coarctations of the aorta (CoA) - including 9 native
      and 18 after surgery. With Valver II ten interventions were done - 3 BPV, 2
      pulmonary supravalvular BAP (after switch operations), 2 BAP of recoarctations
      and 3 other BAP. Age of the patients ranged from a few days to 40 years. RESULTS:
      All procedures were completed successfully, without rupture of any balloon
      catheters. The pressure gradient drop was statistically significant in all
      groups: BPV in isolated pulmonary valvular stenosis 28.1 mm Hg (mean), BPV in TOF
      18.7 mm Hg, BAV 32.8 mm Hg, BAP in native CoA 15.4 mm Hg and in recoarctations
      18.6 mm Hg. In 3 cases during rapid deflation of Valver I, wrinkles of the
      balloons made it impossible to insert the whole balloon into the vascular sheath
      (all were removed surgically from the groin). No such complication occured with
      Valver II. CONCLUSIONS: Valver balloon catheters are an effective treatment
      modality in different valvular and vascular stenoses.

PMID- 27625687
TI  - Blood glucose concentration for predicting poor outcomes in patients with and
      without impaired glucose metabolism undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass
      surgery - long-term observational study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Strict glucose control is an everyday practice in the perioperative
      period. Elevated glucose level has a deleterious impact on clinical results, but
      a therapeutic target has not been stated yet. AIM: To determine a glucose
      concentration range affecting long-term outcomes after coronary artery bypass
      surgery (CABG). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study is a retrospective evaluation of
      consecutive patients treated in a university hospital in Poland from 2004 to
      2008. Patients were divided into 2 groups: an impaired glucose metabolism group
      (IGM) if they had 1) known DM or 2) perioperative hyperglycaemia defined as >=
      200 mg/dl; and a non-IGM group. The end point (EP) was all-cause mortality.
      RESULTS: One thousand two hundred and eleven patients were covered by the
      analysis. The observation time was from 01.01.2004 until 01.08.2012. Patients who
      had maximal glucose concentrations < 242 mg/dl had the lowest mortality risk (EP
      in 21.1%); a higher risk was noted in the group with glucose concentrations 242
      324 mg/dl (EP in 30.8%); and a very high risk was found for the group where
      glucose concentration was > 324 mg/dl (EP in 44.2%) (p = 0.041). Patients with
      IGM had a shorter survival at the end of the study (p < 0.001). The longest
      survival was observed in patients whose maximal glucose level was <= 242 mg/dl (p
      < 0.001) and the minimal glucose concentration was in the range 61-110 mg/dl (p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Tight glucose concentration control should be performed
      irrespective of a diabetes diagnosis and proper treatment introduced when
      necessary. Maximal glucose concentration should be kept < 242 mg/dl, while the
      minimum should be in the range 60-110 mg/dl.

PMID- 27625688
TI  - Effects of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents on heart failure patients with
      anemia: a meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Heart failure (HF) is always complicated with anemia and is
      associated with bad prognosis in this patient population. Several studies have
      assessed the potential role of erythropoietin-stimulating agent (ESA) in
      improving cardiac function and reducing the number of hospitalizations in anemic
      patients with HF. AIM: We performed a meta-analysis to assess the potential role
      of ESA in the treatment of anemic patients with HF. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      literature and Medline search was performed to identify studies with control
      groups that examined the efficacy of ESA therapy in patients with HF and anemia.
      RESULTS: A total of 11 studies were included (n = 3044 subjects) in the final
      analysis. Compared to placebo, ESA therapy was associated with increased
      hemoglobin levels (1.89 g/dl; 95% CI: 1.64-2.14, p < 0.00001), increased left
      ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) to 6.88 (95% CI: 0.49-13.28, p = 0.03),
      decreased B-type natriuretic protein (-272.20; 95% CI: (-444.52)-(-99.89), p =
      0.002), improvement in New York Heart Association functional class to -0.33 mean
      difference (95% CI: (-0.44)-(-0.23), p < 0.00001), and decreased hospitalization
      (OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.39-0.94, p = 0.02). There was no significant between-group
      difference in all-cause mortality (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.51-1.21, p = 0.27).
      CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of anemia with ESA therapy did not reduce the rate of
      all-cause mortality among patients with heart failure, but ESA therapy made a
      potential important contribution to patients' symptomatic improvement.

PMID- 27625689
TI  - Circulatory support with Impella CP device during high-risk percutaneous coronary
      interventions: initial experience in Poland.

PMID- 27625690
TI  - Primary left main coronary artery thrombus aspiration as a standalone treatment:
      sailing in uncharted waters.

PMID- 27625691
TI  - Transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation followed by transfemoral
      transcatheter edge-to-edge repair of the tricuspid valve using the MitraClip
      system - a new treatment concept for an inoperable patient with significant
      aortic stenosis and severe tricuspid valve regurgitation.

PMID- 27625692
TI  - Right ventricular outflow tract stenting in double outlet right ventricle with
      critical pulmonary stenosis and hypoplastic pulmonary arteries.

PMID- 27625693
TI  - Mechanical stent failure as a cause of life-threatening left main restenosis.

PMID- 27625694
TI  - First report of percutaneous closure of anterior mitral leaflet perforation using
      a paravalvular leak device (PLD).

PMID- 27625695
TI  - Endovascular treatment of a traumatic ventricular septal rupture and coronary to
      ventricular fistula.

PMID- 27625696
TI  - Cardiac rupture in takotsubo cardiomyopathy treated surgically.

PMID- 27625697
TI  - Pulmonary artery atresia with ventricular septal defect, segmental pulmonary
      hypertension, major aortopulmonary collaterals (MAPCAs) and giant MAPCA aneurysm.

PMID- 27625698
TI  - CRT-D implantation: one procedure, two problems.

PMID- 27625699
TI  - Transesophageal echocardiography guided transseptal puncture for atrial
      fibrillation ablation in a patient with a 30 mm atrial septal closure device.

PMID- 27625700
TI  - Stem cell transplantation in strategies for curing HIV/AIDS.
AB  - HIV-1 can persist in a latent form in resting memory CD4+ cells and macrophages
      carrying an integrated copy of the HIV genome. Because of the presence of these
      stable reservoir cells, eradication by antiretroviral therapy is unlikely and in
      order to achieve eradication, alternative treatment options are required. Stem
      cell transplantation has been considered previously to effect the clinical course
      of HIV-infection but in practice eradication or virus control was not achievable.
      However, modifications of stem cell transplantation using natural or artificial
      resistant cell sources, combination with new techniques of gene editing or
      generating cytotoxic anti HIV effector cells have stimulated this field of HIV
      cell therapy substantially. Here, we look back on 30 years of stem cell therapy
      in HIV patients and discuss most recent developments in this direction.

PMID- 27625701
TI  - Splenic artery embolization: technically feasible but not necessarily
      advantageous.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The spleen is the second most commonly injured organ in cases of
      abdominal trauma. Management of splenic injury depends on the clinical status of
      the patient and can include nonoperative management (NOM), splenic artery
      embolization (SAE), surgery (operative splenic salvage or splenectomy), or a
      combination of these treatments. In nonoperatively managed cases, SAE is
      sometimes used to control haemorrhage. However, the indications for SAE have not
      been clearly defined and, in some cases, the potential complications of the
      procedure may outweigh its benefits. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: Through review of
      the literature we address the question of when SAE is indicated in combination
      with NOM of splenic injury, and whether SAE may delay needed surgical treatment
      in some cases. This systematic review highlighted the use of imperfect and
      inconsistent scoring systems in the diagnosis of splenic injury, the lack of
      consensus regarding indications for SAE, and the potential for severe morbidities
      associated with this procedure. Based on current literature and evidence we
      provide a new, non-verified, decision algorithm. CONCLUSIONS: NOM+ SAE involves
      potential risks and operative management may be preferable to SAE for certain
      patients. To clarify current literature, we propose a new algorithm for blunt
      abdominal trauma that should be validated prospectively. New evidence-based
      protocols should be developed to guide diagnosis and management of patients with
      splenic trauma.

PMID- 27625702
TI  - Dissection of partial 21q monosomy in different phenotypes: clinical and
      molecular characterization of five cases and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Partial deletion of chromosome 21q is a very rare chromosomal
      abnormality associated with highly variable phenotypes, such as facial dysmorphic
      features, heart defects, seizures, psychomotor delay, and severe to mild
      intellectual disability, depending on the location and size of deletions. So far,
      three broad deletion regions of 21q have been correlated with the clinical
      phenotype. RESULTS: We described the clinical and genetic features of three
      family members (father and two siblings) and other two unrelated patients with
      very wide range in age of diagnosis. All of them showed intellectual disability
      with very variable symptoms, from mild to severe, and carried 21q interstitial
      deletions with different sizes and position, as detected by conventional
      karyotype and array-CGH. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provided additional cases of
      partial 21q deletions, allowing to better delineate the genotype-phenotype
      correlations. In contrast to previous observations, we showed that deletions of
      the 21q proximal region are not necessarily associated with severe phenotypes
      and, therefore, that mild phenotypes are not exclusively related to distal
      deletions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing 21q
      deletions in adult patients associated with mild phenotypes, mainly consisting of
      neurobehavioral abnormalities, such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, poor
      social interactions and vulnerability to psychosis.

PMID- 27625704
TI  - Erratum to: CBP binding outside of promoters and enhancers in Drosophila
      melanogaster.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13072-015-0042-4.]. 

PMID- 27625703
TI  - First molecular-cytogenetic characterization of Fanconi anemia fragile sites in
      primary lymphocytes of FA-D2 patients in different stages of the disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fanconi anemia (FA) is a chromosomal instability syndrome
      characterized by increased frequency of chromosomal breakages, chromosomal radial
      figures and accelerated telomere shortening. In this work we performed detailed
      molecular-cytogenetic characterization of breakpoints in primary lymphocytes of
      FA-D2 patients in different stages of the disease using fluorescent in situ
      hybridization. RESULTS: We found that chromosomal breakpoints co-localize on the
      molecular level with common fragile sites, whereas their distribution pattern
      depends on the severity of the disease. Telomere quantitative fluorescent in situ
      hybridization revealed that telomere fusions and radial figures, especially
      radials which involve telomere sequences are the consequence of critically
      shortened telomeres that increase with the disease progression and could be
      considered as a predictive parameter during the course of the disease. Sex
      chromosomes in FA cells are also involved in radial formation indicating that
      specific X chromosome regions share homology with autosomes and also could serve
      as repair templates in resolving DNA damage. CONCLUSIONS: FA-D2 chromosomal
      breakpoints co-localize with common fragile sites, but their distribution pattern
      depends on the disease stage. Telomere fusions and radials figures which involve
      telomere sequences are the consequence of shortened telomeres, increase with
      disease progression and could be of predictive value.

PMID- 27625705
TI  - Gut microbiome alterations in patients with stage 4 hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes debilitating liver diseases, which may
      progress to cirrhosis and cancer, and claims 500,000 annual lives worldwide.
      While HCV epidemiology, pathophysiology, and therapy are being deeply studied,
      rare attention is given to reciprocal interactions between HCV infection , HCV
      induced chronic liver diseases, and the human gut microbiome. As Egypt has the
      world's highest prevalence of HCV infections, we launched this study to monitor
      differences in the gut microbial community composition of Egyptian HCV patients
      that may affect, or result from, the patients' liver state. RESULTS: To this end,
      we analyzed stool samples from six stage 4-HCV patients and eight healthy
      individuals by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing using Illumina MiSeq.
      Overall, the alpha-diversity of the healthy persons' gut microbiomes was higher
      than those of the HCV patients. Whereas members of phylum Bacteroidetes were more
      abundant in HCV patients, healthy individuals had higher abundance of Firmicutes,
      Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Genus-level analysis showed differential
      abundance of Prevotella and Faecalibacterium (higher in HCV patients) vs.
      Ruminococcus and Clostridium (healthy group), indicating that the higher
      abundance of Bacteroidetes in HCV patients is most likely due to Prevotella
      overabundance. The probiotic genus, Bifidobacterium, was only observed in the
      microbiotas of healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge,
      this study provides a first overview of major phyla and genera differentiating
      stage 4-HCV patients from healthy individuals and suggests possible microbiome
      remodeling in chronic hepatitis C, possibly shaped by bacterial translocation as
      well as the liver's impaired role in digestion and protein synthesis. Future
      studies will investigate the microbiome composition and functional capabilities
      in more patients while tracing some potential biomarker taxa (e.g., Prevotella,
      Faecalibacterium vs. Bifidobacterium).

PMID- 27625706
TI  - Brazilian multicenter study for the evaluation of patients' satisfaction of blood
      glucose self-monitoring with BGStar((r)) blood glucose meter in insulinized
      patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered a global epidemic, and patient
      self-management education and support are critical in preventing and reducing the
      risk of complications. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is essential for
      care of individuals with DM, helping patients to achieve and maintain target
      blood glucose levels. The purpose of this study is to compare the satisfaction of
      insulinized DM patients on SMBG with use of investigational blood glucose meter
      (BGM) versus their routine device. METHODS: A national, multicenter, open-label,
      phase 4 study was conducted on patients with type 1 or 2 DM under insulin therapy
      regimen, who were asked to use investigational BGM instead of their usual BGM
      device. The study was performed in 12 centers in Brazil for 12 weeks, with an
      extension period of 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was to measure the variation
      on the patients' level of satisfaction with investigational versus routine BGM,
      between visits, using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Secondary endpoints
      addressed handling aspects, satisfaction, adherence and level of functionality
      and safety of investigational BGM. RESULTS: The study included 292 patients (36.6
      % DM1 and 63.4 % DM2), mean age 50.9 years old (+/-17.3 years), 57.5 % females.
      There was statistically significant improvement in global satisfaction with
      investigational BGM compared with routine BGM according to VAS [mean VAS score
      raised from 78.8 mm (SD = 18.0) to 90.8 mm (SD = 12.2) between visits]. After 12
      weeks, level of satisfaction with investigational BGM according to questionnaires
      was superior to routine BGM regardless of age group (p < 0.001), type of DM (p <
      0.001) or insulin regimen (p < 0.001). Investigational BGM was also regarded as
      safe, with 10 patients (3.4 %) reporting a total of 13 adverse events during the
      study. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of satisfaction during SMBG were higher with use of
      investigational BGM and the device was deemed safe and easy to handle.

PMID- 27625707
TI  - The C1431T polymorphism of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma
      (PPARgamma) is associated with low risk of diabetes in a Pakistani cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a socioeconomic burden in Pakistan. International
      diabetes federation reported 6.9 million cases of diabetes and 87,548 deaths due
      to diabetes in Pakistan in 2014. Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors are
      transcription factors, regulating several physiological processes. AIM: The aim
      of the current study was to determine the prevalence of silent variant C1431T in
      exon 6 of PPAR-y and analyze its effect on various anthropometric and biochemical
      parameters in a Pakistani cohort. METHODS: We collected 926 samples, 500 healthy
      controls (fasting blood sugar <99 mg/dL, random blood sugar <126 mg/dL) and 426
      cases with diabetes (fasting blood sugar >99 mg/dL, random blood sugar >126
      mg/dL). The genotyping was done by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment
      length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and serum biochemical parameters were determined
      by commercially available kits. RESULTS: The genotyping results by RLFP showed
      allelic frequency C = 61.2 % and T = 38.8 % in controls while C = 74.5 % and T =
      25.5 % in cases (OR 0.536, CI 0.439-0.655, p = 8.2 * 10(-10)) and genotypic
      frequency CC = 38.8 %, CT = 44.7 %, TT = 16.5 % in controls. While CC = 53.6 %,
      CT = 41.4 %, TT = 5.1 % in cases (OR 0.544, CI 0.408-0.726, p = 2.3 * 10(-10)).
      The rare T allele appeared to be a protective allele i.e., the presence of rare
      allele lowered the risk of diabetes in the studied cohort. The biochemical and
      anthropometric parameters were analyzed for any significant association with the
      SNP showing that C1431T variant has an association with BMI, weight, fasting
      glucose and LDLC. However, no significant association was found with age, gender,
      height, HDLC, TC, triglycerides and leptin. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the
      presence of minor allele lowers the risk of diabetes and the effect may involve
      modulating certain serum parameters.

PMID- 27625708
TI  - Influence of VEGFR and LHCGR on endometrial adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Endometrial adenocarcinoma is a common gynecological malignancy that is usually
      treated by surgical resection followed by radiation. However, the frequency of
      remote metastasis is high. The present study aimed to investigate whether
      patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma exhibited a positive response to
      treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue or inhibitors of
      neoangiogenesis, which are applied for the treatment of other malignancies.
      Immunohistochemical analyses were performed using 203 paraffin-embedded tissue
      samples of endometrial adenocarcinomas from patients who had undergone surgery at
      the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Ludwig Maximilians University
      of Munich, Germany. The tissues were incubated with antibodies against
      luteinizing hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) and vascular endothelial
      growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), and evaluated by bright field microscopy. The
      staining was categorized according to the Immune-Reactive-Score (IRS). The IRS
      scores were then statistically associated with various tumor traits, including
      tumor size, lymph node status, metastasis, grade, expression of steroid hormone
      receptors and patient survival. There was a significant association between
      VEGFR2 expression and tumor grading and estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha). For
      LHCGR, a correlation was observed with ERalpha and progesterone receptor (PR). No
      correlations were identified between VEGFR2 or LHCGR expression and the other
      examined tumor traits or patient survival. The associations between VEGFR2 and
      ERalpha, and between LHCGR and ERalpha or PR, may be explained by the interaction
      of these signal transduction molecules in the regulation of cellular growth and
      differentiation. These mechanisms also have an important role in the formation of
      remote metastases, which is the main cause for tumor-associated mortality. The
      results of the present study suggested that patients with endometrial
      adenocarcinoma may benefit from treatment with inhibitors of ERalpha, PR, VEGFR2
      or LHCGR, since it could lead to a better prognosis. However, further studies are
      required in order to elucidate the roles of these receptors in endometrial
      adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27625709
TI  - Mumps Virus: Modification of the Identify-Isolate-Inform Tool for Frontline
      Healthcare Providers.
AB  - Mumps is a highly contagious viral infection that became rare in most
      industrialized countries following the introduction of measles-mumps-rubella
      (MMR) vaccine in 1967. The disease, however, has been re-emerging with several
      outbreaks over the past decade. Many clinicians have never seen a case of mumps.
      To assist frontline healthcare providers with detecting potential cases and
      initiating critical actions, investigators modified the "Identify-Isolate-Inform"
      tool for mumps infection. The tool is applicable to regions with rare incidences
      or local outbreaks, especially seen in college students, as well as globally in
      areas where vaccination is less common. Mumps begins with a prodrome of low-grade
      fever, myalgias and malaise/anorexia, followed by development of nonsuppurative
      parotitis, which is the pathognomonic finding associated with acute mumps
      infection. Orchitis and meningitis are the two most common serious complications,
      with hearing loss and infertility occurring rarely. Providers should consider
      mumps in patients with exposure to a known case or international travel to
      endemic regions who present with consistent signs and symptoms. If mumps is
      suspected, healthcare providers must immediately implement standard and droplet
      precautions and notify the local health department and hospital infection control
      personnel. 

PMID- 27625711
TI  - Getting Found: Indexing and the Independent Open Access Journal.

PMID- 27625710
TI  - Discriminating Between Legitimate and Predatory Open Access Journals: Report from
      the International Federation for Emergency Medicine Research Committee.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Open access (OA) medical publishing is growing rapidly. While
      subscription-based publishing does not charge the author, OA does. This opens the
      door for "predatory" publishers who take authors' money but provide no
      substantial peer review or indexing to truly disseminate research findings.
      Discriminating between predatory and legitimate OA publishers is difficult.
      METHODS: We searched a number of library indexing databases that were available
      to us through the University of California, Irvine Libraries for journals in the
      field of emergency medicine (EM). Using criteria from Jeffrey Beall, University
      of Colorado librarian and an expert on predatory publishing, and the Research
      Committee of the International Federation for EM, we categorized EM journals as
      legitimate or likely predatory. RESULTS: We identified 150 journal titles related
      to EM from all sources, 55 of which met our criteria for OA (37%, the rest
      subscription based). Of these 55, 25 (45%) were likely to be predatory. We
      present lists of clearly legitimate OA journals, and, conversely, likely
      predatory ones. We present criteria a researcher can use to discriminate between
      the two. We present the indexing profiles of legitimate EM OA journals, to inform
      the researcher about degree of dissemination of research findings by journal.
      CONCLUSION: OA journals are proliferating rapidly. About half in EM are
      legitimate. The rest take substantial money from unsuspecting, usually junior,
      researchers and provide no value for true dissemination of findings. Researchers
      should be educated and aware of scam journals.

PMID- 27625712
TI  - Emergency Medicine Scholarship in the Digital Age.

PMID- 27625713
TI  - Blog and Podcast Watch: Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: By critically appraising open access, educational blogs and
      podcasts in emergency medicine (EM) using an objective scoring instrument, this
      installment of the ALiEM (Academic Life in Emergency Medicine) Blog and Podcast
      Watch series curated and scored relevant posts in the specific areas of pediatric
      EM. METHODS: The Approved Instructional Resources - Professional (AIR-Pro) series
      is a continuously building curriculum covering a new subject area every two
      months. For each area, six EM chief residents identify 3-5 advanced clinical
      questions. Using FOAMsearch.net to search blogs and podcasts, relevant posts are
      scored by eight reviewers from the AIR-Pro Board, which is comprised of EM
      faculty and chief residents at various institutions. The scoring instrument
      contains five measurement outcomes based on 7-point Likert scales: recency,
      accuracy, educational utility, evidence based, and references. The AIR-Pro label
      is awarded to posts with a score of >=26 (out of 35) points. An "Honorable
      Mention" label is awarded if Board members collectively felt that the posts were
      valuable and the scores were > 20. RESULTS: We included a total of 41 blog posts
      and podcasts. Key educational pearls from the 10 high quality AIR-Pro posts and
      four Honorable Mentions are summarized. CONCLUSION: The WestJEM ALiEM Blog and
      Podcast Watch series is based on the AIR and AIR-Pro series, which attempts to
      identify high quality educational content on open-access blogs and podcasts.
      Until more objective quality indicators are developed for learners and educators,
      this series provides an expert-based, crowdsourced approach towards critically
      appraising educational social media content for EM clinicians.

PMID- 27625715
TI  - Mobile COWs (Computer on Wheels): Hamburger or VEAL?

PMID- 27625714
TI  - Academic Primer Series: Five Key Papers Fostering Educational Scholarship in
      Junior Academic Faculty.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Scholarship is an essential part of academic success. Junior
      faculty members are often unfamiliar with the grounding literature that defines
      educational scholarship. In this article, the authors aim to summarize five key
      papers which outline education scholarship in the setting of academic
      contributions for emerging clinician educators. METHODS: The authors conducted a
      consensus-building process to generate a list of key papers that describe the
      importance and significance of academic scholarship, informed by social media
      sources. They then used a three-round voting methodology, akin to a Delphi study,
      to determine the most useful papers. RESULTS: A summary of the five most
      important papers on the topic of academic scholarship, as determined by this
      mixed group of junior faculty members and faculty developers, is presented in
      this paper. These authors subsequently wrote a summary of these five papers and
      discussed their relevance to both junior faculty members and faculty developers.
      CONCLUSION: Five papers on education scholarship, deemed essential by the
      authors' consensus process, are presented in this paper. These papers may help
      provide the foundational background to help junior faculty members gain a grasp
      of the academic scholarly environment. This list may also inform senior faculty
      and faculty developers on the needs of junior educators in the nascent stages of
      their careers.

PMID- 27625716
TI  - Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter Measurement During Diabetic Ketoacidosis: A Pilot
      Study.

PMID- 27625717
TI  - Resuscitation Prior to Emergency Endotracheal Intubation: Results of a National
      Survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Respiratory failure is a common problem in emergency medicine (EM)
      and critical care medicine (CCM). However, little is known about the
      resuscitation of critically ill patients prior to emergency endotracheal
      intubation (EETI). Our aim was to describe the resuscitation practices of EM and
      CCM physicians prior to EETI. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was developed and
      tested for content validity and retest reliability by members of the Canadian
      Critical Care Trials Group. The questionnaire was distributed to all EM and CCM
      physician members of three national organizations. Using three clinical scenarios
      (trauma, pneumonia, congestive heart failure), we assessed physician preferences
      for use and types of fluid and vasopressor medication in pre-EETI resuscitation
      of critically ill patients. RESULTS: In total, 1,758 physicians were surveyed
      (response rate 50.2%, 882/1,758). Overall, physicians would perform pre-EETI
      resuscitation using either fluids or vasopressors in 54% (1,193/2,203) of cases.
      Most physicians would "always/often" administer intravenous fluid pre-EETI in the
      three clinical scenarios (81%, 1,484/1,830). Crystalloids were the most common
      fluid physicians would "always/often" administer in congestive heart failure (EM
      43%; CCM 44%), pneumonia (EM 97%; CCM 95%) and trauma (EM 96%; CCM 96%). Pre-EETI
      resuscitation using vasopressors was uncommon (4.9%). Training in CCM was
      associated with performing pre-EETI resuscitation (odds ratio, 2.20; 95% CI,
      [1.44-3.36], p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Pre-EETI resuscitation is common among
      Canadian EM and CCM physicians. Most physicians use crystalloids pre-EETI as a
      resuscitation fluid, while few would give vasopressors. Physicians with CCM
      training were more likely to perform pre-EETI resuscitation.

PMID- 27625718
TI  - Leadership and Teamwork in Trauma and Resuscitation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Leadership skills are described by the American College of
      Surgeons' Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course as necessary to provide care
      for patients during resuscitations. However, leadership is a complex concept, and
      the tools used to assess the quality of leadership are poorly described,
      inadequately validated, and infrequently used. Despite its importance, dedicated
      leadership education is rarely part of physician training programs. The goals of
      this investigation were the following: 1. Describe how leadership and leadership
      style affect patient care; 2. Describe how effective leadership is measured; and
      3. Describe how to train future physician leaders. METHODS: We searched the
      PubMed database using the keywords "leadership" and then either "trauma" or
      "resuscitation" as title search terms, and an expert in emergency medicine and
      trauma then identified prospective observational and randomized controlled
      studies measuring leadership and teamwork quality. Study results were categorized
      as follows: 1) how leadership affects patient care; 2) which tools are available
      to measure leadership; and 3) methods to train physicians to become better
      leaders. RESULTS: We included 16 relevant studies in this review. Overall, these
      studies showed that strong leadership improves processes of care in trauma
      resuscitation including speed and completion of the primary and secondary
      surveys. The optimal style and structure of leadership are influenced by patient
      characteristics and team composition. Directive leadership is most effective when
      Injury Severity Score (ISS) is high or teams are inexperienced, while empowering
      leadership is most effective when ISS is low or teams more experienced. Many
      scales were employed to measure leadership. The Leader Behavior Description
      Questionnaire (LBDQ) was the only scale used in more than one study. Seven
      studies described methods for training leaders. Leadership training programs
      included didactic teaching followed by simulations. Although programs differed in
      length, intensity, and training level of participants, all programs demonstrated
      improved team performance. CONCLUSION: Despite the relative paucity of literature
      on leadership in resuscitations, this review found leadership improves processes
      of care in trauma and can be enhanced through dedicated training. Future research
      is needed to validate leadership assessment scales, develop optimal training
      mechanisms, and demonstrate leadership's effect on patient-level outcome.

PMID- 27625719
TI  - Does Pneumatic Tube System Transport Contribute to Hemolysis in ED Blood Samples?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Our goal was to determine if the hemolysis among blood samples
      obtained in an emergency department and then sent to the laboratory in a
      pneumatic tube system was different from those in samples that were hand-carried.
      METHODS: The hemolysis index is measured on all samples submitted for potassium
      analysis. We queried our hospital laboratory database system (SunQuest((r))) for
      potassium results for specimens obtained between January 2014 and July 2014. From
      facility maintenance records, we identified periods of system downtime, during
      which specimens were hand-carried to the laboratory. RESULTS: During the study
      period, 15,851 blood specimens were transported via our pneumatic tube system and
      92 samples were hand delivered. The proportions of hemolyzed specimens in the two
      groups were not significantly different (13.6% vs. 13.1% [p=0.90]). Results were
      consistent when the criterion was limited to gross (3.3% vs 3.3% [p=0.99]) or
      mild (10.3% vs 9.8% [p=0.88]) hemolysis. The hemolysis rate showed minimal
      variation during the study period (12.6%-14.6%). CONCLUSION: We found no
      statistical difference in the percentages of hemolyzed specimens transported by a
      pneumatic tube system or hand delivered to the laboratory. Certain features of
      pneumatic tube systems might contribute to hemolysis (e.g., speed, distance,
      packing material). Since each system is unique in design, we encourage medical
      facilities to consider whether their method of transport might contribute to
      hemolysis in samples obtained in the emergency department.

PMID- 27625720
TI  - Wide Variability in Emergency Physician Admission Rates: A Target to Reduce Costs
      Without Compromising Quality.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Attending physician judgment is the traditional standard of care
      for emergency department (ED) admission decisions. The extent to which
      variability in admission decisions affect cost and quality is not well
      understood. We sought to determine the impact of variability in admission
      decisions on cost and quality. METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      observational study of patients presenting to a university-affiliated, urban ED
      from October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. The main outcome measures were
      admission rate, fiscal indicators (Medicaid-denied payment days), and quality
      indicators (15- and 30-day ED returns; delayed hospital admissions). We asked
      each Attending to estimate their inpatient admission rate and correlated their
      personal assessment with actual admission rates. RESULTS: Admission rates, even
      after adjusting for known confounders, were highly variable (15.2%-32.0%) and
      correlated with Medicaid denied-payment day rates (p=0.038). There was no
      correlation with quality outcome measures (30-day ED return or delayed hospital
      admission). There was no significant correlation between actual and self
      described admission rate; the range of mis-estimation was 0% to 117%. CONCLUSION:
      Emergency medicine attending admission rates at this institution are highly
      variable, unexplained by known confounding variables, and unrelated to quality of
      care, as measured by 30-day ED return or delayed hospital admission. Admission
      optimization represents an important untapped potential for cost reduction
      through avoidable hospitalizations, with no apparent adverse effects on quality.

PMID- 27625721
TI  - Workplace Violence and Harassment Against Emergency Medicine Residents.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Several studies have shown that workplace violence in the emergency
      department (ED) is common. Residents may be among the most vulnerable staff, as
      they have the least experience with these volatile encounters. The goal for this
      study was to quantify and describe acts of violence against emergency medicine
      (EM) residents by patients and visitors and to identify perceived barriers to
      safety. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey study queried EM residents at
      multiple New York City hospitals. The primary outcome was the incidence of
      violence experienced by residents while working in the ED. The secondary outcomes
      were the subtypes of violence experienced by residents, as well as the perceived
      barriers to safety while at work. RESULTS: A majority of residents (66%, 78/119)
      reported experiencing at least one act of physical violence during an ED shift.
      Nearly all residents (97%, 115/119) experienced verbal harassment, 78% (93/119)
      had experienced verbal threats, and 52% (62/119) reported sexual harassment.
      Almost a quarter of residents felt safe "Occasionally," "Seldom" or "Never" while
      at work. Patient-based factors most commonly cited as contributory to violence
      included substance use and psychiatric disease. CONCLUSION: Self-reported
      violence against EM residents appears to be a significant problem. Incidence of
      violence and patient risk factors are similar to what has been found previously
      for other ED staff. Understanding the prevalence of workplace violence as well as
      the related systems, environmental, and patient-based factors is essential for
      future prevention efforts.

PMID- 27625723
TI  - Treatment of Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy: Factors Associated with ED
      Revisits.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) is a condition that commonly
      affects women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Despite frequently leading to
      emergency department (ED) visits, little evidence exists to characterize the
      nature of ED visits or to guide its treatment in the ED. Our objectives were to
      evaluate the treatment of NVP in the ED and to identify factors that predict
      return visits to the ED for NVP. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective database
      analysis using the electronic medical record from a single, large academic
      hospital. Demographic and treatment variables were collected using a chart review
      of 113 ED patient visits with a billing diagnosis of "nausea and vomiting in
      pregnancy" or "hyperemesis gravidarum." Logistic regression analysis was used
      with a primary outcome of return visit to the ED for the same diagnoses. RESULTS:
      There was wide treatment variability of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy patients
      in the ED. Of the 113 patient visits, 38 (33.6%) had a return ED visit for NVP.
      High gravidity (OR 1.31, 95% CI [1.06-1.61]), high parity (OR 1.50 95% CI [1.12
      2.00]), and early gestational age (OR 0.74 95% CI [0.60-0.90]) were associated
      with an increase in return ED visits in univariate logistic regression models,
      while only early gestational age (OR 0.74 95% CI [0.59-0.91]) was associated with
      increased return ED visits in a multiple regression model. Admission to the
      hospital was found to decrease the likelihood of return ED visits (p=0.002).
      CONCLUSION: NVP can be difficult to manage and has a high ED return visit rate.
      Optimizing care with aggressive, standardized treatment in the ED and upon
      discharge, particularly if factors predictive of return ED visits are present,
      may improve quality of care and reduce ED utilization for this condition.

PMID- 27625722
TI  - Derivation of Two Critical Appraisal Scores for Trainees to Evaluate Online
      Educational Resources: A METRIQ Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Online education resources (OERs), like blogs and podcasts,
      increasingly augment or replace traditional medical education resources such as
      textbooks and lectures. Trainees' ability to evaluate these resources is poor,
      and few quality assessment aids have been developed to assist them. This study
      aimed to derive a quality evaluation instrument for this purpose. METHODS: We
      used a three-phase methodology. In Phase 1, a previously derived list of 151 OER
      quality indicators was reduced to 13 items using data from published consensus
      building studies (of medical educators, expert podcasters, and expert bloggers)
      and subsequent evaluation by our team. In Phase 2, these 13 items were converted
      to seven-point Likert scales used by trainee raters (n=40) to evaluate 39 OERs.
      The reliability and usability of these 13 rating items was determined using
      responses from trainee raters, and top items were used to create two OER quality
      evaluation instruments. In Phase 3, these instruments were compared to an
      external certification process (the ALiEM AIR certification) and the gestalt
      evaluation of the same 39 blog posts by 20 faculty educators. RESULTS: Two
      quality-evaluation instruments were derived with fair inter-rater reliability:
      the METRIQ-8 Score (Inter class correlation coefficient [ICC]=0.30, p<0.001) and
      the METRIQ-5 Score (ICC=0.22, p<0.001). Both scores, when calculated using the
      derivation data, correlated with educator gestalt (Pearson's r=0.35, p=0.03 and
      r=0.41, p<0.01, respectively) and were related to increased odds of receiving an
      ALiEM AIR certification (odds ratio=1.28, p=0.03; OR=1.5, p=0.004, respectively).
      CONCLUSION: Two novel scoring instruments with adequate psychometric properties
      were derived to assist trainees in evaluating OER quality and correlated
      favourably with gestalt ratings of online educational resources by faculty
      educators. Further testing is needed to ensure these instruments are accurate
      when applied by trainees.

PMID- 27625724
TI  - Association of Age, Systolic Blood Pressure, and Heart Rate with Adult Morbidity
      and Mortality after Urgent Care Visits.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little data exists to help urgent care (UC) clinicians predict
      morbidity and mortality risk. Age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and heart rate
      (HR) are easily obtainable and have been used in other settings to predict short
      term risk of deterioration. We hypothesized that there is a relationship between
      advancing age, SBP, HR, and short-term health outcomes in the UC setting.
      METHODS: We collected retrospective data from 28 UC clinics and 22 hospitals in
      the Intermountain Healthcare system between years 2008-2013. Adult patients (>=18
      years) were included if they had a unique UC visit and HR or SBP data. Three
      endpoints following UC visit were assessed: emergency department (ED) visit
      within three days, hospitalization within three days, and death within seven
      days. We analyzed associations between age, SBP, HR and endpoints using local
      regression with a binomial likelihood. Five age groups were chosen from
      previously published national surveys. Vital sign (VS) distributions were
      determined for each age group, and the central tendency was compared against
      previously published norms (90-120mmHg for SBP and 60-100bpm for HR.). RESULTS: A
      total of 1,720,207 encounters (714,339 unique patients) met the inclusion
      criteria; 51,446 encounters (2.99%) had ED visit within three days; 12,397
      (0.72%) experienced hospitalization within three days; 302 (0.02%) died within
      seven days of UC visit. Heart rate and SBP combined with advanced age predicted
      the probability of ED visit (p<0.0001) and hospitalization (p<0.0001) following
      UC visit. Significant associations between advancing age and death (p<0.0001),
      and VS and death (p<0.0001) were observed. Odds ratios of risk were highest for
      elderly patients with lower SBP or higher HR. Observed distributions of SBP were
      higher than published normal ranges for all age groups. CONCLUSION: Among adults
      seeking care in the UC, associations between HR and SBP and likelihood of ED
      visits and hospitalization were more pronounced with advancing age. Death
      following UC visit had a more limited association with advancing age or the VS
      evaluated. Rapidly increasing risk below SBP of 100-110 mmHg in older patients
      suggests that accepted normal ranges for SBP may need to be redefined for
      patients treated in the UC clinic.

PMID- 27625725
TI  - The Peregrinating Psychiatric Patient in the Emergency Department.
AB  - Many emergency department (ED) psychiatric patients present after traveling.
      Although such travel, or peregrination, has long been associated with factitious
      disorder, other diagnoses are more common among travelers, including psychotic
      disorders, personality disorders, and substance abuse. Travelers' intense
      psychopathology, disrupted social networks, lack of collateral informants, and
      unawareness of local resources complicate treatment. These patients can consume
      disproportionate time and resources from emergency providers. We review the
      literature on the emergency psychiatric treatment of peregrinating patients and
      use case examples to illustrate common presentations and treatment strategies.
      Difficulties in studying this population and suggestions for future research are
      discussed. 

PMID- 27625726
TI  - Increased 30-Day Emergency Department Revisits Among Homeless Patients with
      Mental Health Conditions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with mental health conditions frequently use emergency
      medical services. Many suffer from substance use and homelessness. If they use
      the emergency department (ED) as their primary source of care, potentially
      preventable frequent ED revisits and hospital readmissions can worsen an already
      crowded healthcare system. However, the magnitude to which homelessness affects
      health service utilization among patients with mental health conditions remains
      unclear in the medical community. This study assessed the impact of homelessness
      on 30-day ED revisits and hospital readmissions among patients presenting with
      mental health conditions in an urban, safety-net hospital. METHODS: We conducted
      a secondary analysis of administrative data on all adult ED visits in 2012 in an
      urban safety-net hospital. Patient demographics, mental health status,
      homelessness, insurance coverage, level of acuity, and ED disposition per ED
      visit were analyzed using multilevel modeling to control for multiple visits
      nested within patients. We performed multivariate logistic regressions to
      evaluate if homelessness moderated the likelihood of mental health patients' 30
      day ED revisits and hospital readmissions. RESULTS: Study included 139,414 adult
      ED visits from 92,307 unique patients (43.5+/-15.1 years, 51.3% male, 68.2%
      Hispanic/Latino). Nearly 8% of patients presented with mental health conditions,
      while 4.6% were homeless at any time during the study period. Among patients with
      mental health conditions, being homeless contributed to an additional 28.0%
      increase in likelihood (4.28 to 5.48 odds) of 30-day ED revisits and 38.2%
      increase in likelihood (2.04 to 2.82 odds) of hospital readmission, compared to
      non-homeless, non-mental health (NHNM) patients as the base category. Adjusted
      predicted probabilities showed that homeless patients presenting with mental
      health conditions have a 31.1% chance of returning to the ED within 30-day post
      discharge and a 3.7% chance of hospital readmission, compared to non-homeless
      patients presenting with mental health conditions (25.2%, 2.6%) and NHNM (7.7%,
      1.5%). CONCLUSION: Homeless patients presenting with mental health conditions
      were more likely to return to the ED within 30 days and to be readmitted to the
      hospital. Interventions providing housing might improve their overall care
      management and have the potential to reduce ED revisits and hospital
      readmissions.

PMID- 27625727
TI  - ED Patients with Prolonged Complaints and Repeat ED Visits Have an Increased Risk
      of Depression.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to explore associations between
      presenting chief complaints of prolonged symptomatology, patient usage of the
      emergency department (ED), and underlying depression so that emergency physicians
      may better target patients for depression screening. METHODS: A convenience
      sample of ED patients were administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)
      to assess for depression. We correlated completed BDI-II surveys to patient
      information including demographics, pertinent history of present illness
      information, and past medical history. RESULTS: Out of 425 participants screened,
      we identified complaints of two weeks or longer in 92 patients (22%). Of these
      patients, mild to severe depression was recognized in over half of the population
      (47), yet only nine patients reported a prior depression diagnosis. These 92
      patients also visited the ED three times as frequently as those patients with
      more acute complaints (p<0.001). Finally, our study showed that patients with
      mild to severe depression had three times as many ED visits compared to patients
      with minimal or no depression (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with complaints of
      symptomatology two weeks or longer are more likely to have underlying depression
      when presenting to the ED. Patients with three or more ED visits within the past
      year also have a greater incidence of underlying depression. We found a strong
      correlation between complaints with symptomatology of two weeks or longer and
      multiple ED visits, in which underlying depression may have contributed to these
      patients' ED visits.

PMID- 27625728
TI  - Adolescent with Foot Pain.

PMID- 27625729
TI  - Hemorrhagic Encephalopathy From Acute Baking Soda Ingestion.
AB  - Baking soda is a readily available household product composed of sodium
      bicarbonate. It can be used as a home remedy to treat dyspepsia. If used in
      excessive amounts, baking soda has the potential to cause a variety of serious
      metabolic abnormalities. We believe this is the first reported case of
      hemorrhagic encephalopathy induced by baking soda ingestion. Healthcare providers
      should be aware of the dangers of baking soda misuse and the associated adverse
      effects. 

PMID- 27625730
TI  - Two Cases of Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis.

PMID- 27625731
TI  - A Rare but Important Clinical Presentation of Induced Methemoglobinemia.

PMID- 27625732
TI  - A Curious Case of Right Upper Quadrant Abdominal Pain.
AB  - An otherwise healthy 36-year-old man presented with sudden-onset right upper
      quadrant abdominal pain and vomiting. A bedside ultrasound, performed to evaluate
      hepatobiliary pathology, revealed a normal gallbladder but free intraperitoneal
      fluid. After an expedited CT and emergent explorative laparotomy, the patient was
      diagnosed with a small bowel obstruction with ischemia secondary to midgut
      volvulus. Though midgut volvulus is rare in adults, delays in definitive
      diagnosis and management can result in bowel necrosis. Importantly, an emergency
      physician must be able to recognize bedside ultrasound findings associated with
      acutely dangerous intrabdominal pathology. 

PMID- 27625733
TI  - A Comparison of Chest Compression Quality Delivered During On-Scene and Ground
      Transport Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines recommend
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) chest compressions 1.5 to 2 inches (3.75-5
      cm) deep at 100 to 120 per minute. Recent studies demonstrated that manual CPR by
      emergency medical services (EMS) personnel is substandard. We hypothesized that
      transport CPR quality is significantly worse than on-scene CPR quality. METHODS:
      We analyzed adult patients receiving on-scene and transport chest compressions
      from nine EMS sites across Minnesota and Wisconsin from May 2008 to July 2010.
      Two periods were analyzed: before and after visual feedback. CPR data were
      collected and exported with the Zoll M series monitor and a sternally placed
      accelerometer measuring chest compression rate and depth. We compared compression
      data with 2010 AHA guidelines and Zoll RescueNet Code Review software. CPR depth
      and rate were "above (deep)," "in," or "below (shallow)" the target range
      according to AHA guidelines. We paired on-scene and transport data for each
      patient; paired proportions were compared with the nonparametric Wilcoxon signed
      rank test. RESULTS: In the pre-feedback period, we analyzed 105 of 140 paired
      cases (75.0%); in the post-feedback period, 35 of 140 paired cases (25.0%) were
      analyzed. The proportion of correct depths during on-scene compressions (median,
      41.9%; interquartile range [IQR], 16.1-73.1) was higher compared to the paired
      transport proportion (median, 8.7%; IQR, 2.7-48.9). Proportions of on-scene
      median correct rates and transport median correct depths did not improve in the
      post-feedback period. CONCLUSION: Transport chest compressions are significantly
      worse than on-scene compressions. Implementation of visual real-time feedback did
      not affect performance.

PMID- 27625734
TI  - Determinants of Success and Failure in Prehospital Endotracheal Intubation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to identify factors associated with successful
      endotracheal intubation (ETI) by a multisite emergency medical services (EMS)
      agency. METHODS: We collected data from the electronic prehospital record for all
      ETI attempts made from January through May 2010 by paramedics and other EMS crew
      members at a single multistate agency. If documentation was incomplete, the study
      team contacted the paramedic. Paramedics use the current National Association of
      EMS Physicians definition of an ETI attempt (laryngoscope blade entering the
      mouth). We analyzed patient and EMS factors affecting ETI. RESULTS: During 12,527
      emergent ambulance responses, 200 intubation attempts were made in 150 patients.
      Intubation was successful in 113 (75%). A crew with paramedics was more than
      three times as likely to achieve successful intubation as a paramedic/emergency
      medical technician-Basic crew (odds ratio [OR], 3.30; p=0.03). A small tube
      (<=7.0 inches) was associated with a more than 4-fold increased likelihood of
      successful ETI compared with a large tube (>=7.5 inches) (OR, 4.25; p=0.01).
      After adjustment for these features, compared with little or no view of the
      glottis, a partial or entire view of the glottis was associated with a nearly 13
      fold (OR, 12.98; p=0.001) and a nearly 40-fold (OR, 39.78; p<0.001) increased
      likelihood of successful intubation, respectively. CONCLUSION: Successful ETI was
      more likely to be accomplished when a paramedic was partnered with another
      paramedic, when some or all of the glottis was visible and when a smaller
      endotracheal tube was used.

PMID- 27625735
TI  - Prehospital Lactate Measurement by Emergency Medical Services in Patients Meeting
      Sepsis Criteria.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We aimed to pilot test the delivery of sepsis education to
      emergency medical services (EMS) providers and the feasibility of equipping them
      with temporal artery thermometers (TATs) and handheld lactate meters to aid in
      the prehospital recognition of sepsis. METHODS: This study used a convenience
      sample of prehospital patients meeting established criteria for sepsis.
      Paramedics received education on systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)
      criteria, were trained in the use of TATs and hand-held lactate meters, and
      enrolled patients who had a recent history of infection, met >= 2 SIRS criteria,
      and were being transported to a participating hospital. Blood lactate was
      measured by paramedics in the prehospital setting and again in the emergency
      department (ED) via usual care. Paramedics entered data using an online database
      accessible at the point of care. RESULTS: Prehospital lactate values obtained by
      paramedics ranged from 0.8 to 9.8 mmol/L, and an elevated lactate (i.e. >= 4.0)
      was documented in 13 of 112 enrolled patients (12%). The unadjusted correlation
      of prehospital and ED lactate values was 0.57 (p< 0.001). The median interval
      between paramedic assessment of blood lactate and the electronic posting of the
      ED-measured lactate value in the hospital record was 111 minutes. Overall, 91
      patients (81%) were hospitalized after ED evaluation, 27 (24%) were ultimately
      diagnosed with sepsis, and 3 (3%) died during hospitalization. Subjects with
      elevated prehospital lactate were somewhat more likely to have been admitted to
      the intensive care unit (23% vs 15%) and to have been diagnosed with sepsis (38%
      vs 22%) than those with normal lactate levels, but these differences were not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In this pilot, EMS use of a combination of
      objective SIRS criteria, subjective assessment of infection, and blood lactate
      measurements did not achieve a level of diagnostic accuracy for sepsis that would
      warrant hospital prenotification and committed resources at a receiving hospital
      based on EMS assessment alone. Nevertheless, this work provides an early model
      for increasing EMS awareness and the implementation of novel devices that may
      enhance the prehospital assessment for sepsis. Additional translational research
      studies with larger numbers of patients and more robust methods are needed.

PMID- 27625736
TI  - Geospatial Analysis of Pediatric EMS Run Density and Endotracheal Intubation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The association between geographic factors, including transport
      distance, and pediatric emergency medical services (EMS) run clustering on out-of
      hospital pediatric endotracheal intubation is unclear. The objective of this
      study was to determine if endotracheal intubation procedures are more likely to
      occur at greater distances from the hospital and near clusters of pediatric
      calls. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study including all EMS
      runs for patients less than 18 years of age from 2008 to 2014 in a geographically
      large and diverse Oregon county that includes densely populated urban areas near
      Portland and remote rural areas. We geocoded scene addresses using the automated
      address locator created in the cloud-based mapping platform ArcGIS, supplemented
      with manual address geocoding for remaining cases. We then use the Getis-Ord Gi
      spatial statistic feature in ArcGIS to map statistically significant spatial
      clusters (hot spots) of pediatric EMS runs throughout the county. We then
      superimposed all intubation procedures performed during the study period on maps
      of pediatric EMS-run hot spots, pediatric population density, fire stations, and
      hospitals. We also performed multivariable logistic regression to determine if
      distance traveled to the hospital was associated with intubation after
      controlling for several confounding variables. RESULTS: We identified a total of
      7,797 pediatric EMS runs during the study period and 38 endotracheal intubations.
      In univariate analysis we found that patients who were intubated were similar to
      those who were not in gender and whether or not they were transported to a
      children's hospital. Intubated patients tended to be transported shorter
      distances and were older than non-intubated patients. Increased distance from the
      hospital was associated with reduced odds of intubation after controlling for
      age, sex, scene location, and trauma system entry status in a multivariate
      logistic regression. The locations of intubations were superimposed on hot spots
      of all pediatric EMS runs. This map demonstrates that most of the intubations
      occurred within areas where pediatric EMS calls were highly clustered. By mapping
      the intubation procedures and pediatric population density, we found that
      intubation procedures were not clustered in a similar distribution to the
      pediatric population in the county. CONCLUSION: In this geographically diverse
      county the location of intubation procedures was similar to the clustering of
      pediatric EMS calls, and increased distance from the hospital was associated with
      reduced odds of intubation after controlling for several potential confounding
      variables.

PMID- 27625737
TI  - The Medical Duty Officer: An Attempt to Mitigate the Ambulance At-Hospital
      Interval.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A lack of coordination between emergency medical services (EMS),
      emergency departments (ED) and systemwide management has contributed to extended
      ambulance at-hospital times at local EDs. In an effort to improve communication
      within the local EMS system, the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) placed a
      medical duty officer (MDO) in the fire communications bureau. It was hypothesized
      that any real-time intervention suggested by the MDO would be manifested in a
      decrease in the EMS at-hospital time. METHODS: The MDO was implemented on
      November 11, 2013. A senior EMS paramedic was assigned to the position and was
      placed in the fire communication bureau from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
      We defined the pre-intervention period as August 2013 - October 2013 and the post
      intervention period as December 2013 - February 2014. We also compared the post
      intervention period to the "seasonal match control" one year earlier to adjust
      for seasonal variation in EMS volume. The MDO was tasked with the prospective
      management of city EMS resources through intensive monitoring of unit
      availability and hospital ED traffic. The MDO could suggest alternative transport
      destinations in the event of ED crowding. We collected and analyzed data from
      BCFD computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system for the following: ambulance response
      times, ambulance at-hospital interval, hospital diversion and alert status, and
      "suppression wait time" (defined as the total time suppression units remained on
      scene until ambulance arrival). The data analysis used a pre/post intervention
      design to examine the MDO impact on the BCFD EMS system. RESULTS: There were a
      total of 15,567 EMS calls during the pre-intervention period, 13,921 in the post
      intervention period and 14,699 in the seasonal match control period one year
      earlier. The average at-hospital time decreased by 1.35 minutes from pre- to post
      intervention periods and 4.53 minutes from the pre- to seasonal match control,
      representing a statistically significant decrease in this interval. There was
      also a statistically significant decrease in hospital alert time (approximately
      1,700 hour decrease pre- to post-intervention periods) and suppression wait time
      (less than one minute decrease from pre- to post- and pre- to seasonal match
      control periods). The decrease in ambulance response time was not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSION: Proactive deployment of a designated MDO was associated
      with a small, contemporaneous reduction in at-hospital time within an urban EMS
      jurisdiction. This project emphasized the importance of better communication
      between EMS systems and area hospitals as well as uniform reporting of variables
      for future iterations of this and similar projects.

PMID- 27625738
TI  - Erratum: This Article Corrects: "Anticoagulation Reversal and Treatment
      Strategies in Major Bleeding: Update 2016".
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 264 in vol. 17, PMID: 27330657.].

PMID- 27625739
TI  - In Silico Pharmacology.

PMID- 27625740
TI  - Implications of Real-World Data and Pharmacoeconomics for Managed Care.
AB  - The following summaries represent a sample of the many real-world, evidence-based
      studies presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Managed Care
      Pharmacy (AMCP), April 19-22, 2016, in San Francisco, CA. These studies highlight
      some of the main trends in the current US healthcare with important implications
      for payers, employers, drug manufacturers, providers, patients, and other
      healthcare stakeholders. 

PMID- 27625741
TI  - Navigating the "Hassle Map".

PMID- 27625742
TI  - Improving Population Health by Working with Communities.

PMID- 27625743
TI  - Impact of Pharmacist-Provided Medication Therapy Management on Healthcare Quality
      and Utilization in Recently Discharged Elderly Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimization of medication use during care transitions represents
      an opportunity to improve overall health-related outcomes. The utilization of
      clinical pharmacists during care transitions has demonstrated benefit, although
      the optimal method of integration during the care transition process remains
      unclear. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of pharmacist-provided telephonic
      medication therapy management (MTM) on care quality in a care transitions program
      (CTP) for high-risk older adults. METHODS: This prospective, randomized,
      controlled study was conducted from December 8, 2011, through October 25, 2012,
      in a primary care work group at a tertiary care academic medical center in the
      midwestern United States. High-risk elderly (aged >=60 years) patients were
      randomized to a pharmacist-provided MTM program via telephone or to usual care
      within an existing outpatient CTP. The primary outcome was the quality of
      medication prescribing and utilization based on the Screening Tool to Alert
      Doctors to the Right Treatment (START) and the Screening Tool of Older Persons'
      Prescriptions (STOPP) scores. The secondary outcomes were medication utilization
      using a modified version of the Medication Appropriateness Index, hospital
      resource utilization within 30 days of discharge, and drug therapy problems.
      RESULTS: Of 222 eligible high-risk patients, 25 were included in the study and
      were randomized to the pharmacist MTM intervention (N = 13) or to usual care (N =
      12). No significant differences were found between the 2 groups in medications
      meeting the STOPP or START criteria. At 30-day follow-up, no significant
      differences were found between the 2 cohorts in medication utilization quality
      indicators or in hospital utilization. At 30-day follow-up, 3 (13.6%) patients
      had an emergency department visit or a hospital readmission since discharge. In
      all, 22 patients completed the study. Medication underuse was common, with 20
      START criteria absent medications evident for all 25 patients at baseline,
      representing 15 (60%) patients with >=1 missing medications. Overall, 55 drug
      therapy problems were identified at baseline, 24 (43.6%) of which remained
      unresolved at 30-day follow-up. CONCLUSION: The use of a pharmacist-provided MTM
      program did not achieve a significant difference compared with usual care in an
      existing CTP; however, the findings demonstrated frequent utilization of
      inappropriate medications as well as medication underuse, and many drug therapy
      problems remained unresolved. The small size of the study may have limited the
      ability to detect a difference between the intervention and usual care groups.

PMID- 27625744
TI  - Hospital and Health Plan Partnerships: The Affordable Care Act's Impact on
      Promoting Health and Wellness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare reforms, centered on
      achieving the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Triple Aim goals of
      improving patient care quality and satisfaction, improving population health, and
      reducing costs, have led to increasing partnerships between hospitals and
      insurance companies and the implementation of employee wellness programs.
      Hospitals and insurance companies have opted to partner to distribute the risk
      and resources and increase coordination of care. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ACA's
      impact on the health and wellness programs that have resulted from the joint
      ventures of hospitals and health plans based on the published literature. METHOD:
      We conducted a review of the literature to identify successful mergers and best
      practices of health and wellness programs. Articles published between January
      2007 and January 2015 were compiled from various search engines, using the search
      terms "corporate," "health and wellness program," "health plan," "insurance
      plan," "hospital," "joint venture," and "vertical merger." Publications that
      described consolidations or wellness programs not tied to health insurance plans
      were excluded. Noteworthy characteristics of these programs were summarized and
      tabulated. RESULTS: A total of 44 eligible articles were included in the
      analysis. The findings showed that despite rising healthcare costs, joint
      ventures prevent hospitals from trading-off quality and services for cost
      reductions. Administrators believed that partnering would allow the companies to
      meet ACA standards for improving clinical outcomes at reduced costs. Before the
      implementation of the ACA, some employers had wellness programs, but these were
      not standardized and did not need to produce measurable results. The ACA
      encouraged improvement of employee wellness programs by providing funding for
      expanded health services and by mandating quality care. Successful workplace
      health and wellness programs have varying components, but all include monetary
      incentives and documented outcomes. CONCLUSION: The concurrent growth of hospital
      health plans (especially those emerging from vertical mergers and partnerships)
      and wellness programs in the United States provides a unique opportunity for
      employees and patient populations to promote wellness and achieve the Triple Aim
      goals as initiated by CMS.

PMID- 27625745
TI  - Oncologist Support for Consolidated Payments for Cancer Care Management in the
      United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cost of cancer care in the United States continues to rise, with
      pressure on oncologists to provide high-quality, cost-effective care while
      maintaining the financial stability of their practice. Existing payment models do
      not typically reward care coordination or quality of care. In May 2014, the
      American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released a payment reform proposal
      (revised in May 2015) that includes a new payment structure for quality-of-care
      performance metrics. OBJECTIVES: To assess US oncologists' perspectives on and
      support for ASCO's payment reform proposal, and to determine use of quality-of
      care metrics, factors influencing their perception of value of new cancer drugs,
      the influence of cost on treatment decisions, and the perceptions of the
      reimbursement climate in the country. METHODS: Physicians and medical directors
      specializing in oncology in the United States practicing for at least 2 years and
      managing at least 20 patients with cancer were randomly invited, from an online
      physician panel, to participate in an anonymous, cross-sectional, 15-minute
      online survey conducted between July and November 2014. The survey assessed
      physicians' level of support for the payment reform, use of quality-of-care
      metrics, factors influencing their perception of the value of a new cancer drug,
      the impact of cost on treatment decision-making, and their perceptions of the
      overall reimbursement climate. Descriptive statistics (chi-square tests and t
      tests for discrete and continuous variables, respectively) were used to analyze
      the data. Logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate the main
      payment models described in the payment reform proposal. RESULTS: Of the 231
      physicians and medical directors who participated in this study, approximately
      50% strongly or somewhat supported the proposed payment reform. Stronger support
      was seen among survey respondents who were male, who rated the overall
      reimbursement climate as excellent/good, who have a contract with a commercial
      payer that reimburses for dispensed oral cancer drugs, or who practice in a
      hospital setting. The use of at least 1 quality-of-care metric was more common
      among respondents participating in an accountable care organization (ACO) than
      among those not participating in an ACO (92.6% vs 83.2%, respectively; P =
      .0380). The most common metric used by the physicians in their practice setting
      was patient satisfaction scores (60.1%). Accountability for delivering high
      quality care was supported by 74.9% of respondents; those who practice in a
      hospital setting were twice as likely as those in private practice to support
      accountability for quality of care (81.3% vs 67.6%; odds ratio, 2.1; P = .0176).
      CONCLUSION: Support for ASCO's payment reform proposal is mixed among oncology
      physicians and medical directors, underscoring the importance of continuous and
      broader engagement of practicing physicians around the country via outreach and
      dialogue on topics that impact their clinical practices, as well as providing
      education or awareness activities by ASCO to its membership.

PMID- 27625746
TI  - Assessment of the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal autonomic complications of
      diabetes.
AB  - The global prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing; arguably as a
      consequence of changes in diet, lifestyle and the trend towards urbanization.
      Unsurprisingly, the incidence of both micro and macrovascular complications of
      diabetes mirrors this increasing prevalence. Amongst the complications with the
      highest symptom burden, yet frequently under-diagnosed and sub-optimally treated,
      is diabetic autonomic neuropathy, itself potentially resulting in cardiovascular
      autonomic neuropathy and gastrointestinal (GI) tract dysmotility. The aims of
      this review are fourfold. Firstly to provide an overview of the
      pathophysiological processes that cause diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Secondly,
      to discuss both the established and emerging cardiometric methods for evaluating
      autonomic nervous system function in vivo. Thirdly, to examine the tools for
      assessing pan-GI and segmental motility and finally, we will provide the reader
      with a summary of putative non-invasive biomarkers that provide a
      pathophysiological link between low-grade neuro inflammation and diabetes, which
      may allow earlier diagnosis and intervention, which in future may improve patient
      outcomes. 

PMID- 27625748
TI  - Neuromuscular and Blood Lactate Response After a Motocross Training Session in
      Amateur Riders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Motocross is one of the most popular motorized off-road sports,
      characterized by riding on irregular natural terrain of hard earth and/or sand
      with various obstacles throughout the course. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated
      the influence of a motocross training session on neuromuscular response and blood
      lactate in amateur riders. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine motocross riders (22.7 +/-
      2.8 years) participating in amateur competitions at the state level conducted a
      training session of 20 minutes duration at a motocross track (1.6 km) with a 250
      cc four-stroke motorcycle. Metabolic demand was measured with blood lactate
      concentrations before and immediately, 3, 5, 8, and 10 minutes after the training
      session. To measure neuromuscular response, riders completed handgrip strength
      and horizontal jump tests before and 10 minutes after the training session.
      Student's t-test and analysis of variance one-way repeated measures were used to
      compare the changes before and after the motocross training session. RESULTS:
      Significant decreases in handgrip strength were observed for both hands (left: P
      = 0.010 and right: P = 0.004). However, no significant difference (P = 0.241) in
      horizontal jump ability was observed. Significant blood lactate values were
      observed immediately (P = 0.001), 3 (P = 0.001), 5 (P = 0.001), and 8 (P = 0.01)
      minutes after training when compared to the value before training. The peak blood
      lactate value was 6.5 +/- 2.7 mM at 8 minutes after the training session.
      CONCLUSIONS: Amateur motocross riders had significant anaerobic metabolism
      demands and had reduced handgrip strength following a training session. These
      data suggest an importance of physical training aimed at improving anaerobic and
      neuromuscular performance of the upper limbs in amateur motocross riders.

PMID- 27625747
TI  - Treatment of diabetic retinopathy: Recent advances and unresolved challenges.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in industrialized
      countries. Remarkable advances in the diagnosis and treatment of DR have been
      made during the past 30 years, but several important management questions and
      treatment deficiencies remain unanswered. The global diabetes epidemic threatens
      to overwhelm resources and increase the incidence of blindness, necessitating the
      development of innovative programs to diagnose and treat patients. The
      introduction and rapid adoption of intravitreal pharmacologic agents,
      particularly drugs that block the actions of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) and corticosteroids, have changed the goal of DR treatment from
      stabilization of vision to improvement. Anti-VEGF injections improve visual
      acuity in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) from 8-12 letters and
      improvements with corticosteroids are only slightly less. Unfortunately, a third
      of patients have an incomplete response to anti-VEGF therapy, but the best second
      line therapy remains unknown. Current first-line therapy requires monthly visits
      and injections; longer acting therapies are needed to free up healthcare
      resources and improve patient compliance. VEGF suppression may be as effective as
      panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy, but
      more studies are needed before PRP is abandoned. For over 30 years laser was the
      mainstay for the treatment of DME, but recent studies question its role in the
      pharmacologic era. Aggressive treatment improves vision in most patients, but
      many still do not achieve reading and driving vision. New drugs are needed to add
      to gains achieved with available therapies. 

PMID- 27625749
TI  - Are Level of Education and Employment Related to Symptoms of Common Mental
      Disorders in Current and Retired Professional Footballers?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental disorders have become a topic of increasing interest in
      research due to their serious consequences for quality of life and functioning.
      OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to explore the relationship of level
      of education, employment status and working hours with symptoms of common mental
      disorders (distress, anxiety/depression, sleep disturbance, adverse alcohol
      behaviour, smoking, adverse nutritional behaviour) among current and retired
      professional footballers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional analyses were
      conducted on baseline questionnaires from an ongoing prospective cohort study
      among current and retired professional footballers. Based on validated scales, an
      electronic questionnaire was set up and distributed by players' unions in 11
      countries across three continents. RESULTS: A total of 607 current professional
      footballers (mean age of 27 years) and 219 retired professional footballers (mean
      age of 35 years) were involved in the study. Among retired professional
      footballers, statistically significant negative correlations were found between
      employment status and symptoms of distress and anxiety/depression (P < 0.05), as
      well as between number of working hours and symptoms of anxiety/depression (P <
      0.05). No other statistically significant associations were found among retired
      players. Among current professional footballers, level of education was not
      associated with symptoms of common mental disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Among retired
      professional footballers, employment status as well as a higher number of working
      hours was weakly correlated to symptoms of distress and anxiety/depression.
      Combining a football career with sustainable attention for educational and career
      planning might be important and of high priority.

PMID- 27625750
TI  - A Comparison of Increases in Volume Load Over 8 Weeks of Low-Versus High-Load
      Resistance Training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesized that the ability to increase volume load
      (VL) via a progressive increase in the magnitude of load for a given exercise
      within a given repetition range could enhance the adaptive response to resistance
      training. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare changes in volume
      load (VL) over eight weeks of resistance training (RT) in high-versus low-load
      protocols. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen well-trained men were matched
      according to baseline strength were randomly assigned to either a low-load RT
      (LOW, n = 9) where 25 - 35 repetitions were performed per exercise, or a high
      load RT (HIGH, n = 9) where 8 - 12 repetitions were performed per exercise. Both
      groups performed three sets of seven exercises for all major muscles three times
      per week on non-consecutive days. RESULTS: After adjusting for the pre-test
      scores, there was a significant difference between the two intervention groups on
      post-intervention total VL with a very large effect size (F (1, 15) = 16.598, P =
      .001, etap(2) = .525). There was a significant relationship between pre
      intervention and post-intervention total VL (F (1, 15) = 32.048, P < .0001,
      etap(2) = .681) in which the pre-test scores explained 68% of the variance in the
      post-test scores. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that low-load RT results in
      greater accumulations in VL compared to high-load RT over the course of 8 weeks
      of training.

PMID- 27625751
TI  - Prevalence of Common Postural Disorders Among Academic Dental Staff.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are common problems among dentists. These
      conditions may lead to inappropriate postures and impairment in physical and
      psychological function. On the other hand, poor postures and inappropriate
      ergonomic may result in a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders. OBJECTIVES:
      The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of common postural
      disorders of the spine and shoulder girdle among the dentists and possible
      correlations between demographic, anthropometric and occupational characteristics
      with these abnormal postures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a cross-sectional study,
      96 dental staff including academic staff, residents and senior students of Tehran
      University of Medical Sciences was enrolled. Data were collected using a
      questionnaire and posture assessment tools such as plumb-line, checkerboard and
      flexible ruler. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 17. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of the forward head posture (FHP), rounded shoulder posture (RSP),
      scoliosis and hyperlordosis were reported in 85.5%, 68.8%, 18.8% and 17.3% of the
      participants, respectively. A significant correlation was found between gender
      and FHP (P = 0.04) and also scoliosis (P = 0.009). On the other hand, a
      significant correlation was seen between weight and hyperlordosis (P = 0.007).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed a high prevalence of postural disorders
      especially FHP, RSP and scoliosis among Iranian dental staff. The female dentists
      were less susceptible to FHP and scoliosis.

PMID- 27625752
TI  - Antioxidant Expression Response to Free Radicals in Active Men and Women
      Fallowing to a Session Incremental Exercise; Numerical Relationship Between
      Antioxidants and Free Radicals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Energy production is a necessary process to continue physical
      activities, and exercise is associated with more oxygen consumption and increase
      of oxidative stress. what seems important is the numerical relationship between
      antioxidant and free radicals. Although the activity of some enzymes increases
      with physical activities, but it is possible that gene expression of this enzyme
      is not changed during exercise. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to
      investigate the antioxidant enzymes gene expression and changes in
      malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels in men and
      women affected by a session of incremental exercise and to carefully and
      numerically assess the relationship between MDA changes and gene expression and
      activity of antioxidant enzymes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 12 active men and 12
      active women (21 - 24 years old) participated voluntarily in this study.
      Peripheral blood samples were taken from the subjects in three phases, before and
      after graduated exercise test (GXT) and 3 hours later (recovery). RESULTS: The
      gene expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) enzyme increased
      significantly in women in the recovery phase (P < 0.05). Catalase gene expression
      significantly increased in men in both phases (immediately & recovery) (P <
      0.05). But the changes in active women were only significant immediately after
      the exercise. TAC levels increased significantly in men in the recovery phase and
      in active women immediately after the exercise (P < 0.05). MDA activity also
      increased significantly in men in both phases (P < 0.05). However, in women the
      increase was significant only in the recovery phase (P < 0.05). There was a
      reverse relationship between changes in MnSOD and copper- and zinc-containing
      superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) levels and MDA in men (P < 0.05). In active women
      there was also a significant relationship between changes in MDA and gene
      expression of Cu/ZnSOD and TAC (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The increase in free
      radicals during incremental exercises challenges gene expression and activity of
      antioxidant enzymes. However, despite the negative effects of free radicals, in
      women, activity and gene expression of antioxidant enzymes respond appropriately
      to free radicals.

PMID- 27625753
TI  - Acute Responses to 10*15 m Repeated Sprint Ability Exercise in Adolescent
      Athletes: the Role of Change of Direction and Sport Specialization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The repeated sprint ability (RSA) has been studied with protocols
      using distances longer than 20 m per sprint, whereas basketball players cover on
      average less than 20-meter distance per sprint during match. OBJECTIVES: The aim
      of the present study was to examine the physiological impact of 10 * 15 m RSA
      test in straight-line (RSASL) or with change of direction (RSACOD), i.e. 10 *
      (7.5 + 7.5 m)) in young national level basketball players. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Young basketball players (n = 11, age 17.1 (1.0) years, body mass 76 (6) kg,
      height 184 (4) cm, body mass index 22.6 (1.8) kgm(-2), sport experience 6.9 (2.7)
      years, mean (standard deviation)) and a control group consisting of high-school
      athletes (n = 7, 16.1 (0.7) years, 67 (6) kg, 177 (6) cm, 21.5 (1.0) kgm(-2), 7.7
      (1.6) years, respectively) performed RSASL and RSACOD on a counter-balanced
      order. Sprints started every 30 seconds (active recovery) and there was 30
      minutes break between RSA protocols; time variables were total time (TT), best
      time (BT) and fatigue index (FI). Countermovement jump (CMJ) was tested before
      and after each RSA protocol. Heart rate (HR) was continuously monitored during
      testing procedures. RESULTS: Compared with RSASL, TT and BT were worst in RSACOD
      (38.13 vs. 27.52 s and 3.67 vs. 2.66 s, P < 0.001, respectively), whereas FI did
      not differ (3.8 vs. 3.5%, P = 0.388). A 2 * 2 repeated measures ANOVA showed main
      effect of RSA on CMJ (pre-test vs. post-test, increase + 1.8 cm, P = 0.020,
      eta(2) = 0.28); there was neither main effect of RSA protocols (RSASL vs. RSACOD
      +0.7 cm, P = 0.251, eta(2) = 0.08) nor an interaction between pre-post
      measurements and RSA protocols (P = 0.578, eta(2) = 0.02). Compared with RSASL,
      RSACOD induced higher mean and peak HR responses (175 vs 172 bpm, P < 0.001, and
      185 vs 182 bpm, P = 0.002, respectively). No statistical difference was observed
      between basketball players and control group neither for TT (27.98 vs. 26.80
      seconds, + 4.4%, P = 0.149) and BT (2.71 vs. 2.59 seconds, + 4.5%, P = 0.157) in
      RSASL nor for TT (38.55 vs. 37.47 seconds, + 2.9%, P = 0.169) and BT (3.70 vs.
      3.63 seconds, 1.8%, P = 0.414) in RSACOD. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, RSASL and
      RSACOD differed for time variables (TT and BT) and HR responses. Despite being
      non-significant, the trend that adding COD reduced the percentage differences in
      TT and BT between the two groups highlighted the role of sport specialization.

PMID- 27625754
TI  - Smartphone and Universal Goniometer for Measurement of Elbow Joint Motions: A
      Comparative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Universal goniometer (UG) is commonly used as a standard method to
      evaluate range of motion (ROM) as part of joint motions. It has some
      restrictions, such as involvement of both hands of the physician, leads to
      instability of hands and error. Nowadays smartphones usage has been increasing
      due to its easy application. OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to compare the
      smartphone inclinometer-based app and UG in evaluation of ROM of elbow. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The maximum ROM of elbow in position of flexion and pronation and
      supination of forearm were examined in 60 healthy volunteers with UG and
      smartphone. Data were analyzed using SPSS (ver. 16) software and appropriate
      statistical tests were applied, such as paired t-test, ICC and Bland Altman
      curves. RESULTS: The results of this study showed high reliability and validity
      of smartphone in regarding UG with ICC > 0.95. The highest reliability for both
      methods was in elbow supination and the lowest was in the elbow flexion (0.84).
      CONCLUSIONS: Smartphones due to ease of access and usage for the physician and
      the patient, may be good alternatives for UG.

PMID- 27625755
TI  - Comparison of Mental Toughness and Power Test Performances in High-Level
      Kickboxers by Competitive Success.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kickboxing is a high-intensity intermittent striking combat sport,
      which is characterized by complex skills and tactical key actions with short
      duration. OBJECTIVES: The present study compared and verified the relationship
      between mental toughness (MT), countermovement jump (CMJ) and medicine ball throw
      (MBT) power tests by outcomes of high-level kickboxers during National
      Championship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty two high-level male kickboxers
      (winner = 16 and loser = 16: 21.2 +/- 3.1 years, 1.73 +/- 0.07 m, and 70.2 +/-
      9.4 kg) were analyzed using the CMJ, MBT tests and sports mental toughness
      questionnaire (SMTQ; based in confidence, constancy and control subscales),
      before the fights of the 2015 national championship (16 bouts). In statistical
      analysis, Mann-Withney test and a multiple linear regression were used to compare
      groups and to observe relationships, respectively, P <= 0.05. RESULTS: The
      present results showed significant differences between losers vs. winners,
      respectively, of total MT (7(7;8) vs. 11(10.2;11), confidence (3(3;3) vs.
      4(4;4)), constancy (2(2;2) vs. 3(3;3)), control (2(2;3) vs. 4(4;4)) subscales and
      MBT (4.1(4;4.3) vs. 4.6(4.4;4.8)). The multiple linear regression showed a strong
      associations between MT results and outcome (r = 0.89), MBT (r = 0.84) and CMJ (r
      = 0.73). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that MT will be more predictive of
      performance in those sports and in the outcome of competition.

PMID- 27625756
TI  - Biochemical Differences Between Official and Simulated Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
      Matches.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the goals for training in combat sports is to mimic real
      situations. For mixed martial arts (MMA), simulated sparring matches are a
      frequent component during training, but a there is a lack of knowledge
      considering the differences in sparring and competitive environments. OBJECTIVES:
      The main objective of this study was to compare biochemical responses to sparring
      and official MMA matches. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty five male professional
      MMA fighters were evaluated during official events (OFF = 12) and simulated
      matches (SIM = 13). For both situations, blood samples were taken before (PRE)
      and immediately after (POST) matches. For statistical analysis, two-way analysis
      of variance (time x group and time x winner) were used to compare the dependent
      parametric variables. For non-parametric data, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used
      and differences were confirmed by Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: No significant
      differences were observed among the groups for demographic variables. The
      athletes were 26.5 +/- 5 years with 80 +/- 10 kg, 1.74 +/- 0.05 m and had 39.4 +/
      25 months of training experience. Primary results indicated higher blood glucose
      concentration prior to fights for OFF group (OFF= 6.1 +/- 1.2 mmol/L and SIM= 4.4
      +/- 0.7 mmol/L; P < 0.01) and higher ALT values for OFF group at both time points
      (OFF: PRE = 41.2 +/- 12 U/L, POST = 44.2 +/- 14.1 U/L; SIM: PRE = 28.1 +/- 13.8
      U/L, POST = 30.5 +/- 12.5 U/L; P = 0.001). In addition, the blood lactate showed
      similar responses for both groups (OFF: PRE= 4 [3.4 - 4.4] mmol/L, POST= 16.9
      [13.8 - 23.5] mmol/L; SIM: PRE = 3.8 [2.8 - 5.5] mmol/L, POST= 16.8 [12.3 - 19.2]
      mmol/L; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, MMA official and simulated
      matches induce similar high intensity glycolytic demands and minimal changes to
      biochemical markers of muscle damage immediately following the fights. Glycolytic
      availability prior to the fights was raised exclusively in response to official
      matches.

PMID- 27625757
TI  - The Effect of Stretching Exercises on Severity of Restless Legs Syndrome in
      Patients on Hemodialysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The restless legs syndrome is a sensorimotor disorder that is very
      common in patients on hemodialysis. Due to pharmacological treatments which have
      their own side effects, nowadays, studies have turned to non-pharmacological
      treatments. OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to assess the effect of stretching
      exercises on the severity of restless legs syndrome in patients on hemodialysis.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: This clinical trial study was conducted on 33 patients who
      had been identified using diagnostic criteria from the hemodialysis ward of
      Hasheminejad Hospital in Tehran. Participants were randomly divided into the
      intervention group (n = 17) and control group (n = 16). Stretching exercises were
      performed on legs during the dialysis for half an hour, three times a week for 8
      weeks in intervention group. Data were collected by using the international
      restless legs syndrome study group scale. RESULTS: The results showed that the
      majority of participants were suffering from moderate restless legs syndrome. The
      symptom severity of this syndrome meaningfully changed eight weeks after
      intervention in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The results highlighted the significance of training and performing
      the stretching exercises during dialysis for the purpose of improving restless
      legs syndrome symptoms and the quality of care of hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 27625758
TI  - Knee Muscular Control During Jump Landing in Multidirections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Jump landing is a complex movement in sports. While competing and
      practicing, athletes frequently perform multi-planar jump landing. Anticipatory
      muscle activity could influence the amount of knee flexion and prepare the knee
      for dynamic weight bearing such as landing tasks. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      present study was to examine knee muscle function and knee flexion excursion as
      athletes naturally performed multi-direction jump landing. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Eighteen male athletes performed the jump-landing test in four directions:
      forward (0 degrees ), 30 degrees  diagonal, 60 degrees  diagonal, and lateral (90
      degrees ). Muscles tested were vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL),
      rectus femoris (RF), semitendinosus (ST), and biceps femoris (BF). A Vicon(TM)
      612 workstation collected the kinematic data. An electromyography was
      synchronized with the Vicon(TM) Motion system to quantify dynamic muscle
      function. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Jump
      landing direction significantly influenced (P < 0.05) muscle activities of VL,
      RF, and ST and knee flexion excursion. Jumpers landed with a trend of decreasing
      knee flexion excursion and ST muscle activity 100 ms before foot contact
      progressively from forward to lateral directions of jump landing. CONCLUSIONS: A
      higher risk of knee injury might occur during lateral jump landing than forward
      and diagonal directions. Athletes should have more practice in jump landing in
      lateral direction to avoid injury. Landing technique with high knee flexion in
      multi-directions should be taught to jumpers for knee injury prevention.

PMID- 27625759
TI  - Effects of a Theory Based Intervention on Physical Activity Among Female
      Employees: A Quasi-Experimental Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity has been highlighted as an important factor
      in decreasing about 25 factors harmful to health, such as obesity, diabetes,
      heart failure, depression and osteoporosis. Female office workers, because of the
      long hours they stay seated in their workplace, are seriously threatened by
      immobility. The Theory of Planned Behavior has been successfully used several
      times to predict PA behaviorphysical activity (PA). The TPB studies also have
      identified perceived behavioral control as the key determinant of walking
      intentions. OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to assess the effectiveness of an
      intervention based on TPB to improve attitude, perceived behavioral control,
      Subjective norms, behavioral intention and PA behavior among female office
      workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study is an interventional, quasi
      experimental study. Participants were 95 female office workers of the Tehran
      University that divided randomly in two case and control groups. Using the theory
      of planned behavior questionnaire and the International physical activity
      questionnaire, the participants were evaluated before the training and three
      months after that. The training was provided in the form of four 90-minute
      training sessions and some electronic messages sent through office automation
      system once every two weeks. RESULTS: The intervention increased PBC, attitudes,
      intentions and objectively measured PA behavior. The effects of the intervention
      on intentions and behavior were mediated by PBC. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      has provided some of the data toward understanding determinants of physical
      activity behavior in female office workers. Specifically, the results suggest
      that interventions designed to promote physical activity in this population
      should focus on the development of PBC as well as positive attitude toward PA.

PMID- 27625760
TI  - Asymmetry of the Modified Illinois Change of Direction Test Impacts Young Elite
      Soccer Players' Performance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The modified Illinois change of direction test (MICODT) is an
      asymmetrical test because the numbers of changes of direction performed to the
      right and to the left are unequal. Therefore, it is possible that the asymmetry
      of this test may influence agility performance testing. OBJECTIVES: The aim of
      this study was to compare two opposite/mirrored versions of the modified Illinois
      change of direction test. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-six right-footed soccer
      players (17.2 +/- 1.6 years-old) participated in the study. Players performed a
      modified Illinois change of direction test and a mirrored version of this test
      "inverted modified Illinois change of direction test" (I/MICODT) in a randomized
      and counter-balanced order. Paired t-test was used to determine whether
      significant differences existed between time performances of the tests as a
      within-subjects measure. Players were thereafter stratified into MICODT group or
      I/MICODT group according to their best performance and independent t-tests were
      used to determine differences between groups. RESULTS: The analysis revealed no
      significant difference in time performance between the two versions of test as a
      within-subjects measure (P > 0.05, ES = 0.05). However, significant better time
      performances among inverted modified Illinois change of direction group (52% of
      players) were found when compared to the modified Illinois change of direction
      group (48% of players) (P < 0.04, ES = 0.66). CONCLUSIONS: The modified Illinois
      change of direction test must be considered as an asymmetrical test because it
      underestimates more than half of the players' agility performances. Therefore,
      fitness coaches should take these results into account when using this test.

PMID- 27625761
TI  - Comparison of the Kinematic Patterns of Kick Between Brazilian and Japanese Young
      Soccer Players.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kicking performance is the most studied technical action in soccer
      and lower limbs kinematics is closely related to success in kicking, mainly
      because they are essential in imparting high velocity to the ball. Previous
      studies demonstrated that soccer leagues in different countries exhibit different
      physical demands and technical requirements during the matches. However,
      evidencewhether nationality has any influence in the kinematics of soccer-related
      skills has not yet been reported. The nationality of the players is an aspect
      that might be also relevant to the performance in kicking. OBJECTIVES: The aim of
      this study was to compare the lower limbs kinematic patterns during kicking,
      between Brazilian and Japanese young top soccer players. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Seven Brazilian (GA) and seven Japanese (GB) U-17 players performed 15 side-foot
      kicks each, with a distance of 20 m away from the goal, aiming a target of 1 * 1
      m in upper corner, constrained by a defensive wall (1.8 * 2 m). Four digital
      video cameras (120 Hz) recorded the performance for further 3D reconstruction of
      thigh, shank and foot segments of both kicking and support limbs. The selected
      kicking cycle was characterized by the toe-off of the kicking limb to the end of
      the kicking foot when it came in contact with the ball. Stereographical
      projection of each segment was applied to obtain the representative curves of
      kicking as function of time for each participant in each trial. Cluster analysis
      was performed to identify the mean GA and GB curves for each segment. Silhouette
      coefficient (SC) was calculated, in order to determine the degree of separation
      between the two groups' curves. RESULTS: Comparison between the median confidence
      intervals of the SC showed no differences between groups as regards lower limb
      patterns of movements. Task accuracy was determined by the relative frequency
      that the ball reached the target for all attempts and no differences were found
      (GA: 10.48 +/- 14.33%; GB: 9.52 +/- 6.51%; P = 0.88). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude
      that lower limb kinematic patterns, in support and ball contact phases, are
      similar in young Brazilian and Japanese soccer players during free kicks when
      adopting the side-foot kick style.

PMID- 27625763
TI  - Intake of Nutrients, Fiber, and Sugar in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver
      Disease in Comparison to Healthy Individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of
      chronic liver disease in the world. Although some studies have been conducted
      about dietary intakes of these patients, but the results are inconsistent. The
      aim of this study was to survey all macronutrients and micronutrients included in
      dietary intake of these patients for better understanding the factors influencing
      this disease. METHODS: The present study is a case-control conducted in Isfahan
      city, Iran. The cases were recently diagnosed patients with NAFLD who identified
      by ultrasonography. The case (159) and control (158) individuals were matched in
      age and gender. Data of general characteristics and physical activity of
      individuals were collected through questionnaire. Dietary intake was also
      collected using 24 h dietary recall questionnaire. RESULTS: Waistline and body
      mass index for the case group were more than the control group (P < 0.05).
      Physical activity level in healthy individuals was more than patients with NAFLD.
      Dietary intake of saturated fatty acids and sugar in patients with NAFLD was more
      than healthy individuals (P < 0.05). Intake of total dietary fiber, folic acid,
      Vitamin D, zinc, and potassium in healthy individuals was more than patients with
      NAFLD (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In total, it seems the type of dietary intake
      source is associated with NAFLD. Increasing saturated fatty acids and sugar and
      decreasing fiber, folic acid, Vitamin D, zinc, and potassium intake might play a
      role in the progression of this disease.

PMID- 27625762
TI  - Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disorders Among Iranian Elite Athletes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Athletes' health is an important issue and for promoting it, pre
      participation examination (PPE) is widely performed by responsible bodies around
      the world. OBJECTIVES: This study was to determine prevalence of cardiovascular
      disorders among athletes participating in the Asian games and answering the
      question whether the electrocardiogram (ECG) is a necessary part of pre
      participation examination (PPE) for prevention of sudden cardiac death. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: All athletes participated at Asian games came to sports medicine
      federation for a PPE including a comprehensive questionnaire, physical
      examination and ECG. In this retrospective study all profiles of 338 athletes
      have been studied as well as their electrocardiograms. Multiple logistic
      regressions as well as Firth's bias reduction were used with R statistical
      software and SPSS. For predicting the changes in ECG, receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve has done. RESULTS: Among 388 athletes, 80 (20.6%) were
      female and 308 (79.4%) male with mean age of 23.2 + 8 years. Nine athletes (2.3%)
      were smokers, 28 of them (7.2%) experienced chest pain and discomfort, 45 of them
      (13.3%) had palpitations and 28 (7.2%) had history of anemia. Study of their
      electrocardiograms showed that long Q-T interval was not seen for anyone, but
      evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy was seen in 12 (3.1%), inverted T wave
      in 6 (1.5%), and right bundle branch block in 45 (13.3%). CONCLUSIONS: PPE
      provides very important information of athletes' health. This study has shown
      that there was not any significant relation between current examination and
      electrocardiogram changes but regarding the ECG changes we recommend it as a
      routine part of PPE.

PMID- 27625765
TI  - Ground Water Arsenic Contamination: A Local Survey in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the present times, arsenic poisoning contamination in the ground
      water has caused lots of health-related problems in the village population
      residing in middle Gangetic plain. In Bihar, about 16 districts have been
      reported to be affected with arsenic poisoning. For the ground water and health
      assessment, Simri village of Buxar district was undertaken which is a flood plain
      region of river Ganga. METHODS: In this study, 322 water samples were collected
      for arsenic estimation, and their results were analyzed. Furthermore, the
      correlation between arsenic contamination in ground water with depth and its
      distance from river Ganga were analyzed. Results are presented as mean +/-
      standard deviation and total variation present in a set of data was analyzed
      through one-way analysis of variance. The difference among mean values has been
      analyzed by applying Dunnett's test. The criterion for statistical significance
      was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: This study shows novel findings ever done in this
      area. Halwa Patti and Doodhi Patti strips were the most affected strips with high
      arsenic concentration in hand pumps. Furthermore, a correlation between the
      arsenic concentration with the depth of the hand pumps and the distance from the
      river Ganga was also a significant study. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      concludes that in Simri village there is high contamination of arsenic in ground
      water in all the strips. Such a huge population is at very high risk leading the
      village on the verge of causing health hazards among them. Therefore, an
      immediate strategy is required to combat the present problem.

PMID- 27625764
TI  - Is Risk Factor-based Screening Good Enough to Detect Gestational Diabetes
      Mellitus in High-Risk Pregnant Women? A Sri Lankan Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a long lasting dilemma over the ideal screening and
      diagnostic method in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Even though universal
      screening is commonly practiced, selective screening based on risk factors is
      also practiced in some center. The aim of this study is to evaluate the most
      appropriate method to screen GDM in high-risk pregnant women in Sri Lanka.
      METHODS: This study was a clinic-based, cross-sectional study conducted in a
      tertiary referral center, Sri Lanka. All women underwent 75 g oral glucose
      tolerance test at 24-28 weeks of gestation. Diagnosis of GDM was made according
      to the International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups
      (IADPSG) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. RESULTS: With universal
      screening using IADPSG criteria, 23.2% (105/452) were found to have GDM and with
      risk factor-based screening 20.1% (91/452) were detected to have GDM. The
      prevalence of GDM dropped to 18.1% when GDM was diagnosed using the WHO criteria
      with universal screening approach. It was further dropped to 15.7% when the WHO
      criteria were used along with risk factors-based screening approach. CONCLUSIONS:
      The IADPSG criteria labeled considerably higher number of women as having GDM
      compared to the WHO criteria. With regards to the screening methods, the risk
      based screening had a lower detection rate of GDM; however, it reduced the
      necessity of screening of women by around 20%.

PMID- 27625766
TI  - Estimating the Transitional Probabilities of Smoking Stages with Cross-sectional
      Data and 10-Year Projection for Smoking Behavior in Iranian Adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is one of the most important health-related risk
      factors in terms of morbidity and mortality. In this study, we introduced a new
      method for deriving the transitional probabilities of smoking stages from a cross
      sectional study and simulated a long-term smoking behavior for adolescents.
      METHODS: In this study in 2010, a total of 4853 high school students were
      randomly selected and were completed a self-administered questionnaire about
      cigarette smoking. We used smoothed age- and sex-specific prevalence of smoking
      stages in a probabilistic discrete event system for estimating of transitional
      probabilities. A nonhomogenous discrete time Markov chain analysis was used to
      model the progression of the smoking in 10 years ahead in the same population.
      The mean age of the students was 15.69 +/- 0.73 years (range: 14-19). RESULTS:
      The smoothed prevalence proportion of current smoking varies between 3.58 and
      26.14%. The age-adjusted odds of initiation in boys is 8.9 (95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 7.9-10.0) times of the odds of initiation of smoking in girls. Our
      study predicted that the prevalence proportion of current smokers increased from
      7.55% in 2010 to 20.31% (95% CI: 19.44-21.37) for 2019. CONCLUSIONS: The present
      study showed a moderately but concerning prevalence of current smoking in Iranian
      adolescents and introduced a novel method for estimation of transitional
      probabilities from a cross-sectional study. The increasing trend of cigarette use
      among adolescents indicated the necessity of paying more attention to this group.

PMID- 27625767
TI  - Administration of Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium bifidum Ameliorated
      Hyperglycemia, Dyslipidemia, and Oxidative Stress in Diabetic Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present work was planned to evaluate the antihyperglycemic, lipid
      lowering, and antioxidant effect of Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium
      bifidum in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Single daily dose
      of 1 * 10(7) cfu/ml of L. casei and B. bifidum alone and in combination of both
      was given to Wistar rats orally by gavaging for 28 days. Glucose tolerance test,
      fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipid profile, and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c)
      were measured from blood. Glycogen from thigh muscles and liver and oxidative
      stress parameters from pancreas were analyzed. RESULTS: Administration of L.
      casei and B. bifidum alone and in combination of both to diabetic rats decreased
      serum FBG (60.47%, 55.89%, and 56.49%, respectively), HbA1c (28.11%, 28.61%, and
      28.28%), total cholesterol (171.69%, 136.47%, and 173.58%), triglycerides
      (9.935%, 8.58%, and 7.91%), low-density lipoproteins (53.27%, 53.35%, and 52.91%)
      and very low-density lipoproteins (10%, 8.58%, and 11.15%, respectively) and
      increased high-density lipoproteins (13.73%, 15.47%, and 15.47%), and insulin
      (19.50%, 25.80%, and 29.47%, respectively). The treatment also resulted in
      increase in muscle (171.69%, 136.47%, and 173.58%) and liver (25.82%, 6.63%, and
      4.02%) glycogen level. The antioxidant indexes in pancreas of diabetic rats
      returned to normal level with reduction in lipid peroxidation (30.89%, 46.46%,
      and 65.36%) and elevation in reduced glutathione (104.5%, 161.34%, and 179.04%),
      superoxide dismutase (38.65%, 44.32%, and 53.35%), catalase (13.08%, 27%, and
      31.52%), glutathione peroxidase (55.56%, 72.23%, and 97.23%), glutathione
      reductase (49.27%, 88.40%, and 110.86%), and glutathione-S-transferase (140%,
      220%, and 246.6%, respectively) on treatment with L. casei, B. bifidum, and
      combination treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of L. casei and B. bifidum
      alone and in combination of both ameliorated hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and
      oxidative stress in STZ-induced diabetic Wistar rats.

PMID- 27625768
TI  - Effects of maturity stage and lactic acid bacteria on the fermentation quality
      and aerobic stability of Siberian wildrye silage.
AB  - It is difficult to make good quality of silage from alpine gramineous from the
      Qinghai Tibetan plateau. The effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the
      fermentation quality and aerobic stability of Siberian wildrye silage were
      studied in southeast of the Qinghai Tibetan plateau. Siberian wildrye materials
      were freshly cut at the sprouting stage, flowering stage, and milky stage. Silage
      was prepared by using a small-scale silage fermentation system (bag silos).
      Lactobacillus plantarum (LP, 5 * 10(8) cfu/kg FM), Lactobacillus buchneri (LB, 5
      * 10(8) cfu/kg FM) and their mixture (LP+LB, 5 * 10(8) cfu/kg FM) as silage
      additives were separately added to ensiled forages, and no additive served as
      control (CK). These bag silos were kept at room temperature (<15 degrees C), and
      the silage qualities were analyzed after 60 days of ensiling. The number of
      indigenous LAB on fresh materials was less than that of yeasts and molds, and LAB
      species showed specification adapted to low temperature. LAB inoculated silages
      had lower (P < 0.05) pH value, NH 3-N/TN and butyric acid content compared with
      control silage. Silage treated with LB had higher contents of acetic acid,
      propionic acid, WSC and CP. However, the aerobic stability of silages inoculated
      with LAB did not differ significantly between stages (P > 0.05). When
      fermentation characteristics, chemical composition, and aerobic stability were
      considered, treatment with L. plantarum resulted in high quality of Siberian
      wildrye silage harvested at the flowering stage in the alpine region.

PMID- 27625769
TI  - Antioxidant activities of essential oil of Bidens pilosa (Linn. Var. Radita) used
      for the preservation of food qualities in North Cameroon.
AB  - This study aimed to determine the total antioxidant capacity of the essential oil
      (EO) of leaves of Bidens pilosa (Linn. Var. Radita) used as protectant of stored
      grains in Northern Cameroon. EO was characterized by GC-FID, antioxidant activity
      (AA) was determined by combining: evaluation of radical-scavenging activity,
      reducing power (RP) and co-oxidation of beta-carotene methods. Tests were carried
      out on crude and stored EO kept for two weeks at 31.48 +/- 2.88 degrees C and
      58.56 +/- 6.78% relative humidity. These conditions are the same as those of
      grain storage. GC analyses enabled the identification of 27 compounds,
      representing around 97.57% of the total oil contents. The major constituents of
      the EO were alpha-pinene (14.7%), epsilon-caryophyllene (13.5), and beta-ocimene
      (12.8%). The AA of the crude and stored EO are proportional to the concentrations
      and time of exposition. Exposed at the day light, this EO inhibit 77.4-18.69% for
      the DPPH system, 59.55-19.14% for RP method and 91.88-21.8% for beta-carotene
      linoleate model system, respectively, from crude and 15 days storage EO at 20 mg
      L(-1). For the EC50 values, beta-carotene method is excellent and in the
      decreasing order of DPPH method, PR with 2.52 mg L(-1), 2.77 mg L(-1) and 4.13 mg
      L(-1), respectively, for the crude oil. The ET50 were 1.59 days for the RP method
      and 2.88 days DPPH system and beta-carotene-linoleate model system at 20 mg L(
      1). These results showed that the EO of B. pilosa leaves exhibits AA that might
      be an added value for this EO preventing stored products from pest attacks. 

PMID- 27625770
TI  - Development of functional beverages from blends of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract
      and selected fruit juices for optimal antioxidant properties.
AB  - The demand for functional foods and drinks with health benefit is on the
      increase. The synergistic effect from mixing two or more of such drinks cannot be
      overemphasized. This study was carried out to formulate and investigate the
      effects of blends of two or more of pineapple, orange juices, carrot, and
      Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts (HSE) on the antioxidant properties of the juice
      formulations in order to obtain a combination with optimal antioxidant
      properties. Experimental design was carried out using optimal mixture model of
      response surface methodology which generated twenty experimental runs with
      antioxidant properties as the responses. The DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl)
      and ABTS [2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)] radical
      scavenging abilities, ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP), vitamin C,
      total phenolics, and total carotenoids contents of the formulations were
      evaluated as a test of antioxidant property. In all the mixtures, formulations
      having HSE as part of the mixture showed the highest antioxidant potential. The
      statistical analyzes, however, showed that the formulations containing pineapple,
      carrot, orange, and HSE of 40.00, 16.49, 17.20, and 26.30%, respectively,
      produced optimum antioxidant potential and was shown to be acceptable to a
      research laboratory guidance panel, thus making them viable ingredients for the
      production of functional beverages possessing important antioxidant properties
      with potential health benefits.

PMID- 27625771
TI  - Effect of radio frequency heating on nutritional quality and protein solubility
      of corn.
AB  - In this study, radio frequency heat treatment at varying temperatures (50, 55,
      and 60 degrees C) was applied to investigate its impact on the nutritional
      quality and protein solubility of corn. The nutritive value was measured in terms
      of crude protein content, in vitro protein digestibility, bioavailability of Fe
      and Ca, and antinutritional factors, tannins and total polyphenols contents. No
      significant change in total and digestible protein of corn flour was observed
      after treatments. On the other hand, the availability of Ca and Fe was
      significantly increased, whereas the antinutritional factors, tannins and total
      polyphenols contents were decreased after radio frequency heating. Moreover,
      protein solubility was found significantly (P < 0.05) higher in treated corn than
      in control sample. Regarding these results, radio frequency heating at controlled
      temperature up to 60 degrees C might be used as postharvest method to enhance the
      nutritional quality of corn.

PMID- 27625772
TI  - Evaluation of different fermentation processes for use by small cocoa growers in
      mexico.
AB  - The aim of this research was to evaluate four different cacao (Theobroma cacao
      L.) fermentation conditions and their effect on fermented bean quality, in order
      to be able to recommend the most suitable condition to producers in the
      municipality of Huimanguillo, Tabasco, Mexico. Fermentations were carried out in
      square wooden boxes with capacity for 1000, 300, and 100 kg of fresh beans, as
      well as a rotary drum with capacity for 500 kg thereof. The fermentation process
      was carried out for 7 days, and the response variables measured were mass
      temperature, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, and acidity. The TSS were totally
      depleted after 2 days, during which time the yeasts transformed them into ethanol
      at temperatures of 25-35 degrees C. The most notable temperature increase in the
      four treatments was 49 degrees C on the third day, corresponding to a decrease in
      pH from 6.31 +/- 0.40 to 4.76 +/- 0.03 and an increase in acidity from 0.38 +/-
      0.04 to 1.17 +/- 0.25 g kg(-1), due to the formation of organic acids. There were
      no significant differences among the four treatments (Tukey alpha = 0.05). The
      cut test showed that fermentation in 300- and 100-kg boxes and in the 500-kg
      rotary drum produced the same effect on fermentation quality, but the 1000-kg
      boxes exhibited lower quality (Tukey alpha = 0.05). 

PMID- 27625773
TI  - Nutrient content of some Cameroonian traditional dishes and their potential
      contribution to dietary reference intakes.
AB  - Malnutrition is a serious public health problem in Cameroon. The research study
      was conducted to determine nutrient content of some Cameroonian traditional
      dishes and their potential contribution to dietary reference intakes. These
      dishes were Ekomba, prepared from maize flour with roasted peanuts paste; Ekwang,
      prepared from crushed cocoyam tubers and cocoyam leaves; Tenue militaire,
      prepared from dried maize flour and cocoyam leaves and Koki, prepared from dried
      crushed cowpea seeds. The samples were subjected to proximate, minerals,
      carotenoids, and amino acids analyses. Results showed that the protein content
      ranged between 1.4 and 5.4 g/100 g edible portion. The mineral content expressed
      in mg/100 g edible portion ranged between 13.4 and 38.9 (calcium), 12.9-30.7
      (magnesium), 336.2-567.9 (sodium), 63.3-182.7 (potassium), 0.5-1.5 (iron), 0.3
      1.1 (zinc), 0.1-0.2 (copper), and 0.3-0.4 (manganese). Vitamin A activity content
      ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 mg Retinol Activity Equivalents/100 g edible portion.
      Consumption of each dish (100 g) (Ekwang, Tenue militaire, and Koki) by children
      aged 1-2 years would meet more than 100% of their daily recommended intake for
      vitamin A. Except in Ekomba, essential amino acids in all dishes represented up
      to 33% of total amino acids, indicating a good equilibrium between amino acids.
      This up-to-date appropriate information will contribute for the calculation of
      accurate energy and nutrient intakes, and can be used to encourage the
      consumption of these dishes. 

PMID- 27625774
TI  - Effects of blanching, acidification, or addition of EDTA on vitamin C and beta
      carotene stability during mango puree preparation.
AB  - The impact of acidification with citric acid, addition of EDTA or water blanching
      at high temperature, and short time (HTST) conducted at 90 degrees C for 4 min,
      on the retention of vitamin C (L-AA and DHAA) and beta-carotene was studied in
      mango puree 30 min after crushing. HTST blanching prior to matrix disruption into
      puree resulted in complete inactivation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and minor
      residual activity (8%) of ascorbic acid oxidase (AAO). The retention of total
      vitamin C was 100% in blanched purees and in puree with EDTA and about 90% in
      purees at pH 3.9 and 5.0. Acidification, blanching, and addition of EDTA
      preserved vitamin C mainly as L-AA, while complete conversion into DHAA was
      observed in puree at pH 5.0. The retention of all-trans-beta-carotene was between
      65 and 72%, with the highest value in puree with EDTA and the lowest value in
      puree of blanched mango. The ratio of 13-cis-beta-carotene in fresh mango was 8.2
      +/- 0.5% that increased significantly after blanching and in puree at pH 5.0.

PMID- 27625775
TI  - Organoleptic properties and perception of maize, African yam bean, and defatted
      coconut flour-based breakfast cereals served in conventional forms.
AB  - Breakfast cereals were produced by roasting (t = 280 degrees C) - a dry heat
      treatment process to gelatinize and semidextrinize the starch - in order to
      generate dry ready-to-eat products from blends of African yam bean (AYB), maize
      (M), and defatted coconut (DC) flour. Six samples were generated by mixing AYB
      and maize composite flour with graded levels of DC flour (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%,
      and 50%) to obtain the following ratios; 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, and
      50:50 that were added equal quantities of sugar, salt, sorghum malt extract, and
      water. The obtained products were served dry (without added fluid), with water,
      milk, and warm milk to 15 panelists along with Weetabix Original (commercial
      control) to evaluate color, consistency, flavor, taste, aftertaste, mouth feel,
      and overall acceptability using a nine-point hedonic scale (1 = dislike
      extremely, 9 = like extremely). The results revealed that the samples were
      acceptable to the panelists. There were no significant (P > 0.05) differences,
      between the control (Weetabix) and the formulated samples in terms of overall
      acceptability, when served with water, whereas significant differences (P < 0.05)
      existed when served dry, with milk or warm milk. This new roasting process for
      producing breakfast cereals offers huge potentials for production of acceptable
      breakfast cereals enriched with protein and fiber-rich sources that could be
      consumed dry, with water, milk, or warm milk. 

PMID- 27625776
TI  - Polyphenols from halophytes and modified atmosphere packaging improve sensorial
      and biochemical markers of quality of common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus)
      fillets.
AB  - Quality and shelf-life of whole and filleted Coryphaena hippurus, stored with
      modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and natural antioxidants from halophytes
      (HAL), were investigated. Fillets were divided into control, simply sealed in
      trays; MAP, preserved by modified atmosphere (45% CO2, 50% N2, 5% O2); and MAP
      HAL, pretreated with antioxidants and preserved by MAP. Whole and filleted fish
      were stored at -1 +/- 0.5 degrees C for 18 days. The quality of the samples was
      analyzed at the time of packaging and after 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 days. The MAP
      and MAP-HAL groups maintained the best sensorial profile, pH, and drip loss with
      respect to the untreated fillets. Higher levels of total volatile basic nitrogen
      (TVB-N) and oxidized proteins were observed in untreated samples with respect to
      the MAP and MAP-HAL groups. The principle component analysis revealed a different
      quality profile for untreated and MAP-treated fish.

PMID- 27625777
TI  - Characterization of partially purified milk-clotting enzyme from sunflower
      (Helianthus annuus) seeds.
AB  - This study was aimed to extract milk-clotting enzyme from sunflower seeds and to
      determine its potentiality for manufacturing white soft cheese from cows and
      goats milk. The seeds were blended and extracted using two types of buffers and
      milk-clotting and proteolytic activities were evaluated. The enzyme was partially
      purified using ammonium sulfate fractionation techniques. Results indicated that
      sunflower seeds extracted with 5% NaCl in 50 mmol/L acetate buffer, pH 5.0, had
      the highest milk-clotting activity (MCA) and lowest coagulation time compared to
      that extracted with only acetate buffer (pH 5.0). Ammonium sulfate at 30-50%
      saturation purified the enzyme to 4.3 folds with MCA of 241.0 U/mL and final
      enzyme yield of 10.9%. The partially purified enzyme was characterized by SDS
      PAGE that showed two bands with molecular weight of 120 and 62 kDa. When compared
      with other plant enzymes, the partially purified sunflower enzyme was found to
      have higher milk-clotting activity and lower proteolytic activity. Also, both
      milk sources and enzyme types significantly affected the cheese yield and curd
      formation time. The cheese made from cow milk using sunflower enzyme had higher
      yield compared to that obtained using commercial rennet, whereas the opposite was
      observed when using goat milk. 

PMID- 27625778
TI  - Anthocyanin analyses of Vaccinium fruit dietary supplements.
AB  - Vaccinium fruit ingredients within dietary supplements were identified by
      comparisons with anthocyanin analyses of known Vaccinium profiles (demonstration
      of anthocyanin fingerprinting). Available Vaccinium supplements were purchased
      and analyzed, their anthocyanin profiles (based on high-performance liquid
      chromatography [HPLC] separation) indicated if products' fruit origin listings
      were authentic. Over 30% of the Vaccinium fruit (cranberry, lingonberry,
      bilberry, and blueberry; 14 of 45) products available as dietary supplements did
      not contain the fruit listed as ingredients. Six supplements contained no
      anthocyanins. Five others had contents differing from labeled fruit (e.g.,
      bilberry capsules containing Andean blueberry fruit). Of the samples that did
      contain the specified fruit (n = 27), anthocyanin content ranged from 0.04 to
      14.37 mg per capsule, tablet, or teaspoon (5 g). Approaches to utilizing
      anthocyanins in assessment of sample authenticity, and a discussion of the
      challenges with anthocyanin profiles in quality control are both presented. 

PMID- 27625779
TI  - Antioxidant properties in some selected cyanobacteria isolated from fresh water
      bodies of Sri Lanka.
AB  - Phytonutrients and pigments present in cyanobacteria act as antioxidants, which
      facilitate the formation of body's defense mechanism against free radical damage
      to cells. The aim of this investigation was to study the total phenolic content
      (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activity, phycobiliproteins
      (PBPs), and active compounds in four cyanobacterial species, that is,
      Oscillatoria sp., Lyngbya sp., Microcystis sp., and Spirulina sp. isolated from
      fresh water bodies of Sri Lanka. In this study, Lyngbya sp., showed highest TPC
      (5.02 +/- 0.20 mg/g), TFC (664.07 +/- 19.76 mg/g), and total PBPs (127.01 mg/g)
      value. The ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) was recorded highest in
      Oscillatoria sp. (39.63 +/- 7.02), whereas the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl
      (DPPH) radical scavenging activity was also reported the highest in Oscillatoria
      sp. (465.31 +/- 25.76) followed by Lyngbya sp. (248.39 +/- 11.97). In FTIR
      spectroscopy, Lyngbya sp. does not show any N-H stretching band which is
      ultimately responsible for the inhibition of antioxidant activity. The study
      revealed that Lyngbya sp. and Oscillatoria sp. can be an excellent source for
      food, pharmaceutical, and other industrial uses.

PMID- 27625781
TI  - Quality evaluation of physical properties, antinutritional factors, and
      antioxidant activity of bread fortified with germinated horse gram (Dolichus
      uniflorus) flour.
AB  - Horse gram was germinated at 90% RH at 25 degrees C for 72 h after 24 h soaking
      and then grinded to pass through 150 MUm mesh size screens. The germination of
      horse gram result in increased protein, fiber, total polyphenol content, and
      antioxidant activity of horse gram flour whereas fat, ash, carbohydrate, iron,
      calcium, tannin, phytate, and oxalate were reduced due to germination. Bread was
      prepared by the incorporation of (2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%) germinated horse gram flour
      (GHF) by a straight dough method. The loaf volume and specific volume decreased
      with an increased use of percentage of GHF. The sensory evaluation revealed that
      the incorporation of GHF up to 6% was acceptable. The protein (% db), fiber (%
      db), ash (% db), iron (mg/100 g), calcium (mg/100 g), tannin (mg/g), phytate
      (mg/g), oxalate (mg/g), total polyphenol content (GAE/g), and antioxidant
      activity (DPPH % inhibition) was found to be 9.08 +/- 0.01, 1.23 +/- 0.15, 1.36
      +/- 0.11, 4.07 +/- 0.03, 128 +/- 0.26, 2.06 +/- 0.15, 2.46 +/- 0.15, 0.7 +/- 0.1,
      12.44 +/- 0.40, and 31.13 +/- 0.25, respectively, in 6% GHF incorporated bread.
      The research concludes that 6% GHF incorporation in bread enhance the polyphenol
      content and antioxidant properties. 

PMID- 27625780
TI  - Optimization of oil extraction from giant bushel gourd seeds using response
      surface methodology.
AB  - Gourd seeds have been identified as a source of edible oil, but there is sparse
      literature on the effect of processing factors on the characteristics of oil
      extracted from any Lagenaria spp. Optimization of oil extraction with the aid of
      expeller was achieved by applying response surface methodology. The variables
      were roasting temperature (87.70-172.0 degrees C) and roasting duration (7.93
      22.07 min), while the responses were oil yield and oil quality (free fatty acid,
      color, specific gravity, saponification value, moisture, and refractive index).
      Data obtained were analyzed at P < 0.05. Roasting conditions significantly
      influenced all the responses at P < 0.05. The optimum roasting condition was 100
      degrees C for 20 min, which gave 27.62% oil yield with good quality attributes
      (free fatty acid: 0.61%, color: 3.47 abs, specific gravity: 0.90 g/mL,
      saponification value: 289.66 mL, and refractive index: 1.47). 

PMID- 27625782
TI  - Germinated Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan): a novel diet for lowering oxidative stress
      and hyperglycemia.
AB  - This work studied the antioxidant activity of extract of germinated pigeon pea
      (Cajanus cajan) in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Germination was carried out in
      a dark chamber under room temperature (28 degrees C). The total phenolic,
      1,1,diphenyl-2-picrylhy-drazyl free radical (DPPH) scavenging, the inhibition of
      alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase were done in vitro and blood glucose levels
      of the animal were investigated. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reduced glutathione
      (GSH) were analyzed spectrophotometrically. The total phenolic and DPPH
      scavenging activity increased by 30% and 63%, respectively, after germinating
      pigeon pea. Also after germination there was an increase in the inhibitory
      potential of pigeon pea extract against alpha-glucosidase compared with the
      nongerminated pigeon pea extract. There was a significant increase (P < 0.05) in
      fasting blood glucose level of alloxan-induced rats. Consumption of germinated
      pigeon pea extract gave rise to a reduced fasting blood glucose level in diabetic
      rats. On administration of germinated pigeon pea extract, LPO reduced drastically
      but there was an increase in the level of GSH. This study concluded that intake
      of germinated pigeon pea is a good dietary supplement for controlling
      hyperglycemia and LPO. 

PMID- 27625783
TI  - Hidradenoma masquerading digital ganglion cyst: A rare phenomenon.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mucous cyst is the commonest soft tissue tumor in the dorsum of the
      distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) of the finger. We report the first case of a
      recurring eccrine tumor (nodular hidradenoma), mimicking a mucous/ganglion cyst,
      on the dorsum of the DIPJ. CASE REPORT: A 54 year old man presented with
      painless, hemispherical, colored swelling on the dorsum of his right middle
      finger (dominant hand), which appeared to have recurred from a previous surgery.
      The lesion was excised and operative findings from the medical notes showed the
      gross appearance to be a soft, white, glistening, smooth-surfaced, myxoid nodule
      resembling a "ganglion cyst". Immunohistochemistry showed the tumour to be
      positive for S100, smooth muscle actin and cytokeratin 7. Ductal differentiation
      was confirmed by staining for epithelial membrane antigen and carcinoembryonic
      antigen. The histological features were that of atypical and solid cystic
      hidradenoma. DISCUSSION: This is the first reported case of this rare tumour
      presenting as mucous cyst. We conduct a review of the literature of nodular
      hidradenomas, illustrating the immunohistologic findings in this tumour to
      emphasise the atypical features.We emphasise the importance of considering
      hidradenoma in the differential diagnosis of such lesions of the finger, in view
      of its high recurrence rate and the possibility of malignant transformation.

PMID- 27625784
TI  - How to approach supervisors for research opportunities.
AB  - In this article, we use our experiences to provide tips for contacting potential
      supervisors, what to expect from them and how to approach them for research
      opportunities. With appropriate planning, you will be surprised by the number of
      prestigious academics who would be willing for you to join their research group,
      and to get you involved in a research project. 

PMID- 27625786
TI  - Association between socioeconomic status of mothers, food security, food safety
      practices and the double burden of malnutrition in the Lalitpur district, Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is increasing in
      low-and middle income countries such as Nepal. At the same time, high prevalence
      of chronic undernutrition persists leading to a double burden of malnutrition.
      AIM: To identify associations between the socioeconomic status of mothers, food
      security, the food safety environment within the household, and prevalence of
      stunting and overweight of the children. METHODS: Statistical analysis of
      socioeconomic, food safety-related and anthropometric data from 289 mother-child
      dyads in an urban area of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. RESULTS: According to WHO
      standards, 26 % of the children, aged 0-59 months, were stunted, 10 % were
      underweight, and 6.6 % were either overweight or obese. Significantly more boys
      than girls were underweight (p = 0.004) and stunted (p < 0.001). The higher
      education level of mothers was associated with a higher height-for-age (HAZ)
      score in girls, but not with HAZ in boys. Irrespective of sex, children of
      mothers with highest education level had significantly lower BMI-for-age scores
      (BAZ) than those of mothers with low education levels. None of the food safety
      indicators were associated with either HAZ or the BAZ. CONCLUSION: The education
      level of mothers seems to be relevant to help reduce the double burden of
      malnutrition at least in some regions of Nepal. This should be taken into
      consideration when designing programmes to prevent both chronic undernutrition
      and non-communicable diseases.

PMID- 27625785
TI  - Liver transplantation in a patient with complete portal vein thrombosis, is there
      a surgical way out? A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Due to the complexity of the surgical procedure portal vein
      thrombosis (PVT) has long been considered an absolute contraindication to liver
      transplantation (LT). The presence of a large splenorenal shunt (SRS) could make
      portal anastomosis a valid option. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report the case of a
      37-year-old female patient with Grade III PVT and a large SRS, who underwent
      orthotopic LT. Liver was implanted using a 1992-Belghiti piggyback technique and
      portal anastomosis was performed using the large spleno-renal shunt. We observed
      good graft reperfusion and postoperative Doppler ultrasound showed normal portal
      vein flow. She was discharged on postoperative day 7, with an excellent graft
      function. At six months follow-up, patient is alive with normal hepatic
      vascularization. DISCUSSION: Due to paucity of reports, there is currently no
      consensus on the indication to LT and/or surgical technique. In the present case,
      once the transplant benefit was evaluated, the Grade III PVT was not considered a
      contraindication to LT. CONCLUSION: The presence of a Grade III PVT associated
      with a large SRS should not be considered a contraindication for LT, and the use
      of the shunt vein should be considered a feasible option to perform portal
      anastomosis.

PMID- 27625787
TI  - Lung disease recalling paraseptal emphysema in a patient with Goltz syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Goltz syndrome is a rare, genetic disorder mainly occurring in female
      patients. CASE PRESENTATION: The case presented here is, to the best of our
      knowledge, the first description of the occurrence of lung parenchymal
      alterations in a young female patient affected by Goltz syndrome. Although
      pulmonary involvement is not known in patients affected by X-linked Goltz
      syndrome, the case here described is related to the even rarer autosomal form of
      the disease, as in this case. It is thus conceivable that in such different
      genetic setting the involvement of lung parenchyma may be unveiled through
      atypical emphysematous lesions. CONCLUSION: This report suggested - for the first
      time time - a rationale for a lung function and imaging screening in patients
      affected by Goltz syndrome at least in its autosomal form.

PMID- 27625788
TI  - The association of relational and organizational job stress factors with sleep
      disorder: analysis of the 3rd Korean working conditions survey (2011).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep disorder is a disease that causes reduction in quality of life
      and work efficiency of workers. This study was performed to investigate the
      relationship between job-related stress factor and sleep disorder among
      wageworkers in Korea. METHODS: This study was based on analysis of the 3rd Korean
      working conditions survey. We analyzed 35,902 workers whose employment status is
      wageworker. We classified the job-related stress factor into 12 sections.
      Logistic regression was performed to estimate the relationship between job
      related stress factor and sleep disorder and Odds ratio and 95 % CI were
      calculated using the SPSS version 23.0 program. RESULTS: Many categories of Job
      related stress factor were correlated with sleep disorder (8 of 12 for women, 10
      of 12 for men). The results of the regression analysis, corrected for general and
      occupational characteristics, indicated that sleep disorder was significantly
      correlated with the following categories of job-related stress: discrimination
      experience (OR 3.37, 95 % CI = 2.49 ~ 4.56 in women, OR 1.96, 95 % CI = 1.53 ~
      2.51 in men), direct customer confrontation (OR 2.72, 95 % CI = 1.91 ~ 3.86 in
      women, OR 1.99, 95 % CI = 1.45 ~ 2.72 in men), emotional stress (OR 2.01, 95 % CI
      = 1.30 ~ 3.09 in men), work dissatisfaction (detailed) (OR 1.99, 95 % CI = 1.36 ~
      2.93 in men), work dissatisfaction (overall) (OR 2.30, 95 % CI = 1.66 ~ 3.20 in
      women, OR 2.40, 95 % CI = 1.88 ~ 3.08 in men), expression of opinion difficulty
      (OR 0.66, 95 % CI = 0.48 ~ 0.92 in women, OR 0.57, 95 % CI = 0.45 ~ 0.73 in men).
      CONCLUSION: A number of studies have reported that stress affects sleep disorder.
      In this study, many factors suspected to increase the risk of sleep disorder were
      added to previously known job stress factors. In particular, this study found a
      strong correlation between work-associated sleep disorder and relational and
      organizational job stress factors. Sleep disorder may lead to large decreases in
      workers' quality of life and work efficiency. Awareness and interventions are
      therefore required to reduce workplace stress; additional research of this topic
      is also required.

PMID- 27625791
TI  - Erratum: Enhancement of the in vivo persistence and antitumor efficacy of CD19
      chimeric antigen receptor T cells through the delivery of modified TERT mRNA.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/celldisc.2015.40.]. 

PMID- 27625789
TI  - Integrative analysis of mutational and transcriptional profiles reveals driver
      mutations of metastatic breast cancers.
AB  - Despite the explosion in the numbers of cancer genomic studies, metastasis is
      still the major cause of cancer mortality. In breast cancer, approximately one
      fifth of metastatic patients survive 5 years. Therefore, detecting the patients
      at a high risk of developing distant metastasis at first diagnosis is critical
      for effective treatment strategy. We hereby present a novel systems biology
      approach to identify driver mutations escalating the risk of metastasis based on
      both exome and RNA sequencing of our collected 78 normal-paired breast cancers.
      Unlike driver mutations occurring commonly in cancers as reported in the
      literature, the mutations detected here are relatively rare mutations occurring
      in less than half metastatic samples. By supposing that the driver mutations
      should affect the metastasis gene signatures, we develop a novel computational
      pipeline to identify the driver mutations that affect transcription factors
      regulating metastasis gene signatures. We identify driver mutations in ADPGK,
      NUP93, PCGF6, PKP2 and SLC22A5, which are verified to enhance cancer cell
      migration and prompt metastasis with in vitro experiments. The discovered somatic
      mutations may be helpful for identifying patients who are likely to develop
      distant metastasis. 

PMID- 27625790
TI  - Alzheimer's disease-associated mutations increase amyloid precursor protein
      resistance to gamma-secretase cleavage and the Abeta42/Abeta40 ratio.
AB  - Mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene and the aberrant cleavage
      of APP by gamma-secretase are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we
      have developed a simple and sensitive cell-based assay to detect APP cleavage by
      gamma-secretase. Unexpectedly, most familial AD (FAD)-linked APP mutations make
      APP partially resistant to gamma-secretase. Mutations that alter residues N
      terminal to the gamma-secretase cleavage site Abeta42 have subtle effects on
      cleavage efficiency and cleavage-site selectivity. In contrast, mutations that
      alter residues C terminal to the Abeta42 site reduce cleavage efficiency and
      dramatically shift cleavage-site specificity toward the aggregation-prone
      Abeta42. Moreover, mutations that remove positive charge at residue 53 greatly
      reduce the APP cleavage by gamma-secretase. These results suggest a model of
      gamma-secretase substrate recognition, in which the APP region C terminal to the
      Abeta42 site and the positively charged residue at position 53 are the primary
      determinants for substrate binding and cleavage-site selectivity. We further
      demonstrate that this model can be extended to gamma-secretase processing of
      notch receptors, a family of highly conserved cell-surface signaling proteins. 

PMID- 27625793
TI  - A much needed new journal in the field of Pediatric Genetics.

PMID- 27625794
TI  - Renal disease with OCRL1 mutations: Dent-2 or Lowe syndrome?

PMID- 27625792
TI  - Reversal of intramyocellular lipid accumulation by lipophagy and a p62-mediated
      pathway.
AB  - We have previously observed the reversal of lipid droplet deposition in skeletal
      muscle of morbidly obese patients following bariatric surgery. We now
      investigated whether activation of autophagy is the mechanism underlying this
      observation. For this purpose, we incubated rat L6 myocytes over a period of 6
      days with long-chain fatty acids (an equimolar, 1.0 mM, mixture of oleate and
      palmitate in the incubation medium). At day 6, the autophagic inhibitor
      (bafilomycin A1, 200 nM) and the autophagic activator (rapamycin, 1 MUM) were
      added separately or in combination for 48 h. Intracellular triglyceride (TG)
      accumulation was visualized and quantified colorimetrically. Protein markers of
      autophagic flux (LC3 and p62) and cell death (caspase-3 cleavage) were measured
      by immunoblotting. Inhibition of autophagy by bafilomycin increased TG
      accumulation and also increased lipid-mediated cell death. Conversely, activation
      of autophagy by rapamycin reduced both intracellular lipid accumulation and cell
      death. Unexpectedly, treatment with both drugs added simultaneously resulted in
      decreased lipid accumulation. In this treatment group, immunoblotting revealed
      p62 degradation (autophagic flux), immunofluorescence revealed the colocalization
      of p62 with lipid droplets, and co-immunoprecipitation confirmed the interaction
      of p62 with ADRP (adipose differentiation-related protein), a lipid droplet
      membrane protein. Thus the association of p62 with lipid droplet turnover
      suggests a novel pathway for the breakdown of lipid droplets in muscle cells. In
      addition, treatment with rapamycin and bafilomycin together also suggested the
      export of TG into the extracellular space. We conclude that lipophagy promotes
      the clearance of lipids from myocytes and switches to an alternative, p62
      mediated, lysosomal-independent pathway in the context of chronic lipid overload
      (*P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001, ****P<0.0001). 

PMID- 27625795
TI  - Beyond dissemination: A knowledge translation model to drive change in pediatric
      genetics.
AB  - There are mounting expectations that health care will be rapidly transformed by
      developments in genetics. While genetic technologies bring hope for effective
      diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of medical conditions, challenges have
      also emerged as to its application. Simply put, how do we ensure that knowledge
      gleaned from diverse sources will be collected, consulted, analyzed
      appropriately, and turned into informed policy? This question is particularly
      relevant for a broad community of stakeholders including pediatric health care
      professionals and policy makers, because as stakeholders they have a voice in how
      the information is ultimately used. New strategies are needed to involve all
      users of the knowledge particularly early on in the process. A team funded by the
      Canadian Institutes of Health Research is currently focusing on this issue and is
      proposing a knowledge translation strategy relating genetics to pediatric health.
      An interdisciplinary approach characterized by consultation and collective
      engagement with stakeholders from an early stage and throughout the research
      process is essential to promote potential use and ownership of the results.
      Comments from users on the areas of research, sources of data, the evidence and
      drafts of the work in progress would increase the possibility of formulating
      recommendations better suited to inform decision making process in public health
      policy orientation. As a result, we can expect greater integration and acceptance
      of the recommendations, more pertinent guidelines for the physician, and maximal
      benefit for the patient, the ultimate consumer. 

PMID- 27625796
TI  - Prenatal testing: A method for early detection of genetic disorders among fetuses
      in Thailand, a data between the year 1990 and 2010.
AB  - Prenatal screening is an effective way to prevent genetic disease in pediatric
      populations. The prenatal amniocentesis and chromosome study is a widely used
      screening test. Here, the author reports the data on this screening from Thailand
      as a national reference. The rate of detected disorders is equal to 3.88 percent
      and the most common disorder is Down syndrome. It can be seen that the
      implementation of screening can help successfully prevent a number of genetic
      disorders in Thai pediatric population. 

PMID- 27625797
TI  - Novel OCRL mutations in patients with Dent-2 disease.
AB  - Dent disease is an X-linked tubulopathy frequently caused by mutations in the
      CLCN5 gene encoding the voltage-gated chloride channel and chloride/proton
      antiporter, ClC-5. About 15% of patients with a Dent' phenotype have mutations in
      the OCRL gene, which also causes Lowe oculocerebrorenal syndrome. To distinguish
      these patients from the more severe Lowe phenotype, they are diagnosed as having
      Dent-2 disease. We studied 14 CLCN5-negative patients from 12 families with a
      phenotype resembling Dent disease for defects in OCRL. In six of these kindreds
      three novel (c.149+1G>A, c.1126A>T, c.1547T>C) and three repeatedly observed
      mutations (c.166_167delTT, c.901C>T, c.1426C>T) were discovered. With the
      exception of a lower prevalence of nephrocalcinosis, the renal phenotype is
      identical with patients harboring a CLCN5 mutation. Affected children may have
      some of the extra-renal symptoms of Lowe syndrome, such as peripheral cataracts,
      mental impairment, stunted growth or elevation of creatine kinase/lactate
      dehydrogenase, blurring the distinction between those two clinical entities. 

PMID- 27625798
TI  - Fused teeth, macrodontia and increased caries are characteristic features of
      neurofibromatosis type 1 patients with NF1 gene microdeletion.
AB  - Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is the most common genetic condition caused by NF1
      gene alteration. A 1.5 Mb submicroscopic deletion encompassing the entire NF1
      gene, is known to be responsible for approximately 5% of NF1 cases. Patients with
      NF1 deletion, compared to those with NF1 mutation tend to exhibit more severe
      phenotypes. To know the possible differences in oral/dental features between NF1
      deletion and NF1 mutation patients, we examined four patients with NF1 deletion
      and three with NF1 mutation to compare their oral manifestations. Fused teeth in
      the mandibular anterior region were found only in the patients with deletion
      (2/4). Macrodontia was noted in all four patients with an NF1 deletion. Although
      macrodontia was also found in one patient with a mutation, it was relatively mild
      compared to the deletion patients. Dental caries were observed in both NF1
      deletion (4/4) and mutation (2/3) patients. However, patients with NF1 deletions
      showed more apparently severe caries (average number of dental caries 12.8) than
      those with NF1 mutation (average number 5.5). Other features also noted in
      patients with both deletions and mutations were high-arched palate, hypodontia
      and malocclusion. Our study might suggest that fused teeth, macrodontia and
      increased dental caries are distinctive manifestations of NF1 deletion. Providing
      comprehensive dental care from early infancy would be very important to prevent
      dental caries especially in patients with NF1 deletion. 

PMID- 27625799
TI  - Growth profiles of 34 patients with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.
AB  - Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) encompasses multiple congenital anomalies and
      mental retardation and is caused by partial deletions in the short arm of
      chromosome 4. Prenatal-onset growth deficiency is one of the WHS characteristics.
      Assessing and recording growth profiles of patients with WHS were the aims of
      this study. Anonymous questionnaire surveys were conducted with cooperation of a
      WHS peer-support group in Japan, and data from 34 WHS patients (12 males and 22
      females; age, 1-23 years) were retrospectively collected. Height, weight, and
      head circumference (occipitofrontal head circumference) were measured and plotted
      on the standard growth charts of healthy Japanese children. Results indicated
      that most WHS patients showed growth retardation under the 3rd percentile since
      the first year of life and extremely poor body-weight gain after pubertal age.
      These findings are characteristic of WHS patients. The assessed growth patterns
      in this study could help monitoring and documentation of growth of WHS patients. 

PMID- 27625800
TI  - Lack of association between NCAM1 and early onset schizophrenia in a family based
      study in Shandong peninsula of China.
AB  - The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM1) gene plays important roles in cellular
      migration, synaptic integrity and neurodevelopment. Multiple NCAM1 proteins are
      differentially altered in schizophrenia (SZ). A whole genome association study
      was first carried out on Affymetrix genome-wide human single-nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) Array 6.0 and two pooled DNA samples consisting of 89 early
      onset SZ (EOS) cases and 1,000 controls. Association between rs10891495 and EOS
      was detected (chi(2) = 2 3.66, P = 1.15E-06). The position of this SNP is just
      within the NCAM1 gene. Since several previous studies reported that NCAM1 was a
      candidate gene for SZ, we further performed a family based association study and
      genotyped six SNPs (rs10891495, rs1245133, rs1821693, rs686050, rs12794326,
      rs674246) within NCAM1 gene in 100 EOS nuclear families. We found no evidence for
      association with SZ status either for SNP or for haplotype. Therefore, the NCAM1
      gene is unlikely to play a major role in the etiology of early-onset SZ in the
      Chinese population. 

PMID- 27625801
TI  - Interstitial duplication of 22q13.2 in a girl with short stature, impaired speech
      and language, and dysmorphism.
AB  - The 22q13.3 deletion syndrome has been widely reported, with a known phenotype
      including global developmental delay, normal to accelerated growth and a
      characteristic facial appearance. A duplication syndrome involving this region
      has also been reported, with a somewhat more variable phenotype including
      psychomotor retardation, growth restriction, characteristic facial appearance
      differing from that seen in the deletion syndrome, and multiple malformations.
      The majority of reported patients have terminal duplications, with only three
      previous reports of interstitial duplication of the region. Herein we report a
      young woman with a de novo 569 kb interstitial duplication of 22q13.2 and short
      stature, speech and language impairment, refractive amblyopia, menorrhagia and
      facial dysmorphism. Comparison of her phenotype to previously reported patients
      with interstitial duplications reveals common traits including growth
      restriction, craniofacial anomalies and developmental delays. Included in the
      duplicated region is the gene EP300, mutations and deletions of which are
      implicated in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome and thyrotroph embryonic factor, which
      has been proposed to be related to the pituitary hypoplasia seen in one patient
      with a large duplication, and several other genes without clear relation to
      disease. 

PMID- 27625802
TI  - Esophageal atresia and anal atresia in a newborn with heterotaxia combined with
      other congenital defects.
AB  - Heterotaxia (HTX) is a heterogeneous group of laterality defects characterized by
      abnormal discordance of asymmetric thoracic and abdominal organs. Esophageal
      anomalies occur rarely in HTX cases although additional defects associated with
      esophageal atresia are common. We report on a rare case of a neonate with HTX and
      multiple congenital malformations as well as specific facial dysmorphism,
      corresponding only to a few cases described in literature. Clinical examination
      of the proband revealed esophageal atresia with distal tracheoesophageal fistula,
      anal atresia, abdominal situs inversus, dextrocardia with complex congenital
      heart defect and left lung agenesis. A complex genetic analysis revealed no
      genetic abnormalities. Despite extensive diagnostic procedures, the cause of the
      laterality sequence disruption remains unclear, indicating its multifactorial
      etiology. 

PMID- 27625803
TI  - Umbilical cyst due to patent urachus in a fetus with complete urorectal septum
      malformation sequence.
AB  - Urorectal septum malformation sequence is a sporadic malformation due to failure
      of septation of primitive cloaca with no anal opening. Umbilical cyst can be
      associated with chromosomal aneuploidy such as trisomy 18 or trisomy 13. We
      report on a fetus with complete urorectal septum malformation sequence with an
      umbilical cyst resulting from a patent urachus and with meconium as its content.
      This report adds to the variety of the causes of umbilical cyst and the spectrum
      of consequences of urorectal septal defect. 

PMID- 27625804
TI  - Trisomy and tetrasomy 15q11-q13 diagnosed by molecular cytogenetic analysis in
      two patients with mental retardation.
AB  - In this study, we report two patients with the supernumerary marker chromosome
      (15)s. The first case is an 8.5-year-old girl with an inv dup (15) syndrome,
      mental retardation and dysmorphic features. The second case is a 13-year-old boy
      with a ring chromosome 15, who was referred to the Laboratory of Cytogenetic and
      Biology of Reproduction in Sousse, Tunisia for mental retardation, epilepsy,
      speech delay, hypotonia and other mild dysmorphic features. R banding showed the
      presence of a marker chromosome in both cases. Molecular cytogenetic
      investigation using fluorescence in situ hybridization method allowed us to
      characterize the markers including the Prader-Willi syndrome locus that contains
      the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide N (SNRPN) gene. Tetrasomy and
      trisomy for the 15q11-q13 chromosomal region were found in the first and the
      second patient, respectively. This observation reinforces the hypothesis that
      additional copies of proximal chromosome 15q11 segment may be causally related to
      mental retardation and dysmorphic features. 

PMID- 27625805
TI  - Electronic medical records, genetics, and childhood obesity: A new direction for
      scientific discovery?

PMID- 27625806
TI  - The oculoauriculovertebral spectrum: Refining the estimate of birth prevalence.
AB  - The oculoauriculovertebral spectrum (OAVS) is a well-described pattern of
      congenital malformations primarily characterized by hemifacial microsomia and/or
      auricular dysplasia. However, the birth prevalence of OAVS is poorly
      characterized. Figures ranging from 1 in 150,000 through to 1 in 5,600 can be
      found in the literature - the latter figure being the most frequently quoted.
      This study aims to evaluate the reasons behind such discrepant figures and to
      refine the estimated birth prevalence of OAVS. Published reports on the incidence
      and prevalence of OAVS were systematically sought after. This evidence was
      critically reviewed. Data from appropriate studies was amalgamated to refine the
      estimate of the birth prevalence for OAVS. Two main reasons were identified why
      birth prevalence figures for OAVS are so highly discrepant: differing methods of
      case ascertainment and the lack of a formal definition for OAVS. This study
      refines the estimate of birth prevalence for OAVS to between 1 in 40,000 and 1 in
      30,000. This number needs to be confirmed in a large well-designed prospective
      study using a formally agreed-upon definition for OAVS. 

PMID- 27625807
TI  - Pharmacogenomics and its importance in pediatric medicine.
AB  - Individual variation in drug response and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a
      serious problem in medicine. This individual variation in drug response could be
      due to multiple factors but there is strong evidence that genetic factors play a
      significant role in drug response variability and toxicity. Although substantial
      studies that link genetic variants to inter-individual difference in drug
      response in adults have been reported, such studies are comparatively rare in
      pediatric medicine. The ultimate goal of medical research is to improve human
      health in every disease and every patient. Many diseases such as asthma, autism,
      epilepsy, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and attention-deficit hyperactivity
      disorder develop during childhood. Human development is a rapidly changing
      process. In children, there are differences in absorption, distribution,
      excretion and metabolizing capabilities of a drug compared with adults.
      Therefore, many pharmacological and toxicological actions of drugs in children
      are not predictable from adult experience. It is also possible that children may
      experience a different range of ADRs that may have long-term implications for
      their development. Therefore, an improved understanding of the drug
      transformation pathways for all age groups is necessary. Such studies could
      provide insight into the susceptibility of a child to ADRs. The availability of
      the complete sequence of human genome and the biochip technology may help in
      identifying the polymorphic variations in drug related genes. In this regard,
      pharmacogenetic and pharmacogenomic studies may play an important role in
      providing markers of increased risk or susceptibility. Based on this genetic
      information, children at risk can be identified before therapy is initiated and
      pediatric ADRs may be minimized. In this short article, an attempt has been made
      to emphasize the importance of pharmacogenomics in pediatrics. 

PMID- 27625808
TI  - Examination of genetic variants influencing lipid traits in pediatric
      populations.
AB  - Previous large-scale genome-wide association studies in adult populations have
      implicated ?100 loci in determining high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or triglyceride levels. However, whether
      these loci also contribute to variations of lipid traits in pediatric populations
      remain unknown. Here we assayed a population of Philadelphia children by high
      density single nucleotide polymorphism arrays, and performed association analysis
      on lipid traits ascertained from lipid measurements stored in electronic medical
      records. We examined previously reported lipid trait associations, and found that
      most of them show identical direction of association in our pediatric cohorts,
      including genome-wide significant association on cholesteryl ester transfer
      protein with HDL-C levels (rs3764261, P = 2.1 * 10(-8)) and other significant
      associations on oxysterol-binding protein-like protein 7, low-density lipoprotein
      receptor-related protein 4 and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein
      1. Additionally, we identified suggestive association on low-density lipoprotein
      receptor-related protein 1B with HDL-C levels (rs17736712, P = 2.1 * 10(-7)), but
      this signal is not supported by previous meta-analysis on adult cohorts. Finally,
      we examined rare copy number variants and identified deletions encompassing
      tetratricopeptide repeat domain 39B in two children with extreme lipid measures.
      Our results highlight the commonalities and differences of genetic components in
      determining lipid traits in pediatric versus adult populations. Furthermore, our
      study demonstrates the unique utility of automated information retrieval from
      electronic medical records in facilitating the identification of genotype
      phenotype associations. 

PMID- 27625809
TI  - SMN1 gene copy number analyses for SMA healthy carriers in Italian population.
AB  - The routine molecular test for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) diagnosis is based
      on the detection of a homozygous deletion of exons 7 and 8 of the telomeric copy
      of the survival motor neuron gene (SMN1). The presence of the centromeric copy of
      the SMN gene (SMN2) does not allow the detection of the hemizygous absence of the
      SMN1 gene, which characterizes the disease carriers. The demand for a
      quantitative SMN1 test is permanently growing because there is a high incidence
      of carriers. The disease is severe and to date there are no effective
      pharmacological treatments. Here, we present a non-radioactive assay based on
      real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We analyzed eight SMA patients,
      14 SMA relatives and 50 health individuals from Southern Italy by real time
      quantitative method in order to identify haploid deletion occurring in SMA
      carriers. SMN1 copy number was determined by the comparative threshold cycle
      method (DeltaDeltaCt). The results confirmed the deletion in all homozygous
      patients and permitted an evaluation of the number of alleles in the healthy
      carriers. This method is fast, reproducible, and enables us to discriminate
      carriers from healthy homozygous, which is impossible with normal techniques. 

PMID- 27625810
TI  - Initial evidence that polymorphisms in neurotransmitter-regulating genes
      contribute to being born small for gestational age.
AB  - Being born small for gestational age (SGA) is a putative risk factor for the
      development of later cognitive and psychiatric health problems. While the inter
      uterine environment has been shown to play an important role in predicting birth
      weight, little is known about the genetic factors that might be important. Here
      we test the hypothesis that neurotransmitter-regulating genes implicated in
      psychiatric disorders previously shown to be associated with SGA (such as
      attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) are themselves predictive of SGA. DNA
      was collected from 227 SGA and 319 appropriate for gestational age children
      taking part in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study. Candidate single
      nucleotide polymorphisms in genes regulating activity within dopamine, serotonin,
      glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid pathways were genotyped. Multiple
      regression analysis, controlling for potentially confounding factors, supported
      nominally significant associations between SGA and single nucleotide
      polymorphisms in COMT, HTR2A, SLC1A1 and SLC6A1. This is the first evidence that
      genes implicated in psychiatric disorders previously linked to SGA status
      themselves predict SGA. This highlights the possibility that the link between SGA
      and psychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may in
      part be genetically determined - that SGA marks pre-existing genetic risk for
      later problems. 

PMID- 27625812
TI  - RASA1 analysis guides management in a family with capillary malformation
      arteriovenous malformation.
AB  - Capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation (CM-AVM; MIM 60354) is an
      autosomal dominant disorder characterized by multifocal cutaneous capillary
      malformations, often in association with fast-flow vascular lesions, which may be
      cutaneous, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intraosseus, or cerebral arteriovenous
      malformations or arteriovenous fistulas. CM-AVM results from heterozygous
      mutations in the RASA1 gene. Capillary malformations of the skin are common, and
      clinical examination alone may not be able to definitively diagnose-or exclude-
      CM-AVM. We report a family in which the proband was initially referred for a
      genetic evaluation in the neonatal period because of the presence of a cardiac
      murmur and minor dysmorphic features. Both he and his mother were noted to have
      multiple capillary malformations on the face, head, and extremities.
      Echocardiography revealed dilated head and neck vessels and magnetic resonance
      imaging and angiography of the brain revealed a large infratentorial
      arteriovenous fistula, for which he has had two embolization procedures. RASA1
      sequence analysis revealed a heterozygous mutation, confirming his diagnosis of
      CM-AVM. We established targeted mutation analysis for the proband's mother and
      sister, the latter of whom is a healthy 3-year-old whose only cutaneous finding
      is a facial capillary malformation. This revealed that the proband's mother is
      also heterozygous for the RASA1 mutation, but his sister is negative.
      Consequently, his mother will undergo magnetic resonance imaging and angiography
      screening for intracranial and spinal fast-flow lesions, while his sister will
      require no imaging or serial evaluations. Targeted mutation analysis has been
      offered to additional maternal family members. This case illustrates the benefit
      of molecular testing in diagnosis and making screening recommendations for
      families with CM-AVM. 

PMID- 27625811
TI  - Inherited and de novo 22q11.2 distal duplications in two patients with autistic
      features, speech delay and no dysmorphology.
AB  - In a screen of patients by fluorescence in-situ hybridization and array
      comparative genomic hybridization in the past two years (July 2007--July 2009),
      we identified two patients with duplications in the 22q11.22-23, occurring
      outside the common DiGeorge syndrome/valocardiofacial syndrome region.
      Fluorescent in-situ hybridization, multiplex ligation-dependent probe
      amplification and high density bacterial artificial chromosomes and oligo arrays
      were used to identify the extent of the duplications. In one patient the
      duplication extended from LCR22-E/5 to LCR22-H/8, which is similar to recently
      described 22q11.2 distal duplications, while in the second patient, a de novo
      duplication was identified extending between LCR22-E/5 to LCR22-F/6. The second
      proband also harbored a de novo 15q14 duplication, complicating phenotype
      interpretation. The patients were affected with speech delay and autistic
      features, but neither reported cardiac concern or dysmorphic features. 

PMID- 27625813
TI  - The phenotype masks the genotype: A possible new expression of diabetes.
AB  - The concept of a new form of diabetes, with signs of both types 1 and 2, has not
      been often considered, until recently. It is of immense interest to explore the
      role of the admixture that characterizes the Uruguayan population (higher and
      different from other Latin America countries) for the presence of such expression
      of that particular disease. We describe here a child who possibly presents with
      this expression. He had typical signs of both diabetic conditions: type 1 (young
      age, positive immunologic and genetic markers, ketoacidosis) and type 2 (obesity
      [body mass index = 36 kg/m(2)] and acanthosis nigricans). In spite of complying
      with the established guidelines, therapeutic and nutritional control, quality of
      life and good metabolic control, the patient's obesity had been continually
      increasing. Looking for a genetic explanation, we studied three single nucleotide
      polymorphisms involved in three different metabolic pathways (peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2, insulin receptor substrate-1 and
      uncoupling protein-2) associated with insulin resistance. Our patient showed
      three mutations, GG, GA, GG, associated with insulin resistance that explains
      obesity associated with limited response to the commonly used drugs. According to
      the clinical presentation and the genetic and immunological background, we
      considered that this patient presents with a new form of diabetes. We have termed
      this particular disease "hybrid diabetes" because of the involvement of genes
      associated with both the classical type of diabetes. However, at least in an
      admixed population such as in Uruguay, clinical classification would not strictly
      dictate the choice of treatment. 

PMID- 27625814
TI  - 17q12 Deletion in a patient with Williams syndrome: Case report and review of the
      literature.
AB  - Williams syndrome (WS) is a complex genomic disorder entailing distinctive facial
      dysmorphism, cardiovascular abnormalities, intellectual disabilities, unusual
      behavioral features, and a specific cognitive profile with considerable
      variability. Additional symptoms include endocrine abnormalities, renal anomalies
      and connective tissue disorders. We report a monozygotic twin patient with WS who
      presented with multicystic kidneys in the newborn period, and, in addition to the
      typical WS deletion at 7q11.23, was found to have a de novo 1.7 Mb deletion in
      the 17q12 region on microarray comparative genomic hybridization. The co-twin was
      selectively terminated at 23 wk of gestation after being diagnosed with bilateral
      multicystic dysplastic kidneys and anhydramnios. Review of the literature shows
      that deletion of chromosome 17q12, encompassing hepatocyte nuclear factor 1beta
      gene, is associated with cystic renal disease and is the first recurrent genomic
      deletion associated with maturity onset diabetes of the young. In addition,
      reports of female reproductive tract malformations and patients with
      neurocognitive or psychiatric phenotypes have recently been described. This
      review of the literature summarizes 47 other cases involving 17q12 deletions with
      wide variability in phenotype, possibly suggesting a contiguous gene syndrome. It
      is likely that the additional 17q12 deletion has played a role in modifying the
      phenotype in our patient. This case highlights the importance of using array
      comparative genomic hybridization in the clinical setting to uncover the etiology
      of atypical findings in individuals with known microdeletion syndromes. 

PMID- 27625815
TI  - Duplication 3q13.11q23: Longitudinal study in a patient over a period of more
      than 7 years and refinements of the breakpoints.
AB  - In 2006, we reported the first case with a pure duplication of proximal 3q. In
      these rare aberrations, detailed clinical and developmental investigations at
      different ages are required to provide sufficient phenotypic documentation.
      Clinical and psychological differences were therefore regularly documented in our
      case. Supplemental genetic investigations comprised conventional karyotyping,
      fluorescence in-situ hybridization, single nucleotide polymorphism array
      analysis, and microsatellite typing. Thus, the exact position and extension of
      the duplication (3q13.11q23), the size (35.6 Mb), and the paternal origin could
      be determined. The development of our patient was followed up in detail over a
      period of 7.5 yr and thus enabled specific characterization of the phenotype of
      the patient. 

PMID- 27625816
TI  - The importance of developing novel diagnostic tools for congenital metabolic
      disorders.

PMID- 27625817
TI  - A microsphere-based assay for mutation analysis of the biotinidase gene using
      dried blood spots.
AB  - Biotinidase deficiency is an autosomal recessive syndrome caused by defects in
      the biotinidase gene, the product of which affects biotin metabolism. Newborn
      screening (NBS) for biotinidase deficiency can identify affected infants prior to
      onset of symptoms; biotin supplementation can resolve or prevent the clinical
      features. In NBS, dry blood spots (DBS) are usually tested for biotinidase enzyme
      activity by colorimetric analysis. By taking advantage of the multiplexing
      capabilities of the Luminex platform, we have developed a microsphere-based array
      genotyping method for the simultaneous detection of six disease causing mutations
      in the biotinidase gene, thereby permitting a second tier of molecular analysis.
      Genomic DNA was extracted from 3.2 mm DBS. Biotinidase gene sequences, containing
      the mutations of interest, were amplified by multiplexed polymerase chain
      reaction, followed by multiplexed allele-specific primer extension using
      universally tagged genotyping primers. The products were then hybridized to anti
      tag carrying xTAG microspheres and detected on the Luminex platform. Genotypes
      were verified by sequencing. Genotyping results of 22 known biotinidase deficient
      samples by our xTAG biotinidase assay was in concordance with the results
      obtained from DNA sequencing, for all 6 mutations used in our panel. These
      results indicate that genotyping by an xTAG microsphere-based array is accurate,
      flexible, and can be adapted for high-throughput. Since NBS for biotinidase
      deficiency is by enzymatic assay, less than optimal quality of the DBS itself can
      compromise enzyme activity, while the DNA from these samples mostly remains
      unaffected. This assay warrants evaluation as a viable complement to the
      biotinidase semi-quantitative colorimetric assay. 

PMID- 27625819
TI  - Cytogenetic analysis in a large series of children with non-syndromic mental
      retardation.
AB  - Mental retardation affects 1-3% of the population. To evaluate the implication of
      chromosomal abnormalities in the etiology of mental retardation, 1420 patients
      with non-syndromic mental retardation recruited at the department of cytogenetics
      of Farhat Hached hospital (Sousse, Tunisia) between January 2005 and December
      2009, were analyzed using standard cytogenetic techniques. Age ranged between 3
      and 18 years with a median of 8 years. Chromosomal abnormalities were detected in
      7.8% of patients and an increased prevalence of chromosome anomalies was observed
      in patients when the mental retardation is associated with a severe degree of
      intellectual disability, facial dysmorphic features and/or congenital
      malformations or epilepsy. 

PMID- 27625818
TI  - Advancing our understanding of the inheritance and transmission of pectus
      excavatum.
AB  - Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital chest wall abnormality expressed
      in children, yet its inheritance is poorly understood. Here we present the first
      comprehensive assessment of the inheritance of this disorder. After evaluating 48
      pedigrees and 56 clinical traits of probands and family members, we find strong
      evidence of autosomal recessive, genetic control for this disorder. Additionally
      there is likely more than one pectus disease-associated allele, as well as a
      relatively large number of disease allele carriers in the human population. Some
      clinical traits appear important and may serve as reliable indicators for
      predicting the likelihood of pectus excavatum in children before severe symptoms
      present. Quantifying sex-ratio bias in probands demonstrates a highly significant
      male bias associated with pectus excavatum. When combined with pedigree data, sex
      bias is indicative of sex-linked, sex-limited, and/or epigenetic control such as
      X-inactivation, reiterating a point made with pedigrees alone, which is that more
      than one mutation is likely responsible for this disorder. 

PMID- 27625821
TI  - Phenotypic characterization of rare interstitial deletion of chromosome 4.
AB  - Interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 4 is rare. Patients with
      interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 4 differ from those with
      terminal deletions. Phenotypes may be variable, depending upon the specific
      length and location of the deleted portion. Here, we report on a boy exhibiting
      most of the congenital malformations encountered in terminal 4q syndrome. The
      conventional karyotyping and Fluorescence in-situ hybridization revealed a de
      novo interstitial del (4)(q31q32). The current report is a further document
      highlighting that deletion of segment q31 could be contributing to the expression
      of most of the phenotype of 4q deletion syndrome. Using array comparative genome
      hybridization methodology is recommended for investigating further cases with
      similar segmental interstitial deletions to support and delineate findings and to
      define genes implicated in the pathogenesis of the disorder. 

PMID- 27625820
TI  - Protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-1, -2, -3, -9 and -14) in
      Ewing family tumors and medulloblastomas of pediatric patients.
AB  - The matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are endopeptidases performing proteolytic
      functions in the extracellular matrix and their overexpression has been suggested
      to be a characteristic of malignant tumors. Molecular changes such as the
      presence of chimeric protein Ewing's sarcoma protein-friend leukemia virus
      integration 1 (EWS-FLI1) in the Ewing family of tumors (EFT) and the oncogenes C
      ERBB-2, N-MYC, C-MYC in medulloblastoma (MB) promote the overexpression of MMP.
      In the present study, protein expression of MMP-1, -2, -3, -9 and -14 was
      qualitatively evaluated in 17 EFT and MB samples of children and adolescent by
      western blotting and optical densitometry, and the level of gene expression of
      some MMPs was determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
      Five MB samples (45.4%) presented expression of the five MMPs and six samples
      (54.6%) presented expression of at least one of them. Four EFT samples (66.6%)
      presented expression of MMP-2, -9 and -14, and two samples (33.4%) presented
      expression of at least one of these MMPs, whereas the presence of MMP-1 and -3
      was not observed. Gene analysis showed that MMP-2 had a high expression in MB,
      while the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-14 was higher in EFT. It has been
      established that the expression of the MMPs might be related to a complex pathway
      of gene regulation. 

PMID- 27625822
TI  - A case of 9p deletion syndrome with Duane retraction syndrome.
AB  - The chromosome 9p deletion syndrome is a rare but specific clinical event. The
      clinical manifestations include dysmorphic facial features (trigonocephaly,
      midface hypoplasia, upward slanting palpebral fissures, and a long philtrum) and
      psychomotor retardation. Here we report a child with chromosome 9p deletion with
      Duane retraction syndrome, which has never been reported in the literature
      before. 

PMID- 27625823
TI  - Moebius syndrome with baroreflex failure in an adolescent female.
AB  - An adolescent female with Moebius syndrome developed paroxysmal hypertension,
      orthostatic hypotension and autonomic symptoms. Common causes of dysautonomia
      were excluded by the work-up, which supported a diagnosis of baroreflex failure.
      Neurological testing suggested dysfunction of the tenth cranial nerve as the
      etiology. This report suggests that baroreflex dysfunction should be considered
      in Moebius syndrome patients displaying autonomic symptoms. 

PMID- 27625824
TI  - Cytogenetic and clinical features of a 13 year old male with trisomy 8.
AB  - Trisomy 8 is a relatively rare chromosomal abnormality. The majority of cases
      present with the mosaic form. Regular trisomy 8 is usually lethal and frequently
      results in miscarriage, while those with "trisomy 8 mosaicism" are more likely to
      survive. We report clinical observations and cytogenetic studies of a 13-year-old
      male with regular trisomy 8 and compared with those of other known cases of
      trisomy 8. The most discriminating findings for this condition are skeletal
      anomalies, restricted articular function, and speech problems. Our results are in
      agreement with those of previous studies for trisomy 8. 

PMID- 27625825
TI  - Genome-wide array data and next generation sequencing unravel the etiology of
      urogenital malformations.
AB  - Development of the genitourinary tract requires spatiotemporal expression of a
      myriad of genes involved in various cascades and signaling events. To date,
      researchers have put great efforts into defining the etiology of these
      malformations. However, many aspects remain unsolved. This paper reviews the most
      recent progress in identifying causally related genes and novel loci assumed to
      harbor genes involved in the formation of urogenital malformations. These
      investigations have been considerately accelerated by the implementation of
      molecular karyotyping using array techniques and next generation sequencing
      strategies. 

PMID- 27625826
TI  - Genetics of consanguineous marriage: Impact and importance of counseling.
AB  - Consanguineous marriage, marriage between close biological kin, especially that
      between first cousins, is socially favored in some parts of North Africa, the
      Middle East and Asia. An increased rate of congenital anomalies and autosomal
      recessive disorders are significantly associated with such practice. In such
      communities, misunderstanding and external attempts to discourage such marriage
      without proper genetic counseling seem to be inappropriate and unsuccessful.
      Update in knowledge of clinicians especially pediatricians is the aim of this
      paper regarding importance and issues behind consanguineous marriage. 

PMID- 27625827
TI  - Screening of the CFTR gene in Indian patients.
AB  - Cystic fibrosis (CF) has been observed to be far more common in India, than was
      previously thought. Variability in CF clinical symptoms among individuals,
      results in diagnostic errors. Also, CF diagnostic facilities are not available at
      all diagnostic centers across India. Sweat test (gold standard for CF diagnosis)
      has some limitations. Mutation analysis, therefore, would be useful in detecting
      the mutant CF alleles in Indian patients. This study, aimed at identifying common
      CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations, to develop a molecular
      diagnostic test in Indian patients, and establish genotype-phenotype correlation.
      Mutation identification was performed by single stranded conformation
      polymorphism (SSCP) screening, followed by DNA sequencing of regions with an
      abnormal SSCP pattern. ?F508 accounts for about 53% of CF alleles. A substantial
      proportion of these patients have rare and/or novel mutations. Eight novel and 12
      known polymorphisms were also identified. Considering the high percentage of
      rare/novel mutations, along with ethnic history of Indian population, we can
      speculate that the remaining uncharacterized mutations might also not be
      prevalent mutations. The total number of CF disease-causing mutations in Indian
      patients is very large. Thus, DNA-based population screening will be complicated,
      and an indirect genetic diagnosis (screening entire gene) would be necessary to
      characterize all mutations. 

PMID- 27625829
TI  - Cases of limb-body wall complex: Early amnion rupture, vascular disruption, or
      abnormal splitting of the embryo?
AB  - We report two cases of limb-body wall complex (LBWC), also known as body stalk
      anomaly, a rare form of body wall defect incompatible with life. The first case
      was identified during a level II ultrasound examination performed at 7 wk
      gestational age. The delivery was by breech extraction at 39 wk and 4 days. The
      second case was delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery at 35 wk and 5 days.
      Karyotype analysis was normal in both fetuses. The phenotype of LBWC is variable,
      but commonly identified features include: exencephaly, limb defects, and either
      facial clefts or thoraco-abdominoschisis. The exact etiology remains uncertain,
      as the disorder has been regarded as sporadic with low recurrence. Vascular
      disruption during early embryogenesis, early amnion rupture, abnormal splitting
      of the embryo, and failure of amnion fusion have been implicated in the
      pathogenesis of LBWC. A role for possible gene mutation and maternal use of
      alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs has also been suggested. Detailed
      ultrasonography along with biochemical screening may allow for early detection. 

PMID- 27625830
TI  - Different chromosome Y abnormalities in a case with short stature.
AB  - We report a case with different chromosome Y abnormalities. Case was an 11-year
      old boy, who was diagnosed with short stature, referred to laboratory of human
      medical genetics laboratory for genetic evaluation. Chromosomal analysis of the
      case was carried out on peripheral blood lymphocyte culture. Classic cytogenetic
      analysis (G and C banding) was confirmed by using fluorescence in situ
      hybridization analysis (FISH) technique. Cytogenetic and FISH analysis showed a
      mosaic 46,X,i(Yq)/45,X/47,X,i(Yq)x2/47,XYY karyotype. Case, which was found
      interesting due to its rarity, is discussed with its clinical features and
      cytogenetic results, in the light of relevant source information. This case
      underlines the importance of karyotyping patients with unexplained short stature.
      This clinical report also will be helpful in defining the phenotypic range
      associated with these karyotypes. 

PMID- 27625831
TI  - A case of complete tetraploidy in amniocentesis with normal karyotype in
      subsequent cordocentesis.
AB  - We report a case of complete tetraploidy in amniotic fluid culture obtained at 17
      wk of pregnancy. Amniocentesis was performed in this pregnancy because of a high
      risk maternal serum screening result and abnormal ultrasound findings. Amniotic
      fluid was cultured in two flasks. Growth was very slow in one culture with no
      growth in the other. Harvest was possible after 3 wk, which revealed tetraploidy
      in all studied plates. Subsequent cordocentesis was performed to confirm the
      diagnoses of amniocentesis. Chromosomal analysis of the cordocentesis revealed a
      normal karyotype with 46,XY. A healthy male infant was born at term. This case
      illustrates that abnormal karyotypes in poor growth cultures could be misleading
      and should be confirmed by another technique, such as cordocentesis. 

PMID- 27625832
TI  - Tigroid pattern of cerebral white matter involvement in chromosome 6p25 deletion
      syndrome with concomitant 5p15 duplication.
AB  - Sub-telomeric deletions of the short arm of chromosome 6 are a well-described
      clinical entity characterized by developmental impairment, hypotonia, eye
      abnormalities and defects in the heart and kidneys. Chromosome 5p terminal
      duplication is a rarer entity, associated with developmental impairment and
      facial dysmorphism. We report a 3-year-old patient with a chromosome 6p25.1pter
      deletion and chromosome 5p15.1pter duplication who had global developmental
      impairment and unusual cerebral white matter changes, with hypoplastic corpus
      callosum and cerebellar vermis on magnetic resonance imaging -brain scan. We
      discuss the differential diagnosis to consider in patients with this appearance
      on magnetic resonance imaging -brain scan and reiterate the need for chromosome
      analysis in patients with this pattern of developmental anomaly. Tigroid pattern
      of cerebral white matter involvement has not been reported in chromosomal
      deletion/duplication syndromes. With the increasing use of molecular karyotyping
      for patients with multiple congenital anomalies and developmental delay, it is
      important to consider the exact size and nature of chromosomal
      deletion/duplication, in order to provide families with prognostic information
      and recurrence risk. This in turn, will help provide valuable information
      regarding the natural history of rare chromosomal imbalances. 

PMID- 27625833
TI  - Application of real-time polymerase chain reaction in the clinical genetic
      practice.
AB  - The development of polymerase chain reaction revolutionized the molecular
      genetics and diagnostics. Technical improvements helped to make more specific and
      sensitive target determinations. Introduction of real-time polymerase chain
      reaction makes possible several applications in clinical genetics like detection
      of gene mutations, single nucleotide polymorphisms, deletions, measurement of
      gene expressions, micro ribonucleic acids, free nucleic acids and microbial
      genomes. Here I discuss a few examples for specific applications in prenatal
      clinical genetic practice. These are the detection of microbial genomes,
      deletions, trisomies, mutations, single nucleotide polymorphisms and free nucleic
      acids. 

PMID- 27625834
TI  - Genetics and non-syndromic facial growth.
AB  - Just as pediatricians and endocrinologists are interested in understanding
      statural growth patterns and the prediction of adult height, pediatric dentists,
      orthodontists, and oral/maxillofacial surgeons need to be knowledgeable about a
      patient's facial growth patterns to effectively treat them. Some variations in
      facial growth have been clinically associated with a poor esthetic self-image,
      malocclusion formation and the development of physical and/or functional
      deformity. To understand how different genetic factors influence growth and
      development patterns, scientists and clinicians study developmental sequences,
      malformations and syndromes. While understanding this general information can be
      clinically valuable when making treatment decisions for an individual and their
      family, the greatest contribution of genetics in clinical practice may be in the
      form of personalized or "precision" medicine in the general population. Precision
      medicine takes into account knowing a portion or all of a patient's specific DNA
      code to estimate how their genetic makeup will influence growth and development
      patterns. Ultimately, the identification of key genetic variations at the level
      of the individual patient can improve growth predictions for that patient and may
      be indicative of how well they will respond to specific forms of treatment. 

PMID- 27625835
TI  - Newborn measles antibody profile in a teaching hospital: Can sex of babies
      determine measles IgG acquisition from their respective mothers?
AB  - Known sex specific differences in fetal, neonatal morbidity and mortality have
      been documented. Sex differences also exist in birth-weight centile with males
      being larger than females at birth. However, these sex differences are not fully
      explored when studying passive measles immunity acquired by babies from their
      mothers. Moreover, the mechanisms that confer these sex differences are to a
      large extent unknown. Therefore, this study assessed sex of babies as a
      determinant of measles immunoglobulin G acquisition from their respective
      mothers. One hundred and seventy four newborn babies were enrolled in this study.
      Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure maternal measles antibodies
      (MMA) from sera collected from these babies at birth. Gestational age of the
      newborn babies was determined using the Nagele rule, ultrasound scan reports and
      the Dubowitz criteria. Sex and mean MMA of these babies was compared using the
      Student's t test. Significant comparison existed between mean MMA and sex of post
      term babies (P = 0.000), such that post term males had higher levels of MMA than
      females. However, overall sex and mean MMA comparison of these babies was not
      significant (P = 0.977). There were more MMA in male post term babies relative to
      their female peers; however, overall sex comparison of MMA was not significant.
      Therefore, there is the need for further study. 

PMID- 27625836
TI  - Risk assessment models in genetics clinic for array comparative genomic
      hybridization: Clinical information can be used to predict the likelihood of an
      abnormal result in patients.
AB  - Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) testing can diagnose chromosomal
      microdeletions and duplications too small to be detected by conventional
      cytogenetic techniques. We need to consider which patients are more likely to
      receive a diagnosis from aCGH testing versus patients that have lower likelihood
      and may benefit from broader genome wide scanning. We retrospectively reviewed
      charts of a population of 200 patients, 117 boys and 83 girls, who underwent aCGH
      testing in Genetics Clinic at Rhode Island hospital between 1 January/2008 and 31
      December 2010. Data collected included sex, age at initial clinical presentation,
      aCGH result, history of seizures, autism, dysmorphic features, global
      developmental delay/intellectual disability, hypotonia and failure to thrive.
      aCGH analysis revealed abnormal results in 34 (17%) and variants of unknown
      significance in 24 (12%). Patients with three or more clinical diagnoses had a
      25.0% incidence of abnormal aCGH findings, while patients with two or fewer
      clinical diagnoses had a 12.5% incidence of abnormal aCGH findings. Currently, we
      provide families with a range of 10-30% of a diagnosis with aCGH testing. With
      increased clinical complexity, patients have an increased probability of having
      an abnormal aCGH result. With this, we can provide individualized risk estimates
      for each patient. 

PMID- 27625837
TI  - Otopalatodigital syndrome type 2 in a male infant: A case report with a novel
      sequence variation.
AB  - We report a male infant with typical clinical, pathological and radiological
      features of otopalatodigital syndrome type 2 (OPD 2) with a novel sequence
      variation in the FLNA gene. His clinical manifestations include typical
      craniofacial features, cleft palate, hearing impairment, omphalocele, bowing of
      the long bones, absent fibulae and digital abnormalities consistent with OPD 2.
      Two hemizygous sequence variations in the FLNA gene were identified. The
      variation c.5290G>A/p.Ala1764Thr has been previously reported in a patient with
      periventricular nodular heterotopia, but subsequently it has been reported as a
      polymorphism. The other variation c.613T>C/p.Cys205Arg detected in the proband
      has not been previously reported and our analysis indicates that this is a novel
      disease-causing mutation for OPD2. 

PMID- 27625839
TI  - Cerebral hemihypoplasia and nevus flammeus in a child with oromandibular limb
      hypogenesis syndrome type III.
AB  - Oromandibular limb hypogenesis syndrome (OMLH; OMIM 103300) encompasses a group
      of uncommon disorders characterized by malformations in the mouth, jaw and limbs.
      It has been associated with various entities such as gastroschisis, pulmonary
      hypoplasia, intestinal atresia, renal agenesis, hydrocephalus and other
      syndromes. We describe a boy of Mexican origin with features of OMLH. In
      addition, brain magnetic resonance imaging shows cerebral hemiatrophy and
      hemihypoplasia and an ipsilateral arachnoid cyst, as well as microcephaly and
      frontal nevus flammeus were observed. This association, to the best of our
      knowledge, has not been previously reported in the literature and could be part
      of a same spectrum of vascular defect with OMLH. 

PMID- 27625838
TI  - Differential outcomes in an extended family with constitutional
      t(11;22)(q23.3;q11.2).
AB  - The t(11;22) rearrangement is the most common recurrent familial reciprocal
      translocation in man. Heterozygote carriers are phenotypically normal but are at
      risk of subfertility in the male, miscarriages, and producing chromosomally
      unbalanced offspring. The unbalanced progeny usually results from an extra
      der(22) chromosome resulting from a 3:1 malsegregation. We present here a family
      with t(11;22). Of six siblings, three were found to be carriers following
      prenatal diagnosis of the proband fetus. Neither of the two married carrier
      siblings have a live born child. In keeping with the prevailing knowledge of the
      pregnancy outcomes of heterozygote carriers, between the siblings they had
      recurrent miscarriages, a fetus with a +der(22) chromosome, and other
      subfertility issues resulting in multiple failed in vitro fertilization cycles
      with preimplantation genetic diagnosis. However, unlike the siblings, their
      extended family comprising their heterozygote translocation mother, married aunts
      and an uncle had normal fertility and a lack of a history of miscarriages or an
      abnormal child. The differing outcomes may be related to the male partners having
      additional semen anomalies which may further exacerbate problems associated with
      the t(11;22). Because the t(11;22) rearrangement tends to run in families, it is
      recommended that chromosome studies are offered to family members of an affected
      relative as an option, and provide them with appropriate genetic counseling so
      that they will have the necessary information with regard to their risk for
      subfertility, miscarriages, and production of viable unbalanced offspring. Follow
      up prenatal diagnosis should also be offered to affected expectant family
      members, especially after preimplantation genetic diagnosis. 

PMID- 27625840
TI  - Bardet-Biedl syndrome in two sisters: A rare incidence.
AB  - Bardet-Biedl syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by
      retinitis pigmentosa, obesity, polydactyly, mental retardation and hypogonadism.
      We present two sisters with this rare genetic condition. 

PMID- 27625841
TI  - Lowe syndrome/Dent-2 disease: A comprehensive review of known and novel aspects.
AB  - The oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe is a rare X-linked multisystemic disorder
      characterized by the triad of congenital cataracts, cognitive and behavioral
      impairment and a renal proximal tubulopathy in almost all of the patients.
      Whereas the ocular manifestations and severe hypotonia are present at birth, the
      renal involvement appears within the first months of life. Patients show
      progressive growth retardation and may develop a debilitating arthropathy.
      Treatment is symptomatic and life span rarely exceeds 40 yr. The causative OCRL
      gene, encodes an inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase. OCRL mutations were not
      only found in classic Lowe syndrome, but also in milder affected patients,
      classified as having Dent-2 disease. There is a phenotypic continuum within
      patients with Dent-2 disease and Lowe syndrome, suggesting that there are
      individual differences in the ability to compensate for loss of enzyme function.
      Researchers have conducted a large amount of work to understand the etiology
      responsible for the disease. However, the mechanisms leading to the clinical
      manifestations are still poorly understood and we are far from an effective
      therapy. In this review, we have included well-established findings and the most
      recent progress in understanding Lowe syndrome and Dent-2 disease. 

PMID- 27625842
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms as a risk factor for dyslipidemia in children.
AB  - Dyslipidemia is an important etiological factor for development of cardiovascular
      disease, which is the leading cause of deaths in adults. Given the growing global
      epidemic of dyslipidemia, lipoprotein metabolism disorders have become an
      important health problem not only in adulthood, but have also emerged as an
      increasingly risk factor in childhood. Although several genome-wide association
      studies in multiple large population-based cohorts of adults and meta-analyses
      have identified susceptibility genes or loci, especially in lipid-related traits,
      it is of great importance to evaluate genetic predisposition at an early age.
      Recent findings suggest that the identification of polymorphisms in the
      metabolism of lipids in childhood may help fight subclinical atherosclerosis and
      its progression to cardiovascular complications in adulthood. Therefore, the aim
      of this study was to review genetic polymorphisms as risk factors associated with
      dyslipidemia in children and adolescents. 

PMID- 27625843
TI  - Bardet-Biedl syndrome: A rare genetic disease.
AB  - Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare multisystem genetic disease, with high
      phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity. Rod-cone dystrophy, obesity, polydactyly,
      hypogonadism, cognitive impairment and renal abnormalities have been established
      as primary features. There are 17 BBS genes (BBS1-BBS17) described to date, which
      explain 70-80% of the patients clinically diagnosed, therefore more BBS genes
      remain to be identified. BBS belongs to a group of diseases known as
      ciliopathies. In general, ciliopathies and BBS in particular share a partial
      overlapping phenotype that makes them complicated to diagnose. We present an up
      to-date review including clinical, epidemiologic and genetic aspects of the
      syndrome. 

PMID- 27625844
TI  - Birth defects: Risk factors and consequences.
AB  - Birth defects (BDs) or congenital anomalies include all structural and functional
      alterations in embryonic or fetal development resulting from genetic,
      environmental or unknown causes, which result in physical and/or mental
      impairment. BDs occur in about 3% of newborn babies and in most cases of
      pregnancy loss. BDs are a very complex and heterogeneous group of single or
      multiple changes that, in most cases, are of unknown etiology. Among the risk
      factors are advanced maternal and paternal ages, parental consanguinity,
      teratogenic agents such as infectious agents and drugs, and poor nutrition, in
      particular folic acid deficiency. One of the consequences of these defects is the
      high death rate within the first year of life. Information on BDs is becoming
      increasingly more important throughout the world so that preventive measures can
      be taken. Knowledge of BDs enables the development of therapeutic and preventive
      strategies besides adequate genetic counseling. 

PMID- 27625846
TI  - Discomfort with uncertainty: Is testing for Brugada syndrome in the neonatal
      period warranted?
AB  - Brugada syndrome (BrS) is rare genetic disorder, which manifests as syncope or
      sudden death caused by polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. Diagnosis is based on
      symptoms and characteristic electrocardiography findings. Identification of
      mutations in SCN5A support the diagnosis, but the yield is low. According to
      experts, BrS patients with a history of cardiac arrest should have insertion of
      an automatic implantable cardiac defibrillator and asymptomatic patients can be
      managed conservatively. Treatment challenges occur in patients with
      "intermediate" clinical characteristics and in populations where there is paucity
      of data such as with neonates and children. We discuss the case of a woman with
      BrS who is faced with decision challenges in the postpartum period. Should her
      newborn have testing? When? Will deferment of testing impose an unreasonable
      uncertainty due to delay of diagnosis? Or conversely, will premature workup
      impose an unnecessary intervention? 

PMID- 27625845
TI  - A STAT3 mutation in hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome: A case report.
AB  - Hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome (HIES) is a rare immunologic disorder. This
      syndrome is caused by mutations in signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 3 gene. The described case report showed clinical HIES features
      such as recurrent bacterial pneumonia, lung cysts, characteristic facial features
      and a newborn dermatitis. We found a clinical features score of 35 and a positive
      family history, which, together, made a HIES diagnosis very probable. During DNA
      analysis, a new, formerly unknown, 1067C->G (p.P356R) mutation, with reference
      sequence NM_139276.2, was found in the DNA binding site of the STAT3 gene. Both
      the child and his mother were affected. Thus, this family is affected by the
      autosomal dominant, HIES. This case report reveals a formerly unknown mutation,
      1067C->G (p.P356R) in this gene. 

PMID- 27625847
TI  - Terminal 6p deletion syndrome mimicking CHARGE syndrome: A case report.
AB  - The clinical features associated with terminal 6p deletion syndrome include
      anterior eye chamber defects, hearing loss, congenital heart anomalies and
      characteristic facies along with developmental delays. These features overlap
      with a number of other conditions including CHARGE syndrome. This acronym stands
      for non-random association of anomalies including coloboma of the eye, heart
      anomalies, choanal atresia, retardation of growth and development, genital
      hypoplasia and ear anomalies/deafness now known to be caused by CHD7 mutations.
      We describe a boy initially diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome who was subsequently
      found to have a terminal 6p deletion. Screening for 6p deletions in individuals
      presenting with atypical CHARGE syndrome may be warranted, with direct
      consequences for genetic counseling. 

PMID- 27625848
TI  - An Indian girl with Fanconi-Bickel syndrome without SLC2A2 gene mutation.
AB  - Fanconi-Bickel syndrome is a rare autosomal-recessive disorder caused by defects
      in the facilitative glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) gene. It is characterized by
      hepatorenal glycogen accumulation, tubular nephropathy and impaired utilization
      of glucose and galactose. In this communication, we present the case of a 5-year
      old girl who presented with deforming rickets and massive hepatomegaly. Liver
      biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of glycogen storage disorder. However, the
      mutation of the SLC2A2 (GLUT2) gene was not found. Mutation negative patients
      with characteristic Fanconi-Bickel syndrome phenotype suggest additional
      underlying mechanisms that need exploration. 

PMID- 27625849
TI  - IGF1R mutation analysis in short children with Silver-Russell syndrome features.
AB  - The insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) is a key factor in intrauterine
      and postnatal growth by mediating the biological function of IGF-I. Mutations of
      IGF1R gene are usually associated with growth retardation, but the clinical
      picture of IGF1R mutation carriers is heterogeneous. Indeed, these patients show
      clinical signs compatible with Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS), and some IGF1R
      mutation carriers have been identified in SRS cohorts. We therefore investigated
      deoxyribonucleic acid samples of 19 growth-retarded patients with SRS features.
      Apart from 8 non-pathogenic variants, we detected heterozygosity for the unknown
      duplication, c.1056_1057dup, leading to a premature termination in one patient
      and his growth retarded sister. Due to its nature, we assumed that this variant
      is probably pathogenic. However, the patient and his sister exhibited spontaneous
      catch-up growth in later life. We therefore hypothesize that the c.1056_1057dup
      does not result in a significant disruption to the GH-IGFI axis. Thus, this IGF1R
      mutation without obvious clinical consequence might challenge the actual concept
      of IGF1R haploinsufficiency as a general cause for disturbed growth in IGF1R
      mutation carriers. In the future, mutation analysis of IGF1R should be considered
      in growth-retarded patients with microcephaly and minor SRS features, but not in
      probands with the characteristic SRS phenotype including macrocephaly. 

PMID- 27625850
TI  - CTNS gene analysis emphasizes diagnostic value of eye examination in patients
      with cystinosis.
AB  - Classic nephropathic cystinosis (CNC) is an autosomal recessive and infrequent
      inborn metabolic disease that should be suspected in all children who show
      failure to thrive and renal Fanconi syndrome (RFS). Slit-lamp examination reveals
      pathognomonic corneal deposits of cystine crystals in virtually all affected
      individuals after 12-16 mo of age. A diagnosis of CNC is difficult to confirm in
      children living in Mexico and most Latin American countries, because cystine
      levels can be measured only at a few locations. We report the cystinosin genotype
      findings in 15 Latin American patients with a high clinical suspicion of CNC
      mainly due to RFS (n =13), although five of them lacked proper ophthalmologic
      assessment, despite being more than 1-year-old. Molecular analysis confirmed
      diagnosis of CNC in six (40%) of the 15 patients, five of them with RFS and
      cystine crystals. The remaining nine (60%) patients had a normal genotype. The
      predominance of a normal cystinosin genotype in eight of 13 patients with RFS
      (61.50%) reinforces the need to perform slit-lamp examinations in all patients
      with RFS over 1 yr of age, prior to measuring cystine or performing molecular
      cystinosin study, both methods not readily available throughout Latin America.

PMID- 27625851
TI  - Dent's disease: Identification of seven new pathogenic mutations in the CLCN5
      gene.
AB  - Dent's disease is an X-linked proximal tubulopathy characterized by low-molecular
      weight proteinuria, hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis, nephrolithiasis and
      progressive renal failure. This disorder is frequently caused by mutations in the
      CLCN5 gene encoding the electrogenic chloride/proton exchanger ClC-5.
      Occasionally, Dent's disease has been associated to atypical cases of
      asymptomatic proteinuria with focal glomerulosclerosis. Twelve unrelated patients
      with Dent's disease, including two who presented with asymptomatic proteinuria
      and developed glomerulosclerosis, were studied. Mutational analysis of the CLCN5
      gene was performed by DNA sequencing. We identified thirteen distinct CLCN5
      mutations in the twelve patients. Seven of these mutations, p.P416fsX(*)17,
      p.[H107P, V108fs(*)27], p.G466D, p.G65R, p.G462S, p.Y164(*) and c.723+1G >T, were
      novel and possibly pathogenic. In one family, the patient's mother was not a
      carrier of the respective mutation. Our results increased the spectrum of CLCN5
      disease causing defects with seven new pathogenic mutations and established a de
      novo origin in one of them. Remarkably, three new missense mutations, p.G466D,
      p.G65R and p.G462S, affect highly conserved glycine residues located in
      transmembrane alpha-helix GxxxG packing motifs. The two atypical cases further
      support that the diagnosis of Dent's disease should be considered in children
      with asymptomatic proteinuria and focal glomerulosclerosis and without evidence
      of primary glomerular disease. 

PMID- 27625852
TI  - A rare case of de novo mosaicism: Deletion 18p and isochromosome 18q syndrome.
AB  - Monosomy 18p syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder with varying phenotypic and
      clinical manifestations. Dysmorphism, growth delay, delayed speech and mental
      retardation are a few of the commonest features observed. The cytogenetic
      findings also vary and may comprise a pure deletion of the entire 18p arm or a
      deletion of a part of the 18p arm, if involved in a translocation with other
      chromosomes. Monosomy 18p may either occur by itself or with a structural
      alteration of the remaining chromosome 18, as a ring or as an isochromosome. The
      clinical presentation of this syndrome often overlaps with other syndromes.
      Establishing a cytogenetic diagnosis and understanding the location of the
      breakpoints is crucial for precise management and follow-up. We present here a
      rare case with mosaicism for a de novo deletion of 18p with isochromosome 18q in
      a boy born to a consanguineous Omani couple. 

PMID- 27625854
TI  - Inherited 5p deletion syndrome due to paternal balanced translocation: Phenotypic
      heterogeneity due to duplication of 8q and 12p.
AB  - 5p deletion syndrome or Cri du Chat syndrome is a autosomal deletion syndrome,
      caused by the de novo deletion of chromosome 5p in the majority of the cases.
      Clinical features include developmental delay, microcephaly, subtle facial
      dysmorphism and high-pitched cry. With the advent of newer techniques such as
      multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, rapid diagnosis is possible and
      chromosomal microarray helps in accurate delineation of the breakpoints. In this
      study, we characterized probands from two Indian families who had duplication of
      another chromosome in addition to deletion of 5p region. In the first family, two
      females of 3 and 5 yr of age had deletion of 5p15.33p15.2 (14.7 Mb) and
      duplication of 8q24.21q24.3 (15.4 Mb). Proband in the second family was a 2-year
      old female and had deletion of 5p15.33p14.3 (22.55 Mb) along with duplication of
      12p13.33p13.31 (7.7 Mb). In both the families, father was balanced translocation
      carrier of the chromosomes involved. Patients in family 1 had overwhelming
      features of 5p deletion while patient in family 2, besides having features of 5p
      deletion, showed many features of 12p duplications. Prenatal diagnosis was
      possible in both the families. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      detailed molecular cytogenetic analysis and prenatal diagnosis report of 5p
      deletion syndrome from India. 

PMID- 27625855
TI  - Erratum: Bardet-Biedl syndrome: A rare genetic disease.

PMID- 27625853
TI  - Molecular cytogenetic and phenotypic characterization of ring chromosome 13 in
      three unrelated patients.
AB  - We report on the cytogenetic and molecular investigations of constitutional de
      novo ring chromosome 13s in three unrelated patients for better understanding and
      delineation of the phenotypic variability characterizing this genomic
      rearrangement. The patient's karyotypes were as follows: 46,XY,r(13)(p11q34) dn
      for patients 1 and 2 and 46,XY,r(13)(p11q14) dn for patient 3, as a result of the
      deletion in the telomeric regions of chromosome 13. The patients were, therefore,
      monosomic for the segment 13q34 -> 13qter; in addition, for patient 3, the
      deletion was larger, encompassing the segment 13q14 -> 13qter. Fluorescence in
      situ hybridization confirmed these rearrangement and array CGH technique showed
      the loss of at least 2.9 Mb on the short arm and 4.7 Mb on the long arm of the
      chromosome 13 in patient 2. Ring chromosome 13 (r(13)) is associated with several
      phenotypic features like intellectual disability, marked short stature, brain and
      heart defects, microcephaly and genital malformations in males, including
      undescended testes and hypospadias. However, the hearing loss and speech delay
      that were found in our three patients have rarely been reported with ring
      chromosome 13. Although little is known about its etiology, there is interesting
      evidence for a genetic cause for the ring chromosome 13. We thus performed a
      genotype-phenotype correlation analysis to ascertain the contribution of ring
      chromosome 13 to the clinical features of our three cases. 

PMID- 27625856
TI  - Clinical findings in children with congenital anomalies and misoprostol
      intrauterine exposure: a study of 38 cases.
AB  - The authors describe the clinical findings of 38 children with congenital
      anomalies and misoprostol intrauterine exposure. This study included 38 cases,
      ascertained from case series of the Hospital of Rehabilitation of Craniofacial
      Anomalies from University of Sao Paulo, with evidence of intrauterine exposure to
      misoprostol in the first trimester of the pregnancy. Information about
      misoprostol intake and drug administration route was obtained through interviews
      with mothers. Clinical evaluation showed 18 individuals with facial phenotype
      compatible with Moebius syndrome; 11 individuals with multiple congenital
      anomalies; and nine individuals with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or cleft palate.
      This study showed a widening of the phenotypic spectrum associated with
      misoprostol embryotoxicity. 

PMID- 27625857
TI  - ACVRL1 gene variant in a patient with vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation.
AB  - Although mutations in the RASA1 gene in vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation
      (VGAM) and an endoglin gene mutation in a VGAM patient with a family history of
      hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) have been identified, most VGAM cases
      have no mutation in these genes. We sought to detect mutations in other genes
      related to HHT. We screened for mutations in RASA1 and three genes (endoglin,
      activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ACVRL1), encoding ALK1, and SMAD4) related to HHT
      in four VGAM patients. One variant (c.652 C>T p.R218W) in ACVRL1 was identified.
      Immunoblotting revealed that the ALK1-R218W protein could not promote SMAD1/5/8
      phosphorylation by BMP9 stimulation. On the other hand, wild-type ALK1 could
      enhance the phosphorylation as expected. Furthermore, the transcriptional
      activation of ALK1-R218W was less efficient than that of wild-type ALK1. We
      identified 1 variant in ACVRL1 in a VGAM patient. These findings suggest that the
      ACVRL1 variant-R218W may be associated with the pathogenesis of VGAM. 

PMID- 27625858
TI  - New AP4B1 mutation in an African-American child associated with intellectual
      disability.
AB  - Prevalence of intellectual disability (ID) varies from 1-3%. Genetic causes of ID
      are being increasingly recognized. Although multiple mutations have been
      identified as a cause of syndromic ID, the genetic etiology of non-syndromic ID
      is poorly understood. However, more than 100 loci have been mapped that are
      associated with non-syndromic ID. There have been a couple of reports of AP4B1
      gene mutation causing severe intellectual disability, absent speech, shy
      character, stereotypic laughter, muscular hypotonia that progressed to spastic
      paraplegia, microcephaly, foot deformity, decreased muscle mass of the lower
      limbs, inability to walk, and growth retardation. They had structural brain
      abnormalities and seizures. The reported cases were from Arab families where
      consanguineous marriage is common. We encountered an African-American child who
      presented first at the age of 24 mo with language difficulties and was
      subsequently found to have moderate to severe intellectual disability by
      standardized tests. Shortly, he started to have seizures and problems with
      ambulation. Although he was hypotonic at the time of presentation, legs slowly
      became spastic at the age of 4 yr. After a thorough work up, he was found to have
      heterozygous mutation in the AP4B1 gene along with another missense mutation in
      the same gene. There has been no report of mutation in this gene in the North
      American population. Although AP4B1 typically is said to be an autosomal
      recessive disease-causing gene, our case is different in the sense that there are
      two mutations in the same gene one of which has never been reported before and co
      exists with a known disease causing mutation. Yet, the phenotype of the case
      closely resembles those published previously. 

PMID- 27625859
TI  - Constitutional trisomy 8 mosaicism syndrome: case report and review.
AB  - Trisomy 8 mosaicism (Warkany syndrome) is a rare viable condition with variable
      phenotypes, ranging from mild dysmorphic features to severe malformations.
      Karyotyping and fluorescence in-situ hybridization potentially help detecting
      this low mosaic clone to confirm the diagnosis of patients with classical and
      unusual clinical presentations. This report reviews few previous cases to
      describe our case - a boy who had trisomy 8 mosaicism with severe dysmorphic
      features, born to a consanguineous Arabic couple. This study concludes that
      careful cytogenetic diagnoses of trisomy 8 mosaicism is essential for appropriate
      management and follow up of this rare disorder. 

PMID- 27625860
TI  - Zellweger syndrome: an older child with progressive foot deformity.
AB  - Zellweger spectrum disorders result from defects in the assembly of the
      peroxisome and are sometimes referred to as peroxisome biogenesis disorders.
      Orthopedic manifestations of this condition are variable. This case report
      illustrates an ambulatory child with Zellweger syndrome and progressive foot
      deformity. The course of treatment consisted of initial soft tissue surgery,
      early recurrence of the deformity, followed by successful arthrodesis. 

PMID- 27625861
TI  - Precision in chromosome identification with leads in molecular cytogenetics: An
      illustrated review.
AB  - Chromosomal aberrations are a major cause of human genetic diseases. Conventional
      cytogenetic banding techniques are the method of identification for both
      numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities but with limited resolution.
      However, precise identification and characterization of the chromosomal
      abnormalities can only be achieved by advanced molecular cytogenetic techniques.
      These techniques are based mainly on fluorescence in situ hybridization, which
      have become an invaluable tool in the field of diagnostics. The advent of these
      molecular cytogenetic techniques has helped in the identification of chromosomal
      abnormalities to its minutest level. Apparently, the leads in molecular
      cytogenetic techniques have paved way for advanced molecular diagnosis, which now
      plays a significant role in both diagnostics and clinical research. These
      advances have led to the increased knowledge of the possible molecular mechanism
      involved in the chromosomal rearrangements and the genotype-phenotype correlation
      thus helping the patients towards better diagnosis and genetic counseling. This
      article highlights the advances in molecular cytogenetic techniques emphasizing
      the precision in identification of chromosomal rearrangements, and also
      illustrates few chromosomal abnormalities pediatric cases identified using these
      molecular cytogenetic techniques. 

PMID- 27625862
TI  - Retrotransposons and pediatric genetic disorders: Importance and implications.
AB  - Pediatric disorders are generally observed to have a greater genetic load than
      diseases occurring during adulthood. Clinical manifestations of many genetic
      defects including chromosomal abnormalities and mutations in specific genes
      appear during childhood. One of the notable mutagens in human cells is mobile DNA
      element. They possess the ability to move and insert themselves in new genomic
      locations including critical disease-causing genes. Although our cells inhibit
      their transport by different mechanisms, factors such as aging and environmental
      heavy metals have effect on increasing their activities. In this article, we try
      to go over the features of active human retroelements and highlight their role in
      the pathology of pediatric genetic disorders. We also propose two mechanisms in
      which aged parental gametes and embryonic exposure to environmental stresses
      followed by mobile elements insertion may result in de novo pediatric diseases. 

PMID- 27625863
TI  - Adiponectin gene polymorphisms: Association with childhood obesity.
AB  - The current childhood obesity epidemic represents a particular challenge for
      public health. Understanding of the etiological mechanisms of obesity remains
      integral in treating this complex disorder. In recent years, studies have
      elucidated the influence of hormones secreted by adipose tissue named adipokines.
      Adiponectin is a adipokine that exhibits important anti-inflammatory, insulin
      sensitizing and anti-atherogenic properties and it is strongly associated to
      obesity development. It is well known that adiponectin levels decrease with
      obesity. Furthermore, studies show that some single nucleotide polymorphisms in
      the gene encoding adiponectin, ADIPOQ, may influence the expression of this
      protein. The objective of this paper is to provide an up-to-date review of ADIPOQ
      polymorphisms in the context of childhood obesity. 

PMID- 27625864
TI  - Osteogenesis imperfecta caused by PPIB mutation with severe phenotype and
      congenital hearing loss.
AB  - Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an inherited disorder of connective tissue
      typically caused by defects in either COL1A1 or COL1A2. A number of other genes
      causative of this disorder have been found, including PPIB, which forms one
      subunit of the prolyl 3-hydroxylase enzyme complex. Patients with homozygous or
      compound heterozygous mutations in this gene have OI with a trend toward lethal
      or severe phenotype. We present a Native American female with prenatal diagnosis
      of OI. Long bones were shortened with significant rhizomelia. At birth, fractures
      were present in ribs, humerii, and femurs. She had significant respiratory
      disease at birth, and required oxygen throughout her life. She also had recurrent
      pneumonias, one of which ultimately caused her death at age 16 mo. She also had
      significant bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Molecular testing showed that
      the patient was homozygous for a single nucleotide substitution in PPIB (c. 136
      2A>G). Patients with OI caused by PPIB mutations have had variable disease, but
      with majority of either with perinatal lethality or progressively deforming
      severe disease. Patients with OI due to PPIB mutation have shown some differences
      in phenotype. There appears to be a trend toward rhizomelic shortening and less
      severe bowing of the extremities, as compared to patients with comparably severe
      OI caused by COL1A1 or COL1A2 mutation. Congenital hearing loss may be an
      inconsistent feature of this condition, or may have co-occurred in our patient
      for unrelated reasons. Still, patients with OI caused by PPIB mutation should
      have appropriate early and regular management of their hearing. 

PMID- 27625865
TI  - The recurrent causal mutation for osteogenesis imperfecta type V occurs at a
      highly methylated CpG dinucleotide within the IFITM5 gene.
AB  - Recent studies have identified the molecular defect underlying autosomal dominant
      osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) type V. Unlike all other OI types, which are
      characterized by high genetic heterogeneity, OI type V appears consistently
      associated to a unique de novo C>T transition within the 5' UTR of the IFITM5
      gene. Although the precise frequency of OI type V is not known, this recurrent
      base substitution may well represent a mutational hotspot in the human genome. We
      show that it occurs at a CpG dinucleotide that is highly methylated in several
      tissues and particularly in the sperm DNA, suggesting a mutational mechanism
      common to other de novo recurrent dominant mutations. 

PMID- 27625866
TI  - Ciliary disturbances in syndromal and non-syndromal obesity.
AB  - Obesity is an increasing global health problem. Although it is mainly thought to
      be due to the changing obesogenic environment, the genetic contribution has been
      estimated between 40-70%. A number of genes have been identified that cause
      obesity in animals as well as in humans. Rare highly penetrant monogenic forms of
      obesity can cause both syndromal and non-syndromal forms of obesity. Bardet-Biedl
      syndrome and Alstrom syndrome are well known monogenic obesity syndromes caused
      by primary cilia defects. The pathogenesis of the obesity phenotype in these
      disorders is however not fully understood. Disturbance of the appetite regulation
      system, abnormalities in body composition and decreased energy expenditure have
      been suggested to cause obesity in these ciliopathies. There are currently 19
      known genes associated with Bardet-Biedl syndrome and one Alstrom syndrome gene.
      Although ciliopathy genes have been described primarily in these syndromal
      obesity disorders, non-syndromal obesity may also result from disturbed cilia
      function. There are multiple genes associated with both obesity and ciliary
      function. Here we provide an overview of the current knowledge of the clinical,
      pathophysiological and genetic aspects of obesity in patients with ciliary
      defects. 

PMID- 27625867
TI  - Nephronophthisis.
AB  - Nephronophthisis (NPHP) is a childhood cystic kidney disease, which almost
      invariably leads to end-stage renal disease in those affected. Recognition and
      diagnosis requires clinical suspicion, biochemical evaluation, renal imaging and
      historically, renal biopsy. Modern molecular genetics now allows a diagnosis to
      be made in a significant proportion of cases. Mutations in NPHP1 account for 20%
      of cases, but the disease is genetically heterogeneous with at least 20 different
      genes associated with NPHP. Recent developments in the fields of genetics and
      proteomics have led to increased understanding of the underlying pathogenetic
      defects. Almost all NPHP genes encode proteins, which localize to the primary
      cilia, basal body and centrosome. NPHP is a therefore considered to be a
      ciliopathy, and can be part of a broad spectrum of clinical disease that includes
      extra-renal manifestations including retinal degeneration, cerebellar ataxia,
      liver fibrosis and situs inversus. In this review, we discuss the historical
      descriptions of NPHP in the context of more recent developments in our
      understanding of this disease. 

PMID- 27625869
TI  - The role of the cilium in hereditary tumor predisposition syndromes.
AB  - The primary cilium is a highly conserved cell organelle that is closely connected
      to processes involved in cell patterning and replication. Amongst their many
      functions, cilia act as "signal towers" through which cell-cell signaling
      cascades pass. Dysfunction of cilia or the myriad processes that are connected
      with cilium function can lead to disease. Due to the sheer number of cellular
      processes that at some point involve the primary cilium, the effects of
      misregulation are highly heterogeneous between different cell populations.
      However, because of the importance of primary cilia in the development, growth,
      patterning and orientation of cells and tissues, a common thread has emerged in
      which defective cilia can lead to disorganization, which can contribute to the
      growth of neoplasms, including cancer and pre-cancerous phenotypes. Because cilia
      are so vital for signaling during cell replication and the cell fate decisions
      that are important in childhood growth, symptoms often arise early in life. Here
      we review recent work connecting misregulation of the primary cilium with tumor
      formation in a variety of tissues in the developing body, with a particular focus
      on the syndromes in which classic tumor genes are mutated, including von Hippel
      Lindau disease (OMIM 193300), adenomatous polyposis coli (OMIM 175100), tuberous
      sclerosis (OMIM 191100) and Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome (OMIM 135150). Timely
      diagnosis of these syndromes is essential for entry into appropriate screening
      protocols, which have been shown to effectively prolong life expectancy in these
      cohorts of patients. 

PMID- 27625868
TI  - Primary ciliary dyskinesia: From diagnosis to molecular mechanisms.
AB  - Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder affecting
      motile cilia. This can lead to neonatal respiratory distress, early onset upper
      and lower airway infections, laterality abnormalities and sub- or infertility.
      Although disease progression shows large individual variability, all adult
      patients eventually develop extensive bronchiectasis. As in cystic fibrosis,
      early diagnosis and frequent follow-up with microbiological control is the best
      therapeutic strategy, as other treatment options are lacking. PCD is
      underdiagnosed and diagnosed late due to clinical unawareness, limited
      availability of diagnostic tests and difficult interpretation of test results.
      Diagnosis is currently based on a combination of assessment of ciliary motion and
      ultrastructure by high-speed video microscopy and electron microscopy,
      respectively. As nasal nitric oxide is low in almost all PCD patients, these
      measurements can be used for screening. Although there are 26 PCD genes known so
      far, the genetic basis of the disease has not been unraveled in an estimated 30
      40% of patients. However, the rapid discovery of novel PCD genes in recent years
      is expected to enable accurate genetic characterization of most patients in the
      near future. Large-scale use of next-generation sequencing and the availability
      of large ciliary proteomic and transcriptomic databases accelerate the
      identification of novel PCD genes, especially those that play a key role in
      cytoplasmic assembly of ciliary ultrastructural components. These genetic
      advances are revolutionizing the process of obtaining a molecular diagnosis for
      PCD as we speak and may ultimately lead to an increased understanding of
      ciliogenesis and function, providing novel handles for therapeutic interventions
      in PCD patients. 

PMID- 27625870
TI  - Pitt-Hopkins syndrome: Mental retardation, psychomotor and developmental delays
      with facial dysmorphism.
AB  - The Pitt-Hopkins syndrome is a very rare and severe genetic disease characterized
      by mental retardation, psychomotor and developmental delays with facial
      dysmorphism. It was first described in 1978 in patients with mental retardation
      and crisis of intermittent hyperventilation. The genetic cause is
      haploinsufficiency of the TCF4 (transcription factor 4) gene that affects the
      neurodevelopment in both sexes; the majority of patients have spontaneous
      molecular defects by point mutations or deletions in chromosome 18 at the region
      18q21. The syndrome is characterized by neurological abnormalities that affect
      the motor coordination and balance, in patients with mental and developmental
      delays. The phenotype includes a peculiar face by specific craniofacial
      anomalies: prominent square forehead, deep-set eyes with ocular hypertelorism;
      prominent large nose beaked and broad flat nasal bridge; mouth wide and large,
      thick fleshy lips, tented bow-shaped upper lip and everted lower lip; cup-shaped
      ears with dysplastic broad overfolded helix. We review the literature and the
      photographs of 44 published patients from 2007 to 2012, to resume the principal
      features of craniofacial anomalies, attempting to delineate the syndrome
      phenotype and score the specific dysmorphism than help to achieve the early
      clinical diagnosis. 

PMID- 27625871
TI  - A feasibility trial of Cogmed working memory training in fragile X syndrome.
AB  - Individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) often present with an array of
      neurocognitive deficits, particularly in working memory (WM) and other executive
      functions. Evidence is accumulating that WM training can be effective in certain
      clinical populations in improving WM abilities and decreasing attention deficit
      hyperactivity disorder symptoms. We report preliminary findings evaluating the
      feasibility of Cogmed JM program, a computer-based WM intervention, within the
      FXS population. Twenty-five participants were evaluated for training. Seventeen
      were deemed eligible, of whom eight enrolled in the 5-wk training. Baseline
      characteristics were analyzed, as well as training progress and parental
      impressions. We conclude that Cogmed JM is a feasible intervention in FXS, though
      a certain baseline level of ability is required, and urge future controlled
      trials to determine efficacy. 

PMID- 27625872
TI  - A recurrent fibrillin-1 mutation in severe early onset Marfan syndrome.
AB  - The recurrent substitution of isoleucine for threonine at codon 1048 (I1048T)
      substitution has been linked to severe, early onset Marfan syndrome, however, the
      existence of strong genotype-phenotype associations in Marfan syndrome (MFS) is
      not widely agreed upon. Our aim is to substantiate the association between the
      I1048T substitution and a severe clinical presentation to facilitate care
      planning and genetic counseling. We review the clinical findings from seven cases
      of early-onset MFS with a recurrent I1048T substitution. The presented findings
      include those from one newly diagnosed case, significant new detail from three
      additional cases, and a review of published findings in three cases. All seven
      individuals with the I1048T substitution had mitral insufficiency, arachnodactyly
      and characteristic facies consistent with early-onset MFS. Our findings support
      the existence of a genotype-phenotype correlation between the I1048T substitution
      and early-onset MFS. Recognition of this relationship has implications for
      genetic counseling and clinical care. Additionally, exploration of how the I1048T
      substitution results in a severe phenotype may lead to further insight into the
      pathophysiology of MFS. 

PMID- 27625873
TI  - Congenital contractural arachnodactyly due to a novel splice site mutation in the
      FBN2 gene.
AB  - Congenital contractural arachnodactyly is a rare autosomal dominant disorder
      characterized by crumpled ears, congenital contractures, arachnodactyly and
      scoliosis. Only few cases have been described to date. Here we report a newborn
      with congenital contractures, crumpled ears and scoliosis. Molecular analysis
      revealed a novel fibrillin-2 mutation at the donor splice site of intron 28. We
      discuss the differential diagnosis of neonates with congenital contractures and
      review the current knowledge on congenital contractural arachnodactyly. 

PMID- 27625874
TI  - MURCS association with situs inversus totalis: Expanding the spectrum or a novel
      disorder.
AB  - We are reporting a female patient with a MURCS association (Mullerian duct
      aplasia, unilateral renal agenesis, cervico-thoracic somite fusion defects),
      situs inversus totalis, short stature with normal development and intelligence.
      We are presenting the comparison with two other patients published with similar
      finding. Our patient is distinct in having all the characteristic features and
      represents the severe spectrum of this disorder. We present our argument favoring
      this to be a monogenic syndrome distinct from the other two entities and probably
      a ciliopathy. 

PMID- 27625875
TI  - Clinical presentation of two beta-thalassemic Indian patients with 1p36 deletion
      syndrome: Case report.
AB  - Here, we present two thalassemic patients (one male and one female), having
      unusual clinical phenotypes. Both had mental retardation in which one was
      associated with microcephaly and other had congenital cataract. They were
      referred to our institute for clinical evaluation and cytogenetic testing. Both
      patients were tested for presence of abnormal hemoglobin by high performance
      liquid chromatography and found to be thalassemic. Their beta-globin mutation was
      also determined by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain
      reaction. The male patient was found to have intervening sequence 1-5 (G-C)/+,
      indicating beta-thalassemia trait and the female was found to have Cod 26 (G
      A)/IVS 1-5 (G-C), indicating hemoglobin E-beta thalassemia. Their cytogenetic
      analysis of blood lymphocytes were studied with high-resolution GTG-banding
      analysis by using chromosome profiling (Cyto-vision software 3.6) on their
      chromosomes. Results revealed 46,XY,del(1)(p36.21) in the male and
      46,XX,del(1)(p36.3) in the female. Their genotype variation showed (based on
      genome browser) significant gene loss which probably leads to marked phenotype
      variation. We believe, thalassemia with mental retardation associated with
      microcephaly and congenital cataract, both having loss in chromosome 1, p36
      position, is reported probably first time from India. This report will definitely
      enlighten all concerns and add to the information in growing literature. 

PMID- 27625876
TI  - Introduction to pediatric genetic eye diseases.

PMID- 27625877
TI  - Pediatric genetic disease of the cornea.
AB  - Our objective is to evaluate the literature regarding selected genetic diseases
      of the cornea, including megalocornea, keratoglobus, keratoconus, cystinosis, the
      mucopolysaccharidoses, sclerocornea, Peters' anomaly, familial dysautonomia, and
      various corneal dystrophies. The transparency of the cornea is a consequence of
      uniformity in both size and spacing of the collagen lamellae. The cornea's
      clarity depends on a delicate biochemical and structural balance; consequently,
      genetic disorders that disrupt either its metabolic or anatomic function can
      cause opacity and vision loss. Many childhood corneal diseases have a genetic
      etiology and are associated with known syndromes. Each disorder has unique
      associated set of possible complications. Prognosis often depends on the extent
      of opacity and disorganization of the anterior segment. Corneal transplantation
      has been performed for these disorders with variable success. 

PMID- 27625878
TI  - Pediatric genetic diseases causing glaucoma.
AB  - Glaucomatous optic neuropathy may be considered as an endpoint of multiple
      systemic factors. Genetic conditions commonly causing glaucoma in children and
      adolescents include Axenfeld-Reiger syndrome, aniridia, Marfan syndrome, Weill
      Marchessani syndrome, Sturge-Weber syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, nevus of
      Ota, congenital rubella and neurofibromatosis type 1. In the recent years, with
      the advancements in genetic research our understanding of the fundamental causes
      of glaucoma associated with inherited disorders has improved. In addition to
      intraocular pressure reduction, it is important for the clinician to be familiar
      with the multiple systemic associations with glaucoma, to re-evaluate treatment
      frequently, and to target the underlying disease process, if present. 

PMID- 27625879
TI  - Pediatric genetic disorders of lens.
AB  - Pediatric genetic disorders of lens include various cataractous and non
      cataractous anomalies. The purpose of this review is to help determine the
      genetic cause based on the lens appearance, ocular and systemic associations.
      Children with bilateral cataracts require a comprehensive history, ophthalmic and
      systemic examination to guide further genetic evaluation. With advancements in
      genetics, it is possible to determine the genetic mutations and assess phenotype
      genotype correlation in different lens disorders. The genetic diagnosis helps the
      families to better understand the disorder and develop realistic expectations as
      to the course of their child's disorder. 

PMID- 27625880
TI  - Genetic pediatric retinal diseases.
AB  - Hereditary pediatric retinal diseases are a diverse group of disorders with
      pathologies affecting different cellular structures or retinal development. Many
      can mimic typical pediatric retinal disease such as retinopathy of prematurity,
      vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment and cystoid macular edema. Multisystem
      involvement is frequently seen in hereditary pediatric retinal disease. A
      thorough history coupled with a good physical examination can oftentimes lead the
      ophthalmologist or pediatrician to the correct genetic test and correct
      diagnosis. In some instances, evaluation of parents or siblings may be required
      to determine familial involvement when the history is inconclusive or
      insufficient and clinical suspicion is high. 

PMID- 27625881
TI  - Pediatric genetic macular and choroidal diseases.
AB  - Genetic diseases of the macula and choroid have various inheritance patterns and
      varying degrees of impact on vision. Herein, we review the literature including
      most recent advances in the understanding of the genetics of these diseases.
      Although many of these disorders have limited treatment options, knowledge of
      inheritance patterns can aid in early detection and with close monitoring can
      help the ophthalmologist preserve as much vision as possible (for example with
      early treatment of choroidal neovascularization). 

PMID- 27625882
TI  - Pediatric genetic ocular tumors.
AB  - Pediatric genetic ocular tumors include malignancies like retinoblastoma and
      phakomatosis like neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, von Hippel-Lindau
      syndrome, and nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. It is important to screen for
      ocular tumors both for visual prognosis and also for systemic implications. The
      phakomatosis comprise of multitude of benign tumors that are aysmptomatic but
      their detection can aid in the diagnosis of the syndrome. Retinoblastoma is the
      most common malignant intraocular tumor in childhood and with current treatment
      modalities, the survival is more than 95%. It is transmitted as an autosomal
      dominant fashion and hence the offsprings of all patients with the germline
      retinoblastoma need to be screened from birth. This review discusses the various
      pediatric genetic ocular tumors discussing the clinical manifestation, diagnosis
      and treatment. 

PMID- 27625883
TI  - Congenital optic nerve anomalies and hereditary optic neuropathies.
AB  - Congenital and hereditary optic nerve anomalies represent a significant cause of
      visual dysfunction. While some optic nerve abnormalities affect the visual system
      alone, others may be associated with neurologic and systemic findings. Correct
      identification of the optic nerve disease therefore is crucial both for
      developing a treatment plan with respect to visual rehabilitation, but also for
      initiating the appropriate multidisciplinary evaluation. The purpose of this
      review is to highlight common examples of congenital and inherited optic nerve
      abnormalities in an effort to familiarize the clinician with salient clinical
      features of these diseases and to review important systemic testing when
      relevant. 

PMID- 27625884
TI  - Genetics of strabismus and lid diseases.
AB  - The prevalence of congenital ocular malformations has been described to vary from
      0.04 to 6.8 per 10,000 live births. The nuclear mutations identified in chronic
      progressive external ophthalmoplegia harbor multiple mtDNA deletions that include
      POLG mutations, PEO1 mutations, OPA1 mutations and RRM2B mutations. In Kearns
      Sayre syndrome, the spontaneous mitochondrial deletions vary from 1.3 to 8.0 kb
      subunits of the oxidative phosphorylation enzymes and several t-RNA genes are
      affected. Oculopharyngeal muscle dystrophy is both autosomal dominant and
      recessive form. Congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles (CFEOM) 1 has
      mutations in KIF21A on chromosome 12 with TUBB3 mutation also being seen. CFEOM 2
      is an autosomal recessive, genetically distinct entity with homozygous mutations
      in PHOX2A. CFEOM 3 is autosomal dominant heterozygous missense mutations in
      TUBB3. Most cases of Mobius syndrome are sporadic with familial cases being
      autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or X-linked recessive inheritance.
      Genetic testing has shown abnormalities involving chromosome 1 and 13.
      Presynaptic congenital myasthenic syndrome is caused by ChAT (choline
      acetyltransferase) mutation. Two loci have been found for myotonic dystrophy
      (DM). DM1, which is associated with trinucleotide expansion on chromosome 19q13.3
      and DM2 which is associated with CCTG tetranucleotide expansion at 3q21.
      Blepharophimosis is caused by mutations in the FOXL2 gene 49 located at
      chromosome 3q23. Lymphedema-distichiasis is an autosomal dominant disorder caused
      by mutations in the FOXC2 gene. 

PMID- 27625885
TI  - Biocompatibility of reduced graphene oxide nanoscaffolds following acute spinal
      cord injury in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Graphene has unique electrical, physical, and chemical properties
      that may have great potential as a bioscaffold for neuronal regeneration after
      spinal cord injury. These nanoscaffolds have previously been shown to be
      biocompatible in vitro; in the present study, we wished to evaluate its
      biocompatibility in an in vivo spinal cord injury model. METHODS: Graphene
      nanoscaffolds were prepared by the mild chemical reduction of graphene oxide.
      Twenty Wistar rats (19 male and 1 female) underwent hemispinal cord transection
      at approximately the T2 level. To bridge the lesion, graphene nanoscaffolds with
      a hydrogel were implanted immediately after spinal cord transection. Control
      animals were treated with hydrogel matrix alone. Histologic evaluation was
      performed 3 months after the spinal cord transection to assess in vivo
      biocompatibility of graphene and to measure the ingrowth of tissue elements
      adjacent to the graphene nanoscaffold. RESULTS: The graphene nanoscaffolds
      adhered well to the spinal cord tissue. There was no area of pseudocyst around
      the scaffolds suggestive of cytotoxicity. Instead, histological evaluation showed
      an ingrowth of connective tissue elements, blood vessels, neurofilaments, and
      Schwann cells around the graphene nanoscaffolds. CONCLUSIONS: Graphene is a
      nanomaterial that is biocompatible with neurons and may have significant
      biomedical application. It may provide a scaffold for the ingrowth of
      regenerating axons after spinal cord injury.

PMID- 27625887
TI  - Olfactory neuroblastoma followed by emergency surgery for symptomatic intradural
      spinal metastasis: A case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) is a rare, aggressive tumor of the
      nasal cavity. It may invade the paranasal cavities and anterior skull base
      locally but may also metastasize to the cervical lymph nodes, lungs, or distant
      central nervous system. CASE DESCRIPTION: Here, we report a case of ONB in which
      emergency surgery was performed for intradural spinal metastasis (ISM). The
      patient was a 52-year-old male who underwent surgery for ONB. The tumor extended
      from the nasal cavity to the intracranial space and was resected completely.
      After radiotherapy (60 Gy), the patient was discharged without any neurological
      deficit except anosmia. Seven months after the surgery, he consulted our
      department because of progressive tetraparesis. Cervical magnetic resonance
      imaging demonstrated an intradural spinal mass involving C5-T2 and necessitating
      emergency surgery. The tumor was resected subtotally followed by 58 Gy whole
      spine irradiation. The patient's neurological symptoms improved, however,
      paralysis of the right upper and both the lower limbs remained. During the 4
      months between the spinal surgery and his death, there was no further motor
      deterioration in any of his four extremities. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates
      the need to be aware of potential ISM in the follow-up of patients with ONB. The
      early detection of ISM by spinal MRI is crucial to ensuring good palliative care.

PMID- 27625886
TI  - Dorsal extradural meningioma: Case report and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extradural spinal mass lesions are most commonly metastatic tumors.
      Extradural meningiomas are rare, accounting for approximately 2.5-3.5% of spinal
      meningiomas; intraoperatively, they are easily mistaken for malignant tumors,
      especially in the en plaque variety, resulting in inadequate surgical treatment.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: Our case is one of the first to describe a patient with two
      purely extradural meningiomas, one each between D3-D4 and between D5-D6 vertebral
      levels. Surgical resection was radical, and pathologically both lesions were
      meningothelialmeningiomas. CONCLUSIONS: Reviewing the literature, we discuss the
      pathogenesis, treatment strategies, and long-term behavior of these uncommon
      lesions.

PMID- 27625888
TI  - Traumatic brain injury and subsequent glioblastoma development: Review of the
      literature and case reports.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous reports have proposed an association between traumatic brain
      injury (TBI) and subsequent glioblastoma (GBM) formation. METHODS: We used
      literature searches and radiographic evidence from two patients to assess the
      possibility of a link between TBI and GBM. RESULTS: Epidemiological studies are
      equivocal on a possible link between brain trauma and increased risk of malignant
      glioma formation. We present two case reports of patients with GBM arising at the
      site of prior brain injury. CONCLUSION: The hypothesis that TBI may predispose to
      gliomagenesis is disputed by several large-scale epidemiological studies, but
      supported by some. Radiographic evidence from two cases presented here suggest
      that GBM formed at the site of brain injury. We propose a putative pathogenesis
      model that connects post-traumatic inflammation, stem and progenitor cell
      transformation, and gliomagenesis.

PMID- 27625891
TI  - Commentary: Metabolic syndrome and the hepatorenal reflex.

PMID- 27625890
TI  - Developing an algorithm for cost-effective, clinically judicious management of
      peripheral nerve tumors.
AB  - Peripheral nerve tumors such as neurofibromas and schwannomas have become
      increasingly identified secondary to improved imaging modalities including
      magnetic resonance neurogram and ultrasound. Given that a majority of these
      peripheral nerve tumors are benign lesions, it becomes important to determine
      appropriate management of such asymptomatic masses. We propose a normal cost
      effective management paradigm for asymptomatic peripheral nerve neurofibromas and
      schwannomas that has been paired with economic analyses. Specifically, our
      management paradigm identifies patients who would benefit from surgery for
      asymptomatic peripheral nerve tumors, while providing cost-effective
      recommendations regarding clinical exams and serial imaging for such patients. 

PMID- 27625889
TI  - Total temporary occlusion of blood flow for several hours to treat a giant deep
      arteriovenous malformation: A series of multiple operations to save a young life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of giant deep arteriovenous malformations (AVMs)
      remains challenging. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report a case of giant deep AVM
      diagnosed in a 9-year-old girl, for whom the AVM rupture occurred 9 years later.
      At the age of 9, the girl developed mild left hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance
      imaging revealed a giant deep AVM. The patient underwent one course of
      stereotactic radiotherapy followed by serial imaging. At the age of 18, we
      admitted her to our department with left hemiparesis and a loss of consciousness.
      Computed tomography showed intracerebral hemorrhage related to AVM. The treatment
      process proved challenging, with recurrent intracerebral hemorrhages. During the
      second operation, we used total temporary occlusion for almost 4 hours.
      Eventually, after 4 rounds of embolizations, 4 microsurgical operations, and a
      month-and-a-half after admission, AVM was successfully occluded. Five years after
      this treatment, the patient regained the ability to walk without assistance,
      although a moderate disability with visual changes remained (Modified Rankin
      Scale score 3). CONCLUSION: This case illustrates that the cumulative risk of
      rupture of a high-grade AVM in young patients is evident, while treatment may
      prove successful with satisfactory results.

PMID- 27625892
TI  - How to compare clinical results of different neurosurgical centers? Is a
      classification of complications in neurosurgery necessary for this purpose?

PMID- 27625894
TI  - Surface anatomy for implantation of external ventricular drainage: Some surgical
      remarks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: External ventricular drainage (EVD) is an emergency process intended
      to reduce intracranial hypertension resulting from the obstruction of
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. This creates a temporary situation to extract CSF
      that cannot pass through normally. Knowing the surface anatomy for EVD
      implantation is important to prevent its inadvertent complications. The external
      landmarks have been designed in this anatomic study to review the classical
      landmarks and come up with new landmarks to improve this simple but lifesaving
      procedure. METHODS: From November 1998 to October 2012, we implanted 439 EVDs.
      RESULTS: In the first years, we employed usual landmarks to implant 97 EVDs.
      Since 2002, we used modified anatomical landmarks to implant 342 EVDs directly in
      the third ventricle. CONCLUSION: Using effective landmarks for EVD implementation
      allows the catheter to be inserted in the third ventricle. In addition, it
      permits more precise accuracy to ensure a safer procedure with fewer
      complications.

PMID- 27625893
TI  - Surgical variation of microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia: A
      technical note and anatomical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this article, the authors described their experience in
      microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia. METHODS: The microvascular
      decompression technique used in the authors' institution is described in a step
      by step manner with some illustrative cases as well as a cadaver dissection to
      highlight the differences with other previously described techniques. RESULTS:
      Since 2013, 107 patients were operated in the Neurosurgery Division of the
      University of Sao Paulo using the described technique, with a shorter operative
      time and avoiding cerebellar retractor compared with classic techniques.
      CONCLUSION: Our modified microvascular decompression technique for trigeminal
      neuralgia can be used with safety and efficiency for treating trigeminal
      neuralgia.

PMID- 27625896
TI  - Focal Hepatic Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake Mimics Liver Metastasis Following
      External Beam Radiation for Gastroesophageal Cancers: A Case and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - Patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal cancers frequently undergo
      concurrent chemotherapy and radiation (CRT). 18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron
      emission tomography ((18)FDG-PET) in combination with computed tomography is used
      for disease staging and assessing response to therapy. (18)FDG-PET interpretation
      is subject to confounding influences including infectious/inflammatory
      conditions, serum glucose, and concurrent medications. Radiotherapy induces
      tissue damage, which may be associated with FDG-avidity; however, few reports
      have described the focal areas of hepatic uptake following concurrent
      chemoradiation (CRT). Distinguishing hepatic FDG uptake from disease progression
      represents an important clinical scenario. Here, we present two cases of
      unexpected FDG uptake in the liver after CRT and review the literature describing
      incidental liver uptake on FDG-PET. 

PMID- 27625897
TI  - Acute Calculous Cholecystitis Missed on Computed Tomography and Ultrasound but
      Diagnosed with Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography/Computed
      Tomography.
AB  - We present a case of a 69-year-old patient who underwent ascending aortic
      aneurysm repair with aortic valve replacement. On postsurgical day 12, he
      developed leukocytosis and low-grade fevers. The chest computed tomography (CT)
      showed a periaortic hematoma which represents a postsurgical change from aortic
      aneurysm repair, and a small pericardial effusion. The abdominal ultrasound
      showed cholelithiasis without any sign of cholecystitis. Finally, a
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/CT examination was
      ordered to find the cause of fever of unknown origin, and it showed increased FDG
      uptake in the gallbladder wall, with no uptake in the lumen. FDG-PET/CT can
      diagnose acute cholecystitis in patients with nonspecific clinical symptoms and
      laboratory results. 

PMID- 27625895
TI  - Iatrogenic spinal hematoma as a complication of lumbar puncture: What is the risk
      and best management plan?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lumbar puncture (LP) rarely results in complications such as spinal
      hematomas. However, it remains unclear if certain variables increase likelihood
      of these events, or if surgical intervention improves outcome. METHODS: In
      addition to two clinical vignettes, we evaluated the post-1974 literature for
      cases of spinal hematoma and subsequent intervention. Based on our compilation of
      data, we evaluated outcome relative to numerous distinct variables. RESULTS:
      Based on 35 LP-related spinal hematoma cases in the post-1974 literature and our
      encounters, we found 28.6% of patients presenting with preexisting coagulopathy
      had poor outcomes regardless of intervention, relative to 14.3% of patients
      without coagulopathy; a highly significant difference (P = 0.02). Once diagnosed,
      21 patients were treated surgically and 14 nonsurgically. Of the 60% surgical
      patients, 57.1% had good outcomes, and 42.9% had poor outcomes within 12 months.
      Of 40% nonsurgical patients, 57.1% had good outcomes and 42.9% had poor outcomes.
      Results in these groups were not statistically different. CONCLUSIONS: We found a
      significant correlation between preexisting coagulopathy and poor neurological
      outcome irrespective of intervention. However, outcomes for these patients may be
      confounded by comorbidities including underlying conditions contributing to their
      coagulopathy. No significant correlation between type of surgical intervention
      and good outcome was found, possibly attributable to the paucity of details in
      existing case reports and the difficulty defining the degree of spinal cord
      compromise from a given lesion. Despite our findings, emergent neurosurgical
      intervention may be beneficial for the management of complications such as cauda
      equina syndrome secondary to intrathecal spinal hematoma.

PMID- 27625898
TI  - Tuberculosis-associated Fibrosing Mediastinitis: Case Report and Literature
      Review.
AB  - Fibrosing mediastinitis is a rare condition defined by the presence of fibrotic
      mediastinal infiltrates that obliterate normal fat planes. It is a late
      complication of a previous granulomatous infection, such as histoplasmosis or
      tuberculosis (TB). Due to its rarity, fibrosing mediastinitis is often under
      recognized, and the clinical presentation is variable and dependent on the extent
      of infiltration or encasement of structures within the mediastinum. We present a
      case of fibrosing mediastinitis in a man with a prior history of TB, who
      presented with progressive dyspnea and was found to have chronic mediastinal soft
      tissue opacities and pulmonary hypertension. His diagnosis was delayed due to the
      lack of recognition of this clinical/radiographic entity. Fibrosing mediastinitis
      is a rare entity usually caused by granulomatous disease. Most cases develop as a
      late complication of histoplasmosis or TB. The presence of calcified mediastinal
      soft tissue infiltrates on advanced chest imaging can be diagnostic of fibrosing
      mediastinitis in patients with a prior history of a granulomatous infection once
      active processes such as malignancy are excluded. 

PMID- 27625899
TI  - Ethosuximide for Essential Tremor: An Open-Label Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: T-type calcium channel activation has been postulated to underlie
      rhythmicity in the olivo-cerebellar system that is implicated in ET. Ethosuximide
      reduces T-type calcium currents and can suppress tremor in two animal models of
      ET. We explored the effects of ethosuximide in subjects with ET in an open-label
      trial using both clinical scales and accelerometric recordings measures. We
      initially planned to conduct the trial with 15 patients, but due to lack of
      efficacy and a high incidence of adverse effects, the trial was stopped after
      seven patients had participated. METHODS: Seven patients diagnosed with ET were
      included in the study. The ethosuximide dose was 500 mg daily (BID). The main
      outcome measures were: 1) tremor clinical rating scale (TCRS) score, 2)
      accelerometric recordings, and 3) self-reported disability scale score. RESULTS:
      Five patients completed the study, and two dropped out due to adverse effects.
      There were no significant changes in clinical scores in motor task performance
      (TCRS 1+2), daily living activities (TCRS 3), or in the patients' subjective
      assessment (TCRS 4) and global appraisal. There were no differences observed for
      accelerometry data or disability scale scores. Anxiety, nervousness, headache,
      and dizziness were reported by two patients while on ethosuximide, causing them
      to stop the trial. No patient preferred to continue ethosuximide treatment.
      DISCUSSION: The results of our exploratory study suggest that ethosuximide is not
      an effective treatment for ET.

PMID- 27625900
TI  - Predicting Improvement in Writer's Cramp Symptoms following Botulinum Neurotoxin
      Injection Therapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Writer's cramp is a specific focal hand dystonia causing abnormal
      posturing and tremor in the upper limb. The most popular medical intervention,
      botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) therapy, is variably effective for 50-70% of
      patients. BoNT-A non-responders undergo ineffective treatment and may experience
      significant side effects. Various assessments have been used to determine
      response prediction to BoNT-A, but not in the same population of patients.
      METHODS: A comprehensive assessment was employed to measure various symptom
      aspects. Clinical scales, full upper-limb kinematic measures, self-report, and
      task performance measures were assessed for nine writer's cramp patients at
      baseline. Patients received two BoNT-A injections then were classified as
      responders or non-responders based on a quantified self-report measure. Baseline
      scores were compared between groups, across all measures, to determine which
      scores predicted a positive BoNT-A response. RESULTS: Five of nine patients were
      responders. No kinematic measures were predictably different between groups.
      Analyses revealed three features that predicted a favorable response and
      separated the two groups: higher than average cramp severity and cramp frequency,
      and below average cramp latency. DISCUSSION: Non-kinematic measures appear to be
      superior in making such predictions. Specifically, measures of cramp severity,
      frequency, and latency during performance of a specific set of writing and
      drawing tasks were predictive factors. Since kinematic was not used to determine
      the injection pattern and the injections were visually guided, it may still be
      possible to use individual patient kinematics for better outcomes.

PMID- 27625901
TI  - Delayed Hemichorea Following Temporal-Occipital Lobe Infarction.

PMID- 27625903
TI  - Granuloma Mimicking Local Recurrence on PET/CT after Liver Resection of
      Colorectal Liver Metastasis: A Case Report.
AB  - Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) improves the diagnostic
      interpretation of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG ) PET and CT in
      oncologic patients and has an impact on both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects
      of patient management. However, false positive findings from the PET/CT imaging
      should be taken into consideration as they mislead physicians into improper
      therapeutic actions. We present a 48-year-old female patient with a history of
      left colectomy for colorectal cancer and subsequent liver metastasectomy. After
      one year of follow-up, she presented with a highly suspicious lesion in the
      liver, which was confirmed on PET/CT as a metastatic liver tumor. Consequently,
      the patient underwent surgical excision of the tumor, and the definitive
      histological diagnosis showed a granulomatous tissue with giant cells and foreign
      body tissue reaction. Based on this report, we briefly review the dangerous
      pitfalls from radiological and PET/CT imaging concerning the preoperative
      diagnostic workup examination, as they may significantly alter the treatment plan
      in oncologic patients. 

PMID- 27625902
TI  - Activation of NQO1 in NQO1*2 polymorphic human leukemic HL-60 cells by diet
      derived sulforaphane.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) confers protection against
      semiquinones and also elicits oxidative stress. The C609T polymorphism of the
      NQO1 gene, designated NQO1*2, significantly reduces its enzymatic activity due to
      rapid degradation of protein. Since down regulation of NQO1 mRNA expression
      correlates with increased susceptibility for developing different types of
      cancers, we investigated the link between leukemia and the NQO1*2 genotype by
      mining a web-based microarray dataset, ONCOMINE. Phytochemicals prevent DNA
      damage through activation of phase II detoxification enzymes including NQO1.
      Whether NQO1 expression/activity in leukemia cells that carry the labile NQO1*2
      genotype can be induced by broccoli-derived phytochemical sulforaphane (SFN) is
      currently unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: The ONCOMINE query showed that: (1) acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia are associated with
      reduced NQO1 levels, and (2) under-expressed NQO1 was found in human HL-60
      leukemia cell line containing the heterozygous NQO1*2 polymorphism. We examined
      induction of NQO1 activity/expression by SFN in HL-60 cells. A dose-dependent
      increase in NQO1 level/activity is accompanied by upregulation of the
      transcription factor, Nrf2, following 1-10 MUM SFN treatment. Treatment with 25
      uM SFN drastically reduced NQO1 levels, inhibited cell proliferation, caused sub
      G1 cell arrest, and induced apoptosis, and a decrease in the levels of the
      transcription factor, nuclear factor-kappaB (NFkappaB). CONCLUSIONS: Up to 10 MUM
      of SFN increases NQO1 expression and suppresses HL-60 cell proliferation whereas
      >= 25 MUM of SFN induces apoptosis in HL-60 cells. Further, SFN treatment
      restores NQO1 activity/levels in HL-60 cells expressing the NQO1*2 genotype.

PMID- 27625904
TI  - Rice Body Formation Within a Peri-Articular Shoulder Mass.
AB  - Most commonly associated with chronic inflammatory conditions, rice bodies
      represent an uncommon, nonspecific, often intra-articular inflammatory process.
      Presumably, rice bodies represent the sequelae of microvascular infarcts of the
      joint synovium. However, rice bodies have been seen in pleural fluid, in the
      setting of bursitis, and within the tendon sheath. The etiology and prognostic
      significance of rice bodies are not clear. MRI is the diagnostic imaging modality
      of choice for the evaluation of rice body formation. Here we present a case of a
      28-year-old female with a history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who presented to
      her primary care physician with a palpable mass around her right shoulder which
      was presumed to be a lipoma. An initial ultrasound showed a fluid filled
      structure with internal debris. Subsequent MRI evaluation was confirmatory for
      subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis with rice body formation. The salient point of
      this report is to highlight the importance of patient-specific differential
      diagnosis. While lipomas are a very common benign soft tissue tumor, patients
      with RA often have disease-specific sequelae that should be included in the
      diagnostic deliberation. Thus, when ordering diagnostic testing for patients with
      a palpable mass and rheumatoid arthritis, MRI--possibly preceded by conventional
      radiography--is the most appropriate diagnostic algorithm. 

PMID- 27625905
TI  - The Inter-Mammary Sticky Roll: A Novel Technique for Securing a Doppler
      Ultrasonic Probe to the Precordium for Venous Air Embolism Detection.
AB  - Venous air embolism is a devastating and potentially life-threatening
      complication that can occur during neurosurgical procedures. We report the
      development and use of the "inter-mammary sticky roll," a technique to reliably
      secure a precordial Doppler ultrasonic probe to the chest wall during
      neurosurgical cases that require lateral decubitus positioning. We have found
      that this noninvasive technique is safe, and effectively facilitates a constant
      Doppler signal with no additional risk to the patient. 

PMID- 27625906
TI  - Cost-Effectiveness of Cardiac Radiosurgery for Atrial Fibrillation: Implications
      for Reducing Health Care Morbidity, Utilization, and Costs.
AB  - In the United States (U.S.), atrial fibrillation (AF) is the second-most common
      cardiovascular condition after hypertension, affecting four million Americans
      each year. Individuals with AF are three times more likely to be hospitalized
      over the span of a year when compared to medically matched control groups. The
      considerably large clinical population of individuals with AF mandates that the
      cost-effectiveness and efficacy of current treatment regimens for AF have
      egregious implications for health care spending and public health. Unfortunately,
      catheter ablation for AF treatment has been shown to make only modest gains in
      quality-adjusted life years, has yet to demonstrate cost-utility advantages over
      conventional therapies for AF, and has a reported rate of recurrence for AF that
      is notably high. Thus, there is a major unmet clinical need for a therapeutic
      option to treat AF that produces more consistent and efficacious results that are
      cost-effective. Cardiac radiosurgery as a therapy for AF has the potential to be
      remarkably cost-effective and produce robust patient outcomes. CyberHeart Inc.
      has developed the world's first-ever cardiac radiosurgery (CRS) system designed
      to ablate the heart non-invasively. Procedures that ablate the heart utilizing
      the Cyberheart CRS system are anticipated to allow higher efficacy and more
      consistent results than current techniques such as catheter ablation. The aim of
      this study is to present the current healthcare utilization and expenditures in
      AF treatment, report the cost-effectiveness of catheter ablation for AF, and
      project the potential cost-effectiveness of cardiac radiosurgery for the
      treatment of AF. 

PMID- 27625907
TI  - Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Global Challenge Among Medical Students.
AB  - Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been identified as one of the more highly
      prevalent and costly gastrointestinal disorders. Despite its uncertain etiology,
      risk factors, such as stress and academic load, are well correlated with the
      prevalence of the disease. Being in one of the most stressful and challenging
      environments, medical students are predisposed to have high rates of IBS. The
      socioeconomic burden of the disease on its sufferers is devastating as their
      quality of life is reduced, mandating additional health care precautions. The aim
      of this article, therefore, is to review the current literature about IBS among
      medical students, its prevalence, associated risk factors, and diagnostic
      criteria. Additionally, different solutions and management options are
      recommended to control the disease. 

PMID- 27625908
TI  - The Role of Transcatheter Arterial Embolization in Traumatic Pelvic Hemorrhage:
      Not Only Pelvic Fracture.
AB  - PURPOSE: The most common life-threatening complication of pelvic trauma is
      bleeding. Arterial bleedings frequently require active management, preferably
      with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE). Hemodynamic instability and/or
      contrast extravasation at computer tomography (CT) examination are reliable
      indicators of arterial injury. Unstable pelvic fractures are much more
      hemorrhagic than stable fractures. Nevertheless, an absent or isolated pelvic
      fracture does not exclude pelvic hemorrhage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective study was conducted on our institutional database by collecting
      data of patients who underwent pelvic angiography and/or embolization due to
      pelvic blunt trauma in the period between August 2010 and August 2015. RESULTS:
      In a period of five years, 39 patients with traumatic pelvic bleeding underwent
      angiography at our institution. Thirty-six of the 39 (92%) patients did show CT
      signs of active pelvic bleeding. Nineteen of 39 (49%) patients were
      hemodynamically unstable at presentation. Three of the 39 patients did not
      require embolization. Technical success was 35/36 (97%), and overall mortality
      was 3/39 (8%). Notably, 5/39 (13%) patients did not have any pelvic fracture at
      presentation, and 18/39 (46%) had only isolated or stable pelvic ring fracture.
      CONCLUSIONS: TAE is an effective technique to treat arterial pelvic bleeding
      after trauma. The absence of a major pelvic fracture does not exclude the risk of
      active bleeding requiring prompt treatment.

PMID- 27625909
TI  - Role of Epidural Injections to Prevent Surgical Intervention in Patients with
      Chronic Sciatica: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the different
      types of epidural injections (EI) to prevent surgical intervention in patients
      suffering from chronic sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation (LDH). MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Studies were identified by searching PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar
      to retrieve all available relevant articles. Lists of references of several
      systematic reviews were also used for scanning further references. Publications
      from the past ten years (2006-2016) were considered, and all studies selected
      were in the English language only. The studies employed specified the use of EI
      to treat sciatica caused by LDH. A total of 19 papers meeting the eligibility
      criteria (mentioned below) were included in this study. The pain scores,
      functional disability scores, and surgical rates from these studies were
      considered, and meta-analysis was performed. OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain scores,
      functional disability scores, and surgical rates were assessed from the included
      studies. The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) have been
      the most commonly used baseline scales for pain evaluation followed by the Verbal
      Numerical Rating Scale (VNRS) and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA). The
      Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)
      scales were used for the functional disability scoring system in the literature.
      RESULTS: Significant improvement in the pain scores and functional disability
      scores were observed. Additionally, greater than 80% of the patients suffering
      from chronic sciatica caused by LDH could successfully prevent surgical
      intervention after EI treatment with or without steroids. CONCLUSION: The
      management of sciatica with EI treatment results in significant improvements in
      the pain score, functional disability score, and surgical rate. We concluded that
      EI provides new hope to prevent surgical intervention in patients suffering from
      sciatica caused by LDH.

PMID- 27625910
TI  - Thymic Tumor Extension into the Heart, a Rare Finding Found by Point-of-Care
      Ultrasound.
AB  - We report a cardiac mass detected by point-of-care ultrasound performed within
      the emergency department on a 65-year-old male with thymic cancer who presented
      with chronic cough and fever. Results from the initial emergency workup, which
      included blood tests, urinalysis, and a computerized tomography with angiography
      scan with venous phasing of the chest, did not result in a definitive diagnosis.
      A point-of-care echocardiogram was performed to evaluate for possible infective
      endocarditis, but alternatively identified a large mass in the right atria and
      ventricle. The mass was later confirmed to be metastatic tumor from the patient's
      known thymic cancer. This case emphasizes the vital role ultrasound can play in
      the acute care setting. 

PMID- 27625911
TI  - Duodenal Amyloidosis Masquerading as Iron Deficiency Anemia.
AB  - The present study is a unique illustration of duodenal amyloidosis initially
      manifesting with iron deficiency anemia. It underscores the importance of
      clinical suspicion of amyloidosis while performing upper gastrointestinal
      endoscopy with a biopsy to establish the definite diagnosis in patients with
      unexplained iron deficiency anemia. 

PMID- 27625912
TI  - Autonomous Soft Robotic Fish Capable of Escape Maneuvers Using Fluidic Elastomer
      Actuators.
AB  - In this work we describe an autonomous soft-bodied robot that is both self
      contained and capable of rapid, continuum-body motion. We detail the design,
      modeling, fabrication, and control of the soft fish, focusing on enabling the
      robot to perform rapid escape responses. The robot employs a compliant body with
      embedded actuators emulating the slender anatomical form of a fish. In addition,
      the robot has a novel fluidic actuation system that drives body motion and has
      all the subsystems of a traditional robot onboard: power, actuation, processing,
      and control. At the core of the fish's soft body is an array of fluidic elastomer
      actuators. We design the fish to emulate escape responses in addition to forward
      swimming because such maneuvers require rapid body accelerations and continuum
      body motion. These maneuvers showcase the performance capabilities of this self
      contained robot. The kinematics and controllability of the robot during simulated
      escape response maneuvers are analyzed and compared with studies on biological
      fish. We show that during escape responses, the soft-bodied robot has similar
      input-output relationships to those observed in biological fish. The major
      implication of this work is that we show soft robots can be both self-contained
      and capable of rapid body motion.

PMID- 27625913
TI  - A Recipe for Soft Fluidic Elastomer Robots.
AB  - This work provides approaches to designing and fabricating soft fluidic elastomer
      robots. That is, three viable actuator morphologies composed entirely from soft
      silicone rubber are explored, and these morphologies are differentiated by their
      internal channel structure, namely, ribbed, cylindrical, and pleated.
      Additionally, three distinct casting-based fabrication processes are explored:
      lamination-based casting, retractable-pin-based casting, and lost-wax-based
      casting. Furthermore, two ways of fabricating a multiple DOF robot are explored:
      casting the complete robot as a whole and casting single degree of freedom (DOF)
      segments with subsequent concatenation. We experimentally validate each soft
      actuator morphology and fabrication process by creating multiple physical soft
      robot prototypes.

PMID- 27625914
TI  - Dynamics of Elastic Beams with Embedded Fluid-Filled Parallel-Channel Networks.
AB  - A pressurized fluid-filled parallel-channel network embedded in an elastic beam,
      asymmetrically to the neutral plane, will create a deformation field within the
      beam. Deformation due to embedded fluidic networks is currently studied in the
      context of soft actuators and soft-robotic applications. Expanding on this
      concept, configurations can be designed so that the pressure in the channel
      network is created directly from external forces acting on the beam, and thus can
      be viewed as passive solid-fluid composite structures. We approximate the
      deformation of such structures and relate the fluid pressure and geometry of the
      network to a continuous deformation-field function. This enables the design of
      networks creating steady arbitrary deformation fields as well as to eliminate
      deformation created by external time-varying forces, thus increasing the
      effective rigidity of the beam. In addition, by including the effects of the
      deformation created by the channel network on the beam inertia, we can modify the
      response of the beam to external time-varying forces. We present a scheme to
      design channel networks that create predefined oscillating deformation patterns
      in response to external oscillating forces. The ability to include inertial
      effects is relevant to the design of dynamic soft robots and soft actuators. Our
      results are illustrated and validated by numerical computations.

PMID- 27625916
TI  - Autonomous Object Manipulation Using a Soft Planar Grasping Manipulator.
AB  - This article presents the development of an autonomous motion planning algorithm
      for a soft planar grasping manipulator capable of grasp-and-place operations by
      encapsulation with uncertainty in the position and shape of the object. The end
      effector of the soft manipulator is fabricated in one piece without weakening
      seams using lost-wax casting instead of the commonly used multilayer lamination
      process. The soft manipulation system can grasp randomly positioned objects
      within its reachable envelope and move them to a desired location without human
      intervention. The autonomous planning system leverages the compliance and
      continuum bending of the soft grasping manipulator to achieve repeatable grasps
      in the presence of uncertainty. A suite of experiments is presented that
      demonstrates the system's capabilities.

PMID- 27625915
TI  - Soft and Stretchable Sensor Using Biocompatible Electrodes and Liquid for Medical
      Applications.
AB  - This article introduces a soft and stretchable sensor composed of silicone rubber
      integrating a conductive liquid-filled channel with a biocompatible sodium
      chloride (NaCl) solution and novel stretchable gold sputtered electrodes to
      facilitate the biocompatibility of the sensor. By stretching the sensor, the
      cross section of the channel deforms, thus leading to a change in electrical
      resistance. The functionalities of the sensor have been validated experimentally:
      changes in electrical resistance are measured as a function of the applied
      strain. The experimentally measured values match theoretical predictions, showing
      relatively low hysteresis. A preliminary assessment on the proposed sensor
      prototype shows good results with a maximum tested strain of 64%. The design
      optimization of the saline solution, the electrodes, and the algebraic
      approximations derived for integrating the sensors in a flexible manipulator for
      surgery has been discussed. The contribution of this article is the introduction
      of the biocompatible and stretchable gold sputtered electrodes integrated with
      the NaCl-filled channel rubber as a fully biocompatible solution for measuring
      deformations in soft and stretchable medical instruments.

PMID- 27625917
TI  - Soft Robotic Grippers for Biological Sampling on Deep Reefs.
AB  - This article presents the development of an underwater gripper that utilizes soft
      robotics technology to delicately manipulate and sample fragile species on the
      deep reef. Existing solutions for deep sea robotic manipulation have historically
      been driven by the oil industry, resulting in destructive interactions with
      undersea life. Soft material robotics relies on compliant materials that are
      inherently impedance matched to natural environments and to soft or fragile
      organisms. We demonstrate design principles for soft robot end effectors, bench
      top characterization of their grasping performance, and conclude by describing in
      situ testing at mesophotic depths. The result is the first use of soft robotics
      in the deep sea for the nondestructive sampling of benthic fauna.

PMID- 27625919
TI  - ACT-ONE - ACTION at last on cancer cachexia by adapting a novel action beta
      blocker.
AB  - Novel action beta-blockers combine many different pharmacological effects. The
      espindolol exhibits effects through beta and central 5-HT1alpha receptors to
      demonstrate pro-anabolic, anti-catabolic, and appetite-stimulating actions. In
      the ACT-ONE trial, espindolol reversed weight loss and improved handgrip strength
      in patients with cachexia due to non-small cell lung cancer or colorectal cancer.
      With this trial, another frontier of cachexia management is in sight.
      Nonetheless, more efficacy and safety data is needed before new therapeutic
      indications for novel action beta-blockers can be endorsed.

PMID- 27625920
TI  - Clinical perspective for wasting in diaphragm, an ever-trained muscle.

PMID- 27625918
TI  - Moving upwards - the journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle in 2016.

PMID- 27625921
TI  - Letter to the editor: results from a Web-based survey to identify dynapenia
      screening tools and risk factors.

PMID- 27625922
TI  - Corrigendum to: Prevalence of sarcopenia among community-dwelling elderly of a
      medium-sized South American city: results of the COMO VAI? study.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.12049.]. 

PMID- 27625923
TI  - GMS Ophthalmology Cases - An Open Access Journal.

PMID- 27625924
TI  - Spontaneous progression of a full-thickness macular microhole to a lamellar
      macular hole in spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
AB  - We presented a case of full-thickness macular hole progressing into lamellar
      macular hole as seen in the spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Short
      review of the literature regarding the pathogenesis of lamellar hole was
      presented and discussed. 

PMID- 27625925
TI  - Visual loss and presumed pseudoxanthoma elasticum confirmed with genetic analysis
      but not with skin examination and biopsies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Case report of a patient with angioid streaks, peau d'orange, comet
      tail lesions, choroidal neovascularisation and presumed pseudoxanthoma elasticum
      (PXE). PXE was confirmed by gene analysis but not by skin biopsies. METHODS: Case
      report of a patient with angioid streaks identified at age 21 and follow-up till
      age 43 with repeated fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence
      tomography (OCT). Dermatologic examination, skin biopsies and genetical analysis
      performed to confirm suspected diagnosis of PXE. RESULTS: At age 43, no specific
      skin lesions were identified and 3 biopsies could not confirm PXE. Genetic
      analysis showed a homozygous mutation in the ABCC6 gene and confirmed the
      diagnosis of PXE. CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates that in patients with
      angioid streaks having strong ocular indicators of PXE, confirmation of PXE can
      be obtained not only with dermatologic examination and skin biopsies, but also
      with genetic analysis. PXE associated mutations can be detected occasionally in
      biopsy negative patients and for this reason are extremely helpful in confirming
      a suspected diagnosis.

PMID- 27625926
TI  - Flash photography-induced maculopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report a flash photography-induced maculopathy. METHODS: A
      professional photographer blinded himself accidentally and he consulted 3 days
      after the event with a scotoma in his dominant left eye. A unilateral acute light
      induced maculopathy with hemorrhage was observed. The lesion was studied with
      colour photography, fluorescein and indocyanin angiography, autofluorescence
      imaging and repeated optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. RESULTS: At age
      43, this professional photographer was blinded by the flash light of his camera
      and subsequently realized he had a scotoma in his dominant eye. Three days after
      the event visual acuity (VA) was 20/70 and an acute light-induced maculopathy was
      noted. Another three days later, VA was 20/50 and the lesions were less
      prominent. After one month, the photographer still had problems making sharp
      pictures, VA was 20/25 and a macular scar was observed. During further follow-up,
      he regained full vision and experienced no professional problems. CONCLUSIONS:
      This case illustrates that the light of flash photography can accidentally hit an
      eye and induce a light-induced maculopathy.

PMID- 27625927
TI  - Chronic central serous choroidopathy with severe visual loss in hyperopic
      microphthalmic identical twins.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report chronic central serous choroidopathy with severe visual loss
      in hyperopic microphthalmic identical twins. METHODS: The index patient was first
      examined in 1994, at age 31, and has been followed up closely for 17 years. He
      had repeated fluorescein and indocyanine green angiograms, OCT, ultrasound
      biometry, and recently also autofluorescence and EDI OCT. His twin brother was
      first examined in 2010, at age 47, and had a similar extensive exploration.
      RESULTS: The index patient had a mean refractive error of +6 D OU and VA was
      20/32++ in the RE and 20/200 in the LE in 1994. Vision slowly went down to
      20/800+ in the RE and 20/600 in the LE in 2011. His twin brother has a mean
      refractive error of +6 D OU and VA 20/400 OU. Both have a short axial length of
      the eye, a thick choroid with dilated vessels, and central serous choroidopathy
      with cystic degeneration of the macula and retina in the posterior pole.
      CONCLUSIONS: We add to the reported complications of microphthalmos, chronic
      central serous choroidopathy.

PMID- 27625928
TI  - Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the bulbar conjunctiva - an interventional case
      report.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma of
      the conjunctiva. It appears more frequently in the elderly, it is more aggressive
      than squamous cell carcinoma, and it has a higher recurrence rate and higher
      incidence of intraocular and orbital invasion. METHODS: We report a case of a 74
      year-old man who presented to the Emergency Department with a one month history
      of painful red left eye. RESULTS: The patient presented with visual acuity was
      10/10 in both eyes and a conjunctiva tumor on the bulbar conjunctiva of left eye.
      The UBM revealed a thickening of the conjunctiva-sclera complex with no signs of
      intraocular invasion. A biopsy was performed and the diagnosis was of
      mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Two local excisions with adjuvant cryotherapy and
      mitomycin C aplication were carried out in a period of 6 months. After 9 months
      of follow-up there has not been any sign of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The early
      diagnosis and treatment of carcinoma is essential not only to prevent the
      intraocular spread and preserve visual function but also to prevent local or
      systemic recurrence and dissemination.

PMID- 27625929
TI  - Imaging tamoxifen retinopathy using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
AB  - A case of tamoxifen retinopathy examined with spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography (SD-OCT) is presented. The typical refractile deposits are located
      between ganglion cell layer and inner plexiform layer in SD-OCT. A defect on the
      outer retinal layer with disruption of the photoreceptor layer with sharp edges
      is seen. The still attached posterior hyaloids gives evidence of other
      pathomechanism involved in the outer retinal defect than that of macular hole, as
      suggested in the literature. 

PMID- 27625930
TI  - Serous retinal detachment following panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) using
      Pattern Scan Laser (PASCAL) photocoagulator.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report a case of serous retinal detachment after Pattern Scan Laser
      (PASCAL) treatment in a diabetic woman. METHODS: A 34-year-old diabetic woman
      presented with florid diabetic retinopathy after a miscarriage during the 20(th)
      week of pregnancy. Her Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) was 20/40 right eye
      (OD) and 20/30 left eye (OS). Fundus exam showed multiple microaneurysms, large
      blot hemorrhages and venous dilation both eyes (OU). Fundus fluorescein
      angiography (FFA) revealed large areas of capillary nonperfusion and panretinal
      neovascularisation in all quadrants OU. Macular Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence
      Tomography scan (SD-OCT) did not show any foveal thickening. Panretinal
      photocoagulation (PRP) was immediately performed OU during the same day. RESULTS:
      Two days after PASCAL treatment, her BCVA decreased to 20/80 OU and worsened to
      Count Fingers (CF) during the following days. Fundus exam revealed an extensive
      serous retinal detachment confirmed on SD-OCT. 2 sub-conjunctival injections of
      0.1 ml Betamethasone were done OU. One month later, BCVA improved to 20/30 and SD
      OCT confirmed regression of retinal detachment. CONCLUSIONS: PASCAL is considered
      to be a safe treatment, but one has to be aware of its potential side effects. It
      has to be used with caution in pregnant women.

PMID- 27625931
TI  - When narrative medicine helps in the diagnosis of conjunctival melanoma - an
      exceptional case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Conjunctival melanoma is a relatively rare ocular malignancy with
      substantial associated morbidity and mortality. It can arise in previously
      unblemished and unpigmented regions (approximately 10% of cases), from a
      preexisting nevus (approximately 20% of cases), or from the flat, spreading
      pigmentation of primary acquired melanosis with atypia (60-70% of cases),
      actually called conjunctival melanocytic intraepithelial neoplasia (C-MIN) with
      atypia (histopathologically more accurately term). PURPOSE: The authors describe
      an extremely rare case of malignant conjunctival melanoma, with a long evolution,
      in a young black woman. RESULTS: Until now the patient has not shown any sign of
      relapse of this melanoma, after local excision. CONCLUSION: Conjunctival melanoma
      is a condition of concern because of its rarity and lethal potential. Advances in
      the understanding and management of this neoplasm have markedly reduced the
      mortality and possibly the morbidity associated with this malignancy. We observe
      that there are some cases of conjunctival melanoma that might be cured with only
      a local excision with posterior cryotherapy without more aggressive methods. The
      practice of narrative medicine brings new possibilities in the diagnosis and
      collection of classical history.

PMID- 27625932
TI  - Unilateral, recurrent exudative retinal detachment in association with
      pansinusitis.
AB  - AIM: To report a patient with unilateral exudative retinal detachment due to
      pansinusitis. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 65-year-old woman with a two-month
      history of blurred vision, red eye and lid swelling in her left eye was referred
      to us. Her best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/200 in
      the left. Conjunctival vessels were engorged in the OS. Funduscopy revealed a 360
      degrees  exudative detachment in OS and computerized tomography (CT) imaging
      revealed pansinusitis. Systemic antibiotic treatment was employed and exudative
      detachment regressed. However, exudative detachment remitted as soon as
      antibiotic treatment ceased. Finally she underwent sinus surgery and
      decompression of the orbita. Her visual acuity improved to 20/100 just two days
      after the surgery, stabilized at 20/30 and no further recurrences occured during
      the follow-up of 10 months. CONCLUSION: Since exudative retinal detachment
      usually accompanies systemic inflammatory or neoplastic diseases, systemic
      screening and collaboration with other disciplines are mandatory. To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first report of a case that developed exudative
      retinal detachment due to pansinusitis and only recovered after decompression
      surgery.

PMID- 27625933
TI  - Ritonavir and bull's eye maculopathy: case report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report on a case of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) toxicity
      apparently associated with ritonavir. METHODS: We describe a case of gradual
      onset blurry vision in both eyes in a 30-year-old HIV-positive male on Highly
      Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) including ritonavir Results: The patient
      presented with a visual acuity of 3/10 in each eye, and fundoscopy revealed
      paracentral pigment mottling. Computerized perimetry showed a ring-scotoma in
      both eyes. Fluorescein angiography revealed an anular RPE defect in both eyes,
      congruent with hyperautofluorescent changes on autofluorescence imaging. Full
      field ERG was normal. CONCLUSIONS: Since ritonavir has previously been linked
      with toxicity to the RPE, we consider this report as further evidence of this
      association.

PMID- 27625935
TI  - Acute abducens nerve palsy as a presenting feature in carotid-cavernous fistula
      in a 6-year-old girl.
AB  - Carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCF) are abnormal communications between the internal
      carotid artery and the cavernous sinus. Traumatic carotid-cavernous fistulae are
      rare potential complications of craniofacial trauma. Typical findings of CCF are
      proptosis, chemosis, headache, oculomotor or abducens nerve palsy, trigeminal
      pain and pulsating bruit over the temporal skull and the bulb. CCF are reported
      very rarely in childhood. This report describes the clinical and radiological
      findings of a pediatric patient presented with CCF. 

PMID- 27625934
TI  - Neuro-Behcet, pseudotumor cerebri and ocular signs: a rare association.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The central nervous system involvement in Behcet's disease occurs
      in 5-30% of cases. The diagnosis of pseudotumor cerebri is even rarer (only 22
      cases reported worldwide). PURPOSE: To emphasize the importance of differential
      diagnosis in a case of pseudotumor cerebri in the context of ocular inflammation.
      METHODS: V.A.V.R., a 31 year old female, was diagnosed with pan-uveitis on the
      left eye associated with recurrent bipolar aphthosis. During the etiological
      investigation, there was an onset of a left hemiparesis and facial palsy.
      RESULTS: The central nervous system (CNS) neuroradiological investigation
      revealed a space-occupying lesion within the right hemisphere with intense signal
      enhancement with gadolinium. It globally reached the nucleo-basal structures and
      induced deviation of the middle structures (including homolateral ventricle).
      Cytochemical analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was negative for atypical
      cells. The ophthalmological features regressed with the corticosteroid and
      immunosuppressive therapy instituted. The final diagnosis was of pseudotumor
      cerebri in the context of Behcet's disease. CONCLUSION: In Behcet's disease, a
      cerebral space-occupying lesion should lead to a diagnosis of pseudotumor
      cerebri. The correct diagnosis will determine an appropriate therapy and may
      prevent an inappropriate neurosurgical approach. The cortico and immunotherapy
      allowed a substantial regression of the lesion.

PMID- 27625936
TI  - Bilateral panuveitis associated with Whipple disease - case report.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a clinical case and literature review of Whipple disease.
      METHODS: A 65-year-old male with bilateral decreased visual acuity for 3 weeks as
      well as bilateral hypoacusia, vertigo, disequilibrium, headache and decreased
      strength in the right upper limb for 4 months. The clinical work-up revealed a
      bilateral panuveitis and an ischemic cerebellar stroke. RESULT: The diagnosis of
      Whipple disease was confirmed by histopathological analysis of adenopathy. The
      patient was treated with cortico-antibiotic therapy with significant clinical
      improvement. CONCLUSION: Although rare, Whipple disease is potentially fatal if
      left untreated, it must be always be taken into consideration before any
      panuveitis of an unknown cause, even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms.

PMID- 27625937
TI  - Phlyctenular keratoconjunctivitis - an atypically severe case treated with
      systemic biologic immunosuppressive therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report an atypically severe and refractory phlyctenular
      keratoconjunctivitis case treated successfully with systemic biologic
      immunosuppressive therapy. METHODS: A 10-year-old female was followed in the
      ophthalmology clinic for three years for a severe form of bilateral PKC. The
      patient was treated for blepharitis and intestinal parasitosis, and underwent
      topical corticosteroid therapy, followed by subconjunctival injections and
      systemic corticosteroids with no clinical improvement. An association of topical
      cyclosporine A and oral methotrexate had no clinical response either. Phlyctenae
      of the cornea remained evident with neovascularization, progressive peripheral
      corneal thinning and occasional anterior chamber reaction. RESULTS: The patient
      was treated with a combination of infliximab and methotrexate and corticosteroid
      therapy was tapered, with a fast and sustained resolution of the symptoms and
      corneal signs. Eleven months past initiation of the treatment, the patient
      remains asymptomatic and without any recurrence of the disease. CONCLUSION:
      Phlyctenular keratoconjunctivitis may present with a broad spectrum of symptoms
      and signs, and its severity varies significantly. In cases of severe PKC, which
      are refractory to conventional therapy, systemic biologic immunosuppressive
      therapy may be a valuable alternative.

PMID- 27625938
TI  - Neovascular glaucoma in a child: an unusual presentation of medulloepithelioma.
AB  - A healthy 12 month old infant without significant medical history presented with
      left eye redness for one week. Ophthalmic examination showed elevated intraocular
      pressure with iris neovascularization in the affected eye with increased optic
      nerve cupping. Scleral depression revealed a ciliary body mass in the
      supratemporal quadrant. A large, non-pigmented, vascular mass was noted; biopsy
      results showed multilayered cords, tubules, and sheets resembling primitive
      medullary epithelium arising from the ciliary body. The patient was diagnosed
      with medulloepithelioma. The patient underwent enucleation of the affected eye.
      Medulloepithelioma is a rare but important cause of neovascular glaucoma in the
      pediatric population. This case will focus on the characteristics of
      medulloepthelioma and the differential diagnosis for a non-pigmented ciliary body
      mass in a child. 

PMID- 27625939
TI  - The management of ophthalmic involvement in blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome is a rare vascular disease most
      commonly associated with venous malformations of the skin and the
      gastrointestinal tract. Few ophthalmic cases have been reported to date, and no
      clear treatment regimen exists. We describe the case of a 59-year-old man, along
      with a review of literature, to help in the future diagnosis and treatment of
      patients with the disease. METHODS: This paper is an observational case report
      and a review of medical literature on the syndrome from 1981 to present. RESULTS:
      Our patient developed a dural arteriovenous fistula in his orbit after being
      diagnosed with a familial form of blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome. Multiple
      endovascular embolization procedures eliminated all of his ocular symptoms.
      Surgical procedures were also successful in other cases reviewed, and similar
      symptoms were seen across cases. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing our case with other
      ophthalamic reports in literature, surgical intervention appears to be a
      plausible long-term treatment for optic manifestations of blue rubber bleb nevus
      syndrome. Systemic therapies, including sirolimus and corticosteroids, have had
      limited success in the long-term treatment of other forms of blue rubber bleb
      nevus syndrome, and therefore are not recommended in the treatment of ocular
      symptoms.

PMID- 27625940
TI  - Radial optic neurotomy as a treatment for anterior ischemic optic neuropathy
      secondary to optic disc drusen.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Radial optic neurotomy (RON) was first described by Opremcak as a
      treatment for patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). The most
      common cause of visual loss in patients with optic disc drusen is nonarteritic
      anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The pathogenesis of nonarteritic
      anterior ischemic optic neuropathy associated with optic disc drusen is assumed
      to be similar to the compartment-like syndrome described by Opremcak in the case
      of central retinal vein occlusion. OBSERVATION: An 82-year-old male with
      bilateral optic disc drusen presented with bilateral visual loss and severe
      visual field defects consistent with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic
      neuropathy. A radial optic neurotomy was performed to treat the most affected
      eye. Postoperatively, significant and persistent improvement of visual acuity and
      improved automated perimetry were observed in the operated eye. CONCLUSION: Optic
      nerve head decompression by radial optic neurotomy could be a treatment option in
      patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy associated with
      optic disc drusen and severe visual field defects.

PMID- 27625941
TI  - Asymmetrical behaviour of disappearance of reticular pseudodrusen in both eyes
      during long-term follow-up with spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe asymmetrical disappearance of reticular pseudodrusen (RPD)
      in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: SDOCTs and
      infrared images of four patients with RPD were retrospectively collected and
      evaluated during long-term follow-up of up to 47 months (range 35-47 months).
      RESULTS: Unilateral fading of RPD was detected on SDOCTs and infrared images in
      eyes with and without choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) and intravitreal
      injections. Presence of RPD in the fellow eyes remained stable in three cases, in
      one case very few RPD newly developed. Three of the four cases demonstrated
      unilateral outer retinal atrophy following regression of RPD. CONCLUSIONS: This
      report highlights that RPD may almost completely disappear after occurrence and
      treatment of CNV in neovascular AMD, but also in dry AMD without any treatment
      and that this phenomenon may be unilateral.

PMID- 27625942
TI  - Disc edge veins of Kraupa associated with optic disc drusen.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Disc edge veins of Kraupa are a rare anomaly of the retinal venous
      system in which the main trunk of the retinal vein disappeared into the margin of
      the optic disc instead of its centre. METHODS: A 40-year-old woman was detected
      to have an anomaly in her left optic disc in a routine eye examination. The eyes
      had an anomaly of the retinal venous system in which all branches of the retinal
      vein joined in a common trunk that entered the disc margin inferonasally. The
      central retinal artery issued from the centre of the disc separately of the
      venous system. B-scan ultrasonografhy revealed the presence of hyperechoic
      imaging at the optic nerve head in both eyes. RESULTS: We describe the
      association of disc edge veins of Kraupa with optic disc drusen. CONCLUSION:
      Vascular complications of optic disc drusen hav been described. We don't know the
      implication of disc edge veins in the pathogenesis of these complications.

PMID- 27625943
TI  - Triad of torticollis, photophobia and epiphora in a child with a posterior fossa
      tumor.
AB  - A 7-month-old Caucasian girl presented with an acquired, spasmodic torticollis to
      the right side with the head tilted downwards, photophobia and epiphora.
      Diagnostic work-out revealed a posterior fossa pilocytic astrocytoma. The
      symptoms improved after surgical resection. There is evidence of internuclear
      connections between cranial nerves II, V and VII acting as important mechanisms
      in this triad (Okamoto et al. 2010). 

PMID- 27625945
TI  - Posterior segment findings in a patient with immunotactoid glomerulonephritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present a case with posterior segment findings in a patient with
      cloudy corneas secondary to immunotactoid glomerulonephritis (ITG). METHODS: A 57
      year-old female was known to have bilateral cloudy corneas diagnosed 12 years ago
      secondary to immunotactoid glomerulonephritis. Clinically, fundus examination was
      difficult to visualise due to the density of her corneal opacities. RESULTS: B
      scan ultrasound revealed significant retino-choroidal & non-inflammatory scleral
      thickening. The macula also showed signs of thickening in both eyes. Optical
      coherence tomography (OCT) showed thinning of the inner retinal layers and
      significant choroidal folds in both eyes. Electrodiagnostic tests (EDT) concluded
      loss of retinal ganglion cells with preservation of retinal function in both
      eyes. CONCLUSION: This case widens the spectrum of findings seen in patients
      diagnosed with Immunotactoid Glomerulonephritis and alerts us to undertake
      detailed posterior segment examination where possible. Ocular coherence
      tomography (OCT) and B-scan ultrasonography are important adjuvants to help
      assess the posterior segment in patients with corneal opacities secondary to ITG.

PMID- 27625944
TI  - Devic's syndrome in aquaporin-4 antibody negative patient. What we need to know
      ....
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe demyelinating syndrome
      characterized by optic neuritis (ON) and acute myelitis. The NMO spectrum is
      actually recognized to typically evolve as a relapsing disorder that also
      includes patients with atypical unilateral ON and those with index events of ON
      and myelitis occurring weeks or even years apart (Jarius/Wildemann 2013). NMO was
      previously assumed to be a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the discovery
      of aquaporin-4 antibodies in patients with neuromyelitis optica has led to this
      view being revised (Mandler 2006, Barnett/Sutton 2012, Wingerchuk et al. 2007).
      The cause of the condition is still unknown, but it has been shown that the
      antibodies bind selectively to a water channel expressed mainly on astrocytes at
      the blood-brain-barrier, which has an important role in the regulation of brain
      volume and ion homeostasis. However, there are some patients with NMO that are
      antibodies negative. The diagnosis is made on the basis of case history, clinical
      examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and spinal cord,
      analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), visual evoked potentials and a blood test
      with analysis of aquaporin-4 antibodies (Barnett/Sutton 2012, Wingerchuk et al.
      2007, Thornton et al. 2011). This suggests that periodical revisions of
      established concepts and diagnostic criteria are necessary. PURPOSE: The authors
      describe an extremely rare case of neuromyelitis optica and the aim of this paper
      is to call attention for the cases of NMO whith NMO-IgG negative. METHODS: The
      selected method is a case report. RESULTS: To date the patient showed partial
      recovery of left eye acuity and improvement of muscle strength of upper and lower
      limbs and does not show recurrence of the disease. CONCLUSION: NMO has a distinct
      clinical, imaging and immunopathological features sufficient to distinguish it
      from MS. This distinction is essential, because the treatment and the prognosis
      is different.

PMID- 27625946
TI  - Orbital cellulits following cataract surgery under peribulbar anaesthesia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Orbital cellulits following cataract surgery is extremely rare. We
      describe a case of orbital and facial cellulitis that occurred after routine
      cataract operation with peribulbar anaesthesia. There were no preoperative
      systemic or ocular risk factors for postoperative infection. CASE DESCRIPTION: An
      89-year-old man presented to eye casualty, the day after he underwent an
      uneventful phacoemulsification and posterior chamber lens implantation in the
      left eye under peribulabr anaesthesia, with soreness, swelling and reduced visual
      acuity (6/18) in the operated eye. On initial presentation periorbital swelling
      was noted, the eye was minimally tender, intraocular pressure was raised at 28
      mHg and fundoscopy was limited due to a hazy cornea. The patient was discharged
      on topical medication with a diagnosis of allergic reaction to postoperative
      drops. The following day, the patient re-presented with worsening orbital
      swelling involving the left cheek. Ocular findings remained unchanged. CT scan
      revealed left orbit soft tissue swelling and a locule of air medial to the medial
      rectus. There were no signs of sinus infection or periosteal inflammation. A
      diagnosis of left orbital and facial cellulitis was made and the patient was
      treated with intravenous antibiotics. DISCUSSION: Our patient did not have any
      predisposing risk factors, therefore most likely cause of cellulitis is surgical
      trauma during administration of the peribulbar block. This case illustrates the
      need for adequate skin preparation before the administration of peribulbar
      anaesthesia and minimal tissue trauma during the procedure.

PMID- 27625947
TI  - Conjunctival inclusion cyst following repair of tube erosion in a child with
      aphakic glaucoma, leading to endophthalmitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Glaucoma in aphakia is a major long term complication following
      congenital cataract surgery. Implantation of glaucoma drainage device provides an
      effective approach to manage refractory paediatric glaucoma. However implant
      surgery in young individuals is not free of complications. The prompt detection
      and management of tube erosion is of utmost importance to prevent devastating
      sequel of endophthalmitis. Implantation cyst following repair of tube erosion has
      not been reported so far. This case illustrates the rare occurrence of inclusion
      cyst following repair of tube erosion, the possible causes and its consequences.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: A 2-year-old child with aphakia developed intractable glaucoma.
      Following a failed glaucoma filtering surgery he underwent sequential Ahmed
      Glaucoma Valve implantation in both the eyes. Six weeks following right eye
      surgery, the child presented with conjunctival erosion overlying the tube, which
      was treated with scleral patch graft and conjunctival advancement. One month
      after the repair of tube erosion, the child presented with implantation cyst
      under the scleral patch graft, which was treated by drainage with a 29G needle.
      The child presented with endophthalmitis of his right eye following an episode of
      bilateral conjunctivitis. This was managed by an emergency pars plana vitrectomy,
      intraocular antibiotics and tube excision. At the last follow up visit, the IOP
      was 20 mmHg with 2 topical antiglaucoma medications in the right eye following a
      trans scleral photocoagulation. DISCUSSION: Lifelong careful follow-up of
      paediatric eyes with implant surgery is mandatory to look for complication such
      as tube erosion. It is important to place additional sutures to secure the patch
      graft during implantation of glaucoma drainage devices in children to prevent
      graft displacement and consequent tube erosion. During repair of tube erosion, it
      is crucial to remove all the conjunctival epithelium around the tube, thus not to
      incorporate epithelial tissue within the surgical wound.

PMID- 27625948
TI  - Non-Hodgkin lymphoma with relapses in the lacrimal glands.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report an unusual case of systemic non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with
      repeated relapse in the lacrimal glands, in spite of complete remission for
      several years after treatment. METHODS: A 78-year-old male with small lymphocytic
      B cell NHL, stage IV disease (lung invasion), was submitted to surgery and
      chemotherapy in 2001, with complete remission of the disease. In 2003 he
      developed a nodular lesion in the right lacrimal fossa. Pathology results
      revealed a local relapse of NHL. Radiation and chemotherapy were initiated and
      complete remission was again achieved. In 2012 the patient developed a new
      nodular lesion located in the left lacrimal fossa, resulting in diplopia, ptosis
      and proptosis of the left eye. Orbital computerized tomography (CT), ocular
      ultrasound and incisional biopsy were performed. RESULTS: Orbital CT revealed a
      lesion infiltrating the left lacrimal gland and encircling the globe. Biopsy
      results confirmed a local relapse of B cell NHL. The patient was submitted to
      local radiation therapy with progressive resolution of ptosis, proptosis and
      diplopia. Response to treatment was monitored with ocular ultrasound.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with NHL diagnosis should be immediately investigated if
      ophthalmic or orbital symptoms develop. NHL extension to the orbit and adnexa is
      infrequent (5% of NHL cases) but may occur at any stage of the disease, including
      as a relapse site. In such cases, radiation and chemotherapy achieve good
      results, inducing long periods of remission.

PMID- 27625950
TI  - Fifty-year follow-up and Strampelli anterior chamber intraocular lens.
AB  - The Strampelli anterior chamber intraocular lens was created in 1953, and was
      primarily used to treat myopia and aphakia. Due to the positioning of the lens,
      it was associated with a number of complications, and was later modified to
      decrease the rate of significant complications, including endothelial cell loss.
      This paper describes a 62-year-old man, who has had a Strampelli intraocular lens
      (IOL) in situ for 52 years, with relatively few complications. The case provides
      a framework for reflection on the significant advances in the development of IOLs
      since the Strampelli era. The Strampelli anterior chamber intraocular lens was
      created in 1953, and was primarily used to treat myopia and aphakia. Due to the
      positioning of the lens, it was associated with a number of complications, and
      was later modified to decrease the rate of significant complications, including
      endothelial cell loss. This paper describes a 62-year-old man, who has had a
      Strampelli intraocular lens (IOL) in situ for 52 years, with relatively few
      complications. The case provides a framework for reflection on the significant
      advances in the development of IOLs since the Strampelli era. 

PMID- 27625949
TI  - Unilateral proptosis and blindness caused by meningioma in a patient treated with
      cyproterone acetate.
AB  - Cyproterone has antiandrogenic, antigonadotropic, and progestagenic activity.
      High-dose preparations are used for treatment of prostate cancer and for
      treatment of hypersexuality. We describe a patient who was referred to our clinic
      with slowly progressive unilateral proptosis and blindness of the left eye. He
      had been treated with high-dose cyproterone actate (CPA) for 23 years. An obvious
      proptosis and exodeviation of his left eye was noted on ophthalmic examination.
      Fundoscopy showed left optic atrophy. The literature suggests a link between long
      term high-dose exogenous progesterone agonist exposure and the progression and/or
      development of meningioma. MRI of the brain was performed and revealed multiple
      meningiomas. One large meningioma located in the anterior temporal lobe extended
      into the left orbit and caused the proptosis and blindness. Treatment with CPA
      was stopped and follow-up imaging 11 months later showed a significant decrease
      in size of the largest meningiomas. 

PMID- 27625951
TI  - Retinoschisis transposition following a retinal detachment repair.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The authors have observed this phenomenon of translocation of the
      schisis cavity in a few previous cases and aim to report this unusual finding.
      METHOD: A patient with known superotemporal retinoschisis developed a distinctly
      separate inferotemporal retinal detachment in his left eye. This was repaired
      with a vitrectomy, cryotherapy and C2F6 tamponade under local anaesthetic.
      Following surgery, the retinoschisis was found in the inferonasal quadrant of the
      eye and remained stable as the gas dispersed. RESULT: We hypothesise that the
      tamponading agent compressed the viscous fluid within the area of schisis,
      displacing the area of schisis circumferentially. CONCLUSION: This case
      emphasises that as long as the retinal breaks are properly sealed, no
      intervention is required with the schisis during rhegmatogenous retinal
      detachment surgery.

PMID- 27625952
TI  - Cicatricial keratoconjunctivitis associated with lichen planus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a case of cicatricial keratoconjunctivitis associated with
      lichen planus. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: To our knowledge, this is the sixth
      reported case of cicatricial keratoconjunctivitis associated with lichen planus.
      A 73-year-old woman had persistent cicatricial keratoconjunctivitis.
      Histopathologic studies of the buccal mucosa biopsy specimen revealed lichen
      planus. CONCLUSION: Lichen planus is a possible cause of cicatricial
      keratoconjunctivitis. Topical cyclosporine may stabilize the ocular surface, and
      additional systemic immunosuppression may be needed in severe cases. A correct
      diagnosis through biopsy is essential to start aggressive anti-inflammatory
      treatment to avoid vision loss.

PMID- 27625953
TI  - A case of Mac Tel 2 with an unusual sub macular vitelliform lesion.
AB  - METHOD: Observational case report describing the clinical, FFA, OCT and mfERG
      findings in an elderly female patient with atypical features of macular
      telangiectasia (Mac Tel 2) RESULTS: A 71-year-old lady was detected to have
      characteristic features of Mac Tel 2 in the left eye (LE) and a yellowish sub
      macular vitelliform like lesion in the right eye (RE). FFA showed ill defined
      hyper fluorescence in the RE and telangiectasia and parafoveal leakage typical of
      Mac Tel 2 in the LE. On OCT RE had hyper reflective clump of echoes subfoveally
      with an intact RPE and LE had foveal thinning with hypo reflective intraretinal
      cavities. mfERG responses were normal in the RE and reduced in the LE. During the
      course of 3 years LE showed natural progression while RE remained unchanged.
      CONCLUSION: Structural and functional evaluation of an unusual sub macular
      vitelliform lesion seen in association with Mac Tel 2 and its course over a
      period of 3 years is described. The differentiating features of this lesion from
      adult onset foveomacular vitelliform dystrophy (AFMD) are discussed.

PMID- 27625955
TI  - Spontaneous dislocation of lens bag with acrylic lens after uneventful cataract
      surgery - unusual complication of cataract surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous dislocation of intraocular lens with bag is rare.
      METHODS: We report a case of a 56-year-old male who presented with spontaneous
      anterior dislocation of an in-the-bag intraocular lens 3 years after manual small
      incision cataract surgery. He had undergone manual small incision cataract
      surgery with foldable acrylic intraocular lens implantation, and 18 months after
      cataract surgery ND: YAG capsulotomy with uneventful post capsulotomy follow-up.
      17 months after capsulotomy, the patient presented with sudden decrease of
      vision. On anterior segment examination, the intraocular lens with bag was
      dislocated into the anterior chamber. RESULT: It was managed with intraocular
      lens explantation with bag, anterior vitrectomy and sclera fixated intraocular
      lens. CONCLUSION: Spontaneous intraocular lens dislocation with bag is possible
      after 1.5 years of uneventful surgery which may be managed using different
      techniques.

PMID- 27625956
TI  - Lens siderosis resulting from a small intralenticular metallic foreign body.
AB  - We report a rare case of lens siderosis with an undetectable intraocular foreign
      body by imaging. An 8-year-old boy presented with diminution of vision in the
      left eye since 3 months. His parents gave a preceding uncertain history of a
      foreign body injury to his left eye 3 months ago while playing. Presenting visual
      acuity in the left eye was perception of hand movements. Slit-lamp examination
      revealed a total white cataract with brownish-pigmented spots on the anterior
      capsule of the lens, but no intraocular foreign body was found. There was also no
      evidence of an intraocular foreign body on ultrasonography. Patient underwent
      cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation. During the operation, a
      small (2*1*1 mm in size) intralenticular foreign body of metal material was found
      and removed carefully with a magnet. The patient regained 20/30 vision after
      surgery. 

PMID- 27625954
TI  - Massive suprachoroidal hemorrhage: Surgical management and outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe options for vitreoretinal surgery in the management of
      massive suprachoroidal hemorrhage (SCH). METHODS: Visual acuity (VA), ocular
      findings, timing of surgical intervention, surgical procedures, and outcomes of
      four patients diagnosed with massive SCH and admitted to the University Eye
      Clinic Essen were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Four eyes of four patients
      (mean age, 82 years; range, 74-89 years) were studied. In three cases the
      occurrence of SCH was related to cataract surgery and occurred intra- or
      postoperatively. One patient developed spontaneous SCH of unclear origin. Three
      patients had a history of arterial hypertension; one eye had high myopia, two
      patients suffered from cardiovascular diseases, and two patients had glaucoma.
      Postoperative follow up of the patients ranged from 5 to 29.5 months (mean, 19.6
      months). Transscleral drainage of SCH was in all cases combined with pars plana
      vitrectomy, use of heavy liquids (perfluorodecalin) and silicone oil tamponade.
      The mean time interval from hemorrhage to surgical intervention was 16.5 days
      (range 5-29 days). Preoperative VA of all eyes was light perception. Two patients
      achieved a final postoperative visual acuity of 20/20 and 20/320, respectively,
      one patient improved to hand motion, and one patient resulted in no light
      perception. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical interventions including transscleral drainage
      of SCH, vitrectomy, and silicone oil tamponade are valuable options in the
      management of massive SCH to save the eye and possibly improve the otherwise
      extreme poor prognosis.

PMID- 27625957
TI  - Ophthalmologic identification of cerebral malaria in adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical presentation of malarial retinopathy in an
      adult, emphasizing the importance of this diagnosis for the clinical suspicion
      and prognosis of cerebral malaria. METHODS: A 39-year-old caucasian man presented
      with hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, acidemia and acute renal failure,
      developing severe encephalopathy. The diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria
      was done and after systemic stabilization, the patient noticed a central scotoma
      in the left eye. Ophthalmological examination revealed retinal features of
      malarial retinopathy. RESULTS: At one-month follow-up, the patient had improved
      his systemic condition and the left eye scotoma had disappeared. Visual acuity
      was 20/20 in both eyes and on examination almost all lesions had regressed.
      CONCLUSION: Malarial retinopathy is a diagnostic factor and a prognosis indicator
      of severe P. falciparum infection, usually with brain involvement. The knowledge
      of the ophthalmological features associated with severe malaria, which is more
      frequent in children but can also occur in adults, becomes imperative in order to
      reduce the risk of neurologic sequelae and associated mortality.

PMID- 27625958
TI  - Central retinal artery occlusion following laser treatment for ocular ischemic
      aortic arch syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ocular ischemic syndrome is a rare blinding condition generally caused
      by disease of the carotid artery. We describe a 69-year-old female with a 50 pack
      year smoking history with aortic arch syndrome causing bilateral ocular ischemic
      syndrome. METHODS: The patient presented with progressive visual loss and temple
      pain. Slit lamp biomicroscopy revealed bilateral iris neovascularization. This
      finding prompted a cardiovascular work up. Panretinal photocoagulation with
      retrobulbar block was performed in the right eye. RESULTS: A temporal artery
      biopsy was negative. The carotid duplex ultrasound showed only a 1-39% stenosis.
      MRA revealed a more proximal occlusion of the aortic branch for which she
      underwent subclavian carotid bypass surgery. At the one month follow up, the
      right eye suffered profound vision loss secondary to a central retinal artery
      occlusion. CONCLUSION: Ocular neovascularization may be one of the clinical
      manifestations of aortic arch syndrome. This case also illustrates the
      limitations of relying solely on carotid duplex ultrasound testing. We caution
      against overly aggressive panretinal photocoagulation utilizing retrobulbar
      anesthesia.

PMID- 27625959
TI  - Serous retinal detachment after trabeculectomy in angle recession glaucoma.
AB  - An 18-year-old male with 360 degree angle recession after blunt trauma in his
      right eye developed uncontrolled intraocular pressure (IOP) despite four
      antiglaucoma medications (AGM) with advancing disc damage. He underwent
      trabeculectomy with intraoperative mitomycin-c (MMC) application. There was an
      intraoperative vitreous prolapse which was managed accordingly. On post-surgery
      day 1, he had shallow choroidal detachment superiorly with non-recordable IOP.
      This was deteriorated 1 week postoperatively as choroidal detachment proceeded to
      serous retinal detachment. He was started with systemic steroid in addition to
      topical route. The serous effusions subsided within 2 weeks time. At the last
      follow up at 3 months, he was enjoying good visual acuity, deep anterior chamber,
      diffuse bleb, an IOP in low teens off any AGM and attached retina. This case
      highlights the rare occurrence of serous retinal detachment after surgical
      management of angle recession glaucoma. 

PMID- 27625960
TI  - Traumatic endophthalmitis following a crane pecking injury - An unusual mode.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of beta-hemolytic streptococcal endophthalmitis
      following crane-pecking injury. CASE REPORT: A twelve-year-old boy was brought to
      us by his father with history of crane beak injury in his right eye. On
      examination, his vision was 6/24 Snellen's acuity. Anterior segment examination
      showed a full thickness two mm corneo-limbal tear at 1 o'clock with iris
      prolapse. Pupil showed peaking through the wound with a clear crystalline lens.
      There was no evidence of hypopyon in the anterior chamber and B-scan
      ultrasonography showed acoustically clear vitreous with an attached retina. Left
      eye was within normal limits. Primary corneo-limbal tear repair was performed
      within 24 hours from the time of presentation. Intra-operatively, the corneal
      surgeon noted turbid aqueous with minimal hypopyon. In view of clinical suspicion
      of infection, an intravitreal tap for culture was taken during the primary
      repair, and prophylactic intravitreal antibiotics were given. The culture report
      showed beta-hemolytic streptococci. Pars plana vitrectomy with intravitreal
      antibiotics was performed after 2 days as serial ultrasound scans showed
      appearance and worsening of endophthalmitis. A month after the surgery, his best
      corrected visual acuity improved to 6/12. CONCLUSION: Ocular injuries resulting
      from bird pecking are very rare. We treated a case of full thickness corneo
      limbal tear with endophthalmitis caused by beta-hemolytic streptococci following
      a crane-pecking injury. We recommend that injecting intravitreal antibiotics
      along with primary globe repair in case of severe/contaminated injuries and early
      pars plana core-vitrectomy would result in better outcome like in our case.

PMID- 27625961
TI  - Severe acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis with complete
      spontaneous resolution: The natural course.
AB  - PURPOSE: We report on a case of unilateral acute syphilitic posterior placoid
      chorioretinitis (ASPPC) with spontaneous resolution of the lesions, and discuss
      the role of an altered versus adequate immune response as the major pathogenic
      factor. METHODS: We describe a case of acute loss of visual acuity (VA) in the
      left eye (LE) in a 55-year-old healthy man. RESULTS: The patient presented with
      VA of 20/20 in the right eye (RE) and hand movements in the LE. Fundoscopy
      revealed a large yellowish placoid macular lesion with subretinal fluid in the
      LE, with no abnormalities detected in the RE. Fluorescein angiography showed
      early hypofluorescence with late staining in the affected area. The clinical
      findings progressed fast during the first week, with extension of the initial
      lesion outside the temporal retinal vascular arcades and the appearance of new
      lesions in the same eye. The patient abandoned the clinic for two weeks with no
      treatment. When observed again, VA of the LE had recovered to 20/20 and the
      lesions had completely resolved. Venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) and
      fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests results were positive
      and HIV antibody test titers negative. The diagnosis of ASPPC in the left eye was
      made. The patient accepted treatment with penicillin G only 45 days after the
      initial presentation. AV remained stable at 20/20 both eyes and no relapses of
      the lesions were observed during this period without therapy. The patient was
      followed for 3 months after treatment. He remained asymptomatic and the
      ophthalmic examination was unremarkable. CONCLUSIONS: The pathogenesis of ASPPC
      is still not understood. Our case showed a sequential pattern of the
      chorioretinal lesions, with initial aggravation and complete posterior
      spontaneous resolution, showing the natural course of the disease. These findings
      suggest the presence of an adequate ocular immune response in patients with
      ASPPC, not supporting the initially proposed hypothesis of the importance of a
      modified immune response as the major pathogenic factor.

PMID- 27625962
TI  - Fibrolipoma on upper eyelid in child.
AB  - An 18-months-old male infant presented with a rapidly growing tumor on the right
      upper eyelid. Orbital computed tomography (CT) revealed a large, well
      circumscribed mass with low density signal in the right upper eyelid. Magnetic
      resonance images (MRI) showed a lesion of mixed T1-signal intensity and high
      signal intensity in T2-weighted images. The tumor was treated by simple anterior
      orbitotomy with excisional biopsy, and the diagnosis of fibrolipoma was made by
      histopathologic examination. There was no evidence of tumor at the four-year
      follow-up. Fibrolipoma is one of the rare variant of the lipoma and only four
      cases have been reported in the orbit including the present case. Except for this
      case all other cases were reported in adults. 

PMID- 27625963
TI  - Successful repair of injury to the eyelid, lacrimal passage, and extraocular
      muscle.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Injury is a known cause of monocular blindness. Ocular trauma may
      affect lacrimal canaliculi and the extraocular muscle. We report this case as it
      includes injury to lid, lacrimal canaliculi and inferior rectus. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 25-year-old male presented with an injury caused by a sharp object
      that resulted in a conjunctival tear, lid tear involving the lacrimal canal, and
      rupture of the inferior rectus muscle. All of the structures were repaired
      successfully during a single procedure. CONCLUSION: An extraocular injury
      involving the conjunctiva, lid, lacrimal passages, and extraocular muscles can be
      repaired successfully during a single procedure.

PMID- 27625964
TI  - Bilateral simultaneous anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, an extrahepatic
      manifestation of hepatitis C cured with direct acting antivirals.
AB  - We report a patient with a bilateral optic anterior ischemic neuropathy as an
      extrahepatic complication of a chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection. The patient
      presented with a bilateral visual acuity loss and bilateral optic disc oedema.
      The optic neuropathy was associated with a sudden increase in the viral HCV load
      after a recent liver transplantation. The stop of the calcineurin inhibitor had
      no effect on the course of the optic neuropathy. Visual improvement and
      normalization of HCV viraemia occurred after treatment with sofosbuvir and
      daclatasvir, which are direct acting antivirals. 

PMID- 27625965
TI  - A case report of primary orbital non-Hodgkin's lymphoma causing complete vision
      loss.
AB  - A 29-year-old male with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome presented with a week
      of left eye blurriness, which then progressed to complete vision loss. On exam,
      the left pupil was nonreactive to light, and fundoscopy showed significant optic
      nerve edema. CT and MRI of the left orbit showed a mass lesion compressing the
      posterior aspect of the sclera with diffuse thickening and contrast enhancement
      of the retrobulbar portion of the left optic nerve. The lesion demonstrated low
      T1 and intermediate T2 intensities and heterogeneous contrast enhancement and
      measured 17.4 mm x 15 mm x 10.6 mm. Anterior orbitotomy with exploration and
      biopsy were performed. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma and a workup showed no systemic involvement. Plans for treatment with
      chemotherapy and radiation were initiated. Even though rare, primary orbital NHL
      should be in the differential for relatively acute blindness without other
      symptoms, especially in patients with AIDS. 

PMID- 27625966
TI  - Iris pigment epithelial cysts in a newborn.
AB  - PURPOSE: We report a case of iris pigment epithelial cysts in a newborn and
      discuss the importance of an accurate diagnosis for prevention of amblyopia.
      METHODS: We describe a case of an abnormal red reflex seen on a newborn exam.
      RESULTS: A full-term female born via normal spontaneous vaginal delivery without
      any complications was seen in the newborn nursery. She was noted to have an
      abnormal eye exam. Pupils were large with circular dark excrescences of the iris
      pigment epithelium. She was referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist where she was
      noted to fixate and follow faces. No afferent pupillary defect was seen. OD red
      reflex was normal whereas OS red reflex was blocked mostly by dark excrescences.
      A 2-3 mm dark brown lesion was seen in the OD iris and a 3-5 mm dark brown lesion
      was seen in the OS iris, consistent with a pupillary iris pigment epithelial
      cyst. Central visual axis was clear OU. Glaucoma was not present and patching was
      not performed. Observations and clinical photographs were recommended with follow
      up in three months. CONCLUSION: Iris pigment epithelial cysts are uncommonly seen
      in children. The primary care provider first seeing a newborn must be aware of
      lesions obscuring a red reflex with appropriate follow-up. Follow-up in three
      months with IOP measurements is recommended. Iris pigment epithelial cysts in
      children may be a cause of amblyopia, thus prompt evaluation is important for
      prognostic purposes and the prevention of amblyopia.

PMID- 27625967
TI  - Unsupervised background-constrained tank segmentation of infrared images in
      complex background based on the Otsu method.
AB  - In an effort to implement fast and effective tank segmentation from infrared
      images in complex background, the threshold of the maximum between-class variance
      method (i.e., the Otsu method) is analyzed and the working mechanism of the Otsu
      method is discussed. Subsequently, a fast and effective method for tank
      segmentation from infrared images in complex background is proposed based on the
      Otsu method via constraining the complex background of the image. Considering the
      complexity of background, the original image is firstly divided into three
      classes of target region, middle background and lower background via maximizing
      the sum of their between-class variances. Then, the unsupervised background
      constraint is implemented based on the within-class variance of target region and
      hence the original image can be simplified. Finally, the Otsu method is applied
      to simplified image for threshold selection. Experimental results on a variety of
      tank infrared images (880 * 480 pixels) in complex background demonstrate that
      the proposed method enjoys better segmentation performance and even could be
      comparative with the manual segmentation in segmented results. In addition, its
      average running time is only 9.22 ms, implying the new method with good
      performance in real time processing. 

PMID- 27625968
TI  - The experiences of balloon-expandable stent in symptomatic stenosis of middle
      cerebral artery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stent placement for middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis remains a
      technical and clinical challenge. Our purpose was to assess the safety and
      feasibility of balloon-expandable stent (BES) for patients with symptomatic M1
      stenosis of MCA, and to introduce our experience during the procedure. METHODS:
      In the study, we analyzed retrospectively 37 patients with M1 stenosis of the MCA
      ranged from 70 to 90 % in diameter reduction and refractory to medical therapy
      between January 2012 and January 2015. All the patients underwent angioplasty and
      stenting with BES, and followed up continuously. RESULTS: Thirty-five out of 37
      patients were successfully followed up and available until now. The technical
      successful rate was 100 % for all the lesions. The complication rate was 0 during
      the procedure. Stroke occurred to one patient at 4th day after the procedure.
      There were two patients experiencing slight stroke after 8 months. Two patients
      were found re-stenosis >50 % without any symptom. The stroke rate of 12 months
      was 8.57 % (3/35). CONCLUSIONS: Angioplasty associated with BES appears to be
      safe and feasible for the patients with symptomatic M1 stenosis of MCA. Our
      experiences about the BES may be valuable for decreasing the complication.
      However, further study is needed.

PMID- 27625970
TI  - Asymptotic behavior of Laplacian-energy-like invariant of the 3.6.24 lattice with
      various boundary conditions.
AB  - Let G be a connected graph of order n with Laplacian eigenvalues [Formula: see
      text]. The Laplacian-energy-like invariant of G, is defined as [Formula: see
      text]. In this paper, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of the 3.6.24
      lattice in terms of Laplacian-energy-like invariant as m, n approach infinity.
      Additionally, we derive that [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and
      [Formula: see text] have the same asymptotic Laplacian-energy-like invariants. 

PMID- 27625969
TI  - Comparison of preoperative MRI and intraoperative findings of posterior tibial
      tendon insufficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the radiological and
      surgical correlation between preoperative magnetic resonance images (MRI) and the
      intraoperative findings in patients with acquired adult flatfoot. RESULTS: The
      overall radiological-surgical correlation between preoperative MRI and the
      intraoperative findings for posterior tibial tendon insufficiency was only slight
      to fair in our patient's series. Comparing the most commonly used posterior
      tibial tendon classification systems, the classification of Rosenberg et al. and
      Kong et al. showed higher interobserver agreement than our modified
      classification system and the classification system of Conti et al. CONCLUSION:
      Further prospective studies are needed to evaluate the importance of preoperative
      MRI before surgical repair of posterior tibial tendon dysfunction.

PMID- 27625971
TI  - The psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Headache-related Quality of life
      Questionnaire (CHQQ) translated to Serbian.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Comprehensive Headache-related Quality of life Questionnaire
      (CHQQ), is a recently developed and validated instrument, intended for measuring
      quality of life of patients with all headache types. Currently no validated
      headache-specific quality of life questionnaires are available in Serbian. The
      aim of this study was to translate the CHQQ from Hungarian to Serbian, to make
      necessary cultural adaptations and to test its psychometric properties in a
      sample of outpatients with headache. METHODS: The CHQQ was translated and adapted
      according to internationally accepted guidelines, and then tested on a sample of
      216 Serbian headache patients (171 females and 45 males, mean age 42.3 years/SD
      13.35; range 18-75). The majority of patients suffered from episodic tension-type
      headache (TTH); 27 (12.5 %) had episodic migraine. We calculated the internal
      consistency (Cronbach's alpha), criterion validity (correlations of individual
      items, dimensions and whole questionnaire with the clinical characteristics of
      headache), convergent validity (correlations of the abovementioned scores with
      results of other instruments measuring headache severity and impact), and
      discriminative validity (comparison of the scores in the two diagnostic groups)
      of the CHQQ. We used factor analysis to explore the underlying construct.
      RESULTS: The Serbian translation of CHQQ showed excellent internal consistency,
      both for the whole instrument (Cronbach's alpha 0.937) and its dimensions. The
      validity of the instrument in all aspects (criterion, convergent and
      discriminative validity) was also excellent when the whole sample and the
      subgroup of patients with TTH were analyzed, while the results for patients with
      migraine were less favorable. Factor analysis suggested the existence of a single
      dimension in this sample. CONCLUSIONS: The Serbian translation of CHQQ is as
      reliable and valid specific instrument for measuring headache-related quality of
      life in patients with TTH and probably in patients with migraine.

PMID- 27625972
TI  - Biochemical effect of a histidine phosphatase acid (phytase) of Aspergillus
      japonicus var. Saito on performance and bony characteristics of broiler.
AB  - Phytases are enzymes that hydrolyze the ester linkage of phytic acid, releasing
      inositol and inorganic phosphate. The phytic acid (phytate) is a major form of
      phosphorus in plant foods. Knowing that diet for animal of production has the
      cereal base (corn and soybean), primarily, broilers need for an alternative to
      use of the phosphate present in these ingredients, since it does not naturally
      produce the enzyme phytase, which makes it available. The aims of this work was
      studding the safe supplementation of Aspergillus japonicus var. Saito crude
      phytase in feeding broilers and check the biochemical effect on performance and
      bones of these animals. The enzymatic extract did not have aflatoxins B1, B2, G2
      and G1 and zearalenone and ochratoxin, and low concentrations of this extract did
      not have cytotoxic effects on cells derived from lung tissue. The in vivo
      experiments showed that the phytase supplied the available phosphate reduction in
      the broiler feed formulation, with a live weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed
      conversion, viability, productive efficiency index and carcass yield similar to
      the control test. Furthermore, the phytase supplementation favored the formation
      of bone structure and performance of the broilers. The results show the high
      biotechnological potential of A. japonicus phytase on broiler food
      supplementation to reduce phosphorus addition in the food formulation. So, this
      enzyme could be used as a commercial alternative to animal diet supplementation. 

PMID- 27625973
TI  - Metabolism rather than obesity is associated with ischemic stroke: a cross
      sectional study in rural Northeastern China.
AB  - Little is known about stroke with different obesity phenotype as determined using
      the Adult Treatment Panel-III criteria with metabolic health or not. This study
      aimed to investigate the effects of metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity
      on ischemic stroke in a general population. A total of 11,150 adults were
      examined using a multi-stage cluster sampling method to select a representative
      sample of individuals 35 years or older. Ischemic stroke was defined as history
      of a cerebrovascular event, as documented by doctors via either cranial CT or MR
      scan within the past 2 years. All subjects were categorized as having
      metabolically healthy non-obesity (MHNO), metabolically unhealthy non-obesity
      (MUNO), metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) or metabolically unhealthy obesity
      (MUO) using the Adult Treatment Panel-III criteria. Stratified analysis were done
      based on different body mass index group. For the total population, multiple
      regression analyses revealed that individuals with MUNO and MUO were more likely
      to experience ischemic stroke compared with those with MHNO (OR 2.136, 95 % CI
      1.677-2.720; OR 2.712, 95 % CI 1.798-4.092; all p < 0.001). The OR for ischemic
      stroke did not significantly differ between MHO and MHNO. Stratification based on
      different BMI group showed that, compared with people who were normal weight
      without Mes, participants who were in Mes with overweight or obesity had
      significantly higher OR for ischemic stroke(both p < 0.05); participants who were
      not in Mes with overweight or obesity did not showed OR significantly higher.
      Ischemic stroke is likely associated with poor metabolic health rather than with
      obesity itself. 

PMID- 27625974
TI  - Molecular epidemiology and characterization of human coronavirus in Thailand,
      2012-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronavirus causes respiratory infections in humans. To determine the
      prevalence of human coronavirus (HCoV) infection among patients with influenza
      like illness, 5833 clinical samples from nasopharyngeal swabs and aspirates
      collected between January 2012 and December 2013 were examined. RESULTS: HCoV was
      found in 46 (0.79 %) samples. There were 19 (0.32 %) HCoV-HKU1, 19 (0.32 %) HCoV
      NL63, 5 (0.09 %) HCoV-229E, and 3 (0.05 %) HCoV-OC43. None of the sample tested
      positive for MERS-CoV. The majority (54 %) of the HCoV-positive patients were
      between the ages of 0 and 5 years. HCoV was detected throughout the 2-year period
      and generally peaked from May to October, which coincided with the rainy season.
      Phylogenetic trees based on the alignment of the spike (S) gene sequences suggest
      an emergence of a new clade for HCoV-229E. CONCLUSIONS: The data in this study
      provide an insight into the prevalence of the recent circulating HCoVs in the
      region.

PMID- 27625975
TI  - Structural connectivity profile of scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit
      (SWEDD) patients compared to normal controls and Parkinson's disease patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we investigated the structural connectivity profile of
      patients with scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDD) compared
      with normal controls (NC) and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). An accurate
      understanding of SWEDD is important so that appropriate therapeutic options can
      be presented to patients. METHODS: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging of NC (n
      = 40), SWEDD (n = 40) and PD patients (n = 40) was obtained from a research
      database. Tractography, the process of obtaining fiber information was performed.
      Connectivity analysis was performed on 16 connections in the cortico-basal
      ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuit. Group-wise differences among NC, PD and SWEDD
      patients were quantified in terms of structural connectivity based on fiber
      density. Then, we investigated correlations with the clinical score using the
      Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS
      UPDRS). A support vector machine classifier and leave-one-out cross-validation
      were applied to separate the NC, SWEDD and PD groups. RESULTS: Pallidum-putamen
      and sensorimotor cortex-putamen connections showed significant group-wise
      differences among NC, PD and SWEDD patients and correlated with the MDS-UPDRS
      score. CONCLUSIONS: Pallidum-putamen and sensorimotor cortex-putamen connections
      might form a structural connectivity profile unique to SWEDD and could be a
      potential imaging biomarker for future movement disorder research.

PMID- 27625977
TI  - Schwarz alternating methods for anisotropic problems with prolate spheroid
      boundaries.
AB  - The Schwarz alternating algorithm, which is based on natural boundary element
      method, is constructed for solving the exterior anisotropic problem in the three
      dimension domain. The anisotropic problem is transformed into harmonic problem by
      using the coordinate transformation. Correspondingly, the algorithm is also
      changed. Continually, we analysis the convergence and the error estimate of the
      algorithm. Meanwhile, we give the contraction factor for the convergence.
      Finally, some numerical examples are computed to show the efficiency of this
      algorithm. 

PMID- 27625976
TI  - Associations between parental impulsivity and child body mass index.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the association between parental
      impulsivity and (12-15 year old) child body mass index (BMI). METHODS: In total,
      300 parents completed a survey regarding their own impulsivity level (Barratt
      impulsiveness scale) and that of their child (impulsivity scale of the
      temperament in middle childhood questionnaire), and supplied details of their own
      and their child's height and weight. Partial correlations were computed to assess
      relationships between both parental and child impulsiveness scores and child BMI
      z-scores, independent of parental BMI. Mediation analyses were performed to
      assess the potential mediating role of child impulsivity on the relationship
      between parental impulsivity and child BMI z-score. RESULTS: For daughters,
      parental impulsivity was significantly correlated with BMI z-score. Parent
      reported child impulsivity was not related to child BMI z-score, and no evidence
      was found for a mediating effect of parent-reported child impulsivity on the
      relationship between parental impulsivity and child BMI z-score. CONCLUSION:
      There is a stronger association between parental impulsivity and child BMI z
      score than between child impulsivity and child BMI z-score. The relationship
      between parental impulsivity and-child BMI z-score could possibly be explained by
      parenting styles and practices. The potentially mediating role of parenting
      should be taken into account in future studies investigating the role of
      personality in children becoming overweight or obese.

PMID- 27625978
TI  - A split-optimization approach for obtaining multiple solutions in single
      objective process parameter optimization.
AB  - It can be observed from the experimental data of different processes that
      different process parameter combinations can lead to the same performance
      indicators, but during the optimization of process parameters, using current
      techniques, only one of these combinations can be found when a given objective
      function is specified. The combination of process parameters obtained after
      optimization may not always be applicable in actual production or may lead to
      undesired experimental conditions. In this paper, a split-optimization approach
      is proposed for obtaining multiple solutions in a single-objective process
      parameter optimization problem. This is accomplished by splitting the original
      search space into smaller sub-search spaces and using GA in each sub-search space
      to optimize the process parameters. Two different methods, i.e., cluster centers
      and hill and valley splitting strategy, were used to split the original search
      space, and their efficiency was measured against a method in which the original
      search space is split into equal smaller sub-search spaces. The proposed approach
      was used to obtain multiple optimal process parameter combinations for
      electrochemical micro-machining. The result obtained from the case study showed
      that the cluster centers and hill and valley splitting strategies were more
      efficient in splitting the original search space than the method in which the
      original search space is divided into smaller equal sub-search spaces. 

PMID- 27625979
TI  - Random rotation survival forest for high dimensional censored data.
AB  - Recently, rotation forest has been extended to regression and survival analysis
      problems. However, due to intensive computation incurred by principal component
      analysis, rotation forest often fails when high-dimensional or big data are
      confronted. In this study, we extend rotation forest to high dimensional censored
      time-to-event data analysis by combing random subspace, bagging and rotation
      forest. Supported by proper statistical analysis, we show that the proposed
      method random rotation survival forest outperforms state-of-the-art survival
      ensembles such as random survival forest and popular regularized Cox models. 

PMID- 27625980
TI  - Removal of fluoride from water using a novel sorbent lanthanum-impregnated
      bauxite.
AB  - A novel sorbent, Lanthanum-Impregnated Bauxite (LIB), was prepared to remove
      fluoride from water. To understand the surface chemical composition and
      morphology, LIB was characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron
      microscopy techniques. Experiments were performed to evaluate the sorption
      potential, dose of sorbent, kinetics, equilibrium sorption capacity, pH and
      influence of anions for defluoridation by LIB. Equilibrium isothermal studies
      were conducted to model the sorption and regeneration studies were carried out to
      evaluate the reusability of LIB. The results showed that LIB, at a dose of 2 g/L
      could remove 99 % of fluoride from an initial concentration of 20 mgF/L. Kinetic
      studies revealed the best fit of pseudo second order model. The sorption followed
      Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum sorption capacity of LIB for removal of
      fluoride was found to be 18.18 mg/g. Naturally occurring pH of water was found to
      be favorable for sorption. Usually occurring anions in water except nitrates
      influenced sorption of fluoride by LIB. 

PMID- 27625982
TI  - A novel computational approach to approximate fuzzy interpolation polynomials.
AB  - This paper build a structure of fuzzy neural network, which is well sufficient to
      gain a fuzzy interpolation polynomial of the form [Formula: see text] where
      [Formula: see text] is crisp number (for [Formula: see text], which interpolates
      the fuzzy data [Formula: see text]. Thus, a gradient descent algorithm is
      constructed to train the neural network in such a way that the unknown
      coefficients of fuzzy polynomial are estimated by the neural network. The numeral
      experimentations portray that the present interpolation methodology is reliable
      and efficient. 

PMID- 27625981
TI  - Detection of mesenchymal stem cells senescence by prelamin A accumulation at the
      nuclear level.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), during in vitro expansion,
      undergo a progressive loss of proliferative potential that leads to the senescent
      state, associated with a reduction of their "medicinal" properties. This may
      hampers their efficacy in the treatment of injured tissues. Quality controls on
      MSC-based cell therapy products should include an assessment of the senescent
      state. However, a reliable and specific marker is still missing. From studies on
      lamin-associated disorders, has emerged the correlation between defective lamin A
      maturation and cellular senescence. FINDINGS: Primary cultured hMSC lines (n =
      3), were analyzed by immunostaining at different life-span stages for the
      accumulation of prelamin A, along with other markers of cellular senescence.
      During culture, cells at the last stage of their life span displayed evident
      signs of senescence consistent with the positivity of SA-beta-gal staining. We
      also observed a significant increase of prelamin A positive cells. Furthermore,
      we verified that the cells marked by prelamin A were also positive for p21(Waf1)
      while negative for Ki67. CONCLUSIONS: Overall data support that the detection of
      prelamin A identifies senescent MSC, providing an easy and reliable tool to be
      use alone or in combination with known senescence markers to screen MSC before
      their use in clinical applications.

PMID- 27625983
TI  - Eosinophil alveolitis in two patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary
      fibrosis (IPF) is typically characterized by a neutrophil inflammatory pattern
      and to a lesser extent (<25%) a mild eosinophil alveolitis. We here present two
      patients with a definite usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern on high
      resolution computed tomography of the thorax (HRCT) which demonstrated unusually
      high eosinophil counts in the BALF (40% and 51%). Based on HRCT, lack of response
      to steroids and the disease course they were both diagnosed as IPF after a
      multidisciplinary team discussion. This report discusses the diagnostic and
      etiological considerations of a coexisting UIP pattern and an eosinophil
      alveolitis. We conclude that these cases illustrate that high level BALF
      eosinophilia (40-50%) may occur among patients with IPF. 

PMID- 27625984
TI  - Pleural effusion: An uncommon manifestation of nitrofurantoin-induced pulmonary
      injury.
AB  - Nitrofurantoin has been documented as a cause of acute, sub-acute, and chronic
      pulmonary injury. This is a case of an 82 year-old female who presented with
      multiple episodes of respiratory symptoms due to recurrent pleural effusions
      after beginning nitrofurantoin therapy for urinary tract infection prophylaxis.
      Due to the rarity of pleural effusion as an adverse reaction to nitrofurantoin,
      the diagnosis was overlooked at first. This led to the patient undergoing
      multiple invasive procedures and accruing unnecessary healthcare cost before the
      diagnosis was made. This case demonstrates the need for physicians to remain
      mindful of rare adverse reactions from medications and maintain a high index of
      clinical suspicion with any patient presenting with a respiratory complaint while
      taking nitrofurantoin. 

PMID- 27625985
TI  - Think twice - Diagnostic delay in a patient with acute chest pain.
AB  - Heart involvement is the most critical and potentially lethal systemic
      manifestation in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). We present
      a case of acute chest pain in a 58-year-old male with severe asthma, which
      regressed after sublingual administration of nitroglycerine. At the time of
      hospital admission, there were non-specific ST-changes on the ecg, coronary
      enzymes were increased, and the patient was concluded to have a non-ST-elevation
      myocardial infarction, and treated as such. A subacute cardiac catheterization
      showed no signs of significant coronary stenosis. During the next days, there was
      increasing pain and reduced strength in both feet. Paraclinical imaging and
      neurological examinations could not explain the symptoms, and physiotherapy was
      initiated. At the time, no connection to patient's diagnosis of severe asthma was
      made. The patient was seen in the respiratory outpatient clinic for a routine
      check-up, three weeks after the initial hospital admission. At this point, there
      was increasing pain in both legs and the patient had difficulty walking and
      experienced increasing dyspnea. Blood eosinophils were elevated (12.7 * 10(9)/L),
      and an acute HRCT scan showed bilateral peribronchial infiltrates with ground
      glass opacification and small noduli. A diagnosis of EGPA was established, and
      administration of systemic glucocorticoids was initiated. A year and a half
      later, there is still reduced strength and sensory loss. This case illustrates
      that it is important to consider alternative diagnoses in patients with atypical
      symptoms and a low risk profile. Heart involvement is the most critical and
      potentially lethal systemic manifestation in eosinophilic granulomatosis with
      polyangiitis (EGPA, formerly known as Churg-Strauss syndrome), which makes a
      quick diagnosis and prompt initiation of correct treatment imperative. 

PMID- 27625986
TI  - Cerebral blood flow in presymptomatic MAPT and GRN mutation carriers: A
      longitudinal arterial spin labeling study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is characterized by behavioral
      disturbances and language problems. Familial forms can be caused by genetic
      defects in microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT), progranulin (GRN), and
      C9orf72. In light of upcoming clinical trials with potential disease-modifying
      agents, the development of sensitive biomarkers to evaluate such agents in the
      earliest stage of FTD is crucial. In the current longitudinal study we used
      arterial spin labeling MRI (ASL) in presymptomatic carriers of MAPT and GRN
      mutations to investigate early changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF). METHODS:
      Healthy first-degree relatives of patients with a MAPT or GRN mutation underwent
      ASL at baseline and follow-up after two years. We investigated cross-sectional
      and longitudinal differences in CBF between mutation carriers (n = 34) and
      controls without a mutation (n = 31). RESULTS: GRN mutation carriers showed
      significant frontoparietal hypoperfusion compared with controls at follow-up,
      whereas we found no cross-sectional group differences in the total study group or
      the MAPT subgroup. Longitudinal analyses revealed a significantly stronger
      decrease in CBF in frontal, temporal, parietal, and subcortical areas in the
      total group of mutation carriers and the GRN subgroup, with the strongest
      decrease in two mutation carriers who converted to clinical FTD during follow-up.
      INTERPRETATION: We demonstrated longitudinal alterations in CBF in presymptomatic
      FTD independent of grey matter atrophy, with the strongest decrease in
      individuals that developed symptoms during follow-up. Therefore, ASL could have
      the potential to serve as a sensitive biomarker of disease progression in the
      presymptomatic stage of FTD in future clinical trials.

PMID- 27625989
TI  - Intestinal parasites of Tolypeutes matacus, the most frequently consumed
      armadillo in the Chaco region.
AB  - The southern three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes matacus (Desmarest, 1804) is
      distributed from eastern Bolivia, south-west Brazil, the Gran Chaco of Paraguay
      and Argentina, and lives in areas with dry vegetation. This armadillo is one of
      the most frequently consumed species by people in this area. The objective of
      this work was test for zoonotic species among helminths in 12 intestinal tracts
      of T. matacus in a locality from the Argentinean Chaco (Chamical, La Rioja
      province). The parasites were studied with conventional parasite morphology and
      morphometrics, and prevalence, mean intensity and mean abundance were calculated
      for each species encountered. In the small intestine, seven species of nematodes
      and two species of cestodes were identified. In the large intestine, two species
      of nematodes were recorded. We did not find zoonotic species but have added new
      host records. This study in the Chaco region thus contributes to growing
      knowledge of the parasite fauna associated with armadillo species in this region.

PMID- 27625987
TI  - Fluctuations of spontaneous EEG topographies predict disease state in relapsing
      remitting multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Spontaneous fluctuations of neuronal activity in large-scale distributed networks
      are a hallmark of the resting brain. In relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
      (RRMS) several fMRI studies have suggested altered resting-state connectivity
      patterns. Topographical EEG analysis reveals much faster temporal fluctuations in
      the tens of milliseconds time range (termed "microstates"), which showed altered
      properties in a number of neuropsychiatric conditions. We investigated whether
      these microstates were altered in patients with RRMS, and if the microstates'
      temporal properties reflected a link to the patients' clinical features. We
      acquired 256-channel EEG in 53 patients (mean age 37.6 years, 45 females, mean
      disease duration 9.99 years, Expanded Disability Status Scale <= 4, mean 2.2) and
      49 healthy controls (mean age 36.4 years, 33 females). We analyzed segments of a
      total of 5 min of EEG during resting wakefulness and determined for both groups
      the four predominant microstates using established clustering methods. We found
      significant differences in the temporal dynamics of two of the four microstates
      between healthy controls and patients with RRMS in terms of increased appearance
      and prolonged duration. Using stepwise multiple linear regression models with 8
      fold cross-validation, we found evidence that these electrophysiological measures
      predicted a patient's total disease duration, annual relapse rate, disability
      score, as well as depression score, and cognitive fatigue measure. In RRMS
      patients, microstate analysis captured altered fluctuations of EEG topographies
      in the sub-second range. This measure of high temporal resolution provided
      potentially powerful markers of disease activity and neuropsychiatric co
      morbidities in RRMS.

PMID- 27625988
TI  - Psychological intervention with working memory training increases basal ganglia
      volume: A VBM study of inpatient treatment for methamphetamine use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Protracted methamphetamine (MA) use is associated with decreased
      control over drug craving and altered brain volume in the frontostriatal network.
      However, the nature of volumetric changes following a course of psychological
      intervention for MA use is not yet known. METHODS: 66 males (41 MA patients, 25
      healthy controls, HC) between the ages of 18-50 were recruited, the MA patients
      from new admissions to an in-patient drug rehabilitation centre and the HC via
      public advertisement, both in Cape Town, South Africa. 17 MA patients received 4
      weeks of treatment as usual (TAU), and 24 MA patients completed TAU plus daily 30
      minute cognitive training (CT) using an N-back working memory task. Magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline and 4-week follow-up was acquired and voxel
      based morphometry (VBM) was used for analysis. RESULTS: TAU was associated with
      larger bilateral striatum (caudate/putamen) volume, whereas CT was associated
      with more widespread increases of the bilateral basal ganglia (incorporating the
      amygdala and hippocampus) and reduced bilateral cerebellum volume coinciding with
      improvements in impulsivity scores. CONCLUSIONS: While psychological intervention
      is associated with larger volume in mesolimbic reward regions, the utilisation of
      additional working memory training as an adjunct to treatment may further
      normalize frontostriatal structure and function.

PMID- 27625991
TI  - Draft genome sequence of Mameliella alba strain UMTAT08 isolated from clonal
      culture of toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamiyavanichii.
AB  - Mameliella alba strain UMTAT08 was isolated from clonal culture of paralytic
      shellfish toxin producing dinoflagellate, Alexandrium tamiyavanichii. Genome of
      the strain UMTAT08 was sequenced in order to gain insights into the
      dinoflagellate-bacteria interactions. The draft genome sequence of strain UMTAT08
      contains 5.84Mbp with an estimated G + C content of 65%, 5717 open reading
      frames, 5 rRNAs and 49 tRNAs. It contains genes related to nutrients uptake,
      quorum sensing and environmental tolerance related genes. Gene clusters for the
      biosynthesis of type 1 polyketide synthase, bacteriocin, microcin, terpene and
      ectoine were also identified. This is suggesting that the bacterium possesses
      diverse adaptation strategy to survive within the dinoflagellate phycosphere. The
      draft genome sequence and annotation have been deposited at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank
      under the accession number JSUQ00000000. 

PMID- 27625990
TI  - Comparative analysis of transcriptomes in aerial stems and roots of Ephedra
      sinica based on high-throughput mRNA sequencing.
AB  - Ephedra plants are taxonomically classified as gymnosperms, and are medicinally
      important as the botanical origin of crude drugs and as bioresources that contain
      pharmacologically active chemicals. Here we show a comparative analysis of the
      transcriptomes of aerial stems and roots of Ephedra sinica based on high
      throughput mRNA sequencing by RNA-Seq. De novo assembly of short cDNA sequence
      reads generated 23,358, 13,373, and 28,579 contigs longer than 200 bases from
      aerial stems, roots, or both aerial stems and roots, respectively. The presumed
      functions encoded by these contig sequences were annotated by BLAST (blastx).
      Subsequently, these contigs were classified based on gene ontology slims, Enzyme
      Commission numbers, and the InterPro database. Furthermore, comparative gene
      expression analysis was performed between aerial stems and roots. These
      transcriptome analyses revealed differences and similarities between the
      transcriptomes of aerial stems and roots in E. sinica. Deep transcriptome
      sequencing of Ephedra should open the door to molecular biological studies based
      on the entire transcriptome, tissue- or organ-specific transcriptomes, or
      targeted genes of interest. 

PMID- 27625992
TI  - Levels of enzyme activities in six lysosomal storage diseases in Japanese
      neonates determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are caused by defective enzyme activities in
      lysosomes, characterized by the accumulation of glycolipids, oligosaccharides,
      mucopolysaccharides, sphingolipids, and other biological substances. Accumulating
      evidence has suggested that early detection of individuals with LSDs, followed by
      the immediate initiation of appropriate therapy during the presymptomatic period,
      usually results in better therapeutic outcomes. The activities of individual
      enzymes are measured using fluorescent substrates. However, the simultaneous
      determination of multiple enzyme activities has been awaited in neonatal
      screening of LSDs because the prevalence of individual LSDs is rare. In this
      study, the activities of six enzymes associated with LSDs were examined with 6
      plex enzyme assay using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC
      MS/MS). The accumulation of enzyme products was almost linear for 0-20 h at 37 
      degrees C. Dried blood spots (DBSs) provided by the Centers for Disease Control
      and Prevention (CDC) were used for quality control (QC). The intraday and
      interday coefficient of variance values were < 25%. The enzyme activities of
      healthy individuals were higher than those of LSD-confirmed individuals. These
      results suggest that the levels of enzyme activities of six LSDs in a Japanese
      population were comparable to those of a recent report [Elliott et al. Mol Genet
      Metab 118 (2016) 304-309], providing additional evidence that the 6-plex LSD
      enzyme assay is a reproducible analytical procedure for neonatal screening. 

PMID- 27625993
TI  - News about VDAC1 in Hypoxia.
AB  - The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is the main interface between the
      cytosol and mitochondria of cells. It plays a crucial role in both mitochondrial
      metabolism and cell death. The main basic function of this channel is to mediate
      and gate the flux of small ions, metabolites, and adenosine triphosphate. Changes
      in its structure, and thus conformation, are expected to affect its activity and
      modulate the ability of cancer cells to expand. In this review, we describe a
      novel mechanism by which mitochondria of cells in hypoxia, a low level of oxygen,
      protects from apoptosis. In hypoxia, some mitochondria become enlarged due to
      hyperfusion. These mitochondria possess a truncated form of VDAC1 (VDAC1-DeltaC),
      which is linked to the higher metabolic capacity and the greater resistance to
      cell death of hypoxic cells. However, not all of the VDAC1 protein is truncated,
      but the amount of the full-length form is diminished compared to the amount in
      normoxic cells. First, we describe how such a decrease effects cell
      proliferation, respiration, glycolysis, and other processes. Second, we report on
      a novel mitochondrial-endolysosomal crosstalk that leads to VDAC1 truncation. By
      pharmacological targeting of VDAC1-DeltaC, the production of energy could be
      turned off and the sensitivity to cell death restored. This could counteract the
      favorable microenvironment that gives cancer cells a growth advantage and thereby
      disrupts the balance between life and death, which is controlled by VDAC1. 

PMID- 27625994
TI  - MTMR4 Is Required for the Stability of the Salmonella-Containing Vacuole.
AB  - The intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica servovar Typhimurium
      (S.typhimurium) modulates the host cell's phosphoinositide (PI) metabolism to
      establish its intracellular replicative niche, the Salmonella-containing vacuole
      (SCV). Upon invasion, phosphoinositide 3-phosphate (PI(3)P) and other early
      endosomal markers are rapidly recruited to and remain associated with the SCV
      throughout its early maturation. While the phosphoinositide 3-phosphatase
      myotubularin 4 (MTMR4) has an established role in regulating autophagy and
      cellular PI(3)P-content, two processes associated with the intracellular survival
      of S. typhimurium, a direct role for MTMR4 in Salmonella biology has not been
      examined. Here we demonstrate that GFP-tagged MTMR4 is recruited to the SCV and
      infection of cells depleted of endogenous MTMR4 results in a decrease in viable
      intracellular Salmonella. This reflects a significant increase in the proportion
      of SCVs with compromised integrity, which targets the compartment for autophagy
      and consequent bacterial cell death. These findings highlight the importance of
      PI(3)P regulation to the integrity of the SCV and reveal a novel role for the
      myotubularins in bacterial pathogenesis.

PMID- 27625995
TI  - Genetic Relatedness and Novel Sequence Types of Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing
      Escherichia coli Strains Isolated in Argentina.
AB  - Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a foodborne pathogen responsible
      for severe disease in humans such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and cattle,
      the principal reservoir. Identification of the clones/lineages is important as
      several characteristics, among them propensity to cause disease varies with STEC
      phylogenetic origin. At present, we do not know what STEC clones, especially of
      non-O157:H7, are circulating in Argentina. To fill this knowledge gap we assessed
      the genetic diversity of STEC strains isolated in Argentina from various sources,
      mostly cattle and food, using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Our objectives
      were to determine the phylogenetic relationships among strains and to compare
      them with strains from different geographic origins, especially with those from
      clinical human cases, in order to evaluate their potential health risk. A total
      of 59 STEC isolates from 41 serotypes were characterized by MLST. Analysis using
      EcMLST database identified 38 sequence types (ST), 17 (45%) of which were new STs
      detected in 18 serotypes. Fifteen out of 38 STs identified were grouped into 11
      clonal groups (CGs) and, 23 not grouped in any of the defined CGs. Different STs
      were found in the same serotype. Results highlighted a high degree of
      phylogenetic heterogeneity among Argentinean strains and they showed that several
      cattle and food isolates belonged to the same STs that are commonly associated
      with clinical human cases in several geographical areas. STEC is a significant
      public health concern. Argentina has the highest incidence of HUS in the world
      and this study provides the first data about which STEC clones are circulating.
      Data showed that most of them might pose a serious zoonotic risk and this
      information is important for developing public health initiatives. However, the
      actual potential risk will be defined by the virulence profiles, which may differ
      among isolates belonging to the same ST.

PMID- 27625996
TI  - From In silico Protein Epitope Density Prediction to Testing Escherichia coli
      O157:H7 Vaccine Candidates in a Murine Model of Colonization.
AB  - Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 is a leading cause of foodborne
      illnesses worldwide and is a common serotype linked to hemorrhagic colitis and an
      important cause of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Treatment of EHEC O157:H7
      infections is complicated, as antibiotics can exacerbate Shiga toxin (Stx)
      production and lead to more severe symptoms including HUS. To date, no vaccines
      have been approved for human use, exposing a void in both treatment and
      prevention of EHEC O157:H7 infections. Previously, our lab has shown success in
      identifying novel vaccine candidates via bio- and immunoinformatics approaches,
      which are capable of reducing bacterial colonization in an in vivo model of
      intestinal colonization. In this study, we further characterized 17 of the
      identified vaccine candidates at the bioinformatics level and evaluated the
      protective capacity of the top three candidates when administered as DNA vaccines
      in our murine model of EHEC O157:H7 colonization. Based on further
      immunoinformatic predictions, these vaccine candidates were expected to induce
      neutralizing antibodies in a Th2-skewed immunological response. Immunization of
      BALB/c mice with two of these candidates resulted in reduced bacterial
      colonization following EHEC O157:H7 challenge. Additionally, immune sera was
      shown to prevent bacterial adhesion in vitro to Caco-2 cells. Together, this
      study provides further validation of our immunoinformatic analyses and identifies
      promising vaccine candidates against EHEC O157:H7.

PMID- 27625998
TI  - Comparison of Indirect MR Arthrography With Conventional MRI in the Diagnosis of
      Knee Pathologies in Patients With Knee Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee pain is a common problem in the general population. In order to
      determine the extent of the injury and the appropriate treatment, MRI provides
      the most accurate imaging method. This may be done through conventional MRI
      techniques or by injecting a contrast material (MR arthrography). OBJECTIVES: The
      purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of these two methods.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved the diagnostic evaluation on 60 patients
      with knee pain who received treatment over the course of a one-year period.
      Referred patients were randomly divided into two groups: indirect MR arthrography
      was performed on one group, and conventional MRI was performed on the other
      group. Both groups then underwent arthroscopy. The results from both groups were
      compared with the arthroscopic findings. RESULTS: In all of the pathologies
      studied, the sensitivity, specificity, and the positive and negative predictive
      values were evaluated. A high rate of accuracy was found between MR arthrography
      and arthroscopy (P < 0.05) for all knee injuries, however a similar rate of
      accuracy between conventional MRI and arthroscopy was only seen in patients with
      damage to the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), the tibio-femoral articular
      cartilage, and patella chondromalacia (P < 0.05). The highest rate of accuracy
      was seen in cases where indirect MR arthrography was used for the diagnosis of
      anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage (K = 1). CONCLUSIONS: Our results have
      shown that indirect MR arthrography had greater diagnostic accuracy in regards to
      the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values than
      conventional MRI in knee pathologies.

PMID- 27625999
TI  - Association Between the Pancreatic Enzyme Level and Organ Failure in Trauma
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The literature suggests an association of pancreatic enzymes with
      systemic inflammation resulting in secondary organ injury and dysfunction
      following trauma. Elevation in serum enzymes may not always be predictive of
      pancreatic disease, and can reflect extra pancreatic production. OBJECTIVES: This
      study was conducted to evaluate the rise in serum pancreatic enzyme levels with
      the incidence of organ failure following trauma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective review was performed on critically injured patients from December
      2009 to March 2010. Patient's clinical demographics, routine laboratory
      investigations along with amylase and lipase levels were also extracted from the
      patients' records. Patients with pancreatic or duodenal injuries were excluded
      from the study. RESULTS: From a total of 296 patients (mean age, 31 years), 85%
      were males. Blunt injury was seen in 91.6% of the cases and 8.4% had penetrating
      injury. One hundred and fifty-three patients had single organ failure, 96 had
      multiple organ failure and 47 had no organ failure. There was a significant
      difference in lipase levels (P = 0.04), potassium levels (P = 0.05) and
      hemoglobin levels (P = -0.004), among the three patient groups. There was no
      significant difference in amylase levels among the three patient groups. The
      observed independent predictors of mortality included coagulopathy (OR = 1.7),
      Glasgow coma scale (OR = 1.1, 4.7), pulmonary failure (OR = 0.0004), hepatic
      failure (OR = 0.048), renal failure (OR = 5.5), organ failure (OR =149.8), lipase
      levels (OR = 1.3), and infection (OR = 3.0). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant
      correlation between elevated lipase levels and the incidence of multiple organ
      failure. Moreover, No significant association was found between the elevated
      amylase levels and organ failure. However, on admission, measurement of these
      enzymes coupled with routine laboratory investigations can be a powerful tool in
      the early detection of patients progressing towards organ failure.

PMID- 27625997
TI  - Gut Microbiota: A Contributing Factor to Obesity.
AB  - Obesity, a global epidemic of the modern era, is a risk factor for cardiovascular
      diseases (CVD) and diabetes. The pervasiveness of obesity and overweight in both
      developed as well as developing populations is on the rise and placing a huge
      burden on health and economic resources. Consequently, research to control this
      emerging epidemic is of utmost importance. Recently, host interactions with their
      resident gut microbiota (GM) have been reported to be involved in the
      pathogenesis of many metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and CVD.
      Around 10(14) microorganisms reside within the lower human intestine and many of
      these 10(14) microorganisms have developed mutualistic or commensal associations
      with the host and actively involved in many physiological processes of the host.
      However, dysbiosis (altered gut microbial composition) with other predisposing
      genetic and environmental factors, may contribute to host metabolic disorders
      resulting in many ailments. Therefore, delineating the role of GM as a
      contributing factor to obesity is the main objective of this review. Obesity
      research, as a field is expanding rapidly due to major advances in nutrigenomics,
      metabolomics, RNA silencing, epigenetics, and other disciplines that may result
      in the emergence of new technologies and methods to better interpret causal
      relationships between microbiota and obesity.

PMID- 27626000
TI  - Bicycle-Related Injuries Presenting to Tabriz Imam Reza Hospital, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rising fuel cost and subsequent increase in transportation prices
      encourage people to use cheap transportation such as a bicycle. This vehicle can
      also be used for sports and recreation. Bicycles are widely used in Iran, like
      other countries. There is not enough data about bicycle-related traumas in our
      country. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to obtain the epidemiology of this
      type of injury in Tabriz Imam Reza Hospital as a referral center in northwest of
      Iran during 2009 to 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred bicycle-related
      patients during the three years were entered in this descriptive cross-sectional
      study. Patient's demographics, place and time of crash, mechanism of trauma,
      helmet and other safety device usage, and disposition information were gathered
      by a researcher-made checklist. Admission rate and ward as well as the site of
      injuries were also collected. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software using
      descriptive statistics. RESULTS: All the patients were males with a mean age of
      31.3 +/- 23.12. Seventy six bicycle-related injuries occurred during weekdays and
      24 happened on holidays; 71 patients attended the emergency department in the
      morning and 29 at night. Only three of 100 cyclists had helmets during the
      accident. The rates of injuries were as follows: 65 head and face, 20 abdomen, 14
      chest, 11 soft tissue, eight lower limb, eight cervical spine, six upper limb,
      four thoracic and lumbar spine, and three pelvis injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Head and
      face are the most common sites of injury and skull fracture is the most common
      one. Considering the preventable entity of trauma, the use of helmets seems to be
      beneficial to prevent most bicycle-related injuries.

PMID- 27626001
TI  - Pattern and Trend of Injuries Among Trauma Unit Attendants in Upper Egypt.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injury is a growing public health problem worldwide. Deaths due to
      injuries account for 10% of the world's mortality. More than 90% of the world's
      injury deaths occur in low and middle income countries. In Egypt, injury is a
      hidden epidemic and its related deaths are misclassified due to lack of accurate
      national data. Furthermore, as a research problem it has also been largely
      ignored in developing countries. OBJECTIVES: To determine the pattern and trend
      of injury from January 2002 to December 2009 among attendants at trauma unit in
      Assiut university hospital in Upper Egypt. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A descriptive
      retrospective study was conducted at the trauma unit in Assiut university
      hospital in Upper Egypt. All registered injuries during January 2002 to December
      2009 were included in the study. RESULTS: During January 2002 to December 2009,
      213835 injured cases were admitted to the trauma unit. The number of attendants
      increased every year from 9.3% from the total cases in all study period in 2002
      up to 15.3% in 2009 with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.000).
      Young adults aged 20 - 29 years were the most common group affected by injuries
      (22.2%). Male to female ratio was 3:1. Falls represent one half of injuries
      (49.6%) from all attended cases, followed by exposure to inanimate mechanical
      forces (19.5%) and transport accidents (18.3%). Falls were ranked as the leading
      cause of injuries, while transport accidents were the second cause in 2007 -
      2009. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma in Upper Egypt is an under-recognized problem, which
      requires prioritized attention. Increasing the awareness of community, making
      policies and establishment of a trauma system are important to decrease the
      burden of injuries.

PMID- 27626002
TI  - Association Between Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Helmet Use
      Among Motorcycle Riders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of helmets plays a major role in preventing injuries or
      decreasing injury severity among motorcycle riders. Use of helmets may depend on
      personal factors such as psychological factors. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study
      was to independently assess the association between helmet use among motorcycle
      riders and ADHD scores, with controlling the accident history and was taken more
      sensitive measures if helmet use was different between motorcycle riders,
      according to their ADHD scores. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was
      done on 205 motorcycle riders referred to Kerman Referral Injury Hospital after a
      motorcycle traffic accident. Friends and family members possessing motorcycles
      who visited the patient in this facility were included in our sample. The Persian
      version of the Conner's Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) self-report (screening
      version) was used in order to screen for adult ADHD. CAARS scores were compared
      between those who usually used helmets and those who did not. RESULTS:
      Univariable analysis showed the mean of the age variable was significantly higher
      in the helmeted group, 26.94 +/- 7.72 vs. 23.08 +/- 7.7.32, (P < 0.001). The
      majority of the non-helmeted group was single (P < 0.001). Subjects with
      secondary educational level were more often in the helmeted group (P = 0.007).
      Daily and weekly driving hours were higher in the non-helmeted group (P = 0.002
      and P = 0.004). Most of the subjects in the helmeted group had a driving license
      in comparison with the other group (P < 0.001). There was not a significant
      association between SES and having hyperactive children and helmet use (P =
      0.159). In all ADHD subscales, a significant association was found and scores
      were higher in the non-helmeted group (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, multivariable
      analysis did not confirm the association of the ADHD screening score with helmet
      use. CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study did not find an independent
      association between ADHD and helmet use.

PMID- 27626003
TI  - Temporary Trans-jejunal Hepatic Duct Stenting in Roux-en-y Hepaticojejunostomy
      for Reconstruction of Iatrogenic Bile Duct Injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bile Duct Injuries (BDI) during cholecystectomy are now being
      recognized as major health problems. OBJECTIVES: Herein, we present our
      experience with handling major BDIs and report long-term outcome of
      hepaticojejunostomies followed by trans-jejunal hepatic duct stenting performed
      to reconstruct extra-hepatic biliary tracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case
      series, we prospectively collected data of 22 patients, who underwent first time
      biliary reconstruction through Roux-en-y hepaticojejunostomy followed by hepatic
      duct stenting using a trans-jejunal bifurcated 6F tube drain. The long-term
      outcome was assessed and defined as excellent (asymptomatic, normal liver enzymes
      and bilirubin levels), good (asymptomatic, mild abnormality in liver enzyme and
      bilirubin levels), poor (symptomatic, abnormal liver enzymes and bilirubin level)
      and failure (requiring reoperation). RESULTS: A total of 22 patients including
      four males (18.1%) and 18 females (81.8%) were evaluated. The mean age was 42.71
      (range: 23 - 74) years. Twelve patients had undergone open cholecystectomy
      (54.5%) and the rest had a history of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The mean
      interval between the primary operation and reconstruction was 92.71 days. The
      mean follow-up period after biliary reconstruction was 42.33 (range: 1 - 96)
      months. No instance of anastomotic leakage or stenosis, biliary sepsis,
      thromboembolic event, or respiratory infection was noted in the long-term follow
      up. The outcome was excellent in all patients. No case with poor or failure of
      result was noticed. CONCLUSIONS: Although a devastating complication iatrogenic
      major bile duct injuries can be corrected surgically with a high rate of success.
      Temporary trans-jejunal stenting of the hepatic ducts can help in maintaining the
      integrity of anastomosis without stenosis or biliary sepsis.

PMID- 27626004
TI  - Distal Radius Radiographic Indices and Perilunate Fracture Dislocation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Distal radius radiographic indices may play a role as risk factors in
      pathogenesis of Kienbock's disease, scaphoid fracture and nonunion. Perilunate
      fracture dislocations are devastating wrist injuries, and their relationship and
      distal radius indices have not been addressed in the literature. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the possible role of distal radius radiographic
      indices including radial height, radial inclination, ulnar variance and volar
      tilt as risk factors in the perilunate fracture dislocation injury of the wrist.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied distal radius radiographic indices including
      radial height, radial inclination, ulnar variance and volar tilt in 43 patients
      with perilunate fracture dislocations and compared them with 44 wrists in the
      control group. RESULTS: The mean values of the radial height, radial inclination,
      ulnar variance and volar tilt were 12.74 (5 - 18), 24.20 (7 - 35), -0.73 (-5 - 4)
      and 12.28 (2 - 20) in the patient group. These values were 12.68 (9 - 22), 23.22
      (17 - 30), -0.11 (-4 - 3) and 11.05 (-3 - 20), respectively in the control group.
      There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study did not show that distal radius anatomical indices
      including the radial height, radial inclination, ulnar variance and volar tilt
      influence perilunate fracture dislocation as risk factors.

PMID- 27626005
TI  - Facial Nerve Laceration and its Repair.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Facial paralysis is a devastating condition with profound
      functional, aesthetic and psychosocial consequences. Tumors within or outside the
      skull, Bell's palsy and trauma are the most common causes of facial paralysis in
      adults. CASE PRESENTATION: Our patient was a 35-year-old man with deep laceration
      wounds. The patient was taken to the operating room and the nerves were repaired.
      We observed gradual improvement of muscle performance except branches of the
      frontal nerve. CONCLUSIONS: Complete rupture of the facial nerve is challenging
      and the treatment is surgery, which requires careful planning.

PMID- 27626006
TI  - Asymptomatic Intracranial Foreign Body: An Incidental Finding on Radiography.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intracranial needles are rare entities. Intracranial foreign bodies
      due to non-missile intracranial penetrations are one of the most rarely
      encountered situations in neurosurgery. Sewing needles are among the more unusual
      foreign bodies that may be found in the brain. Although uncommon, foreign body
      cases are important and interesting. Foreign bodies enter the body through trauma
      or iatrogenic injuries. Needles are mostly inserted through fontanelles, cranial
      sutures, and more rarely through the orbits in infancy for the purpose of killing
      unwanted babies. CASE PRESENTATION: This article presents a case of intracranial
      foreign body found upon radiography. A 24-year-old female, who two days prior to
      presentation suffered only once from dizziness, and was otherwise healthy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Because this incident may have occurred during the patient's
      neonatal period, it may be a case of child abuse. In spite of the very limited
      number of cases in the literature, having a stepmother, a stepfather, or a
      babysitter, being the youngest child, or having family members who suffer from
      psychiatric disorders, (especially if these relatives are responsible for child
      care), living in a society that allows homicide of children born from
      extramarital relationships, and being female have been suggested as possible risk
      factors.

PMID- 27626007
TI  - Lunate Osteochondral Fracture Treated by Excision: A Case Report and Literature
      Review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lunate fracture is a rare injury. Most reports are associated with
      other wrist injuries such as perilunate dislocation and distal radius fracture.
      Isolated lunate fracture has been reported even more rarely. The choice of
      treatment and outcomes are consequently undetermined. CASE PRESENTATION: In this
      case report we will describe a lunate avulsion fracture as an isolated injury
      after a fall from nine meters treated operatively by excision of the comminuted
      avulsed fragment. After 33 months of follow-up radiographs showed no sign of
      degenerative joint disorder on simple X-ray, but slight Volar Intercalated
      Segment Instability (VISI) by a capitolunate angle of 26 degrees was noted.
      Clinically, the patient was pain free near full wrist and forearm range of motion
      and could perform his previous vocational and recreational tasks without any
      limitations. CONCLUSIONS: Despite apparently good short and mid-term clinical
      outcome, slight volar intercalated segment instability after 33 months of follow
      up revealed that lunotriquetral ligament function was probably lost, which led to
      static instability. This ligament injury may be missed primarily. Excision of the
      avulsed osteochondral fragment should be the last option of treatment and most
      attempts should be tried to fix and/or restore the normal anatomy of ligamentous
      structure.

PMID- 27626008
TI  - The Impact of Psychological Factors on Device Removal Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implant removal is a common procedure in orthopedic surgery which can
      be associated with many complications such as scar formation, hematoma, nerve
      injury, infection, and refracture. Indications for orthopedic implant removal
      have declined in recent years. Most studies have considered orthopedic hardware
      removal as an unnecessary procedure in the absence of severe complications such
      as nonunion. Some studies have reported the complications of orthopedic hardware
      removal to be 24% to 50% dependent on their types and locations as well as on
      other factors such as patient's condition and the orthopedist's experience.
      OBJECTIVES: The present study surveyed possible mental and psychological causes
      among patients who asked for removal procedures in spite of orthopedic surgeons'
      advice and being aware of complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who had
      undergone plating for the treatment of radius and ulna fractures from 2011 to
      2013, were told that it is not necessary to remove the plate and they were warned
      of all the risks of removal surgery, such as anesthesia, possible nerve or
      vascular damage, and the cost of surgery. Then, their tendency to remove the
      plate was examined based on evaluation criteria scores. Patients were divided
      into two groups: patients who insisted on surgery despite all the risks and
      patients who had little tendency or gave up after explanations. Both groups were
      given visual analog pain scale (VAS), symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90), and pain
      catastrophizing scale (PCS) questionnaires. The questions were explained for
      patients by an expert trained in the clinic and in case of ambiguity further
      explanations were given to the patients. The data were then entered into
      statistical package for the social science (SPSS) version 20 for analysis.
      RESULTS: A total of 29 patients with plates were enrolled. The first group
      consisted of 16 male and 13 female patients. In the control group (group II),
      there were 30 patients with no tendency for plate removal. In this group, 15
      patients were male and 15 were female. The mean age of the first group was 38.25
      +/- 11.12 years and for the second group it was 36.82 +/- 12.01 years. There was
      no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age and gender. Mean
      discomfort of patients was 7.75 +/- 1.74 in the first and 3.96 +/- 1.90 in the
      second group, indicating a statistically significant difference (P = 0.000). Mean
      VAS score was 3.96 +/- 1.20 in the first group and 3.80 +/- 1.15 in the second
      group, which was not statistically significant (P = 0.593). Mean daily pain and
      discomfort was 10.62 +/- 3.09 hours in the first and 4.86 +/- 2.23 hours in the
      control group, indicating a statistically significant difference (P = 0.000).
      Linear regression analysis results demonstrated a significant correlation between
      increased VAS scores in the first group (P = 0.000), but it was not significant
      in the second group (P = 0.083). The results also showed that increase in time of
      daily pain and discomfort had a linear relationship with increased discomfort
      score in both groups (P = 0.00). Mean pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) score was
      10.13 +/- 3.62 in the first and 9.56 +/- 3.07 in the second group, which was not
      statistically significant. Mean somatization score was 52% +/- 6.53% and 47.96%
      +/- 7.17% in the first and second groups, respectively, which showed no
      significant differences (P = 0.013). Obsessive compulsive score was 54.63 +/-
      5.34 in the first and 46.63 +/- 4.49 in the second group, which was statistically
      significant (P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Mental and psychological backgrounds can
      affect the severity of discomfort of the implant. Given that so far the present
      study is the only study investigating the relationship between mental criteria
      and tendency of patients for implant removal, further studies with larger sample
      sizes seem warranted.

PMID- 27626009
TI  - The Relation Between Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome and Trauma Severity in
      Patients With Distal Tibia Fracture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) syndrome is a multifactorial
      disorder with clinical features of neurogenic inflammation that causes
      hypersensitivity to pain or severe allodynia as well as blood flow problems,
      swelling, skin discoloration and maladaptive neuroplasticity due to vasomotor
      disorders. Patients with major trauma are prone to homeostasis leading to
      inflammatory response syndrome and multiple organ distress syndrome. Several
      studies have investigated the etiology of this condition, but the cause remains
      unknown. The role of associated factors such as the limb immobilization technique
      and genetics has been reported in the development of this complication, but, so
      far, there is no information regarding the effect of trauma severity on the risk
      of RSD occurrence. OBJECTIVES: Given the importance of diagnosing and treating
      this condition, we aimed to study the effect of trauma severity on the prevalence
      of RSD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we examined patients
      with distal tibial fracture who visited Rasht Poursina hospital from 2010 to
      2013. Exclusion criteria included associated fractures, underlying
      musculoskeletal diseases and mental and cognitive problems. To assess the
      severity of the initial injury in patients, the Hannover Fracture Scale 98
      (HFS98) scoring checklist was used. The diagnosis of RSD was made on the basis of
      the IASP criterion. Demographic data, HFS98 scores, and information regarding RSD
      prevalence were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The Mann Whitney U nonparametric
      test was used for variables that were not normally distributed; the chi-square
      test was used to compare the qualitative variables. RESULTS: Among the 488
      patients, 292 (59.83%) were male. The mean age of the study population was 44 +/-
      9.82 years. During the 6-month follow-up, RSD occurred in 45 patients, of whom 28
      (62.22%) were female and 17 (37.77%) were male; there was thus a significant
      difference in the prevalence of RSD in terms of gender (P = 0.00; chi square
      test). The mean HFS98 score in patients without and with RSD was 3.081 +/- 4.083
      and 4.080 +/- 4.622, respectively, and the difference was not statistically
      significant (P = 0.363; Mann Whitney U test). Analyses of the eight items of
      HFS98 shows that local circulation in patients with RSD is significantly better
      than that in patients without RDS (0.683 +/- 0.822 vs. 0.528 +/- 0.629,
      respectively). Statistical analysis showed that the odds ratio for RSD for
      patients with HFS95 score > 0 was 1.079 (confidence interval [CI]: 0.898 -
      1.333). Moreover, the odds ratio for RSD was 1.100 (CI: 795 - 1.531) in patients
      with an injury severity score higher than the calculated mean score in patients
      without RSD (> 4.083). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest no significant
      relationship between the severity of injury and risk of RSD occurrence, although
      the mean injury severity score was higher in patients with RSD than in those
      without RSD in this study population. The lower score of local circulation in
      patients with RSD than in those without RSD is a statistically significant
      finding and can be attributed to changes in the antioxidant levels at the injury
      site, which is one of the main mechanisms for the onset of RSD. Wound
      contamination was also justifiably higher in patients with RSD, although the
      difference was not statistically significant. In summary, the severity of injury
      alone cannot be a determining factor for predicting the probability of RSD.

PMID- 27626011
TI  - Fixing a Traumatic Sternal Fracture Using Stainless Steel Wires.

PMID- 27626010
TI  - Surgical Management of Tibial Plateau Fractures With 3.5 mm Simple Plates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tibial plateau fractures can be successfully fixed utilizing 3.5 mm
      locking plates. However, there are some disadvantages to using these plates.
      OBJECTIVES: In the current prospective study, we investigated the outcome of
      treating different types of tibial plateau fractures with 3.5 mm simple plates
      which, to our knowledge, has not been evaluated in previous studies. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Between 2011 and 2013, 32 patients aged 40 +/- 0.2 years underwent
      open reduction and internal fixation for tibial plateau fractures with 3.5 mm
      simple plates. The patients were followed for 16.14 +/- 2.1 months. At each
      patient's final visit, the articular surface depression, medial proximal tibial
      angle, and slope angle were measured and compared with measurements taken early
      after the operation. The functional outcomes were measured with the WOMAC and
      Lysholm knee scores. RESULTS: The mean union time was 13 +/- 1.2 weeks. The mean
      knee range of motion was 116.8 degrees  +/- 3.3 degrees . The mean WOMAC and
      Lysholm scores were 83.5 +/- 1.8 and 76.8 +/- 1.6, respectively. On the early
      postoperative and final X-rays, 87.5% and 84% of patients, respectively, had
      acceptable reduction. Medial proximal tibial and slope angles did not change
      significantly by the last visit. No patient was found to have complications
      related to the type of plate. CONCLUSIONS: In this case series study, the
      fixation of different types of tibial plateau fractures with 3.5 mm simple non
      locking and non-precontoured plates was associated with acceptable clinical,
      functional, and radiographic outcomes. Based on the advantages and costs of these
      plates, the authors recommend using 3.5 mm simple plates for different types of
      tibial plateau fractures.

PMID- 27626013
TI  - A Study on Hospital Admissions For Eye Trauma in Kashan, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eye trauma is among the most common reasons for referral to hospital
      emergency departments and ophthalmologists' offices. It also is a common cause of
      vision loss worldwide. However, few studies are available on the changes in the
      epidemiology of eye trauma in Iran in recent years. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed
      to investigate the characteristics of hospital admissions for eye trauma in
      Kashan from August 2011 to February 2014. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional
      study was carried out on the hospital records of all patients with eye trauma who
      were admitted to Kashan's Matini hospital between August 2011 and February 2014.
      Having an eye trauma and being hospitalized for at least one day was selected as
      the criteria for inclusion in the study. The data were then recorded on a
      checklist devised by the researcher. After entering the data into the SPSS
      software, descriptive statistics (i.e., percentage, frequency, mean, and standard
      deviation) were calculated for all variables. Chi-square, Fisher's exact test,
      and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: In total, 200
      patients with eye trauma had been hospitalized in Matini Hospital between August
      2011 and February 2014. Of these patients, 86% were males, 40% were in the age
      range of 20-39 years, 68% lived in urban areas, and 21% of those in employment
      were manual and industrial workers. Approximately 38.5% of eye traumas had
      occurred in the work place; 72.5% of patients had penetrating injuries and 98% of
      cases were injured in one eye. More injuries occurred in the cornea (25.5%) than
      elsewhere in the eye, and 75.5% of patients were treated surgically. Among all
      variables, only the type of trauma (P = 0.009) and cause of trauma (P = 0.004)
      were significantly related to the patients' gender. CONCLUSIONS: Eye trauma was
      prevalent among males, young people, urban residents, and manual and industrial
      workers. As the eyes play a vital role in daily life, communication, and work
      activities, and eye health is so important for individuals to attain high
      educational status and productivity, the public should be thoroughly educated
      about eye protection and the use of safety measures, especially in occupational
      activities.

PMID- 27626012
TI  - Adaptation of Traumatic Brain Injury Guidelines in Iran.
AB  - CONTEXT: The National institute for health and care excellence (NICE) and
      scottish intercollegiate guidelines network (SIGN) are two well-known sources of
      clinical guideline development. In the past years, they have developed clinical
      guidelines for the management of head injury. In this report, we will highlight
      our modifications to these guidelines according to the domestic situation in a
      developing country. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The guidelines were appraised using the
      appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation (AGREE) instrument. All key
      recommendations were reviewed by 14 prominent Iranian neurosurgeons; levels of
      evidence were evaluated and items with limited evidence were determined.
      Available evidence for selected items were reviewed and discussed. RESULTS: The
      following items were the most challenging when accounting for the domestic
      situation in Iran: age as a risk factor for referral, computed tomography scan,
      the impact of medical comorbidities, pregnancy, consultation, referral to a
      neurosurgical unit, and teleconsulting and observation before discharge.
      CONCLUSIONS: The evidence in the discussed topics was limited and controversial.
      This report is important because it exposes the current knowledge gap in head
      trauma studies in Iran.

PMID- 27626014
TI  - Ensuring Carpal Tunnel Release: "Drop in", "Rail Road" or "the Open Door" Sign.

PMID- 27626015
TI  - Assessment of Hospital Management and Surge Capacity in Disasters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospital administrators play a key role in the effective management
      of surge capacity in disasters, but there is little information available about
      the characteristics required to manage this. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed
      to identify characteristics of hospital administrators that are important in the
      effective management of surge capacity in disasters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      was a qualitative study. Semi-structured purposive interviews were conducted with
      28 hospital administrators who had experience working in surge situations in
      hospitals during disasters. Framework analysis was used to analyze the data.
      RESULTS: Three themes and 12 subthemes were identified. The themes were as
      follows: 1) crisis managerial characteristics, 2) personal characteristics, and
      3) specific requirements. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, some characteristics that
      had a positive impact on the success of a manager in a hospital surge situation
      were identified. These characteristics ought to be taken into account when
      appointing hospital administrators and designing training programs for hospital
      administrators with the aim of being better prepared to face disasters.

PMID- 27626016
TI  - Pre-Hospital Emergency in Iran: A Systematic Review.
AB  - CONTEXT: Pre-hospital care plays a vital role in saving trauma patients.
      OBJECTIVES: This study aims to review studies conducted on the pre-hospital
      emergency status in Iran. DATA SOURCES: Data were sourced from Iranian electronic
      databases, including SID, IranMedex, IranDoc, Magiran, and non-Iranian electronic
      databases, such as Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google Scholar.
      In addition, available data and statistics for the country were used. DATA
      SELECTION: All Persian-language articles published in Iranian scientific journals
      and related English-language articles published in Iranian and non-Iranian
      journals indexed on valid sites for September 2005 - 2014 were systematically
      reviewed. DATA EXTRACTION: To review the selected articles, a data extraction
      form developed by the researchers as per the study's objective was adopted. The
      articles were examined under two categories: structure and function of pre
      hospital emergency. RESULTS: A total of 19 articles were selected, including six
      descriptive studies (42%), four descriptive-analytical studies (21%), five review
      articles (16%), two qualitative studies (10.5%), and two interventional
      (experimental) studies (10.5%). In addition, of these, 14 articles (73.5%) had
      been published in the English language. The focus of these selected articles were
      experts (31.5%), bases of emergency medical services (26%), injured (16%), data
      reviews (16%), and employees (10.5%). A majority of the studies (68%)
      investigated pre-hospital emergency functions and 32% reviewed the pre-hospital
      emergency structure. CONCLUSIONS: The number of studies conducted on pre-hospital
      emergency services in Iran is limited. To promote public health, consideration of
      prevention areas, processes to provide pre-hospital emergency services,
      policymaking, foresight, systemic view, comprehensive research programs and
      roadmaps, and assessments of research needs in pre-hospital emergency seem
      necessary.

PMID- 27626017
TI  - Blood Loss Estimation Using Gauze Visual Analogue.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Estimating intraoperative blood loss can be a difficult task,
      especially when blood is mostly absorbed by gauze. In this study, we have
      provided an improved method for estimating blood absorbed by gauze. OBJECTIVES:
      To develop a guide to estimate blood absorbed by surgical gauze. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A clinical experiment was conducted using aspirated blood and common
      surgical gauze to create a realistic amount of absorbed blood in the gauze.
      Different percentages of staining were photographed to create an analogue for the
      amount of blood absorbed by the gauze. RESULTS: A visual analogue scale was
      created to aid the estimation of blood absorbed by the gauze. The absorptive
      capacity of different gauze sizes was determined when the gauze was dripping with
      blood. The amount of reduction in absorption was also determined when the gauze
      was wetted with normal saline before use. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a visual
      analogue may increase the accuracy of blood loss estimation and decrease the
      consequences related to over or underestimation of blood loss.

PMID- 27626019
TI  - Is A Mode of Presentation of Colorectal Cancer Different According to Each
      Individual's Social-economic Status?

PMID- 27626018
TI  - Hospital Readmission Through the Emergency Department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospital readmission places a high burden on both health care systems
      and patients. Most readmissions are thought to be related to the quality of the
      health care system. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the causes
      and rates of early readmission in emergency department in a Tehran hospital.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional investigation was performed to study
      readmission of inpatients at a large academic hospital in Tehran, Iran. Patients
      admitted to hospital from July 1, 2014 to December 30, 2014 via the emergency
      department were enrolled. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the
      distribution demographics in the sample. Data was analyzed by chi2 test using
      SPSS 20 software. RESULTS: The main cause of readmission was complications
      related to surgical procedures (31.0%). Discharge from hospital based on patient
      request at the patient's own risk was a risk factor for emergency readmission in
      8.5%, a very small number were readmitted after complete treatment (0.6%). The
      only direct complication of treatment was infection (17%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Postoperative complications increase the probability of patients returning to
      hospital. Physicians, nurses, etc., should focus on these specific patient
      populations to minimize the risk of postoperative complications. Future studies
      should assess the relative connections of various types of patient information
      (e.g., social and psychosocial factors) to readmission risk prediction by
      comparing the performance of models with and without this information in a
      specific population.

PMID- 27626020
TI  - Emergent Colorectal Surgery: What Should Be Considered?

PMID- 27626021
TI  - Colorectal Surgery in Elderly Patients.

PMID- 27626022
TI  - Effect of Social Deprivation on the Stage and Mode of Presentation of Colorectal
      Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Based in a hospital serving one of the most deprived areas in the United
      Kingdom (UK), we aimed to investigate, using the Indices of Deprivation 2010, the
      hypothesis that deprivation affects the stage and mode of presentation of
      colorectal cancer. METHODS: All newly diagnosed patients with colorectal cancer
      presenting to a District General Hospital in the UK between January 2010 and
      December 2014 were included. Data were collected from the Somerset National
      Cancer Database. The effect of social deprivation, measured using the Index of
      Multiple Deprivation Score, on the stage and mode of presentation was evaluated
      utilizing Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS ver. 22.0. RESULTS: A total of 701
      patients (54.5% male; mean age, 76 years) were included; 534 (76.2%) underwent a
      surgical procedure, and 497 (70.9%) underwent a colorectal resection. Of the
      patients undergoing a colorectal resection, 86 (17.3%) had an emergency surgical
      resection. Social deprivation was associated with Duke staging (P = 0.09). The 90
      day mortality in patients undergoing emergency surgery was 12.8% compared to 6.8%
      in patients undergoing elective surgery (P = 0.06). No association was found
      between deprivation and emergency presentation (P = 0.97). A logistic regression
      analysis showed no increase in the probability of metastasis amongst deprived
      patients. CONCLUSION: This study suggests an association between deprivation and
      the stage of presentation of colorectal cancer. Patients undergoing emergency
      surgery tend to have a higher 90-day mortality rate, although this was not
      related to deprivation. This study highlights the need to develop an individual
      measure to assess social deprivation.

PMID- 27626023
TI  - Outcomes and Risk Factors Affecting Mortality in Patients Who Underwent
      Colorectal Emergency Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Emergency colorectal surgery has a high risk of mortality and morbidity
      because of incomplete bowel preparation, bacterial proliferation, and
      contamination. In this study, we investigated the outcomes and the risk factors
      affecting mortality in patients who had undergone emergency surgery for the
      treatment of various colorectal diseases. METHODS: This study is a retrospective
      analysis of prospectively collected data to survey the clinical results for
      patients who had undergone emergency colorectal surgery from January 2014 to
      December 2014. We analyzed various clinicopathologic factors, which were divided
      into 3 categories: preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative. RESULTS: A
      total of 50 patients had undergone emergency colorectal surgery during the time
      period covered by this study. Among them, 10 patients (20%) died during the
      postoperative period. A simple linear regression analysis showed that the risk
      factors for mortality were old age, preoperative hypotension, and a high American
      Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) score. Moreover, a multiple linear regression
      analysis showed a high ASA score and preoperative hypotension to be independent
      risk factors. CONCLUSION: In this study, emergency colorectal surgery showed a
      relatively high mortality rate. Furthermore, the independent risk factors for
      mortality were preoperative hypotension and high ASA score; thus, patients with
      these characteristics need to be evaluated more carefully and receive better care
      if the mortality rate is to be reduced.

PMID- 27626024
TI  - Outcome of Colorectal Surgery in Elderly Populations.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of age on short-term
      outcomes after colorectal surgery in terms of the 30-day postoperative morbidity
      and mortality rates. METHODS: The subjects for the study were patients who had
      undergone colorectal surgery. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to
      age; groups A and B patients were >=80 and <80 years old of age, respectively.
      Both groups were manually matched for body mass index, American Society of
      Anesthesiologists score, Charlson Comorbidity Index and procedure performed.
      RESULTS: A total of 200 patients, 91 men (45.5%) and 109 women (54.5%), were
      included in this retrospective study. These patients were equally divided into 2
      groups. The mean ages were 85 years in group A (range, 80 to 104 years) and 55.3
      years in group B (range, 13 to 79 years). The overall 30-day postoperative
      mortality rate was 1% of total 200 patients; both of these 2 patients were in
      group A. However, this observation had no statistical significance. No
      intraoperative complications were encountered in either group. The overall 30-day
      postoperative morbidity rate was 27% (54 of 200) for both groups. The 30-day
      postoperative morbidity rates in groups A and B were 28% (28 of 100) and 26% (26
      of 100), respectively. However, these differences between the groups had no
      statistical significance importance. CONCLUSION: Age alone should not be
      considered to be more of a contraindication or a worse predictor than other
      factors for the outcome after colorectal surgery on elderly patients.

PMID- 27626025
TI  - Purse-String Versus Linear Conventional Skin Wound Closure of an Ileostomy: A
      Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Infection is one of the most frequent complications that can occur after
      ileostomy closure. The incidence of wound infection depends on the skin closure
      technique, but there is no agreement on the perfect closure method for an
      ileostomy wound. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of
      infection, the patient's approval, and the patient's pain between purse-string
      closure (PSC) and the usual linear closure (LC) of a stoma wound. METHODS: This
      randomized clinical trial enrolled 66 patients who underwent a stoma closure from
      February 2015 to May 2015 in Sari Emam Khomeini Hospital. Patients were divided
      into 2 groups according to the stoma closing method: the PSC group (n = 34) and
      the LC group (n = 32). The incidences of infection for the 2 groups were
      compared, and the patients' satisfaction and pain with the stoma were determined
      by using a questionnaire. RESULTS: Infection occurred in 1 of 34 PSC patients
      (2.9%) and in 7 of 32 LC patients (21.8%), and this difference was statistically
      significant (P = 0.021). Patients in the PSC group were more satisfied with the
      resulting wound scar and its cosmetic appearance at one month and three months
      after surgery (P = 0.043). CONCLUSION: After stoma closure, PSC was associated
      with a significantly lower incidence of wound infection and greater patient
      satisfaction compared to LC. However, the healing period for patients who
      underwent PSC was longer than it was for those who underwent LC.

PMID- 27626026
TI  - Efficacy of Immunohistochemical Staining in Differentiating a Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma in Poorly Differentiated Rectal Cancer: Two Case Reports.
AB  - A rectal carcinoma, including primary an adenosquamous and a squamous cell
      carcinoma (SCC), is a very rare disease, accounting for 0.025% to 0.20% of all
      large-bowel malignant tumors. Because SCCs have a higher mortality than
      adenosquamous carcinomas, determining whether the primary rectal cancer exhibits
      an adenomatous component or a squamous component is important. While
      differentiating between these 2 components, especially in poorly differentiated
      rectal cancer, is difficult, specific immunohistochemical stains enable accurate
      diagnoses. Here, we report the use of immunohistochemical stains to distinguish
      between the adenomatous and the squamous components in 2 patients with low rectal
      cancer, a 58-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman, who were initially diagnosed
      using the histopathologic results for a poorly differentiated carcinoma. These
      data suggest that using these immunohistochemical stains will help to accurately
      diagnose the type of rectal cancer, especially for poorly differentiated
      carcinomas, and will provide important information to determine the proper
      treatment for the patient. 

PMID- 27626027
TI  - Black Anal Canal: Acute Necrosis.
AB  - Acute ischemia of the rectum or anal canal resulting in necrosis is extremely
      uncommon because both the rectum and the anal canal have excellent blood
      supplies. We present a case with spontaneous necrosis of the anal canal without
      rectal involvement. Surgical debridement was accomplished, and the recovery was
      uneventful. The patient was elderly, with probable atherosclerotic arterial
      disease, and presented with hypotension. Due to the lack of other precipitating
      factors, the hypoperfusion hypothesis seems to be the most suitable in this case.
      To the best of our knowledge, no similar cases have been reported in the
      literature on this subject. 

PMID- 27626028
TI  - High Frequency Jet Ventilation in Respiratory Failure Secondary to Respiratory
      Syncytial Virus Infection: A Case Series.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the utility of high frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) as a
      rescue therapy in patients with respiratory failure secondary to respiratory
      syncytial virus (RSV) that was refractory to conventional mechanical ventilation
      (CMV). DESIGN: Descriptive study by retrospective review. SETTING: Pediatric
      intensive care unit at a tertiary care children's hospital. PATIENTS: Infants on
      mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure due to RSV. INTERVENTIONS: Use of
      HFJV. MAIN RESULTS: Eleven patients were placed on HFJV. There was sustained
      improvement in ventilation on HFJV with a mean decrease in PCO2 of 9 mmHg at 24 h
      and 11 mmHg at 72 h. There were no significant changes in oxygenation by
      oxygenation index. No patients required extracorporeal support or suffered
      pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, or subcutaneous emphysema. Ten out of 11 (91%)
      patients survived to discharge from the hospital. CONCLUSION: High frequency jet
      ventilation may represent an alternative therapy for RSV-induced respiratory
      failure that is refractory to CMV.

PMID- 27626029
TI  - A Couples' Based Self-Management Program for Heart Failure: Results of a
      Feasibility Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is associated with frequent exacerbations and
      shortened lifespan. Informal caregivers such as significant others often support
      self-management in patients with HF. However, existing programs that aim to
      enhance self-management seldom engage informal caregivers or provide tools that
      can help alleviate caregiver burden or improve collaboration between patients and
      their informal caregivers. OBJECTIVE: To develop and pilot test a program
      targeting the needs of self-management support among HF patients as well as their
      significant others. METHODS: We developed the Dyadic Health Behavior Change model
      and conducted semi-structured interviews to determine barriers to self-management
      from various perspectives. Participants' feedback was used to develop a family
      centered self-management program called "SUCCEED: Self-management Using Couples'
      Coping EnhancEment in Diseases." The goals of this program are to improve HF self
      management, quality of life, communication within couples, relationship quality,
      and stress and caregiver burden. We conducted a pilot study with 17 Veterans with
      HF and their significant others to determine acceptability of the program. We
      piloted psychosocial surveys at baseline and after participants' program
      completion to evaluate change in depressive symptoms, caregiver burden, self
      management of HF, communication, quality of relationship, relationship mutuality,
      and quality of life. RESULTS: Of the 17 couples, 14 completed at least 1 SUCCEED
      session. Results showed high acceptability for each of SUCCEED's sessions. At
      baseline, patients reported poor quality of life, clinically significant
      depressive symptoms, and inadequate self-management of HF. After participating in
      SUCCEED, patients showed improvements in self-management of HF, communication,
      and relationship quality, while caregivers reported improvements in depressive
      symptoms and caregiver burden. Quality of life of both patients and significant
      others declined over time. CONCLUSION: In this small pilot study, we showed
      positive trends with involving significant others in self-management. SUCCEED has
      the potential of addressing the growing public health problem of HF among
      patients who receive care from their significant other.

PMID- 27626030
TI  - Blood Levels of Monoamine Precursors and Smoking in Patients with Schizophrenia.
AB  - Smoking is highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia and exerts a negative
      impact on cardiovascular mortality in these patients. Smoking has complex
      interactions with monoamine metabolism through the ability of cigarette smoke to
      suppress Type 1 T helper cell (Th1) type immunity, the immunophenotype that is
      implicated in phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) dysfunction and tryptophan (Trp)
      breakdown to kynurenine (Kyn) via indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. Nicotine also
      induces tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression, leading to increased synthesis
      of catecholamines. Furthermore, there is evidence for PAH dysfunction in
      schizophrenia. This study aimed to compare the plasma levels of selected
      monoamine precursors and their metabolites in smokers vs. non-smokers in a large
      sample of patients with schizophrenia. We measured plasma phenylalanine (Phe),
      tyrosine (Tyr), Trp, and Kyn levels using high-performance liquid chromatography
      and calculated Phe:Tyr and Kyn:Trp ratios in 920 patients with schizophrenia.
      Analysis of variance and linear regression analyses were used to compare these
      endpoints between three groups of patients with schizophrenia: (1) current
      smokers, (2) past smokers, and (3) non-smokers. There were significant
      differences among the three groups with regards to Tyr levels [F (2,789) = 3.77,
      p = 0.02], with current smokers having lower Tyr levels when compared with non
      smokers (p = 0.02). Kyn levels and Kyn:Trp ratio were different among the three
      groups [F (2,738) = 3.17, p = 0.04, F (2,738) = 3.61, p = 0.03] with current
      smokers having lower Kyn levels (p = 0.04) and higher Kyn:Trp ratio (p = 0.02)
      when compared with past smokers. These findings need to be replicated with
      protocols that include healthy controls to further elucidate the neurobiological
      underpinnings of altered Tyr and Kyn levels in smokers. Results do suggest
      potential molecular links between schizophrenia and smoking that may represent
      biomarkers and treatment targets for reducing an important modifiable cause of
      general morbidity and mortality in patients with schizophrenia. 

PMID- 27626032
TI  - Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Microenvironmental Modulation of Extracellular Vesicle
      Dependent Immunoregulation in the Lung.
AB  - Unconventional secretion and subsequent uptake of molecular cargo via
      extracellular vesicles (EVs) is an important mechanism by which cells can exert
      paracrine effects. While this phenomenon has been widely characterized in the
      context of their ability to promote inflammation, less is known about the ability
      of EVs to transfer immunosuppressive cargo. Maintenance of normal physiology in
      the lung requires suppression of potentially damaging inflammatory responses to
      the myriad of insults to which it is continually exposed. Recently, our
      laboratory has reported the ability of alveolar macrophages (AMs) to secrete
      suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins within microvesicles (MVs) and
      exosomes (Exos). Uptake of these EVs by alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) resulted
      in inhibition of pro-inflammatory STAT activation in response to cytokines.
      Moreover, AM packaging of SOCS within EVs could be rapidly tuned in response to
      exogenous or AEC-derived substances. In this article we will highlight gaps in
      knowledge regarding microenvironmental modulation of cargo packaging and
      utilization as well as EV secretion and uptake. Advances in these areas are
      critical for improving understanding of intercellular communication in the immune
      system and for therapeutic application of artificial vesicles aimed at treatment
      of diseases characterized by dysregulated inflammation. 

PMID- 27626033
TI  - Quo Vadis Cell Growth and Division?

PMID- 27626031
TI  - Regulation of Muscle Stem Cell Functions: A Focus on the p38 MAPK Signaling
      Pathway.
AB  - Formation of skeletal muscle fibers (myogenesis) during development and after
      tissue injury in the adult constitutes an excellent paradigm to investigate the
      mechanisms whereby environmental cues control gene expression programs in muscle
      stem cells (satellite cells) by acting on transcriptional and epigenetic
      effectors. Here we will review the molecular mechanisms implicated in the
      transition of satellite cells throughout the distinct myogenic stages (i.e.,
      activation from quiescence, proliferation, differentiation, and self-renewal). We
      will also discuss recent findings on the causes underlying satellite cell
      functional decline with aging. In particular, our review will focus on the
      epigenetic changes underlying fate decisions and on how the p38 MAPK signaling
      pathway integrates the environmental signals at the chromatin to build up
      satellite cell adaptive responses during the process of muscle regeneration, and
      how these responses are altered in aging. A better comprehension of the signaling
      pathways connecting external and intrinsic factors will illuminate the path for
      improving muscle regeneration in the aged. 

PMID- 27626036
TI  - Technology-Delivered Dating Aggression: Risk and Promotive Factors and Patterns
      of Associations Across Violence Types Among High-Risk Youth.
AB  - Increasingly, technology (text, e-mail, and social media) is being used in dating
      relationships to stalk, control, threaten, and harass dating partners. This study
      examines risk and promotive factors associated with technology-delivered dating
      aggression (TDA) and relations between types of violence (physical
      dating/nondating, community violence, and TDA). Participants (14-20 years old)
      self-administered a computerized survey as part of a larger study at an urban
      emergency department. The study includes 210 youth who reported having a dating
      partner in the past 2 months. About 48.1% of participants reported TDA in the
      past 2 months. Mindfulness was negatively associated with TDA. Youth reporting
      TDA were more likely to report physical dating violence and community violence
      exposure. TDA is not an isolated occurrence and is positively associated with in
      person violence among adolescents. Associations between TDA, risk and promotive
      factors, and other forms of violence can help identify avenues for targeting
      interventions.

PMID- 27626035
TI  - Subclinical Pregnancy Toxemia-Induced Gene Expression Changes in Ovine Placenta
      and Uterus.
AB  - The objective was to elucidate gene expression differences in uterus, caruncle,
      and cotyledon of ewes with subclinical pregnancy toxemia (SCPT) and healthy ewes,
      and to identify associated biological functions and pathways involved in
      pregnancy toxemia. On Day 136 (+/-1 day) post-breeding, ewes (n = 18) had body
      condition score (BCS; 1-5; 1, emaciated; 5, obese) assessed, and blood samples
      were collected for plasma glucose and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) analyses. The
      ewes were euthanized, and tissue samples were collected from the gravid uterus
      and placentomes. Based on BCS (2.0 +/- 0.02), glucose (2.4 +/- 0.33), and BHBA
      (0.97 +/- 0.06) concentrations, ewes (n = 10) were grouped as healthy (n = 5) and
      subclinical SCPT (n = 5) ewes. The mRNA expressions were determined by
      quantitative PCR method, and prediction of miRNA partners and target genes for
      the predicted miRNA were identified using miRDB (http://mirdb.org/miRDB/). Top
      ranked target genes were used to identify associated biological functions and
      pathways in response to SPCT using PANTHER. The angiogenesis genes VEGF and PlGF,
      and AdipoQ, AdipoR2, PPARG, LEP, IGF1, IGF2, IL1b, and TNFalpha mRNA expressions
      were lower in abundances, whereas hypoxia genes eNOS, HIF1a, and HIF 2a, and
      sFlt1 and KDR mRNA expressions were greater in abundances in uterus and placenta
      of SCPT ewes compared to healthy ewes (P < 0.05). The predicted miRNA and
      associated target genes contributed to several biological processes, including
      apoptosis, biological adhesion, biological regulation, cellular component
      biogenesis, cellular process, developmental process, immune system process,
      localization, metabolic process, multicellular organismal process, reproduction,
      and response to stimulus. The target genes were involved in several pathways
      including angiogenesis, cytoskeletal regulation, hypoxia response via HIF
      activation, interleukin signaling, ubiquitin proteasome, and VEGF signaling
      pathway. In conclusion, genes associated with blood vessel remodeling were lower
      in abundances and that the genes associated with hypoxic conditions were greater
      in abundances in the uteroplacental compartment of SCPT ewes. It is obvious that
      the factors that influence placental vascular development and angiogenesis as
      noted in this study set the course for hemodynamic changes and hence have a major
      impact on the rate of transplacental nutrient exchange, fetal growth, and health
      of the dam. 

PMID- 27626037
TI  - Perpetration and Victimization of Intimate Partner Aggression Among Rural
      Mothers.
AB  - Intimate partner aggression is a leading cause of injury among women of child
      bearing age. Research suggests that pregnancy and the postpartum period are times
      of increased vulnerability to aggression. Since rural women are at an increased
      risk of intimate partner aggression, research is needed to examine the role of
      pregnancy and the presence of children on intimate partner aggression among this
      vulnerable population. The purpose of this study is to examine the association
      between young children and intimate partner aggression victimization and
      perpetration among a rural sample. This analysis utilized data from biologic
      females of child-bearing age from the Keokuk County Rural Health Study, a cohort
      study of over 1,000 rural families conducted from 1994 to 2011. Crude and
      adjusted logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between
      having a young child and experiencing four forms of intimate partner aggression:
      verbal aggression perpetration, verbal aggression victimization, physical
      aggression perpetration, and physical aggression victimization. Having young
      children was significantly associated with increased odds of perpetrating verbal
      aggression but not victimization of verbal aggression or perpetration and
      victimization of physical aggression. This significant relationship persisted
      after adjustment for education, employment, or location of residence but not age
      or marital status. The increased odds of perpetrating verbal aggression among
      mothers in a rural area highlight the need for interventions designed for rural
      parents. One method of reducing intimate partner aggression may be to incorporate
      intimate partner aggression prevention activities into existing child abuse
      intervention activities.

PMID- 27626038
TI  - Modifiers of Neighbors' Bystander Intervention in Intimate Partner Violence: A
      Concept Mapping Study.
AB  - Encouraging bystander intervention in intimate partner violence (IPV) against
      women is potentially an important method of reducing the prevalence of such
      violence in urban communities. Most existing research has been conducted on
      campuses and in relation to sexual violence among teens or young adults. Our
      understanding of which bystander behaviors are feasible is nascent, and our
      knowledge of which situational factors influence neighbors' self-reported
      willingness to intervene is underdeveloped. We conducted a concept mapping study
      to identify potential bystander intervention behaviors in IPV among neighbors in
      urban settings; we also assessed whether perceived feasibility and effectiveness
      of those behaviors varied by situational characteristics. Using data collected
      from 41 residents of a low-income New York City neighborhood in late 2011,
      concept mapping was used to create a conceptual map of the 74 behaviors
      identified by participants. We examined participant differences in mean
      feasibility (i.e., that the participants "could" or "would" enact a behavior),
      feasibility given two situational characteristics (if the couple was perceived to
      have a history of IPV, and if children were believed to be involved or present),
      and perceived effectiveness of bystander behaviors. Differences across select
      sociodemographic factors of participants were also analyzed. A 13-cluster
      solution emerged, with clusters of bystander behaviors grouped into four larger
      cluster areas: victim focused, parenting/education focused, perpetrator focused,
      and community involvement focused. Bivariate analyses revealed that participants
      rated the four cluster areas as more feasible when a child was believed to be
      involved. Male participants rated intervention as less feasible when the couple
      was believed to have a history of IPV. Participants who reported a history of IPV
      victimization rated all four cluster areas as less effective on average, as
      compared with participants without a history of IPV. This study explored
      bystander intervention into IPV outside of a college context and among urban
      adults living in high-poverty areas. Results suggest that the presence of
      children and perceived history of IPV may affect bystander intervention. Specific
      recommendations to build the research base on bystander intervention in adult IPV
      as well as what situational, sociodemographic, and other factors mitigate against
      intervention among potential responders are offered.

PMID- 27626039
TI  - Multiple mechanisms determine the sensitivity of human-induced pluripotent stem
      cells to the inducible caspase-9 safety switch.
AB  - Expression of the inducible caspase-9 (iC9) suicide gene is one of the most
      appealing safety strategies for cell therapy and has been applied for human
      induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) to control the cell fate of hiPSC. iC9 can
      induce cell death of over 99% of iC9-transduced hiPSC (iC9-hiPSC) in less than 24
      hours after exposure to chemical inducer of dimerization (CID). There is,
      however, a small number of resistant cells that subsequently outgrows. To ensure
      greater uniformity of the hiPSC response to iC9 activation, we purified a
      resistant population by culturing iC9-hiPSC with CID and analyzing the mechanisms
      by which the cells evade killing. We found that iC9-resistant hiPSC have
      significant heterogeneity in terms of their escape mechanisms from caspase
      dependent apoptosis including reduced expression of iC9 by promoter silencing and
      overexpression of BCL2. As a consequence, modifying a single element alone will
      be insufficient to ensure sustained susceptibility of iC9 in all cells and
      prevent the eventual outgrowth of a resistant population. To solve this issue, we
      propose to isolate an iC9-sensitive population and show that this hiPSC line has
      sustained a uniform responsiveness to iC9-mediated growth control. 

PMID- 27626034
TI  - Systems Medicine as an Emerging Tool for Cardiovascular Genetics.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality
      worldwide. However, the pathogenesis of CVD is complex and remains elusive.
      Within the last years, systems medicine has emerged as a novel tool to study the
      complex genetic, molecular, and physiological interactions leading to diseases.
      In this review, we provide an overview about the current approaches for systems
      medicine in CVD. They include bioinformatical and experimental tools such as cell
      and animal models, omics technologies, network, and pathway analyses.
      Additionally, we discuss challenges and current literature examples where systems
      medicine has been successfully applied for the study of CVD. 

PMID- 27626040
TI  - Treatment of osteoarthritis using a helper-dependent adenoviral vector retargeted
      to chondrocytes.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease characterized by degeneration of the
      articular cartilage, subchondral bone remodeling, and secondary inflammation. It
      is among the top three causes of chronic disability, and currently there are no
      treatment options to prevent disease progression. The localized nature of OA
      makes it an ideal candidate for gene and cell therapy. However, gene and cell
      therapy of OA is impeded by inefficient gene transduction of chondrocytes. In
      this study, we developed a broadly applicable system that retargets cell surface
      receptors by conjugating antibodies to the capsid of helper-dependent adenoviral
      vectors (HDVs). Specifically, we applied this system to retarget chondrocytes by
      conjugating an HDV to an alpha-10 integrin monoclonal antibody (a10mab). We show
      that a10mab-conjugated HDV (a10mabHDV)-infected chondrocytes efficiently in vitro
      and in vivo while detargeting other cell types. The therapeutic index of an intra
      articular injection of 10mabHDV-expressing proteoglycan 4 (PRG4) into a murine
      model of post-traumatic OA was 10-fold higher than with standard HDV. Moreover,
      we show that PRG4 overexpression from articular, superficial zone chondrocytes is
      effective for chondroprotection in postinjury OA and that alpha-10 integrin is an
      effective protein for chondrocyte targeting. 

PMID- 27626041
TI  - Ocular and systemic safety of a recombinant AAV8 vector for X-linked
      retinoschisis gene therapy: GLP studies in rabbits and Rs1-KO mice.
AB  - X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) is a retinal disease caused by mutations in the
      gene encoding the protein retinoschisin (RS1) and is one of the most common
      causes of macular degeneration in young men. Our therapeutic approach for XLRS is
      based on the administration of AAV8-scRS/IRBPhRS, an adeno-associated viral
      vector coding the human RS1 protein, via the intravitreal (IVT) route. Two Good
      Laboratory Practice studies, a 9-month study in New Zealand White rabbits (n =
      124) injected with AAV8-scRS/IRBPhRS at doses of 2E9, 2E10, 2E11, and 1.5E12
      vector genomes/eye (vg/eye), and a 6-month study in Rs1-KO mice (n = 162) dosed
      with 2E9 and 2E10 vg/eye of the same vector were conducted to assess ocular and
      systemic safety. A self-resolving, dose-dependent vitreal inflammation was the
      main ocular finding, and except for a single rabbit dosed with 1.5E12 vg/eye,
      which showed a retinal detachment, no other ocular adverse event was reported.
      Systemic toxicity was not identified in either species. Biodistribution analysis
      in Rs1-KO mice detected spread of vector genome in extraocular tissues, but no
      evidence of organ or tissues damage was found. These studies indicate that IVT
      administration of AAV8-scRS/IRBPhRS is safe and well tolerated and support its
      advancement into a phase 1/2a clinical trial for XLRS. 

PMID- 27626042
TI  - Tissue Barriers: Introducing an exciting new journal.
AB  - This Editorial is written to introduce Tissue Barriers, a new Taylor & Francis
      journal, to the readers of Temperature. It describes the role of temperature in
      the regulation of different tissue barriers under normal and disease conditions.
      It also highlights the most interesting articles published in the first volume of
      Tissue Barriers. 

PMID- 27626043
TI  - Motion sickness, nausea and thermoregulation: The "toxic" hypothesis.
AB  - Principal symptoms of motion sickness in humans include facial pallor, nausea and
      vomiting, and sweating. It is less known that motion sickness also affects
      thermoregulation, and the purpose of this review is to present and discuss
      existing data related to this subject. Hypothermia during seasickness was firstly
      noted nearly 150 years ago, but detailed studies of this phenomenon were
      conducted only during the last 2 decades. Motion sickness-induced hypothermia is
      philogenetically quite broadly expressed as besides humans, it has been reported
      in rats, musk shrews and mice. Evidence from human and animal experiments
      indicates that the physiological mechanisms responsible for the motion sickness
      induced hypothermia include cutaneous vasodilation and sweating (leading to an
      increase of heat loss) and reduced thermogenesis. Together, these results suggest
      that motion sickness triggers highly coordinated physiological response aiming to
      reduce body temperature. Finally, we describe potential adaptive role of this
      response, and describe the benefits of using it as an objective measure of motion
      sickness-induced nausea. 

PMID- 27626045
TI  - The heat is on: Molecular mechanisms of drug-induced hyperthermia.
AB  - Thermoregulation is an essential homeostatic process in which critical mechanisms
      of heat production and dissipation are controlled centrally in large part by the
      hypothalamus and peripherally by activation of the sympathetic nervous system.
      Drugs that disrupt the components of this highly orchestrated multi-organ process
      can lead to life-threatening hyperthermia. In most cases, hyperthermic agents
      raise body temperature by increasing the central and peripheral release of
      thermoregulatory neurotransmitters that ultimately lead to heat production in
      thermogenic effector organs skeletal muscle (SKM) and brown adipose tissue (BAT).
      In many cases hyperthermic drugs also decrease heat dissipation through
      peripheral changes in blood flow. Drug-induced heat production is driven by the
      stimulation of mechanisms that normally regulate the adaptive thermogenic
      responses including both shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis (NST)
      mechanisms. Modulation of the mitochondrial electrochemical proton/pH gradient by
      uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in BAT is the most well characterized mechanism of
      NST in response to cold, and may contribute to thermogenesis induced by
      sympathomimetic agents, but this is far from established. However, the UCP1
      homologue, UCP3, and the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) are established mediators of
      toxicant-induced hyperthermia in SKM. Defining the molecular mechanisms that
      orchestrate drug-induced hyperthermia will be essential in developing treatment
      modalities for thermogenic illnesses. This review will briefly summarize
      mechanisms of thermoregulation and provide a survey of pharmacologic agents that
      can lead to hyperthermia. We will also provide an overview of the established and
      candidate molecular mechanisms that regulate the actual thermogenic processes in
      heat effector organs BAT and SKM. 

PMID- 27626046
TI  - Effects of MDMA on body temperature in humans.
AB  - Hyperthermia is a severe complication associated with the recreational use of 3,4
      methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy). In this review, the clinical
      laboratory studies that tested the effects of MDMA on body temperature are
      summarized. The mechanisms that underlie the hyperthermic effects of MDMA in
      humans and treatment of severe hyperthermia are presented. The data show that
      MDMA produces an acute and dose-dependent rise in core body temperature in
      healthy subjects. The increase in body temperature is in the range of 0.2-0.8
      degrees C and does not result in hyperpyrexia (>40 degrees C) in a controlled
      laboratory setting. However, moderately hyperthermic body temperatures >38.0
      degrees C occur frequently at higher doses, even in the absence of physical
      activity and at room temperature. MDMA primarily releases serotonin and
      norepinephrine. Mechanistic clinical studies indicate that the MDMA-induced
      elevations in body temperature in humans partially depend on the MDMA-induced
      release of norepinephrine and involve enhanced metabolic heat generation and
      cutaneous vasoconstriction, resulting in impaired heat dissipation. The mediating
      role of serotonin is unclear. The management of sympathomimetic toxicity and
      associated hyperthermia mainly includes sedation with benzodiazepines and
      intravenous fluid replacement. Severe hyperthermia should primarily be treated
      with additional cooling and mechanical ventilation. 

PMID- 27626044
TI  - Amphetamine- and methamphetamine-induced hyperthermia: Implications of the
      effects produced in brain vasculature and peripheral organs to forebrain
      neurotoxicity.
AB  - The adverse effects of amphetamine- (AMPH) and methamphetamine- (METH) induced
      hyperthermia on vasculature, peripheral organs and peripheral immune system are
      discussed. Hyperthermia alone does not produce amphetamine-like neurotoxicity but
      AMPH and METH exposures that do not produce hyperthermia (>=40 degrees C) are
      minimally neurotoxic. Hyperthermia likely enhances AMPH and METH neurotoxicity
      directly through disruption of protein function, ion channels and enhanced ROS
      production. Forebrain neurotoxicity can also be indirectly influenced through the
      effects of AMPH- and METH- induced hyperthermia on vasculature. The hyperthermia
      and the hypertension produced by high doses amphetamines are a primary cause of
      transient breakdowns in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) resulting in concomitant
      regional neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in laboratory animals. This BBB
      breakdown can occur in the amygdala, thalamus, striatum, sensory and motor cortex
      and hippocampus. Under these conditions, repetitive seizures greatly enhance
      neurodegeneration in hippocampus, thalamus and amygdala. Even when the BBB is
      less disrupted, AMPH- or METH- induced hyperthermia effects on brain vasculature
      may play a role in neurotoxicity. In this case, striatal and cortical vascular
      function are adversely affected, and even greater ROS, immune and damage
      responses are seen in the meninges and cortical surface vasculature. Finally,
      muscle and liver damage and elevated cytokines in blood can result when
      amphetamines produce hyperthermia. Proteins, from damaged muscle may activate the
      peripheral immune system and exacerbate liver damage. Liver damage can further
      increase cytokine levels, immune system activation and increase ammonia levels.
      These effects could potentially enhance vascular damage and neurotoxicity. 

PMID- 27626047
TI  - State-dependent and environmental modulation of brain hyperthermic effects of
      psychoactive drugs of abuse.
AB  - Hyperthermia is a known effect induced by psychomotor stimulants and pathological
      hyperthermia is a prominent symptom of acute intoxication with these drugs in
      humans. In this manuscript, I will review our recent work concerning the brain
      hyperthermic effects of several known and recently appeared psychostimulant drugs
      of abuse (cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, methylone, and MDPV). Specifically, I
      will consider the role of activity state and environmental conditions in
      modulating the brain temperature effects of these drugs and their acute toxicity.
      Although some of these drugs are structurally similar and interact with the same
      brain substrates, there are important differences in their temperature effects in
      quiet resting conditions and the type of modulation of these temperature effects
      under conditions that mimic basic aspects of human drug use (social interaction,
      moderately warm environments). These data could be important for understanding
      the potential dangers of each drug and ultimately preventing adverse health
      complications associated with acute drug-induced intoxication. 

PMID- 27626048
TI  - Saturday night fever in ecstasy/MDMA dance clubbers: Heightened body temperature
      and associated psychobiological changes.
AB  - Aims and rationale: to investigate body temperature and thermal self-ratings of
      Ecstasy/MDMA users at a Saturday night dance club. METHODS: 68 dance clubbers
      (mean age 21.6 years, 30 females and 38 males), were assessed at a Saturday night
      dance club, then 2-3 d later. Three subgroups were compared: 32 current Ecstasy
      users who had taken Ecstasy/MDMA that evening, 10 abstinent Ecstasy/MDMA users on
      other psychoactive drugs, and 26 non-user controls (predominantly alcohol
      drinkers). In a comparatively quiet area of the dance club, each unpaid volunteer
      had their ear temperature recorded, and completed a questionnaire on thermal
      feelings and mood states. A similar questionnaire was repeated 2-3 d later by
      mobile telephone. RESULTS: Ecstasy/MDMA users had a mean body temperature 1.2
      degrees C higher than non-user controls (P < 0.001), and felt significantly
      hotter and thirstier. The abstinent Ecstasy/MDMA polydrug user group had a mean
      body temperature intermediate between the other 2 groups, significantly higher
      than controls, and significantly lower than current Ecstasy/MDMA users. After 2-3
      d of recovery, the Ecstasy/MDMA users remained significantly 'thirstier'. Higher
      body temperature while clubbing was associated with greater Ecstasy/MDMA usage at
      the club, and younger age of first use. Higher temperature also correlated with
      lower elation and poor memory 2-3 d later. It also correlated positively with
      nicotine, and negatively with cannabis. CONCLUSIONS: Ecstasy/MDMA using dance
      clubbers had significantly higher body temperature than non-user controls. This
      heightened body temperature was associated with a number of adverse
      psychobiological consequences, including poor memory.

PMID- 27626049
TI  - The effect of oral uptake of nicotine in snus on peripheral skin blood
      circulation evaluated by thermography.
AB  - While health risks from smoking cigarettes are well known, little is known about
      the health risks of using smokeless tobacco (ST). The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the effect that ST in the form of oral use of snus with nicotine and
      snus without nicotine has on peripheral skin blood circulation. 21 young habitual
      users of snus with nicotine participated in this study. Under controlled
      conditions the subjects were exposed to a 30 minute period of oral use of snus
      with nicotine (SN+) and snus without nicotine (SN-). The peripheral skin blood
      circulation was indirectly monitored on the hands by measuring skin temperature
      using infrared thermography. The skin blood circulation in the hands showed a
      statistical significant decrease in the SN+ experiments, while skin blood
      circulation was hardly effected in the SN- experiments. It is concluded that the
      use of smokeless tobacco in the form of oral use of snus containing nicotine
      causes a decrease in peripheral skin blood circulation while such an effect is
      not seen in snus without nicotine. This knowledge may be of use when treating
      patients that require adequate peripheral skin circulation or in the military
      when soldiers are exposed cold conditions. 

PMID- 27626050
TI  - Data on the phosphorylation of p38MAPK and JNK induced by chlorpyrifos in
      Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Exposure to organophosphate compounds, such as chlorpyrifos, has been linked to
      disturbances on cell signaling pathways. Mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK)
      are a family of protein kinases involved in a range of cellular processes,
      including stress response, apoptosis and survival. Therefore, changes in the
      activation state of these kinases may characterize key mechanisms of toxicity
      elicited by xenobiotics. Here we report data on the phosphorylation of p38MAPK
      and JNK, members of the MAPK family, in Drosophila melanogaster exposed to
      chlorpyrifos, as characterized by western blotting assays. 

PMID- 27626051
TI  - 3D-QSAR modelling dataset of bioflavonoids for predicting the potential
      modulatory effect on P-glycoprotein activity.
AB  - The data is obtained from exploring the modulatory activities of bioflavonoids on
      P-glycoprotein function by ligand-based approaches. Multivariate Linear-QSAR
      models for predicting the induced/inhibitory activities of the flavonoids were
      created. Molecular descriptors were initially used as independent variables and a
      dependent variable was expressed as pFAR. The variables were then used in MLR
      analysis by stepwise regression calculation to build the linear QSAR data. The
      entire dataset consisted of 23 bioflavonoids was used as a training set.
      Regarding the obtained MLR QSAR model, R of 0.963, R (2)=0.927, [Formula: see
      text], SEE=0.197, F=33.849 and q (2)=0.927 were achieved. The true
      predictabilities of QSAR model were justified by evaluation with the external
      dataset (Table 4). The pFARs of representative flavonoids were predicted by MLR
      QSAR modelling. The data showed that internal and external validations may
      generate the same conclusion. 

PMID- 27626052
TI  - Data on screening and identification of genetically modified papaya in food
      supplements.
AB  - This article contains data related to the research article entitled "A case study
      to determine the geographical origin of unknown GM papaya in routine food sample
      analysis, followed by identification of papaya events 16-0-1 and 18-2-4" (Prins
      et al., 2016) [1]. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) with targets that are
      putatively present in genetically modified (GM) papaya was used as a first
      screening to narrow down the vast array of candidates. The combination of
      elements P-nos and nptII was further confirmed by amplification and subsequent
      sequencing of the P-nos/nptII construct. Next, presence of the candidate GM
      papayas 16-0-1 and 18-2-4 were investigated by amplification and sequencing of
      event-spanning regions on the left and right border. This data article reports
      the Cq values for GM elements, the nucleotide sequence of the P-nos/nptII
      construct and the presence of GM papaya events 18-2-4 and/or 16-0-1 in five
      samples that were randomly sampled to be analysed in the framework of the
      official Dutch GMO monitoring program for food. 

PMID- 27626053
TI  - Data on clinical significance of second trimester inflammatory biomarkers in the
      amniotic fluid in predicting preterm delivery.
AB  - In this article second trimester amniotic fluid biomarkers are measured for
      correlation with preterm delivery. One additional milliliter of amniotic fluid is
      collected during amniocentesis for dosages of IL-6, MMP-9, CRP and glucose
      levels, along with maternal serum CRP and glucose. MMP-9 and Il-6 levels were
      measured with the corresponding Human Quantikine(R) ELISA Kit (R&D systems)
      according to the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Cut-off values for AF
      MMP-9 and IL-6 were fixed by the kit sensitivity thresholds. Data includes ROC
      curves for glucose (Fig. 1), IL-6 (Fig. 2) and MMP-9 (Fig. 3), aiming to search
      for sensitivity and specificity in the prediction of premature delivery.
      Statistical analyses are performed with SPSS v20.0 software. Statistical
      significance is determined using the Mann-Whitney and one way ANOVA test. The
      association with preterm delivery is performed using a two proportions test.
      Correlations are measured using the Pearson''s coefficient. A p value<0.05 is
      considered statistically significant. The data is presented in the figures
      provided. Data relied on a previous publication "Prediction of preterm delivery
      by second trimester inflammatory biomarkers in the amniotic fluid" (A. Kesrouani,
      E. Chalhoub, E. El Rassy, M. Germanos, A. Khazzaka, J. Rizkallah, E. Attieh, N.
      Aouad, 2016) [1]. 

PMID- 27626054
TI  - Dataset of differential lipid raft and global proteomes of SILAC-labeled cystic
      fibrosis cells upon TNF -alpha stimulation.
AB  - Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease due to mutations in the cystic fibrosis
      transmembrane regulator (CFTR), F508del-CFTR being the most frequent. Lipid raft
      like microdomains (LRM) are regions of the plasma membrane that present a high
      cholesterol content and are insoluble to non-ionic detergents. LRM are essential
      functional and structural platforms that play an important role in the
      inflammatory response. CFTR is a known modulator of inflammation in LRM. Here we
      provide mass spectrometry data on the global impact of CFTR mutation and TNF-a
      stimulation on the LRM proteome. We used the Stable Isotope Labeling by Amino
      Acids in Cell Culture (SILAC) approach to quantify and identify 332 proteins in
      LRM upon TNF-a stimulation in CF cells and 1381 for the global proteome. We
      report two detailed tables containing lists of proteins obtained by mass
      spectrometry and the immunofluorescence validation results for one of these
      proteins, the G-protein coupled receptor 5A. These results are associated with
      the article "Changes in lipid raft proteome upon TNF-alpha stimulation of cystic
      fibrosis cells" (Chhuon et al., in press [1]). 

PMID- 27626055
TI  - Methotrexate-induced CD30(+) T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder of the oral
      cavity.

PMID- 27626056
TI  - Spontaneous resolution of advanced basal cell carcinoma after short-pulse
      treatment with hedgehog pathway inhibitor.

PMID- 27626057
TI  - Cognitive impairment among World Trade Center responders: Long-term implications
      of re-experiencing the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: During the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks, responders who helped
      in search, rescue, and recovery endured multiple traumatic and toxic exposures.
      One-fifth subsequently developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD has
      been linked to dementia in veterans. This study examined the association between
      WTC-related PTSD and cognitive impairment (CI) in WTC responders. METHODS: A one
      third sample of responders (N = 818) reporting for annual monitoring visits were
      screened for cognitive impairment and dementia using the Montreal Cognitive
      Assessment from January 2014-April 2015. Concurrent diagnoses of PTSD and major
      depressive disorder (MDD), as well as serial PTSD and depressive symptom
      inventories, collected since 2002, were examined in relation to current CI.
      RESULTS: Approximately 12.8% and 1.2% of responders in this sample respectively
      had scores indicative of CI and possible dementia. Current PTSD and MDD were
      associated with CI. Longitudinal results revealed that re-experiencing symptoms
      were consistently associated with CI (aRR = 2.88, 95% confidence interval = 1.35
      6.22), whereas longitudinal increases in other PTSD and depressive symptoms in
      the years before screening were evident only among those with CI. CONCLUSIONS:
      Analyses replicated results from Veterans studies and further highlighted the
      importance of re-experiencing symptoms, a major component of PTSD that was
      consistently predictive of CI 14 years later. Clinicians should monitor CI when
      treating individuals with chronic PTSD.

PMID- 27626058
TI  - Expression of DAI by an oncolytic vaccinia virus boosts the immunogenicity of the
      virus and enhances antitumor immunity.
AB  - In oncolytic virotherapy, the ability of the virus to activate the immune system
      is a key attribute with regard to long-term antitumor effects. Vaccinia viruses
      bear one of the strongest oncolytic activities among all oncolytic viruses.
      However, its capacity for stimulation of antitumor immunity is not optimal,
      mainly due to its immunosuppressive nature. To overcome this problem, we
      developed an oncolytic VV that expresses intracellular pattern recognition
      receptor DNA-dependent activator of IFN-regulatory factors (DAI) to boost the
      innate immune system and to activate adaptive immune cells in the tumor. We
      showed that infection with DAI-expressing VV increases expression of several
      genes related to important immunological pathways. Treatment with DAI-armed VV
      resulted in significant reduction in the size of syngeneic melanoma tumors in
      mice. When the mice were rechallenged with the same tumor, DAI-VV-treated mice
      completely rejected growth of the new tumor, which indicates immunity established
      against the tumor. We also showed enhanced control of growth of human melanoma
      tumors and elevated levels of human T-cells in DAI-VV-treated mice humanized with
      human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We conclude that expression of DAI by
      an oncolytic VV is a promising way to amplify the vaccine potency of an oncolytic
      vaccinia virus to trigger the innate-and eventually the long-lasting adaptive
      immunity against cancer. 

PMID- 27626059
TI  - N-Myc expression enhances the oncolytic effects of vesicular stomatitis virus in
      human neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - N-myc oncogene amplification is associated but not present in all cases of high
      risk neuroblastoma (NB). Since oncogene expression could often modulate
      sensitivity to oncolytic viruses, we wanted to examine if N-myc expression status
      would determine virotherapy efficacy to high-risk NB. We showed that induction of
      exogenous N-myc in a non-N-myc-amplified cell line background (TET-21N) increased
      susceptibility to oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (mutant VSVDeltaM51) and
      alleviated the type I IFN-induced antiviral state. Cells with basal N-myc, on the
      other hand, were less susceptible to virus-induced oncolysis and established a
      robust IFN-mediated antiviral state. The same effects were also observed in NB
      cell lines with and without N-myc amplification. Microarray analysis showed that
      N-myc overexpression in TET-21N cells downregulated IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs)
      with known antiviral functions. Furthermore, virus infection caused significant
      changes in global gene expression in TET-21N cells overexpressing N-myc. Such
      changes involved ISGs with various functions. Therefore, the present study showed
      that augmented susceptibility to VSVDeltaM51 by N-myc at least involves
      downregulation of ISGs with antiviral functions and alleviation of the IFN
      stimulated antiviral state. Our studies suggest the potential utility of N-myc
      amplification/overexpression as a predictive biomarker of virotherapy response
      for high-risk NB using IFN-sensitive oncolytic viruses. 

PMID- 27626060
TI  - High-content molecular profiling of T-cell therapy in oncology.
AB  - Recent clinical data have revealed the remarkable potential for T-cell-modulating
      agents to induce potent and durable responses in a subset of cancer patients. In
      this review, we discuss molecular approaches, platforms, and strategies that
      enable a broader interrogation of the activity of agents that modulate the
      activity of tumor-specific T cells, to more comprehensively understand how and
      why the agents succeed and fail, as well as examples of data sets generated in
      clinical trials that have provided important insights into the biological
      activity of T-cell therapies and that support further rational development of
      this exciting treatment modality. 

PMID- 27626061
TI  - LV305, a dendritic cell-targeting integration-deficient ZVex(TM)-based lentiviral
      vector encoding NY-ESO-1, induces potent anti-tumor immune response.
AB  - We have engineered an integration-deficient lentiviral vector, LV305, to deliver
      the tumor antigen NY-ESO-1 to human dendritic cells in vivo through pseudotyping
      with a modified Sindbis virus envelop protein. Mice immunized once with LV305
      developed strong, dose-dependent, multifunctional, and cytotoxic NY-ESO-1
      specific cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8) T cells within 14 days post
      immunization and could be boosted with LV305 at least twice to recall peak-level
      CD8 T-cell responses. Immunization with LV305 protected mice against tumor growth
      in an NY-ESO-1-expressing CT26 lung metastasis model, with the protective effect
      abrogated upon depletion of CD8 T cells. Adoptive transfer of CD8 T cells, alone
      or together with CD4 T cells or natural killer cells, from LV305-immunized donor
      mice to tumor-bearing recipient mice conferred significant protection against
      metastatic tumor growth. Biodistribution of injected LV305 in mice was limited to
      the site of injection and the draining lymph node, and injected LV305 exhibited
      minimal excretion. Mice injected with LV305 developed little to no adverse
      effects, as evaluated by toxicology studies adherent to good laboratory
      practices. Taken together, these data support the development of LV305 as a
      clinical candidate for treatment against tumors expressing NY-ESO-1. 

PMID- 27626062
TI  - Toxicity and management in CAR T-cell therapy.
AB  - T cells can be genetically modified to target tumors through the expression of a
      chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). Most notably, CAR T cells have demonstrated
      clinical efficacy in hematologic malignancies with more modest responses when
      targeting solid tumors. However, CAR T cells also have the capacity to elicit
      expected and unexpected toxicities including: cytokine release syndrome,
      neurologic toxicity, "on target/off tumor" recognition, and anaphylaxis.
      Theoretical toxicities including clonal expansion secondary to insertional
      oncogenesis, graft versus host disease, and off-target antigen recognition have
      not been clinically evident. Abrogating toxicity has become a critical step in
      the successful application of this emerging technology. To this end, we review
      the reported and theoretical toxicities of CAR T cells and their management. 

PMID- 27626063
TI  - Tumor control by human cytomegalovirus in a murine model of hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - Although viruses can cause cancer, other studies reported the regression of human
      tumors upon viral infections. We investigated the cytoreductive potential of
      human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in a murine model of human hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC) in severe-immunodeficient mice. Infection of HepG2 cells with HCMV resulted
      in the absence of tumor or in a limited tumor growth following injection of cells
      subcutaneously. By contrast all mice injected with uninfected HepG2 cells and
      with HepG2 cells infected with UV-treated HCMV did develop tumors without any
      significant restriction. Analysis of tumors indicated that in mice injected with
      HCMV-infected-HepG2 cells, but not in controls, a restricted cellular
      proliferation was observed parallel to a limited activation of the STAT3-cyclin
      D1 axis, decreased formation of colonies in soft agar, and activation of the
      intrinsic apoptotic pathway. We conclude that HCMV can provide antitumoral
      effects in a murine model of HCC which requires replicative virus at some stages
      that results in limitation of tumor cell proliferation and enhanced apoptosis
      mediated through the intrinsic caspase pathway. 

PMID- 27626064
TI  - A de novo missense mutation in ZMYND11 is associated with global developmental
      delay, seizures, and hypotonia.
AB  - Recently, mutations in the zinc finger MYND-type containing 11 (ZMYND11) gene
      were identified in patients with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual
      disability, aggression, and complex neuropsychiatric features, supporting that
      this gene is implicated in 10p15.3 microdeletion syndrome. We report a novel de
      novo variant in the ZMYND11 gene (p.Ser421Asn) in a patient with a complex
      neurodevelopmental phenotype. The patient is a 24-yr-old Caucasian/Filipino
      female with seizures, global developmental delay, sensorineural hearing loss,
      hypotonia, dysmorphic features, and other features including a happy disposition
      and ataxic gait similar to Angelman syndrome. In addition, this patient had
      uncommon features including eosinophilic esophagitis and multiple, severe
      allergies not described in similar ZMYND11 cases. This new case further supports
      the association of ZMYND11 with autistic-like phenotypes and suggests that
      ZMYND11 should be included in the list of potentially causative candidate genes
      in cases with complex neurodevelopmental phenotypes. 

PMID- 27626065
TI  - A novel TP53-KPNA3 translocation defines a de novo treatment-resistant clone in
      osteosarcoma.
AB  - Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone cancer. It can be cured by
      aggressive surgery and chemotherapy, but outcomes for metastatic or
      chemoresistant disease remain dismal. Cancer sequencing studies have shown that
      the p53 pathway is dysregulated in nearly every case, often by translocation;
      however, no studies of osteosarcoma evolution or intratumor heterogeneity have
      been done to date. We studied a patient with chemoresistant, metastatic disease
      over the course of 3 years. We performed exome sequencing on germline DNA and DNA
      collected from tumor at three separate time points. We compared variant calls and
      variant allele frequencies between different samples. We identified subclonal
      mutations in several different genes in the primary tumor sample and found that
      one particular subclone dominated subsequent tumor samples at relapse. This clone
      was marked by a novel TP53-KPNA3 translocation and loss of the opposite-strand
      wild-type TP53 allele. Future research must focus on the functional significance
      of such clones and strategies to eliminate them. 

PMID- 27626067
TI  - Testing ERBB2 p.L755S kinase domain mutation as a druggable target in a patient
      with advanced colorectal cancer.
AB  - Recent advances in molecular profiling technologies allow genetic driver events
      in individual tumors to be identified. The hypothesis behind this ongoing
      molecular profiling effort is that improvement in patients' clinical outcomes
      will be achieved by inhibiting these discovered genetic driver events with
      matched targeted drugs. This hypothesis is currently being tested in oncology
      clinics with variable early results. Herein, we present our experience with a
      case of advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) with an ERBB2 p.L755S kinase domain
      mutation, a BRAF p.N581S mutation, and an APC p.Q1429fs mutation, together with a
      brief review of the literature describing the biological and clinical
      significance of ERRB2 kinase domain mutations in CRC. The patient was treated
      with trastuzumab combined with infusional 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin based on
      the presence of ERBB2 p.L755S kinase mutation in the tumor and based on the
      available evidence at the time when standard treatment options had been
      exhausted. However, there was no therapeutic response illustrating the challenges
      we face in managing patients with potentially targetable mutations where results
      from functional in vitro and in vivo studies lag behind those of genomic
      sequencing studies. Also lagging behind are clinical utility data from oncology
      clinics, hampering rapid therapeutic advances. Our case also highlights the
      logistical barriers associated with getting the most optimal therapeutic agents
      to the right patient in this era of personalized therapeutics based on cancer
      genomics. 

PMID- 27626066
TI  - A novel de novo mutation in ATP1A3 and childhood-onset schizophrenia.
AB  - We describe a child with onset of command auditory hallucinations and behavioral
      regression at 6 yr of age in the context of longer standing selective mutism,
      aggression, and mild motor delays. His genetic evaluation included chromosomal
      microarray analysis and whole-exome sequencing. Sequencing revealed a previously
      unreported heterozygous de novo mutation c.385G>A in ATP1A3, predicted to result
      in a p.V129M amino acid change. This gene codes for a neuron-specific isoform of
      the catalytic alpha-subunit of the ATP-dependent transmembrane sodium-potassium
      pump. Heterozygous mutations in this gene have been reported as causing both
      sporadic and inherited forms of alternating hemiplegia of childhood and rapid
      onset dystonia parkinsonism. We discuss the literature on phenotypes associated
      with known variants in ATP1A3, examine past functional studies of the role of
      ATP1A3 in neuronal function, and describe a novel clinical presentation
      associated with mutation of this gene. 

PMID- 27626068
TI  - Integrated tumor and germline whole-exome sequencing identifies mutations in MAPK
      and PI3K pathway genes in an adolescent with rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor
      of the fourth ventricle.
AB  - The integration of genome-scale studies such as whole-exome sequencing (WES) into
      the clinical care of children with cancer has the potential to provide insight
      into the genetic basis of an individual's cancer with implications for clinical
      management. This report describes the results of clinical tumor and germline WES
      for a patient with a rare tumor diagnosis, rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor of
      the fourth ventricle (RGNT). Three pathogenic gene alterations with implications
      for clinical care were identified: somatic activating hotspot mutations in FGFR1
      (p.N546K) and PIK3CA (p.H1047R) and a germline pathogenic variant in PTPN11
      (p.N308S) diagnostic for Noonan syndrome. The molecular landscape of RGNT is not
      well-described, but these data are consistent with prior observations regarding
      the importance of the interconnected MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways in
      this rare tumor. The co-occurrence of FGFR1, PIK3CA, and PTPN11 alterations
      provides further evidence for consideration of RGNT as a distinct molecular
      entity from pediatric low-grade gliomas and suggests potential therapeutic
      strategies for this patient in the event of tumor recurrence as novel agents
      targeting these pathways enter pediatric clinical trials. Although RGNT has not
      been definitively linked with cancer predisposition syndromes, two prior cases
      have been reported in patients with RASopathies (Noonan syndrome and
      neurofibromatosis type 1 [NF1]), providing an additional link between these
      tumors and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. In
      summary, this case provides an example of the potential for genome-scale
      sequencing technologies to provide insight into the biology of rare tumors and
      yield both tumor and germline results of potential relevance to patient care. 

PMID- 27626069
TI  - Evolution of a FLT3-TKD mutated subclone at meningeal relapse in acute
      promyelocytic leukemia.
AB  - Here, we report the case of an acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patient who
      although negative for FLT3 mutations at diagnosis-developed isolated FLT3
      tyrosine kinase II domain (FLT3-TKD)-positive meningeal relapse, which, in
      retrospect, could be traced back to a minute bone marrow subclone present at
      first diagnosis. Initially, the 48-yr-old female diagnosed with high-risk APL had
      achieved complete molecular remission after standard treatment with all-trans
      retinoic acid (ATRA) and chemotherapy according to the AIDA (ATRA plus
      idarubicin) protocol. Thirteen months after the start of ATRA maintenance, the
      patient suffered clinically overt meningeal relapse along with minute molecular
      traces of PML/RARA (promyelocytic leukemia/retinoic acid receptor alpha) in the
      bone marrow. Following treatment with arsenic trioxide and ATRA in combination
      with intrathecal cytarabine and methotrexate, the patient achieved a complete
      molecular remission in both cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and bone marrow, which
      currently lasts for 2 yr after completion of therapy. Whole-exome sequencing and
      subsequent ultradeep targeted resequencing revealed a heterozygous FLT3-TKD
      mutation in CSF leukemic cells (p.D835Y, c.2503G>T, 1000/1961 reads [51%]), which
      was undetectable in the concurrent bone marrow sample. Interestingly, the FLT3
      TKD mutated meningeal clone originated from a small bone marrow subclone present
      in a variant allele frequency of 0.4% (6/1553 reads) at initial diagnosis. This
      case highlights the concept of clonal evolution with a subclone harboring an
      additional mutation being selected as the "fittest" and leading to meningeal
      relapse. It also further supports earlier suggestions that FLT3 mutations may
      play a role for migration and clonal expansion in the CSF sanctuary site. 

PMID- 27626071
TI  - Computationally designed peptides for self-assembly of nanostructured lattices.
AB  - Folded peptides present complex exterior surfaces specified by their amino acid
      sequences, and the control of these surfaces offers high-precision routes to self
      assembling materials. The complexity of peptide structure and the subtlety of
      noncovalent interactions make the design of predetermined nanostructures
      difficult. Computational methods can facilitate this design and are used here to
      determine 29-residue peptides that form tetrahelical bundles that, in turn, serve
      as building blocks for lattice-forming materials. Four distinct assemblies were
      engineered. Peptide bundle exterior amino acids were designed in the context of
      three different interbundle lattices in addition to one design to produce bundles
      isolated in solution. Solution assembly produced three different types of lattice
      forming materials that exhibited varying degrees of agreement with the chosen
      lattices used in the design of each sequence. Transmission electron microscopy
      revealed the nanostructure of the sheetlike nanomaterials. In contrast, the
      peptide sequence designed to form isolated, soluble, tetrameric bundles remained
      dispersed and did not form any higher-order assembled nanostructure. Small-angle
      neutron scattering confirmed the formation of soluble bundles with the designed
      size. In the lattice-forming nanostructures, the solution assembly process is
      robust with respect to variation of solution conditions (pH and temperature) and
      covalent modification of the computationally designed peptides. Solution
      conditions can be used to control micrometer-scale morphology of the assemblies.
      The findings illustrate that, with careful control of molecular structure and
      solution conditions, a single peptide motif can be versatile enough to yield a
      wide range of self-assembled lattice morphologies across many length scales (1 to
      1000 nm).

PMID- 27626072
TI  - Optomechanical measurement of photon spin angular momentum and optical torque in
      integrated photonic devices.
AB  - Photons carry linear momentum and spin angular momentum when circularly or
      elliptically polarized. During light-matter interaction, transfer of linear
      momentum leads to optical forces, whereas transfer of angular momentum induces
      optical torque. Optical forces including radiation pressure and gradient forces
      have long been used in optical tweezers and laser cooling. In nanophotonic
      devices, optical forces can be significantly enhanced, leading to unprecedented
      optomechanical effects in both classical and quantum regimes. In contrast, to
      date, the angular momentum of light and the optical torque effect have only been
      used in optical tweezers but remain unexplored in integrated photonics. We
      demonstrate the measurement of the spin angular momentum of photons propagating
      in a birefringent waveguide and the use of optical torque to actuate rotational
      motion of an optomechanical device. We show that the sign and magnitude of the
      optical torque are determined by the photon polarization states that are
      synthesized on the chip. Our study reveals the mechanical effect of photon's
      polarization degree of freedom and demonstrates its control in integrated
      photonic devices. Exploiting optical torque and optomechanical interaction with
      photon angular momentum can lead to torsional cavity optomechanics and
      optomechanical photon spin-orbit coupling, as well as applications such as
      optomechanical gyroscopes and torsional magnetometry.

PMID- 27626073
TI  - Super-heavy electron material as metallic refrigerant for adiabatic
      demagnetization cooling.
AB  - Low-temperature refrigeration is of crucial importance in fundamental research of
      condensed matter physics, because the investigations of fascinating quantum
      phenomena, such as superconductivity, superfluidity, and quantum criticality,
      often require refrigeration down to very low temperatures. Currently, cryogenic
      refrigerators with (3)He gas are widely used for cooling below 1 K. However,
      usage of the gas has been increasingly difficult because of the current worldwide
      shortage. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative methods of
      refrigeration. We show that a new type of refrigerant, the super-heavy electron
      metal YbCo2Zn20, can be used for adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration, which
      does not require (3)He gas. This method has a number of advantages, including
      much better metallic thermal conductivity compared to the conventional insulating
      refrigerants. We also demonstrate that the cooling performance is optimized in
      Yb1-x Sc x Co2Zn20 by partial Sc substitution, with x ~ 0.19. The substitution
      induces chemical pressure that drives the materials to a zero-field quantum
      critical point. This leads to an additional enhancement of the magnetocaloric
      effect in low fields and low temperatures, enabling final temperatures well below
      100 mK. This performance has, up to now, been restricted to insulators. For
      nearly a century, the same principle of using local magnetic moments has been
      applied for adiabatic demagnetization cooling. This study opens new possibilities
      of using itinerant magnetic moments for cryogen-free refrigeration.

PMID- 27626070
TI  - Structural basis for KCNE3 modulation of potassium recycling in epithelia.
AB  - The single-span membrane protein KCNE3 modulates a variety of voltage-gated ion
      channels in diverse biological contexts. In epithelial cells, KCNE3 regulates the
      function of the KCNQ1 potassium ion (K(+)) channel to enable K(+) recycling
      coupled to transepithelial chloride ion (Cl(-)) secretion, a physiologically
      critical cellular transport process in various organs and whose malfunction
      causes diseases, such as cystic fibrosis (CF), cholera, and pulmonary edema.
      Structural, computational, biochemical, and electrophysiological studies lead to
      an atomically explicit integrative structural model of the KCNE3-KCNQ1 complex
      that explains how KCNE3 induces the constitutive activation of KCNQ1 channel
      activity, a crucial component in K(+) recycling. Central to this mechanism are
      direct interactions of KCNE3 residues at both ends of its transmembrane domain
      with residues on the intra- and extracellular ends of the KCNQ1 voltage-sensing
      domain S4 helix. These interactions appear to stabilize the activated "up" state
      configuration of S4, a prerequisite for full opening of the KCNQ1 channel gate.
      In addition, the integrative structural model was used to guide
      electrophysiological studies that illuminate the molecular basis for how estrogen
      exacerbates CF lung disease in female patients, a phenomenon known as the "CF
      gender gap."

PMID- 27626074
TI  - Differential roles of AVP and VIP signaling in the postnatal changes of neural
      networks for coherent circadian rhythms in the SCN.
AB  - The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the site of the master circadian clock in
      mammals. The SCN neural network plays a critical role in expressing the tissue
      level circadian rhythm. Previously, we demonstrated postnatal changes in the SCN
      network in mice, in which the clock gene products CRYPTOCHROMES (CRYs) are
      involved. Here, we show that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) signaling is
      essential for the tissue-level circadian PER2::LUC rhythm in the neonatal SCN of
      CRY double-deficient mice (Cry1,2 (-/-) ). VIP and arginine vasopressin (AVP)
      signaling showed redundancy in expressing the tissue-level circadian rhythm in
      the SCN. AVP synthesis was significantly attenuated in the Cry1,2 (-/-) SCN,
      which contributes to aperiodicity in the adult mice together with an attenuation
      of VIP signaling as a natural process of ontogeny. The SCN network consists of
      multiple clusters of cellular circadian rhythms that are differentially
      integrated by AVP and VIP signaling, depending on the postnatal period.

PMID- 27626075
TI  - Polymyxins and quinazolines are LSD1/KDM1A inhibitors with unusual structural
      features.
AB  - Because of its involvement in the progression of several malignant tumors, the
      histone lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) has become a prominent drug target
      in modern medicinal chemistry research. We report on the discovery of two classes
      of noncovalent inhibitors displaying unique structural features. The antibiotics
      polymyxins bind at the entrance of the substrate cleft, where their highly
      charged cyclic moiety interacts with a cluster of positively charged amino acids.
      The same site is occupied by quinazoline-based compounds, which were found to
      inhibit the enzyme through a most peculiar mode because they form a pile of five
      to seven molecules that obstruct access to the active center. These data
      significantly indicate unpredictable strategies for the development of epigenetic
      inhibitors.

PMID- 27626076
TI  - X-ray laser-induced electron dynamics observed by femtosecond diffraction from
      nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene.
AB  - X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) deliver x-ray pulses with a coherent flux that
      is approximately eight orders of magnitude greater than that available from a
      modern third-generation synchrotron source. The power density of an XFEL pulse
      may be so high that it can modify the electronic properties of a sample on a
      femtosecond time scale. Exploration of the interaction of intense coherent x-ray
      pulses and matter is both of intrinsic scientific interest and of critical
      importance to the interpretation of experiments that probe the structures of
      materials using high-brightness femtosecond XFEL pulses. We report observations
      of the diffraction of extremely intense 32-fs nanofocused x-ray pulses by a
      powder sample of crystalline C60. We find that the diffraction pattern at the
      highest available incident power significantly differs from the one obtained
      using either third-generation synchrotron sources or XFEL sources operating at
      low output power and does not correspond to the diffraction pattern expected from
      any known phase of crystalline C60. We interpret these data as evidence of a long
      range, coherent dynamic electronic distortion that is driven by the interaction
      of the periodic array of C60 molecular targets with intense x-ray pulses of
      femtosecond duration.

PMID- 27626077
TI  - Crosscheck Principle in Pediatric Audiology Today: A 40-Year Perspective.
AB  - The crosscheck principle is just as important in pediatric audiology as it was
      when first described 40 years ago. That is, no auditory test result should be
      accepted and used in the diagnosis of hearing loss until it is confirmed or
      crosschecked by one or more independent measures. Exclusive reliance on only one
      or two tests, even objective auditory measures, may result in a auditory
      diagnosis that is not clear or perhaps incorrect. On the other hand, close and
      careful analysis of findings for a test battery consisting of objective
      procedures and behavioral tests whenever feasible usually leads to prompt and
      accurate diagnosis of auditory dysfunction. This paper provides a concise review
      of the crosscheck principle from its introduction to its clinical application
      today. The review concludes with a description of a modern test battery for
      pediatric hearing assessment that supplements traditional behavioral tests with a
      variety of independent objective procedures including aural immittance measures,
      otoacoustic emissions, and auditory evoked responses. 

PMID- 27626078
TI  - How to Avoid Facial Nerve Injury in Mastoidectomy?
AB  - Unexpected iatrogenic facial nerve paralysis not only affects facial
      disfiguration, but also imposes a devastating effect on the social,
      psychological, and economic aspects of an affected person's life at once. The
      aims of this study were to postulate where surgeons had mistakenly drilled or
      where obscured by granulations or by fibrous bands and to look for surgical
      approach with focused on the safety of facial nerve in mastoid surgery. We had
      found 14 cases of iatrogenic facial nerve injury (IFNI) during mastoid surgery
      for 5 years in Korea. The medical records of all the patients were obtained and
      analyzed injured site of facial nerve segment with surgical technique of
      mastoidectomy. Eleven patients underwent facial nerve exploration and three
      patients had conservative management. 43% (6 cases) of iatrogenic facial nerve
      injuries had occurred in tympanic segment, 28.5% (4 cases) of injuries in second
      genu combined with tympanic segment, and 28.5% (4 cases) of injuries in mastoid
      segment. Surgeons should try to identify the facial nerve using available
      landmarks and be kept in mind the anomalies of the facial nerve. With use of
      intraoperative facial nerve monitoring, the avoidance of in order to avoid IFNI
      would be possible in more cases. Many authors emphasized the importance of
      intraoperative facial nerve monitoring, even in primary otologic surgery.
      However, anatomical understanding of intratemporal landmarks with meticulous
      dissection could not be emphasized as possible to prevent IFNI. 

PMID- 27626079
TI  - Preferences to Patient-Centeredness in Pre-Service Speech and Hearing Sciences
      Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patient-centeredness is a critical approach to
      rehabilitation in allied health professions and is an imperative component of
      evidence-based practice. However, it is unknown if patient-centeredness is valued
      by students enrolled in allied health. This study was aimed at determining
      preferences to patient-centeredness in pre-service speech and hearing students in
      the field of speech and hearing sciences. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Pre-service
      speech and hearing students (n=93) completed the Patient-Practitioner Orientation
      Scale (PPOS) and were grouped according to low, medium, or high exposure to
      curriculum content. RESULTS: Across exposure levels, students exhibited high
      preference to patient centeredness with a mean PPOS score of 4.13 (standard
      deviation-0.5). A pairedsample t-test revealed a significant difference
      (p<=0.0001) between the caring and sharing subscales of the PPOS with lower mean
      scores on the caring subscale. No significant differences were noted across
      levels of exposure for sharing subscale, caring subscale, or PPOS full-scale.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a need for curriculum enhancement focused on
      improved caring and empathy.

PMID- 27626080
TI  - The Band-Importance Function for the Korean Standard Sentence Lists for Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The band-importance function (BIF) refers to a value
      characterizing the relative importance of different frequencies to speech
      intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to derive the BIF for the Korean
      standard sentence lists for adults (KS-SL-A). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this
      study, sentences from the KS-SL-A were used as the speech material. Twenty-six
      normal-hearing Korean listeners participated and intelligibility scores in 8
      filters with 3 signal-to-noise ratio conditions were obtained. Based on the
      intelligibility score percentages, the BIF for the KS-SL-A was derived by using
      an established protocol. RESULTS: Band-importance weights varied across frequency
      bands. The most important frequency region was around 316 Hz (20.0%), and the
      importance of the frequency bands below the center frequency (CF) of 1,778 Hz was
      59.6%. Therefore, low frequencies below the CF of 1,778 Hz were more important
      than high frequencies above the CF of 1,778 Hz. CONCLUSIONS: The BIF for KS-SL-A
      could be applied towards developing a hearing aid fitting formulae for Korean
      listeners.

PMID- 27626081
TI  - Clinical Correlation between Perverted Nystagmus and Brain MRI Abnormal Findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To analyze the clinical correlation between perverted
      nystagmus and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormal findings and to
      evaluate whether perverted nystagmus is clinically significant results of brain
      abnormal lesions or not. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We performed medical charts review
      from January 2008 to July 2014, retrospectively. Patients who were suspected
      central originated vertigo at Frenzel goggles test were included among patients
      who visited our hospital. To investigate the correlation with nystagmus suspected
      central originated vertigo and brain MRI abnormal findings, we confirmed whether
      performing brain MRI or not. Then we exclude that patients not performed brain
      MRI. RESULTS: The number of patients with perverted nystagmus was 15, upbeating
      was 1 and down-beating was 14. Among these patients, 5 patients have brain MRI
      abnormal findings. However, 2 patients with MRI abnormal findings were not
      associated correctly with perverted nystagmus and only 3 patients with perverted
      nystagmus were considered central originated vertigo and further evaluation and
      treatment was performed by the department of neurology. CONCLUSIONS: Perverted
      nystagmus was considered to the abnormalities at brain lesions, especially
      cerebellum, but neurologic symptoms and further evaluation were needed for exact
      diagnosis of central originated vertigo.

PMID- 27626083
TI  - Age-Related Maturation of Wave V Latency of Auditory Brainstem Response in
      Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Auditory brainstem response (ABR) is a noninvasive
      measurement of a stimulus-locked, synchronous electrical event. ABR provides
      information concerning the functional integrity of brainstem nuclei. Age is a key
      factor in the interpretation of ABR peak latency among different age groups.
      Progressively with time it follows a "maturation pattern" during which latencies
      decrease. Wave V is very prominent and reliable for detection of threshold in
      children. The present study was performed to see the effect of age related
      auditory maturation on ABR wave V latency in children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The
      study involved 80 subjects ranging in age from birth to 12 years. The subjects
      were divided equally into eight age groups. ABR were elicited by an acoustic
      click stimuli, brainstem responses collected through electrode and recorded at
      the same time. Latency of wave V was acknowledged. RESULTS: Wave V latency
      decreased rapidly in early childhood, became slower after 3 years of age and
      completely matured by 12 years of age. There was no significant difference in
      latency of wave V between the ears with age. CONCLUSIONS: There is a distinct
      maturation pattern of wave V latency in ABR for both ears. ABR is a reliable test
      to assess the functional maturation of wave V in children.

PMID- 27626082
TI  - Effect of Tianeptine on Depressed Tinnitus Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Tianeptine is a tricyclic antidepressant that has a
      novel pharmacological property: it increases the reuptake of 5-hydroxytryptamine.
      Recent studies have reported that the prevalence of depression is greater in
      patients with tinnitus than in control subjects who do not have tinnitus. The
      purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of tianeptine for the relief of
      tinnitus, especially in patients with depressive mood. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      Among a total of 52 tinnitus patients, 15 had depressive mood. The depressed
      tinnitus patients were prescribed Stablon(r) 12.5 mg once daily for 1 month
      without any other drug. We assessed the severity of tinnitus, level of
      depression, and the quality of sleep in these patients by using the Tinnitus
      Handicap Inventory (THI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Pittsburgh Sleep
      Quality Index (PSQI). Hearing impairment and severity of tinnitus were measured
      with pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and tinnitograms. These evaluations
      were conducted before and after medication treatment. RESULTS: For the 15
      depressed tinnitus patients, THI scores significantly correlated with BDI and
      PSQI scores prior to medication treatment. These results showed that the
      discomfort of tinnitus was closely related to depression and sleep disorder.
      After medication treatment, THI and BDI scores significantly decreased,
      indicating that tinnitus and depression improved. However, no significant
      alteration in PSQI score was observed, indicating that there was no improvement
      in sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: In the treatment of depressed tinnitus patients,
      tianeptine might be an efficient drug to treat both tinnitus and depression.
      However, tianeptine is unlikely to improve the quality of sleep in these
      patients.

PMID- 27626085
TI  - A Systematic Review of Audiology Terminology.
AB  - The present report provides an overview of terminology studies in audiology
      including topics and study characteristics, as well as categorizing the main
      issues. The goals are to improve the understanding of the current issues for
      terminology in audiology and to provide some basic information that will be
      useful to develop an international standard. Search procedures were completed
      over two phases. Phase 1 included a systematic electronic searches using MEDLINE
      (PubMed), Excerpta Medica Database, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
      Literature, and International Organization for Standardization with keywords
      related to terminology of audiology. The studies were initially identified
      according to the titles of 2921 publications following careful abstract
      examination. Of these, whole texts of 16 publications were retrieved. Five papers
      met the inclusion criteria were further investigated. In phase 2, a manual search
      was conducted to collect additional publications with keywords related to
      terminology project in audiology. A total of 16 papers were found. The essential
      terminology issues classified included 'appropriateness,'
      'classification/framework,' 'inconsistency of terminology,' 'multilingual and
      international aspects,' and 'service quality/delivery including communication and
      accessibility.' This was indicative of the paucity of terminology research in
      audiology, despite recurring terminology issues. Establishment of standardized
      terminology in audiology may minimize current challenging terminology issues by
      improving appropriateness and consistency of terminology as well as communication
      among relevant stakeholders at national and international levels. 

PMID- 27626084
TI  - Effects of an Auditory Lateralization Training in Children Suspected to Central
      Auditory Processing Disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Central auditory processing disorder [(C)APD] refers
      to a deficit in auditory stimuli processing in nervous system that is not due to
      higher-order language or cognitive factors. One of the problems in children with
      (C)APD is spatial difficulties which have been overlooked despite their
      significance. Localization is an auditory ability to detect sound sources in
      space and can help to differentiate between the desired speech from other
      simultaneous sound sources. Aim of this research was investigating effects of an
      auditory lateralization training on speech perception in presence of
      noise/competing signals in children suspected to (C)APD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In
      this analytical interventional study, 60 children suspected to (C)APD were
      selected based on multiple auditory processing assessment subtests. They were
      randomly divided into two groups: control (mean age 9.07) and training groups
      (mean age 9.00). Training program consisted of detection and pointing to sound
      sources delivered with interaural time differences under headphones for 12 formal
      sessions (6 weeks). Spatial word recognition score (WRS) and monaural selective
      auditory attention test (mSAAT) were used to follow the auditory lateralization
      training effects. RESULTS: This study showed that in the training group, mSAAT
      score and spatial WRS in noise (p value<=0.001) improved significantly after the
      auditory lateralization training. CONCLUSIONS: We used auditory lateralization
      training for 6 weeks and showed that auditory lateralization can improve speech
      understanding in noise significantly. The generalization of this results needs
      further researches.

PMID- 27626086
TI  - A Systematic Approach to Find a Professional Audiology Clinic: Patient-Based
      Information.
AB  - This brief communication introduced a systematic way to find a professional
      audiology clinic developed for patients and professionals by the American Academy
      of Audiology, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and Healthy Hearing.
      Patients can access each organization's website to find professionals and/or
      clinics based on criteria such as location, hours, special areas, types of
      service, reviews and rating by previous patients, and kinds of insurance
      accepted. Such a system may protect the patients from information overload,
      guarantee accurate information, and help them find themselves professional
      audiologists who can assist them. We expect professional organizations to adopt
      this system as soon as possible and link hearing-impaired patients with
      professional audiologists in Korea. 

PMID- 27626087
TI  - Is a Solitary Fibrous Tumor in the External Auditory Canal Benign?
AB  - A solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is an extremely rare, distinct otological soft
      tissue tumor. Only two such tumors in the external auditory canal have been
      reported. A SFT related to hemangiopericytomas (HPC), which commonly arise in the
      central nervous system. HPCs act malignant in many cases, while SFTs at other
      sites are mainly benign. A 25-year-old female presented with highly vascular
      tumor at the right external auditory meatus and bleeding from the mass when a
      crust was removed from its surface. After excisional biopsy followed by pre
      operative embolization, this tumor confirmed with SFT. The recurrence rate of SFT
      is very low after complete resection, with a slightly increased risk of
      recurrence with extrathoracic tumors. We describe the third case of SFT in the
      external auditory canal and review the literature. 

PMID- 27626088
TI  - A Case of Bruxism-Induced Otalgia.
AB  - Here, the author presents a case of bruxism-induced otalgia in a 29-year-old
      female patient. The pain was sharp and penetrating in character. It was usually
      worse in the morning and frequently radiated to the right temporal area. She had
      received unsuccessful medical treatments for migraine headache. The otoendoscopic
      examination revealed a normal tympanic membrane. A thorough inspection of her
      teeth revealed excessive wear on the incisal edges, and the cause of her otalgia
      was identified as bruxism-related temporomandibular joint disorder. After the use
      of an occlusal splint and repeated botulinum toxin injections in the masseter and
      anterior temporalis muscles, along with good sleep hygiene, she experienced
      significant relief of pain and symptoms. The author suggests that
      multidisciplinary cooperation between ENT clinicians and dentists is necessary
      for the quick and accurate diagnosis and treatment of bruxism and the
      consequential referred otalgia. 

PMID- 27626089
TI  - Metric projection for dynamic multiplex networks.
AB  - Evolving multiplex networks are a powerful model for representing the dynamics
      along time of different phenomena, such as social networks, power grids,
      biological pathways. However, exploring the structure of the multiplex network
      time series is still an open problem. Here we propose a two-step strategy to
      tackle this problem based on the concept of distance (metric) between networks.
      Given a multiplex graph, first a network of networks is built for each time step,
      and then a real valued time series is obtained by the sequence of (simple)
      networks by evaluating the distance from the first element of the series. The
      effectiveness of this approach in detecting the occurring changes along the
      original time series is shown on a synthetic example first, and then on the Gulf
      dataset of political events. 

PMID- 27626090
TI  - Evolution models with extremal dynamics.
AB  - The random-neighbor version of the Bak-Sneppen biological evolution model is
      reproduced, along with an analogous model of random replicators, the latter
      eventually experiencing topology changes. In the absence of topology changes,
      both types of models self-organize to a critical state. Species extinctions in
      the replicator system degenerates the self-organization to a random walk, as does
      vanishing of species interaction for the BS-model. A replicator model with
      speciation is introduced, experiencing dramatic topology changes. It produces a
      variety of features, but self-organizes to a possibly critical state only in a
      few special cases. Speciation-extinction dynamics interfering with self
      organization, biological macroevolution probably is not a self-organized critical
      system. 

PMID- 27626091
TI  - Utilization of spent coffee grounds for isolation and stabilization of
      Paenibacillus chitinolyticus CKS1 cellulase by immobilization.
AB  - This study has explored the feasibility of using spent coffee grounds as a good
      supporting material for the Paenibacillus chitinolyticus CKS1 cellulase
      immobilization. An optimal operational conditions in a batch-adsorption system
      were found to be: carrier mass of 12 g/L, under the temperature of 45  degrees C
      and no pH adjustments. The immobilization yield reached about 71%. An equilibrium
      establishment between the cellulase and the carrier surface occurred within 45
      min, whereas the process kinetics may be predicted by the pseudo-second-order
      model. An immobilized cellulase preparation expressed very good avicelase
      activity, this reached up to 2.67 U/g, and revealed an improved storage stability
      property, compared to free enzyme sample counterpart. The addition of metal ions,
      such as K(+) and Mg(2+) did not affect positively immobilization yield results,
      but on the contrary, contributed to an improved bio-activities of the immobilized
      cellulase, thus may be employed before each enzyme application. The method
      developed in this study offers a cheap and effective alternative for immediate
      enzyme isolation from the production medium and its stabilization, compared to
      other carriers used for the immobilization. 

PMID- 27626094
TI  - A Role for Chemists in Microbiome Research.

PMID- 27626093
TI  - Necrotizing fasciitis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus in a child.

PMID- 27626092
TI  - Water Quality Changes Associated with Cassava Production: Case Study of White
      Volta Bain.
AB  - The outcome reveal that as the land use in the catchment areas change from mixed
      agricultural to cassava cultivation, the simulated loads and concentrations of
      nitrogen species from cassava land-use scenario recorded reduction. The resultant
      concentrations of nitrate and nitrite for both current and future land-use
      scenarios are all below the daily limit suggested by the WHO, (World Health
      Organization). For the phosphate concentration, an increase of 4.21% was depicted
      under cassava land-use scenario. The results show that SWAT is a reliable water
      quality model, capable of simulating accurate information for developing
      environmental management plans. 

PMID- 27626096
TI  - Addressing Infectious Disease Challenges by Investigating Microbiomes.
AB  - Microbial communities occupy essentially every habitat on earth and have profound
      effects on our environment and human health. The National Microbiome Initiative
      will provide a framework for interdisciplinary microbiome research. The
      challenges inherent in discovering and understanding microbiome functions,
      especially those associated with infectious disease, present countless
      opportunities for chemists.

PMID- 27626097
TI  - Antibacterial FabH Inhibitors with Mode of Action Validated in Haemophilus
      influenzae by in Vitro Resistance Mutation Mapping.
AB  - Fatty acid biosynthesis is essential to bacterial growth in Gram-negative
      pathogens. Several small molecules identified through a combination of high
      throughput and fragment screening were cocrystallized with FabH (beta-ketoacyl
      acyl carrier protein synthase III) from Escherichia coli and Streptococcus
      pneumoniae. Structure-based drug design was used to merge several scaffolds to
      provide a new class of inhibitors. After optimization for Gram-negative enzyme
      inhibitory potency, several compounds demonstrated antimicrobial activity against
      an efflux-negative strain of Haemophilus influenzae. Mutants resistant to these
      compounds had mutations in the FabH gene near the catalytic triad, validating
      FabH as a target for antimicrobial drug discovery.

PMID- 27626098
TI  - Modulation of the Surface-Layer Protein of Clostridium difficile through Cwp84
      Inhibition.
AB  - Cysteine protease Cwp84 is responsible for surface-layer processing in
      Clostridium difficile and was also shown to cleave several human extracellular
      matrix components in vitro. To enable the facile identification and
      characterization of Cwp84 inhibitors, we developed a fluorogenic 10-mer peptide
      based on the enzyme's natural substrate SlpA that is amenable for use in FRET
      based high-throughput screening. The design of substrate-mimetic inhibitors led
      to epoxysuccinate 8c, which displayed an inactivation efficiency (kinact/KI) of
      (4.7 +/- 0.3) * 10(4) M(-1) min(-1). Further evaluation of 8c demonstrated its
      ability to inhibit fibronectin cleavage and, more importantly, subvert surface
      layer biogenesis in C. difficile.

PMID- 27626099
TI  - Peptide-Mediated Interference of PB2-eIF4G1 Interaction Inhibits Influenza A
      Viruses' Replication in Vitro and in Vivo.
AB  - Influenza viruses are obligate parasites that hijack the host cellular system.
      Previous results have shown that the influenza virus PB2 subunit confers a
      dependence of host eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4-gamma 1 (eIF4G1)
      for viral mRNA translation. Here, we demonstrated that peptide-mediated
      interference of the PB2-eIF4G1 interaction inhibited virus replication in vitro
      and in vivo. Remarkably, intranasal administration of the peptide provided 100%
      protection against lethal challenges of influenza A viruses in BALB/c mice,
      including H1N1, H5N1, and H7N9 influenza virus subtypes. Mapping of the PB2
      protein indicated that the eIF4G1 binding sites resided within the PB2 cap
      binding domain. Virtual docking analysis suggested that the inhibitory peptide
      associated with the conserved amino acid residues that were essential to PB2 cap
      binding activity. Overall, our results identified the PB2-eIF4G1 interactive site
      as a druggable target for influenza therapeutics.

PMID- 27626101
TI  - A Small-Molecule Screening Platform for the Discovery of Inhibitors of
      Undecaprenyl Diphosphate Synthase.
AB  - The bacterial cell wall has long been a celebrated target for antibacterial drug
      discovery due to its critical nature in bacteria and absence in mammalian
      systems. At the heart of the cell wall biosynthetic pathway lies undecaprenyl
      phosphate (Und-P), the lipid-linked carrier upon which the bacterial cell wall is
      built. This study exploits recent insights into the link between late-stage wall
      teichoic acid inhibition and Und-P production, in Gram-positive organisms, to
      develop a cell-based small-molecule screening platform that enriches for
      inhibitors of undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase (UppS). Screening a chemical
      collection of 142,000 small molecules resulted in the identification of 6 new
      inhibitors of UppS. To date, inhibitors of UppS have generally shown off-target
      effects on membrane potential due to their physical-chemical characteristics. We
      demonstrate that MAC-0547630, one of the six inhibitors identified, exhibits
      selective, nanomolar inhibition against UppS without off-target effects on
      membrane potential. Such characteristics make it a unique chemical probe for
      exploring the inhibition of UppS in bacterial cell systems.

PMID- 27626100
TI  - An "Unlikely" Pair: The Antimicrobial Synergy of Polymyxin B in Combination with
      the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Drugs KALYDECO and
      ORKAMBI.
AB  - Novel combination therapies are desperately needed for combating lung infections
      caused by bacterial "superbugs". This study aimed to investigate the synergistic
      antibacterial activity of polymyxin B in combination with the cystic fibrosis
      (CF) drugs KALYDECO (ivacaftor) and ORKAMBI (ivacaftor + lumacaftor) against Gram
      negative pathogens that commonly colonize the CF lung, in particular, the
      problematic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The in vitro synergistic activity of
      polymyxin B combined with ivacaftor or lumacaftor was assessed using checkerboard
      and static time-kill assays against a panel of polymyxin-susceptible and
      polymyxin-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates from the lungs of CF patients.
      Polymyxin B, ivacaftor, and lumacaftor were ineffective when used individually
      against polymyxin-resistant (MIC >= 4 mg/L) isolates. However, when used
      together, the combination of clinically relevant concentrations of polymyxin B (2
      mg/L) combined with ivacaftor (8 mg/L) or ivacaftor (8 mg/L) + lumacaftor (8
      mg/L) displayed synergistic killing activity against polymyxin-resistant P.
      aeruginosa isolates as demonstrated by a 100-fold decrease in the bacterial count
      (CFU/mL) even after 24 h. The combinations also displayed excellent antibacterial
      activity against P. aeruginosa under CF relevant conditions in a sputum medium
      assay. The combination of lumacaftor (alone) with polymyxin B showed additivity
      against P. aeruginosa. The potential antimicrobial mode of action of the
      combinations against P. aeruginosa was investigated using different methods.
      Treatment with the combinations induced cytosolic GFP release from P. aeruginosa
      cells and showed permeabilizing activity in the nitrocefin assay, indicating
      damage to both the outer and inner Gram-negative cell membranes. Moreover,
      scanning and transmission electron micrographs revealed that the combinations
      produce outer membrane damage to P. aeruginosa cells that is distinct from the
      effect of each compound per se. Ivacaftor was also shown to be a weak inhibitor
      of the bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV with no effect on either human
      type I or type IIalpha topoisomerases. Lumacaftor displayed the ability to
      increase the cellular production of damaging reactive oxygen species. In summary,
      the combination of polymyxin B with KALYDECO or ORKAMBI exhibited synergistic
      activity against highly polymyxin-resistant P. aeruginosa CF isolates and can be
      potentially useful for otherwise untreatable CF lung infections.

PMID- 27626102
TI  - Diphenylether-Modified 1,2-Diamines with Improved Drug Properties for Development
      against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - New treatments for tuberculosis infection are critical to combat the emergence of
      multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We
      report the characterization of a diphenylether-modified adamantyl 1,2-diamine
      that we refer to as TBL-140, which has a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC99)
      of 1.2 MUg/mL. TBL-140 is effective against drug-resistant Mtb and nonreplicating
      bacteria. In addition, TBL-140 eliminates expansion of Mtb in cell culture
      infection assays at its MIC. To define the mechanism of action of this compound,
      we performed a spontaneous mutant screen and biochemical assays. We determined
      that TBL-140 treatment affects the proton motive force (PMF) by perturbing the
      transmembrane potential (DeltaPsi), consistent with a target in the electron
      transport chain (ETC). As a result, treated bacteria have reduced intracellular
      ATP levels. We show that TBL-140 exhibits greater metabolic stability than SQ109,
      a structurally similar compound in clinical trials for treatment of MDR-TB
      infections. Combined, these results suggest that TBL-140 should be investigated
      further to assess its potential as an improved therapeutic lead against Mtb.

PMID- 27626105
TI  - Controlled Fluoroalkylation Reactions by Visible-Light Photoredox Catalysis.
AB  - Owing to their unique biological, physical, and chemical properties,
      fluoroalkylated organic substances have attracted significant attention from
      researchers in a variety of disciplines. Fluoroalkylated compounds are considered
      particularly important in pharmaceutical chemistry because of their superior
      lipophilicity, binding selectivity, metabolic stability, and bioavailability to
      those of their nonfluoroalkylated analogues. We have developed various methods
      for the synthesis of fluoroalkylated substances that rely on the use of visible
      light photoredox catalysis, a powerful preparative tool owing to its
      environmental benignity and mechanistic versatility in promoting a large number
      of synthetically important reactions with high levels of selectivity. In this
      Account, we describe the results of our efforts, which have led to the
      development of visible-light photocatalytic methods for the introduction of a
      variety of fluoroalkyl groups (such as, -CF3, -CF2R, -CH2CF3, -C3F7, and -C4F9)
      and arylthiofluoroalkyl groups (such as, -CF2SPh, -C2F4SAr, and -C4F8SAr) to
      organic substances. In these studies, electron-deficient carbon-centered
      fluoroalkyl radicals were successfully generated by the appropriate choice of
      fluoroalkyl source, photocatalyst, additives, and solvent. The redox potentials
      of the photocatalysts and the fluoroalkyl sources and the choice of sacrificial
      electron donor or acceptor as the additive affected the photocatalytic pathway,
      determining whether an oxidative or reductive quenching pathway was operative for
      the generation of key fluoroalkyl radicals. Notably, we have observed that
      additives significantly affect the efficiencies and selectivities of these
      reactions and can even change the outcome of the reaction by playing additional
      roles during its course. For instance, a tertiary amine as an additive in the
      reaction medium can act not only as a sacrificial electron donor in photoredox
      catalysis but also as a hydrogen atom source, an elimination base for
      dehydrohalogenation of the intermediate, and also a Bronsted base for
      deprotonation. In the same context, the selection of solvent is also critical
      since it affects the rate and selectivity of reactions depending upon its
      polarity and reagent solubilizing ability and plays additional roles in the
      process, for example, as a hydrogen atom source. By clearly understanding the
      roles of additives and solvent, we designed several controlled fluoroalkylation
      reactions where different products were formed selectively from the same starting
      substrates. In addition, we could exploit one of the most important advantages of
      radical reactions, that is, the use of unactivated pi-systems such as alkenes,
      alkynes, arenes, and heteroarenes as radical acceptors without
      prefunctionalization. Furthermore, fluoroalkylation processes under mild room
      temperature reaction conditions tolerate various functional groups and are
      therefore easily applicable to late-stage modifications of highly functionalized
      advanced intermediates.

PMID- 27626103
TI  - Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces that Prevent Bacterial Surface Fouling
      and Inhibit Virulence Phenotypes in Surrounding Planktonic Cells.
AB  - Surfaces that can both prevent bacterial biofouling and inhibit the expression of
      virulence phenotypes in surrounding planktonic bacteria are of interest in a
      broad range of contexts. Here, we report new slippery-liquid infused porous
      surfaces (SLIPS) that resist bacterial colonization (owing to inherent "slippery"
      surface character) and also attenuate virulence phenotypes in non-adherent cells
      by gradually releasing small-molecule quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs). QSIs
      active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be loaded into SLIPS without loss of
      their slippery and antifouling properties, and imbedded agents can be released
      into surrounding media over hours to days depending on the structures of the
      loaded agent. This controlled-release approach is useful for inhibiting virulence
      factor production and can also inhibit bacterial biofilm formation on nearby, non
      SLIPS-coated surfaces. Finally, we demonstrate that this approach is compatible
      with the simultaneous release of more than one type of QSI, enabling greater
      control over virulence and suggesting new opportunities to tune the antifouling
      properties of these slippery surfaces.

PMID- 27626104
TI  - Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3beta Promotes the Endocytosis of Transferrin in the
      African Trypanosome.
AB  - Human parasite Trypanosoma brucei proliferates in the blood of its host, where it
      takes up iron via receptor-mediated endocytosis of transferrin (Tf). Mechanisms
      of Tf endocytosis in the trypanosome are not fully understood. Small molecule
      lapatinib inhibits Tf endocytosis in T. brucei and associates with protein kinase
      GSK3beta (TbGSK3beta). Therefore, we hypothesized that Tf endocytosis may be
      regulated by TbGSK3beta, and we used three approaches (both genetic and small
      molecule) to test this possibility. First, the RNAi knock-down of TbGSK3beta
      reduced Tf endocytosis selectively, without affecting the uptake of haptaglobin
      hemoglobin (Hp-Hb) or bovine serum albumin (BSA). Second, the overexpression of
      TbGSK3beta increased the Tf uptake. Third, small-molecule inhibitors of
      TbGSK3beta, TWS119 (IC50 = 600 nM), and GW8510 (IC50 = 8 nM) reduced Tf
      endocytosis. Furthermore, TWS119, but not GW8510, selectively blocked Tf uptake.
      Thus, TWS119 phenocopies the selective endocytosis effects of a TbGSK3beta
      knockdown. Two new inhibitors of TbGSK3beta, LY2784544 (IC50 = 0.6 MUM) and
      sorafenib (IC50 = 1.7 MUM), were discovered in a focused screen: at low
      micromolar concentrations, they prevented Tf endocytosis as well as trypanosome
      proliferation (GI50's were 1.0 and 3.1 MUM, respectively). These studies show
      that (a) TbGSK3beta regulates Tf endocytosis, (b) TWS119 is a small-molecule tool
      for investigating the endocytosis of Tf,

PMID- 27626106
TI  - Inorganic Salt Interference on CO2+ in Aerodyne AMS and ACSM Organic Aerosol
      Composition Studies.
AB  - Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and Aerodyne aerosol chemical speciation
      monitor (ACSM) mass spectra are widely used to quantify organic aerosol (OA)
      elemental composition, oxidation state, and major environmental sources. The OA
      CO2+ fragment is among the most important measurements for such analyses. Here,
      we show that a non-OA CO2+ signal can arise from reactions on the particle
      vaporizer, ion chamber, or both, induced by thermal decomposition products of
      inorganic salts. In our tests (eight instruments, n = 29), ammonium nitrate
      (NH4NO3) causes a median CO2+ interference signal of +3.4% relative to nitrate.
      This interference is highly variable between instruments and with measurement
      history (percentiles P10-90 = +0.4 to +10.2%). Other semi-refractory nitrate
      salts showed 2-10 times enhanced interference compared to that of NH4NO3, while
      the ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) induced interference was 3-10 times lower.
      Propagation of the CO2+ interference to other ions during standard AMS and ACSM
      data analysis affects the calculated OA mass, mass spectra, molecular oxygen-to
      carbon ratio (O/C), and f44. The resulting bias may be trivial for most ambient
      data sets but can be significant for aerosol with higher inorganic fractions
      (>50%), e.g., for low ambient temperatures, or laboratory experiments. The large
      variation between instruments makes it imperative to regularly quantify this
      effect on individual AMS and ACSM systems.

PMID- 27626108
TI  - Effect of Repeated Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy in Treatment of
      Periodontitis Associated with Fanconi Anemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Periodontal disease is one of common oral
      manifestations in patients with Fanconi anemia (FA). The aim of the study was to
      evaluate the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on periodontal clinical and
      microbial parameters in a patient with FA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For a 16-year
      old girl, diagnosed with having FA and periodontal disease, the protocol
      treatment with duration of 10 months was designed. Every 2 months, thorough oral
      cavity disinfection was followed by PDT, using photosensitizer phenothiazine
      chloride activated by a diode laser light. During each visit, periodontal
      parameters were evaluated: plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing pocket
      depth (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP), and clinical attachment level.
      Simultaneously, the presence of Candida albicans and of five periodontal
      pathogens was evaluated. RESULTS: Clinical results showed improvement in GI, BOP,
      and PPD during this 10-month period. BOP subsequently reduced from 100% to 79%,
      72%, and 60% at 6, 8, and 10 months, respectively. The proportion of sites with
      PPD of >=4 mm decreased from 38.7% at the baseline to zero after 10 months.
      Further, all five bacterial species and C. albicans were reduced significantly.
      CONCLUSIONS: PDT effectively influences periodontal healing and reduces
      periodontopathogenic bacteria without damaging the patient's tissues.

PMID- 27626109
TI  - Redox Pairs of Diiron and Iron-Cobalt Complexes with High-Spin Ground States.
AB  - A series of iron and iron-cobalt bimetallic complexes were isolated: LFe2Cl (1),
      LFe2 (2), Li(THF)3[LFe2Cl](Li(THF)3[2-Cl]), LFeCoCl (3), and LFeCo (4), where L
      is a trianionic tris(phosphineamido)amine ligand. As elucidated by single-crystal
      X-ray diffraction studies and quantum-chemical calculations, the FeIIFeII and
      FeIICoII complexes, 1 and 3, respectively, have weak metal-metal interactions
      (the metal-metal distances are 2.63 and 2.59 A, respectively) with a partial bond
      order of 0.5. The formally mixed-valent complexes, FeIIFeI (3) and FeIICoI (4),
      have short metal-metal bonds (2.32 and 2.26 A, respectively) with a formal bond
      order of 1.5. On the basis of magnetic susceptibility measurements, complexes 1-4
      are all paramagnetic with high-spin ground states, S = 3-4, which are proposed to
      arise from ferromagnetic coupling of the two metals' spins through a direct
      exchange mechanism. Zero- and applied-field Mossbauer spectra corroborate the
      presence of distinct oxidation and spin states for the iron sites. The reduction
      potentials of 1 and 3 are -1.48 and -1.60 V (vs Fc+/Fc), respectively. Other
      characterization data are also reported for this series of complexes, electronic
      absorption spectra and anomalous X-ray scattering data.

PMID- 27626107
TI  - Enzymatic and Nonenzymatic Electrochemical Interaction of Abiraterone
      (Antiprostate Cancer Drug) with Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Bioelectrodes.
AB  - Unexplored electrochemical behavior of abiraterone, a recent and widely used
      prostate cancer drug, in interaction with cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) enzyme and
      multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is investigated in this work. The results
      reported in this work are significant for personalized medicine and point-of-care
      chemical treatment, especially to improve the life expectancy and quality of life
      of patients with prostate-cancer. To this purpose, enzymatic and nonenzymatic
      electrochemical biosensors were developed and characterized with different
      concentrations of abiraterone. Nonenzymatic biosensors were functionalized with
      MWCNTs as a catalyst for signal enhancement, while enzymatic biosensors have been
      obtained with CYP3A4 protein immobilized on MWCNTs as recognition biomolecule.
      Enzymatic electrochemical experiments demonstrated an inhibition effect on the
      CYP3A4, clearly observed as a diminished electrocatalytic activity of the enzyme.
      Electrochemical responses of nonenzymatic biosensors clearly demonstrated the
      direct electroactivity of abiraterone when reacting with MWCNT as well as an
      electrode-fouling effect.

PMID- 27626110
TI  - May autophagy be a novel biomarker and antitumor target in colorectal cancer?
AB  - Autophagy is a catabolic process associated with intracellular self-digestion of
      damaged organelles or redundant proteins enabling maintenance of cell
      homeostasis. It is accepted that impaired autophagy is closely linked to cancer
      development and has been extensively studied in a variety of malignancies
      including colorectal cancer (CRC) to elucidate its influence on carcinogenesis,
      metastasis and antitumor therapy response. CRC remains a great epidemiological
      problem because of poor 5-year survival and treatment resistance. Many studies
      concerning autophagy in CRC gave inconsistent and contradictory results,
      illustrating a multifaceted nature of this process. In this review, we focus on
      current knowledge of autophagy in CRC development to determinate its role as a
      potential prognostic and predictive biomarker as well as target in antitumor
      therapy.

PMID- 27626112
TI  - The Unexpected Challenge of Motivational Interviewing.

PMID- 27626111
TI  - Chemical profiling of anti-hepatocellular carcinoma constituents from Caragana
      tangutica Maxim. by off-line semi-preparative HPLC-NMR.
AB  - An EtOAc fraction from the roots of Caragana tangutica Maxim. (CTEA) displayed
      promising anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) activity during screening of a
      traditional Chinese ethnic herb library against HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines. HPLC
      based activity profiling of CTEA by combination of MS-guided large-scale semi
      preparative HPLC and NMR methods led to the identification of a new pterocarpan
      glycoside, (-)-maackiain 3-O-6'-O-methyl malonyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside (1),
      together with three known pterocarpan glycosides, (-)-maackiain 3-O-beta-d
      glucopyranoside (2), 3-O-6'-O-acrylyl-beta-d-galactopyranoside (3), and (-)
      maackiain 3-O-6'-O-acetyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside (4). Compound 1 was isolated
      during a drug discovery programme aimed at identifying new anti-HCC leads from a
      natural product library. Anti-HCC study showed that all four compounds exhibited
      cytotoxic activity with IC50 values range of 29.1-53.5 MUg/mL against HepG2 and
      Hep3B cell lines.

PMID- 27626113
TI  - Is Direct Primary Care the Solution to Our Health Care Crisis?

PMID- 27626114
TI  - In Defense of Direct Primary Care.

PMID- 27626115
TI  - Beating the Prior Authorization Blues.

PMID- 27626116
TI  - HCC Coding, Risk Adjustment, and Physician Income: What You Need to Know.

PMID- 27626117
TI  - Instant Messaging: A Simple Tool to Improve Teamwork and Wait Times.

PMID- 27626118
TI  - Using Motivational Interviewing to Promote Healthy Weight.

PMID- 27626119
TI  - ICD-10 changes for 2016-2017.

PMID- 27626120
TI  - Screenng for depression.

PMID- 27626121
TI  - New or established patient?

PMID- 27626122
TI  - Answer patients' questions before the visit.

PMID- 27626123
TI  - Inform patients about delays.

PMID- 27626124
TI  - Practical Ways to Improve Medication Adherence.

PMID- 27626125
TI  - Presidential Address: Reinvention and Resolve.

PMID- 27626126
TI  - Identification of Bartonella Species Isolated from Rodents from Yucatan, Mexico,
      and Isolation of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. yucatanensis subsp. nov.
AB  - Bartonella species are highly endemic among wild rodents in many parts of the
      world. Blood and/or blood clot cultures from 38 rodents, including 27 Yucatan
      deer mouse (Peromyscus yucatanicus), 7 Gaumer's spiny pocket mouse (Heteromys
      gaumeri), 2 black rats (Rattus rattus) and 2 big-eared climbing rats (Ototylomys
      phyllotis) captured near Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, led to the isolation in 3-4
      days of small gram-negative bacilli, which were identified as Bartonella spp.
      based on colony morphology. DNA extraction and PCR testing were also performed
      from heart samples of 35 of these 38 rodents. Overall, Bartonella spp. were
      isolated from the blood/blood clots of 22 (58%) rodents. All Bartonella-positive
      rodents were Yucatan deer mice from San Jose Pituch. Sequencing of a fragment of
      the gltA gene showed that all but one rodent isolates were closest to B. vinsonii
      subsp. vinsonii and one isolate was intermediate between B. vinsonii subsp.
      berkhoffii and B. vinsonii subsp. arupensis. Further analysis of concatenated
      housekeeping genes (gltA, ftsZ, rpoB, and 16S rRNA) suggests that this outlier
      isolate is a new subspecies within the B. vinsonii genogroup, for which we
      proposed the name B. vinsonii subsp. yucatanensis.

PMID- 27626127
TI  - The Missing Electrostatic Interactions Between DNA Substrate and Sulfolobus
      solfataricus DNA Photolyase: What is the Role of Charged Amino Acids in
      Thermophilic DNA Binding Proteins?
AB  - DNA photolyase can be used to study how a protein with its required cofactor has
      adapted over a large temperature range. The enzymatic activity and thermodynamics
      of substrate binding for protein from Sulfolobus solfataricus were directly
      compared to protein from Escherichia coli. Turnover numbers and catalytic
      activity were virtually identical, but organic cosolvents may be necessary to
      maintain activity of the thermophilic protein at higher temperatures. UV-damaged
      DNA binding to the thermophilic protein is less favorable by ~2 kJ/mol. The
      enthalpy of binding is ~10 kJ/mol less exothermic for the thermophile, but the
      amount and type of surface area buried upon DNA binding appears to be somewhat
      similar. The most important finding was observed when ionic strength studies were
      used to separate binding interactions into electrostatic and nonelectrostatic
      contributions; DNA binding to the thermophilic protein appears to lack the
      electrostatic contributions observed with the mesophilic protein.

PMID- 27626128
TI  - Improvement in Renal Function and Symptoms of Patients Treated with Laparoscopic
      Pyeloplasty for Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction with Less Than 20% Split Renal
      Function.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic pyeloplasty (LPP) for
      lower functioning kidney, we investigated the outcome of this procedure for
      patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction with decreased renal function,
      defined as less than 20% split renal function. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between
      October 1998 and June 2015, we performed transperitoneal dismembered LPP in 224
      patients. Among them, 15 patients with less than 20% split renal function were
      included in this study. Patient characteristics, perioperative split renal
      functions, complications, and surgical outcomes were retrospectively
      investigated. RESULTS: Fourteen of 15 patients had preoperative symptoms,
      including flank pain in 13 patients and gross hematuria in 1 patient.
      Preoperative 99mTc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) renogram revealed no response
      to diuretic injection and median split renal function was 16.5%. Median operative
      time and blood loss were 170 minutes and 20 mL, respectively. There were no
      complications during the perioperative period. Postoperative MAG3 renogram at 6
      and 12 months after the operation revealed significantly increased split renal
      function (median: 23.8% and 23.7%, p = 0.001 and 0.008, respectively) and
      response to diuretic injection in all patients. Preoperative symptoms disappeared
      and no recurrence was seen during the follow-up period for all patients except
      for one who experienced flank pain again 4 months after the surgery. He
      subsequently underwent open pyeloplasty, and flank pain disappeared soon after.
      CONCLUSIONS: LPP for patients with low split renal function and flank pain
      significantly improved symptoms and split renal functions. Although the long-term
      clinical effects of LPP are unknown, we recommend performing LPP before
      considering nephrectomy for patients with lower functioning kidney.

PMID- 27626129
TI  - In Situ Growth of Free-Standing All Metal Oxide Asymmetric Supercapacitor.
AB  - Metal oxides have attracted renewed interest in applications as energy storage
      and conversion devices. Here, a new design is reported to acquire an asymmetric
      supercapacitor assembled by all free-standing metal oxides. The positive
      electrode is made of 3D NiO open porous nanoribbons network on nickel foam and
      the negative electrode is composed of SnO2/MnO2 nanoflakes grown on carbon cloth
      (CC) substrate. The combination of two metal oxide electrodes which replaced the
      traditional group of carbon materials together with metal oxide has achieved a
      higher energy density. The self-supported 3D NiO nanoribbons network demonstrates
      a high specific capacitance and better cycle performance without obvious
      mechanical deformation despite of undergoing harsh bulk redox reactions. The
      SnO2/MnO2 nanoflakes as the pseudocapacitive electrode exhibit a wide range of
      voltage window (-1 to 1 V), which is conducive to electrochemical energy storage.
      The (CC/SnO2/MnO2)(-)//(NiO/Ni foam)(+) asymmetric supercapacitor device delivers
      an energy density of 64.4 Wh kg-1 (at a power density of 250 W kg-1) and two
      devices in series are applied to light up 24 red LEDs for about 60 s. The
      outstanding electrochemical properties of the device hold great promise for long
      life, high-energy, and high-power energy storage/conversion applications.

PMID- 27626130
TI  - Optical Control of Lipid Rafts with Photoswitchable Ceramides.
AB  - Ceramide is a pro-apoptotic sphingolipid with unique physical characteristics.
      Often viewed as a second messenger, its generation can modulate the structure of
      lipid rafts. We prepared three photoswitchable ceramides, ACes, which contain an
      azobenzene photoswitch allowing for optical control over the N-acyl chain. Using
      combined atomic force and confocal fluorescence microscopy, we demonstrate that
      the ACes enable reversible switching of lipid domains in raft-mimicking supported
      lipid bilayers (SLBs). In the trans-configuration, the ACes localize into the
      liquid-ordered (Lo) phase. Photoisomerization to the cis-form triggers a
      fluidification of the Lo domains, as liquid-disordered (Ld) "lakes" are formed
      within the rafts. Photoisomerization back to the trans-state with blue light
      stimulates a rigidification inside the Ld phase, as the formation of small Lo
      domains. These changes can be repeated over multiple cycles, enabling a dynamic
      spatiotemporal control of the lipid raft structure with light.

PMID- 27626131
TI  - An examination of patient characteristics that contribute to falls in the
      inpatient traumatic brain injury rehabilitation setting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine patient characteristics that contribute to falls in the
      inpatient traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation setting. METHOD: A three
      round modified Delphi technique that engaged a multidisciplinary panel of 11
      health experts was used. Group median score and disagreement index were used to
      measure agreement between participants about patient characteristics that
      contribute to falls. RESULTS: All panel members participated in each
      questionnaire round. Several factors (such as, a fall since admission to
      hospital, cognitive impairment and motor impairment) were interpreted as
      contributing to falls in the TBI rehabilitation setting; but others were not
      (such as, antecedent falls and medication class). Some salient themes identified
      in participants' comments include: (1) the need to differentiate between what is
      an activity (e.g., mobility) and impairment (e.g., ataxic gait)-based falls risk
      factor; (2) over the course of a 24-h day and inpatient rehabilitation stay, a
      patient's risk of falling is not linear; and (3) Functional Independence Measure
      and predictors of TBI severity have varied sensitivity in predicting falls.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the TBI rehabilitation setting, falls result from a combination
      of many patient factors. Some factors are believed to be more relevant at
      different time points over a 24-h day and, at particular times during the course
      of a patient's rehabilitation. The utility and statistical significance of risk
      factor of falls are both important concepts when determining their clinical
      relevance. Implications for Rehabilitation Clinicians should be mindful that the
      rehabilitation context can present unique falls risk factors, some of which
      emerge at different times during a patient's rehabilitation. Over the course of a
      patient's rehabilitation their risk of falling is not linear; therefore,
      rehabilitation clinicians should undertake periodic falls risk screening. The
      utility value and statistical significance of falls risk factors are both
      important aspects to consider when determining their clinical utility.

PMID- 27626132
TI  - Correction to "Gold(I)-Catalyzed Domino Cyclizations of Diynes for the Synthesis
      of Functionalized Cyclohexenone Derivatives. Total Synthesis of (-)-Gabosine H
      and (-)-6-epi-Gabosine H".

PMID- 27626134
TI  - Prof. Jan Lerut at the occasion of the 17th Belgian Surgical Week - Brussels 19
      21 May 2016.

PMID- 27626133
TI  - 4'-Methoxyphenacyl-Assisted Synthesis of beta-Kdo Glycosides.
AB  - 3-Deoxy-beta-d-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid (beta-Kdo) glycosides are mainly found
      in capsular polysaccharides and extracellular exopolysaccharides from Gram
      negative bacteria. These compounds have profound biological implications in
      immune response and act as virulence factors. We have developed a novel
      methodology for the stereoselective synthesis of beta-Kdo glycosides via the use
      of a 4'-methoxyphenacyl (Phen) auxiliary group at the C1 position of a
      peracetylated beta-Kdo thioglycoside. Under the promotion of NIS/AgOTf in
      acetonitrile, a series of Kdo glycosides was synthesized in good yield and beta
      selectivity while minimizing the formation of undesirable glycals.
      Stereoselectivity of the glycosylation was shown to be modulated by various
      factors such as promotor, solvent, anomeric ratio of donor, nature of acceptor,
      and Phen substitution. Chemoselective cleavage of the Phen group was performed
      under the action of Zn/HOAc. DFT calculations together with experimental results
      suggested that alpha-triflate and a six-membered alpha-spiroPhen are plausible
      intermediates of the reaction, accounting for the enhanced formation of beta-Kdo
      glycosides. The developed methodology could be applied to the synthesis of beta
      Kdo-containing glycans from pathogenic bacteria.

PMID- 27626135
TI  - "Adopting self-sacrifice": how Iranian women cope with the sexual problems during
      the menopausal transition? An exploratory qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the menopausal transition sexual problems are an important issue
      and one of the most frequently presented health concerns of women attending
      menopause clinics. This study aimed to explore the ways of managing sexual
      dysfunctions during the menopausal transition among Iranian women. METHODS: This
      exploratory qualitative study was conducted in Iran, from May 2013 to April 2015.
      Twenty-one women in three stages of menopausal transition, aged 42-55 years old,
      were purposively selected from urban health centers in Mashhad and Gonabad, Iran.
      Semi-structured in depth interviews were conducted for data collection until data
      saturation was achieved. All interviews were recorded electronically and
      transcribed verbatim. Conventional content analysis was used for data analysis
      using Granehiem and Lundman (2004) recommended method. MAXQDA 2007 software was
      used for organizing data and managing the process of analysis. RESULTS: Data
      analysis demonstrated one overarching theme entitled "Adopting self-sacrifice"
      consisting of three categories and seven sub-categories. Major categories
      included: (1) Confronting decline of libido with two subcategories of women's
      libido decline and inability to fulfill husbands' sexual needs, (2) Seeking
      strategies for coping with two subcategories of looking for experiences of peer
      menopausal women and choosing how to interact with the husband and (3) Achieving
      problem solving strategies with three sub-categories of obedience in sexual
      relationships (Tamkin), employing affection based on religious advice, and giving
      up own right to reach mutual understanding. CONCLUSIONS: The major finding of
      this study was "Adopting self-sacrifice" in the process of managing sexual
      dysfunctions during the menopausal transition. The reason for choosing this
      passive approach by the majority of women has deep roots in their cultural and
      traditional beliefs.

PMID- 27626138
TI  - Using Density Functional Theory To Study Neutral and Ionized Stacked Thymine
      Dimers.
AB  - Stacking interactions in thymine dimers are studied with density functional
      theory. According to our calculations, six dimers of comparable stability can be
      prepared at low temperature, but dimerization is impossible at room temperature
      due to the large entropy contribution that accompanies it. Analysis of
      vibrational anharmonic coupling terms shows that each of the dimers exhibits
      distinct vibrational dynamics. Properties of electron density in the
      intermolecular region are used to analyze neutral stacked species and their
      ionized forms. Bond paths and critical points in the intermolecular region are
      identified, but a simple relationship between binding energy and total electron
      density in the intermolecular critical points could not be found due to an uneven
      electron distribution in the binding region. The reduced density gradient was
      confirmed to be a useful tool for analysis of weak stacking interactions. Those
      interactions also affect vertical and adiabatic ionization energies, which are
      computed to be slightly lower for the dimers compared to the monomer.

PMID- 27626137
TI  - Utilization of Mytilus digestive gland cells for the in vitro screening of
      potential metabolic disruptors in aquatic invertebrates.
AB  - In vertebrate systems, many endocrine disruptors (EDs) can also interfere with
      energy and lipid metabolism, thus acting as metabolic disruptors. At the cellular
      level, these effects are mainly mediated by interactions with nuclear
      receptors/transcription factors, leading to the modulation of genes involved in
      lipid homeostasis, as well as by rapid, receptor-independent pathways. Several
      potential metabolic disruptors are found in aquatic environments. In fish,
      different EDs have been shown to affect hepatic lipid homeostasis both in vivo
      and in vitro. However, little information is available in aquatic invertebrates
      due to our poor knowledge of the regulatory pathways of lipid metabolism. In this
      work, primary cell cultures from the digestive gland of the bivalve Mytilus
      galloprovincialis were utilized to investigate the effects of model EDs
      (bisphenol A (BPA) and perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS)) on lipid homeostasis.
      Both compounds (at 24 and 3h of exposure) increased intracellular lipid and
      tryglyceride-TAG content, with strongest effects of PFOS at 10-7M. Acyl-CoA
      oxidase activity was unaffected, whereas some changes in the activity of
      glycolytic, antioxidant/biotransformation enzymes were observed; however, no
      clear relationship was found with lipid accumulation. Evaluation of mitochondrial
      membrane potential Deltapsim and determination of extracellular TAG content
      indicate that PFOS interferes with mitochondrial function and lipid secretion,
      whereas BPA mainly affects lipid secretion. Experiments with specific inhibitors
      showed that activation of PI-3 kinase and extracellularly regulated mitogen
      activated protein kinase (ERK MAPK) plays a key role in mediating lipid
      accumulation. Mussel digestive gland cells represent a simple in vitro model for
      screening the metabolic effects of EDs in marine invertebrates.

PMID- 27626139
TI  - Vagal Control of Breathing Pattern after Midcervical Contusion in Rats.
AB  - The present study was designed to establish a midcervical contusion model that
      can simulate long-term respiratory deficits, and investigate the breathing
      pattern during vagal-mediated respiratory reflexes following midcervical
      contusion. Moderate and severe (impactor height: 6.25 or 12.5 mm) contusion was
      induced at midline C3-4 spinal cord in adult Sprague-Dawley rats. The ventilatory
      behaviors of unanesthetized were evaluated by whole body plethysmography at 1 day
      and 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-injury. The tidal volume was decreased and
      frequency was increased in contused animals compared with uninjured animals at
      the acute injury state. At 8 weeks post-injury, respiratory frequency was similar
      between groups; however, contused animals had lower tidal volume. The pulmonary
      chemoreflex induced by intrajugular capsaicin (1.5 MUg/kg) injection and the
      Hering-Breuer inflation reflex induced by increasing positive end-expired
      pressure (9 cm H2O) were evoked in anesthetized animals at 3 days, or 2 or 8
      weeks post-surgery. The result showed that capsaicin induced a significant
      prolongation of the expiratory duration in uninjured animals; however, this
      response was greatly attenuated in contused animals at 3 days post-injury.
      Increased positive end-expired pressure also caused an increase in the expiratory
      duration in uninjured and moderately contused animals; however, severely contused
      animals exhibited an attenuated response. At 2 and 8 weeks post-injury, both the
      pulmonary chemoreflex and the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex were similar between
      uninjured and contused animals. These data suggested that midcervical contusion
      can cause a long-term respiratory impairment and a transiently attenuation of
      vagal-mediated respiratory reflexes.

PMID- 27626140
TI  - The Challenges of Dysphagia Management and Rehabilitation in Two Complex Cases
      Post Chemical Ingestion Injury.
AB  - Purpose: Dysphagia is common sequelae of chemical ingestion injury, resulting
      from damage to critical swallowing structures. From a speech-language pathology
      perspective, this study outlines the physiological deficits in 2 individuals with
      severe injury (1 woman, acid; 1 man, alkali) and the pattern of dysphagia
      rehabilitation and recovery. Method: A retrospective chart review of clinical and
      instrumental assessments was conducted to examine swallow characteristics and
      speech-language pathology management (compensatory and rehabilitation strategies)
      at multiple time points. Results: Chemical ingestion injury resulted in severe
      pharyngeal dysphagia for both participants, warranting speech-language pathology
      management. Dysphagia was characterized by poor base of tongue mobility and
      reduced laryngeal excursion. Decreased airway patency and protection, secondary
      to mucosal sloughing, widespread edema, and structural deficits necessitated
      tracheostomy. Recovery was complicated by physical alterations of pharyngeal and
      laryngeal structures (e.g., interarytenoid adhesions) and esophageal strictures.
      Participant 1 was discharged (Day 135) consuming a texture-modified diet;
      Participant 2 remained nil by mouth (Day 329). Conclusions: Dysphagia recovery
      subsequent to chemical ingestion is protracted and complex. Clinical outcomes may
      be improved through individualized and intensive rehabilitation by speech
      language pathologists.

PMID- 27626142
TI  - Choroidal thickness variation in highly myopic eyes during the water drinking
      test.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate variations in choroidal thickness (CT) during the water
      drinking test (WDT) in emmetropic eyes (EE) and highly myopic eyes (ME) using
      spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS: Clinical trial
      performed at a tertiary care hospital comprising 30 randomly selected eyes. The
      WDT and SD-OCT macular scans were performed 10 and 45 min after water ingestion
      in 15 myopic and 15 EE of 15 healthy patients in each group. Primary study
      outcomes were average macular CT measured by SD-OCT and intraocular pressure
      (IOP) during the WDT. RESULTS: The mean spherical equivalent refraction was 0.15
      +/- 0.24 D in emmetropic and -7.1 +/- 1.75 D in ME (p<0.001). No statistical
      differences between EE and ME were observed during the WDT response. EE had
      higher CT compared with ME at the fovea (361.4 +/- 55.4 vs 257.9 +/- 95.3;
      p<0.001), 3 mm nasal to the fovea (158.0 +/- 71.8 vs 122.5 +/- 54.5; p =0.047),
      and 3 mm temporally to the fovea (310.6 +/- 52.4 vs 247.6 +/- 90.1; p=0.05).
      Regarding CT variation, significant differences in foveal CT at 10 min after
      water ingestion were observed in both EE and ME, with no statistically
      significant difference observed between groups. A moderate correlation between
      IOP peak during the WDT and CT was demonstrated in ME (r=0.52; p=0.04).
      CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant differences in CT variation during the
      WDT were observed between EE and ME, indicating similar behavior of the choroidal
      bed during the WDT in both groups. Further, CT was thinner in highly ME, with CT
      variation unable to explain elevations in IOP observed during the WDT.

PMID- 27626141
TI  - Dynamic changes in optic disc morphology, choroidal thickness, anterior chamber
      parameters, and intraocular pressure during Valsalva maneuver.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of the Valsalva maneuver (VM) on optic disc
      morphology, choroidal thickness, and anterior chamber parameters. METHODS: This
      prospective observational study included 60 eyes of 60 healthy subjects. The
      anterior chamber parameters, including central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior
      chamber depth (ACD), anterior chamber angle (ACA), anterior chamber volume (ACV),
      pupil diameter (PD), axial length (AL), subfoveal and peripapillary choroidal
      thickness, optic disc parameters, and intraocular pressure (IOP), were measured
      at rest and during VM. RESULTS: VM did not have any significant influence on AL,
      subfoveal and peripapillary choroidal thickness, optic disc area, rim area, cup
      area, cup-to-disc area ratio, vertical cup-to-disc ratio, rim volume, cup volume,
      and nerve head volume measurements (for all; p >0.05). IOP and PD significantly
      increased during VM (for both; p <0.001). VM significantly decreased CCT, ACD,
      ACA, and ACV values (for all; p <0.001). Moreover, the optic nerve cup volume
      decreased and the horizontal cup-to-disc ratio significantly increased during VM
      (for both; p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: VM may cause transient changes in IOP, optic
      disc morphology, and anterior chamber parameters.

PMID- 27626143
TI  - Phacoemulsification in posterior polar cataract.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the results and complications of phacoemulsification surgery
      in eyes with posterior polar cataracts and compare the techniques of
      viscodissection and hydrodissection. METHODS: The medical records of 29
      consecutive patients (16 males, 13 females) with posterior polar cataracts (44
      eyes) who had undergone cataract surgery were retrospectively reviewed. Patients
      were divided into two groups according to the technique used; viscodissection was
      applied to the experimental group (group 1) and hydrodissection to the control
      group (group 2). RESULTS: The postoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA)
      was 0.19 +/- 0.22 logMAR (mean +/- standard deviation) (range 0.00-0.70) in group
      1 and 0.25 +/- 0.18 logMAR (range 0.00-0.70) in group 2. Although the mean
      postoperative BCVA in group 1 was greater than that in group 2, the difference
      was not statistically significant (p=0.165). The mean postoperative BCVA was
      significantly greater than the mean preoperative BCVA in both groups (p=0.00).
      Intraoperatively, posterior capsular rupture occurred during the removal of the
      cortex in three eyes (13%) of group 1 patients, with vitreous loss and anterior
      vitrectomy in one eye only. In group 2, six eyes (28.5%) presented posterior
      capsular rupture, and anterior vitrectomy was performed because of vitreous loss
      in three eyes. Although the percentage of posterior capsular rupture was greater
      in group 2, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.207).
      CONCLUSIONS: Complications in posterior polar cataract surgeries can be overcome
      by being careful throughout the surgery and using proper techniques.
      Viscodissection may be better for avoiding posterior capsular rupture than
      hydrodissection.

PMID- 27626144
TI  - Oxidative stress of crystalline lens in rat menopausal model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate lenticular oxidative stress in rat menopausal models.
      METHODS: Forty Wistar female albino rats were included in this study. A total of
      thirty rats underwent oophorectomy to generate a menopausal model. Ten rats that
      did not undergo oophorectomy formed the control group (Group 1). From the rats
      that underwent oophorectomy, 10 formed the menopause control group (Group 2), 10
      were administered a daily injection of methylprednisolone until the end of the
      study (Group 3), and the remaining 10 rats were administered intraperitoneal
      streptozocin to induce diabetes mellitus (Group 4). Total oxidant status (TOS),
      total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and oxidative stress index (OSI) measurements
      of the crystalline lenses were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean OSI was the lowest in
      group 1 and highest in group 4. Nevertheless, the difference between the groups
      was not statistically significant in terms of OSI (p >0.05). The mean TOS values
      were similar between the groups (p >0.05), whereas the mean TAC of group 1 was
      significantly higher than that of the other groups (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results indicate that menopause may not promote cataract formation.

PMID- 27626145
TI  - Assessment of the Abbreviated National Eye Institute Visual Function
      Questionnaire (NEI VFQ 9) in blepharoptosis and dermatochalasis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the Abbreviated National Eye Institute Visual Function
      Questionnaire (NEI VFQ 9), which is shorter than those previously published, as a
      tool for assessing vision-related quality of life in patients with ptosis and
      dermatochalasis. METHODS: This is a cohort study of 46 patients who underwent
      blepharoptosis and/or upper eyelid blepharoplasty surgery by a single surgeon
      (CN) in 2013 in a public, academic, ambulatory care referral center. Patients
      included 29 who underwent blepharoplasty, 11 who underwent ptosis surgery, and 6
      who underwent combined surgery. The NEI-VFQ 9 was administered pre- and
      postoperatively, and the composite scores were compared using Student's t-test.
      Survey duration was timed in a subset of patients. The hypothesis was that the
      NEI VFQ 9 could detect a statistically significant improvement in composite score
      after surgical intervention. RESULTS: The mean pre- and postoperative NEI VFQ 9
      composite scores were 74.9 and 86.8, respectively, in the blepharoplasty-only
      group (P<0.0001), 72.07 and 86.41, respectively, in the ptosis-only group
      (P=0.004), and 75.8 and 87.2, respectively, in the combined group (P=0.022).
      There was no correlation between the gain in composite score and the change in
      upper eyelid margin to reflex distance. Twenty-five patients were timed filling
      out the survey, and the mean was 2.3 min. CONCLUSIONS: The NEI VFQ 9 consistently
      demonstrates a significant increase in visual function for blepharoptosis and
      dermatochalasis patients. Thus, it may be a useful tool for assessing vision
      related quality of life in patients with ptosis and dermatochalasis.

PMID- 27626136
TI  - 10-Year Outcomes after Monitoring, Surgery, or Radiotherapy for Localized
      Prostate Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The comparative effectiveness of treatments for prostate cancer that
      is detected by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing remains uncertain.
      METHODS: We compared active monitoring, radical prostatectomy, and external-beam
      radiotherapy for the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer. Between
      1999 and 2009, a total of 82,429 men 50 to 69 years of age received a PSA test;
      2664 received a diagnosis of localized prostate cancer, and 1643 agreed to
      undergo randomization to active monitoring (545 men), surgery (553), or
      radiotherapy (545). The primary outcome was prostate-cancer mortality at a median
      of 10 years of follow-up. Secondary outcomes included the rates of disease
      progression, metastases, and all-cause deaths. RESULTS: There were 17 prostate
      cancer-specific deaths overall: 8 in the active-monitoring group (1.5 deaths per
      1000 person-years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7 to 3.0), 5 in the surgery
      group (0.9 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 0.4 to 2.2), and 4 in the radiotherapy
      group (0.7 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 0.3 to 2.0); the difference among the
      groups was not significant (P=0.48 for the overall comparison). In addition, no
      significant difference was seen among the groups in the number of deaths from any
      cause (169 deaths overall; P=0.87 for the comparison among the three groups).
      Metastases developed in more men in the active-monitoring group (33 men; 6.3
      events per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 4.5 to 8.8) than in the surgery group (13
      men; 2.4 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 1.4 to 4.2) or the radiotherapy group (16
      men; 3.0 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 1.9 to 4.9) (P=0.004 for the overall
      comparison). Higher rates of disease progression were seen in the active
      monitoring group (112 men; 22.9 events per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 19.0 to
      27.5) than in the surgery group (46 men; 8.9 events per 1000 person-years; 95%
      CI, 6.7 to 11.9) or the radiotherapy group (46 men; 9.0 events per 1000 person
      years; 95% CI, 6.7 to 12.0) (P<0.001 for the overall comparison). CONCLUSIONS: At
      a median of 10 years, prostate-cancer-specific mortality was low irrespective of
      the treatment assigned, with no significant difference among treatments. Surgery
      and radiotherapy were associated with lower incidences of disease progression and
      metastases than was active monitoring. (Funded by the National Institute for
      Health Research; ProtecT Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN20141297 ;
      ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02044172 .).

PMID- 27626146
TI  - Evaluation of choroidal and retinal thickness measurements in adult hemodialysis
      patients using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the effect of hemodialysis on retinal and choroidal
      thicknesses using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS:
      In this prospective interventional study, 25 hemodialysis patients (17 male, 8
      female) were enrolled. All participants underwent high-speed, high-resolution SD
      OCT (lambda=840 mm; 26.000 A-scans/s; 5 um resolution) before and after
      hemodialysis. Choroidal thickness was measured perpendicularly from the outer
      edge of the retinal pigment epithelium to the choroid-sclera boundary at the
      fovea and at five additional points: 500 um and 1000 um nasal to the fovea and
      500 um, 1000 um, and 1500 um temporal to the fovea. Two masked physicians
      performed the measurements. Choroidal and retinal thicknesses before and after
      hemodialysis were compared. RESULTS: The median choroidal thicknesses before and
      after hemodialysis were 182 um (range, 103-374 um) and 161 um (range, 90-353 um),
      respectively (P<0.001). The median retinal thicknesses were 246 um (range, 179
      296 um) before and 248 um (range, 141-299 um) after hemodialysis (P>0.05).
      Systolic arterial pressure, diastolic arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure,
      heart rate, and ocular perfusion pressure significantly decreased after
      hemodialysis (P<0.001). Intraocular pressure did not vary significantly
      (P=0.540). CONCLUSION: Hemodialysis seems to cause a significant decrease in
      choroidal thickness, whereas it has no effect on retinal thickness. This
      significant decrease in choroidal thickness might be due to the extensive fluid
      absorption in hemodialysis, which could result in decreased ocular blood flow.

PMID- 27626147
TI  - Medical therapy versus trabeculectomy in patients with open-angle glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare therapeutic outcomes between trabeculectomy and medical
      therapy in patients with open-angle glaucoma. METHODS: In the present
      retrospective comparative study, the medical charts of 284 patients (eyes) newly
      diagnosed with open-angle glaucoma who had received conventional medications
      (n=188) or undergone fornix-based trabeculectomy (n=96) at a teaching eye
      hospital were reviewed. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 6.6 years, post-treatment
      changes in intraocular pressure (IOP), visual field (VF), best spectacle
      corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), and number of required drugs were significantly
      more favorable in the surgical group (P<0.001 for all comparisons). However, the
      frequency of clinically desirable IOP (<=21 mmHg) at the endpoint was comparable
      between the surgical and medical groups (87.2% vs. 82.3%; P=0.26). The rate of
      conversion to surgical therapy was 34% in the medical group. A greater baseline
      requirement for anti-glaucoma drugs (two or more) was the only independent
      predictor of treatment failure in the present study. CONCLUSIONS: Although more
      severe cases naturally receive trabeculectomy, the surgical approach had greater
      efficacy than conventional medical therapy in patients with open-angle glaucoma.
      An initial requirement for two or more anti-glaucoma drugs may predict failure of
      medical therapy.

PMID- 27626148
TI  - Development of the Portuguese version of a standardized reading test: the Radner
      Coimbra Charts.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop 27 short sentence optotypes for the Portuguese version of the
      Radner Reading Charts. METHODS: Thirty-four Portuguese sentences were constructed
      following the concept of the Radner Reading Charts to obtain highly comparable
      sentences in terms of lexical difficulty, syntactical complexity, word length,
      number of syllables, and position of words. A long text (106 words) at the 5th
      grade reading level was also tested to assess the validity of the reading speeds
      obtained with the short sentences. The short sentences and long text were tested
      in 50 volunteers with similar educational backgrounds (mean age 30.98 years +/-
      6.99 years, range 19-47 years). Reading speeds were measured with a stop-watch
      and reported as words per minute (wpm). The reading time for each of the short
      sentences to be selected for the chart was defined as falling within the range of
      the mean +/- 0.40 * standard deviation (SD). RESULTS: The overall mean reading
      speed for each of the short sentences was 235.43 +/- 36.39 wpm. The 27 sentences
      with a mean between 220.8 and 250.0 wpm (overall mean +/- 0.40 * SD) were
      selected for construction of the reading charts. The mean reading speed for the
      long text was 212.42 +/- 26.20 wpm. Correlation between the selected short
      sentences and long text was high (r =0.86). Reliability analysis yielded an
      overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.97. CONCLUSIONS: The 27 short
      Portuguese sentences were highly comparable in terms of syntactical structure,
      number, position and length of words, lexical difficulty, and reading length.
      This reading test can overcome the limitations of the current tests for
      homogeneity and comparability, reducing subjectivity in the evaluation of the
      functional outcomes of medical and surgical ophthalmologic treatments.

PMID- 27626149
TI  - Short-term effects of intravitreal dexamethasone implant (OZURDEX(r)) on
      choroidal thickness in patients with naive branch retinal vein occlusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate subfoveal choroidal
      thickness (SFCT) using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI
      OCT) in patients with naive branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) before and after
      intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex(r)) injection. METHODS: Thirty-nine
      patients with unilateral BRVO and 35 healthy subjects were included in this
      prospective study. Choroidal thickness was evaluated by EDI-OCT at baseline and 1
      month after dexamethasone implant. RESULTS: The mean SFCT measured in 39 patients
      with BRVO was 299.41 +/- 55.86 um, significantly greater than that in
      contralateral eyes (283.76 +/- 57.44 um; p=0.009) and control eyes (276.14 +/-
      39.06 um; p=0.044). The mean SFCT after the treatment was 279.64 +/- 50.96 um,
      significantly thinner than that before intravitreal dexamethasone therapy
      (p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: SFCT in treatment-naive BRVO eyes was significantly
      greater than that in contralateral eyes and healthy eyes and decreased
      significantly after intravitreal dexamethasone implantation.

PMID- 27626150
TI  - Evaluation of posterior ocular changes using enhanced depth imaging-optical
      coherence tomography in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evaluation of the nerve fiber thicknesses of the macula, choroid, and
      retina using the apnea-hypopnea index in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea
      syndrome (OSAS) without systemic components. METHODS: Prospective, controlled
      study. The central macular, choroidal, and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL)
      thicknesses were evaluated using enhanced depth imaging-spectral domain optical
      coherence tomography in individuals with OSAS. In people with severe OSAS who had
      received treatment, posterior ocular structures were examined over 3 months (4th
      and 12th weeks), and changes were evaluated. Only the right eyes of the
      participants were evaluated in the study. RESULTS: A total of 72 people were
      involved in the study, with 18 in the control group and 19 with mild, 16 with
      moderate, and 19 with severe OSAS. No significant difference was found among the
      groups in terms of demographic measures. No significant differences were found
      among the groups in terms of the measures of central macular, central subfoveal
      choroidal (CSCT), temporal choroidal, nasal choroidal, and RNFL thicknesses. In
      severe OSAS cases in which treatment was administered, although subjective
      clinical recovery was observed, statistically significant thinning was detected
      during the 3-month follow-up period in the CSCT, general RNFL, as well as in the
      inferior and superior nasal quadrants, and temporal superior quadrant (p=0.005,
      p=0.009, p=0.039, p=0.003, and p=0.02, respectively). CONCLUSION: In the group
      with severe OSAS, thinning in some posterior ocular tissues was observed.
      Although patients with severe OSAS may experience clinical recovery, we recommend
      that they would be followed up in terms of ocular ischemic injury.

PMID- 27626151
TI  - A unique case of isolated sebaceous adenoma of the bulbar conjunctiva.
AB  - Our patient was a 34 year-old male who presented with a painless conjunctival
      mass that had developed 3 months before his first visit. On performing slit-lamp
      biomicroscopy, a lobulated pink-yellowish solid mobile mass was observed on the
      nasal bulbar conjunctival surface of his left eye. The tumor was excised, and
      histopathologic examination of the tumor revealed a sebaceous adenoma. Systemic
      examination was normal. No recurrence was observed during the 24-month follow-up
      period. Sebaceous adenoma of the bulbar conjunctiva is an extremely rare benign
      tumor, which may be observed to be isolated in the absence of malignancy. 

PMID- 27626152
TI  - Microscopic analysis of an opacified OFT CRYL(r) hydrophilic acrylic intraocular
      lens.
AB  - A 51-year-old patient underwent posterior vitrectomy with perfluoropropane gas
      injection, phacoemulsification, and implantation of an Oft Cryl(r) hydrophilic
      acrylic intraocular lens (IOL) because of traumatic retinal detachment and
      cataract in the right eye. On the first postoperative day, gas was filling the
      anterior chamber because of patient's non-compliance in terms of head
      positioning, and was reabsorbed within one week. Eight months later, the patient
      returned complaining of a significant decrease in vision. IOL opacification was
      noticed by slit-lamp examination. The lens was explanted to undergo gross and
      light microscopic analysis. The lens was also stained with the alizarin red
      method for calcium identification. Light microscopic analysis confirmed the
      presence of granular deposits, densely distributed in an overall circular pattern
      in the central part of the lens optic. The granules stained positive for calcium.
      This is the first case of the opacification of this type of hydrophilic lens.
      Surgeons should be aware of this potential postoperative complication, and the
      use of hydrophilic IOLs should be avoided in procedures involving intracameral
      gas because of the risk of IOL opacification. 

PMID- 27626153
TI  - Extraconal cystic schwannoma mimicking an orbital dermoid cyst.
AB  - To our knowledge, we report the first case of an extraconal orbital cystic
      schwannoma in Brazilian literature. The tumor grew slowly and progressively and
      was associated with minimal eccentric proptosis and diplopia. The radiologic
      study (orbital computed tomography) revealed a rounded, encapsulated, and
      extraconal cystic mass in the superior medial region of the right orbit in the
      supraorbital and supratrochlear nerve topography. An anterior orbitotomy with
      full excision of the tumor was performed, and the histopathology examination
      revealed that the tumor was a schwannoma. After the surgery, the patient
      experienced total remission of his symptoms. 

PMID- 27626154
TI  - Fonsecaea pedrosoi as a rare cause of acute conjunctival ulceration.
AB  - Conjunctival ulceration accompanied with secretion and pain was observed in a 30
      year-old male, 3 days after a perforating corneal trauma. Cultures of
      conjunctival ulcer samples grew Fonsecaea pedrosoi, a major causative agent of
      chromoblastomycosis that is typically transmitted during trauma. The conjunctival
      ulcer was successfully treated with amphotericin B, itraconazole, and
      fluconazole. This case report summarizes the diagnosis and treatment of a
      conjunctival ulcer due to F. pedrosoi, which is a rare complication of
      contaminated ocular trauma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      reported case of F. pedrosoi causing acute conjunctival ulceration in the
      literature. 

PMID- 27626155
TI  - Differentiation of mild keratoconus from corneal warpage according to topographic
      inferior steepening based on corneal tomography data.
AB  - We report two cases of suspicious asymmetric bow tie and inferior steepening on
      topographic evaluations with reflection (Placido) and projection (Scheimpflug).
      Rotating Scheimpflug corneal and anterior segment tomography (Oculus Pentacam HR,
      Wetzlar, Germany)(r) was performed in the first case, with a maximal keratometric
      value (Kmax) of 43.2 D and an overall deviation value from the Belin/Ambrosio
      Enhanced Ectasia Display (BAD-D) of 1.76, which was observed in the study eye
      (OD). BAD-D was 6.59 in the fellow eye, which had clinical findings that were
      consistent with keratoconus stage 2. The second case presented with a Kmax of
      45.3 D and BAD-D of 0.76 in OD and 1.01 in OS. This patient had discontinued
      wearing soft contact lens less than 1 day prior to examination. Corneal
      tomographic data enabled us to distinguish mild or forme fruste keratoconus from
      contact lens-induced corneal warpage, and similar findings were observed on
      curvature maps. 

PMID- 27626156
TI  - Acquired anterior staphyloma after corneal ulcer associated with the use of
      crack.
AB  - We describe an unusual case of acquired anterior staphyloma in a patient addicted
      to crack cocaine. At the beginning of his crack cocaine abuse, he noticed redness
      and irritation of his eyes. Over the next 4 months, the patient also noticed the
      onset of decreasing visual acuity in his right eye (OD). Initially, his visual
      acuity was light perception in OD, and slit-lamp examination revealed a corneal
      infiltrate with a peripheral perforation and an iris prolapse. The patient was
      hospitalized to ensure compliance with the prescribed treatment and was advised
      to undergo therapeutic keratoplasty; however, the patient left the hospital
      against medical advice and was lost to follow-up for the next 6 months. He
      returned with complaints of photophobia and the inability to close his right
      eyelids. At this time, his cornea had developed an anterior staphyloma and
      required a sclerokeratoplasty. Following surgery, the patient was again lost to
      follow-up. 

PMID- 27626157
TI  - Normal-tension glaucoma: an update.
AB  - Normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) is a progressive optic neuropathy with intraocular
      pressure (IOP) within the statistically normal range (<=21 mmHg). The prevalence
      of NTG varies widely among different population studies, being the most prevalent
      open-angle glaucoma subtype in some reports. The etiology of NTG possibly is
      multifactorial and still not well defined. Alternative treatments have been
      proposed based on pathogenesis details. However, in clinical practice, adequate
      reduction of IOP remains the keystone of managing patients with NTG. We review
      the pathogenesis of NTG and the available therapies for this optic neuropathy. 

PMID- 27626158
TI  - Comment on: mean platelet volume in patients with retinal artery
      occlusionResponse: comment on: mean platelet volume in patients with retinal
      artery occlusionMean platelet volume in patients with retinal artery occlusionDo
      we need time adjusted mean platelet volume measurements?

PMID- 27626159
TI  - Comment on: mean platelet volume in patients with retinal artery
      occlusionResponse: comment on: mean platelet volume in patients with retinal
      artery occlusionMean platelet volume in patients with retinal artery occlusion.

PMID- 27626160
TI  - Comparison of intravitreal ranibizumab and bevacizumab treatment for retinopathy
      of prematurity.

PMID- 27626161
TI  - Ocular finding in Zika virus infectionResponse letter: Serological evidence
      confirms the presumed diagnosis of Zika virus congenital infection in infants
      with microcephaly and ocular findingsZika virus outbreak in the Americas: the
      need for novel mosquito control methodsThe Brazilian Zika virus strain causes
      birth defects in experimental modelsOphthalmologic findings in infants with
      microcephaly and presumable intra-uterus Zika virus infectionZika virus in Brazil
      and macular atrophy in a child with microcephalyVariables related to the
      ophthalmoscopic findings identified in infants with presumed Zika virus
      congenital infection.

PMID- 27626162
TI  - Microgravity-induced ocular changes in astronauts: a sight odyssey.

PMID- 27626163
TI  - Galectin-3 supports stemness in ovarian cancer stem cells by activation of the
      Notch1 intracellular domain.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic disease because usually, it is
      lately sensed, easily acquires chemoresistance, and has a high recurrence rate.
      Recent studies suggest that ovarian cancer stem cells (CSCs) are involved in
      these malignancies. Here, we demonstrated that galectin-3 maintains ovarian CSCs
      by activating the Notch1 intracellular domain (NICD1). The number and size of
      ovarian CSCs decreased in the absence of galectin-3, and overexpression of
      galectin-3 increased them. Overexpression of galectin-3 increased the resistance
      for cisplatin and paclitaxel-induced cell death. Silencing of galectin-3
      decreased the migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells, and overexpression
      of galectin-3 reversed these effects. The Notch signaling pathway was strongly
      activated by galectin-3 overexpression in A2780 cells. Silencing of galectin-3
      reduced the levels of cleaved NICD1 and expression of the Notch target genes,
      Hes1 and Hey1. Overexpression of galectin-3 induced NICD1 cleavage and increased
      expression of Hes1 and Hey1. Moreover, overexpression of galectin-3 increased the
      nuclear translocation of NICD1. Interestingly, the carbohydrate recognition
      domain of galectin-3 interacted with NICD1. Overexpression of galectin-3
      increased tumor burden in A2780 ovarian cancer xenografted mice. Increased
      expression of galectin-3 was detected in advanced stages, compared to stage 1 or
      2 in ovarian cancer patients, suggesting that galectin-3 supports stemness of
      these cells. Based on these results, we suggest that targeting galectin-3 may be
      a potent approach for improving ovarian cancer therapy.

PMID- 27626164
TI  - Quantitative proteomics reveals FLNC as a potential progression marker for the
      development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one
      of the most life-threatening human cancers in China. However, the pathogenesis of
      HCC development is still unclear. Here, we systemically analyzed liver tissues
      from different stages of HCC patients through 8-plex Isobaric Tags for Relative
      and Absolute Quantitation (iTRAQ) approach. A total of 4,620 proteins were
      identified and 3,781 proteins were quantified. When T1, T2 and T3 tumor tissues
      were compared with T1 non-tumor cells, 330, 365 and 387 differentially expressed
      proteins were identified respectively. IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) analysis
      revealed that these differentially expressed proteins were involved in
      endothelial cancer, cell spreading, cell adhesion and cell movement of tumor cell
      lines pathway and so on. Further study showed that the filamin C (FLNC) protein
      was significantly overexpressed with the development of HCC, which might play an
      important role in HCC invasion and metastasis. These results were also confirmed
      with western blot (WB). The mRNA levels were significantly increased in 50 pairs
      of tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues from TCGA database. The higher expression
      of FLNC in HCC might be a common phenomenon, thereby shedding new light on
      molecular mechanism and biomarker for the diagnosis purpose of HCC development.

PMID- 27626165
TI  - Mutational burdens and evolutionary ages of thyroid follicular adenoma are
      comparable to those of follicular carcinoma.
AB  - Follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) precedes follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) by
      definition with a favorable prognosis compared to FTC. However, the genetic
      mechanism of FTA to FTC progression remains unknown. For this, it is required to
      disclose FTA and FTC genomes in mutational and evolutionary perspectives. We
      performed whole-exome sequencing and copy number profiling of 14 FTAs and 13
      FTCs, which exhibited previously-known gene mutations (NRAS, HRAS, BRAF, TSHR and
      EIF1AX) and copy number alterations (CNAs) (22q loss and 1q gain) in follicular
      tumors. In addition, we found eleven potential cancer-related genes with
      mutations (EZH1, SPOP, NF1, TCF12, IGF2BP3, KMT2C, CNOT1, BRIP1, KDM5C, STAG2 and
      MAP4K3) that have not been reported in thyroid follicular tumors. Of note, FTA
      genomes showed comparable levels of mutations to FTC in terms of the number,
      sequence composition and functional consequences (potential driver mutations) of
      mutations. Analyses of evolutionary ages using somatic mutations as molecular
      clocks further identified that FTA genomes were as old as FTC genomes. Whole
      transcriptome sequencing did not find any gene fusions with potential
      significance. Our data indicate that FTA genomes may be as old as FTC genomes,
      thus suggesting that follicular thyroid tumor genomes during the transition from
      FTA to FTC may stand stable at genomic levels in contrast to the discernable
      changes at pathologic and clinical levels. Also, the data suggest a possibility
      that the mutational profiles obtained from early biopsies may be useful for the
      molecular diagnosis and therapeutics of follicular tumor patients.

PMID- 27626167
TI  - Prognostic significance of osteopontin expression in gastric cancer: a meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accumulated studies have exploited the association between
      osteopontin (OPN) expression and survival of patients with gastric cancer (GC),
      however, the results were controversial. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis,
      aiming to investigate the prognostic role of OPN for GC patients and to explore
      the association between OPN and clinicalpathological features of GC. RESULTS: A
      total of ten studies involving 1775 patients were included in final meta
      analysis. Of the included studies, nine were conducted on Asian patients and one
      was performed on Caucasian patients. Regarding OPN detection,
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used on tissue specimens in eight studies and
      enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used on plasma specimens in two
      studies. The pooled data showed that high OPN expression was correlated with poor
      OS (HR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.15-2.22, p = 0.006). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that
      OPN had enhanced prognostic value for Asian patients (HR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.11
      2.41, p = 0.012) and for patients receiving surgical resection (HR = 1.6, 95% CI
      = 1.04-2.48, p = 0.034). In addition, the results also showed that elevated OPN
      expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, depth of
      invasion, tumor size and distant metastasis in GC. METHODS: Relevant studies were
      retrieved through PubMed, Embase and Web of Science. Combined hazard ratio (HR)
      and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the association
      between OPN and overall survival (OS). Subgroup analyses and publication bias
      were also conducted. CONCLUSIONS: OPN overexpression was correlated with poor OS
      and clinical features reflecting high aggressiveness in patients with GC. OPN was
      a promising prognostic biomarker for GC.

PMID- 27626166
TI  - The non-canonical functions of the heme oxygenases.
AB  - Heme oxygenase (HO) isoforms catalyze the conversion of heme to carbon monoxide
      (CO) and biliverdin with a concurrent release of iron, which can drive the
      synthesis of ferritin for iron sequestration. Most of the studies so far were
      directed at evaluating the protective effect of these enzymes because of their
      ability to generate antioxidant and antiapoptotic molecules such as CO and
      bilirubin. Recent evidences are suggesting that HO may possess other important
      physiological functions, which are not related to its enzymatic activity and for
      which we would like to introduce for the first time the term "non canonical
      functions". Recent evidence suggest that both HO isoforms may form protein
      protein interactions (i.e. cytochrome P450, adiponectin, CD91) thus serving as
      chaperone-like protein. In addition, truncated HO-1 isoform was localized in the
      nuclear compartment under certain experimental conditions (i.e. excitotoxicity,
      hypoxia) regulating the activity of important nuclear transcription factors (i.e.
      Nrf2) and DNA repair. In the present review, we discuss three potential signaling
      mechanisms that we refer to as the non-canonical functions of the HO isoforms:
      protein-protein interaction, intracellular compartmentalization, and
      extracellular secretion. The aim of the present review is to describe each of
      this mechanism and all the aspects warranting additional studies in order to
      unravel all the functions of the HO system.

PMID- 27626168
TI  - Ex vivo miRNome analysis in Ptch1+/- cerebellum granule cells reveals a subset of
      miRNAs involved in radiation-induced medulloblastoma.
AB  - It has historically been accepted that incorrectly repaired DNA double strand
      breaks (DSBs) are the principal lesions of importance regarding mutagenesis, and
      long-term biological effects associated with ionizing radiation. However,
      radiation may also cause dysregulation of epigenetic processes that can lead to
      altered gene function and malignant transformation, and epigenetic alterations
      are important causes of miRNAs dysregulation in cancer.Patched1 heterozygous
      (Ptch1+/-) mice, characterized by aberrant activation of the Sonic hedgehog (Shh)
      signaling pathway, are a well-known murine model of spontaneous and radiation
      induced medulloblastoma (MB), a common pediatric brain tumor originating from
      neural granule cell progenitors (GCPs). The high sensitivity of neonatal Ptch1+/-
      mice to radiogenic MB is dependent on deregulation of the Ptch1 gene function.
      Ptch1 activates a growth and differentiation programme that is a strong candidate
      for regulation through the non-coding genome. Therefore we carried out miRNA next
      generation sequencing in ex vivo irradiated and control GCPs, isolated and
      purified from cerebella of neonatal WT and Ptch1+/- mice. We identified a subset
      of miRNAs, namely let-7 family and miR-17~92 cluster members, whose expression is
      altered in GCPs by radiation alone, or by synergistic interaction of radiation
      with Shh-deregulation. The same miRNAs were further validated in spontaneous and
      radiation-induced MBs from Ptch1+/- mice, confirming persistent deregulation of
      these miRNAs in the pathogenesis of MB.Our results support the hypothesis that
      miRNAs dysregulation is associated with radiosensitivity of GCPs and their
      neoplastic transformation in vivo.

PMID- 27626169
TI  - The putative oncotarget CSN5 controls a transcription-uncorrelated p53-mediated
      autophagy implicated in cancer cell survival under curcumin treatment.
AB  - Curcumin has shown promise as a safe and specific anticancer agent. The COP9
      signalosome (CSN) component CSN5, a known specific target for curcumin, can
      control p53 stability by increasing its degradation through ubiquitin system. But
      the correlation of CSN5-controlled p53 to anticancer therapeutic effect of
      curcumin is currently unknown. Here we showed that CSN5-controlled p53 was
      transcriptional inactive and responsible for autophagy in human normal BJ cells
      and cancer HepG2 cells under curcumin treatment. Of note, CSN5-initiated cellular
      autophagy by curcumin treatment was abolished in p53-null HCT116p53-/- cancer
      cells, which could be rescued by reconstitution with wild-type p53 or
      transcription inactive p53 mutant p53R273H. Furthermore, CSN5-controlled p53
      conferred a pro-survival autophagy in diverse cancer cells response to curcumin.
      Genetic p53 deletion, as well as autophagy pharmacological inhibition by
      chloroquine, significantly enhanced the therapeutic effect of curcumin on cancer
      cells in vitro and in vivo, but not normal cells. This study identifies a novel
      CSN5-controlled p53 in autophagy of human cells. The p53 expression state is a
      useful biomarker for predicting the anticancer therapeutic effect of curcumin.
      Therefore, the pharmacologic autophagy manipulation may benefit the ongoing
      anticancer clinical trials of curcumin.

PMID- 27626170
TI  - Activation of NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasomes contributed to cyclic stretch-induced
      pyroptosis and release of IL-1beta in human periodontal ligament cells.
AB  - Inflammasomes have been reported to be present in periodontal inflammatory
      tissue, but the exact role of inflammasomes in periodontal inflammatory reactions
      especially those related to mechanical stimulations has not been clarified. In
      this study, it was shown that cyclic stretch activated the nucleotide-binding
      oligomerization domain-like receptor containing pyrin domain 1 and 3 (NLRP1 and
      NLRP3) inflammasomes and induced the release of IL-1beta and pyroptosis via a
      caspase-1-related mechanism in human periodontal ligament cells (HPDLCs). This
      study firstly demonstrated that activation of NLRP inflammasomes contributed to
      the stretch-induced inflammatory response in HPDLCs. As inflammasomes have been
      reported to be involved in both programmed cell death and inflammation, further
      studies are required to elucidate the exact roles and signaling pathway of
      inflammasomes in stretch-induced periodontal inflammation.

PMID- 27626171
TI  - CD74 interacts with CD44 and enhances tumorigenesis and metastasis via RHOA
      mediated cofilin phosphorylation in human breast cancer cells.
AB  - CD74, also known as Ii, was initially considered to participate primarily in
      antigen presentation. Subsequent studies have shown that CD74 is highly expressed
      in various types of tumor cells and has multiple roles in a variety of biological
      processes. CD74 is thought to promote breast cancer metastasis, but the molecular
      mechanism remains elusive. In the present study, our results showed that CD74 was
      more highly expressed on the membrane and in the cytoplasm of breast cancer
      tissues than in control breast tissues. Consistently, CD74 downregulation reduced
      MDA-MB-231 cell invasion and migration and suppressed protrusions in breast
      cancer cells. Moreover, CD74 overexpression promoted the phosphorylation of the
      actin-severing protein cofilin (CFL1), resulting in actin polymerization in
      breast cancer cells. CD44 was required for the up-regulation of CFL1
      phosphorylation by CD74 because CD44 knockdown downregulated CD74-induced CFL1
      phosphorylation, while CD74 overexpression could not rescue CFL1 phosphorylation.
      Moreover, RHOA is necessary for CFL1 phosphorylation and cell migration induced
      by CD74 in breast cancer cells. Our findings highlight the critical role of CD74
      in breast cancer metastasis. New drugs and antibodies targeting CD74 may be
      effective strategies for breast cancer therapy.

PMID- 27626173
TI  - Self-regulation of BAX-induced cell death.

PMID- 27626172
TI  - Nestin suppression attenuates invasive potential of endometrial cancer cells by
      downregulating TGF-beta signaling pathway.
AB  - Nestin, an intermediate filament protein and a stem cell marker is expressed in
      several tumors. Until recently, little was known about the expression levels and
      the role of Nestin in endometrial cancer. Compared to the immortalized
      endometrial epithelial cell line EM-E6/E7-TERT, endometrial cancer cell lines
      express high to moderate levels of Nestin. Furthermore, endometrial tumors and
      tumor cell lines have a cancer stem-like cell subpopulation expressing CD133.
      Among the cancer lines, AN3CA and KLE cells exhibited both a significantly higher
      number of CD133+ cells and expressed Nestin at higher levels than Ishikawa cells.
      Knockdown of Nestin in AN3CA and KLE increased cells in G0/G1 phase of the cell
      cycle, whereas overexpression in Ishikawa decreased cells in G0/G1 phase and
      increased cells in S-phase. Nestin knockdown cells showed increased p21, p27, and
      PNCA levels and decreased expression of cyclin-D1 and D3. In contrast, Nestin
      overexpression revealed an inverse expression pattern of cell cycle regulatory
      proteins. Nestin knockdown inhibited cancer cell growth and invasive potential by
      downregulating TGF-beta signaling components, MMP-2, MMP-9, vimentin, SNAIL,
      SLUG, Twist, N-cadherin, and upregulating the epithelial cell marker E-cadherin
      whereas the opposite was observed with Nestin overexpressing Ishikawa cells.
      Nestin knockdown also inhibited, while overexpression promoted invadopodia
      formation and pFAK expression. Knockdown of Nestin significantly reduced tumor
      volume in vivo. Finally, progesterone inhibited Nestin expression in endometrial
      cancer cells. These results suggest that Nestin can be a therapeutic target for
      cancer treatment.

PMID- 27626174
TI  - Programmed death-ligand 1 is upregulated in intrahepatic lymphoepithelioma-like
      cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - Intrahepatic lymphoepithelioma-like cholangiocarcinoma (LELCC) is a rare variant
      of cholangiocarcinoma. Here, we report the largest single series of LELCC cases
      yet studied (n = 13). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of the 13
      patients and measured the expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in
      tumors using immunohistochemical staining. We also analyzed 15 cases of
      conventional intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC) for comparison. We found that
      eight patients with LELCC were infected with Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), and EBV
      infection correlated with poor prognosis in LELCC. Four patients among the five
      (80.0%) without EBV had a history of chronic viral hepatitis B. None of the 15
      cases of conventional cholangiocarcinoma were positive for EBV. PD-L1 was
      expressed in both the tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells in LELCC
      patients at higher levels than in IHCC patients (P < 0.05). These observations
      suggest that EBV infection may promote the development of LELCC, and that PD-L1
      may be a potential therapeutic target for treatment of EBV-associated LELCC.

PMID- 27626175
TI  - Ibrutinib targets mutant-EGFR kinase with a distinct binding conformation.
AB  - Ibrutinib, a clinically approved irreversible BTK kinase inhibitor for Mantle
      Cell Lymphoma (MCL) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) etc, has been reported
      to be potent against EGFR mutant kinase and currently being evaluated in clinic
      for Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Through EGFR wt/mutant engineered
      isogenic BaF3 cell lines we confirmed the irreversible binding mode of Ibrutinib
      with EGFR wt/mutant kinase via Cys797. However, comparing to typical irreversible
      EGFR inhibitor, such as WZ4002, the washing-out experiments revealed a much less
      efficient covalent binding for Ibrutinib. The biochemical binding affinity
      examination in the EGFR L858R/T790M kinase revealed that, comparing to more
      efficient irreversible inhibitor WZ4002 (Kd: 0.074 MUM), Ibrutinib exhibited less
      efficient binding (Kd: 0.18 MUM). An X-ray crystal structure of EGFR (T790M) in
      complex with Ibrutinib exhibited a unique DFG-in/c-Helix-out inactive binding
      conformation, which partially explained the less efficiency of covalent binding
      and provided insight for further development of highly efficient irreversible
      binding inhibitor for the EGFR mutant kinase. These results also imply that,
      unlike the canonical irreversible inhibitor, sustained effective concentration
      might be required for Ibrutinib in order to achieve the maximal efficacy in the
      clinic application against EGFR driven NSCLC.

PMID- 27626177
TI  - Interferon-stimulated gene 15 in hepatitis B-related liver diseases.
AB  - This study investigates the association of Interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15)
      polymorphisms, ISG15 serum levels and expression with HBV-related liver diseases.
      The ISG15 promoter and the two exons of the gene were screened for polymorphisms
      in 766 HBV-infected patients and in 223 controls. Soluble ISG15 levels were
      measured by ELISA. ISG15 mRNA expression was quantified by qRT-PCR in 36 tumor
      and adjacent non-tumor tissues. The exon 2 allele rs1921A was found associated
      with decreased progression of HBV-related liver diseases (LC vs. CHB: OR = 0.6,
      95%CI = 0.4-0.8, adjusted P = 0.003; HCC vs. CHB: OR = 0.6, 95%CI = 0.4-0.9,
      adjusted P = 0.005). The rs1921AA genotype was associated with low levels of AST,
      ALT and total bilirubin, but with high prothrombin levels (P < 0.05). ISG15 serum
      levels were higher among HBV patients compared to controls (P < 0.0001) and
      positively associated with HBV-related liver diseases, with highest levels among
      LC patients. ISG15 levels were correlated with HBV-DNA loads (P = 0.001). In non
      tumor tissues from HCC patients, ISG15 mRNA expression was increased in HBV
      compared to non-HBV infection (P = 0.016). The ISG15 rs1921 variant and ISG15
      expression are associated with HBV-related liver diseases. Taken together, ISG15
      appears to be a proviral factor involved in HBV replication and triggering
      progression of HBV-related liver diseases.

PMID- 27626178
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of high-risk HPV genotyping in women with high-grade cervical
      lesions: evidence for improving the cervical cancer screening strategy in China.
AB  - Currently, clinical data for primary HPV screening alone are lacking in China.
      Here, we evaluate cervical cancer screening with primary HPV genotyping, as well
      as possible future screening strategy. Overall, high-risk HPV (hrHPV) prevalence
      was 18.2% among hospital-based population in Taizhou area. For cervical
      intraepithelial neoplasia 2 or worse (CIN2+), the sensitivity of primary hrHPV
      genotyping strategy and current cervical cancer screening strategy were 93.5%,
      and 71.1%, respectively; whereas the specificity was 17.5%, and 62.4%,
      respectively. Current cervical screening strategy had slightly higher positive
      predictive values (28.4%) for CIN2+ than hrHPV genotyping strategy (21.9%),
      whereas primary hrHPV genotyping strategy demonstrated higher negative predictive
      values (94.7%) than current cervical screening strategy (91.1%). Compared to
      HPV35/39/45/51/56/59/66/68 genotypes, the odds ratios (OR) for CIN2+ in
      HPV16/18/31/33/52/58 infection women were 3.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3
      4.1). Primary hrHPV genotyping strategy provides a better predictive value than
      HPV16/18 genotyping alone in guiding the clinical management of the current
      cervical cancer screening. HPV testing without adjunctive cytology may be
      sufficiently sensitive for primary cervical cancer screening.

PMID- 27626176
TI  - Combination treatment including targeted therapy for advanced hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - Management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most lethal
      cancers worldwide, has presented a therapeutic challenge over past decades. Most
      patients with advanced HCC and a low possibility of surgical resection have
      limited treatment options and no alternative but to accept local or palliative
      treatment. In the new era of cancer therapy, increasing numbers of molecular
      targeted agents (MTAs) have been applied in the treatment of advanced HCC.
      However, mono-targeted therapy has shown disappointing outcomes in disease
      control, primarily because of tumor heterogeneity and complex cell signal
      transduction. Because incapacitation of a single target is insufficient for
      cancer suppression, combination treatment for targeted therapy has been proposed
      and experimentally tested in several clinical trials. In this article, we review
      research studies aimed to enhance the efficacy of targeted therapy for HCC
      through combination strategies. Combination treatments involving targeted therapy
      for advanced HCC are compared and discussed.

PMID- 27626180
TI  - Meta-analysis of bariatric surgery versus non-surgical treatment for type 2
      diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To compare short-term and long-term results of bariatric surgery vs
      non-surgical treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A systematic
      search was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases for
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs). All statistical analysis was performed using
      Review Manager version 5.3. The dichotomous data was calculated using risk ratio
      (RR) and continuous data was using mean differences (MD) along with 95%
      confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: A total of 8 RCTs with 619 T2DM patients were
      analyzed. Compared with non-surgical treatment group, bariatric surgery group was
      associated with higher rate T2DM remission (RR = 5.76, 95%CI:3.15-10.55, P <
      0.00001), more reduction HbA1C (MD = 1.29, 95%CI: -1.70 to -0.87, P < 0.00001),
      more decrease fasting plasma glucose (MD = -36.38, 95%CI: -51.76 to -21.01, P <
      0.00001), greater loss body weight (MD = -16.93, 95%CI: 19.78 to -14.08, P <
      0.00001), more reduction body mass index (MD = -5.80, 95%CI: -6.95 to -4.64, P <
      0.00001), more decrease triglyceride concentrations (MD = -51.27, 95%CI: -74.13
      to -28.41, P < 0.0001), and higher increase density lipoprotein cholesterol (MD =
      9.10, 95%CI: 7.99 to 10.21; P < 0.00001). But total and low density lipoprotein
      cholesterol were no significant changes. CONCLUSION: Bariatric surgery for T2DM
      is efficacious and improves short- and long-term outcomes as compared with non
      surgical treatment.

PMID- 27626179
TI  - Noncanonical SQSTM1/p62-Nrf2 pathway activation mediates proteasome inhibitor
      resistance in multiple myeloma cells via redox, metabolic and translational
      reprogramming.
AB  - Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a B-cell malignancy characterized by the accumulation of
      clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow, with drug resistance being a major cause
      of therapeutic failure. We established a carfilzomib-resistant derivative of the
      LP-1 MM cell line (LP-1/Cfz) and found that the transcription factor NF-E2 p45
      related factor 2 (Nrf2; gene symbol NFE2L2) contributes to carfilzomib
      resistance. The mechanism of Nrf2 activation involved enhanced translation of
      Nrf2 as well as its positive regulator, the autophagy receptor sequestosome 1
      (SQSTM1)/p62. The eukaryotic translation initiation factor gene EIF4E3 was among
      the Nrf2 target genes upregulated in LP-1/Cfz cells, suggesting existence of a
      positive feedback loop. In line with this, we found that siRNA knockdown of
      eIF4E3 decreased Nrf2 protein levels. On the other hand, elevated SQSTM1/p62
      levels were due at least in part to activation of the PERK-eIF2alpha pathway. LP
      1/Cfz cells had decreased levels of reactive oxygen species as well as elevated
      levels of fatty acid oxidation and prosurvival autophagy. Genetic and
      pharmacologic inhibition of the Nrf2-EIF4E3 axis or the PERK-eIF2alpha pathway,
      disruption of redox homeostasis or inhibition of fatty acid oxidation or
      autophagy conferred sensitivity to carfilzomib. Our findings were supported by
      clinical data where increased EIF4E3 expression was predictive of Nrf2 target
      gene upregulation in a subgroup of patients with chemoresistant minimal residual
      disease and relapsed/refractory MM. Thus, our data offer a preclinical rationale
      for including inhibitors of the SQSTM1/p62-Nrf2 pathway to the treatment regimens
      for certain advanced stage MM patients.

PMID- 27626181
TI  - LINC00520 is induced by Src, STAT3, and PI3K and plays a functional role in
      breast cancer.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in normal cellular
      homeostasis as well as pathophysiological conditions, including cancer. Here we
      performed global gene expression profiling of mammary epithelial cells
      transformed by oncogenic v-Src, and identified a large subset of uncharacterized
      lncRNAs potentially involved in breast cancer development. Specifically, our
      analysis revealed a novel lncRNA, LINC00520 that is upregulated upon ectopic
      expression of oncogenic v-Src, in a manner that is dependent on the transcription
      factor STAT3. Similarly, LINC00520 is also increased in mammary epithelial cells
      transformed by oncogenic PI3K and its expression is decreased upon knockdown of
      mutant PIK3CA. Additional expression profiling highlight that LINC00520 is
      elevated in a subset of human breast carcinomas, with preferential enrichment in
      the basal-like molecular subtype. ShRNA-mediated depletion of LINC00520 results
      in decreased cell migration and loss of invasive structures in 3D. RNA sequencing
      analysis uncovers several genes that are differentially expressed upon ectopic
      expression of LINC00520, a significant subset of which are also induced in v-Src
      transformed MCF10A cells. Together, these findings characterize LINC00520 as a
      lncRNA that is regulated by oncogenic Src, PIK3CA and STAT3, and which may
      contribute to the molecular etiology of breast cancer.

PMID- 27626183
TI  - Where do they go? The effects of topography and habitat diversity on reducing
      climatic debt in birds.
AB  - The spatial tracking of climatic shifts is frequently reported as a biodiversity
      response to climatic change. However, species' range shifts are often
      idiosyncratic and inconsistent with climatic shift predictions. At the community
      scale, this discrepancy can be measured by comparing the spatial shift in the
      relative composition of cold- vs. warm-adapted species in a local assemblage [the
      community temperature index (CTI)] with the spatial shift in temperature
      isotherms. While the local distribution of climate change velocity is a promising
      approach to downscaling climate change pressure and responses, CTI velocity has
      only been investigated on a continental or national scale. In this study, we
      coupled French Breeding Bird Survey data, collected from 2133 sites monitored
      between 2001 and 2012, with climatic data in order to estimate the local
      magnitude and direction of breeding season temperature shift, CTI shift, and
      their spatiotemporal divergence - the local climatic debt. We also tested whether
      landscape characteristics that are known to affect climate velocity and spatial
      tracking of climate change mediated the climatic debt on the local scale. We
      found a clear spatial structure, together with heterogeneity in both temperature
      and CTI spatial shifts. Local climatic debt decreased as the elevation, habitat
      diversity, and the naturalness of the landscape increased. These results suggest
      the complementary effects of the local topographic patterns sheltering more
      diverse microclimates and the increasing permeability of natural and diversified
      landscape. Our findings suggest that a more nuanced evaluation of spatial
      variability in climatic and biotic shifts is necessary in order to properly
      describe biodiversity responses to climate change rather than the oversimplified
      descriptions of uniform poleward shifts.

PMID- 27626182
TI  - Predictive value of homocysteine for depression after acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - We investigated roles of plasma homocysteine and MTHFR gene in relation to risks
      and treatment responses of depression in ACS. A sample of 969 patients with
      recent ACS were recruited and 711 followed 1 year later. In addition, of 378
      baseline participants with depressive disorder, 255 were randomized to a 24-week
      double blind trial of escitalopram (N = 127) or placebo (N = 128). A higher
      homocysteine concentration was independently associated with prevalent depressive
      disorder at baseline irrespective of MTHFR genotype; and with both incident and
      persistent depressive disorder at follow-up only in the presence of TT genotype.
      MTHFR genotype was not itself associated with depressive disorder after ACS. No
      associations were found with 24-week antidepressant treatment responses. Plasma
      homocysteine could be a biomarker for depressive disorder particularly in the
      acute phase of ACS. Focused interventions for those with higher homocysteine
      level and MTHFR TT genotype might reduce the risk of later depressive disorder.

PMID- 27626184
TI  - Kinetic Study on Peptide-Bound Pyrraline Formation and Elimination in the
      Maillard Reaction Using Single- and Multiple-Response Models.
AB  - Pyrraline, an advanced glycation end product (AGE), is related to some chronic
      diseases and can be employed as an indicator for heat damage in food processing.
      In this study, the impact of changing the reactant concentration and ratio on the
      kinetic parameters describing peptide-bound pyrraline (pep-pyr) formation and
      elimination was evaluated in the Lys-Gly/glucose model systems, with microwave
      heating treatment ranging from 120 to 200  degrees C. The maximum pep-pyr
      concentration increased as follows: 200  degrees C ? 180  degrees C ? 160 
      degrees C ? 120  degrees C ? 140  degrees C. First, the pep-pyr formation and
      elimination was modeled by using a single-response modelling. The formation rate
      constant (kF ) of pep-pyr was independent of the initial concentration of the
      reactants and ratios. However, the elimination rate constant of pep-pyr (kE )
      increased with increasing reactant concentrations. Second, a multiresponse
      modelling was performed to illustrate the pathways of pep-pyr formation and
      elimination. Two adapted models can fit to the experimental data with the
      goodness-of-fit ranging from 0.663 to 0.920. Glucose-to-fructose isomerization
      rather than glucose-to-mannose epimerization was detected in an equimolar model
      system and the model system with an excess of any of the reactants. The
      caramelization reaction was negligible in the equimolar systems and the model
      systems with an excess of peptide. The reaction rate constant of glucose-to
      fructose isomerization was independent of the initial reactant ratios. It was
      more difficult for pep-pyr elimination in the model system with an excess of
      peptide than that in the other 2 model systems (the equimolar system and the
      system with an excess of glucose), whereas a reverse result in pep-pyr formation
      was obtained.

PMID- 27626185
TI  - Registered nurses' work with sick leave questions by telephone in primary health
      care.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe registered nurses' work with sick leave
      questions by telephone. BACKGROUND: In Sweden, when a sick person needs to
      request a sickness certification, it is common to contact the primary healthcare
      centre. The main access to primary health care is by telephone, with a registered
      nurse answering the care seeker's questions, triaging and helping care seekers to
      the right level of care. Registered nurses' work with sick leave questions has
      not been studied, except for two qualitative interview studies. DESIGN: A
      descriptive cross-sectional study. METHODS: A questionnaire with 120 questions
      was distributed to 185 registered nurses in one county in central Sweden.
      Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. RESULTS: Response rate was 62% (n
      = 114). Registered nurses (n = 105) in this study talked weekly to persons on, or
      at risk, for sick leave. A large part (n = 78) felt they had a role in the care
      of persons on sick leave, consisting of booking appointments as well as acting as
      a pilot, advisor, caretaker and coordinator. For 74 of 114 registered nurses, it
      was problematic to handle the phone calls weekly. Measures were 'often' booking
      appointments with physicians (n = 67) and 'seldom' providing information on
      social insurance rules ('never' n = 51). The registered nurses expressed a great
      need for more education. CONCLUSION: Registered nurses in this study reported
      having a role in the care of persons on sick leave when handling sick leave
      questions by telephone. The telephone calls were problematic to handle, and the
      registered nurses expressed a great need for education and training in social
      insurance medicine. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: There is a need to educate
      and train registered nurses in social insurance medicine to provide high-quality
      nursing for patients on or at risk for sick leave.

PMID- 27626186
TI  - State Variation in Enrollment Gap, Sexual Activity, and Chlamydia Testing Rate
      Among Young Medicaid Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess state variations in eligibility criteria based on
      enrollment length and sexual activity on chlamydia testing rates among Medicaid
      female enrollees aged 15 to 25 years and potential impact of the representatives
      of testing rates. METHODS: We used 2010 Medicaid Analytic eXtract to estimate and
      compare the overall and state-level prevalence of gaps in coverage of >= 2
      consecutive months, service utilization associated with sexuality, and chlamydia
      testing rates among Medicaid female enrollees aged 15 to 25 years who had >= 1
      month of the full scope of Medicaid benefits and had >= 1 health service claim.
      The chlamydia testing rate was calculated as the proportion of sexually active
      Medicaid female enrollees who received a chlamydia test in 2010. RESULTS: Of 5.7
      million women aged 15 to 25 years enrolled in Medicaid in 2010, 42.3% had a 2
      month gap of enrollment coverage in 2010. The proportion of women who had a 2
      month gap varied from 26.1% to 73.2% across states. The proportion of women
      identified as sexually active was 59.8% among women who had a 2-month gap and
      57.1% among women who had no 2-month gap. The chlamydia testing rate was 44.0%
      among sexually active women with a 2-month gap and 44.2% among sexually active
      women without a 2-month gap. Eleven states had >=10% difference in sexual
      activity or chlamydia testing rates between women with a 2-month gap and women
      without a 2-month gap. CONCLUSIONS: States which exclude a substantial proportion
      of Medicaid enrollees from inclusion in the chlamydia testing denominator may
      have less representative testing estimates because those excluded tend to be
      women aged 19 to 25 years.

PMID- 27626187
TI  - Reconsidering the Use of Azithromycin for Chlamydial Urethritis.

PMID- 27626188
TI  - Gonorrhea in Indonesia: High Prevalence of Asymptomatic Urogenital Gonorrhea but
      No Circulating Extended Spectrum Cephalosporins-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae
      Strains in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Denpasar, Indonesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the epidemiology of asymptomatic urogenital
      gonorrhea and antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) strains
      circulating in Indonesia. We studied these issues in 3 large Indonesian cities.
      METHODS: In 2014, participants were recruited from sexually transmitted infection
      clinics and through outreach in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Denpasar. Neisseria
      gonorrhoeae detection in genital specimens was performed with NG-qPCR at the
      Public Health Service in Amsterdam. Antimicrobial susceptibility was investigated
      using the Etest. RESULTS: Among 992 participants, 781 were asymptomatic and
      included in the risk factors analysis: 439 (56.2%) men, 258 (33.0%) women, and 84
      (10.8%) transwomen. They differed significantly in age and were mostly men who
      have sex with men (35.2%) and female sex workers (29.3%).Overall, 175 (22.4%)
      asymptomatic participants had a positive NG-qPCR result. Factors positively
      associated with asymptomatic urogenital gonorrhea were being recruited through
      outreach (vs clinic-based), inconsistent condom use, and being divorced/widowed
      (vs single).Among 79 urogenital cultured isolates derived from 27 symptomatic and
      52 asymptomatic participants, all isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone and
      cefixime, and 98.7% of isolates were susceptible to azithromycin. In contrast,
      resistance to doxycycline (98.7%) and ciprofloxacin (97.4%) was common.
      CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of asymptomatic urogenital gonorrhea among Indonesian key
      populations is very high. Little to no resistance against extended spectrum
      cephalosporins and azithromycin was observed. However, almost all isolates were
      resistant to doxycycline and ciprofloxacin. Strengthening outreach sexually
      transmitted infections services, composing guidelines to screen asymptomatic
      individuals, and implementing periodical antimicrobial resistance surveillance
      are recommended.

PMID- 27626189
TI  - Weeding Out the Bad Apples.

PMID- 27626190
TI  - The Difficult Journey from Genome-wide Association Studies to Pathophysiology:
      The Melatonin Receptor 1B (MT2) Paradigm.

PMID- 27626191
TI  - Never Waste a Good Crisis: Confronting Reproducibility in Translational Research.
AB  - The lack of reproducibility of preclinical experimentation has implications for
      sustaining trust in and ensuring the viability and funding of the academic
      research enterprise. Here I identify problematic behaviors and practices and
      suggest solutions to enhance reproducibility in translational research.

PMID- 27626192
TI  - Physiological Regulation: How It Really Works.
AB  - Contrary to dogma, much physiological regulation utilizes learning from past
      experience to make responses that preemptively and effectively neutralize
      anticipated regulatory challenges. Understanding physiological regulation
      therefore requires expanding explanatory models beyond homeostasis and allostasis
      to emphasize the prominence of conditioning.

PMID- 27626193
TI  - Pharma and Academia: What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate.
AB  - In recent years, there has been substantial interest in the potential value of
      collaboration between academia and the pharmaceutical industry. In this
      Crosstalk, I discuss obstacles to these relationships being optimally productive.

PMID- 27626194
TI  - The Irony of Tumor-Induced Inflammation.
AB  - Increased dietary iron intake and elevated systemic iron levels are associated
      with increased cancer risk. In this issue, Xue et al. (2016) have identified an
      unexpected link between intracellular iron accumulation and pro-inflammatory
      signaling that provides, at least in part, a molecular explanation for the tumor
      promoting effects of iron.

PMID- 27626195
TI  - Beige Communication through Gap Junctions and Adaption by Autophagy.
AB  - How thermogenic stimuli activate and control beige adipocytes is not fully
      understood. In this issue, Zhu et al. (2016) and Altshuler-Keylin et al. (2016)
      provide insights into these important issues by demonstrating roles for connexin
      43 (Cx43) atg5 and atg12 in signal propagation and phenotypic adaptation in beige
      adipocytes.

PMID- 27626196
TI  - Specialized Hub Beta Cells Trade Maximal Insulin Production for Perfect Timing.
AB  - The pulsatility of insulin release is disturbed early in type 2 diabetes, but it
      is not clear whether specialized pacemaker cells drive islet oscillations. In
      this issue of Cell Metabolism, Johnston et al. (2016) show that specialized hubs,
      identified as 1%-10% of beta cells with more active mitochondria and less
      insulin, synchronize beta cell oscillations.

PMID- 27626197
TI  - Fueling Performance: Ketones Enter the Mix.
AB  - Ketone body metabolites serve as alternative energy substrates during prolonged
      fasting, calorie restriction, or reduced carbohydrate (CHO) availability. Using a
      ketone ester supplement, Cox et al. (2016) demonstrate that acute nutritional
      ketosis alters substrate utilization patterns during exercise, reduces lactate
      production, and improves time-trial performance in elite cyclists.

PMID- 27626198
TI  - Mitochondrial Transfer from Astrocytes to Neurons following Ischemic Insult:
      Guilt by Association?
AB  - Intercellular mitochondrial transfer has been shown in tumor models, following
      lung injury and in xenotransplants of leukemic cells, but trafficking between
      cells in the brain remains unexplored. A suggestion that mitochondria move from
      astrocytes to neurons in a model of ischemia in a recent article in Nature by
      Hayakawa et al. (2016) should be interpreted with caution.

PMID- 27626201
TI  - Sex and Gender: Critical Variables in Pre-Clinical and Clinical Medical Research.

PMID- 27626199
TI  - Food Fight: Role of Itaconate and Other Metabolites in Antimicrobial Defense.
AB  - Itaconate is a newly discovered mammalian metabolite bearing significant
      implications for our understanding of cellular immunometabolism and antimicrobial
      defense. Here, we explore recent findings regarding the role of itaconate in the
      innate immune response and highlight the emerging principle that metabolites can
      have distinct immunological functions independent of bioenergetics.

PMID- 27626208
TI  - Endoscopic retrieval followed by compression hemostasis using a Sengstaken
      Blakemore tube to manage a foreign body with suspected aortic injury.

PMID- 27626202
TI  - The NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor pevonedistat activates the eIF2alpha and
      mTOR pathways inducing UPR-mediated cell death in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the leading cause of cancer-related death
      in children, and cure rates for adults remain dismal. Further, effective
      treatment strategies for relapsed/refractory ALL remain elusive. We previously
      uncovered that ALL cells are prone to apoptosis via endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      stress/unfolded protein response (UPR)-mediated mechanisms. We investigated the
      antineoplastic activity of pevonedistat(r), a novel NEDD8-activating enzyme
      inhibitor that targets E3 cullin-RING ligases (CRLs) dependent proteasomal
      protein degradation, in ALL. Herein, we report that pevonedistat induces
      apoptosis in ALL cells by dysregulating the translational machinery leading to
      induction of proteotoxic/ER stress and UPR-mediated cell death. Mechanistically,
      pevonedistat led to P-eIF2a dephosphorylation causing atypical proteotoxic/ER
      stress from failure to halt protein translation via the UPR and upregulation of
      mTOR/p70S6K. Additional studies revealed that pevonedistat re-balanced the
      homeostasis of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins to favor cell death through
      altered expression and/or activity of Mcl-1, NOXA, and BIM, suggesting that
      pevonedistat has a "priming" effect on ALL by altering the apoptotic threshold
      through modulation of Mcl-1 activity. Further, we demonstrated that pevonedistat
      synergizes with selected anti-leukemic agents in vitro, and prolongs survival of
      NSG mice engrafted with ALL cells, lending support for the use of pevonedistat as
      part of a multi-agent approach.

PMID- 27626209
TI  - Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy through the interstices of a
      colonic stent for the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer using a forward
      viewing linear echoendoscope.

PMID- 27626200
TI  - Connexin 43 Mediates White Adipose Tissue Beiging by Facilitating the Propagation
      of Sympathetic Neuronal Signals.
AB  - "Beige" adipocytes reside in white adipose tissue (WAT) and dissipate energy as
      heat. Several studies have shown that cold temperature can activate pro
      opiomelanocortin-expressing (POMC) neurons and increase sympathetic neuronal tone
      to regulate WAT beiging. WAT, however, is traditionally known to be sparsely
      innervated. Details regarding the neuronal innervation and, more importantly, the
      propagation of the signal within the population of "beige" adipocytes are sparse.
      Here, we demonstrate that beige adipocytes display an increased cell-to-cell
      coupling via connexin 43 (Cx43) gap junction channels. Blocking of Cx43 channels
      by 18alpha-glycyrrhetinic acid decreases POMC-activation-induced adipose tissue
      beiging. Adipocyte-specific deletion of Cx43 reduces WAT beiging to a level
      similar to that observed in denervated fat pads. In contrast, overexpression of
      Cx43 is sufficient to promote beiging even with mild cold stimuli. These data
      reveal the importance of cell-to-cell communication, effective in cold-induced
      WAT beiging, for the propagation of limited neuronal inputs in adipose tissue.

PMID- 27626210
TI  - Histoacryl injection for treatment of varices in the ascending colon.

PMID- 27626211
TI  - Endoscopic treatment of a choledochocele.

PMID- 27626212
TI  - Endoscopic ultrasound-guided transhepatic biliary drainage in altered anatomy: a
      two-step approach.

PMID- 27626213
TI  - Jejunal catheter placement for levodopa-carbidopa infusion in a patient with
      Billroth I gastrectomy.

PMID- 27626214
TI  - Esophagobronchial fistula closed by a cardiac septal occluder device.

PMID- 27626215
TI  - "Take your polyp for a walk": endoscopic retrieval of multiple colon polyps using
      a clip and line.

PMID- 27626216
TI  - The Triangle of Death in Alzheimer's Disease Brain: The Aberrant Cross-Talk Among
      Energy Metabolism, Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Signaling, and Protein
      Homeostasis Revealed by Redox Proteomics.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial neurodegenerative
      disorder and represents one of the most disabling conditions. AD shares many
      features in common with systemic insulin resistance diseases, suggesting that it
      can be considered as a metabolic disease, characterized by reduced insulin
      stimulated growth and survival signaling, increased oxidative stress (OS),
      proinflammatory cytokine activation, mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired energy
      metabolism, and altered protein homeostasis. Recent Advances: Reduced glucose
      utilization and energy metabolism in AD have been associated with the buildup of
      amyloid-beta peptide and hyperphosphorylated tau, increased OS, and the
      accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins. Mammalian target of rapamycin
      (mTOR), which is aberrantly activated in AD since early stages, plays a key role
      during AD neurodegeneration by, on one side, inhibiting insulin signaling as a
      negative feedback mechanism and, on the other side, regulating protein
      homeostasis (synthesis/clearance). CRITICAL ISSUES: It is likely that the
      concomitant and mutual alterations of energy metabolism-mTOR signaling-protein
      homeostasis might represent a self-sustaining triangle of harmful events that
      trigger the degeneration and death of neurons and the development and progression
      of AD. Intriguingly, the altered cross-talk between the components of such a
      triangle of death, beyond altering the redox homeostasis of the neuron, is
      further exacerbated by increased levels of OS that target and impair key
      components of the pathways involved. Redox proteomic studies in human samples and
      animal models of AD-like dementia led to identification of oxidatively modified
      components of the pathways composing the triangle of death, therefore revealing
      the crucial role of OS in fueling this aberrant vicious cycle. FUTURE DIRECTIONS:
      The identification of compounds able to restore the function of the pathways
      targeted by oxidative damage might represent a valuable therapeutic approach to
      slow or delay AD. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 364-387.

PMID- 27626218
TI  - The Laser Test Patch: Principles and Philosophy to Maximize Efficacy and Reduce
      Complications and Scarring From Laser Treatments.

PMID- 27626217
TI  - Persistent DNMT3A mutation burden in DNMT3A mutated adult cytogenetically normal
      acute myeloid leukemia patients in long-term remission.
AB  - DNMT3A mutations are frequent in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia
      (CN-AML) patients and can be present many years before the disease develops.
      However, the clinical significance of DNMT3A mutation burden in CN-AML remains
      unclear. In this study, 81 DNMT3A mutated adult CN-AML patients in their first
      complete remission (CR) were enrolled at our center from March 2005 to May 2015.
      All patients were identified as having DNMT3A exon 23 mutations, and R882H was
      the most frequent variant (n=49, 60.49%). A total of 48 patients (48/81, 59.3%)
      were found to have DNMT3A mutations upon achieving CR. At the final follow-up
      exam, 40 patients remained in CR, 8 of which (8/81, 9.9%) were found to still
      have DNMT3A mutations. Analysis of the order of NPM1, FLT3-ITD and DNMT3A
      mutations for different disease statuses revealed that DNMT3A might be the
      earliest mutation in leukemic cells. In addition, we determined the possible gene
      aberrations in 12 de novo and 2 relapsed samples using next-generation
      sequencing. NPM1 (5/12, 41.7%), FLT3-ITD (5/12, 41.7%) and CEBPA mutations (4/12,
      33.3%) were the most frequent coexisting mutations. In the relapsed samples,
      additional genes aberrations could be observed, and some of them were never
      reported in AML patients. The 2-year overall survival (2-OS) for 81 DNMT3A
      mutated CN-AML patients was 39.0%. No differences was found in 2-OS (38.2% vs
      41.6%, P=0.2256) and 2-year disease free survival (2-DFS: 28.5% vs 34.3%,
      P=0.1831) between patients with negative (n=33) and positive DNMT3A mutation
      findings (n=48) at the first CR. In summary, our findings indicated that DNMT3A
      mutation burden could persist in adult DNMT3A mutated CN-AML patients in long
      term remission and that DNMT3A mutation was the early event in the development of
      leukemic cells.

PMID- 27626219
TI  - Painful Chronic Ulcers on the Neck and Back.

PMID- 27626220
TI  - Enhanced Metastatic Recurrence Via Lymphatic Trafficking of a High-Metastatic
      Variant of Human Triple-Negative Breast Cancer After Surgical Resection in
      Orthotopic Nude Mouse Models.
AB  - We previously developed and characterized a highly invasive and metastatic triple
      negative breast cancer (TNBC) variant by serial orthotopic implantation of MDA-MB
      231 human breast cancer cells in nude mice. Eventually, a highly invasive and
      metastatic variant of human TNBC was isolated after lymph node metastases was
      harvested and orthotopically re-implanted into the mammary gland of nude mice for
      two cycles. The variant thereby isolated is highly invasive in the mammary gland
      and metastasized to lymph nodes in 10 of 12 mice compared to 2 of 12 of the
      parental cell line. In the present report, we observed that high-metastatic MDA
      MB-231H-RFP cells produced significantly larger subcutaneous tumors compared with
      parental MDA-MB-231 cells in nude mice. Extensive lymphatic trafficking by high
      metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells was also observed. High-metastatic MDA-MB-231
      developed larger recurrent tumors 2 weeks after tumor resection compared with
      tumors that were not resected in orthotopic models. Surgical resection of the MDA
      MB-231 high-metastatic variant primary tumor in orthotopic models also resulted
      in rapid and enhanced lymphatic trafficking of residual cancer cells and
      extensive lymph node and lung metastasis that did not occur in the non-surgical
      mice. These results suggest that surgical resection of high metastatic TNBC can
      greatly increase the malignancy of residual cancer. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 559
      569, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27626221
TI  - Pricing and reimbursement experiences and insights in the European Union and the
      United States: Lessons learned to approach adaptive payer pathways.
AB  - Earlier patient access to beneficial therapeutics that addresses unmet need is
      one of the main requirements of innovation in global healthcare systems already
      burdened by unsustainable budgets. "Adaptive pathways" encompass earlier cross
      stakeholder engagement, regulatory tools, and iterative evidence generation
      through the life cycle of the medicinal product. A key enabler of earlier patient
      access is through more flexible and adaptive payer approaches to pricing and
      reimbursement that reflect the emerging evidence generated.

PMID- 27626222
TI  - On the Role of the Inferior Intraparietal Sulcus in Visual Working Memory for
      Lateralized Single-feature Objects.
AB  - A consolidated practice in cognitive neuroscience is to explore the properties of
      human visual working memory through the analysis of electromagnetic signals using
      cued change detection tasks. Under these conditions, EEG/MEG activity increments
      in the posterior parietal cortex scaling with the number of memoranda are often
      reported in the hemisphere contralateral to the objects' position in the memory
      array. This highly replicable finding clashes with several reported failures to
      observe compatible hemodynamic activity modulations using fMRI or fNIRS in
      comparable tasks. Here, we reconcile this apparent discrepancy by acquiring fMRI
      data on healthy participants and employing a cluster analysis to group voxels in
      the posterior parietal cortex based on their functional response. The analysis
      identified two distinct subpopulations of voxels in the intraparietal sulcus
      (IPS) showing a consistent functional response among participants. One
      subpopulation, located in the superior IPS, showed a bilateral response to the
      number of objects coded in visual working memory. A different subpopulation,
      located in the inferior IPS, showed an increased unilateral response when the
      objects were displayed contralaterally. The results suggest that a cluster of
      neurons in the inferior IPS is a candidate source of electromagnetic
      contralateral responses to working memory load in cued change detection tasks.

PMID- 27626223
TI  - Grit Is Associated with Structure of Nucleus Accumbens and Gains in Cognitive
      Training.
AB  - There is a long-standing interest in the determinants of successful learning in
      children. "Grit" is an individual trait, reflecting the ability to pursue long
      term goals despite temporary setbacks. Although grit is known to be predictive of
      future success in real-world learning situations, an understanding of the
      underlying neural basis and mechanisms is still lacking. Here we show that grit
      in a sample of 6-year-old children (n = 55) predicts the working memory
      improvement during 8 weeks of training on working memory tasks (p = .009). In a
      separate neuroimaging analysis performed on a partially overlapping sample (n =
      27), we show that interindividual differences in grit were associated with
      differences in the volume of nucleus accumbens (peak voxel p = .021, x = 12, y =
      11, z = -11). This was also confirmed in a leave-one-out analysis of gray matter
      density in the nucleus accumbens (p = .018). The results can be related to
      previous animal research showing the role of the nucleus accumbens to search out
      rewards regardless of delays or obstacles. The results provide a putative neural
      basis for grit and could contribute a cross-disciplinary connection of animal
      neuroscience to child psychology.

PMID- 27626225
TI  - Rebalancing Spatial Attention: Endogenous Orienting May Partially Overcome the
      Left Visual Field Bias in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation.
AB  - In dynamically changing environments, spatial attention is not equally
      distributed across the visual field. For instance, when two streams of stimuli
      are presented left and right, the second target (T2) is better identified in the
      left visual field (LVF) than in the right visual field (RVF). Recently, it has
      been shown that this bias is related to weaker stimulus-driven orienting of
      attention toward the RVF: The RVF disadvantage was reduced with salient task
      irrelevant valid cues and increased with invalid cues. Here we studied if also
      endogenous orienting of attention may compensate for this unequal distribution of
      stimulus-driven attention. Explicit information was provided about the location
      of T1 and T2. Effectiveness of the cue manipulation was confirmed by EEG
      measures: decreasing alpha power before stream onset with informative cues,
      earlier latencies of potentials evoked by T1-preceding distractors at the right
      than at the left hemisphere when T1 was cued left, and decreasing T1- and T2
      evoked N2pc amplitudes with informative cues. Importantly, informative cues
      reduced (though did not completely abolish) the LVF advantage, indicated by
      improved identification of right T2, and reflected by earlier N2pc latency evoked
      by right T2 and larger decrease in alpha power after cues indicating right T2.
      Overall, these results suggest that endogenously driven attention facilitates
      stimulus-driven orienting of attention toward the RVF, thereby partially
      overcoming the basic LVF bias in spatial attention.

PMID- 27626224
TI  - Comparing the Effects of 10-Hz Repetitive TMS on Tasks of Visual STM and
      Attention.
AB  - Numerous studies have demonstrated that visual STM (VSTM) and attention are
      tightly linked processes that share a number of neuroanatomical substrates. Here,
      we used repetitive TMS (rTMS) along with simultaneous EEG to examine the causal
      relationship between intraparietal sulcus functioning and performance on tasks of
      attention and VSTM. Participants performed two tasks in which they were required
      to attend to or remember colored items over a brief interval, with 10-Hz rTMS
      applied on some of the trials. Although no overall behavioral changes were
      observed across either task, rTMS did affect individual performance on both the
      attention and VSTM tasks in a manner that was predicted by individual differences
      in baseline performance. Furthermore, rTMS also affected ongoing oscillations in
      the alpha and beta bands, and these changes were related to the observed change
      in behavioral performance. The results reveal a causal relationship between
      intraparietal sulcus activity and tasks measuring both visual attention and VSTM.

PMID- 27626226
TI  - Rhythmic Activity and Individual Variability in Recognition Memory: Theta
      Oscillations Correlate with Performance whereas Alpha Oscillations Correlate with
      ERPs.
AB  - During study trials of a recognition memory task, alpha (~10 Hz) oscillations
      decrease, and concurrently, theta (4-8 Hz) oscillations increase when later
      memory is successful versus unsuccessful (subsequent memory effect). Likewise, at
      test, reduced alpha and increased theta activity are associated with successful
      memory (retrieval success effect). Here we take an individual-differences
      approach to test three hypotheses about theta and alpha oscillations in verbal,
      old/new recognition, measuring the difference in oscillations between hit trials
      and miss trials. First, we test the hypothesis that theta and alpha oscillations
      have a moderately mutually exclusive relationship; but no support for this
      hypothesis was found. Second, we test the hypothesis that theta oscillations
      explain not only memory effects within participants, but also individual
      differences. Supporting this prediction, durations of theta (but not alpha)
      oscillations at study and at test correlated significantly with d' across
      participants. Third, we test the hypothesis that theta and alpha oscillations
      reflect familiarity and recollection processes by comparing oscillation measures
      to ERPs that are implicated in familiarity and recollection. The alpha
      oscillation effects correlated with some ERP measures, but inversely, suggesting
      that the actions of alpha oscillations on memory processes are distinct from the
      roles of familiarity- and recollection-linked ERP signals. The theta-oscillation
      measures, despite differentiating hits from misses, did not correlate with any
      ERP measure; thus, theta oscillations may reflect elaborative processes not
      tapped by recollection-related ERPs. Our findings are consistent with alpha
      oscillations reflecting visual inattention, which can modulate memory, and with
      theta oscillations supporting recognition memory in ways that complement the most
      commonly studied ERPs.

PMID- 27626227
TI  - Sleep Spindles and Intellectual Ability: Epiphenomenon or Directly Related?
AB  - Sleep spindles-short, phasic, oscillatory bursts of activity that characterize
      non-rapid eye movement sleep-are one of the only electrophysiological
      oscillations identified as a biological marker of human intelligence (e.g.,
      cognitive abilities commonly assessed using intelligence quotient tests).
      However, spindles are also important for sleep maintenance and are modulated by
      circadian factors. Thus, the possibility remains that the relationship between
      spindles and intelligence quotient may be an epiphenomenon of a putative
      relationship between good quality sleep and cognitive ability or perhaps
      modulated by circadian factors such as morningness-eveningness tendencies. We
      sought to ascertain whether spindles are directly or indirectly related to
      cognitive abilities using mediation analysis. Here, we show that fast (13.5-16
      Hz) parietal but not slow (11-13.5 Hz) frontal spindles in both non-rapid eye
      movement stage 2 sleep and slow wave sleep are directly related to reasoning
      abilities (i.e., cognitive abilities that support "fluid intelligence," such as
      the capacity to identify complex patterns and relationships and the use of logic
      to solve novel problems) but not verbal abilities (i.e., cognitive abilities that
      support "crystalized intelligence"; accumulated knowledge and experience) or
      cognitive abilities that support STM (i.e., the capacity to briefly maintain
      information in an available state). The relationship between fast spindles and
      reasoning abilities is independent of the indicators of sleep maintenance and
      circadian chronotype, thus suggesting that spindles are indeed a biological
      marker of cognitive abilities and can serve as a window to further explore the
      physiological and biological substrates that give rise to human intelligence.

PMID- 27626228
TI  - Frontostriatal Contribution to the Interplay of Flexibility and Stability in
      Serial Prediction.
AB  - Surprising events may be relevant or irrelevant for behavior, requiring either
      flexible adjustment or stabilization of our model of the world and according
      response strategies. Cognitive flexibility and stability in response to
      environmental demands have been described as separable cognitive states,
      associated with activity of striatal and lateral prefrontal regions,
      respectively. It so far remains unclear, however, whether these two states act in
      an antagonistic fashion and which neural mechanisms mediate the selection of
      respective responses, on the one hand, and a transition between these states, on
      the other. In this study, we tested whether the functional dichotomy between
      striatal and prefrontal activity applies for the separate functions of updating
      (in response to changes in the environment, i.e., switches) and shielding (in
      response to chance occurrences of events violating expectations, i.e., drifts) of
      current predictions. We measured brain activity using fMRI while 20 healthy
      participants performed a task that required to serially predict upcoming items.
      Switches between predictable sequences had to be indicated via button press while
      sequence omissions (drifts) had to be ignored. We further varied the probability
      of switches and drifts to assess the neural network supporting the transition
      between flexible and stable cognitive states as a function of recent performance
      history in response to environmental demands. Flexible switching between models
      was associated with activation in medial pFC (BA 9 and BA 10), whereas stable
      maintenance of the internal model corresponded to activation in the lateral pFC
      (BA 6 and inferior frontal gyrus). Our findings extend previous studies on the
      interplay of flexibility and stability, suggesting that different prefrontal
      regions are activated by different types of prediction errors, dependent on their
      behavioral requirements. Furthermore, we found that striatal activation in
      response to switches and drifts was modulated by participants' successful
      behavior toward these events, suggesting the striatum to be responsible for
      response selections following unpredicted stimuli. Finally, we observed that the
      dopaminergic midbrain modulates the transition between different cognitive
      states, thresholded by participants' individual performance history in response
      to temporal environmental demands.

PMID- 27626229
TI  - Finding Positive Meaning in Negative Experiences Engages Ventral Striatal and
      Ventromedial Prefrontal Regions Associated with Reward Valuation.
AB  - Neuroimaging research has identified systems that facilitate minimizing negative
      emotion, but how the brain is able to transform the valence of an emotional
      response from negative to positive is unclear. Behavioral and psychophysiological
      studies suggest a distinction between minimizing reappraisal, which entails
      diminishing the arousal elicited by negative stimuli, and positive reappraisal,
      which instead changes the emotional valence of arousal from negative to positive.
      Here we show that successful minimizing reappraisal tracked with decreased
      activity in the amygdala, but successful positive reappraisal tracked with
      increased activity in regions involved in computing reward value, including the
      ventral striatum and ventromedial pFC (vmPFC). Moreover, positive reappraisal
      enhanced positive connectivity between vmPFC and amygdala, and individual
      differences in positive connectivity between vmPFC and amygdala, ventral
      striatum, dorsomedial pFC, and dorsolateral pFC predicted greater positive
      reappraisal success. These data broaden models of emotion regulation as
      quantitative dampening of negative emotion and identify activity in a network of
      brain valuation, arousal, and control regions as a neural basis for the ability
      to create positive meaning from negative experiences.

PMID- 27626230
TI  - Feature-selective Attention in Frontoparietal Cortex: Multivoxel Codes Adjust to
      Prioritize Task-relevant Information.
AB  - Human cognition is characterized by astounding flexibility, enabling us to select
      appropriate information according to the objectives of our current task. A
      circuit of frontal and parietal brain regions, often referred to as the
      frontoparietal attention network or multiple-demand (MD) regions, are believed to
      play a fundamental role in this flexibility. There is evidence that these regions
      dynamically adjust their responses to selectively process information that is
      currently relevant for behavior, as proposed by the "adaptive coding hypothesis"
      [Duncan, J. An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex.
      Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2, 820-829, 2001]. Could this provide a neural
      mechanism for feature-selective attention, the process by which we preferentially
      process one feature of a stimulus over another? We used multivariate pattern
      analysis of fMRI data during a perceptually challenging categorization task to
      investigate whether the representation of visual object features in the MD
      regions flexibly adjusts according to task relevance. Participants were trained
      to categorize visually similar novel objects along two orthogonal stimulus
      dimensions (length/orientation) and performed short alternating blocks in which
      only one of these dimensions was relevant. We found that multivoxel patterns of
      activation in the MD regions encoded the task-relevant distinctions more strongly
      than the task-irrelevant distinctions: The MD regions discriminated between
      stimuli of different lengths when length was relevant and between the same
      objects according to orientation when orientation was relevant. The data suggest
      a flexible neural system that adjusts its representation of visual objects to
      preferentially encode stimulus features that are currently relevant for behavior,
      providing a neural mechanism for feature-selective attention.

PMID- 27626231
TI  - Benefits and Costs of Context Reinstatement in Episodic Memory: An ERP Study.
AB  - This study investigated context-dependent episodic memory retrieval. An
      influential idea in the memory literature is that performance benefits when the
      retrieval context overlaps with the original encoding context. However, such
      memory facilitation may not be driven by the encoding-retrieval overlap per se
      but by the presence of diagnostic features in the reinstated context that
      discriminate the target episode from competing episodes. To test this prediction,
      the encoding-retrieval overlap and the diagnostic value of the context were
      manipulated in a novel associative recognition memory task. Participants were
      asked to memorize word pairs presented together with diagnostic (unique) and
      nondiagnostic (shared) background scenes. At test, participants recognized the
      word pairs in the presence and absence of the previously encoded contexts.
      Behavioral data show facilitated memory performance in the presence of the
      original context but, importantly, only when the context was diagnostic of the
      target episode. The electrophysiological data reveal an early anterior ERP
      encoding-retrieval overlap effect that tracks the cost associated with having
      nondiagnostic contexts present at retrieval, that is, shared by multiple previous
      episodes, and a later posterior encoding-retrieval overlap effect that reflects
      facilitated access to the target episode during retrieval in diagnostic contexts.
      Taken together, our results underscore the importance of the diagnostic value of
      the context and suggest that context-dependent episodic memory effects are
      multiple determined.

PMID- 27626232
TI  - Firing Variability of Frontal Pole Neurons during a Cued Strategy Task.
AB  - In previous reports, we described neuronal activity in the polar (PFp),
      dorsolateral (PFdl), and orbital (PFo) PFC as monkeys performed a cued strategy
      task with two spatial goals. On each trial, a cue instructed one of two
      strategies: Stay with the previous goal or shift to the alternative. A delay
      period followed each cue, and feedback followed each choice, also at a delay. Our
      initial analysis showed that the mean firing rate of a population of PFp cells
      encoded the goal chosen on a trial, but only near the time of feedback, not
      earlier in the trial. In contrast, PFdl cells encoded goals and strategies during
      the cue and delay periods, and PFo cells encoded strategies in those task
      periods. Both areas also signaled goals near feedback time. Here we analyzed
      trial-to-trial variability of neuronal firing, as measured by the Fano factor
      (FF): the ratio of variance to the mean. Goal-selective PFp neurons had two
      properties: (1) a lower FF from the beginning of the trial compared with PFp
      cells that did not encode goals and (2) a weak but significant inverse
      correlation between FF throughout a trial and the degree of goal selectivity at
      feedback time. Cells in PFdl and PFo showed neither of these properties. Our
      findings indicate that goal-selective PFp neurons were engaged in the task
      throughout a trial, although they only encoded goals near feedback time. Their
      lower FF could improve the ability of other cortical areas to decode its selected
      goal signal.

PMID- 27626233
TI  - Differentiating Visual from Response Sequencing during Long-term Skill Learning.
AB  - The dual-system model of sequence learning posits that during early learning
      there is an advantage for encoding sequences in sensory frames; however, it
      remains unclear whether this advantage extends to long-term consolidation. Using
      the serial RT task, we set out to distinguish the dynamics of learning sequential
      orders of visual cues from learning sequential responses. On each day, most
      participants learned a new mapping between a set of symbolic cues and responses
      made with one of four fingers, after which they were exposed to trial blocks of
      either randomly ordered cues or deterministic ordered cues (12-item sequence).
      Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n = 15 per group):
      Visual sequences (same sequence of visual cues across training days), Response
      sequences (same order of key presses across training days), Combined (same serial
      order of cues and responses on all training days), and a Control group (a novel
      sequence each training day). Across 5 days of training, sequence-specific
      measures of response speed and accuracy improved faster in the Visual group than
      any of the other three groups, despite no group differences in explicit awareness
      of the sequence. The two groups that were exposed to the same visual sequence
      across days showed a marginal improvement in response binding that was not found
      in the other groups. These results indicate that there is an advantage, in terms
      of rate of consolidation across multiple days of training, for learning sequences
      of actions in a sensory representational space, rather than as motoric
      representations.

PMID- 27626234
TI  - Electrophysiological Evidence for Early and Interactive Symbol Access and Rule
      Processing in Retrieving and Combining Language Constructions.
AB  - The human brain stores an immense repertoire of linguistic symbols (morphemes,
      words) and combines them into a virtually unlimited set of well-formed strings
      (phrases, sentences) that serve as efficient communicative tools. Communication
      is hampered, however, if strings include meaningless items (e.g.,
      "pseudomorphemes"), or if the rules for combining string elements are violated.
      Prior research suggests that, when participants attentively process sentences in
      a linguistic task, syntactic processing can occur quite early, but lexicosemantic
      processing, or any interaction involving this factor, is manifest later in time
      (ca. 400 msec or later). In contrast, recent evidence from passive speech
      perception paradigms suggests early processing of both combinatorial
      (morphosyntactic) and storage-related (lexicosemantic) properties. A crucial
      question is whether these parallel processes might also interact early in
      processing. Using ERPs in an orthogonal design, we presented spoken word strings
      to participants while they were distracted from incoming speech to obtain
      information about automatic language processing mechanisms unaffected by task
      related strategies. Stimuli were either (1) well-formed miniconstructions (short
      pronoun-verb sentences), (2) "unstored" strings containing a pseudomorpheme, (3)
      "ill-combined" strings violating subject-verb agreement rules, or (4) double
      violations including both types of errors. We found that by 70-210 msec after the
      onset of the phrase-final syllable that disambiguated the strings, interactions
      of lexicosemantic and morphosyntactic deviance were evident in the ERPs. These
      results argue against serial processing of lexical storage, morphosyntactic
      combination and their interaction, and in favor of early, simultaneous, and
      interactive processing of symbols and their combinatorial structures.

PMID- 27626235
TI  - Improving Prediction of Suicide and Accidental Death After Discharge From General
      Hospitals With Natural Language Processing.
AB  - Importance: Suicide represents the 10th leading cause of death across age groups
      in the United States (12.6 cases per 100 000) and remains challenging to predict.
      While many individuals who die by suicide are seen by physicians before their
      attempt, they may not seek psychiatric care. Objective: To determine the extent
      to which incorporating natural language processing of narrative discharge notes
      improves stratification of risk for death by suicide after medical or surgical
      hospital discharge. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this retrospective
      health care use study, clinical data were analyzed from individuals with
      discharges from 2 large academic medical centers between January 1, 2005, and
      December 31, 2013. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was suicide as
      a reported cause of death based on Massachusetts Department of Public Health
      records. Regression models for prediction of death by suicide or accidental death
      were compared relying solely on coded clinical data and those using natural
      language processing of hospital discharge notes. Results: There were 845 417
      hospital discharges represented in the cohort, including 458 053 unique
      individuals. Overall, all-cause mortality was 18% during 9 years, and the median
      follow-up was 5.2 years. The cohort included 235 (0.1%) who died by suicide
      during 2.4 million patient-years of follow-up. Positive valence reflected in
      narrative notes was associated with a 30% reduction in risk for suicide in models
      adjusted for coded sociodemographic and clinical features (hazard ratio, 0.70;
      95% CI, 0.58-0.85; P < .001) and improved model fit (chi22 = 14.843, P < .001 by
      log-likelihood test). The C statistic was 0.741 (95% CI, 0.738-0.744) for models
      of suicide with or without inclusion of accidental death. Conclusions and
      Relevance: Multiple clinical features available at hospital discharge identified
      a cohort of individuals at substantially increased risk for suicide. Greater
      positive valence expressed in narrative discharge summaries was associated with
      substantially diminished risk. Automated tools to aid clinicians in evaluating
      these risks may assist in identifying high-risk individuals.

PMID- 27626236
TI  - Acetaminophen in Perspective.

PMID- 27626237
TI  - Life cycle of petroleum biodegradation metabolite plumes, and implications for
      risk management at fuel release sites.
AB  - This paper summarizes the results of a 5-y research study of the nature and
      toxicity of petroleum biodegradation metabolites in groundwater at fuel release
      sites that are quantified as diesel-range "Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons" (TPH;
      also known as TPHd, diesel-range organics (DRO), etc.), unless a silica gel
      cleanup (SGC) step is used on the sample extract prior to the TPH analysis. This
      issue is important for site risk management in regulatory jurisdictions that use
      TPH as a metric; the presence of these metabolites may preclude site closure even
      if all other factors can be considered "low-risk." Previous work has shown that
      up to 100% of the extractable organics in groundwater at petroleum release sites
      can be biodegradation metabolites. The metabolites can be separated from the
      hydrocarbons by incorporating an SGC step; however, regulatory agency acceptance
      of SGC has been inconsistent because of questions about the nature and toxicity
      of the metabolites. The present study was conducted to answer these specific
      questions. Groundwater samples collected from source and downgradient wells at
      fuel release sites were extracted and subjected to targeted gas chromatography
      mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nontargeted two-dimensional gas chromatography with
      time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC*GC-MS) analyses, and the metabolites
      identified in each sample were classified according to molecular structural
      classes and assigned an oral reference dose (RfD)-based toxicity ranking. Our
      work demonstrates that the metabolites identified in groundwater at biodegrading
      fuel release sites are in classes ranked as low toxicity to humans and are not
      expected to pose significant risk to human health. The identified metabolites
      naturally attenuate in a predictable manner, with an overall trend to an
      increasingly higher proportion of organic acids and esters, and a lower human
      toxicity profile, and a life cycle that is consistent with the low-risk natural
      attenuation paradigm adopted by many regulatory agencies for petroleum release
      sites. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:714-727. (c) 2016 The Authors.
      Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry
      (SETAC).

PMID- 27626239
TI  - Quality Requirements for Ultrasound Examination in Early Pregnancy (DEGUM Level
      I) between 4+0 and 13+6 Weeks of Gestation.

PMID- 27626238
TI  - A Model of the Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Drosophila Eye Disc Development.
AB  - Patterning and growth are linked during early development and have to be tightly
      controlled to result in a functional tissue or organ. During the development of
      the Drosophila eye, this linkage is particularly clear: the growth of the eye
      primordium mainly results from proliferating cells ahead of the morphogenetic
      furrow (MF), a moving signaling wave that sweeps across the tissue from the
      posterior to the anterior side, that induces proliferating cells anterior to it
      to differentiate and become cell cycle quiescent in its wake. Therefore, final
      eye disc size depends on the proliferation rate of undifferentiated cells and on
      the speed with which the MF sweeps across the eye disc. We developed a spatio
      temporal model of the growing eye disc based on the regulatory interactions
      controlled by the signals Decapentaplegic (Dpp), Hedgehog (Hh) and the
      transcription factor Homothorax (Hth) and explored how the signaling patterns
      affect the movement of the MF and impact on eye disc growth. We used published
      and new quantitative data to parameterize the model. In particular, two crucial
      parameter values, the degradation rate of Hth and the diffusion coefficient of
      Hh, were measured. The model is able to reproduce the linear movement of the MF
      and the termination of growth of the primordium. We further show that the model
      can explain several mutant phenotypes, but fails to reproduce the previously
      observed scaling of the Dpp gradient in the anterior compartment.

PMID- 27626240
TI  - A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial of Single vs. Double Layer Closure of
      Hysterotomy at the Time of Cesarean Delivery: The Effect on Uterine Scar
      Thickness.
AB  - PURPOSE:  We undertook a randomized clinical trial to examine the outcome of a
      single vs. a double layer uterine closure using ultrasound to assess uterine scar
      thickness. MATERIALS AND METHODS:  Participating women were allocated to one of
      three uterotomy suture techniques: continuous single layer unlocked suturing,
      continuous locked single layer suturing, or double layer suturing. Transvaginal
      ultrasound of uterine scar thickness was performed 6 weeks and 6 - 24 months
      after Cesarean delivery. Sonographers were blinded to the closure technique.
      RESULTS:  An "intent-to-treat" and "as treated" ANOVA analysis included 435
      patients (n = 149 single layer unlocked suturing, n = 157 single layer locked
      suturing, and n = 129 double layer suturing). 6 weeks postpartum, the median scar
      thickness did not differ among the three groups: 10.0 (8.5 - 12.3 mm) single
      layer unlocked vs. 10.1 (8.2 - 12.7 mm) single layer locked vs. 10.8 (8.1 - 12.8
      mm) double layer; (p = 0.84). At the time of the second follow-up, the uterine
      scar was not significantly (p = 0.06) thicker if the uterus had been closed with
      a double layer closure 7.3 (5.7 - 9.1 mm), compared to single layer unlocked 6.4
      (5.0 - 8.8 mm) or locked suturing techniques 6.8 (5.2 - 8.7 mm). Women who
      underwent primary or elective Cesarean delivery showed a significantly (p = 0.03,
      p = 0.02, "as treated") increased median scar thickness after double layer
      closure vs. single layer unlocked suture. CONCLUSION:  A double layer closure of
      the hysterotomy is associated with a thicker myometrium scar only in primary or
      elective Cesarean delivery patients.

PMID- 27626241
TI  - Myocardial Function Pre- and Post-Fetal Endoscopic Tracheal Occlusion (FETO) in
      Fetuses with Left-Sided Moderate to Severe Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.
AB  - : Purpose To evaluate pre- and postprocedural myocardial function in fetuses with
      moderate to severe congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) who underwent FETO to
      improve survival and to reduce morbidity and to compare these data with fetuses
      and CDH not undergoing FETO and normal controls. Materials and Methods 8 fetuses
      with isolated left-sided CDH were included and underwent FETO at our center
      between 2012 and 2013. Prior to and after the operation, myocardial function was
      assessed by measuring the mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE), the
      tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), Tei index, isovolumetric
      contraction time (ICT), ejection time (ET), isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT)
      for the left ventricle in PW Doppler ultrasound as well as ICT, ET, IRT and Tei
      index in pulsed wave tissue Doppler imaging (PW-TDI) for the left and right
      ventricle. The E-, A-, E'- and A'-wave peak velocity and the systolic downward
      motion (S') were measured for both ventricles and the E/A, E/E' and E'/A' ratios
      were calculated. Results were compared to fetuses with CDH not undergoing FETO
      and to gestational age-matched healthy controls. RESULTS: FETO was performed at
      32.5 (SD 2.4) weeks of gestation. There was no statistically significant change
      in myocardial function in fetuses treated by FETO except a slight prolongation of
      the ICT of the left ventricle in PW-TDI. The myocardial function of fetuses with
      CDH pre- and post-FETO and fetuses with CDH without FETO was comparable to that
      of healthy controls. Conclusion In our series FETO did not affect myocardial
      function in fetuses with left-sided CDH. Although ventricular preload increases,
      FETO seems to have no short-term impact on fetal myocardial performance.

PMID- 27626242
TI  - Standard vs Distal Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in Patients With Body Mass Index 50
      to 60: A Double-blind, Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Up to one-third of patients undergoing bariatric surgery have a body
      mass index (BMI) of more than 50. Following standard gastric bypass, many of
      these patients still have a BMI greater than 40 after peak weight loss.
      Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of standard gastric bypass vs distal
      gastric bypass in patients with a BMI of 50 to 60. Design, Setting, and
      Participants: Double-blind, randomized clinical parallel-group trial at 2
      tertiary care centers in Norway (Oslo University Hospital and Vestfold Hospital
      Trust) between May 2011 and April 2013. The study included 113 patients with a
      BMI of 50 to 60 aged 20 to 60 years. The 2-year follow-up was completed in May
      2015. Interventions: Standard gastric bypass (alimentary limb, 150 cm) and distal
      gastric bypass (common channel, 150 cm), both with a biliopancreatic limb of 50
      cm and a gastric pouch of about 25 mL. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary
      outcome was the change in BMI from baseline until 2 years after surgery.
      Secondary outcomes were cardiometabolic risk factors, nutritional outcomes,
      adverse events, gastrointestinal symptoms, and health-related quality of life.
      Results: At baseline, the mean age of the patients was 40 years (95% CI, 38-41
      years), 65% were women, mean BMI was 53.5 (95% CI, 52.9-54.0), and mean weight
      was 158.8 kg (95% CI, 155.3-162.3 kg). The mean reduction in BMI was 17.8 (95%
      CI, 16.9-18.6) after standard gastric bypass and 17.2 (95% CI, 16.3-18.0) after
      distal gastric bypass, and the mean between-group difference was 0.6 (95% CI, 
      0.6 to 1.8; P = .32). Reductions in mean levels of total and low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol were greater after distal gastric bypass than standard
      gastric bypass, and between-group differences were 19 mg/dL (95% CI, 11-27 mg/dL
      ) and 28 mg/dL (95% CI, 21 to 34 mg/dL), respectively (P < .001 for both).
      Reductions in fasting glucose levels and hemoglobin A1c were greater after distal
      gastric bypass. Secondary hyperparathyroidism and loose stools were more frequent
      after distal gastric bypass. The number of adverse events and changes in health
      related quality of life did not differ between the groups. Importantly, 1 patient
      developed liver failure and 2 patients developed protein-caloric malnutrition
      treated by elongation of the common channel following distal gastric bypass.
      Conclusions and Relevance: Distal gastric bypass was not associated with a
      greater BMI reduction than standard gastric bypass 2 years after surgery.
      However, we observed different changes in cardiometabolic risk factors and
      nutritional markers between the groups. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov
      Identifier: NCT00821197.

PMID- 27626244
TI  - [Pathophysiological and clinical aspects of using L-arginine in cardiology and
      angiology].
AB  - Presented herein is a review of scientific publications dedicated to studying the
      pharmacodynamics of L-arginine and possibilities of its clinical application.
      Interest to L-arginine is associated, first of all, with its role as a precursor
      in endogenous synthesis of nitric oxide (NO), playing an important role in
      regulation of the functional state of the vascular wall. According to numerous
      studies, oral and parenteral administration of L-arginine restores endothelial
      production of NO in such diseases as atherosclerosis, hypertension, type 2
      diabetes mellitus, obliterating diseases of arteries of lower extremities. The NO
      mediated effect of L-arginine manifests itself in increasing the capability of
      vessels to dilatation, decreasing blood platelet aggregation, and inhibiting
      proliferation of smooth muscle cells of vessels. The effect is most pronounced in
      patients presenting with hypercholesterolaemia and initially decreased reactivity
      of the blood channel. The mostly pronounced NO-mediated effect of L-arginine is
      observed in parenteral route of its administration. Prolonged administration of L
      arginine slows down progression of atherosclerosis. 

PMID- 27626245
TI  - [Main manifestations of the phenomenon of remote post-conditioning of the heart.
      Clinical application of post-conditioning].
AB  - It was determined that remote post-conditioning (RP) exerts infarction-limiting
      and antiapoptotic effects. The infarction-limiting effect of RP is associated
      with enhancement of autophagia of cardiomyocytes. It was determined that RP may
      be an effective method of preventing reperfusion contractile dysfunction of the
      heart. The problem of whether RP exerts an antiarrhythmic effect in cardiac
      ischaemia-reperfusion remains unsolved as yet. Limitation of leukocytic invasion
      may have direct relation to the cardioprotector effect of RP. Decreasing the
      level of anti-inflammatory cytokines and MCP-1 chemokine may contribute to
      limitation of leukocytic infiltration into the reperfusion zone. It was
      determined that RP provides a decrease in intensity of lipid peroxidation. Remote
      postconditioning prevents reperfusion damage to cardiomyocytes both in children
      and adults, but RP does not improve the clinical course of the postoperative
      period in patients with coronary bypass grafting. In children, RP improves the
      course of the postoperative period. What is the reason of such difference between
      children and adults remains unknown. It was shown that RP exerts an infarction
      limiting effect in transcutaneous coronary interventions in patients with ST
      elevation myocardial infarction. 

PMID- 27626243
TI  - Gene-environment interactions in development and disease.
AB  - Developmental geneticists continue to make substantial jumps in our understanding
      of the genetic pathways that regulate development. This understanding stems
      predominantly from analyses of genetically tractable model organisms developing
      in laboratory environments. This environment is vastly different from that in
      which human development occurs. As such, most causes of developmental defects in
      humans are thought to involve multifactorial gene-gene and gene-environment
      interactions. In this review, we discuss how gene-environment interactions with
      environmental teratogens may predispose embryos to structural malformations. We
      elaborate on the growing number of gene-ethanol interactions that might underlie
      susceptibility to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. WIREs Dev Biol 2017, 6:e247.
      doi: 10.1002/wdev.247 For further resources related to this article, please visit
      the WIREs website.

PMID- 27626246
TI  - Morphologic predictors of in hospital mortality in acute type III aortic
      dissection.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In-hospital mortality of acute aortic type III dissection ranged
      about 12%. Complicated dissections represent about 18% of all cases, and require
      open surgery or TEVAR. More morphological predictors of in hospital mortality are
      needed to differentiate patients who should be selected for immediate, surgical
      or endovascular intervention. METHODS: From January 2009 to December 2014, 74
      patients with acute aortic type III dissection were enrolled at Clinic of
      Vascular and Endovascular Surgery in Belgrade Serbia and retrospectively
      analyzed. Every MSCT was observed in regard to morphologic characteristics of
      dissection. RESULTS: By analyzing morphologic parameters in patients between
      survival and non-survival group only localization of intimal tear showed
      statistical significance (p=0,020). The size of the intimal tear didn't reach
      statistical significance with the tendency of doing so in a larger sample of
      patients (p=0,063) with the cut-off value of 9.55mm. The shape of the true lumen
      was on the border of statistical significance (p=0,053). CONCLUSION: Inner
      curvature intimal tear localization, huge intimal tear as well as elliptic shape
      of the true lumen together should raise awareness to a subgroup at risk for in
      hospital mortality. More liberal endovascular treatment in this subgroup of
      patients is advocated.

PMID- 27626247
TI  - [Coagulological aspects of treatment of complications of prolonged therapy with
      warfarin].
AB  - The authors analysed the results of treating a total of 116 patients (68 men and
      48 women aged from 20 to 84 years, mean age 59.5+/-15.5 years) presenting with
      various complications of prolonged therapy with warfarin. Prescription of
      prolonged therapy with warfarin had been caused by various cardiac diseases and
      lower extremity deep vein thromboses. The duration of anticoagulant therapy at
      the time of onset of complications was different and depended on the underlying
      disease. The majority of patients included into the study had been taking
      warfarin for one year and more, with nearly half of patients (48.1%) - for more
      than 5 years. Examination of patients included clinical, instrumental and
      laboratory studies, among which we determined standard laboratory parameters of
      haemostasis [activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), international
      normalised ratio (INR), prothrombin index, prothrombin time, thrombin time,
      fibrinogen, etc.] and global tests (the thrombodynamics test and
      thromboelastogram). Amongst complications of prolonged warfarin therapy, 10
      patients were found to have various thrombotic complications and 106 patients
      were diagnosed as having various by localisation and intensity haemorrhage. The
      obtained results of the study have demonstrated that the appearance of any
      thrombotic complications takes place occurs on the background of insufficient
      hypocoagulation and often require only correction of warfarin therapy. Whereas
      floating thrombi developing on the background of inadequate warfarin therapy
      require surgical management. Once haemorrhagic complications have developed,
      beside appropriate correction of warfarin therapy it is necessary to carry out
      correction of coagulopathies, which is done by means of different drugs and
      therapeutic regimens, whose choice should be based on assessing the clinical
      findings (localization and severity of haemorrhage) and laboratory indices, the
      main of which are local coagulologic tests, as well as global tests. The
      thrombodynamics test proved highly efficient for assessing the state of plasma
      haemostasis and predicting danger of the development of venous thromboembolic
      complications in patients with lower extremity deep vein thrombosis on the
      background of hyper- and hypocoagulation. 

PMID- 27626249
TI  - [Clinical and morphological characteristics of systemic vasculitides:
      contribution of professor N.E. Yarygin into the solution of the problem].
AB  - The article deals with the role of Professor N.E. Yarygin in studying the
      clinical and morphological characteristics of systemic vasculitides and is
      dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Yaroslavl State Medical University. 

PMID- 27626248
TI  - [Clinical peculiarities of atherosclerosis of peripheral arteries in patients
      with abdominal aortic calcification].
AB  - The authors analysed clinical peculiarities of atherosclerosis of peripheral
      arteries (hereinafter referred to as APA) in patients presenting with abdominal
      aortic calcification (AAC). In order to determine the incidence rate of AAC in
      the population of patients with APA we analysed medical records of a total of
      1,800 patients. The study itself included a total of 193 patients with APA
      further subdivided into two groups: 108 patients with AAC (Study Group) and 85
      patients without AAC. Beside general clinical examination all patients were
      subjected to transthoracic echocardiography, duplex scanning of the aorta and
      lower-limb arteries, extended lipidogram and coagulogram. AAC was verified by
      means of computed tomography. It was determined that in one third of cases AAC
      was combined with abdominal aortic calcification, with APA on the background of
      AAC having certain peculiarities, i.e., high incidence of multisegmental lesions
      (68%) with predominant localization of the process in the aortoiliac and
      femoropopliteal segments (43%); frequent involvement of the terminal portion of
      the aorta and pelvic arteries. Patients with AAC also were noted to have a series
      of peculiarities in the indices of lipid metabolism, as well as signs of
      procoagulant syndrome and alterations of the structural and functional
      characteristics of the myocardium. It was stated that peculiarities of APA on the
      background of AAC should be taken into consideration while working out the
      program of diagnosis, treatment (including surgical), and rehabilitation of
      patients. 

PMID- 27626250
TI  - [Decision-making while implantation of biodegradable vascular scaffolds ABSORB
      based on methods of intravascular visualization].
AB  - A series of studies demonstrated comparability of the incidence rate of major
      adverse cardiac events (MACE) in the middle-term postoperative period following
      implantation of last-generation drug-coated stents and biodegradable
      intravascular scaffolds. It was noted observed that these complications may be
      associated with malposition and inadequate inappropriate preparation of the
      lesion. We carried out a total of 16 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI)
      with implantation of absorbable vascular scaffolds (Absorb, Abbott Vascular)
      under the guidance of optical coherent tomography. Besides, a further 16 PCIs
      were performed without intravascular visualization (control group). As experience
      was gathered, the algorithm of carrying out optical coherent tomography was
      subjected to changes, resulting in proposal of an optimal algorithm for choice of
      intraoperative policy based on the findings obtained in optical coherent
      tomography. 

PMID- 27626251
TI  - [Use of stents with bioactive coating in treatment of patients with lesions of
      the superficial femoral artery].
AB  - The authors analysed the immediate outcomes of implanting stents with bioactive
      coating in treatment of patients presenting with atherosclerotic lesions of the
      superficial femoral artery. Over the period from January 2014 to December 2015,
      endovascular interventions on the superficial femoral artery were carried out in
      a total of 18 patients (mean age 61.3+/-9.2 years). The implants inserted were
      stents with bioactive coating based on titanium oxinitride, measuring 6 to 8 mm
      in diameter and being from 50 to 200 mm long. Prior to operation and 7 days after
      implantation of the stent, the immunoenzymatic assay was used to determine the
      level of nitrogen nitric oxide (NO) in blood. The stents' patency was assessed by
      the findings of ultrasound duplex scanning performed at 30 days, and then 6 and
      12 months after the intervention. There were no complications either during the
      operation or in the early postoperative period. An increase in the ankle-brachial
      index was observed in all patients: with the average value prior to treatment
      amounting to 0.4+/-0.3 and equalling 1.1+/-0.2 after stenting (p<0.0001).
      Normalization of the blood NO level was revealed (was noted to normalize): the
      mean value prior to operation amounted to 18.9+/-2.3 umol/L and after operation
      to 28.9+/-4.1 umol/L (p<0.05). Primary patency rate of the stents was 100% at 30
      days, 94.5% (1 occlusion) at 6 months and 88.8% (1 restenosis and 1 occlusion) at
      12 months. The patients with occlusion or restenosis were subjected to repeat
      endovascular interventions, with restoration of patency of the construction (with
      the construction's patency restored). By now all the 18 patients show preserved
      patency (currently patency was preserved) of lower-limb arteries, with no
      evidence of restenosis in the zones of operations. It was concluded that using
      stents with bioactive coating based on titanium oxinitride results in
      normalization of the level of NO in blood, which may contribute favourably to
      prolongation of the period of functioning of endovascular constructions. The
      first data concerning primary patency of stents of this type make it possible to
      count on betterment of the remote results of treatment of patients presenting
      with atherosclerotic lesions of the superficial femoral artery. 

PMID- 27626252
TI  - [Possibilities of "E-vita open plus" hybrid stent graft in surgery of thoracic
      aorta].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The variety of pathology of the thoracic aorta supposes different
      approaches of surgical management, including the use of hybrid technologies.
      OBJECTIVE: To broaden a possible spectrum of indications for implantation of the
      "E-vita open plus" hybrid stent graft. RESULTS: Surgical treatment of thoracic
      aorta with the help of the "E-vita open plus" hybrid stent graft according to the
      "frozen elephant trunk" technique demonstrated satisfactory results in patients
      with various pathology: type A and B acute and chronic dissection according to
      the Stanford classification, as well as rare diseases (post-traumatic false
      aneurysm, complicated atherosclerosis of the thoracic aorta). CONCLUSION: The
      technology of "frosted elephant trunk" with implantation of the "E-vita open
      plus" hybrid stent graft in not limited by cases of acute aortic dissection,
      aortic aneurysmatic transformation and has wider indications for application. The
      use of this technology in cases of rare pathology of the thoracic aorta ("shaggy
      aorta" syndrome, posttraumatic false aneurysm) makes it possible to obtain
      satisfactory clinical results.

PMID- 27626253
TI  - [Results of endovascular treatment of patients with type C and D lesions of the
      aortoiliac segment according to the TASC II classification].
AB  - Presented herein are the results of endovascular interventions carried out in
      patients with occlusive lesions of the terminal portion of the aorta and iliac
      arteries (types C and D according to the TASC II classification). The study
      comprised a total of 45 subjects with type C and D lesions. The technical success
      rate in the group of patients with type C lesions amounted to 100% and in the
      group of those with type D lesions to 92.8%. One-year primary patency of iliac
      arteries after the endovascular intervention was assessed in 40 patients and
      amounted to 100% for type C lesions and to 92.8% for type D lesions. The obtained
      findings are strongly suggestive of a possibility of extending the indications
      for endovascular surgical interventions in management of patients with type C and
      D lesions, which makes it possible to achieve good immediate and remote results.
      This type of treatment may be regarded as a method of choice before further
      considering feasibility of an open surgical intervention. 

PMID- 27626254
TI  - [Recanalization of lower-limb deep veins as an index of efficacy of treatment for
      acute venous thrombosis].
AB  - The authors analysed the results of examination and treatment of a total of 102
      patients presenting with iliofemoral venous thrombosis. During treatment,
      ultrasonographic duplex scanning was used to determine the localization of the
      proximal margin of thrombotic masses, the time of appearing of the first signs of
      recanalization, its degree at various levels of the deep venous system, as well
      as alteration in velocity of the venous blood flow in the deep veins of the lower
      limbs. The dynamics of clinical symptoms was assessed by the visual analogue
      scale. Clinical and instrumental examination was performed on day 10, and then 1,
      3, 6 and 12 months after the beginning of treatment. The patients were subdivided
      into three groups. Group One comprised 38 patients receiving therapy with low
      molecular-weight heparin (enoxaprin) followed by switching to indirect
      anticoagulants (warfarin) combined with venotonics (original highly-purified
      diosmin 600 mg once daily). Group Two was composed of 33 patients receiving
      rivaroxaban at a dose of 15 mg twice daily for 3 weeks, followed by 20 mg once
      daily. Group Tree patients (n=31) were also given rivaroxaban according to the
      above-described standard regimen but in combination with venotonics (original
      highly-purified diosmin 600 mg once daily). The obtained findings showed that
      prescribing rivaroxaban to patients from the first day of the disease made it
      possible to considerably improve and accelerate the processes of restoration of
      patency of deep veins of lower extremities as compared with the patients taking
      vitamin K antagonists (warfarin). In patients receiving rivaroxaban, there were
      no cases of residual thrombotic occlusions of the major veins, and recanalization
      in three fourths of patients was assessed as good and in the remaining third as
      moderate. In the warfarin group, occlusion in the iliac veins was noted to
      persist persisted in 13% of patients, with good recanalization observed only in
      half of the patients. Addition of venotonics (original highly-purified diosmin)
      to anticoagulants from the first day demonstrated safety of this therapeutic
      regimen (with no cases of clinically significant haemorrhagic complications
      revealed) and its high efficacy as compared with monotherapy with rivaroxaban. A
      combination of diosmin with rivaroxaban turned out more efficient than a
      combination of diosmin with warfarin. 

PMID- 27626255
TI  - [Efficacy of oral drug Thrombovasim(r) in therapy of lower extremity deep vein
      thromboses].
AB  - Within the framework of the multicenter randomized placebo-controlled double
      blind clinical trial "VETTER-1" the authors carried out assessment of therapeutic
      efficacy and safety of oral drug Thrombovasim(r) possessing a thrombolytic effect
      in comprehensive treatment of lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis (LEDVT). The
      clinical study comprised a total of 154 patients. All patients received standard
      therapy accepted in LEDVT. The patients were subdivided into 4 groups. Patients
      from the three study groups received Thrombovasim(r) at a daily dose of 1,600,
      3,200, and 4,800 IU. The control group patients were given placebo. Efficacy was
      assessed by the results of ultrasound duplex scanning first performed before
      treatment commenced and then after it terminated. The relative frequency of
      positive dynamics according to the findings of instrumental methods of study in
      patients taking Thrombovasim(r) amounted to 0.728 and in the group of patients
      receiving placebo to 0.585, p=0.0031. Comparing the degree of blood flow
      normalization in the zone of the compromised blood flow revealed a pronounced
      dose-dependent effect: in patients taking the drug at a daily dose of 1,600 IU,
      the relative frequency of positive dynamics amounted to 0.707 corresponding to an
      increase in therapeutic efficacy by 21%, for a dose of 3,200 IU these parameters
      amounted to 0.0257 and 24% and for 4,800 IU - 0.747 and 28%, respectively. In
      patients taking Thrombovasim(r) there were no cases of negative dynamics
      observed. Of the patients taking Thrombovasim(r), none developed undesirable or
      severe adverse events. Inclusion of Thrombovasim(r) into the composition of
      comprehensive therapy for LEDVT increases efficacy of treatment at the expense of
      a spontaneous thrombolytic effect. The most effective dose amounted to 4,800 IU
      daily. Thrombovasim(r) turned out to be an efficient and safe agent in treatment
      of venous thromboses. 

PMID- 27626256
TI  - [Conservative treatment of pelvic varicose veins: indications for and
      possibilities of therapy].
AB  - The article is a literature review containing the data on various conservative
      methods of treatment for pelvic varicose veins. The authors present herein
      analysis of efficacy of using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, derivatives
      of ergot alkaloids, hormonal drugs, phleboprotectors, compression therapy in
      treatment of pelvic varicose veins, as well as indications for carrying out
      pharmacotherapy. Attention is drawn to the critically scarce number of studies
      dedicated to this issue, underlying the necessity of carrying out large
      multidisciplinary studies aimed at investigating the possibilities of non
      surgical treatment of pelvic varicose veins. 

PMID- 27626257
TI  - [Regional intraosseous thrombolytic therapy in comprehensive treatment of
      patients with diabetic foot syndrome].
AB  - The authors assessed efficacy of regional intraosseous administration of
      urokinase medac in comprehensive treatment of patients with complicated forms of
      diabetic foot syndrome by means of analysing therapeutic results in a total of 65
      patients presenting with pyonecrotic complications of diabetic foot. The patients
      were subdivided into 2 groups. The control group was composed of 35 patients
      receiving basic therapy. The study group comprised 30 patients subjected to
      comprehensive treatment including regional intraosseous (into the heel bone of
      the affected limb) administration of urokinase medac at a dose of 100 thousand IU
      for 5 days. Efficacy of treatment was evaluated by the course of the wound
      process, indices of haemostasis, free radical oxidation, results of surgical
      treatment. In patients of the Study Group the terms of wound purification from
      pyonecrotic masses amounted to 9.8+/-0.3 days, which was by 4.7 days less than in
      the Control Group patients (p<0.01), marginal epithelialization of wounds also
      occurred averagely by 6.4 days faster. On day 22 of using the basic therapy
      alone, the haemostasis system preserved the condition of coagulation activity.
      The Study Group patients as early as on day 5 of treatment demonstrated shifts
      towards normocoagulation. In the Control Group by day 22 of treatment, the level
      of malonic dialdehyde decreased by 18.5%, the index of catalase activity
      increased by 24.6% (p<0.05); in the Study Group the level of malonic dialdehyde
      decreased by 42.6% and catalase activity increased by 69.4% (p<0.01). On the
      background of using urokinase the number of high amputations decreased by 18% and
      the number of operations with the supporting function preserved decreased by 12%
      as compared with basic therapy alone. A conclusion was made that additional use
      of regional intraosseous administration of urokinase medac as compared with basic
      therapy alone promoted a more significant decrease in the coagulation activity of
      blood and the level of free-radical lipid oxidation, stimulation of regenerative
      processes, as well as improvement of outcomes of surgical treatment. 

PMID- 27626259
TI  - [Four-year follow up of the results of the first in Russia use of a hybrid
      prosthesis for surgical management of type I aortic dissection].
AB  - Presented in the articles is a case report of successfully using hybrid
      prosthesis "E-vita Open plus" (Jotec) in surgical treatment of a female patient
      presenting with type I chronic aortic dissection according to the DeBakey
      classification. Careful consideration is given to an uncomplicated course of the
      early and remote postoperative periods in the first-in-Russia patient to undergo
      surgery with the use of a new-type prosthesis. The control examinations carried
      out 6, 12, 28 and 39 months after the operation were unequivocally indicative of
      complete thrombosis of the false canal of the aorta at the level of the
      prosthesis and lack of signs of aortic diameter growth below the zone of the
      surgical intervention. An example of successful treatment of DeBakey type I
      aortic dissection may be regarded as an important stage in the development of
      more effective methods of surgery for the severe pathology concerned. 

PMID- 27626258
TI  - [Artificial circulation in high-risk percutaneous coronary interventions].
AB  - In their everyday practical clinical work cardiovascular surgeons sometimes have
      to deal with patients at extremely high risk of both percutaneous coronary
      interventions (PCIs) and direct myocardial revascularization. A method of choice
      in such situations may become a PCI supported by artificial circulation (AC), for
      which foreign and Russian authors propose using systems of prolonged
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The present work was aimed at sharing
      our experience with using standard systems of AC and their modifications (mini
      circuit systems) for performing high-risk PCIs. Between October 2011 and November
      2014, PCIs supported by artificial circulation were performed in a total of ten
      patients. All had extremely high risk of PCI due to coronary artery lesions
      [subocclusion of the trunk of the left coronary artery (LCA) combined with
      occlusion or significant stenosis of the right coronary artery (RCA)],
      concomitant pathology (obesity, diabetes mellitus, age, etc.) or critical state
      (circulatory arrest, resuscitating measures). Three patients during PCI developed
      ventricular fibrillation and one patient suffered an episode of asystole. All
      cardiac arrhythmias after restoration of the coronary blood flow disappeared
      spontaneously on the background of extracorporeal support. The only lethal
      outcome was registered during emergency PCI in a female patient admitted to the
      roentgen-operating room in the state of clinical death, on the background of
      continuing resuscitation measures. The presented methods of assisted circulation
      based on the standard AC systems and modification thereof (mini-circuit system)
      proved efficient. They make it possible to perform high-risk PCIs, including in
      clinics having neither appropriate equipment nor experience in ECMO. 

PMID- 27626260
TI  - [Central cannulation of the aorta by Seldinger technique in DeBakey type I acute
      aortic dissection with malperfusion of internal organs].
AB  - Described herein is a case report concerning the use of central cannulation of
      the aorta by Seldinger technique for DeBakey type I aortic dissection with the
      involvement of both femoral arteries and the brachiocephalic trunk, as well as
      with thrombosis of the false lumen from the level of the ascending aorta. This is
      followed by a brief review discussing the methods of instrumental control of the
      cannula position in the true lumen of the aorta, as well as peculiarities of
      using this technique of cannulation in various clinical situations. 

PMID- 27626261
TI  - [First experience with hybrid operations for chronic obstruction of iliac-femoral
      segment veins in patients with post-thrombotic disease].
AB  - The present study was aimed at assessing initial results of hybrid operations in
      obstructive lesions of the iliac-femoral veins in patients with post-thrombotic
      disease (PTD). Hybrid operations [open endovenectomy from the common femoral vein
      (CFV) with creation of an arteriovenous fistula + stenting of iliac veins] were
      performed carried out in a total of eleven patients with PTD. Of these, there
      were 7 men and 4 women aged from 34 to 52 years (mean age - 42.8+/-7 years). All
      patients had severe-degree chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). The distribution
      of patients according to the CEAP classification was as follows: C4a - 2
      patients, C4b - 4 patients, C5 - 4 subjects, C6 - 1 patient. The time having
      elapsed since a newly onset episode of acute iliac-femoral venous thrombosis
      varied from 2 to 12 years (averagely - 7.1+/-3.3 years). The degree of
      manifestation of PTD was determined by means of the Villalta-Pradoni scale before
      and 6 months after the operation. Instrumental methods of study included
      ultrasound duplex scanning (USDS), magnetic resonance and/or multispiral computed
      venography, and contrast-enhanced X-ray venography. The technical success of the
      procedure amounted to 91%. In one patient with occlusion of the common and
      external iliac veins we failed to perform recanalization and stenting. A further
      one patient developed in-stent and CFV thrombosis on the second postoperative
      day. An attempt of catheter thrombolysis turned out unsuccessful. There were no
      wound complications in the postoperative period. Neither was pulmonary artery
      thromboembolism registered. The dynamic control was carried out by means of USDS
      before discharge from hospital and at 1, 3 and 6 months after the intervention.
      The outcomes of hybrid operations after 6 months were followed up in five
      patients. Secondary patency rate of the stented iliac veins amounted to 100%. No
      relapses of trophic ulcers were observed. According to the Villalta-Prandoni
      scale the value of the median of the composite index decreased from 15 to 7
      (p=0.012). The first experience with hybrid operations for obstructive lesions of
      veins of the iliac-femoral segment demonstrated their high efficacy and safety.
      Efficiency of the operation was confirmed by significant clinical improvement and
      good results of patency of the restored-repaired segments of veins. 

PMID- 27626262
TI  - [Assessment of surgical risk in patients with lower limb chronic critical
      ischaemia].
AB  - Analysed herein are both immediate and remote results of surgical treatment of 93
      patients presenting with chronic atherosclerotic occlusion of the femoral
      popliteal-tibial segment in the stage of critical ischaemia. The patients were
      subjected to autovenous femoropopliteal bypass grafting to the isolated arterial
      segment or balloon angioplasty with stenting of the superficial femoral artery.
      While choosing the method of arterial reconstruction we assessed concomitant
      diseases, primarily lesions of the coronary and cerebral circulation. In order to
      objectively evaluate the patient state, we worked out a scale for assessing
      surgical risk. Survival rate without amputation after three years in patients
      with low risk amounted to 71.4%, in those with moderate risk to 60.0%, and in
      high-risk patients to 43.3%. Patients with initially high risk were found to have
      a high incidence rate of cardiac and cerebrovascular complications, exceeding
      40%. It was shown that the worked out system of assessing the level of surgical
      risk objectively reflects the prognosis of patient survival following a
      reconstructive operation. This system of assessment may be appropriate while
      choosing an optimal method of arterial reconstruction (bypassing operation or
      endovascular intervention) in patients with atherosclerotic lesions of arteries
      of the femoropopliteal-tibial segment and critical ischaemia accompanied by
      severe concomitant pathology. Patients with high surgical risk should preferably
      be subjected to endovascular reconstruction, while those with low surgical risk
      should better undergo open shunting bypassing operation, and for those with
      moderate risk it is acceptable to perform both methods of arterial
      reconstruction. 

PMID- 27626263
TI  - [Operation for a giant pseudoaneurysm of the aortic arch without artificial
      circulation].
AB  - Presented herein is a variant of surgical management of a patient with a giant
      false aneurysm of the aortic arch in the posterior mediastinum. Using the
      technique of temporary bypass or temporary "debranching" made it possible to
      carry out a reconstructive intervention without the use of an artificial
      circulation apparatus. This technique also decreases the necessity of using
      heparin, thus diminishing the risk of blood loss both during the operation and in
      the postoperative period. The described variant of the operation for a false
      aneurysm of the aortic arch extends and supplements the surgeon's capabilities of
      performing interventions on the aortic arch in the absence of a possibility of
      using an artificial circulation apparatus both in a scheduled and emergency
      situation. 

PMID- 27626264
TI  - [Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm in a patient with transplanted
      kidney].
AB  - Endovascular repair of the abdominal aorta is a method of choice in pronounced
      concomitant pathology and high risk of open surgical treatment. The article deals
      with a clinical case report of successful surgical management of a patient with
      an infrarenal aortic aneurysm, transplanted kidney, chronic renal insufficiency,
      secondary diabetes mellitus, multifocal atherosclerosis with predominant
      involvement of coronary arteries and lower-limb arteries, in whom open surgical
      treatment was associated with high risk. Endoprosthetic repair of the abdominal
      aortic aneurysm was performed with a good postoperative outcome. 

PMID- 27626265
TI  - [Clinical case report of a female patient with type IV takayasu arteritis].
AB  - Described in the article is a case report concerning a female patient presenting
      with aortic valve insufficiency, lesions of the pulmonary artery, aortic arch
      branches, visceral and renal arteries, aneurysm of the whole aorta on the
      background of nonspecific aortoarteritis (NAA). Lesions of the pulmonary artery,
      aorta and its branches were diagnosed by means of MSCT angiography, which is the
      most informative method of study in this cohort of patients, making it possible
      to accurately diagnose both the degree of the lesion and its extent, as well as
      to carry out dynamic follow up of patients. 

PMID- 27626266
TI  - [Alternative variants of formation of permanent vascular access for
      hemodialysis].
AB  - A native arteriovenous fistula is the most preferred type of a permanent vascular
      access (PVA) amongst the patients on programmed haemodialysis. Complications of
      vascular accesses leading to their lost with time would eventually and
      unavoidably result in exhaustion of the vascular recourses of the patient thus
      creating posing a problem while forming yet another PVA. Taking into
      consideration vitally important necessity of carrying out haemodialysis
      procedures for these patients, vascular surgeons have to search for alternative
      variants of access to the vascular bed. According to the KDOQI guidelines, in
      case of full loss of suitable vessels on upper limbs, formation of PVA may be
      possible in the area of the femur and in the upper third of the chest,
      predominantly with the use of a prosthesis as a shunt. Presented in the article
      are different variants of PVA whose creation was dictated by impossibility of
      using standard approaches to treatment of such patients. 

PMID- 27626267
TI  - [Late conversions following endoprosthetic repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms].
AB  - Presented herein is a review of the literature concerning late open conversions
      after endoprosthetic repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms, followed by analyzing
      the data on frequency and terms of performing late conversions, indications,
      options of surgical technique, lethality, and remote results. 

PMID- 27626268
TI  - [Antidotes to novel direct oral anticoagulants].
AB  - During the last 10 years, several novel direct oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have
      entered the clinical arena and were registered in the Russian Federation for use
      in patients presenting with atrial fibrillation, venous thrombosis, and pulmonary
      artery thromboembolism. NOACs are classified into two groups: direct thrombin
      inhibitor (notably dabigatran) and factor Xa inhibitors (including rivaroxaban,
      apixaban, and edoxaban). Their disadvantage is lack of specific antidotes in case
      of an emergency situation (injury, infarction, stroke requiring thrombolysis,
      urgent operation). The review contains the data on the existing therapeutic
      regimens of treating haemorrhage on the background of taking these coagulants.
      This is followed by analysing the present-day results of clinical trials aimed at
      working out pharmaceutical agents (andexanet alpha, idarucizumab, aripazine)
      being antidotes to direct thrombin inhibitor and the factor Xa inhibitors.
      Administration of these agents makes it possible to reverse coagulation and
      minimize the aftermaths of haemorrhage in patients taking these drugs, in
      emergency situations. 

PMID- 27626269
TI  - Novel cardioprotection strategies for the aged heart: evidence from pre-clinical
      studies.
AB  - The incidence of cardiovascular disease is rising as the population ages. This
      has led to an increase in the need to perform cardiac surgery in older patients.
      However, aged hearts are particularly susceptible to reperfusion injury following
      periods of myocardial ischaemia that occur during cardiac surgery. Indeed, older
      adults experience myocardial dysfunction and reduced survival post-surgery
      compared to younger people and certain groups, including older women and frail
      older adults, are at particular risk. This highlights the need to design
      cardioprotective strategies specifically for the ageing heart. Cardioprotection
      during surgery is often accomplished by perfusing the heart with chemical
      arresting agents, known as cardioplegic solutions. New protective strategies have
      been developed and tested in animal models, where cardioplegic solutions have
      been modified by changing their temperature, chemical components and/or the
      frequency of delivery. In addition, drugs designed to activate cardioprotective
      mechanisms or to inhibit mechanisms involved in injury have been added to improve
      the efficacy of these solutions. However, most experimental studies have
      developed and optimized cardioplegic solutions in hearts from younger male
      animals. This review discusses pre-clinical models used to optimize cardioplegic
      solutions, with an emphasis on the few studies that have used hearts from older
      animals. Pharmacologic agents that have been shown to enhance the benefits of
      cardioplegia in younger hearts and could, in theory, protect vulnerable older
      hearts are also considered. We emphasize the need to conduct studies in frail
      older animals of both sexes to facilitate translation of laboratory-based
      observations to the clinic.

PMID- 27626270
TI  - Malignancy characterization of hepatocellular carcinomas based on texture
      analysis of contrast-enhanced MR images.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the performance of texture analysis in characterizing
      malignancy of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) based on contrast-enhanced
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gd-DTPA contrast
      enhanced MRI data of 46 consecutive subjects with resected HCC were retrieved.
      The mean intensity and gray-level run-length nonuniformity (GLN) were quantified
      as the discriminative features based on the arterial phase images and compared
      between groups with different histological grading using independent Student's t
      test or Welch-Satterthwaite approximate t-test for data following a normal
      distribution and Mann-Whitney U-test for data violating the normal distribution.
      The performance of texture features in differentiating the biological
      aggressiveness of HCC was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      analysis. P < 0.05 was set as the significance level. RESULTS: Low-grade HCCs had
      increased mean intensity and decreased GLN in four directions, as compared with
      high-grade HCCs (P < 0.0005). A cutoff value of 739.37 for the average intensity
      resulted in an optimal sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 100% for
      histological grading discrimination. Cutoff values of 34.18, 66.59, 36.82, and
      80.31 for the GLN in four directions (0 degrees , 45 degrees , 90 degrees , 135
      degrees ) resulted in an optimal sensitivity of 92%, 84%, 68%, 76% and
      specificity 66.70%, 71.40%, 85.70%, 76.20%, respectively. The areas under the ROC
      curve for the average intensity and GLN in four directions were 0.918, 0.846,
      0.836, 0.827, and 0.838, respectively. CONCLUSION: Texture features indexed by
      mean and GLN based on the arterial phase images reflect biologic aggressiveness,
      and may have potential applications in predicting the histological grading of HCC
      preoperatively. Evidence level: 4 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;45:1476-1484.

PMID- 27626271
TI  - Potential of Environmental DNA to Evaluate Northern Pike (Esox lucius)
      Eradication Efforts: An Experimental Test and Case Study.
AB  - Determining the success of invasive species eradication efforts is challenging
      because populations at very low abundance are difficult to detect. Environmental
      DNA (eDNA) sampling has recently emerged as a powerful tool for detecting rare
      aquatic animals; however, detectable fragments of DNA can persist over time
      despite absence of the targeted taxa and can therefore complicate eDNA sampling
      after an eradication event. This complication is a large concern for fish
      eradication efforts in lakes since killed fish can sink to the bottom and slowly
      decay. DNA released from these carcasses may remain detectable for long periods.
      Here, we evaluated the efficacy of eDNA sampling to detect invasive Northern pike
      (Esox lucius) following piscicide eradication efforts in southcentral Alaskan
      lakes. We used field observations and experiments to test the sensitivity of our
      Northern pike eDNA assay and to evaluate the persistence of detectable DNA
      emitted from Northern pike carcasses. We then used eDNA sampling and traditional
      sampling (i.e., gillnets) to test for presence of Northern pike in four lakes
      subjected to a piscicide-treatment designed to eradicate this species. We found
      that our assay could detect an abundant, free-roaming population of Northern pike
      and could also detect low-densities of Northern pike held in cages. For these
      caged Northern pike, probability of detection decreased with distance from the
      cage. We then stocked three lakes with Northern pike carcasses and collected eDNA
      samples 7, 35 and 70 days post-stocking. We detected DNA at 7 and 35 days, but
      not at 70 days. Finally, we collected eDNA samples ~ 230 days after four lakes
      were subjected to piscicide-treatments and detected Northern pike DNA in 3 of 179
      samples, with a single detection at each of three lakes, though we did not catch
      any Northern pike in gillnets. Taken together, we found that eDNA can help to
      inform eradication efforts if used in conjunction with multiple lines of inquiry
      and sampling is delayed long enough to allow full degradation of DNA in the
      water. 

PMID- 27626273
TI  - Designing a Sustainable Noise Mapping System Based on Citizen Scientists
      Smartphone Sensor Data.
AB  - In this study, we attempted to assess the feasibility of collecting population
      health data via mobile devices. Specifically, we constructed noise maps based on
      sound information monitored by individuals' smartphones. We designed a
      sustainable way of creating noise maps that can overcome the shortcomings of
      existing station-based noise-monitoring systems. Three hundred and nine Seoul
      residents aged 20-49 years who used Android-based smartphones were recruited, and
      the subjects installed a special application that we developed for this study.
      This application collected information on sound and geographical location every
      10 min for 7 days. Using GIS, we were able to construct various types of noise
      maps of Seoul (e.g., daytime/nighttime and weekdays/weekends) using the
      information on sound and geographical location obtained via the users'
      smartphones. Despite the public health importance of noise management, a number
      of countries and cities lack a sustainable system to monitor noise. This pilot
      study showed the possibility of using the smartphones of citizen scientists as an
      economical and sustainable way of monitoring noise, particularly in an urban
      context in developing countries. 

PMID- 27626272
TI  - Presence of Vaccine-Derived Newcastle Disease Viruses in Wild Birds.
AB  - Our study demonstrates the repeated isolation of vaccine-derived Newcastle
      disease viruses from different species of wild birds across four continents from
      1997 through 2014. The data indicate that at least 17 species from ten avian
      orders occupying different habitats excrete vaccine-derived Newcastle disease
      viruses. The most frequently reported isolates were detected among individuals in
      the order Columbiformes (n = 23), followed in frequency by the order Anseriformes
      (n = 13). Samples were isolated from both free-ranging (n = 47) and wild birds
      kept in captivity (n = 7). The number of recovered vaccine-derived viruses
      corresponded with the most widely utilized vaccines, LaSota (n = 28) and Hitchner
      B1 (n = 19). Other detected vaccine-derived viruses resembled the PHY-LMV2 and V4
      vaccines, with five and two cases, respectively. These results and the ubiquitous
      and synanthropic nature of wild pigeons highlight their potential role as
      indicator species for the presence of Newcastle disease virus of low virulence in
      the environment. The reverse spillover of live agents from domestic animals to
      wildlife as a result of the expansion of livestock industries employing massive
      amounts of live virus vaccines represent an underappreciated and poorly studied
      effect of human activity on wildlife. 

PMID- 27626275
TI  - Ca2+ Entry, Oxidative Stress, Ceramide and Suicidal Erythrocyte Death Following
      Diosgenin Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The bioactive steroid sapogenin diosgenin is considered for a
      wide variety of applications including treatment of malignancy. The substance
      counteracts tumor growth in part by stimulating apoptosis of tumor cells. Similar
      to apoptosis of nucleated cells, erythrocytes may enter suicidal death or
      eryptosis, which is characterized by cell shrinkage and cell membrane scrambling
      with phosphatidylserine translocation to the erythrocyte surface. Signaling
      involved in the stimulation of eryptosis includes increase of cytosolic Ca2+
      activity ([Ca2+]i), oxidative stress and ceramide. The present study explored,
      whether diosgenin induces eryptosis and, if so, to decipher cellular mechanisms
      involved. METHODS: Flow cytometry was employed to estimate phosphatidylserine
      exposure at the cell surface from annexin-V-binding, cell volume from forward
      scatter, [Ca2+]i from Fluo3-fluorescence, ROS formation from DCF dependent
      fluorescence, and ceramide abundance utilizing specific antibodies. Hemolysis was
      quantified by determination of haemoglobin concentration in the supernatant.
      RESULTS: A 48 hours exposure of human erythrocytes to diosgenin significantly
      increased the percentage of annexin-V-binding cells (>= 5 uM), significantly
      decreased forward scatter (15 uM), significantly increased Fluo3-fluorescence (>=
      10 uM), significantly increased DCF fluorescence (15 uM), significantly increased
      ceramide abundance (15 uM) and significantly increased hemolysis (15 uM). The
      effect of diosgenin (15 uM) on annexin-V-binding was significantly blunted but
      not abolished by removal of extracellular Ca2+. CONCLUSIONS: Diosgenin stimulates
      eryptosis with erythrocyte shrinkage and phospholipid scrambling of the
      erythrocyte cell membrane, an effect paralleled by and at least in part due to
      Ca2+ entry, oxidative stress and ceramide.

PMID- 27626274
TI  - Distribution of Glycated Haemoglobin According to Early-Life and Contemporary
      Characteristics in Adolescents and Adults without Diabetes: The 1982 and 1993
      Pelotas Birth Cohorts.
AB  - AIM: Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), a marker of glucose control in individuals
      with diabetes mellitus, is also related with the incidence of cardiometabolic
      risk in populations free of disease. The aim of this study was to describe the
      distribution of HbA1c levels according to early-life and contemporary factors in
      adolescents and adults without diabetes mellitus. METHODS: HbA1c was measured in
      adults aged 30 years and adolescents aged 18 years who are participants in the
      1982 and 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohorts, respectively. Bivariate and multivariate
      analyses were performed to describe the HbA1c mean values according to early-life
      and contemporary characteristics collected prospectively since birth. RESULTS:
      The distribution of the HbA1c was approximately normal in both cohorts, with a
      mean (SD) 5.10% (0.43) in the 1982 cohort, and 4.89% (0.50) in the 1993 cohort.
      HbA1c mean levels were significantly higher in individuals self-reported as
      black/brown skin color compared to those self-reported as white in both cohorts.
      Parental history of diabetes was associated with higher HbA1c mean in adults,
      while stunting at one year old presented an inverse relation with the outcome in
      adolescents. No other early and contemporary factors were associated with HbA1c
      levels in adults or adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: We found a consistent relationship
      between HbA1c and skin color in both cohorts. Further research is needed to
      understand the role of genomic ancestry on levels of HbA1c concentrations which
      may inform policies and preventive actions for diabetes mellitus and
      cardiometabolic risk.

PMID- 27626277
TI  - Late Maternal Deaths and Deaths from Sequelae of Obstetric Causes in the Americas
      from 1999 to 2013: A Trend Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on maternal deaths occurring after the 42 days postpartum
      reference time is scarce; the objective of this analysis is to explore the trend
      and magnitude of late maternal deaths and deaths from sequelae of obstetric
      causes in the Americas between 1999 and 2013, and to recommend including these
      deaths in the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). METHODS:
      Exploratory data analysis enabled analyzing the magnitude and trend of late
      maternal deaths and deaths from sequelae of obstetric causes for seven countries
      of the Americas: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and the United
      States. A Poisson regression model was developed to compare trends of late
      maternal deaths and deaths from sequelae of obstetric causes between two periods
      of time: 1999 to 2005 and 2006 to 2013; and to estimate the relative increase of
      these deaths in the two periods of time. FINDINGS: The proportion of late
      maternal deaths and deaths from sequelae of obstetric causes ranged between 2.40%
      (CI 0.85% - 5.48%) and 18.68% (CI 17.06% - 20.47%) in the seven countries. The
      ratio of late maternal deaths and deaths from sequelae of obstetric causes per
      100,000 live births has increased by two times in the region of the Americas in
      the period 2006-2013 compared to the period 1999-2005. The regional relative
      increase of late maternal death was 2.46 (p<0.0001) times higher in the second
      period compared to the first. INTERPRETATION: Ascertainment of late maternal
      deaths and deaths from sequelae of obstetric causes has improved in the Americas
      since the early 2000's due to improvements in the quality of information and the
      obstetric transition. Late and obstetric sequelae maternal deaths should be
      included in the monitoring of the SDGs as well as in the revision of the
      International Classification of Diseases' 11th version (ICD-11).

PMID- 27626276
TI  - DegP Chaperone Suppresses Toxic Inner Membrane Translocation Intermediates.
AB  - The periplasm of Gram-negative bacteria includes a variety of molecular
      chaperones that shepherd the folding and targeting of secreted proteins. A
      central player of this quality control network is DegP, a protease also suggested
      to have a chaperone function. We serendipitously discovered that production of
      the Bordetella pertussis autotransporter virulence protein pertactin is lethal in
      Escherichia coli DeltadegP strains. We investigated specific contributions of
      DegP to secretion of pertactin as a model system to test the functions of DegP in
      vivo. The DegP chaperone activity was sufficient to restore growth during
      pertactin production. This chaperone dependency could be relieved by changing the
      pertactin signal sequence: an E. coli signal sequence leading to co-translational
      inner membrane (IM) translocation was sufficient to suppress lethality in the
      absence of DegP, whereas an E. coli post-translational signal sequence was
      sufficient to recapitulate the lethal phenotype. These results identify a novel
      connection between the DegP chaperone and the mechanism used to translocate a
      protein across the IM. Lethality coincided with loss of periplasmic proteins,
      soluble sigmaE, and proteins regulated by this essential stress response. These
      results suggest post-translational IM translocation can lead to the formation of
      toxic periplasmic folding intermediates, which DegP can suppress. 

PMID- 27626278
TI  - Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing of Plasma DNA from Cancer Patients: Factors
      Influencing Consistency with Tumour DNA and Prospective Investigation of Its
      Utility for Diagnosis.
AB  - Use of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) as a liquid biopsy has been proposed for
      potential identification and monitoring of solid tumours. We investigate a next
      generation sequencing approach for mutation detection in ctDNA in two related
      studies using a targeted panel. The first study was retrospective, using blood
      samples taken from melanoma patients at diverse timepoints before or after
      treatment, aiming to evaluate correlation between mutations identified in biopsy
      and ctDNA, and to acquire a first impression of influencing factors. We found
      good concordance between ctDNA and tumour mutations of melanoma patients when
      blood samples were collected within one year of biopsy or before treatment. In
      contrast, when ctDNA was sequenced after targeted treatment in melanoma,
      mutations were no longer found in 9 out of 10 patients, suggesting the method
      might be useful for detecting treatment response. Building on these findings, we
      focused the second study on ctDNA obtained before biopsy in lung patients, i.e.
      when a tentative diagnosis of lung cancer had been made, but no treatment had
      started. The main objective of this prospective study was to evaluate use of
      ctDNA in diagnosis, investigating the concordance of biopsy and ctDNA-derived
      mutation detection. Here we also found positive correlation between diagnostic
      lung biopsy results and pre-biopsy ctDNA sequencing, providing support for using
      ctDNA as a cost-effective, non-invasive solution when the tumour is inaccessible
      or when biopsy poses significant risk to the patient. 

PMID- 27626279
TI  - The Steady State Great Ape? Long Term Isotopic Records Reveal the Effects of
      Season, Social Rank and Reproductive Status on Bonobo Feeding Behavior.
AB  - Dietary ecology of extant great apes is known to respond to environmental
      conditions such as climate and food availability, but also to vary depending on
      social status and life history characteristics. Bonobos (Pan paniscus) live under
      comparatively steady ecological conditions in the evergreen rainforests of the
      Congo Basin. Bonobos are an ideal species for investigating influences of
      sociodemographic and physiological factors, such as female reproductive status,
      on diet. We investigate the long term dietary pattern in wild but fully
      habituated bonobos by stable isotope analysis in hair and integrating a variety
      of long-term sociodemographic information obtained through observations. We
      analyzed carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in 432 hair sections obtained from
      101 non-invasively collected hair samples. These samples represented the dietary
      behavior of 23 adult bonobos from 2008 through 2010. By including isotope and
      crude protein data from plants we could establish an isotope baseline and
      interpret the results of several general linear mixed models using the predictors
      climate, sex, social rank, reproductive state of females, adult age and age of
      infants. We found that low canopy foliage is a useful isotopic tracer for
      tropical rainforest settings, and consumption of terrestrial herbs best explains
      the temporal isotope patterns we found in carbon isotope values of bonobo hair.
      Only the diet of male bonobos was affected by social rank, with lower nitrogen
      isotope values in low-ranking young males. Female isotope values mainly differed
      between different stages of reproduction (cycling, pregnancy, lactation). These
      isotopic differences appear to be related to changes in dietary preference during
      pregnancy (high protein diet) and lactation (high energy diet), which allow to
      compensate for different nutritional needs during maternal investment. 

PMID- 27626280
TI  - Forced Trefoil Factor Family Peptide 3 (TFF3) Expression Reduces Growth,
      Viability, and Tumorigenicity of Human Retinoblastoma Cell Lines.
AB  - Trefoil factor family (TFF) peptides have been shown to effect cell
      proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of normal cells and various
      cancer cell lines. In the literature TFF peptides are controversially discussed
      as tumor suppressors and potential tumor progression factors. In the study
      presented, we investigated the effect of TFF3 overexpression on growth,
      viability, migration and tumorigenicity of the human retinoblastoma cell lines Y
      79, WERI-Rb1, RBL-13 and RBL-15. As revealed by WST-1 and TUNEL assays as well as
      DAPI and BrdU cell counts, recombinant human TFF3 significantly lowers
      retinoblastoma cell viability and increases apoptosis levels. Transient TFF3
      overexpression likewise significantly increases RB cell apoptosis. Stable,
      lentiviral TFF3 overexpression lowers retinoblastoma cell viability,
      proliferation and growth and significantly increases cell death in retinoblastoma
      cells. Blockage experiments using a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor and capase-3
      immunocytochemistry revealed the involvement of caspases in general and of
      caspase-3 in particular in TFF3 induced apoptosis in retinoblastoma cell lines.
      Soft agarose and in ovo chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assays revealed
      that TFF3 overexpression influences anchorage independent growth and
      significantly decreases the size of tumors forming from retinoblastoma cells. Our
      study demonstrates that forced TFF3 expression exerts a significant pro
      apoptotic, anti-proliferative, and tumor suppressive effect in retinoblastoma
      cells, setting a starting point for new additive chemotherapeutic approaches in
      the treatment of retinoblastoma. 

PMID- 27626281
TI  - Mouse Proepicardium Exhibits a Sprouting Response to Exogenous Proangiogenic
      Growth Factors in vitro.
AB  - Angiogenesis contributes to the generation of the vascular bed but also affects
      the progression of many diseases, such as tumor growth. Many details of the
      molecular pathways controlling angiogenesis are still undefined due to the lack
      of appropriate models. We propose the proepicardial explant as a suitable model
      for studying certain aspects of angiogenesis. The proepicardium (PE) is a
      transient embryonic structure that contains a population of undifferentiated
      endothelial cells (ECs) forming a vascular net continuous with the sinus venosus.
      In this paper, we show that PE explants give rise to CD31-positive vascular
      sprouts in the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and 2 isoforms
      of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), i.e. VEGF-A120 and VEGF-A164.
      Vascular sprouts exhibit differences in number, length, thickness and the number
      of branches, depending on the combination of growth factors used. Moreover, the
      ECs of the sprouts express various levels of mRNA for Notch1 and its ligand Dll4.
      Additionally, stimulation with bFGF/VEGF-A164 upregulates the expression of Lyve
      1 antigen in the ECs in the sprouts. In summary, we present a new model for
      angiogenesis studies involving mouse PE as a source of ECs. We believe that our
      model may act as a supplementary assay for angiogenesis studies along with the
      existing models.

PMID- 27626283
TI  - Corrigendum.
AB  - Shah RK, Boss EF, Brereton J, Roberson DW. Errors in otolaryngology revisited.
      Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2014;150:779-784. (Original doi:
      10.1177/0194599814521985).

PMID- 27626282
TI  - Regional Lung Sound Asynchrony in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regional lung sound distribution in chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD) is reported to be asynchronous. Mathematical analyses using
      vibration response imaging (VRI), such as left and right lung asynchrony (gap
      index; GI) and regional lung asynchrony (asynchrony score; AS), are useful
      measures to evaluate lung sound asynchrony. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was
      to investigate the association of lung sound asynchrony with pulmonary functions
      and emphysematous lesions in COPD patients. METHODS: VRI recordings and pulmonary
      function tests were performed in 46 stable male COPD patients and in 40 healthy
      male smokers. Lung sound asynchrony was evaluated using GI, AS of the left and
      right lung (AS L-R), and AS of the upper and lower lung (AS U-L). In 38 patients,
      computed tomography taken within 6 months was available and analyzed. RESULTS: AS
      L-R and AS U-L were significantly higher in COPD patients than in healthy
      smokers, with no significant difference in GI. There were no significant
      correlations with either AS and pulmonary functions, excluding a negative
      correlation between AS U-L and diffusion capacity. Although there were no
      significant correlations between both AS and severity of emphysema, significant
      positive correlations were observed between heterogeneity of emphysematous
      lesions and AS L-R (rho = 0.38, p < 0.05) or AS U-L (rho = 0.51, p < 0.005).
      CONCLUSIONS: Regional lung sounds are distributed more asynchronously in COPD
      patients than in healthy smokers, which correlates with the heterogeneous
      distribution of emphysematous lesions.

PMID- 27626284
TI  - Olanzapine Long-Acting Injections After Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome: Two Case
      Reports.

PMID- 27626285
TI  - Incidence of Antipsychotic-Associated Side Effects: Impact of Clinician Versus
      Patient Ratings and Change Versus Absolute Scores.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare (1) the detection rates of antipsychotic
      associated side effects between clinician and patient ratings and (2) differences
      as a function of change and absolute score definitions. METHODS: Data from phase
      1 of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (N = 1460)
      were analyzed. In this trial, 18 adverse events were systematically and
      concurrently assessed by clinicians and patients using a 4-point severity scale
      ranging from 0 (absent) to 3 (severe). The incidence of antipsychotic-associated
      side effects was calculated according to 2 definitions: change score (ie, higher
      score on the scale versus baseline) and absolute score (a score of 2 or 3 on the
      scale). In addition, patient and clinician concurrent detection rates were
      examined. RESULTS: The differences in incidence of antipsychotic-associated side
      effects between clinician and patient ratings were as small as 5.7% across the 2
      definitions. The incidence of all side effects across clinician and patient
      ratings was approximately 2 times higher when using the change versus absolute
      score definition. Among the side effects detected by patients, 11 side effects
      were identified more frequently by clinicians, with 14.3% to 30.2% differences
      when using the change versus absolute score definition. Conversely, there was no
      difference of 10% or greater in patient or clinician concurrent detection rate on
      any item when using the absolute versus change score definition. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that patient ratings are in line with clinician ratings and that
      the change score definition may be superior for the assessment of antipsychotic
      associated side effects in clinical studies.

PMID- 27626286
TI  - Antipsychotic Response Worsens With Postmenopausal Duration in Women With
      Schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The loss of estrogens in the menopause may lead to increased
      vulnerability for psychotic relapse, poor clinical outcome, and a need for
      increased antipsychotic dose. However, confounders such as cumulative estrogen
      exposure and time since menopause have been inadequately studied. Our aim was to
      investigate potential variables capable of influencing antipsychotic response in
      a sample of postmenopausal women with schizophrenia. METHODS: Sixty-four
      postmenopausal schizophrenic women were followed in a 12-week prospective
      treatment-by-clinical requirement study. Duration of reproductive years was
      considered an indirect measure of lifetime cumulative estrogens exposure.
      Psychopathological assessment included the following: Positive and Negative
      Syndrome Scale, Personal and Social Performance, and Clinical Global Impression
      Schizophrenia Scale. Response was defined as a reduction of 30% or more of
      Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total scores. Antipsychotic adherence was
      assessed by plasma level monitoring at 4 weeks. Regression analyses were
      performed to investigate the association between potential confounding factors
      and antipsychotic response. RESULTS: Forty-two participants (66%) were found to
      be antipsychotic responders. Time since menopause was significantly and
      negatively associated with overall antipsychotic response, explaining almost 42%
      of the variance of the model used. Smoking and cumulative estrogen exposures were
      associated with improvement in negative symptoms. Smoking and time since
      menopause were associated with improvement in excitement symptoms, and smoking
      was positively associated with improvement in depressive and cognitive symptoms.
      DISCUSSION: Time since menopause was significantly negatively associated with
      antipsychotic response in postmenopausal schizophrenic women, suggesting a
      decline in antipsychotic response after menopause. The neurobiological basis for
      antipsychotic response may include a role for estrogen and nicotine receptors.

PMID- 27626287
TI  - Ethylene Induced a High Accumulation of Dietary Isoflavones and Expression of
      Isoflavonoid Biosynthetic Genes in Soybean (Glycine max) Leaves.
AB  - Dietary isoflavones, daidzein and genistein are of huge interest in the
      nutraceutical field due to their practical application to postmenopause
      complications. This study is the first report an efficient method to prepare
      isoflavone rich soybean leaves (soyleaves) which is an edible food stuff in Asian
      countries. The preharvest treatment of ethylene highly stimulated the level of
      isoflavone in soyleaves. Annotation and quantification of metabolites were
      determined by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and HPLC. Phenolic metabolites of soyleaves are
      mostly kaempferol glycosides, but not dietary isoflavones. The accumulated
      isoflavones by ethylene treatment were determined to be daidzin 1, genistin 2,
      malonyldaidzin 3 and malonylgenistin 4, which were easily hydrolyzed to daidzein
      and genistein by beta-glucosidase. Total content of dietary isoflavones was
      increased up to 13854 MUg/g. The most suitable condition was estimated to be 250
      MUg/g ethylene or 200 MUg/g ethephon (ethylene donor) treatment at the R3 growth
      stage. The ratio of daidzein and genistein glycosides was approximately 5 to 3.
      The accumulated isoflavonoid biosynthesis pathway genes were identified within
      the transcriptome of soyleaves tissues at 1 day after treatment of ethephon. The
      quantitative RT-PCR analysis of these genes indicated significantly higher
      expression of CHS, CHI, IFS, HID, IF7GT, and IF7MaT compared to control leaves.
      These findings suggest that ethylene activates a set of structural genes involved
      in isoflavonoid biosynthesis, thereby leading to enhanced production of
      isoflavones in soybean plants.

PMID- 27626289
TI  - Electrochemistry at One Nanoparticle.
AB  - Electrochemistry at metal nanoparticles (NPs) is of significant current interest
      because of its applications in catalysis, energy conversion and storage, and
      sensors. The electrocatalytic activity of NPs depends strongly on their size,
      shape, and surface attachment. The use of a large number of particles in most
      reported kinetic experiments obscured the effects of these factors because of
      polydispersity and different NP orientations. Recent efforts to probe
      electrochemistry at single NPs included recording of the catalytically amplified
      current produced by random collisions of particles with the electrode surface,
      immobilizing an NP on the surface of a small electrode, and delivering individual
      NPs to electrode surfaces. Although the signals recorded in such experiments were
      produced by single NPs, the characterization issues and problems with separating
      an individual particle from other NPs present in the system made it difficult to
      obtain spatially and/or temporally resolved information about heterogeneous
      processes occurring at a specific NP. To carry out electrochemical experiments
      involving only one NP and characterize such an NP in situ, one needs
      nanoelectrochemical tools with the characteristic dimension smaller than or
      comparable to those of the particle of interest. This Account presents
      fundamentals of two complementary approaches to studying NP electrochemistry,
      i.e., probing single immobilized NPs with the tip of a scanning electrochemical
      microscope (SECM) and monitoring the collisions between one catalytic NP and a
      carbon nanopipette. The former technique can provide spatially resolved
      information about NP geometry and measure its electron transfer properties and
      catalytic activity under steady-state conditions. The emphasis here is on the
      extraction of quantitative physicochemical information from nanoelectrochemical
      data. By employing a polished disk-type nanoelectrode as an SECM tip, one can
      characterize a specific nanoparticle in situ and then use the same NP for kinetic
      experiments. A new mode of SECM operation based on tunneling between the tip and
      nanoparticle can be used to image the NP topography with a lateral resolution of
      ~1 nm. An alternative approach employs carbon nanoprobes produced by chemical
      vapor deposition of carbon into quartz nanopipettes. One metal NP is captured
      inside the carbon nanocavity to probe the dynamics of its interactions with the
      electrode surface on the microsecond time scale. The use of high-resolution
      transmission electron microscopy is essential for interpreting the results of
      single-NP collision experiments. A brief discussion of the nanoelectrochemical
      methodology, recent advances, and future directions is included.

PMID- 27626290
TI  - Polar Nature of (CH3NH3)3Bi2I9 Perovskite-Like Hybrids.
AB  - High-quality single crystals of perovskite-like (CH3NH3)3Bi2I9 hybrids have been
      synthesized, using a layered-solution crystal-growth technique. The large
      dielectric constant is strongly affected by the polar ordering of its
      constituents. Progressive dipolar ordering of the methylammonium cation upon
      cooling below 300 K gradually converts the hexagonal structure (space group
      P63/mmc) into a monoclinic phase (C2/c) at 160 K. A well-pronounced,
      ferrielectric phase transition at 143 K is governed by in-plane ordering of the
      bismuth lone pair that breaks inversion symmetry and results in a polar phase
      (space group P21). The dielectric constant is markedly higher in the C2/c phase
      above this transition. Here, the bismuth lone pair is disordered in-plane,
      allowing the polarizability to be substantially enhanced. Density functional
      theory calculations estimate a large ferroelectric polarization of 7.94 MUC/cm2
      along the polar axis in the P21 phase. The calculated polarization has almost
      equal contributions of the methylammonium and Bi3+ lone pair, which are fairly
      decoupled.

PMID- 27626288
TI  - Using an RNAi Signature Assay To Guide the Design of Three-Drug-Conjugated
      Nanoparticles with Validated Mechanisms, In Vivo Efficacy, and Low Toxicity.
AB  - Single-nanoparticle (NP) combination chemotherapeutics are quickly emerging as
      attractive alternatives to traditional chemotherapy due to their ability to
      increase drug solubility, reduce off-target toxicity, enhance blood circulation
      lifetime, and increase the amount of drug delivered to tumors. In the case of NP
      bound drugs, that is, NP-prodrugs, the current standard of practice is to assume
      that the subcellular mechanism of action for each drug released from the NP
      mirrors that of the unbound, free-drug. Here, we use an RNAi signature assay for
      the first time to examine the mechanism of action of multidrug-conjugated NP
      prodrugs relative to their small molecule prodrugs and native drug mechanisms of
      action. Additionally, the effective additive contribution of three different
      drugs in a single-NP platform is characterized. The results indicate that some
      platinum(IV) cisplatin prodrugs, although cytotoxic, may not have the expected
      mechanism of action for cisplatin. This insight was utilized to develop a novel
      platinum(IV) oxaliplatin prodrug and incorporate it into a three-drug-conjugated
      NP, where each drug's mechanism of action is preserved, to treat tumor-bearing
      mice with otherwise lethal levels of chemotherapy.

PMID- 27626291
TI  - Synthesis and Characterization of Site-Selective Orbitide-BSA Conjugate to
      Produce Antibodies.
AB  - Bioactive flax cyclic peptides (orbitides and linusorbs) were site-specifically
      ligated through methionine with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to produce immunogenic
      compounds. In this study, modified flaxseed immunosuppressant orbitides
      (linusorbs or LOs) containing hydroxyl (OH) groups were synthesized for use as
      haptens. These compounds were extensively characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic
      resonance (NMR), 13C NMR, high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The haptens were
      conjugated to BSA, and the extent of hapten incorporation was determined by
      matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization, liquid chromatography
      electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, and sodium dodecyl sulfate
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The BSA hapten complexes were used to elicit
      polyclonal antibody (pAbs) production in rabbits. A competitive indirect enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (CI-ELISA) was developed that used orbitide-specific
      pAbs and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugates. The LO assay detection limit
      was approximately 0.01 MUg/mL (ppm), and thus, ELISA can be used for the
      detection of LOs in tissue and plant samples. The pAbs can be used to detect and
      quantify LOs in flax and flaxseed samples, to verify the presence of LOs in
      flaxseed containing foods, and for the detection of LOs in tissue samples,
      wastes, and body fluids of animals fed flaxseed.

PMID- 27626293
TI  - Cryptosporidiosis Drug Discovery: Opportunities and Challenges.
AB  - The apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium is the second most important diarrheal
      pathogen causing life-threatening diarrhea in children, which is also associated
      with long-term growth faltering and cognitive deficiency. Cryptosporidiosis is a
      parasitic disease of public health concern caused by Cryptosporidium parvum and
      Cryptosporidium hominis. Currently, nitazoxanide is the only approved treatment
      for cryptosporidium infections. Unfortunately, it has limited efficacy in the
      most vulnerable patients, thus there is an urgent need for a safe and efficacious
      cryptosporidiosis drug. In this work, we present our current perspectives on the
      target product profile for novel cryptosporidiosis therapies and the perceived
      challenges and possible mitigation plans at different stages in the
      cryptosporidiosis drug discovery process.

PMID- 27626294
TI  - Carboxylate Surrogates Enhance the Antimycobacterial Activity of UDP
      Galactopyranose Mutase Probes.
AB  - Uridine diphosphate galactopyranose mutase (UGM also known as Glf) is a
      biosynthetic enzyme required for construction of the galactan, an essential
      mycobacterial cell envelope polysaccharide. Our group previously identified two
      distinct classes of UGM inhibitors; each possesses a carboxylate moiety that is
      crucial for potency yet likely detrimental for cell permeability. To enhance the
      antimycobacterial potency, we sought to replace the carboxylate with a functional
      group mimic-an N-acylsulfonamide group. We therefore synthesized a series of N
      acylsulfonamide analogs and tested their ability to inhibit UGM. For each
      inhibitor scaffold tested, the N-acylsulfonamide group functions as an effective
      carboxylate surrogate. Although the carboxylates and their surrogates show
      similar activity against UGM in a test tube, several N-acylsulfonamide
      derivatives more effectively block the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis. These
      data suggest that the replacement of a carboxylate with an N-acylsulfonamide
      group could serve as a general strategy to augment antimycobacterial activity.

PMID- 27626296
TI  - GM-3 Lactone Mimetic Interacts with CD4 and HIV-1 Env Proteins, Hampering HIV-1
      Infection without Inducing a Histopathological Alteration.
AB  - Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are involved in HIV-1 entry. GM-3 ganglioside, a
      widespread GSL, affects HIV entry and infection in different ways, depending on
      the concentration, through its anchoring activity in lipid rafts. This explains
      why the induction of an altered GSLs metabolism was a tempting approach to
      reducing HIV-1 cell infection. This study assayed the biological properties of a
      synthetic GM-3 lactone mimetic, 1, aimed at blocking HIV-1 infection without
      inducing the adverse events expected by an altered metabolism of GLSs in vivo.
      The mimetic, conjugated to immunogenic protein ovalbumin and multivalently
      presented, was able to bind the CD4 molecule with high affinity and block its
      engagement with gp120, thus inhibiting virus entry. Elicited antimimetic
      antibodies were also able to block HIV-1 infection in vitro, with activity
      complementary to that observed for 1. These preliminary results show that the use
      of GSLs mimetics can be a novel promising mode to block HIV-1 infection and that
      1 and other GSL mimetics deserve further attention.

PMID- 27626295
TI  - Prediction of Drug Penetration in Tuberculosis Lesions.
AB  - The penetration of antibiotics in necrotic tuberculosis lesions is heterogeneous
      and drug-specific, but the factors underlying such differential partitioning are
      unknown. We hypothesized that drug binding to macromolecules in necrotic foci (or
      caseum) prevents passive drug diffusion through avascular caseum, a critical site
      of infection. Using a caseum binding assay and MALDI mass spectrometry imaging of
      tuberculosis drugs, we showed that binding to caseum inversely correlates with
      passive diffusion into the necrotic core. We developed a high-throughput assay
      relying on rapid equilibrium dialysis and a caseum surrogate designed to mimic
      the composition of native caseum. A set of 279 compounds was profiled in this
      assay to generate a large data set and explore the physicochemical drivers of
      free diffusion into caseum. Principle component analysis and modeling of the data
      set delivered an in silico signature predictive of caseum binding, combining 69
      molecular descriptors. Among the major positive drivers of binding were high
      lipophilicity and poor solubility. Determinants of molecular shape such as the
      number of rings, particularly aromatic rings, number of sp(2) carbon counts, and
      volume-to-surface ratio negatively correlated with the free fraction, indicating
      that low-molecular-weight nonflat compounds are more likely to exhibit low caseum
      binding properties and diffuse effectively through caseum. To provide simple
      guidance in the property-based design of new compounds, a rule of thumb was
      derived whereby the sum of the hydrophobicity (clogP) and aromatic ring count is
      proportional to caseum binding. These tools can be used to ensure desirable
      lesion partitioning and guide the selection of optimal regimens against
      tuberculosis.

PMID- 27626297
TI  - Bacterial Nitric Oxide Synthase Is Required for the Staphylococcus aureus
      Response to Heme Stress.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that causes significant morbidity and
      mortality worldwide. Within the vertebrate host, S. aureus requires heme as a
      nutrient iron source and as a cofactor for multiple cellular processes. Although
      required for pathogenesis, excess heme is toxic. S. aureus employs a two
      component system, the heme sensor system (HssRS), to sense and protect against
      heme toxicity. Upon activation, HssRS induces the expression of the heme
      regulated transporter (HrtAB), an efflux pump that alleviates heme toxicity. The
      ability to sense and respond to heme is critical for the pathogenesis of numerous
      Gram-positive organisms, yet the mechanism of heme sensing remains unknown.
      Compound '3981 was identified in a high-throughput screen as an activator of
      staphylococcal HssRS that triggers HssRS independently of heme accumulation.
      '3981 is toxic to S. aureus; however, derivatives of '3981 were synthesized that
      lack toxicity while retaining HssRS activation, enabling the interrogation of the
      heme stress response without confounding toxic effects of the parent molecule.
      Using '3981 derivatives as probes of the heme stress response, numerous genes
      required for '3981-induced activation of HssRS were uncovered. Specifically,
      multiple genes involved in the production of nitric oxide were identified,
      including the gene encoding bacterial nitric oxide synthase (bNOS). bNOS protects
      S. aureus from oxidative stress imposed by heme. Taken together, this work
      identifies bNOS as crucial for the S. aureus heme stress response, providing
      evidence that nitric oxide synthesis and heme sensing are intertwined.

PMID- 27626299
TI  - Hydrolysis of Electrolyte Cations Enhances the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2
      over Ag and Cu.
AB  - Electrolyte cation size is known to influence the electrochemical reduction of
      CO2 over metals; however, a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon has not
      been developed. We report here that these effects can be attributed to a
      previously unrecognized consequence of cation hydrolysis occurring in the
      vicinity of the cathode. With increasing cation size, the pKa for cation
      hydrolysis decreases and is sufficiently low for hydrated K+, Rb+, and Cs+ to
      serve as buffering agents. Buffering lowers the pH near the cathode, leading to
      an increase in the local concentration of dissolved CO2. The consequences of
      these changes are an increase in cathode activity, a decrease in Faradaic
      efficiencies for H2 and CH4, and an increase in Faradaic efficiencies for CO,
      C2H4, and C2H5OH, in full agreement with experimental observations for CO2
      reduction over Ag and Cu.

PMID- 27626298
TI  - Developing a Multiplexed Quantitative Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry Platform
      for Comparative Structural Analysis of Protein Complexes.
AB  - Cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) represents a recently popularized hybrid
      methodology for defining protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and analyzing
      structures of large protein assemblies. In particular, XL-MS strategies have been
      demonstrated to be effective in elucidating molecular details of PPIs at the
      peptide resolution, providing a complementary set of structural data that can be
      utilized to refine existing complex structures or direct de novo modeling of
      unknown protein structures. To study structural and interaction dynamics of
      protein complexes, quantitative cross-linking mass spectrometry (QXL-MS)
      strategies based on isotope-labeled cross-linkers have been developed. Although
      successful, these approaches are mostly limited to pairwise comparisons. In order
      to establish a robust workflow enabling comparative analysis of multiple cross
      linked samples simultaneously, we have developed a multiplexed QXL-MS strategy,
      namely, QMIX (Quantitation of Multiplexed, Isobaric-labeled cross (X)-linked
      peptides) by integrating MS-cleavable cross-linkers with isobaric labeling
      reagents. This study has established a new analytical platform for quantitative
      analysis of cross-linked peptides, which can be directly applied for multiplexed
      comparisons of the conformational dynamics of protein complexes and PPIs at the
      proteome scale in future studies.

PMID- 27626300
TI  - Diels-Alder Reactions of alpha-Amido Acrylates with N-Cbz-1,2-dihydropyridine and
      Cyclopentadiene.
AB  - Thermal Diels-Alder reactions of alpha-amido acrylates with N-Cbz-1,2
      dihydropyridine and cyclopentadiene have been explored to investigate the factors
      influencing the endo/exo selectivity. For the dihydropyridine, steric factors
      allowed the diastereoselectivity to be modulated to favor either endo- or exo
      ester adducts. For cyclopentadiene, the endo-ester adducts were favored
      regardless of steric perturbation, although catalysis by bulky Lewis acids
      increased the proportion of exo-ester adducts in some cases. These Lewis acids
      were incompatible with the dihydropyridine diene as they induced its
      decomposition.

PMID- 27626301
TI  - High-Capacity and Photoregenerable Composite Material for Efficient Adsorption
      and Degradation of Phenanthrene in Water.
AB  - We report a novel composite material, referred to as activated charcoal supported
      titanate nanotubes (TNTs@AC), for highly efficient adsorption and
      photodegradation of a representative polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH),
      phenanthrene. TNTs@AC was prepared through a one-step hydrothermal method, and is
      composed of an activated charcoal core and a shell of carbon-coated titanate
      nanotubes. TNTs@AC offered a maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity of 12.1 mg/g
      for phenanthrene (a model PAH), which is ~11 times higher than the parent
      activated charcoal. Phenanthrene was rapidly concentrated onto TNTs@AC, and
      subsequently completely photodegraded under UV light within 2 h. The
      photoregenerated TNTs@AC can then be reused for another adsorption
      photodegradation cycle without significant capacity or activity loss. TNTs@AC
      performed well over a wide range of pH, ionic strength, and dissolved organic
      matter. Mechanistically, the enhanced adsorption capacity is attributed to the
      formation of carbon-coated ink-bottle pores of the titanate nanotubes, which are
      conducive to capillary condensation; in addition, the modified microcarbon
      facilitates transfer of excited electrons, thereby inhibiting recombination of
      the electron-hole pairs, resulting in high photocatalytic activity. The combined
      high adsorption capacity, photocatalytic activity, and regenerability/reusability
      merit TNTs@AC a very attractive material for concentrating and degrading a host
      of micropollutants in the environment.

PMID- 27626302
TI  - 1,2-cis-alpha-Stereoselective Glycosylation Utilizing a Glycosyl-Acceptor-Derived
      Borinic Ester and Its Application to the Total Synthesis of Natural
      Glycosphingolipids.
AB  - 1,2-cis-alpha-Stereoselective glycosylations were conducted using a 1,2
      anhydroglucose donor and mono-ol acceptors in the presence of a glycosyl-acceptor
      derived borinic ester. Reactions proceeded smoothly under mild conditions to
      provide the corresponding alpha-glycosides with high stereoselectivity in
      moderate to high yields. In addition, the present method was applied successfully
      to the direct glycosylation of a protected ceramide acceptor and the total
      synthesis of natural glycosphingolipids (GSLs).

PMID- 27626303
TI  - Partial Ion Exchange Derived 2D Cu-Zn-In-S Nanosheets as Sensitizers of 1D TiO2
      Nanorods for Boosting Solar Water Splitting.
AB  - A facile route for the fabrication of a novel ZnS shell/Cu-Zn-In-S
      nanosheets/TiO2 nanorods heterojunction was reported in this work. Especially,
      the quaternary Cu-Zn-In-S nanosheets were synthesized creatively from the ternary
      ZnIn2S4 nanosheets by partial exchange reaction, leading to substantial
      enhancement on the light absorbance. Such heterojunction could increase the
      surface area and accelerate the charge transfer resulting from its hierarchical
      2D/1D structure and favorable energy bands. Moreover, the ZnS coating acted as a
      passivation layer as well as a potential barrier, significantly suppressing the
      interface recombination. The above synergistic effects resulted in the largely
      increased photocurrent density from 0.34 mA cm-2 for the pristine TiO2 to 0.81 mA
      cm-2 for the heterojunction at 0.8 V vs RHE.

PMID- 27626304
TI  - Direct Proximity Tagging of Small Molecule Protein Targets Using an Engineered
      NEDD8 Ligase.
AB  - Identifying the protein targets of bioactive small molecules remains a major
      problem in the discovery of new chemical probes and therapeutics. While activity
      based probes and photo-cross-linkers have had success in identifying protein
      targets of small molecules, each technique has limitations. Here we describe a
      method for direct proximity tagging of proteins that bind small molecules. We
      engineered a promiscuous ligase based on the NEDD8 conjugating enzyme, Ubc12,
      which can be covalently linked to a small molecule of interest. When target
      proteins bind the small molecule, they are directly labeled on surface lysines
      with a biotinylated derivative of the small ubiquitin homologue, NEDD8. This
      unique covalent tag can then be used to identify the small molecule binding
      proteins. Utilizing the drug dasatinib, we have shown that dasatinib-directed
      NEDDylation occurs for known endogenous protein binders in complex cell lysates.
      In addition, we have been able to improve NEDDylation efficiency through rational
      mutagenesis. Finally, we have shown that affinity-directed NEDDylation can be
      applied to two other protein-ligand interactions beyond kinases. Proximity
      tagging using this engineered ligase requires direct binding of the target and,
      thus, provides a useful and orthogonal approach to facilitate small molecule
      target identification.

PMID- 27626305
TI  - Depression and diagnosis of neurocognitive impairment in HIV-positive patients.
AB  - Neurocognitive impairment (NCI) is frequently observed in patients infected with
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and results from the compromise of subcortical
      brain structures by the virus. The manifestations of NCI range from asymptomatic
      impairment to dementia. In addition to cognitive impairment resulting from HIV
      infection, other factors such as depression are associated with the loss of
      cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of NCI
      in HIV-positive patients in a city in southern Brazil and to establish possible
      associations for the prevalence of NCI with HIV-related and other risk factors.
      This cross-sectional study of HIV-positive outpatients was conducted in a
      specialized care service in the city of Pelotas in Southern Brazil.
      Sociodemographic data and HIV-related information were collected, and all
      patients underwent psychiatric and neurocognitive evaluations. The prevalence of
      NCI among the 392 patients was 54.1% when tracked using the IHDS (International
      HIV Dementia Scale) and 36.2% when the IHDS was associated with a battery of
      complementary tests. A bivariate analysis suggested an association of NCI with
      gender, age, educational level, depression, current CD4 count and lowest CD4
      count. The association of NCI with depression remained in the Poisson regression
      (PR=1.96, 95%CI=1.12-3.42). The prevalence of cognitive impairment in HIV
      positive patients estimated in this study is in accordance with international and
      Brazilian data. Of the factors analyzed, depression showed the greatest evidence
      of association with neurocognitive loss. Based on our findings, the inclusion of
      instruments to evaluate depression in our services for patients with HIV and
      acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is recommended. 

PMID- 27626306
TI  - Assessment of bevacizumab resistance increased by expression of BCAT1 in IDH1
      wild-type glioblastoma: application of DSC perfusion MR imaging.
AB  - BCAT1 (branched-chain amino acid trasaminase1) expression is necessary for the
      progression of IDH1 wild-type (WT) glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which is known
      to be associated with aggressive tumors. The purpose of our study is to
      investigate the bevacizumab resistance increased by the expression of BCAT1 in
      IDH1 WT GBM in a rat model, which was evaluated using DSC perfusion MRI. BCAT1
      sh#1 inhibits cell proliferation and limits cell migration potential in vitro. In
      vivo MRI showed that the increase in both tumor volume and nCBV after bevacizumab
      treatment in IDH1 WT tumors was significantly higher compared with BCAT1
      sh#1tumors. In a histological analysis, more micro-vessel reformation by
      bevacizumab resistance was observed in IDH1 WT tumors than BCAT1 sh#1 tumors.
      These findings indicate that BCAT1 expression in IDH1 WT GBM increases resistance
      to bevacizumab treatment, which could be assessed by DSC perfusion MRI, and that
      nCBV can be a surrogate imaging biomarker for the prediction of antiangiogenic
      treatment in GBM.

PMID- 27626307
TI  - A panel of 13-miRNA signature as a potential biomarker for predicting survival in
      pancreatic cancer.
AB  - Some reports have evaluated the prognostic relevance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in
      patients with pancreatic cancer (PC). However, most studies focused on limited
      miRNAs with small number of patients. The aim of the study is to identify a panel
      of miRNA signature that could predict prognosis in PC with the data from The
      Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A total of 167 PC patients with the corresponding
      clinical data were enrolled in our study. The miRNAs significantly associated
      with overall survival (OS) in PC patients were identified with Cox proportional
      regression model. A risk score formula was developed to evaluate the prognostic
      value of the miRNA signature in PC. Thirteen miRNAs were identified to be
      significantly related with OS in PC patients. Patients with high risk score
      suffered poor overall survival compared with patients who had low risk score. The
      multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that the miRNA signature could act as
      an independent prognostic indicator. In addition, the signature might serve as a
      predicator for treatment outcome. Our study identified a miRNA signature
      including 13 miRNAs which could serve as an independent marker in prognosis of
      PC.

PMID- 27626308
TI  - The pathophysiological significance of PPM1D and therapeutic targeting of PPM1D
      mediated signaling by GSK2830371 in mantle cell lymphoma.
AB  - PPM1D is a serine/threonine phosphatase that negatively regulates key DNA damage
      response proteins, such as p53, p38 MAPK, histone H2A.X, and ATM. We investigated
      the pathophysiological significance of PPM1D and its therapeutic targeting by the
      novel PPM1D inhibitor GSK2830371 in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Oncomine-based
      analyses indicated increased PPM1D mRNA levels in MCL cells compared with their
      normal counterpart cells. Higher PPM1D expression was associated with higher
      expression of the proliferation gene signature and poorer prognosis in patients.
      Eight MCL (three p53 wild-type and five mutant) cell lines were exposed to
      GSK2830371. GSK2830371 inhibited the cell growth, being prominent in p53 wild
      type cells. GSK2830371 induced apoptosis in sensitive cells, as evidenced by
      induction of phosphatidylserine externalization and loss of mitochondrial
      membrane potential. p53 knockdown de-sensitized cell sensitivity. GSK2830371
      increased the levels of total and Ser15-phosphorylated p53, and p53 targets p21
      and PUMA. GSK2830371 and the MDM2 inhibitor Nutlin-3a acted synergistically in
      p53 wild-type cells. Interestingly, GSK2830371 sensitized MCL cells to bortezomib
      and doxorubicin in p53 wild-type and mutant cells; p38 signaling appeared to be
      involved in the GSK2830371/bortezomib lethality. PPM1D inhibition may represent a
      novel therapeutic strategy for MCL, which can be exploited in combination
      therapeutic strategies for MCL.

PMID- 27626309
TI  - c-Abl inhibits breast cancer tumorigenesis through reactivation of p53-mediated
      p21 expression.
AB  - We previously reported that constitutive c-Abl activity (CST-Abl) abrogates the
      tumorigenicity of triple-negative breast cancer cells through the combined
      actions of two cellular events: downregulated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and
      upregulated p21Waf1/Cip1 expression. We now find decreased c-Abl expression to be
      significantly associated with diminished relapse-fee survival in breast cancer
      patients, particularly those exhibiting invasive and basal phenotypes. Moreover,
      CST-Abl expression enabled 4T1 cells to persist innocuously in the mammary glands
      of mice, doing so by exhausting their supply of cancer stem cells. Restoring MMP
      9 expression and activity in CST-Abl-expressing 4T1 cells failed to rescue their
      malignant phenotypes; however, rendering these same cells deficient in p21
      expression not only delayed their acquisition of senescent phenotypes, but also
      partially restored their tumorigenicity in mice. Although 4T1 cells lacked
      detectable expression of p53, those engineered to express CST-Abl exhibited
      robust production and secretion of TGF-beta1 that engendered the reactivated
      expression of p53. Mechanistically, TGF-beta-mediated p53 expression transpired
      through the combined actions of Smad1/5/8 and Smad2, leading to the dramatic
      upregulation of p21 and its stimulation of TNBC senescence. Collectively, we
      identified a novel c-Abl:p53:p21 signaling axis that functions as a powerful
      suppressor of mammary tumorigenesis and metastatic progression.

PMID- 27626311
TI  - Immunohistochemical correlates of TP53 somatic mutations in cancer.
AB  - Despite controversy on the correlation between p53 accumulation and TP53
      mutational status, immunohistochemical (IHC) detection of overexpressed protein
      has long been used as a surrogate method for mutation analysis. The aim of our
      study was to characterise the IHC expression features of TP53 somatic mutations
      and define their occurrence in human cancers. A large-scale database analysis was
      conducted in the IARC TP53 Database (R17); 7878 mutations with IHC features were
      retrieved representing 60 distinct tumour sites. The majority of the alterations
      were immunopositive (p <0.001). Sex was known for 4897 mutations showing a female
      dominance (57.2%) and females carrying negative mutations were significantly
      younger. TP53 mutations were divided into three IHC groups according to mutation
      frequency and IHC positivity. Each group had female dominance. Among the IHC
      groups, significant correlations were observed with age at diagnosis in breast,
      bladder, liver, haematopoietic system and head & neck cancers. An increased
      likelihood of false negative IHC associated with rare nonsense mutations was
      observed in certain tumour sites. Our study demonstrates that p53
      immunopositivity largely correlates with TP53 mutational status but expression is
      absent in certain mutation types.Besides, describing the complex IHC expression
      of TP53 somatic mutations, our results reveal some caveats for the diagnostic
      practice.

PMID- 27626310
TI  - ISG15 in the tumorigenesis and treatment of cancer: An emerging role in
      malignancies of the digestive system.
AB  - The interferon-stimulated gene 15 ubiquitin-like modifier (ISG15) encodes an IFN
      inducible, ubiquitin-like protein. The ISG15 protein forms conjugates with
      numerous cellular proteins that are involved in a multitude of cellular
      functions, including interferon-induced immune responses and the regulation of
      cellular protein turnover. The expression of ISG15 and ISG15-mediated conjugation
      has been implicated in a wide range of human tumors and cancer cell lines, but
      the roles of ISG15 in tumorigenesis and responses to anticancer treatments remain
      largely unknown. In this review, we discuss the findings of recent studies with
      regard to the role of ISG15 pathways in cancers of the digestive system.

PMID- 27626312
TI  - Oncogenic function and clinical implications of SLC3A2-NRG1 fusion in invasive
      mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung.
AB  - The neuregulin 1 (NRG1) fusion is a recently identified novel driver oncogene in
      invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung (IMA). After identification of a
      case of SLC3A2-NRG1 in a patient with IMA, we verified this fusion gene in a
      cohort of 59 patients with IMA. Targeted cancer panel sequencing and RT-PCR
      identified the possible coexistence of other driver oncogenes. Among 59 IMAs, we
      found 16 NRG1 fusions (13 SLC3A2-NRG1 and 3 CD74-NRG1). Of 16 patients with NRG1
      fusions, concurrent KRAS codon 12 mutations were found in 10 cases. We also found
      concurrent NRAS Q61L mutation and EML4-ALK fusion in additional two cases with
      NRG1 fusions. When comparing overall survival (OS) according to the presence of
      NRG1 fusions showed that patients harboring NRG1 fusions had significantly
      inferior OS than those without NRG1 fusions (hazard ratio = 0.286; 95% confidence
      interval, .094 to .865). Ectopic expression of the SLC3A2-NRG1 fusion in lung
      cancer cells increased cell migration, proliferation and tumor growth in vitro
      and in xenograft models, suggesting oncogenic function for the fusion protein. We
      found that the SLC3A2-NRG1 fusion promoted ERBB2-ERBB3 phosphorylation and
      heteroduplex formation and activated the downstream PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway through
      paracrine signaling. These findings suggested that the SLC3A2-NRG1 fusion was a
      driver in IMA with an important prognostic impact. SLC3A2-NRG1 should be
      considered a therapeutic target for patients with IMA.

PMID- 27626313
TI  - Clinical outcome of intensity modulated radiotherapy for carcinoma showing thymus
      like differentiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of adjuvant intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT) after surgery for carcinoma showing thymus-like
      differentiation (CASTLE). METHODS: Between September 2008 and June 2015, 14
      CASTLE patients were retrospectively enrolled. The clinical features, treatment
      procedure and clinical outcomes were reviewed. All patients received
      postoperative IMRT. The radiation doses ranged from 56Gy/28 fractions to 66Gy/33
      fractions. Treatment-related toxicities were graded by National Cancer Institute
      Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI-CTC) version 3.0. RESULTS: After a median follow-up
      period of 42 months, only one patient suffered local recurrence and distant
      metastasis. The most frequently seen acute toxicities were mucositis and
      dermatitis (grade 1-2). No grade 3-4 toxicities were observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although based upon a small series of consecutively treated patients, our study
      showed that adjuvant IMRT provides satisfactory local-regional control for
      CASTLE, with acceptable toxicities. Further studies are still warranted to
      clarify our findings.

PMID- 27626314
TI  - The ubiquitin ligase TRIM25 targets ERG for degradation in prostate cancer.
AB  - Ets related gene (ERG) is a transcription factor that is overexpressed in 40% of
      prostate tumors due to a gene fusion between ERG and TMPRSS2. Because ERG
      functions as a driver of prostate carcinogenesis, understanding the mechanisms
      that influence its turnover may provide new molecular handles to target the
      protein. Previously, we found that ERG undergoes ubiquitination and then is
      deubiquitinated by USP9X in prostate cancer cells to prevent its proteasomal
      degradation. Here, we identify Tripartite motif-containing protein 25 (TRIM25) as
      the E3 ubiquitin ligase that ubiquitinates the protein prior to its degradation.
      TRIM25 binds full-length ERG, and it also binds the N-terminally truncated
      variants of ERG that are expressed in tumors with TMPRSS2-ERG fusions. We
      demonstrate that TRIM25 polyubiquitinates ERG in vitro and that inactivation of
      TRIM25 resulted in reduced polyubiquitination and stabilization of ERG. TRIM25
      mRNA and protein expression was increased in ERG rearrangement-positive prostate
      cancer specimens, and we provide evidence that ERG upregulates TRIM25 expression.
      Thus, overexpression of ERG in prostate cancer may cause an increase in TRIM25
      activity, which is mitigated by the expression of the deubiquitinase USP9X, which
      is required to stabilize ERG.

PMID- 27626315
TI  - Fyn phosphorylates AMPK to inhibit AMPK activity and AMP-dependent activation of
      autophagy.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that proto-oncogene Fyn decreased energy expenditure
      and increased metabolic phenotypes. Also Fyn decreased autophagy-mediated muscle
      mass by directly inhibiting LKB1 and stimulating STAT3 activities, respectively.
      AMPK, a downstream target of LKB1, was recently identified as a key molecule
      controlling autophagy. Here we identified that Fyn phosphorylates the alpha
      subunit of AMPK on Y436 and inhibits AMPK enzymatic activity without altering the
      assembly state of the AMPK heterotrimeric complex. As pro-inflammatory mediators
      are reported modulators of the autophagy processes, treatment with the pro
      inflammatory cytokine TNFalpha resulted in 1) increased Fyn activity 2)
      stimulated Fyn-dependent AMPKalpha tyrosine phosphorylation and 3) decreased
      AICAR-dependent AMPK activation. Importantly, TNFalpha induced inhibition of
      autophagy was not observed when AMPKalpha was mutated on Y436. 4) These data
      demonstrate that Fyn plays an important role in relaying the effects of TNFalpha
      on autophagy and apoptosis via phosphorylation and inhibition of AMPK.

PMID- 27626316
TI  - Heme oxygenase-1 deficiency exacerbates angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysm in
      mice.
AB  - Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a chronic but often fatal disease in elderly
      population. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a stress response protein with
      antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. HO-1 has been shown to protect
      against atherogenesis and arterial intimal thickening. Emerging evidences suggest
      that AAA and arterial occlusive disease have distinct pathogenic mechanisms.
      Thus, in this study we investigated the role of HO-1 in angiotensin II-induced
      AAA formation in HO-1+/+apoE-/- and HO-1-/-apoE-/- mice. We found that complete
      loss of HO-1 increased AAA incidence and rupture rate, and drastically increased
      aneurysmal area and severity, accompanied with severe elastin degradation and
      medial degeneration. Interestingly, we often observed not only AAA but also
      thoracic aortic aneurysm in HO-1-/-apoE-/- mice. Furthermore, reactive oxygen
      species levels, vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) loss, macrophage infiltration,
      matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity were markedly enhanced in the aneurysmal
      aortic wall in HO-1-/-apoE-/- mice. In addition, HO-1-/-apoE-/- VSMCs were more
      susceptible to oxidant-induced cell death and macrophages from HO-1-/-apoE-/-
      mice had aggravated responses to angiotensin II with substantial increases in
      inflammatory cytokine productions and MMP9 activity. Taken together, our results
      demonstrate the essential roles of HO-1 in suppressing the pathogenesis of AAA.
      Targeting HO-1 might be a promising therapeutic strategy for AAA.

PMID- 27626318
TI  - Esophageal stenting for benign and malignant disease: European Society of
      Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline.
AB  - This Guideline is an official statement of the European Society of
      Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), endorsed by the European Society for
      Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Society of Digestive Endoscopy
      (ESDO), and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN).
      The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE)
      system was adopted to define the strength of recommendations and the quality of
      evidence. Main recommendations for malignant disease 1 ESGE recommends placement
      of partially or fully covered self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) for palliative
      treatment of malignant dysphagia over laser therapy, photodynamic therapy, and
      esophageal bypass (strong recommendation, high quality evidence). 2 For patients
      with longer life expectancy, ESGE recommends brachytherapy as a valid alternative
      or in addition to stenting in esophageal cancer patients with malignant
      dysphagia. Brachytherapy may provide a survival advantage and possibly a better
      quality of life compared to SEMS placement alone. (Strong recommendation, high
      quality evidence.) 3 ESGE recommends esophageal SEMS placement as the preferred
      treatment for sealing malignant tracheoesophageal or bronchoesophageal fistula
      (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 4 ESGE does not recommend the use
      of concurrent external radiotherapy and esophageal stent treatment. SEMS
      placement is also not recommended as a bridge to surgery or prior to preoperative
      chemoradiotherapy. It is associated with a high incidence of adverse events and
      alternative satisfactory options such as placement of a feeding tube are
      available. (Strong recommendation, low quality evidence.) Main recommendations
      for benign disease 1 ESGE recommends against the use of self-expandable stents
      (SEMSs) as first-line therapy for the management of benign esophageal strictures
      because of the potential for adverse events, the availability of alternative
      therapies, and costs (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 2 ESGE
      suggests consideration of temporary placement of SEMSs as therapy for refractory
      benign esophageal strictures (weak recommendation, moderate evidence). Stents
      should usually be removed at a maximum of 3 months (strong recommendation, weak
      quality evidence). 3 ESGE suggests that fully covered SEMSs be preferred over
      partially covered SEMSs for the treatment of refractory benign esophageal
      strictures, because of their lack of embedment and ease of removability (weak
      recommendation, low quality evidence). 4 For the removal of partially covered
      esophageal SEMSs that are embedded, ESGE recommends the stent-in-stent technique
      (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 5 ESGE recommends that temporary
      stent placement can be considered for treating esophageal leaks, fistulas, and
      perforations. The optimal stenting duration remains unclear and should be
      individualized. (Strong recommendation, low quality evidence.) 6 ESGE recommends
      placement of a SEMS for the treatment of esophageal variceal bleeding refractory
      to medical, endoscopic, and/or radiological therapy, or as initial therapy for
      patients with massive esophageal variceal bleeding (strong recommendation,
      moderate quality evidence). 

PMID- 27626319
TI  - Successful application of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy to
      establish pancreatic patient-derived tumor xenografts: a pilot study.
AB  - Background and study aim: Typically, pancreatic patient-derived tumor xenografts
      (PDXs) are established by transplanting large tumor biopsies obtained through
      invasive surgery approaches into immunocompromised mice. We aimed to develop
      pancreatic PDXs by transplanting tumor tissue acquired by endoscopic ultrasound
      (EUS)-guided fine needle biopsies (FNB), assess take rates compared to surgery
      derived PDXs, and demonstrate the histological and genetic resemblance to the
      original tumor. Patients and methods: Biopsies of untreated pancreatic carcinoma
      were collected at surgery and during EUS and processed to generate PDXs. Results:
      By centrifugation of FNB-derived tissue prior to engraftment, we achieved an
      engraftment rate of 60 % (6/10). Despite a decrease in stromal tissue, the
      general morphology of FNB-derived PDXs was conserved as assessed by
      histopathology. At the genetic level, somatic mutation and copy number profiles
      were largely similar to the primary tumor. Conclusion: We show that it is
      technically feasible to establish pancreatic PDXs using a minimally invasive
      sampling technique, such as EUS-FNB. Although only a limited amount of tumor
      tissue was acquired, we obtained results similar to those from surgery-derived
      PDXs.

PMID- 27626317
TI  - Risk factors of brain metastasis during the course of EGFR-TKIs therapy for
      patients with EGFR-mutated advanced lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Controversial value of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in NSCLC in terms
      of survival benefit prompted us to explore the possible risk factors for brain
      metastasis (BM) during the course of EGFR-TKIs therapy from EGFR-mutated advanced
      lung adenocarcinoma and identify the potential population most likely to benefit
      from PCI, because BM remains a therapeutically challenging issue. We
      retrospectively reviewed the records of 134 patients with EGFR-mutated advanced
      lung adenocarcinoma between 2008 and 2012. The cumulative incidence of BM was
      calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and Multivariate Cox regression analysis
      was used to assess the independent risk factors for BM. Thirty-four patients
      (34/134, 25.4%) developed BM during the course of EGFR-TKIs therapy. Moreover,
      the Multivariate analysis indicated that age <= 53 years (HR: 2.751, 95 % CI:
      1.326-5.707; p = 0.007), serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) >= 23 ng/mL (HR:
      3.197, 95 % CI: 1.512-6.758; p = 0.002) and EGFR exon 21 point mutations (HR:
      2.769, 95 % CI: 1.355-5.659; p= 0.005) were the independent high-risk factors for
      developing BM, which could offer important insights into the individualized
      treatment. Further studies are warranted to validate our findings.

PMID- 27626320
TI  - Acceptance of the 2016 Eminent Parasitologist Award: Chemotherapy in the Context
      of Emerging Parasitic Diseases.
AB  - It seems inevitable that chemotherapy will continue, at least in the near-term,
      to be a significant factor in the control of infectious diseases. The
      effectiveness of new drugs has invariably been reduced by the emergence of drug
      resistance. Efforts to thwart resistance should continue, but there are also
      other areas that might profitably be re-examined. They include (1) methods of new
      drug discovery; (2) selection of parasite life-cycle targets; (3) epidemiological
      determinants of effectiveness in large-scale control programs; and (4) the
      economic, managerial, psychological, and political ramifications of drug
      discovery and drug utilization.

PMID- 27626321
TI  - Imaging biomarkers in the clinic.
AB  - Multimodality medical imaging offers a key role in disease diagnosis, while
      providing accurate staging and defining disease extent in many instances. Recent
      developments are increasingly leading to quantitative assessment of medical
      images, allowing both definition of disease extent, giving insight into the
      phenotypes of diseases and offering capabilities of monitoring response to
      therapy. Combined with other tools, such as genetic profiling, this is a powerful
      way of improving diagnosis and treatment of patients, enabling a personalized
      approach to delivering healthcare. It is highly likely that software tools will
      become integrated into the routine workflow of radiology reports. This special
      report describes some of the crucial areas where applications are being
      introduced and speculate on the potential impact on radiologists and clinicians.

PMID- 27626322
TI  - Regulation of RANKL-Induced Osteoclastogenesis by 635-nm Light-Emitting Diode
      Irradiation Via HSP27 in Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the effect of 635-nm
      irradiation from a light-emitting diode (LED) on osteoclastogenesis in receptor
      activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kappaB) ligand (RANKL)-stimulated mouse
      bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs). We determined whether 635-nm irradiation
      modulated the RANKL-induced osteoclastic signaling pathway in heat shock protein
      27 (HSP27)-silenced cells and analyzed the functional cross talk between these
      factors in osteoclastic differentiation and activation. BACKGROUND: HSP27, a
      member of the small HSP family, regulates oxidative stress. Clinical reports
      suggest that low-level laser therapy or LED therapy (LEDT) could be an effective
      alternative treatment for osteolytic bone disease. METHODS: In control or HSP27
      siRNA-treated BMMs, the effects of LED irradiation with 635 nm and 5 mW/cm2 on
      RANKL-induced osteoclastic differentiation and activity were assessed by
      measuring tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and resorption pit
      formation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot
      assays were carried out to assess the mRNA expression of osteoclastogenesis
      related genes and phosphorylation of c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular
      signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), AKT, and p38, respectively. Intracellular
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured using the 2',7'
      dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA) detection method. RESULTS: The
      635-nm irradiation treatment significantly increased HSP27 expression and
      decreased intracellular ROS generation, as well as p38 and AKT phosphorylation,
      leading to reductions in the expression of c-fos, NFATc1, and DC-STAMP and TRAP
      activation and osteoclastic bone resorption in RANKL-induced BMMs. However, in
      HSP27-silenced BMMs, no change was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, 635-nm
      irradiation modulates RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis via HSP27 in BMMs. Thus,
      HSP27 may play a role in regulating the osteoclastic response to LEDT.

PMID- 27626323
TI  - Minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve implantation for the treatment of
      rheumatic heart disease in developing countries.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The treatment of rheumatic heart disease presents a medical and
      surgical challenge, particularly in developing countries, where the disease is
      prevalent. Most of these countries find it prohibitively expensive to import
      heart valve prostheses that are required for treatment and are largely
      manufactured in the United States and Europe. Even if the valves were available,
      the absence of facilities to conduct open-heart surgery for valve replacement
      results in many people from developing countries dying needlessly of the disease.
      To address this problem, transcatheter aortic valve implantation, an emerging,
      minimally invasive, treatment strategy for rheumatic heart disease, has been
      proposed. Areas covered: This paper reviews the literature on current valve
      technologies in use globally, and focuses on a minimally invasive transcatheter
      aortic valve implantation device and aortic valve prosthesis that have been
      developed by Strait Access Technologies Holdings in South Africa. Expert
      commentary: This new technology holds the potential of making available heart
      valve replacements to millions of patients in the developing world who would
      otherwise have no recourse to treatment.

PMID- 27626324
TI  - The influence of respiratory motion on dose delivery in a mouse lung tumour
      irradiation using the 4D MOBY phantom.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: During precision irradiation of a preclinical lung tumour model, the
      tumour is subject to breathing motion and it can partially move out of the
      irradiation field. This work aimed to perform a quantitative analysis of the
      impact of respiratory motion on a mouse lung tumour irradiation with small
      fields. METHODS: A four-dimensional digital mouse whole body phantom (MOBY) with
      a virtual 4-mm spherical lung tumour at different locations in both lungs is used
      to simulate a breathing anaesthetized mouse in different breathing phases
      representing a full breathing cycle. The breathing curve is determined by
      fluoroscopic imaging of an anaesthetized mouse. Each MOBY time frame is loaded in
      a dedicated treatment planning system (small animal radiotherapy-Plan) and is
      irradiated by a full arc with a 5-mm circular collimator. Mean and time-dependent
      organ doses are calculated for the tumour, heart and spinal cord. RESULTS:
      Depending on the location of the lung tumour, an overestimation of the mean
      tumour dose up to 11% is found. The mean heart dose could be both overestimated
      or underestimated because the heart moves in or out of the irradiation field
      depending on the beam target location. The respiratory motion does not affect the
      mean spinal cord dose. A dose gradient is visible in the time-dependent tumour
      dose distribution. CONCLUSION: In the future, new methods need to be developed to
      track the lung tumour motion before preclinical irradiation to adjust the
      irradiation plan. Margins, collimator diameter and target dose could be changed
      easily, but they all have their drawbacks. State-of-the-art clinical techniques
      such as respiratory gating or motion tracking may offer a solution for the cold
      spots in the time-dependent tumour dose. Advances in knowledge: A suitable method
      is found to quantify changes in organ dose due to respiratory motion in mouse
      lung tumour image-guided precision irradiation.

PMID- 27626326
TI  - Overcoming Helplessness, Overcoming Fear, Overcoming Inaction in the Face of
      Need.

PMID- 27626325
TI  - Chronic Hypobaric Hypoxia Induces Right Ventricular Hypertrophy and Apoptosis in
      Rats: Therapeutic Potential of Nanocurcumin in Improving Adaptation.
AB  - Nehra, Sarita, Varun Bhardwaj, Santosh Kar, and Deepika Saraswat. Chronic
      hypobaric hypoxia induces right ventricular hypertrophy and apoptosis in rats:
      therapeutic potential of nanocurcumin in improving adaptation. High Alt Med Biol.
      17:342-352, 2016.-a sustained work load on the right heart on ascent to high
      altitudes promotes right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH), which eventually
      undergoes decompensation and promotes pathological damage. However, the exact set
      of events leading to damage remains unidentified. Curcumin is a natural
      antioxidant and antihypertrophic agent, but it has poor biostability. Nanotized
      curcumin (nanocurcumin) has emerged as a promising agent with improved
      biostability while retaining the therapeutic properties of curcumin. The present
      study aimed at analyzing the therapeutic properties of nanocurcumin in
      ameliorating cardiac damage due to chronic hypobaric hypoxia (HH)-induced RVH in
      comparison to curcumin. Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to HH (25,000 feet, effective
      oxygen fraction in air [FIO2] ~0.08, temperature 28 degrees C +/- 1 degrees C,
      relative humidity 55% +/- 2% for 3, 7, 14, and 21 days) developed RVH with
      increased interstitial collagen content, Fulton's index, and cardiomyocyte cross
      sectional area while upregulating atrial natriuretic peptide. Tissue damage due
      to apoptotic cell death was evident by cytochrome-c/caspase-3 activation and
      TUNEL assay. Concomitant modulation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)/cGK
      1, calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMkinase II), and intracellular
      calcium levels with increased free radical-induced damage and lipid peroxidation
      further contributed to the right heart pathology. Nanocurcumin supplementation
      decreased HH-induced RVH and apoptosis while modulating cardiac cGMP/cGK-1
      signaling, and maintaining CaMkinase II, intracellular calcium levels and redox
      status better than curcumin. Nanocurcumin-mediated antiapoptotic effects might
      have benefited residents and sojourners at high altitude in preventing hypoxic
      cardiac damage.

PMID- 27626327
TI  - AJPH Global News.

PMID- 27626332
TI  - Efforts to Consume Less Salt: A Public Health Success in the Making.

PMID- 27626331
TI  - Birth Outcomes Soon After 9/11.

PMID- 27626333
TI  - Dental Benefits: "Because Medicaid Has, How Do You Call It? A Limit".

PMID- 27626334
TI  - The Rush to Drill for Natural Gas: A Five-Year Update.

PMID- 27626335
TI  - A Public Health of Consequence: Review of the October 2016 Issue of AJPH.

PMID- 27626336
TI  - Unveiling the Black Panther Party Legacy to Public Health.

PMID- 27626337
TI  - The Longue Duree of Black Lives Matter.
AB  - Black Lives Matter was first articulated just a few years ago, but it has been
      the leitmotif of antiracist struggles for generations. The Movement for Black
      Lives extends the work of previous movements that challenged forms of oppression
      that act on Black bodies with impunity. It should be understood in the context of
      Ida B. Wells' anti-lynching campaign, Fannie Lou Hamer's reproductive justice
      demands, and the Black Panther Party's health activism. The 50th anniversary of
      the Black Panther Party is an occasion to recall that its work confronted the
      callous neglect and the corporeal surveillance and abuse of poor Black
      communities. Similar demands have been the centrifugal force of social movements
      that for centuries have refused to have Black lives cast beyond the human
      boundary. 

PMID- 27626338
TI  - The First Community Health Center in Mississippi: Communities Empowering
      Themselves.

PMID- 27626339
TI  - Beyond Berets: The Black Panthers as Health Activists.

PMID- 27626340
TI  - "Genuine Struggle and Care": An Interview With Cleo Silvers.

PMID- 27626341
TI  - Reclaiming the White Coat for Black Lives.

PMID- 27626342
TI  - White Coats for Black Lives: Young Voices Within Medicine.

PMID- 27626343
TI  - Quentin Young on the Black Panther Party Free Clinic in Chicago.

PMID- 27626344
TI  - Health as a Cornerstone of Good Business and Sustainable Development.

PMID- 27626345
TI  - Monforton Responds.

PMID- 27626346
TI  - Feeling No Buzz or a Slight Buzz Is Common When Legally Drunk.

PMID- 27626347
TI  - Toward a National Climate Change Health Coalition.

PMID- 27626348
TI  - Black Lives Matter: Claiming a Space for Evidence-Based Outrage in Obstetrics and
      Gynecology.

PMID- 27626349
TI  - Asking the Right Questions: Research of Consequence to Solve Problems of
      Significance.

PMID- 27626350
TI  - Universal Health Coverage: Assessing Service Coverage and Financial Protection
      for All.

PMID- 27626353
TI  - Blustein and Weinstein Respond.

PMID- 27626354
TI  - The Hearing Aid Industry Is More Helpful Than Suggested.

PMID- 27626355
TI  - Disparities in Uptake of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis in a Large Integrated Health
      Care System.

PMID- 27626356
TI  - Koenig et al. Respond.

PMID- 27626357
TI  - The Homeless Status is also Considered in Pediatrics in the Emergency Department.

PMID- 27626358
TI  - Feral-Pierssens et al. Respond.

PMID- 27626359
TI  - Disability and the gym: experiences, barriers and facilitators of gym use for
      individuals with physical disabilities.
AB  - PURPOSE: Individuals with physical disabilities are among the most inactive
      population in society, arguably due to the lack of suitable environments to
      exercise. The gym is a space dedicated to improving physical fitness in a
      controlled environment with specialized equipment and qualified instructors. The
      feasibility of using this space to promote health to this population, however, is
      yet to be established. METHOD: Over an 18-month period, 21 people with physical
      disabilities were interviewed regarding their experiences in the gym. Data were
      collected using semi-structured interviews, transcribed verbatim, and subject to
      thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four broad themes were identified: (1) experiencing
      enhanced well-ness, (2) perceived conflict between gym values and disability, (3)
      influence of a previous gym identity, and (4) experiences of psycho-emotional
      disablism. CONCLUSIONS: Participants were perceived to experience a variety of
      health benefits; however, they also experienced many barriers such as not
      aligning to the cultural norms of the gym, limited interpretations of health,
      oppressive messages from the built environment, and negative relational
      interactions. While there is potential for the gym to be used as a place to
      promote health, more must be done to foster an inclusive atmosphere in this
      space. Implications for Research The gym may be a viable place to promote health
      enhancing behaviors to this population as participants perceived physical,
      social, and psychological improvements through exercising in this space. Barriers
      such as not aligning to cultural norms of the gym, psycho-emotional disablism,
      and a lack of representation in the gym were perceived to hinder exercise
      participation. Gyms should consider funding instructors to go on courses teaching
      them how to train an individual with a disability, and also consider employing
      instructors with a disability to mediate the socio-cultural barriers perceived to
      exist in the gym. Men and women's past identity as gym users had different
      ramifications regarding their adoption of exercise after disability, therefore,
      professionals working in this field should be cognizant of this when designing
      and delivering exercise programs during and after rehabilitation.

PMID- 27626362
TI  - Antepartum voiding symptoms following prior tension-free vaginal tape (TVT)
      operation: A case report.

PMID- 27626363
TI  - Are eating disorders and their symptoms increasing in prevalence among adolescent
      population?
AB  - BACKGROUND: A debate concerns whether eating disorders are increasing in
      prevalence. The role of socio-economic status (SES) for adolescent eating
      disorders (ED) is another matter of debate. AIMS: To ascertain whether self
      reported eating disorders or their symptoms have increased in prevalence in
      adolescent population from the early 2000s to early 2010s. METHODS: A person
      identifiable classroom survey, Adolescent Mental Health Cohort study, was carried
      out among the 9th graders in comprehensive schools in Tampere, Finland, during
      academic year 2002-2003, and replicated among then 9th graders during academic
      years 2012-2013. Eating disorders were elicited with questionnaires tailored
      according to DSM-IV criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. RESULTS:
      No changes were observed between 2002-2003 and 2012-2013 in the prevalence of
      anorexia and bulimia, most of the symptoms of anorexia and bulimia, or the
      proportion of adolescents having received treatment due to eating disorders among
      the girls or the boys. Eating disorders, treatment contacts due to eating
      disorders, and eating disorder symptoms were not systematically associated with
      either low or high parental socio-economic status. CONCLUSION: Based on this
      dataset, eating disorders are not increasing in the adolescent population.
      Adolescent eating disorders are not associated with socio-economic status of
      their family.

PMID- 27626361
TI  - Global challenges in human immunodeficiency virus and syphilis coinfection among
      men who have sex with men.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection
      disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM), and the rate of
      coinfection has been increasing over the last decade. HIV and syphilis
      coinfection is particularly challenging because the infections interact
      synergistically thereby increasing the risk of acquisition and transmission as
      well as accelerating disease progression. Areas covered: This paper reviews and
      summarizes the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical management and
      prevention of HIV and syphilis coinfection among MSM. Expert commentary: Research
      does not support a different syphilis treatment for coinfected individuals;
      however, coinfection may warrant a recommendation for antiretroviral therapy. In
      order to reverse the epidemic of syphilis and HIV coinfection, there needs to be
      greater awareness, improved cultural sensitivity among health care providers,
      improved access to preventative services and increased screening for syphilis and
      HIV.

PMID- 27626360
TI  - Exploring Oxidative Reactions in Hemoglobin Variants Using Mass Spectrometry:
      Lessons for Engineering Oxidatively Stable Oxygen Therapeutics.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Worldwide demand has driven the development of hemoglobin (Hb)
      based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) as potential acellular oxygen therapeutics. HBOCs
      have the potential to provide an oxygen bridge to patients and minimize current
      problems associated with supply and storage of donated blood. However, to date,
      safety and efficacy issues have hampered the approval of viable HBOCs in the
      United States. These previous efforts have underscored the need for a better
      molecular understanding of toxicity to design safe and oxidatively stable HBOCs.
      Recent Advances: High-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) mass spectrometry (MS) has
      recently become a versatile tool in characterizing oxidative post-translational
      modifications that occur in Hb. When integrated with other analytical techniques,
      HRAM data have been invaluable in providing mechanistic insight into the extent
      of oxidative modification by quantifying oxidation in amino acids near the
      reactive heme or at specific "oxidative hotspots." CRITICAL ISSUES: In addition
      to providing a deeper understanding of Hb oxidative toxicity, HRAM MS studies are
      currently being used toward developing suitable HBOCs using a "two-prong"
      strategy that involves (i) understanding the mechanism of Hb toxicity by
      evaluating mutant Hbs identified in patients with hemoglobinopathies and (ii)
      utilizing this information toward designing against (or for) these reactions in
      acellular oxygen therapeutics that will result in oxidatively stable protein.
      FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Future HRAM studies are aimed at fully characterizing
      engineered candidate HBOCs to determine the most oxidatively stable protein while
      retaining oxygen carrying function in vivo. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 777-793.

PMID- 27626364
TI  - Characterizing End-of-Life Care after Geriatric Burns at a Verified Level I Burn
      Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: End-of-life (EoL) care after geriatric burns (geri-burns) is
      understudied. OBJECTIVE: To examine the practices of burn surgeons for initiating
      EoL discussions and the impact of decisions made on the courses of geri-burn
      patients who died after injury. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study examined
      all subjects >=65 years who died on our Level I burn service from April 1, 2009,
      to December 31, 2014. Measurements obtained were timing of first EoL discussion
      (EARLY <24 hours post-admission; LATE >=24 hours post-admission), decisions made,
      age, total body surface area burned, and calculated probability of death at
      admission. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 57 subjects, of whom 54 had at least
      one documented EoL care discussion between a burn physician and the
      patient/surrogate. No differences were seen between groups for the likelihood of
      an immediate decision for comfort care after the first discussion (p = 0.73) or
      the mean number of total discussions (p = 0.07). EARLY group subjects (n = 38)
      had significantly greater magnitudes of injury (p = 0.002), calculated
      probabilities of death at admission (p <= 0.001), shorter times to death (p <=
      0.001), and fewer trips to the operating theater for burn excision and skin
      grafting (p <= 0.001) than LATE subjects (n = 16). LATE subjects' first
      discussion occurred at a mean of 9.3 +/- 10.0 days. DISCUSSION: The vast majority
      of geri-burn deaths on our burn service occur after a discussion about EoL care.
      The timing of these discussions is driven by magnitude of injury, and it does not
      lead to higher proportions of an immediate decision for comfort care. The
      presence and timing of EoL discussions bears further study as a quality metric
      for geri-burn EoL care.

PMID- 27626366
TI  - Resuscitation with Pooled and Pathogen-Reduced Plasma Attenuates the Increase in
      Brain Water Content following Traumatic Brain Injury and Hemorrhagic Shock in
      Rats.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury and hemorrhagic shock is associated with blood-brain
      barrier (BBB) breakdown and edema formation. Recent animal studies have shown
      that fresh frozen plasma (FFP) resuscitation reduces brain swelling and improves
      endothelial function compared to isotonic NaCl (NS). The aim of this study was to
      investigate whether pooled and pathogen-reduced plasma (OctaplasLG(r) [OCTA];
      Octapharma, Stockholm, Sweden) was comparable to FFP with regard to effects on
      brain water content, BBB permeability, and plasma biomarkers of endothelial
      glycocalyx shedding and cell damage. After fluid percussion brain injury,
      hemorrhage (20 mL/kg), and 90-min shock, 48 male Sprague-Dawley rats were
      randomized to resuscitation with OCTA, FFP, or NS (n = 16/group). Brain water
      content (wet/dry weight) and BBB permeability (transfer constant for 51Cr-EDTA)
      were measured at 24 h. Plasma osmolality, oncotic pressure, and biomarkers of
      systemic glycocalyx shedding (syndecan-1) and cell damage (histone-complexed DNA)
      were measured at 0 and 23 h. At 24 h, brain water content was 80.44 +/- 0.39%,
      80.82 +/- 0.82%, and 81.15 +/- 0.86% in the OCTA, FFP, and NS groups (lower in
      OCTA vs. NS; p = 0.026), with no difference in BBB permeability. Plasma
      osmolality and oncotic pressures were highest in FFP and OCTA resuscitated, and
      osmolality was further highest in OCTA versus FFP (p = 0.027). In addition,
      syndecan-1 was highest in FFP and OCTA resuscitated (p = 0.010). These results
      suggest that pooled solvent-detergent (SD)-treated plasma attenuates the post
      traumatic increase in brain water content, and that this effect may, in part, be
      explained by a high crystalloid and colloid osmotic pressure in SD-treated
      plasma.

PMID- 27626367
TI  - Bilateral Same-Session Ureteroscopy for Treatment of Ureteral Calculi: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The traditional procedure for the management of bilateral ureteral
      stones is staged ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URS). However, in recent years
      particularly, some urologists advocate same-session bilateral URS on the ground
      of success rates and minimal morbidity. This systematic review is to evaluate the
      efficacy and safety of same-session bilateral ureteroscopy for the treatment of
      ureteral calculi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a bibliographic search
      using MEDLINE (1980 to August 2015) and EMBASE (1980 to August 2015). Review
      articles and abstract data were excluded and only studies in English reporting on
      outcomes of bilateral URS were included in this meta-analysis. Two reviewers
      independently assessed the quality of each included studies and extracted data.
      STATA 12.0 was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: In 11 studies, 431 patients were
      reportedly treated with bilateral URS. Most of the stone sizes were not larger
      than 20 mm. The mean stone-free rate is 96% for the distal ureter, 85% for the
      middle ureter, and 72% for the proximal ureter. The mean operative time ranged
      from 45 to 100 minutes with an average hospital stay from 2 to 4 days. The
      overall complications rates were 17%, with the incidence of postoperative fever
      4%, postoperative pain 20%, and gross hematuria 4%. Other complications,
      including urosepsis, urinary tract infection, small mucosal laceration, stone
      migration, and ureteral perforation, accounted for 6% of overall complications.
      CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis found that bilateral same-session ureteroscopy
      could achieve a high overall stone-free rate. There might be a relatively higher
      complication incidence, but most of the complications are minor. For selected
      cases, bilateral URS could be safe and effective.

PMID- 27626368
TI  - Surgical versus Nonsurgical Treatments of Acute Primary Patellar Dislocation with
      Special Emphasis on the MPFL Injury Patterns.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to compare the clinical results of the
      surgical versus nonsurgical treatments of acute primary patellar dislocations
      with a medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) injury in the nonoverlap region with
      the vastus medialis oblique. In this study, 62 patients with an acute patellar
      dislocation and a concurrent MPFL injury in the nonoverlap region were randomly
      divided into two groups based on their birth years (even vs. odd years) and
      received either surgical or nonsurgical treatment. Of the 62 eligible patients,
      30 were in the nonsurgical treatment group (Group 1) and 32 were in the surgical
      group (Group 2). Patellar stability tests and the Kujala knee questionnaire were
      performed, and radiographs were evaluated for patellar tilt and the lateral shift
      ratio by two blinded investigators. An osteochondral injury was noted in six
      (23.1%) patients from Group 1 and five (16.7%) patients from Group 2, with no
      statistical difference between the two groups. The mean Kujala score was 80.19 +/
      5.07 and 93.57 +/- 4.03 (p < 0.001) between the surgical and nonsurgical groups,
      respectively. The mean patellar tilt was 8.96 +/- 1.64 and 6.83 +/- 1.44 degrees
      (p < 0.001) and the lateral shift ratio was 11.08 +/- 1.99 and 9.23 +/- 1.96 (p =
      0.001) between the surgical and nonsurgical groups, respectively. This study
      showed that the surgical treatment of MPFL injuries in the nonoverlap region
      achieved better clinical outcomes and improved subjective knee function compared
      with conservative therapy. Surgery should therefore be considered as the
      treatment of choice for these specific injuries.

PMID- 27626369
TI  - Utilization of Osseous Landmarks for Anatomic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Femoral
      Tunnel Placement.
AB  - Accurate placement of the femoral tunnel is critical for long-term clinical
      success following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The purpose of
      the present study is to evaluate the accuracy of femoral tunnel placement when
      referencing osseous landmarks during ACL reconstruction. We hypothesize that
      referencing osseous landmarks during ACL reconstruction consistently results in
      anatomic placement of the ACL femoral tunnel. This study was a retrospective case
      series. We reviewed 83 consecutive ACL reconstructions performed by a single
      surgeon. The lateral intercondylar ridge and lateral bifurcate ridge were
      referenced intraoperatively for anatomic placement of the ACL femoral tunnel
      during single-bundle reconstruction. Using these landmarks, the femoral tunnel
      was placed in the center of the anteromedial bundle footprint on the lateral wall
      of the intercondylar notch. We reviewed all operative notes and intraoperative
      arthroscopic images to assess tunnel placement. Postoperative anteroposterior and
      lateral radiographs were obtained in all patients. Anatomic placement was
      confirmed by review of lateral radiographs utilizing both the quadrant method
      (QM) and Blumensaat-ridge ratio (BRR). We used a total of 80 patients for our
      study. Review of arthroscopic images confirmed anatomic placement of the ACL
      femoral tunnel in all patients. All patients demonstrated that the femoral tunnel
      was placed anatomically according to the BRR method. Using the QM, all femoral
      tunnels were placed anatomically except for one tunnel that was placed slightly
      anteriorly. There was excellent agreement between the two radiographic
      measurement techniques. The principal finding of this study indicates that the
      lateral intercondylar ridge and the lateral bifurcate ridge are reliable
      landmarks for anatomic placement of the ACL femoral tunnel. Referencing osseous
      landmarks during surgery can help surgeons avoid nonanatomic placement of the ACL
      femoral tunnel, especially in cases where the soft-tissue footprint is no longer
      present. Furthermore, both the radiographic QM and the BRR are valid techniques
      to assess for anatomic ACL femoral tunnel placement both intraoperatively and
      postoperatively.

PMID- 27626370
TI  - 18th International Workshop on Co-morbidities and Adverse Drug Reactions in HIV.

PMID- 27626372
TI  - Developmental biology: Panoramic views of the early epigenome.

PMID- 27626373
TI  - Corrigendum: Age-dependent modulation of vascular niches for haematopoietic stem
      cells.

PMID- 27626365
TI  - Patient-Reported Outcomes after Monitoring, Surgery, or Radiotherapy for Prostate
      Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robust data on patient-reported outcome measures comparing treatments
      for clinically localized prostate cancer are lacking. We investigated the effects
      of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy, and radical radiotherapy with
      hormones on patient-reported outcomes. METHODS: We compared patient-reported
      outcomes among 1643 men in the Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment
      (ProtecT) trial who completed questionnaires before diagnosis, at 6 and 12 months
      after randomization, and annually thereafter. Patients completed validated
      measures that assessed urinary, bowel, and sexual function and specific effects
      on quality of life, anxiety and depression, and general health. Cancer-related
      quality of life was assessed at 5 years. Complete 6-year data were analyzed
      according to the intention-to-treat principle. RESULTS: The rate of questionnaire
      completion during follow-up was higher than 85% for most measures. Of the three
      treatments, prostatectomy had the greatest negative effect on sexual function and
      urinary continence, and although there was some recovery, these outcomes remained
      worse in the prostatectomy group than in the other groups throughout the trial.
      The negative effect of radiotherapy on sexual function was greatest at 6 months,
      but sexual function then recovered somewhat and was stable thereafter;
      radiotherapy had little effect on urinary continence. Sexual and urinary function
      declined gradually in the active-monitoring group. Bowel function was worse in
      the radiotherapy group at 6 months than in the other groups but then recovered
      somewhat, except for the increasing frequency of bloody stools; bowel function
      was unchanged in the other groups. Urinary voiding and nocturia were worse in the
      radiotherapy group at 6 months but then mostly recovered and were similar to the
      other groups after 12 months. Effects on quality of life mirrored the reported
      changes in function. No significant differences were observed among the groups in
      measures of anxiety, depression, or general health-related or cancer-related
      quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: In this analysis of patient-reported outcomes after
      treatment for localized prostate cancer, patterns of severity, recovery, and
      decline in urinary, bowel, and sexual function and associated quality of life
      differed among the three groups. (Funded by the U.K. National Institute for
      Health Research Health Technology Assessment Program; ProtecT Current Controlled
      Trials number, ISRCTN20141297 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02044172 .).

PMID- 27626371
TI  - Accessory subunits are integral for assembly and function of human mitochondrial
      complex I.
AB  - Complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) is the first enzyme of the
      mitochondrial respiratory chain and is composed of 45 subunits in humans, making
      it one of the largest known multi-subunit membrane protein complexes. Complex I
      exists in supercomplex forms with respiratory chain complexes III and IV, which
      are together required for the generation of a transmembrane proton gradient used
      for the synthesis of ATP. Complex I is also a major source of damaging reactive
      oxygen species and its dysfunction is associated with mitochondrial disease,
      Parkinson's disease and ageing. Bacterial and human complex I share 14 core
      subunits that are essential for enzymatic function; however, the role and
      necessity of the remaining 31 human accessory subunits is unclear. The
      incorporation of accessory subunits into the complex increases the cellular
      energetic cost and has necessitated the involvement of numerous assembly factors
      for complex I biogenesis. Here we use gene editing to generate human knockout
      cell lines for each accessory subunit. We show that 25 subunits are strictly
      required for assembly of a functional complex and 1 subunit is essential for cell
      viability. Quantitative proteomic analysis of cell lines revealed that loss of
      each subunit affects the stability of other subunits residing in the same
      structural module. Analysis of proteomic changes after the loss of specific
      modules revealed that ATP5SL and DMAC1 are required for assembly of the distal
      portion of the complex I membrane arm. Our results demonstrate the broad
      importance of accessory subunits in the structure and function of human complex
      I. Coupling gene-editing technology with proteomics represents a powerful tool
      for dissecting large multi-subunit complexes and enables the study of complex
      dysfunction at a cellular level.

PMID- 27626374
TI  - Erratum: Structural basis of potent Zika-dengue virus antibody cross
      neutralization.

PMID- 27626376
TI  - Alzheimer's disease: Structure of aggregates revealed.

PMID- 27626375
TI  - X-ray structures define human P2X(3) receptor gating cycle and antagonist action.
AB  - P2X receptors are trimeric, non-selective cation channels activated by ATP that
      have important roles in the cardiovascular, neuronal and immune systems. Despite
      their central function in human physiology and although they are potential
      targets of therapeutic agents, there are no structures of human P2X receptors.
      The mechanisms of receptor desensitization and ion permeation, principles of
      antagonism, and complete structures of the pore-forming transmembrane domains of
      these receptors remain unclear. Here we report X-ray crystal structures of the
      human P2X3 receptor in apo/resting, agonist-bound/open-pore, agonist-bound/closed
      pore/desensitized and antagonist-bound/closed states. The open state structure
      harbours an intracellular motif we term the 'cytoplasmic cap', which stabilizes
      the open state of the ion channel pore and creates lateral, phospholipid-lined
      cytoplasmic fenestrations for water and ion egress. The competitive antagonists
      TNP-ATP and A-317491 stabilize the apo/resting state and reveal the interactions
      responsible for competitive inhibition. These structures illuminate the
      conformational rearrangements that underlie P2X receptor gating and provide a
      foundation for the development of new pharmacological agents.

PMID- 27626377
TI  - Broad histone H3K4me3 domains in mouse oocytes modulate maternal-to-zygotic
      transition.
AB  - Maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) is essential for the formation of a new
      individual, but is still poorly understood despite recent progress in analysis of
      gene expression and DNA methylation in early embryogenesis. Dynamic histone
      modifications may have important roles in MZT, but direct measurements of
      chromatin states have been hindered by technical difficulties in profiling
      histone modifications from small quantities of cells. Recent improvements allow
      for 500 cell-equivalents of chromatin per reaction, but require 10,000 cells for
      initial steps or require a highly specialized microfluidics device that is not
      readily available. We developed a micro-scale chromatin immunoprecipitation and
      sequencing (MUChIP-seq) method, which we used to profile genome-wide histone H3
      lysine methylation (H3K4me3) and acetylation (H3K27ac) in mouse immature and
      metaphase II oocytes and in 2-cell and 8-cell embryos. Notably, we show that ~22%
      of the oocyte genome is associated with broad H3K4me3 domains that are anti
      correlated with DNA methylation. The H3K4me3 signal becomes confined to
      transcriptional-start-site regions in 2-cell embryos, concomitant with the onset
      of major zygotic genome activation. Active removal of broad H3K4me3 domains by
      the lysine demethylases KDM5A and KDM5B is required for normal zygotic genome
      activation and is essential for early embryo development. Our results provide
      insight into the onset of the developmental program in mouse embryos and
      demonstrate a role for broad H3K4me3 domains in MZT.

PMID- 27626378
TI  - The formation of Charon's red poles from seasonally cold-trapped volatiles.
AB  - A unique feature of Pluto's large satellite Charon is its dark red northern polar
      cap. Similar colours on Pluto's surface have been attributed to tholin-like
      organic macromolecules produced by energetic radiation processing of
      hydrocarbons. The polar location on Charon implicates the temperature extremes
      that result from Charon's high obliquity and long seasons in the production of
      this material. The escape of Pluto's atmosphere provides a potential feedstock
      for a complex chemistry. Gas from Pluto that is transiently cold-trapped and
      processed at Charon's winter pole was proposed as an explanation for the dark
      coloration on the basis of an image of Charon's northern hemisphere, but not
      modelled quantitatively. Here we report images of the southern hemisphere
      illuminated by Pluto-shine and also images taken during the approach phase that
      show the northern polar cap over a range of longitudes. We model the surface
      thermal environment on Charon and the supply and temporary cold-trapping of
      material escaping from Pluto, as well as the photolytic processing of this
      material into more complex and less volatile molecules while cold-trapped. The
      model results are consistent with the proposed mechanism for producing the
      observed colour pattern on Charon.

PMID- 27626379
TI  - Distinct features of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 chromatin domains in pre-implantation
      embryos.
AB  - Histone modifications have critical roles in regulating the expression of
      developmental genes during embryo development in mammals. However, genome-wide
      analyses of histone modifications in pre-implantation embryos have been impeded
      by the scarcity of the required materials. Here, by using a small-scale chromatin
      immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) method, we map the genome
      wide profiles of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) and histone H3
      lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), which are associated with gene activation
      and repression, respectively, in mouse pre-implantation embryos. We find that the
      re-establishment of H3K4me3, especially on promoter regions, occurs much more
      rapidly than that of H3K27me3 following fertilization, which is consistent with
      the major wave of zygotic genome activation at the two-cell stage. Furthermore,
      H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 possess distinct features of sequence preference and
      dynamics in pre-implantation embryos. Although H3K4me3 modifications occur
      consistently at transcription start sites, the breadth of the H3K4me3 domain is a
      highly dynamic feature. Notably, the broad H3K4me3 domain (wider than 5 kb) is
      associated with higher transcription activity and cell identity not only in pre
      implantation development but also in the process of deriving embryonic stem cells
      from the inner cell mass and trophoblast stem cells from the trophectoderm.
      Compared to embryonic stem cells, we found that the bivalency (that is, co
      occurrence of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3) in early embryos is relatively infrequent and
      unstable. Taken together, our results provide a genome-wide map of H3K4me3 and
      H3K27me3 modifications in pre-implantation embryos, facilitating further
      exploration of the mechanism for epigenetic regulation in early embryos.

PMID- 27626382
TI  - Allelic reprogramming of the histone modification H3K4me3 in early mammalian
      development.
AB  - Histone modifications are fundamental epigenetic regulators that control many
      crucial cellular processes. However, whether these marks can be passed on from
      mammalian gametes to the next generation is a long-standing question that remains
      unanswered. Here, by developing a highly sensitive approach, STAR ChIP-seq, we
      provide a panoramic view of the landscape of H3K4me3, a histone hallmark for
      transcription initiation, from developing gametes to post-implantation embryos.
      We find that upon fertilization, extensive reprogramming occurs on the paternal
      genome, as H3K4me3 peaks are depleted in zygotes but are readily observed after
      major zygotic genome activation at the late two-cell stage. On the maternal
      genome, we unexpectedly find a non-canonical form of H3K4me3 (ncH3K4me3) in full
      grown and mature oocytes, which exists as broad peaks at promoters and a large
      number of distal loci. Such broad H3K4me3 peaks are in contrast to the typical
      sharp H3K4me3 peaks restricted to CpG-rich regions of promoters. Notably,
      ncH3K4me3 in oocytes overlaps almost exclusively with partially methylated DNA
      domains. It is then inherited in pre-implantation embryos, before being erased in
      the late two-cell embryos, when canonical H3K4me3 starts to be established. The
      removal of ncH3K4me3 requires zygotic transcription but is independent of DNA
      replication-mediated passive dilution. Finally, downregulation of H3K4me3 in full
      grown oocytes by overexpression of the H3K4me3 demethylase KDM5B is associated
      with defects in genome silencing. Taken together, these data unveil inheritance
      and highly dynamic reprogramming of the epigenome in early mammalian development.

PMID- 27626384
TI  - Immunology: Channelling potassium to fight cancer.

PMID- 27626383
TI  - A blue-light photoreceptor mediates the feedback regulation of photosynthesis.
AB  - In plants and algae, light serves both as the energy source for photosynthesis
      and a biological signal that triggers cellular responses via specific sensory
      photoreceptors. Red light is perceived by bilin-containing phytochromes and blue
      light by the flavin-containing cryptochromes and/or phototropins (PHOTs), the
      latter containing two photosensory light, oxygen, or voltage (LOV) domains.
      Photoperception spans several orders of light intensity, ranging from far below
      the threshold for photosynthesis to values beyond the capacity of photosynthetic
      CO2 assimilation. Excess light may cause oxidative damage and cell death,
      processes prevented by enhanced thermal dissipation via high-energy quenching
      (qE), a key photoprotective response. Here we show the existence of a molecular
      link between photoreception, photosynthesis, and photoprotection in the green
      alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We show that PHOT controls qE by inducing the
      expression of the qE effector protein LHCSR3 (light-harvesting complex stress
      related protein 3) in high light intensities. This control requires blue-light
      perception by LOV domains on PHOT, LHCSR3 induction through PHOT kinase, and
      light dissipation in photosystem II via LHCSR3. Mutants deficient in the PHOT
      gene display severely reduced fitness under excessive light conditions,
      indicating that the sensing, utilization, and dissipation of light is a concerted
      process that plays a vital role in microalgal acclimation to environments of
      variable light intensities.

PMID- 27626381
TI  - Ionic immune suppression within the tumour microenvironment limits T cell
      effector function.
AB  - Tumours progress despite being infiltrated by tumour-specific effector T cells.
      Tumours contain areas of cellular necrosis, which are associated with poor
      survival in a variety of cancers. Here, we show that necrosis releases
      intracellular potassium ions into the extracellular fluid of mouse and human
      tumours, causing profound suppression of T cell effector function. Elevation of
      the extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]e) impairs T cell receptor (TCR)
      driven Akt-mTOR phosphorylation and effector programmes. Potassium-mediated
      suppression of Akt-mTOR signalling and T cell function is dependent upon the
      activity of the serine/threonine phosphatase PP2A. Although the suppressive
      effect mediated by elevated [K+]e is independent of changes in plasma membrane
      potential (Vm), it requires an increase in intracellular potassium ([K+]i).
      Accordingly, augmenting potassium efflux in tumour-specific T cells by
      overexpressing the potassium channel Kv1.3 lowers [K+]i and improves effector
      functions in vitro and in vivo and enhances tumour clearance and survival in
      melanoma-bearing mice. These results uncover an ionic checkpoint that blocks T
      cell function in tumours and identify potential new strategies for cancer
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 27626380
TI  - High-throughput discovery of novel developmental phenotypes.
AB  - Approximately one-third of all mammalian genes are essential for life. Phenotypes
      resulting from knockouts of these genes in mice have provided tremendous insight
      into gene function and congenital disorders. As part of the International Mouse
      Phenotyping Consortium effort to generate and phenotypically characterize 5,000
      knockout mouse lines, here we identify 410 lethal genes during the production of
      the first 1,751 unique gene knockouts. Using a standardized phenotyping platform
      that incorporates high-resolution 3D imaging, we identify phenotypes at multiple
      time points for previously uncharacterized genes and additional phenotypes for
      genes with previously reported mutant phenotypes. Unexpectedly, our analysis
      reveals that incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity are common even on a
      defined genetic background. In addition, we show that human disease genes are
      enriched for essential genes, thus providing a dataset that facilitates the
      prioritization and validation of mutations identified in clinical sequencing
      efforts.

PMID- 27626387
TI  - Cancer: Acidic shield puts a chink in p53's armour.

PMID- 27626385
TI  - Acetylation-regulated interaction between p53 and SET reveals a widespread
      regulatory mode.
AB  - Although lysine acetylation is now recognized as a general protein modification
      for both histones and non-histone proteins, the mechanisms of acetylation
      mediated actions are not completely understood. Acetylation of the C-terminal
      domain (CTD) of p53 (also known as TP53) was an early example of non-histone
      protein acetylation and its precise role remains unclear. Lysine acetylation
      often creates binding sites for bromodomain-containing 'reader' proteins. Here we
      use a proteomic screen to identify the oncoprotein SET as a major cellular factor
      whose binding with p53 is dependent on CTD acetylation status. SET profoundly
      inhibits p53 transcriptional activity in unstressed cells, but SET-mediated
      repression is abolished by stress-induced acetylation of p53 CTD. Moreover, loss
      of the interaction with SET activates p53, resulting in tumour regression in
      mouse xenograft models. Notably, the acidic domain of SET acts as a 'reader' for
      the unacetylated CTD of p53 and this mechanism of acetylation-dependent
      regulation is widespread in nature. For example, acetylation of p53 also
      modulates its interactions with similar acidic domains found in other p53
      regulators including VPRBP (also known as DCAF1), DAXX and PELP1 (refs. 7, 8, 9),
      and computational analysis of the proteome has identified numerous proteins with
      the potential to serve as acidic domain readers and lysine-rich ligands. Unlike
      bromodomain readers, which preferentially bind the acetylated forms of their
      cognate ligands, the acidic domain readers specifically recognize the
      unacetylated forms of their ligands. Finally, the acetylation-dependent
      regulation of p53 was further validated in vivo by using a knock-in mouse model
      expressing an acetylation-mimicking form of p53. These results reveal that acidic
      domain-containing factors act as a class of acetylation-dependent regulators by
      targeting p53 and, potentially, other proteins.

PMID- 27626388
TI  - Corrigendum: Human commensals producing a novel antibiotic impair pathogen
      colonization.

PMID- 27626386
TI  - Accurate de novo design of hyperstable constrained peptides.
AB  - Naturally occurring, pharmacologically active peptides constrained with covalent
      crosslinks generally have shapes that have evolved to fit precisely into binding
      pockets on their targets. Such peptides can have excellent pharmaceutical
      properties, combining the stability and tissue penetration of small-molecule
      drugs with the specificity of much larger protein therapeutics. The ability to
      design constrained peptides with precisely specified tertiary structures would
      enable the design of shape-complementary inhibitors of arbitrary targets. Here we
      describe the development of computational methods for accurate de novo design of
      conformationally restricted peptides, and the use of these methods to design 18
      47 residue, disulfide-crosslinked peptides, a subset of which are heterochiral
      and/or N-C backbone-cyclized. Both genetically encodable and non-canonical
      peptides are exceptionally stable to thermal and chemical denaturation, and 12
      experimentally determined X-ray and NMR structures are nearly identical to the
      computational design models. The computational design methods and stable
      scaffolds presented here provide the basis for development of a new generation of
      peptide-based drugs.

PMID- 27626389
TI  - Oral Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Loaded with Near-Infrared Dye for Image-Guided
      Photothermal Therapy.
AB  - Photothermal therapy exerts its anticancer effect by converting laser radiation
      energy into hyperthermia using a suitable photosensitizer. This study reports
      development of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) suitable for noninvasive oral
      delivery of a near-infrared photosensitizer dye IR780. The carrier encapsulating
      the dye (IR780@NLCs) was stable in simulated gastric and intestinal conditions
      and showed greatly enhanced oral absorption of IR780 when compared with the free
      dye. As a result of increased oral bioavailability, enhanced accumulation of the
      dye in subcutaneous mouse colon tumors (CT-26 cells) was observed following oral
      gavage of IR780@NLCs. Photothermal antitumor activity of orally administered
      IR780@NLCs was evaluated following local laser irradiation of the CT-26 tumors.
      We observed significant effect of the photothermal IR780@NLCs treatment on the
      rate of the tumor growth and no toxicity associated with the oral administration
      of IR780@NLCs. Overall, orally administered IR780@NLCs represents a safe and
      noninvasive method to achieve systemic tumor delivery of a photosensitizing dye
      for applications in photothermal anticancer therapies. 

PMID- 27626390
TI  - Parenting Intervention for Prevention of Behavioral Problems in Elementary School
      Age Filipino-American Children: A Pilot Study in Churches.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to test an evidence-based parenting program offered in
      churches among Filipino-American parents and estimate effect size for a fully
      powered trial. METHODS: Twenty-two parents of children aged 6 to 12 years were
      randomly assigned to either an intervention or a waiting-list control group.
      Parents' perceptions of child behavior, parenting practices, and parenting stress
      were obtained at baseline. Parents in the experimental group attended The
      Incredible Years School Age Program, which consisted of 12 weekly 2-hour
      sessions. A follow-up assessment was performed after the intervention and 12
      weeks later. The intervention was subsequently repeated with the control group.
      Satisfaction was assessed with a 40-item measure. Analysis of covariance was used
      to compare the intervention group postintervention versus the control group.
      Paired t-tests compared mean parenting practices, parenting stress, and child
      behavior outcomes. Satisfaction was assessed descriptively. RESULTS: Twenty-two
      parents completed all assessments and the intervention. Analysis of variance
      comparing intervention and control groups with repeated measures (pre- and post
      test measures) revealed that the program has a positive impact on parenting
      stress, parenting practices (physical punishment, positive verbal discipline),
      and parent's perception of their child's behavior (internalizing symptoms,
      externalizing symptoms, and number of problematic behaviors). Analyses of all
      participants comparing pre- and post intervention revealed improvements in
      parenting stress, positive verbal discipline, and child externalizing and total
      problem behaviors. Families reported high satisfaction with the content and
      format of the intervention. CONCLUSION: Results support the feasibility of
      providing an evidence-based parenting program to Filipino parents in churches to
      prevent future behavioral health problems.

PMID- 27626391
TI  - Multistep Modeling Strategy To Improve the Binding Affinity Prediction of PET
      Tracers to Abeta42: Case Study with Styrylbenzoxazole Derivatives.
AB  - Positron emission tomography (PET) tracers play an important role in the
      diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, a condition that leads to progressive dementia
      and memory loss. A high binding affinity and specificity of the PET tracers to
      amyloid oligomers and fibrils are crucial for their successful application as
      diagnostic agents. In this sense, it is essential to design PET tracers with
      enhanced binding affinities, which can lead to more precise and earlier detection
      of Alzheimer's disease conditions. The application of in silico methodology for
      the design and development of efficient PET tracers may serve as an important
      route to improved Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. In this work, the performance of
      widely used computational methods is explored for predicting experimental binding
      affinities of styrylbenzoxazole (SB) derivatives against a common amyloid
      protofibril. By performing docking, molecular dynamics, and quantum chemistry
      calculations in sequence their combined predictive performance is explored. The
      present work emphasizes the merits as well as limitations of these simulation
      strategies in the realm of designing PET tracers for Alzheimer's disease
      diagnosis.

PMID- 27626392
TI  - Antidiarrheal Thymol Derivatives from Ageratina glabrata. Structure and Absolute
      Configuration of 10-Benzoyloxy-8,9-epoxy-6-hydroxythymol Isobutyrate.
AB  - Chemical investigation of the leaves from Ageratina glabrata yielded four new
      thymol derivatives, namely: 10-benzoyloxy-8,9-dehydro-6-hydroxythymol isobutyrate
      (4), 10-benzoyloxy-8,9-dehydrothymol (5), 10-benzoyloxythymol (6) and 10
      benzoyloxy-6,8-dihydroxy-9-isobutyryl-oxythymol (7). In addition, (8S)-10
      benzoyloxy-8,9-epoxy-6-hydroxythymol isobutyrate (1), together with other two
      already known thymol derivatives identified as 10-benzoyloxy-8,9-epoxy-6
      methoxythymol isobutyrate (2) and 10-benzoyloxy-8,9-epoxythymol isobutyrate (3)
      were also obtained. In this paper, we report the structures and complete
      assignments of the 1H and (13)C-NMR data of compounds 1-7, and the absolute
      configuration for compound 1, unambiguously established by single crystal X-ray
      diffraction, and evaluation of the Flack parameter. The in vitro antiprotozoal
      assay showed that compound 1 and its derivative 1a were the most potent
      antiamoebic and antigiardial compounds. Both compounds showed selectivity and
      good antiamoebic activity comparable to emetine and metronidazole, respectively,
      two antiprotozoal drugs used as positive controls. In relation to anti-propulsive
      effect, compound 1 and 1a showed inhibitory activity, with activities comparable
      to quercetin and compound 9, two natural antipropulsive compounds used as
      positive controls. These data suggest that compound 1 may play an important role
      in antidiarrheal properties of Ageratina glabrata. 

PMID- 27626393
TI  - Antiinflammatory and Antiphotodamaging Effects of Ergostatrien-3beta-ol, Isolated
      from Antrodia camphorata, on Hairless Mouse Skin.
AB  - Ergostatrien-3beta-ol (EK100), isolated from the submerged whole broth of
      Antrodia camphorata, has antidiabetic, hyperlipidemic, and hepatoprotective
      activities. However, the antiphotodamage activity of EK100 has still not been
      revealed. Inflammation and collagen degradation contribute to skin photodamage
      and premature aging. In the present study, in vivo experiments were designed to
      investigate the antiinflammatory and antiphotodamaging activities of EK100 in
      hairless mice by physiological and histological analysis of the skin. Results
      indicated that topical application of EK100 (25 and 100 MUM) for 10 weeks
      efficiently inhibited ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced wrinkle formation, erythema,
      and epidermal thickness in the mice skin. EK100 also restored UVB-induced
      collagen content reduction in hairless mice skin. In addition, the
      immunohistochemistry results indicated that EK100 significantly inhibited the UVB
      induced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6),
      inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in
      the mouse skin. The expression of these proteins was similar to the Normal group
      after 100 MUM EK100 treatment. EK100 inhibited collagen degradation in the skin
      through MMP-1 inhibition and antiinflammation. EK100 significantly reduced the
      transepidermal water loss (TEWL), indicating that EK100 protected skin from UVB
      induced damage. Our findings strongly suggest that EK100 has significant
      beneficial antiinflammatory and antiphotoaging activities and that EK100 can be
      developed as an antiphotodamaging agent. 

PMID- 27626394
TI  - Formation of Hydrogen Sulfide in Wine: Interactions between Copper and Sulfur
      Dioxide.
AB  - The combined synergistic effects of copper (Cu(2+)) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) on
      the formation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in Verdelho and Shiraz wine samples post
      bottling was studied over a 12-month period. The combined treatment of Cu(2+) and
      SO2 significantly increased H2S formation in Verdelho wines samples that were not
      previously treated with either Cu(2+) or SO2. The formation of H2S produced
      through Cu(2+) mediated reactions was likely either: (a) directly through the
      interaction of SO2 with either Cu(2+) or H2S; or (b) indirectly through the
      interaction of SO2 with other wine matrix compounds. To gain better understanding
      of the mechanisms responsible for the significant increases in H2S concentration
      in the Verdelho samples, the interaction between Cu(2+) and SO2 was studied in a
      model wine matrix with and without the presence of a representative thiol
      quenching compound (4-methylbenzoquinone, 4MBQ). In these model studies, the
      importance of naturally occurring wine compounds and wine additives, such as
      quinones, SO2, and metal ions, in modulating the formation of H2S post-bottling
      was demonstrated. When present in equimolar concentrations a 1:1 ratio of H2S-
      and SO2-catechol adducts were produced. At wine relevant concentrations, however,
      only SO2-adducts were produced, reinforcing that the competition reactions of
      sulfur nucleophiles, such as H2S and SO2, with wine matrix compounds play a
      critical role in modulating final H2S concentrations in wines. 

PMID- 27626395
TI  - Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Triazolyl 13alpha-Estrone-Nucleoside
      Bioconjugates.
AB  - 2'-Deoxynucleoside conjugates of 13alpha-estrone were synthesized by applying the
      copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide click reaction (CuAAC). For the introduction of the
      azido group the 5'-position of the nucleosides and a propargyl ether functional
      group on the 3-hydroxy group of 13alpha-estrone were chosen. The best yields were
      realized in our hands when the 3'-hydroxy groups of the nucleosides were
      protected by acetyl groups and the 5'-hydroxy groups were modified by the tosyl
      azide exchange method. The commonly used conditions for click reaction between
      the protected-5'-azidonucleosides and the steroid alkyne was slightly modified by
      using 1.5 equivalent of Cu(I) catalyst. All the prepared conjugates were
      evaluated in vitro by means of MTT assays for antiproliferative activity against
      a panel of human adherent cell lines (HeLa, MCF-7 and A2780) and the potential
      inhibitory activity of the new conjugates on human 17beta-hydroxysteroid
      dehydrogenase 1 (17beta-HSD1) was investigated via in vitro radiosubstrate
      incubation. Some protected conjugates displayed moderate antiproliferative
      properties against a panel of human adherent cancer cell lines (the protected
      cytidine conjugate proved to be the most potent with IC50 value of 9 MUM). The
      thymidine conjugate displayed considerable 17beta-HSD1 inhibitory activity (IC50
      = 19 MUM). 

PMID- 27626396
TI  - Novel Enantiopure Sigma Receptor Modulators: Quick (Semi-)Preparative Chiral
      Resolution via HPLC and Absolute Configuration Assignment.
AB  - The identification of novel pan-sigma receptor (SR) modulators, potentially
      useful in cancer treatment, represents a new goal of our research. Here, we
      report on the preparation of novel chiral compounds characterized by a 3-C alkyl
      chain bridging an aromatic portion to a 4-benzyl-piperidine moiety. All of the
      studied compounds have been prepared both in racemic and enantiomerically-pure
      form, with the final aim to address the role of chirality in the SR interaction.
      To isolate and characterize enantiomeric compounds, high-performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC) procedures were set up. A systematic analytical screening,
      involving several combinations of chiral stationary and mobile phases, allowed us
      to optimize the analytical resolution and to set up the (semi-)preparative
      chromatographic conditions. Applying the optimized procedure, the enantiomeric
      resolution of the studied compounds was successfully achieved, obtaining all of
      the compounds with an enantiomeric excess higher than 95%. Lastly, the absolute
      configuration has been empirically assigned to enantiopure compounds, combining
      the electronic circular dichroism (ECD) technique to the elution order study. 

PMID- 27626397
TI  - Flavones as Quorum Sensing Inhibitors Identified by a Newly Optimized Screening
      Platform Using Chromobacterium violaceum as Reporter Bacteria.
AB  - Quorum sensing (QS) is the process by which bacteria produce and detect signal
      molecules to coordinate their collective behavior. This intercellular
      communication is a relevant target for anti-biofilm therapies. Here we have
      optimized a screening-applicable assay to search for new quorum sensing
      inhibitors from natural compound libraries. In this system, QS is correlated with
      the production of violacein, which is directly controlled by the LuxI/LuxR system
      in Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 31532. The parallel use of C. violaceum Tn5
      mutant CV026, which depends on auto-inducer addition, allows simultaneous
      discrimination of compounds that act as quenchers of the AHL signal (quorum
      quenchers). The incorporation of a redox stain into the platform allowed further
      distinction between QS inhibitors, quorum quenchers and antibacterial compounds.
      A pilot screening was performed with 465 natural and synthetic flavonoids. All
      the most active compounds were flavones and they displayed potencies (IC50) in
      the range of 3.69 to 23.35 MUM. These leads were particularly promising as they
      inhibited the transition from microcolonies into mature biofilms from Escherichia
      coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. This approach can be very effective in
      identifying new antimicrobials posing lesser risks of resistance. 

PMID- 27626398
TI  - A Selective Cyclic Peptidic Human SIRT5 Inhibitor.
AB  - In the current study, we discovered that a side chain-to-side chain cyclic
      pentapeptide harboring a central N(epsilon)-carboxyethyl-thiocarbamoyl-lysine
      residue behaved as a strong and selective (versus human SIRT1/2/3/6) inhibitor
      against human SIRT5-catalyzed deacylation reaction. This compound was also found
      to be proteolytically much more stable than its linear counterpart. This compound
      could be a valuable lead for developing stronger, selective, metabolically
      stable, and cell permeable human SIRT5 inhibitors. 

PMID- 27626399
TI  - Evaluation of PVP/Au Nanocomposite Fibers as Heterogeneous Catalysts in Indole
      Synthesis.
AB  - Electrospun nanocomposite fibers consisting of crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone
      (PVP) chains and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were fabricated, starting from
      highly stable PVP/Au NP colloidal solutions with different NP loadings, followed
      by thermal treatment. Information on the morphological characteristics of the
      fibers and of the embedded Au NPs was obtained by electron microscopy.
      Cylindrical, bead-free fibers were visualized by Scanning Electron Microscopy
      (SEM) while Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy Diffraction X-ray
      (EDX) analysis supported the presence of Au NPs within the fibers and gave
      information on their morphologies and average diameters. These materials were
      briefly evaluated as heterogeneous catalytic supports for the gold-catalyzed
      intramolecular cyclisation of 2-(phenylethynyl)aniline to form 2-phenyl-1H
      indole. The performance of the gold catalyst was strongly dependent on the Au NP
      size, with the system containing the smallest Au NPs being the more effective.
      Moreover, a slight drop of their catalytic efficiency was observed after three
      consecutive reaction runs, which was attributed to morphological changes as a
      consequence of fiber merging. 

PMID- 27626400
TI  - Enhancing the Antioxidant Ability of Trametes versicolor Polysaccharopeptides by
      an Enzymatic Hydrolysis Process.
AB  - Polysaccharopeptides (PSPs) are among the main bioactive constituents of Trametes
      versicolor (T. versicolor). The purpose of this research was to investigate the
      antioxidant activities of enzymatic hydrolysates obtained from T. versicolor
      polysaccharopeptides by 80 U/mL beta-1,3-glucanase (PSPs-EH80). The half
      inhibitory concentration (IC50) of PSPs-EH80 in metal chelating assay, ABTS and
      DPPH radical scavenging test results were 0.83 mg/mL, 0.14 mg/mL and 0.52 mg/mL,
      respectively, which were lower than that of PSPs-EH 20 U/mL. The molecular
      weights of the PSPs-EH80 hydrolysates were 300, 190, 140 and 50 kDa,
      respectively, and the hydrolysis of polysaccharides by beta-1,3-glucanase did not
      change the original functional group. PSPs-EH80 reduced the reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) content at least twice that of treatment without PSPs-EH80. In
      addition, an oxidative damage test showed that PSPs-EH80 can improve HaCaT cell
      survival. According to our results, PSP demonstrates the potential of anti
      oxidative damage; besides, enzyme hydrolysis can improve the ability of the PSP. 

PMID- 27626401
TI  - Synthesis of High-Molecular-Weight Multifunctional Glycerol Polyhydroxyurethanes
      PHUs.
AB  - Glycerol carbonate acrylate is a 5-membered cyclic carbonate synthesized from
      glycerol that is used as a chemical coupling agent and has proven highly suitable
      for use in the synthesis of multifunctional polyhydroxyurethanes (PHUs). The
      multifunctionality of the structure of PHUs is determined by the density of the
      carbon-amine groups generated by the Aza-Michael reaction and that of the
      urethane groups and adjacent primary and secondary hydroxyl groups generated by
      aminolysis. Glycerol carbonate acrylate is polymerized with polyfunctional mono-,
      di-, tri, and tetra-amines, by type-AB polyaddition, either in bulk or in
      solution, through stepwise or one-pot reaction strategies in the absence of added
      catalysts. These approaches result in the generation of linear, interchain, and
      crosslinked structures, through the polyaddition of linear and branched amines to
      the ethylene and cyclic carbonate sites of glycerol carbonate acrylate. The
      resulting collection of organic molecules gives rise to polyethylene amino ester
      PHUs with a high molar mass, exceeding 20,000 g.mol(-1), with uniform dispersity.

PMID- 27626402
TI  - Insoluble-Bound Phenolics in Food.
AB  - This contribution provides a review of the topic of insoluble-bound phenolics,
      especially their localization, synthesis, transfer and formation in plant cells,
      as well as their metabolism in the human digestive system and corresponding
      bioactivities. In addition, their release from the food matrix during food
      processing and extraction methods are discussed. The synthesis of phenolics takes
      place mainly at the endoplasmic reticulum and they are then transferred to each
      organ through transport proteins such as the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) and
      multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporter at the organ's
      compartment membrane or via transport vesicles such as cytoplasmic and Golgi
      vesicles, leading to the formation of soluble and insoluble-bound phenolics at
      the vacuole and cell wall matrix, respectively. This part has not been adequately
      discussed in the food science literature, especially regarding the synthesis site
      and their transfer at the cellular level, thus this contribution provides
      valuable information to the involved scientists. The bound phenolics cannot be
      absorbed at the small intestine as the soluble phenolics do (5%-10%), thus
      passing into the large intestine and undergoing fermentation by a number of
      microorganisms, partially released from cell wall matrix of foods. Bound
      phenolics such as phenolic acids and flavonoids display strong bioactivities such
      as anticancer, anti-inflammation and cardiovascular disease ameliorating effects.
      They can be extracted by several methods such as acid, alkali and enzymatic
      hydrolysis to quantify their contents in foods. In addition, they can also be
      released from the cell wall matrix during food processing procedures such as
      fermentation, germination, roasting, extrusion cooking and boiling. This review
      provides critical information for better understanding the insoluble-bound
      phenolics in food and fills an existing gap in the literature. 

PMID- 27626403
TI  - Suitable DNA Barcoding for Identification and Supervision of Piper kadsura in
      Chinese Medicine Markets.
AB  - Piper kadsura is a vine-like medicinal plant which is widely used in clinical
      treatment. However, P. kadsura is often substituted by other materials in the
      markets, thereby causing health risks. In this study, 38 P. kadsura samples and
      eight sequences from GenBank, including a closely-related species and common
      adulterants were collected. This study aimed to identify an effective DNA barcode
      from four popular DNA loci for P. kadsura authentication. The success rates of
      PCR amplification, sequencing, and sequence acquisition of matK were 10.5%, 75%,
      and 7.9%, respectively; for rbcL they were 89.5%, 8.8%, and 7.9%, respectively;
      ITS2 rates were 86.8%, 3.0%, and 2.6%, respectively, while for psbA-trnH they
      were all 100%, which is much higher than for the other three loci. The sequences
      were aligned using Muscle, genetic distances were computed using MEGA 5.2.2, and
      barcoding gap was performed using TAXON DNA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that
      psbA-trnH could clearly distinguish P. kadsura from its closely related species
      and the common adulterant. psbA-trnH was then used to evaluate the fake
      proportions of P. kadsura. Results showed that 18.4% of P. kadsura samples were
      fake, indicating that adulterant species exist in the Chinese markets. Two
      dimensional DNA barcoding imaging of P. kadsura was conducted, which was
      beneficial to the management of P. kadsura. We conclude that the psbA-trnH region
      is a powerful tool for P. kadsura identification and supervision in the current
      medicine markets. 

PMID- 27626404
TI  - Spectroelectrochemical Study of Carbon Monoxide and Ethanol Oxidation on Pt/C,
      PtSn(3:1)/C and PtSn(1:1)/C Catalysts.
AB  - PtSn-based catalysts are one of the most active materials toward that contribute
      ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). In order to gain a better understanding of the
      Sn influence on the carbon monoxide (principal catalyst poison) and ethanol
      oxidation reactions in acidic media, a systematic spectroelectrochemical study
      was carried out. With this end, carbon-supported PtSnx (x = 0, 1/3 and 1)
      materials were synthesized and employed as anodic catalysts for both reactions.
      In situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) and differential
      electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) indicate that Sn diminishes the amount
      of bridge bonded CO (COB) and greatly improves the CO tolerance of Pt-based
      catalysts. Regarding the effect of Sn loading on the EOR, it enhances the
      catalytic activity and decreases the onset potential. FTIRS and DEMS analysis
      indicate that the C-C bond scission occurs at low overpotentials and at the same
      potential values regardless of the Sn loading, although the amount of C-C bond
      breaking decreases with the rise of Sn in the catalytic material. Therefore, the
      elevated catalytic activity toward the EOR at PtSn-based electrodes is mainly
      associated with the improved CO tolerance and the incomplete oxidation of ethanol
      to form acetic acid and acetaldehyde species, causing the formation of a higher
      amount of both C2 products with the rise of Sn loading. 

PMID- 27626405
TI  - Synergistic Antipseudomonal Effects of Synthetic Peptide AMP38 and Carbapenems.
AB  - The aim was to explore the antimicrobial activity of a synthetic peptide (AMP38)
      and its synergy with imipenem against imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
      The main mechanism of imipenem resistance is the loss or alteration of protein
      OprD. Time-kill and minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC)
      determinations were carried out by using clinical imipenem-resistant strains.
      AMP38 was markedly synergistic with imipenem when determined in imipenem
      resistant P. aeruginosa. MBEC obtained for the combination of AMP38 and imipenem
      was of 62.5 MUg/mL, whereas the MBEC of each antimicrobial separately was 500
      MUg/mL. AMP38 should be regarded as a promising antimicrobial to fight MDR P.
      aeruginosa infections. Moreover, killing effect and antibiofilm activity of AMP38
      plus imipenem was much higher than that of colistin plus imipenem. 

PMID- 27626406
TI  - Small GTPases and Stress Responses of vvran1 in the Straw Mushroom Volvariella
      volvacea.
AB  - Small GTPases play important roles in the growth, development and environmental
      responses of eukaryotes. Based on the genomic sequence of the straw mushroom
      Volvariella volvacea, 44 small GTPases were identified. A clustering analysis
      using human small GTPases as the references revealed that V. volvacea small
      GTPases can be grouped into five families: nine are in the Ras family, 10 are in
      the Rho family, 15 are in the Rab family, one is in the Ran family and nine are
      in the Arf family. The transcription of vvran1 was up-regulated upon hydrogen
      peroxide (H2O2) stress, and could be repressed by diphenyleneiodonium chloride
      (DPI), a NADPH oxidase-specific inhibitor. The number of vvran1 transcripts also
      increased upon cold stress. Diphenyleneiodonium chloride, but not the superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) inhibitor diethy dithiocarbamate (DDC), could suppress the up
      regulation of vvran1 gene expression to cold stress. These results combined with
      the high correlations between gene expression and superoxide anion (O2(-))
      generation indicated that vvran1 could be one of the candidate genes in the
      downstream of O2(-) mediated pathways that are generated by NADPH oxidase under
      low temperature and oxidative stresses. 

PMID- 27626407
TI  - Testosterone-Mediated Endocrine Function and TH1/TH2 Cytokine Balance after
      Prenatal Exposure to Perfluorooctane Sulfonate: By Sex Status.
AB  - Little information exists about the evaluation of potential developmental
      immunotoxicity induced by perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a synthetic
      persistent and increasingly ubiquitous environmental contaminant. To assess
      potential sex-specific impacts of PFOS on immunological health in the offspring,
      using male and female C57BL/6 mice, pups were evaluated for developmental
      immunotoxic effects after maternal oral exposure to PFOS (0.1, 1.0 and 5.0 mg
      PFOS/kg/day) during Gestational Days 1-17. Spontaneous TH1/TH2-type cytokines,
      serum levels of testosterone and estradiol were evaluated in F1 pups at four and
      eight weeks of age. The study showed that male pups were more sensitive to the
      effects of PFOS than female pups. At eight weeks of age, an imbalance in TH1/TH2
      type cytokines with excess TH2 cytokines (IL-4) was found only in male pups. As
      for hormone levels, PFOS treatment in utero significantly decreased serum
      testosterone levels and increased estradiol levels only in male pups, and a
      significant interaction between sex and PFOS was observed for serum testosterone
      at both four weeks of age (pinteraction = 0.0049) and eight weeks of age
      (pinteraction = 0.0227) and for estradiol alternation at four weeks of age
      (pinteraction = 0.0351). In conclusion, testosterone-mediated endocrine function
      may be partially involved in the TH1/TH2 imbalance induced by PFOS, and these
      deficits are detectable among both young and adult mice and may affect males more
      than females. 

PMID- 27626408
TI  - Linear and Non-Linear Optical Imaging of Cancer Cells with Silicon Nanoparticles.
AB  - New approaches for visualisation of silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) in cancer cells
      are realised by means of the linear and nonlinear optics in vitro. Aqueous
      colloidal solutions of SiNPs with sizes of about 10-40 nm obtained by ultrasound
      grinding of silicon nanowires were introduced into breast cancer cells (MCF-7
      cell line). Further, the time-varying nanoparticles enclosed in cell structures
      were visualised by high-resolution structured illumination microscopy (HR-SIM)
      and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, the nonlinear optical methods of two
      photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering
      (CARS) with infrared laser excitation were applied to study the localisation of
      SiNPs in cells. Advantages of the nonlinear methods, such as rapid imaging, which
      prevents cells from overheating and larger penetration depth compared to the
      single-photon excited HR-SIM, are discussed. The obtained results reveal new
      perspectives of the multimodal visualisation and precise detection of the uptake
      of biodegradable non-toxic SiNPs by cancer cells and they are discussed in view
      of future applications for the optical diagnostics of cancer tumours. 

PMID- 27626409
TI  - Kinase Signaling in Apoptosis Induced by Saturated Fatty Acids in Pancreatic beta
      Cells.
AB  - Pancreatic beta-cell failure and death is considered to be one of the main
      factors responsible for type 2 diabetes. It is caused by, in addition to
      hyperglycemia, chronic exposure to increased concentrations of fatty acids,
      mainly saturated fatty acids. Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis induction by
      saturated fatty acids in beta-cells are not completely clear. It has been
      proposed that kinase signaling could be involved, particularly, c-Jun N-terminal
      kinase (JNK), protein kinase C (PKC), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38
      MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and Akt kinases and their
      pathways. In this review, we discuss these kinases and their signaling pathways
      with respect to their possible role in apoptosis induction by saturated fatty
      acids in pancreatic beta-cells. 

PMID- 27626410
TI  - Cancer Salivary Biomarkers for Tumours Distant to the Oral Cavity.
AB  - The analysis of saliva as a diagnostic approach for systemic diseases was
      proposed just two decades ago, but recently great interest in the field has
      emerged because of its revolutionary potential as a liquid biopsy and its
      usefulness as a non-invasive sampling method. Multiple molecules isolated in
      saliva have been proposed as cancer biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, drug
      monitoring and pharmacogenetic studies. In this review, we focus on the current
      status of the salivary diagnostic biomarkers for different cancers distant to the
      oral cavity, noting their potential use in the clinic and their applicability in
      personalising cancer therapies. 

PMID- 27626411
TI  - The Profiling and Identification of the Absorbed Constituents and Metabolites of
      Guizhi Decoction in Rat Plasma and Urine by Rapid Resolution Liquid
      Chromatography Combined with Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Guizhi decoction (GZD), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
      prescription consisting of Ramulus Cinnamomi, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Radix
      Glycyrrhizae, Fructus Jujubae and Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens, is usually used for
      the treatment of common colds, influenza, and other pyretic conditions in the
      clinic. However, the absorbed ingredients and metabolic compounds of GZD have not
      been reported. In this paper, a method incorporating rapid resolution liquid
      chromatography (RRLC) with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS)
      was used to identify ingredients after oral administration of GZD. Identification
      of the primary components in GZD, drug-containing serum and urine samples was
      carried out in order to investigate the assimilation and metabolites of the
      decoction in vivo. By comparing the total ion chromatograms (TICs) of GZD, a
      total of 71 constituents were detected or characterized. By comparing TICs of
      blank and dosed rat plasma, a total of 15 constituents were detected and
      identified as prototypes according to their retention time (tR) and MS, MS/MS
      data. Based on this, neutral loss scans of 80 and 176 Da in samples of rat plasma
      and urine helped us to identify most of the metabolites. Results showed that the
      predominant metabolic pathways of (epi) catechin and gallic acid were sulfation,
      methylation, glucuronidation and dehydroxylation; the major metabolic pathways of
      flavone were hydrolysis, sulfation and glucuronidation. Furthermore, degradation,
      oxidation and ring fission were found to often occur in the metabolism process of
      GZD in vivo. 

PMID- 27626412
TI  - Sulforaphane, a Dietary Isothiocyanate, Induces G2/M Arrest in Cervical Cancer
      Cells through CyclinB1 Downregulation and GADD45beta/CDC2 Association.
AB  - Globally, cervical cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women. The main
      treatment methods for this type of cancer include conization or hysterectomy
      procedures. Sulforaphane (SFN) is a natural, compound-based drug derived from
      dietary isothiocyanates which has previously been shown to possess potent anti
      tumor and chemopreventive effects against several types of cancer. The present
      study investigated the effects of SFN on anti-proliferation and G2/M phase cell
      cycle arrest in cervical cancer cell lines (Cx, CxWJ, and HeLa). We found that
      cytotoxicity is associated with an accumulation of cells in the G2/M phases of
      the cell-cycle. Treatment with SFN led to cell cycle arrest as well as the down
      regulation of Cyclin B1 expression, but not of CDC2 expression. In addition, the
      effects of GADD45beta gene activation in cell cycle arrest increase
      proportionally with the dose of SFN; however, mitotic delay and the inhibition of
      proliferation both depend on the dosage of SFN used to treat cancer cells. These
      results indicate that SFN may delay the development of cancer by arresting cell
      growth in the G2/M phase via down-regulation of Cyclin B1 gene expression,
      dissociation of the cyclin B1/CDC2 complex, and up-regulation of GADD45beta
      proteins. 

PMID- 27626413
TI  - Impact of Wisteria floribunda Agglutinin-Positive Mac-2-Binding Protein in
      Patients with Hepatitis C Virus-Related Compensated Liver Cirrhosis.
AB  - We aimed to examine the effect of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2
      binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) level on survival comparing with other laboratory
      liver fibrosis markers in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related compensated liver
      cirrhosis (LC) (n = 165). For assessing prognostic performance of continuous
      fibrosis markers, we adapted time-dependent receiver operating characteristics
      (ROC) curves for clinical outcome. In time-dependent ROC analysis, annual area
      under the ROCs (AUROCs) were plotted. We also calculated the total sum of AUROCs
      in all time-points (TAAT score) in each fibrosis marker. WFA+-M2BP value ranged
      from 0.66 cutoff index (COI) to 19.95 COI (median value, 5.29 COI). Using ROC
      analysis for survival, the optimal cutoff point for WFA+-M2BP was 6.15 COI (AUROC
      = 0.79348, sensitivity = 80.0%, specificity = 74.78%). The cumulative five-year
      survival rate in patients with WFA+-M2BP >= 6.15 COI (n = 69) was 43.99%, while
      that in patients with WFA+-M2BP < 6.15 COI (n = 96) was 88.40% (p < 0.0001). In
      the multivariate analysis, absence of hepatocellular carcinoma (p = 0.0008), WFA+
      M2BP < 6.15 COI (p = 0.0132), achievement of sustained virological response (p <
      0.0001) and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin < 41 mAU/mL (p = 0.0018) were
      significant favorable predictors linked to survival. In time-dependent ROC
      analysis in all cases, WFA+-M2BP had the highest TAAT score among liver fibrosis
      markers. In conclusion, WFA+-M2BP can be a useful predictor in HCV-related
      compensated LC. 

PMID- 27626415
TI  - A Protocol to Enhance INS1E and MIN6 Functionality-The Use of Theophylline.
AB  - In vitro research in the field of type I diabetes is frequently limited by the
      availability of a functional model for islets of Langerhans. This method shows
      that by the addition of theophylline to the glucose buffers, mouse insulinoma
      MIN6 and rat insulinoma INS1E pseudo-islets can serve as a model for islets of
      Langerhans for in vitro research. The effect of theophylline is dose- and cell
      line-dependent, resulting in a minimal stimulation index of five followed by a
      rapid return to baseline insulin secretion by reducing glucose concentrations
      after a first high glucose stimulation. This protocol solves issues concerning in
      vitro research for type I diabetes as donors and the availability of primary
      islets of Langerhans are limited. To avoid the limitations of using human donor
      material, cell lines represent a valid alternative. Many different beta cell
      lines have been reported, but the lack of reproducible responsiveness to glucose
      stimulation remains a challenge. 

PMID- 27626414
TI  - Apoptosis in Porcine Pluripotent Cells: From ICM to iPSCs.
AB  - Pigs have great potential to provide preclinical models for human disease in
      translational research because of their similarities with humans. In this regard,
      porcine pluripotent cells, which are able to differentiate into cells of all
      three primary germ layers, might be a suitable animal model for further
      development of regenerative medicine. Here, we describe the current state of
      knowledge on apoptosis in pluripotent cells including inner cell mass (ICM),
      epiblast, embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells
      (iPSCs). Information is focused on the apoptotic phenomenon in pluripotency,
      maintenance, and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells and reprogramming of
      somatic cells in pigs. Additionally, this review examines the multiple roles of
      apoptosis and summarizes recent progress in porcine pluripotent cells. 

PMID- 27626417
TI  - Privacy-Enhanced and Multifunctional Health Data Aggregation under Differential
      Privacy Guarantees.
AB  - With the rapid growth of the health data scale, the limited storage and
      computation resources of wireless body area sensor networks (WBANs) is becoming a
      barrier to their development. Therefore, outsourcing the encrypted health data to
      the cloud has been an appealing strategy. However, date aggregation will become
      difficult. Some recently-proposed schemes try to address this problem. However,
      there are still some functions and privacy issues that are not discussed. In this
      paper, we propose a privacy-enhanced and multifunctional health data aggregation
      scheme (PMHA-DP) under differential privacy. Specifically, we achieve a new
      aggregation function, weighted average (WAAS), and design a privacy-enhanced
      aggregation scheme (PAAS) to protect the aggregated data from cloud servers.
      Besides, a histogram aggregation scheme with high accuracy is proposed. PMHA-DP
      supports fault tolerance while preserving data privacy. The performance
      evaluation shows that the proposal leads to less communication overhead than the
      existing one. 

PMID- 27626416
TI  - Identification of Bioactivity, Volatile and Fatty Acid Profile in Supercritical
      Fluid Extracts of Mexican arnica.
AB  - Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is a sustainable technique used for the
      extraction of lipophilic metabolites such as pigments and fatty acids. Arnica
      plant is considered a potential candidate material with high antioxidant and
      antimicrobial activities. Therefore, in this study, a locally available
      Heterotheca inuloides, also known as Mexican arnica, was analyzed for the
      extraction of high-value compounds. Based on different pressure (P), temperature
      (T), and co-solvent (CoS), four treatments (T) were prepared. A maximum 7.13%
      yield was recovered from T2 (T = 60  degrees C, P = 10 MPa, CoS = 8 g/min),
      followed by 6.69% from T4 (T = 60  degrees C, P = 30 MPa, CoS = 4 g/min). Some
      bioactive sesquiterpenoids such as 7-hydroxycadalene, caryophyllene and delta
      cadinene were identified in the extracts by GC/MS. The fatty acid profile
      revealed that the main components were palmitic acid (C16:0), followed by
      linoleic acid (C18:2omega6c), alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3omega3) and stearic acid
      (C18:0) differing in percent yield per treatment. Antibacterial activities were
      determined by the agar diffusion method, indicating that all the treatments
      exerted strong antibacterial activity against S. aureus, C. albicans, and E. coli
      strains. The antioxidant capacity of the extracts was also measured by three in
      vitro assays, DPPH, TEAC and FRAP, using Trolox as a standard. Results showed
      high antioxidant capacity enabling pharmaceutical applications of Mexican arnica.

PMID- 27626418
TI  - Online Learners' Reading Ability Detection Based on Eye-Tracking Sensors.
AB  - The detection of university online learners' reading ability is generally
      problematic and time-consuming. Thus the eye-tracking sensors have been employed
      in this study, to record temporal and spatial human eye movements. Learners'
      pupils, blinks, fixation, saccade, and regression are recognized as primary
      indicators for detecting reading abilities. A computational model is established
      according to the empirical eye-tracking data, and applying the multi-feature
      regularization machine learning mechanism based on a Low-rank Constraint. The
      model presents good generalization ability with an error of only 4.9% when
      randomly running 100 times. It has obvious advantages in saving time and
      improving precision, with only 20 min of testing required for prediction of an
      individual learner's reading ability. 

PMID- 27626419
TI  - A Hybrid Algorithm for Missing Data Imputation and Its Application to Electrical
      Data Loggers.
AB  - The storage of data is a key process in the study of electrical power networks
      related to the search for harmonics and the finding of a lack of balance among
      phases. The presence of missing data of any of the main electrical variables
      (phase-to-neutral voltage, phase-to-phase voltage, current in each phase and
      power factor) affects any time series study in a negative way that has to be
      addressed. When this occurs, missing data imputation algorithms are required.
      These algorithms are able to substitute the data that are missing for estimated
      values. This research presents a new algorithm for the missing data imputation
      method based on Self-Organized Maps Neural Networks and Mahalanobis distances and
      compares it not only with a well-known technique called Multivariate Imputation
      by Chained Equations (MICE) but also with an algorithm previously proposed by the
      authors called Adaptive Assignation Algorithm (AAA). The results obtained
      demonstrate how the proposed method outperforms both algorithms. 

PMID- 27626421
TI  - A Survey on Node Clustering in Cognitive Radio Wireless Sensor Networks.
AB  - Cognitive radio wireless sensor networks (CR-WSNs) have attracted a great deal of
      attention recently due to the emerging spectrum scarcity issue. This work
      attempts to provide a detailed analysis of the role of node clustering in CR
      WSNs. We outline the objectives, requirements, and advantages of node clustering
      in CR-WSNs. We describe how a CR-WSN with node clustering differs from
      conventional wireless sensor networks, and we discuss its characteristics,
      architecture, and topologies. We survey the existing clustering algorithms and
      compare their objectives and features. We suggest how clustering issues and
      challenges can be handled. 

PMID- 27626420
TI  - A Novel Semi-Supervised Method of Electronic Nose for Indoor Pollution Detection
      Trained by M-S4VMs.
AB  - Electronic nose (E-nose), as a device intended to detect odors or flavors, has
      been widely used in many fields. Many labeled samples are needed to gain an ideal
      E-nose classification model. However, the labeled samples are not easy to obtain
      and there are some cases where the gas samples in the real world are complex and
      unlabeled. As a result, it is necessary to make an E-nose that cannot only
      classify unlabeled samples, but also use these samples to modify its
      classification model. In this paper, we first introduce a semi-supervised
      learning algorithm called S4VMs and improve its use within a multi-classification
      algorithm to classify the samples for an E-nose. Then, we enhance its performance
      by adding the unlabeled samples that it has classified to modify its model and by
      using an optimization algorithm called quantum-behaved particle swarm
      optimization (QPSO) to find the optimal parameters for classification. The
      results of comparing this with other semi-supervised learning algorithms show
      that our multi-classification algorithm performs well in the classification
      system of an E-nose after learning from unlabeled samples. 

PMID- 27626422
TI  - The Simulation of the Recharging Method Based on Solar Radiation for an
      Implantable Biosensor.
AB  - A method of recharging implantable biosensors based on solar radiation is
      proposed. Firstly, the models of the proposed method are developed. Secondly, the
      recharging processes based on solar radiation are simulated using Monte Carlo
      (MC) method and the energy distributions of sunlight within the different layers
      of human skin have been achieved and discussed. Finally, the simulation results
      are verified experimentally, which indicates that the proposed method will
      contribute to achieve a low-cost, convenient and safe method for recharging
      implantable biosensors. 

PMID- 27626423
TI  - Improved Bearings-Only Multi-Target Tracking with GM-PHD Filtering.
AB  - In this paper, an improved nonlinear Gaussian mixture probability hypothesis
      density (GM-PHD) filter is proposed to address bearings-only measurements in
      multi-target tracking. The proposed method, called the Gaussian mixture
      measurements-probability hypothesis density (GMM-PHD) filter, not only
      approximates the posterior intensity using a Gaussian mixture, but also models
      the likelihood function with a Gaussian mixture instead of a single Gaussian
      distribution. Besides, the target birth model of the GMM-PHD filter is assumed to
      be partially uniform instead of a Gaussian mixture. Simulation results show that
      the proposed filter outperforms the GM-PHD filter embedded with the extended
      Kalman filter (EKF) and the unscented Kalman filter (UKF). 

PMID- 27626424
TI  - Real-Time Deflection Monitoring for Milling of a Thin-Walled Workpiece by Using
      PVDF Thin-Film Sensors with a Cantilevered Beam as a Case Study.
AB  - Thin-walled workpieces, such as aero-engine blisks and casings, are usually made
      of hard-to-cut materials. The wall thickness is very small and it is easy to
      deflect during milling process under dynamic cutting forces, leading to
      inaccurate workpiece dimensions and poor surface integrity. To understand the
      workpiece deflection behavior in a machining process, a new real-time
      nonintrusive method for deflection monitoring is presented, and a detailed
      analysis of workpiece deflection for different machining stages of the whole
      machining process is discussed. The thin-film polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
      sensor is attached to the non-machining surface of the workpiece to copy the
      deflection excited by the dynamic cutting force. The relationship between the
      input deflection and the output voltage of the monitoring system is calibrated by
      testing. Monitored workpiece deflection results show that the workpiece
      experiences obvious vibration during the cutter entering the workpiece stage, and
      vibration during the machining process can be easily tracked by monitoring the
      deflection of the workpiece. During the cutter exiting the workpiece stage, the
      workpiece experiences forced vibration firstly, and free vibration exists until
      the amplitude reduces to zero after the cutter exits the workpiece. Machining
      results confirmed the suitability of the deflection monitoring system for
      machining thin-walled workpieces with the application of PVDF sensors. 

PMID- 27626425
TI  - A Novel Slope Method for Measurement of Fluid Density with a Micro-cantilever
      under Flexural and Torsional Vibrations.
AB  - A novel method, which was called a slope method, has been proposed to measure
      fluid density by the micro-cantilever sensing chip. The theoretical formulas of
      the slope method were discussed and established when the micro-cantilever sensing
      chip was under flexural and torsional vibrations. The slope was calculated based
      on the fitted curve between the excitation and output voltages of sensing chip
      under the nonresonant status. This measuring method need not sweep frequency to
      find the accurate resonant frequency. Therefore, the fluid density was measured
      easily based on the calculated slope. In addition, the micro-cantilver was drived
      by double sided excitation and free end excitation to oscillate under flexural
      and torsional vibrations, respectively. The corresponding experiments were
      carried out to measure the fluid density by the slope method. The measurement
      results were also analyzed when the sensing chip was under flexural and torsional
      nonresonant vibrations separately. The measurement accuracies under these
      vibrations were all better than 1.5%, and the density measuring sensitivity under
      torsional nonresonant vibration was about two times higher than that under
      flexural nonresonant vibration. 

PMID- 27626426
TI  - Performance Analysis of Amplify-and-Forward Systems with Single Relay Selection
      in Correlated Environments.
AB  - In this paper, we consider amplify-and-forward (AnF) cooperative systems under
      correlated fading environments. We first present a brief overview of existing
      works on the effect of channel correlations on the system performance. We then
      focus on our main contribution which is analyzing the outage probability of a
      multi-AnF-relay system with the best relay selection (BRS) scheme under a
      condition that two channels of each relay, source-relay and relay-destination
      channels, are correlated. Using lower and upper bounds on the end-to-end received
      signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the destination, we derive corresponding upper and
      lower bounds on the system outage probability. We prove that the system can
      achieve a diversity order (DO) equal to the number of relays. In addition, and
      importantly, we show that the considered correlation form has a constructive
      effect on the system performance. In other words, the larger the correlation
      coefficient, the better system performance. Our analytic results are corroborated
      by extensive Monte-Carlo simulations. 

PMID- 27626427
TI  - Orientation-Dependent Displacement Sensor Using an Inner Cladding Fiber Bragg
      Grating.
AB  - An orientation-dependent displacement sensor based on grating inscription over a
      fiber core and inner cladding has been demonstrated. The device comprises a short
      piece of multi-cladding fiber sandwiched between two standard single-mode fibers
      (SMFs). The grating structure is fabricated by a femtosecond laser side
      illumination technique. Two well-defined resonances are achieved by the
      downstream both core and cladding fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The cladding
      resonance presents fiber bending dependence, together with a strong orientation
      dependence because of asymmetrical distribution of the "cladding" FBG along the
      fiber cross-section. 

PMID- 27626429
TI  - Machine-Learning Based Channel Quality and Stability Estimation for Stream-Based
      Multichannel Wireless Sensor Networks.
AB  - Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have become more and more diversified and are
      today able to also support high data rate applications, such as multimedia. In
      this case, per-packet channel handshaking/switching may result in inducing
      additional overheads, such as energy consumption, delays and, therefore, data
      loss. One of the solutions is to perform stream-based channel allocation where
      channel handshaking is performed once before transmitting the whole data stream.
      Deciding stream-based channel allocation is more critical in case of multichannel
      WSNs where channels of different quality/stability are available and the wish for
      high performance requires sensor nodes to switch to the best among the available
      channels. In this work, we will focus on devising mechanisms that perform channel
      quality/stability estimation in order to improve the accommodation of stream
      based communication in multichannel wireless sensor networks. For performing
      channel quality assessment, we have formulated a composite metric, which we call
      channel rank measurement (CRM), that can demarcate channels into good,
      intermediate and bad quality on the basis of the standard deviation of the
      received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and the average of the link quality
      indicator (LQI) of the received packets. CRM is then used to generate a data set
      for training a supervised machine learning-based algorithm (which we call Normal
      Equation based Channel quality prediction (NEC) algorithm) in such a way that it
      may perform instantaneous channel rank estimation of any channel. Subsequently,
      two robust extensions of the NEC algorithm are proposed (which we call Normal
      Equation based Weighted Moving Average Channel quality prediction (NEWMAC)
      algorithm and Normal Equation based Aggregate Maturity Criteria with Beta
      Tracking based Channel weight prediction (NEAMCBTC) algorithm), that can perform
      channel quality estimation on the basis of both current and past values of
      channel rank estimation. In the end, simulations are made using MATLAB, and the
      results show that the Extended version of NEAMCBTC algorithm (Ext-NEAMCBTC)
      outperforms the compared techniques in terms of channel quality and stability
      assessment. It also minimizes channel switching overheads (in terms of switching
      delays and energy consumption) for accommodating stream-based communication in
      multichannel WSNs. 

PMID- 27626428
TI  - A Microflow Cytometer with a Rectangular Quasi-Flat-Top Laser Spot.
AB  - This work develops a microflow cytometer, based on a microfluidic chip for three
      dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic focusing and a binary optical element (BOE) for
      shaping and homogenizing a laser beam. The microfluidic chip utilizes sheath
      flows to confine the sample flow along the channel centerline with a narrow cross
      section. In addition to hydrodynamic focusing, secondary flows are generated to
      strengthen the focusing in the vertical direction. In experiments, the chip was
      able to focus the sample flow with cross sections of 15 MUm high and 8-30 MUm
      wide at 5 m/s, under the condition of the sample flow rates between 10 and 120
      MUL/min. Instead of using the conventional elliptical Gaussian spot for optical
      detection, we used a specially designed BOE and obtained a 50 MUm * 10 MUm
      rectangular quasi-flat-top spot. The microflow cytometer combining the chip and
      the BOE was tested to count 3, 5, and 7 MUm fluorescence microbeads, and the
      experimental results were comparable to or better than those derived from two
      commercial instruments. 

PMID- 27626431
TI  - R-Phycoerythrin Induces SGC-7901 Apoptosis by Arresting Cell Cycle at S Phase.
AB  - R-Phycoerythrin (R-PE), one of the chemical constituents of red algae, could
      produce singlet oxygen upon excitation with the appropriate radiation and
      possibly be used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer. Documents reported
      that R-PE could inhibit cell proliferation in HepG2 and A549 cells, which was
      significative for cancer therapy. This is due to the fact that R-PE could kill
      cancer cells directly as well as by PDT. However, little is known about the
      cytotoxicity of R-PE to the SGC-7901 cell. In this study, it has been found that
      R-PE could inhibit SGC-7901 proliferation and induce cell apoptosis, which was
      achieved by arresting the SGC-7901 cell at S phase. CyclinA, CDK2 and CDC25A are
      proteins associated with the S phase, and it was found that R-PE could increase
      the expression of cyclin A protein and decrease the expression of CDK2 and CDC25A
      proteins. Thus, it was concluded that R-PE reduced the CDK2 protein activated
      through decreasing the CDC25A factor, which reduced the formation of Cyclin-CDK
      complex. The reduction of Cyclin-CDK complex made the SGC-7901 cells arrest at
      the S phase. Therefore, R-PE induced apoptosis by arresting the SGC-7901 cell at
      S phase was successful, which was achieved by the expression of the CDC25A
      protein, which reduced the CDK2 protein actived and the formation of Cyclin-CDK
      complex. 

PMID- 27626430
TI  - Bioprospecting Red Sea Coastal Ecosystems for Culturable Microorganisms and Their
      Antimicrobial Potential.
AB  - Microorganisms that inhabit unchartered unique soil such as in the highly saline
      and hot Red Sea lagoons on the Saudi Arabian coastline, represent untapped
      sources of potentially new bioactive compounds. In this study, a culture
      dependent approach was applied to three types of sediments: mangrove mud (MN),
      microbial mat (MM), and barren soil (BS), collected from Rabigh harbor lagoon
      (RHL) and Al-Kharrar lagoon (AKL). The isolated bacteria were evaluated for their
      potential to produce bioactive compounds. The phylogenetic characterization of
      251 bacterial isolates based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, supported their
      assignment to five different phyla: Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria,
      Bacteroidetes, and Planctomycetes. Fifteen putative novel species were identified
      based on a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to other strain sequences in the
      NCBI database, being <=98%. We demonstrate that 49 of the 251 isolates exhibit
      the potential to produce antimicrobial compounds. Additionally, at least one type
      of biosynthetic gene sequence, responsible for the synthesis of secondary
      metabolites, was recovered from 25 of the 49 isolates. Moreover, 10 of the
      isolates had a growth inhibition effect towards Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella
      typhimurium and Pseudomonas syringae. We report the previously unknown
      antimicrobial activity of B. borstelensis, P. dendritiformis and M. salipaludis
      against all three indicator pathogens. Our study demonstrates the evidence of
      diverse cultured microbes associated with the Red Sea harbor/lagoon environments
      and their potential to produce antimicrobial compounds. 

PMID- 27626432
TI  - An Overview of the Medical Applications of Marine Skeletal Matrix Proteins.
AB  - In recent years, the medicinal potential of marine organisms has attracted
      increasing attention. This is due to their immense diversity and adaptation to
      unique ecological niches that has led to vast physiological and biochemical
      diversification. Among these organisms, marine calcifiers are an abundant source
      of novel proteins and chemical entities that can be used for drug discovery.
      Studies of the skeletal organic matrix proteins of marine calcifiers have focused
      on biomedical applications such as the identification of growth inducing proteins
      that can be used for bone regeneration, for example, 2/4 bone morphogenic
      proteins (BMP). Although a few reports on the functions of proteins derived from
      marine calcifiers can be found in the literature, marine calcifiers themselves
      remain an untapped source of proteins for the development of innovative
      pharmaceuticals. Following an overview of the current knowledge of skeletal
      organic matrix proteins from marine calcifiers, this review will focus on various
      aspects of marine skeletal protein research including sources, biosynthesis,
      structures, and possible strategies for chemical or physical modification.
      Special attention will be given to potential medical applications and recent
      discoveries of skeletal proteins and polysaccharides with biologically appealing
      characteristics. In addition, I will introduce an effective protocol for sample
      preparation and protein purification that includes isolation technology for
      biopolymers (of both soluble and insoluble organic matrices) from coralline
      algae. These algae are a widespread but poorly studied group of shallow marine
      calcifiers that have great potential for marine drug discovery. 

PMID- 27626433
TI  - Estimating the Additional Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Korea: Focused on
      Demolition of Asbestos Containing Materials in Building.
AB  - When asbestos containing materials (ACM) must be removed from the building before
      demolition, additional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated. However,
      precedent studies have not considered the removal of ACM from the building. The
      present study aimed to develop a model for estimating GHG emissions created by
      the ACM removal processes, specifically the removal of asbestos cement slates
      (ACS). The second objective was to use the new model to predict the total GHG
      emission produced by ACM removal in the entire country of Korea. First, an input
      equipment inventory was established for each step of the ACS removal process.
      Second, an energy consumption database for each equipment type was established.
      Third, the total GHG emission contributed by each step of the process was
      calculated. The GHG emissions generated from the 1,142,688 ACS-containing
      buildings in Korea was estimated to total 23,778 tonCO2eq to 132,141 tonCO2eq.
      This study was meaningful in that the emissions generated by ACS removal have not
      been studied before. Furthermore, the study deals with additional problems that
      can be triggered by the presence of asbestos in building materials. The method
      provided in this study is expected to contribute greatly to the calculation of
      GHG emissions caused by ACM worldwide.

PMID- 27626435
TI  - Pre-Pregnancy Maternal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Gestational
      Weight Gain: A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been implicated in the development of
      obesity in non-pregnant adults. However, few studies have explored the
      association of POPs with gestational weight gain (GWG), an important predictor of
      future risk of obesity in both the mother and offspring. We estimated the
      association of maternal pre-pregnancy levels of 63 POPs with GWG. Data are from
      women (18-40 years; n = 218) participating in a prospective cohort study. POPs
      were assessed using established protocols in pre-pregnancy, non-fasting blood
      samples. GWG was assessed using three techniques: (1) total GWG (difference
      between measured pre-pregnancy weight and final self-reported pre-delivery
      weight); (2) category based on pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI)-specific
      Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations; and (3) area under the GWG curve
      (AUC). In an exploratory analysis, effects were estimated separately for women
      with BMI < 25 kg/m2 versus BMI >= 25 kg/m2. Multivariable polytomous logistic
      regression and linear regression were used to estimate the association between
      each chemical or congener and the three GWG outcomes. p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl
      trichloroethane (p,p'-DDT) was significantly inversely associated with AUC after
      adjustment for lipids and pre-pregnancy BMI: beta {95% confidence interval (CI)},
      -378.03 (-724.02, -32.05). Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was significantly
      positively associated with AUC after adjustment for lipids among women with a BMI
      < 25 kg/m2 {beta (95% CI), 280.29 (13.71, 546.86)}, but not among women with a
      BMI >= 25 kg/m2 {beta (95% CI), 56.99 (-328.36, 442.34)}. In summary, pre
      pregnancy levels of select POPs, namely, p,p'-DDT and PFOS, were moderately
      associated with GWG. The association between POPs and weight gain during
      pregnancy may be more complex than previously thought, and adiposity prior to
      pregnancy may be an important effect modifier.

PMID- 27626434
TI  - Determination of Histamine in Silages Using Nanomaghemite Core (gamma-Fe2O3)
      Titanium Dioxide Shell Nanoparticles Off-Line Coupled with Ion Exchange
      Chromatography.
AB  - The presence of biogenic amines is a hallmark of degraded food and its products.
      Herein, we focused on the utilization of magnetic nanoparticles off-line coupled
      with ion exchange chromatography with post-column ninhydrin derivatization and
      Vis detection for histamine (Him) separation and detection. Primarily, we
      described the synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles with nanomaghemite core (gamma
      Fe2O3) functionalized with titanium dioxide and, then, applied these particles to
      specific isolation of Him. To obtain further insight into interactions between
      paramagnetic particles' (PMP) surface and Him, a scanning electron microscope was
      employed. It was shown that binding of histamine causes an increase of relative
      current response of deprotonated PMPs, which confirmed formation of Him-PMPs
      clusters. The recovery of the isolation showed that titanium dioxide-based
      particles were able to bind and preconcentrate Him with recovery exceeding 90%.
      Finally, we successfully carried out the analyses of real samples obtained from
      silage. We can conclude that our modified particles are suitable for Him
      isolation, and thus may serve as the first isolation step of Him from biological
      samples, as it is demonstrated on alfalfa seed variety Tereza silage.

PMID- 27626437
TI  - Analysis of the Langat Virus Genome in Persistent Infection of an Ixodes
      scapularis Cell Line.
AB  - Tick-borne flaviviruses (TBFVs) cause a broad spectrum of disease manifestations
      ranging from asymptomatic to mild febrile illness and life threatening
      encephalitis. These single-stranded positive-sense (ss(+)) RNA viruses are
      naturally maintained in a persistent infection of ixodid ticks and small-medium
      sized mammals. The development of cell lines from the ixodid ticks has provided a
      valuable surrogate system for studying the biology of TBFVs in vitro. When we
      infected ISE6 cells, an Ixodes scapularis embryonic cell line, with Langat virus
      (LGTV) we observed that the infection proceeded directly into persistence without
      any cytopathic effect. Analysis of the viral genome at selected time points
      showed that no defective genomes were generated during LGTV persistence by 10
      weeks of cell passage. This was in contrast to LGTV persistence in 293T cells in
      which defective viral genomes are detectable by five weeks of serial cell
      passage. We identified two synonymous nucleotide changes i.e., 1893A->C (29% of
      5978 reads at 12 h post infection (hpi)) and 2284T->A (34% of 4191 reads at 12
      hpi) in the region encoding for the viral protein E. These results suggested that
      the mechanisms supporting LGTV persistence are different between tick and
      mammalian cells.

PMID- 27626436
TI  - Polymorphisms in Long Noncoding RNA H19 Contribute to the Protective Effects of
      Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis in a Chinese Population.
AB  - The H19 is a kind of long noncoding RNA, which has been implicated in multiple
      biological functions. However, the associations between genetic variants in H19
      and susceptibility of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) have been seldom
      reported. In the present study, three potential polymorphisms (rs2067051,
      rs217727, and rs2839702) in H19 were genotyped in a case-control study including
      703 CWP cases and 705 controls. We found that individuals with the H19 rs2067051
      CT/TT genotypes showed a decreased risk of CWP compared with those with the CC
      genotype (adjusted OR = 0.64, 95%CI = 0.49-0.83, p = 0.001). Further stratified
      analyses revealed that the associations between variant genotypes of rs2067051
      and the risk of CWP were more prominent in subjects of non-smokers (adjusted OR =
      0.55, 95%CI = 0.39-0.79, p = 0.001) and CWP patients with Stage I (adjusted OR =
      0.63, 95%CI = 0.46-0.86, p = 0.004). Additionally, the protective effects of H19
      rs2067051 were also evident in coal miners both with dust exposure years <25
      years (adjusted OR = 0.63, 95%CI = 0.42-0.95, p = 0.026) and >=25 years (adjusted
      OR = 0.57, 95%CI = 0.40-0.80, p = 0.001). Our results indicated that rs2067051 in
      the H19 gene is correlated with a deceased risk of CWP in a Chinese population,
      which may be a potential genetic marker for prevention and intervention of CWP.
      Further functional studies are warranted to validate our findings.

PMID- 27626438
TI  - Influenza A Virus Hemagglutinin is Required for the Assembly of Viral Components
      Including Bundled vRNPs at the Lipid Raft.
AB  - The influenza glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), which are
      associated with the lipid raft, have the potential to initiate virion budding.
      However, the role of these viral proteins in infectious virion assembly is still
      unclear. In addition, it is not known how the viral ribonucleoprotein complex
      (vRNP) is tethered to the budding site. Here, we show that HA is necessary for
      the efficient progeny virion production and vRNP packaging in the virion. We also
      found that the level of HA does not affect the bundling of the eight vRNP
      segments, despite reduced virion production. Detergent solubilization and a
      subsequent membrane flotation analysis indicated that the accumulation of
      nucleoprotein, viral polymerases, NA, and matrix protein 1 (M1) in the lipid raft
      fraction was delayed without HA. Based on our results, we inferred that HA plays
      a role in the accumulation of viral components, including bundled vRNPs, at the
      lipid raft.

PMID- 27626441
TI  - On the Selective Packaging of Genomic RNA by HIV-1.
AB  - Like other retroviruses, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) selectively
      packages genomic RNA (gRNA) during virus assembly. However, in the absence of the
      gRNA, cellular messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are packaged. While the gRNA is selected
      because of its cis-acting packaging signal, the mechanism of this selection is
      not understood. The affinity of Gag (the viral structural protein) for cellular
      RNAs at physiological ionic strength is not much higher than that for the gRNA.
      However, binding to the gRNA is more salt-resistant, implying that it has a
      higher non-electrostatic component. We have previously studied the spacer 1 (SP1)
      region of Gag and showed that it can undergo a concentration-dependent
      conformational transition. We proposed that this transition represents the first
      step in assembly, i.e., the conversion of Gag to an assembly-ready state. To
      explain selective packaging of gRNA, we suggest here that binding of Gag to gRNA,
      with its high non-electrostatic component, triggers this conversion more readily
      than binding to other RNAs; thus we predict that a Gag-gRNA complex will nucleate
      particle assembly more efficiently than other Gag-RNA complexes. New data shows
      that among cellular mRNAs, those with long 3'-untranslated regions (UTR) are
      selectively packaged. It seems plausible that the 3'-UTR, a stretch of RNA not
      occupied by ribosomes, offers a favorable binding site for Gag.

PMID- 27626442
TI  - Validity and Reproducibility of a Habitual Dietary Fibre Intake Short Food
      Frequency Questionnaire.
AB  - Low dietary fibre intake has been associated with poorer health outcomes,
      therefore having the ability to be able to quickly assess an individual's dietary
      fibre intake would prove useful in clinical practice and for research purposes.
      Current dietary assessment methods such as food records and food frequency
      questionnaires are time-consuming and burdensome, and there are presently no
      published short dietary fibre intake questionnaires that can quantify an
      individual's total habitual dietary fibre intake and classify individuals as low,
      moderate or high habitual dietary fibre consumers. Therefore, we aimed to develop
      and validate a habitual dietary fibre intake short food frequency questionnaire
      (DFI-FFQ) which can quickly and accurately classify individuals based on their
      habitual dietary fibre intake. In this study the DFI-FFQ was validated against
      the Monash University comprehensive nutrition assessment questionnaire (CNAQ).
      Fifty-two healthy, normal weight male (n = 17) and female (n = 35) participants,
      aged between 21 and 61 years, completed the DFI-FFQ twice and the CNAQ once. All
      eligible participants completed the study, however the data from 46% of the
      participants were excluded from analysis secondary to misreporting. The DFI-FFQ
      cannot accurately quantify total habitual dietary fibre intakes, however, it is a
      quick, valid and reproducible tool in classifying individuals based on their
      habitual dietary fibre intakes. 

PMID- 27626439
TI  - The Life-Cycle of the HIV-1 Gag-RNA Complex.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication is a highly regulated
      process requiring the recruitment of viral and cellular components to the plasma
      membrane for assembly into infectious particles. This review highlights the
      recent process of understanding the selection of the genomic RNA (gRNA) by the
      viral Pr55(Gag) precursor polyprotein, and the processes leading to its
      incorporation into viral particles.

PMID- 27626440
TI  - Organization, Function, and Therapeutic Targeting of the Morbillivirus RNA
      Dependent RNA Polymerase Complex.
AB  - The morbillivirus genus comprises major human and animal pathogens, including the
      highly contagious measles virus. Morbilliviruses feature single stranded negative
      sense RNA genomes that are wrapped by a plasma membrane-derived lipid envelope.
      Genomes are encapsidated by the viral nucleocapsid protein forming
      ribonucleoprotein complexes, and only the encapsidated RNA is transcribed and
      replicated by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). In this review, we
      discuss recent breakthroughs towards the structural and functional understanding
      of the morbillivirus polymerase complex. Considering the clinical burden imposed
      by members of the morbillivirus genus, the development of novel antiviral
      therapeutics is urgently needed. The viral polymerase complex presents unique
      structural and enzymatic properties that can serve as attractive candidates for
      druggable targets. We evaluate distinct strategies for therapeutic intervention
      and examine how high-resolution insight into the organization of the polymerase
      complex may pave the path towards the structure-based design and optimization of
      next-generation RdRp inhibitors.

PMID- 27626443
TI  - Water Intake in a Sample of Greek Adults Evaluated with the Water Balance
      Questionnaire (WBQ) and a Seven-Day Diary.
AB  - Awareness on the importance of hydration in health has created an unequivocal
      need to enrich knowledge on water intake of the general population and on the
      contribution of beverages to total water intake. We evaluated in the past water
      intake in a sample of Greek adults using two approaches. In study A, volunteers
      completed the Water Balance Questionnaire (WBQ), a food frequency questionnaire,
      designed to evaluate water intake (n = 1092; 48.1% males; 43 +/- 18 years). In
      study B, a different population of volunteers recorded water, beverage, and food
      intake in seven-day diaries (n = 178; 51.1% males; 37 +/- 12 years). Herein, data
      were reanalyzed with the objective to reveal the contribution of beverages in
      total water intake with these different methodologies. Beverage recording was
      grouped in the following categories: Hot beverages; milk; fruit and vegetable
      juices; caloric soft drinks; diet soft drinks; alcoholic drinks; other beverages;
      and water. Total water intake and water intake from beverages was 3254 (SE 43)
      mL/day and 2551 (SE 39) mL/day in study A; and 2349 (SE 59) mL/day and 1832 (SE
      56) mL/day in study B. In both studies water had the highest contribution to
      total water intake, approximately 50% of total water intake, followed by hot
      beverages (10% of total water intake) and milk (5% of total water intake). These
      two approaches contribute information on water intake in Greece and highlight the
      contribution of different beverages; moreover, they point out differences in
      results obtained from different methodologies attributed to limitations in their
      use. 

PMID- 27626444
TI  - Ethnic Differences in the Food Intake Patterns and Its Associated Factors of
      Adolescents in Kelantan, Malaysia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify the ethnic differences in dietary
      patterns and its association with socio-economic, dietary and lifestyle practices
      among adolescents in Kelantan, Malaysia. METHODS: A population-based study of 454
      adolescents aged 12 to 19 years was included. A validated food frequency
      questionnaire was used to assess dietary patterns and three dietary patterns were
      identified based on the principal component analysis method. RESULTS: Malay
      adolescents had significantly higher scores for the Western-based food pattern
      and local-based food pattern, whereas Chinese adolescents showed higher scores
      for the healthy-based food pattern. Multivariate analyses show that age and
      physical activity (PA) levels were positively associated with healthy-based food
      pattern in Malay (All, p < 0.001), whereas higher consumption of eating-out from
      home (EatOut) (p = 0.014) and fast food (p = 0.041) were negatively associated.
      High weekly breakfast skipping (p < 0.001) and EatOut (p = 0.003) were positively
      associated with a Western-based pattern, whereas age (p < 0.001) and household
      income (p = 0.005) were negatively associated. Higher frequency of daily snacking
      (p = 0.013) was positively associated with local-based food pattern. For Chinese
      adolescents, age (p < 0.001), PA levels (p < 0.001) and maternal education level
      (p = 0.035) showed positive associations with the healthy-based pattern, whereas
      high EatOut (p = 0.001) and fast food intakes (p = 0.001) were negatively
      associated. Higher weekly consumption of EatOut (p = 0.007), fast food (p =
      0.023) and carbonated beverages (p = 0.023), and daily snacking practice (p =
      0.004) were positively associated with higher Western-based food pattern, whereas
      age (p = 0.004) was inversely associated. CONCLUSION: This study showed that
      there were significant differences in dietary patterns and its association
      factors between Malay and Chinese adolescents. More importantly, these findings
      suggest that unhealthy dietary and lifestyle practices could increase the risk of
      adherence to unhealthy Western-based food pattern that is high in fat, sugar and
      salt contents, and, consequently, increase the risk of developing obesity and
      metabolic-related disorders during these critical years of growth.

PMID- 27626445
TI  - Tetanus Neurotoxin Neutralizing Antibodies Screened from a Human Immune scFv
      Antibody Phage Display Library.
AB  - Tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) produced by Clostridium tetani is one of the most
      poisonous protein substances. Neutralizing antibodies against TeNT can
      effectively prevent and cure toxicosis. Using purified Hc fragments of TeNT (TeNT
      Hc) as an antigen, three specific neutralizing antibody clones recognizing
      different epitopes were selected from a human immune scFv antibody phage display
      library. The three antibodies (2-7G, 2-2D, and S-4-7H) can effectively inhibit
      the binding between TeNT-Hc and differentiated PC-12 cells in vitro. Moreover, 2
      7G inhibited TeNT-Hc binding to the receptor via carbohydrate-binding sites of
      the W pocket while 2-2D and S-4-7H inhibited binding of the R pocket. Although no
      single mAb completely protected mice from the toxin, they could both prolong
      survival when challenged with 20 LD50s (50% of the lethal dose) of TeNT. When
      used together, the mAbs completely neutralized 1000 LD50s/mg Ab, indicating their
      high neutralizing potency in vivo. Antibodies recognizing different carbohydrate
      binding pockets could have higher synergistic toxin neutralization activities
      than those that recognize the same pockets. These results could lead to further
      production of neutralizing antibody drugs against TeNT and indicate that using
      TeNT-Hc as an antigen for screening human antibodies for TeNT intoxication
      therapy from human immune antibody library was convenient and effective.

PMID- 27626446
TI  - Neutralization of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type E by a Humanized Antibody.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) cause botulism and are the deadliest naturally
      occurring substances known to humans. BoNTs have been classified as one of the
      category A agents by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicating
      their potential use as bioweapons. To counter bio-threat and naturally-occurring
      botulism cases, well-tolerated antibodies by humans that neutralize BoNTs are
      relevant. In our previous work, we showed the neutralizing potential of macaque
      (Macaca fascicularis)-derived scFv-Fc (scFv-Fc ELC18) by in vitro endopeptidase
      immunoassay and ex vivo mouse phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm assay by targeting the
      light chain of the botulinum neurotoxin type E (BoNT/E). In the present study, we
      germline-humanized scFv-Fc ELC18 into a full IgG hu8ELC18 to increase its
      immunotolerance by humans. We demonstrated the protection and prophylaxis
      capacity of hu8ELC18 against BoNT/E in a mouse model. A concentration of 2.5
      ng/mouse of hu8ELC18 protected against 5 mouse lethal dose (MLD) in a mouse
      protection assay and complete neutralization of 1 LD50 of pure BoNT/E toxin was
      achieved with 8 ng of hu8ELC18 in mouse paralysis assay. Furthermore, hu8ELC18
      protected mice from 5 MLD if injected up to 14 days prior to intraperitoneal
      BoNT/E administration. This newly-developed humanized IgG is expected to have
      high tolerance in humans.

PMID- 27626449
TI  - Ag85A DNA Vaccine Delivery by Nanoparticles: Influence of the Formulation
      Characteristics on Immune Responses.
AB  - The influence of DNA vaccine formulations on immune responses in combination with
      adjuvants was investigated with the aim to increase cell-mediated immunity
      against plasmid DNA (pDNA) encoding Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen 85A.
      Different ratios of pDNA with cationic trimethyl chitosan (TMC) nanoparticles
      were characterized for their morphology and physicochemical characteristics
      (size, zeta potential, loading efficiency and pDNA release profile) applied in
      vitro for cellular uptake studies and in vivo, to determine the dose-dependent
      effects of pDNA on immune responses. A selected pDNA/TMC nanoparticle formulation
      was optimized by the incorporation of muramyl dipeptide (MDP) as an
      immunostimulatory agent. Cellular uptake investigations in vitro showed
      saturation to a maximum level upon the increase in the pDNA/TMC nanoparticle
      ratio, correlating with increasing Th1-related antibody responses up to a
      definite pDNA dose applied. Moreover, TMC nanoparticles induced clear
      polarization towards a Th1 response, indicated by IgG2c/IgG1 ratios above unity
      and enhanced numbers of antigen-specific IFN-gamma producing T-cells in the
      spleen. Remarkably, the incorporation of MDP in TMC nanoparticles provoked a
      significant additional increase in T-cell-mediated responses induced by pDNA. In
      conclusion, pDNA-loaded TMC nanoparticles are capable of provoking strong Th1
      type cellular and humoral immune responses, with the potential to be further
      optimized by the incorporation of MDP. 

PMID- 27626450
TI  - Correction: Ono, S.; Lam, S.; Nagahara, M.; Hoon, D.S.B. Circulating microRNA
      Biomarkers as Liquid Biopsy for Cancer Patients: Pros and Cons of Current Assays.
      J. Clin. Med. 2015, 4, 1890-1907.
AB  - The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [1]:[...]. 

PMID- 27626448
TI  - Keratins Are Altered in Intestinal Disease-Related Stress Responses.
AB  - Keratin (K) intermediate filaments can be divided into type I/type II proteins,
      which form obligate heteropolymers. Epithelial cells express type I-type II
      keratin pairs, and K7, K8 (type II) and K18, K19 and K20 (type I) are the primary
      keratins found in the single-layered intestinal epithelium. Keratins are
      upregulated during stress in liver, pancreas, lung, kidney and skin, however,
      little is known about their dynamics in the intestinal stress response. Here,
      keratin mRNA, protein and phosphorylation levels were studied in response to
      murine colonic stresses modeling human conditions, and in colorectal cancer HT29
      cells. Dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-colitis was used as a model for intestinal
      inflammatory stress, which elicited a strong upregulation and widened crypt
      distribution of K7 and K20. K8 levels were slightly downregulated in acute DSS,
      while stress-responsive K8 serine-74 phosphorylation (K8 pS74) was increased. By
      eliminating colonic microflora using antibiotics, K8 pS74 in proliferating cells
      was significantly increased, together with an upregulation of K8 and K19. In the
      aging mouse colon, most colonic keratins were upregulated. In vitro, K8, K19 and
      K8 pS74 levels were increased in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced
      inflammation in HT29 cells. In conclusion, intestinal keratins are differentially
      and dynamically upregulated and post-translationally modified during stress and
      recovery. 

PMID- 27626447
TI  - Bioactivation and Regioselectivity of Pig Cytochrome P450 3A29 towards Aflatoxin
      B1.
AB  - Due to unavoidable contaminations in feedstuff, pigs are easily exposed to
      aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and suffer from poisoning, thus the poisoned products
      potentially affect human health. Heretofore, the metabolic process of AFB1 in
      pigs remains to be clarified, especially the principal cytochrome P450 oxidases
      responsible for its activation. In this study, we cloned CYP3A29 from pig liver
      and expressed it in Escherichia coli, and its activity has been confirmed with
      the typical P450 CO-reduced spectral characteristic and nifedipine-oxidizing
      activity. The reconstituted membrane incubation proved that the recombinant
      CYP3A29 was able to oxidize AFB1 to form AFB1-exo-8,9-epoxide in vitro. The
      structural basis for the regioselective epoxidation of AFB1 by CYP3A29 was
      further addressed. The T309A mutation significantly decreased the production of
      AFBO, whereas F304A exhibited an enhanced activation towards AFB1. In agreement
      with the mutagenesis study, the molecular docking simulation suggested that
      Thr309 played a significant role in stabilization of AFB1 binding in the active
      center through a hydrogen bond. In addition, the bulk phenyl group of Phe304
      potentially imposed steric hindrance on the binding of AFB1. Our study
      demonstrates the bioactivation of pig CYP3A29 towards AFB1 in vitro, and provides
      the insight for understanding regioselectivity of CYP3A29 to AFB1.

PMID- 27626451
TI  - Photocrosslinkable Trehalose Derivatives Carrying Mesogenic Groups: Synthesis,
      Characterization, and in Vitro Evaluation for Fibroblast Attachment.
AB  - A photocrosslinkable trehalose derivative carrying mesogenic groups was
      synthesized by esterification reactions. The derivative (TC-HBPHA) was
      synthesized by the reaction of partially cinnamoyl-modified trehalose (TC4) with
      4-(4-hexyloxybenzoyloxy)phenoxy-6-oxohexanoic acid (HBPHA) as a mesogenic unit.
      TC-HBPHA showed a nematic liquid crystalline mesophase at a temperature range
      from 150  degrees C to 175  degrees C in the heating process under observation
      with a polarized optical microscope. The dimerization of the cinnamoyl groups of
      TC-HBPHA by ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation was monitored by ultraviolet
      visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)
      spectroscopy. The photocrosslinked film was obtained after the UV irradiation of
      TC-HBPHA, and it kept the liquid crystalline mesophase at almost the same
      temperature range. Fibroblast cells cultured on the photocrosslinked TC-HBPHA
      proliferated as well as on the polystyrene culture plate, indicating that the
      film has no toxicity. Interestingly, some cells on photocrosslinked TC-HBPHA had
      a spindle shape and aligned characteristically. 

PMID- 27626452
TI  - A Smart pH-Responsive Three Components Luminescent Hydrogel.
AB  - In this study, we report a novel three-component luminescent hydrogel, which is
      composed of amino acid derivatives (N,N'-di valine-3,4,9,10
      perylenetetracarboxylic acid, NVPD), riboflavin (RF), and melamine (MM). The
      three-component hydrogel is attributed to multiple hydrogen bonds and the strong
      pi-pi stacking interaction between these molecules. Based on the strong hydrogen
      bonding of the gelator, when the reversible process between the gel and the
      solution take places it changes the pH of the system from 6.1 to 10.6. In
      addition, green fluorescence could be the emissive of the hydrogel under 498 nm
      and the conversion process of the aggregation state repeated reversibly by
      altering the value of ambient pH. This pH-responsive luminescent gel may display
      potential for use in nano pH sensors. 

PMID- 27626454
TI  - Giraffe Stature and Neck Elongation: Vigilance as an Evolutionary Mechanism.
AB  - Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), with their long neck and legs, are unique
      amongst mammals. How these features evolved is a matter of conjecture. The two
      leading ideas are the high browse and the sexual-selection hypotheses. While both
      explain many of the characteristics and the behaviour of giraffe, neither is
      fully supported by the available evidence. The extended viewing horizon afforded
      by increased height and a need to maintain horizon vigilance, as a mechanism
      favouring the evolution of increased height is reviewed. In giraffe, vigilance of
      predators whilst feeding and drinking are important survival factors, as is the
      ability to interact with immediate herd members, young and male suitors. The
      evidence regarding giraffe vigilance behaviour is sparse and suggests that over
      vigilance has a negative cost, serving as a distraction to feeding. In woodland
      savannah, increased height allows giraffe to see further, allowing each giraffe
      to increase the distance between its neighbours while browsing. Increased height
      allows the giraffe to see the early approach of predators, as well as bull males.
      It is postulated that the wider panorama afforded by an increase in height and
      longer neck has improved survival via allowing giraffe to browse safely over
      wider areas, decreasing competition within groups and with other herbivores. 

PMID- 27626455
TI  - Increasing Incidence Rate of Cervical Cerclage in Pregnancy in Australia: A
      Population-Based Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Data published from the United States have demonstrated that the use
      of cervical cerclage has fallen in the period 1998-2013. This is in contrast to
      recommendations in Australia. We examined this trend using data from the
      Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective
      population-based study. METHODS: Data from the Australian Institute of Health and
      Welfare procedural database were used to determine the total number of cervical
      cerclage sutures inserted during the period 2004 to 2013. Population datasets
      were used to calculate age-stratified incidence rates of cerclage. FINDINGS:
      There was a significant increase in the rate of cervical cerclage in women aged
      25 to 34 years and in the 35 years and older age group. The incidence of preterm
      birth was stable for gestations of 32 to 36 weeks, but slightly increased in the
      20 to 27 week and 28 to 31 week gestational age groups. Further research into
      cervical cerclage and the use of vaginal progesterone for the prevention of
      preterm birth would be valuable.

PMID- 27626456
TI  - Reliance on Pumped Mother's Milk Has an Environmental Impact.
AB  - Breastfeeding is an environmentally friendly process; however when feeding relies
      on pumped mother's milk, the environmental picture changes. Waste plastics and
      heavy metals raise concerns regarding resource efficiency, waste treatment, and
      detrimental effects on health. Reliance on pumped milk rather than breastfeeding
      may also effect obesity and family size, which in turn have further environmental
      impacts. Information on pump equipment rarely includes environmental information
      and may focus on marketing the product for maximum profit. In order for parents,
      health workers, and health policy makers to make informed decisions about the
      reliance on pumped mother's milk, they need information on the broad and far
      reaching environmental aspects. There was no published research found that
      examined the environmental impact of using pumped mother's milk. A project is
      ongoing to examine this issue. 

PMID- 27626453
TI  - The Search for Herbal Antibiotics: An In-Silico Investigation of Antibacterial
      Phytochemicals.
AB  - Recently, the emergence and spread of pathogenic bacterial resistance to many
      antibiotics (multidrug-resistant strains) have been increasing throughout the
      world. This phenomenon is of great concern and there is a need to find
      alternative chemotherapeutic agents to combat these antibiotic-resistant
      microorganisms. Higher plants may serve as a resource for new antimicrobials to
      replace or augment current therapeutic options. In this work, we have carried out
      a molecular docking study of a total of 561 antibacterial phytochemicals listed
      in the Dictionary of Natural Products, including 77 alkaloids (17 indole
      alkaloids, 27 isoquinoline alkaloids, 4 steroidal alkaloids, and 28 miscellaneous
      alkaloids), 99 terpenoids (5 monoterpenoids, 31 sesquiterpenoids, 52
      diterpenoids, and 11 triterpenoids), 309 polyphenolics (87 flavonoids, 25
      chalcones, 41 isoflavonoids, 5 neoflavonoids, 12 pterocarpans, 10 chromones, 7
      condensed tannins, 11 coumarins, 30 stilbenoids, 2 lignans, 5 phenylpropanoids,
      13 xanthones, 5 hydrolyzable tannins, and 56 miscellaneous phenolics), 30
      quinones, and 46 miscellaneous phytochemicals, with six bacterial protein targets
      (peptide deformylase, DNA gyrase/topoisomerase IV, UDP-galactose mutase, protein
      tyrosine phosphatase, cytochrome P450 CYP121, and NAD+-dependent DNA ligase). In
      addition, 35 known inhibitors were docked with their respective targets for
      comparison purposes. Prenylated polyphenolics showed the best docking profiles,
      while terpenoids had the poorest. The most susceptible protein targets were
      peptide deformylases and NAD+-dependent DNA ligases. 

PMID- 27626457
TI  - Effects of Peach Cultivar on Enzymatic Browning Following Cell Damage from High
      Pressure Processing.
AB  - Peach cultivars contribute to unique product characteristics and may affect the
      degree of browning after high-pressure processing (HPP). Nine peach cultivars
      were subjected to HPP at 0, 100, and 400 MPa for 10 min. Proton nuclear magnetic
      resonance (1H NMR) relaxometry, light microscopy, color, polyphenol oxidase (PPO)
      activity, and total phenols were evaluated. The development of enzymatic browning
      during refrigerated storage occurred because of damage during HPP that triggered
      loss of cell integrity, allowing substrates to interact with enzymes. Increasing
      pressure levels resulted in greater damage, as determined by shifts in transverse
      relaxation time (T2) and by light micrographs. Discoloration was triggered by
      membrane decompartmentalization but limited by PPO activity, which was found to
      correlate to cultivar harvest time (early, mid, and late season). Outcomes from
      the microstructure, 1H NMR ,and PPO activity evaluation were an effective means
      of determining membrane decompartmentalization and allowed for prediction of
      browning scenarios.

PMID- 27626459
TI  - Bioorthogonal Modification of the Major Sheath Protein of Bacteriophage M13:
      Extending the Versatility of Bionanomaterial Scaffolds.
AB  - With a mass of ~1.6 * 107 Daltons and composed of approximately 2700 proteins,
      bacteriophage M13 has been employed as a molecular scaffold in bionanomaterials
      fabrication. In order to extend the versatility of M13 in this area, residue
      specific unnatural amino acid incorporation was employed to successfully display
      azide functionalities on specific solvent-exposed positions of the pVIII major
      sheath protein of this bacteriophage. Employing a combination of engineered
      mutants of the gene coding for the pVIII protein, the methionine (Met) analog, l
      azidohomoalanine (Aha), and a suitable Escherichia coli Met auxotroph for phage
      production, conditions were developed to produce M13 bacteriophage labeled with
      over 350 active azides (estimated by fluorescent dye labeling utilizing a strain
      promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition) and capable of azide-selective attachment to
      5 nm gold nanoparticles as visualized by transmission electron microscopy. The
      capability of this system to undergo dual labeling utilizing both chemical
      acylation and bioorthogonal cycloaddition reactions was also verified. The above
      stratagem should prove particularly advantageous in the preparation of assemblies
      of larger and more complex molecular architectures based on the M13 building
      block.

PMID- 27626458
TI  - Reconciling Intermediates in Mechanical Unfolding Experiments with Two-State
      Protein Folding in Bulk.
AB  - Most experimentally well-characterized single domain proteins of less than 100
      residues have been found to be two-state folders. That is, only two distinct
      populations can explain both equilibrium and kinetic measurements. Results from
      single molecule force spectroscopy, where a protein is unfolded by applying a
      mechanical pulling force to its ends, have largely confirmed this description for
      proteins found to be two-state in ensemble experiments. Recently, however, stable
      intermediates have been reported in mechanical unfolding experiments on a cold
      shock protein previously found to be a prototypical two-state folder. Here, we
      tackle this discrepancy using free energy landscapes and Markov state models
      derived from coarse-grained molecular simulations. We show that protein folding
      intermediates can be selectively stabilized by the pulling force and that the
      populations of these intermediates vary in a force-dependent manner. Our model
      qualitatively captures the experimental results and suggests a possible origin of
      the apparent discrepancy.

PMID- 27626460
TI  - To Explore Intracerebral Hematoma with a Hybrid Approach and Combination of
      Discriminative Factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To find discriminative combination of influential factors of
      Intracerebral hematoma (ICH) to cluster ICH patients with similar features to
      explore relationship among influential factors and 30-day mortality of ICH.
      METHODS: The data of ICH patients are collected. We use a decision tree to find
      discriminative combination of the influential factors. We cluster ICH patients
      with similar features using Fuzzy C-means algorithm (FCM) to construct a support
      vector machine (SVM) for each cluster to build a multi-SVM classifier. Finally,
      we designate each testing data into its appropriate cluster and apply the
      corresponding SVM classifier of the cluster to explore the relationship among
      impact factors and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: The two influential factors chosen
      to split the decision tree are Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score and Hematoma size.
      FCM algorithm finds three centroids, one for high danger group, one for middle
      danger group, and the other for low danger group. The proposed approach
      outperforms benchmark experiments without FCM algorithm to cluster training data.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is appropriate to construct a classifier for each cluster with
      similar features. The combination of factors with significant discrimination as
      input variables should outperform that with only single discriminative factor as
      input variable.

PMID- 27626462
TI  - A Catalytic Intermolecular Formal Ene Reaction between Ketone-Derived Silyl Enol
      Ethers and Alkynes.
AB  - A catalytic formal ene reaction between ketone-derived silyl enol ethers and
      terminal alkynes is described. This transformation is uniquely capable of
      bimolecular assembly of 2-siloxy-1,4-dienes and can be used to access beta,gamma
      unsaturated ketones containing quaternary carbons in the alpha-position.

PMID- 27626461
TI  - Integrating Optical Fiber Bridges in Microfluidic Devices to Create Multiple
      Excitation/Detection Points for Single Cell Analysis.
AB  - A microfluidic device is reported that employs an out-of-plane optical fiber
      bridge to generate two excitation and two detection spots in a microfluidic
      channel using only one excitation source and one detector. This fiber optic
      bridge was integrated into a single cell analysis device to detect an intact cell
      just prior to lysis and the injected lysate 2, 5, 10, or 15 mm downstream of the
      injection point. Using this setup the absolute migration times for analytes from
      cells stochastically entering the lysis intersection could be determined for the
      first time in an automated fashion. This allowed the evaluation of several
      separation parameters, including analyte band velocity, migration time drift,
      diffusion coefficient, injection plug length, separation efficiency (N), and
      plate height (H), which previously could only be estimated. To demonstrate the
      utility of this system, a peptide substrate for protein kinase B (PKB) was
      designed, synthesized, and loaded into T-lymphocytes in order to measure PKB
      activity in individual cells. The optical fiber bridge is easy to implement,
      inexpensive, and flexible in terms of changing the distances between the two
      detection points.

PMID- 27626463
TI  - Studies toward the Synthesis of Lepadiformine A.
AB  - Herein is described an original approach to access a tricyclic framework of the
      lepadiformine-type alkaloids. A Grignard/N-acylpyridinium salt reaction of a 4
      methoxytetrahydroquinoline is the key carbon-carbon bond-forming step that was
      used to establish the desired absolute stereochemistry at the C2 position of the
      target alkaloid. The synthesis features an allylation reaction with an N
      acyliminium ion to set the C10 quaternary stereocenter, a mild dissolving-metal
      cleavage of hindered phenyl carbamates, and an aminoiodocyclization to form the
      pyrrolidine ring. While this route does not provide the correct C10
      stereochemistry, it showcases an efficient method to build analogues with the
      ring system of this class of alkaloids in 11 steps overall.

PMID- 27626465
TI  - Thiourea-Quaternary Ammonium Salt Catalyzed Asymmetric 1, 3-Dipolar Cycloaddition
      of Imino Esters To Construct Spiro[pyrrolidin-3,3'-oxindoles].
AB  - A highly enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of imino esters with
      methyleneindolinones has been realized by using readily available thiourea
      quaternary ammonium salts as phase-transfer catalysts, enabling efficient
      construction of a range of chiral spiro[pyrrolidin-3,3'-oxindoles] in good yields
      with excellent enantioselectivities under mild conditions.

PMID- 27626464
TI  - Ozonolysis of Trimethylamine Exchanged with Typical Ammonium Salts in the
      Particle Phase.
AB  - Alkylamines contribute to both new particle formation and brown carbon. The
      toxicity of particle-phase amines is of great concern in the atmospheric
      chemistry community. Degradation of particulate amines may lead to secondary
      products in the particle phase, which are associated with changes in the adverse
      health impacts of aerosols. In this study, O3 oxidation of particulate
      trimethylamine (TMA) formed via heterogeneous uptake of TMA by (NH4)2SO4,
      NH4HSO4, NH4NO3 and NH4Cl, was investigated with in situ attenuated total
      reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and proton transfer
      reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). HCOOH, HCHO, CH3N?CH2, (CH3)2NCHO, CH3NO2,
      CH3N(OH)CHO, CH3NHOH and H2O were identified as products on all the substrates
      based upon IR (one-dimensional IR and two-dimensional correlation infrared
      spectroscopy), quantum chemical calculation and PTR-MS results. A reaction
      mechanism was proposed to explain the observed products. This work demonstrates
      that oxidation might be a degradation pathway of particulate amines in the
      atmosphere. This will aid in understanding the fate of particulate amines formed
      by nucleation and heterogeneous uptake and their potential health impacts during
      atmospheric aging.

PMID- 27626466
TI  - A Multichannel Least-Squares B-Spline Approach to Molecular Photoionization:
      Theory, Implementation, and Applications within the Configuration-Interaction
      Singles Approximation.
AB  - We describe, in detail, a basis set approach to the multichannel scattering
      problem. The full set of linearly independent scattering states at each prefixed
      energy of the continuum spectrum can be obtained via a least-squares approach. To
      test the algorithm in a concrete setup, we report a parallel implementation of
      the close-coupling method in which the final states are treated within the
      configuration-interaction singles (CIS) approximation. The method requires, as
      input, a set of orthonormal orbitals, obtained from any quantum chemistry
      package. A one-center expansion (OCE) basis set consisting of products of radial
      B-splines and symmetry adapted angular functions is then used to expand the
      continuum electron wave function. To assess the quality of the CIS approximation,
      we compute total and partial cross sections and angular asymmetry parameters for
      the photoionization of a selection of closed-shell atoms (He, Ne, and Ar), H2,
      H2O, and ethylene. Results are compared with the experimental data and with
      theoretical predictions obtained with time-dependent density functional theory
      (TDDFT). It is seen that, generally, the photoionization observables obtained at
      the CIS level compare well with TDDFT predictions. The same basis can be employed
      to describe molecular multiphoton or strong field ionization.

PMID- 27626467
TI  - InGaAs Nanomembrane/Si van der Waals Heterojunction Photodiodes with Broadband
      and High Photoresponsivity.
AB  - Development of broadband photodetectors is of great importance for applications
      in high-capacity optical communication, night vision, and biomedical imaging
      systems. While heterostructured photodetectors can expand light detection range,
      fabrication of heterostructures via epitaxial growth or wafer bonding still faces
      significant challenges because of problems such as lattice and thermal
      mismatches. Here, a transfer printing technique is used for the heterogeneous
      integration of InGaAs nanomembranes on silicon semiconductors and thus the
      formation of van der Waals heterojunction photodiodes, which can enhance the
      spectral response and photoresponsivity of Si photodiodes. Transfer-printed
      InGaAs nanomembrane/Si heterojunction photodiode exhibits a high rectification
      ratio (7.73 * 104 at +/-3 V) and low leakage current (7.44 * 10-5 A/cm2 at -3 V)
      in a dark state. In particular, the photodiode shows high photoresponsivities
      (7.52 and 2.2 A W-1 at a reverse bias of -3 V and zero bias, respectively) in the
      broadband spectral range (400-1250 nm) and fast rise-fall response times (13-16
      ms), demonstrating broadband and fast photodetection capabilities. The suggested
      III-V/Si van der Waals heterostructures can be a robust platform for the
      fabrication of high-performance on-chip photodetectors compatible with Si
      integrated optical chips.

PMID- 27626468
TI  - Ion Pair-Directed Regiocontrol in Transition-Metal Catalysis: A Meta-Selective C
      H Borylation of Aromatic Quaternary Ammonium Salts.
AB  - The use of noncovalent interactions to direct transition-metal catalysis is a
      potentially powerful yet relatively underexplored strategy, with most
      investigations thus far focusing on using hydrogen bonds as the controlling
      element. We have developed an ion pair-directed approach to controlling
      regioselectivity in the iridium-catalyzed borylation of two classes of aromatic
      quaternary ammonium salts, leading to versatile meta-borylated products. By
      examining a range of substituted substrates, this provides complex,
      functionalized aromatic scaffolds amenable to rapid diversification and more
      broadly demonstrates the viability of ion-pairing for control of regiochemistry
      in transition-metal catalysis.

PMID- 27626469
TI  - Can you hear me now? The quest for better guidance on omega-3 fatty acid
      consumption to combat hearing loss.

PMID- 27626470
TI  - Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Brazilian Survey.

PMID- 27626471
TI  - Evaluation of static and dynamic balance in athletes with anterior cruciate
      ligament injury - A controlled study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Anterior cruciate ligament injury leads to adaptive responses to
      maintain postural control. However, there is no consensus regarding whether leg
      dominance also affects postural control in athletes with anterior cruciate
      ligament injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dynamic and static
      postural control among athletes with and without anterior cruciate ligament
      injury to the dominant leg. METHODS: Twenty-eight athletes, twenty-one males and
      seven females aged 15-45 years, were allocated to one of two groups: the anterior
      cruciate ligament injury group (26+/-3 years) or the control group without
      anterior cruciate ligament injury (25+/-6.5 years). All subjects performed one
      legged stance tests under eyes open and eyes closed conditions and squat and kick
      movement tests using a postural control protocol (AccuSwayPlus force platform,
      Massachusetts). The center of pressure displacement and speed were measured by
      the force platform. In addition, the distance traveled on the single-leg hop test
      was assessed as an objective measure of function. RESULTS: Significantly greater
      mediolateral sway was found under the eyes closed condition (p=0.04) and during
      squat movement (p=0.01) in the anterior cruciate ligament injury group than in
      the control group. Analysis of the single-leg hop test results showed no
      difference between the groups (p=0.73). CONCLUSION: Athletes with anterior
      cruciate ligament injury had greater mediolateral displacement of the center of
      pressure toward the dominant leg under the eyes closed condition and during squat
      movement compared to control athletes.

PMID- 27626472
TI  - The Internet versus pediatricians as a source of infant teething information for
      parents in Turkey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Parents are increasingly searching the Internet to gather information
      about their children's health care. This study compared infant teething
      information obtained from publically employed pediatricians in Istanbul with that
      obtained from different Turkish websites (parenting, health, professional, news
      and commercial). METHODS: This study had two parts. The first part used a
      descriptive design, with two checklists to assess the quality and
      comprehensiveness of the teething-specific content on 62 parenting or health
      websites. The second part was a cross-sectional study of 75 pediatricians at
      public hospitals who completed a structured self-administered questionnaire.
      RESULTS: In total, 54 websites (87.1%) described infant teething as a normal
      developmental process. The lists that were found on the websites identified the
      most frequent signs of infant teething as fever and drooling/perioral rash. The
      most frequent management strategies were chewing non-chilled and chilled objects.
      For teething problems, some pediatricians recommended teething rings and oral
      benzocaine, while 23 pediatricians recommended nothing. CONCLUSIONS: Parents
      should be informed by health professionals, especially regarding specific
      treatment strategies.

PMID- 27626473
TI  - Treatment of patients with aortic atherosclerotic disease with paclitaxel
      associated lipid nanoparticles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The toxicity of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents can be reduced by
      associating these compounds, such as the anti-proliferative agent paclitaxel,
      with a cholesterol-rich nanoemulsion (LDE) that mimics the lipid composition of
      low-density lipoprotein (LDL). When injected into circulation, the LDE
      concentrates the carried drugs in neoplastic tissues and atherosclerotic lesions.
      In rabbits, atherosclerotic lesion size was reduced by 65% following LDE
      paclitaxel treatment. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of LDE
      paclitaxel on inpatients with aortic atherosclerosis. METHODS: This study tested
      a 175 mg/m2 body surface area dose of LDE-paclitaxel (intravenous administration,
      3/3 weeks for 6 cycles) in patients with aortic atherosclerosis who were aged
      between 69 and 86 yrs. A control group of 9 untreated patients with aortic
      atherosclerosis (72-83 yrs) was also observed. RESULTS: The LDE-paclitaxel
      treatment elicited no important clinical or laboratory toxicities. Images were
      acquired via multiple detector computer tomography angiography (64-slice scanner)
      before treatment and at 1-2 months after treatment. The images showed that the
      mean plaque volume in the aortic artery wall was reduced in 4 of the 8 patients,
      while in 3 patients it remained unchanged and in one patient it increased. In the
      control group, images were acquired twice with an interval of 6-8 months. None of
      the patients in this group exhibited a reduction in plaque volume; in contrast,
      the plaque volume increased in three patients and remained stable in four
      patients. During the study period, one death unrelated to the treatment occurred
      in the LDE-paclitaxel group and one death occurred in the control group.
      CONCLUSION: Treatment with LDE-paclitaxel was tolerated by patients with
      cardiovascular disease and showed the potential to reduce atherosclerotic lesion
      size.

PMID- 27626474
TI  - Micronutrient supplementation adherence and influence on the prevalences of
      anemia and iron, zinc and vitamin A deficiencies in preemies with a corrected age
      of six months.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze adherence to the recommended iron, zinc and multivitamin
      supplementation guidelines for preemies, the factors associated with this
      adherence, and the influence of adherence on the occurrence of anemia and iron,
      zinc and vitamin A deficiencies. METHODS: This prospective cohort study followed
      58 preemies born in 2014 until they reached six months corrected age. The
      preemies were followed at a referral secondary health service and represented
      63.7% of the preterm infants born that year. Outcomes of interest included high
      or low adherence to iron, zinc and multivitamin supplementation guidelines;
      prevalence of anemia; and prevalences of iron, zinc, and vitamin A deficiencies.
      The prevalence ratios were calculated by Poisson regression. RESULTS: Thirty
      eight (65.5%) preemies presented high adherence to micronutrient supplementation
      guidelines. At six months of corrected age, no preemie had vitamin A deficiency.
      The prevalences of anemia, iron deficiency and zinc deficiency were higher in the
      low-adherence group but also concerning in the high-adherence group. Preemies
      with low adherence to micronutrient supplementation guidelines were 2.5 times
      more likely to develop anemia and 3.1 times more likely to develop zinc
      deficiency. Low maternal education level increased the likelihood of nonadherence
      to all three supplements by 2.2 times. CONCLUSIONS: Low maternal education level
      was independently associated with low adherence to iron, zinc and vitamin A
      supplementation guidelines in preemies, which impacted the prevalences of anemia
      and iron and zinc deficiencies at six months of corrected age.

PMID- 27626475
TI  - Clinical factors of post-chemoradiotherapy as valuable indicators for
      pathological complete response in locally advanced rectal cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pathological complete response has shown a better prognosis for
      patients with locally advanced rectal cancer after preoperative
      chemoradiotherapy. However, correlations between post-chemoradiotherapy clinical
      factors and pathologic complete response are not well confirmed. The aim of the
      current study was to identify post-chemoradiotherapy clinical factors that could
      serve as indicators of pathologic complete response in locally advanced rectal
      cancer. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed 544 consecutive patients
      with locally advanced rectal cancer treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer
      Center from December 2003 to June 2014. All patients received preoperative
      chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. Univariate and multivariate regression
      analyses were performed to identify post-chemoradiotherapy clinical factors that
      are significant indicators of pathologic complete response. RESULTS: In this
      study, 126 of 544 patients (23.2%) achieved pathological complete response. In
      multivariate analyses, increased pathological complete response rate was
      significantly associated with the following factors: post-chemoradiotherapy
      clinical T stage 0-2 (odds ratio=2.098, 95% confidence interval=1.023-4.304,
      p=0.043), post-chemoradiotherapy clinical N stage 0 (odds ratio=2.011, 95%
      confidence interval=1.264-3.201, p=0.003), interval from completion of
      preoperative chemoradiotherapy to surgery of >7 weeks (odds ratio=1.795, 95%
      confidence interval=1.151-2.801, p=0.010) and post-chemoradiotherapy
      carcinoembryonic antigen <=2 ng/ml (odds ratio=1.579, 95% confidence
      interval=1.026-2.432, p=0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Post-chemoradiotherapy clinical T
      stage 0-2, post-chemoradiotherapy clinical N stage 0, interval from completion of
      chemoradiotherapy to surgery of >7 weeks and post-chemoradiotherapy
      carcinoembryonic antigen <=2 ng/ml were independent clinical indicators for
      pathological complete response. These findings demonstrate that post
      chemoradiotherapy clinical factors could be valuable for post-operative
      assessment of pathological complete response.

PMID- 27626476
TI  - Age and regional differences in clinical presentation and risk of hospitalization
      for dengue in Brazil, 2000-2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Dengue cases range from asymptomatic to severe, eventually leading to
      hospitalization and death. Timely and appropriate management is critical to
      reduce morbidity. Since 1980, dengue has spread throughout Brazil, affecting an
      increasing number of individuals. This paper describes age and regional
      differences in dengue's clinical presentation and associated risk of
      hospitalization based on more than 5 million cases reported to the Brazilian
      Ministry of Health from 2000-2014. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis
      of ~5,450,000 dengue cases, relating clinical manifestations and the risk of
      hospitalization to age, gender, previous infection by dengue, dengue virus
      serotype, years of formal education, delay to first attendance and the occurrence
      of dengue during outbreaks and in different Brazilian regions. RESULTS:
      Complicated forms of dengue occurred more frequently among those younger than 10
      years (3.12% vs 1.92%) and those with dengue virus 2 infection (7.65% vs 2.42%),
      with a delay to first attendance >2 days (3.18% vs 0.82%) and with <=4 years of
      formal education (2.02% vs 1.46%). The risk of hospitalization was higher among
      those aged 6-10 years old (OR 4.57; 95% CI 1.43-29.96) and those who were
      infected by dengue virus 2 (OR 6.36; 95% CI 2.52-16.06), who lived in the
      Northeast region (OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.11-2.10) and who delayed first attendance by
      >5 days (composite OR 3.15; 95% CI 1.33-8.9). CONCLUSIONS: In Brazil, the
      occurrence of severe dengue and related hospitalization is associated with being
      younger than 10 years old, being infected by dengue virus 2 or 3, living in the
      Northeast region (the poorest and the second most populated) and delaying first
      attendance for more than 2 days.

PMID- 27626477
TI  - Primary Hyperparathyroidism: The Influence of Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue on Bone
      Loss and of Osteocalcin on Insulin Resistance.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bone marrow adipose tissue has been associated with low bone mineral
      density. However, no data exist regarding marrow adipose tissue in primary
      hyperparathyroidism, a disorder associated with bone loss in conditions of high
      bone turnover. The objective of the present study was to investigate the
      relationship between marrow adipose tissue, bone mass and parathyroid hormone.
      The influence of osteocalcin on the homeostasis model assessment of insulin
      resistance was also evaluated. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study
      conducted at a university hospital, involving 18 patients with primary
      hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and 21 controls (CG). Bone mass was assessed by dual
      energy x-ray absorptiometry and marrow adipose tissue was assessed by 1H magnetic
      resonance spectroscopy. The biochemical evaluation included the determination of
      parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin, glucose and insulin levels. RESULTS: A negative
      association was found between the bone mass at the 1/3 radius and parathyroid
      hormone levels (r = -0.69; p<0.01). Marrow adipose tissue was not significantly
      increased in patients (CG = 32.8+/-11.2% vs PHPT = 38.6+/-12%). The serum levels
      of osteocalcin were higher in patients (CG = 8.6+/-3.6 ng/mL vs PHPT = 36.5+/
      38.4 ng/mL; p<0.005), but no associations were observed between osteocalcin and
      insulin or between insulin and both marrow adipose tissue and bone mass.
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the increment of adipogenesis in the bone
      marrow microenvironment under conditions of high bone turnover due to primary
      hyperparathyroidism is limited. Despite the increased serum levels of osteocalcin
      due to primary hyperparathyroidism, these patients tend to have impaired insulin
      sensitivity.

PMID- 27626478
TI  - Roles of the Taql and Bsml vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in hospital
      mortality of burn patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of the Taql and Bsml
      vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in hospital mortality of burn patients.
      METHODS: In total, 105 consecutive burn injury patients over 18 years in age who
      were admitted to the Burn Unit of Bauru State Hospital from January to December
      2013 were prospectively evaluated. Upon admission, patient demographic
      information was recorded and a blood sample was taken for biochemical analysis to
      identify the presence of the Taql(rs731236) and Bsml(rs1544410) polymorphisms.
      All of the patients were followed over their hospital stay and mortality was
      recorded. RESULTS: Eighteen of the patients did not sign the informed consent
      form, and there were technical problems with genotype analysis for 7 of the
      patients. Thus, 80 patients (mean age, 42.5+/-16.1 years) were included in the
      final analysis. In total, 60% of the patients were male, and 16.3% died during
      the hospital stay. The genotype frequencies for the Taql polymorphism were 51.25%
      TT, 41.25% TC and 7.50% CC; for the Bsml polymorphism, they were 51.25% GG,
      42.50% GA and 6.25% AA. In logistic regression analysis, after adjustments for
      age, gender and total body surface burn area, there were no associations between
      the Taql (OR: 1.575; CI95%: 0.148-16.745; p=0.706) or Bsml (OR: 1.309; CI95%:
      0.128-13.430; p=0.821) polymorphisms and mortality for the burn patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the Taql and Bsml vitamin D receptor gene
      polymorphisms are not associated with hospital mortality of burn patients.

PMID- 27626479
TI  - Metabolism and pharmacokinetics of morphine in neonates: A review.
AB  - Morphine is an agonist of the u and k receptors, whose activation results in
      analgesia. Morphine-like agonists act through the u opioid receptors to cause
      pain relief, sedation, euphoria and respiratory depression. Morphine is
      glucuronidated and sulfated at positions 3 and 6; the plasma concentration ratios
      correlate positively with birth weight, which probably reflects increased liver
      weight with increasing birth weight. Moreover, morphine clearance correlates
      positively with gestational age and birth weight. Steady-state morphine plasma
      concentrations are achieved after 24-48 hours of infusion, but the glucuronide
      metabolite plasma concentrations do not reach steady state before 60 hours. The
      morphine-3-glucuronide metabolite has lower clearance, a shorter half-life and a
      smaller distribution volume compared with the morphine-6 metabolite, which is the
      most active morphine-like agonist. Ordinary doses cause constipation, urinary
      retention and respiratory depression. Neonatal pain relief may require a blood
      level of approximately 120 ng/ml, whereas lower levels (20-40 ng/ml) seem
      adequate for children. A bibliographic search was performed using the PubMed
      database and the keywords "morphine metabolism neonate" and "morphine
      pharmacokinetics neonate". The initial and final cutoff points were January 1990
      and September 2015, respectively. The results indicate that morphine is
      extensively glucuronidated and sulfated at positions 3 and 6, and that the
      glucuronidation rate is lower in younger neonates compared with older infants.
      Although much is known about morphine in neonates, further research will be
      required to ensure that recommended therapeutic doses for analgesia in neonates
      are evidence based. 

PMID- 27626480
TI  - Expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in astrocytomas: a literature
      review.
AB  - Gliomas are the most common type of primary central nervous system neoplasm.
      Astrocytomas are the most prevalent type of glioma and these tumors may be
      influenced by sex steroid hormones. A literature review for the presence of
      estrogen and progesterone receptors in astrocytomas was conducted in the PubMed
      database using the following MeSH terms: "estrogen receptor beta" OR "estrogen
      receptor alpha" OR "estrogen receptor antagonists" OR "progesterone receptors" OR
      "astrocytoma" OR "glioma" OR "glioblastoma". Among the 111 articles identified,
      13 studies met our inclusion criteria. The majority of reports showed the
      presence of estrogen and progesterone receptors in astrocytomas. Overall, higher
      tumor grades were associated with decreased estrogen receptor expression and
      increased progesterone receptor expression. 

PMID- 27626481
TI  - Zanthoxylum fruit extract from Japanese pepper promotes autophagic cell death in
      cancer cells.
AB  - Zanthoxylum fruit, obtained from the Japanese pepper plant (Zanthoxylum piperitum
      De Candolle), and its extract (Zanthoxylum fruit extract, ZFE) have multiple
      physiological activities (e.g., antiviral activity). However, the potential
      anticancer activity of ZFE has not been fully examined. In this study, we
      investigated the ability of ZFE to induce autophagic cell death (ACD). ZFE caused
      remarkable autophagy-like cytoplasmic vacuolization, inhibited cell
      proliferation, and ultimately induced cell death in the human cancer cell lines
      DLD-1, HepG2, and Caco-2, but not in A549, MCF-7, or WiDr cells. ZFE increased
      the level of LC3-II protein, a marker of autophagy. Knockdown of ATG5 using siRNA
      inhibited ZFE-induced cytoplasmic vacuolization and cell death. Moreover, in
      cancer cells that could be induced to undergo cell death by ZFE, the extract
      increased the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and the JNK
      inhibitor SP600125 attenuated both vacuolization and cell death. Based on
      morphology and expression of marker proteins, ZFE-induced cell death was neither
      apoptosis nor necrosis. Normal intestinal cells were not affected by ZFE. Taken
      together, our findings show that ZFE induces JNK-dependent ACD, which appears to
      be the main mechanism underlying its anticancer activity, suggesting a promising
      starting point for anticancer drug development.

PMID- 27626483
TI  - Association between germline homeobox B13 (HOXB13) G84E allele and prostate
      cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.
AB  - Germline HOXB13 G84E mutation (rs138213197) has been described associated with
      prostate cancer (PCa) susceptibility but results of different studies are
      inconsistent. We conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the specific role of
      this mutation. Relevant available studies were identified by searching the
      databases Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) were calculated to measure the strength of the association.
      Subgroup analysis were performed to evaluate the specific role of rs138213197 in
      disease aggressiveness, diagnostic age and family history. Furthermore, trial
      sequential analysis (TSA) was conducted for the first time to estimate whether
      the evidence of the results is sufficient. Our results indicated that significant
      increased PCa susceptibility was associated with rs138213197 compared with non
      carriers (OR = 3.38, 95% CI: 2.45-4.66). Besides, in subgroup analysis, HOXB13
      G84E variant was obviously associated with early onset (OR = 2.90, 95% CI: 2.24
      3.75), affected relatives (OR = 2.60, 95% CI 2.19-3.10) and highly aggressive
      disease (OR = 2.38, 95% CI 1.84-3.08). By TSA, the findings in the current study
      were based on sufficient evidence. Therefore, our results indicated that the G84E
      mutation in HOXB13 gene might increase susceptibility to PCa.

PMID- 27626482
TI  - A vicious cycle between acid sensing and survival signaling in myeloma cells:
      acid-induced epigenetic alteration.
AB  - Myeloma (MM) cells and osteoclasts are mutually interacted to enhance MM growth
      while creating acidic bone lesions. Here, we explored acid sensing of MM cells
      and its role in MM cell response to acidic conditions. Acidic conditions
      activated the PI3K-Akt signaling in MM cells while upregulating the pH sensor
      transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) in a
      manner inhibitable by PI3K inhibition. The acid-activated PI3K-Akt signaling
      facilitated the nuclear localization of the transcription factor Sp1 to trigger
      the expression of its target genes, including TRPV1 and HDAC1. Consistently,
      histone deacetylation was enhanced in MM cells in acidic conditions, while
      repressing a wide variety of genes, including DR4. Indeed, acidic conditions
      deacetylated histone H3K9 in a DR4 gene promoter and curtailed DR4 expression in
      MM cells. However, inhibition of HDAC as well as either Sp1 or PI3K was able to
      restore DR4 expression in MM cells suppressed in acidic conditions. These results
      collectively demonstrate that acid activates the TRPV1-PI3K-Akt-Sp1 signaling in
      MM cells while inducing HDAC-mediated gene repression, and suggest that a
      positive feedback loop between acid sensing and the PI3K-Akt signaling is formed
      in MM cells, leading to MM cell response to acidic bone lesions.

PMID- 27626484
TI  - DOT1L promotes angiogenesis through cooperative regulation of VEGFR2 with ETS-1.
AB  - Histone methyltransferase DOT1L is implicated in various biological processes
      including cell proliferation, differentiation and embryogenesis. Gene ablation of
      Dot1l results in embryonic lethality and cardiovascular defects including
      decreased vasculature. However, how DOT1L might contribute to the development of
      vasculature is not clear. Here, we report that DOT1L is required for
      angiogenesis. We demonstrated that silencing of DOT1L in human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs) leads to decreased cell viability, migration, tube
      formation, and capillary sprout formation in vitro, as well as reduced formation
      of functional vascular networks in matrigel plugs in vivo. Genome-wide analysis
      of DOT1L targets via H3K79me2 ChIP-seq annotation in HUVECs identified a number
      of genes including VEGFR2 that are critically involved in angiogenesis. We showed
      that DOT1L cooperates with transcription factor ETS-1 to stimulate the expression
      of VEGFR2, thereby activating ERK1/2 and AKT signaling pathways and promoting
      angiogenesis. Our study revealed a mechanistic role for DOT1L in the promotion of
      angiogenesis, adding to the understanding of the biological function of this
      histone methyltransferase.

PMID- 27626487
TI  - Tumor-specific CD4+ T cells eradicate myeloma cells genetically deficient in MHC
      class II display.
AB  - CD4+ T cells have been shown to reject tumor cells with no detectable expression
      of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II). However, under certain
      circumstances, induction of ectopic MHC II expression on tumor cells has been
      reported.To confirm that CD4+ T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity can be
      successful in the complete absence of antigen display on the tumor cells
      themselves, we eliminated MHC II on tumor cells using CRISPR/Cas9. Our results
      demonstrate that ablation of the relevant MHC II (I-Ed) in multiple myeloma cells
      (MOPC315) does not hinder rejection by tumor-specific CD4+ T cells. These
      findings provide conclusive evidence that CD4+ T cells specific for tumor
      antigens can eliminate malignant cells in the absence of endogenous MHC class II
      expression on the tumor cells. This occurs through antigen uptake and indirect
      presentation on tumor-infiltrating macrophages.

PMID- 27626486
TI  - Toxicological and efficacy assessment of post-transition metal (Indium)
      phthalocyanine for photodynamic therapy in neuroblastoma.
AB  - Metallo-phthalocyanines due to their photophysical characteristics as high yield
      of triplet state and long lifetimes, appear to be good candidates for
      photodynamic therapy (PDT). Complexes with diamagnetic metals such as Zn2+, Al3+
      Ga3+ and In3+meet such requirements and are recognized as potential PDT agents.
      Clinically, Photofrin(r) PDT in neuroblastoma therapy proved in pediatric
      subjects diagnosed with progressive/recurrent malignant brain tumors increased
      progression free survival and overall survival outcome. Our study focuses on the
      dark toxicity testing of a Chloro-Indium-phthalocyanine photosensitizer (In-Pc)
      upon SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line and its experimental in vitro PDT. Upon
      testing, In-Pc has shown a relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield within
      the cells subjected to PDT (0.553), and 50 MUg/mL IC50. Classical toxicological
      and efficacy assessment were completed with dynamic cellular impedance
      measurement methodology. Using this technology we have shown that long time
      incubation of neuroblastoma cell lines in In-Pc (over 5 days) does not
      significantly hinder cell proliferation when concentration are <= 10 MUg/mL. When
      irradiating neuroblastoma cells loaded with non-toxic concentration of In-Pc, 50%
      of cells entered apoptosis. Transmission electron microscopy has confirmed
      apoptotic characteristics of cells. Investigating the proliferative capacity of
      the in vitro treated cells we have shown that cells that "escape" the irradiation
      protocol, present a reduced proliferative capacity. In conclusion, In-Pc
      represents another photosensitizer that can display sound PDT properties
      enhancing neuroblastoma therapy armentarium.

PMID- 27626485
TI  - Marine compound rhizochalinin shows high in vitro and in vivo efficacy in
      castration resistant prostate cancer.
AB  - Development of drug resistance is an inevitable phenomenon in castration
      resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells requiring novel therapeutic approaches. In
      this study, efficacy and toxicity of Rhizochalinin (Rhiz) - a novel sphingolipid
      like marine compound - was evaluated in prostate cancer models, resistant to
      currently approved standard therapies. In vitro activity and mechanism of action
      of Rhiz were examined in the human prostate cancer cell lines PC-3, DU145, LNCaP,
      22Rv1, and VCaP. Rhiz significantly reduced cell viability at low micromolar
      concentrations showing most pronounced effects in enzalutamide and abiraterone
      resistant AR-V7 positive cells. Caspase-dependent apoptosis, inhibition of pro
      survival autophagy, downregulation of AR-V7, PSA and IGF-1 expression as well as
      inhibition of voltage-gated potassium channels were identified as mechanisms of
      action. Remarkably, Rhiz re-sensitized AR-V7 positive cells to enzalutamide and
      increased efficacy of taxanes.In vivo activity and toxicity were evaluated in PC
      3 and 22Rv1 NOD SCID mouse xenograft models using i.p. administration. Rhiz
      significantly reduced growth of PC-3 and 22Rv1 tumor xenografts by 27.0% (p =
      0.0156) and 46.8% (p = 0.047) compared with controls with an increased fraction
      of tumor cells showing apoptosis secondary to Rhiz exposure. In line with the in
      vitro data, Rhiz was most active in AR-V7 positive xenografts in vivo. In
      animals, no severe side effects were observed.In conclusion, Rhiz is a promising
      novel marine-derived compound characterized by a unique combination of anticancer
      properties. Its further clinical development is of high impact for patients
      suffering from drug resistant prostate cancer especially those harboring AR-V7
      mediated resistance to enzalutamide and abiraterone.

PMID- 27626488
TI  - TGF-beta1 promotes colorectal cancer immune escape by elevating B7-H3 and B7-H4
      via the miR-155/miR-143 axis.
AB  - Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1) suppresses T cell function,
      promoting tumor immune escape. Yet, whether the depression of TGF-beta1 on T cell
      function is mediated by co-inhibitory molecules B7-H3 and B7-H4 remains largely
      unclear. Here, we demonstrated that TGF-beta1 elevated the expression of miR-155
      in colorectal cancer cells through SMAD3 and SMAD4. The upregulated miR-155
      attenuated miR-143 by inhibiting its direct target, the transcription factor
      CEBPB. Consequently, the direct target genes of miR-143, B7-H3 and B7-H4, were
      augmented in the cytoplasm and membrane of tumor cells. Over-expression of B7-H3
      and B7-H4 in HCT-116 cells induced T cells to secrete TGF-beta1 and the
      immunosuppressive cytokines IL-2, IL-6, and IL-17. Restoration of miR-143
      inhibited the growth of HCT-116 xenograft tumors in mice, and also repressed the
      expression of B7-H3 and B7-H4 in the tumors. Thus, this study reveals the
      mechanism by which TGF-beta1 leads to T cell-mediated tumor evasion through an
      increase in B7-H3 and B7-H4 expression.

PMID- 27626489
TI  - Polymorphisms of the murine mitochondrial ND4, CYTB and COX3 genes impact
      hematopoiesis during aging.
AB  - During aging, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can accumulate mutations leading to
      increasing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Increased ROS were described
      to activate formerly quiescent hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). Mutations in mtDNA
      were shown to enhance the risk for myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia.
      However, the complex relationship between mtDNA variations, ROS and aging of the
      hematopoietic system is not fully understood.Herein, three mouse strains with
      mtDNA polymorphisms in genes of respiratory chain complexes I (ND4), III (CYTB)
      and IV (COX3) were compared to a reference strain during aging. Analysis focused
      on ROS and ATP levels, bone marrow composition and blood counts. Additionally,
      hematopoietic restoration capacity following cytotoxic stress was tested.Mice
      with polymorphisms in ND4 and CYTB gene had significantly decreasing ROS levels
      in bone marrow cells during aging, without effecting ATP levels. In addition, the
      frequency of stem and progenitor cells increased during aging but the amount of
      lymphocytes in the peripheral blood decreased during aging.In summary, the
      presence of mtDNA polymorphisms affecting the respiratory chain complexes I, III
      and IV was associated with altered ROS levels as well as changes in BM and
      peripheral blood composition during aging.

PMID- 27626490
TI  - Altered expression of CD226 and CD96 on natural killer cells in patients with
      pancreatic cancer.
AB  - The progression of pancreatic cancer (PC) is significantly associated with tumor
      immune escape, which may be associated with nature killer (NK) cell dysfunction.
      CD226, CD96, and TIGIT, which share the ligand CD155, play important roles in the
      regulation of NK cell function. The present study was conducted to investigate
      the roles of these molecules in NK cells from PC patients. Expression of these
      molecules on NK cells was detected from samples of 92 pancreatic cancer patients
      and 40 healthy controls. The expression of CD155 was also evaluated by
      immunohistochemistry in 88 pancreatic cancer tissues. The percentage of CD226+
      and CD96+ NK cells was significantly lower in PC patients than in the healthy
      controls; however, the mean fluorescence intensity of CD226 and CD96 was not
      significantly different between the two groups. TIGIT expression on NK cells from
      PC patients was similar to that in the healthy controls. Additionally, the
      expression of CD226 was positively correlated with CD96. Further analysis
      demonstrated that the decrease in the percentage of CD226+ and CD96+ NK cells was
      associated with tumor histological grade and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, the
      CD155 levels in PC tissues were significantly higher than those in adjacent
      tissues. Our results suggest that a lower percentage of CD226+ and CD96+ NK cells
      may contribute to tumor immune escape in PC patients; moreover, the use of NK
      cells with high CD226 and CD96 expression to treat PC cells with high CD155
      expression may have potential and should be explored in the future.

PMID- 27626491
TI  - Delineation of the central melanocortin circuitry controlling the kidneys by a
      virally mediated transsynaptic tracing study in transgenic mouse model.
AB  - To examine if brain neurons involved in the efferent control of the kidneys
      possess melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4-R) and/or tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH).
      Retrograde tracing pseudorabies virus (PRV)-614 was injected into the kidneys in
      adult male MC4R-green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice. After a survival
      time of 3-7 days, spinal cord and brain were removed and sectioned, and processed
      for PRV-614 visualization. The neurochemical phenotype of PRV-614-positive
      neurons was identified using double or triple immunocytochemical labeling against
      PRV-614, MC4R, or TPH. Double and triple labeling was quantified using
      microscopy. The majority of PRV-614 immunopositive neurons which also expressed
      immunoreactivity for MC4R were located in the ipsilateral intermediolateral cell
      column (IML) of the thoracic spinal cord, the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of
      the hypothalamus, and raphe pallidus (RPa), nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) and
      ventromedial medulla (VMM) of the brainstem. Triple-labeled MC4R/PRV-614/TPH
      neurons were concentrated in the PVN, RPa, NRM and VMM. These data strongly
      suggest that central MC4R and TPH are involved in the efferent neuronal control
      of the kidneys.

PMID- 27626492
TI  - PROX1 is a novel pathway-specific prognostic biomarker for high-grade
      astrocytomas; results from independent glioblastoma cohorts stratified by age and
      IDH mutation status.
AB  - PROX1 is a transcription factor with an essential role in embryonic development
      and determination of cell fate. In addition, PROX1 has been ascribed suppressive
      as well as oncogenic roles in several human cancers, including brain tumors. In
      this study we explored the correlation between PROX1 expression and patient
      survival in high-grade astrocytomas. For this purpose, we analyzed protein
      expression in tissue microarrays of tumor samples stratified by patient age and
      IDH mutation status. We initially screened 86 unselected high-grade astrocytomas,
      followed by 174 IDH1-R132H1 immunonegative glioblastomas derived from patients
      aged 60 years and older enrolled in the Nordic phase III trial of elderly
      patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Representing the younger population
      of glioblastomas, we studied 80 IDH-wildtype glioblastomas from patients aged 18
      60 years. There was no correlation between PROX1 protein and survival for
      patients with primary glioblastomas included in these cohorts. In contrast, high
      expression of PROX1 protein predicted shorter survival in the group of patients
      with IDH-mutant anaplastic astrocytomas and secondary glioblastomas. The
      prognostic impact of PROX1 in IDH-mutant 1p19q non-codeleted high-grade
      astrocytomas, as well as the negative findings in primary glioblastomas, was
      corroborated by gene expression data extracted from the Cancer Genome Atlas. We
      conclude that PROX1 is a new prognostic biomarker for 1p19q non-codeleted high
      grade astrocytomas that have progressed from pre-existing low-grade tumors and
      harbor IDH mutations.

PMID- 27626493
TI  - Review: Traumatic brain injury and hyperglycemia, a potentially modifiable risk
      factor.
AB  - Hyperglycemia after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs frequently and is
      associated with poor clinical outcome and increased mortality. In this review, we
      highlight the mechanisms that lead to hyperglycemia and discuss how they may
      contribute to poor outcomes in patients with severe TBI. Moreover, we
      systematically review the proper management of hyperglycemia after TBI, covering
      topics such as nutritional support, glucose control, moderated hypothermia,
      naloxone, and mannitol treatment. However, to date, an optimal and safe glycemic
      target range has not been determined, and may not be safe to implement among TBI
      patients. Therefore, there is a mandate to explore a reasonable glycemic target
      range that can facilitate recovery after severe TBI.

PMID- 27626495
TI  - Nationwide population-based study reveals increased malignancy risk in taiwanese
      liver transplant recipients.
AB  - Post-transplant malignancy is a major cause of late mortality for liver
      transplant recipients (LTRs). This nationwide population-based cohort study
      investigated the cancer type, incidence, and risk factors associated with post
      transplant malignancies in 2938 Taiwanese LTRs who underwent transplantation
      between 1998 and 2012. Data from the National Health Insurance Research Database
      were extracted on the basis of the International Classification of Disease, Ninth
      Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Among these patients, 284 post-transplant
      malignancies were diagnosed. These included 99 de novo malignancies among 98
      patients, yielding a standardized incidence ratio of 2.17 (95% CI, 1.76 to 2.64)
      compared to the general population. The most common malignancies were infection
      related liver cancer (19.39%), oropharyngeal cancer (19.39%), non-Hodgkin's
      lymphoma (9.18%), and esophageal cancer (5.10%), as well as non-infection-related
      prostate cancer (6.12%). Patients with recurrent malignancies had the highest
      mortality. Furthermore, 186 recurrent malignancies relapsed, and the commonly
      affected organs were the liver (83.33%), lung (4.84%), bone and bone marrow
      (4.30%), and intrahepatic bile ducts (2.69%). Old age, the male sex, liver
      cirrhosis, hepatitis B, peptic ulcer, diabetes mellitus, and pre-existing cancer
      were all risk factors associated with post-transplant malignancies. Recipients
      with biliary atresia or urea cycle metabolism disorders were protected from post
      transplant malignancies. Our data revealed a significantly increased risk of
      malignancies in Taiwanese LTRs and suggest implementation of a careful malignancy
      surveillance program and immunosuppression-minimizing strategy for high-risk
      patients.

PMID- 27626496
TI  - The overexpression of MDM4: an effective and novel predictor of gastric
      adenocarcinoma lymph node metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MDM4 is the important negative regulator of the tumor suppressor
      protein p53, which is overexpressed in various human cancers. This study
      evaluates the MDM4 expression in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (GTAC) at
      the mRNA and protein levels and examines relationships among MDM4 expression,
      clinicopathological features, and prognosis. RESULTS: The qRT-PCR and the Western
      blot analysis showed that the MDM4 expression level was high in GTACN+ but not in
      GTACN-. The high expression level of MDM4 was significantly associated with age
      (P = 0.047), lymph node metastasis (LNM) (P < 0.001), pathological stage (P <
      0.001), differentiation status (P = 0.001), and preoperative serum CA19-9 level
      (P < 0.001). Moreover, the survival analysis showed that Borrmann type, depth of
      invasion, LNM, and preoperative serum CA19-9 level were independent prognostic
      factors. The univariate analysis revealed that MDM4 expression influenced GTAC
      prognosis. Furthermore, the influence of overall prognosis relies on whether or
      not the high MDM4 expression level could lead to LNM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      investigated MDM4 expression in primary GTAC and paired normal gastric tissues
      (30 pairs) through qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses. We also performed
      immunohistochemistry analysis on 336 paraffin-embedded GTAC specimens and 33
      matched normal specimens. CONCLUSIONS: MDM4 expression may result in LMN of GTAC.
      High MDM4 expression levels are associated with LMN of GTAC and influence the
      prognosis of patients with GTAC.

PMID- 27626494
TI  - Quercetin ameliorates Abeta toxicity in Drosophila AD model by modulating cell
      cycle-related protein expression.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder characterized
      by beta amyloid (Abeta) deposition and neurofibril tangles. It has been reported
      that a bioflavonoid, quercetin, could ameliorate AD phenotypes in C. elegans and
      mice. However, the mechanism underlying the ameliorative effect of quercetin is
      not fully understood yet. Drosophila models could recapitulate AD-like
      phenotypes, such as shortened lifespan, impaired locomotive ability as well as
      defects in learning and memory. So in this study, we investigated the effects of
      quercetin on AD in Drosophila model and explored the underlying mechanisms. We
      found quercetin could effectively intervene in AD pathogenesis in vivo. Mechanism
      study showed quercetin could restore the expression of genes perturbed by Abeta
      accumulation, such as those involved in cell cycle and DNA replication. Cyclin B,
      an important cell cycle protein, was chosen to test whether it participated in
      the AD ameliorative effects of quercetin. We found that cyclin B RNAi in the
      brain could alleviate AD phenotypes. Taken together, the current study suggested
      that the neuroprotective effects of quercetin were mediated at least partially by
      targeting cell cycle-related proteins.

PMID- 27626497
TI  - Artesunate enhances the therapeutic response of glioma cells to temozolomide by
      inhibition of homologous recombination and senescence.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a malignant brain tumor with a dismal prognosis,
      shows a high level of chemo- and radioresistance and, therefore, attempts to
      sensitize glioma cells are highly desired. Here, we addressed the question of
      whether artesunate (ART), a drug currently used in the treatment of malaria,
      enhances the killing response of glioblastoma cells to temozolomide (TMZ), which
      is the first-line therapeutic for GBM. We measured apoptosis, necrosis, autophagy
      and senescence, and the extent of DNA damage in glioblastoma cells. Further, we
      determined the tumor growth in nude mice. We show that ART enhances the killing
      effect of TMZ in glioblastoma cell lines and in glioblastoma stem-like cells. The
      DNA double-strand break level induced by TMZ was not clearly enhanced in the
      combined treatment regime. Also, we did not observe an attenuation of TMZ-induced
      autophagy, which is considered a survival mechanism. However, we observed a
      significant effect of ART on homologous recombination (HR) with downregulation of
      RAD51 protein expression and HR activity. Further, we found that ART is able to
      inhibit senescence induced by TMZ. Since HR and senescence are pro-survival
      mechanisms, its inhibition by ART appears to be a key node in enhancing the TMZ
      induced killing response. Enhancement of the antitumor effect of TMZ by co
      administration of ART was also observed in a mouse tumor model. In conclusion,
      the amelioration of TMZ-induced cell death upon ART co-treatment provides a
      rational basis for a combination regime of TMZ and ART in glioblastoma therapy.

PMID- 27626498
TI  - DRG1 is a potential oncogene in lung adenocarcinoma and promotes tumor
      progression via spindle checkpoint signaling regulation.
AB  - Developmentally regulated GTP binding protein 1 (DRG1), a member of the DRG
      family, plays important roles in regulating cell growth. However, the molecular
      basis of DRG1 in cell proliferation regulation and the relationship between DRG1
      and tumor progression remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that DRG1 is
      elevated in lung adenocarcinomas while weakly expressed in adjacent lung tissues.
      DRG1 knockdown causes growth inhibition of tumor cells by significantly
      increasing the proportion of cells in M phase. Overexpression of DRG1 leads to
      chromosome missegregation which is an important index for tumorigenesis.
      Interestingly, ectopic of DRG1 reduces taxol induced apoptosis of lung
      adenocarcinoma cells. Mechanistic analyses confirm that DRG1 localizes at mitotic
      spindles in dividing cells and binds to spindle checkpoint signaling proteins in
      vivo. These studies highlight the expanding role of DRG1 in tumorigenesis and
      reveal a mechanism of DRG1 in taxol resistance.

PMID- 27626499
TI  - Rottlerin inhibits cell growth and invasion via down-regulation of Cdc20 in
      glioma cells.
AB  - Rottlerin, isolated from a medicinal plant Mallotus phillippinensis, has been
      demonstrated to inhibit cellular growth and induce cytoxicity in glioblastoma
      cell lines through inhibition of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase III.
      Emerging evidence suggests that rottlerin exerts its antitumor activity as a
      protein kinase C inhibitor. Although further studies revealed that rottlerin
      regulated multiple signaling pathways to suppress tumor cell growth, the exact
      molecular insight on rottlerin-mediated tumor inhibition is not fully elucidated.
      In the current study, we determine the function of rottlerin on glioma cell
      growth, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration and invasion. We found that rottlerin
      inhibited cell growth, migration, invasion, but induced apoptosis and cell cycle
      arrest. Mechanistically, the expression of Cdc20 oncoprotein was measured by the
      RT-PCR and Western blot analysis in glioma cells treated with rottlerin. We
      observed that rottlerin significantly inhibited the expression of Cdc20 in glioma
      cells, implying that Cdc20 could be a novel target of rottlerin. In line with
      this, over-expression of Cdc20 decreased rottlerin-induced cell growth inhibition
      and apoptosis, whereas down-regulation of Cdc20 by its shRNA promotes rottlerin
      induced anti-tumor activity. Our findings indicted that rottlerin could exert its
      tumor suppressive function by inhibiting Cdc20 pathway which is constitutively
      active in glioma cells. Therefore, down-regulation of Cdc20 by rottlerin could be
      a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of glioma.

PMID- 27626501
TI  - The Relation between Hamstring Strain Injury and Physical Characteristics of
      Japanese Collegiate Sepak Takraw Players.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the injuries in Japanese collegiate
      sepak takraw players. We primarily focused on hamstring strain injury (HSI), and
      investigated the associated physical characteristics. The study included 77
      Japanese collegiate sepak takraw players who were interviewed; data were
      collected regarding injuries sustained by them during the game within the past
      year. The hip range of motion (ROM) was measured. The total number of injuries
      was 48 in a year. The rate of HSI was the highest (31.3%) among all the injuries.
      All HSIs occurred in the dominant leg because of the sunback spike. Using the
      Mann-Whitney U test, significant differences in age and sport-related experience
      were observed between the injured group and uninjured group. Upon using logistic
      regression analysis, the presence of a HSI was found to be associated with the
      sport-related experience (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.30; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.12-0.77) and the hip extension ROM (adjusted OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.66-0.99)
      after adjusting for sex, sport-related experience, and the hip ROM. HSI is the
      most common injury in Japanese collegiate sepak takraw players. Short sport
      related experience and small hip extension ROM are related with the occurrence of
      HSI.

PMID- 27626502
TI  - Exercise Training positively modulates the Ectonucleotidase Enzymes in
      Lymphocytes of Metabolic Syndrome Patients.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the cardiovascular risk factors as well as
      ectonucleotidase activities in lymphocytes of metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients
      before and after an exercise intervention. 20 MetS patients, who performed
      regular concurrent exercise training for 30 weeks, 3 times/week, were studied.
      Anthropometric, biochemical, inflammatory and hepatic parameters and hydrolysis
      of adenine nucleotides and nucleoside in lymphocytes were collected from patients
      before and after 15 and 30 weeks of the exercise intervention as well as from
      participants of the control group. An increase in the hydrolysis of ATP and ADP,
      and a decrease in adenosine deamination in lymphocytes of MetS patients before
      the exercise intervention were observed (P<0.001). However, these alterations
      were reversed by exercise training after 30 weeks of intervention. Additionally,
      exercise training reduced the inflammatory and hepatic markers to baseline levels
      after 30 weeks of exercise. Our results clearly indicated alteration in
      ectonucleotidase enzymes in lymphocytes in the MetS, whereas regular exercise
      training had a protective effect on the enzymatic alterations and on inflammatory
      and hepatic parameters, especially if it is performed regularly and for a long
      period.

PMID- 27626500
TI  - iOri-Human: identify human origin of replication by incorporating dinucleotide
      physicochemical properties into pseudo nucleotide composition.
AB  - The initiation of replication is an extremely important process in DNA life
      cycle. Given an uncharacterized DNA sequence, can we identify where its origin of
      replication (ORI) is located? It is no doubt a fundamental problem in genome
      analysis. Particularly, with the rapid development of genome sequencing
      technology that results in a huge amount of sequence data, it is highly desired
      to develop computational methods for rapidly and effectively identifying the ORIs
      in these genomes. Unfortunately, by means of the existing computational methods,
      such as sequence alignment or kmer strategies, it could hardly achieve decent
      success rates. To address this problem, we developed a predictor called "iOri
      Human". Rigorous jackknife tests have shown that its overall accuracy and
      stability in identifying human ORIs are over 75% and 50%, respectively. In the
      predictor, it is through the pseudo nucleotide composition (an extension of
      pseudo amino acid composition) that 96 physicochemical properties for the 16
      possible constituent dinucleotides have been incorporated to reflect the global
      sequence patterns in DNA as well as its local sequence patterns. Moreover, a user
      friendly web-server for iOri-Human has been established at
      http://lin.uestc.edu.cn/server/iOri-Human.html, by which users can easily get
      their desired results without the need to through the complicated mathematics
      involved.

PMID- 27626503
TI  - Monocyte count-to-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio is associated with
      abdominal aortic aneurysm size.
AB  - AIM: To determine the association of monocyte count-to-high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL)-cholesterol ratio, a recently emerged inflammatory marker, with abdominal
      aortic aneurysm (AAA) size. PATIENTS & METHODS: A total of 120 asymptomatic AAA
      subjects (99 male, mean age: 67.1 +/- 10.2 years) were enrolled into the study.
      All data were compared between patients with low and high admission monocyte/HDL
      ratio. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to study the
      relationship between different variables and AAA size. RESULTS: Compared to
      patients with below-median monocyte/HDL ratio, aneurysm diameter was
      significantly higher in above-median monocyte/HDL ratio group (54.3 +/- 10.6 mm
      vs 62.0 +/- 12.4 mm, p < 0.001, respectively). Hypertension, coronary artery
      disease, monocyte/HDL ratio and C-reactive protein were independently associated
      with AAA diameter. CONCLUSION: Monocyte/HDL ratio is independently associated
      with AAA size.

PMID- 27626504
TI  - Introduction of John M. Hawdon, Recipient of the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal for
      2016.

PMID- 27626505
TI  - Sofosbuvir plus simeprevir for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C: a
      review of evidence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sofosbuvir (SOF) with simeprevir (SIM) combination was the first
      interferon-free regimen that reached optimal results in terms of sustained viral
      response (SVR). Areas covered: A systematic review of the scientific literature
      concerning the effects that the SOF/SIM combination had on hepatitis C genotype 1
      patients yielded 771 references. After the revision process, four clinical trials
      and 15 observational studies met the inclusion criteria; in total, these studies
      involved 5,766 patients. The SVR ranged from 67% to 100% depending on the
      patients' viral subtype and cirrhosis status. Adverse effects were common, but
      treatment discontinuation related to drug toxicity occurred in less than 5% of
      cases. Expert commentary: The SOF/SIM combination exhibits efficacy and
      tolerability profiles that are similar to those of the other available interferon
      free combinations used for non-cirrhotic genotype 1b patients. Meanwhile, for
      patients with advanced cirrhosis or genotype 1a, this approach cannot be
      considered a routine treatment option due to the unsatisfactory results.

PMID- 27626507
TI  - The relationship between spoken English proficiency and participation in higher
      education, employment and income from two Australian censuses.
AB  - PURPOSE: Proficiency in the language of the country of residence has implications
      for an individual's level of education, employability, income and social
      integration. This paper explores the relationship between the spoken English
      proficiency of residents of Australia on census day and their educational level,
      employment and income to provide insight into multilingual speakers' ability to
      participate in Australia as an English-dominant society. METHOD: Data presented
      are derived from two Australian censuses i.e. 2006 and 2011 of over 19 million
      people. RESULT: The proportion of Australians who reported speaking a language
      other than English at home was 21.5% in the 2006 census and 23.2% in the 2011
      census. Multilingual speakers who also spoke English very well were more likely
      to have post-graduate qualifications, full-time employment and high income than
      monolingual English-speaking Australians. However, multilingual speakers who
      reported speaking English not well were much less likely to have post-graduate
      qualifications or full-time employment than monolingual English-speaking
      Australians. CONCLUSION: These findings provide insight into the socioeconomic
      and educational profiles of multilingual speakers, which will inform the
      understanding of people such as speech-language pathologists who provide them
      with support. The results indicate spoken English proficiency may impact
      participation in Australian society. These findings challenge the "monolingual
      mindset" by demonstrating that outcomes for multilingual speakers in education,
      employment and income are higher than for monolingual speakers.

PMID- 27626506
TI  - Fusion imaging of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced CT or MRI
      before radiofrequency ablation for liver cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the usefulness of fusion imaging of contrast-enhanced
      ultrasound (CEUS) and CECT/CEMRI before percutaneous ultrasound-guided
      radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for liver cancers. METHODS: 45 consecutive patients
      with 70 liver lesions were included between March 2013 and October 2015, and all
      the lesions were identified on CEMRI/CECT prior to inclusion in the study.
      Planning ultrasound for percutaneous RFA was performed using conventional
      ultrasound, ultrasound-CECT/CEMRI and CEUS and CECT/CEMRI fusion imaging during
      the same session. The numbers of the conspicuous lesions on ultrasound and fusion
      imaging were recorded. RFA was performed according to the results of fusion
      imaging. Complete response (CR) rate was calculated and the complications were
      recorded. RESULTS: On conventional ultrasound, 25 (35.7%) of the 70 lesions were
      conspicuous, whereas 45 (64.3%) were inconspicuous. Ultrasound-CECT/CEMRI fusion
      imaging detected additional 24 lesions thus increased the number of the
      conspicuous lesions to 49 (70.0%) (70.0% vs 35.7%; p < 0.001 in comparison with
      conventional ultrasound). With the use of CEUS and CECT/CEMRI fusion imaging, the
      number of the conspicuous lesions further increased to 67 (95.7%, 67/70) (95.7%
      vs 70.0%, 95.7% vs 35.7%; both p < 0.001 in comparison with ultrasound and
      ultrasound-CECT/CEMRI fusion imaging, respectively). With the assistance of CEUS
      and CECT/CEMRI fusion imaging, the confidence level of the operator for
      performing RFA improved significantly with regard to visualization of the target
      lesions (p = 0.001). The CR rate for RFA was 97.0% (64/66) in accordance to the
      CECT/CEMRI results 1 month later. No procedure-related deaths and major
      complications occurred during and after RFA. CONCLUSION: Fusion of CEUS and
      CECT/CEMRI improves the visualization of those inconspicuous lesions on
      conventional ultrasound. It also facilitates improvement in the RFA operators'
      confidence and CR of RFA. Advances in knowledge: CEUS and CECT/CEMRI fusion
      imaging is better than both conventional ultrasound and ultrasound-CECT/CEMRI
      fusion imaging for lesion visualization and improves the operator confidence,
      thus it should be recommended to be used as a routine in ultrasound-guided
      percutaneous RFA procedures for liver cancer.

PMID- 27626508
TI  - The Projected Epidemic of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Hospitalizations
      over the Next 15 Years. A Population-based Perspective.

PMID- 27626509
TI  - What's wrong with me? seeking a coherent understanding of recovery after mild
      traumatic brain injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: Qualitative research examining experiences of recovering from mild
      traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is limited. Findings from quantitative studies
      regarding predictors of persisting symptoms are inconsistent with limited
      attention directed to capturing broad perspectives and priorities of the wider
      stakeholders. More flexible research approaches may help advance the field. We
      used a mixed method design to generate patient perspectives of MTBI recovery,
      integrating these with quantitative investigation to isolate factors that might
      contribute to divergent MTBI outcomes. METHODS: The qualitative component
      reported here involved semi-structured interviews with selected participants (n =
      10) from the quantitative study cohort, sampling both recovered and non-recovered
      adult MTBI participants. Interviews focused on participants' general description
      and understandings of their recovery and perceptions of what helped or hindered
      this. Data were analyzed using general thematic analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
      Participants regardless of recovery status identified the importance of having a
      coherent understanding of their injury and recovery. Factors facilitating
      coherence included social support, validation, reassurance, accessing credible
      evidence-based information and having a pathway to wellness. Findings suggested
      that coherence could be a helpful umbrella construct worthy of examination in
      future MTBI research. This construct appears broad and able to cope with the
      complexity of individual experiences after injury. Implications for
      rehabilitation Sense of coherence may be a helpful umbrella construct that can
      facilitate resilience and positive recovery beliefs and expectations after mild
      traumatic brain injury. Reassurance, validation, and social support appear
      important and may facilitate injury recovery. Focus on the experiences of people
      recovering from mild traumatic brain injury may help to refine recovery models
      and understandings and thus provide more effective intervention targets.

PMID- 27626510
TI  - The Case for Extant Life on Mars and Its Possible Detection by the Viking Labeled
      Release Experiment.
AB  - The 1976 Viking Labeled Release (LR) experiment was positive for extant microbial
      life on the surface of Mars. Experiments on both Viking landers, 4000 miles
      apart, yielded similar, repeatable, positive responses. While the authors
      eventually concluded that the experiment detected martian life, this was and
      remains a highly controversial conclusion. Many believe that the martian
      environment is inimical to life and the LR responses were nonbiological,
      attributed to an as-yet-unidentified oxidant (or oxidants) in the martian soil.
      Unfortunately, no further metabolic experiments have been conducted on Mars.
      Instead, follow-on missions have sought to define the martian environment, mostly
      searching for signs of water. These missions have collected considerable data
      regarding Mars as a habitat, both past and present. The purpose of this article
      is to consider recent findings about martian water, methane, and organics that
      impact the case for extant life on Mars. Further, the biological explanation of
      the LR and recent nonbiological hypotheses are evaluated. It is concluded that
      extant life is a strong possibility, that abiotic interpretations of the LR data
      are not conclusive, and that, even setting our conclusion aside, biology should
      still be considered as an explanation for the LR experiment. Because of possible
      contamination of Mars by terrestrial microbes after Viking, we note that the LR
      data are the only data we will ever have on biologically pristine martian
      samples. Key Words: Extant life on Mars-Viking Labeled Release experiment
      Astrobiology-Extraterrestrial life-Mars. Astrobiology 16, 798-810.

PMID- 27626511
TI  - Use of bacterial whole-genome sequencing to understand and improve the management
      of invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Management of invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections is complex.
      Dramatic improvements in bacterial whole genome sequencing (WGS) offer new
      opportunities for personalising the treatment of S. aureus infections. Areas
      covered: We address recent achievements in S. aureus genomics, describe genetic
      determinants of antibiotic resistance and summarise studies that have defined
      molecular characteristics associated with risk and outcome of S. aureus invasive
      infections. Potential clinical use of WGS for resistance prediction, infection
      outcome stratification and management of persistent /relapsing infections is
      critically discussed. Expert commentary: WGS is not only providing invaluable
      information to track the emergence and spread of important S. aureus clones, but
      also allows rapid determination of resistance genotypes in the clinical
      environment. An evolving opportunity is to infer clinically important outcomes
      and optimal therapeutic approaches from widely available S. aureus genome data,
      with the goal of individualizing management of invasive S. aureus infections.

PMID- 27626512
TI  - Perception of stigma and associated factors in people with epilepsy at Amanuel
      Specialized Mental Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Stigma is a major problem for people living with epilepsy. Perceived
      stigma may be more prevalent than enacted stigma and causes excessive worry for
      the individual even if it does not arise from a social interaction. Therefore, we
      assessed perceived stigma and associated factors among people with epilepsy.
      METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to
      May, 2013, among 423 samples of people with epilepsy. RESULTS: One hundred sixty
      nine (40.7%) of the respondents perceived as they were stigmatised by other
      people with 19.5% highly stigmatised by their illness. Most of the respondents
      (54.9%) had one or more seizure attacks per month, 61.9% were under monotherapy
      and 52.5% had no side effects of antiepileptic drugs. Those respondents who were
      from rural, low income, divorced/widowed, with frequent seizure attack and side
      effects of antiepileptic drugs were more likely to felt stigmatised by other
      people due to their illness. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived stigma was found to be a
      common problem among people living with epilepsy. Therefore, the finding suggests
      that the need of creating awareness and addressing incorrect conceptions attached
      to epilepsy.

PMID- 27626513
TI  - Specificity and sensitivity of the Beck Hopelessness Scale for suicidal ideation
      among adolescents entering early intervention service.
AB  - Previous studies have shown an association between hopelessness and suicidal
      behaviour in clinical populations. The aim of the study was to investigate
      sensitivity, specificity, and predictive validity of the Beck Hopelessness Scale
      (BHS) for suicidal ideation in adolescents who show early risk signs on the
      psychiatric disorder continuum. Three-hundred and two help-seeking adolescents
      (mean age = 15.5 years) who were entering an early intervention team at Helsinki
      University Central Hospital, Finland, completed questionnaires of BHS and
      suicidal ideation, derived from Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Results
      suggest that a BHS cut-off score >=8 (sensitivity = 0.70, specificity = 0.76) or
      cut-off score >=9 (sensitivity = 0.63, specificity = 0.80) may be useful to
      detect suicidal ideation with BHS in help-seeking adolescents population. Results
      remain mainly the same in a separate analysis with adolescents at risk for
      psychosis. The results support previous cut-off points for BHS in identification
      of suicidal ideation. The results suggest also that lower cut-off scores may be
      useful in sense of sensitivity, especially in clinical settings.

PMID- 27626514
TI  - End-of-Life Care in Patients with Metastatic Lung Cancer Harboring Epidermal
      Growth Factor Receptor Mutations.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Patients with metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
      harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations benefit from improved
      survival and quality of life with EGFR-directed therapy. We sought to explore if
      these improvements in cancer care impacted the delivery of end-of-life (EOL) care
      in this population. DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of
      patients cared for at our institution with the diagnosis of metastatic EGFR
      mutant NSCLC who died by January 2015. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients were included.
      The majority of patients were female (68%), white or Asian (97%), and never or
      minimal smokers (76%). Forty-two out of fifty-eight patients (72%) received
      chemotherapy within 30 days of death. Forty-one out of sixty-one patients (67%)
      had a hospital admission within 30 days of death. EOL outcomes were known for 53
      patients. Of these, 34 (64%) patients enrolled on hospice. The median length of
      stay on hospice was 6 days (range 0-206). Thirty-three (62%) patients died at
      home with hospice services or at an inpatient hospice facility. Eighteen patients
      (34%) died in the hospital. CONCLUSION: Patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring
      EGFR mutations had high rates of chemotherapy use and hospital admissions in the
      last month of life, and many died in the hospital. Hospital admissions near the
      EOL and short admissions to hospice are indicators of poor quality EOL care and
      are likely a result of prolonged chemotherapy administration in this population.
      Thus, current healthcare delivery models may be insufficient to provide
      comprehensive EOL care for patients with EGFR mutations.

PMID- 27626515
TI  - Clinical Trials, Healthy Controls, and the Birth of the IRB.

PMID- 27626516
TI  - Rethinking the Primary Care Workforce - An Expanded Role for Nurses.

PMID- 27626518
TI  - Rituximab in B-Lineage Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment with rituximab has improved the outcome for patients with
      non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patients with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      (ALL) may also have the CD20 antigen, which is targeted by rituximab. Although
      single-group studies suggest that adding rituximab to chemotherapy could improve
      the outcome in such patients, this hypothesis has not been tested in a randomized
      trial. METHODS: We randomly assigned adults (18 to 59 years of age) with CD20
      positive, Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative ALL to receive chemotherapy with
      or without rituximab, with event-free survival as the primary end point.
      Rituximab was given during all treatment phases, for a total of 16 to 18
      infusions. RESULTS: From May 2006 through April 2014, a total of 209 patients
      were enrolled: 105 in the rituximab group and 104 in the control group. After a
      median follow-up of 30 months, event-free survival was longer in the rituximab
      group than in the control group (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.45 to 0.98; P=0.04); the estimated 2-year event-free survival rates were
      65% (95% CI, 56 to 75) and 52% (95% CI, 43 to 63), respectively. Treatment with
      rituximab remained associated with longer event-free survival in a multivariate
      analysis. The overall incidence rate of severe adverse events did not differ
      significantly between the two groups, but fewer allergic reactions to
      asparaginase were observed in the rituximab group. CONCLUSIONS: Adding rituximab
      to the ALL chemotherapy protocol improved the outcome for younger adults with
      CD20-positive, Ph-negative ALL. (Funded by the Regional Clinical Research Office,
      Paris, and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00327678 .).

PMID- 27626520
TI  - IMAGES IN CLINICAL MEDICINE. Urinary Tract Tuberculosis.

PMID- 27626521
TI  - CASE RECORDS of the MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL. Case 28-2016: A 31-Year-Old
      Woman with Infertility.

PMID- 27626519
TI  - Biologic and Clinical Perspectives on Thyroid Cancer.

PMID- 27626522
TI  - Preventing Shingles and Its Complications in Older Persons.

PMID- 27626517
TI  - Efficacy of the Herpes Zoster Subunit Vaccine in Adults 70 Years of Age or Older.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A trial involving adults 50 years of age or older (ZOE-50) showed
      that the herpes zoster subunit vaccine (HZ/su) containing recombinant varicella
      zoster virus glycoprotein E and the AS01B adjuvant system was associated with a
      risk of herpes zoster that was 97.2% lower than that associated with placebo. A
      second trial was performed concurrently at the same sites and examined the safety
      and efficacy of HZ/su in adults 70 years of age or older (ZOE-70). METHODS: This
      randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial was conducted in 18 countries and
      involved adults 70 years of age or older. Participants received two doses of
      HZ/su or placebo (assigned in a 1:1 ratio) administered intramuscularly 2 months
      apart. Vaccine efficacy against herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia was
      assessed in participants from ZOE-70 and in participants pooled from ZOE-70 and
      ZOE-50. RESULTS: In ZOE-70, 13,900 participants who could be evaluated (mean age,
      75.6 years) received either HZ/su (6950 participants) or placebo (6950
      participants). During a mean follow-up period of 3.7 years, herpes zoster
      occurred in 23 HZ/su recipients and in 223 placebo recipients (0.9 vs. 9.2 per
      1000 person-years). Vaccine efficacy against herpes zoster was 89.8% (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 84.2 to 93.7; P<0.001) and was similar in participants
      70 to 79 years of age (90.0%) and participants 80 years of age or older (89.1%).
      In pooled analyses of data from participants 70 years of age or older in ZOE-50
      and ZOE-70 (16,596 participants), vaccine efficacy against herpes zoster was
      91.3% (95% CI, 86.8 to 94.5; P<0.001), and vaccine efficacy against postherpetic
      neuralgia was 88.8% (95% CI, 68.7 to 97.1; P<0.001). Solicited reports of
      injection-site and systemic reactions within 7 days after injection were more
      frequent among HZ/su recipients than among placebo recipients (79.0% vs. 29.5%).
      Serious adverse events, potential immune-mediated diseases, and deaths occurred
      with similar frequencies in the two study groups. CONCLUSIONS: In our trial,
      HZ/su was found to reduce the risks of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia
      among adults 70 years of age or older. (Funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals;
      ZOE-50 and ZOE-70 ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01165177 and NCT01165229 .).

PMID- 27626524
TI  - A Wake-up Call for Type 2 Diabetes?

PMID- 27626523
TI  - Twenty Years of Global Surveillance of Antituberculosis-Drug Resistance.

PMID- 27626525
TI  - Mass Treatment with Single-Dose Azithromycin for Yaws.

PMID- 27626526
TI  - Mass Treatment with Single-Dose Azithromycin for Yaws.

PMID- 27626527
TI  - Mass Treatment with Single-Dose Azithromycin for Yaws.

PMID- 27626528
TI  - Danazol Treatment for Telomere Diseases.

PMID- 27626530
TI  - Danazol Treatment for Telomere Diseases.

PMID- 27626529
TI  - Danazol Treatment for Telomere Diseases.

PMID- 27626531
TI  - Safety Study of Salmeterol in Asthma in Adults.

PMID- 27626532
TI  - Safety Study of Salmeterol in Asthma in Adults.

PMID- 27626533
TI  - Safety Study of Salmeterol in Asthma in Adults.

PMID- 27626534
TI  - Safety Study of Salmeterol in Asthma in Adults.

PMID- 27626535
TI  - Cryoballoon or Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 27626536
TI  - Cryoballoon or Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 27626537
TI  - Cryoballoon or Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 27626538
TI  - Cryoballoon or Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 27626540
TI  - VIDEOS IN CLINICAL MEDICINE. Clinical Examination of the Shoulder.

PMID- 27626539
TI  - Treatment Outcomes in Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis.

PMID- 27626541
TI  - IMAGES IN CLINICAL MEDICINE. Cholesterol Embolization after Transcatheter Aortic
      Valve Replacement.

PMID- 27626542
TI  - Cryptogenic Stroke.

PMID- 27626543
TI  - Cryptogenic Stroke.

PMID- 27626544
TI  - Cryptogenic Stroke.

PMID- 27626597
TI  - The effects of substratum material and surface orientation on the developing
      epibenthic community on a designed artificial reef.
AB  - Artificial reefs provide shelter and can be an important source of food for fish
      depending on the epibenthic community on the structure. The growth and diversity
      of this community is influenced by the substratum material and the surface
      orientation of the reef. Settlement plates of four materials (Perspex, sandstone,
      wood and steel) were deployed in three orientations (upwards, downwards and
      vertical) at a depth of 33 m on a designed artificial reef (DAR) off the coast of
      Sydney, Australia. After three months, the steel surfaces had lower invertebrate
      species richness, total abundance and diversity compared to other surfaces. Steel
      was not an ideal material for the initial recruitment and growth of epibenthic
      invertebrates. A longer duration would be required to develop a mature epibenthic
      community. Surface orientation had species-specific impacts. Surface material and
      orientation are important factors for developing epibenthic assemblages, and are
      thus likely to affect the broader artificial reef assemblage, including fish.

PMID- 27626598
TI  - Antimicrobial efficacy of sequentially applied eugenol against food spoilage
      micro-organisms.
AB  - AIMS: Compare the survival behaviour of food spoilage micro-organisms treated
      with sequential doses or all at once treatments of eugenol. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Staphylococcus carnosus, Listeria innocua, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas
      fluorescens were exposed to a minimal lethal concentration (MLC) initially, or to
      half doses over time, with first half dose applied immediately and a second half
      dose applied after 3, 4, 6 and 8 h, of eugenol. Direct plate counts were
      determined at regular time intervals. Population dynamics were analysed using a
      combined growth and mortality model. Effect of sequential dosing varied
      significantly between tested organisms. High antimicrobial efficacy on E. coli
      K12 was observed regardless of timing of the two doses. Reduced effectiveness was
      observed against Staph. carnosus and L. innocua the later the second half dose
      was applied. Complete cell reduction occurred after immediate exposure to full
      MLC dose, while sequential half doses were bacteriostatic regardless of
      application times. CONCLUSION: Time in between antimicrobial dose application had
      substantial impact on effectiveness, attributed to organisms becoming more
      tolerant. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study contributes to the
      evaluation of encapsulated antimicrobial systems, where antimicrobials are
      released over time and antimicrobial concentrations may only reach MLC levels
      after some time.

PMID- 27626599
TI  - Prevalence, Distribution, and Diversity of Salmonella spp. in Meat Samples
      Collected from Italian Slaughterhouses.
AB  - Recently worldwide food safety authorities indicated the rise of foodborne
      outbreaks linked to Salmonella: this highlighted the need to intensify monitoring
      and apply more targeted controls to help manage the spread of the disease. The
      aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and distribution of Salmonella
      serotypes in 7 slaughterhouses, located in different areas of Naples province
      (Regione Campania, Italy). Meat samples collected from the slaughterhouses were
      submitted for standardized microbiological analysis in 2015. Results of routine
      testing for Salmonella spp. were analyzed and then compared to biochemical and
      molecular evaluations. Salmonella spp. were detected in 12% of 320 samples
      examined (39/320) and the isolation rates ranged from 87% (32 samples) for raw
      poultry meat to 13% (7 samples) for pork meat. Biochemical serotyping showed that
      approximately 50% of the isolates belonged to Salmonella enterica serotype
      Choleraesuis. Rapid detection methods, such as molecular analysis (polymerase
      chain reaction and gel electrophoresis), able to confirm food matrices
      contamination, represent a valid support to the fast identification of Salmonella
      species. A further aspect of the study consisted, indeed, on analyzing isolated
      strains through molecular evaluations. By amplifying bacterial DNA-using invA
      primers, selective for Salmonella-it was possible, in less than 3 h, to classify
      the isolates as Salmonella spp., confirming the results of microbiological
      outcomes. Results of distribution analysis, supported by rapid molecular
      approaches, showed the difficulty of reducing Salmonella risk on food chain. This
      emphasized the importance of periodic surveillance to prevent outbreaks.

PMID- 27626600
TI  - Report of the 4th European Zebrafish Principal Investigator Meeting.
AB  - The European Zebrafish Principal Investigator Meeting (EZPM) is an ideal forum
      for group leaders using this fantastic animal model not only to discuss science
      but also to strengthen their interactions, to push forward technological
      advances, and to define guidelines for the use of this fish in research. The city
      of Lisbon (Portugal) was voted by the European group leaders to be the setting
      for the 4th EZPM, and the organizing committee, composed by Leonor Saude (iMM
      Lisboa, PT), Susana Lopes (CEDOC, PT), Michael Orger (Champalimaud Foundation,
      PT), Rui Oliveira (ISPA, PT), and Antonio Jacinto (CEDOC, PT), was very
      enthusiastic to organize a productive event. The 4th EZPM took place from March
      15 to 19 at Pavilhao do Conhecimento, a Science Museum and Educational Center
      winner of The Great Prize FAD of Arquitecture 1999 and The Society for
      Environmental Graphic Design Award 2011. Over 5 days, 135 group leaders (89 men
      and 46 women) coming from 19 different European countries and also from the
      United States, Turkey, Israel, Chile, and Singapore presented and discussed their
      recent research achievements. In addition to the scientific oral and poster
      presentations, the group leaders gathered in very lively community sessions on
      morphants versus mutants (chaired by Didier Stainier, Max Planck Institute for
      Heart and Lung Research, DE), funding issues (chaired by Uwe Strahle, KIT-ITG,
      DE), and gender equality (chaired by Corinne Houart, KCL, United Kingdom). One of
      the highlights of the 4th EZPM was the guided visit to Oceanario de Lisboa, an
      international award-winning place that celebrates life with a stunning display of
      living aquatic creatures.

PMID- 27626601
TI  - Pancharatnam-Berry Phase Induced Spin-Selective Transmission in Herringbone
      Dielectric Metamaterials.
AB  - A dielectric metamaterial approach for achieving spin-selective transmission of
      electromagnetic waves is proposed. The design is based on spin-controlled
      constructive or destructive interference between propagating phase and
      Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The dielectric metamaterial, consisting of monolithic
      silicon herringbone structures, exhibits a broadband operation in the terahertz
      regime.

PMID- 27626602
TI  - Carpolobia lutea G. Don (Polygalaceae) Inhibits Inflammation and Oxidative Stress
      in an Acetic Acid Induced Model of Rat Colitis.
AB  - Carpolobia lutea G. Don (CL) is used in folk medicine for the treatment of
      inflammatory disorders. Effort in this study is to evaluate the beneficial effect
      of the aqueous-methanol extract of leaf of CL in a rat model of acetic acid
      induced colitis. Male Wistar rats were distributed into 6 groups of 7 rats each;
      non colitic, untreated colitic and colitic rats treated with graded doses of CL
      (100-800 mg/kg). Rats were pre-treated for 2 days before colitis induction and
      thereafter for 7 days post colitic induction. 24 h after the last treatment,
      animals were sacrificed and colonic inflammation was evaluated both
      macroscopically and biochemically. Macroscopic damage score, weight/length ratio,
      myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and tumor necrotic factor alpha (TNF-alpha)
      levels, were significantly higher in untreated colitic rats in comparison with
      non colitic rats (P<0.05). Treatment with CL significantly reduced the
      macroscopic damage scores, neutrophil infiltration (MPO activity) and TNF-alpha
      level (P<0.05). In addition, C. lutea significantly prevented depletion of
      colonic GSH and (SOD) levels (P<0.05). It appears that the beneficial effect of
      methanol extract of C. lutea leaf observed in this study is dose dependent and is
      related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

PMID- 27626603
TI  - Luseogliflozin, A Sodium Glucose Co-transporter 2 Inhibitor, Alleviates Hepatic
      Impairment in Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - Luseogliflozin, a selective inhibitor of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2),
      was previously shown to improve the blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)
      levels of patients with type 2 diabetes in a clinical setting. Although patients
      with type 2 diabetes often have hepatic impairment, few reports have been
      published concerning the influence of luseogliflozin on HbA1c and hepatic
      function in patients with type 2 diabetes accompanied by hepatic impairment. The
      present study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of luseogliflozin on HbA1c
      and hepatic function in patients with type 2 diabetes divided into 2 groups
      according to hepatic function parameters (a normal group and an elevated group).
      In this study, luseogliflozin significantly improved both HbA1c and body weight
      to similar extents in both the normal group and the elevated group, accompanied
      by marked reductions in the aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine
      aminotransferase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTP) levels.
      These results suggested that luseogliflozin can be safely used in patients with
      type 2 diabetes who also exhibit hepatic impairment. The results additionally
      suggest the possibility that luseogliflozin might be capable of alleviating
      hepatic impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27626605
TI  - Ethosomal Curcumin Promoted Wound Healing and Reduced Bacterial Flora in Second
      Degree Burn in Rat.
AB  - Background: Curcumin is well known in biomedical investigations with an extensive
      antimicrobial properties and wound repair effect. However, clinical criteria
      recommend curcumin should be formulated for topical medication. Material and
      method: In this study, we prepared Ethosomal curcumin (Etho-cur) formulation for
      wound healing and bacterial flora assessments in treated rats which were
      subjected to second degree burn under a standard procedure. Results: Applying
      once daily of Etho-cur (0.2%) topically on rat's dorsal for 14 days significantly
      recovered main aspects of wound repair including re-epithelization (P<0.01),
      neovascularization (P<0.01), collagen synthesis (P<0.001), granulation tissue
      formation (P<0.001) compared with control. Considerable wound contraction was
      occurred by Etho-cur treatment sooner than other groups and after 16 days it was
      completed with a significant (P<0.001) value. Furthermore, ethosomal formulation
      of curcumin similar to silver sulfadiazine (SSD) cream 1% potentially inhibited
      (P<0.001) growth of the burn bacterial flora including Pseudomonas aeruginosa as
      predominant bacteria among experimental isolations during 14 days treatment.
      Also, antibacterial activity of Etho-cur was estimated approximately 11% more
      potent than free curcumin in reduction of the burn bacterial flora. Conclusion:
      Regarding the results, ethosomal curcumin efficiently fights against wound
      infection and promotes wound repair in burn injuries in rats.

PMID- 27626604
TI  - Evaluation of Different Oral Formulations of Clindamycin Extended Release in
      Dogs.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of extended
      release formulations (ERFs) of clindamycin with polymeric-based matrices. In a
      crossover study, 21 healthy adult dogs were randomly assigned (in groups of 7) to
      receive a single oral dose (20 mg/kg) of clindamycin without excipients (control)
      or an extended-release formulation containing clindamycin+Hydroxypropyl
      methylcellulose (HPMC)+poloxamer at a ratio of 1 : 0.04 : 0.5 (ERF1) or
      containing clindamycin+HPMC+acrylic acid polymer (AAP) at the same proportions
      (ERF2). Serum clindamycin concentrations were determined for pharmacokinetic
      analysis prior to and at several time intervals after each treatment. Following
      the oral administration in study dogs, each ERF resulted in therapeutic serum
      clindamycin concentrations for 60 h, whereas the control treatment resulted in
      therapeutic serum clindamycin concentrations for only 12 h. All pharmacokinetic
      parameters for ERF1 and ERF2 were significantly different from those of the
      control treatment. These results indicate that both ERFs composed of a polymeric
      matrix containing clindamycin, HPMC, and AAP or poloxamer demonstrated an
      adequate pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship for a time-dependent drug
      and provided a longer release period than clindamycin alone following oral
      administration in dogs. Given that the minimum effective serum concentration of
      clindamycin is 0.3 ug/mL, a dose interval of 60 h could be achieved for each
      tested ERF. This minimum inhibitory concentration has the potential to be
      effective against several susceptible bacteria involved in infections in dogs.
      The treatment of dogs with either ERF may provide several benefits over treatment
      with clindamycin alone.

PMID- 27626606
TI  - One-pot Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of Unsymmetrical Terphenyls.
AB  - In this paper a simple and efficient method for the unsymmetrical terphenyls via
      sequential one-pot Suzuki coupling reactions using Pd(OAc)2 without isolation of
      the intermediate is described. The prepared terphenyls were found to possess
      potent anticancer properties against a panel of cancer cells which includes A549,
      HeLa, MCF7, DU145, HT29 and BxPC-3. Structural similarity with combretastatin A4,
      these terphenyls disrupted the tubulin polymerization in vitro and destabilized
      the microtubules in cells. Flow cytometry studies indicated growth arrest of
      cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle corresponding to antimitotic action.
      Furthermore, compound 4c showed potent anti-mitotic activity even in zebrafish
      model and could likely be a potential therapeutic compound as it is active both
      in in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27626608
TI  - Investigation into Iron Chelating and Antioxidant Potential of Melilotus
      officinalis in Iron Dextran Induced Iron Overloaded Sprague Dawley Rat Model.
AB  - Excess of iron leads to generates free radicals, causes organ damage. Melilotus
      officinalis (Fabaceae) reported to have various pharmacological activities. It
      contains flavonoids and phenolic compounds which have iron chelating and
      antioxidant property. Hence, present study was designed to investigate the
      beneficial effects of different fractions of M. officinalis for the management of
      iron overload disease and its complications. Iron overload was induced by 6 IP
      injections of iron dextran (12.5 mg/100 g) uniformly distributed over the period
      of 30 days. The different fractions of M. officinalis were given orally and
      Deferoxamine (DFO) subcutaneously for 30 days. The iron chelating and various
      biochemical parameters were estimated on 15th and 30th day. The different
      fractions of M. officinalis demonstrated dose dependant in-vitro iron chelating
      ability. There were significant (P<0.01) iron chelating potential shows in rats
      treated with methanolic fraction of methanolic extract (MFME) and methanolic
      fraction of aqueous extract (MFAE) of M. officinalis as compared to disease
      control (DC) rats. The rats treated with MFME and MFAE of M. officinalis shows
      significant (P<0.01) antioxidant and vital organ protective effect as compared to
      DC rats. Better iron chelation was observed on 30th day and at higher dose (300
      mg/kg) as compared to 15th day and at lower dose (150 mg/kg). The present study
      concludes that MFME and MFAE of M. officinalis have reversible iron chelating and
      antioxidant potential in rats. The study also proves the possible mechanism of
      action, as an iron chelator by increasing the excretion of iron in urine and
      feces.

PMID- 27626607
TI  - Ex Vivo Evaluation of Thymus daenensis as an Antioxidant and Antibacterial
      Medicinal Herb.
AB  - Herbal medicines are defined as traditionally used natural products. The current
      study in an attempt try to investigate the antibacterial activity on extended
      spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL), methalo beta-lactamases (MBL) producing gram
      negative bacteria and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and
      subsequently, to determine the antioxidant activity of Thymus daenensis. For this
      reasons, firstly cytotoxicity of T. daenensis was determined by MTT assay. Then,
      essential oil was subjected for antibacterial and antioxidant activity. Our
      results demonstrated that 15 mg/ml concentration of T. daenensis inhibited both
      P. aeruginosa producing MBL and E.coli producing ESBL, while this value was 25
      mg/ml concentration for MRSA inhibition. The association between phenolic
      compound and antioxidant activity was found for the ABTS*+ method (43.52%) in the
      lowest level, while, for FRAD and DPPH* methods the opposite story occurred
      (70.5% correlation for DPPH* and 50.9% for FRAD). Our findings suggested that T.
      daenensis has a potential herbal medicine that should be considered as an
      antibacterial and antioxidant with very low toxicity.

PMID- 27626609
TI  - Antitumour and Apoptotic Effects of a Plant Extract Mixture Containing Rhus
      verniciflua and Other Herbs in Human Leukaemia Cells.
AB  - The apoptotic effects of a novel antitumour agent (Rv-PEM01) prepared from 6
      kinds of herbs, including Rhus verniciflua were investigated using flow cytometry
      and western blot analysis. Rv-PEM01 induced apoptosis but not necrosis in MOLT-3,
      KG-1, and K562 human leukaemia cell lines. Further, Rv-PEM01-treated cells showed
      significantly upregulated expression of caspase-3 and 9 and cleaved caspase-3 and
      9 compared to the control cells. Taken together, the results suggest that Rv
      PEM01 induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial-mediated pathway, and is a
      potential natural anticancer agent and/or a functional food material.

PMID- 27626610
TI  - Adaptive Biomedical Innovation: Evolving Our Global System to Sustainably and
      Safely Bring New Medicines to Patients in Need.
AB  - The current system of biomedical innovation is unable to keep pace with
      scientific advancements. We propose to address this gap by reengineering
      innovation processes to accelerate reliable delivery of products that address
      unmet medical needs. Adaptive biomedical innovation (ABI) provides an
      integrative, strategic approach for process innovation. Although the term "ABI"
      is new, it encompasses fragmented "tools" that have been developed across the
      global pharmaceutical industry, and could accelerate the evolution of the system
      through more coordinated application. ABI involves bringing stakeholders together
      to set shared objectives, foster trust, structure decision-making, and manage
      expectations through rapid-cycle feedback loops that maximize product knowledge
      and reduce uncertainty in a continuous, adaptive, and sustainable learning
      healthcare system. Adaptive decision-making, a core element of ABI, provides a
      framework for structuring decision-making designed to manage two types of
      uncertainty - the maturity of scientific and clinical knowledge, and the
      behaviors of other critical stakeholders.

PMID- 27626611
TI  - Skin Cancer Risk Reduction Behaviors Among American Indian and Non-Hispanic White
      Persons in Rural New Mexico.

PMID- 27626613
TI  - Oxytocin modulation of neural circuits for social behavior.
AB  - Oxytocin is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that has gained attention for the effects
      on social behavior. Recent findings shed new light on the mechanisms of oxytocin
      in synaptic plasticity and adaptively modifying neural circuits for social
      interactions such as conspecific recognition, pair bonding, and maternal care.
      Here, we review several of these newer studies on oxytocin in the context of
      previous findings, with an emphasis on social behavior and circuit plasticity in
      various brain regions shown to be enriched for oxytocin receptors. We provide a
      framework that highlights current circuit-level mechanisms underlying the
      widespread action of oxytocin. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol
      77: 169-189, 2017.

PMID- 27626612
TI  - Comparing Measures of Voice Quality From Sustained Phonation and Continuous
      Speech.
AB  - Purpose: The question of what type of utterance-a sustained vowel or continuous
      speech-is best for voice quality analysis has been extensively studied but with
      equivocal results. This study examines whether previously reported differences
      derive from the articulatory and prosodic factors occurring in continuous speech
      versus sustained phonation. Method: Speakers with voice disorders sustained
      vowels and read sentences. Vowel samples were excerpted from the steadiest
      portion of each vowel in the sentences. In addition to sustained and excerpted
      vowels, a 3rd set of stimuli was created by shortening sustained vowel
      productions to match the duration of vowels excerpted from continuous speech.
      Acoustic measures were made on the stimuli, and listeners judged the severity of
      vocal quality deviation. Results: Sustained vowels and those extracted from
      continuous speech contain essentially the same acoustic and perceptual
      information about vocal quality deviation. Conclusions: Perceived and/or measured
      differences between continuous speech and sustained vowels derive largely from
      voice source variability across segmental and prosodic contexts and not from
      variations in vocal fold vibration in the quasisteady portion of the vowels.
      Approaches to voice quality assessment by using continuous speech samples average
      across utterances and may not adequately quantify the variability they are
      intended to assess.

PMID- 27626614
TI  - Silver Nanowire Embedded Colorless Polyimide Heater for Wearable Chemical
      Sensors: Improved Reversible Reaction Kinetics of Optically Reduced Graphene
      Oxide.
AB  - Optically reduced graphene oxide (ORGO) sheets are successfully integrated on
      silver nanowire (Ag NW)-embedded transparent and flexible substrate. As a heating
      element, Ag NWs are embedded in a colorless polyimide (CPI) film by covering Ag
      NW networks using polyamic acid and subsequent imidization. Graphene oxide
      dispersed aqueous solution is drop-coated on the Ag NW-embedded CPI (Ag NW-CPI)
      film and directly irradiated by intense pulsed light to obtain ORGO sheets. The
      heat generation property of Ag NW-CPI film is investigated by applying DC
      voltage, which demonstrates unprecedentedly reliable and stable characteristics
      even in dynamic bending condition. To demonstrate the potential application in
      wearable chemical sensors, NO2 sensing characteristic of ORGO is investigated
      with respect to the different heating temperature (22.7-71.7  degrees C) of Ag NW
      CPI film. The result reveals that the ORGO sheets exhibit high sensitivity of
      2.69% with reversible response/recovery sensing properties and minimal deviation
      of baseline resistance of around 1% toward NO2 molecules when the temperature of
      Ag NW-CPI film is 71.7  degrees C. This work first demonstrates the improved
      reversible NO2 sensing properties of ORGO sheets on flexible and transparent Ag
      NW-CPI film assisted by Ag NW heating networks.

PMID- 27626615
TI  - Stress, coping and support needs of patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's
      disease: a qualitative descriptive study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine disease-related stress, coping strategies and the
      need for information and support in patients with inflammatory bowel disease
      (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease). BACKGROUND: Psychological stress is an
      important factor in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and therefore, coping
      strategies and support needs should be considered in routine clinical practice.
      DESIGN: This is a qualitative study using a descriptive interview-based approach.
      METHOD: Fifteen patients with ulcerative colitis (n = 7) or Crohn's disease (n =
      8) were interviewed. The interviews were analysed with content analysis. RESULTS:
      The informants largely focused on disease-related stress (e.g. access to a
      toilet, symptoms and worries) and relations to other people (various reactions
      from others and social situations). Behavioural strategies (i.e. taking actions
      and the need for making plans, prepare and adapt), social strategies (seeking
      help and information and sharing feelings about the disease with others) and
      emotional strategies (distraction, positive attitude and acceptance) were adopted
      to cope with the stress associated with the disease. The need for information and
      support concerned instrumental support (disease-related information) and
      emotional support (to talk about disease management). CONCLUSION: Faecal urgency
      and the fear of losing bowel control are important stressors for patients with
      inflammatory bowel disease. The patients handle this problem using various coping
      strategies depending on the type of stressful events. Both instrumental and
      emotional support were requested which primarily occurred at the time of
      diagnosis and disease flare-ups. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Patients with
      ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease ask for information and psychosocial
      support that are tailored to their individual needs and at different stages in
      the disease trajectory to improve everyday life and strengthen self-management
      strategies.

PMID- 27626616
TI  - A novel mutation in PIGW causes glycosylphosphatidylinositol deficiency without
      hyperphosphatasia.
AB  - In recent years, many mutations have been identified that affect the biosynthesis
      of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor, a biomolecule that attaches surface
      molecules to cell membranes. Here, we present two second-degree cousins with
      unexplained patterns of seizures. Next-generation sequencing identified the
      homozygous c.460A>G; p.(R154G) PIGW mutation in both patients. Transfection of
      the mutated allele into Pigw-defective CHO cells indicated impaired enzymatic
      activity of the mutated PIGW product. Alkaline phosphatase did not exceed the
      upper normal range and flow cytometry of CD16, CD24, and CD66c on granulocytes
      showed subtle changes of the cellular expression of the
      glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins. The patients' phenotype is
      therefore remarkably different from the phenotype of the only other described
      individual with PIGW mutations. Patients might therefore be missed when relying
      on traditional flow cytometry of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins
      only and we suggest that glycosylphosphatidylinositol-deficiency should be
      considered even with patients not showing the typical clinical phenotypes. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27626617
TI  - Self-Reported Sleep Problems Prospectively Increase Risk of Disability: Findings
      from the Survey of Midlife Development in the United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether subjective poor sleep prospectively increases
      functional limitations and incident disability in a national sample of adults
      living in the United States. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: Longitudinal
      Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS). PARTICIPANTS: Young,
      middle-aged, and older men and women (aged 24-75) surveyed in 1995/96 (MIDUS 1)
      and followed up in 2004-06 (MIDUS 2). Complete data were available for 3,620
      respondents. MEASUREMENTS: Data were from telephone interviews and self
      administered questionnaires. Participant reported chronic sleep problems within
      the prior month; functional limitations were assessed using the Functional Status
      Questionnaire. Demographic (age, sex, race), socioeconomic (educational
      attainment), health (chronic conditions, depression), and health behavior
      (obesity, smoking) covariates were assessed to reduce potential confounding.
      RESULTS: Approximately 11% of the sample reported chronic sleep problems at both
      MIDUS waves. Average number of activity of daily living (ADL) and instrumental
      activity of daily living (IADL) limitations increased significantly between MIDUS
      1 (ADL limitations: 0.06; IADL limitations: 0.95) and MIDUS 2 (ADL limitations:
      0.15; IADL limitations: 1.6; P < .001). Adjusted regression models estimating
      change in ADL scores showed that chronic sleep problems at MIDUS 1 predicted
      significantly greater increases in ADL (incident rate ratio (IRR) = 1.55, P <
      .001) and IADL (IRR = 1.28, P < .001) limitations. In those with no functional
      limitations at baseline, logistic regression models showed that chronic sleep
      problems significantly increased the odds of incident ADL (odds ratio (OR) =
      2.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.68-3.24, P < .001) and IADL (OR = 1.70,
      95% CI = 1.21-2.42, P = .002) disability. CONCLUSION: Reports of chronic sleep
      problems predicted greater risk of onset of and increases in functional
      limitations 9 to 10 years later. Poor sleep may be a robust and independent risk
      factor for disability in adults of all ages.

PMID- 27626618
TI  - Parameterizing the binding properties of dissolved organic matter with default
      values skews the prediction of copper solution speciation and ecotoxicity in
      soil.
AB  - Parameterizing speciation models by setting the percentage of dissolved organic
      matter (DOM) that is reactive (% r-DOM) toward metal cations at a single 65%
      default value is very common in predictive ecotoxicology. The authors tested this
      practice by comparing the free copper activity (pCu2+  = -log10 [Cu2+ ]) measured
      in 55 soil sample solutions with pCu2+ predicted with the Windermere humic
      aqueous model (WHAM) parameterized by default. Predictions of Cu toxicity to soil
      organisms based on measured or predicted pCu2+ were also compared. Default WHAM
      parameterization substantially skewed the prediction of measured pCu2+ by up to
      2.7 pCu2+ units (root mean square residual = 0.75-1.3) and subsequently the
      prediction of Cu toxicity for microbial functions, invertebrates, and plants by
      up to 36%, 45%, and 59% (root mean square residuals <=9 %, 11%, and 17%),
      respectively. Reparametrizing WHAM by optimizing the 2 DOM binding properties
      (i.e., % r-DOM and the Cu complexation constant) within a physically realistic
      value range much improved the prediction of measured pCu2+ (root mean square
      residual = 0.14-0.25). Accordingly, this WHAM parameterization successfully
      predicted Cu toxicity for microbial functions, invertebrates, and plants (root
      mean square residual <=3.4%, 4.4%, and 5.8%, respectively). Thus, it is essential
      to account for the real heterogeneity in DOM binding properties for relatively
      accurate prediction of Cu speciation in soil solution and Cu toxic effects on
      soil organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:898-905. (c) 2016 SETAC.

PMID- 27626619
TI  - The disorganized family: institutions, practices and normativity.
AB  - This paper considers the value of a normative account of the relationship between
      agents and institutions for contemporary efforts to explain ever more complex and
      disorganized forms of social life. The character of social institutions, as they
      relate to practices, agents and norms, is explored through an engagement with the
      common claim that family life has been de-institutionalized. The paper argues
      that a normative rather than empirical definition of institutions avoids a false
      distinction between institutions and practices. Drawing on ideas of social
      freedom and creative action from critical theory, the changes in family life are
      explained not as an effect of de-institutionalization, but as a shift from an
      organized to a disorganized institutional type. This is understood as a response
      to changes in the wider normative structure, as a norm of individual freedom has
      undermined the legitimacy of the organized patriarchal nuclear family, with
      gender ascribed roles and associated duties. Contemporary motherhood is drawn on
      to illustrate the value of analysing the dynamic interactions between
      institutions, roles and practices for capturing both the complexity and the
      patterned quality of social experience.

PMID- 27626620
TI  - The emerging role of calmodulin regulation of RyR2 in controlling heart rhythm,
      the progression of heart failure and the antiarrhythmic action of dantrolene.
AB  - Cardiac output and rhythm depend on the release and the take-up of calcium from
      the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Excessive diastolic calcium leak from the SR due
      to dysfunctional calcium release channels (RyR2) contributes to the formation of
      delayed after-depolarizations, which underlie the fatal arrhythmias that occur in
      heart failure and inherited syndromes. Calmodulin (CaM) is a calcium-binding
      protein that regulates target proteins and acts as a calcium sensor. CaM is
      comprised of two calcium-binding EF-hand domains and a flexible linker. CaM is an
      accessory protein that partially inhibits RyR2 channel activity. CaM is critical
      for normal cardiac function, and altered CaM binding and efficacy may contribute
      to defects in SR calcium release. The present paper reviews CaM binding to RyR2
      and how it regulates RyR2 channel activity. It then goes on to review how
      mutations in the CaM amino acid sequence give rise to inherited syndromes such as
      Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachychardia (CPVT) and long QT
      syndrome (LQTS). In addition, the role of reduced CaM binding to RyR2 that
      results from RyR2 phosphorylation or from oxidation of either RyR2 or CaM
      contributes to the progression of heart failure is reviewed. Finally, this
      manuscript reviews recent evidence that CaM binding to RyR2 is required for the
      inhibitory action of a pharmaceutical agent (dantrolene) on RyR2. Dantrolene is a
      clinically used muscle relaxant that has recently been found to exert
      antiarrhythmic effects against SR Ca2+ overload arrhythmias.

PMID- 27626621
TI  - Quantifying right atrial filling and emptying: A 4D-flow MRI study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantitatively characterize the central role of vortex formation on
      the flow patterns and energy transfer within the right atrium (RA). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: 4D-flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data with multiple encoding
      velocities was acquired in 12 healthy subjects at 3T. Particles entering the RA
      were classified according to the origin of entry. Vortex membership was
      numerically derived by assessing the location of pathline center of curvature
      relative to the vortex core, defined by Q-criteria. Flow dynamics and energetics
      were assessed using paired t-tests. RESULTS: The majority of flow (74%) passes
      through the RA in a single beat, with a very small volume fraction retained
      longer than two beats (<1%). RA flow was dominated by a governing vortex,
      comprising 79% of total flow, and acting to preserve kinetic energy. Flow
      comprising the vortex enters the RA significantly earlier than nonvortex flow (P
      < 0.01). The majority of nonvortex flow enters the RA during systole, traversing
      the RA via a direct path with a significantly shorter residence time and distance
      traveled (both P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Blood flow momentum is preserved during
      systole within a dominant vortex, which we are able to characterize numerically
      using a semiautomated approach. Our analytical approach has potential for
      application to understanding right heart function in health and disease. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:1046-1054.

PMID- 27626622
TI  - Sertraline for Preventing Mood Disorders Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A
      Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Prevention is more effective than treatment to decrease the burden of
      significant medical conditions such as depressive disorders, a major cause of
      disability worldwide. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a candidate for selective
      strategies to prevent depression given the incidence, prevalence, and functional
      effect of depression that occurs after TBI. Objective: To assess the efficacy of
      sertraline treatment in preventing depressive disorders following TBI. Design,
      Setting, and Participants: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group
      randomized clinical trial was conducted at a university hospital from July 3,
      2008, to September 17, 2012, with 24 weeks of follow-up. A consecutive sample of
      534 patients aged 18 to 85 years, hospitalized for mild, moderate, or severe TBI,
      was eligible for the study. Ninety-four patients consented to participate and
      were randomized (46 to placebo and 48 to sertraline), of whom 79 (84%) completed
      the study. Intention-to-treat data analysis was conducted from July 1, 2014, to
      December 31, 2015. Interventions: Placebo or sertraline, 100 mg/d, for 24 weeks
      or until development of a mood disorder. Main Outcomes and Measures: Time to
      onset of depressive disorders, as defined by the DSM-IV, associated with TBI.
      Results: Of the 94 patients in the study (38 female and 56 male; 92 white), the
      number needed to treat to prevent depression after TBI at 24 weeks was 5.9 (95%
      CI, 3.1-71.1; chi2 = 4.6; P = .03) for sertraline treatment vs placebo. The
      influence of sertraline in the course of neuropsychological variables was not
      detected. The intervention was well tolerated, and adverse effects were mild in
      both the sertraline and placebo groups. Conclusions and Relevance: Sertraline
      appears to be efficacious to prevent the onset of depressive disorders following
      TBI. Future studies should replicate these findings in a large sample of patients
      with TBI and depict their long-term physical, cognitive, behavioral, and
      functional outcomes. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT00704379.

PMID- 27626623
TI  - A Call to Action to Develop Programs for Bystanders to Control Severe Bleeding.

PMID- 27626624
TI  - Opioid prescribing for patients with cancer in the last year of life: a
      longitudinal population cohort study.
AB  - We linked UK cancer registry data with the corresponding electronic primary care
      medical records of 6080 patients who died of cancer over a 7-year period in a
      large United Kingdom city. We extracted all prescriptions for analgesics issued
      to each patient in the linked cohort during the 12 months before death and
      analysed the extent and duration of strong opioid treatment with clinical and
      patient characteristics. Strong opioids were prescribed for 48% of patients in
      the last year of life. Median interval between first prescription of a strong
      opioid and death was 9 weeks (interquartile range 3-23). Strong opioid
      prescribing was not influenced by cancer type, duration of illness, or gender but
      was adversely influenced by older age. Compared with patients who died in a
      hospice, those who died in a hospital were 60% less likely to receive a strong
      opioid in primary care before admission (relative risk ratio 0.4, CI 0.3-0.5, P <
      0.01). The study provides the first detailed analysis of the relatively late
      onset and short duration of strong opioid treatment in patients with cancer
      before death in a representative UK cohort. This pattern of prescribing does not
      match epidemiological data which point to earlier onset of pain. Although
      persistent undertreatment of cancer pain is well documented, this study suggests
      that strategies for earlier pain assessment and initiation of strong opioid
      treatment in community-based patients with cancer could help to improve pain
      outcomes.

PMID- 27626625
TI  - Renal Interstitial Fibrosis: An Imperfect Predictor of Kidney Disease Progression
      in Some Patient Cohorts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extent of interstitial fibrosis on kidney biopsy is regarded as a
      prognostic indicator and guide to treatment. Patients with extensive fibrosis are
      assigned to supportive treatments with the expectation that they have advanced
      beyond the point at which immunosuppressive or other disease-modifying therapies
      would be of benefit. Our study highlights some of the limitations of using
      interstitial fibrosis to predict who will develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
      METHODS: Analysis of 434 consecutive renal biopsies performed between 2001 and
      2012 at a single center. We assessed the influence of various clinical factors
      along with fibrosis as predictors of ESRD and dialysis-free survival in various
      patient groups. RESULTS: Interstitial fibrosis performed well overall as a
      predictor of progression to dialysis. On average, patients with >50% fibrosis
      progressed more rapidly than those with either 25-49 or 0-24% fibrosis with a
      median time to dialysis of 1.2, 6.5 and >10 years, respectively. In contrast,
      interstitial fibrosis was of less value as a predictor of disease progression in
      a subset of cases that included patients over the age of 70 and those with
      diabetic nephropathy on biopsy. Surprisingly, 13.9% of patients with normal renal
      function had 25-49% fibrosis and 5% had more than 50% fibrosis on biopsy, and 5
      years after undergoing biopsy 21% of patients with >50% fibrosis still remained
      dialysis free. CONCLUSION: Renal fibrosis is an imperfect prognostic indicator
      for the development of ESRD and caution should be exercised in applying it too
      rigidly, especially in elderly or diabetic patients.

PMID- 27626626
TI  - Brussels Sprout Decapitation Yields Larger Sprouts of Superior Quality.
AB  - A common technological practice in Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea L. var.
      gemmifera) production is the removal of apical plant section a few weeks before
      harvest in order to promote the development of auxiliary buds (sprouts) and
      ensure higher yields. It is well-known that this measure positively influences
      the size of the sprouts, but until now no study has focused on the effect of
      decapitation on the content of primary and secondary metabolites in Brussels
      sprouts. Plants were decapitated one month before harvest, and sprouts were
      sampled from three sections along the stem (basal, middle, top) of each plant.
      The sprouts were harvested, weighed, and chemically analyzed. The content of
      individual sugars was assessed by HPLC and the content of individual phenolics
      and glucosinolates by HPLC-MS. Significant interactions between the decapitation
      and different stem sections were detected in the weight of the sprouts, as well
      as in their sugar levels. The highest sugar content was determined in basal
      sprouts collected from decapitated plants. Conversely, basal sprouts from
      nondecapitated plants were characterized by the lowest sugar content. No
      interaction between the decapitation and stem sections was detected in the level
      of phenolics or glucosinolates. Decapitation promoted the accumulation of all
      glucosinolates and hydroxycinnamic acids. Moreover, the content of glucosinolates
      and flavonoids was always highest in the sprouts from the top stem section.

PMID- 27626627
TI  - Carotid artery stenting renaissance: is it safe and effective using new
      materials?
AB  - Data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrated significant
      differences between carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy
      (CEA) in terms of early neurological outcomes (from 0 to 30 days), although mid-
      and long-term neurological results are indistinguishable. CAS in symptomatic
      standard risk patients is coupled with a higher risk of any stroke, and death or
      any stroke at 30 days, while the rates of disabling or major stroke do not vary
      remarkably between treatments. Since the micro-embolization through the stent
      struts is the primary suspected cause of suspected early postoperative
      neurological complications (i.e., non-disabling stroke), surgical technology has
      focused on the production of a new generation of stents with a double layer of
      mesh to reduce the "free area" of the cells, and on new cerebral protection
      devices. Another major determinant of early negative outcomes is believed to be
      the intraluminal manipulation occurring during carotid engagement from the aortic
      arch, the crossing maneuvers at the level of the culprit lesion and vessel trauma
      during angioplasty. To address these subject matters, new embolic protection
      devices and innovative strategies have been developed, consequently. This review
      is designed to furnish the current status of CAS results, to update the ongoing
      RCTs comparing CAS vs. CEA outcomes, and to recapitulate the features and
      clinical outcomes for a new carotid stent design, the so called "mesh-stents",
      and new embolic protection tools.

PMID- 27626628
TI  - Assay of Genome-Wide Transcriptome and Secreted Proteins on the Same Single
      Immune Cells by Microfluidics and RNA Sequencing.
AB  - Given vast heterogeneity of immune cells, searching for gene expression and
      transcriptional networks belonging to specific cellular functions such as
      cytokine production has been challenging. To overcome this limitation, we
      developed a splittable single-cell microchip that integrates a high-density
      antibody array for cytokine protein detection, while the same single cells with
      protein profiles can be subsequently sequenced to obtain the genome-wide
      transcriptome. Combined with bioinformatics algorithms, we discovered a subgroup
      of highly coexpressed genes correlating with TNFalpha secretion in mouse
      macrophage cells. This technology and the data analysis may lead to an
      unprecedented understanding of regulation mechanisms of the immune system and
      have the potential to impact disease treatment and drug discovery.

PMID- 27626629
TI  - Galvanic Replacement of the Liquid Metal Galinstan.
AB  - The galvanic replacement reaction is a highly versatile approach for the creation
      of a variety of nanostructured materials. However, the majority of reports are
      limited to the replacement of metallic nanoparticles or metal surfaces. Here we
      extend this elegant approach and describe the galvanic replacement of the liquid
      metal alloy galinstan with Ag and Au. This is achieved at a macrosized droplet to
      create a liquid metal marble that comprises a liquid metal core and a solid metal
      shell, whereby the morphology of the outer shell is determined by the
      concentration of metallic ions used in the solution during the galvanic
      replacement process. In principle, this allows one to recover precious metal ions
      from solution in their metallic form, which are immobilized on the liquid metal
      and therefore easy to recover. The reaction is also undertaken at liquid metal
      microdroplets created via sonication to produce Ag- and Au-based galinstan
      nanorice particles. These materials are characterized with SEM, XRD, TEM, SAED,
      EDX, XPS, UV-visible spectroscopy, and open-circuit potential versus time
      experiments to understand the galvanic replacement process. Finally, the
      nanosized materials are investigated for their catalytic activity toward the
      reduction of methylene blue in the presence of sodium borohydride. This approach
      illustrates a new avenue of research for the galvanic replacement process and, in
      principle, could be applied to many more systems.

PMID- 27626630
TI  - Including Thermal Fluctuations in Actomyosin Stable States Increases the
      Predicted Force per Motor and Macroscopic Efficiency in Muscle Modelling.
AB  - Muscle contractions are generated by cyclical interactions of myosin heads with
      actin filaments to form the actomyosin complex. To simulate actomyosin complex
      stable states, mathematical models usually define an energy landscape with a
      corresponding number of wells. The jumps between these wells are defined through
      rate constants. Almost all previous models assign these wells an infinite
      sharpness by imposing a relatively simple expression for the detailed balance,
      i.e., the ratio of the rate constants depends exponentially on the sole myosin
      elastic energy. Physically, this assumption corresponds to neglecting thermal
      fluctuations in the actomyosin complex stable states. By comparing three
      mathematical models, we examine the extent to which this hypothesis affects
      muscle model predictions at the single cross-bridge, single fiber, and organ
      levels in a ceteris paribus analysis. We show that including fluctuations in
      stable states allows the lever arm of the myosin to easily and dynamically
      explore all possible minima in the energy landscape, generating several backward
      and forward jumps between states during the lifetime of the actomyosin complex,
      whereas the infinitely sharp minima case is characterized by fewer jumps between
      states. Moreover, the analysis predicts that thermal fluctuations enable a more
      efficient contraction mechanism, in which a higher force is sustained by fewer
      attached cross-bridges.

PMID- 27626632
TI  - Synthesis of 3-Indolylglycine Derivatives via Dinuclear Zinc Catalytic Asymmetric
      Friedel-Crafts Alkylation Reaction.
AB  - A direct asymmetric Friedel-Crafts (F-C) alkylation reaction between a wide range
      of indoles and ethyl 2-(4-methoxyphenylimino)acetate catalyzed by Trost's
      dinuclear complex is reported. A series of 3-indolylglycine derivatives were
      synthesized in enantioselectivity of up to >99% enantiomeric excess (ee) using 10
      mol% catalyst loading under mild conditions. This atom economic reaction could be
      run on a gram scale without impacting its enantioselectivity. The absolute
      stereochemistry of catalytic products was determined by correlation with a known
      configuration compound. A possible mechanism was proposed for the asymmetric
      induction.

PMID- 27626631
TI  - Time-Course Small RNA Profiling Reveals Rice miRNAs and Their Target Genes in
      Response to Rice Stripe Virus Infection.
AB  - It has been known that many microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation for
      the plant development and defense mechanism by regulating the expression of the
      target gene. Several previous studies has demonstrated functional roles of miRNAs
      in antiviral defense mechanisms. In this study, we employed high-throughput
      sequencing technology to identify rice miRNAs upon rice stripe virus (RSV)
      infection at three different time points. Six libraries from mock and RSV
      infected samples were subjected for small RNA sequencing. Bioinformatic analyses
      revealed 374 known miRNAs and 19 novel miRNAs. Expression of most identified
      miRNAs was not dramatically changed at 3 days post infection (dpi) and 7 dpi by
      RSV infection. However, many numbers of miRNAs were up-regulated in mock and RSV
      infected samples at 15 dpi by RSV infection. Moreover, expression profiles of
      identified miRNAs revealed that only few numbers of miRNAs were strongly
      regulated by RSV infection. In addition, 15 resistance genes were targets of six
      miRNAs suggesting that those identified miRNAs and 15 NBS-LRR resistance genes
      might be involved in RSV infection. Taken together, our results provide novel
      insight into the dynamic expression profiles of rice miRNAs upon RSV infection
      and clues for the understanding of the regulatory roles of miRNAs via time
      course. 

PMID- 27626633
TI  - Unconstrained Sleep Stage Estimation Based on Respiratory Dynamics and Body
      Movement.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to establish a sleep monitoring method that
      can classify sleep into four stages in an unconstrained manner using a
      polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensor for continuous and accurate estimation of
      sleep stages. METHODS: The study participants consisted of 12 normal subjects and
      13 obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. The physiological signals of the
      subjects were unconstrainedly measured using the PVDF sensor during
      polysomnography. The respiration and body movement signals were extracted from
      the PVDF data. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was estimated based on the average
      rate and variability of the respiratory signal. Wakefulness was detected based on
      the body movement signal. Variability of the respiratory rate was chosen as an
      indicator for slow-wave sleep (SWS) detection. Sleep was divided into four stages
      (wake, light, SWS, and REM) based on the detection results. RESULTS: The
      performance of the method was assessed by comparing the results with a manual
      scoring by a sleep physician. In an epoch-by-epoch analysis, the method
      classified the sleep stages with an average accuracy of 70.9 % and kappa
      statistics of 0.48. No significant differences were observed in the detection
      performance between the normal and OSA groups. CONCLUSIONS: The developed system
      and methods can be applied to a home sleep monitoring system.

PMID- 27626634
TI  - From Cortical and Subcortical Grey Matter Abnormalities to Neurobehavioral
      Phenotype of Angelman Syndrome: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.
AB  - Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare neurogenetic disorder due to loss of expression
      of maternal ubiquitin-protein ligase E3A (UBE3A) gene. It is characterized by
      severe developmental delay, speech impairment, movement or balance disorder and
      typical behavioral uniqueness. Affected individuals show normal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) findings, although mild dysmyelination may be observed.
      In this study, we adopted a quantitative MRI analysis with voxel-based
      morphometry (FSL-VBM) method to investigate disease-related changes in the
      cortical/subcortical grey matter (GM) structures. Since 2006 to 2013 twenty-six
      AS patients were assessed by our multidisciplinary team. From those, sixteen AS
      children with confirmed maternal 15q11-q13 deletions (mean age 7.7 +/- 3.6 years)
      and twenty-one age-matched controls were recruited. The developmental delay and
      motor dysfunction were assessed using Bayley III and Gross Motor Function Measure
      (GMFM). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the clinical and
      neuropsychological datasets. High-resolution T1-weighted images were acquired and
      FSL-VBM approach was applied to investigate differences in the local GM volume
      and to correlate clinical and neuropsychological changes in the regional
      distribution of GM. We found bilateral GM volume loss in AS compared to control
      children in the striatum, limbic structures, insular and orbitofrontal cortices.
      Voxel-wise correlation analysis with the principal components of the PCA output
      revealed a strong relationship with GM volume in the superior parietal lobule and
      precuneus on the left hemisphere. The anatomical distribution of
      cortical/subcortical GM changes plausibly related to several clinical features of
      the disease and may provide an important morphological underpinning for clinical
      and neurobehavioral symptoms in children with AS. 

PMID- 27626636
TI  - SPOCK1 Is a Novel Transforming Growth Factor-beta-Induced Myoepithelial Marker
      That Enhances Invasion and Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Breast Cancer.
AB  - In addition to contraction, myoepithelia have diverse paracrine effects,
      including a tumor suppression effect. However, certain myoepithelial markers have
      been shown to contribute to tumor progression. Transforming growth factor-beta
      (TGF-beta) is involved in the transdifferentiation of fibroblasts to contractile
      myofibroblasts. We investigated whether TGF-beta can upregulate potential
      myoepithelial markers, which may have functional and clinicopathological
      significance in breast cancer. We found that TGF-beta induced SPOCK1 expression
      in MCF10A, MCF12A, and M10 breast cells and demonstrated SPOCK1 as a novel
      myoepithelial marker that was immunolocalized within or beneath myoepithelia
      lining ductolobular units. A functional study showed that overexpression of
      SPOCK1 enhanced invasiveness in mammary immortalized and cancer cells. To further
      determine the biological significance of SPOCK1 in breast cancer, we investigated
      the expression of SPOCK1 in 478 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) cases through
      immunohistochemistry and correlated the expression with clinicopathological
      characteristics. SPOCK1 expression was significantly correlated with high
      pathological tumor size (P = 0.012), high histological grade (P = 0.013), the
      triple-negative phenotype (P = 0.022), and the basal-like phenotype (P = 0.026)
      and was correlated with a significantly poorer overall survival on univariate
      analysis (P = 0.001, log-rank test). Multivariate Cox regression analysis
      demonstrated that SPOCK1 expression maintained an independent poor prognostic
      factor of overall survival. Analysis of SPOCK1 expression on various non-IDC
      carcinoma subtypes showed an enrichment of SPOCK1 expression in metaplastic
      carcinoma, which is pathogenetically closely related to epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT). In conclusion, we identified SPOCK1 as a novel TGF-beta-induced
      myoepithelial marker and further demonstrated that SPOCK1 enhanced invasion in
      breast cancer cells and correlated with poor prognosis in breast cancer clinical
      samples. The enrichment of SPOCK1 expression in metaplastic carcinoma and the
      correlation between SPOCK1 expression and high histological grading and basal
      like phenotypes in IDC evidence an association between SPOCK1 and EMT. 

PMID- 27626635
TI  - Genome Anatomy of Pyrenochaeta unguis-hominis UM 256, a Multidrug Resistant
      Strain Isolated from Skin Scraping.
AB  - Pyrenochaeta unguis-hominis is a rare human pathogen that causes infection in
      human skin and nail. P. unguis-hominis has received little attention, and thus,
      the basic biology and pathogenicity of this fungus is not fully understood. In
      this study, we performed in-depth analysis of the P. unguis-hominis UM 256 genome
      that was isolated from the skin scraping of a dermatitis patient. The isolate was
      identified to species level using a comprehensive multilocus phylogenetic
      analysis of the genus Pyrenochaeta. The assembled UM 256 genome has a size of
      35.5 Mb and encodes 12,545 putative genes, and 0.34% of the assembled genome is
      predicted transposable elements. Its genomic features propose that the fungus is
      a heterothallic fungus that encodes a wide array of plant cell wall degrading
      enzymes, peptidases, and secondary metabolite biosynthetic enzymes. Antifungal
      drug resistance genes including MDR, CDR, and ERG11/CYP51 were identified in P.
      unguis-hominis UM 256, which may confer resistance to this fungus. The genome
      analysis of P. unguis-hominis provides an insight into molecular and genetic
      basis of the fungal lifestyles, understanding the unrevealed biology of
      antifungal resistance in this fungus. 

PMID- 27626637
TI  - Beyond Helper Phage: Using "Helper Cells" to Select Peptide Affinity Ligands.
AB  - Peptides are important affinity ligands for microscopy, biosensing, and targeted
      delivery. However, because they can have low affinity for their targets, their
      selection from large naive libraries can be challenging. When selecting peptidic
      ligands from display libraries, it is important to: 1) ensure efficient display;
      2) maximize the ability to select high affinity ligands; and 3) minimize the
      effect of the display context on binding. The "helper cell" packaging system has
      been described as a tool to produce filamentous phage particles based on phagemid
      constructs with varying display levels, while remaining free of helper phage
      contamination. Here we report on the first use of this system for peptide
      display, including the systematic characterization and optimization of helper
      cells, their inefficient use in antibody display and their use in creating and
      selecting from a set of phage display peptide libraries. Our libraries were
      analyzed with unprecedented precision by standard or deep sequencing, and shown
      to be superior in quality than commercial gold standards. Using our helper cell
      libraries, we have obtained ligands recognizing Yersinia pestis surface antigen
      F1V and L-glutamine-binding periplasmic protein QBP. In the latter case, unlike
      any of the peptide library selections described so far, we used a combination of
      phage and yeast display to select intriguing peptide ligands. Based on the
      success of our selections we believe that peptide libraries obtained with helper
      cells are not only suitable, but preferable to traditional phage display
      libraries for selection of peptidic ligands. 

PMID- 27626638
TI  - HIV Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Young People in Iran: Findings of a
      National Population-Based Survey in 2013.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The evidence is mixed on the HIV knowledge, attitude, and practices
      of youth in Iran. The aim of the current study was to assess knowledge,
      attitudes, and practices of Iranian youth towards HIV through a national survey.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through a cross-sectional study with multistage cluster
      sampling, we administered a pilot-tested standard questionnaire to assess the
      levels of HIV knowledge, attitudes and practices of individuals aged 15-29 years
      old. Participants were recruited from 13 provinces in Iran and consisted of 2456
      men and 2412 women. RESULTS: Only 37.3% of the participants had a high knowledge
      score. Most participants knew the main routes of HIV transmission; however,
      misconceptions existed about the transmission of HIV through mosquito bites
      across all age groups (31.7% correct response). Positive levels of attitude
      wereobserved among 20.7% of the participants. Most participants believed that
      people living with HIV (PLHIV) should be supported (88.3%) while only 46.3% were
      ready to share a table with them. Among those aged 19-29 years old, the main
      source of HIV information was mass media (69.1%), only 13.1% had ever tested for
      HIV, around 20.8% had ever had extramarital sex (31.7% male vs. 9.6% female),1.8%
      ever injected drugs (2.9% male vs. and 0.7% female). Among sexually active
      subjects in this age group, only 21.8% (26.1% male vs. 7.1% female) were
      consistent condom users. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that Iranian youth and
      young adults have relatively insufficient overall knowledge and negative
      attitudes about HIV and PLHIV. Novel strategies involving schools and youth's
      networks could be employed to deliver a culturally sensitive sexual health
      program.

PMID- 27626639
TI  - Real-Time Ultrafine Aerosol Measurements from Wastewater Treatment Facilities.
AB  - Airborne particle emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) have been
      associated with health repercussions but particulate quantification studies are
      scarce. In this study, particulate matter (PM) number concentrations and size
      distributions in the ultrafine range (7-300 nm) were measured from two different
      sources: a laboratory-scale aerobic bioreactor and the activated sludge aeration
      basins at Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD). The relationships between
      wastewater parameters (total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD),
      and total suspended solids (TSS)), aeration flow rate and particle concentrations
      were also explored. A significant positive relationship was found between
      particle concentration and WWTP variables (COD: r(10) = 0.876, p <.001, TOC:
      r(10) = 0.664, p <.05, TSS: r(10) = 0.707, p <.05, aeration flow rate: r(8) =
      0.988, p <.0001). A theoretical model was also developed from empirical data to
      compare real world WWTP aerosol number emission fluxes with laboratory data.
      Aerosol number fluxes at OCSD aerated basins (9.8 * 104 lbs/min.cm2) and the
      bioreactor (7.95 * 104 lbs/min.cm2) were calculated and showed a relatively small
      difference (19%). The ultrafine size distributions from both systems were
      consistent, with a mode of ~48 nm. The average mass concentration (7.03 MUg/cm3)
      from OCSD was relatively small compared to other urban sources. However, the in
      tank average number concentration of airborne particles (14 480 lbs/cm3) was
      higher than background ambient concentrations.

PMID- 27626640
TI  - Impact of Prior Use of Four Preventive Medications on Outcomes in Patients
      Hospitalized for Acute Coronary Syndrome--Results from CPACS-2 Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is widely reported that long-term use of four preventive
      medications (antiplatelet agents, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor /
      angiotensin receptor blocker, statin and beta-blockers) reduce the risk of
      subsequent acute coronary syndromes (ACS). It is unclear whether these four
      medications benefit patients who develop ACS despite its use. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Logistic regression and propensity-score was applied among 14790 ACS
      patients to assess the association between prior use of four preventive
      medications and in-hospital outcomes including severity of disease at
      presentation (type of ACS, systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg, and heart rate> =
      100 beats/min), complicating arrhythmia and major adverse cardiovascular events
      (MACEs, including all deaths, non-fatal myocardial infarction or re-infarction,
      and non-fatal stroke). Prior use of each of the four medications was
      significantly associated with less severity of disease (ORs ranged from 0.40 to
      0.82, all P<0.05), less arrhythmia (ORs ranged from 0.45 to 0.64, all P<0.05),
      and reduced risk of MACEs (ORs ranged from 0.59 to 0.73, all P<0.05) during
      hospitalization. Multiple variable-adjusted ORs of MACEs were 0.77, 0.67, 0.48
      and 0.59 respectively in patients with 1, 2, 3 and 4 medications in comparison
      with patients with none, and other clinical outcomes showed the same trend (P for
      trend < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Among ACS patients in our study, those with prior use
      of four preventive medications presented with less disease severity, developed
      less arrhythmia and had a lower risk of in-hospital MACEs. The value of taking
      these medications may beyond just preventing occurrence of the disease.

PMID- 27626641
TI  - Diagnosis of Bleeding Meckel's Diverticulum in Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Various modalities have been used to diagnose Meckel's
      diverticulum (MD) in practice, but with their diagnostic accuracy deemed to be
      unsatisfactory for clinical practice. Moreover, the usefulness of these
      modalities has not been evaluated for the diagnosis of bleeding MD in adults, due
      to the relative rarity of this condition. Therefore, the aim of our multicenter
      study was to determine the most accurate modality for the preoperative diagnosis
      of bleeding MD in adults. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the
      diagnostic accuracy for small bowel bleeding associated with MD of different
      modalities in patients >=18 years old who underwent assessment for MD, with
      confirmation at the time of explorative surgery. Diagnostic accuracy of the
      different modalities was evaluated against the diagnosis obtained using
      technetium-99m pertechnetate scintigraphy (also known as Meckel's scan),
      considered to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of bleeding MD in
      pediatrics. RESULTS: Thirty-five adults were identified with bleeding in MD over
      the study period, between 2005 and 2012. Among these patients, only 24 (68.6%)
      were diagnosed with MD preoperatively. The mean (95% confidence interval)
      diagnostic accuracy of selected modalities was as follows: Meckel's scan, 21.4%
      (5.7%-51.2%); capsule endoscopy, 35.7% (14.0%-64.4%); balloon-assisted
      enteroscopy (BAE), 85.0% (61.1%-96.0%); angiography, 0.0% (0.0%-80.2%); computed
      tomography, 31.8% (14.7%-54.9%); and small-bowel follow-through, 62.5% (25.9%
      90.0%). The diagnostic accuracy was significantly higher for BAE than for
      Meckel's scan (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among available diagnostic modalities,
      BAE provides the highest accuracy for the diagnosis of bleeding MD in adults and,
      therefore, should be considered as the preferred modality for preoperative
      diagnosis.

PMID- 27626643
TI  - Pd-Catalyzed Intramolecular Cyclization via Direct C-H Addition to Nitriles:
      Skeletal Diverse Synthesis of Fused Polycyclic Indoles.
AB  - The first example of Pd-catalyzed intramolecular C-H addition of indoles bearing
      cyanohydrin components at the C(3), C(2), and N(1) positions to nitriles is
      described. A wide range of functionalized partially saturated carbazoles,
      tetrahydropyrido[1,2-a]indole, and carbazoles can be prepared in good to
      excellent yields under the optimal conditions. In addition, fused polycyclic
      indoles with seven- or eight-membered rings can also be formed smoothly.

PMID- 27626642
TI  - Detection of Invasive Mosquito Vectors Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) from Water
      Samples.
AB  - Repeated introductions and spread of invasive mosquito species (IMS) have been
      recorded on a large scale these last decades worldwide. In this context, members
      of the mosquito genus Aedes can present serious risks to public health as they
      have or may develop vector competence for various viral diseases. While the Tiger
      mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is a well-known vector for e.g. dengue and
      chikungunya viruses, the Asian bush mosquito (Ae. j. japonicus) and Ae. koreicus
      have shown vector competence in the field and the laboratory for a number of
      viruses including dengue, West Nile fever and Japanese encephalitis. Early
      detection and identification is therefore crucial for successful eradication or
      control strategies. Traditional specific identification and monitoring of
      different and/or cryptic life stages of the invasive Aedes species based on
      morphological grounds may lead to misidentifications, and are problematic when
      extensive surveillance is needed. In this study, we developed, tested and applied
      an environmental DNA (eDNA) approach for the detection of three IMS, based on
      water samples collected in the field in several European countries. We compared
      real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays specific for these three species and an
      eDNA metabarcoding approach with traditional sampling, and discussed the
      advantages and limitations of these methods. Detection probabilities for eDNA
      based approaches were in most of the specific comparisons higher than for
      traditional survey and the results were congruent between both molecular methods,
      confirming the reliability and efficiency of alternative eDNA-based techniques
      for the early and unambiguous detection and surveillance of invasive mosquito
      vectors. The ease of water sampling procedures in the eDNA approach tested here
      allows the development of large-scale monitoring and surveillance programs of
      IMS, especially using citizen science projects. 

PMID- 27626644
TI  - Novel Methods of Producing Low-Reflectance Coatings Utilizing Synergistic Effects
      of Polymer Phase Separation.
AB  - Novel methods were developed to generate and characterize surface structures
      formed from polymer segregation within a powder coating system. A blend of unique
      acrylic polyol resins and low concentrations of matting agent afforded a durable
      coating exhibiting consistent low reflectance. An enhanced synergistic effect was
      observed from the phase separation and domain formation of the two polymeric
      resins with varying pendent hydroxyl group functionality and the incorporated
      matting agents. Together the domains and incorporated matting agents produced a
      significantly lower reflectance coating than the matting agent in combination
      with either polymeric resin alone. The rigorous thermal, optical, and
      spectroscopic analysis of the pigmented coating and control coatings culminated
      in the complete characterization of polymeric phases within the resulting
      coatings. Raman analysis of the control coatings via a distinct spectroscopic
      handle allowed for positive identification of the segregated polymer resins
      within the coating structure. Domains observed by optical microscopy within the
      control coating structure were chemically identified via Raman analysis as the
      high-hydroxyl content resin. Subsequent Raman mapping of the peak intensity over
      an entire cross-section provided consistent evidence for positive identification
      of the polymeric composition within the domain.

PMID- 27626646
TI  - Biomarkers for adverse events associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

PMID- 27626645
TI  - 12/10-Helical beta-Peptide with Dynamic Folding Propensity: Coexistence of Right-
      and Left-Handed Helices in an Enantiomeric Foldamer.
AB  - We present the first examples of atomic-resolution crystal data for the beta
      peptide 12/10-helix from oligomers of cis-2-aminocyclohexane carboxylic acid (cis
      ACHC) with alternating chirality. The local conformations of two enantiomeric cis
      ACHC dimer units suggested that a chiral beta-peptide may adopt both right-handed
      and left-handed helical conformations in solution. To probe the conformational
      behavior of 12/10-helical beta-peptides, the two reference helices with a single
      handedness were synthesized with a more rigidified cis-ACHC derivative.
      Comparison with these reference helices at low temperature revealed that a chiral
      cis-ACHC oligomer with alternating chirality indeed displays 12/10-helical
      conformations with both handedness that equilibrate rapidly in solution. This is
      a very rare example of chiral oligomers with helix inversion ability. The 12/10
      helical backbone should be a valuable addition to potential scaffolds for
      applications involving helices with dynamic folding propensity.

PMID- 27626647
TI  - [Analysis of contractual incentives for kidney transplants in Brazil using the
      principal-agent model].
AB  - The aim of this article was to analyze contractual incentives for kidney
      transplants in Brazil based on the principal-agent model. The approach assumes
      that the Brazilian Ministry of Health is the principal and the public hospitals
      accredited by the National Transplant System are the agent. The Ministry of
      Health's welfare depends on measures taken by hospitals in kidney uptake.
      Hospitals allocate administrative, financial, and management efforts to conduct
      measures in kidney donation, removal, uptake, and transplantation. Hospitals may
      choose the levels of effort that are consistent with the payments and incentives
      received in relation to transplantation costs. The solution to this type of
      problem lies in structuring an optimal incentives contract, which requires
      aligning the interests of both parties involved in the transplantation system. 

PMID- 27626648
TI  - [Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and associated factors in indigenous women in
      Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil].
AB  - This study's objective was to estimate the prevalence of abnormal casual
      capillary blood glucose, suggestive of diabetes mellitus, and the associations
      with socioeconomic, demographic, anthropometric, and clinical factors in
      indigenous women in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. This was a cross
      sectional study with a probabilistic sample of women 18 to 59 years of age in the
      Bororo and Jaguapiru villages. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect
      data, and statistical analysis used the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, and
      generalized linear model tests. Of the 385 women, 7% showed abnormal casual
      capillary blood glucose, suggestive of diabetes mellitus. In the final
      generalized linear model, the following remained associated with the outcome: age
      (p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (p = 0.002), and ethnicity (p = 0.022). The
      study shows the need for behavior changes, using educational interventions as a
      strategy for the prevention and control of diabetes mellitus. 

PMID- 27626649
TI  - Radiation Retinopathy 15 Years after Orbital Irradiation for Thyroid Orbitopathy.

PMID- 27626650
TI  - Transcriptional Timers Regulating Mitosis in Early Drosophila Embryos.
AB  - The development of an embryo requires precise spatiotemporal regulation of
      cellular processes. During Drosophila gastrulation, a precise temporal pattern of
      cell division is encoded through transcriptional regulation of cdc25(string) in
      25 distinct mitotic domains. Using a genetic screen, we demonstrate that the same
      transcription factors that regulate the spatial pattern of cdc25(string)
      transcription encode its temporal activation. We identify buttonhead and empty
      spiracles as the major activators of cdc25(string) expression in mitotic domain
      2. The effect of these activators is balanced through repression by hairy, sloppy
      paired 1, and huckebein. Within the mitotic domain, temporal precision of mitosis
      is robust and unaffected by changing dosage of rate-limiting transcriptional
      factors. However, precision can be disrupted by altering the levels of the two
      activators or two repressors. We propose that the additive and balanced action of
      activators and repressors is a general strategy for precise temporal regulation
      of cellular transitions during development.

PMID- 27626651
TI  - Disruption of the Class IIa HDAC Corepressor Complex Increases Energy Expenditure
      and Lipid Oxidation.
AB  - Drugs that recapitulate aspects of the exercise adaptive response have the
      potential to provide better treatment for diseases associated with physical
      inactivity. We previously observed reduced skeletal muscle class IIa HDAC
      (histone deacetylase) transcriptional repressive activity during exercise. Here,
      we find that exercise-like adaptations are induced by skeletal muscle expression
      of class IIa HDAC mutants that cannot form a corepressor complex. Adaptations
      include increased metabolic gene expression, mitochondrial capacity, and lipid
      oxidation. An existing HDAC inhibitor, Scriptaid, had similar phenotypic effects
      through disruption of the class IIa HDAC corepressor complex. Acute Scriptaid
      administration to mice increased the expression of metabolic genes, which
      required an intact class IIa HDAC corepressor complex. Chronic Scriptaid
      administration increased exercise capacity, whole-body energy expenditure and
      lipid oxidation, and reduced fasting blood lipids and glucose. Therefore,
      compounds that disrupt class IIa HDAC function could be used to enhance metabolic
      health in chronic diseases driven by physical inactivity.

PMID- 27626652
TI  - Repeat Size Determination by Two Molecular Rulers in the Type I-E CRISPR Array.
AB  - Prokaryotic adaptive immune systems are composed of clustered regularly
      interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas)
      proteins. These systems adapt to new threats by integrating short nucleic acids,
      termed spacers, into the CRISPR array. The functional motifs in the repeat and
      the mechanism by which a constant repeat size is maintained are still elusive.
      Here, through a series of mutations within the repeat of the CRISPR-Cas type I-E,
      we identify motifs that are crucial for adaptation and show that they serve as
      anchor sites for two molecular rulers determining the size of the new repeat.
      Adaptation products from various repeat mutants support a model in which two
      motifs in the repeat bind to two different sites in the adaptation complex that
      are 8 and 16 bp away from the active site. This model significantly extends our
      understanding of the adaptation process and broadens the scope of its
      applications.

PMID- 27626653
TI  - MIWI2 as an Effector of DNA Methylation and Gene Silencing in Embryonic Male Germ
      Cells.
AB  - During the development of mammalian embryonic germ cells, global demethylation
      and de novo DNA methylation take place. In mouse embryonic germ cells, two PIWI
      family proteins, MILI and MIWI2, are essential for the de novo DNA methylation of
      retrotransposons, presumably through PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). Although
      piRNA-associated MIWI2 has been reported to play critical roles in the process,
      its molecular mechanisms have remained unclear. To identify the mechanism,
      transgenic mice were produced; they contained a fusion protein of MIWI2 and a
      zinc finger (ZF) that recognized the promoter region of a type A LINE-1 gene. The
      ZF-MIWI2 fusion protein brought about DNA methylation, suppression of the type A
      LINE-1 gene, and a partial rescue of the impaired spermatogenesis of MILI-null
      mice. In addition, ZF-MIWI2 was associated with the proteins involved in DNA
      methylation. These data indicate that MIWI2 functions as an effector of de novo
      DNA methylation of the retrotransposon.

PMID- 27626654
TI  - BET Bromodomain Inhibition Promotes Anti-tumor Immunity by Suppressing PD-L1
      Expression.
AB  - Restoration of anti-tumor immunity by blocking PD-L1 signaling through the use of
      antibodies has proven to be beneficial in cancer therapy. Here, we show that BET
      bromodomain inhibition suppresses PD-L1 expression and limits tumor progression
      in ovarian cancer. CD274 (encoding PD-L1) is a direct target of BRD4-mediated
      gene transcription. In mouse models, treatment with the BET inhibitor JQ1
      significantly reduced PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and tumor-associated
      dendritic cells and macrophages, which correlated with an increase in the
      activity of anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells. The BET inhibitor limited tumor
      progression in a cytotoxic T-cell-dependent manner. Together, these data
      demonstrate a small-molecule approach to block PD-L1 signaling. Given the fact
      that BET inhibitors have been proven to be safe with manageable reversible
      toxicity in clinical trials, our findings indicate that pharmacological BET
      inhibitors represent a treatment strategy for targeting PD-L1 expression.

PMID- 27626655
TI  - Lineage-Restricted OLIG2-RTK Signaling Governs the Molecular Subtype of Glioma
      Stem-like Cells.
AB  - The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor OLIG2 is a master
      regulator of oligodendroglial fate decisions and tumorigenic competence of glioma
      stem-like cells (GSCs). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying
      dysregulation of OLIG2 function during gliomagenesis remains poorly understood.
      Here, we show that OLIG2 modulates growth factor signaling in two distinct
      populations of GSCs, characterized by expression of either the epidermal growth
      factor receptor (EGFR) or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha
      (PDGFRalpha). Biochemical analyses of OLIG2 function in normal and malignant
      neural progenitors reveal a positive feedforward loop between OLIG2 and EGFR to
      sustain co-expression. Furthermore, loss of OLIG2 function results in mesenchymal
      transformation in PDGFRalpha(HIGH) GSCs, a phenomenon that appears to be
      circumscribed in EGFR(HIGH) GSCs. Exploitation of OLIG2's dual and antithetical,
      pro-mitotic (EGFR-driven), and lineage-specifying (PDGFRalpha-driven) functions
      by glioma cells appears to be critical for sustaining growth factor signaling and
      GSC molecular subtype.

PMID- 27626657
TI  - ChIP-Seq-Annotated Heliconius erato Genome Highlights Patterns of cis-Regulatory
      Evolution in Lepidoptera.
AB  - Uncovering phylogenetic patterns of cis-regulatory evolution remains a
      fundamental goal for evolutionary and developmental biology. Here, we
      characterize the evolution of regulatory loci in butterflies and moths using
      chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) annotation of regulatory
      elements across three stages of head development. In the process we provide a
      high-quality, functionally annotated genome assembly for the butterfly,
      Heliconius erato. Comparing cis-regulatory element conservation across six
      lepidopteran genomes, we find that regulatory sequences evolve at a pace similar
      to that of protein-coding regions. We also observe that elements active at
      multiple developmental stages are markedly more conserved than elements with
      stage-specific activity. Surprisingly, we also find that stage-specific proximal
      and distal regulatory elements evolve at nearly identical rates. Our study
      provides a benchmark for genome-wide patterns of regulatory element evolution in
      insects, and it shows that developmental timing of activity strongly predicts
      patterns of regulatory sequence evolution.

PMID- 27626656
TI  - Hepatitis B Virus X Protein Promotes Degradation of SMC5/6 to Enhance HBV
      Replication.
AB  - The hepatitis B virus (HBV) regulatory protein X (HBx) activates gene expression
      from the HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) genome. Interaction of HBx
      with the DDB1-CUL4-ROC1 (CRL4) E3 ligase is critical for this function. Using
      substrate-trapping proteomics, we identified the structural maintenance of
      chromosomes (SMC) complex proteins SMC5 and SMC6 as CRL4(HBx) substrates. HBx
      expression and HBV infection degraded the SMC5/6 complex in human hepatocytes in
      vitro and in humanized mice in vivo. HBx targets SMC5/6 for ubiquitylation by the
      CRL4(HBx) E3 ligase and subsequent degradation by the proteasome. Using a
      minicircle HBV (mcHBV) reporter system with HBx-dependent activity, we
      demonstrate that SMC5/6 knockdown, or inhibition with a dominant-negative SMC6,
      enhance HBx null mcHBV-Gluc gene expression. Furthermore, SMC5/6 knockdown
      rescued HBx-deficient HBV replication in human hepatocytes. These results
      indicate that a primary function of HBx is to degrade SMC5/6, which restricts HBV
      replication by inhibiting HBV gene expression.

PMID- 27626660
TI  - Aging Triggers a Repressive Chromatin State at Bdnf Promoters in Hippocampal
      Neurons.
AB  - Cognitive capacities decline with age, an event accompanied by the altered
      transcription of synaptic plasticity genes. Here, we show that the
      transcriptional induction of Bdnf by a mnemonic stimulus is impaired in aged
      hippocampal neurons. Mechanistically, this defect is due to reduced NMDA receptor
      (NMDAR)-mediated activation of CaMKII. Decreased NMDAR signaling prevents changes
      associated with activation at specific Bdnf promoters, including displacement of
      histone deacetylase 4, recruitment of the histone acetyltransferase CBP,
      increased H3K27 acetylation, and reduced H3K27 trimethylation. The decrease in
      NMDA-CaMKII signaling arises from constitutive reduction of synaptic cholesterol
      that occurs with normal aging. Increasing the levels of neuronal cholesterol in
      aged neurons in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo restored NMDA-induced Bdnf expression
      and chromatin remodeling. Furthermore, pharmacological prevention of age
      associated cholesterol reduction rescued signaling and cognitive deficits of aged
      mice. Thus, reducing hippocampal cholesterol loss may represent a therapeutic
      approach to reverse cognitive decline during aging.

PMID- 27626661
TI  - SAD-B Phosphorylation of CAST Controls Active Zone Vesicle Recycling for Synaptic
      Depression.
AB  - Short-term synaptic depression (STD) is a common form of activity-dependent
      plasticity observed widely in the nervous system. Few molecular pathways that
      control STD have been described, but the active zone (AZ) release apparatus
      provides a possible link between neuronal activity and plasticity. Here, we show
      that an AZ cytomatrix protein CAST and an AZ-associated protein kinase SAD-B
      coordinately regulate STD by controlling reloading of the AZ with release-ready
      synaptic vesicles. SAD-B phosphorylates the N-terminal serine (S45) of CAST, and
      S45 phosphorylation increases with higher firing rate. A phosphomimetic CAST
      (S45D) mimics CAST deletion, which enhances STD by delaying reloading of the
      readily releasable pool (RRP), resulting in a pool size decrease. A
      phosphonegative CAST (S45A) inhibits STD and accelerates RRP reloading. Our
      results suggest that the CAST/SAD-B reaction serves as a brake on synaptic
      transmission by temporal calibration of activity and synaptic depression via RRP
      size regulation.

PMID- 27626658
TI  - Oscillatory Dynamics in the Frontoparietal Attention Network during Sustained
      Attention in the Ferret.
AB  - Sustained attention requires the coordination of neural activity across multiple
      cortical areas in the frontoparietal network, in particular the prefrontal cortex
      (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC). Previous work has demonstrated that
      activity in these brain regions is coordinated by neuronal oscillations of the
      local field potential (LFP). However, the underlying coordination of activity in
      terms of organization of single unit (SU) spiking activity has remained poorly
      understood, particularly in the freely moving animal. We found that long-range
      functional connectivity between anatomically connected PFC and PPC was mediated
      by oscillations in the theta frequency band. SU activity in PFC was phase locked
      to theta oscillations in PPC, and spiking activity in PFC and PPC was locked to
      local high-gamma activity. Together, our results support a model in which
      frequency-specific synchronization mediates functional connectivity between and
      within PFC and PPC of the frontoparietal attention network in the freely moving
      animal.

PMID- 27626659
TI  - alpha2delta-3 Is Required for Rapid Transsynaptic Homeostatic Signaling.
AB  - The homeostatic modulation of neurotransmitter release, termed presynaptic
      homeostatic potentiation (PHP), is a fundamental type of neuromodulation,
      conserved from Drosophila to humans, that stabilizes information transfer at
      synaptic connections throughout the nervous system. Here, we demonstrate that
      alpha2delta-3, an auxiliary subunit of the presynaptic calcium channel, is
      required for PHP. The alpha2delta gene family has been linked to chronic pain,
      epilepsy, autism, and the action of two psychiatric drugs: gabapentin and
      pregabalin. We demonstrate that loss of alpha2delta-3 blocks both the rapid
      induction and sustained expression of PHP due to a failure to potentiate
      presynaptic calcium influx and the RIM-dependent readily releasable vesicle pool.
      These deficits are independent of alpha2delta-3-mediated regulation of baseline
      calcium influx and presynaptic action potential waveform. alpha2delta proteins
      reside at the extracellular face of presynaptic release sites throughout the
      nervous system, a site ideal for mediating rapid, transsynaptic homeostatic
      signaling in health and disease.

PMID- 27626662
TI  - STAT3 and STAT6 Signaling Pathways Synergize to Promote Cathepsin Secretion from
      Macrophages via IRE1alpha Activation.
AB  - Tumor-associated macrophages play critical roles during tumor progression by
      promoting angiogenesis, cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis.
      Cysteine cathepsin proteases, produced by macrophages and cancer cells, modulate
      these processes, but it remains unclear how these typically lysosomal enzymes are
      regulated and secreted within the tumor microenvironment. Here, we identify a
      STAT3 and STAT6 synergy that potently upregulates cathepsin secretion by
      macrophages via engagement of an unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway. Whole
      genome expression analyses revealed that the TH2 cytokine interleukin (IL)-4
      synergizes with IL-6 or IL-10 to activate UPR via STAT6 and STAT3.
      Pharmacological inhibition of the UPR sensor IRE1alpha blocks cathepsin secretion
      and blunts macrophage-mediated cancer cell invasion. Similarly, genetic deletion
      of STAT3 and STAT6 signaling components impairs tumor development and invasion in
      vivo. Together, these findings demonstrate that cytokine-activated STAT3 and
      STAT6 cooperate in macrophages to promote a secretory phenotype that enhances
      tumor progression in a cathepsin-dependent manner.

PMID- 27626663
TI  - Dynamic Response Genes in CD4+ T Cells Reveal a Network of Interactive Proteins
      that Classifies Disease Activity in Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS and has a
      varying disease course as well as variable response to treatment. Biomarkers may
      therefore aid personalized treatment. We tested whether in vitro activation of MS
      patient-derived CD4+ T cells could reveal potential biomarkers. The dynamic gene
      expression response to activation was dysregulated in patient-derived CD4+ T
      cells. By integrating our findings with genome-wide association studies, we
      constructed a highly connected MS gene module, disclosing cell activation and
      chemotaxis as central components. Changes in several module genes were associated
      with differences in protein levels, which were measurable in cerebrospinal fluid
      and were used to classify patients from control individuals. In addition, these
      measurements could predict disease activity after 2 years and distinguish low and
      high responders to treatment in two additional, independent cohorts. While
      further validation is needed in larger cohorts prior to clinical implementation,
      we have uncovered a set of potentially promising biomarkers.

PMID- 27626664
TI  - Reprogramming the Local Lymph Node Microenvironment Promotes Tolerance that Is
      Systemic and Antigen Specific.
AB  - Many experimental therapies for autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis
      (MS), aim to bias T cells toward tolerogenic phenotypes without broad
      suppression. However, the link between local signal integration in lymph nodes
      (LNs) and the specificity of systemic tolerance is not well understood. We used
      intra-LN injection of polymer particles to study tolerance as a function of
      signals in the LN microenvironment. In a mouse MS model, intra-LN introduction of
      encapsulated myelin self-antigen and a regulatory signal (rapamycin) permanently
      reversed paralysis after one treatment during peak disease. Therapeutic effects
      were myelin specific, required antigen encapsulation, and were less potent
      without rapamycin. This efficacy was accompanied by local LN reorganization,
      reduced inflammation, systemic expansion of regulatory T cells, and reduced T
      cell infiltration to the CNS. Our findings suggest that local control over
      signaling in distinct LNs can promote cell types and functions that drive
      tolerance that is systemic but antigen specific.

PMID- 27626665
TI  - Proteomics of Human Dendritic Cell Subsets Reveals Subset-Specific Surface
      Markers and Differential Inflammasome Function.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in orchestrating adaptive immune responses.
      In human blood, three distinct subsets exist: plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and BDCA3+
      and CD1c+ myeloid DCs. In addition, a DC-like CD16+ monocyte has been reported.
      Although RNA-expression profiles have been previously compared, protein
      expression data may provide a different picture. Here, we exploited label-free
      quantitative mass spectrometry to compare and identify differences in primary
      human DC subset proteins. Moreover, we integrated these proteomic data with
      existing mRNA data to derive robust cell-specific expression signatures with more
      than 400 differentially expressed proteins between subsets, forming a solid basis
      for investigation of subset-specific functions. We illustrated this by extracting
      subset identification markers and by demonstrating that pDCs lack caspase-1 and
      only express low levels of other inflammasome-related proteins. In accordance,
      pDCs were incapable of interleukin (IL)-1beta secretion in response to ATP.

PMID- 27626666
TI  - A Phenotype-Driven Approach to Generate Mouse Models with Pathogenic mtDNA
      Mutations Causing Mitochondrial Disease.
AB  - Mutations of mtDNA are an important cause of human disease, but few animal models
      exist. Because mammalian mitochondria cannot be transfected, the development of
      mice with pathogenic mtDNA mutations has been challenging, and the main strategy
      has therefore been to introduce mutations found in cell lines into mouse embryos.
      Here, we describe a phenotype-driven strategy that is based on detecting clonal
      expansion of pathogenic mtDNA mutations in colonic crypts of founder mice derived
      from heterozygous mtDNA mutator mice. As proof of concept, we report the
      generation of a mouse line transmitting a heteroplasmic pathogenic mutation in
      the alanine tRNA gene of mtDNA displaying typical characteristics of classic
      mitochondrial disease. In summary, we describe a straightforward and technically
      simple strategy based on mouse breeding and histology to generate animal models
      of mtDNA-mutation disease, which will be of great importance for studies of
      disease pathophysiology and preclinical treatment trials.

PMID- 27626667
TI  - Role of Mitochondrial Complex IV in Age-Dependent Obesity.
AB  - Aging is associated with progressive white adipose tissue (WAT) enlargement
      initiated early in life, but the molecular mechanisms involved remain unknown.
      Here we show that mitochondrial complex IV (CIV) activity and assembly are
      already repressed in white adipocytes of middle-aged mice and involve a HIF1A
      dependent decline of essential CIV components such as COX5B. At the molecular
      level, HIF1A binds to the Cox5b proximal promoter and represses its expression.
      Silencing of Cox5b decreased fatty acid oxidation and promoted intracellular
      lipid accumulation. Moreover, local in vivo Cox5b silencing in WAT of young mice
      increased the size of adipocytes, whereas restoration of COX5B expression in
      aging mice counteracted adipocyte enlargement. An age-dependent reduction in
      COX5B gene expression was also found in human visceral adipose tissue.
      Collectively, our findings establish a pivotal role for CIV dysfunction in
      progressive white adipocyte enlargement during aging, which can be restored to
      alleviate age-dependent WAT expansion.

PMID- 27626668
TI  - Neuronal Rap1 Regulates Energy Balance, Glucose Homeostasis, and Leptin Actions.
AB  - The CNS contributes to obesity and metabolic disease; however, the underlying
      neurobiological pathways remain to be fully established. Here, we show that the
      small GTPase Rap1 is expressed in multiple hypothalamic nuclei that control whole
      body metabolism and is activated in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. Genetic
      ablation of CNS Rap1 protects mice from dietary obesity, glucose imbalance, and
      insulin resistance in the periphery and from HFD-induced neuropathological
      changes in the hypothalamus, including diminished cellular leptin sensitivity and
      increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and inflammation. Furthermore,
      pharmacological inhibition of CNS Rap1 signaling normalizes hypothalamic ER
      stress and inflammation, improves cellular leptin sensitivity, and reduces body
      weight in mice with dietary obesity. We also demonstrate that Rap1 mediates
      leptin resistance via interplay with ER stress. Thus, neuronal Rap1 critically
      regulates leptin sensitivity and mediates HFD-induced obesity and hypothalamic
      pathology and may represent a potential therapeutic target for obesity treatment.

PMID- 27626669
TI  - KDM4A Coactivates E2F1 to Regulate the PDK-Dependent Metabolic Switch between
      Mitochondrial Oxidation and Glycolysis.
AB  - The histone lysine demethylase KDM4A/JMJD2A has been implicated in prostate
      carcinogenesis through its role in transcriptional regulation. Here, we describe
      KDM4A as a E2F1 coactivator and demonstrate a functional role for the E2F1-KDM4A
      complex in the control of tumor metabolism. KDM4A associates with E2F1 on target
      gene promoters and enhances E2F1 chromatin binding and transcriptional activity,
      thereby modulating the transcriptional profile essential for cancer cell
      proliferation and survival. The pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs) PDK1 and
      PDK3 are direct targets of KDM4A and E2F1 and modulate the switch between
      glycolytic metabolism and mitochondrial oxidation. Downregulation of KDM4A leads
      to elevated activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase and mitochondrial oxidation,
      resulting in excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The altered
      metabolic phenotypes can be partially rescued by ectopic expression of PDK1 and
      PDK3, indicating a KDM4A-dependent tumor metabolic regulation via PDK. Our
      results suggest that KDM4A is a key regulator of tumor metabolism and a potential
      therapeutic target for prostate cancer.

PMID- 27626671
TI  - Proteome-wide Changes in Protein Turnover Rates in C. elegans Models of Longevity
      and Age-Related Disease.
AB  - The balance between protein synthesis and protein breakdown is a major
      determinant of protein homeostasis, and loss of protein homeostasis is one of the
      hallmarks of aging. Here we describe pulsed SILAC-based experiments to estimate
      proteome-wide turnover rates of individual proteins. We applied this method to
      determine protein turnover rates in Caenorhabditis elegans models of longevity
      and Parkinson's disease, using both developing and adult animals. Whereas protein
      turnover in developing, long-lived daf-2(e1370) worms is about 30% slower than in
      controls, the opposite was observed in day 5 adult worms, in which protein
      turnover in the daf-2(e1370) mutant is twice as fast as in controls. In the
      Parkinson's model, protein turnover is reduced proportionally over the entire
      proteome, suggesting that the protein homeostasis network has a strong ability to
      adapt. The findings shed light on the relationship between protein turnover and
      healthy aging.

PMID- 27626670
TI  - FOXO/DAF-16 Activation Slows Down Turnover of the Majority of Proteins in C.
      elegans.
AB  - Most aging hypotheses assume the accumulation of damage, resulting in gradual
      physiological decline and, ultimately, death. Avoiding protein damage
      accumulation by enhanced turnover should slow down the aging process and extend
      the lifespan. However, lowering translational efficiency extends rather than
      shortens the lifespan in C. elegans. We studied turnover of individual proteins
      in the long-lived daf-2 mutant by combining SILeNCe (stable isotope labeling by
      nitrogen in Caenorhabditiselegans) and mass spectrometry. Intriguingly, the
      majority of proteins displayed prolonged half-lives in daf-2, whereas others
      remained unchanged, signifying that longevity is not supported by high protein
      turnover. This slowdown was most prominent for translation-related and
      mitochondrial proteins. In contrast, the high turnover of lysosomal hydrolases
      and very low turnover of cytoskeletal proteins remained largely unchanged. The
      slowdown of protein dynamics and decreased abundance of the translational
      machinery may point to the importance of anabolic attenuation in lifespan
      extension, as suggested by the hyperfunction theory.

PMID- 27626672
TI  - Drosophila Cancer Models Identify Functional Differences between Ret Fusions.
AB  - We generated and compared Drosophila models of RET fusions CCDC6-RET and NCOA4
      RET. Both RET fusions directed cells to migrate, delaminate, and undergo EMT, and
      both resulted in lethality when broadly expressed. In all phenotypes examined,
      NCOA4-RET was more severe than CCDC6-RET, mirroring their effects on patients. A
      functional screen against the Drosophila kinome and a library of cancer drugs
      found that CCDC6-RET and NCOA4-RET acted through different signaling networks and
      displayed distinct drug sensitivities. Combining data from the kinome and drug
      screens identified the WEE1 inhibitor AZD1775 plus the multi-kinase inhibitor
      sorafenib as a synergistic drug combination that is specific for NCOA4-RET. Our
      work emphasizes the importance of identifying and tailoring a patient's treatment
      to their specific RET fusion isoform and identifies a multi-targeted therapy that
      may prove effective against tumors containing the NCOA4-RET fusion.

PMID- 27626674
TI  - SUMO Signaling by Hypoxic Inactivation of SUMO-Specific Isopeptidases.
AB  - Post-translational modification of proteins with ubiquitin-like SUMO modifiers is
      a tightly regulated and highly dynamic process. The SENP family of SUMO-specific
      isopeptidases comprises six cysteine proteases. They are instrumental in
      counterbalancing SUMO conjugation, but their regulation is not well understood.
      We demonstrate that in hypoxic cell extracts, the catalytic activity of SENP
      family members, in particular SENP1 and SENP3, is inhibited in a rapid and fully
      reversible process. Comparative mass spectrometry from normoxic and hypoxic cells
      defines a subset of hypoxia-induced SUMO1 targets, including SUMO ligases RanBP2
      and PIAS2, glucose transporter 1, and transcriptional regulators. Among the most
      strongly induced targets, we identified the transcriptional co-repressor BHLHE40,
      which controls hypoxic gene expression programs. We provide evidence that
      SUMOylation of BHLHE40 is reversed by SENP1 and contributes to transcriptional
      repression of the metabolic master regulator gene PGC-1alpha. We propose a
      pathway that connects oxygen-controlled SENP activity to hypoxic reprogramming of
      metabolism.

PMID- 27626675
TI  - Embodied mood regulation: the impact of body posture on mood recovery, negative
      thoughts, and mood-congruent recall.
AB  - Previous work has shown that a stooped posture may activate negative mood.
      Extending this work, the present experiments examine how stooped body posture
      influences recovery from pre-existing negative mood. In Experiment 1 (n   =  
      229), participants were randomly assigned to receive either a negative or neutral
      mood induction, after which participants were instructed to take either a
      stooped, straight, or control posture while writing down their thoughts. Stooped
      posture (compared to straight or control postures) led to less mood recovery in
      the negative mood condition, and more negative mood in the neutral mood
      condition. Furthermore, stooped posture led to more negative thoughts overall
      compared to straight or control postures. In Experiment 2 (n   =   122), all
      participants underwent a negative mood induction, after which half received
      cognitive reappraisal instructions and half received no instructions. Mood
      congruent cognitions were assessed through autobiographical memory recall. Again,
      stooped (compared to straight) position led to less mood recovery. Notably, this
      was independent of regulation instruction. These findings demonstrate for the
      first time that posture plays an important role in recovering from negative mood.

PMID- 27626676
TI  - Radiopaque Three-dimensional Printing: A Method to Create Realistic CT Phantoms.
AB  - Purpose To develop a method to create anthropomorphic phantoms of individual
      patients with high precision of anatomic details and radiation attenuation
      properties. Materials and Methods Inkjet cartridges were filled with potassium
      iodide solutions (600 mg/mL) and prints were realized on plain paper (80 g/m2).
      Stacks of 100 prints resulted in three-dimensional phantoms of 1 cm thickness. In
      a first step, reproduction of patient anatomy was tested by printing computed
      tomographic (CT) images of a real patient abdomen scan. In a second step, gray
      scales, iodine deposition, and Hounsfield units were investigated by printing
      geometric phantoms with gray scales ranging from 0% (white) to 100% (black). On
      the basis of these results, a gray-scale-correction procedure was developed to
      achieve realistic Hounsfield units in the patient phantom. In a third step,
      reproduction of the real patient's Hounsfield units was verified by printing the
      initial patient CT scan again after application of the gray-scale-correction
      procedure. Data were analyzed by using Pearson correlation, linear regression,
      and nonlinear regression. Results The first abdomen phantom showed a detailed
      reproduction of the patient anatomy and demonstrated feasibility of the concept.
      However, individual-organ Hounsfield units deviated from the real patient CT
      scan. Analysis of the geometric phantoms revealed an exponential correlation
      between template gray scales and printer deposition. Application of a correction
      procedure to the template gray scales allowed for a linear correlation (r =
      0.9946; 95% confidence interval: 0.9916, 0.9966). After the same correction
      procedure was applied to the abdomen phantom, linear correlation of phantom and
      patient Hounsfield units was confirmed (r = 0.9925; 95% confidence interval:
      0.9635, 0.9985). Conclusion The method presented in this work can realize
      realistic and customizable phantoms for diagnostic and therapeutic radiology,
      including the reproduction of individual patients. (c) RSNA, 2016.

PMID- 27626673
TI  - An Integrative Analysis of the InR/PI3K/Akt Network Identifies the Dynamic
      Response to Insulin Signaling.
AB  - Insulin regulates an essential conserved signaling pathway affecting growth,
      proliferation, and metabolism. To expand our understanding of the insulin
      pathway, we combine biochemical, genetic, and computational approaches to build a
      comprehensive Drosophila InR/PI3K/Akt network. First, we map the dynamic protein
      protein interaction network surrounding the insulin core pathway using bait-prey
      interactions connecting 566 proteins. Combining RNAi screening and phospho
      specific antibodies, we find that 47% of interacting proteins affect pathway
      activity, and, using quantitative phosphoproteomics, we demonstrate that ~10% of
      interacting proteins are regulated by insulin stimulation at the level of
      phosphorylation. Next, we integrate these orthogonal datasets to characterize the
      structure and dynamics of the insulin network at the level of protein complexes
      and validate our method by identifying regulatory roles for the Protein
      Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and Reptin-Pontin chromatin-remodeling complexes as
      negative and positive regulators of ribosome biogenesis, respectively.
      Altogether, our study represents a comprehensive resource for the study of the
      evolutionary conserved insulin network.

PMID- 27626677
TI  - Therapeutic drug monitoring of antiretroviral drugs in HIV-infected patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may be beneficial when applied to
      antiretroviral (ARV). Even though TDM can be a valuable strategy in HIV
      management, its role remains controversial. Areas covered: This review provides a
      comprehensive update on important issues relating to TDM of ARV drugs in HIV
      infected patients. Articles from PubMed with keywords relevant to each topic
      section were reviewed. Search strategies limited to articles published in
      English. Expert commentary: There is evidence supporting the use of TDM in HIV
      treatment. However, some limitations need to be considered. The evidence
      supporting the use of routine TDM for all patients is limited, as it is not clear
      that this strategy offers any advantages over TDM for selected indications.
      Selected groups of patients including patients with physiological changes,
      patients with drug-drug interactions or toxicity, and the elderly could
      potentially benefit from TDM, as optimized dosing is challenging in these
      populations.

PMID- 27626679
TI  - HSPB1 deficiency sensitizes melanoma cells to hyperthermia induced cell death.
AB  - Hyperthermia has shown clinical potency as a single agent or as adjuvant to other
      therapies in cancer treatment. However, thermotolerance induced by
      thermosensitive genes such as the heat shock proteins can limit the efficacy of
      hyperthermic treatment. In the present study, we identified HSPB1 (HSP27) is
      hyperthermically inducible or endogenously highly expressed in both murine and
      human melanoma cell lines. We used a siRNA strategy to reduce HSPB1 levels and
      showed increased intolerance to hyperthermia via reduced cell viability and/or
      proliferation of cells. In the investigation of underlying mechanisms, we found
      knock down of HSPB1 further increased the proportion of apoptotic cells in
      hyperthermic treated melanoma cells when compared with either single agent alone,
      and both agents leaded to cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 or G2/M phases. We concluded
      that hyperthermia combined with silencing of HSPB1 enhanced cell death and
      resulted in failure to thrive in melanoma cell lines, implying the potential
      clinical utility of hyperthermia in combination with HSPB1 inhibition in cancer
      treatment.

PMID- 27626678
TI  - Identification of a new class of WNT1 inhibitor: Cancer cells migration, G
      quadruplex stabilization and target validation.
AB  - Developing the Wnt pathway inhibitors has been considered as a therapeutic
      approach for cancers and other Wnt-related diseases. Previously we found that the
      G-rich sequence of WNT1 promoter is capable of forming G-quadruplex structure and
      stabilizing agents for Wnt1-mediated signaling pathway. Using a established cell
      based drug screen system that enabled the evaluation of WNT1 expression activity
      in a G-quadruplex structure dependent manner, we evaluated a series of 6
      substituted 9-chloro-11H-indeno[1,2-c]quinolin-11-one derivatives that
      potentially inhibit the Wnt1-mediated signaling pathway. The most potent compound
      SJ26 showed repression of WNT1 activity in a G-quadruplex structure-dependent
      manner. Moreover, compound SJ26 inhibited the WNT1-mediated downstream signaling
      pathway and suppressed migration activity of cancer cells. Thus, we have
      identified a tetracyclic azafluorenone, SJ26, that is capable of binding to G
      quadruplex DNA structure, repressing WNT1 expression, and inhibiting cell
      migration.

PMID- 27626680
TI  - Loss of ZNF32 augments the regeneration of nervous lateral line system through
      negative regulation of SOX2 transcription.
AB  - Human zinc finger protein 32 (ZNF32) is a Cys2-His2 zinc-finger transcription
      factor that plays an important role in cell fate, yet much of its function
      remains unknown. Here, we reveal that the zebrafish ZNF32 homologue zfZNF32 is
      expressed in the nervous system, particularly in the lateral line system. ZfZNF32
      knock-out zebrafish (zfZNF-/-) were generated using the CRISPR-associated protein
      9 system. We found that the regenerative capacity of the lateral line system was
      increased in zfZNF-/- upon hair cell damage compared with the wild type.
      Moreover, SOX2 was essential for the zfZNF32-dependent modulation of lateral line
      system regeneration. Mechanistic studies showed that ZNF32 suppressed SOX2
      transcription by directly binding to a consensus sequence (5'-gcattt-3') in the
      SOX2 promoter. In addition, ZNF32 localizes to the nucleus, and we have
      identified that amino acids 1-169 (Aa 1-169) and each of three independent
      nuclear localization signals (NLSs) in ZNF32 are indispensable for ZNF32 nuclear
      trafficking. Mutating the NLSs disrupted the inhibitory effect of ZNF32 in SOX2
      expression, highlighting the critical role of the NLSs in ZNF32 function. Our
      findings reveal a pivotal role for ZNF32 function in SOX2 expression and
      regeneration regulation.

PMID- 27626681
TI  - Overexpression of LLT1 (OCIL, CLEC2D) on prostate cancer cells inhibits NK cell
      mediated killing through LLT1-NKRP1A (CD161) interaction.
AB  - Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed and the second
      leading cause of cancer-related death in American men. Natural Killer (NK) cells
      are the first line of defense against cancer and infections. NK cell function is
      regulated by a delicate balance between signals received through activating and
      inhibitory receptors. Previously, we identified Lectin-like transcript-1
      (LLT1/OCIL/CLEC2D) as a counter-receptor for the NK cell inhibitory receptor
      NKRP1A (CD161). Interaction of LLT1 expressed on target cells with NKRP1A
      inhibits NK cell activation. In this study, we have found that LLT1 was
      overexpressed on prostate cancer cell lines (DU145, LNCaP, 22Rv1 and PC3) and in
      primary prostate cancer tissues both at the mRNA and protein level. We further
      showed that LLT1 is retained intracellularly in normal prostate cells with
      minimal cell surface expression. Blocking LLT1 interaction with NKRP1A by anti
      LLT1 mAb on prostate cancer cells increased the NK-mediated cytotoxicity of
      prostate cancer cells. The results indicate that prostate cancer cells may evade
      immune attack by NK cells by expressing LLT1 to inhibit NK cell-mediated
      cytolytic activity through LLT1-NKRP1A interaction. Blocking LLT1-NKRP1A
      interaction will make prostate cancer cells susceptible to killing by NK cells
      and therefore may be a new therapeutic option for treatment of prostate cancer.

PMID- 27626682
TI  - Expression of a recombinant full-length LRP1B receptor in human non-small cell
      lung cancer cells confirms the postulated growth-suppressing function of this
      large LDL receptor family member.
AB  - Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-related protein 1B (LRP1B), a member of
      the LDL receptor family, is frequently inactivated in multiple malignancies
      including lung cancer. LRP1B is therefore considered as a putative tumor
      suppressor. Due to its large size (4599 amino acids), until now only
      minireceptors or receptor fragments have been successfully cloned. To assess the
      effect of LRP1B on the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer cells, we
      constructed and expressed a transfection vector containing the 13.800 bp full
      length murine Lrp1b cDNA using a PCR-based cloning strategy. Expression of LRP1B
      was analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) using primers specific for human
      LRP1B or mouse Lrp1b. Effective expression of the full length receptor was
      demonstrated by the appearance of a single 600 kDa band on Western Blots of HEK
      293 cells. Overexpression of Lrp1b in non-small cell lung cancer cells with low
      or absent endogenous LRP1B expression significantly reduced cellular
      proliferation compared to empty vector-transfected control cells. Conversely, in
      Calu-1 cells, which express higher endogenous levels of the receptor, siRNA
      mediated LRP1B knockdown significantly enhanced cellular proliferation. Taken
      together, these findings demonstrate that, consistent with the postulated tumor
      suppressor function, overexpression of full-length Lrp1b leads to impaired
      cellular proliferation, while LRP1B knockdown has the opposite effect. The
      recombinant Lrp1b construct represents a valuable tool to unravel the largely
      unknown physiological role of LRP1B and its potential functions in cancer
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 27626683
TI  - SMYD3-mediated lysine methylation in the PH domain is critical for activation of
      AKT1.
AB  - AKT1 is a cytosolic serine/threonine kinase that is overexpressed in various
      types of cancer and has a central role in human tumorigenesis. Although it is
      known that AKT1 is post-translationally modified in various ways including
      phosphorylation and ubiquitination, methylation has not been reported so far.
      Here we demonstrate that the protein lysine methyltrasnferase SMYD3 methylates
      lysine 14 in the PH domain of AKT1 both in vitro and in vivo. Lysine 14
      substituted AKT1 shows significantly lower levels of phosphorylation at threonine
      308 than wild-type AKT1, and knockdown of SMYD3 as well as treatment with a SMYD3
      inhibitor significantly attenuates this phosphorylation in cancer cells.
      Furthermore, substitution of lysine 14 diminishes the plasma membrane
      accumulation of AKT1, and cancer cells overexpressing lysine 14-substiuted AKT1
      shows lower growth rate than those overexpressing wild-type AKT1. These results
      imply that SMYD3-mediated methylation of AKT1 at lysine 14 is essential for AKT1
      activation and that SMYD3-mediated AKT1 methylation appears to be a good target
      for development of anti-cancer therapy.

PMID- 27626684
TI  - Exclusive inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling is not sufficient to prevent PDGF
      mediated effects on glycolysis and proliferation in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and signaling via its receptors plays a
      crucial role in tumor cell proliferation and thus may represent an attractive
      target besides VEGF/EGFR-based antibody therapies. In this study we analyzed the
      influence of PDGF in colorectal cancer. PDGF was expressed intensively in early
      and even more intensively in late stage primary CRCs. Like VEGF, PDGF enhanced
      human colon cancer proliferation, and increased oxidative glycolytic activity,
      and activated HIF1alpha and c-Myc in vitro. PDGF activated the PI3K/Akt/mTOR
      pathway while leaving MAPK signaling untouched. Further dissection showed that
      inhibition of Akt strongly impeded cancer cell growth while inhibition of PI3K
      did not. MAPK analysis suggested an inhibitory crosstalk between both pathways,
      thus explaining the different effects of the Akt and PI3K inhibitors on cancer
      cell proliferation. PDGF stimulates colon cancer cell proliferation, and prevents
      inhibitor induced apoptosis, resulting in tumor growth. Therefore inhibition of
      PDGF signaling seems to be a promising target in colorectal cancer therapy.
      However, due to the multifaceted nature of the intracellular PDGF signaling,
      careful intervention strategies are needed when looking into specific signaling
      pathways like PI3K/Akt/mTOR and MAPK.

PMID- 27626686
TI  - Androgen receptor CAG and GGN repeat length variation contributes more to the
      tumorigenesis of osteosarcoma.
AB  - The androgen receptor (AR) is involved in the differentiation and growth of many
      cancers. We hypothesized that two microsatellite polymorphic variants, AR (CAG)n
      and (GGN)n repeats, were also associated with the development of Papillary
      thyroid cancer (PTC) and Osteosarcoma. In current study, we conducted two case
      control studies in a Chinese population to investigate the possible relationship
      between these two AR repeat polymorphisms and the risk of PTC and Osteosarcoma.
      The AR CAG repeat length was significantly associated with both risk of PTC and
      Osteosarcoma. Subjects with shorter AR CAG repeats had a higher risk of
      developing PTC (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.17-1.85, P = 0.001) and Osteosarcoma (OR =
      1.53, 95% CI: 1.19-1.97, P = 9.2 x 10-4). Specifically, shorter GGN repeats also
      contribute a significant increased risk of Osteosarcoma (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.03
      1.77, P = 0.030). Our results contribute to a better understanding of the complex
      hormone related mechanisms underlying PTC and Osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27626685
TI  - Pathological complete response after cisplatin neoadjuvant therapy is associated
      with the downregulation of DNA repair genes in BRCA1-associated triple-negative
      breast cancers.
AB  - Pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is considered a
      suitable surrogate marker of treatment efficacy in patients with triple-negative
      breast cancers (TNBCs). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying pCR as a
      result of such treatment remain obscure. Using real-time PCR arrays we compared
      the expression levels of 120 genes involved in the main mechanisms of DNA repair
      in 43 pretreatment biopsies of BRCA1-associated TNBCs exhibiting pCR and no
      pathological complete response (non-pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with
      cisplatin. Altogether, 25 genes were significantly differentially expressed
      between tumors exhibiting pCR and non-pCR, and these genes were downregulated in
      the pCR group compared to the non-pCR group. A difference in expression level
      greater than 1.5-fold was detected for nine genes: MGMT, ERCC4, FANCB, UBA1,
      XRCC5, XPA, XPC, PARP3, and RPA1. The non-homologous end joining and nucleotide
      excision repair pathways of DNA repair showed the most significant relevance.
      Expression profile of DNA repair genes associated with pCR was different in the
      node-positive (20 genes with fold change >1.5) and node-negative (only 3 genes)
      subgroups. Although BRCA1 germline mutations are the principal defects in BRCA1
      associated TNBC, our results indicate that the additional downregulation of other
      genes engaged in major pathways of DNA repair may play a decisive role in the
      pathological response of these tumors to cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The
      results suggest that patients with node-positive BRCA1-associated TNBCs that do
      not exhibit pCR after cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be candidates for
      subsequent therapy with PARP inhibitors, whereas UBA1 may be a potential
      therapeutic target in node-negative subgroup.

PMID- 27626687
TI  - New HSP27 inhibitors efficiently suppress drug resistance development in cancer
      cells.
AB  - Drug resistance is an important open problem in cancer treatment. In recent
      years, the heat shock protein HSP27 (HSPB1) was identified as a key player
      driving resistance development. HSP27 is overexpressed in many cancer types and
      influences cellular processes such as apoptosis, DNA repair, recombination, and
      formation of metastases. As a result cancer cells are able to suppress apoptosis
      and develop resistance to cytostatic drugs. To identify HSP27 inhibitors we
      follow a novel computational drug repositioning approach. We exploit a similarity
      between a predicted HSP27 binding site to a viral thymidine kinase to generate
      lead inhibitors for HSP27. Six of these leads were verified experimentally. They
      bind HSP27 and down-regulate its chaperone activity. Most importantly, all six
      compounds inhibit development of drug resistance in cellular assays. One of the
      leads - chlorpromazine - is an antipsychotic, which has a positive effect on
      survival time in human breast cancer. In summary, we make two important
      contributions: First, we put forward six novel leads, which inhibit HSP27 and
      tackle drug resistance. Second, we demonstrate the power of computational drug
      repositioning.

PMID- 27626688
TI  - Diisopropylamine dichloroacetate enhances radiosensitization in esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma by increasing mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen
      species levels.
AB  - Radiotherapy is generally applied in the treatment of esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC). However, the radioresistance of ESCC still remains an obstacle
      for the curative effect of this treatment. We hypothesized that diisopropylamine
      dichloroacetate (DADA), an inhibitor of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK),
      might enhance radiosensitizationin resistant ESCC. The clonogenic survival assay
      revealed that DADA sensitized ESCC cells to radiotherapy in vitro; furthermore,
      the combination of DADA and radiotherapy increased the expression of gamma-H2AX,
      which is a hallmark of DNA double-strand breaks. Arrest at G2/M phase as well as
      the induction of apoptosis of ESCC cells were also observed in the cells treated
      with the combination of DADA and radiotherapy. Notably, xenograft tumor growth
      was significantly suppressed in vivo by combined radiotherapy and DADA
      administration. It has been proven that glycolysis is highly correlated with
      radioresistance, which could be reversed by the shift from glycolysis to
      mitochondrial oxidation. In our present study, we found that DADA could modulate
      oxidative phosphorylation as well as increase the intracellular levels of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS). Collectively, we concluded that DADA-induced
      intracellular ROS accumulation was identified as the key factor of radiotherapy
      sensitization of ESCC.

PMID- 27626689
TI  - Interferon-stimulated gene of 20 kDa protein (ISG20) degrades RNA of hepatitis B
      virus to impede the replication of HBV in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) barely induces host interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes
      (ISGs), which allows efficient HBV replication in the immortalized mouse
      hepatocytes as per human hepatocytes. Here we found that transfection of Isg20
      plasmid robustly inhibits the HBV replication in HBV-infected hepatocytes
      irrespective of IRF3 or IFN promoter activation. Transfection of Isg20 is thus
      effective to eradicate HBV in the infected hepatocytes. Transfection of HBV
      genome or epsilon-stem of HBV pgRNA (active pgRNA moiety) failed to induce Isg20
      in the hepatocytes, while control polyI:C (a viral dsRNA analogue mimic)
      activated MAVS pathway leading to production of type I IFN and then ISGsg20 via
      the IFN-alpha/beta receptor (IFNAR). Consistently, addition of IFN-alpha induced
      Isg20 and partially suppressed HBV replication in hepatocytes. Chasing HBV RNA,
      DNA and proteins by blotting indicated that ISG20 expression decreased HBV RNA
      and replicative DNA in HBV-transfected cells, which resulted in low HBs antigen
      production and virus titer. The exonuclease domains of ISG20 mainly participated
      in HBV-RNA decay. In vivo hydrodynamic injection, ISG20 was crucial for
      suppressing HBV replication without degrading host RNA in the liver. Taken
      together, ISG20 acts as an innate anti-HBV effector that selectively degrades HBV
      RNA and blocks replication of infectious HBV particles. ISG20 would be a critical
      effector for ameliorating chronic HBV infection in the IFN therapy.

PMID- 27626690
TI  - The antiangiogenic effects of polyisoprenylated cysteinyl amide inhibitors in
      HUVEC, chick embryo and zebrafish is dependent on the polyisoprenyl moiety.
AB  - Angiogenesis is essential for solid tumor growth, therapeutic resistance and
      metastasis, the latest accounting for 90% of cancer deaths. Although angiogenesis
      is essential for the malignant transformations in solid tumors and therefore is
      an attractive target, few drugs are available that block tumor angiogenesis. The
      focus has been to block signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), such as
      for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), whose activation abrogate
      apoptosis and promote angiogenesis. The polyisoprenylated cysteinyl amide
      inhibitors (PCAIs) were designed to modulate aberrant polyisoprenylated small G
      proteins such as mutant Ras whose constitutive activation promotes RTKs
      signaling. Since polyisoprenylation is essential for protein-protein interactions
      and functions of G-proteins, we hypothesized that the PCAIs would disrupt the
      monomeric G-protein signaling thereby effectively inhibiting angiogenesis. In
      this study we determined the effects of PCAIs on human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells (HUVEC) tube formation, cell viability, cell migration and invasion as well
      as in vivo using the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and zebrafish models.
      At sub- to low micromolar concentrations, the PCAIs inhibit the native and VEGF
      stimulated cell migration and invasion as well as tube formation and angiogenesis
      in CAM and zebrafish embryos. The concentrations that block the angiogenic
      processes were lower than those that induce cell death. Since angiogenesis is
      essential for tumor growth but otherwise limited to wound healing, feeding fat
      cells and uterine wall repair in adults, it is conceivable that these compounds
      can be developed into safer therapeutics for cancers and retinal
      neovascularization that leads to loss of vision.

PMID- 27626691
TI  - TumorNext: A comprehensive tumor profiling assay that incorporates high
      resolution copy number analysis and germline status to improve testing accuracy.
AB  - The development of targeted therapies for both germline and somatic DNA mutations
      has increased the need for molecular profiling assays to determine the mutational
      status of specific genes. Moreover, the potential of off-label prescription of
      targeted therapies favors classifying tumors based on DNA alterations rather than
      traditional tissue pathology. Here we describe the analytical validation of a
      custom probe-based NGS tumor panel, TumorNext, which can detect single nucleotide
      variants, small insertions and deletions in 142 genes that are frequently mutated
      in somatic and/or germline cancers. TumorNext also detects gene fusions and
      structural variants, such as tandem duplications and inversions, in 15 frequently
      disrupted oncogenes and tumor suppressors. The assay uses a matched control and
      custom bioinformatics pipeline to differentiate between somatic and germline
      mutations, allowing precise variant classification. We tested 170 previously
      characterized samples, of which > 95% were formalin-fixed paraffin embedded
      tissue from 8 different cancer types, and highlight examples where lack of
      germline status may have led to the inappropriate prescription of therapy. We
      also describe the validation of the Affymetrix OncoScan platform, an array
      technology for high resolution copy number variant detection for use in parallel
      with the NGS panel that can detect single copy amplifications and hemizygous
      deletions. We analyzed 80 previously characterized formalin-fixed paraffin
      embedded specimens and provide examples of hemizygous deletion detection in
      samples with known pathogenic germline mutations. Thus, the TumorNext combined
      approach of NGS and OncoScan potentially allows for the identification of the
      "second hit" in hereditary cancer patients.

PMID- 27626692
TI  - Epigenetically regulated miR-145 suppresses colon cancer invasion and metastasis
      by targeting LASP1.
AB  - MiR-145 is a tumor-suppressive microRNA that participates in the malignant
      progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Although miR-145 has been reported to
      inhibit proliferation and to induce apoptosis of CRC cells, the reports about its
      role in invasion and metastasis are controversial. The regulation of miR-145 its
      own expression also requires further elucidation. In this study, we firstly found
      that miR-145 is markedly downregulated in the metastatic tumors of CRC patients.
      Then through gain- and loss-of function studies, we demonstrated that miR-145
      suppresses the invasion and metastasis of CRC cells. We also provided
      experimental evidences which include direct binding assays and verifications on
      tissue specimens to confirm that LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1) is a direct target
      of miR-145. Furthermore, we identified the core promoter regions of miR-145 and
      observed the cooperation between histone methylation and transcription factors
      through binding to these core promoter regions to regulate the expression of miR
      145 in CRC cells. Our study provides an insight into the regulatory network in
      CRC cells, thus offering new targets for treating CRC patients.

PMID- 27626693
TI  - Constructing Bayesian networks by integrating gene expression and copy number
      data identifies NLGN4Y as a novel regulator of prostate cancer progression.
AB  - To understand the heterogeneity of prostate cancer (PCa) and identify novel
      underlying drivers, we constructed integrative molecular Bayesian networks
      (IMBNs) for PCa by integrating gene expression and copy number alteration data
      from published datasets. After demonstrating such IMBNs with superior network
      accuracy, we identified multiple sub-networks within IMBNs related to biochemical
      recurrence (BCR) of PCa and inferred the corresponding key drivers. The key
      drivers regulated a set of common effectors including genes preferentially
      expressed in neuronal cells. NLGN4Y-a protein involved in synaptic adhesion in
      neurons-was ranked as the top gene closely linked to key drivers of myogenesis
      subnetworks. Lower expression of NLGN4Y was associated with higher grade PCa and
      an increased risk of BCR. We show that restoration of the protein expression of
      NLGN4Y in PC-3 cells leads to decreased cell proliferation, migration and
      inflammatory cytokine expression. Our results suggest that NLGN4Y is an important
      negative regulator in prostate cancer progression. More importantly, it
      highlights the value of IMBNs in generating biologically and clinically relevant
      hypotheses about prostate cancer that can be validated by independent studies.

PMID- 27626694
TI  - Novel role of miR-29a in pancreatic cancer autophagy and its therapeutic
      potential.
AB  - Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal malignancy that
      responds poorly to current therapeutic modalities. In an effort to develop novel
      therapeutic strategies, we found downregulation of miR-29 in pancreatic cancer
      cells, and overexpression of miR-29a sensitized chemotherapeutic resistant
      pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine, reduced cancer cell viability, and
      increased cytotoxicity. Furthermore, miR-29a blocked autophagy flux, as evidenced
      by an accumulation of autophagosomes and autophagy markers, LC3B and p62, and a
      decrease in autophagosome-lysosome fusion. In addition, miR-29a decreased the
      expression of autophagy proteins, TFEB and ATG9A, which are critical for
      lysosomal function and autophagosome trafficking respectively. Knockdown of TFEB
      or ATG9A inhibited autophagy similar to miR-29a overexpression. Finally, miR-29a
      reduced cancer cell migration, invasion, and anchorage independent growth.
      Collectively, our findings indicate that miR-29a functions as a potent autophagy
      inhibitor, sensitizes cancer cells to gemcitabine, and decreases their invasive
      potential. Our data provides evidence for the use of miR-29a as a novel
      therapeutic agent to target PDAC.

PMID- 27626695
TI  - Grifolin inhibits tumor cells adhesion and migration via suppressing interplay
      between PGC1alpha and Fra-1 / LSF- MMP2 / CD44 axes.
AB  - Grifolin, a farnesyl phenolic compound isolated from the fresh fruiting bodies of
      the mushroom Albatrellus confluens, exhibits effective antitumor bioactivity in
      previous study of our group and other lab. In this study, we observed that
      grifolin inhibited tumor cells adhesion and migration. Moreover, grifolin reduced
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and caused cellular ATP depletion in
      high-metastatic tumor cells. PGC1alpha (Peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma, coactivator 1alpha) encodes a transcriptional co-activator
      involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration and play a critical role in
      the maintenance of energy homeostasis. Interestingly, grifolin suppressed the
      mRNA as well as protein level of PGC1alpha. We further identified that MMP2 and
      CD44 expressions were PGC1alpha inducible. PGC1alpha can bind with metastatic
      associated transcription factors: Fra-1 and LSF and the protein-protein
      interaction was attenuated by grifolin treatment. Overall, these findings suggest
      that grifolin decreased ROS generation and intracellular ATP to suppress tumor
      cell adhesion/migration via impeding the interplay between PGC1alpha and Fra-1
      /LSF-MMP2/CD44 axes. Grifolin may develop as a promising lead compound for
      antitumor therapies by targeting energy metabolism regulator PGC1alpha signaling.

PMID- 27626696
TI  - Molecular alterations and tumor suppressive function of the DUSP22 (Dual
      Specificity Phosphatase 22) gene in peripheral T-cell lymphoma subtypes.
AB  - Monoallelic 6p25.3 rearrangements associated with DUSP22 (Dual Specificity
      Phosphatase 22) gene silencing have been reported in CD30+ peripheral T-cell
      lymphomas (PTCL), mostly with anaplastic morphology and of cutaneous origin.
      However, the mechanism of second allele silencing and the putative tumor
      suppressor function of DUSP22 have not been investigated so far. Here, we show
      that the presence, in most individuals, of an inactive paralog hampers genetic
      and epigenetic evaluation of the DUSP22 gene. Identification of DUSP22-specific
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms haplotypes and fluorescence in situ hybridization
      and epigenetic characterization of the paralog status led us to develop a
      comprehensive strategy enabling reliable identification of DUSP22 alterations. We
      showed that one cutaneous anaplastic large T-cell lymphomas (cALCL) case with
      monoallelic 6p25.3 rearrangement and DUSP22 silencing harbored exon 1 somatic
      mutations associated with second allele inactivation. Another cALCL case carried
      an intron 1 somatic splice site mutation with predicted deleterious exon skipping
      effect. Other tested PTCL cases with 6p25.3 rearrangement exhibited neither
      mutation nor deletion nor methylation accounting for silencing of the non
      rearranged DUSP22 allele, thus inactivated by a so far unknown mechanism. We also
      characterized the expression status of four DUSP22 splice variants and found that
      they are all silenced in cALCL cases with 6p25.3 breakpoints. We finally showed
      that restoring expression of the physiologically predominant isoform in DUSP22
      deficient malignant T cells inhibits cellular expansion by stimulating apoptosis
      and impairs soft agar clonogenicity and tumorigenicity. This study therefore
      shows that DUSP22 behaves as a tumor suppressor gene in PTCL.

PMID- 27626697
TI  - A highly invasive subpopulation of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells shows
      accelerated growth, differential chemoresistance, features of apocrine tumors and
      reduced tumorigenicity in vivo.
AB  - The acquisition of an invasive phenotype is a prerequisite for metastasization,
      yet it is not clear whether or to which extent the invasive phenotype is linked
      to other features characteristic of metastatic cells. We selected an invasive
      subpopulation from the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231,
      performing repeated cycles of preparative assays of invasion through Matrigel
      covered membranes. The invasive sub-population of MDA-MB-231 cells exhibits
      stronger migratory capacity as compared to parental cells confirming the highly
      invasive potential of the selected cell line. Prolonged cultivation of these
      cells did not abolish the invasive phenotype. ArrayCGH, DNA index quantification
      and karyotype analyses confirmed a common genetic origin of the parental and
      invasive subpopulations and revealed discrete structural differences of the
      invasive subpopulation including increased ploidy and the absence of a
      characteristic amplification of chromosome 5p14.1-15.33. Gene expression analyses
      showed a drastically altered expression profile including features of apocrine
      breast cancers and of invasion related matrix-metalloproteases and cytokines. The
      invasive cells showed accelerated proliferation, increased apoptosis, and an
      altered pattern of chemo-sensitivity with lower IC50 values for drugs affecting
      the mitotic apparatus. However, the invasive cell population is significantly
      less tumorigenic in orthotopic mouse xenografts suggesting that the acquisition
      of the invasive capacity and the achievement of metastatic growth potential are
      distinct events.

PMID- 27626698
TI  - Identification of a structurally novel BTK mutation that drives ibrutinib
      resistance in CLL.
AB  - Ibrutinib (ibr), a first-in-class Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, has
      demonstrated high response rates in both relapsed/refractory and treatment naive
      chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, about 25% of patients discontinue
      ibrutinib therapy at a median follow-up of 20 months and many patients
      discontinue the treatment due to leukemia progression or Richter transformation.
      Mutations affecting the C481 residue of BTK disrupt ibrutinib binding and have
      been characterized by us and others as the most common mechanism of ibrutinib
      resistance. Thus far, all described BTK mutations are located in its kinase
      domain and mutations outside this domain have never been described. Herein, we
      report a patient whose CLL progressed, was salvaged with ibrutinib and then
      relapsed. Serial analysis of samples throughout patient's clinical course
      identified a structurally novel mutation (BTKT316A) in the SH2 domain, but not
      kinase domain, of Bruton tyrosine kinase which was associated with disease
      relapse. Functionally, cells carrying BTKT316A show resistance to ibrutinib at
      both cellular and molecular levels to a similar extent as BTKC481S. Our study
      lends further insight into the diverse mechanisms of ibrutinib resistance that
      has important implications for the development of next-generation BTK inhibitors
      as well as mutation detection in relapsed patients.

PMID- 27626699
TI  - Overexpression of sulfatase-1 in murine hepatocarcinoma Hca-F cell line
      downregulates mesothelin and leads to reduction in lymphatic metastasis, both in
      vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Lymphatic vessels function as transport channels for tumor cells to metastasize
      from the primary site into the lymph nodes. In this experiment we evaluated the
      effect of Sulfatase-1 (Sulf-1) on metastasis by upregulating it in murine
      hepatocarcinoma cell line Hca-F with high lymph node metastatic rate of >75%. The
      study in vitro showed that up regulation of Sulf-1 in Hca-F cells significantly
      reduced cell proliferation, migration and invasion (p<0.05). Also, the forced
      expression of Sulf-1 down regulated Mesothelin (Msln) at both the protein and
      mRNA levels. The experiment in vivo further showed that up-regulation of Sulf-1
      with the attendant downregulation of mesothelin delayed tumor growth and
      decreased lymph node metastasis. In conclusion, our findings show that Sulf-1 is
      an important tumor suppressor gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its
      over expression downregulates Msln and results in a decrease in HCC cell
      proliferation, migration, invasion, and lymphatic metastasis. This functional
      relationship between Sulf-1 and Msln could be exploited for the development of a
      novel liver cancer therapy.

PMID- 27626700
TI  - Isoliquiritigenin suppresses human T Lymphocyte activation via covalently binding
      cysteine 46 of IkappaB kinase.
AB  - The efficacious practice of precision personalized medicine requires a more exact
      understanding of the molecular mechanisms of drug, hence then it is necessary to
      identify the binding site of the drugs derived from natural sources. In the
      study, we investigated the suppressive effect and underlying mechanism of
      isoliquiritigenin (2',4',4-trihydroxychalcone; ILG), a phyto-flavonoid, on human
      T lymphocyte activation in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that ILG dose
      dependently suppressed human T cell activation via suppressing IkappaBalpha
      phosphorylation and degradation, NF-kappaB nuclear translocation and IKKbeta
      activity. Molecular docking results predicted that cysteine 46 (Cys-46) is
      probably the binding site of ILG on IKKbeta, and this prediction has been
      validated by competition assay and kinase assay. To further verify the binding
      site of this compound in vivo, IKKbetaC46A transgenic (IKKbetaC46A) mice were
      generated. We found that ILG had a less potent immune-suppressive effect in
      homozygous IKKbetaC46A mice than IKKbeta wild type (IKKbeta wt) littermates with
      the delay-type hypersensitivity (DTH), suggesting that ILG cannot significantly
      suppress the inflammation due to the mutation of Cys-46 in the transgenic mice.
      Collectively, our findings indicate that the ILG inhibited T cell activation in
      vivo and in vitro via directly binding to IKKbeta Cys46.

PMID- 27626702
TI  - Phenotypic screening reveals TNFR2 as a promising target for cancer
      immunotherapy.
AB  - Antibodies that target cell-surface molecules on T cells can enhance anti-tumor
      immune responses, resulting in sustained immune-mediated control of cancer. We
      set out to find new cancer immunotherapy targets by phenotypic screening on human
      regulatory T (Treg) cells and report the discovery of novel activators of tumor
      necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) and a potential role for this target in
      immunotherapy. A diverse phage display library was screened to find antibody
      mimetics with preferential binding to Treg cells, the most Treg-selective of
      which were all, without exception, found to bind specifically to TNFR2. A subset
      of these TNFR2 binders were found to agonise the receptor, inducing ikappa-B
      degradation and NF-kappaB pathway signalling in vitro. TNFR2 was found to be
      expressed by tumor-infiltrating Treg cells, and to a lesser extent Teff cells,
      from three lung cancer patients, and a similar pattern was also observed in mice
      implanted with CT26 syngeneic tumors. In such animals, TNFR2-specific agonists
      inhibited tumor growth, enhanced tumor infiltration by CD8+ T cells and increased
      CD8+ T cell IFN-gamma synthesis. Together, these data indicate a novel mechanism
      for TNF-alpha-independent TNFR2 agonism in cancer immunotherapy, and demonstrate
      the utility of target-agnostic screening in highlighting important targets during
      drug discovery.

PMID- 27626701
TI  - CDCP1 is a novel marker of the most aggressive human triple-negative breast
      cancers.
AB  - CDCP1, a transmembrane noncatalytic receptor, the expression of which has been
      associated with a poor prognosis in certain epithelial cancers, was found to be
      expressed in highly aggressive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell models,
      in which it promoted aggressive activities-ie, migration, invasion, anchorage
      independent tumor growth, and the formation of vascular-like structures in vitro.
      By immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of 100 human TNBC specimens, CDCP1 was
      overexpressed in 57% of samples, 38% of which exhibited a gain in CDCP1 copy
      number by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). CDCP1 positivity was
      significantly associated between FISH and IHC. CDCP1 expression and gains in
      CDCP1 copy number synergized with nodal (N) status in determining disease-free
      and distant disease-free survival. The hazard ratios (HRs) of the synergies
      between CDCP1 positivity by IHC and FISH and lymph node positivity in predicting
      relapse did not differ significantly, indicating that CDCP1 overexpression in
      human primary TNBCs, regardless of being driven by gains in CDCP1, is for a
      critical factor in the progression of N-positive TNBCs. Thus, CDCP1 is a novel
      marker of the most aggressive N-positive TNBCs and a potential therapeutic
      target.

PMID- 27626704
TI  - Coronary CT angiography in patients with implanted cardiac devices: initial
      experience with the metal artefact reduction technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Single-energy metal artefact reduction (SEMAR), a new technique that
      can now be used in routine CT examinations, has recently become applicable to
      volume data acquired with electrocardiography gating. We evaluated the effect of
      this technique on the visualization of the coronary arteries in patients
      harboring cardiac devices. METHODS: We subjected 8 patients (7 males, 1 female;
      mean age 65.5 +/- 11.3 years) with implanted cardiac devices to coronary CT
      angiography on a 320-slice CT scanner (Aquilion ONE VisionTM; Toshiba Medical
      Systems Corp., Tokyo, Japan). Image data sets were reconstructed with and without
      SEMAR. Two radiologists visually evaluated the image quality based on metal
      artefacts from the electronic device leads using a four-point scale (1 = vessel
      not visible to 4 = minimal or no metal artefacts). Images with a score of 3 or 4
      were considered diagnostic. RESULTS: In both SEMAR and non-SEMAR data sets, 94
      coronary artery segments were available for evaluation. Without SEMAR, 11
      segments (11.7%) were rated as non-diagnostic; SEMAR improved the image quality
      of 9 of the 11 segments (81.8%), and the images became diagnostic. CONCLUSION:
      SEMAR reduced metal artefacts from the electronic device leads and improved the
      image quality of the coronary arteries in patients with cardiac devices. Advances
      in knowledge: SEMAR has recently become applicable to volume data acquired with
      electrocardiography gating. SEMAR reduces metal artefacts elicited by electronic
      device leads and improves the image quality of the coronary arteries in patients
      with cardiac devices.

PMID- 27626703
TI  - PML/RARa inhibits PTEN expression in hematopoietic cells by competing with PU.1
      transcriptional activity.
AB  - Acute promyelocitic leukemia (APL) is characterized by the pathognomonic presence
      in leukemic blasts of the hybrid protein PML/RARA, that acts as a transcriptional
      repressor impairing the expression of genes that are critical to myeloid
      differentiation. Here, we show that primary blasts from APL patients express
      lower levels of the oncosuppressor protein PTEN, as compared to blast cells from
      other AML subtypes or normal bone marrow, and demonstrate that PML-RARA directly
      inhibits PTEN expression. We show that All-Trans Retinoic Acid (ATRA) triggers in
      APL cells an active chromatin status at the core regulatory region of the PTEN
      promoter, that allows the binding of the myeloid-regulating transcription factor
      PU.1, and, in turn, the transcriptional induction of PTEN. ATRA, via PML/RARA
      degradation, also promotes PTEN nuclear re-localization and decreases expression
      of the PTEN target Aurora A kinase. In conclusion, our findings support the
      notion that PTEN is one of the primary targets of PML/RARA in APL.

PMID- 27626705
TI  - Evaluation of intraoperative glove change in prevention of postoperative
      cerebrospinal fluid shunt infections, and the predictors of shunt infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have previously suggested that surgical gloves could be a possible
      means for transferring microorganisms from skin flora to shunt material during
      surgery. The objectives of this study were to examine (1) whether the rate of
      shunt infections was reduced after introducing intraoperative glove change before
      handling the shunt material; (2) clinical presentation of shunt infections,
      microbiological data, and treatment management; and (3) predictors of shunt
      infections. METHODS: A retrospective study of 432 shunt operations in 295 adults
      was undertaken over a 7-year period. Study population consisted of two groups:
      Group A without intraoperative glove change (2003-2006), and Group B with change
      of the outer pair of the initial double gloves before handling the shunt material
      (2006-2009). The results were compared at 6- and 12-month postoperatively. A
      binary logistic regression was performed to determine predictors of shunt
      infections. RESULTS: Overall, 46 (10.6%) infection episodes occurred in 40
      (13.6%) patients. Main symptoms were fever, abdominal pain and altered mental
      status. Propionibacterium acnes was the frequently isolated microorganism,
      followed by Staphylococcus species. The infection rate was reduced only
      moderately from 11.8% in Group A to 9.8% in Group B (p = .472). Patients with
      subarachnoid haemorrhage were more likely to experience shunt infections (17.9%),
      compared to patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (5.9%). An increased
      likelihood of shunt infections for the increased number of subsequent shunt
      revisions (p = .030) and a trend towards prior history of shunt infections (p =
      .118) was seen. After adjusting for various covariates, a decreased likelihood of
      shunt infections for intraoperative glove change was seen at 6-month follow-up
      for first-time shunt insertion (p = .050). CONCLUSION: Intraoperative glove
      change does not significantly reduce the risk of shunt infection. However, it
      seems to reduce the infection rate within 6 months in patients undergoing first
      time shunt insertion only.

PMID- 27626707
TI  - Therapeutic target discovery and drug development in cancer stem cells for
      leukemia and lymphoma: from bench to the clinic.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cancer stem cells (CSCs), also known as tumor initialing cells,
      have self-renewal capacity and are believed to play an important role in residual
      disease or tumor relapse. CSCs exhibit characteristic slow growth rate and are
      resistant to conventional chemotherapy/radiotherapy in experimental models. The
      type of cells commonly employs aberrant activity of the embryonic signal
      transduction pathways - Notch, Hedgehog (Hh), and Wnt - for uncontrolled
      proliferation and survival. Areas covered: The following article discusses key
      genetic and molecular alterations in Notch, Hh and Wnt pathways and drugs
      targeting the alterations for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. Expert
      opinion: Early signs of signal agent activity have been observed in certain types
      of leukemia and lymphoma with experimental therapeutics targeting the embryonic
      pathways in the CSC signaling network. However, clinical development of agents
      that inhibit the Wnt/beta-catenin, Notch and Hh signaling appear to be more
      complex in relapsed or refractory malignancies. A strategy to effectively target
      signaling may rely on early application of biomarkers representative of the
      active signaling nodes companion to the molecularly targeted agents. Biomarkers
      for efficacy could potentially guide selective treatment of hematological
      malignancies or cancer with drugs that target the embryonic pathways.

PMID- 27626706
TI  - Epidemiology of Weaning Outcome according to a New Definition. The WIND Study.
AB  - RATIONALE: The weaning process concerns all patients receiving mechanical
      ventilation. A previous classification into simple, prolonged, and difficult
      weaning ignored weaning failure and presupposed the use of spontaneous breathing
      trials. OBJECTIVES: To describe the weaning process, defined as starting with any
      attempt at separation from mechanical ventilation and its prognosis, according to
      a new operational classification working for all patients under ventilation.
      METHODS: This was a multinational prospective multicenter observational study
      over 3 months of all patients receiving mechanical ventilation in 36 intensive
      care units, with daily collection of ventilation and weaning modalities.
      Pragmatic definitions of separation attempt and weaning success allowed us to
      allocate patients in four groups. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 2,729
      patients were enrolled. Although half of them could not be classified using the
      previous definition, 99% entered the groups on the basis of our new definition as
      follows: 24% never started a weaning process, 57% had a weaning process of less
      than 24 hours (group 1), 10% had a difficult weaning of more than 1 day and less
      than 1 week (group 2), and 9% had a prolonged weaning duration of 1 week or more
      (group 3). Duration of ventilation, intensive care unit stay, and mortality (6,
      17, and 29% for the three groups, respectively) all significantly increased from
      one group to the next. The unadjusted risk of dying was 19% after the first
      separation attempt and increased to 37% after 10 days. CONCLUSIONS: A new
      classification allows us to categorize all weaning situations. Every additional
      day without a weaning success after the first separation attempt increases the
      risk of dying.

PMID- 27626708
TI  - Clinical potential of engineered cationic antimicrobial peptides against drug
      resistant biofilms.

PMID- 27626709
TI  - Comparable dose estimates of blinded whole blood samples are obtained
      independently of culture conditions and analytical approaches. Second RENEB gene
      expression study.
AB  - PURPOSE: This collaboration of five established European gene expression labs
      investigated the potential impact of culture conditions on the transcriptional
      response of peripheral blood to radiation exposure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood
      from one healthy donor was exposed ex vivo to a Cobalt 60 source to produce a
      calibration curve in addition to four unknown doses. After exposure, the blood
      samples were either diluted with RPMI medium or left untouched. After 24-h
      incubation at 37  degrees C the diluted blood samples were lysed, while the
      undiluted samples were mixed with the preservative RNALater and all samples were
      shipped frozen to the participating labs. Samples were processed by each lab
      using microarray (one lab) and QRT-PCR (four labs). RESULTS: We show that
      although culture conditions affect the total amount of RNA recovered (p < .0001)
      and its integrity (p < .0001), it does not significantly affect dose estimates
      (except for the true dose at 1.1 Gy). Most importantly, the different analysis
      approaches provide comparable mean absolute difference of estimated doses
      relative to the true doses (p = .9) and number of out of range (>0.5 Gy)
      measurements (p = .6). CONCLUSION: This study confirms the robustness of gene
      expression as a method for biological dosimetry.

PMID- 27626710
TI  - A BEME (Best Evidence in Medical Education) review of the use of workplace-based
      assessment in identifying and remediating underperformance among postgraduate
      medical trainees: BEME Guide No. 43.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The extent to which workplace-based assessment (WBA) can be used as
      a facilitator of change among trainee doctors has not been established; this is
      particularly important in the case of underperforming trainees. The aim of this
      review is to examine the use of WBA in identifying and remediating performance
      among this cohort. METHODS: Following publication of a review protocol a
      comprehensive search of eight databases took place to identify relevant articles
      published prior to November 2015. All screening, data extraction and analysis
      procedures were performed in duplicate or with quality checks and necessary
      consensus methods throughout. Given the study-level heterogeneity, a descriptive
      synthesis approach informed the study analysis. RESULTS: Twenty studies met the
      inclusion criteria. The use of WBA within the context of remediation is not
      supported within the existing literature. The identification of underperformance
      is not supported by the use of stand-alone, single-assessor WBA events although
      specific areas of underperformance may be identified. Multisource feedback (MSF)
      tools may facilitate identification of underperformance. CONCLUSION: The extent
      to which WBA can be used to detect and manage underperformance in postgraduate
      trainees is unclear although evidence to date suggests that multirater
      assessments (i.e. MSF) may be of more use than single-rater judgments (e.g. mini
      clinical evaluation exercise).

PMID- 27626711
TI  - Characteristics Associated with In-Hospital Death among Commercially Insured
      Decedents with Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A majority of patients with poor-prognosis cancer express a
      preference for in-home death; however, in-hospital deaths are common. OBJECTIVE:
      We sought to identify characteristics associated with in-hospital death. DESIGN:
      Case series. SETTING/SUBJECTS: Commercially insured patients with cancer who died
      between July 2010 and December 2013 and who had at least two outpatient visits at
      a tertiary cancer center during the last six months of life. MEASUREMENTS:
      Patient characteristics, healthcare utilization, and in-hospital death (primary
      outcome) were ascertained from institutional records and healthcare claims.
      Bivariate and multivariable analyses were used to evaluate the association of in
      hospital death with patient characteristics and end-of-life outcome measures.
      RESULTS: We identified 904 decedents, with a median age of 59 years at death. In
      hospital death was observed in 254 patients (28%), including 110 (12%) who died
      in an intensive care unit. Hematologic malignancy was associated with a 2.57
      times increased risk of in-hospital death (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.91
      3.45, p < 0.001), and nonenrollment in hospice was associated with a 14.5 times
      increased risk of in-hospital death (95% CI 9.81-21.4, p < 0.001). Time from
      cancer diagnosis to death was also associated with in-hospital death (p = 0.003),
      with the greatest risk among patients dying within six months of cancer
      diagnosis. All significant associations persisted in multivariable analyses that
      were adjusted for baseline characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital deaths are
      common among commercially insured cancer patients. Patients with hematologic
      malignancy and patients who die without receiving hospice services have a
      substantially higher incidence of in-hospital death.

PMID- 27626759
TI  - Active Search for Epileptiform Electroencephalogram Activity by External
      Stimulation in Critically Ill Patients.

PMID- 27626758
TI  - The twist-to-bend compliance of the Rheum rhabarbarum petiole: integrated
      computations and experiments.
AB  - Plant petioles can be considered as hierarchical cellular structures, displaying
      geometric features defined at multiple length scales. Their macroscopic
      mechanical properties are the cumulative outcome of structural properties
      attained at each level of the structural hierarchy. This work appraises the
      compliance of a rhubarb stalk by determining the stalk's bending and torsional
      stiffness both computationally and experimentally. In our model, the irregular
      cross-sectional shape of the petiole and the layers of the constituent tissues
      are considered to evaluate the stiffness properties at the structural level. The
      arbitrary shape contour of the petiole is generated with reasonable accuracy by
      the Gielis superformula. The stiffness and architecture of the constituent
      layered tissues are modeled by using the concept of shape transformers so as to
      obtain the computational twist-to-bend ratio for the petiole. The rhubarb stalk
      exhibits a ratio of flexural to torsional stiffness 4.04 (computational) and 3.83
      (experimental) in comparison with 1.5 for isotropic, incompressible, circular
      cylinders, values that demonstrate the relative structural compliance to flexure
      and torsion.

PMID- 27626760
TI  - Conversion of ammonia-pretreated switchgrass to biofuel precursors by bacterial
      fungal consortia under solid-state and submerged-state cultivation.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate bacterial-fungal
      communities to deconstruct switchgrass to biofuel precursors. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Bacterial-fungal consortia, mesophilic (25 degrees C) and thermophilic
      (50 degrees C), were enriched from switchgrass bales from which enzyme mixtures
      were used to deconstruct delignified switchgrass (DSG). The bacterial-fungal
      consortia were able to produce enzymes including endoglucanase, exoglucanase,
      beta-glucosidase, xylanase, xylosidase and pectinase to convert DSG to soluble
      carbohydrates. 454 pyrosequencing revealed that Paenibacillus and Streptomyces
      were the dominant bacteria in the mesophilic and thermophilic consortia
      respectively. Penicillium and Acremonium were the dominant fungi in the
      mesophilic consortia, whereas Aspergillus and Penicillium were the dominant fungi
      present in the thermophilic consortia. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the
      state of cultivation, solid-state or submerged-state, affects the community
      structure as well as enzyme activities produced by these bacterial-fungal
      consortia. The enzyme mixture produced by the bacterial-fungal consortia released
      a higher amount of xylose than glucose during saccharification of DSG.
      SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The study provides a novel approach to
      produce enzymes for conversion of lignocellulolytic feedstocks to soluble sugars
      which can be used to produce biofuel precursors.

PMID- 27626761
TI  - Nontargeted, Rapid Screening of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Products for Authenticity
      Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Combination with Conformity Index and
      Multivariate Statistical Analyses.
AB  - A rapid tool for evaluating authenticity was developed and applied to the
      screening of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) retail products by using Fourier
      transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy in combination with univariate and
      multivariate data analysis methods. Using disposable glass tubes, spectra for 62
      reference EVOO, 10 edible oil adulterants, 20 blends consisting of EVOO spiked
      with adulterants, 88 retail EVOO products and other test samples were rapidly
      measured in the transmission mode without any sample preparation. The univariate
      conformity index (CI) and the multivariate supervised soft independent modeling
      of class analogy (SIMCA) classification tool were used to analyze the various
      olive oil products which were tested for authenticity against a library of
      reference EVOO. Better discrimination between the authentic EVOO and some
      commercial EVOO products was observed with SIMCA than with CI analysis.
      Approximately 61% of all EVOO commercial products were flagged by SIMCA analysis,
      suggesting that further analysis be performed to identify quality issues and/or
      potential adulterants. Due to its simplicity and speed, FT-NIR spectroscopy in
      combination with multivariate data analysis can be used as a complementary tool
      to conventional official methods of analysis to rapidly flag EVOO products that
      may not belong to the class of authentic EVOO.

PMID- 27626762
TI  - Use of a Collagen Membrane to Enhance the Survival of Primary Intestinal
      Epithelial Cells.
AB  - Intestinal epithelial cell culture is important for biological, functional, and
      immunological studies. Since enterocytes have a short in vivo life span due to
      anoikis, we aimed to establish a novel and reproducible method to prolong the
      survival of mouse and human cells. Cells were isolated following a standard
      procedure, and cultured on ordered-cow's collagen membranes. A prolonged cell
      life span was achieved; cells covered the complete surface of bio-membranes and
      showed a classical enterocyte morphology with high expression of enzymes
      supporting the possibility of cryopreservation. Apoptosis was dramatically
      reduced and cultured enterocytes expressed cytokeratin and LGR5 (low frequency).
      Cells exposed to LPS or flagellin showed the induction of TLR4 and TLR5
      expression and a functional phenotype upon exposure to the probiotic
      Bifidobacterium bifidum or the pathogenic Clostridium difficile. The secretion of
      the homeostatic (IL-25 and TSLP), inhibitory (IL-10 and TGF-beta), or pro
      inflammatory mediators (IL-1beta and TNF) were induced. In conclusion, this novel
      protocol using cow's collagen-ordered membrane provides a simple and reproducible
      method to maintain intestinal epithelial cells functional for cell-microorganism
      interaction studies and stem cell expansion. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2489-2496,
      2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27626763
TI  - Biomechanical evaluation of novel ultrasound-activated bioresorbable pins for the
      treatment of osteochondral fractures compared to established methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteochondral injuries often lead to osteoarthritis of the affected
      joint. All established systems for refixation of osteochondral defects show
      certain disadvantages. To address the problem of reduced stability in resorbable
      implants, ultrasound-activated pins were developed. By ultrasound-activated
      melting of the tip of these implants, a more secure anchoring is assumed.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of the study was to investigate if ultrasound
      activated pins can provide secure fixation of osteochondral fragments compared to
      screws and conventional resorbable pins. In a biomechanical laboratory setting,
      osteochondral fragments of the medial femoral condyle of sheep were refixated
      with ultrasound-activated pins [US fused poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide) (PLDLLA)
      pins], polydioxanone (PDA) pins and conventional titanium screws. Anchoring
      forces of the different fixation methods were examined, registered and compared
      concerning shear force and tensile force. RESULTS: Concerning the pull out test,
      the US fused PLDLLA pins and titanium screws (~122 N and ~203 N) showed
      comparable good results, while the PDA pins showed significantly lower anchoring
      forces (~18 N). Examination of shear forces showed a significantly higher
      anchoring of the screws (~248 N) than the US fused PLDLLA pins (~218 N).
      Nevertheless, the US fused PLDLLA pins could significantly outperform the PDA
      pins (~68 N) concerning shear forces. CONCLUSION: The US fused PLDLLA pins
      demonstrated a comparable anchorage to the fixation with screws, but were free
      from the disadvantages of metal implants, i.e. the need for implant removal. The
      PDA pin application showed inferior biomechanical properties.

PMID- 27626764
TI  - Isolation, antimicrobial and antitumor activities of a new polyhydroxysteroid and
      a new diterpenoid from the soft coral Xenia umbellata.
AB  - A new C-30 steroid, 3beta-,5alpha-,6beta-,11alpha-,20beta-pentahydroxygorgosterol
      (1), and a new diterpenoid, xeniumbellal (2), along with three known
      aromadendrane-type sesquiterpenes, aromadendrene (3), palustrol (4) and
      viridiflorol (5), were isolated from the soft coral Xenia umbellata. Chemical
      structures were determined by analyzing their NMR and MS data. The antimicrobial
      and antitumor activities of the isolated compounds were examined. Both 1 and 2
      showed moderate antibacterial activities, especially against the multidrug
      resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MIC 0.22 and 0.28 mM, respectively); while 2
      showed antitumor activity against a lymphoma cell line with LD50 0.57 mM and was
      nontoxic to Artemia salina at all tested concentrations up to about 4 mM.

PMID- 27626765
TI  - New lupan-type triterpenoids.
AB  - Three new lupan-type triterpernoid derivatives, namely globimetulin A (1), B (2)
      and C (3), were isolated from the shoot of Globimetula dinklagei (Loranthaceae),
      a hemiparasitic plant growing on Manihot esculenta, along with five known
      compounds: friedelin (4), friedelan-3-ol (5), 28-hydroxyfriedelin (6), 4-hydroxy
      3,5-dimethoxybenzoic acid (7) and (1R,5S,7S)-7-[2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]-2,6
      dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-3-one (8). The structures of the new compounds were
      elucidated by detailed analyses of their MS, IR, 1D and 2D NMR spectral data and
      chemical evidence. Some of these compounds were evaluated in vitro for their
      antimicrobial activities against a wide range of microorganisms, but none of them
      exhibited noticeable activity.

PMID- 27626766
TI  - Picturing pathogen infection in plants.
AB  - Several imaging techniques have provided valuable tools to evaluate the impact of
      biotic stress on host plants. The use of these techniques enables the study of
      plant-pathogen interactions by analysing the spatial and temporal heterogeneity
      of foliar metabolism during pathogenesis. In this work we review the use of
      imaging techniques based on chlorophyll fluorescence, multicolour fluorescence
      and thermography for the study of virus, bacteria and fungi-infected plants.
      These studies have revealed the impact of pathogen challenge on photosynthetic
      performance, secondary metabolism, as well as leaf transpiration as a promising
      tool for field and greenhouse management of diseases. Images of standard
      chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl-F) parameters obtained during Chl-F induction
      kinetics related to photochemical processes and those involved in energy
      dissipation, could be good stress indicators to monitor pathogenesis. Changes on
      UV-induced blue (F440) and green fluorescence (F520) measured by multicolour
      fluorescence imaging in pathogen-challenged plants seem to be related with the up
      regulation of the plant secondary metabolism and with an increase in phenolic
      compounds involved in plant defence, such as scopoletin, chlorogenic or ferulic
      acids. Thermal imaging visualizes the leaf transpiration map during pathogenesis
      and emphasizes the key role of stomata on innate plant immunity. Using several
      imaging techniques in parallel could allow obtaining disease signatures for a
      specific pathogen. These techniques have also turned out to be very useful for
      presymptomatic pathogen detection, and powerful non-destructive tools for
      precision agriculture. Their applicability at lab-scale, in the field by remote
      sensing, and in high-throughput plant phenotyping, makes them particularly
      useful. Thermal sensors are widely used in crop fields to detect early changes in
      leaf transpiration induced by both air-borne and soil-borne pathogens. The
      limitations of measuring photosynthesis by Chl-F at the canopy level are being
      solved, while the use of multispectral fluorescence imaging is very challenging
      due to the type of light excitation that is used.

PMID- 27626767
TI  - Bone-brain crosstalk and potential associated diseases.
AB  - Reciprocal relationships between organs are essential to maintain whole body
      homeostasis. An exciting interplay between two apparently unrelated organs, the
      bone and the brain, has emerged recently. Indeed, it is now well established that
      the brain is a powerful regulator of skeletal homeostasis via a complex network
      of numerous players and pathways. In turn, bone via a bone-derived molecule,
      osteocalcin, appears as an important factor influencing the central nervous
      system by regulating brain development and several cognitive functions. In this
      paper we will discuss this complex and intimate relationship, as well as several
      pathologic conditions that may reinforce their potential interdependence.

PMID- 27626768
TI  - Regulatory Pathways for New Antimicrobial Agents: Trade-offs to Keep the Perfect
      From Being the Enemy of the Good.
AB  - In 2002, Shlaes and Moellering warned that pharmaceutical companies were
      abandoning antibiotic research and development due to changing regulatory
      standards regarding noninferiority (NI) clinical trials. NI trials are subject to
      unique biases that may yield false-positive conclusions. The US Food and Drug
      Administration (FDA) developed guidance to ensure that NI results truly reflect
      drug efficacy. These changes, intended to reduce uncertainty in trial results,
      have shaped trial enrollment and conduct in ways that now require reflection.

PMID- 27626771
TI  - Hepatitis C infection in eastern Algeria: Between statistics and reality.

PMID- 27626769
TI  - Engineered Nanoplatelets for Enhanced Treatment of Multiple Myeloma and Thrombus.
AB  - A platelet-membrane-coated biomimetic nanocarrier, which can sequentially target
      the bone microenvironment and myeloma cells to enhance the drug availability at
      the myeloma site and decrease off-target effects, is developed for inhibiting
      multiple myeloma growth and simultaneously eradicating thrombus complication.

PMID- 27626770
TI  - Hybridized wavefront shaping for high-speed, high-efficiency focusing through
      dynamic diffusive media.
AB  - One of the prime limiting factors of optical imaging in biological applications
      is the diffusion of light by tissue, which prevents focusing at depths greater
      than the optical diffusion limit (typically ?1??mm). To overcome this challenge,
      wavefront shaping techniques that use a spatial light modulator (SLM) to correct
      the phase of the incident wavefront have recently been developed. These
      techniques are able to focus light through scattering media beyond the optical
      diffusion limit. However, the low speeds of typically used liquid crystal SLMs
      limit the focusing speed. Here, we present a method using a digital micromirror
      device (DMD) and an electro-optic modulator (EOM) to measure the scattering
      induced aberrations, and using a liquid crystal SLM to apply the correction to
      the illuminating wavefront. By combining phase modulation from an EOM with the
      DMD's ability to provide selective illumination, we exploit the DMD's higher
      refresh rate for phase measurement. We achieved focusing through scattering media
      in less than 8 ms, which is sufficiently short for certain in vivo applications,
      as it is comparable to the speckle correlation time of living tissue.

PMID- 27626772
TI  - Safety of Topical Neuromodulators for the Treatment of Pruritus.

PMID- 27626773
TI  - Continence care for people with dementia living at home in Europe: a review of
      literature with a focus on problems and challenges.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To report the findings of a review of literature relating to
      the continence care of community-dwelling people with dementia in Europe.
      BACKGROUND: More than two-thirds of people with dementia live at home, and many
      experience continence problems. Incontinence is a significant contributor towards
      institutionalisation. Care and support is often inadequate or inappropriate, and
      guidelines are lacking. This represents a failure to respect the human rights and
      dignity of this group. DESIGN: A structured review of the literature relating to
      the continence care of community-dwelling people with dementia in Europe with a
      focus on problems and challenges. METHODS: Search terms reflecting dementia,
      continence, care/management and guidelines for community-dwelling people with
      dementia were applied to four databases. Hand-searching was also carried out. A
      total of 208 articles were searched for content relating to problems and
      challenges linked to continence care for this group. RESULTS: Six relevant
      articles were fully reviewed. The main difficulties and challenges included the
      following: (1) perceptions, (2) availability/provision of support and care, (3)
      financial cost, (4) mobility and the environment, (5) relationships and social
      inclusion and (6) emotional issues. CONCLUSION: Dementia and incontinence have
      profound effects on quality of life. The dearth of good quality data within this
      area and the findings of the review confirm the need for expert, consensus-based
      guidelines and appropriate research to ensure that the rights and dignity of
      people with dementia are respected. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings
      of the review will hopefully raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals in
      community practice of unmet needs of people with dementia and continence
      problems, and their caregivers, especially those related to social, financial,
      emotional and relational issues. The review does not provide solutions or
      guidance but is helpful in highlighting some of the key areas where special
      attention is needed.

PMID- 27626776
TI  - Obesity: The fat advantage.

PMID- 27626774
TI  - Alignment under Magnetic Field of Mixed Fe2 O3 /SiO2 Colloidal Mesoporous
      Particles Induced by Shape Anisotropy.
AB  - When using the bottom-up approach with anisotropic building-blocks, an important
      goal is to find simple methods to elaborate nanocomposite materials with a truly
      macroscopic anisotropy. Here, micrometer size colloidal mesoporous particles with
      a highly anisotropic rod-like shape (aspect ratio ~ 10) have been fabricated from
      silica (SiO2 ) and iron oxide (Fe2 O3 ). When dispersed in a solvent, these
      particles can be easily oriented using a magnetic field (~200 mT). A macroscopic
      orientation of the particles is achieved, with their long axis parallel to the
      field, due to the shape anisotropy of the magnetic component of the particles.
      The iron oxide nanocrystals are confined inside the porosity and they form
      columns in the nanochannels. Two different polymorphs of Fe2 O3 iron oxide have
      been stabilized, the superparamagnetic gamma-phase and the rarest multiferroic
      epsilon-phase. The phase transformation between these two polymorphs occurs
      around 900  degrees C. Because growth occurs under confinement, a preferred
      crystallographic orientation of iron oxide is obtained, and structural
      relationships between the two polymorphs are revealed. These findings open
      completely new possibilities for the design of macroscopically oriented
      mesoporous nanocomposites, using such strongly anisotropic Fe2 O3 /silica
      particles. Moreover, in the case of the epsilon-phase, nanocomposites with
      original anisotropic magnetic properties are in view.

PMID- 27626775
TI  - Genetic analysis of CHCHD2 gene in Chinese Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Recently, mutations in the coiled-coil-helix-coiled-coil-helix domain containing
      2 (CHCHD2) gene have been identified in Japanese families with autosomal dominant
      Parkinson's disease (PD) and two single nucleotide variants (rs10043 and Pro2Leu)
      increased risk of sporadic PD. The role of CHCHD2 in PD susceptibility in other
      Asian populations still remains to be clarified. In a large Chinese cohort from
      mainland China (31 familial PD patients, 1,027 sporadic PD patients, and 1,095
      health controls), we examined the association of rs10043 and Pro2Leu variants in
      CHCHD2 with PD. All subjects were homozygous for rs10043. Moreover, we detected
      six patients (0.57%, one of the six patients has family history) and three
      controls (0.27%) with a heterozygous Pro2Leu variant. Though the frequency of
      Pro2Leu variant was two times higher in PD compared to controls, the difference
      did not reach significance in genotypic distribution (P = 0.47) or allelic
      distribution (P = 0.47). However, our meta-analysis in Asian populations revealed
      that the frequency of Pro2Leu variant was significantly higher in PD patients
      than in controls (P = 0.0002). Our study suggests that Pro2Leu in CHCHD2 may be a
      risk factor for PD among Asians. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27626777
TI  - Alcohol: Fortifying spirits.

PMID- 27626778
TI  - Perspective: Beyond the genome.

PMID- 27626780
TI  - Immunotherapy: Controlled attack.

PMID- 27626779
TI  - Targeted therapy: An elusive cancer target.

PMID- 27626781
TI  - Perspective: What next for treatment?

PMID- 27626782
TI  - Kidney cancer.

PMID- 27626783
TI  - The silent disease.

PMID- 27626784
TI  - Management Outcome in Elderly Adults with Epilepsy in a Tertiary Care Epilepsy
      Center.

PMID- 27626785
TI  - Beyond perceived ability: the contribution of psychosocial factors to academic
      performance.
AB  - In this study, we examined the contributions of grit, hope, and academic self
      efficacy to academic achievement in a sample of 609 academically talented
      students ranging in age from 10 to 18 years. Our hypothesis was that these
      variables would predict academic achievement above and beyond the contributions
      of demographic variables and perceived ability. After establishing the
      reliability and structural validity of scores for the three constructs in this
      sample, regression analyses indicated that hope and academic self-efficacy were
      predictors of perceived ability and that academic self-efficacy was the most
      robust predictor of academic achievement. Grit was not a meaningful predictor of
      either perceived ability or academic achievement. We concluded that psychosocial
      variables can contribute to performance in talented students, but research is
      needed to establish which psychosocial variables are the most useful.

PMID- 27626786
TI  - Smart bomb AS1411 aptamer-functionalized/PAMAM dendrimer nanocarriers for
      targeted drug delivery in the treatment of gastric cancer.
AB  - Chemotherapy, a conventional method assessed in recent oncology studies, poses
      numerous problems in the clinical environment. To overcome the problems inherent
      in chemotherapy, an intelligent drug delivery system has come to the forefront of
      cancer therapeutics. In this study, we designed a dendrimer-based pharmaceutical
      system together with a single-stranded AS1411 aptamer (APTAS1411 ) as a
      therapeutic strategy. The polyamidoamine (PAMAM)-polyethylene glycol (PEG)
      complex was then conjugated with the AS1411 aptamer and confirmed by atomic-force
      microscopy (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) .In this
      study, we show that the conjugated PAMAM-PEG-APTAS1411 complex dramatically
      increased PAMAM-PEG-5-FU uptake by MKN45 gastric cancer cells. We also
      demonstrated both the stability of the nanoparticle-5-FU-APTAS1411 complex, by
      thin layer chromatography (TLC), and an increase in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)
      accumulation in the vicinity of cancerous tumors. This smart drug delivery system
      is capable of effectively transferring 5-FU to MKN45 gastric cancer cells in
      consistent and without toxic effects.

PMID- 27626788
TI  - Phenomenology of Schizophrenia and the Representativeness of Modern Diagnostic
      Criteria.
AB  - Importance: This article aims to determine the degree to which modern
      operationalized diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia reflect the main clinical
      features of the disorder as described historically by diagnostic experts.
      Observations: Amazon.com, the National Library of Medicine, and
      Forgottenbooks.com were searched for articles written or translated into English
      from 1900 to 1960. Clinical descriptions of schizophrenia or dementia praecox
      appearing in 16 textbooks or review articles published between 1899 and 1956 were
      reviewed and compared with the criteria for schizophrenia from 6 modern US
      operationalized diagnostic systems. Twenty prominent symptoms and signs were
      reported by 5 or more authors. A strong association was seen between the
      frequency with which the symptoms/signs were reported and the likelihood of their
      presence in modern diagnostic systems. Of these 20 symptoms/signs, 3 (thought
      disorder, delusions, and hallucinations) were included in all diagnostic systems
      and were among the 4 most frequently reported. Three symptoms/signs were added
      then kept in subsequent criteria: emotional blunting, changes in volition, and
      changes in social life. Three symptoms/signs were added but then dropped: bizarre
      delusions, passivity symptoms, and mood incongruity. Eleven symptoms/signs were
      never included in any diagnostic system. Compared with historical authors, modern
      criteria favored symptoms over signs. Odd movements and postures, noted by 16 of
      18 historical authors, were absent from all modern criteria. DSM-5 criteria
      contain 6 of the 20 historically noted symptoms/signs. Conclusions and Relevance:
      Although modern operationalized criteria for schizophrenia reflect symptoms and
      signs commonly reported by historical experts, many clinical features emphasized
      by these experts are absent from modern criteria. This is not necessarily
      problematic as diagnostic criteria are meant to index rather than thoroughly
      describe syndromes. However, the lack of correspondence in schizophrenia between
      historically important symptoms/signs and current diagnostic systems highlights
      the limitations of clinical evaluations and research studies that restrict the
      diagnostic assessments to current diagnostic criteria. We should not confuse our
      DSM diagnostic criteria with the disorders that they were designed to index.

PMID- 27626789
TI  - Reproductive Aging and Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

PMID- 27626787
TI  - Longitudinal study using voxel-based relaxometry: Association between cartilage
      T1rho and T2 and patient reported outcome changes in hip osteoarthritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the local distribution of hip cartilage T1rho and T2 relaxation
      times and their association with changes in patient reported outcome measures
      (PROMs) using a fully automatic, local, and unbiased method in subjects with and
      without hip osteoarthritis (OA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The 3 Tesla MRI studies
      of the hip were obtained for 37 healthy controls and 16 subjects with
      radiographic hip OA. The imaging protocol included a three-dimensional (3D) SPGR
      sequence and a combined 3D T1rho and T2 sequence. Quantitative cartilage analysis
      was compared between a traditional region of interest (ROI)-based method and a
      fully automatic voxel-based relaxometry (VBR) method. Additionally, VBR was used
      to assess local T1rho and T2 differences between subjects with and without OA,
      and to evaluate the association between T1rho and T2 and 18-month changes PROMs.
      RESULTS: Results for the two methods were consistent in the acetabular (R = 0.79;
      coefficients of variation [CV] = 2.9%) and femoral cartilage (R = 0.90; CV =
      2.6%). VBR revealed local patterns of T1rho and T2 elevation in OA subjects,
      particularly in the posterosuperior acetabular cartilage (T1rho : P = 0.02; T2 :
      P = 0.038). Overall, higher T1rho and T2 values at baseline, particularly in the
      anterosuperior acetabular cartilage (T1rho : Rho = -0.42; P = 0.002; T2 : Rho = 
      0.44; P = 0.002), were associated with worsening PROMS at 18-month follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: VBR is an accurate and robust method for quantitative MRI analysis in
      hip cartilage. VBR showed the capability to detect local variations in T1rho and
      T2 values in subjects with and without osteoarthritis, and voxel based
      correlations demonstrated a regional dependence between baseline T1rho and T2
      values and changes in PROMs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING
      2017;45:1523-1533.

PMID- 27626790
TI  - Evaluation of Generalized Born Models for Large Scale Affinity Prediction of
      Cyclodextrin Host-Guest Complexes.
AB  - Binding affinity prediction with implicit solvent models remains a challenge in
      virtual screening for drug discovery. In order to assess the predictive power of
      implicit solvent models in docking techniques with Amber scoring, three
      generalized Born models (GBHCT, GBOBCI, and GBOBCII) available in Dock 6.7 were
      utilized, for determining the binding affinity of a large set of beta
      cyclodextrin complexes with 75 neutral guest molecules. The results were compared
      to potential of mean force (PMF) free energy calculations with four GB models
      (GBStill, GBHCT, GBOBCI, and GBOBCII) and to experimental data. Docking results
      yield similar accuracy to the computationally demanding PMF method with umbrella
      sampling. Neither docking nor PMF calculations reproduce the experimental binding
      affinities, however, as indicated by a small Spearman rank order coefficient
      (~0.5). The binding energies obtained from GB models were decomposed further into
      individual contributions of the binding partners and solvent environments and
      compared to explicit solvent simulations for five complexes allowing for
      rationalizing the difference between explicit and implicit solvent models. An
      important observation is that the explicit solvent screens the interaction
      between host and guest much stronger than GB models. In contrast, the screening
      in GB models is too strong in solutes, leading to overestimation of short-range
      interactions and too strong binding. It is difficult to envision a way of
      overcoming these two opposite effects.

PMID- 27626791
TI  - State-of-the-Art Series on Precision Medicine in Respiratory Diseases.

PMID- 27626792
TI  - Incidence and Case Fatality at the County Level as Contributors to Geographic
      Disparities in Stroke Mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Is the high stroke mortality in the Southeastern parts of the United
      States driven by differences in stroke incidence or case-fatality? This question
      remains unanswered. Differences in incidence would underscore the need for stroke
      prevention, while differences in case fatality would call for improved stroke
      care. METHODS: Quartiles of US counties were defined by stroke mortality, and
      this gradient was related with stroke incidence and stroke case fatality in the
      Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study, where
      1,317 incident stroke events (of which 242 were fatal) occurred among 29,650
      participants. RESULTS: There was a significant (p = 0.0025) gradient of fatal
      stroke events in REGARDS (quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 (Q4/Q1) hazard ratio 1.95,
      95% CI 1.35-2.81), demonstrating the consistency of REGARDS with national
      mortality data. The gradient for incident stroke (fatal + nonfatal) was also
      significant (p = 0.0023; Q4/Q1 hazard ratio 1.29, 95% CI 1.10-1.52). The gradient
      for stroke case-fatality was marginally significant (p = 0.058), though the OR
      for Q4/Q1 (1.71, 95% CI 1.13-2.25) was large. CONCLUSIONS: Both stroke incidence
      and case-fatality in REGARDS appear to be contributing, underscoring the need for
      strengthening both stroke prevention and acute stroke care in order to reduce the
      disparity.

PMID- 27626793
TI  - Triggering of Suicidal Erythrocyte Death by Fascaplysin.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The bis-indole alkaloid Fascaplysin is effective against
      malignancy, an effect at least partially due to stimulation of tumor cell
      apoptosis. Similar to apoptosis of nucleated cells, erythrocytes could enter
      suicidal erythrocyte death or eryptosis, characterized by cell shrinkage and cell
      membrane scrambling with phosphatidylserine translocation to the erythrocyte
      surface. Triggers of eryptosis include increase of cytosolic Ca2+ activity
      ([Ca2+]i), oxidative stress and ceramide. The present study explored, whether
      Fascaplysin induces eryptosis and, if so, to shed light on the cellular
      mechanisms involved. METHODS: Flow cytometry was employed to estimate
      phosphatidylserine exposure at the cell surface from annexin-V-binding, cell
      volume from forward scatter, [Ca2+]i from Fluo3-fluorescence, ROS formation from
      DCFDA dependent fluorescence, and ceramide abundance utilizing specific
      antibodies. Hemolysis was quantified from the hemoglobin concentration in the
      supernatant. RESULTS: A 48 hours exposure of human erythrocytes to Fascaplysin
      (>= 5 uM) significantly increased the percentage of annexin-V-binding cells,
      significantly decreased forward scatter, and significantly increased Fluo3
      fluorescence, DCFDA fluorescence as well as ceramide abundance. The effect of
      Fascaplysin on annexin-V-binding and forward scatter was significantly blunted
      but not abolished by removal of extracellular Ca2+. CONCLUSIONS: Fascaplysin
      triggers cell shrinkage and phospholipid scrambling of the erythrocyte cell
      membrane, an effect at least in part due to Ca2+ entry, oxidative stress and
      ceramide.

PMID- 27626794
TI  - Should We Always Defer Treatment of Kidney Disease When There Is Extensive
      Interstitial Fibrosis on Biopsy?
AB  - Severity of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) seen on kidney
      biopsy has been used by nephrologist as prognostic marker of kidney disease.
      While IFTA is a very strong predictor of kidney failure, some patients with
      severe fibrosis will still not progress to kidney failure within 5 years.
      Treatment of underlying kidney disease in select patients with severe IFTA should
      be considered when risks of treatment are reasonable despite the low potential
      for benefit.

PMID- 27626795
TI  - Effects of low-intensity endurance and resistance training on mobility in chronic
      stroke survivors: a pilot randomized controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic stroke survivors are exposed to long-term disability and
      physical deconditioning, effects that may impact their independence and quality
      of life. Community-based programs optimizing the dose of exercise therapy that
      are simultaneously low risk and able to achieve high adherence should be
      identified. AIM: We tested the hypothesis that an 8-week, community-based,
      progressive mixed endurance-resistance exercise program at lower cardiovascular
      and muscular load yielded more mobility benefits than a higher-intensity program
      in chronic stroke survivors. DESIGN: A two-arm, parallel-group, pilot randomized,
      controlled clinical trial. SETTING: Hospital (recruitment); community-based
      adapted physical activity center (training). POPULATION: Thirty-five chronic
      stroke patients (mean age: 68.4+/-10.4 years; 27 males). METHODS: Participants
      were randomized to a low-intensity experimental (LI-E; N.=18) or a high-intensity
      active control group (HI-C; N.=17). Patients in the LI-E group performed over
      ground intermittent walking (weeks 1-8) and muscle power training with portable
      tools (weeks 5-8); patients in the HI-C group executed treadmill walking (weeks 1
      8) and strength training with gym machines (weeks 5-8). Changes in mobility,
      assessed using the 6-Minute Walking Distance test, were the primary outcome.
      Secondary outcomes included quality of life (Short-Form-36 Questionnaire), gait
      speed (10-Meter Walking Test), balance (Berg Balance Scale) and muscle
      performance of the lower limbs (strength and power of the quadriceps and femoral
      biceps). RESULTS: After 8 weeks, the 6MWD revealed more improvement for the LI-E
      group than the HI-C group (P=0.009). The SF36 physical activity domain (P=0.012)
      and peak power of the femoral quadriceps and biceps were also significantly
      improved for the LI-E group (P=0.008 and P<0.001, respectively) compared with the
      HI-C. Gait speed, balance and lower-limb strength increased in both groups; no
      significant differences were noted. The muscle power of the affected limb was the
      muscle parameter most correlated with mobility in the entire population.
      CONCLUSIONS: A low-intensity exercise program exhibited better results in terms
      of mobility, quality of life and muscle power compared with a higher-intensity
      program. Data need to be confirmed in a larger trial. CLINICAL REHABILITATION
      IMPACT: The effectiveness, low-intensity and possible implementation in poorly
      equipped community-based settings make the LI-E program potentially suitable for
      stroke survivors and frail individuals.

PMID- 27626797
TI  - Operant Conditioning in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.): The Cap Pushing Response.
AB  - The honey bee has been an important model organism for studying learning and
      memory. More recently, the honey bee has become a valuable model to understand
      perception and cognition. However, the techniques used to explore psychological
      phenomena in honey bees have been limited to only a few primary methodologies
      such as the proboscis extension reflex, sting extension reflex, and free flying
      target discrimination-tasks. Methods to explore operant conditioning in bees and
      other invertebrates are not as varied as with vertebrates. This may be due to the
      availability of a suitable response requirement. In this manuscript we offer a
      new method to explore operant conditioning in honey bees: the cap pushing
      response (CPR). We used the CPR to test for difference in learning curves between
      novel auto-shaping and more traditional explicit-shaping. The CPR protocol
      requires bees to exhibit a novel behavior by pushing a cap to uncover a food
      source. Using the CPR protocol we tested the effects of both explicit-shaping and
      auto-shaping techniques on operant conditioning. The goodness of fit and lack of
      fit of these data to the Rescorla-Wagner learning-curve model, widely used in
      classical conditioning studies, was tested. The model fit well to both control
      and explicit-shaping results, but only for a limited number of trials. Learning
      ceased rather than continuing to asymptotically approach the physiological most
      accurate possible. Rate of learning differed between shaped and control bee
      treatments. Learning rate was about 3 times faster for shaped bees, but for all
      measures of proficiency control and shaped bees reached the same level. Auto
      shaped bees showed one-trial learning rather than the asymptotic approach to a
      maximal efficiency. However, in terms of return-time, the auto-shaped bees'
      learning did not carry over to the covered-well test treatments. 

PMID- 27626796
TI  - Development and Evaluation of a Novel Mucoadhesive Film Containing Acmella
      oleracea Extract for Oral Mucosa Topical Anesthesia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop an anesthetic mucoadhesive film containing Acmella oleracea
      (jambu) extract for topical use on oral mucosa. METHODS: Ethanolic extracts from
      aerial parts of jambu were prepared by maceration. Pigment removal was obtained
      by adsorption with activated carbon. Three mucoadhesive films were developed
      using a film casting method: 10 or 20% of crude jambu extract (10% JB and 20%
      JB), and 10% of crude jambu extract treated with activated carbon (10% JBC). The
      mucoadhesive films were characterized regarding their uniformity, thickness, pH,
      and spilanthol content, and their stability was evaluated during 120 days. Gas
      chromatography was used to quantify the amount of spilanthol. In vitro tests
      determined the permeation of spilanthol across pig esophageal epithelium mucosa
      in Franz diffusion cells. Topical anesthetic efficacy was assessed in vivo using
      a tail flick test in mice. RESULTS: The three mucoadhesive films showed physical
      stability and visual appearances suitable for use on oral mucosa. The permeation
      study revealed that the spilanthol from 10% JBC presented higher flux and
      permeability coefficient values, compared to 10% or 20% JB (p < 0.001). Moreover,
      10% JBC showed better topical anesthetic efficacy than the other films (p <
      0.01). CONCLUSION: Mucoadhesive film containing crude extract of jambu treated
      with activated carbon is a potential alternative for oral, topical use,
      encouraging future clinical studies.

PMID- 27626798
TI  - SUMOFLUX: A Generalized Method for Targeted 13C Metabolic Flux Ratio Analysis.
AB  - Metabolic fluxes are a cornerstone of cellular physiology that emerge from a
      complex interplay of enzymes, carriers, and nutrients. The experimental
      assessment of in vivo intracellular fluxes using stable isotopic tracers is
      essential if we are to understand metabolic function and regulation. Flux
      estimation based on 13C or 2H labeling relies on complex simulation and iterative
      fitting; processes that necessitate a level of expertise that ordinarily preclude
      the non-expert user. To overcome this, we have developed SUMOFLUX, a methodology
      that is broadly applicable to the targeted analysis of 13C-metabolic fluxes. By
      combining surrogate modeling and machine learning, we trained a predictor to
      specialize in estimating flux ratios from measurable 13C-data. SUMOFLUX targets
      specific flux features individually, which makes it fast, user-friendly,
      applicable to experimental design and robust in terms of experimental noise and
      exchange flux magnitude. Collectively, we predict that SUMOFLUX's properties
      realistically pave the way to high-throughput flux analyses.

PMID- 27626800
TI  - Stereo Matching by Filtering-Based Disparity Propagation.
AB  - Stereo matching is essential and fundamental in computer vision tasks. In this
      paper, a novel stereo matching algorithm based on disparity propagation using
      edge-aware filtering is proposed. By extracting disparity subsets for reliable
      points and customizing the cost volume, the initial disparity map is refined
      through filtering-based disparity propagation. Then, an edge-aware filter with
      low computational complexity is adopted to formulate the cost column, which makes
      the proposed method independent on the local window size. Experimental results
      demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Bad pixels in our output
      disparity map are considerably decreased. The proposed method greatly outperforms
      the adaptive support-weight approach and other conditional window-based local
      stereo matching algorithms. 

PMID- 27626799
TI  - Small Molecular TRAIL Inducer ONC201 Induces Death in Lung Cancer Cells: A
      Preclinical Study.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) selectively
      targets cancer cells. The present preclinical study investigated the anti-cancer
      efficiency of ONC201, a first-in-class small molecule TRAIL inducer, in lung
      cancer cells. We showed that ONC201 was cytotoxic and anti-proliferative in both
      established (A549 and H460 lines) and primary human lung cancer cells. It was yet
      non-cytotoxic to normal lung epithelial cells. Further, ONC201 induced exogenous
      apoptosis activation in lung cancer cells, which was evidenced by TRAIL/death
      receptor-5 (DR5) induction and caspase-8 activation. The caspase-8 inhibitor or
      TRAIL/DR5 siRNA knockdown alleviated ONC201's cytotoxicity against lung cancer
      cells. Molecularly, ONC201 in-activated Akt-S6K1 and Erk signalings in lung
      cancer cells, causing Foxo3a nuclear translocation. For the in vivo studies,
      intraperitoneal injection of ONC201 at well-tolerated doses significantly
      inhibited xenografted A549 tumor growth in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID)
      mice. Further, ONC201 administration induced TRAIL/DR5 expression, yet
      inactivated Akt-S6K1 and Erk in tumor tissues. These results of the study
      demonstrates the potent anti-lung cancer activity by ONC201. 

PMID- 27626803
TI  - An Algorithm for the Mixed Transportation Network Design Problem.
AB  - This paper proposes an optimization algorithm, the dimension-down iterative
      algorithm (DDIA), for solving a mixed transportation network design problem
      (MNDP), which is generally expressed as a mathematical programming with
      equilibrium constraint (MPEC). The upper level of the MNDP aims to optimize the
      network performance via both the expansion of the existing links and the addition
      of new candidate links, whereas the lower level is a traditional Wardrop user
      equilibrium (UE) problem. The idea of the proposed solution algorithm (DDIA) is
      to reduce the dimensions of the problem. A group of variables
      (discrete/continuous) is fixed to optimize another group of variables
      (continuous/discrete) alternately; then, the problem is transformed into solving
      a series of CNDPs (continuous network design problems) and DNDPs (discrete
      network design problems) repeatedly until the problem converges to the optimal
      solution. The advantage of the proposed algorithm is that its solution process is
      very simple and easy to apply. Numerical examples show that for the MNDP without
      budget constraint, the optimal solution can be found within a few iterations with
      DDIA. For the MNDP with budget constraint, however, the result depends on the
      selection of initial values, which leads to different optimal solutions (i.e.,
      different local optimal solutions). Some thoughts are given on how to derive
      meaningful initial values, such as by considering the budgets of new and
      reconstruction projects separately. 

PMID- 27626801
TI  - Utilizing Moist or Dry Swabs for the Sampling of Nasal MRSA Carriers? An In Vivo
      and In Vitro Study.
AB  - This study investigates the quantitative bacterial recovery of Methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in nasal screenings by utilizing dry or
      moistened swabs within an in vivo and an in vitro experimental setting. 135 nasal
      MRSA carriers were each swabbed in one nostril with a dry and in the other one
      with a moistened rayon swab. Quantitative bacterial recovery was measured by
      standard viable count techniques. Furthermore, an anatomically correct artificial
      nose model was inoculated with a numerically defined suspension of MRSA and
      swabbed with dry and moistened rayon, polyurethane-foam and nylon-flocked swabs
      to test these different settings and swab-materials under identical laboratory
      conditions. In vivo, quantities of MRSA per nostril in carriers varied between
      <101 and >107 colony forming units, with a median of 2.15x104 CFU. However, no
      statistically significant differences could be detected for the recovery of MRSA
      quantities when swabbing nasal carriers with moist or dry rayon swabs. In vitro
      testing confirmed the in vivo data for swabs with rayon, polyurethane and nylon
      flocked tips, since pre-moistening of swabs did not significantly affect the
      quantities of retrieved bacteria. Therefore, pre-moistening of swabs prior to
      nasal MRSA sampling provides no advantage in terms of recovering greater
      bacterial quantities and therefore can be omitted. In addition, this situation
      can be mimicked in an in vitro model, thereby providing a useful basis for future
      in vitro testings of new swab types or target organisms for screening approaches.

PMID- 27626802
TI  - Automated 3D Volumetry of the Pulmonary Arteries based on Magnetic Resonance
      Angiography Has Potential for Predicting Pulmonary Hypertension.
AB  - PURPOSE: To demonstrate feasibility of automated 3D volumetry of central
      pulmonary arteries based on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), to assess
      pulmonary artery volumes in patients with pulmonary hypertension compared to
      healthy controls, and to investigate the potential of the technique for
      predicting pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: MRA of pulmonary arteries was
      acquired at 1.5T in 20 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and 21
      healthy normotensive controls. 3D model-based image analysis software was used
      for automated segmentation of main, right and left pulmonary arteries (MPA, RPA
      and LPA). Volumes indexed to vessel length and mean, minimum and maximum
      diameters along the entire vessel course were assessed and corrected for body
      surface area (BSA). For comparison, diameters were also manually measured on
      axial reconstructions and double oblique multiplanar reformations. Analyses were
      performed by two cardiovascular radiologists, and by one radiologist again after
      6 months. RESULTS: Mean volumes of MPA, RPA and LPA for patients/controls were
      5508 +/- 1236/3438 +/- 749, 3522 +/- 934/1664 +/- 468 and 3093 +/- 692/1812 +/-
      474 MUl/(cm length x m2 BSA) (all p<0.001). Mean, minimum and maximum diameters
      along the entire vessel course were also significantly increased in patients
      compared to controls (all p<0.001). Intra- and interobserver agreement were
      excellent for both volume and diameter measurements using 3D segmentation
      (intraclass correlation coefficients 0.971-0.999, p<0.001). Area under the curve
      for predicting pulmonary hypertension using volume was 0.998 (95% confidence
      interval 0.990-1.0, p<0.001), compared to 0.967 using manually measured MPA
      diameter (95% confidence interval 0.910-1.0, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Automated MRA
      based 3D volumetry of central pulmonary arteries is feasible and demonstrated
      significantly increased volumes and diameters in patients with pulmonary arterial
      hypertension compared to healthy controls. Pulmonary artery volume may serve as a
      superior predictor for pulmonary hypertension compared to manual measurements on
      axial images but verification in a larger study population is warranted.

PMID- 27626804
TI  - Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rural and urban populations have disparate socio-demographic and
      economic characteristics, which have an influence on equity and their health
      seeking behavior. We examined and compared the health care seeking behavior for
      perceived morbidity between urban and rural households in Southwest Ethiopia.
      METHODS: Analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among urban and rural
      households living in Esera district of Southwest Ethiopia. A random sample of 388
      head of households (126 urban and 262 rural) were selected. A pretested and
      structured questionnaire was used for data collection with face-to-face
      interview. In addition to descriptive methods, binary logistic regression was
      used to identify factors associated with health seeking behavior at p value of
      less than 0.05. RESULTS: Of the sample household heads, 377 (97.2%) (119 urban
      and 258 rural) were successfully interviewed. Among these, 58.4% (95% CI, 53.3
      63.3%) of the households sought care from modern health care that was lower among
      rural (48.1%) than urban (80.7%) households. The prevalence of self-treatment was
      35.3% in urban and 46.1% in rural households. Among the factors considered for
      modern health care utilization, higher monthly income (AOR, 5.6; 95% CI, 2.04
      15.4), perceived severity of disease (AOR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-5.8), acute duration
      of disease (AOR, 8.9; 95% CI, 2.4-33.3) and short distance from health facilities
      (AOR, 3; 95% CI, 1.2-8.4) among rural and being married (AOR, 11.3; 95% CI, 1.2
      110.2) and perceived severity of disease (AOR, 6.6; 95% CI, 1.1-10.9) among urban
      households showed statistically significant association. CONCLUSIONS: The general
      health seeking behavior of households on perceived morbidity was satisfactory but
      lower in rural compared to urban households. Self-medication was also widely
      practiced in the study area. The findings signal the need to work more on
      accessibility and promotion of healthcare seeking behavior especially among rural
      households.

PMID- 27626806
TI  - Optimizing Estimates of Instantaneous Heart Rate from Pulse Wave Signals with the
      Synchrosqueezing Transform.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With recent advances in sensor and computer technologies, the ability
      to monitor peripheral pulse activity is no longer limited to the laboratory and
      clinic. Now inexpensive sensors, which interface with smartphones or other
      computer-based devices, are expanding into the consumer market. When appropriate
      algorithms are applied, these new technologies enable ambulatory monitoring of
      dynamic physiological responses outside the clinic in a variety of applications
      including monitoring fatigue, health, workload, fitness, and rehabilitation.
      Several of these applications rely upon measures derived from peripheral pulse
      waves measured via contact or non-contact photoplethysmography (PPG). As
      technologies move from contact to non-contact PPG, there are new challenges. The
      technology necessary to estimate average heart rate over a few seconds from a
      noncontact PPG is available. However, a technology to precisely measure
      instantaneous heat rate (IHR) from non-contact sensors, on a beat-to-beat basis,
      is more challenging. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to develop an
      algorithm with the ability to accurately monitor IHR from peripheral pulse waves,
      which provides an opportunity to measure the neural regulation of the heart from
      the beat-to-beat heart rate pattern (i.e., heart rate variability). METHODS: The
      adaptive harmonic model is applied to model the contact or non-contact PPG
      signals, and a new methodology, the Synchrosqueezing Transform (SST), is applied
      to extract IHR. The body sway rhythm inherited in the non-contact PPG signal is
      modeled and handled by the notion of wave-shape function. RESULTS: The SST
      optimizes the extraction of IHR from the PPG signals and the technique functions
      well even during periods of poor signal to noise. We contrast the contact and non
      contact indices of PPG derived heart rate with a criterion electrocardiogram
      (ECG). ECG and PPG signals were monitored in 21 healthy subjects performing tasks
      with different physical demands. The root mean square error of IHR estimated by
      SST is significantly better than commonly applied methods such as autoregressive
      (AR) method. In the walking situation, while AR method fails, SST still provides
      a reasonably good result. CONCLUSIONS: The SST processed PPG data provided an
      accurate estimate of the ECG derived IHR and consistently performed better than
      commonly applied methods such as autoregressive method.

PMID- 27626807
TI  - Asymmetric Hydrogenation of beta-Aryloxy/Alkoxy Cinnamic Nitriles and Esters.
AB  - A highly efficient and enantioselective hydrogenation of beta-aryloxy/alkoxy
      cinnamic nitriles and esters under mild conditions has been realized by using a
      rhodium catalyst with a chiral f-spiroPhos ligand. The method provides efficient
      access to the asymmetric synthesis of a variety of chiral beta-oxy-functionalized
      nitriles and esters with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99.9% ee) and high
      turnover numbers (TON of up to 50000). This methodology has also been
      successfully applied to the concise and practical synthesis of the chiral
      pharmaceutical nisoxetine.

PMID- 27626805
TI  - Protein Profiling of Bladder Urothelial Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - This study aimed to detect protein changes that can assist to understand the
      underlying biology of bladder cancer. The data showed forty five proteins were
      found to be differentially expressed comparing tumors vs non-tumor tissues, of
      which EGFR and cdc2p34 were correlated with muscle invasion and histological
      grade. Ten proteins (beta-catenin, HSP70, autotaxin, Notch4, PSTPIP1, DPYD, ODC,
      cyclinB1, calretinin and EPO) were able to classify muscle invasive BCa (MIBC)
      into 2 distinct groups, with group 2 associated with poorer survival. Finally, 3
      proteins (P2X7, cdc25B and TFIIH p89) were independent factors for favorable
      overall survival. 

PMID- 27626809
TI  - Regio- and Stereoselective Domino Synthesis of Oxazolo Fused Pyridoindoles and
      Benzofurooxazolo Pyridines from ortho-Alkynylarylaldehydes.
AB  - An environmentally benign Au(III)-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective domino
      synthesis of oxazolo fused pyridoindoles 7a-v and benzofurooxazolo pyridines 8a-n
      by the reaction of o-alkynylaldehydes 4a-t and 5a-k with (S)-phenylglycinol 6a
      and (R)-phenylglycinol 6b under mild reaction conditions using water as reaction
      medium is reported. The reaction proceeded via selective C-N bond formation on
      the more electrophilic alkynyl carbon through 6-endo-dig cyclization. The
      reaction tolerates a wide variety of functional groups. The developed chemistry
      has been successfully extended for the synthesis of a diverse class of gamma
      carbolines and benzofuro[3,2-c]pyridines using corresponding ester hydrochlorides
      of serine, threonine, and cystine as a nitrogen source.

PMID- 27626808
TI  - Blue-Emitting Arylalkynyl Naphthalene Derivatives via a Hexadehydro-Diels-Alder
      Cascade Reaction.
AB  - We describe here three alkynyl substituted naphthalenes that display promising
      luminescence characteristics. Each compound is easily and efficiently synthesized
      in three steps by capitalizing on the hexadehydro-Diels-Alder (HDDA)
      cycloisomerization reaction in which an intermediate benzyne is captured by
      tetraphenylcyclopentadienone, a classical trap for benzyne itself. These
      compounds luminesce in the deep blue when stimulated either optically (i.e.,
      photoluminescence in both solution and solid films) or electrically [in a light
      emitting diode (LED)]. The photophysical properties are relatively insensitive to
      the electronic nature of the substituents (H, OMe, CO2Me) that define these
      otherwise identical compounds. Overall, our observations suggest that the twisted
      nature of the five adjacent aryl groups serves to minimize the intermolecular
      interaction between core naphthalene units in different sample morphologies.
      These compounds represent promising leads for the identification of others of
      value as the emissive component of organic LEDs (OLEDs).

PMID- 27626810
TI  - Do Methodological Choices in Environmental Modeling Bias Rebound Effects? A Case
      Study on Electric Cars.
AB  - Improvements in resource efficiency often underperform because of rebound
      effects. Calculations of the size of rebound effects are subject to various types
      of bias, among which methodological choices have received particular attention.
      Modellers have primarily focused on choices related to changes in demand,
      however, choices related to modeling the environmental burdens from such changes
      have received less attention. In this study, we analyze choices in the
      environmental assessment methods (life cycle assessment (LCA) and hybrid LCA) and
      environmental input-output databases (E3IOT, Exiobase and WIOD) used as a source
      of bias. The analysis is done for a case study on battery electric and hydrogen
      cars in Europe. The results describe moderate rebound effects for both
      technologies in the short term. Additionally, long-run scenarios are calculated
      by simulating the total cost of ownership, which describe notable rebound effect
      sizes-from 26 to 59% and from 18 to 28%, respectively, depending on the
      methodological choices-with favorable economic conditions. Relevant sources of
      bias are found to be related to incomplete background systems, technology
      assumptions and sectorial aggregation. These findings highlight the importance of
      the method setup and of sensitivity analyses of choices related to environmental
      modeling in rebound effect assessments.

PMID- 27626813
TI  - [Editors Comment].

PMID- 27626814
TI  - [Patients' Rights Act].
AB  - The new Patients' Rights Act does not reflect rights of patients as professional
      obligations of physicians for the first time. It adopted common longtime
      jurisdiction, but in some respects it is going beyond. This law clearly extended
      the documentation requirements of physicians, especially concerning the extent of
      documentation. In surgical fields the requirements for enlightening physicians
      were more strongly worded than in previous jurisdiction. In medical facilities it
      is now mandatory to establish an internal quality management system. 

PMID- 27626811
TI  - Out-of-Hospital screening for HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis in a vulnerable
      population, a public health challenge.
AB  - We explored rates of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus,
      Hepatitis C virus and Syphilis in a vulnerable population (mostly intravenous
      drug users, sex workers and homeless people) and focused on factors associated
      with failure to return for results (FTR) and with having a false perception (FP)
      of Immunization against HBV. We performed a prospective multicenter observational
      study in nine mobile (Out-of-Hospital) areas of screening located in Paris from 1
      January 2014 through 31 December 2014. A total of 341 patients were recruited.
      The proportion of FTR for results was 38.75%. In multivariate analysis,
      unemployment was significantly associated with FTR (OR = 4.29; IC = [1.12;
      16.39]), as well as having been screened in the past (OR = 4.32, IC = [1.70;
      10.97]); 18.03% of patients had a FP of an Immunization against HBV. In
      multivariate analysis, having one's own place of residence protected against FP
      (OR = 0.33, [0.12; 0.95]), while being screened in the past enhanced the risk of
      FP (OR = 3.28, IC = [1.06; 10.11]). The rate of FTR is a problem and use of
      currently available technologies, such as phone texting, might be a partial
      solution in conjunction with rapid tests for diagnosis. In addition, more
      information and comprehension of the results should be provided together with
      specific anti-HBV vaccination campaigns targeting these specific populations.

PMID- 27626812
TI  - Synthesis of Natural Product-like Polyheterocycles via One-Pot Cascade Oximation,
      C-H Activation, and Alkyne Annulation.
AB  - An efficient protocol for the direct transformation of chroman-4-ones to
      tricyclic fused pyridines with the skeleton of cassiarins, a family of alkaloids
      with antimalarial activity, was developed. Also, a general strategy for modular
      construction of polyheterocycles with diverse natural product-like skeletons was
      developed by using ketone-alkyne bifunctional substrates. These reactions
      involved a one-pot cascade oximation of ketones, rhodium-catalyzed C-H
      activation, and intermolecular/intramolecular alkyne annulations under mild
      conditions with high atom, step, and redox economy.

PMID- 27626815
TI  - [Vibrant Soundbridge(r): An Alternative Hearing System for Preschool Children
      with Aural Atresia].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The audiological treatment of children with aural atresia makes high
      demands on physicians and acousticians. Conventional hearing systems are often
      not tolerated by children and therefore do not meet the needs of the early and
      efficient therapy of hearing disorders. Aim of the present study was the
      evaluation of the audiological functional gain in children with uni- and
      bilateral aural atresia provided with the middle ear implant Vibrant
      Soundbridge((r)) (VSB((r))) below the age of 6 years as well as the analysis of
      parents' satisfaction assessed with questionnaires. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      VSB((r)) was implanted in 16 children, 13 with unilateral and 3 with bilateral
      aural atresia, with the mean age of 2;11+/-1;6 years. 3 months after the first
      fitting of the audio processor, pure-tone audiometry via free field testing with
      and without the hearing system was performed. Furthermore, parents completed a
      standardized questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction with the VSB((r))
      treatment quality. The questionnaire included items on the acceptance by
      children, handling, listening effort, behavior, satisfaction, quality of life,
      aesthetics, and the length of daily use. RESULTS: The use of the VSB((r))
      resulted in a significantly improved hearing level: 20 dB on average (Z=- 3.06;
      p=0.002; n=12). The analysis of parents' questionnaire demonstrated high or very
      high satisfaction with VSB((r)) in all subjects. Primarily, the length of daily
      use of the VSB((r)) was significantly higher than that of the hearing system used
      before with 10.0+/-2.1 vs. 2.7+/-2.2 h per day (Z=- 3.06; p=0.002; n=14).
      CONCLUSION: The VSB((r)) presented a good alternative for audiological treatment
      of uni- and bilateral aural atresia at toddler and pre-school age.

PMID- 27626816
TI  - [From the Expert's Office: Joiner's deafness].

PMID- 27626817
TI  - [Tracheotomie Revisited].

PMID- 27626818
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27626819
TI  - [The coverage of science in television news programs in Brazil and Colombia: a
      comparative study of media constructs].
AB  - This study analyzes and compares the science and technology coverage in Brazil's
      main television news program (Jornal Nacional) and its Colombian counterpart
      (Noticias Caracol). Using content analysis, we investigated a corpus of news
      stories broadcast from April 2009 to March 2010. We found that Jornal Nacional
      presented over twice as many reports on science and technology as Noticias
      Caracol, and that its levels of reporting remained fairly stable throughout the
      year. The Brazilian reports were also longer, were featured more prominently, and
      used more visual resources. Even so, some similarities were found: news about
      health and medicine was most frequent; the reports focused primarily on
      announcing new research; scientists were the main sources cited; and national
      research was prioritized.

PMID- 27626820
TI  - [The relationship between physical education and health in Rio de Janeiro in the
      nineteenth century: reflections based on the case of Colegio Abilio, 1872-1888].
AB  - This article discusses the relationship between physical education and health in
      Rio de Janeiro in the nineteenth century, drawing on the case of one of the most
      prestigious schools at the time, Colegio Abilio. Rather than merely revealing the
      discourses that surrounded the provision of physical education at the school, we
      seek to comprehend the different ways in which it was incorporated into its
      educational routine. Two sources of different kinds were used: newspapers
      published in the city and the novel O Ateneu, by Raul Pompeia. We conclude that
      the challenge in understanding the social presence of physical education in the
      period in question is how to pick up the multiple apprehensions that surrounded
      it.

PMID- 27626821
TI  - Abortion, neglect, and the death of Augusta Garcia Platas en Ayacucho, Peru, in
      1946.
AB  - Augusta Garcia Platas died after a clandestine abortion in Ayacucho in 1946. This
      article, based on material in the Historical Archive in Ayacucho, examines the
      criminal trial that was held to determine who was responsible for her death.
      Although the judicial authorities accused certain individuals of being directly
      responsible for inducing an abortion, they considered that the root cause of the
      young woman's death was neglect on the part of those who were supposed to protect
      her physical and moral health. This case provides an opportunity to clarify the
      strategies used by the defendants to refute criminal charges. It also helps us
      understand the various deficiencies of the Peruvian legal system in the mid
      twentieth century.

PMID- 27626822
TI  - [The evaluation of psychological development in the dispensarios de lactantes
      (infant and toddler clinics) in Buenos Aires: medicine and psychology in
      Argentina, 1935-1942].
AB  - This article explores the medical use of techniques for psychological evaluation
      in the dispensarios de lactantes (infant and toddler clinics) in Buenos Aires
      within the framework of historical studies of psychology in Argentina. It
      analyzes the institutional environment in order to shed light on the framework of
      discourses within which the interest in controlling psychological development may
      be situated. It studies the tests used, the characteristics of application and
      the most significant results. It explores the vicissitudes of the professional
      field, in the light of which psychology was useful for consolidating the
      legitimacy of medical knowledge. It points out a divergence between this medical
      use of psychology and the production and circulation of psychological knowledge
      in academic and educational environments.

PMID- 27626824
TI  - Simultaneously Tailoring Surface Energies and Thermal Stabilities of Cellulose
      Nanocrystals Using Ion Exchange: Effects on Polymer Composite Properties for
      Transportation, Infrastructure, and Renewable Energy Applications.
AB  - Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have great potential as sustainable reinforcing
      materials for polymers, but there are a number of obstacles to commercialization
      that must first be overcome. High levels of water absorption, low thermal
      stabilities, poor miscibility with nonpolar polymers, and irreversible
      aggregation of the dried CNCs are among the greatest challenges to producing
      cellulose nanocrystal-polymer nanocomposites. A simple, scalable technique to
      modify sulfated cellulose nanocrystals (Na-CNCs) has been developed to address
      all of these issues. By using an ion exchange process to replace Na+ with
      imidazolium or phosphonium cations, the surface energy is altered, the thermal
      stability is increased, and the miscibility of dried CNCs with a nonpolar polymer
      (epoxy and polystyrene) is enhanced. Characterization of the resulting ion
      exchanged CNCs (IE-CNCs) using potentiometry, inverse gas chromatography, dynamic
      vapor sorption, and laser scanning confocal microscopy reveals that the IE-CNCs
      have lower surface energies, adsorb less water, and have thermal stabilities of
      up to 100  degrees C higher than those of prepared protonated cellulose
      nanocrystals (H-CNCs) and 40  degrees C higher than that of neutralized Na-CNC.
      Methyl(triphenyl)phosphonium exchanged cellulose nanocrystals (MePh3P-CNC)
      adsorbed 30% less water than Na-CNC, retained less water during desorption, and
      were used to prepare well-dispersed epoxy composites without the aid of a solvent
      and well-dispersed polystyrene nanocomposites using a melt blending technique at
      195  degrees C. Predictions of dispersion quality and glass transition
      temperatures from molecular modeling experiments match experimental observations.
      These fiber-reinforced polymers can be used as lightweight composites in
      transportation, infrastructure, and renewable energy applications.

PMID- 27626823
TI  - A High-Throughput Targeted Proteomic Approach for Comprehensive Profiling of
      Methylglyoxal-Induced Perturbations of the Human Kinome.
AB  - Kinases are one of the most important families of enzymes that are involved in
      numerous cell signaling processes. Existing methods for studying kinase
      expression and activation have limited kinome coverage. Herein we established a
      multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM)-based targeted proteomic method that provided
      an unprecedented coverage (~80%) of the human kinome. We employed this method for
      profiling comprehensively the alterations of the global kinome of HEK293T human
      embryonic kidney cells upon treatment with methylglyoxal, a glycolysis byproduct
      that is present at elevated levels in blood and tissues of diabetic patients and
      is thought to contribute to diabetic complications. Our results led to the
      quantification of 328 unique kinases. In particular, we found that methylglyoxal
      treatment gave rise to altered expression of a number of kinases in the MAPK
      pathway and diminished expression of several receptor tyrosine kinases, including
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), insulin growth factor 2 receptor
      (IGF2R), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), etc. Furthermore, we
      demonstrated that the diminished expression of EGFR occurred through a mechanism
      that is distinct from the reduced expression of IGF2R and FGFR1. Together, our
      targeted kinome profiling method offers a powerful resource for exploring kinase
      mediated signaling pathways that are altered by extracellular stimuli, and the
      results from the present study suggest new mechanisms underlying the development
      of diabetic complications.

PMID- 27626825
TI  - Negative Thermophoresis in Concentric Carbon Nanotube Nanodevices.
AB  - Positive and negative thermophoresis in fluids has found widespread applications
      from mass transport to molecule manipulation. In solids, although positive
      thermophoresis has been recently discovered in both theoretical and experimental
      studies, negative thermophoresis has never been reported. Here we reveal via
      molecular dynamics simulations that negative thermophoresis does exist in solids.
      We consider the motion of a single walled carbon nanotube nested inside of two
      separate outer tubes held at different temperatures. It is found that a
      sufficiently long inner tube will undergo negative thermophoresis, whereas
      positive thermophoresis is favorable for a relatively short inner tube.
      Mechanisms for the observed positive thermophoresis and negative thermophoresis
      are shown to be totally different. In positive thermophoresis, the driving force
      comes mainly from the thermally induced edge force and the interlayer attraction
      force, whereas the driving force for negative thermophoresis is mainly due to the
      thermal gradient force. These findings have enriched our knowledge of the
      fundamental driving mechanisms for thermophoresis in solids and may stimulate its
      further applications in nanotechnology.

PMID- 27626826
TI  - Long-Term Effects of Radiation Exposure and Metabolic Status on Telomere Length
      of Peripheral Blood T Cells in Atomic Bomb Survivors.
AB  - In a series of studies of atomic bomb survivors, radiation-dose-dependent
      alterations in peripheral T-cell populations have been reported. For example,
      reduced size in naive T-cell pools and impaired proliferation ability of T cells
      were observed. Because these alterations are also generally observed with human
      aging, we hypothesized that radiation exposure may accelerate the aging process
      of the T-cell immune system. To further test this hypothesis, we conducted cross
      sectional analyses of telomere length, a hallmark of cellular aging, of naive and
      memory CD4 T cells and total CD8 T cells in the peripheral blood of 620 atomic
      bomb survivors as it relates to age and radiation dose, using fluorescence in
      situ hybridization with flow cytometry. Since telomere shortening has been
      recently demonstrated in obesity-related metabolic abnormalities and diseases,
      the modifying effects of metabolic status were also examined. Our results
      indicated nonlinear relationships between T-cell telomere length and prior
      radiation exposure, i.e., longer telomeres with lower dose exposure and a
      decreasing trend of telomere length with individuals exposed to doses higher than
      0.5 Gy. There were associations between shorter T-cell telomeres and higher
      hemoglobin Alc levels or fatty liver development. In naive and memory CD4 T
      cells, radiation dose and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were found
      to positively interact with telomere length, suggesting that the decreasing trend
      of telomere length from a higher radiation dose was less conspicuous in
      individuals with a higher HDL cholesterol. It is therefore likely that radiation
      exposure perturbs T-cell homeostasis involving telomere length maintenance by
      multiple biological mechanisms, depending on dose, and that long-term-radiation
      induced effects on the maintenance of T-cell telomeres may be modified by the
      subsequent metabolic conditions of individuals.

PMID- 27626827
TI  - Irradiation at Different Fetal Stages Results in Different Translocation
      Frequencies in Adult Mouse Thyroid Cells.
AB  - While it is generally believed that fetuses are at high risk of developing
      cancers, including leukemia, after low doses of radiation, it has been reported
      that atomic bomb survivors exposed in utero did not show a dose response for
      translocations in blood T lymphocytes when they were examined at approximately 40
      years of age. Subsequent mouse studies confirmed that animals irradiated during
      the fetal stage did not show evidence of radiation effects in lymphocytes and
      bone marrow cells when they were examined after reaching adulthood. However, in a
      study of rat mammary epithelial cells, radiation effects were clearly observed
      after fetal irradiation. These results indicate that the fate of chromosome
      aberrations induced in a fetus could vary among different tissues. Here we report
      on translocation frequencies in mouse thyroid cells, which were irradiated at
      different stages of fetal development. Cytogenetic examination was conducted
      using fluorescence n situ hybridization (FISH) painting of chromosomes 1 and 3.
      Adult mice, 2 Gy X-ray irradiated at 15.5-day-old fetuses (E15.5), showed a
      higher translocation frequency (30/1,155 or 25.3 * 10-3) than nonirradiated adult
      controls (0/1,007 or 0.1 * 10-3), and was near that experienced by irradiated
      mothers and non-pregnant adult females (43/1,244 or 33.7 * 10-3). These results
      are consistent with those seen in rat mammary cells. However, when fetuses were
      irradiated at an earlier stage of development (E6.5) before thyroid
      organogenesis, the resulting observed translocation frequency was much lower
      (3/502 or 5.8 * 10-3) than that in E15.5 mice. These results suggest that after
      fetal irradiation, tissue stem cells record radiation effects primarily when the
      exposure occurs in cells that have been integrated into tissue. Embryonic stem
      cells that have been damaged prior to integration into the niche may undergo
      negative selection due to apoptosis, mitotic death or stem cell-niche cell
      interactions. The implications of these results in interpreting cancer risks
      after fetal irradiation are also discussed.

PMID- 27626828
TI  - Identification of a New Class of Selective Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter
      Subtype 1 (EAAT1) Inhibitors Followed by a Structure-Activity Relationship Study.
AB  - Screening of a small compound library at the three excitatory amino acid
      transporter subtypes 1-3 (EAAT1-3) resulted in the identification of compound (Z)
      4-chloro-3-(5-((3-(2-ethoxy-2-oxoethyl)-2,4-dioxothiazolidin-5
      ylidene)methyl)furan-2-yl)benzoic acid (1a) that exhibited a distinct preference
      as an inhibitor at EAAT1 (IC50 20 MUM) compared to EAAT2 and EAAT3 (IC50 > 300
      MUM). This prompted us to subject 1a to an elaborate structure-activity
      relationship study through the purchase and synthesis and subsequent
      pharmacological characterization of a total of 36 analogues. Although this effort
      did not result in analogues with substantially improved inhibitory potencies at
      EAAT1 compared to that displayed by the hit, it provided a detailed insight into
      structural requirements for EAAT1 activity of this scaffold. The discovery of
      this new class of EAAT1-selective inhibitors not only supplements the currently
      available pharmacological tools in the EAAT field but also substantiates the
      notion that EAAT ligands not derived from alpha-amino acids hold considerable
      potential in terms of subtype-selective modulation of the transporters.

PMID- 27626829
TI  - Structure of the Reduced Copper Active Site in Preprocessed Galactose Oxidase:
      Ligand Tuning for One-Electron O2 Activation in Cofactor Biogenesis.
AB  - Galactose oxidase (GO) is a copper-dependent enzyme that accomplishes 2e-
      substrate oxidation by pairing a single copper with an unusual cysteinylated
      tyrosine (Cys-Tyr) redox cofactor. Previous studies have demonstrated that the
      post-translational biogenesis of Cys-Tyr is copper- and O2-dependent, resulting
      in a self-processing enzyme system. To investigate the mechanism of cofactor
      biogenesis in GO, the active-site structure of Cu(I)-loaded GO was determined
      using X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption
      fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, and density-functional theory (DFT)
      calculations were performed on this model. Our results show that the active-site
      tyrosine lowers the Cu potential to enable the thermodynamically unfavorable 1e-
      reduction of O2, and the resulting Cu(II)-O2*- is activated toward H atom
      abstraction from cysteine. The final step of biogenesis is a concerted reaction
      involving coordinated Tyr ring deprotonation where Cu(II) coordination enables
      formation of the Cys-Tyr cross-link. These spectroscopic and computational
      results highlight the role of the Cu(I) in enabling O2 activation by 1e- and the
      role of the resulting Cu(II) in enabling substrate activation for biogenesis.

PMID- 27626831
TI  - Unusual complication after insertion of deep brain stimulator electrode.
AB  - Deep brain stimulation for movement disorders is becoming a commonly used
      procedure. In this article we describe a complication which has not been
      described previously. Post op intra-cranial air must be considered as a possible
      complication of DBS insertion and should be on the list of differentials if a
      patient presents with post operative neurological deficit.

PMID- 27626830
TI  - Choline-to-N-acetyl aspartate and lipids-lactate-to-creatine ratios together with
      age assemble a significant Cox's proportional-hazards regression model for
      prediction of survival in high-grade gliomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A long-lasting concern has prevailed for the identification of
      predictive biomarkers for high-grade gliomas (HGGs) using MRI. However, a
      consensus of which imaging parameters assemble a significant survival model is
      still missing in the literature; we investigated the significant positive or
      negative contribution of several MR biomarkers in this tumour prognosis. METHODS:
      A retrospective cohort of supratentorial HGGs [11 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)
      and 17 anaplastic astrocytomas] included 28 patients (9 females and 19 males,
      respectively, with a mean age of 50.4 years, standard deviation: 16.28 years;
      range: 13-85 years). Oedema and viable tumour measurements were acquired using
      regions of interest in T1 weighted, T2 weighted, fluid-attenuated inversion
      recovery, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and MR spectroscopy (MRS). We
      calculated Kaplan-Meier curves and obtained Cox's proportional hazards. RESULTS:
      During the follow-up period (3-98 months), 17 deaths were recorded. The median
      survival time was 1.73 years (range, 0.287-8.947 years). Only 3 out of 20
      covariates (choline-to-N-acetyl aspartate and lipids-lactate-to-creatine ratios
      and age) showed significance in explaining the variability in the survival
      hazards model; score test: chi2 (3) = 9.098, p = 0.028. CONCLUSION: MRS
      metabolites overcome volumetric parameters of peritumoral oedema and viable
      tumour, as well as tumour region ADC measurements. Specific MRS ratios (Cho/Naa,
      L-L/Cr) might be considered in a regular follow-up for these tumours. Advances in
      knowledge: Cho/Naa ratio is the strongest survival predictor with a log-hazard
      function of 2.672 in GBM. Low levels of lipids-lactate/Cr ratio represent up to a
      41.6% reduction in the risk of death in GBM.

PMID- 27626832
TI  - Clinical study of a new Modified Early Warning System scoring system for rapidly
      evaluating shock in adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Shock, the most common severe emergency syndrome, has a complicated
      etiopathogenesis, is difficult to identify, progresses quickly, and is dangerous.
      Early identification and intervention play determining roles in the final
      outcomes of shock patients, but no specific scoring system for shock has been
      established to date. METHODS: We collected 292 shock patients and analyzed the
      correlation between 28-day prognosis and the Acute Physiologic Assessment and
      Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Modified Early Warning System (MEWS),
      and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scoring systems. According to the
      previous result, we established a new MEWS scoring system based on the
      conventional MEWS, which also included age and transcutaneous oxygen saturation.
      Some of the items with a strong correlation with the 28-day prognosis were
      selected to establish the new MEWS scoring system. We then evaluated the
      predictive efficacy of the new MEWS scoring system on 28-day prognosis and the
      correlation with other scoring systems. RESULTS: Some indexes, including age,
      transcutaneous oxygen saturation, arterial blood pH and blood lactic acid, serum
      sodium, serum potassium, HCO3, and red blood cells deposited, differed
      significantly between the nonsurviving and surviving groups (P<.05). The area
      under the curve (AUC) of the APACHE II, MEWS, shock index, and Sequential Organ
      Failure Assessment scoring systems for 28-day prognosis indicated a critical
      predictive efficacy. Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that the
      MEWS AUC was 0.614, new MEWS AUC was 0.696, and APACHE II AUC was 0.785,
      suggesting superiority of the new MEWS to the conventional MEWS but inferiority
      to the APACHE II. Interestingly, the correlation efficient of the traditional
      MEWS and the new MEWS was 0.81. The correlation efficient of these scoring
      systems with other indexes, including lactic acid and hemoglobin, was less than
      0.3. CONCLUSIONS: The new MEWS scoring system could be an independent indicator
      to reflect shock severity. It has higher predictive efficacy in septic shock,
      especially for 28-day prognosis.

PMID- 27626833
TI  - Mechanical Ventilation to Minimize Progression of Lung Injury in Acute
      Respiratory Failure.
AB  - Mechanical ventilation is used to sustain life in patients with acute respiratory
      failure. A major concern in mechanically ventilated patients is the risk of
      ventilator-induced lung injury, which is partially prevented by lung-protective
      ventilation. Spontaneously breathing, nonintubated patients with acute
      respiratory failure may have a high respiratory drive and breathe with large
      tidal volumes and potentially injurious transpulmonary pressure swings. In
      patients with existing lung injury, regional forces generated by the respiratory
      muscles may lead to injurious effects on a regional level. In addition, the
      increase in transmural pulmonary vascular pressure swings caused by inspiratory
      effort may worsen vascular leakage. Recent data suggest that these patients may
      develop lung injury that is similar to the ventilator-induced lung injury
      observed in mechanically ventilated patients. As such, we argue that application
      of a lung-protective ventilation, today best applied with sedation and
      endotracheal intubation, might be considered a prophylactic therapy, rather than
      just a supportive therapy, to minimize the progression of lung injury from a form
      of patient self-inflicted lung injury. This has important implications for the
      management of these patients.

PMID- 27626834
TI  - Vascular High Ligation and Embryological Dissection in Laparoscopic Restorative
      Proctocolectomy for Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: After its description in 1980, restorative proctocolectomy has
      become the procedure of choice for ulcerative colitis (UC). The supposed
      advantages of the laparoscopy have proven beneficial for colorectal operations
      but a standard technique in laparoscopic restorative proctocolectomy (LRP) is
      still lacking. In this study, we present our technique of LRP with vascular high
      ligation (VHL) and embryological dissection (ED). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      retrospective study reviewed patients who underwent LRP with VHL for UC from
      January 2009 to June 2015. Of these, only two-stage LRP patients were included to
      the study. The LRP technique was performed by five ports through a medial-to
      lateral approach. The dissection was carried out between the embryological planes
      and all the vessel roots were highly divided. A diverting ileostomy was performed
      in all of the patients. RESULTS: Forty-six patients were operated for UC with the
      laparoscopic approach. Among these patients, there were 19 (8 females) patients
      who were performed LRP with VHL. The median age was 42 (range 25-62) years. No
      intraoperative complications occurred. There was no conversion to open procedure.
      Early postoperative complications were observed in 3 (15.8%) patients, including
      postoperative mechanical bowel obstruction (n = 1), wound infection (n = 1), and
      ileal pouch bleeding (n = 1). DISCUSSION: High ligation of the vessels is not
      routinely performed except in the presence of malignancy. In our study, we focus
      on the importance of high ligation and ED for better observation and preservation
      of the important anatomical structures. According to our opinion, this approach
      aids in the preservation of the ureters, nerves, and the duodenum providing
      better observation of dissection planes.

PMID- 27626835
TI  - Nontraumatic Testicular Pain due to Sacroiliac-Joint Dysfunction: A Case Report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To discuss the case of a 49-year-old man who presented to the sports
      medicine staff with pelvic pain of 10 years' duration consistent with pudendal
      neuralgia. BACKGROUND: Testicular pain in men is often provoked by direct trauma
      or may indicate an oncologic process. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: Epididymitis,
      athletic pubalgia, testicular tumor, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, lumbar
      radiculopathy. TREATMENT: The patient responded positively to treatment and
      rehabilitation to restore normal mechanics to the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex.
      Several flare-ups since the initial treatment have been of short duration (<2
      days) and less intense. UNIQUENESS: Pudendal neuralgia tends to affect females
      more than males due to changes in the alignment and stability of the pelvis from
      a combination of a shorter, wider pelvis and muscle imbalances associated with
      childbirth. Typically, males with testicular pain suffer from epididymitis or
      some type of testicular torsion, which was not the situation in this case.
      Compression is also a common cause of pudendal neuralgia, although it was not
      responsible for this patient's pain, making diagnosis and treatment complex.
      CONCLUSIONS: Many pain syndromes can be treated with removal of the original
      stimulus. However, recognizing the factors contributing to pelvic pain and
      dysfunction in males can be a challenge for the sports medicine professional. A
      vigilant and unassuming approach to male pelvic pain is warranted, particularly
      by health care providers in diverse practice settings.

PMID- 27626837
TI  - Perspectives in Pediatric Pathology, Chapter 25. Testicular and Paratesticular
      Tumors in the Pediatric Age Group.
AB  - Testicular tumors in the prepubertal age are relatively rare, representing only
      9.4% of the total testicular and paratesticular specimens from a 20-year review
      performed at a large pediatric hospital [ 1 ]. They account for 1% to 2% of all
      solid tumors in the pediatric age group, with an annual incidence between 0.5/100
      000 and 2/100 000 boys according to Coppes et al [ 2 ] and data from the
      Prepubertal Testicular Tumor Registry [ 3 ]. Similar to other neoplasms
      afflicting children, a bimodal age distribution is observed. The first peak is
      between birth and 3 years of age, and a second one occurs at the onset of
      puberty, extending to the fourth decade. Reports on their frequency vary because
      some investigators include the adolescent period, while others do not [ 4 ]. The
      vast majority of testicular tumors are germ cell neoplasms, accounting for 95%
      across all ages [ 5 ]. In children, germ cell tumors also predominate,
      representing 71% of all testicular neoplasms. These include yolk sac tumors
      (49%), teratomas (13%), seminomas and mixed germ cell tumors (9%), and sex-cord
      stromal tumors (29%). Malignant potential is significantly lower (less than 70%)
      in the pediatric age group compared to adults (90%) [ 6 ]. According to Pohl et
      al, 74% of prepubertal testicular tumors are benign [ 7 ].

PMID- 27626836
TI  - Muscle Activation During Landing Before and After Fatigue in Individuals With or
      Without Chronic Ankle Instability.
AB  - CONTEXT: Ankle instability is a common condition in physically active
      individuals. It often occurs during a jump landing or lateral motion,
      particularly when participants are fatigued. OBJECTIVE: To compare muscle
      activation during a lateral hop prefatigue and postfatigue in individuals with or
      without chronic ankle instability (CAI). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING:
      Sports medicine research laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of
      32 physically active participants volunteered for the study. Sixteen participants
      with CAI (8 men, 8 women; age = 20.50 +/- 2.00 years, height = 172.25 +/- 10.87
      cm, mass = 69.13 +/- 13.31 kg) were matched with 16 control participants without
      CAI (8 men, 8 women; age = 22.00 +/- 3.30 years, height = 170.50 +/- 9.94 cm,
      mass = 69.63 +/- 14.82 kg) by age, height, mass, sex, and affected side.
      INTERVENTION(S): Electromyography of the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus,
      gluteus medius, and gluteus maximus was measured before and after a functional
      fatigue protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Activation of 4 lower extremity
      muscles was measured 200 milliseconds before and after landing from a lateral
      hop. RESULTS: We observed no interactions. The group main effects for the
      peroneus longus demonstrated higher muscle activation in the CAI group (52.89% +/
      11.36%) than in the control group (41.12% +/- 11.36%) just before landing the
      lateral hop (F1,30 = 8.58, P = .01), with a strong effect size (d = 1.01). The
      gluteus maximus also demonstrated higher muscle activation in the CAI group
      (45.55% +/- 12.08%) than in the control group (36.81% +/- 12.08%) just before
      landing the lateral hop (F1,30 = 4.19, P = .049), with a moderate effect size (d
      = 0.71). We observed a main effect for fatigue for the tibialis anterior, with
      postfatigue activation higher than prefatigue activation (F1,30 = 7.45, P = .01).
      No differences were present between groups for the gluteus medius. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results support the presence of a centralized feed-forward neuromuscular
      alteration in patients with CAI, not only in the ankle-joint muscles but also in
      the proximal hip muscles. These results may have implications for rehabilitation
      programs in these patients.

PMID- 27626838
TI  - Afatinib for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic EGFR-positive
      NSCLC: a look at the data.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are detected in
      about 10-15% of Caucasian and 30-40% of Asian patients with advanced or
      metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In patients harbouring EGFR
      mutations, the treatment with different available EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      (TKIs) showed to be more effective and safe than platinum-based chemotherapy
      regimens. AREAS COVERED: The current evidences about the role of afatinib for
      patients with EGFR-positive NSCLC are reviewed and discussed. We report a review
      based on a MEDLINE/PubMed, searched for randomized phase II or III trials
      evaluating afatinib in EGFR-positive NSCLC. Expert commentary: Afatinib is the
      third EGFR TKI approved for the treatment of NSCLC harbouring EGFR mutations,
      showing high efficacy in this setting of patients.

PMID- 27626840
TI  - Tools for structured team communication in pre-registration health professions
      education: a Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) review: BEME Guide No. 41.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Calls for the inclusion of standardized protocols for information
      exchange into pre-registration health professions curricula have accompanied
      their introduction into clinical practice. In order to help clinical educators
      respond to these calls, we have reviewed educational interventions for pre
      registration students that incorporate one or more of these ?tools for structured
      communication?. METHODS: Searches of 10 databases (1990?2014) were supplemented
      by hand searches and by citation searches (to January 2015). Studies evaluating
      an intervention for pre-registration students of any clinical profession and
      incorporating at least one tool were included. Quality of included studies was
      assessed using a checklist of 11 indicators and a narrative synthesis of findings
      undertaken. RESULTS: Fifty studies met our inclusion criteria. Of these, 21
      evaluated the specific effect of a tool on educational outcomes, and 27 met seven
      or more quality indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-registration students, particularly
      those in the US, are learning to use tools for structured communication either in
      specific sessions or integrated into more extensive courses or programmes; mostly
      'Situation Background Assessment Recommendation' and its variants. There is some
      evidence that learning to use a tool can improve the clarity and
      comprehensiveness of student communication, their perceived self-confidence and
      their sense of preparedness for clinical practice. There is, as yet, little
      evidence for the transfer of these skills to the clinical setting or for any
      influence of teaching approach on learning outcomes. Educators will need to
      consider the positioning of such learning with other skills such as clinical
      reasoning and decision-making.

PMID- 27626883
TI  - Interactions of ABA signaling core components (SlPYLs, SlPP2Cs, and SlSnRK2s) in
      tomato (Solanum lycopersicon).
AB  - Abscisic acid (ABA) regulates fruit development and ripening via its signaling.
      However, the exact role of ABA signaling core components in fruit have not yet
      been clarified. In this study, we investigated the potential interactions of
      tomato (Solanum lycopersicon) ABA signaling core components using yeast two
      hybrid analysis, with or without ABA at different concentrations. The results
      showed that among 12 PYR/PYL/RCAR ABA receptors (SlPYLs), SlPYL1, SlPYL2, SlPYL4,
      SlPYL5, SlPYL 7, SlPYL8, SlPYL9, SlPYL10, SlPYL11, and SlPYL13 were ABA-dependent
      receptors, while SlPYL3 and SlPYL12 were ABA-independent receptors. Among five
      SlPP2Cs (type 2C protein phosphatases) and seven SlSnRK2s (subfamily 2 of SNF1
      related kinases), all SlSnRK2s could interact with SlPP2C2, while SlSnRK2.8 also
      interacted with SlPP2C3. SlSnRK2.5 could interact with SlABF2/4 (ABA-responsive
      element binding factors). Expressions of SlPYL1, SlPYL2, SlPYL8, and SlPYL10 were
      upregulated under exogenous ABA but downregulated under nordihydroguaiaretic acid
      (NDGA) at the mature green stage of fruit ripening. The expressions of SlPP2C1,
      SlPP2C2, SlPP2C3, and SlPP2C5 were upregulated in ABA-treated fruit, but
      downregulated in NDGA-treated fruit at the mature green stage. The expressions of
      SlSnRK2.4, SlSnRK2.5, SlSnRK2.6, and SlSnRK2.7 were upregulated by ABA, but
      downregulated by NDGA. However, SlSnRK2.2 was down regulated by ABA. Expression
      of SlABF2/3/4 was enhanced by ABA but decreased by NDGA. Based on these results,
      we concluded that the majority of ABA receptor PYLs interact with SlPP2Cs in an
      ABA-dependent manner. SlPP2C2 and SlPP2C3 can interact with SlSnRK2s. SlSnRK2.5
      could interact with SlABF2/4. Most ABA signaling core components respond to
      exogenous ABA.

PMID- 27626839
TI  - Age-dependent alterations to paraventricular nucleus insulin-like growth factor 1
      receptor as a possible link between sympathoexcitation and inflammation.
AB  - Modifications to neural circuits of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus
      (PVN) have been implicated in sympathoexcitation and systemic cardiovascular
      dysfunction. However, to date, the role of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor
      (IGF-1R) expression on PVN pathophysiology is unknown. Using confocal
      immunofluorescence quantification and electrophysiological recordings from acute
      PVN slices, we investigated the mechanism through which age-dependent IGF-1R
      depletion contributes to the progression of inflammation and sympathoexcitation
      in the PVN of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Four and twenty weeks old
      SHR and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were used for this study. Our data showed that
      angiotensin I/II and pro-inflammatory high mobility box group protein 1 (HMGB1)
      exhibited increased expression in the PVN of SHR versus WKY at 4 weeks (p <
      0.01), and were even more highly expressed with age in SHR (p < 0.001). This
      correlated with a significant decrease in IGF-1R expression, with age, in the PVN
      of SHR when compared with WKY (p < 0.001) and were accompanied by related changes
      in astrocytes and microglia. In subsequent analyses, we found an age-dependent
      change in the expression of proteins associated with IGF-1R signaling pathways
      involved in inflammatory responses and synaptic function in the PVN. MAPK/ErK was
      more highly expressed in the PVN of SHR by the fourth week (p < 0.001; vs. WKY),
      while expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (p < 0.001) and calcium
      calmodulin-dependent kinase II alpha (CamKIIalpha; p < 0.001) were significantly
      decreased by the 4th and 20th week, respectively. Age-dependent changes in
      MAPK/ErK expression in the PVN correlated with an increase in the expression of
      vesicular glutamate transporter (p < 0.001 vs. WKY), while decreased levels of
      CamKIIalpha was associated with a decreased expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (p
      < 0.001) by the 20th week. In addition, reduced labeling for Upsilon-aminobutyric
      acid in the PVN of SHR (p < 0.001) correlated with a decrease in neuronal nitric
      oxide synthase labeling (p < 0.001) when compared with the WKY by the 20th week.
      Electrophysiological recordings from neurons in acute slice preparations of the
      PVN of 4 weeks old SHR revealed spontaneous post-synaptic currents of higher
      frequency when compared with neurons from WKY PNV slices of the same age (p <
      0.001; n = 14 cells). This also correlated with an increase in PSD-95 in the PVN
      of SHR when compared with the WKY (p < 0.001). Overall, we found an age-dependent
      reduction of IGF-1R, and related altered expression of associated downstream
      signaling molecules that may represent a link between the concurrent progression
      of synaptic dysfunction and inflammation in the PVN of SHR.

PMID- 27626884
TI  - Cold induced changes in the water balance affect immunocytolocalization pattern
      of one of the aquaporins in the vascular system in the leaves of maize (Zea mays
      L.).
AB  - Chilling stress is known to affect the water balance in plants, which often
      manifests itself in the decrease of the water potential in different organs.
      Relationships between chilling, assimilate transport and water balance are far
      from being understood. Although aquaporins play a key role in regulating water
      balance in plants, especially under stress conditions, the role of individual
      aquaporins in stress response remains unclear. In this report we show the
      specific localization within plasma membranes of one of the aquaporins (PIP2;3)
      in the leaves of two maize inbred lines differing in their chilling-sensitivity.
      This form of aquaporin has been also observed in thick-walled sieve elements - an
      additional type of sieve tubes of unclear function found only in monocotyledons.
      Moderate chilling (about 15 degrees C) caused significant reduction of labelling
      in these cells accompanied by a steep decrease in the water potential in leaves
      of chilling-sensitive maize line. Our results suggest that both PIP2;3 and thick
      walled sieve tubes may be an unknown element of the mechanism of the response of
      maize to cold stress.

PMID- 27626885
TI  - Challenges and recent advances in the subcutaneous delivery of insulin.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The morbidity of diabetes mellitus is increasing, and subcutaneous
      injection of exogenous insulin is well established as an effective therapeutic
      strategy for reducing complications associated with the disease. However, the
      pain that accompanies repeated injections is an important drawback, and can
      detrimentally affect the adherence to therapy. Recently, there have been great
      improvements in injection devices and techniques, including the development of
      microneedle systems and quantitative injection technologies, which have increased
      the accuracy of injection, decreased leakage of insulin to the skin surface, and
      reduced pain. Areas covered: This review highlights some limitations of current
      techniques for the injection of insulin and its analogs, and describes new
      methodologies and strategies that have been developed in an attempt to overcome
      these limitations. Furthermore, novel technologies currently under development
      that are potential future prospects for insulin delivery are discussed. Expert
      opinion: New technologies have provided easier and well-tolerated treatment
      regimens for diabetes patients. However, to further improve patients'
      satisfaction, self-regulated insulin delivery, automatic adjustment of needle
      length, memory function to the injection device, use of novel materials could be
      introduced into insulin injection. Intelligent control of insulin delivery and
      soluble microneedle arrays may be important areas of future research.

PMID- 27626886
TI  - The addition of stripes (a version of the 'horizontal-vertical illusion')
      increases foot clearance when crossing low-height obstacles.
AB  - Trips over obstacles are one of the main causes of falling in older adults, with
      vision playing an important role in successful obstacle negotiation. We
      determined whether a horizontal-vertical illusion, superimposed onto low-height
      obstacles to create a perceived increase in obstacle height, increased foot
      clearances during obstacle negotiation thus reducing the likelihood of tripping.
      Eleven adults (mean +/- 1 SD: age 27.3 +/- 5.1 years) negotiated obstacles of
      varying heights (3, 5, 7 cm) with four different appearance conditions; two were
      obstacles with a horizontal-vertical illusion (vertical stripes of different
      thickness) superimposed on the front, one was a plain obstacle and the fourth a
      plain obstacle with a horizontal black line painted on the top edge. Foot
      clearance parameters were compared across conditions. Both illusions led to a
      significant increase in foot clearance when crossing the obstacle, compared to
      the plain condition, irrespective of obstacle height. Superimposing a horizontal
      vertical illusion onto low-height obstacles can increase foot clearance, and its
      use on the floor section of a double-glazing door frame for example may reduce
      the incidence of tripping in the home. Practitioner Summary: Low-height obstacles
      such as the floor section of a double-glazing door frame are potential tripping
      hazards. In a gait lab-based study we found that a horizontal-vertical illusion
      superimposed onto low-height obstacles led to significantly higher foot
      clearances; indicating their potential as a useful safety measure. 

PMID- 27626887
TI  - The relationship between physical workload and quality within line-based
      assembly.
AB  - Reducing costs and improvement of product quality are considered important to
      ensure productivity within a company. Quality deviations during production
      processes and ergonomics have previously shown to be associated. This study
      explored the relationship between physical workload and real (found during
      production processes) and potential (need of extra time and assistance to
      complete tasks) quality deviations in a line-based assembly plant. The physical
      workload on and the work rotation between 52 workstations were assessed. As the
      outcome, real and potential quality deviations were studied during 10 weeks.
      Results show that workstations with higher physical workload had significantly
      more real deviations compared to lower workload stations. Static work posture had
      significantly more potential deviations. Rotation between high and low workload
      was related to fewer quality deviations compared to rotation between only high
      workload stations. In conclusion, physical ergonomics seems to be related to real
      and potential quality deviation within line-based assembly. Practitioner Summary:
      To ensure good productivity in manufacturing industries, it is important to
      reduce costs and improve product quality. This study shows that high physical
      workload is associated with quality deviations and need of extra time and
      assistance to complete tasks within line-based assembly, which can be financially
      expensive for a company. 

PMID- 27626888
TI  - A Novel Skin Splint for Accurately Mapping Dermal Remodeling and
      Epithelialization During Wound Healing.
AB  - The mouse excisional dorsal full-thickness wound model with a silicon splint
      fixed on the skin has been widely used to mimic human wound healing. However, the
      method cannot accurately quantify dermal remodeling, since the initial point of
      epithelialization on the wound surface is unclear. To overcome this limitation,
      we have developed a novel mouse excisional wound model to assess the degree of
      epithelial extension and regeneration, using a plastic ring-shaped splint fixed
      beneath the surrounding epidermal tissue. At the end of the experiment, tissue
      samples were fixed in formalin, the splint was excised, and paraffin sections
      were prepared. Splint holes, corresponding to the prior location of the splint,
      were evident on the tissue cross-sections, and the epidermis above the holes was
      considered the initial excision site. The epidermal contraction and epithelial
      regeneration, as independent essential tissue alterations in wound healing, could
      be distinguishable and quantified. Compared with previous splint models, this
      method provides an accurate evaluation of epidermal processes in wound healing,
      and can be a platform to assess the effects of various wound healing factors. J.
      Cell. Physiol. 232: 1225-1232, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27626889
TI  - Development of an integrated CAD-FEA system for patient-specific design of spinal
      cages.
AB  - Spinal cages are used to create a suitable mechanical environment for interbody
      fusion in cases of degenerative spinal instability. Due to individual variations
      in bone structures and pathological conditions, patient-specific cages can
      provide optimal biomechanical conditions for fusion, strengthening patient
      recovery. Finite element analysis (FEA) is a valuable tool in the biomechanical
      evaluation of patient-specific cage designs, but the time- and labor-intensive
      process of modeling limits its clinical application. In an effort to facilitate
      the design and analysis of patient-specific spinal cages, an integrated CAD-FEA
      system (CASCaDeS, comprehensive analytical spinal cage design system) was
      developed. This system produces a biomechanical-based patient-specific design of
      spinal cages and is capable of rapid implementation of finite element modeling.
      By comparison with commercial software, this system was validated and proven to
      be both accurate and efficient. CASCaDeS can be used to design patient-specific
      cages with a superior biomechanical performance to commercial spinal cages.

PMID- 27626890
TI  - An assessment of implications of adaptive licensing for pharmaceutical
      intellectual property and regulatory exclusivity rights in the European Union.
AB  - One of the key advantages of adaptive licensing (AL) is to align the licensing of
      new medicines more closely with patient needs for earlier access to beneficial
      treatments. From an innovators perspective, "earlier" market access may seem an
      obvious incentive to gain earlier revenue generation. However, this is offset
      with an "earlier" start to patent and regulatory protection periods, which,
      depending on the technology, disease, population, and timing of subsequent asset
      protection periods, can present a conflict.

PMID- 27626891
TI  - Modelling the effect of temperature, water activity and carbon dioxide on the
      growth of Aspergillus niger and Alternaria alternata isolated from fresh date
      fruit.
AB  - AIMS: To quantify and model the combined effects of temperature (T) (10-40
      degrees C), water activity (aw ) (0.993-0.818) and CO2 concentration (9.4-55.1%,
      v/v) on the growth rate of Aspergillus niger and Alternaria alternata that cause
      spoilage during the storage and packaging of dates. METHODS AND RESULTS: The
      effects of environmental factors were studied using the gamma-concept. Cardinal
      models were used to quantify the effect of studied environmental factors on the
      growth rates. Firstly, the cardinal parameters were estimated independently from
      experiments carried out on potato dextrose agar using a monofactorial design.
      Secondly, model performance evaluation was conducted on pasteurized date paste.
      The boundary between growth and no-growth was predicted using a deterministic
      approach. Aspergillus niger displayed a faster growth rate and higher tolerance
      to low aw than Al. alternata, which in turn proved more resistant to CO2
      concentration. Minimal cardinal parameters of T and aw were lower than those
      reported in the literature. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of the aw and CO2
      effects significantly affected As. niger and Al. alternata growth. The gamma
      concept model overestimated growth rates, however, it is optimistic and provides
      somewhat conservative predictions. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The
      developed model provides a decision support tool for the choice of the date fruit
      conservation mode (refrigeration, drying, modified atmospheric packaging or their
      combination) using T, aw and CO2 as environmental factors.

PMID- 27626892
TI  - Defining the Need for Skin Cancer Prevention Education in Uninsured, Minority,
      and Immigrant Communities.
AB  - Importance: As the minority population increases in the United States, the
      incidence of skin cancer has important public health consequences, including poor
      skin cancer outcomes, in part because of late-stage diagnosis. Therefore, it is
      important to identify obstacles in skin cancer prevention in these communities.
      Objective: To characterize skin cancer prevention and education needs in
      uninsured, minority, and immigrant communities in South Florida. Design, Setting,
      and Participants: At a large free medical clinic in Florida, a convenience sample
      of people completed a 23-question survey in English, Spanish, or Haitian Creole
      assessing their skin cancer risk perception, knowledge, sun protective behaviors
      and barriers, and desirable outreach methods. All participants were uninsured and
      living at least 200% below the federal poverty level. Participants were adults
      recruited from the general waiting room who understood 1 of the 3 languages and
      were not present for a scheduled dermatology visit. Main Outcomes and Measures:
      The survey used Likert-type scales, true or false, and yes or no questions. Data
      were analyzed with SPSS IBM statistical software (version 22) using 1-way
      analysis of variance, chi2 tests, and Pearson correlations. Results: Among the
      219 people invited, 206 participants (mean [SD] age, 43 [13.2] years) completed
      the survey; 75% of respondents were women who usually worked indoors. Almost a
      quarter (49 [24.5%) had never heard of skin cancer or melanoma. Nearly half (89
      [44.3%]) had never conducted a self-skin examination. One in 5 (41 [20.7%])
      believed that people with dark skin cannot get skin cancer. Three quarters (156
      [75.7%]) of respondents fell into the "low/inconsistent" sun protective behavior
      category. Barriers to sun-protective behaviors were "using sun protection is too
      hot" (75 participants [39.3%]) and "I forget." (72 [37.7%]). More than 85% (175
      [87.9%]) wanted to learn more about how to prevent skin cancer. Watching a video
      (37.3%) and text messaging (30.8%) were identified as the most popular outreach
      methods. Conclusions and Relevance: Important barriers to skin cancer prevention
      were lack of knowledge, the belief that dark skin was protective, and using sun
      protection made them feel too hot. Skin cancer education and intervention efforts
      in uninsured, minority, immigrant populations may be provided by videos and text
      messaging.

PMID- 27626894
TI  - A Composite Structure of Cu3 Ge/Ge/C Anode Promise Better Rate Property for
      Lithium Battery.
AB  - Much effort has been made to search for high energy and high power density
      electrode materials for lithium ion batteries. Here, a composite structure among
      Ge, C and Cu3Ge in Cu3Ge/Ge/C materials with a high rate performance of lithium
      batteries has been reported. Such Cu3Ge/Ge/C composite is synthesized through the
      in-situ formation of Ge, C and Cu3Ge by one-pot reaction. Density function theory
      (DFT) calculations and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) suggest a
      higher electron mobility of the hibrid Cu3Ge/Ge/C composites through the in-situ
      preparation. As a result, remarkable charge rate over 300 C (fast delithiated
      capability) and outstanding cycling stability (~0.02% capacity decay per cycle
      for 500 cycles at 0.5 C) are achieved for the Cu3Ge/Ge/C composites anode. These
      Cu3Ge/Ge/C composites demonstrate another perspective to explore the energy
      storage materials and should provide a new pathway for the design of advanced
      electrode materials.

PMID- 27626893
TI  - Single-molecule dynamics of the molecular chaperone trigger factor in living
      cells.
AB  - In bacteria, trigger factor (TF) is the molecular chaperone that interacts with
      the ribosome to assist the folding of nascent polypeptides. Studies in vitro have
      provided insights into the function and mechanism of TF. Much is to be
      elucidated, however, about how TF functions in vivo. Here, we use single-molecule
      tracking, in combination with genetic manipulations, to study the dynamics and
      function of TF in living E. coli cells. We find that TF, besides interacting with
      the 70S ribosome, may also bind to ribosomal subunits and form TF-polypeptide
      complexes that may include DnaK/DnaJ proteins. The TF-70S ribosome interactions
      are highly dynamic inside cells, with an average residence time of ~0.2 s. Our
      results confirm that the signal recognition particle weakens TF's interaction
      with the 70S ribosome, and further identify that this weakening mainly results
      from a change in TF's binding to the 70S ribosome, rather than its unbinding.
      Moreover, using photoconvertible bimolecular fluorescence complementation, we
      selectively probe TF2 dimers in the cell and show that TF2 does not bind to the
      70S ribosome but is involved in the post-translational interactions with
      polypeptides. These findings contribute to the fundamental understanding of
      molecular chaperones in assisting protein folding in living cells.

PMID- 27626895
TI  - Missing Warfarin Discharge Communication and Risk of 30-Day Rehospitalization
      and/or Death: Retrospective Cohort Study.

PMID- 27626897
TI  - Vulnerability in patients and nurses and the mutual vulnerability in the patient
      nurse relationship.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the mutual vulnerability of patients and nurses,
      anticipating that an enhanced understanding of the phenomenon may help reduce
      vulnerability. BACKGROUND: Patient vulnerability is a key issue in nursing, aimed
      at protecting the patient from harm. In the literature, vulnerability is
      described both from a risk perspective and a subjective perspective. This implies
      that the objective dimension of patient vulnerability does not necessarily
      reflect the patient's own perception of being vulnerable. However, external
      judgment may influence internal perception. Adding to this complexity, attention
      has also been drawn to the vulnerability of the nurse. DESIGN: A definition
      deduced from central literature on vulnerability captures the complexity of
      objective versus subjective vulnerability. Based on the perspective of
      vulnerability in general, vulnerability in healthcare services shows how
      dependency may increase patient vulnerability. Further, despite education,
      training and supportive settings, patients may increase nurse vulnerability. The
      core of this mutuality is explored in the light of Martin Heidegger's philosophy
      of being. CONCLUSION: The patient's need for help from the nurse opens the
      patient to engage in supportive and/or harmful encounters. Thus, dependency adds
      to the vulnerability related to health issues. The nurse's vulnerability lies in
      her engagement in caring for the patient. If failing to provide proper care, the
      nurse's existence as 'a good nurse' is threatened. This is exacerbated if the
      patient turns against the nurse. Therefore, the core of vulnerability seems to
      lie in the fact that the patient and the nurse are both striving to be the
      persons they want to be, and the persons they have not yet become. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: Recognition of the mutual vulnerability in the patient-nurse
      relationship calls for collective acknowledgement of the demanding nature of
      caring relationships, for support and for a strengthening of professional skills.

PMID- 27626896
TI  - Trend of extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and the remaining
      therapeutic options: a multicenter study in Tehran, Iran over a 3-year period.
AB  - : Comprehensive data on drug-resistant patterns of Acinetobacter baumannii
      isolates in developing countries is limited. We conducted a multihospital study
      to assess the rate and trend of drug-resistant phenotypes in Ac. baumannii using
      standardized definitions and to determine the remaining therapeutic options
      against resistant phenotypes. The 401 nonduplicate isolates were collected from
      six hospitals which are geographically distributed across Tehran, Iran over a 3
      year period. Following PCR of blaOXA-51-like gene, susceptibility testing was
      performed against nine antimicrobial agent categories. Three hundred and ninety
      (97%) isolates were resistant to least two carbapenems; carbapenem-resistant Ac.
      baumannii. The majority of isolates (366, 91.3%) were extensively drug resistant
      (XDR) and the rest of the isolates were classified as multidrug resistant (26,
      6.8%) and susceptible (9, 2.2%). The rate of XDR-AB slightly decreased from 93.8%
      in 2011 to 89.8% in 2013. A considerable decrease in resistance to doxycycline,
      minocycline and tigecycline was demonstrated. The XDR-AB isolates showed
      susceptibility to gentamicin (10.4%), tobramycin (23%), ampicilin-sulbactam
      (30.1%), minocycline (32.8%), tigecycline (10.7%), doxycycline (21.6%), colistin
      (100%) and polymixin B (100%). We demonstrated the rising trend of resistance to
      all antibiotic categories except tetracyclines and folate pathway inhibitors. We
      found that the treatment options against XDR-AB are extremely limited and each
      treatment alternative including even old, but safe, antibiotics might be
      considered. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The high frequency of drug
      resistant phenotypes including carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii,
      multidrug-resistant, and extensively resistant has been demonstrated in Ac.
      baumannii isolates tested here. As the antibiotic resistance pattern of isolates
      varies in different geographical regions, this study can provide comprehensive
      information about the antibiotic resistance profile of Ac. baumannii isolates in
      Tehran. In addition, the resistance profiles could be effectively considered by
      clinicians to manage antibiotic therapy. This work also emphasizes on the prudent
      use of antibiotics and the monitoring of antibiotic susceptibility trend and
      rate.

PMID- 27626898
TI  - Comparison of ex vivo and in vivo micro-computed tomography of rat tibia at
      different scanning settings.
AB  - The parameters of a micro-computed tomography (MUCT) scan, including whether a
      bone is imaged in vivo or ex vivo, determine the quality of the resulting image.
      In turn, this impacts the accuracy of the trabecular and cortical outcomes. The
      absolute impact of MUCT scanning at different voxel sizes and whether the sample
      is imaged in vivo or ex vivo on the morphological outcomes of the proximal tibia
      in the rat is unknown. The right proximal tibia of 6-month-old Sham-control and
      ovariectomized (OVX) rats (n = 8/group) was scanned using MUCT (SkyScan 1176,
      Bruker, Kontich, Belgium) using three sets of parameters (9 MUm ex vivo, 18 MUm
      ex vivo, 18 MUm in vivo) to compare the trabecular and cortical outcomes.
      Regardless of scan protocols, differences between Sham and OVX groups were
      observed as expected. At a voxel size of 18 MUm, scanning in vivo or ex vivo had
      no effect on any of the outcomes measured. However, compared to a 9 MUm voxel
      size scan, imaging at 18 MUm resulted in significant underestimation of the
      connectivity density (p < 0.05) of the trabecular bone and a significant
      overestimation (p < 0.05) of the trabecular indices (trabecular thickness, degree
      of anisotropy) and of the cortical indices (cortical bone area, cortical area
      fraction, cortical thickness) in both Sham and OVX rats. These results suggest
      the benefit to scanning the proximal tibia of rats at a voxel size as low as 9
      MUm, although considerations must be made for the increased acquisition time,
      anesthesia, animal welfare, and radiation exposure associated with lower voxel
      size in vivo scanning. (c) 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:1690-1698, 2017.

PMID- 27626899
TI  - Fluorocoxib A enables targeted detection of cyclooxygenase-2 in laser-induced
      choroidal neovascularization.
AB  - Ocular angiogenesis is a blinding complication of age-related macular
      degeneration and other retinal vascular diseases. Clinical imaging approaches to
      detect inflammation prior to the onset of neovascularization in these diseases
      may enable early detection and timely therapeutic intervention. We demonstrate
      the feasibility of a previously developed cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) targeted
      molecular imaging probe, fluorocoxib A, for imaging retinal inflammation in a
      mouse model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization. This imaging probe
      exhibited focal accumulation within laser-induced neovascular lesions, with
      minimal detection in proximal healthy tissue. The selectivity of the probe for
      COX-2 was validated <italic<in vitro</italic< and by <italic<in vivo</italic<
      retinal imaging with nontargeted 5-carboxy-X-rhodamine dye, and by blockade of
      the COX-2 active site with nonfluorescent celecoxib prior to injection of
      fluorocoxib A. Fluorocoxib A can be utilized for imaging COX-2 expression
      <italic<in vivo</italic< for further validation as an imaging biomarker in
      retinal diseases.

PMID- 27626900
TI  - Characterizing depth-dependent refractive index of articular cartilage subjected
      to mechanical wear or enzymic degeneration.
AB  - Utilizing a laser scanning confocal microscope system, the refractive indices of
      articular cartilage (AC) with mechanical or biochemical degenerations were
      characterized to investigate whether potential correlations exist between
      refractive index (RI) and cartilage degeneration. The cartilage samples collected
      from the medial femoral condyles of kangaroo knees were mechanically degenerated
      under different loading patterns or digested in trypsin solution with different
      concentrations. The sequences of RI were then measured from cartilage surface to
      deep region and the fluctuations of RI were quantified considering combined
      effects of fluctuating frequency and amplitude. The compositional and
      microstructural alterations of cartilage samples were assessed with histological
      methods. Along with the loss of proteoglycans, the average RI of cartilage
      increased and the local fluctuation of RI became stronger. Short-term high-speed
      test induced little influence to both the depth fluctuation and overall level of
      RI. Long-term low-speed test increased the fluctuation of RI but the average RI
      was barely changed. The results substantially demonstrate that RI of AC varies
      with both compositional and structural alterations and is potentially an
      indicator for the degeneration of AC.

PMID- 27626901
TI  - Study of transmittance and reflectance spectra of the cornea and the sclera in
      the THz frequency range.
AB  - An adequate water balance (hydration extent) is one of the basic factors of
      normal eye function, including its external shells: the cornea and the sclera.
      Adequate control of corneal and scleral hydration is very important for early
      diagnosis of a variety of eye diseases, stating indications for and
      contraindications against keratorefractive surgeries and the choice of contact
      lens correction solutions. THz systems of creating images in reflected beams are
      likely to become ideal instruments of noninvasive control of corneal and scleral
      hydration degrees. This paper reports on the results of a study involving
      transmittance and reflectance spectra for the cornea and the sclera of rabbit and
      human eyes, as well as those of the rabbit eye, in the frequency range of 0.13 to
      0.32 THz. The dependence of the reflectance coefficient of these tissues on water
      mass percentage content was determined. The experiments were performed on three
      corneas, three rabbit scleras, two rabbit eyes, and three human scleras. The
      preliminary results demonstrate that the proposed technique, based on the use of
      a continuous THz radiation, may be utilized to create a device for noninvasive
      control of corneal and scleral hydration, which has clear potential of broad
      practical application.

PMID- 27626902
TI  - Reproductive Health as a Marker of Subsequent Cardiovascular Disease: The Role of
      Estrogen.

PMID- 27626903
TI  - Management trends for men with early-stage nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of
      the testicle: An analysis of the National Cancer Database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surveillance has been recommended more frequently as a
      postorchiectomy management option for men with early stage nonseminomatous germ
      cell tumor (NSGCT) of the testicle. It is unknown how contemporary treatment
      patterns reflect these recommendations. METHODS: Data from the National Cancer
      Database were extracted on all men who were diagnosed with clinical stage (CS) IA
      or CSIB NSGCT between 2004 and 2013. Temporal trends in the use of chemotherapy,
      retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND), and surveillance were measured;
      and multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the association of
      patient and clinical covariates with use of surveillance. RESULTS: Of the 4080
      men with CSIA NSGCT, 70%, 17%, and 13% received surveillance, RPLND, and
      chemotherapy, respectively. Surveillance increased in this group from 65% (2004
      2005) to 74% (2012-2013: adjusted odds ratio, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.14
      1.98; P = .004). Of the 2580 men who had CSIB NSGCT, 46%, 20%, and 34% received
      surveillance, RPLND, and chemotherapy, respectively. In this group, 48% of men
      underwent surveillance in the years 2004 to 2005 and 2012 to 2013 (adjusted P =
      .8). Upon multivariable analyses, higher income and the oldest age quartile were
      associated with increased odds of surveillance among men with CSIA NSGCT (both P
      < .050). Hispanic men with CSIB NSGCT were more likely to receive surveillance
      compared with non-Hispanic white men (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 75% of men
      with CSIA NSGCT and nearly 50% of men with CSIB NSGCT received surveillance in
      2012 and 2013. The likelihood of receiving surveillance increased from 2004
      through 2013 for men with CSIA NSGCT but was unchanged for men with CSIB. Cancer
      2017;123:245-252. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27626904
TI  - Pediatric pituitary resection: characterizing surgical approaches and
      complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there has been extensive study evaluating adult pituitary
      surgery, there has been scant analysis among children. Our objective was to
      evaluate a population-based resource to characterize nationwide trends in
      surgical approach, hospital stay, and complications among children undergoing
      pituitary surgery. METHODS: The Kids' Inpatient-Database (KID) files (2009/2012)
      were evaluated for pituitary gland excisions. Procedure, patient demographics,
      length of inpatient stay, inpatient costs, hospital setting, and surgical
      complications were analyzed. RESULTS: A weighted incidence of 1071 cases were
      analyzed; the majority (77.6%) underwent transsphenoidal resections. These
      patients had significantly decreased hospital costs and lengths of stay. Patients
      undergoing transfrontal approaches had significantly greater rates of
      postoperative diabetes insipidus (DI) (66.5%), panhypopituitarism (38.8%),
      hydrocephalus, and visual deficits. Among transsphenoidal patients, males had
      greater rates of postoperative hydrocephalus (5.5%) and panhypopituitarism
      (17.5%) than females, and patients <=10 years old had greater rates of these 2
      complications (14.5%, 19.4%, respectively) as well as DI (61.3%). CONCLUSION: A
      greater proportion of children undergo transfrontal approaches for pituitary
      lesions than in their adult counterparts. This difference may harbor a potential
      to influence future sellar resection approaches in children toward a
      transsphenoidal operation when surgically feasible. Patients undergoing
      transfrontal procedures have greater risks for many intraoperative and
      postoperative complications relative to individuals undergoing transsphenoidal
      resections. Among patients undergoing transsphenoidal approaches, males had
      significantly greater rates of postoperative hydrocephalus and
      panhypopituitarism, and younger children had greater rates of postoperative DI,
      hydrocephalus, and panhypopituitarism. These data reinforce the need for greater
      vigilance in the postoperative care of younger children undergoing
      transsphenoidal surgery.

PMID- 27626905
TI  - An overview of human genetic privacy.
AB  - The study of human genomics is becoming a Big Data science, owing to recent
      biotechnological advances leading to availability of millions of personal genome
      sequences, which can be combined with biometric measurements from mobile apps and
      fitness trackers, and of human behavior data monitored from mobile devices and
      social media. With increasing research opportunities for integrative genomic
      studies through data sharing, genetic privacy emerges as a legitimate yet
      challenging concern that needs to be carefully addressed, not only for
      individuals but also for their families. In this paper, we present potential
      genetic privacy risks and relevant ethics and regulations for sharing and
      protecting human genomics data. We also describe the techniques for protecting
      human genetic privacy from three broad perspectives: controlled access,
      differential privacy, and cryptographic solutions.

PMID- 27626906
TI  - Troxerutin attenuates diet-induced oxidative stress, impairment of mitochondrial
      biogenesis and respiratory chain complexes in mice heart.
AB  - Mitochondrial abnormality is thought to play a key role in cardiac disease
      originating from the metabolic syndrome (MS). We evaluated the effect of
      troxerutin (TX), a semi-synthetic derivative of the natural bioflavanoid rutin,
      on the respiratory chain complex activity, oxidative stress, mitochondrial
      biogenesis and dynamics in heart of high fat, high fructose diet (HFFD) -induced
      mouse model of MS. Adult male Mus musculus mice of body weight 25-30 g were fed
      either control diet or HFFD for 60 days. Mice from each dietary regimen were
      divided into two groups on the 16th day and were treated or untreated with TX
      (150 mg/kg body weight [bw], per oral) for the next 45 days. At the end of
      experimental period, respiratory chain complex activity, uncoupling proteins
      (UCP)-2 and -3, mtDNA content, mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics, oxidative
      stress markers and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were analyzed.
      Reduced mtDNA abundance with alterations in the expression of genes related to
      mitochondrial biogenesis and fission and fusion processes were observed in HFFD
      fed mice. Disorganized and smaller mitochondria, reduction in complexes I, III
      and IV activities (by about 55%) and protein levels of UCP-2 (52%) and UCP-3
      (46%) were noted in these mice. TX administration suppressed oxidative stress,
      improved the oxidative capacity and biogenesis and restored fission/fusion
      imbalance in the cardiac mitochondria of HFFD-fed mice. TX protects the
      myocardium by modulating the putative molecules of mitochondrial biogenesis and
      dynamics and by its anti-oxidant function in a mouse model of MS.

PMID- 27626907
TI  - Progress of Medical School Musculoskeletal Education in the 21st Century.
AB  - The prevalence and cost of musculoskeletal diseases have increased dramatically
      over the last several decades, with more than half of US adults currently
      affected by a musculoskeletal condition. In response to this development,
      multiple institutions began reassessing the depth and effectiveness of their
      musculoskeletal education curriculum. After reporting a deficiency in required
      preclinical coursework, medical schools began implementing new and varied
      musculoskeletal programs. These changes have met with mixed success, as
      demonstrated by scores on competency examinations. To address discrepancies in
      knowledge and confidence levels and to ensure that physicians are equipped to
      manage musculoskeletal diseases in the 21st century, efforts to improve medical
      school education should continue.

PMID- 27626908
TI  - Interacting with GPCRs: Using Interaction Fingerprints for Virtual Screening.
AB  - The expanding number of crystal structures of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)
      has increased the knowledge on receptor function and their ability to recognize
      ligands. Although structure-based virtual screening has been quite successful on
      GPCRs, scores obtained by docking are typically not indicative for ligand
      affinity. Methods capturing interactions between protein and ligand in a more
      explicit manner, such as interaction fingerprints (IFPs), have been applied as an
      addition or alternative to docking. Originally IFPs captured the interactions of
      amino acid residues with ligands with specific definitions for the various
      interaction types. More complex IFPs now capture atom-atom interactions, such as
      in SYBYL, or fragment-fragment co-occurrences such as in SPLIF. Overall, most of
      the IFPs have been studied in comparison with docking in retrospective studies.
      For GPCRs it remains unclear which IFP should be used, if at all, and in what
      manner. Thus, the performance between five different IFPs was compared on five
      different representative GPCRs, including several extensions of the original
      implementations,. Results show that the more detailed IFPs, SYBYL and SPLIF,
      perform better than the other IFPs (Deng, Credo, and Elements). SPLIF was further
      tuned based on the number of poses, fingerprint similarity coefficient, and using
      an ensemble of structures. Enrichments were obtained that were significantly
      higher than initial enrichments and those obtained by 2D-similarity. With the
      increase in available crystal structures for GPCRs, and given that IFPs such as
      SPLIF enhance enrichment in virtual screens, it is anticipated that IFPs will be
      used in conjunction with docking, especially for GPCRs with a large binding
      pocket.

PMID- 27626909
TI  - Rational Design of a Profluorescent Substrate for S-adenosylhomocysteine
      Hydrolase and its Applications in Bioimaging and Inhibitor Screening.
AB  - S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHase) is a cellular enzyme that plays a key
      role in the methylation process, and a potential drug target in the discovery of
      antiviral and anticancer agents. There is increasing interest in determining its
      activity in the biological and clinical fields with chemosensors but with limited
      success so far. Herein, we designed and developed for the first time an off/on
      type of fluorogenic substrate (NADE) that is directly responsive to SAHase
      activity. NADE used 1,8-naphthalimide as the signal reporter and adenosine (Ade)
      as the reaction center; removal of the Ade moiety enhanced the fluorescence by
      >10-fold. Kinetic study showed that NADE followed a non-Michaelis-Menten pattern
      that corresponded to the allosteric behavior of SAHase. NADE showed excellent
      selectivity and functioned efficiently in cells, allowing the microscopic imaging
      of SAHase activity. NADE can also be used to identify and measure the
      effectiveness of inhibitors in a markedly superior way. In a word, NADE would be
      broadly useful in clinical applications and academic studies.

PMID- 27626910
TI  - The opposite lane: a path to memories?

PMID- 27626912
TI  - Visible Light-Driven Z-Scheme Water Splitting Using Oxysulfide H2 Evolution
      Photocatalysts.
AB  - A Sm2Ti2S2O5 (STSO) oxysulfide photocatalyst prepared by a novel flux method
      showed a higher degree of crystallinity and greater photocatalytic activity than
      that prepared by conventional polymerized complex and sulfurization processes. Co
      loading with both IrO2, as an oxidative cocatalyst, and Pt, as a reductive
      cocatalyst, was found to be essential for promoting the photocatalytic activity
      of the STSO. Visible light-driven Z-scheme water splitting into H2 and O2 was
      realized by utilizing the STSO photocatalyst for H2 evolution in conjunction with
      a WO3 photocatalyst treated with H+ and Cs+ and loaded with PtOx for O2
      evolution, and a triiodide/iodide (I3-/I-) redox couple as a shuttle electron
      mediator. Various other narrow band gap oxysulfide photocatalysts with H2
      evolution activity, such as La5Ti2CuS5O7 and La6Ti2S8O5, were also shown to be
      applicable as H2 evolution photocatalysts in the present Z-scheme water splitting
      system.

PMID- 27626911
TI  - Non-Virilizing Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia in a Female Patient with a Novel
      HSD3B2 Mutation.
AB  - Classic 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (3beta-HSD II) deficiency
      causes congenital adrenal hyperplasia with glucocorticoid, mineralocorticoid, and
      sex steroid deficiency. We present a female patient with congenital adrenal
      hyperplasia detected in newborn screening due to elevated 17OH-progesterone.
      Female external genitalia and non-measurable androgen levels elicited the
      suspicion of a defect early in the steroid cascade. Two loss-of-function HSD3B2
      mutations (1 novel) were detected and confirmed in silico. We argue that in a
      girl with glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid deficiency without virilization,
      3beta-HSD II deficiency is an important differential diagnosis. 17OH-progesterone
      may initially be elevated due to placental and peripheral activity of 3beta-HSD
      I, whereas dehydroepiandrosterone may not be increased.

PMID- 27626913
TI  - Is It Time for Vaccination to "Go Viral"?
AB  - To promote and sustain excellent vaccination coverage, while preserving the key
      core values of ethics, truth, transparency and trust, the vaccine community
      should adopt modern digital communication strategies. This article summarizes our
      views-as experts in multidisciplinary field of vaccinology (consisting of an
      anthropologist, a public health policy advisor, a vaccine industry expert, a
      health care journalist and a practicing physician)-which were presented at a
      satellite symposium held at the 33rd European Society of Paediatric Infectious
      Disease conference in Leipzig, Germany, in May 2015. This article aims to suggest
      and recommend strategies to promote vaccination awareness, and highlight
      proactive measures for building, maintaining and enhancing trust in vaccination
      through innovative communication and evidence-based interaction with the end
      user. We believe that converting the results of vaccine research into a
      successful vaccination program, and replacing misinformation with evidence-based
      communication, will require a multidisciplinary approach that embraces modern
      digital and tailored applications to reach out to all populations.

PMID- 27626914
TI  - Hard Tick Relapsing Fever Caused by Borrelia miyamotoi in a Child.
AB  - A 5-year-old Massachusetts resident developed hard tick-borne relapsing fever
      caused by Borrelia miyamotoi. A partially engorged Ixodes scapularis tick was
      removed from her scalp and identified as infected with B. miyamotoi using
      polymerase chain reaction. Two weeks later, she developed an illness compatible
      with B. miyamotoi infection that included fatigue and recurrent fever. The
      diagnosis was confirmed by B. miyamotoi seroconversion.

PMID- 27626916
TI  - Pseudomonal Biofilm Topographic Distribution on Tympanostomy Tubes: An In Vitro
      Model.
AB  - In vitro growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm on tympanostomy tubes showed
      that in Armstrong T-tubes, biofilm colonies were mainly located in the
      perpendicular junction between the body and the flanges, but in Paparella-type
      tube, they concentrated on the round rims. These "weakness" zones can be the
      future target areas for geometry changes, and can be specifically coated with
      antibiofilm materials.

PMID- 27626915
TI  - Using Prescription Patterns in Primary Care to Derive New Quality Indicators for
      Childhood Community Antibiotic Prescribing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To describe patterns of antibiotic outpatient use in 3 European
      countries, including 2 new pediatric-specific quality indicators (QIs). METHODS:
      A cohort study was conducted, 2001-2010, using electronic primary care records of
      2,196,312 children up to 14 (Pedianet, Italy) or 18 years (The Health Improvement
      Network, United Kingdom; Integrated Primary Care Information database, The
      Netherlands) contributing 12,079,620 person-years. Prevalence rates of antibiotic
      prescribing per year were calculated and antibiotics accounting (drug
      utilization) for 90% of all antibiotic prescriptions were identified (drug
      utilization 90% method). The ratio between users of broad to narrow-spectrum
      penicillins, cephalosporins and macrolides (B/N ratio) and 2 pediatric-specific
      QIs: the proportion of amoxicillin users (amoxicillin index) and the ratio
      between users of amoxicillin to broad-spectrum penicillins, cephalosporins and
      macrolides (A/B ratio) were determined. RESULTS: The overall annual prevalence of
      antibiotic prescriptions was 18.0% in the Netherlands, 36.2% in the United
      Kingdom and 52.0% in Italy. Use was maximal in the first years of life. The
      number of antibiotics accounting for the drug utilization 90% was comparable. The
      B/N ratio varied widely from 0.3 to 74.7. The amoxicillin index was highest in
      the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (50-60%), lowest in Italy (30%) and
      worsened over time in the United Kingdom and Italy. The A/B ratio in 2010 was 0.3
      in Italy, 1.7 in the Netherlands and 5.4 in the United Kingdom. CONCLUSIONS: The
      patterns of antibiotic prescribing varied highly with age and country. The
      pediatric-specific QIs combined with the total prevalence rate of use provide a
      clear picture of the trends of community childhood antibiotic prescribing,
      allowing monitoring of the impact of policy interventions.

PMID- 27626917
TI  - The Public Health Burden of Rotavirus Disease in Children Younger Than Five Years
      and Considerations for Rotavirus Vaccine Introduction in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young
      children worldwide. Rotavirus vaccines have demonstrated substantial benefits in
      many countries that have introduced vaccine nationally. In China, where rotavirus
      vaccines are not available through the national immunization program, it will be
      important to review relevant local and global information to determine the
      potential value of national introduction. Therefore, we reviewed evidence of
      rotavirus disease burden among Chinese children younger than 5 years to help
      inform rotavirus vaccine introduction decisions. METHODS: We reviewed scientific
      literature on rotavirus disease burden in China from 1994 through 2014 in China
      National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and PubMed. Studies were selected if
      they were conducted for periods of 12 month increments, had more than 100
      patients enrolled and used an accepted diagnostic test. RESULTS: Overall, 45
      reports were included and indicate that rotavirus causes ~40% and ~30% of
      diarrhea-related hospitalizations and outpatient visits, respectively, among
      children younger than 5 years in China. Over 50% of rotavirus-related
      hospitalizations occur by age 1 year; ~90% occur by age 2 years. Regarding
      circulating rotavirus strains in China, there has been natural, temporal
      variation, but the predominant local strains are the same as those that are
      globally dominant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings affirm that rotavirus is a major
      cause of childhood diarrheal disease in China and suggest that a vaccination
      program with doses given early in infancy has the potential to prevent the
      majority of the burden of severe rotavirus disease.

PMID- 27626918
TI  - Acute Otitis Media and the Crying Child.
AB  - Acute otitis media (AOM) can be difficult to diagnose in a crying child. The
      vessels of the ear canal and tympanic membrane (TM) can engorge simulating AOM.
      We observed the pattern of vascular congestion during modified Valsalva maneuver.
      Sparing of the pars tensa, lack of TM bulging help to differentiate a crying
      child's red TM from that seen in AOM.

PMID- 27626919
TI  - Successful Treatment of Sinusitis by Acanthamoeba in a Pediatric Patient After
      Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Acanthamoeba infections are rare and mostly occur in immunocompromised patients.
      Most of the reported cases after stem cell transplantation have been diagnosed
      postmortem. We present the case of a 3-year-old boy with chronic graft versus
      host disease post hematopoietic transplantation, who was successfully treated for
      Acanthamoeba.

PMID- 27626920
TI  - Immunizing Patients With Adverse Events After Immunization and Potential
      Contraindications to Immunization: A Report From the Special Immunization Clinics
      Network.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For patients who have experienced adverse events following
      immunization (AEFI) or who have specific medical conditions, there is limited
      evidence regarding the best approach to immunization. The Special Immunization
      Clinics (SICs) Network was established to standardize patient management and
      assess outcomes after reimmunization. The study objective was to describe the
      first 2 years of the network's implementation. METHODS: Twelve SICs were
      established across Canada by infectious diseases specialists and allergists.
      Inclusion criteria were as follows: local reaction >= 10 cm, allergic symptoms <
      24 hours postimmunization, neurologic symptoms and other AEFI or medical
      conditions of concern. Eligible patients underwent a standardized evaluation,
      causality assessment was performed, immunization recommendations were made by
      expert physicians and patients were followed up to capture AEFI. After individual
      consent, data were transferred to a central database for analysis. RESULTS: From
      June 2013 to May 2015, 151 patients were enrolled. Most were referred for prior
      AEFI (132/151, 87%): 42 (32%) for allergic-like reactions, 31 (23%) for injection
      site reactions, 20 (15%) for neurologic symptoms and 39 (30%) for other systemic
      symptoms. Nineteen patients (13%) were seen for underlying conditions that
      complicated immunization. Reimmunization was recommended for 109 patients, 60 of
      whom (55%) were immunized and followed up. Eleven patients (18%) experienced
      recurrence of their AEFI; none were serious (eg, resulting in hospitalization,
      permanent disability or death). CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent reasons for
      referral to a SIC were allergic-like events and injection site reactions.
      Reimmunization was safe in most patients. Larger studies are needed to determine
      outcomes for specific types of AEFI.

PMID- 27626921
TI  - A Teenager With Sacroileitis, Rash and Fever Caused by Streptobacillus
      moniliformis Bacteremia.
AB  - We report a rare case of sacroileitis in a teenager resulting from
      Streptobacillus moniliformis bacteremia, identified by matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization-time of flight. We discuss the challenges of making this
      diagnosis and review the literature on rat bite fever.

PMID- 27626922
TI  - Increased Immune Activation and Exhaustion in HIV-infected Youth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immune activation and exhaustion drive several comorbidities and
      disease progression in HIV-infected adults; however, they are not well studied in
      HIV-infected youth. Thus, this study sought to examine levels of immune
      activation and exhaustion in this population, investigate associated HIV- and non
      HIV-related variables and compare results with a matched healthy control group.
      METHODS: HIV-infected youth 8-25 years of age on stable antiretroviral therapy
      with an HIV-1 RNA level <1000 copies/mL were enrolled, along with matched healthy
      controls. We measured T-cell and monocyte immune activation and exhaustion
      markers in cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cell and plasma samples.
      RESULTS: A total of 136 subjects (80 HIV+: 66% male; 91% black) were enrolled.
      Markers of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell activation were higher in the HIV-infected group
      versus controls [mean % CD4+CD38+HLA-DR+ and CD8+CD38+HLA-DR+ = 2.2 versus 1.5
      (P=0.002) and 4.9 versus 2.2 (P<0.0001), respectively], as were exhausted CD4+
      and CD8+ T-cells [mean % CD4+CD38+HLA-DR+PD-1+ and CD8+CD38+HLA-DR+PD-1+ = 1.0
      versus 0.5 (P<0.0001) and 1.6 versus 0.7 (P<0.0001), respectively]. There were no
      differences in proportions of inflammatory or patrolling monocytes between groups
      (P>0.05); however, soluble CD14 was higher in HIV-infected compared with controls
      (1.6 versus 1.4 ug/mL; P=0.01). Current CD4 count, low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol and age were the variables most associated with CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell
      activation. CONCLUSIONS: CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell immune activation and exhaustion
      are higher in HIV-infected youth compared with matched controls, while monocyte
      subpopulations are not altered despite a high soluble CD14 level. The clinical
      significance of the increased immune activation and exhaustion should be further
      explored.

PMID- 27626924
TI  - Early, late and very late incidence of bioresorbable scaffold thrombosis: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials and
      observational studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this paper was to determine the incidence of
      bioresorbable vascular scaffold thrombosis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic
      review of the published literature between October 2012 and August 2016 was
      performed using PubMed, Medline and Embase databases. Articles published in the
      English language that reported the rate of bioresorbable scaffold thrombosis
      according to Academic Research Consortium criteria were included. Titles and
      abstracts were screened independently by two authors and further evaluated and
      assessed for study details, population characteristics and scaffold thrombosis
      rates. Scaffold thrombosis rates were pooled with meta-analysis using a random
      effect model. Meta-regression was performed to explore the predictors of device
      thrombosis. Randomized clinical trials (RCT), observational registries and case
      series of patients with obstructive coronary artery disease treated with the
      ABSORB bioresorbable scaffolds (BVS) that reported the rate of definite or
      probable scaffold thrombosis and the time of the event after implantation (i.e.,
      acute, sub-acute, late and very late) were selected. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Overall,
      16,830 patients treated with ABSORB BVS in 59 studies were included. A total of
      256 definite or probable scaffold thrombosis (ScT) were identified and included
      in the present analysis. The overall rate of definite or probable ScT was 1.8%
      (CI 95% 1.5% to 2.0%) the median follow-up was 12.0 months (interquartile range
      7.5 to 15). The rate of very late definite or probable ScT was 1.0% (95% CI 0.6%
      to 1.5%; 10 studies, 2331 patients). A higher rate of definite and probable
      scaffold thrombosis was found in studies with patients presenting with acute
      myocardial infarction (3.6% vs. 1.8%, Q=13.9, df=1, P=0.010). In the meta
      regression analysis, the residual per cent diameter stenosis was the only factor
      associated with ST after scaffold implantation (coefficient 0.091, 95% CI -0.0009
      to 0.183, P=0.052). CONCLUSIONS: Using the largest available dataset of patients
      treated in randomized trials and observational registries, the present meta
      analysis shows that the overall rate of definite or probable ScT is 1.8%, with a
      rate of very late ST of 1.0%. Residual stenosis after scaffold implantation was
      associated with the occurrence of scaffold thrombosis.

PMID- 27626923
TI  - Serotonin Transporter Binding in the Diencephalon Is Reduced in Insulin-Resistant
      Obese Humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Altered brain dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways have been shown
      in obese rodents and humans, but it is unknown whether this is related to obesity
      per se or to the metabolic derangements associated with obesity. METHODS: We
      performed a case-control study in insulin-sensitive obese (ISO) and insulin
      resistant obese (IRO) subjects (n = 12) and age-matched lean controls (n = 8) and
      measured serotonin transporter (SERT) binding in the whole diencephalon and
      specifically in the hypothalamus, as well as dopamine transporter (DAT) binding
      in the striatum using 123I- FP-CIT single-photon emission computed tomography. We
      assessed insulin sensitivity using the homeostatic model assessment of insulin
      resistance. RESULTS: BMI did not differ between the IRO and ISO subjects. SERT
      binding in the diencephalon was significantly lower in IRO than in ISO subjects,
      but was not different between lean and obese subjects. SERT binding in the
      hypothalamus tended to be reduced in obese versus lean subjects, but was not
      different between IRO and ISO subjects. Striatal DAT binding was similar between
      lean and obese subjects as well as between ISO and IRO subjects. CONCLUSIONS: We
      conclude that SERT binding in the diencephalon is reduced in insulin-resistant
      subjects independently of body weight, while hypothalamic SERT binding tends to
      be lower in obesity, with no difference between insulin-resistant and insulin
      sensitive subjects. This suggests that the metabolic perturbations associated
      with obesity independently affect SERT binding within the diencephalon.

PMID- 27626925
TI  - Temperature-Dependent Charge Transport through Individually Contacted DNA Origami
      Based Au Nanowires.
AB  - DNA origami nanostructures have been used extensively as scaffolds for numerous
      applications such as for organizing both organic and inorganic nanomaterials,
      studying single molecule reactions, and fabricating photonic devices. Yet, little
      has been done toward the integration of DNA origami nanostructures into
      nanoelectronic devices. Among other challenges, the technical difficulties in
      producing well-defined electrical contacts between macroscopic electrodes and
      individual DNA origami-based nanodevices represent a serious bottleneck that
      hinders the thorough characterization of such devices. Therefore, in this work,
      we have developed a method to electrically contact individual DNA origami-based
      metallic nanowires using electron beam lithography. We then characterize the
      charge transport of such nanowires in the temperature range from room temperature
      down to 4.2 K. The room temperature charge transport measurements exhibit ohmic
      behavior, whereas at lower temperatures, multiple charge transport mechanisms
      such as tunneling and thermally assisted transport start to dominate. Our results
      confirm that charge transport along metallized DNA origami nanostructures may
      deviate from pure metallic behavior due to several factors including partial
      metallization, seed inhomogeneities, impurities, and weak electronic coupling
      among AuNPs. Besides, this study further elucidates the importance of variable
      temperature measurements for determining the dominant charge transport mechanisms
      for conductive nanostructures made by self-assembly approaches.

PMID- 27626926
TI  - Differential Lipotoxic Effects of Palmitate and Oleate in Activated Human Hepatic
      Stellate Cells and Epithelial Hepatoma Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression to
      fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, alters the cellular composition
      of this organ. During late-stage NAFLD, fibrotic and possibly cancerous cells can
      proliferate and, like normal hepatocytes, are exposed to high concentrations of
      fatty acids from both surrounding tissue and circulating lipid sources. We
      hypothesized that primary human activated hepatic stellate cells and epithelial
      hepatoma (HepG2) cells respond differently to lipotoxic conditions, and
      investigated the mechanisms involved. METHODS: Primary activated hepatic stellate
      cells and HepG2 cells were exposed to pathophysiological concentrations of fatty
      acids and comparative studies of lipid metabolic and stress response pathways
      were performed. RESULTS: Both cell types remained proliferative during exposure
      to a combination of palmitate plus oleate reflective of the general saturated
      versus unsaturated fatty acid composition of western diets. However, exposure to
      either high palmitate or high oleate alone induced cytotoxicity in activated
      stellate cells, while only palmitate caused cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells. mRNA
      microarray and biochemical comparisons revealed that stellate cells stored
      markedly less fatty acids as neutral lipids, and had reduced capacity for beta
      oxidation. Similar to previous observations in HepG2 cells, palmitate, but not
      oleate, induced ER stress and actin stress fiber formation in activated stellate
      cells. In contrast, oleate, but not palmitate, induced the inflammatory signal
      TXNIP, decreased cytoskeleton proteins, and decreased cell polarity preceding
      cell death in activated stellate cells. CONCLUSIONS: Palmitate-induced
      lipotoxicity was associated with ER stress pathways in both primary activated
      hepatic stellate cells and epithelial hepatoma cells, whereas high oleate caused
      lipotoxicity only in activated stellate cells, possibly through a distinct
      mechanism involving disruption of cytoskeleton components. This may have
      implications for optimal dietary fatty acid compositions during various stages of
      NAFLD.

PMID- 27626927
TI  - B7-H3 Overexpression Predicts Poor Survival of Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: B7-H3 exhibits altered expression in various cancers. However, the
      correlation between B7-H3 expression and prognosis of cancer patients remains
      controversial. Therefore, we elicit a meta-analysis to investigate the potential
      value of B7-H3 in the prognostic prediction in human cancers. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We searched PubMed (last update by June 15th, 2016) to identify studies
      assessing the effect of B7-H3 on survival of cancer patients. Hazard ratios (HRs)
      for overall survival (OS), recurrence free survival (RFS) and progression-free
      survival (PFS) from individual studies were calculated and pooled by using a
      random-effect or fix-effect model, and heterogeneity and publication bias
      analyses were also performed. RESULTS: Data from 24 observational studies
      consisting of 4141 patients were summarized. An elevated baseline B7-H3 was
      significantly correlated with poor OS (pooled HR = 2.09; 95% CI =1.60-2.74; P <
      0.001). Differences across subgroups of tumor type (P = 0.324), year of
      publication (P = 0.431), ethnicity (P = 0.940), source of HR (P = 0.145),
      analysis type (P = 0.178) and sample size (P = 0.909) were not significant.
      Furthermore, high B7-H3 expression also predicted a significantly poor RFS
      (pooled HR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.11-1.75; P = 0.004) but not PFS. CONCLUSIONS: This
      meta-analysis clarifies that elevated B7-H3 expression is significantly
      associated with poor survival in cancer patients.

PMID- 27626928
TI  - Evaluating Tissue-Specific Recombination in a Pdgfralpha-CreERT2 Transgenic Mouse
      Line.
AB  - In the central nervous system (CNS) platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha
      (PDGFRalpha) is expressed exclusively by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs),
      making the Pdgfralpha promoter an ideal tool for directing transgene expression
      in this cell type. Two Pdgfralpha-CreERT2 mouse lines have been generated for
      this purpose which, when crossed with cre-sensitive reporter mice, allow the
      temporally restricted labelling of OPCs for lineage-tracing studies. These mice
      have also been used to achieve the deletion of CNS-specific genes from OPCs.
      However the ability of Pdgfralpha-CreERT2 mice to induce cre-mediated
      recombination in PDGFRalpha+ cell populations located outside of the CNS has not
      been examined. Herein we quantify the proportion of PDGFRalpha+ cells that become
      YFP-labelled following Tamoxifen administration to adult Pdgfralpha
      CreERT2::Rosa26-YFP transgenic mice. We report that the vast majority (>90%) of
      PDGFRalpha+ OPCs in the CNS, and a significant proportion of PDGFRalpha+ stromal
      cells within the bone marrow (~38%) undergo recombination and become YFP
      labelled. However, only a small proportion of the PDGFRalpha+ cell populations
      found in the sciatic nerve, adrenal gland, pituitary gland, heart, gastrocnemius
      muscle, kidney, lung, liver or intestine become YFP-labelled. These data suggest
      that Pdgfralpha-CreERT2 transgenic mice can be used to achieve robust
      recombination in OPCs, while having a minimal effect on most PDGFRalpha+ cell
      populations outside of the CNS. 

PMID- 27626929
TI  - The Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Variant CCR6DNP Regulates CCR6 via PARP-1.
AB  - Understanding the implications of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for
      disease biology requires both identification of causal variants and definition of
      how these variants alter gene function. The non-coding triallelic dinucleotide
      polymorphism CCR6DNP is associated with risk for rheumatoid arthritis, and is
      considered likely causal because allelic variation correlates with expression of
      the chemokine receptor CCR6. Using transcription activator-like effector nuclease
      (TALEN) gene editing, we confirmed that CCR6DNP regulates CCR6. To identify the
      associated transcription factor, we applied a novel assay, Flanking Restriction
      Enhanced Pulldown (FREP), to identify specific association of poly (ADP-ribose)
      polymerase 1 (PARP-1) with CCR6DNP consistent with the established allelic risk
      hierarchy. Correspondingly, manipulation of PARP-1 expression or activity
      impaired CCR6 expression in several lineages. These findings show that CCR6DNP is
      a causal variant through which PARP-1 regulates CCR6, and introduce a highly
      efficient approach to interrogate non-coding genetic polymorphisms associated
      with human disease.

PMID- 27626931
TI  - Approaches to Regularized Regression - A Comparison between Gradient Boosting and
      the Lasso.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Penalization and regularization techniques for statistical modeling
      have attracted increasing attention in biomedical research due to their
      advantages in the presence of high-dimensional data. A special focus lies on
      algorithms that incorporate automatic variable selection like the least absolute
      shrinkage operator (lasso) or statistical boosting techniques. OBJECTIVES:
      Focusing on the linear regression framework, this article compares the two most
      common techniques for this task, the lasso and gradient boosting, both from a
      methodological and a practical perspective. METHODS: We describe these methods
      highlighting under which circumstances their results will coincide in low
      dimensional settings. In addition, we carry out extensive simulation studies
      comparing the performance in settings with more predictors than observations and
      investigate multiple combinations of noise-to-signal ratio and number of true non
      zero coeffcients. Finally, we examine the impact of different tuning methods on
      the results. RESULTS: Both methods carry out penalization and variable selection
      for possibly highdimensional data, often resulting in very similar models. An
      advantage of the lasso is its faster run-time, a strength of the boosting concept
      is its modular nature, making it easy to extend to other regression settings.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although following different strategies with respect to optimization
      and regularization, both methods imply similar constraints to the estimation
      problem leading to a comparable performance regarding prediction accuracy and
      variable selection in practice.

PMID- 27626930
TI  - Over-Expressed miR-224 Promotes the Progression of Cervical Cancer via Targeting
      RASSF8.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women from
      developing countries. Identification of novel prognostic predictors or
      therapeutic targets may improve patient prognosis. In the current study, we
      demonstrated by real-time PCR that miR-224 expression was significantly
      upregulated (1.82-fold, P = 0.0025) in cervical cancer tissues (n = 126) compared
      with in normal cervical tissues (n = 64). Higher expression of miR-224 was
      significantly associated with poorer prognostic factors, including advanced FIGO
      stage, nodal metastasis, larger tumor size, vascular involvement and deep stromal
      invasion (all P < 0.05). Enforced expression of miR-224 promoted cell
      proliferation, migration and invasion in SiHa and CaSki cancer cell lines.
      Bioinformatic analysis indicated that RASSF8 (RAS-association domain family 8)
      was a potential target of miR-224. Western blot analysis and luciferase reporter
      assay showed that overexpressed miR-224 inhibited RASSF8 protein expression and
      decreased the activity of a luciferase reporter containing the 3' untranslated
      region (UTR) of RASSF8, respectively. Further, RASSF8 knockdown by specific RNAi
      showed similar effects in cervical cancer cells transfected with miR-224 mimic.
      Our findings suggest that miR-224 directly targets RASSF8 and thereby acts as a
      tumor promoter in cervical cancer progression. 

PMID- 27626932
TI  - Photochemical Synthesis of Carbazoles Using an [Fe(phen)3](NTf2)2/O2 Catalyst
      System: Catalysis toward Sustainability.
AB  - An increasingly sustainable photochemical synthesis of carbazoles was developed
      using a catalytic system of Fe(phen)3(NTf2)2/O2 under continuous flow conditions
      and was demonstrated on gram-scale using a numbering-up strategy.
      Photocyclization of triaryl and diarylamines into the corresponding carbazoles
      occurs in general in higher yields than with previously developed photocatalysts.

PMID- 27626933
TI  - Eye Contact Is Crucial for Referential Communication in Pet Dogs.
AB  - Dogs discriminate human direction of attention cues, such as body, gaze, head and
      eye orientation, in several circumstances. Eye contact particularly seems to
      provide information on human readiness to communicate; when there is such an
      ostensive cue, dogs tend to follow human communicative gestures more often.
      However, little is known about how such cues influence the production of
      communicative signals (e.g. gaze alternation and sustained gaze) in dogs. In the
      current study, in order to get an unreachable food, dogs needed to communicate
      with their owners in several conditions that differ according to the direction of
      owners' visual cues, namely gaze, head, eyes, and availability to make eye
      contact. Results provided evidence that pet dogs did not rely on details of
      owners' direction of visual attention. Instead, they relied on the whole
      combination of visual cues and especially on the owners' availability to make eye
      contact. Dogs increased visual communicative behaviors when they established eye
      contact with their owners, a different strategy compared to apes and baboons,
      that intensify vocalizations and gestures when human is not visually attending.
      The difference in strategy is possibly due to distinct status: domesticated vs
      wild. Results are discussed taking into account the ecological relevance of the
      task since pet dogs live in human environment and face similar situations on a
      daily basis during their lives. 

PMID- 27626935
TI  - Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Bimetallic [Ag28Cu12(SR)24]4- Nanoclusters via Ion
      Pairing.
AB  - In this work, a facile ion-pairing strategy for asymmetric synthesis of optically
      active negatively charged chiral metal nanoparticles using chiral ammonium
      cations is demonstrated. A new thiolated chiral three-concentric-shell cluster,
      [Ag28Cu12(SR)24]4-, was first synthesized as a racemic mixture and characterized
      by single-crystal X-ray structure determination. Mass spectrometric measurements
      revealed relatively strong ion-pairing interactions between the anionic
      nanocluster and ammonium cations. Inspired by this observation, the as-prepared
      racemic mixture was separated into enantiomers by employing chiral quaternary
      ammonium salts as chiral resolution agents. Subsequently, direct asymmetric
      synthesis of optically active enantiomers of [Ag28Cu12(SR)24]4- was achieved by
      using appropriate chiral ammonium cations (such as N-benzylcinchoninium vs N
      benzylcinchonidinium) in the cluster synthesis. These simple strategies, ion
      pairing enantioseparation and direct asymmetric synthesis using chiral
      counterions, may be of general use in preparing chiral metal nanoparticles.

PMID- 27626934
TI  - Chimeric Bivalent Virus-Like Particle Vaccine for H5N1 HPAI and ND Confers
      Protection against a Lethal Challenge in Chickens and Allows a Strategy of
      Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA).
AB  - Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and Newcastle disease (ND) are
      considered as the most devastating poultry infections, owing to their worldwide
      distribution and economical threat. Vaccines have been widely used to control
      these diseases in the poultry industry in endemic countries. However, vaccination
      policy without differentiating infected animals from vaccinated animals (DIVA)
      makes the virus surveillance difficult. In this study, we developed a bivalent
      virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine that is composed of the hemagglutinin (HA) and
      matrix 1 (M1) proteins of the H5N1 HPAI virus (HPAIV) and a chimeric protein
      containing the ectodomain of the ND virus (NDV) fusion (F) protein fused with the
      cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains of the HPAIV HA protein. A single
      immunization of chickens with the chimeric VLP vaccine induced high levels of
      hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titers against H5N1 HPAI virus and anti
      NDV antibody detected in ELISA and protected chickens against subsequent lethal
      HPAIV and NDV infections. Furthermore, we could easily perform DIVA test using
      the commercial NP-cELISA tests against HPAIV and HI assay against NDV. These
      results strongly suggest that utilization of chimeric VLP vaccine in poultry
      species would be a promising strategy for the better control of HPAI and ND
      simultaneously. 

PMID- 27626936
TI  - Correction: Sex Distribution of Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) in the
      Pacific.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161148.].

PMID- 27626937
TI  - Nickel-Catalyzed ortho-C-H Thiolation of N-Benzoyl alpha-Amino Acid Derivatives.
AB  - We developed the first nickel-catalyzed direct ortho-thiolation of N-benzoyl
      alpha-amino acid derivatives. This novel strategy showed wide generality,
      functional tolerance, and high regioselectivity. In addition, dipeptide
      derivatives were also compatible with this transformation system, providing a
      potential protocol for the direct modification of peptide derivatives.

PMID- 27626939
TI  - Double-Hole-Mediated Codoping on KNbO3 for Visible Light Photocatalysis.
AB  - In this theoretical study, the double-hole-mediated codoping strategy has been
      adopted to improve the photocatalytic activity of cubic KNbO3 as compared with
      the corresponding individual doping. The strong double-hole-mediated dopant
      dopant coupling significantly reduces the effective bandgaps for the anionic
      anionic (N-N, P-P, N-P, C-S) codoped systems with removing the appearing acceptor
      states above the Fermi level. No dopant-O coupling occurs in the cationic-anionic
      (V-C, Ti-P, Ti-N, Zr-P, Zr-N, Sc-S, Y-S) codoped systems. The V-C and Ti-P
      codoping could lead to narrowed bandgaps without unfilled localized states
      appearing above the Fermi level. N, Ti, Zr, Sc, Y monodoping and Ti-N, Zr-P, Zr
      N, Sc-S, Y-S codoping introduce unoccupied impurity states between the valence
      band maximum and conduction band minimum, which makes them unfavorable for
      photocatalysis as these impurity states may serve as electron-hole recombination
      centers. For P-P, N-P, and C-S codoped systems, the intermediate states are
      higher or close to the hydrogen evolution potential, which is thermodynamically
      unfavorable for production of both oxygen and hydrogen. Producing hydrogen only,
      the N-N and C-S codoped KNbO3 materials will be good choices for Z-scheme
      photocatalysis. V, S, and V-C codoped KNbO3 may be promising visible light
      photocatalysts for water splitting, as they have suitable effective bandgaps
      without the introduction of unoccupied impurity states above the Fermi level, and
      they also own proper band edge positions with respect to the water redox level.
      The calculated optical absorption curves also indicate that C, V, and S
      monodoping and N-N, V-C, and Ti-P codoping can effectively enhance the visible
      light absorption.

PMID- 27626938
TI  - Proteomic Assessment of Biochemical Pathways That Are Critical to Nickel-Induced
      Toxicity Responses in Human Epithelial Cells.
AB  - Understanding the mechanisms underlying toxicity initiated by nickel, a
      ubiquitous environmental contaminant and known human carcinogen is necessary for
      proper assessment of its risks to human and environment. Among a variety of toxic
      mechanisms, disruption of protein responses and protein response-based
      biochemical pathways represents a key mechanism through which nickel induces
      cytotoxicity and carcinogenesis. To identify protein responses and biochemical
      pathways that are critical to nickel-induced toxicity responses, we measured
      cytotoxicity and changes in expression and phosphorylation status of 14 critical
      biochemical pathway regulators in human BEAS-2B cells exposed to four
      concentrations of nickel using an integrated proteomic approach. A subset of the
      pathway regulators, including interleukin-6, and JNK, were found to be linearly
      correlated with cell viability, and may function as molecular determinants of
      cytotoxic responses of BEAS-2B cells to nickel exposures. In addition, 128
      differentially expressed proteins were identified by two dimensional
      electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis,
      hierarchical cluster analyses, and ingenuity signaling pathway analysis (IPA)
      identified putative nickel toxicity pathways. Some of the proteins and pathways
      identified have not previously been linked to nickel toxicity. Based on the
      consistent results obtained from both ELISA and 2-DE proteomic analysis, we
      propose a core signaling pathway regulating cytotoxic responses of human BEAS-2B
      cells to nickel exposures, which integrates a small set of proteins involved in
      glycolysis and gluconeogenesis pathways, apoptosis, protein degradation, and
      stress responses including inflammation and oxidative stress. 

PMID- 27626940
TI  - Analysis of Patients with Helicobacter pylori Infection and the Subsequent Risk
      of Developing Osteoporosis after Eradication Therapy: A Nationwide Population
      Based Cohort Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous studies have reported conflicting results on the association
      between Helicobacter pylori infection and osteoporosis. A few studies have
      discussed the influence of H. pylori eradication therapy on bone mineral density.
      METHODS: We assessed the prevalence of osteoporosis among the H. pylori-infected
      population in Taiwan and the influence of early and late H. pylori eradication
      therapy on bone mineral density. RESULTS: Using data from Taiwan's National
      Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 5,447 patients who received H.
      pylori eradication therapy from 2000 to 2010 and 21,788 controls, frequency
      matched according to age, sex, and year of receiving H. pylori eradication
      therapy. Those who received H. pylori eradication therapy were divided into two
      groups based on the time interval between the diagnosis of a peptic ulcer and
      commencement of eradication therapy. The risk of developing osteoporosis was
      higher in the early H. pylori treatment cohort (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.52, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] = 1.23-1.89) and late H. pylori treatment cohort (HR =
      1.69, 95% CI = 1.39-2.05), compared with the risk in the control cohort. When
      followed for less than 5 years, both the early and late cohorts had a higher risk
      of developing osteoporosis (HR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.32-2.16 and HR = 1.72, 95% CI =
      1.38-2.14). However, when the follow-up period was over 5 years, only the late
      eradication group exhibited a higher incidence of osteoporosis (HR = 1.62, 95% CI
      = 1.06-2.47). CONCLUSION: The development of osteoporosis is complex and multi
      factorial. Via this population-based cohort study and adjustment of possible
      confounding variables, we found H. pylori infection may be associated with an
      increased risk of developing osteoporosis in Taiwan. Early eradication could
      reduce the influence of H. pylori infection on osteoporosis when the follow-up
      period is greater than 5 years. Further prospective studies are necessary to
      discover the connection of H. pylori and osteoporosis.

PMID- 27626943
TI  - Hydropower's Biogenic Carbon Footprint.
AB  - Global warming is accelerating and the world urgently needs a shift to clean and
      renewable energy. Hydropower is currently the largest renewable source of
      electricity, but its contribution to climate change mitigation is not yet fully
      understood. Hydroelectric reservoirs are a source of biogenic greenhouse gases
      and in individual cases can reach the same emission rates as thermal power
      plants. Little is known about the severity of their emissions at the global
      scale. Here we show that the carbon footprint of hydropower is far higher than
      previously assumed, with a global average of 173 kg CO2 and 2.95 kg CH4 emitted
      per MWh of electricity produced. This results in a combined average carbon
      footprint of 273 kg CO2e/MWh when using the global warming potential over a time
      horizon of 100 years (GWP100). Nonetheless, this is still below that of fossil
      energy sources without the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies.
      We identified the dams most promising for capturing methane for use as
      alternative energy source. The spread among the ~1500 hydropower plants analysed
      in this study is large and highlights the importance of case-by-case
      examinations. 

PMID- 27626942
TI  - Spectrofluorometric Determination of Putrescine: Optimization of the Putrescine
      Orthophthaldehyde Complex Using Spectrofluorometry.
AB  - In alkaline medium, the complex formed between putrescine and orthophthalaldehyde
      was studied using spectrofluorescence. The derivative is kinetically stable 24 h
      after complexation. The stoichiometry of the complex is 1:1 at maximum
      fluorescence intensity, also 24 h after complexation.

PMID- 27626944
TI  - Synthesis of Tetrahydro-1H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridine via Cascade Cyclization and
      Friedel-Crafts Reaction.
AB  - A convenient protocol has been established for the synthesis of 1-tosyl-2,3,4,5
      tetrahydro-1H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridine via cascade cyclization and Friedel-Crafts
      reaction of 4-methyl-N-(pent-4-yn-1-yl)benzenesulfonamides and aldehydes in good
      yields. The methodology has been used for the total synthesis of the
      antidepressant agent (+/-)-5-phenyl-2,3,4,4a,5,9b-hexahydro-1H-indeno[1,2
      b]pyridine.

PMID- 27626941
TI  - A Cytokine Signalling Network for the Regulation of Inducible Nitric Oxide
      Synthase Expression in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in inflammation,
      angiogenesis and tissue destruction. The enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase
      (iNOS) is responsible for the localised over-production of NO in the synovial
      joints affected by RA. The pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines stimulate the
      synovial macrophages and the fibroblast-like synoviocytes to express iNOS.
      Therefore, the cytokine signalling network underlying the regulation of iNOS is
      essential to understand the pathophysiology of the disease. By using information
      from the literature, we have constructed, for the first time, the cytokine
      signalling network involved in the regulation of iNOS expression. Using the
      differential expression patterns obtained by re-analysing the microarray data on
      the RA synovium and the synovial macrophages available in the Gene Expression
      Omnibus (GEO) database, we aimed to establish the role played by the network
      genes towards iNOS regulation in the RA synovium. Our analysis reveals that the
      network genes belonging to interferon (IFN) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) pathways
      are always up-regulated in the RA synovium whereas the genes which are part of
      the anti-inflammatory transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signalling
      pathway are mostly down-regulated. We observed a consistent up-regulation of the
      transcription factor signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1)
      in the RA synovium and the macrophages. Interestingly, we found a consistent up
      regulation of the iNOS interacting protein ras-related C3 botulinum toxin
      substrate 2 (RAC2) in the RA synovium as well as the macrophages. Importantly, we
      have constructed a model to explain the impact of IFN and IL-10 pathways on Rac2
      iNOS interaction leading to over-production of NO and thereby causing chronic
      inflammation in the RA synovium. The interplay between STAT1 and RAC2 in the
      regulation of NO could have implications for the identification of therapeutic
      targets for RA. 

PMID- 27626945
TI  - Impact of Stimulant Medication Use on Heart Rate and Systolic Blood Pressure
      During Submaximal Exercise Treadmill Testing in Adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Inappropriately decreased heart rate (HR) during peak exercise and
      delayed heart rate recovery (HRR) has been observed in adult users of stimulant
      medications who underwent exercise testing, suggesting autonomic adaptation to
      chronic stimulant exposure. In the general population, this pattern of
      hemodynamic changes is associated with increased mortality risk. Whether the same
      pattern of hemodynamic changes might be observed in adolescent stimulant
      medication users undergoing exercise testing is unknown. METHODS: Among
      adolescents (aged 12 to 20 years) that underwent submaximal exercise treadmill
      testing from 1999 to 2004 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey, propensity score matching of stimulant medication users (n = 89) to
      matched nonusers (n = 267) was conducted. Testing consisted of a 3-minute warm-up
      period, two 3-minute exercise stages, and three 1-minute recovery periods, with
      the goal of reaching 75% of the predicted HR maximum. A linear mixed model
      analysis was used to evaluate the effect of stimulant exposure on each of the
      exercise outcomes. RESULTS: Stimulant medication users compared to matched
      nonusers had a lower peak HR in Stage 2 (154.9 vs. 158.3 beats/minute [bpm], p =
      0.055) and lower HR at 1-minute recovery (142.2 vs. 146.4 bpm, p = 0.030).
      However, submaximal HRR at 1 minute did not differ between stimulant users and
      matched nonusers (13.0 vs. 12.1 bpm, p = 0.38). Duration of stimulant use was not
      related to these outcomes. CONCLUSION: Adolescent stimulant medication users
      compared to matched nonusers demonstrated a trend toward decreased HR during
      submaximal exercise, which is potential evidence of chronic adaptation with
      stimulant exposure. There was no evidence for delayed HRR in this study, and
      thus, no evidence for decreased parasympathetic activity during initial exercise
      recovery. Exercise testing outcomes may have utility in future research as a
      method to assess stimulant-associated autonomic nervous system adaptations.

PMID- 27626946
TI  - Curcumin Encapsulated into Methoxy Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Poly(epsilon
      Caprolactone) Nanoparticles Increases Cellular Uptake and Neuroprotective Effect
      in Glioma Cells.
AB  - Curcumin is a natural polyphenolic compound isolated from turmeric (Curcuma
      longa) with well-demonstrated neuroprotective and anticancer activities. Although
      curcumin is safe even at high doses in humans, it exhibits poor bioavailability,
      mainly due to poor absorption, fast metabolism, and rapid systemic elimination.
      To overcome these issues, several approaches, such as nanoparticle-mediated
      targeted delivery, have been undertaken with different degrees of success. The
      present study was conducted to compare the neuroprotective effect of curcumin
      encapsulated in poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)
      poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles in U251 glioblastoma cells. Prepared
      nanoparticles were physically characterized by laser doppler anemometry,
      transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The results from laser
      doppler anemometry confirmed that the size of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and
      poly(ethylene glycol) poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles ranged between 200
      240 nm for poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles and 30-70 nm for
      poly(ethylene glycol) poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles, and transmission
      electron microscopy images revealed their spherical shape. Treatment of U251
      glioma cells and zebrafish embryos with poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and
      poly(ethylene glycol) poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles loaded with
      curcumin revealed efficient cellular uptake. The cellular uptake of poly(ethylene
      glycol) poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles was higher in comparison to
      poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles. Moreover, poly(ethylene glycol)
      poly(epsilon-caprolactone) di-block copolymer-loaded curcumin nanoparticles were
      able to protect the glioma cells against tBHP induced-oxidative damage better
      than free curcumin. Together, our results show that curcumin-loaded poly(ethylene
      glycol) poly(epsilon-caprolactone) di-block copolymer nanoparticles possess
      significantly stronger neuroprotective effect in U251 human glioma cells compared
      to free curcumin and curcumin-loaded poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles.

PMID- 27626947
TI  - Towards Translation of Discrete Frequency Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging for
      Digital Histopathology of Clinical Biopsy Samples.
AB  - Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging has been widely tested
      as a tool for stainless digital histology of biomedical specimens, including for
      the identification of infiltration and fibrosis in endomyocardial biopsy samples
      to assess transplant rejection. A major barrier in clinical translation has been
      the slow speed of imaging. To address this need, we tested and report here the
      viability of using high speed discrete frequency infrared (DFIR) imaging to
      obtain stain-free biochemical imaging in cardiovascular samples collected from
      patients. Images obtained by this method were classified with high accuracy by a
      Bayesian classification algorithm trained on FT-IR imaging data as well as on
      DFIR data. A single spectral feature correlated with instances of fibrosis, as
      identified by the pathologist, highlights the advantage of the DFIR imaging
      approach for rapid detection. The speed of digital pathologic recognition was at
      least 16 times faster than the fastest FT-IR imaging instrument. These results
      indicate that a fast, on-site identification of fibrosis using IR imaging has
      potential for real time assistance during surgeries. Further, the work describes
      development and applications of supervised classifiers on DFIR imaging data,
      comparing classifiers developed on FT-IR and DFIR imaging modalities and
      identifying specific spectral features for accurate identification of fibrosis.
      This addresses a topic of much debate on the use of training data and cross
      modality validity of IR measurements. Together, the work is a step toward
      addressing a clinical diagnostic need at acquisition time scales that make IR
      imaging technology practical for medical use.

PMID- 27626948
TI  - Possible stressors in a neonatal intensive care unit at a university hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate possible stressors to which newborns are exposed in the
      neonatal intensive care unit. METHODS: The levels of continuous noise were
      checked by a decibel meter positioned near the ear of the newborn, brightness was
      observed by a light meter positioned in the incubator in front of the newborn's
      eyes, and temperature was checked through the incubator display. The evaluations
      were performed in three periods of the day, with ten measurements taken at one
      minute intervals during each shift for the subsequent statistical analysis.
      RESULTS: All shifts showed noise above acceptable levels. Morning (p < 0.001),
      afternoon (p < 0.05) and night (p < 0.001) showed a significant increase compared
      to the control. The brightness significantly exceeded the normal range (p < 0.01)
      in the morning. We observed that only one of the incubators was within the normal
      temperature limits. CONCLUSION: The noise, brightness and temperature intensities
      were not in accordance with regulatory standards and thus might be possible
      stressors to newborns.

PMID- 27626949
TI  - Limitation to Advanced Life Support in patients admitted to intensive care unit
      with integrated palliative care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of limitations to Advanced Life Support in
      critically ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit with integrated
      palliative care. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included patients in
      the palliative care program of the intensive care unit of Hospital Paulistano
      over 18 years of age from May 1, 2011, to January 31, 2014. The limitations to
      Advanced Life Support that were analyzed included do-not-resuscitate orders,
      mechanical ventilation, dialysis and vasoactive drugs. Central tendency measures
      were calculated for quantitative variables. The chi-squared test was used to
      compare the characteristics of patients with or without limits to Advanced Life
      Support, and the Wilcoxon test was used to compare length of stay after Advanced
      Life Support. Confidence intervals reflecting p <= 0.05 were considered for
      statistical significance. RESULTS: A total of 3,487 patients were admitted to the
      intensive care unit, of whom 342 were included in the palliative care program. It
      was observed that after entering the palliative care program, it took a median of
      2 (1 - 4) days for death to occur in the intensive care unit and 4 (2 - 11) days
      for hospital death to occur. Many of the limitations to Advanced Life Support
      (42.7%) took place on the first day of hospitalization. Cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation (96.8%) and ventilatory support (73.6%) were the most adopted
      limitations. CONCLUSION: The contribution of palliative care integrated into the
      intensive care unit was important for the practice of orthothanasia, i.e., the
      non-extension of the life of a critically ill patient by artificial means.

PMID- 27626950
TI  - Analysis of knowledge of the general population and health professionals on organ
      donation after cardiac death.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge and acceptance of the public and
      professionals working in intensive care units regarding organ donation after
      cardiac death. METHODS: The three hospitals with the most brain death
      notifications in Curitiba were selected, and two groups of respondents were
      established for application of the same questionnaire: the general public (i.e.,
      visitors of patients in intensive care units) and health professionals working in
      the same intensive care unit. The questionnaire contained questions concerning
      demographics, intention to donate organs and knowledge of current legislation
      regarding brain death and donation after cardiac death. RESULTS: In total, 543
      questionnaires were collected, including 442 from family members and 101 from
      health professionals. There was a predominance of women and Catholics in both
      groups. More females intended to donate. Health professionals performed better in
      the knowledge comparison. The intention to donate organs was significantly higher
      in the health professionals group (p = 0.01). There was no significant difference
      in the intention to donate in terms of education level or income. There was a
      greater acceptance of donation after uncontrolled cardiac death among Catholics
      than among evangelicals (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Most of the general population
      intended to donate, with greater intentions expressed by females. Education and
      income did not affect the decision. The type of transplant that used a donation
      after uncontrolled cardiac death was not well accepted in the study population,
      indicating the need for more clarification for its use in our setting.

PMID- 27626951
TI  - De-escalation, adequacy of antibiotic therapy and culture positivity in septic
      patients: an observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of antibiotic de-escalation in patients
      diagnosed with severe sepsis or septic shock at a public academic tertiary
      hospital and to evaluate antibiotic adequacy and culture positivity. METHODS: The
      prevalence of antibiotic de-escalation, the adequacy of antibiotic treatment and
      the rates of culture positivity were analyzed in patients with severe sepsis and
      septic shock between April and December 2013 at an intensive care unit in a
      tertiary university hospital. RESULTS: Among the 224 patients included in the
      study, de-escalation was appropriate in 66 patients (29.4%) but was implemented
      in 44 patients (19.6%). Among the patients who underwent de-escalation, half
      experienced narrowing of the antimicrobial spectrum. The mortality rate was
      56.3%, with no differences between the patients with or without de-escalation
      (56.8% versus 56.1%; p = 0.999) nor in the length of hospital stay. Empirical
      antibiotic therapy was appropriate in 89% of cases. Microorganisms were isolated
      from total cultures in 30% of cases and from blood cultures in 26.3% of cases.
      CONCLUSION: The adequacy rate of empirical antibiotic therapy was high,
      reflecting an active institutional policy of monitoring epidemiological profiles
      and institutional protocols on antimicrobial use. However, antibiotic de
      escalation could have been implemented in a greater number of patients. De
      escalation did not affect mortality rates.

PMID- 27626953
TI  - Chemical Nucleation of Diamond Films.
AB  - With the large differences in surface energy between film and substrate in
      combination with the low sticking coefficient of hydrocarbon radicals,
      nanocrystalline diamond growth on foreign substrates typically results in poor
      nucleation densities. A seeding technique is therefore required to realize
      pinhole-free and thin coalesced films. In this work, a chemical nucleation method
      for growth of diamond on nondiamond substrates based on 2,2-divinyladamantane is
      shown. After treating with the carbon-containing DVA, the chemically treated
      wafers were exposed to low-power-density plasma, known as the incubation phase,
      to facilitate the formation of diamond nucleation sites followed by a high-power
      density growth regime to produce coalesced films. The resulting films demonstrate
      high crystallinity, whereas the Raman spectra suggest high-quality diamond with
      low sp2 content.

PMID- 27626952
TI  - Evaluation of the five-year operation period of a rapid response team led by an
      intensive care physician at a university hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of a multidisciplinary rapid response
      team led by an intensive care physician at a university hospital. METHODS: This
      retrospective cohort study analyzed assessment forms that were completed during
      the assessments made by the rapid response team of a university hospital between
      March 2009 and February 2014. RESULTS: Data were collected from 1,628 assessments
      performed by the rapid response team for 1,024 patients and included 1,423 code
      yellow events and 205 code blue events. The number of assessments was higher in
      the first year of operation of the rapid response team. The multivariate analysis
      indicated that age (OR 1.02; 95%CI 1.02 - 1.03; p < 0.001), being male (OR 1.48;
      95%CI 1.09 - 2.01; p = 0.01), having more than one assessment (OR 3.31; 95%CI,
      2.32 - 4.71; p < 0.001), hospitalization for clinical care (OR 1.77; 95%CI 1.29 -
      2.42; p < 0.001), the request of admission to the intensive care unit after the
      code event (OR 4.75; 95%CI 3.43 - 6.59; p < 0.001), and admission to the
      intensive care unit before the code event (OR 2.13; 95%CI 1.41 - 3.21; p = 0.001)
      were risk factors for hospital mortality in patients who were seen for code
      yellow events. CONCLUSION: The hospital mortality rates were higher than those
      found in previous studies. The number of assessments was higher in the first year
      of operation of the rapid response team. Moreover, hospital mortality was higher
      among patients admitted for clinical care.

PMID- 27626954
TI  - Suppression of Phase Transformation in Nb-H Thin Films below Switchover
      Thickness.
AB  - Hydrogen uptake in metal-hydrogen (M-H) nanosized systems (e.g., thin films,
      clusters) is both a fundamental and a technologically relevant topic, which is
      becoming more important due to the recent developments of hydrogen sensors,
      purification membranes, and hydrogen storage solutions. It was recently shown
      that hydrogen (H) absorption in nanosized systems adhered to rigid substrates can
      lead to ultrahigh mechanical stress in the GPa range. About -10 GPa (compressive)
      stress were reported for hydrogen loaded niobium (Nb) thin films. Such high
      stresses can be achieved when conventional stress-release channels are closed,
      e.g., by reducing the system size. In this paper, we demonstrate that the high
      stress can be used to strongly modify the system's thermodynamics. In particular,
      a complete suppression of the phase transformation is achieved by reducing the
      film thickness below a switchover value dso. Combined in situ scanning tunneling
      microscopy (STM) and in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements serve to
      determine the switchover thickness of epitaxial Nb/Al2O3 films in the thickness
      range from 55 to 5 nm. A switchover thickness dso = 9 +/- 1 nm is found at T =
      294 K. This result is supported by complementary methods such as electromotive
      force (EMF), electrical resistance, and mechanical stress measurements in
      combination with theoretical modeling.

PMID- 27626955
TI  - Are muscle activation patterns altered during shod and barefoot running with a
      forefoot footfall pattern?
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the activation of lower limb muscles during
      barefoot and shod running with forefoot or rearfoot footfall patterns. Nine
      habitually shod runners were asked to run straight for 20 m at self-selected
      speed. Ground reaction forces and thigh and shank muscle surface
      electromyographic (EMG) were recorded. EMG outcomes (EMG intensity [iEMG],
      latency between muscle activation and ground reaction force, latency between
      muscle pairs and co-activation index between muscle pairs) were compared across
      condition (shod and barefoot), running cycle epochs (pre-strike, strike,
      propulsion) and footfall (rearfoot and forefoot) by ANOVA. Condition affected
      iEMG at pre-strike epoch. Forefoot and rearfoot strike patterns induced different
      EMG activation time patterns affecting co-activation index for pairs of thigh and
      shank muscles. All these timing changes suggest that wearing shoes or not is less
      important for muscle activation than the way runners strike the foot on the
      ground. In conclusion, the guidance for changing external forces applied on lower
      limbs should be pointed to the question of rearfoot or forefoot footfall
      patterns.

PMID- 27626956
TI  - Asnovolins A-G, Spiromeroterpenoids Isolated from the Fungus Aspergillus
      novofumigatus, and Suppression of Fibronectin Expression by Asnovolin E.
AB  - Seven novel spiromeroterpenoids, asnovolins A-G (1-7), one of which was shown to
      suppress fibronectin expression, were isolated from Aspergillus novofumigatus
      CBS117520 along with a known compound, novofumigatonin (8). The structures of
      asnovolins A-G were elucidated using MS and 2D-NMR data. Asnovolin E (5)
      suppressed fibronectin expression by normal human neonatal dermal fibroblast
      cells.

PMID- 27626957
TI  - Esophageal Resection for Cancer After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation: To Wait or Not
      To Wait?

PMID- 27626958
TI  - Comparison of image quality characteristics on Silent MR versus conventional MR
      imaging of brain lesions at 3 Tesla.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare signal- and contrast-to-noise-ratio (SNR, CNR), conspicuity
      values and subjective image quality characteristics of Silent MRI and
      conventional MRI in brain disorders at 3 T. METHODS: 26 patients were
      prospectively examined with a 3 T MRI. Silent Scan was added to standardized MR
      protocol. Silenz T1 weighted (Tlw) and Silent T2 weighted (T2w) sequences were
      compared to standard Tlw and T2w. Analysis was performed quantitatively (SNR,
      CNR, conspicuity values) and by visual assessment on a 4-point scale with regard
      to lesion visibility, lesion delineation, grey-white differentiation and
      diagnostic usefulness. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank and Sign
      test. p <= 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Silenz Tlw vs Tlw provided
      decreased SNR, but increased CNR (SNRparenchyma, SNRlesion: p = 0.000, CNRlesion:
      p = 0.003). Silent T2w vs T2w showed better SNR and CNR values (SNRparenchyma, p
      = 0.014; SNRlesion, p = 0.005; CNRlesion, p = 0.005). Conspicuity values were not
      significantly different on Silenz Tlw vs Tlw and Silent T2w vs T2w. The visual
      assessment revealed Silenz Tlw to be significantly superior to Tlw in terms of
      grey- white differentiation (p = 0.000), lesion visibility (p = 0.003) and
      overall diagnostic usefulness (p = 0.001). In terms of Silent T2w vs T2w, there
      was a significant difference in grey-white differentiation in favour of Silent
      T2w (p = 0.016). CONCLUSION: Silent Scan is suitable for 3 T with image quality
      characteristics comparable to conventional MRI. Advances in knowledge: Silent
      Scan has a diagnostic value comparable to conventional MRI, with the advantage of
      a quiet MR exam improving patient MR experience.

PMID- 27626959
TI  - Surgical management of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus: a trial of a
      trial.

PMID- 27626960
TI  - Neural Quadratic Discriminant Analysis: Nonlinear Decoding with V1-Like
      Computation.
AB  - Linear-nonlinear (LN) models and their extensions have proven successful in
      describing transformations from stimuli to spiking responses of neurons in early
      stages of sensory hierarchies. Neural responses at later stages are highly
      nonlinear and have generally been better characterized in terms of their decoding
      performance on prespecified tasks. Here we develop a biologically plausible
      decoding model for classification tasks, that we refer to as neural quadratic
      discriminant analysis (nQDA). Specifically, we reformulate an optimal quadratic
      classifier as an LN-LN computation, analogous to "subunit" encoding models that
      have been used to describe responses in retina and primary visual cortex. We
      propose a physiological mechanism by which the parameters of the nQDA classifier
      could be optimized, using a supervised variant of a Hebbian learning rule. As an
      example of its applicability, we show that nQDA provides a better account than
      many comparable alternatives for the transformation between neural
      representations in two high-level brain areas recorded as monkeys performed a
      visual delayed-match-to-sample task.

PMID- 27626961
TI  - Neural Mechanism to Simulate a Scale-Invariant Future.
AB  - Predicting the timing and order of future events is an essential feature of
      cognition in higher life forms. We propose a neural mechanism to nondestructively
      translate the current state of spatiotemporal memory into the future, so as to
      construct an ordered set of future predictions almost instantaneously. We
      hypothesize that within each cycle of hippocampal theta oscillations, the memory
      state is swept through a range of translations to yield an ordered set of future
      predictions through modulations in synaptic connections. Theoretically, we
      operationalize critical neurobiological findings from hippocampal physiology in
      terms of neural network equations representing spatiotemporal memory. Combined
      with constraints based on physical principles requiring scale invariance and
      coherence in translation across memory nodes, the proposition results in Weber
      Fechner spacing for the representation of both past (memory) and future
      (prediction) timelines. We show that the phenomenon of phase precession of
      neurons in the hippocampus and ventral striatum correspond to the cognitive act
      of future prediction.

PMID- 27626962
TI  - A Universal Approximation Theorem for Mixture-of-Experts Models.
AB  - The mixture-of-experts (MoE) model is a popular neural network architecture for
      nonlinear regression and classification. The class of MoE mean functions is known
      to be uniformly convergent to any unknown target function, assuming that the
      target function is from a Sobolev space that is sufficiently differentiable and
      that the domain of estimation is a compact unit hypercube. We provide an
      alternative result, which shows that the class of MoE mean functions is dense in
      the class of all continuous functions over arbitrary compact domains of
      estimation. Our result can be viewed as a universal approximation theorem for MoE
      models. The theorem we present allows MoE users to be confident in applying such
      models for estimation when data arise from nonlinear and nondifferentiable
      generative processes.

PMID- 27626963
TI  - Continuous Online Sequence Learning with an Unsupervised Neural Network Model.
AB  - The ability to recognize and predict temporal sequences of sensory inputs is
      vital for survival in natural environments. Based on many known properties of
      cortical neurons, hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) sequence memory recently has
      been proposed as a theoretical framework for sequence learning in the cortex. In
      this letter, we analyze properties of HTM sequence memory and apply it to
      sequence learning and prediction problems with streaming data. We show the model
      is able to continuously learn a large number of variableorder temporal sequences
      using an unsupervised Hebbian-like learning rule. The sparse temporal codes
      formed by the model can robustly handle branching temporal sequences by
      maintaining multiple predictions until there is sufficient disambiguating
      evidence. We compare the HTM sequence memory with other sequence learning
      algorithms, including statistical methods: autoregressive integrated moving
      average; feedforward neural networks-time delay neural network and online
      sequential extreme learning machine; and recurrent neural networks-long short
      term memory and echo-state networks on sequence prediction problems with both
      artificial and real-world data. The HTM model achieves comparable accuracy to
      other state-of-the-art algorithms. The model also exhibits properties that are
      critical for sequence learning, including continuous online learning, the ability
      to handle multiple predictions and branching sequences with high-order
      statistics, robustness to sensor noise and fault tolerance, and good performance
      without task-specific hyperparameter tuning. Therefore, the HTM sequence memory
      not only advances our understanding of how the brain may solve the sequence
      learning problem but is also applicable to real-world sequence learning problems
      from continuous data streams.

PMID- 27626964
TI  - Chaotic Resonance in Coupled Inferior Olive Neurons with the Llinas Approach
      Neuron Model.
AB  - It is well known that cerebellar motor control is fine-tuned by the learning
      process adjusted according to rich error signals from inferior olive (IO)
      neurons. Schweighofer and colleagues proposed that these signals can be produced
      by chaotic irregular firing in the IO neuron assembly; such chaotic resonance
      (CR) was replicated in their computer demonstration of a Hodgkin-Huxley (HH)-type
      compartment model. In this study, we examined the response of CR to a periodic
      signal in the IO neuron assembly comprising the Llinas approach IO neuron model.
      This system involves empirically observed dynamics of the IO membrane potential
      and is simpler than the HH-type compartment model. We then clarified its
      dependence on electrical coupling strength, input signal strength, and frequency.
      Furthermore, we compared the physiological validity for IO neurons such as low
      firing rate and sustaining subthreshold oscillation between CR and conventional
      stochastic resonance (SR) and examined the consistency with asynchronous firings
      indicated by the previous model-based studies in the cerebellar learning process.
      In addition, the signal response of CR and SR was investigated in a large neuron
      assembly. As the result, we confirmed that CR was consistent with the above IO
      neuron's characteristics, but it was not as easy for SR.

PMID- 27626965
TI  - Exponential Stability of Almost Periodic Solutions for Memristor-Based Neural
      Networks with Distributed Leakage Delays.
AB  - In this letter, we deal with a class of memristor-based neural networks with
      distributed leakage delays. By applying a new Lyapunov function method, we obtain
      some sufficient conditions that ensure the existence, uniqueness, and global
      exponential stability of almost periodic solutions of neural networks. We apply
      the results of this solution to prove the existence and stability of periodic
      solutions for this delayed neural network with periodic coefficients. We then
      provide an example to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.
      Our results are completely new and complement the previous studies Chen, Zeng,
      and Jiang ( 2014 ) and Jiang, Zeng, and Chen ( 2015 ).

PMID- 27626967
TI  - An Online Structural Plasticity Rule for Generating Better Reservoirs.
AB  - In this letter, we propose a novel neuro-inspired low-resolution online
      unsupervised learning rule to train the reservoir or liquid of liquid state
      machines. The liquid is a sparsely interconnected huge recurrent network of
      spiking neurons. The proposed learning rule is inspired from structural
      plasticity and trains the liquid through formating and eliminating synaptic
      connections. Hence, the learning involves rewiring of the reservoir connections
      similar to structural plasticity observed in biological neural networks. The
      network connections can be stored as a connection matrix and updated in memory by
      using address event representation (AER) protocols, which are generally employed
      in neuromorphic systems. On investigating the pairwise separation property, we
      find that trained liquids provide 1.36 [Formula: see text] 0.18 times more
      interclass separation while retaining similar intraclass separation as compared
      to random liquids. Moreover, analysis of the linear separation property reveals
      that trained liquids are 2.05 [Formula: see text] 0.27 times better than random
      liquids. Furthermore, we show that our liquids are able to retain the
      generalization ability and generality of random liquids. A memory analysis shows
      that trained liquids have 83.67 [Formula: see text] 5.79 ms longer fading memory
      than random liquids, which have shown 92.8 [Formula: see text] 5.03 ms fading
      memory for a particular type of spike train inputs. We also throw some light on
      the dynamics of the evolution of recurrent connections within the liquid.
      Moreover, compared to separation-driven synaptic modification', a recently
      proposed algorithm for iteratively refining reservoirs, our learning rule
      provides 9.30%, 15.21%, and 12.52% more liquid separations and 2.8%, 9.1%, and
      7.9% better classification accuracies for 4, 8, and 12 class pattern recognition
      tasks, respectively.

PMID- 27626966
TI  - The Lamellar Structure of the Brain Fiber Pathways.
AB  - We present a quantitative statistical analysis of pairwise crossings for all
      fibers obtained from whole brain tractography that confirms with high confidence
      that the brain grid theory (Wedeen et al., 2012a) is not supported by the
      evidence. The overall fiber tracts structure appears to be more consistent with
      small angle treelike branching of tracts rather than with near-orthogonal
      gridlike crossing of fiber sheets. The analysis uses our new method for high
      resolution whole brain tractography that is capable of resolving fibers crossing
      of less than 10 degrees and correctly following a continuous angular distribution
      of fibers even when the individual fiber directions are not resolved. This
      analysis also allows us to demonstrate that the whole brain fiber pathway system
      is very well approximated by a lamellar vector field, providing a concise and
      quantitative mathematical characterization of the structural connectivity of the
      human brain.

PMID- 27626968
TI  - Per-Round Knapsack-Constrained Linear Submodular Bandits.
AB  - Linear submodular bandits has been proven to be effective in solving the
      diversification and feature-based exploration problem in information retrieval
      systems. Considering there is inevitably a budget constraint in many web-based
      applications, such as news article recommendations and online advertising, we
      study the problem of diversification under a budget constraint in a bandit
      setting. We first introduce a budget constraint to each exploration step of
      linear submodular bandits as a new problem, which we call per-round knapsack
      constrained linear submodular bandits. We then define an [Formula: see text]
      approximation unit-cost regret considering that the submodular function
      maximization is NP-hard. To solve this new problem, we propose two greedy
      algorithms based on a modified UCB rule. We prove these two algorithms with
      different regret bounds and computational complexities. Inspired by the lazy
      evaluation process in submodular function maximization, we also prove that a
      modified lazy evaluation process can be used to accelerate our algorithms without
      losing their theoretical guarantee. We conduct a number of experiments, and the
      experimental results confirm our theoretical analyses.

PMID- 27626969
TI  - Nonparametric e-Mixture Estimation.
AB  - This study considers the common situation in data analysis when there are few
      observations of the distribution of interest or the target distribution, while
      abundant observations are available from auxiliary distributions. In this
      situation, it is natural to compensate for the lack of data from the target
      distribution by using data sets from these auxiliary distributions-in other
      words, approximating the target distribution in a subspace spanned by a set of
      auxiliary distributions. Mixture modeling is one of the simplest ways to
      integrate information from the target and auxiliary distributions in order to
      express the target distribution as accurately as possible. There are two typical
      mixtures in the context of information geometry: the [Formula: see text]- and
      [Formula: see text]-mixtures. The [Formula: see text]-mixture is applied in a
      variety of research fields because of the presence of the well-known expectation
      maximazation algorithm for parameter estimation, whereas the [Formula: see text]
      mixture is rarely used because of its difficulty of estimation, particularly for
      nonparametric models. The [Formula: see text]-mixture, however, is a well
      tempered distribution that satisfies the principle of maximum entropy. To model a
      target distribution with scarce observations accurately, this letter proposes a
      novel framework for a nonparametric modeling of the [Formula: see text]-mixture
      and a geometrically inspired estimation algorithm. As numerical examples of the
      proposed framework, a transfer learning setup is considered. The experimental
      results show that this framework works well for three types of synthetic data
      sets, as well as an EEG real-world data set.

PMID- 27626970
TI  - Variations on the Theme of Synaptic Filtering: A Comparison of Integrate-and
      Express Models of Synaptic Plasticity for Memory Lifetimes.
AB  - Integrate-and-express models of synaptic plasticity propose that synapses
      integrate plasticity induction signals before expressing synaptic plasticity. By
      discerning trends in their induction signals, synapses can control destabilizing
      fluctuations in synaptic strength. In a feedforward perceptron framework with
      binary-strength synapses for associative memory storage, we have previously shown
      that such a filter-based model outperforms other, nonintegrative, "cascade"-type
      models of memory storage in most regions of biologically relevant parameter
      space. Here, we consider some natural extensions of our earlier filter model,
      including one specifically tailored to binary-strength synapses and one that
      demands a fixed, consecutive number of same-type induction signals rather than
      merely an excess before expressing synaptic plasticity. With these extensions, we
      show that filter-based models outperform nonintegrative models in all regions of
      biologically relevant parameter space except for a small sliver in which all
      models encode memories only weakly. In this sliver, which model is superior
      depends on the metric used to gauge memory lifetimes (whether a signal-to-noise
      ratio or a mean first passage time). After comparing and contrasting these
      various filter models, we discuss the multiple mechanisms and timescales that
      underlie both synaptic plasticity and memory phenomena and suggest that multiple
      different filtering mechanisms may operate at single synapses.

PMID- 27626971
TI  - Association between coronary microvascular function and the vasa vasorum in
      patients with early coronary artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The vasa vasorum (VV) plays a role in the initial phase of
      atherosclerosis, and abnormalities in microvascular function may be sensitive
      measures of the early development of atherosclerosis. The current study was
      designed to access the association between coronary microvascular function and VV
      density in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. METHODS: Twenty-four
      patients with early coronary artery disease underwent endothelium-dependent
      (coronary blood flow, CBF) and endothelium-independent (coronary flow velocity
      reserve, CFVR) coronary microvascular function testing, and optical coherence
      tomography (OCT) imaging of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD).
      Using an intracoronary Doppler guidewire, CBF was examined by evaluating changes
      in blood flow in response to acetylcholine and CFVR in response to adenosine. VV
      density (VV volume/vessel volume * 100, %VV) of the proximal 10 mm of the LAD was
      quantified by OCT. RESULTS: The median values (Q1, Q3) of CFVR, % changes in CBF
      in response to acetylcholine, and the %VV were 2.70 (2.30, 2.90), -16.82 (-42.34,
      54.52), and 2.62 (2.35, 3.35), respectively. %VV correlated inversely with CBF (r
      = -0.614, p = 0.001) and directly with CFVR (r = 0.423, p = 0.040). Multivariate
      analysis showed that only %VV was significantly correlated with CBF and the
      association was independent of other clinical variables, Framingham risk score,
      body mass index, and a family history of coronary heart disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study demonstrates that VV density has negative correlation with endothelium
      dependent microvascular function in patients with early coronary atherosclerosis.
      These observations link adventitial VV structure and function to microvascular
      dysfunction in early coronary atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27626972
TI  - Preeclampsia Associates with Asthma, Allergy, and Eczema in Childhood.
AB  - RATIONALE: Preeclampsia reflects an unusual increase in systemic inflammation
      during pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: We studied associations between preeclampsia and
      asthma, allergy, and eczema in Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in
      Childhood2000 (COPSAC2000) and in national registries. METHODS: COPSAC2000 is a
      high-risk birth cohort of 411 Danish children. Asthma, allergy, and eczema were
      diagnosed prospectively, and lung function measured at age 1 month and 7 years.
      Sensitization was evaluated at age 6 months, 18 months, 4 years, and 6 years by
      skin prick tests and IgE measurements. The register-based cohort included 1.7
      million children from Danish national registries in the 35-year period 1977-2012.
      Children born to mothers with preeclampsia were analyzed regarding risk of
      asthma, allergy, and eczema. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In the COPSAC2000
      cohort, 5.6% (n = 23) were diagnosed with preeclampsia. Preeclampsia was
      associated with increased risk of treatment with inhaled corticosteroids at age 7
      years (adjusted odds ratio, 4.01 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11-14.43]; P =
      0.0337), increased bronchial responsiveness to methacholine (adjusted beta
      coefficient log-MUmol, -0.80 [95% CI, -1.55 to -0.06]; P = 0.0348), and allergic
      rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio, 4.83 [95% CI, 1.58-14.78]; P = 0.0057) in the 7
      year-old children. Furthermore, the children had an increased risk of
      sensitization to both aeroallergens and food allergens, and increased amount of
      total IgE during childhood. In the registry-based cohort, 3.7% (n = 62,728) were
      born to mothers with preeclampsia. Preeclampsia was associated with increased
      risk of asthma, eczema, and aeroallergen and food allergy, especially pronounced
      after a duration of preeclampsia of 14 days or more. Maternal asthma increased
      the risk of preeclampsia. CONCLUSIONS: Preeclampsia is a shared prenatal risk
      factor for asthma, eczema, and allergy in childhood pointing toward in utero
      immune programming of the child.

PMID- 27626973
TI  - The Interrelationship Between Repeat Cesarean Section, Smoking Status, and
      Breastfeeding Duration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rate of breastfeeding duration is staggeringly low with only one
      quarter of infants in the United States being exclusively breastfed at 6 months.
      Maternal smoking and mode of delivery have been identified as independent risk
      factors for shorter breastfeeding duration. This study aims to evaluate the
      effect of repeat cesarean delivery on breastfeeding duration, taking into account
      smoking status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from the U.S. population-based
      Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System survey, 2004-2011, were analyzed.
      Women who delivered a live singleton baby, had a previous birth through cesarean
      delivery, and provided mode of delivery and breastfeeding information were
      included in the analysis. Multinomial logistic regression models provided crude
      and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All models
      were stratified by smoking status. RESULTS: Among smokers, women who had repeat
      cesarean section had a 2-fold higher odds of never breastfeeding (AOR = 2.43, 95%
      CI = 1.38-4.29) and a 4-fold higher odds of breastfeeding 8 weeks or less (AOR =
      4.11, 95% CI = 2.08-8.11) compared with women who gave birth vaginally after
      cesarean section. Among nonsmokers, the odds of never breastfeeding and
      breastfeeding 8 weeks or less were 2.4 times (AOR = 2.36, 95% CI = 1.84-3.03) and
      1.4 times (AOR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.15-1.80) higher in women who had repeat
      cesarean section compared with women who had vaginal birth after cesarean
      section, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Among women who smoke during pregnancy, the
      results suggest that repeat cesarean delivery negatively affects breastfeeding
      duration. Interventions are needed for mothers who smoke during pregnancy and
      undergo repeat cesarean delivery.

PMID- 27626974
TI  - Protein and lipid dynamics in photosynthetic thylakoid membranes investigated by
      in-situ solid-state NMR.
AB  - Photosynthetic thylakoid membranes contain the protein machinery to convert
      sunlight in chemical energy and regulate this process in changing environmental
      conditions via interplay between lipid, protein and xanthophyll molecular
      constituents. This work addresses the molecular effects of zeaxanthin
      accumulation in thylakoids, which occurs in native systems under high light
      conditions through the conversion of the xanthophyll violaxanthin into zeaxanthin
      via the so called xanthophyll cycle. We applied biosynthetic isotope labeling and
      13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy to simultaneously probe the conformational
      dynamics of protein, lipid and xanthophyll constituents of thylakoids isolated
      from wild type (cw15) and npq2 mutant of the green alga Chlamydomonas
      reinhardtii, that accumulates zeaxanthin constitutively. Results show
      differential dynamics of wild type and npq2 thylakoids. Ordered-phase lipids have
      reduced mobility and mobile-phase lipids have enlarged dynamics in npq2
      membranes, together spanning a broader dynamical range. The fraction of ordered
      lipids is much larger than the fraction of mobile lipids, which explains why
      zeaxanthin appears to cause overall reduction of thylakoid membrane fluidity. In
      addition to the ordered lipids, also the xanthophylls and a subset of protein
      sites in npq2 thylakoids have reduced conformational dynamics. Our work
      demonstrates the applicability of solid-state NMR spectroscopy for obtaining a
      microscopic picture of different membrane constituents simultaneously, inside
      native, heterogeneous membranes.

PMID- 27626975
TI  - Diffuse Sclerosing Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Is Associated With
      Aggressive Histopathological Features and a Poor Outcome: Results of a Large
      Multicentric Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Diffuse sclerosing variant (DSV) is a rare and aggressive subtype of
      papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to
      investigate the clinicopathological features and prognosis of DSV patients and
      compare these findings with all other PTCs and high-risk PTCs. DESIGN AND
      SETTING: The data of patients who underwent surgery for DSV and PTC between 2003
      and 2014 in seven surgical departments specialized in endocrine surgery were
      reviewed. PATIENTS: Fifty-six DSV patients were included (mean age 32.6 +/- 12.5
      y; 46 [82%] female) and were compared with 2945 non-DSV PTCs and 48 high-risk
      PTCs. RESULTS: Forty-six DSV patients (82%) were pT3, 43 (77%) had an
      extrathyroidal extension, and 54 (96%) had lymph node metastasis, including 48
      patients with involvement in the lateral compartment (86%). During the follow-up
      period of 4.3 +/-2.3 years, 19 patients (34%) had a recurrence, including 18
      patients with an ipsilateral lateral compartment recurrence. The only prognostic
      factor for recurrence in the multivariate analysis was extranodal extension (odds
      ratio 3.4 [1.1; 10.8]). The 7-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 63%. The
      RFS was significantly worse in patients with DSV than in other PTC patients
      (hazard risk 8.5 [5.2; 13.9], P < .0001) and were similar to the RFS of high-risk
      PTCs (hazard risk 1.1 [0.6; 2.2], P = .5). CONCLUSION: DSV patients share the
      same recurrence rate as high-risk PTC patients. Despite aggressive surgical
      approaches, the recurrence rate within the first 5 years requires a careful
      ongoing surveillance, similar to the follow-up of high-risk PTC patients.

PMID- 27626976
TI  - Antisecretive and Antitumor Activity of Abiraterone Acetate in Human
      Adrenocortical Cancer: A Preclinical Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) frequently suffer from
      cortisol excess, which portends a negative prognosis. Rapid control of cortisol
      hypersecretion and tumor growth are the main goals of ACC therapy. Abiraterone
      acetate (AA) is a potent inhibitor of 17alpha-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase, a key
      enzyme of adrenal steroidogenesis. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate
      the therapeutic use of AA in preclinical models of ACC. DESIGN: AA antisecretive
      and antiproliferative effects were investigated in vitro using NCI-H295R and SW13
      ACC cell lines and human primary ACC cell cultures, as well as in vivo using
      immunodeficient mice. METHODS: Steroid secretion, cell viability, and
      proliferation were analyzed in untreated and AA-treated ACC cells. The ability of
      AA to affect the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in NCI-H295R cells was also analyzed.
      Progesterone receptor (PgR) gene was silenced by the RNA interference approach.
      The antitumor efficacy of AA was confirmed in vivo in NCI-H295R cells xenografted
      in immunodeficient mice. RESULTS: AA reduced the secretion of both cortisol and
      androgens, increased production of progesterone, and induced a concentration
      dependent decrease of cell viability in the NCI-H295R cells and primary secreting
      ACC cultures. AA also reduced beta-catenin nuclear accumulation in NCI-H295R
      cells. AA administration to NCI-H295R-bearing mice enhanced progesterone levels
      and inhibited tumor growth. The cytotoxic effect of AA was prevented by either
      blocking PgR or by gene silencing. CONCLUSION: AA is able to inhibit hormone
      secretion and growth of ACC both in vitro and in vivo. It also reduces beta
      catenin nuclear accumulation. The cytotoxic effect of AA seems to require PgR.

PMID- 27627023
TI  - Pharmacological evidence of specific acetylcholine transport in rat cerebral
      cortex and other brain regions.
AB  - Functional acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) were recently demonstrated to exist
      not only in the plasma membrane but also intracellularly in brain tissues. In
      order to activate intracellular AChRs, endogenous hydrophilic ACh must cross the
      plasma membrane. Here, we examined the pharmacological characteristics of this
      process, including whether it is mediated by active ACh uptake. When ACh esterase
      (AChE) was suppressed by diisopropylfluorophosphate, [3 H]ACh was effectively
      taken up into segments of rat cerebral cortex and other brain regions, in
      contrast to peripheral tissues such as liver and kidney. The uptake of [3 H]ACh
      in rat cerebral cortex was temperature-dependent, and the uptake capacity was
      comparable to that of [3 H]choline. However, [3 H]ACh uptake was inhibited by
      lower concentrations of ACh, carbachol, tetraethylammonium (TEA), compared with
      uptake of [3 H]choline. Uptake of [3 H]ACh was also inhibited by several organic
      cations, including choline, hemicholinium-3 (HC-3), quinidine, decynium 22,
      clonidine, diphenhydramine, but was little affected by some amino acids and
      biogenic amines, corticosterone, spermine, atropine, and tetrodotoxin. Unlike
      diisopropylfluorophosphate, several ACh esterase inhibitors, including drugs for
      Alzheimer's disease, such as donepezil, galantamine, and rivastigmine, also
      suppressed the uptake of [3 H]ACh, but not [3 H]choline. These results indicate
      that in the brain, ACh is specifically taken up through a unique transport system
      with different pharmacological properties from known organic cation transporters
      (OCTs), and suggest that this mechanism may be involved in intracellular
      cholinergic transmission in the brain.

PMID- 27627024
TI  - Acute and chronic effects of clozapine on cholinergic transmission in cultured
      mouse superior cervical ganglion neurons.
AB  - Cholinergic dysfunction contributes to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. The
      atypical antipsychotic clozapine improves cognition in patients with
      schizophrenia, possibly through modulation of the cholinergic system. However,
      little is known about specific underlying mechanisms. We investigated the acute
      and chronic effects of clozapine on cholinergic synaptic transmission in cultured
      superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons. Spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic
      currents (sEPSCs) were detected and were reversibly inhibited by the nicotinic
      receptor antagonist d-tubocurarine, confirming that the synaptic responses were
      primarily mediated by nicotinic receptors. Bath application of clozapine at
      therapeutic concentrations rapidly and reversely inhibited both the amplitude and
      frequency of sEPSCs in a concentration-dependent manner, without changing either
      rise or decay time, suggesting that clozapine effects have both presynaptic and
      postsynaptic origins. The acute effects of clozapine on sEPSCs were recapitulated
      by chronic treatment of SCG cultures with similar concentrations of clozapine, as
      clozapine treatment for 4 d reduced the frequency and amplitude of sEPSCs without
      affecting their kinetics. Cell survival analysis indicated that SCG neuron cell
      counts after chronic clozapine treatment were comparable to the control group.
      These results demonstrate that therapeutic concentrations of clozapine suppress
      nicotinic synaptic transmission in SCG cholinergic synapses, a simple in vitro
      preparation of cholinergic transmission.

PMID- 27627026
TI  - A novel approach for extracting viscoelastic parameters of living cells through
      combination of inverse finite element simulation and Atomic Force Microscopy.
AB  - Dynamic mechanical behaviour of living cells has been described by
      viscoelasticity. However, quantitation of the viscoelastic parameters for living
      cells is far from sophisticated. In this paper, combining inverse finite element
      (FE) simulation with Atomic Force Microscope characterization, we attempt to
      develop a new method to evaluate and acquire trustworthy viscoelastic index of
      living cells. First, influence of the experiment parameters on stress relaxation
      process is assessed using FE simulation. As suggested by the simulations, cell
      height has negligible impact on shape of the force-time curve, i.e. the
      characteristic relaxation time; and the effect originates from substrate can be
      totally eliminated when stiff substrate (Young's modulus larger than 3 GPa) is
      used. Then, so as to develop an effective optimization strategy for the inverse
      FE simulation, the parameters sensitivity evaluation is performed for Young's
      modulus, Poisson's ratio, and characteristic relaxation time. With the experiment
      data obtained through typical stress relaxation measurement, viscoelastic
      parameters are extracted through the inverse FE simulation by comparing the
      simulation results and experimental measurements. Finally, reliability of the
      acquired mechanical parameters is verified with different load experiments
      performed on the same cell.

PMID- 27627027
TI  - Real World Data in Adaptive Biomedical Innovation: A Framework for Generating
      Evidence Fit for Decision-Making.
AB  - Analyses of healthcare databases (claims, electronic health records [EHRs]) are
      useful supplements to clinical trials for generating evidence on the
      effectiveness, harm, use, and value of medical products in routine care. A
      constant stream of data from the routine operation of modern healthcare systems,
      which can be analyzed in rapid cycles, enables incremental evidence development
      to support accelerated and appropriate access to innovative medicines.
      Evidentiary needs by regulators, Health Technology Assessment, payers,
      clinicians, and patients after marketing authorization comprise (1) monitoring of
      medication performance in routine care, including the materialized effectiveness,
      harm, and value; (2) identifying new patient strata with added value or
      unacceptable harms; and (3) monitoring targeted utilization. Adaptive biomedical
      innovation (ABI) with rapid cycle database analytics is successfully enabled if
      evidence is meaningful, valid, expedited, and transparent. These principles will
      bring rigor and credibility to current efforts to increase research efficiency
      while upholding evidentiary standards required for effective decision-making in
      healthcare.

PMID- 27627028
TI  - Evaluation of interstitial cells of Cajal in patients with severe colonic inertia
      requiring surgery: a clinical-pathological study.
AB  - AIM: Subtotal colectomy is the treatment of last resort in patients with severe
      colonic inertia (SCI) refractory to laxatives. Some studies have reported
      hypoplasia of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) using a semi-quantitative
      analysis. The aims of this study were first to investigate if semi-quantitative
      analysis or morphometry is better at the quantification of colonic ICC and second
      to determine whether there is a relationship between the number of ICC and the
      severity of constipation. METHOD: Clinical and pathological data from patients
      with subtotal colectomy for SCI were collected. Quantification of ICC using CD117
      immunohistochemistry and morphometric methods was performed at three different
      colonic sites in patients and controls. RESULTS: Twenty patients had a colectomy
      for SCI. All were considered to have failed maximal medical treatment and 45%
      were hospitalized at least once for colonic obstruction due to faecaloma. Using a
      semi-quantitative methodology, 30% of patients displayed ICC hypoplasia (< 7 per
      high power field) and all controls had normal ICC. Using morphometry, the
      percentage of colonic ICC was significantly less in patients compared with
      controls with no significant differences between the ascending, transverse and
      descending colonic segments. Overall 60% of patients had ICC hypoplasia (< 1% vs
      20% of controls, P = 0.009). The severity of constipation was not related to the
      quantity of ICC. CONCLUSION: In patients with SCI, morphometric analysis is more
      sensitive than semi-quantitative analysis in the detection of ICC hypoplasia. The
      severity of constipation was not related to the quantity of ICC.

PMID- 27627025
TI  - Identifying Nuclear Matrix-Attached DNA Across the Genome.
AB  - Experimental approaches to define the relationship between gene expression and
      nuclear matrix attachment regions (MARs) have given contrasting and method
      specific results. We have developed a next generation sequencing strategy to
      identify MARs across the human genome (MAR-Seq). The method is based on
      crosslinking chromatin to its nuclear matrix attachment sites to minimize changes
      during biochemical processing. We used this method to compare nuclear matrix
      organization in MCF-10A mammary epithelial-like cells and MDA-MB-231 breast
      cancer cells and evaluated the results in the context of global gene expression
      (array analysis) and positional enrichment of gene-regulatory histone
      modifications (ChIP-Seq). In the normal-like cells, nuclear matrix-attached DNA
      was enriched in expressed genes, while in the breast cancer cells, it was
      enriched in non-expressed genes. In both cell lines, the chromatin modifications
      that mark transcriptional activation or repression were appropriately associated
      with gene expression. Using this new MAR-Seq approach, we provide the first
      genome-wide characterization of nuclear matrix attachment in mammalian cells and
      reveal that the nuclear matrix-associated genome is highly cell-context
      dependent. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1295-1305, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27627029
TI  - Going Beyond Classic Descriptions to Future Phenomenology of Schizophrenia.

PMID- 27627031
TI  - Effect of Health Qigong Baduanjin on Fall Prevention in Individuals with
      Parkinson's Disease.

PMID- 27627030
TI  - Off-pathway assembly of fimbria subunits is prevented by chaperone CfaA of CFA/I
      fimbriae from enterotoxigenic E. coli.
AB  - The assembly of the class 5 colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I) fimbriae of
      enterotoxigenic E. coli was proposed to proceed via the alternate chaperone-usher
      pathway. Here, we show that in the absence of the chaperone CfaA, CfaB, the major
      pilin subunit of CFA/I fimbriae, is able to spontaneously refold and polymerize
      into cyclic trimers. CfaA kinetically traps CfaB to form a metastable complex
      that can be stabilized by mutations. Crystal structure of the stabilized complex
      reveals distinctive interactions provided by CfaA to trap CfaB in an assembly
      competent state through donor-strand complementation (DSC) and cleft-mediated
      anchorage. Mutagenesis indicated that DSC controls the stability of the chaperone
      subunit complex and the cleft-mediated anchorage of the subunit C-terminus
      additionally assist in subunit refolding. Surprisingly, over-stabilization of the
      chaperone-subunit complex led to delayed fimbria assembly, whereas destabilizing
      the complex resulted in no fimbriation. Thus, CfaA acts predominantly as a
      kinetic trap by stabilizing subunit to avoid its off-pathway self-polymerization
      that results in energetically favorable trimers and could serve as a driving
      force for CFA/I pilus assembly, representing an energetic landscape unique to
      class 5 fimbria assembly.

PMID- 27627032
TI  - Validation of the optimal site in the neck region for detecting swallowing
      sounds.
AB  - Recently, the swallowing sound has been used to detect swallowing events non
      invasively. A previous study, using an accelerometer, showed that the site over
      the lateral border of the trachea immediately inferior to the cricoid cartilage
      was the optimal site for detecting swallowing sounds. However, the optimal site
      for detection of the swallowing sound using a microphone remains undetermined. To
      validate the optimal site in the neck region for detecting swallowing sounds.
      Fourteen healthy subjects (mean age, 27.6 +/- 2.2 years; seven male and seven
      female) participated in this study. Twenty condenser microphones were attached to
      20 sites on the left neck surface to detect swallowing sounds. Participants were
      instructed to swallow five different stimuli three times as follows: Resting
      saliva, 1 and 5 mL of Japanese tea, and 1 and 5 mL of yoghurt. Mean relative peak
      intensity was used to indicate the magnitude of the swallowing sound. Sound
      spectrograms were used to illustrate differences in the properties of swallowing
      sounds. Mean relative peak intensity number was highest in sites at the inferior
      border of the mandible just above the sternocleidomastoid muscle (site 11) and
      sites over the lateral border of the trachea immediately inferior to the cricoid
      cartilage (site 8). Comparison of spectrograms showed a greater density
      distribution of higher frequency components at site 11 compared with site 8.
      These results indicate that the inferior border of the mandible just above the
      sternocleidomastoid muscle is the optimal site for the detection of swallowing
      sounds.

PMID- 27627033
TI  - Identification, transcriptional and functional analysis of heat-shock protein 90s
      in banana (Musa acuminata L.) highlight their novel role in melatonin-mediated
      plant response to Fusarium wilt.
AB  - As one popular fresh fruit, banana (Musa acuminata) is cultivated in the world's
      subtropical and tropical areas. In recent years, pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f.
      sp. cubense (Foc) has been widely and rapidly spread to banana cultivated areas,
      causing substantial yield loss. However, the molecular mechanism of banana
      response to Foc remains unclear, and functional identification of disease-related
      genes is also very limited. In this study, nine 90 kDa heat-shock proteins
      (HSP90s) were genomewide identified. Moreover, the expression profile of them in
      different organs, developmental stages, and in response to abiotic and fungal
      pathogen Foc were systematically analyzed. Notably, we found that the transcripts
      of 9 MaHSP90s were commonly regulated by melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine)
      and Foc infection. Further studies showed that exogenous application of melatonin
      improved banana resistance to Fusarium wilt, but the effect was lost when
      cotreated with HSP90 inhibitor (geldanamycin, GDA). Moreover, melatonin and GDA
      had opposite effect on auxin level in response to Foc4, while melatonin and GDA
      cotreated plants had no significant effect, suggesting the involvement of
      MaHSP90s in the cross talk of melatonin and auxin in response to fungal
      infection. Taken together, this study demonstrated that MaHSP90s are essential
      for melatonin-mediated plant response to Fusarium wilt, which extends our
      understanding the putative roles of MaHSP90s as well as melatonin in the
      biological control of banana Fusarium wilt.

PMID- 27627036
TI  - Cannabis and Dr Piffard-A Century Ahead of the Curve.

PMID- 27627037
TI  - Porphyria and Vampirism-A Myth, Sensationalized.

PMID- 27627038
TI  - Boils-A Modern Take on the Plague of Egypt.

PMID- 27627039
TI  - Of Insects and Hereditary Disease-The Contributions of Edward Cockayne.

PMID- 27627040
TI  - Kraissl Lines-A Map.

PMID- 27627041
TI  - Patterns From the Past-Laurel Wreaths and Comb-overs.

PMID- 27627042
TI  - Dermatology and Possession.

PMID- 27627043
TI  - Jean Louis-Alibert-Physician, Teacher, Pioneer.

PMID- 27627044
TI  - Molluscum Contagiosum.

PMID- 27627045
TI  - Using mixed-methods research to study the quality of life of coeliac women.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To research the quality of life of Spanish women with
      coeliac disease. BACKGROUND: Women with coeliac disease express lower quality of
      life than men with coeliac disease. DESIGN: Explanatory sequential approach using
      mixed methods and with a gender perspective. METHODS: The research was carried
      out between May and July 2015. In its quantitative stage, it aimed to determine
      the health-related quality of life in a representative sample (n = 1097) of
      Spanish adult women with coeliac disease using a specific questionnaire named
      Coeliac Disease-Quality of Life. In its qualitative phase, it aimed to describe
      the life experiences of a woman with coeliac disease in a qualitative manner by
      means of interviews (n = 19) with a semistructured script. Quantitative data were
      analysed using spss version 20 and presented in descriptive statistics.
      Qualitative data were analysed using the directed content analysis. RESULTS: The
      quantitative process gave us the values on the four aspects studied: dysphoria,
      disease limitations, health problems and inadequate treatment. These aspects
      allowed us to create a qualitative process, based on which we generated an
      interview, from which four larger categories emerged. These categories were
      feelings at diagnosis, limitations in day-to-day life, social perceptions of the
      disease and personal meanings of coeliac disease. Thus, both phases of our
      project are totally connected. There was a high level of congruence between
      quantitative scores and narratives. CONCLUSION: This study shows us the strong
      points of mixed-methods strategy in health sciences. The mixed-methods strategy
      gave us a wider view of the experience of women living with coeliac disease. In
      our case, a strength and not a limitation is having performed the quality of life
      study in women with coeliac disease using a mixed methodology, approaching the
      experience of being a woman with coeliac disease in Spain in two different but
      complementary ways. The quantitative and qualitative data allowed us to interpret
      the experiences of our participants.

PMID- 27627046
TI  - Bridging Anticoagulation Before Colonoscopy: Results of a Multispecialty
      Clinician Survey.

PMID- 27627047
TI  - Reply to vitamin D status may explain racial disparities in survival among
      patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in the targeted therapy era.

PMID- 27627049
TI  - Predictive time-series modeling using artificial neural networks for Linac beam
      symmetry: an empirical study.
AB  - Over half of cancer patients receive radiotherapy (RT) as partial or full cancer
      treatment. Daily quality assurance (QA) of RT in cancer treatment closely
      monitors the performance of the medical linear accelerator (Linac) and is
      critical for continuous improvement of patient safety and quality of care.
      Cumulative longitudinal QA measurements are valuable for understanding the
      behavior of the Linac and allow physicists to identify trends in the output and
      take preventive actions. In this study, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and
      autoregressive moving average (ARMA) time-series prediction modeling techniques
      were both applied to 5-year daily Linac QA data. Verification tests and other
      evaluations were then performed for all models. Preliminary results showed that
      ANN time-series predictive modeling has more advantages over ARMA techniques for
      accurate and effective applicability in the dosimetry and QA field.

PMID- 27627048
TI  - Investigation of sinonasal microbiome spatial organization in chronic
      rhinosinusitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a multifactorial inflammatory airway
      disorder in which bacteria are implicated in the initiation and/or sustenance of
      disease in some patients. The sinuses are colonized by bacteria even in health,
      and the potential for sinus-specific niches harboring unique microbial consortia
      raises questions for clinical and research investigation. The objective was to
      determine the degree to which resident upper airways microbiota differ between
      individuals and anatomic sites, in order to determine the optimal site of
      microbial sampling for study in CRS. METHODS: Eight CRS patients undergoing
      primary surgery were sampled bilaterally at the anterior nares, middle meatus,
      nasopharynx, maxillary sinus, frontal sinus, and sphenoid sinus for investigation
      using broad-range bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing. RESULTS: Between
      subject variability in bacterial microbiota was substantially greater than within
      subject variability. The middle meatus was fairly representative of the
      underlying sinuses, although corynebacteria were detected at higher abundances in
      the middle meatus, relative to the maxillary (p < 0.1), frontal (p < 0.05), or
      sphenoid (p < 0.1) sinuses. CONCLUSION: Interpersonal variation of the upper
      airway microbiome greatly outweighs niche-specific differences. The middle meatus
      is a fair representation of the underlying sinuses and may be considered for use
      as a simple single site for sampling in longitudinal studies or in subjects who
      have not undergone sinus surgery.

PMID- 27627051
TI  - BRAF V600E mutation in biliary proliferations associated with alpha1 -antitrypsin
      deficiency.
AB  - AIMS: Both homozygous and heterozygous alpha1 -antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency
      patients are at risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but also of
      developing cholangiocarcinoma and combined HCC and cholangiocarcinoma. The aim of
      our study is to report a series of bile duct adenomas (BDAs) and intrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinoma (ICCs) in adult AAT deficiency patients, observed in our
      institution over a 5-year period. Our observational study includes a detailed
      investigation of their immunohistochemical profile and BRAF V600E mutation
      status. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eleven biliary lesions from five AAT deficiency
      patients (six BDAs from three cirrhotic patients with other concurrent liver
      diseases; three BDAs and two ICCs from two non-cirrhotic patients) were
      identified between 2010 and 2015 during routine histological investigation. Most
      BDAs expressed CD56, EpCAM, CD133, and CA19-9, similarly to hepatic progenitor
      cells (HPCs), and carried the BRAF V600E mutation (87.5%). One ICC showed a
      similar immunohistochemical profile but no evidence of the BRAF V600E mutation.
      CONCLUSIONS: Most of the biliary proliferations in AAT deficiency patients have
      an appearance of BDA with an HPC-related immunohistochemical profile. Their
      frequent BRAF V600E mutations support their neoplastic nature, but not
      necessarily their progression to ICC. We believe that this may depend on the
      patient genotype, or require a different pathway or a second mutational hit for
      malignant transformation. We postulate that BDA represents a heterogeneous group
      of biliary lesions, and that those associated with AAT deficiency may constitute
      a group of their own.

PMID- 27627054
TI  - Platysma Bands: Is a Change Needed in the Surgical Paradigm?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Platysma bands are one of the first signs of aging of the neck.
      Current theories suggest that these bands develop because of skin sagging
      followed by loss of muscle tone. Treatment strategies therefore aim to tighten
      skin and muscle. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate that platysma
      bands are caused by muscular activity during the aging process and are not
      secondary to skin sagging. This suggests a new approach to managing platysma
      bands. METHODS: The authors conducted a descriptive, prospective clinical study
      of 25 patients who presented with definitive, unilateral, facial palsy following
      otoneurosurgical treatment. The authors targeted their observations on anterior
      neck bands. Patients were followed for up to 10 years. RESULTS: Of the 25
      patients, 76 percent had visible platysma bands on the healthy side, but not on
      the paralyzed side, of their face. Platysma bands were present on both sides in
      the 12 percent of patients who had a spastic form of facial paralysis. There was
      no worsening of the platysma band appearance in any patient. No ptosis of the
      neck skin on the paralyzed side was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated that platysma bands are not related to relaxation of the platysma
      and skin laxity, but are caused by activity of the platysma muscle. The skin
      follows the muscle. These observations support a change in surgical management of
      the aging neck, moving from tightening the skin to denervating the platysma
      muscle. Further studies need to fully characterize the efficacy and safety of
      platysma muscle denervation in this indication.

PMID- 27627050
TI  - Phase I study of nintedanib in Japanese patients with advanced hepatocellular
      carcinoma and liver impairment.
AB  - This phase I, dose-escalation study evaluated the safety, preliminary efficacy
      and pharmacokinetics of nintedanib, a triple angiokinase inhibitor, in Japanese
      patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and mild/moderate liver
      impairment. Thirty patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma were
      enrolled to groups, depending on whether liver impairment was mild (group I,
      aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase <=2* upper limit of
      normal and Child-Pugh score 5 [n = 14] or 6 [n = 2]) or moderate (group II, Child
      Pugh score 5-6 and aspartate aminotransferase or alanine aminotransferase >2* to
      <=5* upper limit of normal [n = 7] or Child-Pugh score 7 [n = 7]); 22 patients
      had prior sorafenib treatment. Nintedanib was given twice daily in 28-day cycles
      until disease progression or unacceptable adverse events, starting at 150 mg
      (group I) or 100 mg (group II) and escalating to 200 mg. The primary objective
      was to define the maximum tolerated dose based on occurrence of dose-limiting
      toxicities during cycle 1 (grade >=3 non-hematological and grade 4 hematological
      adverse events). No dose-limiting toxicities were reported during cycle 1 and the
      maximum tolerated dose for both groups was 200 mg twice daily. The most frequent
      adverse events were gastrointestinal (diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and decreased
      appetite). No patients discontinued nintedanib due to adverse events; 31% of
      group I and 21% of group II had dose reductions. Median time to progression was
      2.8 months (95% confidence interval, 1.05-5.52) for group I and 3.2 months (95%
      confidence interval, 0.95-6.70) for group II. Nintedanib showed a manageable
      safety profile and efficacy signals, including in patients previously treated
      with sorafenib. Clinical trial registration NCT01594125; 1199.120
      (ClinicalTrials.gov).

PMID- 27627052
TI  - Near-Infrared Light-Driven Photoelectrochemical Aptasensor Based on the
      Upconversion Nanoparticles and TiO2/CdTe Heterostructure for Detection of Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - A near-infrared-driven photoelectrochemical aptasensor was developed as a new
      method for the detection of the breast cancer cell MCF-7. The upconversion
      nanoparticles and TiO2/CdTe heterostructure were combined to prepare the film
      electrode, and the high-affinity aptamer AS1411 was conjugated to the electrode
      to recognize MCF-7 cells. In this fabrication, the upconversion nanoparticles
      transferred the near-infrared light to visible light, which could excite the
      semiconductor to enhance the current response. As a result, the aptasensor
      revealed good sensitivity and specificity with MCF-7 cell concentrations ranging
      from 1 * 103 to 1 * 105 cells/mL. The results presented a favorable determination
      of MCF-7 cells, which was achieved with the help of the upconversion
      nanoparticles and the photoelectrochemical interface.

PMID- 27627055
TI  - Outcomes following Peripheral Nerve Decompression with and without Associated
      Double Crush Syndrome: A Case Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Double crush syndrome, the association between proximal and distal
      nerve lesions, has been established. This investigation compares the outcomes of
      nerve surgery in patients with isolated peripheral compression versus those with
      double crush syndrome treated with peripheral nerve and cervical spine
      operations. METHODS: This case-controlled study enrolled 80 patients: 40
      underwent carpal or cubital tunnel surgery and cervical spine surgery (double
      crush group); and 40 controls, matched by age and sex, underwent only peripheral
      nerve decompression (peripheral nerve group). A minimum of 18 months was required
      after peripheral nerve and cervical spine surgery for office assessment (mean,
      4.9 years and 6.0 years, respectively). Statistical analysis compared
      postoperative function and symptom severity questionnaires, physical examination,
      and patient-reported satisfaction between groups. RESULTS: Patients in the double
      crush group reported significantly more disability and persistent symptoms on the
      QuickDASH questionnaire (29 versus 13) and Levine Katz symptom severity (2.0
      versus 1.4) and functional status scales (1.9 versus 1.4). Double crush patients
      reported significantly lower satisfaction. The double crush group exhibited a
      greater frequency of persistent signs of nerve irritability and muscle weakness
      compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: At a minimum of 18 months after
      peripheral nerve surgery, patients with a history of cervical spine surgery are
      likely to have inferior patient-reported outcomes, persistent nerve dysfunction,
      and lower satisfaction after peripheral nerve release compared with patients
      following isolated peripheral nerve surgery. Double crush syndrome was associated
      with poorer outcome after peripheral nerve surgery despite treatment of cervical
      spine nerve compression. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.

PMID- 27627056
TI  - Mechanical Micronization of Lipoaspirates: Squeeze and Emulsification Techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Condensation of grafted fat has been considered a key for achieving
      better outcomes after fat grafting. The authors investigated the therapeutic
      potential of two mechanical tissue micronizing procedures: squeeze and
      emulsification. METHODS: Human aspirated fat was centrifuged (centrifuged fat)
      and fragmented with an automated slicer (squeezed fat). Alternatively,
      centrifuged fat was emulsified by repeated transfer between two syringes through
      a small-hole connecter and then separated by mesh filtration into two portions:
      residual tissue of emulsified fat and filtrated fluid of emulsified fat. The four
      products were examined for cellular components. RESULTS: Histologic and electron
      microscopic analyses revealed that squeezed fat and residual tissue of emulsified
      fat contained broken adipocytes and fragmented capillaries. Compared with
      centrifuged fat, the squeezed fat and residual fat products exhibited increased
      specific gravity and increased numbers of adipose-derived stem/stromal cells and
      endothelial cells per volume, suggesting successful cell/tissue condensation in
      both squeezed fat and residual tissue of emulsified fat. Although cell number and
      viability in the stromal vascular fraction were well maintained in both squeezed
      fat and residual fat, stromal vascular fraction culture assay showed that adipose
      derived stromal cells were relatively damaged in residual tissue of emulsified
      fat but not in squeezed fat. By contrast, no adipose-derived stromal cells were
      cultured from filtrated fluid of emulsified fat. CONCLUSIONS: The authors'
      results demonstrated that mechanical micronization is easily conducted as a
      minimal manipulation procedure, which can condense the tissue by selectively
      removing adipocytes without damaging key components, such as adipose-derived
      stromal cells and endothelial cells. Depending on the extent of adipocyte
      removal, the product may be a useful therapeutic tool for efficient tissue
      volumization or therapeutic revitalization/fertilization. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, V.

PMID- 27627057
TI  - Discussion: Mechanical Micronization of Lipoaspirates: Squeeze and Emulsification
      Techniques.

PMID- 27627059
TI  - Distinctive Coordination of CO vs N2 to Rhodium Cations: An Infrared and
      Computational Study.
AB  - Carbonyl and nitrogen complexes with Rh+ are produced in a molecular beam using
      laser ablation and a pulsed-nozzle source. Mass-selected ions of the form
      Rh(CO)n+ and Rh(N2)n+ are investigated via infrared laser photodissociation
      spectroscopy. The fragmentation patterns and infrared spectra provide information
      on the coordination and geometries of these complexes. The shifts in vibrational
      frequencies relative to the uncoordinated ligands give insight into the nature of
      the bonding interactions involved. Experimental band positions and intensities
      are compared to those predicted by density functional theory (DFT). Rh+
      coordinates only four nitrogen molecules, whereas it can accommodate five
      carbonyl ligands. The fifth CO ligand resides in an axial site with bonding
      intermediate between coordination and solvation. The carbonyl stretch in Rh(CO)4+
      (2160 cm-1) is blue-shifted with respect to the molecular CO vibration (2143 cm
      1). Conversely, the N-N stretch in Rh(N2)4+ (2297 cm-1) is red-shifted with
      respect to the free N2 vibration (2330 cm-1). The opposite directions of these
      frequency shifts is explained by a combination of sigma donation and
      electrostatic ligand polarization.

PMID- 27627060
TI  - Is the Ellipsoid Formula the New Standard for 3-Tesla MRI Prostate Volume
      Calculation without Endorectal Coil?
AB  - Prostate volume in multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is of clinical importance. For 3
      Tesla mpMRI without endorectal coil, there is no distinctive standard for volume
      calculation. We tested the accuracy of the ellipsoid formula with planimetric
      volume measurements as reference and investigated the correlation of gland volume
      and cancer detection rate on MRI/ultrasound (MRI/US) fusion-guided biopsy. One
      hundred forty-three patients with findings on 3-Tesla mpMRI suspicious of cancer
      and subsequent MRI/US fusion-guided targeted biopsy and additional systematic
      biopsy were analyzed. T2-weighted images were used for measuring the prostate
      diameters and for planimetric volume measurement by a segmentation software.
      Planimetric and calculated prostate volumes were compared with clinical data. The
      median prostate volume was 48.1 ml (interquartile range (IQR) 36.9-62.1 ml).
      Volume calculated by the ellipsoid formula showed a strong concordance with
      planimetric volume, with a tendency to underestimate prostate volume (median
      volume 43.1 ml (IQR 31.2-58.8 ml); r = 0.903, p < 0.001). There was a moderate,
      significant inverse correlation of prostate volume to a positive biopsy result (r
      = -0.24, p = 0.004). The ellipsoid formula gives sufficient approximation of
      prostate volume on 3-Tesla mpMRI without endorectal coil. It allows a fast, valid
      volume calculation in prostate MRI datasets.

PMID- 27627058
TI  - Risk Factor Analysis for Capsular Contracture, Malposition, and Late Seroma in
      Subjects Receiving Natrelle 410 Form-Stable Silicone Breast Implants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natrelle 410 silicone breast implants are approved in the United
      States for breast augmentation, reconstruction, and revision. METHODS: In two
      ongoing, prospective, multicenter 10-year studies, 17,656 subjects received
      Natrelle 410 implants for augmentation (n = 5059), revision-augmentation (n =
      2632), reconstruction (n = 7502), or revision-reconstruction (n = 2463). Capsular
      contracture, implant malposition, and late seroma were documented. Cox
      proportional hazards regression analyses evaluated potential associations between
      subject-, implant-, and surgery-related factors and these complications. RESULTS:
      Median follow-up was 4.1, 2.6, 2.1, and 2.3 years in the augmentation, revision
      augmentation, reconstruction, and revision-reconstruction cohorts, respectively.
      Incidence of capsular contracture across cohorts ranged from 2.3 to 4.1 percent;
      malposition, 1.5 to 2.7 percent; and late seroma, 0.1 to 0.2 percent. Significant
      risk factors for capsular contracture were subglandular implant placement,
      periareolar incision site, and older device age in the augmentation cohort (p <
      0.0001), older subject age in the revision-augmentation cohort (p < 0.0001), and
      higher body mass index (p = 0.0026) and no povidone-iodine pocket irrigation (p =
      0.0006) in the reconstruction cohort. Significant risk factors for malposition
      were longer incision size in the augmentation cohort (p = 0.0003), capsulectomy
      at the time of implantation in the reconstruction cohort (p = 0.0028), and
      implantations performed in physicians' offices versus hospitals or standalone
      surgical facilities in both revision cohorts (p < 0.0001). The incidence of late
      seroma was too low to perform risk factor analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      reaffirm the safety of Natrelle 410 implants. Knowledge of risk factors for
      capsular contracture and implant malposition offers guidance for reducing
      complications and optimizing outcomes. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Risk,
      II.

PMID- 27627061
TI  - Toward a Designable Extracellular Matrix: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of an
      Engineered Laminin-Mimetic, Elastin-Like Fusion Protein.
AB  - Native extracellular matrices (ECMs) exhibit networks of molecular interactions
      between specific matrix proteins and other tissue components. Guided by these
      naturally self-assembling supramolecular systems, we have designed a matrix
      derived protein chimera that contains a laminin globular-like (LG) domain fused
      to an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP). This bipartite design offers a flexible
      protein engineering platform: (i) laminin is a key multifunctional component of
      the ECM in human brains and other neural tissues, making it an ideal bioactive
      component of our fusion, and (ii) ELPs, known to be well-tolerated in vivo,
      provide a self-assembly scaffold with tunable physicochemical (viscoelastic,
      thermoresponsive) properties. Experimental characterization of novel proteins is
      resource-intensive, and examining many conceivable designs would be a formidable
      challenge in the laboratory. Computational approaches offer a way forward:
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be used to analyze the
      structural/physical behavior of candidate LG-ELP fusion proteins, particularly in
      terms of conformational properties salient to our design goals, such as assembly
      propensity in a temperature range spanning the inverse temperature transition. As
      a first step in examining the physical characteristics of a model LG-ELP fusion
      protein, including its temperature-dependent structural behavior, we simulated
      the protein over a range of physiologically relevant temperatures (290-320 K). We
      find that the ELP region, built upon the archetypal (VPGXG)5 scaffold, is quite
      flexible and has a propensity for beta-rich secondary structures near
      physiological (310-315 K) temperatures. Our trajectories indicate that the
      temperature-dependent burial of hydrophobic patches in the ELP region, coupled to
      the local water structure dynamics and mediated by intramolecular contacts
      between aliphatic side chains, correlates with the temperature-dependent
      structural transitions in known ELP polymers. Because of the link between
      compaction of ELP segments into beta-rich structures and differential solvation
      properties of this region, we posit that future variation of ELP sequence and
      composition can be used to systematically alter the phase transition profiles
      and, thus, the general functionality of our LG-ELP fusion protein system.

PMID- 27627062
TI  - Structural Match of Heterogeneously Nucleated Mn(OH)2(s) Nanoparticles on Quartz
      under Various pH Conditions.
AB  - The early nucleation stage of Mn (hydr)oxide on mineral surfaces is crucial to
      understand its occurrence and the cycling of nutrients in environmental systems.
      However, there are only limited studies on the heterogeneous nucleation of
      Mn(OH)2(s) as the initial stage of Mn (hydr)oxide precipitation. Here, we
      investigated the effect of pH on the initial nucleation of Mn(OH)2(s) on quartz.
      Under various pH conditions of 9.8, 9.9, and 10.1, we analyzed the structural
      matches between quartz and heterogeneously nucleated Mn(OH)2(s). The structural
      matches were calculated by measuring the lateral and vertical dimensions using
      grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy (AFM),
      respectively. We found that a poorer structural match occurred at a higher pH
      than at a lower pH. The faster nucleation under a higher pH condition accounted
      for the poorer structural match observed. By fitting the structural match using
      classical nucleation theory, we also calculated the interfacial energy between
      Mn(OH)2(s) and water: gammanf = 71 +/- 7 mJ/m2. The calculated m values and
      gammanf provided the variance of interfacial energy between quartz and
      Mn(OH)2(s): gammasn = 262-272 mJ/m2. This study provides new qualitative and
      quantitative information on heterogeneous nucleation on an environmentally
      abundant mineral surface, quartz, and it offers important underpinnings for
      understanding the fate and transport of trace ions in environmental systems.

PMID- 27627064
TI  - Sugarcane and cancer, scientometrics, and phytoplankton dynamics of a beach in
      the Amazon.

PMID- 27627063
TI  - Multimodal Imaging of Vitreoretinal Lymphoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the characteristics and prevalence of fundus abnormalities in
      vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) using multimodal imaging. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed chart and imaging studies of patients diagnosed with
      VRL. RESULTS: All 10 VRL patients (14 eyes) included in the study showed
      vitreitis, hyperreflective lesions on near-infrared reflectance imaging, and
      hypoautofluorescent lesions on fundus autofluorescence. Other findings included
      hypofluorescent lesions on fluorescein angiography (79%), hypocyanescent lesions
      on indocyanine green angiography (77%), small retinal pigment epithelium
      detachments (PEDs) (71%) and large PEDs (36%) on optical coherence tomography
      (OCT). Outer retinal layer nodularity was identified on OCT in 93% of cases.
      Small PEDs corresponded to hyperreflective, hyperautofluorescent,
      hypofluorescent, hypocyanescent lesions. CONCLUSION: Multiple signs were present
      on multimodal imaging in VRL eyes. Lymphomatous infiltration created focal PEDs
      showing abnormal imaging signals. Outer retinal layer nodularity could represent
      an additional sign of infiltration. Multimodal imaging may guide physicians in
      the early diagnosis of VRL.

PMID- 27627065
TI  - Structure and temporal variation of the phytoplankton of a macrotidal beach from
      the Amazon coastal zone.
AB  - The present study aimed to analyze the structure and the temporal variation of
      the phytoplankton of Ajuruteua beach (Braganca, Para) and to investigate the
      influence of environmental variables on the dynamics of this community to provide
      a basis about the trophic state of this environment. Biological, hydrological and
      hydrodynamic samplings were performed during a nyctemeral cycle in the months of
      November/08, March/09, June/09 and September/09. We identified 110 taxa, which
      were distributed among the diatoms (87.3%), dinoflagellates (11.8%) and
      cyanobacteria (0.9%), with the predominance of neritic species, followed by the
      tychoplankton species. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were the highest during the
      rainy period (24.5 mg m-3), whereas total phytoplankton density was higher in the
      dry period (1,255 x 103 cell L-1). However, phytoflagellates density was
      significantly higher during the rainy period. Cluster Analysis revealed the
      formation of four groups, which were influenced by the monthly differences in the
      environmental variables. The Principal Component Analysis indicated salinity and
      chlorophyll-a as the main variables that explained the components. Spearman
      correlation analysis supported the influence of these variables on the local
      phytoplankton community. Overall, the results obtained suggest that rainfall and
      strong local hydrodynamics play an important role in the dynamic of the
      phytoplankton of Ajuruteua beach, by influencing both environmental and
      biological variables. 

PMID- 27627066
TI  - Diversity of insect galls associated with coastal shrub vegetation in Rio de
      Janeiro, Brazil.
AB  - Surveys in the coastal sandy plains (restingas) of Rio de Janeiro have shown a
      great richness of galls. We investigated the galling insects in two preserved
      restingas areas of Rio de Janeiro state: Parque Estadual da Costa do Sol and
      Reserva Particular do Patrimonio Natural Fazenda Caruara. The collections were
      done each two months, from June 2011 to May 2012. We investigated 38 points
      during 45 minutes each per collection. The galls were taken to the laboratory for
      rearing the insects. A total number of 151 insect galls were found in 82 plant
      species distributed into 34 botanic families. Most of the galls occurred on
      leaves and the plant families with the highest richness of galls were Myrtaceae
      and Fabaceae. All the six insect orders with galling species were found in this
      survey, where Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) was the main galler group. Hymenoptera and
      Thysanoptera were found as parasitoids and inquilines in 29 galls. The richness
      of galls in the surveyed areas reveals the importance of restinga for the
      composition and diversity of gall-inducing insect fauna. 

PMID- 27627067
TI  - Are salty liquid food flavorings in vitro antitumor substances?
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the antiproliferative, cytotoxic and
      genotoxic potential of salty liquid synthetic flavorings of Butter, Cheddar
      Cheese and Onion. The antiproliferative potential (2.9-1500 ug/mL) was assessed
      by MTT assay after 72h using the human tumor lines SF-295 (glioblastoma), OVCAR-8
      (ovarian), HCT-116 (colon) and HL-60 (promyelocytic leukemia) and primary
      cultures of murine Sarcoma 180 (S180) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMC). Allium cepa bulbs were exposed to growing respective doses (1 mL and 2
      mL). Only Butter and Cheddar flavorings revealed cytotoxic activity on cancer
      cells, with IC50 values ranging from 125.4 ug/mL (Cheddar - HCT-116) to 402.6
      ug/mL (Butter - OVCAR-8). Butter flavoring was the most cytotoxic on PBMC (136.3
      ug/mL) and increased cell division rate in relation to the mitotic index but did
      not cause cellular aberrations. Onion and Cheddar flavorings reduced the mitotic
      index after 24h and 48h exposure, but only Onion flavoring resulted in cellular
      aberrations and mitotic spindle abnormalities, such as anaphase and telophase
      bridges, micronucleated cells, conchicine-metaphases and amplifications. So,
      Butter, Onion and/or Cheddar flavorings caused significant changes in the
      division of meristematic cells of A. cepa and presented cytotoxic action even on
      decontrolled proliferating human tumor cells. 

PMID- 27627068
TI  - Capsular Contracture In Silicone Breast Implants: Insights From Rat Models.
AB  - Breast augmentation with silicone implants is one of the most common procedures
      performed by plastic surgeons around the world. Capsular contracture is a
      frequent complication in breast augmentation and reconstructive surgery, that
      requires invasive intervention. The inflammatory response to implanted mammary
      prostheses appears to be directly associated to capsular contracture. This review
      discusses the evidences from rat models studies, on the role of inflammation and
      fibrosis in capsular contraction and its relation to silicone breast implants
      surface. 

PMID- 27627069
TI  - Macrophages as target cells for Mayaro virus infection: involvement of reactive
      oxygen species in the inflammatory response during virus replication.
AB  - Alphaviruses among the viruses that cause arthritis, consisting in a public
      health problem worldwide by causing localized outbreaks, as well as large
      epidemics in humans. Interestingly, while the Old World alphaviruses are
      arthritogenic, the New World alphaviruses cause encephalitis. One exception is
      Mayaro virus (MAYV), which circulates exclusively in South America but causes
      arthralgia and is phylogenetically related to the Old World alphaviruses.
      Although MAYV-induced arthritis in humans is well documented, the molecular and
      cellular factors that contribute to its pathogenesis are completely unknown. In
      this study, we demonstrated for the first time that macrophages, key players in
      arthritis development, are target cells for MAYV infection, which leads to cell
      death through apoptosis. We showed that MAYV replication in macrophage induced
      the expression of TNF, a cytokine that would contribute to pathogenesis of MAYV
      fever, since TNF promotes an inflammatory profile characteristic of arthritis. We
      also found a significant increase in the production of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) at early times of infection, which coincides with the peak of virus
      replication and precedes TNF secretion. Treatment of the cells with antioxidant
      agents just after infection completely abolished TNF secretion, indicating an
      involvement of ROS in inflammation induced during MAYV infection. 

PMID- 27627070
TI  - Artificial tritrophic exposure system for environmental risk analysis on
      aphidophagous predators.
AB  - We evaluated an artificial tritrophic exposure system for use in ecotoxicological
      evaluations of environmental stressors on aphidophagous predators. It consists of
      an acrylic tube with a Parafilm M sachet containing liquid aphid diet, into which
      can be added environmental stressors. Immature Cycloneda sanguinea, Harmonia
      axyridis and Chrysoperla externa, and adult H. axyridis were reared on Myzus
      persicae. Larval and pupal development and survival of all species and
      reproductive parameters of H. axyridis were similar to published results. The
      system provides a suitable tritrophic exposure route, enables ex-ante evaluation
      of stressors, and improves the accuracy of the assessment. 

PMID- 27627071
TI  - Scientometrics: Nature Index and Brazilian science.
AB  - A recent published newspaper article commented on the (lack of) quality of
      Brazilian science and its (in) efficiency. The newspaper article was based on a
      special issue of Nature and on a new resource for scientometrics called Nature
      Index. I show here arguments and sources of bias that, under the light of the
      principle in dubio pro reo, it is questionable to dispute the quality and
      efficiency of the Brazilian science on these grounds, as it was commented on the
      referred article. A brief overview of Brazilian science is provided for readers
      to make their own judgment. 

PMID- 27627072
TI  - [Estimating the prevalence of potential drug interactions in patients treated
      with 5 and more drugs in the Czech Republic and Slovac Repuplic].
AB  - Polypragmasy is currently a growing phenomenon, leading to an increased risk of
      drug interactions. Empirical data to document this trend can only be obtained
      through a field survey, which, however, is missing in both Czechia and Slovakia.
      Therefore an international, multicentre, observational, non-interventional study
      "Estimating the prevalence of potential drug interactions in patients treated
      with 5 and more drugs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia" was conducted, with the
      primary aim to identify the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions in the
      conditions of routine clinical practice. The patients aged 18 years or more and
      treated with 5 and more drugs simultaneously were recruited from 21 September
      2013 onward in 4 consecutive quarters, each patient maximally once in a single
      quarter. The participating sites consisted of general practitioners and
      outpatient specialist clinics (1 040 physicians altogether), chosen to match the
      structure of medical specialties as well as to cover the entire territory of the
      respective country. The data was evaluated with descriptive statistical methods.
      The level of health risk associated with drug-drug interactions has been
      expressed by an Interaction Index, a measure developed to estimate the
      probability of critical risk of drug-drug interaction The prevalence of
      prescriptions with Interaction index 12, i.e. exposing patients to adverse
      effects, was significantly influenced mainly by the amount of drugs prescribed
      and their profile in relation to the risk of interactions; on the other hand, age
      or gender did not play an important role. The identified seasonal variations in
      the prevalence of interactions can be explained by additional medication
      associated with seasonal illnesses. KEY WORDS: drug interactions - interaction
      index - polypharmacy.

PMID- 27627073
TI  - [Autoimmune insulitis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus A randomized
      clinical trial in hospitalized patients].
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is not always easy to classify diabetes (DM) diagnosed in adults,
      with a significant group of patients initially classified and treated for type 2
      diabetes mellitus (DM2T) presenting signs indicating the presence of autoimmune
      insulitis (AI), which is characteristic of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1T), or
      latent autoimmune diabetes mellitus in adults (LADA). GOAL: Identify the
      proportion of patients entered with DM2T who present AI signs, and the number of
      patients of that proportion, who at the same time present low insulin secretion,
      and what clinical and laboratory manifestations could be used to differentiate
      between these patients.Cohort and methods: A randomized clinical trial with a pre
      determined set of assessed parameters for n = 625 patients, who were hospitalized
      during the first 6 months of 2016 at the National Endocrinology and Diabetology
      Institute (NEDU), Lubochna. Apart from the standard parameters, C-peptide (CP)
      and autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA) were examined for each
      patient. GADA positive (GADA+) patients were compared to GADA negative (GADA-)
      patients in the following parameters: gender, age, age at the time of dia-gnosing
      DM, duration of DM, HbA1c, incidence of hypoglycemia, lipidogram, fasting C
      peptide levels, BMI, waist circumference, incidence of hypoglycemias, presence of
      microvascular and macrovascular complications, treatment of dia-betes and
      incidence of other endocrinopathies. GADA+ with low CP were subsequently compared
      to GADA+ patients with normal CP. RESULTS: Of 625 patients originally classified
      and treated as DM2T, 13 % were GADA+. 31 % of them had low CP (< 0.2 nmol/l) and
      28 % had CP levels within the intermediary range (0.2-0.4 nmol/l). Females made
      up a larger proportion of GADA+ patients, with a lower BMI, smaller waist
      circumference, lower CP, higher HDL cholesterol levels, a greater incidence of
      hypoglycemias and lower total daily dose of insulin. GADA+ patients with low CP
      differed from GADA+ patients with normal CP in higher HDL cholesterol levels,
      lower triglyceride levels and earlier need of insulin thera-py. The testing for
      GADA and CP levels with regard to the other relevant characteristics led to re
      classification, or more precisely adding of DM1T/LADA (as the main, or parallel
      cause of DM) for 2.9 % of all the patients included and a clinically significant
      proportion of AI could be assumed in 6.1 % of the patients. SUMMARY: The results
      of our study show that the pathogenesis of DM in patients initially diagnosed and
      registered with DM2T and with concurrent presence of GADA includes mechanisms
      characteristic of both DM2T (insulin resistance) and DM1T (autoimmune insulitis)
      acting in parallel, with different intensity, in differing proportions and time
      sequence as a fluid continuum, which also accounts for the differences between
      individual patients. The characteristics highlighting the presence and role of AI
      based on our results include high titre of GADA+, low CP levels, early need of
      insulin therapy, presence of thyroid disorder, higher HDL cholesterol levels and
      lower triglyceride levels. The characteristics highlighting the dominance of
      mechanisms characteristic of DM2T (insulin resistance) included higher BMI and
      waist circumference values, normal CP levels, low HDL cholesterol levels, higher
      triglyceride levels, higher blood pressure and borderline titre of GADA. KEY
      WORDS: autoimmune diabetes mellitus - C-peptide - GADA - HDL-cholesterol -
      classification.

PMID- 27627074
TI  - [Clinical contribution of new basal analogue insulin].
AB  - Chronic long term hyperglycemia plays a key role in the pathogenesis of micro and
      macrovascular complications. The UKPDS study and its further analysis has proved
      that reduction of the value of glycated hemoglobin by 1 % leads to a 14 %
      reduction of the risk of myocardial infarction and a 37 % reduction of the risk
      of microvascular complications. Effective control of glycaemia, optimal value of
      pre-prandial, postprandial glycaemia, and low variability from the start of the
      disease has a long term beneficial impact. The therapy of basal insulin analogues
      ranks among the recommended procedures for achieving control. The new insulin
      analogues (insulin glargin 300 U/ml, insulin degludec) have a longer effect,
      practically a peakless course, lower variability, lower risk of hypoglycemia
      events and better application technique with greater flexibility of
      administration. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics properties provide new
      quality in the chronic therapy of people with type 1 and 2 diabetes. KEY WORDS:
      diabetes mellitus - glycemia control - hypoglycemia - new basal insulin
      analogues.

PMID- 27627075
TI  - [Changes in nutritional recommendations for a healthy population and their
      influence on a diabetic diet].
AB  - Recently, thousands of papers brought knowledge about effects of nutrients on
      cellular level, in experimental animals and in human experiments on one side, the
      results of epidemiological studies on the other side have suggested the nutrients
      and foods for healthy diet and nutrients and foods, which should be consumed only
      in limited amount. Among foods, which should be avoided, those with higher
      content of trans-fatty acids. Their daily intake should not exceed 1 % of total
      energy intake. Similar should be limited saturated fatty acid, added sugar and
      salt. On the contrary, the intake of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty
      acids in foods should be basic part of fat intake. In these conditions the amount
      of consumed fat could create up to 35 % of all daily energy intake. Beneficial
      carbohydrates are those with low glycemic index, i.e. whole grain and brown rice
      products and legumes. The intake of salt is necessary to limit fewer than 6 g per
      day and alcohol intake should not exceed 10 g per day in women and 20 g per day
      in men. The recommendation in last years do not limit cholesterol daily intake.
      The food of animal origin with high content of saturated fatty acids, i.e. meat
      and milk products parallel contains also cholesterol. On the other hand, the oils
      of vegetable origin mostly from tropical oils, which contents high amount of
      saturated fatty acids represents the risk? On the contrary eggs and shellfish
      contents high amount of cholesterol and very low amounts of saturated fatty
      acids. Therefore, there is no reason for their strict limitation in the diet. KEY
      WORDS: carbohydrate - diabetes - dietary recommendation - energy intake - fat -
      healthy diet - iron - cholesterol - protein.

PMID- 27627077
TI  - [Treatment of liver cirrhosis - actually possibility of ambulant internist].
AB  - There are 40 000-60 000 patients with cirrhosis in the Czech Republic. 2 000 die
      of this disease yearly. This group of patients needs a complex treatment and it
      is mostly an internist cooperating with other specialists. The most important for
      an ambulant internist is to diagnose the disease as soon as possible and start
      with treatment of chronic liver disease that could lead to a cirrhosis. It means
      especially chronic viral hepatitis, alcoholic or non-alcoholic
      steatosis/steatohepatitis, auto-immune liver damage and metabolic disease. The
      next step is to diagnose the cirrhosis in time when it is in no manifest stage.
      The third step is to diagnose and treat the liver decompensation. It means
      consequences of the portal hypertension, it is ascit, esophageal or gastric
      varices, hepatorenal syndrome. Next there are consequences of the metabolic
      insufficiency, it is icterus, coagulopathy and hepatic encephalopathy. It is
      necessary to diagnose and cure cholestasis from the very first extrahepatic
      causes. For a successful treatment of the hepatocellular carcinoma originated
      almost exclusively in the grounds of the cirrhosis must be early diagnosed. The
      ambulant internist respective hepatologist must diagnose the stage of the
      cirrhosis and decide when a hospitalization is necessary. Also a close
      cooperation with other specialists is urgent if it is about a liver
      transplantation. The treatment of successive stages of the cirrhosis is a topic
      of the showed educational article. KEY WORDS: compensated/decompensated liver
      cirrhosis - diet/nutrition in liver cirrhosis - etiology and diagnose of liver
      cirrhosis - treatment of liver insufficiency/failure - treatment of portal
      hypertension and its complications.

PMID- 27627076
TI  - [Impaired hypoglycemia awareness in diabetes mellitus].
AB  - Impaired hypoglycemia awareness is defined at the onset of neuroglycopenia
      without the appearance of autonomic warning symptoms. Impaired hypoglycemia
      awareness is disorder which affects aprox. one third of patients with type 1
      diabetes mellitus and 8-10 % of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are
      treated with insulin. The most dangerous consequence is 6 times higher frequency
      of severe hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and 17 times
      higher in Type 2 diabetic patients treated with insulin. Treatment of impaired
      hypoglycemia awareness is complex, based on a multifactorial intervention of
      clinical care and structured patient education. KEY WORDS: diabetes mellitus -
      hypoglycemia- impaired hypoglycemia awareness.

PMID- 27627079
TI  - [Sepsis - how to recognize and what to focus on - back to basics in the light of
      the new definition].
AB  - Sepsis is the primary cause of death from infection. However, its early
      recognition remains a fundamental challenge in clinical practice. In February
      2016, a newly revised sepsis definition has been published (SEPSIS-3). Sepsis has
      been redefined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated
      host response to infection. In this article, we introduce the updated definition
      of sepsis, discuss its pros and cons and suggest practical implications. The
      emphasis is put on basic and comprehensive clinical assessment. KEY WORDS:
      definition - early recognition of sepsis - infection - sepsis - septic shock.

PMID- 27627078
TI  - [Hypoglycemia as a symptom of cancer in adults].
AB  - Decrease of blood glucose levels below 3 mmol/l is in fully developed cases
      accompanied by neuroglycopenic symptoms that may even lead to altered state of
      consciousness. The treating physician frequently faces a complicated situation.
      This may be due to inappropriately administered drugs including cases motivated
      by self-harm intentions (insulin, insulin secretagogues), or alcohol abuse.
      Undernourished people, or those afflicted with a serious systemic infection, end
      stage liver or kidney diseases or with a failing heart, belong to a risk group.
      Hypoglycemia typically accompanies hypocorticism (Addisons disease) or lack of
      glucagon. Endogenous hyperinsulinism caused by a hormonally active pancreatic
      cancer, that is, by a neuroendocrine tumour - insulinoma, is a possibility to be
      considered. A hidden cause of hypoglycemias may be a pancreatic-beta- cell
      dysfunction (nesidioblastosis, or non-insulin pancreatogenous hypoglycemia). A
      similar situation may arise following gastric bypass surgery. Hypoglycemia
      incited by the presence of antibodies to insulin or its receptor is cited in
      literature as a very rare problem. One section in the differentially diagnostic
      thinking is dedicated to hypoglycemic states accompanying neoplastic, malign
      processes. Insulin is demonstrably not a responsible agent here, it is a
      polypeptide structurally close to it, a somatomedin abbreviated as IGF2. KEY
      WORDS: endoscopic ultrasound pancreatography (EUPG) - hypoglycemia mediated by
      tumour cells other than beta cells (NIPHS) - insulin-like growth factor (IGF1,
      IGF2) - pro-insulin-like growth factor IGF2 (pro-IGF2).

PMID- 27627080
TI  - [The skin - a mirror of internal diseases].
AB  - The knowledge of the relationship between dermatologic manifestations and
      disorders and internal diseases may facilitate early identification of general
      disease. The report aims to provide an overview of dermatologic manifestations of
      gastrointestinal disorders, non-specific inflammatory bowel disease and
      gastrointestinal stromal tumours, and skin alterations related to diabetes
      mellitus. The role of a dermatologist is primarily to diagnose dermatoses. KEY
      WORDS: diabetes mellitus - dermatoses - m. Crohn - gastrointestinal stromal
      tumours - inflammatory bowel disease - ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 27627081
TI  - [The effect of antidiabetic treatment on the bone of patients with type 2
      diabetes].
AB  - Despite a normal or higher bone mass, type 2 diabetes is associated with a higher
      risk of osteoporotic fractures. Besides a higher falls frequency the lower
      quality of diabetics bone plays the crucial role in this case. One of the factors
      affecting their fracture risk is a choice of antidiabetic treatment. So far,
      professional societies have warned before the thiazolidinediones use only, but
      gliflozines can be harmful for bone too. Metformin, sulfonylureas, GLP-1 agonists
      and DPP-4 inhibitors belong to the drugs without a negative effect on the
      fracture risk. The increased frequency of bone fractures in diabetics treated
      with insulin lies more in the fact that these patients suffer from diabetes
      longer, have more diabetic complications and are at a higher risk of
      hypoglycemia, which is associated with a higher frequency of falls. In
      individuals with a high fracture risk antidiabetic drugs without a negative
      effect on bones should be recommended. KEY WORDS: DPP-4 inhibitors - gliflozines 
      GLP-1 agonists - insulin - metformin - osteoporosis - sulfonylureas -
      thiazolidinediones - type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27627083
TI  - [Type 2 diabetes mellitus and heart failure].
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with a substantial increase in the risk of
      development of heart failure. The mechanisms causing this complication are
      complex and include coronary heart disease, myocardial changes induced by
      hypertension, increased aortic stiffness, arrhythmias, renal failure and last but
      not least by direct metabolic alterations causing diabetic cardiomyopathy. The
      heart failure could be induced by several drugs used for diabetes therapy. This
      review debates the current evidence of harms and benefits of diabetes treatment
      related to heart failure in the light of results of recent randomized trials. An
      increased risk of heart failure was reported with sulphonylureas, glizatones and
      some DPP4 inhibitors. In contrast a considerable risk reduction was demonstrated
      in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial using empagliflozin. KEY WORDS: aortic stiffness -
      arrhythmias - coronary heart disease - diabetes treatment - diabetic
      cardiomyopathy - hypertension - type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27627082
TI  - [The benefit of urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for the
      therapy of acute pancreatitis].
AB  - Pancreatitis of biliary etiology accounts for 30-60 % of all cases of acute
      pancreatitis. A number of randomized studies have been completed to assess the
      role of acute endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and
      papilosphincterotomy in the therapy of biliary pancreatitis. Analysis of the
      respective studies has shown that urgent endoscopy is clearly indicated for the
      patients with a severe form of acute biliary pancreatitis as well as for those
      with an ongoing acute cholangitis or obstructive icterus. The author believes
      that based on a detailed analysis of the results, urgent endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography can also be recommended for patients with a mild form of
      the illness provided the procedure is performed within 12 hours of admission to a
      hospital by an experienced endoscopist. KEY WORDS: biliary pancreatitis -
      endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography - papilosphincterotomy.

PMID- 27627084
TI  - [The differential diagnosis of pleural effusions].
AB  - The problems of pleural effusions are connected with many areas of medicine. The
      problem affects approx. 0.5 % of the population every year. The paper summarizes
      pathophysiological data relating to the emergence of effusions, their
      epidemiology, description of particular types of effusions and possibilities of
      treatment. More attention is paid to the differential diagnosis and therapy for
      malign pleural effusions. KEY WORDS: diagnostics - exudate - treatment - pleura -
      transudate.

PMID- 27627086
TI  - [Possibilities of influencing cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus by
      antidiabetic treatment Lowering of cardiovascular risk in treatment with
      liraglutide - Results of the LEADER].
AB  - The article summarizes current knowledge about the possibilities for influencing
      the cardiovascular risk in treatment of type 2 diabetes, especially focusing on
      the results of a prospective morbidity-mortality LEADER trial, which demonstrated
      the superiority of liraglutide in patients with very high cardiovascular risk.
      KEY WORDS: cardiovascular risk - LEADER - liraglutid - type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27627085
TI  - [Adverse effects of biological therapy in rheumatology].
AB  - The biological treatment which is the most effective type of therapy for
      inflammatory rheumatic diseases, has become part of a standard clinical
      rheumatology practice in recent years. Thousands of patients in the Czech
      Republic with rheumatoid arthritis, different forms of spondyloarthritides and
      with psoriatic arthritis are now successfully treated in this way. The following
      medications are registered in the Czech Republic for the treatment of rheumatic
      diseases: infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept,
      abatacept, rituximab, tocilizumab and belimumab, newly also secukinumab. This
      effective therapy also entails a new spectrum of adverse effects, different to
      those of the synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs. The most frequent
      problems include a higher incidence of infections including exacerbation of
      latent tuberculosis, further we can meet hematological, gastroenterological and
      immunological abnormalities some of which, luckily of rare occurrence, may have a
      very serious character. The cardiovascular risk is rather reduced during long
      term therapy, however in patients with chronic heart failure the anti-TNF therapy
      may lead to its worsening. All physicians caring for patients with inflammatory
      rheumatic diseases should have the basic knowledge of the range of the adverse
      effects. KEY WORDS: abatacept - adalimumab - ankylosing spondylitis - biological
      treatment - certolizumab pegol - goli-mumab - TNFalpha inhibitors - infliximab -
      adverse effects - psoriatic arthritis - rheumatoid arthritis - rituximab -
      secukinumab - tocilizumab.

PMID- 27627087
TI  - [Methanol: the threat of intoxication is still there].
AB  - Methanol mass poisoning occurs across the world quite frequently, but the
      complete clinical and laboratory data of the patients are only rarely available.
      Approximately 138 cases of poisoning were documented in the Czech Republic, 107
      patients were hospitalized. Another 31 persons died out of hospital. About 60 %
      of the hospitalized patients survived intoxication without consequences, one half
      of the remaining 40 % died and the other half survived with the CNS and/or sight
      impaired. The Czech study successfully used modern diagnostic methods. A positive
      effect of the prehospital first aid with an oral antidote has been proven and a
      comparable effect of ethanol and fomepizole has been reached during hospital
      therapy. Higher efficiency of intermittent therapy has been determined as
      compared to continual hemodialysis. No connection was found between cerebral
      hemorrhage and systemic anticoagulation during hemodialysis. Magnetic resonance
      imaging revealed brain lesions in more than 50 % of the examined persons. During
      the follow-up visits over months and years improvement regarding the damage to
      the optic nerve was found in patients with a lesion of mild to medium degree.
      Isolated cases of poisoning still occur. KEY WORDS: antidote - long-term follow
      up - hemodialysis - methanol - methanol intoxication - CNS damage - vision
      impairment.

PMID- 27627088
TI  - [Diabetic retinopathy: pathogenesis and therapeutic implications].
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy (DR) develops in patients with both type 1 and type 2
      diabetes and is the major cause of vision loss and blindness in the working
      population. The main risk factor of DR is hyperglycemia accompanied by enhanced
      mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress,
      formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) and hexosamines, increase in
      polyol metabolism of glucose. The severity of vascular injury depends on the
      individual genetic background and is modified by other epigenetic, metabolic and
      haemodynamic factors, including hypertension, dyslipidemia and oxidative stress.
      In diabetes, damage to the retina occurs in the vasculature (endothelial cells
      and pericytes), neurons and glia, pigment epithelial cells and infiltrating
      immunocompetent cells: monocytes, granulocytes, lymfocytes. These activated cells
      change the production pattern of a number of mediators such as growth factors,
      proinflammatory cytokines, vasoactive molecules, coagulation factors and adhesion
      molecules resulting in increased blood flow, increased capillary permeability,
      proliferation of extracellular matrix and thickening of basal membranes, altered
      cell turnover (apoptosis, proliferation, hypertrophy), procoagulant and
      proaggregant pattern, and finally in angiogenesis and tissue remodelling. Brain,
      liver, adipose tissue, GUT, skeletal muscle and other tissues could be another
      source of mediators. Therapeutic approaches used for patients with or at risk for
      diabetic retinopathy include drug therapy to reduce modifiable risk factors,
      laser photocoagulation, intravitreous administration of anti-VEGF agents/steroids
      and intraocular surgery. Screening plays an important role in early detection and
      intervention to prevent the progression of diabetic retinopathy. Described
      insights into pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for DR, could help in the
      development of more targeted approach for prevention and treatment of diabetic
      retinopathy. KEY WORDS: anti-VEGF - diabetic dyslipidemia - growth factors -
      hyperglycemia - hypertension - microRNA - oxidative stress - retinopathy.

PMID- 27627089
TI  - [The difference and ratio between serum concentrations of natrium and chlorides
      in patients with hyponatremia].
AB  - The differential diagnosis of hyponatremia is often difficult. This most
      frequently occurring disorder of the water and electrolyte metabolism is
      frequently connected with deviations relating to the acid-base balance (ABB).
      This survey analyzes the relationship between the changes of the volume of body
      fluids and ABB and infers to what extent the analysis of combinations of the two
      disorders can support the differential diagnosis of different forms of
      hyponatremia (differentiation between the dilution vs. depletion forms). The
      changes of the total water volume (CTV) and ABB may be presented at the same time
      in the values of the difference and ratio between serum concentrations of natrium
      and chlorides (SNa+ - SCl-; SNa+/SCl-). The changes of these quantities are
      analyzed in the models of pathologies connected through hyponatremia and ABB
      related deviations: (i) retention of solute-free water (hyponatremia associated
      with dilution acidosis); (ii) retention Na+ in combination with water retention
      (hyponatremia associated with dilution and hyperchloremic acidosis); (iii)
      depletion Na+ combined with water depletion (depletion hyponatremia combined with
      hypochloremic alkalosis), and (iv) combination of dilution and depletion
      (hyponatremia which may be associated with different ABB related deviations).
      This survey specifies the extent to which the applied models are consistent with
      the existing clinical findings and experience. The examinations SNa+ - SCl- and
      SNa+/SCl- rely only on routinely used laboratory test methods. Monitoring of
      these quantities may contribute to continuous assessment of the effect of a
      chosen therapy. KEY WORDS: acid-base balance - depletion hyponatremia -
      differential diagnosis of hyponatremia - dilution hyponatremia - hyponatremia -
      retention of solute-free water - body fluid volumes.

PMID- 27627091
TI  - [Clinical significance of natriuretic peptides in the differential diagnosis of
      dyspnea].
AB  - Acute dyspnea is one of the most common emergency department symptoms. But early
      diagnosis and treatment could be e challenging because of multiple potential
      causes. The gold standard biomarkers in cardiac dyspnea are B-type natriuretic
      peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro-B-type (natriuretic peptide NT-pro BNP), which
      play an important role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and management of acute
      decompensated heart failure. The purpose of this review is to analyze diagnostic
      potential of BNP and NT-pro BNP biomarkers use in patients with acute dyspnea.
      BNP and NT-proBNP are markers of cardiac stress but are not cardiac-specific.
      They have comparable clinical utility, and both help in excluding acute cardiac
      dyspnea but they cannot reliably discriminate systolic from diastolic HF.Key
      word: acute dyspnea - natriuretic peptide - heart failure. 

PMID- 27627090
TI  - [Systolic blood pressure targets].
AB  - When treating systolic hypertension we do not know the optimum blood pressure
      which leads to the reduction of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular and
      total mortality. The results of the ACCORD study, when comparing intensive
      treatment of systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 120 mm Hg and standard treatment <
      140 mm Hg, did not lead to affecting the primary target for patients with
      diabetes mellitus. The SPRINT study (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial)
      has shown that more intensive treatment of hypertension (aimed at readings lower
      than the generally recommended target readings) significantly reduces incidence
      of cardiovascular diseases and lowers the risk of death. On the other hand, a
      statistically significant incidence of side effects (hypotension, syncope, renal
      impairment or failure) has been identified. The first results were presented at
      the American Heart Association Congress on 9 November 2015. KEY WORDS: target
      values - hypotension - cardiovascular events - systolic blood pressure.

PMID- 27627092
TI  - [Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction].
AB  - Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction occurs almost with the same
      frequency as heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The diagnosis is based
      on echocardiography with evidence-based ejection fraction over 50 %, or with left
      atrial enlargement and left ventricular hypertrophy, and specification of
      natriuretic peptides. BNP 35 pg/ml and NT-proBNP 125 pg/ml are considered the
      limits of the norm for chronic heart failure. The treatment of heart failure with
      preserved ejection fraction lacks clear evidence of mortality reduction,
      diuretics are recommended to remove symptoms, ACE inhibitors or sartans and beta
      blockers to improve the prognosis. Anticoagulation treatment is recommended for
      atrial fibrillation and possibly digoxin, hypolipidemics for patients in
      secondary prevention. An important goal of the treatment is the control of
      accompanying diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart
      disease. KEY WORDS: accompanying diseases - treatment - heart failure - heart
      failure with preserved ejection fraction.

PMID- 27627093
TI  - [A near future of treatment of dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetics].
AB  - Dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetics represents a complex change of lipoprotein
      metabolism that is highly proatherogenic. It originates on a genetic background
      in the context of insulin resistance and affects lipoprotein metabolism at
      multiple levels (e.g. hepatocyte, enterocyte, intravascular processing) mainly in
      the postprandial phase. The treatment of diabetic (atherogenic) dyslipidemia is
      an effective option to lower the risk of both macro- and microvascular
      complications of diabetes. Lifestyle changes effectively impact on dyslipidemia
      in diabetics, however, it is impossible to reach treatment goals and achieve
      necessary risk reduction without lipid lowering medications. Statins remain the
      corner stone of pharmacological therapy and they should be combined with
      ezetimibe (or a resin) in case of insufficient LDL-cholesterol lowering or with
      fenofibrate when triglyceride levels remain elevated. In near future these drugs
      will be available in new fixed-dose combination formulas. Moreover, very soon
      PCSK9 inhibitors will get to clinical practice offering patients with diabetes
      additional LDL-cholesterol lowering by more than 50 %. Selective modulators of
      PPARalpha receptors are under development and these shall offer better efficacy
      and tolerability compared with fibrates. Other future options for the management
      of diabetic dyslipidemia will be drugs utilizing the anti-sense technology
      interfering with translation of genes coding for metabolic pathways of
      lipoprotein species typically perturbed in type 2 diabetes (e.g. anti-sense
      oligonucleotides against mRNA of apolipoprotein CIII). KEY WORDS: anti-sense
      therapy - diabetic dyslipidemia - ezetimibe - fibrates - PCSK9 inhibitors -
      resins - statins.

PMID- 27627095
TI  - [Breviary of diabetes education for internist].
AB  - Diabetes education is an important cornerstone for diabetes care. Patients with
      diabetes should participate in education to facilitate the knowledge, skill sand
      ability necessary for diabetes both at diagnosis and there after. Effective self
      management can improve clinical outcomes, health status, and quality of life. KEY
      WORDS: diabetes mellitus - education - self-management.

PMID- 27627094
TI  - [Glucagon antagonists open a new way in treatment of type 2 diabetes Mellitus].
AB  - Excessive hepatic glucose production resulting from dysregulated glucagon
      secretion associated with inappropriate fasting and postprandial
      hyperglucagonemia is common feature in type 2 diabetes (DM2T). The effects of
      some currently widely used anti-diabetic agents, especially concerning metformin,
      GLP1 agonists and inhibitors of DPP4, comprise partial supression of glucagon
      secretion and/or action. Complete supression of glucagon action is recently
      widely investigated in experiments, and also results of phase 1 and 2 of the
      clinical trials are available. The experimental studies proved expected
      therapeutical potential of this approach. Blockade of glucagon action in diabetic
      animals resulted in decreased hepatic glucose production, reduction of fasting
      and prandial hyperglycemia, and improved glucose tolerance. On the other hand,
      the complete supression of glucagon action is associated with possible risk of
      pancreatic A-cell hyperplasia, hyperglucagonemia, increased sensitivity to the
      development of liver steatosis or other liver damage, higher risk of hypoglycemia
      and other potential side effects. Thus evaluation of safety profile must
      represent the high priority in the development of new molecules affecting
      glucagon secretion and intracellular action. A number of molecules antagonising
      glucagon action were prepared in recent years; some of them are already reviewed
      successfully in phase 2 of clinical testing; however no molecule is used in
      clinical practice so far. The presented article briefly sums up contemporary
      knowledge about glucagon dysregulation in T2DM, and gained experience with
      pharmacological supression of glucagon action in those patients. Anti-sense oligo
      nucleotides, and monoclonal anti-bodies against glucagon and glucagon receptor
      are mentioned. The glucagon receptor antagonists are discussed in a greater
      detail as well. KEY WORDS: glucagon antagonism - potential side effects - type 2
      diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27627096
TI  - [Prevention and therapy of sarcopenia in the ageing].
AB  - Sarcopenia is one of the severe disorders associated with nutritional imbalance.
      While sarcopenia is an inseparable part of the process of ageing as people get
      older, it plays a vital role in pathological situations such as protein-calorie
      and kwashiorkor malnutrition, it accompanies various diseases of rheumatic
      character and is an almost ever-present feature of the clinical picture of
      oncological patients. Sarcopenia in people under strain is fatally manifested
      mainly in the elderly, medically fragile patients. In view of the fact that
      sarcopenia is the decisive factor regarding the course of chronic as well as
      acute illnesses, it must be diagnosed, monitored and appropriately treated in
      time. Although nutrition is not the only factor involved especially in older age
      in the development of sarcopenia, the type of nutritional support and, in the new
      era, particularly nutritional pharmacology, form the underlying principles of the
      approach to the comprehensive care of the patient. KEY WORDS: ageing - lipids -
      malnutrition - proteosynthesis - sarcopenia.

PMID- 27627097
TI  - [Granulomatosis with polyangiitis manifested as diabetes insipidus].
AB  - The case report shows a surprising presentation of pulmonary granulomatosis with
      polyangiitis (GPA) through symptoms of diabetes insipidus (DI) with granulomatous
      infiltration of the pituitary gland. The pituitary hormonal dysfunction as a
      result of granulomatosis of the pituitary gland is rare. Several studies have
      demonstrated that the incidence of the pituitary dysfunction reaches approx. 1 %
      of the patients with GPA. However it is mostly presented in patients with the
      disease already diagnosed. The patient described by us had no clinical
      expressions of GPA in the respiratory tract. He presented with polyuria and
      polydipsia. It was not until a more detailed examination of these symptoms was
      performed that a focal lung disease was detected and diagnosed as GPA. KEY WORDS:
      diabetes insipidus - granulomatosis with polyangiitis - granulomatous
      infiltration of the pituitary gland - pituitary hormonal dysfunction.

PMID- 27627098
TI  - Biomolecular index of therapeutic efficacy in psoriasis treated with anti-TNF
      alpha agents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical or quality of life assessments are currently available for
      psoriasis severity evaluation and therapeutic response. Laboratory scores focused
      to measure and follow treatment efficacy are lacking at present. METHODS: A
      microscopic and biomolecular score was designed to monitor skin disease severity
      and clinical response to anti-psoriatic treatments. A susceptibility gene
      analysis on cellular retinoic acid binding protein-II (CRABP-II), acting on
      keratinocyte differentiation, was also performed. A Molecular Index of
      Therapeutic Efficacy (MITE) was defined by assembling
      morphometric/semiquantitative measurement of epidermal thickness,
      immunohistochemical Ki-67, keratin 17 and CRABP-II expression of lesional and non
      lesional psoriatic skin biopsies before and after anti-tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF) alpha therapies. A 0-12 MITE score was correlated with Psoriasis Area and
      Severity Index (PASI) and Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) scores and
      inflammation. Three CRABP-II SNPs were analyzed by TaqMan assay. RESULTS: All
      parameters were highly expressed in psoriatic lesions and reduced after 12 weeks
      of anti-TNF-alpha treatments. MITE score strongly correlated with PASI and PDI
      values either before or after therapies (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively).
      Conversely, MITE values did not change after treatments of non-responder
      patients. CRABP-II did not result in a psoriatic susceptibility gene for the SNPs
      probes analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: MITE score variations corresponded to the patients'
      clinical improvement following anti-TNF-alpha treatments, with significant
      statistical correlation among MITE, PASI and PDI scores. If confirmed in a larger
      series and/or in different hyperproliferative and inflammatory dermatoses, MITE
      score could be proposed as additional monitoring system to evaluate treatment
      protocols in skin disorders and targeted biomolecular pathways supporting
      clinical efficacy.

PMID- 27627099
TI  - Psoriasis and cardiovascular disorders.
AB  - Psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and
      related comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome,
      dyslipidemia, and obesity. The precise mechanistic links underlying the
      association between psoriasis and cardiovascular disease remain unknown, however,
      multiple pathologic mechanisms have been proposed. Shared inflammatory pathways
      between psoriasis and atherosclerosis are likely involved. Other possible
      mechanisms include endothelial dysfunction, cytokine dysregulation, platelet
      upregulation, and dyslipidemia. Additional studies are needed to more clearly
      define the association between psoriasis and cardiovascular disease. Current, but
      limited, data suggests that psoriasis treatments targeting inflammation may be
      able to reduce the cardiovascular risks in this patient population. As new
      therapies become available, long-term prospective studies will be required to
      determine their potential effects on cardiovascular risk. This review summarizes
      the current literature on proposed pathogenic links between psoriasis and
      cardiovascular disease, the epidemiology of psoriasis and associated
      cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases, and the impact of anti-psoriatic
      treatments on cardiovascular risk profile. In addition, we provide a brief
      discussion of risk factor management strategies in patients with psoriasis.

PMID- 27627100
TI  - The role of biologics in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease requiring long-term
      treatment and in many cases involving a reduction in the quality of life.
      Treatment with biologics is indicated in patients with moderate-to-severe
      psoriasis who do not respond or cannot be treated with conventional systemic
      drugs, and the therapeutic goal is an improvement of 90% (or at least 75%) with
      respect to baseline PASi at the end of the induction phase, which should be
      maintained long-term in the mainternance phase of treatment. Before starting
      treatment with a biological agent it is necessary to review the contraindications
      and precautions, rule out latent tuberculosis infection and complete the pending
      immunizations. Biological agents have a more favorable safety profile than
      classical systemic treatments; the most common side effects are mild and rarely
      involve the discontinuation of treatment. The treatment decision will be based on
      individual characteristics and patient preferences, functional limitation,
      expected speed of onset of effect, adverse reactions, availability and cost of
      treatment.

PMID- 27627101
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 27627102
TI  - Soybean Oil-Based Lipid Emulsion Increases Intestinal Permeability of
      Lipopolysaccharide in Caco-2 Cells by Downregulation of P-Glycoprotein via ERK
      FOXO 3a Pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Elevated intestinal permeability of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      is a major complication for patients with parenteral nutrition (PN), but the
      pathogenesis is poorly understood. Intestinal P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is one of the
      efflux transporters that contribute to restricting the permeability of
      lipopolysaccharide via transcellular route. P-gp expression may be regulated by
      PN ingredients, and thus this study sought to investigate the effect of PN on the
      expression of P-gp and to elucidate the underlying mechanism in vitro. METHODS:
      Caco-2 cells were treated with PN ingredients. Changes in P-gp expression and
      function were determined and the role of ERK-FOXO 3a pathway was studied.
      Transport studies of FITC-lipopolysaccharide (FITC-LPS) across Caco-2 cell
      monolayers were also performed. RESULTS: Among PN ingredients, soybean oil-based
      lipid emulsion (SOLE) exhibited significant inhibitory effect on P-gp expression
      and function. This regulation was mediated via activation of ERK pathway with
      subsequent nuclear exclusion of FOXO 3a. Importantly, P-gp participated in
      antagonizing the permeation of FITC-LPS (apical to basolateral) across Caco-2
      cell monolayers. SOLE significantly increased the permeability of FITC-LPS
      (apical to basolateral), which was associated with impaired P-gp function.
      CONCLUSIONS: The expression and function of intestinal P-gp is suppressed by SOLE
      in vitro.

PMID- 27627103
TI  - Cation-Deficient Spinel ZnMn2O4 Cathode in Zn(CF3SO3)2 Electrolyte for
      Rechargeable Aqueous Zn-Ion Battery.
AB  - Rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries are attractive cheap, safe and green energy
      storage technologies but are bottlenecked by limitation in high-capacity cathode
      and compatible electrolyte to achieve satisfactory cyclability. Here we report
      the application of nonstoichiometric ZnMn2O4/carbon composite as a new Zn
      insertion cathode material in aqueous Zn(CF3SO3)2 electrolyte. In 3 M Zn(CF3SO3)2
      solution that enables ~100% Zn plating/stripping efficiency with long-term
      stability and suppresses Mn dissolution, the spinel/carbon hybrid exhibits a
      reversible capacity of 150 mAh g-1 and a capacity retention of 94% over 500
      cycles at a high rate of 500 mA g-1. The remarkable electrode performance results
      from the facile charge transfer and Zn insertion in the structurally robust
      spinel featuring small particle size and abundant cation vacancies, as evidenced
      by combined electrochemical measurements, XRD, Raman, synchrotron X-ray
      absorption spectroscopy, FTIR, and NMR analysis. The results would enlighten and
      promote the use of cation-defective spinel compounds and trifluoromethanesulfonic
      electrolyte to develop high-performance rechargeable zinc batteries.

PMID- 27627104
TI  - Spiking Neural P Systems with Neuron Division and Dissolution.
AB  - Spiking neural P systems are a new candidate in spiking neural network models. By
      using neuron division and budding, such systems can generate/produce exponential
      working space in linear computational steps, thus provide a way to solve
      computational hard problems in feasible (linear or polynomial) time with a "time
      space trade-off" strategy. In this work, a new mechanism called neuron
      dissolution is introduced, by which redundant neurons produced during the
      computation can be removed. As applications, uniform solutions to two NP-hard
      problems: SAT problem and Subset Sum problem are constructed in linear time,
      working in a deterministic way. The neuron dissolution strategy is used to
      eliminate invalid solutions, and all answers to these two problems are encoded as
      indices of output neurons. Our results improve the one obtained in Science China
      Information Sciences, 2011, 1596-1607 by Pan et al. 

PMID- 27627105
TI  - The MaoP/maoS Site-Specific System Organizes the Ori Region of the E. coli
      Chromosome into a Macrodomain.
AB  - The Ori region of bacterial genomes is segregated early in the replication cycle
      of bacterial chromosomes. Consequently, Ori region positioning plays a pivotal
      role in chromosome dynamics. The Ori region of the E. coli chromosome is
      organized as a macrodomain with specific properties concerning DNA mobility,
      segregation of loci and long distance DNA interactions. Here, by using strains
      with chromosome rearrangements and DNA mobility as a read-out, we have identified
      the MaoP/maoS system responsible for constraining DNA mobility in the Ori region
      and limiting long distance DNA interactions with other regions of the chromosome.
      MaoP belongs to a group of proteins conserved in the Enterobacteria that
      coevolved with Dam methylase including SeqA, MukBEF and MatP that are all
      involved in the control of chromosome conformation and segregation. Analysis of
      DNA rings excised from the chromosome demonstrated that the single maoS site is
      required in cis on the chromosome to exert its effect while MaoP can act both in
      cis and in trans. The position of markers in the Ori region was affected by
      inactivating maoP. However, the MaoP/maoS system was not sufficient for
      positioning the Ori region at the 1/4-3/4 regions of the cell. We also
      demonstrate that the replication and the resulting expansion of bulk DNA are
      localized centrally in the cell. Implications of these results for chromosome
      positioning and segregation in E. coli are discussed.

PMID- 27627106
TI  - Studies of Azetidin-2-one as a Reactive Enolate Synthon of beta-Alanine for
      Condensations with Aldehydes and Ketones.
AB  - Studies describe formation of the lithium enolate of N-(4
      methoxybenzyloxy)azetidin-2-one (1) and characterization of representative aldol
      reactions with aldehydes and ketones. Diastereoselectivity features the
      production of anti-aldol adducts from alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones and alpha
      branched aliphatic aldehydes. The stereoselectivity is rationalized via closed,
      six-membered transition-state arrangements leading to the formation of Felkin-Anh
      and anti-Felkin products. Examples illustrate the direct incorporation of
      monocyclic beta-lactams into a variety of molecular architectures. The utility of
      1 as an enolate synthon of homoglycine (beta-alanine) is illustrated by the
      efficient synthesis of novel beta-amino acid derivatives, including complex 4
      hydroxy-2-pyridinones.

PMID- 27627108
TI  - A Structural Investigation of Hydrous and Anhydrous Rare-Earth Phosphates.
AB  - Rhabdophane- (REPO4.nH2O; RE = La to Dy), monazite- (REPO4; RE = La to Gd), and
      xenotime-type (REPO4 and RE'PO4.nH2O; RE = Tb to Lu and Y; RE' = Ho to Lu and Y)
      rare-earth phosphate materials are being considered for a number of applications
      including as photonic materials, for biolabeling studies, and as potential
      nuclear wasteforms. Structural studies of hydrous rare-earth phosphates are
      rather limited when compared to anhydrous rare-earth phosphates. In this study,
      rhabdophane- (REPO4.nH2O; RE = La, Nd, Sm, Gd, and Dy) and xenotime-type
      (REPO4.nH2O; RE = Y and Yb) materials were synthesized by a precipitation-based
      method and investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption near
      edge spectroscopy (XANES). Examination of the powder XRD data from rhabdophane
      type materials has confirmed that the rhabdophane structure crystallizes in the
      monoclinic crystal system rather than the hexagonal structure that has most often
      been reported. Materials adopting the rhabdophane- or xenotime-type structure
      were studied as a function of temperature to understand how the structure varies
      with increasing annealing temperature. Local structural information was obtained
      by collecting P K- and RE L1-edge XANES spectra. Examination of P K-edge XANES
      spectra from rhabdophane- and xenotime-type materials revealed changes in the
      local environment around P as a function of temperature. These changes were
      attributed to the removal of water from these structures as a result of high
      temperature annealing.

PMID- 27627107
TI  - Type 3 Fimbriae Encoded on Plasmids Are Expressed from a Unique Promoter without
      Affecting Host Motility, Facilitating an Exceptional Phenotype That Enhances
      Conjugal Plasmid Transfer.
AB  - Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the transmission of genetic material to a
      recipient that is not the progeny of the donor, is fundamental in bacterial
      evolution. HGT is often mediated by mobile genetic elements such as conjugative
      plasmids, which may be in conflict with the chromosomal elements of the genome
      because they are independent replicons that may petition their own evolutionary
      strategy. Here we study differences between type 3 fimbriae encoded on wild type
      plasmids and in chromosomes. Using known and newly characterized plasmids we show
      that the expression of type 3 fimbriae encoded on plasmids is systematically
      different, as MrkH, a c-di-GMP dependent transcriptional activator is not needed
      for strong expression of the fimbriae. MrkH is required for expression of type 3
      fimbriae of the Klebsiella pneumoniae chromosome, wherefrom the fimbriae operon
      (mrkABCDF) of plasmids is believed to have originated. We find that mrkABCDFs of
      plasmids are highly expressed via a unique promoter that differs from the
      original Klebsiella promoter resulting in fundamental behavioral consequences.
      Plasmid associated mrkABCDFs did not influence the swimming behavior of the host,
      that hereby acquired an exceptional phenotype being able to both actively swim
      (planktonic behavior) and express biofilm associated fimbriae (sessile behavior).
      We show that this exceptional phenotype enhances the conjugal transfer of the
      plasmid. 

PMID- 27627109
TI  - Regulation of Lipolysis and Adipose Tissue Signaling during Acute Endotoxin
      Induced Inflammation: A Human Randomized Crossover Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lipolysis is accelerated during the acute phase of inflammation, a
      process being regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. TNF-alpha), stress
      hormones, and insulin. The intracellular mechanisms remain elusive and we
      therefore measured pro- and anti-lipolytic signaling pathways in adipocytes after
      in vivo endotoxin exposure. METHODS: Eight healthy, lean, male subjects were
      investigated using a randomized cross over trial with two interventions: i) bolus
      injection of saline (Placebo) and ii) bolus injection of lipopolysaccharide
      endotoxin (LPS). A 3H-palmitate tracer was used to measure palmitate rate of
      appearance (Rapalmitate) and indirect calorimetry was performed to measure energy
      expenditures and lipid oxidation rates. A subcutaneous abdominal fat biopsy was
      obtained during both interventions and subjected to western blotting and qPCR
      quantifications. RESULTS: LPS caused a mean increase in serum free fatty acids
      (FFA) concentrations of 90% (CI-95%: 37-142, p = 0.005), a median increase in
      Rapalmitate of 117% (CI-95%: 77-166, p<0.001), a mean increase in lipid oxidation
      of 49% (CI-95%: 1-96, p = 0.047), and a median increase in energy expenditure of
      28% (CI-95%: 16-42, p = 0.001) compared with Placebo. These effects were
      associated with increased phosphorylation of hormone sensitive lipase (pHSL) at
      ser650 in adipose tissue (p = 0.03), a trend towards elevated pHSL at ser552 (p =
      0.09) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) phosphorylation of perilipin 1
      (PLIN1) (p = 0.09). Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) also tended to increase
      (p = 0.08) while phosphorylation of Akt at Thr308 tended to decrease (p = 0.09)
      during LPS compared with Placebo. There was no difference between protein or mRNA
      expression of ATGL, G0S2, and CGI-58. CONCLUSION: LPS stimulated lipolysis in
      adipose tissue and is associated with increased pHSL and signs of increased PLIN1
      phosphorylation combined with a trend toward decreased insulin signaling. The
      combination of these mechanisms appear to be the driving forces behind the
      increased lipolysis observed in the early stages of acute inflammation and
      sepsis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01705782.

PMID- 27627111
TI  - Correction: Risk Factors and Relationship of Cutaneous and Uveal Melanocytic
      Lesions in Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twin Pairs.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160146.].

PMID- 27627112
TI  - Synthesis of 3D-Rich Heterocycles: Hexahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridin-2(1H)-ones and
      Octahydro-2H-2a,2a1-diazacyclopenta[cd]inden-2-ones.
AB  - Two cyclic azomethine imines, 7-methyl- and 7-phenyl-2-oxo-Delta7
      hexahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridin-8-ium-1-ide, were prepared in seven steps from
      the respective commercially available delta-keto acids. The addition of Grignard
      reagents followed by N-alkylation at position 1 afforded the 1,7,7-trisubstituted
      hexahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridin-2(1H)-ones, whereas 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of
      these dipoles to typical acetylenic and olefinic dipolarophiles gave 4a
      substituted 2a,2a1-diazacyclopenta[cd]indene derivatives as the first
      representatives of a novel heterocyclic system. Regio- and stereoselectivity as
      well as the mechanism of these [3 + 2]-cycloadditions were evaluated using
      computational and experimental methods. The data obtained were in agreement with
      the polar concerted cycloaddition mechanism via the energetically favorable
      syn/endo-transition states.

PMID- 27627110
TI  - Glutathione Peroxidase 5 Is Expressed by the Entire Pig Male Genital Tract and
      Once in the Seminal Plasma Contributes to Sperm Survival and In Vivo Fertility.
AB  - Glutathione peroxidase-5 (GPX5) is an H2O2-scavenging enzyme identified in boar
      seminal plasma (SP). This study attempted to clarify its origin and role on sperm
      survival and fertility after artificial insemination (AI). GPX5 was expressed
      (Western blot and immunocytochemistry using a rabbit primary polyclonal antibody)
      in testes, epididymis and accessory sex glands (6 boars). SP-GPX5 concentration
      differed among boars (11 boars, P < 0.001), among ejaculates within boar (44
      ejaculates, P < 0.001) and among portions within ejaculate (15 ejaculates). The
      first 10 mL of the sperm rich fraction (SRF, sperm-peak portion) had a
      significantly lower concentration (8.87 +/- 0.78 ng/mL) than the rest of the SRF
      and the post-SRF (11.66 +/- 0.79 and 12.37 +/- 0.79 ng/mL, respectively, P <
      0.005). Sperm motility of liquid-stored semen AI-doses (n = 44, at 15-17 degrees
      C during 72h) declined faster in AI-doses with low concentrations of SP-GPX5
      compared to those with high-levels. Boars (n = 11) with high SP-GPX5 showed
      higher farrowing rates and litter sizes than those with low SP-GPX5 (a total of
      5,275 inseminated sows). In sum, GPX5 is widely expressed in the boar genital
      tract and its variable presence in SP shows a positive relationship with sperm
      quality and fertility outcomes of liquid-stored semen AI-doses. 

PMID- 27627114
TI  - Adaptation and Validation of the Brief Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) in a Colombian
      Sample and Factorial Equivalence with the Spanish Version.
AB  - Attitudes toward sexuality are a key variable for sexual health. It is really
      important for psychology and education to have adapted and validated
      questionnaires to evaluate these attitudes. Therefore, the objective of this
      research was to adapt, validate and calculate the equivalence of the Colombia
      Sexual Opinion Survey as compared to the same survey from Spain. To this end, a
      total of eight experts were consulted and 1,167 subjects from Colombia and Spain
      answered the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Sexual Assertiveness Scale, the
      Massachusetts General Hospital-Sexual Functioning Questionnaire, and the
      Sexuality Scale. The evaluation was conducted by online and the results show
      adequate qualitative and quantitative properties of the items, with adequate
      reliability and external validity and compliance with the strong invariance
      between the two countries. Consequently, the Colombia Sexual Opinion Survey is a
      valid and reliable scale and its scores can be compared with the ones from the
      Spain survey, with minimum bias. 

PMID- 27627113
TI  - Hypertriglyceridemic Waist Phenotype Indicates Insulin Resistance in Adolescents
      According to the Clamp Technique in the BRAMS Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify cutoff points for detecting
      hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype (HTWP) in adolescents and to investigate the
      association of the HTWP with insulin resistance (IR) and metabolic syndrome
      components. METHODS: A multicentric cross-sectional study of 861 adolescents (10
      19 years of age, 504 girls) was conducted. Pubertal stage, anthropometric, and
      laboratory parameters were assessed. IR was assessed by Homeostasis Model
      Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA1-IR) index and hyperglycemic clamp (n =
      80). HTWP was defined by the presence of increased plasma triglycerides (TGs) and
      increased waist circumference (WC) according to cutoff points obtained in ROC
      curve analysis given the HOMA1-IR index as a reference method. RESULTS: Cutoffs
      for WC and TGs, with a higher sum of sensitivity (S) and specificity (E), were,
      respectively: >84 cm (S:65.1%, E:71.9%) and >87 mg/dL (S:65.1%, E:73.4%) in
      pubertal girls; >88.5 cm (S:80.2%, E:60.2%) and >78 mg/dL (S:60.5%, E:53.2%) in
      postpubertal girls; >94 cm (S:73.1%, E:83.1%) and >79 mg/dL (S:61.5%, E:60.2%) in
      pubertal boys; and >99 cm (S:81.3%, E:78.7%) and >86 mg/dL in postpubertal boys
      (S:68.1%, E:60.7%). HTWP frequency was 27.5%. In the phenotype presence, after
      adjustment for age and pubertal stage, blood pressure and fasting glucose levels
      were elevated and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower (p < 0.001).
      Adolescents with the HTWP showed more IR, evaluated both by the HOMA1-IR and by
      the clamp test (p < 0.003). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest HTWP as an IR status
      in adolescents. Cutoff point standardization for gender and pubertal stage,
      combined with the ease of application of the method, may allow their use for
      screening adolescents who would most benefit from lifestyle changes.

PMID- 27627115
TI  - [Mental Disorder and Self-Rated Health Among Homeless People in Zurich - First
      Epidemiological Data from Switzerland].
AB  - Objective This study aims to assess psychiatric morbidity and self-rated health
      (SRH) of homeless people in Zurich, Switzerland. Methods Cross-sectional study of
      N = 338 homeless people, assessement of psychiatric disorders (ICD-10), level of
      functioning (GAF, HoNOS), self-rated health. Comparison of SRH among homeless
      people with a sample of Zurich (N = 956) and Swiss (N = 21 579) population.
      Results 96 % of the homeless people had at least one psychiatric disorder, most
      of them drug- (60.9 %) or alcohol-dependence (41.5 %). Homeless people had a far
      lower SRH than the Zurich population. Higher impairment in HoNOS was associated
      with lower levels of SRH. Low SRH was associated with help care seeking (OR =
      1.9, p < 0.001) and medication (OR = 1.5, p = 0.006). Conclusions The prevalence
      of psychiatric disorders is far higher among homeless people compared to the
      general population in Zurich. Implications for providing help at the intersection
      of social and health care are discussed.

PMID- 27627116
TI  - [From the First Symptoms of Depression to Treatment. When and Where are People
      Seeking Help? Does Stigma Play a Role? - Results from a Survey at a German
      Convention for People with Depression].
AB  - Objective Only a few of the people affected by depression receive early
      treatment. The aim of this study is to determine the time interval between first
      onset of symptoms and treatment utilization and the role of stigma in this
      process. Methods Survey with participants from the 2nd German Patient Convention
      in Leipzig, Germany for patients, relatives and the general public. Results About
      one fourth of the respondents stated that the time interval between first
      symptoms of depression and treatment utilization was longer than three years. One
      third said that they received treatment immediately or until up to three months
      after the first symptoms of depression, and one third after three months up to
      three years. The majority (64 %) said that they first received a depression
      diagnosis from a specialist. The most common treatments used were psychotherapy,
      pharmacotherapy and a combination of both. Self-help, physical activity and
      occupational therapy were named as the most popular non-medical treatments.
      Conclusion A possible explanation for delayed treatment utilization could be the
      perceived public stigma, which was higher in people with depression in comparison
      to other convention attendees (relatives and general public).

PMID- 27627118
TI  - The Importance of Species Name Synonyms in Literature Searches.
AB  - The synonyms of biological species names are shown to be an important component
      in comprehensive searches of electronic scientific literature databases but they
      are not well leveraged within the major literature databases examined. For
      accepted or valid species names in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System
      (ITIS) which have synonyms in the system, and which are found in citations within
      PLoS, PMC, PubMed or Scopus, both the percentage of species for which citations
      will not be found if synonyms are not used, and the percentage increase in number
      of citations found by including synonyms are very often substantial. However,
      there is no correlation between the number of synonyms per species and the
      magnitude of the effect. Further, the number of citations found does not
      generally increase proportionally to the number of synonyms available. Users
      looking for literature on specific species across all of the resources
      investigated here are often missing large numbers of citations if they are not
      manually augmenting their searches with synonyms. Of course, missing citations
      can have serious consequences by effectively hiding critical information.
      Literature searches should include synonym relationships and a new web service in
      ITIS, with examples of how to apply it to this issue, was developed as a result
      of this study, and is here announced, to aide in this. 

PMID- 27627117
TI  - [Changes in Cognitive Functioning of Individuals with Dementia: Analyzing
      Performance Records in Cognitive Trainings].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The paper aims to illustrate how continuously recording performance in
      cognitive trainings conducted with people suffering from dementia helps to
      investigate long-term effects of these trainings. METHODS: The recorded training
      performance of 5 people with dementia is analyzed over the time interval of 1.5
      years. RESULTS: Cognitive functioning, indicated by training performance
      recordings, decreased significantly; the decrease was moderate, but less
      pronounced when the number of exercises was high. CONCLUSION: The results of the
      analyses correspond with the clients' MMSE-scores, and the changes in cognitive
      functioning are in line with those documented in the literature. In sum, the
      results provide support for the validity of the methodological procedure.

PMID- 27627119
TI  - Decreased Ovarian Reserve Predicts Inexplicability of Recurrent Miscarriage? A
      Retrospective Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate anti-Mullerian hormone, basal follicle stimulating
      hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, and female age in women with recurrent
      miscarriage and to compare women with explained and idiopathic recurrent
      miscarriage. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: University hospital,
      tertiary care center. PATIENTS: Women with recurrent miscarriage (78 explained,
      66 idiopathic). INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES(S): Anti-Mullerian
      hormone, basal follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, and
      age. RESULTS: Anti-Mullerian hormone and estradiol were significantly lower in
      women with idiopathic recurrent miscarriage (median 1.2 ng/ml, IQR 0.6-2.1, and
      median 36.5 pg/ml, IQR 25.8-47.3, respectively) than in women with explained
      recurrent miscarriage (median 2.0 ng/ml, IQR 1.1-2.7, and median 42.5 pg/ml, IQR
      32.8-59.8, respectively; p<0.05). Optimized cut-off values for the prediction of
      idiopathic recurrent miscarriage were <39.5 pg/ml for estradiol (sensitivity:
      63.3%, 95% CI: 50.9-75.1; specificity: 56.4%, 95% CI: 44.7-67.6) and <1.90 ng/ml
      for anti-Mullerian hormone (sensitivity: 72.7%, 95% CI: 60.4-83.0; specificity:
      52.6%, 95% CI: 40.9-64.0). CONCLUSION: Idiopathic recurrent miscarriage was
      associated with lower basal estradiol and anti-Mullerian hormone levels compared
      to explained recurrent miscarriage.

PMID- 27627121
TI  - Strategies for coping with family members of patients with mental disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to identify the coping strategies of family members of patients with
      mental disorders and relate them to family member sociodemographic variables and
      to the patient's clinical variables. METHOD: this was a descriptive study
      conducted at a psychiatric hospital in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo,
      with 40 family members of hospitalized patients over the age of 18, and who
      followed the patient before and during hospitalization. We used tools to
      characterize the subjects and the Folkman and Lazarus Inventory of Coping
      Strategies. RESULTS: the coping strategies most often used by family members were
      social support and problem solving. Mothers and fathers used more functional
      strategies (self-control p=0.037, positive reappraisal p=0.037, and social
      support p=0,021). We found no significant differences between the strategies and
      other variables examined. CONCLUSION: despite the suffering resulting from the
      illness of a dear one, family members make more use of functional strategies,
      allowing them to cope with adversities in a more well-adjusted way. OBJETIVO:
      identificar as estrategias de enfrentamento de familiares de pacientes com
      transtornos mentais e relaciona-las com as variaveis sociodemograficas do
      familiar e clinicas do paciente. METODO: estudo descritivo, desenvolvido em
      hospital psiquiatrico do interior do estado de Sao Paulo, com 40 familiares de
      pacientes internados, maiores de 18 anos e que acompanhavam o paciente antes e
      durante a internacao. Foram utilizados instrumentos para caracterizacao dos
      sujeitos e o Inventario de Estrategias de Enfrentamento de Folkman e Lazarus.
      RESULTADOS: as estrategias de enfrentamento mais utilizadas pelos familiares
      foram suporte social e resolucao de problemas. Pais e maes utilizaram mais
      estrategias funcionais (autocontrole p=0,037; reavaliacao positiva p=0,037;
      suporte social p=0,021). Nao foram evidenciadas diferencas significativas entre
      as estrategias e as demais variaveis estudadas. CONCLUSAO: apesar do sofrimento
      causado pelo impacto do adoecimento do seu ente querido, os familiares utilizam
      mais estrategias funcionais, permitindo-lhes enfrentar as adversidades de forma
      mais ajustada. OBJETIVO: identificar las estrategias de enfrentamiento de
      familiares de pacientes con trastornos mentales y relacionarlas con las variables
      sociodemograficas del familiar y clinicas del paciente. METODO: estudio
      descriptivo, desarrollado en un hospital psiquiatrico del interior del estado de
      Sao Paulo, con 40 familiares de pacientes internados, mayores de 18 anos y que
      acompanaban el paciente antes y durante la internacion. Fueron utilizados
      instrumentos para caracterizacion de los sujetos y el Inventario de Estrategias
      de Enfrentamiento de Folkman y Lazarus. RESULTADOS: las estrategias de
      enfrentamiento mas utilizadas por los familiares fueron el soporte social y la
      resolucion de problemas. Los padres y madres utilizaron mas estrategias
      funcionales (autocontrol p=0,037; reevaluacion positiva p=0,037; soporte social
      p=0,021). No fueron evidenciadas diferencias significativas entre las estrategias
      y las demas variables estudiadas. CONCLUSION: a pesar del sufrimiento causado por
      el impacto de la enfermedad de su ser querido, los familiares utilizan mas
      estrategias funcionales, permitiendoles enfrentar las adversidades de forma mas
      ajustada.

PMID- 27627120
TI  - Tuberculosis control in people living with HIV/AIDS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to analyze the offering of health actions and services for the control
      of tuberculosis for people living with HIV/AIDS being followed up in the
      Specialized Care Services for HIV/AIDS in Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil. METHOD:
      quantitative, exploratory survey study. Participated 253 people living with
      HIV/AIDS followed up by this service, considering as inclusion criteria:
      individuals older than 18 years living in the city and not inmates. Data
      collection was conducted from January 2012 to May 2013 through interviews with
      the support of a specific instrument. Data were analyzed using indicators and a
      composite index. RESULTS: the offering of services for the control of
      tuberculosis in people living with HIV/AIDS by municipal services was considered
      as intermediate, reinforcing the need for better planning for comprehensive
      assistance, coordination of professionals in teams and among the services
      network, in addition to professional training and continuing education.
      CONCLUSION: it is necessary to implement strategies that promote shared actions
      between TB and HIV / AIDS programs and between different services in order to
      strengthen the local care network, aimed at producing an individualized care,
      comprehensive and responsive. OBJETIVO: analisar a oferta das acoes e servicos de
      saude para o controle da tuberculose nas pessoas vivendo com HIV/aids em
      seguimento pelos Servicos de Atencao Especializada ao HIV/aids de Ribeirao Preto,
      SP, Brasil. METODO: estudo quantitativo, exploratorio, do tipo inquerito.
      Participaram 253 pessoas vivendo com HIV/aids em seguimento nos servicos,
      considerando os criterios de inclusao: individuos maiores de 18 anos, residentes
      no municipio e nao pertencentes ao sistema prisional. A coleta de dados foi
      realizada no periodo de janeiro/2012 a maio/2013, por meio de entrevistas com
      apoio de um instrumento especifico. Os dados foram analisados mediante
      indicadores e indice composto. RESULTADOS: a oferta de acoes e servicos para o
      controle da tuberculose nas pessoas vivendo com HIV/aids pelos servicos do
      municipio foi considerada regular, reforcando a necessidade de melhor
      planejamento da assistencia de forma integral, articulacao dos profissionais nas
      equipes e entre os servicos da rede, alem da formacao profissional e educacao
      permanente. CONCLUSAO: faz-se necessario a implementacao de estrategias que
      favorecam acoes compartilhadas entre os programas de tuberculose e HIV/aids e
      entre os diferentes servicos, com o intuito de fortalecer a rede local de atencao
      objetivando a producao de um cuidado singular, integral e resolutivo. OBJETIVO:
      analizar la oferta de acciones y servicios de salud para el control de la
      tuberculosis en las personas viviendo con VIH-SIDA acompanadas por los Servicios
      de Atencion Especializada al VIH-SIDA de Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brasil. METODO:
      estudio cuantitativo, exploratorio, de tipo encuesta. Participaron 253 personas
      viviendo con VIH-SIDA seguidas por estos servicios, considerando como criterios
      de inclusion: individuos mayores de 18 anos, residentes en el municipio y no ser
      del sistema de prisiones. La recoleccion de datos fue realizada en el periodo de
      enero de 2012 a mayo de 2013, por medio de entrevistas guiadas por un instrumento
      especifico. Los datos fueron analizados mediante indicadores y un indice
      compuesto. RESULTADOS: la oferta de acciones y servicios para el control de la
      tuberculosis en personas viviendo con VIH-SIDA fue considerada intermedia,
      reforzando la necesidad de mejorar la planificacion de la asistencia en forma
      integral, la articulacion de los profesionales en los equipos y entre los
      servicios de la red, ademas de la formacion profesional y la educacion
      permanente. CONCLUSION: se hace necesaria la implementacion de estrategias que
      favorezcan las acciones compartidas entre los programas de tuberculosis y VIH
      SIDA y entre los diferentes servicios, con el fin de fortalecer la red local de
      atencion para producir un cuidado personalizado, integral y resolutivo.

PMID- 27627122
TI  - Strengths of primary healthcare regarding care provided for chronic kidney
      disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to assess the structure and results obtained by the "Chronic Renal
      Patients Care Program" in a Brazilian city. METHOD: epidemiological, cross
      sectional study conducted in 14 PHC units and a secondary center from 2010 to
      2013. The Donabedian Model was the methodological framework used. A total of 14
      physicians, 13 supervisors, and 11 community health agents from primary
      healthcare were interviewed for the assessment of structure and process and 1,534
      medical files from primary healthcare and 282 from secondary care were consulted
      to assess outcomes. RESULTS: most units lacked sufficient offices for physicians
      and nurses to provide consultations, had incomplete staffing, and most
      professionals had not received proper qualification to provide care for chronic
      renal disease. Physicians from PHC units classified as capable more frequently
      referred patients to the secondary care service in the early stages of chronic
      renal disease (stage 3B) when compared to physicians of units considered not
      capable (58% vs. 36%) (p=0.049). Capable PHC units also more frequently presented
      stabilized glomerular filtration rates (51%) when compared to partially capable
      units (36%) and not capable units (44%) (p=0.046). CONCLUSION: patients cared for
      by primary healthcare units that scored higher in structure and process criteria
      presented better clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVE: to identify the coping strategies
      of family members of patients with mental disorders and relate them to family
      member sociodemographic variables and to the patient's clinical variables.
      METHOD: this was a descriptive study conducted at a psychiatric hospital in the
      interior of the state of Sao Paulo, with 40 family members of hospitalized
      patients over the age of 18, and who followed the patient before and during
      hospitalization. We used tools to characterize the subjects and the Folkman and
      Lazarus Inventory of Coping Strategies. RESULTS: the coping strategies most often
      used by family members were social support and problem solving. Mothers and
      fathers used more functional strategies (self-control p=0.037, positive
      reappraisal p=0.037, and social support p=0,021). We found no significant
      differences between the strategies and other variables examined. CONCLUSION:
      despite the suffering resulting from the illness of a dear one, family members
      make more use of functional strategies, allowing them to cope with adversities in
      a more well-adjusted way. OBJETIVO: avaliar estrutura, processo e resultado do
      "Programa de Atencao a Doentes Renais Cronicos" em um municipio brasileiro.
      METODO: estudo epidemiologico, transversal, realizado em 14 unidades de atencao
      primaria e um centro de atencao secundaria, no periodo de 2010-2013. Utilizou-se
      o referencial metodologico de Donabedian. Para avaliacao de estrutura e processo,
      foram entrevistados 14 medicos, 13 supervisores e 11 agentes comunitarios de
      saude da atencao primaria. Para avaliacao de resultado, foram utilizados 1.534
      prontuarios de saude na atencao primaria e 282 na atencao secundaria. RESULTADOS:
      na maioria das unidades faltam consultorios para atendimento medico e de
      enfermagem, as equipes estavam incompletas e a maioria dos profissionais nao
      participou de capacitacao para atencao a doenca renal cronica. Medicos das
      unidades primarias, classificadas como capacitadas, encaminharam usuarios a
      atencao secundaria em estagios mais precoces da doenca renal cronica (estagio 3B)
      quando comparados aos medicos das unidades nao capacitadas (58% vs 36%)
      (p=0,049). As unidades de atencao primaria, classificadas como capacitadas,
      apresentaram melhores taxas de estabilizacao da filtracao glomerular (51%) quando
      comparadas as unidades parcialmente capacitadas (36%) e nao capacitadas (44%)
      (p=0,046). CONCLUSAO: usuarios atendidos nas unidades de atencao primaria com
      pontuacao mais elevada em criterios de estrutura e processo apresentaram melhores
      resultados clinicos. OBJETIVO: evaluar la estructura, el proceso y los resultados
      del "Programa de Atencion a Enfermos Renales Cronicos" en un municipio brasileno.
      METODO: estudio epidemiologico, transversal, realizado en 14 unidades de atencion
      primaria y en un centro de atencion secundario, en el periodo de 2010 a 2013. Se
      utilizo el referencial metodologico de Donabedian. Para evaluacion de estructura
      y proceso; fueron entrevistados 14 medicos, 13 supervisores y 11 agentes
      comunitarios de salud de la atencion primaria. Para evaluacion del resultado,
      fueron utilizadas 1.534 fichas medicas en la atencion primaria y 282 en la
      atencion secundaria. RESULTADOS: en la mayoria de las unidades faltaban
      consultorios para la atencion medica y de enfermeria, los equipos estaban
      incompletos y la mayoria de los profesionales no participo de capacitaciones
      sobre la atencion a la enfermedad renal cronica. Los medicos de las unidades
      primarias, clasificados como capacitados, encaminaron usuarios para la atencion
      secundaria en etapas mas precoces de la enfermedad renal cronica (etapa 3B)
      cuando comparados a los medicos de las unidades no capacitadas (58% vs 36%)
      (p=0,049). Las unidades de atencion primaria, clasificadas como capacitadas,
      presentaron mejores tasas de estabilizacion de la filtracion glomerular (51%)
      cuando comparadas a las unidades parcialmente capacitadas (36%) y no capacitadas
      (44%) (p=0,046). CONCLUSION: los usuarios atendidos en las unidades de atencion
      primaria, con puntuacion mas elevada en criterios de estructura y proceso,
      presentaron mejores resultados clinicos.

PMID- 27627123
TI  - Interruptions of activities experienced by nursing professionals in an intensive
      care unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to analyze the interruptions experienced by nursing professionals
      while undertaking care activities. METHOD: an observational study undertaken in
      two intensive care units. Two nurses observed 33 nursing professionals for three
      hours. The data were recorded in real time, using a semistructured instrument.
      RESULTS: after 99 hours of observation of 739 activities, it was identified that
      46.82% were interrupted, resulting in 7.85 interruptions per hour. On average,
      the interruptions compromised 9.42% of the nursing professionals' worktime. The
      activities geared towards indirect care of the patient suffered the highest
      number of interruptions (56.65%), with the nursing records being the activity
      interrupted most. The principal source of the interruptions was external, coming
      from the health professionals (51%), and the main causes were those related to
      the patients (34.70%) and to interpersonal communication (26.47%). CONCLUSION:
      the activity of nursing suffers a high number of interruptions, mainly caused by
      the health professionals themselves, indicating that the work environment needs
      to undergo interventions aiming to reduce the risk of compromising of the
      professional's performance and to increase the patients' safety. OBJETIVO:
      analisar as interrupcoes experienciadas por profissionais de enfermagem durante
      realizacao de atividades assistenciais. METODO: estudo observacional realizado em
      duas unidades de tratamento intensivo. Dois enfermeiros observaram 33
      profissionais de enfermagem, por tres horas. Os dados foram registrados em tempo
      real, usando um instrumento semiestruturado. RESULTADOS: apos 99 horas de
      observacao de 739 atividades, foi identificado que 46,82% sofreram interrupcoes,
      perfazendo 7,85 interrupcoes por hora. As interrupcoes comprometeram, em media,
      9,42% do tempo de trabalho dos profissionais de enfermagem. As atividades
      direcionadas ao cuidado indireto do paciente foram as que sofreram maior numero
      de interrupcoes (56,65%), sendo o registro de enfermagem a atividade mais
      interrompida. A principal fonte das interrupcoes foi externa, proveniente dos
      profissionais de saude (51%), e as principais causas foram as relacionadas aos
      pacientes (34,70%) e as comunicacoes interpessoais (26,47%). CONCLUSAO: A
      enfermagem sofre um grande numero de interrupcoes, causadas principalmente pelos
      proprios profissionais de saude, indicando que o ambiente de trabalho deve sofrer
      intervencoes que objetivem reduzir o risco de comprometimento do desempenho do
      profissional e aumentar a seguranca dos pacientes. OBJETIVO: analizar las
      interrupciones experimentadas por profesionales de enfermeria durante la
      realizacion de actividades asistenciales. METODO: estudio observacional realizado
      en dos unidades de tratamiento intensivo. Dos enfermeros observaron 33
      profesionales de enfermeria, durante tres horas. Los datos fueron registrados en
      tiempo real, usando un instrumento semiestructurado. RESULTADOS: despues de 99
      horas de observacion de 739 actividades, fue identificado que 46,82% sufrieron
      interrupciones, haciendo 7,85 interrupciones por hora. En promedio, las
      interrupciones comprometieron 9,42% del tiempo de trabajo de los profesionales de
      enfermeria. Las actividades orientadas al cuidado indirecto del paciente fueron
      las que sufrieron el mayor numero de interrupciones (56,65%), siendo el registro
      de enfermeria la actividad mas interrumpida. La principal fuente de
      interrupciones fue externa, proveniente de los profesionales de la salud (51%), y
      las principales causas fueron las relacionadas a pacientes (34,70%) y a
      comunicaciones interpersonales (26,47%). CONCLUSION: La enfermeria sufre un gran
      numero de interrupciones, causadas principalmente por los propios profesionales
      de la salud, indicando que el ambiente de trabajo debe sufrir intervenciones que
      objetiven reducir el riesgo de comprometer el desempeno del profesional y
      aumentar la seguridad de los pacientes.

PMID- 27627124
TI  - Factors associated to clinical learning in nursing students in primary health
      care: an analytical cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to identify the students' perception about the quality of clinical
      placements and asses the influence of the different tutoring processes in
      clinical learning. METHODS: analytical cross-sectional study on second and third
      year nursing students (n=122) about clinical learning in primary health care. The
      Clinical Placement Evaluation Tool and a synthetic index of attitudes and skills
      were computed to give scores to the clinical learning (scale 0-10). Univariate,
      bivariate and multivariate (multiple linear regression) analyses were performed.
      RESULTS: the response rate was 91.8%. The most commonly identified tutoring
      process was "preceptor-professor" (45.2%). The clinical placement was assessed as
      "optimal" by 55.1%, relationship with team-preceptor was considered good by 80.4%
      of the cases and the average grade for clinical learning was 7.89. The multiple
      linear regression model with more explanatory capacity included the variables
      "Academic year" (beta coefficient = 1.042 for third-year students), "Primary
      Health Care Area (PHC)" (beta coefficient = 0.308 for Area B) and "Clinical
      placement perception" (beta coefficient = - 0.204 for a suboptimal perception).
      CONCLUSIONS: timeframe within the academic program, location and clinical
      placement perception were associated with students' clinical learning. Students'
      perceptions of setting quality were positive and a good team-preceptor
      relationship is a matter of relevance. OBJETIVO: identificar a percepcao dos
      estudantes de enfermagem sobre a qualidade das Praticas Clinicas em Atencao
      Primaria a Saude e avaliar a influencia dos diferentes processos de tutoria na
      aprendizagem clinica. METODOS: um estudo analitico transversal realizado com
      alunos do segundo e do terceiro ano de enfermagem (n = 122) na aprendizagem
      clinica nos servicos de Atencao Primaria a Saude. A Ferramenta de Avaliacao de
      Praticas Clinicas (Clinical Placement Evaluation Tool) e um indice sintetico de
      atitudes e habilidades (escala de 0 a 10) foram calculados para marcar a
      aprendizagem clinica. Foram realizadas analises univariadas, bivariadas e
      multivariadas (regressao linear multipla). RESULTADOS: a taxa de resposta foi de
      91,8%. O processo de tutoria mais indicado foi o de "preceptor-professor"
      (45,2%). As Praticas Clinicas foram avaliadas como "otimas" por 55,1%, o
      relacionamento com a equipe-preceptor foi considerado bom por 80,4% dos casos e a
      classificacao media para a aprendizagem clinica foi de 7,89. O modelo de
      regressao linear multipla, com mais capacidade explicativa incluiu as variaveis
      "ano academico" (coeficiente de beta = 1.042 para alunos do terceiro ano), "area
      de cuidados de saude primarios" (coeficiente de beta = 0,308 para a Area B) e
      "percepcao de praticas clinicas" (beta coeficiente = - 0,204 para uma percepcao
      menos que otima). CONCLUSOES: O momento dentro do programa academico, a
      localizacao e percepcao das Praticas Clinicas foram associados com a aprendizagem
      clinica dos alunos. A percepcao dos alunos sobre a qualidade do lugar das
      Praticas Clinicas foi positiva e um bom relacionamento da equipe-preceptor e uma
      questao de relevancia. OBJETIVO: identificar la percepcion del alumnado de
      enfermeria sobre la calidad de las Practicas Clinicas y evaluar la influencia de
      los diferentes procesos de tutoria en el aprendizaje clinico. METODOS: estudio
      analitico transversal realizado con estudiantes de segundo y tercer ano de
      enfermeria (n = 122) en el aprendizaje clinico en los servicios de atencion
      primaria de salud. La Herramienta de Evaluacion de Practicas Clinicas (Clinical
      Placement Evaluation Tool) y un indice sintetico de las actitudes y habilidades
      (escala de 0 a 10) se calcularon para puntuar el aprendizaje clinico. Se
      realizaron analisis univariados, bivariados, multivariados (regresion lineal
      multiple). RESULTADOS: la tasa de respuesta fue del 91,8%. El proceso de tutoria
      mas comunmente identificado fue "preceptor-profesor" (45,2%). Las Practicas
      Clinicas se evaluaron como "optimas" en un 55,1%, la relacion equipo-preceptor
      fue considerada buena por el 80,4% de los casos y la calificacion media para el
      aprendizaje clinico fue de 7.89. El modelo de regresion lineal multiple con mayor
      capacidad explicativa incluyo las variables "ano academico" (coeficiente beta =
      1.042 para los estudiantes de tercer ano), "Area de Atencion Primaria de la
      Salud" (coeficiente beta = 0,308 para el Area B) y la "percepcion de las
      Practicas Clinicas" (coeficiente beta = - 0,204 para una percepcion suboptima).
      CONCLUSIONES: el momento dentro del programa academico, la ubicacion y la
      percepcion de las Practicas Clinicac se asociaron con el aprendizaje clinico de
      los estudiantes. La percepcion de los estudiantes de la calidad del lugar de las
      Practicas Clinicas fue positiva y la buena relacion equipo-preceptor es una
      cuestion de relevancia.

PMID- 27627125
TI  - Results after implementation of a protocol on the incidence of urinary tract
      infection in an intensive care unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to compare the results of urinary tract infection incidence, by means
      of the rate of indwelling urethral catheter use, and to identify microorganisms
      in urine cultures and surveillance cultures before and after the implementation
      of a clinical protocol for intensive care unit patients . METHOD: urinary tract
      infection is defined as a positive urine culture > 105 CFU/mL, notified by the
      hospital infection control service, six months before and after the
      implementation of the protocol. The sample consisted of 47 patients, 28 reported
      before and 19 after implementation. The protocol established in the institution
      is based on the Ministry of Health manual to prevent healthcare-related
      infections; the goal is patient safety and improving the quality of health
      services. RESULTS: a negative linear correlation was observed between the later
      months of implementation and the reduction of reported cases of urinary tract
      infection, using the Spearman rank order coefficient (p = 0.045), and a reduction
      in the number of urine culture microorganisms (p = 0.026) using the Fisher exact
      test. CONCLUSION: educational interventions with implementation protocols in
      health institutions favor the standardization of maintenance of the invasive
      devices, which may reduce colonization and subsequent infections. OBJETIVO:
      comparar os resultados da incidencia de infeccao do trato urinario, por meio da
      taxa de utilizacao do cateter vesical de demora e identificar os micro-organismos
      na urocultura e cultura de vigilancia antes e apos a implementacao de um
      protocolo assistencial em pacientes internados em unidade de terapia intensiva.
      METODO: definiu-se infeccao do trato urinario pacientes com urocultura positiva
      >105 UFC/mL, notificados pelo Servico de Controle de Infeccao Hospitalar, seis
      meses antes e apos a implementacao do protocolo. A amostra foi constituida por 47
      pacientes, sendo 28 notificados antes e 19 apos. O protocolo, criado na
      instituicao, e baseado no manual do Ministerio da Saude na prevencao de infeccoes
      relacionadas a assistencia a saude, como meta a seguranca do paciente e o
      aperfeicoamento na qualidade dos servicos de saude. RESULTADOS: foi possivel
      observar uma correlacao linear negativa entre os meses posteriores da
      implementacao e a reducao dos casos notificados de infeccao do trato urinario,
      pelo teste de Spearman (p=0,045) e reducao do numero de micro-organismos na
      urocultura (p=0,026) pelo teste de Fisher. CONCLUSAO: intervencoes educativas com
      implementacao de protocolos nas instituicoes de saude favorece a padronizacao da
      manutencao com dispositivos invasivos podendo reduzir a colonizacao e posterior
      casos de infeccao. OBJETIVO: comparar los resultados de la incidencia de
      infeccion del tracto urinario, por medio de la tasa de utilizacion del cateter
      vesical de demora e identificar los microorganismos en el urocultivo y cultura de
      vigilancia antes y despues de la implementacion de un protocolo asistencial, en
      pacientes internados en unidad de terapia intensiva. METODO: se definio la
      infeccion del tracto urinario de pacientes con urocultivo positivo >105 UFC/mL,
      notificados por el Servicio de Control de Infeccion Hospitalario, seis meses
      antes y despues de la implementacion del protocolo. La muestra estuvo constituida
      por 47 pacientes, siendo 28 notificados antes y 19 despues. El protocolo, creado
      en la institucion, esta basado en el manual del Ministerio de la Salud para la
      prevencion de infecciones relacionadas a la asistencia la salud, siendo la meta
      la seguridad del paciente y el perfeccionamiento de la calidad de los servicios
      de la salud. RESULTADOS: fue posible observar una correlacion linear negativa
      entre los meses posteriores a la implementacion y la reduccion de los casos
      notificados de infeccion del tracto urinario, por el test de Spearman (p=0,045) y
      reduccion del numero de microorganismos en el urocultivo (p=0,026) por el test de
      Fisher. CONCLUSION: las intervenciones educativas con implementacion de
      protocolos en las instituciones de la salud favorecen la estandarizacion de la
      manutencion de dispositivos invasivos, lo que podria reducir la colonizacion y
      posterior aparecimiento de casos de infeccion.

PMID- 27627126
TI  - Effects of relaxation on depression levels in women with high-risk pregnancies: a
      randomised clinical trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to analyse the effects of relaxation as a nursing intervention on the
      depression levels of hospitalised women with high-risk pregnancies. METHODS: a
      randomised clinical trial realised in a reference centre for high-risk
      pregnancies. The sample consisted of 50 women with high-risk pregnancies (25 in
      the control group and 25 in the intervention group). The Benson relaxation
      technique was applied to the intervention group for five days. Control variables
      were collected using a predesigned form, and the signs and symptoms of depression
      were evaluated using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The
      Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20.0, was used with a
      significance level of 5%. The Wilcoxon and paired t-tests were used to evaluate
      depression levels between two timepoints. Using categorical data, the McNemar
      test was used to analyse differences in depression severity before and after the
      intervention. RESULTS: depression levels decreased in the intervention group five
      days after the relaxation technique was applied (4.5 +/- 3, p<0.05) compared with
      the levels at the first timepoint (10.3+/-5.9). CONCLUSION: as a nursing
      intervention, relaxation was effective in decreasing the symptoms of depression
      in hospitalised women with high-risk pregnancies. OBJETIVO: analisar os efeitos
      do relaxamento como uma intervencao de enfermagem sobre os niveis de depressao de
      mulheres internadas com gravidez de alto risco. METODOS: ensaio clinico
      randomizado realizado em um centro de referencia para gravidez de alto risco A
      amostra foi composta de 50 mulheres com gravidez de alto risco (25 no grupo
      controle e 25 no grupo intervencao). A tecnica de relaxamento de Benson foi
      aplicada ao grupo intervencao por cinco dias. Variaveis de controle foram
      coletados por meio de um formulario previamente desenvolvido e os sinais e
      sintomas de depressao foram avaliados usando o Edinburgh Postnatal depression
      Scale (EPDS). O Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), versao 20.0,
      foi utilizado com nivel de significancia de 5%. Os testes de Wilcoxon e t pareado
      foram utilizados para avaliar os niveis de depressao entre os dois momentos. Em
      relacao aos dados categoricos, foi utilizado o teste de McNemar para analisar
      diferencas na gravidade da depressao antes e depois da intervencao. RESULTADOS:
      os niveis de depressao diminuiram no grupo intervencao cinco dias apos a
      aplicacao da tecnica de relaxamento (4.5+/-3, p<0.05) em comparacao sos niveis do
      primeiro momento (10.3+/-5.9). CONCLUSAO: como uma intervencao de enfermagem, o
      relaxamento foi eficaz na diminuicao dos sintomas de depressao em mulheres
      internadas com gravidez de alto risco. OBJETIVO: analizar los efectos de la
      relajacion como una intervencion de enfermeria sobre los niveles de depresion de
      mujeres hospitalizadas con embarazos de alto riesgo. METODOS: un ensayo clinico
      aleatorizado realizado en un centro de referencia para embarazos de alto riesgo.
      La muestra consistia en 50 mujeres con embarazos de alto riesgo (25 en el grupo
      control y 25 en el grupo de intervencion). Se aplico la tecnica de relajacion de
      Benson al grupo de intervencion durante cinco dias. Las variables control se
      recogieron usando un formulario predisenado, y los signos y sintomas de depresion
      se evaluaron usando la Escala de Depresion Postparto de Edimburgo (EDPE,
      Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale - EPDS). El Paquete Estadistico para
      Ciencias Sociales (SPSS, del ingles Statistical Package for Social Sciences),
      version 20.0, se uso con un nivel de significacion del 5%. La prueba de Wilcoxon
      y la prueba de t de Student pareada se usaron para evaluar los niveles de
      depresion entre dos puntos en el tiempo. Usando datos categoricos, la prueba de
      McNemar se uso para analizar diferencias en la severidad de la depresion antes y
      despues de la intervencion. RESULTADOS: los niveles de depresion disminuyeron en
      el grupo de intervencion a los cinco dias despues de que la tecnica de relajacion
      fuera aplicada (4.5 +/- 3, p<0.05) en comparacion con los niveles del primer
      tiempo (10.3+/-5.9). CONCLUSION: como una intervencion de enfermeria, la
      relajacion fue efectiva en la reduccion de los sintomas de depresion en mujeres
      hospitalizadas con embarazos de alto riesgo.

PMID- 27627127
TI  - Transparent Electrode and Magnetic Permalloy Made from Novel Nanopaper.
AB  - We report a novel partial dissolution strategy to liberate uniform cellulose
      nanofibers with diameter of 5-10 nm from macroscopic cellulose fibers and promote
      separation of nanofibers in an aqueous environment by forming water-soluble
      sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) through heterogeneous sodium acetoxylation of
      cellulose. With the obtained cellulose nanofibers, we fabricated nanopapers which
      exhibit high optical transparency of 90.5% (@550 nm) with promising mechanical
      properties and high thermal stability. By directly depositing Ag nanowires on a
      wet nanofiber sheet, we fabricated a flexible transparent electrode with 86.5%
      (@550 nm) transparency and 26.2 Omega/sq sheet resistance (Rs). Meanwhile, we
      studied the magnetic properties of sputter deposited thin film of permalloy on
      nanopaper which exhibited a similar magnetic coercivity and a close saturation
      magnetization to conventional silicon dioxide-based permalloy.

PMID- 27627129
TI  - PbS Nanocrystal Emission Is Governed by Multiple Emissive States.
AB  - Lead chalcogenide colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) are promising materials for
      solution processable optoelectronics. However, there is little agreement on the
      identity and character of PbS NC emission for different degrees of quantum
      confinement-a critical parameter for realizing applications for these
      nanocrystals. In this work, we combine ensemble and single NC spectroscopies to
      interrogate preparations of lead sulfide NCs. We use solution photon correlation
      Fourier spectroscopy (S-PCFS) to measure the average single NC linewidth of near
      infrared-emitting PbS quantum dots and find it to be dominated by homogeneous
      broadening. We further characterize PbS NCs using temperature-dependent linear
      and time-resolved emission spectroscopy which demonstrate that a kinetically
      accessed defect state dominates room temperature emission of highly confined
      emitting NCs. These experiments, taken together, demonstrate that the linewidth
      and Stokes shift of PbS NCs are the result of emission from two states: a
      thermally accessed defect-with an energetically pinned charge carrier-and an
      inhomogeneously broadened band-edge state.

PMID- 27627130
TI  - Chiral Separation of Cytotoxic Flavan Derivatives from Daphne giraldii.
AB  - Twelve new flavan derivatives including four pairs of enantiomers, daphnegiralins
      A1-A4 (1) and daphnegiralins B1-B4 (2), and two pairs of epimers, daphnegiralins
      C1/C2 (3) and daphnegiralins D1/D2 (4), were isolated from the stem bark and
      roots of Daphne giraldii. Their structures were elucidated using spectroscopic
      analyses, computational approaches, and chemical methods. Separation of the
      enantiomeric mixtures (1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b) was achieved using chiral HPLC. The
      compounds were evaluated against a small panel of human cancer cell lines, and 1b
      2, 2a, and 2b were cytotoxic against Hep3B human hepatoma cells.

PMID- 27627131
TI  - Bariatric Surgery in Patients With Body Mass Index Greater Than 50 : Technique or
      Timing?

PMID- 27627128
TI  - A Genome-Wide siRNA Screen Implicates Spire1/2 in SipA-Driven Salmonella
      Typhimurium Host Cell Invasion.
AB  - Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Tm) is a leading cause of diarrhea. The disease is
      triggered by pathogen invasion into the gut epithelium. Invasion is attributed to
      the SPI-1 type 3 secretion system (T1). T1 injects effector proteins into
      epithelial cells and thereby elicits rearrangements of the host cellular actin
      cytoskeleton and pathogen invasion. The T1 effector proteins SopE, SopB, SopE2
      and SipA are contributing to this. However, the host cell factors contributing to
      invasion are still not completely understood. To address this question
      comprehensively, we used Hela tissue culture cells, a genome-wide siRNA library,
      a modified gentamicin protection assay and S. TmSipA, a sopBsopE2sopE mutant
      which strongly relies on the T1 effector protein SipA to invade host cells. We
      found that S. TmSipA invasion does not elicit membrane ruffles, nor promote the
      entry of non-invasive bacteria "in trans". However, SipA-mediated infection
      involved the SPIRE family of actin nucleators, besides well-established host cell
      factors (WRC, ARP2/3, RhoGTPases, COPI). Stage-specific follow-up assays and
      knockout fibroblasts indicated that SPIRE1 and SPIRE2 are involved in different
      steps of the S. Tm infection process. Whereas SPIRE1 interferes with bacterial
      binding, SPIRE2 influences intracellular replication of S. Tm. Hence, these two
      proteins might fulfill non-redundant functions in the pathogen-host interaction.
      The lack of co-localization hints to a short, direct interaction between S. Tm
      and SPIRE proteins or to an indirect effect. 

PMID- 27627132
TI  - Burden of systemic glucocorticoid-related complications in severe asthma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although systemic glucocorticoids (SGCs) are efficacious, their
      chronic use is associated with a range of complications. Yet limited data are
      available about the risks following chronic use in patients with severe asthma,
      who are at risk of long-term SGC-related complications. This study was carried
      out to investigate the risks of developing SGC-related complications, and to
      quantify the associated healthcare resource utilization and costs for patients
      with severe asthma in the United States. METHODS: This was a longitudinal, open
      cohort, observational study. Medicaid claims data (1997-2013) for patients >=12
      years old with >=2 asthma diagnoses were used. A total of 26,987 SGC non-users
      were identified for inclusion in the study, alongside 3628 SGC users with >=6
      months' continuous SGC use. RESULTS: Multivariate generalized estimating equation
      models were used to estimate the adjusted risk of developing SGC-related
      complications, and to quantify the associated healthcare resource utilization and
      costs. This analysis compared SGC users with SGC non-users, and found that SGC
      users had an increased likelihood of developing complications. A significant dose
      response relationship was demonstrated between chronic SGC use and risk of
      developing any complications (odds ratios for low, medium, and high SGC exposure
      were 2.03 [p = .0511], 2.85 [p < .0001], and 3.64 [p < .0001], respectively, vs.
      SGC non-users). The increased likelihood of SGC-related complications translated
      into estimated annual healthcare costs for SGC users of $2712 to $8560 above
      those of SGC non-users. A key limitation of this study is the disparity in age
      between the SGC users and the SGC non-users; however, age was included as a
      confounding factor in the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the risk
      associated with chronic use of SGCs, irrespective of dose level, and highlight
      the need for new SGC-sparing treatment strategies for patients with severe
      asthma.

PMID- 27627134
TI  - Treatment or Monitoring for Early Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 27627133
TI  - Inflammatory, endocrine and metabolic correlates of fatigue in obese children.
AB  - Alterations in endocrine functions and low-grade systemic inflammation represent
      fundamental characteristics of obesity. These biological systems have been
      repeatedly linked to fatigue symptoms. The aim of the study was to assess the
      relationship between fatigue dimensions and metabolic/inflammatory markers in a
      sample of non-diabetic obese children. The possibility that inflammation-induced
      alterations in tryptophan metabolism relates to specific dimensions of fatigue
      was also investigated in a subsample of patients. The study was conducted in 41
      obese children, median aged 12 [9-15] years, recruited in a pediatric tertiary
      center. Three dimensions of fatigue (e.g., general fatigue, sleep/rest, cognitive
      fatigue) were assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory
      Multidimentional Fatigue Scale. In addition, a principal component analysis was
      performed to identify fatigue dimensions that were specific to the population
      under study. This analysis extracted five relevant dimensions corresponding
      respectively to concentration, energy, self-perceived cognitive efficiency,
      sleep/rest and motivation/anhedonia. Blood samples were collected for the
      measurement of inflammatory and metabolic markers, including high sensitivity C
      reactive protein (hs-CRP), insulin, uricemia and glycaemia. Tryptophan,
      kynurenine and neopterin levels were also determined in a subsample of 17
      patients. In the whole population under study, cognitive fatigue and reduced
      motivation/anhedonia were associated with BMI, independently of sex and age. The
      dimension of reduced motivation/anhedonia was associated with insulin resistance
      and inflammatory biomarkers. The association with insulin resistance persisted
      when the extent of fat mass (BMI-SDS) was taken into account. No association was
      found between tryptophan metabolism and specific dimensions of fatigue, but
      kynurenine and the kynurenine/tryptophan ratio correlated with insulin and HOMA
      IR. These data indicate that insulin resistance in non diabetic obese children is
      associated with both cognitive fatigue and reduced motivation/anhedonia and with
      alterations in tryptophan metabolism. Further investigations are needed to
      determine whether inflammation-induced alterations in tryptophan metabolism is
      directly or indirectly implicated in insulin resistance and related fatigue.

PMID- 27627136
TI  - Correction: Insulin-like growth factor-independent insulin-like growth factor
      binding protein 3 promotes cell migration and lymph node metastasis of oral
      squamous cell carcinoma cells by requirement of integrin beta1.

PMID- 27627137
TI  - Low-Level Laser Irradiation Precondition for Cardiac Regenerative Therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article was to review the molecular mechanisms of
      low-level laser irradiation (LLLI) preconditioning for heart cell therapy.
      BACKGROUND DATA: Stem cell transplantation appears to offer a better alternative
      to cardiac regenerative therapy. Previous studies have confirmed that the
      application of LLLI plays a positive role in regulating stem cell proliferation
      and in remodeling the hostile milieu of infarcted myocardium. Greater
      understanding of LLLI's underlying mechanisms would be helpful in translating
      cell transplantation therapy into the clinic. METHODS: Studies investigating LLLI
      preconditioning for cardiac regenerative therapy published up to 2015 were
      retrieved from library sources and Pubmed databases. RESULTS: LLLI
      preconditioning stimulates proliferation and differentiation of stem cells
      through activation of cell proliferation signaling pathways and alteration of
      microRNA expression. It also could stimulate paracrine secretion of stem cells
      and alter cardiac cytokine expression in infarcted myocardium. CONCLUSIONS: LLLI
      preconditioning provides a promising approach to maximize the efficacy of cardiac
      cell-based therapy. Although many studies have reported possible molecular
      mechanisms involved in LLLI preconditioning, the exact mechanisms are still not
      clearly understood.

PMID- 27627138
TI  - Predictors for trismus in patients receiving radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trismus, a restricted mouth opening in head and neck cancer patients
      may be caused by tumor infiltration in masticatory muscles, radiation-induced
      fibrosis or scarring after surgery. It may impede oral functioning severely. The
      aims of our study were to determine: (1) the incidence of trismus at various time
      points; and (2) the patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics that predict
      the development of trismus after radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients
      using a large database (n = 641). METHODS: Maximal mouth opening was measured
      prior to and 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months after radiotherapy. Patient, tumor,
      and treatment characteristics were analyzed as potential predictors for trismus
      using a multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: At six months after
      radiotherapy, 28.1% of the patients without trismus prior to radiotherapy
      developed trismus for the first time. At subsequent time points the incidence
      declined. Over a total period of 48 months after radiotherapy, the incidence of
      trismus was 3.6 per 10 person years at risk. Patients who had tumors located in
      the oral cavity, oropharynx or nasopharynx, and the salivary glands or ear, and
      who had a longer overall treatment time of radiotherapy, were more likely to
      develop trismus in the first six months after radiotherapy. Maximal mouth opening
      was a predictor for developing trismus at all time points. CONCLUSION: Incidence
      of trismus is 3.6 per 10 person years at risk. Tumor localization and overall
      treatment time of radiotherapy are predictors for developing trismus the first
      six months after radiotherapy. Maximal mouth opening is a significant predictor
      for developing trismus at all time points. Regular measurements of maximal mouth
      opening are needed to predict trismus.

PMID- 27627135
TI  - Translational Advances in the Field of Pulmonary Hypertension. From Cancer
      Biology to New Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Therapeutics. Targeting Cell
      Growth and Proliferation Signaling Hubs.

PMID- 27627181
TI  - Perceived listening effort and speech intelligibility in reverberation and noise
      for hearing-impaired listeners.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess perceived listening effort and
      speech intelligibility in reverberant and noisy conditions for hearing-impaired
      listeners for conditions that are similar according to the speech transmission
      index (STI). DESIGN: Scaled listening effort was measured in four different
      conditions at five different STI generated using various relative contributions
      of noise and reverberant interferences. Intelligibility was measured for a subset
      of conditions. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty mildly to moderately hearing-impaired
      listeners. RESULTS: In general, listening effort decreased and speech
      intelligibility increased with increasing STI. For simulated impulse responses
      consisting of white Gaussian noise exponentially decaying in time, a good
      agreement between conditions of different relative contributions of noise and
      reverberation was found. For real impulse responses, the STI slightly
      overestimated the effect of reverberation on the perceived listening effort and
      underestimated its effect on speech intelligibility. Including the average
      hearing loss in the calculation of the STI led to a better agreement between STI
      predictions and subjective data. CONCLUSION: Speech intelligibility and listening
      effort provide complementary tools to evaluate speech perception over a broad
      range of acoustic scenarios. In addition, when incorporating hearing loss
      information the STI provides a rough prediction of listening effort in these
      acoustic scenarios.

PMID- 27627182
TI  - Characterization of a Wheat Breeders' Array suitable for high-throughput SNP
      genotyping of global accessions of hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum).
AB  - Targeted selection and inbreeding have resulted in a lack of genetic diversity in
      elite hexaploid bread wheat accessions. Reduced diversity can be a limiting
      factor in the breeding of high yielding varieties and crucially can mean reduced
      resilience in the face of changing climate and resource pressures. Recent
      technological advances have enabled the development of molecular markers for use
      in the assessment and utilization of genetic diversity in hexaploid wheat.
      Starting with a large collection of 819 571 previously characterized wheat
      markers, here we describe the identification of 35 143 single nucleotide
      polymorphism-based markers, which are highly suited to the genotyping of elite
      hexaploid wheat accessions. To assess their suitability, the markers have been
      validated using a commercial high-density Affymetrix Axiom(r) genotyping array
      (the Wheat Breeders' Array), in a high-throughput 384 microplate configuration,
      to characterize a diverse global collection of wheat accessions including
      landraces and elite lines derived from commercial breeding communities. We
      demonstrate that the Wheat Breeders' Array is also suitable for generating high
      density genetic maps of previously uncharacterized populations and for
      characterizing novel genetic diversity produced by mutagenesis. To facilitate the
      use of the array by the wheat community, the markers, the associated sequence and
      the genotype information have been made available through the interactive web
      site 'CerealsDB'.

PMID- 27627184
TI  - Hyperthermia for Major Depressive Disorder?

PMID- 27627183
TI  - Unprecedented antioxidative cyclic ether from the red seaweed Kappaphycus
      alvarezii with anti-cyclooxygenase and lipoxidase activities.
AB  - An unprecedented non-isoprenoid oxocine carboxylate cyclic ether characterised as
      (3S, 4R, 5S, 6Z)-3-((R)-hexan-2'-yl)-3,4,5,8-tetrahydro-4-methyl-2H-oxocin-5-yl
      acetate was isolated from the ethyl acetate-methanol extract of the red seaweed
      Kappaphycus alvarezii. The structure, as well as its relative stereochemistry,
      was proposed on the basis of extensive spectral data. The antioxidative activity
      of the isolated metabolite was found to have significantly greater as determined
      by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiozoline-6
      sulfonic acid radical scavenging activities (IC50 ~ 0.3 mg/mL) compared to alpha
      tocopherol (IC50 > 0.6 mg/mL) and was comparable to the synthetic antioxidants
      butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole (IC50 ~ 0.35-0.34 mg/mL).
      The compound exhibited greater activity against COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) than COX
      1 (cyclooxygenase-1) isoform, and therefore, the selectivity index remained
      significantly lesser (anti-COX-1IC50: anti-COX-2IC50 0.87) than synthetic anti
      inflammatory drugs (0.02-0.44). No significant difference of in vivo 5-lipoxidase
      activity (IC50 0.95 mg/mL) than ibuprofen (IC50 0.93 mg/mL) indicated the
      potential anti-inflammatory properties of the title compound.

PMID- 27627185
TI  - Crystal structure of eIF2B and insights into eIF2-eIF2B interactions.
AB  - Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B (eIF2B), a heterodecameric complex of
      two sets of the alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon subunits, is the guanine
      nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) specific for eIF2, a heterotrimeric G protein
      consisting of the alpha, beta, and gamma subunits. The eIF2 protein binds GTP on
      the gamma subunits and delivers an initiator methionyl-tRNA (Met-tRNAiMet ) to
      the ribosome. The GEF activity of eIF2B is inhibited by stress-induced
      phosphorylation of Ser51 in the alpha subunit of eIF2, which leads to lower
      amounts of active eIF2 and a limited quantity of Met-tRNAiMet for the ribosome,
      resulting in global repression of translation. However, the structural mechanism
      of the GEF activity inhibition remained enigmatic, and therefore the three
      dimensional structure of the entire eIF2B molecule had been awaited. Recently, we
      determined the crystal structure of Schizosaccharomyces pombe eIF2B. In this
      Structural Snapshot, we present the structural features of eIF2B and the
      mechanism underlying the GEF activity inhibition by the phosphorylation of
      eIF2alpha, elucidated from structure-based in vitro analyses.

PMID- 27627186
TI  - Discussion Strategies That Primary Care Clinicians Use When Stopping Cancer
      Screening in Older Adults.

PMID- 27627187
TI  - Treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea patients in community dental care:
      knowledge and attitudes among general dental practitioners and specialist
      dentists.
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is an increasing problem worldwide. Yet, a large
      number of patients may remain undiagnosed. Dentists could suspect OSA, but little
      is known about their knowledge and attitudes towards the topic. An email
      questionnaire was sent to dentists working in Helsinki Health Centre, Helsinki,
      Finland (n = 226). It consisted of demographic data, items on dentists' overall
      knowledge of OSA and factors associated with it, and their possibilities and
      willingness to take part in the recognition and treatment of OSA patients.
      Altogether, 70.9% (n = 134) of dentists eligible for the study completed the
      questionnaire. Of them, 79.1% (n = 106) were general practitioners and 20.9% (n =
      28) dentists with specialty training. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
      (99.3%) and weight control (99.3%) were both generally acknowledged as effective
      methods to treat OSA. Regarding the efficacy of other treatment modalities,
      significant differences were found between general practitioners' and
      specialists' opinions. For example, mandibular advancement devices (MAD) were
      less often reported by general practitioners (69.8%) than specialists (89.3%) (P
      < 0.05). The possible risk factors, signs and symptoms, and consequences of OSA
      were overall well recognised regardless the years in dental profession, but
      specialists saw more often that nocturnal sweating (P < 0.01) and snoring (P <
      0.05) may signify OSA. Dentists could play an important role in suspecting OSA,
      but they may need more education to cope with that.

PMID- 27627188
TI  - Optical Coherence Tomography Based Estimates of Crystalline Lens Volume,
      Equatorial Diameter, and Plane Position.
AB  - PURPOSE: Measurement of crystalline lens geometry in vivo is critical to optimize
      performance of state-of-the-art cataract surgery. We used custom-developed
      quantitative anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) and developed
      dedicated algorithms to estimate lens volume (VOL), equatorial diameter (DIA),
      and equatorial plane position (EPP). METHODS: The method was validated ex vivo in
      27 human donor (19-71 years of age) lenses, which were imaged in three-dimensions
      by OCT. In vivo conditions were simulated assuming that only the information
      within a given pupil size (PS) was available. A parametric model was used to
      estimate the whole lens shape from PS-limited data. The accuracy of the estimated
      lens VOL, DIA, and EPP was evaluated by comparing estimates from the whole lens
      data and PS-limited data ex vivo. The method was demonstrated in vivo using 2
      young eyes during accommodation and 2 cataract eyes. RESULTS: Crystalline lens
      VOL was estimated within 96% accuracy (average estimation error across lenses +/-
      standard deviation: 9.30 +/- 7.49 mm3). Average estimation errors in EPP were
      below 40 +/- 32 MUm, and below 0.26 +/- 0.22 mm in DIA. Changes in lens VOL with
      accommodation were not statistically significant (2-way ANOVA, P = 0.35). In
      young eyes, DIA decreased and EPP increased statistically significantly with
      accommodation (P < 0.001) by 0.14 mm and 0.13 mm, respectively, on average across
      subjects. In cataract eyes, VOL = 205.5 mm3, DIA = 9.57 mm, and EPP = 2.15 mm on
      average. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative OCT with dedicated image processing algorithms
      allows estimation of human crystalline lens volume, diameter, and equatorial lens
      position, as validated from ex vivo measurements, where entire lens images are
      available.

PMID- 27627189
TI  - Screening of reproduction-related single-nucleotide variations from MeDIP-seq
      data in sheep.
AB  - Extensive variation in reproduction has arisen in Chinese Mongolian sheep during
      recent domestication. Hu and Small-tailed Han sheep, for example, have become non
      seasonal breeders and exhibit higher fecundity than Tan and Ujumqin breeds. We
      therefore scanned reproduction-related single-nucleotide variations from
      methylated DNA-immunoprecipitation sequencing data generated from each of those
      four breeds to uncover potential mechanisms underlying this breed variation. We
      generated a high-quality map of single nucleotide variations (SNVs) in DNA
      methylation enriched regions, and found that the majority of variants are located
      within non-coding regions. We identified 359 SNVs within the Sheep Quantitative
      Trait Locus (QTL) database. Nineteen of these SNVs associated with the Aseasonal
      Reproduction QTL, and 10 out of the 19 reside close to genes with known
      reproduction functions. We also identified the well-known FecB mutation in high
      fecundity sheep (Hu and Small-tailed Han sheep). When we applied these FecB
      finding to our breeding system, we improved lambing rate by 175%. In summary,
      this study provided strong candidate SNVs associated with sheep fecundity that
      can serve as targets for functional testing and to enhance selective breeding
      strategies. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 83: 958-967, 2016 (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627191
TI  - Vitamin D status may explain racial disparities in survival among patients with
      advanced renal cell carcinoma in the targeted therapy era.

PMID- 27627190
TI  - Association of Age at Onset of Menopause and Time Since Onset of Menopause With
      Cardiovascular Outcomes, Intermediate Vascular Traits, and All-Cause Mortality: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - Importance: As many as 10% of women experience natural menopause by the age of 45
      years. If confirmed, an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all
      cause mortality associated with premature and early-onset menopause could be an
      important factor affecting risk of disease and mortality among middle-aged and
      older women. Objective: To systematically review and meta-analyze studies
      evaluating the effect of age at onset of menopause and duration since onset of
      menopause on intermediate CVD end points, CVD outcomes, and all-cause mortality.
      Data Sources: Medical databases (ie, Medline, EMBASE, and Web of Science) until
      March 2015. Study Selection: Studies (ie, observational cohort, case-control, or
      cross-sectional) that assessed age at onset of menopause and/or time since onset
      of menopause as exposures as well as risk of cardiovascular outcomes and
      intermediate CVD end points in perimenopausal, menopausal, or postmenopausal
      women. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Studies were sought if they were
      observational cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional studies; reported on age
      at onset of menopause and/or time since onset of menopause as exposures; and
      assessed associations with risk of CVD-related outcomes, all-cause mortality, or
      intermediate CVD end points. Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers using
      a predesigned data collection form. The inverse-variance weighted method was used
      to combine relative risks to produce a pooled relative risk using random-effects
      models to allow for between-study heterogeneity. Main Outcomes and Measures:
      Cardiovascular disease outcomes (ie, composite CVD, fatal and nonfatal coronary
      heart disease [CHD], and overall stroke and stroke mortality), CVD mortality, all
      cause mortality, and intermediate CVD end points. Results: Of the initially
      identified references, 32 studies were selected that included 310 329
      nonoverlapping women. Outcomes were compared between women who experienced
      menopause younger than 45 years and women 45 years or older at onset; the
      relative risks (95% CIs) were 1.50 (1.28-1.76) for overall CHD, 1.11 (1.03-1.20)
      for fatal CHD, 1.23 (0.98-1.53) for overall stroke, 0.99 (0.92-1.07) for stroke
      mortality, 1.19 (1.08-1.31) for CVD mortality, and 1.12 (1.03-1.21) for all-cause
      mortality. Outcomes were also compared between women between 50 and 54 years at
      onset of menopause and women younger than 50 years at onset; there was a
      decreased risk of fatal CHD (relative risk, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.80-0.96) and no
      effect on stroke. Time since onset of menopause in relation to risk of developing
      intermediate cardiovascular traits or CVD outcomes was reported in 4
      observational studies with inconsistent results. Conclusions and Relevance: The
      findings of this review indicate a higher risk of CHD, CVD mortality, and overall
      mortality in women who experience premature or early-onset menopause.

PMID- 27627192
TI  - In Silico Predictions and In Vivo Results of Drug-Drug Interactions by
      Ketoconazole and Verapamil on AZD1305, a Combined Ion Channel Blocker and a
      Sensitive CYP3A4 Substrate.
AB  - The objectives were to estimate and compare, in silico and in vivo, the effects
      of a strong and a moderate CYP3A4 inhibitor on AZD1305 pharmacokinetics. In
      silico, simulations were performed with the computer software Simcyp, and the
      predicted outcome was compared with the results observed in healthy male
      subjects. In silico, the geometric mean plasma exposure of AZD1305 + ketoconazole
      showed a 7.1-fold higher AUC and a 4.4-fold higher Cmax compared with AZD1305
      alone. Coadministration with verapamil gave a 1.9-fold higher AUC and a 1.7-fold
      higher Cmax compared with AZD1305 alone. In vivo, the plasma exposure of AZD1305
      + ketoconazole showed a 7.7-fold higher AUC and a 4.8 -fold higher Cmax compared
      with AZD1305 alone. Coadministration with verapamil gave a 2.2-fold higher AUC
      and a 2.0-fold higher Cmax compared with AZD1305 alone. The mean maximum QTcF
      increase from baseline was 407, 487, and 437 milliseconds for AZD1305, alone and
      in combination with verapamil or ketoconazole, respectively. Simcyp predicted the
      effects of ketoconazole and verapamil on the sensitive CYP3A4 substrate AZD1305
      pharmacokinetics well. Both the in vivo study and the Simcyp predictions suggest
      a contraindication for strong CYP3A4 inhibitors and AZD1305 when given in
      combination. 

PMID- 27627193
TI  - Effects of Age, Sex, and Obesity on the Single-Dose Pharmacokinetics of
      Omarigliptin in Healthy Subjects.
AB  - Omarigliptin is being developed as a potent, once-weekly, oral dipeptidyl
      peptidase-4 inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. This double-blind,
      randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluated the effects of age, sex, and
      obesity on the pharmacokinetics of omarigliptin in healthy subjects. A single
      oral dose of omarigliptin 10 mg (n = 6/panel) or placebo (n = 2/panel) was
      administered in the fasted state to elderly nonobese men and women, young obese
      (30 <= body mass index [BMI] <= 35 kg/m(2) ) men and women, and young nonobese
      women of nonchildbearing potential. Plasma was collected at selected postdose
      times for evaluation of omarigliptin concentrations. Pharmacokinetic parameters
      were compared with historical data from a previously-conducted single-dose study
      in young, healthy, nonobese men. There were no clinically significant differences
      in omarigliptin AUC0-infinity , the primary pharmacokinetic parameter for
      assessing efficacy and safety, based on age, sex, or BMI (pooled nonobese elderly
      versus pooled nonobese young, young nonobese female versus young nonobese male,
      and pooled young obese versus pooled young nonobese). There were no serious
      adverse events or hypoglycemic events attributable to omarigliptin
      administration. Demographic factors and BMI had no meaningful effect on
      omarigliptin pharmacokinetics, suggesting that dose adjustment based on age, sex,
      or obesity is not required.

PMID- 27627194
TI  - A Thorough QTc Study Confirms Early Pharmacokinetics/QTc Modeling: A
      Supratherapeutic Dose of Omarigliptin, a Once-Weekly DPP-4 Inhibitor, Does Not
      Prolong the QTc Interval.
AB  - Omarigliptin is a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor being developed as a once
      weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes. This double-blind, double-dummy,
      randomized, 3-period balanced crossover study definitively evaluated the effects
      of a supratherapeutic omarigliptin dose on QTc interval. Population-specific
      correction of QT interval (QTcP) was used for the primary analysis. Healthy
      subjects (n = 60) were enrolled and received treatments separated by a >=4-week
      washout: (1) single-dose 25 mg omarigliptin (day 1), single-dose 175 mg
      omarigliptin (day 2); (2) placebo (day 1) followed by single-dose 400 mg
      moxifloxacin (day 2); (3) placebo (days 1 and 2). Day 2 QTcP intervals were
      analyzed. The primary hypothesis was supported if the 90%CIs for the least
      squares mean differences between omarigliptin 175 mg and placebo in QTcP interval
      change from baseline were all < 10 milliseconds at every postdose point on day 2.
      The upper bounds of the 90%CIs for the differences (omarigliptin-placebo) in QTcP
      change from baseline for omarigliptin 175 mg were < 10 milliseconds at all
      postdose times on day 2. In conclusion, a supratherapeutic dose of omarigliptin
      does not prolong the QTcP interval to a clinically meaningful degree relative to
      placebo, confirming the results of the earlier concentration-QTc analysis. 

PMID- 27627197
TI  - Reporting of clinical trials in nursing journals: how are we doing?

PMID- 27627195
TI  - Machine learning approaches to personalize early prediction of asthma
      exacerbations.
AB  - Patient telemonitoring results in an aggregation of significant amounts of
      information about patient disease trajectory. However, the potential use of this
      information for early prediction of exacerbations in adult asthma patients has
      not been systematically evaluated. The aim of this study was to explore the
      utility of telemonitoring data for building machine learning algorithms that
      predict asthma exacerbations before they occur. The study dataset comprised daily
      self-monitoring reports consisting of 7001 records submitted by adult asthma
      patients during home telemonitoring. Predictive modeling included preparation of
      stratified training datasets, predictive feature selection, and evaluation of
      resulting classifiers. Using a 7-day window, a naive Bayesian classifier,
      adaptive Bayesian network, and support vector machines were able to predict
      asthma exacerbation occurring on day 8, with sensitivity of 0.80, 1.00, and 0.84;
      specificity of 0.77, 1.00, and 0.80; and accuracy of 0.77, 1.00, and 0.80,
      respectively. Our study demonstrated that machine learning techniques have
      significant potential in developing personalized decision support for chronic
      disease telemonitoring systems. Future studies may benefit from a comprehensive
      predictive framework that combines telemonitoring data with other factors
      affecting the likelihood of developing acute exacerbation. Approaches implemented
      for advanced asthma exacerbation prediction may be extended to prediction of
      exacerbations in patients with other chronic health conditions.

PMID- 27627196
TI  - YAP and TAZ modulate cell phenotype in a subset of small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive and metastatic malignancy
      that shows rapid development of chemoresistance and a high rate of recurrence.
      Recent genome and transcriptome studies have provided the whole landscape of
      genomic alterations and gene expression changes in SCLC. In light of the inter
      individual heterogeneity of SCLC, subtyping of SCLC might be helpful for
      prediction of therapeutic response and prognosis. Based on the transcriptome data
      of SCLC cell lines, we undertook transcriptional network-defined SCLC
      classification and identified a unique SCLC subgroup characterized by relatively
      high expression of Hippo pathway regulators Yes-associated protein (YAP) and
      transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) (YAP/TAZ subgroup). The
      YAP/TAZ subgroup displayed adherent cell morphology, lower expression of achaete
      scute complex homolog 1 (ASCL1) and neuroendocrine markers, and higher expression
      of laminin and integrin. YAP knockdown caused cell morphological alteration
      reminiscent of floating growth pattern in many SCLC cell lines, and microarray
      analyses revealed a subset of genes regulated by YAP, including Ajuba LIM protein
      (AJUBA). AJUBA also contributed to cell morphology regulation. Of clinical
      importance, SCLC cell lines of the YAP/TAZ subgroup showed unique patterns of
      drug sensitivity. Our findings shed light on a subtype of SCLC with YAP and TAZ
      expression, and delineate molecular networks underlying the heterogeneity of
      SCLC.

PMID- 27627199
TI  - The Known Unknowns of Emerging Viruses.

PMID- 27627198
TI  - Advanced Li-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitors Based on 3D Graphene-Foam Composites.
AB  - Li-ion hybrid supercapacitors (LIHSs) have recently attracted increasing
      attention as a new and promising energy storage device. However, it is still a
      great challenge to construct novel LIHSs with high-performance due to the
      majority of battery-type anodes retaining the sluggish kinetics of Li-ion storage
      and most capacitor-type cathodes with low specific capacitance. To solve this
      problem, 3D graphene-wrapped MoO3 nanobelt foam with the unique porous network
      structure has been designed and prepared as anode material, which delivers high
      capacity, improved rate performance, and enhanced cycle stability. First
      principles calculation reveals that the combination of graphene dramatically
      reduces the diffusion energy barrier of Li+ adsorbed on the surface of MoO3
      nanobelt, thus improving its electrochemical performance. Furthermore, 3D
      graphene-wrapped polyaniline nanotube foam derived carbon is employed as a new
      type of capacitor-type cathode, demonstrating high specific capacitance, good
      rate performance, and long cycle stability. Benefiting from these two graphene
      foam-enhanced materials, the constructed LIHSs show a wide operating voltage
      range (3.8 V), a long stable cycle life (90% capacity retention after 3000
      cycles), a high energy density (128.3 Wh.kg-1), and a high power density (13.5
      kW.kg-1). These encouraging performances indicate that the obtained LIHSs may
      have promising prospect as next-generation energy-storage devices.

PMID- 27627201
TI  - Rapid Tracing of Resistance Plasmids in a Nosocomial Outbreak Using Optical DNA
      Mapping.
AB  - Resistance to life-saving antibiotics increases rapidly worldwide, and
      multiresistant bacteria have become a global threat to human health. Presently,
      the most serious threat is the increasing spread of Enterobacteriaceae carrying
      genes coding for extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenemases on
      highly mobile plasmids. We here demonstrate how optical DNA maps of single
      plasmids can be used as fingerprints to trace plasmids, for example, during
      resistance outbreaks. We use the assay to demonstrate a potential transmission
      route of an ESBL-carrying plasmid between bacterial strains/species and between
      patients, during a polyclonal outbreak at a neonatal ward at Sahlgrenska
      University Hospital (Gothenburg, Sweden). Our results demonstrate that optical
      DNA mapping is an easy and rapid method for detecting the spread of plasmids
      mediating resistance. With the increasing prevalence of multiresistant bacteria,
      diagnostic tools that can aid in solving ongoing routes of transmission, in
      particular in hospital settings, will be of paramount importance.

PMID- 27627205
TI  - iPhone purgatory and other technological challenges.

PMID- 27627202
TI  - A Novel Chemical Biology Approach for Mapping of Polymyxin Lipopeptide Antibody
      Binding Epitopes.
AB  - Polymyxins B and E (i.e., colistin) are a family of naturally occurring
      lipopeptide antibiotics that are our last line of defense against multidrug
      resistant (MDR) Gram-negative pathogens. Unfortunately, nephrotoxicity is a dose
      limiting factor for polymyxins that limits their clinical utility. Our recent
      studies demonstrate that polymyxin-induced nephrotoxicity is a result of their
      extensive accumulation in renal tubular cells. The design and development of
      safer, novel polymyxin lipopeptides is hampered by our limited understanding of
      their complex structure-nephrotoxicity relationships. This is the first study to
      employ a novel targeted chemical biology approach to map the polymyxin
      recognition epitope of a commercially available polymyxin mAb and demonstrate its
      utility for mapping the kidney distribution of a novel, less nephrotoxic
      polymyxin lipopeptide. Eighteen novel polymyxin lipopeptide analogues were
      synthesized with modifications in the polymyxin core domains, namely, the N
      terminal fatty acyl region, tripeptide linear segment, and cyclic heptapeptide.
      Surface plasmon resonance epitope mapping revealed that the monoclonal antibody
      (mAb) recognition epitope consisted of the hydrophobic domain (N-terminal fatty
      acyl and position 6/7) and diaminobutyric acid (Dab) residues at positions 3, 5,
      8, and 9 of the polymyxin molecule. Structural diversity within the hydrophobic
      domains and Dab 3 position are tolerated. Enlightened with an understating of the
      structure-binding relationships between the polymyxin mAb and the core polymyxin
      scaffold, we can now rationally employ the mAb to probe the kidney distribution
      of novel polymyxin lipopeptides. This information will be vital in the design of
      novel, safer polymyxins through chemical tailoring of the core scaffold and
      exploration of the elusive/complex polymyxin structure-nephrotoxicity
      relationships.

PMID- 27627204
TI  - Photoreceptor Integrity Predicts Response to Anti-VEGF Treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Assessing changes in foveal photoreceptor microstructure (FPM) following
      intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment may serve as a prognostic marker in patients
      with macular edema (ME). METHODS: Sixteen eyes belonging to newly diagnosed
      patients with ME were included in this prospective longitudinal study. FPM
      integrity was evaluated at baseline and at the end of a series of anti-VEGF
      injections. RESULTS: Treatment led to a significant improvement in mean visual
      acuity (VA) and central macular thickness. A larger FPM defect was associated
      with lower VA, both before and after treatment. Patients with larger FPM defects
      at baseline had smaller VA improvements, and the improvement in FPM integrity was
      associated with VA improvement (every 100-um FPM recovery contributed to a gain
      of 0.04 logMAR). CONCLUSIONS: Recovery of FPM after anti-VEGF treatment was
      significantly associated with a VA improvement. Direct measurement of
      photoreceptor integrity might provide an additional tool for the assessment of
      retinal function and treatment response in patients newly diagnosed with ME.

PMID- 27627206
TI  - [Le purgatoire de l'iPhone et autres defis technologiques].

PMID- 27627203
TI  - Immunodominant SARS Coronavirus Epitopes in Humans Elicited both Enhancing and
      Neutralizing Effects on Infection in Non-human Primates.
AB  - Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a coronavirus (SARS-CoV)
      and has the potential to threaten global public health and socioeconomic
      stability. Evidence of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of SARS-CoV infection
      in vitro and in non-human primates clouds the prospects for a safe vaccine. Using
      antibodies from SARS patients, we identified and characterized SARS-CoV B-cell
      peptide epitopes with disparate functions. In rhesus macaques, the spike
      glycoprotein peptides S471-503, S604-625, and S1164-1191 elicited antibodies that
      efficiently prevented infection in non-human primates. In contrast, peptide S597
      603 induced antibodies that enhanced infection both in vitro and in non-human
      primates by using an epitope sequence-dependent (ESD) mechanism. This peptide
      exhibited a high level of serological reactivity (64%), which resulted from the
      additive responses of two tandem epitopes (S597-603 and S604-625) and a long-term
      human B-cell memory response with antisera from convalescent SARS patients. Thus,
      peptide-based vaccines against SARS-CoV could be engineered to avoid ADE via
      elimination of the S597-603 epitope. We provide herein an alternative strategy to
      prepare a safe and effective vaccine for ADE of viral infection by identifying
      and eliminating epitope sequence-dependent enhancement of viral infection.

PMID- 27627208
TI  - [Message du president. Du berceau au tombeau].

PMID- 27627207
TI  - President's message. Cradle to grave.

PMID- 27627209
TI  - Interlaminar epidural steroid injections for low back pain in rural Ontario.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We sought to document the efficacy of interlaminar epidural steroid
      injections (ESIs) for the relief of low back pain in a rural population. METHODS:
      We conducted a prospective observational cohort study with brief follow-up
      telephone interviews at 1, 3 and 6 months after interlaminar ESI. RESULTS: A
      total of 47 ESIs were administered to the 24 participants. In an intention-to
      treat analysis, pain relief was achieved in 78.7%, 55.3% and 27.7% of
      participants at 1, 3 and 6 months. CONCLUSION: Interlaminar ESIs, without
      fluoroscopic guidance, were effective for up to 3 months of symptom relief.

PMID- 27627210
TI  - MoCA cutoff score in relation to the functional assessment of seniors living in a
      rural Canadian community.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Research suggests that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
      normal cutoff score of 26 may not be appropriate for all populations and ages. We
      sought to determine an appropriate MoCA cutoff score for community-dwelling
      seniors living in a rural Canadian community. METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective chart review at a health centre in rural northern Ontario. The
      sample included community-dwelling seniors presenting between Dec. 1, 2013, and
      July 31, 2015. We generated a receiver operating characteristic curve to evaluate
      MoCA cutoff scores in relation to functional assessment, using the dichotomous
      categories of "no deficiencies in activities of daily living/instrumental
      activities of daily living (ADL/IADL) and "deficiencies in ADL/IADL." RESULTS: A
      total of 95 charts were included in the chart review. We identified MoCA scores
      of 20 (sensitivity 85%, specificity 62%) and 21 (sensitivity 77%, specificity
      77%) as cutoff scores for the identification of impairment in this rural
      population. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest the normal range in MoCA score for
      the community-dwelling rural senior to be between 22 and 30. Although the MoCA
      demonstrated satisfactory performance as a screening measure, the importance of
      including ADL and IADL functional assessments before making clinical decisions
      cannot be overemphasized.

PMID- 27627212
TI  - Country cardiograms case 57.

PMID- 27627211
TI  - SRPC position statement on minimum-volume credentialling.

PMID- 27627213
TI  - The occasional wound "gluing".

PMID- 27627214
TI  - Country cardiograms case 57: Answer.

PMID- 27627215
TI  - Gold Atoms Supported on Gas-Phase Cerium Oxide Cluster Ions: Stable Stoichiometry
      and Reactivity with CO.
AB  - The stability and reactivity of cationic gold-cerium oxide clusters, AumCenO2n+x+
      (m <= 4, n <= 7, -1 <= x <= 2), were examined experimentally and computationally.
      These clusters were generated by simultaneous laser ablation of gold and cerium
      oxide targets and analyzed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry combined with gas
      phase temperature-programmed desorption. Stable compositions of gold-cerium oxide
      clusters were identified as AumCenO2n+ and AumCenO2n+1+ for m >= 1, containing
      one oxygen atom more than the stable gold-free cerium oxide clusters CenO2n-1+
      and CenO2n+. In either case, the stable clusters mainly consisted of Ce4+ and O2
      , and the gold atoms had an oxidation state of +1. The reactivity of cerium oxide
      clusters toward CO was modified by gold atoms, which hindered CO oxidation while
      efficiently promoting its adsorption. According to density functional theory
      calculations, the oxygen-centered radical of cerium oxide clusters, considered to
      be the reactive site, was geometrically and electronically inactivated by gold
      atoms, which functioned as a CO adsorption site.

PMID- 27627216
TI  - Nephroprotective Effects of Metformin in Diabetic Nephropathy.
AB  - Metformin, a well-known anti-diabetic agent, is very effective in lowering blood
      glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes with minimal side-effects. Metformin is
      also being recommended in the treatment of obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome.
      Metformin elicits its therapeutic effects mainly via activation of AMP-activated
      kinase (AMPK) pathway. Renal cells under hyperglycemic or proteinuric conditions
      exhibit inactivation of cell defense mechanisms such as AMPK and autophagy, and
      activation of pathologic pathways such as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR),
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT),
      oxidative stress, and hypoxia. As these pathologic pathways are intertwined with
      AMPK signaling, the potential benefits of metformin therapy in patients with type
      2 diabetes would extend beyond its anti-hyperglycemic effects. However, since
      metformin is eliminated unchanged through the kidneys and some studies have shown
      the incidence of lactic acidosis with its use during severe renal dysfunction,
      the use of metformin was contraindicated in patients with renal disease until
      recently. With more studies indicating the relatively low incidence of lactic
      acidosis and revealing the additional benefits with metformin therapy, the US FDA
      has now approved metformin to be administered in patients with established renal
      disease based on their renal function. The purpose of this review is to highlight
      the various mechanisms by which metformin protects renal cells that have lost its
      functionality in a diabetic or non-diabetic setting and to enlighten the
      advantages and therapeutic potential of metformin as a nephroprotectant for
      patients with diabetic nephropathy and other non-diabetic forms of chronic kidney
      disease. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 731-742, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627217
TI  - Organometallic-Peptide Bioconjugates: Synthetic Strategies and Medicinal
      Applications.
AB  - Peptides are important biological molecular entities in biomedical research. They
      can be prepared in a large variety of shapes, with a host of chemical functions,
      and tailored for specific applications. Organometallic medicinal chemistry is a
      relatively young field that explores biomedical and bioanalytical applications of
      organometallic complexes, that is, metal compounds with at least one direct,
      covalent metal-carbon bond. The conjugation of peptides to such medicinally
      active organometallic moieties started only about 20 years ago, and it has been
      very beneficial for the development of bioorganometallic chemistry in general.
      Similarly, the biomedical properties of peptides have been altered by their
      conjugation to organometallic (OM) moieties. In this review, synthetic methods by
      which OM moieties can be conjugated to peptides via a carbon-metal bond are
      described, and selected medicinal applications of such conjugates are discussed.
      Inorganic coordination complexes between metal ions and peptides are excluded
      from this review. Also, the labeling of peptides with radiometals and
      applications of radiolabeled peptides will not be treated herein. First,
      modifications of the peptide backbone (either N- or C-terminally, or both) with
      organometallic moieties will be described, including the insertion of OM moieties
      as part of the peptide backbone. Then side-chain modifications will be reported,
      among them the most recent strategies for chemoselective arene metalation on
      peptides. Finally, approaches by which multiple metalation can be achieved are
      explored. In each section, selected examples of biological applications are
      highlighted.

PMID- 27627218
TI  - Dissolution of Sessile Microdroplets of Electrolyte and Graphene Oxide Solutions
      in an Ouzo System.
AB  - Manipulating the way a droplet shrinks by evaporation or dissolution is an
      effective approach for assembling dissolved nanomaterials. In this work, we
      investigate the dissolution dynamics of a submicroliter sessile droplet of
      electrolyte aqueous solution and of graphene oxide suspension immersed in a
      binary mixture of solvents, among which one is miscible and the other is
      immiscible with water (i.e., an Ouzo system). Our measurements reveal an
      interesting two-stage dissolution of the droplet: a fast initial stage and a slow
      second stage. The duration of the first stage is longer at a lower temperature,
      leading to a counterintuitive result that the dissolution completes faster at
      reduced temperature. The presence of graphene oxide in the droplet dramatically
      alters the dissolution dynamics, possibly due to its enrichment at the droplet
      surface. The finding from this work provides useful guideline for designing
      conditions to pack nanomaterials by dissolving droplets, especially for those
      temperature sensitive components.

PMID- 27627219
TI  - Ruminant trans-fatty acids and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and
      meta-analysis of observational studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ruminant trans-fatty acids, especially cis9, trans11-conjugated
      linoleic acid (c9,t11-CLA) and trans11-18:1 vaccenic acid (t11-18:1 VA) appear to
      have anticarcinogenic activity against breast cancer in animal and in vitro
      experiments. However, the results remain inconsistent. We therefore conducted a
      systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association of c9,t11-CLA, and
      t11-18:1 VA (intake or serum levels) with breast cancer risk. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: Relevant studies were identified by a search of PubMed, OVID, SCOPUS
      and Google scholar databases through 25 May 2015. We included case-control and
      cohort studies that reported relative risk (RR) estimates with 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) for the association between c9,t11-CLA and t11-18:1 VA intake or
      their serum levels and the risk of breast cancer. This meta-analysis was
      conducted according to the guidelines for the meta-analysis of observational
      studies in epidemiology. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Three studies on c9,t11-CLA and t11
      18:1 VA serum levels and t11-18:1 VA intake were evaluated in the systematic
      review only (narrative synthesis) and four studies (2 case-control and 2 cohort
      studies on c9,t11-CLA intake) were included in the meta-analysis (quantitative
      synthesis). The pooled RR for the highest vs lowest category of c9,t11-CLA intake
      was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.64-1.25) with evidence of heterogeneity (with 67,533
      participants, I2=78.3%, P=0.003). Studies that could not be included in the
      quantitative syntheses were inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: No association was found
      between c9,t11-CLA intake and breast cancer risk, but the number of studies
      identified was small.

PMID- 27627220
TI  - Transition Metal Catalyzed Direct Amination of the Cage B(4)-H Bond in o
      Carboranes: Synthesis of Tertiary, Secondary, and Primary o-Carboranyl Amines.
AB  - Transition metal catalyzed regioselective amination of the cage B(4)-H bond in o
      carboranes has been achieved for the first time using O-benzoyl hydroxylamines or
      organic azides as the amination reagents, leading to the preparation of a series
      of tertiary and secondary carboranyl amines. Both amination reactions proceeded
      under mild conditions without the addition of any external oxidants.
      Hydrogenolysis of the resultant product 4-N(CH2Ph)2-o-carborane afforded the
      primary carboranyl amine, 4-amino-o-carborane, in quantitative yield.

PMID- 27627221
TI  - Atrial Strain and Strain Rate: A Novel Method for the Evaluation of Atrial
      Stunning.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia seen in
      adults. Atrial stunning is defined as the temporary mechanical dysfunction of the
      atrial appendage developing after AF has returned to sinus rhythm (SR).
      OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate atrial contractile functions by strain and
      strain rate in patients with AF, following pharmacological and electrical
      cardioversion and to compare it with conventional methods. METHODS: This study
      included 41 patients with persistent AF and 35 age-matched control cases with SR.
      All the AF patients included in the study had transthoracic and transesophageal
      echocardiography performed before and after. Septum (SEPsSR), left atrium (LAsSR)
      and right atrium peak systolic strain rate (RAsSR) were defined as the maximum
      negative value during atrial contraction and septum (SEPepsilon), left atrium
      (LAepsilon) and right atrium peak systolic strain (RAepsilon) was defined as the
      percentage of change. Parameters of two groups were compared. RESULTS: In the AF
      group, 1st hour and 24th hour LAepsilon, RAepsilon, SEPepsilon, LAsSR, RAsSR,
      SEPsSR found to be significantly lower than in the control group (LAepsilon:
      2.61%+/-0.13, 3.06%+/-0.19 vs 6.45%+/-0.27, p<0.0001; RAepsilon: 4.03%+/-0.38,
      4.50%+/-0.47 vs 10.12%+/-0.64, p<0.0001; SEPepsilon: 3.0%+/-0.22, 3.19%+/-0.15 vs
      6.23%+/-0.49, p<0.0001; LAsSR: 0.61+/-0.04s-1, 0.75+/-0.04s- 1 vs 1.35+/-0.04s-1,
      p<0.0001; RAsSR: 1.13+/-0.06s-1, 1.23+/-0.07s-1 vs 2.10+/-0.08s- 1, p<0.0001;
      SEPsSR: 0.76+/-0.04s- 1, 0.78+/-0.04s- 1 vs 1.42+/-0.06 s- 1, p<0.0001).
      CONCLUSION: Atrial strain and strain rate parameters are superior to conventional
      echocardiographic parameters for the evaluation of atrial stunning in AF cases
      where SR has been achieved.

PMID- 27627222
TI  - Accuracy of the Electrocardiogram in Localizing the Accessory Pathway in Patients
      with Wolff-Parkinson-White Pattern.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are currently several electrocardiographic algorithms to locate
      the accessory pathway (AP) in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome.
      OBJECTIVE: To compare the ability of electrocardiographic algorithms in
      identifying the location of the AP in patients with WPW pattern referred for
      ablation. METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study with 111
      patients with WPW syndrome referred for AP ablation. The electrocardiogram (ECG)
      obtained prior to the ablation was analyzed by an experienced observer who
      consecutively applied seven algorithms to identify non-invasively the AP. We then
      compared the location estimated with this assessment with that obtained in the
      electrophysiological study and calculated the agreement rates. RESULTS: Among the
      APs, 59 (53.15%) were distributed around the mitral annulus and the remaining 52
      (46.85%) were located around the tricuspid annulus. The overall absolute accuracy
      of the algorithms evaluated varied between 27% and 47%, increasing to between 40%
      and 76% when we included adjacent locations. The absolute agreement rate by AP
      location was 2.00-52.20% for septal APs (n = 51), increasing to 5.90-90.20% when
      considering adjacent locations; 7.70-69.20% for right APs (n = 13), increasing to
      42.90-100% when considering adjacent locations; and 21.70-54.50% for left APs (n
      = 47), increasing to 50-87% when considering adjacent locations. CONCLUSION: The
      agreement rates observed for the analyzed scores indicated a low discriminative
      ability of the ECG in locating the AP in patients with WPW.

PMID- 27627224
TI  - Depression and Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death and Arrhythmias: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Depression is an independent risk factor for cardiac events and
      mortality in individuals with or without cardiovascular disease (CVD), although
      the underlying mechanisms involved in sudden cardiac death (SCD) and arrhythmias
      remain unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the relationship between
      depression and risk of SCD and arrhythmias. METHODS: We systematically searched
      MEDLINE, Elsevier, and PsycINFO databases for articles (January 1990 to June
      2015) describing the correlation of depression ("depressive symptoms,"
      "depression," or "depressive disorder") with SCD or arrhythmias (ventricular
      tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation [VT/VF], or atrial fibrillation [AF]). Data
      were meta-analyzed with random-effects models. RESULTS: A total of 17 studies met
      the inclusion criteria: 4 of SCD (n = 83,659), 8 of VT/VF (n = 4,048), and 5 of
      AF (n = 31,247). The total sample consisted of 8,533 individuals with and 110,421
      individuals without previous CVD. Depression was associated with increased risk
      of SCD (hazard risk [HR], 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37-1.92; p <
      .001), VT/VF (HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.23-1.76; p < .001) and AF recurrence (HR, 1.88;
      95% CI, 1.54-2.30; p < .001). There was no significant association, however,
      between depression and risk of new-onset AF (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.87-1.04; p =
      .311). CONCLUSIONS: Depression (clinical depression and depressive symptoms) is
      associated with increased risk of SCD, VT/VF, and AF recurrence. These findings
      suggest that arrhythmias play an important role in the association between
      depression and increased mortality in individuals with or without CVD. Systematic
      evaluation and treatment of depression may contribute to the prevention of lethal
      cardiac events in the general population and in high-risk individuals with CVD.

PMID- 27627225
TI  - Macrostate equivalence of two general ensembles and specific relative entropies.
AB  - The two criteria of ensemble equivalence, i.e., macrostate equivalence and
      measure equivalence, are investigated for a general pair of states. Macrostate
      equivalence implies the two ensembles are indistinguishable by the measurement of
      macroscopic quantities obeying the large-deviation principle, and measure
      equivalence means that the specific relative entropy of these two states vanishes
      in the thermodynamic limit. It is shown that measure equivalence implies a
      macrostate equivalence for a general pair of states by deriving an inequality
      connecting the large-deviation rate functions to the specific relative Renyi
      entropies. The result is applicable to both quantum and classical systems. As
      applications, a sufficient condition for thermalization, the time scale of
      quantum dynamics of macrovariables, and the second law with strict
      irreversibility in a quantum quench are discussed. 

PMID- 27627223
TI  - Obesity, Serum Resistin and Leptin Levels Linked to Coronary Artery Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical studies have demonstrated that adipocytokines play an
      important role in developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of study was to evaluate the relationship between serum resistin and
      leptin levels with obesity and coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: In a cross
      sectional study, we assessed the levels of serum resistin and leptin, C-reactive
      protein (CRP), lipid profile and cardiac enzyme tests (AST, CPK, LDH, CK-MB) in
      40 CAD patients compared to 40 healthy controls. Anthropometric measurements
      including weight and height for calculating of body mass index (BMI), and waist
      circumference (WC) were performed for evaluation of obesity. RESULTS: CAD
      patients had increased levels of leptin and CRP, (p < 0.001), cholesterol (p <
      0.05), triglyceride (p < 0.01), and WC (p < 0.05) compared to healthy controls.
      There was no statistical difference between CAD and control subjects for resistin
      (p = 0.058). In a multiple regression analysis, only an association between serum
      leptin with BMI (beta = 0.480, p < 0.05) and WC (beta = 1.386, p < 0.05) was
      found. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that leptin is a better marker of fat
      mass value than resistin and may be considered an independent risk factor for
      cardiac disorders that is largely dependent on obesity. However, further
      prospective studies are needed to confirm these results.

PMID- 27627226
TI  - Work producing reservoirs: Stochastic thermodynamics with generalized Gibbs
      ensembles.
AB  - We develop a consistent stochastic thermodynamics for environments composed of
      thermodynamic reservoirs in an external conservative force field, that is,
      environments described by the generalized or Gibbs canonical ensemble. We
      demonstrate that small systems weakly coupled to such reservoirs exchange both
      heat and work by verifying a local detailed balance relation for the induced
      stochastic dynamics. Based on this analysis, we help to rationalize the
      observation that nonthermal reservoirs can increase the efficiency of
      thermodynamic heat engines. 

PMID- 27627227
TI  - Bead-rod-spring models in random flows.
AB  - Bead-rod-spring models are the foundation of the kinetic theory of polymer
      solutions. We derive the diffusion equation for the probability density function
      of the configuration of a general bead-rod-spring model in short-correlated
      Gaussian random flows. Under isotropic conditions, we solve this equation
      analytically for the elastic rhombus model introduced by Curtiss, Bird, and
      Hassager [Adv. Chem. Phys. 35, 31 (1976)]. 

PMID- 27627228
TI  - Nematic effects and strain coupling in entangled polymer melts under strong flow.
AB  - We use small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study labeled short chains with
      and without the influence of an entangled and highly stretched surrounding
      environment of longer chains. We find unequivocal evidence of nematic effects as
      the blend chains in steady state flow are stretched a factor ~1.5 more from the
      presence of the long chain nematic field. In the pure melt we confirm that the
      nonaffine mean-field result nu=0.5 for the strain coupling is still valid for
      very fast flows, while in the nematic system our analysis predicts an increased
      coupling constant. We provide a structural explanation for the two first regimes
      of the nonlinear relaxation, particularly a transition regime where the long
      chains are relaxing in a sea of reptating short chains. 

PMID- 27627229
TI  - Hydrodynamic length-scale selection in microswimmer suspensions.
AB  - A universal characteristic of mesoscale turbulence in active suspensions is the
      emergence of a typical vortex length scale, distinctly different from the scale
      invariance of turbulent high-Reynolds number flows. Collective length-scale
      selection has been observed in bacterial fluids, endothelial tissue, and active
      colloids, yet the physical origins of this phenomenon remain elusive. Here, we
      systematically derive an effective fourth-order field theory from a generic
      microscopic model that allows us to predict the typical vortex size in
      microswimmer suspensions. Building on a self-consistent closure condition, the
      derivation shows that the vortex length scale is determined by the competition
      between local alignment forces, rotational diffusion, and intermediate-range
      hydrodynamic interactions. Vortex structures found in simulations of the theory
      agree with recent measurements in Bacillus subtilis suspensions. Moreover, our
      approach yields an effective viscosity enhancement (reduction), as reported
      experimentally for puller (pusher) microorganisms. 

PMID- 27627230
TI  - Synchronized oscillations of dimers in biphasic charged fd-virus suspensions.
AB  - Micron-sized colloidal spheres that are dispersed in an isotropic-nematic
      biphasic host suspension of charged rods (fd-virus particles) are shown to
      spontaneously form dimers, which exhibit a synchronized oscillatory motion. Dimer
      formation is not observed in the monophase of isotropic and nematic suspensions.
      The synchronized oscillations of dimers are connected to the inhomogeneous state
      of the host suspension of charged rods (fd viruses) where nematic domains are in
      coexistence with isotropic regions. The synchronization of oscillations occurs in
      bulk states, in the absence of an external field. With a low field strength of an
      applied electric field, the synchronization is rather reduced, but it recovers
      again when the field is turned off. In this Rapid Communication, we report this
      observation as an example of the strange attractor, occurring in the mixture of
      PS (polystyrene) dimers in an isotropic-nematic coexistence biphasic fd-virus
      network. Furthermore, we highlight that the synchronization of PS-dimer
      oscillations is the result of a global bifurcation diagram, driven by a delicate
      balance between the short-attractive "twisted" interaction of PS dimers and long
      ranged electrostatic repulsive interactions of charged fd rods. The interest is
      then in the local enhancement of "twist-nematic" elasticity in reorientation of
      the dimer oscillations. An analysis of image-time correlations is provided with
      the data movies and Fourier transforms of averaged orientations for the
      synchronized oscillations of dimers in the biphasic I-N coexistence concentration
      of charged fd-virus suspensions. 

PMID- 27627231
TI  - Hydrodynamic theory for nematic shells: The interplay among curvature, flow, and
      alignment.
AB  - We derive the hydrodynamic equations for nematic liquid crystals lying on curved
      substrates. We invoke the Lagrange-Rayleigh variational principle to adapt the
      Ericksen-Leslie theory to two-dimensional nematics in which a degenerate
      anchoring of the molecules on the substrate is enforced. The only constitutive
      assumptions in this scheme concern the free-energy density, given by the two
      dimensional Frank potential, and the density of dissipation which is required to
      satisfy appropriate invariance requirements. The resulting equations of motion
      couple the velocity field, the director alignment, and the curvature of the
      shell. To illustrate our findings, we consider the effect of a simple shear flow
      on the alignment of a nematic lying on a cylindrical shell. 

PMID- 27627233
TI  - Realization of the Najafi-Golestanian microswimmer.
AB  - A paradigmatic microswimmer is the three-linked-spheres model, which follows a
      minimalist approach for propulsion by shape shifting. As such, it has been the
      subject of numerous analytical and numerical studies. In this Rapid
      Communication, an experimental three-linked-spheres swimmer is created by self
      assembling ferromagnetic particles at an air-water interface. It is powered by a
      uniform oscillating magnetic field. A model, using two harmonic oscillators,
      reproduces the experimental findings. Because the model remains general, the same
      approach could be used to design a variety of efficient microswimmers. 

PMID- 27627232
TI  - Coupled Leidenfrost states as a monodisperse granular clock.
AB  - Using an event-driven molecular dynamics simulation, we show that simple
      monodisperse granular beads confined in coupled columns may oscillate as a
      different type of granular clock. To trigger this oscillation, the system needs
      to be driven against gravity into a density-inverted state, with a high-density
      clustering phase supported from below by a gaslike low-density phase (Leidenfrost
      effect) in each column. Our analysis reveals that the density-inverted structure
      and the relaxation dynamics between the phases can amplify any small asymmetry
      between the columns, and lead to a giant oscillation. The oscillation occurs only
      for an intermediate range of the coupling strength, and the corresponding phase
      diagram can be universally described with a characteristic height of the density
      inverted structure. A minimal two-phase model is proposed and a linear stability
      analysis shows that the triggering mechanism of the oscillation can be explained
      as a switchable two-parameter Andronov-Hopf bifurcation. Numerical solutions of
      the model also reproduce similar oscillatory dynamics to the simulation results. 

PMID- 27627234
TI  - Jumps, somersaults, and symmetry breaking in Leidenfrost drops.
AB  - When a droplet of water impacts a heated surface, the drop may be observed to
      bounce. Recently is has been found that small quantities (~100 ppm) of polymer
      additives such as polyethylene oxide can significantly increase the maximum
      bouncing height of drops. This effect has been explained in terms of the
      reduction of energy dissipation caused by polymer additives during the drop
      retraction and rebound, resulting in higher mechanical energy available for
      bouncing. Here we demonstrate, by comparing three types of fluids (Newtonian,
      shear-thinning, and viscoelastic), that the total kinetic energy carried by low
      viscosity Newtonian drops during retraction is partly transformed into rotational
      kinetic energy rather than dissipated when compared with high-viscosity or non
      Newtonian drops. We also show that non-Newtonian effects play little role in the
      energy distribution during drop impact, while the main effect is due to the
      symmetry break observed during the retraction of low-viscosity drops. 

PMID- 27627235
TI  - Mastering nonlinear flow dynamics for laminar flow control.
AB  - A laminar flow control technique based on spanwise mean velocity gradients (SVGs)
      has recently proven successful in delaying transition in boundary layers. Here we
      take advantage of a well-known nonlinear effect, namely, the interaction of two
      oblique waves at high amplitude, to produce spanwise mean velocity variations.
      Against common belief we are able to fully master the first stage of this
      nonlinear interaction to generate steady and stable streamwise streaks, which in
      turn trigger the SVG method. Our experimental results show that the region of
      laminar flow can be extended by up to 230%. 

PMID- 27627236
TI  - Disorder-induced heating of ultracold neutral plasmas created from atoms in
      partially filled optical lattices.
AB  - We quantify the disorder-induced heating (DIH) of ultracold neutral plasmas
      (UCNPs) created from cold atoms in optical lattices with partial filling
      fractions, using a conservation of energy model involving the spatial
      correlations of the initial state and the equation of state in thermal
      equilibrium for a one-component plasma. We show, for experimentally achievable
      filling fractions, that the ionic Coulomb coupling parameter could be increased
      to a degree comparable to other proposed DIH-mitigation schemes. Molecular
      dynamics simulations were performed with compensation for finite-size and
      periodic boundary effects, which agree with calculations using the model.
      Reduction of DIH using optical lattices will allow for the study of strongly
      coupled plasma physics using low-density, low-temperature, laboratory-based
      plasmas, and lead to improved brightness in UCNP-based cold electron and ion
      beams, where DIH is otherwise a fundamental limitation to beam focal sizes and
      diffraction imaging capability. 

PMID- 27627237
TI  - Indications of flow near maximum compression in layered deuterium-tritium
      implosions at the National Ignition Facility.
AB  - An accurate understanding of burn dynamics in implosions of cryogenically layered
      deuterium (D) and tritium (T) filled capsules, obtained partly through precision
      diagnosis of these experiments, is essential for assessing the impediments to
      achieving ignition at the National Ignition Facility. We present measurements of
      neutrons from such implosions. The apparent ion temperatures T_{ion} are inferred
      from the variance of the primary neutron spectrum. Consistently higher DT than DD
      T_{ion} are observed and the difference is seen to increase with increasing
      apparent DT T_{ion}. The line-of-sight rms variations of both DD and DT T_{ion}
      are small, ~150eV, indicating an isotropic source. The DD neutron yields are
      consistently high relative to the DT neutron yields given the observed T_{ion}.
      Spatial and temporal variations of the DT temperature and density, DD-DT
      differential attenuation in the surrounding DT fuel, and fluid motion variations
      contribute to a DT T_{ion} greater than the DD T_{ion}, but are in a one
      dimensional model insufficient to explain the data. We hypothesize that in a
      three-dimensional interpretation, these effects combined could explain the
      results. 

PMID- 27627238
TI  - First-order phase transitions in the real microcanonical ensemble.
AB  - We present a simulation and data analysis technique to investigate first-order
      phase transitions and the associated transition barriers. The simulation
      technique is based on the real microcanonical ensemble where the sum of kinetic
      and potential energy is kept constant. The method is tested for the droplet
      condensation-evaporation transition in a Lennard-Jones system with up to 2048
      particles at fixed density, using simple Metropolis-like sampling combined with a
      replica-exchange scheme. Our investigation of the microcanonical ensemble
      properties reveals that the associated transition barrier is significantly lower
      than in the canonical counterpart. Along the line of investigating the
      microcanonical ensemble behavior, we develop a framework for general ensemble
      evaluations. This framework is based on a clear separation between system-related
      and ensemble-related properties, which can be exploited to specifically tailor
      artificial ensembles suitable for first-order phase transitions. 

PMID- 27627239
TI  - Simulating confined particles with a flat density profile.
AB  - Particle simulations confined by sharp walls usually develop an oscillatory
      density profile. For some applications, most notably soft matter liquids, this
      behavior is often unrealistic and one expects a monotonic density climb instead.
      To reconcile simulations with experiments, we propose mirror-and-shift boundary
      conditions where each interface is mapped to a distant part of itself. The main
      result is that the particle density increases almost monotonically from zero to
      bulk, over a short distance of about one particle diameter. The method is applied
      to simulate a polymer brush in explicit solvent, grafted on a flat silicon
      substrate. The simulated density profile agrees favorably with neutron
      reflectometry measurements and self-consistent field theory results. 

PMID- 27627240
TI  - Extracting critical exponents for sequences of numerical data via series
      extrapolation techniques.
AB  - We describe a generic scheme to extract critical exponents of quantum lattice
      models from sequences of numerical data, which is, for example, relevant for
      nonperturbative linked-cluster expansions or nonperturbative variants of
      continuous unitary transformations. The fundamental idea behind our approach is a
      reformulation of the numerical data sequences as a series expansion in a
      pseudoparameter. This allows us to utilize standard series expansion
      extrapolation techniques to extract critical properties such as critical points
      and critical exponents. The approach is illustrated for the deconfinement
      transition of the antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain. 

PMID- 27627241
TI  - Bayesian second law of thermodynamics.
AB  - We derive a generalization of the second law of thermodynamics that uses Bayesian
      updates to explicitly incorporate the effects of a measurement of a system at
      some point in its evolution. By allowing an experimenter's knowledge to be
      updated by the measurement process, this formulation resolves a tension between
      the fact that the entropy of a statistical system can sometimes fluctuate
      downward and the information-theoretic idea that knowledge of a stochastically
      evolving system degrades over time. The Bayesian second law can be written as
      DeltaH(rho_{m},rho)+<Q>_{F|m}>=0, where DeltaH(rho_{m},rho) is the change in the
      cross entropy between the original phase-space probability distribution rho and
      the measurement-updated distribution rho_{m} and <Q>_{F|m} is the expectation
      value of a generalized heat flow out of the system. We also derive refined
      versions of the second law that bound the entropy increase from below by a non
      negative number, as well as Bayesian versions of integral fluctuation theorems.
      We demonstrate the formalism using simple analytical and numerical examples. 

PMID- 27627242
TI  - Critical adsorption and critical Casimir forces in the canonical ensemble.
AB  - Critical properties of a liquid film between two planar walls are investigated in
      the canonical ensemble, within which the total number of fluid particles, rather
      than their chemical potential, is kept constant. The effect of this constraint is
      analyzed within mean-field theory (MFT) based on a Ginzburg-Landau free-energy
      functional as well as via Monte Carlo simulations of the three-dimensional Ising
      model with fixed total magnetization. Within MFT and for finite adsorption
      strengths at the walls, the thermodynamic properties of the film in the canonical
      ensemble can be mapped exactly onto a grand canonical ensemble in which the
      corresponding chemical potential plays the role of the Lagrange multiplier
      associated with the constraint. However, due to a nonintegrable divergence of the
      mean-field order parameter profile near a wall, the limit of infinitely strong
      adsorption turns out to be not well-defined within MFT, because it would
      necessarily violate the constraint. The critical Casimir force (CCF) acting on
      the two planar walls of the film is generally found to behave differently in the
      canonical and grand canonical ensembles. For instance, the canonical CCF in the
      presence of equal preferential adsorption at the two walls is found to have the
      opposite sign and a slower decay behavior as a function of the film thickness
      compared to its grand canonical counterpart. We derive the stress tensor in the
      canonical ensemble and find that it has the same expression as in the grand
      canonical case, but with the chemical potential playing the role of the Lagrange
      multiplier associated with the constraint. The different behavior of the CCF in
      the two ensembles is rationalized within MFT by showing that, for a prescribed
      value of the thermodynamic control parameter of the film, i.e., density or
      chemical potential, the film pressures are identical in the two ensembles, while
      the corresponding bulk pressures are not. 

PMID- 27627243
TI  - Relative thermalization.
AB  - Locally thermal quantum systems may contradict traditional thermodynamics: heat
      can flow from a cold body to a hotter one, if the two are highly entangled. We
      show that to recover thermodynamic laws, we must use a stronger notion of
      thermalization: a system S is thermal relative to a reference R if S is both
      locally thermal and uncorrelated with R. Considering a general quantum reference
      is particularly relevant for a thermodynamic treatment of nanoscale quantum
      systems. We derive a technical condition for relative thermalization in terms of
      conditional entropies. Established results on local thermalization, which
      implicitly assume a classical reference, follow as special cases. 

PMID- 27627244
TI  - Superadiabatic forces in the dynamics of the one-dimensional Gaussian core model.
AB  - Using Brownian dynamics computer simulations we investigate the dynamics of the
      one-body density and one-body current in a one-dimensional system of particles
      that interact with a repulsive Gaussian pair potential. We systematically split
      the internal force distribution into an adiabatic part, which originates from the
      equilibrium free energy, and a superadiabatic contribution, which is neglected in
      dynamical density functional theory. We find a strong dependence of the magnitude
      and phase of the superadiabatic force distribution on the initial state of the
      system. While the magnitude of the superadiabatic force is small if the system
      evolves from an equilibrium state inside of a parabolic external potential, it is
      large for particles with equidistant initial separations at high temperature. We
      analyze these findings in the light of the known mean-field behavior of Gaussian
      core particles and discuss a multi-occupancy mechanism which generates
      superadiabatic forces that are out of phase with respect to the adiabatic force. 

PMID- 27627246
TI  - Universality of (2+1)-dimensional restricted solid-on-solid models.
AB  - Extensive dynamical simulations of restricted solid-on-solid models in D=2+1
      dimensions have been done using parallel multisurface algorithms implemented on
      graphics cards. Numerical evidence is presented that these models exhibit Kardar
      Parisi-Zhang surface growth scaling, irrespective of the step heights N. We show
      that by increasing N the corrections to scaling increase, thus smaller step-sized
      models describe better the asymptotic, long-wave-scaling behavior. 

PMID- 27627245
TI  - Time evolution of Renyi entropy under the Lindblad equation.
AB  - In recent years, the Renyi entropy has repeatedly been discussed for
      characterization of quantum critical states and entanglement. Here, time
      evolution of the Renyi entropy is studied. A compact general formula is presented
      for the lower bound on the entropy rate. 

PMID- 27627247
TI  - Weak ergodicity breaking induced by global memory effects.
AB  - We study the phenomenon of weak ergodicity breaking for a class of globally
      correlated random walk dynamics defined over a finite set of states. The
      persistence in a given state or the transition to another one depends on the
      whole previous temporal history of the system. A set of waiting time
      distributions, associated to each state, sets the random times between
      consecutive steps. Their mean value is finite for all states. The probability
      density of time-averaged observables is obtained for different memory mechanisms.
      This statistical object explicitly shows departures between time and ensemble
      averages. While the residence time in each state may have a divergent mean value,
      we demonstrate that this condition is in general not necessary for breaking
      ergodicity. Hence, we conclude that global memory effects are an alternative
      mechanism able to induce ergodicity breaking without involving power-law
      statistics. Analytical and numerical calculations support these results. 

PMID- 27627248
TI  - Optimization of a relativistic quantum mechanical engine.
AB  - We present an optimal analysis for a quantum mechanical engine working between
      two energy baths within the framework of relativistic quantum mechanics, adopting
      a first-order correction. This quantum mechanical engine, with the direct energy
      leakage between the energy baths, consists of two adiabatic and two isoenergetic
      processes and uses a three-level system of two noninteracting fermions as its
      working substance. Assuming that the potential wall moves at a finite speed, we
      derive the expression of power output and, in particular, reproduce the
      expression for the efficiency at maximum power. 

PMID- 27627249
TI  - Universality class of the structural phase transition in the normal phase of
      cuprate superconductors.
AB  - The tetragonal-orthorhombic structural phase transition of oxygen atoms in the
      basal plane of YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+delta} high-T_{C} cuprate superconductors is
      studied numerically. By mapping the system onto the asymmetric next-nearest
      neighbor Ising model, we characterize this phase transition. Results indicate the
      degrees of critical behavior. We show that this phase transition occurs at the
      temperature T_{C}?0.148eV in the thermodynamic limit. By analyzing the critical
      exponents, it is found that this universality class displays some common
      features, with the two-dimensional three-state Potts model universality class,
      although the possibility of other universality classes cannot be ruled out.
      Conformal invariance at T=T_{c} is investigated using the Schramm-Loewner
      evolution (SLE) technique, and it is found that the SLE diffusivity parameter for
      this system is 3.34+/-0.01. 

PMID- 27627250
TI  - Contact process with temporal disorder.
AB  - We investigate the influence of time-varying environmental noise, i.e., temporal
      disorder, on the nonequilibrium phase transition of the contact process.
      Combining a real-time renormalization group, scaling theory, and large scale
      Monte-Carlo simulations in one and two dimensions, we show that the temporal
      disorder gives rise to an exotic critical point. At criticality, the effective
      noise amplitude diverges with increasing time scale, and the probability
      distribution of the density becomes infinitely broad, even on a logarithmic
      scale. Moreover, the average density and survival probability decay only
      logarithmically with time. This infinite-noise critical behavior can be
      understood as the temporal counterpart of infinite-randomness critical behavior
      in spatially disordered systems, but with exchanged roles of space and time. We
      also analyze the generality of our results, and we discuss potential experiments.

PMID- 27627251
TI  - Ising antiferromagnet on the 2-uniform lattices.
AB  - The antiferromagnetic Ising model is investigated on the twenty 2-uniform
      lattices using the Monte Carlo method based on the Wang-Landau algorithm and the
      Metropolis algorithm to study the geometric frustration effect systematically.
      Based on the specific heat, the residual entropy, and the Edwards-Anderson
      freezing order parameter, the ground states of them were determined. In addition
      to the long-range-ordered phase and the spin ice phase found in the Archimedean
      lattices, two more phases were found. The partial long-range order is long-range
      order with exceptional disordered sites, which give extensive residual entropy.
      In the partial spin ice phase, the partial freezing phenomenon appears: A
      majority of sites are frozen without long-range order, but the other sites are
      fluctuating even at zero temperature. The spin liquid ground state was not found
      in the 2-uniform lattices. 

PMID- 27627252
TI  - Theoretical analysis and simulation for a facilitated asymmetric exclusion
      process.
AB  - Driven diffusive systems are important models in nonequilibrium state statistical
      mechanics. This paper studies an asymmetric exclusion process model with nearest
      rear neighbor interactions associated with energy. The exact flux expression of
      the model is obtained by a cluster mean-field method. Based on the flux
      expression, the properties of the fundamental diagram have been investigated in
      detail. To probe the energy's influence on the coarsening process of the system,
      Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to acquire the monotonic phase boundary
      in energy-density space. Above the phase boundary, the system is inhomogeneous
      and the normalized residence distribution p(s) is nonmonotonically decreasing.
      Under the phase boundary, the system is homogeneous and p(s) is monotonically
      decreasing. Further study comparatively shows that the system has turned into a
      microscopic inhomogeneous state from a homogeneous state before the system
      current arrives at maximum, if nearest rear neighbor interactions are strong. Our
      findings offer insights to deeply understand the dynamic features of
      nonequilibrium state systems. 

PMID- 27627253
TI  - Spatial prisoner's dilemma games with zealous cooperators.
AB  - The existence of a zealot who stays a cooperator irrespective of the result of an
      interaction has been reported to add "social viscosity" to a population and
      thereby helps increase the cooperation level in prisoner's dilemma games, which
      premises the so-called well-mixed situation of a population. We found that this
      is not always true when a spatial structure, i.e., connecting agent, is
      introduced. Deploying zealots is counterproductive, especially when the
      underlying topology is homogenous, similar to that of a lattice. Our simulation
      reveals how the existence of never-converting cooperators destroys rather than
      boosts cooperation. We explain detailed mechanisms behind this interesting
      finding by referring to our previously presented concepts with respect to
      evolutionary dynamic processes for spatial games under the names enduring and
      expanding periods. 

PMID- 27627254
TI  - Numerical determination of entropy associated with excess heat in steady-state
      thermodynamics.
AB  - We numerically determine the global entropy for heat-conducting states, which is
      connected to the so-called excess heat considered as a basic quantity for steady
      state thermodynamics in nonequilibrium. We adopt an efficient method to estimate
      the global entropy from the bare heat current and find that the obtained entropy
      agrees with the familiar local equilibrium hypothesis well. Our method possesses
      a wider applicability than local equilibrium and opens a possibility to compare
      thermodynamic properties of complex systems in nonequilibrium with those in the
      local equilibrium. We further investigate the global entropy for heat-conducting
      states and find that it exhibits both extensive and additive properties; however,
      the two properties do not degenerate each other differently from those at
      equilibrium. The separation of the extensivity and additivity makes it difficult
      to apply powerful thermodynamic methods to the nonequilibrium steady states. 

PMID- 27627255
TI  - Interface free-energy exponent in the one-dimensional Ising spin glass with long
      range interactions in both the droplet and broken replica symmetry regions.
AB  - The one-dimensional Ising spin-glass model with power-law long-range interactions
      is a useful proxy model for studying spin glasses in higher space dimensions and
      for finding the dimension at which the spin-glass state changes from having
      broken replica symmetry to that of droplet behavior. To this end we have
      calculated the exponent that describes the difference in free energy between
      periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions. Numerical work is done to support
      some of the assumptions made in the calculations and to determine the behavior of
      the interface free-energy exponent of the power law of the interactions. Our
      numerical results for the interface free-energy exponent are badly affected by
      finite-size problems. 

PMID- 27627256
TI  - Fluctuating systems under cyclic perturbations: Relation between energy
      dissipation and intrinsic relaxation processes.
AB  - This study focuses on fluctuating classical systems in contact with a thermal
      bath, and whose configurational energetics undergoes cyclic transformations due
      to interaction with external perturbing agents. Under the assumptions that the
      configurational dynamics is a stochastic Markov process in the overdamped regime
      and that the nonequilibrium configurational distribution remains close to the
      underlying equilibrium one, we derived an analytic approximation of the average
      dissipated energy per cycle in the asymptotic limit (i.e., after many cycles of
      perturbation). The energy dissipation is then readily translated into average
      entropy production, per cycle, in the environment. The accuracy of the
      approximation was tested by comparing the outcomes with the exact values obtained
      by stochastic simulations of a model case: a "particle on a ring" that fluctuates
      in a bistable potential perturbed in two different ways. As pointed out in
      previous studies on the stochastic resonance phenomenon, the dependence of the
      average dissipation on the perturbation period may unveil the inner spectrum of
      the system's fluctuation rates. In this respect, the analytical approximation
      presented here makes it possible to unveil the connection between average
      dissipation, intrinsic rates and modes of fluctuation of the system at the
      unperturbed equilibrium, and features of the perturbation itself (namely, the
      period of the cycle and the projections of the energy perturbation over the
      system's modes). The possibilities of employing the analytical results as a guide
      to devising and rationalizing a sort of "spectroscopic calorimetry" experiment,
      and of employing them in strategies aiming to optimize the system's features on
      the basis of a target average dissipation, are briefly discussed. 

PMID- 27627257
TI  - Permutation entropy of finite-length white-noise time series.
AB  - Permutation entropy (PE) is commonly used to discriminate complex structure from
      white noise in a time series. While the PE of white noise is well understood in
      the long time-series limit, analysis in the general case is currently lacking.
      Here the expectation value and variance of white-noise PE are derived as
      functions of the number of ordinal pattern trials, N, and the embedding
      dimension, D. It is demonstrated that the probability distribution of the white
      noise PE converges to a chi^{2} distribution with D!-1 degrees of freedom as N
      becomes large. It is further demonstrated that the PE variance for an arbitrary
      time series can be estimated as the variance of a related metric, the Kullback
      Leibler entropy (KLE), allowing the qualitative N?D! condition to be recast as a
      quantitative estimate of the N required to achieve a desired PE calculation
      precision. Application of this theory to statistical inference is demonstrated in
      the case of an experimentally obtained noise series, where the probability of
      obtaining the observed PE value was calculated assuming a white-noise time
      series. Standard statistical inference can be used to draw conclusions whether
      the white-noise null hypothesis can be accepted or rejected. This methodology can
      be applied to other null hypotheses, such as discriminating whether two time
      series are generated from different complex system states. 

PMID- 27627258
TI  - Collective behavior of globally coupled Langevin equations with colored noise in
      the presence of stochastic resonance.
AB  - The long-time collective behavior of globally coupled Langevin equations in a
      dichotomous fluctuating potential driven by a periodic source is investigated. By
      describing the collective behavior using the moments of the mean field and single
      particle displacements, we study stochastic resonance and synchronization using
      the exact steady-state solutions and related stability criteria. Based on the
      simulation results and the criterion of the stationary regime, the notable
      differences between the stationary and nonstationary regimes are demonstrated.
      For the stationary regime, stochastic resonance with synchronization is
      discussed, and for the nonstationary regime, the volatility clustering phenomenon
      is observed. 

PMID- 27627259
TI  - Repulsive particles under a general external potential: Thermodynamics by
      neglecting thermal noise.
AB  - A recent proposal of an effective temperature theta, conjugated to a generalized
      entropy s_{q}, typical of nonextensive statistical mechanics, has led to a
      consistent thermodynamic framework in the case q=2. The proposal was explored for
      repulsively interacting vortices, currently used for modeling type-II
      superconductors. In these systems, the variable theta presents values much higher
      than those of typical room temperatures T, so that the thermal noise can be
      neglected (T/theta?0). The whole procedure was developed for an equilibrium state
      obtained after a sufficiently long-time evolution, associated with a nonlinear
      Fokker-Planck equation and approached due to a confining external harmonic
      potential, phi(x)=alphax^{2}/2 (alpha>0). Herein, the thermodynamic framework is
      extended to a quite general confining potential, namely phi(x)=alpha|x|^{z}/z
      (z>1). It is shown that the main results of the previous analyses hold for any
      z>1: (i) The definition of the effective temperature theta conjugated to the
      entropy s_{2}. (ii) The construction of a Carnot cycle, whose efficiency is shown
      to be eta=1-(theta_{2}/theta_{1}), where theta_{1} and theta_{2} are the
      effective temperatures associated with two isothermal transformations, with
      theta_{1}>theta_{2}. The special character of the Carnot cycle is indicated by
      analyzing another cycle that presents an efficiency depending on z. (iii)
      Applying Legendre transformations for a distinct pair of variables, different
      thermodynamic potentials are obtained, and furthermore, Maxwell relations and
      response functions are derived. The present approach shows a consistent
      thermodynamic framework, suggesting that these results should hold for a general
      confining potential phi(x), increasing the possibility of experimental
      verifications. 

PMID- 27627260
TI  - Effective diffusion in the region between two surfaces.
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to provide a formula for the effective diffusion
      operator obtained by projecting the three-dimensional diffusion equation onto a
      two-dimensional plane, assuming reflective boundary conditions at two surfaces in
      three-dimensional space and a finite transversal stabilization rate. 

PMID- 27627261
TI  - Hyperuniformity and its generalizations.
AB  - Disordered many-particle hyperuniform systems are exotic amorphous states of
      matter that lie between crystal and liquid: They are like perfect crystals in the
      way they suppress large-scale density fluctuations and yet are like liquids or
      glasses in that they are statistically isotropic with no Bragg peaks. These
      exotic states of matter play a vital role in a number of problems across the
      physical, mathematical as well as biological sciences and, because they are
      endowed with novel physical properties, have technological importance. Given the
      fundamental as well as practical importance of disordered hyperuniform systems
      elucidated thus far, it is natural to explore the generalizations of the
      hyperuniformity notion and its consequences. In this paper, we substantially
      broaden the hyperuniformity concept along four different directions. This
      includes generalizations to treat fluctuations in the interfacial area (one of
      the Minkowski functionals) in heterogeneous media and surface-area driven
      evolving microstructures, random scalar fields, divergence-free random vector
      fields, and statistically anisotropic many-particle systems and two-phase media.
      In all cases, the relevant mathematical underpinnings are formulated and
      illustrative calculations are provided. Interfacial-area fluctuations play a
      major role in characterizing the microstructure of two-phase systems (e.g., fluid
      saturated porous media), physical properties that intimately depend on the
      geometry of the interface, and evolving two-phase microstructures that depend on
      interfacial energies (e.g., spinodal decomposition). In the instances of random
      vector fields and statistically anisotropic structures, we show that the standard
      definition of hyperuniformity must be generalized such that it accounts for the
      dependence of the relevant spectral functions on the direction in which the
      origin in Fourier space is approached (nonanalyticities at the origin). Using
      this analysis, we place some well-known energy spectra from the theory of
      isotropic turbulence in the context of this generalization of hyperuniformity.
      Among other results, we show that there exist many-particle ground-state
      configurations in which directional hyperuniformity imparts exotic anisotropic
      physical properties (e.g., elastic, optical, and acoustic characteristics) to
      these states of matter. Such tunability could have technological relevance for
      manipulating light and sound waves in ways heretofore not thought possible. We
      show that disordered many-particle systems that respond to external fields (e.g.,
      magnetic and electric fields) are a natural class of materials to look for
      directional hyperuniformity. The generalizations of hyperuniformity introduced
      here provide theoreticians and experimentalists new avenues to understand a very
      broad range of phenomena across a variety of fields through the hyperuniformity
      "lens." 

PMID- 27627263
TI  - Lock-and-key dimerization in dense Brownian systems of hard annular sector
      particles.
AB  - We develop a translational-rotational cage model that describes the behavior of
      dense two-dimensional (2D) Brownian systems of hard annular sector particles
      (ASPs), resembling C shapes. At high particle densities, pairs of ASPs can form
      mutually interdigitating lock-and-key dimers. This cage model considers either
      one or two mobile central ASPs which can translate and rotate within a static
      cage of surrounding ASPs that mimics the system's average local structure and
      density. By comparing with recent measurements made on dispersions of microscale
      lithographic ASPs [P. Y. Wang and T. G. Mason, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 15308
      (2015)JACSAT0002-786310.1021/jacs.5b10549], we show that mobile two-particle
      predictions of the probability of dimerization P_{dimer}, equilibrium constant K,
      and 2D osmotic pressure Pi_{2D} as a function of the particle area fraction
      phi_{A} correspond closely to these experiments. By contrast, predictions based
      on only a single mobile particle do not agree well with either the two-particle
      predictions or the experimental data. Thus, we show that collective entropy can
      play an essential role in the behavior of dense Brownian systems composed of
      nontrivial hard shapes, such as ASPs. 

PMID- 27627262
TI  - Energy fluctuations of a finite free-electron Fermi gas.
AB  - We discuss the energy distribution of free-electron Fermi-gas, a problem with a
      textbook solution of Gaussian energy fluctuations in the limit of a large system.
      We find that for a small system, characterized solely by its heat capacity C, the
      distribution can be solved analytically, and it is both skewed and it vanishes at
      low energies, exhibiting a sharp drop to zero at the energy corresponding to the
      filled Fermi sea. The results are relevant from the experimental point of view,
      since the predicted non-Gaussian effects become pronounced when C/k_{B}?10^{3}
      (k_{B} is the Boltzmann constant), a regime that can be easily achieved for
      instance in mesoscopic metallic conductors at sub-kelvin temperatures. 

PMID- 27627264
TI  - Calculation of displacement correlation tensor indicating vortical cooperative
      motion in two-dimensional colloidal liquids.
AB  - As an indicator of cooperative motion in a system of Brownian particles that
      models two-dimensional colloidal liquids, a displacement correlation tensor is
      calculated analytically and compared with numerical results. The key idea for the
      analytical calculation is to relate the displacement correlation tensor, which is
      a kind of four-point space-time correlation, to the Lagrangian two-time
      correlation of the deformation gradient tensor. Tensorial treatment of the
      statistical quantities, including the displacement correlation itself, allows
      capturing the vortical structure of the cooperative motion. The calculated
      displacement correlation also implies a negative long-time tail in the velocity
      autocorrelation, which is a manifestation of the cage effect. Both the
      longitudinal and transverse components of the displacement correlation are found
      to be expressible in terms of a similarity variable, suggesting that the cages
      are nested to form a self-similar structure in the space-time. 

PMID- 27627266
TI  - Score distributions of gapped multiple sequence alignments down to the low
      probability tail.
AB  - Assessing the significance of alignment scores of optimally aligned DNA or amino
      acid sequences can be achieved via the knowledge of the score distribution of
      random sequences. But this requires obtaining the distribution in the
      biologically relevant high-scoring region, where the probabilities are
      exponentially small. For gapless local alignments of infinitely long sequences
      this distribution is known analytically to follow a Gumbel distribution.
      Distributions for gapped local alignments and global alignments of finite lengths
      can only be obtained numerically. To obtain result for the small-probability
      region, specific statistical mechanics-based rare-event algorithms can be
      applied. In previous studies, this was achieved for pairwise alignments. They
      showed that, contrary to results from previous simple sampling studies, strong
      deviations from the Gumbel distribution occur in case of finite sequence lengths.
      Here we extend the studies to multiple sequence alignments with gaps, which are
      much more relevant for practical applications in molecular biology. We study the
      distributions of scores over a large range of the support, reaching probabilities
      as small as 10^{-160}, for global and local (sum-of-pair scores) multiple
      alignments. We find that even after suitable rescaling, eliminating the sequence
      length dependence, the distributions for multiple alignment differ from the
      pairwise alignment case. Furthermore, we also show that the previously discussed
      Gaussian correction to the Gumbel distribution needs to be refined, also for the
      case of pairwise alignments. 

PMID- 27627265
TI  - Dynamics of open quantum spin systems: An assessment of the quantum master
      equation approach.
AB  - Data of the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation of a
      system containing one spin-1/2 particle interacting with a bath of up to 32 spin
      1/2 particles is used to construct a Markovian quantum master equation describing
      the dynamics of the system spin. The procedure of obtaining this quantum master
      equation, which takes the form of a Bloch equation with time-independent
      coefficients, accounts for all non-Markovian effects inasmuch the general
      structure of the quantum master equation allows. Our simulation results show
      that, with a few rather exotic exceptions, the Bloch-type equation with time
      independent coefficients provides a simple and accurate description of the
      dynamics of a spin-1/2 particle in contact with a thermal bath. A calculation of
      the coefficients that appear in the Redfield master equation in the Markovian
      limit shows that this perturbatively derived equation quantitatively differs from
      the numerically estimated Markovian master equation, the results of which agree
      very well with the solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. 

PMID- 27627267
TI  - Characterization of a transition in the transport dynamics of a diffusive
      sandpile by means of recurrence quantification analysis.
AB  - Recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) is used to characterize a dynamical
      transition that takes place in the diffusive sandpile. The transition happens
      when a combination of the drive strength, diffusivity, and overturning size
      exceeds a critical value. Above the transition, the self-similar transport
      dynamics associated to the classical (nondiffusive) sandpile is replaced by new
      transport dynamics dominated by near system-size, quasiperiodic avalanche events.
      The deterministic content of transport dynamics, as quantified by RQA, turns out
      to be quite different in both phases. The time series analyzed with RQA in this
      work correspond to local sand fluxes at different radial locations across the
      diffusive sandpile. 

PMID- 27627268
TI  - Alternative method to characterize continuous and discontinuous phase transitions
      in surface reaction models.
AB  - In this paper we revisited the Ziff-Gulari-Barshad model to study its phase
      transitions and critical exponents through time-dependent Monte Carlo
      simulations. We use a method proposed recently to locate the nonequilibrium
      second-order phase transitions and that has been successfully used in systems
      with defined Hamiltonians and with absorbing states. This method, which is based
      on optimization of the coefficient of determination of the order parameter, was
      able to characterize the continuous phase transition of the model, as well as its
      upper spinodal point, a pseudocritical point located near the discontinuous phase
      transition. The static critical exponents beta, nu_{?}, and nu_{?}, as well as
      the dynamic critical exponents theta and z for the continuous transition point,
      were also estimated and are in excellent agreement with results found in
      literature. 

PMID- 27627269
TI  - Explicit densities of multidimensional ballistic Levy walks.
AB  - Levy walks have proved to be useful models of stochastic dynamics with a number
      of applications in the modeling of real-life phenomena. In this paper we derive
      explicit formulas for densities of the two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D)
      ballistic Levy walks, which are most important in applications. It turns out that
      in the 3D case the densities are given by elementary functions. The densities of
      the 2D Levy walks are expressed in terms of hypergeometric functions and the
      right-side Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, which allows us to
      efficiently evaluate them numerically. The theoretical results agree perfectly
      with Monte Carlo simulations. 

PMID- 27627270
TI  - Thermodynamic formalism and linear response theory for nonequilibrium steady
      states.
AB  - We study the linear response in systems driven away from thermal equilibrium into
      a nonequilibrium steady state with nonvanishing entropy production rate. A simple
      derivation of a general response formula is presented under the condition that
      the generating function describes a transformation that (to lowest order)
      preserves normalization and thus describes a physical stochastic process. For
      Markov processes we explicitly construct the conjugate quantities and discuss
      their relation with known response formulas. Emphasis is put on the formal
      analogy with thermodynamic potentials and some consequences are discussed. 

PMID- 27627271
TI  - Solvable continuous-time random walk model of the motion of tracer particles
      through porous media.
AB  - We consider the continuous-time random walk (CTRW) model of tracer motion in
      porous medium flows based on the experimentally determined distributions of pore
      velocity and pore size reported by Holzner et al. [M. Holzner et al., Phys. Rev.
      E 92, 013015 (2015)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.92.013015]. The particle's
      passing through one channel is modeled as one step of the walk. The step
      (channel) length is random and the walker's velocity at consecutive steps of the
      walk is conserved with finite probability, mimicking that at the turning point
      there could be no abrupt change of velocity. We provide the Laplace transform of
      the characteristic function of the walker's position and reductions for different
      cases of independence of the CTRW's step duration tau, length l, and velocity v.
      We solve our model with independent l and v. The model incorporates different
      forms of the tail of the probability density of small velocities that vary with
      the model parameter alpha. Depending on that parameter, all types of anomalous
      diffusion can hold, from super- to subdiffusion. In a finite interval of alpha,
      ballistic behavior with logarithmic corrections holds, which was observed in a
      previously introduced CTRW model with independent l and tau. Universality of
      tracer diffusion in the porous medium is considered. 

PMID- 27627272
TI  - Boundary-field-driven control of discontinuous phase transitions on hyperbolic
      lattices.
AB  - The multistate Potts models on two-dimensional hyperbolic lattices are studied
      with respect to various boundary effects. The free energy is numerically
      calculated using the corner transfer matrix renormalization group method. We
      analyze phase transitions of the Potts models in the thermodynamic limit with
      respect to contracted boundary layers. A false phase transition is present even
      if a couple of the boundary layers are contracted. Its significance weakens, as
      the number of the contracted boundary layers increases, until the correct phase
      transition (deep inside the bulk) prevails over the false one. For this purpose,
      we derive a thermodynamic quantity, the so-called bulk excess free energy, which
      depends on the contracted boundary layers and memorizes additional boundary
      effects. In particular, the magnetic field is imposed on the outermost boundary
      layer. While the boundary magnetic field does not affect the second-order phase
      transition in the bulk if suppressing all the boundary effects on the hyperbolic
      lattices, the first-order (discontinuous) phase transition is significantly
      sensitive to the boundary magnetic field. Contrary to the phase transition on the
      Euclidean lattices, the discontinuous phase transition on the hyperbolic lattices
      can be continuously controlled (within a certain temperature coexistence region)
      by varying the boundary magnetic field. 

PMID- 27627273
TI  - Phase diagram of a truncated tetrahedral model.
AB  - Phase diagram of a discrete counterpart of the classical Heisenberg model, the
      truncated tetrahedral model, is analyzed on the square lattice, when the
      interaction is ferromagnetic. Each spin is represented by a unit vector that can
      point to one of the 12 vertices of the truncated tetrahedron, which is a
      continuous interpolation between the tetrahedron and the octahedron. Phase
      diagram of the model is determined by means of the statistical analog of the
      entanglement entropy, which is numerically calculated by the corner transfer
      matrix renormalization group method. The obtained phase diagram consists of four
      different phases, which are separated by five transition lines. In the parameter
      region, where the octahedral anisotropy is dominant, a weak first-order phase
      transition is observed. 

PMID- 27627274
TI  - Transfer entropy in physical systems and the arrow of time.
AB  - Recent developments have cemented the realization that many concepts and
      quantities in thermodynamics and information theory are shared. In this paper, we
      consider a highly relevant quantity in information theory and complex systems,
      the transfer entropy, and explore its thermodynamic role by considering the
      implications of time reversal upon it. By doing so we highlight the role of
      information dynamics on the nuanced question of observer perspective within
      thermodynamics by relating the temporal irreversibility in the information
      dynamics to the configurational (or spatial) resolution of the thermodynamics. We
      then highlight its role in perhaps the most enduring paradox in modern physics,
      the manifestation of a (thermodynamic) arrow of time. We find that for systems
      that process information such as those undergoing feedback, a robust arrow of
      time can be formulated by considering both the apparent physical behavior which
      leads to conventional entropy production and the information dynamics which leads
      to a quantity we call the information theoretic arrow of time. We also offer an
      interpretation in terms of optimal encoding of observed physical behavior. 

PMID- 27627275
TI  - Transitional steady states of exchange dynamics between finite quantum systems.
AB  - We examine energy and particle exchange between finite-sized quantum systems and
      find a new form of nonequilibrium state. The exchange rate undergoes stepwise
      evolution in time, and its magnitude and sign dramatically change according to
      system size differences. The origin lies in interference effects contributed by
      multiply scattered waves at system boundaries. Although such characteristics are
      utterly different from those of true steady state for infinite systems, Onsager's
      reciprocal relation remains universally valid. 

PMID- 27627276
TI  - Bayesian online compressed sensing.
AB  - In this paper, we explore the possibilities and limitations of recovering sparse
      signals in an online fashion. Employing a mean field approximation to the Bayes
      recursion formula yields an online signal recovery algorithm that can be
      performed with a computational cost that is linearly proportional to the signal
      length per update. Analysis of the resulting algorithm indicates that the online
      algorithm asymptotically saturates the optimal performance limit achieved by the
      offline method in the presence of Gaussian measurement noise, while differences
      in the allowable computational costs may result in fundamental gaps of the
      achievable performance in the absence of noise. 

PMID- 27627277
TI  - Matrix-product ansatz for the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with a
      generalized update on a ring.
AB  - We apply the matrix-product ansatz to study the totally asymmetric simple
      exclusion process on a ring with a generalized discrete-time dynamics depending
      on two hopping probabilities, p and p[over ]. The model contains as special cases
      the TASEP with parallel update, when p[over ]=0, and with sequential backward
      ordered update, when p[over ]=p. We construct a quadratic algebra and its two
      dimensional matrix-product representation to obtain exact finite-size expressions
      for the partition function, the current of particles, and the two-point
      correlation function. Our main new result is the derivation of the finite-size
      pair correlation function. Its behavior is analyzed in different regimes of
      effective attraction and repulsion between the particles, depending on whether
      p[over ]>p or p[over ]<p. In particular, we explicitly obtain an analytic
      expression for the pair correlation function in the limit of irreversible
      aggregation p[over ]->1, when the stationary configurations contain just one
      cluster. 

PMID- 27627278
TI  - Stochastically forced dislocation density distribution in plastic deformation.
AB  - The dynamical evolution of dislocations in plastically deformed metals is
      controlled by both deterministic factors arising out of applied loads and
      stochastic effects appearing due to fluctuations of internal stress. Such types
      of stochastic dislocation processes and the associated spatially inhomogeneous
      modes lead to randomness in the observed deformation structure. Previous studies
      have analyzed the role of randomness in such textural evolution, but none of
      these models have considered the impact of a finite decay time (all previous
      models assumed instantaneous relaxation which is "unphysical") of the stochastic
      perturbations in the overall dynamics of the system. The present article bridges
      this knowledge gap by introducing a colored noise in the form of an Ornstein
      Uhlenbeck noise in the analysis of a class of linear and nonlinear Wiener and
      Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes that these structural dislocation dynamics could be
      mapped on to. Based on an analysis of the relevant Fokker-Planck model, our
      results show that linear Wiener processes remain unaffected by the second time
      scale in the problem, but all nonlinear processes, both the Wiener type and
      Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type, scale as a function of the noise decay time tau. The
      results are expected to ramify existing experimental observations and inspire new
      numerical and laboratory tests to gain further insight into the competition
      between deterministic and random effects in modeling plastically deformed
      samples. 

PMID- 27627279
TI  - Discreteness-induced transitions in multibody reaction systems.
AB  - A decrease in system size can induce qualitatively different behavior compared to
      the macroscopic behavior of the corresponding large-size system. The mechanisms
      of this transition, which is known as the small-size transition, can be
      attributed to either a relative increase in the noise intensity or to the
      discreteness of the state space due to the small system size. The former
      mechanism has been intensively investigated using several toy and realistic
      models. However, the latter has rarely been analyzed and is sometimes confused
      with the former, because a toy model that extracts the essence of the
      discreteness-induced transition mechanism is lacking. In this work, we propose a
      one- and three-body reaction system as a minimal model of the discreteness
      induced transition and derive the conditions under which this transition occurs
      in more complex systems. This work enriches our understanding of the influence of
      small system size on system behavior. 

PMID- 27627280
TI  - Optimal control of the power adiabatic stroke of an optomechanical heat engine.
AB  - We consider the power adiabatic stroke of the Otto optomechanical heat engine
      introduced in Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 150602 (2014)PRLTAO0031
      900710.1103/PhysRevLett.112.150602. We derive the maximum extractable work of
      both optomechanical normal modes in the minimum time while the system experiences
      quantum friction effects. We show that the total work done by the system in the
      power adiabatic stroke is optimized by a bang-bang control. The time duration of
      the power adiabatic stroke is of the order of the inverse of the effective
      optomechanical-coupling coefficient. The optimal phase-space trajectory of the
      Otto cycle for both optomechanical normal modes is also obtained. 

PMID- 27627281
TI  - Correlations and scaling properties of nonequilibrium fluctuations in liquid
      mixtures.
AB  - Diffusion in liquids is accompanied by nonequilibrium concentration fluctuations
      spanning all the length scales comprised between the microscopic scale a and the
      macroscopic size of the system, L. Up to now, theoretical and experimental
      investigations of nonequilibrium fluctuations have focused mostly on determining
      their mean-square amplitude as a function of the wave vector. In this work, we
      investigate the local properties of nonequilibrium fluctuations arising during a
      stationary diffusion process occurring in a binary liquid mixture in the presence
      of a uniform concentration gradient, ?c_{0}. We characterize the fluctuations by
      evaluating statistical features of the system, including the mean-square
      amplitude of fluctuations and the corrugation of the isoconcentration surfaces;
      we show that they depend on a single mesoscopic length scale l=sqrt[aL]
      representing the geometric average between the microscopic and macroscopic length
      scales. We find that the amplitude of the fluctuations is very small in practical
      cases and vanishes when the macroscopic length scale increases. The
      isoconcentration surfaces, or fronts of diffusion, have a self-affine structure
      with corrugation exponent H=1/2. Ideally, the local fractal dimension of the
      fronts of diffusion would be D_{l}=d-H, where d is the dimensionality of the
      space, while the global fractal dimension would be D_{g}=d-1. The transition
      between the local and global regimes occurs at a crossover length scale of the
      order of the microscopic length scale a. Therefore, notwithstanding the fact that
      the fronts of diffusion are corrugated, they appear flat at all the length scales
      probed by experiments, and they do not exhibit a fractal structure. 

PMID- 27627282
TI  - Open system trajectories specify fluctuating work but not heat.
AB  - Based on the explicit knowledge of a Hamiltonian of mean force, the classical
      statistical mechanics and equilibrium thermodynamics of open systems in contact
      with a thermal environment at arbitrary interaction strength can be formulated.
      Yet, even though the Hamiltonian of mean force uniquely determines the
      equilibrium phase space probability density of a strongly coupled open system,
      the knowledge of this probability density alone is insufficient to determine the
      Hamiltonian of mean force, needed in constructing the underlying statistical
      mechanics and thermodynamics. We demonstrate that under the assumption that the
      Hamiltonian of mean force is known, an extension of thermodynamic structures from
      the level of averaged quantities to fluctuating objects (i.e., a stochastic
      thermodynamics) is possible. However, such a construction undesirably also
      involves a vast ambiguity. This situation is rooted in the eminent lack of a
      physical guiding principle allowing us to distinguish a physically meaningful
      theory out of a multitude of other equally conceivable ones. 

PMID- 27627283
TI  - Thermal response of nonequilibrium RC circuits.
AB  - We analyze experimental data obtained from an electrical circuit having
      components at different temperatures, showing how to predict its response to
      temperature variations. This illustrates in detail how to utilize a recent linear
      response theory for nonequilibrium overdamped stochastic systems. To validate
      these results, we introduce a reweighting procedure that mimics the actual
      realization of the perturbation and allows extracting the susceptibility of the
      system from steady-state data. This procedure is closely related to other
      fluctuation-response relations based on the knowledge of the steady-state
      probability distribution. As an example, we show that the nonequilibrium heat
      capacity in general does not correspond to the correlation between the energy of
      the system and the heat flowing into it. Rather, also nondissipative aspects are
      relevant in the nonequilibrium fluctuation-response relations. 

PMID- 27627285
TI  - Spin-glass phase transitions and minimum energy of the random feedback vertex set
      problem.
AB  - A feedback vertex set (FVS) of an undirected graph contains vertices from every
      cycle of this graph. Constructing a FVS of sufficiently small cardinality is very
      difficult in the worst cases, but for random graphs this problem can be
      efficiently solved by converting it into an appropriate spin-glass model [H.-J.
      Zhou, Eur. Phys. J. B 86, 455 (2013)EPJBFY1434-602810.1140/epjb/e2013-40690-1].
      In the present work we study the spin-glass phase transitions and the minimum
      energy density of the random FVS problem by the first-step replica-symmetry
      breaking (1RSB) mean-field theory. For both regular random graphs and Erdos-Renyi
      graphs, we determine the inverse temperature beta_{l} at which the replica
      symmetric mean-field theory loses its local stability, the inverse temperature
      beta_{d} of the dynamical (clustering) phase transition, and the inverse
      temperature beta_{s} of the static (condensation) phase transition. These
      critical inverse temperatures all change with the mean vertex degree in a
      nonmonotonic way, and beta_{d} is distinct from beta_{s} for regular random
      graphs of vertex degrees K>60, while beta_{d} are identical to beta_{s} for Erdos
      Renyi graphs at least up to mean vertex degree c=512. We then derive the zero
      temperature limit of the 1RSB theory and use it to compute the minimum FVS
      cardinality. 

PMID- 27627284
TI  - Finite-size corrections to scaling of the magnetization distribution in the two
      dimensional XY model at zero temperature.
AB  - The zero-temperature, classical XY model on an L*L square lattice is studied by
      exploring the distribution Phi_{L}(y) of its centered and normalized
      magnetization y in the large-L limit. An integral representation of the cumulant
      generating function, known from earlier works, is used for the numerical
      evaluation of Phi_{L}(y), and the limit distribution Phi_{L
      >infinity}(y)=Phi_{0}(y) is obtained with high precision. The two leading finite
      size corrections Phi_{L}(y)-Phi_{0}(y)~a_{1}(L)Phi_{1}(y)+a_{2}(L)Phi_{2}(y) are
      also extracted both from numerics and from analytic calculations. We find that
      the amplitude a_{1}(L) scales as ln(L/L_{0})/L^{2} and the shape correction
      function Phi_{1}(y) can be expressed through the low-order derivatives of the
      limit distribution, Phi_{1}(y)=[yPhi_{0}(y)+Phi_{0}^{'}(y)]^{'}. Thus, Phi_{1}(y)
      carries the same universal features as the limit distribution and can be used for
      consistency checks of universality claims based on finite-size systems. The
      second finite-size correction has an amplitude a_{2}(L)?1/L^{2} and one finds
      that a_{2}Phi_{2}(y)?a_{1}Phi_{1}(y) already for small system size (L>10). We
      illustrate the feasibility of observing the calculated finite-size corrections by
      performing simulations of the XY model at low temperatures, including T=0. 

PMID- 27627286
TI  - Casimir rack and pinion as a miniaturized kinetic energy harvester.
AB  - We study a nanoscale machine composed of a rack and a pinion with no contact, but
      intermeshed via the lateral Casimir force. We adopt a simple model for the random
      velocity of the rack subject to external random forces, namely, a dichotomous
      noise with zero mean value. We show that the pinion, even when it experiences
      random thermal torque, can do work against a load. The device thus converts the
      kinetic energy of the random motions of the rack into useful work. 

PMID- 27627287
TI  - Particle dynamics in a symmetrically driven underdamped inhomogeneous periodic
      potential system.
AB  - We numerically solve the underdamped Langevin equation to obtain the trajectories
      of a particle in a sinusoidal potential driven by a temporally sinusoidal force
      in a medium with coefficient of friction periodic in space as the potential but
      with a phase difference. With the appropriate choice of system parameters, like
      the mean friction coefficient and the period of the applied field, only two kinds
      of periodic trajectories are obtained for all possible initial conditions at low
      noise strengths: one with a large amplitude and a large phase lag with respect to
      the applied field and the other with a small amplitude and a small phase lag.
      Thus, the periodic potential system is effectively mapped dynamically into a
      bistable system. Though the directional asymmetry, brought about only by the
      frictional inhomogeneity, is weak we find both the phenomena of stochastic
      resonance, with ready explanation in terms of the two dynamical states of
      trajectories, and ratchet effect simultaneously in the same parameter space. We
      analyze the results in detail attempting to find plausible explanations for each.

PMID- 27627289
TI  - Ergodicity and mixing in quantum dynamics.
AB  - After a brief historical review of ergodicity and mixing in dynamics,
      particularly in quantum dynamics, we introduce definitions of quantum ergodicity
      and mixing using the structure of the system's energy levels and spacings. Our
      definitions are consistent with the usual understanding of ergodicity and mixing.
      Two parameters concerning the degeneracy in energy levels and spacings are
      introduced. They are computed for right triangular billiards and the results
      indicate a very close relation between quantum ergodicity (mixing) and quantum
      chaos. At the end, we argue that, besides ergodicity and mixing, there may exist
      a third class of quantum dynamics which is characterized by a maximized entropy. 

PMID- 27627288
TI  - Bending and Gaussian rigidities of confined soft spheres from second-order virial
      series.
AB  - We use virial series to study the equilibrium properties of confined soft-spheres
      fluids interacting through the inverse-power potentials. The confinement is
      induced by hard walls with planar, spherical, and cylindrical shapes. We evaluate
      analytically the coefficients of order two in density of the wall-fluid surface
      tension gamma and analyze the curvature contributions to the free energy.
      Emphasis is in bending and Gaussian rigidities, which are found analytically at
      order two in density. Their contribution to gamma(R) and the accuracy of
      different truncation procedures to the low curvature expansion are discussed.
      Finally, several universal relations that apply to low-density fluids are
      analyzed. 

PMID- 27627290
TI  - Heavy-tailed phase-space distributions beyond Boltzmann-Gibbs: Confined laser
      cooled atoms in a nonthermal state.
AB  - The Boltzmann-Gibbs density, a central result of equilibrium statistical
      mechanics, relates the energy of a system in contact with a thermal bath to its
      equilibrium statistics. This relation is lost for nonthermal systems such as cold
      atoms in optical lattices, where the heat bath is replaced with the laser beams
      of the lattice. We investigate in detail the stationary phase-space probability
      for Sisyphus cooling under harmonic confinement. In particular, we elucidate
      whether the total energy of the system still describes its stationary state
      statistics. We find that this is true for the center part of the phase-space
      density for deep lattices, where the Boltzmann-Gibbs density provides an
      approximate description. The relation between energy and statistics also persists
      for strong confinement and in the limit of high energies, where the system
      becomes underdamped. However, the phase-space density now exhibits heavy power
      law tails. In all three cases we find expressions for the leading-order phase
      space density and corrections which break the equivalence of probability and
      energy and violate energy equipartition. The nonequilibrium nature of the steady
      state is corroborated by explicit violations of detailed balance. We complement
      these analytical results with numerical simulations to map out the intricate
      structure of the phase-space density. 

PMID- 27627291
TI  - Characterization of maximally random jammed sphere packings. II. Correlation
      functions and density fluctuations.
AB  - In the first paper of this series, we introduced Voronoi correlation functions to
      characterize the structure of maximally random jammed (MRJ) sphere packings
      across length scales. In the present paper, we determine a variety of different
      correlation functions that arise in rigorous expressions for the effective
      physical properties of MRJ sphere packings and compare them to the corresponding
      statistical descriptors for overlapping spheres and equilibrium hard-sphere
      systems. Such structural descriptors arise in rigorous bounds and formulas for
      effective transport properties, diffusion and reactions constants, elastic
      moduli, and electromagnetic characteristics. First, we calculate the two-point,
      surface-void, and surface-surface correlation functions, for which we derive
      explicit analytical formulas for finite hard-sphere packings. We show
      analytically how the contact Dirac delta function contribution to the pair
      correlation function g_{2}(r) for MRJ packings translates into distinct
      functional behaviors of these two-point correlation functions that do not arise
      in the other two models examined here. Then we show how the spectral density
      distinguishes the MRJ packings from the other disordered systems in that the
      spectral density vanishes in the limit of infinite wavelengths; i.e., these
      packings are hyperuniform, which means that density fluctuations on large length
      scales are anomalously suppressed. Moreover, for all model systems, we study and
      compute exclusion probabilities and pore size distributions, as well as local
      density fluctuations. We conjecture that for general disordered hard-sphere
      packings, a central limit theorem holds for the number of points within an
      spherical observation window. Our analysis links problems of interest in material
      science, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. In the third paper of this series,
      we will evaluate bounds and estimates of a host of different physical properties
      of the MRJ sphere packings that are based on the structural characteristics
      analyzed in this paper. 

PMID- 27627292
TI  - Ultrasensitive hysteretic force sensing with parametric nonlinear oscillators.
AB  - We propose a method for linear detection of weak forces using parametrically
      driven nonlinear resonators. The method is based on a peculiar feature in the
      response of the resonator to a near resonant periodic external force. This
      feature stems from a complex interplay among the parametric drive, external
      force, and nonlinearities. For weak parametric drive, the response exhibits the
      standard Duffing-like single jump hysteresis. For stronger drive amplitudes, we
      find a qualitatively new double jump hysteresis which arises from stable
      solutions generated by the cubic Duffing nonlinearity. The additional jump exists
      only if the external force is present and the frequency at which it occurs
      depends linearly on the amplitude of the external force, permitting a
      straightforward ultrasensitive detection of weak forces. With state-of-the-art
      nanomechanical resonators, our scheme should permit force detection in the
      attonewton range. 

PMID- 27627293
TI  - Q spoiling in deformed optical microdisks due to resonance-assisted tunneling.
AB  - A recent experiment by Kwak et al. [Sci. Rep. 5, 9010 (2015)10.1038/srep09010]
      demonstrated the relevance of resonance-assisted tunneling for optical
      microcavities where resonance chains emerge in phase space due to boundary
      deformations. In this paper we adapt the perturbative description of resonance
      assisted tunneling to calculate optical modes and the imaginary part of their
      complex wavenumber which determines the lifetime of the mode. We demonstrate our
      method at three example cavity shapes and compare our results to numerical data
      and perturbation theory for weakly deformed microdisk cavities. 

PMID- 27627294
TI  - Stochastic bifurcations in a prototypical thermoacoustic system.
AB  - We study the influence of noise in a prototypical thermoacoustic system, which
      represents a nonlinear self-excited bistable oscillator. We analyze the time
      series of unsteady pressure obtained from a horizontal Rijke tube and a
      mathematical model to identify the effect of noise. We report the occurrence of
      stochastic bifurcations in a thermoacoustic system by tracking the changes in the
      stationary amplitude distribution. We observe a complete suppression of a
      bistable zone in the presence of high intensity noise. We find that the complete
      suppression of the bistable zone corresponds to the nonexistence of
      phenomenological (P) bifurcations. This is a study in thermoacoustics to identify
      the parameter regimes pertinent to P bifurcation using the stationary amplitude
      distribution obtained by solving the Fokker-Planck equation. 

PMID- 27627295
TI  - Analytically exploiting noise correlations inside the feedback loop to improve
      locked-oscillator performance.
AB  - We introduce concepts from optimal estimation to the stabilization of precision
      frequency standards limited by noisy local oscillators. We develop a theoretical
      framework casting various measures for frequency standard variance in terms of
      frequency-domain transfer functions, capturing the effects of feedback
      stabilization via a time series of Ramsey measurements. Using this framework, we
      introduce an optimized hybrid predictive feedforward measurement protocol that
      employs results from multiple past measurements and transfer-function-based
      calculations of measurement covariance to improve the accuracy of corrections
      within the feedback loop. In the presence of common non-Markovian noise processes
      these measurements will be correlated in a calculable manner, providing a means
      to capture the stochastic evolution of the local oscillator frequency during the
      measurement cycle. We present analytic calculations and numerical simulations of
      oscillator performance under competing feedback schemes and demonstrate benefits
      in both correction accuracy and long-term oscillator stability using hybrid
      feedforward. Simulations verify that in the presence of uncompensated dead time
      and noise with significant spectral weight near the inverse cycle time predictive
      feedforward outperforms traditional feedback, providing a path towards developing
      a class of stabilization software routines for frequency standards limited by
      noisy local oscillators. 

PMID- 27627296
TI  - Motion of dissipative optical fronts under the action of an oscillating pump.
AB  - The dynamics of domain walls in optical bistable systems with pump and loss is
      considered. It is shown that an oscillating component of the pump affects the
      average drift velocity of the domain walls. The cases of harmonic and biharmonic
      pumps are considered. It is demonstrated that in the case of biharmonic pulse the
      velocity of the domain wall can be controlled by the mutual phase of the
      harmonics. The analogy between this phenomenon and the ratchet effect is drawn.
      Synchronization of the moving domain walls by the oscillating pump in discrete
      systems is studied and discussed. 

PMID- 27627297
TI  - Environmental coupling in ecosystems: From oscillation quenching to
      rhythmogenesis.
AB  - How landscape fragmentation affects ecosystems diversity and stability is an
      important and complex question in ecology with no simple answer, as spatially
      separated habitats where species live are highly dynamic rather than just static.
      Taking into account the species dispersal among nearby connected habitats (or
      patches) through a common dynamic environment, we model the consumer-resource
      interactions with a ring type coupled network. By characterizing the dynamics of
      consumer-resource interactions in a coupled ecological system with three
      fundamental mechanisms such as the interaction within the patch, the interaction
      between the patches, and the interaction through a common dynamic environment, we
      report the occurrence of various collective behaviors. We show that the interplay
      between the dynamic environment and the dispersal among connected patches
      exhibits the mechanism of generation of oscillations, i.e., rhythmogenesis, as
      well as suppression of oscillations, i.e., amplitude death and oscillation death.
      Also, the transition from homogeneous steady state to inhomogeneous steady state
      occurs through a codimension-2 bifurcation. Emphasizing a network of a spatially
      extended system, the coupled model exposes the collective behavior of a synchrony
      stability relationship with various synchronization occurrences such as in-phase
      and out-of-phase. 

PMID- 27627298
TI  - Vortex-soliton complexes in coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equations with unequal
      dispersion coefficients.
AB  - We consider a two-component, two-dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger system with
      unequal dispersion coefficients and self-defocusing nonlinearities, chiefly with
      equal strengths of the self- and cross-interactions. In this setting, a natural
      waveform with a nonvanishing background in one component is a vortex, which
      induces an effective potential well in the second component, via the nonlinear
      coupling of the two components. We show that the potential well may support not
      only the fundamental bound state, but also multiring excited radial state
      complexes for suitable ranges of values of the dispersion coefficient of the
      second component. We systematically explore the existence, stability, and
      nonlinear dynamics of these states. The complexes involving the excited radial
      states are weakly unstable, with a growth rate depending on the dispersion of the
      second component. Their evolution leads to transformation of the multiring
      complexes into stable vortex-bright solitons ones with the fundamental state in
      the second component. The excited states may be stabilized by a harmonic
      oscillator trapping potential, as well as by unequal strengths of the self- and
      cross-repulsive nonlinearities. 

PMID- 27627299
TI  - Energy localization in weakly dissipative resonant chains.
AB  - Localization of energy in oscillator arrays has been of interest for a number of
      years, with special attention paid to the role of nonlinearity and discreteness
      in the formation of localized structures. This work examines a different type of
      energy localization arising due to the presence of dissipation in nonlinear
      resonance arrays. As a basic model, we consider a Klein-Gordon chain of finite
      length subjected to a harmonic excitation applied at an edge of the chain. It is
      shown that weak dissipation may be a key factor preventing the emergence of
      resonance in the entire chain, even if its nondissipative analog is entirely
      captured into resonance. The resulting process in the dissipative oscillator
      array represents large-amplitude resonant oscillations in a part of the chain
      adjacent to the actuator and small-amplitude oscillations in the distant part of
      the chain. The conditions of the emergence of resonance as well as the conditions
      of energy localization are derived. An agreement between the obtained analytical
      results and numerical simulations is demonstrated. 

PMID- 27627300
TI  - Classical chaos in atom-field systems.
AB  - The relation between the onset of chaos and critical phenomena, like quantum
      phase transitions (QPTs) and excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs), is
      analyzed for atom-field systems. While it has been speculated that the onset of
      hard chaos is associated with ESQPTs based in the resonant case, the off-resonant
      cases, and a close look at the vicinity of the QPTs in resonance, show clearly
      that both phenomena, ESQPTs and chaos, respond to different mechanisms. The
      results are supported in a detailed numerical study of the dynamics of the
      semiclassical Hamiltonian of the Dicke model. The appearance of chaos is
      quantified calculating the largest Lyapunov exponent for a wide sample of initial
      conditions in the whole available phase space for a given energy. The percentage
      of the available phase space with chaotic trajectories is evaluated as a function
      of energy and coupling between the qubit and bosonic part, allowing us to obtain
      maps in the space of coupling and energy, where ergodic properties are observed
      in the model. Different sets of Hamiltonian parameters are considered, including
      resonant and off-resonant cases. 

PMID- 27627301
TI  - Intrinsic periodic and aperiodic stochastic resonance in an electrochemical cell.
AB  - In this paper we show the interaction of a composite of a periodic or aperiodic
      signal and intrinsic electrochemical noise with the nonlinear dynamics of an
      electrochemical cell configured to study the corrosion of iron in an acidic
      media. The anodic voltage setpoint (V_{0}) in the cell is chosen such that the
      anodic current (I) exhibits excitable fixed point behavior in the absence of
      noise. The subthreshold periodic (aperiodic) signal consists of a train of
      rectangular pulses with a fixed amplitude and width, separated by regular
      (irregular) time intervals. The irregular time intervals chosen are of
      deterministic and stochastic origins. The amplitude of the intrinsic internal
      noise, regulated by the concentration of chloride ions, is then monotonically
      increased, and the provoked dynamics are analyzed. The signal to noise ratio and
      the cross-correlation coefficient versus the chloride ions' concentration curves
      have a unimodal shape indicating the emergence of an intrinsic periodic or
      aperiodic stochastic resonance. The abscissa for the maxima of these unimodal
      curves correspond to the optimum value of intrinsic noise where maximum
      regularity of the invoked dynamics is observed. In the particular case of the
      intrinsic periodic stochastic resonance, the scanning electron microscope images
      for the electrode metal surfaces are shown for certain values of chloride ions'
      concentrations. These images, qualitatively, corroborate the emergence of order
      as a result of the interaction between the nonlinear dynamics and the composite
      signal. 

PMID- 27627302
TI  - Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a split potential box.
AB  - We report results of an analysis of the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in a
      basic (actually, simplest) model that is capable of producing the SSB
      phenomenology in a one-dimensional setting. It is based on the Gross-Pitaevskii
      nonlinear Schrodinger equation with the cubic self-attractive term and a double
      well potential built as an infinitely deep potential box split by a narrow (delta
      functional) barrier. The barrier's strength E is the single free parameter of the
      scaled form of the model. It may be implemented in atomic Bose-Einstein
      condensates and nonlinear optics. The SSB bifurcation of the symmetric ground
      state (g.s.) is predicted analytically in two limit cases, viz., for deep or weak
      splitting of the potential box by the barrier (E?1 or E?1, respectively). For the
      generic case, a variational approximation (VA) is elaborated. The analytical
      findings are presented along with systematic numerical results. The stability of
      stationary states is studied through the calculation of eigenvalues for small
      perturbations and by means of direct simulations. The g.s. always undergoes the
      SSB bifurcation of the supercritical type, as predicted by the VA at moderate
      values of E, although the VA fails at small E, due to inapplicability of the
      underlying ansatz in that case. However, the latter case is correctly treated by
      the approximation based on a soliton ansatz. On top of the g.s., the first and
      second excited states are studied too. The antisymmetric mode (the first excited
      state) is destabilized at a critical value of its norm. The second excited state
      undergoes SSB bifurcation, like the g.s., but, unlike it, the bifurcation
      produces an unstable asymmetric mode. All unstable modes tend to spontaneously
      reshape into the asymmetric g.s. 

PMID- 27627303
TI  - Breather turbulence versus soliton turbulence: Rogue waves, probability density
      functions, and spectral features.
AB  - Turbulence in integrable systems exhibits a noticeable scientific advantage: it
      can be expressed in terms of the nonlinear modes of these systems. Whether the
      majority of the excitations in the system are breathers or solitons defines the
      properties of the turbulent state. In the two extreme cases we can call such
      states "breather turbulence" or "soliton turbulence." The number of rogue waves,
      the probability density functions of the chaotic wave fields, and their physical
      spectra are all specific for each of these two situations. Understanding these
      extreme cases also helps in studies of mixed turbulent states when the wave field
      contains both solitons and breathers, thus revealing intermediate
      characteristics. 

PMID- 27627304
TI  - Spatiotemporal dynamics of the Kuramoto-Sakaguchi model with time-dependent
      connectivity.
AB  - We study the dynamics of the paradigmatic Kuramoto-Sakaguchi model of identical
      coupled phase oscillators with various kinds of time-dependent connectivity using
      Eulerian discretization. We explore the parameter spaces for various types of
      collective states using the phase plots of the two statistical quantities,
      namely, the strength of incoherence and the discontinuity measure. In the
      quasistatic limit of the changing of coupling range, we observe how the system
      relaxes from one state to another and identify a few interesting collective
      dynamical states along the way. Under a sinusoidal change of the coupling range,
      the global order parameter characterizing the degree of synchronization in the
      system is shown to undergo a hysteresis with the coupling range. We also study
      the low-dimensional spatiotemporal dynamics of the local order parameter in the
      continuum limit using the recently developed Ott-Antonsen ansatz and justify some
      of our numerical results. In particular, we identify an intrinsic time scale of
      the Kuramoto system and show that the simulations exhibit two distinct kinds of
      qualitative behavior in two cases when the time scale associated with the
      switching of the coupling radius is very large compared to the intrinsic time
      scale and when it is comparable to the intrinsic time scale. 

PMID- 27627305
TI  - Quantifying nonergodicity in nonautonomous dissipative dynamical systems: An
      application to climate change.
AB  - In nonautonomous dynamical systems, like in climate dynamics, an ensemble of
      trajectories initiated in the remote past defines a unique probability
      distribution, the natural measure of a snapshot attractor, for any instant of
      time, but this distribution typically changes in time. In cases with an aperiodic
      driving, temporal averages taken along a single trajectory would differ from the
      corresponding ensemble averages even in the infinite-time limit: ergodicity does
      not hold. It is worth considering this difference, which we call the nonergodic
      mismatch, by taking time windows of finite length for temporal averaging. We
      point out that the probability distribution of the nonergodic mismatch is
      qualitatively different in ergodic and nonergodic cases: its average is zero and
      typically nonzero, respectively. A main conclusion is that the difference of the
      average from zero, which we call the bias, is a useful measure of nonergodicity,
      for any window length. In contrast, the standard deviation of the nonergodic
      mismatch, which characterizes the spread between different realizations, exhibits
      a power-law decrease with increasing window length in both ergodic and nonergodic
      cases, and this implies that temporal and ensemble averages differ in dynamical
      systems with finite window lengths. It is the average modulus of the nonergodic
      mismatch, which we call the ergodicity deficit, that represents the expected
      deviation from fulfilling the equality of temporal and ensemble averages. As an
      important finding, we demonstrate that the ergodicity deficit cannot be reduced
      arbitrarily in nonergodic systems. We illustrate via a conceptual climate model
      that the nonergodic framework may be useful in Earth system dynamics, within
      which we propose the measure of nonergodicity, i.e., the bias, as an order
      parameter-like quantifier of climate change. 

PMID- 27627306
TI  - Amplitude death of identical oscillators in networks with direct coupling.
AB  - It is known that amplitude death can occur in networks of coupled identical
      oscillators if they interact via diffusive time-delayed coupling links. Here we
      consider networks of oscillators that interact via direct time-delayed coupling
      links. It is shown analytically that amplitude death is impossible for directly
      coupled Stuart-Landau oscillators, in contradistinction to the case of diffusive
      coupling. We demonstrate that amplitude death in the strict sense does become
      possible in directly coupled networks if the node dynamics is governed by second
      order delay differential equations. Finally, we analyze in detail directly
      coupled nodes whose dynamics are described by first-order delay differential
      equations and find that, while amplitude death in the strict sense is impossible,
      other interesting oscillation quenching scenarios exist. 

PMID- 27627307
TI  - Dynamics of weakly coupled parametrically forced oscillators.
AB  - The dynamics of two weakly coupled parametric oscillators are studied in the
      neighborhood of the primary subharmonic instability. The nature of both primary
      and secondary instabilities depends in a critical way on the permutation
      symmetries, if any, that remain after coupling is considered, and this depends on
      the relative phases of the parametric forcing terms. Detailed bifurcation sets,
      revealing a complex series of transitions organized in part by Bogdanov-Takens
      points, are calculated for representative sets of parameters. In the particular
      case of out-of-phase forcing the predictions of the coupled oscillator model are
      compared with direct numerical simulations and with recent experiments on
      modulated cross waves. Both the initial Hopf bifurcation and the subsequent
      saddle-node heteroclinic bifurcation are confirmed. 

PMID- 27627308
TI  - Acceleration in a nonplanar time-dependent billiard.
AB  - We study the dynamical properties of a particle in a nonplanar square billiard.
      The plane of the billiard has a sinusoidal shape. We consider both the static and
      time-dependent plane. We study the affect of different parameters that control
      the geometry of the billiard in this model. We consider variations of different
      parameters of the model and describe how the particle trajectory is affected by
      these parameters. We also investigate the dynamical behavior of the system in the
      static condition using its reduced phase plot and show that the dynamics of the
      particle inside the billiard may be regular, mixed, or chaotic. Finally, the
      problem of the particle energy growth is studied in the billiard with the time
      dependent plane. We show that when in the static case, the billiard is chaotic,
      then the particle energy in the time-dependent billiard grows for a small number
      of collisions, and then it starts to saturate. But when the dynamics of the
      static case is regular, then the particle average energy in the time-dependent
      situation stays constant. 

PMID- 27627309
TI  - Dynamical properties of the soft-wall elliptical billiard.
AB  - Physical systems such as optical traps and microwave cavities are realistically
      modeled by billiards with soft walls. In order to investigate the influence of
      the wall softness on the billiard dynamics, we study numerically a smooth two
      dimensional potential well that has the elliptical (hard-wall) billiard as a
      limiting case. Considering two parameters, the eccentricity of the elliptical
      equipotential curves and the wall hardness, which defines the steepness of the
      well, we show that (1) whereas the hard-wall limit is integrable and thus
      completely regular, the soft wall elliptical billiard exhibits chaos, (2) the
      chaotic fraction of the phase space depends nonmonotonically on the hardness of
      the wall, and (3) the effect of the hardness on the dynamics depends strongly on
      the eccentricity of the billiard. We further show that the limacon billiard can
      exhibit enhanced chaos induced by wall softness, which suggests that our findings
      generalize to quasi-integrable systems. 

PMID- 27627310
TI  - Universal wave-number selection laws in apical growth.
AB  - We study pattern-forming dissipative systems in growing domains. We characterize
      classes of boundary conditions that allow for defect-free growth and derive
      universal scaling laws for the wave number in the bulk of the domain. Scalings
      are based on a description of striped patterns in semibounded domains via strain
      displacement relations. We compare predictions with direct simulations in the
      Swift-Hohenberg, the complex Ginzburg-Landau, the Cahn-Hilliard, and reaction
      diffusion equations. 

PMID- 27627311
TI  - Replicator dynamics with diffusion on multiplex networks.
AB  - In this study we present an extension of the dynamics of diffusion in multiplex
      graphs, which makes the equations compatible with the replicator equation with
      mutations. We derive an exact formula for the diffusion term, which shows that,
      while diffusion is linear for numbers of agents, it is necessary to account for
      nonlinear terms when working with fractions of individuals. We also derive the
      transition probabilities that give rise to such macroscopic behavior, completing
      the bottom-up description. Finally, it is shown that the usual assumption of
      constant population sizes induces a hidden selective pressure due to the
      diffusive dynamics, which favors the increase of fast diffusing strategies. 

PMID- 27627312
TI  - Scale-free networks with exponent one.
AB  - A majority of studied models for scale-free networks have degree distributions
      with exponents greater than two. Real networks, however, can demonstrate
      essentially more heavy-tailed degree distributions. We explore two models of
      scale-free equilibrium networks that have the degree distribution exponent
      gamma=1, P(q)~q^{-gamma}. Such degree distributions can be identified in
      empirical data only if the mean degree of a network is sufficiently high. Our
      models exploit a rewiring mechanism. They are local in the sense that no
      knowledge of the network structure, apart from the immediate neighborhood of the
      vertices, is required. These models generate uncorrelated networks in the
      infinite size limit, where they are solved explicitly. We investigate finite size
      effects by the use of simulations. We find that both models exhibit
      disassortative degree-degree correlations for finite network sizes. In addition,
      we observe a markedly degree-dependent clustering in the finite networks. We
      indicate a real-world network with a similar degree distribution. 

PMID- 27627313
TI  - Effects of competition and cooperation interaction between agents on networks in
      the presence of a market capacity.
AB  - A network effect is introduced taking into account competition, cooperation, and
      mixed-type interaction among agents along a generalized Verhulst-Lotka-Volterra
      model. It is also argued that the presence of a market capacity undoubtedly
      enforces a definite limit on the agent's size growth. The state stability of
      triadic agents, i.e., the most basic network plaquette, is investigated
      analytically for possible scenarios, through a fixed-point analysis. It is
      discovered that: (i) market demand is only satisfied for full competition when
      one agent monopolizes the market; (ii) growth of agent size is encouraged in full
      cooperation; (iii) collaboration among agents to compete against one single agent
      may result in the disappearance of this single agent out of the market; and (iv)
      cooperating with two rivals may become a growth strategy for an intelligent
      agent. 

PMID- 27627314
TI  - Atypical viral dynamics from transport through popular places.
AB  - The flux of visitors through popular places undoubtedly influences viral
      spreading-from H1N1 and Zika viruses spreading through physical spaces such as
      airports, to rumors and ideas spreading through online spaces such as chat rooms
      and social media. However, there is a lack of understanding of the types of viral
      dynamics that can result. Here we present a minimal dynamical model that focuses
      on the time-dependent interplay between the mobility through and the occupancy of
      such spaces. Our generic model permits analytic analysis while producing a rich
      diversity of infection profiles in terms of their shapes, durations, and
      intensities. The general features of these theoretical profiles compare well to
      real-world data of recent social contagion phenomena. 

PMID- 27627315
TI  - Temporal network structures controlling disease spreading.
AB  - We investigate disease spreading on eight empirical data sets of human contacts
      (mostly proximity networks recording who is close to whom, at what time). We
      compare three levels of representations of these data sets: temporal networks,
      static networks, and a fully connected topology. We notice that the difference
      between the static and fully connected networks-with respect to time to
      extinction and average outbreak size-is smaller than between the temporal and
      static topologies. This suggests that, for these data sets, temporal structures
      influence disease spreading more than static-network structures. To explain the
      details in the differences between the representations, we use 32 network
      measures. This study concurs that long-time temporal structures, like the
      turnover of nodes and links, are the most important for the spreading dynamics. 

PMID- 27627316
TI  - Pinning control of chimera states.
AB  - The position of the coherent and incoherent domain of a chimera state in a ring
      of nonlocally coupled oscillators is strongly influenced by the initial
      conditions, making nontrivial the problem of confining them in a specific region
      of the structure. In this paper we propose the use of spatial pinning to induce a
      chimera state where the nodes belonging to one domain, either the coherent or the
      incoherent, are fixed by the control action. We design two different techniques
      according to the dynamics to be forced in the region of pinned nodes, and
      validate them on FitzHugh-Nagumo and Kuramoto oscillators. Furthermore, we
      introduce a suitable strategy to deal with the effects of finite size in small
      structures. 

PMID- 27627317
TI  - Continuous-time quantum walks on multilayer dendrimer networks.
AB  - We consider continuous-time quantum walks (CTQWs) on multilayer dendrimer
      networks (MDs) and their application to quantum transport. A detailed study of
      properties of CTQWs is presented and transport efficiency is determined in terms
      of the exact and average return probabilities. The latter depends only on the
      eigenvalues of the connectivity matrix, which even for very large structures
      allows a complete analytical solution for this particular choice of network. In
      the case of MDs we observe an interplay between strong localization effects, due
      to the dendrimer topology, and good efficiency from the linear segments. We show
      that quantum transport is enhanced by interconnecting more layers of dendrimers. 

PMID- 27627318
TI  - Robustness analysis of bimodal networks in the whole range of degree correlation.
AB  - We present an exact analysis of the physical properties of bimodal networks
      specified by the two peak degree distribution fully incorporating the degree
      degree correlation between node connections. The structure of the correlated
      bimodal network is uniquely determined by the Pearson coefficient of the degree
      correlation, keeping its degree distribution fixed. The percolation threshold and
      the giant component fraction of the correlated bimodal network are analytically
      calculated in the whole range of the Pearson coefficient from -1 to 1 against two
      major types of node removal, which are the random failure and the degree-based
      targeted attack. The Pearson coefficient for next-nearest-neighbor pairs is also
      calculated, which always takes a positive value even when the correlation between
      nearest-neighbor pairs is negative. From the results, it is confirmed that the
      percolation threshold is a monotonically decreasing function of the Pearson
      coefficient for the degrees of nearest-neighbor pairs increasing from -1 and 1
      regardless of the types of node removal. In contrast, the node fraction of the
      giant component for bimodal networks with positive degree correlation rapidly
      decreases in the early stage of random failure, while that for bimodal networks
      with negative degree correlation remains relatively large until the removed node
      fraction reaches the threshold. In this sense, bimodal networks with negative
      degree correlation are more robust against random failure than those with
      positive degree correlation. 

PMID- 27627319
TI  - Robust autoassociative memory with coupled networks of Kuramoto-type oscillators.
AB  - Uncertain recognition success, unfavorable scaling of connection complexity, or
      dependence on complex external input impair the usefulness of current oscillatory
      neural networks for pattern recognition or restrict technical realizations to
      small networks. We propose a network architecture of coupled oscillators for
      pattern recognition which shows none of the mentioned flaws. Furthermore we
      illustrate the recognition process with simulation results and analyze the
      dynamics analytically: Possible output patterns are isolated attractors of the
      system. Additionally, simple criteria for recognition success are derived from a
      lower bound on the basins of attraction. 

PMID- 27627321
TI  - Time-scale effects on the gain-loss asymmetry in stock indices.
AB  - The gain-loss asymmetry, observed in the inverse statistics of stock indices is
      present for logarithmic return levels that are over 2%, and it is the result of
      the non-Pearson-type autocorrelations in the index. These non-Pearson-type
      correlations can be viewed also as functionally dependent daily volatilities,
      extending for a finite time interval. A generalized time-window shuffling method
      is used to show the existence of such autocorrelations. Their characteristic time
      scale proves to be smaller (less than 25 trading days) than what was previously
      believed. It is also found that this characteristic time scale has decreased with
      the appearance of program trading in the stock market transactions. Connections
      with the leverage effect are also established. 

PMID- 27627320
TI  - Bypass rewiring and robustness of complex networks.
AB  - A concept of bypass rewiring is introduced, and random bypass rewiring is
      analytically and numerically investigated with simulations. Our results show that
      bypass rewiring makes networks robust against removal of nodes including random
      failures and attacks. In particular, random bypass rewiring connects all nodes
      except the removed nodes on an even degree infinite network and makes the
      percolation threshold 0 for arbitrary occupation probabilities. In our example,
      the even degree network is more robust than the original network with random
      bypass rewiring, while the original network is more robust than the even degree
      networks without random bypass. We propose a greedy bypass rewiring algorithm
      which guarantees the maximum size of the largest component at each step, assuming
      which node will be removed next is unknown. The simulation result shows that the
      greedy bypass rewiring algorithm improves the robustness of the autonomous system
      of the Internet under attacks more than random bypass rewiring. 

PMID- 27627322
TI  - Multiple peaks of species abundance distributions induced by sparse interactions.
AB  - We investigate the replicator dynamics with "sparse" symmetric interactions which
      represent specialist-specialist interactions in ecological communities. By
      considering a large self-interaction u, we conduct a perturbative expansion which
      manifests that the nature of the interactions has a direct impact on the species
      abundance distribution. The central results are all species coexistence in a
      realistic range of the model parameters and that a certain discrete nature of the
      interactions induces multiple peaks in the species abundance distribution,
      providing the possibility of theoretically explaining multiple peaks observed in
      various field studies. To get more quantitative information, we also construct a
      non-perturbative theory which becomes exact on tree-like networks if all the
      species coexist, providing exact critical values of u below which extinct species
      emerge. Numerical simulations in various different situations are conducted and
      they clarify the robustness of the presented mechanism of all species coexistence
      and multiple peaks in the species abundance distributions. 

PMID- 27627323
TI  - Statistical fluctuations in pedestrian evacuation times and the effect of social
      contagion.
AB  - Mathematical models of pedestrian evacuation and the associated simulation
      software have become essential tools for the assessment of the safety of public
      facilities and buildings. While a variety of models is now available, their
      calibration and test against empirical data are generally restricted to global
      averaged quantities; the statistics compiled from the time series of individual
      escapes ("microscopic" statistics) measured in recent experiments are thus
      overlooked. In the same spirit, much research has primarily focused on the
      average global evacuation time, whereas the whole distribution of evacuation
      times over some set of realizations should matter. In the present paper we
      propose and discuss the validity of a simple relation between this distribution
      and the microscopic statistics, which is theoretically valid in the absence of
      correlations. To this purpose, we develop a minimal cellular automaton, with
      features that afford a semiquantitative reproduction of the experimental
      microscopic statistics. We then introduce a process of social contagion of
      impatient behavior in the model and show that the simple relation under test may
      dramatically fail at high contagion strengths, the latter being responsible for
      the emergence of strong correlations in the system. We conclude with comments on
      the potential practical relevance for safety science of calculations based on
      microscopic statistics. 

PMID- 27627324
TI  - Self-similar aftershock rates.
AB  - In many important systems exhibiting crackling noise-an intermittent
      avalanchelike relaxation response with power-law and, thus, self-similar
      distributed event sizes-the "laws" for the rate of activity after large events
      are not consistent with the overall self-similar behavior expected on theoretical
      grounds. This is particularly true for the case of seismicity, and a satisfying
      solution to this paradox has remained outstanding. Here, we propose a generalized
      description of the aftershock rates which is both self-similar and consistent
      with all other known self-similar features. Comparing our theoretical predictions
      with high-resolution earthquake data from Southern California we find excellent
      agreement, providing particularly clear evidence for a unified description of
      aftershocks and foreshocks. This may offer an improved framework for time
      dependent seismic hazard assessment and earthquake forecasting. 

PMID- 27627325
TI  - Optimal growth trajectories with finite carrying capacity.
AB  - We consider the problem of finding optimal strategies that maximize the average
      growth rate of multiplicative stochastic processes. For a geometric Brownian
      motion, the problem is solved through the so-called Kelly criterion, according to
      which the optimal growth rate is achieved by investing a constant given fraction
      of resources at any step of the dynamics. We generalize these finding to the case
      of dynamical equations with finite carrying capacity, which can find applications
      in biology, mathematical ecology, and finance. We formulate the problem in terms
      of a stochastic process with multiplicative noise and a nonlinear drift term that
      is determined by the specific functional form of carrying capacity. We solve the
      stochastic equation for two classes of carrying capacity functions (power laws
      and logarithmic), and in both cases we compute the optimal trajectories of the
      control parameter. We further test the validity of our analytical results using
      numerical simulations. 

PMID- 27627326
TI  - Aging and percolation dynamics in a Non-Poissonian temporal network model.
AB  - We present an exhaustive mathematical analysis of the recently proposed Non
      Poissonian Activity Driven (NoPAD) model [Moinet et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114,
      108701 (2015)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.114.108701], a temporal network
      model incorporating the empirically observed bursty nature of social
      interactions. We focus on the aging effects emerging from the non-Poissonian
      dynamics of link activation, and on their effects on the topological properties
      of time-integrated networks, such as the degree distribution. Analytic
      expressions for the degree distribution of integrated networks as a function of
      time are derived, exploring both limits of vanishing and strong aging. We also
      address the percolation process occurring on these temporal networks, by
      computing the threshold for the emergence of a giant connected component,
      highlighting the aging dependence. Our analytic predictions are checked by means
      of extensive numerical simulations of the NoPAD model. 

PMID- 27627327
TI  - Growing networks of overlapping communities with internal structure.
AB  - We introduce an intuitive model that describes both the emergence of community
      structure and the evolution of the internal structure of communities in growing
      social networks. The model comprises two complementary mechanisms: One mechanism
      accounts for the evolution of the internal link structure of a single community,
      and the second mechanism coordinates the growth of multiple overlapping
      communities. The first mechanism is based on the assumption that each node
      establishes links with its neighbors and introduces new nodes to the community at
      different rates. We demonstrate that this simple mechanism gives rise to an
      effective maximal degree within communities. This observation is related to the
      anthropological theory known as Dunbar's number, i.e., the empirical observation
      of a maximal number of ties which an average individual can sustain within its
      social groups. The second mechanism is based on a recently proposed
      generalization of preferential attachment to community structure, appropriately
      called structural preferential attachment (SPA). The combination of these two
      mechanisms into a single model (SPA+) allows us to reproduce a number of the
      global statistics of real networks: The distribution of community sizes, of node
      memberships, and of degrees. The SPA+ model also predicts (a) three qualitative
      regimes for the degree distribution within overlapping communities and (b) strong
      correlations between the number of communities to which a node belongs and its
      number of connections within each community. We present empirical evidence that
      support our findings in real complex networks. 

PMID- 27627328
TI  - Experimental characterization of collision avoidance in pedestrian dynamics.
AB  - In the present paper, the avoidance behavior of pedestrians was characterized by
      controlled experiments. Several conflict situations were studied considering
      different flow rates and group sizes in crossing and head-on configurations.
      Pedestrians were recorded from above, and individual two-dimensional trajectories
      of their displacement were recovered after image processing. Lateral swaying
      amplitude and step lengths were measured for free pedestrians, obtaining similar
      values to the ones reported in the literature. Minimum avoidance distances were
      computed in two-pedestrian experiments. In the case of one pedestrian dodging an
      arrested one, the avoidance distance did not depend on the relative orientation
      of the still pedestrian with respect to the direction of motion of the first.
      When both pedestrians were moving, the avoidance distance in a perpendicular
      encounter was longer than the one obtained during a head-on approach. It was
      found that the mean curvature of the trajectories was linearly anticorrelated
      with the mean speed. Furthermore, two common avoidance maneuvers, stopping and
      steering, were defined from the analysis of the acceleration and curvature in
      single trajectories. Interestingly, it was more probable to observe steering
      events than stopping ones, also the probability of simultaneous steering and
      stopping occurrences was negligible. The results obtained in this paper can be
      used to validate and calibrate pedestrian dynamics models. 

PMID- 27627329
TI  - Optimizing experimental parameters for tracking of diffusing particles.
AB  - We describe how a single-particle tracking experiment should be designed in order
      for its recorded trajectories to contain the most information about a tracked
      particle's diffusion coefficient. The precision of estimators for the diffusion
      coefficient is affected by motion blur, limited photon statistics, and the length
      of recorded time series. We demonstrate for a particle undergoing free diffusion
      that precision is negligibly affected by motion blur in typical experiments,
      while optimizing photon counts and the number of recorded frames is the key to
      precision. Building on these results, we describe for a wide range of
      experimental scenarios how to choose experimental parameters in order to optimize
      the precision. Generally, one should choose quantity over quality: experiments
      should be designed to maximize the number of frames recorded in a time series,
      even if this means lower information content in individual frames. 

PMID- 27627331
TI  - Stability of patterns on thin curved surfaces.
AB  - We consider reaction-diffusion equations on a thin curved surface and obtain a
      set of effective reaction-diffusion (R-D) equations to O(epsilon^{2}), where
      epsilon is the surface thickness. We observe that the R-D systems on these curved
      surfaces can have space-dependent reaction kinetics. Further, we use linear
      stability analysis to study the Schnakenberg model on spherical and cylindrical
      geometries. The dependence of the steady state on the thickness is determined for
      both cases, and we find that a change in the thickness can stabilize the unstable
      modes, and vice versa. The combined effect of thickness and curvature can play an
      important role in the rearrangement of spatial patterns on thin curved surfaces. 

PMID- 27627330
TI  - Incubation times of dinosaur eggs via embryonic metabolism.
AB  - The incubation times for the eggs of 21 dinosaurs are determined from an estimate
      of their embyronic metabolic rate and the mass of the hatchlings via a mass
      growth model based on conservation of energy. Embryos in extant birds and
      crocodiles are studied in order to determine the best model for embryonic
      metabolism and growth. These results are used to develop a theoretical model that
      predicts the incubation times of an egg. This model is applied to dinosaur eggs
      and provides a unique window into dinosaur reproduction. The dinosaurs studied
      come from both Saurischia and Ornithischia. The incubation times vary from about
      28 days for Archaeopteryx lithographica to about 76 days for Alamosaurus
      sanjuanensis. 

PMID- 27627332
TI  - Nondeterministic self-assembly with asymmetric interactions.
AB  - We investigate general properties of nondeterministic self-assembly with
      asymmetric interactions, using a computational model and DNA tile assembly
      experiments. By contrasting symmetric and asymmetric interactions we show that
      the latter can lead to self-limiting cluster growth. Furthermore, by adjusting
      the relative abundance of self-assembly particles in a two-particle mixture, we
      are able to tune the final sizes of these clusters. We show that this is a
      fundamental property of asymmetric interactions, which has potential applications
      in bioengineering, and provides insights into the study of diseases caused by
      protein aggregation. 

PMID- 27627333
TI  - Surface and interfacial creases in a bilayer tubular soft tissue.
AB  - Surface and interfacial creases induced by biological growth are common types of
      instability in soft biological tissues. This study focuses on the criteria for
      the onset of surface and interfacial creases as well as their morphological
      evolution in a growing bilayer soft tube within a confined environment. Critical
      growth ratios for triggering surface and interfacial creases are investigated
      both analytically and numerically. Analytical interpretations provide preliminary
      insights into critical stretches and growth ratios for the onset of instability
      and formation of both surface and interfacial creases. However, the analytical
      approach cannot predict the evolution pattern of the model after instability;
      therefore nonlinear finite element simulations are carried out to replicate the
      poststability morphological patterns of the structure. Analytical and
      computational simulation results demonstrate that the initial geometry, growth
      ratio, and shear modulus ratio of the layers are the most influential factors to
      control surface and interfacial crease formation in this soft tubular bilayer.
      The competition between the stretch ratios in the free and interfacial surfaces
      is one of the key driving factors to determine the location of the first crease
      initiation. These findings may provide some fundamental understanding in the
      growth modeling of tubular biological tissues such as esophagi and airways as
      well as offering useful clues into normal and pathological functions of these
      tissues. 

PMID- 27627334
TI  - Front structure and dynamics in dense colonies of motile bacteria: Role of active
      turbulence.
AB  - We study the spreading of a bacterial colony undergoing turbulentlike collective
      motion. We present two minimalistic models to investigate the interplay between
      population growth and coherent structures arising from turbulence. Using direct
      numerical simulation of the proposed models we find that turbulence has two
      prominent effects on the spatial growth of the colony: (a) the front speed is
      enhanced, and (b) the front gets crumpled. Both these effects, which we highlight
      by using statistical tools, are markedly different in our two models. We also
      show that the crumpled front structure and the passive scalar fronts in random
      flows are related in certain regimes. 

PMID- 27627335
TI  - What information is contained in the fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
      curves, and where.
AB  - We discuss the application of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) for
      characterization of anomalous diffusion of tracer particles in crowded
      environments. While the fact of anomaly may be detected by the standard fitting
      procedure, the value of the exponent alpha of anomalous diffusion may be not
      reproduced correctly for non-Gaussian anomalous diffusion processes. The
      important information is however contained in the asymptotic behavior of the
      fluorescence autocorrelation function at long and at short times. Thus, analysis
      of the short-time behavior gives reliable values of alpha and of lower moments of
      the distribution of particles' displacement, which allows us to confirm or reject
      its Gaussian nature. The method proposed was tested on the FCS data obtained in
      artificial crowded fluids and in living cells. 

PMID- 27627336
TI  - Effects of RNA branching on the electrostatic stabilization of viruses.
AB  - Many single-stranded (ss) ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses self-assemble from
      capsid protein subunits and the nucleic acid to form an infectious virion. It is
      believed that the electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged RNA
      and the positively charged viral capsid proteins drive the encapsidation,
      although there is growing evidence that the sequence of the viral RNA also plays
      a role in packaging. In particular, the sequence will determine the possible
      secondary structures that the ssRNA will take in solution. In this work, we use a
      mean-field theory to investigate how the secondary structure of the RNA combined
      with electrostatic interactions affects the efficiency of assembly and stability
      of the assembled virions. We show that the secondary structure of RNA may result
      in negative osmotic pressures while a linear polymer causes positive osmotic
      pressures for the same conditions. This may suggest that the branched structure
      makes the RNA more effectively packaged and the virion more stable. 

PMID- 27627337
TI  - Effects of distribution of infection rate on epidemic models.
AB  - A goal of many epidemic models is to compute the outcome of the epidemics from
      the observed infected early dynamics. However, often, the total number of
      infected individuals at the end of the epidemics is much lower than predicted
      from the early dynamics. This discrepancy is argued to result from human
      intervention or nonlinear dynamics not incorporated in standard models. We show
      that when variability in infection rates is included in standard susciptible
      infected-susceptible (SIS) and susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) models the
      total number of infected individuals in the late dynamics can be orders lower
      than predicted from the early dynamics. This discrepancy holds for SIS and SIR
      models, where the assumption that all individuals have the same sensitivity is
      eliminated. In contrast with network models, fixed partnerships are not assumed.
      We derive a moment closure scheme capturing the distribution of sensitivities. We
      find that the shape of the sensitivity distribution does not affect R_{0} or the
      number of infected individuals in the early phases of the epidemics. However, a
      wide distribution of sensitivities reduces the total number of removed
      individuals in the SIR model and the steady-state infected fraction in the SIS
      model. The difference between the early and late dynamics implies that in order
      to extrapolate the expected effect of the epidemics from the initial phase of the
      epidemics, the rate of change in the average infectivity should be computed.
      These results are supported by a comparison of the theoretical model to the Ebola
      epidemics and by numerical simulation. 

PMID- 27627338
TI  - Evolution of off-lattice model proteins under ligand binding constraints.
AB  - We investigate protein evolution using an off-lattice polymer model evolved to
      imitate the behavior of small enzymes. Model proteins evolve through mutations to
      nucleotide sequences (including insertions and deletions) and are selected to
      fold and maintain a specific binding site compatible with a model ligand. We show
      that this requirement is, in itself, sufficient to maintain an ordered folding
      domain, and we compare it to the requirement of folding an ordered (but otherwise
      unrestricted) domain. We measure rates of amino acid change as a function of
      local environment properties such as solvent exposure, packing density, and
      distance from the active site, as well as overall rates of sequence and structure
      change, both along and among model lineages in star phylogenies. The model
      recapitulates essentially all of the behavior found in protein phylogenetic
      analyses, and predicts that amino acid substitution rates vary linearly with
      distance from the binding site. 

PMID- 27627339
TI  - Suppressing effect of Ca^{2+} blips on puff amplitudes by inhibiting channels to
      prevent recovery.
AB  - As local signals, calcium puffs arise from the concerted opening of a few nearby
      inositol 1,4,5-trisphospate receptor channels to release Ca^{2+} ions from the
      endoplasmic reticulum. Although Ca^{2+} puffs have been well studied, little is
      known about the modulation of cytosolic basal Ca^{2+} concentration
      ([Ca^{2+}]_{Basal}) on puff dynamics. In this paper we consider a puff model to
      study how the statistical properties of puffs are modulated by [Ca^{2+}]_{Basal}.
      The puff frequency and lifetime trivially increase with the increasing
      [Ca^{2+}]_{Basal}, but an unexpected result is that the puff amplitude and the
      maximum open-channel number of the puff show decreasing relationship with the
      increasing [Ca^{2+}]_{Basal}. The underlying dynamics is related not only to the
      increasing puff frequency which gives a shorter recovery time, but also to the
      increasing frequency of blips with only one channel open. We indicate that
      Ca^{2+} blips cause the channels to be inhibited and prevent their recovery
      during interpuff intervals, resulting in the suppressing effect on puff
      amplitudes. With increasing [Ca^{2+}]_{Basal}, more blips occur to cause more
      channels to be inhibited, leaving fewer channels available for puff events. This
      study shows that the blips may play relevant functions in global Ca^{2+} waves
      through modulating puff dynamics. 

PMID- 27627341
TI  - Stability and dynamics of anisotropically tumbling chemotactic swimmers.
AB  - Microswimmers such as bacteria perform random walks known as run-and-tumbles to
      move up chemoattractant gradients and as a result aggregate with others. It is
      also known that such micro-swimmers can self-organize into macroscopic patterns
      due to interactions with neighboring cells through the fluidic environment they
      live in. While the pattern formation resulting from chemotactic and hydrodynamic
      interactions separately and together have been previously investigated, the
      effect of the anisotropy in the tumbles of microswimmers has been unexplored.
      Here we show through linear analysis and full nonlinear simulations that the
      slight anisotropy in the individual swimmer tumbles can alter the collective
      pattern formation in nontrivial ways. We show that tumbling anisotropy diminishes
      the magnitude of the chemotactic aggregates but may result in more such
      aggregation peaks. 

PMID- 27627340
TI  - Wake-sleep transition as a noisy bifurcation.
AB  - A recent physiologically based model of the ascending arousal system is used to
      analyze the dynamics near the transition from wake to sleep, which corresponds to
      a saddle-node bifurcation at a critical point. A normal form is derived by
      approximating the dynamics by those of a particle in a parabolic potential well
      with dissipation. This mechanical analog is used to calculate the power spectrum
      of fluctuations in response to a white noise drive, and the scalings of
      fluctuation variance and spectral width are derived versus distance from the
      critical point. The predicted scalings are quantitatively confirmed by numerical
      simulations, which show that the variance increases and the spectrum undergoes
      critical slowing, both in accord with theory. These signals can thus serve as
      potential precursors to indicate imminent wake-sleep transition, with potential
      application to safety-critical occupations in transport, air-traffic control,
      medicine, and heavy industry. 

PMID- 27627342
TI  - Adaptive network models of collective decision making in swarming systems.
AB  - We consider a class of adaptive network models where links can only be created or
      deleted between nodes in different states. These models provide an approximate
      description of a set of systems where nodes represent agents moving in physical
      or abstract space, the state of each node represents the agent's heading
      direction, and links indicate mutual awareness. We show analytically that the
      adaptive network description captures a phase transition to collective motion in
      some swarming systems, such as the Vicsek model, and that the properties of this
      transition are determined by the number of states (discrete heading directions)
      that can be accessed by each agent. 

PMID- 27627343
TI  - Hydrodynamic collective effects of active proteins in biological membranes.
AB  - Lipid bilayers forming biological membranes are known to behave as viscous two
      dimensional fluids on submicrometer scales; usually they contain a large number
      of active protein inclusions. Recently, it was shown [A. S. Mikhailov and R.
      Kapral, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112, E3639 (2015)PNASA60027
      842410.1073/pnas.1506825112] that such active proteins should induce nonthermal
      fluctuating lipid flows leading to diffusion enhancement and chemotaxislike drift
      for passive inclusions in biomembranes. Here, a detailed analytical and numerical
      investigation of such effects is performed. The attention is focused on the
      situations when proteins are concentrated within lipid rafts. We demonstrate that
      passive particles tend to become attracted by active rafts and are accumulated
      inside them. 

PMID- 27627344
TI  - Regulation of chain length in two diatoms as a growth-fragmentation process.
AB  - Chain formation in diatoms is relevant because of several aspects of their
      adaptation to the ecosystem. However, the tools to quantify the regulation of
      their assemblage and infer specific mechanisms in a laboratory setting are
      scarce. To address this problem, we define an approach based on a statistical
      physics model of chain growth and separation in combination with experimental
      evaluation of chain-length distributions. Applying this combined analysis to data
      from Chaetoceros decipiens and Phaeodactylum tricornutum, we find that cells of
      the first species control chain separation, likely through a cell-to-cell
      communication process, while the second species only modulates the separation
      rate. These results promote quantitative methods for characterizing chain
      formation in several chain-forming species and in diatoms in particular. 

PMID- 27627345
TI  - Phase-plane analysis of the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with
      binding kinetics and switching between antiparallel lanes.
AB  - Motor protein motion on biopolymers can be described by models related to the
      totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP). Inspired by experiments on
      the motion of kinesin-4 motors on antiparallel microtubule overlaps, we analyze a
      model incorporating the TASEP on two antiparallel lanes with binding kinetics and
      lane switching. We determine the steady-state motor density profiles using phase
      plane analysis of the steady-state mean field equations and kinetic Monte Carlo
      simulations. We focus on the density-density phase plane, where we find an
      analytic solution to the mean field model. By studying the phase-space flows, we
      determine the model's fixed points and their changes with parameters. Phases
      previously identified for the single-lane model occur for low switching rate
      between lanes. We predict a multiple coexistence phase due to additional fixed
      points that appear as the switching rate increases: switching moves motors from
      the higher-density to the lower-density lane, causing local jamming and creating
      multiple domain walls. We determine the phase diagram of the model for both
      symmetric and general boundary conditions. 

PMID- 27627346
TI  - Energy-based scheme for reconstruction of piecewise constant signals observed in
      the movement of molecular machines.
AB  - Analyzing the physical and chemical properties of single DNA-based molecular
      machines such as polymerases and helicases requires to track stepping motion on
      the length scale of base pairs. Although high-resolution instruments have been
      developed that are capable of reaching that limit, individual steps are
      oftentimes hidden by experimental noise which complicates data processing. Here
      we present an effective two-step algorithm which detects steps in a high
      bandwidth signal by minimizing an energy-based model (energy-based step finder,
      EBS). First, an efficient convex denoising scheme is applied which allows
      compression to tuples of amplitudes and plateau lengths. Second, a combinatorial
      clustering algorithm formulated on a graph is used to assign steps to the tuple
      data while accounting for prior information. Performance of the algorithm was
      tested on Poissonian stepping data simulated based on published kinetics data of
      RNA polymerase II (pol II). Comparison to existing step-finding methods shows
      that EBS is superior in speed while providing competitive step-detection results,
      especially in challenging situations. Moreover, the capability to detect
      backtracked intervals in experimental data of pol II as well as to detect
      stepping behavior of the Phi29 DNA packaging motor is demonstrated. 

PMID- 27627347
TI  - Partial synchronous output of a neuronal population under weak common noise:
      Analytical approaches to the correlation statistics.
AB  - We consider a homogeneous population of stochastic neurons that are driven by
      weak common noise (stimulus). To capture and analyze the joint firing events
      within the population, we introduce the partial synchronous output of the
      population. This is a time series defined by the events that at least a fixed
      fraction gamma?[0,1] of the population fires simultaneously within a small time
      interval. For this partial synchronous output we develop two analytical
      approaches to the correlation statistics. In the Gaussian approach we represent
      the synchronous output as a nonlinear transformation of the summed population
      activity and approximate the latter by a Gaussian process. In the combinatorial
      approach the synchronous output is represented by products of box-filtered spike
      trains of the single neurons. In both approaches we use linear-response theory to
      derive approximations for statistical measures that hold true for weak common
      noise. In particular, we calculate the mean value and power spectrum of the
      synchronous output and the cross-spectrum between synchronous output and common
      noise. We apply our results to the leaky integrate-and-fire neuron model and
      compare them to numerical simulations. The combinatorial approach is shown to
      provide a more accurate description of the statistics for small populations,
      whereas the Gaussian approximation yields compact formulas that work well for a
      sufficiently large population size. In particular, in the Gaussian approximation
      all statistical measures reveal a symmetry in the synchrony threshold gamma
      around the mean value of the population activity. Our results may contribute to a
      better understanding of the role of coincidence detection in neural signal
      processing. 

PMID- 27627348
TI  - Analytically tractable model for community ecology with many species.
AB  - A fundamental problem in community ecology is understanding how ecological
      processes such as selection, drift, and immigration give rise to observed
      patterns in species composition and diversity. Here, we analyze a recently
      introduced, analytically tractable, presence-absence (PA) model for community
      assembly, and we use it to ask how ecological traits such as the strength of
      competition, the amount of diversity, and demographic and environmental
      stochasticity affect species composition in a community. In the PA model, species
      are treated as stochastic binary variables that can either be present or absent
      in a community: species can immigrate into the community from a regional species
      pool and can go extinct due to competition and stochasticity. Building upon
      previous work, we show that, despite its simplicity, the PA model reproduces the
      qualitative features of more complicated models of community assembly. In
      agreement with recent studies of large, competitive Lotka-Volterra systems, the
      PA model exhibits distinct ecological behaviors organized around a special
      ("critical") point corresponding to Hubbell's neutral theory of biodiversity.
      These results suggest that the concepts of ecological "phases" and phase diagrams
      can provide a powerful framework for thinking about community ecology, and that
      the PA model captures the essential ecological dynamics of community assembly. 

PMID- 27627349
TI  - Effects of activation energy and activation volume on the temperature-dependent
      viscosity of water.
AB  - Water transport in a leaf is vulnerable to viscosity-induced changes. Recent
      research has suggested that these changes may be partially due to variation at
      the molecular scale, e.g., regulations via aquaporins, that induce reductions in
      leaf hydraulic conductance. What are the quantitative as well as qualitative
      changes in temperature-dependent viscosity due to the role of aquaporins in
      tuning activation energy and activation volume? Using the transition-state
      approach as well as the boundary perturbation method, we investigate temperature
      dependent viscosity tuned by activation energy and activation volume. To validate
      our approach, we compare our numerical results with previous temperature
      dependent viscosity measurements. The rather good fit between our calculations
      and measurements confirms our present approach. We have obtained critical
      parameters for the temperature-dependent (shear) viscosity of water that might be
      relevant to the increasing and reducing of leaf hydraulic conductance. These
      parameters are sensitive to temperature, activation energy, and activation
      volume. Once the activation energy increases, the (shear) viscosity of water
      increases. Our results also show that as the activation volume increases (say,
      10^{-23}m^{3}), the (shear) viscosity of water decreases significantly and the
      latter induces the enhancing of leaf hydraulic conductance. Within the room
      temperature regime, a small increase in the activation energy will increase the
      water viscosity or reduce the leaf hydraulic conductance. Our approach and
      results can be applied to diverse plant or leaf attributes. 

PMID- 27627350
TI  - Effects of receptor correlations on molecular information transmission.
AB  - Cells measure concentrations of external ligands by capturing ligand molecules
      with cell surface receptors. The numbers of molecules captured by different
      receptors co-vary because they depend on the same extrinsic ligand fluctuations.
      However, these numbers also counter-vary due to the intrinsic stochasticity of
      chemical processes because a single molecule randomly captured by a receptor
      cannot be captured by another. Such structure of receptor correlations is
      generally believed to lead to an increase in information about the external
      signal compared to the case of independent receptors. We analyze a solvable model
      of two molecular receptors and show that, contrary to this widespread
      expectation, the correlations have a small and negative effect on the information
      about the ligand concentration. Further, we show that measurements that average
      over multiple receptors are almost as informative as those that track the states
      of every individual one. 

PMID- 27627351
TI  - Physics of amniote formation.
AB  - We present a detailed study of the formation of the amniotic sac in the avian
      embryo, and a comparison with the crocodile amniotic sac. We show that the
      amniotic sac forms at a circular line of stiffness contrast, separating rings of
      cell domains. Cells align at this boundary, and this in turn orients and
      concentrates the tension forces. The tissue fold which forms the amniotic sac is
      locked exactly along this line due to the colocalization of the stiffness
      contrast and of the tensile force. In addition, the tensile force plays a
      regenerative role when the amniotic sac is cut. The fold forming the ventral side
      of the embryo displays the same characteristics. This work shows that amniote
      embryogenesis consists of a cascade of buckling events taking place at the
      boundaries between regions of differing mechanical properties. Hence, amniote
      embryogenesis relies on a simple and robust biomechanical scheme used repeatedly,
      and selected ancestrally. 

PMID- 27627352
TI  - Driven polymer translocation in good and bad solvent: Effects of hydrodynamics
      and tension propagation.
AB  - We investigate the driven polymer translocation through a nanometer-scale pore in
      the presence and absence of hydrodynamics both in good and bad solvent. We
      present our results on tension propagating along the polymer segment on the cis
      side that is measured for the first time using our method that works also in the
      presence of hydrodynamics. For simulations we use stochastic rotation dynamics,
      also called multiparticle collision dynamics. We find that in the good solvent
      the tension propagates very similarly whether hydrodynamics is included or not.
      Only the tensed segment is by a constant factor shorter in the presence of
      hydrodynamics. The shorter tensed segment and the hydrodynamic interactions
      contribute to a smaller friction for the translocating polymer when hydrodynamics
      is included, which shows as smaller waiting times and a smaller exponent in the
      scaling of the translocation time with the polymer length. In the bad solvent
      hydrodynamics has a minimal effect on polymer translocation, in contrast to the
      good solvent, where it speeds up translocation. We find that under bad-solvent
      conditions tension does not spread appreciably along the polymer. Consequently,
      translocation time does not scale with the polymer length. By measuring the
      effective friction in a setup where a polymer in free solvent is pulled by a
      constant force at the end, we find that hydrodynamics does speed up collective
      polymer motion in the bad solvent even more effectively than in the good solvent.
      However, hydrodynamics has a negligible effect on the motion of individual
      monomers within the highly correlated globular conformation on the cis side and
      hence on the entire driven translocation under bad-solvent conditions. 

PMID- 27627353
TI  - Towards entropy-driven interstitial micelles at elevated temperatures from
      selective A1BA2 triblock solutions.
AB  - We simulate selective A1BA2-A and A1BA2-B triblock solutions (that is, mixtures
      of the A1BA2 triblock with a solvent of either type A or type B) using a lattice
      Monte Carlo method. Although the simulated triblock chains are compositionally
      symmetric in terms of the A to B volume ratio, the A1 block is significantly
      shorter than the A2 block. For the pure A1BA2 melt the phase behavior is
      relatively well known, including the existence and stability of the recently
      discovered interstitial micelles which were found at the very strong segregation
      limit. In this paper, we investigate the stability of the interstitial micelles
      as a function of triblock volume fraction in a selective solvent of either type A
      or type B. The main finding of this paper is that adding a selective solvent of
      type A shifts the stability of the interstitial micelles into significantly
      higher temperatures which may provide a pathway towards experimental studies of
      interstitial micelles in real triblock solutions. We also find that adding
      selective solvents to the A1BA2 melt gives rise to a variety of nonlamellar
      nanostructures for temperatures and compositions at which the interstitial
      micelles are stable. 

PMID- 27627354
TI  - Effect of particle collisions in dense suspension flows.
AB  - We study nonlocal effects associated with particle collisions in dense suspension
      flows, in the context of the Affine Solvent Model, known to capture various
      aspects of the jamming transition. We show that an individual collision changes
      significantly the velocity field on a characteristic volume Omega_{c}~1/deltaz
      that diverges as jamming is approached, where deltaz is the deficit in
      coordination number required to jam the system. Such an event also affects the
      contact forces between particles on that same volume Omega_{c}, but this change
      is modest in relative terms, of order f_{coll}~f[over -]^{0.8}, where f[over -]
      is the typical contact force scale. We then show that the requirement that
      coordination is stationary (such that a collision has a finite probability to
      open one contact elsewhere in the system) yields the scaling of the viscosity (or
      equivalently the viscous number) with coordination deficit deltaz. The same
      scaling result was derived [E. DeGiuli, G. During, E. Lerner, and M. Wyart, Phys.
      Rev. E 91, 062206 (2015)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.91.062206] via different
      arguments making an additional assumption. The present approach gives a
      mechanistic justification as to why the correct finite size scaling volume
      behaves as 1/deltaz and can be used to recover a marginality condition known to
      characterize the distributions of contact forces and gaps in jammed packings. 

PMID- 27627355
TI  - Genuine non-self-averaging and ultraslow convergence in gelation.
AB  - In irreversible aggregation processes droplets or polymers of microscopic size
      successively coalesce until a large cluster of macroscopic scale forms. This
      gelation transition is widely believed to be self-averaging, meaning that the
      order parameter (the relative size of the largest connected cluster) attains well
      defined values upon ensemble averaging with no sample-to-sample fluctuations in
      the thermodynamic limit. Here, we report on anomalous gelation transition types.
      Depending on the growth rate of the largest clusters, the gelation transition can
      show very diverse patterns as a function of the control parameter, which includes
      multiple stochastic discontinuous transitions, genuine non-self-averaging and
      ultraslow convergence of the transition point. Our framework may be helpful in
      understanding and controlling gelation. 

PMID- 27627356
TI  - Coarsening and clustering in run-and-tumble dynamics with short-range exclusion.
AB  - The emergence of clustering and coarsening in crowded ensembles of self-propelled
      agents is studied using a lattice model in one dimension. The persistent
      exclusion process, where particles move at directions that change randomly at a
      low tumble rate alpha, is extended allowing sites to be occupied by more than one
      particle, with a maximum n_{max} per site. Three phases are distinguished. For
      n_{max}=1 a gas of clusters form, with sizes distributed exponentially and no
      coarsening takes place. For n_{max}>=3 and small values of alpha, coarsening
      takes place and few large clusters appear, with a large fraction of the total
      number of particles in them. In the same range of n_{max} but for larger values
      of alpha, a gas phase where a negligible fraction of particles takes part of
      clusters. Finally, n_{max}=2 corresponds to a crossover phase. The character of
      the transitions between phases is studied extending the model to allow n_{max} to
      take real values and jumps to an occupied site are probabilistic. The transition
      from the gas of clusters to the coarsening phase is continuous and the mass of
      the large clusters grows continuously when varying the maximum occupancy, and the
      crossover found corresponds to values close to the transition. The second
      transition, from the coarsening to the gaseous phase, can be either continuous or
      discontinuous depending on the parameters, with a critical point separating both
      cases. 

PMID- 27627358
TI  - Spinodal decomposition of chemically reactive binary mixtures.
AB  - We simulate the influence of a reversible isomerization reaction on the phase
      segregation process occurring after spinodal decomposition of a deeply quenched
      regular binary mixture, restricting attention to systems wherein material
      transport occurs solely by diffusion. Our theoretical approach follows a diffuse
      interface model of partially miscible binary mixtures wherein the coupling
      between reaction and diffusion is addressed within the frame of nonequilibrium
      thermodynamics, leading to a linear dependence of the reaction rate on the
      chemical affinity. Ultimately, the rate for an elementary reaction depends on the
      local part of the chemical potential difference since reaction is an inherently
      local phenomenon. Based on two-dimensional simulation results, we express the
      competition between segregation and reaction as a function of the Damkohler
      number. For a phase-separating mixture with components having different physical
      properties, a skewed phase diagram leads, at large times, to a system converging
      to a single-phase equilibrium state, corresponding to the absolute minimum of the
      Gibbs free energy. This conclusion continues to hold for the critical phase
      separation of an ideally perfectly symmetric binary mixture, where the choice of
      final equilibrium state at large times depends on the initial mean concentration
      being slightly larger or less than the critical concentration. 

PMID- 27627357
TI  - Velocity gradients in spatially resolved laser Doppler flowmetry and dynamic
      light scattering with confocal and coherence gating.
AB  - Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is widely used to characterize diffusive motion to
      obtain precise information on colloidal suspensions by calculating the
      autocorrelation function of the signal from a heterodyne optical system. DLS can
      also be used to determine the flow velocity field in systems that exhibit mass
      transport by incorporating the effects of the deterministic motion of scatterers
      on the autocorrelation function, a technique commonly known as laser Doppler
      flowmetry. DLS measurements can be localized with confocal and coherence gating
      techniques such as confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography, thereby
      enabling the determination of the spatially resolved velocity field in three
      dimensions. It has been thought that spatially resolved DLS can determine the
      axial velocity as well as the lateral speed in a single measurement. We
      demonstrate, however, that gradients in the axial velocity of scatterers exert a
      fundamental influence on the autocorrelation function even in well-behaved,
      nonturbulent flow. By obtaining the explicit functional relation between axial
      velocity gradients and the autocorrelation function, we show that the velocity
      field and its derivatives are intimately related and their contributions cannot
      be separated. Therefore, a single DLS measurement cannot univocally determine the
      velocity field. Our extended theoretical model was found to be in good agreement
      with experimental measurements. 

PMID- 27627359
TI  - Nonaffine displacements and the nonlinear response of a strained amorphous solid.
AB  - We demonstrate that irreversible structural reorganization is not necessary for
      the observation of yield behavior in an amorphous solid. While the majority of
      solids strained to their yield point do indeed undergo an irreversible
      reorganization, we find that a significant fraction of solids exhibits yield via
      a reversible strain. We also demonstrate that large instantaneous strains in
      excess of the yield stress can result in complete stress relaxation, a result of
      the large nonaffine motions driven by the applied strain. The empirical
      similarity of the dependence of the ratio of stress over strain on the nonaffine
      mean-square displacement to that for the shear modulus obtained from quiescent
      liquid at nonzero temperature supports the proposition that rigidity depends on
      the size of the sampled configurational space only and is insensitive to how this
      space is sampled. 

PMID- 27627360
TI  - Activity-assisted self-assembly of colloidal particles.
AB  - We outline a basic strategy of how self-propulsion can be used to improve the
      yield of a typical colloidal self-assembly process. The success of this approach
      is predicated on the thoughtful design of the colloidal building block as well as
      how self-propulsion is endowed to the particle. As long as a set of criteria are
      satisfied, it is possible to significantly increase the rate of self-assembly,
      and greatly expand the window in parameter space where self-assembly can occur.
      In addition, we show that by tuning the relative on-off time of the self
      propelling force it is possible to modulate the effective speed of the colloids
      allowing for further optimization of the self-assembly process. 

PMID- 27627361
TI  - Microscopic origin and macroscopic implications of lane formation in mixtures of
      oppositely driven particles.
AB  - Colloidal particles of two types, driven in opposite directions, can segregate
      into lanes [Vissers et al., Soft Matter 7, 2352 (2011)1744
      683X10.1039/c0sm01343a]. This phenomenon can be reproduced by two-dimensional
      Brownian dynamics simulations of model particles [Dzubiella et al., Phys. Rev. E
      65, 021402 (2002)1063-651X10.1103/PhysRevE.65.021402]. Here we use computer
      simulation to assess the generality of lane formation with respect to variation
      of particle type and dynamical protocol. We find that laning results from
      rectification of diffusion on the scale of a particle diameter: oppositely driven
      particles must, in the time taken to encounter each other in the direction of the
      drive, diffuse in the perpendicular direction by about one particle diameter.
      This geometric constraint implies that the diffusion constant of a particle, in
      the presence of those of the opposite type, grows approximately linearly with the
      Peclet number, a prediction confirmed by our numerics over a range of model
      parameters. Such environment-dependent diffusion is statistically similar to an
      effective interparticle attraction; consistent with this observation, we find
      that oppositely driven nonattractive colloids display features characteristic of
      the simplest model system possessing both interparticle attractions and
      persistent motion, the driven Ising lattice gas [Katz, Leibowitz, and Spohn, J.
      Stat. Phys. 34, 497 (1984)JSTPBS0022-471510.1007/BF01018556]. These features
      include long-ranged correlations in the disordered regime, a critical regime
      characterized by a change in slope of the particle current with the Peclet
      number, and fluctuations that grow with system size. By analogy, we suggest that
      lane formation in the driven colloid system is a phase transition in the
      macroscopic limit, but that macroscopic phase separation would not occur in
      finite time upon starting from disordered initial conditions. 

PMID- 27627362
TI  - Direct simulation of phase delay effects on induced-charge electro-osmosis under
      large ac electric fields.
AB  - The standard theory of induced-charge electro-osmosis (ICEO) often overpredicts
      experimental values of ICEO velocities. Using a nonsteady direct multiphysics
      simulation technique based on the coupled Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Stokes
      equations for an electrolyte around a conductive cylinder subject to an ac
      electric field, we find that a phase delay effect concerning an ion response
      provides a fundamental mechanism for electrokinetic suppression. A surprising
      aspect of our findings is that the phase delay effect occurs even at much lower
      frequencies (e.g., 50 Hz) than the generally believed charging frequency of an
      electric double layer (typically, 1 kHz) and it can decrease the electrokinetic
      velocities in one to several orders. In addition, we find that the phase delay
      effect may also cause a change in the electrokinetic flow directions (i.e., flow
      reversal) depending on the geometrical conditions. We believe that our findings
      move toward a more complete understanding of complex experimental nonlinear
      electrokinetic phenomena. 

PMID- 27627364
TI  - Importance of core electrostatic properties on the electrophoresis of a soft
      particle.
AB  - The impact of the volumetric charged density of the dielectric rigid core on the
      electrophoresis of a soft particle is analyzed numerically. The volume charge
      density of the inner core of a soft particle can arise for a dendrimer structure
      or bacteriophage MS2. We consider the electrokinetic model based on the
      conservation principles, thus no conditions for Debye length or applied electric
      field is imposed. The fluid flow equations are coupled with the ion transport
      equations and the equation for the electric field. The occurrence of the induced
      nonuniform surface charge density on the outer surface of the inner core leads to
      a situation different from the existing analysis of a soft particle
      electrophoresis. The impact of this induced surface charge density together with
      the double-layer polarization and relaxation due to ion convection and
      electromigration is analyzed. The dielectric permittivity and the charge density
      of the core have a significant impact on the particle electrophoresis when the
      Debye length is in the order of the particle size. We find that by varying the
      ionic concentration of the electrolyte, the particle can exhibit reversal in its
      electrophoretic velocity. The role of the polymer layer softness parameter is
      addressed in the present analysis. 

PMID- 27627363
TI  - Flow-induced aggregation of colloidal particles in viscoelastic fluids.
AB  - The flow-induced aggregation of dilute colloidal polystyrene nanoparticles
      suspended in Newtonian and viscoelastic solutions is reported. A rheo-optical
      method has been used to detect real-time aggregation processes via measuring
      optical absorption or scattering in a quartz Couette cell. The observed
      absorbance decreases over time are attributed to the flow-induced coagulation.
      Numerical simulations show that the aggregation processes still follow the
      Smoluchowski coagulation equation in a revised version. Suspensions in a series
      of media are studied to evaluate the effect of the media rheological properties
      on the particle aggregation. The data shows that elasticity reduces the
      aggregation while the solution viscosity enhances the aggregation processes. 

PMID- 27627366
TI  - Robust ion current oscillations under a steady electric field: An ion channel
      analog.
AB  - We demonstrate a nonlinear, nonequilibrium field-driven ion flux phenomenon,
      which unlike Teorell's nonlinear multiple field theory, requires only the
      application of one field: robust autonomous current-mass flux oscillations across
      a porous monolith coupled to a capillary with a long air bubble, which mimics a
      hydrophobic protein in an ion channel. The oscillations are driven by the
      hysteretic wetting dynamics of the meniscus when electro-osmotic flow and
      pressure driven backflow, due to bubble expansion, compete to approach zero mass
      flux within the monolith. Delayed rupture of the film around the advancing bubble
      cuts off the electric field and switches the monolith mass flow from the former
      to the latter. The meniscus then recedes and repairs the rupture to sustain an
      oscillation for a range of applied fields. This generic mechanism shares many
      analogs with current oscillations in cell membrane ion channel. At sufficiently
      high voltage, the system undergoes a state transition characterized by appearance
      of the ubiquitous 1/f power spectrum. 

PMID- 27627365
TI  - Linear response to leadership, effective temperature, and decision making in
      flocks.
AB  - Large collections of autonomously moving agents, such as animals or micro
      organisms, are able to flock coherently in space even in the absence of a central
      control mechanism. While the direction of the flock resulting from this critical
      behavior is random, this can be controlled by a small subset of informed
      individuals acting as leaders of the group. In this article we use the Vicsek
      model to investigate how flocks respond to leadership and make decisions. Using a
      combination of numerical simulations and continuous modeling we demonstrate that
      flocks display a linear response to leadership that can be cast in the framework
      of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, identifying an effective temperature
      reflecting how promptly the flock reacts to the initiative of the leaders. The
      linear response to leadership also holds in the presence of two groups of
      informed individuals with competing interests, indicating that the flock's
      behavioral decision is determined by both the number of leaders and their degree
      of influence. 

PMID- 27627368
TI  - Macroscopic yielding in jammed solids is accompanied by a nonequilibrium first
      order transition in particle trajectories.
AB  - We use computer simulations to analyze the yielding transition during large
      amplitude oscillatory shear of a simple model for soft jammed solids.
      Simultaneous analysis of global mechanical response and particle-scale motion
      demonstrates that macroscopic yielding, revealed by a smooth crossover in
      mechanical properties, is accompanied by a sudden change in the particle
      dynamics, which evolves from nondiffusive motion to irreversible diffusion as the
      amplitude of the shear is increased. We provide numerical evidence that this
      sharp change corresponds to a nonequilibrium first-order dynamic phase
      transition, thus establishing the existence of a well-defined microscopic dynamic
      signature of the yielding transition in amorphous materials in oscillatory shear.

PMID- 27627367
TI  - Dynamics of highly polydisperse colloidal suspensions as a model system for
      bacterial cytoplasm.
AB  - There are various kinds of macromolecules in bacterial cell cytoplasm. The size
      polydispersity of the macromolecules is so significant that the crystallization
      and the phase separation could be suppressed, thus stabilizing the liquid state
      of bacterial cytoplasm. On the other hand, recent experiments suggested that the
      macromolecules in bacterial cytoplasm should exhibit glassy dynamics, which
      should be also affected significantly by the size polydispersity of the
      macromolecules. In this work, we investigate the anomalous and slow dynamics of
      highly polydisperse colloidal suspensions, of which size distribution is chosen
      to mimic Escherichia coli cytoplasm. We find from our Langevin dynamics
      simulations that the diffusion coefficient (D_{tot}) and the displacement
      distribution functions (P(r,t)) averaged over all colloids of different sizes do
      not show anomalous and glassy dynamic behaviors until the system volume fraction
      phi is increased up to 0.82. This indicates that the intrinsic polydispersity of
      bacterial cytoplasm should suppress the glass transition and help maintain the
      liquid state of the cytoplasm. On the other hand, colloids of each kind show
      totally different dynamic behaviors depending on their size. The dynamics of
      colloids of different size becomes non-Gaussian at a different range of phi,
      which suggests that a multistep glass transition should occur. The largest
      colloids undergo the glass transition at phi=0.65, while the glass transition
      does not occur for smaller colloids in our simulations even at the highest value
      of phi. We also investigate the distribution (P(theta,t)) of the relative angles
      of displacement for macromolecules and find that macromolecules undergo
      directionally correlated motions in a sufficiently dense system. 

PMID- 27627369
TI  - Insights from inside the spinodal: Bridging thermalization time scales with
      smoothed particle hydrodynamics.
AB  - We report the influence of the strength of heat bath coupling on the demixing
      behavior in spinodal decomposing one component liquid-vapor systems. The smoothed
      particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method with a van der Waals equation of state is
      used for the simulation. A thermostat for SPH is introduced that is based on the
      Berendsen thermostat. It controls the strength of heat bath coupling and allows
      for quenches with exponential temperature decay at a certain thermalization time
      scale. The present method allows us to bridge several orders of magnitude in the
      thermalization time scale. The early stage is highly affected by the choice of
      time scale. A transition from exponential growth to a 1/2 ordinary power law
      scaling in the characteristic lengths is observed. At high initial temperatures
      the growth is logarithmic. The comparison with pure thermal simulations reveals
      latent heat to raise the mean system temperature. Large thermalization time
      scales and thermal conductivity are figured out to affect a stagnation of
      heating, which is explained with convective processes. Furthermore, large
      thermalization time scales are responsible for a stagnation of growth of domains,
      which is temporally embedded between early and late stage of phase separation.
      Therefore, it is considered as an intermediate stage. We present an aspect
      concerning this stage, namely that choosing larger thermalization time scales
      increases the duration. Moreover, it is observed that diffuse interfaces are
      formed during this stage, provided that the stage is apparent. We show that the
      differences in the evolution between pure thermal simulations and simulations
      with an instantaneously scaled mean temperature can be explained by the
      thermalization process, since a variation of the time scale allows for the
      bridging between these cases of limit. 

PMID- 27627370
TI  - Classification of point-group-symmetric orientational ordering tensors.
AB  - The concept of symmetry breaking has been a propelling force in understanding
      phases of matter. While rotational-symmetry breaking is one of the most prevalent
      examples, the rich landscape of orientational orders breaking the rotational
      symmetries of isotropic space, i.e., O(3), to a three-dimensional point group
      remain largely unexplored, apart from simple examples such as ferromagnetic or
      uniaxial nematic ordering. Here we provide an explicit construction, utilizing a
      recently introduced gauge-theoretical framework, to address the three-dimensional
      point-group-symmetric orientational orders on a general footing. This unified
      approach allows us to enlist order parameter tensors for all three-dimensional
      point groups. By construction, these tensor order parameters are the minimal set
      of simplest tensors allowed by the symmetries that uniquely characterize the
      orientational order. We explicitly give these for the point groups
      {C_{n},D_{n},T,O,I}?SO(3) and
      {C_{nv},S_{2n},C_{nh},D_{nh},D_{nd},T_{h},T_{d},O_{h},I_{h}}?O(3) for
      n,2n?{1,2,3,4,6,infinity}. This central result may be perceived as a road map for
      identifying exotic orientational orders that may become more and more in reach in
      view of rapid experimental progress in, e.g., nanocolloidal systems and novel
      magnets. 

PMID- 27627371
TI  - Prediction of static contact angles on the basis of molecular forces and
      adsorption data.
AB  - At a three-phase contact line, a liquid bulk phase is in contact with and
      coexists with a very thin layer of adsorbed molecules. This adsorbed film in the
      immediate vicinity of a liquid wedge modifies the balance of forces between the
      liquid and solid phases such that, when included in the balance of forces, a
      quantitative relationship emerges between the adsorbed film thickness and the
      static contact angle. This relationship permits the prediction of static contact
      angles from molecular forces and equilibrium adsorption data by means of
      quantities that are physically meaningful and measurable. For n-alkanes on
      polytetrafluoroethylene, for which there are experimental data available on
      adsorption and contact angles, our computations show remarkable agreement with
      the data. The results obtained are an improvement on previously published
      calculations-particularly for alkanes with a low number of carbon atoms, for
      which adsorption is significant. 

PMID- 27627372
TI  - Random sequential adsorption of polydisperse mixtures on lattices.
AB  - Random sequential adsorption of linear and square particles with excluded volume
      interaction is studied numerically on planar lattices considering Gaussian
      distributions of lateral sizes of the incident particles, with several values of
      the average MU and of the width-to-average ratio w. When the coverage theta is
      plotted as function of the logarithm of time t, the maximum slope is attained at
      a time t_{M} of the same order of the time tau of incidence of one monolayer,
      which is related to the molecular flux and/or sticking coefficients. For various
      MU and w, we obtain 1.5tau<t_{M}<5tau for linear particles and 0.3tau<t_{M}<tau
      for square particles. At t_{M}, the coverages with linear and square particles
      are near 0.3 and 0.2, respectively. Extrapolations show that coverages may vary
      with MU up to 20% and 2% for linear and square particles, respectively, for
      MU>=64, fixed time, and constant w. All theta vs logt plots have approximately
      the same shape, but other quantities measured at times of order t_{M} help to
      distinguish narrow and broad incident distributions. The adsorbed particle-size
      distributions are close to the incident ones up to long times for small w, but
      appreciably change in time for larger w, acquiring a monotonically decreasing
      shape for w=1/2 at times of order 100tau. At t_{M}, incident and adsorbed
      distributions are approximately the same for w<=1/8 and show significant
      differences for w>=1/2; this result may be used as a consistency test in
      applications of the model. The pair correlation function g(r,t) for w<=1/8 has a
      well defined oscillatory structure at 10t_{M}, with a minimum at r~MU and maximum
      at r~1.5MU, but this structure is not observed for w>=1/4. 

PMID- 27627373
TI  - Electrostatic attraction between overall neutral surfaces.
AB  - Two overall neutral surfaces with positively and negatively charged domains
      ("patches") have been shown in recent experiments to exhibit long-range
      attraction when immersed in an ionic solution. Motivated by the experiments, we
      calculate analytically the osmotic pressure between such surfaces within the
      Poisson-Boltzmann framework, using a variational principle for the surface
      averaged free energy. The electrostatic potential, calculated beyond the linear
      Debye-Huckel theory, yields an overall attraction at large intersurface
      separations, over a wide range of the system's controlled length scales. In
      particular, the attraction is stronger and occurs at smaller separations for
      surface patches of larger size and charge density. In this large patch limit, we
      find that the attraction-repulsion crossover separation is inversely proportional
      to the square of the patch-charge density and to the Debye screening length. 

PMID- 27627374
TI  - Intermittency and velocity fluctuations in hopper flows prone to clogging.
AB  - We study experimentally the dynamics of granular media in a discharging hopper.
      In such flows, there often appears to be a critical outlet size D_{c} such that
      the flow never clogs for D>D_{c}. We report on the time-averaged velocity
      distributions, as well as temporal intermittency in the ensemble-averaged
      velocity of grains in a viewing window, for both D<D_{c} and D>D_{c}, near and
      far from the outlet. We characterize the velocity distributions by the standard
      deviation and the skewness of the distribution of vertical velocities. We propose
      a measure for intermittency based on the two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov D_{KS}
      statistic for the velocity distributions as a function of time. We find that
      there is no discontinuity or kink in these various measures as a function of hole
      size. This result supports the proposition that there is no well-defined D_{c}
      and that clogging is always possible. Furthermore, the intermittency time scale
      of the flow is set by the speed of the grains at the hopper exit. This latter
      finding is consistent with a model of clogging as the independent sampling for
      stable configurations at the exit with a rate set by the exiting grain speed [C.
      C. Thomas and D. J. Durian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 178001 (2015)PRLTAO0031
      900710.1103/PhysRevLett.114.178001]. 

PMID- 27627375
TI  - Biased Brownian motion in narrow channels with asymmetry and anisotropy.
AB  - We study Brownian motion of a single millimeter size bead confined in a quasi-two
      dimensional horizontal channel with built-in anisotropy and asymmetry. Channel
      asymmetry is implemented by ratchet walls while anisotropy is introduced using a
      channel base that is grooved along the channel axis so that a bead can acquire a
      horizontal impulse perpendicular to the longitudinal direction when it collides
      with the base. When energy is injected to the channel by vertical vibration, the
      combination of asymmetric walls and anisotropic base induces an effective force
      which drives the bead into biased diffusive motion along the channel axis with
      diffusivity and drift velocity increase with vibration strength. The magnitude of
      this driving force, which can be measured in experiments on a tilted channel, is
      found to be consistent with those obtained from dynamic mobility and position
      probability distribution measurements. These results are explained by a simple
      collision model that suggests the random kinetic energy transfer between
      different translational degrees of freedom may be turned into useful work in the
      presence of asymmetry and anisotropy. 

PMID- 27627376
TI  - Formation mechanism of shock-induced particle jetting.
AB  - The shock dissemination of granular rings or shells is characterized by the
      formation of coherent particle jets that have different dimensions from those
      associated with the constituent grains. In order to identify the mechanisms
      governing the formation of particle jets, we carry out the simulations of the
      shock dispersal of quasi-two-dimensional particle rings based on the discrete
      element method. The evolution of the particle velocities and contact forces on
      the time scales ranging from microseconds to milliseconds reveals a two-stage
      development of particle jets before they are expelled from the outer surface.
      Much effort is made to understand the particle agglomeration around the inner
      surface that initiates the jet formation. The shock interaction with the
      innermost particle layers generates a heterogeneous network of force chains with
      clusters of strong contacts regularly spaced around the inner surface. Momentum
      alongside the stresses is primarily transmitted along the strong force chains.
      Therefore, the clustering of strong force chains renders the agglomeration of
      fast-moving particles connected by strong force chains. The fast-moving particle
      clusters subsequently evolve into the incipient particle jets. The following
      competition among the incipient jets that undergo unbalanced growth leads to
      substantial elimination of the minor jets and the significant multiplication of
      the major jets, the number of jets thus varying with time. Moreover, the number
      of jets is found to increase with the strength of the shock loading due to an
      increased number of jets surviving the retarding effect of major jets. 

PMID- 27627377
TI  - Machine learning framework for analysis of transport through complex networks in
      porous, granular media: A focus on permeability.
AB  - We present a data-driven framework to study the relationship between fluid flow
      at the macroscale and the internal pore structure, across the micro- and
      mesoscales, in porous, granular media. Sphere packings with varying particle size
      distribution and confining pressure are generated using the discrete element
      method. For each sample, a finite element analysis of the fluid flow is performed
      to compute the permeability. We construct a pore network and a particle contact
      network to quantify the connectivity of the pores and particles across the
      mesoscopic spatial scales. Machine learning techniques for feature selection are
      employed to identify sets of microstructural properties and multiscale complex
      network features that optimally characterize permeability. We find a linear
      correlation (in log-log scale) between permeability and the average closeness
      centrality of the weighted pore network. With the pore network links weighted by
      the local conductance, the average closeness centrality represents a multiscale
      measure of efficiency of flow through the pore network in terms of the mean
      geodesic distance (or shortest path) between all pore bodies in the pore network.
      Specifically, this study objectively quantifies a hypothesized link between high
      permeability and efficient shortest paths that thread through relatively large
      pore bodies connected to each other by high conductance pore throats, embodying
      connectivity and pore structure. 

PMID- 27627378
TI  - Structure of velocity distributions in shock waves in granular gases with
      extension to molecular gases.
AB  - Velocity distributions in normal shock waves obtained in dilute granular flows
      are studied. These distributions cannot be described by a simple functional shape
      and are believed to be bimodal. Our results show that these distributions are not
      strictly bimodal but a trimodal distribution is shown to be sufficient. The usual
      Mott-Smith bimodal description of these distributions, developed for molecular
      gases, and based on the coexistence of two subpopulations (a supersonic and a
      subsonic population) in the shock front, can be modified by adding a third
      subpopulation. Our experiments show that this additional population results from
      collisions between the supersonic and subsonic subpopulations. We propose a
      simple approach incorporating the role of this third intermediate population to
      model the measured probability distributions and apply it to granular shocks as
      well as shocks in molecular gases. 

PMID- 27627379
TI  - Stress profile in a two-dimensional silo: Effects induced by friction
      mobilization.
AB  - The effects of friction mobilization on the stress profile within a two
      dimensional silo are investigated via simulations of discrete elements. Friction
      mobilization is driven by cyclic vertical displacement of the sidewalls. Two
      regimes have been observed for small filling height, with stress profiles
      identified as saturated (Janssen's profile) and exponentially growing. The
      transition between these regimes is denoted by an almost linear stress profile,
      similar to that of a hydrostatic system, with a significantly greater
      characteristic height compared to the height of the column of grains. For tall
      columns, the process of friction inversion is more complex. A partial inversion
      of friction mobilization is observed when the motion is reversed from upward to
      downward, which results in two coexisting zones of opposite mobilization. These
      zones are separated by a wide compaction front with a gradual upward progression
      sustained by the displacement of the walls. Conversely, if the motion is
      reversed, the two opposing friction mobilization zones retract, the transition
      zone becomes smooth, and the system rapidly transforms from two coexisting
      mobilization states to a Janssen-like regime. In both regimes, the general
      characteristics from the resulting stress profiles are depicted by generalizing
      Janssen's equation to include partial mobilization through the varying effective
      friction coefficient along the silo walls. 

PMID- 27627380
TI  - Eshelby inclusions in granular matter: Theory and simulations.
AB  - We present a numerical implementation of an active inclusion in a granular
      material submitted to a biaxial test. We discuss the dependence of the response
      to this perturbation on two parameters: the intragranular friction coefficient on
      one hand, and the degree of the loading on the other hand. We compare the
      numerical results to theoretical predictions taking into account the change of
      volume of the inclusion as well as the anisotropy of the elastic matrix. 

PMID- 27627381
TI  - Enstrophy cascades in two-dimensional dense granular flows.
AB  - Employing two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations of dense granular
      materials under simple shear deformations, we investigate vortex structures of
      particle rearrangements. Introducing vorticity fields as a measure of local
      spinning motions of the particles, we observe their heterogeneous distributions,
      where statistics of vorticity fields exhibit the highly non-Gaussian behavior and
      typical domain sizes of vorticity fields significantly increase if the system is
      yielding under quasistatic deformations. In such dense granular flows, a power
      law decay of vorticity spectra can be observed at mesoscopic scale, implying
      anomalous local structures of kinetic energy dissipation. We explain the power
      law decay, or enstrophy cascades in dense granular materials, by a dimensional
      analysis, where the dependence of vorticity spectra not only on the wave number,
      but also on the shear rate, is well explained. From our dimensional analyses, the
      scaling of granular temperature and rotational kinetic energy is also predicted. 

PMID- 27627382
TI  - Emergent friction in two-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova models.
AB  - Simple models for friction are typically one-dimensional, but real interfaces are
      two-dimensional. We investigate the effects of the second dimension on static and
      dynamic friction by using the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model. We study the two most
      straightforward extensions of the FK model to two dimensions and simulate both
      the static and dynamic properties. We show that the behavior of the static
      friction is robust and remains similar in two dimensions for physically
      reasonable parameter values. The dynamic friction, however, is strongly
      influenced by the second dimension and the accompanying additional dynamics and
      parameters introduced into the models. We discuss our results in terms of the
      thermal equilibration and phonon dispersion relations of the lattices,
      establishing a physically realistic and suitable two-dimensional extension of the
      FK model. We find that the presence of additional dissipation channels can
      increase the friction and produces significantly different temperature dependence
      when compared to the one-dimensional case. We also briefly study the anisotropy
      of the dynamic friction and show highly nontrivial effects, including that the
      friction anisotropy can lead to motion in different directions depending on the
      value of the initial velocity. 

PMID- 27627383
TI  - Predicting sample lifetimes in creep fracture of heterogeneous materials.
AB  - Materials flow-under creep or constant loads-and, finally, fail. The prediction
      of sample lifetimes is an important and highly challenging problem because of the
      inherently heterogeneous nature of most materials that results in large sample-to
      sample lifetime fluctuations, even under the same conditions. We study creep
      deformation of paper sheets as one heterogeneous material and thus show how to
      predict lifetimes of individual samples by exploiting the "universal" features in
      the sample-inherent creep curves, particularly the passage to an accelerating
      creep rate. Using simulations of a viscoelastic fiber bundle model, we illustrate
      how deformation localization controls the shape of the creep curve and thus the
      degree of lifetime predictability. 

PMID- 27627384
TI  - Hydrodynamic description of elastic or viscoelastic composite materials: Relative
      strains as macroscopic variables.
AB  - One possibility to adjust material properties to a specific need is to embed
      units of one substance into a matrix of another substance. Even materials that
      are readily tunable during operation can be generated in this way. In
      (visco)elastic substances, both the matrix material as well as the inclusions
      and/or their immediate environment can be dynamically deformed. If the typical
      dynamic response time of the inclusions and their surroundings approach the
      macroscopic response time, their deformation processes need to be included into a
      dynamic macroscopic characterization. Along these lines, we present a
      hydrodynamic description of (visco)elastic composite materials. For this purpose,
      additional strain variables reflect the state of the inclusions and their
      immediate environment. These additional strain variables in general are not set
      by a coarse-grained macroscopic displacement field. Apart from that, during our
      derivation, we also include the macroscopic variables of relative translations
      and relative rotations that were previously introduced in different contexts. As
      a central point, our approach reveals and classifies the importance of a
      macroscopic variable termed relative strains. We analyze two simplified minimal
      example geometries as an illustration. 

PMID- 27627385
TI  - Nonaffine rearrangements of atoms in deformed and quiescent binary glasses.
AB  - The influence of periodic shear deformation on nonaffine atomic displacements in
      an amorphous solid is examined via molecular dynamics simulations. We study the
      three-dimensional Kob-Andersen binary mixture model at a finite temperature. It
      is found that when the material is periodically strained, most of the atoms
      undergo repetitive nonaffine displacements with amplitudes that are broadly
      distributed. We show that particles with large amplitudes of nonaffine
      displacements are organized into compact clusters. With increasing strain
      amplitude, spatial correlations of nonaffine displacements become increasingly
      long-ranged, although they remain present even in a quiescent system due to
      thermal fluctuations. 

PMID- 27627386
TI  - Microscopic modeling of confined crystal growth and dissolution.
AB  - We extend the (1+1)-dimensional fluid solid-on-solid (SOS) model to include a
      confining flat surface opposite to the SOS surface subject to a constant load.
      This load is balanced by a repulsive surface-surface interaction given by an
      ansatz which agrees with known analytical solutions in the limit of two separated
      flat surfaces. Mechanical equilibrium is imposed at all times by repositioning
      the confining surface. By the use of kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) we calculate how
      the equilibrium concentration (deposition rate) depends on the applied load, and
      find it to reproduce analytical thermodynamics independent of the parameters of
      the interaction ansatz. We also study the dependency between the surface
      roughness and the saturation level as we vary the surface tension, and expand on
      previous analyses of the asymmetry between growth and dissolution by
      parametrizing the linear growth rate constant for growth and dissolution
      separately. We find the presence of a confining surface to affect the speed of
      growth and dissolution equally. 

PMID- 27627387
TI  - Observation and analysis of emergent coherent structures in a high-energy-density
      shock-driven planar mixing layer experiment.
AB  - Coherent emergent structures have been observed in a high-energy-density
      supersonic mixing layer experiment. A millimeter-scale shock tube uses lasers to
      drive Mbar shocks into the tube volume. The shocks are driven into initially
      solid foam (60 mg/cm^{3}) hemicylinders separated by an Al or Ti metal tracer
      strip; the components are vaporized by the drive. Before the experiment
      disassembles, the shocks cross at the tube center, creating a very fast (DeltaU>
      200 km/s) shear-unstable zone. After several nanoseconds, an expanding mixing
      layer is measured, and after 10+ ns we observe the appearance of streamwise
      periodic, spanwise-aligned rollers associated with the primary Kelvin-Helmholtz
      instability of mixing layers. We additionally image roller pairing and spanwise
      periodic streamwise-aligned filaments associated with secondary instabilities.
      New closures are derived to connect length scales of these structures to
      estimates of fluctuating velocity data otherwise unobtainable in the high-energy
      density environment. This analysis indicates shear-induced specific turbulent
      energies 10^{3}-10^{4} times higher than the nearest conventional experiments.
      Because of difficulties in continuously driving systems under these conditions
      and the harshness of the experimental environment limiting the usable
      diagnostics, clear evidence of these developing structures has never before been
      observed in this regime. 

PMID- 27627388
TI  - Drag force and transport property of a small cylinder in free molecule flow: A
      gas-kinetic theory analysis.
AB  - Analytical expressions are derived for aerodynamic drag force on small cylinders
      in the free molecule flow using the gas-kinetic theory. The derivation considers
      the effect of intermolecular interactions between the cylinder and gas media. Two
      limiting collision models, specular and diffuse scattering, are investigated in
      two limiting cylinder orientations with respect to the drift velocity. The
      earlier solution of Dahneke [B. E. Dahneke, J. Aerosol Sci. 4, 147
      (1973)10.1016/0021-8502(73)90066-9] is shown to be a special case of the current
      expressions in the rigid-body limit of collision. Drag force expressions are
      obtained for cylinders that undergo Brownian rotation and for those that align
      with the drift velocity. The validity of the theoretical expressions is tested
      against experimental mobility data available for carbon nanotubes. 

PMID- 27627389
TI  - Excitation of ship waves by a submerged object: New solution to the classical
      problem.
AB  - We have proposed a new method for solving the problem of ship waves excited on
      the surface of a nonviscous liquid by a submerged object that moves at a variable
      speed. As a first application of this method, we have obtained a new solution to
      the classic problem of ship waves generated by a submerged ball that moves
      rectilinearly with constant velocity parallel to the equilibrium surface of the
      liquid. For this example, we have derived asymptotic expressions describing the
      vertical displacement of the liquid surface in the limit of small and large
      values of the Froude number. The exact solution is presented in the form of two
      terms, each of which is reduced to one-dimensional integrals. One term describes
      the "Bernoulli hump" and another term the "Kelvin wedge." As a second example, we
      considered vertical oscillation of the submerged ball. In this case, the solution
      leads to the calculation of one-dimensional integral and describes surface waves
      propagating from the epicenter above the ball. 

PMID- 27627390
TI  - Effect of surface waves on the secondary Bjerknes force experienced by bubbles in
      a microfluidic channel.
AB  - An analytical expression is derived for the secondary Bjerknes force experienced
      by two cylindrical bubbles in a microfluidic channel with planar elastic walls.
      The derived expression takes into account that the bubbles generate two types of
      scattered acoustic waves: bulk waves that propagate in the fluid gap with the
      speed of sound and Lamb-type surface waves that propagate at the fluid-wall
      interfaces with a much lower speed than that of the bulk waves. It is shown that
      the surface waves cause the bubbles to form a bound pair in which the equilibrium
      interbubble distance is determined by the wavelength of the surface waves, which
      is much smaller than the acoustic wavelength. Comparison of theoretical and
      experimental results demonstrates good agreement. 

PMID- 27627391
TI  - Nonequilibrium thermohydrodynamic effects on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in
      compressible flows.
AB  - The effects of compressibility on Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) are
      investigated by inspecting the interplay between thermodynamic and hydrodynamic
      nonequilibrium phenomena (TNE, HNE, respectively) via a discrete Boltzmann model.
      Two effective approaches are presented, one tracking the evolution of the local
      TNE effects and the other focusing on the evolution of the mean temperature of
      the fluid, to track the complex interfaces separating the bubble and the spike
      regions of the flow. It is found that both the compressibility effects and the
      global TNE intensity show opposite trends in the initial and the later stages of
      the RTI. Compressibility delays the initial stage of RTI and accelerates the
      later stage. Meanwhile, the TNE characteristics are generally enhanced by the
      compressibility, especially in the later stage. The global or mean thermodynamic
      nonequilibrium indicators provide physical criteria to discriminate between the
      two stages of the RTI. 

PMID- 27627392
TI  - Finite-wavelength surface-tension-driven instabilities in soft solids, including
      instability in a cylindrical channel through an elastic solid.
AB  - We deploy linear stability analysis to find the threshold wavelength (lambda) and
      surface tension (gamma) of Rayleigh-Plateau type "peristaltic" instabilities in
      incompressible neo-Hookean solids in a range of cylindrical geometries with
      radius R_{0}. First we consider a solid cylinder, and recover the well-known,
      infinite-wavelength instability for gamma>=6MUR_{0}, where MU is the solid's
      shear modulus. Second, we consider a volume-conserving (e.g., fluid filled and
      sealed) cylindrical cavity through an infinite solid, and demonstrate infinite
      wavelength instability for gamma>=2MUR_{0}. Third, we consider a solid cylinder
      embedded in a different infinite solid, and find a finite-wavelength instability
      with lambda?R_{0}, at surface tension gamma?MUR_{0}, where the constants depend
      on the two solids' modulus ratio. Finally, we consider an empty cylindrical
      channel (or filled with expellable fluid) through an infinite solid, and find an
      instability with finite wavelength, lambda~2R_{0}, for gamma>=2.543...MUR_{0}.
      Using finite-strain numerics, we show such a channel jumps at instability to a
      highly peristaltic state, likely precipitating it's blockage or failure. We argue
      that finite wavelengths are generic for elastocapillary instabilities, with the
      simple cylinder's infinite wavelength being the exception rather than the rule. 

PMID- 27627393
TI  - Rebound suppression of a droplet impacting on an oscillating horizontal surface.
AB  - The behavior of a droplet impinging onto a solid substrate can be influenced
      significantly by the horizontal motion of the substrate. The coupled interactions
      between the moving wall and the impacting droplet may result in various outcomes,
      which may be different from the usual normal droplet impact on a stationary wall.
      In this paper, we present a method to suppress drop rebound on hydrophobic
      surfaces via transverse wall oscillations, normal to the impact direction. The
      numerical investigation shows that the suppression of droplet rebound has a
      direct relationship with the oscillation phase, amplitude, and frequency. For a
      particular range of oscillation frequencies and amplitudes, a lateral shifting of
      the droplet position is observed along the oscillating direction. While large
      oscillation amplitude favors the process of droplet deposition, a high frequency
      promotes droplet rebound from the oscillating wall. A linear trend in the
      transition region between deposition and rebound is observed from a scaled phase
      diagram of the oscillation amplitude versus frequency. We provide a systematic
      investigation of drop deposition and elucidate the mechanism of rebound
      suppression through the temporal evolution of the nonaxial kinetic energy and the
      velocity flow field. 

PMID- 27627394
TI  - Bubble dynamics inside an outgassing hydrogel confined in a Hele-Shaw cell.
AB  - We report an experimental study of bubble dynamics in a non-Newtonian fluid
      subjected to a pressure decrease. The fluid is a hydrogel, composed of water and
      a synthetic clay, prepared and sandwiched between two glass plates in a Hele-Shaw
      geometry. The rheological properties of the material can be tuned by the clay
      concentration. As the imposed pressure decreases, the gas initially dissolved in
      the hydrogel triggers bubble formation. Different stages of the process are
      observed: bubble nucleation, growth, interaction, and creation of domains by
      bubble contact or coalescence. Initially bubble behave independently. They are
      trapped and advected by the mean deformation of the hydrogel, and the bubble
      growth is mainly driven by the diffusion of the dissolved gas through the
      hydrogel and its outgassing at the reactive-advected hydrogel-bubble interface.
      In this regime, the rheology of the fluid does not play a significant role on the
      bubble growth. A model is proposed and gives a simple scaling that relates the
      bubble growth rate and the imposed pressure. Carbon dioxide is shown to be the
      gas at play, and the hydrogel is degassing at the millimeter scale as a water
      solution does at a smaller scale. Later, bubbles are not independent anymore. The
      growth rate decreases, and the morphology becomes more anisotropic as bubbles
      interact because they are separated by a distance smaller than the individual
      stress field extension. Our measurements show that the interaction distance
      scales with the bubbles' size. 

PMID- 27627395
TI  - Frequency dispersion of small-amplitude capillary waves in viscous fluids.
AB  - This work presents a detailed study of the dispersion of capillary waves with
      small amplitude in viscous fluids using an analytically derived solution to the
      initial value problem of a small-amplitude capillary wave as well as direct
      numerical simulation. A rational parametrization for the dispersion of capillary
      waves in the underdamped regime is proposed, including predictions for the wave
      number of critical damping based on a harmonic-oscillator model. The scaling
      resulting from this parametrization leads to a self-similar solution of the
      frequency dispersion of capillary waves that covers the entire underdamped
      regime, which allows an accurate evaluation of the frequency at a given wave
      number, irrespective of the fluid properties. This similarity also reveals
      characteristic features of capillary waves, for instance that critical damping
      occurs when the characteristic time scales of dispersive and dissipative
      mechanisms are balanced. In addition, the presented results suggest that the
      widely adopted hydrodynamic theory for damped capillary waves does not accurately
      predict the dispersion when viscous damping is significant, and an alternative
      definition of the damping rate, which provides consistent accuracy in the
      underdamped regime, is presented. 

PMID- 27627396
TI  - Dynamics of homogeneous shear turbulence: A key role of the nonlinear transverse
      cascade in the bypass concept.
AB  - To understand the mechanism of the self-sustenance of subcritical turbulence in
      spectrally stable (constant) shear flows, we performed direct numerical
      simulations of homogeneous shear turbulence for different aspect ratios of the
      flow domain with subsequent analysis of the dynamical processes in spectral or
      Fourier space. There are no exponentially growing modes in such flows and the
      turbulence is energetically supported only by the linear growth of Fourier
      harmonics of perturbations due to the shear flow non-normality. This non
      normality-induced growth, also known as nonmodal growth, is anisotropic in
      spectral space, which, in turn, leads to anisotropy of nonlinear processes in
      this space. As a result, a transverse (angular) redistribution of harmonics in
      Fourier space is the main nonlinear process in these flows, rather than direct or
      inverse cascades. We refer to this type of nonlinear redistribution as the
      nonlinear transverse cascade. It is demonstrated that the turbulence is sustained
      by a subtle interplay between the linear nonmodal growth and the nonlinear
      transverse cascade. This course of events reliably exemplifies a well-known
      bypass scenario of subcritical turbulence in spectrally stable shear flows. These
      two basic processes mainly operate at large length scales, comparable to the
      domain size. Therefore, this central, small wave number area of Fourier space is
      crucial in the self-sustenance; we defined its size and labeled it as the vital
      area of turbulence. Outside the vital area, the nonmodal growth and the
      transverse cascade are of secondary importance: Fourier harmonics are transferred
      to dissipative scales by the nonlinear direct cascade. Although the cascades and
      the self-sustaining process of turbulence are qualitatively the same at different
      aspect ratios, the number of harmonics actively participating in this process
      (i.e., the harmonics whose energies grow more than 10% of the maximum spectral
      energy at least once during evolution) varies, but always remains quite large
      (equal to 36, 86, and 209) in the considered here three aspect ratios. This
      implies that the self-sustenance of subcritical turbulence cannot be described by
      low-order models. 

PMID- 27627397
TI  - Particle-bubble interaction inside a Hele-Shaw cell.
AB  - Hydrodynamic interactions between air bubbles and particles have wide
      applications in multiphase separation and reaction processes. In the present
      work, we explore the fundamental mechanism of such complex processes by studying
      the collision of a single bubble with a fixed solid particle inside a Hele-Shaw
      cell. Physical experiments show that an air bubble either splits or slides around
      the particle depending on the initial transverse distance between the bubble and
      particle centroids. An air bubble splits into two daughter bubbles at small
      transverse distances, and slides around the particle at large distances. In order
      to predict the critical transverse distance that separates these two behaviors,
      we also develop a theoretical model by estimating the rate of the bubble volume
      transfer from one side of the particle to the other based on Darcy's law, which
      is in good agreement with experiments. 

PMID- 27627398
TI  - Unified slip boundary condition for fluid flows.
AB  - Determining the correct matching boundary condition is fundamental to our
      understanding of several everyday problems. Despite over a century of scientific
      work, existing velocity boundary conditions are unable to consistently explain
      and capture the complete physics associated with certain common but complex
      problems, such as moving contact lines and corner flows. The widely used Maxwell
      and Navier slip boundary conditions make an implicit assumption that velocity
      varies only in the wall normal direction. This makes their boundary condition
      inapplicable in the vicinity of contact lines and corner points, where velocity
      gradient exists both in the wall normal and wall tangential directions. In this
      paper, by identifying this implicit assumption we are able to extend Maxwell's
      slip model. Here, we present a generalized velocity boundary condition that shows
      that slip velocity is a function of not only the shear rate but also the linear
      strain rate. In addition, we present a universal relation for slip length, which
      shows that, for a general flow, slip length is a function of the principal strain
      rate. The universal relation for slip length along with the generalized velocity
      boundary condition provides a unified slip boundary condition to model a wide
      range of steady Newtonian fluid flows. We validate the unified slip boundary for
      simple Newtonian liquids by using molecular dynamics simulations and studying
      both the moving contact line and corner flow problems. 

PMID- 27627399
TI  - Relation of the fourth-order statistical invariants of velocity gradient tensor
      in isotropic turbulence.
AB  - We show by direct numerical simulations (DNSs) that in different types of
      isotropic turbulence, the fourth-order statistical invariants have approximately
      a linear relation, which can be represented by a straight line in the phase
      plane, passing two extreme states: the Gaussian state and the restricted Euler
      state. Also, each DNS case corresponds to an equilibrium region that is roughly
      Reynolds-dependent. In addition, both the time reversal and the compressibility
      effect lead to nonequilibrium transition processes in this phase plane. This
      observation adds a new restriction on the mean-field theory. 

PMID- 27627400
TI  - Nonlinear electrophoresis in the presence of dielectric decrement.
AB  - The nonlinear phenomena that occur in the electric double layer (EDL) that forms
      at charged surfaces strongly influence electrokinetic effects, including electro
      osmosis and electrophoresis. In particular, saturation effects due to either
      dielectric decrement or ion crowding effects are of paramount importance.
      Dielectric decrement significantly influences the ionic concentration in the EDL
      at high zeta potential, leading to the formation of a condensed layer near the
      particle's surface. In this article, we present a model incorporating both steric
      effects due to the finite size of ions and dielectric decrement to describe the
      physics in the electric double layer. The model remains valid in both weakly and
      strongly nonlinear regimes, as long as the electric double layer remains in
      quasiequilibrium. We apply this model to the study of two archetypal problems in
      electrokinetics, namely the electrophoresis of particles with fixed surface
      charges and the electrophoresis of ideally polarizable particles. 

PMID- 27627401
TI  - Electron density and temperature measurements in a magnetized expanding hydrogen
      plasma.
AB  - We report measurements of electron densities, n_{e}, and temperatures, T_{e}, in
      a magnetized expanding hydrogen plasma performed using Thomson scattering. The
      effects of applying an axial magnetic field and changing the background pressure
      in the plasma vessel on n_{e} and T_{e} along the expansion axis are reported.
      Magnetic field strengths (B field) up to 170 mT were applied, which are one order
      of magnitude larger than previously reported. The main effect of the applied B
      field is the plasma confinement, which leads to higher n_{e}. At B fields larger
      than 88 mT the electron density along the expansion axis does not depend strongly
      on the magnetic field strength. However, T_{e} is susceptible to the B field and
      reaches at 170 mT a maximum of 2.5 eV at a distance of 1.5 cm from the exit of
      the cascaded arc. To determine also the effect of the arc current through the
      arc, measurements were performed with arc currents of 45, 60, and 75 A at
      background pressures of 9.7 and 88.3 Pa. At constant magnetic field n_{e}
      decreases from the exit of the arc along the expansion axis when the arc current
      is decreased. At 88.3 Pa n_{e} shows a higher value close to the exit of the arc,
      but a faster decay along the expansion axis with respect to the 9.7 Pa case.
      T_{e} is overall higher at lower pressure reaching a maximum of 3.2 eV at the
      lower arc current of 45 A. The results of this study complement our understanding
      and the characterization of expanding hydrogen plasmas. 

PMID- 27627402
TI  - Tonks-Dattner resonances in a quantum plasma bubble.
AB  - We establish the spectrum of Tonks-Dattner mode resonances in a quantum plasma
      bubble and consider the spectral changes associated with plasma quenching and
      plasma expansion. The quantum corrections associated with the mode spectrum are
      specified, which can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify the quantum regime.
      The frequency shifts associated with time-varying plasma bubbles correspond to
      time refraction and can also be used as a plasma diagnostic. We also study the
      energy mode coupling, in the presence of a low-frequency perturbation. It will be
      shown that the mode coupling equations take the form of generalized Bloch
      equations, where a nonlinear Rabi frequency can also be identified. 

PMID- 27627403
TI  - Experimental measurements of the collisional absorption of XUV radiation in warm
      dense aluminium.
AB  - The collisional (or free-free) absorption of soft x rays in warm dense aluminium
      remains an unsolved problem. Competing descriptions of the process exist, two of
      which we compare to our experimental data here. One of these is based on a weak
      scattering model, another uses a corrected classical approach. These two models
      show distinctly different behaviors with temperature. Here we describe
      experimental evidence for the absorption of 26-eV photons in solid density warm
      aluminium (T_{e}~1 eV). Radiative x-ray heating from palladium-coated CH foils
      was used to create the warm dense aluminium samples and a laser-driven high
      harmonic beam from an argon gas jet provided the probe. The results indicate
      little or no change in absorption upon heating. This behavior is in agreement
      with the prediction of the corrected classical approach, although there is not
      agreement in absolute absorption value. Verifying the correct absorption
      mechanism is decisive in providing a better understanding of the complex behavior
      of the warm dense state. 

PMID- 27627404
TI  - Dissociation along the principal Hugoniot of the Laser Megajoule ablator
      material.
AB  - Glow discharge polymer hydrocarbon (GDP-CH) is used as the ablator material in
      inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules for the Laser Megajoule and National
      Ignition Facility. Due to its fabrication process, GDP-CH chemical composition
      and structure differ from commercially available plastics and detailed knowledge
      of its properties in the warm dense matter regime is needed to achieve accurate
      design of ICF capsules. First-principles ab initio simulations of the GDP-CH
      principal Hugoniot up to 8 Mbar were performed using the quantum molecular
      dynamics (QMD) code abinit and showed that atomic bond dissociation has an effect
      on the compressibility. Results from these simulations are used to parametrize a
      quantum semiempirical model in order to generate a tabulated equation of state
      that includes dissociation. Hugoniot measurements obtained from an experiment
      conducted at the LULI2000 laser facility confirm QMD simulations as well as EOS
      modeling. We conclude by showing the EOS model influence on shock timing in a
      hydrodynamic simulation. 

PMID- 27627405
TI  - Fluid nonlinear frequency shift of nonlinear ion acoustic waves in multi-ion
      species plasmas in the small wave number region.
AB  - The properties of the nonlinear frequency shift (NFS), especially the fluid NFS
      from the harmonic generation of the ion-acoustic wave (IAW) in multi-ion species
      plasmas, have been researched by Vlasov simulation. Pictures of the nonlinear
      frequency shift from harmonic generation and particle trapping are shown to
      explain the mechanism of NFS qualitatively. The theoretical model of the fluid
      NFS from harmonic generation in multi-ion species plasmas is given, and the
      results of Vlasov simulation are consistent with the theoretical result of multi
      ion species plasmas. When the wave number klambda_{De} is small, such as
      klambda_{De}=0.1, the fluid NFS dominates in the total NFS and will reach as
      large as nearly 15% when the wave amplitude |ephi/T_{e}|~0.1, which indicates
      that in the condition of small klambda_{De}, the fluid NFS dominates in the
      saturation of stimulated Brillouin scattering, especially when the nonlinear IAW
      amplitude is large. 

PMID- 27627406
TI  - Learning maximum entropy models from finite-size data sets: A fast data-driven
      algorithm allows sampling from the posterior distribution.
AB  - Maximum entropy models provide the least constrained probability distributions
      that reproduce statistical properties of experimental datasets. In this work we
      characterize the learning dynamics that maximizes the log-likelihood in the case
      of large but finite datasets. We first show how the steepest descent dynamics is
      not optimal as it is slowed down by the inhomogeneous curvature of the model
      parameters' space. We then provide a way for rectifying this space which relies
      only on dataset properties and does not require large computational efforts. We
      conclude by solving the long-time limit of the parameters' dynamics including the
      randomness generated by the systematic use of Gibbs sampling. In this stochastic
      framework, rather than converging to a fixed point, the dynamics reaches a
      stationary distribution, which for the rectified dynamics reproduces the
      posterior distribution of the parameters. We sum up all these insights in a
      "rectified" data-driven algorithm that is fast and by sampling from the
      parameters' posterior avoids both under- and overfitting along all the directions
      of the parameters' space. Through the learning of pairwise Ising models from the
      recording of a large population of retina neurons, we show how our algorithm
      outperforms the steepest descent method. 

PMID- 27627408
TI  - Algorithms for optimized maximum entropy and diagnostic tools for analytic
      continuation.
AB  - Analytic continuation of numerical data obtained in imaginary time or frequency
      has become an essential part of many branches of quantum computational physics.
      It is, however, an ill-conditioned procedure and thus a hard numerical problem.
      The maximum-entropy approach, based on Bayesian inference, is the most widely
      used method to tackle that problem. Although the approach is well established and
      among the most reliable and efficient ones, useful developments of the method and
      of its implementation are still possible. In addition, while a few free software
      implementations are available, a well-documented, optimized, general purpose, and
      user-friendly software dedicated to that specific task is still lacking. Here we
      analyze all aspects of the implementation that are critical for accuracy and
      speed and present a highly optimized approach to maximum entropy. Original
      algorithmic and conceptual contributions include (1) numerical approximations
      that yield a computational complexity that is almost independent of temperature
      and spectrum shape (including sharp Drude peaks in broad background, for example)
      while ensuring quantitative accuracy of the result whenever precision of the data
      is sufficient, (2) a robust method of choosing the entropy weight alpha that
      follows from a simple consistency condition of the approach and the observation
      that information- and noise-fitting regimes can be identified clearly from the
      behavior of chi^{2} with respect to alpha, and (3) several diagnostics to assess
      the reliability of the result. Benchmarks with test spectral functions of
      different complexity and an example with an actual physical simulation are
      presented. Our implementation, which covers most typical cases for fermions,
      bosons, and response functions, is available as an open source, user-friendly
      software. 

PMID- 27627407
TI  - Consistent lattice Boltzmann methods for incompressible axisymmetric flows.
AB  - In this work, consistent lattice Boltzmann (LB) methods for incompressible
      axisymmetric flows are developed based on two efficient axisymmetric LB models
      available in the literature. In accord with their respective original models, the
      proposed axisymmetric models evolve within the framework of the standard LB
      method and the source terms contain no gradient calculations. Moreover, the
      incompressibility conditions are realized with the Hermite expansion, thus the
      compressibility errors arising in the existing models are expected to be reduced
      by the proposed incompressible models. In addition, an extra relaxation parameter
      is added to the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook collision operator to suppress the effect
      of the ghost variable and thus the numerical stability of the present models is
      significantly improved. Theoretical analyses, based on the Chapman-Enskog
      expansion and the equivalent moment system, are performed to derive the
      macroscopic equations from the LB models and the resulting truncation terms
      (i.e., the compressibility errors) are investigated. In addition, numerical
      validations are carried out based on four well-acknowledged benchmark tests and
      the accuracy and applicability of the proposed incompressible axisymmetric LB
      models are verified. 

PMID- 27627409
TI  - Smoothed dissipative particle dynamics model for mesoscopic multiphase flows in
      the presence of thermal fluctuations.
AB  - Thermal fluctuations cause perturbations of fluid-fluid interfaces and highly
      nonlinear hydrodynamics in multiphase flows. In this work, we develop a
      multiphase smoothed dissipative particle dynamics (SDPD) model. This model
      accounts for both bulk hydrodynamics and interfacial fluctuations. Interfacial
      surface tension is modeled by imposing a pairwise force between SDPD particles.
      We show that the relationship between the model parameters and surface tension,
      previously derived under the assumption of zero thermal fluctuation, is accurate
      for fluid systems at low temperature but overestimates the surface tension for
      intermediate and large thermal fluctuations. To analyze the effect of thermal
      fluctuations on surface tension, we construct a coarse-grained Euler lattice
      model based on the mean field theory and derive a semianalytical formula to
      directly relate the surface tension to model parameters for a wide range of
      temperatures and model resolutions. We demonstrate that the present method
      correctly models dynamic processes, such as bubble coalescence and capillary
      spectra across the interface. 

PMID- 27627410
TI  - Bayesian approach to the analysis of neutron Brillouin scattering data on liquid
      metals.
AB  - When the dynamics of liquids and disordered systems at mesoscopic level is
      investigated by means of inelastic scattering (e.g., neutron or x ray), spectra
      are often characterized by a poor definition of the excitation lines and
      spectroscopic features in general and one important issue is to establish how
      many of these lines need to be included in the modeling function and to estimate
      their parameters. Furthermore, when strongly damped excitations are present,
      commonly used and widespread fitting algorithms are particularly affected by the
      choice of initial values of the parameters. An inadequate choice may lead to an
      inefficient exploration of the parameter space, resulting in the algorithm
      getting stuck in a local minimum. In this paper, we present a Bayesian approach
      to the analysis of neutron Brillouin scattering data in which the number of
      excitation lines is treated as unknown and estimated along with the other model
      parameters. We propose a joint estimation procedure based on a reversible-jump
      Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm, which efficiently explores the parameter
      space, producing a probabilistic measure to quantify the uncertainty on the
      number of excitation lines as well as reliable parameter estimates. The method
      proposed could turn out of great importance in extracting physical information
      from experimental data, especially when the detection of spectral features is
      complicated not only because of the properties of the sample, but also because of
      the limited instrumental resolution and count statistics. The approach is tested
      on generated data set and then applied to real experimental spectra of neutron
      Brillouin scattering from a liquid metal, previously analyzed in a more
      traditional way. 

PMID- 27627412
TI  - Effects of tangential-type boundary condition discontinuities on the accuracy of
      the lattice Boltzmann method for heat and mass transfer.
AB  - We present a systematic study on the effects of tangential-type boundary
      condition discontinuities on the accuracy of the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE)
      method for Dirichlet and Neumann problems in heat and mass transfer modeling. The
      second-order accurate boundary condition treatments for continuous Dirichlet and
      Neumann problems are directly implemented for the corresponding discontinuous
      boundary conditions. Results from three numerical tests, including both straight
      and curved boundaries, are presented to show the accuracy and order of
      convergence of the LBE computations. Detailed error assessments are conducted for
      the interior temperature or concentration (denoted as a scalar phi) and the
      interior derivatives of phi for both types of boundary conditions, for the
      boundary flux in the Dirichlet problem and for the boundary phi values in the
      Neumann problem. When the discontinuity point on the straight boundary is placed
      at the center of the unit lattice in the Dirichlet problem, it yields only first
      order accuracy for the interior distribution of phi, first-order accuracy for the
      boundary flux, and zeroth-order accuracy for the interior derivatives compared
      with the second-order accuracy of all quantities of interest for continuous
      boundary conditions. On the lattice scale, the LBE solution for the interior
      derivatives near the singularity is largely independent of the resolution and
      correspondingly the local distribution of the absolute errors is almost invariant
      with the changing resolution. For Neumann problems, when the discontinuity is
      placed at the lattice center, second-order accuracy is preserved for the interior
      distribution of phi; and a "superlinear" convergence order of 1.5 for the
      boundary phi values and first-order accuracy for the interior derivatives are
      obtained. For straight boundaries with the discontinuity point arbitrarily placed
      within the lattice and curved boundaries, the boundary flux becomes zeroth-order
      accurate for Dirichlet problems; and all three quantities, including the interior
      and boundary phi values and the interior derivatives, are only first-order
      accurate for Neumann problems. 

PMID- 27627411
TI  - Local membrane length conservation in two-dimensional vesicle simulation using a
      multicomponent lattice Boltzmann equation method.
AB  - We present a method for applying a class of velocity-dependent forces within a
      multicomponent lattice Boltzmann equation simulation that is designed to recover
      continuum regime incompressible hydrodynamics. This method is applied to the
      problem, in two dimensions, of constraining to uniformity the tangential velocity
      of a vesicle membrane implemented within a recent multicomponent lattice
      Boltzmann simulation method, which avoids the use of Lagrangian boundary tracers.
      The constraint of uniform tangential velocity is carried by an additional
      contribution to an immersed boundary force, which we derive here from physical
      arguments. The result of this enhanced immersed boundary force is to apply a
      physically appropriate boundary condition at the interface between separated
      lattice fluids, defined as that region over which the phase-field varies most
      rapidly. Data from this enhanced vesicle boundary method are in agreement with
      other data obtained using related methods [e.g., T. Kruger, S. Frijters, F.
      Gunther, B. Kaoui, and J. Harting, Eur. Phys. J. 222, 177
      (2013)10.1140/epjst/e2013-01834-y] and underscore the importance of a correct
      vesicle membrane condition. 

PMID- 27627413
TI  - Computation of the lattice Green function for a dislocation.
AB  - Modeling isolated dislocations is challenging due to their long-ranged strain
      fields. Flexible boundary condition methods capture the correct long-range strain
      field of a defect by coupling the defect core to an infinite harmonic bulk
      through the lattice Green function (LGF). To improve the accuracy and efficiency
      of flexible boundary condition methods, we develop a numerical method to compute
      the LGF specifically for a dislocation geometry; in contrast to previous methods,
      where the LGF was computed for the perfect bulk as an approximation for the
      dislocation. Our approach directly accounts for the topology of a dislocation,
      and the errors in the LGF computation converge rapidly for edge dislocations in a
      simple cubic model system as well as in BCC Fe with an empirical potential. When
      used within the flexible boundary condition approach, the dislocation LGF relaxes
      dislocation core geometries in fewer iterations than when the perfect bulk LGF is
      used as an approximation for the dislocation, making a flexible boundary
      condition approach more efficient. 

PMID- 27627414
TI  - Simulation of macromolecular liquids with the adaptive resolution molecular
      dynamics technique.
AB  - We extend the application of the adaptive resolution technique (AdResS) to liquid
      systems composed of alkane chains of different lengths. The aim of the study is
      to develop and test the modifications of AdResS required in order to handle the
      change of representation of large molecules. The robustness of the approach is
      shown by calculating several relevant structural properties and comparing them
      with the results of full atomistic simulations. The extended scheme represents a
      robust prototype for the simulation of macromolecular systems of interest in
      several fields, from material science to biophysics. 

PMID- 27627415
TI  - Multiple-relaxation-time color-gradient lattice Boltzmann model for simulating
      two-phase flows with high density ratio.
AB  - In this paper we propose a color-gradient lattice Boltzmann (LB) model for
      simulating two-phase flows with high density ratio and high Reynolds number. The
      model applies a multirelaxation-time (MRT) collision operator to enhance the
      stability of the simulation. A source term, which is derived by the Chapman
      Enskog analysis, is added into the MRT LB equation so that the Navier-Stokes
      equations can be exactly recovered. Also, a form of the equilibrium density
      distribution function is used to simplify the source term. To validate the
      proposed model, steady flows of a static droplet and the layered channel flow are
      first simulated with density ratios up to 1000. Small values of spurious
      velocities and interfacial tension errors are found in the static droplet test,
      and improved profiles of velocity are obtained by the present model in simulating
      channel flows. Then, two cases of unsteady flows, Rayleigh-Taylor instability and
      droplet splashing on a thin film, are simulated. In the former case, the density
      ratio of 3 and Reynolds numbers of 256 and 2048 are considered. The interface
      shapes and spike and bubble positions are in good agreement with the results of
      previous studies. In the latter case, the droplet spreading radius is found to
      obey the power law proposed in previous studies for the density ratio of 100 and
      Reynolds number up to 500. 

PMID- 27627416
TI  - Improved lattice Boltzmann modeling of binary flow based on the conservative
      Allen-Cahn equation.
AB  - The primary and key task of binary fluid flow modeling is to track the interface
      with good accuracy, which is usually challenging due to the sharp-interface limit
      and numerical dispersion. This article concentrates on further development of the
      conservative Allen-Cahn equation (ACE) [Geier et al., Phys. Rev. E 91, 063309
      (2015)10.1103/PhysRevE.91.063309] under the framework of the lattice Boltzmann
      method (LBM), with incorporation of the incompressible hydrodynamic equations
      [Liang et al., Phys. Rev. E 89, 053320 (2014)10.1103/PhysRevE.89.053320].
      Utilizing a modified equilibrium distribution function and an additional source
      term, this model is capable of correctly recovering the conservative ACE through
      the Chapman-Enskog analysis. We also simulate four phase-tracking benchmark
      cases, including one three-dimensional case; all show good accuracy as well as
      low numerical dispersion. By coupling the incompressible hydrodynamic equations,
      we also simulate layered Poiseuille flow and the Rayleigh-Taylor instability,
      illustrating satisfying performance in dealing with complex flow problems, e.g.,
      high viscosity ratio, high density ratio, and high Reynolds number situations.
      The present work provides a reliable and efficient solution for binary flow
      modeling. 

PMID- 27627417
TI  - Lattice Boltzmann model for a steady radiative transfer equation.
AB  - A complete lattice Boltzmann model (LBM) is proposed for the steady radiative
      transfer equation (RTE). The RTE can be regarded as a pure convection equation
      with a source term. To derive the expressions for the equilibrium distribution
      function and the relaxation time, an artificial isotropic diffusion term is
      introduced to form a convection-diffusion equation. When the dimensionless
      relaxation time has a value of 0.5, the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) is
      exactly applicable to the original steady RTE. We also perform a multiscale
      analysis based on the Chapman-Enskog expansion to recover the macroscopic RTE
      from the mesoscopic LBE. The D2Q9 model is used to solve the LBE, and the
      numerical results obtained by the LBM are comparable to the results obtained by
      other methods or analytical solutions, which demonstrates that the proposed model
      is highly accurate and stable in simulating multidimensional radiative transfer.
      In addition, we find that the convergence rate of the LBM depends on the
      transport properties of RTE: for diffusion-dominated RTE with a large optical
      thickness, the LBM shows a second-order convergence rate in space, while for
      convection-dominated RTE with a small optical thickness, a lower convergence rate
      is observed. 

PMID- 27627418
TI  - Simplification of the unified gas kinetic scheme.
AB  - The unified gas kinetic scheme (UGKS) is an asymptotic preserving (AP) scheme for
      kinetic equations. It is superior for transition flow simulation and has been
      validated in the past years. However, compared to the well-known discrete
      ordinate method (DOM), which is a classical numerical method solving the kinetic
      equations, the UGKS needs more computational resources. In this study, we propose
      a simplification of the unified gas kinetic scheme. It allows almost identical
      numerical cost as the DOM, but predicts numerical results as accurate as the
      UGKS. In the simplified scheme, the numerical flux for the velocity distribution
      function and the numerical flux for the macroscopic conservative quantities are
      evaluated separately. The equilibrium part of the UGKS flux is calculated by
      analytical solution instead of the numerical quadrature in velocity space. The
      simplification is equivalent to a flux hybridization of the gas kinetic scheme
      for the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations and the conventional discrete ordinate
      method. Several simplification strategies are tested, through which we can
      identify the key ingredient of the Navier-Stokes asymptotic preserving property.
      Numerical tests show that, as long as the collision effect is built into the
      macroscopic numerical flux, the numerical scheme is Navier-Stokes asymptotic
      preserving, regardless the accuracy of the microscopic numerical flux for the
      velocity distribution function. 

PMID- 27627419
TI  - Accurate time propagation method for the coupled Maxwell and Kohn-Sham equations.
AB  - An accurate method for time propagation of the coupled Maxwell and time-dependent
      Kohn-Sham (TDKS) equation is presented. The new approach uses a simultaneous
      fourth-order Runge-Kutta-based propagation of the vector potential and the Kohn
      Sham orbitals. The approach is compared to the conventional fourth-order Taylor
      propagation and predictor-corrector methods. The calculations show several
      computational and numerical advantages, including higher computational
      performance, greater stability, better accuracy, and faster convergence. 

PMID- 27627420
TI  - Framework for efficient synthesis of spatially embedded morphologies.
AB  - Many problems in science and engineering require the ability to grow tubular or
      polymeric structures up to large volume fractions within a bounded region of
      three-dimensional space. Examples range from the construction of fibrous
      materials and biological cells such as neurons, to the creation of initial
      configurations for molecular simulations. A common feature of these problems is
      the need for the growing structures to wind throughout space without
      intersecting. At any time, the growth of a morphology depends on the current
      state of all the others, as well as the environment it is growing in, which makes
      the problem computationally intensive. Neuron synthesis has the additional
      constraint that the morphologies should reliably resemble biological cells, which
      possess nonlocal structural correlations, exhibit high packing fractions, and
      whose growth responds to anatomical boundaries in the synthesis volume. We
      present a spatial framework for simultaneous growth of an arbitrary number of
      nonintersecting morphologies that presents the growing structures with
      information on anisotropic and inhomogeneous properties of the space. The
      framework is computationally efficient because intersection detection is linear
      in the mass of growing elements up to high volume fractions and versatile because
      it provides functionality for environmental growth cues to be accessed by the
      growing morphologies. We demonstrate the framework by growing morphologies of
      various complexity. 

PMID- 27627421
TI  - Generalizing the Boltzmann equation in complex phase space.
AB  - In this work, a generalized form of the BGK-Boltzmann equation is proposed, where
      the velocity, position, and time can be represented by real or complex variables.
      The real representation leads to the conventional BGK-Boltzmann equation, which
      can recover the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations. We show that the complex
      representation yields a different set of equations, and it can also recover the
      conservation and Navier-Stokes equations, at low Mach numbers, provided that the
      imaginary component of the macroscopic mass can be neglected. We briefly review
      the Constant Speed Kinetic Model (CSKM), which was introduced in Zadehgol and
      Ashrafizaadeh [J. Comp. Phys. 274, 803 (2014)JCTPAH0021
      999110.1016/j.jcp.2014.06.053] and Zadehgol [Phys. Rev. E 91, 063311
      (2015)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.91.063311]. The CSKM is then used as a
      basis to show that the complex-valued equilibrium distribution function of the
      present model can be identified with a simple singularity in the complex phase
      space. The virtual particles, in the present work, are concentrated on virtual
      "branes" which surround the computational nodes. Employing the Cauchy integral
      formula, it is shown that certain variations of the "branes," in the complex
      phase space, do not affect the local kinetic states. This property of the new
      model, which is referred to as the "apparent jumps" in the present work, is used
      to construct new models. The theoretical findings have been tested by simulating
      three benchmark flows. The results of the present simulations are in excellent
      agreement with the previous results reported by others. 

PMID- 27627422
TI  - Comparison of different coupling schemes between counterions and charged
      nanoparticles in multiparticle collision dynamics.
AB  - We applied the multiparticle collision dynamics (MPC) simulation technique to
      highly asymmetric electrolytes in solution, i.e., charged nanoparticles and their
      counterions in a solvent. These systems belong to a domain of solute size which
      ranges between the electrolyte and the colloidal domains, where most analytical
      theories are expected to fail, and efficient simulation techniques are still
      missing. MPC is a mesoscopic simulation method which mimics hydrodynamics
      properties of a fluid, includes thermal fluctuations, and can be coupled to a
      molecular dynamics of solutes. We took advantage of the size asymmetry between
      nanoparticles and counterions to treat the coupling between solutes and the
      solvent bath within the MPC method. Counterions were coupled to the solvent bath
      during the collision step and nanoparticles either through a direct interaction
      force or with stochastic rotation rules which mimic stick boundary conditions.
      Moreover, we adapted the simulation procedure to address the issue of the strong
      electrostatic interactions between solutes of opposite charges. We show that the
      short-ranged repulsion between counterions and nanoparticles can be modeled by
      stochastic reflection rules. This simulation scheme is very efficient from a
      computational point of view. We have also computed the transport coefficients for
      various densities. The diffusion of counterions was found in one case to increase
      slightly with the volume fraction of nanoparticles. The deviation of the electric
      conductivity from the ideal behavior (solutes at infinite dilution without any
      direct interactions) is found to be strong. 

PMID- 27627423
TI  - Comment on "Lifshitz-Matsubara sum formula for the Casimir pressure between
      magnetic metallic mirrors".
AB  - Recently Guerout et al. [Phys. Rev. E 93, 022108 (2016)1539
      375510.1103/PhysRevE.93.022108] advocated that the lossless plasma model has to
      be redefined as the limit of the Drude model when the relaxation parameter goes
      to zero. It was claimed that the previously used plasma model cannot correctly
      describe the Casimir pressure between two plates made of both nonmagnetic and
      magnetic metals and has to be replaced with the redefined one. We show that the
      suggested redefinition does not satisfy necessary physical requirements imposed
      on the dielectric permittivity. We also present a plausible explanation for the
      fact that the lossless plasma model describes the Casimir pressure correctly even
      though it does not match the optical and electrical properties of metals. 

PMID- 27627424
TI  - Reply to "Comment on 'Lifshitz-Matsubara sum formula for the Casimir pressure
      between magnetic metallic mirrors' ".
AB  - We reply to the "Comment on 'Lifshitz-Matsubara sum formula for the Casimir
      pressure between magnetic metallic mirrors.' " We believe the comment
      misrepresents our papers, and fails to provide a plausible resolution to the
      conflict between theory and experiment. 

PMID- 27627425
TI  - Comment on "Quantum Kaniadakis entropy under projective measurement".
AB  - We comment on the main result given by Ourabah et al. [Phys. Rev. E 92, 032114
      (2015)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.92.032114], noting that it can be derived
      as a special case of the more general study that we have provided in [Quantum Inf
      Process 15, 3393 (2016)10.1007/s11128-016-1329-5]. Our proof of the nondecreasing
      character under projective measurements of so-called generalized (h,phi)
      entropies (that comprise the Kaniadakis family as a particular case) has been
      based on majorization and Schur-concavity arguments. As a consequence, we have
      obtained that this property is obviously satisfied by Kaniadakis entropy but at
      the same time is fulfilled by all entropies preserving majorization. In addition,
      we have seen that our result holds for any bistochastic map, being a projective
      measurement a particular case. We argue here that looking at these facts from the
      point of view given in [Quantum Inf Process 15, 3393 (2016)10.1007/s11128-016
      1329-5] not only simplifies the demonstrations but allows for a deeper
      understanding of the entropic properties involved. 

PMID- 27627426
TI  - Reply to "Comment on 'Quantum Kaniadakis entropy under projective measurement' ".
AB  - We rely on our proof of the nondecreasing character of quantum Kaniadakis entropy
      under projective measurement [Phys. Rev. E 92, 032114 (2015)PLEEE81539
      375510.1103/PhysRevE.92.032114], and we put it into perspective with the results
      of Bosyk et al. [Quantum Inf Process 15, 3393 (2016)10.1007/s11128-016-1329-5].
      Our method, adopted for the proof that Kaniadakis entropy does not decrease under
      a projective measurement, is based on Jensen's inequalities, while the method
      proposed by the authors of the Comment represents another alternative and clearly
      correct method to prove the same thing. Furthermore, we clarify that our interest
      in Kaniadakis entropy is due to the fact that this entropy has a transparent
      physical significance, emerging within the special relativity. 

PMID- 27627427
TI  - Comment on "Simple improvements to classical bubble nucleation models".
AB  - A critical analysis of several statements concerning experimental studies,
      molecular dynamics simulations, and the theoretical interpretation of bubble
      nucleation processes is performed. In particular, it is shown that the Tolman
      equation does not supply us, in general, with a satisfactory theoretically
      founded description of the curvature dependence of the surface tension and the
      dependence of the steady-state nucleation rate of bubbles and droplets on
      supersaturation in the framework of classical nucleation theory. 

PMID- 27627428
TI  - Reply to "Comment on 'Simple improvements to classical bubble nucleation models'
      ".
AB  - We reply to the Comment by Schmelzer and Baidakov [Phys. Rev. E 94, 026801
      (2016)].10.1103/PhysRevE.94.026801 They suggest that a more modern approach than
      the classic description by Tolman is necessary to model the surface tension of
      curved interfaces. Therefore we now consider the higher-order Helfrich
      correction, rather than the simpler first-order Tolman correction. Using a recent
      parametrization of the Helfrich correction provided by Wilhelmsen et al. [J.
      Chem. Phys. 142, 064706 (2015)]JCPSA60021-960610.1063/1.4907588, we test this
      description against measurements from our simulations, and find an agreement
      stronger than what the pure Tolman description offers. Our analyses suggest a
      necessary correction of order higher than the second for small bubbles with
      radius ?1 nm. In addition, we respond to other minor criticism about our results.

PMID- 27627429
TI  - Publisher's Note: Multicellular density fluctuations in epithelial monolayers
      [Phys. Rev. E 92, 032729 (2015)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.032729.

PMID- 27627430
TI  - Erratum: Statistics of chaotic resonances in an optical microcavity [Phys. Rev. E
      93, 040201(R) (2016)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.93.040201.

PMID- 27627431
TI  - Publisher's Note: Relativistic breather-type solitary waves with linear
      polarization in cold plasmas [Phys. Rev. E 91, 033102 (2015)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.91.033102.

PMID- 27627432
TI  - Publisher's Note: Comment on "Nonparametric forecasting of low-dimensional
      dynamical systems" [Phys. Rev. E 93, 036201 (2016)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.93.036201.

PMID- 27627433
TI  - Alterations in Cardiomyocyte Differentiation-Related Proteins in Rat Mesenchymal
      Stem Cells Exposed to Hypoxia.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is known that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can have variable
      responses to hypoxic conditions and that hypoxia may specifically stimulate
      differentiation into osteogenic, chondrogenic, or adipogenic cells. Based on our
      previous study, we hypothesized that hypoxia may also induce MSC differentiation
      into cardiomyocytes and/or cells with comparable phenotypes. METHODS: The
      differences in the proteomes were specifically investigated in bone marrow
      derived rat MSCs (BM-rMSCs) under normoxic and hypoxic conditions using 2-DE
      combined with a MALDI-TOF-MS analysis and western blot analysis. In addition,
      genetic and/or proteomic interactions were assessed using a String network
      analysis. RESULTS: Among the 35 markedly changed spots from a total of 393
      matched spots, 24 were highly up-regulated and 11 were significantly down
      regulated in hypoxic rMSCs based on a proteomic analysis. Although hypoxia failed
      to induce the direct differentiation of rMSCs into cardiomyocytes, several
      cardiomyocyte differentiation-related genes and proteins were significantly
      increased by hypoxic stress. CONCLUSION: We found that BM-rMSCs alter their
      expression of several cardiomyocyte differentiation-related genes and proteins
      under hypoxic conditions, and we examined the interactions between these genes
      and/or proteins, providing new insights for the applicability of MSCs
      preconditioned by hypoxic stimulation for use in cardiac diseases.

PMID- 27627434
TI  - Analysis of Senescence-Related Differentiation Potentials and Gene Expression
      Profiles in Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dental pulp stem cell (DPSC)-mediated dental pulp regeneration is
      considered a promising method for the treatment of deep caries with pulpitis.
      However, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) senescence is an adverse factor from the
      perspective of cell-based therapies. In this study, we investigated the
      characteristics and expression profiles of DPSCs from young and old donors.
      METHODS: DPSCs from young and old donors were cultured in differentiation medium,
      and their differentiation potentials were assessed. Long noncoding RNA (LncRNA)
      microarray assays and a bioinformatic analysis were performed to investigate
      differences in LncRNA and mRNA expression profiles between DPSCs from young and
      old donors. RESULTS: We found that DPSCs from young donors exhibited more
      powerful proliferation ability and greater osteogenic and adipogenic
      differentiation potentials than DPSCs from old donors. In DPSCs from young
      donors, numerous LncRNAs were significantly up- (n = 389) or down-regulated (n =
      172) compared to DPSCs from old donors. Furthermore, 304 mRNAs were
      differentially expressed, including 247 up-regulated genes and 57 down-regulated
      genes in DPSCs from young donors. The bioinformatic analysis identified that
      several pathways may be associated with DPSC characteristics, such as those
      involved in the cell cycle and RNA transport, and revealed nuclear transcription
      factor Y subunit beta, general transcription factor IIB, and nuclear receptor
      subfamily 3 group C member 1 as core regulatory factors and FR249114, FR299091,
      and ENST00000450004 as core LncRNAs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that
      senescence impaired the proliferation and differentiation potentials of DPSCs and
      that donor age is an important factor that affects their use for tooth
      regeneration. We also provide insight into the mechanisms responsible for
      senescence in DPSCs.

PMID- 27627436
TI  - Spontaneous Self-Assembly of Fully Protected Ester 1:1 [alpha/alpha-Nalpha-Bn
      hydrazino] Pseudodipeptides into a Twisted Parallel beta-Sheet in the Crystal
      State.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that amidic alpha/beta-pseudodipeptides, 1:1
      [alpha/alpha-Nalpha-Bn-hydrazino], have the ability to fold via a succession of
      gamma-turn (C7 pseudocycle) and hydrazinoturn in CDCl3 solution, their amide
      terminals enabling the formation of an intramolecular H-bond network. Despite
      their lack of a primary amide terminals allowing the formation of the
      hydrazinoturn, their ester counterparts 1-4 were proven to self-assemble into C6
      and C7 pseudocycles by intramolecular H-bonds in solution state and into an
      uncommon twisted parallel beta-sheet through intermolecular H-bonding in the
      crystal state to form a supramolecular helix, with eight molecules needed to
      complete a full 360 degrees  rotation. Such self-organization (with eight
      molecules) has only been observed in a specific alpha/alpha-pseudodipeptide,
      depsipeptide (Boc-Leu-Lac-OEt). Relying on IR absorption, NMR, X-ray diffraction,
      and CD analyses, the aim of this study was to demonstrate that stereoisomers of
      ester 1:1 [alpha/alpha-Nalpha-Bn-hydrazino] pseudodipeptides 1-4 are able to self
      assemble into this beta-helical structure. The absolute configuration of the
      asymmetric Calpha-atom of the alpha-amino acid residue influences the left- or
      right-handed twist without changing the pitch of the formed helix.

PMID- 27627435
TI  - Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 but Not Insulin Predicts Cognitive Decline in
      Huntington's Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease (HD) is one of several neurodegenerative
      disorders that have been associated with metabolic alterations. Changes in
      Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) and/or insulin input to the brain may underlie or
      contribute to the progress of neurodegenerative processes. Here, we investigated
      the association over time between changes in plasma levels of IGF-1 and insulin
      and the cognitive decline in HD patients. METHODS: We conducted a multicentric
      cohort study in 156 patients with genetically documented HD aged from 22 to 80
      years. Among them, 146 patients were assessed at least twice with a follow-up of
      3.5 +/- 1.8 years. We assessed their cognitive decline using the Unified
      Huntington's Disease Rating Scale, and their IGF-1 and insulin plasmatic levels,
      at baseline and once a year during the follow-up. Associations were evaluated
      using a mixed-effect linear model. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional analysis at
      baseline, higher levels of IGF-1 and insulin were associated with lower cognitive
      scores and thus with a higher degree of cognitive impairment. In the longitudinal
      analysis, the decrease of all cognitive scores, except the Stroop interference,
      was associated with the IGF-1 level over time but not of insulin. CONCLUSIONS:
      IGF-1 levels, unlike insulin, predict the decline of cognitive function in HD.

PMID- 27627438
TI  - Polyol Synthesis of Ti-V2O5 Nanoparticles and Their Use as Electrochromic Films.
AB  - Herein, the successful synthesis of Ti-doped vanadium pentoxide from a polyol
      process is reported. A high Ti concentration (up to 8.5 mol % of the total
      metallic content) can be inserted in vanadium oxide thanks to the synthesis route
      leading to nanometric crystallites. X-ray diffraction patterns were refined
      showing the insertion of the titanium ions inside the free pentacoordinated sites
      in opposition to the vanadium square pyramidal sites. This crystal organization
      was shown in good agreement with the ab initio positioning performed from valence
      calculation. The nanoparticles, NPs, of Ti-doped V2O5 compounds were
      characterized as electrochromic materials. Films elaborated from a dip-coating
      process from oxide particle suspensions exhibited three distinct colorations
      during the redox cycling in lithium-based electrolyte. These colors were
      associated with three distinct oxidation states for the vanadium ions: +III
      (blue), +IV (green), and +V (orange). The morphology of the films was shown to
      drastically impact the electrochromic performances in terms of electrochemical
      capacity and stability.

PMID- 27627437
TI  - Correction: Decay-Initiating Endoribonucleolytic Cleavage by RNase Y Is Kept
      under Tight Control via Sequence Preference and Sub-cellular Localisation.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005577.].

PMID- 27627439
TI  - A GeXP-Based Assay for Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Viruses in Hospitalized
      Children with Community Acquired Pneumonia.
AB  - The GeXP-based assay has recently been developed for simultaneous detection of
      multiple pathogens. So far, the application of the GeXP assay to test larger
      clinical samples has hardly been reported. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is
      the leading cause of death in children worldwide and a substantial proportion of
      childhood CAP is caused by viruses. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of virus
      infection is important for the clinical management of CAP. In this study, we
      explored the GeXP assay for simultaneous detection of 20 types/subtypes of
      viruses in hospitalized children with CAP. A total of 1699 nasopharyngeal swabs
      were prospectively collected and viral nucleic acid was extracted and assayed.
      Using viral genomic DNA or RNA as template, we showed that at the concentration
      of 104 copies of DNA or RNA of each virus/MUl, all 20 target viruses were
      simultaneously identified by the GeXP assay. Fifteen control microorganisms, in
      contrast, failed to be amplified by the assay. About 65% of cases tested in this
      study had viral infection, with patients aged <3 years having a 70% positive
      rate, significantly higher than that in patients aged > 3 years (40%). The most
      frequently detected virus was RSV followed by PIV3, HRV, ADV and HBoV. Seasonal
      distribution analysis revealed that RSV was the most predominant in autumn and
      winter, while in spring and summer PIV3 and RSV were the most frequently
      identified with similar positive percentages. One hundred twenty randomly-chosen
      samples tested by the GeXP assay were re-evaluated by mono-RT-PCR, the results
      showed 97.5% diagnosis agreement between these 2 methods. Our findings suggest
      that the GeXP assay could be a valuable diagnostic tool for virus infection in
      pediatric patients with CAP. 

PMID- 27627440
TI  - Infectious Complications during Tandem High-Dose Chemotherapy and Autologous Stem
      Cell Transplantation for Children with High-Risk or Recurrent Solid Tumors.
AB  - We retrospectively analyzed infectious complications during tandem high-dose
      chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDCT/auto-SCT) in children
      and adolescents with high-risk or recurrent solid tumors. A total of 324 patients
      underwent their first HDCT/auto-SCT between October 2004 and September 2014, and
      283 of them proceeded to their second HDCT/auto-SCT (a total of 607 HDCT/auto
      SCTs). During the early transplant period of 607 HDCT/auto-SCTs (from the
      beginning of HDCT to day 30 post-transplant), bacteremia, urinary tract infection
      (UTI), respiratory virus infection, and varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation
      occurred in 7.1%, 2.3%, 13.0%, and 2.5% of HDCT/auto-SCTs, respectively. The
      early transplant period of the second HDCT/auto-SCT had infectious complications
      similar to the first HDCT/auto-SCT. During the late transplant period of
      HDCT/auto-SCT (from day 31 to 1 year post-transplant), bacteremia, UTI, and VZV
      reactivation occurred in 7.5%, 2.5%, and 3.9% of patients, respectively. Most
      infectious complications in the late transplant period occurred during the first
      6 months post-transplant. There were no invasive fungal infections during the
      study period. Six patients died from infectious complications (4 from bacterial
      sepsis and 2 from respiratory virus infection). Our study suggests that
      infectious complications are similar following second and first HDCT/auto-SCT in
      children. 

PMID- 27627442
TI  - EpiGeNet: A Graph Database of Interdependencies Between Genetic and Epigenetic
      Events in Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - The development of colorectal cancer (CRC)-the third most common cancer type-has
      been associated with deregulations of cellular mechanisms stimulated by both
      genetic and epigenetic events. StatEpigen is a manually curated and annotated
      database, containing information on interdependencies between genetic and
      epigenetic signals, and specialized currently for CRC research. Although
      StatEpigen provides a well-developed graphical user interface for information
      retrieval, advanced queries involving associations between multiple concepts can
      benefit from more detailed graph representation of the integrated data. This can
      be achieved by using a graph database (NoSQL) approach. Data were extracted from
      StatEpigen and imported to our newly developed EpiGeNet, a graph database for
      storage and querying of conditional relationships between molecular (genetic and
      epigenetic) events observed at different stages of colorectal oncogenesis. We
      illustrate the enhanced capability of EpiGeNet for exploration of different
      queries related to colorectal tumor progression; specifically, we demonstrate the
      query process for (i) stage-specific molecular events, (ii) most frequently
      observed genetic and epigenetic interdependencies in colon adenoma, and (iii)
      paths connecting key genes reported in CRC and associated events. The EpiGeNet
      framework offers improved capability for management and visualization of data on
      molecular events specific to CRC initiation and progression.

PMID- 27627441
TI  - Postural Effects of Vestibular Manipulation Depend on the Physical Activity
      Status.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of galvanic vestibular
      stimulation (GVS) on postural control for participants of different physical
      activity status (i.e. active and non-active). Two groups of participants were
      recruited: one group of participants who regularly practised sports activities
      (active group, n = 17), and one group of participants who did not practise
      physical and/or sports activities (non-active group, n = 17). They were compared
      in a reference condition (i.e bipedal stance with eyes open) and four vestibular
      manipulation condition (i.e. GVS at 0.5 mA and 3 mA, in accordance with two
      designs) lasting 20 seconds. The centre of foot pressure displacement velocities
      were compared between the two groups. The main results indicate that the regular
      practice of sports activities counteracts postural control disruption caused by
      GVS. The active group demonstrated better postural control than the non-active
      group when subjected to higher vestibular manipulation. The active group may have
      developed their ability to reduce the influence of inaccurate vestibular signals.
      The active participants could identify the relevant sensory input, thought a
      better central integration, which enables them to switch faster between sensory
      inputs. 

PMID- 27627443
TI  - DDQ-Mediated Three-Component Dioxygenation of Alkenes.
AB  - A new DDQ-mediated three-component dioxygenation of alkenes has been established,
      providing a direct and metal-free access toward densely functionalized 4,5
      dichloro-3-hydroxyphthalonitrile derivatives with generally good to excellent
      yields under mild conditions. During this process, DDQ plays dual roles as both a
      dehydrogenation reagent and a coupling partner, enabling oxidative coupling to
      form two C-O functionalities in a highly atom-economy fashion.

PMID- 27627444
TI  - Noninvasive MRI-Based Liver Iron Quantification: Methodic Approaches, Practical
      Applicability and Significance.
AB  - Due to the dependence of transverse relaxation times T2 and T2* on tissue iron
      content, MRI offers different options for the determination of iron
      concentration. These are the time-consuming spin-echo sequence as well as the
      gradient-echo sequence. For the latter, several data analysis approaches have
      been proposed, with different requirements for acquisition and post-processing:
      the mathematically challenging R2* analysis and the signal-intensity ratio method
      with its high demand on the signal homogeneity of MR images. Furthermore, special
      procedures currently under evaluation are presented as future prospects:
      quantitative susceptibility imaging, as a third approach for analyzing gradient
      echo data, and multi-contrast spin-echo using repeated refocusing pulses. MR
      theory, as far as needed for understanding the methods, is briefly depicted. Key
      points: * Description of underlying technology of different MRI-based procedures
      for liver iron quantification* Applicability of these methods in clinical
      practice* Validity of the methods, i. e. positive and negative predictive value,
      if available Citation Format: * Wunderlich AP, Cario H, Juchems MS et al.
      Noninvasive MRI-Based Liver Iron Quantification: Methodic Approaches, Practical
      Applicability and Significance. Fortschr Rontgenstr 2016; 188: 1031 - 1036.

PMID- 27627445
TI  - Microwave Ablation of Symptomatic Benign Thyroid Nodules: Energy Requirement per
      ml Volume Reduction.
AB  - Purpose: Microwave ablation (MWA) represents a novel thermal ablative treatment
      of benign thyroid nodules. The aim was to determine the energy required per ml
      volume reduction in order to match the required energy to the volume-of-interest
      (VOI). Materials and Methods: 25 patients with 25 nodules (6 solid, 13 complex
      and 6 cystic) were treated by microwave ablation (MWA). The transmitted energy
      (E) was correlated with the volume change (? V) after 3 months. The energy
      required per ml volume reduction after 3 months was calculated by E/? V. Results:
      MWA resulted in a significant (p < 0.0001) volume reduction (? V) with a mean of
      12.4 +/- 13.0 ml (range: 1.5 - 63.2 ml) and relative reduction of 52 +/- 16 %
      (range: 22 - 77 %). There was a positive correlation between E and ? V (r = 0.82;
      p < 0.05). The mean E/? V was 1.52 +/- 1.08 (range: 0.4 - 4.6) kJ/ml for all
      nodules and 2.30 +/- 1.5 (0.9 - 4.6), 1.5 +/- 0.9 (0.4 - 3.6), 0.75 +/- 0.25 (0.4
      - 1.2) kJ/ml, respectively, for solid, complex and cystic nodules with a
      significant difference in E/? V for solid and cystic (p < 0.03). Conclusion: The
      energy required per volume depends on the nodule consistency. Solid nodules
      require more energy than cystic ones. The estimation of the energy needed per
      volume-of-interest as an additional parameter should help to avoid under- or
      overtreatment. Key Points: * The estimated required energy for a volume-of
      interest depends on the nodule consistency* In solid nodules a higher energy
      transmission than in cystic nodules is recommended* The energy transmission as an
      additional marker to ultrasound is helpful for improving periprocedural
      monitoring Citation Format: * Korkusuz Y, Kohlhase K, Groner D et al. Microwave
      Ablation of Symptomatic Benign Thyroid Nodules: Energy Requirement per ml Volume
      Reduction. Fortschr Rontgenstr 2016; 188: 1054 - 1060.

PMID- 27627446
TI  - Treatment Failure After Image-Guided Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA)
      of Renal Tumors - A Systematic Review with Description of Type, Frequency, Risk
      Factors and Management.
AB  - Background Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an established treatment for small
      renal tumors. The objective of this review is to systematically assess the type,
      frequency, risk factors and management of treatment failure after image-guided
      percutaneous RFA of renal tumors. Method 10 studies (967 patients, 1033 tumors)
      with a mean/median follow-up of >= 30 months were systematically identified and
      analyzed. Results and Conclusion Image-guided percutaneous RFA of localized renal
      tumors is very effective. The most common type of treatment failure is residual
      unablated tumor (5.9 %), followed by local tumor progression (4.7 %). De novo
      tumors in the kidneys occur in 1.3 % of cases and extra-renal metastases in 2.0
      %. Local tumor progression, de novo tumors in the kidneys and extra-renal
      metastases occur predominantly later than 12 months after initial RFA. Tumor size
      > 3 cm and central tumor location are the major risk factors for treatment
      failure. In the case of treatment failure, repeated RFA shows high success rates
      (86.3 % for residual unablated tumors and 87.5 % for local tumor progression).
      Key Points: . Treatment failure can be subdivided into residual unablated tumor
      and local tumor progression.. . Residual unablated tumor occurs in 5.9 % of
      cases.. . Local tumor progression occurs in 4.7 % of cases.. . Tumor size and
      location are the major risk factors for treatment failure.. . Repeated RFA is
      effective and commonly used for management.. Citation Format . Vollherbst D,
      Bertheau R, Kauczor H et al. Treatment Failure After Image-Guided Percutaneous
      Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Renal Tumors - A Systematic Review with
      Description of Type, Frequency, Risk Factors and Management. Fortschr Rontgenstr
      2017; 189: 219 - 227.

PMID- 27627447
TI  - ?

PMID- 27627448
TI  - Correction: Recombinant L-Asparaginase from Zymomonas mobilis: A Potential New
      Antileukemic Agent Produced in Escherichia coli.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156692.].

PMID- 27627449
TI  - Impact of Resident Rotations on Critically Ill Patient Outcomes: Results of a
      French Multicenter Observational Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The impact of resident rotation on patient outcomes in the intensive
      care unit (ICU) has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to address
      this question using a large ICU database. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed
      the French CUB-REA database. French residents rotate every six months. Two
      periods were compared: the first (POST) and fifth (PRE) months of the rotation.
      The primary endpoint was ICU mortality. The secondary endpoints were the length
      of ICU stay (LOS), the number of organ supports, and the duration of mechanical
      ventilation (DMV). The impact of resident rotation was explored using
      multivariate regression, classification tree and random forest models. RESULTS:
      262,772 patients were included between 1996 and 2010 in the database. The patient
      characteristics were similar between the PRE (n = 44,431) and POST (n = 49,979)
      periods. Multivariate analysis did not reveal any impact of resident rotation on
      ICU mortality (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.94; 1.07, p = 0.91). Based on the
      classification trees, the SAPS II and the number of organ failures were the
      strongest predictors of ICU mortality. In the less severe patients (SAPS II<24),
      the POST period was associated with increased mortality (OR = 1.65, 95%CI = 1.17
      2.33, p = 0.004). After adjustment, no significant association was observed
      between the rotation period and the LOS, the number of organ supports, or the
      DMV. CONCLUSION: Resident rotation exerts no impact on overall ICU mortality at
      French teaching hospitals but might affect the prognosis of less severe ICU
      patients. Surveillance should be reinforced when treating those patients.

PMID- 27627451
TI  - [Epigastric pain and vomiting in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis].

PMID- 27627450
TI  - Dicer Regulates the Balance of Short-Lived Effector and Long-Lived Memory CD8 T
      Cell Lineages.
AB  - MicroRNAs constitute a major post-transcriptional mechanism for controlling
      protein expression, and are emerging as key regulators during T cell development
      and function. Recent reports of augmented CD8 T cell activation and effector
      differentiation, and aberrant migratory properties upon ablation of Dicer/miRNAs
      in naive cells have established a regulatory role of miRNAs during priming.
      Whether miRNAs continue to exert similar functions or are dispensable during
      later stages of CD8 T cell expansion and memory differentiation remains unclear.
      Here, we report a critical role of Dicer/miRNAs in regulating the balance of long
      lived memory and short-lived terminal effector fates during the post-priming
      stages when CD8 T cells undergo clonal expansion to generate a large cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte (CTL) pool and subsequently differentiate into a quiescent memory
      state. Conditional ablation of Dicer/miRNAs in early effector CD8 T cells
      following optimal activation and expression of granzyme B, using unique
      dicerfl/fl gzmb-cre mice, led to a strikingly diminished peak effector size
      relative to wild-type antigen-specific cells in the same infectious milieu.
      Diminished expansion of Dicer-ablated CD8 T cells was associated with lack of
      sustained antigen-driven proliferation and reduced accumulation of short-lived
      effector cells. Additionally, Dicer-ablated CD8 T cells exhibited more pronounced
      contraction after pathogen clearance and comprised a significantly smaller
      proportion of the memory pool, despite significantly higher proportions of
      CD127Hi memory precursors at the effector peak. Combined with previous reports of
      dynamic changes in miRNA expression as CD8 T cells differentiate from naive to
      effector and memory states, these findings support distinct stage-specific roles
      of miRNA-dependent gene regulation during CD8 T cell differentiation. 

PMID- 27627452
TI  - [Transdiaphragmatic abscess by Citrobacter freundii as a late complication of a
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy].

PMID- 27627453
TI  - [Acute bacterial parotitis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in
      an institutionalized nonagenarian patient].

PMID- 27627456
TI  - Strain Relaxation of Graphene Layers by Cu Surface Roughening.
AB  - The surface morphology of copper (Cu) often changes after the synthesis of
      graphene by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a Cu foil, which affects the
      electrical properties of graphene, as the Cu step bunches induce the periodic
      ripples on graphene that significantly disturb electrical conduction. However,
      the origin of the Cu surface reconstruction has not been completely understood
      yet. Here, we show that the compressive strain on graphene induced by the
      mismatch of thermal expansion coefficient with Cu surface can be released by
      forming periodic Cu step bunching that depends on graphene layers. Atomic force
      microscopy (AFM) images and the Raman analysis show the noticeably longer and
      higher step bunching of Cu surface under multilayer graphene and the weaker
      biaxial compressive strain on multilayer graphene compared to monolayer. We found
      that the surface areas of Cu step bunches under multilayer and monolayer graphene
      are increased by ~1.41% and ~0.77% compared to a flat surface, respectively,
      indicating that the compressive strain on multilayer graphene can be more
      effectively released by forming the Cu step bunching with larger area and longer
      periodicity. We believe that our finding on the strain relaxation of graphene
      layers by Cu step bunching formation would provide a crucial idea to enhance the
      electrical performance of graphene electrodes by controlling the ripple density
      of graphene.

PMID- 27627455
TI  - Trendelenburg-Like Gait, Instability and Altered Step Patterns in a Mouse Model
      for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy 2i.
AB  - Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2i (LGMD2i) affects thousands of lives with
      shortened life expectancy mainly due to cardiac and respiratory problems and
      difficulty with ambulation significantly compromising quality of life. Limited
      studies have noted impaired gait in patients and animal models of different
      muscular dystrophies, but not in animal models of LGMD2i. Our goal, therefore,
      was to quantify gait metrics in the fukutin-related protein P448L mutant (P448L)
      mouse, a recently developed model for LGMD2i. The Noldus CatWalk XT motion
      capture system was used to identify multiple gait impairments. An average
      galloping body speed of 35 cm/s for both P448L and C57BL/6 wild-type mice was
      maintained to ensure differences in gait were due only to strain physiology.
      Compared to wild-type mice, P448L mice reach maximum contact 10% faster and have
      40% more paw surface area during stance. Additionally, force intensity at the
      time of maximum paw contact is roughly 2-fold higher in P448L mice. Paw swing
      time is reduced in P448L mice without changes in stride length as a faster swing
      speed compensates. Gait instability in P448L mice is indicated by 50% higher
      instances of 3 and 4 paw stance support and conversely, 2-fold fewer instances of
      single paw stance support and no instance of zero paw support. This leads to
      lower variation of normal step patterns used and a higher use of uncommon step
      patterns. Similar anomalies have also been noted in muscular dystrophy patients
      due to weakness in the hip abductor muscles, producing a Trendelenburg gait
      characterized by "waddling" and more pronounced shifts to the stance leg. Thus,
      gait of P448L mice replicates anomalies commonly seen in LGMD2i patients, which
      is not only potentially valuable for assessing drug efficacy in restoring
      movement biomechanics, but also for better understanding them. 

PMID- 27627454
TI  - Molecular Genealogy of a Mongol Queen's Family and Her Possible Kinship with
      Genghis Khan.
AB  - Members of the Mongol imperial family (designated the Golden family) are buried
      in a secret necropolis; therefore, none of their burial grounds have been found.
      In 2004, we first discovered 5 graves belonging to the Golden family in Tavan
      Tolgoi, Eastern Mongolia. To define the genealogy of the 5 bodies and the kinship
      among them, SNP and/or STR profiles of mitochondria, autosomes, and Y chromosomes
      were analyzed. Four of the 5 bodies were determined to carry the mitochondrial
      DNA haplogroup D4, while the fifth carried haplogroup CZ, indicating that this
      individual had no kinship with the others. Meanwhile, Y-SNP and Y-STR profiles
      indicate that the males examined belonged to the R1b-M343 haplogroup. Thus, their
      East Asian D4 or CZ matrilineal and West Eurasian R1b-M343 patrilineal origins
      reveal genealogical admixture between Caucasoid and Mongoloid ethnic groups,
      despite a Mongoloid physical appearance. In addition, Y chromosomal and autosomal
      STR profiles revealed that the four D4-carrying bodies bore the relationship of
      either mother and three sons or four full siblings with almost the same
      probability. Moreover, the geographical distribution of R1b-M343-carrying modern
      day individuals demonstrates that descendants of Tavan Tolgoi bodies today live
      mainly in Western Eurasia, with a high frequency in the territories of the past
      Mongol khanates. Here, we propose that Genghis Khan and his family carried Y
      haplogroup R1b-M343, which is prevalent in West Eurasia, rather than the Y
      haplogroup C3c-M48, which is prevalent in Asia and which is widely accepted to be
      present in the family members of Genghis Khan. Additionally, Tavan Tolgoi bodies
      may have been the product of marriages between the lineage of Genghis Khan's
      Borjigin clan and the lineage of either the Ongud or Hongirad clans, indicating
      that these individuals were members of Genghis Khan's immediate family or his
      close relatives. 

PMID- 27627458
TI  - Ultrasound-guided arterial cannulation for paediatrics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arterial line cannulation in paediatric patients is traditionally
      performed by palpation or with Doppler auditory assistance in locating the artery
      before catheterization. It is not clear whether ultrasound guidance offers
      benefits over these methods. OBJECTIVES: To assess first attempt success rates
      and complication rates when ultrasound guidance is used for arterial line
      placement in the paediatric population, as compared with traditional techniques
      (palpation, Doppler auditory assistance), at all potential sites for arterial
      cannulation (left or right radial, ulnar, brachial, femoral or dorsalis pedis
      artery). SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE (Ovid) and Embase (Ovid).
      We also searched databases of ongoing trials (ClinicalTrials.gov
      (www.clinicaltrials.gov/), Current Controlled Trials metaRegister (www.controlled
      trials.com/), the EU Clinical Trials register (www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/)
      and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
      (http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/). We tried to identify other potentially
      eligible trials by searching the reference lists of retrieved included trials and
      related systematic or other reviews. We searched until January 2016. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ultrasound
      guidance versus palpation or Doppler auditory assistance to guide arterial line
      cannulation in paediatrics. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors
      independently assessed the risk of bias of included trials and extracted data. We
      used standard Cochrane meta-analytical procedures, and we applied the GRADE
      method to assess the quality of evidence. MAIN RESULTS: We included five RCTs
      reporting 444 arterial cannulations in paediatric participants. Four RCTs
      compared ultrasound with palpation, and one compared ultrasound with Doppler
      auditory assistance.Risk of bias varied across studies, with some studies lacking
      details of allocation concealment. It was not possible to blind practitioners in
      all of the included studies; this adds a performance bias that is inherent to the
      type of intervention studied in our review. Only two studies reported the rate of
      complications.Meta-analysis showed that ultrasound guidance produces superior
      success rates at first attempt (risk ratio (RR) 1.96, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 1.34 to 2.85, 404 catheters, four RCTs, moderate-quality evidence) and fewer
      complications, such as haematoma formation (RR 0.20, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.60, 222
      catheters, two RCTs, moderate-quality evidence). Our results suggest, but do not
      confirm, that a possible advantage of ultrasound guidance for the first attempt
      success rate over other techniques is more pronounced in infants and small
      children than in older children. Similarly, our results suggest, but do not
      confirm, the possibility of a positive influence of expertise in the use of
      ultrasound on the first attempt success rate. We also found improved success
      rates within two attempts (RR 1.78, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.51, 134 catheters, two RCTs,
      moderate-quality evidence) with ultrasound guidance compared with other types of
      guidance. No studies reported data about ischaemic damage. We rated the quality
      of evidence for all outcomes as moderate owing to imprecision due to wide
      confidence intervals, modest sample sizes and limited numbers of events. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: We identified moderate-quality evidence suggesting that ultrasound
      guidance for radial artery cannulation improves first and second attempt success
      rates and decreases the rate of complications as compared with palpation or
      Doppler auditory assistance. The improved success rate at the first attempt may
      be more pronounced in infants and small children, in whom arterial line
      cannulation is more challenging than in older children.

PMID- 27627457
TI  - Zika Virus Induced Mortality and Microcephaly in Chicken Embryos.
AB  - The explosive spread of the Zika virus (ZIKV) through South and Central America
      has been linked to an increase in congenital birth defects, specifically
      microcephaly. Representative rodent models for investigating infections include
      direct central nervous system (CNS) injections late in pregnancy and
      transplacental transmission in immunodeficient mice. Microcephaly in humans may
      be the result of infection occurring early in pregnancy, therefore recapitulating
      that the human course of ZIKV infection should include normal embryo exposed to
      ZIKV during the first trimester. In ovo development of the chicken embryo closely
      mirrors human fetal neurodevelopment and, as a comparative model, could provide
      key insights into both temporal and pathophysiological effects of ZIKV. Chick
      embryos were directly infected early and throughout incubation with ZIKV isolated
      from a Mexican mosquito in January 2016. High doses of virus caused embryonic
      lethality. In a subset of lower dosed embryos, replicating ZIKV was present in
      various organs, including the CNS, throughout development. Surviving ZIKV
      infected embryos presented a microcephaly-like phenotype. Chick embryos were
      longitudinally monitored by magnetic resonance imaging that documented CNS
      structural malformations, including enlarged ventricles (30% increase) and
      stunted cortical growth (decreased telencephalon by 18%, brain stem by 32%, and
      total brain volume by 18%), on both embryonic day 15 (E15) and E20 of
      development. ZIKV-induced microcephaly was observed with inoculations of as few
      as 2-20 viral particles. The chick embryo model presented ZIKV embryonic lethal
      effects and progressive CNS damage similar to microcephaly.

PMID- 27627459
TI  - From Obamacare to Hillarycare - Democrats' Health Care Reform Agenda.

PMID- 27627460
TI  - The Balance of Open vs Endovascular Aneurysm Repair: Cost Equipoise.

PMID- 27627461
TI  - Crystallization kinetics of orthorhombic paracetamol from supercooled melts
      studied by non-isothermal DSC.
AB  - A simple and highly reproducible procedure was established for the study of
      orthorhombic paracetamol crystallization kinetics, comprising melting, quench
      cooling of the melt and scanning the formed glass by DSC at different heating
      rates. Results were analyzed on the basis of the mean as well as local values of
      the Avrami exponent, n, the energy of activation, as well as the Sestak-Berggren
      two-parameter autocatalytic kinetic model. The mean value of the Avrami kinetic
      exponent, n, ranged between 3 and 5, indicating deviation from the nucleation and
      growth mechanism underlying the Johnson-Mehl, Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) model. To
      verify the extent of the deviation, local values of the Avrami exponent as a
      function of the volume fraction transformed were calculated. Inspection of the
      local exponent values indicates that the crystallization mechanism changes over
      time, possibly reflecting the uncertainty of crystallization onset, instability
      of nucleation due to an autocatalytic effect of the crystalline phase, and growth
      anisotropy due to impingement of spherulites in the last stages of
      crystallization. The apparent energy of activation, Ea, has a rather low mean
      value, close to 81 kJ/mol, which is in agreement with the observed instability of
      glassy-state paracetamol. Isoconversional methods revealed that Ea tends to
      decrease with the volume fraction transformed, possibly because of the different
      energy demands of nucleation and growth. The exponents of the Sestak-Berggren two
      parameter model showed that the crystallized fraction influences the process,
      confirming the complexity of the crystallization mechanism.

PMID- 27627462
TI  - Recent advances and future directions in understanding and treating Chlamydia
      induced reactive arthritis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Reactive arthritis (ReA) is an inflammatory disease that can follow
      gastrointestinal or genitourinary infections. The primary etiologic agent for
      post-venereal ReA is the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis; its relative, C
      pneumoniae, has also been implicated in disease induction although to a lesser
      degree. Studies have indicated that the arthritis is elicited by chlamydiae
      infecting synovial tissue in an unusual biologic state designated persistence. We
      review clinical aspects, host-pathogen interactions, and treatments for the
      disease. Areas covered: We briefly discuss both the historic and,more
      extensively, the current medical literature describing ReA, and we provide a
      discussion of the biology of the chlamydiae as it relates to elicitation of the
      disease. A summary of clinical aspects of Chlamydia-induced ReA is included to
      give context for approaches to treatment of the arthritis. Expert commentary:
      Basic research into the biology and host-pathogen interactions characteristic of
      C trachomatis has provided a wealth of information that underlies our current
      understanding of the pathogenic processes occurring in the ReA synovium.
      Importantly, a promising approach to cure of the disease is at hand. However,
      both basic and clinical research into Chlamydia-induced ReA has lagged over the
      last 5 years, including required studies relating to cure of the disease.

PMID- 27627463
TI  - Experimental and Theoretical Study of the High-Temperature UV-Visible Spectra of
      Aqueous Hydroquinone and 1,4-Benzoquinone.
AB  - UV-visible spectroscopic studies of aqueous hydroquinone (HQ) and 1,4
      benzoquinone (BQ) have been carried out along with classical molecular dynamics
      (MD) and quantum calculations. The experimental results confirmed that HQ is
      stable in hot compressed water up to at least 523 K at 70 bar, but BQ decomposes
      at temperatures lower than 373 K, leading to the formation of HQ and other
      nonabsorbing products. Even though benzoquinone is not stable, our study
      significantly extended the temperature range of other spectroscopic studies, and
      the spectra of HQ up to 523 K can still be useful for other studies, particularly
      those related to organic species in deep ocean hydrothermal vents. Classical MD
      simulations at high temperatures show, as expected, a weakening of the solute
      solvent H-bonding interactions. The dependence of the maximum absorption of BQ on
      temperature was also analyzed, although a significant degree of decomposition was
      observed in the time frame of our experiments. The shift of the maximum
      absorption peak of BQ with temperature was consistent with time-dependent density
      functional theory calculations.

PMID- 27627465
TI  - Salidroside's Protection Against UVB-Mediated Oxidative Damage and Apoptosis Is
      Associated with the Upregulation of Nrf2 Expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Salidroside is the major active component of Rhodiola rosea, a
      traditional Chinese herbal medicine used for protection against ultraviolet (UV)
      radiation. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated whether salidroside can protect
      skin from ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced oxidative damage in human immortalized
      HaCaT keratinocytes and the skin of guinea pigs. METHODS: Using HaCaT cell
      models, the effects of salidroside on oxidative damage and possible regulatory
      factors [including NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase
      (NQO1), and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1)] were examined. In addition, the regulatory
      effects of salidroside on apoptotic sunburn cells (SBCs) and 8-hydroxy-2'
      deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)-positive epidermal cells on UVB-exposed guinea pig skin
      were also investigated. RESULTS: We found that salidroside pretreatment
      upregulated Nrf2 translocation to the nucleus and transcription activity in HaCaT
      cells, as reflected by the increased nuclear accumulation of Nrf2 as well as the
      gene and protein expression of downstream Nrf2 antioxidants, including NQO1 and
      HO-1. In addition, we also found that pretreatment with salidroside reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) in irradiated HaCaT cells. The oral administration of
      salidroside (0.1% w/w) to guinea pigs inhibited the UVB-mediated formation of
      apoptotic SBCs and 8-OHdG-positive epidermal cells in the skin of guinea pigs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that UVB-induced oxidative damage can be prevented
      by salidroside with upregulation of nuclear Nrf2 expression.

PMID- 27627464
TI  - Privileged crosstalk between TRPV1 channels and mitochondrial calcium shuttling
      machinery controls nociception.
AB  - The nociceptive noxious heat-activated receptor - TRPV1, conducts calcium and
      sodium, thus producing a depolarizing receptor potential, leading to activation
      of nociceptive neurons. TRPV1-mediated calcium and sodium influx is negatively
      modulated by calcium, via calcium-dependent desensitization of TRPV1 channels. A
      mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter - MCU, controls mitochondrial Ca2+ entry while a
      sodium/calcium transporter - NCLX shapes calcium and sodium transients by
      mediating sodium entry into and removing calcium from the mitochondria. The
      functional interplay between TRPV1, MCU and NCLX, in controlling the cytosolic
      and mitochondrial calcium and sodium transients and subsequently the nociceptive
      excitability, is poorly understood. Here, we used cytosolic and mitochondrial
      fluorescent calcium and sodium imaging together with electrophysiological
      recordings of TRPV1-induced currents in HEK293T cells and nociceptor-like
      dissociated rat dorsal root ganglion neurons, while modulating NCLX or MCU
      expression using specific small interfering RNA (siNCLX). We show that the
      propagation of the TRPV1-induced cytosolic calcium and sodium fluxes into
      mitochondria is dependent on coordinated activity of NCLX and MCU. Thus, knocking
      down of NCLX triggers down regulation of MCU dependent mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake.
      This in turn decreases rate and amplitude of TRPV1-mediated cytosolic calcium,
      which inhibits capsaicin-induced inward current and neuronal firing. TRPV1
      mediated currents were fully rescued by intracellular inclusion of the fast
      calcium chelator BAPTA. Finally, NCLX controls capsaicin-induced cell death, by
      supporting massive mitochondrial Ca2+ shuttling. Altogether, our results suggest
      that NCLX, by regulating cytosolic and mitochondrial ionic transients, modulates
      calcium-dependent desensitization of TRPV1 channels, thereby, controlling
      nociceptive signaling.

PMID- 27627466
TI  - Bioremediation of diesel and lubricant oil-contaminated soils using enhanced
      landfarming system.
AB  - Lubricant and diesel oil-polluted sites are difficult to remediate because they
      have less volatile and biodegradable characteristics. The goal of this research
      was to evaluate the potential of applying an enhanced landfarming to bioremediate
      soils polluted by lubricant and diesel. Microcosm study was performed to evaluate
      the optimal treatment conditions with the addition of different additives
      (nutrients, addition of activated sludge from oil-refining wastewater facility,
      compost, TPH-degrading bacteria, and fern chips) to enhance total petroleum
      hydrocarbon (TPH) removal. To simulate the aerobic landfarming biosystem, air in
      the microcosm headspace was replaced once a week. Results demonstrate that the
      additives of activated sludge and compost could result in the increase in soil
      microbial populations and raise TPH degradation efficiency (up to 83% of TPH
      removal with 175 days of incubation) with initial (TPH = 4100 mg/kg). The first
      order TPH degradation rate reached 0.01 1/d in microcosms with additive of
      activated sludge (mass ratio of soil to inocula = 50:1). The soil microbial
      communities were determined by nucleotide sequence analyses and 16S rRNA-based
      denatured gradient gel electrophoresis. Thirty-four specific TPH-degrading
      bacteria were detected in microcosm soils. Chromatograph analyses demonstrate
      that resolved peaks were more biodegradable than unresolved complex mixture.
      Results indicate that more aggressive remedial measures are required to enhance
      the TPH biodegradation, which included the increase of (1) microbial population
      or TPH-degrading bacteria, (2) biodegradable carbon sources, (3) nutrient
      content, and (4) soil permeability.

PMID- 27627467
TI  - Quality Standards in Pulmonary Function Testing: Past, Present, Future.

PMID- 27627468
TI  - Excessive Dynamic Airway Collapse: A Standalone Cause of Exertional Dyspnea?

PMID- 27627469
TI  - The Asthma-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Overlap Syndrome: A New Take on
      an Old Concept.

PMID- 27627470
TI  - Can You Read Me Now? Unlocking Narrative Data with Natural Language Processing.

PMID- 27627471
TI  - Surveillance Imaging in Patients with Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Too
      Much, Not Enough, or Just Right?

PMID- 27627473
TI  - Lung Lesion Localization and the Diagnostic Drop.

PMID- 27627472
TI  - With Every Upside, There Is a Downside: Chest Radiation and Survivors of
      Childhood Cancers.

PMID- 27627474
TI  - Who Is Responsible for Mitigating Work Fatigue of Critical Care Clinicians-the
      Individual or the System?

PMID- 27627475
TI  - An Unsuccessful Positive Airway Pressure Titration Study on a Young Girl with
      Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

PMID- 27627476
TI  - A Hole in the Wall.

PMID- 27627477
TI  - Progressive Dyspnea with Cough.

PMID- 27627478
TI  - Proposed Approach for 4-Month Treatment of Culture-Negative Pulmonary
      Tuberculosis in Adults.

PMID- 27627479
TI  - A Case of a Main Pulmonary Artery Mass from Sarcoidosis.

PMID- 27627480
TI  - Bilateral Diaphragmatic Paralysis: A Rare Complication Related to Endoscopic
      Ultrasound-Guided Celiac Plexus Neurolysis.

PMID- 27627481
TI  - Let Them In: Family Presence during Intensive Care Unit Procedures.

PMID- 27627482
TI  - Reply: Let Them In: Family Presence during Intensive Care Unit Procedures.

PMID- 27627483
TI  - Cost and Sustainability of Respiratory Medicine Education in Low-Income
      Countries.

PMID- 27627484
TI  - Reply: Cost and Sustainability of Respiratory Medicine Education in Low-Income
      Countries.

PMID- 27627549
TI  - Retrospective characterisation and outcome of canine idiopathic mesenteric
      purulent lymphadenitis and lymph node abscesses at a teaching hospital from 2005
      to 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic purulent mesenteric lymphadenitis or lymph node
      abscessation, even though rare in dogs, are important diseases in which rapid
      diagnosis and treatment is critical. This study aimed to characterise the typical
      features of these conditions in dogs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Archived records from
      2005 to 2015 were retrospectively evaluated for the occurrence of idiopathic
      purulent mesenteric lymphadenitis or lymph node abscesses in dogs. History,
      physical and clinicopathological abnormalities, diagnostic tests performed,
      treatment and outcome were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 14 cases with
      histopathologic and/or cytologic confirmation were identified. Typically, there
      were gastrointestinal signs including abdominal pain and elevated body
      temperature. Blood analysis revealed non-specific inflammatory changes including
      elevated C-reactive protein. Half of the bacterial cultures from lymph nodes
      showed growth of various bacteria. A primary cause was not identified in any
      case. Out of 14 cases, 10 cases underwent surgery and all dogs were discharged
      from the hospital. Three suffered from a relapse between 1 and 5 months after
      discharge but were successfully managed with antibiotics. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Idiopathic purulent mesenteric lymphadenitis or lymph node
      abscessation are infrequent but clinically important diseases. Surgical,
      symptomatic and antibiotic treatment led to resolution of clinical signs in the
      evaluated cases. Thorough and standardised diagnostic workup and treatment of
      future cases are necessary to investigate possible pathogeneses and optimal
      therapeutic options. Outcome was favourable overall.

PMID- 27627550
TI  - Thyroid Cancer Screening in South Korea Increases Detection of Papillary Cancers
      with No Impact on Other Subtypes or Thyroid Cancer Mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased worldwide. The country
      where the incidence has increased most is South Korea. The goal of this study is
      to understand the magnitude of association between opportunistic thyroid cancer
      screening and thyroid cancer incidence, thyroid cancer subtype, and disease
      specific mortality. METHODS: We used the 2010 Korea Community Health Survey,
      which queried 226,873 individuals if they had been screened for thyroid cancer in
      the last two years. Thyroid cancer incidence data from 2008 to 2010 were obtained
      from the Korea Cancer registry data, and mortality data from 2007-2010 were
      obtained from the Statistics Korea database. The ecological association between
      thyroid screening and thyroid cancer incidence and mortality by age and sex were
      examined across Korea's 16 administrative regions by general linear regression
      models. RESULTS: Between 2008 and 2010, the incidence of thyroid cancer was 64.1
      per 100,000 individuals: the incidence in females was 107.3 and in males was
      21.1. There was a strong positive correlation between regional thyroid cancer
      screening and regional thyroid cancer incidence (r = 0.77, [95% confidence
      interval 0.70-0.82]). The magnitude of correlation was higher for females (r =
      0.88 [CI 0.83-0.92]) than in males (r = 0.76 [CI 0.67-0.84]) in any age group.
      Thyroid screening was only associated with increased detection of papillary
      thyroid cancer (r = 0.74 [CI 0.59-0.88]); and not associated with mortality (r = 
      0.08 [CI -0.59-0.63]) due to thyroid cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of
      association between thyroid cancer screening in South Korea and the incidence of
      thyroid cancer strongly suggests that screening is the most important driver of
      the epidemic of thyroid cancer, particularly among females. Thyroid cancer
      screening, however, was only associated with the increase of one tumor histology,
      papillary thyroid cancer, and it did not have any association with thyroid cancer
      mortality. The extent to which opportunistic thyroid cancer screening is
      converting thousands of asymptomatic persons to cancer patients without any known
      benefit to them needs to be examined carefully.

PMID- 27627551
TI  - Inter-personal violence and abuse in adolescent intimate relationships: mental
      health impact and implications for practice.
AB  - This paper provides a narrative review of the knowledge on inter-personal
      violence and abuse (IPVA) in adolescents' intimate relationships. It draws on the
      authors' own research, published reviews, and a rapid review on IPVA
      victimization and mental health outcomes for adolescents. The research reviewed
      identified associations between adolescent IPVA and substance misuse, depressive
      symptoms and PTSD, eating disorders and suicidal thinking, and behaviour in young
      people. Generally, girls appeared more likely to report severe mental health
      outcomes than boys. Adolescents rarely disclose IPVA to adults and delivering
      preventative programmes that promote knowledge and help seeking may offer a means
      of building on young people's tendency to seek help from friends. These
      preventative interventions, usually delivered in schools, need to be closely
      linked to support services for adolescents who disclose abuse. While there are
      some practice examples of emerging interventions for both victims and
      perpetrators of adolescent IPVA, there is as yet little robust evidence regarding
      their effectiveness.

PMID- 27627485
TI  - Patient-Centered Research Priorities for Pulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacteria
      (NTM) Infection. An NTM Research Consortium Workshop Report.
AB  - Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause an increasingly important chronic and
      debilitating lung disease in older adults. Diagnosis is often delayed, although
      awareness among clinicians and patients is increasing. When necessary, treatment
      often lasts 18-24 months and consists of three or four antibiotics that can have
      serious side effects. Relapses are common and commonly require resumption of
      prolonged therapy. Given the need for improved diagnostic techniques and clinical
      trials to identify new therapies or to improve existing therapies, a group of
      North American clinicians and researchers formed the NTM Research Consortium
      (NTMRC) in 2014. The NTMRC recognized the importance of including the patient
      voice in determining research priorities for NTM. In November 2015, patients,
      caregivers, patient advocates, clinical experts, and researchers gathered for a 1
      day meeting in Portland, Oregon funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
      Institute. The meeting goal was to define patient-centered research priorities
      for NTM lung infections. Patients expressed frustration with the number of people
      who have endured years of missed diagnoses or inadequate treatment of NTM.
      Participants identified as top research priorities the prevention of NTM
      infection; approval of more effective treatments with fewer side effects and
      easier administration; understanding the best chest physiotherapy methods;
      validating and using tools to measure quality of life; and developing a disease
      specific activity and severity assessment tool. Workshop participants agreed that
      two complementary objectives are critical to ensure the best achievable outcomes
      for patients: (1) additional clinician education to improve screening and
      diagnosis of NTM infections; and (2) development of a geographically distributed
      network of experts in NTM disease to offer consultation or direct therapy after a
      diagnosis is made.

PMID- 27627552
TI  - The Negative Impact of Selective Activation of Retinoic Acid Receptors on Bone
      Metabolism and Bone Mechanical Properties in Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drug-induced osteoporosis is a significant health problem, as many
      drugs have deleterious effects on bone metabolism. Data from several studies
      concerning the influence of retinol on bone homeostasis are inconsistent.
      OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of
      tazarotene, a selective agonist of the retinoic acid receptor (RAR), on bone
      metabolism and bone mechanical properties in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixteen
      male Wistar rats were assigned either to the group receiving tazarotene or to the
      control group. Serum biochemical markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin: OC,
      tartrate resistant acid phosphatase 5: TRACP5b, and osteoprotegerin: OPG) and the
      mechanical properties of bones were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean Young's modulus
      was 24% higher (p < 0.05) in the control group than in the group receiving
      tazarotene. The stiffness of femur bones was 25% lower (p < 0.05) in rats
      receiving tazarotene. Flexural yield stress was slightly (2%) decreased in the
      tazarotene group, but the difference was not statistically significant. In the
      tazarotene group significantly lower serum concentration of bone turnover markers
      were obeserved (TRACP5b: 0.86 +/- 0.30 ng/mL vs. 2.17 +/- 0.67 ng/mL, OC: 7.77 +/
      2.28 ng/mL vs. 13.04 +/- 3.54 ng/mL and OPG: 0.09 +/- 0.04 ng/mL vs. 0.27 +/-
      0.10) than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Tazarotene worsened bone mechanical
      properties and inhibited bone turnover in rats. These results suggest that
      tazarotene has a negative impact on bone metabolism and that it exerts
      osteoporotic activity.

PMID- 27627553
TI  - The Protective Effect of Adalimumab on Renal Injury in a Model of Abdominal Aorta
      Cross-Clamping.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adalimumab (ADA) is a potent inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor (TNF
      alpha). ADA treatment suppresses proinflammatory cytokines, leading to a decrease
      or inhibition of the inflammatory process. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was
      to investigate the possible protective effects of ADA on oxidative stress and
      cellular damage on rat kidney tissue after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A total of 30 male Wistar albino rats were divided into three
      groups: control, I/R, and I/R plus ADA (I/R + ADA); each group comprised 10
      animals. The control group underwent laparotomy without I/R injury. After
      undergoing laparotomy, I/R groups underwent two hours of infrarenal abdominal
      aortic cross ligation, which was followed by two hours of reperfusion. ADA (50
      mg/kg) was administered as a single dose, intraperitoneally, to the I/R + ADA
      group, 5 days before I/R. RESULTS: The I/R group's TNF-alpha (1150.9 +/- 145.6
      pg/mg protein), IL-1beta (287.0 +/- 32.4 pg/mg protein) and IL-6 (1085.6 +/- 56.7
      pg/mg protein) levels were significantly higher than those of the control (916.1
      +/- 88.7 pg/mg protein, p = 0.003; 187.5 +/- 37.2 pg/mg protein, p < 0.001; 881.4
      +/- 57.1 pg/mg protein, p < 0.001, respectively) and I/R + ADA groups (864.2 +/-
      169.4 pg/mg protein, p = 0.003; 241.4 +/- 33.4 pg/mg protein, p = 0.010; 987.7 +/
      66.5 pg/mg protein, p = 0.004, respectively). To date, a few histopathological
      changes have been reported regarding renal I/R injury in rats due to ADA
      treatment whereas I/R caused severe histopathological injury to kidney tissue.
      CONCLUSIONS: ADA treatment significantly attenuated the severity of kidney I/R
      injury, inhibiting I/R-induced oxidative stress and renal damage. Because of its
      anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, ADA pretreatment may have protective
      effects on experimental kidney injury.

PMID- 27627554
TI  - Identification of Small Peptides of Acidic Collagen Extracts from Silver Carp
      Skin and Their Therapeutic Relevance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low-temperature techniques that prevent protein denaturation are
      being used to extract collagen from fish skin for cosmetic purposes. These
      extracts contain collagen with its triple helix structure preserved, as well as a
      number of other proteins. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate
      collagen extracts from the skin of silver carp for the presence of small-molecule
      peptides. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS)
      was performed to analyze collagen extracts from silver carp skin for the presence
      of small-molecule peptides. RESULTS: A large number of different peptides were
      detected in the silver carp skin collagen extracts analyzed. Among the smaller
      peptides, the most abundant were those of 7-29 aminoacids originating from the
      following proteins: collagen Ialpha1, collagen Ialpha2, collagen Ialpha3,
      collagen VIalpha3, decorin, lumican, histone H2A, histone H2B and histone H4.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that, in addition to high-molecular-weight
      collagen proteins, acidic collagen extracts acquired from the skin of silver carp
      at temperatures up to 16 degrees C also contain considerable amounts of small 7
      29 amino-acid peptides. The application of these peptides could therefore be
      expected to result in beneficial clinical effects in patients in need of
      reconstructive treatment.

PMID- 27627555
TI  - The Effect of P-Glycoprotein Inhibition and Activation on the Absorption and
      Serum Levels of Cyclosporine and Tacrolimus in Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Permeability glycoprotein (P-glycoprotein or P-gp) plays an important
      role in the intestinal absorption of the immunosuppressive agents: cyclosporine
      and tacrolimus. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine how the
      intestinal absorption of cyclosporine and tacrolimus is affected when they are
      used with P-gp activating or inhibiting agents. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In in vitro
      experiments, everted parts of rat small intestines were used to evaluate the
      effects of verapamil (a P-gp inhibitor) and rifampicin (a P-gp inducer) on the
      intestinal absorption of cyclosporine and tacrolimus. In in vivo experiments, the
      effects of verapamil and rifampicin on the plasma concentrations of cyclosporine
      and tacrolimus were evaluated. RESULTS: In in vitro experiments, the absorption
      of cyclosporine and tacrolimus from the small intestine increased in a time
      dependent manner when the drugs were administered with or without verapamil or
      rifampicin. There was no difference in the absorption of cyclosporine +/-
      verapamil/rifampicin between the jejunum and ileum; however, ileal absorption of
      tacrolimus + rifampicin was significantly higher than jejunal absorption (p <
      0.05). Plasma concentrations of cyclosporine and tacrolimus were significantly
      increased when they were co-administered with verapamil (p < 0.001) and
      significantly decreased when co-administered with rifampicin (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: P-gp may play an important role in the absorption of
      immunosupressive drugs, and it may contribute to drug-drug interactions thay may
      lead to inadequate drug response or toxicity.

PMID- 27627556
TI  - The Distribution of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema
      denticola and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in Patients with Alcoholic
      Disease: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both drinking and periodontal disease are serious health and social
      problems. Findings on the effect of alcohol consumption on periodontal disease
      are inconclusive. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate, in patients
      with alcoholic disease, the composition of the main periopathogens: Porphyromonas
      gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola and Aggregatibacter
      actinomycetemcomitans. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 25
      alcoholics from the Department of Alcohol Addiction Closed Treatment and 25 non
      alcoholic patients from the Department of Periodontology, Wroclaw Medical
      University. Subgingival biofilm samples were obtained from the 4 deepest sites
      (>= 4 mm). The presence of 4 bacterial taxa was analysed using the PCR technique.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of bacterial species was significantly different between
      groups. Alcoholics showed significantly higher mean DNA counts for
      Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema
      denticola. In the qualitative analysis, no difference was observed between the
      groups. The study showed no statistically significant association between the
      amount of alcohol consumed and the composition of subgingival flora in patients
      suffering from alcoholism. CONCLUSIONS: Alcoholics demonstrated the presence of
      pathogenic bacteria in similar amounts to people diagnosed with chronic
      periodontal disease, but showed significantly higher mean DNA counts for
      Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema
      denticola but there is no correlation between the amount of alcohol consumption
      and the level of periopathogens.

PMID- 27627557
TI  - The Protective Effects of Bevacizumab in Bleomycin-Induced Experimental
      Scleroderma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The capillary networks are less dense and have irregular structures
      in scleroderma. These abnormalities result in lower capillary blood flow causing
      severe tissue hypoxia, which is a major stimulus for angiogenesis. However,
      current knowledge about compensatory angiogenesis is ambiguous in scleroderma.
      Bevacizumab is an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the protective effects of
      bevacizumab in bleomycin (BLM)- -induced dermal fibrosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      This study involved 4 groups of Balb/c mice (n = 10 per group). Mice in the
      control group received 100 MUL/day of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)
      subcutaneously, while the other 3 groups were given 100 MUg/day of BLM (dissolved
      in 100 MUL PBS) subcutaneously, for 4 weeks. Mice in BLM-treated 3rd and 4th
      groups also received bevacizumab (1 or 5 mg/kg twice a week, intraperitoneally).
      At the end of the fourth week, all mice were sacrificed and blood and tissue
      samples were obtained. RESULTS: The BLM applications increased the dermal
      thicknesses, tissue hydroxyproline contents, and alpha-smooth muscle actin
      positive (alpha-SMA+) cell counts, and led to histopathologically prominent
      dermal fibrosis. The bevacizumab treatments decreased the tissue hydroxyproline
      contents and dermal thicknesses, and these improvements were more prominent at
      doses by which alpha-SMA+ cell counts were markedly decreased, in the BLM
      injected mice. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, inhibition of VEGF with bevacizumab
      treatments prevented the BLM-induced dermal fibrosis suggesting that VEGF
      expression contributes to the pathogenesis of scleroderma.

PMID- 27627558
TI  - Serum Heat Shock Protein 90 Alpha: A New Marker of Hypertension-Induced
      Endothelial Injury?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension-induced endothelial dysfunction is associated with an
      impaired bioavailability of nitric oxide regulated through interactions between
      nitric oxide synthase and heat shock protein-90 (Hsp-90). The role of Hsp-90 in
      the development of arterial hypertension remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The
      objective of the study was to evaluate serum concentrations of Hsp-90a in
      patients with arterial hypertension in comparison to their normotensive
      counterparts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was performed on 49 adults (mean
      age 55.6 years) with an elevated waist circumference. The individuals presented
      no subjective feeling of any disease, admitted no drug treatment for any
      condition, and had not previously been diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome.
      Patients were screened for arterial hypertension and other component disorders of
      the metabolic syndrome. Hsp-90a concentrations were evaluated by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Twenty-eight subjects were diagnosed with
      arterial hypertension, while 21 individuals had normal blood pressure. Twenty
      five patients satisfied the metabolic syndrome diagnostic criteria. Hsp-90a
      concentrations were significantly higher (p = 0.002) in the individuals with
      arterial hypertension than in their normotensive counterparts (median +/-
      interquartile range): 19.42 ng/mL +/- 5.17 vs. 16.86 ng/mL +/- 3.18. The
      concentrations of Hsp-90a correlated positively with systolic blood pressure (R =
      0.39; p = 0.005) and diastolic blood pressure (R = 0.29; p = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS:
      An increase in Hsp-90a concentrations in patients with arterial hypertension may
      be a compensatory mechanism for the impaired bioavailability of nitric oxide. The
      role of Hsp-90a as an early marker of hypertension-associated endothelial injury
      should be confirmed in further studies on a larger group of patients.

PMID- 27627559
TI  - The Relationship of Carotid Arterial Stiffness and Left Ventricular Concentric
      Hypertrophy in Hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and geometry patterns vary in
      different hemodynamic profiles The concentric hypertrophy (CH) pattern has been
      proved to have the worst prognosis. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to test
      the hypothesis that carotid artery stiffness, as a marker of vascular damage, is
      associated with CH, independently of other potential determinants such as
      demographic factors (age, sex, BMI), clinical parameters (smoking, diabetes,
      creatinine level) and hemodynamic variables (blood pressure, pulse pressure
      [PP]). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 262 subjects (89 men): 202
      patients with hypertension (153 untreated, 49 on medication), aged 55.7 +/- 10
      years, and 60 age-matched normal controls. The subjects were examined by
      echocardiography and carotid ultrasound with a high-resolution echo-tracking
      system. Based on the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and relative wall
      thickness (RWT), the patients with hypertension were divided into four patterns
      of LVH and geometry: normal geometry (N, n = 57), concentric remodeling (CR, n =
      48), concentric hypertrophy CH (n = 62) and eccentric hypertrophy (EH, n = 35).
      Intima-media thickness (IMT) and the parameters of arterial stiffness were also
      assessed using the beta stiffness index (beta), Young elastic modulus (Ep),
      arterial compliance (AC), one-point pulse wave velocity (PWVbeta) and the wave
      reflection augmentation index (AI). RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that the
      following variables are significant in determining CH: beta > 8.4, Ep > 136 kPa,
      PWVbeta > 7.1 m/s, AI > 21.9%, systolic BP > 151 mm Hg, PP > 54, IMT > 0.56 and
      the presence of diabetes. However, by multivariate analysis only AI (OR 3.65, p =
      0.003), PWVbeta > 7.1 m/s (OR 2.86, p = 0.014), systolic BP (OR 3.12, p = 0037)
      and the presence of diabetes (OR 3.75, p = 0.007) were associated independently
      with the occurrence of CH. CONCLUSIONS: Concentric hypertrophy in hypertension is
      strongly associated with carotid arterial stiffness and wave reflection
      parameters, independently of the influence of systolic blood pressure and
      diabetes.

PMID- 27627560
TI  - TGFB1 Gene Promoter Polymorphisms in Serbian Asthmatics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease caused by a combination of
      genetic and environmental factors. Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1) is a
      multifunctional cytokine that plays an important role in airway remodeling in
      asthma. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze common TGFB1 gene
      promoter polymorphisms C-509T and G-800A in Serbian asthmatics and to investigate
      their association with exacerbations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved
      102 asthmatics and 58 healthy individuals from Serbia, age and gender matched. An
      analysis of the TGFB1 promoter was performed by polymerase chain reaction
      restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: For polymorphism C
      509T a significant difference in the allele frequency was observed between the
      patients and the controls (p = 0.011), while the genotype distribution was
      similar in the analyzed groups, with statistical significance near the borderline
      (p = 0.061). For the polymorphism G-800A no difference was observed between the
      groups. The frequency of the -509TT genotype was higher in patients with
      exacerbations compared to patients without exacerbations (36.4% vs. 17.0%), with
      statistical significance near the borderline (p = 0.080). CONCLUSIONS: The
      results suggest that polymorphism C-509T may be associated with asthma and
      disease exacerbations, while G-800A is not significant for the etiology and
      clinical course of the disease. These findings should be confirmed in a larger
      study group, and since the TGFB1 promoter is highly complex and very responsive
      to environmental factors, future studies should also take other genetic and non
      genetic factors into consideration.

PMID- 27627561
TI  - Quantitative Ultrasound at the Hand Phalanges in Adolescent Girls is Related to
      Their Overall Physical Fitness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Growing of the skeleton, depends on genetic, health, nutritional and
      environmental influences. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the
      ultrasound properties of bone measured at hand phalanges in adolescent girls
      regarding the influence of pubertal status and level of physical fitness.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group was 56 adolescent girls aged 12-14 yrs, the
      controls were 86 girls matched for age, recruited from 1256 subjects undergoing
      bone measurement for screening purposes. The skeletal status (amplitude-dependent
      speed of sound - Ad-SoS) was assessed by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) at
      proximal phalanges using DBM Sonic 1200. Physical fitness was assessed by the
      Zuchora index and pubertal development by the Tanner scale. RESULTS: The
      adolescent girls from our study group had greater body weight, height, BMI and Ad
      SoS values than the controls. Overall physical fitness was highest in girls with
      the lowest BMI and lowest in girls with the highest BMI values. The highest
      results of the Ad-SoS were reported in girls presenting highest level of physical
      fitness. They were statistically significantly higher than in girls with a
      minimal level of physical fitness. There was a statistically significant
      correlation between the overall physical fitness score and Ad-SoS results. No
      correlations between Ad-SoS and the Tanner scale, particular the elements of
      physical fitness (speed, jumping ability, flexibility, shoulder muscular
      strength, abdominal muscle strength) and BMI were shown. CONCLUSIONS: The bone
      properties assessed by QUS at the hand phalanges in adolescent girls aged 12-14
      years depend on their overall physical fitness. Pubertal development, body size
      and particular elements of physical fitness, especially shoulder muscular
      strength, have limited influence.

PMID- 27627562
TI  - Interdisciplinary Aspects of Primary Hyperparathyroidism: Symptomatology in a
      Series of 100 Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrine disorder.
      Beside renal and skeletal complications, it has a wide variety of nonspecific
      symptoms from other organs that mimic other diseases and delay the diagnosis. In
      recent decades the clinical profile of PHPT has evolved to less symptomatic
      forms. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to revise the symptomatology profile
      of PHPT in a single region, and to facilitate early PHPT diagnosis by encouraging
      interdisciplinary communication among medical professionals. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Data from 100 patients (94 women and 6 men, aged 57.1 +/- 13.7 years)
      diagnosed with PHPT in the authors' center during the past decade were
      retrospectively analyzed. Biochemical conditions and clinical manifestations
      (renal, skeletal, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and asymptomatic) were
      evaluated. RESULTS: Renal symptoms were present in 55% of the patients. In the
      course of unrecognized disease, seven lithotripsy procedures, seven surgical
      lithotomy procedures and two nephrectomies were performed. Osteoporosis/
      /osteopenia was present in 66% and 10% of the study group, respectively. In 16%
      there were fragility fractures; in 10% brown tumors were present, and 55% of the
      PHPT patients were hypertensive. Gastrointestinal symptoms were present in 52%;
      pancreatitis was documented in 3%. PHPT was diagnosed incidentally in
      asymptomatic patients in 15% of the group. Mean serum Ca was 2.87 mmol/L (SD:
      0.36), mean urine Ca was 15.97 mEq/24 h (SD: 7.89), mean serum PTH was 324 pg/mL
      (SD 425.21). The duration from the appearance of any symptom to the diagnosis
      varied from < 1 year (19%), 1-10 years (46%) to > 10 years (35%). CONCLUSIONS:
      PHPT is still diagnosed too late, after a period of untreated symptomatic
      disease. Multidisciplinary cooperation among specialists on the diagnostic level
      can help avoid late complications of unrecognized disease.

PMID- 27627563
TI  - Long-Term Results of Neurectomy Through a Dorsal Approach in the Treatment of
      Morton's Neuroma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Morton's neuroma, a painful enlargement of the plantar digital nerve
      between the metatarsal heads, is a common cause of metatarsalgia. The etiology
      and treatment are still a controversial matter. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this
      study was to evaluate the long-term follow-up results of neurectomy through a
      dorsal approach and to identify prognostic factors that can affect the final
      outcome. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 41 patients who were treated
      for Morton's neuroma. Their average age was 44 years (range: 25-69 years). The
      average follow-up time was 7.4 years (range: 5-12 years). Surgery was performed
      through a dorsal approach. The clinical evaluations, visual analog scale (VAS)
      scores and American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores were
      assessed. RESULTS: The mean preoperative AOFAS score was 39.4 +/- 7.84 and the
      mean postoperative AOFAS score was 83.4 +/- 12.1. The mean preoperative VAS scale
      was 7.04 +/- 1.4 and the mean postoperative VAS scale was 1.4 +/- 0.8. There were
      31 patients (76%) with very good results in the subjective and objective patient
      assessments; six (15%) had good results; one (2%) had satisfactory results and
      three (7%) had poor results. Statistically significant differences in the results
      between single and multiple neuromas were found, depending on the size of the
      neuromas and the duration of the symptoms. There were no statistically
      significant differences depending on the time between surgery and assessment, on
      steroid injections before operation or on the duration of preoperative
      conservative treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the development of less invasive
      techniques and very good outcomes in a short period of time, long-term results
      have shown that neurectomy is still useful in the treatment of Morton's neuroma.
      The results of the study show that the outcome does not change during the
      postoperative follow-up period. The best results were achieved in the case of
      single neuromas larger than 3 mm that were resected within 12 months of the onset
      of symptoms.

PMID- 27627564
TI  - The Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Symptomatic Children: A 13
      Year Observational Study in the Lower Silesian Region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is very common worldwide,
      with varying frequency. According to data from epidemiological reports, a third
      of the population of children in Poland are infected with H. pylori before the
      age of 18. In recent years, a decrease in the incidence of H. pylori infection in
      both children and adults has been observed in many countries. OBJECTIVES: The aim
      of the study was to assess the prevalence H. pylori and non-helicobacter pylori
      helicobacter (NHPH) infection in symptomatic children from 2000 to 2013, and to
      analyze the resistance of H. pylori strains to antibiotics over the 13-year study
      period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The retrospective analysis was based on the results
      of cultures for H. pylori in 8661 untreated children undergoing their first upper
      gastroduodenal endoscopy because of clinical symptoms such as chronic abdominal
      pain/distress, epigastric pain, nausea or vomiting. Drug sensitivity to three
      antibiotics - amoxicillin (AM), clarithromycin (CH) and metronidazole (MZ) - was
      determined by the gradient diffusion method (E-test). RESULTS: Overall, among
      8661 cultures analyzed, 16.05% were positive for H. pylori. The highest
      prevalence of infection was found in the year 2000 (23.06%) and the lowest in the
      year 2010 (8.90%). The prevalence of NHPH infection was low (0.2%). A three-fold
      increase in the number of strains resistant to both CH and MZ was noted, from
      7.9% to about 22.7%. All strains were susceptible to AM. CONCLUSIONS: There has
      been a decline in the prevalence of H. pylori infection in symptomatic children,
      but this infection is still a common cause of upper gastrointestinal tract
      symptoms in children treated at the authors' center. Primary antibiotic
      resistance of H. pylori increased over the period analyzed, but primary
      resistance to metronidazole declined.

PMID- 27627565
TI  - Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Using Maternal Abdominal Surface Electrodes in Third
      Trimester: Can We Obtain Additional Information Other than CTG Trace?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiotocography (CTG) is the most widely used procedure despite its
      low specificity for fetal acidosis and poor perinatal outcome. Fetal
      electrocardiography (fECG) with transabdominal electrodes is a new, non-invasive
      and promising method with greater potential for detecting impairment of fetal
      circulation. This study is the first that attempts to assess the usefulness of
      fECG in comparison to CTG during antepartum period. OBJECTIVES: To determine if a
      single fECG examination along with CTG tracing and Doppler flow measurement in
      the fetal vessels has any additional clinical value in normal and intrauterine
      growth restricted (IUGR) fetuses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 93
      pregnancies with IUGR, 37 pregnancies with IUGR and brain sparing effect, and 324
      healthy pregnant women. The T/QRS ratio, cerebro-placental ratio (CRP), and CTG
      tracings were analyzed. One-way analysis of variance and Spearman's rank
      correlation coefficient were applied. The relationship between results of the
      T/QRS ratio and CTG examination among the study groups was analyzed. RESULTS: The
      highest average mean value of the T/QRS ratio was recorded in the IUGR group with
      a normal CPR and a pathologic CTG (0.235 +/- 0.014). The highest average maximum
      values were observed in the groups of IUGR pregnancies with a reduced CPR with
      normal (0.309 +/- 0.100), suspicious (0.330 +/- 0.102) and pathologic (0.319 +/-
      0.056) CTGs. Analysis of variance revealed differences between study groups
      regarding maximum values and the difference between maximum and minimal values of
      T/QRS. Correlations between groups were insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Higher values
      of T/QRS ratio in IUGR pregnancies with normal and reduced CPR than in control
      group regardless of the result of CTG examination may indicate minimal worsening
      of intrauterine fetal well-being in growth retarded fetuses. No relationship
      between fECG examination and CTG tracings suggests that a single fECG does not
      provide any additional clinically significant information determining the
      condition of the fetus; however, further studies are required.

PMID- 27627566
TI  - The Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Picrotoxin-Induced
      Convulsions in Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical and experimental results show that repetitive transcranial
      magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is effective and safe in the treatment of epilepsy.
      The characteristics of the impulse magnetic field (IMF) are empirical in these
      studies, making impossible to compare their effectiveness. OBJECTIVES: The
      article presents the results of a study of the anticonvulsive effects of
      different modes of IMF on the picrotoxin seizure model, which is important for
      studying GABAergic brain mechanisms activated by rTMS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      experiments were performed on outbred male mice (n = 597; 450 in the experimental
      group and 147 in the control group). The picrotoxin was injected in a dose of 2.5
      mg/kg subcutaneously after either rTMS or a placebo. The rTMS regimes varied in
      frequency (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0 and 10 Hz), intensity (10, 20 and 40% of maximal
      magnetic induction [MMI] of the big ring coil) and the number of procedures (1,
      3, 10). The dependence of the criterial characteristics on the TMS parameters was
      shown in this convulsive model. RESULTS: The analysis of the data obtained showed
      that 10 rTMS sessions at an intensity of 20% of MMI in the range of frequencies
      from 0.5 to 1.0 Hz had the most stable and significant effect in terms of
      reducing the convulsive readiness of the brain, evaluated by the latent period of
      the myoclonuses in the picrotoxin test. In all the regimes of exposure, rTMS
      decreased the number of seizures in the picrotoxin model by 1.5-2 points; the
      most significant effect was obtained with 10 rTMS sessions in the 0.5-1.0 Hz
      frequency range and an intensity of 20% of the MMI (r < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The
      study results support the use of IMF as therapy for blocking convulsive attacks.

PMID- 27627567
TI  - The Impact of Selected Fluoridated Toothpastes on Dental Erosion in Profilometric
      Measurement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some fluoridated toothpastes, available commercially, are described
      to have a protective effect against dental erosion. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the
      influence of the selected marketed toothpastes on the human enamel exposed to
      acid beverages. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Enamel specimens from extracted human teeth
      were prepared (n = 40). Specimens were randomly divided into 10 experimental
      groups, 4 specimens each, which were subjected to acid challenge for 10 min using
      orange juice (pH 3.79) or Pepsi Cola (pH 2.58) and then immersed for 2 min into a
      slurry of five marketed toothpastes with distilled water (1 : 3 w/w). The tested
      toothpastes contained 1450 or 5000 ppm fluoride, CPP-ACP with 900 ppm fluoride,
      1450 ppm fluoride with potassium nitrate 5%, all of them as sodium fluoride, and
      700 ppm fluoride as amine and sodium fluoride with 3500 ppm SnCl2. Enamel
      roughness (Ra parameter) by contact profilometer at baseline and after exposure
      onto soft drinks and slurry was measured. RESULTS: Exposure to both beverages
      caused a similar increase of enamel surface roughness. After the specimens
      immersion into slurries of toothpastes with 1450 or 5000 ppm fluoride, 1450 ppm
      fluoride with potassium nitrate 5% and CPP-ACP with 900 ppm fluoride the
      significant decrease of Ra values were found, reaching the baseline values.
      However, toothpaste with 700 ppm fluoride and 3500 ppm SnCl2 did not cause any
      fall in Ra value, probably due to other mechanism of action. CONCLUSIONS: Within
      the limitation of the study we can conclude that the sodium fluoride toothpastes
      are able to restore the surface profile of enamel exposed shortly to acidic soft
      drinks.

PMID- 27627568
TI  - Patterns of Poisoning in Urban and Rural Children: A Single-Center Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poisoning among children is a current issue in pediatrics. The
      pattern and risk factors of poisoning are heterogeneous and vary within the same
      country. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to analyze the determinants in the
      incidence and nature of poisoning between urban and rural children, in order to
      identify children at higher risk. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study entailed a
      retrospective analysis of the medical records of 848 children admitted to the
      Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland, due to
      exposure to poison from July 2008 to December 2012. The patients were divided
      into urban and rural. RESULTS: The majority of the subjects came from urban areas
      (64.50%). In both groups the most numerous were children aged <= 5 years and 14
      15 years. Among urban boys, children younger than 5 years old predominated, while
      among urban girls, teenagers aged 14-15 years comprised the largest group (p =
      0.00). In the rural population children younger than 5 years were the most
      prevalent regardless of gender. The incidence of intentional intoxication
      increased with age, while the incidence of accidental poisoning decreased with
      age (p = 0.00). Among urban children there was a significant association between
      gender and the nature of poisoning (p = 0.00). The most common cause of poisoning
      was the use of non-pharmaceuticals, with alcohol predominating. CONCLUSIONS: The
      study indicates that poisoning is more likely in urban children. Among urban
      children there is a bimodal gender distribution with a preponderance of pre
      school boys in accidental poisoning and of teenage girls in intentional ones.
      However, among rural children the most prevalent was accidental poisoning by
      improperly stored medicines and household chemicals. Urban children commonly use
      alcohol and narcotics.

PMID- 27627569
TI  - Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Lower Silesian Students of the Faculty of
      Medicine: Knowledge and Distribution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a major contributor to the global burden of
      disease. Further reduction of cardiovascular mortality will require
      multidirectional prevention. Popularizing prevention measures requires the
      involvement of qualified and well-educated personnel. Before any modifications of
      educational programs it is necessary to assess the level of knowledge of future
      physicians. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate medical students'
      knowledge of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. The paper presents the outcomes of
      a study investigating the knowledge of CV risk factors and the prevalence of
      those risk factors in the study population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was
      conducted between 2007 and 2012 and the study population was comprised of 1406
      students (497 men and 909 women) from South and South Western Poland. A survey
      designed by the authors, based on the Framingham survey, was used for the
      interviews. RESULTS: The students correctly identified 4.38 +/- 0.91 CV risk
      factors. The most frequently listed risk factors for cardiovascular diseases were
      a lack of physical activity and a fat-rich diet. The study participants who
      identified CV risk factors more or less accurately do not follow the
      recommendations aimed at prevention. Awareness, even relatively high awareness,
      does not correlate with a healthy lifestyle. Extreme examples of this are people
      who are aware of the negative effects of cigarette smoking but continue to smoke.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed an insufficient level of awareness of CV risk
      factors among medical students.

PMID- 27627570
TI  - Correlates of Abusing and Misusing Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers Among Adult
      Population of Wroclaw (Poland).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Almost 90% of households in Poland buy medicines on their own
      initiative. The most popular OTC medicines bought by Polish consumers are
      painkillers and non-steroid-anti-inflammatory drugs. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this
      article was to recognize and describe the most important predictive factors of
      the abuse and misuse of over-the-counter pain relievers among adults in Wroclaw
      (Poland). The groups of users were selected and described. Some examples of
      misuse were analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three hundred eighty six adult
      inhabitants of Wroclaw took part in the survey. The quota sample was
      representative referring to the most important socio-demographic factors (sex and
      median age). RESULTS: Almost 91% of participants declare taking OTC pain
      relievers, and 1.3% of them are their daily users. Only 6.2% of adult inhabitants
      of Wroclaw never take OTC pain relievers. The category of "heavy users" embraces
      11% of participants. The most important risk factors of overusing OTC pain
      relievers are sex (female), age over 55 years and the low health status. Only
      half of participants read the box label regularly and 25% of users admit they
      have modified recommended doses. Over 60% shortened recommended intervals between
      doses and 16% took two or more different pain medications (containing different
      substances). The non-medical purposes of using OTC pain relievers were: tiredness
      (7%), stressful situations (5.4%), and discomfort (18.4%). Some users take pain
      medications to cure hangovers (26%), or instead of the appropriate medicine (7%).
      About 20% take pain medications without a doctor's advice for longer than the
      recommended 3 days, and 10% never consult taking such medications with doctors.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pain should be treated aggressively and successfully, especially
      among chronically ill patients. We should monitor the consumption of OTC pain
      relievers and limit their current excessively supply and high availability.

PMID- 27627571
TI  - Clinical, Biochemical and Molecular Characteristics of the Main Types of
      Porphyria.
AB  - Porphyrias are diverse disorders that arise from various inherited enzyme defects
      in the heme biosynthesis pathway, except for porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), in
      which the enzyme deficiency in most cases is acquired. The biosynthetic blocks
      resulting from the defective enzymes are largely expressed either in the liver or
      bone marrow, the sites where the majority of heme is produced. Although the
      pathophysiologic mechanisms of the clinical manifestations of the porphyrias are
      not fully understood, two cardinal features prevail: skin photosensitivity and
      neurologic symptoms of intermittent autonomic neuropathy, acute neurovisceral
      attacks, and disorders of the nervous system. The primary diagnosis of the
      proband is based on biochemical testing, which is not always able to identify
      acute porphyrias, especially in asymptomatic family carriers when heme precursors
      and porphyrins excretion is normal, low-normal and high-reduced values of enzyme
      activity overlap, and hematological diseases responsible for abnormal blood cells
      distribution coexist. Molecular analysis of gene mutations responsible for each
      type of porphyria is the best diagnostic approach for symptomatic as well as
      presymptomatic gene carriers. 

PMID- 27627572
TI  - The Thymus: A Forgotten, But Very Important Organ.
AB  - Medical science seems to be on the threshold of a revolution: It seems possible
      that in twenty years, doctors will be able to replace organs in the human body
      like parts in a car. This is thanks to the recent achievement of a team from the
      Medical Research Council Center for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland 
      the group of researchers tried to regenerate the thymus gland in mice. The
      thymus gland is an essential organ for the development of the immune system, but
      very few people have any idea that it exists. In the literature and also in
      people's awareness, the fact is often that the thymus controls and harmonizes the
      entire immune system and the immune functioning of the organism. It is the
      primary donor of cells for the lymphatic system, much as bone marrow is the cell
      donor for the cardiovascular system. It is within the thymus that progenitor
      cells are created and then undergo maturation and differentiation into mature T
      cells. The thymus gland is located in the mediastinum, behind the sternum. It is
      composed of two identical lobes. Each lobe is divided into a central medulla and
      a peripheral cortex. The thymus is at its largest and most active during the
      neonatal and pre-adolescent periods. After this period the organ gradually
      disappears and is replaced by fat. In elderly individuals the thymus weighs 5 g.
      The aim of this work is to shed new light on this important immune defense organ,
      whose function is not confined to the destruction of nonfunctional T cells. 

PMID- 27627573
TI  - PET/CT Imaging for Monitoring Recurrence and Evaluating Response to Treatment in
      Breast Cancer.
AB  - Monitoring recurrence and evaluating response to therapy are important aspects of
      clinical decision making in the treatment of breast cancer. In this literature
      review, the authors highlight several of the key areas where integrated fluorine
      18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG
      PET/CT) measurements are anticipated to have a significant impact on monitoring
      recurrence and evaluating response to therapy. These areas include comparing FDG
      PET/CT with conventional imaging for detecting breast cancer metastases;
      evaluating the role of FDG PET/CT in the presence of elevated tumor markers
      during follow-up period after the primary surgery; using FDG PET/CT to assess
      response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), targeted and endocrine therapies;
      using FDG PET/CT to predict response to NAC according to different molecular
      phenotypes of breast cancer; and applying PET/CT and some new breast-related PET
      tracers to evaluate response to anticancer treatment. The authors consider the
      relative advantages afforded by PET/CT and summarize current evidence as to the
      likely value of PET/CT in recurrence detection and anticancer treatment response
      prediction. 

PMID- 27627574
TI  - The Significance of Matrix Metalloproteinases in Oral Diseases.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) belong to a family of structurally related zinc
      dependent proteolytic enzymes that are known to play a key role in the catabolic
      turnover of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Research studies to date have
      indicated that MMPs regulate the activity of several non-ECM bioactive
      substrates, including growth factors, cytokines, chemokines and cell receptors,
      which determine the tissue microenvironment. Disruption of the balance between
      the concentration of active matalloproteinases and their inhibitors (TIMPs) may
      lead to pathological changes associated with uncontrolled ECM turnover, tissue
      remodeling, inflammatory response, cell growth and migration. This brief review
      presents some information on MMPs' role in inflammatory, metabolic and cancer
      abnormalities related to the salivary glands, as well as MMP-related aspects that
      lead to the formation of human dentinal caries lesions. In oral diseases, the
      most relevant biological fluid commonly used for diagnosing periodontal diseases
      is saliva. In diseased patients with significantly higher levels of MMPs in their
      saliva than healthy people, most extracellular matrix components undergo
      digestion to lower molecular weight forms. Conventional treatment successfully
      reduces the levels of MMPs inhibits the progressive breakdown of gingival and
      periodontal ligament collagens. Beside inflammatory abnormalities like Sjogren's
      syndrome (SS), a large group of disorders is comprised of cancers, most of them
      involving the parotid gland. 

PMID- 27627575
TI  - Content Validity and Psychometric Characteristics of the "Knowledge about Older
      Patients Quiz" for Nurses Using Item Response Theory.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the content validity and psychometric characteristics of
      the Knowledge about Older Patients Quiz (KOP-Q), which measures nurses' knowledge
      regarding older hospitalized adults and their certainty regarding this knowledge.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Content validity: general hospitals.
      Psychometric characteristics: nursing school and general hospitals in the
      Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Content validity: 12 nurse specialists in geriatrics.
      Psychometric characteristics: 107 first-year and 78 final-year bachelor of
      nursing students, 148 registered nurses, and 20 nurse specialists in geriatrics.
      MEASUREMENTS: Content validity: The nurse specialists rated each item of the
      initial KOP-Q (52 items) on relevance. Ratings were used to calculate Item
      Content Validity Index and average Scale-Content Validity Index (S-CVI/ave)
      scores. Items with insufficient content validity were removed. Psychometric
      characteristics: Ratings of students, nurses, and nurse specialists were used to
      test for different item functioning (DIF) and unidimensionality before item
      characteristics (discrimination and difficulty) were examined using Item Response
      Theory. Finally, norm references were calculated and nomological validity was
      assessed. RESULTS: Content validity: Forty-three items remained after assessing
      content validity (S-CVI/ave = 0.90). Psychometric characteristics: Of the 43
      items, two demonstrating ceiling effects and 11 distorting ability estimates
      (DIF) were subsequently excluded. Item characteristics were assessed for the
      remaining 30 items, all of which demonstrated good discrimination and difficulty
      parameters. Knowledge was positively correlated with certainty about this
      knowledge. CONCLUSION: The final 30-item KOP-Q is a valid, psychometrically
      sound, comprehensive instrument that can be used to assess the knowledge of
      nursing students, hospital nurses, and nurse specialists in geriatrics regarding
      older hospitalized adults. It can identify knowledge and certainty deficits for
      research purposes or serve as a tool in educational or quality improvement
      programs.

PMID- 27627576
TI  - Studying factors affecting the indoor gamma radiation dose using the MCNP5
      simulation software.
AB  - Different factors and parameters affecting the indoor gamma radiation dose are
      considered and investigated. The change of the dose with different positions
      inside the room is discussed. The relative doses are also calculated for
      different changes; with different room dimensions, different wall thicknesses,
      and different building material densities. Some other factors are also discussed.
      The study is carried out by executing some models designed by the MCNP version 5
      simulation software. The calculations of the dose rates are performed by adopting
      a simple and convenient calculation model which is based on the obtained relative
      changes of the dose rates with the different factors.

PMID- 27627577
TI  - Hyperthermia for Major Depressive Disorder?

PMID- 27627579
TI  - Aged Garlic Supplement Protects Against Lipid Peroxidation in
      Hypercholesterolemic Individuals.
AB  - The health benefits of raw garlic intake has been extensively studied, but little
      is known about the biological effects of aged garlic consumption. A randomized,
      placebo-controlled, parallel-arm, double-blinded trial involving 41
      hypercholesterolemic individuals was conducted to simultaneously examine and
      compare the blood lipid lowering and antioxidant effects after acute and extended
      exposures to aged and raw garlic supplements (1080 mg daily). Aged and raw garlic
      did not affect blood lipid concentrations in these hypercholesterolemic
      participants after acute and 13-week supplementation. The plasma and urinary F2
      isoprostanes concentrations were significantly decreased after 13 weeks of aged
      garlic treatment. Aged garlic supplementation over 13 weeks also significantly
      decreased serum lipid hydroperoxide concentration and myeloperoxidase activity.
      Raw garlic treatments did not affect the F2-isoprostanes concentrations in blood
      plasma and urine, and lipid hydroperoxides in blood sera. Acute effects on the
      measured parameters were absent for both garlic treatments. In separate in vitro
      experiments, aqueous methanolic extract of aged garlic inhibited F2-isoprostanes
      formation and myeloperoxidase activity in freshly isolated human neutrophils to a
      greater extent than the raw garlic extract and S-allylcysteine at equivalent
      dosing concentrations. The aged garlic preparation was found to contain
      significantly higher total phenolic and S-allylcysteine contents than the raw
      garlic precursor. Our data showed that supplementation with aged garlic, not its
      raw garlic precursor, reduced oxidative stress and alleviated lipid peroxidation,
      possibly via the inhibition of myeloperoxidase. The differential antioxidant
      actions of the aged and raw garlic may be related to their different total
      phenolic contents and, to a lesser extent, their S-allylcysteine contents.

PMID- 27627578
TI  - Cytotoxic halogenated monoterpenes from Plocamium cartilagineum.
AB  - As a result of our efforts to identify bioactive agents from marine algae, we
      have isolated and identified one new halogenated monoterpene 1 [(-)-(5E,7Z)-348
      trichloro-7-dichloromethyl-3-methyl-157-octatriene] in addition to three known
      compounds (2, 3 and 4) from the red alga Plocamium cartilagineum collected by
      hand from the eastern coast of South Africa. Compound 1 was found to be active as
      a cytotoxic agent in human lung cancer (NCI-H460) and mouse neuro-2a cell lines
      (IC50 4 MUg/mL). Two of these compounds (3 and 4) were found to have cytotoxic
      activity in other cell line assays, especially against human leukaemia and human
      colon cancers (IC50 1.3 MUg/mL). None of these metabolites were active as sodium
      channel blockers or activators. All structures were determined by spectroscopic
      methods (UV, IR, LRMS, HRMS, 1D NMR and 2D NMR). 1D and 2D NOE experiments were
      carried out on these compounds to confirm the geometry of the double bonds.

PMID- 27627581
TI  - Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Arylation/Defluorination of 1
      (Trifluoromethyl)alkenes Forming Enantioenriched 1,1-Difluoroalkenes.
AB  - The reaction of 1-(trifluoromethyl)alkenes (CF3CH=CHR) with arylboroxines (ArBO)3
      in the presence of a chiral diene-rhodium catalyst gave high yields of chiral 1,1
      difluoroalkenes (CF2=CHC*HArR) with high enantioselectivity (>=95% ee). The
      reaction is assumed to proceed through beta-fluoride elimination of a
      beta,beta,beta-trifluoroalkylrhodium intermediate that is generated by
      arylrhodation of the 1-(trifluoromethyl)alkene.

PMID- 27627580
TI  - Functional Changes after Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Replacement in Patients
      with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury and Abnormal Growth Hormone Secretion.
AB  - We explored the effects of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) replacement on
      physical and cognitive functioning in subjects with a moderate-to-severe
      traumatic brain injury (TBI) with abnormal growth hormone (GH) secretion. Fifteen
      individuals who sustained a TBI at least 12 months prior to study enrollment were
      identified as having abnormal GH secretion by glucagon stimulation testing
      (maximum GH response less than 8 ng/mL). Peak cardiorespiratory capacity, body
      composition, and muscle force testing were assessed at baseline and one year
      after rhGH replacement. Additionally, standardized neuropsychological tests that
      assess memory, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility, as well as self
      report inventories related to depression and fatigue, were administered at
      baseline and 1 year after rhGH replacement. Comparison tests were performed with
      proper post hoc analyses. All analyses were carried out at alpha < 0.05. Peak O2
      consumption, peak oxygen pulse (estimate of cardiac stroke volume), and peak
      ventilation all significantly increased (p < 0.05). Maximal isometric and
      isokinetic force production were not altered. Skeletal muscle fatigue did not
      change but the perceptual rating of fatigue was reduced by ~25% (p = 0.06).
      Cognitive performance did not change significantly over time, whereas self
      reported symptoms related to depression and fatigue significantly improved. The
      observed changes suggest that rhGH replacement has a positive impact on
      cardiorespiratory fitness and a positive impact on perceptual fatigue in
      survivors of TBI with altered GH secretion.

PMID- 27627583
TI  - Factors related to taste sensitivity in elderly: cross-sectional findings from
      SONIC study.
AB  - The sense of taste is important, as it allows for assessment of nutritional
      value, as well as safety and quality of foods, with several factors suggested to
      be associated with taste sensitivity. However, comprehensive variables regarding
      taste and related factors have not been utilised in previous studies for
      assessments of sensitivity. In the present study, we performed cross-sectional
      analyses of taste sensitivity and related factors in geriatric individuals who
      participated in the SONIC Study. We analysed 2 groups divided by age, 69-71 years
      (young-old, n = 687) and 79-81 years (old-old, n = 621), and performed a general
      health assessment, an oral examination and determination of taste sensitivity.
      Contributing variables were selected by univariate analysis and then subjected to
      multivariate logistic regression analysis. In both groups, females showed
      significantly better sensitivity for bitter and sour tastes. Additionally, higher
      cognitive scores for subjects with a fine taste for salty were commonly seen in
      both groups, while smoking, drinking, hypertension, number of teeth, stimulated
      salivary flow salt intake and years of education were also shown to be associated
      with taste sensitivity. We found gender and cognitive status to be major factors
      affecting taste sensitivity in geriatric individuals.

PMID- 27627582
TI  - First-line epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      alone or with whole-brain radiotherapy for brain metastases in patients with EGFR
      mutated lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - We proposed to compare the outcomes of first-line epidermal growth factor
      receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) alone with EGFR-TKI plus whole
      brain radiotherapy (WBRT) for the treatment of brain metastases (BM) in patients
      with EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma. A total of 1665 patients were screened
      from 2008 to 2014, and 132 were enrolled in our study. Among the 132 patients, 72
      (54.5%) harbored a deletion in exon 19, 97 (73.5%) showed multiple intracranial
      lesions, and 67 (50.8%) had asymptomatic BM. Seventy-nine patients (59.8%) were
      treated with EGFR-TKI alone, 53 with concomitant WBRT. The intracranial objective
      response rate was significantly higher in the EGFR-TKI plus WBRT treatment group
      (67.9%) compared with the EGFR-TKI alone group (39.2%) (P = 0.001). After a
      median follow-up of 36.2 months, 62.1% of patients were still alive. The median
      intracranial TTP was 24.7 months (95% CI, 19.5-29.9) in patients who received
      WBRT, which was significantly longer than in those who received EGFR-TKI alone,
      with the median intracranial TTP of 18.2 months (95% CI, 12.5-23.9) (P = 0.004).
      There was no significant difference in overall survival between WBRT and EGFR-TKI
      alone groups, (median, 48.0 vs 41.1 months; P = 0.740). The overall survival is
      significantly prolonged in patients who had an intracranial TTP exceeding 22
      months compared to those who developed intracranial progression <22 months after
      treatment, (median, 58.0 vs 28.0 months; P = 0.001). For EGFR-mutated lung
      adenocarcinoma patients with BM, treatment with concomitant WBRT achieved a
      higher response rate of BM and significant improvement in intracranial
      progression-free survival compared with EGFR-TKI alone.

PMID- 27627584
TI  - Proteome Analysis of Rheumatoid Arthritis Gut Mucosa.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory joint disease leading to cartilage
      damage and ultimately impaired joint function. To gain new insight into the
      systemic immune manifestations of RA, we characterized the colon mucosa proteome
      from 11 RA-patients and 10 healthy controls. The biopsies were extracted by
      colonoscopy and analyzed by label-free quantitative proteomics, enabling the
      quantitation of 5366 proteins. The abundance of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)
      was statistically significantly increased in RA-patient biopsies compared with
      controls and correlated with the administered dosage of methotrexate (MTX), the
      most frequently prescribed immunosuppressive drug for RA. Additionally, our data
      suggest that treatment with Leflunomide, a common alternative to MTX, increases
      DHFR. The findings were supported by immunohistochemistry with confocal
      microscopy, which furthermore demonstrated that DHFR was located in the cytosol
      of the intestinal epithelial and interstitial cells. Finally, we identified 223
      citrullinated peptides from 121 proteins. Three of the peptides were unique to
      RA. The list of citrullinated proteins was enriched in extracellular and membrane
      proteins and included known targets of anticitrullinated protein antibodies
      (ACPAs). Our findings support that the colon mucosa could trigger the production
      of ACPAs, which could contribute to the onset of RA. The MS data have been
      deposited to ProteomeXchange with identifiers PXD001608 and PXD003082.

PMID- 27627585
TI  - Body dysmorphic disorder in patients undergoing septorhinoplasty surgery: should
      we be performing routine screening?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is defined as having a preoccupation
      with a perceived flaw in one's appearance, which appears slight to others and
      significantly interferes with a person's functioning. When undetected in
      septorhinoplasty patients, it will often lead to poor outcomes. DESIGN: We
      performed a prospective cohort study to determine the prevalence of BDD in our
      patients and whether surgical correction could be considered. SETTING AND
      PARTICIPANTS: We recruited 34 patients being considered for septorhinoplasty in a
      tertiary referral rhinology clinic and a control group of 50 from the otology
      clinic giving a total of 84. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed the
      Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ), the sino-nasal outcome test-23
      (SNOT-23) and underwent nasal inspiratory peak flow (NIPF). Those found to be at
      high risk for BDD were referred to a clinical psychologist. RESULTS: Of the
      septorhinoplasty patients, 11 (32%) were high risk for BDD. Following
      psychological assessment, 7 (63%) patients were felt to be unsuitable for surgery
      and were offered psychological therapy. SNOT-23 scores were significantly higher
      in the BDD group indicating a negative impact on quality of life. NIPF readings
      were not significantly different in the BDD group compared to the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: The BDDQ is a valid tool for identifying patients at risk of BDD. A
      close working relationship with clinical psychology has been advantageous to help
      the selection process of candidates for surgery when there is a high risk of BDD.

PMID- 27627588
TI  - China's new two-child policy: maternity care in the new multiparous era.

PMID- 27627589
TI  - VBAC should be encouraged as a means to reduce the caesarean section rate in
      China: FOR: VBAC reduces not only the caesarean section rate but also other
      associated issues.

PMID- 27627590
TI  - VBAC should be encouraged as a means to reduce the caesarean section rate in
      China: AGAINST: This strategy won't work!

PMID- 27627591
TI  - Performance of prenatal screening using maternal serum and ultrasound markers for
      Down syndrome in Chinese women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Controversies about the performance of conventional prenatal
      screening using maternal serum and ultrasound markers (PSMSUM) in detecting Down
      syndrome (DS) have been raised as a result of a recently available noninvasive
      prenatal test based on cell-free fetal DNA sequencing. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate
      the screening performance of PSMSUM in detecting DS in Chinese women. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: An exhaustive literature search of MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane
      Library, ISI Web of Science and China BioMedical Disc. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Primary studies, published from January 2004 to November 2014, which examined the
      screening accuracy of PSMSUM in pregnant Chinese women, compared with a reference
      standard, either chromosomal verification or inspection of the newborn. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted as screening positive/negative
      results for Down and non-Down syndrome pregnancies, allowing estimation of
      sensitivities and specificities. Risks of bias within and across studies were
      assessed. Screening accuracy measures were pooled using a bivariate random
      effects regression model. MAIN RESULTS: Seventy-eight studies, involving six
      categories of PSMSUM, were included. Second-trimester double serum [pooled
      sensitivity (SEN) = 0.80, pooled specificity (SPE) = 0.95] and triple-serum
      (pooled SEN = 0.79, pooled SPE = 0.96) screening were the predominant PSMSUM
      methods. The screening performances of these methods achieved the national
      standard but varied enormously across studies. First-trimester combined screening
      (pooled SEN = 0.92, pooled SPE = 0.93) and second-trimester quadruple serum
      screening (median SEN = 0.86, median SPE = 0.96) performed better, but were
      rarely used. AUTHOR'S CONCLUSIONS: Second-trimester maternal serum screening has
      the potential to achieve satisfactory screening performance in middle- and low
      income countries. The reported enormous range in screening performance of second
      trimester PSMSUM calls for urgent implementation of methods for performance
      optimization. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Meta-analysis results show good accuracy of
      maternal serum and ultrasound screening for trisomy 21 in Chinese women.

PMID- 27627592
TI  - Applicability of first-trimester combined screening for fetal trisomy 21 in a
      resource-limited setting in mainland China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility and performance of the first-trimester
      combined screening test for trisomy 21 in a resource-limited setting in mainland
      China. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: First Affiliated
      Hospital of Kunming Medical University, China. POPULATION: Ten thousand four
      hundred and forty-two pregnant women requesting first-trimester screening.
      METHODS: The combined screening test was performed from May 2012 to December
      2014. Women with a high-risk result (>=1:600) were offered further confirmatory
      tests after counselling. The threshold for high risk was determined by Monte
      Carlo simulation to achieve a 5% false-positive rate according to the local age
      distribution. Pregnancy outcome and screening results were recorded for all women
      and monthly audits were conducted. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sensitivity, screen
      positive rate, cost per case of Down syndrome detected. RESULTS: Six hundred and
      ten women (5.8% of the total screened) had a high-risk screening test, of whom
      274 (44.9%) underwent a diagnostic test and 169 (27.7%) opted for a noninvasive
      prenatal screening test (NIPT); 160 (26.2%) declined further testing after
      counselling. The pregnancy outcome was available for 10 174 (97.4%) of the women.
      The observed incidence of Down syndrome was 0.13% (1/750). All 14 women with a
      trisomy 21 pregnancy had a high-risk screening test result. The cost per Down
      syndrome detected was RMB596 686 compared with RMB1.79 million if all had been
      screened by NIPT. CONCLUSIONS: The combined screening test appears to be a more
      cost-effective strategy in mainland China. Screening performance in China would
      be improved by adopting Chinese-specific models, external quality control and
      assurance, and establishing risk thresholds appropriate for the age distribution
      of the population. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Combined first-trimester Downs screening
      in China was improved by adopting Chinese-specific models and external QC.

PMID- 27627593
TI  - Commentary on Down syndrome screening in China.

PMID- 27627594
TI  - Debates on fetal fraction measurement and DNA-based noninvasive prenatal
      screening: time for standardisation?

PMID- 27627595
TI  - Obstetricians should get ready for expanded carrier screening.

PMID- 27627596
TI  - Use of antiseptic mouthrinse during pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes: a
      randomised controlled clinical trial in rural China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether an antimicrobial mouthrinse intervention reduces
      adverse pregnancy outcomes in a low-resource rural area. DESIGN: Randomised
      controlled trial. SETTING: A county-level maternal health care hospital in China.
      SAMPLE: Pregnant women of less than 20 weeks of gestation having periodontal
      disease. METHODS: Women with periodontal disease were randomised into the
      intervention (n = 232) and control group (n = 234). Participants in the
      intervention group were provided with free mouthrinse (alcohol-free mouthrinse
      containing 0.7% cetylpyridinium chloride) throughout the pregnancy and given
      education on oral health. Women in the control group only received oral hygiene
      education. All participants had a periodontal re-examination at the third
      trimester and were followed-up to childbirth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary
      outcome was gestational age. Secondary outcomes included birthweight, periodontal
      disease score, pregnancy complications (small-for-gestational-age, gestational
      hypertension, gestational diabetic mellitus, severe anaemia, premature rupture of
      membrane). RESULTS: The general periodontal status of the intervention group at
      the third trimester was significantly better than that of the control group
      (measured by periodontal disease score: 11.26 +/- 3.60 versus 11.92 +/- 3.01; P =
      0.04). There was no difference in pregnancy outcome between the two groups except
      for premature rupture of the membranes. The women in the intervention group had a
      significantly reduced risk of premature rupture of the membranes compared with
      the control group (1.4 versus 5.7%, OR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.07-0.84; P = 0.03).
      CONCLUSIONS: The mouthrinse intervention during pregnancy improved periodontal
      health. The intervention did not lead to a change in gestational age but it
      reduced the rate of premature membrane rupture. Further studies are needed to
      explore the biological mechanism of this association. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Use of
      antiseptic mouthrinse during pregnancy may improve maternal oral health and
      pregnancy outcomes.

PMID- 27627598
TI  - Commentary on 'Impact of replacing Chinese-ethnicity-specific fetal biometry
      charts by the INTERGROWTH-21st standard'.

PMID- 27627597
TI  - Impact of replacing Chinese ethnicity-specific fetal biometry charts with the
      INTERGROWTH-21(st) standard.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of adopting the INTERGROWTH-21(st) biometry
      standards in a Chinese population. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A
      teaching hospital in Hong Kong. POPULATION: A total of 10 527 Chinese women with
      a singleton pregnancy having a second- or third-trimester fetal anomaly or growth
      scan between January 2009 and June 2014. METHODS: Z-scores were derived for fetal
      abdominal circumference (AC), head circumference (HC), and femur length (FL)
      using the INTERGROWTH-21(st) and Chinese biometry standards. Pregnancies with
      aneuploidy, structural or skeletal abnormalities, or that developed pre-eclampsia
      were excluded. Z-scores were stratified as <2.5th, <5th, <10th, >90th, >95th, or
      >97.5th percentile. Birthweight centile, adjusted for gestation and gender, was
      categorised as <=3rd, 3rd to <=5th, 5th to <=10th, and >10th. Pairwise comparison
      and the McNemar test were performed to assess biometry Z-score differences and
      concordance between the INTERGROWTH-21(st) and Chinese standards. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The sensitivity of both the local and INTERGROWTH-21(st) AC standards
      to identify pregnancies that were small-for-gestational-age (SGA) was assessed.
      RESULTS: INTERGROWTH-21(st) AC, HC, and FL Z-scores were significantly lower than
      those obtained using our local reference for AC, HC, and FL (P < 0.0001 for all).
      The proportion of fetuses with biometry in the <2.5th, <5th, <10th, >90th, >95th,
      or >97.5th percentiles was statistically significant (P < 0.01 for all). A total
      of 1224 (15.5%) of the scans at 18-22 weeks of gestation had AC, HC, or FL below
      the 3rd percentile of the INTERGROWTH-21(st) standard. CONCLUSIONS: Adopting the
      INTERGROWTH-21(st) standard would lead to a significant number of fetuses being
      at risk of misdiagnosis for small fetal size, particularly when using HC and FL
      measures. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: INTERGROWTH-21(st) biometry assessment in Chinese
      leads to fetuses being at risk of misdiagnosis of small fetal size.

PMID- 27627599
TI  - Labour patterns in Chinese women in Chongqing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To obtain data on the characteristics of labour from a regional sample
      of Chinese parturients and to assess the pattern of progress of labour among
      nulliparous women. DESIGN: A prospective observational study. SETTING: The study
      was conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University.
      POPULATION: The final sample involved 1200 Chinese parturients with singleton,
      vertex and term gestation; spontaneous onset of labour; vaginal delivery; and
      without adverse perinatal outcomes. METHODS: A repeated-measures analysis was
      used to depict labour curves while an interval-censored regression was used to
      estimate the duration of labour centimetre by centimetre. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Labour curves and the duration of labour at the 50th and 95th percentiles.
      RESULTS: Among 1091 nulliparous women, 57.7% had cervical dilation of 3 cm or
      less at the time of admission, and the mean duration of the first stage of labour
      was 9.1 +/- 3.3 hours. From 5 to 9 cm of cervical dilation it sometimes took more
      than 2 hours for dilation to advance 1 cm. No obvious inflection points appeared
      in the labour curve of Chinese nulliparae, and no deceleration was observed.
      CONCLUSION: Progress of labour in Chinese parturients was more gradual than in
      their Western counterparts. Obstetric practice standards based on data generated
      from Western countries may not be appropriate for Chinese women. TWEETABLE
      ABSTRACT: A prospective study has evaluated labour patterns in Chinese women
      using regional data from nulliparae.

PMID- 27627600
TI  - From a finger on the pulse to modern technology-the transformation of healthcare
      in China.

PMID- 27627601
TI  - Surrogacy: a family-building option in search of legitimacy.

PMID- 27627602
TI  - Commentary on Surrogacy: a family-building option in search of legitimacy.

PMID- 27627604
TI  - Endometriosis has no negative impact on outcomes of in vitro fertilisation in
      women with poor ovarian response.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) outcomes of poor ovarian
      responders among women with laparoscopically diagnosed minimal-mild endometriosis
      (Group A), moderate-severe endometriosis (Group B) and those without
      endometriosis (Group C). The comparisons were made separately for age groups
      younger than 35 years and 35 years or older. DESIGN: Retrospective study.
      SETTING: A university-affiliated hospital in Guangzhou, China. POPULATION: 495
      women younger than 35 years old and 543 women aged 35 or older who had poor
      ovarian response with or without laparoscopically diagnosed endometriosis.
      METHODS: Poor ovarian response (POR) was diagnosed using the Bologna criteria.
      First cycle parameters were analysed over the same period of time from January
      2011 to October 2014. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was the live
      birth rate per embryo transfer cycle. Secondary outcome measures were clinical
      pregnancy rate, cycle cancellation rate and miscarriage rate. RESULTS: In women
      aged 35 or older no differences were found among the three subgroups in terms of
      live birth rate, clinical pregnancy rate, cycle cancellation rate or miscarriage
      rate; in women aged younger than 35 years, the clinical pregnancy rates were
      62.96, 45.45 and 43.27% for Groups A, B and C, respectively (P = 0.028). The live
      birth rate, cycle cancellation rate and miscarriage rate were not significantly
      different. Compared with the older group of women, the younger women had a
      significantly higher live birth rate (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A woman's age is
      the most important factor governing the live birth rate with IVF. Endometriosis
      has no consistent impact on IVF outcomes in women with POR. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT:
      Endometriosis has no negative impact on IVF outcomes in women with poor ovarian
      response.

PMID- 27627603
TI  - The impact of ovarian stimulation on the outcome of intrauterine insemination
      treatment: an analysis of 8893 cycles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of ovarian stimulation on the outcome of
      intrauterine insemination (IUI). DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: A
      single university-based centre. POPULATION: A total of 5109 couples with 8893
      cycles. METHODS: The outcome of IUI with different protocols for ovarian
      stimulation was examined. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The live birth rate (LBR), twin
      pregnancy rate and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). RESULTS: In
      ovulatory women without ovarian stimulation, the LBR was 7.6%. Stimulation with
      clomifene citrate (CC), letrozole (LE), human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG), CC
      or LE combined with HMG achieved LBRs of 6.1, 5, 7.9, 8 and 12.2%, respectively.
      LE combined with HMG achieved a significantly improved LBR compared with no
      stimulation. HMG stimulation was associated with a higher rate of twins (7.4%)
      than no stimulation (0%, P < 0.01). In ovulatory women, the LBR appeared lower in
      CC and LE compared with no stimulation (P > 0.05). In anovulatory women, ovarian
      stimulation with CC, LE, HMG, CC or LE combined with HMG achieved LBRs of 11.3,
      5.1, 11.8, 12.6 and 13.6%, respectively. No significant difference was observed.
      There were no triplet pregnancies or OHSS in stimulated cycles. CONCLUSIONS: In
      ovulatory women, ovarian stimulation with LE combined with HMG achieved a
      significantly improved live birth rate. HMG stimulation resulted in a high risk
      for twins. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: In ovulatory women, ovarian stimulation with
      letrozole and HMG resulted in a significantly improved LBR.

PMID- 27627605
TI  - Risk factors for recurrent ectopic pregnancy: a case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the risk factors for recurrent ectopic pregnancy (REP).
      DESIGN: A retrospective case-control study. SETTING: A university medical centre.
      POPULATION: 554 women with a history of ectopic pregnancy (EP) were included.
      Among them were 181 women with current EP, 184 women with current intrauterine
      pregnancy (IUP) and 189 nonpregnant women (NonP). METHODS: The three groups were
      matched at a ratio of 1:1 with respect to current age, age of initial EP and
      gestational week of initial EP. Socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive
      history, gynaecological and surgical history, and experience of contraception
      were compared among the three groups. A multivariable logistic regression
      analysis was used to adjust for confounders and calculate adjusted odds ratios
      (AORs). RESULTS: The risk of REP increased with history of infertility (AOR =
      3.84, 95%CI 2.16-6.86) in REP women compared with IUP controls. Compared with
      NonP controls, salpingotomy (AOR = 3.04, 95%CI 1.21-36.51) for previous EP was a
      risk factor for REP. Multiparous women were less likely to suffer REP when
      compared with NonP women (AOR = 0.36, 95%CI 0.18-0.62) or IUP controls (AOR =
      0.35, 95%CI 0.20-0.62). Current use of an intrauterine device (IUD) (REP versus
      NonP, AOR = 0.02, 95%CI 0.00-0.08) or condoms (REP versus NonP, AOR = 0.16, 95%CI
      0.07-0.38) significantly reduced the risk of REP compared with those not using
      any contraception. Similarly, previous use of condoms also prevented REP compared
      with those with no previous condom use (REP versus NonP, AOR = 0.20, 95%CI 0.08
      0.49; REP versus IUP, AOR = 0.40, 95%CI 0.22-0.71). CONCLUSIONS: Women with
      history of infertility or salpingotomy should be alert for the recurrence of EP.
      Multiparous women are less likely to suffer REP. We propose the use of condoms
      for effective prevention of REP. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: History of infertility and
      salpingotomy for last EP are risk factors for recurrent EP.

PMID- 27627606
TI  - Endometrial carcinoma-related genetic factors: application to research and
      clinical practice in China.
AB  - Genetic factors affect the initiation and progression of endometrial carcinoma
      (EC). The routine detection of genetic factors involved in EC has not been
      extensively performed in Chinese clinical practice, however. In this review we
      summarise EC-related genetic factors, including Lynch syndrome-associated
      mutations and non-Lynch syndrome-associated genetic predispositions found in
      Chinese women, and their potential clinical applications. In addition, we propose
      a clinical testing strategy for patients with EC and their family members. The
      objective of this review is to advance basic research regarding the genetic
      factors involved in EC and to improve its clinical implementation in China.
      TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Review summarises Chinese research progression of EC-related
      genetic factors and proposes innovative screening strategy.

PMID- 27627608
TI  - The CROWN Initiative: journal editors invite researchers to develop core outcomes
      in women's health.

PMID- 27627607
TI  - Successful conservative treatment of cervical pregnancy with uterine artery
      embolization followed by curettage: a report of 19 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the safety and
      efficacy of uterine artery embolization (UAE) followed by curettage for
      conservative management of cervical pregnancy. DESIGN: Retrospective review.
      SETTING: Peking University First Hospital. SAMPLE: Patients with cervical
      pregnancy diagnosed by trans-vaginal ultrasound at Peking University First
      Hospital between January 2003 and December 2014. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed the clinical background and outcomes of patients with cervical pregnancy
      who underwent UAE followed by curettage for prevention of massive vaginal
      bleeding and removal of gestational tissue from the cervix. We also reviewed the
      literature on the role of UAE in the treatment of cervical pregnancy. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical assessments included gestational age, gravidity,
      endocervical canal mass, serum beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta-HCG)
      level, blood loss, hospitalisation stay and expenses, time of resumption of
      menstruation and subsequent pregnancy outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 19 patients
      with cervical pregnancy treated with UAE followed by curettage were identified.
      Curettage was performed 24-72 hours after UAE in 16 patients, within 24 hours
      after UAE in three patients. None of the patients underwent a hysterectomy as a
      result of cervical pregnancy. Of the nine patients with available follow-up
      information (median follow-up time 59 months), eight resumed normal menstruation
      and one had a term pregnancy with a normal vaginal delivery. Quick regression of
      serum beta-HCG level, low blood loss and short hospital stay were observed.
      CONCLUSION: UAE combined with curettage is a safe, effective and fertility
      sparing choice for treatment of patients with cervical pregnancy. TWEETABLE
      ABSTRACT: A serial of 19 patients with cervical pregnancy treated with UAE
      followed by curettage showed a good prognosis.

PMID- 27627610
TI  - A core outcome set for evaluation of interventions to prevent preterm birth:
      summary for CROWN.

PMID- 27627612
TI  - Reply to Nomograms need to be presented in full.

PMID- 27627613
TI  - Hierarchical Ternary Carbide Nanoparticle/Carbon Nanotube-Inserted N-Doped Carbon
      Concave-Polyhedrons for Efficient Lithium and Sodium Storage.
AB  - Here, we report a hierarchical Co3ZnC/carbon nanotube-inserted nitrogen-doped
      carbon concave-polyhedrons synthesized by direct pyrolysis of bimetallic zeolitic
      imidazolate framework precursors under a flow of Ar/H2 and subsequent calcination
      for both high-performance rechargeable Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. In this
      structure, Co3ZnC nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed in in situ growth
      carbon nanotube-inserted nitrogen-doped carbon concave-polyhedrons. Such a
      hierarchical structure offers a synergistic effect to withstand the volume
      variation and inhibit the aggregation of Co3ZnC nanoparticles during long-term
      cycles. Meanwhile, the nitrogen-doped carbon and carbon nanotubes in the
      hierarchical Co3ZnC/carbon composite offer fast electron transportation to
      achieve excellent rate capability. As anode of Li-ion batteries, the electrode
      delivered a high reversible capacity (~800 mA h/g at 0.5 A/g), outstanding high
      rate capacity (408 mA h/g at 5.0 A/g), and long-term cycling performance (585 mA
      h/g after 1500 cycles at 2.0 A/g). In Na-ion batteries, the Co3ZnC/carbon
      composite maintains a stable capacity of 386 mA h/g at 1.0 A/g without obvious
      decay over 750 cycles and a superior rate capability (~500, 448, and 415 mA h/g
      at 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 A/g, respectively).

PMID- 27627616
TI  - Trends and Outcomes of Coronary Angiography and Percutaneous Coronary
      Intervention After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Associated With Ventricular
      Fibrillation or Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia.
AB  - Importance: The 2015 cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular
      care guidelines recommend performing coronary angiography in resuscitated
      patients after cardiac arrest with or without ST-segment elevation (STE).
      Objective: To assess the temporal trends, predictors, and outcomes of performing
      coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients
      resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with initial rhythms of
      ventricular tachycardia or pulseless ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF). Design,
      Setting, and Participants: An observational analysis of the use of coronary
      angiography and PCI in 407 974 patients hospitalized after VT/VF OHCA from
      January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2012, from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample
      database. Multivariable analysis was used to assess factors associated with
      coronary angiography and PCI use. Data analysis was performed from December 12,
      2015, to January 5, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: Temporal trends of coronary
      angiography, PCI, and survival to discharge in patients with VT/VF OHCA. Results:
      Among the 407 974 patients hospitalized after VT/VF OHCA, 143 688 (35.2%) were
      selected to undergo coronary angiography. The mean (SD) age of the total
      population was 65.7 (14.9) years, 37.9% were female, and 74.1% were white, 13.4%
      black, 6.8% Hispanic, and 5.7% other race. Use of coronary angiography increased
      from 27.2% in 2000 to 43.9% in 2012 (odds ratio, 2.47; 95% CI, 2.25-2.71; P for
      trend < .001), and PCI increased from 9.5% in 2000 to 24.1% in 2012 (odds ratio,
      4.80; 95% CI, 4.21-5.66; P for trend < .001). From 2000 to 2012, coronary
      angiography and PCI after VT/VF OHCA increased in patients with STE (53.7% to
      87.2%, P for trend < .001, and 29.7% to 77.3%, P for trend < .001, respectively)
      and those without STE (19.3% to 33.9%, P for trend < .001, and 3.5% to 11.8%, P
      for trend < .001, respectively). There was an associated increasing trend in
      survival to discharge in the overall population of patients with VT/VF OHCA
      (46.9% to 60.1%, P for trend < .001) in those with STE (59.2% to 74.3%, P for
      trend < .001) or without STE (43.3% to 56.8%, P for trend < .001). Conclusions
      and Relevance: Coronary angiography, PCI, and survival to discharge have
      increased in VT/VF OHCA survivors from event to hospitalization. However, a
      significant proportion of patients with VT/VF OHCA, especially those without STE,
      do not undergo coronary angiography and revascularization. Prospective studies
      are needed to determine whether this limitation has a survival effect.

PMID- 27627617
TI  - A Dynamic Equilibrium of Three Hydrogen-Bond Conformers Explains the NMR Spectrum
      of the Active Site of Photoactive Yellow Protein.
AB  - A theoretical study on the NMR shifts of the hydrogen bond network around the
      chromophore, para-coumaric acid (pCA), of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) is
      presented. Previous discrepancies between theoretical and experimental studies
      are resolved by our findings of a previously unknown rapid conformational
      exchange near the active site of PYP. This exchange caused by the rotation of
      Thr50 takes place in the ground state of PYP's active site and results in three
      effectively energetically equal conformations characterized by the formation of
      new hydrogen bonds, all of which contribute to the overall NMR signals of the
      investigated protons. In light of these findings, we are able to successfully
      explain the experimental results and provide valuable insight into the behavior
      of PYP in solution. We further investigated related PYP mutants (T50V, E46Q, and
      Y42F), and found the same conformational exchange in E46Q and Y42F to be
      responsible for the experimentally observed NMR and UV/vis spectra.

PMID- 27627618
TI  - OsDi19-4 acts downstream of OsCDPK14 to positively regulate ABA response in rice.
AB  - The drought-induced 19 protein family consists of several atypical Cys2/His2-type
      zinc finger proteins in plants and plays an important role in abiotic stress. In
      this study, we found that overexpressing OsDi19-4 in rice altered the expression
      of a series of abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive genes, resulting in strong ABA
      hypersensitive phenotypes including ABA-induced seed germination inhibition,
      early seedling growth inhibition and stomatal closure. On the contrary, OsDi19-4
      knockdown lines were less sensitive to ABA. Additionally, OsCDPK14 was identified
      to interact with OsDi19-4 and be responsible for the phosphorylation of OsDi19-4,
      and the phosphorylation of OsDi19-4 was further enhanced after the treatment of
      ABA. Apart from these, OsDi19-4 was shown to directly bind to the promoters of
      OsASPG1 and OsNAC18 genes, two ABA-responsive genes, and regulate their
      expression. Transient expression assays confirmed the direct regulation role of
      OsDi19-4, and the regulation was further enhanced by the increased
      phosphorylation of OsDi19-4 after the treatment of ABA. Taken together, these
      data demonstrate that OsDi19-4 acts downstream of OsCDPK14 to positively regulate
      ABA response by modulating the expression of ABA-responsive genes in rice.

PMID- 27627620
TI  - Evaluation of the Narrow Anterior Chamber Angle by Anterior Segment Optical
      Coherence Tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to evaluate the narrow anterior chamber
      angle (ACA) in Chinese patients by anterior segment optical coherence tomography
      (As-OCT). METHODS: Eighty right eyes of 80 consecutive patients with a shallow
      peripheral anterior chamber but no peripheral anterior synechia were enrolled in
      this study. The ACA was observed by noncompression gonioscopy and classified
      according to the Shaffer grading system. The iridotrabecular contact (ITC) and
      trabecular-iris angle (T-I angle) were assessed by As-OCT examination. RESULTS:
      Gonioscopic grade 0 and ITC were observed more frequently in the superior
      quadrant than the other quadrants (p < 0.02). The T-I angle was significantly
      smaller superiorly and inferiorly than nasally and temporally (p < 0.01). The
      frequency of the ITC and T-I angle significantly declined when the gonioscopic
      grade was from 0 to 2 (p < 0.01). Logistic analysis showed that the axial length
      and refraction were related to the presence of ITC in more than two quadrants (p
      < 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: ITC was common in eyes with a shallow peripheral anterior
      chamber (superiorly, gonioscopic grade 0). Sites with wider gonioscopic grading
      tended to have a larger T-I angle. Axial length and refraction significantly
      impacted on the frequency of ITC.

PMID- 27627619
TI  - TET3 Mediates Alterations in the Epigenetic Marker 5hmC and Akt pathway in
      Steroid-Associated Osteonecrosis.
AB  - Steroid-associated osteonecrosis (SAON) is one of the common complications of
      clinical glucocorticoid (GC) administration, with osteocyte apoptosis appearing
      as the primary histopathological lesion. However, the precise mechanism
      underlying SAON remains unknown. Epigenetic modification may be a major cause of
      SAON. Recently, cumulative research revealed that Ten-Eleven Translocation (TET)
      proteins can catalyze the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5
      hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and then alter the epigenetic state of DNA. Here, we
      report that TET3-5hmC was upregulated in the femoral head tissues of SAON
      patients and MLO-Y4 cells with dexamethasone (Dex) treatment. Knockdown of TET3
      in MLO-Y4 cells decreased 5hmC enrichment and rescued Dex-induced apoptosis.
      Meanwhile, the local intramedullary injection of TET3 siRNA in Sprague-Dawley
      rats abrogated GC-induced osteocyte apoptosis, histopathological changes,
      abnormal MRI signals, and bone microstructure declines in the femoral head in
      vivo. Moreover, a hydroxymethylated DNA immunoprecipitation (hMeDIP)-chip
      analysis of Dex-treated osteocytes revealed 456 different 5hmC-enriched genes.
      The Akt pathway was found to mediate the functional effect of Dex-induced dynamic
      5hmC change; this was further verified in clinical samples. The loss of TET3 in
      MLO-Y4 cells abrogated Dex-induced Akt signaling pathway inhibition. Therefore,
      our data for the first time identify the effect of TET3-5hmC on the Akt pathway
      and the necessity of this signaling cascade in SAON, identifying a new potential
      therapeutic target. (c) 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 27627623
TI  - Structures of Metal-Organic Frameworks with Rod Secondary Building Units.
AB  - Rod MOFs are metal-organic frameworks in which the metal-containing secondary
      building units consist of infinite rods of linked metal-centered polyhedra. For
      such materials, we identify the points of extension, often atoms, which define
      the interface between the organic and inorganic components of the structure. The
      pattern of points of extension defines a shape such as a helix, ladder, helical
      ribbon, or cylinder tiling. The linkage of these shapes into a three-dimensional
      framework in turn defines a net characteristic of the original structure. Some
      scores of rod MOF structures are illustrated and deconstructed into their
      underlying nets in this way. Crystallographic data for all nets in their maximum
      symmetry embeddings are provided.

PMID- 27627622
TI  - Short-term and long-term effects of acute kidney injury in chronic kidney disease
      patients: A longitudinal analysis.
AB  - We use data from an ongoing cohort study of chronic kidney patients at Salford
      Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, to investigate
      the influence of acute kidney injury (AKI) on the subsequent rate of change of
      kidney function amongst patients already diagnosed with chronic kidney disease
      (CKD). We use a linear mixed effects modelling framework to enable estimation of
      both acute and chronic effects of AKI events on kidney function. We model the
      fixed effects by a piece-wise linear function with three change-points to capture
      the acute changes in kidney function that characterise an AKI event, and the
      random effects by the sum of three components: a random intercept, a stationary
      stochastic process with Matern correlation structure, and measurement error. We
      consider both multivariate Normal and multivariate t versions of the random
      effects. For either specification, we estimate model parameters by maximum
      likelihood and evaluate the plug-in predictive distributions of the random
      effects given the data. We find that following an AKI event the average long-term
      rate of decline in kidney function is almost doubled, regardless of the severity
      of the event. We also identify and present examples of individual patients whose
      kidney function trajectories diverge substantially from the population-average.

PMID- 27627621
TI  - How computational models contribute to our understanding of the germ line.
AB  - Computational models are an invaluable tool in modern biology. They provide a
      framework within which to summarize existing knowledge, enable competing
      hypotheses to be compared qualitatively and quantitatively, and to facilitate the
      interpretation of complex data. Moreover, models allow questions to be
      investigated that are difficult to approach experimentally. Theories can be
      tested in context, identifying the gaps in our understanding and potentially
      leading to new hypotheses. Models can be developed on a variety of scales and
      with different levels of mechanistic detail, depending on the available data, the
      biological questions of interest, and the available mathematical and
      computational tools. The goal of this review is to provide a broad picture of how
      modeling has been applied to reproductive biology. Specifically, we look at four
      uses of modeling: (i) comparing hypotheses; (ii) interpreting data; (iii)
      exploring experimentally challenging questions; and (iv) hypothesis evaluation
      and generation. We present examples of each of these applications in reproductive
      biology, drawing from a range of organisms-including Drosophila, Caenorhabditis
      elegans, mouse, and humans. We aim to describe the data and techniques used to
      construct each model, and to highlight the benefits of modeling to the field, as
      complementary to experimental work. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 83: 944-957, 2016 (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627625
TI  - New Approaches for Virus Detection through Multidisciplinary Partnerships.
AB  - A critical requirement for controlling outbreaks of viral infection is sensitive
      and accurate diagnostics, which can be expensive and are frequently located in
      resource-intensive clinical laboratories. Outbreaks of many viral infections
      occur in countries where healthcare resources are limited and clinical
      laboratories scarce. This creates a fulfillment gap, one that could be filled
      through the development of inexpensive, sensitive, easy to use, and portable
      diagnostics. Here we describe our efforts to develop a diagnostic technology that
      detects viruses without needing to label the particle directly. Our approach has
      the advantage of speed and assay simplicity while maintaining high sensitivity.
      Essential in this approach has been the assembly of an integrated, diverse, and
      interdisciplinary team that worked together to evaluate technologies, spin-out a
      company, and produce a product for infectious disease diagnostics. The synergy of
      different individuals with complementary skills has been critical for the
      development of our transformative technology.

PMID- 27627627
TI  - Arrival of Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-5-carboxamides: Potent Anti-tuberculosis Agents
      That Target QcrB.
AB  - Increasing interest in the potent anti-tuberculosis activity and the novel target
      (QcrB) of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxamides encouraged extended structure
      activity relationship studies of additional scaffolds. This study reports on the
      in vitro profiling of the imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-5-carboxamides as a new
      promising class of anti-tuberculosis compounds endowed with nanomolar potency
      against replicating and drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) as well
      as low toxicity to VERO cells. Compounds 6, 16, and 17 had MIC values <10 nM and
      toxicity >100 MUM. On-target selectivity of this series was confirmed by cross
      resistance of specific QcrB mutants as well as the hypersusceptibility of a
      mutant with a functional gene deletion of the alternative cytochrome bd oxidase.
      Additionally, to demonstrate selectivity, three analogues (6, 15, 17) were
      broadly screened against a diverse set of eight strains of bacteria, including
      both Gram-positive and Gram-negative as well as six disease-causing non
      tuberculosis mycobacteria. Finally, compounds 16 and 17 were found to be active
      in macrophages infected with Mtb.

PMID- 27627629
TI  - Progress against Escherichia coli with the Oxazolidinone Class of Antibacterials:
      Test Case for a General Approach To Improving Whole-Cell Gram-Negative Activity.
AB  - Novel antibacterials with activity against the Gram-negative bacteria associated
      with nosocomial infections, including Escherichia coli and other
      Enterobacteriaceae, are urgently needed due to the increasing prevalence of
      multidrug-resistant strains. A major obstacle that has stalled progress on nearly
      all small-molecule classes with potential for activity against these species has
      been achieving sufficient whole-cell activity, a difficult challenge due to the
      formidable outer membrane and efflux barriers intrinsic to these species. Using a
      set of compound design principles derived from available information relating
      physicochemical properties to Gram-negative entry or activity, we synthesized and
      evaluated a focused library of oxazolidinone analogues, a currently narrow
      spectrum class of antibacterials active only against Gram-positive bacteria. In
      this series, we have explored the effectiveness for improving Gram-negative
      activity by identifying and combining beneficial structural modifications in the
      C-ring region. We have found polar and/or charge-carrying modifications that,
      when combined in hybrid C-ring analogues, appear to largely overcome the efflux
      and/or permeability barriers, resulting in improved Gram-negative activity. In
      particular, those analogues least effected by efflux and the permeation barrier
      had significant zwitterionic character.

PMID- 27627628
TI  - 5-Fluoroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine Is a Privileged Fragment That Conveys
      Bioavailability to Potent Trypanosomal Methionyl-tRNA Synthetase Inhibitors.
AB  - Fluorination is a well-known strategy for improving the bioavailability of drug
      molecules. However, its impact on efficacy is not easily predicted. On the basis
      of inhibitor-bound protein crystal structures, we found a beneficial fluorination
      spot for inhibitors targeting methionyl-tRNA synthetase of Trypanosoma brucei. In
      particular, incorporating 5-fluoroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine into inhibitors leads to
      central nervous system bioavailability and maintained or even improved efficacy.

PMID- 27627631
TI  - Holistic Review in Medical School Admissions and Selection: A Strategic, Mission
      Driven Response to Shifting Societal Needs.
AB  - Medical schools and residency programs have always sought excellence in the areas
      of education, research, and clinical care. However, these pursuits are not
      accomplished within a vacuum-rather, they are continually and necessarily
      influenced by social, cultural, political, legal, and economic forces. Persistent
      demographic inequalities coupled with rapidly evolving biomedical research and a
      complex legal landscape heighten our collective awareness and emphasize the
      continued need to consider medicine's social contract when selecting, educating,
      and developing physicians and physician-scientists.Selection-who gains access to
      a medical education and to a career as a physician, researcher, and/or faculty
      member-is as much art as science. Quantitative assessments of applicants yield
      valuable information but fail to convey the full story of an applicant and the
      paths they have taken. Human judgment and evidence-based practice remain critical
      parts of implementing selection processes that yield the desired outcomes.
      Holistic review, in promoting the use of strategically designed, evidence-driven,
      mission-based, diversity-aware processes, provides a conceptual and practical
      framework for marrying the art with the science without sacrificing the unique
      value that each brings.In this Commentary, the authors situate medical student
      selection as both responsive to and informed by broader social context, health
      and health care needs, educational research and evidence, and state and federal
      law and policy. They propose that holistic review is a strategic, mission-driven,
      evidence-based process that recognizes diversity as critical to excellence,
      offers a flexible framework for selecting future physicians, and facilitates
      achieving institutional mission and addressing societal needs.

PMID- 27627626
TI  - Therapeutic Potential of Spirooxindoles as Antiviral Agents.
AB  - Antiviral therapeutics with profiles of high potency, low resistance,
      panserotype, and low toxicity remain challenging, and obtaining such agents
      continues to be an active area of therapeutic development. Due to their unique
      three-dimensional structural features, spirooxindoles have been identified as
      privileged chemotypes for antiviral drug development. Among them, spiro
      pyrazolopyridone oxindoles have been recently reported as potent inhibitors of
      dengue virus NS4B, leading to the discovery of an orally bioavailable preclinical
      candidate (R)-44 with excellent in vivo efficacy in a dengue viremia mouse model.
      This review highlights recent advances in the development of biologically active
      spirooxindoles for their antiviral potential, primarily focusing on the structure
      activity relationships (SARs) and modes of action, as well as future directions
      to achieve more potent analogues toward a viable antiviral therapy.

PMID- 27627630
TI  - Symptom Reduction Without Remoralization: A Randomized, Waiting-List Controlled
      Study Aimed at Separating Two Beneficial Psychotherapy Outcome Effects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Treatment effects in psychotherapy outcome research are generally
      based on the reduction of symptoms. Standard inclusion of other beneficial
      treatment effects such as remoralization (increase of hope, self-efficacy, well
      being) might lead to more elaborate findings in the field of psychotherapy. On
      the other hand, it is also possible that symptom reduction and remoralization
      always go hand in hand in the experience of patients. The present study sought to
      experimentally test this assumption. METHOD: A total of 78 patients suffering
      from panic disorder were randomly assigned to brief remoralization treatment,
      brief exposure treatment, or waiting list (WL). RESULTS: Both treatments
      increased remoralization and both reduced symptoms of panic disorder as compared
      to WL. CONCLUSION: It is unlikely that patients experience remoralization without
      symptom reduction or symptom reduction without remoralization. These findings do
      not favor the assumption that conclusions within psychotherapy outcome research
      are flawed because of its heavy reliance on measurements of symptom reduction.

PMID- 27627632
TI  - The Residency Application Process: Pursuing Improved Outcomes Through Better
      Understanding of the Issues.
AB  - The residency application process requires that applicants, their schools, and
      residency programs exchange and evaluate information to accomplish successful
      matching of applicants to postgraduate training positions. The different
      motivations of these stakeholders influence both the types of information
      provided by medical schools and the perceived value and completeness of
      information received by residency programs. National standards have arisen to
      shape the type and format of information reported by medical schools about their
      students, though criticisms about the candor and completeness of the information
      remain. Growth in the number of applicants without proportional expansion of
      training positions and continued increases in the number of applications
      submitted by each applicant contribute to increases in the absolute number of
      applications each year, as well as the difficulty of evaluating applicants. Few
      standardized measures exist to facilitate comparison of applicants, and the
      heterogeneous nature of provided information limits its utility. Residency
      programs have been accused of excluding qualified applicants through use of
      numerical screening methods, such as United States Medical Licensing Examination
      (USMLE) Step 1 scores. Applicant evaluation includes review of standardized
      measurements such as USMLE Step 1 scores and other surrogate markers of future
      success. Proposed potential improvements to the residency application process
      include limiting applications; increasing the amount and/or types of information
      provided by applicants and by residency programs; shifting to holistic review,
      with standardization of metrics for important attributes; and fundamental
      reanalysis of the residency application process. A solution remains elusive, but
      these approaches may merit further consideration.

PMID- 27627633
TI  - Why Medical Schools Should Embrace Wikipedia: Final-Year Medical Student
      Contributions to Wikipedia Articles for Academic Credit at One School.
AB  - PROBLEM: Most medical students use Wikipedia as an information source, yet
      medical schools do not train students to improve Wikipedia or use it critically.
      APPROACH: Between November 2013 and November 2015, the authors offered fourth
      year medical students a credit-bearing course to edit Wikipedia. The course was
      designed, delivered, and evaluated by faculty, medical librarians, and personnel
      from WikiProject Medicine, Wikipedia Education Foundation, and Translators
      Without Borders. The authors assessed the effect of the students' edits on
      Wikipedia's content, the effect of the course on student participants, and
      readership of students' chosen articles. OUTCOMES: Forty-three enrolled students
      made 1,528 edits (average 36/student), contributing 493,994 content bytes
      (average 11,488/student). They added higher-quality and removed lower-quality
      sources for a net addition of 274 references (average 6/student). As of July
      2016, none of the contributions of the first 28 students (2013, 2014) have been
      reversed or vandalized. Students discovered a tension between comprehensiveness
      and readability/translatability, yet readability of most articles increased.
      Students felt they improved their articles, enjoyed giving back "specifically to
      Wikipedia," and broadened their sense of physician responsibilities in the
      socially networked information era. During only the "active editing months,"
      Wikipedia traffic statistics indicate that the 43 articles were collectively
      viewed 1,116,065 times. Subsequent to students' efforts, these articles have been
      viewed nearly 22 million times. NEXT STEPS: If other schools replicate and
      improve on this initiative, future multi-institution studies could more
      accurately measure the effect of medical students on Wikipedia, and vice versa.

PMID- 27627634
TI  - Chemical Reaction Rate Coefficients from Ring Polymer Molecular Dynamics: Theory
      and Practical Applications.
AB  - This Feature Article presents an overview of the current status of ring polymer
      molecular dynamics (RPMD) rate theory. We first analyze the RPMD approach and its
      connection to quantum transition-state theory. We then focus on its practical
      applications to prototypical chemical reactions in the gas phase, which
      demonstrate how accurate and reliable RPMD is for calculating thermal chemical
      reaction rate coefficients in multifarious cases. This review serves as an
      important checkpoint in RPMD rate theory development, which shows that RPMD is
      shifting from being just one of recent novel ideas to a well-established and
      validated alternative to conventional techniques for calculating thermal chemical
      rate coefficients. We also hope it will motivate further applications of RPMD to
      various chemical reactions.

PMID- 27627635
TI  - High-Throughput Screening of Metal-Organic Frameworks for CO2 Capture in the
      Presence of Water.
AB  - Competitive coadsorption of water is a major problem in the deployment of
      adsorption-based CO2 capture. Water molecules may compete for adsorption sites,
      reducing the capacity of the material, and dehumidification prior to separating
      CO2 from N2 increases process complexity and cost. The development of adsorbent
      materials that can selectively adsorb CO2 in the presence of water would be a
      major step forward in the deployment of CO2 capture materials in practice. In
      this study, large-scale computational screening was carried out to search for
      metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with high selectivity toward CO2 over H2O.
      Calculating framework charges for thousands of MOFs is a significant challenge,
      so initial screening used a fast, but approximate, charge calculation method. On
      the basis of the initial screening, 15 MOFs were selected, and Monte Carlo
      simulations were carried out to compute the adsorption isotherms for these MOFs
      using more accurate framework charges calculated by density functional theory. A
      detailed investigation was performed on the effect of using different methods for
      calculating partial charges, and it was found that electrostatic interactions
      contribute the majority of the adsorption energy of H2O in the selected MOFs.

PMID- 27627636
TI  - The role of endoscopic ultrasound in the management of intraductal papillary
      mucinous neoplasms: a systematic update.
AB  - The widespread use of cross-sectional imaging has led to an increased frequency
      of incidentally detected pancreatic cysts. Neoplastic cysts such as mucinous
      lesions and solid pseudo-papillary neoplasms have malignant potential and
      therefore the early detection of these lesions presents an opportunity for
      prevention or early detection and management of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Serous
      neoplastic lesions and non-neoplastic pancreatic cysts such as pseudocysts or
      walled off pancreatic necrosis and are not associated with malignant potential.
      It is important to identify those mucinous lesions with the highest potential of
      malignancy in order to direct management either towards surveillance or
      resection. The preoperative diagnosis of these cysts is a challenge as cross
      sectional imaging alone is often inadequate at making the diagnosis. Endoscopic
      ultrasound (EUS) with or without fine-needle aspiration (FNA) can assess the
      morphology of cysts including identification of high risk characteristics of
      cysts as well as allowing aspiration of cyst fluid, which can be analyzed for
      cytology, mucin, tumor markers, amylase and molecular markers. Intraductal
      papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) have three main subtypes; main duct IPMNs (MD
      IPMN), branch duct IPMNs (BD-IPMN) and mixed type IPMNs which have feature of
      both the aforementioned. MD-IPMNs have the highest malignant potential and are
      often easier to identify on cross-sectional imaging due to the involvement of the
      main pancreatic duct. Current guidelines suggest that these lesions should
      generally be considered for resection without further evaluation. Several
      guidelines exist for the investigation and management of BD-IPMNs, which have a
      lower malignant potential and there has been much interest in more clearly
      defining the role of EUS and EUS-FNA in this group of patients. In this review
      article we discuss the role of EUS in the diagnosis, risk stratification and
      management of these lesions.

PMID- 27627638
TI  - FUNDUS ALBIPUNCTATUS ASSOCIATED WITH CONE DYSFUNCTION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a case of cone dysfunction associated with fundus
      albipunctatus. METHODS: This report is an observational case report. The
      examination included multimodal imaging, electrophysiological recordings after
      standard and prolonged dark adaption, and disease targeted gene panel sequencing.
      RESULTS: In this report, the authors present a 55-year-old Chinese male with
      findings on fundus examination, optical coherence tomography, and full-field
      electroretinography after standard and prolonged dark adaption consistent with
      fundus albipunctatus associated with cone dysfunction. Disease targeted gene
      panel sequencing revealed two heterozygous mutations in RDH5 (c.124C>T;
      p.Arg42Cys and c.500G>A; p.Arg167His). CONCLUSION: The authors report the case of
      a patient with ophthalmic findings characteristic for cone dysfunction in the
      setting of genetically confirmed fundus albipunctatus.

PMID- 27627637
TI  - In vitro inhibitory effects of plant-derived by-products against Cryptosporidium
      parvum.
AB  - Disposal of organic plant wastes and by-products from the food or pharmaceutical
      industries usually involves high costs. In the present study, 42 samples derived
      from such by-products were screened in vitro against Cryptosporidium parvum, a
      protozoan parasite that may contaminate drinking water and cause diarrhoea. The
      novel bioassay was previously established in the microtitre plate format. Human
      ileocaecal adenocarcinoma (HCT-8) cell cultures were seeded with C. parvum
      oocysts and parasite development was monitored by an indirect fluorescent
      antibody technique (IFAT) and microscopic assessment for clusters of secondary
      infection (CSI). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and potential
      detrimental effects on the host cells were determined. An ethanolic extract from
      olive (Olea europaea) pomace, after oil pressing and phenol recovery,
      reproducibly inhibited C. parvum development (MIC = 250-500 MUg mL(-1), IC50 =
      361 (279-438) MUg mL(-1), IC90 = 467 (398-615) MUg mL(-1)). Accordingly, tyrosol,
      hydroxytyrosol, trans-coniferyl alcohol and oleuropein were selected as reference
      test compounds, but their contributions to the observed activity of the olive
      pomace extract were insignificant. The established test system proved to be a
      fast and efficient assay for identifying anti-cryptosporidial activities in
      biological waste material and comparison with selected reference compounds. 

PMID- 27627640
TI  - Hypomethylation of Interleukin-6 Promoter is Associated with the Risk of Coronary
      Heart Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary
      heart disease (CHD), and IL-6 expression has associated with reduced DNA
      methylation of its gene promoter. However, there are no data on IL-6 promoter
      methylation and the risk of CHD. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether IL-6 promoter
      methylation measured in blood leukocyte DNA is associated with CHD risk. METHODS:
      A total of 212 cases with CHD and 218 controls were enrolled. Methylation at two
      CpG sites in IL-6 promoter was measured by bisulfite pyrosequencing, and the mean
      IL-6 methylation was calculated by averaging the methylation measures of the two
      CpGs. RESULTS: Mean methylation level in IL-6 promoter in CHD cases was
      significantly lower than that in controls (p = 0.023). Logistic regression
      analysis showed that IL-6 methylation was inversely associated with the risk of
      CHD. The odds ratios (ORs) of CHD for subjects in the second and first (lowest)
      tertile of IL-6 methylation were 1.87 (95% CI = 1.10-3.20) and 2.01 (95% CI =
      1.19-3.38) (ptrend = 0.013), respectively, compared to subjects in the third
      (highest) tertile. The IL-6 hypomethylation-related risk estimates tended to be
      stronger for acute myocardial infarction (ptrend = 0.006). CpG position-specific
      analysis showed that hypomethylation of position 1 conferred a more pronounced
      increase in CHD risk than that of position 2. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest
      that DNA hypomethylation of IL-6 promoter is associated with the increased risk
      for CHD, especially for acute myocardial infarction. The two distinct CpGs in IL
      6 may contribute differently to the development of CHD.

PMID- 27627639
TI  - I RBH - First Brazilian Hypertension Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A registry assessing the care of hypertensive patients in daily
      clinical practice in public and private centers in various Brazilian regions has
      not been conducted to date. Such analysis is important to elucidate the
      effectiveness of this care. OBJECTIVE: To document the current clinical practice
      for the treatment of hypertension with identification of the profile of requested
      tests, type of administered treatment, level of blood pressure (BP) control, and
      adherence to treatment. METHODS: National, observational, prospective, and
      multicenter study that will include patients older than 18 years with
      hypertension for at least 4 weeks, following up in public and private centers and
      after signing a consent form. The study will exclude patients undergoing
      dialysis, hospitalized in the previous 30 days, with class III or IV heart
      failure, pregnant or nursing, with severe liver disease, stroke or acute
      myocardial infarction in the past 30 days, or with diseases with a survival
      prognosis < 1 year. Evaluations will be performed at baseline and after 1 year of
      follow-up. The parameters that will be evaluated include anthropometric data,
      lifestyle habits, BP levels, lipid profile, metabolic syndrome, and adherence to
      treatment. The primary outcomes will be hospitalization due to hypertensive
      crisis, cardiocirculatory events, and cardiovascular death, while secondary
      outcomes will be hospitalization for heart failure and requirement of dialysis. A
      subgroup analysis of 15% of the sample will include noninvasive central pressure
      evaluation at baseline and study end. The estimated sample size is 3,000
      individuals for a prevalence of 5%, sample error of 2%, and 95% confidence
      interval. RESULTS: The results will be presented after the final evaluation,
      which will occur at the end of a 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: The analysis of
      this registry will improve the knowledge and optimize the treatment of
      hypertension in Brazil, as a way of modifying the prognosis of cardiovascular
      disease in the country.

PMID- 27627642
TI  - Case 4 - A 67 Year-Old Man with Aortic Regurgitation Who Presented Syncope
      Followed by Shock.

PMID- 27627641
TI  - Recommendation of Early Surgery in Primary Mitral Regurgitation: Pros and Cons.

PMID- 27627643
TI  - Chronic Heart Disease after Treatment of Oral Acute Chagas Disease.
AB  - We describe the recurrence of cardiac abnormalities in a patient treated during
      the acute phase of Chagas disease after outpatient follow-up of 5 years. 

PMID- 27627645
TI  - The Relationship between GRACE Score and Epicardial Fat Thickness in non-STEMI
      Patients.

PMID- 27627644
TI  - Multiple Thrombi in the Inferior Vena Cava and Right Atrium - Recurrent
      Thromboembolism Due to Polycythemia Vera.

PMID- 27627646
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27627647
TI  - Effects of Green Tea Gargling on the Prevention of Influenza Infection: An
      Analysis Using Bayesian Approaches.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to analyze the data obtained from a
      randomized trial on the prevention of influenza by gargling with green tea, which
      gave nonsignificant results based on frequentist approaches, by using Bayesian
      approaches. METHODS: The posterior proportion, with 95% credible interval (CrI),
      of influenza in each group was calculated. The Bayesian index theta is the
      probability that a hypothesis is true. In this case, theta is the probability
      that the hypothesis that green tea gargling reduced influenza compared with water
      gargling is true. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were
      also performed by using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. RESULTS: The full
      analysis set included 747 participants. During the study period, influenza
      occurred in 44 participants (5.9%). The difference between the two independent
      binominal proportions was -0.019 (95% CrI, -0.054 to 0.015; theta = 0.87). The
      partial regression coefficients in the univariate analysis were -0.35 (95% CrI, 
      1.00 to 0.24) with use of a uniform prior and -0.34 (95% CrI, -0.96 to 0.27) with
      use of a Jeffreys prior. In the multivariate analysis, the values were -0.37 (95%
      CrI, -0.96 to 0.30) and -0.36 (95% CrI, -1.03 to 0.21), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The difference between the two independent binominal proportions was
      less than 0, and theta was greater than 0.85. Therefore, green tea gargling may
      slightly reduce influenza compared with water gargling. This analysis suggests
      that green tea gargling can be an additional preventive measure for use with
      other pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical measures and indicates the need for
      additional studies to confirm the effect of green tea gargling.

PMID- 27627648
TI  - CO2-Mediated Formation of Chiral Carbamates from meso-Epoxides via Polycarbonate
      Intermediates.
AB  - Carbon dioxide has attracted broad interest as a renewable C1 feedstock for
      efficient transformation into value-added organic chemicals; nevertheless, far
      less attention was paid to its stereochemically controlled catalytic
      fixation/conversion processes. Here, we report a new strategy for the selective
      synthesis of chiral carbamates from carbon dioxide via polycarbonate
      intermediates, which are formed by the desymmetric copolymerization of meso
      epoxides using enantiopure dinuclear Co(III) catalyst systems with 99%
      enantioselectivity. Subsequent degradation reaction of the resultant
      polycarbonates with various primary or secondary amine nucleophiles can afford
      optically active carbamates, with the complete configuration retention of the two
      chiral carbon centers. Our accomplishment reported here opens up a new route to
      prepare a wide range of CO2-based carbamate scaffolds with excellent yields and
      99% enantiomeric excess.

PMID- 27627649
TI  - Sonogashira Cross-Coupling as a Route to Tunable Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Rods
      with a Polyoxometalate Backbone.
AB  - A new diiodo-bifunctionalized Anderson-Evans polyoxometalate
      (TBA)3[MnMo6O18{(OCH2)3CNHCO(C6H4-p-I)}2] (1; TBA = [(C4H9)4N]+) was prepared and
      used as a new platform to generate tunable rigid-molecular rods (2a-2c) via
      Sonogashira cross-coupling. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 1 and 2c
      reveals that they are type B Anderson-Evans structures with molecular lengths of
      23 and 38 A, respectively.

PMID- 27627650
TI  - Quantitative Determination of Ceramide Molecular Species in Dendritic Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The activation of acid sphingomyelinase by cellular stress or
      receptors or the de novo synthesis lead to the formation of ceramide (N
      acylsphingosine), which in turn modifies the biophysical properties of cellular
      membrane and greatly amplifies the intensity of the initial signal. Ceramide,
      which acts by re-organizing a given signalosome rather than being a second
      messenger, has many functions in infection biology, cancer, cardiovascular
      syndromes, and immune regulation. Experimental studies on the infection of human
      cells with different bacterial agents demonstrated the activation of the acid
      sphingomyelinase/ceramide system. Moreover, the release of ceramide was found to
      be a requisite for the uptake of the pathogen. Considering the particular
      importance of the cellular role of ceramide, it was necessary to develop
      sensitive and accurate methods for its quantification. METHODS: Here, we describe
      a method quantifying ceramide in dendritic cells and defining the different fatty
      acids (FA) bound to sphingosine. The main steps of the method include extraction
      of total lipids, separation of the ceramide by thin-layer chromatography,
      derivatization of ceramide-fatty acids (Cer-FA), and quantitation of these acids
      in their methyl form by gas chromatography on polar capillary columns. The
      identification of FA was achieved by means of known standards and confirmed by
      mass spectrometry. RESULTS: FA ranging between C10 and C24 could be detected and
      quantified. The concentration of the sum of Cer-FA amounted to 14.88 +/- 8.98
      nmol/106 cells (n=10). Oleic acid, which accounted for approximately half of Cer
      FA (7.73 +/- 6.52 nmol/106 cells) was the predominant fatty acid followed by
      palmitic acid (3.47 +/- 1.54 nmol/106 cells). CONCLUSION: This highly sensitive
      method allows the quantification of different molecular species of ceramides.

PMID- 27627651
TI  - Silicon Reagent with Functionalized Tetrafluoroethylene Fragments: Preparation
      and Coupling with Aldehydes.
AB  - A new fluorinated silicon reagent bearing a functionalized tetrafluoroethylene
      fragment was prepared from two CF2 building blocks: ethyl bromodifluoroacetate
      and (bromodifluoromethyl)trimethylsilane. The key C-C bond-forming step involves
      a difluorocarbene addition/cyclopropane rearrangement sequence. The silicon
      reagent was coupled with aldehydes and reactive azomethines in the presence of
      potassium fluoride.

PMID- 27627653
TI  - Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Human Amniotic Membrane and Umbilical Cord Can
      Diminish Immunological Response in an in vitro Allograft Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are gaining rising interest in
      gynecology and obstetrics. MSCs immunomodulatory properties are suitable enough
      to reduce perinatal morbidity caused by inflammation in premature neonates. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the ability to inhibit allo
      activated lymphocytes proliferation by MSCs derived from different sources:
      amniotic membrane (AM), umbilical cord (UC) and adipose tissue (AT). METHODS:
      MSCs were isolated from AM (n = 7) and UC (n = 6) and AT (n = 6) of healthy
      women. Cells were characterized by flow cytometry and differentiation assay. To
      evaluate the potential of fetal and adult MSCs to diminish immunological
      response, mixed lymphocytes reaction (MLR) was performed. RESULTS: Amnion and UC
      derived cells displayed typical MSCs characteristics. Addition of MSCs to MLR
      significantly inhibited the proliferation of stimulated lymphocytes. The effect
      was observed regardless of the MSCs type used (p < 0.01 in all groups).
      Comparative analysis revealed no significant differences in this action between
      tested MSCs types. Additionally, no type of MSCs significantly stimulated
      allogeneic lymphocytes. CONCLUSION: The results prove the immunosuppressive
      capacities of fetal-derived MSCs in vitro. In the future, they may be potentially
      used to treat premature newborn as well as in immunomodulation in post-transplant
      therapy.

PMID- 27627655
TI  - James Segars, MD.

PMID- 27627652
TI  - Wdr1-Dependent Actin Reorganization in Platelet Activation.
AB  - In resting platelets, the integrin alphaIIbbeta3 is present in a low-affinity
      "bent" state. During platelet aggregation, intracytoplasmic signals induce
      conformational changes (inside-out signaling) that result in a "swung-out"
      conformation competent to bind ligands such as fibrinogen. The cytoskeleton plays
      an essential role in alphaIIbbeta3 activation. We investigated the role of the
      actin interacting protein Wdr1 in alphaIIbbeta3 activation. Wdr1-hypomorphic mice
      had a prolonged bleeding time (> 10 minutes) compared to that of wild-type mice
      (2.1 +/- 0.7 minutes). Their platelets had impaired aggregation to collagen and
      thrombin. In a FeCl3 induced carotid artery thrombosis model, vessel occlusion in
      Wdr1-hypomorphic mice was prolonged significantly compared to wild-type mice (9.0
      +/- 10.5 minutes versus 5.8 +/- 12.6 minutes (p = 0.041). Activation-induced
      binding of JON/A (a conformation-specific antibody to activated alphaIIbbeta3)
      was significantly less in Wdr1-hypomorphic platelets at various concentrations of
      collagen, indicating impaired inside-out activation of alphaIIbbeta3, despite a
      normal calcium response. Actin turnover, assessed by measuring F-actin and G
      actin ratios during collagen- and thrombin-induced platelet aggregation, was
      highly impaired in Wdr1-hypomorphic platelets. Furthermore, talin failed to
      redistribute and translocate to the cytoskeleton following activation in Wdr1
      hypomorphic platelets. These studies show that Wdr1 is essential for talin
      induced activation of alphaIIbbeta3 during platelet activation. 

PMID- 27627656
TI  - Jeanne Sheffield, MD.

PMID- 27627654
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of AmBisome in Combination with Sodium Stibogluconate or
      Miltefosine and Miltefosine Monotherapy for African Visceral Leishmaniasis: Phase
      II Randomized Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: SSG&PM over 17 days is recommended as first line treatment for
      visceral leishmaniasis in eastern Africa, but is painful and requires
      hospitalization. Combination regimens including AmBisome and miltefosine are safe
      and effective in India, but there are no published data from trials of
      combination therapies including these drugs from Africa. METHODS: A phase II open
      label, non-comparative randomized trial was conducted in Sudan and Kenya to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of three treatment regimens: 10 mg/kg single
      dose AmBisome plus 10 days of SSG (20 mg/kg/day), 10 mg/kg single dose AmBisome
      plus 10 days of miltefosine (2.5mg/kg/day) and miltefosine alone (2.5 mg/kg/day
      for 28 days). The primary endpoint was initial parasitological cure at Day 28,
      and secondary endpoints included definitive cure at Day 210, and pharmacokinetic
      (miltefosine) and pharmacodynamic assessments. RESULTS: In sequential analyses
      with 49-51 patients per arm, initial cure was 85% (95% CI: 73-92) in all arms. At
      D210, definitive cure was 87% (95% CI: 77-97) for AmBisome + SSG, 77% (95% CI 64
      90) for AmBisome + miltefosine and 72% (95% CI 60-85) for miltefosine alone, with
      lower efficacy in younger patients, who weigh less. Miltefosine pharmacokinetic
      data indicated under-exposure in children compared to adults. CONCLUSION: No
      major safety concerns were identified, but point estimates of definitive cure
      were less than 90% for each regimen so none will be evaluated in Phase III trials
      in their current form. Allometric dosing of miltefosine in children needs to be
      evaluated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov,
      number NCT01067443.

PMID- 27627657
TI  - Zika Virus in Semen: What We Know and What We Need to Know.
AB  - The emergence of the Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in South and Central America has
      ascended to the forefront of international attention. While research regarding
      the effects and details surrounding ZIKV in pregnancy is well underway,
      especially related to blood-borne transmission, less attention has been devoted
      to ZIKV infection in semen and questions concerning implications of ZIKV
      infection in men. In this review, we present what is known and unknown, and the
      implications for localization of ZIKV to the male urogenital system. We examine
      the duration and viral load of ZIKV in semen, male and female transmission of
      ZIKV, the asymptomatic male carrier, and the consequences for assisted
      reproductive technology and sperm banking facilities. Furthermore, we discuss the
      potential for active ZIKV transmission in the United States as world travel
      continues to rise and the evolution and case history of ZIKV sexual transmission.
      We also review the current government-sponsored and reproductive society
      recommendations for managing sexual transmission of ZIKV and elucidate future
      research needs.

PMID- 27627658
TI  - Chemotherapy Drug Induced Discoordination of Mitochondrial Life Cycle Detected by
      Cardiolipin Fluctuation.
AB  - Chemotherapy drugs have been prescribed for the systemic treatment of cancer. We
      selected three chemotherapy drugs, including methotrexate, mitomycine C and
      vincristine to inhibit the proliferation of HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells in S,
      G2 and M phases of the cell cycle respectively. These chemotherapy drugs showed
      significant toxicity and growth inhibition to the cancer cells measured by MTT
      assay. After treated with a 50% inhibitory dosage for 48 hours, these cancer
      cells showed significant accumulation of cardiolipin (CL), which was a reverse
      trend of the nutritional deficiency induced arrest at G1 phase. The quantity of
      each CL species was further semi-quantitated by HPLC-ion trap mass spectrometer.
      Methotraxate treatment caused unique increases of acyl chain length on CL, which
      were the opposite of the serum starvation, mitomycine C and vincristine
      treatments. Although mitomycine C and vincristine have different mechanisms to
      induce cell cycle arrest, these two drugs displayed similar effects on decreasing
      chain length of CL. Continuation of CL synthesis during cell cycle arrest
      indicated the chemotherapy drugs resulting in the discoordination of the
      mitochondrial life cycle from the cell cycle and thus caused the accumulation of
      CL. These finding reveals that the pre-remodeling nascent CL accumulates during
      the methotraxate induced arrest; however, the post-remodeling mature CL
      accumulates during the mitomycine C and vincristine induced arrest after the
      synthesis phase. 

PMID- 27627659
TI  - Social Health Insurance-Based Simultaneous Screening for 154 Mutations in 19
      Deafness Genes Efficiently Identified Causative Mutations in Japanese Hearing
      Loss Patients.
AB  - Sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most common neurosensory disorders in
      humans. The incidence of SNHL is estimated to be 1 in 500-1000 newborns. In more
      than half of these patients, the hearing loss is associated with genetic causes.
      In Japan, genetic testing for the patients with SNHL using the Invader assay to
      screen for 46 mutations in 13 deafness genes was approved by the Ministry of
      Health, Labour and Welfare for inclusion in social health insurance coverage in
      2012. Furthermore, from August 2015, this genetic testing has been expanded to
      screen for 154 mutations in 19 deafness genes using targeted genomic enrichment
      with massively parallel DNA sequencing combined with the Invader assay and TaqMan
      genotyping. For this study we analyzed 717 unrelated Japanese hearing loss
      patients. The total allele frequency of 154 mutations in 19 deafness genes was
      32.64% (468/1434) and the total numbers of cases associated with at least one
      mutation was 44.07% (316/717). Among these, we were able to diagnose 212 (30%)
      patients, indicating that the present screening could efficiently identify
      causative mutations in hearing loss patients. It is noteworthy that 27 patients
      (3.8%) had coexistent multiple mutations in different genes. Five of these 27
      patients (0.7%, 5/717 overall) were diagnosed with genetic hearing loss affected
      by concomitant with responsible mutations in more than two different genes. For
      patients identified with multiple mutations in different genes, it is necessary
      to consider that several genes might have an impact on their phenotypes. 

PMID- 27627661
TI  - Protein-Observed Fluorine NMR Is a Complementary Ligand Discovery Method to 1H
      CPMG Ligand-Observed NMR.
AB  - To evaluate its potential as a ligand discovery tool, we compare a newly
      developed 1D protein-observed fluorine NMR (PrOF NMR) screening method with the
      well-characterized ligand-observed 1H CPMG NMR screen. We selected the first
      bromodomain of Brd4 as a model system to benchmark PrOF NMR because of the high
      ligandability of Brd4 and the need for small molecule inhibitors of related
      epigenetic regulatory proteins. We compare the two methods' hit sensitivity,
      triaging ability, experiment speed, material consumption, and the potential for
      false positives and negatives. To this end, we screened 930 fragment molecules
      against Brd4 in mixtures of five and followed up these studies with mixture
      deconvolution and affinity characterization of the top hits. In selected
      examples, we also compare the environmental responsiveness of the 19F chemical
      shift to 1H in 1D-protein observed 1H NMR experiments. To address concerns of
      perturbations from fluorine incorporation, ligand binding trends and affinities
      were verified via thermal shift assays and isothermal titration calorimetry. We
      conclude that for the protein understudy here, PrOF NMR and 1H CPMG have similar
      sensitivity, with both being effective tools for ligand discovery. In cases where
      an unlabeled protein can be used, 1D protein-observed 1H NMR may also be
      effective; however, the 19F chemical shift remains significantly more responsive.

PMID- 27627660
TI  - Anti-Human Platelet Antigen-1a Immunoglobulin G Preparation Intended to Prevent
      Fetal and Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia.
AB  - Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is a severe disease that
      is caused by maternal alloantibodies generated during pregnancy or at delivery as
      a result of incompatibility between maternal and fetal human platelet antigens
      (HPAs) inherited from the father. Antibody-mediated immune suppression using anti
      HPA-1a immunoglobulins is thought to be able to prevent FNAIT caused by HPA-1a. A
      fractionation process to prepare anti-HPA-1a immunoglobulin (Ig) G (IgG) from
      human plasma was therefore developed. Anti-HPA-1a plasma was obtained from
      volunteer mothers who underwent alloimmunization against HPA-1a during a previous
      pregnancy. Plasma was cryoprecipitated and the supernatant treated with caprylic
      acid and solvent/detergent (S/D), purified by chromatography, nanofiltered,
      concentrated, and sterile-filtered. The anti-HPA-1a immunoglobulin fraction was
      characterized for purity and safety. PAK12 and quantitative monoclonal antibody
      immobilization of platelet antigen (MAIPA) assays were used to detect anti-HPA-1a
      IgG. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) removal during nanofiltration was assessed by
      spiking experiments, using cell culture-derived reporter HCV and luciferase
      analysis. The caprylic acid treatment precipitated non-Ig proteins yielding a 90%
      pure Ig supernatant. S-HyperCel chromatography of the S/D-treated supernatant
      followed by HyperCel STAR AX provided high IgG recovery (>80%) and purity
      (>99.5%), and efficient IgA and IgM removal. Concentrations of complement factors
      C3 and C4 were < 0.5 and < 0.4 mg/dL, respectively. The final IgG could be
      nanofiltered on Planova 20N under conditions removing more than 3 log HCV
      infectivity to baseline mock infection level, and concentrated to ca. 30 g/L.
      Proteolytic activity and thrombin generation were low in the final fraction. The
      Pak12 and MAIPA assays showed good recovery of anti-HPA-1a throughout the
      process. Clinical-grade HPA-1a IgG can be prepared using a process compliant with
      current quality requirements opening perspectives for the prevention of FNAIT. 

PMID- 27627662
TI  - The Italian National Health Service expenditure on workplace prevention and
      safety (2006-2013): a national-level analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that countries' health
      policies should give high priority to primary prevention of occupational health
      hazards. Scant data are available on health expenditure on workplace prevention
      and safety services and on its impact on occupational health outcomes in Italy
      and in other European countries. STUDY DESIGN: objective of the present study was
      to systematically retrieve, analyse and critically appraise the available
      national-level data on public health expenditure on workplace prevention and
      safety services as well as to correlate them with occupational health outcomes.
      METHODS: National-level data on total public health expenditure on prevention
      services, its share spent on workplace prevention and safety services as well as
      on number of workers receiving appropriate health surveillance were derived from
      the national public health expenditure monitoring system over a 8-year study
      period (2006-2013). An analytic approach was adopted to explore the association
      between health expenditure and occupational health services supply. RESULTS: The
      Italian National Health Service spends almost ? 5 billion per year on preventive
      care, of which 13.3% are spent on workplace prevention and safety programmes (?
      645 million, ? 10.6 per capita). There is wide heterogeneity between Italian
      regions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are useful for health systems and policies
      analysis, national and international comparisons as well as for health policy
      makers to plan, implement and monitor occupational health prevention programmes.

PMID- 27627663
TI  - Trend and determinants of acute inpatient care for the elderly in Italy from 2001
      to 2011.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The population over 64 years of age is the main user of acute
      hospital care services. The elderly admission rates represent a marker for the
      appropriateness of the model of care. The aim of this study was to assess trends
      and determinants of acute in-patient care among the elderly in Italy between 2001
      and 2011. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of data included in the Italian
      Hospital Discharge Form Database. METHODS: Data from the Italian Hospital
      Discharge Form Database, Italian Ministry of Health, for the years 2001, 2006 and
      2011 were analyzed for individuals over 64 years of age. Inpatient admission (> 1
      day) rates across Italian Regions were calculated and compared with demographic
      variables and out-of-hospital care indicators. Univariate and multivariate
      analysis were used to determine independent relationship among variables.
      RESULTS: From 2001 to 2011 the elderly hospital admission rate decreased from
      302.1/1,000 in 2001, to 222.4 in 2011, accounting for an overall decrease of
      about 28%. The decline in admission rates was less pronounced among individuals >
      74 y (26.4%) than among those 65-74 y (32.1%). Hospitalization rates decreased in
      all Italian administrative regions between 2001 and 2011, even if the
      hospitalization rates in 2011 were still very different through the different
      Italian regions, ranging from 180.3/1,000 in Piedmont to 278.1/1,000 in Molise
      for people > 64 y. The multivariate linear regression was statistically
      significant in explaining the variations in hospitalization rates among the
      different Italian administrative regions (F: 3.637; p = 0.024; adjusted R2 =
      0.57) and pointed to the role played by the proportion of the elderly (as
      percentage of the total population, p=0.043) and the rate of variation of acute
      care beds from 2004 to 2011 (p=0.001). Variables related to community-based care
      did not show any association with the hospital admissions rate among the elderly.
      CONCLUSIONS: The trend toward decline in elderly inpatient admissions is still
      present in 2011 as it was in 2001. Determinants of elderly hospital care in Italy
      are related to the increased number of elderly individuals and the reduction of
      hospital beds. Out-of-hospital care does not correlate with the variation of in
      patient care so the overall care appropriateness could be negatively affected.

PMID- 27627664
TI  - Mobility trends of Patients across Italian Regions: implications for planning and
      evaluation of hospital services.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study of patients' mobility is useful for health planning and
      identifying deficiencies in care supply. The Italian Health Service, with 21
      different regional realities, can be considered as a macrocosmic test bench. Our
      study aims: (1) to describe the trend of patients' hospital mobility across the
      Italian Regions; (2) to offer an immediate visual approach for decision making;
      (3) to identify some factors involved in patient's mobility. STUDY DESIGN:
      Observational cross sectional study. METHODS: We used ordinary and day hospital
      discharge data from 1998 to 2014. The study was carried out using: (1) the
      Gandy's Nomogram (GN), a graphical tool that assesses the power of attraction and
      the escape's containment of hospital regional networks; (2) the vector analysis;
      (3) the trend analysis with Cuzik's test; (4) the panel data analysis, with
      multiple logistic regression model. RESULTS: The mean number of annual
      admissions, in Italian hospitals, was 10,976,290, progressively decreasing from
      2001 to 2014, and 7% of it occurred "in mobility". We have drawn the different
      paths of patients' mobility by Regions and observed critical situations almost in
      Regions of Southern Italy, compared with Regions of the Centre-North. Moreover we
      analyzed the factors implied in such mobility, highlighting that attraction is
      influenced by the hospitalization rate in private structures, by the percentage
      of graduates in the Regions, and by the number of hospital beds/10,000
      inhabitants; while escapes are influenced by GDP per capita, by the number of
      hospital beds/10,000 inhabitants and by the sanitary expenses per capita of the
      Region. CONCLUSIONS: We have shown the potentialities of the GN, applicable at
      micro level but also on a large scale in the analysis of patients' hospital
      mobility; and this, together with panel data analysis, can lead to a more
      conscious and effective health planning.

PMID- 27627666
TI  - A breaking down of the Mediterranean diet in the land where it was discovered. A
      cross sectional survey among the young generation of adolescents in the heart of
      Cilento, Southern Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate dietary habits among young people in the Mediterranean
      lands, exactly where the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet (MD) were
      discovered by Ancel Keys. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design. METHODS:
      A 10-items food-frequency questionnaire was administered to 1117 students in the
      schools of the Cilento area. Adherence to the MD was appraised according to a
      scale of 0-10. A logistic regression model was used to identify possible factors
      associated with "Following an unhealthy diet". Results were expressed as Odds
      Ratio with 95% confidence interval and the level of significance was set at
      p<0.05. RESULTS: A percentage of 63.8 reached a score under six, indicating that
      the majority of the students did not respect the rules of the Mediterranean diet
      and only 36.2% (n. 371) exceeded a score of 6 adhering to it in varying degrees.
      At the logistic regression analysis smokers resulted to be affected by almost a
      double risk of getting away from the Mediterranean dietary pattern (OR = 1.93; CI
      95% 1.44-2.57); on the contrary, those with a higher PCS12 (Physical Component
      Summary score) were in a lower risk to move away from the MD style (OR = 0.98;
      95% CI = 0.96-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Despite its increasing popularity worldwide,
      adherence to the MD model is decreasing. The new generation of young people does
      not adhere to the MD pattern although they live in the lands characterized by the
      tradition and culture of healthy diet and where the benefits from this pattern
      were initially discovered. Interventions and specific education about the healthy
      diet may be useful to recover student's dietary patterns as in the old eating
      tradition.

PMID- 27627665
TI  - Are 6-8 year old Italian children moving away from the Mediterranean diet?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean diet (MD) is considered one of the healthiest
      dietary models, as it decreases the risk of chronic diseases and may modulate the
      organism's early response to environmental pollution. In recent decades,
      Mediterranean countries have been replacing their traditional diet with other
      less healthy eating habits, especially among children and teenagers. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the MD and the level of adherence to it in
      6-8 year old Italian children, in relation to residence, lifestyle, and social
      and family contexts. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to the children's
      parents in two seasons in 5 Italian towns. The diet section contained 116
      questions investigating the frequency of consumption of different types of food.
      The Italian Mediterranean Index (IMI) was calculated according to the intake of 6
      typical Mediterranean and 4 non-Mediterranean foods. On the basis of IMI score,
      MD adherence was classified as low (<= 3 IMI score), medium (4-5) and high (>=
      6). Total energy load and diet composition in micro- and macronutrients were
      calculated from consumption frequency. RESULTS: Diet analysis was computed on
      1164 subjects with two complete questionnaires. Body mass index, calculated for
      each subject, showed that 28.9% of the children were overweight, the figure
      varying slightly with area of residence. Our findings showed that 59.0% of the
      children had a low score for MD adherence. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study
      showed that most Italian children did not follow the MD and socio-economic
      characteristics appeared not to be associated with type of diet.

PMID- 27627667
TI  - Surveillance of microbiological contamination and correct use of protective lead
      garments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthcare associated infections are an important threat of Public
      Health. Several studies investigated the possible role played by the hospital
      environment in the transmission of nosocomial pathogens. In addition to the
      "classic" nosocomial surfaces, some researches focused their attention on
      "alternative" surfaces. Little is known about the protective lead garments used
      in operating rooms. STUDY DESIGN: This study was conducted in three phases to
      investigate the microbiological contamination and the normal use of these
      garments. In the first step, we administered a questionnaire to know the
      frequency and the type of sanitation. Then, in the second step, we conducted the
      microbiological samplings and, finally, in the third step, we carried out a
      surveillance on the use of these garments during the surgical procedures.
      METHODS: In the first step, we administered the questionnaire through direct
      interview. For microbiological sampling we used sterile swabs, the normal growth
      media and the API Identification System (bioMerieux). RESULTS: The study showed
      that the garments are sanitized only in 66.7% of the cases with a non-defined
      frequency. Moreover, a bacterial contamination was found on 88 garments with a
      positivity of 80.7% and the units with the higher rate of contamination were
      Urology, Orthopedics, Neuroradiology and Intensive Cardiac Care. Finally, 100% of
      the surgical team members wore sterile disposable shirts above the protective
      lead garments while this was never true for the rest of the nursing and
      anaesthesia team. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent the contamination of these garments, it
      is important to develop appropriate sanitation procedures and to store them in
      special cabinets also subjected to sanitation. Finally, it is necessary to focus
      on the correct use of the protective lead garments.

PMID- 27627668
TI  - What's growing on General Practitioner's stethoscope?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-critical medical devices, as stethoscopes, have long been
      considered as vectors in microorganisms' transmission. Cleaning standards for non
      critical medical equipment are often unclear. This study was designed to assess
      the attitude of General Practitioners (GPs) towards cleaning their stethoscope
      and the degree of microbiological contamination of doctor's instrument in
      outpatient setting. STUDY DESIGN: Observational, crossover study. METHODS: A
      structured questionnaire was administered to GPs to test their knowledge about
      medical instrument's cleanliness recommendations and the surface of the diaphragm
      of their stethoscopes was analyzed for bacteriological isolates using mass
      spectrometry technique. RESULTS: Most of GPs declared they don't know cleaning
      recommendations for non-critical medical devices and a relevant bacterial growth
      was identified on the majority of the stethoscopes' membranes. Almost all
      microbiological isolates resulted typically found in cutaneous flora.
      CONCLUSIONS: We can't state that the GP's stethoscopes feature a risk of
      transmission for microbiological pathogens; anyway, because of the level of
      contamination we observed, cleaning recommendations to disinfect instruments on a
      regular basis should be better indicated.

PMID- 27627669
TI  - Health Surveillance in Italian workers formerly exposed to asbestos: a call to
      action for policy makers.

PMID- 27627670
TI  - Correction to "Generalized Anomeric Effect in gem-Diamines: Stereoselective
      Synthesis of alpha-N-Linked Disaccharide Mimics".

PMID- 27627671
TI  - Dynamic Variations in Genetic Integrity Accompany Changes in Cell Fate.
AB  - Pluripotent stem cells hold the potential to form the basis of novel approaches
      to treatment of disease in vivo as well as to facilitate the generation of models
      for human disease, providing powerful avenues to discovery of novel diagnostic
      biomarkers and/or innovative drug regimens in vitro. However, this will require
      extensive maintenance, expansion, and manipulation of these cells in culture,
      which raises a concern regarding the extent to which genetic integrity will be
      preserved throughout these manipulations. We used a mutation reporter (lacI)
      transgene approach to conduct direct comparisons of mutation frequencies in cell
      populations that shared a common origin and genetic identity, but were induced to
      undergo transitions in cell fate between pluripotent and differentiated states,
      or vice versa. We confirm that pluripotent cells normally maintain enhanced
      genetic integrity relative to that in differentiated cells, and we extend this
      finding to show that dynamic transformations in the relative stringency at which
      genetic integrity is maintained are associated with transitions between
      pluripotent and differentiated cellular states. These results provide insight
      into basic biological distinctions between pluripotent and differentiated cell
      types that impact genetic integrity in a manner that is directly relevant to the
      potential clinical use of these cell types.

PMID- 27627673
TI  - What You Find Depends on How You Measure It: Reactivity of Response Scales
      Measuring Predecisional Information Distortion in Medical Diagnosis.
AB  - "Predecisional information distortion" occurs when decision makers evaluate new
      information in a way that is biased towards their leading option. The phenomenon
      is well established, as is the method typically used to measure it, termed
      "stepwise evolution of preference" (SEP). An inadequacy of this method has
      recently come to the fore: it measures distortion as the total advantage afforded
      a leading option over its competitor, and therefore it cannot differentiate
      between distortion to strengthen a leading option ("proleader" distortion) and
      distortion to weaken a trailing option ("antitrailer" distortion). To address
      this, recent research introduced new response scales to SEP. We explore whether
      and how these new response scales might influence the very proleader and
      antitrailer processes that they were designed to capture ("reactivity"). We used
      the SEP method with concurrent verbal reporting: fifty family physicians
      verbalized their thoughts as they evaluated patient symptoms and signs ("cues")
      in relation to two competing diagnostic hypotheses. Twenty-five physicians
      evaluated each cue using the response scale traditional to SEP (a single response
      scale, returning a single measure of distortion); the other twenty-five did so
      using the response scales introduced in recent studies (two separate response
      scales, returning two separate measures of distortion: proleader and
      antitrailer). We measured proleader and antitrailer processes in verbalizations,
      and compared verbalizations in the single-scale and separate-scales groups.
      Response scales did not appear to affect proleader processes: the two groups of
      physicians were equally likely to bolster their leading diagnosis verbally.
      Response scales did, however, appear to affect antitrailer processes: the two
      groups denigrated their trailing diagnosis verbally to differing degrees. Our
      findings suggest that the response scales used to measure information distortion
      might influence its constituent processes, limiting their generalizability across
      and beyond experimental studies. 

PMID- 27627672
TI  - Sequential and Simultaneous Immunization of Rabbits with HIV-1 Envelope
      Glycoprotein SOSIP.664 Trimers from Clades A, B and C.
AB  - We have investigated the immunogenicity in rabbits of native-like, soluble,
      recombinant SOSIP.664 trimers based on the env genes of four isolates of human
      immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1); specifically BG505 (clade A), B41 (clade
      B), CZA97 (clade C) and DU422 (clade C). The various trimers were delivered
      either simultaneously (as a mixture of clade A + B trimers) or sequentially over
      a 73-week period. Autologous, Tier-2 neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses were
      generated to the clade A and clade B trimers in the bivalent mixture. When
      delivered as boosting immunogens to rabbits immunized with the clade A and/or
      clade B trimers, the clade C trimers also generated autologous Tier-2 NAb
      responses, the CZA97 trimers doing so more strongly and consistently than the
      DU422 trimers. The clade C trimers also cross-boosted the pre-existing NAb
      responses to clade A and B trimers. We observed heterologous Tier-2 NAb responses
      albeit inconsistently, and with limited overall breath. However, cross
      neutralization of the clade A BG505.T332N virus was consistently observed in
      rabbits immunized only with clade B trimers and then boosted with clade C
      trimers. The autologous NAbs induced by the BG505, B41 and CZA97 trimers
      predominantly recognized specific holes in the glycan shields of the cognate
      virus. The shared location of some of these holes may account for the observed
      cross-boosting effects and the heterologous neutralization of the BG505.T332N
      virus. These findings will guide the design of further experiments to determine
      whether and how multiple Env trimers can together induce more broadly
      neutralizing antibody responses.

PMID- 27627674
TI  - A Different Perspective on Evaluating the Malignancy Rate of the Non-Diagnostic
      Category of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology: A Single
      Institute Experience and Review of the Literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the malignancy rate in the non-diagnostic (ND) category
      of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) based on a
      different approach in relation to histopathology diagnoses. STUDY DESIGN: All ND
      fine needle aspirations (FNAs) that were performed under ultrasound guidance by
      an interventional radiologist with rapid on-site evaluation were included in the
      study. Slides were reevaluated to identify the cause of inadequacy as
      "qualitative" or "quantitative." The malignancy rate of the ND category was
      assessed. Nodule/patient characteristics were compared between benign and
      malignant cases within the study cohort. RESULTS: The study cohort consisted of
      192 ND aspirations. Overall there were 156 (81.3%) women and 36 (18.7%) men with
      a mean age of 50.6 years (range 24-82 years). The malignancy rate was 4.7%. None
      of the nodules (size, consistency, and number) or patient characteristics (gender
      and age) were found to be predictive of malignancy. CONCLUSION: The malignancy
      rate of the ND category was high when compared to BSRTC predictions, but at the
      low end of the reported malignancy rates in the literature. Our results revealed
      that cyto-histopathologic correlation and method of malignancy rate estimation
      could have an effect on a wide range of reported malignancy rates. Furthermore,
      patient/nodule dependent factors were not statistically found to be predictive of
      malignancy.

PMID- 27627676
TI  - Plastic Debris in 29 Great Lakes Tributaries: Relations to Watershed Attributes
      and Hydrology.
AB  - Plastic debris is a growing contaminant of concern in freshwater environments,
      yet sources, transport, and fate remain unclear. This study characterized the
      quantity and morphology of floating micro- and macroplastics in 29 Great Lakes
      tributaries in six states under different land covers, wastewater effluent
      contributions, population densities, and hydrologic conditions. Tributaries were
      sampled three or four times each using a 333 MUm mesh neuston net. Plastic
      particles were sorted by size, counted, and categorized as fibers/lines,
      pellets/beads, foams, films, and fragments. Plastics were found in all 107
      samples, with a maximum concentration of 32 particles/m3 and a median of 1.9
      particles/m3. Ninety-eight percent of sampled plastic particles were less than
      4.75 mm in diameter and therefore considered microplastics. Fragments, films,
      foams, and pellets/beads were positively correlated with urban-related watershed
      attributes and were found at greater concentrations during runoff-event
      conditions. Fibers, the most frequently detected particle type, were not
      associated with urban-related watershed attributes, wastewater effluent
      contribution, or hydrologic condition. Results from this study add to the body of
      information currently available on microplastics in different environmental
      compartments, including unique contributions to quantify their occurrence and
      variability in rivers with a wide variety of different land-use characteristics
      while highlighting differences between surface samples from rivers compared with
      lakes.

PMID- 27627675
TI  - Effect of Intensive Chemotherapy on Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Health of
      Older Adults with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To measure short-term changes in physical and cognitive function and
      emotional well-being of older adults receiving intensive chemotherapy for acute
      myeloid leukemia (AML). DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Single
      academic institution. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 60 and older with newly
      diagnosed AML who received induction chemotherapy (N = 49, mean age 70 +/- 6.2,
      56% male). MEASUREMENTS: Geriatric assessment (GA) was performed during inpatient
      examination for AML and within 8 weeks after hospital discharge after induction
      chemotherapy. Measures were the Pepper Assessment Tool for Disability (activity
      of daily living, instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), mobility
      questions), Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), grip strength, Modified
      Mini-Mental State examination, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale,
      and the Distress Thermometer. Changes in GA measures were assessed using paired t
      tests. Analysis of variance models were used to evaluate relationships between GA
      variables and change in function over time. RESULTS: After chemotherapy, IADL
      dependence worsened (mean 1.4 baseline vs 2.1 follow-up, P < .001), as did mean
      SPPB scores (7.5 vs 5.9, P = .02 for total). Grip strength also declined (38.9 +/
      7.7 vs 34.2 +/- 10.3 kg, P < .001 for men; 24.5 +/- 4.8 vs 21.8 +/- 4.7 kg, P =
      .007 for women). No significant changes in cognitive function (mean 84.7 vs 85.1,
      P = .72) or depressive symptoms (14.0 vs. 11.3, P = .11) were detected, but
      symptoms of distress declined (5.0 vs 3.2, P < .001). Participants with
      depressive symptoms at baseline and follow-up had greater declines in SPPB scores
      those without at both time points. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term survivors of intensive
      chemotherapy for AML had clinically meaningful declines in physical function.
      These data support the importance of interventions to maintain physical function
      during and after chemotherapy. Depressive symptoms before and during chemotherapy
      may be linked to potentially modifiable physical function declines.

PMID- 27627678
TI  - What Would a Republican Win Mean for Health Policy?

PMID- 27627677
TI  - The Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) Is Associated with
      Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Upregulation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products
      (RAGE) has been proposed as a pathophysiological mechanism underlying the
      development of atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to investigate if soluble RAGE
      levels are associated with AF in Caucasian patients. METHODS: Patients (n = 587)
      were prospectively recruited and serum levels of soluble RAGE (sRAGE) and
      endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE) measured. The patients included 527 with sinus
      rhythm, 32 with persistent AF (duration >7 days, n = 32) and 28 with paroxysmal
      AF (duration <7 days, n = 28). RESULTS: Patients with AF were older and had a
      greater prevalence of heart failure than patients in sinus rhythm. Circulating
      RAGE levels were higher in patients with persistent AF [median sRAGE 1190 (724
      2041) pg/ml and median esRAGE 452 (288-932) pg/ml] compared with paroxysmal AF
      [sRAGE 799 (583-1033) pg/ml and esRAGE 279 (201-433) pg/ml, p <= 0.01] or sinus
      rhythm [sRAGE 782 (576-1039) pg/ml and esRAGE 289 (192-412) pg/ml, p < 0.001]. In
      multivariable logistic regression analysis, independent predictors of persistent
      AF were age, heart failure, sRAGE [odds ratio 1.1 per 100 pg/ml, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 1.0-1.1, p = 0.001] and esRAGE [odds ratio 1.3 per 100 pg/ml, 95%
      CI 1.1-1.4, p < 0.001]. Heart failure and age were the only independent
      predictors of paroxysmal AF. In AF patients, sRAGE [odds ratio 1.1 per 100 pg/ml,
      95% CI 1.1-1.2, p = 0.007] and esRAGE [odds ratio 1.3 per 100 pg/ml, 95% CI 1.0
      1.5, p = 0.017] independently predicted persistent compared with paroxysmal AF.
      CONCLUSIONS: Soluble RAGE is elevated in Caucasian patients with AF, and both
      sRAGE and esRAGE predict the presence of persistent AF.

PMID- 27627679
TI  - De Novo Assembly and Transcriptome Analysis of Bulb Onion (Allium cepa L.) during
      Cold Acclimation Using Contrasting Genotypes.
AB  - Bulb onion (Allium cepa) is the second most widely cultivated and consumed
      vegetable crop in the world. During winter, cold injury can limit the production
      of bulb onion. Genomic resources available for bulb onion are still very limited.
      To date, no studies on heritably durable cold and freezing tolerance have been
      carried out in bulb onion genotypes. We applied high-throughput sequencing
      technology to cold (2 degrees C), freezing (-5 and -15 degrees C), and control
      (25 degrees C)-treated samples of cold tolerant (CT) and cold susceptible (CS)
      genotypes of A. cepa lines. A total of 452 million paired-end reads were de novo
      assembled into 54,047 genes with an average length of 1,331 bp. Based on
      similarity searches, these genes were aligned with entries in the public non
      redundant (nr) database, as well as KEGG and COG database. Differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using log10 values with the FPKM method.
      Among 5,167DEGs, 491 genes were differentially expressed at freezing temperature
      compared to the control temperature in both CT and CS libraries. The DEG results
      were validated with qRT-PCR. We performed GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses
      of all DEGs and iPath interactive analysis found 31 pathways including those
      related to metabolism of carbohydrate, nucleotide, energy, cofactors and
      vitamins, other amino acids and xenobiotics biodegradation. Furthermore, a large
      number of molecular markers were identified from the assembled genes, including
      simple sequence repeats (SSRs) 4,437 and SNP substitutions of transition and
      transversion types of CT and CS. Our study is the first to provide a
      transcriptome sequence resource for Allium spp. with regard to cold and freezing
      stress. We identified a large set of genes and determined their DEG profiles
      under cold and freezing conditions using two different genotypes. These data
      represent a valuable resource for genetic and genomic studies of Allium spp. 

PMID- 27627680
TI  - Comparative Effectiveness of Preoperative Treatment Regimens in Patients With
      Potentially Resectable Esophageal Cancer.

PMID- 27627681
TI  - Quality by design (QbD), Process Analytical Technology (PAT), and design of
      experiment applied to the development of multifunctional sunscreens.
AB  - Multifunctional formulations are of great importance to ensure better skin
      protection from harm caused by ultraviolet radiation (UV). Despite the advantages
      of Quality by Design and Process Analytical Technology approaches to the
      development and optimization of new products, we found in the literature only a
      few studies concerning their applications in cosmetic product industry. Thus, in
      this research work, we applied the QbD and PAT approaches to the development of
      multifunctional sunscreens containing bemotrizinol, ethylhexyl triazone, and
      ferulic acid. In addition, UV transmittance method was applied to assess
      qualitative and quantitative critical quality attributes of sunscreens using
      chemometrics analyses. Linear discriminant analysis allowed classifying unknown
      formulations, which is useful for investigation of counterfeit and adulteration.
      Simultaneous quantification of ethylhexyl triazone, bemotrizinol, and ferulic
      acid presented at the formulations was performed using PLS regression. This
      design allowed us to verify the compounds in isolation and in combination and to
      prove that the antioxidant action of ferulic acid as well as the sunscreen
      actions, since the presence of this component increased 90% of antioxidant
      activity in vitro.

PMID- 27627682
TI  - Construct validity and responsiveness of Movakic: An instrument for the
      evaluation of motor abilities in children with severe multiple disabilities.
AB  - Movakic is a newly developed instrument for measurement of motor abilities in
      children with severe multiple disabilities, with a satisfactory feasibility and
      content validity and good inter-observer and test-retest reliability. The
      objective of this study was to investigate its construct validity and
      responsiveness to change. Sixty children with severe multiple disabilities (mean
      age 7.7 years, range 2-16) were measured using Movakic six times during 18
      months. Construct validity was assessed by correlating Movakic scores with expert
      judgment. In order to assess responsiveness, scores during 3-months intervals
      were compared (mean score-changes and intraclass correlations) during which some
      children experienced meaningful events influencing motor abilities and during
      which others experienced no such event. Forty-five percent of children had a
      lower cognitive development level than 6-month, 52% had Gross Motor Function
      Classification System level V and 37% had level IV. For 27 children all
      measurements were completed, six children dropped out. Construct validity was
      good (r=0.50-0.71). Responsiveness was demonstrated by significantly larger score
      changes after events than when such events did not occur. Movakic is a valid
      instrument for measuring motor abilities in children with severe multiple
      disabilities. Results suggest responsiveness to change in motor abilities after
      meaningful events.

PMID- 27627683
TI  - Commercial sunscreen formulations: UVB irradiation stability and effect on UVB
      irradiation-induced skin oxidative stress and inflammation.
AB  - Evidence shows that sunscreens undergo degradation processes induced by UV
      irradiation forming free radicals, which reduces skin protection. In this regard,
      the biological effects of three commercial sunscreen formulations upon UVB
      irradiation in the skin were investigated. The three formulations had in common
      the presence of benzophenone-3 added with octyl methoxycinnamate or octyl
      salycilate or both, which are regular UV filters in sunscreens. The results show
      that formulations F1 and F2 presented partial degradation upon UVB irradiation.
      Formulations F1 and F2 presented higher skin penetration profiles than F3. None
      of the formulations avoided UVB irradiation-induced GSH depletion, but inhibited
      reduction of SOD activity, suggesting the tested formulations did not present as
      a major mechanism inhibiting all UVB irradiation-triggered oxidative stress
      pathways. The formulations avoided the increase of myeloperoxidase activity and
      cytokine production (IL-1beta and TNF-alpha), but with different levels of
      protection in relation to the IL-1beta release. Concluding, UVB irradiation can
      reduce the stability of sunscreens, which in turn, present the undesirable
      properties of reaching viable skin. Additionally, the same SPF does not mean that
      different sunscreens will present the same biological effects as SPF is solely
      based on a skin erythema response. This found opens up perspectives to consider
      additional studies to reach highly safe sunscreens. 

PMID- 27627684
TI  - Determination of the Absolute Configuration of Side Chains of Basic Amino Acid
      Residues Using the Water-Soluble Porphyrin-Based Exciton Chirality Method.
AB  - We demonstrated that the circular dichroism (CD) exciton chirality method, based
      on the supramolecular interactions of meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin
      (MTPPS4, M = Zn or H2), was applicable for the determination of the absolute
      configuration between the side chains of two basic amino acid residues of stable
      monomeric beta-hairpin peptides (tryptophan zipper: Trpzip). When MTPPS4 was
      added to an aqueous solution containing Trpzip, a bisignate CD signal was
      detected in the Soret band region in addition to a decrease in absorbance. These
      spectral changes indicated the formation of a supramolecule consisting of Trpzip
      and MTPPS4 via electrostatic interactions between the positively charged lysine
      residue of Trpzip and the negatively charged sulfonate group of MTPPS4. On the
      basis of the Job plots, the supramolecular structure of Trpzip-ZnTPPS4 is ZnP-Tz
      ZnP or ZnP-Tz-ZnP-Tz-ZnP, whereas that of Trpzip-H2TPPS4 is -(-H2P-Tz-)n- (MP and
      Tz denote MTPPS4 and Trpzip, respectively). To explain the bisignate CD spectra
      of the supramolecules, a plausible model, that is, ZnP-Tz-ZnP, was carefully
      analyzed by the CD exciton chirality method: two orthogonalized electric
      transition dipole moments of each MTPPS4 and the effects of free rotation of
      MTPPS4 around the electrostatic bonding axis were considered. The exciton-coupled
      CD spectral pattern based on ZnTPPS4 reflected the absolute configuration between
      the side chains of two lysine residues. Our approach can be used to determine the
      absolute configuration of side chains of other peptides with two basic amino acid
      residues in the amino acid sequences.

PMID- 27627685
TI  - Low-Level Laser Therapy and Cryotherapy as Mono- and Adjunctive Therapies for
      Achilles Tendinopathy in Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and cryotherapy are
      widely used treatments in the acute phase of tendon injury. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the interaction of these two treatments on tendon inflammation
      and mechanical properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six groups of six Wistar rats
      were used in this study. The Achilles tendons of the healthy control group were
      not subjected to injury or treatment. The tendons of the injured nontreated group
      (ING) were injured, but not treated. The remaining four groups were injured and
      subjected to LLLT, cryotherapy, LLLT first/cryotherapy, or cryotherapy
      first/LLLT. All treatments were performed at 1 h post-trauma. Inflammatory
      mediators, tendon histology, and biomechanical properties were assessed at 24 h
      post-trauma by comparing the treatment groups with the ING. RESULTS: In all
      treatment groups, the inflammatory process shifted in an anti-inflammatory
      direction compared with the ING. Significant alterations in cytokine expression
      were found in only the LLLT group (?IL-1beta) and the combined intervention
      groups (?IL-1beta, ?TNF-alpha, ?IL-6). It was also found that cryotherapy
      followed by LLLT was the only treatment that significantly (p < 0.05) improved
      the biomechanical parameters of force (N) and displacement (mm) at the tendon
      rupture and corresponded with the best histological scores of all of the
      treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that cryotherapy in
      combination with LLLT can produce an anti-inflammatory "add-on" effect. The order
      of therapy administration seems essential, as superior histology and
      biomechanical results were found in the cryotherapy first/LLLT group.

PMID- 27627686
TI  - Parotid malignancies are not homogenous in terms of their presentation on dynamic
      MRI - a preliminary report.
AB  - CONCLUSION: At least two groups of parotid malignancies exist, including one
      whose parameters of dynamic MRI closely resemble those of pleomorphic adenomas.
      Also tumors with long time to peak enhancement after administration of a contrast
      agent (Tpeak) and low washout rate (WR) should be considered malignant,
      especially single masses with concomitant lymphadenopathy located within the deep
      parotid lobe. OBJECTIVE: To verify if malignant tumors of the parotid are
      homogeneous in terms of parameters of preoperative dynamic MRI: Tpeak and WR.
      METHODS: The retrospective analysis included 221 surgical patients with parotid
      tumors. Aside from fine needle biopsy, pre-operative examination included dynamic
      and diffusion-weighted MRI. Final diagnosis was based on histopathological
      examination of the surgical specimen. RESULTS: Twenty-four of 221 (10.8%)
      malignant lesions were identified. Using k-means clustering based on Tpeak and WR
      values, two distinct clusters of parotid malignancies were identified. The cut
      off value for Tpeak optimally differentiating between the clusters was 140 s; the
      cut-off value for WR could not be identified. The two clusters did not differ in
      terms of dynamic and diffusion-weighted MRI parameters, patient age, sex and
      prevalence of lymphadenopathy. Significant inter-cluster differences were found
      in the prevalence of deep parotid lobe involvement and presence of a single mass.

PMID- 27627687
TI  - Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls
      (PCBs) in Zhejiang foods (2006-2015): Market basket and polluted areas.
AB  - In this study, we measured the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans
      (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 620 foods collected during 2006
      2015 from Zhejiang market, a municipal waste incinerator (MWI) and E-waste
      disassembling areas. For market retail foods, the levels of PCDD/F TEQs, PCDD/F
      plus dioxin-like PCB (DL-PCB) TEQs, and the concentrations of six indicator PCBs
      were generally below the EU ML. The average TEQ values for the 13 food groups
      were 42% of EU ML for PCDD/Fs and 32% for PCDD/Fs+DL-PCBs. Some foods of animal
      origin were close to the corresponding EU ML: pork (PCDD/F TEQ, 79% of ML;
      PCDD/F+DL-PCB TEQ, 84% of ML); infant formula (90% of PCDD/F ML) and beef (96% of
      PCDD/F ML; PCDD/F+DL-PCB TEQ, 78% of ML). The estimated dietary intake for the
      general population was 22.0pgTEQ(kgbody weight (bw))-1month-1, which was below
      the standard of 70pgTEQ(kgbw)-1month-1 set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee
      on Food Additives (JECFA). For the MWI and E-waste disassembling sites, high
      concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCBs were measured in all foods tested. The
      corresponding TEQ in (1) freshwater fish, (2) chicken egg, (3) chicken meat and
      (4) chicken liver was (1) 1.4-fold (MWI, PCDD/F TEQ), (2) 11.2-fold (MWI,) and
      1.6-fold (E-waste disassembling sites), (3) 20.7-fold and (4) 3.3-fold greater
      than EU ML, respectively. Considering the worst situation (highly polluted foods
      were consumed), the estimated dietary intake for local residents were 244 (MWI)
      and 240pgTEQ(kgbw)-1month-1 (E-waste disassembling sites), approximately 3.5-fold
      greater compared to the standard 70pgTEQ(kgbw)-1month-1 set by JECFA, indicating
      high risk could have been imposed on the health of local residents.

PMID- 27627688
TI  - Effects of multiple stresses hydropower, acid deposition and climate change on
      water chemistry and salmon populations in the River Otra, Norway.
AB  - Many surface waters in Europe suffer from the adverse effects of multiple
      stresses. The Otra River, southernmost Norway, is impacted by acid deposition,
      hydropower development and increasingly by climate change. The river holds a
      unique population of land-locked salmon and anadromous salmon in the lower
      reaches. Both populations have been severely affected by acidification. The
      decrease in acid deposition since the 1980s has led to partial recovery of both
      populations. Climate change with higher temperatures and altered precipitation
      can potentially further impact fish populations. We used a linked set of process
      oriented models to simulate future climate, discharge, and water chemistry at
      five sub-catchments in the Otra river basin. Projections to year 2100 indicate
      that future climate change will give a small but measureable improvement in water
      quality, but that additional reductions in acid deposition are needed to promote
      full restoration of the fish communities. These results can help guide management
      decisions to sustain key salmon habitats and carry out effective long-term
      mitigation strategies such as liming. The Otra River is typical of many rivers in
      Europe in that it fails to achieve the good ecological status target of the EU
      Water Framework Directive. The programme of measures needed in the river basin
      management plan necessarily must consider the multiple stressors of acid
      deposition, hydropower, and climate change. This is difficult, however, as the
      synergistic and antagonistic effects are complex and challenging to address with
      modelling tools currently available.

PMID- 27627689
TI  - The role of biochar porosity and surface functionality in augmenting hydrologic
      properties of a sandy soil.
AB  - This paper reports studies to elucidate the potential relationships between
      porosity and surface functionality of biochar and soil water retention
      characteristics. The biochars studied were produced from pine wood (PW), hybrid
      poplar wood (HP), and pine bark (PB) at temperatures of 350 degrees C and 600
      degrees C. The resulting materials were then oxidized under air at 250 degrees C
      to generate oxygenated functional groups on the surface. All biochar were
      thoroughly characterized (surface and bulk properties) and their hydrological
      properties measured in blends with Quincy sand. We prepared 39 microcosms for
      this study to examine the effect of biochar functionalities and porosity on the
      hydro-physical properties of Quincy sand. Each biochar was thoroughly mixed with
      the soil at 20gkg-1. The field capacity, wilting point, and total available soil
      moisture of the bio-char/Quincy sand mixtures were measured for both dry and wet
      ranges. The soil water potentials and soil water contents were fitted using the
      model of van Genuchten. Our results indicated that the amount of oxygenated
      functional groups on the surface of biochars clearly differentiated the biochars
      in terms of hydrophilicity, with the oxidized biochars being superior, followed
      by the low-temperature biochars, while the high temperature biochars possessed
      lowest hydrophilicity. As a result, oxidized biochars exhibited better
      wettability compared to unoxidized biochars, regardless their feedstock source.
      Significant correlation occurred between the total acidic functional groups on
      biochar surface and water contents at different matric potentials. Over a wide
      range of soil water potentials, oxidized biochar-soil mixtures held more water
      than the unoxidized biochar-soil mixtures except in the region between -0.1 and 
      5kPa of psi, which is near saturation. Soil water contents at different matric
      potentials were significantly inter-correlated (P<0.01) and correlated with bulk
      densities of biochar-amended soil samples.

PMID- 27627690
TI  - Minimal ecosystem uptake of selenium from Westland petrels, a forest-breeding
      seabird.
AB  - Endemic Westland petrels (Procellaria westlandica) are a remnant of extensive
      seabird populations that occupied the forested hill country of prehuman New
      Zealand. Because seabird guano is rich in Se, an often-deficient essential
      element, we proposed that Westland petrels enhance Se concentrations in
      ecosystems associated with their breeding grounds. We sampled terrestrial (soil,
      plants, riparian spiders) and freshwater (benthic invertebrates, fish) components
      from Westland petrel-enriched and non-seabird forests on the western coast of New
      Zealand's South Island, an area characterised by highly leached, nutrient-poor
      soils. Median seabird soil Se was an order of magnitude higher than soil from non
      seabird sites (2.2mgkg-1 compared to 0.2mgkg-1), but corresponding plant foliage
      concentrations (0.06mgkg-1; 0.05mgkg-1) showed no difference between seabird and
      non-seabird sites. In streams, Se ranged from 0.05mgkg-1 (riparian foliage) to
      3.1mgkg-1 (riparian spiders and freshwater mussels). However, there was no
      difference between seabird and non-seabird streams. Stoichiometric ratios (N:Se,
      P:Se) showed Se loss across all ecosystem components relative to seabird guano,
      except in seabird colony soil where N was lost preferentially. Seabirds therefore
      did not enrich the terrestrial plants and associated stream ecosystems in Se. We
      conclude that incorporation of trace elements brought ashore by seabirds cannot
      be assumed, even though seabirds are a significant source of marine-derived
      nutrients and trace elements to coastal ecosystems world-wide.

PMID- 27627692
TI  - Rolling out Efavirenz for HIV Precision Medicine in Africa: Are We Ready for
      Pharmacovigilance and Tackling Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects?
AB  - The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) led to huge reductions in human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related deaths, turning HIV-infection into a chronic
      condition. Attention is now turning to quality of life for patients on lifelong
      ART treatment, reflecting on the safety of antiretroviral drugs. In sub-Saharan
      Africa, efavirenz (EFV) forms the preferred first-line ART but adverse drug
      events have also been reported. We express our concern on EFV-based regimens
      being part of mass rollout programs without full attention to toxicities. EFV is
      associated with various neuropsychiatric adverse events (AEs). If EFV use is not
      monitored, a huge burden of neuropsychiatric AEs and elevated risk of drug
      resistance due to nonadherence are likely to follow. A monumental EFV-based ART
      regimen rollout program, through the UNAIDS 90-90-90 and option B plus
      programs/approaches, is planned, which will more than double the number of
      patients on EFV-containing ART. According to this ambitious treatment target, by
      2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status; 90% of all
      people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained ART; and 90% of all
      people receiving ART will have viral suppression. On the other hand, HIV patients
      of African origin are predisposed to developing EFV-induced neuropsychiatric AEs
      due to specific CYP2B6 genetic variants causing impaired metabolism of EFV. It is
      our considered opinion that the potential quantitative and qualitative burden of
      EFV-induced neuropsychiatric AEs, which can vary from person-to-person and
      between populations, deserve special attention and action during the ART rollout
      program. We here make a case for Africa in particular where we project the burden
      of neuropsychiatric AEs to be greatest. We advocate for surveillance of
      neuropsychiatric AEs due to EFV therapy, incorporation of pharmacogenetics
      testing for CYP2B6 to assist in EFV dosing, and measurement of plasma EFV
      concentration, as a three-pronged rational therapeutic drug monitoring strategy
      to guide EFV treatment toward precision medicine.

PMID- 27627693
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging, treatment and outcome of canine vertebral
      chondrosarcomas. Six cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report the clinical presentation, magnetic resonance imaging
      features, treatments and outcomes of canine vertebral chondrosarcoma. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Retrospective review of medical records of dogs with confirmed
      vertebral chondrosarcoma and magnetic resonance imaging of the lesions, from four
      different veterinary referral institutions. RESULTS: A total of six dogs were
      included in this report. In all cases, magnetic resonance imaging revealed a
      lobulated mass involving the dorsal vertebral compartment, markedly hyperintense
      with few foci of hypointensity on T2-weighted images, iso to hypointense on T1
      weighted images with contrast enhancement after gadolinium administration.
      Intralesional surgical resection was performed in three dogs and medical
      management in one, two dogs were euthanased and all lesions were submitted for
      histopathology. Magnetic resonance imaging findings correlated with histological
      findings of a low tumour grade. Rapid clinical improvement was noted after
      surgery but two of three dogs had local regrowth. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
      Chondrosarcomas show local aggressiveness and resistance to conventional
      radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and so prognosis depends on feasibility of en bloc
      resection. Magnetic resonance imaging may be helpful in establishing a
      presumptive diagnosis and prognosis based on the feasibility of surgical
      resection.

PMID- 27627694
TI  - Global Hopf bifurcation analysis of an susceptible-infective-removed epidemic
      model incorporating media coverage with time delay.
AB  - An susceptible-infective-removed epidemic model incorporating media coverage with
      time delay is proposed. The stability of the disease-free equilibrium and endemic
      equilibrium is studied. And then, the conditions which guarantee the existence of
      local Hopf bifurcation are given. Furthermore, we show that the local Hopf
      bifurcation implies the global Hopf bifurcation after the second critical value
      of delay. The obtained results show that the time delay in media coverage can not
      affect the stability of the disease-free equilibrium when the basic reproduction
      number is less than unity. However, the time delay affects the stability of the
      endemic equilibrium and produces limit cycle oscillations while the basic
      reproduction number is greater than unity. Finally, some examples for numerical
      simulations are included to support the theoretical prediction. 

PMID- 27627695
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27627691
TI  - Polyubiquitinylation Profile in Down Syndrome Brain Before and After the
      Development of Alzheimer Neuropathology.
AB  - AIMS: Among the putative mechanisms proposed to be common factors in Down
      syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology, deficits in protein
      quality control (PQC) have emerged as a unifying mechanism of neurodegeneration.
      Considering that disturbance of protein degradation systems is present in DS and
      that oxidized/misfolded proteins require polyubiquitinylation for degradation via
      the ubiquitin proteasome system, this study investigated if dysregulation of
      protein polyubiquitinylation is associated with AD neurodegeneration in DS.
      RESULTS: Postmortem brains from DS cases before and after development of AD
      neuropathology and age-matched controls were analyzed. By selectively isolating
      polyubiquitinated proteins, we were able to identify specific proteins with an
      altered pattern of polyubiquitinylation as a function of age. Interestingly, we
      found that oxidation is coupled with polyubiquitinylation for most proteins
      mainly involved in PQC and energy metabolism. INNOVATION: This is the first study
      showing alteration of the polyubiquitinylation profile as a function of aging in
      DS brain compared with healthy controls. Understanding the onset of the altered
      ubiquitome profile in DS brain may contribute to identification of key molecular
      regulators of age-associated cognitive decline. CONCLUSIONS: Disturbance of the
      polyubiquitinylation machinery may be a key feature of aging and
      neurodegeneration. In DS, age-associated deficits of the proteolytic system may
      further exacerbate the accumulation of oxidized/misfolded/polyubiquitinated
      proteins, which is not efficiently degraded and may become harmful to neurons and
      contribute to AD neuropathology. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 280-298.

PMID- 27627696
TI  - Spliced analogues of trypsin inhibitor SFTI-1 and their application for tracing
      proteolysis and delivery of cargos inside the cells.
AB  - A series of analogues of trypsin inhibitor SFTI-1 were designed and synthesized
      to monitor peptide splicing. In the middle part of the SFTI-1 analogues, which is
      released upon incubation with proteinase, the RGD sequence or an acceptor of
      fluorescence for FRET was introduced. The results of studies with trypsin
      confirmed that the designed analogues underwent peptide splicing. Furthermore, we
      showed that a FRET displaying SFTI-1 analogue was internalized into the HaCaT
      keratinocytes, where it was degraded. Therefore, both proteolysis and the
      reduction of the disulfide bridge of the peptide took place. As a result, such
      analogues are a convenient tool to trace the proteolytic activity inside the
      cell. However, the cytotoxicity of SFTI-1 analogues grafted with the RGD sequence
      did not correlate with their susceptibility to peptide splicing. Nevertheless,
      these peptides were slightly more active than the reference peptide (GRGDNP).
      Interestingly, one of the analogues assigned as [desSer6 ]VI, under experimental
      conditions, appeared significantly more cytotoxic towards cancer cells U87-MG in
      contrast to the reference peptide.

PMID- 27627698
TI  - Hyperthermia for Major Depressive Disorder?-Reply.

PMID- 27627697
TI  - Pyrene biodegradation enhancement potential of lipopeptide biosurfactant produced
      by Paenibacillus dendritiformis CN5 strain.
AB  - Effect of biosurfactant on biodegradation of pyrene was studied using a microbial
      consortium predominantly composed of Pseudomonas viridiflava (49.5%) and
      Pseudomonas nitroreducens (32.5%) in a batch experiment containing lipopeptidic
      biosurfactant, produced by Paenibacillus dendritiformis CN5 strain, and mineral
      salt medium. The results showed that the lipopeptide at 600 and 300mgL-1 enhanced
      pyrene degradation to 83.5% and 67% respectively in 24days compared to 16%
      degradation in its absence. However degradation of pyrene was reduced to 57% as
      the lipopeptide supplementation was raised to 900mgL-1. This demonstrates that
      the biodegradation of pyrene was found to increase with an increase in the
      lipopeptide concentration up to a threshold level. The experimental data were
      fitted to the logistic kinetic model which provided best fit with a coefficient
      of determination (R2) values>=0.97. Maximum specific growth rate, MUmax of 0.97
      and 0.69d-1 were achieved in the 600 and 300mgL-1 lipopeptide amendments in
      comparison to 0.54d-1 in the unamended one. The carrying capacity, Xmax increased
      4.4-fold in 600mgL-1 lipopeptide supplemented samples in comparison to its
      absence. Generally the lipopeptide showed potential application in improving
      bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contaminated environmental
      media.

PMID- 27627699
TI  - Two benzaldehyde derivatives and their artefacts from a gorgonian-derived
      Eurotium sp. fungus.
AB  - Two new benzaldehyde derivatives, named 3'-OH-tetrahydroauroglaucin (1)
      and(3'S*,4'R*)-6-(3',5-epoxy-4'-hydroxy-1'-heptenyl)-2-hydroxy-3-(3''-methyl-2''
      butenyl)benzaldehyde (2), were isolated from a gorgonian-derived Eurotium sp.
      fungus. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis
      including NMR and MS spectra. Dissolved 1 in CDCl3 for several days could be
      detected its 2H-chromene skeleton derivatives (1a/1b), a pair of enantiomers with
      opposite configurations at C-3'. Compound 2 was also found to chemically convert
      to a pair of epimers non-enzymatically. The plausible mechanism to form the 2H
      chromene artefacts with racemisation at C-3' undergoing nucleophilic substitution
      (SN1) was proposed.

PMID- 27627700
TI  - Fermented Ginseng Contains an Agonist of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated
      Receptors alpha and gamma.
AB  - Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) is a nuclear receptor that is
      one of the transcription factors regulating lipid and glucose metabolism.
      Fermented ginseng (FG) is a ginseng fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei A221
      containing minor ginsenosides and metabolites of fermentation. DNA microarray
      analysis of rat liver treated with FG indicated that FG affects on lipid
      metabolism are mediated by PPAR-alpha. To identify a PPAR-alpha agonist in FG,
      PPAR-alpha transcription reporter assay-guided fractionation was performed. The
      fraction obtained from the MeOH extract of FG, which showed potent transcription
      activity of PPAR-alpha, was fractionated by silica gel column chromatography into
      16 subfractions, and further separation and crystallization gave compound 1
      together with four known constituents of ginseng, including 20(R)- and 20(S)
      protopanaxadiol, and 20(R)- and 20(S)-ginsenoside Rh1. The structure of compound
      1 was identified as 10-hydroxy-octadecanoic acid by (1)H- and (13)C-NMR spectra
      and by EI-MS analysis of the methyl ester of 1. Compound 1 demonstrated much
      higher transcription activity of PPAR-alpha than the other isolated compounds. In
      addition, compound 1 also showed 5.5-fold higher transcription activity of PPAR
      gamma than vehicle at the dose of 20 MUg/mL. In the present study, we identified
      10-hydroxy-octadecanoic acid as a dual PPAR-alpha/gamma agonist in FG. Our study
      suggested that metabolites of fermentation, in addition to ginsenosides,
      contribute to the health benefits of FG. 

PMID- 27627701
TI  - Antiobesity Effect of Garlic Extract Fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum BL2 in
      Diet-Induced Obese Mice.
AB  - Obesity is viewed as a serious public health problem. This study aimed to
      investigate the antiobesity effects of fermented garlic extract by lactic acid
      bacteria (LAFGE) on obesity. Male C57BL/6J mice were fed with high-fat diet (HFD)
      to induce obesity. The HFD-induced obese mice were orally administrated with 250
      or 500 mg/kg LAFGE for 8 weeks. Feeding HFD-fed mice with 250 or 500 mg/kg LAFGE
      reduced body weight by 14% and 18%, respectively, compared to HFD. HFD-fed mice
      with 500 mg/kg LAFGE administration had lower epididymal, retroperitoneal, and
      mesenteric adipose tissue mass by 36%, 44%, and 63%, respectively, compared to
      HFD. The concentration of plasma triacylglyceride and total cholesterol was
      significantly lower in the HFD-fed mice with LAFGE administration. Moreover,
      LAFGE supplementation suppressed adipogenesis by downregulation in mRNA and
      protein expression of PPARgamma, C/EBPalpha, and lipogenic proteins, including
      SREBP-1c, FAS, and SCD-1. Based on these findings, LAFGE may ameliorate diet
      induced obesity by inhibiting adipose tissue hypertrophy by suppressing
      adipogenesis. 

PMID- 27627702
TI  - Protective Effect of Ceratonia siliqua L. Against a Dextran Sulfate Sodium
      Induced Alterations in Liver and Kidney in Rat.
AB  - The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential protective role of
      Ceratonia siliqua L. against dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced oxidative
      damage and inflammation in liver and kidney of rats. The hepatotoxicity and
      nephrotoxicity were induced in rats by oral administration of synthetic DSS (5%)
      in the drinking water for over 7 days. However, carob pods aqueous extract (CPAE;
      50 and 100 mg/kg body weight) was given by oral administration for 21 days.
      Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, malondialdehyde, H2O2 content, as well as the
      levels of antioxidant enzymes in organs were measured to observe the possible
      mechanisms. As a result, the CPAE counteracted DSS-induced increase of MPO
      activity, lipoperoxidation, and the activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as
      superoxide dismutase and catalase (CAT). DSS administration increased also in the
      organs hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and free iron levels, whereas the CPAE
      pretreatment reversed all intracellular mediator perturbations. It was concluded
      that the CPAE exerted a potential protective effect against DSS-induced
      inflammation and oxidative stress in the rat organs. Consequently, it is
      essential that adequate care is taken when we use carob pods for patients with
      hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. 

PMID- 27627703
TI  - Camellia Oil-Enriched Diet Attenuates Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Markers
      in Hypercholesterolemic Subjects.
AB  - Camellia oil is commonly used as an adjuvant in medicine. It is rich in
      monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, and phytochemicals. The objective of this
      study was to examine effects of camellia oil consumption on oxidative stress, low
      density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) oxidation, and inflammatory markers in
      hypercholesterolemic subjects. The study design was a randomized, single-blind
      controlled trial. Women with hypercholesterolemia (n = 50) were randomly divided
      into two groups. The treatment group (n = 25) was provided camellia oil-enriched
      diets and the control group (n = 25) was provided diets cooked with soybean oil
      three meals (45 mL oil) a day for 8 weeks. Biomarkers of oxidative stress and
      inflammatory cytokines were assessed before and the after intervention. Camellia
      oil consumption significantly decreased malondialdehyde (11.2%; P < .001) whereas
      glutathione was not changed (P = .382). Moreover, the camellia oil group
      exhibited a statistically significant decrease in oxidized LDL-C (8.7%; P < .001)
      compared with the control group. Furthermore, camellia oil consumption
      significantly decreased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (12.3%; P < .001)
      whereas tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 were not different (P =
      .079; P = .660, respectively) compared with the control group. These data
      indicate that the consumption of camellia oil-enriched diet could decrease
      oxidative stress and inflammatory markers in hypercholesterolemic women.
      Therefore, camellia oil consumption may reduce cardiovascular disease risk
      factors. 

PMID- 27627704
TI  - Predicting Recruitment Feasibility for Acute Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Trials
      in Canada Using National Registry Data.
AB  - Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) represents a significant burden of illness,
      but it is relatively uncommon and heterogeneous, making it challenging to achieve
      sufficient subject enrollment in clinical trials of therapeutic interventions for
      acute SCI. The Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR) is a national SCI
      Registry that enters patients with SCI from acute-care centers across Canada. To
      predict the feasibility of conducting clinical trials of acute SCI within Canada,
      we have applied the inclusion/exclusion criteria of six previously conducted SCI
      trials to the RHSCIR data set and generated estimates of how many Canadian
      persons would have been eligible theoretically for enrollment in these studies.
      Data for SCI cases were prospectively collected for RHSCIR at 18 acute and 13
      rehabilitation sites across Canada. RHSCIR patients enrolled between 2009-2013
      who met the following key criteria were included: non-penetrating traumatic SCI;
      received acute care at a RHSCIR site; age more than 18, less than 75 years, and
      had complete admission single neurological level of injury data. Inclusion and
      exclusion criteria for the Minocycline in Acute Spinal Cord injury (Minocycline),
      Riluzole, Surgical Timing in Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study (STASCIS), Cethrin,
      Nogo antibody study (NOGO), and Sygen studies were applied retrospectively to
      this data set. The numbers of patients eligible for each clinical trial were
      determined. There were 2166 of the initial 2714 patients (79.8%) who met the key
      criteria and were included in the data set. Projected annual numbers of eligible
      patients for each trial were: Minocycline, 117; Riluzole, 62; STASCIS, 109;
      Cethrin, 101; NOGO, 82; and Sygen, 70. An additional 8.0% of the sample had a
      major head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score <=12) and would have been
      excluded from the trials. RHSCIR provides a comprehensive national data set that
      may serve as a useful tool in the planning of multicenter clinical SCI trials.

PMID- 27627706
TI  - Hyaluronan metabolism in overloaded temporomandibular joint.
AB  - This study aimed to examine hyaluronan (HA) metabolism in relation to the onset
      and progression of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) induced by
      mechanical overloading. Two-month-old and 6-month-old C57BL/6N mice were divided
      into experimental and untreated control groups (n = 5/group). A sliding plate was
      attached to the maxillary incisors of the experimental mice for 10 days to
      overload the condylar cartilage in TMJ. In experimental group, profound cartilage
      degradation was detected in haematoxylin-eosin, Safranin-O-Fast Green-stained
      sections. It was also shown that the cartilage degradation was greater in older
      mice in both the control and the experimental groups. The number of HABP-positive
      cells was decreased by mechanical overloading and with age. The reduction of HA
      expression was correlated with the progression of cartilage degradation induced
      by mechanical overloading. The absolute quantification of the mRNA expression
      related to HA synthesis and HA degradation was also performed in each group. The
      mRNA expression levels of HA synthase (HAS) 2 and 3 were lower in the
      experimental group compared with the control group in the younger mice. In
      contrast, the mRNA expression levels of the HA degradation gene, HYAL2 and
      KIAA1199, were higher in the experimental group compared with the control group
      in the older mice. Thus, mechanical overload differently affected the balance of
      HA degradation and HA synthesis in the older and younger mice, respectively. In
      conclusion, mechanical overloading affects HA metabolism and it might initiate or
      amplify the condylar cartilage degradation.

PMID- 27627707
TI  - Consensus on Surgical Management of Myeloma Bone Disease.
AB  - Myeloma bone disease (MBD), the skeletal lesions caused by multiple myeloma, is
      also known as skeletal related events and includes bone pain, osteoporosis,
      pathological fractures, osteolytic bone lesions, spinal instability, spinal cord
      and nerve root compression and extramedullary plasmacytoma. It is now generally
      accepted that patients with these complications usually require surgical
      management and that such treatment is safe and effective. The aims of surgical
      interventions are to alleviate pain, improve quality of life, treat potential or
      existing pathological fractures, decompress the spinal cord and nerve roots, and
      reestablish bone continuity. Thus far, there have not been uniform standards for
      surgical treatment of MBD. The Surgeon's Committee of the Chinese Myeloma Working
      Group has therefore achieved a consensus with the aim of providing guidance for
      clinicians and benefitting patients with MBD. This consensus focuses on the
      treatment of MBD, including its clinical definition and characteristics,
      diagnosis and surgical management. This expert consensus document was compiled
      after discussion and revision by experts from several relevant institutions in
      China. However, it is only an interim guide that cannot be enforced legally. It
      will be updated with development of new techniques of treatment. 

PMID- 27627708
TI  - Evolution of Design of Interbody Cages for Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion.
AB  - Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is one of the surgical procedures for the
      relief of chronic back pain, radiculopathy and neurogenic claudication in
      patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease that is refractory to
      conservative therapy, low-grade spondylolisthesis and pseudo arthrosis. Over the
      past half century, both the surgical techniques and instrumentation required for
      ALIF have changed significantly. In particular, the designs of ALIF cage and the
      materials used have evolved dramatically, the common goal being to improve fusion
      rates and optimize clinical outcomes. The increasing popularity of ALIF is
      reflected by the increasing abundance of published studies reporting clinical
      outcomes, surgical techniques and grafting options for ALIF. Developments in cage
      designs include cylindrical Bagby and Kuslich, cylindrical ray, cylindrical mesh,
      lumbar-tapered, polyethyl-etherketone cage and integral fixation cages. Biologic
      implants include bone dowels and femoral ring allografts. Methods for
      optimization of cage design have included cage dimensions, use of novel composite
      cage materials and integral fixation technologies. However, the historical
      development and evolution of cages used for ALIF has not been extensively
      documented. This article therefore aims to provide an overview of the historical
      basis for the anterior approach, evolution in design of ALIF cage implants and
      potential future research directions. 

PMID- 27627709
TI  - Advances in Spinal Interbody Cages.
AB  - Since the late 1980s, spinal interbody cages (ICs) have been used to aid bone
      fusion in a variety of spinal disorders. Utilized to restore intervertebral
      height, enable bone graft containment for arthrodesis, and restore anterior
      column biomechanical stability, ICs have since evolved to become a highly
      successful means of achieving fusion, being associated with less postoperative
      pain, shorter hospital stay, fewer complications and higher rates of fusion when
      than bone graft only spinal fusion. IC design and materials have changed
      considerably over the past two decades. The threaded titanium-alloy cylindrical
      screw cages, typically filled with autologous bone graft, of the mid-1990s
      achieved greater fusion rates than bone grafts and non-threaded cages. Threaded
      screw cages, however, were soon found to be less stable in extension and flexion;
      additionally, they had a high incidence of cage subsidence. As of the early
      2000s, non-threaded box-shaped titanium or polyether ether ketone IC designs have
      become increasingly more common. This modern design continues to achieve greater
      cage stability in flexion, axial rotation and bending. However, cage stability
      and subsidence, bone fusion rates and surgical complications still require
      optimization. Thus, this review provides an update of recent research findings
      relevant to ICs over the past 3 years, highlighting trends in optimization of
      cage design, materials, alternatives to bone grafts, and coatings that may
      enhance fusion. 

PMID- 27627705
TI  - EWSR1/ELF5 induces acute myeloid leukemia by inhibiting p53/p21 pathway.
AB  - The Ewing sarcoma breakpoint region 1 (EWSR1) gene is known to fuse with various
      partner genes to promote the development of the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors
      and other sarcomas. In contrast, the association of EWSR1 chimeric fusion genes
      with leukemia has rarely been reported. We identified a novel EWSR1-associated
      chimeric fusion gene in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia harboring 46, XY, t
      (11; 22) (p13; q12) karyotype abnormality. The patient was refractory to
      intensified chemotherapy including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Total
      RNA paired-end sequencing identified a novel chimeric fusion gene as EWSR1/ELF5,
      a member of the E26 transformation-specific transcription factor family.
      Transduction of EWSR1/ELF5 to NIH3T3 cells induced transformation by attenuating
      with the p53/p21-dependent pathway. The injection of EWSR1/ELF5-transduced NIH3T3
      cells into NSG-SCID mice systematically induced the development of tumors in
      vivo. These results revealed the oncogenic potency of EWSR1/ELF5.

PMID- 27627710
TI  - Efficiency and Safety of Intravenous Tranexamic Acid in Simultaneous Bilateral
      Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the
      efficacy and safety of i.v. tranexamic acid (TXA) in simultaneous bilateral total
      knee arthroplasty (TKA). Potentially relevant published reports were identified
      from the following electronic databases: Medline, PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect
      and Cochrane Library. RevMan v5.3was used to pool data. Two randomized controlled
      trials and four case-control studies met the inclusion criteria. The current meta
      analysis identified significant differences between TXA group and control groups
      in terms of postoperative hemoglobin concentration (P < 0.01), drainage volume (P
      < 0.01), transfusion rate (P < 0.01) and units transfused (P = 0.006). There were
      no significant differences in length of stay (P = 0.66), operation time (P =
      0.81) or and incidence of adverse effects such as infection (P = 0.42), deep
      venous thrombosis (DVT) (P = 0.88) and pulmonary embolism (PE) (P = 0.11). Our
      results show that i.v. administration of TXA in simultaneous bilateral TKA
      reduces postoperative drops in hemoglobin concentration, drainage volume, and
      transfusion requirements and does not prolong length of stay or operation time.
      Moreover, no adverse effects, such as infection, DVT or PE, were associated with
      TXA. 

PMID- 27627711
TI  - Analgesic Efficacy of Adductor Canal Block in Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Meta
      analysis and Systematic Review.
AB  - The aim of this meta-analysis and systematic review of randomized controlled
      trials (RCTs) was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adductor canal block
      (ACB) for early postoperative pain management in patients undergoing total knee
      arthroplasty (TKA). Relevant manuscripts comparing ACB with saline or femoral
      nerve block (FNB) in TKA patients were searched for in the databases of PubMed,
      EMBASE, and Cochrane library. The outcomes assessed included cumulative analgesic
      consumption, pain at rest or during movement, ability to ambulate, quadriceps
      strength, and complications (nausea, vomiting or sedation). For continuous
      outcomes, pooled effects were measured using weighted mean difference (WMD) or
      standard mean difference (SMD), together with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). For
      outcomes without sufficient data for synthesis, qualitative interpretation of
      individual studies was summarized. Finally, 11 RCTs involving 675 patients met
      the inclusion criteria. The pooled results showed that ACB resulted in less
      postoperative analgesic consumption than saline (WMD, -12.84 mg; 95% CI, -19.40
      mg to -6.27 mg; P < 0.001) and less pain at rest or during activity. No
      conclusions could be drawn regarding ability to ambulate and quadriceps strength,
      because only one study reported these variables. Most studies comparing ACB and
      FNB reported similar effects on postoperative analgesic consumption (WMD, -0.56
      mg; 95% CI, -8.05 mg to 6.93 mg; P = 0.884) and pain; however, ability to
      ambulate and quadriceps strength were significantly better with ACB (SMD, 0.99;
      95% CI, 0.04-1.94; P = 0.041). Additionally, ACB did not increase the rate of
      complications. Our results suggest that, compared with saline, ACB decreases
      analgesic consumption and offers short-term advantages in terms of pain relief.
      Compared with FNB, ACB was associated with better ability to ambulate and
      quadriceps strength. 

PMID- 27627712
TI  - Direct Tubular Lumbar Microdiscectomy for Far Lateral Disc Herniation: A Modified
      Approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The concept of minimally invasive tubular discectomy is based on
      precise placement of the retractor over the surgical target to minimize
      collateral tissue trauma. For far lateral disc herniation, the junction between
      the pars and the transverse process has generally been adopted as the target for
      facilitating early nerve root exposure; however, this may limit access to the
      disc space and increase the risks of iatrogenic neuralgia. An alternative
      approach to help address these issues involving docking the retractor caudally
      directly over the disc space with the aid of a microscope is here proposed. The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of such an
      approach. METHODS: Nineteen patients in whom the modified approach was performed
      over a 35-month period were identified. Direct access to the disc space was
      attained by directing the retractor against the lateral margin of the facet joint
      and following the inferior transverse process medially towards the foramen with
      minimal exposure of the nerve root. Clinical outcomes were assessed by the
      Oswestry Disability Index, visual analogue scale scores for leg and back pain,
      Short Form 36 physical functioning (SF36-PF) and bodily pain (SF36-BP) scores and
      sciatica bothersomeness and frequency indexes (SBI & SFI) and obtained from a
      prospective patient database. Follow-up data in the first 6 months were compared
      with preoperative baseline data. RESULTS: All procedures were successfully
      completed with the modified approach. Contained disc herniation without
      sequestrated fragments was found in all but four cases. No perioperative
      complications or reoperation were recorded and no postoperative dysesthesia was
      noted. Clinically significant reductions in mean Oswestry Disability Index (32;
      95% CI, 21-43) and visual analogue scale scores for leg pain (38 mm; 95% CI, 23
      54 mm) and back pain (35 mm; 95% CI, 21-48 mm) scores were noted in the first 6
      months. Significant improvements in SF36-PF (40; 95% CI, 30-51) and SF36-BP (35;
      95% CI, 26-43), SBI (9; 95% CI, 6-11) and SFI (11; 95% CI, 8-13) were also
      recorded. CONCLUSIONS: A modified direct tubular approach is safe and effective
      for treating far lateral lumbar disc herniation. Our early results suggest that
      this approach helps safeguard adequate decompression and reduce the risk of
      postoperative dysesthesia.

PMID- 27627713
TI  - Health-related Quality of Life in Patients with Metastatic Spinal Cord
      Compression.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Improvements in cancer treatment have resulted in an increased number
      of patients with metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC). Because patients with
      MSCC often have a limited expected survival time, maintenance of a high
      functional level and quality of life are important. However, there is limited
      information about health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with MSCC.
      The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of routine assessment of
      HRQoL based on the Euroqol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire in a cohort of
      patients consecutively admitted for evaluation of acute symptoms of MSCC.
      METHODS: From 1 January to 31 December 2011, 544 patients diagnosed with acute
      symptoms of MSCC were consecutively enrolled in a cohort study. All patients were
      evaluated through a centralized referral system at one treatment facility. Data
      were prospectively registered, the variables age, sex, primary oncologic
      diagnosis, Tokuhashi Revised score, EQ-5D score and treatment modality being
      recorded on admission. The study patients were treated conservatively with
      radiotherapy alone or with surgery and subsequent radiotherapy. The EQ-5D
      questionnaire was administered on admission (baseline) and 6, 12, 26 and 52 weeks
      after admission. Response rates, completion rates and HRQoL scores were analyzed
      by relevant subgroups. Response rates were based on all questionnaires returned
      regardless of whether or not they had been completed, whereas completion rates
      were based on fully completed questionnaires (i.e., containing responses to all
      five questions. RESULTS: The mean age was 65 years (range, 20-95 years); 57% of
      the patients were men. The overall response rate to the Euroqol-5 dimensions (EQ
      5D) questionnaires was 84% and the overall completion rate 72%. At baseline, mean
      EQ-5D scores were significantly lower for patients treated with surgery and
      subsequent radiotherapy 0.28 (95% CI, 0.19-0.36) than for those treated with
      radiotherapy alone 0.42 (95% CI, 0.38-0.46). At the one-year follow-up, the mean
      EQ-5D scores had improved to 0.71 (95% CI, 0.64-0.77) for patients treated with
      surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.56-0.70) for patients
      treated with radiotherapy alone. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of HRQoL in patients
      consecutively admitted for evaluation of acute symptoms of MSCC is feasible and
      detects significant changes over time between treatment modalities and different
      strata of expected survival.

PMID- 27627714
TI  - Comparison of AO Titanium Locking Plate and Screw Fixation versus Anterograde
      Intramedullary Fixation for Isolated Unstable Metacarpal and Phalangeal
      Fractures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the clinical and radiologic outcomes of AO
      titanium locking plate and screw (ATLPS) and anterograde intramedullary (AIM)
      fixation for treating unstable metacarpal and phalangeal fractures. METHODS:
      Adult patients with isolated fresh unstable metacarpal and phalangeal fractures
      who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled into this prospective study from
      July 2013. Patients were divided into ATLPS or AIM groups when they were admitted
      to our department after considering their work requirement, fracture complexity,
      and surgeon's experience and were then treated accordingly. Relevant demographic,
      clinical and preoperative clinical data were collected and analyzed. Clinical
      examination and radiograph evaluation were performed 1 week and 1, 3, and 6
      months postoperatively. Outcome measures were visual analog scale (VAS) scores
      for pain, total range of motion (ROM) of the injured digit, Quick Disabilities of
      the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand scores (Quick-DASH) and grip strength (percentage of
      the contralateral corresponding digit). RESULTS: From July 2013 to September
      2014, 76 patients were treated by AIM and 71 by ATLPS. Age, sex, time from injury
      to operation, dominant hand, injury mechanism, fracture location, fracture type
      and participant occupation were similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Operations
      were all performed well and followed by uneventful postoperative functional
      recoveries. At 3-month follow-up, all clinical outcomes were significantly better
      in the AIM than ATLPS group ( P < 0.05) except for VAS pain scores. However, at 6
      month follow-up, the differences were no longer significant, indicating similar
      results for both types of fixation. Patients in the AIM group developed
      significantly more complications ( P = 0.037). Sick leave was significantly
      longer in the AIM group ( P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: AIM outperforms ATLPS in the
      treatment of unstable metacarpal and phalangeal fractures in the early, but not
      the later, postoperative period; the latter is associated with significantly more
      complications. Patients treated by ATLPS require shorter sick leave, which is of
      particular benefit to workers with specialized manual skills.

PMID- 27627715
TI  - Treatment of Distal Femur Nonunion Following Initial Fixation with a Lateral
      Locking Plate.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report and evaluate the outcomes of patients undergoing definitive
      treatment for distal femur nonunion after initial treatment with a locking plate.
      METHODS: Fourteen patients who had undergone definitive treatment at an academic
      Level 1 trauma center from May 2007 to December 2013 for distal femur nonunion
      were identified from a fracture database. Thirteen of them were female; the
      average age was 65 years (range, 50-84 years). Ten patients had sustained their
      injuries in falls at ground level, and four in motor vehicle accidents. Twelve
      patients were obese (body mass index >=30), 10 had diabetes, none were current
      smokers, and one had an open fracture classified as type IIIa according to the
      Gustilo-Anderson classification system for open fractures. The fractures were
      classified according to the AO classification system for distal femur fractures;
      there were three type 33-A1, six 33-A2, two 33-A3 and three 33-C3 fractures.
      Methods of definitive treatment involved open reduction and internal fixation
      (ORIF) revision, medial plating, bone grafting and the use of other biologic
      materials. RESULTS: Eight of the 14 patients (57%) achieved union during follow
      up. Definitive treatment for nonunion involved ORIF revision in 11 cases. Three
      patients who did not undergo ORIF revision were treated with iliac crest stem
      cell autografts, bone graft substitutes or recombinant human-bone morphogenetic
      protein-2 (rh-BMP-2). Other treatments included rh-BMP-2 (12 cases), iliac crest
      bone autograft (five), iliac crest stem cell autograft (two), crushed cancellous
      bone allograft (three), CaSO 4 and tricalcium phosphate bone graft substitute
      (two) and demineralized bone matrix (one). The average time from definitive
      treatment to union was 19 weeks (range, 12-51 weeks). Two of the 11 cases who
      underwent ORIF revision had medial plates added to improve biomechanical
      stability and prevent varus collapse. This was also performed in one patient with
      a grade III open type 33-C3 fracture and one with a closed 33-A2 fracture. Five
      study patients had comminuted fractures. Two had type 33-A3 and three type 33-C3
      fractures. Both patients with 33-A3 fractures and 2 two with 33-C3 fractures had
      persistent nonunion at the end of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Definitive treatment of
      distal femur nonunion after initial treatment with a locking plate had a low rate
      of success in this study, suggesting that this procedure is ineffective as a
      definitive treatment for distal femur nonunion.

PMID- 27627716
TI  - Partial versus Intact Posterior Cruciate Ligament-retaining Total Knee
      Arthroplasty: A Comparative Study of Early Clinical Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Whether the entire posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) should be
      retained during cruciate-retaining total knee arthroplasty (CR TKA) is
      controversial. The goal of this study was to compare the early clinical outcomes
      of partial versus intact PCL-retaining TKA. METHODS: Ninety-two patients who had
      undergone unilateral CR TKA from March 2012 to June 2013 were enrolled in this
      study. Forty-six of these patients were randomly selected to undergo intact PCL
      retaining TKA (intact group), whereas the remaining 46 patients underwent tibial
      osteotomy together with anterolateral bundle and bone island resection (partial
      group). All operations were performed by a senior orthopedic surgeon and the PCL
      was released to some extent in both groups. After TKA, active and passive flexion
      and extension exercises of the knee and lower limb strength exercises were
      maintained until at least 3 months after surgery. Before surgery and 6, 12, and
      24 months after surgery, range of motion, Knee Society Clinical Rating System
      scores (including clinical and functional scores of the knee) and maximum
      anteroposterior (AP) displacement of the knee at 30 degrees  and 90 degrees  of
      knee flexion were evaluated in both groups. RESULTS: Fourteen patients were
      rejected from the final analysis because of loss to follow-up or development of
      complications. Thus, 40 patients from the partial group and 38 from the intact
      group were followed up for 24-41 months (mean 32.8 months). Knee functional
      scores were significantly higher in the intact than in the partial group (88.1
      vs. 84.8 points) 24 months after surgery There were no significant differences in
      range of motion or knee clinical scores between the two groups at any time point.
      However, 12 and 24 months after surgery, the mean maximum AP displacement of the
      knee in 90 degrees  knee flexion was significantly greater in the partial than in
      the intact group (12 months: 6.3 vs. 5.7 mm; 24 months: 7.0 vs. 6.2 mm).
      CONCLUSION: Double-bundle PCL plays an important role in maintaining knee
      stability; the entire PCL should therefore be retained during CR TKA.

PMID- 27627717
TI  - Intraoperative Arthrogram Predicts Residual Dysplasia after Successful Closed
      Reduction of DDH.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of residual dysplasia after closed
      reduction (CR) of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) and assess
      correlations between quality of arthrogram-guided CR and residual dysplasia using
      a new intraoperative radiographic criterion. METHODS: Data of a consecutive
      series of 126 patients with DDH in 139 hips treated at our institution by
      arthrogram-guided CR from March 2006 to June 2013 were reviewed in this
      retrospective study. There were 23 boys and 103 girls with 88 affected left hips
      and 51 right hips. The average age at closed reduction was 14 months (range, 7-19
      months) and average duration of follow-up 36 months (range, 24-100 months).
      Femoral head coverage (FHC) and arthrography type (A/B/C) on best reduced
      arthrographic images, acetabular index (AI) and Wiberg Center-Edge (CE) angle on
      anteroposterior (AP) pelvis radiograph at latest follow-up were measured.
      Residual hip dysplasia was determined according to the Harcke acetabular
      dysplasia radiographic standard. Patients were divided into non-late acetabular
      dysplasia (non-LACD) and late acetabular dysplasia (LACD) groups according to
      final results and age at reduction, sex and side compared between these two
      groups. Correlations between FHC and arthrography type and residual hip dysplasia
      were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze sex, AI
      at CR, arthrography type and FHC with LACD. Receiver operating characteristic
      (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the cutoff value for FHC. RESULTS:
      Forty-five of 139 hips (32.4%) had residual hip dysplasia. Avascular necrosis of
      the femoral head occurred in 11 hips (7.9%), nine of which had acetabular
      dysplasia. There were no significant differences between the two groups in age at
      reduction, sex or side. FHC differed significantly between the two groups (51.2%
      +/- 15.3% vs . 28.5% +/- 15.9%, t = 4.718, P = 0.000). A significantly greater
      percentage of the arthrography Type C group than Type A and B groups had LACD
      (chi(2) = 17.170, P = 0.017). According to multiple logistic regression analysis,
      FHC was the only prognostic factor for LACD. There was a clear cutoff value for
      FHC (30%), under which 81.8% hips were determined as having LACD according to ROC
      curve analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative arthrogram-determined FHC is an
      alternative predictor of residual hip dysplasia after CR of DDH and FHC <=30% can
      be considered the criterion for unacceptable reduction.

PMID- 27627718
TI  - An Alternative Intraoperative Radiographic Method for Optimizing Cup Inclination
      during Total Hip Arthroplasty.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: During total hip arthroplasty (THA), the location of the acetabular
      prosthesis is very important for guaranteeing successful surgery. However, this
      remains a challenge for many surgeons. This study aimed to investigate the
      feasibility of using the intraoperative fluoroscopic iliopubic tangential angle
      (IPTA) to determine the valgus angles of acetabular prostheses. METHODS: In the
      first stage, the IPTA and valgus angles of native acetabula were defined and
      measured in 102 THAs obtained from the picture archiving and communication
      systems of our hospital. Obturator foramen morphology was also measured and
      divided into groups according to the axial length ratio. Correlations between
      obturator foramen morphology and IPTA and valgus angles of native acetabula were
      then determined. In the second stage, angular differences (angle theta) between
      the IPTA and valgus angles of native acetabula were measured during unilateral
      THA in 136 patients to determine whether this is a stable value that could be
      used as a reference for placement of acetabular prostheses. Postoperative data
      such as Harris Hip Score (HHS) scores and complications were collected and
      evaluated. RESULTS: The average IPTA at the apex of the true acetabulum was 58.8
      degrees  +/- 4.1 degrees . The average valgus angle of native acetabula was 43.1
      degrees  +/- 3.9 degrees  and angle theta was 15.7 degrees  +/- 1.3 degrees .
      Obturator foramen morphology was divided into five groups according to the axial
      length ratio. IPTA was closely related to obturator foramen morphology (Pearson r
      = 0.489, P ~ 0.000). Angle theta was stable and independent of obturator foramen
      morphology. When the IPTA and angle theta were used as references for placing
      acetabular prostheses in 136 THAs, the average postoperative valgus angles of
      acetabular prostheses was 45.13 degrees  +/- 4.07 degrees  and the good-to
      excellent rate was 97.05%. There were no short-term complications such as
      fracture, dislocation or infection. The average HHS score 6 months after surgery
      was 37.2 higher than the preoperative score, this difference being significant (P
      < 0.01). Neither infection nor dislocation was found 6 months after surgery.
      CONCLUSIONS: The IPTA (at the apex of the true acetabulum) and angle theta
      (obtained by intraoperative fluoroscopy) are consistent in determining the
      postoperative valgus angle of acetabular prosthesis during THA. Thus, IPTA and
      angle theta are of value in guiding placement of acetabular prostheses; in
      particular, this method can facilitate the learning of young surgeons.

PMID- 27627719
TI  - Bilaterally Primary Cementless Total Hip Arthroplasty for Severe Hip Ankylosis
      with Ankylosing Spondylitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Total hip arthroplasty is a reliable therapeutic intervention in
      patients with ankylosing spondylitis, in whom the aims of surgery are to reduce
      pain, restore hip function and improve quality of life. The current study is a
      retrospective analysis of the clinical and radiographic findings in a consecutive
      series of patients with hip ankylosis associated with severe ankylosing
      spondylitis who underwent bilateral primary total hip arthroplasty using non
      cemented components. METHODS: From June 2008 to May 2012, total hip arthroplasty
      was performed on 34 hips in 17 patients with bilateral ankylosis caused by
      ankylosing spondylitis. The study patients included 13 men and 4 women with a
      mean age of 24.2 years. The mean duration of disease was 8.3 years and the
      average duration of hip involvement was 7.6 years. All patients had severe hip
      pain and dysfunction with bilateral bony ankylosis and no range of motion
      preoperatively and all underwent bilateral cementless total hip arthroplasty
      performed by a single surgeon. Joint pain, range of motion (ROM), and Harris hip
      scores were assessed to evaluate the postoperative results. RESULTS: At a mean
      follow-up of 31.7 months, all patients had experienced significant clinical
      improvement in function, ROM, posture and ambulation. At the final follow-up, the
      mean postoperative flexion ROM was 134.4 degrees  compared with 0 degrees 
      preoperatively. Similar improvements were seen in hip abduction, adduction,
      internal rotation and external rotation. Postoperatively, 23 hips were completely
      pain-free, six had only occasional discomfort, three mild to moderate pain and
      two severe pain. The average Harris Hip Score improved from 23.7 preoperatively
      to 65.8 postoperatively. No stems had loosened at the final follow-up in any
      patient, nor had any revision surgery been required. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral
      severe hip ankylosis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis can be treated with
      cementless bilateral synchronous total hip arthroplasty, which can greatly
      improve hip joint function and relieve pain without significant complications.
      Provided the overall physical condition of a patient and their economic situation
      make surgery a feasible option and the surgeon is experienced, this treatment is
      a worthwhile surgical intervention for bilateral hip bony ankylosis. However, the
      technically demanding nature of the procedure and potential pre- and post
      operative problems should not be underestimated.

PMID- 27627720
TI  - Clinical Evaluation and Gait Characteristics before and after Total Knee
      Arthroplasty Based on a Portable Gait Analyzer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of surgery and rehabilitation on patients
      undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: Twelve patients and 12 healthy
      controls were enrolled and their clinical scores evaluated by a doctor. Gait
      data, including walking velocity, stride length, single support time, foot fall
      and swing power, were collected using a portable gait analyzer from 12 patients
      before and 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery and from 12 healthy controls. The
      gait data and clinical scores at selected time points were compared and
      correlations between gait characteristics and clinical scores assessed. RESULTS:
      Clinical knee and knee function scores increased significantly from before
      surgery to 6 weeks to 6 months after surgery (P < 0.001). The only significant
      differences identified were for single support time on the diseased side between
      before surgery and 6 months after surgery (P = 0.031) and for foot fall with the
      diseased side between 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery (P = 0.016). Foot fall
      and speed of the healthy or diseased sides were significantly different in
      patients at all time points from those of the healthy subjects (P < 0.05). Single
      support time on the diseased side was significantly different 6 months after
      surgery (P = 0.035) in patients than in healthy controls. Single support time on
      the healthy side before surgery was significantly different from that of healthy
      controls (P = 0.048) and 6 weeks after surgery (P = 0.042). Stride lengths
      differed significantly between patients and healthy subjects before surgery
      (healthy side: P = 0.007; diseased side: P = 0.008) and 6 weeks after surgery
      (healthy side: P = 0.001; diseased side: P = 0.001), but were not different at 6
      months after surgery (healthy side: P = 0.088; diseased side: P = 0.077). The
      only significant correlations identified were between single support time with
      the diseased side of patients and their knee (r = 0.43, P = 0.032) and knee
      function scores (r = 0.493, P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: A portable gait analyzer
      appears to be suitable for evaluating the effects of TKA. Single support time on
      the diseased side may be a sensitive quantitative index for determining the
      effect of TKA and rehabilitation.

PMID- 27627721
TI  - Can an Endplate-conformed Cervical Cage Provide a Better Biomechanical
      Environment than a Typical Non-conformed Cage?: A Finite Element Model and
      Cadaver Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the biomechanical characteristics of endplate-conformed
      cervical cages by finite element method (FEM) analysis and cadaver study.
      METHODS: Twelve specimens (C2 -C7 ) and a finite element model (C3 -C7 ) were
      subjected to biomechanical evaluations. In the cadaver study, specimens were
      randomly assigned to intact (I), endplate-conformed (C) and non-conformed (N)
      groups with C4-5 discs as the treated segments. The morphologies of the endplate
      conformed cages were individualized according to CT images of group C and the
      cages fabricated with a 3-D printer. The non-conformed cages were wedge-shaped
      and similar to commercially available grafts. Axial pre-compression loads of 73.6
      N and moment of 1.8 Nm were used to simulate flexion (FLE), extension (EXT),
      lateral bending (LB) and axial rotation (AR). Range of motion (ROM) at C4-5 of
      each specimen was recorded and film sensors fixed between the cages and C5
      superior endplates were used to detect interface stress. A finite element model
      was built based on the CT data of a healthy male volunteer. The morphologies of
      the endplate-conformed and wedge-shaped, non-conformed cervical cages were both
      simulated by a reverse engineering technique and implanted at the segment of C4-5
      in the finite element model for biomechanical evaluation. Force loading and
      grouping were similar to those applied in the cadaver study. ROM of C4-5 in group
      I were recorded to validate the finite element model. Additionally, maximum cage
      endplate interface stresses, stress distribution contours on adjoining endplates,
      intra-disc stresses and facet loadings at adjacent segments were measured and
      compared between groups. RESULTS: In the cadaver study, Group C showed a much
      lower interface stress in all directions of motion (all P < 0.05) and the ROM of
      C4-5 was smaller in FLE-EXT (P = 0.001) but larger in AR (P = 0.017). FEM
      analysis produced similar results: the model implanted with an endplate-conformed
      cage presented a lower interface stress with a more uniform stress distribution
      than that implanted with a non-conformed cage. Additionally, intra-disc stress
      and facet loading at the adjacent segments were obviously increased in both
      groups C and N, especially those at the supra-jacent segments. However, stress
      increase was milder in group C than in group N for all directions of motion.
      CONCLUSIONS: Endplate-conformed cages can decrease cage-endplate interface stress
      in all directions of motion and increase cervical stability in FLE-EXT.
      Additionally, adjacent segments are possibly protected because intra-disc stress
      and facet loading are smaller after endplate-conformed cage implantation.
      However, axial stability was reduced in group C, indicating that endplate
      conformed cage should not be used alone and an anterior plate system is still
      important in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.

PMID- 27627722
TI  - F11 rs2289252T and rs2036914C Polymorphisms Increase the Activity of Factor XI in
      Post-trauma Patients with Fractures Despite Thromboprophylaxis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between F11 rs2289252, rs2036914
      polymorphisms and the activity of clotting factor XI in post-trauma patients with
      fractures receiving routine anticoagulation therapy for deep venous thrombosis
      (DVT). METHODS: A case-control study involving 110 consecutive post-trauma
      patients with fractures and DVT in our hospital was conducted from April 2014 to
      October 2015; these patients comprised a DVT group. Another 40 sex- and age
      matched patients with fractures but without DVT served as controls. Additionally,
      40 sex- and age-matched healthy people were chosen as a normal group. Venous
      blood samples (2 mL) were drawn from all participants and genomic DNA extracted
      from the leukocytes of the patients with fracture-related DVT, whose genotype and
      allele frequency distribution of F11 gene rs2089252 and rs2036914 single
      nucleotide polymorphism were then assessed by a sequencing method. The activity
      of factor XI was measured by a solidification method in all participants,
      including those in control and normal groups. RESULTS: The activity of factor XI
      in patients with fracture-related DVT and F11 rs2089252 CT was 1.16 times that of
      those with CC genotypes (P < 0.0001), whereas in patients with fracture-related
      DVT and F11 rs2089252 TT genotypes it was 1.32 times that of those with CC
      genotypes (P < 0.0001), in patients with fracture-related DVT and F11 rs2089252 T
      allele it was 1.24 times that of those with C allele (P < 0.05), in patients with
      fracture-related DVT and F11 rs2036914 CC it was 1.35 times that of those with TT
      genotypes, in patients with fracture-related DVT and F11 rs2036914 CT genotypes
      it was 1.12 times that of those with TT genotypes (P < 0.05), and in patients
      with fracture-related DVT F11 and rs2036914 C allele it was 1.22 times that of
      those with T allele (P < 0.05). The activity of factor XI was significantly
      higher in the control than in the normal group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High
      activity of factor XI indicates a risk of occurrence of DVT in post-trauma
      patients with fractures. F11 rs2089252 and rs2036914 (single nucleotide
      polymorphisms) are associated with activity of factors XI in such patients
      despite prophylaxis.

PMID- 27627723
TI  - Three-dimensional Computer-assisted Modeling of Talus Morphology in Chinese
      Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide more accurate reference data for the assessment and
      treatment of talar injuries by constructing 3-D computer-assisted models of the
      talus and comparing them with reference data obtained from measurements on
      cadaver specimens. METHODS: Three-dimensional talus models were constructed from
      CT data recorded for healthy Chinese volunteers using SuperImage Orthopedics
      software. Structural variables such as length, width, height and volume of talus
      were compared using the Fisher least significant difference test to determine the
      significance of bilateral or sex-specific differences in the study cohort.
      RESULTS: Measurement data were normally distributed. No significant difference
      between the left and right talus in either men or women was identified for any
      measurement (P > 0.05). The bilateral mean volume of the talus in men (37.87 +/-
      6.69 mm) was significantly larger than that in women (26.95 +/- 5.73 mm; P <
      0.05). Although the dimensions of most of the structural features and articular
      surfaces of the talus were significantly larger in men than in women (P < 0.05),
      no significant differences in the angles of the talar neck and head were observed
      between men and women in our cohort (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our method of 3-D
      model construction provided precise measurements of the structural features of
      the talus. The talar dimensions in our Chinese study cohort differ from those
      previously reported for people of different ethnic groups. Our models should
      provide accurate reference data for constructing models based on CT images for
      the assessment and treatment of talar injuries in Chinese patients.

PMID- 27627724
TI  - Intermittent Cyclic Mechanical Tension Promotes Degeneration of Endplate
      Cartilage via the Nuclear Factor-kappaB Signaling Pathway: an in Vivo Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish a rabbit model for investigating the effects of
      intermittent cyclic mechanical tension (ICMT) on promoting degeneration of
      endplate cartilage. METHODS: Forty New Zealand white rabbits were subjected to
      surgery and randomly divided into three equal groups as follows: control group
      (no treatment, n = 10), sham group (animals underwent a sham operation but were
      not subjected to mechanical tensile strain, n = 15) and loaded group (discs were
      subjected to 1.5 MPa external tensile loading by using an external loading device
      during the animals' daily activity, n = 15). Mechanical tensile strain was
      applied for 8 h/d. The animals were examined radiologically after 8 weeks
      treatment and then killed for removal of endplate cartilage tissue samples from
      their spines. Histological staining was performed to examine the morphology of
      endplate cartilage tissue. Multiple strategies were employed to examine
      degeneration of endplate cartilage and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB signaling
      pathway activation. RESULTS: After ICMT loading for 56 days, radiology revealed
      ossification, hyperosteogeny and stenosis in the intervertebral spaces.
      Examination of hematoxylin and eosin staining of sections of endplate cartilage
      showed significant damage as the load duration increased in the ICMT loading
      group. Expression of aggrecan (ACAN), type II collagen (COL-2A), SRY-related high
      mobility group-box gene 9 (SOX9) was down-regulated (FACAN = 21.515, P < 0.01;
      FCOL-2A = 6.670, P = 0.05; FSOX9 = 7.888, P < 0.05), whereas that of matrix
      metallopeptidase 13 (MMP13) was up-regulated (FMMP13 = 14.120, P < 0.01) after
      ICMT. Western blot and immunofluorescence revealed that expression of protein was
      consistent with gene expression results. Additionally, ICMT loading can lead to
      NF-kappaB signaling pathway activation as well as degeneration of endplate
      cartilage. CONCLUSION: These experiments indicate that ICMT contributes to the
      activation of NF-kappaB signaling pathway in vivo and that the NF-kappaB
      signaling pathway further up-regulates MMP13, leading to degeneration of endplate
      cartilage.

PMID- 27627725
TI  - Robot-assisted Anterior Odontoid Screw Fixation: A Case Report.
AB  - Anterior odontoid screw fixation has been proved to be effective but technically
      challenging because the difficult approach is associated with high risks of screw
      malposition and damage to surrounding vital structures. Navigation techniques are
      therefore increasingly being used to improve safety and accuracy. However, no
      robot-assisted odontoid screw fixation has yet been reported. We here report a 61
      year-old woman with a type II dens fracture on whom anterior odontoid screw
      fixation was performed under the guidance of a newly developed robotic system
      (TiRobot, co-designed by Beijing Jishuitan Hospital and TINAVI Medical
      Technologies). One odontoid screw was safely and accurately placed, the
      calculated deviation between the planned and actual positions being 0.9 mm. No
      intraoperative complications were identified and the patient was discharged on
      Day 5. Follow-up studies after 2 weeks showed good clinical and radiological
      results. We believe this is the first reported case of robot-assisted anterior
      odontoid screw fixation. We consider that complicated procedures can become
      feasible, safe and accurate using TiRobot systems. 

PMID- 27627726
TI  - Atlantoaxial Joint Interlocking Following Type II Odontoid Fracture Associated
      with Posterolateral Atlantoaxial Dislocation: a Case Report and Review of
      Published Reports.
AB  - A rare case of atlantoaxial lateral mass joint interlocking secondary to
      traumatic posterolateral C1,2 complete dislocation associated with type II
      odontoid fracture is herein reported and the impact of atlantoaxial joint
      interlocking on fracture reduction discussed. A 72-year-old man presented with
      traumatic atlantoaxial lateral mass joint interlocking without spinal cord signal
      change, the diagnosis being confirmed by radiography and 3-D reconstruction
      digital anatomy. Posterior internal fixation was performed after failure to
      achieve closed reduction by skull traction. After many surgical attempts at
      setting had failed because of interlocking of the lateral mass joints, reduction
      was achieved by compressing the posterior parts of the atlantal and axial screws.
      Odontoid bone union and C1,2 posterior bone graft fusion were eventually obtained
      by the 12-month follow-up. The patient had a complete neurological recovery with
      no residual neck pain or radiculopathy. 

PMID- 27627727
TI  - Posterior Double Vertebral Column Resections Combined with Satellite Rod
      Technique to Correct Severe Congenital Angular Kyphosis.
AB  - This paper presents a highly challenging technique involving posterior double
      vertebral column resections (VCRs) and satellite rods placement. This was a young
      adult case with severe angular thoracolumbar kyphosis of 101 degrees, secondary
      to anterior segmentation failure from T11 to L1 . There were hemivertebrae at T11
      and T12 , and a wedged vertebra at L1 . He received double VCRs at T12 and T11
      and instrumented fusion from T6 to L4 via a posterior only approach. Autologous
      grafts and a cage were placed between the bony surfaces of the osteotomy gap.
      Once closure of osteotomy was achieved, bilateral permanent CoCr rods were placed
      with addition of satellite rods. Postoperative X-ray demonstrated marked
      correction of kyphosis. On the 10(th) days after surgery, the patient was able to
      walk without assistance. In conclusion, double VCRs are effective to correct
      severe angular kyphosis, and addition of satellite rods may be imperative to
      enhance instrumentation strength and thus prevent correction loss. 

PMID- 27627728
TI  - Much more than just another guidance document.
AB  - As a pediatric hematologist oncologist with clinical and research interests in
      thrombosis in high-risk pediatric populations, and also as a member of the ISTH
      Early Career Task Force, I had the opportunity to develop a guidance document on
      'Thromboprophylaxis for central venous catheters in the pediatric population' for
      the 'Guidelines and Guidance Documents' committee. In this communication, I share
      my experiences to date; I discuss my excitement and initial success, the steep
      learning curve required to build research acumen, the lessons learnt, and the
      opportunities and challenges faced. My experience with preparing the guidance
      document was much more than writing 'just another guidance document'.

PMID- 27627729
TI  - Nomograms need to be presented in full.

PMID- 27627730
TI  - A combined intervention of art therapy and clown visits to reduce preoperative
      anxiety in children.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To test whether a combined intervention of art therapy and
      clown visits could enhance the efficacy of oral medication in reducing children's
      anxiety at parental separation prior to induction of anaesthesia. BACKGROUND:
      Approximately 50% of children undergoing surgery report high anxiety at
      anaesthesia induction. Complementary therapies have been used to decrease
      children's anxiety, but no study has evaluated the efficacy of a combination of
      such therapies. DESIGN: This is an observational study, which involved allocating
      different interventions to two groups and measuring their anxiety at two time
      points. METHODS: This study assigned 78 children (aged 3-11 years) undergoing
      general anaesthesia for surgery to two conditions. The control group underwent
      general anaesthesia following standard practice, and the intervention group
      received an intervention of integrated art therapy and clown visits upon their
      arrival at the hospital and throughout their time in the preoperating room. Each
      child in both groups received 0.5 mg/kg oral midazolam 30 minutes before surgery
      and had a parent present throughout their time in the preoperating room. Each
      child's anxiety was evaluated twice using the Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety
      Scale: at baseline and at separation from parents. Repeated measures anova was
      used to test for differences between the time points and the two groups. RESULTS:
      Children in the intervention group showed a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in
      Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale scores at parental separation compared
      to those in the control group. Additionally, the majority of parents and nurses
      evaluated the intervention to be effective for reducing children's anxiety.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study found that an intervention based on art therapy and clown
      visits enhanced the effect of midazolam in reducing children's anxiety at
      preoperative separation from parents. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Paediatric
      staffs may consider using such a combination of strategies in preparing children
      for anaesthesia induction.

PMID- 27627731
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of Intensive Blood Pressure Management.
AB  - Importance: Among high-risk patients with hypertension, targeting a systolic
      blood pressure of 120 mm Hg reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality
      compared with a higher target. However, intensive blood pressure management
      incurs additional costs from treatment and from adverse events. Objective: To
      evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of intensive blood pressure
      management compared with standard management. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      This cost-effectiveness analysis conducted from September 2015 to August 2016
      used a Markov cohort model to estimate cost-effectiveness of intensive blood
      pressure management among 68-year-old high-risk adults with hypertension but not
      diabetes. We used the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) to
      estimate treatment effects and adverse event rates. We used Centers for Disease
      Control and Prevention Life Tables to project age- and cause-specific mortality,
      calibrated to rates reported in SPRINT. We also used population-based
      observational data to model development of heart failure, myocardial infarction,
      stroke, and subsequent mortality. Costs were based on published sources, Medicare
      data, and the National Inpatient Sample. Interventions: Treatment of hypertension
      to a systolic blood pressure goal of 120 mm Hg (intensive management) or 140 mm
      Hg (standard management). Main Outcomes and Measures: Lifetime costs and quality
      adjusted life-years (QALYs), discounted at 3% annually. Results: Standard
      management yielded 9.6 QALYs and accrued $155 261 in lifetime costs, while
      intensive management yielded 10.5 QALYs and accrued $176 584 in costs. Intensive
      blood pressure management cost $23 777 per QALY gained. In a sensitivity
      analysis, serious adverse events would need to occur at 3 times the rate observed
      in SPRINT and be 3 times more common in the intensive management arm to prefer
      standard management. Conclusions and Relevance: Intensive blood pressure
      management is cost-effective at typical thresholds for value in health care and
      remains so even with substantially higher adverse event rates.

PMID- 27627732
TI  - Forging New Paths to Integrate Rural Veterans' Care Nationwide.

PMID- 27627734
TI  - Discrete annular regions of texture contribute independently to the analysis of
      shape from texture.
AB  - Radial frequency (RF) textures (created by applying a sinusoidal modulation of
      orientation to an otherwise circular texture) have been shown to be globally
      processed. RF textures differ from RF patterns (paths deformed from circular by a
      sinusoidal modulation in radius) in that the elements need not be constrained to
      a specific path. In the natural environment, objects differ from their background
      in texture, and a bounding contour can mark this textural change. This study
      examines the extent to which modulation of texture sums across space and whether
      the inclusion of a boundary between two areas provides a segmentation cue that
      limits the area over which summation occurs. RF textures were split into two
      annular regions and signal introduced to inner, outer, or both annuli Thresholds
      for the detection of RF modulation of orientation were not affected by the
      presence of a boundary. Further, it was found that the thresholds matched
      predictions for the independent contribution of the inner and outer areas to
      performance and that changing the relative phase of the modulation in the inner
      and outer annuli had no impact on performance, implying independent integration
      within the two annuli. Finally, integration of modulation information within the
      annuli was confirmed to ensure these results do apply to textures that are
      globally processed.

PMID- 27627735
TI  - Location-based effects underlie feature conjunction benefits in visual working
      memory.
AB  - Studies of visual working memory (VWM) have reported that different features
      belonging to the same object (conjunctions) are better retained than the same
      features belonging to spatially separated objects (disjunctions). This
      conjunction benefit has been taken as evidence for the theory that VWM
      representations are object-based. However, compared to separate features,
      conjunctions also occupy fewer locations. Here we tested the alternative
      hypothesis that the conjunction benefit reflects a spatial-based rather than an
      object-based advantage. Experiment 1 shows a clear VWM conjunction benefit for
      spatially laid out displays of memory items. However, when the same items were
      presented sequentially at one location (i.e., location was noninformative),
      memory performance was equivalent for conjunction and disjunction conditions.
      Experiment 2 shows that only when the probe carries spatial information (i.e., it
      matches the location of the memory item) does a conjunction benefit occur. Taken
      together, these results put important boundaries on object-based theories of VWM.

PMID- 27627736
TI  - Salient in space, salient in time: Fixation probability predicts fixation
      duration during natural scene viewing.
AB  - During natural scene viewing, humans typically attend and fixate selected
      locations for about 200-400 ms. Two variables characterize such "overt"
      attention: the probability of a location being fixated, and the fixation's
      duration. Both variables have been widely researched, but little is known about
      their relation. We use a two-step approach to investigate the relation between
      fixation probability and duration. In the first step, we use a large corpus of
      fixation data. We demonstrate that fixation probability (empirical salience)
      predicts fixation duration across different observers and tasks. Linear mixed
      effects modeling shows that this relation is explained neither by joint
      dependencies on simple image features (luminance, contrast, edge density) nor by
      spatial biases (central bias). In the second step, we experimentally manipulate
      some of these features. We find that fixation probability from the corpus data
      still predicts fixation duration for this new set of experimental data. This
      holds even if stimuli are deprived of low-level images features, as long as
      higher level scene structure remains intact. Together, this shows a robust
      relation between fixation duration and probability, which does not depend on
      simple image features. Moreover, the study exemplifies the combination of
      empirical research on a large corpus of data with targeted experimental
      manipulations.

PMID- 27627733
TI  - The Relationship Between Airway Antioxidant Levels, Alcohol Use Disorders, and
      Cigarette Smoking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and cigarette smoking are associated
      with pulmonary oxidative stress, likely related to antioxidant depletion.
      Pulmonary oxidative stress may adversely affect innate immunity, leading to
      increased pneumonia susceptibility and severity, including development of the
      acute respiratory distress syndrome. In people with AUDs, most of whom smoke,
      antioxidant therapy can potentially restore immune cell function and attenuate
      pneumonia development. Challenges to human investigations of antioxidant
      therapies include an inability to identify pulmonary oxidative stress
      noninvasively and the optimal route to deliver pulmonary antioxidants. We sought
      to determine whether bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) measures of thiol antioxidants
      from a 50-ml upper airway aliquot approximated those in the alveolar space and to
      determine whether AUDs and/or smoking affected these relationships. METHODS:
      Healthy human subjects with and without AUDs, including smokers and nonsmokers,
      underwent BAL. Samples obtained after the first 50-ml normal saline aliquot were
      analyzed as representing bronchial airways; subsequent 50-ml aliquots were
      analyzed as representative of the alveolar space. Reduced and oxidized (GSSG)
      glutathione, cysteine (Cys), and its oxidized species, cystine, along with mixed
      disulfides (MDs) were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography.
      The percent of total thiols present in their oxidized forms, and thiol redox
      potentials, were calculated. RESULTS: Positive correlations between upper and
      lower BAL fluid thiol species were observed that were most robust for GSSG (rho =
      0.85), Cys (rho = 0.83), and MDs (rho = 0.69), but poor for thiol redox potential
      measures. In contrast to nonsmokers (either with or without AUDs), in subjects
      with AUDs who smoked, upper BAL fluid %GSSG, Cys, and MD measures were relatively
      increased compared to lower. CONCLUSIONS: A small volume BAL procedure may be
      suitable to assess intrapulmonary oxidative stress related to thiol depletion.
      Factors including AUDs and smoking may disproportionately increase upper airways
      oxidative stress that could be relevant for therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 27627737
TI  - Variable relationship of the recurrent laryngeal nerve to the inferior thyroid
      artery: A meta-analysis and surgical implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and
      inferior thyroid artery (ITA) is highly variable and traceable back to
      embryological life. METHODS: Comprehensive database searches were conducted,
      followed by judgment of eligibility, assessment, and extraction of data
      concerning the RLN/ITA relationship. The data were pooled into a meta-analysis
      and subjected to sex, side-based, geographic origin of study, and study modality
      subgroup analyses. RESULTS: Seventy-nine studies (n = 14,269 nerves) reported
      data on the relationship of the RLN to the ITA. The left versus right-sided
      comparison revealed stark differences: RLNs were predominantly posterior (62.6%
      vs 37.0%) and anterior (17.2% vs 37.1%) on the left and right sides,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Symmetry of neurovascular relationships should not be
      assumed. Extra care should be taken during procedures on the right side, because
      the nerves are significantly more likely to present in patterns (anterior and
      between) associated with greater risk of iatrogenic injury. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 177-186, 2017.

PMID- 27627740
TI  - Introduction: Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive
      Disorder.

PMID- 27627739
TI  - Morphological variation among the inner ears of extinct and extant baleen whales
      (Cetacea: Mysticeti).
AB  - Living mysticetes (baleen whales) and odontocetes (toothed whales) differ
      significantly in auditory function in that toothed whales are sensitive to high
      frequency and ultrasonic sound vibrations and mysticetes to low-frequency and
      infrasonic noises. Our knowledge of the evolution and phylogeny of cetaceans, and
      mysticetes in particular, is at a point at which we can explore morphological and
      physiological changes within the baleen whale inner ear. Traditional comparative
      anatomy and landmark-based 3D-geometric morphometric analyses were performed to
      investigate the anatomical diversity of the inner ears of extinct and extant
      mysticetes in comparison with other cetaceans. Principal component analyses
      (PCAs) show that the cochlear morphospace of odontocetes is tangential to that of
      mysticetes, but odontocetes are completely separated from mysticetes when
      semicircular canal landmarks are combined with the cochlear data. The cochlea of
      the archaeocete Zygorhiza kochii and early diverging extinct mysticetes plot
      within the morphospace of crown mysticetes, suggesting that mysticetes possess
      ancestral cochlear morphology and physiology. The PCA results indicate variation
      among mysticete species, although no major patterns are recovered to suggest
      separate hearing or locomotor regimes. Phylogenetic signal was detected for
      several clades, including crown Cetacea and crown Mysticeti, with the most clades
      expressing phylogenetic signal in the semicircular canal dataset. Brownian motion
      could not be excluded as an explanation for the signal, except for analyses
      combining cochlea and semicircular canal datasets for Balaenopteridae. J.
      Morphol. 277:1599-1615, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627738
TI  - Decoding Spontaneous Emotional States in the Human Brain.
AB  - Pattern classification of human brain activity provides unique insight into the
      neural underpinnings of diverse mental states. These multivariate tools have
      recently been used within the field of affective neuroscience to classify
      distributed patterns of brain activation evoked during emotion induction
      procedures. Here we assess whether neural models developed to discriminate among
      distinct emotion categories exhibit predictive validity in the absence of
      exteroceptive emotional stimulation. In two experiments, we show that spontaneous
      fluctuations in human resting-state brain activity can be decoded into categories
      of experience delineating unique emotional states that exhibit spatiotemporal
      coherence, covary with individual differences in mood and personality traits, and
      predict on-line, self-reported feelings. These findings validate objective, brain
      based models of emotion and show how emotional states dynamically emerge from the
      activity of separable neural systems.

PMID- 27627742
TI  - Robotics in pulmonology and thoracic surgery: what, why and when?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Robot-assisted surgery emerged and evolved in order to increase the
      surgical precision and due to the need to overcome the drawbacks of conventional
      minimally invasive surgery. In thoracic surgery the first reported use of a
      robotic device was in a series of 12 patients with different lung pathologies
      with the assistance of the DaVinci Robotic Surgical System in 2002. The DaVinci
      system has been used for various procedures in the field of thoracic surgery
      since then. While its advantages for the resection of early stage thymoma have
      been well documented, its role in the treatment of lung cancer and other
      pathologies is still under investigation. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic
      literature search was performed on the following medical databases: Medline,
      EMBASE and Cochrane Library. The search was performed in June 2016 and was
      limited to material published since the first report of a robotic system for a
      surgical procedure in 1985. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The results for various thoracic
      surgical procedures were analyzed with focus on the benefits and limitations of
      the robotic system compared to open and thoracoscopic or video-assisted
      techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Although numerous studies have shown the feasibility and
      safety of robotic surgery for various procedures, they were not able to show
      superior postoperative outcomes in terms of morbidity and mortality in exchange
      for the higher costs of robotic surgery compared to conventional video-assisted
      thoracic surgery (VATS), except for early-stage thymoma resection. Therefore,
      randomized control trials comparing robotic particularly with VATS, but also with
      open procedures are required to further evaluate this crucial topic.

PMID- 27627741
TI  - The Delta-Opioid Receptor Agonist D-Ala2-D-Leu2-Enkephalin Enhances Hypoxic
      Depression of Excitatory Synaptic Transmission and Improves Recovery of Rat
      Cortical Neurons from Hypoxia in vitro.
AB  - We investigated the influence of the delta-opioid receptor-preferring agonist D
      Ala2-D-Leu2-enkephalin (DADLE) in vitro during long- and short-term hypoxia on
      the single cortical neuron membrane currents, the postsynaptic currents (PSCs),
      and the postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) in rats. Rat cortical pyramidal neurons
      showed 2 distinct and prognostically relevant responses to hypoxia. Type A
      neurons that responded to hypoxia by an inward current, followed by a steady
      outward current, were shown to recover during subsequent reoxygenation. In
      contrast, type B neurons that responded by a steady inward current, indicative of
      gradual anoxic depolarisation, suffered irreversible membrane dysfunction and did
      not recover completely during reoxygenation. Pre-treatment with 1 umol/l DADLE
      attenuated the hypoxic inward current and favored complete recovery of holding
      current and input resistance during reoxygenation, even when neurons were
      challenged by a second exposure to hypoxia. DADLE enhanced the inhibitory effect
      of hypoxia on PSPs and PSCs. We assume that this neuroprotective effect is
      transmitted by the additive effects of DADLE on the hypoxic PSP/PSC suppression,
      thereby inhibiting presynaptic glutamate release.

PMID- 27627743
TI  - More Than Just a Pain in the Neck: Occupational Hazards of Pathologists.

PMID- 27627744
TI  - Transection of Radioactive Seeds in Breast Specimens.
AB  - Radioactive seed localization is a new procedure for localizing breast lesions
      that has several advantages over the standard wire-localization procedure. It is
      reported to be safe for both patients and medical personnel. Although it is
      theoretically possible to transect the titanium-encapsulated seed while
      processing the breast specimen in the pathology laboratory, the likelihood of
      such an event is thought to be exceedingly low. In fact, there are no previous
      reports of such an event in the literature to date. We recently encountered 2
      cases in which a radioactive seed was inadvertently transected while slicing a
      breast specimen at the grossing bench. In this report, we describe each case and
      offer recommendations for minimizing radioactive exposure to personnel and for
      preventing radioactive contamination of laboratory equipment.

PMID- 27627747
TI  - DYNAMIC AND STATIC VESSEL ANALYSIS IN PATIENTS WITH RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA: A Pilot
      Study of Vascular Diameters and Functionality.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate in vivo the vascular anatomy and functionality of early
      manifestation retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by means of a dynamic and static vessel
      analyzer. METHODS: Fourteen patients with early RP and 14 normal subjects were
      consecutively enrolled in this observational, prospective study. Each patient
      underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, including dynamic and static
      retinal vessel analysis using the Dynamic Vessel Analyzer. RESULTS: The patients
      with RP and the control group were well matched in age and sex. Patients with RP
      had a mean best-corrected visual acuity of 20/25 (range: 20/40-20/20). Dynamic
      vessel analysis performed in patients with RP showed an arterial and venous
      dilation during flicker stimulation of 5.28 +/- 1.7% and 4.07 +/- 1.78%,
      respectively. Only arterial dilation was statistically different compared with
      control subjects (3.33 +/- 0.99%, P = 0.0062). Static retinal vessel analysis in
      patients with RP showed a decreased mean central retinal artery equivalent (P <
      0.001) and central retinal vein equivalent (P < 0.001) compared with control
      subjects. By contrast, the arterial-to-venous ratio was similar in both groups
      (RP: 0.79 +/- 0.11, control group 0.86 +/- 0.04, P = 0.072). CONCLUSION: Our data
      confirm that retinal arterial and venous narrowing is present at an early stage
      in patients affected by RP. However, dynamic vessel analysis shows how the retina
      of patients with RP with no best-corrected visual acuity loss presents an
      augmented artery dilation response compared with normal subjects and retained
      neurovascular coupling.

PMID- 27627745
TI  - Profound regulation of Na/K pump activity by transient elevations of cytoplasmic
      calcium in murine cardiac myocytes.
AB  - Small changes of Na/K pump activity regulate internal Ca release in cardiac
      myocytes via Na/Ca exchange. We now show conversely that transient elevations of
      cytoplasmic Ca strongly regulate cardiac Na/K pumps. When cytoplasmic Na is
      submaximal, Na/K pump currents decay rapidly during extracellular K application
      and multiple results suggest that an inactivation mechanism is involved. Brief
      activation of Ca influx by reverse Na/Ca exchange enhances pump currents and
      attenuates current decay, while repeated Ca elevations suppress pump currents.
      Pump current enhancement reverses over 3 min, and results are similar in myocytes
      lacking the regulatory protein, phospholemman. Classical signaling mechanisms,
      including Ca-activated protein kinases and reactive oxygen, are evidently not
      involved. Electrogenic signals mediated by intramembrane movement of hydrophobic
      ions, such as hexyltriphenylphosphonium (C6TPP), increase and decrease in
      parallel with pump currents. Thus, transient Ca elevation and Na/K pump
      inactivation cause opposing sarcolemma changes that may affect diverse membrane
      processes.

PMID- 27627748
TI  - RECURRENT MACULAR HOLES IN THE ERA OF SMALL-GAUGE VITRECTOMY: A Review of
      Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the preoperative features, intraoperative management, and
      postoperative outcomes of recurrent macular holes that developed after initial
      successful repair with small-gauge vitrectomy techniques. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed 392 eyes with idiopathic macular holes successfully
      treated with small-gauge vitrectomy. Thirteen of these eyes underwent reoperation
      after macular hole reopening. We assessed patient demographics, visual acuity,
      postoperative anatomical success, potential precipitating clinical factors of
      hole reopening, and details of the surgical repairs of these eyes. RESULTS:
      Macular hole reopening occurred in 13 (3.3%) of 392 eyes in a mean of 28 months
      (range, 1-120 months) after initial repair. All 13 recurrent holes closed after a
      second vitrectomy, but 4 (31%) holes reopened again and had vitrectomy. Of these,
      2 reopened a third time. Ultimately, 11 (85%) holes were closed at the most
      recent follow-up. The mean best-corrected visual acuity was 20/81 before initial
      repair, 20/148 after the first reopening, 20/115 after repair of the first
      reopening, and 20/55 after repair of >1 reopening. Ten of 13 (77%) patients had,
      or later developed, macular holes in the other eye during follow-up. CONCLUSION:
      Reoperation successfully achieved hole closure and ultimate visual improvement in
      most eyes with recurrent macular holes. Most patients with recurrent holes
      previously had, or later developed, full-thickness macular holes in the other
      eye.

PMID- 27627746
TI  - TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA auxin perception mediates rapid cell wall acidification and
      growth of Arabidopsis hypocotyls.
AB  - Despite being composed of immobile cells, plants reorient along directional
      stimuli. The hormone auxin is redistributed in stimulated organs leading to
      differential growth and bending. Auxin application triggers rapid cell wall
      acidification and elongation of aerial organs of plants, but the molecular
      players mediating these effects are still controversial. Here we use genetically
      encoded pH and auxin signaling sensors, pharmacological and genetic manipulations
      available for Arabidopsis etiolated hypocotyls to clarify how auxin is perceived
      and the downstream growth executed. We show that auxin-induced acidification
      occurs by local activation of H+-ATPases, which in the context of gravity
      response is restricted to the lower organ side. This auxin-stimulated
      acidification and growth require TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA nuclear auxin perception. In
      addition, auxin-induced gene transcription and specifically SAUR proteins are
      crucial downstream mediators of this growth. Our study provides strong
      experimental support for the acid growth theory and clarified the contribution of
      the upstream auxin perception mechanisms.

PMID- 27627749
TI  - MINERALOCORTICOID RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST TREATMENT IN BILATERAL CHRONIC CENTRAL
      SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EXUDATIVE AND NONEXUDATIVE
      FELLOW EYES.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the macular thickness, choroidal thickness, and visual
      acuity changes in eyes of patients with bilateral chronic central serous
      chorioretinopathy during eplerenone treatment. METHODS: This prospective clinical
      trial was conducted on patients with bilateral chronic central serous
      chorioretinopathy, who had subretinal fluid (SRF) in 1 eye. Twenty-eight patients
      were treated with 50 mg/day of oral eplerenone for 3 months and were observed for
      another 3 months. Twenty-eight eyes with SRF were compared with the 28 fellow
      eyes with pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy. RESULTS: The central macular and
      choroidal thickness showed a significant decrease (P < 0.005) at 3 months in all
      eyes, but change in choroidal thickness was smaller in nonexudative fellow eyes
      (P > 0.05 at 6 months). In the exudative eyes, the decrease in choroidal
      thickness showed a significant correlation with the resolution of SRF (P <
      0.001). Visual acuity remained stable in all eyes, with significant improvement
      only in exudative eyes at 6 months (P < 0.005). Baseline choroidal thickness was
      a significant positive predictor for SRF decrease (P = 0.003). CONCLUSION:
      Patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy can safely be treated with
      eplerenone as it can reverse choroidal vasodilation with an accompanying
      resolution of the SRF and improvement in visual acuity. These beneficial
      therapeutic effects are more pronounced in the exudative eyes.

PMID- 27627750
TI  - In Vivo Visualization of Large Choroidal Vessels Obliteration in Geographic
      Atrophy.

PMID- 27627753
TI  - Intraoperative Optical Coherence Tomography Validates the Immediate Efficacy of
      External Diathermy in Sealing 25-Gauge Sclerotomy Wounds.

PMID- 27627752
TI  - REGRESSION OF TYPE 2 NEOVASCULARIZATION INTO A TYPE 1 PATTERN AFTER INTRAVITREAL
      ANTI-VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR THERAPY FOR NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED
      MACULAR DEGENERATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study eyes with Type 2 (subretinal) neovascularization (NV) secondary
      to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) that shows lesion
      regression into a Type 1 (subretinal pigment epithelium) pattern after treatment
      with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.
      METHODS: Retrospective consecutive case series. Patients showing regression of
      Type 2 neovascularization into a Type 1 pattern after envelopment by retinal
      pigment epithelium were included in this analysis. A review of the clinical
      records and multimodal imaging of these cases was performed at baseline, 1, 3, 6,
      and 12 months. Demographic data, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), color
      fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), fluorescein angiography, near
      infrared reflectance (NIR), and structural spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography (SD-OCT) were reviewed and analyzed. When available, optical coherence
      tomography angiography images were analyzed as well. RESULTS: Ten eyes of 9
      patients (6 males) diagnosed with treatment-naive pure Type 2 neovascularization
      secondary to nAMD were included. The mean age was 80.7 years (SD +/- 4.30). Mean
      best-corrected visual acuity expressed in logMAR (Snellen) was 0.45 +/- 0.20
      (20/55) at baseline and significantly improved to 0.22 +/- 0.13 (20/32) at 3
      month follow-up (P-value: 0.007). At baseline, color photographs and fundus
      autofluorescence showed a pigment ring around the neovascular lesion in 6 eyes. A
      hyperreflective ring was visible on NIR in all eyes at 3-month follow-up. Color
      photographs showed a tessellated fundus appearance in 9 of the 10 eyes. Serial
      structural spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans showed the gradual
      regression of the Type 2 lesions into a Type 1 pattern with envelopment by the
      retinal pigment epithelium. En face and cross-sectional optical coherence
      tomography angiography showed baseline subretinal flow patterns which, after
      treatment, exhibited reduced flow beneath an intact hyperreflective retinal
      pigment epithelium (RPE) band. CONCLUSION: Pure Type 2 lesions are infrequent in
      nAMD, often leading to poor visual outcomes related to subretinal fibrosis. We
      describe an alternate regression pattern occurring in eyes with early Type 2
      lesions treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy
      in which the neovascular tissue is enveloped by retinal pigment epithelium
      producing a Type 1 pattern. These eyes appear to have better visual outcomes than
      typically seen with Type 2 lesions related to reduced outer retinal damage.

PMID- 27627754
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27627755
TI  - Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Intravesical Hyaluronic Acid and
      Hyaluronic Acid/Chondroitin Sulfate Instillation for Interstitial
      Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To assess the efficacy of intravesical hyaluronic acid (HA) and
      HA/chondroitin sulfate (CS) instillation in patients with interstitial
      cystitis/painful bladder syndrome by systematic review and meta-analysis.
      METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed using the keywords:
      'interstitial cystitis' or 'painful bladder syndrome' or 'bladder pain syndrome'
      and 'hyaluronic acid', up to March 31, 2016. The primary outcome was visual
      analogue scale related pain symptom (VAS). Secondary outcomes were the O'Leary
      Sant Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index (ICSI) and Problem Index (ICPI),
      frequency, nocturia, bladder volume, and voided urine volume. RESULTS: Ten
      articles involving 390 patients were retrieved and assessed in analysis. A
      significant improvement in mean VAS on fixed-effect and random-effect models
      (mean difference [MD] -3.654, 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.814 to -3.495, and
      MD -3.206, 95% CI -4.156 to -2.257, respectively) was found. Significant
      improvements were found in the ICSI (MD -3.223, 95% CI -4.132 to -2.315) and ICPI
      (MD -2.941, 95% CI -3.767 to -2.116). Similarly, the other outcomes were
      significantly improved. CONCLUSION: Intravesical HA and HA/CS instillation
      improved pain symptom, quality of life, and other outcomes and could be included
      as therapeutic modality of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.

PMID- 27627757
TI  - Tissue Reactions to Heterogenic and Allogeneic Acellular Dermal Matrix Mesh
      Placed in the Vesicovaginal Space in a Rabbit Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study is aimed at investigating the tissue reactions of
      heterogenic and allogeneic acellular dermal matrix (ADM) mesh implanted in the
      vesicovaginal space in a rabbit model. METHODS: Twenty eight rabbits were
      implanted with heterogenic or allogeneic mesh, respectively, in the vesicovaginal
      space, and 4 served as the no-implantation control group. Rabbits were sacrificed
      at 7, 30, and 90 days after implantation. Histopathological study and
      immunohistochemical examination for collagen were performed. RESULTS: Heterogenic
      but not allogeneic mesh was identifiable at 90 days. In the allogeneic group,
      neovascularization was observed from day 7 after implantation. A chronic
      inflammatory reaction was noted in the heterogenic group at 30 days that
      decreased at 90 days. Inflammation was less in the allogeneic group, but giant
      cells and fibroblasts were present. With respect to collagen, the heterogenic
      mesh remained structurally unchanged at 90 days, while new collagen fibers were
      observed in the allogeneic group from day 7. CONCLUSION: The immunological
      outcomes of heterogenic and allogeneic ADM mesh are different. Heterogenic mesh
      induces a chronic inflammatory reaction at day 30 after implantation, and
      maintains its original form longer. Allogeneic mesh is associated with new
      collagen generation, but degrades earlier.

PMID- 27627756
TI  - The Association between Sarcopenic Obesity and Depressive Symptoms in Older
      Japanese Adults.
AB  - The effects of sarcopenic obesity, the co-existence of sarcopenia and obesity, on
      mood disorders have not been studies extensively. Our objective was to examine
      the association of depressive symptoms with sarcopenia and obesity status in
      older Japanese adults. We analyzed data from 1731 functionally-independent,
      community-dwelling Japanese adults aged 65 years or older (875 men, 856 women)
      randomly selected from the resident register of Kashiwa city, Chiba, Japan in
      2012. Sarcopenia was defined based on appendicular skeletal muscle mass, grip
      strength and usual gait speed. Obesity was defined as the highest sex-specific
      quintile of the percentage body fat. Depressive symptoms were defined as a
      Geriatric Depression Scale 15-item score >= 6. Multiple logistic regression was
      employed to examine the association of depressive symptoms with four groups
      defined by the presence/absence of sarcopenia and obesity. The prevalence of
      depressive symptoms was 10.1% and the proportions of sarcopenia/obesity,
      sarcopenia/non-obesity, non-sarcopenia/obesity, non-sarcopenia/non-obesity were
      3.7%, 13.6%, 16.9% and 65.8%, respectively. After adjustment for potential
      confounders, sarcopenia/obesity was positively associated with depressive
      symptoms compared with non-sarcopenia/non-obesity, whereas either sarcopenia or
      obesity alone was not associated with depressive symptoms. The association was
      particularly pronounced in those aged 65 to 74 years in age-stratified analysis.
      We conclude that our findings suggest a synergistic impact exerted by sarcopenic
      obesity on the risk of depressive symptoms, particularly in those aged 65 to 74
      years. 

PMID- 27627758
TI  - Bacterial Larvicide, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis Strain AM 65-52 Water
      Dispersible Granule Formulation Impacts Both Dengue Vector, Aedes aegypti (L.)
      Population Density and Disease Transmission in Cambodia.
AB  - A multi-phased study was conducted in Cambodia from 2005-2011 to measure the
      impact of larviciding with the bacterial larvicide, Bacillus thuringiensis
      israelensis (Bti), a water dispersible granule (WG) formulation on the vector,
      Aedes aegypti (L.) and the epidemiology. In our studies, all in-use containers
      were treated at 8 g/1000 L, including smaller containers and animal feeders which
      were found to contribute 23% of Ae aegypti pupae. The treated waters were
      subjected to routine water exchange activities. Pupal production was suppressed
      by an average 91% for 8 weeks. Pupal numbers continued to remain significantly
      lower than the untreated commune (UTC) for 13 weeks post treatment in the peak
      dengue vector season (p<0.05). Suppression of pupal production was supported by
      very low adult numbers in the treated commune. An average 70% of the household
      harbored 0-5 Ae aegypti mosquitoes per home for 8 weeks post treatment, but in
      the same period of time >50% of the household in the UTC harbored >=11 mosquitoes
      per home. The adult population continued to remain at significantly much lower
      numbers in the Bti treated commune than in the UTC for 10-12 weeks post treatment
      (p<0.05). In 2011, a pilot operational program was evaluated in Kandal Province,
      a temephos resistant site. It was concluded that 2 cycles of Bti treatment in the
      6 months monsoon season with complete coverage of the target districts achieved
      an overall dengue case reduction of 48% in the 6 treated districts compared to
      the previous year, 2010. Five untreated districts in the same province had an
      overwhelming increase of 352% of dengue cases during the same period of time. The
      larvicide efficacy, treatment of all in-use containers at the start of the
      monsoon season, together with treatment coverage of entire districts interrupted
      disease transmission in the temephos resistant province.

PMID- 27627760
TI  - Default Mode and Executive Networks Areas: Association with the Serial Order in
      Divergent Thinking.
AB  - Scientific findings have suggested a two-fold structure of the cognitive process.
      By using the heuristic thinking mode, people automatically process information
      that tends to be invariant across days, whereas by using the explicit thinking
      mode people explicitly process information that tends to be variant compared to
      typical previously learned information patterns. Previous studies on creativity
      found an association between creativity and the brain regions in the prefrontal
      cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the default mode network and the executive
      network. However, which neural networks contribute to the explicit mode of
      thinking during idea generation remains an open question. We employed an fMRI
      paradigm to examine which brain regions were activated when participants (n = 16)
      mentally generated alternative uses for everyday objects. Most previous
      creativity studies required participants to verbalize responses during idea
      generation, whereas in this study participants produced mental alternatives
      without verbalizing. This study found activation in the left anterior insula when
      contrasting idea generation and object identification. This finding suggests that
      the insula (part of the brain's salience network) plays a role in facilitating
      both the central executive and default mode networks to activate idea generation.
      We also investigated closely the effect of the serial order of idea being
      generated on brain responses: The amplitude of fMRI responses correlated
      positively with the serial order of idea being generated in the anterior
      cingulate cortex, which is part of the central executive network. Positive
      correlation with the serial order was also observed in the regions typically
      assigned to the default mode network: the precuneus/cuneus, inferior parietal
      lobule and posterior cingulate cortex. These networks support the explicit mode
      of thinking and help the individual to convert conventional mental models to new
      ones. The serial order correlated negatively with the BOLD responses in the
      posterior presupplementary motor area, left premotor cortex, right cerebellum and
      left inferior frontal gyrus. This finding might imply that idea generation
      without a verbal processing demand reflecting lack of need for new object
      identification in idea generation events. The results of the study are consistent
      with recent creativity studies, which emphasize that the creativity process
      involves working memory capacity to spontaneously shift between different kinds
      of thinking modes according to the context. 

PMID- 27627759
TI  - Anticandidal Effect and Mechanisms of Monoterpenoid, Perillyl Alcohol against
      Candida albicans.
AB  - This study explored the antifungal potential of perillyl alcohol (PA), a natural
      monoterpene alcohol, against most prevalent human fungal pathogen C. albicans,
      its clinical isolates and four non-albicans species of Candida. To resolve the
      potential mechanisms, we used whole genome transcriptome analyses of PA treated
      Candida cells to examine the affected cellular circuitry of this pathogen. The
      transcriptome data revealed a link between calcineurin signaling and PA as among
      the several categories of PA responsive genes the down regulation of calcineurin
      signaling gene CNB1 was noteworthy which was also confirmed by both molecular
      docking and susceptibility assays. We observed that PA treated Candida
      phenocopied compromised calcineurin pathway stress responses and turned sensitive
      to alkaline pH, ionic, membrane, salinity, endoplasmic reticulum and serum
      stresses. Indispensability of functional calcineurin was further confirmed as
      calcineurin mutant was hypersensitive to PA while constitutively expressed
      calcineurin strain remained resistant. We explored that PA leads to perturbed
      membrane integrity as depicted through depleted ergosterol levels and disrupted
      pH homeostasis. Moreover, PA caused cell wall damage which was evident from
      hypersensitivity against cell wall perturbing agents (congo red, calcoflour
      white), SEM and enhanced rate of cell sedimentation. Furthermore, PA inhibited
      potential virulence traits including morphological transition, biofilm formation
      and displayed diminished capacity to adhere both to the polystyrene surface and
      buccal epithelial cells. The study also revealed that PA leads to cell cycle
      arrest and mitochondrial dysfunction in C. albicans. Together, the present study
      provides enough evidence for further work on PA so that better strategies could
      be employed to treat Candida infections. 

PMID- 27627762
TI  - Differences Between Men and Women Aged 65 and Older in the Relationship Between
      Self-Reported Sleep and Cognitive Impairment: A Nationwide Survey in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of self-reported sleep disturbances and
      cognitive impairment in men and women aged 65 and older and to determine sex
      specific effects on the relationship between self-reported sleep and cognitive
      impairment. DESIGN: A secondary data analysis from the 2009 Taiwan National
      Health Interview Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 65 and older (N = 2,413,
      n = 1,094 men, n = 1,319 women). MEASUREMENTS: Subjective sleep characteristics
      including sleep duration, difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining
      sleep, early-morning awakening, daytime sleepiness, difficulty breathing during
      sleep, habitual snoring, and daytime napping were measured using survey
      questions. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used to identify cognitive
      impairment. RESULTS: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 16.3% for men and
      27.1% for women. Men and women with cognitive impairment had higher prevalence of
      self-reported sleep disturbances than those without. There was a significant
      effect of the interaction between sex and difficulty breathing during sleep on
      cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.39, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) = 0.20-0.77). In men, difficulty breathing during sleep (aOR = 2.31, 95% CI
      = 1.39-3.84), habitual snoring (aOR = 2.30, 95% CI = 1.49-3.54), and prolonged
      sleep duration (> 8.5 hours) (aOR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.11-3.43) correlated
      significantly with cognitive impairment. In women, only prolonged sleep duration
      (>8.5 hours) was associated with higher likelihood of cognitive impairment (aOR =
      2.32, 95% CI = 1.33-4.03). CONCLUSION: This nationwide survey confirmed sex
      differences in the association between various self-reported sleep disturbances
      and cognitive impairment in people aged 65 and older.

PMID- 27627761
TI  - Up-Regulated Expression of LAMP2 and Autophagy Activity during Neuroendocrine
      Differentiation of Prostate Cancer LNCaP Cells.
AB  - Neuroendocrine (NE) prostate cancer (PCa) is a highly aggressive subtype of
      prostate cancer associated with resistance to androgen ablation therapy. In this
      study, we used LNCaP prostate cancer cells cultured in a serum-free medium for 6
      days as a NE model of prostate cancer. Serum deprivation increased the expression
      of NE markers such as neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and betaIII tubulin (betaIII
      tub) and decreased the expression of the androgen receptor protein in LNCaP
      cells. Using cDNA microarrays, we compared gene expression profiles of NE cells
      and non-differentiated LNCaP cells. We identified up-regulation of 155 genes,
      among them LAMP2, a lysosomal membrane protein involved in lysosomal stability
      and autophagy. We then confirmed up-regulation of LAMP2 in NE cells by qRT-PCR,
      Western blot and confocal microscopy assays, showing that mRNA up-regulation
      correlated with increased levels of LAMP2 protein. Subsequently, we determined
      autophagy activity in NE cells by assessing the protein levels of SQSTM/p62 and
      LC3 by Western blot and LC3 and Atg5 mRNAs content by qRT-PCR. The decreased
      levels of SQSTM/p62 was accompanied by an enhanced expression of LC3 and ATG5,
      suggesting activation of autophagy in NE cells. Blockage of autophagy with 1MUM
      AKT inhibitor IV, or by silencing Beclin 1 and Atg5, prevented NE cell
      differentiation, as revealed by decreased levels of the NE markers. In addition,
      AKT inhibitor IV as well as Beclin1 and Atg5 kwockdown attenuated LAMP2
      expression in NE cells. On the other hand, LAMP2 knockdown by siRNA led to a
      marked blockage of autophagy, prevention of NE differentiation and decrease of
      cell survival. Taken together, these results suggest that LAMP2 overexpression
      assists NE differentiation of LNCaP cells induced by serum deprivation and
      facilitates autophagy activity in order to attain the NE phenotype and cell
      survival. LAMP2 could thus be a potential biomarker and potential target for NE
      prostate cancer. 

PMID- 27627763
TI  - Correction: Minimally Mutated HIV-1 Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies to Guide
      Reductionist Vaccine Design.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005815.].

PMID- 27627764
TI  - Effects of Diclofenac, L-NAME, L-Arginine, and Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 on
      Gastrointestinal, Liver, and Brain Lesions, Failed Anastomosis, and Intestinal
      Adaptation Deterioration in 24 Hour-Short-Bowel Rats.
AB  - Stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 was previously used to ameliorate wound
      healing following major surgery and counteract diclofenac toxicity. To resolve
      the increasing early risks following major massive small bowel resectioning
      surgery, diclofenac combined with nitric oxide (NO) system blockade was used,
      suggesting therapy with BPC 157 and the nitric oxide synthase (NOS substrate) L
      arginine, is efficacious. Immediately after anastomosis creation, short-bowel
      rats were untreated or administered intraperitoneal diclofenac (12 mg/kg), BPC
      157 (10 MUg/kg or 10 ng/kg), L-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 5 mg/kg), L
      arginine (100 mg/kg) alone or combined, and assessed 24 h later. Short-bowel rats
      exhibited poor anastomosis healing, failed intestine adaptation, and
      gastrointestinal, liver, and brain lesions, which worsened with diclofenac. This
      was gradually ameliorated by immediate therapy with BPC 157 and L-arginine.
      Contrastingly, NOS-blocker L-NAME induced further aggravation and lesions
      gradually worsened. Specifically, rats with surgery alone exhibited mild
      stomach/duodenum lesions, considerable liver lesions, and severe
      cerebral/hippocampal lesions while those also administered diclofenac showed
      widespread severe lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, liver, cerebellar
      nuclear/Purkinje cells, and cerebrum/hippocampus. Rats subjected to surgery,
      diclofenac, and L-NAME exhibited the mentioned lesions, worsening anastomosis,
      and macro/microscopical necrosis. Thus, rats subjected to surgery alone showed
      evidence of deterioration. Furtheremore, rats subjected to surgery and
      administered diclofenac showed worse symptoms, than the rats subjected to surgery
      alone did. Rats subjected to surgery combined with diclofenac and L-NAME showed
      the worst deterioration. Rats subjected to surgery exhibited habitual adaptation
      of the remaining small intestine, which was markedly reversed in rats subjected
      to surgery and diclofenac, and those with surgery, diclofenac, and L-NAME. BPC
      157 completely ameliorated symptoms in massive intestinal resection-, massive
      intestinal resection plus diclofenac-, and massive intestinal resection plus
      diclofenac plus L-NAME-treated short bowel rats that presented with
      cyclooxygenase (COX)-NO-system inhibition. L-arginine ameliorated only L-NAME
      induced aggravation of symptoms in rats subjected to massive intestinal resection
      and administered diclofenac plus L-NAME. 

PMID- 27627765
TI  - Association of Intervals Between Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation and Surgical
      Resection With Pathologic Complete Response and Survival in Patients With
      Esophageal Cancer.
AB  - Importance: Pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant
      chemoradiotherapy (CRT) may be a clinical prognostic marker of superior outcomes.
      In patients with esophageal cancer, pCR is associated with increased survival.
      While mechanisms for increasing the likelihood of pCR remain unknown, in other
      solid tumors, higher rates of pCR have been associated with longer time intervals
      between CRT completion and surgical procedures. Objective: To determine the
      association between time intervals from the completion of CRT to surgical
      procedure with rates of pCR in patients with esophageal cancer. Design, Setting,
      and Participants: A prospectively maintained multidisciplinary foregut database
      was reviewed for consecutively enrolled patients with esophageal cancer from
      January 2000 to July 2015 presenting for surgical evaluation at a single National
      Cancer Institute-designated cancer center within a quaternary academic medical
      center. Interventions: Included patients successfully completed neoadjuvant CRT
      followed by esophagectomy. Main Outcomes and Measures: Rate of pCR by logistic
      regression based on a categorized time interval (ie, 0 to 42, 43 to 56, 57 to 70,
      71 to 84, 85 to 98, and 99 or more days) from the completion of CRT to surgical
      resection, adjusted for clinical stage, demographic information, and CRT regimen.
      Results: Of the 234 patients who met inclusion criteria, 191 (81.6%) were male,
      and the median (range) age was 64 (58-70) years; 206 (88.0%) were diagnosed as
      having adenocarcinoma, and 65 (27.9%) had a pCR. Patients in the 85 to 98-day
      group had significantly increased odds of a pCR compared with other groups (odds
      ratio, 5.46; 95% CI, 1.16-25.68; P = .03). No significant differences in survival
      were seen between time groups overall or among patients with residual tumor.
      Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that a time interval of 85 to 98
      days between CRT completion and surgical resection is associated with
      significantly increased odds of a pCR in patients with esophageal cancer. No
      adverse association with survival was detected as a result of delaying resection,
      even in patients with residual tumor.

PMID- 27627767
TI  - PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.
AB  - Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors
      and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do
      away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most
      importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations
      evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score
      rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by
      evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority.
      Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search
      and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award) show that the PR-index provides a
      more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity
      and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome
      addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior
      to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable
      predictive power. 

PMID- 27627766
TI  - PERK Regulates Working Memory and Protein Synthesis-Dependent Memory Flexibility.
AB  - PERK (EIF2AK3) is an ER-resident eIF2alpha kinase required for memory flexibility
      and metabotropic glutamate receptor-dependent long-term depression, processes
      known to be dependent on new protein synthesis. Here we investigated PERK's role
      in working memory, a cognitive ability that is independent of new protein
      synthesis, but instead is dependent on cellular Ca2+ dynamics. We found that
      working memory is impaired in forebrain-specific Perk knockout and
      pharmacologically PERK-inhibited mice. Moreover, inhibition of PERK in wild-type
      mice mimics the fear extinction impairment observed in forebrain-specific Perk
      knockout mice. Our findings reveal a novel role of PERK in cognitive functions
      and suggest that PERK regulates both Ca2+ -dependent working memory and protein
      synthesis-dependent memory flexibility. 

PMID- 27627769
TI  - [With a new presence].
AB  - No Abstract available.

PMID- 27627768
TI  - Semi-Supervised Active Learning for Sound Classification in Hybrid Learning
      Environments.
AB  - Coping with scarcity of labeled data is a common problem in sound classification
      tasks. Approaches for classifying sounds are commonly based on supervised
      learning algorithms, which require labeled data which is often scarce and leads
      to models that do not generalize well. In this paper, we make an efficient
      combination of confidence-based Active Learning and Self-Training with the aim of
      minimizing the need for human annotation for sound classification model training.
      The proposed method pre-processes the instances that are ready for labeling by
      calculating their classifier confidence scores, and then delivers the candidates
      with lower scores to human annotators, and those with high scores are
      automatically labeled by the machine. We demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy
      of this method in two practical scenarios: pool-based and stream-based
      processing. Extensive experimental results indicate that our approach requires
      significantly less labeled instances to reach the same performance in both
      scenarios compared to Passive Learning, Active Learning and Self-Training. A
      reduction of 52.2% in human labeled instances is achieved in both of the pool
      based and stream-based scenarios on a sound classification task considering
      16,930 sound instances. 

PMID- 27627770
TI  - [Acromioclavicular instability: arthroscopic and mini-open combined treatment].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The surgical treatment of acromioclavicular dislocation remains
      controversial. We describe herein a combined two-stage technique that includes an
      arthroscopic approach followed by a mini-invasive approach. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      41 patients with acromioclavicular dislocation grades III, IV and V. Acute and
      chronic lesions and revision surgeries were included during the follow-up.
      Patients with other shoulder conditions were excluded. Mean age was 28.6 years.
      Patients were assessed preoperatively with the UCLA and Constant scores, and the
      pain visual analog scale. The 6- and 12-month postoperative evaluation included X
      rays to assess coronal and axial stability, coracoclavicular ossifications, signs
      of acromioclavicular arthrosis and/or distal clavicular osteolysis. RESULTS: The
      Constant scores were as follows: 41.3 preoperatively; 89.4 at 6 months; 92.3 at
      12 months. The UCLA scores were as follows: 21.7 preoperatively; 29.1 at 6
      months; 31.4 at 12 months. The VAS scores were 8.4, 2.3 and 1.2, for the same
      periods respectively. Two cases had repeated injury due to trauma and one case
      was dissatisfied with the cosmetic appearance of the scar. The X-ray assessment
      showed two cases of loss of stability and one case of distal clavicular
      osteolysis. CONCLUSION: The combination of two reduction methods, a synthetic one
      and a biological one allows for a solid anatomical reconstruction that is stable
      in the coronal and axial planes and good medium-term results.

PMID- 27627771
TI  - [Cemented total knee replacement: comparative study between the use or not of
      tourniquet on the inmediate results].
AB  - Comparison of immediate postoperative results of patients undergoing cemented
      total knee arthroplasty with and without ischemia. Observational, cross
      sectional, retrospective, analytical, single-center study that included 180
      patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty from 2011 to 2014: 120 without
      ischemia, 60 with ischemia. Mean age was 70 years with SD +/- 7. Criteria to
      assess the immediate postoperative results include intraoperative bleeding,
      hemoglobin differential and pain. Exclusion criteria comprised patients being
      treated at a pain clinic, those on anticoagulants, with a history of bleeding
      disorders, psychiatric conditions, kidney failure or those intolerant to NSAIDs.
      In total knee arthroplasty without ischemia there is better pain control (p =
      0.026). The hemoglobin differential and intraoperative bleeding were less with
      ischemia (p = 0.008). 32.8% of patients required blood transfusion, but no
      statistically significant relationship was established with the use or non-use of
      ischemia (p = 0.301). The most commonly reported pain was within a VAS of 0-3;
      62.2% of cases reported mild pain. Mean hemoglobin differential was 3.7 with SD
      +/- 1.3 with a range from 0 to 7.4. Patients in whom no ischemia was used during
      the surgical procedure experienced less pain. There was less bleeding and
      hemoglobin differential with the use of ischemia. However, this did not result in
      a statistically significant difference in the need for blood transfusion. The use
      of ischemia with caution and according to the surgeons preference is recommended.

PMID- 27627772
TI  - [Degenerative espondylolisthesis. Body mass index influence on the post-surgical
      evolution].
AB  - Spondylolisthesis is the sliding of a vertebral body with respect to the adjacent
      one. According to the degree of slippage it is classified into 4 Meyerding
      grades. Patients with spondylolisthesis who underwent surgery with lumbar
      instrumentation were included. They were divided into two groups based on their
      body mass index: obese and non-obese. The functional capacity Oswestry score was
      calculated preoperatively and at one year, and it was correlated with the BMI. A
      total of 46 patients, 26 females and 20 males, were included, from 2010 to 2013,
      all of them with a diagnosis of degenerative spondylolisthesis with lumbar
      stenosis. Mean age was 58.9 years. The mean preoperative Oswestry disability
      index was 41% in non-obese patients and 47% in obese patients. At the one-year
      postoperative assessment the disability index was 12.30% in non-obese patients
      and 23.84% in obese patients. Non-obese patients had a more favorable clinical
      course compared to the group of obese patients.

PMID- 27627773
TI  - [Principal causes for recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome].
AB  - The frequent causes of relapsing carpal tunnel syndrome were analyzed. Nine
      patients were followed-up from January 1st to December 31st, 2011. They underwent
      a physical exam and imaging tests. Pain was measured in all of them with the VAS,
      and the Brigham and Womens Hospital questionnaire was used to assess disability.
      Patients included seven females and two males; mean age was 52 years. Major
      causes for relapse included postoperative fibrosis with incomplete release in
      seven patients and incomplete release in two patients in whom minimally invasive
      approaches were used. Three of the nine patients had retractile scars. The main
      cause of relapse was postoperative fibrosis associated with the minima-lly
      invasive approach.

PMID- 27627774
TI  - [Surgical treatment of subtrochanteric fractures in children].
AB  - Subtrochanteric fractures in children are rare events, occur in only 4% of all
      femur fractures, most injuries occur as a result of high energy trauma, being
      young males patient the most affected. The management of this type of injury is
      controversial, there are many forms of treatment, including the use of plaster
      spica 90-90, closed reduction and use of elastic or rigid intramedullary nails,
      open reduction and plate placement and external fixators. Most suggest that
      children under 10 should be preferred non-operative and for older than 12
      surgical management is indicated, but the discussion is between 6 and 12 years
      old. Through this article we present the treatment of such entity with a proximal
      fracture plate using a minimally invasive technique.

PMID- 27627775
TI  - [Post-traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the anterior tibial artery secondary to tibial
      shaft fracture. Case report].
AB  - Arterial pseudoaneurysm of the lower limb is an infrequent entity, particularly
      in the infrapopliteal segment. It is commonly associated to vascular repairs or
      follows a localized arterial lesion, a fracture or a surgical procedure. There is
      little information in Mexico about this entity in cases involving the anterior
      tibial artery, and secondary to trauma and osteosynthesis. Given that sudden
      bleeding due to rupture of the pseudoaneurysm is a possible catastrophic outcome
      for the viability of the segment, it is important to timely detect and diagnose
      the pseudoaneurysm. Treatment indications contained in the international
      literature are controversial. Solution-oriented approaches may be either surgical
      or endovascular. Current reports show that the best treatment option is an
      autologous saphenous vein graft, which maintains blood flow and minimizes the
      risk of peripheral ischemia. The purpose of this paper is to report the case of a
      patient who sustained the above mentioned complication and provide a literature
      review. This topic should be further investigated, as this condition may go
      unnoticed in a large number of cases, given that its symptoms are silent.

PMID- 27627776
TI  - [Atipic osteosarcoma in the femoral shaft case report and review of the
      literature].
AB  - Osteosarcoma is the most frequent primary malignant bone tumor. It is
      characterized by osteoid production by tumor cells. Its most frequent location is
      in the metaphyses of long bones, but a purely diaphyseal presentation is reported
      in 10% of cases. We report the case of a female 25 year-old patient whose
      symptoms of pain and swelling of the right mid thigh started four months before,
      without an apparent cause. Femur X-rays showed a tumor in the femoral shaft. The
      MRI showed extension to soft tissues with no compromise of the neurovascular
      bundle. The histopathologic report of the incisional biopsy was osteoblastic and
      chondroblastic osteosarcoma, classified as Enneking IIB, AJCC IIB. Treatment
      consisted of three cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Then intercalary femur
      resection plus reconstruction with centromedullary nailing and a diaphyseal
      spacer were performed. The histopathologic report was 95% necrosis (Huvos grade
      III). Three cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy were given and now, 18 months after
      completing the latter, the patient has no signs of local or distant tumor
      activity, and she can walk unassisted. Despite the fact that osteosarcoma does
      not occur usually in the mid shaft of long bones, we should always bear it in
      mind as part of the differential diagnosis for other conditions that occur more
      frequently in that region. Such location allows for a broad gamut of surgical
      approaches that spare the adjacent joints.

PMID- 27627777
TI  - [Charcot arthropathy and diabetic foot].
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is a major chronic degenerative disease, which currently is
      taking on alarming proportions in the population of our country. Neuropathic
      arthropathy is one of the most interesting degenerative joint disorders and
      increasingly common within the orthopedic pathology. It is defined as a
      progressive degenerative arthropathy, chronic and affecting one or more
      peripheral joints, and develops as a result of the lack of sensory perception
      normal in the innervation of joints. As a result the joints of the feet are
      subjected to trauma and repetitive injury causing a neurotraumatic effect with
      progressive damage to the joints of the hindfoot, midfoot and forefoot. Diagnosis
      includes a proper medical history, careful examination of the affected limb,
      conventional X-ray, scintigraphy, computed tomography and magnetic resonance
      imaging in some cases. Conservative treatment includes: drugs, rest of the
      affected limb, and the use of appliances like total-contact cast, orthotics or
      special shoes. Surgical treatment depends on the stage of the disease, and may
      require one or more surgical procedures, in order to achieve a full foot plantar
      support to prevent ulcers. One of the surgeries performed most often is the
      fusion of damaged joints. Surgery must be performed only in the coalescence phase
      of the disease, using internal, or external fixation or both.

PMID- 27627778
TI  - Gelsolin in Onychophora and Tardigrada with notes on its variability in the
      Ecdysozoa.
AB  - Rearrangements of the filamentous actin network involve a broad range of actin
      binding proteins. Among these, the gelsolin proteins sever actin filaments, cap
      their fast growing end and nucleate actin assembly in a calcium-dependent manner.
      Here, we focus on the gelsolin of the onychophoran Peripatoides novaezealandiae
      and the eutardigrade Hypsibius dujardini. From the cDNA of P. novaezealandiae we
      obtained the complete coding sequence with an open reading frame of 2178bp. It
      encodes a protein of 726 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of
      82,610.9Da and a pI of 5.57. This sequence is comprised of six segments (S1-S6).
      However, analysis of data from TardiBase reveals that the gelsolin of the
      eutardigrade Hypsibius dujardini has only three segments (S1-S3). The coding
      sequence consist of 1119bp for 373 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass
      of 42,440.95Da and a pI of 6.17. The Peripatoides and Hypsibius gelsolin revealed
      both conserved binding motifs for G-actin, F-actin and phosphatidylinositol 4,5
      bisphosphate (PIP2), along with a full set of type-1 and type-2 Ca2+-binding
      sites which could result in the binding of eight and four calcium ions,
      respectively. Both gelsolin proteins lack a C-terminal latch-helix indicating a
      more rapid activation in the submicromolar Ca2+ range. We suggest that a gelsolin
      with three segments was present in the last common ancestor of the ecdysozoan
      clade Panarthropoda (Onychophora, Tardigrada, Arthropoda), primarily because the
      gelsolin of all non-Ecdysozoa studied so far (except Chordata) reveals this
      number of segments. Mapping of our molecular data onto a well-established
      phylogeny revealed that the number of gelsolin segments does not correlate with
      the phylogenetic lineage but rather with particular functional demands to alter
      the kinetics of actin polymerization.

PMID- 27627781
TI  - Effects of stepwise dry/wet-aging and freezing on meat quality of beef loins.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of stepwise dry/wet-aging
      and freezing method on quality attributes of beef loins. Paired loins (M.
      Longissimus lumborum) from eight carcasses were assigned to either stepwise
      dry/wet-aging (carcass dry-aging for 10days then further wet-aging for 7days in
      vacuum bags) or carcass dry-aging only for 17days. Then, each loin was divided
      into three sections for freezing (never-frozen, blast or cryogenic freezing).
      Stepwise dry/wet-aged loin had lower purge/drip loss and shear force than
      conventionally dry-aged loin (P<0.05), but similar color and sensory
      characteristics (P>0.05). The cryogenic freezing resulted in a significant
      decrease in shear force values and a significant improvement in water-holding
      capacity (WHC). These findings indicate that the stepwise dry/wet-aging coupled
      with cryogenic freezing could provide beneficial impacts to the local meat
      industry by providing equivalent quality attributes as conventional dry-aging and
      improving WHC of frozen/thawed meat, while reducing the time needed for dry
      aging.

PMID- 27627780
TI  - Can the ACS-NSQIP surgical risk calculator predict post-operative complications
      in patients undergoing flap reconstruction following soft tissue sarcoma
      resection?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The ACS-NSQIP surgical risk calculator is an open-access on-line
      tool that estimates the risk of adverse post-operative outcomes for a wide range
      of surgical procedures. Wide surgical resection of soft tissue sarcoma (STS)
      often requires complex reconstructive procedures that can be associated with
      relatively high rates of complications. This study evaluates the ability of this
      calculator to identify patients with STS at risk for post-operative complications
      following flap reconstruction. METHODS: Clinical details of 265 patients who
      underwent flap reconstruction following STS resection were entered into the
      online calculator. The predicted rates of complications were compared to the
      observed rates. The calculator model was validated using measures of prediction
      and discrimination. RESULTS: The mean predicted rate of any complication was
      15.35 +/- 5.6% which differed significantly from the observed rate of 32.5% (P =
      0.009). The c-statistic was relatively low at 0.626 indicating poor
      discrimination between patients who are at risk of complications and those who
      are not. The Brier's score of 0.242 was significantly different from 0 (P <
      0.001) indicating poor correlation between the predicted and actual probability
      of complications. CONCLUSION: The ACS-NSQIP universal risk calculator did not
      maintain its predictive value in patients undergoing flap reconstruction
      following STS resection. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:570-575. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627779
TI  - Pyrethroid-resistance is modulated by miR-92a by targeting CpCPR4 in Culex
      pipiens pallens.
AB  - The wide use of pyrethroids has resulted in the emergence and spread of
      resistance in mosquito populations, which represent a major obstacle in the
      struggle against vector-borne diseases. Resistance to pyrethroids is a complex
      genetic phenomenon attributed by polygenetic inheritance. We previously have
      sequenced and analyzed the miRNA profiles of Culex pipiens pallens. MiR-92a was
      found to be overexpressed in a deltamethrin-resistant (DR) strain. The
      association of miR-92a with pyrethroid-resistance was investigated by
      quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). Expression levels of miR-92a
      were 2.72-fold higher in the DR strain than in the deltamethrin-susceptible (DS)
      strain. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that CpCPR4, a mosquito cuticle gene, is
      the target of miR-92a. Dual luciferase reporter assays further confirmed that
      CpCPR4 is modulated by miR-92a through binding to a specific target site in the
      3' untranslated region (3' UTR). Microinjection of the miR-92a inhibitor
      upregulated CpCPR4 expression levels, leading to an increase in the
      susceptibility of the DR strain in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
      (CDC) bottle bioassay (a surveillance tool for detecting resistance to
      insecticides in vector populations). Taken together, our findings indicate that
      miR-92a regulates pyrethroid-resistance through its interaction with CpCPR4.

PMID- 27627782
TI  - Association of the Sweet-Liking Phenotype and Craving for Alcohol With the
      Response to Naltrexone Treatment in Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized Clinical
      Trial.
AB  - Importance: Identification of moderators of the response to naltrexone
      hydrochloride treatment for alcohol dependence could improve clinical care for
      patients with alcohol use disorders. Objective: To investigate the preliminary
      finding that the sweet-liking (SL) phenotype interacts with a high level of
      craving for alcohol and is associated with an improved response to naltrexone in
      alcohol dependence. Design, Setting, and Participants: This 12-week double-blind,
      randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted from February 1,
      2010, to April 30, 2012, in an academic outpatient medical center. Eighty
      actively drinking patients were randomized by the SL (n = 22) or the sweet
      disliking (SDL) (n = 58) phenotype and by pretreatment high (n = 40) or low (n =
      40) craving for alcohol, with high craving defined as greater than the median.
      Patients and staff were blinded to categorization. Patients were excluded for
      unstable medical or psychiatric illness, including dependence on drugs other than
      nicotine. Four patients (2 in the placebo arm and 2 in the naltrexone arm)
      stopped medication therapy because of adverse effects. Data were analyzed from
      January 15, 2013, to May 15, 2016, based on intention to treat. Interventions:
      Oral naltrexone hydrochloride, 50 mg/d, or daily placebo with weekly to biweekly
      brief counseling. Main Outcomes and Measures: The a priori hypothesis tested
      SL/SDL phenotype, pretreatment craving, and their interaction as moderators of
      frequency of abstinent and heavy drinking days during treatment, assessed with
      the timeline follow-back method. Results: Eighty patients were randomized (57 men
      [71%]; 23 women [29%]; mean [SD] age, 47.0 [8.6] years). A nonsignificant effect
      of naltrexone on heavy drinking was noted (4.8 fewer heavy drinking days; Cohen d
      = 0.45; 95% CI, -0.01 to 0.90; F1,67 = 3.52; P = .07). The SL phenotype moderated
      the effect of naltrexone on heavy drinking (6.1 fewer heavy drinking days; Cohen
      d = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.12-1.03; F1,67 = 5.65; P = .02) and abstinence (10.0 more
      abstinent days; Cohen d = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.11-1.02; F1,67 = 5.36; P = .02), and
      high craving moderated heavy drinking (7.1 fewer heavy drinking days; Cohen d =
      0.66; 95% CI, 0.20-1.11; F1,67 = 7.37; P = .008). The combination of the SL
      phenotype and high craving was associated with a strong response to naltrexone,
      with 17.1 fewer heavy drinking days (Cohen d = 1.07; 95% CI, 0.58-1.54; F1,67 =
      19.33; P < .001) and 28.8 more abstinent days (Cohen d = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.25-1.17;
      F1,67 = 8.73; P = .004) compared with placebo. Conclusions and Relevance: The SL
      phenotype and a high craving for alcohol independently and particularly in
      combination are associated with a positive response to naltrexone. The SL/SDL
      phenotype and a high craving for alcohol merit further investigation as factors
      to identify patients with alcohol dependence who are responsive to naltrexone.
      Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01296646.

PMID- 27627783
TI  - CITED2 in breast carcinoma as a potent prognostic predictor associated with
      proliferation, migration and chemoresistance.
AB  - CITED2 (Cbp/p300-interacting transactivator, with Glu/Asp-rich carboxy-terminal
      domain, 2) is a member of the CITED family and is involved in various cellular
      functions during development and differentiation. Mounting evidence suggests the
      importance of CITED in the progression of human malignancies, but the
      significance of CITED2 protein has not yet been examined in breast carcinoma.
      Therefore, in the present study, we examined the clinical significance and the
      biological functions of CITED2 in breast carcinoma by immunohistochemistry and in
      vitro study. CITED2 immunoreactivity was detected in breast carcinoma tissues,
      and it was significantly higher compared to those in morphologically normal
      mammary glands. CITED2 immunoreactivity was significantly associated with stage,
      pathological T factor, lymph node metastasis, histological grade, HER2 and Ki-67,
      and inversely correlated with estrogen receptor. Moreover, the
      immunohistochemical CITED2 status was significantly associated with increased
      incidence of recurrence and breast cancer-specific death of the breast cancer
      patients, and multivariate analyses demonstrated CITED2 status as an independent
      worse prognostic factor for disease-free and breast cancer-specific survival.
      Subsequent in vitro experiments showed that CITED2 expression significantly
      increased proliferation activity and migration property in MCF-7and S KBR-3
      breast carcinoma cells. Moreover, CITED2 caused chemoresistance to epirubicin and
      5-fluorouracil, but not paclitaxel, in these cells, and it inhibited p53
      accumulation after 5-fluorouracil treatment in MCF-7 cells. These results suggest
      that CITED2 plays important roles in the progression and chemoresistance of
      breast carcinoma and that CITED2 status is a potent prognostic factor in breast
      cancer patients.

PMID- 27627784
TI  - Free of acrylamide sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-based tissue clearing
      (FASTClear): a novel protocol of tissue clearing for three-dimensional
      visualization of human brain tissues.

PMID- 27627786
TI  - Adolescent obesity in contextual settings: a scoping study of multilevel and
      hierarchical examinations.
AB  - Multilevel/hierarchical obesity studies analyze adolescent and family,
      neighbourhood and social settings' characteristics to generate data needed to
      design prevention interventions. This scoping study summarizes such studies'
      characteristics and key findings to provide information to decision makers, which
      allows them to quickly grasp the state of the evidence and potential policy
      implications for adolescent obesity prevention. PubMed, CINAHLplus, PsychINFO and
      Sociological Abstracts were searched for peer-reviewed studies spanning 1 January
      2000-31 August 2014. Inclusion criteria included (i) outcome weight status,
      physical activity and weight status, or physical activity alone if the aim was
      obesity prevention; (ii) 12- to 19-year-old participants in a cross-sectional
      study, a separate analysis in a cross-sectional study or a longitudinal follow
      up. Nineteen studies were published in the United States of America; four in
      Canada; two in Spain, China and Vietnam, respectively; and one in Germany. Self
      efficacy, parental physical activity support, perceived neighbourhood support,
      social cohesion and access to recreational facilities were associated with
      increased activity levels; neighbourhood physical disorder and perceived lack of
      safety associated with reduced physical activity levels. Overweight or obesity
      was associated with sugar-sweetened beverage intake and household availability
      thereof; reduced odds were reported with fruit and vegetable intake and household
      availability of these, daily breakfast and family meal frequency. Potential
      adolescent obesity risk regulators may be found at the individual, family or
      social contextual levels. 

PMID- 27627787
TI  - Remote sensing for restoration ecology: Application for restoring degraded,
      damaged, transformed, or destroyed ecosystems.
AB  - Restoration monitoring is generally perceived as costly and time consuming, given
      the assumptions of successfully restoring ecological functions and services of a
      particular ecosystem or habitat. Opportunities exist for remote sensing to
      bolster the restoration science associated with a wide variety of injured
      resources, including resources affected by fire, hydropower operations, chemical
      releases, and oil spills, among others. In the last decade, the role of remote
      sensing to support restoration monitoring has increased, in part due to the
      advent of high-resolution satellite sensors as well as other sensor technology,
      such as lidar. Restoration practitioners in federal agencies require monitoring
      standards to assess restoration performance of injured resources. This review
      attempts to address a technical need and provides an introductory overview of
      spatial data and restoration metric considerations, as well as an in-depth review
      of optical (e.g., spaceborne, airborne, unmanned aerial vehicles) and active
      (e.g., radar, lidar) sensors and examples of restoration metrics that can be
      measured with remotely sensed data (e.g., land cover, species or habitat type,
      change detection, quality, degradation, diversity, and pressures or threats). To
      that end, the present article helps restoration practitioners assemble
      information not only about essential restoration metrics but also about the
      evolving technological approaches that can be used to best assess them. Given the
      need for monitoring standards to assess restoration success of injured resources,
      a universal monitoring framework should include a range of remote sensing options
      with which to measure common restoration metrics. Integr Environ Assess Manag
      2017;13:614-630. Published 2016. This article is a US Government work and is in
      the public domain in the USA.

PMID- 27627785
TI  - Safety and tolerability review of lorcaserin in clinical trials.
AB  - Lorcaserin is a novel selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist indicated by the US
      Food and Drug Administration for chronic weight management in adults with obesity
      or overweight with >=1 comorbidity. The safety and efficacy of lorcaserin were
      established during two Phase III clinical trials in patients without diabetes
      (BLOOM and BLOSSOM) and one Phase III clinical trial in patients with type 2
      diabetes (BLOOM-DM). Headache was the most common adverse event experienced by
      patients during all Phase III trials. Additional adverse events occurring in >5%
      of patients receiving lorcaserin included dizziness, fatigue, nausea, dry mouth
      and constipation in patients without diabetes, and hypoglycaemia, back pain,
      cough and fatigue in patients with diabetes. In a pooled analysis of
      echocardiographic data collected during the three lorcaserin Phase III trials,
      the incidence of FDA-defined valvulopathy was similar in patients taking
      lorcaserin and the placebo. Here, the safety profile of lorcaserin at the FDA
      approved dose of 10 mg twice daily is reviewed using data from the lorcaserin
      Phase III programme, with a focus on theoretical adverse events commonly
      associated with agonists of the serotonin receptor family. Based on the
      lorcaserin Phase III clinical trial data, lorcaserin is safe and well tolerated
      in the indicated patient populations. 

PMID- 27627788
TI  - Benefit-Risk Analysis for Decision-Making: An Approach.
AB  - The analysis of benefit and risk is an important aspect of decision-making
      throughout the drug lifecycle. In this work, the use of a benefit-risk analysis
      approach to support decision-making was explored. The proposed approach builds on
      the qualitative US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approach to include a more
      explicit analysis based on international standards and guidance that enables
      aggregation and comparison of benefit and risk on a common basis and a lifecycle
      focus. The approach is demonstrated on six decisions over the lifecycle (e.g.,
      accelerated approval, withdrawal, and traditional approval) using two case
      studies: natalizumab for multiple sclerosis (MS) and bedaquiline for multidrug
      resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

PMID- 27627789
TI  - The effect of clamping the indwelling urinary catheter before removal in cervical
      cancer patients after radical hysterectomy.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of clamping the indwelling urinary
      catheter before its removal on bladder reconditioning in patients with cervical
      cancer after radical hysterectomy. BACKGROUND: It is suggested that indwelling
      urinary catheters should be clamped intermittently to fill the bladder and
      restore bladder function before removal. However, indwelling urinary catheter
      clamping showed no effect on bladder reconditioning according to some clinical
      studies. DESIGN: Randomised controlled study. METHODS: A total of 210 patients
      with cervical cancer after type C radical hysterectomy were randomised on 1:2
      into two groups. In the clamping group, indwelling urinary catheters were clamped
      intermittently for 48 hours before removal based on a bladder-training sheet,
      while in the control group, the indwelling urinary catheters were removed without
      clamping. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of recatheterisation. The
      secondary outcomes included residual urine volume 24 hours after removal,
      incidence of urinary tract infection and duration of recatheterisation. RESULTS:
      Seventy patients were assigned to the clamping group and 128 to the control group
      with paralleled baseline characteristics. The days of the primary catheterisation
      (13.20 +/- 0.79 vs. 13.38 +/- 1.04) and the incidence of urinary tract infection
      (22.9% vs. 20.3%) had no significant differences between the two groups. Ten
      patients in the clamping group and 19 in the control group underwent
      recatheterisation, the incidence of which showed no significant difference (14.3%
      vs. 14.8%). The days of recatheterisation were not statistically different
      between the two groups (11.40 +/- 6.75 vs. 9.42 +/- 5.23). However, the residual
      urine volume 24 hours after removal was higher in the clamping group than that in
      the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Bladder recondition through indwelling urinary
      catheter clamping may not restore bladder function in patients after radical
      hysterectomy. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: As indwelling urinary catheter
      clamping may increase the residual urine volume after indwelling urinary catheter
      removal and lead to an increased nursing workload, it should not be recommended
      in patients with cervical cancer postoperatively.

PMID- 27627790
TI  - Call to Action on Neurotoxin Exposure in Pregnant Women and Children.

PMID- 27627791
TI  - Survey of Two New (Kai 1 and Kai 2) and Other Blood Groups in Dogs of North
      America.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Based upon serology, >10 canine blood group systems have been
      reported. OBJECTIVE: We surveyed dogs for dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA) 1 and 2
      new blood types (Kai 1 and Kai 2), and some samples also were screened for Dal
      and DEA 3, 4, and 7. METHODS: Blood samples provided by owners, breeders, animal
      blood banks, and clinical laboratories were typed for DEA 1 by an
      immunochromatographic strip technique with a monoclonal antibody and analysis of
      band intensity. Both new antigens, the Dal and other DEAs (except DEA 7 by tube
      method), were assessed by a gel column method with either monoclonal or
      polyclonal antibodies. The same gel column method was applied for alloantibody
      detection. RESULTS: Of 503 dogs typed, 59.6% were DEA 1+ with 4% weakly, 10%
      moderately, and 45.6% strongly DEA 1+. Regarding Kai 1 and Kai 2, 94% were Kai
      1+/Kai 2-, 5% were Kai 1-/Kai 2- and 1% were Kai 1-/Kai 2+, but none were Kai
      1+/Kai 2+. There was no relationship between Kai 1/Kai 2 and other blood types
      tested. Plasma from DEA 1-, Kai 1-, Kai 2- dogs, or some combination of these
      contained no detectable alloantibodies against DEA 1 and Kai 1 or Kai,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The new blood types, called
      Kai 1 and Kai 2, are unrelated to DEA 1, 3, 4, and 7 and Dal. Kai 1+/Kai 2- dogs
      were most commonly found in North America. The clinical relevance of Kai 1 and
      Kai 2 in canine transfusion medicine still needs to be elucidated.

PMID- 27627793
TI  - Small for Gestational Age: The Differential Mortality When Detected versus
      Undetected Antenatally.
AB  - Background Antenatal detection of fetal growth restriction (FGR) prompts
      antepartum surveillance to reduce perinatal mortality, yet most cases of FGR are
      undetected. Objective This study aims to compare rates of adverse neonatal
      outcomes when FGR is detected versus undetected. Study Design Small-for
      gestational-age (SGA) newborns (birth weight < 10% for gestational age) delivered
      at the Magee-Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA from 2003 to 2010 were divided
      into three groups: those whom did not undergo third-trimester fetal growth
      ultrasound (SGA-no US), were appropriate for gestational age (AGA) by ultrasound
      (SGA-undetected), or were FGR by ultrasound (SGA-detected). We then compared
      rates of 5-minute Apgar < 4 and neonatal death (ND), with AGA newborns as the
      referent. Results Out of 29,885 neonates, 2,475 (8.3%) were SGA. Out of the 826
      (33%) SGA neonates who underwent growth ultrasound, 185 (22%) were considered
      FGR. In the SGA-no US group, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for Apgar < 4 was 2.84
      (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.28-6.29) and 3.87 (95% CI: 2.09-7.18) for ND.
      The risk of Apgar < 4 (aOR: 3.10, 95% CI: 0.93-10.28) and ND (aOR: 2.16, 95% CI:
      0.66-7.14) were not significantly elevated for SGA-undetected neonates, while SGA
      detected neonates were most at risk, with an aOR of 18.20 (95% CI: 6.82-48.60)
      for Apgar < 4 and 18.24 (95% CI: 7.90-42.13) for ND. Conclusion Fetal growth
      ultrasound effectively stratifies risk amongst SGA neonates.

PMID- 27627794
TI  - Evaluation of Cerebral Oxygenation in Neonates with Sepsis with Near-Infrared
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - Objective Neonates with sepsis have increased risk of cerebral injury. Our aim
      was to evaluate cerebral oxygenation in septic neonates using near-infrared
      spectroscopy. Study Design A prospective study was designed enrolling neonates
      with sepsis, as defined by the International Consensus Conference of Pediatric
      Sepsis criteria and matched controls. Three cerebral half-hourly measurements
      were performed during the first, third, and seventh day of the episode and the
      values of tissue oxygenation index (TOI) and fractional tissue oxygen extraction
      (FTOE) were compared between the two groups. Result The study population
      consisted of 50 septic and 44 control neonates with similar characteristics. No
      differences on TOI and FTOE were recorded in the first and third day. However, on
      the seventh day, septic neonates had significantly decreased oxygenation (62.7 +/
      7 vs. 71.4 +/- 4.4%, p < 0.001) and increased oxygen extraction (0.35 +/- 0.07
      vs. 0.27 +/- 0.05, p < 0.001), irrespectively of the severity of the infection.
      Conclusion Although septic neonates have normal cerebral oxygenation in the first
      and third day of the sepsis, they present decreased cerebral oxygenation in the
      seventh day independently of the infection severity.

PMID- 27627795
TI  - Incidence of small lymph node metastases in patients with nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma: Clinical implications for prognosis and treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) often present small
      lymph nodes. The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic impact on
      local recurrence of small lymph nodes, defined as smaller than 10 mm in greatest
      diameter. METHODS: Consecutive patients treated by intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT) for pathologically confirmed NPC were analyzed
      retrospectively. Those without small lymph nodes were excluded from the study.
      From January 2005 to January 2011, 275 patients with NPC represented with 2722
      small lymph nodes, which were analyzed. Small lymph node axial diameter was
      measured using CT/MRI before radiotherapy (RT), at 50 Gy, and 6 months after the
      end of RT. The dose received by the small lymph nodes and the changes in lymph
      node diameter were recorded. Clinical endpoints were overall survival (OS),
      locoregional control, disease-specific survival (DSS), and distant metastasis
      free survival. Median follow-up time was 55 months (range, 5-96 months). RESULTS:
      Patients were grouped according to the dose received by the small lymph nodes and
      the number of small lymph nodes. Only 27 patients (9.8%) had a decrease >=50% in
      the small lymph node diameter at 50 Gy and 53 patients (19.3%) had a decrease
      >=50% at 6 months after RT. The 5-year locoregional control, distant metastasis
      free survival, DSS, and OS were 93.5%, 85.2%, 88.8%, and 87.0%, respectively.
      Multivariate analyses showed that T classification and N classification are
      independent prognostic factors for OS. However, the dose received and the numbers
      of small lymph nodes were not statistically associated with any of the survival
      endpoints. CONCLUSION: In the IMRT era, N classification remains an independent
      prognostic factor in NPC. However, the incidence of small lymph nodes is not a
      significant prognostic factor in patients with NPC. The presence of small lymph
      nodes should not influence the nodal contouring or the dose delivered to nodal
      areas. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 305-310, 2017.

PMID- 27627792
TI  - Early Use of Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Preterm Infants: Is there a Rationale for
      Selective Approach?
AB  - Background Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is being increasingly used in preterm
      infants < 34 weeks with hypoxemic respiratory failure (HRF) and/or pulmonary
      hypertension (PH). Objective To evaluate the risk factors, survival
      characteristics, and lung histopathology in preterm infants with PH/HRF. Methods
      Retrospective chart review was conducted to determine characteristics of 93
      preterm infants treated with iNO in the first 28 days and compared with 930
      matched controls. Factors associated with survival with preterm HRF and smooth
      muscle actin from nine autopsies were evaluated. Results Preterm neonates treated
      with iNO had a higher incidence of preterm prolonged rupture of membrane (pPROM
      >= 18 hours), oligohydramnios and delivered by C-section. In infants treated with
      iNO, antenatal steroids (odds ratio [OR],3.7; confidence interval [CI], 1.2-11.3;
      p = 0.02), pPROM (OR, 1.001; CI, 1.0-1.004; p = 0.3), and oxygenation response to
      iNO (OR, 3.7; CI, 1.08-13.1; p = 0.037) were associated with survival. Thirteen
      infants with all three characteristics had 100% (13/13) survival without severe
      intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)/periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) compared
      with 48% survival (12/25, p = 0.004) and 16% severe IVH/PVL without any of these
      factors. Severity of HRF correlated with increased smooth muscle in pulmonary
      vasculature. Conclusion Preterm infants with HRF exposed to antenatal steroids
      and pPROM had improved oxygenation with iNO and survival without severe IVH/PVL.
      Precisely targeting this subset may be beneficial in future trials of iNO.

PMID- 27627797
TI  - Oxidation Stability of O/W Emulsion Prepared with Linolenic Acid Enriched
      Diacylglycerol.
AB  - The sn-1,3-regiospecific Rhizomucor miehei lipase (Lipozyme RM IM) was employed
      to produce structured diacylglycerol (SL-DAG), which contained 67.3 mol% DAG with
      27.2 area% of C18:3. To investigate the oxidative stability of the SL-DAG in
      emulsion form, 5% oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were prepared with 200 and 400 ppm
      sinapic acid. It was shown that the hydroperoxide values of the control (without
      any antioxidant) was the highest (117.7 meq/L) on day 43 of storage and
      thereafter the value decreased. However, the emulsions with 200 and 400 ppm
      sinapic acid resulted in slow oxidation degree until day 64 of storage (30.3 and
      7.3 meq/L, respectively). Aldehyde measurements for the 200 ppm sinapic acid
      emulsion (12.8 mmol/mol) and the 400 ppm sinapic acid emulsion (7.5 mmol/mol)
      also showed better oxidative stability than that for the 200 ppm catechin
      emulsion (27.4 mmol/mol) and the control (52.7 mmol/mol). Although the SL-DAG in
      the emulsions contains high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the degree of
      oxidation in the emulsions can be reduced when sinapic acid is used as an
      antioxidant.

PMID- 27627796
TI  - Hypoxia Enhances Differentiation of Hair Follicle-Associated-Pluripotent (HAP)
      Stem Cells to Cardiac-Muscle Cells.
AB  - We have previously demonstrated that the neural stem-cell marker nestin is
      expressed in hair-follicle stem cells located in the bulge area which are termed
      hair-follicle-associated pluripotent (HAP) stem cells. HAP stem cells from mouse
      and human could form spheres in culture, termed hair spheres, which are keratin
      15-negative and nestin-positive and could differentiate to neurons, glia,
      keratinocytes, smooth muscle cells, and melanocytes in vitro. Subsequently, we
      demonstrated that nestin-expressing stem cells could effect nerve and spinal cord
      regeneration in mouse models. Recently, we demonstrated that HAP stem cells
      differentiated to beating cardiac muscle cells. We recently observed that
      isoproterenol directs HAP stem cells to differentiate to cardiac-muscle cells in
      large numbers in culture compared to HAP stem cells not supplemented with
      isoproterenol. The addition of activin A, bone morphogenetic protein 4, and basic
      fibroblast growth factor, along with isoproternal, induced the cardiac muscle
      cells to form tissue sheets of beating heart muscle cells. In the present study,
      we report that, under hypoxic conditions, HAP stem cells differentiated to
      troponin-positive cardiac-muscle cells at a higher rate that under normoxic
      conditions. Hypoxia did not influence the differentiation to other cell types.
      For future use of HAP stem cells for cardiac muscle regeneration, hypoxia should
      enhance the rate of differentiation thereby providing patients more opportunities
      to use their own HAP stem cells which are easily accessible, for this purpose. J.
      Cell. Biochem. 118: 554-558, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627799
TI  - Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Obstructive
      Pulmonary Disease: The Impact of Age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of
      morbidity in the elderly population. COPD leads to a reduced health-related
      quality of life (HRQL), but the factors which contribute to this are not well
      understood. A better understanding of the factors which determine HRQL should
      lead to an improved care for such patients. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study
      was to investigate possible age-related differences in HRQL in a population of
      patients with a similar severity of obstruction. METHODS: A total of 180
      consecutive COPD patients were enrolled into the study. We analyzed spirometric
      data, BODE index and its components, and comorbidities were assessed by the
      Charlson index. HRQL was assessed by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) and
      St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). RESULTS: The cohort consisted of
      93 'younger' patients (mean age 54.8 +/- 3.1 years) and 87 older patients (mean
      age 73.1 +/- 5.5 years). Patients in both groups had a similar severity of
      obstruction: FEV1 (% from predicted) was 39.9 +/- 13.2% in the elderly group
      compared to 41.7 +/- 11.7% in the younger group (p > 0.05). The forward stepwise
      regression analysis shows that the BODE index, the Charlson index, and the rate
      of exacerbations are important predictors of deterioration of HRQL in elderly
      COPD patients, which explains 29% of the total SGRQ score. In the younger COPD
      patients, the coefficient of determination R2 was 0.27, but the predictors were
      the BODE index and the rate of exacerbations. CONCLUSIONS: The BODE index, the
      Charlson index, and the rate of exacerbations were found to be the major
      determinants of HRQL in elderly COPD patients, while in younger COPD patients,
      the BODE index and the rate of exacerbations were influential factors.

PMID- 27627798
TI  - Structural insights into the molecular mechanism of the m(6)A writer complex.
AB  - Methylation of adenosines at the N(6) position (m(6)A) is a dynamic and abundant
      epitranscriptomic mark that regulates critical aspects of eukaryotic RNA
      metabolism in numerous biological processes. The RNA methyltransferases METTL3
      and METTL14 are components of a multisubunit m(6)A writer complex whose enzymatic
      activity is substantially higher than the activities of METTL3 or METTL14 alone.
      The molecular mechanism underpinning this synergistic effect is poorly
      understood. Here we report the crystal structure of the catalytic core of the
      human m(6)A writer complex comprising METTL3 and METTL14. The structure reveals
      the heterodimeric architecture of the complex and donor substrate binding by
      METTL3. Structure-guided mutagenesis indicates that METTL3 is the catalytic
      subunit of the complex, whereas METTL14 has a degenerate active site and plays
      non-catalytic roles in maintaining complex integrity and substrate RNA binding.
      These studies illuminate the molecular mechanism and evolutionary history of
      eukaryotic m(6)A modification in post-transcriptional genome regulation.

PMID- 27627800
TI  - Clubbing with ecstasy.
AB  - In this issue, Parrot and Young present the results of temperature measurements
      in young individuals "partying" with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or
      Ecstasy). This editorial commentary briefly summarizes the main findings of their
      study, provides background gained from previous animal experiments, and reviews
      the implications for the development of future pharmacotherapies and harm
      reduction strategies. 

PMID- 27627802
TI  - Long-term Cost-effectiveness in the Veterans Affairs Open vs Endovascular Repair
      Study of Aortic Abdominal Aneurysm: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Importance: Because of the similarity in clinical outcomes after elective open
      and endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), cost may be an
      important factor in choosing a procedure. Objective: To compare total and AAA
      related use of health care services, costs, and cost-effectiveness between groups
      randomized to open or endovascular repair. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      This unblinded randomized clinical trial enrolled 881 patients undergoing planned
      elective repair of AAA who were candidates for open and endovascular repair
      procedures. Patients were randomized from October 15, 2002, to April 15, 2008, at
      42 Veterans Affairs medical centers. Follow-up was completed on October 15, 2011,
      and data were analyzed from April 15, 2013, to April 15, 2016, based on intention
      to treat. Main Outcomes and Measures: Mean total and AAA-related health care cost
      per life-year and per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Results: A total of 881
      patients (876 men [99.4%]; 5 women [0.6%]; mean [SD] age, 70 [7.8] years) were
      included in the analysis. After a mean of 5.2 years of follow-up, mean life-years
      were 4.89 in the endovascular group and 4.84 in the open repair group (P = .68),
      and mean QALYs were 3.72 in the endovascular group and 3.70 in the open repair
      group (P = .82). Total mean health care costs did not differ significantly
      between the 2 groups (endovascular group, $142 745; open repair group, $153 533;
      difference, -$10 788; 95% CI, -$29 796 to $5825; P = .25). Costs related to AAA,
      including the initial repair, constituted nearly 40% of total costs and did not
      differ significantly between the 2 groups (endovascular group, $57 501; open
      repair group, $57 893; difference, -$393; 95% CI, -$12 071 to $7928; P = .94).
      Lower costs due to shorter hospitalization for initial endovascular repair were
      offset by increased costs from AAA-related secondary procedures and imaging
      studies. The probability of endovascular repair being less costly and more
      effective was 56.8% when effectiveness was measured in life-years and 55.4% when
      effectiveness was measured in QALYs for total costs and 31.3% and 34.3%,
      respectively, for AAA-related costs. Conclusions and Relevance: In this
      multicenter randomized clinical trial with follow-up to 9 years, survival,
      quality of life, costs, and cost-effectiveness did not differ between elective
      open and endovascular repair of AAA. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov
      Identifier: NCT00094575.

PMID- 27627801
TI  - Valproic Acid Increases CD133 Positive Cells that Show Low Sensitivity to
      Cytostatics in Neuroblastoma.
AB  - Valproic acid (VPA) is a well-known antiepileptic drug that exhibits antitumor
      activities through its action as a histone deacetylase inhibitor. CD133 is
      considered to be a cancer stem cell marker in several tumors including
      neuroblastoma. CD133 transcription is strictly regulated by epigenetic
      modifications. We evaluated the epigenetic effects of treatment with 1mM VPA and
      its influence on the expression of CD133 in four human neuroblastoma cell lines.
      Chemoresistance and cell cycle of CD133+ and CD133- populations were examined by
      flow cytometry. We performed bisulfite conversion followed by methylation
      sensitive high resolution melting analysis to assess the methylation status of
      CD133 promoters P1 and P3. Our results revealed that VPA induced CD133 expression
      that was associated with increased acetylation of histones H3 and H4. On
      treatment with VPA and cytostatics, CD133+ cells were mainly detected in the S
      and G2/M phases of the cell cycle and they showed less activated caspase-3
      compared to CD133- cells. UKF-NB-3 neuroblastoma cells which express CD133
      displayed higher colony and neurosphere formation capacities when treated with
      VPA, unlike IMR-32 which lacks for CD133 protein. Induction of CD133 in UKF-NB-3
      was associated with increased expression of phosphorylated Akt and pluripotency
      transcription factors Nanog, Oct-4 and Sox2. VPA did not induce CD133 expression
      in cell lines with methylated P1 and P3 promoters, where the CD133 protein was
      not detected. Applying the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine to the cell
      lines with methylated promoters resulted in CD133 re-expression that was
      associated with a drop in P1 and P3 methylation level. In conclusion, CD133
      expression in neuroblastoma can be regulated by histone acetylation and/or
      methylation of its CpG promoters. VPA can induce CD133+ cells which display high
      proliferation potential and low sensitivity to cytostatics in neuroblastoma.
      These results give new insight into the possible limitations to use VPA in cancer
      therapy. 

PMID- 27627803
TI  - Succinyl-CoA Synthetase: New Antigen Candidate of Bartonella bacilliformis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bartonella bacilliformis is the causative agent of Carrion's disease,
      a neglected illness with mortality rates of 40-85% in the absence of treatment.
      The lack of a diagnostic technique to overcome misdiagnosis and treat
      asymptomatic carriers is of note. This study aimed to identify new B.
      bacilliformis antigenic candidates that could lead to a new diagnostic tool able
      to be implemented in endemic rural areas. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Blood
      (n = 198) and serum (n = 177) samples were collected in northern Peru. Clinical
      data were recorded. Specific 16S rRNA amplification by RT-PCR, IFA and ELISA for
      IgM/IgG with whole cells as antigens was done. Western blot analysis and N
      terminal amino acid sequencing detected seroreactive proteins. ELISAs for IgM/IgG
      for the antigenic candidates were performed. Of the population 33.3% reported at
      least one symptom compatible with Carrion's disease; 25.4% (IFA), 27.1% (ELISA
      IgG), 33.9% (ELISA-IgM) and 38.9% (RT-PCR) of samples were positive. Four
      proteins were considered potential antigenic candidates, including two new
      antigenic candidates, succinyl-CoA synthetase subunit alpha (SCS-alpha) and
      succinyl-CoA synthetase subunit beta (SCS-beta). On Western blot both Pap31 and
      SCS-alpha interacted with IgM, while GroEL and SCS-beta interacted with IgG. The
      presence of specific antibodies against the antigenic candidates varied from
      34.5% (IgG against SCS-alpha) to 97.2% (IgM against Pap31).
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: RT-PCR and the high levels of positivity for specific
      ELISAs demonstrate high levels of B. bacilliformis exposure and asymptomatic
      carriers among inhabitants. The new antigens identified might be used as a new
      rapid diagnostic tool to diagnose acute Carrion's disease and identify
      asymptomatic carriers.

PMID- 27627805
TI  - Habitat Use and Selection by Giant Pandas.
AB  - Animals make choices about where to spend their time in complex and dynamic
      landscapes, choices that reveal information about their biology that in turn can
      be used to guide their conservation. Using GPS collars, we conducted a novel
      individual-based analysis of habitat use and selection by the elusive and
      endangered giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). We constructed spatial
      autoregressive resource utilization functions (RUF) to model the relationship
      between the pandas' utilization distributions and various habitat characteristics
      over a continuous space across seasons. Results reveal several new insights,
      including use of a broader range of habitat characteristics than previously
      understood for the species, particularly steep slopes and non-forest areas. We
      also used compositional analysis to analyze habitat selection (use with respect
      to availability of habitat types) at two selection levels. Pandas selected
      against low terrain position and against the highest clumped forest at the at
      home range level, but no significant factors were identified at the within-home
      range level. Our results have implications for modeling and managing the habitat
      of this endangered species by illustrating how individual pandas relate to
      habitat and make choices that differ from assumptions made in broad scale models.
      Our study also highlights the value of using a spatial autoregressive RUF
      approach on animal species for which a complete picture of individual-level
      habitat use and selection across space is otherwise lacking. 

PMID- 27627807
TI  - A multiresidue approach for the simultaneous quantification of antibiotics in
      macroalgae by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - Together with fish, algae reared in aquaculture systems have gained importance in
      the last years, for many purposes. Besides their use as biofilters of effluents,
      macroalgae's rich nutritional profiles have increased their inclusion in human
      diets but also in animal feeds as sources of fatty acids, especially important
      for the fish industry. Nonetheless, algae are continuously exposed to
      environmental contaminants including antibiotics and possess the ability for
      bioaccumulation of such compounds. Therefore, the present paper describes the
      development and validation of an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography
      with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous
      quantification of antibiotics in the green macroalgae Ulva lactuca. This multi
      residue method enables the determination of 38 compounds distributed between
      seven classes and was fully validated according to EU Decision 2002/657/EC. 

PMID- 27627804
TI  - Epicardial Adipose Tissue (EAT) Thickness Is Associated with Cardiovascular and
      Liver Damage in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been proposed as a
      cardiometabolic and hepatic fibrosis risk factor in patients with non alcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Aim of this study was to evaluate the role of EAT in
      NAFLD by analyzing 1) the association between EAT, the other metabolic parameters
      and the severity of steatosis 2) the relationship between cardiovascular (cIMT,
      cplaques, E/A), liver (presence of NASH and significant fibrosis) damage and
      metabolic risk factors including EAT 3) the relationship between EAT and genetic
      factors strongly influencing liver steatosis. METHODS: In a cross-sectional
      study, we considered 512 consecutive patients with NAFLD (confirmed by biopsy in
      100). EAT, severity of steatosis, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and
      plaques were evaluated by ultrasonography and results analysed by multiple linear
      and logistic regression models. Variables independently associated with EAT (mm)
      were female gender (p = 0.003), age (p = 0.001), BMI (p = 0.01), diastolic blood
      pressure (p = 0.009), steatosis grade 2 (p = 0.01) and 3 (p = 0.04), fatty liver
      index (p = 0.001) and statin use (p = 0.03). Variables independently associated
      with carotid IMT were age (p = 0.0001), hypertension (p = 0.009), diabetes (p =
      0.04), smoking habits (p = 0.04) and fatty liver index (p = 0.02), with carotid
      plaques age (p = 0.0001), BMI (p = 0.03), EAT (p = 0.02),) and hypertension (p =
      0.02), and with E/A age (p = 0.0001), diabetes (p = 0.005), hypertension (p =
      0.04) and fatty liver index (p = 0.004). In the 100 patients with available liver
      histology non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) was independently associated with
      EAT (p = 0.04) and diabetes (p = 0.054) while significant fibrosis with EAT (p =
      0.02), diabetes (p = 0.01) and waist circumference (p = 0.05). No association
      between EAT and PNPLA3 and TM6SF2 polymorphisms was found. CONCLUSION: In
      patients with NAFLD, EAT is associated with the severity of liver and vascular
      damage besides with the known metabolic risk factors.

PMID- 27627806
TI  - Patient-Specific MRI-Based Right Ventricle Models Using Different Zero-Load
      Diastole and Systole Geometries for Better Cardiac Stress and Strain Calculations
      and Pulmonary Valve Replacement Surgical Outcome Predictions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate calculation of ventricular stress and strain is critical for
      cardiovascular investigations. Sarcomere shortening in active contraction leads
      to change of ventricular zero-stress configurations during the cardiac cycle. A
      new model using different zero-load diastole and systole geometries was
      introduced to provide more accurate cardiac stress/strain calculations with
      potential to predict post pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) surgical outcome.
      METHODS: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) data were obtained from 16 patients
      with repaired tetralogy of Fallot prior to and 6 months after pulmonary valve
      replacement (8 male, 8 female, mean age 34.5 years). Patients were divided into
      Group 1 (n = 8) with better post PVR outcome and Group 2 (n = 8) with worse post
      PVR outcome based on their change in RV ejection fraction (EF). CMR-based patient
      specific computational RV/LV models using one zero-load geometry (1G model) and
      two zero-load geometries (diastole and systole, 2G model) were constructed and RV
      wall thickness, volume, circumferential and longitudinal curvatures, mechanical
      stress and strain were obtained for analysis. Pairwise T-test and Linear Mixed
      Effect (LME) model were used to determine if the differences from the 1G and 2G
      models were statistically significant, with the dependence of the pair-wise
      observations and the patient-slice clustering effects being taken into
      consideration. For group comparisons, continuous variables (RV volumes, WT, C-
      and L- curvatures, and stress and strain values) were summarized as mean +/- SD
      and compared between the outcome groups by using an unpaired Student t-test.
      Logistic regression analysis was used to identify potential morphological and
      mechanical predictors for post PVR surgical outcome. RESULTS: Based on results
      from the 16 patients, mean begin-ejection stress and strain from the 2G model
      were 28% and 40% higher than that from the 1G model, respectively. Using the 2G
      model results, RV EF changes correlated negatively with stress (r = -0.609, P =
      0.012) and with pre-PVR RV end-diastole volume (r = -0.60, P = 0.015), but did
      not correlate with WT, C-curvature, L-curvature, or strain. At begin-ejection,
      mean RV stress of Group 2 was 57.4% higher than that of Group 1 (130.1+/-60.7 vs.
      82.7+/-38.8 kPa, P = 0.0042). Stress was the only parameter that showed
      significant differences between the two groups. The combination of
      circumferential curvature, RV volume and the difference between begin-ejection
      stress and end-ejection stress was the best predictor for post PVR outcome with
      an area under the ROC curve of 0.855. The begin-ejection stress was the best
      single predictor among the 8 individual parameters with an area under the ROC
      curve of 0.782. CONCLUSION: The new 2G model may be able to provide more accurate
      ventricular stress and strain calculations for potential clinical applications.
      Combining morphological and mechanical parameters may provide better predictions
      for post PVR outcome.

PMID- 27627808
TI  - Preclinical Activity of ARQ 087, a Novel Inhibitor Targeting FGFR Dysregulation.
AB  - Dysregulation of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR) signaling through
      amplifications, mutations, and gene fusions has been implicated in a broad array
      of cancers (e.g. liver, gastric, ovarian, endometrial, and bladder). ARQ 087 is a
      novel, ATP competitive, small molecule, multi-kinase inhibitor with potent in
      vitro and in vivo activity against FGFR addicted cell lines and tumors.
      Biochemically, ARQ 087 exhibited IC50 values of 1.8 nM for FGFR2, and 4.5 nM for
      FGFR1 and 3. In cells, inhibition of FGFR2 auto-phosphorylation and other
      proteins downstream in the FGFR pathway (FRS2alpha, AKT, ERK) was evident by the
      response to ARQ 087 treatment. Cell proliferation studies demonstrated ARQ 087
      has anti-proliferative activity in cell lines driven by FGFR dysregulation,
      including amplifications, fusions, and mutations. Cell cycle studies in cell
      lines with high levels of FGFR2 protein showed a positive relationship between
      ARQ 087 induced G1 cell cycle arrest and subsequent induction of apoptosis. In
      addition, ARQ 087 was effective at inhibiting tumor growth in vivo in FGFR2
      altered, SNU-16 and NCI-H716, xenograft tumor models with gene amplifications and
      fusions. ARQ 087 is currently being studied in a phase 1/2 clinical trial that
      includes a sub cohort for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma patients with confirmed
      FGFR2 gene fusions (NCT01752920). 

PMID- 27627809
TI  - Utilizing clathrin triskelions as carriers for spatially controlled multi-protein
      display.
AB  - The simultaneous and spatially controlled display of different proteins on
      nanocarriers is a desirable property not often achieved in practice. Here, we
      report the use of clathrin triskelions as a versatile platform for functional
      protein display. We hypothesized that site-specific molecular epitope recognition
      would allow for effective and ordered protein attachment to clathrin triskelions.
      Clathrin binding peptides (CBPs) were genetically fused to mCherry and green
      fluorescent protein (GFP), expressed, and loaded onto clathrin triskelions by
      site-specific binding. Attachment was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance.
      mCherry fusion proteins modified with various CBPs displayed binding affinities
      between 470 nM and 287 MUM for the clathrin triskelions. Simultaneous attachment
      of GFP-Wbox and mCherry-Cbox fusion constructs to the clathrin terminal domain
      was verified by Forster resonance energy transfer. The circulating half-lives,
      area under the curve, and the terminal half-lives of GFP and mCherry were
      significantly increased when attached to clathrin triskelions. Clathrin
      triskelion technology is useful for the development of versatile and
      multifunctional carriers for spatially controlled protein or peptide display with
      tremendous potential in nanotechnology, drug delivery, vaccine development, and
      targeted therapeutic applications.

PMID- 27627811
TI  - Descriptive Analysis on the Impacts of Universal Zero-Markup Drug Policy on a
      Chinese Urban Tertiary Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Universal Zero-Markup Drug Policy (UZMDP) mandates no price mark-ups
      on any drug dispensed by a healthcare institution, and covers the medicines not
      included in the China's National Essential Medicine System. Five tertiary
      hospitals in Beijing, China implemented UZMDP in 2012. Its impacts on these
      hospitals are unknown. We described the effects of UZMDP on a participating
      hospital, Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China (JST). METHODS: This retrospective
      longitudinal study examined the hospital-level data of JST and city-level data of
      tertiary hospitals of Beijing, China (BJT) 2009-2015. Rank-sum tests and join
      point regression analyses were used to assess absolute changes and differences in
      trends, respectively. RESULTS: In absolute terms, after the UZDMP implementation,
      there were increased annual patient-visits and decreased ratios of medicine-to
      healthcare-charges (RMOH) in JST outpatient and inpatient services; however, in
      outpatient service, physician work-days decreased and physician-workload and
      inflation-adjusted per-visit healthcare charges increased, while the inpatient
      physician work-days increased and inpatient mortality-rate reduced.
      Interestingly, the decreasing trend in inpatient mortality-rate was neutralized
      after UZDMP implementation. Compared with BJT and under influence of UZDMP, JST
      outpatient and inpatient services both had increasing trends in annual patient
      visits (annual percentage changes[APC] = 8.1% and 6.5%, respectively) and
      decreasing trends in RMOH (APC = -4.3% and -5.4%, respectively), while JST
      outpatient services had increasing trend in inflation-adjusted per-visit
      healthcare charges (APC = 3.4%) and JST inpatient service had decreasing trend in
      inflation-adjusted per-visit medicine-charges (APC = -5.2%). CONCLUSION:
      Implementation of UZMDP seems to increase annual patient-visits, reduce RMOH and
      have different impacts on outpatient and inpatient services in a Chinese urban
      tertiary hospital.

PMID- 27627810
TI  - Generation of an in vitro 3D PDAC stroma rich spheroid model.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a prominent
      desmoplastic/stromal reaction, which contributes to the poor clinical outcome of
      this disease. Therefore, greater understanding of the stroma development and
      tumor-stroma interactions is highly required. Pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) are
      myofibroblast-like cells located in exocrine areas of the pancreas, which as a
      result of inflammation produced by PDAC migrate and accumulate in the tumor mass,
      secreting extracellular matrix components and producing the dense PDAC stroma.
      Currently, only a few orthotopic or ectopic animal tumor models, where PDAC cells
      are injected into the pancreas or subcutaneous tissue layer, or genetically
      engineered animals offer tumors that encompass some stromal component. Herein, we
      report generation of a simple 3D PDAC in vitro micro-tumor model without an
      addition of external extracellular matrix, which encompasses a rich, dense and
      active stromal compartment. We have achieved this in vitro model by incorporating
      PSCs into 3D PDAC cell culture using a modified hanging drop method. It is now
      known that PSCs are the principal source of fibrosis in the stroma and interact
      closely with cancer cells to create a tumor facilitatory environment that
      stimulates local and distant tumor growth. The 3D micro-stroma models are highly
      reproducible with excellent uniformity, which can be used for PDAC-stroma
      interaction analysis and high throughput automated drug-screening assays.
      Additionally, the increased expression of collagenous regions means that
      molecular based perfusion and cytostaticity of gemcitabine is decreased in our
      Pancreatic adenocarcinoma stroma spheroids (PDAC-SS) model when compared to
      spheroids grown without PSCs. We believe this model will allow an improved
      knowledge of PDAC biology and has the potential to provide an insight into
      pathways that may be therapeutically targeted to inhibit PSC activation, thereby
      inhibiting the development of fibrosis in PDAC and interrupting PSC-PDAC cell
      interactions so as to inhibit cancer progression.

PMID- 27627813
TI  - Telomere Length, TERT, and miRNA Expression.
AB  - It has been proposed that miRNAs are involved in the control of telomeres. We
      test that hypothesis by examining the association between miRNAs and telomere
      length (TL). Additionally, we evaluate if genetic variation in telomerase reverse
      transcriptase (TERT) is associated with miRNA expression levels. We use data from
      a population-based study of colorectal cancer (CRC), where we have previously
      shown associations between TL and TERT and CRC, to test associations between TL
      and miRNA expression and TERT and miRNA expression. To gain insight into
      functions of miRNAs associated with TERT we tested linear associations between
      miRNAs and their targeted gene mRNAs. An Agilent platform that contained
      information on over 2000 miRNAs was used. TL was measured using a multiplexed
      quantitative PCR (qPCR). RNAseq was used to assess gene expression. Our sample
      consisted of 1152 individuals with SNP data and miRNA expression data; 363
      individuals with both TL and miRNA; and 148 individuals with miRNA and mRNA data.
      Thirty-three miRNAs were directly associated with TL after adjusting for age and
      sex (false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.05). TERT rs2736118 was associated with
      differences in miRNA expression between carcinoma and normal colonic mucosa for
      75 miRNAs (FDR <0.05). Genes regulated by these miRNAs, as indicated by
      mRNA/miRNA associations, were associated with major signaling pathways beyond
      their TL-related functions, including PTEN, and PI3K/AKT signaling. Our data
      support a direct association between miRNAs and TL; differences in miRNA
      expression levels by TERT genotype were observed. Based on miRNA and targeted
      mRNA associations our data suggest that TERT is involved in non-TL-related
      functions by acting through altered miRNA expression. 

PMID- 27627815
TI  - ?? ??: "?? ? ??"??? ??? ?? ? (The Interpretive Process: The Power of "Mere"
      Words): (Korean Translation).

PMID- 27627812
TI  - X-Linked and Autosomal Recessive Alport Syndrome: Pathogenic Variant Features and
      Further Genotype-Phenotype Correlations.
AB  - Alport syndrome results from mutations in the COL4A5 (X-linked) or COL4A3/COL4A4
      (recessive) genes. This study examined 754 previously- unpublished variants in
      these genes from individuals referred for genetic testing in 12 accredited
      diagnostic laboratories worldwide, in addition to all published COL4A5, COL4A3
      and COL4A4 variants in the LOVD databases. It also determined genotype-phenotype
      correlations for variants where clinical data were available. Individuals were
      referred for genetic testing where Alport syndrome was suspected clinically or on
      biopsy (renal failure, hearing loss, retinopathy, lamellated glomerular basement
      membrane), variant pathogenicity was assessed using currently-accepted criteria,
      and variants were examined for gene location, and age at renal failure onset.
      Results were compared using Fisher's exact test (DNA Stata). Altogether 754 new
      DNA variants were identified, an increase of 25%, predominantly in people of
      European background. Of the 1168 COL4A5 variants, 504 (43%) were missense
      mutations, 273 (23%) splicing variants, 73 (6%) nonsense mutations, 169 (14%)
      short deletions and 76 (7%) complex or large deletions. Only 135 of the 432 Gly
      residues in the collagenous sequence were substituted (31%), which means that
      fewer than 10% of all possible variants have been identified. Both missense and
      nonsense mutations in COL4A5 were not randomly distributed but more common at the
      70 CpG sequences (p<10-41 and p<0.001 respectively). Gly>Ala substitutions were
      underrepresented in all three genes (p< 0.0001) probably because of an
      association with a milder phenotype. The average age at end-stage renal failure
      was the same for all mutations in COL4A5 (24.4 +/-7.8 years), COL4A3 (23.3 +/-
      9.3) and COL4A4 (25.4 +/- 10.3) (COL4A5 and COL4A3, p = 0.45; COL4A5 and COL4A4,
      p = 0.55; COL4A3 and COL4A4, p = 0.41). For COL4A5, renal failure occurred sooner
      with non-missense than missense variants (p<0.01). For the COL4A3 and COL4A4
      genes, age at renal failure occurred sooner with two non-missense variants (p =
      0.08, and p = 0.01 respectively). Thus DNA variant characteristics that predict
      age at renal failure appeared to be the same for all three Alport genes. Founder
      mutations (with the pathogenic variant in at least 5 apparently- unrelated
      individuals) were not necessarily associated with a milder phenotype. This study
      illustrates the benefits when routine diagnostic laboratories share and analyse
      their data. 

PMID- 27627814
TI  - Abuse liability assessment of an e-cigarette refill liquid using intracranial
      self-stimulation and self-administration models in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The popularity of electronic cigarettes (ECs) has increased
      dramatically despite their unknown health consequences. Because the abuse
      liability of ECs is one of the leading concerns of the Food and Drug
      Administration (FDA), models to assess it are urgently needed to inform FDA
      regulatory decisions regarding these products. The purpose of this study was to
      assess the relative abuse liability of an EC liquid compared to nicotine alone in
      rats. Because this EC liquid contains non-nicotine constituents that may enhance
      its abuse liability, we hypothesized that it would have greater abuse liability
      than nicotine alone. METHODS: Nicotine alone and nicotine dose-equivalent
      concentrations of EC liquid were compared in terms of their acute effects on
      intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds, acquisition of self
      administration, reinforcing efficacy (i.e., elasticity of demand), blockade of
      these behavioral effects by mecamylamine, nicotine pharmacokinetics and nicotinic
      acetylcholine receptor binding and activation. RESULTS: There were no significant
      differences between formulations on any measure, except that EC liquid produced
      less of an elevation in ICSS thresholds at high nicotine doses. CONCLUSIONS:
      Collectively, these findings suggest that the relative abuse liability of this EC
      liquid is similar to that of nicotine alone in terms of its reinforcing and
      reinforcement-enhancing effects, but that it may have less aversive/anhedonic
      effects at high doses. The present methods may be useful for assessing the abuse
      liability of other ECs to inform potential FDA regulation of those products.

PMID- 27627818
TI  - Median Effective Dose of Intranasal Dexmedetomidine for Rescue Sedation in
      Pediatric Patients Undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The median effective dose (ED50) of intranasal dexmedetomidine after
      failed chloral hydrate sedation has not been described for children. This study
      aims to determine the ED50 of intranasal dexmedetomidine for rescue sedation in
      children aged 1 to 36 months, who were inadequately sedated by chloral hydrate
      administration during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: This study was
      performed on 120 children, who were 1 to 36 months old and underwent MRI
      scanning. Intranasal dexmedetomidine was administered as a rescue sedative to
      children not adequately sedated after the initial oral dose of chloral hydrate
      (50 mg/kg). Children were stratified into four age groups. ED50 values were
      estimated from the up-and-down method of Dixon and Massey and probit regression.
      Other variables included induction time, time to wake up, vital signs, oxygen
      saturation, MRI scanning time, and recovery characteristics. RESULTS: ED50 of
      intranasal dexmedetomidine for rescue sedation was 0.4 MUg/kg (95% CI, 0.34 to
      0.50) in children aged 1 to 6 months, 0.5 MUg/kg (95% CI, 0.48 to 0.56) in
      children aged 7 to 12 months, 0.9 MUg/kg (95% CI, 0.83 to 0.89) in children aged
      13 to 24 months, and 1.0 MUg/kg (95% CI, 0.94 to 1.07) in children aged 25 to 36
      months. There were no significant differences in sedation induction time or time
      to wake up between the different age groups. Additionally, no significant adverse
      hemodynamic or hypoxemic effects were noted. CONCLUSIONS: The authors determined
      the ED50 for rescue sedation using intranasal dexmedetomidine after failed
      chloral hydrate sedation in children. It was found that ED50 increases with
      advancing age during the first 3 yr of life.

PMID- 27627817
TI  - Perioperative Aspirin for Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism: The PeriOperative
      ISchemia Evaluation-2 Trial and a Pooled Analysis of the Randomized Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The PeriOperative ISchemia Evaluation-2 (POISE-2) trial compared
      aspirin with placebo after noncardiac surgery. METHODS: The authors randomly
      assigned 10,010 patients undergoing noncardiac surgery to receive 200 mg aspirin
      or placebo 2 to 4 h before surgery and then 100 mg aspirin daily or placebo daily
      for up to 30 days after surgery. Herein, the authors report the effect of aspirin
      on venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary
      embolism, as well as an updated pooled analysis of randomized trials of
      antiplatelet therapy for VTE prevention in noncardiac surgery patients. RESULTS:
      Six thousand five hundred forty-eight patients (65.4%) received anticoagulant
      prophylaxis. VTE occurred in 53 patients (1.1%) allocated to aspirin and in 60
      patients (1.2%) allocated to placebo (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.61 to 1.28).
      Major or life-threatening bleeding occurred in 312 patients (6.3%) allocated to
      aspirin and in 256 patients (5.1%) allocated to placebo (hazard ratio, 1.22; 95%
      CI, 1.04 to 1.44). Concomitant use of anticoagulant prophylaxis did not modify
      the effect of aspirin on VTE or bleeding. Pooled analysis of the POISE-2 and
      Pulmonary Embolism Prevention trials demonstrated that symptomatic VTE occurred
      in 173 (1.3%) of 13,724 patients allocated to aspirin and in 246 (1.8%) of 13,730
      patients allocated to placebo (odds ratio, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56 to 0.89;
      heterogeneity P = 0.27; I = 17%); the impact of aspirin was very similar in those
      who did and did not receive pharmacologic prophylaxis. Pooled estimates for
      symptomatic VTE were similar to the pooled estimates for any deep vein thrombosis
      and pulmonary embolism from the POISE-2 trial, Pulmonary Embolism Prevention
      trial, and the Antiplatelet Trialists' Collaboration meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Aspirin in the POISE-2 trial did not reduce VTE, but two thirds of patients
      received anticoagulant prophylaxis, there were few VTE events, and results were
      consistent with a wide range of aspirin effects. A pooled analysis of the
      randomized trials demonstrates evidence for the efficacy of aspirin for VTE
      prevention in hospitalized surgical patients.

PMID- 27627820
TI  - Introduction to Special Issue: Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941).

PMID- 27627816
TI  - AMPAkines Target the Nucleus Accumbens to Relieve Postoperative Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: AMPAkines augment the function of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4
      isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors in the brain to increase excitatory
      outputs. These drugs are known to relieve persistent pain. However, their role in
      acute pain is unknown. Furthermore, a specific molecular and anatomic target for
      these novel analgesics remains elusive. METHODS: The authors studied the
      analgesic role of an AMPAkine, CX546, in a rat paw incision (PI) model of acute
      postoperative pain. The authors measured the effect of AMPAkines on sensory and
      depressive symptoms of pain using mechanical hypersensitivity and forced swim
      tests. The authors asked whether AMPA receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a
      key node in the brain's reward and pain circuitry, can be a target for AMPAkine
      analgesia. RESULTS: Systemic administration of CX546 (n = 13), compared with
      control (n = 13), reduced mechanical hypersensitivity (50% withdrawal threshold
      of 6.05 +/- 1.30 g [mean +/- SEM] vs. 0.62 +/- 0.13 g), and it reduced depressive
      features of pain by decreasing immobility on the forced swim test in PI-treated
      rats (89.0 +/- 15.5 vs. 156.7 +/- 18.5 s). Meanwhile, CX546 delivered locally
      into the NAc provided pain-relieving effects in both PI (50% withdrawal threshold
      of 6.81 +/- 1.91 vs. 0.50 +/- 0.03 g; control, n = 6; CX546, n = 8) and
      persistent postoperative pain (spared nerve injury) models (50% withdrawal
      threshold of 3.85 +/- 1.23 vs. 0.45 +/- 0.00 g; control, n = 7; CX546, n = 11).
      Blocking AMPA receptors in the NAc with 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl
      benzo[f]quinoxaline-2,3-dione inhibited these pain-relieving effects (50%
      withdrawal threshold of 7.18 +/- 1.52 vs. 1.59 +/- 0.66 g; n = 8 for PI groups;
      10.70 +/- 3.45 vs. 1.39 +/- 0.88 g; n = 4 for spared nerve injury groups).
      CONCLUSIONS: AMPAkines relieve postoperative pain by acting through AMPA
      receptors in the NAc.

PMID- 27627821
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 27627819
TI  - A Pseudo-Outbreak of Pseudomonas putida and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in a
      Bronchoscopy Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopes represent the medical devices most commonly linked to
      health care-associated outbreaks and pseudo-outbreaks. Most of the recent
      outbreaks and pseudo-outbreaks have resulted from contaminated automated
      endoscope reprocessors (AER) or the use of damaged or malfunctioning
      bronchoscopes or contaminated equipment. OBJECTIVES: We investigated a pseudo
      outbreak of Pseudomonas putida and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia recovered from
      bronchial washing (BW) specimens obtained during bronchoscopy in a bronchoscopy
      unit. METHODS: Samples were obtained from environmental surfaces in the endoscopy
      suite, bronchoscopes, and bronchoscopic dispensable material, and specimens of
      cleaning solutions, cleaning brushes, the AER, and the ultrasound system were
      sent for bacterial culture. Medical records were reviewed to identify possible
      infections after a bronchoscopy. RESULTS: P. putida and S. maltophilia were
      isolated from BW samples of 39 patients. The bronchoscopy models Olympus BF-1T160
      and BF-160 were contaminated. Both bronchoscopes and other contaminated material
      (cleaning brushes, diluted cleaning solutions, and the sink) were isolated, but
      new cases continued to appear. The AER was recently installed, and new
      connections were used for the water lines and new tubes were connected to the
      AER. Initially, specimens were obtained from the external circuits and the
      internal walls of the AER. Finally, cultures were made from the filters on the
      water lines, and growth of P. putida and S. maltophilia was found. The
      investigation revealed that the BW specimens were contaminated because sterile
      saline was injected by means of the biopsy port of the bronchoscope and was
      recovered through the same channel by means of the proximal suction port. No
      patients developed clinical signs or symptoms of infection, but the positive
      cultures did lead to treatment of 21 patients. CONCLUSIONS: We described a pseudo
      outbreak related to a contaminated bronchoscope because of inadequate
      installation of the AER for used new water lines and because the new tubes were
      connected to the AER. The antibacterial filters of the AER used tap water, and
      this may have contained low levels of microorganisms. No serious clinical
      complications derived from this pseudo-outbreak.

PMID- 27627822
TI  - Editors' Introduction to the Volume.

PMID- 27627823
TI  - Neurodevelopmental Genomic Strategies in the Study of the Psychosis Spectrum.

PMID- 27627824
TI  - Alterations in Prefrontal Cortical Circuitry and Cognitive Dysfunction in
      Schizophrenia.

PMID- 27627825
TI  - Visual Perception Disturbances in Schizophrenia: A Unified Model.

PMID- 27627826
TI  - Avolition, Negative Symptoms, and a Clinical Science Journey and Transition to
      the Future.
AB  - The concepts and investigations reviewed above suggest the following *
      Schizophrenia is a clinical syndrome that can be deconstructed into meaningful
      domains of psychopathology. * Individual patients vary substantially on which
      domains are present as well as severity. * Negative symptoms are common in
      persons with schizophrenia, but only primary negative symptoms are a
      manifestation of schizophrenia psychopathology in the "weakening of the
      wellsprings of volition" sense that Kraepelin described. * The failure to
      distinguish primary from secondary negative symptoms has profound consequences as
      viewed in the vast majority of clinical trials that report negative symptom
      efficacy without regard for causation and without controlling for
      pseudospecificity. * Schizophrenia is now broadly defined with positive psychotic
      symptoms, and a subgroup with primary negative symptoms is a candidate disease
      entity. * Evidence of negative symptoms as a taxon supports the separate
      classification of persons with primary negative symptoms. * Negative symptoms are
      an unmet therapeutic need. * Two factors best define the negative symptom
      construct and these may have different pathophysiological and treatment
      implications. * The avolitional component may not be based on a diminished
      capacity to experience pleasure, but difficulty using mental representations of
      affective value to guide decision-making and goal-directed behavior. Part II in
      this volume by Strauss et al. will address the range of laboratory-based
      investigations of negative symptoms, clarify current hypotheses and theories
      concerning negative symptom pathology, and address future directions for negative
      symptom research and clinical care.

PMID- 27627827
TI  - An Affective Neuroscience Model of Impaired Approach Motivation in Schizophrenia.

PMID- 27627828
TI  - Multimodal Brain and Behavior Indices of Psychosis Risk.

PMID- 27627829
TI  - Changing the Diagnostic Concept of Schizophrenia: The NIMH Research Domain
      Criteria Initiative.

PMID- 27627830
TI  - Does 'Big Data' exist in medicinal chemistry, and if so, how can it be harnessed?

PMID- 27627831
TI  - Ocular Disorders in Turkish Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Cross
      Sectional Study and Literature Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate types and frequencies of ocular disorders in children
      with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and to emphasize the importance of
      ophthalmological examination in these children. METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      of the examination records of children examined in our instutititon between
      January 2011 and September 2014 was performed. Ocular disorders of children with
      SHNL were selectively reviewed. RESULTS: Among 55340 patients, SNHL was present
      in 110 (0.2%). SNHL was bilateral in 104 patients (94.5%) and unilateral in 6
      (5.5%). Ninety-one cases had congenital hearing loss (83%), and 19 (17%) had
      acquired SNHL. Forty cases (36%) had an ocular disorder, either refractive or non
      refractive or both. Seventy cases (64%) had normal ocular examination. No
      difference was found between congenital or acquired SNHL cases in terms of
      possessing an ocular disorder (p=0.0962). The most common ocular abnormality was
      refractive error, mainly hypermetropia (21%). There was no significant difference
      between the prevalences of ocular abnormalities among cases with different
      lateralites or severities of SNHL (p=0.051, p=0.874, respectively). Twenty-six
      cases (23.6%) had SNHL as a component of a genetically defined syndrome. All of
      them had coexisting refractive or non-refractive ocular abnormalities. Some
      genetic, non-syndromic abnormalities, including Achondroplasia, Celiac disease,
      and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, were diagnosed in four cases, among whom
      refractive errors and/or strabismus were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the common
      coexistence of ocular problems and SNHL in children, ophthalmological screening
      is crucial. Families and healthcare providers should be informed about the
      critical role of ophthalmic assesment in these children for their future quality
      of life.

PMID- 27627832
TI  - Luminescence materials for pH and oxygen sensing in microbial cells - structures,
      optical properties, and biological applications.
AB  - Luminescence including fluorescence and phosphorescence sensors have been
      demonstrated to be important for studying cell metabolism, and diagnosing
      diseases and cancer. Various design principles have been employed for the
      development of sensors in different formats, such as organic molecules, polymers,
      polymeric hydrogels, and nanoparticles. The integration of the sensing with
      fluorescence imaging provides valuable tools for biomedical research and
      applications at not only bulk-cell level but also at single-cell level. In this
      article, we critically reviewed recent progresses on pH, oxygen, and dual pH and
      oxygen sensors specifically for their application in microbial cells. In
      addition, we focused not only on sensor materials with different chemical
      structures, but also on design and applications of sensors for better
      understanding cellular metabolism of microbial cells. Finally, we also provided
      an outlook for future materials design and key challenges in reaching broad
      applications in microbial cells.

PMID- 27627833
TI  - gem-Diol and Hemiacetal Forms in Formylpyridine and Vitamin-B6-Related Compounds:
      Solid-State NMR and Single-Crystal X-ray Diffraction Studies.
AB  - The gem-diol moieties of organic compounds are rarely isolated or even studied in
      the solid state. Here, liquid- and solid-state NMR, together with single-crystal
      X-ray diffraction studies, were used to show different strategies to favor the
      gem-diol or carbonyl moieties and to isolate hemiacetal structures in
      formylpyridine and vitamin-B6-related compounds. The change in position of the
      carbonyl group in pyridine compounds had a clear and direct effect on the
      hydration, which was enhanced by trifluoroacetic acid addition. Because of their
      biochemical importance, vitamin-B6-related compounds were studied with emphasis
      on the elucidation of the gem-diol, cyclic hemiacetal or carbonyl structures that
      can be obtained in different experimental conditions. In particular, new racemic
      mixtures for the cyclic hemiacetal structure from pyridoxal are reported in
      trifluoroacetate and hydrochloride derivatives.

PMID- 27627834
TI  - Cajal bodies and snRNPs - friends with benefits.
AB  - Spliceosomal snRNPs are complex particles that proceed through a fascinating
      maturation pathway. Several steps of this pathway are closely linked to nuclear
      non-membrane structures called Cajal bodies. In this review, I summarize the last
      20 y of research in this field. I primarily focus on snRNP biogenesis,
      specifically on the steps that involve Cajal bodies. I also evaluate the
      contribution of the Cajal body in snRNP quality control and discuss the role of
      snRNPs in Cajal body formation.

PMID- 27627836
TI  - Altered Wiring of the Human Structural Connectome in Adults with Mild Traumatic
      Brain Injury.
AB  - In this study, structural connectivity after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)
      was examined from a network perspective, with a particular focus on post
      traumatic complaints. Fifty-three patients with and without self-reported
      complaints at 2 weeks after uncomplicated mTBI were included, in addition to 20
      matched healthy controls. Diffusion weighted imaging was performed at 4 weeks
      post-injury, and neuropsychological tests measuring processing speed and verbal
      memory were administered at 3 months post-injury to determine cognitive outcome.
      Structural connectivity was investigated using whole brain tractography and
      subsequent graph theory analysis. In patients with mTBI, eigenvector centrality
      within the left temporal pole was lower than in healthy controls. In patients
      without complaints, global and mean local efficiency were lower than in patients
      with complaints, although no differences were found between either subgroup and
      the group of healthy controls. Neuropsychological test scores were similar for
      patients with mTBI and healthy controls. However, patients with complaints showed
      higher processing speed than patients without complaints. Within the total mTBI
      group, a trend was found toward a correlation between lower network clustering
      and higher processing speed. Additionally, significant correlations were found
      between higher betweenness centrality values of language areas and lower verbal
      memory scores in patients with mTBI. In conclusion, our findings may indicate
      that global graph measures of the structural connectome are associated with pre-
      and/or non-injury-related factors that determine the susceptibility to developing
      (persistent) complaints after mTBI. Further, correlations between graph measures
      and neuropsychological test scores could suggest early compensatory mechanisms to
      maintain adequate cognitive performance.

PMID- 27627837
TI  - Gag-Specific CD4 T Cell Proliferation, Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells, and
      Ethnicity in Perinatally HIV-1-Infected Youths: The ANRS-EP38-IMMIP Study.
AB  - In perinatally HIV-1-infected youths living in France, we previously reported
      that Gag-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell proliferation is more frequently detected in
      patients of black ethnicity than in those of other ethnicities. We observed that
      black patients had higher levels of dendritic cells (DCs) than other patients. We
      aimed at studying the association of DC levels with Gag-specific T cell
      proliferation. The ANRS-EP38-IMMIP study is an observational study of youths aged
      between 15 and 24 years who were perinatally infected with HIV. A single blood
      sample was drawn for virological and immunological assays. Data from cART-treated
      53 youths with undetectable plasma HIV RNA were analyzed. Gag-specific T cell
      proliferation was assessed by using a CFSE-based test. Peripheral blood myeloid
      dendritic cells (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) were phenotyped by
      flow cytometry. Plasma markers were quantified by ELISA or multiplex assays.
      Logistic regression was used for univariate and multivariate analyses. Patients
      with Gag-specific CD4 T cell proliferative responses had significantly higher
      percentages and absolute counts of mDCs and pDCs in the peripheral blood than
      nonresponding patients. Gag-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell proliferation was
      associated with lower plasma sCD14 levels. Plasma levels of IFN-alpha, TRAIL, and
      chemokines involved in T cell migration to secondary lymphoid organs were not
      associated with T cell proliferation. Multivariate analysis confirmed the
      association between Gag-specific CD4 T cell proliferation and pDC levels. In
      conclusion, DC levels are a robust correlate of the presence of Gag-specific T
      cell proliferation in successfully treated youths.

PMID- 27627838
TI  - Tympanometric measurements in conscious sheep - a diagnostic tool for pre
      clinical middle ear implant studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate and establish the use of tympanometry in conscious
      sheep to provide a means of objective assessment of tympanic membrane integrity,
      middle ear ventilation and functioning of the Eustachian tube (ET). DESIGN: After
      conditioning the sheep for four weeks, tympanometric measurements at 226 Hz were
      carried out weekly for 13 weeks. Before measurements, the external ear canal had
      been cleaned. Resultant curves were classified according to human reference
      values. STUDY SAMPLE: Tests were performed on 12 female blackface sheep. RESULTS:
      After cleaning of the external ear canal under otoscopic control, tympanic
      membranes were intact with no evidence of acute or chronic middle ear
      inflammation, middle ear effusion or retraction. Cleaning ensured valid,
      objective and reproducible measurements. As the majority of normal tympanograms
      were notched without the appearance of any malformation, an additional
      tympanogram type (AN) was introduced. The notched appearance can most likely be
      explained by the anatomy of the middle ear of the sheep and the test frequency
      that was used. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated how tympanometry can be
      used to evaluate treatment modalities for middle ear and ET function in conscious
      sheep. This provided a large animal model for further human research in otology.

PMID- 27627835
TI  - Mitochondrial quality control: Cell-type-dependent responses to pathological
      mutant mitochondrial DNA.
AB  - Pathological mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) produce a diverse range
      of tissue-specific diseases and the proportion of mutant mitochondrial DNA can
      increase or decrease with time via segregation, dependent on the cell or tissue
      type. Previously we found that adenocarcinoma (A549.B2) cells favored wild-type
      (WT) mtDNA, whereas rhabdomyosarcoma (RD.Myo) cells favored mutant (m3243G)
      mtDNA. Mitochondrial quality control (mtQC) can purge the cells of dysfunctional
      mitochondria via mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy and appears to offer the
      perfect solution to the human diseases caused by mutant mtDNA. In A549.B2 and
      RD.Myo cybrids, with various mutant mtDNA levels, mtQC was explored together with
      macroautophagy/autophagy and bioenergetic profile. The 2 types of tumor-derived
      cell lines differed in bioenergetic profile and mitophagy, but not in autophagy.
      A549.B2 cybrids displayed upregulation of mitophagy, increased mtDNA removal,
      mitochondrial fragmentation and mitochondrial depolarization on incubation with
      oligomycin, parameters that correlated with mutant load. Conversely,
      heteroplasmic RD.Myo lines had lower mitophagic markers that negatively
      correlated with mutant load, combined with a fully polarized and highly fused
      mitochondrial network. These findings indicate that pathological mutant
      mitochondrial DNA can modulate mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in a cell
      type dependent manner and thereby offer an explanation for the persistence and
      accumulation of deleterious variants.

PMID- 27627839
TI  - Erythroid cell mitochondria receive endosomal iron by a "kiss-and-run" mechanism.
AB  - In erythroid cells, more than 90% of transferrin-derived iron enters mitochondria
      where ferrochelatase inserts Fe2+ into protoporphyrin IX. However, the path of
      iron from endosomes to mitochondrial ferrochelatase remains elusive. The
      prevailing opinion is that, after its export from endosomes, the redox-active
      metal spreads into the cytosol and mysteriously finds its way into mitochondria
      through passive diffusion. In contrast, this study supports the hypothesis that
      the highly efficient transport of iron toward ferrochelatase in erythroid cells
      requires a direct interaction between transferrin-endosomes and mitochondria (the
      "kiss-and-run" hypothesis). Using a novel method (flow sub-cytometry), we analyze
      lysates of reticulocytes after labeling these organelles with different
      fluorophores. We have identified a double-labeled population definitively
      representing endosomes interacting with mitochondria, as demonstrated by confocal
      microscopy. Moreover, we conclude that this endosome-mitochondrion association is
      reversible, since a "chase" with unlabeled holotransferrin causes a time
      dependent decrease in the size of the double-labeled population. Importantly, the
      dissociation of endosomes from mitochondria does not occur in the absence of
      holotransferrin. Additionally, mutated recombinant holotransferrin, that cannot
      release iron, significantly decreases the uptake of 59Fe by reticulocytes and
      diminishes 59Fe incorporation into heme. This suggests that endosomes, which are
      unable to provide iron to mitochondria, cause a "traffic jam" leading to
      decreased endocytosis of holotransferrin. Altogether, our results suggest that a
      molecular mechanism exists to coordinate the iron status of endosomal transferrin
      with its trafficking. Besides its contribution to the field of iron metabolism,
      this study provides evidence for a new intracellular trafficking pathway of
      organelles.

PMID- 27627841
TI  - SNAP-25 gene variations and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in Iranian
      population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common
      psychiatric condition of childhood characterized by persistent symptoms of
      hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. The objective of this study was to
      investigate the association of synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP
      25) gene variants with ADHD. METHODS: A case-control study with a total of 150
      children with ADHD (mean age 9.61; range 6-16; gender ratio 105m/45f) and 150
      normal children (mean age 10.02; range 6-16; gender ratio 98m/52f) was conducted.
      Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of all samples and SNPs
      rs78428954 and rs3746544 located in SNAP-25 gene were genotyped. RESULTS: Our
      analysis indicated that there is no significant association between none of
      studied variants in SNAP-25 and ADHD. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, it is the
      first report of SNAP-25 genotyping in Iranian patients with ADHD. Further
      investigations with larger populations are needed in order to clarify the exact
      role of SNAP-25 variations in susceptibility to ADHD.

PMID- 27627840
TI  - Integrin-linked kinase and ELMO2 modulate recycling endosomes in keratinocytes.
AB  - The formation of tight cell-cell junctions is essential in the epidermis for its
      barrier properties. In this tissue, keratinocytes follow a differentiation
      program tightly associated with their movement from the innermost basal to the
      outer suprabasal layers, and with changes in their cell-cell adhesion profile.
      Intercellular adhesion in keratinocytes is mediated through cell-cell contacts,
      including E-cadherin-based adherens junctions. Although the mechanisms that
      mediate E-cadherin delivery to the plasma membrane have been widely studied in
      simple epithelia, this process is less well understood in the stratified
      epidermis. In this study, we have investigated the role of Engulfment and Cell
      Motility 2 (ELMO2) and integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in the positioning of E
      cadherin-containing recycling endosomes during establishment of cell-cell
      contacts in differentiating keratinocytes. We now show that induction of
      keratinocyte differentiation by Ca2+ is accompanied by localization of ELMO2 and
      ILK to Rab4- and Rab11a-containing recycling endosomes. The positioning of long
      loop Rab11a-positive endosomes at areas adjacent to cell-cell contacts is
      disrupted in ELMO2- or ILK-deficient keratinocytes, and is associated with
      impaired localization of E-cadherin to cell borders. Our studies show a
      previously unrecognized role for ELMO2 and ILK in modulation of endosomal
      positioning, which may play key roles in epidermal sheet maintenance and
      permeability barrier function.

PMID- 27627842
TI  - Salmonella Typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus dynamics in/on variable
      (micro)structures of fish-based model systems at suboptimal temperatures.
AB  - The limited knowledge concerning the influence of food (micro)structure on
      microbial dynamics decreases the accuracy of the developed predictive models, as
      most studies have mainly been based on experimental data obtained in liquid
      microbiological media or in/on real foods. The use of model systems has a great
      potential when studying this complex factor. Apart from the variability in
      (micro)structural properties, model systems vary in compositional aspects, as a
      consequence of their (micro)structural variation. In this study, different
      experimental food model systems, with compositional and physicochemical
      properties similar to fish pates, are developed to study the influence of food
      (micro)structure on microbial dynamics. The microbiological safety of fish
      products is of major importance given the numerous cases of salmonellosis and
      infections attributed to staphylococcus toxins. The model systems understudy
      represent food (micro)structures of liquids, aqueous gels, emulsions and gelled
      emulsions. The growth/inactivation dynamics and a modelling approach of combined
      growth and inactivation of Salmonella Typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus,
      related to fish products, are investigated in/on these model systems at
      temperatures relevant to fish products' common storage (4 degrees C) and to abuse
      storage temperatures (8 and 12 degrees C). ComBase (http://www.combase.cc/)
      predictions compared with the maximum specific growth rate (MUmax) values
      estimated by the Baranyi and Roberts model in the current study indicated that
      the (micro)structure influences the microbial dynamics. Overall, ComBase
      overestimated microbial growth at the same pH, aw and storage temperature.
      Finally, the storage temperature had also an influence on how much each model
      system affected the microbial dynamics.

PMID- 27627843
TI  - Suggestions for improving maternal health practice.

PMID- 27627844
TI  - A spotlight on reproductive coercion.

PMID- 27627845
TI  - The effect on drink sales of removal of unhealthy drinks from display in a self
      service cafe.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed the impact of the retailer-led removal of
      unhealthy beverages from display at a self-service cafe within a major health
      service. While unhealthy beverages remained available from behind the counter
      upon request, this was not communicated directly to customers. DESIGN: Drinks
      were categorised based on the state government nutrient profiling system,
      classifying drinks as 'green' (best choices), 'amber' (choose carefully) and
      'red' (limit). Total drink sales (as number of items sold per week) in the cafe
      were measured for five weeks. All unhealthy 'red' beverages were removed from
      display (but were still available for purchase) and the sales of all beverages
      were measured for another six weeks. RESULTS: We found that, in response to this
      strategy, the proportion of 'red' drinks sold decreased from 33 % to 10 % of
      total drink sales. As 'amber' and 'green' drink sales increased in response to
      this strategy, total retailer sales remained steady. Most consumers appeared to
      switch to purchasing 'amber' drinks rather than the healthiest option, 'green'
      drinks. CONCLUSIONS: The removal of unhealthy beverages from display can result
      in consumers making healthier purchases, while not significantly affecting
      retailers' sales.

PMID- 27627851
TI  - A novel insight into membrane fouling mechanism regarding gel layer filtration:
      Flory-Huggins based filtration mechanism.
AB  - This study linked the chemical potential change to high specific filtration
      resistance (SFR) of gel layer, and then proposed a novel membrane fouling
      mechanism regarding gel layer filtration, namely, Flory-Huggins based filtration
      mechanism. A mathematical model for this mechanism was theoretically deduced.
      Agar was used as a model polymer for gel formation. Simulation of the
      mathematical model for agar gel showed that volume fraction of polymer and Flory
      Huggins interaction parameter were the two key factors governing the gel SFR,
      whereas, pH and ionic strength were not related with the gel SFR. Filtration
      tests of gel layer showed that the total SFR value, effects of pH and ionic
      strength on the gel SFR well agreed with the perditions of model's simulation,
      indicating the real occurrence of this mechanism and the feasibility of the
      proposed model. This mechanism can satisfactorily explain the extremely high SFR
      of gel layer, and improve fundamental insights into membrane fouling regarding
      gel layer filtration.

PMID- 27627846
TI  - The detoxification responses, damage effects and bioaccumulation in the scallop
      Chlamys farreri exposed to single and mixtures of benzo[a]pyrene and chrysene.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the detoxification responses, damage effects and
      biotransformation in scallop Chlamys farreri exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)
      (0.1, 1MUg/L), chrysene (CHR) (0.1, 1MUg/L) and BaP+CHR (0.1+0.1, 1+1MUg/L) for
      15days. Results demonstrated that BaP and CHR concentration (BaP<CHR) in tissues
      increased rapidly in a time and dose effect. The mRNA expression of aryl
      hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), CYP1B1, multidrug
      resistance protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2)
      and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) were induced especially in the mixtures of BaP and CHR.
      Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator
      (ARNT) mRNA expression was significantly elevated at days 1, 10 and 15.
      Detoxification enzymes of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), uridine
      diphosphate-glucuronyl-transferase (UGT) and sulfotransferase (SULT) were
      significantly induced and then became stable gradually while glutathione-S
      transferase (GST) was inhibited in the mixtures of BaP and CHR at days 10 and 15.
      Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and
      glutathione (GSH) were all stimulated especially in the mixtures of BaP and CHR.
      The levels of DNA strand breaks, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protein carbonyl
      (PC) contents showed damage effects exposed BaP and CHR. All the results
      indicated that BaP and CHR have similar induced effect and a majority of the
      biomarkers pointed to a more toxic effect when BaP and CHR were mixed. These will
      provide a solid foundation for the study of PAHs detoxification mechanism in
      bivalves and valuable information for marine pollution monitoring.

PMID- 27627852
TI  - Severe neonatal CMV infection complicated with thrombotic microangiopathy
      successfully treated with ganciclovir.
AB  - We report a neonate of severe cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection who presented
      vomiting, severe thrombocytopenia and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). He showed
      occasional vomiting at 3 weeks of age and visited us with systemic petechiae at
      29 days old. Platelet was markedly decreased to 18,000/MUL and fragmented red
      blood cells were increased in the peripheral blood. Intravenous ganciclovir (GCV)
      administration was started at 35 days old after detection of CMV in the
      peripheral blood. His normal values of T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC)
      and signal joint kappa-deleting recombination excision circles (sjKREC) excluded
      the possibility of severe immunodeficiency. Congenital CMV infection was denied
      later, when CMV of the dried blood spot obtained for neonatal mass-screening at 4
      days old was proved negative. We provided 6-week treatment with no side effect
      such as myelosuppression. The left hearing abnormality found at first was
      improved along with other symptoms. GCV seems to be effective and safe for severe
      neonatal CMV infection.

PMID- 27627853
TI  - Does Digital Video Advertising Increase Population-Level Reach of Multimedia
      Campaigns? Evidence From the 2013 Tips From Former Smokers Campaign.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Federal and state public health agencies in the United States are
      increasingly using digital advertising and social media to promote messages from
      broader multimedia campaigns. However, little evidence exists on population-level
      campaign awareness and relative cost efficiencies of digital advertising in the
      context of a comprehensive public health education campaign. OBJECTIVE: Our
      objective was to compare the impact of increased doses of digital video and
      television advertising from the 2013 Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) campaign on
      overall campaign awareness at the population level. We also compared the relative
      cost efficiencies across these media platforms. METHODS: We used data from a
      large national online survey of approximately 15,000 US smokers conducted in 2013
      immediately after the conclusion of the 2013 Tips campaign. These data were used
      to compare the effects of variation in media dose of digital video and television
      advertising on population-level awareness of the Tips campaign. We implemented
      higher doses of digital video among selected media markets and randomly selected
      other markets to receive similar higher doses of television ads. Multivariate
      logistic regressions estimated the odds of overall campaign awareness via digital
      or television format as a function of higher-dose media in each market area. All
      statistical tests used the .05 threshold for statistical significance and the .10
      level for marginal nonsignificance. We used adjusted advertising costs for the
      additional doses of digital and television advertising to compare the cost
      efficiencies of digital and television advertising on the basis of costs per
      percentage point of population awareness generated. RESULTS: Higher-dose digital
      video advertising was associated with 94% increased odds of awareness of any ad
      online relative to standard-dose markets (P<.001). Higher-dose digital
      advertising was associated with a marginally nonsignificant increase (46%) in
      overall campaign awareness regardless of media format (P=.09). Higher-dose
      television advertising was associated with 81% increased odds of overall ad
      awareness regardless of media format (P<.001). Increased doses of television
      advertising were also associated with significantly higher odds of awareness of
      any ad on television (P<.001) and online (P=.04). The adjusted cost of each
      additional percentage point of population-level reach generated by higher doses
      of advertising was approximately US $440,000 for digital advertising and US $1
      million for television advertising. CONCLUSIONS: Television advertising generated
      relatively higher levels of overall campaign awareness. However, digital video
      was relatively more cost efficient for generating awareness. These results
      suggest that digital video may be used as a cost-efficient complement to
      traditional advertising modes (eg, television), but digital video should not
      replace television given the relatively smaller audience size of digital video
      viewers.

PMID- 27627855
TI  - Superconductor to Mott insulator transition in YBa2Cu3O7/LaCaMnO3
      heterostructures.
AB  - The superconductor-to-insulator transition (SIT) induced by means such as
      external magnetic fields, disorder or spatial confinement is a vivid illustration
      of a quantum phase transition dramatically affecting the superconducting order
      parameter. In pursuit of a new realization of the SIT by interfacial charge
      transfer, we developed extremely thin superlattices composed of high Tc
      superconductor YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) and colossal magnetoresistance ferromagnet
      La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (LCMO). By using linearly polarized resonant X-ray absorption
      spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism, combined with hard X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy, we derived a complete picture of the interfacial
      carrier doping in cuprate and manganite atomic layers, leading to the transition
      from superconducting to an unusual Mott insulating state emerging with the
      increase of LCMO layer thickness. In addition, contrary to the common perception
      that only transition metal ions may respond to the charge transfer process, we
      found that charge is also actively compensated by rare-earth and alkaline-earth
      metal ions of the interface. Such deterministic control of Tc by pure electronic
      doping without any hindering effects of chemical substitution is another
      promising route to disentangle the role of disorder on the pseudo-gap and charge
      density wave phases of underdoped cuprates.

PMID- 27627854
TI  - Transient exposure to calcium ionophore enables in vitro fertilization in sterile
      mouse models.
AB  - Mammalian sperm acquire fertilizing capacity in the female tract in a process
      called capacitation. At the molecular level, capacitation requires protein kinase
      A activation, changes in membrane potential and an increase in intracellular
      calcium. Inhibition of these pathways results in loss of fertilizing ability in
      vivo and in vitro. We demonstrated that transient incubation of mouse sperm with
      Ca(2+) ionophore accelerated capacitation and rescued fertilizing capacity in
      sperm with inactivated PKA function. We now show that a pulse of Ca(2+) ionophore
      induces fertilizing capacity in sperm from infertile CatSper1 (Ca(2+) channel),
      Adcy10 (soluble adenylyl cyclase) and Slo3 (K(+) channel) KO mice. In contrast,
      sperm from infertile mice lacking the Ca(2+) efflux pump PMACA4 were not rescued.
      These results indicate that a transient increase in intracellular Ca(2+) can
      overcome genetic infertility in mice and suggest this approach may prove
      adaptable to rescue sperm function in certain cases of human male infertility.

PMID- 27627856
TI  - Diverse ruthenium nitrides stabilized under pressure: a theoretical prediction.
AB  - First-principles calculations were performed to understand the structural
      stability, synthesis routes, mechanical and electronic properties of diverse
      ruthenium nitrides. RuN with a new I-4m2 symmetry stabilized by pressure is found
      to be energetically preferred over the experimental NaCl-type and ZnS-type ones.
      The Pnnm-RuN2 is found to be stable above 1.1 GPa, in agreement with the
      experimental results. Specifically, new stoichiometries like RuN3 and RuN4 are
      proposed firstly to be thermodynamically stable, and the dynamical and mechanical
      stabilities of the newly predicted structures have been verified by checking
      their phonon spectra and elastic constants. A phase transition from P4/mmm-RuN4
      to C2/c-RuN4 is also uncovered at 23.0 GPa. Drawn from bonding and band structure
      analysis, P4/mmm-RuN4 exhibits semi-metal-like behavior and becomes a
      semiconductor for the high-pressure C2/c-RuN4 phase. Meanwhile the P21/c-RuN3
      shows metallic feature. Highly directional covalent N-N and Ru-N bonds are formed
      and dominating in N-enriched Ru nitrides, making them promising hard materials.

PMID- 27627858
TI  - CBCT evaluation of the tridimensional relationship between impacted lower third
      molar and the inferior alveolar nerve position.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate if the statistical significant
      relations between the measures taken exists or not and to show how the 3D
      reconstruction could be help the oral surgeon in all those instances in which it
      may have a direct impact on the planning of the surgical steps. METHODS: Thanks
      to use of NobelClinicianTM Software it was possible to analyze 200 mandibular
      tomography computerized, random selected, and create a 3D reconstruction of
      mandibular bone, point out dental structure of wisdom tooth and the way of IAN.
      Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social
      Sciences. One way ANOVA test was used to measure the association between each
      independent variable and the outcome variable, followed by the post-hoc least
      significant difference (LSD) test for intergroup differences. RESULTS: Two
      independent variables were significant predictors for risk to have the distance 0
      mm from IAN to apex: "Ramus relationship/space available" and "depth".
      CONCLUSIONS: The 3D reconstruction software provide surgeons with an additional
      planning tool, offering: immediate and neat visualization of the noble structures
      that have to be respected and their localization in the three spatial planes; the
      exact morphology of the relevant root apex; a 360 degrees  view of the
      relationship between the IAN and the third molar and the exact point in which the
      root is in relationship with the canal.

PMID- 27627857
TI  - Non-invasive Evaluation for Epilepsy Surgery.
AB  - Epilepsy surgery is aimed to remove the brain tissues that are indispensable for
      generating patient's epileptic seizures. There are two purposes in the pre
      operative evaluation: localization of the epileptogenic zone and localization of
      function. Surgery is planned to remove possible epileptogenic zone while
      preserving functional area. Since no single diagnostic modality is superior to
      others in identifying and localizing the epileptogenic zone, multiple non
      invasive evaluations are performed to estimate the location of the epileptogenic
      zone after concordance between evaluations. Essential components of non-invasive
      pre-surgical evaluation of epilepsy include detailed clinical history, long-term
      video-electroencephalography monitoring, epilepsy-protocol magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI), and neuropsychological testing. However, a significant portion of
      drug-resistant epilepsy is associated with no or subtle MRI lesions or with
      ambiguous electro-clinical signs. Additional evaluations including fluoro-deoxy
      glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), magnetoencephalography and ictal
      single photon emission computed tomography can play critical roles in planning
      surgery. FDG-PET should be registered on three-dimensional MRI for better
      detection of focal cortical dysplasia. All diagnostic tools are complementary to
      each other in defining the epileptogenic zone, so that it is always important to
      reassess the data based on other results to pick up or confirm subtle
      abnormalities.

PMID- 27627859
TI  - The sources of atmospheric black carbon at a European gateway to the Arctic.
AB  - Black carbon (BC) aerosols from incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuel
      contribute to Arctic climate warming. Models-seeking to advise mitigation policy
      are challenged in reproducing observations of seasonally varying BC
      concentrations in the Arctic air. Here we compare year-round observations of BC
      and its delta(13)C/Delta(14)C-diagnosed sources in Arctic Scandinavia, with
      tailored simulations from an atmospheric transport model. The model predictions
      for this European gateway to the Arctic are greatly improved when the emission
      inventory of anthropogenic sources is amended by satellite-derived estimates of
      BC emissions from fires. Both BC concentrations (R(2)=0.89, P<0.05) and source
      contributions (R(2)=0.77, P<0.05) are accurately mimicked and linked to
      predominantly European emissions. This improved model skill allows for more
      accurate assessment of sources and effects of BC in the Arctic, and a more
      credible scientific underpinning of policy efforts aimed at efficiently reducing
      BC emissions reaching the European Arctic.

PMID- 27627861
TI  - Skeletal Rearrangement in the ZnII -Catalyzed [4+2]-Annulation of Disubstituted N
      Hydroxy Allenylamines with Nitrosoarenes to Yield Substituted 1,2-Oxazinan-3-one
      Derivatives.
AB  - This work reports zinc-catalyzed [4+2]-annulation reactions of disubstituted N
      hydroxy allenylamines with nitrosoarenes to afford substituted 1,2-oxazinan-3
      ones with a skeletal rearrangement. This annulation is applicable to a reasonable
      scope of allenylamines and nitrosoarenes. Our control experiments indicate that
      nitrosobenzene can also implement this annulation through a radical annulation
      path, but with poor efficiency. Zn(OTf)2 or AgOTf greatly improves the efficiency
      of this [4+2]-annulation; the effect of these metal species is discussed in
      detail.

PMID- 27627860
TI  - Low genetic diversity and recent demographic expansion in the red starfish
      Echinaster sepositus (Retzius 1816).
AB  - Understanding the phylogeography and genetic structure of populations and the
      processes responsible of patterns therein is crucial for evaluating the
      vulnerability of marine species and developing management strategies. In this
      study, we explore how past climatic events and ongoing oceanographic and
      demographic processes have shaped the genetic structure and diversity of the
      Atlanto-Mediterranean red starfish Echinaster sepositus. The species is
      relatively abundant in some areas of the Mediterranean Sea, but some populations
      have dramatically decreased over recent years due to direct extraction for
      ornamental aquariums and souvenir industries. Analyses across most of the
      distribution range of the species based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase
      subunit I gene and eight microsatellite loci revealed very low intraspecific
      genetic diversity. The species showed a weak genetic structure within marine
      basins despite the a priori low dispersal potential of its lecithotrophic larva.
      Our results also revealed a very recent demographic expansion across the
      distribution range of the species. The genetic data presented here indicate that
      the species might be highly vulnerable, due to its low intraspecific genetic
      diversity.

PMID- 27627863
TI  - Laparoscopic repair of ureteric injury: psoas hitch with ureteric reimplantation 
      a video vignette.

PMID- 27627862
TI  - Exploring imperial expansion using an isotopic analysis of paleodietary and
      paleomobility indicators in Chachapoyas, Peru.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Inca imperial strategies of political and territorial expansion
      varied across conquered regions depending on local ecology and cultural
      resistance, and Chachapoya peoples in Peru's forested northeastern Andes were
      renowned for their rebellions against the invaders. The cliff tombs of Los
      Pinchudos (AD 1470-1535) present opportunities to use stable isotopes to: (1)
      explore dietary and mobility patterns from a mortuary community interred at a
      site attributed to the poorly-known Chachapoya culture during the period of Inca
      domination, and (2) explore the origins of the individuals as either local or
      foreign (Inca). Using biochemical tracers, we can help resolve the impact of
      foreign influence and changes in population and social structure during imperial
      occupation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: While it is difficult to reconstruct
      individual life histories from incomplete skeletons, stable isotopic analysis of
      multiple skeletal tissues provides a direct means of characterizing diet and
      residential mobility. Values of stable carbon (delta13 C), nitrogen (delta15 N),
      and oxygen isotope (delta18 O) ratios were determined in bone and dentine
      collagen and bone and enamel carbonate from 28 samples (11 paired tissues) from
      males, females, and juveniles from Los Pinchudos. RESULTS: Dietary signatures are
      consistent with a mixed but more C3 -based plant and protein-based diet with
      moderate proportions of terrestrial animals. Oxygen isotopic values demonstrate
      limited variation between paired tissues, with a few possible nonlocal
      individuals buried in one particular tomb at the site. Compared to other Andean
      areas that underwent imperial domination, these data do not demonstrate expected
      dietary shifts. DISCUSSION: These are the first isotopic data from a Chachapoya
      site and our research shows evidence for minimal non-local presence in this
      commingled burial assemblage. The regional diet reconstructed at Los Pinchudos
      (2850 masl) focused on resources of higher altitude tuber crops, beans, and
      grains (C3 ) and terrestrial protein rather than on lower elevation grasses such
      as maize (C4 ) as in other highland Andean regions under Inca control. During
      imperial domination, inhabitants of this region appropriated Inca materials goods
      but continued to construct tombs in the local manner even though a potentially
      diverse population was occupying them.

PMID- 27627864
TI  - Immunohistochemical analysis of myofibroblasts, TGF-beta1, and IFN-gamma in
      epithelial odontogenic lesions.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the presence of myofibroblasts (MFBs) in epithelial
      odontogenic lesions by immunohistochemistry and to correlate the findings with
      tumor aggressiveness, as well as to analyze the expression of TGF-beta1 and IFN
      gamma during the differentiation of these cells. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty
      solid ameloblastomas (SAs), 10 unicystic ameloblastomas (UAs), 20 keratocystic
      odontogenic tumors (KCOTs), and 20 adenomatoid odontogenic tumors (AOTs) were
      selected. For evaluation of the presence of MFBs, anti-alpha-SMA-immunoreactive
      cells were quantified in connective tissue near the epithelium. The expression of
      TGF-beta1 and IFN-gamma was evaluated in epithelial and connective tissue by
      determining the percentage of immunoreactive cells. A higher concentration of
      MFBs was observed in SAs (mean of 30.55), followed by KCOTs (22.50), UAs (20.80),
      and AOTs (19.15) (P = 0.001). There was no significant correlation between the
      immunoexpression of TGF-beta1 or IFN-gamma and the number of MFBs (P > 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: The larger number of MFBs suggests that these cells are one of the
      factors responsible for the more aggressive biological behavior of these lesions.
      The lack of correlation between the number of MFBs and immunoexpression of TGF
      beta1 and IFN-gamma indicates that these proteins are not involved in the
      differentiation of this type of contractile cell in the lesions studied and that
      only the use of immunohistochemistry to establish such a correlation is a
      limiting factor.

PMID- 27627865
TI  - Autoimmunity: Apoptotic cells induce immune memory.

PMID- 27627866
TI  - Fibromyalgia: Shining a light on fibromyalgia treatment.

PMID- 27627868
TI  - Epigenetics: DNA methylation signatures in Sjogren syndrome.

PMID- 27627867
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis: Autoantibody testing to predict response to therapy in RA.

PMID- 27627869
TI  - Crystal arthritis: New recommendations highlight the need for more research.

PMID- 27627870
TI  - Pregnancy-driven cardiovascular maternal miR-29 plasticity in obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity in pregnancy (MO) is a risk factor for maternal and/or fetal
      cardiovascular system disorders. This study evaluated maternal CVS expression of
      microRNA-29 family and its target molecules in MO to test the hypotheses: CVS miR
      29 concentrations are increased in pregnancy and decreased in MO. METHODS: Non
      pregnant (n=4), pregnant obese (POb, n=4), and pregnant non-obese (PnOb, n=4)
      baboons (Papio spp.) were studied. Maternal left ventricle (LV), left atrium
      (LA), and aortic arch (AA) were collected at the end of gestation. Expression of
      MiR-29 and elastin (ELN) mRNA were quantified. RESULTS: LA miR-29 (a, c)
      expression was highest in PnOb. In the LV, miR-29b expression trended lower
      (P=.059) for PnOb animals. ELN mRNA expression correlated positively with miR-29b
      expression in AA (r=.76, P=.03). CONCLUSION: Maternal obesity diminishes miR-29
      adaptation to pregnancy. Pharmacologic, tissue-specific targeting of miRNA-29 may
      represent a strategy for prevention and treatment of MO complications.

PMID- 27627872
TI  - Nasogastric decompression following esophagectomy: a systematic literature review
      and meta-analysis.
AB  - Routine use of nasogastric tubes for gastric decompression has been abolished in
      nearly all types of gastro-intestinal surgery after introduction of enhanced
      recovery after surgery programs. However, in esophagectomy the routine use of
      nasogastric decompression is still a matter of debate. To determine the effects
      of routine nasogastric decompression following esophagectomy compared with early
      or peroperative removal of the nasogastric tube on pulmonary complications,
      anastomotic leakage, mortality, and postoperative recovery. A systematic
      literature review and meta-analysis of studies comparing early or peroperative
      versus late removal of nasogastric tubes. A total of seven comparative studies
      were included (n = 608). In two randomized trials, and one retrospective cohort
      study, peroperative removal of the nasogastric tube was compared with routine
      nasogastric decompression. In one randomized trial early removal of the
      nasogastric tube (on postoperative day 2) was compared with removal of the
      nasogastric tube on the 6th-10th postoperative day. In the remaining three trials
      a fast-track protocol without a nasogastric tube was compared with conventional
      care with a nasogastric tube during the first postoperative days. Peroperative or
      early removal of the nasogastric tube did not result in a significantly different
      rate of anastomotic leakage, pulmonary complications or mortality in individual
      studies, nor in the meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, hospital stay was
      significantly shorter with peroperative or early removal of the nasogastric tube
      when all studies were included, but not when the meta-analysis was limited to
      randomized trials. This systematic review did not find a difference in adverse
      outcomes between nasogastric decompression or no nasogastric decompression
      following esophagectomy.

PMID- 27627871
TI  - Time-dependent effects of ultraviolet and nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma
      on the biological activity of titanium.
AB  - Here, we evaluated time-dependent changes in the effects of ultraviolet (UV) and
      nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma (NTAPPJ) on the biological activity of
      titanium compared with that of untreated titanium. Grade IV machined surface
      titanium discs (12-mm diameter) were used immediately and stored up to 28 days
      after 15-min UV or 10-min NTAPPJ treatment. Changes of surface characteristics
      over time were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, surface profiling,
      contact angle analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and surface zeta
      potential. Changes in biological activity over time were as determined by
      analysing bovine serum albumin adsorption, MC3T3-E1 early adhesion and
      morphometry, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity between groups. We found no
      differences in the effects of treatment on titanium between UV or NTAPPJ over
      time; both treatments resulted in changes from negatively charged hydrophobic
      (bioinert) to positively charged hydrophilic (bioactive) surfaces, allowing
      enhancement of albumin adsorption, osteoblastic cell attachment, and cytoskeleton
      development. Although this effect may not be prolonged for promotion of cell
      adhesion until 4 weeks, the effects were sufficient to maintain ALP activity
      after 7 days of incubation. This positive effect of UV and NTAPPJ treatment can
      enhance the biological activity of titanium over time.

PMID- 27627873
TI  - Detoxification of VX and Other V-Type Nerve Agents in Water at 37  degrees C and
      pH 7.4 by Substituted Sulfonatocalix[4]arenes.
AB  - Sulfonatocalix[4]arenes with an appended hydroxamic acid residue can detoxify VX
      and related V-type neurotoxic organophosphonates with half-lives down to 3 min in
      aqueous buffer at 37  degrees C and pH 7.4. The detoxification activity is
      attributed to the millimolar affinity of the calixarene moiety for the positively
      charged organophosphonates in combination with the correct arrangement of the
      hydroxamic acid group. The reaction involves phosphonylation of the hydroxamic
      acid followed by a Lossen rearrangement, thus rendering the mode of action
      stoichiometric rather than catalytic. Nevertheless, these calixarenes are
      currently the most efficient low-molecular-weight compounds for detoxifying
      persistent V-type nerve agents under mild conditions. They thus represent lead
      structures for novel antidotes that allow treatment of poisonings by these highly
      toxic chemicals.

PMID- 27627874
TI  - Quality Group Home Care for Adults with Developmental Disabilities and/or Mental
      Health Disorders: Yearning for Understanding, Security and Freedom.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to uncover and understand factors
      influencing quality of care received by adults with developmental disabilities
      and/or mental health disorders living in group homes. METHODS: The present
      authors conducted a secondary analysis of data from nine focus group discussions
      with adults with developmental disabilities and/or mental health disorders, and
      their family and paid caregivers (N = 52). To focus the analysis, the present
      authors drew on the research literature to craft a model of quality of group home
      care using concepts of social inclusion and self-determination, and corresponding
      staff approaches that include active support and person-centred care. RESULTS:
      Social inclusion and self-determination for adults in group homes are facilitated
      by staff approaches and manifest in residents being understood and experiencing
      security and freedom. CONCLUSIONS: The present authors offer recommendations for
      group home resources, training, communication and outcome measures that promote
      residents' being understood and experiencing security and freedom.

PMID- 27627875
TI  - Risk factors for recurrent DKA: reply to Simmons et al.

PMID- 27627876
TI  - Gelsolin role in microapocrine secretion.
AB  - A role of gelsolin in opening the way along the microvilli for secretory vesicles
      during microapocrine secretion is proposed here. Data obtained with different
      techniques showed that many digestive enzymes are released by microapocrine
      secretion in insects. Proteins that might be involved in the machinery of
      microapocrine secretion were selected from our transcriptomes and literature
      searches. The proteins were annexin, Complex actin-related proteins 2 and 3 (ARP
      2/3) cofilin, fimbrin, gelsolin 1, gelsolin 2, moesin, myosin 1, myosin 6,
      protein disulphide isomerase 1 (PDI 1), PDI 2 and profilin. The cDNAs coding for
      annexin, fimbrin, gelsolin 1, myosin 1, PDI 1 and PDI 2 were cloned and their
      sequences deposited in GenBank. Only gelsolin 1 and myosin 1 are expressed
      exclusively in the midgut (semiquantitative reverse transcriptase PCR). As myosin
      1 may have a structural role in microvilli, gelsolin 1 is the best guess to be
      involved in the secretory machinery. A truncated recombinant gelsolin 1 was used
      to generate antibodies with which it was shown labelling inside and around midgut
      cell microvilli shown in an electron microscope, reinforcing a microvillar role
      for gelsolin 1. Suppression of gelsolin 1 synthesis by RNA interference prevents
      secretory vesicles from advancing inside the microvilli, in agreement with its
      putative role in severing the actin filaments to free the way for the vesicles.

PMID- 27627877
TI  - A Meta-analysis on the neural basis of planning: Activation likelihood estimation
      of functional brain imaging results in the Tower of London task.
AB  - The ability to mentally design and evaluate series of future actions has often
      been studied in terms of planning abilities, commonly using well-structured
      laboratory tasks like the Tower of London (ToL). Despite a wealth of studies,
      findings on the specific localization of planning processes within prefrontal
      cortex (PFC) and on the hemispheric lateralization are equivocal. Here, we
      address this issue by integrating evidence from two different sources of data:
      First, we provide a systematic overview of the existing lesion data on planning
      in the ToL (10 studies, 211 patients) which does not indicate any evidence for a
      general lateralization of planning processes in (pre)frontal cortex. Second, we
      report a quantitative meta-analysis with activation likelihood estimation based
      on 31 functional neuroimaging datasets on the ToL. Separate meta-analyses of the
      activation patterns reported for Overall Planning (537 participants) and for
      Planning Complexity (182 participants) congruently show bilateral contributions
      of mid-dorsolateral PFC, frontal eye fields, supplementary motor area, precuneus,
      caudate, anterior insula, and inferior parietal cortex in addition to a left
      lateralized involvement of rostrolateral PFC. In contrast to previous
      attributions of planning-related brain activity to the entire dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and either its left or right homolog derived from
      single studies on the ToL, the present meta-analyses stress the pivotal role
      specifically of the mid-dorsolateral part of PFC (mid-dlPFC), presumably
      corresponding to Brodmann Areas 46 and 9/46, and strongly argue for a bilateral
      rather than lateralized involvement of the dlPFC in planning in the ToL. Hum
      Brain Mapp 38:396-413, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27627878
TI  - Developing Autonomy and Transitional Paternalism.
AB  - Adolescents, in many jurisdictions, have the power to consent to life saving
      treatment but not necessarily the power to refuse it. A recent defence of this
      asymmetry is Neil Manson's theory of 'transitional paternalism'. Transitional
      paternalism holds that such asymmetries are by-products of sharing normative
      powers. However, sharing normative powers by itself does not entail an asymmetry
      because transitional paternalism can be implemented in two ways. Manson defends
      the asymmetry-generating version of transitional paternalism in the clinical
      context, arguing that it maximizes respect for adolescent autonomy. This article
      offers an alternative argument in favour of the asymmetry-generating form of
      transitional paternalism, one that makes appeal to obligations that individuals
      have to develop self-governance in others. We should share normative powers
      asymmetrically in the clinical context for three reasons. First, the asymmetric
      version of transitional paternalism takes seriously duties to support
      adolescents' developing autonomy, alongside other duties that adults have to
      young people. It does so by enabling young people to be involved in important
      decisions that they would otherwise be excluded from. This is of value because
      participation of this sort is central to the cultivation of their self
      governance. Second, only the asymmetric version gives young people a voice in
      respect of all clinical actions, and only the asymmetric version leaves open the
      possibility that the coarse lines of legislation might be 'fine-tuned' in
      individual cases. Third, the asymmetric sharing of normative powers is consistent
      with the kind of social arrangements that best support autonomy.

PMID- 27627879
TI  - Identification of target genes to control acetate yield during aerobic
      fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aerobic fermentation of grape must, leading to respiro-fermentative
      metabolism of sugars, has been proposed as way of reducing alcohol content in
      wines. Two factors limit the usefulness of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for this
      application, the Crabtree effect, and excess volatile acidity under aerobic
      conditions. This work aimed to explore the impact on ethanol acetate production
      of different S. cerevisiae strains deleted for genes previously related with the
      Crabtree phenotype. RESULTS: Recombinant strains were constructed on a wine
      industrial genetic background, FX10. All yeast strains, including FX10, showed
      respiro-fermentative metabolism in natural grape must under aerobic conditions,
      as well as a concomitant reduction in ethanol yield. This indicates that the
      Crabtree effect is not a major constrain for reaching relevant respiration levels
      in grape must. Indeed, only minor differences in ethanol yield were observed
      between the original and some of the recombinant strains. In contrast, some yeast
      strains showed a relevant reduction of acetic acid production. This was
      identified as a positive feature for the feasibility of alcohol level reduction
      by respiration. Reduced acetic acid production was confirmed by a thorough
      analysis of these and some additional deletion strains (involving genes HXK2,
      PYK1, REG1, PDE2 and PDC1). Some recombinant yeasts showed altered production of
      glycerol and pyruvate derived metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: REG1 and PDC1 deletion
      strains showed a strong reduction of acetic acid yield in aerobic fermentations.
      Since REG1 defective strains may be obtained by non-GMO approaches, these gene
      modifications show good promise to help reducing ethanol content in wines.

PMID- 27627880
TI  - Reduction strategies for hierarchical multi-label classification in protein
      function prediction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hierarchical Multi-Label Classification is a classification task
      where the classes to be predicted are hierarchically organized. Each instance can
      be assigned to classes belonging to more than one path in the hierarchy. This
      scenario is typically found in protein function prediction, considering that each
      protein may perform many functions, which can be further specialized into sub
      functions. We present a new hierarchical multi-label classification method based
      on multiple neural networks for the task of protein function prediction. A set of
      neural networks are incrementally training, each being responsible for the
      prediction of the classes belonging to a given level. RESULTS: The method
      proposed here is an extension of our previous work. Here we use the neural
      network output of a level to complement the feature vectors used as input to
      train the neural network in the next level. We experimentally compare this novel
      method with several other reduction strategies, showing that it obtains the best
      predictive performance. Empirical results also show that the proposed method
      achieves better or comparable predictive performance when compared with state-of
      the-art methods for hierarchical multi-label classification in the context of
      protein function prediction. CONCLUSIONS: The experiments showed that using the
      output in one level as input to the next level contributed to better
      classification results. We believe the method was able to learn the relationships
      between the protein functions during training, and this information was useful
      for classification. We also identified in which functional classes our method
      performed better.

PMID- 27627882
TI  - ReRouting biomedical innovation: observations from a mapping of the alternative
      research and development (R&D) landscape.
AB  - In recent years, the world has witnessed the tragic outcomes of multiple global
      health crises. From Ebola to high prices to antibiotic resistance, these events
      highlight the fundamental constraints of the current biomedical research and
      development (R&D) system in responding to patient needs globally.To mitigate this
      lack of responsiveness, over 100 self-identified "alternative" R&D initiatives,
      have emerged in the past 15 years. To begin to make sense of this panoply of
      initiatives working to overcome the constraints of the current system, UAEM began
      an extensive, though not comprehensive, mapping of the alternative biomedical R&D
      landscape. We developed a two phase approach: (1) an investigation, via the
      RE:Route Mapping, of both existing and proposed initiatives that claim to offer
      an alternative approach to R&D, and (2) evaluation of those initiatives to
      determine which are in fact achieving increased access to and innovation in
      medicines. Through phase 1, the RE:Route Mapping, we examined 81 initiatives that
      claim to redress the inequity perpetuated by the current system via one of five
      commonly recognized mechanisms necessary for truly alternative R&D.Preliminary
      analysis of phase 1 provides the following conclusions: 1. No initiative presents
      a completely alternative model of biomedical R&D. 2. The majority of initiatives
      focus on developing incentives for drug discovery. 3. The majority of initiatives
      focus on rare diseases or diseases of the poor and marginalized. 4. There is an
      increasing emphasis on the use of push, pull, pool, collaboration and open
      mechanisms alongside the concept of delinkage in alternative R&D. 5. There is a
      trend towards public funding and launching of initiatives by the Global South.
      Given the RE:Route Mapping's inevitable limitations and the assumptions made in
      its methodology, it is not intended to be the final word on a constantly evolving
      and complex field; however, its findings are significant. The Mapping's value
      lies in its timely and unique insight into the importance of ongoing efforts to
      develop a new global framework for biomedical R&D. As we progress to phase 2, an
      evaluation tool for initiatives focused on identifying which approaches have
      truly achieved increased innovation and access for patients, we aim to
      demonstrate that there are a handful of initiatives which represent some, but not
      all, of the building blocks for a new approach to R&D.Through this mapping and
      our forthcoming evaluation, UAEM aims to initiate an evidence-based conversation
      around a truly alternative biomedical R&D model that serves people rather than
      profits.

PMID- 27627881
TI  - The Ontology of Biological and Clinical Statistics (OBCS) for standardized and
      reproducible statistical analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statistics play a critical role in biological and clinical research.
      However, most reports of scientific results in the published literature make it
      difficult for the reader to reproduce the statistical analyses performed in
      achieving those results because they provide inadequate documentation of the
      statistical tests and algorithms applied. The Ontology of Biological and Clinical
      Statistics (OBCS) is put forward here as a step towards solving this problem.
      RESULTS: The terms in OBCS including 'data collection', 'data transformation in
      statistics', 'data visualization', 'statistical data analysis', and 'drawing a
      conclusion based on data', cover the major types of statistical processes used in
      basic biological research and clinical outcome studies. OBCS is aligned with the
      Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) and extends the Ontology of Biomedical Investigations
      (OBI), an OBO (Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies) Foundry ontology
      supported by over 20 research communities. Currently, OBCS comprehends 878 terms,
      representing 20 BFO classes, 403 OBI classes, 229 OBCS specific classes, and 122
      classes imported from ten other OBO ontologies. We discuss two examples
      illustrating how the ontology is being applied. In the first (biological) use
      case, we describe how OBCS was applied to represent the high throughput
      microarray data analysis of immunological transcriptional profiles in human
      subjects vaccinated with an influenza vaccine. In the second (clinical outcomes)
      use case, we applied OBCS to represent the processing of electronic health care
      data to determine the associations between hospital staffing levels and patient
      mortality. Our case studies were designed to show how OBCS can be used for the
      consistent representation of statistical analysis pipelines under two different
      research paradigms. Other ongoing projects using OBCS for statistical data
      processing are also discussed. The OBCS source code and documentation are
      available at: https://github.com/obcs/obcs . CONCLUSIONS: The Ontology of
      Biological and Clinical Statistics (OBCS) is a community-based open source
      ontology in the domain of biological and clinical statistics. OBCS is a timely
      ontology that represents statistics-related terms and their relations in a
      rigorous fashion, facilitates standard data analysis and integration, and
      supports reproducible biological and clinical research.

PMID- 27627884
TI  - Computational analyses of the effect of novel amino acid clusters of human
      transglutaminase 2 on its structure and function.
AB  - Transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) is a unique protein of a nine member family with
      several enzymatic and non-enzymatic activities and interacting partners. Its
      physiological and pathological roles, however, are not fully understood.
      Comparative genomic and computational analysis reported here have revealed
      phylogenetic changes of TGM2 resulting in novel amino acid clusters in humans and
      other primates, which may impact secondary structure and increase protein
      stability. These clusters are located in intrinsically disordered regions and via
      short linear motifs influence interactions with TGM2 partners directly, or
      through post-translation modification (phosphorylation and N-glycosylation
      sites). Our data shed new light on the structural background and evolution of
      TGM2 multi-functionality and points to so far unrevealed biological roles of the
      enzyme.

PMID- 27627883
TI  - Hydrogen cyanamide breaks grapevine bud dormancy in the summer through transient
      activation of gene expression and accumulation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen
      species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hydrogen cyanamide (HC) and pruning (P) have frequently been used to
      break dormancy in grapevine floral buds. However, the exact underlying mechanism
      remains elusive. This study aimed to address the early mode of action of these
      treatments on accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen
      species (RNS) and expression of related genes in the dormancy breaking buds of
      grapevine in the summer. RESULTS: The budbreak rates induced by pruning (P),
      hydrogen cyanamide (HC), pruning plus hydrogen cyanamide (PHC) and water
      (control) after 8 days were 33, 53, 95, and 0 %, respectively. Clearly, HC was
      more effective in stimulating grapevine budbreak and P further enhanced its
      potency. In situ staining of longitudinal bud sections after 12 h of treatments
      detected high levels of ROS and nitric oxide (NO) accumulated in the buds treated
      with PHC, compared with HC or P alone. The amounts of ROS and NO accumulated were
      highly correlated with the rates of budbreak among these treatments, highlighting
      the importance of a rapid, transient accumulation of sublethal levels of ROS and
      RNS in dormancy breaking. Microarray analysis revealed specific alterations in
      gene expression in dormancy breaking buds induced by P, HC and PHC after 24 h of
      treatment. Relative to control, PHC altered the expression of the largest number
      of genes, while P affected the expression of the least number of genes. PHC also
      exerted a greater intensity in transcriptional activation of these genes. Gene
      ontology (GO) analysis suggests that alteration in expression of ROS related
      genes is the major factor responsible for budbreak. qRT-PCR analysis revealed the
      transient expression dynamics of 12 specific genes related to ROS generation and
      scavenge during the 48 h treatment with PHC. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that
      rapid accumulation of ROS and NO at early stage is important for dormancy release
      in grapevine in the summer, and the identification of the commonly expressed
      specific genes among the treatments allowed the construction of the signal
      transduction pathway related to ROS/RNS metabolism during dormancy release. The
      rapid accumulation of a sublethal level of ROS/RNS subsequently induces cell wall
      loosening and expansion for bud sprouting.

PMID- 27627887
TI  - Erratum to: The Influence of the Appendiceal Base Diameter on Appendix Stump
      Closure in Laparoscopic Appendectomy.

PMID- 27627885
TI  - Mental health and school dropout across educational levels and genders: a 4.8
      year follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Education is a key determinant of future employment and income
      prospects of young people. Poor mental health is common among young people and is
      related to risk of dropping out of school (dropout). Educational level and gender
      might play a role in the association, which remains to be studied. METHODS:
      Mental health was measured in 3146 Danish inhabitants aged 16-29 years using the
      12-Item Short-Form Health Survey and examined across genders and educational
      levels. For students, educational level at baseline was used; for young people
      who were not enrolled in school at baseline (non-students), the highest achieved
      educational level was used. The risk of dropout in students was investigated in
      administrative registers over a 4.8-year period (1(st) March 2010-31(th) December
      2014). Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for
      mental health and in relation to dropout in logistic regression models, adjusting
      for age, gender, educational level, parental education, parental income and
      ethnicity. RESULTS: Poor mental health was present in 24 % (n = 753) of the
      participants, 29 % (n = 468) in females and 19 % (n = 285) in males (p < 0.0001).
      The prevalence differed from 19 to 39 % across educational levels (p < 0.0001).
      Females had a statistically significantly higher adjusted risk of poor mental
      health than males (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.5-2.2). Among the students the lowest risk
      was found at the elementary level (OR = 1.3, CI = 0.8-2.3), while students in
      higher education had a statistically significantly higher risk (OR = 1.9, CI =
      1.2-2.9). The lowest-educated non-students had the highest OR of poor mental
      health (OR = 3.3, CI = 2.1-5.4). Dropout occurred in 8 % (n = 124) of the
      students. Poor mental health was associated to dropout in vocational (OR = 1.8,
      CI = 1.0-3.2) and higher education (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.0-4.2). For males in higher
      education, poor mental health was a predictor of dropout (OR = 5.2, CI = 1.6
      17.3), which was not seen females in higher education (OR = 1.2, CI = 0.5-3.1).
      CONCLUSIONS: Poor mental health was significantly associated to dropout among
      students in vocational and higher education. Males in higher education had five
      times the risk of dropout when reporting poor mental health, while no such
      association was found for females.

PMID- 27627886
TI  - Assessment of the Tear Film Lipid Layer Thickness after Cataract Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate changes in the tear film lipid layer thickness (LLT) after
      cataract surgery and the effects of cataract surgery on dry eye syndrome (DES)
      and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). METHODS: LLT measurements obtained using
      the LipiView interferometer, tear break-up time (TBUT) measurements, Schirmer's
      tests, Oxford staining scores, lid margin and meibomian gland findings, and the
      Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire scores were evaluated before
      and one and three months after cataract surgery. RESULTS: Forty-three eyes (43
      patients) were included. LLT was significantly thinner one month after surgery
      than at baseline (P = 0.004). TBUT was significantly shorter at both one (P <
      0.001) and three (P < 0.001) months after surgery than at baseline. OSDI scores
      were significantly higher (P < 0.001) and the meibum quality was significantly
      poorer (P = 0.001) at one month after surgery than at baseline. TBUT was
      significantly and positively correlated with LLT (r = 0.29, P < 0.001), while the
      OSDI (r = -0.38, P < 0.001) and Oxford staining (r = -0.30, P = 0.001) scores and
      the meibum quality (r = -0.21, P = 0.01) were significantly and negatively
      correlated with LLT. CONCLUSIONS: The tear film LLT was significantly thinner and
      DES and MGD parameters showed deterioration after cataract surgery. In addition,
      LLT was significantly correlated with DES and MGD parameters. These results
      suggest that clinicians should consider the tear film lipid layer while managing
      the exacerbation of DES after cataract surgery.

PMID- 27627888
TI  - On the use of time-averaging restraints when deriving biomolecular structure from
      3J -coupling values obtained from NMR experiments.
AB  - Deriving molecular structure from [Formula: see text]-couplings obtained from NMR
      experiments is a challenge due to (1) the uncertainty in the Karplus relation
      [Formula: see text] connecting a [Formula: see text]-coupling value to a
      torsional angle [Formula: see text], (2) the need to account for the averaging
      inherent to the measurement of [Formula: see text]-couplings, and (3) the
      sampling road blocks that may emerge due to the multiple-valuedness of the
      inverse function [Formula: see text] of the function [Formula: see text]. Ways to
      properly handle these issues in structure refinement of biomolecules are
      discussed and illustrated using the protein hen egg white lysozyme as example.

PMID- 27627889
TI  - Different predictive values of interim 18F-FDG PET/CT in germinal center like and
      non-germinal center like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a pathologically heterogeneous
      disease with different prognoses according to its molecular profiles. Despite the
      broad usage of 18F-fluoro-2-dexoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), previous studies that have investigated
      the value of interim 18F-FDG PET/CT in DLBCL have given the controversial
      results. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of
      interim 18F-FDG PET/CT in DLBCL according to germinal center B cell-like (GCB)
      and non-GCB molecular profiling. METHODS: We enrolled 118 newly diagnosed DLBCL
      patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and
      prednisolone (R-CHOP). Interim 18F-FDG PET/CT scans performed after 2 or 3 cycles
      of R-CHOP treatment were evaluated based on the Lugano response criteria.
      Patients were grouped as GCB or non-GCB molecular subtypes according to
      immunohistochemistry results of CD10, BCL6, and MUM1, based on Hans' algorithm.
      RESULTS: In total 118 DLBCL patients, 35 % were classified as GCB, and 65 % were
      classified as non-GCB. Interim PET/CT was negative in 70 %, and positive in 30 %.
      During the median follow-up period of 23 months, the positive interim 18F-FDG
      PET/CT group showed significantly inferior progression free survival (PFS)
      compared to the negative interim 18F-FDG PET/CT group (P = 0.0004) in entire
      patients. A subgroup analysis according to molecular profiling demonstrated
      significant difference of PFS between the positive and negative interim 18F-FDG
      PET groups in GCB subtype of DLBCL (P = 0.0001), but there was no significant
      difference of PFS between the positive and negative interim 18F-FDG PET groups in
      non-GCB subtype of DLBCL. CONCLUSIONS: Interim 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning had a
      significant predictive value for disease progression in patients with the GCB
      subtype of DLBCL treated with R-CHOP, but not in those with the non-GCB subtype.
      Therefore, molecular profiles of DLBCL should be considered for interim 18F-FDG
      PET/CT practice.

PMID- 27627891
TI  - Altered white matter microstructure identified with tract-based spatial
      statistics in irritable bowel syndrome: a diffusion tensor imaging study.
AB  - The neural mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of irritable bowel
      syndrome(IBS) are far from being completely understood. The purpose of the
      present study was to investigate potential white matter (WM) microstructural
      changes and underlying causes for WM impairment in IBS using diffusion tensor
      imaging. The present prospective study involved 19 patients with IBS and 20
      healthy controls. Whole-brain voxel-wise analyses of fractional anisotropy (FA),
      mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were
      performed by tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to localize abnormal WM
      regions between the 2 groups. We found that IBS patients had significantly
      reduced FA (P < 0.05) in the splenium of the corpus callosum, the right
      retrolenticular area of the internal capsule and the right superior corona
      radiata. We also found increased MD (P < 0.05) in the splenium and body of the
      corpus callosum, the right retrolenticular area of the internal capsule, the
      right superior corona radiata and the right posterior limb of the internal
      capsule. In addition, IBS patients had significantly increased AD (P < 0.05) in
      the splenium of the corpus callosum, the bilateral retrolenticular area of the
      internal capsule and the left posterior limb of the internal capsule. We conclude
      that the WM microstructure is changed in IBS and the underlying pathological
      basis may be attributed to the axonal injury and loss. These results may lead to
      a better understanding of the pathophysiology of IBS.

PMID- 27627890
TI  - Hypobaric hypoxia down-regulated junctional protein complex: Implications to
      vascular leakage.
AB  - Acute mountain sickness (AMS) can cause capillary hyper-permeability and
      vasogenic edema. However, its underlying mechanisms remained unclear and there is
      no previous in vitro study on AMS. We therefore conducted an in vitro study and
      examined whether continuous hypobaric hypoxia (CHH) could alter expression of
      junctional protein complex of vascular endothelial cells, causing hyper
      permeabilization. EA.hy926 human endothelial cells were exposed to either CHH or
      normoxia for up to 24 h. Flow cytometry using annexin V/propidium iodide co
      staining demonstrated that cell death had no significant difference at 12-h, but
      was increased by CHH at 24-h. Transendothelial resistance (TER) of endothelial
      cell monolayer was progressively decreased by CHH from 1-h to 24-h. Western blot
      analysis and immunofluorescence study demonstrated decreased expression levels of
      VE-cadherin, PECAM-1 and ZO-1 junctional proteins at both 12-h and 24-h exposure
      time-points. Interestingly, while the main form of ZO-1 (220 kDa) was decreased,
      its degraded form (100 kDa) was increased by 24-h CHH that might be linked to the
      increased cell death. Our data have demonstrated that CHH caused vascular
      endothelial hyper-permeability and defective junctional protein complex by
      reducing expression levels of VE-cadherin, PECAM-1, and ZO-1. Taken together,
      these data may explain pathophysiology underlying vascular hyper-permeability in
      AMS.

PMID- 27627894
TI  - Hydration of a Binding Site with Restricted Solvent Access: Solvatochromic Shift
      of the Electronic Spectrum of a Ruthenium Polypyridine Complex, One Molecule at a
      Time.
AB  - We report the electronic spectra of mass selected [(bpy)(tpy)Ru-OH2]2+.(H2O)n
      clusters (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, tpy =2,2':6'2"-terpyridine, n = 0-4) in the
      spectral region of their metal-to-ligand charge transfer bands. The spectra of
      the mono- and dihydrate clusters exhibit partially resolved individual electronic
      transitions. The water network forming at the aqua ligand leads to a rapid
      solvatochromic shift of the peak of the band envelope: addition of only four
      solvent water molecules can recover 78% of the solvatochromic shift in bulk
      solution. The sequential shift of the band shows a clear change in behavior with
      the closing of the first hydration shell. We compare our experimental data to
      density function theory (DFT) calculations for the ground and excited states.

PMID- 27627893
TI  - Black pleural effusion.

PMID- 27627892
TI  - Cajal bodies in neurons.
AB  - Cajal is commonly regarded as the father of modern neuroscience in recognition of
      his fundamental work on the structure of the nervous system. But Cajal also made
      seminal contributions to the knowledge of nuclear structure in the early 1900s,
      including the discovery of the "accessory body" later renamed "Cajal body" (CB).
      This important nuclear structure has emerged as a center for the assembly of
      ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) required for splicing, ribosome biogenesis and telomere
      maintenance. The modern era of CB research started in the 1990s with the
      discovery of coilin, now known as a scaffold protein of CBs, and specific probes
      for small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). In this review, we summarize what we have
      learned in the recent decades concerning CBs in post-mitotic neurons, thereby
      ruling out dynamic changes in CB functions during the cell cycle. We show that
      CBs are particularly prominent in neurons, where they frequently associate with
      the nucleolus. Neuronal CBs are transcription-dependent nuclear organelles.
      Indeed, their number dynamically accommodates to support the high neuronal demand
      for splicing and ribosome biogenesis required for sustaining metabolic and
      bioelectrical activity. Mature neurons have canonical CBs enriched in coilin,
      survival motor neuron protein and snRNPs. Disruption and loss of neuronal CBs
      associate with severe neuronal dysfunctions in several neurological disorders
      such as motor neuron diseases. In particular, CB depletion in motor neurons seems
      to reflect a perturbation of transcription and splicing in spinal muscular
      atrophy, the most common genetic cause of infant mortality.

PMID- 27627895
TI  - Promigratory and proangiogenic effects of AdipoRon on bone marrow-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells: an in vitro study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of AdipoRon on major factors involved in
      survival, migration and neovascularization of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal
      stem cells. RESULTS: AdipoRon promoted the MSCs viability. Real-time PCR
      indicated that the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), hypoxia-inducible
      factor-1 (HIF-1) C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), C-C chemokine receptor
      type 2 (CCR2), vascular endothelial growth factor matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP
      2) and MMP-9 were upregulated in AdipoRon-treated MSCs compared to control
      groups. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) level, as well as migration ability of MSCs
      (scratch assay) was enhanced by AdipoRon preconditioning. CONCLUSION:
      Preconditioning of MSCs with AdipoRon prior to transplantation could enhance cell
      survival, angiogenesis and migration via activating the COX-2/PGE2/HIF-1 pathway
      and other contributing factors.

PMID- 27627896
TI  - Construction and co-expression of polycistronic plasmids encoding bio-degumming
      related enzymes to improve the degumming process of ramie fibres.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To research the inherent properties of the co-expression of three
      types degumming-related enzymes and breed more powerful degumming strains.
      RESULTS: Six tandem multimers of the pectate lyase gene, the xylanase gene, and
      the endo-1,4-beta-mannanase gene, which are essential for degumming process, were
      co-expressed and evaluated in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The xyl91 gene had a
      synergistic effect with endo-1,4-beta-mannanase and pectate lyase from DCE-01,
      when xyl gene was replaced with xyl91 in the multimer. The recombinant pET
      pxm(91x) was selected and transformed into the original degumming strain DCE-01,
      which led to an enzymatic activity improvement. Furthermore, the weight loss,
      reducing sugar and COD value of the sample treated with the new engineered strain
      pET-pxm(91x)/DCE-01 increased to 22.5 %, 460 mg ml-1 and 4.9, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The co-expression of degumming-related enzyme genes may be applied
      in industrial tests and represents a novel direction for bio-degumming research.

PMID- 27627897
TI  - MicroRNA-1284 inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in SGC-7901 human
      gastric cancer cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the functional effects of miR-1284 on gastric cancer
      cells. RESULTS: Overexpression of miR-1284 significantly reduced SGC-7901 cell
      proliferation, but improved apoptosis. However, miR-1284 suppression displayed
      the inversed impacts. Furthermore, the protein levels of p27, Bax, procaspase-3
      and active caspase-3 were up-regulated by miR-1284 overexpression, but were down
      regulated by miR-1284 suppression. The level of Bcl-2 was down-regulated by miR
      1284 overexpression, while it was up-regulated by miR-1284 suppression. The level
      of p21 was unaffected. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that miR-1284
      overexpression might be a suppressor for gastric cancer via controlling of cell
      proliferation and apoptosis.

PMID- 27627898
TI  - Modified method for the extraction of mRNA from paddy soils.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Paddy soils contain relatively greater organic matter and water
      contents than other soils thereby limiting effective mRNA extraction. A
      modification of the conventional mRNA soil extraction method specific to paddy
      soils is described. RESULTS: Two main modifications for co-extraction of DNA and
      RNA are: (1) addition of 20 % (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulphate to 10 % (w/v)
      hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide extraction buffer, and (2) fresh soil,
      initially frozen at -80  degrees C, is immediately immersed in extraction buffer.
      The high-quality total RNA extracted can be directly used in downstream analyses
      without an additional step to remove humic acid. RNA purification was conducted
      to remove 5S rRNA, and the mRNA was enriched by selectively digesting rRNA. cDNA
      synthesised by reverse transcriptase was not contaminated by the reagents or
      genomic DNA. CONCLUSION: The modified method for mRNA extraction from paddy soil
      is suitable for analysing the expression of microbial genes from fresh paddy
      soil.

PMID- 27627899
TI  - Efficient whole-cell biocatalyst for Neu5Ac production by manipulating synthetic,
      degradation and transmembrane pathways.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a strategy for producing N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid
      (Neu5Ac), which is often synthesized from exogenous N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)
      and pyruvate, but without using pyruvate. RESULT: An efficient three-module whole
      cell biocatalyst strategy for Neu5Ac production by utilizing intracellular
      phosphoenolpyruvate was established. In module I, the synthetic pathway was
      constructed by coexpressing GlcNAc 2-epimerase from Anabaena sp. CH1 and Neu5Ac
      synthase from Campylobacter jejuni in Escherichia coli. In module II, the Neu5Ac
      degradation pathway of E. coli was knocked out, resulting in 2.6 +/- 0.06 g
      Neu5Ac l-1 after 72 h in Erlenmeyer flasks. In module III, the transmembrane mode
      of GlcNAc was modified by disruption of GlcNAc-specific phosphotransferase system
      and Neu5Ac now reached 3.7 +/- 0.04 g l-1. In scale-up catalysis with a 1 l
      fermenter, the final Neu5Ac yield was 7.2 +/- 0.08 g l-1. CONCLUSION: A three
      module whole-cell biocatalyst strategy by manipulating synthetic, degradation and
      transmembrane pathways in E. coli was an economical method for Neu5Ac production.

PMID- 27627900
TI  - Construction of a highly thermostable 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase by combinational
      mutagenesis and its potential application in the brewing industry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To improve the thermostability and catalytic property of a mesophilic
      1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase by combinational mutagenesis and to test its effect in
      congress mashing. RESULTS: A mutant beta-glucanase (rE-BglTO) constructed by
      combinational mutagenesis showed a 25  degrees C increase in optimal temperature
      (to 70  degrees C) a 19.5  degrees C rise in T 50 value and a 15.6  degrees C
      increase in melting temperature compared to wild-type enzyme. Its half-life
      values at 60 and 70  degrees C were 152 and 99 min, which were 370 and 800 %
      higher than those of wild-type enzyme. Besides, its specific activity and k cat
      value were 42,734 U mg-1 and 189 s-1 while its stability under acidic conditions
      was also improved. In flask fermentation, the catalytic activity of rE-BglTO
      reached 2381 U ml-1, which was 63 % higher than that of wild-type enzyme. The
      addition of rE-BglTO in congress mashing decreased the filtration time and
      viscosity by 21.3 and 9.6 %, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The mutant beta-glucanase
      showed high catalytic activity and thermostability which indicated that rE-BglTO
      is a good candidate for application in the brewing industry.

PMID- 27627901
TI  - DNA barcoding and NMR spectroscopy-based assessment of species adulteration in
      the raw herbal trade of Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd, an important medicinal plant.
AB  - Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd, commonly known as "Asoka" or "Ashoka," is one of the
      most important medicinal plants used in raw herbal trade in India. The bark
      extracts of the tree are used in the treatment of leucorrhea and other uterine
      disorders besides also having anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-pyretic,
      anti-helminthic, and analgesic activity. The indiscriminate and rampant
      extraction of the wood to meet the ever-increasing market demand has led to a
      sharp decline in naturally occurring populations of the species in the country.
      Consequently, the species has recently been classified as "vulnerable" by the
      International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Increasing deforestation
      and increasing demand for this medicinal plant have resulted in a limited supply
      and suspected widespread adulteration of the species in the raw herbal trade
      market. Adulteration is a serious concern due to: (i) reduction in the efficacy
      of this traditional medicine, (ii) considerable health risk to consumers, and
      (iii) fraudulent product substitution that impacts the economy for the Natural
      Health Product (NHP) Industry and consumers. In this paper, we provide the first
      attempt to assess the extent of adulteration in the raw herbal trade of S. asoca
      using DNA barcoding validated by NMR spectroscopic techniques. Analyzing market
      samples drawn from 25 shops, mostly from peninsular India, we show that more than
      80 % of the samples were spurious, representing plant material from at least 7
      different families. This is the first comprehensive and large-scale study to
      demonstrate the widespread adulteration of market samples of S. asoca in India.
      These results pose grave implications for the use of raw herbal drugs, such as
      that of S. asoca, on consumer health and safety. Based on these findings, we
      argue for a strong and robust regulatory framework to be put in place, which
      would ensure the quality of raw herbal trade products and reassure consumer
      confidence in indigenous medicinal systems. Graphical Abstract DNA barcoding and
      NMR spectroscopy-based assessment of adulteration in Saraca asoca.

PMID- 27627902
TI  - DNA and RNA profiling of excavated human remains with varying postmortem
      intervals.
AB  - When postmortem intervals (PMIs) increase such as with longer burial times, human
      remains suffer increasingly from the taphonomic effects of decomposition
      processes such as autolysis and putrefaction. In this study, various DNA analysis
      techniques and a messenger RNA (mRNA) profiling method were applied to examine
      for trends in nucleic acid degradation and the postmortem interval. The DNA
      analysis techniques include highly sensitive DNA quantitation (with and without
      degradation index), standard and low template STR profiling, insertion and null
      alleles (INNUL) of retrotransposable elements typing and mitochondrial DNA
      profiling. The used mRNA profiling system targets genes with tissue specific
      expression for seven human organs as reported by Lindenbergh et al. (Int J Legal
      Med 127:891-900, 27) and has been applied to forensic evidentiary traces but not
      to excavated tissues. The techniques were applied to a total of 81 brain, lung,
      liver, skeletal muscle, heart, kidney and skin samples obtained from 19 excavated
      graves with burial times ranging from 4 to 42 years. Results show that brain and
      heart are the organs in which both DNA and RNA remain remarkably stable,
      notwithstanding long PMIs. The other organ tissues either show poor overall
      profiling results or vary for DNA and RNA profiling success, with sometimes DNA
      and other times RNA profiling being more successful. No straightforward relations
      were observed between nucleic acid profiling results and the PMI. This study
      shows that not only DNA but also RNA molecules can be remarkably stable and used
      for profiling of long-buried human remains, which corroborate forensic
      applications. The insight that the brain and heart tissues tend to provide the
      best profiling results may change sampling policies in identification cases of
      degrading cadavers.

PMID- 27627904
TI  - Enhanced selective sonosensitizing efficacy of ultrasound-based anticancer
      treatment by targeted gold nanoparticles.
AB  - AIM: This study investigates cancer targeted gold nanoparticles as ultrasound
      sensitizers for the treatment of cancer. METHODS: The ultrasound sensitizer
      activity of folate-PEG decorated gold nanoparticles (FA-PEG-GNP) has been studied
      on human cancer cell lines that overexpress folate receptors (KB and HCT-116) and
      another that does not (MCF7), at two ultrasound energy densities (8 * 10-6 J cm-2
      and 8 * 10-5 J cm-2, for 5 min at 1.866 MHz). RESULTS: FA-PEG-GNP selectively
      targeted KB and HCT-116 cells and a remarkable reduction in cancer cell growth
      was observed upon ultrasound exposure, along with significant reactive oxygen
      species generation and increase in necrotic cells. CONCLUSION: The combined use
      of targeting capacity and the ultrasound sensitizing effect, make FA-PEG-GNP
      promising candidates for the site-specific cancer treatment.

PMID- 27627903
TI  - Characterization of Stearoyl-CoA Desaturases from a Psychrophilic Antarctic
      Copepod, Tigriopus kingsejongensis.
AB  - Stearoyl-CoA desaturase is a key regulator in fatty acid metabolism that
      catalyzes the desaturation of stearic acid to oleic acid and controls the
      intracellular levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). Two stearoyl-CoA
      desaturases (SCD, Delta9 desaturases) genes were identified in an Antarctic
      copepod, Tigriopus kingsejongensis, that was collected in a tidal pool near the
      King Sejong Station, King George Island, Antarctica. Full-length complementary
      DNA (cDNA) sequences of two T. kingsejongensis SCDs (TkSCDs) were obtained from
      next-generation sequencing and isolated by reverse transcription PCR. DNA
      sequence lengths of the open reading frames of TkSCD-1 and TkSCD-2 were
      determined to be 1110 and 681 bp, respectively. The molecular weights deduced
      from the corresponding genes were estimated to be 43.1 kDa (TkSCD-1) and 26.1 kDa
      (TkSCD-2). The amino acid sequences were compared with those of fatty acid
      desaturases and sterol desaturases from various organisms and used to analyze the
      relationships among TkSCDs. As assessed by heterologous expression of recombinant
      proteins in Escherichia coli, the enzymatic functions of both stearoyl-CoA
      desaturases revealed that the amount of C16:1 and C18:1 fatty acids increased by
      greater than 3-fold after induction with isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside.
      In particular, C18:1 fatty acid production increased greater than 10-fold in E.
      coli expressing TkSCD-1 and TkSCD-2. The results of this study suggest that both
      SCD genes from an Antarctic marine copepod encode a functional desaturase that is
      capable of increasing the amounts of palmitoleic acid and oleic acid in a
      prokaryotic expression system.

PMID- 27627905
TI  - Chicken parvovirus viral loads in cloacal swabs from malabsorption syndrome
      affected and healthy broilers.
AB  - Chicken parvovirus (ChPV) has been associated with malabsorption syndrome (MAS)
      in broilers. However, the participation of this virus in such syndrome is
      unclear, since it may be detected in diseased and healthy chickens. In the course
      of these studies, it was argued whether ChPV genome loads might be correlated to
      the occurrence of MAS. To check such a hypothesis, a SYBR green-based
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction was developed to detect and quantify ChPV
      genomes. Cloacal swabs from 68 broilers with MAS and 59 from healthy animals were
      collected from different poultry farms. Genomes of ChPV were detected in all
      samples, regardless of their health status. However, viral genome loads in MAS
      affected broilers were significantly higher (1 * 105 genome copies per 100 ng
      DNA) than in healthy animals (1.3 * 103 GC/100 ng DNA). These findings indicate
      that there is an association between high ChPV genome loads and the occurrence of
      MAS in broilers.

PMID- 27627906
TI  - Genetic models for breed quality and navel development scores and its
      associations with growth traits in beef cattle.
AB  - Estimation and prediction ability of linear and threshold models for yearling
      breed quality score (BQ) and navel development score at weaning (WN) and yearling
      (YN), considering variances, heritabilities, and rank correlations based on the
      breeding values predicted for bulls, were compared. Furthermore, it was
      determined whether BQ, WN, and YN are genetically associated with growth traits
      (BWG: birth to weaning weight gain, WH: weaning height, WYG: weaning to yearling
      weight gain, YH: yearling height) to field data of Nelore cattle. For BQ, similar
      heritabilities were estimated using linear (0.14 +/- 0.01) and threshold (0.15 +/
      0.02) models. For navel development scores, higher heritability was estimated
      with threshold (WN 0.22 +/- 0.03; YN 0.42 +/- 0.03) rather than linear (WN 0.16
      +/- 0.01; YN 0.29 +/- 0.01) models. Rank correlations between sires breeding
      values predicted for visual scores with linear and threshold models ranging from
      0.53 to 0.98, indicating that different sires would be selected using these
      models, mainly for higher selection intensities. The BQ showed little genetic
      variability and was not associated with WH and YH. However, low and positive
      genetic correlations were obtained between BQ with BWG (0.27 +/- 0.02) and WYG
      (0.25 +/- 0.02). In general, they are expected low genetic gains for BQ as
      correlated response to selection based on any of the growth traits studied. The
      WN showed higher genetic correlation with BWG (0.63 +/- 0.02) and WH (0.53 +/-
      0.02) rather than WYG (-0.06 +/- 0.02) and YH (0.26 +/- 0.02), indicating that
      selection for increased growth at weaning (height and weight gain) should lead to
      longer and most pendulous navels at this age. Weak genetic correlations were
      obtained between yearling navel and growth traits.

PMID- 27627908
TI  - Death: avoiding the unavoidable?

PMID- 27627907
TI  - Prevalence of renal lesions in slaughtered cattle in Shiraz, Iran, and detection
      of Leptospira in them by nested PCR-RFLP.
AB  - Renal diseases in cattle are frequently not recognized due to the subclinical
      conditions. Some species of Leptospira are the main cause of infectious agents
      that damage the kidneys and lead to abortion and economic losses in cattle and
      are also of major concern in the public health. This study was aimed to assess
      the prevalence of renal lesions of slaughtered cattle in the Shiraz abattoir and
      to determine the correlation between rejected kidneys and infection with
      Leptospira using nested PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)
      techniques. Out of 1000 inspected animals, 205 (20.5 %) revealed the renal
      lesions. Chronic nephritis (7.5 %), white-spotted kidney (7.3 %), and petechial
      hemorrhage (3.5 %) were the most prevalent forms of the lesions. A direct
      correlation between increasing the age and significant increase in the rate of
      lesions was also observed (P = 0.03). Using nested PCR-RFLP assay, 40.8 % of the
      tested kidneys were turned to be infected to the pathogenic species of
      Leptospira. The risk of infection of the kidneys with white spot to pathogenic
      species of Leptospira (53.8 %) was more than that of the kidneys with other
      lesions (25.0 %) (P = 0.014). The odd ratio indicates that the kidneys with white
      spot lesions are likely to be infected with pathogenic species of Leptospira,
      five times greater than other lesions. This study showed that renal lesions
      especially white-spotted kidney, which were considerably associated with
      Leptospira in slaughtered cattle in Shiraz, were very high. This is important in
      terms of public health and in particular, increases the risk of transmission of
      disease to human specially in the high-risk careers including farmers,
      veterinarians, and abattoir workers.

PMID- 27627909
TI  - Characterizing the relationship between increases in the cost of nicotine and
      decreases in nicotine content in adult male rats: implications for tobacco
      regulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A large reduction in the nicotine content of cigarettes may benefit
      public health by reducing the rate and the prevalence of smoking. A behavioral
      economics framework suggests that a decrease in nicotine content may be
      considered an increase in the unit price of nicotine (unit price = reinforcer
      cost/reinforcer magnitude). Increasing the price of cigarettes (i.e., increasing
      reinforcer cost) would be considered an equivalent change in unit price to
      reducing nicotine content (i.e., reducing reinforcer magnitude). OBJECTIVES: The
      goal of the present experiments was to characterize the relationship between
      increases in nicotine cost and decreases in nicotine dose. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A rat self-administration model was used to assess this relationship across three
      experiments, with an emphasis on very low nicotine doses to model a potential
      nicotine reduction policy. Cost was manipulated via changes in the number of
      responses required to earn an infusion. RESULTS: Results show that increases in
      the cost of nicotine and decreases in nicotine content were not equivalent
      manipulations. Nicotine consumption was more sensitive to nicotine dose than to
      nicotine cost. Nicotine consumption was also not equivalent across a variety of
      cost and dose combinations forming a single unit price. CONCLUSIONS: Results of
      the present studies suggest that nicotine reduction is likely to have a large
      impact on nicotine exposure from cigarettes.

PMID- 27627911
TI  - Can hemozoin alone cause host anaemia?
AB  - Both schistosomes and malaria parasites produce hemozoin and cause host anaemia.
      However, the relationship between anaemia and hemozoin is unclear. Although some
      studies have proposed that hemozoin is related to anaemia in malaria patients,
      whether hemozoin alone can cause anaemia in patients infected by malaria
      parasites or schistosomes is uncertain. To investigate the effect of hemozoin on
      hosts, beta-haematin was injected intravenously to normal mice. Then, liver and
      spleen tissues were observed. Mouse blood was examined. Red blood cells (RBCs),
      white blood cells (WBCs) and haemoglobin were analysed. Macrophage changes in the
      spleens and marrow cells were compared using immunofluorescence and H&E or Giemsa
      stain, respectively. We found that after 15 injections of beta-haematin, a large
      amount of beta-haematin was observed to deposit in the livers and spleens.
      Splenomegaly and bone marrow mild hyperplasia were detected. The average number
      of RBCs, average number of WBCs and average concentration of haemoglobin
      decreased significantly from 9.36 * 1012 cells/L to 8.7 * 1012 cells/L, 3.8 * 109
      cells/L to 1.7 * 109 cells/L and 142.8 g/L to 131.8 g/L, respectively. In
      specific, the number of macrophages in the spleens greatly increased after beta
      haematin infection. The results showed that injections of beta-haematin alone can
      cause anaemia possibly through hypersplenism.

PMID- 27627912
TI  - Autism spectrum disorder reporting in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods.
AB  - Utilizing surveillance data from five sites participating in the Autism and
      Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, we investigated contributions of
      surveillance subject and census tract population sociodemographic characteristics
      on variation in autism spectrum disorder ascertainment and prevalence estimates
      from 2000 to 2008 using ordinal hierarchical models for 2489 tracts.
      Multivariable analyses showed a significant increase in ascertainment of autism
      spectrum disorder cases through both school and health sources, the optimal
      ascertainment scenario, for cases with college-educated mothers (adjusted odds
      ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.09). Results from our examination
      of sociodemographic factors of tract populations from which cases were drawn also
      showed that after controlling for other covariates, statistical significance
      remained for associations between optimal ascertainment and percentage of
      Hispanic residents (adjusted odds ratio = 0.93, 95% confidence interval = 0.88
      0.99) and percentage of residents with at least a bachelor's degree (adjusted
      odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.11). We identified
      sociodemographic factors associated with autism spectrum disorder prevalence
      estimates including race, ethnicity, education, and income. Determining which
      specific factors influence disparities is complicated; however, it appears that
      even in the presence of education, racial and ethnic disparities are still
      apparent. These results suggest disparities in access to autism spectrum disorder
      assessments and special education for autism spectrum disorder among ethnic
      groups may impact subsequent surveillance.

PMID- 27627913
TI  - Protective Effects on Central Nervous System by Acidic Polysaccharide of Panax
      ginseng in Relapse-Remitting Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis-Induced
      SJL/J Mice.
AB  - Bearing pathologic and clinical similarities to human multiple sclerosis (MS),
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is used as a murine model to test
      potential therapeutic agents for MS. Recently, we reported the protective effects
      of an acidic polysaccharide of Panax ginseng (APG) in C57BL/6 strain-dependent
      EAE, a model of primary progressive MS. In this study, we extend our previous
      findings on the therapeutic capacity of APG in relapsing-remitting EAE (rr-EAE),
      the animal model to closely mimic recurrent inflammatory demyelination lesions of
      relapsing-remitting MS. Treatments with APG led to a significant reduction of
      clinical symptoms and the relapse rate of EAE than vehicle treatments. Consistent
      with this, histological examination revealed that APG markedly modulated the
      infiltration of CD4[Formula: see text] T cells and CD11b[Formula: see text]
      macrophages into the spinal cord and the APG-treated CNS was devoid of
      demyelination and axonal damages. In addition, APG decreased the proliferation of
      peripheral PLP-reactive T cells and the production of pro-inflammatory factors
      such as IFN-[Formula: see text], IL-17 and TNF-[Formula: see text]. The fact that
      APG can induce clinically beneficial effects to distinct types of EAE furthers
      our understanding on the basis of its immunosuppression in EAE and, possibly, in
      MS. Our results suggest that APG may serve as a new therapeutic agent for MS as
      well as other human autoimmune diseases, and warrants continued evaluation for
      its translation into therapeutic application.

PMID- 27627910
TI  - Aggressive temperament predicts ethanol self-administration in late adolescent
      male and female rhesus macaques.
AB  - RATIONALE: Anxiety and aggression are associated with ethanol self
      administration, but these behaviors can serve as either risk factors for or
      consequences of heavy drinking in rodents and humans. Baseline levels of
      aggressive-like and anxious-like behavior in non-human primates have not yet been
      characterized in relation to future or prior ethanol intake. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of the study was to test the association between temperament at
      baseline with future ethanol self-administration in late adolescent male (n = 21)
      and female (n = 11) rhesus monkeys. METHODS: Shortly after entering the
      laboratory and before exposure to ethanol, the Human Intruder Test (HIT) and the
      Novel Object Test (NOT) were used to determine baseline anxious-like and
      aggressive-like behavior in age-matched male and female rhesus monkeys (Macaca
      mulatta). The monkeys were induced to drink ethanol 4 % (w/v) using a schedule
      induced polydipsia procedure, followed by "open-access" ethanol self
      administration in which the monkeys were allowed a choice of water or 4 % ethanol
      (w/v) for 22 h/day for 52 weeks. RESULTS: Aggressive monkeys self-administered
      more ethanol and attained higher blood ethanol concentrations (BECs). No
      significant differences in ethanol intakes or BECs were found between anxious and
      non-anxious monkeys or between behaviorally inhibited and non-inhibited monkeys.
      Baseline aggressive behavior positively correlated with ethanol intake and
      intoxication. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline reactive aggression was associated with
      higher future ethanol intake and intoxication. While significant sex differences
      in HIT reactivity were observed, the relationship between aggression and ethanol
      drinking was observed across sex and is not sex-specific.

PMID- 27627914
TI  - MAPK/AP-1-Targeted Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Xanthium strumarium.
AB  - Xanthium strumarium L. (Asteraceae), a traditional Chinese medicine, is
      prescribed to treat arthritis, bronchitis, and rhinitis. Although the plant has
      been used for many years, the mechanism by which it ameliorates various
      inflammatory diseases is not yet fully understood. To explore the anti
      inflammatory mechanism of methanol extracts of X. strumarium (Xs-ME) and its
      therapeutic potential, we used lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine
      macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells and human monocyte-like U937 cells as well as a
      LPS/D-galactosamine (GalN)-induced acute hepatitis mouse model. To find the
      target inflammatory pathway, we used holistic immunoblotting analysis, reporter
      gene assays, and mRNA analysis. Xs-ME significantly suppressed the up-regulation
      of both the activator protein (AP)-1-mediated luciferase activity and the
      production of LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)
      1[Formula: see text], IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-[Formula: see text].
      Moreover, Xs-ME strongly inhibited the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated
      protein kinase (MAPK) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 and U937 cells. Additionally,
      these results highlighted the hepatoprotective and curative effects of Xs-ME in a
      mouse model of LPS/D-GalN-induced acute liver injury, as assessed by elevated
      serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase
      (ALT), and histological damage. Therefore, our results strongly suggest that the
      ethnopharmacological roles of Xs-ME in hepatitis and other inflammatory diseases
      might result from its inhibitory activities on the inflammatory signaling of MAPK
      and AP-1.

PMID- 27627915
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Liriope platyphylla in LPS-Stimulated Macrophages
      and Endotoxemic Mice.
AB  - In the present study, the anti-inflammatory and antisepticemic activities of a
      water extract of Liriope platyphylla (LP) were investigated. We first estimated
      the scavenging activity of DPPH and the hydroxyl radical and total phenolic
      contents of LP. Results indicated that LP, a rich source of phenolic compounds,
      showed a remarkable radical scavenging capacity. A MTT assay showed that LP
      treatment did not affect the toxicity against the RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, up
      to the concentration of 500[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]g/mL. Treatment
      of LP significantly attenuated the production of inflammatory mediators, such as
      nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor-necrosis factor (TNF)-[Formula:
      see text] and prostaglandin (PG)E2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW
      264.7 macrophages cells. Moreover, LP contributed to the down-regulation of
      inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and TNF-[Formula: see text] mRNA expression, as well
      as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression. A western blotting assay further
      showed that LP inhibited activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)
      and nuclear factor (NF)-[Formula: see text]B. In an animal experiment using an
      LPS-induced septicemia model in C57BL/6 mice, oral administration of LP
      (40[Formula: see text]mg/kg body weight) markedly reduced the level of TNF
      [Formula: see text] and IL-6 in serum and protected against LPS-induced lethal
      shock in mice. Taken together, the results of treatments of LP on inhibited LPS
      induced inflammatory responses in both in vitro and in vivo models and indicate
      it may be a promising neutraceutical or medicinal agent to prevent or cure
      inflammation-related disease.

PMID- 27627917
TI  - Magnolia officinalis L. Fortified Gum Improves Resistance of Oral Epithelial
      Cells Against Inflammation.
AB  - Inflammatory diseases of the periodontal tissues are known health problems
      worldwide. Therefore, anti-inflammatory active compounds are used in oral care
      products to reduce long-term inflammation. In addition to inducing inflammation,
      pathogen attack leads to an increased production of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS), which may lead to oxidative damage of macromolecules. Magnolia officinalis
      L. bark extract (MBE) has been shown to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
      potential in vitro. In the present study, the influence of MBE-fortified chewing
      gum on the resistance against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation and
      oxidative stress of oral epithelial cells was investigated in a four-armed
      parallel designed human intervention trial with 40 healthy volunteers. Ex vivo
      stimulation of oral epithelial cells with LPS from Porphyromonas gingivalis for
      6[Formula: see text]h increased the mRNA expression and release of the pro
      inflammatory cytokines IL-1[Formula: see text], IL-[Formula: see text], IL-8, MIP
      1[Formula: see text], and TNF[Formula: see text]. Chewing MBE-fortified gum for
      10[Formula: see text]min reduced the ex vivo LPS-induced increase of IL-8 release
      by 43.8 [Formula: see text] 17.1% at the beginning of the intervention. In
      addition, after the two-week intervention with MBE-fortified chewing gum, LPS
      stimulated TNF[Formula: see text] release was attenuated by 73.4 [Formula: see
      text] 12.0% compared to chewing regular control gum. This increased resistance
      against LPS-induced inflammation suggests that MBE possesses anti-inflammatory
      activity in vivo when added to chewing gum. In contrast, the conditions used to
      stimulate an immune response of oral epithelial cells failed to induce oxidative
      stress, measured by catalase activity, or oxidative DNA damage.

PMID- 27627916
TI  - Inhibitory Effect of Three Diketopiperazines from Marine-Derived Bacteria on
      HMGB1-Induced Septic Responses in Vitro and in Vivo.
AB  - The nucleosomal protein high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), which has recently
      been established as a late mediator of lethal systemic inflammation, has a
      relatively wide therapeutic window for pharmacological interventions. Compounds
      produced by marine-derived microbes have been widely investigated for their
      potential use as bioactive natural products. Cyclic dipeptides, which are also
      known as diketopiperazines, are molecules that are frequently found in marine
      derived microorganisms. While their pharmacological potential has been well
      established, their biological activities against septic responses have not yet
      been reported. Here, three diketopiperazines (1-3) isolated from two strains of
      marine-derived bacteria were investigated for their potential activities against
      HMGB1-mediated septic responses. The data showed that 1-3 effectively inhibited
      the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced release of HMGB1 and suppressed the HMGB1
      mediated septic responses, including hyperpermeability, leukocyte adhesion and
      migration, and cell adhesion molecule expression. In addition, 1-3 inhibited the
      HMGB1-mediated production of tumor necrosis factor-[Formula: see text] (TNF
      [Formula: see text] and interleukin (IL)-6 and the activation of nuclear factor
      [Formula: see text]B (NF-[Formula: see text]B) and extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase (ERK) 1 and ERK2. Collectively, these results indicated that 1-3 might act
      as potential therapeutic agents for various severe vascular inflammatory diseases
      through the inhibition of the HMGB1 signaling pathway.

PMID- 27627919
TI  - Resveratrol Ameliorates Alcoholic Fatty Liver by Inducing Autophagy.
AB  - Alcoholic fatty liver (AFL) is early stage of alcoholic liver disease, which can
      progress to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis if alcohol consumption is
      continued. The pathogenesis of AFL is associated with excessive lipid
      accumulation in hepatocytes. Resveratrol (RES), a dietary polyphenol found in red
      wines and grapes, has been shown to have a hepatoprotective effect. Autophagy is
      a crucial physiological process in cellular catabolism that involves the
      regulation of lipid droplets. Autophagy maintains a balance between protein
      synthesis, degradation and self-recycling. In the present study, we evaluated the
      protective effects of RES (10[Formula: see text]mg/kg, 30[Formula: see
      text]mg/kg, 100[Formula: see text]mg/kg) on AFL mice fed with an ethanol Lieber
      DeCarli liquid diet, and HepG2 cells in the presence of oleic acid and alcohol to
      investigate whether resveratrol could induce autophagy to attenuate lipid
      accumulation. The results showed that RES (30[Formula: see text]mg/kg and
      100[Formula: see text]mg/kg) treatment significantly attenuated hepatic steatosis
      and lowered the activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (LDL-C). H&E staining showed that RES reduced hepatic lipid accumulation.
      Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that RES treatment increased
      the number of autophagosomes and promoted the formation of autophagy. Western
      blot analysis showed that RES treatment increased the levels of microtubule
      associated protein light chain3- II (LC3-II) and Beclin1, decreased expression of
      p62 protein. In addition, in vitro studies also demonstrated that RES led to the
      formation of acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs), however, 3-Methyladenine (3-MA),
      a specific inhibitor of autophagy, obviously inhibited the above effects of RES.
      In conclusion, RES has protective effects on alcoholic hepatic steatosis, and the
      potential mechanism might be involved in inducing autophagy.

PMID- 27627918
TI  - Inflammatory and Apoptotic Regulatory Activity of Tanshinone IIA in Helicobacter
      pylori-Infected Cells.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori infections induce host cell inflammation and apoptosis,
      however, they are conflicting. Tanshinone IIA is an active compound of Salvia
      miltiorrhiza Bge. In this study, we investigated the regulatory effects of
      tanshinone IIA on H. pylori-induced inflammation and apoptosis in vitro.
      Tanshinone IIA treatments (13.6-54.4[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M)
      significantly decreased nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and mitogen-activated
      protein kinase (MAPK) [p-38 and C-terminal Jun-kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2)] protein
      expressions and inflammatory substance [cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), 5-lipooxygenase
      (5-LOX), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), reactive oxygen species
      (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin
      1[Formula: see text] (IL-1[Formula: see text], IL-6, and IL-8] production in the
      H. pylori-infected cells. In contrast, tanshinone IIA treatments significantly
      increased apoptotic relevant protein [Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and
      caspase 9] expressions and increased mitochondrial transmembrane potential
      ([Formula: see text] disruption, mitochondrial cytochrome [Formula: see text]
      (cyt [Formula: see text] release, and caspase cascades. Tanshinone IIA treatments
      effectively decreased H. pylori-induced inflammation and significantly promoted
      H. pylori-induced intrinsic apoptosis through NF-kB and MAPK (p-38 and JNK)
      pathways. Tanshinone IIA has great potential as a candidate to protect host cells
      from H. pylori-induced severe inflammation and gastric cancer.

PMID- 27627920
TI  - Ethanol Extract of Fructus ligustri lucidi Increased Circulating 1,25(OH)2D3
      Levels, but Did Not Improve Calcium Balance in Mature Ovariectomized Rats.
AB  - Our previous studies found that different extracts or fractions of Fructus
      ligustri lucidi (FLL) played different roles in altering the regulation of bone
      and mineral metabolism in different animal models. The present study was designed
      to compare the actions of FLL ethanol (EE) and water extracts (WE) on bone and
      mineral metabolism in a 6-month-old mature ovariectomized (OVX) rat model. Our
      results showed that FLL extracts did not significantly improve systematic Ca
      balance in mature OVX rats. However, EE, but not WE treatment, significantly
      increased serum 1,25(OH)2D3 levels in mature OVX rats. An in vitro study using
      human proximal tubule (HKC-8) cells showed that EE, but not WE, significantly
      enhanced renal 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-1[Formula: see text]-hydroxylase (1-OHase)
      mRNA expressions and simultaneously repressed renal 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-24
      hydroxylase (24-OHase) mRNA expressions. Further investigation indicated that EE
      could significantly induce the protein expression of 1-OHase, but did not alter
      24-OHase expression in HKC-8 cells. Our results demonstrated that EE increased
      circulating 1,25(OH)2D3 levels in OVX rats, possibly via upregulation of renal 1
      OHase expressions in renal proximal tubule cells. Our study indicates that FLL is
      a natural oral agent that could directly regulate renal vitamin D metabolism in
      vivo and in vitro.

PMID- 27627921
TI  - Alpinia officinarum Stimulates Osteoblast Mineralization and Inhibits Osteoclast
      Differentiation.
AB  - Alpinia officinarum rhizome has been used as a traditional herbal remedy to treat
      inflammatory and internal diseases. Based on the previously observed inhibitory
      effect of A. officinarum rhizome in an arthritis model, we evaluated whether a
      water extract of A. officinarum rhizome (WEAO) would enhance in vitro osteoblast
      mineralization using calvarial osteoblast precursor cells or would inhibit in
      vitro osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption using bone marrow derived
      macrophages. In osteoblasts, WEAO enhanced the mRNA levels of transcription
      factor (runt-related transcription factor 2, smad1, smad5, and junB) and marker
      (bone morphogenetic protein-2, collagen type 1alpha1, and osteocalcin) genes
      related to osteoblast mineralization, consistent with increased alizarin red S
      staining intensity. WEAO markedly inhibited osteoclast differentiation by
      suppressing the receptor activator for nuclear factor-[Formula: see text]B ligand
      induced downregulation of inhibitor of DNA binding 2 and V-maf musculoaponeurotic
      fibrosarcoma oncogene homolog B and the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal
      kinase, p38, nuclear factor-[Formula: see text]B, c-Src, and Bruton's tyrosine
      kinase to induce nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 1 expression.
      WEAO also suppressed the resorbing activity of mature osteoclasts by altering
      actin ring formation. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrate that WEAO
      stimulates osteoblast mineralization and inhibits osteoclast differentiation.
      Thus, WEAO may be a promising herbal candidate to treat or prevent pathological
      bone diseases by regulating the balance between osteoclast and osteoblast
      activity.

PMID- 27627922
TI  - Solanum nigrum Suppress Angiogenesis-Mediated Tumor Growth Through Inhibition of
      the AKT/mTOR Pathway.
AB  - Solanum nigrum L., an edible plant and local dish, has been assigned anticancer
      activities. However, the anticancer mechanisms of S. nigrum are poorly
      understood. Here, we investigated whether the water or polyphenol extracts of S.
      nigrum (SNWE or SNPE) could inhibit angiogenesis-mediated tumor growth. In nude
      mice bearing tumor xenografts, SNWE or SNPE significantly reduced the volume and
      weight of the tumors, and decreased the expression of CD31, a marker for
      angiogenesis. SNWE or SNPE was found to inhibit the VEGF-induced capillary
      structure formation of endothelial cells. The chicken egg chorioallantoic
      membrane (CAM) and matrigel plug assays showed further that SNWE or SNPE
      inhibited tumor angiogenesis. In human umbilical vascular endothelial cells
      (HUVECs), SNWE or SNPE suppressed the VEGF-induced activation of AKT and mTOR.
      Moreover, SNWE or SNPE inhibited the viability of human hepatoma HepG2 cells, and
      these effects were correlated with the extent of inhibition of the AKT/mTOR
      pathway. Taken together, our data imply that SNWE or SNPE downregulated the
      AKT/mTOR pathway in HUVECs and HepG2 cells, which lead to reduced tumor growth
      and angiogenesis.

PMID- 27627924
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 27627925
TI  - New method for harvesting stem cells could improve donor-patient treatment.

PMID- 27627927
TI  - When an elder is the abuser.

PMID- 27627923
TI  - Sulforaphane Induces Cell Death Through G2/M Phase Arrest and Triggers Apoptosis
      in HCT 116 Human Colon Cancer Cells.
AB  - Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate, exists exclusively in cruciferous
      vegetables, and has been shown to possess potent antitumor and chemopreventive
      activity. However, there is no available information that shows SFN affecting
      human colon cancer HCT 116 cells. In the present study, we found that SFN induced
      cell morphological changes, which were photographed by contrast-phase microscopy,
      and decreased viability. SFN also induced G2/M phase arrest and cell apoptosis in
      HCT 116 cells, which were measured with flow cytometric assays. Western blotting
      indicated that SFN increased Cyclin A, cdk 2, Cyclin B and WEE1, but decreased
      Cdc 25C, cdk1 protein expressions that led to G2/M phase arrest. Apoptotic cell
      death was also confirmed by Annexin V/PI and DAPI staining and DNA gel
      electrophoresis in HCT 116 cells after exposure to SFN. The flow cytometric assay
      also showed that SFN induced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      Ca[Formula: see text] and decreased mitochondria membrane potential and increased
      caspase-8, -9 and -3 activities in HCT 116 cell. Western blotting also showed
      that SFN induced the release of cytochrome c, and AIF, which was confirmed by
      confocal microscopy examination. SFN induced ER stress-associated protein
      expression. Based on those observations, we suggest that SFN may be used as a
      novel anticancer agent for the treatment of human colon cancer in the future.

PMID- 27627928
TI  - Eliciting and responding to patient histories of abuse and trauma: challenges for
      medical education.

PMID- 27627929
TI  - Severe GHB withdrawal delirium managed with dexmedetomidine.

PMID- 27627930
TI  - Fleischner sign with pulmonary hypertension complicated by thrombosis.

PMID- 27627931
TI  - Voluntary euthanasia laws in Australia: are we really better off dead?

PMID- 27627932
TI  - Teaching approaches in medicine made easier.

PMID- 27627933
TI  - Pupil.

PMID- 27627934
TI  - Suicide by health care professionals.

PMID- 27627935
TI  - New developments in coronary stent technology.

PMID- 27627936
TI  - Suicide by health professionals: a retrospective mortality study in Australia,
      2001-2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report age-standardised rates and methods of suicide by health
      professionals, and to compare these with suicide rates for other occupations.
      STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective mortality study. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: All
      intentional self-harm cases recorded by the National Coronial Information System
      during the period 2001-2012 were initially included. Cases were excluded if the
      person was unemployed at the time of death, if their employment status was
      unknown or occupational information was missing, or if they were under 20 years
      of age at the time of death. Suicide rates were calculated using Australian
      Bureau of Statistics population-level data from the 2006 census. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Suicide rates and method of suicide by occupational group. RESULTS:
      Suicide rates for female health professionals were higher than for women in other
      occupations (medical practitioners: incidence rate ratio [IRR], 2.52; 95% CI,
      1.55-4.09; P < 0.001; nurses and midwives: IRR, 2.65; 95% CI, 2.22-3.15; P <
      0.001). Suicide rates for male medical practitioners were not significantly
      higher than for other occupations, but the suicide rate for male nurses and
      midwives was significantly higher than for men working outside the health
      professions (IRR, 1.50; 95% CI 1.12-2.01; P = 0.006). The suicide rate for health
      professionals with ready access to prescription medications was higher than for
      those in health professions without such access or in non-health professional
      occupations. The most frequent method of suicide used by health professionals was
      self-poisoning. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate the need for targeted prevention
      of suicide by health professionals.

PMID- 27627937
TI  - The economic benefits of eliminating Indigenous health inequality in the Northern
      Territory.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the potential economic benefits of closing the Indigenous
      health gap by quantifying the economic burden associated with Indigenous health
      inequality in the Northern Territory. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A cost-of
      illness study was conducted from a societal perspective for NT residents for the
      period 2009-2013. The total cost of the Indigenous health gap was estimated by
      calculating the cost differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
      populations in health services, lost productivity and lost life-years on the
      basis of data from the 2011 census, as well as on burden of disease, health
      expenditure, welfare, taxation and other published financial data. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The total and per capita costs in three categories were analysed:
      direct health costs, the indirect costs of lost productivity, and intangible
      costs associated with premature deaths. RESULTS: The excess cost of the
      Indigenous health gap was estimated to be $16.7 billion for the 5-year study
      period, equivalent to 19% of the NT gross state product. The excess costs
      associated with the Indigenous health gap included 22% caused by higher health
      expenditure for servicing the gap, 35% attributable to lost productivity caused
      by illness, and 43% associated with lost life-years. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      highlight the long term potential benefits of the Australian governments' Closing
      the Gap initiative for the NT. Successful implementation of this initiative will
      require improving government services by combating discrimination, developing
      local economies, overcoming poverty, and reducing the disadvantages associated
      with remoteness.

PMID- 27627938
TI  - Airline policies for passengers with nut allergies flying from Melbourne Airport.

PMID- 27627939
TI  - Update on pharmacotherapy for pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease with a poor prognosis if
      not treated. Pharmacological treatment options for PAH have increased
      significantly over the past 10 years, with availability of intravenous, oral and
      inhaled drugs targeting the nitric oxide, endothelin and prostacyclin pathways.
      Treatment with these therapies in specialised pulmonary hypertension centres has
      resulted in reductions in patient symptoms, disease progression and mortality,
      and improved exercise capacity. Recognition of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension is important, as this cause of pulmonary hypertension may be
      amenable to surgical treatment. Several new oral drugs, including macitentan,
      riociguat and selexipag, some of which have novel modes of action, and the use of
      combinations of PAH drugs have recently been shown to be beneficial in treating
      PAH and are likely to change treatment for this condition in the future. 

PMID- 27627940
TI  - Coronary stent technology: a narrative review.
AB  - Coronary angioplasty and coronary artery stents have revolutionised
      interventional cardiology. Contemporary coronary stent technology continues to
      seek to improve on the outcomes of the preceding generation of devices by
      refining their design, structure and component materials. These technologies
      include new generations of drug-eluting stents, non-polymeric stents,
      bioresorbable polymer-coated stents, and fully bioresorbable scaffolds. This
      review discusses the evolution of coronary stent technology, the efficacy and
      safety of currently available devices, and the rationale for new generation
      platforms as efforts continue to design the ideal coronary stent technology. 

PMID- 27627942
TI  - Characterising health care-associated bloodstream infections in public hospitals
      in Queensland, 2008-2012.

PMID- 27627941
TI  - Integrative medicine: more than the promotion of unproven treatments?

PMID- 27627943
TI  - Characterising health care-associated bloodstream infections in public hospitals
      in Queensland, 2008-2012.

PMID- 27627944
TI  - Medication overuse headache in Australia: a call for multidisciplinary efforts at
      prevention and treatment.

PMID- 27627945
TI  - Closing the Gap in Indigenous health: why section 19(2) of the Health Insurance
      Act matters.

PMID- 27627946
TI  - Two-year outcomes after robotic renal surgery: a single surgeon's experience.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to validate the feasibility of the robotic
      technology for various types of renal surgery and to outline the 2-year clinical
      and pathological outcomes post surgery. In a retrospective chart review with IRB
      approval of 55 robotic renal surgeries, clinical data and pathological outcomes
      were recorded, including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum
      creatinine, radiological surveillance of tumor recurrences and overall quality of
      life on pre- and postoperative visits at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. There were 26
      robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN), 23 radical nephrectomy (RRN), 3 simple
      nephrectomy (RSN), and 3 radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) procedures. Twelve
      patients in the RPN group, 17 in the RRN group and all in the RSN and RNU groups
      had eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2) and one or more risk factors for chronic kidney
      disease (CKD) preoperatively. Mean serum creatinine was 1.2, 1.3, 1.2, and 1.8,
      and eGFR was 66.4, 61.2, 55.8, and 41.0, respectively. There were two distant
      metastasis and four local recurrences in the RRN group, and two local recurrences
      in the RNU group. Serum creatinine and changes in eGFR were statistically similar
      in all groups postoperatively. Cancer-specific survival was 100% for RPN, 83% for
      RRN, and 100% for RNU while overall survival was 100% for RPN, 76% for RRN, 100%
      for RSN, and 100% for RNU at 2 years. Robotic renal surgery is a feasible,
      minimally invasive alternative with promising outcomes in our short-term follow
      up. Long-term and comparative studies with open or conventional laparoscopic
      approaches are needed. 

PMID- 27627947
TI  - Robotic radical hysterectomy: comparison of outcomes and cost.
AB  - Operative and peri-operative outcomes, complications, and cost for radical
      hysterectomy for cervical cancer with negative sentinel nodes have been compared
      for robotics and laparotomy. Forty patients underwent radical hysterectomy
      with/out bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, for early-stage cervical cancer. All
      cases were performed by one of two surgeons, at a single institution (16 robotic,
      24 laparotomy). The data for the robotic group were collected prospectively and
      compared with data for a historic cohort who underwent laparotomy. The data
      included demographics and peri-operative variables including operative time,
      estimated blood loss, lymph node count, hospital stay, and complications.
      Additionally, real direct hospital cost was compared for both modalities.
      Patients undergoing robotic radical hysterectomy experienced longer operative
      time than the laparotomy cohort (351 min vs. 283 min P = 0.0001). Estimated blood
      loss was significantly lower for the robotic cohort than for the laparotomy
      cohort (106 ml vs. 546 ml P < 0.0001). The minor complication rate was lower in
      the robotic cohort than for laparotomy (19% vs. 63% P = 0.003). Average hospital
      stay for the robotic patients was significantly shorter than for those undergoing
      laparotomy (1.9 days versus 7.2 days, P < 0.0001). Lymph node retrieval did not
      differ between the two groups (robotic 15 nodes, laparotomy 13 nodes). The total
      average peri-operative costs for radical hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy
      completed via laparotomy was CAN $11,764 +/- 6,790, and for robotic assistance
      8,183 +/- 1,089 (P = 0.002). When amortization of the robot was included, there
      remained a trend in favor of the robotic approach, but it did not reach
      statistical significance. Whereas robotics takes longer to perform than
      traditional laparotomy, it provides the patient with a shorter hospital stay,
      less need for pain medications, and reduced peri-operative morbidity. In addition
      real average hospital costs tend to be lower. 

PMID- 27627948
TI  - Outcomes after concurrent inguinal hernia repair and robotic-assisted radical
      prostatectomy.
AB  - Inguinal hernias occur more frequently following radical prostatectomy.
      Simultaneous inguinal hernia repair during open and laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy for prostate cancer has been described previously. The emergence of
      robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RALP) has necessitated the evaluation of
      concomitant herniorrhaphy in this new setting. We report the outcomes of this
      operation in our series of patients. Retrospective review was performed on 700
      patients with localised prostate cancer who underwent RALP performed by a single
      surgeon from 2004 to 2009. Details of cases where concurrent inguinal hernia
      repair was performed were recorded and compared with the remainder of the cohort.
      Hernia repair was performed using a monofilament knitted polypropylene cone mesh
      plug and fascial defect closure with Hem-o-Lok clips. A total of 38 inguinal
      herniorraphies were performed in 37 patients as a simultaneous procedure during
      transperitoneal RALP. The hernia repair on average added 5-10 min to the total
      procedure time. One patient underwent a bilateral repair. Across this group, mean
      age was 62.9 years, average body mass index was 27.1, and median follow-up was 29
      months. There were no complications at the time of mesh placement. There were no
      cases complicated by wound infection, fluid collection, or chronic pain.
      Recurrence of an inguinal hernia occurred in one patient due to migration of the
      mesh. We conclude that concomitant inguinal hernia repair during RALP is safe,
      feasible, and effective. The herniorrhaphy can be performed quickly, adds little
      to the overall procedure time and avoids a further operative procedure for the
      patient. 

PMID- 27627949
TI  - Early assessment of patient satisfaction and health-related quality of life
      following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.
AB  - Impairments in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and patient satisfaction
      after definitive treatment for localized prostate cancer can be significant. We
      assessed patient satisfaction associated with HRQOL following robot-assisted
      radical prostatectomy (RARP). Prostate cancer-specific HRQOL was assessed using
      50 items from the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite and postoperative
      satisfaction parameters. According to the satisfaction level, 218 consecutive
      patients were divided into the following three groups: group 1, extremely
      satisfied (n = 140); group 2, satisfied (n = 54); and group 3, uncertain,
      dissatisfied and extremely dissatisfied patients (n = 24). Peri-operative
      characteristics were not significantly different among the three groups. When the
      mean domain-specific HRQOL subscale scores were compared, there were no
      statistical differences in urinary and sexual function between groups 1 and 2.
      Patients in group 2 were more bothered by these domains than those in group 1.
      Group 3 had significantly lower scores in bowel and hormonal bother than the
      other groups and significantly lower scores in bowel function when compared to
      group 1. In daily life related to HRQOL, satisfaction is mainly determined by
      personal perception and interpretation rather than the objective status of
      urinary and sexual function. More interestingly, patients in the dissatisfied
      group were more likely to have bladder and bowel storage symptoms. Additional
      work is necessary to identify the factors associated with increased risk of
      pelvic organ storage symptoms following RARP. 

PMID- 27627950
TI  - Surgical outcomes for robotic-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy compared to
      abdominal myomectomy.
AB  - A retrospective cohort of 100 robotic-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy (RM)
      patients and 48 laparotomic myomectomy (LM) patients at Henry Ford Hospital in
      Detroit, MI, USA was examined to compare surgical outcomes of RM with LM. Details
      of age, race, body mass index (BMI), procedure duration, estimated blood loss
      (EBL), length of stay (LOS), diameter of the largest leiomyoma and number of
      leiomyomata removed were collected. Procedure duration was significantly longer
      among RM patients (median: 194 min vs. 127.5 min; Wilcoxon rank sum (WRS) P <
      0.001). EBL and LOS were both significantly greater among LM patients (EBL
      medians 200 vs. 100 ml, WRS P < 0.001; LOS medians 3 vs. 1, WRS P < 0.01). Among
      the RM patients, 39.4% had a LOS of at least 2 days compared to 89.4% among LM
      patients. Leiomyomata characteristics did not affect the observed associations.
      RM could enable widespread use of a minimally invasive approach for leiomyoma
      treatment. 

PMID- 27627951
TI  - Leukocytosis after robotic hysterectomy: commonly observed but clinically
      insignificant.
AB  - Laboratory studies are commonly performed after surgery, but with little evidence
      of clinical utility. We evaluated our experience with measuring a complete blood
      count (CBC) to determine peripheral blood leukocyte count (WBC) postoperatively
      following consecutive robotic hysterectomies. From January 2008 through November
      2009, two surgeons (KM, HM) performed 204 robotic hysterectomies. Patient age,
      weight, height, indication for surgery, surgical procedure, operative time,
      estimated blood loss, hospital length of stay, postoperative fever, and
      complications were prospectively recorded and correlated with WBC measured on the
      day after surgery. The postoperative WBC was elevated (>11,000/MUl) in 59/204
      (29%) patients. Eight (4%) patients had marked leukocytosis (WBC >15,000/MUl;
      maximum 16,600/MUl). There was no correlation between postoperative leukocytosis
      and operative time, BMI, performance of lymphadenectomy, or length of
      hospitalization. The only factor significantly associated with elevated
      postoperative WBC was elevated preoperative WBC (P < .001). Also, there was no
      correlation between postoperative leukocytosis with fever or infectious
      complications. The mean T max was 37.1oC and T max over 38oC was seen in nine
      patients. Of the five women who developed infectious complications, only one
      (diagnosed with pneumonia) had a minimally elevated postoperative WBC
      (11,600/MUl); the other four (pneumonia and pelvic abscess, two each) had normal
      postoperative WBC. Routine measurement of WBC after robotic hysterectomy is not
      useful. In about 25% of cases there will be a slight leukocytosis, and rarely
      (about 4%) will the WBC exceed 15,000/MUl. In no case was measurement of
      postoperative WBC clinically relevant. 

PMID- 27627953
TI  - Comparison of robot-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy and total abdominal
      hysterectomy for treatment of endometrial cancer in obese and morbidly obese
      patients.
AB  - The objective of our study was to compare clinical and pathologic outcomes of
      robot-assisted and open abdominal techniques for treatment of uterine cancer in
      obese patients. Institutional review board approval was obtained. Patient
      demographic data, pathological data, and surgical data were collected by
      retrospective chart review. Data were analyzed using SAS statistical software.
      One-hundred and eighty-nine consecutive cases of suspected uterine cancer were
      identified from October 2003 until January 2009. Of these, 116 patients (61%) had
      a body mass index (BMI) over 30. There were 66 completed robot-assisted
      hysterectomies (RAHs), 43 total abdominal hysterectomies (TAHs), and seven
      patients that were converted from RAH to open abdominal hysterectomy. There were
      no significant differences in preoperative patient demographics, including body
      mass index (BMI), medical co-morbidities, or preoperative cytology, except for
      parity. There were no differences in postoperative grade, stage, lymph vascular
      space invasion, positive pelvic washings, mean number of pelvic lymph nodes, or
      proportion of patients undergoing pelvic lymphadenectomy. Length of stay and
      estimated blood loss were lower for the robotic technique; RAHs had a
      significantly longer operative time, however. Postoperative blood transfusions
      and wound infections were more frequent in the TAH group. Of the RAH group there
      were seven conversions to TAH (10%). Differences in surgical times with and
      without lymphadenectomy were least in patients in the largest BMI category of
      >50. Length of time required for RAH was significantly longer then TAH in obese
      and morbidly obese patients, however benefits to patients of a minimally invasive
      approach included reduced incidence of wound infections, reduced transfusion
      rates, reduced blood loss, and shortened length of stay. These data also suggest
      the greatest advantage of robotic technology over laparotomy in patients with BMI
      over 50. 

PMID- 27627952
TI  - Robotic coronary artery bypass grafting.
AB  - Robotically assisted surgery enables coronary surgery to be performed totally or
      partially endoscopically. Using the Da Vinci robotic technology allows minimally
      invasive treatments. We report on our experience with coronary artery surgery in
      our department: patients requiring single or double vessel surgical
      revascularization were eligible. The procedure was performed without
      cardiopulmonary bypass on a beating heart. From April 2004 to May 2008, 55
      consecutive patients were enrolled in the study, and were operated on by a single
      surgical team. Operative outcomes included operative time, estimated blood loss,
      transfusions, ventilation time, intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of
      stay. Average operative time was 270 +/- 101 min with an estimated blood loss of
      509 +/- 328 ml, a postoperative ventilation time of 6 +/- 12 h, ICU stay of 52 +/
      23 h, and a hospital stay of 7 +/- 3 days. Nine patients (16%) were converted to
      open techniques, and transfusion was required in four patients (7%). Follow-up
      was complete for all patients up to 1 year. There was one hospital death (1.7%)
      and two deaths at follow-up. Coronary anastomosis was controlled in 48 patients
      by either angiogram or computed tomography scan, revealing occlusion or
      anastomotic stenoses (>50%) in six patients. Overall permeability was 92%. Major
      adverse events occurred in 12 patients (21%). One-year survival was 96%. Our
      initial experience with robotically assisted coronary surgery is promising: it
      avoids sternotomy and with a methodical approach we were able to implement the
      procedure safely and effectively in our practice, combining minimal mortality
      with excellent survival. 

PMID- 27627954
TI  - Technical modifications in the robotic-assisted surgical approach for
      gynaecologic operations.
AB  - To investigate the development of new technical approaches for improving the
      implementation of robotics in gynaecologic surgery, we conducted a prospective
      evaluation of five technical modifications developed during the implementation of
      a robotics program that included 171 robotic endometrial staging procedures from
      December 2007 until May 2010. Modification of the use of a Hohl uterine
      manipulator by applying only the intravaginal component minimizes the theoretical
      risk of spillage of endometrial cancer cells, without losing the capability of
      delineating the vaginal fornices. Entry to the peritoneal cavity under visual
      control using a left upper quadrant approach and a 5-mm endoscope through a 5-mm
      Endopath((r)) trocar is quick and decreases the risk of bowel or vessel injury.
      Use of 12-mm Endopath((r)) trocars with blunt tips without closure of the fascia
      was not associated with post-operative hernias. Positioning the Da Vinci((r))
      Surgical System at a 30 degrees  angle at the side of the patient allows easy
      access to the vagina for removal of large surgical specimens and does not
      interfere with proper movements of the robotic arms. Use of a tissue specimen bag
      introduced via the vagina at completion of surgery allows removal of large uteri
      vaginally to avoid (mini-)laparotomy and its morbidities. Finally, suturing of
      the vault using interrupted delayed absorbable monofilament sutures was not
      associated with vaginal cuff dehiscence. Early evaluation of evolving minor
      technical and surgical approaches was associated with low morbidity, and appears
      to benefit patients undergoing robotic surgery for gynaecologic cancers. 

PMID- 27627955
TI  - Robotic radical hysterectomy: applying principles of the laparoscopic Pune
      technique.
AB  - Minimal access surgery is an accepted treatment modality in cervical cancer.
      Despite the advantages of laparoscopy, the surgical technique of laparoscopic
      radical hysterectomy is not very commonly performed. Robotic surgery is an
      emerging field with rapid acceptance because of the 3-dimensional image,
      dexterity of instruments and autonomy of camera control. We report here our
      technique of performing robotic radical hysterectomy using the Da Vinci surgical
      system. Twenty patients with cervical cancer stage 1a1-1b2 underwent robotic
      radical hysterectomy since December 2009. The median duration of surgery was 122
      min, and the average blood loss was 100 ml. Postoperative ureteric fistulas
      occurred in two patients and were managed by ureteric stenting. The median lymph
      node retrieval was 30 nodes (range 18-38). We compared our robotic results with
      our published data on laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (Pune technique). We were
      able to complete all 20 cases robotically with minimal morbidity, and could
      duplicate our laparoscopic steps in robotic radical hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27627956
TI  - Robotic duodenojejunostomy for superior mesenteric artery syndrome in a teenager.
AB  - Superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMAS) involves vascular compression of the
      third part of the duodenum, eventually leading to gastrointestinal obstruction.
      Duodenojejunostomy is indicated after failure of conservative management and in
      chronic cases. We report a case of a cachetic 16-year-old girl with dyskeratosis
      congenita who suffered from SMA syndrome for 18 months. Upper endoscopy and
      preoperative imaging (upper GI series and abdominal CT scan) confirmed the
      diagnosis. A da Vinci-assisted duodenojejunostomy was performed after obtaining
      informed consent from the patient and her parents. Intraoperatively, a dilated
      duodenum to the level of D3 was noted. A side-to-side two-layer handsewn
      anatomosis was performed. The patient was discharged home on postoperative day
      #3. She gained 1.4 kg within 1 month. Twenty-one months later, she remains
      asymptomatic with a total weight gain of 3.2 kg. To our knowledge, this is the
      first reported case of a robot-assisted duodenojejunostomy for SMAS. 

PMID- 27627958
TI  - Acetyl pyridine-based palladium(II) compounds as an artificial metallonucleases.
AB  - Palladium(II) complexes of type [Pd(Ln)Cl2] and [Pd(bdt)(Ln)] have been
      synthesized using 2-acetyl pyridine derivatives(Ln) and benzene-12-dithiol(bdt).
      The synthesized complexes have been characterized by various analytical
      techniques like thermo gravimetric analysis, elemental analysis, conductance
      measurement, and spectroscopic techniques like elemental analysis, mass spectra,
      absorption spectra, IR, 1H NMR, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The
      interaction of the complexes with calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) has been explored by
      absorption titration, viscosity measurement methods. Based on the observations,
      an intercalative binding mode of DNA has been proposed. In order to provide
      additional evidence for the intercalation mode of binding between the complex and
      CT-DNA, fluorescence titration experiment was performed. In addition, molecular
      modeling study has been carried out with the aim of establishing the complex's
      binding mode. Antibacterial activity study of the complexes have been screened
      against pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli,
      Bacillus subtilis, Serratia marcescens, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Gel
      electrophoresis assay demonstrates that all the complexes can cleave the pUC19
      plasmid DNA.

PMID- 27627957
TI  - Robotic kidney implantation for kidney transplantation: initial experience.
AB  - Despite improvements in minimally invasive techniques over recent decades, kidney
      implantation into the iliac fossa has remained a domain of open surgery. However,
      it was hypothesized that it would be feasible to perform robotic transplant
      kidney implantation as a means of reducing surgical trauma. Two robotic kidney
      transplantations into the iliac fossa were attempted in human cadavers. In the
      first cadaver, a 5 cm incision was placed in the right lower abdomen, the
      peritoneum was mobilized in a cranial direction, the iliac vessels were
      identified, and the kidney placed in the pre-peritoneal space. The incision was
      sealed with a gel port through which the Vinci((c)) Surgical System was
      installed. In the second cadaver, a robotic kidney implantation with robotically
      sutured vascular and ureteric anastomoses was performed trans-abdominally. Open
      incision, identification, placement of gel port, and robotic docking were
      feasible. Robotic performance of vascular anastomosis was not possible in the
      first cadaver because of advanced decay and excess fat in the surgical field.
      Robotic kidney positioning was feasible and anastomoses were performed
      successfully in the second cadaver within 35, 25, and 20 min (arterial, venous,
      and ureteric, respectively). Robotic kidney transplantation seems feasible in
      human cadavers if tissue condition is suitable, but is very technically
      challenging. Because of the delicacy of anatomical structures, the cadaveric
      model with the risk of advanced decay and the absence of circulation sets limits
      on the exploration of this complex procedure. Hence, further research and animal
      work in this area is critical to improve understanding of the benefits and
      limitations of robotic kidney implantation. 

PMID- 27627960
TI  - Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM639 Alleviate Trace Element Imbalance-Related
      Oxidative Stress in Liver and Kidney of Chronic Aluminum Exposure Mice.
AB  - Aluminum (Al) has various adverse effects on health of humans and animals. The
      aim of present study was to demonstrate that Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM639 can
      alleviate the adverse effects on liver and kidney of mice caused by chronic Al
      exposure. Animals were assigned into control, CCFM639 only, Al only, Al plus
      CCFM639, and Al plus deferiprone groups. The strain was given by oral gavage for
      14 weeks, and Al was introduced via drinking water for the first 8 weeks.
      Analyses of Al and trace elements levels in feces, blood, and tissues were
      performed. The biochemical markers (GSH, GPx, SOD, CAT, and MDA) of oxidative
      stress in livers and kidneys, as well as the levels of ALT, AST, BUN, and CRE in
      blood, were determined. Our results showed that L. plantarum CCFM639 can
      significantly reduce Al accumulation in tissues, regulate imbalance of trace
      elements, and thereby alleviate oxidative stress and pathological changes in
      hepatic and renal tissues. Therefore, L. plantarum CCFM639 could alleviate Al
      induced hepatic and renal injuries, and the possible mechanisms may involve in
      regulating the imbalance of trace elements.

PMID- 27627959
TI  - Is General or Alcohol-Specific Perceived Social Support Associated with
      Depression among Adults in Substance Use Treatment?
AB  - Alcohol use disorders are among the most common mental health disorders in the
      world and incur considerable costs for individuals and society. Previous research
      has demonstrated that perceived social support (PSS) may decrease rates of
      depression and relapse in individuals seeking treatment for alcohol use. The
      current study developed and investigated a self-report measure for perceived
      social support for sobriety from alcohol (PSSA) in a sample of men and women in
      residential treatment for substance use (N = 231), and examined the relationship
      between general or alcohol-specific perceived social support and depression.
      Analyses demonstrated sound factor structure, reliability, and validity for the
      PSSA. Additionally, the new measure of PSS for alcohol sobriety was negatively
      and uniquely associated with depression, even after controlling for general PSS,
      enacted social support, and negative social interactions. Overall, findings
      demonstrated that the PSSA was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, even
      after accounting for other known correlates of depression. Future research should
      replicate and extend these findings and examine whether this new measure predicts
      abstinence from alcohol following treatment.

PMID- 27627961
TI  - Determinants of effective lentivirus-driven microRNA expression in vivo.
AB  - Manipulation of microRNA (miRNA) levels, including overexpression of mature
      species, has become an important biological tool, even motivating miRNA-based
      therapeutics. To assess key determinants of miRNA overexpression in a mammalian
      system in vivo, we sought to bypass the laborious generation of a transgenic
      animal by exploiting placental trophoblast-specific gene manipulation using
      lentiviral vectors, which has been instrumental in elucidating trophoblast
      biology. We examined the impact of several key components of miRNA stem loops and
      their flanking sequences on the efficiency of mature miRNA expression in vivo. By
      combining established and novel approaches for miRNA expression, we engineered
      lentivirus-driven miRNA expression plasmids, which we tested in the mouse
      placenta. We found that reverse sense inserts minimized single-strand splicing
      and degradation, and that maintaining longer, poly-A-containing arms flanking the
      miRNA stem-loop markedly enhanced transgenic miRNA expression. Additionally, we
      accomplished overexpression of diverse mammalian, drosophila, or C. elegans
      miRNAs, either based on native context or using a "cassette" replacement of the
      mature miRNA sequence. Together, we have identified primary miRNA sequences that
      are paramount for effective expression of mature miRNAs, and validated their role
      in mice. Principles established by our findings may guide the design of efficient
      miRNA vectors for in vivo use.

PMID- 27627962
TI  - Postsynaptic SDC2 induces transsynaptic signaling via FGF22 for bidirectional
      synaptic formation.
AB  - Functional synapse formation requires tight coordination between pre- and post
      synaptic termini. Previous studies have shown that postsynaptic expression of
      heparan sulfate proteoglycan syndecan-2 (SDC2) induces dendritic spinogenesis.
      Those SDC2-induced dendritic spines are frequently associated with presynaptic
      termini. However, how postsynaptic SDC2 accelerates maturation of corresponding
      presynaptic termini is unknown. Because fibroblast growth factor 22 (FGF22), a
      heparan sulfate binding growth factor, has been shown to act as a presynaptic
      organizer released from the postsynaptic site, it seems possible that
      postsynaptic SDC2 presents FGF22 to the presynaptic FGF receptor to promote
      presynaptic differentiation. Here, we show that postsynaptic SDC2 uses its
      ectodomain to interact with and facilitate dendritic filopodial targeting of
      FGF22, triggering presynaptic maturation. Since SDC2 also enhances filopodial
      targeting of NMDAR via interaction with the CASK-mLIN7-MINT1 adaptor complex,
      presynaptic maturation promoted by FGF22 further feeds back to activate NMDAR at
      corresponding postsynaptic sites through increased neurotransmitter release and,
      consequently, promotes the dendritic filopodia-spines (F-S) transition.
      Meanwhile, via regulation of the KIF17 motor, CaMKII (activated by the NMDAR
      pathway) may further facilitate FGF22 targeting to dendritic filopodia that
      receive presynaptic stimulation. Our study suggests a positive feedback that
      promotes the coordination of postsynaptic and presynaptic differentiation.

PMID- 27627964
TI  - Laparoscopic vs. open surgery for T4 colon cancer: A propensity score analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study aimed to compare, using propensity score matching (PSM)
      analyses, the short- and long-term results of laparoscopic colectomy (LC) versus
      open colectomy (OC) in a bicentric cohort of patients with T4 colon cancer.
      METHODS: This is a retrospective PSM analysis of consecutive patients undergoing
      elective LC or OC for pT4 colon cancer (TNM stage II/III) between 2005 and 2014.
      RESULTS: Overall, 237 patients were selected. After PSM, 106 LC-and 106 OC
      matched patients were compared. LC was associated with longer operative time and
      lower blood loss than OC (220 vs. 190 min, p < 0.0001; 116 vs. 150 mL, p = 0.002,
      respectively). LC patients showed a faster recovery, which translated into a
      shorter hospital stay compared to OC (10.5 vs. 15.3 days, p < 0.0001). Conversion
      was required in 13 (12.2 %) LC patients. No group difference was observed for 30-
      and 90-day mortality. R0 resection was achieved in the majority of LC and OC
      patients (93.9 %). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival was 99, 76.8, and 58.6
      %, respectively, for the LC group and 98, 70.1, and 59.9 %, respectively, for the
      OC group (p = 0.864). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival was 86.3, 66,
      57.6 %, respectively, for the LC group and 79.1, 55.1, and 50.2 % for the OC
      group (p = 0.261). CONCLUSION: With an acceptable conversion rate, laparoscopy
      can achieve complete oncologic resections of T4 colon cancer similar to open
      surgery and can be considered a safe and feasible alternative approach that
      confers the advantage of a faster recovery.

PMID- 27627965
TI  - User-Centered Design of a Tablet Waiting Room Tool for Complex Patients to
      Prioritize Discussion Topics for Primary Care Visits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complex patients with multiple chronic conditions often face
      significant challenges communicating and coordinating with their primary care
      physicians. These challenges are exacerbated by the limited time allotted to
      primary care visits. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to employ a user-centered design
      process to create a tablet tool for use by patients for visit discussion
      prioritization. METHODS: We employed user-centered design methods to create a
      tablet-based waiting room tool that enables complex patients to identify and set
      discussion topic priorities for their primary care visit. In an iterative design
      process, we completed one-on-one interviews with 40 patients and their 17 primary
      care providers, followed by three design sessions with a 12-patient group. We
      audiorecorded and transcribed all discussions and categorized major themes. In
      addition, we met with 15 key health communication, education, and technology
      leaders within our health system to further review the design and plan for
      broader implementation of the tool. In this paper, we present the significant
      changes made to the tablet tool at each phase of this design work. RESULTS:
      Patient feedback emphasized the need to make the tablet tool accessible for
      patients who lacked technical proficiency and to reduce the quantity and
      complexity of text presentation. Both patients and their providers identified
      specific content choices based on their personal experiences (eg, the ability to
      raise private or sensitive concerns) and recommended targeting new patients.
      Stakeholder groups provided essential input on the need to augment text with
      video and to create different versions of the videos to match sex and
      race/ethnicity of the actors with patients. CONCLUSIONS: User-centered design in
      collaboration with patients, providers, and key health stakeholders led to marked
      evolution in the initial content, layout, and target audience for a tablet
      waiting room tool intended to assist complex patients with setting visit
      discussion priorities.

PMID- 27627963
TI  - Extension of the classical classification of beta-turns.
AB  - The functional properties of a protein primarily depend on its three-dimensional
      (3D) structure. These properties have classically been assigned, visualized and
      analysed on the basis of protein secondary structures. The beta-turn is the third
      most important secondary structure after helices and beta-strands. beta-turns
      have been classified according to the values of the dihedral angles phi and psi
      of the central residue. Conventionally, eight different types of beta-turns have
      been defined, whereas those that cannot be defined are classified as type IV beta
      turns. This classification remains the most widely used. Nonetheless, the
      miscellaneous type IV beta-turns represent 1/3(rd) of beta-turn residues. An
      unsupervised specific clustering approach was designed to search for recurrent
      new turns in the type IV category. The classical rules of beta-turn type
      assignment were central to the approach. The four most frequently occurring
      clusters defined the new beta-turn types. Unexpectedly, these types, designated
      IV1, IV2, IV3 and IV4, represent half of the type IV beta-turns and occur more
      frequently than many of the previously established types. These types show
      convincing particularities, in terms of both structures and sequences that allow
      for the classical beta-turn classification to be extended for the first time in
      25 years.

PMID- 27627967
TI  - Simplified Berlin Questionnaire for Screening of High Risk for Obstructive Sleep
      Apnea Among Thai Male Healthcare Workers.
AB  - Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a common disease associated with major
      cardiovascular diseases. Male subjects are more at higher risk for OSA than
      female subjects. The Berlin questionnaire is a beneficial screening tool for OSA
      and has 14 items. The Berlin questionnaire may need some adjustment for Thai or
      Asian populations. We aimed to find items that should be asked in the Berlin
      questionnaire to identify high risk for obstructive sleep apnea among Thai male
      healthcare workers. This study was performed in Thai male healthcare workers over
      the age of 35 and currently working at the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen
      University. The Thai version of the Berlin questionnaire was randomly
      distributed. A study population of 273 subjects was required to provide a
      confidence value of 95%. An item analysis of the Berlin questionnaire was
      evaluated as independent factors for being high risk of OSA by using a
      multivariate logistic regression analysis. Of the 273 distributed questionnaires,
      135 subjects returned then (49.5% response rate). Of those, 41 (30.4%) were
      identified as being at high risk of OSA. Only three items of the Berlin
      questionnaire, including frequent snoring, high body mass index and hypertension,
      were independently associated with being at high risk for OSA. In conclusion, the
      Berlin questionnaire can be shortened to identify high risk for OSA by itself;
      not polysomnography. 

PMID- 27627966
TI  - Tlr4-mutant mice are resistant to acute alcohol-induced sterol-regulatory element
      binding protein activation and hepatic lipid accumulation.
AB  - Previous studies demonstrated that acute alcohol intoxication caused hepatic
      lipid accumulation. The present study showed that acute alcohol intoxication
      caused hepatic lipid accumulation in Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in Tlr4-mutant
      mice. Hepatic sterol-regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)-1, a
      transcription factor regulating fatty acid and triglyceride (TG) synthesis, was
      activated in alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in Tlr4-mutant mice.
      Hepatic Fas, Acc, Scd-1 and Dgat-2, the key genes for fatty acid and TG
      synthesis, were up-regulated in alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in
      Tlr4-mutant mice. Additional experiment showed that hepatic MyD88 was elevated in
      alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in Tlr4-mutant mice. Hepatic NF
      kappaB was activated in alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in Tlr4
      mutant mice. Moreover, hepatic GSH content was reduced and hepatic MDA level was
      elevated in alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in Tlr4-mutant mice.
      Hepatic CYP2E1 was elevated in alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in
      Tlr4-mutant mice. Hepatic p67phox and gp91phox, two NADPH oxidase subunits, were
      up-regulated in alcohol-treated Tlr4-wild-type mice but not in Tlr4-mutant mice.
      Alpha-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone (PBN), a free radical spin-trapping agent,
      protected against alcohol-induced hepatic SREBP-1 activation and hepatic lipid
      accumulation. In conclusion, Tlr4-mutant mice are resistant to acute alcohol
      induced hepatic SREBP-1 activation and hepatic lipid accumulation.

PMID- 27627968
TI  - Study of Atypical Femoral Fracture Cases Coupled in a Multicenter Study.
AB  - There are several causes of atypical femoral fractures (AFF) in elderly Japanese
      patients, including longterm bisphosphonate (BP) use or bowed femoral shaft
      stress fractures, but the available sample size for examining AFF etiology in a
      single institution is limited. The purpose of this study was to categorize the
      characteristics of AFF by analyzing the data compiled on patients treated at our
      hospital and at affiliated institutes. This multicenter, retrospective,
      observational study included 34 AFF cases (bilateral AFF 10) in one male and 23
      female patients (age range 30-90 years, mean age 73.0 years). Evaluation measures
      included the presence/absence of BP use, duration of BP use, history of other
      drug use, presence/absence of comorbidities, fracture site, presence/absence of
      femoral lateral bowing, bone biopsy parameters, and time to bone union. Nineteen
      patients were prescribed BP for osteoporosis (duration range 4-10 years, mean
      duration 6.1 years). Subtrochanteric and femoral shaft fractures were seen in 16
      and 18 cases, respectively (complete fractures 22, incomplete fractures 12).
      Femoral lateral bowing (n = 16) occurred with femoral shaft fractures. Mean time
      to bone union was 9.0 months (complete fractures 11.3 months, incomplete
      fractures 3.7 months). AFF could be substantially caused by three factors: BP
      use, drugs other than BP/comorbidity, and femoral lateral bowing. Twenty four
      patients were classified as having BP-related-type (n = 2), drug/comorbidity-type
      (n = 3), lateral bowing-type (n = 2), or mixed-type (n = 17) AFF. AFF etiology
      cannot be explained by a single cause; thus, a multifactorial etiology, including
      poor bone quality due to mutual interactions and mechanical stress, seems to be
      responsible for the occurrence of AFF. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV diagnostic.

PMID- 27627969
TI  - Development of a Dehumidification System for a Passive Sampler for Determining
      1,3-Butadiene.
AB  - The passive sampler is a simple device for collecting gaseous compounds. It is
      affected by environmental conditions such as relative humidity, but a
      dehumidification system (DHS) has not been developed for it. We have developed a
      dehumidification device for the passive sampler for determining 1,3-butadiene. It
      consists of a passive sampler surrounded by a DHS consisting of a basket filled
      with granular magnesium perchlorate as the dehumidification agent. The passive
      sampler consists of a porous polytetrafluoroethylene tube packed with Carboxen
      1000 adsorbent. We compared the amounts of water adsorbed on the Carboxen 1000
      adsorbent in the presence and in the absence of the DHS; the results showed that
      the DHS prevented water from entering the sampler. Volatile organic compounds
      that entered the sampler were collected by the Carboxen 1000 adsorbent. In the
      case of 1,3-butadiene, much higher amounts were collected by the passive sampler
      with the DHS than without it. This may be due to interference of adsorption or
      acceleration of 1,3-butadiene degradation by the water-soluble oxidant on the
      surface of the Carboxen 1000 adsorbent. 

PMID- 27627971
TI  - Marked Improvement of Meige Syndrome in a Japanese Male Patient with
      Schizophrenia After Switching from Risperidone to Paliperidone: A Case Report.
AB  - Meige syndrome is a relatively rare type of oral facial dystonia. The dominant
      symptoms involve involuntary eye blinking and chin thrusting. Some patients may
      experience excessive tongue protrusion, squinting, muddled speech, or
      uncontrollable contraction of the platysma muscle. A 44-year-old Japanese male
      was suffering from schizophrenia. The initial presentation of his psychosis
      consisted of auditory hallucinations, delusions of persecution, psychomotor
      excitement, loosening association, and restlessness. After being prescribed
      several antipsychotic drugs, risperidone was started and gradually increased to 4
      mg/day. The above symptoms were relieved, particularly auditory hallucination and
      excitement were promptly improved. Persecutory delusion, however persisted, and
      deteriorated. At one year after the start of this risperidone regimen, he
      exhibited severe blepharospasm symptoms (increased rate of eye blinking, light
      sensitivity) and oromandibular symptoms (trismus, jaw pain, dysarthria). He was
      diagnosed with Meige syndrome. His antipsychotic drug was changed from
      risperidone to paliperidone. Two months after switching from risperidone to
      paliperidone, his eye blinking, light sensitivity, jaw pain, and trismus
      gradually improved, although the dysarthria persisted. Six months after starting
      paliperidone, his symptoms of Meige syndrome were completely remitted. He has
      been well without relapse at 12 mg/day of paliperidone. The case suggests that
      Meige syndrome is relieved by changing from risperidone to paliperidone. The
      precise mechanism of the relief remains, however, unknown. 

PMID- 27627970
TI  - Molecular Approaches to Studying Microbial Communities: Targeting the 16S
      Ribosomal RNA Gene.
AB  - Culture-independent methods to detect microorganisms have been developed in
      parallel with traditional culture-based methods ever since the classification of
      bacteria based on 16S rRNA gene sequences was advocated in the 1970s. The
      development and the prevalence of culture-independent molecular technologies have
      provided revolutionary progress in microbial studies. The development of these
      technologies contributes significantly to the research of microorganisms that
      cannot be detected by traditional methods such as culture-dependent methods.Many
      molecular methods targeting the 16S rRNA gene, such as fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH), quantitative PCR, terminal restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (T-RFLP), denaturing-gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), clone
      library analysis, and next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) technologies, have
      been applied to various microbial studies. Notably, the advent of NGS
      technologies enabled a large-scale research of the bacterial community. Many
      recent studies using the NGS technologies have revealed that a larger number of
      bacteria and taxa than previously thought inhabit various parts of the human body
      and various places on the earth. The principles and characteristics of each
      molecular method are different, and each method possesses individual advantages;
      for example target specificity, comprehensiveness, rapidness, and cost
      efficiency. Therefore it is important that the methods used in studies are
      suitable for the objective and materials. Herein, we highlights molecular
      approaches targeting the 16S rRNA gene in bacterial community analysis, and
      focuses on the advantages and limitations of each technology. 

PMID- 27627972
TI  - Revision Myringoplasty Using Thin-Sliced Cartilage for Postoperative
      Reperforation in Patients with Chronic Otitis Media.
AB  - Myringoplasty is one of the basic procedures in otologic surgery, and is
      important to achieve good hearing outcome. The temporal fascia is most widely
      used and considered to be a stable graft in this procedure, although 10-20% of
      patients develop reperforation after surgery, which is often hard to repair, even
      by revision surgery. We herein conducted revision myringoplasty using a cartilage
      graft to repair postoperative reperforation in 7 patients (8 ears) with chronic
      otitis media. The patients were 3 males and 4 females, aged 13-80 years with an
      average of 53.9 years. A cartilage graft was harvested from the tragus, sliced in
      0.3 mm thickness with perichondrium attached on one side, and trimmed into an
      appropriate shape and size. The graft was then underlaid beneath the perforation
      and fixed with fibrin glue. The operation was Wullstein type I tympanoplasty in 5
      ears and myringoplasty in 3 ears, using the temporal fascia in 7 ears and
      subcutaneous tissue in 1 ear. The postoperative follow-up period ranged from 16
      to 44 months with an average of 30.0 months. Perforation of the tympanic membrane
      was successfully closed in 7 ears (87.5%). Hearing outcome was judged successful
      in 5 ears (62.5%) according to the criteria of the Otological Society of Japan
      (postoperative hearing level < 30 dB, hearing gain > 15 dB, or postoperative air
      bone gap < 15 dB). These results indicate that cartilage is a stable and reliable
      graft material for revision myringoplasty to repair postoperative reperforation
      in patients with chronic otitis media.

PMID- 27627973
TI  - Smoking Status and a Pulmonary Function Test in Patients with Rotator Cuff Tears.
AB  - Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects one in several
      smokers, only a few patients are correctly diagnosed compared to the estimated
      number of patients. Several recent reports indicate that the development of
      rotator cuff tears is related to smoking. In this study, we investigated smoking
      status in patients with rotator cuff tears and evaluated the possibility of
      undiagnosed COPD by a pulmonary function test. The subjects were 150 consecutive
      patients over 40 years old, who had been diagnosed with rotator cuff tears and
      had been examined by a pulmonary function test before surgery in our orthopedic
      department between April 2011 and June 2015. They consisted of 96 men and 54
      women, which included 59 non-smokers (39.3%), 62 ex-smokers (41.3%), and 29
      smokers (19.3%). The smoking rate of the subjects was the same as that of the
      general Japanese population. However, the ever-smokers who smoked more than 21
      cigarettes per day were 31.9%, which was high compared to the Japanese ever
      smokers population, i.e. 15.2% of men and 5.5% of women. Twenty-five subjects
      (16.7%) showed airflow limitation, and they consisted of 7 cases of COPD, 3 cases
      of bronchial asthma, one case of bronchiectasis, and 14 undiagnosed cases. The
      undiagnosed cases consisted of 7 non-smokers, 5 ex-smokers, and 2 smokers. Their
      stages of COPD were stage 1 in 11 cases and stage 2 in 3 cases. The prevalence of
      airflow limitation increased with increasing age: 0% for 40's, 8.3% for 50's,
      20.7% for 60's, and 25.6% for over 70's. From these results, we recognized that
      paying attention to the numbers of cigarettes smoked per day are important in
      addition to the smoking history, for the patients with rotator cuff tears. Also,
      sharing the data of a pulmonary function test before surgery can contribute to
      the early diagnosis of COPD.

PMID- 27627974
TI  - Risk Factors in the Pediatric Ward Recognized by Students Before Pediatric
      Nursing Practice -Basic Data for Medical Safety Education Based on Student's
      Learning Readiness-.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to extract the risk factors recognized by students
      before pediatric nursing practice in order to conduct medical safety education
      based on student's learning readiness. Third-year nursing students of A nursing
      college used the P-mSHELL model to find the risk factors in a simulated pediatric
      hospital room, and the researchers analyzed the contents. The students recognized
      four categories of risk factors: "burden on the family", "characteristics of the
      infant", "characteristics of children with disease", and "the family's cognition
      and understanding". There were three categories of risk factors related to "the
      environment": "environment that can cause a dangerous action", "unsafe
      environment", and "sickroom as a living space". There were four categories of
      risk factors related to "the student": "students' own physical/mental condition",
      "anxiety caused by pediatric nursing practice", "learning process in nursing
      practice" and "students' understanding of pediatric nursing". The students
      recognized that there were various risk factors in the child, the family, and the
      environment, and, by the P-mSHELL model, they recognized that they themselves
      could become a risk factor. Based on the risk factors that students extracted,
      teachers should think about what kind of preparation is necessary for students in
      pediatric nursing practice, and it is important to conduct medical safety
      education.

PMID- 27627975
TI  - Announcement of the 34th Annual Meeting of the UOEH Association of Health
      Sciences and the 36th Kyushu Regional Conference of the Research Association for
      the Promotion of Occupational Medicine.

PMID- 27627977
TI  - Response to Oztin et al.

PMID- 27627978
TI  - Do metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers vary depending on comorbidities and
      medications over the age of 90 years?

PMID- 27627976
TI  - Synthesis, characterization and anticancer activity of tanshinone I grafted low
      molecular chitosan.
AB  - In this study, we synthesized a novel water-soluble low molecular chitosan (LMC)
      derivative through Vilsmeier reaction and reductive amination reaction. The
      derivative was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, 1H NMR, FTIR and SEM
      techniques. The results showed that the derivative effectively reduced the cell
      viability rate, inhibited cell metastasis, induced cell apoptosis and dissipated
      mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim). Moreover, the antitumor activity
      was strengthened with the increase of the degree of substitution of tanshinone I
      (TanI). These findings provided important support for developing new water
      soluble antitumor agent and expand the scope of application of LMC.

PMID- 27627979
TI  - Development and validation of the biobanking attitudes and knowledge survey
      Spanish (BANKS-SP).
AB  - Few research studies with non-English-speaking audiences have been conducted to
      explore community members' views on biospecimen donation and banking, and no
      validated Spanish-language multi-scale instruments exist to measure community
      perspectives on biobanking. This study describes the development and psychometric
      properties of the Biobanking Attitudes aNd Knowledge Survey-Spanish (BANKS-SP).
      The BANKS was translated into Spanish using the Brislin method of translation.
      Draft BANKS-SP items were refined through cognitive interviews, and psychometric
      properties were assessed in a sample of 85 Spanish-speaking individuals recruited
      at various community events in a three county area in central west Florida, USA.
      The final BANKS-SP includes three scales: attitudes, knowledge, and self
      efficacy; as well as three single items, which evaluated receptivity and
      intention to donate a biospecimen for research. The final Cronbach's alpha
      coefficients for the two scales that use a Likert response format indicated
      adequate internal consistency (attitudes, alpha = .79; self-efficacy, alpha =
      .91). Intention to donate blood and intention to donate urine were positively
      correlated with attitudes, self-efficacy, and receptivity to learning more about
      biobanking (all p's < .001). BANKS-SP-Knowledge was not statistically
      significantly correlated with other BANKS-SP scales or single items measuring
      intention to donate a biospecimen for research and receptivity for learning more
      about biospecimen research. The BANKS-SP attitudes and self-efficacy scales show
      evidence of satisfactory reliability and validity. Additional research should be
      conducted with larger samples to assess the BANKS-SP instrument's reliability and
      validity. A valid and reliable Spanish-language instrument measuring Spanish
      speaking community members' views about biobanking may help researchers evaluate
      relevant communication interventions to enhance understanding, intention, and
      actual biospecimen donation among this population.

PMID- 27627980
TI  - Epigenetic programming of adipose-derived stem cells in low birthweight
      individuals.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Low birthweight (LBW) is associated with dysfunctions of adipose
      tissue and metabolic disease in adult life. We hypothesised that altered
      epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs)
      could play a role in programming adipose tissue dysfunction in LBW individuals.
      METHODS: ADSCs were isolated from the subcutaneous adipose tissue of 13 normal
      birthweight (NBW) and 13 LBW adult men. The adipocytes were cultured in vitro,
      and genome-wide differences in RNA expression and DNA methylation profiles were
      analysed in ADSCs and differentiated adipocytes. RESULTS: We demonstrated that
      ADSCs from LBW individuals exhibit multiple expression changes as well as genome
      wide alterations in methylation pattern. Reduced expression of the transcription
      factor cyclin T2 encoded by CCNT2 may play a key role in orchestrating several of
      the gene expression changes in ADSCs from LBW individuals. Indeed, silencing of
      CCNT2 in human adipocytes decreased leptin secretion as well as the mRNA
      expression of several genes involved in adipogenesis, including MGLL, LIPE,
      PPARG, LEP and ADIPOQ. Only subtle genome-wide mRNA expression and DNA
      methylation changes were seen in mature cultured adipocytes from LBW individuals.
      CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Epigenetic and transcriptional changes in LBW
      individuals are most pronounced in immature ADSCs that in turn may programme
      physiological characteristics of the mature adipocytes that influence the risk of
      metabolic diseases. Reduced expression of CCNT2 may play a key role in the
      developmental programming of adipose tissue.

PMID- 27627981
TI  - Twelve week liraglutide or sitagliptin does not affect hepatic fat in type 2
      diabetes: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1-based therapies have been
      suggested to improve hepatic steatosis. We assessed the effects of the GLP-1
      receptor agonist liraglutide and the dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitor
      sitagliptin on hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.
      METHODS: In this 12 week, parallel, randomised, placebo-controlled trial,
      performed at the VU University Medical Center between July 2013 and August 2015,
      52 overweight patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin and/or
      sulphonylurea agent ([mean +/- SD] age 62.7 +/- 6.9 years, HbA1c 7.3 +/- 0.7% or
      56 +/- 1 mmol/mol) were allocated to once daily liraglutide 1.8 mg (n = 17),
      sitagliptin 100 mg (n = 18) or matching placebos (n = 17) by computer generated
      numbers. Both participants and researchers were blinded to group assignment.
      Hepatic fat content was measured using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H
      MRS). Hepatic fibrosis was estimated using three validated formulae. RESULTS: One
      patient dropped out in the sitagliptin group owing to dizziness, but no serious
      adverse events occurred. At week 12, no between-group differences in hepatic
      steatosis were found. Liraglutide reduced steatosis by 10% (20.9 +/- 3.4% to 18.8
      +/- 3.3%), sitagliptin reduced steatosis by 12.1% (23.9 +/- 3.0% to 21.0 +/-
      2.7%) and placebo lessened it by 9.5% (18.7 +/- 2.7% to 16.9 +/- 2.7%). Neither
      drug affected hepatic fibrosis scores compared with placebo.
      CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Twelve-week liraglutide or sitagliptin treatment does
      not reduce hepatic steatosis or fibrosis in type 2 diabetes. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01744236 FUNDING : Funded by the European Community's
      Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 282521 -
      the SAFEGUARD project.

PMID- 27627983
TI  - Identification of Mucosa-Invading and Intravascular Bacteria in Feline Small
      Intestinal Lymphoma.
AB  - Persistent bacterial infections of the gastrointestinal mucosa are causally
      linked to gastric carcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma
      in people and laboratory animals. We examined the relationship of mucosa
      associated bacteria to alimentary lymphoma in cats. Intestinal biopsies from 50
      cats with alimentary lymphoma (small cell, n = 33; large cell, n = 17) and 38
      controls without lymphoma (normal to minimal change on histopathology, n = 18;
      lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis, n = 20) were evaluated. The number and spatial
      distribution of bacteria (ie, in luminal cellular debris, villus-associated
      mucus, adherent to epithelium, mucosal invasion, intravascular, or serosal) were
      determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization with the eubacterial probe EUB
      338. Mucosa-invasive bacteria were more frequently observed in cats with large
      cell lymphoma (82%, P <= .001) than in cats with small cell lymphoma (18%),
      normal to minimal change on histopathology, and lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis
      (3%). Intravascular bacteria were observed solely in large cell lymphoma (29%),
      and serosal colonization was more common in cats with large cell lymphoma (57%)
      than with small cell lymphoma (11%, P <= .01), normal to minimal change (8%, P <=
      .01), and lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis (6%, P <= .001). The high frequency
      of invasive bacteria within blood vessels and serosa of cats with large cell
      lymphoma may account for the sepsis-related complications associated with large
      cell lymphoma and inform clinical management. Further studies are required to
      determine the role of intramucosal bacteria in the etiopathogenesis of feline
      alimentary lymphoma.

PMID- 27627982
TI  - Altered skeletal muscle fatty acid handling is associated with the degree of
      insulin resistance in overweight and obese humans.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/HYPOTHESIS: Disturbances in skeletal muscle fatty acid (FA) handling
      may contribute to the development and progression of whole-body insulin
      resistance (IR). In this study, we compared fasting and postprandial skeletal
      muscle FA handling in individuals with varying degrees of IR. METHODS: Seventy
      four overweight/obese participants (62 men) were divided into two groups based on
      the HOMA-IR median (3.35). Fasting and postprandial skeletal muscle FA handling
      were determined by combining the forearm muscle balance technique with stable
      isotopes. [2H2]palmitate was infused i.v. to label VLDL-triacylglycerol (VLDL
      TAG) and NEFA in the circulation, whereas [U-13C]palmitate was incorporated in a
      high-saturated FA mixed-meal labelling chylomicron-TAG. Skeletal muscle biopsies
      were taken to assess intramuscular lipid content, fractional synthetic rate (FSR)
      and the transcriptional regulation of FA metabolism. RESULTS: Postprandial
      forearm muscle VLDL-TAG extraction was elevated in the high-IR vs the mild-IR
      group (AUC0-4h: 0.57 +/- 0.32 vs -0.43 +/- 0.38 nmol [100 ml tissue]-1 min-1,
      respectively, p = 0.045). Although no differences in skeletal muscle TAG,
      diacylglycerol, NEFA content and FSR were present between groups, the high-IR
      group showed increased saturation of the intramuscular NEFA pool (p = 0.039).
      This was accompanied by lower muscle GPAT1 (also known as GPAM) expression (p =
      0.050). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Participants with high-IR demonstrated
      increased postprandial skeletal muscle VLDL-TAG extraction and higher saturation
      of the intramuscular NEFA pool vs individuals with mild-IR. These data support
      the involvement of disturbances in skeletal muscle FA handling in the progression
      of whole-body IR.

PMID- 27627984
TI  - HSP32 and HSP90 Immunoexpression, in Relation to Kit Pattern, Grading, and
      Mitotic Count in Canine Cutaneous Mast Cell Tumors.
AB  - Literature data indicate heat shock protein (Hsp) 32 and 90 as potential
      molecular targets in canine neoplastic mast cells (MCs). However, their
      immunoexpression patterns in canine mast cell tumors (MCTs) have not been
      investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical
      expression of Hsp32 and Hsp90 in 22 canine cutaneous MCTs, in relation to KIT
      immunolabeling pattern, histological grade, and mitotic count. All cases showed
      cytoplasmic labeling of Hsp90, variably associated with nuclear and/or membranous
      labeling. Relationships of Hsp90 or Hsp32 immunolabeling with KIT pattern,
      mitotic count, and tumor grade were not observed. However, the reduced Hsp32
      immunoexpression observed in most grade III/high-grade MCTs suggests a tendency
      toward a loss of immunosignal in poorly differentiated MCs. The great
      heterogeneity in extent and distribution of Hsp90 immunoexpression among the
      different MCT cases may also partially explain the difficulties in predicting the
      in vivo biologic activity of Hsp90 inhibitors on canine MCTs.

PMID- 27627985
TI  - A Mindfulness-Based Lifestyle Intervention for Obese, Inactive Endometrial Cancer
      Survivors: A Feasibility Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to address self-regulation and
      lifestyle behaviors (diet, physical activity) may benefit endometrial cancer
      survivors (ECS), who are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality associated
      with obesity. However, the acceptability of mindfulness training and whether it
      can augment behavior change in ECS is unknown. We aimed to examine; 1) the
      feasibility of the Mindfulness in Motion + Diet (MIM+D) intervention and 2) the
      preliminary efficacy of MIM+D for improving mindfulness, diet, PA and health
      related quality of life (HRQL). METHODS: ECS (Mage=62.4, +/-5yrs from diagnosis)
      completed assessments at baseline, 8 and 14 weeks. Feasibility was determined by
      intervention completion surveys, attendance and adherence data. We used repeated
      measures ANOVA's (SPSS 22.0) and effect size estimates (Cohen's d) to examine
      changes in mindfulness, diet, PA, and HRQL over time. RESULTS: Thirteen ECS (76%)
      completed the MIM+D program and attendance (>=6/8 sessions) was 90%. Women
      reported favorably on the overall quality (mean of 4.75/5) and benefits of the
      MIM+D program; however, would have preferred receiving MIM+D closer to diagnosis.
      Intention to treat analyses found MIM+D did not significantly improve any
      outcomes. However, an intervention completers analysis showed significant change
      in mindfulness (p=.0039) and small to moderate estimates for change in fruits and
      vegetable intake (d=.23), MVPA (d=.45), RAND SF-36: MCS (d=.46), and sleep
      quality (d=.68). CONCLUSIONS: Integrating mindfulness training into behavioral
      interventions is feasible and ECS that adhere to these lifestyle programs may
      benefit. However, to future research should examine the-long term effects of
      mindfulness-based behavioral lifestyle interventions.

PMID- 27627987
TI  - Carriers of a VEGFA enhancer polymorphism selectively binding CHOP/DDIT3 are
      predisposed to increased circulating levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Levels of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) indicate thyroid
      function, because thyroid hormone negatively controls TSH release. Genetic
      variants in the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) gene are associated
      with TSH levels. The aim of this study was to characterise the association of
      VEGFA variants with TSH in a Danish cohort and to identify and characterise
      functional variants. METHODS: We performed an association study of the VEGFA
      locus for circulating TSH levels in 8445 Danish individuals. Lead variants were
      tested for allele-specific effects in vitro using luciferase reporter and gel
      shift assays. RESULTS: Four SNPs in VEGFA were associated with circulating TSH
      (rs9472138, rs881858, rs943080 and rs4711751). For rs881858, the presence of each
      G-allele was associated with a corresponding decrease in TSH levels of 2.3%
      (p=8.4*10-9) and an increase in circulating free T4 levels (p=0.0014). The SNP
      rs881858 is located in a binding site for CHOP (C/EBP homology protein) and
      c/EBPbeta (ccaat enhancer binding protein beta). Reporter-gene analysis showed
      increased basal enhancer activity of the rs881858 A-allele versus the G-allele
      (34.5+/-9.9% (average+/-SEM), p=0.0012), while co-expression of CHOP effectively
      suppressed the rs881858 A-allele activity. The A-allele showed stronger binding
      to CHOP in gel-shift assays. CONCLUSIONS: VEGF is an important angiogenic signal
      required for tissue expansion. We show that VEGFA variation giving allele
      specific response to transcription factors with overlapping binding sites
      associate closely with circulating TSH levels. Because CHOP is induced by several
      types of intracellular stress, this indicates that cellular stress could be
      involved in the normal or pathophysiological response of the thyroid to TSH.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00289237, NCT00316667; Results.

PMID- 27627989
TI  - Effects of long-term stimulation of textured insoles on postural control in
      health elderly.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to confirm the effects of long term
      (chronic) stimulating surface (textured insole) on body balance of elderly
      people. METHODS: Twenty-four healthy elderly individuals were randomly
      distributed in two groups: control and experimental (67.75+/-6.04 years, 74.55+/
      12.14 kg, 163.7+/-8.55 cm, 27.75+/-3.04 kg/m2). Over one month, control group
      (CG) used smooth insoles and the experimental group (ExG) used textured insoles
      every day. Velocity net (Vnet), anteroposterior (VA/P), mediolateral (VM/L) and
      sway path of CoP were assessed in different eye conditions before and after the
      experimental procedure. RESULTS: A mixed between-within subject ANOVA was
      conducted to assess the impact of soft and textured insoles and two visual
      conditions (vision vs. no vision) across two time periods (alpha<=0.05). The
      results showed any statistical difference between groups in each parameter
      assessed in this study. CoP, Vnet and VM/L in the experimental group showed a
      statistically significant effect of textured insoles only without vision (CoP:
      P=0.002; eta2=0.35), Vnet P=0.02; eta2=0.24, VM/L P=0.04; eta2=0.177) whereas
      VA/P showed no statistically significant effect in the same group and condition.
      There was no significant effect in Vnet, VA/P, VM/L and COP in control group that
      used smooth insole for both eye conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm that
      postural stability improved in healthy elderly individuals, increasing
      somatosensory information's from feet plantar mechanoreceptors. Long term
      stimulation with textured insoles decreased CoP, Vnet and VM/L with eyes closed.

PMID- 27627990
TI  - Small-sided soccer games on sand are more physically demanding but less
      technically specific compared to games on artificial turf.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of sand has been suggested as fitness-enhancing surface in
      field-based team sports. However, concerns have arisen in regard whether physical
      responses associated to sand training are sport-specific. We compared physical
      and technical demands during small-sided soccer games (4 vs. 4 + goalkeeper;
      SSGs) played on artificial turf and on sand. METHODS: Movement patterns, rating
      of perceived exertion (RPE) and technical parameters were obtained from eight
      adult male soccerers (20.1+/-1.0 years, 176+/-4 cm and 70.1+/-2.0 kg) using
      Global Positioning Systems, Visual Analogue Scale questionnaires, and notational
      analysis. RESULTS: High-intensity actions (high intensity running, high intensity
      activities), low changes of speed, as well as peak and average speed were higher
      on artificial turf (P<0.05; effect sizes (ES) 0.41 to 0.82). In contrast, time
      spent by jogging as well as high and maximum changes of speed was higher on sand
      (P<0.05; ES: 0.59 to 0.82). Moreover, players perceived more demanding to play on
      sand (P<0.05; ES=0.72). Rating of successful actions was higher during turf SSGs
      than sand SSGs (P<0.05; ES: 0.44 to 0.73), whereas actions requiring lifting the
      ball were higher on sand (P<0.05; ES: 0.47 to 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: The use of sand
      can be considered as complemental to on-turf soccer training, when the training
      goal is to tax lower limb muscle strength or to require high-ball situations.
      Nonetheless, sand training is not appropriate when the achievement of maximal
      speed is desired. Further research should clarify the suitability of sand
      training within soccer conditioning programs.

PMID- 27627986
TI  - Interest in Integrative Medicine Among Postmenopausal Hormone Receptor-Positive
      Breast Cancer Patients in the EvAluate-TM Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer patients often use complementary and alternative
      medicine, but few prospectively collected data on the topic are available
      specifically for postmenopausal breast cancer patients. A large prospective study
      was therefore conducted within a noninterventional study in order to identify the
      characteristics of patients interested in integrative medicine. METHODS: The
      EvAluate-TM study is a prospective, multicenter noninterventional study in which
      treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole was evaluated in postmenopausal
      women with hormone receptor-positive primary breast cancer. Between 2008 and
      2009, 5045 postmenopausal patients were enrolled at 339 certified breast centers
      in Germany. As part of the data collection process, patients were asked at the
      baseline about their interest in and information needs relating to integrative
      medicine. RESULTS: Of the 5045 patients recruited, 3411 responded to the
      questionnaire on integrative medicine and took part in the analysis, 1583
      patients expressed an interest in integrative medicine, and 1828 patients
      declared no interest. Relevant predictors of interest in integrative medicine
      were age, body mass index, tumor size, previous chemotherapy, and use of
      concomitant medications for other medical conditions. Interest in integrative
      medicine declined highly significantly ( P < .001) with age (<50 years, 74.1%; 50
      60 years, 54.1%; >65 years, 38.0%). Patients in favor of integrative medicine
      were significantly less satisfied with the information received about individual
      treatments and antihormonal therapy. Patients with interest in integrative
      medicine were more often interested in rehabilitation and fitness, nutritional
      counseling, and additional support from self-help organizations. These women were
      mostly interested in receiving information about their disease and integrative
      medicine from a physician, rather than from other sources. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study shows that a considerable proportion of postmenopausal breast cancer
      patients are interested in integrative medicine. Information about integrative
      medicine should therefore be provided as part of patient care for this group. It
      was found that receiving concomitant medication for other medical conditions is
      one of the main predictors for women not being interested in integrative
      medicine. This group of patients may need special attention and individualized
      information about integrative medicine. Additionally, most patients were
      interested in obtaining the relevant information from their doctor.

PMID- 27627988
TI  - CEP78 is mutated in a distinct type of Usher syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Usher syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous disorder featured by
      combined visual impairment and hearing loss. Despite a dozen of genes involved in
      Usher syndrome having been identified, the genetic basis remains unknown in 20
      30% of patients. In this study, we aimed to identify the novel disease-causing
      gene of a distinct subtype of Usher syndrome. METHODS: Ophthalmic examinations
      and hearing tests were performed on patients with Usher syndrome in two
      consanguineous families. Target capture sequencing was initially performed to
      screen causative mutations in known retinal disease-causing loci. Whole exome
      sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) were applied for identifying
      novel disease-causing genes. RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing were performed to
      evaluate the splicing-altering effect of identified CEP78 variants. RESULTS:
      Patients from the two independent families show a mild Usher syndrome phenotype
      featured by juvenile or adult-onset cone-rod dystrophy and sensorineural hearing
      loss. WES and WGS identified two homozygous rare variants that affect mRNA
      splicing of a ciliary gene CEP78. RT-PCR confirmed that the two variants indeed
      lead to abnormal splicing, resulting in premature stop of protein translation due
      to frameshift. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence that CEP78 is a novel
      disease-causing gene for Usher syndrome, demonstrating an additional link between
      ciliopathy and Usher protein network in photoreceptor cells and inner ear hair
      cells.

PMID- 27627991
TI  - Examination of the risk factors associated with injured recreational padel
      players in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Padel is a relatively new sport, with steady participation increases
      over the past 50 years. However, there is a need for data examining injury and
      associated risk factors. The study examined how intrinsic (e.g. age and sex) and
      extrinsic factors (e.g. padel participation and equipment) were associated with
      injury in recreational padel players. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire
      completed by 80 recreational padel players between September 2014 and March 2015
      acquired data on: respondent demographics and padel-related activities; the
      number of injuries within the past year; characteristics of the last injury
      sustained; and extrinsic factors including respondents' evaluations of equipment
      (e.g., racquet control/power, footwear cushioning, flexibility, traction). chi2
      tests compared the proportion of respondents reporting injuries in the past year
      among those reporting and not reporting equipment-related issues. RESULTS: Most
      respondents were male (57.5%), aged 30-40 years (46.3%), and played more than 2
      padel sessions/week (48.8%). Overall, 40.0% reported sustaining at least one
      injury during the past year. Sex, age, frequency of padel sessions/week, and
      years of padel experience were not associated with the reporting of injury within
      the past year (P>0.05). The proportion of padel players reporting injuries in the
      past year was greater among those that wore padel-specific footwear than those
      that wore another kind of sports footwear (50.0% vs. 23.3%; P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS:
      Recreational padel players wearing padel-specific footwear were more at risk for
      injury than those not. Our findings highlight the need for additional research
      regarding injury risk and footwear.

PMID- 27627992
TI  - Optimal chordwise stiffness profiles of self-propelled flapping fins.
AB  - The versatility of fish to adapt to different swimming requirements is attributed
      to their complex muscular system. Fish modulate their fin stiffness and shape for
      maximized performance. In this paper, optimal chordwise stiffness profiles that
      maximize the propulsive performance have been predicted using theoretical
      studies. An experimental setup has been fabricated to measure the stiffness
      profiles of real fish caudal fins. Chordwise varying stiffness robotic fins
      fabricated using carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRC) have been tested in
      the water tunnel to evaluate their performance over constant stiffness fins. It
      is observed that the varying stiffness fins produce larger thrusts and
      efficiencies compared to constant stiffness fins for all the operating conditions
      considered in this work. A comparison of the digital image correlation (DIC)
      measured deformations of the fins showed that the better performance of varying
      stiffness fins is due to their larger curvatures and trailing edge amplitudes.
      These theoretical and experimental studies provide a greater understanding of the
      role of stiffness in fish fins for locomotion.

PMID- 27627993
TI  - Nonlinear spectra of spinons and holons in short GaAs quantum wires.
AB  - One-dimensional electronic fluids are peculiar conducting systems, where the
      fundamental role of interactions leads to exotic, emergent phenomena, such as
      spin-charge (spinon-holon) separation. The distinct low-energy properties of
      these 1D metals are successfully described within the theory of linear Luttinger
      liquids, but the challenging task of describing their high-energy nonlinear
      properties has long remained elusive. Recently, novel theoretical approaches
      accounting for nonlinearity have been developed, yet the rich phenomenology that
      they predict remains barely explored experimentally. Here, we probe the nonlinear
      spectral characteristics of short GaAs quantum wires by tunnelling spectroscopy,
      using an advanced device consisting of 6000 wires. We find evidence for the
      existence of an inverted (spinon) shadow band in the main region of the particle
      sector, one of the central predictions of the new nonlinear theories. A (holon)
      band with reduced effective mass is clearly visible in the particle sector at
      high energies.

PMID- 27627994
TI  - Controllable quantum dynamics of inhomogeneous nitrogen-vacancy center ensembles
      coupled to superconducting resonators.
AB  - We explore controllable quantum dynamics of a hybrid system, which consists of an
      array of mutually coupled superconducting resonators (SRs) with each containing a
      nitrogen-vacancy center spin ensemble (NVE) in the presence of inhomogeneous
      broadening. We focus on a three-site model, which compared with the two-site
      case, shows more complicated and richer dynamical behavior, and displays a series
      of damped oscillations under various experimental situations, reflecting the
      intricate balance and competition between the NVE-SR collective coupling and the
      adjacent-site photon hopping. Particularly, we find that the inhomogeneous
      broadening of the spin ensemble can suppress the population transfer between the
      SR and the local NVE. In this context, although the inhomogeneous broadening of
      the spin ensemble diminishes entanglement among the NVEs, optimal entanglement,
      characterized by averaging the lower bound of concurrence, could be achieved
      through accurately adjusting the tunable parameters.

PMID- 27627996
TI  - Continuity or conquest? A multi-isotope approach to investigating identity in the
      Early Iron Age of the Southern Levant.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Across the Mediterranean and Near East, the transition from the Late
      Bronze Age (ca. 1550-1200 BC) to the Early Iron Age (ca. 1200-900 BC) was
      accompanied by profound cultural change. While this transformation was initially
      attributed to invasion or conquest, more recent, nuanced interpretations of
      archaeological and biological data now emphasize the decline of palatial
      economies, a shift away from centralized political authority, and internal social
      restructuring amidst rapid climate change in lieu of "collapse." Correspondingly,
      the hypothesis that Early Iron Age populations in Palestine represent the same
      ethnic group whose culture nevertheless underwent considerable change by actively
      adapting to internal and external forces was tested using biogeochemical data
      from individuals interred within an Early Iron Age tomb at the site of Tell
      Dothan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human dental enamel from molars (n = 43) recovered
      from Tomb I at Tell Dothan was analyzed for radiogenic strontium isotope ratios
      and stable oxygen and carbon (VPDB) isotope values. RESULTS: Strontium (mean =
      0.70816 +/- 0.00005, 1sigma) isotope ratios, as well as oxygen (mean = -2.3 +/-
      0.70/00, 1sigma) and carbon (mean = -11.9 +/- 0.50/00, 1sigma) isotope values,
      all display little variability. DISCUSSION: The absence of non-locals at Tell
      Dothan indicates that population replacement does not adequately explain the
      sociopolitical changes observed in the archaeological record. Further,
      homogeneity among isotope values is indicative of a community that was not highly
      mobile, suggesting that decentralization and a corresponding transition to a more
      mobile lifestyle may not accurately reflect the adaptive strategies of all human
      groups during this period as a mechanism to cope with social and environmental
      change.

PMID- 27627997
TI  - Minimally invasive management of colonoscopic perforation during polypectomy - a
      video vignette.

PMID- 27627995
TI  - Water-Soluble Triarylborane Chromophores for One- and Two-Photon Excited
      Fluorescence Imaging of Mitochondria in Cells.
AB  - Three water-soluble tetracationic quadrupolar chromophores comprising two three
      coordinate boron pi-acceptor groups bridged by thiophene-containing moieties were
      synthesised for biological imaging applications. Compound 3 containing the
      bulkier 5-(3,5-Me2 C6 H2 )-2,2'-(C4 H2 S)2 -5'-(3,5-Me2 C6 H2 ) bridge is stable
      over a long period of time, exhibits a high fluorescence quantum yield and strong
      one- and two-photon absorption (TPA), and has a TPA cross section of 268 GM at
      800 nm in water. Confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy studies in live
      cells indicated localisation of the chromophore at the mitochondria; moreover,
      cytotoxicity measurements proved biocompatibility. Thus, chromophore 3 has
      excellent potential for one- and two-photon-excited fluorescence imaging of
      mitochondrial function in cells. 

PMID- 27627998
TI  - Repigmentation patterns induced by NB-UVB and their relationship with melanocytic
      migration and proliferation in vitiligo.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Vitiligo is the most commonly acquired depigmentation
      disorder of the skin and is characterized by the destruction of melanocytes.
      Ultraviolet phototherapy with narrow band (UVB-NB) induces proliferation,
      differentiation, maturation, and migration of melanocytes. The clinical
      repigmentation is featured by follicular, marginal, and diffuse patterns. The aim
      of this study was to observe the process involved in the melanocyte migration and
      proliferation among these patterns and the unresponsive lesions following UVB-NB
      phototherapy. The focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and c-KIT were used as markers of
      melanocyte migration and differentiation, respectively. METHODS: A total of 17
      vitiligo patients under UVB-NB therapy were selected. The patients expressed the
      three repigmentation patterns as well as unresponsive lesions at the conclusion
      of a 30-session cycle. Skin biopsies were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and
      qRT-PCR. RESULTS: We found an increased expression of c-KIT in the follicular
      pattern compared to the diffuse pattern that was expressed predominantly of FAK.
      Marginal pattern expressed both proteins. The unresponsive achromic lesions
      showed poor expressions of both markers. CONCLUSION: Proliferation was prominent
      in the follicular pattern, but migration was prominent in the diffuse pattern.
      For the marginal pattern, both dynamics were present. The absence of these
      markers in vitiligo lesions suggests a lack of response to UVB-NB.

PMID- 27627999
TI  - Percutaneous Minimally Invasive Techniques in the Treatment of Spinal Metastases.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: Spinal metastases are a common and morbid condition in
      America. Of the 1.6 million new cases of cancer estimated to be diagnosed in the
      USA in 2015, approximately 5-10 % will develop spinal metastases. This number is
      expected to increase as the life expectancy of cancer patients increases.
      Patients with osteolytic spinal metastases experience severe and often
      debilitating pain, which significantly reduces quality of life. Due to the
      morbidity of open surgery, particularly in oncologic patients, the treatment
      paradigm has shifted towards minimally invasive therapy. The advent and evolution
      of percutaneous treatments of spinal metastases has shown progressive success in
      reducing pain, improving function, and providing mechanical stability. There are
      various currently available interventions including vertebroplasty, vertebral
      augmentation, and coblation and radiofrequency ablation systems. For more complex
      spinal metastases, combined treatments including vertebral augmentation in
      conjunction with radiofrequency ablation, external beam radiation, and the novel
      treatment of intraoperative radiotherapy are also available. Ultimately, the goal
      of treatment in this patient population is palliative with the intention of
      improving the remaining quality of life. There is no established algorithm or
      specific technique that has proved best for the many variations of vertebral
      compression fractures (VCFs), so treatment tends to be dependent on the operator
      and/or based on institution preference or bias. Each technique provides its own
      unique value in the various types of metastatic VCFs encountered, and
      understanding the uses, advantages, and safety profile of each specific treatment
      is imperative in providing the best patient care. Percutaneous treatment of
      metastatic spinal disease is an excellent alternative to medical and surgical
      management in carefully selected patients. We believe that a multidisciplinary
      approach and combination therapy allows for optimal pain reduction and
      improvement of function.

PMID- 27628001
TI  - Post Thrombotic Syndrome.
AB  - Venous insufficiency following deep venous thrombosis is known as the post
      thrombotic syndrome. Whilst its presentation and symptoms can vary slightly
      between individuals, it can have a profound effect on quality of life. Symptoms
      range from mild limb swelling to severe intractable ulceration. A number of
      scoring systems have been developed to help monitor the disease progression,
      response to treatment as well as to classify patients for research
      purposes.Treatment involves a combination of therapies, including compression
      stockings, venous stenting for out flow obstruction and in some instances deep
      venous bypass. A considerable effort is made in preventing post thrombotic
      syndrome with a number of trials looking into the effect of prompt and stable
      anticoagulation, the effect of compression stockings, the effect of exercise and
      the outcomes following early thrombus removal strategies such as catheter
      directed and pharmacomechanical thrombolysis.

PMID- 27628000
TI  - Venous and Arterial Thrombosis: Is There a Link?
AB  - An increasing body of evidence suggests the likelihood of a link between venous
      and arterial thrombosis. The two vascular complications share several risk
      factors, such as age, obesity, smoking, diabetes mellitus, blood hypertension,
      hypertriglyceridemia, and metabolic syndrome. Moreover, there are many examples
      of conditions accounting for both venous and arterial thrombosis, such as the
      antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, hyperhomocysteinemia, malignancies,
      infections, and the use of hormonal treatment. Finally, several recent studies
      have consistently shown that patients with venous thromboembolism are at a higher
      risk of arterial thrombotic complications than matched control individuals. We,
      therefore, speculate the two vascular complications are simultaneously triggered
      by biological stimuli responsible for activating coagulation and inflammatory
      pathways in both the arterial and the venous system. Future studies are needed to
      clarify the nature of this association, to assess its extent, and to evaluate its
      implications for clinical practice.

PMID- 27628002
TI  - Venous Thromboembolism in Brain Tumor Patients.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common medical condition, particularly after
      surgical interventions. Many studies have shown that development of VTE,
      including both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is more
      common in surgical patients with cancer than in patients without cancer. This
      chapter focuses on VTE in brain tumor patients, including their pathogenesis,
      presentation, diagnosis, and treatment. Topics discussed included a brief
      overview of VTE followed by an in-depth discussion of the VTE risks brain tumor
      patients face in the post-operative period. We conclude with a summary of various
      recommendations on VTE prophylaxis and a discussion of the controversial nature
      of VTE chemoprophylaxis for patients undergoing transcranial operations for brain
      tumors.

PMID- 27628003
TI  - Thromboembolic Prophylaxis for Morbidly Obese Patients Undergoing Bariatric
      Surgery.
AB  - Obesity itself is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic events.
      Moreover, most bariatric procedures actually are performed by laparoscopic
      approach, implying an increased intraabdominal pressure during the surgical
      procedure that may favor the development of thrombus. Therefore, bariatric
      surgery is considered a high-risk procedure for thromboembolic events. Actual
      recommendations are to include low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) and
      compression stockings in the primary prophylaxis of thromboembolic events.
      Following these measures, a routine screening of thromboembolic complications
      with imaging tests is not recommended.

PMID- 27628004
TI  - Thrombolytic Therapy by Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Pulmonary Embolism.
AB  - Clinicians need to make decisions about the use of thrombolytic (fibrinolytic)
      therapy for pulmonary embolism (PE) after carefully considering the risks of
      major complications from bleeding, and the benefits of treatment, for each
      individual patient. They should probably not use systemic thrombolysis for PE
      patients with normal blood pressure. Treatment by human recombinant tissue
      plasminogen activator (rt-PA), alteplase, saves the lives of high-risk PE
      patients, that is, those with hypotension or in shock. Even in the absence of
      strong evidence, clinicians need to choose the most appropriate regimen for
      administering alteplase for individual patients, based on assessment of the
      urgency of the situation, risks for major complications from bleeding, and
      patient's body weight. In addition, invasive strategies should be considered when
      absolute contraindications for thrombolytic therapy exist, serious complications
      arise, or thrombolytic therapy fails.

PMID- 27628005
TI  - Cerebral Venous Thrombosis.
AB  - Cerebral venous thrombosis is an important cause of stroke in the young. Unlike
      venous thromboembolism (VTE), women are affected three times more often than men
      by CVT. The most common symptoms are headache, seizures and focal neurological
      deficits. The diagnosis can be confirmed with MRI, CT-venography, or catheter
      angiography. An intracerebral hemorrhage is found on cerebral imaging in
      approximately 40 % of patients, and can range from small juxtacortical
      hemorrhages to large space-occupying lesions. Many risk factors for CVT have been
      reported, most of which overlap with those of VTE. The primary therapy for CVT is
      anticoagulation with heparin, based on limited evidence from randomized trials.
      Both unfractionated or low-molecular weight heparin can be used to treat CVT,
      although the latter is generally preferable. Small studies have shown promising
      results of endovascular treatment in severe patients, but these data require
      confirmation in a randomized trial. In patients who develop clinical and
      radiological signs of impending herniation decompressive surgery can be both life
      saving and result in a good functional outcome. The prognosis is nowadays
      favorable in most cases, especially compared to arterial stroke, although a
      significant proportion of patients do suffer from chronic symptoms.

PMID- 27628006
TI  - Anticoagulation Therapy in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.
AB  - Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at increased risk for both
      thrombotic events and bleeding. The early stages of CKD are mainly associated
      with prothrombotic tendency, whereas in its more advanced stages, beside the
      prothrombotic state, platelets can become dysfunctional due to uremic-related
      toxin exposure leading to an increased bleeding tendency. Patients with CKD
      usually require anticoagulation therapy for treatment or prevention of
      thromboembolic diseases. However, this benefit could easily be offset by the risk
      of anticoagulant-induced bleeding. Treatment of patients with CKD should be based
      on evidence from randomized clinical trials, but usually CKD patients are
      excluded from these trials. In the past, unfractionated heparins were the
      anticoagulant of choice for patients with CKD because of its independence of
      kidney elimination. However, currently low-molecular-weight heparins have largely
      replaced the use of unfractionated heparins owing to fewer incidences of heparin
      induced thrombocytopenia and bleeding. We undertook this review in order to
      explain the practical considerations for the management of anticoagulation in
      these high risk population.

PMID- 27628007
TI  - Role of P2Y12 Receptor in Thrombosis.
AB  - P2Y12 receptor is a 342 amino acid Gi-coupled receptor predominantly expressed on
      platelets. P2Y12 receptor is physiologically activated by ADP and inhibits adenyl
      cyclase (AC) to decrease cyclic AMP (cAMP) level, resulting in platelet
      aggregation. It also activates PI3 kinase (PI3K) pathway leading to fibrinogen
      receptor activation, and may protect platelets from apoptosis. Abnormalities of
      P2Y12 receptor include congenital deficiencies or high activity in diseases like
      diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), exposing such patients
      to a prothrombotic condition. A series of clinical antiplatelet drugs, such as
      clopidogrel and ticagrelor, are designed as indirect or direct antagonists of
      P2Y12 receptor to reduce incidence of thrombosis mainly for patients of acute
      coronary syndrome (ACS) who are at high risk of thrombotic events. Studies on
      novel dual-/multi-target antiplatelet agents consider P2Y12 receptor as a
      promising part in combined targets. However, the clinical practical phenomena,
      such as "clopidogrel resistance" due to gene variations of cytochrome P450 or
      P2Y12 receptor constitutive activation, call for better antiplatelet agents.
      Researches also showed inverse agonist of P2Y12 receptor could play a better role
      over neutral antagonists. Personalized antiplatelet therapy is the most ideal
      destination for antiplatelet therapy in ACS patients with or without other
      underlying diseases like DM or CKD, however, there is still a long way to go.

PMID- 27628008
TI  - Proton Pump Inhibitors in Cardiovascular Disease: Drug Interactions with
      Antiplatelet Drugs.
AB  - Aspirin and P2Y12 receptor antagonists are widely used across the spectrum of
      cardiovascular diseases. Upper gastrointestinal complications, including ulcer
      and bleeding, are relatively common during antiplatelet treatment and, therefore,
      concomitant proton pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment is often prescribed.PPIs
      provide gastroprotection by changing the intragastric milieu, essentially by
      raising intragastric pH. In recent years, it has been heavily discussed whether
      PPIs may reduce the cardiovascular protection by aspirin and, even more so,
      clopidogrel. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies suggested an interaction
      between PPIs and clopidogrel, and subsequent clinical studies were conducted to
      evaluate the clinical impact of this interaction. More recently, it was reported
      that PPIs may also attenuate the antiplatelet effect of aspirin. This may be
      clinically important, because a fixed combination of aspirin and a PPI
      (esomeprazole) has recently been approved and because aspirin is the most widely
      used drug in patients with cardiovascular disease. The antiplatelet effect of the
      new P2Y12 receptor antagonists, ticagrelor and prasugrel, seems less influenced
      by PPI co-treatment.Given the large number of patients treated with
      antithrombotic drugs and PPIs, even a minor reduction of platelet inhibition
      potentially carries considerable clinical impact. The present book chapter
      summarizes the evidence regarding the widespread use of platelet inhibitors and
      PPIs in combination. Moreover, it outlines current evidence supporting or
      opposing drug interactions between these drugs and discusses clinical
      implications.

PMID- 27628009
TI  - Deep Vein Thrombosis in Intensive Care.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and
      pulmonary embolism (PE) is a severe complication in critically ill patients
      generally affected by multiorgan disfunction associated with immobilization also
      prolonged.Nowadays, VTE prophylaxis is included in the requirements of hospital
      accreditation and evaluation of the maintenance of standards of quality of care.
      ICU patients are characterized by a dynamic day-to-day variation both of
      thromboembolic that bleeding risk and DVT incidence in presence of
      thromboprophylaxis ranges between 5 and 15 %.Patient-centered methods for the
      assessment of both thrombotic and bleeding risk are recommended because pre
      existent factors to ICU admission, diagnosis, emerging syndromes, invasive
      procedures and pharmacological treatments daily induce important changes in
      clinical condition.General consensus currently establishes use of heparin in
      pharmacological prophylaxis at the time of admission to the ICU and the temporary
      suspension of heparin in patients with active bleeding or severe (<50,000/cc)
      thrombocytopenia. Individualized thromboprophylaxis regimens were proposed but
      there is still no consensus based on evidence.DVT diagnosis is not clinical but
      imaging-based and in each ICU data on DVT incidence (DVT diagnosed 72 h after ICU
      admission) should be obtained by weekly ultrasound screening standardized for the
      anatomical sites of compression used, taking into account the persistence of DVT
      risk throughout ICU stay. A role for mechanical thromboprophylaxis by elastic
      stockings or pneumatic compression was reported but no general consensus was
      reached about its use at the best. Much work has to be done but ICU remain the
      last frontier for VTE prophylaxis.

PMID- 27628010
TI  - Thrombosis and von Willebrand Factor.
AB  - One of the key players in both hemostasis and thrombosis is von Willebrand factor
      (vWF), which demonstrates a duality between these two processes. Thrombus is
      structured by numerous elements, including endothelial cells, platelets, plasma
      proteins and shear stress alteration. In circulation, once a vessel wall is
      injured, collagen is exposed and platelets attach to the site of injury.
      Accordingly, vWF mediates adherence of platelets to the damaged vessel wall by
      binding both to the collagen and platelet receptor. A growing body of data also
      indicates a role for neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in human thrombosis as
      scaffolds for vWF, promoting thrombosis. VWF also mediates the protection of
      factor VIII, a main cofactor of the intrinsic clotting pathway. Since vWF plays a
      critical role in both thrombotic and bleeding events, a decreased plasma level of
      this factor may point to a bleeding disorder, while an elevated plasma level may
      predict occurrence of thrombosis. Since thrombotic events are the foremost cause
      of death, inhibiting the vWF activity would be a novel prophylaxis to reduce
      these events. Though, accumulated data have made vWF a promising focus for
      research on cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This chapter, however, aims to clarify
      the role of vWF in thrombus formation and pathogenesis of thrombosis.

PMID- 27628011
TI  - Venous Thromboembolic Disease in Children and Adolescents.
AB  - The VTE is mainly a disease of the older adult, though its incidence has
      increased significantly in the pediatric population over the past several years.
      This trend is likely due to enhanced awareness and recognition of VTE, as well as
      increased prevalence of thromboembolic associated risk factors, such as increases
      in the proportion of children with predisposing medical conditions. The
      evaluation and management of a child with VTE is similar to that of adults,
      however pediatric patients have their own distinct aspects of care, stemming from
      particularities of the hemostatic system, age-related risk factors and
      differences in response to anticoagulant and antithrombotic therapy. This review
      addresses the risk factors and the evaluation and management of children with
      VTE.

PMID- 27628012
TI  - Biometric values, C-reactive protein, and proteinogram of healthy blonde capuchin
      (Sapajus flavius) kept in northeast of Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sapajus flavius is a species of capuchin monkey classified as
      critically endangered. Studies related to their biometric values are scarce with
      incomplete external measurement reports available from only four specimens.
      Moreover, information regarding proteinogram is limited with no reference to C
      reactive protein (CRP) and globulin fractions for this species. METHODS:
      Biometric values, CRP, and proteinogram were determined for 12 clinically healthy
      S. flavius, kept in captivity in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. RESULTS: The measured
      values in biometric parameters present a tendency to be higher in males. The CRP
      mean values from 12 S. flavius were 1.2+/-0.2 mg/dL. For albumin, alpha, beta,
      and gamma globulin fraction parameters, the reference interval was calculated.
      CONCLUSIONS: Authors believe that with certain limitations, results obtained can
      be helpful for the populations in the wild, which could be of great aid in
      detecting unhealthy individuals and therefore contributing to the conservation of
      this species.

PMID- 27628013
TI  - Drug-loadable Mesoporous Bioactive Glass Nanospheres: Biodistribution, Clearance,
      BRL Cellular Location and Systemic Risk Assessment via (45)Ca Labelling and
      Histological Analysis.
AB  - Mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) nanospheres with excellent drug loading property
      have attracted significant attention in the field of nano-medicine. However,
      systemic metabolism and biosafety of MBG nanospheres which are crucial issues for
      clinical application are yet to be fully understood. Isotope quantitative tracing
      combined with biochemical parameters and histopatological changes were used to
      analyze biodistribution, excretion path and the effect on metabolism and major
      organs, and then we focused on the hepatocellular location and damaging effect of
      MBG. The results indicated MBG possessed a longer residence time in blood. After
      being cleared from circulation, nanospheres were mainly distributed in the liver
      and were slightly internalized in the form of exogenous phagosome by hepatocyte,
      whereby more than 96% of nanospheres were located in the cytoplasm (nearly no
      nuclear involvement). A little MBG was transferred into the mitochondria, but did
      not cause ROS reaction. Furthermore, no abnormal metabolism and histopathological
      changes was observed. The accumulation of MBG nanospheres in various organs were
      excreted mainly through feces. This study revealed comprehensively the systemic
      metabolism of drug-loadable MBG nanospheres and showed nanospheres have no
      obvious biological risk, which provides a scientific basis for developing MBG
      nanospheres as a new drug delivery in clinical application.

PMID- 27628015
TI  - Systematic review of the use of endo-luminal topical negative pressure in
      oesophageal leaks and perforations.
AB  - Topical negative pressure is widely used in the management of superficial wounds.
      The use of this technology in the management of oesophageal perforations is
      becoming increasingly common. This systematic review aims to capture available
      evidence about its use in this setting. Medline and Embase were searched using
      MeSH terms and free text: esophageal perforation; esophageal injury; vacuum
      assisted closure; vacuum therapy device; esophagus; wounds penetrating;
      esophageal perforation; wound healing; negative pressure wound therapy. Searches
      were carried out between April and November 2015. Case series, cohort trials and
      controlled trials were included. Additional studies were found by hand searching
      reference lists. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria with 180 patients.
      Nine of the studies were case series and two were retrospective comparisons of
      negative pressure with stents or clips. Healing of the perforation occurred in
      163/179 patients and the overall mortality was 12.8%. Compared with published
      data on mortality from oesophageal perforation, the application of negative
      pressure appears to be beneficial. The studies are, however, limited to case
      series and retrospective cohort studies. The number of patients in each study is
      small and in the absence of randomized trials demonstrating a lack of bias firm
      conclusions cannot be made.

PMID- 27628016
TI  - Purtscher's-like retinopathy in acute alcoholic pancreatitis.
AB  - A 28-year-old man presented with a sudden onset of visual loss in both eyes (OU).
      He had a known history of acute pancreatitis and hepatitis following alcohol
      abuse. Examination of the anterior segment of the eye revealed non-sustained
      pupillary light reaction. The fundus showed typical Purtscher's flecken over the
      posterior pole with multiple cotton wool spots and retinal superficial
      haemorrhages in OU. Fundus fluorescein angiogram revealed abnormal
      hypofluorescence in both the posterior poles. Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
      for Purtscher's flecken showed abnormal retinal thickening with hyper-reflective
      areas in the inner neurosensory layers. The patient responded favourably to high
      dose corticosteroid therapy (1.5 mg/kilogram per body weight) with a tapering
      dose. There was a mild reduction of the ischaemic areas with a corresponding
      improvement in visual acuity. This case has been presented owing to its rarity
      and under-reporting. Treatment with corticosteroids yielded favourable results. 

PMID- 27628017
TI  - Mesaortitis luetic.

PMID- 27628014
TI  - Defining the Risk and Associated Morbidity and Mortality of Severe Respiratory
      Syncytial Virus Infection Among Preterm Infants Without Chronic Lung Disease or
      Congenital Heart Disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The REGAL (RSV Evidence-a Geographical Archive of the Literature)
      series provide a comprehensive review of the published evidence in the field of
      respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Western countries over the last 20 years.
      This second publication covers the risk and burden of RSV infection in preterm
      infants born at <37 weeks' gestational age (wGA) without chronic lung disease or
      congenital heart disease. METHODS: A systematic review was undertaken for
      articles published between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2015. Studies
      reporting data for hospital visits/admissions for RSV infection among preterm
      infants as well as studies reporting RSV-associated morbidity, mortality, and
      risk factors were included. Study quality and strength of evidence (SOE) were
      graded using recognized criteria. RESULTS: 2469 studies were identified of which
      85 were included. Preterm infants, particularly those born at lower wGA, tended
      to have higher RSV hospitalization (RSVH) rates compared with otherwise healthy
      term infants (high SOE). RSVH rates ranged from ~5 per 1000 children to >100 per
      1000 children with the highest rates shown in the lowest gestational age infants
      (high SOE). Independent risk factors associated with RSVH include: proximity of
      birth to the RSV season, living with school-age siblings, smoking of mother
      during pregnancy or infant exposure to environmental smoking, reduced breast
      feeding, male sex, and familial atopy (asthma) (high SOE). Predictive models can
      identify 32/33-35 wGA infants at risk of RSVH (high SOE). CONCLUSION: RSV
      infection remains a major burden on Western healthcare systems and is associated
      with significant morbidity. Further studies focusing on the prevalence and burden
      of RSV in different gestational age cohorts, the changing risk of RSVH during the
      first year of life, and on RSV-related mortality in preterm infants are needed to
      determine the true burden of disease. FUNDING: AbbVie.

PMID- 27628018
TI  - Non-episodic angioedema associated with eosinophilia.

PMID- 27628022
TI  - The Use of Omalizumab in Food Oral Immunotherapy.
AB  - Food allergy is an important health issue that affects up to 8 % of the
      population. The management of allergic patients involves allergen avoidance and
      prompts the treatment of accidental reactions, as no curative treatment is
      available so far in routine practice. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a promising
      therapeutic alternative, but it is associated with frequent allergic reactions
      and cost-effectiveness issues. In hopes of reducing such reactions, a number of
      trials have used omalizumab, an anti-IgE monoclonal humanized antibody, as
      adjunctive therapy in OIT. The allergens studied in these omalizumab-enabled OIT
      trials include peanuts, milk, eggs, or mixes of multiple foods. In this article,
      we review the major findings from these studies and discuss potential benefits
      and issues related to omalizumab-enabled OIT. Results from the previous trials
      suggest that the use of omalizumab could potentially lead to safer and more
      efficient OIT protocols, by reducing the number and severity of reactions, and
      increasing allergen tolerance threshold. While more evidence is needed with
      regard to the maintenance of the long-term tolerance after OIT, omalizumab's
      potential immunomodulatory role could be of benefit. More studies are needed to
      further document this new indication for omalizumab.

PMID- 27628023
TI  - 3,6-Dinitropyrazolo[4,3-c]pyrazole-Based Multipurpose Energetic Materials through
      Versatile N-Functionalization Strategies.
AB  - A family of 3,6-dinitropyrazolo[4,3-c]pyrazole-based energetic compounds was
      synthesized by using versatile N-functionalization strategies. Subsequently, nine
      ionic derivatives of the N,N'-(3,6-dinitropyrazolo[4,3-c]pyrazole-1,4
      diyl)dinitramidate anion were prepared by acid-base reactions and fully
      characterized by infrared, multinuclear NMR spectra, and elemental analysis. The
      structures of four of these compounds were further confirmed by single-crystal X
      ray diffraction. Based on their different physical and detonation properties,
      these compounds exhibit promising potential as modern energetic materials and can
      be variously classified as green primary explosives, high-performance secondary
      explosives, fuel-rich propellants, and propellant oxidizers.

PMID- 27628024
TI  - Prediction of 195 Pt NMR of photoactivable diazido- and azine-Pt(IV) anticancer
      agents by DFT computational protocols.
AB  - 195 Pt NMR chemical shifts for a series of large-sized photoactivable anticancer
      diazido-Pt(IV), homopiperizine-Pt(IV) and multifunctional azine-Pt(IV) complexes
      hardly to be probed experimentally and by sophisticated four-component and two
      component relativistic calculations are predicted with high accuracy by density
      functional theory computational protocols. The calculated 195 Pt NMR chemical
      shifts constitute a crucial descriptor for making highly predictive one-parameter
      quantitative structure activity relationships models that help in designing
      photoactivable Pt(IV)-based antitumor agents with high cytotoxicity and
      selectivity. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27628025
TI  - Petunia hybrida PDR2 is involved in herbivore defense by controlling steroidal
      contents in trichomes.
AB  - As a first line of defense against insect herbivores many plants store high
      concentrations of toxic and deterrent secondary metabolites in glandular
      trichomes. Plant Pleiotropic Drug Resistance (PDR)-type ABC transporters are
      known secondary metabolite transporters, and several have been implicated in
      pathogen or herbivore defense. Here, we report on Petunia hybrida PhPDR2 as a
      major contributor to trichome-related chemical defense. PhPDR2 was found to
      localize to the plasma membrane and be predominantly expressed in multicellular
      glandular trichomes of leaves and stems. Down-regulation of PhPDR2 via RNA
      interference (pdr2) resulted in a markedly higher susceptibility of the
      transgenic plants to the generalist foliage feeder Spodoptera littoralis.
      Untargeted screening of pdr2 trichome metabolite contents showed a significant
      decrease in petuniasterone and petuniolide content, compounds, which had
      previously been shown to act as potent toxins against various insects. Our
      findings suggest that PhPDR2 plays a leading role in controlling petuniasterone
      levels in leaves and trichomes of petunia, thus contributing to herbivory
      resistance.

PMID- 27628030
TI  - Deoxyelephantopin induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells via oxidative stress, NF
      kappaB inhibition and mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - Deoxyelephantopin (DET), a naturally occurring sesquiterpene lactone present in
      Chinese medicinal herb, Elephantopus scaber has been shown to exert anti
      inflammatory as well as anticancer effects in various cancer cells of human
      origin in vitro. However, the exact molecular mechanism underlying DET-induced
      apoptosis remains largely unexplored, particularly in human hepatocellular
      carcinoma G2 (HepG2) cells. In the present study, we found that DET inhibits
      proliferation and induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner.
      This DET-mediated apoptosis was found to be associated with reactive oxygen
      species generation, glutathione depletion and decreased activity of thioredoxin
      reductase, mitochondrial membrane potential disruption, Bcl-2 family proteins
      modulation, cytochrome c release, caspases-3 activation, PARP cleavage and
      inhibition of NF-kappaB activation. DET inhibited the constitutive as well as
      induced-translocation of NF-kappaB into nucleus and augmented the apoptotic
      effect of Gemcitabine. IKK-16 (NF-kappaB inhibitor) further enhanced the
      cytotoxicity of DET and gemcitabine indicating that DET induces apoptosis in
      HepG2 cells at least partially through inhibition of NF-kappaB activation.
      Further mechanistic study demonstrated that DET inhibits the translocation of
      constitutive as well as induced-NF-kappaB into nucleus by decreasing
      phosphorylation of IkBalpha. Moreover, pretreatment of cells with 3 mM NAC
      reversed DET-mediated cell death and NF-kappaB inhibition, indicating that DET
      exerts its anticancer effects mainly through oxidative stress. Therefore, DET may
      be developed into a lead chemotherapeutic drug as a single agent or in
      combination with clinical drugs for the effective treatment of liver cancer. (c)
      2016 BioFactors, 43(1):63-72, 2017.

PMID- 27628031
TI  - The Temporal Instability of Resting State Network Connectivity in Intractable
      Epilepsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Focal epilepsies, such as temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), are known to
      disrupt network activity in areas outside the epileptogenic zone [Tracy et al.,
      2015]. We devised a measure of temporal instability of resting state functional
      connectivity (FC), capturing temporal variations of BOLD correlations between
      brain regions that is less confounded than the "sliding window" approach common
      in the literature. METHODS: We investigated healthy controls and unilateral TLE
      patients (right and left seizure focus groups), utilizing group ICA to identify
      the default mode network (DMN), a network associated with episodic memory, a key
      cognitive deficit in TLE. Our instability analyses focused on: (1) connectivity
      between DMN region pairs, both within and between TLE patients and matched
      controls, (2) whole brain group differences between region pairs ipsilateral or
      contralateral to the epileptogenic temporal lobe. RESULTS: For both the whole
      brain and a more focused analysis of DMN region pairs, temporal stability appears
      to characterize the healthy brain. The TLE patients displayed more FC instability
      compared to controls, with this instability more pronounced for the right TLE
      patients. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings challenge the view that the resting state
      signal is stable over time, providing a measure of signal coherence change that
      may generate insights into the temporal components of network organization. The
      precuneus was the region within the DMN consistently expressing this instability,
      suggesting this region plays a key role in large scale temporal dynamics of the
      DMN, with such dynamics disrupted in TLE, putting key cognitive functions at
      risk. Hum Brain Mapp 38:528-540, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27628033
TI  - Amontillado is required for Drosophila Slit processing and for tendon-mediated
      muscle patterning.
AB  - Slit cleavage into N-terminal and C-terminal polypeptides is essential for
      restricting the range of Slit activity. Although the Slit cleavage site has been
      characterized previously and is evolutionally conserved, the identity of the
      protease that cleaves Slit remains elusive. Our previous analysis indicated that
      Slit cleavage is essential to immobilize the active Slit-N at the tendon cell
      surfaces, mediating the arrest of muscle elongation. In an attempt to identify
      the protease required for Slit cleavage we performed an RNAi-based assay in the
      ectoderm and followed the process of elongation of the lateral transverse muscles
      toward tendon cells. The screen led to the identification of the Drosophila
      homolog of pheromone convertase 2 (PC2), Amontillado (Amon), as an essential
      protease for Slit cleavage. Further analysis indicated that Slit mobility on SDS
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is slightly up-shifted in amon
      mutants, and its conventional cleavage into the Slit-N and Slit-C polypeptides is
      attenuated. Consistent with the requirement for amon to promote Slit cleavage and
      membrane immobilization of Slit-N, the muscle phenotype of amon mutant embryos
      was rescued by co-expressing a membrane-bound form of full-length Slit lacking
      the cleavage site and knocked into the slit locus. The identification of a novel
      protease component essential for Slit processing may represent an additional
      regulatory step in the Slit signaling pathway.

PMID- 27628032
TI  - LAMP-2 is required for incorporating syntaxin-17 into autophagosomes and for
      their fusion with lysosomes.
AB  - Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process used for removing surplus and
      damaged proteins and organelles from the cytoplasm. The unwanted material is
      incorporated into autophagosomes that eventually fuse with lysosomes, leading to
      the degradation of their cargo. The fusion event is mediated by the interaction
      between the Qa-SNARE syntaxin-17 (STX17) on autophagosomes and the R-SNARE VAMP8
      on lysosomes. Cells deficient in lysosome membrane-associated protein-2 (LAMP-2)
      have increased numbers of autophagosomes but the underlying mechanism is poorly
      understood. By transfecting LAMP-2-deficient and LAMP-1/2--double-deficient mouse
      embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) with a tandem fluorescent-tagged LC3 we observed a
      failure of fusion between the autophagosomes and the lysosomes that could be
      rescued by complementation with LAMP-2A. Although we observed no change in
      expression and localization of VAMP8, its interacting partner STX17 was absent
      from autophagosomes of LAMP-2-deficient cells. Thus, LAMP-2 is essential for
      STX17 expression by the autophagosomes and this absence is sufficient to explain
      their failure to fuse with lysosomes. The results have clear implications for
      situations associated with a reduction of LAMP-2 expression.

PMID- 27628034
TI  - The leptin system and its expression at different nutritional and pregnant stages
      in lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus).
AB  - Leptin is an essential hormone for the regulation of energy metabolism and food
      intake in vertebrate animals. To better understand the physiological roles of
      leptin in nutrient regulation in paternal ovoviviparous fish (family
      Syngnathidae), the present study cloned the full-length of leptin-a and leptin
      receptor (lepr) genes in lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus). Results showed
      that there was a 576-bp intron between two exons in leptin-a gene but no leptin-b
      gene in seahorse. Although the primary amino acid sequence conservation of
      seahorse leptin-a was very low, the 3-D structure modeling of seahorse leptin-a
      revealed strong conservation of tertiary structure with other vertebrates.
      Seahorse leptin-a mRNA was highly expressed in brain, whereas lepr mRNA was
      mainly expressed in ovary and gill. Interestingly, both leptin-a and lepr mRNA
      were expressed in the brood pouch of male seahorse, suggesting the leptin system
      plays a role during the male pregnancy. Physiological experiments showed that the
      expression of hepatic leptin-a and lepr mRNA in unfed seahorses was significantly
      higher than that in those fed 100%, as well as 60%, of their food during the
      fasting stage, showing that seahorse might initiate the leptin system to regulate
      its energy metabolism while starving. Moreover, the expression of leptin-a in the
      brood pouch of pregnant seahorse was significantly upregulated compared with non
      pregnant seahorse, whereas the expression of lepr was downregulated, suggesting
      that the leptin system might be involved in the male pregnancy. In conclusion,
      the leptin system plays a role in the energy metabolism and food intake, and
      might provide new insights into molecular regulation of male pregnancy in
      seahorse.

PMID- 27628035
TI  - Strategies used by two apterous strains of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum for
      passive dispersal.
AB  - Wingless forms of aphids are relatively sedentary, and have a limited ability to
      migrate or disperse. However, they can drop off hosts or walk away if disturbed,
      or their food quality or quantity become deteriorated. Earlier, we found that the
      pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris, 1776), could use differed strategies to
      escape danger and locate new host plants. To determine the mechanisms behind the
      different strategies, we undertook a series of studies including the aphids' host
      location, energy reserves under starvation, glycogenesis, sugar assimilation,
      olfactory and probing behaviors. We found that in our controlled laboratory
      conditions, one strain (local laboratory strain) moved longer distances and
      dispersed wider ranges, and correspondingly these aphids assimilated more sugars,
      synthesized more glycogen, and moved faster than another strain (collected from
      Gansu Province, northwestern China). However, the latter strain could locate the
      host faster, probed leaves more frequently, and identified plant leaves more
      accurately than the former strain after they were starved. Our results explained
      how flightless or wingless insects adapt to fit biotic and abiotic challenges in
      the complex processes of natural selection.

PMID- 27628036
TI  - Association between polypharmacy and cognitive impairment in an elderly Japanese
      population residing in an urban community.
AB  - AIM: Polypharmacy is a serious medical problem among older adults. Polypharmacy
      can cause adverse drug reactions and is associated with frailty. Several drugs,
      particularly psychotropic medications, can cause cognitive impairment. Recent
      research also suggests that polypharmacy can cause cognitive impairment. We
      investigated the prevalence of polypharmacy, and examined the association between
      polypharmacy and cognitive impairment in a large sample of community-dwelling
      older adults in Japan. METHODS: A questionnaire covering sociodemographic
      variables was sent to all residents aged >=65 years in an urban residential
      district of Tokyo, Japan (n = 7682). Next, 3000 individuals were randomly
      selected as study participants. A trained nurse and researcher interviewed
      participants in their own homes to obtain information about cognitive status,
      prescribed medications, and current medical history. Cognitive status was
      assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination. Polypharmacy was defined as
      treatment with six or more prescribed medications. RESULTS: Of the 1270
      respondents who completed an interview, 1152 were included in the analysis of
      medications. The prevalence of polypharmacy was 28.0% (n = 323). When the older
      adults in the medications analysis were stratified by Mini-Mental State
      Examination scores, polypharmacy was present in 48.3% of those scoring <24, and
      25.7% of those scoring >=24 (chi2 = 26.76, P < 0.001). After controlling for
      potential confounding factors (including psychotropic medications), a
      multivariate logistic regression analysis showed an association between
      polypharmacy and cognitive impairment (odds ratio 1.83, 95% confidence interval
      1.10-3.02; P = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Polypharmacy was associated with cognitive
      impairment among urban community-dwelling older adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int
      2017; 17: 1286-1293.

PMID- 27628037
TI  - Active and Passive Physician-Assisted Dying and the Terminal Disease Requirement.
AB  - The view that voluntary active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should
      be made available for terminal patients only is typically warranted by reference
      to the risks that the procedures are seen to involve. Though they would appear to
      involve similar risks, the commonly endorsed end-of-life practices referred to as
      passive euthanasia are available also for non-terminal patients. In this article,
      I assess whether there is good reason to believe that the risks in question would
      be bigger in the case of voluntary active euthanasia and physician-assisted
      suicide than in that of passive euthanasia. I propose that there is not. On that
      basis, I suggest that limiting access to voluntary active euthanasia and
      physician-assisted suicide to terminal patients only is not consistent with
      accepting the existing practices of passive euthanasia.

PMID- 27628038
TI  - Qing-Xin-Jie-Yu Granules in addition to conventional treatment for patients with
      stable coronary artery disease (QUEST Trial): study protocol for a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrent cardiovascular event remains high in stable coronary artery
      disease (SCAD), especially in patients with multiple risk factors, despite a high
      rate of use conventional treatment. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a
      promising complementary and alternative medicine for treating SCAD, while
      evidence for its effect on long-term survival is limited. This study was designed
      to test if Chinese herbal medicine in addition to conventional treatment is more
      effective than conventional treatment alone in reducing major adverse cardiac
      event (MACE) for SCAD patients with multiple risk factors during a 1-year follow
      up. METHODS: This is a multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blinded,
      randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 1500 patients are randomized in
      a 1:1 ratio to receive the Qing-Xin-Jie-Yu Granules (QXJYG) or the placebo
      granules, twice daily for 6 months. The primary outcome is the combined outcomes
      including cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction and revascularization.
      The secondary outcome is the combined outcomes including all-cause mortality, re
      admission for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), heart failure, malignant
      supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmia influencing hemodynamics, ischemic
      stroke, and other thromboembolic events during 1-year follow-up. The assessment
      is performed at baseline (before randomization), 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after
      randomization. DISCUSSION: This is the first multicenter trial sponsored by the
      national funding of China to evaluate TCM in combination with conventional
      treatment on 1-year survival in high-risk SCAD patients. If successful, it will
      provide an evidence-based complementary therapeutic approach for reducing MACE
      from SCAD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical
      Trial Registry on December 28, 2013. The registration number is ChiCTR-TRC
      13004370 .

PMID- 27628039
TI  - Sequelae from Epidemic Viral Conjunctivitis Can Be Associated with Inflammatory
      Trachoma in Schoolchildren?
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the sequelae due to epidemic viral conjunctivitis (VC) for a
      possible association with inflammatory trachoma in schoolchildren. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional survey was performed of 2,093 schoolchildren in public schools in
      Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The exams were conducted according to the WHO
      definitions to detect trachoma. We evaluated the prevalence and the association
      between inflammatory trachoma and sequelae due to VC. RESULTS: The prevalence of
      inflammatory trachoma in schoolchildren in Botucatu City was 2.9% (CI: 1.2
      17.3%). The prevalence of sequelae from VC was 0.007% (CI: 0 to 0.033%). Acute
      bacterial conjunctivitis was detected in 0.001%. There was no association between
      inflammatory trachoma and VC-related sequelae or acute bacterial conjunctivitis.
      CONCLUSION: An outbreak of epidemic VC can lead to definitive sequelae in the
      tarsal conjunctiva. The sequelae from VC were detected in 0.007% of the
      schoolchildren and were not associated with inflammatory trachoma.

PMID- 27628040
TI  - Impact of interventions on malaria in internally displaced persons along the
      China-Myanmar border: 2011-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internally displaced persons (IDP) represent vulnerable populations
      whose public health conditions merit special attention. In the China-Myanmar
      border area, human movement and resettlements of IDP can influence malaria
      transmission. Comparison of disease incidence and vector densities between IDP
      camps and surrounding local villages allows for better understanding of current
      epidemiology and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in the region.
      METHODS: Malaria and vector surveillance was conducted in three IDP camps and
      three local villages neighbouring the camps along the China-Myanmar border in
      Myanmar. Clinical malaria cases were collected from seven hospitals/clinics from
      April 2011 to December 2014. Malaria vector population dynamics were monitored
      using CDC light traps. The use of malaria preventive measures and information on
      aid agencies and their activities was obtained through questionnaire surveys.
      RESULTS: Malaria was confirmed in 1832 patients. Of these cases, 85.4 % were
      Plasmodium vivax and 11.4 % were Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Annual malaria
      incidence rates were 38.8 and 127.0 cases/1000 person year in IDP camps and local
      villages, respectively. Older children of 5-14 years had the highest incidence
      rate in the camps regardless of gender, while male adults had significantly
      higher incidence rates than females in local villages and females child-bearing
      age had significantly lower risk to malaria in IDP camps compare to local
      villages. Seasonal malaria outbreaks were observed both in the IDP camps and in
      the local villages from May to August 2013. The proportion of P. vivax remained
      unchanged in local villages but increased by approximately tenfold in IDP camps
      from 2011 to 2014. Anopheles vector density was tenfold higher in local villages
      compared to IDP camps (2.0:0.2 females/trap/night). Over 99 % of households in
      both communities owned bed nets. While long-lasting insecticidal nets accounted
      for 61 % of nets used in IDPs, nearly all residents of local villages owned
      regular nets without insecticide-impregnation. There were more active aid
      agencies in the camps than in local villages. CONCLUSION: Malaria in IDP camps
      was significantly lower than the surrounding villages through effective control
      management. The observation of P. vivax outbreaks in the study area highlights
      the need for increased control efforts. Expansion of malaria intervention
      strategies in IDP camps to local surrounding villages is critical to malaria
      control in the border area.

PMID- 27628041
TI  - Interactive knowledge discovery and data mining on genomic expression data with
      numeric formal concept analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene Expression Data (GED) analysis poses a great challenge to the
      scientific community that can be framed into the Knowledge Discovery in Databases
      (KDD) and Data Mining (DM) paradigm. Biclustering has emerged as the machine
      learning method of choice to solve this task, but its unsupervised nature makes
      result assessment problematic. This is often addressed by means of Gene Set
      Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). RESULTS: We put forward a framework in which GED
      analysis is understood as an Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) process where we
      provide support for continuous human interaction with data aiming at improving
      the step of hypothesis abduction and assessment. We focus on the adaptation to
      human cognition of data interpretation and visualization of the output of EDA.
      First, we give a proper theoretical background to bi-clustering using Lattice
      Theory and provide a set of analysis tools revolving around [Formula: see text]
      Formal Concept Analysis ([Formula: see text]-FCA), a lattice-theoretic
      unsupervised learning technique for real-valued matrices. By using different
      kinds of cost structures to quantify expression we obtain different sequences of
      hierarchical bi-clusterings for gene under- and over-expression using thresholds.
      Consequently, we provide a method with interleaved analysis steps and
      visualization devices so that the sequences of lattices for a particular
      experiment summarize the researcher's vision of the data. This also allows us to
      define measures of persistence and robustness of biclusters to assess them.
      Second, the resulting biclusters are used to index external omics databases-for
      instance, Gene Ontology (GO)-thus offering a new way of accessing publicly
      available resources. This provides different flavors of gene set enrichment
      against which to assess the biclusters, by obtaining their p-values according to
      the terminology of those resources. We illustrate the exploration procedure on a
      real data example confirming results previously published. CONCLUSIONS: The GED
      analysis problem gets transformed into the exploration of a sequence of lattices
      enabling the visualization of the hierarchical structure of the biclusters with a
      certain degree of granularity. The ability of FCA-based bi-clustering methods to
      index external databases such as GO allows us to obtain a quality measure of the
      biclusters, to observe the evolution of a gene throughout the different
      biclusters it appears in, to look for relevant biclusters-by observing their
      genes and what their persistence is-to infer, for instance, hypotheses on their
      function.

PMID- 27628042
TI  - MiR-424-5p participates in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma invasion and
      metastasis via SMAD7 pathway mediated EMT.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: ESCC is a life-threatening disease due to invasion and metastasis in
      the early stage. Great efforts had been made to detect the molecular mechanisms
      which led to the invasion and metastasis in ESCC. Recent evidence had suggested
      that deregulation of miR-424-5p took an important role in cancers. However, its
      role and functional mechanism in ESCC had seldom been elucidated. METHODS: The
      expression levels of miR-424-5p were detected in ESCC tissues and cell lines by
      real-time PCR methods. Then, the invasion, metastasis and proliferation ability
      of ESCC cell lines transfected with miR-424-5p mimics were analyzed separately by
      transwell invasion assay, wound healing assay and cell proliferation assay.
      Finally, the target gene of miR-424-5p was studied and verified by luciferase
      activity assay. And the role of miR-424-5p in EMT was also investigated by real
      time PCR and western blot assay. RESULTS: We showed that the expression levels of
      miR-424-5p were decreased both in ESCC tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, the
      expression levels of miR-424-5p were negatively linked to lymph node metastasis
      in ESCC tissues. Restoration of miR-424-5p in EC-1 cells by using miR-424-5p
      mimics could decrease the invasion, metastasis and proliferation of EC-1 cells,
      indicating its role in inhibition on the invasion and metastasis ability of ESCC
      cells and tissues. In addition, we demonstrated that SMAD7 was a specific target
      gene for miR-424-5p by luciferase activity assay and miR-424-5p could not only
      negatively regulate SMAD7 expression but also participate in EMT via SMAD7,
      because overexpression of SMAD7 could partly enhance the miR-424-5p anti-EMT
      function. CONCLUSIONS: Our results described that miR-424-5p -SMAD7 pathway
      contributed to ESCC invasion and metastasis and up-regulation of miR-424-5p
      perhaps provided a strategy for preventing tumor invasion, metastasis.

PMID- 27628043
TI  - IDGenerator: unique identifier generator for epidemiologic or clinical studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Creating study identifiers and assigning them to study participants
      is an important feature in epidemiologic studies, ensuring the consistency and
      privacy of the study data. The numbering system for identifiers needs to be
      random within certain number constraints, to carry extensions coding for
      organizational information, or to contain multiple layers of numbers per
      participant to diversify data access. Available software can generate globally
      unique identifiers, but identifier-creating tools meeting the special needs of
      epidemiological studies are lacking. We have thus set out to develop a software
      program to generate IDs for epidemiological or clinical studies. RESULTS: Our
      software IDGenerator creates unique identifiers that not only carry a random
      identifier for a study participant, but also support the creation of structured
      IDs, where organizational information is coded into the ID directly. This may
      include study center (for multicenter-studies), study track (for studies with
      diversified study programs), or study visit (baseline, follow-up, regularly
      repeated visits). Our software can be used to add a check digit to the ID to
      minimize data entry errors. It facilitates the generation of IDs in batches and
      the creation of layered IDs (personal data ID, study data ID, temporary ID,
      external data ID) to ensure a high standard of data privacy. The software is
      supported by a user-friendly graphic interface that enables the generation of IDs
      in both standard text and barcode 128B format. CONCLUSION: Our software
      IDGenerator can create identifiers meeting the specific needs for epidemiologic
      or clinical studies to facilitate study organization and data privacy.
      IDGenerator is freeware under the GNU General Public License version 3; a Windows
      port and the source code can be downloaded at the Open Science Framework website:
      https://osf.io/urs2g/ .

PMID- 27628044
TI  - Genetic admixture and body composition in Puerto Rican adults from the Boston
      Puerto Rican Osteoporosis Study.
AB  - Population admixture plays a role in the risk of chronic conditions that are
      related to body composition; however, our understanding of these associations in
      Puerto Ricans, a population characterized by multiple ancestries, is limited.
      This study investigated the relationship between genetic admixture and body
      composition in 652 Puerto Ricans from the Boston Puerto Rican Osteoporosis Study.
      Genetic ancestry was estimated from 100 ancestry-informative markers. Body
      composition measures were obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
      Multivariable linear regression analyses examined associations between bone
      mineral density (BMD) of the hip and lumbar spine and percent fat mass and lean
      mass with genetic admixture. In Puerto Ricans living on the US mainland, European
      ancestry was associated with lower BMD at the trochanter (P = 0.039) and femoral
      neck (P = 0.01), and Native American ancestry was associated with lower BMD of
      the trochanter (P = 0.04). African ancestry was associated with a higher BMD at
      the trochanter (P = 0.004) and femoral neck (P = 0.001). Ancestry was not
      associated with percent fat mass or lean mass or waist circumference. Our
      findings are consistent with existing research demonstrating inverse associations
      between European and Native American ancestries and BMD and positive
      relationships between African ancestry and BMD. This work contributes to our
      understanding of the high prevalence of chronic disease experienced by this
      population and has implications for other ethnic minority groups, particularly
      those with multiple ancestries. Future research should consider interactions
      between ancestry and environmental factors, as this may provide individualized
      approaches for disease prevention.

PMID- 27628045
TI  - Maternal vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy and offspring outcomes: a double
      blind randomized placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - We studied bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), and body
      composition in offspring of women supplemented with vitamin D during pregnancy.
      Pregnant women were randomized to receive oral cholecalciferol 60,000 units 4
      weekly (group 1), 8 weekly (group 2), or placebo (group 3). All received 1 g
      calcium daily (groups 1 and 2 without, and group 3 with 400 units vitamin D).
      Offspring at 12-16 months underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Maternal
      hypovitaminosis D at recruitment was common (serum 25OHD <50 nmol/L in 88 %) and
      severe (25OHD <25 nmol/L in 46 %). Groups 1 and 2 (n = 23 and 13, median age 14
      months) had higher cord blood 25OHD (47.8 +/- 13.8 and 31.0 +/- 14.0 nmol/L)
      versus group 3 (n = 16, median age 16 months, 17.8 +/- 13.5 nmol/L, p < 0.001).
      Babies in group 3 had higher whole-body BMC (250.8 +/- 42.5 gm) and BMD (0.335 +/
      0.033 gm/cm2) compared to group 1 (213.1 +/- 46.2 gm and 0.295 +/- 0.041 gm/cm2)
      and group 2 (202.9 +/- 29.9 gm and 0.287 +/- 0.023 gm/cm2) (p = 0.006 and 0.001,
      respectively). In multivariate analysis, age, weight z score, and lean body mass
      remained significant contributors to BMC. Parameters of body composition were
      comparable among the groups. Vitamin D supplementation to pregnant women with
      severe deficiency in doses that improved cord blood 25OHD did not result in
      improved bone health or body composition in offspring at 12-16 months, compared
      to a dose too small to improve 25OHD levels.

PMID- 27628046
TI  - Platelet-derived growth factor BB enhances osteoclast formation and osteoclast
      precursor cell chemotaxis.
AB  - Enhanced osteoclast formation increases bone resorption, which triggers bone
      remodeling. Platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) enhances precursor cell
      homing, angiogenesis, and bone healing, and thereby could also treat
      osteoporosis. However, the effect of PDGF-BB on osteoclast formation is not fully
      understood. We investigated whether exogenous recombinant PDGF-BB directly
      affects osteoclast formation and osteoclast precursor cell chemotaxis. The murine
      monocyte-macrophage cell line RAW264.7 and bone-marrow-derived macrophages were
      cultured with recombinant mouse PDGF-BB with or without a platelet-derived growth
      factor receptor beta inhibitor (AG-1295) or a Janus kinase 2 inhibitor (AG-490)
      to analyze the effect on osteoclastogenesis in vitro. PDGF-BB with or without AG
      490 or AG-1295 was locally administrated in the mandibular fracture of 16-week
      old Sprague Dawley rats (n = 18) for 1-2 weeks to analyze the effect on
      osteoclastogenesis in vivo. The effect of the treatments on osteoclast formation,
      osteoclast precursor cell migration, and expression of osteoclastogenic signaling
      molecules was analyzed. PDGF-BB enhanced osteoclast formation both in vitro and
      in vivo, but AG-490 and AG-1295 inhibited this effect. PDGF-BB enhanced
      phosphorylation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), Akt, and
      signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in RAW264.7 cells. AG
      490 inhibited PDGF-BB-induced STAT3 phosphorylation. PDGF-BB enhanced RAW264.7
      cell migration and gene expression of osteoclastogenic signaling molecules (i.e.,
      nuclear factor of activated T cells 1, dendrocyte-expressed seven transmembrane
      protein, and B-cell lymphoma 2), and treatment with AG-1295, AG-490, or S3I-201
      (a STAT3 inhibitor) reduced this effect. PDGF-BB enhanced osteoclast formation,
      osteoclast precursor cell chemotaxis, and phosphorylation of STAT3, Akt, and
      ERK1/2. but AG-1295 and AG-490 reduced this effect. These findings reflect the
      complexity of PDGF-BB in bone biology.

PMID- 27628047
TI  - Association between SNPs and haplotypes in the METTL21C gene and peak bone
      mineral density and body composition in Chinese male nuclear families.
AB  - The methyltransferase-like 21C gene (METTL21C), which is mainly expressed in
      muscle, can promote the differentiation of myoblasts to myotubes and reduce
      glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis of osteocytes. The purpose of this study was to
      explore the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of METTL21C and
      peak bone mineral density (BMD), body mass index, total fat mass (TFM), and total
      lean mass (TLM) in Chinese young men. Fifteen tagging single nucleotide
      polymorphisms were genotyped, and haplotype blocks were derived in 400 Chinese
      male nuclear families. The peak BMD of the lumbar and hip, TFM, and TLM were
      measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The association analyses were
      performed by a quantitative transmission disequilibrium test. Both TLM and TFM
      had a significant positive effect on peak BMD, but the positive regulation of TLM
      was stronger than that of TFM. After 1000 permutations, significant within-family
      associations were found between rs9585961 and lumbar spine BMD and femoral neck
      BMD, rs9518810 and femoral neck BMD, and rs599976 and body mass index, TFM, and
      percentage fat mass (all P < 0.05). The association analyses with haplotypes
      showed that haplotype AG in block 1 was significantly associated with TFM (P =
      0.031) and haplotype CAG in block 2 was significantly associated with lumbar
      spine BMD (P = 0.020). Our study, for the first time, demonstrates that the
      polymorphisms and haplotypes of METTL21C contribute to the peak BMD and TFM in
      Chinese males, which suggests that as a quantitative trait locus with potential
      pleiotropy it may have an influence on osteoporosis and obesity.

PMID- 27628048
TI  - A retrospective analysis of real-world use of the eaTracker(r) My Goals website
      by adults from Ontario and Alberta, Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about use of goal setting and tracking tools within
      online programs to support nutrition and physical activity behaviour change. In
      2011, Dietitians of Canada added "My Goals," a nutrition and physical activity
      behaviour goal setting and tracking tool to their free publicly available self
      monitoring website (eaTracker(r) ( http://www.eaTracker.ca/ )). My Goals allows
      users to: a) set "ready-made" SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,
      Time-related) goals (choice of n = 87 goals from n = 13 categories) or "write
      your own" goals, and b) track progress using the "My Goals Tracker." The purpose
      of this study was to characterize: a) My Goals user demographics, b) types of
      goals set, and c) My Goals Tracker use. METHODS: Anonymous data on all goals set
      using the My Goals feature from December 6/2012-April 28/2014 by users >=19y from
      Ontario and Alberta, Canada were obtained. This dataset contained: anonymous self
      reported user demographic data, user set goals, and My Goals Tracker use data.
      Write your own goals were categorized by topic and specificity. Data were
      summarized using descriptive statistics. Multivariate binary logistic regression
      was used to determine associations between user demographics and a) goal topic
      areas and b) My Goals Tracker use. RESULTS: Overall, n = 16,511 goal statements
      (75.4 % ready-made; 24.6 % write your own) set by n = 8,067 adult users 19-85y
      (83.3 % female; mean age 41.1 +/- 15.0y, mean BMI 28.8 +/- 7.6kg/m(2)) were
      included for analysis. Overall, 33.1 % of ready-made goals were from the
      "Managing your Weight" category. Of write your own goal entries, 42.3 % were
      solely distal goals (most related to weight management); 38.6 % addressed
      nutrition behaviour change (16.6 % had unspecific general eating goals); 18.1 %
      addressed physical activity behaviour change (47.3 % had goals without
      information on exercise amount and type). Many write your own goals were poor
      quality (e.g., non-specific (e.g., missing amounts)), and possibly unrealistic
      (e.g., no sugar). Few goals were tracked (<10 %). Demographic variables had
      statistically significant relations with goal topic areas and My Goals Tracker
      use. CONCLUSIONS: eaTracker(r) users had high interest in goal setting and the My
      Goals feature, however, self-written goals were often poor quality and goal
      tracking was rare. Further research is needed to better support users.

PMID- 27628049
TI  - Synergistic effect of fenretinide and curcumin for treatment of non-small cell
      lung cancer.
AB  - Curcumin and fenretinide are 2 well-known and promising chemotherapeutic
      compounds via various molecular mechanisms. However, the anticancer capacity of
      either curcumin or fenretinide is limited. This prompted us to examine the
      combined anticancer effects of curcumin and fenretinide. Our results demonstrate
      for the first time that there is synergistic anticancer effect of combined
      treatment with these 2 agents, leading to enhanced cytotoxicity and enhanced
      expression level of pro-apoptotic protein cleaved PARP in non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC) cells while showed little toxicity to rat cardiomyoblast normal
      cells. The combination treatment was also demonstrated to inhibit lung carcinoma
      growth in vivo. Furthermore, we show that fenretinide or the ER stress inhibitor
      4-PBA decreased curcumin-induced Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78)
      upregulation, and produced a similar enhanced cytotoxic effect. In addition,
      GRP78 knockdown by siRNA also enhanced the cytotoxic effect of curcumin in A549
      and H1299 cells. Our findings suggest that the 2 small molecules, when used in
      combination, can potentially be effective therapeutic agents for treating NSCLC,
      at least in part, by regulating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone protein
      GRP78.

PMID- 27628051
TI  - Erratum to: Effectiveness of Internet- and mobile-based psychological
      interventions for the prevention of mental disorders: a systematic review and
      meta-analysis protocol.

PMID- 27628052
TI  - Volumetric study of sphenoid sinuses: anatomical analysis in helical computed
      tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The sphenoid sinus is the most inaccessible part of the face, being
      inside the sphenoid bone and closely related to numerous vital neural and
      vascular structures. The objective of this study was to analyze and evaluate the
      variation of anatomy and the volume of the sphenoid sinus using helical computed
      tomography and medical imaging software. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 47
      helical CT scans of sinuses of male and female individuals aged 18-86 years were
      selected. The images were formatted using ITK-SNAP software, consisting of three
      steps: (1) segmentation; (2) volumetric analysis and (3) 3D reconstruction. The
      sphenoid sinuses were also classified according to Hammer, i.e., in conchal, pre
      sellar, sellar and post-sellar types. A single investigator, who is specialist in
      dental radiology and was trained and calibrated, performed the volume and image
      analysis. After 15 days, the segmentations were repeated. RESULTS: The Dunn's
      multiple comparison test revealed significant differences in the volume rankings
      between the right and left sides (P = 0.0002), with the post-sellar type
      presenting the greatest volume on the right side compared to pre-sellar and
      sellar types. In the left sphenoid sinuses, the post-sellar type showed the
      greatest volume. The Lin's correlation coefficient showed excellent
      reproducibility values. CONCLUSIONS: According to the applied methodology, it was
      found that the volume of the sphenoid sinus was influenced by neither age nor
      gender (P > 0.005). There was difference in the volumes of sphenoid sinus on the
      right and left sides and in the anatomical classification.

PMID- 27628053
TI  - Sources and quality of literature addressing femoroacetabular impingement: a
      scoping review 2011-2015.
AB  - : A systematic review was performed to explore the current trends over the last 5
      years in femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) literature and compare the quality
      and sources of publications in the literature to that published previously. We
      identified 1066 relevant studies including 186,572 patients. The number of
      publications increased during the reviewed time period with the most dramatic
      increase from 2011 to 2013. Seventy-three percent (N = 786) of all studies were
      of levels 4 and 5 quality evidence. The percent of publications which were levels
      1, 2 and 3 increased by almost twofold from 16.1 % (N = 26) to 28.7 % (N = 51)
      between 2011 and 2015. In comparison to previous work, there has been 3.5-fold
      increase in the number of publications over the past 5 years with a shift towards
      improving the level of evidence available guiding the arthroscopic management of
      FAI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV-Systematic Review.

PMID- 27628055
TI  - Erratum to: Physical Activity, Decision-Making Abilities, and Eating Disturbances
      in Pre- and Postbariatric Surgery Patients.

PMID- 27628050
TI  - Rho GTPases: Regulation and roles in cancer cell biology.
AB  - Rho GTPases are well known for their roles in regulating cell migration, and also
      contribute to a variety of other cellular responses. They are subdivided into 2
      groups: typical and atypical. The typical Rho family members, including RhoA,
      Rac1 and Cdc42, cycle between an active GTP-bound and inactive GDP-bound
      conformation, and are regulated by GEFs, GAPs and GDIs, whereas atypical Rho
      family members have amino acid substitutions that alter their ability to interact
      with GTP/GDP and hence are regulated by different mechanisms. Both typical and
      atypical Rho GTPases contribute to cancer progression. In a few cancers, RhoA or
      Rac1 are mutated, but in most cancers expression levels and/or activity of Rho
      GTPases is altered. Rho GTPase signaling could therefore be therapeutically
      targeted in cancer treatment.

PMID- 27628054
TI  - Renal Function and Remission of Hypertension After Bariatric Surgery: a 5-Year
      Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examines the effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) on renal function for at least 5
      years post-operatively in a tertiary referral center for bariatric surgery.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study of patients undergoing RYGB
      and LAGB measured renal function, blood pressure, and diabetes status pre
      operatively and then 1 and 5 years post-operatively. Renal function was assessed
      using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), Chronic Kidney Disease
      Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI), and Cockcroft-Gault formulae. Hypertension
      and diabetes were defined by the European Society of Hypertension and European
      Society of Cardiology joint guidelines and American Diabetes Association
      guidelines, respectively. A sub-group who had completed 10 years post-operative
      follow-up was also included. RESULTS: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
      increased over 5 years after RYGB (N = 190; 94 +/- 2 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 102 +/- 22
      mL/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.01) and LAGB (N = 271; 88 +/- 1 to 93 +/- 22 mL/min/1.73
      m2, p = 0.02). In a sub-group with up to 10 years post-operative date, this trend
      was maintained. In patients with renal impairment, eGFR improved over 5 years (52
      +/- 2 to 68 +/- 7 mL/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.01). Remission of hypertension was
      greater after RYGB than LAGB at 1 year (32 vs. 16 %, p = 0.008) and at 5 years
      post-operatively (23 vs. 11 %, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric surgery
      stabilizes eGFR post-operatively for at least 5 years. In a sub-group with renal
      impairment, eGFR is increased in the first post-operative year and this is
      maintained for up to 5 years. RYGB is an effective procedure in achieving blood
      pressure control.

PMID- 27628056
TI  - Erratum to: Vagal Blocking for Obesity Control: a Possible Mechanism-Of-Action.

PMID- 27628057
TI  - Dextran-based therapeutic nanoparticles for hepatic drug delivery.
AB  - AIM: Evaluation of dextran-based nanoparticles (DNP) as a drug delivery system to
      target myeloid cells of the liver. MATERIALS & METHODS: DNP were synthesized and
      optionally PEGylated. Their toxicity and cellular uptake were studied in vitro.
      Empty and siRNA-carrying DNP were tested in vivo with regard to biodistribution
      and cellular uptake. RESULTS: In vitro, DNP were taken up by cells of the myeloid
      lineage without compromising their viability. In vivo, empty and siRNA-carrying
      DNP distributed to the liver where a single treatment addressed approximately 70%
      of macrophages and dendritic cells. Serum parameters indicated no in vivo
      toxicity. CONCLUSION: DNP are multifunctional liver-specific drug carriers which
      lack toxic side effects and may be utilized in clinical applications targeting
      liver macrophages.

PMID- 27628059
TI  - Analytical evaluation for somatic mutation detection in circulating tumor cells
      isolated using a lateral magnetophoretic microseparator.
AB  - CTCs are currently in the spotlight because provide comprehensive genetic
      information that enables monitoring of the evolution of cancer and selection of
      appropriate therapeutic strategies that cannot be obtained from a single-site
      tumor biopsy. Despite their importance, current techniques for isolating CTCs are
      limited in terms of their ability to yield high-quality CTCs from peripheral
      blood for use in profiling cancer genetic mutations by DNA sequencing
      technologies. This paper introduces a lateral magnetophoretic microseparator (the
      'CTC-MUChip') for isolating highly pure CTCs from blood, which facilitates the
      detection of somatic mutations in isolated CTCs. To isolate CTCs from peripheral
      blood, nucleated cells were first prepared by red blood cell lysis. Then, CTCs
      were isolated from nucleated cells within 30 min using the CTC-MUChip. Analytical
      evaluation using 5 mL blood samples spiked with 5-50 MCF7 breast cancer cells
      demonstrated that the average recovery rate of the CTC-MUChip was 99.08 %. The
      average number of residual white blood cells (WBCs) in isolated samples was 53,
      meaning that the WBC depletion rate is 472,000-fold (5.67 log), assuming that
      blood contains 5 * 10(6) WBCs per milliliter. The isolated MCF7 cells had a
      purity of 6.9 - 67.9 %, depending on the spiked MCF7 concentration. Using next
      generation sequencing technology, heterozygous somatic mutations (PIK3CA and APC)
      of MCF7 cells were evaluated in the isolated samples. The results showed that
      somatic mutations could be detected in as few as two MCF7 cells per milliliter of
      blood, indicating that the CTC-MUChip facilitates the detection of somatic
      variants in CTCs.

PMID- 27628060
TI  - A novel screen-printed microfluidic paper-based electrochemical device for
      detection of glucose and uric acid in urine.
AB  - A novel screen-printed microfluidic paper-based analytical device with all-carbon
      electrode-enabled electrochemical assay (SP-ACE-EC-MUPAD) has been developed. The
      fabrication of these devices involved wax screen-printing, which was simple, low
      cost and energy-efficient. The working, counter and reference electrodes were
      screen-printed using carbon ink on the patterned paper devices. Different wax
      screen-printing processes were examined and optimized, which led to an improved
      method with a shorter heating time (~5 s) and a lower heating temperature (75 
      degrees C). Different printing screens were examined, with a 300-mesh polyester
      screen yielding the highest quality wax screen-prints. The carbon electrodes were
      screen-printed on the MUPADs and then examined using cyclic voltammetry. The
      analytical performance of the SP-ACE-EC-MUPADs for the detection of glucose and
      uric acid in standard solutions was investigated. The results were reproducible,
      with a linear relationship [R(2) = 0.9987 (glucose) or 0.9997 (uric acid)] within
      the concentration range of interest, and with detection limits as low as 0.35 mM
      (glucose) and 0.08 mM (uric acid). To determine the clinical utility of the
      MUPADs, chronoamperometry was used to analyze glucose and uric acid in real urine
      samples using the standard addition method. Our devices were able to detect the
      analytes of interest in complex real-world biological samples, and have the
      potential for use in a wide variety of applications.

PMID- 27628058
TI  - Evaluation of a non-invasive multisensor accelerometer for calculating energy
      expenditure in ventilated intensive care patients compared to indirect
      calorimetry and predictive equations.
AB  - Continuous measurement of resting energy expenditure (REE) in critically ill
      patients remains challenging but is required to prevent malnutrition. SenseWear
      Pro 3 Armband (SWA) is a research grade accelerometer for assessment of REE with
      the advantage of easy handling. In a prospective study we compared SWA with
      indirect calorimetry (IC) and predictive equations in critically ill, ventilated
      patients. REE was measured by SWA, IC and calculated by predictive formulas.
      Potential confounding factors that influence REE were also recorded. Results of
      SenseWear Armband and indirect calorimetry were compared using the Bland-Altman
      method. 34 ICU patients were investigated. SWA underestimated resting energy
      expenditure compared to IC with a mean bias of DeltaREE = -253.6 +/- 333.2 kcal,
      equivalent to -11.7 % (p = 0.025). This underestimation was seen in both, medical
      (-14.9 %) and surgical (-12.9 %) patients and the bias was greater in patients
      with fever (-19.0 %), tachycardia (-18.7 %) or tachypnea (-26.2 %). Differences
      were also noted when SWA was compared to predictive formulas. At present, SWA
      cannot be regarded as an alternative to indirect calorimetry. Individual
      measurements are often inaccurate and should be used with caution until improved
      algorithms, based on the results of this study, have been implemented.

PMID- 27628061
TI  - On-chip immune cell activation and subsequent time-resolved magnetic bead-based
      cytokine detection.
AB  - Cytokine profiling and immunophenotyping offer great potential for understanding
      many disease mechanisms, personalized diagnosis, and immunotherapy. Here, we
      demonstrate a time-resolved detection of cytokine from a single cell cluster
      using an in situ magnetic immune assay. An array of triple-layered microfluidic
      chambers was fabricated to enable simultaneous cell culture under perfusion flow
      and detection of the induced cytokines at multiple time-points. Each culture
      chamber comprises three fluidic compartments which are dedicated to, cell
      culture, perfusion and immunoassay. The three compartments are separated by
      porous membranes, which allow the diffusion of fresh nutrient from the perfusion
      compartment into the cell culture compartment and cytokines secretion from the
      cell culture compartment into the immune assay compartment. This structure hence
      enables capturing the released cytokines without disturbing the cell culture and
      without minimizing benefit gain from perfusion. Functionalized magnetic beads
      were used as a solid phase carrier for cytokine capturing and quantification. The
      cytokines released from differential stimuli were quantified in situ in non
      differentiated U937 monocytes and differentiated macrophages.

PMID- 27628062
TI  - Efficacy of fixed-dosing aflibercept for treating polypoidal choroidal
      vasculopathy: 1-year results of the VAULT study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate fixed-dosing aflibercept for treating polypoidal
      choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). METHODS: This phase IV, prospective, single-arm,
      interventional case series was conducted in eight centers. Forty treatment-naive
      PCV patients were administered three monthly doses of intravitreal aflibercept
      (2.0 mg) and an injection every 2 months thereafter. Best-corrected visual acuity
      (BCVA) and central subfield macular thickness (CSMT) were measured at each visit.
      Fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were performed at baseline,
      3 and 12 months. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients who
      maintained BCVA (<15 letters loss) at 12 months. Changes in BCVA, macular
      appearance, and polypoidal lesion appearance were also examined. RESULTS: Thirty
      five eyes (87.5 %) had maintained BCVA at 12 months. Average BCVA was
      significantly higher at 12 months (20/53, 64.2 letters) than at baseline (20/80,
      55.1 letters, 9-letter gain; P < .001). Mean CSMT was significantly lower at 12
      months (253.6 MUm) than at baseline (365.2 MUm, P < .001). The macula was dry in
      32 (76.2 %), 27 (64.3 %), and 24 eyes (60.0 %) at 3, 6, and 12 months
      respectively. Fourteen eyes (33.3 %) had a fluid recurrence or increase at 6
      months, and they had a significantly lower vision gain (P = .005) than other
      patients at 12 months. Complete polyp regression occurred in 26 eyes (66.7 %) at
      12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Fixed-dosing aflibercept showed favorable outcomes in PCV
      patients at 12 months. However, some patients had worse outcomes because of fluid
      recurrence during maintenance dosing, and these patients would require additional
      treatments.

PMID- 27628063
TI  - Osmotic expression of aldose reductase in retinal pigment epithelial cells:
      involvement of NFAT5.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy is associated with osmotic stress resulting from
      hyperglycemia and intracellular sorbitol accumulation. Systemic hypertension is a
      risk factor of diabetic retinopathy. High intake of dietary salt increases
      extracellular osmolarity resulting in systemic hypertension. We determined the
      effects of extracellular hyperosmolarity, chemical hypoxia, and oxidative stress
      on the gene expression of enzymes involved in sorbitol production and conversion
      in cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. METHODS: Alterations in
      the expression of aldose reductase (AR) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) genes
      were examined with real-time RT-PCR. Protein levels were determined with Western
      blot analysis. Nuclear factor of activated T cell 5 (NFAT5) was knocked down with
      siRNA. RESULTS: AR gene expression in RPE cells was increased by high (25 mM)
      extracellular glucose, CoCl2 (150 MUM)-induced chemical hypoxia, H2O2 (20 MUM)
      induced oxidative stress, and extracellular hyperosmolarity induced by addition
      of NaCl or sucrose. Extracellular hyperosmolarity (but not hypoxia) also
      increased AR protein level. SDH gene expression was increased by hypoxia and
      oxidative stress, but not extracellular hyperosmolarity. Hyperosmolarity and
      hypoxia did not alter the SDH protein level. The hyperosmotic AR gene expression
      was dependent on activation of metalloproteinases, autocrine/paracrine TGF-beta
      signaling, activation of p38 MAPK, ERK1/2, and PI3K signal transduction pathways,
      and the transcriptional activity of NFAT5. Knockdown of NAFT5 or inhibition of AR
      decreased the cell viability under hyperosmotic (but not hypoxic) conditions and
      aggravated the hyperosmotic inhibition of cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: The
      data suggest that sorbitol accumulation in RPE cells occurs under hyperosmotic,
      but not hypoxic and oxidative stress conditions. NFAT5- and AR-mediated sorbitol
      accumulation may protect RPE cells under conditions of osmotic stress.

PMID- 27628064
TI  - Phase II trial of subcutaneous methylnaltrexone in the treatment of severe opioid
      induced constipation (OIC) in cancer patients: an exploratory study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methylnaltrexone is a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor
      antagonist that has been shown to relieve severe opioid-induced constipation
      (OIC) in patients with advanced disease receiving palliative care. Its efficacy
      remains unknown in cancer patients who are not terminally ill. The primary aim of
      this study was to evaluate the efficacy of methylnaltrexone over 48 h in cancer
      patients who were not terminally ill. METHODS: In this single-dose phase II
      trial, cancer patients with a prognosis of >=3 months and OIC with <3 laxations
      during the preceding week were eligible. The primary endpoint was a rescue-free
      laxation <=4 h after a single dose of methylnaltrexone. Friedman's two-way
      analysis of variance was conducted for the number of laxations, pain and
      withdrawal scales, and laxation- and constipation-related symptoms.
      Univariate/bivariate Cox proportional hazard models for laxation times were
      employed. RESULTS: Twelve patients received methylnaltrexone. Eleven patients had
      an ECOG performance status of 1 or 2. Four (33.3 %) and 5 (41.7 %) patients had
      rescue-free laxation within 4 and 24 h, respectively, and 10 (83.3 %) had
      laxation within 48 h (p = 0.006). Difficulty passing a stool improved
      significantly over 48 h (p = 0.029). The bivariate Cox models revealed that a
      shorter time to laxation was associated with a higher baseline morphine
      equivalent daily dose (hazard ratio, 1.02 per 1 mg; p = 0.018) and a smaller
      number of laxations in the preceding week (hazard ratio, 0.13 per one laxation; p
      = 0.035). Patients tolerated methylnaltrexone well without opioid withdrawal.
      CONCLUSIONS: Methylnaltrexone may relieve severe OIC in cancer patients who are
      not terminally ill. A larger prospective study is justified in this population.
      (NCT01004393, https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01004393 ).

PMID- 27628065
TI  - Bovine and Caprine Brucellosis in Bangladesh: Bayesian evaluation of four
      serological tests, true prevalence, and associated risk factors in household
      animals.
AB  - A cross-sectional study was carried out to estimate the true prevalence of
      Brucella spp. and identify allied risk factors/indicators associated with
      brucellosis in the Dinajpur and Mymensingh districts of Bangladesh. A total 320
      stratified random blood samples were collected and tested in parallel for
      Brucella antibodies using Rose Bengal (RBT), slow agglutination (SAT), and
      indirect and competitive ELISA. In addition, a structured questionnaire was
      administered to each household herd owner to gather information regarding
      potential risk factors. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression
      analyses were used to identify potential risk factors or indicators at animal
      level. A Bayesian approach was used to estimate the true prevalence of
      brucellosis along with the test performances (Se and Sp). The estimated animal
      level true prevalence in cattle was 9.70 % (95 % CPI 5.0-16 %) and in goat 6.3 %
      (95 % CPI 2.8-11.0 %). The highest sensitivity was achieved by SAT ranges from
      69.6 to 78.9 %, and iELISA was found to be more specific (97.4 to 98.8 %) in
      comparison with other tests. On the other hand, a significant level of (P < 0.05)
      Brucella seropositivity was found in cattle that breed naturally compared with
      those that undergo artificial insemination. In goats, exotic breeds were
      significantly associated (P < 0.05) with Brucella seroprevalence compared with
      indigenous breeds. Goats with a previous records of abortion and/or retained
      placenta were also found to have significant levels (P < 0.05). Cows with
      previous abortion records showed higher odds (18 times) of being seropositive.
      None of the evaluated tests can be recommended to apply alone for the diagnosis
      of bovine and caprine brucellosis.

PMID- 27628066
TI  - Energy sources and levels influenced on performance parameters, thyroid hormones,
      and HSP70 gene expression of broiler chickens under heat stress.
AB  - The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of energy sources and
      levels on body and organs weights, thyroid hormones, and heat shock protein
      (HSP70) gene expression in broilers under heat stress. In a completely randomized
      design, 600 1-day-old Cobb chickens were assigned to five dietary treatments and
      four replicates. The chickens were fed diet based on corn as main energy source
      and energy level based on Cobb standard considered as control (C), corn-based
      diet with 3 % lesser energy than the control (T1), corn-based diet with 6 %
      lesser energy than the control (T2), corn and soybean oil-based diet according to
      Cobb standard (T3), and corn and soybean oil-based diet with 3 % upper energy
      than the control (T4). Temperature was increased to 34  degrees C for 8 h daily
      from days 12 to 41 of age to induce heat stress. The chickens in T1 and T2 had
      lower thyroid hormones and corticosterone levels than those in C, T3, and T4. The
      highest liver weight was for C and the lowest one was for T4. The highest gene
      expression was found in chickens fed T4 diet, and the lowest gene expression was
      for those in T2 group. The highest feed intake and worse feed conversion ratio
      was related to chickens in T2. The chickens in T3 and T4 had higher feed intake
      and weight gain than those in C. The results showed that the higher energy level
      supplied from soybean oil could enhance gene expression of HSP70 and decline the
      level of corticosterone and thyroid hormones and consequently improved
      performance.

PMID- 27628067
TI  - Review: Antimicrobial efficacy validation using in vitro and in vivo testing
      methods.
AB  - Pre-clinical antimicrobial validation testing for single and combination
      products, and parameters that should be considered when testing the antimicrobial
      performance of a medical device, are discussed. Guidance is provided on key
      elements required for in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial validation, including
      validation of microbial growth, microbial recovery, neutralization, and
      antimicrobial activity. An important consideration, both in terms of practicality
      and economics, is designing in vitro studies that bridge to in vivo testing: A
      representative in vitro model is used to generate data on many clinically
      relevant microorganisms, and then one microorganism is selected for use in in
      vivo testing. If the in vivo results correlate to the in vitro results, it can
      reasonably be extrapolated that the same would be true for the remaining
      microorganisms tested in vitro. Thus, the selection of relevant in vitro models
      for testing is critical for successful antimicrobial validation testing.

PMID- 27628068
TI  - Practicability of mitochondrial heteroplasmy detection through an Illumina
      genotyping array.
AB  - MOTIVATION: High-throughput genomic data often contain unexpected information
      that can be mined for alternative applications. Despite the rise of high
      throughput sequencing, Illumina genotyping arrays remain a driving force in large
      scale genetic and epidemiology studies. By processing and analyzing genotyping
      data of over 100,000 samples genotyped on Illumina genotyping arrays, we
      discovered evidence that indicates that mitochondrial heteroplasmy can be
      estimated from the fluorescence intensity data of the array. To verify our
      hypothesis, we conducted a sequencing validation study. RESULT: Mitochondrial DNA
      targeted sequencing was performed on three samples that had been genotyped using
      the Illumina exome genotyping array. In each sample chosen, one heteroplasmy
      target was identified from the genotyping array, and sequencing data verified all
      three putative heteroplasmic sites. The estimated heteroplasmy level difference
      between that estimated from the genotyping fluorescence intensity and that
      directly measured from sequencing was 3.2% on average. Our analysis showed that
      an Illumina genotyping array can accurately and reliably estimate high-level
      heteroplasmy (>40%); however, intensity data from a genotyping array is not
      suitable for estimating low level heteroplasmy (<25%).

PMID- 27628069
TI  - Internalization and Phytotoxic Effects of CuO Nanoparticles in Arabidopsis
      thaliana as Revealed by Fatty Acid Profiles.
AB  - Internalization and phytotoxic effects of CuO nanoparticles (nCuO) in plants were
      studied at the cellular level. Arabidopsis thaliana was hydroponically challenged
      by nCuO (100 mg/L), as compared to Cu2+ ions (1.2 mg/L), to account for nCuO
      dissolution for 96 h and 28 days to monitor Cu accumulation in the plant as well
      as the fatty acid (FA) profiles of the plant cell membrane. Under the same
      growing conditions, the nCuO exposure resulted in more Cu accumulation than did
      the Cu2+ exposure. Multiple microscopic techniques confirmed the internalization
      and sequestration of nCuO in root cell vacuoles, where transformation of Cu(II)
      to Cu(I)Cl occurred. Short and long exposures (96 h versus 28 days) to both nCuO
      and Cu2+ elevated FA saturation degrees in plant cells through oxidative stress,
      as verified by in situ detection of superoxide radicals, with conversions mostly
      from C18:3, C16:3, and C18:2 to C16:0. Only the long exposure to nCuO
      significantly brought about an additional elevation of FA saturation degree in
      root cells. These results demonstrated that the acute effects of plant exposure
      to nCuO were mainly produced from the stress of Cu2+ ions released from nCuO
      dissolution, while the chronic effects in roots were significantly developed by
      the nCuO particle stress. The findings in this work are novel and may offer
      significant implications in better understanding nanoparticle-induced
      phytotoxicity and potential risks in ecosystems.

PMID- 27628070
TI  - Clinical heterogeneity of LRRK2 p.I2012T mutation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) mutations are the most common
      genetic cause of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, only few cases carrying LRRK2
      mutations have been reported in Taiwanese PD patients. METHODS: We used targeted
      next generation sequencing (NGS), covering 24 candidate genes involved in
      neurodegenerative disorders, to analyze 40 probands with familial PD, and 10
      patients with mixed neurodegenerative disorders. Sanger sequencing of the
      identified mutation in the first set of the study was performed in additional 270
      PD patients, including 139 familial PD and 131 early-onset PD (onset age less
      than 50 years old), and 300 age/gender matched control subjects. RESULTS: We
      found a missense variant, p.I2012T, in the LRRK2 gene in one sporadic patient
      having early-onset frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism and dystonia. Sanger
      sequencing this substitution in additional 270 PD patients in the second set of
      the study revealed two additional variant carriers: one having autosomal-dominant
      familial PD, and one with sporadic PD. The p.I2012T substitution was absent in
      300 normal control subjects. Analyzing family members of the proband with
      p.I2012T revealed co-segregation of the variant and parkinsonism. Clinical
      presentations, levodopa responses, and Tc99mTRODAT-SPECT imaging findings of this
      index family were similar to idiopathic PD. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed
      clinical heterogeneity of the LRRK2 p.I2012T substitution, and demonstrated the
      use of targeted NGS for genetic diagnosis in multiplex families with PD or mixed
      neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 27628071
TI  - Health Coaching: Another Component of Personalized Medicine for Patients with
      Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

PMID- 27628072
TI  - Welcome to the Jungle: The Kidney during Sepsis.

PMID- 27628073
TI  - A Protease Inhibitor Tackles Epithelial Sodium Channels in Cystic Fibrosis.

PMID- 27628074
TI  - Clinical Trial Design Based on Time to Death/Progression.

PMID- 27628075
TI  - Fatty Acid Metabolism, Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor Type 2, and the Right
      Ventricle.

PMID- 27628076
TI  - Treating Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Do We Have The Data?

PMID- 27628079
TI  - Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the CALCA Gene Are Associated with Variation
      of Procalcitonin Concentration in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

PMID- 27628077
TI  - Update in Lung Cancer 2015.

PMID- 27628080
TI  - Novel Genetic Susceptibility Loci for FEV1 in the Context of Occupational
      Exposure in Never-Smokers.

PMID- 27628081
TI  - Down Under in the Coal Mines.

PMID- 27628078
TI  - Official American Thoracic Society/Japanese Respiratory Society Clinical Practice
      Guidelines: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis Diagnosis and Management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare cystic lung disease that
      primarily affects women. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide
      recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of LAM. METHODS: Systematic
      reviews were performed to summarize evidence pertinent to our questions. The
      evidence was summarized and discussed by a multidisciplinary panel. Evidence
      based recommendations were then formulated, written, and graded using the Grading
      of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. RESULTS:
      After considering the panel's confidence in the estimated effects, the balance of
      desirable (i.e., benefits) and undesirable (i.e., harms and burdens) consequences
      of treatment, patient values and preferences, cost, and feasibility,
      recommendations were formulated for or against specific interventions. These
      included recommendations for sirolimus treatment and vascular endothelial growth
      factor D testing and recommendations against doxycycline and hormonal therapy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of
      patients with LAM are provided. Frequent reassessment and updating will be
      needed.

PMID- 27628082
TI  - Reply: Coal Mine Dust Lung Disease That Persists below the Surface of
      Surveillance: Down Under.

PMID- 27628083
TI  - True and True, but Not Causally Related.

PMID- 27628085
TI  - Malignant Pleural Effusions.

PMID- 27628084
TI  - Reply: Dyspnea in Heart Failure: A Multiheaded Beast.

PMID- 27628086
TI  - Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscopic Study of the Central Dark
      Line Defect in Human Tooth Enamel Crystals.
AB  - Angstrom resolution images of human tooth enamel (HTE) crystallites were obtained
      using aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and
      atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy in the modes of
      bright field, annular dark field, and high-angle annular dark-field. Images show
      that the central dark line (CDL) defect observed around the center of the HTE
      crystals is a site for caries formation in the HTE and has a thickness of ~0.2
      nm. Results also suggest that the CDL goes through one of the OH- planes.

PMID- 27628087
TI  - 2016 Reviewers.

PMID- 27628089
TI  - Engineering optical mode ferromagnetic resonance in FeCoB films with ultrathin Ru
      insertion.
AB  - Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) in soft magnetic films (SMFs) to a large extent
      determines the maximum working frequency of magnetic devices. The FMR frequency
      (fr) in an optical mode is usually much higher than that in the corresponding
      acoustic mode for exchange coupled ferromagnet/nonmagnet/ferromagnet (FM/NM/FM)
      trilayers. In this study, we prepared a 50 nm FeCoB film with uniaxial magnetic
      anisotropy (UMA), showing a high acoustic mode fr of 4.17 GHz. When an ultrathin
      Ru spacer was inserted in the very middle of the UMA-FeCoB film, the zero-field
      FMR was abruptly switched from an acoustic mode to an optical one with fr
      dramatically enhanced from 4.17 GHz to 11.32 GHz. Furthermore, the FMR mode can
      be readily tuned to optical mode only, acoustic mode only, or double mode by
      simply varying the applied filed, which provides a flexible way to design multi
      band microwave devices.

PMID- 27628090
TI  - Quencher-free fluorescence strategy for detection of DNA methyltransferase
      activity based on exonuclease III-assisted signal amplification.
AB  - This work demonstrates a novel method for DNA methyltransferase (MTase) activity
      detection with a quencher-free molecular beacon (MB) probe based on exonuclease
      (Exo) III-assisted signal amplification. In the presence of Dam MTase and DpnI
      endonuclease, the elaborately designed hairpin substrate (MB1) was cleaved into
      two parts (part A and part B). Exo III can then digest part A and release a
      single-stranded target of the 2-aminopurine-labeled MB (MB2). Subsequently, the
      MB2 can hybridize with its target to form a double-stranded structure with a
      protruding 3'-terminus and then trigger the digestion of MB2 by Exo III. During
      the digestion of MB2, the 2-aminopurine is separated from the DNA strands and
      released free in solution, inducing an increase of the fluorescent signal. Owing
      to the presence of a recessed 3'-terminus in the formed double-stranded DNA, Exo
      III-assisted recyclable cleavage of MB2 was achieved. Therefore, an amplified
      fluorescence signal was observed. Under the optimized conditions, Dam MTase can
      be detected in the range of 0.2-40 units/mL with a limit of detection of 0.2
      units/mL and good selectivity. Furthermore, the present assay can be used for
      screening potential DNA MTase inhibitors. Graphical Abstract A quencher-free
      fluorescence assay for sensitive detection of DNA methyltransferase activity
      based on exonuclease III-assisted signal amplification is reported.

PMID- 27628091
TI  - Understanding paper degradation: identification of products of cellulosic paper
      decomposition at the wet-dry "tideline" interface using GC-MS.
AB  - Cellulose paper degradation products forming in the "tideline" area at the wet
      dry interface of pure cellulose paper were analyzed using gas chromatography
      electron ionization-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS) and high-resolution electrospray
      ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS, LTQ Orbitrap) techniques. Different
      extraction protocols were employed in order to solubilize the products of
      oxidative cellulose decomposition, i.e., a direct solvent extraction or a more
      laborious chromophore release and identification (CRI) technique aiming to reveal
      products responsible for paper discoloration in the tideline area. Several groups
      of low molecular weight compounds were identified, suggesting a complex pathway
      of cellulose decomposition in the tidelines formed at the cellulose-water-oxygen
      interface. Our findings, namely the appearance of a wide range of linear
      saturated carboxylic acids (from formic to nonanoic), support the oxidative
      autocatalytic mechanism of decomposition. In addition, the identification of
      several furanic compounds (which can be, in part, responsible for paper
      discoloration) plus anhydro carbohydrate derivatives sheds more light on the
      pathways of cellulose decomposition. Most notably, the mechanisms of tideline
      formation in the presence of molecular oxygen appear surprisingly similar to
      pathways of pyrolytic cellulose degradation. More complex chromophore compounds
      were not detected in this study, thereby revealing a difference between this
      short-term tideline experiment and longer-term cellulose aging.

PMID- 27628092
TI  - Current physical activity guidance is misinterpreted.

PMID- 27628093
TI  - Alterations in flowering strategies and sexual allocation of Caragana stenophylla
      along a climatic aridity gradient.
AB  - Plant can alter reproductive strategies for adaptation to different environments.
      However, alterations in flowering strategies and sexual allocation for the same
      species growing in different environments still remain unclear. We examined the
      sexual reproduction parameters of Caragana stenophylla across four climatic zones
      from semi-arid, arid, very arid, to intensively arid zones in the Inner Mongolia
      Steppe, China. Under the relatively favorable climatic conditions of semi-arid
      zone, C. stenophylla took a K-strategy for flowering (fewer but bigger flowers,
      and higher seed set). In contrast, under the harsher climatic conditions of
      intensively arid zone, C. stenophylla took an r-strategy for flowering (more but
      smaller flowers, and lower seed set). In arid and very arid zones, C. stenophylla
      exhibited intermediate flowering strategies between K- and r-strategies. In semi
      arid, arid and very arid zones, sexual allocation and sexual allocation
      efficiency (SAE) of C. stenophylla were high, and the population recruitment
      might be mainly through sexual reproduction; in intensively arid zone, however,
      sexual allocation and SAE were very low, seed production was very limited, and
      clonal reproduction might compensate for the decrease in sexual reproduction. Our
      results suggested that C. stenophylla adapted to the climatic aridity gradient by
      alterations in flowering strategies and reproductive allocation.

PMID- 27628094
TI  - Dissonant response of M0/M2 and M1 bone-marrow-derived macrophages to RhoA
      pathway interference.
AB  - Macrophages have a multitude of functions in innate and adaptive immune response
      and organ and tissue homeostasis. Many experimental studies are performed on bone
      marrow-derived macrophages differentiated in vitro into M1 (inflammatory) and M2
      (anti-inflammatory) subtypes that express different molecular markers pertaining
      to their prospective functions. Macrophage phenotype, polarity and functions
      depend on the actin cytoskeleton, which is regulated by small GTPase RhoA, its
      downstream effector ROCK, and non-apoptotic Caspase-3. We generated transgenic
      mice with the macrophage-specific deletion of RhoA and compared the effect of Rho
      pathway interference (RhoA deletion and ROCK and Caspase-3 inhibition) on the
      phenotype, polarity and expression of subtype-specific molecular markers of bone
      marrow-derived M0, M1 and M2 macrophages. We show that M0 and M2 macrophages have
      a radically different phenotype and polarity from M1 macrophages, and that this
      is mirrored in dissonant response to RhoA pathway interference. The RhoA pathway
      interference induces extreme elongation (hummingbird phenotype) of M0 and M2 but
      not M1 macrophages and inhibits the expression of M2-specific but not M1-specific
      molecular markers. These dramatic differences in the response of M0/M2 versus M1
      macrophages to the same molecular cues ought to be important considerations in
      the interpretation of experimental data and therapeutic use of bone-marrow
      derived macrophages.

PMID- 27628096
TI  - Island building in the South China Sea: detection of turbidity plumes and
      artificial islands using Landsat and MODIS data.
AB  - The South China Sea is currently in a state of intense geopolitical conflict,
      with six countries claiming sovereignty over some or all of the area. Recently,
      several countries have carried out island building projects in the Spratly
      Islands, converting portions of coral reefs into artificial islands. Aerial
      photography and high resolution satellites can capture snapshots of this
      construction, but such data are lacking in temporal resolution and spatial scope.
      In contrast, lower resolution satellite sensors with regular repeat sampling
      allow for more rigorous assessment and monitoring of changes to the reefs and
      surrounding areas. Using Landsat-8 data at >=15-m resolution, we estimated that
      over 15 km(2) of submerged coral reef area was converted to artificial islands
      between June 2013 and December 2015, mostly by China. MODIS data at >=250-m
      resolution were used to locate previously underreported island building
      activities, as well as to assess resulting in-water turbidity plumes. The
      combined spatial extent of observed turbidity plumes for island building
      activities at Mischief, Subi, and Fiery Cross Reefs was over 4,300 km(2),
      although nearly 40% of this area was only affected once. Together, these
      activities represent widespread damage to coral ecosystems through physical
      burial as well as indirect turbidity effects.

PMID- 27628095
TI  - Deficiency of the DSPP-cleaving enzymes meprin alpha and meprin beta does not
      result in dentin malformation in mice.
AB  - Formation of dentin requires the maturation of procollagen I and the proteolytic
      processing of the dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP). These cleavage events can be
      facilitated by the metalloproteinases meprin alpha and meprin beta as well as by
      bone morphogenetic protein 1 (BMP-1). All three enzymes have been shown to play
      important roles during collagen I maturation in vivo and their potential in
      cleaving DSPP was demonstrated in vitro. Hence, it has been discussed whether
      meprin alpha, meprin beta, BMP-1 or all three are crucial factors in the onset
      and progression of dentin-related diseases and this issue is addressed here. In
      this study, we compare the incisors and molars of meprin alpha (Mep1a -/-)- and
      meprin beta (Mep1b -/-)-deficient mice with wild-type (WT) controls on the
      macroscopic and microscopic level. The dentin was evaluated towards the bone
      mineral density, dentin volume, calcification and collagen matrix integrity.
      Using immunohistochemistry, we could identify meprin beta, BMP-1 and DSPP/DSP in
      the pre-dentin of WT mice. Nevertheless, no significant dentin malformation was
      observed in Mep1b -/- or Mep1a -/- deficient mice.

PMID- 27628098
TI  - Global longitudinal strain: a useful everyday measurement?
AB  - Herceptin (Trastuzumab) is a widely used and effective drug for the treatment of
      Her2+ breast cancer but its cardiotoxic side effects require regular monitoring
      by echocardiography. A 10% reduction in left ventricular ejection fraction can
      lead to suspension of treatment and therefore has significant implications for
      patient prognosis in terms of cardiac and cancer outcomes. Assessment of LV
      function by conventional 2D biplane method of discs (2DEF) has limitations in
      accuracy and reproducibility. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) is becoming more
      widely available and user friendly. It has been shown to demonstrate myocardial
      damage earlier in treatment than 2DEF, allowing the option of pharmacological
      intervention at a pre-clinical stage and preventing the interruption of
      Herceptin. This study compares the reproducibility of GLS with that of 2DEF in a
      routine clinical environment. Fifty echocardiograms performed on female patients
      undergoing Herceptin treatment were used to measure both 2DEF and GLS within the
      recommended standard appointment time of 40 min. The data were re-measured
      (blind) by the same operator a minimum of 14 days later to determine intra
      operator variation. These data were also measured by a second operator (blind),
      to assess inter-operator variation. Analysis by direct comparison, intra-class
      correlation (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV) and Bland-Altman plots
      demonstrated that GLS is a more reproducible measurement than 2DEF. This is
      important to prevent clinical decisions being erroneously based on variation in
      operator measurement. The investigation also shows that with advances in machine
      software this is a practical addition to routine assessment rather than merely a
      research tool.

PMID- 27628097
TI  - Nutritional Strategies Facing an Older Demographic: The Nutrition UP 65 Study
      Protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The population of Portugal is aging. The lack of data on older
      adults' nutritional status and the lack of nutrition knowledge amongst health
      professionals, caregivers, and older adults themselves, remains a challenge.
      OBJECTIVE: The Nutrition UP 65 study aims to reduce nutritional inequalities in
      the older Portuguese adult population and improve knowledge regarding older
      Portuguese adults' nutritional status, specifically relating to undernutrition,
      obesity, sarcopenia, frailty, hydration, sodium, and vitamin D statuses. METHODS:
      A representative sample of older Portuguese adults was selected.
      Sociodemographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, functional, and clinical data were
      collected. Sodium excretion, hydration, and vitamin D statuses were assessed.
      RESULTS: Data collection (n=1500) took place between December, 2015 and June,
      2016. Results will be disseminated in national and international scientific
      journals, and via Portuguese media. CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition UP 65 results will
      provide evidence for the design and implementation of effective preventive public
      health strategies regarding the elderly. These insights may represent relevant
      health gains and costs savings.

PMID- 27628099
TI  - Flat-Lens Focusing of Electron Beams in Graphene.
AB  - Coupling electron beams carrying information into electronic units is fundamental
      in microelectronics. This requires precision manipulation of electron beams
      through a coupler with a good focusing ability. In graphene, the focusing of wide
      electron beams has been successfully demonstrated by a circular p-n junction.
      However, it is not favorable for information coupling since the focal length is
      so small that the focal spot locates inside the circular gated region, rather
      than in the background region. Here, we demonstrate that an array of gate-defined
      quantum dots, which has gradually changing lattice spacing in the direction
      transverse to propagation, can focus electrons outside itself, providing a
      possibility to make a coupler in graphene. The focusing effect can be understood
      as due to the gradient change of effective refractive indices, which are defined
      by the local energy band in a periodic potential. The strong focusing can be
      achieved by suitably choosing the lattice gradient and the layer number in the
      incident direction, offering an effective solution to precision manipulation of
      electron beams with wide electron energy range and high angular tolerance.

PMID- 27628101
TI  - Morphological Assessment of Single-Ventricle Atrioventricular Valve Regurgitation
      on Dual-Source 128-Slice Multidetector Computed Tomography and 4-Dimensional
      Imaging.

PMID- 27628100
TI  - Lead Quantification in Urine Samples of Athletes by Coupling DLLME with UV-Vis
      Spectrophotometry.
AB  - Urine lead level is one of the most employed measures of lead exposure and risk.
      The urine samples used in this study were obtained from ten healthy male
      cyclists. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with ultraviolet and
      visible spectrophotometry was utilized for preconcentration, extraction, and
      determination of lead in urine samples. Optimization of the independent variables
      was carried out based on chemometric methods in three steps. According to the
      screening and optimization study, 133 MUL of CCl4 (extracting solvent), 1.34 mL
      ethanol (dispersing solvent), pH 2.0, 0.00 % of salt, and 0.1 % O,O-diethyl
      dithiophosphoric (chelating agent) were used as the optimum independent variables
      for microextraction and determination of lead. Under the optimized conditions, R
      2 was 0.9991, and linearity range was 0.01-100 MUg L-1. Precision was evaluated
      in terms of repeatability and intermediate precision, with relative standard
      deviations being <9.1 and <15.3 %, respectively. The accuracy was estimated using
      urine samples of cyclists as real samples and it was confirmed. The relative
      error of <=5 % was considered significant in the method specificity study. The
      lead concentration mean for the cyclists was 3.79 MUg L-1 in urine samples. As a
      result, the proposed method is a robust technique to quantify lead concentrations
      higher than 11.6 ng L-1 in urine samples.

PMID- 27628102
TI  - Heart Failure Progression in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - Possible Insights From
      Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) progression and its complications represent major
      emergent concerns in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We investigated the
      possible adjunctive role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in predicting
      HF-related events. An exercise-derived risk model, theHYPertrophicExercise
      derivedRiskHF(HYPERHF), has been developed. METHODS AND RESULTS: A multicenter
      cohort of 620 consecutive HCM outpatients was recruited and followed (2007 to
      2015). The endpoint was death from HF, cardiac transplantation, NYHA III-IV class
      progression, severe functional deterioration leading to hospitalization for
      septal reduction, and hospitalization for HF worsening. During a median follow-up
      of 3.8 years (25-75th centile: 2.3-5.3 years), 84 patients reached the endpoint.
      Peak circulatory power (peak oxygen consumption * peak systolic blood pressure),
      ventilatory efficiency and left atrial diameter were independently associated
      with the endpoint and, accordingly, integrated into the HYPERHFmodel (C index:
      0.849; best cutoff value equal to 15%). CONCLUSIONS: CPET is useful in the
      evaluation of HCM patients. In this context, the HYPERHFscore might allow early
      identification of those patients at high risk of HF progression and its
      complications. (Circ J 2016; 80: 2204-2211).

PMID- 27628104
TI  - Effect of an NSE PTA balloon in experimental lesion models.
AB  - The effect of a scoring balloon has been reported. However, it is difficult to
      compare the effect of conventional vs. scoring balloons on the same lesion.
      Therefore, we assessed the scoring effect of the NSE with and without elements.
      The endpoints of this study were scoring grade in the eccentric agar model and
      crack incidence in the eccentric plaster model after ballooning. The scoring
      grade consisted of 5 levels: (1) almost none, (2) only at the surface, (3)
      cleavage in the depth of less than two-thirds, (4) cleavage in the depth of two
      thirds or more, and (5) collapse. The scoring grade was assessed by blinded
      reviewers. To estimate the incidence of crack after ballooning for plaster model,
      balloon expansion pressure was recorded when plaster was broken. In the eccentric
      agar model, the overall scoring grade was significantly higher in the NSE group
      compared with the NSE without elements group (p = 0.002). The scoring grade at a
      diameter of 4.0 mm was significantly higher in the NSE group (p = 0.018). The
      scoring grade at nominal pressure was significantly higher in the NSE group (p =
      0.016). In the eccentric plaster model, the crack incidence of the calcified
      region was overall significantly higher in the NSE group than that in the NSE
      without elements group (63 vs. 42 %, p = 0.04). A crack was found at
      calcification severity >=180 degrees  in the NSE group (84 vs. 56 %, p = 0.014).
      Our result suggested that NSE exhibited a higher scoring effect in both models
      compared with conventional balloons.

PMID- 27628103
TI  - Significance of frailty for predicting adverse clinical outcomes in different
      patient groups with specific medical conditions.
AB  - Frailty is a major health burden in an aging society. It constitutes a clinical
      state of reduced physiological reserves that is associated with a diminished
      ability to withstand internal and external stressors. Frail patients have an
      increased risk for adverse clinical outcomes, such as mortality, readmission to
      hospital, institutionalization and falls. Of further clinical interest, frailty
      might be at least in part reversible in some patients and subject to preventive
      strategies. In daily clinical practice older patients with a complex health
      status, who are mostly frail or at least at risk of developing frailty, are
      frequently cared for by geriatricians. Recently, clinicians and scientists from
      other medical disciplines, such as cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology,
      nephrology, endocrinology, rheumatology, surgery and critical care medicine also
      discovered frailty to be an interesting instrument for risk stratification of
      patients, including younger patients. In this review we highlight the results of
      recent studies that demonstrated the significance of frailty to predict adverse
      clinical outcomes in patients with specific medical conditions, such as cardiac,
      lung, liver and kidney diseases as well as diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis,
      trauma patients, patients undergoing surgery and critically ill patients.
      Multiple studies in patients with the aforementioned specific medical conditions
      could be identified demonstrating a predictive role of frailty for several
      adverse clinical outcomes. The association between frailty and adverse clinical
      outcomes reported in these studies was in part independent of several major
      potential confounder factors, such as age, sex, race, comorbidities and
      disabilities and were also detected in younger patients.

PMID- 27628105
TI  - Elevated serum magnesium associated with SGLT2 inhibitor use in type 2 diabetes
      patients: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: By analysing available evidence from randomised controlled
      trials (RCTs), we aimed to examine whether and to what extent sodium-glucose
      cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors affect serum electrolyte levels in type 2
      diabetes patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register
      of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 24 May 2016 for
      published RCTs of SGLT2 inhibitors that reported changes in serum electrolyte
      levels. Weighted mean differences (WMD) between each SGLT2 inhibitor and placebo
      were calculated using a random-effects model. Dose-dependent relationships for
      each SGLT2 inhibitor were evaluated using meta-regression analysis. RESULTS:
      Eighteen eligible RCTs, including 15,309 patients and four SGLT2 inhibitors
      (canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, empagliflozin and ipragliflozin) were evaluated.
      In patients without chronic kidney disease, each SGLT2 inhibitor significantly
      increased serum magnesium levels compared with placebo (canagliflozin: WMD 0.06
      mmol/l for 100 mg and 0.09 mmol/l for 300 mg; dapagliflozin: WMD 0.1 mmol/l for
      10 mg; empagliflozin: WMD 0.04 mmol/l for 10 mg and 0.07 mmol/l for 25 mg; and
      ipragliflozin: WMD 0.05 mmol/l for 50 mg). Canagliflozin increased serum
      magnesium in a linear dose-dependent manner (p = 0.10). Serum phosphate was
      significantly increased by dapagliflozin. Serum sodium appeared to significantly
      differ by SGLT2 inhibitor type. No significant changes in serum calcium and
      potassium were observed. Findings were robust after including trials involving
      patients with chronic kidney disease. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: SGLT2
      inhibitors marginally increased serum magnesium levels in type 2 diabetes
      patients indicating a drug class effect. Further investigations are required to
      examine the clinical significance of elevated magnesium levels in individuals
      with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27628107
TI  - Scheduled Follow-Up Referrals and Simple Prevention Kits Including Counseling to
      Improve Post-Discharge Outcomes Among Children in Uganda: A Proof-of-Concept
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrent illness following hospital discharge is a major contributor
      to childhood mortality in resource-poor countries. Yet post-discharge care is
      largely ignored by health care workers and policy makers due to a lack of
      resources to identify children with recurrent illness and a lack of cohesive
      systems to provide care. The purpose of this proof-of-concept study was to
      evaluate the effectiveness of a bundle of interventions at discharge to improve
      health outcomes during the vulnerable post-discharge period. METHODS: The study
      was conducted between December 2014 and April 2015. Eligible children were
      between ages 6 months and 5 years who were admitted with a suspected or proven
      infectious disease to one of two hospitals in Mbarara, Uganda. A bundle of
      interventions was provided at the time of discharge. This bundle included post
      discharge referrals for follow-up visits and a discharge kit. The post-discharge
      referral was to ensure follow-up with a nearby health care provider on days 2, 7,
      and 14 following discharge. The discharge kit included brief educational
      counseling along with simple preventive items as incentives (soap, a mosquito
      net, and oral rehydration salts) to reinforce the education. The primary study
      outcome was the number of post-discharge referral visits completed. Secondary
      study outcomes included satisfaction with the intervention, rates of readmission
      after 60 days, and post-discharge mortality rates. In addition, outcomes were
      compared with a historical control group, enrolled using the same inclusion
      criteria and outcome-ascertainment methods. RESULTS: During the study, 216
      children were admitted, of whom 14 died during hospitalization. Of the 202
      children discharged, 85% completed at least 1 of the 3 follow-up referral visits,
      with 48% completing all 3 visits. Within 60 days after discharge, 22 children
      were readmitted at least once and 5 children (2.5%) died. Twelve (43%)
      readmissions occurred during a scheduled follow-up visit. Compared with
      prospectively enrolled historical controls, the post-discharge referral for
      follow-up increased the odds of readmission (odds ratio [OR], 1.92; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.14 to 3.23) and care sought after discharge (OR,
      14.61; 95% CI, 9.41 to 22.67). Overall satisfaction with the bundle of
      interventions was high, with most caregivers strongly agreeing that the discharge
      kit and post-discharge referrals improved their ability to care for their child.
      CONCLUSIONS: Interventions initiated at the time of discharge have the potential
      to profoundly affect the landscape of care during illness recovery and lead to
      significantly improved outcomes among children under 5 years of age.

PMID- 27628108
TI  - Self-assembly of biomorphic carbon/sulfur microstructures in sulfidic
      environments.
AB  - In natural and laboratory-based environments experiencing sustained counter
      fluxes of sulfide and oxidants, elemental sulfur (S(0))-a key intermediate in the
      sulfur cycle-can commonly accumulate. S(0) is frequently invoked as a
      biomineralization product generated by enzymatic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide
      and polysulfides. Here we show the formation of S(0) encapsulated in nanometre to
      micrometre-scale tubular and spherical organic structures that self-assemble in
      sulfide gradient environments in the absence of any direct biological activity.
      The morphology and composition of these carbon/sulfur microstructures so closely
      resemble microbial cellular and extracellular structures that new caution must be
      applied to the interpretation of putative microbial biosignatures in the fossil
      record. These reactions between sulfide and organic matter have important
      implications for our understanding of S(0) mineralization processes and sulfur
      interactions with organic carbon in the environment. They furthermore provide a
      new pathway for the synthesis of carbon-sulfur nanocomposites for energy storage
      technologies.

PMID- 27628106
TI  - Hepatocyte glutathione peroxidase-1 deficiency improves hepatic glucose
      metabolism and decreases steatohepatitis in mice.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: In obesity oxidative stress is thought to contribute to the
      development of insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the
      progression to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Our aim was to examine the precise
      contributions of hepatocyte-derived H2O2 to liver pathophysiology. METHODS:
      Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) 1 is an antioxidant enzyme that is abundant in the
      liver and converts H2O2 to water. We generated Gpx1 lox/lox mice to conditionally
      delete Gpx1 in hepatocytes (Alb-Cre;Gpx1 lox/lox) and characterised mice fed
      chow, high-fat or choline-deficient amino-acid-defined (CDAA) diets. RESULTS:
      Chow-fed Alb-Cre;Gpx1 lox/lox mice did not exhibit any alterations in body
      composition or energy expenditure, but had improved insulin sensitivity and
      reduced fasting blood glucose. This was accompanied by decreased gluconeogenic
      and increased glycolytic gene expression as well as increased hepatic glycogen.
      Hepatic insulin receptor Y1163/Y1163 phosphorylation and Akt Ser-473
      phosphorylation were increased in fasted chow-fed Alb-Cre;Gpx1 lox/lox mice,
      associated with increased H2O2 production and insulin signalling in isolated
      hepatocytes. The enhanced insulin signalling was accompanied by the increased
      oxidation of hepatic protein tyrosine phosphatases previously implicated in the
      attenuation of insulin signalling. High-fat-fed Alb-Cre;Gpx1 lox/lox mice did not
      exhibit alterations in weight gain or hepatosteatosis, but exhibited decreased
      hepatic inflammation, decreased gluconeogenic gene expression and increased
      insulin signalling in the liver. Alb-Cre;Gpx1 lox/lox mice fed a CDAA diet that
      promotes non-alcoholic steatohepatitis exhibited decreased hepatic lymphocytic
      infiltrates, inflammation and liver fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION:
      Increased hepatocyte-derived H2O2 enhances hepatic insulin signalling, improves
      glucose control and protects mice from the development of non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis.

PMID- 27628109
TI  - Phaeohyphomycosis Caused by Rhytidhysteron rufulum and Review of Literature.
AB  - Phaeohyphomycosis is caused by a heterogeneous group of mycelial dematiaceous
      (phaeoid) fungi, which produce melanin pigment. This condition is often confused
      with chromoblastomycosis. Rhytidhysteron is a dematiaceous fungus, which has been
      recently found to be causing human infections. Till date only three cases of
      infection with Rhytidhysteron rufulum have been reported in the literature. All
      three cases have been from North India. Hereby, we present another two cases
      where Rhytidhysteron was isolated. Both the patients belonged to Chandigarh
      (India) and presented with subcutaneous lesions. The isolates were confirmed by
      ITS sequencing. Both the patients were immunocompetent and gave no history of
      trauma or any other predisposing factor. Phaeohyphomycosis are often missed due
      to lack of knowledge regarding the fungi causing the infections and there is need
      for clinical, pathological and microbiological correlation for effective
      diagnosis and treatment in these cases.

PMID- 27628110
TI  - On the distribution of trace element concentrations in multiple bone elements in
      10 Danish medieval and post-medieval individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The differences in trace element concentrations among 19 different
      bone elements procured from 10 archaeologically derived human skeletons have been
      investigated. The 10 individuals are dated archaeologically and some by
      radiocarbon dating to the medieval and post-medieval period, an interval from ca.
      AD 1150 to ca. AD 1810. This study is relevant for two reasons. First, most
      archaeometric studies analyze only one bone sample from each individual; so to
      what degree are the bones in the human body equal in trace element chemistry?
      Second, differences in turnover time of the bone elements makes the cortical
      tissues record the trace element concentrations in equilibrium with the blood
      stream over a longer time earlier in life than the trabecular. Therefore, any
      differences in trace element concentrations between the bone elements can yield
      what can be termed a chemical life history of the individual, revealing changes
      in diet, provenance, or medication throughout life. METHODS: Thorough
      decontamination and strict exclusion of non-viable data has secured a dataset of
      high quality. The measurements were carried out using Inductively Coupled Plasma
      Mass Spectrometry (for Fe, Mn, Al, Ca, Mg, Na, Ba, Sr, Zn, Pb and As) and Cold
      Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (for Hg) on ca. 20 mg samples. RESULTS:
      Twelve major and trace elements have been measured on 19 bone elements from 10
      different individuals interred at five cemeteries widely distributed in medieval
      and renaissance Denmark. The ranges of the concentrations of elements were: Na
      (2240-5660 ug g-1 ), Mg (440-2490 ug g-1 ), Al (9-2030 ug g-1 ), Ca (22-36 wt.
      %), Mn (5-11450 ug g-1 ), Fe (32-41850 ug g-1 ), Zn (69-2610 ug g-1 ), As (0.4
      120 ug g-1 ), Sr (101-815 ug g-1 ), Ba (8-880 ug g-1 ), Hg (7-78730 ng g-1 ), and
      Pb (0.8-426 ug g-1 ). CONCLUSIONS: It is found that excess As is mainly of
      diagenetic origin. The results support that Ba and Sr concentrations are
      effective provenance or dietary indicators. Migrating behavior or changes in diet
      have been observed in four individuals; non-migratory or non-changing diet in six
      out of the 10 individuals studied. From the two most mobile (most changing diet)
      individuals in the study, it is deduced that the fastest turnover is seen in the
      trabecular tissues of the long bones and the hands and the feet, and that these
      bone elements have higher turnover rates than centrally placed trabecular bone
      tissue, such as from the ilium or the spine. Comparing Sr and published bone
      turnover times, it is concluded that the differences seen in Sr concentrations
      are not caused by diagenesis, but by changes of diet or provenance. Finally, it
      is concluded that there can be two viable interpretations of the Pb
      concentrations, which can either be seen as an indicator for social class or a
      temporal development of increased Pb exposure over the centuries.

PMID- 27628111
TI  - Blue-green tunable color of Ce(3+)/Tb(3+) coactivated NaBa3La3Si6O20 phosphor via
      energy transfer.
AB  - A series of color tunable phosphors NaBa3La3Si6O20:Ce(3+), Tb(3+) were
      synthesized via the high-temperature solid-state method. NaBa3La3Si6O20
      crystallizes in noncentrosymmetric space group Ama2 with the cell parameters of a
      = 14.9226(4) A, b = 24.5215(5) A and c = 5.6241(2) A by the Rietveld refinement
      method. The Ce(3+) ions doped NaBa3La3Si6O20 phosphors have a strong absorption
      band from 260 to 360 nm and show near ultraviolet emission light centered at 378
      nm. The Ce(3+) and Tb(3+) ions coactivated phosphors exhibit color tunable
      emission light from deep blue to green by adjusting the concentration of the
      Tb(3+) ions. An energy transfer of Ce(3+) -> Tb(3+) investigated by the
      photoluminescence properties and lifetime decay, is demonstrated to be dipole
      quadrupole interaction. These results indicate the NaBa3La3Si6O20:Ce(3+), Tb(3+)
      phosphors can be considered as potential candidates for blue-green components for
      white light emitting diodes.

PMID- 27628112
TI  - Anesthesia considerations for robotic surgery in gynecologic oncology.
AB  - Robot-assisted gynecologic surgery is performed with a pneumoperitoneum and
      prolonged maximum Trendelenburg position which can result in adverse physiologic
      effects. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of robot
      assisted gynecologic oncology procedures and to identify anesthesia-related peri
      operative adverse events. This is a case series performed on the first 133
      patients who underwent a robot-assisted gynecologic oncology procedure at a
      tertiary care facility. Data was collected from electronically archived patient
      charts and from a prospective surgical database. Patient demographics were
      recorded and significant intra-operative and post-operative adverse events were
      reviewed. Robot-assisted surgery for gynecologic oncologic surgery with the use
      of extreme Trendelenburg in all patients was safely and successfully performed
      across a wide range of ages, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical
      status scores and body mass indices. Although most patients developed various
      degree of facial edema, only 5% of patients had a delayed extubation. Transient
      intra-operative hypoxemia (O2 saturation < 90%) occurred in 3.75% (5/133) of
      patients and hypercapnia (CO2 > 45 mmHg) in 18% (24/133). The mean duration of
      surgery was 254 min and median hospital stay was 1 day. Anesthetic and peri
      operative complications are rare for patients undergoing robot-assisted
      gynecologic oncology surgeries despite the prolonged use of maximum Trendelenburg
      positioning and pneumoperitoneum. Although there are new anesthetic challenges,
      these surgeries were safely performed in a wide range of patients with minimal
      blood loss, short hospital stay and no significant cardiopulmonary complications.

PMID- 27628113
TI  - Robotic surgery for gastric cancer: a technical review.
AB  - Minimally invasive gastric cancer surgery is gaining acceptance, especially in
      the treatment of patients with early gastric cancer. While offering patients the
      benefits of minimally invasive surgery, laparoscopic surgery is limited by
      several disadvantages such as altered operating view and lack of versatility in
      surgical instrumentation. Robotic surgery offers the surgeon the benefit of
      superior 3D visualization, the freedom of the EndoWrist function, and the tremble
      filtered control of the four robotic arms. Due to the technical advantages of the
      robotic surgical system, robotic surgery may facilitate the expansion of
      minimally invasive surgery over laparoscopy. The application of robotic surgery
      for gastric cancer is increasing in experienced centers. Most reports of the
      robotic operating methods are only slightly modified from the laparoscopic
      technique. Robotic gastric cancer surgery including radical subtotal gastrectomy
      with D2 lymph node dissection is technically feasible and safe and results in
      similar short-term postoperative outcomes when compared to laparoscopic surgery.
      The role of robotic surgery in gastric cancer is promising but awaits further
      comparative studies of long-term results and cost-effectiveness. 

PMID- 27628114
TI  - Mid-term biochemical recurrence-free outcomes following robotic versus
      laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
AB  - We compared 5-year biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free rates for robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP).
      Three hundred and twelve consecutive patients who underwent RALP from 2003 to
      2008 were compared to 97 consecutive LRP patients from 1999 to 2004. All
      laparoscopic surgeries were performed by one surgeon and robotic surgeries were
      performed by this surgeon or a laparoscopically naive surgeon. Both groups were
      evaluated for perioperative outcome, pathologic status, and mid-term oncologic
      outcomes (5-year BCR-free rates at prostate-specific antigen [PSA] cutoffs of
      <0.4, <0.2, or <0.1 ng/ml). Baseline characteristics were equivalent except for
      age (61.9 years vs. 65.1 years, P < 0.0001). RALP operating time was shorter
      (215.5 min vs. 305.3, P < 0.0001), and resulted in fewer complications (3.8% vs.
      10.3%, P = 0.0214) and blood transfusions (2.9% vs. 13.4%, P = 0.0003). Positive
      surgical margins were equivalent (pT2 20.9% vs. 28.8%, P = 0.1818). Overall 5
      year BCR-free rates were comparable for RALP (97.6, 93.4, and 85.1%) and LRP
      (97.7, 89.7, and 79.7%) at PSA cutoff levels of <0.4, <0.2, and <0.1 ng/ml,
      respectively. There was a significant difference in BCR-free rates between the
      RALP and LRP groups for patients with organ-confined (pT2) disease at 0.2 ng/ml
      (96.4% vs. 88.7%, P = 0.0373) and 0.1 ng/ml (91.0% vs. 83.0%, P = 0.0470). We
      report lower morbidity, comparable pathologic outcome and improved mid-term
      oncologic results in patients with organ-confined disease after RALP in
      comparison to LRP. 

PMID- 27628115
TI  - Short-term results of robotic sacrocolpopexy using the Quill SRS bi-directional
      polydioxanone (PDO) suture.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the short-term success of robotic
      sacrocolpopexy using the Quill bi-directional polydioxanone (PDO) suture. This
      was a retrospective observation study of women undergoing robotic sacrocolpopexy
      performed by a single surgeon between May 2008 and August 2010. Pelvic organ
      prolapse was determined using the pelvic organ prolapse quantification scale (POP
      Q). Baseline exam were performed preoperatively and scheduled at 6 weeks, 3
      months, and yearly thereafter. Treatment success defined as a POP-Q measurement
      of point C that did not descend for more than one-half the total vaginal length
      and a measurement for point Ba that was less than -1. A total of 36 patients were
      eligible for enrolment in the study. The mean age was 70 years (range 49-86
      years), and mean body mass index was 27 kg/m(2) (range 19-41 kg/m(2)). The mean
      interval follow-up was 166 days (median 116; range 34-772 days). Anatomic success
      was 92% (33/36). In the short term, the Quill SRS PDO suture provided sufficient
      fixation of an Amid type I polypropylene mesh to the vagina to result in
      excellent anatomic success with only rare complications. 

PMID- 27628116
TI  - Does size matter? The effect of uterine weight on robot-assisted total
      laparoscopic hysterectomy outcomes.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine whether uterine weight affects the
      surgical outcomes of robot-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy (RH)
      procedures. The design of this study is retrospective cohort study. The
      classification of the study design is level II-2 evidence. The study setting is
      the Henry Ford Health System's Community Teaching Hospitals. One-hundred and
      thirty-five patients underwent RH for benign indications at one of two hospitals
      between January1, 2008, and June 1, 2010. Interventions were scheduled RH without
      concomitant uro-gynecologic procedures as the intention to treat. Patient
      demographics, age, height, weight, estimated blood loss (EBL), procedure
      duration, uterine weight, pathology, length of hospital stay (LOS), and any
      complications were obtained from a detailed review of electronic medical records.
      Uterine weight ranged from 47 to 1,290 g (<250 g, n = 87; 250-500 g, n = 28; >500
      g, n = 18). Overall, uterine weight was highly correlated with procedure duration
      (r = .53, P < .001.). Median procedure duration increased from 150 min for the
      <250 g group, to 205 min for the 250-500 g group, and to 295 min for the >500 g
      group. Uterine weight was also moderately correlated with EBL (r = .30, P =
      .0005). Median EBL increased from 50 ml for uteri <250 g to 87.5 ml for the 250
      500 g group, and 100 ml for the >500 g group. This correlation did not persist in
      the assessment of decrease in peri-operative hemoglobin (r = .09, P = .30).
      Ninety-one women had a LOS of 1 day (67.4%), 31 women had a LOS of 2 days (23%),
      and 13 women had a LOS of greater than 2 days (9.6%). Uterine weight was not
      correlated with LOS (r = .14, P = .10) and was not associated with increased
      major or minor complications (WRS P = .79) re-admission (WRS P = .35), or blood
      transfusion (n = 3). RH can be performed on patients with large uteri exceeding
      500 g without associated adverse outcomes. Although procedure duration is
      increased, there is no significant effect on EBL and no increase in the
      occurrence of complications or length of stay. 

PMID- 27628117
TI  - Robot-assisted total intracorporeal low anterior resection with primary
      anastomosis and radical dissection for treatment of stage IV endometriosis with
      bowel involvement: morbidity and its outcome.
AB  - Robot-assisted low anterior resection with primary sigmoid rectal
      anastomosis/ureterolysis/hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy
      (RALARH), and exploratory laparotomy low anterior resection with primary sigmoid
      rectal anastomosis/ureterolysis/hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy
      (ELLARH). A total of eighteen patients (8 RALARH and 10 ELLARH) met the inclusion
      criteria. The mean age of the RALARH group was 47 and that of the ELLARH group
      was 36.9. There was no difference between body mass index (RALARH = 30.3 +/- 6.6,
      95% CI (25.7, 56.0) vs. ELLARH = 26.7 +/- 7.5). Total operative time for the
      RALARH group was 238.5 +/- 57.8 min, 95% CI: (164.5, 279.9) whereas that for the
      ELLARH group was 237 +/- 117.7 min. There were no statistically significant
      differences between blood loss (RALARH = 425 +/- 462.1 cc, 95% CI: (104.8,
      745.2). ELLARH = 630 +/- 432.2 cc) or days of hospitalization (RALARH = 5.5 +/-
      2.4 days, 95% CI: (3.8, 7.2) vs. ELLARH = 6.2 +/- 1.6 days) in the RALARH and
      ELLARH groups. There were fewer complications in the RALARH group than in the
      ELLARH group (RALARH two complications vs. ELLARH two blood transfusion and two
      rectovaginal fistula), but the difference was not significant because of the
      small sample size. Robotic low anterior resection with primary sigmoid rectal
      anastomosis with ureterolysis at the time of hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo
      oophorectomy for treatment of Stage IV endometriosis is a feasible and safe
      procedure. 

PMID- 27628118
TI  - Surgeon perception is not a good predictor of peri-operative outcomes in robot
      assisted radical prostatectomy.
AB  - Surgeons have always used their cognitive intuition for the execution of skilled
      tasks and real-time perception of intra-operative outcomes. We attempted to
      measure the overall accuracy of intra-operative surgeon perception on the
      functional outcome of early continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy
      (RARP). A single experienced surgeon (D.I.L.) used a scoring sheet to
      prospectively capture his subjective opinion of how well a particular portion of
      the RARP procedure was completed. Surgeon perception of factors affecting post
      operative continence such as quality of bladder neck preservation, nerve sparing,
      urethral length, anastomosis, striated sphincter thickness, quality of Rocco
      repair and bladder neck plication suture (total 7 variables) were graded as
      "poor", "average" or "good". Urinary continence was graded as either total
      continence [0 pads per day (PPD) or social continence (security pad or one PPD)].
      A total of 273 (39 patients * 7 variables) responses were recorded: 58.6% were
      rated as "good", 32.2% as "average" and 8.4% as "poor". A log-rank test for all
      perception variables showed no significant differences in subsequent achievement
      of continence (either 0 or 1 PPD) (P > 0.05) at both the 1- and 3-month time
      points. In the case of some perception variables, patients with "bad" scores
      gained continence a median of 3 weeks sooner than patients with "good" scores.
      Surgeon perception of intra-operative performance during RARP is a poor
      predictive indicator of subsequent functional outcome in terms of urinary
      continence. Inter-surgeon variability of perception may vary and needs further
      investigation. 

PMID- 27628119
TI  - Erratum to: Surgeon perception is not a good predictor of peri-operative outcomes
      in robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

PMID- 27628120
TI  - Robotic-assisted hysterectomy in a patient with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.
AB  - There are several articles in the literature reporting laparoscopic surgery in
      patients with ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VPSs). Although the majority of these
      conclude that a pneumoperitoneum in these patients is safe, there are other
      reports indicating possible complications of the insufflation. This is the first
      known report of a robotic-assisted hysterectomy performed on a patient with a VPS
      and the management of the shunt during the procedure. 

PMID- 27628121
TI  - Late onset hemorrhage caused by ruptured uterine artery pseudoaneurysm after
      robotic-assisted total hysterectomy.
AB  - Robotic surgery has been used increasingly for the management of benign or
      malignant gynecologic conditions. Vaginal hemorrhage after hysterectomy is fairly
      uncommon. Uterine artery pseudoaneurysm is a rare phenomenon causing late onset
      hemorrhage that could be potentially life-threatening. This case describes the
      management of vaginal bleeding due to ruptured uterine artery pseudoaneurysm
      after robotic-assisted total hysterectomy. This is the first known reported case
      of a ruptured uterine artery pseudoaneurysm after a robotic-assisted
      hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27628122
TI  - Robot-assisted removal of a lymphocyst causing severe neuralgic pain and adductor
      atrophy.
AB  - Following a robot-assisted radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for
      early-stage cervical cancer, a 53-year-old woman was diagnosed with a 50-mm right
      sided pelvic lymphocyst by the use of vaginal ultrasonography. She gradually
      developed intermittent increasingly severe neuralgic pain mimicking a meralgia
      paresthetica. A neurolysis was proposed by the neurosurgeons. Awaiting this
      intervention, a pelvic MRI revealed a partial atrophy of the ipsilateral adductor
      muscles and a probable entrapment of the obturator nerve by the lymphocyst as an
      alternative cause of the pain. Using a four-arm da Vinci-S-HD robot the
      lymphocyst, located deep in the right obturator fossa and surrounding the
      obturator nerve, was completely removed, sparing the partially atrophic obturator
      nerve. No bleeding occurred. The surgery time was 95 min. At 10 months' follow-up
      the patient was relieved of her pain with no signs of a new lymphocyst. 

PMID- 27628124
TI  - Sublimable Cationic Iridium(III) Complexes with 1,10-Phenanthroline Derivatives
      as Ancillary Ligands for Highly Efficient and Polychromic Electroluminescence.
AB  - A novel series of four sublimable cationic iridium(III) complexes have been
      prepared with 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives as ancillary ligands and the same
      negative counter-ion, tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate, which has a
      large steric hindrance and widely dispersed charges, thereby increasing the ionic
      radii, reducing the electrostatic interaction, and thus improving the volatility.
      Their structural, photophysical, electrochemical, and thermal properties have
      been fully characterized. Upon excitation, these compounds show polychromic
      emission varying from green to orange in solution, which are blue-shifted in the
      solid state to different extents due to pi-pi conjugate effects in the ancillary
      ligands and the resulting molecular aggregation. OLEDs fabricated by vacuum
      evaporation deposition demonstrated desirable device performance with high
      efficiency and brightness, exhibiting various electroluminescent colors dependent
      upon doping concentration.

PMID- 27628123
TI  - Genistein and delphinidin antagonize the genotoxic effects of the mycotoxin
      alternariol in human colon carcinoma cells.
AB  - SCOPE: Although associated with anti-oxidative properties, genistein has been
      reported to induce DNA strand breaks, whereby oxidative stress and topoisomerase
      poisoning are considered as potential mechanisms. In contrast, delphinidin, a
      catalytic topoisomerase inhibitor, is known to suppress the DNA-damaging
      properties of several topoisomerase poisons. Recently, alternariol, a mycotoxin
      produced by Alternaria spp., was found not only to induce oxidative stress but
      also to act as a topoisomerase poison. As both, polyphenols and mycotoxins, might
      occur in our nutrition simultaneously, the question was addressed whether
      potential combinatory effects on DNA integrity have to be considered. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: We determined combinatory effects of either genistein or delphinidin
      with alternariol in HT-29 cells. Cytotoxicity was assessed by WST-1 and SRB
      assays, whereby only weak interactions were observed. The comet assay revealed
      significant antagonistic interactions of both polyphenols with the genotoxicity
      of AOH. The underlying mechanism comprises the suppression of alternariol
      mediated stabilization of DNA/topoisomerase-II-intermediates, as observed in the
      ICE assay. Furthermore, DEL but not GEN was found to suppress AOH-mediated
      oxidative stress. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that a respective polyphenol-rich
      diet might aid to protect against genotoxic damages caused by AOH, whereby
      bioactive concentrations of DEL are predominantly expected locally in the
      intestines.

PMID- 27628125
TI  - Studying Associations Between Heart Failure Self-Management and
      Rehospitalizations Using Natural Language Processing.
AB  - This study developed an innovative natural language processing algorithm to
      automatically identify heart failure (HF) patients with ineffective self
      management status (in the domains of diet, physical activity, medication
      adherence, and adherence to clinician appointments) from narrative discharge
      summary notes. We also analyzed the association between self-management status
      and preventable 30-day hospital readmissions. Our natural language system
      achieved relatively high accuracy ( F-measure = 86.3%; precision = 95%; recall =
      79.2%) on a testing sample of 300 notes annotated by two human reviewers. In a
      sample of 8,901 HF patients admitted to our healthcare system, 14.4% ( n = 1,282)
      had documentation of ineffective HF self-management. Adjusted regression analyses
      indicated that presence of any skill-related self-management deficit (odds ratio
      [OR] = 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.1, 1.6]) and non-specific
      ineffective self-management (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = [1.2, 2]) was significantly
      associated with readmissions. We have demonstrated the feasibility of identifying
      ineffective HF self-management from electronic discharge summaries with natural
      language processing.

PMID- 27628126
TI  - A Divergent Approach to the Diastereoselective Synthesis of 3,3-Disubstituted
      Oxindoles from Atropisomeric N-Aryl Oxindole Derivatives.
AB  - 3,3-Disubstituted oxindoles were divergently synthesized by diastereoselective
      transformations including nucleophilic addition, alkylation, and cycloaddition
      using common, axially chiral N-aryl oxindoles. Notably, high
      diastereoselectivities (up to >95:5) were observed with ortho-monosubstituted N
      aryl oxindoles to give various oxindole scaffolds, and facile removal of the p
      (benzyloxy)aryl moiety in axially twisted amides was achieved by a mild, two-step
      sequence.

PMID- 27628127
TI  - Long-term outcomes of high-dose-rate brachytherapy for intermediate- and high
      risk prostate cancer with a median follow-up of 10 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term outcomes of high-dose-rate (HDR)
      brachytherapy for patients with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analysed a prospective longitudinal
      cohort database including a single-surgeon series of 507 consecutive men treated
      with external beam radiotherapy and an HDR prostate brachytherapy boost between
      August 2000 and December 2009. The risk factors used were based on the D'Amico
      classification. We measured the incidence of no biochemical evidence of disease
      (bNED) based on the Phoenix definition of failure (nadir PSA + 2 ng/mL). We also
      reviewed the incidence of urethral stricture in this cohort. RESULTS: With
      minimum and median follow-ups of 6 and 10.3 years, respectively, the bNED rates
      for men with intermediate- and high risk disease were 93.3% and 74.2%,
      respectively, at 5 years and 86.9% and 56.1%, respectively, at 10 years. The 10
      year bNED rate for men with only one intermediate-risk factor was 94%, whereas
      for patients with all three high-risk factors it was 39.5%. The overall urethral
      stricture rate was 13.6%. Before 2005, the urethral stricture rate was 28.9% and
      after January 2005 it was 4.2%. For the 271 men with a minimum follow-up of 10
      years the actuarial 10-year prostate cancer-specific survival rate was 90.8% and
      the actuarial overall survival rate was 86.7%. CONCLUSIONS: For men with
      intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer features, who are considered not
      suitable for, or wish to avoid a radical prostatectomy, HDR prostate
      brachytherapy remains an appropriate treatment option. From December 2004,
      prevention strategies decreased the risk of post-brachytherapy urethral
      strictures.

PMID- 27628129
TI  - Recollection is delayed under changed viewing conditions: A graded effect on the
      latency of the late posterior component.
AB  - Object recognition is a central human ability. In everyday life, the conditions
      under which objects have to be recognized are usually not perfect. Often, viewing
      conditions change in between two encounters with an object; typical are changes
      in illumination or in the object-observer distance. With such changes, object
      recognition sometimes feels slightly delayed. We examined this phenomenon
      empirically by measuring the latency of the well-established electrophysiological
      correlate of recollection, the late posterior component (LPC), in an object
      recognition task. Although the cognitive processes underlying successful
      recognition are well examined, thus far the consequences of changed viewing
      conditions on the timing of these processes have not been investigated. The ERP
      technique is well suited for investigating this question, because it allows
      differentiating between processes contributing to recognition times (in
      particular, recollection from familiarity as indexed by the FN400 component) and
      measuring their time course with high temporal precision. In the present study,
      participants' task was to differentiate previously studied (old) objects from a
      set of new objects. Viewing conditions for old objects changed slightly, changed
      strongly, or remained identical between learning and test. We found that the
      latency of the LPC in response to an old object was delayed whenever viewing
      conditions changed. Moreover, this delay in LPC latency scaled with the size of
      the change. These effects were absent for the FN400. This is the first
      examination of effects of changes in viewing conditions on the latency of
      recollection and the first dissociation of FN400 and LPC latencies.

PMID- 27628128
TI  - Positive Effects of Specific Exercise and Novel Turning-based Treadmill Training
      on Turning Performance in Individuals with Parkinson's disease: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - Two different training strategies to improve turning performance in individuals
      with Parkinson's disease (PD) were designed and investigated in this study.
      Subjects were randomly assigned to a specific exercise group, turning-based
      training group, or control group to receive training that emphasized balance and
      strengthening, turning-based treadmill training, and general exercise training,
      respectively. A total of 12 30-min training sessions followed by 10 min of
      turning training on a level surface were administered over 4 to 6 weeks. The
      results (n = 12 for each group) showed that both the specific exercise and
      turning-based training group experienced improved turning performance, the
      primary outcome, compared with the control group (specific exercise, 33% change,
      p = 0.016; turning-based training, 35% change, p = 0.021). For the secondary
      outcomes, the specific exercise group performed better than the control group on
      the Tinetti balance scale, limit of stability test and lower extremity extensor
      and abductor strength. The turning-based training groups performed better than
      the control group in sensory organization and ankle plantar flexor strength. In
      summary, specific exercise training and turning-based treadmill training were
      both effective in improving turning performance in participants with PD. However,
      the improvements in turning performance of these two groups resulted from
      improving different aspects of impairment in individuals with PD.

PMID- 27628131
TI  - Simulation Study of CO2-EOR in Tight Oil Reservoirs with Complex Fracture
      Geometries.
AB  - The recent development of tight oil reservoirs has led to an increase in oil
      production in the past several years due to the progress in horizontal drilling
      and hydraulic fracturing. However, the expected oil recovery factor from these
      reservoirs is still very low. CO2-based enhanced oil recovery is a suitable
      solution to improve the recovery. One challenge of the estimation of the recovery
      is to properly model complex hydraulic fracture geometries which are often
      assumed to be planar due to the limitation of local grid refinement approach.
      More flexible methods like the use of unstructured grids can significantly
      increase the computational demand. In this study, we introduce an efficient
      methodology of the embedded discrete fracture model to explicitly model complex
      fracture geometries. We build a compositional reservoir model to investigate the
      effects of complex fracture geometries on performance of CO2 Huff-n-Puff and CO2
      continuous injection. The results confirm that the appropriate modelling of the
      fracture geometry plays a critical role in the estimation of the incremental oil
      recovery. This study also provides new insights into the understanding of the
      impacts of CO2 molecular diffusion, reservoir permeability, and natural fractures
      on the performance of CO2-EOR processes in tight oil reservoirs.

PMID- 27628130
TI  - Interspecific hybrids of dwarf hamsters and Phasianidae birds as animal models
      for studying the genetic and developmental basis of hybrid incompatibility.
AB  - Hybrid incompatibility is important in speciation as it prevents gene flow
      between closely related populations. Reduced fitness from hybrid incompatibility
      may also reinforce prezygotic reproductive isolation between sympatric
      populations. However, the genetic and developmental basis of hybrid
      incompatibility in higher vertebrates remains poorly understood. Mammals and
      birds, both amniotes, have similar developmental processes, but marked
      differences in development such as the XY/ZW sex determination systems and the
      presence or absence of genomic imprinting. Here, we review the sterile phenotype
      of hybrids between the Phodopus dwarf hamsters P. campbelli and P. sungorus, and
      the inviable phenotype of hybrids between two birds of the family Phasianidae,
      chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). We
      propose hypotheses for developmental defects that are associated with these
      hybrid incompatibilities. In addition, we discuss the genetic and developmental
      basis for these defects in conjunction with recent findings from mouse and avian
      models of genetics, reproductive biology and genomics. We suggest that these
      hybrids are ideal animal models for studying the genetic and developmental basis
      of hybrid incompatibility in amniotes.

PMID- 27628132
TI  - Drug Sensitivity Assays of Human Cancer Organoid Cultures.
AB  - Drug sensitivity testing utilizing preclinical disease models such as cancer cell
      lines is an important and widely used tool for drug development. Importantly,
      when combined with molecular data such as gene copy number variation or somatic
      coding mutations, associations between drug sensitivity and molecular data can be
      used to develop markers to guide patient therapies. The use of organoids as a
      preclinical cancer model has become possible following recent work demonstrating
      that organoid cultures can be derived from patient tumors with a high rate of
      success. A genetic analysis of colon cancer organoids found that these models
      encompassed the majority of the somatic variants present within the tumor from
      which it was derived, and capture much of the genetic diversity of colon cancer
      observed in patients. Importantly, the systematic sensitivity testing of organoid
      cultures to anticancer drugs identified clinical gene-drug interactions,
      suggestive of their potential as preclinical models for testing anticancer drug
      sensitivity. In this chapter, we describe how to perform medium/high-throughput
      drug sensitivity screens using 3D organoid cell cultures.

PMID- 27628134
TI  - Intestinal Organoids as a Novel Tool to Study Microbes-Epithelium Interactions.
AB  - The gut, particularly the colon, is the host of approximately 1000 bacterial
      species, the so-called gut microbiota. The relationship between the gut
      microbiota and the host is symbiotic and mutualistic, influencing many aspects of
      the biology of the host. This homeostatic balance can be disrupted by enteric
      pathogens, such as Shigella flexneri or Listeria monocytogenes, which are able to
      invade the epithelial layer and consequently subvert physiological functions. To
      study the host-microbe interactions in vitro, the crypt culture model, known as
      intestinal organoids, is a powerful tool. Intestinal organoids provide a model in
      which to examine the response of the epithelium, particularly the response of
      intestinal stem cells, to the presence of bacteria. Furthermore, the organoid
      model enables the study of pathogens during the early steps of enteric pathogen
      invasion.Here, we describe methods that we have established to study the cellular
      microbiology of symbiosis between the gut microbiota and host intestinal surface
      and secondly the disruption of host homeostasis due to an enteric pathogen.

PMID- 27628133
TI  - Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC) Generation, Culture, and Differentiation to
      Lung Progenitor Cells.
AB  - Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are the product of adult somatic cell
      reprogramming to an embryonic-like state by inducing a "forced" expression of
      specific genes. They are similar to natural pluripotent stem cells, such as
      embryonic stem (ES) cells, in many aspects, such as the expression of certain
      stem cell genes and potency and differentiability. Human iPS cells are invaluable
      resource for basic research, cell therapy, drug discovery, and human organ tissue
      engineering. iPS cells can be derived from the patient to be treated and thus are
      genetically identical cells that may avoid immune rejection. The following
      protocols offer a general guideline for the induction of iPSCs from fibroblasts,
      and for culture and expansion to produce lung precursor cells.

PMID- 27628136
TI  - APSN Executive Committee.

PMID- 27628135
TI  - Welcome Message.

PMID- 27628137
TI  - ANZSN.

PMID- 27628139
TI  - 2016 Seminar Speakers.

PMID- 27628138
TI  - 2016 Keynote Speakers.

PMID- 27628140
TI  - 2016 Congress Sponsors.

PMID- 27628141
TI  - 2016 Abstract Reviewers.

PMID- 27628142
TI  - APCN 2016 Program at a Glance.

PMID- 27628144
TI  - APCN 2016 Program.

PMID- 27628143
TI  - Additional meetings at a glance.

PMID- 27628145
TI  - CME Nephrology Update.

PMID- 27628146
TI  - AFCKDI.

PMID- 27628147
TI  - Renal Dietitians Workshop.

PMID- 27628148
TI  - APSN Young Investigator Award - Clinical Science.

PMID- 27628149
TI  - APSN young investigator award - Basic science.

PMID- 27628150
TI  - Anzsn Young Investigator Award.

PMID- 27628151
TI  - Kidney Health Australia Clinical Science Award.

PMID- 27628152
TI  - Anzsn Basic Science Award.

PMID- 27628153
TI  - Anzsn Trainee Award.

PMID- 27628154
TI  - Mini Oral Abstracts.

PMID- 27628155
TI  - Static Poster Abstracts.

PMID- 27628157
TI  - Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Dubin-Johnson-Like Pigment in a Patient With
      Chronic Hepatitis B.

PMID- 27628156
TI  - Extreme Amyloid Depositions in the Calvarium and Dura Associated With Plasma Cell
      Myeloma.

PMID- 27628158
TI  - A Bis(silylene)-Substituted ortho-Carborane as a Superior Ligand in the Nickel
      Catalyzed Amination of Arenes.
AB  - The synthesis and structure of the first 1,2-bis(NHSi)-substituted ortho
      carborane [(LSi:)C]2 B10 H10 (termed SiCCSi) is reported (NHSi=N-heterocyclic
      silylene; L=PhC(NtBu)2 ). Its suitability to serve as a reliable bis(silylene)
      chelating ligand for transition metals is demonstrated by the formation of
      [SiCCSi]NiBr2 and [SiCCSi]Ni(CO)2 complexes. The CO stretching vibration modes of
      the latter indicate that the Si(II) atoms in the SiCCSi ligand are even stronger
      sigma donors than the P(III) atoms in phosphines and C(II) atoms in N
      heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands. Moreover, the strong donor character of the
      [SiCCSi] ligand enables [SiCCSi]NiBr2 to act as an outstanding precatalyst (0.5
      mol % loading) in the catalytic aminations of arenes, surpassing the activity of
      previously known molecular Ni-based precatalysts (1-10 mol %).

PMID- 27628159
TI  - Cross-Sectional Survey of Perceived Barriers Among Community Pharmacists Who Do
      Not Immunize, in Wayne County, Michigan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The goal of the study was to identify perceived barriers to
      implementation of vaccination services encountered by independent and small-chain
      community pharmacies in an urban setting. METHODS: Pharmacists in independent and
      small-chain pharmacies located in 29 Michigan ZIP codes were visited and asked to
      complete a 5- to 10-min semi-structured interview. RESULTS: A total of 93
      independent and 12 small-chain pharmacies participated (n = 105; 61%). The
      pharmacies filled an average of 700 prescriptions each week with 1.1 pharmacist
      full-time equivalents and 57 h of technician time. The most common services that
      participating pharmacies provided were dispensing outpatient medication (99%),
      medication therapy management (MTM, 65.7%), disease management or coaching
      (54.3%), point-of-care testing (34.3%), and dispensing medications to inpatient
      facilities (16.2%). Only seven pharmacies (6.7%) administered vaccinations. When
      pharmacists were asked to identify what it would take to start to administer
      vaccines, the most common responses were increased demand from patients (37.1%),
      adequate time (19%), appropriate space (17.1%), appropriate amount of staff
      (14.3%), change in attitudes or beliefs of the owner or pharmacists at that
      pharmacy (13.3%), increased profit related to vaccines (11.4%), and increased
      awareness among patients about the importance of vaccines (11.4%). The majority
      of pharmacies (65.3%) reported that only one factor would need to change to start
      to administer vaccines. CONCLUSION: Independent and small-chain community
      pharmacies in an urban, primarily low-income area identified several barriers
      that have prevented implementation of vaccination services. However, the majority
      of pharmacies reported that only one factor would need to change in order to
      begin to administer vaccines. Interventional efforts necessary to address
      commonly cited barriers may include providing education to pharmacists about the
      need for community pharmacy-based immunization programs in addition to services
      provided by physician offices, as well as the importance of proactively providing
      immunization-related recommendations to patients.

PMID- 27628165
TI  - The functional role of xylem parenchyma cells and aquaporins during recovery from
      severe water stress.
AB  - Xylem parenchyma cells [vessel associated cells (VACs)] constitute a significant
      fraction of the xylem in woody plants. These cells are often closely connected
      with xylem vessels or tracheids via simple pores (remnants of plasmodesmata
      fields). The close contact and biological activity of VACs during times of severe
      water stress and recovery from stress suggest that they are involved in the
      maintenance of xylem transport capacity and responsible for the restoration of
      vessel/tracheid functionality following embolism events. As recovery from
      embolism requires the transport of water across xylem parenchyma cell membranes,
      an understanding of stem-specific aquaporin expression patterns, localization and
      activity is a crucial part of any biological model dealing with embolism recovery
      processes in woody plants. In this review, we provide a short overview of xylem
      parenchyma cell biology with a special focus on aquaporins. In particular we
      address their distributions and activity during the development of drought
      stress, during the formation of embolism and the subsequent recovery from stress
      that may result in refilling. Complemented by the current biological model of
      parenchyma cell function during recovery from stress, this overview highlights
      recent breakthroughs on the unique ability of long-lived perennial plants to
      undergo cycles of embolism-recovery related to drought/rewetting or freeze/thaw
      events.

PMID- 27628167
TI  - Unintentional deaths from carbon-monoxide poisoning due to a traditional practice
      observed during the post-partum period.
AB  - Deaths resulting from carbon-monoxide poisoning have been reported in the medical
      literature under diverse circumstances. Here, we report four deaths due to carbon
      monoxide poisoning as a result of a traditional practice involving the
      application of heat to the abdomen to facilitate uterine involution during the
      immediate post-partum period. Four people died due to carbon-monoxide poisoning
      in two separate incidents, including two women in the post-partum period. In both
      instances, the women slept beside a stove with burning charcoal, which was
      supposed to provide warmth to the lower abdomen.

PMID- 27628166
TI  - Induction of Robust Immune Responses in Swine by Using a Cocktail of Adenovirus
      Vectored African Swine Fever Virus Antigens.
AB  - The African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a fatal hemorrhagic disease in
      domestic swine, and at present no treatment or vaccine is available. Natural and
      gene-deleted, live attenuated strains protect against closely related virulent
      strains; however, they are yet to be deployed and evaluated in the field to rule
      out chronic persistence and a potential for reversion to virulence. Previous
      studies suggest that antibodies play a role in protection, but induction of
      cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) could be the key to complete protection. Hence,
      generation of an efficacious subunit vaccine depends on identification of CTL
      targets along with a suitable delivery method that will elicit effector CTLs
      capable of eliminating ASFV-infected host cells and confer long-term protection.
      To this end, we evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of an adenovirus-vectored
      ASFV (Ad-ASFV) multiantigen cocktail formulated in two different adjuvants and at
      two immunizing doses in swine. Immunization with the cocktail rapidly induced
      unprecedented ASFV antigen-specific antibody and cellular immune responses
      against all of the antigens. The robust antibody responses underwent rapid
      isotype switching within 1 week postpriming, steadily increased over a 2-month
      period, and underwent rapid recall upon boost. Importantly, the primed antibodies
      strongly recognized the parental ASFV (Georgia 2007/1) by indirect fluorescence
      antibody (IFA) assay and Western blotting. Significant antigen-specific gamma
      interferon-positive (IFN-gamma+) responses were detected postpriming and
      postboosting. Furthermore, this study is the first to demonstrate induction of
      ASFV antigen-specific CTL responses in commercial swine using Ad-ASFV
      multiantigens. The relevance of the induced immune responses in regard to
      protection needs to be evaluated in a challenge study.

PMID- 27628164
TI  - Novel six-week protocol for generating functional human connective tissue-type
      (MCTC) mast cells from buffy coats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a novel protocol for generating
      large populations of fully mature and functional human mast cells (HMC) from
      CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells which require less culturing time than previously
      reported methods. METHODS: CD34+ cells isolated from fresh human buffy coats were
      sequentially cultured with different combinations of SCF, IL-6, IL-3, IL-9 and IL
      4 under selected culturing conditions and time periods. Cells were then harvested
      for immunohistochemical characterization of morphological phenotypes and were
      functionally characterized by assessing their responses to IgE-dependent and 
      independent stimuli by measuring the release of inflammatory mediators and
      cytokines. Moreover, the pharmacological profiles of several classes of anti
      inflammatory drugs in inhibiting the activation of these HMC were also
      characterized. RESULTS: We have developed a novel protocol that can generate
      large homogenous populations of mature and functional HMC in 6 weeks. These cells
      expressed both tryptase and chymase and were activated by anti-IgE, cationic
      peptides and calcium ionophores. Moreover, IgE-dependent activation of these
      cells was significantly inhibited by anti-inflammatory drugs. The morphological
      and functional characteristics of these mast cells resembled those of MCTC type
      or connective tissue-type HMC. DISCUSSION: Our protocol represents a novel time
      saving and economical approach for generating large numbers of primary HMC for
      functional studies of mast cell biology and for profiling novel anti-inflammatory
      therapeutic agents with mast cell-inhibitory properties in humans.

PMID- 27628168
TI  - Improving physical fitness and health status perception in community-dwelling
      older adults through a structured program for physical activity promotion in the
      city of Naples, Italy: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of a physical activity promotion
      intervention in community-dwelling older adults based on a free program of
      exercise adapted for older adults aged >=60 years managed by trainees from the
      Movement Sciences degree course. METHODS: A total of 160 adults aged 60-82 years
      were randomly allocated into the intervention and control group. The exercise
      program consisted of 1-h sessions carried out twice a week for a year. Control
      participants received recommendations about an active lifestyle from their
      physicians. Senior Fitness Tests and the 12-item Short Form Health Survey were
      used to assess six functional fitness domains of participants and perception of
      their health status, respectively. Body mass index was also evaluated. RESULTS: A
      total of 62 participants completed the exercise path. At the end of the
      intervention, they showed a significant body mass index decrease (from 27.9 +/-
      1.6 to 25.1 +/- 1.8 kg/m2 , P < 0.01), and a significant improvement in
      functional domains, mainly aerobic fitness (+33.9%, P < 0.01) and agility
      (+24.2%, P < 0.01), and in good health status perception (+38.7%, P < 0.05).
      Similar variations were not observed in the control group (P > 0.05). A high
      acceptance of the intervention was registered among participants (>88.7%); staff
      competence and gratuitousness were the most appreciated features (>85.5%).
      CONCLUSIONS: The structured program represented a useful opportunity to promote
      physical activity among participants, and it was effective in improving their
      physical fitness and health status perception. Similar interventions are required
      to sensitize the whole older population, and experts in Movement Sciences might
      represent a key figure in this context. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1421-1428.

PMID- 27628169
TI  - Why Gametes are not Like Enriched Uranium.
AB  - According to Rivka Weinberg, gametes are like enriched uranium: both are
      hazardous materials. Exposing human beings to enriched uranium can result in
      radioactivity and decreased life expectancy, while exposing sperm and ova to each
      other can result in the creation of needy innocent persons with full moral
      status. Weinberg argues that when we engage in activities that put our gametes at
      risk of joining with others and growing into persons, we assume the costs of that
      risky activity. She calls this the Hazmat Theory of parental responsibility. The
      theory is novel and important, and has far-reaching consequences for the ethics
      of procreation, parenting, and population, implying among other things that that
      the only way to avoid acquiring parental responsibilities may be to "abstain from
      sexual intercourse or surgically interfere with our gamete-release system." For
      these reasons the theory merits careful scrutiny. In this article I criticize the
      theory's account of how parental responsibility is acquired and its treatment of
      the standard of care expected of gamete possessors, and argue that it fails to
      properly account for a distinction between procreative costs and parental
      responsibility. Even if gametes are hazardous, it does not follow that parental
      responsibility in Weinberg's sense is acquired whenever one brings new persons
      into existence.

PMID- 27628171
TI  - A hybrid algorithm for coupling partial differential equation and compartment
      based dynamics.
AB  - Stochastic simulation methods can be applied successfully to model exact spatio
      temporally resolved reaction-diffusion systems. However, in many cases, these
      methods can quickly become extremely computationally intensive with increasing
      particle numbers. An alternative description of many of these systems can be
      derived in the diffusive limit as a deterministic, continuum system of partial
      differential equations (PDEs). Although the numerical solution of such PDEs is,
      in general, much more efficient than the full stochastic simulation, the
      deterministic continuum description is generally not valid when copy numbers are
      low and stochastic effects dominate. Therefore, to take advantage of the benefits
      of both of these types of models, each of which may be appropriate in different
      parts of a spatial domain, we have developed an algorithm that can be used to
      couple these two types of model together. This hybrid coupling algorithm uses an
      overlap region between the two modelling regimes. By coupling fluxes at one end
      of the interface and using a concentration-matching condition at the other end,
      we ensure that mass is appropriately transferred between PDE- and compartment
      based regimes. Our methodology gives notable reductions in simulation time in
      comparison with using a fully stochastic model, while maintaining the important
      stochastic features of the system and providing detail in appropriate areas of
      the domain. We test our hybrid methodology robustly by applying it to several
      biologically motivated problems including diffusion and morphogen gradient
      formation. Our analysis shows that the resulting error is small, unbiased and
      does not grow over time.

PMID- 27628170
TI  - Biomimetic self-cleaning surfaces: synthesis, mechanism and applications.
AB  - With millions of years of natural evolution, organisms have achieved
      sophisticated structures, patterns or textures with complex, spontaneous
      multifunctionality. Among all the fascinating characteristics observed in
      biosystems, self-cleaning ability is regarded as one of the most interesting
      topics in biomimicry because of its potential applications in various fields such
      as aerospace, energy conversion and biomedical and environmental protection.
      Recently, in-depth studies have been carried out on various compelling
      biostructures including lotus leaves, shark skins, butterfly wings and gecko
      feet. To understand and mimic their self-cleaning mechanisms in artificial
      structures, in this article, recent progress in self-cleaning techniques is
      discussed and summarized. Based on the underlying self-cleaning mechanisms, the
      methods are classified into two categories: self-cleaning with water and without
      water. The review gives a succinct account of the detailed mechanisms and
      biomimetic processes applied to create artificial self-cleaning materials and
      surfaces, and provides some examples of cutting-edge applications such as anti
      reflection, water repellence, self-healing, anti-fogging and micro-manipulators.
      The prospectives and directions of future development are also briefly proposed.

PMID- 27628172
TI  - Disease transmission promotes evolution of host spatial patterns.
AB  - Ecological dynamics can produce a variety of striking patterns. On ecological
      time scales, pattern formation has been hypothesized to be due to the interaction
      between a species and its local environment. On longer time scales, evolutionary
      factors must be taken into account. To examine the evolutionary robustness of
      spatial pattern formation, we construct a spatially explicit model of vegetation
      in the presence of a pathogen. Initially, we compare the dynamics for vegetation
      parameters that lead to competition induced spatial patterns and those that do
      not. Over ecological time scales, banded spatial patterns dramatically reduced
      the ability of the pathogen to spread, lowered its endemic density and hence
      increased the persistence of the vegetation. To gain an evolutionary
      understanding, each plant was given a heritable trait defining its resilience to
      competition; greater competition leads to lower vegetation density but stronger
      spatial patterns. When a disease is introduced, the selective pressure on the
      plant's resilience to the competition parameter is determined by the transmission
      of the disease. For high transmission, vegetation that has low resilience to
      competition and hence strong spatial patterning is an evolutionarily stable
      strategy. This demonstrates a novel mechanism by which striking spatial patterns
      can be maintained by disease-driven selection.

PMID- 27628174
TI  - Strain-dependent fractional molecular diffusion in humid spider silk fibres.
AB  - Spider silk is a material well known for its outstanding mechanical properties,
      combining elasticity and tensile strength. The molecular mobility within the
      silk's polymer structure on the nanometre length scale importantly contributes to
      these macroscopic properties. We have therefore investigated the ensemble
      averaged single-particle self-dynamics of the prevailing hydrogen atoms in humid
      spider dragline silk fibres on picosecond time scales in situ as a function of an
      externally applied tensile strain. We find that the molecular diffusion in the
      amorphous fraction of the oriented fibres can be described by a generalized
      fractional diffusion coefficient Kalpha that is independent of the observation
      length scale in the probed range from approximately 0.3-3.5 nm. Kalpha increases
      towards a diffusion coefficient of the classical Fickian type with increasing
      tensile strain consistent with an increasing loss of memory or entropy in the
      polymer matrix.

PMID- 27628175
TI  - Automated multi-objective calibration of biological agent-based simulations.
AB  - Computational agent-based simulation (ABS) is increasingly used to complement
      laboratory techniques in advancing our understanding of biological systems.
      Calibration, the identification of parameter values that align simulation with
      biological behaviours, becomes challenging as increasingly complex biological
      domains are simulated. Complex domains cannot be characterized by single metrics
      alone, rendering simulation calibration a fundamentally multi-metric optimization
      problem that typical calibration techniques cannot handle. Yet calibration is an
      essential activity in simulation-based science; the baseline calibration forms a
      control for subsequent experimentation and hence is fundamental in the
      interpretation of results. Here, we develop and showcase a method, built around
      multi-objective optimization, for calibrating ABSs against complex target
      behaviours requiring several metrics (termed objectives) to characterize. Multi
      objective calibration (MOC) delivers those sets of parameter values representing
      optimal trade-offs in simulation performance against each metric, in the form of
      a Pareto front. We use MOC to calibrate a well-understood immunological
      simulation against both established a priori and previously unestablished target
      behaviours. Furthermore, we show that simulation-borne conclusions are broadly,
      but not entirely, robust to adopting baseline parameter values from different
      extremes of the Pareto front, highlighting the importance of MOC's identification
      of numerous calibration solutions. We devise a method for detecting overfitting
      in a multi-objective context, not previously possible, used to save computational
      effort by terminating MOC when no improved solutions will be found. MOC can
      significantly impact biological simulation, adding rigour to and speeding up an
      otherwise time-consuming calibration process and highlighting inappropriate
      biological capture by simulations that cannot be well calibrated. As such, it
      produces more accurate simulations that generate more informative biological
      predictions.

PMID- 27628173
TI  - Macrophage interactions with polylactic acid and chitosan scaffolds lead to
      improved recruitment of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells: a comprehensive
      study with different immune cells.
AB  - Despite the importance of immune cell-biomaterial interactions for the
      regenerative outcome, few studies have investigated how distinct three
      dimensional biomaterials modulate the immune cell-mediated mesenchymal
      stem/stromal cells (MSC) recruitment and function. Thus, this work compares the
      response of varied primary human immune cell populations triggered by different
      model scaffolds and describes its functional consequence on recruitment and
      motility of bone marrow MSC. It was found that polylactic acid (PLA) and chitosan
      scaffolds lead to an increase in the metabolic activity of macrophages but not of
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), natural killer (NK) cells or
      monocytes. PBMC and NK cells increase their cell number in PLA scaffolds and
      express a secretion profile that does not promote MSC recruitment. Importantly,
      chitosan increases IL-8, MIP-1, MCP-1 and RANTES secretion by macrophages while
      PLA stimulates IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 production, all chemokines that can lead to
      MSC recruitment. This secretion profile of macrophages in contact with
      biomaterials correlates with the highest MSC invasion. Furthermore, macrophages
      enhance stem cell motility within chitosan scaffolds by 44% but not in PLA
      scaffolds. Thus, macrophages are the cells that in contact with engineered
      biomaterials become activated to secrete bioactive molecules that stimulate MSC
      recruitment.

PMID- 27628176
TI  - Clinical Manifestations, Complications and Treatment of Ocular Sarcoidosis:
      Correlation between Visual Efficiency and Macular Edema as Seen on Optical
      Coherence Tomography.
AB  - Sarcoidosis is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease which belongs to a group of
      systemic granulomatous diseases. It can be confirmed through characteristic
      systemic and ocular manifestations and histological findings. Biopsy is the
      golden standard for diagnosing sarcoidosis. Ocular sarcoidosis can be confirmed,
      probable, or possible. Over a two-year period, ocular manifestations were studied
      on a sample of 52 patients, each followed for four months and diagnosed with some
      form of systemic sarcoidosis. Most frequent systemic manifestations in patients
      with ocular sarcoidosis were pulmonary, skin, glandular, and systemic generalized
      sarcoidosis. The disease was diagnosed four times more frequently in females than
      males (42:10, respectively; p < 0.05). Most frequent, and statistically
      significant, manifestation of ocular sarcoidosis is anterior uveitis (64.61%; p <
      0.01). Macular edema and periphlebitis associated with periarteritis were
      frequent, and statistically significant (43.90% and 29.26%, respectively; p <
      0.05). Overall, with regards to gender and location (right eye; left eye), visual
      acuity was >0.5 and of statistical significance (76.92%; p < 0.01). The most
      common therapy consisted of systemic corticosteroids (26.67%) and/or a
      combination of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs (23.33%). In 16 eyes
      treated with repeated doses of sub-Tenon's injections, both initial and control
      visual acuity correlated with average thickness. There was positive correlation
      between several optical coherence tomography findings before and after treatment.

PMID- 27628177
TI  - Development of separation technology for the removal of radium-223 from targeted
      thorium conjugate formulations. Part I: purification of decayed thorium-227 on
      cation exchange columns.
AB  - Targeted thorium conjugates (TTCs) are being explored as a potential future
      platform for specific tumor targeting pharmaceuticals. In TTCs, the alpha
      emitting radionuclide thorium-227 (227Th) with a half-life of 18.697 d is labeled
      to targeting moieties, such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The amount of
      daughter nuclide radium-223 (223Ra, t1/2 = 11.435 d) will increase during
      manufacture and distribution, and so a technology for purification is required to
      assure an acceptable level of 223Ra is administrated to the patient. Since 223Ra
      is the only progeny of 227Th with a long half-life (days), the progenies of 223Ra
      will have a very limited stay in the formulation once 223Ra is removed. The focus
      in this study has, therefore, been on the removal of 223Ra. In this study, the
      sorption and separation of 223Ra (radium(II)) and 227Th (thorium(IV)) on cation
      exchange columns has been evaluated as a purification method of decayed 227Th
      (i.e. prior to radiolabelling of a mAb and formation of TTC). The goal is to
      minimize the sorption of 227Th and maximize the sorption of 223Ra. Statistical
      experimental design with formulation and process parameters, including buffered
      formulations comprising citrate and acetate, at various concentrations and pH,
      presence of free radical scavenger and chelator, and resin amount have been
      evaluated for impact on the purification process. The studies have been
      interpreted by the aid of multivariate data analysis. The correlations between
      design of experimental variables and sorption are summarized by regression
      models. The predictive accuracy of radionuclide sorption was given by standard
      deviation and 95% confidence intervals originating from statistical cross
      validation. Experimental results and statistical models for citrate-buffered
      formulations verified reproducible and acceptable sorption levels of 223Ra and
      227Th under selected conditions. For acetate-buffered formulations, prediction of
      227Th sorption was influenced by complex variable relationships and hence a risk
      of obtaining irreproducibility. Fine-tuned variable levels showed, however,
      variable combinations predicting high sorption of 223Ra (>90%) and low sorption
      of 227Th (<3%) also for the acetate-buffered formulations. The optimal separation
      conditions should be decided based on tuning the variables levels for 223Ra in
      the citrate-buffered formulations, while for acetate, the optimal separation
      should be based on tuning variable levels for 227Th sorption. The ionic strength
      of the formulation also seemed to affect the radionuclide sorption. Labeling of
      an antibody-chelator conjugate with purified 227Th (i.e. preparation of TTC) was
      successful in the selected citrate-buffered formulations tested.

PMID- 27628178
TI  - Characterizing microscopic and submicroscopic malaria parasitaemia at three sites
      with varied transmission intensity in Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parasite prevalence is a key metric used to quantify the burden of
      malaria and assess the impact of control strategies. Most published estimates of
      parasite prevalence are based on microscopy and likely underestimate true
      prevalence. METHODS: Thick smear microscopy was performed in cohorts of children
      (aged 6 month to 10 years) and adults every 90 days over 2 years, at three sites
      of varying transmission intensity in Uganda. Microscopy-negative samples were
      tested for sub-microscopic parasitaemia using loop-mediated isothermal
      amplification (LAMP). Generalized estimating equation models were used to
      evaluate associations between age and parasitaemia, factors associated with sub
      microscopic infection and associations between parasitaemia and haemoglobin.
      RESULTS: A total of 9260 samples were collected from 1245 participants. Parasite
      prevalence among children across the three sites was 7.4, 9.4 and 28.8 % by
      microscopy and 21.3, 31.8 and 69.0 % by microscopy plus LAMP. Parasite prevalence
      among adults across the three sites was 3.1, 3.0 and 5.2 % by microscopy and
      18.8, 24.2 and 53.5 % by microscopy plus LAMP. Among those with parasitaemia,
      adults and persons recently treated with anti-malarial therapy had the highest
      prevalence of sub-microscopic infection. Children with sub-microscopic or
      microscopic parasitaemia had lower mean haemoglobin levels compared to children
      with no detectable parasites. CONCLUSIONS: Across a range of transmission
      intensities in Uganda, microscopy vastly underestimated parasite prevalence,
      especially among adults.

PMID- 27628179
TI  - Large-scale localization of touching somas from 3D images using density-peak
      clustering.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soma localization is an important step in computational neuroscience
      to map neuronal circuits. However, locating somas from large-scale and
      complicated datasets is challenging. The challenges primarily originate from the
      dense distribution of somas, the diversity of soma sizes and the inhomogeneity of
      image contrast. RESULTS: We proposed a novel localization method based on density
      peak clustering. In this method, we introduced two quantities (the local density
      rho of each voxel and its minimum distance delta from voxels of higher density)
      to describe the soma imaging signal, and developed an automatic algorithm to
      identify the soma positions from the feature space (rho, delta). Compared with
      other methods focused on high local density, our method allowed the soma center
      to be characterized by high local density and large minimum distance. The
      simulation results indicated that our method had a strong ability to locate the
      densely positioned somas and strong robustness of the key parameter for the
      localization. From the analysis of the experimental datasets, we demonstrated
      that our method was effective at locating somas from large-scale and complicated
      datasets, and was superior to current state-of-the-art methods for the
      localization of densely positioned somas. CONCLUSIONS: Our method effectively
      located somas from large-scale and complicated datasets. Furthermore, we
      demonstrated the strong robustness of the key parameter for the localization and
      its effectiveness at a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level. Thus, the method
      provides an effective tool for the neuroscience community to quantify the spatial
      distribution of neurons and the morphologies of somas.

PMID- 27628181
TI  - Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of the Translational Diffusion of
      Proteins in the Vicinity of Temperature-Induced Unfolding Transition.
AB  - Translational diffusion is the most fundamental form of transport in chemical and
      biological systems. The diffusion coefficient is highly sensitive to changes in
      the size of the diffusing species; hence, it provides important information on
      the variety of macromolecular processes, such as self-assembly or folding
      unfolding. Here, we investigate the behavior of the diffusion coefficient of a
      macromolecule in the vicinity of heat-induced transition from folded to unfolded
      state. We derive the equation that describes the diffusion coefficient of the
      macromolecule in the vicinity of the transition and use it to fit the
      experimental data from pulsed-field-gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG NMR)
      experiments acquired for two globular proteins, lysozyme and RNase A, undergoing
      temperature-induced unfolding. A very good qualitative agreement between the
      theoretically derived diffusion coefficient and experimental data is observed.

PMID- 27628180
TI  - A fatal case of severe neck abscess due to a third branchial cleft fistula:
      morphologic and immunohistochemical analyses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Branchial cleft anomalies constitute a frequently encountered and
      commonly non-lethal disease in otolaryngology, and result from aberrant embryonic
      development. The third branchial cleft fistula is one of the four known specific
      types of branchial cleft anomalies, and always presents as recurrent neck abscess
      and suppurative thyroiditis. Here, we report an unexpected death due to severe
      neck infection following a third branchial cleft fistula. CASE PRESENTATION: A 19
      year-old man was sent to the hospital with a 1-week history of recurrent left
      sided neck abscess, and was scheduled for incision and drainage of the abscess.
      However, before the surgery was performed, the man's condition deteriorated and
      he died. A review of his medical history showed that he had undergone a previous
      incision and drainage for a neck abscess 2 years ago. Postmortem examination
      revealed that the fatal neck abscess was induced by a third branchial cleft
      fistula. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a histopathological examination of neck
      tissue combined with a detailed review of medical history and examination of
      ultrasonographic and CT images can provide a rapid and accurate diagnosis of
      third branchial cleft fistula. This common, non-lethal disease can potentially
      lead to death if the neck infection is not properly diagnosed and treated. In
      medico-legal practice, medical examiners should be aware of this condition, as
      this knowledge would be important in the diagnosis of the cause of death.

PMID- 27628182
TI  - Enantiopure copper(II) complex of natural product rosin derivative: DNA binding,
      DNA cleavage and cytotoxicity.
AB  - To develop chiral anticancer drug candidates for molecular target DNA, the
      synthesis and characterization of a novel enantiomerically pure copper(II)
      complex [Cu 1 Cl 2 ] (2) of an optically pure ligand N-(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)
      dehydroabietylamine (1) was carried out. The coordination geometry of the copper
      center is a distorted square-planar arrangement. The interactions of 1 and 2 with
      salmon sperm DNA were investigated by viscosity measurements, UV, fluorescence
      and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic techniques. All the results reveal that
      1 and 2 interacted with DNA through intercalation and 2 exhibited a higher DNA
      binding ability. Further, 1 and 2 could cleave supercoiled pBR322 DNA by single
      strand and 2 displayed stronger cleavage ability in the presence of ascorbic
      acid. In vitro cytotoxicity of 1 and 2 against HeLa, SiHa, HepG-2 and A431 cancer
      cell lines was studied using CCK-8 assay. The results indicate that 2 had a
      superior cytotoxicity than 1 and the widely used drug cisplatin under identical
      conditions. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrates 2 produced death of HeLa cancer
      cells through an apoptotic pathway. Cell cycle analysis shows that 2 mainly
      arrested HeLa cells at the S phase. A novel enantiomerically pure copper(II)
      complex [Cu 1 Cl 2 ] (2) of an optically pure ligand N-(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)
      dehydroabietylamine (1), based on natural product rosin has been synthesized. 2
      has the potential to act as effective anticancer drug.

PMID- 27628183
TI  - Evaluation of the impact of a chronic disease scheme reimbursing medical costs of
      patients with diabetes in Anhui province, China: a follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although many studies have investigated the relationship between the
      introduction of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) in rural China in 2003
      and increased use of medical services, the effect on health status, objectively
      measured, is seldom reported. In Anhui Province a chronic disease scheme (CDS)
      for reimbursing part of the cost of outpatient care is designed to improve
      management of those with chronic conditions, including diabetes. METHODS: A
      follow-up study was designed in which patients with diabetes aged 40-70 years who
      had recently (in 2010) been granted a chronic disease card were individually
      matched on age, sex and village with a patient with diabetes not yet in the
      scheme. Each subject gave a fingertip sample of blood to give the concentration
      of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a measure indicating blood glucose control
      during the previous 3 months. This measure was made on recruitment and at 12
      month follow-up: information on use of health services, quality of life and
      financial burden was also collected at the two contacts. RESULTS: Of 602 pairs
      initially recruited, 528 pairs were contacted at follow-up and are the subject of
      this report. To distinguish between outcomes associated with application and
      those of membership of the scheme, the primary analysis was of 256 pairs in which
      one had been a member of the CDS throughout and the other never applied. No
      difference between pairs on HbA1c was found either at recruitment or follow-up
      but those in the CDS reported more hospital visits, more tests and more use of
      high level hospitals. However they had poorer scores on quality of life scales
      (SF-12, EQ-5D) and were more likely to report that the financial costs were very
      burdensome. Those recently applying for the scheme, or being accepted since
      recruitment, had lower HbA1c scores. CONCLUSIONS: On-going membership of the CDS
      was associated with increased use of services but this did not appear to result
      in better management of blood glucose or improved quality of life. Those who had
      recently joined the scheme had signs of improvement, suggesting a need for active
      follow-up to maintain and reinforce early gains.

PMID- 27628184
TI  - Impact of the primary care curriculum and its teaching formats on medical
      students' perception of primary care: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Switzerland is facing an impending primary care workforce crisis
      since almost half of all primary care physicians are expected to retire in the
      next decade. Only a minority of medical students choose a primary care specialty,
      further deepening the workforce shortage. It is therefore essential to identify
      ways to promote the choice of a primary care career. The aim of the present study
      was to explore students' views about the undergraduate primary care teaching
      curriculum and different teaching formats, and to evaluate the possible impact of
      these views on students' perceptions of primary care. METHODS: We surveyed fifth
      year medical students from the Medical Faculties in Geneva and Lausanne,
      Switzerland (n = 285) with a four sections electronic questionnaire. We carried
      out descriptive analyses presented as frequencies for categorical data, and means
      and/or medians for continuous data. RESULTS: The response rate was 43 %. Overall,
      primary care teaching had a positive impact on students' image of primary care.
      In Lausanne, primary care curricular components were rated more positively than
      in Geneva. Curricular components that were not part of the primary care teaching,
      but were nevertheless cited by some students, were frequently perceived as having
      a negative impact. CONCLUSIONS: The primary care curriculum at Lausanne and
      Geneva Universities positively influences students' perceptions of this
      discipline. However, there are shortcomings in both the structure and the content
      of both the primary care and hidden curriculum that may contribute to
      perpetuating a negative image of this specialization.

PMID- 27628185
TI  - Targeting cells of the immune system: mannosylated HPMA-LMA block-copolymer
      micelles for targeting of dendritic cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Successful tumor immunotherapy depends on the induction of strong and
      sustained tumor antigen-specific immune responses by activated antigen-presenting
      cells (APCs) such as dendritic cells (DCs). Since nanoparticles have the
      potential to codeliver tumor-specific antigen and DC-stimulating adjuvant in a DC
      targeting manner, we wanted to assess the suitability of mannosylated HPMA-LMA
      block polymers for immunotherapy. MATERIALS & METHODS: Fluorescence-labeled block
      copolymer micelles derived from P(HPMA)-block-P(LMA) copolymers and according
      statistical copolymers were synthesized via RAFT polymerization, and loaded with
      the APC activator L18-MDP. Both types of copolymers were conjugated with D
      mannose to target the mannose receptor as expressed by DCs and macrophages. The
      extent and specificity of micelle binding and activation of APCs was monitored
      using mouse spleen cells and bone marrow-derived DC (BMDC). RESULTS: Nontargeting
      HPMA-LMA statistical copolymers showed strong unspecific cell binding. HPMA-LMA
      block copolymers bound DC only when conjugated with mannose, and in a mannose
      receptor-specific manner. Mannosylated HPMA-LMA block copolymers were
      internalized by DC. DC-targeting HPMA-LMA block copolymers mediated DC activation
      when loaded with L18-MDP. CONCLUSION: Mannosylated HPMA-LMA block copolymers are
      a promising candidate for the delvopment of DC-targeting nanovaccines.

PMID- 27628186
TI  - Psychosocial factors associated with flourishing among Australian HIV-positive
      gay men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental health outcomes among HIV-positive gay men are generally
      poorer than in the broader population. However, not all men in this population
      experience mental health problems. Although much is known about factors
      associated with depression and anxiety among HIV-positive gay men, little is
      known about factors associated with positive mental health. Such knowledge can be
      useful for optimizing well-being support programs for HIV-positive gay men.
      METHODS: In this study, we examined flourishing, which broadly covers most
      aspects of positive mental health. A sample of 357 Australian HIV-positive gay
      men completed a survey on their mental health and well-being, including the
      Flourishing Scale. Given the lack of previous research, we explored a wide range
      of psychosocial factors, including demographics, stigma, discrimination, and
      social support, to identify key factors linked to flourishing. RESULTS: The
      sample showed a similar level of flourishing to those in general population
      samples. Several independent factors were found to be associated with flourishing
      outcomes. Those who were most likely to be flourishing tended to have low or no
      internalized HIV-related stigma, were employed, received higher levels of
      practical support, had a sense of companionship with others, and felt supported
      by family. CONCLUSIONS: These and other findings presented in this article may be
      used to help inform strategies for promoting optimal levels of mental health, and
      its associated general health benefits, among HIV-positive gay men.

PMID- 27628187
TI  - Analytical Characterization of an Oil-in-Water Adjuvant Emulsion.
AB  - Adjuvants are typically used in subunit vaccine formulations to enhance immune
      responses elicited by individual antigens. Physical chemical characterization of
      novel adjuvants is an important step in ensuring their effective use in vaccine
      formulations. This paper reports application of a panel of quantitative assays
      developed to analyze and characterize an oil-in-water adjuvant emulsion, which
      contains glucopyranosyl lipid A (GLA) and is a squalene-based emulsion. GLA is a
      fully synthetic analogue of monophosphoryl lipid A, which is a Toll-like receptor
      type 4 agonist and an FDA-approved adjuvant. The GLA-stable emulsion (GLA-SE) is
      currently being used for a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine in a phase 2
      clinical trial. GLA was quantitated using reverse-phased high-performance liquid
      chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled to a mass spectrometric detector, achieving
      higher assay sensitivity than the charged aerosol detection routinely used.
      Quantitation of the excipients of GLA-SE, including squalene, egg phosphatidyl
      choline, and Poloxamer 188, was achieved using a simple and rapid RP-HPLC method
      with evaporative light scattering detection, eliminating chemical derivatization
      typically required for these chromophore-lacking compounds. DL-alpha-tocopherol,
      the antioxidant of the GLA-SE, was quantitated using a RP-HPLC method with
      conventional UV detection. The experimental results compared well with values
      expected for these compounds based on targeted composition of the adjuvant. The
      assays were applied to identify degradation of individual components in a GLA-SE
      sample that degraded into distinct aqueous and oil phases. The methods developed
      and reported here are effective tools in monitoring physicochemical integrity of
      the adjuvant, as well as in formulation studies.

PMID- 27628188
TI  - Platelet indices in late preterm newborns.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current study objective was to compare blood platelet indices in
      late preterm newborns (LPN) and full term newborns (FTN). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      We recruited 58 LPN and 71 FTN. Platelet indices were estimated in blood samples
      collected from the umbilical artery. RESULTS: LPN demonstrated a decreased count
      of blood platelets (249 * 103/MUL) as compared to FTN (295 * 103/MUL), p < 0.001.
      Platelet hematocrit (PCT) also showed substantial differences in both groups (LPN
      = 0.2% vs. FTN = 0.23%; p < 0.001). Mean platelet volume (MPV) was found to be
      nearly the same (LPN = 7.98fl, FTN = 7.9fl). Platelet distribution width (PDW)
      was higher in LPN (52.8%) than in FTN (50.6%), p = 0.02. Large platelet count
      (LP) was lower in LPN (4.0%) in comparison with FTN (6.0%), (p = 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results may indicate immaturity of thrombopoiesis in
      newborns born late preterm. Decrease in platelet count, platelet hematocrit and
      large platelets can cause disturbances in the hemostatic system and lead to
      bleeding complications and can increase the risk of infections. Morphological
      parameters of blood platelets in infants born late preterm differ from those of
      term neonates as in other preterm infants. This reflects the immaturity of this
      newborn and shows the need to pay special diagnostic and therapeutic care to
      them.

PMID- 27628190
TI  - Cytogenetics in the management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia: an update by the
      Groupe francophone de cytogenetique hematologique (GFCH).
AB  - Acquired recurrent cytogenetic abnormalities are frequent in chronic lymphocytic
      leukaemia (CLL). They can be associated with good or poor prognostic factors, and
      also with gene mutations. Chromosomal abnormalities could be clonal or sub
      clonal. Assessing the TP53 status (deletion/mutation) is currently mandatory
      before treating patients. The search for 11q deletion (ATM gene) is also
      recommended. Finally, the prognostic value of other chromosomal abnormalities
      including complex karyotype is still debated.

PMID- 27628189
TI  - Bradykinin -induced vasodilatation: Role of age, ACE1-inhibitory peptide, mas-
      and bradykinin receptors.
AB  - Bradykinin exerts its vascular actions via two types of receptors, the non
      constitutively expressed bradykinin receptor type 1 (BR1) and the constitutive
      type 2 receptor (BR2). Bradykinin-induced vasorelaxation is age-dependent, a
      phenomenon related to the varying amounts of BR1 and BR2 in the vasculature.
      Isoleucine-proline-proline (Ile-Pro-Pro), a bioactive tripeptide, lowers elevated
      blood pressure and improves impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in
      hypertensive rats. It inhibits angiotensin converting enzyme 1 (ACE1). Other
      mechanisms of action have also been postulated. The aims of the study were to
      clarify the underlying mechanisms of the age-dependency of bradykinin-induced
      vasodilatation such as the roles of the two bradykinin receptors, the mas
      receptor and synergism with Ile-Pro-Pro. The vascular response studies were
      conducted using mesenteric artery and aorta rings from normotensive 6 wk. (young)
      and 22 wk. (old) Wistar rats. Cumulative dosing of acetylcholine, bradykinin and
      angiotensin(1-7) (Ang(1-7))were tested in phenylephrine-induced vasoconstriction
      with or without 10min pre-incubation with antagonists against BR1-, BR2- or mas
      receptors, Ang(1-7) or ACE1-inhibitors captopril and Ile-Pro-Pro. The bradykinin
      induced vasorelaxation in vitro was age-dependent and it was improved by pre
      incubation with Ile-Pro-Pro, especially in old rats with endothelial dysfunction.
      The mas-receptor antagonist, D-Pro7-Ang(1-7) abolished bradykinin-induced
      relaxation totally. Interestingly, BR1 and BR2 antagonists only slightly reduced
      bradykinin-induced vasorelaxation, as an evidence for the involvement of other
      mechanisms in addition to receptor activation. In conclusion, bradykinin-induced
      vasorelaxation was age-dependent and Ile-Pro-Pro improved it. Mas receptor
      antagonist abolished relaxation while bradykinin receptor antagonist only
      slightly reduced it, suggesting that bradykinin-induced vasorelaxation is
      regulated also by other mechanisms than the classical BR1/BR2 pathway.

PMID- 27628191
TI  - Ten-year survival in women with primary stage IV breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate breast cancer-specific survival at 10 years in patients who
      present with primary stage IV breast cancer, and to determine whether survival
      varies with age of diagnosis. METHODS: We retrieved the records of 25,323 women
      diagnosed with primary stage IV breast cancer in the surveillance, epidemiology,
      and end results 18 registries database from 1990 to 2012. For each case, we
      extracted information on age at diagnosis, tumour size, nodal status, oestrogen
      receptor status, progesterone receptor status, ethnicity, cause of death and date
      of death. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the unadjusted
      and adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of death due to stage IV breast cancer, according
      to age group. RESULTS: Among 25,323 women with stage IV breast cancer, 2542 (10.0
      %) were diagnosed at age 40 or below, 5562 (22.0 %) were diagnosed between ages
      41 and 50 and 17,219 (68.0 %) were diagnosed between ages 51 and 70. After a mean
      follow-up of 2.2 years, 16,387 (64.7 %) women died of breast cancer (median
      survival 2.3 years). The ten-year actuarial breast cancer-specific survival rate
      was 15.7 % for women ages 40 and below, 14.9 % for women ages 41-50 and 11.7 %
      for women ages 51 to 70 (p < 0.0001). In an adjusted analysis, the risk of death
      from breast cancer at 10 years was significantly lower for women ages 40 and
      below (HR 0.78; 95 % CI 0.74-0.82; p < 0.0001) and for women ages 41-50 (HR 0.82;
      95 % CI 0.79-0.85; p < 0.0001), compared to women ages 51-70. CONCLUSIONS:
      Approximately 13 % of women with primary stage IV breast cancer survive 10 years
      after diagnosis. Women diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer before age 50 have
      better survival at 10 years compared to older women.

PMID- 27628192
TI  - Clinical implications of routine genomic mutation sequencing in PIK3CA/AKT1 and
      KRAS/NRAS/BRAF in metastatic breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the molecular profiling of tumour
      tissues in order to investigate alternative breast cancer (BC) therapies.
      However, the impact of genomic screening for druggable mutations with targeted
      gene panel sequencing (TGPS) in routine practice remains controversial. METHODS:
      This is a retrospective analysis of data from a genomic screening programme at
      our institution, in which we performed simplified TGPS for mutations in PIK3CA,
      AKT1, KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF in order to select patients for targeted therapy
      clinical trials. The genomes of archived samples of primary (PT) and/or
      metastatic (MT) tumours from advanced BC patients were analysed with MassARRAY
      technology (Sequenom MassARRAY, OncoCarta v1.0). The level of PTEN expression was
      assessed by immunohistochemistry. The primary endpoint was to identify the
      proportion of BC patients with PI3 K and MAPK alterations who were included in
      clinical trials using targeted therapies against these pathways. RESULTS: Two
      hundred and fifteen metastatic BC patients (65 PT and 168 MT) were included.
      Fifty-two patients (24.19 %) were enrolled in tailored clinical trials, of whom
      29 (55.77, 13.49 % of all patients screened) harboured mutations targeted by the
      study drug. Moreover, 12 wild-type patients out of the 215 (5.58 %) were included
      in the clinical trials for which mutation analysis was an inclusion criteria. All
      the patients received drugs targeting the PI3K-AKT pathway and only two were
      given combinations directed against the PI3K and MAPK pathways. PI3KCA mutations
      were present in 33.7 % (61/181) of the patients, 45.83 % in PTs and 29.32 % in
      MTs. AKT1 mutations were detected in 5.48 % (8/146) of patients and PTEN loss in
      34.67 % (52/150). KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF mutations were present in 12.06, 5.67, and
      3.18 % of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Genomic screening with a
      simplified TGPS is feasible, and was used to identify 13.49 % of patients who
      were included in clinical trials using targeted therapy against the mutations
      they harboured; PI3KCA mutations were the most frequent aberration in our series.

PMID- 27628193
TI  - DMBT1 promotes basal and meconium-induced nitric oxide production in human lung
      epithelial cells in vitro.
AB  - Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) is characterized by surfactant inactivation
      and inflammation. As lung epithelial cells up-regulate nitric oxide (NO) in
      response to inflammation, the NO production following meconium exposition was
      examined in relation to expression of Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors 1
      (DMBT1), a protein with functions in innate immunity and inflammatory regulation.
      Here, DMBT1 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in postmortem lung
      sections from patients with MAS. The lung epithelial cell line A549, stably
      transfected with a DMBT1 (DMBT1+ cells) expression plasmid or with an empty
      expression plasmid (DMBT1- cells), was exposed to meconium. NO was determined in
      dependence of aminoguanidine (inducible NO synthase inhibitor), steroids and
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS). DMBT1 is highly expressed in lungs with MAS. In the
      absence of meconium, DMBT1+ cells showed a higher NO production than the DMBT1-
      cells (p = 0.0090). Meconium led in DMBT1- and DMBT1+ cells to elevated NO levels
      (p < 0.0001), but with a higher NO level in DMBT1+ cells (p < 0.0001).
      Aminoguanidine, an iNOS inhibitor, reduced the higher NO production in DMBT1+
      cells (p = 0.0476), but NO levels remained above NO production from DMBT1- cells
      (p = 0.0289). Dexamethasone diminished NO production in DMBT1+ cells after
      meconium exposition (p = 0.0076). Combined addition of LPS and meconium
      significantly increased NO production in both cell types (p < 0.0001). In
      comparison to exposure with only meconium, the combined addition of LPS and
      meconium to the cells increased NO levels in both DMBT1- cells (p = 0.0030) and
      DMBT1+ cells (p = 0.0028). In conclusion, basal and meconium-induced NO
      production in lung epithelial cells is positively regulated by DMBT1.

PMID- 27628194
TI  - Phase I study of the second-generation, recombinant, human EGFR antibody
      necitumumab in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To establish the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of necitumumab in
      Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors not responsive to standard therapy
      or for which no standard therapy was available. METHODS: In this phase I study,
      patients aged >=20 years with advanced solid tumors, and an Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology Group performance statuses of 0-1 were enrolled in a 3 + 3 design, with
      dose-escalation based on dose-limiting toxicity (DLT). Planned dose levels were:
      cohort 1: 600 mg IV, days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks; cohort 2: 800 mg IV, day 1,
      every 2 weeks; and cohort 3: 800 mg IV, days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks. After the
      first 6-week cycle, patients with an objective response or stable disease could
      continue to receive necitumumab (same dose and schedule) until disease
      progression or other withdrawal criteria were met. Safety, antitumor activity,
      and pharmacokinetics were assessed. RESULTS: Fourteen of 15 enrolled patients
      received all scheduled infusions in cycle 1 (median cycles: N = 2, range 1-4). No
      DLTs were observed. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events were
      headache (73 %), dry skin (67 %), pruritus (60 %), and rash (53 %), mostly grade
      1/2. All patients achieved serum trough concentrations >40 ug/mL, a level
      associated with antitumor activity in preclinical models. No patients had an
      objective response; stable disease was seen in 67 % of patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Necitumumab can be safety administered to Japanese patients at dose levels
      established in Western patients: 800 mg every 2 weeks, or on days 1 and 8 of a 3
      week cycle.

PMID- 27628196
TI  - Health benefit assessment of pharmaceuticals: An international comparison of
      decisions from Germany, England, Scotland and Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known on the performance of the newly introduced health
      benefit assessment process, AMNOG, in Germany compared to other health technology
      assessment agencies. OBJECTIVE: We analysed whether decisions of the German
      Federal Joint Committee (FJC) deviate from decisions of the UK National Institute
      for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC)
      and the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC). METHODS: We
      analysed decisions made for comparable patient subgroups by the four agencies
      between 2011 and 2014. First, decisions were compared (a) by their final outcome,
      i.e. whether a health benefit was identified, and (b) by the agencies' judgement
      on comparative effectiveness. Subsequently, we partially explored reasons for
      differences between HTA agencies. RESULTS: From the 192 FJC decisions, we
      identified 55 that overlapped with NICE, 166 with SMC and 119 with PBAC. FJC
      agreed with NICE in 40% in final outcome (Cohen's Kappa=-0.13). Similar results
      were obtained for FJC and SMC (47.6%, kappa=0.03) and FJC and PBAC (48.7%,
      kappa=0.07). Agreement increased when comparing judgements based on comparative
      effectiveness only. However, the FJC's final decision was positive only in 43.6%,
      39.2% and 44.5% of the patient subgroups, as opposed to 74.5% (NICE), 68.7%
      (SMC), and 68.9% (PBAC), respectively. CONCLUSION: We show that the FJC - an
      agency relatively new in structurally assessing the health benefit of
      pharmaceuticals - deviates considerably in decisions compared to other HTA
      agencies. Our study also reveals that the FJC tends to appraise stricter than
      NICE.

PMID- 27628195
TI  - A dose-finding study for oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and S-1 (OIS) in patients with
      metastatic or recurrent gastrointestinal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSES: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), recommended dose (RD),
      and activity of combined oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and S-1 chemotherapy for
      metastatic or recurrent gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. METHODS: Oxaliplatin and
      irinotecan were administered intravenously on day 1, and S-1 was administered
      orally on days 1-7, every 2 weeks. This phase I study used the following dose
      levels for oxaliplatin/irinotecan/S-1: level 1, 85/120/60 mg/m2; level 2,
      85/120/80 mg/m2; level 3, 85/120/100 mg/m2; level 4, 85/150/100 mg/m2; and level
      5, 85/180/100 mg/m2. Treatment was repeated for a maximum of 12 cycles, until
      disease progression, or until unacceptable toxicity. RESULTS: Twenty-four
      patients were enrolled between October 2012 and February 2014 (median age 59
      years). During the first cycle, one of the six patients in levels 1, 3, and 4
      developed a dose-limiting toxicity (grade 3 febrile neutropenia), and none of the
      three patients in level 5 developed a dose-limiting toxicity. As the planned
      maximum dose did not reach the MTD, the level 5 dose was defined as the RD.
      Twenty-one patients were evaluated for response, which included 2 cases of
      complete response and 8 cases of partial response, with an overall response rate
      of 47.6 %. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and S-1
      provided an acceptable toxicity profile and modest clinical benefits in patients
      with advanced GI cancer. The RD was 85 mg/m2 of oxaliplatin, 180 mg/m2 of
      irinotecan, and 100 mg/m2 of S-1 every 2 weeks.

PMID- 27628198
TI  - Sodium 4-phenylbutyrate reduces myofiber damage in a mouse model of Duchenne
      muscular dystrophy.
AB  - We performed a placebo-controlled pre-clinical study to determine if sodium 4
      phenylbutyrate (4PB) can reduce contraction-induced myofiber damage in the mdx
      mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). At 72 h post-eccentric
      contractions, 4PB significantly increased contractile torque and reduced myofiber
      damage and macrophage infiltration. We conclude that 4PB, which is approved by
      Health Canada (Pheburane) and the United States Food and Drug Administration
      (Buphenyl) for urea cycle disorders, might modify disease severity in patients
      with DMD.

PMID- 27628197
TI  - Duhamel versus transanal endorectal pull through (TERPT) for the surgical
      treatment of Hirschsprung's disease.
AB  - For the surgical treatment of Hirschsprung's disease, several surgical techniques
      are used to resect the distal aganglionic colon. Two frequently used techniques
      are the Duhamel procedure and the transanal endorectal pull-through procedure.
      During the '8th Pediatric Colorectal Course' in Nijmegen, November 2015, a
      workshop was organized to share experiences of both techniques by several experts
      in the field and to discuss (long term) outcomes. Specifically, the objective of
      the meeting was to discuss the main controversies in relation to the technical
      execution of both procedures in order to make an initial assessment of the
      limitations of available evidence for clinical decision-making and to formulate a
      set of preliminary recommendations for current clinical care and future research.

PMID- 27628199
TI  - The influence of the regression model and final speed criteria on the reliability
      of lactate threshold determined by the Dmax method in endurance-trained runners.
AB  - Few studies verified the reliability of the lactate threshold determined by Dmax
      method (LTDmax) in runners and it remains unclear the effect of the regression
      model and the final speed on the reliability of LTDmax. This study aimed to
      examine the test-retest reliability of the speed at LTDmax in runners,
      considering the effects of the regression models (exponential-plus-constant vs
      third-order polynomial) and final speed criteria (complete vs proportional).
      Seventeen male, recreational runners performed 2 identical incremental exercise
      tests, with increments of 1 km.h-1 each for 3 min on treadmill to determine peak
      treadmill speed (Vpeak) and lactate threshold. Earlobe capillary blood samples
      were collected during rest between the stages. The Vpeak was defined as the speed
      of the last complete stage (complete final speed criterion) and as the speed of
      the last complete stage added to the fraction of the incomplete stage
      (proportional final speed criterion). Lactate threshold was determined from
      exponential-plus-constant and from third-order polynomial regression models with
      both complete and proportional final speed criteria and from fixed blood lactate
      level of 3.5 mmol.L-1 (LT3.5mM). The LTDmax obtained from the exponential-plus
      constant regression model presented higher reliability (coefficient of variation
      (CV) <= 3.7%) than the LTDmax calculated from the third-order polynomial
      regression model (CV <= 5.8%) and LT3.5mM (CV = 5.4%). The proportional final
      speed criterion is more appropriate when using the exponential-plus-constant
      regression model, but less appropriate when using the third-order polynomial
      regression model. In conclusion, exponential-plus-constant using the proportional
      final speed criterion is preferred over LT3.5mM and over third-order polynomial
      regression model to determine a reliable LTDmax.

PMID- 27628200
TI  - Promoting Mental Health Equity: The Role of Integrated Care.
AB  - People suffering from mental illness experience poor physical health outcomes,
      including an average life expectancy of 25 years less than the rest of the
      population. Stigma is a frequent barrier to accessing behavioral health services.
      Health equity refers to the opportunity for all people to experience optimal
      health; the social determinants of health can enable or impede health equity.
      Recommendations from the U.S. government and the World Health Organization
      support mental health promotion while recognizing barriers that preclude health
      equity. The United States Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended
      screening all adults for depression. The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at
      the Morehouse School of Medicine (SHLI/MSM) is committed to developing leaders
      who will help to reduce health disparities as the nation moves toward health
      equity. The SHLI/MSM Integrated Care Leadership Program (ICLP) provides clinical
      and administrative healthcare professionals with knowledge and training to
      develop culturally-sensitive integrated care practices. Integrating behavioral
      health and primary care improves quality of life and lowers health system costs.

PMID- 27628201
TI  - Quasi-elastic Neutron Scattering Reveals Ligand-Induced Protein Dynamics of a G
      Protein-Coupled Receptor.
AB  - Light activation of the visual G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) rhodopsin leads
      to significant structural fluctuations of the protein embedded within the
      membrane yielding the activation of cognate G-protein (transducin), which
      initiates biological signaling. Here, we report a quasi-elastic neutron
      scattering study of the activation of rhodopsin as a GPCR prototype. Our results
      reveal a broadly distributed relaxation of hydrogen atom dynamics of rhodopsin on
      a picosecond-nanosecond time scale, crucial for protein function, as only
      observed for globular proteins previously. Interestingly, the results suggest
      significant differences in the intrinsic protein dynamics of the dark-state
      rhodopsin versus the ligand-free apoprotein, opsin. These differences can be
      attributed to the influence of the covalently bound retinal ligand. Furthermore,
      an idea of the generic free-energy landscape is used to explain the GPCR dynamics
      of ligand-binding and ligand-free protein conformations, which can be further
      applied to other GPCR systems.

PMID- 27628202
TI  - Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy of Doxorubicin for Breast Cancer Using Chitosan
      Oligosaccharide-Modified Halloysite Nanotubes.
AB  - Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are natural aluminosilicates with unique hollow lumen
      structure, also having high specific area, good biocompatibility, nontoxicity,
      and low price. Here, we designed a chitosan oligosaccharide-grafted HNTs (HNTs-g
      COS) as a doxorubicin (DOX) carrier for treating breast cancer both in vitro and
      in vivo. The structure of HNTs-g-COS was first characterized by various methods.
      HNTs-g-COS showed positively charged surface and improved hemocompatibility. DOX
      loaded HNTs-g-COS (DOX@HNTs-g-COS) released in cell lysate in a controlled
      manner. The IC50 value of DOX@HNTs-g-COS toward MCF-7 cells was 1.17 MUg mL-1,
      while it was 2.43 MUg mL-1 for free DOX. DOX@HNTs-g-COS increased the apoptosis
      effects of MCF-7 cells as shown in flow cytometry results. Also, reactive oxygen
      species of cells induced by DOX@HNTs-g-COS were drug-dose-dependent. DOX@HNTs-g
      COS could enter the MCF-7 cells and induce mitochondrial damage as well as attack
      the nuclei. The in vivo antitumor effect of DOX@HNTs-g-COS was investigated in
      4T1-bearing mice. The tumor-inhibition ratio of DOX@HNTs-g-COS was 83.5%, while
      it was 46.1% for free DOX. All mice treated with DOX@HNTs-g-COS survived over 60
      days. DOX@HNTs-g-COS showed fewer ruptured cardiomyocytes and no obvious systemic
      toxicity. Therefore, the rational designed HNTs nanocarrier for chemotherapy drug
      showed promising applications in tumor treatment.

PMID- 27628203
TI  - Activation of beta-noradrenergic receptors enhances rhythmic bursting in mouse
      olfactory bulb external tufted cells.
AB  - The main olfactory bulb (MOB) receives a rich noradrenergic innervation from the
      nucleus locus coeruleus. Despite the well-documented role of norepinephrine and
      beta-adrenergic receptors in neonatal odor preference learning, identified
      cellular physiological actions of beta-receptors in the MOB have remained
      elusive. beta-Receptors are expressed at relatively high levels in the MOB
      glomeruli, the location of external tufted (ET) cells that exert an excitatory
      drive on mitral and other cell types. The present study investigated the effects
      of beta-receptor activation on the excitability of ET cells with patch-clamp
      electrophysiology in mature mouse MOB slices. Isoproterenol and selective beta2-,
      but not beta1-, receptor agonists were found to enhance two key intrinsic
      currents involved in ET burst initiation: persistent sodium (INaP) and
      hyperpolarization-activated inward (Ih) currents. Together, the positive
      modulation of these currents increased the frequency and strength of ET cell
      rhythmic bursting. Rodent sniff frequency and locus coeruleus neuronal firing
      increase in response to novel stimuli or environments. The increase in ET
      excitability by beta-receptor activation may better enable ET cell rhythmic
      bursting, and hence glomerular network activity, to pace faster sniff rates
      during heightened norepinephrine release associated with arousal.

PMID- 27628204
TI  - Botulinum toxin injection causes hyper-reflexia and increased muscle stiffness of
      the triceps surae muscle in the rat.
AB  - Botulinum toxin is used with the intention of diminishing spasticity and reducing
      the risk of development of contractures. Here, we investigated changes in muscle
      stiffness caused by reflex activity or elastic muscle properties following
      botulinum toxin injection in the triceps surae muscle in rats. Forty-four rats
      received injection of botulinum toxin in the left triceps surae muscle. Control
      measurements were performed on the noninjected contralateral side in all rats.
      Acute experiments were performed, 1, 2, 4, and 8 wk following injection. The
      triceps surae muscle was dissected free, and the Achilles tendon was cut and
      attached to a muscle puller. The resistance of the muscle to stretches of
      different amplitudes and velocities was systematically investigated. Reflex
      mediated torque was normalized to the maximal muscle force evoked by supramaximal
      stimulation of the tibial nerve. Botulinum toxin injection caused severe atrophy
      of the triceps surae muscle at all time points. The force generated by stretch
      reflex activity was also strongly diminished but not to the same extent as the
      maximal muscle force at 2 and 4 wk, signifying a relative reflex
      hyperexcitability. Passive muscle stiffness was unaltered at 1 wk but increased
      at 2, 4, and 8 wk (P < 0.01). These data demonstrate that botulinum toxin causes
      a relative increase in reflex stiffness, which is likely caused by compensatory
      neuroplastic changes. The stiffness of elastic elements in the muscles also
      increased. The data are not consistent with the ideas that botulinum toxin is an
      efficient antispastic medication or that it may prevent development of
      contractures.

PMID- 27628205
TI  - Functional connectivity in the neuromuscular system underlying bimanual
      coordination.
AB  - Neural synchrony has been suggested as a mechanism for integrating distributed
      sensorimotor systems involved in coordinated movement. To test the role of
      corticomuscular and intermuscular coherence in bimanual coordination, we
      experimentally manipulated the degree of coordination between hand muscles by
      varying the sensitivity of the visual feedback to differences in bilateral force.
      In 16 healthy participants, cortical activity was measured using EEG and muscle
      activity of the flexor pollicis brevis of both hands using high-density
      electromyography (HDsEMG). Using the uncontrolled manifold framework,
      coordination between bilateral forces was quantified by the synergy index RV in
      the time and frequency domain. Functional connectivity was assessed using
      corticomuscular coherence between muscle activity and cortical source activity
      and intermuscular coherence between bilateral EMG activity. The synergy index
      increased in the high coordination condition. RV was higher in the high
      coordination condition in frequencies between 0 and 0.5 Hz; for the 0.5- to 2-Hz
      frequency band, this pattern was inverted. Corticomuscular coherence in the beta
      band (16-30 Hz) was maximal in the contralateral motor cortex and was reduced in
      the high coordination condition. In contrast, intermuscular coherence was
      observed at 5-12 Hz and increased with bimanual coordination. Within-subject
      comparisons revealed a negative correlation between RV and corticomuscular
      coherence and a positive correlation between RV and intermuscular coherence. Our
      findings suggest two distinct neural pathways: 1) corticomuscular coherence
      reflects direct corticospinal projections involved in controlling individual
      muscles; and 2) intermuscular coherence reflects diverging pathways involved in
      the coordination of multiple muscles.

PMID- 27628207
TI  - Role of motor execution in the ocular tracking of self-generated movements.
AB  - When human observers track the movements of their own hand with their gaze, the
      eyes can start moving before the finger (i.e., anticipatory smooth pursuit). The
      signals driving anticipation could come from motor commands during finger motor
      execution or from motor intention and decision processes associated with self
      initiated movements. For the present study, we built a mechanical device that
      could move a visual target either in the same direction as the participant's hand
      or in the opposite direction. Gaze pursuit of the target showed stronger
      anticipation if it moved in the same direction as the hand compared with the
      opposite direction, as evidenced by decreased pursuit latency, increased
      positional lead of the eye relative to target, increased pursuit gain, decreased
      saccade rate, and decreased delay at the movement reversal. Some degree of
      anticipation occurred for incongruent pursuit, indicating that there is a role
      for higher-level movement prediction in pursuit anticipation. The fact that
      anticipation was larger when target and finger moved in the same direction
      provides evidence for a direct coupling between finger and eye motor commands.

PMID- 27628208
TI  - Social context differentially modulates activity of two interneuron populations
      in an avian basal ganglia nucleus.
AB  - Basal ganglia circuits are critical for the modulation of motor performance
      across behavioral states. In zebra finches, a cortical-basal ganglia circuit
      dedicated to singing is necessary for males to adjust their song performance and
      transition between spontaneous singing, when they are alone ("undirected" song),
      and a performance state, when they sing to a female ("female-directed" song).
      However, we know little about the role of different basal ganglia cell types in
      this behavioral transition or the degree to which behavioral context modulates
      the activity of different neuron classes. To investigate whether interneurons in
      the songbird basal ganglia encode information about behavioral state, I recorded
      from two interneuron types, fast-spiking interneurons (FSI) and external pallidal
      (GPe) neurons, in the songbird basal ganglia nucleus area X during both female
      directed and undirected singing. Both cell types exhibited higher firing rates,
      more frequent bursting, and greater trial-by-trial variability in firing when
      male zebra finches produced undirected songs compared with when they produced
      female-directed songs. However, the magnitude and direction of changes to the
      firing rate, bursting, and variability of spiking between when birds sat silently
      and when they sang undirected and female-directed song varied between FSI and GPe
      neurons. These data indicate that social modulation of activity important for
      eliciting changes in behavioral state is present in multiple cell types within
      area X and suggests that social interactions may adjust circuit dynamics during
      singing at multiple points within the circuit.

PMID- 27628206
TI  - Slow gamma rhythms in CA3 are entrained by slow gamma activity in the dentate
      gyrus.
AB  - In hippocampal area CA1, slow (~25-55 Hz) and fast (~60-100 Hz) gamma rhythms are
      coupled with different CA1 afferents. CA1 slow gamma is coupled to inputs from
      CA3, and CA1 fast gamma is coupled to inputs from the medial entorhinal cortex
      (Colgin LL, Denninger T, Fyhn M, Hafting T, Bonnevie T, Jensen O, Moser MB, Moser
      EI. Nature 462: 353-357, 2009). CA3 gives rise to highly divergent associational
      projections, and it is possible that reverberating activity in these connections
      generates slow gamma rhythms in the hippocampus. However, hippocampal gamma is
      maximal upstream of CA3, in the dentate gyrus (DG) region (Bragin A, Jando G,
      Nadasdy Z, Hetke J, Wise K, Buzsaki G. J Neurosci 15: 47-60, 1995). Thus it is
      possible that slow gamma in CA3 is driven by inputs from DG, yet few studies have
      examined slow and fast gamma rhythms in DG recordings. Here we investigated slow
      and fast gamma rhythms in paired recordings from DG and CA3 in freely moving rats
      to determine whether slow and fast gamma rhythms in CA3 are entrained by DG. We
      found that slow gamma rhythms, as opposed to fast gamma rhythms, were
      particularly prominent in DG. We investigated directional causal influences
      between DG and CA3 by Granger causality analysis and found that DG slow gamma
      influences CA3 slow gamma. Moreover, DG place cell spikes were strongly phase
      locked to CA3 slow gamma rhythms, suggesting that DG excitatory projections to
      CA3 may underlie this directional influence. These results indicate that slow
      gamma rhythms do not originate in CA3 but rather slow gamma activity upstream in
      DG entrains slow gamma rhythms in CA3.

PMID- 27628209
TI  - Sequencing biological acidification of waste-activated sludge aiming to optimize
      phosphorus dissolution and recovery.
AB  - Phosphorus (P) recovery in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) as pure crystals
      such as struvite (MgNH4PO4.6H2O), potassium struvite (KMgPO4.6H2O) and calcium
      phosphates (e.g. Ca3(PO4)2) is an already feasible technique that permits the
      production of green and marketable fertilizers and the reduction of operational
      costs. Commercial crystallizers can recovery more than 90% of soluble P. However,
      most of the P in WWTP sludge is unavailable for the processes (not dissolved). P
      solubilization and separation are thus the limiting steps in P-crystallization.
      With an innovative two-step sequencing acidification strategy, the current study
      has aimed to improve biological P solubilization on waste-activated sludge (WAS)
      from a full-scale plant. In the first step (P-release), low charges of organic
      waste were used as co-substrates of WAS pre-fermentation, seeking to produce
      volatile fatty acids to feed the P-release by Polyphosphate-accumulating
      organisms, while keeping its optimal metabolic pH (6-7). In this phase, milk
      serum, WWTP grease, urban organic waste and collective restaurant waste were
      individually applied as co-substrates. In the second step (P-dissolution), pH 4
      was aimed at as it allows the dissolution of the most common precipitated species
      of P. Biological acidification was performed by white sugar addition, as a
      carbohydrate-rich organic waste model, which was compared to chemical
      acidification by HCl (12M) addition. With short retention times (48-96 h) and
      without inoculum application, all experiences succeeded on P solubilization (37
      55% of soluble P), principally when carbohydrate-rich co-substrates were applied.
      Concentrations from 270 to 450 mg [Formula: see text] were achieved. [Formula:
      see text].

PMID- 27628210
TI  - Emergency physicians as human billboards for injury prevention: a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a novel
      injury prevention intervention designed to prompt patients to initiate an injury
      prevention discussion with the ED physician, thus enabling injury prevention
      counselling and increasing bicycle helmet use among patients. METHODS: A repeated
      measures 2 x 3 randomized controlled trial design was used. Fourteen emergency
      physicians were observed for two shifts each between June and August 2013. Each
      pair of shifts was randomized to either an injury prevention shift, during which
      the emergency physician would wear a customized scrub top, or a control shift.
      The outcomes of interest were physician time spent discussing injury prevention,
      current helmet use, and self-reported change in helmet use rates at one year.
      Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the impact of the intervention.
      RESULTS: The average time spent on injury prevention for all patients was 3.3
      seconds. For those patients who actually received counselling, the average time
      spent was 17.0 seconds. The scrub top intervention did not significantly change
      helmet use rates at one year. The intervention also had no significant impact on
      patient decisions to change or reinforcement of helmet use. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study showed that the intervention did not increase physician injury prevention
      counselling or self-reported bicycle helmet use rates among patients. Given the
      study limitations, replication and extension of the intervention is warranted.

PMID- 27628211
TI  - Health behaviors of culturally diverse inner-city community college students.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of risk behaviors related to cigarette
      use, alcohol use, nutrition, physical fitness, and sexual behavior. PARTICIPANTS:
      Participants were 1,075 students attending an urban community college during the
      Spring 2012 semester. METHODS: Data were collected in randomly selected classes
      using the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment
      II (ACHA-NCHA II) paper survey and analyzed using Statistical Package for the
      Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for frequencies and chi-square test of
      independence. RESULTS: The sample population reported poor diet, low rates of
      physical activity, high rates of overweight/obesity, low rates of condom use for
      vaginal sex, multiple sexual partners, and unintentional pregnancy. Protective
      health behaviors included low rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol use, high
      rates of condoms use for anal sex, and high rates of human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) testing. CONCLUSION: Students are at high risk for health problems related
      to poor diet, lack of exercise, and risky sexual behaviors. Additional research
      is recommended to determine the most effective intervention strategies.

PMID- 27628213
TI  - Primates' behavioural responses to tourists: evidence for a trade-off between
      potential risks and benefits.
AB  - The presence of, and interactions with tourists can be both risky and beneficial
      for wild animals. In wildlife tourism settings, animals often experience elevated
      rates of aggression from conspecifics, and they may also be threatened or
      physically aggressed by the tourists themselves. However, tourist provisioning of
      wild animals provides them with highly desirable foods. In situations of
      conflicting motivations such as this, animals would be expected to respond using
      behavioural coping mechanisms. In the present study, we investigated how animals
      respond to tourist pressure, using wild adult Barbary macaques in the Middle
      Atlas Mountains, Morocco, as a case study. We found evidence that these animals
      use a range of different behavioural coping mechanisms-physical avoidance, social
      support, affiliative, aggressive and displacement behaviours-to cope with the
      stress associated with tourists. The pattern of use of such behaviours appears to
      depend on a trade-off between perceived risks and potential benefits. We propose
      a framework to describe how animals respond to conflicting motivational
      situations, such as the presence of tourists, that present simultaneously risks
      and benefits.

PMID- 27628212
TI  - Effects of captivity and artificial breeding on microbiota in feces of the red
      crowned crane (Grus japonensis).
AB  - Reintroduction of the threatened red-crowned crane has been unsuccessful.
      Although gut microbiota correlates with host health, there is little information
      on gut microbiota of cranes under different conservation strategies. The study
      examined effects of captivity, artificial breeding and life stage on gut
      microbiota of red-crown cranes. The gut microbiotas of wild, captive adolescent,
      captive adult, artificially bred adolescent and artificially bred adult cranes
      were characterized by next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The
      gut microbiotas were dominated by three phyla: Firmicutes (62.9%), Proteobacteria
      (29.9%) and Fusobacteria (9.6%). Bacilli dominated the 'core' community
      consisting of 198 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Both captivity and
      artificial breeding influenced the structures and diversities microbiota of the
      gut. Especially, wild cranes had distinct compositions of gut microbiota from
      captive and artificially bred cranes. The greatest alpha diversity was found in
      captive cranes, while wild cranes had the least. According to the results of
      ordination analysis, influences of captivity and artificial breeding were greater
      than that of life stage. Overall, captivity and artificial breeding influenced
      the gut microbiota, potentially due to changes in diet, vaccination, antibiotics
      and living conditions. Metagenomics can serve as a supplementary non-invasive
      screening tool for disease control.

PMID- 27628214
TI  - STYK1 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor metastasis in human
      hepatocellular carcinoma through MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling.
AB  - Serine/threonine/tyrosine kinase 1 (STYK1) is known to be involved in tumor
      progression. However, its molecular role and mechanism in hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. We evaluated the effect of STYK1 expression in
      HCC tissues and investigated the underlying mechanisms associated with
      progression. HCC tissues expressed greater levels of STYK1 than paired non-tumor
      tissues. Patients with HCC expressing low levels of STYK1 showed both, greater
      disease-free (p < 0.0001) and overall (p = 0.0004) survival than those expressing
      high levels of STYK1. Decreased expression of STYK1 was significantly associated
      with decreased cell proliferation, reduced migratory capability, and reduced
      invasive capability. Overexpression of STYK1 was significantly associated with
      increased cell proliferation, migratory capability, and invasive capability in
      vitro, as well as increased volume of tumor, weight of tumor, and number of
      pulmonary metastases in vivo. Furthermore, STYK1's mechanism of promoting cancer
      cell mobility and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was found to be via the
      MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways, resulting in increased expression of mesenchymal
      protein markers: snail, fibronectin, and vimentin, and decreased E-cadherin
      expression. Our results suggest that STYK1 acts as an oncogene by inducing cell
      invasion and EMT via the MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways and it therefore
      may be a potential therapeutic target in HCC.

PMID- 27628215
TI  - Anion channelrhodopsins for inhibitory cardiac optogenetics.
AB  - Optical control of the heart muscle is a promising strategy for cardiology
      because it is more specific than traditional electrical stimulation, and allows a
      higher temporal resolution than pharmacological interventions. Anion
      channelrhodopsins (ACRs) from cryptophyte algae expressed in cultured neonatal
      rat ventricular cardiomyocytes produced inhibitory currents at less than one
      thousandth of the light intensity required by previously available optogenetic
      tools, such as the proton pump archaerhodopsin-3 (Arch). Because of their greater
      photocurrents, ACRs permitted complete inhibition of cardiomyocyte electrical
      activity under conditions in which Arch was inefficient. Most importantly, ACR
      expression allowed precisely controlled shortening of the action potential
      duration by switching on the light during its repolarization phase, which was not
      possible with previously used optogenetic tools. Optical shortening of cardiac
      action potentials may benefit pathophysiology research and the development of
      optogenetic treatments for cardiac disorders such as the long QT syndrome.

PMID- 27628217
TI  - IGFBP1 Involved in the Decreased Birth Weight Due to Fetal High Estrogen Exposure
      in Mice.
AB  - Our previous study indicated that maternal high-estrogen environment in the first
      trimester is correlated with increased risks of low birth weight (LBW) and adult
      diseases. The present study aimed to establish an animal model to confirm such an
      effect in mice, and to further explore the mechanism involved. A mouse model with
      high estradiol (E2) exposure during early pregnancy was established, and the
      birth weight, growth after birth, and expression levels of insulin-like growth
      factor-binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) of pups were examined. Meanwhile, IGFBP1
      expression after treatment of E2 was examined in a HepG2 hepatoma cell line. We
      found that after exposure to a high-E2 environment the weight of the pups
      decreased significantly, not only before but also after birth. Meanwhile, both
      mRNA and protein expressions of IGFBP1 were elevated in placenta and liver
      tissues. Furthermore, the level of IGFBP1 in the HepG2 cell line was elevated by
      the treatment of E2, whereas this effect was blocked by estrogen receptor
      antagonist ICI 182780. In summary, maternal high estrogen up-regulates expression
      of IGFBP1 in placenta and fetal livers, which contributes to LBW and decreases
      body weight in offspring.

PMID- 27628216
TI  - SpermBase: A Database for Sperm-Borne RNA Contents.
AB  - Since their discovery ~three decades ago, sperm-borne RNAs, both large/small and
      coding/noncoding, have been reported in multiple organisms, and some have been
      implicated in spermatogenesis, early development, and epigenetic inheritance.
      Despite these advances, isolation, quantification and annotation of sperm-borne
      RNAs remain nontrivial. The yields and subspecies of sperm-borne RNAs isolated
      from sperm can vary drastically depending on the methods used, and no cross
      species analyses of sperm RNA contents have ever been conducted using a
      standardized sperm RNA isolation protocol. To address these issues, we developed
      a simple RNA isolation method that is applicable to sperm of various species,
      thus allowing for reliable interspecies comparisons. Based on RNA-Seq analyses,
      we established SpermBase (www.spermbase.org), a database dedicated to sperm-borne
      RNA profiling of multiple species. Currently, SpermBase contains large and small
      RNA expression data for mouse, rat, rabbit and human total sperm and sperm heads.
      By analyzing large and small RNAs for conserved features, we found that many
      sperm-borne RNA species were conserved across all four species analyzed, and
      among the conserved small RNAs, sperm-borne tsRNAs and miRNAs can target a large
      number of genes known to be critical for early development.

PMID- 27628220
TI  - Purulent Pericarditis Accompanying Pericardial Abscess Induced by Nocardia in an
      Immunocompromised Patient.

PMID- 27628218
TI  - A Novel Role for SIRT3 in Regulating Mediators Involved in the Terminal Pathways
      of Human Labor and Delivery.
AB  - Preterm birth remains the major cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity,
      mediated largely by an inflammatory process. The sirtuin (SIRT) family of
      cellular regulators has been implicated as key inhibitors of inflammation. We
      have previously reported a role for SIRT1, SIRT2, and SIRT6 in regulating
      inflammation-induced prolabor mediators. In this study, we determined the effect
      of term labor and pro-inflammatory cytokines on SIRT3, SIRT4, SIRT5, and SIRT7
      expression in human myometrium. Functional studies were also used to investigate
      the effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of SIRTs in regulating
      inflammation-induced prolabor mediators. Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR were
      used to determine SIRT3, SIRT4, SIRT5, and SIRT7 mRNA and protein expression in
      human myometrium. Small interfering RNA knockdown of SIRT3 in myometrial primary
      cells determined its role in response to inflammatory stimuli IL1B and TNF. SIRT3
      mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly lower in term laboring
      myometrium compared with term nonlaboring myometrium. There was no effect of
      labor on SIRT4, SIRT5 or SIRT7 protein expression. The pro-inflammatory cytokines
      IL1B and TNF significantly decreased levels of SIRT3 mRNA and protein expression.
      SIRT3 knockdown by siRNA significantly augmented IL1B- and TNF-stimulated IL6,
      CXCL8, and CCL2 mRNA expression and release; PTGS2 mRNA expression and subsequent
      PGF2alpha release; the mRNA expression and secretion of the adhesion molecule
      ICAM1 and the extracellular matrix remodeling enzyme MMP9; and nuclear factor
      kappa B1 (NFkappaB1) transcriptional activity. In human myometrium, SIRT3
      expression decreases with term labor and regulates the mediators involved in the
      terminal effector pathways of human labor and delivery through the NFkappaB1
      pathway.

PMID- 27628219
TI  - Low Body Mass Index in Endometriosis Is Promoted by Hepatic Metabolic Gene
      Dysregulation in Mice.
AB  - The gynecological disease endometriosis is characterized by the deposition and
      proliferation of endometrial cells outside the uterus and clinically is linked to
      low body mass index (BMI). Gene expression in the liver of these women has not
      been reported. We hypothesized that endometriosis may impact hepatic gene
      expression, promoting a low BMI. To determine the effect of endometriosis on
      liver gene expression, we induced endometriosis in female mice by suturing donor
      mouse endometrium into the peritoneal cavity and measuring the weight of these
      mice. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning of these mice showed lower
      body weight and lower total body fat than controls. Microarray analysis
      identified 26 genes differentially regulated in the livers of mice with
      endometriosis. Six of 26 genes were involved in metabolism. Four of six genes
      were upregulated and were related to weight loss, whereas two genes were
      downregulated and linked to obesity. Expression levels of Cyp2r1, Fabp4, Mrc1,
      and Rock2 were increased, whereas Igfbp1 and Mmd2 expression levels were
      decreased. Lep and Pparg, key metabolic genes in the pathways of the six genes
      identified from the microarray, were also upregulated. This dysregulation was
      specific to metabolic pathways. Here we demonstrate that endometriosis causes
      reduced body weight and body fat and disrupts expression of liver genes. We
      suggest that altered metabolism mediated by the liver contributes to the
      clinically observed low BMI that is characteristic of women with endometriosis.
      These findings reveal the systemic and multiorgan nature of endometriosis.

PMID- 27628223
TI  - Data sharing: lessons from Copernicus and Kepler.

PMID- 27628221
TI  - Influence of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction on the Effects of Supplemental
      Use of Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Olmesartan in Hypertensive Patients With
      Heart Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no robust evidence of pharmacological interventions to
      improve mortality in heart failure (HF) patients with preserved left ventricular
      ejection fraction (LVEF) (HFpEF). In this subanalysis study of the SUPPORT Trial,
      we addressed the influence of LVEF on the effects of olmesartan in HF. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Among 1,147 patients enrolled in the SUPPORT Trial, we examined 429
      patients with reduced LVEF (HFrEF, LVEF <50%) and 709 with HFpEF (LVEF >=50%).
      During a median follow-up of 4.4 years, 21.9% and 12.5% patients died in the
      HFrEF and HFpEF groups, respectively. In HFrEF patients, the addition of
      olmesartan to the combination of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)
      and beta-blocker (BB) was associated with increased incidence of death (hazard
      ratio (HR) 2.26, P=0.002) and worsening renal function (HR 2.01, P=0.01), whereas
      its addition to ACEI or BB alone was not. In contrast, in HFpEF patients, the
      addition of olmesartan to BB alone was significantly associated with reduced
      mortality (HR 0.32, P=0.03), whereas with ACEIs alone or in combination with BB
      and ACEI was not. The linear mixed-effect model showed that in HFpEF, the urinary
      albumin/creatinine ratio was unaltered when BB were combined with olmesartan, but
      significantly increased when not combined with olmesartan (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      LVEF substantially influences the effects of additive use of olmesartan, with
      beneficial effects noted when combined with BB in hypertensive HFpEF patients.
      (Circ J 2016; 80: 2155-2164).

PMID- 27628222
TI  - Climatic variability in combination with eutrophication drives adaptive responses
      in the gills of Lake Victoria cichlids.
AB  - Textbook examples of adaptive radiation often show rapid morphological changes in
      response to environmental perturbations. East Africa's Lake Victoria, famous for
      its stunning adaptive radiation of cichlids, has suffered from human-induced
      eutrophication over the past decades. This cultural eutrophication is thought to
      be partly responsible for the dramatically reduced cichlid biodiversity, but
      climatic variability in itself might also have contributed to the eutrophication
      which resulted in low oxygen levels and decreased water transparency. To
      determine how recent environmental changes have influenced the lake and its
      cichlids over the past 50 years, we gathered environmental and meteorological
      variables and compared these with gill surface area of four cichlid species. We
      found that during the period of severe eutrophication and temperature increase
      (1980s), reduced wind speeds coincided with a reduction in oxygen levels and a
      decrease in both water temperature and transparency. The gill surface area in
      three out of the four cichlid species increased during this period which is
      consistent with adaptive change in response to increased hypoxia. During the
      2000s, wind speeds, oxygen levels, water transparency and water temperature
      increased again, while cichlid gill surface area decreased. Our results imply
      that climatic changes and especially wind speed and direction might play a
      crucial role in tropical lake dynamics. The changes in Lake Victoria's water
      quality coincide with fluctuations in cichlid gill surface area, suggesting that
      these fish can respond rapidly to environmental perturbations, but also that
      climatic variability, together with continued eutrophication, might be
      detrimental to the lake's cichlid biodiversity.

PMID- 27628224
TI  - [Blunt abdominal trauma. Pancreatic injury. Part 4].

PMID- 27628225
TI  - [The choice of surgery in patients with diffuse toxic goiter].
AB  - AIM: to define clear individual indications for different operations for diffuse
      toxic goiter by research of immunological markers of thyrotoxicosis recurrence
      probability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Long-term results of survey and treatment of
      215 patients with diffuse toxic goiter are presented. Patients were divided into
      2 groups. The 1st group consisted of 31 patienrs who underwent conventional
      partial thyroidectomy. Group 2 included 184 patients. They were divided into 2
      subgroups depending on type of surgery. Subgroup A included 59 patients after
      partial thyroidectomy and subgroup B - 125 patients after total thyroidectomy. In
      group 2 surgery was defined based on only level of antibodies against TSH
      receptors. RESULTS: Recurrence incidence was 16 and 0% in groups 1 and 2
      respectively. CONCLUSION: In patients with diffuse toxic goiter partial
      thyroidectomy is possible if normal titer of antibodies against TSH-receptors is
      present (<1.5 U/l). Total thyroidectomy is advisable in titer >=1.5 U/l.

PMID- 27628226
TI  - [Absence of postoperative pulmonary impermeability in patients with spontaneous
      pneumothorax].
AB  - AIM: to improve treatment of patients with spontaneous pneumothorax who had not
      postoperative pulmonary impermeability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 87 patients with
      spontaneous pneumothorax underwent videothoracoscopy (VTS), lung resection
      supplemented by pleurodesis (parietal pleurectomy or pleural abrasion). Absence
      of pulmonary impermeability was observed in 5 (5.7%) patients. RESULTS AND
      DISCUSSION: Re-operation was performed in 2 patients (Vanderschuren 2 and 3)
      namely re-thoracoscopy and thoracotomy with additional ligation of air origins.
      Drainage tubes were removed in 4 and 17 days postoperatively in patient
      without/with emphysema respectively. In patient (Vanderschuren 1) who underwent
      thoracoscopic resection and parietal pleural abrasion valve bronchoblocation was
      performed in 9 days after VTS due to persistent pneumothorax. Pleural drainage
      tube was removed in 13 days (emphysema) after bronchial valve deployment. 2
      patients (Vanderschuren 4) had heterogeneous pulmonary emphysema. One of them
      underwent video-assisted mini-thoracotomy, lung resection with reinforcement of
      seams with synthetic material. In other observation conversion to thoracotomy
      followed by atypical resection of bullous emphysema and manual suturing of lung
      was applied. In both cases bronchoblocation was performed intraoperatively with
      good results. Drainage tubes were removed in 13 and 17 days respectively. There
      were no complications. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative endoscopic bronchoblocation is
      advisable if air leakage is considerable in operating theater and complicates
      lung smoothing. Such approach reduces hospital-stay and improves outcomes.

PMID- 27628227
TI  - [Diagnosis and treatment of duodenal dystrophy in patients with chronic
      pancreatitis].
AB  - AIM: to define optimal treatment of duodenal dystrophy in patients with chronic
      pancreatitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 515 patients with chronic pancreatitis have
      been treated for the period 2004-2015 in A.V.Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery.
      Duodenal dystrophy (DD) was diagnosed in 79 (15.3%) of them. The diagnosis was
      confirmed by sonography, CT, MRI and endosonography. 5 patients are under
      observation without surgery. 74 patients were operated after previous medical
      therapy during 39 months on the average. Pancreatoduodenectomy was performed in
      36 patients. Organ-sparing interventions were applied in 34 cases including
      different duodenal resections in 20 patients and pancreatic head resections in
      different modifications in 14 cases. 4 patients underwent palliative surgery.
      Chronic pancreatitis and DD were verified by morphological analysis of specimens.
      Long-term results were estimated in 47 patients. Median follow-up was 49.9
      months. RESULTS: X-ray diagnostics showed that DD was combined with chronic
      pancreatitis in 87.3% of cases while morphological analysis revealed 93.8%.
      Clinical signs of DD were caused by striated pancreatitis in 69.6% and ectopic
      pancreatic tissue in 30.4%. Clinical manifestations of DD did not depend on its
      cause and were presented by symptoms of chronic pancreatitis. Postoperative
      complications occurred in 25 (34.7%) patients. There were 33.5% of complications
      after pancreatoduodenectomy and 70% after duodenal resection. 1 patient died.
      Overall mortality was 1,3%. In long-term period complete regression of symptoms
      was observed in 66% of cases, significant improvement - in 32%, absence of the
      effect - in 2%. CONCLUSION: Medical therapy should be preferred for patients with
      DD and chronic pancreatitis. Surgery is indicated in case of persistent pain,
      complicated course of chronic pancreatitis and duodenal obstruction.
      Pancreatoduodenectomy and pancreatic head resection are preferred.

PMID- 27628228
TI  - Esophagogastrectomy with simultaneous intestinal repair.
AB  - AIM: to present treatment of patients with gastroesophageal cancer. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: 41 cases of esophagogastrectomy with simultaneous intestinal repair were
      analyzed. There were 37 operations for malignancies and 4 operations for benign
      diseases. Indications for surgery were defined. Abdominocervical access was
      predominantly used. In 6 patients esophageal repair was finished by high
      intrapleural anastomosis due to insufficient length of the graft for cervical
      anastomosis. Surgical technique of esophagogastrectomy was described in detail at
      all stages. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Better functional results were achieved in
      isoperistaltic esophagocoloplasty when graft's aboral end was anastomosed with
      Roux-segment of jejunum or with vertical bend of duodenum in end-to-side fashion.
      Mortality rate was 12.2%. CONCLUSION: We consider that isoperistaltic repair on
      left colonic vessels has better functional results.

PMID- 27628229
TI  - [Single-port cholecystectomy - pros and cons].
AB  - AIM: to study efficacy and safety of current laparoscopic techniques of
      cholecystectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 3 groups of patients were defined. Single
      laparoscopic access with/without trocar support was used in group 1 (SILS+, n=10)
      and 2 (SILS, n=16) respectively. Conventional four-port laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy was applied in comparison group. RESULTS: SILS+ and SILS
      techniques were associated with less pain syndrome within first 12 hours after
      surgery compared with four-port cholecyst-ectomy. Better cosmetic result is also
      achieved in case of single-port technique. Both methods are comparable in their
      safety. CONCLUSION: SILS-techniques are current alternatives to four-port
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy due to better cosmetic result, mild postoperative
      pain syndrome and comparable safety.

PMID- 27628230
TI  - [The consequences of cholecystectomy].
AB  - AIM: to analyze the consequences of cholecystectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 348
      patients were under observation within 10  years after cholecystectomy. Surgery
      for destructive and chronic cholecystitis was performed in 115 and 233 patients
      respectively. The consequences of cholecystectomy were assessed using bile acids
      level in blood plasma, stomach and duodenal pressure, pancreatic and stomach
      changes. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: It was established that lithocholic,
      deoxycholic, taurodeoxycholic acids were increased by 44% within 10 years after
      surgery. At the same time glycocholic and tauroursodeoxycholic acids were
      decreased by 21.5% in 5 years after surgery. Bile acids level changes were
      associated with changes of stomach and duodenal pressure. The most pronounced
      disorders were observed in distal duodenum. There was more than 2.8-fold excess
      of normal pressure in this area. Duodenal hypertension was accompanied by
      pancreatic ducts enlargement in 9.5% of cases and increased echogenicity in 93%
      of cases. CONCLUSION: Changes of the level and proportion of blood plasma bile
      acids and hypertension in upper gastrointestinal tract are the most important in
      chronic pancreatitis pathogenesis after cholecystectomy. Such conditions occur
      within first 3 years after surgery.

PMID- 27628231
TI  - [Incidence of abdominal wall hernias: the results of population study].
AB  - AIM: to define the incidence of abdominal wall hernias among ethnically
      homogeneous population older than 10 years within single locality. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: One-stage investigation of abdominal wall hernias incidence was
      performed in June-July 2015 in the Kryukovskoye rural settlement of the
      Borisovskiy district of the Belgorod region. Citizens were examined in FAPs or at
      home. Specially designed questionnaire was used for every person. Presence of
      hernia was confirmed by clinical signs or anamnestic data about previous
      abdominal wall repair. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: 783 (86.6%) persons were surveyed.
      There were 298 (38%) men and 485 (62%) women among them aged 10-90 years.
      Clinical signs or anamnestic data were revealed in 164 (20.9%) persons. Inguinal
      (n=80, 10.2%) and umbilical (n=65, 8.3%) hernias were predominant. Postoperative
      ventral hernia was diagnosed in 19 (2.4%) humans. CONCLUSION: Incidence of
      abdominal wall hernias was 20.9% in our study.

PMID- 27628232
TI  - [Role of correction of the syndrome of intestinal failure and abdominal
      hypertension in the prevention of infection of pancreatic necrosis].
AB  - The number of patients with acute pancreatitis and pancreatic necrosis has been
      steadily increasing. Mortality in infected pancreatic necrosis remains high. AIM:
      To develop measures to prevent infection of pancreatic necrosis by timely
      correction of intra-abdominal hypertension and the syndrome of intestinal
      failure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Developed a package of measures, consisting of
      early intestinal lavage and enterosorption, intravenous highdoses of octreotide,
      epidural blockade, adequate detox and the start of effective antimicrobial
      therapy. Comparative evaluation of clinical, laboratory and instrumental data in
      the primary (n=50) and control (n=50) groups. RESULTS: In the main group
      pancreatogenic sepsis occurred in 10%, control 18%. Mortality, respectively, was
      8 and 16%.

PMID- 27628233
TI  - [Reconstructive surgery in patient with chronic duodenal obstruction].

PMID- 27628234
TI  - [Rare complication of duodenal dystrophy in patient with chronic pancreatitis].

PMID- 27628236
TI  - A second DNA binding site in human BRCA2 promotes homologous recombination.
AB  - BRCA2 tumour-suppressor protein is well known for its role in DNA repair by
      homologous recombination (HR); assisting the loading of RAD51 recombinase at DNA
      double-strand breaks. This function is executed by the C-terminal DNA binding
      domain (CTD) which binds single-stranded (ss)DNA, and the BRC repeats, which bind
      RAD51 and modulate its assembly onto ssDNA. Paradoxically, analysis of cells
      resistant to DNA damaging agents missing the CTD restore HR proficiency,
      suggesting another domain may take over its function. Here, we identify a region
      in the N terminus of BRCA2 that exhibits DNA binding activity (NTD) and provide
      evidence for NTD promoting RAD51-mediated HR. A missense variant detected in
      breast cancer patients located in the NTD impairs HR stimulation on dsDNA/ssDNA
      junction containing substrates. These findings shed light on the function of the
      N terminus of BRCA2 and have implications for the evaluation of breast cancer
      variants.

PMID- 27628235
TI  - N100 as a generic cortical electrophysiological marker based on decomposition of
      TMS-evoked potentials across five anatomic locations.
AB  - N100, the negative peak of electrical response occurring around 100 ms, is
      present in diverse functional paradigms including auditory, visual, somatic,
      behavioral and cognitive tasks. We hypothesized that the presence of the N100
      across different paradigms may be indicative of a more general property of the
      cerebral cortex regardless of functional or anatomic specificity. To test this
      hypothesis, we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and
      electroencephalography (EEG) to measure cortical excitability by TMS across
      cortical regions without relying on specific sensory, cognitive or behavioral
      modalities. The five stimulated regions included left prefrontal, left motor,
      left primary auditory cortices, the vertex and posterior cerebellum with
      stimulations performed using supra- and subthreshold intensities. EEG responses
      produced by TMS stimulation at the five locations all generated N100s that peaked
      at the vertex. The amplitudes of the N100s elicited by these five diverse
      cortical origins were statistically not significantly different (all uncorrected
      p > 0.05). No other EEG response components were found to have this global
      property of N100. Our findings suggest that anatomy- and modality-specific
      interpretation of N100 should be carefully evaluated, and N100 by TMS may be used
      as a biomarker for evaluating local versus general cortical properties across the
      brain.

PMID- 27628237
TI  - Female Infertility and Serum Auto-antibodies: a Systematic Review.
AB  - On average, 10 % of infertile couples have unexplained infertility. Auto-immune
      disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, anti-phospholipid syndrome) accounts for a
      part of these cases. In the last 20 years, aspecific auto-immunity, defined as
      positivity of auto-antibodies in blood sample without clinical or biological
      criteria for defined diseases, has been evoked in a subpopulation of infertile
      women. A systematic review was performed (PUBMED) using the MESH search terms
      "infertility" and "auto-immunity" or "reproductive technique" or "assisted
      reproduction" or "in vitro fertilization" and "auto-immunity." We retained
      clinical and physiopathological studies that were applicable to the clinician in
      assuming joint management of both infertility associated with serum auto
      antibodies in women. Thyroid auto-immunity which affects thyroid function could
      be a cause of infertility; even in euthyroidia, the presence of anti
      thyroperoxydase antibodies and/or thyroglobulin are related to infertility. The
      presence of anti-phospholipid (APL) and/or anti-nuclear (ANA) antibodies seems to
      be more frequent in the population of infertile women; serum auto-antibodies are
      associated with early ovarian failure, itself responsible for fertility
      disorders. However, there exist few publications on this topic. The methods of
      dosage, as well as the clinical criteria of unexplained infertility deserve to be
      standardized to allow a precise response to the question of the role of serum
      auto-antibodies in these women. The direct pathogenesis of this auto-immunity is
      unknown, but therapeutic immunomodulators, prescribed on a case-by-case basis,
      could favor pregnancy even in cases of unexplained primary or secondary
      infertility.

PMID- 27628238
TI  - Electroacupuncture ameliorates abnormal defaecation and regulates corticotrophin
      releasing factor in a rat model of stress.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment on abnormal
      defaecation in a rat model of chronic heterotypic stress (CHS) and investigate
      the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: 20 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly
      divided into three groups: normal (n=6), CHS (n=7), and CHS+EA (n=7). Rats in the
      CHS group and CHS+EA groups received four different types of stressors for 7
      days. For rats in the CHS+EA group, EA was applied at ST36 in the bilateral hind
      legs for 30 min before each stress-loading session. Rats in the normal group did
      not receive stressors or EA treatment. The faecal pellets of each rat were
      collected and weighed at a fixed time every day. Protein expression of
      corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) in the hypothalamus and colorectal tissues
      was measured by Western blotting at the end of the experiment on the 7th day.
      RESULTS: After 7 consecutive days of CHS, the number of faecal pellets, faecal
      wet weight, and faecal water content were significantly increased in the CHS
      group compared with the normal group (p=0.035, p=0.008 and p=0.008,
      respectively). All three parameters were significantly decreased in CHS+EA versus
      CHS groups (p=0.030, p=0.011 and p=0.006, respectively). Stress significantly
      increased CRF expression in both the hypothalamus and colorectal tissues. The
      excessive CRF responses seen following CHS were significantly suppressed by EA
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: EA treatment can ameliorate stress loading induced
      abnormal defaecation in rats and decrease protein expression of CRF centrally
      (hypothalamus) and peripherally (colorectal tissues), suggesting a potentially
      therapeutic role for EA in stress-related responses.

PMID- 27628240
TI  - Is neonatal head circumference related to caesarean section for failure to
      progress?
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is global concern about rising caesarean section rates.
      Identification of risk factors could lead to preventative measures. AIMS: To
      describe the association between neonatal head circumference and (i) caesarean
      section for failure to progress, (ii) intrapartum caesarean section overall.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of 11 687 singleton
      live births with cephalic presentation, attempted vaginal birth and at least 37
      completed weeks gestation from January 2005 to June 2009. Neonatal head
      circumference was grouped into quartiles and multiple logistic regressions
      performed. RESULTS: The rates of caesarean section for failure to progress were
      4.1, 6.4, 8.8 and 14.3% in successive head circumference quartiles. Rates of
      intrapartum caesarean section overall were 8.7, 12.1, 15.8 and 21.5%. The odds
      ratios for caesarean section for failure to progress were: 1.00, 1.33 (95% CI
      1.02- 1.73), 1.54 (1.18-2.02) and 1.93 (1.44-2.57) for successive head
      circumference quartiles after adjusting for multiple demographic and clinical
      factors. The adjusted odds ratios for intrapartum caesarean section for any
      indication were: 1.00, 1.52 (95% CI 1.24-1.87), 1.99 (1.62-2.46) and 2.38 (1.89
      3.00), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong positive relationship between
      head circumference quartile and both caesarean section for failure to progress
      and caesarean for any indication. If this finding is confirmed using ultrasound
      measurements, there is potential for head circumference to be incorporated into
      predictive models for intrapartum caesarean section with a view to offering
      interventions to reduce the risk of caesarean section.

PMID- 27628239
TI  - alpha-Synuclein is a Novel Microtubule Dynamase.
AB  - alpha-Synuclein is a presynaptic protein associated to Parkinson's disease, which
      is unstructured when free in the cytoplasm and adopts alpha helical conformation
      when bound to vesicles. After decades of intense studies, alpha-Synuclein
      physiology is still difficult to clear up due to its interaction with multiple
      partners and its involvement in a pletora of neuronal functions. Here, we looked
      at the remarkably neglected interplay between alpha-Synuclein and microtubules,
      which potentially impacts on synaptic functionality. In order to identify the
      mechanisms underlying these actions, we investigated the interaction between
      purified alpha-Synuclein and tubulin. We demonstrated that alpha-Synuclein binds
      to microtubules and tubulin alpha2beta2 tetramer; the latter interaction inducing
      the formation of helical segment(s) in the alpha-Synuclein polypeptide. This
      structural change seems to enable alpha-Synuclein to promote microtubule
      nucleation and to enhance microtubule growth rate and catastrophe frequency, both
      in vitro and in cell. We also showed that Parkinson's disease-linked alpha
      Synuclein variants do not undergo tubulin-induced folding and cause tubulin
      aggregation rather than polymerization. Our data enable us to propose alpha
      Synuclein as a novel, foldable, microtubule-dynamase, which influences
      microtubule organisation through its binding to tubulin and its regulating
      effects on microtubule nucleation and dynamics.

PMID- 27628242
TI  - Confined Catalytic Janus Swimmers in a Crowded Channel: Geometry-Driven
      Rectification Transients and Directional Locking.
AB  - Self-propelled Janus particles, acting as microscopic vehicles, have the
      potential to perform complex tasks on a microscopic scale, suitable, e.g., for
      environmental applications, on-chip chemical information processing, or in vivo
      drug delivery. Development of these smart nanodevices requires a better
      understanding of how synthetic swimmers move in crowded and confined environments
      that mimic actual biosystems, e.g., network of blood vessels. Here, the dynamics
      of self-propelled Janus particles interacting with catalytically passive silica
      beads in a narrow channel is studied both experimentally and through numerical
      simulations. Upon varying the area density of the silica beads and the width of
      the channel, active transport reveals a number of intriguing properties, which
      range from distinct bulk and boundary-free diffusivity at low densities, to
      directional "locking" and channel "unclogging" at higher densities, whereby a
      Janus swimmer is capable of transporting large clusters of passive particles.

PMID- 27628241
TI  - Chemomodulatory effect Melastoma Malabathricum Linn against chemically induced
      renal carcinogenesis rats via attenuation of inflammation, oxidative stress, and
      early markers of tumor expansion.
AB  - Melastoma malabathricum Linn (MM) has high valued for its commercial
      significance. Indian market (northeast) has great demand for the plants, which
      extended, its use as a traditional home remedy due to its anti-inflammatory
      effects. In this study, we scrutinize the therapeutic and protective effect of MM
      against diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA)-induced
      renal carcinogenesis, renal hyperproliferation, and oxidative stress in rats.
      Liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) was used for identification of
      phytoconstituents. Administration of DEN confirmed the initiation the renal
      carcinogenesis via enhancing the expansion of tumor incidence. Intraperitoneally,
      administration of Fe-NTA boost the antioxidant enzymes (phase I), viz.,
      superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR),
      glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and phase II, viz., quinone reductase (QR) and
      glutathione-S-transferase (GST). It also increased the content of renal lipid
      peroxidation (LPO), hydrogen peroxidase (H2O2) with decrease content in
      glutathione content (GSH). It also increased the renal biochemical and non
      biochemical parameter. It also confirmed the augment the level of thymidine [3H]
      incorporation into renal DNA, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and
      increased the generation of proinflammatory (TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-beta) and
      inflammatory mediator (PGE2). We also analyzed the macroscopic and histologic of
      renal tissue. In addition, the effect of phytoconstituent of MM extract was
      evaluated in silico and free radical scavenging activity against the DPPH and
      ABTS free radicals. LC-MS confirmed the presence of quercetin >gallic acid in MM
      extract. Renal carcinogenesis rats treated with MM (100, 250, and 500 mg/kg)
      confirmed the significantly (P < 0.001) protective effect via reduction the
      antioxidant (phase I and phase II) enzymes, biochemical parameter and restore the
      proinflammatory and inflammatory mediator at dose dependent manner. MM altered
      the ODC and thymidine activity in renal DNA. The chemoprotective effect of MM was
      confirmed via decreased the renal tumor incidence, which was confirmed by the
      macroscopic and histopathological observation. Consequently, our result suggests
      that MM is a potent chemoprotective agent and suppresses DEN+ Fe-NTA-induced
      renal carcinogenesis, inflammatory reaction, and oxidative stress injury in
      Wister rats.

PMID- 27628243
TI  - A Stable Bis(benzocyclobutadiene)-Annelated Tetraazapentacene Derivative.
AB  - Biphenylene-2,3-dione is a powerful reagent to build up cyclobutadiene-containing
      azapolyheterocycles. The target structures are formed in high yields through
      classical condensation of suitable aromatic diamines with the biphenylenedione.
      To achieve the title compound, the biphenylenedione is coupled with a
      diaminobenzothiadiazole derivative. Reductive cleavage of the thiadiazole ring
      and subsequent condensation with the biphenylenedione gives the title compound in
      which a central tetraazapentacene is flanked by two benzocyclobutadiene units.
      This compound is stable despite its extended pi-system and its optical features
      are blueshifted in comparison to those of the symmetrical tetraazapentacene.

PMID- 27628244
TI  - Anxiety disorders and all-cause mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta
      analysis of prospective cohort studies that examined the relationship between
      anxiety disorders, or clinically significant anxiety symptoms, at baseline and
      all-cause mortality at follow-up relative to control participants without
      clinically significant anxiety. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and CINAHL
      were searched through July 2015, along with manual searches of published reviews
      and forward and backward snowball searches of included studies. Studies were
      excluded if anxiety was not defined with a standardized instrument, or if
      participants were followed-up for 1 year or less. The initial search yielded 7901
      articles after the removal of duplicates, of which 328 underwent full-text
      screening. RESULTS: Forty-two estimates from 36 articles were included in the
      meta-analysis with a total sample of 127,552 participants and over 11,573 deaths.
      The overall hazard ratio (HR) estimate of mortality in clinically anxious
      participants relative to controls was 1.09 (95 % CI 1.01-1.16); however, this was
      reduced after adjusting for publication bias (1.03; 95 % CI 0.95-1.13). There was
      no evidence of increased mortality risk among anxious participants derived from
      community samples (0.99; 95 % CI 0.96-1.02) and in studies that adjusted for a
      diagnosis of depression (1.01; 95 % CI 0.96-1.06). CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest that positive associations in the literature are attributable to studies
      in smaller samples, comorbid depression (or other psychiatric conditions) among
      participants, and possible confounding in medical patient samples followed-up for
      short durations.

PMID- 27628247
TI  - Gold-Organic Hybrids: On-Surface Synthesis and Perspectives.
AB  - Gold-organic hybrids can be prepared on gold substrates by on-surface
      dehalogenation of molecular precursors with multiple halogen substituents.
      Various contact geometries of covalent aryl?Au bonds are achieved by changing the
      halogen substituents in the bay or peri regions. Scanning tunneling
      microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) investigations allow a better understanding of
      the structure/property relationships in various gold-aryl contacts. Recent
      progress on the synthesis, large-scale alignment, and STS measurement of gold
      organic hybrids is described, ending with an emphasis on potential future
      applications, e.g., as precursors (intermediates) for the synthesis of graphene
      nanoribbons (GNRs) on insulating surfaces, and as a model system to investigate
      the role of covalent aryl?Au bonds in electron transport through gold-GNR
      contacts.

PMID- 27628248
TI  - Robotic radical prostatectomy: advantages of an initial posterior dissection.
AB  - During robotic radical prostatectomy (RRP), many surgeons currently employ the
      modified-Montsouris technique as initially described by Menon in 2002 with
      initial anterior prostate dissection. The anterior approach simulates the routine
      retropubic technique which open surgeons feel most comfortable with.
      Unfortunately, we observed early on in our experience that dissection of the
      seminal vesicles (SV) and vas deferens (VD) through a limited sized bladder neck
      posed limitations on working space and anatomic differentiation. As such, we have
      continued using a posterior-first dissection for several specific advantages.
      Herein, we describe our initial posterior dissection during RRP and discuss
      potential advantages of this approach, particularly for novice robotic surgeons. 

PMID- 27628246
TI  - [Septic arthritis and spondylodiscitis : Rare but feared diseases].
AB  - Septic arthritis and spondylodiscitis are relatively rare but severe diseases
      with increasing incidence. Septic arthritis is an emergency situation with high
      morbidity (40 %) and fatality rates (11 %). The infection occurs via a
      hematogenous route by direct inoculation or per continuitatem. Patients with pre
      existing destructive joint diseases or under immunosuppressive treatment are
      particularly at risk. It is mandatory to sample synovial fluid for isolation of
      the relevant pathogen and quantification of leucocytes before starting antibiotic
      therapy. In order to preserve the joint, early evacuation of the infected
      synovial space is necessary. Spondylodiscitis is characterized by infection of
      the vertebra and neighboring discs mainly via a hematogenous route.
      Immunosuppressed and older patients are primarily at risk of infection. Back pain
      represents the main symptom but due to its unspecific character and the frequent
      absence of fever, diagnosis is often delayed. In Europe Staphylococcus aureus is
      the most prevalent pathogen, whereas tuberculosis is the most frequent causal
      agent worldwide. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) respresents the method of
      choice for the radiological diagnostics. In stable patients isolation of the
      pathogen should be achieved before starting antimicrobial therapy (e.g. blood
      cultures or tissue samples by computed tomography guided puncture or biopsy). The
      recommended duration of pathogen-specific antibiotic therapy for native
      spondylodiscitis is normally 6 weeks.

PMID- 27628249
TI  - The Washington University Renorrhaphy for robotic partial nephrectomy: a detailed
      description of the technique displayed at the 2008 World Robotic Urologic
      Symposium.
AB  - Robotic partial nephrectomy is an emerging procedure. The Washington University
      Renorrhaphy involves robotic assistance, rapid closure of the collecting system,
      and renorrhaphy with sliding nonabsorbable clips. Bolsters are rarely used.
      Preliminary results have shown very short ischemic times with few complications.
      This communication offers a short video describing the renorrhaphy. 

PMID- 27628245
TI  - The Cerebrovascular-Chronic Kidney Disease Connection: Perspectives and
      Mechanisms.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an independent risk factor for the development of
      cerebrovascular disease, particularly small vessel disease which can manifest in
      a variety of phenotypes ranging from lacunes to microbleeds. Small vessel disease
      likely contributes to cognitive dysfunction in the CKD population. Non
      traditional risk factors for vascular injury in uremia include loss of
      calcification inhibitors, hyperphosphatemia, increased blood pressure
      variability, elastinolysis, platelet dysfunction, and chronic inflammation. In
      this review, we discuss the putative pathways by which these mechanisms may
      promote cerebrovascular disease and thus increase risk of future stroke in CKD
      patients.

PMID- 27628250
TI  - Robotic partial nephrectomy: a multi-institutional analysis.
AB  - Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for kidney tumors has demonstrated durable
      oncologic and functional outcomes. The feasibility of robotic partial nephrectomy
      (RPN) has been demonstrated in several small, single-institution studies. We
      performed a large, multi-institutional analysis to determine early oncologic
      results and perioperative outcomes after RPN. Between October, 2002 and
      September, 2007, 148 patients underwent RPN at six different centers by nine
      different primary surgeons for localized renal tumors. Medical and operative
      records were reviewed for clinical characteristics, pathologic findings, and
      follow-up information. A total of 148 patients underwent RPN. Mean tumor size was
      2.8 cm. Renal hilar clamping was utilized in 120 patients, with a mean warm
      ischemia time of 27.8 min. Positive surgical margins were identified in six
      patients (4%), of which two had cautery artifact obscuring the margin after off
      clamp cautery excision and one underwent completion radical nephrectomy with no
      evidence of cancer. There is no evidence of tumor recurrence at mean follow-up of
      7.2 months (range 2-54 months) overall, and mean follow-up of 18 months (range 12
      23 months) for patients with positive surgical margin. Complications occurred in
      nine patients (6.1%), including hematoma requiring drainage (n = 1), prolonged
      ileus (n = 3), pulmonary embolus (n = 2), prolonged urine leak (n = 2), and
      rhabdomyolysis (n = 1). Two patients underwent open conversion for failure to
      progress, one patient with morbid obesity and one patient with adhesions from
      prior ureterolithotomy. Mean hospital stay was 1.9 days. In this multi
      institutional series of surgeons beginning their initial experience in RPN, the
      procedure is a feasible option for minimally invasive, nephron-sparing surgery,
      with immediate oncologic results and perioperative outcomes comparable with more
      mature laparoscopic series. 

PMID- 27628251
TI  - Initial validation of a virtual-reality robotic simulator.
AB  - Robotic surgery is an accepted adjunct to minimally invasive surgery, but
      training is restricted to console time. Virtual-reality (VR) simulation has been
      shown to be effective for laparoscopic training and so we seek to validate a
      novel VR robotic simulator. The American Urological Association (AUA) Office of
      Education approved this study. Subjects enrolled in a robotics training course at
      the 2007 AUA annual meeting underwent skills training in a da Vinci dry-lab
      module and a virtual-reality robotics module which included a three-dimensional
      (3D) VR robotic simulator. Demographic and acceptability data were obtained, and
      performance metrics from the simulator were compared between experienced and
      nonexperienced roboticists for a ring transfer task. Fifteen subjects-four with
      previous robotic surgery experience and 11 without-participated. Nine subjects
      were still in urology training and nearly half of the group had reported playing
      video games. Overall performance of the da Vinci system and the simulator were
      deemed acceptable by a Likert scale (0-6) rating of 5.23 versus 4.69,
      respectively. Experienced subjects outperformed nonexperienced subjects on the
      simulator on three metrics: total task time (96 s versus 159 s, P < 0.02),
      economy of motion (1,301 mm versus 2,095 mm, P < 0.04), and time the
      telemanipulators spent outside of the center of the platform's workspace (4 s
      versus 35 s, P < 0.02). This is the first demonstration of face and construct
      validity of a virtual-reality robotic simulator. Further studies assessing
      predictive validity are ultimately required to support incorporation of VR
      robotic simulation into training curricula. 

PMID- 27628252
TI  - Assessment study of insight ARTHRO VR ((r)) arthroscopy virtual training
      simulator: face, content, and construct validities.
AB  - The aims of this study were to test the face, content, and construct validities
      of a virtual-reality haptic arthroscopy simulator and to validate four assessment
      hypothesis. The participants in our study were 94 arthroscopists attending an
      international conference on arthroscopy. The interviewed surgeons had been
      performing arthroscopies for a mean of 8.71 years (sigma = 6.94 years). We
      explained the operation, functionality, instructions for use, and the exercises
      provided by the simulator. They performed a trial exercise and then an exercise
      in which performance was recorded. After having using it, the arthroscopists
      answered a questionnaire. The simulator was classified as one of the best
      training methods (over phantoms), and obtained a mark of 7.10 out of 10 as an
      evaluation tool. The simulator was considered more useful for inexperienced
      surgeons than for surgeons with experience (mean difference 1.88 out of 10, P
      value < 0.001). The participants valued the simulator at 8.24 as a tool for
      learning skills, its fidelity at 7.41, the quality of the platform at 7.54, and
      the content of the exercises at 7.09. It obtained a global score of 7.82. Of the
      subjects, 30.8% said they would practise with the simulator more than 6 h per
      week. Of the surgeons, 89.4% affirmed that they would recommend the simulator to
      their colleagues. The data gathered support the first three hypotheses, as well
      as face and content validities. Results show statistically significant
      differences between experts and novices, thus supporting the construct validity,
      but studies with a larger sample must be carried out to verify this. We propose
      concrete solutions and an equation to calculate economy of movement. Analogously,
      we analyze competence measurements and propose an equation to provide a single
      measurement that contains them all and that, according to the surgeons' criteria,
      is as reliable as the judgment of experts observing the performance of an
      apprentice. 

PMID- 27628254
TI  - Robotic-assisted superficial temporal artery-to-middle cerebral artery
      anastomosis.
AB  - Robotic-assisted surgery is becoming more prevalent and accepted in the USA and
      is routine in many medical centers across a variety of specialties, but mainly in
      urology and general surgery. However, neurosurgery has yet to embrace this new
      technology. We used the da Vinci((r)) robot (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale,
      California) to perform a robotic-assisted superficial temporal artery-to-middle
      cerebral artery bypass on a cadaveric head. The object of this technical note is
      to describe the use of the da Vinci((r)) robot to perform an extracranial
      intracranial bypass. Using a cadaveric human head, the da Vinci((r)) robot was
      successfully used to anastomose the superficial temporal artery to an M2 branch
      of the middle cerebral artery. We were successfully able to demonstrate the
      utility of using the da Vinci((r)) robot in extracranial to intracranial
      anastomosis in a cadaveric head. The optics were excellent and physiologic tremor
      was eliminated. More studies are needed to assess the feasibility, safety, and
      utility of this device in living tissue within the field of neurosurgery. 

PMID- 27628253
TI  - Lowering gastrointestinal leak rates: a comparative analysis of robotic and
      laparoscopic gastric bypass.
AB  - Robotic-assisted surgery has been described for many general surgery procedures,
      including gastric bypass. This is a comparative study looking at the short-term
      outcomes and technical differences between laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
      (LRNY) and robotic-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RARNY). Our database was
      reviewed for all Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures performed over the last 5
      years. Operative times, length of stay, and all complications listed for the 90
      days postoperatively were recorded and statistically analyzed. A total of 356
      LRNY and 249 RARNY were performed. The average body mass index (BMI), age, and
      sex were similar between groups. On average, the RARNY took 17 min longer than
      the LRNY, this difference being significant (p < 0.01). Average length of stay
      for the two groups was similar (~3 days). There were a total of 51 complications
      in the standard laparoscopic group (14%), of which 14 (3.9%) were major
      complications. In the robotic group, there were 35 (14%) complications, of which
      9 (3.6%) were major complications. The only significant difference in
      complication rate was for anastomotic leak at the gastrojejunostomy: there were
      no leaks in the robotic series, and six (1.7%) in the standard laparoscopic
      series (p = 0.04). Length of stay and overall complication rates were similar for
      RARNY and LRNY. There was no mortality in either group, and the complication rate
      was lower than literature standards. While the RARNY took longer, there was a
      significantly lower gastrointestinal leak rate in this group. 

PMID- 27628255
TI  - Proceedings of the First Annual Worldwide Robotic Renal Symposium: lessons
      learned for future robotic renal surgeons.
AB  - The First Annual Worldwide Robotic Renal Symposium was held on 26-27 June 2008 at
      Washington University in Saint Louis. The symposium featured numerous live
      surgeries and lectures on all aspects of robotic renal surgery. Several
      innovations were discussed, which may allow participants to perform robotic renal
      surgery with greater efficiency and precision. 

PMID- 27628256
TI  - Robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon in Taiwan: experience
      with the initial 30 cases.
AB  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) is an established
      trend in surgical treatment for localized prostate cancer in the USA; however,
      RALP is still in its infancy in Taiwan. We have tracked various indicators of
      proficiency as a single Taiwanese surgeon became familiar with the procedure
      through experience with 30 initial RALP surgeries using the da Vinci system
      between December 2005 and April 2007. Here, we report the changes in these
      proficiency indicators, and the short-term outcomes for the patients. Thirty
      consecutive patients were classified into group 1 (cases 1-15) and group 2 (cases
      16-30). Preoperative clinical characteristics, including age, body mass index
      (BMI), American Society of Anesthesiologists anesthetic surgical risks class
      (ASA), prostate-specific antigen levels (PSA), and Gleason scores were similar
      between the groups. The clinical stage (T1/T2) was significantly higher in group
      2 than in group 1 (p = 0.028). Group 1 needed more frequent insertion of a double
      J stent (60% versus 0%) before surgery and evaluation by cystogram before removal
      of urethral catheter (80% versus 6.7%) than group 2; these differences were
      statistically significant. Blood loss and transfusion rates were lower in group
      2, but complication and conversion rates were higher in group 1. These
      differences were not statistically significant. Positive surgical margins,
      continence rates, potency, and intercourse rates at 12 months were similar
      between the groups. Console time was 262 min in group 1 and 190 min in group 2 (p
      = 0.033); this appeared to be the best indicator of proficiency. Establishing
      proficiency as determined by functional outcomes required about 30 cases, but the
      positive surgical margin rates indicate that experience with more than 30 cases
      was needed to ascend the learning curve with respect to oncological outcomes. 

PMID- 27628257
TI  - High prostatic fascia release or standard nerve sparing? A viewpoint from the
      Royal Melbourne Hospital.
AB  - Radical prostatectomy with preservation of the neurovascular bundles (NVB) is a
      treatment option for localised prostate cancer in selected patients. An
      interesting debate has developed about the precise technique used to preserve
      these nerves. The standard technique releases the NVB from the postero-lateral
      groove between the prostate and rectum. A new technique, dubbed the "veil of
      Aphrodite" technique, proposes a higher release of the lateral prostatic fascia
      on the presumption that cavernosal nerves exist in this area. We have reviewed
      the evidence for the anatomical basis of nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy,
      particularly with respect to the standard versus the "veil" technique of radical
      prostatectomy. Microdissections of the NVB in cadaveric specimens have confirmed
      the course of the cavernosal nerves in the postero-lateral groove between the
      prostate and rectum. Though studies have also demonstrated nerves higher in the
      lateral prostatic fascia, these are likely to innervate the prostate rather than
      the cavernosal tissues. Though excellent potency results have been reported for
      the "veil" technique from one institution, there is not sufficient anatomical
      evidence to support this technique over the standard technique of nerve-sparing
      radical prostatectomy. 

PMID- 27628258
TI  - High prostatic fascia release or standard nerve sparing? A viewpoint from
      Columbia University Medical Center.
AB  - The technique of lateral prostatic fascia nerve sparing has shown improved
      recovery of sexual function results after robotic prostatectomy. Using strict
      criteria to identify men with low-risk prostate cancer, this form of nerve
      preservation can be safely performed without compromising cancer control. 

PMID- 27628259
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in clinical
      stage II testicular cancer.
AB  - Robot-assisted retroperitoneal lymph node dissections were performed in three
      patients after chemotherapy for clinical stage II testicular cancer. Although our
      experience is still limited, we think that the outcomes of the cases suggest a
      role for robot-assisted surgery in selected cases undergoing post-chemotherapy
      retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. 

PMID- 27628261
TI  - Robotic radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for uterine
      rhabdomyosarcoma.
AB  - Mullerian rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a rare malignancy most commonly diagnosed in
      childhood and adolescence. RMS of the female genital tract is often difficult to
      diagnose. Treatment includes chemotherapy with adjuvant surgery and/or radiation
      therapy reserved for persistent disease. We report a case of an 18-year-old
      African-American female who presented with severe menometrorrhagia, and was
      diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterus. After vincristine,
      dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide failed to eradicate the central tumor, she
      underwent a robotic radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Mullerian
      rhabdomyosarcoma was once managed with multimodality therapy that often included
      ultraradical surgery including total pelvic exenteration. Surgical procedures
      that were exclusively performed via large abdominal incisions can now be
      completed with minimally invasive techniques. Robotic surgery can be safely and
      successfully applied to radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy for uterine
      rhabdomyosarcoma. 

PMID- 27628260
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy during pregnancy.
AB  - We present a case of a 36-year-old pregnant woman with renal cell carcinoma who
      underwent a successful robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RLPN) at
      14 weeks gestational age. The operative time, including da VinciTM setup, was 165
      min. The warm ischemic time was 28 min, and the estimated blood loss was 100 ml.
      The final pathologic evaluation was conventional-type renal cell carcinoma with
      Fuhrman nuclear grade 3, stage T1a disease with a negative margin. The remainder
      of the pregnancy was uneventful. Although previous cases of laparoscopic
      nephrectomy performed during pregnancy have been reported, this is the first case
      in which it has been performed using robotics. RLPN during pregnancy can be a
      safe and feasible alternative to open and laparoscopic surgery. 

PMID- 27628262
TI  - Salvage robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy following failed
      primary high-intensity focussed ultrasound treatment for localised prostate
      cancer.
AB  - We report the first case of salvage robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy (RALP) following failed primary high-intensity focussed ultrasound
      (HIFU) for localised carcinoma of the prostate. A 66-year-old male with a
      presenting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) of 5 ng/ml was diagnosed with T1c
      Gleason 3 + 4 prostate cancer. He underwent transurethral resection of the
      prostate and HIFU. His PSA dropped to 2.0 ng/ml and repeat biopsy revealed
      upgrading of his prostate cancer to Gleason 4 + 3. He was referred to us for a
      second opinion and, following discussion of his options, he underwent RALP. The
      total operative time was 159 min. There were no intra- or postoperative
      complications. He was discharged on postoperative day two and was fully continent
      10 days following removal of his catheter. His PSA remained undetectable 6 months
      postoperatively. Salvage RALP was feasible in this case with good functional and
      short-term oncological outcomes for the patient. 

PMID- 27628263
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic transvesical diverticulectomy and simple
      prostatectomy.
AB  - Acquired bladder diverticula are often associated with bladder outlet obstruction
      (BOO). The increased voiding pressures required to overcome the BOO attenuate the
      detrusor and promote formation of diverticula. These patients may develop urinary
      tract infections, bladder stones, and incomplete bladder emptying. Effective
      treatment must address both the bladder diverticula and BOO. Reports of
      laparoscopic bladder diverticulectomy with concurrent transurethral resection of
      the prostate have demonstrated the feasibility of this minimally invasive
      approach. However, due to longer operative times and technical difficulty of the
      procedure, the gold-standard treatment remains the open surgical approach of
      bladder diverticulectomy and transvesical prostatectomy. With the advent of
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, application of open surgical principles is
      increasingly translated to the minimally invasive laparoscopic approach. We
      report, to our knowledge, the first case of robot-assisted laparoscopic
      transvesical diverticulectomy and concurrent transvesical simple prostatectomy. 

PMID- 27628264
TI  - Robotic repair of scrotal bladder hernia during robotic prostatectomy.
AB  - We report a case of scrotal bladder hernia in a 68-year-old man who was also
      diagnosed with prostate cancer. We fixed the herniated portion of the bladder
      using robotics after having successfully accomplished robotic prostatectomy. To
      the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report on simultaneous repair
      of scrotal bladder hernia and prostate cancer where both pathological findings
      have been treated with the assistance of robotics at a single operation. 

PMID- 27628265
TI  - Prospective study comparing video-endoscopic radical inguinal lymph node
      dissection (VEILND) with open radical ILND (OILND) for penile cancer over an 8
      year period.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the complications and oncological outcomes between video
      endoscopic inguinal lymph node dissection (VEILND) and open ILND (OILND) in men
      with carcinoma of the penis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospectively collected
      institutional database was used to determine the outcomes in 42 consecutive
      patients undergoing ILND between 2008 and 2015 in a centre for treating penile
      cancer. Before 2013 all procedures were OILNDs. Since 2013 we have performed
      VEILND on all patients in need of ILND. The wound-related and non-wound-related
      complications, length of stay, and oncological safety between OILND and VEILND
      groups were compared. The mean duration of follow-up was 71 months for OILND and
      16 months for the VEILND groups. RESULTS: In the study period 42 patients
      underwent 68 ILNDs (OILND 35, VEILND 33). The patients' demographics, primary
      stage and grade, and indications were comparable in both groups. There were no
      intraoperative complications in either group. The wound complication rate was
      significantly lower in the VEILND group at 6% compared to 68% in the OILND group.
      Lymphocoele rates were similar in both the groups (27% and 20%). The VEILND group
      had a better or the same lymph node yield, mean number of positive lymph nodes,
      and lymph node density confirming oncological safety. There were no groin
      recurrences in either group of patients. VEILND significantly reduced the mean
      length of stay by 4.8 days (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: VEILND is an oncologically
      safe procedure with considerably low morbidity and reduced length of stay, at a
      mean (range) follow-up of 16 (4-35) months.

PMID- 27628266
TI  - Dielectric relaxation and pinning phenomenon of (Sr,Pb)TiO3 ceramics for
      dielectric tunable device application.
AB  - The behavior of ferroelectric domain under applied electric field is very
      sensitive to point defects, which can lead to high temperature dielectric
      relaxation behaviors. In this work, the phases, dielectric properties and
      ferroelectric switching behavior of strontium lead titanate ceramics were
      investigated. The structural characterization is confirmed by X-ray diffraction.
      The high dielectric tunability and high figure of merit of ceramics, especially
      Sr0.7Pb0.3TiO3 (SPT), imply that SPT ceramics are promising materials for tunable
      capacitor applications. Oxygen vacancies induced dielectric relaxation phenomenon
      is observed. Pinched shape hysteresis loops appeared in low temperature, low
      electric field or high frequency, whereas these pinched hysteresis loops also can
      become normal by rising temperature, enhancing electric field or lowering
      frequency. The pinning and depinning effect can be ascribed to the interaction
      between oxygen vacancies and domain switching. A qualitative model and a
      quantitative model are used to explain this phenomenon. Besides, polarization and
      oxygen treated experiment can exert an enormous influence on pinning effect and
      the machanisms are also discussed in this work.

PMID- 27628267
TI  - Health Benefits In 2016: Family Premiums Rose Modestly, And Offer Rates Remained
      Stable.
AB  - The annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust
      Employer Health Benefits Survey found that in 2016, average annual premiums
      (employer and worker contributions combined) were $6,435 for single coverage and
      $18,142 for family coverage. The family premium in 2016 was 3 percent higher than
      that in 2015. On average, workers contributed 18 percent of the premium for
      single coverage and 30 percent for family coverage. The share of firms offering
      health benefits (56 percent) and of workers covered by their employers' plans (62
      percent) remained statistically unchanged from 2015. Employers continued to offer
      financial incentives for completing wellness or health promotion activities.
      Almost three in ten covered workers were enrolled in a high-deductible plan with
      a savings option-a significant increase from 2014. The 2016 survey included new
      questions on cost sharing for specialty drugs and on the prevalence of incentives
      for employees to seek care at alternative settings.

PMID- 27628268
TI  - Don't startle me-Interference of startle probe presentations and intermittent
      ratings with fear acquisition.
AB  - Reproducibility is fundamental to science and a recent matter of discussion. We
      report challenges for conceptual replications when employing different readout
      measures to target the same theoretical construct, particularly those requiring
      probed reactions. This was addressed in a fear conditioning paradigm, a prototype
      of emotional learning, in three experimental groups (Ntotal  = 57). We
      demonstrate that the inclusion of startle probes (95 dB burst of white noise) to
      elicit a startle reflex delays the acquisition of fear as reflected by skin
      conductance responses and intermittent fear ratings. The inclusion of fear
      ratings in turn did not significantly affect fear acquisition. Hence, subtle
      differences in experimental design, such as the inclusion of a single additional
      outcome measure, may substantially impact on study results and interpretations.
      Thus, small effects, as are common in between-group comparisons, may be
      particularly susceptible to this, which has strong implications for the
      replication of findings across studies employing slightly different experimental
      designs.

PMID- 27628269
TI  - Is modified clinical activity score an accurate indicator of diplopia progression
      in Graves' orbitopathy patients?
AB  - The aim of this study is to describe characteristics of Graves' orbitopathy (GO)
      patients with progressive diplopia and to consider whether modified clinical
      activity score (CAS) is a useful indicator for prediction of diplopia
      progression. Medical records and images of GO patients with progressive diplopia
      were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical parameters (e.g., modified CAS, modified
      NOSPECS score, exophthalmometry results, score of diplopia, and prevalence of
      optic neuropathy) were evaluated. Thyroid stimulating hormone receptor
      autoantibody (TRAb) values were determined. Maximum recti muscle diameters and
      extraocular muscle (EOM) indices were evaluated. Sixty-three of the 435 GO
      patients had progressive diplopia; 44.4% (28/63) of these patients had a low CAS
      (<3). The subgroup analysis (by modified CAS, group 1: CAS<3, group 2: CAS>=3)
      revealed that the mean modified NOSPECS score and exophthalmos value were
      significantly higher in group 2 (7.2, 19.1 mm) compared with group 1 patients
      (5.5, 17.7 mm) (p<0.001, p=0.037, respectively). Score of diplopia, prevalence of
      optic neuropathy and the positive rate and level of TRAb were not significantly
      different between groups. There were no differences in maximum recti muscle
      diameters or EOM indices between the two groups. Diplopia may progress even in
      patients with a low modified CAS. CAS may not reflect the inflammatory activity
      of myopathy, especially in mild to moderate GO with low NOSPECS and exophthalmos
      values. Careful patient follow-up using subjective and objective measures for
      diplopia should be performed.

PMID- 27628270
TI  - Outcomes of outpatient endoscopic repair of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic repair of anterior skull-base defects has become the gold
      standard for management of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea. Both improved
      techniques and adjuvant therapies have led to accepted success rates of greater
      than 90%. As management has evolved, shorter hospitalizations have been required
      and the goal of this study is to analyze the outcomes of patients repaired on an
      outpatient basis vs those managed as inpatients postoperatively. METHODS:
      Patients undergoing endoscopic repair of CSF rhinorrhea between 2004 and 2014
      were identified by review of medical records. Demographic and clinical data were
      collected and compared between patients having surgery with and without
      postoperative admission. Patients managed with lumbar drains were not included.
      Statistical analyses were preformed to determine if any differences in patient
      demographics and outcomes existed. RESULTS: A total of 86 patients were
      identified; 39 of 86 patients (45.3%) underwent outpatient surgery; 47 patients
      were admitted postoperatively with a mean hospital stay of 1.66 days with a
      median and mode of 1 day. No statistically significant differences were found
      between leak location, etiology, rates of recurrence, or complications. The
      outpatient group was found to have a greater proportion of small defects <1 cm2
      (p = 0.003). Repair technique was also significantly different between groups (p
      = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Endoscopic management of CSF rhinorrhea is a safe method of
      treatment with reliable success rates. Our retrospective analysis revealed
      comparable outcomes in patients treated with and without postoperative hospital
      admission, and supports the idea that outpatient management may be reasonable in
      certain patients, especially those with defects <1 cm2 .

PMID- 27628271
TI  - Micro-bubble emission boiling with the cavitation bubble blow pit.
AB  - The miniaturization boiling (micro-bubble emission boiling [MEB]) phenomenon,
      with a high heat removal capacity that contributes considerably to the cooling of
      the divertor of the nuclear fusion reactor, was discovered in the early 1980s.
      Extensive research on MEB has been performed since its discovery. However, the
      progress of the application has been delayed because the generation mechanism of
      MEB remains unclear. Reasons for this lack of clarity include the complexity of
      the phenomenon itself and the high-speed phase change phenomenon in which boiling
      and condensation are rapidly generated. In addition, a more advanced thermal
      technique is required to realize the MEB phenomenon at the laboratory scale. To
      the authors' knowledge, few studies have discussed the rush mechanism of
      subcooled liquid to the heating surface, which is critical to elucidating the
      mechanism behind MEB. This study used photographic images to verify that the
      cavitation phenomenon spreads to the inside of the superheated liquid on the
      heating surface and thus clarify the mechanism of MEB.

PMID- 27628272
TI  - Robotic endocrine surgery: technical details and review of the literature.
AB  - Over the last decade, robotic technology has been used in multiple general
      surgical procedures. Endocrine surgeons have embraced this technology and
      subsequently transformed neck operations into more cosmetically acceptable
      procedures and improved ergonomics. Technical details of various robotic
      endocrine surgical procedures have recently been described. The aim of this
      review is to illustrate these technical details and analyze the current data to
      propose an evidence-based approach to robotic endocrine surgery. 

PMID- 27628273
TI  - Robotic-assisted total mesorectal excision: should it be considered as the
      technique of choice in the management of rectal cancer?
AB  - The feasibility of robotic surgery has been extensively explored over the past
      decade with a more recent shift towards defining focused clinical applications
      for which quantifiable patient benefits can be directly attributed to its use.
      The aim of this article is to review the current literature on the use of daVinci
      robotic surgery for the management of rectal cancer and identify the potential
      benefits, if any, that robotic-assisted total mesorectal excision (RTME) may
      provide over the current conventional approach. A comprehensive search strategy
      was used to identify relevant evidence in order to explore the oncological,
      operative and functional outcome measures for the RTME in addition to quantifying
      the level of evidence which describes the clinical effectiveness of the daVinci
      robot in oncological surgery. Both robotic assisted techniques and the primary
      outcomes are discussed. In total, 23 studies were reviewed across 11
      institutions, including one pilot randomised control trial. When data repetition
      is disregarded, a total of 452 robotic assisted laparoscopic anterior resections
      and 60 robotic-assisted laparoscopic abdomino-perineal excision of the rectum
      have been published since the introduction of the daVinci into clinical practice.
      Feasibility of the daVinci robotic assisted total mesorectal excision is
      demonstrated, with comparable oncological outcomes presented for rectal cancer
      excision. A demonstration of a reduced open conversion rate as well as of reduced
      hospital stay with the use of the robot is highlighted, although further trials
      are required to confirm both these findings. No functional benefit in using the
      daVinci could be confirmed due to the lack of focused trials in this area. 

PMID- 27628275
TI  - Robotic-assisted gynecologic/oncologic surgery: experience of early cases in a
      Saudi Arabian tertiary care facility.
AB  - We report early experience of a case-mix series of robotic-assisted (RA)
      gynecologic/oncologic surgery in an Arabian population from a tertiary care
      facility, and discuss the emergence/growth of robotic surgery in the Arab world
      (Middle East). From December 2005 to December 2010, 60 consecutive patients
      [benign with complex pathology (BN, n = 34) and 26 cases with various
      malignancies; i.e., endometrial cancer (EC, n = 13), ovarian cancer (OC, n = 4),
      cervical cancer (CC, n = 1), and other cancers (OTH, n = 8), underwent RA
      procedures for the diagnosis/treatment/management of gynecologic/oncologic
      diseases at a single institution using the da Vinci((r)) Surgical System. Data
      were analyzed for demographics, clinico-pathologic and peri/post-operative
      factors using intent-to-treat analysis. Despite continuous growth in the number
      of cases performed each year, the establishment of the robotic surgery program at
      our institution has been rather challenging due to patient acceptance, public
      awareness, and administrative resistance. The mean age of the case-mix was 43 +/-
      15 years (distribution: BN 39 +/- 14, EC 61 +/- 6, OC 36 +/- 15, CC 50, OTH 41 +/
      12 years). The body mass index for the case-mix was 30.3 +/- 6.9 kg/m(2)
      (distribution: BN 29.7 +/- 6.2, EC 34.0 +/- 3.6, OC 20.0 +/- 1.7, CC 48, OTH 30.2
      +/- 6.2 kg/m(2)). The histology of most EC cases was endometrioid adenocarcinoma.
      The mean operative time was case-mix 95 +/- 43, BN 77 +/- 26, EC 156 +/- 30, OC
      80 +/- 35, CC 150, OTH 79 +/- 23 min. Mean blood loss was case-mix 126, BN 129,
      EC 177, OC 67, CC 50, OTH 71 min. Two cases (3.3%) were converted to laparotomy
      (one each in EC and BN groups). Mean hospital length of stay was 2 days. Four
      cases (6.7%) experienced complications. Only 4/26 (15.4%) of cancer cases
      required adjuvant therapy. The data suggest that RA gynecologic/oncologic
      procedures are feasible and satisfactory to our Arabian patient population and
      comparable to the existing literature for Caucasian counterparts. We believe this
      report is the first (and perhaps largest) case-mix series on the early experience
      of RA surgery for gynecologic/oncologic cases from the Middle East. 

PMID- 27628276
TI  - Magnetic resonance or computerized tomography imaging to predict difficulty of
      robotic surgery for endometrial cancer.
AB  - To determine if the difficulty of a robotic hysterectomy for endometrial cancer
      can be predicted by MRI, CT or other methods. All robotic cases from 1 August
      2006 through 30 July 2009 were identified. Data collected prospectively included
      co-morbidities, body mass index, surgical times, estimated blood loss (EBL),
      uterine weight, and pre- and postoperative complications. Those patients who
      received an MRI or CT scan prior to robotic hysterectomy had additional data
      gathered from imaging, including uterine volume, pelvic measurements and
      abdominal wall thickness. Cases were labeled difficult for the following reasons:
      outliers greater than 2 SD from the mean EBL, hysterectomy time and total console
      time. Additional factors identifying difficult cases included the need to undock
      to remove the specimen or conversion to laparotomy. Data were analyzed for their
      possible role in causing difficulty in a robotic hysterectomy. Comparative
      statistics utilized included chi-square and t-test, ANOVA and logistic regression
      analysis.From 2 August 2006 through 30 July 2009, 119 patients underwent robotic
      surgery for endometrial cancer and are included in this study. Of these patients,
      25/119 (20.0%) were identified as difficult cases. Difficulty was found in those
      patients with greater than 2 SD from the mean for hysterectomy time, >90.9 min (n
      = 3, 2.5%), total console time of >178.1 min (n = 6, 5.0%), EBL >232 cc (n = 7,
      5.9%) and undocking to remove the uterine specimen in 8 (6.7%) cases; 1/119
      (0.8%) was converted to laparotomy. Lymphadenectomy (P = 0.005) was associated
      with case difficulty. In a logistic regression analysis CT/MRI measurements of
      uterine volume greater than 793 cm3 and CT/MRI pelvimetry, as well as abdominal
      wall thickness were independent predictors of a difficult case (P = 0.0116). MRI
      and CT scans can detect the probability that a robotic surgery will be difficult
      by determining uterine volume and pelvimetry; however, these were not the
      strongest predictors in our study. A narrow pelvic outlet as measured on CT/MRI
      and uterine volume of greater than 793 cc should raise a flag of caution when
      planning robotic hysterectomy for endometrial cancer. 

PMID- 27628274
TI  - Preemptive multimodal analgesia facilitates same-day discharge following robot
      assisted hysterectomy.
AB  - We aimed to determine whether early hospital discharge following minimally
      invasive surgery can be achieved through the use of preemptive multimodal
      analgesia without compromising patient safety or comfort. Data were
      retrospectively collected for 150 patients who underwent robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic hysterectomy for benign indications from 9 December 2009 to 6
      October 2010 at Cox Health Systems (Springfield, MO, USA). One surgeon performed
      100 consecutive cases with all patients receiving preemptive multimodal treatment
      with celecoxib and ropivacaine. These cases were compared with 50 patients
      treated with an opioid-based postoperative analgesia regimen by one of four other
      surgeons at the same center. Patient characteristics, perioperative outcomes,
      opioid requirement, and time to discharge were compared between groups. The
      patients in the multimodal group had significantly reduced opioid requirements
      intraoperatively (25.0 mg vs. 29.9 mg, P = 0.0077), postoperatively on the day of
      surgery (10.9 mg vs. 17.9 mg, P = 0.0030), and on the first postoperative day
      (3.1 mg vs. 15.3 mg, P = 0.0001). There were no differences in procedure time,
      transfusions, or readmission rates between groups. Time in the Post-Anesthesia
      Care Unit (PACU) was decreased in the multimodal group (72.0 min vs. 88.4 min, P
      < 0.0001), as was time to discharge from the hospital (8.5 h vs. 30.2 h, P <
      0.0001). Age and body mass index were both significantly lower in the multimodal
      group; however, regression analyses demonstrated that analgesia regimen was the
      only parameter that predicted opioid requirement and time to discharge.
      Preemptive multimodal analgesia reduced the total dose of rescue opioids,
      facilitating same-day discharge without compromising patient comfort or safety. 

PMID- 27628279
TI  - Application of "cinch/tie" technique to robotic-assisted nephropexy for posterior
      abdominal wall fixation.
AB  - Nephropexy remains standard for symptomatic nephroptosis, and several minimally
      invasive techniques have been described. Triangulation sutures placed between the
      abdominal wall and the renal capsule are often difficult to tie tightly due to
      the confined working space. We propose a technique modification to fixate the
      kidney utilizing the da Vinci Surgical System robot and Lapra-Ty absorbable
      suture clips. Four female patients with symptomatic nephroptosis diagnosed via
      kidney hypermobility demonstrated on intravenous urography (IVU) underwent
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic nephropexy (RALNP) from February 2008 to April
      2010. After complete mobilization and stripping of perirenal fat, several 0
      Vicryl sutures were placed in a "figure of eight" fashion and tied loosely.
      Subsequently we utilized a Lapra-Ty to tighten the stitch serially and fixate the
      kidney. The mean age was 46 years (43-52); one patient underwent simultaneous
      pyeloplasty and one underwent partial nephrectomy in the ipsilateral kidney.
      There were no intraoperative complications and two postoperative complications,
      both Clavien grade I. All patients were asymptomatic postoperatively at a mean
      follow-up of 9.2 months (1-28), and had no evidence of kidney hypermobility on
      upright IVU or diuretic renal scintigraphy (RS) scan at 6 weeks postoperatively.
      RALNP is a viable option in the treatment of symptomatic nephroptosis. Secure
      placement of several "pexing" sutures helps to ensure appropriate security of
      these itinerant kidneys. Our technique modification corrects kidney hypermobility
      while improving symptoms related to nephroptosis. 

PMID- 27628277
TI  - Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: analysis of the first 100 cases from a single
      institution.
AB  - Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) is an alternative to open and
      laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for small renal tumors. Our objectives were to
      report our experience and short-term outcomes from the first 100 cases of robot
      assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) performed at a single institution, as well as
      to evaluate the effect of the learning curve and identify any factors associated
      with adverse perioperative outcomes. Patient records of the first 100 RAPN cases
      performed by three surgeons between October 2007 and March 2010 were
      retrospectively reviewed. The cases were divided into two groups to analyze a
      possible learning curve effect. Group 1 consisted of the first half
      (chronologically) of the cases performed by each surgeon, and Group 2 consisted
      of the second half. For the entire series, the median warm ischemia time was 24
      min (range 11-49), mean length of follow-up was 13.4 months, and the median
      postoperative change in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was -6.6 mL/min/1.73
      m(2). Three patients had microscopically positive margins on final pathology,
      three intraoperative complications occurred, and 13 postoperative complications
      were recorded (10 Clavien grade IIIa or less). Median operative time was
      significantly longer in Group 1 (193 min) than in Group 2 (165 min, P = 0.003).
      Multivariate analysis identified male gender and cases done in Group 1 to be
      associated with increased operative time, while male gender and higher
      nephrometry scores were associated with increased blood loss. Tumor
      characteristics associated with greater reductions in GFR included higher
      nephrometry scores, endophytic tumors, and hilar tumors. In conclusion, RAPN
      appears to be safe and the major effect of the learning curve appears to be on
      operative time. Warm ischemia times are sufficiently low to prevent significant
      renal impairment, while male gender and higher nephrometry scores may be
      predictors of longer operative times and more intraoperative blood loss. Overall
      operative time decreased with increasing case volume, although this was not
      uniform among the three surgeons in the study. Further longitudinal study is
      necessary to establish oncologic outcomes. 

PMID- 27628278
TI  - Incidence and characteristics of vaginal cuff dehiscence in robotic-assisted and
      traditional total laparoscopic hysterectomy.
AB  - This study compares the incidence of vaginal cuff dehiscence following robotic
      assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy (RALH) with total laparoscopic
      hysterectomy (TLH) and examines factors that may be related to risk. A
      retrospective chart review was performed for all patients undergoing RALH (n =
      268), TLH (n = 463), and/or repair of vaginal cuff dehiscence at our clinic from
      July 2006 to January 2010. The cumulative incidence was calculated only for
      dehiscence that occurred after hysterectomies without evidence of malignancy. The
      incidence of cuff dehiscence in RALH (2.61%) versus TLH (1.94%) was not
      statistically significant (P = 0.60). However, among RALH patients, the overall
      incidence of cuff dehiscence after each surgeon's first 25 cases was low at
      0.85%. Mean time to presentation was similar in both groups, 8.2 weeks in RALH
      and 8.7 weeks in TLH, with sexual intercourse the most common inciting event.
      Where documented, records of dehisced patients showed that all colpotomy
      incisions were created using monopolar cautery and closed using 0 Vicryl sutures.
      In TLH, 87.5% of the colpotomy incisions were closed using the Endo Stitch device
      in a variety of fashions. While our findings show that the overall incidence of
      vaginal cuff dehiscence in RALH and TLH is comparable, the data also suggest that
      increased experience with robotic-assisted surgery may decrease dehiscence rates
      over time. Randomized controlled trials comparing different methods of colpotomy
      creation, particularly electrocautery, and cuff closure are needed to help guide
      us in the best surgical practices to reduce vaginal cuff dehiscence and related
      complications. 

PMID- 27628281
TI  - Robot-assisted surgical staging for ovarian cancer in pregnant women.
AB  - The use of the da Vinci Surgical System is becoming popular among surgeons as it
      allows more control than the standard laparoscopic approach, with comparable
      benefits and risks. The use of the da Vinci Surgical System during pregnancy was
      reported earlier and showed to be as safe as laparoscopy. The use of the da Vinci
      Surgical System in ovarian cancer during pregnancy has not been reported before.
      To our knowledge, this is the first report of robot-assisted surgical staging for
      presumed early ovarian cancer. Two women aged 29 and 39 underwent laparotomy for
      ovarian cystectomy, for presumed benign pathology; the final pathology showed
      ovarian malignancy. Both patients were referred to a tertiary center and
      meanwhile became pregnant, and decided to keep the pregnancy. The staging was
      achieved using robot-assisted surgery in mid-trimester. The use of the da Vinci
      Surgical System during pregnancy is feasible and safe at mid-trimester. More
      robot-assisted surgeries during pregnancy will be needed before final
      recommendations can be made. 

PMID- 27628280
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic combined nephroureterectomy and cystoprostatectomy:
      an initial report and review of the literature.
AB  - Patients presenting with invasive, high-grade, or recurrent bladder cancer and
      synchronous upper urinary tract malignancy may be considered for simultaneous
      nephroureterectomy and radical cystectomy. We present the first known reported
      case of robot-assisted laparoscopic combined nephroureterectomy and
      cystoprostatectomy, describing a 62-year-old man with recurrent T1 bladder cancer
      and concomitant upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma. Patient
      underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic combined nephroureterectomy and radical
      cystoprostatectomy with extended pelvic lymph node dissection and extracorporeal
      ileal conduit urinary diversion. Robotic surgery was completed successfully
      without need for conversion to open procedure. There were no operative or
      perioperative complications. Blood loss (200 ml) and hospital stay (7 days) were
      less than prior reported laparoscopic experience with combined surgery. Although
      indications may be rare, robotic nephroureterectomy with simultaneous radical
      cystoprostatectomy is a feasible and safe surgical option. 

PMID- 27628282
TI  - Robotic antrum-pyloric resection with intracorporeal anastomosis in a young woman
      with ectopic pancreas pyloric stenosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ectopic pancreas is pancreatic tissue sited outside its normal
      location and lacking anatomic or vascular connection with eutopic pancreatic
      tissue. We present herein a successful robotic antrum-pyloric resection with
      intracorporeal Roux-en-Y reconstruction in a 24-year-old woman. PATIENT AND
      METHODS: The patient was admitted for recent worsening vomiting, intermittent
      epigastric pain, and hyporexia that arose some years previous. Endoscopic
      ultrasonography (EUS) findings suggested the presence of ectopic pancreas but did
      not exclude the possibility of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) or other
      pathogenesis. Totally robotic (three-arm da Vinci((r))) antrum-pyloric resection
      was decided. RESULTS: Final pathologic analysis revealed that the lesion
      comprised exocrine pancreas located in the submucosal layer. Patient was
      discharged on the 10th postoperative day. DISCUSSION: Robotic antrum-pyloric
      resection was decided considering its advantages over laparoscopy including
      stereoscopic vision, loss of tremor, and robotic arm endowrist. These
      instrumental benefits facilitate procedures such as knot-tying, suturing, organ
      manipulation, and tissue dissection. CONCLUSIONS: We show that subtotal
      gastrectomy for ectopic pancreas can be performed robotically and is a feasible
      and safe procedure.

PMID- 27628283
TI  - Retroperitoneal robotic-assisted laparoscopic reimplantation of a ureter into an
      ileal conduit.
AB  - A novel technique for managing ureteroenteric strictures is robotic-assisted
      retroperitoneal laparoscopic reimplantation. A 63-year-old morbidly obese male
      underwent a left nephroureterectomy and cystoprostatectomy after neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy for transitional cell carcinoma of both the bladder and left kidney.
      His single right ureter was anastomosed to the ileal conduit. Postoperatively, he
      developed acute renal failure and hydronephrosis. An antegrade pyelogram
      demonstrated a distal stricture that failed two attempts at endoscopic
      management. In an effort to avoid the morbidity of an open repair, we present a
      minimally invasive option that replicates the steps of an open reimplantation. 

PMID- 27628284
TI  - Fallopian tube carcinoma in a patient with a pelvic kidney: surgical management
      with the da Vinci robot.
AB  - A patient with a known pelvic kidney and early fallopian tube carcinoma was
      managed with robotically assisted surgery. Associated conginital anomalies were
      noted and described. The final stage of the cancer was 1C, grade 3 and she is
      without evidence of recurrent cancer 2 years following completion of
      chemotherapy. 

PMID- 27628285
TI  - Multi-criteria decision making to support waste management: A critical review of
      current practices and methods.
AB  - Solid waste management is a complex domain involving the interaction of several
      dimensions; thus, its analysis and control impose continuous challenges for
      decision makers. In this context, multi-criteria decision-making models have
      become important and convenient supporting tools for solid waste management
      because they can handle problems involving multiple dimensions and conflicting
      criteria. However, the selection of the multi-criteria decision-making method is
      a hard task since there are several multi-criteria decision-making approaches,
      each one with a large number of variants whose applicability depends on
      information availability and the aim of the study. Therefore, to support
      researchers and decision makers, the objectives of this article are to present a
      literature review of multi-criteria decision-making applications used in solid
      waste management, offer a critical assessment of the current practices, and
      provide suggestions for future works. A brief review of fundamental concepts on
      this topic is first provided, followed by the analysis of 260 articles related to
      the application of multi-criteria decision making in solid waste management.
      These studies were investigated in terms of the methodology, including specific
      steps such as normalisation, weighting, and sensitivity analysis. In addition,
      information related to waste type, the study objective, and aspects considered
      was recorded. From the articles analysed it is noted that studies using multi
      criteria decision making in solid waste management are predominantly addressed to
      problems related to municipal solid waste involving facility location or
      management strategy.

PMID- 27628286
TI  - [Small Suture, Large Effect - Therapy of Esohypotropia Associated with Severe
      Myopia].
AB  - Purpose: To evaluate a dose-response relationship by using Yokoyama procedure we
      compared a group of inhomogeneous cases with esohypotropia (EHT) associated with
      high myopia. Methods: We did a retrospective analysis of 7 cases with EHT
      associated with high myopia, who underwent Yokoyama procedure between 2014 and
      2015. Pre- and postoperative orthoptic measurements as well as measurements of
      axial length were recorded. Results: The average age ranged from 59.5 +/- 2.8
      (SD) years. The mean value of axial lengths was 32.7 +/- 3.2 mm (29-36.4 mm). The
      angle of esotropia changed from 44.6 +/- 35.2 prism dioptres (PD) to 11.4 +/-
      16.9 PD and the angle of hypotropia changed from 15.4 +/- 4.7 to 2.2 +/- 5.2 PD
      postoperatively. All patients underwent Yokoyama procedure with fornix incision,
      3 patients with additional medial rectus recession. Abduction and supraduction
      improved after surgery. The average follow-up was 6 months, the postoperative
      outcomes were stable. Conclusion: The Yokoyama procedure with or without
      additional medial rectus recession is an effective surgical treatment of EHT
      associated with high myopia.

PMID- 27628287
TI  - [Handheld Optical Coherence Tomography in Paediatric Ophthalmology: Experience of
      the Department of Ophthalmology in Giessen].
AB  - Introduction: Optical coherence tomography is an important tool for the imaging
      and analysis of retinal structures. The usability of conventional table-top
      devices is limited in children. We report on our experiences with a handheld
      Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (HH-SD-OCT, BioptigenTM) in infants
      and young children in our daily practice. Methods: Between October 2014 and April
      2016, we investigated 259 patients. Indications and diagnoses were assessed.
      Individual examples are shown to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of
      the novel technique. Results: It was possible to examine 259 children of at least
      7 weeks of age (median: 1.59 years; +/- 1.32 SD) with a mean investigation time
      of 18.3 minutes (+/- 8.3 SD). The most frequent indication was retinal assessment
      in prematures (32.8 %). Nystagmus, retinal dystrophies, reduced visual acuity and
      albinism amounted to additional 37.4 % of all indications. Conclusions: Handheld
      OCT is a beneficial complement for diagnosis of diseases in paediatric
      ophthalmology. As a complement to established methods like wide-field fundus
      photography, HH-SD-OCT allows the physician to assess and follow-up new objective
      structural information. As the Bioptigen does not have an eye tracker, it is
      challenging to orient the scan in the posterior retinal pole, in particular in
      case of instable fixation. This complicates follow-up investigations, which can
      only be performed with additional high programming and analysis effort.

PMID- 27628288
TI  - [The Limits of Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty in Glaucoma Therapy].
AB  - Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of selective
      laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in the University Eye Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf.
      Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 113 eyes of 113
      consecutively treated patients who underwent SLT treatment between 03/2011 and
      01/2014 and had a follow-up of at least 4 months. Results: Intraocular pressure
      was reduced by 1.08 mmHg (7 % reduction) on average. In 43.7 % of the treated
      eyes, additional medical or surgical glaucoma treatment was necessary within 12
      months. Conclusion: SLT is not effective as monotherapy in pre-treated eyes with
      low target pressure.

PMID- 27628289
TI  - [Women in Ophthalmology - a Retrospective].

PMID- 27628290
TI  - Innovative non-invasive model for screening reduced estimated glomerular
      filtration rate in a working population.
AB  - AIM: Most of the existing risk scores for identifying people with reduced
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) involve laboratory-based factors,
      which are not convenient and cost-effective to use in a large population-based
      screening programme. We aimed at using non-invasive variables to identify
      subjects with reduced eGFR in a Chinese working population. METHODS: Two study
      populations were recruited in 2012 and 2015, respectively. The 2012 study
      population (n = 14 374) was randomly separated as the training dataset (n = 9621)
      or the internal testing dataset (n = 4753) at a ratio of 2:1, and the 2015 study
      population (n = 4371) was used as the external testing dataset. Stepwise logistic
      regression analysis with age, gender, hypertension and body mass index (BMI)
      status were first performed in the training dataset and then validated in both
      internal and external testing dataset. A nomogram was further developed based on
      the final model. RESULTS: Results showed that older females with higher BMI
      status were more likely to have reduced eGFR. The model had excellent
      discrimination (AUC: 0.887 [95%CI: 0.865, 0.909] in the internal validation and
      0.880 [95%CI: 0.829, 0.931] in the external validation) and calibration (Hosmer
      Lemeshow test, P = 0.798 and 0.397 for internal and external dataset,
      respectively). The probability of having reduced eGFR increased gradually from
      <0.1% at a total score of 0 to 26% at a total score of 58 shown in the nomogram.
      CONCLUSION: Non-invasive variables could help identify individuals at high risk
      of reduced eGFR for further kidney function testing or intervention, aiding in
      decision-making and resource allocation in large population screening.

PMID- 27628291
TI  - Subtle Interactions and Electron Transfer between U(III) , Np(III) , or Pu(III)
      and Uranyl Mediated by the Oxo Group.
AB  - A dramatic difference in the ability of the reducing An(III) center in AnCp3
      (An=U, Np, Pu; Cp=C5 H5 ) to oxo-bind and reduce the uranyl(VI) dication in the
      complex [(UO2 )(THF)(H2 L)] (L="Pacman" Schiff-base polypyrrolic macrocycle), is
      found and explained. These are the first selective functionalizations of the
      uranyl oxo by another actinide cation. At-first contradictory electronic
      structural data are explained by combining theory and experiment. Complete one
      electron transfer from Cp3 U forms the U(IV) -uranyl(V) compound that behaves as
      a U(V) -localized single molecule magnet below 4 K. The extent of reduction by
      the Cp3 Np group upon oxo-coordination is much less, with a Np(III) -uranyl(VI)
      dative bond assigned. Solution NMR and NIR spectroscopy suggest Np(IV) U(V) but
      single-crystal X-ray diffraction and SQUID magnetometry suggest a Np(III) -U(VI)
      assignment. DFT-calculated Hirshfeld charge and spin density analyses suggest
      half an electron has transferred, and these explain the strongly shifted NMR
      spectra by spin density contributions at the hydrogen nuclei. The Pu(III) -U(VI)
      interaction is too weak to be observed in THF solvent, in agreement with
      calculated predictions.

PMID- 27628294
TI  - Gender Disparities Across the Spectrum of Advanced Cardiac Therapies: Real or
      Imagined?
AB  - Cardiovascular disease has been responsible for more deaths in women than in men
      each year since 1985. This review discusses federal laws that have influenced the
      inclusion of women in research and reporting sex-specific differences, then
      addresses gender differences and gender disparities in four areas of clinical
      cardiovascular medicine: coronary heart disease, valvular heart disease,
      electrophysiology, and heart failure. The prevalence of disease in women is
      highlighted, the clinical characteristics of women at the time of referral for
      advanced therapies are reviewed, and the clinical outcomes of women are
      discussed. With the emergence of new technology such as smaller devices and less
      invasive procedures, more women are being referred for advanced therapies.
      However, a gap in awareness and diagnosis remains, contributing to later
      referrals for women. Women who do undergo advanced therapies often have more
      comorbidities and worse outcomes than men. A call is made to increase awareness,
      educate healthcare providers, and report more sex-specific data to resolve these
      gender disparities.

PMID- 27628296
TI  - Feasibility and utility of portable ultrasound during retrieval of sick term and
      late preterm infants.
AB  - AIM: To determine the role of clinician performed ultrasound (CPU) during the
      retrieval and transport of critically ill term and near term newborns. METHODS: A
      neonatologist with portable ultrasound accompanied a sample of newborn retrievals
      to perform cardiac and cerebral ultrasound before and after transportation.
      RESULTS: A total of fifty-five babies were studied. Median birthweight: 3350 g
      (2220-5030 g). CPU led to a change in the planned receiving hospital in ten
      babies. Eleven babies were suspected congenital heart disease (CHD) prior to
      retrieval: eight confirmed CHD by CPU and three normal structure. One transported
      to a children's hospital for cardiology review was confirmed as having normal
      structure; one to a perinatal hospital where normal structure was confirmed and
      one baby died at the referring hospital and postmortem confirmed normal
      structure. In five babies with clinical pulmonary hypertension, CPU revealed
      unsuspected CHD. The destination was changed to a paediatric cardiology centre,
      avoiding a second retrieval. Eleven babies had evidence of haemodynamic
      compromise allowing targeting of inotropes. CONCLUSION: This is the first study
      of CPU during retrieval of high-risk infants. Ultrasound in retrieval is
      feasible, allows accurate triage of babies to cardiac centres and may allow more
      accurate targeting of fluid and inotrope support.

PMID- 27628297
TI  - The ERIKA trial: still limited evidence on the efficacy of thromboprophylaxis
      after knee arthroscopy.

PMID- 27628293
TI  - Computational Flux Balance Analysis Predicts that Stimulation of Energy
      Metabolism in Astrocytes and their Metabolic Interactions with Neurons Depend on
      Uptake of K+ Rather than Glutamate.
AB  - Brain activity involves essential functional and metabolic interactions between
      neurons and astrocytes. The importance of astrocytic functions to neuronal
      signaling is supported by many experiments reporting high rates of energy
      consumption and oxidative metabolism in these glial cells. In the brain, almost
      all energy is consumed by the Na+/K+ ATPase, which hydrolyzes 1 ATP to move 3 Na+
      outside and 2 K+ inside the cells. Astrocytes are commonly thought to be
      primarily involved in transmitter glutamate cycling, a mechanism that however
      only accounts for few % of brain energy utilization. In order to examine the
      participation of astrocytic energy metabolism in brain ion homeostasis, here we
      attempted to devise a simple stoichiometric relation linking glutamatergic
      neurotransmission to Na+ and K+ ionic currents. To this end, we took into account
      ion pumps and voltage/ligand-gated channels using the stoichiometry derived from
      available energy budget for neocortical signaling and incorporated this
      stoichiometric relation into a computational metabolic model of neuron-astrocyte
      interactions. We aimed at reproducing the experimental observations about rates
      of metabolic pathways obtained by 13C-NMR spectroscopy in rodent brain. When
      simulated data matched experiments as well as biophysical calculations, the
      stoichiometry for voltage/ligand-gated Na+ and K+ fluxes generated by neuronal
      activity was close to a 1:1 relationship, and specifically 63/58 Na+/K+ ions per
      glutamate released. We found that astrocytes are stimulated by the extracellular
      K+ exiting neurons in excess of the 3/2 Na+/K+ ratio underlying Na+/K+ ATPase
      catalyzed reaction. Analysis of correlations between neuronal and astrocytic
      processes indicated that astrocytic K+ uptake, but not astrocytic Na+-coupled
      glutamate uptake, is instrumental for the establishment of neuron-astrocytic
      metabolic partnership. Our results emphasize the importance of K+ in stimulating
      the activation of astrocytes, which is relevant to the understanding of brain
      activity and energy metabolism at the cellular level.

PMID- 27628295
TI  - Current Clinical Applications of Three-Dimensional Echocardiography: When the
      Technique Makes the Difference.
AB  - Advances in ultrasound, computer, and electronics technology have permitted three
      dimensional echocardiography (3DE) to become a clinically viable imaging
      modality, with significant impact on patient diagnosis, management, and outcome.
      Thanks to the inception of a fully sampled matrix transducer for transthoracic
      and transesophageal probes, 3DE now offers much faster and easier data
      acquisition, immediate display of anatomy, and the possibility of online
      quantitative analysis of cardiac chambers and heart valves. The clinical use of
      transthoracic 3DE has been primarily focused, albeit not exclusively, on the
      assessment of cardiac chamber volumes and function. Transesophageal 3DE has been
      applied mostly for assessing heart valve anatomy and function. The advantages of
      using 3DE to measure cardiac chamber volumes derive from the lack of geometric
      assumptions about their shape and the avoidance of the apical view
      foreshortening, which are the main shortcomings of volume calculations from two
      dimensional echocardiographic views. Moreover, 3DE offers a unique realistic en
      face display of heart valves, congenital defects, and surrounding structures
      allowing a better appreciation of the dynamic functional anatomy of cardiac
      abnormalities in vivo. Offline quantitation of 3DE data sets has made significant
      contributions to our mechanistic understanding of normal and diseased heart
      valves, as well as of their alterations induced by surgical or interventional
      procedures. As reparative cardiac surgery and transcatheter procedures become
      more and more popular for treating structural heart disease, transesophageal 3DE
      has expanded its role as the premier technique for procedure planning, intra
      procedural guidance, as well as for checking device function and potential
      complications after the procedure.

PMID- 27628292
TI  - Astroglial Vesicular Trafficking in Neurodegenerative Diseases.
AB  - The neocortex represents one of the largest estates of the human brain. This
      structure comprises ~30-40 billions of neurones and even more of non-neuronal
      cells. Astrocytes, highly heterogeneous homoeostatic glial cells, are fundamental
      for housekeeping of the brain and contribute to information processing in
      neuronal networks. Gray matter astrocytes tightly enwrap synapses, contact blood
      vessels and, naturally, are also in contact with the extracellular space, where
      convection of fluid takes place. Thus astrocytes receive signals from several
      distinct extracellular domains and can get excited by numerous mechanisms, which
      regulate cytosolic concentration of second messengers, such as Ca2+ and cAMP.
      Excited astrocytes often secrete diverse substances (generally referred to as
      gliosignalling molecules) that include classical neurotransmitters such as
      glutamate and ATP or neuromodulators such as D-serine or neuropeptides.
      Astrocytic secretion occurs through several mechanisms: by diffusion through
      membrane channels, by translocation via plasmalemmal transporters or by vesicular
      exocytosis. Vesicular release of gliosignalling molecules appears fundamentally
      similar to that operating in neurones, since it depends on the SNARE proteins
      dependent merger of the vesicle membrane with the plasmalemma. However, the
      coupling between the stimulus and astroglial vesicular secretion is at least one
      order of magnitude slower than that in neurones. Here we review mechanisms of
      astrocytic excitability and the molecular, anatomical and physiological
      properties of vesicular apparatus mediating the release of gliosignalling
      molecules in health and in the neurodegenerative pathology.

PMID- 27628298
TI  - Association Between Teacher-Reported Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder and
      Child Functioning in Children With ADHD.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association between autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD) symptom severity and academic outcomes and classroom functioning in a
      community-based sample of children with and without ADHD. METHOD: Participants
      included children with ADHD (n =179) and a non-ADHD group (n =212). ASD symptom
      severity, academic and learning skills, and classroom functioning were assessed
      via teacher report using the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS; ASD and
      Academic Competence subscales) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
      (SDQ; all subscales). RESULTS: Children with ADHD had higher teacher-reported ASD
      symptoms than children without ADHD (beta= .62, p< .001). Greater teacher
      reported ASD symptoms were associated with more behavioral difficulties in the
      classroom for children with ADHD (beta= .50, p< .001). There was little evidence
      of an association between academic competence and ASD symptom severity in
      children with ADHD (beta= -.11, p = .15). CONCLUSION: ASD symptoms are associated
      with elevated classroom behavioral difficulties for children with ADHD.

PMID- 27628299
TI  - Psychiatric symptoms and disorders among Yazidi children and adolescents
      immediately after forced migration following ISIS attacks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate psychiatric problems and
      disorders among Yazidi Kurd refugee children and adolescents, who were assessed
      immediately after their forced migration following life-threatening attacks by
      ISIS terrorists. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the psychiatric assessments
      of 38 Yazidi children and adolescents (age 2-18, mean 12 years, m:f = 16:22),
      which were performed upon their arrival at the refugee camp. RESULTS: All
      children and adolescents exhibited psychiatric problems and disorders, 50 % had
      one, and 50 % had more than one. The most relevant problems were disturbed
      sleeping (71 % of children), followed by depression (36.8 %), conversion
      disorders (28.9 %), adjustment (21.8 %), acute (18.4 %) and posttraumatic stress
      (PTSD, 10.5 %) disorders, and non-organic enuresis (18.4 %). CONCLUSION: Our
      study confirms the results of previous studies, asserting that refugee children
      and adolescents do not just suffer from PTSD but from various other problems that
      are already present in the first days of resettlement. Children and adolescents
      living in refugee camps urgently need psychosocial support.

PMID- 27628302
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27628301
TI  - C4 photosynthesis in C3 rice: a theoretical analysis of biochemical and
      anatomical factors.
AB  - Engineering C4 photosynthesis into rice has been considered a promising strategy
      to increase photosynthesis and yield. A question that remains to be answered is
      whether expressing a C4 metabolic cycle into a C3 leaf structure and without
      removing the C3 background metabolism improves photosynthetic efficiency. To
      explore this question, we developed a 3D reaction diffusion model of bundle
      sheath and connected mesophyll cells in a C3 rice leaf. Our results show that
      integrating a C4 metabolic pathway into rice leaves with a C3 metabolism and
      mesophyll structure may lead to an improved photosynthesis under current ambient
      CO2 concentration. We analysed a number of physiological factors that influence
      the CO2 uptake rate, which include the chloroplast surface area exposed to
      intercellular air space, bundle-sheath cell wall thickness, bundle-sheath
      chloroplast envelope permeability, Rubisco concentration and the energy
      partitioning between C3 and C4 cycles. Among these, partitioning of energy
      between C3 and C4 photosynthesis and the partitioning of Rubisco between
      mesophyll and bundle-sheath cells are decisive factors controlling photosynthetic
      efficiency in an engineered C3 -C4 leaf. The implications of the results for the
      sequence of C4 evolution are also discussed.

PMID- 27628300
TI  - Cigarette smoking and depression comorbidity: systematic review and proposed
      theoretical model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite decades of research on co-occurring smoking and
      depression, cessation rates remain consistently lower for depressed smokers than
      for smokers in the general population, highlighting the need for theory-driven
      models of smoking and depression. This paper provides a systematic review with a
      particular focus upon psychological states that disproportionately motivate
      smoking in depression, and frame an incentive learning theory account of smoking
      depression co-occurrence. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Scopus, PsychINFO and
      CINAHL to December 2014, which yielded 852 papers. Using pre-established
      eligibility criteria, we identified papers focused on clinical issues and
      motivational mechanisms underlying smoking in established, adult smokers (i.e.
      maintenance, quit attempts and cessation/relapse) with elevated symptoms of
      depression. Two reviewers determined independently whether papers met review
      criteria. We included 297 papers in qualitative synthesis. RESULTS: Our review
      identified three primary mechanisms that underlie persistent smoking among
      depressed smokers: low positive affect, high negative affect and cognitive
      impairment. We propose a novel application of incentive learning theory which
      posits that depressed smokers experience greater increases in the expected value
      of smoking in the face of these three motivational states, which promotes goal
      directed choice of smoking behavior over alternative actions. CONCLUSIONS: The
      incentive learning theory accounts for current evidence on how depression primes
      smoking behavior and provides a unique framework for conceptualizing
      psychological mechanisms of smoking maintenance among depressed smokers.
      Treatment should focus upon correcting adverse internal states and beliefs about
      the high value of smoking in those states to improve cessation outcomes for
      depressed smokers.

PMID- 27628305
TI  - Meta Consent - A Flexible Solution to the Problem of Secondary Use of Health
      Data.
AB  - In this article we provide an in-depth description of a new model of informed
      consent called 'meta consent' and consider its practical implementation. We
      explore justifications for preferring meta consent over alternative models of
      consent as a solution to the problem of secondary use of health data for
      research. We finally argue that meta consent strikes an appropriate balance
      between enabling valuable research and protecting the individual.

PMID- 27628306
TI  - Ultrasonic Elastography Evaluation in Optic Neuritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the present study, we attempted to determine whether ultrasonic
      elastography (USE) evaluation can be used in a diagnosis of optic neuritis (ON).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients who each had one normal eye and one eye
      with a diagnosis of ON were included in the study. Ultrasonography (US) and USE
      examinations were performed on the affected and non-affected eyes of all
      participants. Optic nerve and adjacent fat tissue regions at the same depth were
      selected, and USE measurements were obtained. The optic nerve diameter was
      measured in both normal and affected eyes. RESULTS: The mean USE values for the
      optic nerve were 2.58 +/- 0.50 m/s in ON eyes and 1.91 +/- 0.39 m/s in normal
      eyes (p = 0.001). The mean USE values for the optic-nerve adjacent tissue were
      2.26 +/- 0.45 m/s in ON eyes and 1.77 +/- 0.22 m/s in normal eyes (p = 0.001).
      The mean optic-nerve diameter was 3.80 +/- 1.09 mm in ON eyes and 3.28 +/- 0.98
      mm in normal eyes (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: USE may be considered an accessible,
      safe technique for the detection of significant optic-nerve tissue stiffness in
      ON and may be used an adjunctive tool for confirming this diagnosis.

PMID- 27628303
TI  - Epigenetic dysregulation of brainstem nuclei in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's
      disease: looking in the correct place at the right time?
AB  - Even though the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unknown, it is
      suggested that an interplay among genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors
      is involved. An increasing body of evidence pinpoints that dysregulation in the
      epigenetic machinery plays a role in AD. Recent developments in genomic
      technologies have allowed for high throughput interrogation of the epigenome, and
      epigenome-wide association studies have already identified unique epigenetic
      signatures for AD in the cortex. Considerable evidence suggests that early
      dysregulation in the brainstem, more specifically in the raphe nuclei and the
      locus coeruleus, accounts for the most incipient, non-cognitive symptomatology,
      indicating a potential causal relationship with the pathogenesis of AD. Here we
      review the advancements in epigenomic technologies and their application to the
      AD research field, particularly with relevance to the brainstem. In this respect,
      we propose the assessment of epigenetic signatures in the brainstem as the
      cornerstone of interrogating causality in AD. Understanding how epigenetic
      dysregulation in the brainstem contributes to AD susceptibility could be of
      pivotal importance for understanding the etiology of the disease and for the
      development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 27628307
TI  - Validating the client-focused considering work model for people living with HIV
      and quantifying phases of change of commitment to work.
AB  - The primary purpose of this study was to validate the client-focused considering
      work model and to gain a better understanding of the nature of the relationship
      among the four domains purported to influence the considering work process
      (medical, psychosocial, financial/legal and vocational). A second goal of the
      study was to quantify the relationship between these four domains and the phases
      of considering work (contemplation, preparation, action, resolution). Structural
      equation modeling was used to analyze data of 1702 diverse (43% Black, 31% White,
      19% Latino 7% other) unemployed respondents who were recruited from AIDS Service
      Organizations (ASO) and networks across the United States to complete the
      National Working Positive Vocational Development and Employment Needs Survey
      (NWPC-VDENS). Overall the results of this study supported the validity of the
      client-focused considering work model and helped to provide a deeper level of
      understanding of the relationship among the domains of influence and their
      contribution to the level of commitment to the considering work process.
      Implications for Rehabilitation This model enables rehabilitation professionals
      to consider interventions for clients at different phases (contemplation,
      preparation, action) of considering work. Rehabilitation professionals are
      encouraged to provide prevocational services to engage people with HIV in the
      considering work process. When assisting PLWH within the considering work
      process, it is important to assess not only medical status but also psychosocial,
      financial and vocational concerns.

PMID- 27628304
TI  - Phospholipid flippases attenuate LPS-induced TLR4 signaling by mediating
      endocytic retrieval of Toll-like receptor 4.
AB  - P4-ATPases are lipid flippases that catalyze the transport of phospholipids to
      create membrane phospholipid asymmetry and to initiate the biogenesis of
      transport vesicles. Here we show, for the first time, that lipid flippases are
      essential to dampen the inflammatory response and to mediate the endotoxin
      induced endocytic retrieval of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in human macrophages.
      Depletion of CDC50A, the beta-subunit that is crucial for the activity of
      multiple P4-ATPases, resulted in endotoxin-induced hypersecretion of
      proinflammatory cytokines, enhanced MAP kinase signaling and constitutive NF
      kappaB activation. In addition, CDC50A-depleted THP-1 macrophages displayed
      reduced tolerance to endotoxin. Moreover, endotoxin-induced internalization of
      TLR4 was strongly reduced and coincided with impaired endosomal MyD88-independent
      signaling. The phenotype of CDC50A-depleted cells was also induced by separate
      knockdown of two P4-ATPases, namely ATP8B1 and ATP11A. We conclude that lipid
      flippases are novel elements of the innate immune response that are essential to
      attenuate the inflammatory response, possibly by mediating endotoxin-induced
      internalization of TLR4.

PMID- 27628309
TI  - Allosteric-Activation Mechanism of Bovine Chymosin Revealed by Bias-Exchange
      Metadynamics and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - The aspartic protease, bovine chymosin, catalyzes the proteolysis of kappa-casein
      proteins in milk. The bovine chymosin-kappa-casein complex is of industrial
      interest as the enzyme is used extensively in the manufacturing of processed
      dairy products. The apo form of the enzyme adopts a self-inhibited conformation
      in which the side chain of Tyr77 occludes the binding site. On the basis of
      kinetic, mutagenesis, and crystallographic data, it has been widely reported that
      a HPHPH sequence in the P8-P4 residues of the natural substrate kappa-casein acts
      as the allosteric activator, but the mechanism by which this occurs has not
      previously been elucidated due to the challenges associated with studying this
      process by experimental methods. Here we have employed two computational
      techniques, molecular dynamics and bias-exchange metadynamics simulations, to
      study the mechanism of allosteric activation and to compute the free energy
      surface for the process. The simulations reveal that allosteric activation is
      initiated by interactions between the HPHPH sequence of kappa-casein and a small
      alpha-helical region of chymosin (residues 112-116). A small conformational
      change in the alpha-helix causes the side chain of Phe114 to vacate a pocket that
      may then be occupied by the side chain of Tyr77. The free energy surface for the
      self-inhibited to open transition is significantly altered by the presence of the
      HPHPH sequence of kappa-casein.

PMID- 27628308
TI  - Menthol Smokers: Metabolomic Profiling and Smoking Behavior.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of menthol in cigarettes and marketing is under consideration
      for regulation by the FDA. However, the effects of menthol on smoking behavior
      and carcinogen exposure have been inconclusive. We previously reported
      metabolomic profiling for cigarette smokers, and novelly identified a menthol
      glucuronide (MG) as the most significant metabolite directly related to smoking.
      Here, MG is studied in relation to smoking behavior and metabolomic profiles.
      METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 105 smokers who smoked two cigarettes
      in the laboratory one hour apart. Blood nicotine, MG, and exhaled carbon monoxide
      (CO) boosts were determined (the difference before and after smoking). Spearman
      correlation, chi2, and ANCOVA adjusted for gender, race, and cotinine levels for
      menthol smokers assessed the relationship of MG boost, smoking behavior, and
      metabolic profiles. Multivariate metabolite characterization using supervised
      partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was carried out for the
      classification of metabolomics profiles. RESULTS: MG boost was positively
      correlated with CO boost, nicotine boost, average puff volume, puff duration, and
      total smoke exposure. Classification using PLS-DA, MG was the top metabolite
      discriminating metabolome of menthol versus nonmenthol smokers. Among menthol
      smokers, 42 metabolites were significantly correlated with MG boost, which linked
      to cellular functions, such as of cell death, survival, and movement.
      CONCLUSIONS: Plasma MG boost is a new smoking behavior biomarker that may provide
      novel information over self-reported use of menthol cigarettes by integrating
      different smoking measures for understanding smoking behavior and harm of menthol
      cigarettes. IMPACT: These results provide insight into the biological effect of
      menthol smoking. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(1); 51-60. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27628311
TI  - Light conditions affect the performance of Yponomeuta evonymellus on its native
      host Prunus padus and the alien Prunus serotina.
AB  - The bird cherry ermine moth, Yponomeuta evonymellus L., is considered an
      obligatory monophagous insect pest that feeds only on native European Prunus
      padus L. In recent years, however, increased larval feeding on alien P. serotina
      Ehrh. has been observed. In both species, general defoliation is extensive for
      shade grown trees, whereas it is high in P. padus, but very low in P. serotina,
      when trees are grown in full light conditions. The aim of the present study was
      to identify how the plant host species and light conditions affect the
      performance of Y. evonymellus. The influence of host species and light condition
      on their growth and development, characterized by the parameters of pupation,
      adult eclosion, body mass, potential fecundity, and wing size, was measured in a
      2 * 2 experimental design (two light treatments, two hosts). In comparison with
      high light (HL) conditions, a greater percentage of pupation and a longer period
      and less dynamic adult emerge was observed under low light (LL) conditions. The
      effect of host species on these parameters was not significant. In contrast,
      mass, fecundity and all of the studied wing parameters were higher in larvae that
      grazed on P. padus than on P. serotina. Similarly the same parameters were also
      higher on shrubs in HL as compared with those grown under LL conditions. In
      general, light conditions, rather than plant species, were more often and to a
      greater extent, responsible for differences in the observed parameters of insect
      development and potential fecundity.

PMID- 27628310
TI  - Vaccination with trifunctional nanoparticles that address CD8+ dendritic cells
      inhibits growth of established melanoma.
AB  - AIM: We wanted to assess the potency of a trifunctional nanoparticle (NP) that
      targeted and activated CD8+ dendritic cells (DC) and delivered an antigen to
      induce antitumor responses. MATERIALS & METHODS: The DC targeting and activating
      properties of ferrous NPs conjugated with immunostimulatory CpG-oligonucleotides,
      anti-DEC205 antibody and ovalbumin (OVA) as a model antigen to induce antigen
      specific T-cell responses and antitumor responses were analyzed. RESULTS: OVA
      loaded NP conjugated with immunostimulatory CpG-oligonucleotides and anti-DEC205
      antibody efficiently targeted and activated CD8+ DC in vivo, and induced strong
      OVA-specific T-cell activation. Vaccination of B16/OVA tumor-burdened mice with
      this NP formulation resulted in tumor growth arrest. CONCLUSION: CD8+ DC
      targeting trifunctional nanocarriers bear significant potential for antitumor
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 27628312
TI  - Is nutritional labeling associated with individual health? The effects of
      labeling-based awareness on dyslipidemia risk in a South Korean population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1995, the South Korean government made nutrition labeling
      compulsory, which has positively impacted patients with certain chronic diseases,
      such as dyslipidemia. We investigated the association between nutrition labeling
      based awareness and the risk of dyslipidemia among individuals not yet diagnosed.
      METHODS: Our study used data from the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Surveys administered during 2010-2014 (n = 17,687). We performed
      multiple or logistic regression analysis to examine the association between
      nutritional analysis and various outcome variables. RESULTS: Approximately 70 %
      of the respondents (n = 11,513) were familiar with nutrition labeling, of which
      20 % (n = 3172) decided what food to buy based on that information. This
      awareness yielded mostly positive results on outcome indicators, such as
      triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. In general,
      individuals who used nutritional labels to make decisions regarding food
      purchases had a lower risk of dyslipidemia than individuals who did not (OR:
      0.806, 95 % CI: 0.709-0.917). CONCLUSION: Utilizing nutrition labels for making
      food choices correlated with a lower risk of dyslipidemia in certain subgroups.
      Based on our findings, we recommend that health policymakers and medical
      professionals consider promoting nutrition labeling as an alternative method for
      managing certain chronic diseases in South Korean patients.

PMID- 27628314
TI  - The role of socio-demographic factors in premature cervical cancer mortality in
      Colombia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While cervical cancer (CC) is an important cause of premature
      mortality in Colombia, the impact of socio-demographic factors on CC mortality in
      young women is not well understood. The primary objective of this study was to
      identify differences in CC mortality among Colombian women aged 20-49 years
      associated with education, type of health insurance, urban or rural and region of
      residence, and to determine whether differences in mortality associated with
      education or insurance varied by age. METHODS: Cervical cancer deaths for 2005
      2013 and risk factors were obtained from the National Administrative Department
      of Statistics. Populations at risk were calculated from age-stratified population
      projections and the 2010 National and Demographic Health Survey. Negative
      binomial regression models, stratified by age, were used to examine associations
      between socio-demographic factors and mortality rates and whether the effects of
      education and health insurance varied by age. Multiple imputation was used to
      examine the importance of missing data. RESULTS: Differences of CC mortality were
      identified among women with limited to no education compared to highly educated
      women, with the largest disparity in the youngest age group (IRR 26.8, 95 % CI
      6.65-108). Differences in mortality associated with health insurance also varied
      based on age group. Women with contributory and special health insurance had
      lower mortality rates than women with subsidised or no health insurance, except
      in the youngest age group. No differences were observed between women with
      subsidised and those with no insurance in any age group. Mortality rates were
      high among women who resided in urban areas and in the Atlantic, Central,
      Pacific, and Amazon-Orinoquia regions of Colombia. Missing values in the
      mortality database did not impact the findings from this study. CONCLUSIONS:
      Limited education was most strongly associated with premature CC mortality in the
      youngest women. Subsidised insurance did not appear to provide significant
      protection against CC mortality when compared to not having insurance, suggesting
      the need to examine diagnostic and treatment services available under the
      subsidised insurance plan. Our results could be used to target interventions to
      optimise the impact of resources to prevent premature mortality due to CC in
      Colombia.

PMID- 27628313
TI  - Evolution of long centromeres in fire ants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Centromeres are essential for accurate chromosome segregation, yet
      sequence conservation is low even among closely related species. Centromere drive
      predicts rapid turnover because some centromeric sequences may compete better
      than others during female meiosis. In addition to sequence composition, longer
      centromeres may have a transmission advantage. RESULTS: We report the first
      observations of extremely long centromeres, covering on average 34 % of the
      chromosomes, in the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta. By comparison,
      cytological examination of Solenopsis geminata revealed typical small centromeric
      constrictions. Bioinformatics and molecular analyses identified CenSol, the major
      centromeric satellite DNA repeat. We found that CenSol sequences are very similar
      between the two species but the CenSol copy number in S. invicta is much greater
      than that in S. geminata. In addition, centromere expansion in S. invicta is not
      correlated with the duplication of CenH3. Comparative analyses revealed that
      several closely related fire ant species also possess long centromeres.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with a model of simple runaway centromere
      expansion due to centromere drive. We suggest expanded centromeres may be more
      prevalent in hymenopteran insects, which use haplodiploid sex determination, than
      previously considered.

PMID- 27628315
TI  - Prenatal and postnatal management of congenital bronchial atresia (CBA): single
      tertiary center report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize our diagnosis and management experience of congenital
      bronchial atresia (CBA). METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted, clinical
      data were collected of all patients with CBA. RESULTS: Among the nine patients (5
      males and 4 females), six cases with right side and three cases with left cases,
      including one patient with mainstem bronchial atresia (MBA), two cases with lobar
      bronchial atresia (LBA), six cases with segmental bronchial atresia (SBA). Eight
      were diagnosed as congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) type III by
      ultrasound (US) in prenatal. The MBA patient was diagnosed by computed tomography
      (CT) and bronchofibroscopy, only two patients by pathological findings and the
      other six patients by CT. Five cases were accompanied by CCAM, one case with
      bronchopulmonary sequestration (BPS), two cases with emphysema. Eight cases
      except MBA were underwent thoracoscopic surgery treatment and had favorable
      prognosis. Two cases with LBA merged with complication of pectus excavatum after
      surgery. One case with MBA had no surgery and died in the 13 days old.
      CONCLUSIONS: CBA is an easily misdiagnosed disease from pathologic conditions,
      definitive diagnosis of this condition depends on combination CT or clinical
      pathologic diagnosis. Thoracoscopic resection is a safe and feasible treatment of
      CBA in experienced hands.

PMID- 27628316
TI  - Essential oils-containing mouthwashes for gingivitis and plaque: Meta-analyses
      and meta-regression.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of EO as adjuncts to mechanical plaque
      control (MPC) on the reduction of plaque and gingivitis when compared to placebo
      or cetylpyridium chloride (CPC). DATA: Randomized controlled trials of at least 6
      months of follow-up including systemically healthy individuals with gingivitis
      were included. SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Lilacs and SCOPUS were searched up to
      April 2016. From 3045 citations, 16 studies were included. 14 studies assessed
      the Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (QHI) and 11 studies assessed the Modified Gingival
      Index (MGI) and were included in meta-analyses and meta-regression. STUDY
      SELECTION: The analysis of risk of bias suggested that the quality of the studies
      ranged from moderate to low. Mean QHI (WMD=-0.86, 95%CI -1.05 to -0.66) and MGI
      (WMD=-0.52, 95%CI -0.67 to -0.37) were lower for EO+MPC than placebo+MPC.
      Reductions in plaque and gingivitis were, respectively, 32% and 24% larger for
      EO+MPC than placebo+MPC. The decreases in QHI (WMD=-0.95, 95%CI -1.26 to -0.63)
      and in MGI (WMD=-0.34, 95%CI -0.53 to -0.15) observed in the EO+MPC group,
      compared to placebo+MPC in interproximal areas, were significantly different and
      in favor to EO+MPC. EO+MPC compared to CPC+MPC resulted in clinically lower
      levels of plaque and gingivitis. High heterogeneity (I2>95%) was found and
      explained (MGI-R2=63.6%; QHI-R2=80.1%) by differences between studies in the
      percentage of males, supervision of the mouthwashes and provision of oral
      hygiene. CONCLUSIONS: EO seems to be superior to placebo+MPC and CPC+MPC for
      reduction of plaque and gingival inflammation in patients with gingivitis.
      Expected benefits may be clinically relevant and may also reach the interproximal
      area. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Mouthwashes containing essential oils should be
      considered the first choice for daily use as adjuvants to self-performed
      mechanical plaque control.

PMID- 27628317
TI  - Making decisions on resectability and injectability status of lesions in the
      management of advanced melanoma in Germany, France and the UK.
AB  - There is anecdotal evidence of variation in the treatment of patients with
      metastatic melanoma. We aimed to describe the decision-making process physicians
      use to define resectability and injectability in patients with metastatic
      melanoma, and to identify patient characteristics associated with unresectable
      and injectable lesions. Physicians in Germany, France and the UK who manage
      patients with metastatic melanoma completed a questionnaire and case report forms
      on lesion resectability and injectability. In total, 122 physicians participated
      in the study, collecting data on 1,193 patients. Physicians' resection history
      was the main factor impacting their resection decisions; those who had frequently
      performed resections in the past were more likely to consider a lesion resectable
      than those who had rarely performed resections. A physician's decision to resect
      varied according to field of expertise; 46% of oncologists rarely performed
      resections, but this was the case for only 10% of dermatologists and 26% of
      dermato-oncologists. Another important factor affecting resectability status was
      the number of in-transit lesions; 49% of patients with three or more in-transit
      lesions were considered resectable compared with 73% of patients with fewer than
      three in-transit lesions. Lesion location impacted on injectability status;
      cutaneous and regional lymph node lesions were often considered injectable,
      whereas distant lesions in the bone, brain, lung, and liver were considered
      uninjectable. Assessment of resectability status was influenced by physicians'
      resection history; this varied according to field of expertise, and may reflect
      the lack of clear guidance on resection for patients with advanced melanoma.

PMID- 27628318
TI  - Podoplanin, ezrin, and Rho-A proteins may have joint participation in tumor
      invasion of lip cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Podoplanin and ezrin connection through Rho-A phosphorylation have
      been suggested as part of the activation pathway, in the process of tumor
      invasion and cell movement in oral squamous cell carcinomas. OBJECTIVE: The aim
      of this study was to evaluate the correlation among podoplanin, ezrin, and Rho-A
      immunoexpressions in 91 squamous cells carcinomas of the lower lip and their
      influence in patient's prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The immunoexpressions of
      podoplanin, ezrin, and Rho-A were evaluated through a semi-quantitative score
      method, based on the capture of 10 microscopic fields at the front of tumor
      invasion. The association and correlation of these proteins with the
      clinicopathological features were verified by Fischer's exact test and Spearman's
      test. The prognostic values were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank
      test. RESULTS: A statistically significant association between strong cytoplasmic
      podoplanin expression and alcohol (p = 0.024), loco-regional recurrences (p =
      0.028), and lymph node metastasis (pN+) (p = 0.010) was found. The membranous (p
      = 0.000 and r = 0.384) and cytoplasmic (p = 0.000 and r = 0.344) podoplanin
      expression was statistically correlated with ezrin expression. Also, membranous
      podoplanin was significantly correlated with Rho-A expression (p = 0.006 and r =
      0.282). The expressions of podoplanin, ezrin, and Rho-A were not significant
      prognostic factors for patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the lower lip.
      CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, our results confirm a correlation among podoplanin,
      ezrin, and Rho-A expressions in squamous cell carcinoma of the lip suggesting a
      cooperative participation of these proteins in cell movement and invasion.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Furthermore, strong cytoplasmic podoplanin expression could
      be helpful to identify patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lip and lower
      risk of loco-regional recurrences.

PMID- 27628319
TI  - Expression of ADAM10, Fas, FasL and Soluble FasL in Patients with Oral Squamous
      Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) and their Association with Clinical-Pathological
      Parameters.
AB  - ADAM10 has been implicated in the progression of various solid tumors. ADAM10
      regulates the cleavage of the FasL ectodomain from the plasma membrane of
      different cell types, generating the soluble FasL fragment (sFasL). Currently,
      there are few studies in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) that correlate
      levels of ADAM10 and FasL in the tumor microenvironment with clinical parameters
      of the disease. To determine the expression of ADAM10, Fas, FasL and sFasL in
      patients with OSCC and its association with TNM stage. Twenty-five patients with
      OSCC and 25 healthy controls were included. Biopsies of tumor tissue from
      patients with OSCC and buccal mucosa in controls were obtained. ADAM10, Fas, and
      FasL were analyzed by Western blotting. sFasL was quantified by ELISA. ADAM10 and
      Fas decreased significantly in OSCC compared with controls. Relatedly, within the
      OSCC group, Fas and ADAM10 decreased in accordance with tumor disease stage; in
      stages I/II, as well as in tumors of smaller diameter (T1-T2), ADAM10 showed
      higher levels when compared to patients with T3-T4 tumors and in stage III-IV.
      FasL in the tumor microenvironment and serum FasL showed no significant
      differences between both groups. Levels of complete FasL and cleaved FasL were
      positively correlated in controls; this correlation is preserved in patients with
      tumors in early stages (I-II), but is lost in later stage (III-IV). The
      dysregulation of ADAM10, Fas and FasL could be useful indicators of the
      progression and severity of OSCC.

PMID- 27628320
TI  - Studies on the Contribution of Cox-2 Expression in the Progression of Oral
      Squamous Cell Carcinoma and H-Ras Activation.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the H-ras and
      Cox-2 gene expression in tumors from Iranian Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC)
      patients. Fresh tumor biopsies removed from oral cavity were collected from 67
      new cases. Total RNA was extracted from biopsies and processed for quantification
      of H-ras and Cox-2 specific RNA expression using real-time PCR (QPCR). In
      addition, 59 gingival biopsies from apparently normal individuals were processed
      for QPCR assays. The results showed that Cox-2 expression at mRNA levels was at
      minimal levels in normal gingival biopsies. However, there was a surge in Cox-2
      expression in tumor tissues (11.5 fold, p < 0.0001). Cox-2 expression was
      elevated depending on the tumor grade and there was a 1.7 fold increase (p =
      0.003) in tumors diagnosed as MD/PD compared to that pathologically diagnosed as
      WD. This inflammatory marker was increased more significantly in smoker patients
      compared to non-smoker matching group. The H-ras expression at mRNA levels was
      significantly higher in OSCC samples compared to normal gingival (3 fold; p =
      0.044). This expression was significantly higher in tumors diagnosed as MD/PD
      compared to WD (1.59 fold, p = 0.033). In conclusion, we found a correlation
      between H-ras expression and Cox-2 induction in OSCC tissue, suggesting that
      together these genes are contributing to cancer progression. Cox-2 is an early
      event in cancers of mucosal epithelial cells and a surge in Cox-2 expression in
      OSCC could be partly due to pro-inflammatory factors such as smoking.

PMID- 27628321
TI  - Different modes of variation for each BG lineage suggest different functions.
AB  - Mammalian butyrophilins have various important functions, one for lipid binding
      but others as ligands for co-inhibition of alphabeta T cells or for stimulation
      of gammadelta T cells in the immune system. The chicken BG homologues are dimers,
      with extracellular immunoglobulin variable (V) domains joined by cysteines in the
      loop equivalent to complementarity-determining region 1 (CDR1). BG genes are
      found in three genomic locations: BG0 on chromosome 2, BG1 in the classical MHC
      (the BF-BL region) and many BG genes in the BG region just outside the MHC. Here,
      we show that BG0 is virtually monomorphic, suggesting housekeeping function(s)
      consonant with the ubiquitous tissue distribution. BG1 has allelic polymorphism
      but minimal sequence diversity, with the few polymorphic residues at the
      interface of the two V domains, suggesting that BG1 is recognized by receptors in
      a conserved fashion. Any phenotypic variation should be due to the intracellular
      region, with differential exon usage between alleles. BG genes in the BG region
      can generate diversity by exchange of sequence cassettes located in loops
      equivalent to CDR1 and CDR2, consonant with recognition of many ligands or
      antigens for immune defence. Unlike the mammalian butyrophilins, there are at
      least three modes by which BG genes evolve.

PMID- 27628324
TI  - mASH1 is Highly Specific for Neuroendocrine Carcinomas: An Immunohistochemical
      Evaluation on Normal and Various Neoplastic Tissues.
AB  - CONTEXT: -High-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas and carcinoids can arise in
      different sites such as lung, gastrointestinal tract, prostate, and skin. Classic
      neuroendocrine markers such as CD56, synaptophysin, and chromogranin cannot
      distinguish carcinoids from high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas. Recently, mouse
      monoclonal mASH1 has been shown to help discriminate carcinoids from high-grade
      neuroendocrine carcinomas in various neoplastic sites. To date, there have been
      no comprehensive immunohistochemistry studies with mASH1 on nonneuroendocrine
      neoplasms. OBJECTIVE: -To evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of mASH1 in
      various normal and neoplastic tissues, including lung cancers. DESIGN: -Formalin
      fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue microarrays consisting of normal tissues and
      various neoplastic tissues were immunohistochemically evaluated with mASH1.
      RESULTS: -In normal tissues (n = 30), mASH1 (nuclear staining) was sparsely
      expressed in the molecular cell layer, white matter, and granular cell layer of
      cerebellum; C cells in thyroid; and epithelial cells in thymus. In lung cancers,
      mASH1 stained 1.1% (1 of 93) of adenocarcinomas, 0.9% (1 of 111) of squamous cell
      carcinomas, 0% (0 of 30) of large cell carcinomas, 66.7% (6 of 9) of large cell
      neuroendocrine carcinomas, and 82.5% (94 of 114) of small cell carcinomas. In
      various other neoplastic tissues (n = 1114), mASH1 was expressed in thyroid
      medullary carcinomas, thymic carcinomas, and brain cancers; mASH1 was also
      expressed in a very low percentage of breast carcinomas, ovarian cancers, and
      pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. All typical carcinoids of various sites were
      negative (0 of 11), however, in lung atypical carcinoids, mASH1 was expressed in
      42.9% (9 of 21). CONCLUSIONS: -Although not organ specific, mASH1 is highly
      specific for high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas versus carcinoids and other
      nonneuroendocrine neoplasms.

PMID- 27628323
TI  - Immunogenicity of a Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine as a booster
      dose after primary vaccination with SA14-14-2 vaccine in Thai children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Japanese Encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine (JE-CV) and SA14-14-2
      vaccine are live-attenuated JE vaccines produced from the same virus strain. Data
      on interchangeability is limited. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the immunogenicity and
      safety of JE-CV booster after primary vaccination with SA14-14-2 vaccine.
      METHODS: This study was an open-label clinical trial in Thai children who had
      received a primary SA14-14-2 vaccination at 12-24monthsbefore enrollment
      (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02602652). JE-CV was administered. A 50% plaque reduction
      neutralization test (PRNT50) against three virus strains; JE-CV, SA-14-14
      2andwild-type JE virus was measured before and 28-days post vaccination. The
      laboratory was performed at PRNT50 titers ?10 (1/dil) were considered
      seroprotective against JE. Geometric mean titer (GMT) of PRNT50 was calculated.
      Adverse events were observed for 28days. RESULTS: From March 2014 to June 2015,
      50 children (64% male) were enrolled. Mean age and duration after primary
      vaccination was 26.9 (SD 4.6) and 12.8 (SD 2.7) months, respectively. The
      proportion of participants who had PRNT50pre and post-booster vaccination were
      92% and 96% against JE-CV virus, 56% and 98% against SA-14-14-2 strain and 70%
      and 98% against wild-type JE virus, respectively. Solicited injection site
      reactions including erythema, pain and swelling occurred in 18%, 10% and 4% of
      subjects, respectively. Four children (8%) had fever (?37.7Celsius). Eight
      children (16%) had adverse events, which were not related to the vaccine.
      CONCLUSIONS: AJE-CV booster dose is highly immunogenic and safe among children
      who previously received SA14-14-2 vaccine.

PMID- 27628325
TI  - The New Clinicopathologic and Molecular Findings in Myeloid Neoplasms With
      inv(3)(q21q26)/t(3;3)(q21;q26.2).
AB  - CONTEXT: - Inv(3)(q21q26)/t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) is the most common form of genetic
      abnormality of the so-called 3q21q26 syndrome. Myeloid neoplasms with 3q21q26
      aberrancies include acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS),
      and blast crisis of myeloproliferative neoplasms. Recent advances on myeloid
      neoplasms with inv(3)/t(3;3) with regard to clinicopathologic features and novel
      molecular or genomic findings warrant a comprehensive review on this topic.
      OBJECTIVE: - To review the clinicopathologic features and molecular as well as
      genomic alterations in myeloid neoplasms with inv(3)/t(3;3). DATA SOURCES: - The
      data came from published articles in English-language literature. CONCLUSIONS: -
      At the clinicopathologic front, recent studies on MDS with inv(3)/t(3;3) have
      highlighted their overlapping clinicopathologic features with and similar overall
      survival to that of inv(3)/t(3;3)-harboring AML regardless of the percentage of
      myeloid blasts. On the molecular front, AML and MDS with inv(3)/t(3;3) exhibit
      gene mutations, which affect the RAS/receptor tyrosine kinase pathway.
      Furthermore, functional genomic studies using genomic editing and genome
      engineering have shown that the reallocation of the GATA2 distal hematopoietic
      enhancer to the proximity of the promoter of ectopic virus integration site 1
      (EVI1) without the formation of a new oncogenic fusion transcript is the
      molecular mechanism underlying these inv(3)/t(3;3) myeloid neoplasms. Although
      the AML and MDS with inv(3)/t(3;3) are listed as a separate category of myeloid
      malignancies in the 2008 World Health Organization classification, the
      overlapping clinicopathologic features, similar overall survival, and identical
      patterns at the molecular and genomic levels between AML and MDS patients with
      inv(3)/t(3;3) may collectively favor a unification of AML and MDS with
      inv(3)/t(3;3) as AML or myeloid neoplasms with inv(3)/t(3;3) regardless of the
      blast count.

PMID- 27628322
TI  - Reduced Notch signalling leads to postnatal skeletal muscle hypertrophy in
      Pofut1cax/cax mice.
AB  - Postnatal skeletal muscle growth results from the activation of satellite cells
      and/or an increase in protein synthesis. The Notch signalling pathway maintains
      satellite cells in a quiescent state, and once activated, sustains their
      proliferation and commitment towards differentiation. In mammals, POFUT1-mediated
      O-fucosylation regulates the interactions between NOTCH receptors and ligands of
      the DELTA/JAGGED family, thus initiating the activation of canonical Notch
      signalling. Here, we analysed the consequences of downregulated expression of the
      Pofut1 gene on postnatal muscle growth in mutant Pofut1(cax/cax) (cax, compact
      axial skeleton) mice and differentiation of their satellite cell-derived
      myoblasts (SCDMs). Pofut1(cax/cax) mice exhibited muscle hypertrophy, no
      hyperplasia and a decrease in satellite cell numbers compared with wild-type C3H
      mice. In agreement with these observations, Pofut1(cax/cax) SCDMs differentiated
      earlier concomitant with reduced Pax7 expression and decrease in PAX7(+)/MYOD(-)
      progenitor cells. In vitro binding assays showed a reduced interaction of DELTA
      LIKE 1 ligand (DLL1) with NOTCH receptors expressed at the cell surface of SCDMs,
      leading to a decreased Notch signalling as seen by the quantification of cleaved
      NICD and Notch target genes. These results demonstrated that POFUT1-mediated O
      fucosylation of NOTCH receptors regulates myogenic cell differentiation and
      affects postnatal muscle growth in mice.

PMID- 27628326
TI  - Diagnostic Approach to Advanced Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease: Bringing
      Together Clinical, Radiologic, and Histologic Clues.
AB  - CONTEXT: - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a distinctive clinicopathologic
      entity and the most common form of progressive diffuse lung scarring in older
      adults. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis manifests histopathologically as the usual
      interstitial pneumonia pattern. The usual interstitial pneumonia pattern is
      distinguished by geographically and temporally heterogeneous fibrosis that is
      peripherally accentuated, often with honeycombing and traction bronchiectasis.
      Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is not the only disease that leads to end-stage
      lung fibrosis, however, and several other entities may also cause advanced
      fibrosis. Surgical lung biopsies often present a diagnostic dilemma when they
      show clear evidence of advanced fibrosis, but the clinical, imaging, and/or
      histopathologic subcharacteristics suggest something other than IPF. OBJECTIVE: -
      To address this dilemma, we review several other fibrotic lung diseases,
      including connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease, chronic
      hypersensitivity pneumonitis, advanced pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis,
      end-stage pulmonary sarcoidosis, Erdheim-Chester disease, Hermansky-Pudlak
      syndrome, and others, detailing their clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic
      attributes and emphasizing similarities to and differences from IPF. DATA
      SOURCES: - Data sources comprised published peer-reviewed literature and personal
      experience of the authors. CONCLUSIONS: - Often, clues in the lung biopsy may
      offer the first suggestion of a fibrotic lung disease other than IPF, and
      accurate classification is important for prognosis, treatment, and the
      development of future therapies.

PMID- 27628328
TI  - EMSY copy number variation in male breast cancers characterized for BRCA1 and
      BRCA2 mutations.
AB  - PURPOSE: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease that shares some similarities
      with female breast cancer (FBC). Like FBC, genetic susceptibility to MBC can be
      referred to mutations in BRCA1 and, particularly, BRCA2 genes. However, only
      about 10 % of MBCs are caused by BRCA1/2 germ-line mutations, while the largest
      part are sporadic cancers and may derive from somatic alterations. EMSY, a BRCA2
      inactivating gene, emerged as a candidate gene involved in the pathogenesis of
      sporadic FBC, and its amplification was suggested to be the somatic counterpart
      of BRCA2 mutations. Considering the relevant role of BRCA2 in MBC, we aimed at
      investigating the role of EMSY gene copy number variations in male breast tumors.
      METHODS: EMSY copy number variations were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR
      with TaqMan probes in a selected series of 75 MBCs, characterized for BRCA1/2
      mutations. RESULTS: We reported EMSY amplification in 34.7 % of MBCs. A
      significant association emerged between EMSY amplification and BRCA1/2 mutations
      (p = 0.03). We identified two amplification subgroups characterized by low and
      high amplification levels, with BRCA2-related tumors mostly showing low EMSY
      amplification. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show a high frequency of EMSY
      amplification in MBC, thus pointing to a role of EMSY in the pathogenesis of this
      disease. EMSY amplification may be a new feature that might uncover underlying
      molecular pathways of MBCs and may allow for the identification of MBC subgroups
      with potential clinical implication for targeted therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 27628330
TI  - Spotlights: Volume 7, Issue 18.

PMID- 27628329
TI  - Exposure to silicon carbide and cancer risk: a systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To conduct a systematic review of epidemiologic studies on risk of
      cancer from exposure to silicon carbide (SiC). METHODS: We followed established
      guidelines to search electronic databases for studies on populations exposed to
      SiC. We conducted meta-analyses when the data justified it. RESULTS: We
      identified two studies of SiC production workers and several studies of users.
      The studies of production workers indicated an increased risk of lung cancer. The
      increased risk was restricted to workers with elevated dust exposure and, in the
      most informative study from Norway, was linked to estimated cristobalite
      exposure, a form of crystalline silica. Increased risk was not linked to SiC
      particles, once cristobalite exposure was controlled for. Studies of SiC users in
      various industries did not reveal an increased risk of lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS:
      The increased risk of lung cancer detected in the SiC production industry appears
      to be associated with high exposure levels to total dust, including crystalline
      silica and cristobalite which occurred in this industry in the past decades. It
      may not persist under current exposure circumstances, characterized by lower
      levels and use of personal protection equipment. Commercial users of SiC-based
      products were not affected.

PMID- 27628331
TI  - Description of Gabonibacter massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a New Member of the
      Family Porphyromonadaceae Isolated from the Human Gut Microbiota.
AB  - The identification of human-associated bacteria is very important to control
      infectious diseases. In recent years, we diversified culture conditions in a
      strategy named culturomics, and isolated more than 100 new bacterial species
      and/or genera. Using this strategy, strain GM7, a strictly anaerobic gram
      negative bacterium was recently isolated from a stool specimen of a healthy
      Gabonese patient. It is a motile coccobacillus without catalase and oxidase
      activities. The genome of Gabonibacter massiliensis is 3,397,022 bp long with
      2880 ORFs and a G+C content of 42.09 %. Of the predicted genes, 2,819 are protein
      coding genes, and 61 are RNAs. Strain GM7 differs from the closest genera within
      the family Porphyromonadaceae both genotypically and in shape and motility. Thus,
      we propose that strain GM7T (=CSUR P2336 = DSM 101039) is the type strain of the
      new genus Gabonibacter gen. nov. and the new species G. massiliensis gen. nov.,
      sp. nov.

PMID- 27628333
TI  - The double-edged sword of corporatisation in the hospital sector: evidence from
      Indonesia.
AB  - Hoping to improve their health system performance, many countries have
      corporatised their hospitals in the past 20 years. What this means for hospital
      performance remains as yet largely unknown. This study looks into the association
      of corporatisation and hospital performance in Indonesia. We apply panel data
      regression analysis to survey data on 54 public hospitals in East Java province.
      Our analysis suggests that corporatisation is associated with higher hospital
      income and expenditure, but fails to improve efficiency and equity. These
      findings suggest that hospital corporatisation policy in Indonesia should
      increase emphasis on efficiency and equity rather than on financial performance
      alone.

PMID- 27628332
TI  - Vertical flow-constructed wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment under
      tropical conditions: effect of different design and operational parameters.
AB  - This study assessed the treatment of domestic wastewater to find the optimum
      vertical flow-constructed wetland (VFCW) configuration under tropical conditions.
      Eight pilot-scale configurations units were studied to compare between fine sand
      and medium gravel used as substrate, two feeding frequencies (20 pulses d-1 and
      10 pulses d-1), and the presence or absence of tropical plants (Heliconia
      psittacorum). The results showed that the sand beds were significantly more
      efficient in the removal of organic matter, ammonia nitrogen, and total suspended
      solids than gravel beds, presenting average removal rates of 48 and 24 g m-2 d-1
      of COD; 35 and 16 g m-2 d-1 of BOD5; 7 and 4 g m-2 d-1 of [Formula: see text]; 9
      and 0 g m-2 d-1 for sand and gravel, respectively. The oxygen consumption rates
      were calculated and a value of 65 g m-2 d-1 was obtained for sand beds while for
      the gravel beds the consumption rate was 30 g m-2 d-1. The assessment of
      different kinds of nitrogen showed interesting dynamics in the nitrification
      processes. The presence of H. psittacorum showed positive effects in the total
      nitrogen (TN) removal. The different loading frequencies applied did not show
      significant statistical differences in the removal of the tested contaminants.
      Preliminary results were found in the pathogen removal, where the sand is
      favorable as the substrate. This work represents the first step in the research
      of optimum VFWC design and operation parameters for Colombia as well as the use
      of plants of the genus Heliconia.

PMID- 27628334
TI  - A high throughput method for rapid screening of chitosanase-producing fungal
      strain under acidic conditions.
AB  - A novel high-throughput method was established for rapid screening of a large
      numbers of Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) mutants with high chitosanase
      production under acidic culture condition by exploiting the fact that iodine can
      be used as the indicator to stain chitosan but is ineffective for
      chitooligosaccharides. The mutant population was generated by irradiating A.
      fumigatus CICC 2434 with Co(60)-gamma rays. Mutants were cultured on acidic
      plates containing colloidal chitosan and preliminary screened according to
      diameter of haloes formed around colonies. Then, chitosanase production of the
      isolates were verified by dinitrosalicylic acid assay. Lastly, molecular masses
      on enzymolysis products of isolated mutants were rapidly compared by aniline blue
      plate assay. Using this method, the mutant strain Co-8 was selected, which had
      chitosanase activity of 24.87 U/mL (increased by 369.2 % as compared to that of
      its parental strain).Taking together, the method is easy, efficient and
      particularly suited to rapid screen acidophilic fungal strains with high
      chitosanase-production. 

PMID- 27628335
TI  - Characterization and properties of biosurfactants produced by a newly isolated
      strain Bacillus methylotrophicus DCS1 and their applications in enhancing
      solubility of hydrocarbon.
AB  - Six biosurfactant-producing bacteria were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated
      soils in Sfax, Tunisia. Isolates were screened for biosurfactant production by
      different conventional methods including hemolytic activity, surface tension
      reduction, drop-collapsing and oil displacement tests. All these screening tests
      show that all the isolates behave differently. Among the isolated bacteria, DCS1
      strain was selected for further studies based on its highest activities and it
      was identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus DCS1. This strain was found to be a
      potent producer of biosurfactant when cultivated in mineral-salts medium
      supplemented with diesel oil (2 %, v/v) as a sole carbon source. Physicochemical
      properties and stability of biosurfactants synthesized by B. methylotrophicus
      DCS1 were investigated. The produced biosurfactants DCS1, from Landy medium,
      possess high surface activity that could lower the surface tension of water to a
      value of 31 from 72 mN m(-1) and have a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of
      100 mg L(-1). Compared with SDS and Tween 80, biosurfactants showed excellent
      emulsification activities against different hydrocarbon substrates and high
      solubilization efficiency towards diesel oil. Biosurfactants DCS1 showed good
      stability in a wide range of temperature, pH and salinity. These results
      suggested that biosurfactants produced by B. methylotrophicus DCS1 could be an
      alternative to chemically synthesized surfactants for use in bioremediation
      processes to enhance the solubility of hydrophobic compounds. 

PMID- 27628336
TI  - Optimized expression of prolyl aminopeptidase in Pichia pastoris and its
      characteristics after glycosylation.
AB  - Prolyl aminopeptidases are specific exopeptidases that catalyze the hydrolysis of
      the N-terminus proline residue of peptides and proteins. In the present study,
      the prolyl aminopeptidase gene (pap) from Aspergillus oryzae JN-412 was optimized
      through the codon usage of Pichia pastoris. Both the native and optimized pap
      genes were inserted into the expression vector pPIC9 K and were successfully
      expressed in P. pastoris. Additionally, the activity of the intracellular enzyme
      expressed by the recombinant optimized pap gene reached 61.26 U mL(-1), an
      activity that is 2.1-fold higher than that of the native gene. The recombinant
      enzyme was purified by one-step elution through Ni-affinity chromatography. The
      optimal temperature and pH of the purified PAP were 60  degrees C and 7.5,
      respectively. Additionally, the recombinant PAP was recovered at a yield greater
      than 65 % at an extremely broad range of pH values from 6 to 10 after treatment
      at 50  degrees C for 6 h. The molecular weight of the recombinant PAP decreased
      from 50 kDa to 48 kDa after treatment with a deglycosylation enzyme, indicating
      that the recombinant PAP was completely glycosylated. The glycosylated PAP
      exhibited high thermo-stability. Half of the activity remained after incubation
      at 50  degrees C for 50 h, whereas the remaining activity of PAP expressed in E.
      coli was only 10 % after incubation at 50  degrees C for 1 h. PAP could be
      activated by the appropriate salt concentration and exhibited salt tolerance
      against NaCl at a concentration up to 5 mol L(-1). 

PMID- 27628337
TI  - The production and uses of Beauveria bassiana as a microbial insecticide.
AB  - Among invertebrate fungal pathogens, Beauveria bassiana has assumed a key role in
      management of numerous arthropod agricultural, veterinary and forestry pests.
      Beauveria is typically deployed in one or more inundative applications of large
      numbers of aerial conidia in dry or liquid formulations, in a chemical paradigm.
      Mass production is mainly practiced by solid-state fermentation to yield
      hydrophobic aerial conidia, which remain the principal active ingredient of
      mycoinsecticides. More robust and cost-effective fermentation and formulation
      downstream platforms are imperative for its overall commercialization by
      industry. Hence, where economics allow, submerged liquid fermentation provides
      alternative method to produce effective and stable propagules that can be easily
      formulated as dry stable preparations. Formulation also continues to be a
      bottleneck in the development of stable and effective commercial Beauveria
      mycoinsecticides in many countries, although good commercial formulations do
      exist. Future research on improving fermentation and formulation technologies
      coupled with the selection of multi-stress tolerant and virulent strains is
      needed to catalyze the widespread acceptance and usefulness of this fungus as a
      cost-effective mycoinsecticide. The role of Beauveria as one tool among many in
      integrated pest management, rather than a stand-alone management approach, needs
      to be better developed across the range of crop systems. Here, we provide an
      overview of mass-production and formulation strategies, updated list of
      registered commercial products, major biocontrol programs and ecological aspects
      affecting the use of Beauveria as a mycoinsecticide. 

PMID- 27628338
TI  - Microbial production of metabolites and associated enzymatic reactions under high
      pressure.
AB  - High environmental pressure exerts an external stress on the survival of
      microorganisms that are commonly found under normal pressure. In response, many
      growth traits alter, including cell morphology and physiology, cellular
      structure, metabolism, physical and chemical properties, the reproductive
      process, and defense mechanisms. The high-pressure technology (HP) has been
      industrially utilized in pressurized sterilization, synthesis of stress-induced
      products, and microbial/enzymatic transformation of chemicals. This article
      reviews current research on pressure-induced production of metabolites in normal
      pressure microbes and their enzymatic reactions. Factors that affect the
      production of such metabolites are summarized, as well as the effect of pressure
      on the performance of microbial fermentation and the yield of flavoring
      compounds, different categories of induced enzymatic reactions and their
      characteristics in the supercritical carbon dioxide fluid, effects on enzyme
      activity, and the selection of desirable bacterial strains. Technological
      challenges are discussed, and future research directions are proposed.
      Information presented here will benefit the research, development, and
      application of the HP technology to improve microbial fermentation and enzymatic
      production of biologically active substances, thereby help to meet their
      increasing demand from the ever-expanding market. 

PMID- 27628340
TI  - Klebsiella pneumonia liver abscess syndrome: Case presentation to a college
      student health clinic.
AB  - The authors describe a case of Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess (KPLA) in a
      student presenting to a university student health center. The authors also
      provide a review of KPLA and invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess
      syndrome (IKPLAS), including epidemiology, common clinical manifestations,
      standard diagnostic work-up, management options, and potential complications.

PMID- 27628339
TI  - Thermophilic microorganisms in biomining.
AB  - Biomining is an applied biotechnology for mineral processing and metal extraction
      from ores and concentrates. This alternative technology for recovering metals
      involves the hydrometallurgical processes known as bioleaching and biooxidation
      where the metal is directly solubilized or released from the matrix for further
      solubilization, respectively. Several commercial applications of biomining can be
      found around the world to recover mainly copper and gold but also other metals;
      most of them are operating at temperatures below 40-50  degrees C using
      mesophilic and moderate thermophilic microorganisms. Although biomining offers an
      economically viable and cleaner option, its share of the world's production of
      metals has not grown as much as it was expected, mainly considering that due to
      environmental restrictions in many countries smelting and roasting technologies
      are being eliminated. The slow rate of biomining processes is for sure the main
      reason of their poor implementation. In this scenario the use of thermophiles
      could be advantageous because higher operational temperature would increase the
      rate of the process and in addition it would eliminate the energy input for
      cooling the system (bioleaching reactions are exothermic causing a serious
      temperature increase in bioreactors and inside heaps that adversely affects most
      of the mesophilic microorganisms) and it would decrease the passivation of
      mineral surfaces. In the last few years many thermophilic bacteria and archaea
      have been isolated, characterized, and even used for extracting metals. This
      paper reviews the current status of biomining using thermophiles, describes the
      main characteristics of thermophilic biominers and discusses the future for this
      biotechnology. 

PMID- 27628341
TI  - SELMAP - SELEX affinity landscape MAPping of transcription factor binding sites
      using integrated microfluidics.
AB  - Transcription factors (TFs) alter gene expression in response to changes in the
      environment through sequence-specific interactions with the DNA. These
      interactions are best portrayed as a landscape of TF binding affinities. Current
      methods to study sequence-specific binding preferences suffer from limited
      dynamic range, sequence bias, lack of specificity and limited throughput. We have
      developed a microfluidic-based device for SELEX Affinity Landscape MAPping
      (SELMAP) of TF binding, which allows high-throughput measurement of 16 proteins
      in parallel. We used it to measure the relative affinities of Pho4, AtERF2 and
      Btd full-length proteins to millions of different DNA binding sites, and detected
      both high and low-affinity interactions in equilibrium conditions, generating a
      comprehensive landscape of the relative TF affinities to all possible DNA 6-mers,
      and even DNA10-mers with increased sequencing depth. Low quantities of both the
      TFs and DNA oligomers were sufficient for obtaining high-quality results,
      significantly reducing experimental costs. SELMAP allows in-depth screening of
      hundreds of TFs, and provides a means for better understanding of the regulatory
      processes that govern gene expression.

PMID- 27628344
TI  - Ultralow loss visible surface plasmon based waveguides formed in indium-tin-oxide
      coated Fe-doped LiNbO<sub>3</sub> slabs.
AB  - Visible reconfigurable waveguides were evidenced in a composite system formed
      with indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films coated on iron-doped lithium noibate (LN)
      slabs. Surface plasmon polaritions (SPPs) excited at the ITO/LN interface were
      believed to be behind the observed light guiding, which is inherent with superlow
      loss for its sub-nanometer modified layer. The forward near-surface-normal
      scattering and accompanying reduction of the specular reflectivity in the front
      ITO/LN interface are consistent with SPP excitation. 

PMID- 27628345
TI  - Green high-power tunable external-cavity GaN diode laser at 515  nm.
AB  - A 480 mW green tunable diode laser system is demonstrated for the first time to
      our knowledge. The laser system is based on a GaN broad-area diode laser and
      Littrow external-cavity feedback. The green laser system is operated in two modes
      by switching the polarization direction of the laser beam incident on the
      grating. When the laser beam is p-polarized, an output power of 50 mW with a
      tunable range of 9.2 nm is achieved. When the laser beam is s-polarized, an
      output power of 480 mW with a tunable range of 2.1 nm is obtained. This
      constitutes the highest output power from a tunable green diode laser system. 

PMID- 27628343
TI  - In-hive Pesticide Exposome: Assessing risks to migratory honey bees from in-hive
      pesticide contamination in the Eastern United States.
AB  - This study measured part of the in-hive pesticide exposome by analyzing residues
      from live in-hive bees, stored pollen, and wax in migratory colonies over time
      and compared exposure to colony health. We summarized the pesticide burden using
      three different additive methods: (1) the hazard quotient (HQ), an estimate of
      pesticide exposure risk, (2) the total number of pesticide residues, and (3) the
      number of relevant residues. Despite being simplistic, these models attempt to
      summarize potential risk from multiple contaminations in real-world contexts.
      Colonies performing pollination services were subject to increased pesticide
      exposure compared to honey-production and holding yards. We found clear links
      between an increase in the total number of products in wax and colony mortality.
      In particular, we found that fungicides with particular modes of action increased
      disproportionally in wax within colonies that died. The occurrence of queen
      events, a significant risk factor for colony health and productivity, was
      positively associated with all three proxies of pesticide exposure. While our
      exposome summation models do not fully capture the complexities of pesticide
      exposure, they nonetheless help elucidate their risks to colony health.
      Implementing and improving such models can help identify potential pesticide
      risks, permitting preventative actions to improve pollinator health.

PMID- 27628346
TI  - Heterogeneous integration of a III-V VCSEL light source for optical fiber
      sensing.
AB  - We propose a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system utilizing a
      III-V vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) as the on-chip light source.
      Binary blazed grating (BBG) for coupling between III-V VCSEL and silicon-on
      insulator (SOI) waveguides is demonstrated for interrogation of the FBG sensor.
      The footprint size of the BBG is only 5.62  MUm*5.3  MUm, and each BBG coupler
      period has two subperiods. The diameter of the VCSEL's emitting window is 5 MUm,
      which is slightly smaller than that of the BBG coupler, to be well-matched with
      the proposed structure. Results show that the coupling efficiency from vertical
      cavities of the III-V VCSEL to the in-plane waveguides reached as high as 32.6%
      when coupling the 1550.65 nm light. The heterogeneous integration of the III-V
      VCSEL and SOI waveguides by BBG plays a fundamental role in inducing a great
      breakthrough to the miniaturization of an on-chip light source for optical fiber
      sensing. 

PMID- 27628342
TI  - Olfactory Mechanisms for Discovery of Odorants to Reduce Insect-Host Contact.
AB  - Insects have developed highly sophisticated and sensitive olfactory systems to
      find animal or plant hosts for feeding. Some insects vector pathogens that cause
      diseases in hundreds of millions of people and destroy billions of dollars of
      food products every year. There is great interest, therefore, in understanding
      how the insect olfactory system can be manipulated to reduce their contact with
      hosts. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of insect olfactory
      detection mechanisms, which may serve as a foundation for designing insect
      control programs based on manipulation of their behaviors by using odorants.
      Because every insect species has a unique set of olfactory receptors and
      olfactory-mediated behaviors, we focus primarily on general principles of odor
      detection that potentially apply to most insects. While these mechanisms have
      emerged from studies on model systems for study of insect olfaction, such as
      Drosophila melanogaster, they provide a foundation for discovery of odorants to
      repel vector insects or reduce their host-seeking behavior.

PMID- 27628347
TI  - Single-sideband W-band photonic vector millimeter-wave signal generation by one
      single I/Q modulator.
AB  - We propose a new scheme to generate single-sideband (SSB) photonic vector
      millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signal adopting asymmetrical SSB modulation enabled by
      a single in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) modulator. The driving signal for the I/Q
      modulator is generated by software-based digital signal processing (DSP) instead
      of a complicated transmitter electrical circuit, which significantly simplifies
      the system architecture and increases system stability. One vector-modulated
      optical sideband and one unmodulated optical sideband, with different sideband
      frequencies, located at two sides of a significantly suppressed central optical
      carrier, are generated by the I/Q modulator and used for heterodyne beating to
      generate the electrical vector mm-wave signal. The two optical sidebands are
      robust to fiber dispersion and can be transmitted over relatively long-haul
      fiber. We experimentally demonstrate the generation and transmission of 4-Gbaud
      80-GHz quadrature-phase-shift-keying-modulated (QPSK-modulated) SSB vector mm
      wave signal over 240-km single-mode fiber-28 without optical dispersion
      compensation. 

PMID- 27628348
TI  - Quantum scattering theory of a single-photon Fock state in three-dimensional
      spaces.
AB  - A quantum scattering theory is developed for Fock states scattered by two-level
      systems in three-dimensional free space. It is built upon the one-dimensional
      scattering theory developed in waveguide quantum electrodynamics. The theory
      fully quantizes the incident light as Fock states and uses a non-perturbative
      method to calculate the scattering matrix. 

PMID- 27628349
TI  - triSPIM: light sheet microscopy with isotropic super-resolution.
AB  - We propose a three-objective light sheet microscopy geometry which, through a
      combination of skewed lattice light sheet excitation through two objectives and
      the computational fusion of images taken from two separate lens pairings, would
      allow for isotropic super-resolution in mesoscopic samples. We also show that
      simultaneous coherent excitation through two excitation objectives could further
      substantially increase resolution. Simulations demonstrate that our design could
      achieve a resolution of 120 nm for EGFP imaging while minimizing photodamage. 

PMID- 27628350
TI  - Low drive voltage electro-optic Bragg deflector using a periodically poled
      lithium niobate planar waveguide.
AB  - An electro-optic Bragg light deflector is demonstrated in a thinned, periodically
      poled lithium niobate planar waveguide confined between two silica layers on a
      silicon substrate. More than 97% of diffraction efficiency is obtained with an
      operating wavelength of 633 nm for the two orthogonal light polarizations with a
      drive voltage of about 5 V. The temporal electric drift and the response time of
      the component are also studied. 

PMID- 27628351
TI  - Guideline of choosing optical delay time to optimize the performance of an
      interferometry-based in-band OSNR monitor.
AB  - We propose and experimentally demonstrate a guideline of choosing optical delay
      time in an interferometry-based optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitor to
      achieve the optimal monitoring performance by calculating the normalized
      autocorrelation function of the channel noise. According to the position of the
      first zero point of the calculated autocorrelation function, the delay time is
      determined; consequently the OSNR monitoring range up to 29 dB (within an
      error<=+/-0.5  dB) is achieved for 112 Gb/s PM-QPSK signal with a channel filter
      bandwidth of 100 GHz. The experimental results also show that the guideline is
      applicable to channel filters with different bandwidths and shapes. In
      simulation, the guideline is proven to be valid in OSNR monitoring for a 28 Gbaud
      PM-16QAM signal and a 50 Gbaud PM-QPSK signal. 

PMID- 27628352
TI  - Propagation of optical coherence lattices in the turbulent atmosphere.
AB  - We explore the propagation of recently introduced optical coherence lattices
      (OCLs) in the turbulent atmosphere. We show that the lattice intensity profile
      and the spatial degree of coherence will display periodicity reciprocity over
      long propagation distances even though the lattices are affected by the
      turbulence. The lattice periodicity reciprocity has been previously conjectured
      to be advantageous for free-space information transfer and optical
      communications. We then show how one can increase the distance over which the
      lattice periodicity reciprocity is preserved in the turbulent atmosphere by
      engineering input lattice beam parameters. We also show that the OCLs have
      scintillation indices lower than those of Gaussian beams. 

PMID- 27628353
TI  - Solid-state-based laser system as a replacement for Ar<sup>+</sup> lasers.
AB  - We report on a solid-state-based laser system at 1028 nm. The light is generated
      by a diode laser seeded ytterbium fiber amplifier. In two build-up cavities, its
      frequency is doubled and quadrupled to 514 nm and 257 nm, respectively. At 514
      nm, the system delivers up to 4.7 W of optical power. In the fourth harmonic, up
      to 173 mW are available limited by the nonlinear crystal. The frequency of the
      laser is mode-hop-free tunable by 16 GHz in 10 ms in the UV. Therefore, the
      system is suitable as a low maintenance, efficient, and tunable narrowband
      replacement for frequency doubled Ar<sup>+</sup> laser systems. 

PMID- 27628354
TI  - Electro-optic dual-comb interferometry over 40  nm bandwidth.
AB  - Dual-comb interferometry is a measurement technique that uses two laser frequency
      combs to retrieve complex spectra in a line-by-line basis. This technique can be
      implemented with electro-optic frequency combs, offering intrinsic mutual
      coherence, high acquisition speed and flexible repetition-rate operation. A
      challenge with the operation of this kind of frequency comb in dual-comb
      interferometry is its limited optical bandwidth. Here, we use coherent spectral
      broadening and demonstrate electro-optic dual-comb interferometry over the entire
      telecommunications C band (200 lines covering ~40  nm, measured within 10 MUs at
      100 signal-to-noise ratio per spectral line). These results offer new prospects
      for electro-optic dual-comb interferometry as a suitable technology for high
      speed broadband metrology, for example in optical coherence tomography or
      coherent Raman microscopy. 

PMID- 27628355
TI  - Quantum random number generator using a microresonator-based Kerr oscillator.
AB  - We demonstrate an all-optical quantum random number generator using a dual-pumped
      degenerate optical parametric oscillator in a silicon nitride microresonator. The
      frequency-degenerate bi-phase state output is realized using parametric four-wave
      mixing in the normal group-velocity dispersion regime with two nondegenerate
      pumps. We achieve a random number generation rate of 2 MHz and verify the
      randomness of our output using the National Institute of Standards and Technology
      Statistical Test Suite. The scheme offers potential for a chip-scale random
      number generator with gigahertz generation rates and no postprocessing. 

PMID- 27628357
TI  - Quantitative photoacoustic tomography by stochastic search: direct recovery of
      the optical absorption field.
AB  - We present, perhaps for the first time, a stochastic search algorithm in
      quantitative photoacoustic tomography (QPAT) for a one-step recovery of the
      optical absorption map from time-resolved photoacoustic signals. Such a direct
      recovery is free of the numerical inaccuracies inherent in conventional two-step
      approaches that depend on an accurate estimation of the absorbed energy
      distribution. The absorption profile parameterized as a vector stochastic process
      is additively updated over time recursions so as to drive the measurement
      prediction misfit to a zero-mean white noise. The derivative-free additive update
      is a welcome departure from the conventional gradient-based methods requiring
      evaluation of Jacobians at every recursion. The quantitative accuracy of the
      recovered absorption map from both numerical and experimental data is good with
      an overall error of less than 10%. 

PMID- 27628356
TI  - Compact and cost-effective temperature-insensitive bio-sensor based on long
      period fiber gratings for accurate detection of E. coli bacteria in water.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate a novel temperature-insensitive bio-sensor for
      accurate and quantitative detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in
      water. Surface sensitivity is maximized by operating the long-period fiber
      grating (LPFG) closest to its turnaround wavelength, and the temperature
      insensitivity is achieved by selectively exciting a pair of cladding modes with
      opposite dispersion characteristics. Our sensor shows a nominal temperature
      sensitivity of ~1.25  pm/ degrees C, which can be further reduced by properly
      adjusting the LPFG lengths, while maintaining a high refractive index sensitivity
      of 1929 nm/RIU. The overall length of the sensor is ~3.6  cm, making it ideally
      suitable for bio-sensing applications. As an example, we also show the sensor's
      capability for reliable, quantitative detection of E. coli bacteria in water over
      a temperature fluctuation of room temperature to 40 degrees C. 

PMID- 27628358
TI  - Two-dimensional grating coupler with a low polarization dependent loss of 0.25 
      dB covering the C-band.
AB  - We design and demonstrate a two-dimensional grating coupler (2D GC) with a low
      polarization dependent loss (PDL) based on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI)
      platform. Using a grating cell consisting of five cylinders and carefully
      optimizing the distances between the cylinders, a maximum PDL of 0.25 dB covering
      the C-band is realized, which is 1.25 dB better than a conventional 2D GC with a
      single cylinder etching pattern fabricated on the same SOI wafer. 

PMID- 27628359
TI  - 80  nJ ultrafast dissipative soliton generation in dumbbell-shaped mode-locked
      fiber laser.
AB  - A novel all-fiberized dumbbell-shaped mode-locked fiber laser was developed to
      directly generate 80 nJ dissipative solitons, which can be linearly compressed
      from 85 to 1.2 ps externally with a diffraction grating pair. The pulse peak
      power reached 42 kW after compression. With the most available pump power, stable
      dissipative soliton bundles with up to 628 nJ bundle energy were obtained. The
      corresponding average output power reached 2.2 W. The employment of dual
      nonlinear-optical-loop mirrors and large-mode-area fibers in the cavity played an
      essential role in improving structural compactness and producing high-energy
      ultrafast pulses. To the best of our knowledge, these are the most energetic
      compressible dissipative solitons generated from a strictly all-fiber cavity. 

PMID- 27628360
TI  - Integrated high responsivity photodetectors based on graphene/glass hybrid
      waveguide.
AB  - We propose and fabricate an integrated graphene/glass hybrid photodetector (PD)
      with high responsivity and broad spectral bandwidth. The glass straight waveguide
      enables high absorption of the evanescent light of transverse magnetic (TM) mode
      propagating parallel to the single layer of graphene. It is based on the
      mechanism of light-induced change in conductance. As a result, a responsivity as
      high as 0.72 A/W at a low bias voltage of -0.1  V for a wide wavelength range
      from 1510 to 1630 nm is experimentally obtained. The proposed graphene/glass
      hybrid PD could find important applications in graphene-based photonic integrated
      circuits. 

PMID- 27628361
TI  - Time-domain ptychography of over-octave-spanning laser pulses in the single-cycle
      regime.
AB  - We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first application of time-domain
      ptychography for the characterization of few-cycle laser pulses. Our method
      enables zero-additional phase measurements of over-octave-spanning laser pulses
      in the single cycle regime. The spectral phase is recovered using a robust
      ptychography algorithm that requires no input apart from the measured data trace.
      In addition to numerical tests, we validate our new device experimentally by
      reconstructing the complex electric field of a 1.5 cycle laser pulse with a
      bandwidth spanning 490 to 1060 nm. We further check the accuracy of our device by
      comparing the measured phases of octave-spanning chirped pulses to the known
      dispersion of fused silica glass. 

PMID- 27628362
TI  - On the origin of the coherence of sunlight on the earth.
AB  - It is shown that the observed far-field behavior of sunlight on the earth's
      surface, located in the near-field region, is due to the small angular width it
      subtends at the center of the sun. The investigation of the angular behavior of
      the cross-spectral density function explicitly leads to Bessel-like far-zone
      behavior for a small angle without any restriction on the value of l. Our general
      analysis for the spherical source can be easily extended to other geometries. 

PMID- 27628363
TI  - 1.95  MUm-pumped OP-GaAs optical parametric oscillator with 10.6  MUm idler
      wavelength.
AB  - We report on an optical parametric oscillator that generates output idler
      wavelengths around 10.6 MUm. On the basis of orientation-patterned gallium
      arsenide (OP-GaAs) as a nonlinear medium and a 1.95 MUm ns-pulsed pump laser, a
      signal-resonant bow-tie resonator was designed in order to maximize the output
      power at moderate intensities well below the damage threshold of the optical
      components. With this setup, the average idler output power at 50 kHz and 100 ns
      idler pulse length was more than 800 mW, which corresponds to a pulse energy of
      16 MUJ. The maximum quantum conversion efficiency of 36.8% is the highest value
      measured so far for comparable setups to the best of our knowledge. 

PMID- 27628364
TI  - Nano-plasmonic-based structures for DNA sequencing.
AB  - We propose novel nano-plasmonic-based structures for rapid sequencing of DNA
      molecules. The optical properties of DNA nucleotides have notable differences in
      the ultraviolet (UV) region of light. Using nanopore, bowtie, and bowtie-nanopore
      compound structures, probable application of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR)
      in DNA sequencing is investigated by employing the discrete dipole approximation
      method. The effects of different materials like chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al),
      rhodium (Rh), and graphene (Gr) are studied. We show that for Cr/Al/Gr/Rh, the
      nucleotide presented shifts the SPR spectra for the nanopore 1/29/5/34 to
      14/39/15/67 nm, bowtie 8/2/49/38 to 31/20/79/55 nm, and bowtie-nanopore compound
      25/77/5/16 to 80/80/22/39 nm. The Cr-based compound structure shows excellent
      sensitivity and selectivity which can make it a promising methodology for DNA
      sequencing. 

PMID- 27628365
TI  - Numerical and analytical models to study the laser-driven plasma perturbation in
      a dielectric gas-filled capillary waveguide.
AB  - An alternative fast approach to study the propagation of an intense laser pulse
      through a dielectric capillary waveguide filled with plasma is presented. The
      numerical model computes the evolution of the capillary mode coupling
      coefficients and from these the properties of the laser and plasma response are
      retrieved. Moreover, an analytical description of the process is presented and
      compared to the numerical model. 

PMID- 27628366
TI  - Reduction of residual excess noise in class-A lasers using two-photon absorption.
AB  - We demonstrate experimentally a significant reduction of the remaining excess
      intensity noise in a class-A semi-conductor laser. This is obtained by inserting
      into the laser cavity a buffer reservoir mechanism based on two-photon absorption
      in GaAs. The excess noise peaks at the laser-free spectral range, induced by the
      beating between the lasing mode and the amplified spontaneous emission in the
      adjacent non-oscillating modes, is reduced by 20 dB, while preserving the class-A
      dynamical behavior of the laser cavity. 

PMID- 27628367
TI  - Spectrally encoded common-path fiber-optic-based parallel optical coherence
      tomography.
AB  - We demonstrate a fiber-optic-based parallel optical coherence tomography (OCT)
      using spectrally encoded extended illumination with a common-path handheld probe,
      where the flexibility and robustness of the system are significantly improved,
      which is critical in the clinical environment. To the best of our knowledge, we
      present the first parallel OCT based on fiber optics including a fiber coupler
      with a sensitivity of 94 dB, which is comparable to that of point-scanning OCT.
      We also investigated the effect of the phase stability of the fiber-based
      interferometry on the parallel OCT system by comparing the common-path OCT with
      two-arm OCT. Using the homemade common-path handheld probe based on a Mirau
      interferometer, the phase stability was 32 times better than that of the two-arm
      OCT. The axial resolution of the common-path OCT was measured as 5.1+/-0.3  MUm.
      To demonstrate the in vivo imaging performance of the fiber-optic-based parallel
      OCT, human skin was imaged. 

PMID- 27628368
TI  - Supercontinuum generation in ZBLAN glass photonic crystal fiber with six nanobore
      cores.
AB  - Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) made from ZBLAN glass are of great interest for
      generating broadband supercontinua extending into the ultraviolet and mid
      infrared regions. Precise sub-micrometer structuring makes it possible to adjust
      the modal dispersion over a wide range, making the generation of new frequencies
      more efficient. Here we report a novel ZBLAN PCF with six cores, each containing
      a central nanobore of a diameter ~330  nm. Each nanobore core supports several
      guided modes, and the presence of the nanobore significantly modifies the
      dispersion, strongly influencing the dynamics and the extent of supercontinuum
      generation. Spectral broadening is observed when a single core is pumped in the
      fundamental and first higher order core modes with 200 fs long pulses at a
      wavelength of 1042 nm. Frequency-resolved optical gating is used to characterize
      the output pulses when pumping in the lowest order mode. The results are verified
      by numerical simulations. 

PMID- 27628369
TI  - Boron carbon nitride based metal-insulator-metal UV detectors for harsh
      environment applications.
AB  - A metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure using boron carbon nitride (BCN) was
      tested for its UV detection capability. Since BCN is one of the hardest and
      chemically robust materials, it is expected to be a potential choice for a UV
      detector in extreme and harsh conditions. The BCN thin films were deposited using
      a dual target RF magnetron sputtering process. The optoelectronic performance of
      the BCN MIM devices were examined through UV photocurrent measurements. A UV
      photocurrent of two orders of magnitude higher with respect to dark current was
      achieved in the range of -3 to 3 V. 

PMID- 27628370
TI  - Improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the beat note between a frequency comb and
      a tunable laser using a dynamically tracking optical filter.
AB  - An acousto-optic filter is locked to a tunable continuous wave (CW) laser so that
      a frequency comb can be dynamically filtered around the wavelength of the CW
      source. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the heterodyne beat note between the
      comb and the CW laser is improved by a factor of up to 19 dB. Furthermore, a SNR
      of more than 56 dB in 100 kHz is obtained over an 85 nm wavelength span. This
      technique could enable wideband, agile, and cycle-slip-free phase tracking of a
      beat note across a full comb spectrum. 

PMID- 27628371
TI  - Time multiplexing based geometrical aberrations correction.
AB  - The use of the time-multiplexing super-resolution method for extending the depth
      of focus of an imaging system was recently presented [Opt. Lett.41, 183
      (2016)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.41.000183]. It involved changing the encoding and
      decoding gratings frequencies, which determine the optical transfer function
      duplications positions, and by that obtaining an extended depth of focus. In this
      Letter we expand this method by showing its applicability for correcting
      geometrical aberrations of an imaging lens. The proposed method is presented
      analytically, and validated experimentally for chromatic aberration, spherical
      aberration, and astigmatism aberration. 

PMID- 27628372
TI  - Molecular fingerprint-region spectroscopy from 5 to 12  MUm using an orientation
      patterned gallium phosphide optical parametric oscillator.
AB  - We report a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on the new
      semiconductor gain material orientation-patterned gallium phosphide (OP-GaP),
      which enables the production of high-repetition-rate femtosecond pulses spanning
      5-12 MUm with average powers in the few to tens of milliwatts range. This is the
      first example of a broadband OPO operating across the molecular fingerprint
      region, and we demonstrate its potential by conducting broadband Fourier
      transform spectroscopy using water vapor and a polystyrene reference standard. 

PMID- 27628373
TI  - Direct-detection mode-division multiplexing in modal basis using phase retrieval.
AB  - Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) can increase the capacity of direct-detection
      short-reach systems in proportion to the number of modes employed. MDM requires
      compensation of modal crosstalk at a transmitter or receiver by the multi-input
      multi-output (MIMO) signal processing. We show that the channel estimation
      required for the MIMO processing in a basis of modes can be expressed as a phase
      retrieval problem. We propose three techniques for the estimation: sparse
      training sequences, convex optimization (CO) and alternating minimization. We
      demonstrate the superior performance of the CO technique. 

PMID- 27628375
TI  - 10  GHz clock time-multiplexed degenerate optical parametric oscillators for a
      photonic Ising spin network.
AB  - A coherent Ising machine based on degenerate optical parametric oscillators
      (DOPOs) is drawing attention as a way to find a solution to the ground-state
      search problem of the Ising model. Here we report the generation of time
      multiplexed DOPOs at a 10 GHz clock frequency. We successfully generated >50,000
      DOPOs using dual-pump four-wave mixing in a highly nonlinear fiber that formed a
      1 km cavity, and observed phase bifurcation of the DOPOs, which suggests that the
      DOPOs can be used as stable artificial spins. In addition, we demonstrated the
      generation of more than 1 million DOPOs by extending the cavity length to 21 km.
      We also confirmed that the binary numbers obtained from the DOPO phase-difference
      measurement passed the NIST random number test, which suggests that we can obtain
      unbiased artificial spins. 

PMID- 27628374
TI  - Two-photon polymerization setup enables experimental mapping and correction of
      spherical aberrations for improved macroscopic structure fabrication.
AB  - The two-photon photopolymerization of resins by focused laser light in principle
      enables the fabrication of structures with details below the diffraction limit.
      However, the method can be highly susceptible to aberrations, which hinders the
      fabrication of structures that are larger than, e.g., the working distance of the
      microscope objective. Here, two-photon polymerization is extended to the
      fabrication of macroscopic structures by making use of medium numerical-aperture
      microscope objectives. By introducing a substrate holder movable in the axial
      direction it is possible to keep the focusing conditions constant and to
      fabricate very large structures with heights that are not limited by the working
      distance of the objective. Moreover, the constant focusing conditions enable us
      to quantify spherical aberrations by experimental mapping of the optical point
      spread function, which manifests itself in the shape of singe photo-polymerized
      voxels. By monitoring such shapes it is possible to minimize aberrations.
      Effective aberration control enables us to fabricate large but detailed
      biomedical scaffolds with interconnected pores, e.g., in the shape of a human
      stirrup bone. 

PMID- 27628376
TI  - Stabilizing carrier-envelope offset frequency of a femtosecond laser using
      heterodyne interferometry.
AB  - We propose a time-domain f<sub>ceo</sub> stabilization method of a femtosecond
      laser using heterodyne interferometry. A femtosecond pulse train that is delayed
      by a spatial delay line interferes with the original pulse train. The phase
      difference between heterodyne interference signals extracted from different
      spectral regions is used to stabilize the relative position of the two pulse
      trains; then the heterodyne interference phase is used to stabilize the carrier
      envelope offset frequency f<sub>ceo</sub>. The experimental results show that,
      after being stabilized, the relative Allan deviations of f<sub>ceo</sub> are
      1.0*10<sup>-9</sup> at 0.5 s and 4.6*10<sup>-10</sup> at 50 s. 

PMID- 27628377
TI  - Topological surface plasmons in superlattices with changing sign of the average
      permittivity.
AB  - We address the topological properties of one-dimensional plasmonic superlattices
      composed of alternating metallic and dielectric layers. We reveal that the Zak
      phase of such plasmonic lattices is determined by the sign of the spatial average
      of their permittivity, epsilon-, and as such the topology and their associated
      interfacial (edge) states are extremely robust against structural disorder. Our
      study shows that the topologically protected interfacial modes occurring at the
      interface between two plasmonic lattices with opposite signs of epsilon- can be
      viewed as the generalization of the conventional surface plasmon polaritons
      existing at metallic-dielectric interfaces. 

PMID- 27628378
TI  - Spatial mode-selective waveguide with hyperbolic cladding.
AB  - Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are anisotropic materials with a permittivity
      tensor that has both positive and negative eigenvalues. Here we report that by
      using a type II HMM as a cladding material, a waveguide that only supports higher
      order modes can be achieved, while the lower-order modes become leaky and are
      absorbed in the HMM cladding. This counter-intuitive property can lead to novel
      application in optical communications and photonic integrated circuits. The loss
      in our HMM insulator-HMM (HIH) waveguide is smaller than that of similar guided
      modes in a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide. 

PMID- 27628379
TI  - Terahertz radiation from bismuth surface induced by femtosecond laser pulses.
AB  - We report on the first experimental observation of terahertz (THz) wave
      generation from bismuth mono- and polycrystalline samples irradiated by
      femtosecond laser pulses. Dependencies of the THz signal on the crystal
      orientation, optical pulse energy, incidence angle, and polarization are
      presented and discussed together with features of the sample surfaces. The
      optical-to-THz conversion efficiency was up to two orders of magnitude higher
      than for metal at a moderate fluence of ~1  mJ/cm<sup>2</sup>. We also found
      nonlinear effects not previously observed using other metal and semiconductor
      materials: (a) asymmetry of THz response with respect to a half-turn of a sample
      around its normal, (b) THz polarization control by orientation of the sample
      surface, and 

PMID- 27628380
TI  - Gain-switching injection-locked dual optical frequency combs: characterization
      and optimization.
AB  - In this work, the generation of dual optical frequency combs based on gain
      switching and optical injection locking is experimentally examined. The study
      reveals that an effective process of optical injection can lead to optimized RF
      combs in terms of span and signal-to-noise ratio. The system also minimizes the
      overlap of lines and reduces the number of optical components involved,
      eliminating the need for any external modulator (electro-optic, acousto-optic).
      The validation of the system was performed as a dual-comb spectrometer, which
      allowed for determination of the absorption and dispersion profiles of the
      molecular transition of H<sup>13</sup>CN at 1538.523 nm. 

PMID- 27628381
TI  - Electron energy transfer effect in Au NS/CH<sub>3</sub>NH<sub>3</sub>PbI<sub>3
      x</sub>Cl<sub>x</sub> heterostructures via localized surface plasmon resonance
      coupling.
AB  - Localized surface plasmon resonance coupling effects (LSPR) have attracted much
      attention due to their interesting properties. This Letter demonstrates
      significant photoluminescence (PL) enhancement in the Au
      NS/CH<sub>3</sub>NH<sub>3</sub>PbI<sub>3-x</sub>Cl<sub>x</sub> heterostructures
      via the LSPR coupling. The observed PL emission enhancement is mainly attributed
      to the hot electron energy transfer effect related to the LSPR coupling. For the
      energy transfer effect, photo-generated electrons will be directly extracted into
      Au SPs, rather than relaxed into exciton states. This energy transfer process is
      much faster than the diffusion and relaxation time of free electrons, and may
      provide new ideas on the design of high-efficiency solar cells and ultrafast
      response photodetectors. 

PMID- 27628382
TI  - Digital holographic metrology based on multi-angle interferometry.
AB  - We propose a multi-angle interferometry method for digital holographic metrology.
      In an application of three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction, the hologram
      corresponding to a different illumination angle is recorded as the illumination
      angle with a single wavelength tilted at regular intervals by an electronically
      controlled rotating stage. A Fourier-transform-based axial depth scanning
      algorithm formed by the reconstructed phase is used to obtain the height point by
      point over the whole field of view. Hence, the 3D reconstruction can be obtained
      effectively; even the object has large depth discontinuities resulting from the
      difficulty of the phase unwrapping. Due to a monochrome source only being used,
      the method is available for objects with wavelength-dependent reflectivity and
      those that are free of chromatic aberration caused by the different wavelengths. 

PMID- 27628383
TI  - Angle-resolved conical emission spectra from filamentation in a solid with an
      Airy pattern and a Gaussian laser beam.
AB  - Filamentation dynamics in fused silica are investigated using an Airy pattern and
      a Gaussian laser beam. The angle-resolved conical emission spectra are measured
      and compared with the predictions of several models. Our experimental
      observations are consistent with the X-waves model in both cases. This indicates
      that both laser beams spontaneously evolve into nonlinear X-waves and suggests a
      universal evolution of filaments in fused silica, regardless of the initial laser
      beam profile. 

PMID- 27628384
TI  - Compact cavity-dumped Q-switched Er:YAG laser.
AB  - We report a compact cavity-dumped Q-switched Er:YAG laser that produces pulses
      with 4.5 ns full width at half-maximum duration and 10 mJ energy. To the best of
      our knowledge, the resulting 2 MW peak power is the highest reported to date from
      a 1645 nm Er:YAG laser. 

PMID- 27628385
TI  - Simulation of oxygen saturation measurement in a single blood vein.
AB  - The value of oxygen saturation in venous blood, SvO<sub>2</sub>, has important
      clinical significance since it is related to the tissue oxygen utilization, which
      is related to the blood flow to the tissue and to its metabolism rate. However,
      existing pulse oximetry techniques are not suitable for blood in veins. In the
      current study we examine the feasibility of difference oximetry to assess
      SvO<sub>2</sub> by using two near-infrared wavelengths and collecting the
      backscattered light from two photodetectors located at different distances from
      the light source. 

PMID- 27628386
TI  - Optical polarizer based on the mechanical effect of light.
AB  - Based on the recent experimental progress in chip-scale silicon photonics, a
      nontrivial polarizing effect arising from the mechanical effect of light is
      present in an optomechanical crystal, which enables a new nanophotonic polarizer
      with excellent functionality. Unlike previously reported optical polarizers, the
      polarizer proposed here can be adjusted rapidly by tuning polarization and
      intensity of the control field and may enable on-chip optical control of
      polarization management with remarkable applications, due to the improvement of
      nanofabrication techniques. 

PMID- 27628388
TI  - Germanium-on-silicon mid-infrared grating couplers with low-reflectivity inverse
      taper excitation.
AB  - A broad transparency range of its constituent materials and compatibility with
      standard fabrication processes make germanium-on-silicon (Ge-on-Si) an excellent
      platform for the realization of mid-infrared photonic circuits. However, the
      comparatively large Ge waveguide thickness and its moderate refractive index
      contrast with the Si substrate hinder the implementation of efficient fiber-chip
      grating couplers. We report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, a
      single-etch Ge-on-Si grating coupler with an inversely tapered access stage,
      operating at a 3.8 MUm wavelength. Optimized grating excitation yields a coupling
      efficiency of -11  dB (7.9%), the highest value reported for a mid-infrared Ge-on
      Si grating coupler, with reflectivity below -15  dB (3.2%). The large periodicity
      of our higher-order grating design substantially relaxes the fabrication
      constraints. We also demonstrate that a focusing geometry allows a 10-fold
      reduction in inverse taper length, from 500 to 50 MUm. 

PMID- 27628387
TI  - Dual-truncated-cone structure for quasi-distributed multichannel fiber surface
      plasmon resonance sensor.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate an effective method to adjust the dynamic range of a
      fiber surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor by introducing a multimode fiber
      sensing probe with a dual-truncated-cone (DTC) structure. When the grind angle of
      the DTC structure increases, the dynamic range redshifts. Based on this result,
      we fabricate a quasi-distributed two-channel multimode fiber SPR sensor by
      cascaded-connecting a DTC-sensing probe of 14 degrees  grind angle and a
      traditional transmitted multimode fiber (TMF)-sensing probe in the same fiber.
      The corresponding sensitivities of two sensing probes are 3423.08 nm/RIU and
      2288.46 nm/RIU. By using this quasi-distributed multichannel fiber SPR-sensing
      approach, we may improve the detecting accuracy by extracting, calibrating, and
      compensating for the signals caused by the nonspecific bindings, other physical
      absorptions, and temperature changes in detecting samples, truly achieving
      dynamic detection in real-time. The excellence of this multichannel fiber SPR
      sensor is that the sensitivity of each subchannel-sensing probe stays unreduced
      after it is cascaded-connected in the main-channel fiber; the sensor is based on
      the multimode fiber, which is inexpensive, accessible, and convenient to be
      universalized in applications. 

PMID- 27628389
TI  - Free-space spectro-temporal and spatio-temporal conversion for pulsed light.
AB  - We present a new apparatus for converting between spectral and temporal
      representation of optical information, designed for operating with pulsed light
      sources. Every input pulse is converted into a pulse train in which the pulse
      intensities represent the spatial or temporal frequency spectrum of the original
      pulse. This method enables spectral measurements to be performed by following the
      temporal response of a single detector and, thus, is useful for real-time
      spectroscopy and imaging, and for spectral correlation measurements. The
      apparatus is based on multiple round-trips inside a 2f-cavity-like mirror
      arrangement in which the spectrum is spread on the back focal plane, and a small
      section of it is allowed to escape after each round-trip. Unlike existing
      methods, it relies neither on fibers nor on interference effects. It offers easy
      wavelength range tunability, and a prototype built achieves over 10% average
      efficiency in the near infrared (NIR). We demonstrate the application of the
      prototype for an efficient measurement of the joint spectrum of a non-degenerate
      bi-photon source in which one of the photons is in the NIR. 

PMID- 27628390
TI  - Energetic sub-2-cycle laser with 216  W average power.
AB  - Few-cycle lasers are essential for many research areas such as attosecond physics
      that promise to address fundamental questions in science and technology.
      Therefore, further advancements are connected to significant progress in the
      underlying laser technology. Here, two-stage nonlinear compression of a 660 W
      femtosecond fiber laser system is utilized to achieve unprecedented average power
      levels of energetic ultrashort or even few-cycle laser pulses. In a first
      compression step, 408 W, 320 MUJ, 30 fs pulses are achieved, which can be further
      compressed to 216 W, 170 MUJ, 6.3 fs pulses in a second compression stage. To the
      best of our knowledge, this is the highest average power few-cycle laser system
      presented so far. It is expected to significantly advance the fields of high
      harmonic generation and attosecond science. 

PMID- 27628391
TI  - Scanning Mueller polarimetric microscopy.
AB  - A full Mueller polarimeter was implemented on a commercial laser-scanning
      microscope. The new polarimetric microscope is based on high-speed polarization
      modulation by spectral coding using a wavelength-swept laser as a source.
      Calibration as well as estimation of the measurement errors of the device are
      reported. The acquisition of Mueller images at the speed of a scanning microscope
      is demonstrated for the first time. Mueller images of mineral and biological
      samples illustrate this new polarimetric microscopy. 

PMID- 27628393
TI  - Quantitative phase imaging by single-shot Hilbert-Huang phase microscopy.
AB  - We propose a novel single-shot Hilbert-Huang transform-based algorithm applied to
      digital holographic microscopy (DHM) for robust, fast, and accurate single-shot
      quantitative phase imaging in on-axis and off-axis configurations. Fringe pattern
      with possible defects and closed fringes are adaptively filtered and accurately
      phase demodulated using local fringe direction estimation. Experimental
      validation of the proposed techniques is presented as the DHM study of microbeads
      and red blood cells phase samples. Obtained results compare very favorably with
      the Fourier approach (off-axis) and temporal phase shifting (on-axis). 

PMID- 27628392
TI  - Highly compact magneto-optical switches for metal-dielectric-metal plasmonic
      waveguides.
AB  - We introduce highly compact resonant-cavity-enhanced magneto-optical switches for
      metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) plasmonic waveguides. The field profile of the
      fundamental mode of a MDM waveguide in which the metal is subject to an
      externally applied static magnetic field is asymmetric. The static magnetic field
      induced asymmetry, which enhances or reduces the coupling between the waveguide
      and a side-coupled resonator, and the relatively large induced wave vector
      modulation are used to design a Fabry-Perot cavity magneto-optical switch,
      consisting of a MDM waveguide side-coupled to two MDM stub resonators. The on and
      off states correspond to either the presence or the absence of the externally
      applied static magnetic field. 

PMID- 27628394
TI  - Asymmetric soliton mobility in competing linear-nonlinear parity-time-symmetric
      lattices.
AB  - We address the transverse mobility of spatial solitons in competing parity-time
      symmetric linear and nonlinear lattices. The competition between out-of-phase
      linear and nonlinear lattices results in a drastic mobility enhancement within a
      range of soliton energies. We show that within such a range, the addition of even
      a small imaginary part in the linear potential makes soliton mobility strongly
      asymmetric. For a given initial phase tilt, the velocity of soliton motion grows
      with an increase of the balanced gain/losses. In this regime of enhanced
      mobility, tilted solitons can efficiently drag other solitons that were initially
      at rest to form moving soliton pairs. 

PMID- 27628395
TI  - Resolution- and throughput-enhanced spectroscopy using a high-throughput
      computational slit.
AB  - There exists a fundamental trade-off between the spectral resolution and the
      efficiency or throughput for all optical spectrometers. The primary factors
      affecting the spectral resolution and throughput of an optical spectrometer are
      the size of the entrance aperture and the optical power of the focusing element.
      So far, the collective optimization of the above mentioned has proven difficult.
      Here, we introduce the concept of high-throughput computational slits (HTCS), a
      numerical technique for improving both the effective spectral resolution and
      efficiency of a spectrometer. The proposed HTCS approach was experimentally
      validated using an optical spectrometer configured with a 200 MUm entrance
      aperture, test, and a 50 MUm entrance aperture control, demonstrating
      improvements in the spectral resolution of the spectrum by ~50% over the control
      spectral resolution and improvements in efficiency of >2 times over the
      efficiency of the largest entrance aperture used in this Letter, while producing
      highly accurate spectra. 

PMID- 27628397
TI  - Surface-sensitive diamond photonic crystals for high-performance gas detection.
AB  - Diamond slotted photonic crystal (PhC) cavities were fabricated and used for gas
      detection. They exhibit wavelength sensitivity reaching a 350 nm per unit change
      of the refractive index of the gaseous environment of the PhC. With a simple
      oxidized surface termination, diamond PhCs display an ultrahigh sensitivity to
      the surface adsorption of polar molecules. Gaseous concentrations as low as 80
      parts per million (ppm) of hexanol vapor in nitrogen are probed, and a detection
      limit in the ppm range is inferred, demonstrating a high interest of such devices
      for trace sensing. 

PMID- 27628396
TI  - Simultaneous measurement of mass and rotation of trapped absorbing particles in
      air.
AB  - We trap absorbing micro-particles in air by photophoretic forces generated using
      a single loosely focused Gaussian trapping beam. We measure a component of the
      radial Brownian motion of a trapped particle cluster and determine the power
      spectral density, mean squared displacement, and normalized position and velocity
      autocorrelation functions to characterize the photophoretic body force in a
      quantitative fashion for the first time. The trapped particles also undergo
      spontaneous rotation due to the action of this force. This is evident from the
      spectral density that displays clear peaks at the rotation and the particles'
      inertial resonance frequencies. We fit the spectral density to the well-known
      analytical function derived from the Langevin equation, measure the resonance and
      rotation frequencies, and determine the values for particle mass that we verify
      at different trapping laser powers with reasonable accuracy. 

PMID- 27628398
TI  - Chalcogenide-based optical parametric oscillator at 2  MUm.
AB  - We report the first chalcogenide-based optical parametric oscillator (OPO)
      relying on pure parametric gain. The all-fiber OPO operates in the wavelength
      range of 2 MUm and is tunable over 290 nm from the combined Stokes and anti
      Stokes contributions. The gain medium is a 10 cm long chalcogenide microwire made
      from a high modal confinement As<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> core with cyclo olefin
      polymer cladding, leading to optimized chromatic dispersion, high nonlinearity,
      and broadband transparency. With a power threshold of only a fraction of a
      milliwatt, this design is promising for the fabrication of tunable, compact, and
      low-power consumption mid-infrared sources. 

PMID- 27628399
TI  - Coherence transfer of subhertz-linewidth laser light via an optical fiber noise
      compensated by remote users.
AB  - We present a technique for the coherence transfer of laser light through a fiber
      link, where the optical phase noise induced by environmental perturbation via the
      fiber link is compensated by remote users. When compensating the fiber noise by
      remote users, the time base at the remote site independent from that at the local
      site does not destroy the performance of the fiber output light. Using this
      technique, we demonstrate the transfer of subhertz-linewidth laser light through
      a 25-km-long, lab-based spooled fiber. After being compensated, the relative
      linewidth between the fiber input and output light is 1 mHz, and the relative
      frequency instability is 4*10<sup>-17</sup> at 1 s averaging time and scales down
      to 2*10<sup>-19</sup> at 800 s averaging time. The frequency uncertainty of the
      light after transferring through the fiber relative to that of the input light is
      3.0*10<sup>-19</sup>. This system is suitable for the simultaneous transfer of an
      optical signal to a number of end users within a city. 

PMID- 27628400
TI  - Optically enhanced production of metastable xenon.
AB  - Metastable states of noble gas atoms are typically produced by electrical
      discharge techniques or "all-optical" excitation methods. Here we combine
      electrical discharges with optical pumping to demonstrate "optically enhanced"
      production of metastable xenon (Xe<sup>*</sup>). We experimentally measure large
      increases in Xe<sup>*</sup> density with relatively small optical control field
      powers. This technique may have applications in systems where large metastable
      state densities are desirable. 

PMID- 27628401
TI  - Ultrahigh Q whispering gallery mode electro-optic resonators on a silicon
      photonic chip.
AB  - Crystalline whispering gallery mode (WGM) electro-optic resonators made of
      LiNbO<sub>3</sub> and LiTaO<sub>3</sub> are critical for a wide range of
      applications in nonlinear and quantum optics, as well as RF photonics, due to
      their remarkably ultrahigh Q(>10<sup>8</sup>) and large electro-optic
      coefficient. Achieving efficient coupling of these resonators to planar on-chip
      optical waveguides is essential for any high-yield and robust practical
      applications. However, it has been very challenging to demonstrate such coupling
      while preserving the ultrahigh Q properties of the resonators. Here, we show how
      the silicon photonic platform can overcome this long-standing challenge. Silicon
      waveguides with appropriate designs enable efficient and strong coupling to these
      WGM electro-optic resonators. We discuss various integration architectures of
      these resonators onto a silicon chip and experimentally demonstrate critical
      coupling of a planar Si waveguide and an ultrahigh QLiTaO<sub>3</sub> resonator
      (Q~10<sup>8</sup>). Our results show a promising path for widespread and
      practical applications of these resonators on a silicon photonic platform. 

PMID- 27628402
TI  - Multi-channel orbital angular momentum detection with metahologram.
AB  - Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is an intrinsic property of light that has
      attracted increasing attention recently. In a wide range of applications that
      involve OAM, it is often crucial to discern the OAM states with high fidelity. In
      this Letter, we propose a novel method to extend the detectable range of the OAM
      states by adopting a multi-sector metahologram. The incident light carrying OAM
      would be focused by the metahologram into surface plasmon waves with separated
      propagation directions that are spatially sampled by multiple subwavelength
      detectors. Through quantizing and mapping the detector signals into a lookup
      table, a wide range of OAM states could be distinguished. The principle reported
      in this Letter may find important applications in optical communications and
      information processing with the OAM states. 

PMID- 27628403
TI  - Single-step sub-200  fs mid-infrared generation from an optical parametric
      oscillator synchronously pumped by an erbium fiber laser.
AB  - We demonstrate the single-step generation of mid-infrared femtosecond laser
      pulses in a AgGaSe<sub>2</sub> optical parametric oscillator that is
      synchronously pumped by a 100 MHz repetition rate sub-90 fs erbium fiber laser.
      The tuning range of the idler beam in principle covers ~3.5 to 17 MUm, only
      dependent on the choice of cavity and mirror design. As an example, we
      experimentally demonstrate idler pulse generation from 4.8 to 6.0 MUm optimized
      for selective vibrational resonant molecular spectroscopy. We find an oscillation
      threshold as low as 150 mW of pump power. At 300 mW pump power and a central
      wavelength of ~5.0  MUm, we achieve an average infrared power of up to 17.5 mW,
      with a photon conversion efficiency of ~18%. A pulse duration of ~180  fs is
      determined from a nonlinear cross-correlation with residual pump light. The
      single-step nonlinear conversion leads to a high power stability with <1% average
      power drift at <0.5%  rms noise over 1 h. 

PMID- 27628404
TI  - Synchronization of two GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches triggered by
      two laser diodes.
AB  - In this Letter, we show the synchronization of two 2-mm-gap gallium arsenide
      (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS), which are in parallel and
      triggered by two laser diodes (LDs) independently. The comparison of the
      synchronization is measured by varying the bias electric field and optical
      excitation energy, respectively. An optimum synchronization is achieved as low as
      200.5 ps, while the GaAs PCSS are biased at 1.2 kV with optical excitation energy
      of 1.91 MUJ. The simulations demonstrate the relationship between the
      synchronization, the carriers average drift velocity, and the number of carriers
      undergoing intervalley scattering. 

PMID- 27628405
TI  - Ultrathin plasmonic chiral phase plate.
AB  - A thin free-standing gold membrane with complex plasmonic structures engraved on
      both sides is shown to perform as an ultrathin phase plate. Specifically, we
      demonstrate the generation of a far-field vortex beam propagating at a desired
      angle. The angular momentum of the beam is generated by the groove helicity,
      together with the geometric phase arising from a plasmonic spin-orbit
      interaction. The radial chirp of the back-side structure is used to modify the
      emission angle via a specific momentum matching condition. 

PMID- 27628406
TI  - Nanophotonic modal dichroism: mode-multiplexed modulators.
AB  - As the diffraction limit is approached, device miniaturization to integrate more
      functionality per area becomes more and more challenging. Here we propose a
      strategy to increase the functionality-per-area by exploiting the modal
      properties of a waveguide system. With such an approach the design of a mode
      multiplexed nanophotonic modulator relying on the mode-selective absorption of a
      patterned indium-tin-oxide (ITO) is proposed. Full-wave simulations of a device
      operating at the telecom wavelength of 1550 nm show that two modes can be
      independently modulated, while maintaining performances in line with conventional
      single-mode ITO modulators reported in the recent literature. The proposed design
      principles can pave the way to a class of mode-multiplexed compact photonic
      devices able to effectively multiply the functionality-per-area in integrated
      photonic systems. 

PMID- 27628407
TI  - Ellipsometric characterization of doped Ge<sub>0.95</sub>Sn<sub>0.05</sub> films
      in the infrared range for plasmonic applications.
AB  - GeSn as a group-IV material opens up new possibilities for realizing photonic
      device concepts in Si-compatible fabrication processes. Here we present results
      of the ellipsometric characterization of highly p- and n-type doped
      Ge<sub>0.95</sub>Sn<sub>0.05</sub> alloys deposited on Si substrates investigated
      in the wavelength range from 1 to 16 MUm. We discuss the suitability of these
      films for integrated plasmonic applications in the infrared region. 

PMID- 27628408
TI  - Coplanar-waveguide-based silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator using a meandering
      optical waveguide and alternating-side PN junction loading.
AB  - We demonstrate a silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator with a coplanar waveguide
      transmission-line electrode structure using a meandering optical waveguide and
      alternating-side PN junction loading of the electrodes, which helps suppress the
      signal distortion caused by the parasitic slot-line mode and improves the electro
      optic (EO) bandwidth. The silicon MZM exhibits a pi-phase-shift voltage
      (V<sub>pi</sub>) of 4.5 V with an EO 3 dB bandwidth of ~20  GHz for a 5 mm long
      phase shifter. This achieved V<sub>pi</sub> is among the lowest for silicon-only
      modulators with a bandwidth of more than 20 GHz. 

PMID- 27628409
TI  - Sapphire-fiber-based distributed high-temperature sensing system.
AB  - We present, for the first time to our knowledge, a sapphire-fiber-based
      distributed high-temperature sensing system based on a Raman distributed sensing
      technique. High peak power laser pulses at 532 nm were coupled into the sapphire
      fiber to generate the Raman signal. The returned Raman Stokes and anti-Stokes
      signals were measured in the time domain to determine the temperature
      distribution along the fiber. The sensor was demonstrated from room temperature
      up to 1200 degrees C in which the average standard deviation is about 3.7 degrees
      C and a spatial resolution of about 14 cm was achieved. 

PMID- 27628410
TI  - Tunable terahertz generation in the picosecond regime from the stimulated
      polariton scattering in a LiNbO<sub>3</sub> crystal.
AB  - We demonstrate narrowband tunable terahertz generation from a picosecond
      LiNbO<sub>3</sub> polariton laser, pumped by a CW mode-locked Nd:YVO<sub>4</sub>
      picosecond laser. We generated up to 5.4 MUW of terahertz output in untuned mode.
      We tuned the terahertz output, using etalons in the cavity, from 0.51 to 2.12
      THz. Terahertz output powers of 3.7 MUW and 2.4 MUW were achieved at terahertz
      frequencies of 1.6 THz and 0.9 THz, respectively. 

PMID- 27628411
TI  - Temperature-compensated distributed hydrostatic pressure sensor with a thin
      diameter polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber based on Brillouin
      dynamic gratings.
AB  - A temperature-compensated distributed hydrostatic pressure sensor based on
      Brillouin dynamic gratings (BDGs) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally for
      the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The principle is to measure the
      hydrostatic pressure induced birefringence changes through exciting and probing
      the BDGs in a thin-diameter pure silica polarization-maintaining photonic crystal
      fiber. The temperature cross-talk to the hydrostatic pressure sensing can be
      compensated through measuring the temperature-induced Brillouin frequency shift
      (BFS) changes using Brillouin optical time-domain analysis. A distributed
      measurement of hydrostatic pressure is demonstrated experimentally using a 4-m
      sensing fiber, which has a high sensitivity, with a maximum measurement error
      less than 0.03 MPa at a 20-cm spatial resolution. 

PMID- 27628412
TI  - Single-shot 3 * 3 beam grating interferometry for self-imaging free extended
      range wave front sensing.
AB  - Crossed grating 3*3 beam lateral shear interferometry for extended range wave
      front sensing is presented. A Fresnel diffraction pattern of two multiplicatively
      superimposed linear diffraction gratings each generating three diffraction orders
      is recorded. A simple solution employs a common crossed binary amplitude Ronchi
      grating with spatial filtering. Digital processing of a single-shot pattern
      includes separating multidirectional pairs of orthogonal lateral shear
      interferograms, retrieving second harmonics of their intensity distribution, and
      calculating shearing phases. Single-frame automatic fringe pattern processing
      based on the Hilbert-Huang transform is used for this purpose. Using second
      harmonics extends the aberration measurement range since they encode self-imaging
      free two-beam interferograms without contrast modulations. Experimental works
      corroborate the principle and capabilities of the proposed approach. 

PMID- 27628413
TI  - Power losses in diffuse ultraviolet optical communications channels.
AB  - One of the most critical parameters in free-space optical communications systems
      operating in a non-line-of-sight regime are the optical losses. In this Letter,
      we numerically calculate these losses taking into account the scattering effects
      using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The obtained results are compared
      with experimentally obtained data at 265 nm (solar-blind UV regime). A large set
      of measurements at distances up to 20 m, for different elevation angles of the
      transmitter (UV-LEDs) and receiver (photomultiplier tube) and for different
      atmospheric conditions has been taken for the characterization of the optical
      communications channel in terms of its loss properties. 

PMID- 27628415
TI  - Tolvaptan Reduces Long-Term Total Medical Expenses and Length of Stay in
      Aquaporin-Defined Responders.
AB  - The vasopressin type-2 antagonist tolvaptan (TLV) has clinical advantages
      including amelioration of congestion and normalization of hyponatremia in
      patients with decompensated heart failure (HF). However, there have been no
      studies on the cost-effectiveness of TLV therapy. We enrolled 60 consecutive
      hospitalized patients with stage D HF who received TLV [TLV (+) group], and 60
      propensity score-matched HF patients without TLV treatment [TLV (-) group]. We
      excluded 54 patients who died or received cardiac replacement therapy within 1
      year, and finally enrolled 32 patients who received TLV and 34 who did not, who
      were followed for > 1 year. Among 45 aquaporin-defined responders, whose urine
      aquaporin-2 relative to plasma arginine vasopressin level was > 1.4 * 10(3) L/g
      Cre, the TLV (+) group required significantly lower total medical expenses and
      shorter lengths of stay (LOS) compared with the TLV (-) group [11.2 (1.233.3)
      versus 31.2 (2.2-71.4) * 10(5) JPY/year, P < 0.001; 30 (0-304) versus 70 (20-221)
      days, P = 0.030]. In contrast, among the remaining 21 aquaporin-defined non
      responders, medical expenses and LOS were comparable irrespective of TLV
      administration (P = 0.087 and P = 0.407). In conclusion, TLV therapy may reduce
      total medical expenses in aquaporin-defined responders with stage D HF. 

PMID- 27628416
TI  - Visit-to-Visit Variability and Reduction in Blood Pressure After a 3-Month
      Cardiac Rehabilitation Program in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - Visit-to-visit variability (VVV) in blood pressure (BP) has been shown to be a
      predictor of cardiovascular events. It is unknown whether CR can improve VVV in
      BP as well as reducing BP. We enrolled 84 patients who had cardiovascular disease
      (CVD) and participated in a 3-month CR program. We measured systolic and
      diastolic BP (SBP and DBP), pulse pressure (PP), and heart rate (HR) before
      exercise training at each visit and determined VVV in BP or HR expressed as the
      standard deviation of the average BP or HR. Patients who had uncontrolled BP at
      baseline and who did not change their antihypertensive drugs throughout the study
      period showed a significant reduction of both SBP and DBP with a decrease in PP
      after 3 months. Patients who did not change their antihypertensive drugs were
      divided into larger (L-) and smaller (S-) VVV in the SBP groups and L- and S-VVV
      in the DBP groups according to the average value of VVV in SBP or DBP. In the L
      VVV in the SBP and DBP groups, VVV in SBP and DBP in the 1st month was
      significantly decreased after the 3rd month in both groups. HR at baseline was
      significantly decreased after 3 months. In addition, CR induced a significant
      increase in the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in blood.
      In conclusion, CR improved VVV in BP in patients with L-VVV in BP and evoked a
      significant reduction in HR and an increase in HDL-C. These effects due to the CR
      program may be cardioprotective. 

PMID- 27628414
TI  - BG-4, a novel anticancer peptide from bitter gourd (Momordica charantia),
      promotes apoptosis in human colon cancer cells.
AB  - Momordica charantia is a perennial plant with reported health benefits. BG-4, a
      novel peptide from Momordica charantia, was isolated, purified and characterized.
      The trypsin inhibitory activity of BG-4 is 8.6 times higher than purified soybean
      trypsin inhibitor. The high trypsin inhibitory activity of BG-4 may be
      responsible for its capability to cause cytotoxicity to HCT-116 and HT-29 human
      colon cancer cells with ED50 values of 134.4 and 217.0 MUg/mL after 48 h of
      treatment, respectively. The mechanism involved in the cytotoxic effect may be
      associated with induction of apoptosis as evidenced by increased percentage of
      HCT-116 and HT-29 colon cancer cells undergoing apoptosis from 5.4% (untreated)
      to 24.8% (BG-4 treated, 125 MUg/mL for 16 h) and 8.5% (untreated) to 31.9% (BG-4
      treated, 125 MUg/mL for 16 h), respectively. The molecular mechanistic
      explanation in the apoptosis inducing property of BG-4 is due to reduced
      expression of Bcl-2 and increased expression of Bax leading to increased
      expression of caspase-3 and affecting the expression of cell cycle proteins p21
      and CDK2. This is the first report on the anti-cancer potential of a novel
      bioactive peptide isolated from Momordica charantia in vitro supporting the
      potential therapeutic property of BG-4 against colon cancer that must be
      addressed using in vivo models of colon carcinogenesis.

PMID- 27628417
TI  - The Independent and Joint Association of Blood Pressure, Serum Total
      Homocysteine, and Fasting Serum Glucose Levels With Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave
      Velocity in Chinese Hypertensive Adults.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the independent and joint association of blood
      pressure (BP), homocysteine (Hcy), and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels with
      brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV, a measure of arterial stiffness) in
      Chinese hypertensive adults.The analyses included 3967 participants whose BP,
      Hcy, FBG, and baPWV were measured along with other covariates. Systolic BP (SBP)
      was analyzed as 3 categories (SBP < 160 mmHg; 160 to 179 mmHg; >= 180 mmHg); Hcy
      as 3 categories (< 10 MUmol/L; 10 to 14.9 MUmol/L; >= 15.0 MUmol/L) and FBG:
      normal (FBG < 5.6 mmol/L), impaired (5.6 mmol/L <= FBG < 7.0 mmol/L), and
      diabetes mellitus (FBG >= 7.0 mmol/L). We performed linear regression analyses to
      evaluate their associations with baPWV with adjustment for covariables.When
      analyzed individually, BP, Hcy, and FBG were each associated with baPWV. When BP
      and FBG were analyzed jointly, the highest baPWV value (mean +/- SD: 2227 +/- 466
      cm/s) was observed in participants with FBG >= 7.0 mmol/L and SBP >= 180 mmHg
      (beta = 432.5, P < 0.001), and the lowest baPWV value (mean +/- SD: 1692 +/- 289
      cm/s) was seen in participants with NFG and SBP < 160 mmHg. When Hcy and FBG were
      analyzed jointly, the highest baPWV value (2072 +/- 480 cm/s) was observed in
      participants with FBG >= 7.0 mmol/L and Hcy >= 15.0 MUmol/L (beta = 167.6, P <
      0.001), while the lowest baPWV value (mean +/- SD: 1773 +/- 334 cm/s) was
      observed in participants with NFG and Hcy < 10 MUmol/L.In Chinese hypertensive
      adults, SBP, Hcy, and FBG are individually and jointly associated with baPWV.Our
      findings underscore the importance of identifying individuals with multiple risk
      factors of baPWV including high SBP, FBG, and Hcy. 

PMID- 27628418
TI  - Determinants of Left Ventricular Systolic Function Improvement Following Coronary
      Artery Revascularization in Heart Failure Patients With Reduced Ejection Fraction
      (HFrEF).
AB  - Revascularization therapy such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or
      coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) should be considered for heart failure
      with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, revascularization therapy does
      not always improve left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the determinants of LVEF improvement following
      revascularization in HFrEF patients. From 2,229 consecutive decompensated heart
      failure patients, a total of 47 HFrEF patients who underwent revascularization
      were included in the analysis. Improvement of LVEF was defined as [(LVEF during
      chronic phase) - (LVEF during acute phase)] >= 10%. Univariate and multivariate
      logistic regression analyses were applied to investigate the determinants of LVEF
      improvement. The prevalence of revascularization by PCIs including chronic total
      occlusion (CTO) was significantly greater in the improved EF group (45.0%) as
      compared to the non-improved EF group (11.1%) (P = 0.02). Multivariate logistic
      regression analysis revealed that revascularization by PCIs including CTO was the
      significant determinant of the LVEF improvement after adjusting for confounding
      factors (OR 5.43, 95% CI 1.06-27.74, P = 0.04). Optimal medical therapy
      (angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and/or angiotensin II receptor
      blocker (ARB) and beta-blockers) was less frequently prescribed in patients with
      CABG (50.0% for ACE inhibitor and/or ARB and 41.7% for beta-blocker) than in
      patients without CABG (94.3% for both) (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). In
      conclusion, revascularization by PCIs including CTO was the significant
      determinant of LVEF improvement in HFrEF patients. Our results underscore the
      importance of optimal medical therapy even if patients receive complete
      revascularization such as CABG. 

PMID- 27628419
TI  - Acute Myocardial Infarction Caused by Thrombotic Microangiopathy Complicated With
      Myelodysplastic Syndrome.
AB  - Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a rare but lethal multisystem disease
      characterized by peripheral thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia,
      fever, and various stages of renal and neurological dysfunctions.(1,2)) The
      causes of TMA are mainly thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) or hemolytic
      uremic syndrome (HUS), and cases of TMA related to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
      are quite rare. Herein, we report a case of acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
      caused by TMA which is strongly suspected to have a relationship to MDS, and
      discuss the treatment of our patient who needed antiplatelet or anticoagulant
      therapy after AMI, while on the other hand, had pancytopenia and a bleeding event
      due to MDS. 

PMID- 27628421
TI  - Influence of Genetic Polymorphisms in Prostaglandin E2 Pathway (COX
      2/HPGD/SLCO2A1/ABCC4) on the Risk for Colorectal Adenoma Development and
      Recurrence after Polypectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Deregulation of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels reported in colorectal
      carcinogenesis contributes to key steps of cancer development. Our aim was to
      evaluate the influence of the genetic variability in COX-2/HPGD/SLCO2A1/ABCC4
      PGE2 pathway genes on the development and recurrence of colorectal adenomas.
      METHODS: A case-control study was conducted gathering 480 unscreened individuals
      and 195 patients with personal history of adenomas. A total of 43 tagSNPs were
      characterized using the Sequenom platform or real-time PCR. RESULTS: Ten tagSNPs
      were identified as susceptibility biomarkers for the development of adenomas. The
      top three most meaningful tagSNPs include the rs689466 in COX-2 (odds ratio
      (OR)=3.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.52-6.86), rs6439448 in SLCO2A1
      (OR=0.38; 95% CI: 0.22-0.65) and rs1751051 in ABCC4 genes (OR=2.75; 95% CI: 1.58
      4.80). The best four-locus gene-gene interaction model included the rs1346271,
      rs1863642 and rs12500316 single nucleotide polymorphisms in HPGD and rs1678405 in
      ABCC4 genes and was associated with a 13-fold increased susceptibility (95% CI:
      3.84-46.3, P<0.0001, cross-validation (CV) accuracy: 0.78 and CV consistency:
      8/10). Interesting, in low-risk patients the ABCC4 rs9524821AA genotype was
      associated not only with a higher hazard ratio (HR=2.93; 95% CI: 1.07-8.03), but
      half of these patients had adenoma recurrence at 60 months, considerably higher
      than the 21% noticed in low-risk patients. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic polymorphisms in
      COX-2/PGE2 pathway appear to contribute to the development of colorectal adenomas
      and influence the interval time to adenomas recurrence. The definition of risk
      models through the inclusion of genetic biomarkers might improve the adherence
      and optimization of current screening and surveillance guidelines for colorectal
      cancer prevention.

PMID- 27628420
TI  - Treatment of Hepatitis B: A Concise Review.

PMID- 27628422
TI  - Identification of Pathway-Specific Serum Biomarkers of Response to Glucocorticoid
      and Infliximab Treatment in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Serum biomarkers may serve to predict early response to therapy,
      identify relapse, and facilitate drug development in inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD). Biomarkers are particularly important in children, in whom achieving early
      remission and minimizing procedures are especially beneficial. METHODS: We
      profiled protein and micro RNA (miRNA) in serum from patients pre- and post
      therapy, to identify molecular markers of pharmacodynamic effect. Serum was
      obtained from children with IBD before and after treatment with either
      corticosteroids (prednisone; n=12) or anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha biologic
      (infliximab; n=7). Over 1,100 serum proteins were assayed using aptamer-based
      SOMAscan proteomics, and 22 miRNAs analyzed by quantitative real time PCR.
      Concordance of longitudinal changes between the groups was used to identify
      markers responsive to treatment. Bioinformatic analysis was used to build insight
      into mechanisms of changes in response to treatment. RESULTS: We identified 18
      proteins and three miRNAs responsive to both prednisone and infliximab. Eight
      markers that decreased are associated with inflammation and have gene promoters
      regulated by nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB. Several that increased are associated
      with resolving inflammation and tissue damage. We also identified six markers
      that appear to be steroid-specific, three of which have glucocorticoid receptor
      binding elements in their promoter region. CONCLUSIONS: Serum markers regulated
      by the inflammatory transcription factor NF-kappaB are potential candidates for
      pharmacodynamic biomarkers that, if correlated with later outcomes like
      endoscopic or histologic healing, could be used to monitor treatment, optimize
      dosing, and enhance drug development. The pharmacodynamic biomarkers identified
      here hold potential to improve both clinical care and drug development. Further
      studies are warranted to investigate these markers as early predictors of
      response, or possibly surrogate outcomes.

PMID- 27628423
TI  - Metastatic progression is associated with dynamic changes in the local
      microenvironment.
AB  - Most cancer-associated deaths result from metastasis. However, it remains unknown
      whether the size, microenvironment or other features of a metastatic lesion
      dictate its behaviour or determine the efficacy of chemotherapy in the adjuvant
      (micrometastatic) setting. Here we delineate the natural history of metastasis in
      an autochthonous model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), using lineage
      tracing to examine the evolution of disseminated cancer cells and their
      associated microenvironment. With increasing size, lesions shift from mesenchymal
      to epithelial histology, become hypovascular and accumulate a desmoplastic
      stroma, ultimately recapitulating the primary tumours from which they arose.
      Moreover, treatment with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel significantly reduces the
      overall number of metastases by inducing cell death in lesions of all sizes,
      challenging the paradigm that PDAC stroma imposes a critical barrier to drug
      delivery. These results illuminate the cellular dynamics of metastatic
      progression and suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy affords a survival benefit by
      directly targeting micrometastases.

PMID- 27628425
TI  - Maximizing the productivity of the microalgae Scenedesmus AMDD cultivated in a
      continuous photobioreactor using an online flow rate control.
AB  - In this study, production of the microalga Scenedesmus AMDD in a 300 L continuous
      flow photobioreactor was maximized using an online flow (dilution rate) control
      algorithm. To enable online control, biomass concentration was estimated in real
      time by measuring chlorophyll-related culture fluorescence. A simple microalgae
      growth model was developed and used to solve the optimization problem aimed at
      maximizing the photobioreactor productivity. When optimally controlled,
      Scenedesmus AMDD culture demonstrated an average volumetric biomass productivity
      of 0.11 g L-1 d-1 over a 25 day cultivation period, equivalent to a 70 %
      performance improvement compared to the same photobioreactor operated as a
      turbidostat. The proposed approach for optimizing photobioreactor flow can be
      adapted to a broad range of microalgae cultivation systems.

PMID- 27628426
TI  - Vascular abnormalities in patients with Stargardt disease assessed with optical
      coherence tomography angiography.
AB  - AIMS: To describe the vascular abnormalities in patients affected by Stargardt
      disease (STGD1) by means of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A).
      METHODS: Cross-sectional case series, with the following inclusion criteria:
      diagnosis of STGD1, clear ocular media, and stable fixation. Patients underwent
      best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), biomicroscopy, applanation tonometry, short
      wavelength fundus autofluorescence (SW-FAF) (HRA Heidelberg, Germany), 3*3 Swept
      Source OCT-A (Topcon Corporation, Japan). Foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area was
      manually outlined and removed from the vessel density analysis (ImageJ). Main
      outcome was vessel density assessment in the superficial capillary plexus (SCP),
      in the deep capillary plexus (DCP), and in the choriocapillaris (CC) of patients
      with STGD1. RESULTS: Nineteen patients (36 eyes) were recruited for the study (10
      females, 52.6%). Mean age was 33+/-5.7 years and mean BCVA was 0.6+/-0.3
      logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution. Thirty-six healthy age-matched
      subjects (one eye for each patient) acted as a control group. Qualitative
      analysis of OCT-A revealed areas of reduced vascular density in superficial and
      DCPs. CC showed focal defects partially corresponding to the flecks on SW-FAF
      imaging. Quantitative analysis of OCT-A disclosed a statistically significant
      difference in the density of the SCP (0.302+/-0.062 vs 0.365+/-0.042; p=0.0002)
      and the DCP (0.303+/-0.081 vs 0.399+/-0.045; p<0.001) compared with controls. To
      analyse CC, patients with STGD1 were divided into two groups, according to the
      presence of chorioretinal atrophy. Patients with atrophy showed significantly
      lower CC density compared with controls (p=0.0003) and patients without atrophy
      (p=0.001). Patients with STGD1 showed a larger FAZ at the SCP level compared with
      controls (p=0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Vascular impairment in patients affected by
      STGD1 is concentrated in superficial and the deep retinal plexuses. Patients with
      atrophic changes have a greater reduction in CC density compared with controls
      ('dark atrophy'). Morphological vascular evaluation may become an important step
      for predicting STGD1 treatment outcomes.

PMID- 27628427
TI  - "Nothing about us without us"-patient partnership in medical conferences.

PMID- 27628424
TI  - Global analysis of differential gene expression related to long-term sperm
      storage in oviduct of Chinese Soft-Shelled Turtle Pelodiscus sinensis.
AB  - Important evolutionary and ecological consequences arise from the ability of
      female turtles to store viable spermatozoa for an extended period. Although
      previous morphological studies have observed the localization of spermatozoa in
      Pelodiscus sinensis oviduct, no systematic study on the identification of genes
      that are involved in long-term sperm storage has been performed. In this study,
      the oviduct of P. sinensis at different phases (reproductive and hibernation
      seasons) was prepared for RNA-Seq and gene expression profiling. In total, 2,662
      differentially expressed genes (DEGs) including 1,224 up- and 1,438 down
      regulated genes were identified from two cDNA libraries. Functional enrichment
      analysis indicated that many genes were predominantly involved in the immune
      response, apoptosis pathway and regulation of autophagy. RT-qPCR, ELISA, western
      blot and IHC analyses showed that the expression profiles of mRNA and protein in
      selected DEGs were in consistent with results from RNA-Seq analysis. Remarkably,
      TUNEL analysis revealed the reduced number of apoptotic cells during sperm
      storage. IHC and TEM analyses found that autophagy occurred in the oviduct
      epithelial cells, where the spermatozoa were closely attached. The outcomes of
      this study provide fundamental insights into the complex sperm storage regulatory
      process and facilitate elucidating the mechanism of sperm storage in P. sinensis.

PMID- 27628428
TI  - Chemistry and Biology of HPAs: A Family of Ceramide Trafficking Inhibitors.
AB  - In 2001, two years before the disclosure of the CERT-associated Cer transfer
      machinery, N-(3-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-3-phenylpropyl)alkanamides (HPAs) were
      described as the first, and to date unique, family of intracellular Cer
      trafficking inhibitors. The dodecanamide derivative, HPA-12, turned out to be a
      benchmark as a cellular inhibitor of CERT-mediated de novo sphingomyelin
      biosynthesis. In only 15 years after its first disclosure, this compound has
      prompted a growing number of biological and chemical studies. Its initial
      chemical development closely paralleled the study of the CERT protein. It was
      only after its structural revision in 2011 that HPA-12 received broad attention
      from the synthetic chemistry community, leading to novel analogues with enhanced
      protein binding. This Minireview aims at presenting an exhaustive report of the
      syntheses of HPA-12 and analogues. Biological activities of this CERT inhibitor
      and structure-activity relationships are also presented to afford a comprehensive
      overview of the chemistry and biology of the HPA series.

PMID- 27628429
TI  - Etiologies and surgical outcomes of pediatric retinal detachment in Hong Kong.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to study the etiologies and operative outcomes of
      pediatric retinal detachment at a tertiary eye referral center in Hong Kong over
      a 10-year period. A retrospective study of patients (below 18 years of age) who
      received primary retinal detachment repair operations at a University Teaching
      Hospital between 2005 and 2015 was conducted. The study comprised 37 patients
      with 39 eyes affected who received primary retinal detachment (RD) surgery. Two
      patients had bilateral RD. 69.2 % were male. The mean follow-up period was 40.6
      +/- 28.6 months. Their mean age at presentation was 13.4 +/- 5.5 years. There
      were contributing factors for RD identified in 33 eyes (84.6 %), of which
      congenital/developmental anomalies (23.1 %), high myopia with refractive error
      greater than -6 diopters (17.9 %), and trauma (15.4 %) ranked the top 3 causes
      for RD. The retina was reattached after one surgical procedure in 69.2 %. Final
      anatomical success rate was 82.1 %. Postoperatively, 68.8 % of eyes had improved
      or stable vision. Functional visual loss with visual acuity less than 5/200 was
      found to be 30.6 % of eyes which were mostly from younger patients and those with
      congenital anomalies. Pediatric retinal detachment is often associated with
      predisposing factors. The presence of congenital/developmental ocular anomalies
      causing retinal detachment is more frequent in younger children and with worse
      functional and visual outcomes. Continuing efforts to improve treatment
      strategies for this group of patients are needed.

PMID- 27628430
TI  - In Situ Solid-State Synthesis of a AgNi/g-C3 N4 Nanocomposite for Enhanced
      Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Activity.
AB  - A graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 ) polymer matrix was embedded with AgNi alloy
      nanoparticles using a simple and direct in situ solid-state heat treatment method
      to develop a novel AgNi/g-C3 N4 photocatalyst. The characterization confirms that
      the AgNi alloy particles are homogeneously distributed throughout the g-C3 N4
      matrix. The catalyst shows excellent photoelectrochemical activity for water
      splitting with a maximum photocurrent density of 1.2 mA cm-2 , which is the
      highest reported for doped g-C3 N4 . Furthermore, a detailed experimental study
      of the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye using doped g-C3 N4
      showed the highest reported degradation efficiency of approximately 95 % after 90
      min. The electronic conductivity increased upon incorporation of AgNi alloy
      nanoparticles on g-C3 N4 and the material showed efficient charge carrier
      separation and transfer characteristics, which are responsible for the enhanced
      photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance under visible light.

PMID- 27628431
TI  - Left atrial appendage occlusion: rationale, evidence, devices, and patient
      selection.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a worldwide epidemic associated with significant
      morbidity and mortality, often due to disabling or fatal thromboembolic stroke.
      Oral anticoagulation is highly effective at preventing ischaemic stroke and
      improving all-cause survival in patients with non-valvular AF. Despite the
      efficacy of oral anticoagulation, many patients are not treated due to either
      absolute or perceived contraindications to therapy, including bleeding. Left
      atrial appendage (LAA) closure has emerged as a mechanical alternative to
      pharmacologic stroke prevention. Initial and mid-term clinical trial data suggest
      that LAA closure is safe, with less intracranial bleeding, and a net clinical
      benefit that appears to be non-inferior to oral anticoagulation. However, concern
      remains over the possible increased risk of ischaemic stroke in long-term follow
      up. Careful patient selection for LAA closure is paramount. Patients with prior
      intracranial bleeding or recurrent serious bleeding who are not eligible for long
      term oral anticoagulation are typical candidates for LAA closure; however, other
      populations may benefit as well, such as patients with end-stage renal disease.
      Clinical investigation and randomized trials are needed to clarify the best
      methods of LAA occlusion, optimal pharmacologic strategies in the short-term
      after LAA closure, and to identify patient populations who will derive the most
      benefit from LAA occlusion. In this article, we review the rationale for LAA
      closure, the currently available devices and their evidence base, patient
      selection, challenges in management, and future directions for LAA closure
      science.

PMID- 27628433
TI  - Cancer-Cell-Biomimetic Nanoparticles for Targeted Therapy of Homotypic Tumors.
AB  - A unique biomimetic drug-delivery system composed of 4T1-breast-cancer-cell
      membranes and paclitaxel-loaded polymeric nanoparticles (PPNs) (cell-membrane
      coated PPNs), demonstrates superior interactions to its source tumor cells and
      elongated blood circulation, and displays highly cell-specific targeting of the
      homotypic primary tumor and metastases, with successful inhibition of the growth
      and lung metastasis of the breast cancer cells.

PMID- 27628432
TI  - The Association Between Alcohol Use and the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between alcohol, both the amount and type,
      and cognitive decline in a cohort of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. METHODS:
      A cohort of 360 patients with early AD in New York, Boston, Baltimore and Paris
      were followed-up biannually for up to 19.28 years. At each visit, the cognitive
      profile of the patients was assessed using the modified Mini-Mental State
      Examination (mMMSE), and patients' alcohol intake, including beverage type, was
      reported by patients' primary caregivers. General estimating equation analysis
      was used to determine whether baseline alcohol use was associated with the rate
      of cognitive decline. RESULTS: Heavy drinkers (8 or more alcoholic drinks/week)
      had a faster cognitive decline, deteriorating 1.849 more points on their mMMSE
      score annually compared to abstainers (P = 0.001), or 2.444 more points compared
      to mild-moderate drinkers (1-7 alcoholic drinks/week) (P = 0.008). There was no
      significant difference when comparing mild-moderate drinkers to abstainers.
      Increasing standard drinks of hard liquor, but not beer or wine, was also
      associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline (beta = -0.117 P = 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Heavy alcohol consumption and more hard liquor are associated with a
      faster rate of cognitive decline in AD patients, suggesting that they may hasten
      progression of AD. Our results suggest that alcohol drinking habits might alter
      the course of AD.

PMID- 27628434
TI  - Longitudinal instability of the forearm.
AB  - The Essex Lopresti lesion is a rare triad of injury to the radial head,
      interosseous membrane of the forearm and distal radio-ulnar joint, which results
      in longitudinal instability of the radius. If unrecognized this leads to chronic
      pain and disability which is difficult to salvage. Early recognition and
      appropriate treatment is therefore desirable to prevent long-term problems. The
      aim of this article is to review the pathoanatomy of longitudinal radius
      instability and use the existing literature and authors' experience to provide
      recommendations for recognition and treatment of acute and chronic forearm
      instability, including description of the author's technique for interosseous
      membrane reconstruction. 

PMID- 27628435
TI  - Impaired Vascular Function of the Aorta in Adolescents with Turner Syndrome.
AB  - To investigate intrinsic vascular abnormalities of the ascending aorta before
      adulthood in Turner syndrome patients (TS), we compared 25 adolescent TS patients
      (mean age 14.6 +/- 3.4 years) and 16 healthy controls from a university hospital.
      Blood pressure and other vascular indices were evaluated using echocardiography
      such as aortic strain, stiffness index, distensibility, and pulse wave velocity.
      Aortic strain (0.1237 vs. 0.1865, respectively; P = 0.003) and aortic
      distensibility (0.0049 vs. 0.0081, P = 0.002) were significantly lower in the TS
      group than in the controls. The fractional area change on velocity vector imaging
      was also lower in TS patients (29.05 vs. 36.19, P = 0.002). These findings were
      still observed after adjustment for age, body mass index, and systolic blood
      pressure. The aortic stiffness index was greater in the TS patients than in the
      control group (6.79 vs. 3.34, P = 0.02). The pulse wave velocity and ascending
      aorta diameter did not significantly differ between the TS and control groups.
      Blood pressures were significantly higher in the TS patients than in the controls
      (systolic, 120.4 vs. 108.4 mmHg, P = 0.001; diastolic 71.5 vs. 61.7 mmHg, P <
      0.001). Although the dimensional changes in the aorta were not clearly observed
      in adolescents with TS, the elastic properties of the aorta were significantly
      decreased in TS patients as compared to control subjects.

PMID- 27628436
TI  - Implications of social media use on health information technology engagement:
      Data from HINTS 4 cycle 3.
AB  - Little is known about the association between Internet/social media use and
      health information technology (HIT) engagement. This study examines patterns of
      social media use and HIT engagement in the U.S.A. using data from the 2013 Health
      Information National Trends Survey (N = 3,164). Specifically, predictors of two
      HIT activities (i.e.,  communicating with a healthcare provider using the
      Internet or email and tracking personal health information electronically) are
      examined. Persons who were females, higher education, non-Hispanic others, having
      a regular healthcare provider, and ages 35-44 were more likely to participate in
      HIT activities. After controlling for sociodemographics and health correlates,
      social media use was significantly associated with HIT engagement. To our
      knowledge, this is one of the first studies to systematically examine the use and
      relationships across multiple types of health-related online media.

PMID- 27628438
TI  - The N400 elicited by homonyms in puns: Two primes are not better than one.
AB  - To comprehend a pun involving a homonym (e.g., The prince with a bad tooth got a
      crown), both meanings of the homonym must be accessed and selected. Previous ERP
      studies have shown that the N400 reflects lexicosemantic processing, but none
      have directly investigated the N400 elicited by homonyms in the unique context of
      puns. Here, N400 priming effects showed that the dual context of puns (e.g., the
      primes prince and tooth) did not facilitate homonym processing in comparison to
      single dominant biasing (e.g., The prince with a bad leg got a crown) or
      subordinate biasing (e.g., The adult with a bad tooth got a crown) conditions.
      However, homonyms did elicit a less negative N400 (i.e., priming) in the pun
      condition in comparison to the neutral context condition (e.g., The adult with a
      bad leg got a crown). These findings are interpreted in terms of the dominant
      advantage and subordinate bias effect posited by the reordered access model of
      homonym processing, and in terms of N400 amplitude as an index of how
      consistently various sources of semantic featural information converge on one
      lexical item, even when two lexical items must be activated for comprehension.

PMID- 27628437
TI  - Population pharmacokinetics of daptomycin in adult patients undergoing continuous
      renal replacement therapy.
AB  - AIM: The objective of this population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis was to
      provide guidance for the dosing interval of daptomycin in patients undergoing
      continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). METHODS: A previously published
      population PK model for daptomycin was updated with data from patients undergoing
      continuous veno-venous haemodialysis (CVVHD; n = 9) and continuous veno-venous
      haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF; n = 8). Model-based simulations were performed to
      compare the 24 h AUC, Cmax and Cmin of daptomycin following various dosing
      regimens (4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 mg kg-1 every [Q] 24 h and Q48 h), with the safety
      and efficacy exposure references for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia/right
      sided infective endocarditis. RESULTS: The previously developed daptomycin
      structural population PK model could reasonably describe data from the patients
      on CRRT. The clearance in patients undergoing CVVHDF and CVVHD was estimated at
      0.53 and 0.94 l h-1 , respectively, as compared with 0.75 l h-1 in patients with
      creatinine clearance (CrCl) >= 30 ml min-1 . Daptomycin Q24 h dosing in patients
      undergoing CRRT resulted in optimal exposure for efficacy, with AUC comparable to
      that in patients with CrCl >= 30 ml min-1 . In contrast, Q48 h dosing was
      associated with considerably lower AUC24-48h in all patients for doses up to 12
      mg kg-1 and is therefore inappropriate. CONCLUSIONS: Q24 h dosing of daptomycin
      up to 12 mg kg-1 provides comparable drug exposure in patients on CVVHD and in
      those with CrCl >= 30 ml min-1 . Daily daptomycin use up to 8 mg kg-1 doses are
      appropriate for patients on CVVHDF, but higher doses may increase the risk of
      toxicity.

PMID- 27628439
TI  - Insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction in people with prediabetes according
      to criteria based on glycemia and glycosylated hemoglobin.
AB  - Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) are well
      known conditions of risk for diabetes. Recently, 1h-hyperglycemia (1h-HG), i.e.,
      glycemia > 8.6 mmol/L, has been suggested as further condition of diabetes risk.
      Moreover, in 2010 the American Diabetes Association included the measurement of
      glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among the criteria of diabetes risk (5.7-6.4%).
      Aim of this study was investigating all these different conditions of diabetes
      risk, with specific focus on possible insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function
      changes, when 1h-HG, and further HbA1c-prediabetes, are added to the already
      deeply studied condition of IFG/IGT. In this study, we retrospectively analysed
      744 participants that underwent 2h-OGTT and HbA1c measurement. Participants were
      stratified into groups: (i) normal glucose tolerance, NGT (n=178); (ii) IFG
      and/or IGT (n=88); (iii) IFG/IGT plus 1h-HG (n=342); (iv) IFG/IGT plus 1h-HG plus
      HbA1c-prediabetes (n=136). We calculated several indices of insulin sensitivity
      and beta-cell function, as well as an index considering both aspects (disposition
      index). We found that progressing from group (i) to group (iv) both insulin
      sensitivity and beta-cell function tended to further deteriorate; the parameter
      providing more evidence was the disposition index (p<0.008 in any group
      comparison). In conclusion, for appropriate assessment of the level of diabetes
      risk (especially in people already known to be at high risk), it may be
      convenient to measure all the indicated parameters, that is, glycemia at fasting,
      at one hour and two hours during OGTT, and glycosylated hemoglobin.

PMID- 27628440
TI  - The presentation and outcomes of mucosal melanoma in 695 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most data on sinonasal mucosal melanoma come from small institutional
      studies, and therefore optimal treatment methods are not well understood. The
      purpose of this study was to analyze the association between treatment and
      survival in sinonasal mucosal melanoma. METHODS: Six hundred ninety-five patients
      diagnosed with sinonasal mucosal melanoma between 2004 and 2010 were identified
      from the National Cancer Data Base. Treatment modalities and overall survival
      rates were determined. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival was 21.7%, with a
      mean survival of 38.4 +/- 1.7 months. The majority of patients were treated with
      surgery alone (31.5%) or surgery with adjuvant radiotherapy (41.4%). There was no
      statistical difference between survival with surgery alone and surgery with
      adjuvant radiation therapy (25.1% vs 25.1%, p = 0.93). Between the surgery and
      surgery-with-adjuvant-therapy groups, there was no difference in the number of
      patients with positive margins (p = 0.54), regional lymph node metastases at
      diagnosis (p = 0.55), morbidity scores (p = 0.58), insurance status (p = 0.13),
      age > 60 years (p = 0.24), or treatment at academic centers (p = 0.12).
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on this large review of patients with sinonasal mucosal
      melanoma, adjuvant radiation therapy may not provide a survival benefit as
      patients tended to do poorly regardless of adjuvant radiation status.

PMID- 27628441
TI  - The persistence of pesticides in atmospheric particulate phase: An emerging air
      quality issue.
AB  - The persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to their physicochemical properties
      can be widely spread all over the globe; as such they represent a serious threat
      to both humans and wildlife. According to Stockholm convention out of 24
      officially recognized POPs, 16 are pesticides. The atmospheric life times of
      pesticides, up to now were estimated based on their gas-phase reactivity. It has
      been only speculated that sorption to aerosol particles may increase
      significantly the half-lives of pesticides in the atmosphere. The results
      presented here challenge the current view of the half-lives of pesticides in the
      lower boundary layer of the atmosphere and their impact on air quality and human
      health. We demonstrate that semivolatile pesticides which are mostly adsorbed on
      atmospheric aerosol particles are very persistent with respect to the highly
      reactive hydroxyl radicals (OH) that is the self-cleaning agent of the
      atmosphere. The half-lives in particulate phase of difenoconazole, tetraconazole,
      fipronil, oxadiazon, deltamethrin, cyprodinil, permethrin, and pendimethalin are
      in order of several days and even higher than one month, implying that these
      pesticides can be transported over long distances, reaching the remote regions
      all over the world; hence these pesticides shall be further evaluated prior to be
      confirmed as POPs.

PMID- 27628443
TI  - Erratum: Pain, Quality of Life, and Clinical Outcomes after Robotic Lobectomy.

PMID- 27628444
TI  - Erratum: Experimental Aortic Valve Cusp Extension with CorMatrix in a Porcine
      Model.

PMID- 27628442
TI  - Adipokinetic hormones and their G protein-coupled receptors emerged in
      Lophotrochozoa.
AB  - Most multicellular animals belong to two evolutionary lineages, the Proto- and
      Deuterostomia, which diverged 640-760 million years (MYR) ago. Neuropeptide
      signaling is abundant in animals belonging to both lineages, but it is often
      unclear whether there exist evolutionary relationships between the neuropeptide
      systems used by proto- or deuterostomes. An exception, however, are members of
      the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor superfamily, which occur in
      both evolutionary lineages, where GnRHs are the ligands in Deuterostomia and GnRH
      like peptides, adipokinetic hormone (AKH), corazonin, and AKH/corazonin-related
      peptide (ACP) are the ligands in Protostomia. AKH is a well-studied insect
      neuropeptide that mobilizes lipids and carbohydrates from the insect fat body
      during flight. In our present paper, we show that AKH is not only widespread in
      insects, but also in other Ecdysozoa and in Lophotrochozoa. Furthermore, we have
      cloned and deorphanized two G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) from the oyster
      Crassostrea gigas (Mollusca) that are activated by low nanomolar concentrations
      of oyster AKH (pQVSFSTNWGSamide). Our discovery of functional AKH receptors in
      molluscs is especially significant, because it traces the emergence of AKH
      signaling back to about 550 MYR ago and brings us closer to a more complete
      understanding of the evolutionary origins of the GnRH receptor superfamily.

PMID- 27628445
TI  - Bronchial Stump Recurrence after Complete Resection of Lung Cancer: Effect of the
      Distance between the Tumor and Bronchial Resection Margin.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the following parameters after
      complete resection in established lung cancer patients: the frequency of
      bronchial stump recurrence (BSR), the effect of the distance between the tumor
      and bronchial resection margin (DBTM) on BSR, the survival of patients with BSR,
      and the effect of the DBTM on survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively
      evaluated 553 consecutive lung cancer patients who underwent complete lung
      resection. The patients were classified as DBTM: <= 10 mm (group 1), 11 to 20 mm
      (group 2), and > 20 mm (group 3). RESULTS: We found BSR in eight (1.5%) patients.
      Six patients were in group 1, and two were in group 2. The difference was found
      to be statistically significant (p = 0004; groups 1 vs. 3). In multivariable
      analysis, we observed a trend toward significance for the effect of a DBTM on BSR
      development (p = 0.1). The DBTM did not significantly affect survival (p = 0.61).
      The survival of patients who developed BSR was significantly poor compared with
      those who did not develop BSR (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: BSR can develop even after
      complete resection of lung cancer. The DBTM is associated with BSR risk, and the
      survival of patients who develop BSR is poor.

PMID- 27628447
TI  - Athermal early retrograde release of the neurovascular bundle during nerve
      sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
AB  - While cancer control is the primary objective of radical prostatectomy,
      maintenance of sexual function is a priority for the majority of men presenting
      with prostate cancer. Preservation of the neurovascular bundles is the
      challenging and critical step of radical prostatectomy with regards to
      maintenance of potency. The objective of this study is to describe the surgical
      steps of our hybrid technique: athermal early retrograde release of the
      neurovascular bundle during nerve-sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy. This technique involves releasing the neurovascular bundle in a
      retrograde direction from the apex toward the base of the prostate, during an
      antegrade prostatectomy. It is a hybrid of the traditional open and the
      laparoscopic approaches to nerve sparing. With this approach we are able to
      clearly delineate the path of the bundle and avoid inadvertently injuring it when
      controlling the prostatic pedicle. Our hybrid nerve-sparing technique combines
      aspects of the traditional open anatomical approach with those of the
      laparoscopic antegrade approach. The benefits of robotic technology allow a
      retrograde neurovascular bundle dissection to be performed during an antegrade
      radical prostatectomy. 

PMID- 27628446
TI  - Retroperitoneal robotic renal surgery: technique and early results.
AB  - We describe a robotic retroperitoneal approach to renal surgery, optimized in
      porcine and cadaveric models, and applied to human patients. A retroperitoneal
      approach for robotic kidney surgery was developed in nonsurvival porcine and a
      fresh cadaver models, and then utilized in ten patients (three partial
      nephrectomy, three radical nephrectomy, two simple nephrectomy, one pyeloplasty,
      one cryoablation). Retroperitoneal access was successfully achieved for robotic
      renal procedures in six pigs and a human cadaver. Ten human patients (mean age 56
      years, range 36-72 years) then underwent a successful retroperitoneal approach
      for robotic renal surgery. Mean console time was 166 (120-300) min. Mean blood
      loss was 82 (50-100) ml and average hospital stay was 2.6 (1-5) days. Pathology
      demonstrated clear cell renal cell carcinoma (four), papillary renal cell
      carcinoma (two), and xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (two). One patient with
      xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis required open conversion for failure to
      progress due to dense adhesions. A retroperitoneal approach is a safe and
      feasible alternative to a transperitoneal approach for robotic renal surgery,
      including radical nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, pyeloplasty, and
      cryoablation. 

PMID- 27628448
TI  - A comparison of robot-assisted and traditional radical hysterectomy for early
      stage cervical cancer.
AB  - A robotics surgery program was introduced into the division of gynecologic
      oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in June 2007. A
      prospective database of all patients undergoing a type III radical hysterectomy
      for stage IB1 cervical cancer between July 2007 and June 2008 was collected and
      analyzed. Demographic data and perioperative outcomes were analyzed between a
      traditional and robot-assisted approach. A total of 14 patients were identified
      who underwent a type III radical hysterectomy for stage IB1 cervical cancer.
      Seven patients underwent robotic surgery and seven patients underwent traditional
      surgery. There were no significant differences in median age or body mass index
      between the two groups. A significant difference in blood loss between robotic
      (75 cc) and traditional (700 cc) surgery was detected (P = 0.002). A significant
      difference in hospital stay between robotic (1 day) and traditional (5 days)
      surgery was observed (P = 0.0007). No significant difference in operative time
      (260 vs. 264 min) or lymph node yield (19 and 14) was identified between the
      robotic and traditional approaches. No major operative complications occurred
      with robotic radical hysterectomy. Robot-assisted radical hysterectomy was
      associated with a significant reduction in blood loss and hospital stay. Improved
      nodal yields, fewer operative complications, and less pain was observed with the
      robotic approach. Robot-assisted radical hysterectomy appears safe and feasible
      and further investigation is warranted in a prospective fashion. 

PMID- 27628449
TI  - Description of a novel technique for suture ligation of the renal vessels during
      robotic nephrectomy.
AB  - Minimally invasive techniques are frequently used for surgical treatment of
      suspected malignant renal masses. We previously reported on our experience with
      robotic nephrectomy and the feasibility of performing suture ligation of the
      renal vessels using robotic needle drivers. We describe a novel technique for
      suture ligation of the renal vessels during robotic nephrectomy utilizing the
      robotic hook and a suture with loops at each end. Our technique for suture
      ligation of the renal vessels recapitulates the open technique without the need
      for exchanging the robotic working instruments for robotic needle drivers and
      without the need for endovascular staplers. 

PMID- 27628450
TI  - The dimensions and symmetry of the seminal vesicles.
AB  - The traditional anatomical description of the seminal vesicles is based on
      autopsy and imaging studies. Trans-peritoneal robotic-assisted laproscopic
      surgery, with its three-dimensional magnified view and miniature articulated
      working instruments, provides an opportunity to perform accurate dissections of
      the seminal vesicles even when extremely long and tortuous. We used specimens
      obtained by robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RLRP) for
      accurate anatomic assessment of the dimensions of the seminal vesicles. Digital
      photos of 78 specimens from men (mean age 59 +/- 6.1 years) who underwent RLRP
      were analyzed using the Image Pro Plus software. Seminal vesicle dimensions were
      correlated with patients' age, weight, height, prostate weight, sexual function
      profile (SHIM) and symptom severity score of the lower urinary tract symptoms
      (IPSS). We found that the length of the seminal vesicles is highly variable
      (range of 8.5-94.6 mm). The average seminal vesicle length was 31 +/- 10.3 mm and
      its average volume 7.1 +/- 5.2 ml. The right seminal vesicle was significantly
      larger than the left in length, width and volume (P < 0.003). The seminal
      vesicles were found to be highly asymmetric with a mean difference of 17.8% in
      length and 24.9% in width between the sides. No correlation between seminal
      vesicle dimensions and any of the parameters tested was found. We concluded that
      the normal human seminal vesicles are characterized by marked (11-fold) variation
      in length and are asymmetric in most patients. The right seminal vesicle is
      significantly larger than the left. Seminal vesicle dimensions cannot be
      predicted from other morphometric or physiologic parameters. 

PMID- 27628451
TI  - Surgical techniques: robot-assisted laparoscopic colposacropexy with the da
      Vinci((r)) surgical system.
AB  - Colposacropexy is the gold-standard operation for repair of apical vaginal
      support defects. While it is feasible to perform this operation using
      conventional laparoscopic techniques, a limited number of surgeons have mastered
      the advanced minimally invasive skills that are required. Introduction of the da
      Vinci((r)) robotic system with instruments that have improved dexterity and
      precision and a camera system with three-dimensional imaging presents an
      opportunity for more surgeons treating women with pelvic organ prolapse to
      perform the procedure laparoscopically. This paper will outline a technique that
      is exactly modeled after the open procedure for completion of a robotic-assisted
      colposacropexy using the da Vinci((r)) surgical system. 

PMID- 27628452
TI  - Robotic-assisted partial cystectomy for recurrent extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma.
AB  - A 27-year-old male experienced a bladder metastasis of a malignant extra-adrenal
      retroperitoneal pheochromocytoma 10 months after surgical resection of the
      primary tumor. This recurrence was managed successfully utilizing a robotic
      assisted partial cystectomy with minimal morbidity and negative surgical margins.
      This is the first published report of robotic-assisted management of bladder
      pheochromocytoma. 

PMID- 27628453
TI  - To forget is human: the case of the retained bulb.
AB  - The scenario of a forgotten instrument or foreign body has plagued surgical
      procedures from the early days. It has been estimated that the incidence of
      retained foreign bodies is around one in every 1,000-1,500 intra-abdominal
      operations and can be expected to occur at least once per year in hospitals where
      8,000-18,000 major surgeries are performed annually. We report a case of a
      forgotten asepto bulb in the vagina following a robot-assisted total laparoscopic
      hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27628454
TI  - Port site hernias following robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy.
AB  - Port site herniation is a rare but potentially major complication of laparoscopic
      surgery, but its importance within the context of robot-assisted laparoscopic
      prostatectomy (RALP) is less understood. We describe two cases that developed
      port site hernias following RALP, within a single surgeon case series of over 500
      cases. Both patients re-presented with vague abdominal symptoms early following
      surgery, with a subsequent Computer tomography scan demonstrating small bowel
      herniation through the abdominal wall defect at the right lateral assistant 12 mm
      port site. Both required surgical exploration and successful repair. Following
      review of these cases and the current literature, we have since adapted our
      surgical approach. We recommend the routine use of a 'nonbladed' trocar for all
      12 mm ports, which should also be formally closed incorporating all fascial
      layers. Early post-operative abdominal signs should alert the surgeon to its
      presence, and management should include immediate abdominal CT scanning and
      surgical re-exploration. 

PMID- 27628455
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery of a 12-week scar pregnancy with temporary
      occlusion of the uterine blood supply.
AB  - A Cesarean section scar pregnancy is a serious obstetric complication. For all
      treatment modalities there are risks of heavy bleeding and emergency
      hysterectomy. Here we report the use of the da Vinci robot for removal of the
      pregnancy with adequate bleeding control. A 36-year-old para-3 was diagnosed
      having a 11 + 3 week live cesarean scar pregnancy and a complete placenta previa.
      S-hCG was 52 726 IU/l. One week after methotrexate treatment the pregnancy was
      uneventfully and completely removed by robot-assisted laparoscopy with minimal
      blood loss. The uterine defect was repaired. Bleeding was controlled by temporary
      application of metal clips to the distal internal iliac arteries and the propria
      ligaments. Postoperative color Doppler ultrasonography revealed normal uterine
      blood flow, a repaired uterine defect, and no remaining pregnancy tissue. S-hCG
      was normalized (<3 IU/l) 38 days after surgery. Robot-assisted laparoscopic
      surgery with temporary occlusion of the main uterine blood supply is a feasible
      and safe technique for surgery of a Cesarean scar pregnancy. 

PMID- 27628456
TI  - The "halo effect" in Korea: change in practice patterns since the introduction of
      robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
AB  - Acquisition of the da Vinci surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Mountain View,
      USA) has enabled robot-assisted surgery to become an acceptable alternative to
      open radical prostatectomy (ORP). Implementation of robotics at a single
      institution in Korea induced a gradual increase in the number of performances of
      robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) to surgically treat
      localized prostate cancer. We analyzed the impact of robotic instrumentation on
      practice patterns among urologists and explain the change in value in ORP and
      RALP-the standard treatment and the new approach or innovation of robotic
      technology. The overall number of prostatectomies has increased over time because
      the number of RALPs has grown drastically whereas the number of OPRs did not
      decrease during the period of evaluation. Our experience emphasizes the potential
      of RALP to become the gold standard in the treatment of localized prostate cancer
      in various parts of the world. 

PMID- 27628457
TI  - 3D Framework DNA Origami with Layered Crossovers.
AB  - Designer DNA architectures with nanoscale geometric controls provide a
      programmable molecular toolbox for engineering complex nanodevices. Scaffolded
      DNA origami has dramatically improved our ability to design and construct DNA
      nanostructures with finite size and spatial addressability. Here we report a
      novel design strategy to engineer multilayered wireframe DNA structures by
      introducing crossover pairs that connect neighboring layers of DNA double
      helices. These layered crossovers (LX) allow the scaffold or helper strands to
      travel through different layers and can control the relative orientation of DNA
      helices in neighboring layers. Using this design strategy, we successfully
      constructed four versions of two-layer parallelogram structures with well-defined
      interlayer angles, a three-layer structure with triangular cavities, and a 9- and
      15-layer square lattices. This strategy provides a general route to engineer 3D
      framework DNA nanostructures with controlled cavities and opportunities to design
      host-guest networks analogs to those produced with metal organic frameworks.

PMID- 27628458
TI  - Focusing on relationships, not information, respects autonomy during antenatal
      consultations.
AB  - : Policy statements regarding antenatal consultations for preterm labour are
      guided by physicians' concerns for upholding the legal doctrine of informed
      consent, through the provision of standardised homogeneous medical information.
      This approach, led by classical in-control conceptions of patient autonomy,
      conceives moral agents as rational, independent, self-sufficient decision-makers.
      Recent studies on these antenatal consultations have explored patients'
      perspectives, and these differ from guidelines' suggestions. Relational autonomy 
      which understands moral agents as rational, emotional, creative and
      interdependent - resonates impressively with these new data. CONCLUSION: A model
      for antenatal consultations is proposed. This approach encourages clinicians to
      explore individual patients' lived experiences and engage in trusting empowering
      relationships. Moreover, it calls on physicians to enhance patients' relational
      autonomy by becoming advocates for their patients within healthcare institutions
      and professional organisations, while calling for broadscale policy changes to
      encourage further funding and support in investigations of the patient's voice.

PMID- 27628459
TI  - Computed tomography-based three-dimensional visualisation of bone corridors and
      trajectories for screws in open reduction and internal fixation of symphysis
      diastasis: a retrospective radiological study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Typical stabilisation of pelvic open book injuries consists of
      plate fixation of the symphysis. No previous literature has been published about
      the evaluation of screw placement and their trajectory with four oblique 4.5 mm
      screws using a four-hole plate in symphysis diastasis. The aim of this study was
      to define insertion points and angles of trajectory for crossed screw placement
      regardless of any plate design based on an analysis of three-dimensional computed
      tomography data sets. METHODS: One hundred human pelvic CT data sets were
      collected. Unilateral and bilateral placements of crossed 4.5 mm screws were
      simulated. Primary outcome measure was successful simulated screw placement
      without cortical breach. Secondary outcome measures included the anatomical
      measurements of the screw positions. RESULTS: Simulated screw placement of two
      oblique screws on each side of the pubic symphysis without cortical breach was
      achieved in all (100 %) cases. There were a total of 400 screw simulations.
      Medial screws were longer, lateral screws had higher coronal angles, and the
      distance between both screws was higher on the right side (p < 0.001 each). The
      lengths of the right lateral, right medial, left lateral, and left medial screws
      were 44.9, 65.8, 45.4, and 67.4 mm, respectively. The sagittal angles to the
      dorsal surface area of the pubic rami were 10.5 degrees , 11.1 degrees , 9.0
      degrees , and 11.0 degrees . The coronal angles to the vertical axis of the
      symphysis measured 39.5 degrees , 16.0 degrees , 33.8 degrees , and 16.8 degrees
      . The distances between these screws and the medial edge of the pubic crest were
      33.5, 8.6, 29.5, and 7.3 mm. Furthermore, certain sex- and side-related
      differences were noted. CONCLUSIONS: This series provides results about the
      feasibility and a detailed anatomical description of crossed screw placement.
      This is of special interest in pelvic surgery for choosing the entry points, safe
      screw channel parameters, and trajectories.

PMID- 27628460
TI  - Monitoring anticoagulation with argatroban in critically ill patients: activated
      partial thromboplastin time versus diluted thrombin time.

PMID- 27628461
TI  - Trade law and alcohol regulation: what role for a global Alcohol Marketing Code?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Following calls for restrictions and bans on alcohol
      advertising, and in light of the tobacco industry's challenge to Australia's
      tobacco plain packaging measure, a tobacco control measure finding support in the
      World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, this
      paper considers what role, if any, an international alcohol marketing code might
      have in preventing or reducing the risk of challenges to domestic alcohol
      marketing restrictions under trade rules. METHODS: Narrative review of
      international trade and health instruments and international trade court
      judgements regarding alcohol products and marketing restrictions. FINDINGS: The
      experience of European trade courts in the litigation of similar measures
      suggests that World Trade Organization rules have sufficient flexibility to
      support the implementation of alcohol marketing restrictions. However, the
      experience also highlights the possibility that public health measures have
      disproportionate and unjustifiable trade effects and that the ability of a public
      health measure to withstand a challenge under trade rules will turn on its
      particular design and implementation. CONCLUSION: Measures implemented pursuant
      to international public health instruments are not immune to trade law
      challenges. Close collaboration between health policymakers, trade officials and
      lawyers, from as early as the research stage in the development of a measure to
      ensure a robust evidence base, will ensure the best chance of regulatory survival
      for an international marketing code.

PMID- 27628462
TI  - A few simple steps to improve the description of group results in neuroscience.

PMID- 27628463
TI  - Health Policy and Shared Decision Making in Emergency Care: A Research Agenda.
AB  - Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and other laws have
      promoted the use of shared decision making (SDM) in recent years, few specific
      policies have addressed the opportunities and challenges of utilizing SDM in the
      emergency department (ED). Policies relating to physician payment, quality
      measurement, and medical-legal risks each present unique challenges to adoption
      of SDM in the ED. This article summarizes findings from a health policy breakout
      session of the 2016 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference "Shared
      Decision Making in the Emergency Department: Development of a Policy-relevant,
      Patient-centered Research Agenda." The objectives were to 1) describe federal and
      state policies that influence utilization or assessment of SDM; 2) identify
      policies and policy-focused knowledge gaps that serve as barriers to adoption of
      ED SDM; and 3) to define a consensus-based, policy-focused research agenda to
      support adoption of SDM in emergency care.

PMID- 27628464
TI  - Measuring Enthalpy of Sublimation of Volatiles by Means of Piezoelectric Crystal
      Microbalances.
AB  - Piezoelectric Crystal Microbalances (PCM's) are widely used to study the chemical
      processes involving volatile compounds in any environment, such as condensation
      process. Since PCM's are miniaturized sensor, they are very suitable for
      planetary in situ missions, where can be used to detect and to measure the mass
      amount of astrobiologically significant compounds, such as water and organics.
      This work focuses on the realization and testing of a new experimental setup,
      able to characterize volatiles which can be found in a planetary environment. In
      particular the enthalpy of sublimation of some dicarboxylic acids has been
      measured. The importance of dicarboxylic acids in planetology and astrobiology is
      due to the fact that they have been detected in carbonaceous chondritic material
      (e.g. Murchinson), among the most pristine material present in our Solar System.
      In this work, a sample of acid was heated in an effusion cell up to its
      sublimation. For a set of temperatures (from 30  degrees C to 75  degrees C), the
      deposition rate on the PCM surface has been measured. From these measurements, it
      has been possible to infer the enthalpy of sublimation of Adipic acid, i.e.
      DeltaH = 141.6 +/- 0.8 kJ/mol and Succinic acid, i.e. DeltaH = 113.3 +/- 1.3
      kJ/mol. This technique has so demonstrated to be a good choice to recognise a
      single compound or a mixture (with an analysis upstream) even if some
      improvements concerning the thermal stabilization of the system will be
      implemented in order to enhance the results' accuracy. The experiment has been
      performed in support of the VISTA (Volatile In Situ Thermogravimetry Analyzer)
      project, which is included in the scientific payload of the ESA MarcoPolo-R
      mission study.

PMID- 27628465
TI  - Posterior colpotomy: a successful retrieval route for pelvic masses following
      robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - We report a technique of transvaginal extraction of pelvic masses or larger
      specimens removed during robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in order to avoid
      larger port incisions and postoperatively reduce pain. Fifty women underwent a
      transvaginal incision to remove large pelvic masses after robot-assisted
      laparoscopic hysterectomies. Posterior colpotomies were performed with bagged
      specimens delivered into the vagina, extracted, and then closed robotically with
      a running suture. Vaginal extraction of pelvic masses was successful in all
      attempted cases and in no case was there any spillage, with an average operative
      time of 94.22 +/- 4.48 and no intraoperative complications. This technique can be
      considered efficacious and safe with minimal morbidity. We suggest a surgical set
      up including vaginal-cervical Ahluwalia retractor elevator to be prepared should
      the specimen be too large to remove via the port site, thus giving the surgeon
      the opportunity to perform this procedure with ease if necessary. 

PMID- 27628466
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: initial experience with first
      112 cases.
AB  - In this study we report our initial robot-assisted laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy (RALRP) experience for organ-confined prostate cancer with the
      first 112 cases between August 2009 and January 2011. The mean age was 61 (46-76)
      years. Gleason scores ranged between 4 and 9, and the mean prostate volume was
      38.7 (15-115) ml. The mean follow-up time was 8.1 (1-18) months. The mean
      operative time was 174.7 (75-360) min, and the mean estimated blood loss was 141
      (60-800) ml. A nerve-sparing procedure was performed bilaterally in 79 cases and
      unilaterally in 15 cases. All the complications seen (8 out of 112 patients,
      7.1%) were grade 1 and 2 according to the Clavien classsification system.
      Postoperatively, five (4.4%) patients needed transfusion. Mean drain extraction
      time was 3.2 (2-15) days and mean hospital stay was 4 (2-18) days. The catheter
      was removed on postoperative day 8.5 (6-20). Surgical margin was positive in 13
      (11.6%) patients. Forty-nine patients have 6 months and 30 patients have 12
      months follow-up. The continence rate were 29.4, 64.2, 84.2, 91.1 and 96.6%
      immediately after catheter removal and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively. No
      anastomotic stricture or urinary retention was seen in the follow-up period.
      RALRP is a safe and feasible technique in the treatment of localized prostate
      cancer. Our initial experience with this procedure shows promising short-term
      outcomes. 

PMID- 27628467
TI  - Vas deferens urethral support improves early post-prostatectomy urine continence.
AB  - Urine continence is often impaired after radical prostatectomy. Few randomized
      studies prove the efficacy of novel surgical approaches. Vas deferens urethral
      support (VDUS) during robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) was
      studied for improvement of early postoperative urine continence in a single
      centre prospective double-blind randomized study with a power of 90% to detect a
      30% decrease in early incontinence. 112 men were randomized, and 108 could be
      analyzed (VDUS n = 54, noVDUS n = 54). VDUS improved early continence by 40% at 1
      month (59% vs. 35%, P = 0.02); 6 months postoperatively this was 72% vs. 62%, P =
      0.41. A 24-h pad test at 1 day, 3 days, and 1 week showed decreased amounts of
      urine loss in the VDUS group. The ICIQ-SF score was significantly lower for the
      VDUS group within the first month after surgery. VDUS had no impact upon quality
      of life questionnaire analyses for overall and lower urinary tract symptom
      related quality of life but showed a significant improvement in the social domain
      of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire. VDUS moderately improved early urine
      continence within 1 month after RALP. 

PMID- 27628468
TI  - Conventional laparoscopic and robot-assisted laparoscopic liver resection for
      benign and malignant pathologies: a cohort study.
AB  - The aim of our study was to evaluate different minimally invasive surgical
      approaches for liver resection in a tertiary surgical center. The study cohort
      comprised 104 consecutive patients who underwent total laparoscopic liver
      resection (n = 17), hand-assisted laparoscopic liver resection (n = 55), or robot
      assisted laparoscopic liver resection (n = 32) in our center between October 1998
      and January 2011. Surgical complications, postoperative course, disease-free
      survival, and overall survival for malignancy were assessed. These 104 resections
      were performed on 55 men and 49 women with a mean age of 60.4 years; 43.3% of
      patients had liver cirrhosis. The liver pathologies comprised malignant tumors
      (64.4%) and benign lesions (35.6%). The most common laparoscopic liver resection
      was left lateral sectionectomy (53.9%), wedge resection (26.9%), segmentectomy
      (13.5%), right hepatectomy (3.8%), and left hepatectomy (1.9%). Conversion from
      laparoscopy to open approach and from laparoscopy to hand-assisted approach
      occurred in 1.9 and 1% of the cases, respectively. Overall mortality was 0%, and
      morbidity was 17.3%. The median follow-up period was 24 months. The 5-year
      overall survival for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was 52%, and the 3-year
      overall survival for colorectal liver metastasis was 88%. Based on these results,
      we conclude that laparoscopic liver resection is feasible and safe in
      appropriately selected patients. In our patient cohort, it was associated with a
      low complications rate and favorable survival outcome. 

PMID- 27628469
TI  - Retention of fundamental surgical skills learned in robot-assisted surgery.
AB  - Evaluation of the learning curve for robotic surgery has shown reduced errors and
      decreased task completion and training times compared with regular laparoscopic
      surgery. However, most training evaluations of robotic surgery have only
      addressed short-term retention after the completion of training. Our goal was to
      investigate the amount of surgical skills retained after 3 months of training
      with the da VinciTM Surgical System. Seven medical students without any surgical
      experience were recruited. Participants were trained with a 4-day training
      program of robotic surgical skills and underwent a series of retention tests at 1
      day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months post-training. Data analysis included time to
      task completion, speed, distance traveled, and movement curvature by the
      instrument tip. Performance of the participants was graded using the modified
      Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) for robotic surgery.
      Participants filled out a survey after each training session by answering a set
      of questions. Time to task completion and the movement curvature was decreased
      from pre- to post-training and the performance was retained at all the
      corresponding retention periods: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months. The
      modified OSATS showed improvement from pre-test to post-test and this improvement
      was maintained during all the retention periods. Participants increased in self
      confidence and mastery in performing robotic surgical tasks after training. Our
      novel comprehensive training program improved robot-assisted surgical performance
      and learning. All trainees retained their fundamental surgical skills for 3
      months after receiving the training program. 

PMID- 27628470
TI  - Predictors of positive surgical margins at open and robot-assisted laparoscopic
      radical prostatectomy: a single surgeon series.
AB  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP), increasingly used to
      treat localized prostate cancer, has advantages over open radical prostatectomy
      (ORP) in terms of reduced bleeding and quicker convalescence. However, debate
      continues over whether RALRP provides superior or at least equivalent surgical
      outcomes. This study compares positive surgical margins (+SM), as a surrogate for
      long-term cancer control, at RALRP and ORP performed by a single experienced
      surgeon during the process of taking up RALRP. 400 consecutive patients
      undergoing surgery for prostate cancer under a single surgeon (DW) between
      November 1999 and July 2009 were studied. Prior to July 2005, all patients
      underwent ORP; after this date, most patients were treated by RALRP. Data were
      collected by retrospective chart review and analysed independently of the
      treating surgeon. +SM were defined as the presence of cancer at an inked surface.
      Overall, 23 (11.5%) of 200 patients undergoing RALRP had +SM, compared to 40
      (20.0%) of 200 patients undergoing ORP (P < 0.05). On univariate logistic
      regression analysis, in addition to surgical approach (odds ratio [OR] = 1.92),
      patient age (OR = 1.05), pathologic stage (OR = 3.93) and specimen Gleason (GS)
      score (OR = 1.86) were significant predictors of +SM. On multivariate analysis,
      surgical approach, p-stage and specimen GS remained significant predictors of
      +SM. RALRP is associated with lower rates of +SM compared to ORP, even after
      adjusting for other known risk factors. Of note, the RALRP in this study were
      part of the surgeon's learning curve. 

PMID- 27628471
TI  - Peri-operative outcomes of patients with stage IV endometriosis undergoing
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - We analyzed peri-operative outcomes of 80 patients who underwent robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic surgery and were diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis (revised
      American Society for Reproductive Medicine) between January 2007 and December
      2010 at a tertiary gynecologic oncology referral center with a fellowship
      training program. Eligible women had a combination of one or more factors: pelvic
      mass, sub-acute or chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, elevated serum
      CA-125, diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis at surgery with robotic-assisted
      gynecologic procedures using the da Vinci((r)) Surgical System. The mean age was
      43.7 +/- 7.0 years, body mass index 27.5 +/- 7.4 kg/m(2), and 23 (28.9%) patients
      had prior endometriosis surgery. Presenting symptoms included: chronic pelvic
      pain (48.8%), dysmenorrhea (40.3%), and dyspareunia (33.8%). Sixty-nine (86%)
      patients had pelvic masses (43 unilateral and 26 bilateral). Thirty-seven (46.3%)
      had elevated CA-125 levels (mean 97.9 +/- 71.6 U/ml). Forty-eight (60%) underwent
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy (RALH)/bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy
      (BSO), 9 (11.3%) RALH/unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (USO), 5 (6.3%) modified
      radical hysterectomy, and 10 (13%) USO or BSO only. Four (5%) had ovarian
      cystectomies with excision of endometriotic implants. Three (3.8%) underwent
      appendectomy and no patient required bowel resection. Four (5%) patients required
      conversion to laparotomy during the first 15 cases of this series [dense
      adhesions (3) and ureteral injury (1)]. Mean operative time was 115 +/- 46 min,
      blood loss 88 +/- 67 ml, and length of stay 1.0 +/- 0.4 days. There were four
      (5%) complications (ureteral injury, cuff abscess, cuff hematoma, re-admission
      for nausea and vomiting secondary to narcotics) and no transfusions. One (1.3%)
      patient underwent a second surgery for pain (dyspareunia). Robotic-assisted
      surgery for stage IV endometriosis resulted in excellent pain relief, with few
      laparotomy conversions or complications during a robotic learning-curve
      experience. 

PMID- 27628472
TI  - Specific learning curve for port placement and docking of da Vinci((r)) Surgical
      System: one surgeon's experience in robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy.
AB  - Port placement and docking of the da Vinci((r)) Surgical System is fundamental in
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP). The aim of our study
      was to investigate learning curves for port placement and docking of robots
      (PPDR) in RALP. This manuscript is a retrospective review of prospectively
      collected data looking at PPDR in 526 patients who underwent RALP in our
      institute from April 2005 to May 2010. Data included patient-factor features such
      as body mass index (BMI), and pre-, intra- and post-operative data. Intra
      operative information included operation time, subdivided into anesthesia, PPDR
      and console times. 526 patients underwent RALP, but only those in whom PPDR was
      performed by the same surgeon without laparoscopic and robotic experience
      (F.D.M.) were studied, totalling 257 cases. The PPDR phase revealed an evident
      learning curve, comparable with other robotic phases. Efficiency improved until
      approximately the 60th case (P < 0.001), due more to effective port placement
      than to docking of robotic arms. In our experience, conversion to open surgery is
      so rare that statistical evaluation is not significant. Conversion due to robotic
      device failure is also very rare. This study on da Vinci procedures in RALP
      revealed a learning curve during PPDR and throughout the robotic-assisted
      procedure, reaching a plateau after 60 cases. 

PMID- 27628474
TI  - Surgeon activity in robotic versus abdominal gynecologic surgery.
AB  - One proposed advantage of robotic surgery is improved ergonomics and decreased
      surgeon fatigue. The objective of this study is to quantify and compare the
      physical activity of surgeons during robotic and abdominal surgery using
      accelerometers. Eight gynecologic surgeons who perform both abdominal and robotic
      surgery were the subjects of this study. Each wore an accelerometer on the hip
      during one procedure performed abdominally and during a similar procedure
      performed robotically. Activity parameters analyzed were average activity counts
      (AAC) and percentage of time spent in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous
      activity. The paired t-test was used to evaluate differences between robotic and
      abdominal procedures. AAC was similar between the robotic and abdominal
      approaches (mean +/- SD: 83.9 +/- 50.9 versus 79.1 +/- 37.8 counts/min,
      respectively, P = 0.820). The majority of activity spent in robotic and abdominal
      surgery was sedentary (79.0% +/- 5.9% versus 80.9% +/- 8.6%, respectively; P =
      0.625) followed by light activity (14.7% +/- 3.9% versus 12.8% +/- 6.1%,
      respectively; P = 0.541) and then by moderate activity (6.3% +/- 3.4% versus 6.3%
      +/- 2.8%, respectively; P = 0.981). None of the activity for either surgical
      approach qualified as vigorous. There were no differences in activity parameters
      by surgical approach. Accelerometer data demonstrate that surgeon activity
      expenditure is similar in robotic and abdominal surgery. Future studies comparing
      measures of physical activity and strain between surgical approaches are needed
      to determine whether the robot's improved ergonomics translates to improved
      surgeon experience. 

PMID- 27628475
TI  - Operative and anesthetic outcomes in endometrial cancer staging via three
      minimally invasive methods.
AB  - The aim of this work is to compare operative and anesthetic outcomes in patients
      undergoing minimally invasive endometrial cancer staging, with lymphadenectomy
      performed via transperitoneal, extraperitoneal, or robotic-assisted methods.
      Sixty-six consecutive patients (24 transperitoneal, 19 extraperitoneal, and 23
      robotic) were identified who underwent laparoscopic-assisted endometrial cancer
      staging with pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. Patients were divided into
      three groups based on method of para-aortic lymphadenectomy. Anesthetic and
      surgical times were longest in the extraperitoneal group. Patients undergoing
      robotic surgery had the shortest hospital stay and lowest conversion rate to
      laparotomy. Patients undergoing robotic lymphadenectomy had more pelvic and para
      aortic nodes removed compared with the transperitoneal method. There was no
      difference in number of para-aortic nodes removed in the robotic versus
      extraperitoneal methods. The extraperitoneal group had highest peak end-tidal CO2
      levels and highest narcotic requirements, while patients in the robotic group had
      highest peak inflation pressures and lowest pain scores. There were no
      differences in complication rates amongst the three groups. Robotic-assisted
      staging is superior to other minimally invasive methods in terms of most
      operative outcomes. Extraperitoneal lymphadenectomy is equivalent to robotic
      surgery where number of aortic nodes is concerned, but is associated with higher
      end-tidal CO2 levels and narcotic requirements. Peak inflation pressures were
      highest in the robotic group, with no apparent adverse consequences. 

PMID- 27628473
TI  - Intraoperative finding of gross lymph node metastasis during robot-assisted
      prostatectomy.
AB  - Discovery of macroscopically positive lymph nodes (LN) during radical
      prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa) is a rare event. We
      describe our experience of intraoperative finding of grossly positive LN during
      radical prostatectomy and evaluate outcomes and predictors. A total of 4,480
      patients underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for clinically
      localized PCa from 2001 to 2010, and pelvic LN dissection was performed in 4,090
      of these patients (91.3%). Patients with macroscopically positive LN discovered
      and confirmed intraoperatively were assessed, as was surgical decision (abort
      versus continue RARP). Patients with macroscopic LN-positive disease were also
      evaluated and oncologic outcomes were compared with patients with microscopic LN
      positive disease on final pathology. LN-positive disease was found at final
      pathology in 87 patients (2.1%), of whom 13 (14.9%) had grossly abnormal LN
      confirmed intraoperatively by frozen section. RARP was aborted in nine cases and
      completed in four patients. All patients received adjuvant therapy with hormonal
      deprivation and/or radiation. Two patients in the aborted RARP subset died of
      PCa. All patients who underwent completion RARP are still alive at a mean follow
      up of 57.2 months with one patient still alive at 95 months. Patients with
      macroscopically positive LN had a higher median preoperative prostate serum
      antigen (PSA) (17.2 vs. 6.7 MUg/L, P = 0.002) and were more likely have biopsy
      perineural invasion (77.8 vs. 32.4%, P = 0.012). Intraoperative findings of
      macroscopically positive LN during RARP is a rare event that may occur in high
      risk patients, particularly in those with a high PSA and biopsy perineural
      invasion. Long-term survival is possible after completion RARP. 

PMID- 27628476
TI  - Robotic thoracoscopic plication for symptomatic diaphragm paralysis.
AB  - Diaphragmatic paralysis is an uncommon condition characterized by significant
      elevation of a hemidiaphragm, and can cause dyspnea. The goal of diaphragm
      plication is to improve dyspnea by correcting the dysfunctional movement of a
      diaphragm during inspiration. Minimally invasive thoracoscopic diaphragm
      plication has been widely used and has been reported to lead to significant
      improvements in dyspnea and postoperative pulmonary function. Advantages of
      thoracoscopic plication compared to open thoracotomy are less postoperative pain
      and shorter hospitalization, yet technical difficulties due to limited workspace
      afforded by the ribcage and the elevated hemidiaphragm have been a major drawback
      in using the thoracoscopic approach for this disorder. We describe our experience
      with robotic thoracoscopic plication for the treatment of diaphragmatic
      paralysis. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of this kind. 

PMID- 27628477
TI  - Transoral robotic surgery for removal of a second branchial arch cyst: a case
      report.
AB  - Second branchial arch cysts are a common cause of cystic neck mass in adults. The
      type-IV variant of the second branchial arch cyst is uncommon and presents as a
      parapharyngeal space mass. It lies medial to the carotid sheath and it is not
      easily amenable to access by the traditional, trans-cervical approach to the
      parapharyngeal space. Trans-oral robotic surgery is a new application of the da
      Vinci robotic surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). The
      system has only recently been approved by the FDA for trans-oral robotic
      resection of oropharyngeal cancers. The technology has since been used for new
      trans-oral applications, including resection of parapharyngeal space tumours.
      This is a case report of successful trans-oral robotic resection of a type IV
      second branchial arch cyst in the parapharyngeal space. 

PMID- 27628478
TI  - Robotic thoracoscopic resection of intralobar sequestration.
AB  - In this manuscript we report a case of fully robotic thoracoscopic resection of
      intralobar pulmonary sequestration. The Da Vinci robot provides surgeons with
      great three-dimensional visualization and enhanced dexterity. This enables a
      safer, more precise dissection of sequestered pulmonary tissue. Robotic
      technology may result in fewer complications and less conversions to open surgery
      in cases of pulmonary sequestration. 

PMID- 27628480
TI  - Transoral robotic supracricoid partial laryngectomy with cartilaginous framework
      preservation.
AB  - To report the technical feasibility of performing transoral robotic supracricoid
      partial laryngectomy with preservation of the thyroid cartilage. This is a case
      report from a tertiary-care academic institution. A patient with recurrent T2
      glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx underwent supracricoid partial
      laryngectomy with negative margins and preservation of the laryngeal framework
      using transoral robotic surgery, where an adequate exposure to the endolarynx was
      obtained by using a Feyh-Kastenbauer retractor. The patient was successfully
      decannulated in postoperative week 4, and his gastrostomy tube was removed in
      postoperative week 6. Transoral robotic surgery may be feasible in select
      glottic/subglottic laryngeal lesions, if adequate exposure is obtained. 

PMID- 27628479
TI  - Post-chemotherapy robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RRPLND) in
      testicular cancer.
AB  - We report here on the safety and feasibility of using robotic surgery for the
      excision of residual retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis in patients with non
      seminomatous germ cell testicular tumors (NSGCT) post-chemotherapy (PC). Two men
      (age 20 and 21 years, respectively) with residual PC retroperitoneal disease
      underwent robotic assisted retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RRPLND). The
      primary testicular tumor was on the right testicle in one patient and on the left
      testicle in the other patient. Both patients had a history of testicular NSGCT
      and bulky retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis and had received chemotherapy.
      The technique, feasibility, and safety of the RRPLND procedure are reported.
      RRPLND was safely accomplished in both patients. A right-side approach was
      performed in one patient; a left-side approach was utilized in the other patient.
      In both patients, the field of dissection was an ipsilateral template for lymph
      node dissection, including excision of the residual mass. No intraoperative or
      postoperative complications were encountered. Pathology showed mature
      teratomatous elements in both patients. We demonstrate here the safety and
      feasibility of performing template RRPLND in patients with PC residual masses.
      Further reports are needed to compare this procedure to its other approaches,
      namely, standard open and laparoscopic RPLND. 

PMID- 27628481
TI  - Robotic heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication for achalasia in a woman with
      morbid obesity.
AB  - Achalasia is a relatively rare condition with a prevalence estimated at less than
      0.001 %. Laparoscopic or robotic Heller myotomy is an effective surgical
      treatment for achalasia. We present the first published case of a morbidly obese
      achalasia patient treated with robotic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication. The
      operative time was 175 min, with an estimated blood loss of 110 ml. The patient
      had a normal bowel transit on postoperative day 2, and he was discharged on
      postoperative day 4 on a liquid diet. A follow-up at 2 months showed significant
      resolved symptoms of achalasia. 

PMID- 27628482
TI  - AO pelvic fracture classification: can an educational package improve orthopaedic
      registrar performance?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The unstable pelvic fracture has been described as the 'killing
      fracture' because of the risk of significant vascular compromise. The ability to
      correctly classify pelvic fractures may therefore be crucial in optimizing
      patient outcomes. Pelvic fracture classification is difficult and previous
      research has indicated that ability is suboptimal in orthopaedic registrars. The
      objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of an educational package in
      improving orthopaedic registrars' ability to classify pelvic fractures. METHODS:
      A total of 35 orthopaedic registrars were recruited in this classification study.
      An educational package was used to introduce the AO classification of pelvic
      fractures and teach the registrars how to classify pelvic fractures using pelvic
      X-rays and computed tomography scans. A classification test assessed their
      classification ability before and after using the educational package. A third
      test was performed 2 weeks after the second to assess the stability of learning.
      RESULTS: The mean score at baseline of 8.4 +/- 0.46 increased to 10.5 +/- 0.48
      after using the educational package, and this was maintained in the follow-up
      test (10.7 +/- 0.54 (F(2,52) = 15.5, P < 0.001)). The proportion of registrars
      achieving a satisfactory score increased from 46% (16/35) to 77% (23/30) after
      training, and 90% (19/21) at follow-up (chi2 (2) = 6.74, P = 0.035). CONCLUSION:
      The reliability with which orthopaedic registrars classified pelvic fractures was
      improved using an educational package. An educational package on pelvic fracture
      classification may prove to be a valuable addition to the orthopaedic training
      programme.

PMID- 27628484
TI  - Correlating Corneal Biomechanics and Ocular Biometric Properties with Lamina
      Cribrosa Measurements in Healthy Subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine interrelations between corneal biomechanics, ocular biometric
      variables and optic disc size (ODS), lamina cribosa depth (LCD) or thickness
      (LCT) in a healthy population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a cross-sectional case
      control study, the following measurements were made in 81 eyes of 81
      participants: axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and central
      corneal thickness using the optical biometer Lenstar LS900; and corneal
      hysteresis (CH), corneal resistance factor (CRF), Goldman-correlated intraocular
      pressure (IOPg), and corneal-compensated IOP (IOPcc) using the Ocular Response
      Analyzer. Serial horizontal enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography
      (EDI OCT) B-scans of the optic nerve head were obtained in each participant. Mean
      ODS, mean LCD, and mean LCT were measured in 11 equally spaced horizontal B
      scans, excluding the LC insertion area under Bruch's membrane and scleral rim.
      RESULTS: LCD was measured in 74 of 81 eyes (91.36%); LCT in 60/81 (75.3%); ODS in
      81/81 (100%). CRF was poorly, but significantly, correlated with LCT (Pearson's R
      = 0.264; P = 0.045). IOPcc, IOPg, CH, and ocular biometrics variables were poorly
      (non-significantly) correlated with LCD, LCT, and ODS. CONCLUSIONS: CRF was
      poorly but directly correlated with LCT. No association was detected between CH
      or ocular biometric variables and ODS, LCD, or LCT.

PMID- 27628483
TI  - Hypoxia-driven Hif2a coordinates mouse liver regeneration by coupling parenchymal
      growth to vascular expansion.
AB  - : Interaction between sinusoidal endothelial cells and hepatocytes is a
      prerequisite for liver function. Upon tissue loss, both liver cell populations
      need to be regenerated. Repopulation occurs in a coordinated pattern, first
      through the regeneration of parenchyme (hepatocytes), which then produces
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to enable the subsequent angiogenic
      phase. The signals that instruct hepatocytes to induce timely VEGF remain
      unidentified. Given that liver is highly vascularized, we reasoned that
      fluctuations in oxygenation after tissue loss may contribute to the coordination
      between hepatocyte and sinusoidal endothelial cell proliferation. To prevent
      drops in oxygen after hepatectomy, mice were pretreated with inositol
      trispyrophosphate (ITPP), an allosteric effector of hemoglobin causing increased
      O2 release from heme under hypoxic conditions. ITPP treatment delayed liver
      weight gain after hepatectomy. Comparison with controls revealed the presence of
      a hypoxic period around the peak of hepatocyte mitosis. Inhibition of hypoxia led
      to deficient hepatocyte mitosis, suppressed the regenerative Vegf wave, and
      abrogated the subsequent reconstruction of the sinusoidal network. These ITPP
      effects were ongoing with the reduction in hepatocellular hypoxia inducible
      factor 2a (Hif2a). In contrast, Hif1a was unaffected by ITPP. Hif2a knockdown
      phenocopied all effects of ITPP, including the mitotic deficiencies, Vegf
      suppression, and angiogenic failure. CONCLUSIONS: Oxygen is a key regulator of
      liver regeneration. Hypoxia-inherent to the expansion of parenchyme-activates
      Hif2a to couple hepatocyte mitosis with the angiogenic phase. Hif2a acts as a
      safeguard to initiate sinusoidal reconstruction only upon successful hepatocyte
      mitosis, thereby enforcing a timely order onto cell type-specific regeneration
      patterns. These findings portray the hypoxia-driven Hif2a-Vegf axis as a prime
      node in coordinating sinusoidal endothelial cell-hepatocyte crosstalk during
      liver regeneration. (Hepatology 2016;64:2198-2209).

PMID- 27628485
TI  - Physical fitness in people with posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic
      review.
AB  - PURPOSE: People with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have an increased risk
      of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Physical fitness is a key modifiable risk
      factor for CVD and associated mortality. We reviewed the evidence-base regarding
      physical fitness in people with PTSD. METHODS: Two independent reviewers searched
      PubMed, CINAHL, PsycARTICLES, PEDro, and SPORTDiscus from inception until May
      2016 using the key words "fitness" OR "exercise" AND "posttraumatic stress
      disorder" OR "PTSD". RESULTS: In total, 5 studies involving 192 (44 female)
      individuals with PTSD met the inclusion criteria. Lower baseline physical fitness
      are associated with greater reductions in avoidance and hyperarousal symptoms, as
      well as with total, physical, and social symptoms of anxiety sensitivity.
      Rigorous data comparing physical fitness with age- and gender matched general
      population controls are currently lacking. CONCLUSIONS: The research field
      regarding physical fitness in people with PTSD is still in its infancy. Given the
      established relationships between physical fitness, morbidity and mortality in
      the general population and the current gaps in the PTSD literature, targets for
      future research include exploring: (a) whether people with PTSD are at risk of
      low physical fitness and therefore in need of intensified assessment, treatment
      and follow-up, (b) the relationships among physical fitness, overall health
      status, chronic disease risk reduction, disability, and mortality in individuals
      PTSD, (c) psychometric properties of submaximal physical fitness tests in PTSD,
      (d) physical fitness changes following physical activity in PTSD, and (e) optimal
      methods of integrating physical activity programs within current treatment models
      for PTSD. Implications for Rehabilitation People with PTSD should aim to achieve
      150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes vigorous physical activity per week while
      also engaging in resistance training exercises at least twice a week. Health care
      professionals should assist people with PTSD to overcome barriers to physical
      activity such as physical pain, loss of energy, lack of interest and motivation,
      generalized fatigue and feelings of hyperarousal.

PMID- 27628487
TI  - Erratum to: Does being an Olympic city help improve recreational resources?
      Examining the quality of physical activity resources in a low-income neighborhood
      of Rio de Janeiro.

PMID- 27628486
TI  - Costs, benefits and redundant mechanisms of adaption to chronic low-dose stress
      in yeast.
AB  - All organisms live in changeable, stressful environments. It has been reported
      that exposure to low-dose stresses or poisons can improve fitness. However,
      examining the effects of chronic low-dose chemical exposure is challenging. To
      address this issue we used temperature sensitive mutations affecting the yeast
      cell division cycle to induce low-dose stress for 40 generation times, or more.
      We examined cdc13-1 mutants, defective in telomere function, and cdc15-2 mutants,
      defective in mitotic kinase activity. We found that each stress induced similar
      adaptive responses. Stress-exposed cells became resistant to higher levels of
      stress but less fit, in comparison with unstressed cells, in conditions of low
      stress. The costs and benefits of adaptation to chronic stress were reversible.
      In the cdc13-1 context we tested the effects of Rad9, a central player in the
      response to telomere defects, Exo1, a nuclease that degrades defective telomeres,
      and Msn2 and Msn4, 2 transcription factors that contribute to the environmental
      stress response. We also observed, as expected, that Rad9 and Exo1 modulated the
      response of cells to stress. In addition we observed that adaptation to stress
      could still occur in these contexts, with associated costs and benefits. We
      conclude that functionally redundant cellular networks control the adaptive
      responses to low dose chronic stress. Our data suggests that if organisms adapt
      to low dose stress it is helpful if stress continues or increases but harmful
      should stress levels reduce. 

PMID- 27628488
TI  - Television food advertising to children in Slovenia: analyses using a large 12
      month advertising dataset.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The marketing of energy-dense foods is recognised as a probable
      causal factor in children's overweight and obesity. To stimulate policymakers to
      start using nutrient profiling to restrict food marketing, a harmonised model was
      recently proposed by the WHO. Our objective is to evaluate the television
      advertising of foods in Slovenia using the above-mentioned model. METHODS: An
      analysis is performed using a representative dataset of 93,902 food-related
      advertisements broadcast in Slovenia in year 2013. The advertisements are linked
      to specific foods, which are then subject to categorisation according to the WHO
      and UK nutrient profile model. RESULTS: Advertising of chocolate and
      confectionery represented 37 % of food-related advertising in all viewing times,
      and 77 % in children's (4-9 years) viewing hours. During these hours, 96 % of the
      food advertisements did not pass the criteria for permitted advertising according
      to the WHO profile model. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from Slovenia shows that, in the
      absence of efficient regulatory marketing restrictions, television advertising of
      food to children is almost exclusively linked to energy-dense foods. Minor
      modifications of the proposed WHO nutrient profile model are suggested.

PMID- 27628489
TI  - Prenatal diagnostic services in three regional centers in Vietnam.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to give information on the prenatal diagnostic (PND)
      services provided in three major regional PND centers in Vietnam. METHODS: This
      cross-sectional study was conducted in early 2014. An inventory of services,
      human resources, facilities, and equipment and in-depth interviews were carried
      out. RESULTS: Three regional PND centers were set up between 2007 and 2014, and
      technical guidelines on PND tests were released by the Ministry of Health in
      2010. There were a variety of services among centers, and the number of services
      provided by the three PND centers was far below the target set by the Ministry of
      Health. There is still limited capacity of human resources, facilities, and
      equipment in PND centers. Different measures were implemented by hospitals to
      improve capacity, including counseling. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a late start, with
      government support, PND services in Vietnam have developed quickly. However, to
      reach the objectives of 15 % of women receiving PND services by 2015 and 50 % by
      2020, several actions should be taken to expand the service coverage and capacity
      of centers.

PMID- 27628490
TI  - Social determinants of mental health service utilization in Switzerland.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether mental health services utilization in
      Switzerland is equitably distributed (i.e., predicted only by the need of a
      person). METHODS: Data on 17,789 participants of the Swiss Health Survey 2012
      (>=15 years) was analysed. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to
      predict: having been in treatment for a psychological problem; having used
      psychotropic medication; having had medical treatment for depression; and having
      visited a psychologist or psychotherapist. Need (depression severity and risky
      alcohol consumption) and socio-demographic variables were used as independent
      variables. RESULTS: Depression severity was the strongest predictor for using
      mental health services. In contrast, risky alcohol consumption was not associated
      with an increased likelihood of using mental health services. After adjusting for
      need, the following groups were less likely to use (some of) the mental health
      services: males, young people, participants who (almost) work full-time,
      single/unmarried, non-Swiss people and those living in rural areas. Education and
      income were not significantly associated with the outcomes in the adjusted
      analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Some socio-demographic subgroups are less likely to use
      mental health services despite having the same need.

PMID- 27628491
TI  - Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy May Improve Local-Regional Tumor Control
      for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Compared With Three-Dimensional
      Conformal Radiation Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Consistent results are lacking as regards the comparative
      effectiveness of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) versus three-dimensional
      conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) in patients with locally advanced non-small cell
      lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients treated with definitive
      radiotherapy (RT) between 2002 and 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Overall
      survival (OS), local-regional progression-free survival (LRPFS), distant
      metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were
      compared among patients irradiated with different techniques. The association
      between RT technique and survival indexes was assessed in a Cox proportional
      hazard regression model. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance
      known confounding factors. RESULTS: A total of 652 patients were eligible for
      analysis, including 206 with 3DCRT and 446 with IMRT. The median OS of the 3DCRT
      and IMRT groups were 19.4 and 23.3 months, with the 5-year rate of 13% and 19%,
      respectively (p = .043). Multivariate analysis identified IMRT as an independent
      favorable factor associated with LRPFS and DMFS. PSM analysis further verified
      the beneficial effect of IMRT on LRPFS. No difference in OS or PFS was observed
      between the two techniques. Subgroup analysis revealed that IMRT might be
      differentially more effective in both OS and LRPFS among patients who were
      female, nonsmokers, with adenocarcinoma, or without weight loss. There was a
      significant reduction of lung toxicity and similar esophagus toxicity in the IMRT
      group when compared with the 3DCRT group. CONCLUSION: IMRT may confer superior
      LRPFS and comparable OS than can be achieved with 3DCRT in LA-NSCLC, along with
      the reduction of pulmonary toxicity. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Based on the
      largest number of patients from a single institution, the present study
      demonstrated that intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) could provide superior
      local-regional progression-free survival and similar overall survival compared
      with the traditional three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) for stage
      III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). IMRT was also found to be associated with
      the significantly decreased incidence of pulmonary toxicity. These results
      suggest that IMRT should be considered a surrogate for 3DCRT in locally advanced
      NSCLC and might be the preferred option for a female nonsmoker with
      adenocarcinoma and a potentially high risk of pulmonary toxicity from
      radiotherapy.

PMID- 27628493
TI  - Biodegradable-polymer drug-eluting stents: back to the future?

PMID- 27628494
TI  - Coronary revascularisation in the elderly.

PMID- 27628495
TI  - Managing cardiac emergencies in pregnancy.

PMID- 27628492
TI  - Targeting the N-Terminal Domain of the Androgen Receptor: A New Approach for the
      Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer.
AB  - : : Despite the recent approval and widespread use of abiraterone acetate and
      enzalutamide for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC),
      this disease still poses significant management challenges because of various
      tumor escape mechanisms, including those that allow androgen receptor (AR)
      signaling to remain active. These AR-related resistance mechanisms include AR
      gene amplification or overexpression, constitutively active ligand-independent AR
      splice variants, and gain-of-function mutations involving the AR ligand-binding
      domain (LBD), among others. Therefore, the development of AR-targeted therapies
      that function independently of the LBD represents an unmet medical need and has
      the potential to overcome many of these resistance mechanisms. This article
      discusses N-terminal domain (NTD) inhibition as a novel concept in the field of
      AR-directed therapies for prostate cancer. AR NTD-targeting agents have the
      potential to overcome shortcomings of current hormonal therapies by inhibiting
      all forms of AR-mediated transcriptional activity, and as a result, may affect a
      broader AR population including mutational and splice variant ARs. Indeed, the
      first clinical trial of an AR NTD inhibitor is now underway. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      PRACTICE: Because of emerging resistance mechanisms that involve the ligand
      binding domain of the androgen receptor (AR), there is currently no effective
      treatment addressing tumor escape mechanisms related to current AR-targeted
      therapies. Many patients still demonstrate limited clinical response to current
      hormonal agents, and castration-resistant prostate cancer remains a lethal
      disease. Intense research efforts are under way to develop therapies to target
      resistance mechanisms, including those directed at other parts of the AR
      molecule. A novel small-molecule agent, EPI-506, represents a new pharmaceutical
      class, AR N-terminal domain inhibitors, and shows preclinical promise to overcome
      many known resistance mechanisms related to novel hormonal therapies.

PMID- 27628497
TI  - Chemical investigations of volatile kairomones produced by Hyphantria cunea
      (Drury), a host of the parasitoid Chouioia cunea Yang.
AB  - In tritrophic 'plants-herbivores-natural enemies' systems, there are relatively
      few reports concerning the role(s) of kairomones in pupal parasitism. Chouioia
      cunea Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), an endoparasitic chalcid wasp, parasitizes
      pupae of the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Drury). The role of host-related
      kairomones was investigated using electroantennogram (EAG) and behavioral
      techniques. Chemicals from some host stages (pupae) and host by-products (frass),
      induced arrestment behavior of female parasitoids, while chemicals from prepupae,
      were inactive. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of volatiles
      collected from pupae, frass and prepupae using solid-phase microextration
      revealed seven compounds with carbon chain lengths ranging from C4 to C20. All of
      the chemicals elicited significant EAG responses in C. cunea. Y-tube olfactometer
      bioassays demonstrated a significant positive response of mated female C. cunea
      to 1-dodecene. These data provide a better understanding of the host location
      mechanisms of pupal parasitoid.

PMID- 27628498
TI  - Impact of a Clinical Solid Organ Transplant Pharmacist on Tacrolimus
      Nephrotoxicity, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, and Institutional Revenue Generation
      in Adult Kidney Transplant Recipients.
AB  - CONTEXT: Tacrolimus requires close therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to ensure
      efficacy and minimize adverse effects. Pharmacists are uniquely positioned on
      transplant teams to interpret levels and recommend therapy modifications. Their
      impact in the immediate postoperative setting has not been described previously.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a clinical solid organ transplant pharmacist
      on nephrotoxicity, TDM, and revenue generation in adult kidney transplant
      recipients on tacrolimus. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Retrospective assessment
      of adult kidney transplant recipients at University of Florida Health Shands
      Hospital. INTERVENTION: A transplant pharmacist rounded 5 days a week and made
      medication recommendations on transplant recipients-including tacrolimus dose
      modifications based on levels. Pharmacy services were expanded to include
      medication reconciliation, medication counseling, and delivery of discharge
      medications to bedside. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incidence of nephrotoxicity during
      tacrolimus exposure. RESULTS: Of the 70 kidney transplant recipients in the
      postpharmacist cohort, 18 (25.7%) experienced nephrotoxicity while on tacrolimus,
      compared to 18 (25%) of the 72 in the prepharmacist cohort ( P = .922). A
      significantly greater proportion of recipients who experienced nephrotoxicity
      were male, had hypertension, or experienced delayed or slow graft function. The
      rate of appropriately drawn tacrolimus troughs significantly increased from 23.4%
      to 30.3% in the postpharmacist cohort ( P < .001). The median outpatient pharmacy
      revenue generated per recipient significantly increased from US$345.49
      (interquartile range [IQR]: 0-4727.56) to US$4834.95 per recipient (IQR: 3592.78
      6224.60; P < .001). The length of stay (7 days, IQR: 6-9, vs 8 days, IQR: 6-9; P
      = .107) and the 30-day readmission rate were similar between groups (20.8% vs
      21.4%; P = .931).

PMID- 27628496
TI  - Socioeconomic inequality in oral health behavior in Iranian children and
      adolescents by the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method: the CASPIAN- IV study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study set to describe the socioeconomic inequality
      associated with oral hygiene behavior among Iranian pediatric population.
      METHODS: A representative sample of 13486 school students aged 6-18 years was
      selected through multistage random cluster sampling method from urban and rural
      areas of 30 provinces in Iran. Principle Component Analyses (PCA) correlated
      variables summarized as socioeconomic status (SES). Association of independent
      variables with tooth brushing was assessed through logistic regression analysis.
      Decomposition of the gap in tooth brushing between the first and fifth SES
      quintiles was assessed using the counterfactual decomposition technique. To
      assess the relation between tooth brushing and each socioeconomic category,
      Concentration Index (C) and the slope index of inequality (SII) were used,
      representing the linear regression coefficient. RESULTS: The participation rate
      was 90.6 % (50.7 % boys and 75.6 % urban inhabitants). The mean age of
      participants was 12.47 +/- 3.36 years. The frequency of tooth brushing increased
      across SES quintiles, prevalence of tooth brushing between the first and fifth
      quintile, under 20 % difference, increased from 58.22 (95 % CI: 56.24,60.20) to
      78.61 (95 % CI: 77.00,80.24). Only 3 % of the difference is explained by the
      factors considered in the study, and 17 % remained unknown. Residence area,
      family size, and smoking status made a significant contribution to the gap
      between the first and last SE groups. Residence area [ -2.01 (95 % CI: -3.46, 
      0.55)] was along the maximum levels of gaps between SE categories. CONCLUSIONS:
      The findings revealed a socio-economic inequality in oral health behavior in
      Iranian children and adolescents. Also, factors influencing oral health are
      addressed to develop and implement complementary public health actions.

PMID- 27628499
TI  - Harnessing the potential of noninvasive in vivo preclinical imaging of the immune
      system: challenges and prospects.
AB  - Preclinical imaging has become a powerful method for investigation of in vivo
      processes such as pharmacokinetics of therapeutic substances and visualization of
      physiologic and pathophysiological mechanisms. These are important aspects to
      understand diseases and develop strategies to modify their progression with
      pharmacologic interventions. One promising intervention is the application of
      specifically tailored nanoscale particles that modulate the immune system to
      generate a tumor targeting immune response. In this complex interaction between
      immunomodulatory therapies, the immune system and malignant disease, imaging
      methods are expected to play a key role on the way to generate new therapeutic
      strategies. Here, we summarize examples which demonstrate the current potential
      of imaging methods and develop a perspective on the future value of preclinical
      imaging of the immune system.

PMID- 27628501
TI  - Molecular Interactions in Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystals and Enantiotopic
      Discrimination through the NMR Spectra of Prochiral Molecules I: Rigid Solutes.
AB  - We have developed a molecular theory for enantiotopic discrimination in prochiral
      solutes dissolved in chiral nematic solvents by means of NMR spectroscopy. The
      leading rank tensor contributions to the proposed potential of mean torque
      include symmetric as well as antisymmetric terms with respect to spatial
      inversion; these lead to consistent determination of all prochiral solute
      symmetries for which enantiotopes are distinguishable by NMR and also to
      excellent quantitative agreement when tested against the available experimental
      data for the rigid solutes acenaphthene and norbornene as well as for the
      moderately flexible ethanol molecule.

PMID- 27628502
TI  - Two family members with skin infection due to Dermatophilus congolensis: a case
      report and literature review.

PMID- 27628500
TI  - A biomechanical comparison study of a modern fibular nail and distal fibular
      locking plate in AO/OTA 44C2 ankle fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A lateral approach with open reduction and internal fixation with a
      plate is a very effective technique for the majority of distal fibular fractures.
      However, this open approach for ankle fixation may be complicated by wound
      dehiscence and infection, especially in high-risk patients. An alternative to
      plating is an intramedullary implant, which allows maintenance of length,
      alignment, and rotation and which allows for decreased soft tissue dissection.
      While there has been clinical data suggesting favorable short-term outcomes with
      these implants, there is no current biomechanical literature investigating this
      technology in this particular fracture pattern. This study sought to
      biomechanically compare an emerging technology with an established method of
      fixation for distal fibular fractures that traditionally require an extensive
      exposure. METHODS: Ten matched cadaveric pairs from the proximal tibia to the
      foot were prepared to simulate an Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur
      Osteosynthesefragen/Orthopaedic Trauma Association (AO/OTA) 44C2 ankle fracture
      and randomized to fixation with a distal fibular locking plate or intramedullary
      fibular rod. A constant 700-N axial load was applied, and all specimens underwent
      testing for external rotation stiffness, external rotation cyclic loading, and
      torque to failure. The syndesmotic diastasis, stiffness, torque to failure, angle
      at failure, and mode of failure were obtained from each specimen. RESULTS: There
      was no significant difference in syndesmotic diastasis during cyclic loading or
      at maximal external rotation between the rod and plate groups. Post-cycle
      external rotation stiffness across the syndesmosis was significantly higher for
      the locking plate than the fibular rod. There was no significant difference
      between the rod and plate in torque at failure or external rotation angle. The
      majority of specimens had failure at the syndesmotic screw. CONCLUSIONS: In the
      present cadaveric study of an AO/OTA 44C2 ankle fracture, a modern fibular rod
      demonstrated less external rotation stiffness while maintaining the syndesmotic
      diastasis to within acceptable tolerances and having similar failure
      characteristics.

PMID- 27628503
TI  - Unappreciated diversification of stem archosaurs during the Middle Triassic
      predated the dominance of dinosaurs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Archosauromorpha originated in the middle-late Permian, radiated
      during the Triassic, and gave rise to the crown group Archosauria, a highly
      successful clade of reptiles in terrestrial ecosystems over the last 250 million
      years. However, scientific attention has mainly focused on the diversification of
      archosaurs, while their stem lineage (i.e. non-archosaurian archosauromorphs) has
      often been overlooked in discussions of the evolutionary success of Archosauria.
      Here, we analyse the cranial disparity of late Permian to Early Jurassic
      archosauromorphs and make comparisons between non-archosaurian archosauromorphs
      and archosaurs (including Pseudosuchia and Ornithodira) on the basis of two
      dimensional geometric morphometrics. RESULTS: Our analysis recovers previously
      unappreciated high morphological disparity for non-archosaurian archosauromorphs,
      especially during the Middle Triassic, which abruptly declined during the early
      Late Triassic (Carnian). By contrast, cranial disparity of archosaurs increased
      from the Middle Triassic into the Late Triassic, declined during the end-Triassic
      extinction, but re-expanded towards the end of the Early Jurassic. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our study indicates that non-archosaurian archosauromorphs were highly diverse
      components of terrestrial ecosystems prior to the major radiation of archosaurs,
      including dinosaurs, while disparity patterns of the Ladinian and Carnian
      indicate a gradual faunal replacement of stem archosaurs by the crown group,
      including a short interval of partial overlap in morphospace during the Ladinian.

PMID- 27628504
TI  - Swedish Sonographers' perceptions of ergonomic problems at work and their
      suggestions for improvement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sonographers' perceptions of ergonomic and work-related pain problems
      at work have so far mostly been researched in quantitative studies by
      questionnaires. There is a need of experience-based research to deepen the
      knowledge about how sonographers perceive ergonomic problems at work. Therefore,
      the aim of this qualitative study was to describe sonographers' perceptions of
      ergonomic problems at work, and their suggestions for improvement strategies.
      METHODS: Twenty-two female sonographers were individually interviewed regarding
      different aspects of their physical working environment. Content analysis was
      applied. RESULTS: The sonographers perceived different ergonomic problems in
      their working environment, but to offer patient comfort and to obtain the best
      possible images were often prioritized over working posture. Echocardiography was
      considered demanding as the examination is performed with little variation in
      posture. Ergonomic improvements included reducing the manual handling of the
      transducer, optimizing the adjustability of equipment, and taking the patient's
      physique and health into account. As some examinations were perceived to be more
      ergonomically demanding, variation between examinations was suggested, however,
      this requires broader skills. CONCLUSION: Sonography, especially echocardiography
      is ergonomically demanding but the improvement strategies suggested were
      perceived useful and applicable.

PMID- 27628505
TI  - Predictors of poor obstetric outcome in women with systemic lupus erythematosus:
      a 10-year experience of a university hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the maternal and fetal outcome in patients with systemic
      lupus erythematosus (SLE) by a retrospective analysis from 2005 to 2010, and a
      prospective follow-up of pregnant SLE patients from 2010 to 2015 to find out
      predictors of poor obstetric outcome. METHODS: The study included 236 SLE
      pregnant females (retrospective group) whose data were viewed retrospectively
      from their medical records, and 214 SLE pregnant females (prospective group) who
      were followed prospectively to record their maternal and fetal outcome. RESULTS:
      There was a highly significant difference between the two groups regarding
      abortion, venous thromboembolism, prematurity, and intrauterine fetal death (p <
      0.001) with more occurrence in retrospective group. Also, the frequency of lupus
      flares, worsening of renal functions, blood transfusion, maternal mortality,
      admission to NICU, and neonatal death was higher in the retrospective group (p <
      0.05). Predictors of poor obstetric outcome included Last flare before pregnancy
      <6 months, number of antenatal hospital admissions >= 6, use of immunosuppressive
      therapy, the presence of anti-SSA/Ro and anti-SSB/La, and SLE with nephritis (p <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: Improved maternal and fetal outcome in women with SLE has
      occurred following integrated multidisciplinary approach. This emphasizes the
      importance of postponing pregnancy when predictors of poor outcome are
      encountered.

PMID- 27628506
TI  - Modifying temporal expectations: Changing cortical responsivity to delayed self
      initiated sensations with training.
AB  - The perceptual system makes a specific prediction regarding the timing of
      impending, self-initiated sensations to facilitate the attenuation of these
      sensations. The current study used electroencephalography to investigate whether
      temporal expectations can be modified with training. Participants underwent a
      button-press-for-tone task and evoked responses to the tones were measured. Fifty
      participants were randomly assigned to receive repeated exposure (training) to
      either immediate tones, or tones delayed by 100ms. Pre-training, N1 amplitude to
      delayed tones was significantly larger compared to immediate tones. However,
      while training to the immediate tone maintained a significant difference in N1
      amplitude between the immediate and delayed tones post-training, this difference
      was eliminated when trained to the delayed tone. This suggests that participants'
      neural expectations regarding the anticipated timing of self-generated sensations
      can be modified with behavioural training. This result has implications for
      alleviating the subnormal sensory attenuation which has been observed in patients
      with schizophrenia.

PMID- 27628508
TI  - Robotic surgery evaluation: 10 years too late.

PMID- 27628507
TI  - The 2016 US Election: a platform for improving health.

PMID- 27628509
TI  - Zika's emerging threat for the Asia-Pacific region.

PMID- 27628510
TI  - Inuit take action towards suicide prevention.

PMID- 27628511
TI  - Offline: Lessons from the controversy over statins.

PMID- 27628512
TI  - Researchers eye move to the Francis Crick Institute.

PMID- 27628513
TI  - Hepatitis C: the path towards effective universal therapy.

PMID- 27628514
TI  - Ethnicity and HIV epidemiology research in China.

PMID- 27628515
TI  - New development of medicines for priority diseases in Africa.

PMID- 27628516
TI  - Routine molecular profiling of patients with NSCLC - Authors' reply.

PMID- 27628517
TI  - Routine molecular profiling of patients with NSCLC.

PMID- 27628518
TI  - Oil dependence and terrorism in Europe.

PMID- 27628519
TI  - Lessons from the Iraq war: more aggressive peace building needed.

PMID- 27628521
TI  - Uncommon diagnoses do occur.

PMID- 27628520
TI  - An unusual extranodal T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

PMID- 27628522
TI  - Semiconductive K2MSbS3(SH) (M = Zn, Cd) Featuring One-Dimensional
      infinity1[M2Sb2S6(SH2)]4- Chains.
AB  - We synthesized two one-dimensional compounds K2MSbS3(SH) (M = Zn, Cd) at 473 K,
      using thiourea as reactive flux. The compounds crystallize in the triclinic space
      group P1. Their structures feature one-dimensional infinity1[M2Sb2S6(SH2)]4-
      double chains along the crystallographic a axis. The infinity1[M2Sb2S6(SH2)]4-
      double chains are composed of [M2Sb2S8(SH)2]8- eight-membered rings. Similar band
      gaps of the two compounds, Eg = 2.75 eV for K2ZnSbS3(SH) and Eg = 2.71 eV for
      K2CdSbS3(SH), were obtained from optical absorption measurements, which are
      consistent with theoretical calculations. The analysis of density of states
      indicates that the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum consist
      mainly of S-3p orbitals and Sb-5p orbitals, respectively.

PMID- 27628524
TI  - Vitamin E in the treatment of osteoradionecrosis of the jaws.

PMID- 27628525
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27628523
TI  - 'Pre-endoscopy point of care test (Simtomax- IgA/IgG-Deamidated Gliadin Peptide)
      for coeliac disease in iron deficiency anaemia: diagnostic accuracy and a cost
      saving economic model'.
AB  - BACKGROUND: International guidelines recommend coeliac serology in iron
      deficiency anaemia, and duodenal biopsy for those tested positive to detect
      coeliac disease. However, pre-endoscopy serology is often unavailable, thus
      committing endoscopists to take routine duodenal biopsies. Some endoscopists
      consider duodenal biopsy mandatory in anaemia to exclude other pathologies. We
      hypothesise that using a point of care test at endoscopy could fill this gap, by
      providing rapid results to target anaemic patients who require biopsies, and save
      costs by biopsy avoidance. We therefore assessed three key aspects to this
      hypothesis: 1) the availability of pre-endoscopy serology in anaemia; 2) the
      sensitivities and cost effectiveness of pre-endoscopy coeliac screening with
      Simtomax in anaemia; 3) whether other anaemia-related pathologies could be missed
      by this targeted-biopsy approach. METHODS: Group 1: pre-endoscopy serology
      availability was retrospectively analysed in a multicentre cohort of 934 anaemic
      patients at 4 UK hospitals. Group 2: the sensitivities of Simtomax, endomysial
      and tissue-transglutaminase antibodies were compared in 133 prospectively
      recruited patients with iron deficiency anaemia attending for a gastroscopy. The
      sensitivities were measured against duodenal histology as the reference standard
      in all patients. The cost effectiveness of Simtomax was calculated based on the
      number of biopsies that could have been avoided compared to an all-biopsy
      approach. Group 3: the duodenal histology of 153 patients presenting to a
      separate iron deficiency anaemia clinic were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS:
      In group 1, serology was available in 361 (33.8 %) patients. In group 2, the
      sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) were 100 % and 100 % for
      Simtomax, 96.2 % and 98.9 % for IgA-TTG, and 84.6 % and 96.4 % for EMA
      respectively. In group 3, the duodenal histology found no causes for anaemia
      other than coeliac disease. CONCLUSION: Simtomax had excellent diagnostic
      accuracy in iron deficiency anaemia and was comparable to conventional serology.
      Duodenal biopsy did not identify any causes other than coeliac disease for iron
      deficiency anaemia, suggesting that biopsy avoidance in Simtomax negative anaemic
      patients is unlikely to miss other anaemia-related pathologies. Due to its 100 %
      NPV, Simtomax could reduce unnecessary biopsies by 66 % if only those with a
      positive Simtomax were biopsied, potentially saving L3690/100 gastroscopies.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: The group 2 study was retrospectively registered with
      clinicaltrials.gov. Trial registration date: 13(th) July 2016; TRIAL REGISTRATION
      NUMBER: NCT02834429 .

PMID- 27628526
TI  - Intracerebral hemorrhage: the next frontier for minimally invasive stroke
      treatment.

PMID- 27628527
TI  - Predictors of non-drug psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment in children and
      adolescents with mental or behavioural disorders.
AB  - Children and adolescents with mental health problems need effective and safe
      therapies to support their emotional and social development and to avoid
      functional impairment and progress of social deficits. Though psychotropic drugs
      seem to be the preferential treatment, psychotherapy and psychosocial
      interventions are essential in mental health care. For Germany, current data on
      the utilization of psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions in children with
      mental health problems is lacking. To analyse why certain children and
      adolescents with mental or behavioural disorders do and others do not receive non
      drug treatment, we assessed predictors associated with specific non-drug
      psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment including psychosocial interventions,
      psychotherapy and other non-drug treatments. The study is based on data of two
      large German health insurance funds, AOK and TK, comprising 30 % of the German
      child and adolescent population. Predictors of non-drug
      psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment were analysed for 23,795 cases and two
      controls for every case of the same age and sex in children aged 0-17 years
      following a new diagnosis of mental or behavioural disorder in 2010. Predictors
      were divided according to Andersen's behavioural model into predisposing, need
      and enabling factors. The most prominent and significant predictors positively
      associated with non-drug psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment were the
      residential region as predisposing factor; specific, both ex- and internalizing,
      mental and behavioural disorders, psychiatric co-morbidity and psychotropic drug
      use as need factors; and low area deprivation and high accessibility to
      outpatient physicians and inpatient institutions with non-drug
      psychiatric/psychotherapeutic department as enabling factors. In conclusion, the
      present study suggests that the residential region as proxy for supply of
      therapist and socioeconomic situation is an influencing factor for the use of
      psychotherapy. The analysis sheds further light on predisposing, need and
      enabling factors as predictors of non-drug psychotherapeutic/psychiatric
      treatment in children and adolescents with mental or behavioural health disorders
      in Germany. More research is needed to further understand the factors promoting
      the gap between the need and utilization of mental health care.

PMID- 27628528
TI  - Ethanol Increases Mechanical Pain Sensitivity in Rats via Activation of GABAA
      Receptors in Medial Prefrontal Cortex.
AB  - Ethanol is widely known for its ability to cause dramatic changes in emotion,
      social cognition, and behavior following systemic administration in humans. Human
      neuroimaging studies suggest that alcohol dependence and chronic pain may share
      common mechanisms through amygdala-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) interactions.
      However, whether acute administration of ethanol in the mPFC can modulate pain
      perception is unknown. Here we showed that bilateral microinjections of ethanol
      into the prelimbic and infralimbic areas of the mPFC lowered the bilateral
      mechanical pain threshold for 48 h without influencing thermal pain sensitivity
      in adult rats. However, bilateral microinjections of artificial cerebrospinal
      fluid into the mPFC or bilateral microinjections of ethanol into the dorsolateral
      PFC (also termed as motor cortex area 1 in Paxinos and Watson's atlas of The Rat
      Brain. Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam, 2005) failed to do so, suggesting
      regional selectivity of the effects of ethanol. Moreover, bilateral
      microinjections of ethanol did not change the expression of either pro-apoptotic
      (caspase-3 and Bax) or anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) proteins, suggesting that the dose
      was safe and validating the method used in the current study. To determine
      whether gamma-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptors are involved in mediating the
      ethanol effects, muscimol, a selective GABAA receptor agonist, or bicuculline, a
      selective GABAA receptor antagonist, was administered alone or co-administered
      with ethanol through the same route into the bilateral mPFC. The results showed
      that muscimol mimicked the effects of ethanol while bicuculline completely
      reversed the effects of ethanol and muscimol. In conclusion, ethanol increases
      mechanical pain sensitivity through activation of GABAA receptors in the mPFC of
      rats. 

PMID- 27628529
TI  - miR-137 and miR-491 Negatively Regulate Dopamine Transporter Expression and
      Function in Neural Cells.
AB  - The dopamine transporter (DAT) is involved in the regulation of extracellular
      dopamine levels. A 40-bp variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the
      3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) of the DAT has been reported to be associated with
      various phenotypes that are involved in the aberrant regulation of dopaminergic
      neurotransmission. In the present study, we found that miR-137 and miR-491 caused
      a marked reduction of DAT expression, thereby influencing neuronal dopamine
      transport. Moreover, the regulation of miR-137 and miR-491 on this transport
      disappeared after the DAT was silenced. The miR-491 seed region that is located
      on the VNTR sequence in the 3'UTR of the DAT and the regulatory effect of miR-491
      on the DAT depended on the VNTR copy-number. These data indicate that miR-137 and
      miR-491 regulate DAT expression and dopamine transport at the post
      transcriptional level, suggesting that microRNA may be targeted for the treatment
      of diseases associated with DAT dysfunction.

PMID- 27628530
TI  - Gestational changes in left ventricular myocardial contractile function: new
      insights from two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.
AB  - The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of pregnancy and labor on left
      ventricular (LV) myocardial mechanics using speckle tracking echocardiography
      (STE). Pregnancy is characterized by profound hormonal and hemodynamic
      alterations that directly or indirectly influence cardiac structure and function.
      However, the impact of these changes on left ventricular (LV) myocardial
      contractile function has not been fully elucidated. In this prospective,
      longitudinal study, 35 pregnant women underwent serial clinical and
      echocardiographic evaluation during each trimester and at labor. Two dimensional
      STE was performed to measure global LV longitudinal, circumferential and radial
      strain (GLS, GCS and GRS, respectively). Similar data obtained from 20
      nulliparous, age-matched women were used as control. All strain values during
      pregnancy were adjusted for age and hemodynamic parameters. There was a
      progressive increase in heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure,
      cardiac output and LV stroke-work during pregnancy. LV end-diastolic and end
      systolic volumes also increased progressively but LV ejection fraction remained
      unaltered, except for slight reduction during the second trimester. Compared to
      the controls, GLS and GCS were reduced in the first trimester itself (GLS -22.39
      +/- 5.43 % vs. -18.66 +/- 0.64 %, P 0.0002; GCS -20.84 +/- 3.20 vs. -17.88 +/-
      0.09, P < 0.001) and remained so throughout the pregnancy and labor. In contrast,
      GRS showed an increase during pregnancy which peaked during the second trimester
      (24.18 +/- 0.39 % vs. 18.06 +/- 8.14 % in controls, P < 0.001). Alterations in
      loading conditions during pregnancy are associated with counterbalancing changes
      in the myocardial mechanics. LV longitudinal and circumferential strain are
      reduced whereas radial strain is increased. These counterbalancing changes serve
      to maintain overall LV ejection performance within a normal range and enable the
      maternal heart to meet the hemodynamic demands of pregnancy and labor.

PMID- 27628531
TI  - Finite-size effects and switching times for Moran process with mutation.
AB  - We consider the Moran process with two populations competing under an iterated
      Prisoner's Dilemma in the presence of mutation, and concentrate on the case where
      there are multiple evolutionarily stable strategies. We perform a complete
      bifurcation analysis of the deterministic system which arises in the infinite
      population size. We also study the Master equation and obtain asymptotics for the
      invariant distribution and metastable switching times for the stochastic process
      in the case of large but finite population. We also show that the stochastic
      system has asymmetries in the form of a skew for parameter values where the
      deterministic limit is symmetric.

PMID- 27628534
TI  - Four-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for Coagulopathy Reversal in Patients
      With Liver Disease.
AB  - A 4-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCC, Kcentra(r)) was recently
      approved in the United States for the reversal of vitamin K antagonist-associated
      major bleeding, but it is often used to reverse coagulopathy in patients with
      liver disease (LD). This single-center, retrospective study analyzed the efficacy
      and safety of 4F-PCC administered in patients with and without LD. Prothrombin
      time/International Normalized Ratio (PT/INR) reversal with 4F-PCC was attempted
      in 85 patients; LD was documented in 31 patients. Coagulopathy reversal and
      hemostasis with 4F-PCC were inferior in patients with LD compared to patients
      without LD. Coagulopathy reversal, defined as INR = 1.5 after 4F-PCC
      administration, was achieved in 6 (19.4%) LD patients, compared to 44 (81.5%) non
      LD patients ( p < 0.01). Hemostasis was achieved in 6 LD patients (19.4%)
      compared to 23 non-LD patients (42.6%) ( p = 0.03). Thromboembolic events
      occurred in 1 LD patient (3.2%) and 8 non-LD patients (14.8%) ( p = 0.15).
      Mortality was 51.6% in LD patients and 18.5% in non-LD patients ( p < 0.01).
      These observations suggest that the efficacy of 4F-PCC is suboptimal to correct
      coagulopathy and hemostasis in patients with LD, who have high rates of in
      hospital mortality due to sequelae of LD. The incidence of thromboembolic events
      appeared comparable, suggesting that 4F-PCC does not cause undue thromboembolism
      in LD patients. In conclusion, 4F-PCC appears to be safe in LD patients when
      administered judiciously; however, further studies are necessary to optimize its
      use and elucidate its hemostatic potential in this patient population.

PMID- 27628533
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of sexual assault among a college sample.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of precollege,
      college-onset, and repeat sexual assault (SA) within a representative student
      sample. PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of 7,603 students. METHODS:
      Incoming first-year students completed a survey about their exposure to broad SA
      prior to college, prior trauma, personality, relationships, and mental health.
      Broad SA was then reassessed each spring semester while enrolled. RESULTS: Nearly
      20% of the sample reported experiencing broad SA, with women endorsing
      significantly higher rates compared with males. Prior victimization before coming
      to college was related to a greater risk of victimization in college, and there
      was no statistically significant difference between males and females who
      reported revictimization. Correlates of college-onset broad SA were found and are
      discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Given the need for SA intervention and prevention on
      college campuses, identification of factors potentially contributing to exposure
      within this population is essential.

PMID- 27628532
TI  - Corticospinal and transcallosal modulation of unilateral and bilateral
      contractions of lower limbs.
AB  - PURPOSE: Interhemispheric inhibition may play a role in the expression of
      bilateral deficit in force (BLD). This study investigated whether the degree of
      BLD is reflected in the nature of interhemispheric interaction during unilateral
      and bilateral contractions. METHODS: Subjects divided into three groups,
      'bilateral' (n = 7), 'unilateral' (n = 5) and 'control' (n = 8), performed
      unilateral and bilateral maximal voluntary isometric knee extensions while
      receiving electrical stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation of the
      target and ipsilateral muscles. Main variables of interest included peak force
      for subsequent calculation of bilateral index, voluntary activation level (VAL),
      motor evoked potential amplitudes (MEPs) and silent period durations (SPs).
      RESULTS: BLD was noted only for the whole sample (p = 0.009), but not for any of
      the groups. VAL was significantly higher during bilateral compared to unilateral
      contractions (~97 vs. 92 %, p = 0.023), with no differences between groups. MEPs
      of target and ipsilateral muscles were significantly bigger during bilateral
      contractions (p = 0.042 and p = 0.022, respectively), with no differences between
      groups. No differences in SPs were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Higher values of MEPs
      and VAL during bilateral contractions, in conjunction with unaltered SPs, do not
      support the concept of inhibition related to BLD, but rather suggest the
      possibility of cortical facilitation. Based on the existing literature, this
      behavior may be specific to the lower limb musculature, but the possibility of
      sub-cortical or higher-order neural alterations cannot be excluded.

PMID- 27628536
TI  - Human Trafficking in Nepal: Post-Earthquake Risk and Response.
AB  - As Nepal mourns the 1-year commemoration of the April 2015 earthquake and its
      aftershocks that killed more than 8500 people and left thousands injured and
      displaced, other more hidden repercussions of the resultant chaotic environment
      need attention: the increased risk of human trafficking. Considering that natural
      disasters provide a milieu for this illicit trade, there is a need for a robust
      response from stakeholders such as donors, civil society organizations, and
      government organizations against human trafficking following disasters such as
      the Nepal earthquake. Responsibility to prevent and fight trafficking should be
      explicitly included in the mandate of relief and rehabilitation mechanisms set up
      at the national level to coordinate the disaster relief response, serving to
      support populations in both rural and urban areas. (Disaster Med Public Health
      Preparedness. 2017;11:153-154).

PMID- 27628535
TI  - Nitrifying-denitrifying filters and UV-C disinfection reactor: a combined system
      for wastewater treatment.
AB  - Biological treatment systems use the natural processes of ubiquitous organisms to
      remove pollutants and improve the water quality before discharge to the
      environment. In this paper, the nitrification/denitrification reactor allowed a
      reduction in organic load, but offered a weak efficiency in nitrate reduction.
      However, the additions of the activated sludge in the reactor improve this
      efficiency. A decrease of [Formula: see text] values from 13.3 to 8 mg/l was
      noted. Nevertheless, sludge inoculation led to a net increase of the number of
      pathogenic bacteria. For this reason, a UV-C pilot reactor was installed at the
      exit of the biological nitrification-denitrification device. Thus, a fluence of
      50 mJ.cm-2 was sufficient to achieve values of 20 MPN/100 ml for fecal coliform
      and 6 MPN/100 ml for fecal streptococci, conforms to Tunisian Standards of
      Rejection. On the other hand, the DGGE approach has allowed a direct assessment
      of the bacterial community changes upon the treated wastewater.

PMID- 27628537
TI  - Charge transport mechanism in lead oxide revealed by CELIV technique.
AB  - Although polycrystalline lead oxide (PbO) belongs to the most promising
      photoconductors for optoelectronic and large area detectors applications, the
      charge transport mechanism in this material still remains unclear. Combining the
      conventional time-of-flight and the photo-generated charge extraction by linear
      increasing voltage (photo-CELIV) techniques, we investigate the transport of
      holes which are shown to be the faster carriers in poly-PbO. Experimentally
      measured temperature and electric field dependences of the hole mobility suggest
      a highly dispersive transport. In order to analyze the transport features
      quantitatively, the theory of the photo-CELIV is extended to account for the
      dispersive nature of charge transport. While in other materials with dispersive
      transport the amount of dispersion usually depends on temperature, this is not
      the case in poly-PbO, which evidences that dispersive transport is caused by the
      spatial inhomogeneity of the material and not by the energy disorder.

PMID- 27628538
TI  - The Tetraodon nigroviridis reference transcriptome: developmental transition,
      length retention and microsynteny of long non-coding RNAs in a compact vertebrate
      genome.
AB  - Pufferfish such as fugu and tetraodon carry the smallest genomes among all
      vertebrates and are ideal for studying genome evolution. However, comparative
      genomics using these species is hindered by the poor annotation of their genomes.
      We performed RNA sequencing during key stages of maternal to zygotic transition
      of Tetraodon nigroviridis and report its first developmental transcriptome. We
      assembled 61,033 transcripts (23,837 loci) representing 80% of the annotated gene
      models and 3816 novel coding transcripts from 2667 loci. We demonstrate the
      similarities of gene expression profiles between pufferfish and zebrafish during
      maternal to zygotic transition and annotated 1120 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)
      many of which differentially expressed during development. The promoters for 60%
      of the assembled transcripts result validated by CAGE-seq. Despite the extreme
      compaction of the tetraodon genome and the dramatic loss of transposons, the
      length of lncRNA exons remain comparable to that of other vertebrates and a small
      set of lncRNAs appears enriched for transposable elements suggesting a selective
      pressure acting on lncRNAs length and composition. Finally, a set of lncRNAs are
      microsyntenic between teleost and vertebrates, which indicates potential
      regulatory interactions between lncRNAs and their flanking coding genes. Our work
      provides a fundamental molecular resource for vertebrate comparative genomics and
      embryogenesis studies.

PMID- 27628541
TI  - [Ten Years after Implementation of Cancer Control Act].
AB  - A brief description of the history of Cancer Control in Japan was presented for
      the first time. The establishment of the National Cancer Center and Comprehensive
      10-year Strategy for Cancer Control Program, which has been implemented for 30
      years, is most important. In response to the concerns raised by cancer patients,
      their families, and lay people, such as elimination of disparity arising from
      where they live or which hospital they attend, and asymmetrical cancer
      information, the Cancer Control Act was established in 2006 and executed in 2007.
      The Basic Plan to Promote Cancer Control Programs was started in 2007 as a 10
      year plan. Hospitals that specialize in cancer treatment, nearly 400 in total,
      were appointed all over Japan. Hospitals that specialize in pediatric cancer were
      also appointed all over Japan. Cancer education for children and special issues,
      including employment of cancer patients, were stressed. Since the establishment
      of the Cancer Control Act, the Cancer Control Strategy in this country has been
      achieved remarkably as a frame. Henceforth, all items should be elucidated by
      giving importance to the opinion of patients, their families, and lay people. 

PMID- 27628539
TI  - Neural Representation of Interaural Time Differences in Humans-an Objective
      Measure that Matches Behavioural Performance.
AB  - Humans, and many other species, exploit small differences in the timing of sounds
      at the two ears (interaural time difference, ITD) to locate their source and to
      enhance their detection in background noise. Despite their importance in everyday
      listening tasks, however, the neural representation of ITDs in human listeners
      remains poorly understood, and few studies have assessed ITD sensitivity to a
      similar resolution to that reported perceptually. Here, we report an objective
      measure of ITD sensitivity in electroencephalography (EEG) signals to abrupt
      modulations in the interaural phase of amplitude-modulated low-frequency tones.
      Specifically, we measured following responses to amplitude-modulated sinusoidal
      signals (520-Hz carrier) in which the stimulus phase at each ear was manipulated
      to produce discrete interaural phase modulations at minima in the modulation
      cycle-interaural phase modulation following responses (IPM-FRs). The depth of the
      interaural phase modulation (IPM) was defined by the sign and the magnitude of
      the interaural phase difference (IPD) transition which was symmetric around zero.
      Seven IPM depths were assessed over the range of +/-22  degrees  to +/-157 
      degrees , corresponding to ITDs largely within the range experienced by human
      listeners under natural listening conditions (120 to 841 MUs). The magnitude of
      the IPM-FR was maximal for IPM depths in the range of +/-67.6  degrees  to +/
      112.6  degrees  and correlated well with performance in a behavioural experiment
      in which listeners were required to discriminate sounds containing IPMs from
      those with only static IPDs. The IPM-FR provides a sensitive measure of binaural
      processing in the human brain and has a potential to assess temporal binaural
      processing.

PMID- 27628540
TI  - Analysis of long non-coding RNA expression profiles in pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most aggressive and
      lethal malignancies. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a novel class of non
      protein-coding transcripts that have been implicated in cancer biogenesis and
      prognosis. By repurposing microarray probes, we herein analysed the lncRNA
      expression profiles in two public PDAC microarray datasets and identified 34
      dysregulated lncRNAs in PDAC. In addition, the expression of 6 selected lncRNAs
      was confirmed in Ren Ji cohort and pancreatic cell lines, and their association
      with 80 PDAC patients' clinicopathological features and prognosis was
      investigated. Results indicated that AFAP1-AS1, UCA1 and ENSG00000218510 might be
      involved in PDAC progression and significantly associated with overall survival
      of PDAC. UCA1 and ENSG00000218510 expression status may serve as independent
      prognostic biomarkers for overall survival of PDAC. Gene set enrichment analysis
      (GSEA) analysis suggested that high AFAP1-AS1, UCA1 and low ENSG00000218510
      expression were correlated with several tumorigenesis related pathways.
      Functional experiments demonstrated that AFAP1-AS1 and UCA1 were required for
      efficient invasion and/or proliferation promotion in PDAC cell lines, while
      ENSG00000218510 acted the opposite. Our findings provide novel information on
      lncRNAs expression profiles which might be beneficial to the precise diagnosis,
      subcategorization and ultimately, the individualized therapy of PDAC.

PMID- 27628543
TI  - [Anti-PD-1 Antibody Drugs - Potential of Plasma PD-L1 Protein as a Biomarker].
AB  - The superior therapeutic effects of antibodies targeting immune checkpoints have
      been reported in the treatment of various cancers including non-small cell lung
      cancer(NSCLC)and malignant melanoma. However, the risk of reactivity against
      selfantigens and the high prices of these drugs are major concerns. Previously,
      PD-L1 protein expression and the number of infiltrating T cells in tumor tissues
      were investigated by immunohistochemical staining, as biomarkers for therapeutic
      anti-PD- 1 antibodies. However, further research into the clinical significance
      of PD-L1 expression in tumor tissues is still required. A promising and
      comprehensive gene mutation analysis of tumor tissues and T cell repertoire
      analysis has recently been undertaken. Liquid biopsy, which has the benefit of
      being minimally invasive, has also been investigated. We are currently,
      investigating the utility of plasma PD-L1 protein levels as a predictive
      biomarker of prognosis in NSCLC. Furthermore, it is important to explore useful
      biomarkers and develop reliable companion diagnostics for the individualized
      treatment with immune checkpoint drugs. 

PMID- 27628542
TI  - [The Mechanism of HLA Class I and PD-L1 Expression of Cancer Cells in Tumor
      Microenvironment].
AB  - HLA class I and PD-L1expressed on cancer cells play a pivotal role in the CTL
      recognition mechanism against cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment. It is
      well known that IFN-g upregulates PD-L1as well as HLA class I expression in
      cancer cells, and it is suggested that TILs, including CTL, produce IFN-g in the
      tumor microenvironment. Therefore, there is a possibility that IFN-g produced by
      activated TILs upregulate both HLA class I and PD-L1expression in cancer cells in
      the tumor microenvironment. We propose that the anti-tumor effect of CTL could be
      enhanced if the inhibition of CTL recognition mechanism against cancer cells via
      the PD-1/PD-L1pathway is canceled by anti-PD-1or anti-PD-L1antibody. 

PMID- 27628544
TI  - [Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Advanced Melanoma - Evidences and Future
      Perspectives].
AB  - Recently developed immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as anti-PD-1 antibodies,
      have shown a clear improvement in clinical efficacy compared with conventional
      cytotoxic chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma.
      Treatment with anti-PD-1 antibodies has resulted in improved objective response
      rates, longer durations of response, and longer overall survival rates. Although
      the incidence rate of adverse events associated with anti-PD-1 antibodies is
      lower than that associated with cytotoxic agents, characteristic severe adverse
      events such as pneumonia, endocrinopathy, and colitis can occur. A recent
      clinical trial that evaluated the utility of an anti-PD-1 antibody in combination
      with an anti-CTLA-4 antibody reported that the treatment enhanced clinical
      efficacy in terms of response rate and progression-free survival. However, the
      incidence of adverse events and treatment discontinuation also increased. For
      optimal selection of immune checkpoint inhibitors for treating patients with
      advanced melanoma, biomarkers capable of predicting clinical efficacy, prognosis,
      and adverse events in each patient need to be identified. In addition, novel
      combination therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and MAP kinase
      pathway-targeting agents, should result in more favorable clinical responses and
      prolonged overall survival rates. 

PMID- 27628545
TI  - [Potentiality of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Advanced Esophageal and Gastric
      Cancer].
AB  - Immune checkpoint inhibitors which have been currently approved on malignant
      melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer in Japan, are having completely different
      mechanism from the conventional anti-neoplastic agents such as cytotoxic
      anticancer agents or molecular targeting agents. Therefore, although the response
      rate is not so high, the patterns of anti-tumor effect such as long-term survival
      or durable response and unique toxicity profiles to stimulate autoimmune response
      are quite distinguished. It has been found to be significantly different from
      conventional anti-neoplastic agents. The results of current clinical trials using
      immune checkpoint inhibitors for gastrointestinal tract cancers, promises to gain
      new promising treatment options near future. The clarification of the biomarkers
      and development of combination therapy is strongly warranted in the future. 

PMID- 27628546
TI  - [Cancer Immunotherapy Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Dendritic
      Cells(iPSDCs)Expressing Carcinoembryonic Antigen].
AB  - The difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of functional dendritic
      cells(DCs)is a well-known serious problem in DCbased immunotherapy. Therefore, we
      used induced pluripotent stem cell-derived DCs(iPSDCs). We have reported that
      mouse iPSDCs are equivalent to BMDCs, in terms of maturation and antigen
      presentation. In this study, the antitumor immune response of human iPSDCs
      expressing the carcinoembryonic antigen was examined, to determine its clinical
      application in gastrointestinal cancer. Human iPS cells were established from
      healthy human fibroblasts using a Sendai virus vector, and human iPSDCs were
      differentiated under a feeder-free culture. Additionally, the surface marker
      expression, cytokine production, and migratory capacity of human iPSDCs were
      equivalent to those of monocyte-derived DCs(MoDCs). After 3 cycles of stimulation
      of autologous PBMCs by genetically modified DCs, the 51Cr-release assay was
      performed. The lymphocytes stimulated by iPSDCs-CEA showed cytotoxic activity
      against LCL-CEA and CEA652-pulsed LCL, but showed no cytotoxicity against LCL
      LacZ. In addition, they showed cytotoxic activity against CEA-positive human
      cancer cell lines, MKN45 and HT29, but showed no cytotoxicity against CEA
      negative human cancer cell line MKN1. In conclusion, CEA-specific CTLs responses
      could be induced by iPSDCs-CEA. This vaccination strategy may be useful in future
      clinical applications of cancer vaccines. 

PMID- 27628547
TI  - [Clinical Efficacy of Cepharanthin(R)for Radiotherapy-Induced Leukopenia - A
      Nationwide, Multicenter, and Observational Study].
AB  - The clinical efficacy and safety of cepharanthin for the treatment of
      radiotherapy-induced leukopenia were reevaluated at multiple
      institutions.Clinical data of cancer patients aged over 20 years old, who
      received a total radiotherapy dose above 40 Gy, and who were treated with
      cepharanthin for more than 2 weeks between April 2007 and November 2012, were
      evaluated. Data from 65 patients(males: 31, females: 34)from 7 facilities were
      analyzed to assess efficacy and adverse events.The mean leukocyte count was
      significantly higher at the end of the treatment compared with the initial
      data.However, no significant differences were observed in erythrocyte and
      platelet counts.No adverse events attributed to cepharanthin were
      reported.Although this was a retrospective study, cepharanthin was found to be
      safe and significantly effective for the management of leukopenia caused by
      radiotherapy. 

PMID- 27628548
TI  - [Safety Assessment of a Short Hydration Regimen for Outpatient Cisplatin-Based
      Chemotherapy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: During administration of thecisplatin (CDDP)containing regimen,
      hospitalization is necessary to ensure adequate hydration. However, short
      hydration is widely used when administering CDDP in outpatient chemotherapy
      centers. METHOD: To assess the safety of the administration of CDDP during short
      hydration, we retrospectively evaluated adverse events and complications in the
      outpatients who received CDDP during short hydration between April 2012 and
      December 2014 in our hospital. RESULT: Sixty patients received CDDP during short
      hydration. Eighteen patients with non-small cell lung cancer, 17 with gastric
      cancer, 10 with small cell lung cancer, 9 with cervical cancer, 4 with biliary
      tract cancer, 1 with endometrial cancer, and 1 with duodenal papilla cancer were
      retrospectively evaluated. Fifty-five patients completed CDDP treatment(including
      treatment until PD). The reasons for discontinuation of CDDP treatment were
      deterioration of general condition, ileus, pneumothorax, cholangitis, and
      rejection of oral rehydration. Hydronephrosis after CDDP treatment during short
      hydration(weekly CDDP regimen)was observed in 1 patient. No patient discontinued
      CDDP due to grade 3 or 4 adverse events. CONCLUSION: No discontinuation of CDDP
      associated with a short hydration regimen suggests that it has enabled
      thesafeadministration of CDDP to outpatients.

PMID- 27628549
TI  - [The Clinical Utility of Pegfilgrastim in Combination with Adjuvant FEC(100)and
      TC Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer].
AB  - BACKGROUND: More than 20%of breast cancer patients who undergo myelosuppressive
      chemotherapy involving FEC(100) or TC experience febrile neutropenia(FN), and
      pegfilgrastim is commonly recommended as the primary prophylaxis. Delays and/or
      dose-reductions in chemotherapy should be avoided as much as possible to maximize
      the clinical benefits of these adjuvant chemotherapies. PURPOSE: This study
      assessed the relative dose intensity(RDI), efficacy, and safety of pegfilgrastim
      in patients with breast cancer. The incidence of FN was also evaluated. METHODS:
      Twenty-six patients with breast cancer undergoing FEC(100)or TC were included in
      this retrospective study. RESULTS: Of the 26 patients, 19 patients who underwent
      FEC(100)and 7 patients who underwent TC received 3.6 mg of pegfilgrastim 24 hours
      after administration of the myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Four and 14 patients
      who underwent FEC(100)achieved 85-99% and 100% RDI, respectively. All 7 patients
      who underwent TC achieved 100% RDI. Grade 3 and 4 adverse events, as assessed
      using the CTCAE, were observed in 11 patients who underwent FEC(100): 2 patients
      experienced leukocytopenia, 7 experienced neutropenia, 1 experienced
      thrombocytopenia, and 1 experienced FN. Four patients who underwent TC
      experienced Grade 3 and 4 adverse events: 1 patient each experienced bone pain,
      neutropenia, anemia, and FN. CONCLUSIONS: Pegfilgrastim can reduce the incidence
      of FN and maintain RDI in patients with breast cancer undergoing myelosuppressive
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 27628550
TI  - [The Usefulness of Outpatient Pharmacy Services in Adjuvant Chemotherapy for
      Gastric Cancer].
AB  - Outpatient pharmacy services were established since June 2009 for educating about
      the signs and symptoms that required treatment, explaining how to receive an
      emergency service, improving a patient's adherence, and managing side effects. In
      this study, we evaluated the usefulness of one of our outpatient pharmacy
      services, which aims to help patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy including S
      1 monotherapy for gastric cancer. In total, 34 and 80 patients received S-1
      monotherapy without or with the intervention of outpatient pharmacy services,
      respectively; additionally, the median ages of the former and latter were 68 and
      65 years, respectively. The treatment completion rates(82.4% versus 67.5%)were
      similar between the 2 groups(odds ratio[OR]: 0.45, 95% confidence interval[CI]:
      0.16-1.21, p=0.106). Their emergency visit rates were 23.5% and 8.8%(OR: 0.31,
      95% Cl: 0.10-0.94, p<0.05). Emergency hospitalization was required for 8.8% and
      0% of the population from each group(OR: 0.00, 95% CI: not significant, p<0.05).
      We suggest that outpatient pharmacy services are useful because they are likely
      to improve a patient's safety. 

PMID- 27628552
TI  - [A Case of HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer for Which Preoperative
      Chemotherapy with Pertuzumab Resulted in a Pathological Complete Response].
AB  - A 52-year-old woman presented with redness and swelling with a peau d'orange
      appearance in the whole right breast. Ultrasound revealed elevated subcutaneus
      fat density and a diffuse hypoechoic area. She was diagnosed with inflammatory
      breast cancer(T4dN2M0, Stage III B of the HER2 subtype). After 4 courses of EC
      treatment as primary systemic therapy, the hypoechoic area was still present.
      Subsequent chemotherapy with pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel was
      effective, as hypoechoic area was not observed on ultrasound. She underwent
      mastectomy and axillary dissection, and pathological examination revealed pCR. At
      present, 2 years after surgery, the patient is alive with no reccurence. 

PMID- 27628551
TI  - [A Case of Luminal-HER2 Advanced Breast Cancer with Liver Metastasis Showed
      Pathological Complete Response to the Therapy with Pertuzumab plus Trastuzumab
      plus Docetaxel].
AB  - A 56-year-old woman noticed a mass on her left breast and visited our hospital.
      An irregular mass of 3 cm with associated axillary lymphadenopathy was detected
      under the nipple of the left breast. After further evaluations, the diagnosis was
      an invasive ductal carcinoma(scirrhous carcinoma)ofLuminal -HER2 type with liver
      metastases(cT4bN1M1, Stage IV). Treatment was initiated with a combination
      ofpertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel(PTD). The primary tumor showed a
      clinical complete response, and the liver metastases and the axillary lymph node
      metastases showed a partial response. Docetaxel was excluded after the 8th cycle
      because the patient experienced severe edema. After 15 cycles of therapy, the
      primary tumor was resected, and pathological examination revealed a pathological
      complete response ofthe primary lesion. Thus, PTD combination therapy is
      effective for Stage IV metastatic breast cancer ofthe Luminal-HER2 type. 

PMID- 27628553
TI  - [Breast Cancer Patient with Bone Metastases Who Was Able to Return Home without
      Using Opioids after Administration of Strontium-89 Chloride].
AB  - A 46-year-old woman underwent mastectomy for right inflammatory breast
      cancer.Three years later, she was diagnosed with multiple bone metastases and was
      treated with systemic chemotherapy and zoledronic acid.Six years after the
      mastectomy, she complained of severe sacral pain, and 40 Gy external radiotherapy
      was applied to the sacral metastases.Oxycodone was also administered, but dose
      escalation was difficult because of severe nausea and fatigue.A bone scan showed
      increased uptake of Tc99m in an area consistent with the painful regions, and an
      injection of 89SrCl2 was administered.Five weeks after the injection, her severe
      pain was relieved and she was able to discontinue the use of opioids
      completely.She successfully lived at home for 100 days without using opioids.In
      this case, radionuclide therapy with 89SrCl2 led to remarkable pain relief with
      an improvement in the quality of life of the patient. 

PMID- 27628554
TI  - [Outcomes of Staging Laparoscopy in Eight Patients with Positive Peritoneal
      Washing Cytology after S-1 Administration].
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical outcomes of staging
      laparoscopy(SL)for patients with positive peritonealwashing cytology(CY1P0)after
      S-1 administration. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Since 2007, eight CY1P0 patients who
      underwent SL after S-1 administration were enrolled. S-1 was administered
      according to the ACTS-GC and SL was performed after 8 courses of S-1 treatment.
      RESULTS: SL was ended with adequate observation of intra-abdominalcavity in
      allthe patients with a median time of 68 minutes(range: 52-76 minutes). The
      timing of SL was after 8 courses of S-1 administration in 6 patients, after 11
      courses in 1, and 12 courses in 1. Based on the SL results, CY0P0 was attained in
      6 patients; CY1P0, in 1 and CY1P1, in 1. For the 6 patients who attained CY0P0, S
      1 administration was completed. For the 2 patients who attained CY1P0 and CY1P1,
      chemotherapy was continued. Only 1 of the patients who attained CY0P0 had
      peritoneal recurrence 3 months after completion of S-1 administration.
      CONCLUSION: When CY0P0 is detected by using SL, S-1 administration may be
      completed. More cases need to be studied to determine the suitable courses or
      timing of S-1 administration for CY0P0 patients.

PMID- 27628556
TI  - [A Case of Advanced Gastric Cancer with Severe Jaundice from Multiple Liver
      Metastases That Was Significantly Improved after Capecitabine plus Oxaliplatin
      Treatment].
AB  - A 74-year-old man with advanced gastric cancer was admitted to our hospital. His
      liver function was impaired(total bilirubin 1.6mg/dL)with multiple liver
      metastases. He was treated with chemotherapy of S-1 plus cisplatin but it was
      discon- tinued due to severe diarrhea(CTCAE Grade 3)on day 6 and his liver
      dysfunction progressed(total bilirubin 10.3mg/dL). After his diarrhea improved,
      he was treated with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin(capecitabine 3,600mg/day on day
      1-14, oxaliplatin 130mg/m2 on day 1, q3 weeks). His severe jaundice and general
      condition improved without severe non-hematological toxicity, and he was
      ultimately discharged. He achieved a partial response(RECIST v1.1)after
      capecitabine plus oxaliplatin treatment, and this therapy has been continued for
      15 months. This case suggests that capecitabine plus oxaliplatin may be
      beneficial even in advanced gastric cancer patients with impaired liver function
      from multiple liver metastases. 

PMID- 27628555
TI  - [A Case of HER2-Positive Stage IV Advanced Gastric Cancer Treated with
      Chemotherapy Combined with Trastuzumab].
AB  - We report a case of human epidermal growth factor receptor(HER)2 positive stage
      IV advanced gastric cancer successfully treated with chemotherapy combined with
      trastuzumab. A 50-year-old man was diagnosed with type 3 gastric cancer
      complicated by liver and lymph node metastases. Owing to a HER2
      immunohistochemistry tumor score of 3+, we initiated capecitabine plus CDDP plus
      trastuzumab chemotherapy. After 6 chemotherapy courses, computed tomography
      showed the liver metastasis had disappeared and the paraaortic lymph nodes had
      shrunk. We continued the capecitabine plus trastuzumab chemotherapy, which
      resulted in a progression free survival of 31 months. After 38 chemotherapy
      courses, the primary tumor progressed; therefore, the patient underwent surgery.
      Chemotherapy combined with trastuzumab can allow for resec- tion of the primary
      tumor. 

PMID- 27628557
TI  - [A Case of Resected Giant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Associated with
      Intraperitoneal Bleeding Following Imatinib Administration].
AB  - A 76-year-old woman with tarry stool was referred to our hospital for further
      examination. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CT)revealed a heterogeneous 15
      cm tumor located in the left upper abdominal cavity. The tumor had a rich
      vascularity and was associated with intra-abdominal bleeding. Gastroscopy showed
      a large submucosal tumor in the gastric body. A biopsy was performed, and the
      patient was diagnosed with a c-kit-positive gastrointestinal stromal
      tumor(GIST)of the stomach. Imatinib mesylate(400mg/day)was administered for 6
      months. Vascularity in the tumor was diminished and no new lesion had emerged,
      although there was no remarkable reduction in tumor size. The patient underwent
      partial gastrectomy and splenectomy with curative intent. She is currently alive
      1 year and 4 months after surgery with no evidence of recurrence. 

PMID- 27628558
TI  - [Multi-Line Chemotherapy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer].
AB  - We administered multi-line chemotherapy(ie, more than fifth-line chemotherapy)to
      5 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer(age range, 62to 78 years; median
      age, 68years). Four of the five patients died because of cancer progression;
      however, the mean overall survival(OS)was 39 months. In our experience, re
      challenging with key drugs was associated with clinical benefits. A case that
      could be thrown until ninth-line treatment was also experienced. A strategy based
      on rechallenging and changes in the combination of key drugs[5-FU-based
      chemotherapy, oxaliplatin, irinotecan(CPT-11), bevacizumab(Bmab)and
      panitumumab(Pmab)]may prolong life and offer new hope for these patients. 

PMID- 27628559
TI  - [Zoledronic Acid Administration is Effective for Hematopoiesis Management in a
      Patient with Primary Myelofibrosis].
AB  - An 80-year-old man received a diagnosis of anemia and a decreased platelet count
      from his physician in 2008, and was referred to our department where primary
      myelofibrosis was diagnosed.The patient was classified into the lower risk group
      according to the International Prognostic Scoring System(IPSS), and was followed
      up without treatment.In June 2010, pancytopenia progressed, and the patient was
      reclassified into the higher risk group.Blood count did not increase with
      metenolone treatment, but increased with zoledronic acid(ZA)that he started
      receiving from January 2012. After ZA treatment, circulating levels of vascular
      endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and transforming growth factor-b(TGF-b)decreased,
      and bone marrow biopsy showed an absence of reticular fibers and collagen
      fibers.In the present case, we observed that the blood count increased because of
      ZA-induced improvements in myelofibrosis. 

PMID- 27628560
TI  - [Double-Hit Follicular Lymphoma with BCL2 and MYC Translocations].
AB  - Double-hit lymphomas are rare tumors that are defined by a chromosomal breakpoint
      affecting the MYC/8q24 locus in combination with another recurrent breakpoint,
      mainly a t(14; 18)(q32;q21)involving BCL2. We report a case of a 38-yearold woman
      with a 2-month history of abdominaldistention. 18F-FDG PET showed multiple
      positive systemic lymph nodes, positive peritoneum, and multiple positive intra
      abdominal masses. Histopathology results of the cervical lymph node were
      compatible with double-hit follicular lymphoma(Grade 3A)because fluorescence in
      situ hybridization(FISH)demonstrated both MYC rearrangement and BCL2 gene fusion.
      She was initially started on R-CHOP(rituximab and doxorubicin, vincristine,
      cyclophosphamide, and prednisolone), but after one course the regimen was changed
      to dose-adjusted EPOCH-R(rituximab and doxorubicin, etoposide, vincristine,
      cyclophosphamide, and prednisolone). However, she showed no response to this
      chemotherapy regimen or haploidentical stem cell transplantation. The treatment
      strategy included salvage chemothera- py. An autologous and/or allogeneic
      hematopoietic transplantation is important for non-responders to DA-EPOCH-R. 

PMID- 27628561
TI  - Response: Commentary: Memory CD8(+) T Cells Colocalize with IL-7(+) Stromal Cells
      in Bone Marrow and Rest in Terms of Proliferation and Transcription.

PMID- 27628563
TI  - Exploring the Relationship Between the Misuse of Stimulant Medications and
      Academic Dishonesty Among a Sample of College Students.
AB  - The misuse of prescription stimulant medications (MPS) and academic dishonesty
      (AD) are both problematic behaviors among college students. Although both
      behaviors are linked to a student's desire to succeed academically, little
      research has been conducted to examine the relationship between these behaviors.
      The purpose of this study was to determine if students who engaged in past-year
      MPS committed acts of AD more frequently than those who do not engage in MPS. We
      collected our data from a sample of undergraduates (n = 974) between the ages of
      18 and 25 enrolled at one of three universities in the US who completed an online
      questionnaire to assess AD and MPS. Results indicated that 18.2 % of the sample
      engaged in MPS in the past year and 65 % committed one or more acts of AD during
      the past year. An increased frequency of AD increased the odds of reporting MPS
      when controlling for known covariates (e.g., gender, stimulant prescription
      status, and energy drink consumption). In addition, higher rates of MPS were
      identified in students affiliated with a Greek organization, those with a current
      stimulant prescription, those who consume energy drinks, and those who misuse
      other prescriptions. Concerning specific AD-types, misusers reported copying off
      someone else's homework, having someone copy of their homework, and using the
      internet to commit acts of dishonesty more frequently than those who do not
      engage in MPS. This study adds to the MPS college student literature by
      highlighting the relationship between MPS and AD.

PMID- 27628562
TI  - Cold sensitivity of TRPA1 is unveiled by the prolyl hydroxylation blockade
      induced sensitization to ROS.
AB  - Mammalian transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is a polymodal
      nociceptor that plays an important role in pain generation, but its role as a
      cold nociceptor is still controversial. Here, we propose that TRPA1 can sense
      noxious cold via transduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) signalling. We
      show that inhibiting hydroxylation of a proline residue within the N-terminal
      ankyrin repeat of human TRPA1 by mutation or using a prolyl hydroxylase (PHD)
      inhibitor potentiates the cold sensitivity of TRPA1 in the presence of hydrogen
      peroxide. Inhibiting PHD in mice triggers mouse TRPA1 sensitization sufficiently
      to sense cold-evoked ROS, which causes cold hypersensitivity. Furthermore, this
      phenomenon underlies the acute cold hypersensitivity induced by the
      chemotherapeutic agent oxaliplatin or its metabolite oxalate. Thus, our findings
      provide evidence that blocking prolyl hydroxylation reveals TRPA1 sensitization
      to ROS, which enables TRPA1 to convert ROS signalling into cold sensitivity.

PMID- 27628564
TI  - Guidelines for diagnostic next-generation sequencing.

PMID- 27628565
TI  - 22 Years of predictive testing for Huntington's disease: the experience of the UK
      Huntington's Prediction Consortium.

PMID- 27628566
TI  - Genetic and biochemical study of dual hereditary jaundice: Dubin-Johnson and
      Gilbert's syndromes. Haplotyping and founder effect of deletion in ABCC2.

PMID- 27628567
TI  - The genomic architecture of NLRP7 is Alu rich and predisposes to disease
      associated large deletions.

PMID- 27628568
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of long intergenic non-coding RNAs in chickpea and their
      potential role in flower development.
AB  - Non-coding RNAs constitute a major portion of the transcriptome in most of
      eukaryotes. Long non-coding transcripts originating from the DNA segment present
      between the protein coding genes are termed as long intergenic non-coding RNAs
      (lincRNAs). Several evidences suggest the role of lincRNAs in regulation of
      various biological processes. In this study, we identified a total of 2248
      lincRNAs in chickpea using RNA-seq data from eight successive stages of flower
      development and three vegetative tissues via an optimized pipeline. Different
      characteristic features of lincRNAs were studied and compared with those of
      predicted mRNAs in chickpea. Further, we utilized a method using network
      propagation algorithm to reveal the putative function of lincRNAs in plants. In
      total, at least 79% of the identified chickpea lincRNAs were assigned with a
      putative function. A comprehensive expression profiling revealed differential
      expression patterns and tissue specificity of lincRNAs in different stages of
      flower development in chickpea. In addition, potential lincRNAs-miRNA
      interactions were explored for the predicted lincRNAs in chickpea. These findings
      will pave the way for understanding the role of lincRNAs in the regulatory
      mechanism underlying flower development in chickpea and other legumes.

PMID- 27628569
TI  - Different Effects of Hypertension and Age on the Function of Large Conductance
      Calcium- and Voltage-Activated Potassium Channels in Human Mesentery Artery
      Smooth Muscle Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large-conductance calcium- and voltage-activated potassium channels
      (BKC a channels) play important roles in the maintenance of vascular tone, and
      their dysregulation is associated with abnormal vascular relaxation and
      contraction. We tested the changes in BKC a channel properties in patients at
      different ages to assess the effects of hypertension and aging on the functional
      changes of BKC a channels. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patch clamp was performed to
      detect the activities of BKC a channels in freshly isolated human mesenteric
      artery smooth muscle cells from younger patients (aged <=45 years) without
      hypertension, older patients (aged >=65 years) without hypertension, and older
      patients with hypertension. The expression of mRNA and protein from BKC a
      channels was evaluated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and
      Western blot analysis, respectively. Results showed that the whole-cell current
      density, spontaneous transient outward current, and Ca(2+) sensitivity of the
      artery smooth muscle cells were significantly decreased in the older patients
      with hypertension; the decreases were insignificant in the older patients without
      hypertension, although a clear tendency to have spontaneous transient outward
      current was detected in these patients. The expression of both mRNA and protein
      of BKC a subunits alpha and beta1 was significantly decreased in the older
      patients with hypertension but not in the older patients without hypertension
      compared with the younger patients without hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings demonstrate for the first time that hypertension is an important factor
      for the pathological alteration of the properties of BKC a channels in human
      mesenteric artery smooth muscle cells, and aging itself may also be a factor in
      these changes in the cells.

PMID- 27628570
TI  - Effects of Low Endothelial Shear Stress After Stent Implantation on Subsequent
      Neointimal Hyperplasia and Clinical Outcomes in Humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In-stent hyperplasia (ISH) may develop in regions of low endothelial
      shear stress (ESS), but the relationship between the magnitude of low ESS, the
      extent of ISH, and subsequent clinical events has not been investigated. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: We assessed the association of poststent ESS with neointimal ISH and
      clinical outcomes in patients treated with percutaneous coronary interventions
      (PCI). Three-dimensional coronary reconstruction was performed in 374 post-PCI
      patients at baseline and 6 to 10 months follow-up as part of the PREDICTION
      Study. Each vessel was divided into 1.5-mm-long segments, and we calculated the
      local ESS within each stented segment at baseline. At follow-up, we assessed ISH
      and the occurrence of a clinically indicated repeat PCI for in-stent restenosis.
      In 246 total stents (54 overlapping), 100 (40.7%) were bare-metal stents (BMS),
      104 (42.3%) sirolimus-eluting stents, and 42 (17.1%) paclitaxel-eluting stents.
      In BMS, low ESS post-PCI at baseline was independently associated with ISH
      (beta=1.47 mm(2) per 1-Pa decrease; 95% CI, 0.38-2.56; P<0.01). ISH was minimal
      in drug-eluting stents. During follow-up, repeat PCI in BMS was performed in 21
      stents (8.5%). There was no significant association between post-PCI ESS and in
      stent restenosis requiring PCI. CONCLUSIONS: Low ESS after BMS implantation is
      associated with subsequent ISH. ISH is strongly inhibited by drug-eluting stents.
      Post-PCI ESS is not associated with in-stent restenosis requiring repeat PCI. ESS
      is an important determinant of ISH in BMS, but ISH of large magnitude to require
      PCI for in-stent restenosis is likely attributed to factors other than ESS within
      the stent.

PMID- 27628571
TI  - Alcohol Consumption, Left Atrial Diameter, and Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption has been associated with atrial fibrillation (AF)
      in several epidemiologic studies, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.
      We sought to test the hypothesis that an atrial myopathy, manifested by
      echocardiographic left atrial enlargement, explains the association between
      chronic alcohol use and AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated the relationship
      between cumulative alcohol consumption and risk of incident AF in 5220 Offspring
      and Original Framingham Heart Study participants (mean age 56.3 years, 54% women)
      with echocardiographic left atrial size measurements. The incidence of AF was 8.4
      per 1000 person-years, with 1088 incident AF cases occurring over a median 6.0
      years (25th-75th percentiles 4.0-8.7 years) of follow-up. After multivariable
      adjustment for potential confounders, every additional 10 g of alcohol per day
      (just under 1 drink per day) was associated with a 0.16 mm (95% CI, 0.10-0.21 mm)
      larger left atrial dimension. Also in multivariable adjusted analysis, every 10 g
      per day of alcohol consumed was associated with a 5% higher risk of developing
      new-onset AF (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09). An estimated 24% (95% CI, 8
      75) of the association between alcohol and AF risk was explained by left atrial
      enlargement. CONCLUSIONS: Our study of a large, community-based sample identified
      alcohol consumption as a predictor of left atrial enlargement and subsequent
      incident AF. Left atrial enlargement may be an intermediate phenotype along the
      causal pathway linking long-term alcohol consumption to AF.

PMID- 27628572
TI  - Quantifying the Association Between Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Disease
      and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationships between physical activity (PA) and both
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have
      predominantly been estimated using categorical measures of PA, masking the shape
      of the dose-response relationship. In this systematic review and meta-analysis,
      for the very first time we are able to derive a single continuous PA metric to
      compare the association between PA and CVD/T2DM, both before and after adjustment
      for a measure of body weight. METHODS AND RESULTS: The search was applied to
      MEDLINE and EMBASE electronic databases for all studies published from January
      1981 to March 2014. A total of 36 studies (3 439 874 participants and 179 393
      events, during an average follow-up period of 12.3 years) were included in the
      analysis (33 pertaining to CVD and 3 to T2DM). An increase from being inactive to
      achieving recommended PA levels (150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic
      activity per week) was associated with lower risk of CVD mortality by 23%, CVD
      incidence by 17%, and T2DM incidence by 26% (relative risk [RR], 0.77 [0.71
      0.84]), (RR, 0.83 [0.77-0.89]), and (RR, 0.74 [0.72-0.77]), respectively, after
      adjustment for body weight. CONCLUSIONS: By using a single continuous metric for
      PA levels, we were able to make a comparison of the effect of PA on CVD incidence
      and mortality including myocardial infarct (MI), stroke, and heart failure, as
      well as T2DM. Effect sizes were generally similar for CVD and T2DM, and suggested
      that the greatest gain in health is associated with moving from inactivity to
      small amounts of PA.

PMID- 27628573
TI  - Identification of Hospital Cardiac Services for Acute Myocardial Infarction Using
      Individual Patient Discharge Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The availability of hospital cardiac services may vary between
      hospitals and influence care processes and outcomes. However, data on available
      cardiac services are restricted to a limited number of services collected by the
      American Hospital Association (AHA) annual survey. We developed an alternative
      method to identify hospital services using individual patient discharge data for
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the Premier Healthcare Database. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Thirty-five inpatient cardiac services relevant for AMI care were
      identified using American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology
      guidelines. Thirty-one of these services could be defined using patient-level
      administrative data codes, such as International Classification of Diseases,
      Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification and Current Procedural Terminology codes. A
      hospital was classified as providing a service if it had >=5 instances for the
      service in the Premier database from 2009 to 2011. Using this system, the
      availability of these services among 432 Premier hospitals ranged from 100%
      (services such as chest X-ray) to 1.2% (heart transplant service). To measure the
      accuracy of this method using administrative data, we calculated agreement
      between the AHA survey and Premier for a subset of 16 services defined by both
      sources. There was a high percentage of agreement (>=80%) for 11 of 16 (68.8%)
      services, moderate agreement for 3 of 16 (18.8%) services, and low agreement
      (<=50%) for 2 of 16 services (12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The availability of cardiac
      services for AMI care varies widely among hospitals. Using individual patient
      discharge data is a feasible method to identify these cardiac services,
      particularly for those services pertaining to inpatient care.

PMID- 27628574
TI  - Facility-Level Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Readmission Rates Are Not
      Associated With Facility-Level Mortality: Insights From the VA Clinical
      Assessment, Reporting, and Tracking (CART) Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thirty-day readmission after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)
      is common, costly, and linked to poor patient outcomes. Accordingly, facility
      level 30-day readmission rates have been considered as a potential quality
      measure. However, it is unknown whether facility-level 30-day readmission rates
      are associated with facility-level mortality. We sought to determine the effect
      of 30-day readmissions after PCI on mortality at both the patient and facility
      level in the Veterans Administration hospital system. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      included all patients who underwent PCI in the Veterans Administration hospital
      system nationally from October 2007 through August 2012, comparing all-cause
      mortality rates between patients with and without 30-day readmissions following
      PCI. Patients were then aggregated at the hospital level to evaluate the
      correlation between hospital-level readmission rates with hospital-level 1-year
      mortality rates. Among 41 069 patients undergoing PCI at 62 sites, 12.2% were
      readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Patients with 30-day readmission had
      higher risk-adjusted mortality (hazard ratio 1.53, 95% CI 1.44-1.63, P<0.0001).
      Facilities varied widely in 30-day readmission rates (systemwide range of 6.6
      19.4%, median 11.8%, interquartile range 10.0-13.2%); however, adjusted facility
      level readmission rates were not correlated with adjusted 1-year mortality rates.
      CONCLUSIONS: Thirty-day readmissions after PCI are common and are a significant
      risk factor for mortality for individual patients even after robust statistical
      adjustment for clinical confounding. However, lack of correlation between
      readmission and mortality at the facility level suggests that quality improvement
      based on facility-level readmission rates will not modify mortality in this high
      risk group.

PMID- 27628575
TI  - Enhanced Adsorption Efficiency through Materials Design for Direct Air Capture
      over Supported Polyethylenimine.
AB  - Until recently, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) was regarded as the most
      promising technology to address the alarming increase in the concentration of
      anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. There is now an increasing interest in
      carbon capture and utilization (CCU). In this context, the capture of CO2 from
      air is an ideal solution to supply pure CO2 wherever it is needed. Here, we
      describe innovative materials for direct air capture (DAC) with unprecedented
      efficiency. Polyethylenimine (PEI) was supported on PME, which is an extra-large
      pore silica (pore-expanded MCM-41) with its internal surfaces fully covered by a
      uniform layer of readily accessible C16 chains from cetyltrimethylammonium (CTMA+
      ) cations. The CTMA+ layer plays a key role in enhancing the amine efficiency
      toward dry or humid ultradilute CO2 (400 ppm CO2 /N2 ) to unprecedented levels.
      At the same PEI content, the amine efficiency of PEI/PME was two to four times
      higher than that of the corresponding calcined mesoporous silica loaded with PEI
      or with different combinations of C16 chains and PEI. Under humid conditions, the
      amine efficiency of 40 wt % PEI/PME reached 7.31 mmolCO2 /gPEI , the highest ever
      reported for any supported PEI in the presence of 400 ppm CO2 . Thus, amine
      accessibility, which reflects both the state of PEI dispersion and the adsorption
      efficiency, is intimately associated with the molecular design of the adsorbent.

PMID- 27628576
TI  - On the Ambiphilic Reactivity of Geometrically Constrained Phosphorus(III) and
      Arsenic(III) Compounds: Insights into Their Interaction with Ionic Substrates.
AB  - The ambiphilic nature of geometrically constrained Group 15 complexes bearing the
      N,N-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-phenolate)amide pincer ligand (ONO3- ) is explored.
      Despite their differing reactivity towards nucleophilic substrates with polarised
      element-hydrogen bonds (e.g., NH3 ), both the phosphorus(III), P(ONO) (1 a), and
      arsenic(III), As(ONO) (1 b), compounds exhibit similar reactivity towards charged
      nucleophiles and electrophiles. Reactions of 1 a and 1 b with KOtBu or KNPh2
      afford anionic complexes in which the nucleophilic anion associates with the
      pnictogen centre ([(tBuO)Pn(ONO)]- (Pn=P (2 a), As (2 b)) and [(Ph2 N)Pn(ONO)]-
      (Pn=P (3 a), As (3 b)). Compound 2 a can subsequently be reacted with a proton
      source or benzylbromide to afford the phosphorus(V) compounds (tBuO)HP(ONO) (4 a)
      and (tBuO)BzP(ONO) (5 a), respectively, whereas analogous arsenic(V) compounds
      are inaccessible. Electrophilic substrates, such as HOTf and MeOTf,
      preferentially associate with the nitrogen atom of the ligand backbone of both 1
      a and 1 b, giving rise to cationic species that can be rationalised as either
      ammonium salts or as amine-stabilised phosphenium or arsenium complexes
      ([Pn{ON(H)O}]+ (Pn=P (6 a), As (6 b)) and [Pn{ON(Me)O}]+ (Pn=P (7 a), As (7 b)).
      Reaction of 1 a with an acid bearing a nucleophilic counteranion (such as HCl)
      gives rise to a phosphorus(V) compound HPCl(ONO) (8 a), whereas the analogous
      reaction with 1 b results in the addition of HCl across one of the As-O bonds to
      afford ClAs{(H)ONO} (8 b). Functionalisation at both the pnictogen centre and the
      ligand backbone is also possible by reaction of 7 a/7 b with KOtBu, which affords
      the neutral species (tBuO)Pn{ON(Me)O} (Pn=P (9 a), As (9 b)). The ambiphilic
      reactivity of these geometrically constrained complexes allows some insight into
      the mechanism of reactivity of 1 a towards small molecules, such as ammonia and
      water.

PMID- 27628577
TI  - QTL editing confers opposing yield performance in different rice varieties.
AB  - Grain yield is one of the most important and complex trait for genetic
      improvement in crops; it is known to be controlled by a number of genes known as
      quantitative trait loci (QTLs). In the past decade, many yield-contributing QTLs
      have been identified in crops. However, it remains unclear whether those QTLs
      confer the same yield performance in different genetic backgrounds. Here, we
      performed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated QTL editing in five widely-cultivated rice
      varieties and revealed that the same QTL can have diverse, even opposing, effects
      on grain yield in different genetic backgrounds.

PMID- 27628578
TI  - Part-time employment in Jordan as a nursing policy solution.
AB  - AIM: Explore the potential of a part-time work option for nurses as a strategy
      for managing domestic markets in Jordan by examining perceptions of working
      nurses and nursing students in the context of current social and cultural
      variables. BACKGROUND: Unemployment among Jordanian nurses has become a reality
      in recent years. However, labor markets literature in nursing rarely studies what
      kind of policy responses should occur during a surplus of nurses. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional design structured the study. The perceptions of nurses and
      students were measured through a questionnaire developed specifically for the
      purpose of this exploratory study. RESULTS: Both nurses (n = 51) and students (n
      = 56) supported the introduction of the new suggested part-time option. However,
      students were more willing to start working or transfer into part-time work, take
      payment on hourly basis, and support colleagues to transfer into part-time work.
      Different solutions were also suggested by participants. DISCUSSION: The results
      were useful for providing the foundational data to further study the viability of
      a part-time work option for Jordanian nurses. The results show how optimistic
      current and future Jordanian nurses are regarding this employment option. For
      countries that may need to diversify their employment models due to excess supply
      of nurses and to address gender imbalances, this work may help inform policy
      development. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSES: Both employed and unemployed nurses will
      benefit if health care managers consider its application. The flexibility of this
      option may help improve the quality of life of many nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      HEALTH POLICY: The results of this study provide nursing leaders and managers
      with foundational evidence that may be applicable in the Jordanian health sector.
      Although further studies are recommended, nursing leaders and policy makers
      should consider such a solution.

PMID- 27628580
TI  - Modelling the growth kinetics of Kocuria marina DAGII as a function of single and
      binary substrate during batch production of beta-Cryptoxanthin.
AB  - In the present investigation, growth kinetics of Kocuria marina DAGII during
      batch production of beta-Cryptoxanthin (beta-CRX) was studied by considering the
      effect of glucose and maltose as a single and binary substrate. The importance of
      mixed substrate over single substrate has been emphasised in the present study.
      Different mathematical models namely, the Logistic model for cell growth, the
      Logistic mass balance equation for substrate consumption and the Luedeking-Piret
      model for beta-CRX production were successfully implemented. Model-based analyses
      for the single substrate experiments suggested that the concentrations of glucose
      and maltose higher than 7.5 and 10.0 g/L, respectively, inhibited the growth and
      beta-CRX production by K. marina DAGII. The Han and Levenspiel model and the
      Luong product inhibition model accurately described the cell growth in glucose
      and maltose substrate systems with a R 2 value of 0.9989 and 0.9998,
      respectively. The effect of glucose and maltose as binary substrate was further
      investigated. The binary substrate kinetics was well described using the sum
      kinetics with interaction parameters model. The results of production kinetics
      revealed that the presence of binary substrate in the cultivation medium
      increased the biomass and beta-CRX yield significantly. This study is a first
      time detailed investigation on kinetic behaviours of K. marina DAGII during beta
      CRX production. The parameters obtained in the study might be helpful for
      developing strategies for commercial production of beta-CRX by K. marina DAGII.

PMID- 27628579
TI  - Enhanced Photoresponse of FeS2 Films: The Role of Marcasite-Pyrite Phase
      Junctions.
AB  - The beneficial role of marcasite in iron-sulfide-based photo-electrochemical
      applications is reported for the first time. A spectacular improvement of the
      photoresponse observed experimentally for mixed pyrite/marcasite-FeS2 films can
      be ascribed to the presence of p/m phase junctions at the interface. Density
      functional theory calculations show that the band alignment at the phase boundary
      contributes to enhanced charge separation and transfer across the interface.

PMID- 27628581
TI  - Vision related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes in the EUROCONDOR
      trial.
AB  - To evaluate vision related quality of life in the patients enrolled in The
      European Consortium for the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy, a clinical
      trial on prevention of diabetic retinopathy. Four-hundred-forty-nine patients,
      153 women, with type 2 Diabetes and no or mild diabetic retinopathy were enrolled
      in a 2-year multicenter randomized controlled trial. The 25-item National Eye
      Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire was used to explore 12 subscales of
      vision related quality of life. The patients were 62.8 +/- 6.7 years old and had
      11.1 +/- 5.6 years known disease duration. Diabetic retinopathy was absent in 193
      (43.0 %) and mild in 256 (57.0 %). Patients without diabetic retinopathy were
      older, had shorter diabetes duration and used less insulin and glucose-lowering
      agents but did not differ by gender, best corrected visual acuity or any
      subscale, except vision specific mental health and vision specific role
      difficulties. Patients with reduced retinal thickness at the ganglion cell layer
      (n = 36) did not differ for diabetic retinopathy but were older, had lower best
      corrected visual acuity and worse scores for ocular pain, color vision and
      peripheral vision. On multivariable analysis, worse scores for general vision
      remained associated with reduced retinal thickness, diabetes duration and best
      corrected visual acuity, and scores for visual specific mental health with
      diabetic retinopathy and lower best corrected visual acuity. Visual specific role
      difficulties were only associated with reduced best corrected visual acuity.
      Scores for driving decreased among females, with worsening of Hemoglobin A1c and
      best corrected visual acuity. Color vision depended only on reduced retinal
      thickness, and peripheral vision on both reduced thickness and best corrected
      visual acuity. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire could
      detect subtle changes in patients' perception of visual function, despite
      absent/minimal diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 27628583
TI  - Serum fetuin B level increased in subjects of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a
      case-control study.
AB  - Fetuin is an endogenous inhibitor of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase. Recent
      studies supported the possible role of fetuin B in metabolic diseases. This study
      is to evaluate the role of serum fetuin B in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
      (NAFLD). A hospital-based case-control study of 184 subjects was conducted. Serum
      level of fetuin B was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The serum
      level of fetuin B in the control (91.0 +/- 36.9 MUg/ml) was lower than it in
      NAFLD (108.7 +/- 38.5 MUg/ml, P < 0.001). The percentage of NAFLD increased
      (42.9%, 58.7% and 60.2%; P < 0.001; linear-by-linear association: P < 0.001), as
      fetuin B concentration elevated in its tertiles, after adjustment of body mass
      index (BMI). Furthermore, compared with the 1st tertile, the 3rd tertile of
      fetuin B indicated an association with the presence of NAFLD (adjusted odds ratio
      = 2.087, 95% confidence interval [1.016 - 3.937], P = 0.023), after controlling
      age, sex, BMI, diabetes, hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia. Lastly, fetuin B
      correlated with diastolic blood pressure, serum alanine transaminase and
      triglycerides, among the controls. It suggested a potential association between
      serum fetuin B and the presence of NAFLD.

PMID- 27628584
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of neratinib during coadministration with lansoprazole in
      healthy subjects.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the effect of lansoprazole, a proton-pump inhibitor, on the
      absorption, pharmacokinetics, and safety of neratinib, a pan-HER tyrosine kinase
      inhibitor, in healthy subjects. METHODS: This was an open-label, two-period,
      fixed-sequence study. Fifteen healthy adult subjects received a single oral dose
      of neratinib 240 mg (Period 1), followed by a washout period, then oral
      lansoprazole 30 mg once daily for 7 days and a single dose of neratinib 240 mg on
      Day 5 (Period 2). Pharmacokinetic sampling was performed for 72 h following each
      neratinib dose. Plasma neratinib concentration-time data were analysed using
      noncompartmental methods. Geometric mean ratios for AUC0-t , AUC0-inf , and peak
      plasma concentrations (Cmax ) for neratinib plus lansoprazole vs. neratinib were
      used to assess the magnitude of the drug-drug interaction if the 90% confidence
      intervals were outside 80.00-125.00%. RESULTS: Neratinib geometric least-squares
      mean (LSM) Cmax was reduced from 84.5 ng ml-1 with neratinib alone to 24.5 ng ml
      1 with neratinib plus lansoprazole. The extent of exposure to neratinib was also
      decreased: geometric LSM AUC0-t was 1478 ng ml-1  h with neratinib vs. 426 ng ml
      1  h with neratinib plus lansoprazole, and geometric LSM AUC0-inf was 1557 ng ml
      1  h vs. 542 ng ml-1  h, respectively. Mean t1/2 was similar with both treatments
      (approximately 14 h). Geometric mean ratios 90% confidence intervals for AUC0-t ,
      AUC0-inf and Cmax fell outside the prespecified equivalence range (80.0-125.0%).
      Treatment-emergent adverse events, all mild, were reported by five (33%)
      subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Coadministration of lansoprazole with neratinib reduced
      the rate and extent of neratinib exposure in healthy subjects.

PMID- 27628582
TI  - Hypoxia and extra-cellular matrix gene expression in adipose tissue associates
      with reduced insulin sensitivity in black South African women.
AB  - Black South African women are more insulin resistant and have increased gluteal
      subcutaneous adipose tissue hypertrophy than white South African women. We tested
      the hypothesis that adipose tissue hypoxia and extracellular matrix gene
      expression in gluteal and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue is higher in
      black than white women, and associates with reduced insulin sensitivity in black
      women. Insulin sensitivity (frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance
      test), gluteal and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue mRNA levels of hypoxia-
      and extracellular matrix-related genes were measured in normal-weight and obese
      premenopausal black (n = 30) and white (n = 26) South African women at baseline,
      and in black women, at 5-year follow-up (n = 10). Compared to obese white women,
      obese black women had higher expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1, collagen
      Valpha1 and collagen VIalpha1 and reduced vascular endothelial growth factor
      alpha expression in gluteal (p < 0.05) but not abdominal subcutaneous adipose
      tissue depots. Independent of age and body fatness, gluteal expression of hypoxia
      inducible factor 1 (r = -0.55; p = 0.01), collagen Valpha1 (r = -0.41; p = 0.05)
      and collagen VIalpha1 (r = -0.47; p = 0.03) correlated with reduced insulin
      sensitivity in black women only. Over a 5-year follow-up, changes in gluteal
      hypoxia inducible factor 1 (r = 0.77; p = 0.01) collagen Valpha1 (r = 0.71; p =
      0.02) and collagen VIalpha1 (r = 0.81; p < 0.01) expression correlated positively
      with the change in fasting insulin concentrations in black women. Compared to
      their white counterparts, black women expressed higher levels of genes associated
      with hypoxia and collagen deposition, and the associations between these genes
      and insulin sensitivity differed by ethnicity. We thus propose that insulin
      resistance in black women may be related to higher extracellular matrix and
      hypoxia gene expression.

PMID- 27628586
TI  - Cyclic esotropia with development of a high accommodative convergence to
      accommodation ratio after surgery for intermittent exotropia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a patient with cyclic esotropia with a high accommodative
      convergence to accommodation (AC/A) ratio after surgical correction of
      intermittent exotropia who was found to have bilateral anomalous medial rectus
      muscle insertion sites. METHOD: A 5-year-old girl developed intermittent
      esotropia on alternating days after undergoing bilateral lateral rectus
      recessions for correction of intermittent exotropia. Alternate prism and cover
      measurement of ocular alignment and binocular function was assessed on
      consecutive days. Surgical correction was performed for the full amount measured
      on a "crossed" day. RESULT: On "straight" days, her eyes were orthotropic with
      normal binocular vision. Examination on "crossed" days revealed a left esotropia
      of 75 prism diopters (PD) at near fixation and 40 PD at distance fixation in
      primary gaze without fusion or stereopsis. The patient underwent bilateral medial
      rectus recessions in conjunction with posterior fixation sutures (MRP). During
      surgery, the distance from the limbus to the medial rectus muscle insertion was
      3.5 mm bilaterally. Postoperatively, the cycle was broken, and the esotropia
      disappeared with no recurrence at the latest follow-up at 12 months. CONCLUSION:
      MRP is an effective procedure for correction of cyclic esotropia with a high AC/A
      ratio. Strabismus surgeons should design surgical strategies based on
      preoperative measurement of deviations at all distances and the anatomy of muscle
      insertions in patients with cyclic esotropia.

PMID- 27628585
TI  - Ophthalmic manifestations of Paederus dermatitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the pattern of ophthalmic manifestations associated with
      Paederus dermatitis (PD). SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Sri Guru Ram Das
      Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, India. DESIGN: Clinic-based
      retrospective study. METHODS: Medical charts of patients presenting to the eye
      clinic with clinical features consistent with the diagnosis of PD from May 1,
      2014 to April 30, 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Relevant demographic and
      clinical data of periocular and ocular findings were collected and analyzed. The
      patients with a history of chronic skin disorders or allergies were excluded from
      the study. RESULTS: A total of 56 patients were included in the study, of which
      39 (69.6 %) were males. The age range was 4-65 years with a median of 27 years.
      On presentation, common subjective symptoms were burning sensation in 49 (87.5
      %), itching in 37 (66.1 %), watering in 25 (44.6 %), foreign body sensation in 19
      (33.9 %), blurring of vision in 17 (30.4 %), and photophobia in 12 (21.4 %)
      patients. Visual acuity at presentation was 20/20 in 39 (69.6 %) patients,
      between 20/30 and 20/80 in 9 (16.1 %) patients, and less than 20/80 in 8 (14.3 %)
      patients. Lid swelling, erythema, crusts, and vesicles were the common periocular
      findings; and conjunctival hyperemia, discharge, and corneal erosions were the
      common ocular findings. CONCLUSIONS: The current study shows that PD can cause
      significant ocular morbidity. Ophthalmologists, especially those who work in
      endemic areas, should be aware of this entity both in terms of management as well
      as for educating patients about the preventive measures.

PMID- 27628587
TI  - Corneal thickening and central flattening induced by femtosecond laser hyperopic
      shaped intrastromal lenticule implantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of the procedure and the modifications of
      the corneal curvature and profile obtained with a novel technique of stromal
      lentoid implantation in ex vivo human corneas. DESIGN: Experimental ex vivo study
      in human corneas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve stromal lentoids were produced by
      means of hyperopic femtosecond lenticule extraction (FLEx) with the VisuMax
      femtosecond laser (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany) with a refractive power of
      +8.00 D and optical zone of 6.0 (six lenticules) and 5.0 mm (six lenticules),
      respectively. The posterior surface of these stromal lentoids presented a higher
      curvature with respect to the anterior surface and, therefore, the thinnest point
      is located at the center of the lenticule, gradually thickening towards the
      periphery. Another 12 corneas underwent femtosecond laser intrastromal pocket
      creation at a depth of 115 microns, for lenticule insertion. After intrastromal
      lenticule implantation the changes of corneal profiles were evaluated by means of
      corneal topography and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT).
      RESULTS: The implantations of intrastromal lenticules were successful in all
      cases with proper distention and centration. A mid-peripheral forward shift of
      the anterior corneal surface along with a thickening (greater in periphery) was
      induced. There was a significant flattening of anterior corneal central areas of
      7.31 +/- 1.52 D (p = 0.002). Diameters of the flattening area were found to be
      consistently correlated with the optical zone diameter of the implanted
      lenticules (p = 0.006). Central flattening was similar in both groups. OCT
      pachymetry maps showed an increase of corneal thickness consistently correlated
      with implanted lentoid thickness and diameter. CONCLUSION: The implantation of
      modified hyperopic-shaped intra-corneal stromal lentoid is a feasible and
      reproducible technique for achieving central corneal flattening while increasing
      thickness. Whether this procedure may be beneficial in the treatment of
      refractive errors or ectatic corneal disorders such as keratoconus merits further
      study.

PMID- 27628589
TI  - Statins evidence: when answers also raise questions.

PMID- 27628588
TI  - Corneal topographic alterations after selective laser trabeculoplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the presence of corneal alterations in the long term
      among patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) after a single session of
      selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The files
      of the POAG patients who had been treated with SLT were evaluated
      retrospectively. The Pretreatment Scheimpflug corneal topographic (SCT) findings
      were then compared with the post-treatment findings. RESULTS: The files of 33
      patients were eligible. The changes in central corneal thickness, thinnest point
      of cornea, and posterior corneal asphericity at 5 and 8 mm were statistically
      significant (p = 0.03, 0.01, 0.02, and 0.04 respectively). On the other hand, the
      simulated K, anterior 3 mm K, anterior 5 mm K, posterior 3 mm K, posterior 5 mm
      K, anterior asphericity at 3 mm, posterior asphericity at 3 mm, and Zernike
      values did not change significantly following the treatment (p = 0.19, 0.08, 0.1,
      0.3, 0.2, 0.75, 0.09, and 0.3 respectively). CONCLUSION: SLT can slightly alter
      pretreatment SCT findings in 3-6 months. Clinicians should wait for at least 6
      months after SLT before performing any subsequent surgeries that depend on
      corneal parameters.

PMID- 27628590
TI  - Distribution and Neighborhood Correlates of Sober Living House Locations in Los
      Angeles.
AB  - Sober living houses (SLHs) are alcohol and drug-free living environments for
      individuals in recovery. The goal of this study was to map the distribution of
      SLHs in Los Angeles (LA) County, California (N = 260) and examine neighborhood
      correlates of SLH density. Locations of SLHs were geocoded and linked to tract
      level Census data as well as to publicly available information on alcohol outlets
      and recovery resources. Neighborhoods with SLHs differed from neighborhoods
      without them on measures of socioeconomic disadvantage and accessibility of
      recovery resources. In multivariate, spatially lagged hurdle models stratified by
      monthly fees charged (less than $1400/month vs. $1400/month or greater), minority
      composition, and accessibility of treatment were associated with the presence of
      affordable SLHs. Accessibility of treatment was also associated with the number
      of affordable SLHs in those neighborhoods. Higher median housing value and
      accessibility of treatment were associated with whether a neighborhood had high
      cost SLHs, and lower population density was associated with the number of high
      cost SLHs in those neighborhoods. Neighborhood factors are associated with the
      availability of SLHs, and research is needed to better understand how these
      factors affect resident outcomes, as well as how SLHs may affect neighborhoods
      over time.

PMID- 27628591
TI  - Establishment of an on-site diagnostic procedure for detection of orf virus from
      oral lesions of Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus) by loop-mediated isothermal
      amplification.
AB  - Orf virus infection has been prevalent continuously in the population of wild
      Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus), goat-like grazing cloven-hoofed mammal
      species that live mainly in mountainous areas of Japan. Currently, definitive
      diagnosis of infection requires time-consuming laboratory work. To diagnose
      rapidly on-site, we developed a field-friendly procedure for the detection of orf
      virus from oral cavity lesions. DNA was extracted from goat saliva spiked with
      orf virus as a proxy for Japanese serows by a commercial kit without the use of
      electricity, and the quality of the extracted DNA was evaluated by conventional
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Extracted DNA was amenable to DNA amplification,
      the same as when extracted in a laboratory. Next, to find optimal conditions for
      DNA amplification by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), Bst and Csa
      DNA polymerases and 3 colorimetric indicators for visual diagnosis, hydroxy
      naphthol blue (HNB), malachite green and D-QUICK, were compared using a portable
      cordless incubator. The combination of Bst or Csa DNA polymerase with HNB was
      found to be easiest for visual diagnosis by the naked eye, and viral DNA was
      successfully amplified from all orf virus strains used. These results suggest
      that the procedure established here can work completely on-site and can be useful
      for definitive diagnosis and differentiation of orf virus infection in Japanese
      serows in remote mountainous areas.

PMID- 27628592
TI  - Development and application of multiplex PCR assays for detection of virus
      induced respiratory disease complex in dogs.
AB  - Canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC) viruses have been detected
      in dogs with respiratory illness. Canine influenza virus (CIV), canine
      parainfluenza virus (CPIV), canine distemper virus (CDV), canine respiratory
      coronavirus (CRCoV), canine adenovirus type 2 (CAdV-2) and canine herpesvirus 1
      (CaHV-1), are all associated with the CIRDC. To allow diagnosis, two conventional
      multiplex polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were developed to simultaneously
      identify four RNA and two DNA viruses associated with CIRDC. The two multiplex
      PCR assays were then validated on 102 respiratory samples collected from 51 dogs
      with respiratory illness by sensitivity and specificity determination in
      comparison to conventional simplex PCR and a rapid three-antigen test kit. All
      six viruses were detected in either individual or multiple infections. The
      developed multiplex PCR assays had a >87% sensitivity and 100% specificity
      compared to their simplex counterpart. Compared to the three-antigen test kit,
      the multiplex PCR assays yielded 100% sensitivity and more than 83% specificity
      for detection of CAdV-2 and CDV, but not for CIV. Therefore, the developed
      multiplex PCR modalities were able to simultaneously diagnose a panel of CIRDC
      viruses and facilitated specimen collection through being suitable for use of
      nasal or oral samples.

PMID- 27628593
TI  - [Pedicled vascularized bone graft for scaphoid reconstruction after Zaidemberg].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonunion of the scaphoid as a result of proximal fractures, failed
      surgical reconstruction, and especially avascular fragment necrosis are possible
      indications of vascularized bone grafts. Various techniques of vascularized
      (pedicled and free) grafts have been described. Pedicled grafts from the direct
      vicinity of the wrist provide several benefits. Harvest-site morbidity is reduced
      and preserved graft perfusion, without the need for blood vessel anastomosis, may
      lead to an improved consolidation. METHODS: A common pedicled vascularized bone
      graft for reconstruction of the scaphoid was first described by C. Zaidemberg and
      colleagues in 1991. We describe 49 consecutive patients, who underwent
      vascularized bone-grafting, pedicled on the 1.2 intercompartmental,
      supraretinacular artery in a modified technique based on Zaidemberg's
      description. The fixation of the bone graft was performed by Kirschner wires.
      RESULTS: A consolidation was detected in 37 cases, and 9 cases showed a
      persistent nonunion (3 patients did not follow up). According to the
      classification of Herbert, 44 patients had a nonunion grade D2 or higher, of
      which 36 patients showed a bony consolidation (8 non-consolidated). Complications
      occurred in individual cases (1x intraoperative fracture of the radius, 4x
      transient irritations of the superficial branch of the radial nerve). A loss in
      the range of motion of the affected wrist was frequent. An indication for a
      pedicled graft was seen if the preoperative contrast-enhanced MRI showed an
      impaired perfusion of scaphoid fragments. DISCUSSION: The more advanced the
      changes in MRI, the more frequently treatment failed. The vascularized bone graft
      from the dorsal distal radius described by C. Zaidemberg et al. is one of several
      ways to address a circulation-impaired nonunion of the scaphoid.

PMID- 27628594
TI  - Erratum to: Microbial Succession and Nitrogen Cycling in Cultured Biofilms as
      Affected by the Inorganic Nitrogen Availability.

PMID- 27628597
TI  - LRIGs: A Prognostically Significant Family with Emerging Therapeutic Competence
      against Cancers.
AB  - The human leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin like domains (LRIG) are
      evolutionary conserved family of single-pass transmembrane proteins. LRIG gene
      family includes three members, LRIG1 (formerly LIG1), LRIG2 and LRIG3, all of
      which are differentially expressed in human tissues and have long been proposed
      to be tumor suppressors. However, recently accumulated evidence on LRIG protein
      expression in human cancer appears to be inconsistent with this belief, as LRIG
      proteins have been found to be upregulated in certain tumors. Moreover, LRIG3 has
      been shown to act in an opposite manner to LRIG1 and LRIG1, in turn, has been
      shown to attenuate LRIG3 activity by its proteolytic degradation. These
      remarkable observations underline and reveal the previously unappreciated
      complexity of LRIG family dynamics. In the current review, the role of LRIG
      proteins in various human cancers is summarized and their differential regulation
      and expression is brought to light in order to understand how these proteins are
      involved in the genesis and progression of human cancers. Moreover, this is the
      first compilation that highlights the therapeutic potential of LRIG1 and suggests
      the same to be undertaken for LRIG2 and LRIG3. By virtue of their potential in
      prognosis of several cancer types, as well as their role as probable therapeutic
      proteins or in enhancing the receptiveness of the cancer cells to anti-tumor
      agents, it is strongly proposed that LRIG analysis should be undertaken and
      consequently be employed as a part of potential cancer treatment strategies.

PMID- 27628596
TI  - Associations between cancer and Alzheimer's disease in a U.S. Medicare
      population.
AB  - Several studies have reported bidirectional inverse associations between cancer
      and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study evaluates these relationships in a
      Medicare population. Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
      linked to Medicare data, 1992-2005, we evaluated cancer risks following AD in a
      case-control study of 836,947 cancer cases and 142,869 controls as well as AD
      risk after cancer in 742,809 cancer patients and a non-cancer group of 420,518.
      We applied unconditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and
      Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazards ratios (HRs). We also
      evaluated cancer in relation to automobile injuries as a negative control to
      explore potential study biases. In the case-control analysis, cancer cases were
      less likely to have a prior diagnosis of AD than controls (OR = 0.86; 95% CI =
      0.81-0.92). Cancer cases were also less likely than controls to have prior
      injuries from automobile accidents to the same degree (OR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.78
      0.88). In the prospective cohort, there was a lower risk observed in cancer
      survivors, HR = 0.87 (95% CI = 0.84-0.90). In contrast, there was no association
      between cancer diagnosis and subsequent automobile accident injuries (HR = 1.03;
      95% CI = 0.98-1.07). That cancer risks were similarly reduced after both AD and
      automobile injuries suggest biases against detecting cancer in persons with
      unrelated medical conditions. The modestly lower AD risk in cancer survivors may
      reflect underdiagnosis of AD in those with a serious illness. This study does not
      support a relationship between cancer and AD.

PMID- 27628598
TI  - The coiled-coil domain of zebrafish TRPM7 regulates Mg.nucleotide sensitivity.
AB  - TRPM7 is a member of the Transient-Receptor-Potential Melastatin ion channel
      family. TRPM7 is a unique fusion protein of an ion channel and an alpha-kinase.
      Although mammalian TRPM7 is well characterized biophysically and its pivotal role
      in cancer, ischemia and cardiovascular disease is becoming increasingly evident,
      the study of TRPM7 in mouse models has been hampered by embryonic lethality of
      transgenic ablations. In zebrafish, functional loss of TRPM7 (drTRPM7) manifests
      itself in an array of non-lethal physiological malfunctions. Here, we investigate
      the regulation of wild type drTRPM7 and multiple C-terminal truncation mutants.
      We find that the biophysical properties of drTRPM7 are very similar to mammalian
      TRPM7. However, pharmacological profiling reveals that drTRPM7 is facilitated
      rather than inhibited by 2-APB, and that the TRPM7 inhibitor waixenicin A has no
      effect. This is reminiscent of the pharmacological profile of human TRPM6, the
      sister channel kinase of TRPM7. Furthermore, using truncation mutations, we show
      that the coiled-coil domain of drTRPM7 is involved in the channel's regulation by
      magnesium (Mg) and Mg.adenosine triphosphate (Mg.ATP). We propose that drTRPM7
      has two protein domains that regulate inhibition by intracellular magnesium and
      nucleotides, and one domain that is concerned with sensing magnesium only.

PMID- 27628595
TI  - The Oral Microbiome of Children: Development, Disease, and Implications Beyond
      Oral Health.
AB  - In the era of applied meta-omics and personalized medicine, the oral microbiome
      is a valuable asset. From biomarker discovery to being a powerful source of
      therapeutic targets and to presenting an opportunity for developing non-invasive
      approaches to health care, it has become clear that oral microbes may hold the
      answer for understanding disease, even beyond the oral cavity. Although our
      understanding of oral microbiome diversity has come a long way in the past 50
      years, there are still many areas that need to be fine-tuned for better risk
      assessment and diagnosis, especially in early developmental stages of human life.
      Here, we discuss the factors that impact development of the oral microbiome and
      explore oral markers of disease, with a focus on the early oral cavity. Our
      ultimate goal is to put different experimental and methodological views into
      perspective for better assessment of early oral and systemic disease at an early
      age and discuss how oral microbiomes-at the community level-could provide
      improved assessment in individuals and populations at risk.

PMID- 27628599
TI  - Identification of a novel sesquiterpene biosynthetic machinery involved in
      astellolide biosynthesis.
AB  - Esterified drimane-type sesquiterpene lactones such as astellolides display
      various biological activities and are widely produced by plants and fungi. Given
      their low homology to known sesquiterpene cyclases, the genes responsible for
      their biosynthesis have not been uncovered yet. Here, we identified the
      astellolide gene cluster from Aspergillus oryzae and discovered a novel
      sesquiterpene biosynthetic machinery consisting of AstC, AstI, and AstK. All
      these enzymes are annotated as haloacid dehalogenase-like hydrolases, whereas
      AstC also contains a DxDTT motif conserved in class II diterpene cyclases. Based
      on enzyme reaction analyses, we found that AstC catalysed the protonation
      initiated cyclisation of farnesyl pyrophosphate into drimanyl pyrophosphate. This
      was successively dephosphorylated by AstI and AstK to produce drim-8-ene-11-ol.
      Moreover, we also identified and characterised a unique non-ribosomal peptide
      synthetase, AstA, responsible for esterifying aryl acids to drimane-type
      sesquiterpene lactones. In this study, we highlight a new biosynthetic route for
      producing sesquiterpene and its esterified derivative. Our findings shed light on
      the identification of novel sesquiterpenes via genome mining.

PMID- 27628601
TI  - Is an Elective Neck Dissection Necessary for All Cases of N0 Oral Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma? -Elective Neck Dissection may be Performed for Tongue Cancer with
      Tumor Thickness More than 4 mm.
AB  - We investigated whether neck dissection should be performed to prevent T1-2N0M0
      tongue cancer by using the Weiss and colleague's decision tree method. The
      results showed that preventive neck dissection should not be recommended for T1
      2N0M0 tongue cancer. However, preventive neck dissection is a suitable approach
      when treating tongue cancer tumors with a thickness of >= 4 mm. 

PMID- 27628600
TI  - Double Common Bile Duct with Ectopic Drainage into the Stomach Found in
      Asymptomatic.
AB  - The case of a patient with asymptomatic double common bile duct that was
      identified by chance is presented. A 41-year-old man underwent
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy(EGD) as part of a regular health checkup, during which
      he was found to have an elevated lesion in the lesser curvature of the upper
      gastric corpus with bile draining from its tip. Further examination led to a
      diagnosis of double common bile duct from the left intrahepatic bile duct to the
      opening into the stomach. Morphological abnormalities of the biliary tree are
      commonly encountered in everyday gastroenterological practice, but a double
      common bile duct with an ectopic opening into the stomach is comparatively rare.
      It is also associated with an increased risk of developing cancer of the stomach
      or bile duct, and as such is a biliary abnormality that must be treated with
      caution. This case is reported together with a discussion of the literature. 

PMID- 27628602
TI  - A Case of Giant Borderline Phyllodes Tumor of the Breast Associated with
      Hypoglycemia.
AB  - We report a patient with a giant phyllodes tumor of the right breast associated
      with a hypoglycemic attack. A 48-year-old woman experienced a loss of
      consciousness and was transferred via ambulance to our hospital emergency
      department. Upon arrival, her blood glucose level was 26 mg/dl, and a giant tumor
      (>20 cm in diameter) with skin ulceration was observed on the right breast. Core
      needle biopsy led to a histological diagnosis of a phyllodes tumor of the breast.
      Ultrasonography and computed tomography detected neither distant metastasis nor a
      pancreatic endocrine tumor. Her preoperative serum insulin-like growth factor
      (IGF)-II and insulin levels were 1,330 ng/ml (normal range, 519-1067 ng/ml) and
      <1.0 uU/ml, respectively. Following a simple mastectomy, the 24-h postoperative
      serum IGF-II and insulin levels were 496 ng/ml and 10.0 uU/ml, respectively. The
      IGF-II levels detected in the phyllodes tumor and normal breast tissue were
      10,600 ng/Wg (wet weight in grams) and 855 ng/Wg. We conclude from these findings
      that the hypoglycemic attack was related to the elevated IGF-II level in the
      giant phyllodes tumor of the breast. 

PMID- 27628603
TI  - Primary Effusion Lymphoma-like Lymphoma in a Patient with Neurofibromatosis Type
      1.
AB  - To date, there are only 15 case reports of lymphoma in patients with
      neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common autosomal dominant tumor predisposition
      syndrome. Here, we present the first report of a primary effusion lymphoma (PEL)
      like lymphoma (PEL-L), which is a human herpes virus 8/Kaposi sarcoma herpes
      virus-unrelated PEL, in a 73-year-old woman with NF1. The woman presented with
      pleural effusion following surgery for a small intestinal gastrointestinal
      stromal tumor and a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. We prepared
      cellblocks to accurately differentiate between PEL, PEL-L, and pyothorax
      associated lymphoma, for establishing a starting point for treatment and for
      prolonging survival. Attention should be paid to malignant neoplasms in NF1
      patients. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma may not be a rare complication in these
      patients, although how NF1 promotes its development remains to be determined. PEL
      L should be suspected when body cavity effusion is observed in elderly patients.
      If feasible, it should be treated via rituximab-containing chemotherapy, which
      according to the literature, results in longer survival times than does drainage
      or regimens consisting of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and
      prednisone. 

PMID- 27628605
TI  - A Case of Encapsulating Peritoneal Sclerosis Complicated by Malignant Peritoneal
      Mesothelioma.
AB  - We report a case of peritoneal mesothelioma discovered in a patient during
      peritoneal dialysis. The patient was a 55-year-old woman who had no history of
      asbestos exposure. Owing to end-stage kidney failure, she had been undergoing
      peritoneal dialysis for over 8 years, and she had been diagnosed with
      encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis. She was admitted to the hospital for
      intestinal obstruction. Three months later, she noticed an enlarging mass in the
      epigastric region. Computed tomography showed a 10-cm mass originating in the
      abdominal wall that had invaded the liver. It was diagnosed as malignant
      mesothelioma via biopsy. Cases of sarcoma-like mass-forming peritoneal
      mesothelioma are rare, and there are no prior reports of encapsulating peritoneal
      sclerosis complicated by malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Thus, this unique
      case of peritoneal mesothelioma can provide us with important knowledge about
      this rare entity. 

PMID- 27628604
TI  - A Case of Occipital Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor with
      Neurofibromatosis Type 1.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The prognosis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST)
      with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) is worse than that of a solitary MPNST,
      because of the tumor size and location difficult to resect completely. We
      experienced a case of MPNST in the occipital region with NF-1. CASE REPORT: A 59
      year-old woman presented with NF-1 and an MPNST of the occipital region. We
      performed wide excision involving the occipital bone, and reconstructed with a
      titanium plate and a free latissimus dorsi muscle flap. Despite three operations
      and postoperative radiotherapy, the tumor locally recurred after each surgery;
      further complicated by lung and mediastinal metastasis. Adjuvant therapy was
      insufficient to control local recurrence, which was observed intracranially,
      resulting in sagittal sinus invasion. Thirty months after the initial surgery,
      the patient died of respiratory failure due to lung metastasis. CONCLUSION: MPNST
      with NF-1 has poorer prognosis than that of a solitary lesion. Recently, it is
      reported in several literature that combination therapy with surgery and
      radiotherapy improve survival rates. But as we presented, when the complete local
      resection with free margin could not achieved due to the size and anatomical
      location of the tumor, the effectiveness of radiotherapy is not sufficient to
      control local recurrence.

PMID- 27628606
TI  - A Case of Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Cheek.
AB  - We report a rare case with a solitary fibrous tumor of the cheek. A 73-year-old
      male with cheek swelling referred to our hospital. At the initial visit, a
      movable tumor measuring 20 * 15 mm was palpable. Therefore, the patient underwent
      excisional biopsy of the tumor under general anesthesia. Immunohistochemical
      staining showed the tumor cells to be positive for CD34, without organization of
      spindle cells into any discernible pattern, leading to a diagnosis of solitary
      fibrous tumor. The patient is now being carefully followed. There has been
      neither recurrence nor metastasis for 6 years, to date. 

PMID- 27628607
TI  - Proposal for a New Exercise Method for Dysphagia with Velopharyngeal Inadequacy:
      A Case of Bickerstaff's Brainstem Encephalitis.
AB  - Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis is an autoimmune disease with the primary
      lesion situated in the brainstem and three cardinal signs: ophthalmoplegia;
      ataxia; and impaired consciousness. A 68-year-old man was started on
      rehabilitation exercise 3 months after onset of Bickerstaff's brainstem
      encephalitis, due to remnant dysarthria and dysphagia (Functional Oral Intake
      Scale, level 5) after the cardinal signs of Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis
      resolved. Exercise involved using a straw in the anterior midline between the
      dorsal tongue and hard palate. While the patient was inhaling through the straw,
      the straw was blocked. After strengthening suction as much as possible, the
      patient was asked to immediately dry swallow at the same time that suction was
      stopped. Effects of exercise were examined using videofluorographic swallowing
      studies before and after 6 weeks of training to compare posterior and superior
      velar displacements and the presence of nasopharyngeal reflux. No adverse effects
      of exercise were encountered, and Functional Oral Intake Scale improved to level
      7, with significant increases in posterior and superior velar displacement during
      swallowing compared with before training. In addition, nasopharyngeal reflux that
      had consistently been seen on swallowing before training was absent after 6 weeks
      of exercise. This exercise method may prove useful. 

PMID- 27628608
TI  - A Case of Mixed Germ Cell Tumor in the Intramedullary Spinal-cord.
AB  - A 28-year-old man was hospitalized with advancing paraplegia. Under the diagnosis
      of Guillain-Barre syndrome, steroid pulse therapy was administered and
      plasmapheresis was performed. However, the paraplegia gradually progressed.
      Subsequently, a spinal cord tumor was revealed by magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). The pathological diagnosis, obtained by open biopsy, confirmed a mixed
      germ cell tumor in the spinal cord. Multiple lung and lymph nodes metastases were
      also detected upon computed tomography, along with increased serum alpha
      fetoprotein (33.9 ng/mL) and human chorionic gonadotropin (182.5 mIU/mL) levels.
      Consequently, he received chemotherapy comprising three courses of BEP
      (bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin) as first-line therapy, followed by four
      courses of TGN (paclitaxel, gemcitabine, and nedaplatin) as second-line
      treatment. As a result, the spinal cord lesion area was significantly decreased
      and the alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin levels were
      normalized. Four years after chemotherapy, MRI revealed pituitary gland and
      pineal organ recurrence of the germ cell tumor and additional TGN chemotherapy
      was performed. 

PMID- 27628609
TI  - Zero Contrast Coronary Intervention Using Intravascular Ultrasound Guidance in a
      Patient with Allergy to Contrast Medium.
AB  - The occurrence of allergy to iodinated contrast in certain patients may prevent
      the use of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in such cases. We present a
      53-year-old male with a history of allergic reaction to iodinated contrast who
      successfully underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guided PCI. Stent size was
      determined based on IVUS. After PCI, stent expansion and a lack of edge
      dissection or incomplete apposition were confirmed by IVUS. Thus, PCI without
      contrast injection under IVUS may be feasible in selected patients with allergy
      to iodinated contrast. 

PMID- 27628610
TI  - Characteristics of Cerebral White Matter Lesions on MRI in Juvenile Patients with
      Migraine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs) have been frequently observed on
      MRI in patients with migraine. We investigated characteristics of WMLs in
      migraine and tried to determine the relationship between its causal mechanism and
      arteriosclerosis. METHODS: A head MRI was performed in juvenile migraine
      patients. The distributions of deep and periventricular WMLs were separately
      studied in the anterior and posterior circulation. Grading was conducted
      according to the Fazekas classification. Arteriosclerotic risk factors were
      identified, and their effects on WMLs were investigated. RESULTS: WMLs were
      observed in 85 (40.5%) of 210 patients in our hospital. This is significantly
      higher than the 10 (19.2%) of 63 patients in the control group (p < 0.01). WMLs
      were significantly observed on the anterior territory of the deep white matter (p
      < 0.01) and the posterior territory of the periventricular white matter (p <
      0.05). Multivariable analysis revealed that the occurrence of WMLs was not
      related to arteriosclerotic risk factors, while migraine (p < 0.01) and aging (p
      < 0.05) were significant risk factors. CONCLUSION: While migraine was a risk
      factor of WMLs, its relationship with arteriosclerotic factors was weak.
      Accordingly, a mechanism other than arteriosclerosis may be involved.

PMID- 27628611
TI  - Investigation of a Correlation between Thoracic Vertebra Hyperplasia and Relapse
      in Paroxysmal Atrial FIbrillation Patients Following Extended Pulmonary Vein
      Isolation.
AB  - Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with radio-frequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is
      effective therapy for the patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAF).
      However, it is not easy to predict relapse of pAF. Approximately 70% pAF patients
      were maintained sinus rhythm for 1 year after PVI in Japan. In this study, all of
      the cases were underwent chest computed tomography (CT) to check for the
      morphology and positional relationship of the left atrium. We detected relapse
      cases that exhibited spur formation in the thoracic vertebrae. Therefore, we
      conducted an investigation based on the hypothesis that, "Because hyperostosis
      involves proliferative changes in the synovium or pia mater cells with an
      inflammatory basis, it is related to the onset of atrial fibrillation." The study
      sample consisted of 24 sequential cases (males: 20, mean age: 66.2 +/- 6.9 years)
      of drug-resistant pAF that underwent PVI at our hospital between January and May,
      2015. When subjects were divided into a relapse group and a non-relapse group and
      21 background factors were compared, it was found that the relapse group subjects
      were older than the non-relapse group subjects (70.3 +/- 7.2 vs 64.1 +/- 5.7, p =
      0.04). The proportion of cases with thoracic vertebra hyperplasia was markedly
      high in the relapse group (6 cases [75%] vs. 3 cases [18%], p = 0.007). No
      statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups for
      any other background factors. Our results suggested that thoracic vertebra
      hyperplasia could be a marker for predicting relapse after PVI in pAF patients. 

PMID- 27628612
TI  - Salmonella Enterica Serotype Enteritidis Vertebral Osteomyelitis and Epidural
      Abscess Complicated with Meningitis.
AB  - Infection with non-typhoidal Salmonella often results in a self-limited acute
      gastroenteritis. Extra-intestinal Salmonella infection is relatively rare and
      occurs predominantly in infants and adults with significant underlying
      conditions. We describe a 54-year-old Japanese man with a history of heavy
      alcohol consumption and daily contact with a dog, who developed bacteremia
      complicated by vertebral osteomyelitis, spinal epidural abscess, and meningitis,
      due to Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis. This case suggests that
      Salmonella should be considered as an etiologic pathogen in adult patients with
      perivertebral infection or meningitis. 

PMID- 27628613
TI  - Poly(ionic liquid)-Mediated Morphogenesis of Bismuth Sulfide with a Tunable Band
      Gap and Enhanced Electrocatalytic Properties.
AB  - Conventional polymer additives have a substantial impact on synthetic inorganic
      chemistry, but critical shortcomings remain; for example, low solubility in
      organic solvents and potential thermodynamic aggregates. Poly(ionic liquid)s have
      now been used as efficient additives that enable a high level control of bismuth
      sulfide crystals with significant size and morphological diversities. The bismuth
      sulfides exhibit tunable band structure as a result of the quantum size effects.
      Moreover, poly(ionic liquid)s are able to couple with as-synthesized bismuth
      sulfides chemically and endow a modified surface electronic structure, which
      allows resultant products to possess outstanding electrocatalytic performance for
      water oxidation, although its commercial counterpart is catalytically inert.

PMID- 27628614
TI  - A survey of various endodontic procedures related to mineral trioxide aggregate
      usage by members of the Australian Society of Endodontology.
AB  - This study aims to assess education on the use of mineral trioxide aggregate
      (MTA) and Biodentine among members of the Australian Society of Endodontology
      (ASE), a society of specialist endodontists (ED) and general dentists with an
      interest in endodontics (GD). The study also aims to compare the procedural
      preferences relating to perforation repair, apical barrier, root-end filling and
      regenerative endodontics. A structured online questionnaire was used, which
      sought details of the education in the use of MTA and the procedural steps
      involved in perforation repair, apical barrier, root-end filling and regenerative
      endodontics. Fisher's exact test was performed to compare the GD with ED.
      Responses were received from 208 out of 499 ASE members. Some 40% of the total
      respondents were ED. Almost all ED (98.8%) and some GD (39.8%) used MTA for
      perforation repairs. Likewise, almost all ED (96.3%) and some GD (42.7%) used MTA
      for apical barrier procedures. Lack of experience was more of a barrier to its
      use for GD (48.7%) than its high cost (31.6%). Few members used Biodentine.
      Significant differences exist in how MTA is used between GD and ED. Experience in
      handling MTA is a larger barrier to its widespread use in endodontics than its
      cost.

PMID- 27628615
TI  - Which platelet function test best reflects the in vivo plasma concentrations of
      ticagrelor and its active metabolite? The HARMONIC study.
AB  - Aim of this study was assessment of the relationship between concentrations of
      ticagrelor and its active metabolite (AR-C124910XX) and results of selected
      platelet function tests. In a single-centre, cohort study, patients with
      myocardial infarction underwent blood sampling following a 180 mg ticagrelor
      loading dose intake (predose, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 24 hours postdose) to perform
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic assessments. Platelet reactivity was
      evaluated using the VASP-assay, the VerifyNow device and the Multiplate analyzer.
      Analysis of 36 patients revealed high negative correlations between ticagrelor
      concentrations and platelet reactivity evaluated with all three platelet function
      tests (the VASP-assay: RS=-0.722; p<0.0001; the VerifyNow device: RS=-0.715;
      p<0.0001; the Multiplate analyzer: RS=-0.722; p<0.0001), with no significant
      differences between correlation coefficients. Similar results were found for AR
      C124910XX. Platelet reactivity values assessed with all three methods generally
      correlated well with each other; however, a significantly higher correlation
      (p<0.02) was demonstrated between the VerifyNow and Multiplate tests (RS=0.707;
      p<0.0001) than in other assay combinations (the VASP-assay and the VerifyNow
      device: RS=0.595; p<0.0001; the VASP-assay and the Multiplate analyzer: RS=0.588;
      p<0.0001). With respect to the recognition of high platelet reactivity, we found
      higher measurement concordance between the VerifyNow and Multiplate tests
      compared with other assay combinations, while for low platelet reactivity, only
      results of the VerifyNow and Multiplate assay were related to each other.
      Platelet reactivity measurements performed with the VASP, VerifyNow and
      Multiplate tests show comparably strong negative correlations with ticagrelor and
      AR-C124910XX concentrations.

PMID- 27628617
TI  - Prospective Investigation of a Novel Ultrasound-assisted Lumbar Puncture
      Technique on Infants in the Pediatric Emergency Department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective was to describe a novel ultrasound-assisted lumbar
      puncture (UALP) technique and to compare it to standard lumbar puncture (SLP)
      technique in infants. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, controlled study in
      infants 60 days old and younger undergoing a lumbar puncture (LP) in a pediatric
      emergency department. Patients with a spinal anomaly or ventriculoperitoneal
      shunt were excluded. Eligible infants were randomized to UALP or SLP. A spinal
      sonogram was performed on all patients by an investigator not involved in
      performing the LP. Spinal landmarks and maximum safe depth were identified for
      the UALP providers. Providers in the SLP group were blinded to sonographic
      measurements. A successful LP was defined as the collection of cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) with a red blood cell count of less than 10,000 cells/mm3 .
      Statistical analysis included chi-square, Mann-Whitney U-test, and number needed
      to treat (NNT). RESULTS: Forty-three patients were enrolled, 21 in the UALP group
      and 22 in the SLP group. Prematurity, weight, length, provider experience,
      anesthesia use, stylet technique, and number of attempts were similar between
      groups. The median age in the UALP group was 38 days (interquartile range [IQR] =
      33 days) versus 45 days (IQR = 19 days) in the SLP group (p = 0.02). CSF was
      obtained in all UALP subjects (100%) versus in 18 of 22 (82%) in the SLP group (p
      = 0.04); 20 (95%) UALP subjects versus 15 (68%) SLP subjects met our definition
      of success (p = 0.023). The odds ratio of successful LP using UALP technique was
      9.33 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.034 to 84.026) and the NNT was 3.7 (95% CI
      = 2.02 to 24.18). CONCLUSION: The UALP technique increases the rate of a
      successful LP in infants compared to standard technique.

PMID- 27628616
TI  - Reversal learning strategy in adolescence is associated with prefrontal cortex
      activation.
AB  - Adolescence is a critical maturation period for human cognitive control and
      executive function. In this study, a large sample of adolescents (n = 85)
      performed a reversal learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging.
      We analyzed behavioral data using a reinforcement learning model to provide
      individually fitted parameters and imaging data with regard to reward prediction
      errors (PE). Following a model-based approach, we formed two groups depending on
      whether individuals tended to update expectations predominantly for the chosen
      stimulus or also for the unchosen one. These groups significantly differed in
      their problem behavior score obtained using the child behavior checklist (CBCL)
      and in a measure of their developmental stage. Imaging results showed that
      dorsolateral striatal areas covaried with PE. Participants who relied less on
      learning based on task structure showed less prefrontal activation compared with
      participants who relied more on task structure. An exploratory analysis revealed
      that PE-related activity was associated with pubertal development in prefrontal
      areas, insula and anterior cingulate. These findings support the hypothesis that
      the prefrontal cortex is implicated in mediating flexible goal-directed
      behavioral control.

PMID- 27628618
TI  - Joint EACVI HIT/EAPCI young survey/ESC CoT survey: training and education for
      'multimodality imaging in structural interventions': the rise of a new sub
      specialty?

PMID- 27628619
TI  - Giant aneurysm of a saphenous vein graft causing compression of cardiac
      structures in a patient with lung tumour: who is doing what?

PMID- 27628620
TI  - Current management of open fractures: results from an online survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Open fractures are orthopaedic emergencies that carry a high risk for
      infection, non-union and soft tissue complications. Evidence-based treatment is
      impeded by the lack of high-quality evidence-based studies. The aim of this
      investigation was to elucidate the current practice of open fracture management
      in Germany and to determine major differences in treatment. METHODS: Surgeons
      were asked to complete an online questionnaire consisting of 45 items developed
      by an expert consensus. The first part covered questions on general principles of
      open fracture management. The second part included questions on soft tissue
      management, the preferred method of initial surgical stabilisation,
      microbiological testing, employment of pulsatile lavage and local antibiotics,
      antibiotic regimen, second-look operations, and blood testing. RESULTS: Of 653
      respondents, 364 (65 %) completed the first part and 314 (48 %) completed the
      second part of the online survey. 55 % answered that a standard operating
      procedure for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with open fractures exists
      in their hospital. Only 25 % leave pre-hospitalisation applied dressings intact
      until arrival of the patient in the operating room, and 40 % make this decision
      depending on information provided by pre-hospitalisation emergency personnel. 84
      % participants exclude the use of antibiotic-coated implants in the treatment of
      open fractures. The favoured stabilisation method in Gustilo type I fractures is
      definitive internal osteosynthesis and primary wound closure for 61 % of
      respondents. In Gustilo type II (74 %) and type III fractures (93 %), temporary
      external fixation is preferred. High-pressure pulsatile lavage is used by 22 %
      responding surgeons in Gustilo type I fractures, 53 % for type II fractures and
      67 % for type III fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Open fracture management differs
      considerably among surgeons in Germany. Further studies are needed to deliver
      high-quality evidence concerning primary fracture stabilisation, soft tissue
      management and second-look operations. Existing evidence-based recommendations
      for general treatment, antibiotic prophylaxis and soft tissue management should
      be followed more strictly in clinical practice.

PMID- 27628621
TI  - Workforce in hepatology: Update and a critical need for more information.
AB  - The field of hepatology has experienced dramatic changes since the last workforce
      study in hepatology over 15 years ago. Hepatology practice has been dominated by
      hepatitis C but is now being overtaken by patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease. Expertise once attainable only through informal training, hepatology now
      has an accredited fellowship pathway and is recognized as a distinct discipline
      from gastroenterology with its own board certification. These changes that have
      occurred since the last workforce study in the prevalence and therapy of liver
      diseases and training may impact workforce needs. The time has come to conduct an
      updated analysis of the state of the hepatology workforce. The purpose of this
      article is to discuss the current issues facing training and workforce in
      hepatology and propose the next steps in conducting a workforce study.
      (Hepatology 2017;65:336-340).

PMID- 27628622
TI  - New aristolochic acid and other chemical constituents of Aristolochia maurorum
      growing wild in Jordan.
AB  - Investigation of the chemical constituents of Aristolochia maurorum growing wild
      in Jordan resulted in the isolation and characterisation of one new compound in
      addition to 19 known compounds. The new compound was identified as aristolochic
      acid II alanine amide (14). The other known compounds were the following:
      palmitic acid (1), beta-sitosterol (2), E-ethyl-p-coumarate (3), Z-ethyl-p
      coumarate (4), aristolochic acid IV methyl ester (5), aristolactam I (6),
      loliolide (7), (+)-dehydrovomifoliol (8), glycerol-1-palmitate (9), aristolochic
      acid I (10), E-p-coumaric acid (11), E-N-coumaroyltyramine (12), beta-sitosteryl
      glucoside (13), aristolochic acid IV (15), aristolochic acid III (16), esculetin
      (17), uracil (18), shepherdine (19) and adenosine (20). The isolated compounds
      were characterised by different spectroscopic methods including NMR (1D and 2D),
      UV, IR and HRESIMS.

PMID- 27628623
TI  - Hormonal response recovery after long-term androgen deprivation therapy in
      patients with prostate cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate hormonal recovery after
      cessation of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in a group of elderly prostate
      cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with locally advanced or
      metastatic prostate cancer, with a mean age of 71.5 years [95% confidence
      interval (CI) 69.1-73.9], were treated with ADT for a mean duration of 74.6
      months (95% CI 59.7-89.5 months). Mean follow-up time after ADT cessation was
      36.5 months (95% CI 30.6-42.3 months). Serum testosterone and luteinizing hormone
      (LH) were determined at 6 month intervals after ADT cessation. RESULTS: After 18
      months of follow-up, all patients had recovered normal LH levels, while 38% of
      patients still presented castration levels of testosterone (< 50 ng/dl). A
      multivariate analysis was performed to find factors related to testosterone
      recovery (testosterone >50 ng/dl). Neither age at start of ADT nor clinical stage
      reached statistical significance. Only time under ADT was correlated with
      testosterone recovery (p = .031). Kaplan-Meier curves were obtained. Mean time
      for testosterone recovery was 14.5 months (95% CI 6.5-22.6 months) in patients
      treated with ADT for less than 60 months compared to 29.3 months (95% CI 19.6
      39.1 months) in patients treated with ADT for more than 60 months (log-rank p =
      .029). CONCLUSIONS: Age did not correlate with testosterone recovery in a group
      of elderly prostate cancer patients in whom ADT was stopped. Testosterone
      recovery after ADT cessation was significantly correlated with time under ADT
      treatment. Significant implications related to economic aspects of the dosage
      schedule may be considered.

PMID- 27628624
TI  - Lasting effect of an oral hygiene care program for patients with stroke during in
      hospital rehabilitation: a randomized single-center clinical trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Because the oral hygiene is poorly prioritized in the immediate post
      stroke period, we implemented an oral hygiene care program (OHCP) for stroke in
      patients and evaluated its persistence after discharge. METHOD: In all, 62
      patients with stroke who were admitted to the rehabilitation ward were randomly
      assigned to two groups: 33 patients to the intervention group and 29 to the
      control group. The OHCP, including tooth brushing education and professional
      tooth cleaning, was administered to the intervention group twice a week six times
      during in-hospital rehabilitation. Oral health status was examined both at
      baseline and three months after discharge from the hospital. Oral hygiene status
      was examined at three- to four-day intervals five times during the
      hospitalization period. RESULTS: After OHCP, oral hygiene status including the
      plaque index, calculus index, and O'Leary plaque index improved significantly in
      the intervention group, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). In the
      intervention group, after administration of the OHCP for the fourth time, the
      O'Leary index improved significantly, and remained high when checked three months
      after discharge (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: An OHCP conducted during in-hospital
      rehabilitation was effective in improving oral health and plaque control
      performance among patients with stroke, with effects still seen three months
      after discharge from the hospital. Implications for Rehabilitation Initial oral
      hygiene status and plaque control performance were poor in stroke patients who
      were in rehabilitation center. An oral hygiene care program during in-hospital
      rehabilitation was effective in improving oral hygiene status and plaque control
      performance among stroke patients at three months after discharge. Repeated tooth
      brushing education and professional tooth cleaning were necessary to improve
      plaque control performance of stroke patients.

PMID- 27628625
TI  - Shape-Memory Terpolymer Rods with 17-beta-estradiol for the Treatment of
      Neurodegenerative Diseases: an In Vitro and In Vivo Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Estradiol (E2)-loaded poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-trimethylenecarbonate)
      (P(L-LA:GA:TMC)) rods with shape-memory were developed for the treatment of
      neurodegenerative diseases. Usefulness of the extrusion method in the obtaining
      process was also considered. The influence of structural and surface properties
      during hydrolytic degradation was developed. The possible therapeutic aspect of
      rods with E2 was determined. METHODS: The extruded rods were incubated in a PBS
      solution (pH 7.4, 37 degrees C, 240 rpm). The amount of released E2 in vitro
      conditions was estimated by UV-VIS method. The following methods in the
      degradation of rods were applied: NMR, DSC, FTIR, GPC, SEM, and optical
      microscopy. Changes in water uptake and weight loss were also determined. In vivo
      study was performed on rats. Measurements of E2 level were performed before and
      after ovariectomy of rats using ELISA method. A sample of tissue adjacent to the
      site of the rod implantation was analysed under an optical microscope. RESULTS: A
      stable and steady degradation process ensured zero-order release of E2. The in
      vivo study indicated a significant increase in the E2 level in serum after
      ovariectomy. Moreover, structural and surface features indicated that the
      extrusion method was appropriate for obtaining E2-loaded rods. CONCLUSIONS: Shape
      memory P(L-LA:GA:TMC) rods with E2 are an adequate proposal for further research
      in the field of neurological disorders.

PMID- 27628626
TI  - Estimation of Intra-vitreal Half-Lifes in the Rabbit Eye with Semi-mechanistic
      Equations.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop an alternative method for estimating vitreal half-lifes in
      the rabbit eye based on simple equations for the physical processes of
      dissipation and the physiochemical properties of therapeutic substances applied
      by intravitreal drug administration. METHODS: Equations were derived to describe
      diffusion in the vitreous humor and permeation through the back-of-the-eye
      tissue, and the volume of distribution. The model was validated using reported
      half-life values from 83 compounds collected from literature. RESULTS: The rate
      limiting step for dissipation from the vitreous depends mainly on the molecular
      weight. Dissipation of very low molecular weight (MW) substances (<350 Da) is
      limited by diffusional transport to the back of the eye, for substances with a MW
      >350 Da uptake into the back of the eye tissue becomes limiting, and large
      molecules >500 Da predominantly take an alternative path being cleared through
      the front of the eye for which diffusion towards the posterior chamber turns out
      to be limiting. Taking the three rate determining processes into account, the
      derived model can estimate dissipation rates and respectively vitreal half-life
      values of small compounds and macromolecules from their molecular weight with
      very few exceptions. CONCLUSIONS: The equations derived in this analysis provide
      a simple method to predict vitreal half-lifes for a diverse group of molecules
      and can be easily implemented in early drug development.

PMID- 27628628
TI  - A DUB-less step? Tighten up D-loop.

PMID- 27628627
TI  - Matrix Metalloproteinase Responsive Delivery of Myostatin Inhibitors.
AB  - PURPOSE: The inhibition of myostatin - a member of the transforming growth factor
      (TGF-beta) family - drives regeneration of functional skeletal muscle tissue. We
      developed a bioresponsive drug delivery system (DDS) linking release of a
      myostatin inhibitor (MI) to inflammatory flares of myositis to provide self
      regulated MI concentration gradients within tissues of need. METHODS: A protease
      cleavable linker (PCL) - responding to MMP upregulation - is attached to the MI
      and site-specifically immobilized on microparticle surfaces. RESULTS: The PCL
      disintegrated in a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 1, 8, and particularly MMP-9
      concentration dependent manner, with MMP-9 being an effective surrogate biomarker
      correlating with the activity of myositis. The bioactivity of particle-surface
      bound as well as released MI was confirmed by luciferase suppression in stably
      transfected HEK293 cells responding to myostatin induced SMAD phosphorylation.
      CONCLUSIONS: We developed a MMP-responsive DDS for MI delivery responding to
      inflammatory flare of a diseased muscle matching the kinetics of MMP-9
      upregulation, with MMP-9 kinetics matching (patho-) physiological myostatin
      levels. ?: Graphical Abstract Schematic illustration of the matrix
      metalloproteinase responsive delivery system responding to inflammatory flares of
      muscle disease. The protease cleavable linker readily disintegrates upon entry
      into the diseased tissue, therby releasing the mystatin inhibitor.

PMID- 27628630
TI  - Is the transition from open to robotic prostatectomy fair to your patients? A
      single-surgeon comparison with 2-year follow-up.
AB  - Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is a procedure thought to require
      experience with a significant number of cases before mastering. Most RARP series
      examine outcomes after the learning curve or by combining results from multiple
      surgeons. We review a single surgeon's experience during the transition from open
      radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) to RARP using a matched case-control
      model. We prospectively analyzed 50 RARP cases and made comparison with the last
      50 consecutive RRP cases. Operative time was longer for RARP than RRP (341 versus
      235 min, p < 0.01), and mean estimated blood loss was less for RARP than RRP (533
      versus 1,540 ml, p < 0.01). There was a trend towards fewer positive surgical
      margins (PSM) for RARP (10%) than RRP (24%; p = 0.06). High-risk patients were
      found to have a greater percentage of PSM following RRP (70%) in comparison with
      RARP (17%; p = 0.04). The number of patients who experienced complications was no
      different between groups (16 versus 12, p = 0.37). Erectile function at 12, 18,
      and 24 months showed no difference between groups (p = 0.15, 0.92, and 0.23,
      respectively). There was no difference in continence at 1 year (88.6% versus
      89.1%; p = 0.94). During 27.1 months of follow-up for the RARP group and 30.4
      months for the RRP group, 92% and 94% of patients had an undetectable prostate
      specific antigen (PSA) (defined as <=0.1), respectively (p = 0.38). We report
      similar outcomes in patients undergoing RARP by a surgeon transitioning from RRP
      to RARP, confirming that the learning curve does not affect patient outcomes over
      a 2-year follow-up. 

PMID- 27628629
TI  - The Renal Sodium Bicarbonate Cotransporter NBCe2: Is It a Major Contributor to
      Sodium and pH Homeostasis?
AB  - The sodium bicarbonate cotransporter (NBCe2, aka NBC4) was originally isolated
      from the human testis and heart (Pushkin et al. IUBMB Life 50:13-19, 2000).
      Subsequently, NBCe2 was found in diverse locations where it plays a role in
      regulating sodium and bicarbonate transport, influencing intracellular,
      extracellular, interstitial, and ultimately plasma pH (Boron et al. J Exp Biol.
      212:1697-1706, 2009; Parker and Boron, Physiol Rev. 93:803-959, 2013; Romero et
      al. Mol Asp Med. 34:159-182, 2013). NBCe2 is located in human and rodent renal
      collecting duct and proximal tubule. While much is known about the two
      electrogenic sodium bicarbonate cotransporters, NBCe1 and NBCe2, in the
      regulation of sodium homeostasis and pH balance in the rodent kidney, little is
      known about their roles in human renal physiology. NBCe2 is located in the
      proximal tubule Golgi apparatus under basal conditions and then disperses
      throughout the cell, but particularly into the apical membrane microvilli, during
      various maneuvers that increase intracellular sodium. This review will summarize
      our current understanding of the distribution and function of NBCe2 in the human
      kidney and how genetic variants of its gene, SLC4A5, contribute to salt
      sensitivity of blood pressure.

PMID- 27628631
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty: initial Australasian experience.
AB  - Laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty has a success rate in excess of 90% for the
      treatment of uretero-pelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction. Laparoscopic
      intracorporeal suturing, however, remains technically challenging and may lead to
      prolonged operating times. Robotic-assisted suturing using the da Vinci((r))
      surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, CA, USA) may reduce the difficulty
      associated with intra-corporeal suturing. The da Vinci((r)) surgical system was
      used to facilitate intra-corporeal suturing in adults undergoing trans-peritoneal
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty (RALPY) at our institution. Initially,
      the robot was only docked for the anastomosis, but in the later part of the
      series the robot was used for all parts of the dissection and reconstruction.
      Peri-operative and outcome data were recorded prospectively. Twenty-four patients
      underwent RALPY over a 4-year period. The mean age was 46.6 (range 18-76) years.
      The mean total operative time was 211 min (range 150-317 min) with an anastomotic
      time of 44 min (range 30-55 min). The mean estimated blood loss was 56 ml (10-150
      ml) and there was one temporary urine leak managed by 24 h of urethral
      catheterization. The median length of stay was 4 (2-10) days. Patients underwent
      diuretic renography at 6 months post surgery, and satisfactory renal drainage was
      demonstrated in all cases. RALPY is a feasible and safe option for the management
      of UPJ obstruction. This technology may reduce the difficulty associated with
      complex laparoscopic suturing and facilitate shorter operative times with
      excellent outcomes. This is now our preferred approach for all patients opting
      for surgical management of UPJ obstruction. 

PMID- 27628632
TI  - Prospective analysis of completely stentless robot-assisted pyeloplasty in
      children.
AB  - Robot-assisted pyeloplasty (RAP) is emerging as an effective tool for treatment
      of ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) in the pediatric population.
      Typically stents are utilized for RAP and removed four weeks after the procedure.
      We present our prospective experience with stentless RAP. Twenty children between
      the ages of 12 and 113 months (mean age 56 months) underwent transperitoneal RAP
      for UPJO utilizing the DaVinci surgical system. Outcome measures included
      operative time, length of hospital stay, and resolution of obstruction by
      ultrasonography, magnetic resonance urography (MRU), and/or diuretic radionuclide
      imaging (DRI). All patients successfully underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic
      pyeloplasty without conversion to pure laparoscopy or open procedure. Mean
      operative time was 124.7 min with a mean console time of 82.3 min. The mean
      hospital stay was 18 h. Of the 20 patients, 13/20 (65%) had resolution or
      improvement in the degree of hydronephrosis. The other patients had no evidence
      of obstruction based upon follow-up MRU or DRI. Stentless RAP is a safe and
      effective option for surgical treatment of UPJO. A larger prospective long-term
      cohort is needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of the stentless approach. 

PMID- 27628633
TI  - The Minailo knot: a time-saving and cost-saving technique.
AB  - Endoscopic knot tying during minimally invasive surgery can be complicated, time
      consuming, and associated with a protracted learning curve. The Minailo knot
      seems to be a reasonable option because the technique does not require any
      specialized instrumentation or skill to perform. In particular, vaginal closure
      is obtained with the placement of a single intra-corporeal knot. Our initial and
      successful experience with this knot-tying technique during robotic hysterectomy
      for treatment of gynecologic disease suggests that the method is safe and
      feasible. 

PMID- 27628634
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy after previous cancer surgery.
AB  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy has become a frequently used
      alternative treatment option in the management of prostate cancer. As more
      operations are performed, more challenging patient conditions are encountered,
      for example those with previous abdominal cancer surgery. We present our
      experience of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) in
      patients with previous cancer surgery. Seven patients with a history of previous
      surgery for malignancy underwent RALP. All the prostatectomies were performed
      using the da VinciTM S surgical system by a single surgeon. All operations were
      approached transperitoneally. We reviewed perioperative data and surgical
      outcomes retrospectively. The mean age at surgery was 68.43 years (range 63-82).
      The mean operative time was 214 +/- 47.32 min, and the median estimated blood
      loss was 500 ml (range 200-1,300). The mean hospital stay was 6.57 +/- 2.15 days,
      and the mean duration of catheterization was 8.29 +/- 3.09 days. Nerve-sparing
      procedure and pelvic lymph node dissection were performed in six patients. Rectal
      injury occurred in one patient who had undergone hemi-colectomy 15 years
      previously and was resolved by primary closure. Positive surgical margin was
      found in three patients. Although one patient had an intraoperative rectal
      injury, RALP in a patient with previous cancer surgery seems to be feasible and
      safe in experienced hands. 

PMID- 27628635
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: analysis of an experienced open
      surgeon's learning curve after 300 procedures.
AB  - To critically analyse the learning curve for a single experienced open surgeon
      converting to robotic surgery. From February 2006 to July 2009, 300 patients
      underwent a robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) by a single
      urologist. This study is a prospective analysis of the baseline patient and
      tumour characteristics, intraoperative and postoperative data, and
      histopathologic features. To analyse the RALP learning curve, the joinpoint
      regression method was used. Mean age of the patient was 61.3 years (range 46-76).
      Mean pre-operative PSA level was 7 ng/ml (range 0.7-41), and follow-up was 14
      months (0.7-41). The mean operating time was 185 min (range 119-525). One hundred
      and ten cases were required to achieve 3-h proficiency. There were no
      conversions. The mean hospital stay was 2.8 days (range 2-7). Major complications
      rate was 1.3%. The blood transfusion rate was 0.6%. The overall positive surgical
      margin (PSM) rate was 21.3%. pT2 and pT3 PSM rate was 10 and 44%, respectively.
      The joinpoint regression method showed that the learning curve started to plateau
      for the overall PSM rate after 205 cases (95% CI 200-249). For pT2 and pT3, PSM
      rate, the learning curve tended to flatten after 130 and 170 cases, respectively.
      The analysis of an experienced open surgeon learning curve in transferring his
      skills to the robotic platform has shown that 3-h proficiency requires 110 cases.
      The overall, pT2, and pT3 PSM rate take approximately 200, 130, and 170 cases,
      respectively, to flatten. 

PMID- 27628636
TI  - Robotic-assisted partial cystectomy with en bloc excision of the urachus and the
      umbilicus for urachal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - We report two cases of urachal adenocarcinoma managed with robotic-assisted
      partial cystectomy. A detailed description of the robotic technique including
      methods used to resect the tumor, urachus, and umbilicus en bloc is described. A
      review of the management of urachal adenocarcinoma is presented. The robotic
      approach is technically feasible and safe, and is an attractive alternative to
      traditional open or laparoscopic-assisted partial cystectomy for this uncommon
      genitourinary malignancy. 

PMID- 27628637
TI  - Robotic hypospadias surgery: a new evolution.
AB  - The dictum that "there is nothing new in surgery not previously described," is
      quoted regularly and is particularly true of hypospadias. There is an ongoing
      search for solutions to many troublesome issues concerning surgical treatment of
      hypospadias, such as what age is the most appropriate to apply surgery, or in how
      many stages surgery should be performed. We present a case report of the first
      robotic hypospadias surgery to propose a departure from the standard practice, in
      the hope of expanding medical expertise and teaching globally. The use of a robot
      for reconstructive surgery is not novel; its use for extracorporeal surgery is,
      but we contend that there is no difference in the surgical steps to carry out a
      hypospadias repair. In addition, we envision that the benefits of applying
      robotic surgery for extracorporeal reconstructive procedures will greatly impact
      the current paradigm of surgery and surgical education. For those surgeons who
      already possess comfort with robotic skills, reconstructive procedures outside of
      a major cavity are feasible, and time will provide safety and efficacy data. Our
      hope is that others will join in the advancement of telesurgery and its
      applications and appreciate the potential expansion of surgical knowledge that
      will be afforded by this change in how we teach and operate. 

PMID- 27628638
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic removal of extraluminal leiomyoma confused with
      urachal cyst.
AB  - Pedunculated extra-luminal leiomyoma is a rare solid tumor. We present a case of
      a 20-year-old Caucasian woman with a painful pedunculated extraluminal mass
      located on the bladder dome and associated with dysuria. She underwent robot
      assisted laparoscopic resection, and the histological findings confirmed a
      leiomyoma. 

PMID- 27628639
TI  - Laparobotic duodenal diverticulectomy and choledochoduodenostomy: a case study
      and review of the literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The duodenum is the second most common site for diverticulae, after
      the colon. They are common after the fifth decade and usually asymptomatic. Ten
      percent of patients present with symptoms, which include abdominal pain,
      hemorrhage, duodenal obstruction, diverticulitis, perforation, pancreatitis, and
      obstructive jaundice. After a thorough search of medline we present, for the
      first time, a case of obstructive jaundice secondary to duodenal diverticulum
      compressing the common bile duct. It was managed by laparobotic duodenal
      diverticulectomy with choledocho-duodenostomy. The operative technique is
      discussed. CASE STUDY: A 78-year-old female was found to have an abnormal
      cholestatic liver function profile and dilated common bile duct during workup for
      upper abdominal pain. CT scan showed dilated common bile duct measuring 2.7 cm
      with suspected ampullary mass. Endoscopic ultrasound showed a large diverticulum
      next to the ampulla. Upper GI endoscopy confirmed duodenal diverticulum, arising
      from the second part of the duodenum. Laparobotic duodenal diverticulectomy and
      choledochoduodenostomy were performed. Her post-operative course was complicated
      by Clostridium difficile diarrhea, treated with metronidazole and she was
      discharged home on the 6th postoperative day. Follow-up at 18 months demonstrated
      that she was well. CONCLUSION: Obstructive jaundice due to compression by a
      duodenal diverticulum is rare. It poses a diagnostic challenge and requires
      technically demanding surgical and endoscopic intervention. Robotic surgery has
      revolutionized the field of minimally invasive surgery by improving vision and
      motion control. Robotic duodenal diverticulectomy and choledocho-duodenostomy are
      safe and feasible.

PMID- 27628640
TI  - Laparo-endoscopic single-site surgery hysterectomy using robotic lightweight
      endoscope assistants.
AB  - Current laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomy techniques require three to five
      small incisions in the abdominal wall. Each additional port contributes an
      additional risk for port site complications. Because of these risks, and in an
      effort to improve cosmesis, surgery through a single incision is being explored.
      New versatile robot devices can provide a less cumbersome and less expensive
      alternative to the conventional multi-arm robot devices. In the case reported
      here, that of a 37-year-old female undergoing hysterectomy, we combined the use
      of these two technologies in a novel way. By utilizing a single laparoscopic port
      site in addition to two lightweight robotic endoscope assistants, we were able to
      decrease risk and improve cosmesis while allowing single-operator control of all
      instrumentation. The novel use of this robotic device demonstrates a potential
      decrease in the need for surgical assistants and thus a decrease in cost. When
      combined with single-site laparoscopy, it also allows the surgeon complete
      control of the operative environment and may enable more surgeons to embrace the
      single-incision technique. 

PMID- 27628641
TI  - Seropositivity and identification of paramyosin for sparganosis in the Kangwon
      and Incheon provinces of the Republic of Korea.
AB  - Sparganosis is one of the top three tissue-dwelling heterologous helminthic
      diseases, along with cysticercosis and paragonimiasis, in Korea. Due to a lack of
      effective early diagnosis and treatment methods, this parasitic disease is
      regarded as a public health threat. This study evaluated reactivity, against
      sparganum extracts, of sera from inhabitants of Cheorwon-gun, Goseong-gun and
      Ongjin-gun in Korea. The sera from 836 subjects were subjected to enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay and immunoblot analysis. The sera from 18 (5.8%) and 15
      (5.1%) inhabitants in Cheorwon-gun (n = 312) and Goseong-gun (n = 294),
      respectively, exhibited highly positive reactions to the sparganum antigen,
      whereas only two (0.9%) inhabitants in Ongjin-gun (n = 230) showed positivity. We
      sought antigenic proteins for serodiagnosis of positive sera by immunoproteomic
      approaches. Total sparganum lysates were separated by two-dimensional
      electrophoresis and then subjected to immunoblot analysis with mixed sparganosis
      positive sera. We found seven antigenic spots and identified paramyosin as an
      antigenic protein by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. By two-dimensional
      (2D)-based mass analysis and immunoblotting against sparganosis-positive sera,
      paramyosin was identified as a candidate antigen for serodiagnosis of
      sparganosis.

PMID- 27628642
TI  - Vasopressin receptor antagonists in patients with chronic heart failure.
AB  - In this brief review, the pathophysiology of hyponatremia and its clinical
      significance in the course of chronic heart failure (CHF) are illustrated.
      Moreover, issues concerning the optimal treatment for hyponatremia during CHF are
      addressed and discussed. In addition, advantages and limitations resulting from
      the use of vasopressin receptor antagonists, drugs that have recently emerged as
      the best available resource against hyponatremia, are highlighted.

PMID- 27628644
TI  - Endocytosis and intracellular processing of nanoparticles in dendritic cells:
      routes to effective immunonanomedicines.

PMID- 27628645
TI  - Multiorgan involvement of extramammary Paget's disease with mucinous carcinoma
      like components.

PMID- 27628647
TI  - Call for coordinated and systematic training load measurement (and progression)
      in athlete development: a conceptual model with practical steps.

PMID- 27628643
TI  - Repatriation of an old fish host as an opportunity for myxozoan parasite
      diversity: The example of the allis shad, Alosa alosa (Clupeidae), in the Rhine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wildlife repatriation represents an opportunity for parasites.
      Reintroduced hosts are expected to accumulate generalist parasites via spillover
      from reservoir hosts, whereas colonization with specialist parasites is unlikely.
      We address the question of how myxozoan parasites, which are characterized by a
      complex life-cycle alternating between annelids and fish, can invade a
      reintroduced fish species and determine the impact of a de novo invasion on
      parasite diversity. We investigated the case of the anadromous allis shad, Alosa
      alosa (L.), which was reintroduced into the Rhine approximately 70 years after
      its extinction in this river system. METHODS: We studied parasites belonging to
      the Myxozoa (Cnidaria) in 196 allis shad from (i) established populations in the
      French rivers Garonne and Dordogne and (ii) repatriated populations in the Rhine,
      by screening the first adults returning to spawn in 2014. Following microscopical
      detection of myxozoan infections general myxozoan primers were used for SSU rDNA
      amplification and sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses were performed and cloned
      sequences were analyzed from individuals of different water sources to better
      understand the diversity and population structure of myxozoan isolates in long
      term coexisting vs recently established host-parasite systems. RESULTS: We
      describe Hoferellus alosae n. sp. from the renal tubules of allis shad by use of
      morphological and molecular methods. A species-specific PCR assay determined that
      the prevalence of H. alosae n. sp. is 100 % in sexually mature fish in the
      Garonne/Dordogne river systems and 22 % in the first mature shad returning to
      spawn in the Rhine. The diversity of SSU rDNA clones of the parasite was up to
      four times higher in the Rhine and lacked a site-specific signature of SNPs such
      as in the French rivers. A second myxozoan, Ortholinea sp., was detected
      exclusively in allis shad from the Rhine. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that
      the de novo establishment of myxozoan infections in rivers is slow but of great
      genetic diversity, which can only be explained by the introduction of spores from
      genetically diverse sources, predominantly via straying fish or by migratory
      piscivorous birds. Long-term studies will show if and how the high diversity of a
      de novo introduction of host-specific myxozoans succeeds into the establishment
      of a local successful strain in vertebrate and invertebrate hosts.

PMID- 27628648
TI  - Exercise for the primary prevention of low back pain.

PMID- 27628649
TI  - Author response: Unfounded criticisms.

PMID- 27628650
TI  - Urban regeneration as population health intervention: a health impact assessment
      in the Bay of Pasaia (Spain).
AB  - BACKGROUND: An important health issue in urban areas is how changes arising from
      the regeneration of city-areas affect social determinants of health and equity.
      This paper examines the impacts attributable to a new fish market and to delays
      in the regeneration of a port area in a deteriorated region of the Bay of Pasaia
      (Spain). Potential differential impacts on local residents and socially
      vulnerable groups were evaluated to determine health inequalities. METHODS: An in
      depth, prospective and concurrent Health-Impact-Assessment (HIA) focused on
      equity was conducted by the regional Public Health Department, following the
      Merseyside guidelines. Data from different sources was triangulated and impacts
      were identified using qualitative and quantitative methods. RESULTS: The
      intervention area is characterised by poor social, environmental, and health
      indicators. The distinctness of the two projects generates contrasting health and
      inequality impacts: generally positive for the new fish market and negative for
      the port area. The former creates recreational spaces and improves urban quality
      and social cohesion. By contrast, inaction and stagnation of the project in the
      port area perpetuates deterioration, a lack of safety, and poor health, as well
      as increased social frustration. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to assessing the health
      impacts of both projects this HIA promoted intersectoral partnerships, boosted a
      holistic and positive view of health and incorporated health and equity into the
      political discourse. Community-level participatory action enabled public health
      institutions to respond to new urban planning challenges and responsibilities in
      a more democratic manner.

PMID- 27628651
TI  - A successful staged Fontan operation for a right atrial isomerism neonate having
      major aortopulmonary collateral arteries and extracardiac total anomalous
      pulmonary venous connection.
AB  - Right atrial isomerism and pulmonary atresia combined with major aortopulmonary
      collateral arteries are very rare. Surgical treatment becomes more challenging
      when an extracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC)
      requiring surgical repair neonatally is also present. We describe a successful
      staged Fontan operation for a neonate with a single ventricle, right atrial
      isomerism, pulmonary atresia with major aortopulmonary collateral arteries, a
      small central pulmonary artery and a supracardiac TAPVC. Unifocalization of the
      pulmonary vasculature was achieved by ligating all dual-supply major
      aortopulmonary collateral arteries at their origins, concomitant with
      supracardiac TAPVC repair and modified Blalock-Taussig shunt placement at 15
      days. The patient underwent patch augmentation of the small stenosed central
      pulmonary artery at 8 months and bilateral bidirectional Glenn shunt at 14
      months. The Fontan operation was completed at 27 months using an intra
      extracardiac conduit with fenestration. One year later, catheter examination
      revealed good Fontan circulation with acceptable central venous pressure, oxygen
      saturation and cardiac function. We also describe a new angiographic concept of
      central pulmonary arteriography to visualize more accurately the complex
      pulmonary circulation system with both major aortopulmonary collateral arteries
      and a central pulmonary artery.

PMID- 27628654
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27628657
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27628656
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27628661
TI  - Tracking Tumor Resistance: The Early Promise of "Liquid" Cancer Tests.

PMID- 27628659
TI  - Uninsured Rate by State, (1963-2014).

PMID- 27628653
TI  - Identification of molecular pathway changes after spinal cord injury by
      microarray analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is highly related to the devastating sensory
      and motor dysfunction. METHODS: The GSE45006 gene expression profile dataset was
      downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus, which was collected from 24 rats
      including 20 animals with injured T7 spinal cords using an aneurysm clip impact
      compression injury model and killed after 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 8
      weeks and four sham-operated rats. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between
      the injured rats at each time point and the sham-operated rats were screened.
      DEGs commonly detected throughout different time points were further identified,
      followed by comparing the expression level of these DEGs at each time point
      between the injured spinal cord samples and controls. Pathway enrichment analysis
      of the common DEGs was performed. RESULTS: The difference in the expression level
      of 416 common DEGs was significant between the injured spinal cord samples and
      the controls at each time point (P < 0.05), with the most significant difference
      1 day after SCI. The common DEGs were enriched in three pathways, namely Fcgamma
      R-mediated phagocytosis, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling
      pathway, and chemokine signaling pathway. AKT3 and RAC2 were enriched in all the
      three pathways; RAP1B in both MAPK signaling pathway and chemokine signaling
      pathway; and VAV1, LYN, and HCK in both Fcgamma R-mediated phagocytosis and
      chemokine signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: This study has confirmed the occurrence
      of neuronal death, inflammation, and neuronal regeneration after SCI. AKT3, RAC2,
      VAV1, RAP18, LYN, and HCK may have critical roles in the pathological responses
      to SCI.

PMID- 27628662
TI  - Some HER2-Negative Breast Tumors May Respond to HER2-Targeted Treatment.

PMID- 27628655
TI  - Relationship Between Increased Fucosylation and Metastatic Potential in
      Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fucose is utilized for the modification of different molecules
      involved in blood group determination, immunological reactions, and signal
      transduction pathways. We have recently reported that enhanced activity of the
      fucosyltransferase 3 and/or 6 promoted TGF-beta-mediated epithelial mesenchymal
      transition and was associated with increased metastatic potential of colorectal
      cancer (CRC), suggesting that fucose is required by CRC cells. With this in mind,
      we examined requirement of L-fucose in CRC cells and developed fucose-bound
      nanoparticles as vehicles for delivery of anticancer drugs specific to CRC.
      METHODS: In this study, we first examined the expression of fucosylated proteins
      in 50 cases of CRC by immunochistochemical staining with biotinylated Aleuria
      aurantia lectin (AAL). Then we carried out an L-fucose uptake assay using three
      CRC cell lines. Finally, we developed fucose-bound nanoparticles as vehicles for
      the delivery of an anticancer drug, SN38, and examined tumor growth inhibition in
      mouse xenograft model (n = 6 mice per group). All statistical tests were two
      sided. RESULTS: We found a statistically significant relationship between
      vascular invasion, clinical stage, and intensity score of AAL staining (P <=
      .02). L-fucose uptake assay revealed that L-fucose incorporation, as well as
      fucosylated protein release, was high in cells rich in fucosylated proteins. L
      fucose-bound liposomes effectively delivered Cy5.5 into CRC cells. The excess of
      L-fucose decreased the efficiency of Cy5.5 uptake through L-fucose-bound
      liposomes, suggesting an L-fucose receptor dependency. Intravenously injected, L
      fucose-bound liposomes carrying SN38 were successfully delivered to CRC cells,
      mediating efficient tumor growth inhibition (relative tumor growth ratio: no
      treatment group [NT], 8.29 +/- 3.09; SN38-treated group [SN38], 3.53 +/- 1.47;
      liposome-carrying, SN38-treated group [F0], 3.1 +/- 1.39; L-fucose-bound,
      liposome-carrying, SN38-treated group [F50], 0.94 +/- 0.89; F50 vs NT, P = .003;
      F50 vs SN38, P = .02, F50 vs F0, P = .04), as well as prolonging survival of
      mouse xenograft models (log-rank test, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Thus, fucose-bound
      liposomes carrying anticancer drugs provide a new strategy for the treatment of
      CRC patients.

PMID- 27628660
TI  - Targeting Tumors' Energy Needs.

PMID- 27628664
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27628663
TI  - Cancer Treatment and Research Under the Affordable Care Act.

PMID- 27628652
TI  - Nosocomial sepsis: evaluation of the efficacy of preventive measures in a level
      III neonatal intensive care unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate nosocomial infections preventive bundle, implemented in
      April 2010 in Centro Hospitalar de Sao Joao (CHSJ) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
      (NICU) effectiveness. METHODS: Newborns admitted to level-III NICU of CHSJ,
      between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2013, with sepsis as discharge diagnosis, were
      selected and divided into two periods (Period 1 and 2, before and after new
      preventive bundle introduction). Data from the two periods were compared.
      RESULTS: Nosocomial sepsis incidence density decreased significantly from 8.6 to
      4.8 per 1000 patient days from Period 1 to 2. Nosocomial infections preventive
      bundle implementation led to a significant decrease in central line-associated
      bloodstream infections (CLABSI) rates from 14.1 to 10.4 per 1000 catheter days.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nosocomial infections preventive bundle implemented revealed
      efficient in decreasing the incidence density of nosocomial sepsis. However,
      CLABSI rates remain high. Physicians should be alert to the need to adhere to
      strict infection control protocols and institute effective measures for
      nosocomial infection surveillance.

PMID- 27628665
TI  - Satiation and re-intake after partial withdrawal of gastric food contents: A
      dissociation effect in external lateral parabrachial lesioned rats.
AB  - Sensory information from the gastrointestinal system can be transmitted to the
      brain through the vagus nerve, the intermediate-caudal region of the nucleus of
      the solitary tract (NST), and various subnuclei of the parabrachial complex,
      notably the external lateral subnucleus (LPBe). The objective of the present
      study was to examine the relevance of this subnucleus in satiation and food
      reintake after gastrointestinal food removal. LPBe-lesioned animals were
      subjected to a re-intake task following the partial withdrawal of gastric food
      contents shortly after satiation. Lesioned and control animals ingested a similar
      amount of the initial liquid meal. However, after withdrawal of one-third of the
      food consumed, LPBe-lesioned rats were not able to compensate for the deficit
      created, and their re-intake of food was significantly lower than the amount
      withdrawn after the satiating meal. In contrast, the food re-intake of control
      animals was similar to the amount withdrawn. Hence, the LPBe does not appear to
      be critical in the satiation process under the present experimental conditions.
      However, the LPBe may be part of a system that is essential in rapid visceral
      adjustments related to short-term food intake, as also shown in other
      gastrointestinal regulatory behaviors that require immediate processing of
      visceral sensory information.

PMID- 27628667
TI  - Expression of Wnt11 and Rock2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by activation
      of the WNT/PCP pathway and its clinical significance.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between expression of
      Wnt11, Rho-associated protein kinase 2 (Rock2), and its clinical characteristics
      in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Expression of Wnt11 and Rock2
      protein was examined by using immunohistochemistry that contained 260 paraffin
      embedded specimens of ESCC and its adjacent normal tissues; expression of Wnt11
      and Rock2 protein was verified by Western-blotting that contained 20 specimens of
      ESCC and its adjacent normal tissues. The positive rates of Wnt11 protein in
      normal esophageal epithelium tissue was 29.8% and in esophageal carcinomas tissue
      was 31.9%; there was no significant difference between the two groups(P>0.05);
      The positive rates of Rock2 protein in normal esophageal epithelium tissue was
      12.3% and in esophageal carcinomas tissues was 56.5%, there was a significant
      difference between the two groups (p<0.05). The expression of Rock2 protein was
      significantly related with the invasion of vascular and there was no
      significantly difference between the expression of Rock2 protein and ESCC
      patients' tumor location, differentiation, T stage, and lymph node metastases.
      The abnormal expression of Rock2 protein may promote tumor cell invasion.

PMID- 27628669
TI  - Transfer from research/academia to clinical/regulated.
AB  - We focus here on how the interface in academia has adapted in their approach to
      assessing the PDs of biological agents to better understand mechanisms at an
      early stage. This understanding enables drugs to be modified early and to be
      reassessed before progressing to late stage trials. We discuss how these efforts
      are now being bolstered by a network of consortia involving industry, academia
      and regulatory bodies, to bring together resources, knowledge and a harmonization
      in bioanalytical techniques. We highlight how the regulatory guidance still lags
      behind the rapid advancement in biologicals and associated analytical techniques,
      especially in immunotherapies and immunological bioassays. Despite this, new
      collaborative groups are working together to deliver robust and accurate results
      essential for identifying the most promising drugs to progress from early phase
      academic research to late phase industry based trials. We show how the
      relationship between academia and not-for-profit organizations with large pharma
      and emerging biotech companies has shifted toward a more collaborative effort in
      bringing new therapies to the forefront. 

PMID- 27628666
TI  - Patient and physician perspectives of hand function in a cohort of rheumatoid
      arthritis patients: the impact of disease activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2004, we initiated an inception cohort of patients with recent
      onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Hand function was incorporated into evaluations
      from 2014 onward. The objectives were to examine hand function in our cohort,
      compare hand function with function in healthy controls and determine the factors
      associated with impaired function. METHODS: From February 2014 to June 2015, 139
      patients (97.2 % of the cohort) had disease activity scored (28 joints, [DAS28]);
      the Michigan Hand Outcome Questionnaire (MHQ) and Disabilities of the Arm,
      Shoulder and Hand Outcome Measure (DASH) were completed, and the tip-, key- and
      palmar-pinch and grip strengths were measured. Sixty-nine healthy controls
      underwent the same evaluations. Ninety-nine patients underwent a second
      evaluation one year after their baseline. Descriptive statistics and linear
      regression models were used. Patients and controls signed informed consent.
      RESULTS: Patients were primarily middle-aged females with a median disease
      duration of 7 years; 91 patients had DAS28-remission, and 16, 23, and 9 patients
      had low, moderate and high disease activity, respectively. Controls scored better
      than did patients with (any) disease activity level; remission patients had
      similar DASH and key pinch function as did controls with poorer MHQ and both tip
      and palmar pinch and grip strength. DAS28 was consistently associated with
      impaired hand function. Among the patients with a one-year re-assessment, changes
      in DAS28 correlated (rho = 0.34 to 0.63) with changes in hand function (p <= 0.01
      for all comparisons), but there was no correlation with palmar pinch strength.
      CONCLUSIONS: Disease activity was associated with hand function impairment in RA
      patients with variable follow-up. MHQ discriminated poorer hand function in
      remission patients who otherwise had similar DASH scores as the controls did.

PMID- 27628668
TI  - Plasmablasts During Acute Dengue Infection Represent a Small Subset of a Broader
      Virus-specific Memory B Cell Pool.
AB  - Dengue is endemic in tropical countries worldwide and the four dengue virus
      serotypes often co-circulate. Infection with one serotype results in high titers
      of cross-reactive antibodies produced by plasmablasts, protecting temporarily
      against all serotypes, but impairing protective immunity in subsequent
      infections. To understand the development of these plasmablasts, we analyzed
      virus-specific B cell properties in patients during acute disease and at
      convalescence. Plasmablasts were unrelated to classical memory cells expanding in
      the blood during early recovery. We propose that only a small subset of memory B
      cells is activated as plasmablasts during repeat infection and that plasmablast
      responses are not representative of the memory B cell repertoire after dengue
      infection.

PMID- 27628671
TI  - Green and Fast Laser Fusion Technique for Bulk Silicate Rock Analysis by Laser
      Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Sample preparation of whole-rock powders is the major limitation for their
      accurate and precise elemental analysis by laser ablation inductively-coupled
      plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). In this study, a green, efficient, and
      simplified fusion technique using a high energy infrared laser was developed for
      major and trace elemental analysis. Fusion takes only tens of milliseconds for
      each sample. Compared to the pressed pellet sample preparation, the analytical
      precision of the developed laser fusion technique is higher by an order of
      magnitude for most elements in granodiorite GSP-2. Analytical results obtained
      for five USGS reference materials (ranging from mafic to intermediate to felsic)
      using the laser fusion technique generally agree with recommended values with
      discrepancies of less than 10% for most elements. However, high losses (20-70%)
      of highly volatile elements (Zn and Pb) and the transition metal Cu are observed.
      The achieved precision is within 5% for major elements and within 15% for most
      trace elements. Direct laser fusion of rock powders is a green and notably simple
      method to obtain homogeneous samples, which will significantly accelerate the
      application of laser ablation ICPMS for whole-rock sample analysis.

PMID- 27628672
TI  - Angry Versus Furious: A Comparison Between Valence and Arousal in Dimensional
      Models of Emotions.
AB  - The present study compared the roles of valence and arousal, proposed by the
      dimensional models of emotions, in recognizing emotional expressions. It was
      hypothesized that the dimension of valence, due to its functional significance,
      would be more salient in the recognition of emotional expressions than the
      dimension of arousal would be. The results of the current study supported this
      hypothesis. The participants in all age groups were more accurate and quicker in
      recognizing an emotion when the expression was paired up with another emotional
      expression that was different in the polarity of the valence dimension than with
      this similar polarity difference in the arousal dimension. The insignificant
      difference in recognizing the positive and negative emotional expressions in the
      group of elders also rejected the Socio-Emotional Selectivity Theory.

PMID- 27628670
TI  - Workflow for Integrated Processing of Multicohort Untargeted 1H NMR Metabolomics
      Data in Large-Scale Metabolic Epidemiology.
AB  - Large-scale metabolomics studies involving thousands of samples present multiple
      challenges in data analysis, particularly when an untargeted platform is used.
      Studies with multiple cohorts and analysis platforms exacerbate existing problems
      such as peak alignment and normalization. Therefore, there is a need for robust
      processing pipelines that can ensure reliable data for statistical analysis. The
      COMBI-BIO project incorporates serum from ~8000 individuals, in three cohorts,
      profiled by six assays in two phases using both 1H NMR and UPLC-MS. Here we
      present the COMBI-BIO NMR analysis pipeline and demonstrate its fitness for
      purpose using representative quality control (QC) samples. NMR spectra were first
      aligned and normalized. After eliminating interfering signals, outliers
      identified using Hotelling's T2 were removed and a cohort/phase adjustment was
      applied, resulting in two NMR data sets (CPMG and NOESY). Alignment of the NMR
      data was shown to increase the correlation-based alignment quality measure from
      0.319 to 0.391 for CPMG and from 0.536 to 0.586 for NOESY, showing that the
      improvement was present across both large and small peaks. End-to-end quality
      assessment of the pipeline was achieved using Hotelling's T2 distributions. For
      CPMG spectra, the interquartile range decreased from 1.425 in raw QC data to
      0.679 in processed spectra, while the corresponding change for NOESY spectra was
      from 0.795 to 0.636, indicating an improvement in precision following processing.
      PCA indicated that gross phase and cohort differences were no longer present.
      These results illustrate that the pipeline produces robust and reproducible data,
      successfully addressing the methodological challenges of this large multifaceted
      study.

PMID- 27628675
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27628677
TI  - 86(th) Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association.

PMID- 27628673
TI  - Putative membrane lytic sites of P-type and S-type cardiotoxins from snake venoms
      as probed by all-atom molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - Cardiotoxins (CTXs) belonging to the three-finger toxin superfamily of snake
      venoms are one of principal toxic components and the protein toxins exhibit
      membrane lytic activities when the venoms are injected into victims. In the
      present study, complex formations between CTX VI (a P-type CTX from Naja atra)
      and CTX1 (an S-type CTX from Naja naja) on zwitterionic POPC bilayers (a major
      lipid component of cell membranes) have been studied in near physiological
      conditions for a total dynamic time scale of 1.35 MUs using all-atom molecular
      dynamics (MD) simulations. Comprehensive analyses of the MD data revealed that
      residues such as Leu1, Lys2, Tyr11, Lys31, Asp57 and Arg58 of CTX VI, and Ala16,
      Lys30 and Arg58 of CTX1 were crucial for establishing interactions with the POPC
      bilayer. Moreover, loop I, along with globular head and loop II of CTX VI, and
      loop II of CTX1 were found to be the structural regions chiefly governing complex
      formation of the respective proteins with POPC. Rationalizations for the
      differential binding modes of CTXs and implications of the findings for designing
      small molecular inhibitors to the toxins are also discussed. Graphical Abstract
      Binding modes of a P-type CTX and an S-type CTX towards the POPC bilayer. 

PMID- 27628678
TI  - Post-relapse survival in patients with the early and late distant recurrence in
      estrogen receptor-positive HER2-negative breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have been performed on post-relapse survival in patients
      with the early and late distant recurrence in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive,
      HER2-negative breast cancer. METHODS: A total of 205 patients with the early
      distant recurrence and 134 patients with the late distant recurrence of ER
      positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who had undergone breast surgery or
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy between January 2000 and December 2004 were registered
      from nine institutions. Prognostic factors for post-relapse survival in patients
      with the early and late recurrence were analyzed. RESULTS: Post-relapse survival
      was significantly longer in patients with the late recurrence than in patients
      with the early recurrence. Predictive factors for post-relapse survival in
      patients with the early recurrence were lack of adjuvant chemotherapy, a long
      disease-free interval, and long durations of endocrine therapies and
      chemotherapies after relapse. In patients with the late recurrence, post-relapse
      survival was significantly improved for those individuals with one metastatic
      organ at relapse and individuals who were treated with the first-line and
      subsequent endocrine therapies for prolonged periods. Moreover, ER expression in
      primary breast tumors of late recurrence patients was significantly higher with a
      duration of the first-line endocrine therapy >6 months than in those with a
      duration <=6 months. CONCLUSION: Predictors for prognosis after relapse differed
      between patients with the early and late distant recurrence. Endocrine
      responsiveness after relapse is a key factor for improved post-relapse survival,
      and it is thus important to establish whether metastatic tumors are endocrine
      resistant in ER-positive, HER2-negative recurrent breast cancer.

PMID- 27628679
TI  - Reduction of Atherosclerotic Lesions by the Chemotherapeutic Agent Carmustine
      Associated to Lipid Nanoparticles.
AB  - PURPOSE: After injection in the bloodstream, a lipid nanoparticle (LDE)
      resembling low-density lipoprotein (LDL) concentrates in atherosclerotic lesions
      of cholesterol-fed rabbits. Here, rabbits with atherosclerosis were treated with
      carmustine, an antiproliferative agent used in cancer chemotherapy, associated to
      LDE to investigate the effects on the lesions. METHODS: Twenty-seven male New
      Zealand rabbits were fed a 1 % cholesterol diet for 8 weeks. After 4 weeks nine
      animals were treated with intravenous saline solution, nine with intravenous LDE
      alone, and nine with intravenous LDE-carmustine (4 mg/kg, weekly for 4 weeks).
      RESULTS: LDE-carmustine reduced lesion size by 90 % compared to the controls. LDE
      carmustine reduced the presence of macrophages, vascular smooth muscle cells, and
      regulatory T cells in the arterial intima, as well as the presence of matrix
      metallopeptidase-9, interleukin-1beta and TNF-alpha and lipoprotein receptors,
      namely LDL-receptor, LDL-related protein-1, scavenger receptor class B member 1.
      When injected alone, without association to carmustine, LDE was not different
      from injected saline solution. CONCLUSIONS: LDE-carmustine treatment resulted in
      marked reduction of lesion area, of the invasion of the arterial intima by
      macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells and pro-inflammatory factors.
      Therefore, this new formulation shows great potential for therapy of
      atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 27628681
TI  - Relationships between childhood growth parameters and adult blood pressure: the
      Fels Longitudinal Study.
AB  - Previous research has shown that childhood body size is associated with blood
      pressure in adulthood, and that early and rapid growth rates are correlated with
      adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Our objectives are to estimate associations
      between childhood body size growth parameters and adult blood pressure, and to
      examine the effect of early attainment of critical growth milestones on adult
      blood pressure, relative to normal or late attainment. Lifetime height and body
      mass index (BMI) measurements in childhood, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and
      diastolic blood pressure (DBP) measurements in adulthood are taken from
      participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study. Childhood growth curves are
      estimated separately for stature and BMI using the Preece-Baines and third-degree
      polynomial models, respectively. Associations between the resulting parameter
      estimates and adult blood pressure are then examined using linear mixed models.
      Our findings show that the ages of achievement of the stature-based growth onset
      and peak velocity, as well as the age of achievement of the BMI-based adiposity
      rebound, are negatively associated with adult blood pressure, implying that early
      height or BMI growth can lead to increased blood pressure in adulthood. There
      were subtle differences in these relationships based on age and gender, and also
      between SBP and DBP. These results expand on the existing literature, showing
      that not only childhood body size, but also the timing of childhood growth can
      have a deleterious effect on adult cardiovascular health.

PMID- 27628680
TI  - Y chromosome haplogroups based genome-wide association study pinpoints revelation
      for interactions on non-obstructive azoospermia.
AB  - The Y chromosome has high genetic variability with low rates of parallel and back
      mutations, which make up the most informative haplotyping system. To examine
      whether Y chromosome haplogroups (Y-hgs) could modify the effects of autosomal
      variants on non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), based on our previous genome-wide
      association study (GWAS), we conducted a genetic interaction analysis in GWAS
      subjects. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated a protective effect of Y-hg
      O3e(*) on NOA. Then, we explored the potential interaction between Y-hg O3e(*)
      and autosomal variants. Our results demonstrated that there was a suggestively
      significant interaction between Y-hg O3e(*) and rs11135484 on NOA (Pinter = 9.89
      * 10(-5)). Bioinformatic analysis revealed that genes annotated by significant
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were mainly enriched in immunological
      pathways. This is the first study of interactions between Y-hgs and autosomal
      variants on a genome-wide scale, which addresses the missing heritability in
      spermatogenic impairment and sheds new light on the pathogenesis of male
      infertility.

PMID- 27628683
TI  - "This Method, I Think, Can Shed New Light": Haitian-American Women's Reflections
      on Risk, Culture, and Family Planning Decisions From a Short-Term Trial of a
      Cervical Barrier (FemcapTM).
AB  - Improving the reproductive health of immigrant populations requires understanding
      the specific context of risk and need. As part of a field trial of the FemCapTM,
      a woman-initiated cervical barrier contraceptive, we conducted postintervention
      focus group discussions (FGDs) with 20 women (five FGDs) of Haitian background,
      the majority of whom were born in Haiti and spoke Haitian Creole at home, at a
      community health center in south Florida. Participants discussed the role of
      religion and inequitable gender norms in Haitian traditions about family planning
      decisions and provided important insights into the gender-power nuances of their
      partnership dynamics vis a vis the use of female barrier methods. Encouraged by
      more equitable gender norms in the United States, participants were eager to
      serve as health education agents, with strong altruistic sentiments toward other
      Haitian girls and women who they felt could be encouraged to negotiate for
      greater reproductive decision-making power.

PMID- 27628682
TI  - The Impact of Cognitive Training on Cerebral White Matter in Community-Dwelling
      Elderly: One-Year Prospective Longitudinal Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.
AB  - It has been shown that cognitive training (CogTr) is effective and recuperative
      for older adults, and can be used to fight against cognitive decline. In this
      study, we investigated whether behavioural gains from CogTr would extend to white
      matter (WM) microstructure, and whether training-induced changes in WM integrity
      would be associated with improvements in cognitive function, using diffusion
      tensor imaging (DTI). 48 healthy community elderly were either assigned to multi
      domain or single-domain CogTr groups to receive 24 sessions over 12 weeks, or to
      a control group. DTI was performed at both baseline and 12-month follow-up.
      Positive effects of multi-domain CogTr on long-term changes in DTI indices were
      found in posterior parietal WM. Participants in the multi-domain group showed a
      trend of long-term decrease in axial diffusivity (AD) without significant change
      in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) or radial diffusivity (RD),
      while those in the control group displayed a significant FA decrease, and an
      increase in MD and RD. In addition, significant relationships between an
      improvement in processing speed and changes in RD, MD and AD were found in the
      multi-domain group. These findings support the hypothesis that plasticity of WM
      can be modified by CogTr, even in late adulthood.

PMID- 27628684
TI  - Behavior Risk Factors Among Russian University Students Majoring in Medicine,
      Education, and Exercise Science.
AB  - Purpose To analyze the prevalence of select behavioral risk factors among Russian
      university students majoring in medicine, education, and exercise science.
      Methods A total of 834 students from five Federal universities located in four
      federal regions of Russia were included in the study. The purposive sample
      included future doctors, school teachers, and fitness trainers. Students were
      asked specifically about smoking, level of physical activity, and food
      preferences. To calculate body mass indices (BMIs), waist, hip, weight, and
      height were also measured. Results Smoking rates, level of activity, and
      nutritional habits were significantly different by age, but BMI was not. Smoking
      rates and BMI were significantly different by gender, but level of activity and
      nutritional habits were not. Like the differences found by age, smoking rates,
      level of activity, and nutritional habits were significantly different by
      ethnicity, but BMI was not. There were significant difference across all
      behavioral health risk factors by region. The results show significantly higher
      levels of physical inactivity, consumption of unhealthy foods, and high BMIs
      among medical students compared with future teachers and wellness instructors ( p
      < .05). In the same time, the smoking levels are the highest among future
      teachers. The highest prevalence of smoking was found to be associated with
      gender (for females living Moscow and for males in rural regions), and Russian
      ethnic group. Conclusion Tailored programs to prevent common health behavior risk
      factors among future medical doctors are urgently needed in the Russian
      Federation.

PMID- 27628685
TI  - Perioperative application of somatostatin analogs for pancreatic surgery-current
      status in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most common major complication after pancreatic resection is the
      postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). Somatostatin analogs can reduce POPF,
      but the use of somatostatin analogs is still controversial. The aim of this study
      was to assess treatment algorithms for pancreatic surgery in Germany with a
      special focus on the application of somatostatin analogs. METHODS: A
      questionnaire evaluating the perioperative management-especially the use of
      somatostatin analogs-and postoperative complications after pancreatic surgery was
      developed and sent to 209 German hospitals performing >12 pancreatoduodenectomies
      per year (the requirement for certification as a pancreas center). Statistical
      analysis was carried out using SPSS 21. RESULTS: The final response rate was 77 %
      (160/209), 14.5 % of hospitals never, 37 % always, and 45 % occasionally apply
      somatostatin analogs after pancreatic surgery. A (standard) drug of choice was
      defined in 64 % of hospitals. When standard and occasional usage was analyzed, it
      appeared that hospitals favored somatostatin (69 %) > sandostatin (50 %) >
      pasireotide (5 %). A relation between the usage of the different somatostatin
      analogs and morbidity (POPF) or mortality (84 and 16 % of hospitals reported <5
      and 5-10 %, respectively) was not seen. Eighty-seven percent of hospitals were
      interested in participating in future studies analyzing somatostatin use.
      CONCLUSION: This is the first national survey in Germany evaluating the
      perioperative application of somatostatin analogs for pancreatic surgery. Despite
      controversial results in the literature, the majority of German pancreas surgeons
      apply somatostatin analogs perioperatively. The ideal drug to reduce POPF is
      still unclear. This uncertainty has aroused significant interest and prompted
      surgeons to participate in future studies in order to elucidate this issue.

PMID- 27628690
TI  - High-Throughput Screening Assay Identifies Small Molecules Capable of Modulating
      the BMP-2 and TGF-beta1 Signaling Pathway.
AB  - Modulating the bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and transforming growth
      factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) signaling pathways is essential during tendon/ligament
      (T/L) healing. Unfortunately, growth factor delivery in situ is far from trivial
      and, in many cases, the necessary growth factors are not approved for clinical
      use. Here we used a BMP-2 and a TGF-beta1 reporter cell line to screen a library
      of 1280 Food and Drug Administration-approved small molecules and identify
      modulators of both signaling pathways. We identified four compounds capable of
      modulating BMP and TGF signaling on primary human tendon-derived cells (huTCs)
      and describe their effects on proliferation and differentiation of these cells.

PMID- 27628686
TI  - Effects of Propofol General Anesthesia on Olfactory Relearning.
AB  - How general anesthesia interferes with sensory processing to cause amnesia
      remains unclear. Here, we show that activation of a learning-associated immediate
      early gene in rat olfactory cortices is uninterrupted by propofol, an intravenous
      general anesthetic with putative actions on the inhibitory GABAA receptors. Once
      learned under anesthesia, a novel odor can no longer re-activate the same high
      level transcription programming during subsequent conscious relearning.
      Behavioral tests indicate that the animals' ability to consciously relearn a pure
      odorant, first experienced under general anesthesia, is indeed compromised. In
      contrast, when a mixture of two novel odorants is first experienced under
      anesthesia and then relearned consciously in pairs with one of the components,
      the animals show a deficit in relearning only the component but not the mixture.
      Our results reveal a previously unknown mechanism of unconscious memory due to
      irreplaceable neuronal commitment under general anesthesia and support the notion
      that general anesthesia acts at stages beyond cellular coding to disrupt sensory
      integration for higher-order association.

PMID- 27628689
TI  - A Cell-Based High-Throughput Assay for Gap Junction Communication Suitable for
      Assessing Connexin 43-Ezrin Interaction Disruptors Using IncuCyte ZOOM.
AB  - Connexin 43 (Cx43), the predominant gap junction (GJ) protein, directly interacts
      with the A-kinase-anchoring protein (AKAP) Ezrin in human cytotrophoblasts and a
      rat liver epithelial cells (IAR20). The Cx43-Ezrin-protein kinase (PKA) complex
      facilitates Cx43 phosphorylation by PKA, which triggers GJ opening in
      cytotrophoblasts and IAR20 cells and may be a general mechanism regulating GJ
      intercellular communication (GJIC). Considering the importance of Cx43 GJs in
      health and disease, they are considered potential pharmaceutical targets. The
      Cx43-Ezrin interaction is a protein-protein interaction that opens possibilities
      for targeting with peptides and small molecules. For this reason, we developed a
      high-throughput cell-based assay in which GJIC can be assessed and new compounds
      characterized. We used two pools of IAR20 cells, calcein loaded and unloaded,
      that were mixed and allowed to attach. Next, GJIC was monitored over time using
      automated imaging via the IncuCyte imager. The assay was validated using known GJ
      inhibitors and anchoring peptide disruptors, and we further tested new peptides
      that interfered with the Cx43-Ezrin binding region and reduced GJIC. Although an
      AlphaScreen assay can be used to screen for Cx43-Ezrin interaction inhibitors,
      the cell-based assay described is an ideal secondary screen for promising small
      molecule hits to help identify the most potent compounds.

PMID- 27628687
TI  - An experimental phylogeny to benchmark ancestral sequence reconstruction.
AB  - Ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) is a still-burgeoning method that has
      revealed many key mechanisms of molecular evolution. One criticism of the
      approach is an inability to validate its algorithms within a biological context
      as opposed to a computer simulation. Here we build an experimental phylogeny
      using the gene of a single red fluorescent protein to address this criticism. The
      evolved phylogeny consists of 19 operational taxonomic units (leaves) and 17
      ancestral bifurcations (nodes) that display a wide variety of fluorescent
      phenotypes. The 19 leaves then serve as 'modern' sequences that we subject to ASR
      analyses using various algorithms and to benchmark against the known ancestral
      genotypes and ancestral phenotypes. We confirm computer simulations that show all
      algorithms infer ancient sequences with high accuracy, yet we also reveal wide
      variation in the phenotypes encoded by incorrectly inferred sequences.
      Specifically, Bayesian methods incorporating rate variation significantly
      outperform the maximum parsimony criterion in phenotypic accuracy. Subsampling of
      extant sequences had minor effect on the inference of ancestral sequences.

PMID- 27628692
TI  - Setting the Stage for Self-Regulated Learning Instruction and Metacognition
      Instruction in Musical Practice.

PMID- 27628691
TI  - An Ultra-High-Throughput Screen for Catalytic Inhibitors of Serine/Threonine
      Protein Phosphatases Types 1 and 5 (PP1C and PP5C).
AB  - Although there has been substantial success in the development of specific
      inhibitors for protein kinases, little progress has been made in the
      identification of specific inhibitors for their protein phosphatase counterparts.
      Inhibitors of PP1 and PP5 are desired as probes for research and to test their
      potential for drug development. We developed and miniaturized (1536-well plate
      format) nearly identical homogeneous, fluorescence intensity (FLINT) enzymatic
      assays to detect inhibitors of PP1 or PP5. The assays were used in an ultra-high
      throughput screening (uHTS) campaign, testing >315,000 small-molecule compounds.
      Both assays demonstrated robust performance, with a Z' of 0.92 +/- 0.03 and 0.95
      +/- 0.01 for the PP1 and PP5 assays, respectively. Screening the same library
      with both assays aided the identification of class inhibitors and assay
      artifacts. Confirmation screening and hit prioritization assays used [32P/33P]
      radiolabel protein substrates, revealing excellent agreement between the FLINT
      and radiolabel assays. This screening campaign led to the discovery of four novel
      unrelated small-molecule inhibitors of PP1 and ~30 related small-molecule
      inhibitors of PP5. The results suggest that this uHTS approach is suitable for
      identifying selective chemical probes that inhibit PP1 or PP5 activity, and it is
      likely that similar assays can be developed for other PPP-family phosphatases.

PMID- 27628694
TI  - Absence of localization in disordered two-dimensional electron gas at weak
      magnetic field and strong spin-orbit coupling.
AB  - The one-parameter scaling theory of localization predicts that all states in a
      disordered two-dimensional system with broken time reversal symmetry are
      localized even in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. While at constant
      strong magnetic fields this paradigm fails (recall the quantum Hall effect), it
      is believed to hold at weak magnetic fields. Here we explore the nature of
      quantum states at weak magnetic field and strongly fluctuating spin-orbit
      coupling, employing highly accurate numerical procedure based on level spacing
      distribution and transfer matrix technique combined with one parameter finite
      size scaling hypothesis. Remarkably, the metallic phase, (known to exist at zero
      magnetic field), persists also at finite (albeit weak) magnetic fields, and
      eventually crosses over into a critical phase, which has already been confirmed
      at high magnetic fields. A schematic phase diagram drawn in the energy-magnetic
      field plane elucidates the occurrence of localized, metallic and critical phases.
      In addition, it is shown that nearest-level statistics is determined solely by
      the symmetry parameter beta and follows the Wigner surmise irrespective of
      whether states are metallic or critical.

PMID- 27628693
TI  - Characterization of a novel adeno-associated viral vector with preferential
      oligodendrocyte tropism.
AB  - No adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid has been described in the literature to
      exhibit a primary oligodendrocyte tropism when a constitutive promoter drives
      gene expression, which is a significant barrier for efficient in vivo
      oligodendrocyte gene transfer. The vast majority of AAV vectors, such as AAV1, 2,
      5, 6, 8 or 9, exhibit a dominant neuronal tropism in the central nervous system.
      However, a novel AAV capsid (Olig001) generated using capsid shuffling and
      directed evolution was recovered after rat intravenous delivery and subsequent
      capsid clone rescue, which exhibited a >95% tropism for striatal oligodendrocytes
      after rat intracranial infusion where a constitutive promoter drove gene
      expression. Olig001 contains a chimeric mixture of AAV1, 2, 6, 8 and 9, but
      unlike these parental serotypes after intravenous administration Olig001 has very
      low affinity for peripheral organs, especially the liver. Furthermore, in mixed
      glial cell cultures, Olig001 exhibits a 9-fold greater binding when compared with
      AAV8. This novel oligodendrocyte-preferring AAV vector exhibits characteristics
      that are a marked departure from previously described AAV serotypes.

PMID- 27628695
TI  - Applicability of effective pair potentials for active Brownian particles.
AB  - We have performed a case study investigating a recently proposed scheme to obtain
      an effective pair potential for active Brownian particles (Farage et al., Phys.
      Rev. E 91, 042310 (2015)). Applying this scheme to the Lennard-Jones potential,
      numerical simulations of active Brownian particles are compared to simulations of
      passive Brownian particles interacting by the effective pair potential. Analyzing
      the static pair correlations, our results indicate a limited range of activity
      parameters (speed and orientational correlation time) for which we obtain
      quantitative, or even qualitative, agreement. Moreover, we find a qualitatively
      different behavior for the virial pressure even for small propulsion speeds.
      Combining these findings we conclude that beyond linear response active particles
      exhibit genuine non-equilibrium properties that cannot be captured by effective
      pair interaction alone.

PMID- 27628696
TI  - Abrupt out-of-plane edge folding of a circular thin plate: Implication for a
      mature Victoria regia leaf.
AB  - Inspired by the observation of the configurations of Victoria regia leaves, we
      establish a phenomenological buckling model for the abrupt out-of-plane edge
      folding of a circular thin sheet. A reduced model is first developed, and further
      refined by a more sophisticated growth strain field so that the resulting
      buckling morphology resembles that of a mature Victoria regia leaf. Parametric
      studies are carried out to investigate the effects of geometric, material, and
      strain field parameters on the buckling morphology. Several main characteristics
      discovered through numerical studies are verified by theoretical analysis of a
      simple geometry-based model. Besides, the roles of the thickness variation and
      cracks are examined. This work may not only shed some light on the morphogenesis
      of certain plants, but also provide some useful insights on three-dimensional
      fabrications using mechanical self-assembly.

PMID- 27628698
TI  - Urbanization, regime type and durability, and environmental degradation in Ghana.
AB  - This study examines the effect of urbanization, income, trade openness, and
      institutional quality (i.e., regime type and durability) on environmental
      degradation in Ghana over the period 1965-2011. Using the bounds test approach to
      cointegration and the Fully Modified Phillip-Hansen (FMPH) technique, the
      findings show that urbanization, income, trade openness, and institutional
      quality have long-run cointegration with environmental degradation. Further, the
      results show that income, trade openness, and institutional quality are
      negatively associated with environmental degradation. This suggests that income,
      trade openness, and institutional quality enhance environmental performance.
      Urbanization, however, is positively related to environmental degradation.
      Additionally, long-run estimates conditioned on institutional quality reveal that
      the extent to which trade openness and urbanization enhance environmental
      performance is largely due to the presence of quality institutions (or democratic
      institutions). Finally, controlling for structural breaks, we find that trade
      openness, urbanization, and regime type (i.e., democracy) improve environmental
      performance significantly after the 1970s except for income.

PMID- 27628697
TI  - Aging with higher fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels are associated with
      increased urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine concentrations in elder
      females.
AB  - Indoor air pollutants from environmental tobacco smoke and cooking fume can
      induce oxidative stress and inflammatory response, which generate oxidatively
      damaged DNA in human body. Among 2224 adults, levels of FENO and urinary 8-oxodG
      were measured using a nano coulomb nitric oxide analyzer and a high performance
      liquid chromatography system with electrochemical detector, respectively.
      Association between aging with higher FENO levels and urinary 8-oxodG levels were
      analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. Nonsmoking women aged 64
      years and over, with higher FENO (>= 25 part per billion) and self-catering but
      without passive smoking had a higher risk of increased urinary 8-oxodG (?% of
      urinary 8-oxodG: 81.3 %, 95 % CI: 27.4-158.0 %) levels, particularly these
      elderly women with using liquefied petroleum gas for cooking, had a higher risk
      for increased urinary 8-oxodG levels (?% of urinary 8-oxodG: 100.2 %, 95 % CI: 95
      % CI: 35.3-196.3 %), compared with those aged less than 64 years, with lower FENO
      (< 25 part per billion). Cooking activity aggravated aging-related the aging
      induced in urinary 8-oxodG excretion among nonsmoking women aged 64 years and
      over but without passive smoking.

PMID- 27628699
TI  - People with dyslexia and heart, chest, skin, digestive, musculoskeletal, vision,
      learning, speech and mental disorders were more dissatisfied with neighbourhoods:
      Scottish Household Survey, 2007-2008.
AB  - Rarely do we know the perception toward neighbourhoods in people specifically
      with health conditions. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to understand
      the perception toward neighbourhoods among adults with a series of the existing
      health conditions in a country-wide and population-based setting. Data were
      retrieved from and analysed in Scottish Household Survey, 2007-2008. Information
      on demographics, self-reported health conditions and perception toward
      neighbourhoods and the surrounding facilities was obtained by household
      interview. Analysis including chi-square test, t test and logistic regression
      modelling were performed. Of 19,150 Scottish adults (aged 16-80) included in the
      study cohort, 1079 (7.7 %) people were dissatisfied with their living areas;
      particularly for those who experienced harassment (15.4 %), did not recycle or
      with dyslexia, chest, digestive, mental and musculoskeletal problems. Twenty to
      forty per cent reported common neighbourhood problems including noise, rubbish,
      disputes, graffiti, harassment and drug misuse. People with heart or digestive
      problems were more dissatisfied with the existing parks and open space. People
      with arthritis, chest or hearing problems were more dissatisfied with the waste
      management condition. People with dyslexia were more dissatisfied with the
      existing public transportation. People with heart problems were more dissatisfied
      with the current street cleaning condition. People with hearing, vision, speech,
      learning problems or dyslexia were also more dissatisfied with sports and
      recreational facilities. People with heart, chest, skin, digestive,
      musculoskeletal, vision, learning, speech and mental disorders and dyslexia were
      more dissatisfied with their current neighbourhood environments. Upgrading
      neighbourhood planning to tackle social environment injustice and put pleasant
      life experience as priorty would be suggested. Graphical abstract interrelations
      of individual health and neighbourhood health.

PMID- 27628701
TI  - Assessing and managing the risks of hypoxia in transitional waters: a case study
      in the tidal Garonne River (South-West France).
AB  - The Gironde estuary (S-W France) is one of the largest European macrotidal
      estuaries. In the tidal Garonne River, its main tributary, episodes of low (<5 mg
      L-1) to hypoxic (<2 mg L-1) dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations have been
      occasionally recorded close to Bordeaux, about 100 km from the mouth. Projected
      long-term environmental changes (increase in temperature and population, decrease
      in river discharge) suggest the establishment of summer chronic oxygen deficiency
      in the tidal Garonne River in the next decades. Assessing and managing the risk
      of hypoxia on such a large, hyper-turbid fluvio-estuarine system is complex, due
      to the different forcing factors (temperature, river discharge, turbidity, urban
      wastes) acting over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. In this context,
      we show the interest of a real-time, high-frequency monitoring of the water
      quality, the MAGEST network, which continuously records since 2005 temperature,
      salinity, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen in surface waters in Bordeaux. Through
      the analysis of the 10-year DO records, we demonstrate the interest of a high
      frequency, long-term database to better document DO variability and to define the
      controlling factors of DO concentrations. This real-time monitoring is also of
      great interest for the development of manager's oriented tools and the follow-up
      of DO objectives in the tidal Garonne River.

PMID- 27628700
TI  - Comparison of H2S gas destruction potential using TIO2 nanofibers and
      nanoparticles.
AB  - TiO2 nanoparticles and nanofibers have been used to carry out a comparative study
      of the destruction of H2S gas. Effects of sulphur doping have also been
      incorporated to assess the maximum destruction potential of the nanomaterials. An
      analysis has been made in this paper to evaluate and compare the performance of
      pure and sulphur-doped TiO2 nanoparticles and nanofibers for the destruction of
      H2S gas using photocatalysis under laboratory conditions. Regression modelling
      has been performed to ascertain the individual degradation rates of the
      nanoparticles and nanofibers. In addition, oxidation rates of H2S gas using the
      nanoparticles and nanofibers have been used to further elucidate our findings. It
      was observed that the destruction potential of nanofibers was 10 times more as
      compared to nanoparticles.

PMID- 27628703
TI  - Effects of binding materials on microaggregate size distribution in bauxite
      residues.
AB  - It is recognized that for successful establishment of a vegetation cover on
      bauxite residue disposal areas, soil formation and a greater understanding of the
      processes of soil development are crucial. The stability of microaggregates is a
      very important physical property that prevents erosion in bauxite residues.
      Samples were collected from a disposal area in Central China to determine not
      only the mechanism of aggregation but also clay dispersion. Colloidal stability
      was assessed by determining organic matter, carbonate, electrolyte, clay mineral,
      and iron-aluminum oxide forms, as these would contribute to their stability.
      Organic matter improved microaggregate stability by combining with clay particles
      and polyvalent cations to form macroaggregates. Polyvalent cations such as
      calcium had a positive effect on particle flocculation, while organic molecules
      were more effective at stabilizing microaggregates. Removal of salinity dispersed
      silt-size aggregates into clay-size aggregates and reduced microaggregate
      stability. Calcium improved particle aggregation, while sodium had the reverse
      effect. Quartz powder was added to the residues but did not show any cementing
      effect, while free and amorphous iron-aluminum oxides were effective binding
      agents for microaggregate formation. We propose that the presence of organic
      matter and polyvalent cations, together with incorporation of organic carbon and
      calcium minerals, may enhance the stability of this material and prove beneficial
      toward improving its physical condition.

PMID- 27628702
TI  - Role of metals in free radical generation and genotoxicity induced by airborne
      particulate matter (PM2.5) from Pune (India).
AB  - In the present study, metal-facilitated free radical generation in particulate
      matter (PM) and its association with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage were
      studied. The examined data showed that the concentration of fine PM in Pune
      exhibited seasonal variations. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission
      spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used to examine the metal composition, which showed
      the presence of metals such as Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Co, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Ni. Fe metal
      was present in the highest concentrations in both the seasons, followed by Zn.
      The scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) results
      also demonstrated that the fine PM particles deposited in summer samples were
      less than those of winter samples, suggesting that the PM load in winter was
      higher as compared to that in summer. Elemental mapping of these particles
      substantiates deposition of metals as Fe, Zn, etc. on particles. The electron
      paramagnetic species (EPR) technique was utilized for free radical detection, and
      plasmid DNA assay was utilized to study the genotoxicity of ambient fine PM.
      Obtained g values show the presence of radicals in PM samples of Pune. PM
      contains the C-centered radical with a vicinal oxygen atom (g = 2.003). In
      addition to this, the g value for Fe was also observed. Therefore, we intend that
      the radicals related with fine PM comprise metal-mediated radicals and produce
      DNA damage. The plasmid DNA assay results indicated that the TM50 values (toxic
      mass of PM causing 50 % of plasmid DNA damage) of PM exhibited seasonal
      variations with higher TM50 values for summer and lower TM50 values during
      winter.

PMID- 27628705
TI  - Consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of incident psoriasis and
      psoriatic arthritis from the Nurses' Health Study II.

PMID- 27628704
TI  - Remediation of oil-contaminated sand with self-collapsing air microbubbles.
AB  - In this study, a novel chemical-free approach for cleaning oil-contaminated sand
      with self-collapsing air microbubbles (MBs) with diameter less than 50 MUm was
      developed without the use of chemicals, such as surfactants and alkalis. Diesel
      and rotary-vane pump oil-contaminated fine and medium sands were treated with MBs
      to study the effect of oil viscosity and sand grain size on oil removal with MBs.
      About 95 % of diesel removal was achieved for 24 h old 10 % (w/w) diesel
      contaminated medium sand in contrast to only 70 % removal from fine sand after 40
      min treatment with MBs. While rotary-vane pump oil removal exceeds that of diesel
      after 40-min treatment with MBs, combination of mechanical stirring with MBs
      significantly enhanced the oil removal rate, whereby 95 % diesel removal was
      achieved from fine sand in 30 min in contrast to only 52 % diesel removal with
      MBs alone. A possible MBs cleaning mechanism for oil-contaminated sand was also
      proposed. This study provides experimental evidence for the applicability of self
      collapsing MBs as a novel chemical-free approach for cleaning oil-contaminated
      sand.

PMID- 27628706
TI  - The power of fission: yeast as a tool for understanding complex splicing.
AB  - Pre-mRNA splicing is an essential component of eukaryotic gene expression. Many
      metazoans, including humans, regulate alternative splicing patterns to generate
      expansions of their proteome from a limited number of genes. Importantly, a
      considerable fraction of human disease causing mutations manifest themselves
      through altering the sequences that shape the splicing patterns of genes. Thus,
      understanding the mechanistic bases of this complex pathway will be an essential
      component of combating these diseases. Dating almost to the initial discovery of
      splicing, researchers have taken advantage of the genetic tractability of budding
      yeast to identify the components and decipher the mechanisms of splicing.
      However, budding yeast lacks the complex splicing machinery and alternative
      splicing patterns most relevant to humans. More recently, many researchers have
      turned their efforts to study the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which
      has retained many features of complex splicing, including degenerate splice site
      sequences, the usage of exonic splicing enhancers, and SR proteins. Here, we
      review recent work using fission yeast genetics to examine pre-mRNA splicing,
      highlighting its promise for modeling the complex splicing seen in higher
      eukaryotes.

PMID- 27628708
TI  - Room Temperature Phase Transition in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Thin
      Films Induced by Hydrohalic Acid Additives.
AB  - Although reactive additives have been employed in perovskite solar cells to
      enhance film morphology and significantly increase device performance, little is
      known about the effect of these additives on perovskite structural and optical
      properties. Here we report a systematic study of how the properties of
      methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (CH3 NH3 PbI3 ) are influenced by
      hydrohalic acid additives (HX; X=I, Br, Cl) in the precursor solution. Detailed
      structural and optical spectroscopic analysis reveals that all three acids affect
      the optical properties and alter the unit cell lattice parameters. Depending on
      the identity and concentration of HX, optical bandgaps widen or compress:
      addition of HBr yields a wider bandgap, whereas HI compresses the gap at high
      concentrations; HCl, on the other hand, has no significant effect on the bandgap.
      These changes can be understood by correlating them with the types of defects
      present in polycrystalline perovskite thin films in combination with the
      structural strain induced in very small crystallites. The presence of extra
      halides from HX in the precursor solution enables filling of the lattice
      vacancies in the perovskite, thereby altering metal-halogen-metal bond
      connectivity and consequently cell volumes and optical bandgaps. Remarkably, a
      room temperature tetragonal->cubic phase transition is observed for CH3 NH3 PbI3
      films treated with high HX concentrations. Further insights into this anomalous
      phase transformation are obtained from in situ variable-temperature X-ray
      diffraction in the 25-55  degrees C (298-328 K) range, revealing a monotonic fall
      in transition temperature with increasing precursor solution HX concentration.

PMID- 27628707
TI  - Recombination-independent recognition of DNA homology for repeat-induced point
      mutation.
AB  - Numerous cytogenetic observations have shown that homologous chromosomes (or
      individual chromosomal loci) can engage in specific pairing interactions in the
      apparent absence of DNA breakage and recombination, suggesting that canonical
      recombination-mediated mechanisms may not be the only option for sensing DNA/DNA
      homology. One proposed mechanism for such recombination-independent homology
      recognition involves direct contacts between intact double-stranded DNA
      molecules. The strongest in vivo evidence for the existence of such a mechanism
      is provided by the phenomena of homology-directed DNA modifications in fungi,
      known as repeat-induced point mutation (RIP, discovered in Neurospora crassa) and
      methylation-induced premeiotically (MIP, discovered in Ascobolus immersus). In
      principle, Neurospora RIP can detect the presence of gene-sized DNA duplications
      irrespectively of their origin, underlying nucleotide sequence, coding capacity
      or relative, as well as absolute positions in the genome. Once detected, both
      sequence copies are altered by numerous cytosine-to-thymine (C-to-T) mutations
      that extend specifically over the duplicated region. We have recently shown that
      Neurospora RIP does not require MEI-3, the only RecA/Rad51 protein in this
      organism, consistent with a recombination-independent mechanism. Using an ultra
      sensitive assay for RIP mutation, we have defined additional features of this
      process. We have shown that RIP can detect short islands of homology of only
      three base-pairs as long as many such islands are arrayed with a periodicity of
      11 or 12 base-pairs along a pair of DNA molecules. While the presence of perfect
      homology is advantageous, it is not required: chromosomal segments with overall
      sequence identity of only 35-36 % can still be recognized by RIP. Importantly, in
      order for this process to work efficiently, participating DNA molecules must be
      able to co-align along their lengths. Based on these findings, we have proposed a
      model, in which sequence homology is detected by direct interactions between
      slightly-extended double-stranded DNAs. As a next step, it will be important to
      determine if the uncovered principles also apply to other processes that involve
      recombination-independent interactions between homologous chromosomal loci in
      vivo as well as to protein-free DNA/DNA interactions that were recently observed
      under biologically relevant conditions in vitro.

PMID- 27628709
TI  - Synthesis of Unprecedented Sulfonylated Phosphono-exo-Glycals Designed as
      Inhibitors of the Three Mycobacterial Galactofuranose Processing Enzymes.
AB  - This study reports a new methodology to synthesize exo-glycals bearing both a
      sulfone and a phosphonate. This synthetic strategy provides a way to generate exo
      glycals displaying two electron-withdrawing groups and was applied to eight
      different carbohydrates from the furanose and pyranose series. The Z/E
      configurations of these tetrasubstituted enol ethers could be ascertained using
      NMR spectroscopic techniques. Deprotection of an exo-glycal followed by an UMP
      (uridine monophosphate) coupling generated two new UDP (uridine diphosphate)
      galactofuranose analogues. These two Z/E isomers were evaluated as inhibitors of
      UGM, GlfT1, and GlfT2, the three mycobacterial galactofuranose processing
      enzymes. Molecule 46-(E) is the first characterized inhibitor of GlfT1 reported
      to date and was also found to efficiently inhibit UGM in a reversible manner.
      Interestingly, GlfT2 showed a better affinity for the (Z) isomer. The three
      enzymes studied in the present work are not only interesting because,
      mechanistically, they are still the topic of intense investigations, but also
      because they constitute very important targets for the development of novel
      antimycobacterial agents.

PMID- 27628710
TI  - Specialized or opportunistic-how does the high mountain endemic butterfly Erebia
      nivalis survive in its extreme habitats?
AB  - High mountain ecosystems are a challenge for the survival of animal and plant
      species, which have to evolve specific adaptations to cope with the prevailing
      extreme conditions. The strategies to survive may reach from opportunistic to
      highly adapted traits. One species successfully surviving under these conditions
      is the here studied butterfly Erebia nivalis. In a mark-release-recapture study
      performed in the Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria) from 22 July to 26 August
      2013, we marked 1386 individuals and recaptured 342 of these. For each capture
      event, we recorded the exact point of capture and various other traits (wing
      conditions, behavior, nectar sources). The population showed a partial
      protandrous demography with the minority of males emerging prior to the females,
      but the majority being synchronized with them. Males and females differed
      significantly in their behavior with males being more flight active and females
      nectaring and resting more. Both sexes showed preferences for the same plant
      species as nectar sources, but this specialization apparently is the result of a
      rapid individual adaptation to the locally available flowers. Estimates of the
      realized dispersal distances predicted a comparatively high amount of long
      distance flights, especially for females. Therefore, the adaptation of Erebia
      nivalis to the unpredictable high mountain conditions might be a mixture of
      opportunism and specialized traits.

PMID- 27628711
TI  - In Situ Environmental TEM in Imaging Gas and Liquid Phase Chemical Reactions for
      Materials Research.
AB  - Gas and liquid phase chemical reactions cover a broad range of research areas in
      materials science and engineering, including the synthesis of nanomaterials and
      application of nanomaterials, for example, in the areas of sensing, energy
      storage and conversion, catalysis, and bio-related applications. Environmental
      transmission electron microscopy (ETEM) provides a unique opportunity for
      monitoring gas and liquid phase reactions because it enables the observation of
      those reactions at the ultra-high spatial resolution, which is not achievable
      through other techniques. Here, the fundamental science and technology
      developments of gas and liquid phase TEM that facilitate the mechanistic study of
      the gas and liquid phase chemical reactions are discussed. Combined with other
      characterization tools integrated in TEM, unprecedented material behaviors and
      reaction mechanisms are observed through the use of the in situ gas and liquid
      phase TEM. These observations and also the recent applications in this emerging
      area are described. The current challenges in the imaging process are also
      discussed, including the imaging speed, imaging resolution, and data management.

PMID- 27628712
TI  - Small molecule compounds that induce cellular senescence.
AB  - To date, dozens of stress-induced cellular senescence phenotypes have been
      reported. These cellular senescence states may differ substantially from each
      other, as well as from replicative senescence through the presence of specific
      senescence features. Here, we attempted to catalog virtually all of the cellular
      senescence-like states that can be induced by low molecular weight compounds. We
      summarized biological markers, molecular pathways involved in senescence
      establishment, and specific traits of cellular senescence states induced by more
      than fifty small molecule compounds.

PMID- 27628714
TI  - Gaps and Bridges.

PMID- 27628715
TI  - Revisiting 'A critical review of simulation-based medical education research:
      2003-2009'.

PMID- 27628716
TI  - Talking their way to success: communicative competence for international medical
      graduates in transition.

PMID- 27628717
TI  - Elevating the value of direct observation for learning: the limits of autonomy.

PMID- 27628720
TI  - Longitudinal assessment of the impact of the use of the UK clinical aptitude test
      for medical student selection.
AB  - CONTEXT: Medical schools are increasingly using novel tools to select applicants.
      The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) is one such tool and measures mental
      abilities, attitudes and professional behaviour conducive to being a doctor using
      constructs likely to be less affected by socio-demographic factors than
      traditional measures of potential. Universities are free to use UKCAT as they see
      fit but three broad modalities have been observed: 'borderline', 'factor' and
      'threshold'. This paper aims to provide the first longitudinal analyses assessing
      the impact of the different uses of UKCAT on making offers to applicants with
      different socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: Multilevel regression was
      used to model the outcome of applications to UK medical schools during the period
      2004-2011 (data obtained from UCAS), adjusted for sex, ethnicity, schooling,
      parental occupation, educational attainment, year of application and UKCAT use
      (borderline, factor and threshold). RESULTS: The three ways of using the UKCAT
      did not differ in their impact on making the selection process more equitable,
      other than a marked reversal for female advantage when applied in a 'threshold'
      manner. Our attempt to model the longitudinal impact of the use of the UKCAT in
      its threshold format found again the reversal of female advantage, but did not
      demonstrate similar statistically significant reductions of the advantages
      associated with White ethnicity, higher social class and selective schooling.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate attenuation of the advantage of being female
      but no changes in admission rates based on White ethnicity, higher social class
      and selective schooling. In view of this, the utility of the UKCAT as a means to
      widen access to medical schools among non-White and less advantaged applicants
      remains unproven.

PMID- 27628718
TI  - Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To succinctly summarise five contemporary theories about motivation to
      learn, articulate key intersections and distinctions among these theories, and
      identify important considerations for future research. RESULTS: Motivation has
      been defined as the process whereby goal-directed activities are initiated and
      sustained. In expectancy-value theory, motivation is a function of the
      expectation of success and perceived value. Attribution theory focuses on the
      causal attributions learners create to explain the results of an activity, and
      classifies these in terms of their locus, stability and controllability. Social-
      cognitive theory emphasises self-efficacy as the primary driver of motivated
      action, and also identifies cues that influence future self-efficacy and support
      self-regulated learning. Goal orientation theory suggests that learners tend to
      engage in tasks with concerns about mastering the content (mastery goal, arising
      from a 'growth' mindset regarding intelligence and learning) or about doing
      better than others or avoiding failure (performance goals, arising from a 'fixed'
      mindset). Finally, self-determination theory proposes that optimal performance
      results from actions motivated by intrinsic interests or by extrinsic values that
      have become integrated and internalised. Satisfying basic psychosocial needs of
      autonomy, competence and relatedness promotes such motivation. Looking across all
      five theories, we note recurrent themes of competence, value, attributions, and
      interactions between individuals and the learning context. CONCLUSIONS: To avoid
      conceptual confusion, and perhaps more importantly to maximise the theory
      building potential of their work, researchers must be careful (and precise) in
      how they define, operationalise and measure different motivational constructs. We
      suggest that motivation research continue to build theory and extend it to health
      professions domains, identify key outcomes and outcome measures, and test
      practical educational applications of the principles thus derived.

PMID- 27628719
TI  - Supporting international medical graduates' transition to their host-country:
      realist synthesis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Many health services and systems rely on the contribution of
      international medical graduates (IMGs) to the workforce. However, concern has
      grown around their regulation and professional practice. There is a need, in the
      absence of strong evidence and a robust theoretical base, for a deeper
      understanding of the efficacy of interventions used to support IMGs' transition
      to their host countries. This study seeks to explore and synthesise evidence
      relating to interventions developed for IMGs. It aims to provide educators and
      policy makers with an understanding of how interventions should be developed to
      support IMGs in their transition to the workplace, particularly looking to
      identify how and why they are effective. METHODS: The realist synthesis involved
      an initial systematic search of the literature for the period January 1990 to
      April 2015. Secondary searches were conducted throughout the review in order to
      inform and test the developing programme theory. The context, mechanism and
      outcome data were extracted from all sources meeting the inclusion criteria.
      Fourteen case studies were included to further aid theory refinement. RESULTS:
      Sixty-two articles were identified, describing diverse interventions of varying
      intensity. A further 26 articles were identified through a secondary search. The
      findings illustrate that, alongside a developed programme, ongoing support and
      cultural awareness at organisational and training levels are crucial. Individual
      differences must also be taken into consideration. This will ensure that IMGs
      engage in transformative learning, increase their levels of self-efficacy and
      cultural health capital, and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. These factors
      will have an impact on work, interactions and cultural adjustment. CONCLUSIONS:
      Organisational, training and individual contexts all play a role in IMGs'
      adjustment during the transition process. Establishing ongoing support is
      critical. A list of recommendations for implementation is given.

PMID- 27628721
TI  - A new method for group decision making and its application in medical trainee
      selection.
AB  - CONTEXT: The problems associated with generating a collaborative ranked
      preference list represent a common source of dilemma in academic medicine and
      medical education. Such issues present during the process of choosing among
      applicants to medical schools, during the selection of postgraduate trainees, and
      in the course of performance assessments and the prioritising of financial
      expenditures. Currently, most institutions use pseudo-quantitative methods, such
      as the averaging of scores awarded on an arbitrary scale. These methods are
      mathematically problematic and may not accurately reflect group opinion. METHODS:
      The present authors developed a novel algorithm for creating a collaborative
      preference list that generates and sorts a matrix of pairwise comparisons between
      applicants or choices without placing any reliance on arbitrary Likert scale-type
      scores. This method achieves equality in influence across individual assessors,
      as well as transparency and reproducibility. The authors report a case study of
      their experience using this new algorithm in the 2013 neonatal-perinatal
      fellowship match. RESULTS: When used by this group in the selection of fellowship
      trainees, the method proposed here allowed for greater efficiency and created a
      rank-order list that did not require reshuffling or significant debate. A survey
      of faculty staff and fellows showed much higher levels of satisfaction with the
      new algorithm and a unanimous desire to use the new algorithm in the future, in
      preference to a score-based system. CONCLUSIONS: The algorithm developed and
      described here may reduce arbitrariness in processes that require the
      collaborative creation of a preference list. This method may have wide
      applicability in medical education and training, and beyond. The present authors'
      experience of using this algorithm during the National Resident Matching Program
      match showed improved perceptions of fairness, ease of use and efficiency.

PMID- 27628722
TI  - 'Sometimes the work just needs to be done': socio-cultural influences on direct
      observation in medical training.
AB  - CONTEXT: Direct observation promises to strengthen both coaching and assessment,
      and calls for its increased use in medical training abound. Despite its apparent
      potential, the uptake of direct observation in medical training remains
      surprisingly limited outside the formal assessment setting. The limited uptake of
      observation raises questions about cultural barriers to its use. In this study,
      we explore the influence of professional culture on the use of direct observation
      within medical training. METHODS: Using a constructivist grounded theory
      approach, we interviewed 22 residents or fellows (10 male, 12 female) about their
      experiences of being observed during training. Participants represented a range
      of specialties and training levels. Data collection and analysis were conducted
      iteratively. Themes were identified using constant comparative analysis. RESULTS:
      Observation was used selectively; specialties tended to observe the clinical acts
      that they valued most. Despite these differences, we found two cultural values
      that consistently challenged the ready implementation of direct observation
      across specialties: (i) autonomy in learning and (ii) efficiency in health care
      provision. Furthermore, we found that direct observation was a primarily learner
      driven activity, which left learners caught in the middle, wanting observation
      but also wanting to appear independent and efficient. CONCLUSIONS: The cultural
      values of autonomy in learning and practice and efficiency in health care
      provision challenge the integration of direct observation into clinical training.
      Medical learners are often expected to ask for observation, but such requests are
      socially and culturally fraught, and likely to constrain the wider uptake of
      direct observation.

PMID- 27628724
TI  - Interprofessional learning requires learning with not just from.

PMID- 27628723
TI  - Self-regulated learning processes of medical students during an academic learning
      task.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to identify the self-regulated learning (SRL)
      processes of medical students during a biomedical science learning task and to
      examine the associations of the SRL processes with previous performance in
      biomedical science examinations and subsequent performance on a learning task.
      METHODS: A sample of 76 Year 1 medical students were recruited based on their
      performance in biomedical science examinations and stratified into previous high
      and low performers. Participants were asked to complete a biomedical science
      learning task. Participants' SRL processes were assessed before (self-efficacy,
      goal setting and strategic planning), during (metacognitive monitoring) and after
      (causal attributions and adaptive inferences) their completion of the task using
      an SRL microanalytic interview. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the
      means and frequencies of SRL processes. Univariate and multiple logistic
      regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations of SRL processes
      with previous examination performance and the learning task performance. RESULTS:
      Most participants (from 88.2% to 43.4%) reported task-specific processes for SRL
      measures. Students who exhibited higher self-efficacy (odds ratio [OR] 1.44, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.90) and reported task-specific processes for
      metacognitive monitoring (OR 6.61, 95% CI 1.68-25.93) and causal attributions (OR
      6.75, 95% CI 2.05-22.25) measures were more likely to be high previous
      performers. Multiple analysis revealed that similar SRL measures were associated
      with previous performance. The use of task-specific processes for causal
      attributions (OR 23.00, 95% CI 4.57-115.76) and adaptive inferences (OR 27.00,
      95% CI 3.39-214.95) measures were associated with being a high learning task
      performer. In multiple analysis, only the causal attributions measure was
      associated with high learning task performance. CONCLUSIONS: Self-efficacy,
      metacognitive monitoring and causal attributions measures were associated
      positively with previous performance. Causal attributions and adaptive inferences
      measures were associated positively with learning task performance. These
      findings may inform remediation interventions in the early years of medical
      school training.

PMID- 27628725
TI  - Interprofessional learning: for and with patients.

PMID- 27628727
TI  - An Automatic Prediction of Epileptic Seizures Using Cloud Computing and Wireless
      Sensor Networks.
AB  - Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders which is characterized
      by the spontaneous and unforeseeable occurrence of seizures. An automatic
      prediction of seizure can protect the patients from accidents and save their
      life. In this article, we proposed a mobile-based framework that automatically
      predict seizures using the information contained in electroencephalography (EEG)
      signals. The wireless sensor technology is used to capture the EEG signals of
      patients. The cloud-based services are used to collect and analyze the EEG data
      from the patient's mobile phone. The features from the EEG signal are extracted
      using the fast Walsh-Hadamard transform (FWHT). The Higher Order Spectral
      Analysis (HOSA) is applied to FWHT coefficients in order to select the features
      set relevant to normal, preictal and ictal states of seizure. We subsequently
      exploit the selected features as input to a k-means classifier to detect
      epileptic seizure states in a reasonable time. The performance of the proposed
      model is tested on Amazon EC2 cloud and compared in terms of execution time and
      accuracy. The findings show that with selected HOS based features, we were able
      to achieve a classification accuracy of 94.6 %. 

PMID- 27628728
TI  - A Pathophysiological Model-Driven Communication for Dynamic Distributed Medical
      Best Practice Guidance Systems.
AB  - There is a great divide between rural and urban areas, particularly in medical
      emergency care. Although medical best practice guidelines exist and are in
      hospital handbooks, they are often lengthy and difficult to apply clinically. The
      challenges are exaggerated for doctors in rural areas and emergency medical
      technicians (EMT) during patient transport. In this paper, we propose the concept
      of distributed executable medical best practice guidance systems to assist
      adherence to best practice from the time that a patient first presents at a rural
      hospital, through diagnosis and ambulance transfer to arrival and treatment at a
      regional tertiary hospital center. We codify complex medical knowledge in the
      form of simplified distributed executable disease automata, from the thin
      automata at rural hospitals to the rich automata in the regional center
      hospitals. However, a main challenge is how to efficiently and safely synchronize
      distributed best practice models as the communication among medical facilities,
      devices, and professionals generates a large number of messages. This complex
      problem of patient diagnosis and transport from rural to center facility is also
      fraught with many uncertainties and changes resulting in a high degree of
      dynamism. A critically ill patient's medical conditions can change abruptly in
      addition to changes in the wireless bandwidth during the ambulance transfer. Such
      dynamics have yet to be addressed in existing literature on telemedicine. To
      address this situation, we propose a pathophysiological model-driven message
      exchange communication architecture that ensures the real-time and dynamic
      requirements of synchronization among distributed emergency best practice models
      are met in a reliable and safe manner. Taking the signs, symptoms, and progress
      of stroke patients transported across a geographically distributed healthcare
      network as the motivating use case, we implement our communication system and
      apply it to our developed best practice automata using laboratory simulations.
      Our proof-of-concept experiments shows there is potential for the use of our
      system in a wide variety of domains. 

PMID- 27628730
TI  - Determining the Degree of Counterion Binding to Aqueous Alkylammonium Chloride
      Micelles by an Electrode Method.
AB  - The degree of counterion binding (beta) to micelles of aqueous n-alkylammonium
      chlorides (CnAC; H(CH2)nNH3Cl, n = 8-12) was evaluated from the ionic activity
      coefficient (gammaCl-), which was determined by use of a conventional chloride
      ion selective electrode at 25 degrees C. In the gammaCl- plot of C12AC, a bend
      indicating the critical micelle concentration (cmc) was found, at concentrations
      above which the Botre plot was examined, and a value of 0.80 was determined for
      beta. Very similar beta values were obtained for the other alkylammonium chloride
      surfactants. The standard free energy of the micellization (DeltaGm) of CnAC was
      estimated from the beta and micellar aggregation numbers.

PMID- 27628729
TI  - A Robust and Anonymous Two Factor Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol for
      Telecare Medicine Information Systems.
AB  - Nowadays people can get many services including health-care services from
      distributed information systems remotely via public network. By considering that
      these systems are built on public network, they are vulnerable to many malicious
      attacks. Hence it is necessary to introduce an effective mechanism to protect
      both users and severs. Recently many two-factor authentication schemes have been
      proposed to achieve this goal. In 2016, Li et al. demonstrated that Lee et al.'s
      scheme was not satisfactory to be deployed in practice because of its security
      weaknesses and then proposed a security enhanced scheme to overcome these
      drawbacks. In this paper, we analyze Li et al.'s scheme is still not satisfactory
      to be applied in telecare medicine information systems (TMIS) because it fails to
      withstand off-line dictionary attack and known session-specific temporary
      information attack. Moreover, their scheme cannot provide card revocation
      services for lost smart card. In order to solve these security problems, we
      propose an improved scheme. Then we analyze our scheme by using BAN-logic model
      and compare the improved scheme with related schemes to prove that our scheme is
      advantageous to be applied in practice. 

PMID- 27628731
TI  - High Amounts of n-Alkanes in the Composition of Asphodelus aestivus Brot. Flower
      Essential Oil from Cyprus.
AB  - There is only a couple of reports indicating essential oil composition of
      Asphodelus species in the literature. However, from the members of this genus
      many non-volatile secondary metabolites were isolated. In Cyprus, Asphodelus
      aestivus Brot. can be found abundantly in all regions of the island. This plant
      has various ethnobotanical uses in Cyprus. There is no report on the volatiles
      nor the essential oil composition of A. aestivus. The smell of A. aestivus
      flowers resembles that of a cat pee which caught our attention. Therefore, we
      have carried out GC, GC/MS analysis of the essential oil (yield: 0.01 v/w)
      obtained from Asphodelus aestivus flowers. Seventeen compounds were identified in
      the essential oil comprising 96.2% of the oil. The major components of the
      essential oil were hexadecanoic acid 35.6%, pentacosane 17.4%, tricosane 13.4%
      and heptacosane 8.4%. In our results, we expected to see sulfur containing cat
      pee odorants due to the odor of the flower whereas high amounts of n-alkanes,
      saturated fatty acids and minor amounts of acyclic diterpenes were observed.

PMID- 27628732
TI  - Mesoporous SBA-15 Silica-supported Diisopropylguanidine: an Efficient Solid
      Catalyst for Interesterification of Soybean Oil with Methyl Octanoate or Methyl
      Decanoate.
AB  - The organosilane agent, namely 3-(N,N'-diisopropylguanidine)
      propyltriethoxysilane, was firstly prepared by the reaction of
      diisopropylcarbodimide with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, and then employed for
      grafting guanidine base onto the surface of the mesoporous SBA-15 silica to
      afford an organic-inorganic hybrid catalyst. The prepared solid catalyst was
      fully characterized by various techniques such as small-angle X-ray power
      diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy,
      transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption and elemental
      analysis techniques. The obtained results showed that the guanidine base was
      successfully tethered onto the SBA-15 silica and the ordered mesoporous structure
      of the SBA-15 material remained almost unchangeable after the
      orgnofunctionalization. The solid catalyst was found to have appreciable
      catalytic activities to the interesterification of soybean oil with methyl
      octanoate or methyl decanoate under solvent-free conditions. Influence of various
      reaction parameters, such as the substrate molar ratio, reaction temperature,
      catalyst loading and reaction time, on the catalytic interesterification was
      investigated to optimize the interesterification condition for the production of
      structured lipids containing medium-chain fatty acids. The hybrid solid catalyst
      was easily separated and reused for four runs without significant loss of
      catalytic activity.

PMID- 27628733
TI  - Chemical Composition of Essential Oils from Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. and
      Their Bioactivities against Lasioderma serricorne.
AB  - Two essential oil samples were obtained from the pericarp of Zanthoxylum
      bungeanum with the methods of hydrodistillation (HD) and supercritical fluid CO2
      extraction (SFE), their chemical components were identified, and their
      bioactivities against Lasioderma serricorne adults were evaluated. In the process
      of testing, the two samples showed significant bioactivities against Lasioderma
      serricorne adults. For an example, the SFE-sample expressed relatively stronger
      fumigant toxicity on Lasioderma serricorne adults (LC50 = 3.99 MUg/mL air) than
      that of the HD-sample (LC50 = 12.54 MUg/mL air). According to GC-MS analysis, the
      chemical components between two samples were different. The major chemical
      components for HD included linalool (25.99%), limonene (19.34%), linalyl
      anthranilate (12.22%), 4-terpinenol (10.49%), eucalyptol (6.53%) and alpha
      terpineol (5.02%), while for SFE included nonanoic acid (21.43%), gamma-terpinene
      (14.51%), eucalyptol (13.45%), alpha-terpineol (5.83%) and caryophyllene oxide
      (5.48%). The results showed that different chemical components result in
      different bioactivities. This work provides theoretical basis for traditional
      Chinese concept of antagonistic storage, and it also provides important
      information for the development and comprehensive utilization of Zanthoxylum
      bungeanum.

PMID- 27628734
TI  - Alternate Calcification in Microcapillaries for the Fabrication of Hydroxyapatite
      Films without Light Exposure, Calcination, or Applied Voltage.
AB  - We discuss an alternate method for calcification in microcapillaries for
      fabricating calcium phosphate films using silicone molds and calcifying
      solutions. Calcium phosphate films with a line/space of 5-50 um were fabricated
      by controlling the concentrations of calcium chloride and sodium phosphate
      solutions. Plate-type crystals of hydroxyapatite were grown when the calcium
      phosphate films were immersed in hydroxyapatite precursors. In the initial stage
      of hydroxyapatite crystal growth, the c-plane of the crystals was grown parallel
      to the substrates, and subsequently the growth followed with the c-plane growing
      perpendicular to the substrates. In narrow capillaries, dendritic structures were
      formed with a tendency to grow in a direction parallel to the direction of the
      microcapillaries. This technique is useful in the micropatterning of
      biocompatible ceramics with a minimized material consumption and a short
      fabrication time.

PMID- 27628735
TI  - Synthesis and Solution Properties of Adamantane Containing Quaternary Ammonium
      Salt-type Cationic Surfactants: Hydrocarbon-based, Fluorocarbonbased and Bola
      type.
AB  - Quaternary ammonium salt-type cationic surfactants with an adamantyl group
      (hydrocarbon-type; CnAdAB, fluorocarbon-type; CmFC3AdAB, bola-type; Ad-s-Ad,
      where n, m and s represent hydrocarbon chain lengths of 8-16, fluorocarbon chain
      lengths of 4-8, and spacer chain length of 10-12) were synthesized via
      quaternization of N, N-dimethylaminoadamantane and n-alkyl bromide or 1, n
      dibromoalkane. Conductivity and surface tension were measured to characterize the
      solution properties of the synthesized adamantyl group-containing cationic
      surfactants. In addition, the effects of hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon chain
      lengths and spacer chain length between headgroups on the measured properties
      were evaluated by comparison with those of conventional cationic surfactants. The
      critical micelle concentration (CMC) of CnAdAB and Ad-s-Ad was 2/5 of that for
      the corresponding conventional surfactants CnTAB and bola-type surfactants with
      similar number of carbons in the alkyl or alkylene chain; this was because of the
      increased hydrophobicity due to the adamantyl group. A linear relationship
      between the logarithm of CMC and the hydrocarbon chain length for CnAdAB was
      observed, as well as for CnTAB. The slope of the linear correlation for both
      surfactants was almost the same, indicating that the adamantyl group does not
      affect the CMC with variations in the hydrocarbon chain length. Similar to
      conventional surfactants CnTAB, the hydrocarbon-type CnAdAB is highly efficient
      in reducing the surface tension of water, despite the large occupied area per
      molecule resulting from the relatively bulky structure of the adamantane
      skeleton. On the other hand, the bola-type Ad-s-Ad resulted in increased surface
      tension compared to CnAdAB, indicating that the curved chain between adamantyl
      groups leads to poor adsorption and orientation at the air-water interface.

PMID- 27628736
TI  - [Physical activity and musculoskeletal pain : A focus review within the MiSpEx
      research group].
AB  - Chronic pain diseases are often accompanied by a subjectively perceived
      impairment in physical activity. Moreover, to date it has not been possible to
      formulate general recommendations on a therapeutic quantity of physical activity
      and how activities of daily life and movement exercises should be designed for
      specific patient populations. This article gives an overview about the effects of
      physical activity in chronic pain patients and healthy subjects with respect to
      the different contexts of activities of daily living. Empirical evidence suggests
      that physical activity might have health-promoting or even pain-provoking
      effects, depending on the amount and intensity. In particular, a temporary
      exacerbation of symptoms after an exercise intervention could pose a serious
      problem concerning patient adherence to treatment. Studies investigating the
      influence of psychosocial risk factors on pain and disability indicate the need
      for more individualized pain management techniques.

PMID- 27628738
TI  - Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Tumor (PEComa) of Pancreas Diagnosed Preoperatively
      by Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration: A Case Report and Review
      of Literature.
AB  - Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas) of the pancreas are extremely rare
      mesenchymal tumors and to our knowledge, only 17 cases have been reported in the
      English literature to date. We report our experience with a new case of primary
      pancreatic PEComa diagnosed preoperatively by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine
      needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) complemented by tissue cell block and
      immunohistochemistry. The patient was a 54-year-old female whose chief complaint
      was intermittent severe right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Computed-tomography
      (CT) imaging revealed a mass between the head and the body of the pancreas. EUS
      FNA smear preparation was obtained but was nondiagnostic. However, examination of
      the tissue cell block showed sheets of epithelioid cells with abundant
      eosinophilic cytoplasm and immunohistochemistry studies revealed positivity for
      both melanocytic (HMB-45 and Melan-A) and smooth muscle markers (actin and
      desmin). A diagnosis of PEComa was made and an uncomplicated middle
      pancreatectomy was performed. Our case and review of the literature demonstrates
      that EUS-FNA complemented with tissue cell block increases cellular yield,
      improved preoperative diagnostic accuracy, and may assist the surgeon in planning
      conservative surgical management. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:59-65. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27628737
TI  - Searching for the most effective thyrotropin (TSH) threshold to rule-out
      autonomously functioning thyroid nodules in iodine deficient regions.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the distribution of thyrotropin (TSH)
      values in patients with autonomously functioning thyroid nodules and to set a TSH
      threshold above which thyroid scintigraphy would be obviated. Four hundred fifty
      one patients were included in the present study. Inclusion criteria were age > 18
      years, TSH levels between 0.40 and 4.0 mIU/L, detection of a single solid or
      predominantly solid thyroid nodule >10 mm in the longest diameter. Thyroid
      ultrasound and thyroid scintigraphy with 99mTc-pertechnetate were performed
      concurrently in all patients. Among 451 enrolled patients, 173 (38 %) had an
      autonomously functioning thyroid nodules, of which 137 (79 %) with a normal TSH
      level. Demographic data and nodules' volume were not significantly different in
      patients with autonomously functioning thyroid nodules and non-functioning
      nodules, respectively. However, TSH levels were nonetheless significantly lower
      in patients with autonomously functioning thyroid nodules compared to those with
      non-functioning nodules (p < 0.001). Adopting a TSH cutoff level at 2.38 mUI/L,
      all autonomously functioning thyroid nodules were correctly identified (i.e., 100
      % sensitivity) with a 100 % negative predictive value. Our study showed a very
      high prevalence of autonomously functioning thyroid nodules in mildly iodine
      deficient regions and confirmed that serum TSH is not an effective screening test
      to diagnose an autonomously functioning thyroid nodules. Our data add arguments
      in favor of the first-line use of thyroid scintigraphy to assess thyroid nodules,
      at least in iodine deficient areas. As all scintigraphically detected
      autonomously functioning thyroid nodules had a TSH level below 2.38 mUI/L, a
      thyroid scintigraphy should be omitted when higher TSH values are found in
      patients carrying a thyroid nodule.

PMID- 27628739
TI  - Metrics should be a complement in research, not a substitute for human judgment.

PMID- 27628740
TI  - Technical variables of ACL surgical reconstruction: effect on post-operative
      static laxity and clinical implication.
AB  - PURPOSE: The hypothesis was that an alteration of different surgical variables of
      ACL reconstruction would produce significant changes in post-operative static
      laxity of knee joint. METHODS: Joint laxity was acquired by a surgical navigation
      system for 17 patients just after graft fixation during single-bundle
      reconstruction with extra-articular lateral tenodesis. The analysed laxity
      parameters were: internal/external rotation at 30 degrees  (IE30) and 90 degrees 
      (IE90) of flexion, varus/valgus rotation at 0 degrees  (VV0) and 30 degrees 
      (VV30) of flexion and anterior/posterior displacement at 30 degrees  (AP30) and
      90 degrees  (AP90) of flexion. As surgical variables, the angles between the
      tibial tunnel and the three planes were defined as well as the lengths of the
      tunnel and the relationship between native footprints and tunnels. The same
      analysis was performed for the femoral side. All surgical variables were combined
      in a multivariate analysis to assess for predictive factors between them and post
      operative laxities values. To quantify the performance of each multivariate
      model, the correlation ratio (eta 2) and the corresponding P value (*P < 0.050)
      have been evaluated. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis underlined statistically
      significant models for the estimation of: AP30 (eta 2 = 0.987; P = 0.014), IE30
      (eta 2 = 0.995; P = 0.005), IE90 (eta 2 = 0.568; P = 0.010), VV0 (eta 2 = 0.932;
      P = 0.003). The parameters that greatly affected the identified models were the
      orientation of the tibial tunnel with respect to the three anatomical planes. The
      estimation of AP30, IE30 and IE90 got lower value as the orientation of the
      tibial tunnel with respect to transverse plane decreases. Considering the
      orientation to sagittal ([Formula: see text]) and coronal ([Formula: see text])
      plane, we found that their reduction provoked a decrease in the estimation of
      AP30, IE30 and IE90 (except [Formula: see text] that did not appear in the
      estimation of AP30). The estimation of VV0 got an increase of [Formula: see
      text], and [Formula: see text] which led to a laxity reduction. CONCLUSION: The
      main finding of the present in vivo study was the possibility to determine
      significant effects on post-operative static laxity level of different surgical
      variables of ACL reconstruction. In particular, the present study defined the
      conditions that minimize the different aspects of post-operative laxity at time
      zero after surgery.

PMID- 27628741
TI  - The First Siphoviridae Family Bacteriophages Infecting Bordetella bronchiseptica
      Isolated from Environment.
AB  - Bordetella bronchiseptica is a well-known etiological agent of kennel cough in
      dogs and cats and one of the two causative agents of atrophic rhinitis, a serious
      swine disease. The aim of the study was to isolate B. bronchiseptica
      bacteriophages from environmental samples for the first time. A total of 29
      phages from 65 water samples were isolated using the strain ATCC 10580 as a host.
      The lytic spectra of the phages were examined at 25 and 37  degrees C, using 12
      strains of B. bronchiseptica. All phages were able to plaque on 25.0 % to 41.7 %
      of the strains. The selected phages showed similar morphology (Siphoviridae,
      morphotype B2), but variation of RFLP patterns and efficacy of plating on various
      strains. The partial genome sequence of phage vB_BbrS_CN1 showed its similarity
      to phages from genus Yuavirus. Using PCR, it was confirmed that the phages do not
      originate from the host strain, and environmental origin was additionally
      confirmed by the analysis of host genome sequence in silico and plating heated
      and unheated samples in parallel. Accordingly, this is the first isolation of B.
      bronchiseptica phages from environment and the first isolation and
      characterization of phages of B. bronchiseptica belonging to family Siphoviridae.

PMID- 27628742
TI  - Parenting as a Mechanism of Change in Psychosocial Treatment for Youth with ADHD,
      Predominantly Inattentive Presentation.
AB  - We investigated whether parenting and child behavior improve following
      psychosocial treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,
      Predominantly Inattentive Presentation (ADHD-I) and whether parenting
      improvements mediate child outcomes. We analyzed data from a randomized clinical
      trial investigating the efficacy of a multicomponent psychosocial intervention
      (Child Life and Attention Skills, CLAS, n = 74) in comparison to Parent-Focused
      Treatment (PFT, n = 74) and treatment as usual (TAU, n = 51) for youth with ADHD
      I (average child age = 8.6 years, range 7-11 years, 58 % boys). Child and
      parent/family functioning were assessed prior to treatment, immediately following
      treatment, and at follow-up into the subsequent school year using parent and
      teacher reports of inattention, organization, social skills, academic competency
      (teachers only), parenting daily hassles, and positive and negative parenting
      behaviors (parents only). Both treatment groups improved on negative parenting
      and home impairment, but only CLAS families also improved on positive parenting
      as well as academic impairment. Improvements in positive and negative parenting
      mediated treatment effects on child impairment independent of improvements in
      child inattention, implicating parenting as an important mechanism of change in
      psychosocial treatment for ADHD-I. Further, whereas parent-focused training
      produces improvements in negative parenting and impairment at home for children
      with ADHD-I, a multicomponent approach (incorporating child skills training and
      teacher consultation) more consistently produces improvements at school and in
      positive parenting, which may contribute to improvements in social skills into
      the next school year.

PMID- 27628743
TI  - Cinematic rendering - an alternative to volume rendering for 3D computed
      tomography imaging.
AB  - : Volume rendering (VR) represents today's standard three-dimensional (3-D) image
      post-processing technique, and often is used to visualize complex anatomical
      information. Recently, a novel 3-D technique for post-processing of computed
      tomography (CT) image data has been introduced, which is called cinematic
      rendering (CR). The objective of this review is to illustrate the image
      appearance and potential value of CR in comparison with conventional VR in a
      number of various applications and different anatomical regions. Similar to VR,
      CR best visualizes high density and high contrast structures such as bones and
      contrast-enhanced vessels, but at the same time provides a more natural and photo
      realistic illumination of the rendered data. Further research will be necessary
      for determining possible advantages of CR over conventional VR and over two
      dimensional (2-D) image post-processing for CT image data. TEACHING POINTS: *
      Cinematic rendering is a novel post-processing technique for 3D visualization of
      CT image data. * Compared to volume rendering, CR results in a more photo
      realistic representation of anatomy. * Similar to volume rendering, CR provides
      best image quality of high density structures.

PMID- 27628744
TI  - Secretin-stimulated MR cholangiopancreatography: spectrum of findings in
      pancreatic diseases.
AB  - : MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is an imaging technique that has evolved
      over the past 2 decades and that continues to have a fundamental role in the non
      invasive detection of morphologic features of the pancreatic ducts. In several
      studies, MRCP has shown a good correlation with endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography in the evaluation of diseases and anatomic variants of
      the pancreatic ductal system. However, in physiologic conditions the pancreatic
      ducts are not always easily recognisable. More recently, secretin-enhanced MRCP
      protocols have been developed for a more complete assessment of pancreatic ducts
      and glandular function, including monitoring of pancreatic flow dynamics and
      duodenal filling after pancreatic hormonal stimulation with secretin. The
      injection of this hormone causes temporary dilation of the pancreatic ducts,
      principally by increasing pancreatic exocrine secretions, and thus improving MRCP
      detection of the ducts and characterisation of pancreatic disorders and allowing
      the assessment of the exocrine pancreatic reserve. The purpose of this pictorial
      review is to summarise the technical aspects of secretin-stimulated MRCP, to
      report the secretin-stimulated MRCP findings of pancreatic duct abnormalities and
      to review the diagnostic capabilities of secretin-stimulated MRCP in various
      pancreatic ductal system conditions. MAIN MESSAGES: * MRCP has a fundamental role
      in the non-invasive detection of pancreatic ducts. * In physiologic conditions
      pancreatic ducts are not always well detected on MRCP. * Secretin injection
      causes temporary dilation of pancreatic ducts and thus improves MRCP detection. *
      Secretin-stimulated MRCP may allow the assessment of the exocrine pancreatic
      reserve. * Secretin increases the diagnostic capabilities of MRCP for evaluating
      pancreatic disorders.

PMID- 27628745
TI  - Recent Progress in Mutation-driven Therapy, Immunotherapy and Combination Therapy
      for the Treatment of Melanoma.
AB  - With increases in our understanding of the human genome and immune system, the
      treatment armamentarium for melanoma has benefitted from the development and
      approval of BRAF inhibitors, MEK inhibitors, immune checkpoint modulators via
      cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 blockade, and PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors. These
      advances, however, have raised questions about combination therapy, the optimal
      sequential use of these agents, the limited assessment of response using
      traditional metrics, and the optimal selection of the population to be treated.
      In this review we summarize recent breakthroughs and then itemize the development
      of newer agents, potential prognostic and predictive biomarkers, resistance
      mechanisms, and strategies of combination therapy. We also emphasize the
      multifaceted attributes of immunotherapy in terms of durable responses and
      longterm survival that paradoxically necessitate further research into the
      underlying mechanisms and longer patient follow-up.

PMID- 27628746
TI  - The electron donating capacity of biochar is dramatically underestimated.
AB  - Biochars have gathered considerable interest for agronomic and engineering
      applications. In addition to their high sorption ability, biochars have been
      shown to accept or donate considerable amounts of electrons to/from their
      environment via abiotic or microbial processes. Here, we measured the electron
      accepting (EAC) and electron donating (EDC) capacities of wood-based biochars
      pyrolyzed at three different highest treatment temperatures (HTTs: 400, 500, 600 
      degrees C) via hydrodynamic electrochemical techniques using a rotating disc
      electrode. EACs and EDCs varied with HTT in accordance with a previous report
      with a maximal EAC at 500  degrees C (0.4 mmol(e(-)).gchar(-1)) and a large
      decrease of EDC with HTT. However, while we monitored similar EAC values than in
      the preceding study, we show that the EDCs have been underestimated by at least 1
      order of magnitude, up to 7 mmol(e(-)).gchar(-1) for a HTT of 400  degrees C. We
      attribute this existing underestimation to unnoticed slow kinetics of electron
      transfer from biochars to the dissolved redox mediators used in the monitoring.
      The EDC of other soil organic constituents such as humic substances may also have
      been underestimated. These results imply that the redox properties of biochars
      may have a much bigger impact on soil biogeochemical processes than previously
      conjectured.

PMID- 27628748
TI  - Vestibular neuromodulation: stimulating the neural crossroads of psychiatric
      illness.

PMID- 27628747
TI  - Methane storage in nanoporous material at supercritical temperature over a wide
      range of pressures.
AB  - The methane storage behavior in nanoporous material is significantly different
      from that of a bulk phase, and has a fundamental role in methane extraction from
      shale and its storage for vehicular applications. Here we show that the behavior
      and mechanisms of the methane storage are mainly dominated by the ratio of the
      interaction between methane molecules and nanopores walls to the methane
      intermolecular interaction, and a geometric constraint. By linking the
      macroscopic properties of the methane storage to the microscopic properties of a
      system of methane molecules-nanopores walls, we develop an equation of state for
      methane at supercritical temperature over a wide range of pressures. Molecular
      dynamic simulation data demonstrates that this equation is able to relate very
      well the methane storage behavior with each of the key physical parameters,
      including a pore size and shape and wall chemistry and roughness. Moreover, this
      equation only requires one fitted parameter, and is simple, reliable and powerful
      in application.

PMID- 27628749
TI  - Elucidating the Molecular Processes for Creating Large or Bimodal Soft
      Nanoparticles from Block Copolymers via Blending.
AB  - By simply blending two diblock copolymers with the same chemistry but with
      different compositions one is able to create well-defined larger soft 
      nanoparticles as well as bimodal soft nanoparticles. Specifically, blending two
      diblock copolymers in a solvent good for both blocks followed by a gradual
      introduction of a non-solvent results in a mixed micelle, larger than their pure
      block-copolymer-forming micelles. The formation of well-defined larger micelle is
      due to the balance between the ability of the mixed micelles to assemble or merge
      in comparison to their pure diblock copolymer micelles. Evidently, the blending
      ratio, the mixing protocol, and non-solvent addition rate are crucial to
      achieving well-defined larger or bimodal micelles.

PMID- 27628750
TI  - Closure of a full-thickness macular hole without vitrectomy in choroideraemia.

PMID- 27628751
TI  - Photokinesis and Djopsin gene expression analysis during the regeneration of
      planarian eyes.
AB  - Planarians provide the ideal model for studying eye development, with their
      simple eye structure and exceptionally rapid regeneration. Here, we observed the
      eye morphogenesis, photophobic behavior, spectral sensitivity and expression
      pattern of Djopsin in the freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica. The results
      showed that: (i) Djopsin encoding the putative protein belonged to the
      rhabdomeric opsins group and displayed high conservation during animal evolution;
      (ii) planarians displayed diverse photophobic response to different visible
      wavelengths and were more sensitive to light blue (495 nm) and yellow (635 nm);
      (iii) the morphogenesis and functional recovery of eyes were related to the
      expression pattern of Djopsin during head regeneration; and (iv) Djopsin gene
      plays a major role in functional recovery during eye regeneration and visual
      system maintenance in adult planarians.

PMID- 27628752
TI  - Hospital versus individual surgeon's performance in laparoscopic hysterectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare hospital versus individual surgeon's perioperative outcomes
      for laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH), and to assess the relationship between
      surgeon experience and perioperative outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      of all prospective collected LHs performed from 2003 to 2010 at one medical
      center was performed. Perioperative outcomes (operative time, blood loss,
      complication rate) were assessed on both a hospital level and surgeon level using
      Cumulative Observed minus Expected performance graphs. RESULTS: A total of 1618
      LHs were performed, 16 % total laparoscopic hysterectomies and 84 % laparoscopic
      supracervical hysterectomies. Overall outcomes included mean (SD+/-) blood loss
      108.9 +/- 69.2 mL, mean operative time 95.4 +/- 39.7 min and a complication
      occurred in 76 (4.7 %) of cases. Suboptimal perioperative outcomes of an
      individual surgeon were not always detected on a hospital level. However,
      collective suboptimal outcomes were faster detected on a hospital level compared
      to individual surgeon's level. Evidence of a learning curve is seen; for the
      first 100 procedures, a decrease in operative time is observed as individual
      surgeon experience increases. Similarly, the risk of conversion decreases up to
      the first 50 procedures. CONCLUSION: An individual outlier (i.e., surgeon with
      consistently suboptimal performance) will not always be detected when monitoring
      outcome measures only on a hospital level. However, monitoring outcome measures
      on a hospital level will detect suboptimal performance earlier compared to
      monitoring only on an individual surgeon's level. To detect performance outliers
      timely, insight into an individual surgeon's outcome and skills is recommended.
      Furthermore, an experienced surgeon is no guarantee for acceptable surgical
      outcomes.

PMID- 27628753
TI  - Regulation of apoptotic pathways during endometriosis: from the molecular basis
      to the future perspectives.
AB  - PURPOSE: Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial-like endometrial
      cells, glands and stroma outside the uterus, causing a strong inflammatory-like
      microenvironment in the affected tissue. This may provoke a breakdown in the
      peritoneal cavity homeostasis, with the consequent processes of immune
      alteration, documented by peripheral mononuclear cells recruitment and secretion
      of inflammatory cytokines in early phases and of angiogenic and fibrogenic
      cytokines in the late stages of the disease. Considering the pivotal role of
      interaction between immune and endometriotic cells, in this paper, we aim to shed
      light about the role of apoptosis pathways in modulating the fine-regulated
      peritoneal microenvironment during endometriosis. METHODS: Narrative overview,
      synthesizing the findings of literature retrieved from searches of computerized
      databases. RESULTS: In normal conditions, endometriotic cells, refluxed through
      the fallopian tubes into the peritoneal cavity, should be attacked and removed by
      phagocytes and NK cells. During endometriosis, the breakdown of peritoneal
      homeostasis causes the failure of scavenging mechanisms, allowing the survival of
      endometriotic cells. The consequent so-called "immunoescaping" of endometriotic
      cells could be due, at least in part, to the reduction of apoptotic-mediated
      pathways previously described. CONCLUSION: Considering the large amount of
      evidence retrieved from in vitro as well as in vivo models, the reduced apoptosis
      of endometriotic cells together with the increased apoptosis of peritoneal fluid
      mononuclear cells may address the peritoneal homeostasis to a permissive
      environment for the progression of the disease.

PMID- 27628755
TI  - Reply to Nemeth et al. "The ERIKA trial: still limited evidence on the efficacy
      of thromboprophylaxis after knee arthroscopy".

PMID- 27628754
TI  - Novel embryo selection techniques to increase embryo implantation in IVF
      attempts.
AB  - PURPOSE: The final success of an IVF attempt depends on several steps and
      decisions taken during the ovarian stimulation, the oocyte retrieval, the embryo
      culture and the embryo transfer. The final selection of the embryos most likely
      to implant is the final step in this process and the responsibility of the lab.
      Apart from strict morphologic criteria that historically have been used in embryo
      selection, additional information on genetic, metabolomic and morphokinetic
      characteristics of the embryo is recently combined to morphology to select the
      embryo most likely to produce a pregnancy. In this manuscript, we review the most
      recent information on the current methods used for embryo selection presenting
      the predictive capability of each one. METHODS: A literature search was performed
      on Pubmed, Medline and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for published
      studies using appropriate key words and phrases with no limits placed on time.
      RESULTS: It seems that the combination of morphologic criteria in conjunction to
      embryo kinetics as documented by time-lapse technology provides the most reliable
      information on embryo quality. Blastocyst biopsy with subsequent comprehensive
      chromosome analysis allows the selection of the euploid embryos with the higher
      implantation potential. CONCLUSION: Embryo time-lapse imaging and blastocyst
      biopsy combined to comprehensive chromosome analysis are the most promising
      technologies to increase pregnancy rates and reduce the possibility of multiple
      pregnancies. However, further studies will demonstrate the capability of
      routinely using these technologies to significantly improve IVF outcomes.

PMID- 27628756
TI  - NHC-CAAC Heterodimers with Three Stable Oxidation States.
AB  - The synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbene
      (CAAC) heterodimers is presented. As the free carbenes do not react together in
      solution, the synthetic approach involves the addition of a free NHC to a cyclic
      iminium salt, which results in the formation of the protonated heterodimer.
      Subsequent deprotonation leads to the isolation of the corresponding mixed
      Wanzlick dimers. One- and two-electron oxidations of these triazaolefins result
      in the formation of stable cationic radicals and bis(cations), respectively,
      which have been isolated and fully characterized. Cyclic voltammetry, UV/Vis
      spectroscopy, spin density, and DFT calculations suggest that these heterodimers
      feature complementary electronic properties to tetrathiafulvalenes (TTFs).

PMID- 27628757
TI  - Quantification of isoflavones in coffee by using solid phase extraction (SPE) and
      high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).
AB  - A new method for extracting isoflavones from espresso coffee (EC) was coupled
      with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for
      the first time to analyse five isoflavones, which included both a glycosilated
      form, genistin and the aglycons daidzein, genistein, formononetin and biochanin
      A. Isoflavones were extracted from coffee samples using methanol, stored in a
      freezer overnight to precipitate proteic or lipidic residues and purified on SPE
      C18 cartridges before high-performance liquid chromatography-MS/MS analysis. The
      recovery percentages obtained by spiking the matrix at concentrations of 10 and
      100 ug l(-1) with a standard mixture of isoflavones were in the range of 70 to
      104%. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were in the range of
      0.015-0.3 ug l(-1) and 0.05-1 ug l(-1) , respectively. Once validated, the method
      was used to analyze the concentrations of isoflavones in six ECs and ten ground
      coffee samples. Only formononetin and biochanin A were found, and their
      respective concentrations ranged from 0.36 to 0.41 ug l(-1) and from 0.58 to 3.26
      ug l(-1) in ECs and from 0.36 to 4.27 ug kg(-1) and from 0.71 to 3.95 ug kg(-1)
      in ground coffees. This method confirms the high specificity and selectivity of
      MS/MS systems for detecting bioactives in complex matrices such as
      coffee.Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 

PMID- 27628758
TI  - Rapid non-invasive quality control of semi-finished products for the food
      industry by direct injection mass spectrometry headspace analysis: the case of
      milk powder, whey powder and anhydrous milk fat.
AB  - In this study, we demonstrated the suitability of direct injection mass
      spectrometry headspace analysis for rapid non-invasive quality control of semi
      finished dairy ingredients, such as skim milk powder (SMP), whole milk powder
      (WMP), whey powder (WP) and anhydrous milk fat (AMF), which are widely used as
      ingredients in the food industry. In this work, for the first time, we applied
      proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) with a time-of-flight (ToF)
      analyzer for the rapid and non-invasive analysis of volatile compounds in
      different samples of SMP, WMP, WP and AMF. We selected different dairy
      ingredients in various concrete situations (e.g. same producer and different
      expiration times, different producers and same days of storage, different
      producers) based on their sensory evaluation. PTR-ToF-MS allowed the separation
      and characterization of different samples based on the volatile organic compound
      (VOC) profiles. Statistically significant differences in VOC content were
      generally coherent with differences in sensory evaluation, particularly for SMP,
      WMP and WP. The good separation of SMP samples from WMP samples suggested the
      possible application of PTR-ToF-MS to detect possible cases of adulteration of
      dairy ingredients for the food industry. Our findings demonstrate the efficient
      and rapid differentiation of dairy ingredients on the basis of the released VOCs
      via PTR-ToF-MS analysis and suggest this method as a versatile tool (1) for the
      facilitation/optimization of the selection of dairy ingredients in the food
      industry and (2) and for the prompt innovation in the production of dairy
      ingredients. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 

PMID- 27628760
TI  - Provider Response to QTc Prolongation on Standard 12-Lead EKG: Do We Notice or Do
      We Care?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drugs and electrolyte imbalances are widely recognized as common
      triggers of a prolonged QT interval. We conducted a chart review to assess
      provider response to prolonged QT reported on a standard 12-lead
      electrocardiogram (EKG). METHODS: We identified all Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh
      Healthcare System patients in a 6-month period with an EKG reporting a corrected
      QT (QTc) >500 ms. We excluded confounding or uninterpretable EKGs. Charts were
      reviewed to assess medications and electrolytes at the time of the EKG as well as
      the setting (inpatient vs outpatient) in which the EKG was obtained. Provider
      documentation of QTc and any corrective measures were sought. RESULTS: After
      exclusions, 106 patients were included in this analysis (87 [82%] inpatient and
      19 [18%] outpatient). Most were male (101, 95%) with a mean age of 63.5 +/- 10.6
      years. At the time of index EKG, most patients were receiving at least one (72,
      68%), and frequently two or more (35, 33%), QTc prolonging medications. Providers
      documented QTc prolongation in 20 inpatients (19%). Drugs were adjusted or
      discontinued in only two inpatients (2%). There were 14 patients (14%) with
      potassium level <3.6 mmol/L and 10 of 69 (14%) patients had a magnesium level
      <1.7 mg/dL. CONCLUSION: Patients with prolonged QTc on EKG were more likely to be
      inpatients than outpatients. Inpatients were more likely to be receiving multiple
      types and classes of QTc prolonging medications. In the vast majority of cases,
      providers did not address the prolonged QTc and only rarely initiated remedial
      actions.

PMID- 27628761
TI  - Genetic associations between milk fat-to-protein ratio, milk production and
      fertility in the first two lactations of Thai Holsteins dairy cattle.
AB  - The aims of this study were to estimate, simultaneously, the genetic parameters
      of test-day milk fat-to-protein ratio (FPR), test-day milk yield (MY), and days
      open (DO) in the first two lactations of Thai Holsteins. A total of 76 194 test
      day production records collected from 8874 cows with 8674 DO records between 2001
      and 2011 from different lactations were treated as separated traits. The
      estimates of heritability for test-day FPR in the first lactation showed an
      increasing trend, whereas the estimates in the second lactation showed a U-shape
      trend. Genetic correlations for FPR-DO and MY-DO showed a decreasing trend along
      days in milk (DIM) in both lactations, whereas genetic correlations for FPR-MY
      increased along DIM in the first lactation but decreased in the second lactation.
      Genetic correlations of FPR between consecutive DIM were moderate to high, which
      showed the effectiveness of simultaneous analyses. Selection of FPR in the early
      stage has no adverse effect on MY and DO for the first lactation but has a
      negative effect on MY and positive effect on DO for the second lactation. This
      study showed that genetic improvement of the energy balance using FPR, MY and DO
      with multi-trait test day model could be applied in a Thailand dairy cattle
      breeding program.

PMID- 27628759
TI  - Transcriptional Dynamics at Brain Enhancers: from Functional Specialization to
      Neurodegeneration.
AB  - Over the last decade, the noncoding part of the genome has been shown to harbour
      thousands of cis-regulatory elements, such as enhancers, that activate well
      defined gene expression programs. Driven by the development of numerous
      techniques, many of these elements are now identified in multiple tissues and
      cell types, and their characteristics as well as importance in development and
      disease are becoming increasingly clear. Here, we provide an overview of the
      insights that were gained from the analysis of noncoding gene regulatory elements
      in the brain and describe their potential contribution to cell type
      specialization, brain function and neurodegenerative disease.

PMID- 27628763
TI  - Warfarin use and prostate cancer risk in the Finnish Randomized Study of
      Screening for Prostate Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Anticoagulants, especially vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) such as
      warfarin, have been hypothesized to have antitumor properties, and use of VKAs
      has been associated with a lower prostate cancer (PCa) risk. This study estimated
      PCa risk among users of warfarin and other anticoagulants. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      All anticoagulant use among 78,615 men during 1995-2009 was analyzed. Cox
      regression, adjusted for age, screening trial arm and use of other medications,
      with medication use as a time-dependent variable, was used to estimate PCa risk
      overall, and by tumor grade and stage. RESULTS: In total, 6537 men were diagnosed
      with PCa during 1995-2009 (1210 among warfarin users). Compared to non-users,
      warfarin use was associated with an increased risk of PCa [multivariable-adjusted
      hazard ratio (HR) = 1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.22]. This was
      limited to short-term, low-dose use, and was not observed in long-term use. A
      similar overall risk increase was observed for Gleason grade 7-10 PCa. Low-dose,
      short-term use of warfarin was associated with an increased risk of metastatic
      PCa. However, the increase in risk vanished with continued use. Compared to other
      anticoagulants, low-dose use of warfarin was associated with a slightly elevated
      overall PCa risk (HR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.00-1.43). The increase in risk disappeared
      in long-term, high-dose use. CONCLUSIONS: This study, which included a larger
      number of PCa cases with warfarin exposure than previous studies, does not
      support previous notions of decreased risk of PCa among warfarin users. A similar
      risk of PCa was found among warfarin users and the general population, and no
      difference in risk was found between warfarin and other anticoagulants.

PMID- 27628764
TI  - Scalp nevus depigmentosus with dermoscopy-detectable diverse hair colour.

PMID- 27628762
TI  - [Modified PemberSal osteotomy technique with lyophilized human allograft].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: PemberSal osteotomy to improve femoral head coverage by rotating the
      acetabular roof ventrally and laterally. INDICATIONS: Insufficient coverage of
      the femoral head, and can be combined with other surgical procedures such as
      femoral intertrochanteric varus-derotation osteotomy and open reduction for
      developmental dysplasia and dislocation of the hip or to improve sphericity and
      containment in Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. This specific acetabuloplasty can only
      be performed in patients with an open epiphyseal growth-plate. CONTRAINDICATIONS:
      Increased bleeding tendency (e.g., inherited or iatrogenic); elevated anesthetic
      risk such as in cerebral palsy, arthrogryposis multiplex congenital, trisomies;
      syndromes require explicit interdisciplinary clarification to reduce
      perioperative risks; infections as in other elective surgeries;
      diseases/deformities making postoperative spica casting impossible or impractical
      (e.g., deformities of spinal cord or urogenital system, hernias requiring
      treatment); closed epiphyseal plate requires complex three-dimensional
      corrections of the acetabular roof (e.g., triple/periacetabular osteotomy).
      SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Osteotomy from the iliac bone to the posterior ilioischial
      arm of the epiphyseal growth-plate cartilage; controlled fracture of the
      cancellous bone without breaking the medial cortex of the iliac bone for
      ventrocaudal rotation of the acetabular roof. To refill and stabilize the
      osteotomy site, an allogenic bone-wedge is interponated and secured by a
      resorbable screw or kirschner wire. This method also allows more complex
      reconstructions of the acetabular roof, e.g., by including the pseudo-cup in a
      modified Rejholec technique. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: A spica cast is applied to
      immobilize the hip for 6 weeks. Afterwards physiotherapy can be performed under
      weight-bearing as tolerated. Radiographic check-ups every 6 months.

PMID- 27628765
TI  - Multiple insecticide resistance in the major malaria vector Anopheles funestus in
      southern Ghana: implications for malaria control.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Understanding the dynamics of insecticide resistance in African
      malaria vectors is crucial for successful implementation of resistance management
      strategies in the continent. This study reports a high and multiple insecticide
      resistance in Anopheles funestus from southern Ghana which could compromise the
      Malaria Operational Plan in this country, if not tackled. Adult Anopheles
      mosquitoes were collected in Obuasi and Adawukwa, in southern Ghana. Plasmodium
      infection rates, susceptibility to the main insecticides used in public health
      and the molecular basis of insecticide resistance were established. RESULTS: An.
      funestus (sensu stricto) (s.s.) was the predominant mosquito species found
      resting inside the houses in Obuasi, while at Adawukwa it was found together with
      An. coluzzii. Parasite rates were high in An. funestus (s.s.) populations from
      both localities, with Plasmodium infection rates greater than 12.5 %. Both, An.
      funestus (s.s.) and An. coluzzii, from the two sites exhibited high resistance to
      the insecticide from various classes including the pyrethroids, carbamates and
      DDT, but remained fully susceptible to the organophosphates. A preliminary
      characterization of the underlying molecular mechanisms of resistance in An.
      funestus (s.s.) populations from both sites revealed that CYP6P9a, CYP6P9b,
      CYP6M7 and GSTe2 genes are upregulated, markedly higher in Obuasi (between 3.35
      and 1.83 times) than in Adawukwa population. The frequency of L119F-GSTe2 and
      A296S-RDL resistance markers were also higher in Obuasi (42.5 and 68.95 %
      higher), compared with An. funestus (s.s.) populations from Adawukwa. These
      findings suggest that the similar resistance pattern observed in both An.
      funestus (s.s.) populations are driven by different mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS:
      Resistance to multiple insecticides in public health use is present in malaria
      vectors from Ghana with major resistance genes already operating in the field.
      This should be taken into consideration in the design of resistance management
      strategies to avoid operational failure.

PMID- 27628767
TI  - Degradation products of profenofos as identified by high-field FTICR mass
      spectrometry: Isotopic fine structure approach.
AB  - This study was performed to identify the degradation products of profenofos "a
      phenyl organothiophosphate insecticide" in raw water (RW) collected from the
      entry point of Metropolitan Water Works Authority "Bangkaen, Thailand" and
      ultrapure water (UPW) with and without TiO2 under simulated sunlight irradiation.
      Degradation of profenofos was followed with ultrahigh performance liquid
      chromatography (UHPLC) and follows pseudo first-order kinetic. Accordingly, high
      field FTICR mass spectrometry coupled to an electrospray ionization source was
      used to reveal the degradation routes of profenofos and the isotopic fine
      structures (IFS) elucidations to approve the chemical structures of its
      degradation products. More degradation products were detected in UPW as compared
      to RW. Consequently, two main degradation pathways namely (i) interactive
      replacements of bromine and hydrogen by hydroxyl functional groups and (ii)
      rupture of PO, PS, CBr and CCl bonds were observed. None interactive replacement
      of chlorine by hydroxyl functional group was detected. Accordingly, mechanistical
      pathways of the main degradation products were established.

PMID- 27628769
TI  - The Golden Age of parasitology-1875-1925: the Scottish contributions.
AB  - The period 1875-1925 was remarkable in the history of parasitology partly because
      of the number of significant discoveries made, especially the elucidation of
      important life cycles, and partly because of the achievements of the clinicians
      and scientists who made these discoveries. What is remarkable is that so many of
      these individuals were Scots. Preeminent in this pantheon was Patrick Manson, who
      not only discovered the mosquito transmission of filarial worms but was
      instrumental in directly encouraging others to make significant discoveries in
      the fields of malaria, Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis), onchocerciasis,
      loiasis and schistosomiasis and, indirectly, sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis.
      This chapter describes and discusses the contributions made by Douglas Argyll
      Robertson, Donald Blacklock, David Bruce, David Cunningham, Robert Leiper,
      William Leishman, George Low, Patrick Manson, Muriel Robertson and Ronald Ross
      together with short biographical notes.

PMID- 27628766
TI  - IRAKM-Mincle axis links cell death to inflammation: Pathophysiological
      implications for chronic alcoholic liver disease.
AB  - : Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in
      hepatic macrophages and injury to hepatocytes are major contributors to the
      pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease. However, the mechanisms by which TLR
      dependent inflammatory responses and alcohol-induced hepatocellular damage
      coordinately lead to alcoholic liver disease are not completely understood. In
      this study, we found that mice deficient in interleukin-1 receptor-associated
      kinase M (IRAKM), a proximal TLR pathway molecule typically associated with
      inhibition of TLR signaling, were actually protected from chronic ethanol-induced
      liver injury. In bone marrow-derived macrophages challenged with low
      concentrations of LPS, which reflect the relevant pathophysiological levels of
      LPS in both alcoholic patients and ethanol-fed mice, the IRAKM Myddosome was
      preferentially formed. Further, the IRAKM Myddosome mediated the up-regulation of
      Mincle, a sensor for cell death. Mincle-deficient mice were also protected from
      ethanol-induced liver injury. The endogenous Mincle ligand spliceosome-associated
      protein 130 (SAP130) is a danger signal released by damaged cells; culture of
      hepatocytes with ethanol increased the release of SAP130. Ex vivo studies in bone
      marrow-derived macrophages suggested that SAP130 and LPS synergistically
      activated inflammatory responses, including inflammasome activation. CONCLUSION:
      This study reveals a novel IRAKM-Mincle axis that contributes to the pathogenesis
      of ethanol-induced liver injury. (Hepatology 2016;64:1978-1993).

PMID- 27628770
TI  - Factors associated with delivery at or after 28 weeks gestation in women with
      bulging fetal membranes before 26 weeks gestation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the factors that contribute to prolonged pregnancy and
      promote neonate survival in women with bulging fetal membranes. METHODS: A
      database was reviewed to identify women with singleton pregnancies who underwent
      amniocentesis on admission to determine amniotic fluid neutrophil elastase levels
      before 26 + 0 weeks gestation between July 2001 and January 2015. Following
      delivery, the placentas of these patients were examined for histologic
      chorioamnionitis. RESULTS: Ninety-seven women delivered before 28 weeks
      gestation, and 117 women delivered at or after 28 weeks gestation. Rescue
      cerclage performed via the McDonald procedure (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 3.78;
      95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35-11.80) was associated with a higher likelihood
      of reaching at least 28 weeks gestation before delivery, whereas protruding
      membranes (aOR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.18-0.78), elevated amniotic neutrophil elastase
      levels (>=0.15 MUg/ml) (aOR, 0.41; 95% CI: 0.20-0.82) and elevated peripheral C
      reactive protein levels (>=0.4 mg/dl) (aOR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.180.65) were
      associated with a significantly reduced likelihood of reaching this gestational
      age before delivery. Among women who underwent rescue cerclage, amniorrhexis was
      associated with a negative prognosis (aOR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.05-0.51). CONCLUSIONS:
      Intra-amniotic inflammation, protrusion of fetal membranes and amniorrhexis are
      factors that may prevent pregnancy prolongation. Rescue cerclage improves
      pregnancy outcomes.

PMID- 27628768
TI  - Core/shell protein-reactive nanogels via a combination of RAFT polymerization and
      vinyl sulfone postmodification.
AB  - AIM: A promising nanogel vaccine platform was expanded toward antigen
      conjugation. MATERIALS & METHODS: Block copolymers containing a reactive ester
      solvophobic block and a PEG-like solvophilic block were synthesized via
      reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization. Following self
      assembly in DMSO, the esters allow for core-crosslinking and hydrophilization by
      amide bond formation with primary amines. Free thiols were accessed at the
      polymer chain ends through aminolysis of the reversible addition-fragmentation
      chain-transfer groups, and into the nanogel core by reactive ester conversion
      with cysteamine. Subsequently, free thiols were converted into vinyl sulfone
      moieties. RESULTS: Despite sterical constraints, nanogel-associated vinyl sulfone
      moieties remained well accessible for cysteins to enforce protein conjugation
      successfully. CONCLUSION: Our present findings provide a next step toward well
      defined vaccine nanoparticles that can co-deliver antigen and a molecular
      adjuvant.

PMID- 27628772
TI  - Use of a bidirectional barbed suture in robot-assisted sacrocolpopexy.
AB  - Abdominal sacrocolpopexy is an effective and durable surgical procedure that is
      conventionally reserved for management of vaginal vault prolapse. With the
      availability of robotic technology in recent years, sacrocolpopexy has become
      more commonly performed in a minimally invasive fashion. Peritoneal closure can
      be a tedious and time-consuming step in robot-assisted sacrocolpopexy. We
      describe a novel technique utilizing a bidirectional barbed suture to re
      approximate the peritoneum in robot-assisted sacrocolpopexy, making the procedure
      more time-efficient. 

PMID- 27628771
TI  - Transoral robotic surgery and a paradigm shift in the management of oropharyngeal
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Efforts to improve upon oncologic results for resectable oropharyngeal carcinoma
      over the past 40 years have yielded many treatment options. However, the two
      fundamental approaches, surgical and nonsurgical, have not been compared in a
      randomized trial. Both approaches can be effective and both can cause treatment
      related swallowing complications. Early experience combining technological
      advancements with conformal radiotherapy and transoral robotic surgery suggests
      that the risk of swallowing complications may be reduced and that treatment
      outcomes may be improved through pathologic stratification and risk-adapted
      adjuvant therapy. This may also be a valid strategy upon which treatment de
      intensification may be studied for human-papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal
      carcinoma due to its favorable prognosis. 

PMID- 27628773
TI  - Safety of robotic general surgery in elderly patients.
AB  - As the life expectancy of people in Western countries continues to rise, so too
      does the number of elderly patients. In parallel, robotic surgery continues to
      gain increasing acceptance, allowing for more complex operations to be performed
      by minimally invasive approach and extending indications for surgery to this
      population. The aim of this study is to assess the safety of robotic general
      surgery in patients 70 years and older. From April 2007 to December 2009,
      patients 70 years and older, who underwent various robotic procedures at our
      institution, were stratified into three categories of surgical complexity (low,
      intermediate, and high). There were 73 patients, including 39 women (53.4%) and
      34 men (46.6%). The median age was 75 years (range 70-88 years). There were 7,
      24, and 42 patients included, respectively, in the low, intermediate, and high
      surgical complexity categories. Approximately 50% of patients underwent hepatic
      and pancreatic resections. There was no statistically significant difference
      between the three groups in terms of morbidity, mortality, readmission or
      transfusion. Mean overall operative time was 254 +/- 133 min (range 15-560 min).
      Perioperative mortality and morbidity was 1.4% and 15.1%, respectively.
      Transfusion rate was 9.6%, and median length of stay was 6 days (range 0-30
      days). Robotic surgery can be performed safely in the elderly population with low
      mortality, acceptable morbidity, and short hospital stay. Age should not be
      considered as a contraindication to robotic surgery even for advanced procedures.

PMID- 27628774
TI  - Robotic extended pyelolithotomy for complete staghorn calculus.
AB  - Staghorn stones represent a therapeutic challenge to urologists. We present our
      experience with laparoscopic extended pyelolithotomy for treatment of staghorn
      and complex renal calculi in highly selected cases. This approach provides the
      principles of open surgery with the advantages of minimally invasive surgery. We
      describe our experience with robot-assisted extended pyelolithotomy for complex
      coralliform calculi. Since January 2007, robotic extended pyelolithotomy has been
      performed by transperitoneal approach in two patients with complete coralliform
      lithiasis (calculi average size 8 cm). One patient had history of percutaneous
      nephrolithotomy. Demographic and operative data were collected. All procedures
      were technically successful without need for open conversion. Mean estimated
      blood loss was 175 ml (range 50-300 ml), and mean operative time was 150 min
      (range 120-150 min). A perinephric drain was employed in one patient with
      duration of 5 days. Postoperative imaging confirmed complete stone clearance.
      Robotic extended pyelolithotomy is a feasible and reproducible procedure for
      removal of complete and partial staghorn calculi in selected patients with
      complex nephrolithiasis. This approach might limit the role of open surgery for
      these calculi, but further publications with more cases are necessary to further
      define its utility. 

PMID- 27628775
TI  - Insight into current surgical techniques and practice patterns associated with
      robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy: a national survey of urologists within
      the USA.
AB  - Robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has been rapidly adopted throughout
      the USA. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevailing RARP operative
      techniques and perceptions within the USA. An anonymous web-based survey was sent
      electronically to a list of 920 robotic urological surgeons. The survey assessed
      surgeon demographics, surgical technique, and postoperative care related to RARP.
      The study was comprised of urologists from community hospitals (76%) and
      university hospitals/specialty centers (24%). All geographic sections of the
      American Urological Association were represented. The most common neurovascular
      preservation techniques were ante/retrograde approach (48%), athermal (22%), and
      preservation of lateral pelvic fascia (17%). Surgeon choice of neurovascular
      preservation technique varied with the average number of procedures performed per
      year (P = 0.0065). High-volume surgeons tended to require a higher number of
      robotic cases in order to go through the learning curve of the "comfortable" (P =
      0.001) and "expert" levels (P < 0.0001). The majority of surgeons reported that
      RARP (as compared with open surgery) improved urinary continence (77.2%), sexual
      function (65.6%), and surgical margin rates (53.8%). RARP is an evolving surgical
      procedure with significant variability in practice patterns among US surgeons.
      Further studies are necessary to compare the various techniques in order to
      improve surgical outcomes. 

PMID- 27628776
TI  - Robotic surgical management of endometrial cancer in octogenarians and
      nonagenarians: analysis of perioperative outcomes and review of the literature.
AB  - The primary aim of this article is to report the outcomes of octogenarians and
      nonagenarians who have undergone robotic surgery for endometrial cancer. A multi
      institutional research consortium was created to evaluate the utility of robotics
      for gynecologic surgery (benign and malignant). IRB approval was obtained at each
      institution. A multi-institutional HIPPA compliant database was then created and
      analyzed for all patients that underwent robotic-assisted surgery with staging
      for endometrial cancer between the April 2003 and January 2009. In total, 395
      patients were identified. A subset of patients between the ages of 80 and 95
      years were then identified and analyzed for demographic data and perioperative
      outcomes. Twenty-seven patients in this age group were identified who underwent
      robotic-assisted hysterectomy and staging. The median age was 84, and median body
      mass index was 28. Comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension were
      identified in 22 and 74% of patients, respectively. Over one-half (56%) of the
      patients reported a prior abdominal surgery. Final pathological analysis
      demonstrated that 88% of all patients had either Stage I or II disease. The
      median operative time was 192 min. The median estimated blood loss was 50 cc, and
      the median lymph node count was 16. The median hospital stay was 1.0 day. The
      overall intraoperative and postoperative complication rate was 7.4 and 33%,
      respectively. No patient received a blood transfusion. There was one conversion
      to laparotomy (3.7%). A comparison of the outcomes of the elderly cohort to those
      of all patients in the database (control group) revealed that there was no
      statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of operative
      time, blood loss, hospital stay, nodal yield, or conversion rate. Intraoperative
      complications were statistically similar between the groups; however,
      postoperative complications were significantly higher in the elderly cohort. We
      conclude that robotic surgery is safe, feasible, and expands surgical options for
      octogenarians and nonagenarians diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Age should not
      be considered a contraindication for robotic surgical management of patients with
      endometrial cancer. 

PMID- 27628777
TI  - Robotically assisted atraumatic coronary artery bypass: a feasible option for off
      pump coronary surgery.
AB  - This retrospective study of the largest single center experience (100 patients)
      with off-pump robotically assisted coronary procedures in the United Kingdom
      (April 2002-June 2008) aimed to rationalize patient selection, describe the
      technique, and determine the learning curve, technical feasibility and operative
      outcome of robotically assisted Atraumatic Coronary Artery Bypass (ACAB).
      Selected patients underwent either a robotic Totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery
      Bypass (12) or robotically assisted ACAB (88) using a standard Da Vinci robot
      with three arms. A fifth of all cases had percutaneous interventions as part of a
      hybrid strategy. The majority of patients were overweight men. After one hundred
      robotic coronary procedures, this operation is now performed as part of a routine
      theatre list. The mean operative and total procedure times for robotically
      assisted atraumatic procedures were 157 and 238 min, respectively. These
      measurements were significantly less in the atraumatic than the totally
      endoscopic group with a 34.3 and 20.6% reduction, respectively (P < 0.001; equal
      variance not assumed). The procedural learning curve was short and independent
      from internal thoracic artery harvesting. We have proven conclusively that
      robotically assisted ACAB is feasible, more so than the totally endoscopic
      procedure in this particular setting. Even in the absence of an ideal stabilizer
      device, this procedure causes minimal disruption to the daily operating room
      schedule. We have also proven that body mass index is a weak predictor of the
      ease of robotic internal thoracic artery harvesting and should not affect patient
      selection. 

PMID- 27628778
TI  - Comparison of outcomes between laparotomy and robotic technique for cervical
      cancer.
AB  - We evaluated the results of patients who had undergone robotic-assisted radical
      hysterectomy or open radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer. The study included
      eight patients who had undergone robotic-assisted radical hysterectomy (group 1)
      and seven patients who had undergone radical hysterectomy (group 2). Demographic
      characteristics and operative results of all patients were compared. Body mass
      index, age, previous abdominal surgery, surgical procedure performed, total
      anesthesia duration, operation duration, intra- and postoperative complications,
      duration of hospital stay, and number of resected lymph nodes were recorded. Mean
      age of patients in the robotic surgery group was 47.8 years (38-56 years) and in
      the laparotomy group was 45.4 years (32-57 years). Body mass index was 33.2 kg/m2
      (24.8-40.2 kg/m2) in group 1 and 27.8 kg/m2 (23.5-33.7 kg/m2) in group 2. Total
      duration of operation in group 1 and 2 was 233 min (185-321 min) and 210.8 min
      (134-310 min), respectively. Mean duration of hospital stay was 3.5 days (2-7
      days) in group 1 and 9.5 days (6-11 days) in group 2. Mean number of resected
      lymph nodes was 23.6 (17-36) and 38.8 (22-59) in group 1 and 2, respectively.
      Robotic surgery was superior to laparotomy in terms of duration of hospital stay,
      estimated amount of blood loss, and number of complications. Operation duration
      was longer with robotic surgery compared with laparotomy, and rate of
      complications was higher with laparotomy. Although the number of patients in the
      present study is limited, the results are important since they represent the
      first data relating to robotic surgery in Turkey. 

PMID- 27628779
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic management of urachal cysts in adults.
AB  - We report two cases where a urachal cyst was managed by robot-assisted
      laparoscopic surgery. A 47-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman presented with
      gross hematuria and lower abdominal pain, respectively. Diagnosis of urachal cyst
      was established by computed tomography imaging. Robot-assisted laparoscopic
      surgery was performed transperitoneally via four ports. Both patients were
      diagnosed as having a urachal cyst with inflammation. Our experience suggests
      that robot-assisted laparoscopic excisions of urachal cysts can be performed
      easily and safely in adults. 

PMID- 27628780
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery for a rudimentary uterine horn with two non
      communicating cavities.
AB  - Due to severe dysmenorrhoea a 29-year-old woman, gravida 2 para 2, was diagnosed
      with a unicornuate uterus and a rare variety of a rudimentary uterine horn
      associated with two separate non-communicating cavities. Increasingly intense
      dysmenorrhoea, refractory to medical treatment, motivated fertility-sparing
      surgical treatment. A da Vinci S-HD robot was side-docked to facilitate
      simultaneous vaginal access during surgery. After sacrificing the left uterine
      artery for hemostatic reasons, the rudimentary horn with one cavity was resected.
      Guided by vaginal ultrasonography we then completely resected the second cavity
      located deep in the myometrium without entering the cavity of the functioning
      hemiuterus. Finally the uterine defect was sutured in two layers. Surgery and
      postoperative course were uneventful. At 4-month follow-up, dysmenorrhoea was
      alleviated, and 3 months later the patient had an early intrauterine pregnancy.
      We believe the precise dissection capabilities of the robot facilitated in
      particular resection of the second, deeply located cavity and its multilayer
      reapproximation by sutures. A video of the procedure is provided. 

PMID- 27628781
TI  - Development of solidified self-microemulsifying delivery systems with enhanced
      stability of sirolimus and extended release.
AB  - The application of sirolimus (SRL) as immunosuppressive agent is hampered by its
      poor water solubility and narrow therapeutic range. The self-microemulsifying
      drug delivery system (SMEDDS) succeeded in improving the solubility of SRL in our
      previous work. In this study, the formulation of the SMEDDS was further optimized
      by investigating the influence of the excipients including the media, antioxidant
      and organic acid. It was demonstrated that addition of 0.20% of citric acid in
      SMEDDS most efficiently promoted the stability of SRL under high temperature
      (40+/-2 degrees C), high humidity (relative humidity 90+/-5%) or strong light
      irradiation (4500+/-500lx). SMEDDS absorbed by microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)
      was mixed with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) to prepare tablets. The
      optimal formulation composed of 15% of HPMC 100 LV with hardness of 120N, which
      had a sustained release of 12h. Results of X-ray powder diffraction and
      differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that SRL in the tablets was in
      amorphous or molecularly dispersed state. The SMEDDS-tablets presented as
      promising substrates for water insoluble drugs with enhanced stability and
      extended release.

PMID- 27628782
TI  - Comparison in toxicity and solubilizing capacity of hydroxypropyl-beta
      cyclodextrin with different degree of substitution.
AB  - Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) has been widely used as an effective
      solubilizing agent in pharmaceutical industry for many years. However, the effect
      of degree of substitution (D.S.) of HP-beta-CD on solubilizing capacity and
      toxicity has not been concerned. In this study, solubilizing capacity of HP-beta
      CDs with three different D.S. (4.55, 6.16 and 7.76) for 16 drugs were measured
      and their toxicities were compared by a 7-day i.v. administration (q.d.) study in
      rats. Generally, HP-beta-CD with high D.S. (7.76) showed weaker solubilizing
      capacity for steroids and BCS class II drugs, but lower hemolytic activity,
      compared with that of HP-beta-CD with low (4.55) or medium (6.16) D.S. HP-beta-CD
      with low D.S. resulted in more changes in hematological and biochemical
      parameters, but the effects were reversible after a 7-day recovery. Moreover, HP
      beta-CD with medium D.S. may have slightly greater nephrotoxicity than the other
      two HP-beta-CDs. HP-beta-CDs with different D.S. had similar urine excretion
      percentage after i.v. administration and none of them was found to affect
      glomerular filtration function of rats. The results suggest that HP-beta-CD with
      low D.S. would be a better choice considering both the solubilizing capacity and
      toxicity. However, comparison in toxicity of HP-beta-CDs with different D.S.
      should be carried out in human in view of its species-dependence property.

PMID- 27628783
TI  - Investigation of the enhanced antimicrobial activity of combination dry powder
      inhaler formulations of lactoferrin.
AB  - The airways of most people with cystic fibrosis are colonized with biofilms of
      the Gram-negative, opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Delivery of
      antibiotics directly to the lung in the form of dry powder aerosols offers the
      potential to achieve high local concentrations directly to the biofilms.
      Unfortunately, current aerosolised antibiotic regimes are unable to efficiently
      eradicate these biofilms from the airways. We investigated the ability of the
      innate antimicrobial, lactoferrin, to enhance the activity of two aminoglycoside
      antibiotics (tobramycin and gentamicin) against biofilms of P. aeruginosa strain
      PAO1. Biofilms were prepared in 96 well polystyrene plates. Combinations of the
      antibiotics and various lactoferrin preparations were spray dried. The bacterial
      cell viability of the various spray dried combinations was determined. Iron-free
      lactoferrin (apo lactoferrin) induced a 3-log reduction in the killing of
      planktonic cell by the aminoglycoside antibiotics (p<0.01) and also reduced both
      the formation and persistence of P. aeruginosa biofilms (p<0.01). Combinations of
      lactoferrin and an aminoglycoside displays potential as an effective new
      therapeutic strategy in the treatment of P. aeruginosa biofilms infections such
      as those typical of the CF lungs.

PMID- 27628784
TI  - Comparison of different in vitro release methods used to investigate nanocarriers
      intended for dermal application.
AB  - In vitro drug release measurement is one of the most important methods used to
      assess the quality of a nanocarrier and estimate its in vivo performance.
      Different in vitro drug release methods have been used to investigate the drug
      release from nanocarriers, however, little information is available with regard
      to a comparison of these methods (e.g. discriminative power, reproducibility).
      Thus, drug release from four nanocarriers (nanocrystals, lipid nanoparticles,
      Eudragit(r) RS and ethyl cellulose nanoparticles) was investigated under sink and
      non-sink conditions with three drug release methods: an in situ method using
      Sirius(r) inForm and two in vitro methods using dialysis bags and Franz diffusion
      cells. Dexamethasone was used as the model drug. The in situ measurement was a
      simple and fast method but not adequately discriminating because of a too rapid
      drug dissolution/release. Franz diffusion cells and dialysis bags were in most
      cases discriminative for the different nanocarriers with the drug
      dissolution/release being in the order of nanocrystals>Eudragit(r) RS
      nanoparticles>lipid nanoparticles>ethyl cellulose nanoparticles. Drug release
      experiments with Franz diffusion cells had the highest reproducibility. The Franz
      diffusion cells could also be easily used with semisolid dosage forms.

PMID- 27628785
TI  - Novel nanostructured enoxaparin sodium-PLGA hybrid carriers overcome tumor
      multidrug resistance of doxorubicin hydrochloride.
AB  - Novel enoxaparin sodium-PLGA hybrid nanocarries (EPNs) were successfully designed
      for sustained delivery of hydrophilic cationic doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX)
      and to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). By incorporation of the negative
      polymer of enoxaparin sodium (ES), DOX was highly encapsulated into EPNs with an
      encapsulation efficiency of 92.49%, and ES effectively inhibited the
      proliferation of HUVEC cell lines. The in vivo pharmacokinetics study after
      intravenous injection indicated that DOX-loaded EPNs (DOX-EPNs) exhibited a
      higher area under the curve (AUC) and a longer half-life (t1/2) in comparison
      with DOX solution (DOX-Sol). The biodistribution study demonstrated that DOX-EPNs
      increased the DOX level in plasma and decreased the accumulation of DOX in liver
      and spleen. Compared with DOX-Sol, DOX-EPNs increased the cytotoxicity in P-gp
      over-expressing MCF-7/Adr cells, attributed to the higher intracellular
      efficiency of DOX produced by the EPNs. DOX-EPNs entered into resistant tumor
      cells by multiple endocytosis pathways, which resulted in overcoming the
      multidrug resistance of MCF-7/Adr cells by escaping the efflux induced by P-gp
      transporters.

PMID- 27628787
TI  - Re: Cystic Renal Cell Carcinoma Carries an Excellent Prognosis Regardless of
      Tumor Size.

PMID- 27628786
TI  - Inequalities in socioeconomic status and race and the odds of undergoing a
      mammogram in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Access to mammograms, in common with other diagnostic procedures, is
      strongly conditioned by socioeconomic disparities. Which aspects of inequality
      affect the odds of undergoing a mammogram, and whether they are the same in
      different localities, are relevant issues related to the success of health
      policies. METHODS: This study analyzed data from the 2008 PNAD - Brazilian
      National Household Sample Survey (11.607 million women 40 years of age or older),
      on having had at least one mammogram over life for women 40 years of age or older
      in each of Brazil's nine Metropolitan Regions (MR), according to socioeconomic
      position. The effects of income, schooling, health insurance and race in the
      different regions were investigated using multivariate logistical regression for
      each region individually, and for all MRs combined. The age-adjusted odds of a
      woman having had a mammogram according to race and stratified by two income
      strata (and two schooling strata) were also analyzed. RESULTS: Having a higher
      income increases four to seven times a woman's odds of having had at least one
      mammogram in all MRs except Curitiba. For schooling, the gradient, though less
      steep, is favorable to women with more years of study. Having health insurance
      increases two to three times the odds in all MRs. Multivariate analysis did not
      show differences due to race (except for the Fortaleza MR), but the stratified
      analysis by income and schooling shows effects of race in most MRs, with greater
      differences for women with higher socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      confirms that income and schooling, as well as having health insurance, are still
      important determinants of inequality in health service use in Brazil.
      Additionally, race also contributes to the odds of having had a mammogram. The
      point is not to isolate the effect of each factor, but to evaluate how their
      interrelations may exacerbate differences, generating patterns of cumulative
      adversity, a theme that is still little explored in Brazil. This is much more
      important when we consider that race has only recently started be included in
      analyses of health outcomes in Brazil.

PMID- 27628788
TI  - Re: Enhancement Threshold of Small (< 4 cm) Solid Renal Masses on CT.

PMID- 27628789
TI  - Re: TCC in Transplant Ureter-When and When Not to Preserve the Transplant Kidney.

PMID- 27628791
TI  - Re: Quality of Life in Patients with Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: One-Year
      Results of a Multicentre Prospective Cohort Study.

PMID- 27628790
TI  - Re: Gene Expression Test for the Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer: A
      Prospective, Blinded, International and Multicenter Validation Study.

PMID- 27628792
TI  - Re: Investigation of Multisequence Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Detection of
      Recurrent Tumor after Transurethral Resection for Bladder Cancer.

PMID- 27628793
TI  - Re: Reevaluating PSA Testing Rates in the PLCO Trial.

PMID- 27628794
TI  - Re: Association of AR-V7 on Circulating Tumor Cells as a Treatment-Specific
      Biomarker with Outcomes and Survival in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 27628795
TI  - Re: Addition of Docetaxel, Zoledronic Acid, or Both to First-Line Long-Term
      Hormone Therapy in Prostate Cancer (STAMPEDE): Survival Results from an Adaptive,
      Multiarm, Multistage, Platform Randomised Controlled Trial.

PMID- 27628796
TI  - Re: Metabolic Syndrome Components are Associated with Increased Prostate Cancer
      Risk.

PMID- 27628797
TI  - Re: Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Future Alzheimer's Disease Risk.

PMID- 27628798
TI  - Re: An Inverse Association of Body Mass Index and Prostate-Specific Antigen in
      Northwest Men of China: A Population-Based Analysis.

PMID- 27628799
TI  - Re: Economic Analysis of Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening and Selective
      Treatment Strategies.

PMID- 27628800
TI  - Re: Development and External Validation of a Prognostic Tool for Prediction of
      Cancer-Specific Mortality after Complete Loco-Regional Pathological Staging for
      Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Penis.

PMID- 27628801
TI  - Re: Intracellular Uropathogenic E. coli Exploits Host Rab35 for Iron Acquisition
      and Survival within Urinary Bladder Cells.

PMID- 27628802
TI  - Re: Prevalence, Impact, and Risk Factors for Hospital-Acquired Conditions after
      Major Surgical Resection for Cancer: A NSQIP Analysis.

PMID- 27628803
TI  - Re: Monocyte Mitochondrial Function in Calcium Oxalate Stone Formers.

PMID- 27628804
TI  - Re: Total, Dietary, and Supplemental Vitamin C Intake and Risk of Incident Kidney
      Stones.

PMID- 27628805
TI  - Re: Risk of Recurrence of Idiopathic Calcium Kidney Stones: Analysis of Data from
      the Literature.

PMID- 27628806
TI  - Re: Male Sling and Artificial Urethral Sphincter for Male Stress Urinary
      Incontinence among Certifying American Urologists.

PMID- 27628807
TI  - Re: Reconstruction of Pelvic Fracture Urethral Injuries with Sparing of the
      Bulbar Arteries.

PMID- 27628808
TI  - Re: Assessment of the Male Urethral Reconstruction Learning Curve.

PMID- 27628809
TI  - Re: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of an Intravesical Pressure
      Attenuation Balloon System for the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in
      Females.

PMID- 27628810
TI  - Re: What is the Role of Combination Drug Therapy in the Treatment of Overactive
      Bladder? ICI-RS 2014.

PMID- 27628811
TI  - Re: Change in Overactive Bladder Symptoms after Surgery for Stress Urinary
      Incontinence in Women.

PMID- 27628812
TI  - Re: Spinal GABAergic Mechanism is Necessary for Bladder Inhibition by Pudendal
      Afferent Stimulation.

PMID- 27628813
TI  - Re: Appropriateness of Oral Drugs for Long-Term Treatment of Lower Urinary Tract
      Symptoms in Older Persons: Results of a Systematic Literature Review and
      International Consensus Validation Process (LUTS-FORTA 2014).

PMID- 27628814
TI  - Re: Relationship between Metabolic Syndrome and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms:
      Hallym Aging Study.

PMID- 27628815
TI  - Re: Prevalence of Fecal Incontinence (FI) and Associated Factors in
      Institutionalized Older Adults.

PMID- 27628816
TI  - Re: Live Donor Renal Transplant with Simultaneous Bilateral Nephrectomy for
      Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease is Feasible and Satisfactory at Long
      Term Follow-up.

PMID- 27628817
TI  - Re: Perioperative Outcomes of Robotic and Laparoscopic Simple Prostatectomy: A
      European-American Multi-Institutional Analysis.

PMID- 27628818
TI  - Re: Nocturia in Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Evaluating the
      Significance of Ageing, Co-Morbid Illnesses, Lifestyle and Medical Therapy in
      Treatment Outcome in Real Life Practice.

PMID- 27628819
TI  - Re: Treatment Satisfaction and Clinically Meaningful Symptom Improvement in Men
      with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Prostatic Enlargement Secondary to Benign
      Prostatic Hyperplasia: Secondary Results from a 6-Month, Randomized, Double-Blind
      Study Comparing Finasteride plus Tadalafil with Finasteride plus Placebo.

PMID- 27628820
TI  - Re: Patient's Behavior and Attitudes toward the Management of Benign Prostatic
      Hyperplasia among Patients with the Risk of Disease Progression: Prospective
      Study by "Prostate and Expectations of Treatment Epidemiology Research (PETER)
      Study Group".

PMID- 27628821
TI  - Re: AlliumTM TPS-A New Prostatic Stent for the Treatment of Patients with Benign
      Prostatic Obstruction: The First Report.

PMID- 27628822
TI  - Re: Recovery of Baseline Erectile Function in Men following Radical Prostatectomy
      for High-Risk Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Analysis Using Validated Measures.

PMID- 27628823
TI  - Re: Simplified Interpretation of the Erectile Function Domain of the
      International Index of Erectile Function.

PMID- 27628824
TI  - Re: Outcomes of Surgical Management of Men with Peyronie's Disease with Hourglass
      Deformity.

PMID- 27628825
TI  - Re: The Prevalence of Peyronie's Disease in the United States: A Population-Based
      Study.

PMID- 27628826
TI  - Re: Use of a Lyophilized Bovine Pericardium Graft to Repair Tunical Defect in
      Patients with Peyronie's Disease: Experience in a Clinical Setting.

PMID- 27628827
TI  - Re: The "Omics" of Human Male Infertility: Integrating Big Data in a Systems
      Biology Approach.

PMID- 27628828
TI  - Re: Decreased Fecundity and Sperm DNA Methylation Patterns.

PMID- 27628829
TI  - Re: Aberrant Sperm DNA Methylation Predicts Male Fertility Status and Embryo
      Quality.

PMID- 27628830
TI  - Re: Sperm Deoxyribonucleic Acid Fragmentation Assessment in Normozoospermic Male
      Partners of Couples with Unexplained Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: A Prospective
      Study.

PMID- 27628831
TI  - Re: Relationship between Sperm Aneuploidy, Sperm DNA Integrity, Chromatin
      Packaging, Traditional Semen Parameters, and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss.

PMID- 27628832
TI  - Re: US Physician Practices Spend More than $15.4 Billion Annually to Report
      Quality Measures.

PMID- 27628833
TI  - Re: Fee-for-Service, while Much Maligned, Remains the Dominant Payment Method for
      Physician Visits.

PMID- 27628834
TI  - Re: Kentucky's Medicaid Expansion Showing Early Promise on Coverage and Access to
      Care.

PMID- 27628835
TI  - Re: Financial Hardship Associated with Cancer in the United States: Findings from
      a Population-Based Sample of Adult Cancer Survivors.

PMID- 27628836
TI  - Re: Scheduling Anesthesia Time Reduces Case Cancellations and Improves Operating
      Room Workflow in a University Hospital Setting.

PMID- 27628837
TI  - Re: Pre- and Postoperative Status of Gonadotropins (FSH and LH) and Inhibin-B in
      Relation to Testicular Histopathology at Orchiopexy in Infant Boys with
      Unilateral Undescended Testes.

PMID- 27628838
TI  - Re: Juvenile Granulosa Cell Tumors of the Testis: A Clinicopathologic Study of 70
      Cases with Emphasis on its Wide Morphologic Spectrum.

PMID- 27628839
TI  - Re: Evaluation of Postoperative Hydronephrosis following Ureteroscopy in
      Pediatric Population: Incidence and Predictors.

PMID- 27628840
TI  - Re: Hormonal Therapy Using Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone for Improvement of
      Fertility Index among Children with Cryptorchidism: A Meta-Analysis and
      Systematic Review.

PMID- 27628841
TI  - Re: Epidydimo-Orchitis and Anorectal Malformations: When and in Whom?

PMID- 27628842
TI  - Re: The Role of Testis-Sparing Surgery in Children and Adolescents with
      Testicular Tumors.

PMID- 27628843
TI  - Re: Surveillance after Initial Surgery for Stage I Pediatric and Adolescent Boys
      with Malignant Testicular Germ Cell Tumors: Report from the Children's Oncology
      Group.

PMID- 27628844
TI  - Re: Reporter Nanoparticle that Monitors its Anticancer Efficacy in Real Time.

PMID- 27628845
TI  - Re: Targeted Fibrillar Nanocarbon RNAi Treatment of Acute Kidney Injury.

PMID- 27628847
TI  - Re: Social Stress in Mice Induces Urinary Bladder Overactivity and Increases
      TPRV1 Channel-Dependent Afferent Nerve Activity.

PMID- 27628846
TI  - Re: Regulation of UHRF1 by Dual-Strand Tumor-Suppressor MicroRNA-145 (miR-145-5p
      and miR-145-3p): Inhibition of Bladder Cancer Cell Aggressiveness.

PMID- 27628848
TI  - The role of small in-frame insertions/deletions in inherited eye disorders and
      how structural modelling can help estimate their pathogenicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the majority of small in-frame insertions/deletions (indels)
      has no/little affect on protein function, a small subset of these changes has
      been causally associated with genetic disorders. Notably, the molecular
      mechanisms and frequency by which they give rise to disease phenotypes remain
      largely unknown. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the role of in
      frame indels (<=21 nucleotides) in two genetically heterogeneous eye disorders.
      RESULTS: One hundred eighty-one probands with childhood cataracts and 486
      probands with retinal dystrophy underwent multigene panel testing in a clinical
      diagnostic laboratory. In-frame indels were collected and evaluated both
      clinically and in silico. Variants that could be modeled in the context of
      protein structure were identified and analysed using integrative structural
      modeling. Overall, 55 small in-frame indels were detected in 112 of 667 probands
      (16.8 %); 17 of these changes were novel to this study and 18 variants were
      reported clinically. A reliable model of the corresponding protein sequence could
      be generated for 8 variants. Structural modeling indicated a diverse range of
      molecular mechanisms of disease including disruption of secondary and tertiary
      protein structure and alteration of protein-DNA binding sites. CONCLUSIONS: In
      childhood cataract and retinal dystrophy subjects, one small in-frame indel is
      clinically reported in every ~37 individuals tested. The clinical utility of
      computational tools evaluating these changes increases when the full complexity
      of the involved molecular mechanisms is embraced.

PMID- 27628849
TI  - Genetic basis of nitrogen use efficiency and yield stability across environments
      in winter rapeseed.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nitrogen use efficiency is an important breeding trait that can be
      modified to improve the sustainability of many crop species used in agriculture.
      Rapeseed is a major oil crop with low nitrogen use efficiency, making its
      production highly dependent on nitrogen input. This complex trait is suspected to
      be sensitive to genotype * environment interactions, especially genotype *
      nitrogen interactions. Therefore, phenotyping diverse rapeseed populations under
      a dense network of trials is a powerful approach to study nitrogen use efficiency
      in this crop. The present study aimed to determine the quantitative trait loci
      (QTL) associated with yield in winter oilseed rape and to assess the stability of
      these regions under contrasting nitrogen conditions for the purpose of increasing
      nitrogen use efficiency. RESULTS: Genome-wide association studies and linkage
      analyses were performed on two diversity sets and two doubled-haploid
      populations. These populations were densely genotyped, and yield-related traits
      were scored in a multi-environment design including seven French locations, six
      growing seasons (2009 to 2014) and two nitrogen nutrition levels (optimal versus
      limited). Very few genotype * nitrogen interactions were detected, and a large
      proportion of the QTL were stable across nitrogen nutrition conditions. In
      contrast, strong genotype * trial interactions in which most of the QTL were
      specific to a single trial were found. To obtain further insight into the QTL *
      environment interactions, genetic analyses of ecovalence were performed to
      identify the genomic regions contributing to the genotype * nitrogen and genotype
      * trial interactions. Fifty-one critical genomic regions contributing to the
      additive genetic control of yield-associated traits were identified, and the
      structural organization of these regions in the genome was investigated.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that the effect of the trial was greater
      than the effect of nitrogen nutrition levels on seed yield-related traits under
      our experimental conditions. Nevertheless, critical genomic regions associated
      with yield that were stable across environments were identified in rapeseed.

PMID- 27628852
TI  - Modulating the Luminescence of Upconversion Nanoparticles with Heavy Metal Ions:
      A New Strategy for Probe Design.
AB  - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are attracting increasing attention in
      biosensing and imaging. The design of UCNP-based probes currently relies
      exclusively on the luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET) principle. The
      prerequisite spectral overlap in LRET leads to limited flexibility in probe
      design, thus hindering the construction and application of upconversion (UC)
      probes. To change this situation, we herein present a new approach to construct
      UC probes by use of heavy metal ion-induced quenching. We reveal that heavy metal
      ions can quench the upconversion luminescence (UCL) to >95% without the
      occurrence of spectral overlap. A proof-of-concept UC probe for biothiols by
      manipulating Cu2+ as the switch of luminescence exhibits satisfying performance
      both in vitro and in bioimaging. This is the first report of a UC probe utilizing
      heavy metal ions to govern the read-out signal. The strategy is much simpler than
      the LRET principle and highly efficient, which provides a new way to design and
      apply UCNP-based probes.

PMID- 27628851
TI  - Two-sex mosquito model for the persistence of Wolbachia.
AB  - We develop and analyse an ordinary differential equation model to investigate the
      transmission dynamics of releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes to establish an
      endemic infection in a population of wild uninfected mosquitoes. Wolbachia is a
      genus of endosymbiotic bacteria that can infect mosquitoes and reduce their
      ability to transmit some viral mosquito-transmitted diseases, including dengue
      fever, chikungunya, and Zika. Although the bacterium is transmitted vertically
      from infected mothers to their offspring, it can be difficult to establish an
      endemic infection in a wild mosquito population. Our transmission model for the
      adult and aquatic-stage mosquitoes takes into account Wolbachia-induced fitness
      change and cytoplasmic incompatibility. We show that, for a wide range of
      realistic parameter values, the basic reproduction number, [Formula: see text],
      is less than one. Hence, the epidemic will die out if only a few Wolbachia
      infected mosquitoes are introduced into the wild population. Even though the
      basic reproduction number is less than one, an endemic Wolbachia infection can be
      established if a sufficient number of infected mosquitoes are released. This
      threshold effect is created by a backward bifurcation with three coexisting
      equilibria: a stable zero-infection equilibrium, an intermediate-infection
      unstable endemic equilibrium, and a high-infection stable endemic equilibrium. We
      analyse the impact of reducing the wild mosquito population before introducing
      the infected mosquitoes and observed that the most effective approach to
      establish the infection in the wild is based on reducing mosquitoes in both the
      adult and aquatic stages.

PMID- 27628850
TI  - Proteinuria can predict prognosis after liver transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proteinuria is a manifestation of renal dysfunction and it has been
      demonstrated to be a significant prognostic factor in various clinical
      situations. The study was designed to analyze prognosis of patients receiving
      liver transplantation as well as to determine predictive performance of
      perioperative proteinuria. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data of patients
      who had received a liver transplant in a medical center between 2002 and 2010.
      Demographic information and clinical characteristic parameters were recorded on
      the day of intensive care unit admission before operation and on postoperative
      days 1, 7, and 14. RESULTS: Among a total of 323 patients, in-hospital mortality
      and 90-day mortality rates were 13.0 % (42/323) and 14.2 % (46/323),
      respectively. Patients with proteinuria on admission had higher rates of acute
      kidney injury (26.8 % vs. 8.8 %, p < 0.001), severe infection episodes (48.8 %
      vs. 30.7 %, p = 0.023), hospital death (31.1 % vs. 10.1 %, p < 0.001), and 90-day
      mortality (37.7 % vs. 10.9 %, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that
      proteinuria on admission and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score
      were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. The discriminatory ability
      of proteinuria plus SOFA was even better than that of SOFA alone, especially on
      postoperative day 1. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of proteinuria before liver
      transplantation is supposed to be recognized as a negative predictor for in
      hospital survival. Moreover, the presence of proteinuria after liver
      transplantation can assist in the early prediction of poor short-term prognosis
      for patients receiving liver transplantation.

PMID- 27628853
TI  - Scale of Unpredictability Beliefs: Reliability and Validity.
AB  - Experiencing unpredictability in the environment has a variety of negative
      outcomes. However, these are difficult to ascertain due to the lack of a
      psychometrically sound measure of unpredictability beliefs. This article
      summarizes the development of the Scale of Unpredictability Beliefs (SUB), which
      assesses perceptions about unpredictability in one's life, in other people, and
      in the world. In Study I, college students (N = 305) responded to 68 potential
      items as well as other scales. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three
      internally consistent subscales (Self, People, and World; 16 items total). Higher
      SUB scores correlated with more childhood family unpredictability, greater
      likelihood of parental alcohol abuse, stronger causal uncertainty, and lower self
      efficacy. In Study II, a confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor
      solution (N = 186 college students). SUB scores correlated with personality,
      childhood family unpredictability, and control beliefs. In most instances the SUB
      predicted family unpredictability and control beliefs beyond existing
      unpredictability measures. Study III confirmed the factor structure and
      replicated family unpredictability associations in an adult sample (N = 483).
      This article provides preliminary support for this new multi-dimensional, self
      report assessment of unpredictability beliefs, and ideas for future research are
      discussed.

PMID- 27628856
TI  - Bynum Prize 2015.

PMID- 27628854
TI  - A state-of-the-art review and guidelines for tumor treating fields treatment
      planning and patient follow-up in glioblastoma.
AB  - Tumor treating fields (TTFields) are an integral treatment modality in the
      management of glioblastoma and extend overall survival when combined with
      maintenance temozolomide in newly diagnosed patients. Complexities exist
      regarding correct selection of imaging sequences with which to perform TTFields
      treatment planning. Guidelines are warranted first, to facilitate treatment
      planning standardization across medical disciplines and institutions, to ensure
      optimal TTFields delivery to the tumor and peritumoral brain zone while
      maximizing patient safety, and also to mitigate the risk of premature cessation
      of a potentially beneficial treatment. This summary guideline outlines methods
      for starting patients on TTFields, for monitoring patient response to therapy and
      provides a framework for evaluating when therapy should be re-planned, based on
      the extent of sequential imaging changes.

PMID- 27628857
TI  - The Internationalisation of Tobacco Control, 1950-2010.
AB  - This article explores the internationalisation of tobacco control as a case study
      in the history of international health regulation. Contrary to the existing
      literature on the topic, it argues that the history of international anti-smoking
      efforts is longer and richer than the making of the World Health Organisation's
      Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in the early twenty-first century. It
      thereby echoes the point made by other scholars about the importance of history
      when making sense of contemporary global health. Specifically, the article shows
      how the internationalisation of tobacco control started in the 1950s through
      informal contacts between scientists working on cancer research and how these
      initial interactions were followed by a growing number of more formal
      initiatives, from the World Conferences on Tobacco or Health to the Bloomberg
      Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use. Rather than arranging these efforts in a linear
      narrative of progress culminating with the Framework Convention on Tobacco
      Control, we take anthropological claims about global health's uneven terrain
      seriously and portray a history of international tobacco control marked by
      ruptures and discontinuities. Specifically, we identify three successive periods,
      with each of them characterised by specific understandings of international
      action, tobacco control expertise, advocacy networks and funding strategies. 

PMID- 27628858
TI  - 'I am very glad and cheered when I hear the flute': The Treatment of Criminal
      Lunatics in Late Victorian Broadmoor.
AB  - Through an examination of previously unseen archival records, including patients'
      letters, this article examines the treatment and experiences of patients in late
      Victorian Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum and stakes the place of this
      institution within the broader history of therapeutic regimes in British asylums.
      Two main arguments are put forth. The first relates to the evolution of treatment
      in Victorian asylums. Historians tend to agree that in the 1860s and 1870s
      'psychiatric pessimism' took hold, as the optimism that had accompanied the
      growth of moral treatment, along with its promise of a cure for insanity, abated.
      It has hitherto been taken for granted that all asylums reflected this change. I
      question this assumption by showing that Broadmoor did not sit neatly within this
      framework. Rather, the continued emphasis on work, leisure and kindness
      privileged at this institution into the late Victorian period was often welcomed
      positively by patients and physicians alike. Second, I show that, in Broadmoor's
      case, moral treatment was determined not so much by the distinction between the
      sexes as the two different classes of patients - Queen's pleasure patients and
      insane convicts - in the asylum. This distinction between patients not only led
      to different modes of treatment within Broadmoor, but had an impact on patients'
      asylum experiences. The privileged access to patients' letters that the Broadmoor
      records provide not only offers a new perspective on the evolution of treatment
      in Victorian asylums, but also reveals the rarely accessible views of asylum
      patients and their families on asylum care. 

PMID- 27628859
TI  - Popular Medicine and Empirics in Greece, 1900-1950: An Oral History Approach.
AB  - Western literature has focused on medical plurality but also on the pervasive
      existence of quacks who managed to survive from at least the eighteenth to the
      twentieth century. Focal points of their practices have been their efforts at
      enrichment and their extensive advertising. In Greece, empirical, untrained
      healers in the first half of the twentieth century do not fit in with this
      picture. They did not ask for payment, although they did accept 'gifts'; they did
      not advertise their practice; and they had fixed places of residence. Licensed
      physicians did not undertake a concerted attack against them, as happened in the
      West against the quacks, and neither did the state. In this paper, it is argued
      that both the protection offered by their localities to resident popular healers
      and the healers' lack of demand for monetary payment were jointly responsible for
      the lack of prosecutions of popular healers. Moreover, the linking of popular
      medicine with ancient traditions, as put forward by influential folklore studies,
      also reduced the likelihood of an aggressive discourse against the popular
      healers. Although the Greek situation in the early twentieth century contrasts
      with the historiography on quacks, it is much more in line with that on wise
      women and cunning-folk. It is thus the identification of these groups of healers
      in Greece and elsewhere, mostly through the use of oral histories but also
      through folklore studies, that reveals a different story from that of the
      aggressive discourse of medical men against quacks. 

PMID- 27628855
TI  - Monocytes and B cells support active replication of Chandipura virus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interaction between immune system and Chandipura virus (CHPV) during
      different stages of its life cycle remain poorly understood. The exact route of
      virus entry into the blood and CNS invasion has not been clearly defined. The
      present study was undertaken to assess the population in PBMC that supports the
      growth of virus and to detect active virus replication in PBMC as well as its
      subsets. METHODS: PBMC subsets viz.: CD3(+), CD14(+), CD19(+), CD56(+)cells were
      separated and infected with CHPV. The infected cells were then assessed for
      transcription (N gene primer) and replication (NP gene primer) of CHPV by PCR.
      The supernatant collected from infected cells were titrated in Baby Hamster
      Kidney (BHK) cells to assess virus release. The cytokine and chemokine expression
      was quantified by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Amplification of N and NP gene was
      detected in CD14(+) (monocyte) and CD19(+) (B cell), significant increase in
      virus titre was also observed in these subsets. It was observed that, although
      the levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were elevated in CD14(+) cells as compared to
      CD19(+)cells, the differences were not significant. However the levels of
      TNFalpha and IL-8 were significantly elevated in CD14(+) cells than in
      CD19(+)cells. The levels of chemokine (CXCL9, CCL5, CCL2, CXCL10) were
      significantly elevated in CHPV infected PBMC as compared to uninfected cells.
      CCL2 and CXCL9 were significantly increased in CHPV infected CD14(+)cells as
      compared to CD19(+) cells. CONCLUSION: CD14(+)and CD19(+)cells support active
      replication of CHPV. High viral load was detected in CD14(+) cells infected with
      CHPV hence it might be the primary target cells for active replication of CHPV.
      An elevated levels of cytokines and chemokines observed in CD14(+) cells may help
      in predicting the pathogenecity of CHPV and possible entry into the central
      nervous system.

PMID- 27628889
TI  - History of Western Medicine in China, Resources Portal.

PMID- 27628860
TI  - Policy Innovation and Policy Pathways: Tuberculosis Control in Sri Lanka, 1948
      1990.
AB  - This paper, based on World Health Organization and Sri Lankan sources, examines
      the attempts to control tuberculosis in Sri Lanka from independence in 1948. It
      focuses particularly on the attempt in 1966 to implement a World Health
      Organization model of community-orientated tuberculosis control that sought to
      establish a horizontally structured programme through the integration of control
      into the general health services. The objective was to create a cost- effective
      method of control that relied on a simple bacteriological test for case finding
      and for treatment at the nearest health facility that would take case detection
      and treatment to the rural periphery where specialist services were lacking. In
      the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sri Lanka had already established a specialist
      control programme composed of chest clinics, mass X-ray, inpatient and
      domiciliary treatment, and social assistance for sufferers. This programme had
      both reduced mortality and enhanced awareness of the disease. This paper exposes
      the obstacles presented in trying to impose the World Health Organization's
      internationally devised model onto the existing structure of tuberculosis control
      already operating in Sri Lanka. One significant hindrance to the WHO approach was
      lack of resources but, equally important, was the existing medical culture that
      militated against its acceptance. 

PMID- 27628890
TI  - Review of Setouchi International Art Festival/Setouchi Triennale 2016.

PMID- 27628861
TI  - The Psychoprophylactic Method of Painless Childbirth in Socialist Czechoslovakia:
      from State Propaganda to Activism of Enthusiasts.
AB  - This paper explores the history of the 'psychoprophylactic method of painless
      childbirth' in socialist Czechoslovakia, in particular, in the Czech and Moravian
      regions of the country, showing that it substantially differs from the course
      that the method took in other countries. This non-pharmacological method of pain
      relief originated in the USSR and became well known as the Lamaze method in
      western English-speaking countries. Use of the method in Czechoslovakia, however,
      followed a very different path from both the West, where its use was refined
      mainly outside the biomedical frame, and the USSR, where it ceased to be pursued
      as a scientific method in the 1950s after Stalin's death. The method was imported
      to Czechoslovakia in the early 1950s and it was politically promoted as Soviet
      science's gift to women. In the 1960s the method became widespread in practice
      but research on it diminished and, in the 1970s, its use declined too. However,
      in the 1980s, in the last decade of the Communist regime, the method resurfaced
      in the pages of Czechoslovak medical journals and underwent an exciting
      renaissance, having been reintroduced by a few enthusiastic individuals, most of
      them women. This article explores the background to the renewed interest in the
      method while providing insight into the wider social and political context that
      shaped socialist maternity and birth care in different periods. 

PMID- 27628891
TI  - Medical History William Bynum Essay Prize.

PMID- 27628894
TI  - Eddy, drift wave and zonal flow dynamics in a linear magnetized plasma.
AB  - Turbulence and its structure formation are universal in neutral fluids and in
      plasmas. Turbulence annihilates global structures but can organize flows and
      eddies. The mutual-interactions between flow and the eddy give basic insights
      into the understanding of non-equilibrium and nonlinear interaction by
      turbulence. In fusion plasma, clarifying structure formation by Drift-wave
      turbulence, driven by density gradients in magnetized plasma, is an important
      issue. Here, a new mutual-interaction among eddy, drift wave and flow in
      magnetized plasma is discovered. A two-dimensional solitary eddy, which is a
      perturbation with circumnavigating motion localized radially and azimuthally, is
      transiently organized in a drift wave - zonal flow (azimuthally symmetric band
      like shear flows) system. The excitation of the eddy is synchronized with zonal
      perturbation. The organization of the eddy has substantial impact on the
      acceleration of zonal flow.

PMID- 27628895
TI  - Addition of P3HT-grafted Silica nanoparticles improves bulk-heterojunction
      morphology in P3HT-PCBM blends.
AB  - We present molecular dynamics simulations of a ternary blend of P3HT, PCBM and
      P3HT-grafted silica nanoparticles (SiNP) for applications in polymer-based solar
      cells. Using coarse-grained models, we study the effect of SiNP on the spatial
      arrangement of PCBM in P3HT. Our results suggest that addition of SiNP not only
      alters the morphology of PCBM clusters but also improves the crystallinity of
      P3HT. We exploit the property of grafted SiNP to self-assemble into a variety of
      anisotropic structures and the tendency of PCBM to preferentially adhere to SiNP
      surface, due to favorable interactions, to achieve morphologies with desirable
      characteristics for the active layer, including domain size, crystallinity of
      P3HT, and elimination of isolated islands of PCBM. As the concentration of SiNP
      increases, the number of isolated PCBM molecules decreases, which in turn
      improves the crystallinity of P3HT domains. We also observe that by tuning the
      grafting parameters of SiNP, it is possible to achieve structures ranging from
      cylindrical to sheets to highly interconnected network of strings. The changes
      brought about by addition of SiNP shows a promising potential to improve the
      performance of these materials when used as active layers in organic
      photovoltaics.

PMID- 27628897
TI  - Difference in leaf water use efficiency/photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency of
      Bt-cotton and its conventional peer.
AB  - This study is to test the effects of Bt gene introduction on the foliar
      water/nitrogen use efficiency in cotton. We measured leaf stomatal conductance,
      photosynthetic rate, and transpiration rate under light saturation condition at
      different stages of a conventional cultivar (zhongmian no. 16) and its
      counterpart Bt cultivar (zhongmian no. 30) that were cultured on three levels of
      fertilization, based on which leaf instantaneous water use efficiency was
      derived. Leaf nitrogen concentration was measured to calculate leaf
      photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency, and leaf delta(13)C was used to
      characterize long term water use efficiency. Bt cultivar was found to have lower
      stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rates and transpiration rates, but
      higher instantaneous and long time water use efficiency. In addition, foliar
      nitrogen concentration was found to be higher but net photosynthetic rate was
      lower in the mature leaves of Bt cultivar, which led to lower photosynthetic
      nitrogen use efficiency. This might result from the significant decrease of
      photosynthetic rate due to the decrease of stomatal conductance. In conclusion,
      our findings show that the introduction of Bt gene should significantly increase
      foliar water use efficiency but decrease leaf nitrogen use efficiency in cotton
      under no selective pressure.

PMID- 27628896
TI  - A Biopsychosocial Approach to Risk and Resilience on Behavior in Children
      Followed from Birth to Age 12.
AB  - An increasing prevalence of mental health problems calls for more knowledge into
      factors associated with resilience. The present study used multiple statistical
      methodologies to examine a biopsychosocial model of risk and resilience on
      preadolescence behavior. Data from 889 children and mothers from a birth cohort
      were used. An adversity score was created by combining maternal symptoms of
      depression, psychosocial risk and children's experiences of life events. The
      proposed resilience factors investigated were candidate genetic polymorphisms,
      child temperament, social functioning, and maternal sense of coherence. The l/l
      genotype of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region was associated
      with lower internalizing scores, but not mainly related to the level of
      adversity. An easy temperament was associated with resilience for children
      exposed to high adversity. Social functioning was found to be promotive
      independent of the risk level. The results support a multiple-level model of
      resilience indicating effects, though small, of both biological and psychosocial
      factors.

PMID- 27628898
TI  - Air-stable superparamagnetic metal nanoparticles entrapped in graphene oxide
      matrix.
AB  - Superparamagnetism is a phenomenon caused by quantum effects in magnetic
      nanomaterials. Zero-valent metals with diameters below 5 nm have been suggested
      as superior alternatives to superparamagnetic metal oxides, having greater
      superspin magnitudes and lower levels of magnetic disorder. However, synthesis of
      such nanometals has been hindered by their chemical instability. Here we present
      a method for preparing air-stable superparamagnetic iron nanoparticles trapped
      between thermally reduced graphene oxide nanosheets and exhibiting ring-like or
      core-shell morphologies depending on iron concentration. Importantly, these
      hybrids show superparamagnetism at room temperature and retain it even at 5 K.
      The corrected saturation magnetization of 185 Am(2) kg(-1) is among the highest
      values reported for iron-based superparamagnets. The synthetic concept is
      generalized exploiting functional groups of graphene oxide to stabilize and
      entrap cobalt, nickel and gold nanoparticles, potentially opening doors for
      targeted delivery, magnetic separation and imaging applications.

PMID- 27628899
TI  - 2,5-Dimethylcelecoxib prevents pressure-induced left ventricular remodeling
      through GSK-3 activation.
AB  - Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a crucial regulator of cardiac hypertrophy.
      We previously reported that 2,5-dimethylcelecoxib (DM-celecoxib), a celecoxib
      derivative unable to inhibit cyclooxygenase-2, prevented cardiac remodeling by
      activating GSK-3, resulting in lifespan prolongation in a mouse model of genetic
      dilated cardiomyopathy. In the present study, we investigated whether DM
      celecoxib can also prevent pressure-induced cardiac remodeling and heart failure,
      elicited by transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Before testing the effects of
      DM-celecoxib, we compared the effects of TAC on the hearts of wild-type and GSK
      3beta hetero-deficient (GSK-3beta+/-) mice to determine the role of GSK-3 in
      cardiac remodeling and heart failure. GSK-3beta+/- mouse hearts exhibited more
      severe hypertrophy, which was characterized by accelerated interstitial fibrosis,
      than wild-type mouse hearts after TAC, suggesting that reduced GSK-3beta activity
      aggravates pressure-induced left ventricular remodeling. We subsequently examined
      the effects of DM-celecoxib on TAC-induced cardiac remodeling. DM-celecoxib
      inhibited left ventricular systolic functional deterioration, and prevented left
      ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis. It also activated GSK-3alpha and beta by
      inhibiting Akt, suppressing the activity of beta-catenin and nuclear factor of
      activated T-cells and thereby decreasing the expression of the Wnt/beta-catenin
      target gene products fibronectin and matrix metalloproteinase-2. These results
      suggest that DM-celecoxib is clinically useful for treating pressure-induced
      heart diseases.

PMID- 27628900
TI  - Selective expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype M3 by mouse
      type III taste bud cells.
AB  - Each taste bud cell (TBC) type responds to a different taste. Previously, we
      showed that an unidentified cell type(s) functionally expresses a muscarinic
      acetylcholine (ACh) receptor subtype, M3, and we suggested the ACh-dependent
      modification of its taste responsiveness. In this study, we found that M3 is
      expressed by type III TBCs, which is the only cell type that possesses synaptic
      contacts with taste nerve fibers in taste buds. The application of ACh to the
      basolateral membrane of mouse fungiform TBCs in situ increased the intracellular
      Ca2+ concentration in 2.4 +/- 1.4 cells per taste bud (mean +/- SD, n = 14).
      After Ca2+ imaging, we supravitally labeled type II cells (phospholipase C beta2
      [PLCbeta2]-immunoreactive cells) with Lucifer yellow CH (LY), a fluorescent dye
      and investigated the positional relationship between ACh-responding cells and LY
      labeled cells. After fixation, the TBCs were immunohistostained to investigate
      the positional relationships between immunohistochemically classified cells and
      LY-labeled cells. The overlay of the two positional relationships obtained by
      superimposing the LY-labeled cells showed that all of the ACh-responding cells
      were type III cells (synaptosomal-associated protein 25 [SNAP-25]-immunoreactive
      cells). The ACh responses required no added Ca2+ in the bathing solution. The
      addition of 1 MUM U73122, a phospholipase C inhibitor, decreased the magnitude of
      the ACh response, whereas that of 1 MUM U73343, a negative control, had no
      effect. These results suggest that type III cells respond to ACh and release Ca2+
      from intracellular stores. We also discuss the underlying mechanism of the Ca2+
      response and the role of M3 in type III cells.

PMID- 27628901
TI  - Synergistic effect of tartaric acid with 2,6-diaminopyridine on the corrosion
      inhibition of mild steel in 0.5 M HCl.
AB  - The inhibitive ability of 2,6-diaminopyridine, tartaric acid and their
      synergistic effect towards mild steel corrosion in 0.5 M HCl solution was
      evaluated at various concentrations using potentiodynamic polarization
      measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and weight loss
      experiments. Corresponding surfaces of mild steel were examined by atomic force
      microscope (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), energy
      dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
      analysis. The experimental results are in good agreement and reveal a favorable
      synergistic effect of 2,6-diaminopyridine with tartaric acid, which could protect
      mild steel from corrosion effectively. Besides, quantum chemical calculations and
      Monte Carlo simulation were used to clarify the inhibition mechanism of the
      synergistic effect.

PMID- 27628904
TI  - Commentary: Risky decision-making is associated with residential choice in
      healthy older adults.

PMID- 27628902
TI  - Synaptopodin Is a Coincidence Detector of Tyrosine versus Serine/Threonine
      Phosphorylation for the Modulation of Rho Protein Crosstalk in Podocytes.
AB  - Tyrosine and serine/threonine signal-transduction pathways influence many aspects
      of cell behavior, including the spatial and temporal regulation of the actin
      cytoskeleton. However, little is known about how input from diverse tyrosine and
      serine/threonine kinases is integrated to control Rho protein crosstalk and actin
      remodeling, which are critically important in podocyte health and disease. Here
      we unveil the proteolytically-regulated, actin organizing protein synaptopodin as
      a coincidence detector of tyrosine versus serine/threonine phosphorylation. We
      show that serine/threonine and tyrosine kinases duel for synaptopodin stability
      versus degradation. EGFR/Src-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of synaptopodin in
      podocytes promotes binding to the serine/threonine phosphatase calcineurin. This
      leads to the loss of 14-3-3 binding, resulting in synaptopodin degradation, Vav2
      activation, enhanced Rac1 signaling, and ultimate loss of stress fibers. Our
      studies reveal how synaptopodin, a single proteolytically-controlled protein,
      integrates antagonistic tyrosine versus serine/threonine phosphorylation events
      for the dynamic control of the actin cytoskeleton in podocytes.

PMID- 27628905
TI  - Lichen amyloidosus as a sweat gland/duct-related disorder: resolution associated
      with restoration of sweating disturbance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although a number of pathological processes resulting in amyloid
      deposition have been described in lichen amyloidosus (LA), no attention has been
      paid to the involvement of sweat glands/ducts in the pathogenesis of LA.
      According to recent studies, follicular structures are usually spared in serial
      histological sections of LA, and deposits of amyloid are likely to be confined to
      areas that display xerosis, suggesting that decreases in skin wetness by sweating
      disturbance seem to initiate LA. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether sweating
      disturbance could represent an early event that triggers LA, and whether
      resolution of LA could be induced by restoring the sweating disturbance. METHODS:
      By using the impression mould technique, which allows an accurate quantification
      of individual sweat glands/ducts actively delivering sweat, we examined sweat
      responses to thermal stimulus in LA lesions before and after treatment with a
      moisturizer. RESULTS: Sweating disturbance was most profoundly detected in the
      'hub' structure of the LA papule, and this disturbance due to leakage of sweat
      could be restored by short-term treatment with a moisturizer, particularly when
      used under occlusion. CONCLUSIONS: This study was limited by the relatively small
      sample size. Treatment of LA should be primarily directed at preventing leakage
      of sweat into the dermis or epidermis and therefore sweat delivery to the skin
      surface could be made easier.

PMID- 27628903
TI  - Proximal Tubule CD73 Is Critical in Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Protection.
AB  - CD73-derived adenosine plays an anti-inflammatory role in various organs.
      However, its role in renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is controversial. We
      targeted CD73 mutant mice to determine the function of CD73 expressed by various
      renal cell types under mild IRI conditions. Mice with CD73 deletion in proximal
      tubules exhibited exacerbated IRI, comparable with that of CD73-/- mice compared
      with WT mice. Mice with CD73 deletions in other cell types, including cortical
      type 1 fibroblast-like cells, mesangial cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells,
      showed small or no increases in injury above control mice when subjected to
      threshold levels of ischemia. Results from adoptive transfer experiments between
      WT and CD73-/- mice and pharmacologic studies modulating enzymatic activity of
      CD73 and extracellular adenosine levels supported a critical role of adenosine
      generated by proximal tubule CD73 expression in abrogating IRI. Renal adenosine
      levels were lower before and after ischemia in CD73-deficient mice. However,
      reduction in total acid-extractable renal adenosine levels was inadequate to
      explain the marked difference in kidney injury in these CD73-deficient mice.
      Furthermore, CD73 inhibition and enzyme replacement studies showed no change in
      total kidney adenosine levels in treated mice compared with vehicle-treated
      controls. Protection from IRI in neutrophil-depleted WT recipients was sustained
      by repopulation with bone marrow neutrophils from WT mice but not by those
      lacking adenosine 2a receptors (from Adora2a-/- mice). These data support the
      thesis that local adenosine generated by cells at the injury site is critical for
      protection from IRI through bone marrow-derived adenosine 2a receptors.

PMID- 27628906
TI  - Elemental Mapping of Perovskite Solar Cells by Using Multivariate Analysis: An
      Insight into Degradation Processes.
AB  - The technology of perovskite-based solar cells is evolving rapidly, reaching
      certified power conversion efficiency values now exceeding 20 %. One of the main
      drawbacks hindering progress in the field is the long-term stability of the
      cells: the mixed halide perovskites used in most devices are sensitive to
      humidity and degrade on a timescale varying from hours to weeks. The degradation
      mechanisms are poorly understood, but likely arise from combined physical and
      chemical modifications at the nanometer scale. The characterization of pristine
      and degraded materials is difficult owing to their complex chemical and physical
      structure and their relatively poor stability. In this work, we investigated the
      changes in local composition and morphology of a standard device after 2 months
      of air exposure in the dark, using scanning transmission electron microscopy
      (STEM) with nanometer resolution for imaging and analysis. Because of a state-of
      the-art technique that combines STEM and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
      (EDX), and the use of different decomposition algorithms for multivariate
      analysis, we highlighted the migration of elements across the interfaces between
      the layers comprising the device. We also noticed a morphological degradation of
      the hole-transporting layer (HTL), representing one of the main factors enabling
      the infiltration of moisture in the device, which results in reduced performance.

PMID- 27628907
TI  - Radical Reactions Induced by Visible Light in Dichloromethane Solutions of
      Hunig's Base: Synthetic Applications and Mechanistic Observations.
AB  - beta-(3-Iodopropoxy)-substituted alpha,beta-unsaturated lactams, lactones, and
      cycloalkenones (eight examples) underwent reductive radical reactions in a
      dichloromethane solution of N,N-diisopropylethylamine (Hunig's base) upon
      irradiation with visible light (lambda=419 nm). Apart from plain reduction
      reactions (hydro-de-iodination), a significant degree of cyclization was observed
      in three cases. In parallel to the conversion of the substrates, the formation of
      intensely colored by-products was observed. Based on mass spectrometric evidence
      and upon comparison with known compounds, the by-products were identified as
      cyanine dyes. Their formation supports the hypothesis that irradiation of
      dichloromethane solutions of Hunig's base leads to the formation of radicals,
      which in turn can either initiate a radical reaction or combine with cyanine
      precursors. It was shown by deuterium-labelling experiments, that one equivalent
      of dichloromethane is incorporated into the cyanine dyes and that the reductive
      quenching of radical intermediates is at least partially due to hydrogen
      abstraction from the solvent. As a consequence, a reductive cyclization of the
      starting materials is favored in CD2 Cl2 solutions as shown for two beta-(3
      iodopropoxy)-substituted tetronates, which underwent in dichloromethane almost
      exclusive reduction, but gave predominantly the cyclization products in CD2 Cl2 .

PMID- 27628909
TI  - Effects and mechanisms of Bacillus thuringiensis crystal toxins for mosquito
      larvae.
AB  - Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive aerobic bacterium that produces
      insecticidal crystalline inclusions during sporulation phases of the mother cell.
      The virulence factor, known as parasporal crystals, is composed of Cry and Cyt
      toxins. Most Cry toxins display a common 3-domain topology. Cry toxins exert
      intoxication through toxin activation, receptor binding and pore formation in a
      suitable larval gut environment. The mosquitocidal toxins of Bt subsp.
      israelensis (Bti) were found to be highly active against mosquito larvae and are
      widely used for vector control. Bt subsp. jegathesan is another strain which
      possesses high potency against broad range of mosquito larvae. The present review
      summarizes characterized receptors for Cry toxins in mosquito larvae, and will
      also discuss the diversity and effects of 3-D mosquitocidal Cry toxin and the
      ongoing research for Cry toxin mechanisms generated from investigations of
      lepidopteran and dipteran larvae.

PMID- 27628908
TI  - The ABCs of Perineal Streptococcal Dermatitis.
AB  - Perineal streptococcal dermatitis (PSD) is largely known to be caused by group A
      beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (GAS). We would like to bring cases of non-GAS PSD
      to the attention of dermatologists, as there are implications for workup and
      therapy. We report 3 pediatric cases of PSD: 1 caused by GAS, 1 caused by group B
      beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (GBS), and 1 associated with group C beta-hemolytic
      Streptococcus (GCS). GBS and GCS are very rarely reported in pediatric cases of
      PSD. The literature on non-GAS PSD is reviewed, which additionally revealed
      several instances of PSD caused by group G beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (GGS) and
      Staphylococcus aureus. GBS, GCS, GGS, and S aureus are significant causes of PSD
      to consider, particularly among adult patients, based on our encountered cases
      and the literature. If using rapid antigen tests to expedite the diagnosis of
      GAS, we recommend supplementing with a lesional swab for bacterial culture and
      sensitivity as the rapid antigen test does not detect non-GAS organisms. Therapy
      should be tailored to the microbiologic cause.

PMID- 27628910
TI  - Simulation of multi-stage nonlinear bone remodeling induced by fixed partial
      dentures of different configurations: a comparative clinical and numerical study.
AB  - This paper aimed to develop a clinically validated bone remodeling algorithm by
      integrating bone's dynamic properties in a multi-stage fashion based on a four
      year clinical follow-up of implant treatment. The configurational effects of
      fixed partial dentures (FPDs) were explored using a multi-stage remodeling rule.
      Three-dimensional real-time occlusal loads during maximum voluntary clenching
      were measured with a piezoelectric force transducer and were incorporated into a
      computerized tomography-based finite element mandibular model. Virtual X-ray
      images were generated based on simulation and statistically correlated with
      clinical data using linear regressions. The strain energy density-driven
      remodeling parameters were regulated over the time frame considered. A linear
      single-stage bone remodeling algorithm, with a single set of constant remodeling
      parameters, was found to poorly fit with clinical data through linear regression
      (low [Formula: see text] and R), whereas a time-dependent multi-stage algorithm
      better simulated the remodeling process (high [Formula: see text] and R) against
      the clinical results. The three-implant-supported and distally cantilevered FPDs
      presented noticeable and continuous bone apposition, mainly adjacent to the
      cervical and apical regions. The bridged and mesially cantilevered FPDs showed
      bone resorption or no visible bone formation in some areas. Time-dependent
      variation of bone remodeling parameters is recommended to better correlate
      remodeling simulation with clinical follow-up. The position of FPD pontics plays
      a critical role in mechanobiological functionality and bone remodeling. Caution
      should be exercised when selecting the cantilever FPD due to the risk of
      overloading bone resorption.

PMID- 27628911
TI  - Biomechanical testing of the reconstructed ulnar collateral ligament: a
      systematic review of the literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose was to perform a systematic review of the literature
      investigating biomechanical studies of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction
      (UCLR) techniques to summarize the most commonly analyzed methods of fixation (at
      both the ulna and humerus), the degree of elbow flexion at the time of fixation,
      graft characteristics, and modes of failure with these techniques. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A systematic review was performed. All cadaveric biomechanical studies
      that tested a reconstruction method for UCLR were included. Descriptive
      statistics were calculated for each study and parameter/variable analyzed.
      RESULTS: Twenty-three studies were included with a total of 397 elbows in 242
      cadavers (mean age 54.8 +/- 20 years, range 16-96). The majority of studies (65
      %) used a palmaris longus graft. The docking technique (37.2 %) was the most
      commonly tested reconstruction method. Significant heterogeneity between studies
      precluded assimilation of specific techniques (each of the 23 studies utilized a
      unique technique). Fixation was performed at 30 degrees -90 degrees  of elbow
      flexion. The most common mode of failure was suture failure (51 %), followed by
      midsubstance rupture (27.00 %), and bone tunnel fracture (14.00 %). No
      significant differences were observed amongst techniques for all measures
      analyzed. CONCLUSION: This study found the docking technique to be the most
      commonly tested technique, while the mode of reconstruction failure was most
      commonly at the suture interface. If the graft failed at the bone interface, it
      was most likely to occur at the ulna. Surgeon preference and comfort level with a
      specific technique should dictate choice.

PMID- 27628913
TI  - Liquid K-Na Alloy Anode Enables Dendrite-Free Potassium Batteries.
AB  - A K-Na liquid alloy allows a dendrite-free high-capacity anode; its immiscibility
      with an organic liquid electrolyte offers a liquid-liquid anode-electrolyte
      interface. Working with a sodiated Na2 MnFe(CN)6 cathode, the working cation
      becomes K+ to give a potassium battery of long cycle life with an acceptable
      capacity at high charge/discharge rates.

PMID- 27628912
TI  - Comparison of clinical, MRI and arthroscopic assessments of chronic ACL injuries,
      meniscal tears and cartilage defects.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of clinical
      examination to that of MRI evaluated by two independent radiologists for the
      diagnosis of meniscal tears and chronic anterior cruciate ligament injuries and
      to assess the MRI accuracy in the diagnosis of cartilage defects. METHODS:
      Seventy-six consecutive patients with suspected intra-articular knee pathology
      were prospectively evaluated by objective examination, 1.5 T MRI, re-examined by
      trained radiologist and arthroscopy. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive
      predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated. Agreement
      analysis with kappa (K) coefficient values was performed for meniscal and ACL
      tears. RESULTS: No differences were found between diagnostic accuracy of clinical
      examination, the first and second MRI reports in diagnosis of medial meniscus (84
      vs 96 vs 97 %) and anterior cruciate ligament injuries (93 vs 78 vs 89 %). For
      the lateral meniscal tears, the accuracy of the second radiologist was
      significantly higher than those of the first (96 vs 75 %; p < 0.01) and clinical
      examination (96 vs 86 %; p = 0.02). High diagnostic values were obtained for the
      diagnosis of full-thickness chondral defects with sensitivity of 100 %,
      specificity of 95 % and accuracy of 95 %. CONCLUSION: Clinical and MRI
      evaluations have no differences in the diagnosis of medial meniscus and anterior
      cruciate ligament injuries. A trained radiologist obtained better sensitivity,
      specificity and accuracy in the diagnosis of lateral meniscus. 1.5 T MRI does not
      represent the technique of choice in the evaluation of chondral defect but
      demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for detection of full-thickness chondral
      defects. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Diagnostic prospective study, Level II.

PMID- 27628914
TI  - Is the risk for soil arthropods covered by new data requirements under the EU PPP
      Regulation No. 1107/2009?
AB  - Testing of effects on earthworms and non-target foliar arthropods is an integral
      part of the ecotoxicological risk assessment for the authorization of plant
      protection products. According to the new data requirements, which came into
      force in 2014 for active substances and in 2016 for plant protection products,
      the chronic earthworm toxicity test with Eisenia fetida based on reproductive,
      growth, and behavioral effects instead of the acute earthworm toxicity test based
      on mortality, has to be conducted routinely. Additional testing of effects on
      soil arthropods (Folsomia candida, Hyposaspis aculeifer) is required if the risk
      assessment of foliar applications raises concerns regarding non-target foliar
      arthropods (Aphidius rhopalosiphi, Typhlodromus pyri) or if the product is
      applied directly on or into the soil. Thus, it was investigated whether the
      sublethal earthworm endpoint is more sensitive than the sublethal soil arthropod
      endpoint for different types of pesticides and whether the risk assessment for
      non-target arthropods would trigger the testing of effects on soil arthropods in
      the cases where soil arthropods are more sensitive than earthworms. Toxicity data
      were obtained from Swiss ecotoxicological database, EFSA Conclusions and
      scientific literature. For insecticides and herbicides, no general conclusion
      regarding differences in sensitivity of either earthworms or soil arthropods
      based on sublethal endpoints were possible. For fungicides, the data indicated
      that in general, earthworms seemed to be more sensitive than soil arthropods. In
      total, the sublethal F. candida or H. aculeifer endpoint was lower than the
      sublethal E. fetida endpoint for 23 (34 %) out of 68 active substances. For 26 %
      of these 23 active substances, testing of soil arthropods would not have been
      triggered due to the new data requirement. These results based on sublethal
      endpoints show that earthworms and soil arthropods differ in sensitivity toward
      certain active substances and that the risk assessment for non-target foliar
      arthropods did not always trigger soil arthropod testing in the cases where soil
      arthropods were more sensitive than earthworms.

PMID- 27628915
TI  - Influence of PM1 and PM2.5 on lung function parameters in healthy schoolchildren
      a panel study.
AB  - To evaluate lung function responses to short-term indoor PM1 and PM2.5
      concentrations, we conducted a panel study of healthy schoolchildren aged 13-14
      years. The following lung function parameters FVC, FEV1, PEF, and mid expiratory
      flows MEF25, MEF50, and MEF75 were measured in 141 schoolchildren of the
      secondary school in Wroclaw, Poland in years 2009-2010. On days when spirometry
      tests were conducted, simultaneously, PM1 and PM2.5 samples were collected inside
      the school premises. Information about differentiating factors for children
      including smoking parents, sex, living close to busy streets, dust, mold, and
      pollen allergies were collected by means of questionnaires. To account for
      repeated measurements, the method of generalized estimating equations (GEE) was
      used. The GEE models for the entire group of children revealed the adverse
      effects (p < 0.05) of PM1 and PM2.5. Small differences in effects estimates per
      interquartile range (IQR) of PM1 and PM2.5 on MEF25 (5.1 and 4.8 %), MEF50 (3.7
      and 3.9 %), MEF75 (3.5 and 3.6 %) and FEV1 (1.3 and 1.0 %) imply that PM1 was
      likely the component of PM2.5 that might have a principal health effect on these
      lung function parameters. However, the reduction of FVC and PEF per IQR for PM2.5
      (2.1 and 5.2 %, respectively) was higher than for PM1 (1.0 and 4.4 %,
      respectively). Adjustment for potential confounders did not change the unadjusted
      analysis.

PMID- 27628917
TI  - Equilibrium and kinetic modeling of iron adsorption and the effect by chloride,
      sulfate, and hydroxyl: evaluation of PVC-U drinking pipes.
AB  - The update of pipeline was quick over the last few years and the plastic pipes
      were widely used in the drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs), especially
      in the small-diameter pipes. In this study, the iron adsorptive characteristics
      and the affecting factors in unplasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC-U) pipe were
      investigated. Results showed that the average amount of iron in the 10-year-old
      PVC-U pipe's interior surface was 2.80 wt% which was almost 187 times larger than
      that in a new one. Goethite (alpha-FeOOH) and magnetite (Fe3O4) were the major
      iron compounds in the scales which covered on the old pipes' interior surface and
      showed loose and porous images under a scanning electron microscope. Moreover,
      the influence of the iron concentration on the adsorption amount and rate was
      discussed. The adsorption amount was significantly influenced by iron
      concentration, but similar adsorption rate was discovered. Notably, iron was
      quantitatively adsorbed by PVC-U pipe during the experimental period in
      accordance with the pseudo second order kinetic model. Meanwhile, regression
      model and response surface methodology were used to analyze the regular of iron
      adsorption in different concentrations of chloride (Cl-), sulfate (SO42-), and
      hydroxyl (OH-). It can be concluded that Cl- and OH- showed the strong ability of
      iron adsorption which were larger than SO42-.

PMID- 27628916
TI  - Hemochromatosis: a model of metal-related human toxicosis.
AB  - Many environmental agents, such as excessive alcohol intake, xenobiotics, and
      virus, are able to damage the human body, targeting especially the liver. Metal
      excess may also assault the liver. Thus, chronic iron overload may cause,
      especially when associated with cofactors, diffuse organ damage that is a source
      of significant morbidity and mortality. Iron excess can be either of acquired
      (mostly transfusional) or of genetic origin. Hemochromatosis is the archetype of
      genetic iron overload diseases and represents a serious health problem. A better
      understanding of iron metabolism has deeply modified the hemochromatosis field
      which today benefits from much more efficient diagnostic and therapeutic
      approaches.

PMID- 27628919
TI  - Soil aggregation and aggregate-associated carbon under four typical halophyte
      communities in an arid area.
AB  - The soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) is considered as a sensitive index of
      soil carbon ecosystem. The distribution of aggregate-associated MBC determines
      the capacity of the soil to store soil organic carbon (SOC). We compared soil
      aggregate-associated SOC and aggregate-associated MBC under four halophyte
      communities: Karelinia caspia (Pall.) Less. (Abbr. K. caspia), Bassia dasyphylla
      (Fisch. et C. A. Mey.) Kuntze. (Abbr. B. dasyphylla), Haloxylon ammodendron (C.
      A. Mey.) Bunge. (Abbr. H. ammodendron), and Tamarix ramosissima Lour (Abbr. T.
      ramosissima) on an alluvial fan in the Manasi River Basin, Xinjiang, China. The
      specific objectives of the study were to determine which aggregate size fraction
      was the most important for MBC and SOC retention in these soils of four halophyte
      communities. The results showed that the 0.053-0.25 mm fraction contained 47 to
      75 % of the total soil mass. The amount of soil in the 0.053-0.25 mm fraction was
      significantly greater than that in the >0.25 and the <0.053 mm fractions. The
      >0.25 and the <0.053 mm fractions contained 7.8 to 43.0 % of the soil mass.
      Aggregate-associated SOC concentrations ranged from 1.70 to 13.68 g kg-1, and the
      aggregate-associated SOC were the highest under the H. ammodendron and T.
      ramosissima communities. The aggregate-associated MBC ranged from 55.26 to 217.11
      g kg-1, and the aggregate-associated MBC were higher under the K. caspia and B.
      dasyphylla communities. The aggregate-associated SOC concentrations were
      significantly higher in the >0.25 and the <0.053 mm fractions than in the 0.053
      0.25 mm fraction. The aggregate-associated MBC in the 20-40 cm depth was
      consistent with its law. However, in the 0-20 cm depth, the aggregate-associated
      MBC concentrations were significantly higher in the >0.25 mm fraction than the
      other two aggregate fractions, and there were no significant differences in 0.25
      0.053 or <0.053 mm fraction. Correlation analyses showed that the aggregate
      associated MBC positively correlated with aggregate-associated SOC in >0.25 mm
      fraction (P < 0.01). The microbial entropies ranged from 1.12 to 4.17 %, and the
      microbial entropy generally was higher in >0.25 mm fraction. Overall, the H.
      ammodendron community had the higher aggregate-associated SOC and aggregate
      associated MBC, but the microbial entropy was low. This suggested that among the
      four halophyte communities in this study, the H. ammodendron community could be
      beneficial for soil carbon storage in arid regions.

PMID- 27628918
TI  - Adsorption characteristics of Pb2+ on natural black carbon extracted from
      different grain-size lake sediments.
AB  - As a major organic component in aquatic sediments, black carbon (BC) could act as
      super surface sorbent for contaminants in soils or sediments due to its
      relatively structured carbon matrix with high degree of porosity and extensive
      surface area. In this work, the adsorption characteristics of Pb2+ were studied
      using BCs as adsorbents, which were extracted from four particle sizes of
      sediment from Lake Wuliangsuhai (WLSH), under conditions of different pH, BC
      content, and ionic strength. The results showed BC content near to 1 % of
      sediments from WLSH, in which BC1, BC2, BC3, and BC4 composited about 1.8, 1.6,
      1.1, and 0.8 % in the sediment fractions of >180, 180-63, 63-32, and <32 MUm,
      respectively. The specific surface area and the Pb2+ sorption capacity were
      increased with decreasing the particle size of BCs. Correspondingly, the
      adsorption percentage of Pb2+ increased with increasing initial pH and BC content
      but declined as the increase of ionic strengths. The Pb2+ sorption capacity was
      reached maximum at pH 5-6. Compared pre- to post-sorption BCs by SEM-EDS and
      FTIR, although the carboxyl (C=O) and phenol (OH) groups on BC fractions
      contributed to Pb2+ sorption, the main adsorption mechanism of BCs was the
      surface sorption at pH <6. Relatively, the contribution of BCs accounted for
      about 18 % of Pb2+ sorption capacity on sediments. This work is helpful to
      understand the environmental effects of different size fractions BCs extracted
      from natural sediments.

PMID- 27628921
TI  - Ameliorative effect of synthetic gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on performance
      traits, antioxidant status and immune response in broiler exposed to cyclic heat
      stress.
AB  - The aim of this study was to find the effect of synthetic gamma-aminobutyric acid
      (GABA) on the performance, antioxidant status, and immune response in broiler
      exposed to summer stress. A total of 400-day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308)
      was randomly distributed into five treatments (5 replicates). One group served as
      a control (basal diet only) while the others were supplemented with GABA at the
      rate of 25 (GABA-25), 50 (GABA 50), 75 (GABA-75), and 100 (GABA-100) mg/kg feed.
      The experiment was continued for 35 days. Feed intake during the third week was
      significantly higher (P < 0.05) in GABA-75 and GABA-100, however, it increased
      significantly (P < 0.05) in GABA-100 during the fourth and fifth week. Overall
      mean feed intake was significantly (P < 0.05) high in GABA-75 and GABA-100. From
      the results, we found that body weight improved significantly (P < 0.05) in GABA
      50 in week-3. During the fourth, fifth, and overall, body weight increased
      significantly (P < 0.05) in GABA-100. Significantly, high (P < 0.05) feed
      conversion ratio (FCR) was found in GABA-100 during the third, fourth, fifth, and
      on an overall basis. Mean Malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased significantly (P <
      0.05) in GABA-100 while Paraoxonase (PON1) and Newcastle disease (ND) titer
      increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the same group. We concluded that
      performance traits, antioxidant status, and immune response improved in broiler
      supplemented 100 mg/kg GABA, exposed to cyclic heat stress.

PMID- 27628922
TI  - Remediation by chemical reduction in laboratory mesocosms of three chlordecone
      contaminated tropical soils.
AB  - Chlordecone (CLD), a highly persistent organochlorine pesticide commonly
      encountered in French West Indies (FWI) agricultural soils, represents a major
      source of contamination of FWI ecosystems. The potential of chemical reduction
      for remediation of CLD-contaminated soil has been investigated in laboratory
      pilot-scale 80 kg mesocosms for andosol, ferralsol, and nitisol from FWI banana
      plantations. Six cycles consisting of a 3-week reducing phase followed by a 1
      week oxidizing phase were applied, with 2 % (dw/dw) Daramend(r) (organic plant
      matter fortified with zero valent iron) added at the start of each cycle.
      Complementary amendments of zero valent iron and zinc (total of 3 % dw/dw) were
      added at the start of the first three cycles. After the 6-month treatment, the
      CLD soil concentration was lowered by 74 % in nitisol, 71 % in ferralsol, and 22
      % in andosol. Eleven CLD-dechlorinated transformation products, from mono- to
      penta-dechlorinated, were identified. None of them accumulated over the duration
      of the experiment. Six of the seven ecotoxicological tests applied showed no
      difference between the control and treated soils. The treatment applied in this
      study may offer a means to remediate CLD-contaminated soils, especially nitisol
      and ferralsol.

PMID- 27628923
TI  - Photocatalytic air purifiers for indoor air: European standard and pilot room
      experiments.
AB  - At the European level (CEN/TC386), some efforts are currently devoted to new
      standards for comparing the efficiency of commercial photocatalytic
      material/devices in various application fields. Concerning prototype or
      commercial indoor photocatalytic air purifiers designed for volatile organic
      compounds (VOC) abatement, the methodology is based on a laboratory airtight
      chamber. The photocatalytic function is demonstrated by the mineralization of a
      mixture of five VOCs. Experimental data were obtained for four selected
      commercial devices and three commercial materials: drop of VOC concentration, but
      also identification of secondary species (with special attention to
      formaldehyde), mineralization rates, and Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). With two
      efficient air purifiers, these laboratory experiments were compared to the
      results in two experimental rooms (35-40 m3) where air pollution was introduced
      through wooden floor and furniture. The systems' ageing was also studied. The
      safety of the commercial products was also assessed by the determination of
      nanoparticle release. Standardized tests are useful to rank photocatalytic air
      purifiers and passive materials and to discard inefficient ones. A good
      correlation between the standard experiments and the experimental room
      experiments was found, even if in the latter case, the concentration of lower
      weight VOCs drops less quickly than that of heavier VOCs.

PMID- 27628920
TI  - Breast cancer and persistent organic pollutants (excluding DDT): a systematic
      literature review.
AB  - Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a group of heterogeneous compounds of
      both natural and anthropogenic origin with highly persistent and bioaccumulative
      properties. They cause a range of adverse effects to human health and the
      environment around the world. There is growing concern that POPs may increase
      breast cancer risk due to their xenoestrogenic properties. The aim of this
      systematic literature review is to summarize and integrate the risks of breast
      cancer following environmental exposure to POPs (other than DDT) from primary
      epidemiological studies published between 2006 and 2015. After searching various
      databases, 14 case-control studies and one cohort study were included. Evidence
      of an association between increased breast cancer risk and environmental exposure
      to these chemicals is inconsistent and inadequate to conclude with certainty.
      However, most of the studies have examined exposure to the pollutants after
      diagnosis of breast cancer, overlooking exposure during critical windows of
      vulnerability. They have also largely focused on individual chemicals but ignored
      the combined effects of different chemicals. Therefore, major data gaps remain in
      examining exposure during critical windows of vulnerability and assessing
      combined effects of multiple chemicals. Development of better exposure assessment
      methods addressing these gaps is required for future research.

PMID- 27628924
TI  - Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)/metribuzin formulations: characterization, controlled
      release properties, herbicidal activity, and effect on soil microorganisms.
AB  - Slow-release formulations of the herbicide metribuzin (MET) embedded in the
      polymer matrix of degradable poly-3-hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB)] in the form of
      microparticles, films, microgranules, and pellets were developed and tested. The
      kinetics of polymer degradation, MET release, and accumulation in soil were
      studied in laboratory soil microecosystems with higher plants. The study shows
      that MET release can be controlled by using different techniques of constructing
      formulations and by varying MET loading. MET accumulation in soil occurs
      gradually, as the polymer is degraded. The average P(3HB) degradation rates were
      determined by the geometry of the formulation, reaching 0.17, 0.12, 0.04, and
      0.05 mg/day after 60 days for microparticles, films, microgranules, and pellets,
      respectively. The herbicidal activities of P(3HB)/MET formulations and commercial
      formulation Sencor Ultra were tested on the Agrostis stolonifera and Setaria
      macrocheata plants. The parameters used to evaluate the herbicidal activity were
      plant density and the weight of fresh green biomass measured at days 10, 20, and
      30 after sowing. All P(3HB)/MET formulations had pronounced herbicidal activity,
      which varied depending on MET loading and the stage of the experiment. In the
      early phases of the experiment, the herbicidal effect of P(3HB)/MET formulations
      with the lowest MET loading (10 %) was comparable with that of the commercial
      formulation. The herbicidal effect of P(3HB)/MET formulations with higher MET
      loadings (25 and 50 %) at later stages of the experiment were stronger than the
      effect of Sencor Ultra.

PMID- 27628926
TI  - OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY ASSESSMENT OF VASCULAR EFFECTS OCCURRING
      AFTER AFLIBERCEPT INTRAVITREAL INJECTIONS IN TREATMENT-NAIVE PATIENTS WITH WET
      AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate vessel changes occurring after aflibercept injections in
      treatment-naive exudative age-related macular degeneration patients. METHODS:
      Fifteen eyes of 15 patients affected by wet age-related macular degeneration were
      enrolled in the study. All the patients had a diagnosis of Type 1 choroidal
      neovascularization and were treated with 3 monthly aflibercept intravitreal
      injections (IVI). Subjects were evaluated by means of optical coherence
      tomography angiography at baseline, the day after the first injection and one
      month after both the first and the second IVI. At last, all the patients were
      followed up to 2 months after the third IVI. RESULTS: Foveal superficial vascular
      plexus flow density was 29.01% (21.13-37.32%) at baseline and was significantly
      reduced as soon as 1 month after the first IVI (median: 20.78%; interquartile
      range: 14.75-23.13%; P = 0.017). Parafoveal superficial vascular plexus flow
      density was 47.09% (44.91-51.72%) at baseline and significantly decreased as soon
      as 1 month after the second IVI (median: 44.40%; interquartile range: 41.59
      49.29%; P = 0.034). Choroidal neovascularization lesion area remained stable
      throughout the follow-up. Nevertheless, interestingly, choroidal
      neovascularization flow area was significantly reduced as soon as the next day
      the first IVI (median: 0.37 mm and interquartile range: 0.27-0.72 mm at baseline;
      median: 0.30 mm and interquartile range: 0.24-0.64 mm at 1 day after the first
      IVI; P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Intravitreal aflibercept injections are associated
      with a significant change in native retinal and choroidal vasculature. Moreover,
      the treatment did not cause a reduction in lesion area, but rather reduced the
      flow in the choroidal neovascularization.

PMID- 27628925
TI  - Enniatin B and beauvericin are common in Danish cereals and show high
      hepatotoxicity on a high-content imaging platform.
AB  - Mycotoxins are fungi-born metabolites that can contaminate foods through mould
      infected crops. They are a significant food/feed-safety issue across the globe
      and represent a substantial financial burden for the world economy. Moreover,
      with a changing climate and fungal biota, there is now much discussion about
      emerging mycotoxins that are measurable at significant levels in crops world
      wide. Unfortunately, we still know very little about the bioavailability and
      toxic potentials of many of these less characterized mycotoxins, including the
      large family of enniatins. In this study, we present new occurrence data for
      enniatin A, A1, B, B1 and beauvericin in four Danish crops: oat, wheat, and
      barley from the 2010 harvest, and rye from 2011 harvest. The occurrence of the
      four enniatins were B > B1 > A1 > A. Enniatin B was detected in 100% of tested
      samples regardless of crop type. In addition to occurrence data, we report a
      proof-of-concept study using a human-relevant high-content hepatotoxicity, or
      "quadroprobe," assay to screen mycotoxins for their cytotoxic potential. The
      assay was sensitive for most cytotoxic compounds in the 0.009-100 uM range. Among
      eight tested mycotoxins (enniatin B, beauvericin, altenariol, deoxynivalenol,
      aflatoxin B1, andrastin A, citrinin, and penicillic acid), enniatin B and
      beauvericin showed significant cytotoxicity at a concentration lower than that
      for aflatoxin B1, which is the archetypal acute hepatotoxic and liver
      carcinogenic mycotoxin. Hence, the quadroprobe hepatotoxicity assay may become a
      valuable assessment tool for toxicity assessment of mycotoxins in the future. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 1658-1664, 2017.

PMID- 27628928
TI  - 5-HT3 Receptor Antagonists for the Prevention of Perioperative Shivering: A Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the preventive efficacy and safety
      of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists (5-HT3 RAs) on perioperative shivering. Relevant
      databases were searched to identify eligible randomized, controlled trials
      through January 2016. Primary outcome was the incidence of perioperative
      shivering, and secondary outcomes were the incidence of safety-related outcomes
      including postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), bradycardia, and hypotension.
      We calculated risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for
      dichotomous data. Trial sequential analysis was performed to assess the risk of
      random errors and calculate the required information size. Sixteen studies with a
      total of 1126 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with the
      control group, 5-HT3 RAs administered intravenously could statistically
      significantly reduce the incidence of perioperative shivering (RR, 0.44; 95%CI,
      0.35 to 0.56; P < .00001; heterogeneity: I2 = 30%) as well as PONV (RR, 0.52;
      95%CI, 0.28 to 0.97; P = .04; heterogeneity: I2 = 0%). However, they did not show
      superiority in lowering the rate of bradycardia (RR, 0.75; 95%CI, 0.38 to 1.49; P
      = 0.42; heterogeneity: I2 = 0%) or hypotension (RR, 0.79; 95%CI, 0.44 to 1.43; P
      = .44; heterogeneity: I2 = 24%). Trial sequential analysis of primary outcome
      showed that the required information size was 2634 patients and that the trial
      sequential monitoring boundary was crossed. Thus, more high-quality randomized,
      controlled trials with larger sample sizes are still required to draw a definite
      conclusion about the preventive efficacy of 5-HT3 RAs on perioperative shivering
      prevention in the future.

PMID- 27628927
TI  - CreA is directly involved in pullulan biosynthesis and regulation of
      Aureobasidium melanogenum P16.
AB  - Aureobasidium melanogenum P16 is a high pullulan-producing yeast. However,
      glucose repression on its pullulan biosynthesis must be relieved. After the gene
      encoding a glucose repressor was cloned, characterized and analyzed, it was found
      that the repressor belonged to one member of the CreA in filamentous fungi, not
      to one member of the Mig1 in yeasts. After the CREA gene was fully removed from
      the yeast strain P16, the glucose repression in the disruptant DG41 was relieved.
      At the same time, the pullulan production by the disruptant DG41 was enhanced
      compared to that by its wild-type strain P16, and the transcriptional levels of
      the gene encoding a glucosyltransferase, three genes encoding glucose
      transporters, the gene encoding a 6-P-glucose kinase and the genes encoding alpha
      amylase, glucoamylase and pullulanase in the disruptant DG41 were also promoted.
      However, the transcriptional levels of the genes encoding the CreA and another
      two glucose transporters were greatly reduced. During the 10-liter fermentation,
      the disruptant DG41 produced 64.93 +/- 1.33 g/l pullulan from 120 g/l of glucose,
      while its wild-type strain P16 produced only 52.0 +/- 1.95 g/l pullulan within
      132 h. After the CREA gene was complemented in the disruptant D373, the pullulan
      production by the transformant BC4 was greatly reduced compared to that by its
      wild-type strain P16, and the transcriptional levels of the many genes in the
      transformant BC4 were also decreased. All the results confirmed that the CreA
      played an important role in the regulation of pullulan biosynthesis in A.
      melanogenum P16, and that glucose derepression on pullulan biosynthesis could
      improve pullulan production from glucose. This study opened the possibility for
      improving the industrial production of this exopolysaccharide by genetic
      engineering.

PMID- 27628929
TI  - Development and Characterization of Oral Spray for Stomatitis Containing
      Irsogladine Maleate.
AB  - The stomatitis caused by anticancer agents and radiation therapy deteriorates
      patient QOL, potentially causing eating disorders as a result of pain. Although
      gargling and ointments can be used in the treatment of stomatitis, patients must
      spit out mouthwash after use, while ointment application requires a finger to be
      inserted into the oral cavity. In contrast, sprays eliminate these potential
      compliance problems. Therefore, we developed a stomatitis spray that remains on
      the oral mucosa. It has been reported that irsogladine maleate (IM) is effective
      against stomatitis via oral administration. IM is water insoluble; thus, it was
      dissolved with various cyclodextrins (CDs). Furthermore, we examined combination
      with gum ghatti (GG), a mucoadhesive polymer. The interaction between mucin and
      GG was examined by Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring. We
      found that GG exhibited mucoadhesion. Furthermore, we examined the healing
      effects of IM on stomatitis in a stomatitis model hamster. We found that
      stomatitis healed after direct application of IM. However, the model used in this
      experiment is not based on stomatitis caused by anticancer agents. Further study
      is therefore necessary.

PMID- 27628930
TI  - Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytological Diagnosis in Multiple Myeloma With Leptomeningeal
      Involvement: A Report of Two Cases.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) with central nervous system (CNS) infiltration is uncommon
      and the diagnosis is more complicated than that of MM. Here we report two cases
      of CNS MM that was diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid cytology examination.
      Cerebrospinal fluid cytology examination can help to detect malignant cells and
      immunocytochemistry stain is of great value in identifying an unknown tumor.
      Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:66-68. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27628931
TI  - Parent, Teacher, and School Stakeholder Perspectives on Adolescent Pregnancy
      Prevention Programming for Latino Youth.
AB  - Teen pregnancy remains a public health concern particularly among Latinos, whose
      pregnancy rate of 83.5 per 1000 girls constitutes one of the highest rates of
      teen pregnancy among all ethnic and racial groups in the United States. To
      enhance the effectiveness of interventions for diverse Latino populations in the
      US, it is crucial to assess the community's understanding of the etiology of the
      problem of adolescent pregnancy and to implement programs that reflect the local
      community's beliefs and preferences. We present findings from six focus groups
      held with parents (n = 18), teachers (n = 23) and school stakeholders (n = 8)
      regarding teen pregnancy prevention among Latino youth at a high school located
      in a large, Midwestern city. Two investigators analyzed data iteratively using a
      template organizing approach. A consensus emerged across the groups regarding
      content that emphasized respect for oneself and one's family, a focus on personal
      and shared responsibility in reproductive health behavior, information about the
      "realities" or consequences associated with engaging in sexual activity, and
      information about contraceptives. The strong request from participants to include
      a parental education component reflects the community's belief that parents play
      a crucial, protective role in the socialization and development of adolescent
      sexual behavior, a view that is supported by empirical research. Findings
      highlight the importance of involving local school communities in identifying
      adolescent pregnancy prevention strategies that are responsive to the community's
      cultural values, beliefs, and preferences, as well as the school's capacity and
      teacher preferences.

PMID- 27628932
TI  - Fine-tuning of amino sugar homeostasis by EIIA(Ntr) in Salmonella Typhimurium.
AB  - The nitrogen-metabolic phosphotransferase system, PTS(Ntr), consists of the
      enzymes I(Ntr), NPr and IIA(Ntr) that are encoded by ptsP, ptsO, and ptsN,
      respectively. Due to the proximity of ptsO and ptsN to rpoN, the PTS(Ntr) system
      has been postulated to be closely related with nitrogen metabolism. To define the
      correlation between PTS(Ntr) and nitrogen metabolism, we performed ligand fishing
      with EIIA(Ntr) as a bait and revealed that D-glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase
      (GlmS) directly interacted with EIIA(Ntr). GlmS, which converts D-fructose-6
      phosphate (Fru6P) into D-glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN6P), is a key enzyme
      producing amino sugars through glutamine hydrolysis. Amino sugar is an essential
      structural building block for bacterial peptidoglycan and LPS. We further
      verified that EIIA(Ntr) inhibited GlmS activity by direct interaction in a
      phosphorylation-state-dependent manner. EIIA(Ntr) was dephosphorylated in
      response to excessive nitrogen sources and was rapidly degraded by Lon protease
      upon amino sugar depletion. The regulation of GlmS activity by EIIA(Ntr) and the
      modulation of glmS translation by RapZ suggest that the genes comprising the rpoN
      operon play a key role in maintaining amino sugar homeostasis in response to
      nitrogen availability and the amino sugar concentration in the bacterial
      cytoplasm.

PMID- 27628933
TI  - Double-Network Hydrogel with Tunable Mechanical Performance and Biocompatibility
      for the Fabrication of Stem Cells-Encapsulated Fibers and 3D Assemble.
AB  - Fabrication of cell-encapsulated fibers could greatly contribute to tissue
      engineering and regenerative medicine. However, existing methods suffered from
      not only unavoidability of cell damaging conditions and/or sophisticated
      equipment, but also unavailability of proper materials to satisfy both mechanical
      and biological expectations. In this work, a simple method is proposed to prepare
      cell-encapsulated fibers with tunable mechanical strength and stretching behavior
      as well as diameter and microstructure. The hydrogel fibers are made from optimal
      combination of alginate and poly(N-iso-propylacrylamide)-poly(ethylene glycol),
      characteristics of double-network hydrogel, with enough stiffness and flexibility
      to create a variety of three dimensional structures like parallel helical and
      different knots without crack. Furthermore, such hydrogel fibers exhibit better
      compatibility as indicated by the viability, proliferation and expression of
      pluripotency markers of embryonic stem cells encapsulated after 4-day culture.
      The double-network hydrogel possesses specific quick responses to either of
      alginate lyase, EDTA or lower environmental temperature which facilitate the
      optional degradation of fibers or fibrous assemblies to release the cells
      encapsulated for subsequent assay or treatment.

PMID- 27628934
TI  - SpineCreator: a Graphical User Interface for the Creation of Layered Neural
      Models.
AB  - There is a growing requirement in computational neuroscience for tools that
      permit collaborative model building, model sharing, combining existing models
      into a larger system (multi-scale model integration), and are able to simulate
      models using a variety of simulation engines and hardware platforms. Layered XML
      model specification formats solve many of these problems, however they are
      difficult to write and visualise without tools. Here we describe a new graphical
      software tool, SpineCreator, which facilitates the creation and visualisation of
      layered models of point spiking neurons or rate coded neurons without requiring
      the need for programming. We demonstrate the tool through the reproduction and
      visualisation of published models and show simulation results using code
      generation interfaced directly into SpineCreator. As a unique application for the
      graphical creation of neural networks, SpineCreator represents an important step
      forward for neuronal modelling.

PMID- 27628935
TI  - The Nucleophilicity of Persistent alpha-Monofluoromethide Anions.
AB  - alpha-Fluorocarbanions are key intermediates in nucleophilic fluoroalkylation
      reactions. Although frequently discussed, the origin of the fluorine effect on
      the reactivity of alpha-fluorinated CH acids has remained largely unexplored. We
      have now investigated the kinetics of a series of reactions of alpha-substituted
      carbanions with reference electrophiles to elucidate the effects of alpha-F,
      alpha-Cl, and alpha-OMe substituents on the nucleophilic reactivities of
      carbanions.

PMID- 27628936
TI  - Reversible Deactivation of Enzymes by Redox-Responsive Nanogel Carriers.
AB  - Novel redox-responsive polymeric nanogels that allow highly efficient enzyme
      encapsulation and reversible modulation of enzyme activity are developed. The
      nanogel synthesis and encapsulation of enzyme are performed simultaneously via in
      situ crosslinking of pyridyldisulfide-functionalized water-soluble reactive
      copolymers, which are synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain
      transfer copolymerization. Obtained nanogels with loaded cellulase demonstrate
      very good colloidal stability in aqueous solutions. The enzymatic activity of
      cellulase is greatly reduced when encapsulated in the nanogels and rapidly
      recovered in 10 * 10-3 m dithiothreitol solution. Fluorescence resonance energy
      transfer (FRET)-based experiments indicate that the recovered enzymatic activity
      is mainly ascribed to the release of the enzyme due to the degradation of the
      disulfide crosslinking network after addition of dithiothreitol (DTT), instead of
      the enhanced substrate transport rate. The developed enzyme immobilization method
      opens new possibilities for reversible activation/deactivation of enzymes and
      opens up new directions for targeted protein therapy and biotechnology
      applications.

PMID- 27628937
TI  - Postvoid abdominal pain may be a symptom of spontaneous bladder rupture.

PMID- 27628938
TI  - Brief Report: Autism Symptoms in Infants with Fragile X Syndrome.
AB  - Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common known genetic cause of autism
      spectrum disorder (ASD). Although 50-75 % of children with FXS meet ASD criteria,
      no studies have compared ASD symptoms in infants with FXS versus other high risk
      groups, such as siblings of children with ASD (ASIBs). Using the Autism
      Observation Scale for Infants, our findings indicate that 53 % of 12-month
      infants with FXS fall in the "at risk" category compared to 17 and 6 % for age
      matched ASIBs and controls, respectively. Elevated atypical motor behaviors were
      associated with elevated risk for FXS. Cross-syndrome comparisons are essential
      to understanding the heterogeneity of ASD and identifying candidate markers that
      will facilitate differential diagnosis of ASD in genetic disorders such as FXS.

PMID- 27628939
TI  - Cognitive and Adaptive Skills in Toddlers Who Meet Criteria for Autism in DSM-IV
      but not DSM-5.
AB  - The current study compared adaptive and cognitive skills, and autism severity of
      toddlers with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis under DSM-IV but not
      DSM-5 criteria (DSM-IV only group) to those who met autism criteria under both
      diagnostic systems (DSM-5 group) and to those without ASD (non-ASD group). The
      toddlers in the DSM-IV only group were less delayed on various domains of
      adaptive (Communication, Socialization) and cognitive (Expressive and Receptive
      language, Fine Motor, Visual Reception) skills, and had less severe symptoms of
      ASD than the DSM-5 group. Thus, they might have the best potential for successful
      intervention. The DSM-IV only group did not differ from the non-ASD group in any
      adaptive or cognitive skills except for socialization skills, the hallmark of
      ASD.

PMID- 27628941
TI  - UK revalidation changes lacked evidence.

PMID- 27628942
TI  - An open source solution for an in-house built dynamic platform for the validation
      of stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy for VMAT and IMRT.
AB  - An in-house solution for the verification of dose delivered to a moving phantom
      as required for the clinical implementation of lung stereotactic ablative body
      radiation therapy was developed. The superior-inferior movement required to
      simulate tumour motion during a normal breathing cycle was achieved via the novel
      use of an Arduino UnoTM, a low-cost open-source microcontroller board connected
      to a high torque servo motor. Slow CT imaging was used to acquire the image set
      and a 4D cone beam CT (4D-CBCT) verified the efficacy of contoured margins before
      treatment on the moving phantom. Treatment fields were delivered to a section of
      a CIRSTM anthropomorphic phantom. Dose verification to the dynamic phantom with
      Gafchromic EBT3 film using 3 %-1 mm gamma analysis acceptance criteria registered
      an absolute dose pass rate for IMRT and VMAT of 98 and 96.6 %, respectively. It
      was verified that 100 % of the PTV received the prescribed dose of 12 Gy per
      fraction using the dynamic phantom, and no major discrepancy between planned and
      measured results due to interplay between multileaf collimator sequences and
      target motion was observed. This study confirmed that the use of an in-house
      solution using open source hardware and software with existing quality assurance
      equipment was appropriate in validating a new treatment technique.

PMID- 27628940
TI  - A Replication and Extension of the PEERS(r) for Young Adults Social Skills
      Intervention: Examining Effects on Social Skills and Social Anxiety in Young
      Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Young adults with ASD experience difficulties with social skills, empathy,
      loneliness, and social anxiety. One intervention, PEERS(r) for Young Adults,
      shows promise in addressing these challenges. The present study replicated and
      extended the original study by recruiting a larger sample (N = 56), employing a
      gold standard ASD assessment tool, and examining changes in social anxiety
      utilizing a randomized controlled trial design. Results indicated improvements in
      social responsiveness (SSIS-RS SS, p = .006 and CPB, p = .005; SRS, p = .004),
      PEERS(r) knowledge (TYASSK, p = .001), empathy (EQ, p = .044), direct
      interactions (QSQ-YA, p = .059), and social anxiety (LSAS-SR, p = .019). Findings
      demonstrate further empirical support for the intervention for individuals with
      ASD.

PMID- 27628943
TI  - Investigation of mass attenuation coefficient of almond gum bonded Rhizophora
      spp. particleboard as equivalent human tissue using XRF technique in the 16.6
      25.3 keV photon energy.
AB  - This paper reports the novel use of almond gum as a binder in manufacturing
      Rhizophora spp. particleboard. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was employed for
      analysis under photon energy range of 16.6-25.3 keV. Results showed that almond
      gum-bonded Rhizophora spp. particleboard can be used as tissue-equivalent phantom
      in diagnostic radiation. The calculated mass attenuation coefficients of the
      particleboards were consistent with the values of water calculated using XCOM
      program for the same photon energies, with p values of 0.056, 0.069, and 0.077
      for samples A8, C0, and C8, respectively. However, no direct relationship was
      found between the percentage of adhesive and the mass attenuation coefficient.
      The results positively supported the use of almond gum as a binding agent in the
      fabrication of particleboards, which can be used as a phantom material in
      dosimetric and quality control applications.

PMID- 27628944
TI  - Painful ophthalmoplegia as an initial presentation of sarcoidosis.

PMID- 27628945
TI  - MicroRNAs as biomarkers and regulators of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a complicated disease affected by the
      interaction of environmental and genetic factors; however, the precise
      pathogenesis of the disease has not been fully determined. There is a need to
      better understand the pathogenesis of NAFLD and to identify non-invasive
      diagnostic modalities. Recent advances in systematic biology and epigenetics have
      improved our understanding of the genotype-phenotype relationships in NAFLD.
      MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of a wide range of biological
      processes. MiRNAs are extremely stable and protect from RNAase-mediated
      degradation in body fluids, making them attractive candidate biomarkers for the
      early detection of the disease and the monitoring of disease progression. In this
      review, we summarized the current knowledge on miRNAs as potential biomarkers of
      NAFLD at different stages and for the prognosis of advanced diseases.
      Furthermore, we discussed the implications of miRNAs that functioning in lipid
      metabolism and hepatic steatosis as well as in hepatic inflammation and fibrosis
      with regard to the pathogenesis of NAFLD.

PMID- 27628946
TI  - Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of C1 - and C2 -Symmetric Spirobiindanones
      through Counterion-Directed Enolate C-Acylation.
AB  - A catalytic enantioselective route to C1 - and C2 -symmetric 2,2'
      spirobiindanones has been realized through an intramolecular enolate C-acylation.
      This reaction employs a chiral ammonium counterion to direct the acylation of an
      in situ generated ketone enolate with a pentafluorophenyl ester. This reaction
      constitutes the first example of a direct catalytic enantioselective C-acylation
      of a ketone and provides an efficient and highly enantioselective route to
      axially chiral spirobiindanediones. These products can be diastereoselectively
      derivatized, offering access to a range of functionalized spirocyclic
      architectures.

PMID- 27628947
TI  - Weight loss versus muscle loss: re-evaluating inclusion criteria for future
      cancer cachexia interventional trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: Participation in cancer cachexia clinical trials requires a defined
      weight loss (WL) over time. A loss in skeletal muscle mass, measured by cross
      sectional computed tomography (CT) image analysis, represents a possible
      alternative. Our aim was to compare WL versus muscle loss in patients who were
      screened to participate in a cancer cachexia clinical trial. METHODS: This was a
      single-center, retrospective analysis in metastatic colorectal cancer patients
      screened for an interventional cancer cachexia trial requiring a >=5 % WL over
      the preceding 6 months. Concurrent CT images obtained as part of standard
      oncology care were analyzed for changes in total muscle and fat (visceral,
      subcutaneous, and total). RESULTS: Of patients screened (n = 36), 3 (8 %)
      enrolled in the trial, 17 (47 %) were excluded due to insufficient WL (<5 %), 3
      (8 %) were excluded due to excessive WL (>20 %), and 16 (44 %) met inclusion
      criteria for WL. Patients who met screening criteria for WL (5-20 %) had a mean
      +/- SD of 7.7 +/- 8.7 % muscle loss, 24.4 +/- 37.5 % visceral adipose loss, 21.6
      +/- 22.3 % subcutaneous adipose loss, and 22.1 +/- 24.7 % total adipose loss.
      Patients excluded due to insufficient WL had 2 +/- 6.4 % muscle loss, but a gain
      of 8.5 +/- 39.8 % visceral adipose, and 4.2 +/- 28.2 % subcutaneous adipose loss
      and 0.8 +/- 28.4 % total adipose loss. Of the patients excluded due to WL <5 % (n
      = 17), 7 (41 %) had a skeletal muscle loss >5 %. CONCLUSIONS: Defining cancer
      cachexia by WL over time may be limited as it does not capture skeletal muscle
      loss. Cross-sectional CT body composition analysis may improve early detection of
      muscle loss and patient participation in future cancer cachexia clinical trials.

PMID- 27628948
TI  - The Emerging Role of the Hippo Pathway in Lung Cancers: Clinical Implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of lung cancers has increased globally. Increased
      exposure to tobacco, passive smoking, less consumption of vegetables and fruits
      and occupational exposure to asbestos, arsenic and chromium are the main risk
      factors. The pathophysiology of lung cancer is complex and not well understood.
      Various microRNAs, genes and pathways are associated with lung cancers. The genes
      involved in lung cancers produce proteins involved in cell growth,
      differentiation, different cell cycles, apoptosis, immune modulation, tumor
      spread and progression. The Hippo pathway (also known as the Salvador-Warts-Hippo
      pathway) is the latest emerging concept in cancers. The Hippo pathway plays an
      important role in controlling the size of the tissue and organ by virtue of its
      action on cell proliferation and apoptosis. OBJECTIVE: In the present review, we
      highlight the mammalian Hippo pathway, role of its core members, its upstream
      regulators, downstream effectors and the resistance cases in lung cancers.
      RESULTS: Specific interaction of Mer with cell surface hyaluronan receptor CD44
      is vital in cell contact inhibition, thereby activating Hippo pathway. Both
      transcription co-activators YAP and TAZ (also known as WWTR1, being homologs of
      Drosophila Yki) are important regulators of proliferation and apoptosis, and
      serve as major downstream effectors of the Hippo pathway. Mutation of NF2, the
      upstream regulator of Hippo pathway is linked to the cancers. CONCLUSION:
      Targeting YAP and TAZ may be important for future drug delivery and treatment.

PMID- 27628949
TI  - Grading lung neuroendocrine tumors: Controversies in search of a solution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathological grading of tumors is a way to measure biological
      aggressiveness. In lung neuroendocrine tumors (NET), grading is tautologically
      included into the current 2015 WHO histologic classification. Little is known,
      however, about alternative grading systems in lung NET. METHODS: Through an
      extensive search of the English literature on lung NET (updated to April 2016),
      the following key questions were addressed: a) current concepts of grading; b)
      clinicians' requests for grading; c) functional parameters for grading; d) Ki-67
      labeling index (LI) for grading; e) towards an effective pathology grading
      system. RESULTS: There is some room for inconsistency in the histologic
      classification of lung NET, likely due to the varying attribution of defining
      criteria. Innovative diffusion-weighted imaging upon magnetic resonance or
      molecular analysis could help separate indolent from aggressive lung NET, thus
      integrating a grading approach other than histology. Troubles in the clinical
      handling of metastatic or individual tumors when relying on morphology alone
      support the development of a lung-specific grading system for the more accurate
      prediction of prognosis and planning therapy in individual patients. To integrate
      the 2015 WHO classification using innovative grading based on Ki-67 LI, mitotic
      count and necrosis, a new proposal is emerging where three categories of lung NET
      are identified, namely Lu-NET G1, Lu-NET G2 and Lu-NET G3, which would allow
      tumors with similar behavior and therapy to be better handled according to their
      own biological potential. CONCLUSION: This new formulation of lung NET grading
      could have clinical relevance for the individual handling of patients.

PMID- 27628950
TI  - The clinical microbiologist before the taxonomic changes in the genus
      Clostridium.
AB  - The various species included in the genus Clostridium are very heterogeneous,
      both from a phenotypic and a phylogenetic point of view. The advances in
      polyphasic taxonomy, particularly in phylogeny, are allowing to resolve this
      dysfunction reclassifying several species in other genres, although there is
      still work to be done. Changes in generic denominations are quite normal in
      taxonomy, but can turn into a problem when they affect species with strong
      clinical impact and that have been recognised for a long time, as in the case of
      some traditional Clostridium species. After knowing these changes clinical
      microbiologists, in whose work taxonomy is an essential tool, should evaluate
      what matters most, if the communication with other health professionals or the
      phylogeny, and think about the possibility of combining both things. This paper
      reviews some of the taxonomic changes that have took place in well-known
      Clostridium species that can be clinically interesting and evaluates, as far as
      possible, their significance in the scientific and medical communication. 

PMID- 27628951
TI  - Quantitative transfer of polar analytes on a solid surface to a liquid matrix in
      MALDI profiling.
AB  - In profiling of a specimen by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI)
      using a solid matrix, the solvent of the matrix solution extracts an analyte(s).
      A quantitative profiling cannot be achieved if the solvent evaporates before the
      complete extraction of the analyte. The extraction can become more quantitative
      when a liquid matrix dissolved in a solvent is used, which remains a liquid even
      after the evaporation of the solvent. To check this, radii of an analyte circle
      (rA ), a matrix solution drop (rD ) and a liquid matrix (rM ) remaining after the
      solvent evaporation were controlled. Three types of samples were prepared, case A
      (rA , rD  < rM ), case B (rD  <= rM  < rA ) and case C (rM  < rD  < rA ). In case
      A, the analyte amount in the matrix layer determined by MALDI was the same as the
      prepared amount inside the analyte circle. In case B, the analyte amount was the
      same as the amount inside the matrix circle. Only the analytes in contact with
      the liquid matrix layer, not more and not less, are transferred to the matrix
      layer. In case C, the analyte amount was greater than the amount inside the
      matrix circle, presumably because some of the analyte outside the matrix circle
      was dissolved by the solvent of the matrix solution. Copyright (c) 2016 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27628952
TI  - Recent developments of genetically encoded optical sensors for cell biology.
AB  - Optical sensors are powerful tools for live cell research as they permit to
      follow the location, concentration changes or activities of key cellular players
      such as lipids, ions and enzymes. Most of the current sensor probes are based on
      fluorescence which provides great spatial and temporal precision provided that
      high-end microscopy is used and that the timescale of the event of interest fits
      the response time of the sensor. Many of the sensors developed in the past 20
      years are genetically encoded. There is a diversity of designs leading to simple
      or sometimes complicated applications for the use in live cells. Genetically
      encoded sensors began to emerge after the discovery of fluorescent proteins,
      engineering of their improved optical properties and the manipulation of their
      structure through application of circular permutation. In this review, we will
      describe a variety of genetically encoded biosensor concepts, including those for
      intensiometric and ratiometric sensors based on single fluorescent proteins,
      Forster resonance energy transfer-based sensors, sensors utilising
      bioluminescence, sensors using self-labelling SNAP- and CLIP-tags, and finally
      tetracysteine-based sensors. We focus on the newer developments and discuss the
      current approaches and techniques for design and application. This will
      demonstrate the power of using optical sensors in cell biology and will help
      opening the field to more systematic applications in the future.

PMID- 27628954
TI  - Implantation Failure Is Associated With Increased alpha-Inhibin and beta-Glycan
      Gene Expression in Secretory Phase Endometrium: Nested Case-Control Study of
      Infertile Women Undergoing IVF/Fresh Embryo Transfer.
AB  - Embryo implantation involves a complex sequence of events, and a large amount of
      molecules have been postulated to be involved in the interaction of embryo and
      endometrium. This study evaluated the endometrial expression of alpha-inhibin and
      beta-glycan in the mid-secretory phase of women scheduled to in vitro
      fertilization (IVF) and tested whether these markers are associated with
      implantation failure. We performed a nested case-control study including 52 women
      submitted to IVF and embryo transfer, divided into 2 groups: cases with
      implantation failure (n = 33) and controls with confirmed clinical pregnancy (n =
      19). Endometrial alpha-inhibin and beta-glycan gene expression was evaluated in
      the mid-secretory phase of the natural menstrual cycle immediately before IVF,
      using real-time polymerase chain reaction. We found a higher gene expression of
      alpha-inhibin (fold increase = 2.14 +/- 0.32, P < .05) and beta-glycan (fold
      increase = 1.44 +/- 0.16, P < .05) in implantation failure patients compared to
      confirmed clinical pregnancy patients. The areas under the receiver operating
      characteristics curves for prediction of implantation failure in this context
      were 0.692 and 0.678 for alpha-inhibin and beta-glycan, respectively. The present
      results suggest that high expression levels of alpha-inhibin and beta-glycan
      transcripts in secretory phase endometrium are associated with a lower chance of
      achieving pregnancy with IVF.

PMID- 27628953
TI  - The Interaction of PPARalpha and CYP7B1 with ERalpha, beta Impacted the
      Occurrence and Development of Intrahepatic Cholestasis in Pregnant Rats.
AB  - Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a disorder of bile acid (BA)
      synthesis, excretion, and metabolism, with systemic accumulation of BAs, which
      can lead to prematurity, fetal distress, and intrauterine death. Here, we
      investigate the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha
      and cytochrome P450 oxysterol 7alpha-hydroxylase by exposing to 17alpha
      ethynylestradiol with or without the estrogen receptor signaling pathway in
      pregnant rats with intrahepatic cholestasis. In vivo and in vitro evidences
      showed that estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) may be the key point of occurrence
      and development of intrahepatic cholestasis in pregnant rats. Besides, the
      abnormalities in genes could be reversed by ERalpha small interfering RNA. Our
      findings provide the ERalpha-centered hypothesis on the mechanisms of ICP. New
      perspectives are emerging for the treatment of estrogen-induced hepatic
      complication.

PMID- 27628956
TI  - Oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis on rumen
      fermentation and the bacterial community in calves.
AB  - The objective of this study was to assess the effect of dietary probiotics on
      rumen fermentation and the bacterial community in dairy calves. Twelve Holstein
      calves were randomly allocated to three treatments: a basal diet, the basal diet
      supplemented with Lactobacillus plantarum GF103 (LB) or basal diet supplemented
      with a mixture of Lactobacillus plantarum GF103 and Bacillus subtilis B27 (LBS).
      A milk replacer was fed to calves from 8 days of age. A starter and alfalfa hay
      was offered ad libitum from 21 and 28 days of age, respectively, and the orts
      were weighted daily. The ruminal fluid was sampled at 56 and 83 days of age to
      determine the rumen fermentation characteristics. The bacterial community was
      analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the number of
      certain bacteria was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The ratio
      of total dry matter intake to average body wieght was higher in the control (P <
      0.05). The DGGE fingerprint of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was affected by the
      blended probiotics at 83 days of age. The number of Ruminococcus albus was lower
      in the LB and LBS treatment (P < 0.05). Oral administration of the probiotics
      affected the rumen bacterial community and the numbers of cellulolytic bacteria
      decreased.

PMID- 27628955
TI  - In Vitro Fertilization Versus Mild Stimulation Intrauterine Insemination in Women
      Aged 40 and Older.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to compare clinical pregnancy rates
      (PRs) and pregnancy outcomes (POs) in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization
      (IVF) and a specific controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (mild-stimulation or
      mini-stim) and intrauterine insemination (IUI) protocol in women older than 40.
      METHODS: It is a retrospective chart review of 770 cycles of all women aged 40
      and older who underwent a first cycle of either IVF or mini-stim IUI between the
      years 2007 and 2012 at a single infertility center. RESULTS: The PR in all women
      aged 40 and above was 12% (65/531) for IVF and 5% (13/239) for mini-stim IUI ( P
      = .004). When divided into age-groups, the PR of IVF at age 40 was superior to
      that at age 41 and above (15% vs 7%, P = .002), while the PR of mini-stim IUI
      remains similar (3% vs 7%, P = .307). When comparing the outcomes of the 2
      treatments in the different age-groups, it showed that in women aged 40, IVF PR
      was superior to that of mini-stim IUI (15% vs 3%, P = .032); while in women aged
      41 and above, IVF and mini-stim IUI have similar PR (7% vs 7%, P = .866). When
      POs were compared, the rate of live birth per cycle initiated was 9.2% for IVF
      versus 1.28% for mini-stim IUI ( P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: While IVF and mini-stim
      IUI were found to have similar PRs in women aged 41 and above, POs are
      significantly better in IVF. A larger study is required to clarify the above
      results.

PMID- 27628957
TI  - Psychometric evaluation of the Swedish translation of the revised Cystic Fibrosis
      Questionnaire in adults.
AB  - AIM: The CFQ-R is one of the most established disease-specific, health-related
      quality of life (HRQOL) measurements for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The
      aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swedish translation of CFQ
      R in adults. METHOD: A total of 173 CF patients answered the CFQ-R. The CFQ-R was
      evaluated with regard to: (1) distributional properties; (2) reliability; and (3)
      construct validity. RESULTS: The majority of scales were negatively skewed with
      ceiling effects. Eight of the 12 scales had satisfactory homogeneity; 10 of the
      12 scales had satisfactory test-retest reliability. On many of the CFQ-R scales
      expected differences were observed when patients were divided regarding disease
      severity, nutritional status, age, and gender. CONCLUSION: Some weaknesses were
      detected, but overall the instrument has satisfactory psychometric properties.

PMID- 27628958
TI  - Successful treatment of cheilitis granulomatosa by intralesional injections of
      pingyangmycin plus dexamethasone.

PMID- 27628959
TI  - High-dimensional QSAR modelling using penalized linear regression model with L1/2
      norm.
AB  - In high-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)
      modelling, penalization methods have been a popular choice to simultaneously
      address molecular descriptor selection and QSAR model estimation. In this study,
      a penalized linear regression model with L1/2-norm is proposed. Furthermore, the
      local linear approximation algorithm is utilized to avoid the non-convexity of
      the proposed method. The potential applicability of the proposed method is tested
      on several benchmark data sets. Compared with other commonly used penalized
      methods, the proposed method can not only obtain the best predictive ability, but
      also provide an easily interpretable QSAR model. In addition, it is noteworthy
      that the results obtained in terms of applicability domain and Y-randomization
      test provide an efficient and a robust QSAR model. It is evident from the results
      that the proposed method may possibly be a promising penalized method in the
      field of computational chemistry research, especially when the number of
      molecular descriptors exceeds the number of compounds. 

PMID- 27628961
TI  - Short chain nitrocompounds as a treatment of layer hen manure and litter; effects
      on in vitro survivability of Salmonella, generic E. coli and nitrogen metabolism.
AB  - The current study was conducted to assess the bactericidal effectiveness of
      several nitrocompounds against pathogens in layer hen manure and litter. Evidence
      from an initial study indicated that treatment of layer hen manure with 12 mM
      nitroethane decreased populations of generic E. coli and total coliforms by 0.7
      and 2.2 log10 colony forming units (CFU) g-1, respectively, after 24 h aerobic
      incubation at ambient temperature when compared to untreated populations.
      Salmonella concentrations were unaffected by nitroethane in this study. In a
      follow-up experiment, treatment of 6-month-old layer hen litter (mixed with 0.4
      mL water g-1) with 44 mM 2-nitroethanol, 2-nitropropanol or ethyl nitroacetate
      decreased an inoculated Salmonella typhimurium strain from its initial
      concentration (3 log10 CFU g-1) by 0.7 to 1.7 log10 CFU g-1 after 6 h incubation
      at 37 degrees C in covered containers. After 24 h incubation, populations of the
      inoculated S. Typhmiurium in litter treated with 44 mM 2-nitroethanol, 2
      nitropropanol, ethyl nitroacetate or nitroethane were decreased more than 3.2
      log10 CFU g-1 compared to populations in untreated control litter. Treatment of
      litter with 44 mM 2-nitroethanol, 2-nitropropanol, ethyl nitroacetate decreased
      rates of ammonia accumulation more than 70% compared to untreated controls (0.167
      umol mL-1 h-1) and loses of uric acid (< 1 umol mL-1) were observed only in
      litter treated with 44 mM 2-nitropropanol, indicating that some of these
      nitrocompounds may help prevent loss of nitrogen in treated litter. Results
      warrant further research to determine if these nitrocompounds can be developed
      into an environmentally sustainable and safe strategy to eliminate pathogens from
      poultry litter, while preserving its nitrogen content as a nutritionally valuable
      crude protein source for ruminants.

PMID- 27628962
TI  - Prevention of Epilepsy: Issues and Innovations.
AB  - Epilepsy is a common brain disease and preventing epilepsy is a very relevant
      public health concern and an urgent unmet need. Although 40 % of all epilepsy
      cases are thought to have acquired causes, there is a roadblock for successful
      prevention. Efforts to protect the brain from epileptogenic insults are severely
      hampered by our lack of biomarkers to identify the few percent at high risk
      meriting treatment among those exposed. Preventing brain injury has been
      moderately effective from around birth to middle age; however, the strategy has
      failed to stop a substantial increase over the last decades in symptomatic
      epilepsy in those aged 65 and above. The traditional concept of repurposing anti
      seizure drugs used for symptomatic seizure relief to prevent the onset of
      epilepsy has completely failed up to now. More recently, however, hope is on the
      horizon with a search for biomarkers and discovery of a new class of agents,
      called anti-epileptogenic drugs, which were specifically developed for prevention
      of epilepsy.

PMID- 27628960
TI  - Extracellular vesicles in liver pathobiology: Small particles with big impact.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanometer-sized, membrane-bound vesicles
      released by cells into the extracellular milieu. EVs are now recognized to play a
      critical role in cell-to-cell communication. EVs contain important cargo in the
      form of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids and serve as vectors for delivering
      this cargo from donor to acceptor or target cell. EVs are released under both
      physiologic and pathologic conditions, including liver diseases, and exert a wide
      range of effects on target cells. This review provides an overview on EV
      biogenesis, secretion, cargo, and target cell interactions in the context of
      select liver diseases. Specifically, the diverse roles of EVs in nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, viral hepatitis, cholangiopathies, and
      hepatobiliary malignancies are emphasized. Liver diseases often result in an
      increased release of EVs and/or in different cargo sorting into these EVs. Either
      of these alterations can drive disease pathogenesis. Given this fact, EVs
      represent a potential target for therapeutic intervention in liver disorders.
      Because altered EV composition may reflect the underlying disease condition,
      circulating EVs can be exploited for diagnostic and prognostic purposes as a
      liquid biopsy. Furthermore, ex vivo modified or synthesized EVs can be engineered
      as therapeutic nano-shuttles. Finally, we highlight areas that merit further
      investigation relevant to understanding how EVs regulate liver disease
      pathogenesis. (Hepatology 2016;64:2219-2233).

PMID- 27628963
TI  - Treatment of Epilepsy in the Elderly.
AB  - The treatment of epilepsy in older individuals is an increasingly important topic
      in neurology and an area that all treating neurologists should have familiarity
      with. As the population ages, the number of patients over 65 who present with new
      onset epilepsy will increase, as will the complexity of their comorbid medical
      and neurological disorders. In older patients, seizures are often unwitnessed, or
      present with atypical symptoms, making the diagnosis more challenging.
      Additionally, there are relatively limited data to guide the use of anti
      epileptic medications and other treatments in this patient population. Elderly
      patients may experience increased side effects from anti-epileptic drugs compared
      with younger patients and in general, are likely to have a narrower therapeutic
      window and greater degree of individual variation with respect to side effects.
      Familiarity with anti-epileptic medication dosing and titration schedules,
      possible adverse effects, and potential pharmacokinetic and drug interactions can
      be helpful when considering treatment options and may increase the likelihood of
      success.

PMID- 27628964
TI  - Measuring the nose in septorhinoplasty patients: ultrasonographic standard values
      and clinical correlations.
AB  - Although septorhinoplasty is the most commonly performed operation in plastic
      surgery, and the surgical plan as well as its outcome is directly related to the
      configuration of the anatomical structures in the nose, these are not routinely
      assessed preoperatively. The aim of our study was to evaluate the nasal soft
      tissue and cartilaginous structures by means of high-resolution ultrasonography
      to set up clinical correlations and standard values. We examined 44 patients
      before septorhinoplasty by high-resolution ultrasonography in noncontact mode.
      All pictures were quantitatively evaluated by measuring 13 lengths and 4 ratios.
      All patients underwent a rhinomanometry measuring the nasal air flow. Besides
      others, men as well as older patients have a significantly thicker alar
      cartilage. Patients with thinner alar cartilages have a significantly smaller
      interdomal distance as well as significantly thinner upper lateral cartilages.
      The soft tissue above the bony dorsum was significantly thicker in older
      patients. Younger patients have significantly thicker soft tissue in relation to
      their cartilage. Patients with thicker soft tissue and thinner cartilage have a
      smaller tip. The interdomal distance and the thickness of the cartilaginous
      septum significantly correlated with the nasal air flow. We set up standard
      values of nasal structures in septorhinoplasty patients which can be used as
      reference values. By judging cartilage and soft tissue characteristics
      preoperatively, relevant factors for distinct procedures could be analyzed and
      the surgical steps can be better planned. Visualization by ultrasonography
      enables the surgeon to achieve treatment goals in a more predictable fashion.

PMID- 27628965
TI  - Improved survival for elderly married glioblastoma patients : Better treatment
      delivery, less toxicity, and fewer disease complications.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Marital status is a well-described prognostic factor in patients with
      gliomas but the observed survival difference is unexplained in the available
      population-based studies. METHODS: A series of 57 elderly glioblastoma patients
      (>=70 years) were analyzed retrospectively. Patients received radiotherapy or
      chemoradiation with temozolomide. The prognostic significance of marital status
      was assessed. Disease complications, toxicity, and treatment delivery were
      evaluated in detail. RESULTS: Overall survival was significantly higher in
      married than in unmarried patients (median, 7.9 vs. 4.0 months; p = 0.006). The
      prognostic significance of marital status was preserved in the multivariate
      analysis (HR, 0.41; p = 0.011). Married patients could receive significantly
      higher daily temozolomide doses (mean, 53.7 mg/m2 vs. 33.1 mg/m2; p = 0.020),
      were more likely to receive maintenance temozolomide (45.7 % vs. 11.8 %; p =
      0.016), and had to be hospitalized less frequently during radiotherapy (55.0 %
      vs. 88.2 %; p = 0.016). Of the patients receiving temozolomide, married patients
      showed significantly lower rates of hematologic and liver toxicity. Most
      complications were infectious or neurologic in nature. Complications of any grade
      were more frequent in unmarried patients (58.8 % vs. 30.0 %; p = 0.041) with the
      incidence of grade 3-5 complications being particularly elevated (47.1 % vs. 15.0
      %; p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: We found poorer treatment delivery as well as an
      unexpected severe increase in toxicity and disease complications in elderly
      unmarried glioblastoma patients. Marital status may be an important predictive
      factor for clinical decision-making and should be addressed in further studies.

PMID- 27628966
TI  - Hypofractionated radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer.
AB  - AIM: This article gives an overview on the current status of hypofractionated
      radiotherapy in the treatment of prostate cancer with a special focus on the
      applicability in routine use. METHODS: Based on a recently published systematic
      review the German Society of Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) expert panel added
      additional information that has become available since then and assessed the
      validity of the information on outcome parameters especially with respect to long
      term toxicity and long-term disease control. RESULTS: Several large-scale trials
      on moderate hypofractionation with single doses from 2.4-3.4 Gy have recently
      finished recruiting or have published first results suggestive of equivalent
      outcomes although there might be a trend for increased short-term and possibly
      even long-term toxicity. Large phase 3 trials on extreme hypofractionation with
      single doses above 4.0 Gy are lacking and only very few prospective trials have
      follow-up periods covering more than just 2-3 years. CONCLUSION: Until the
      results on long-term follow-up of several well-designed phase 3 trials become
      available, moderate hypofractionation should not be used in routine practice
      without special precautions and without adherence to the highest quality
      standards and evidence-based dose fractionation regimens. Extreme
      hypofractionation should be restricted to prospective clinical trials.

PMID- 27629019
TI  - Haemodynamic of blood flow through stenotic aortic valve.
AB  - Aortic valve (AV) stenosis is described as the deposition of calcium within the
      valve leaflets. With the growth of stenosis, haemodynamic, mechanical
      performances of the AV and blood flow through the valve are changed. In this
      study, we proposed two fluid-structure interaction (FSI) finite element (FE)
      models. The hyperelastic material model was considered for leaflets tissue. The
      leaflet tissue was considered stiffer in stenotic valve than the healthy leaflets
      because of its calcium content. Therefore, the valve could not open completely
      and this led to a decrease in the orifice area of the valve. The orifice area
      decreased from 2.4 cm2 for the healthy AV to 1.4 cm2 for the stenosis case. Mean
      pressure gradient increased in mid systole and the axial velocity experienced a
      three times increment in magnitude. Higher blood shear stress magnitudes were
      observed in stenotic valve due to the structure of the leaflet. In addition,
      strain concentration and higher stress values were observed on the leaflets in
      stenotic valve and the effective stress was greater than healthy case. In
      addition, pressure and velocity results were consistent with the echocardiography
      data literature. We have compared the performance of healthy and stenotic AV
      models during a complete cardiac cycle. Although improvements are still needed,
      there was good agreement between our computed data and other published studies.

PMID- 27629020
TI  - Plasminogen deficiency.
AB  - Plasminogen plays an important role in fibrinolysis as well as wound healing,
      cell migration, tissue modeling and angiogenesis. Congenital plasminogen
      deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that leads to the development
      of thick, wood-like pseudomembranes on mucosal surfaces, mostly seen in
      conjunctivas named as ''ligneous conjunctivitis''. Local conjunctival use of
      fresh frozen plazma (FFP) in combination with other eye medications such as
      cyclosporin and artificial tear drops may relieve the symptoms. Topical treatment
      with plasminogen eye drops is the most promising treatment that is not yet
      available in Turkey.

PMID- 27628967
TI  - Salience attribution and its relationship to cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cannabis is a widely used drug associated with increased risk for
      psychosis. The dopamine hypothesis of psychosis postulates that altered salience
      processing leads to psychosis. We therefore tested the hypothesis that cannabis
      users exhibit aberrant salience and explored the relationship between aberrant
      salience and dopamine synthesis capacity. METHOD: We tested 17 cannabis users and
      17 age- and sex-matched non-user controls using the Salience Attribution Test, a
      probabilistic reward-learning task. Within users, cannabis-induced psychotic
      symptoms were measured with the Psychotomimetic States Inventory. Dopamine
      synthesis capacity, indexed as the influx rate constant K i cer , was measured in
      10 users and six controls with 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]fluoro-l-phenylalanine
      positron emission tomography. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in
      aberrant salience between the groups [F 1,32 = 1.12, p = 0.30 (implicit); F 1,32
      = 1.09, p = 0.30 (explicit)]. Within users there was a significant positive
      relationship between cannabis-induced psychotic symptom severity and explicit
      aberrant salience scores (r = 0.61, p = 0.04) and there was a significant
      association between cannabis dependency/abuse status and high implicit aberrant
      salience scores (F 1,15 = 5.8, p = 0.03). Within controls, implicit aberrant
      salience was inversely correlated with whole striatal dopamine synthesis capacity
      (r = -0.91, p = 0.01), whereas this relationship was non-significant within users
      (difference between correlations: Z = -2.05, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant
      salience is positively associated with cannabis-induced psychotic symptom
      severity, but is not seen in cannabis users overall. This is consistent with the
      hypothesis that the link between cannabis use and psychosis involves alterations
      in salience processing. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether
      these cognitive abnormalities are pre-existing or caused by long-term cannabis
      use.

PMID- 27629021
TI  - Maintenance of host DNA integrity in field-preserved mosquito (Diptera:
      Culicidae) blood meals for identification by DNA barcoding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Determination of the interactions between hematophagous arthropods
      and their hosts is a necessary component to understanding the transmission
      dynamics of arthropod-vectored pathogens. Current molecular methods to identify
      hosts of blood-fed arthropods require the preservation of host DNA to serve as an
      amplification template. During transportation to the laboratory and storage prior
      to molecular analysis, genetic samples need to be protected from nucleases, and
      the degradation effects of hydrolysis, oxidation and radiation. Preservation of
      host DNA contained in field-collected blood-fed specimens has an additional
      caveat: suspension of the degradative effects of arthropod digestion on host DNA.
      Unless effective preservation methods are implemented promptly after blood-fed
      specimens are collected, host DNA will continue to degrade. Preservation methods
      vary in their efficacy, and need to be selected based on the logistical
      constraints of the research program. METHODS: We compared four preservation
      methods (cold storage at -20  degrees C, desiccation, ethanol storage of intact
      mosquito specimens and crushed specimens on filter paper) for field storage of
      host DNA from blood-fed mosquitoes across a range of storage and post-feeding
      time periods. The efficacy of these techniques in maintaining host DNA integrity
      was evaluated using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the presence of a
      sufficient concentration of intact host DNA templates for blood meal analysis. We
      applied a logistic regression model to assess the effects of preservation method,
      storage time and post-feeding time on the binomial response variable,
      amplification success. RESULTS: Preservation method, storage time and post
      feeding time all significantly impacted PCR amplification success. Filter papers
      and, to a lesser extent, 95 % ethanol, were the most effective methods for the
      maintenance of host DNA templates. Amplification success of host DNA preserved in
      cold storage at -20  degrees C and desiccation was poor. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      suggest that, of the methods tested, host DNA template integrity was most stable
      when blood meals were preserved using filter papers. Filter paper preservation is
      effective over short- and long-term storage, while ethanol preservation is only
      suitable for short-term storage. Cold storage at -20  degrees C, and desiccation
      of blood meal specimens, even for short time periods, should be avoided.

PMID- 27629022
TI  - Are some agents less likely to deposit gadolinium in the brain?
AB  - In December 2013, a groundbreaking study by Kanda et al. was published showing
      that the serial injection of gadolinium based contrast agents (GBCAs) is
      correlated with a signal intensity increase in the dentate nucleus and the globus
      pallidus on unenhanced T1 weighted MR images. Subsequent studies by Kanda et al.
      and McDonald et al. on brain tissue from deceased patients provided evidence that
      the reported signal intensity increase in the brain correlates with gadolinium
      deposits in the brain tissue. In the following, multiple retrospective patient
      studies and animal studies assessed the potential of the marketed GBCAs to cause
      hyperintensities or gadolinium deposits in the brain, respectively. This review
      summarizes the evidence provided by these studies and additionally takes into
      account data from in vitro studies on the stability of GBCAs. The author
      concludes that there is a body of evidence suggesting that the potential of a
      GBCA to cause hyperintensities or gadolinium deposition in the brain corresponds
      with its stability and is particularly depending on the group of the specific
      GBCA as either linear or macrocyclic.

PMID- 27629023
TI  - Genetic markers for antimony resistant clinical isolates differentiation from
      Indian Kala-azar.
AB  - Visceral Leishmaniasis or Kala-azar is caused by the protozoan parasites
      belonging to the Genus Leishmania. Once thought eradicated from the Indian
      subcontinent, the disease came back with drug resistance to almost all prevalent
      drugs. Molecular epidemiological studies revealed the polymorphic nature of the
      population of the main player of the disease, Leishmania donovani and involvement
      of other species (L. tropica) and other genus (Leptomonas) with the disease. This
      makes control measures almost futile. It also strongly demands the
      characterization of each and every isolate mandatory which is not done. In this
      background, the present study has been carried out to assess the genetic
      attributes of each clinical isolates (n=26) of KA and PKDL patients from India
      and Bangladesh. All the isolates were characterized through Restriction Fragment
      Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis to ascertain their species identity. 46.2% of
      the isolates were found to be Sodium Stibogluconate (SSG) resistant by amastigote
      macrophage model. When the clinical isolates were subjected to Single Stranded
      Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) of Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1),
      Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) and some anonymous markers, the drug
      resistant Leishmania isolates of SSG can be distinguished from the sensitive
      isolates distinctly. This study showed for the first time, the genetic markers
      for SSG drug resistance of Indian Kala-azar clinical isolates.

PMID- 27629024
TI  - Current FDA regulatory guidance on the conduct of drug discrimination studies for
      NDA review: Does the scientific literature support recent recommendations?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Controlled Substances Staff of the Center for Drug Evaluation and
      Research at the US Food and Drug Administration and the Pharmaceutical Research
      Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) conducted a series of open forum dialog
      sessions between 2006 and 2016. A Cross Company Abuse Liability Council (CCALC)
      was formed during the process of this unique collaborative effort between
      Industry and Federal Regulators whose goals were to establish the development of
      standards for the preclinical screening of new molecular entities for schedule
      control actions required as part of every New Drug Application process. The draft
      guidance document was published and disseminated in 2010, which allowed for
      alternative approaches to each study protocol requirement needed for NDA review,
      if the approach satisfied the requirements of the applicable statutes and
      regulations (i.e., the controlled substance act). In a series of recent pre-study
      protocol reviews requested by confidential Pharmaceutical Sponsors of MPI
      Research, the CSS staff appeared to change its policy and set forth to require
      all drug discrimination study data to be generated under "extinction" test
      sessions. MPI Research is a Contract Research Organization acting on behalf of
      pharmaceutical companies and bound under separate confidentiality agreements.
      PURPOSE: The purpose of this review is to highlight the data appearing in peer
      reviewed scientific journals that do not support the regulatory administrative
      constraints on one specific testing methodology (extinction) to the exclusion of
      another (reinforced test sessions). CONCLUSION: This mind shift represents a
      restrictive administrative policy by the FDA that is not supported by the
      published data.

PMID- 27629026
TI  - Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring.
AB  - A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the
      offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes. There is abundant
      evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet,
      no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in
      influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding
      depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred
      offspring. Here, we tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the
      magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides
      We found that inbreeding depression in larval survival was more severe for
      offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to
      differences in how small and large females invest in an inbred brood because of
      their different prospects for future breeding opportunities. To our knowledge,
      this is the first evidence for a causal effect of the maternal phenotype on the
      severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. In natural populations that
      are subject to inbreeding, maternal effects may drive variation in inbreeding
      depression and therefore contribute to variation in the strength and direction of
      selection for inbreeding avoidance.

PMID- 27629025
TI  - Brain evolution and development: adaptation, allometry and constraint.
AB  - Phenotypic traits are products of two processes: evolution and development. But
      how do these processes combine to produce integrated phenotypes? Comparative
      studies identify consistent patterns of covariation, or allometries, between
      brain and body size, and between brain components, indicating the presence of
      significant constraints limiting independent evolution of separate parts. These
      constraints are poorly understood, but in principle could be either developmental
      or functional. The developmental constraints hypothesis suggests that individual
      components (brain and body size, or individual brain components) tend to evolve
      together because natural selection operates on relatively simple developmental
      mechanisms that affect the growth of all parts in a concerted manner. The
      functional constraints hypothesis suggests that correlated change reflects the
      action of selection on distributed functional systems connecting the different
      sub-components, predicting more complex patterns of mosaic change at the level of
      the functional systems and more complex genetic and developmental mechanisms.
      These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive but make different predictions. We
      review recent genetic and neurodevelopmental evidence, concluding that functional
      rather than developmental constraints are the main cause of the observed
      patterns.

PMID- 27629027
TI  - Untangling the environmental from the dietary: dust does not matter.
AB  - Both dust and silica phytoliths have been shown to contribute to reducing tooth
      volume during chewing. However, the way and the extent to which they individually
      contribute to tooth wear in natural conditions is unknown. There is still debate
      as to whether dental microwear represents a dietary or an environmental signal,
      with far-reaching implications on evolutionary mechanisms that promote dental
      phenotypes, such as molar hypsodonty in ruminants, molar lengthening in suids or
      enamel thickening in human ancestors. By combining controlled-food trials
      simulating natural conditions and dental microwear textural analysis on sheep, we
      show that the presence of dust on food items does not overwhelm the dietary
      signal. Our dataset explores variations in dental microwear textures between ewes
      fed on dust-free and dust-laden grass or browse fodders. Browsing diets with a
      dust supplement simulating Harmattan windswept environments contain more silica
      than dust-free grazing diets. Yet browsers given a dust supplement differ from
      dust-free grazers. Regardless of the presence or the absence of dust, sheep with
      different diets yield significantly different dental microwear textures. Dust
      appears a less significant determinant of dental microwear signatures than the
      intrinsic properties of ingested foods, implying that diet plays a critical role
      in driving the natural selection of dental innovations.

PMID- 27629028
TI  - Comparative visual ecology of cephalopods from different habitats.
AB  - Previous investigations of vision and visual pigment evolution in aquatic
      predators have focused on fish and crustaceans, generally ignoring the
      cephalopods. Since the first cephalopod opsin was sequenced in late 1980s, we now
      have data on over 50 cephalopod opsins, prompting this functional and
      phylogenetic examination. Much of this data does not specifically examine the
      visual pigment spectral absorbance position (lambdamax) relative to environment
      or lifestyle, and cephalopod opsin functional adaptation and visual ecology
      remain largely unknown. Here we introduce a new protocol for photoreceptor
      microspectrophotometry (MSP) that overcomes the difficulty of bleaching the
      bistable visual pigment and that reveals eight coastal coleoid cephalopods to be
      monochromatic with lambdamax varying from 484 to 505 nm. A combination of current
      MSP results, the lambdamax values previously characterized using cephalopod
      retinal extracts (467-500 nm) and the corresponding opsin phylogenetic tree were
      used for systematic comparisons with an end goal of examining the adaptations of
      coleoid visual pigments to different light environments. Spectral tuning shifts
      are described in response to different modes of life and light conditions. A new
      spectral tuning model suggests that nine amino acid substitution sites may
      determine the direction and the magnitude of spectral shifts.

PMID- 27629029
TI  - Always chew your food: freshwater stingrays use mastication to process tough
      insect prey.
AB  - Chewing, characterized by shearing jaw motions and high-crowned molar teeth, is
      considered an evolutionary innovation that spurred dietary diversification and
      evolutionary radiation of mammals. Complex prey-processing behaviours have been
      thought to be lacking in fishes and other vertebrates, despite the fact that many
      of these animals feed on tough prey, like insects or even grasses. We
      investigated prey capture and processing in the insect-feeding freshwater
      stingray Potamotrygon motoro using high-speed videography. We find that
      Potamotrygon motoro uses asymmetrical motion of the jaws, effectively chewing, to
      dismantle insect prey. However, CT scanning suggests that this species has simple
      teeth. These findings suggest that in contrast to mammalian chewing, asymmetrical
      jaw action is sufficient for mastication in other vertebrates. We also determined
      that prey capture in these rays occurs through rapid uplift of the pectoral fins,
      sucking prey beneath the ray's body, thereby dissociating the jaws from a prey
      capture role. We suggest that the decoupling of prey capture and processing
      facilitated the evolution of a highly kinetic feeding apparatus in batoid fishes,
      giving these animals an ability to consume a wide variety of prey, including
      molluscs, fishes, aquatic insect larvae and crustaceans. We propose Potamotrygon
      as a model system for understanding evolutionary convergence of prey processing
      and chewing in vertebrates.

PMID- 27629030
TI  - Size, longevity and cancer: age structure.
AB  - There is significant recent interest in Peto's paradox and the related problem of
      the evolution of large, long-lived organisms in terms of cancer robustness.
      Peto's paradox refers to the expectation that large, long-lived organisms have a
      higher lifetime cancer risk, which is not the case: a paradox. This paradox,
      however, is circular: large, long-lived organisms are large and long-lived
      because they are cancer robust. Lifetime risk, meanwhile, depends on the age
      distributions of both cancer and competing risks: if cancer strikes before
      competing risks, then lifetime risk is high; if not, not. Because no set of
      competing risks is generally prevalent, it is instructive to temporarily dispose
      of competing risks and investigate the pure age dynamics of cancer under the
      multistage model of carcinogenesis. In addition to augmenting earlier results, I
      show that in terms of cancer-free lifespan large organisms reap greater benefits
      from an increase in cellular cancer robustness than smaller organisms.
      Conversely, a higher cellular cancer robustness renders cancer-free lifespan more
      resilient to an increase in size. This interaction may be an important driver of
      the evolution of large, cancer-robust organisms.

PMID- 27629031
TI  - Muscle-spring dynamics in time-limited, elastic movements.
AB  - Muscle contractions that load in-series springs with slow speed over a long
      duration do maximal work and store the most elastic energy. However, time
      constraints, such as those experienced during escape and predation behaviours,
      may prevent animals from achieving maximal force capacity from their muscles
      during spring-loading. Here, we ask whether animals that have limited time for
      elastic energy storage operate with springs that are tuned to submaximal force
      production. To answer this question, we used a dynamic model of a muscle-spring
      system undergoing a fixed-end contraction, with parameters from a time-limited
      spring-loader (bullfrog: Lithobates catesbeiana) and a non-time-limited spring
      loader (grasshopper: Schistocerca gregaria). We found that when muscles have less
      time to contract, stored elastic energy is maximized with lower spring stiffness
      (quantified as spring constant). The spring stiffness measured in bullfrog
      tendons permitted less elastic energy storage than was predicted by a modelled,
      maximal muscle contraction. However, when muscle contractions were modelled using
      biologically relevant loading times for bullfrog jumps (50 ms), tendon stiffness
      actually maximized elastic energy storage. In contrast, grasshoppers, which are
      not time limited, exhibited spring stiffness that maximized elastic energy
      storage when modelled with a maximal muscle contraction. These findings
      demonstrate the significance of evolutionary variation in tendon and apodeme
      properties to realistic jumping contexts as well as the importance of considering
      the effect of muscle dynamics and behavioural constraints on energy storage in
      muscle-spring systems.

PMID- 27629032
TI  - DNA methylation mediates genetic variation for adaptive transgenerational
      plasticity.
AB  - Environmental stresses experienced by individual parents can influence offspring
      phenotypes in ways that enhance survival under similar conditions. Although such
      adaptive transgenerational plasticity is well documented, its transmission
      mechanisms are generally unknown. One possible mechanism is environmentally
      induced DNA methylation changes. We tested this hypothesis in the annual plant
      Polygonum persicaria, a species known to express adaptive transgenerational
      plasticity in response to parental drought stress. Replicate plants of 12 genetic
      lines (sampled from natural populations) were grown in dry versus moist soil.
      Their offspring were exposed to the demethylating agent zebularine or to control
      conditions during germination and then grown in dry soil. Under control
      germination conditions, the offspring of drought-stressed parents grew longer
      root systems and attained greater biomass compared with offspring of well-watered
      parents of the same genetic lines. Demethylation removed these adaptive
      developmental effects of parental drought, but did not significantly alter
      phenotypic expression in offspring of well-watered parents. The effect of
      demethylation on the expression of the parental drought effect varied among
      genetic lines. Differential seed provisioning did not contribute to the effect of
      parental drought on offspring phenotypes. These results demonstrate that DNA
      methylation can mediate adaptive, genotype-specific effects of parental stress on
      offspring phenotypes.

PMID- 27629033
TI  - Speciation through the lens of biomechanics: locomotion, prey capture and
      reproductive isolation.
AB  - Speciation is a multifaceted process that involves numerous aspects of the
      biological sciences and occurs for multiple reasons. Ecology plays a major role,
      including both abiotic and biotic factors. Whether populations experience similar
      or divergent ecological environments, they often adapt to local conditions
      through divergence in biomechanical traits. We investigate the role of
      biomechanics in speciation using fish predator-prey interactions, a primary
      driver of fitness for both predators and prey. We highlight specific groups of
      fishes, or specific species, that have been particularly valuable for
      understanding these dynamic interactions and offer the best opportunities for
      future studies that link genetic architecture to biomechanics and reproductive
      isolation (RI). In addition to emphasizing the key biomechanical techniques that
      will be instrumental, we also propose that the movement towards linking
      biomechanics and speciation will include (i) establishing the genetic basis of
      biomechanical traits, (ii) testing whether similar and divergent selection lead
      to biomechanical divergence, and (iii) testing whether/how biomechanical traits
      affect RI. Future investigations that examine speciation through the lens of
      biomechanics will propel our understanding of this key process.

PMID- 27629034
TI  - Explaining the geographical origins of seasonal influenza A (H3N2).
AB  - Most antigenically novel and evolutionarily successful strains of seasonal
      influenza A (H3N2) originate in East, South and Southeast Asia. To understand
      this pattern, we simulated the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of influenza
      in a host metapopulation representing the temperate north, tropics and temperate
      south. Although seasonality and air traffic are frequently used to explain global
      migratory patterns of influenza, we find that other factors may have a comparable
      or greater impact. Notably, a region's basic reproductive number (R0) strongly
      affects the antigenic evolution of its viral population and the probability that
      its strains will spread and fix globally: a 17-28% higher R0 in one region can
      explain the observed patterns. Seasonality, in contrast, increases the
      probability that a tropical (less seasonal) population will export evolutionarily
      successful strains but alone does not predict that these strains will be
      antigenically advanced. The relative sizes of different host populations, their
      birth and death rates, and the region in which H3N2 first appears affect
      influenza's phylogeography in different but relatively minor ways. These results
      suggest general principles that dictate the spatial dynamics of antigenically
      evolving pathogens and offer predictions for how changes in human ecology might
      affect influenza evolution.

PMID- 27629035
TI  - Time-variant species pools shape competitive dynamics and biodiversity-ecosystem
      function relationships.
AB  - Biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) experiments routinely employ common garden
      designs, drawing samples from a local biota. The communities from which taxa are
      sampled may not, however, be at equilibrium. To test for temporal changes in BEF
      relationships, I assembled the pools of aquatic bacterial strains isolated at
      different time points from leaves on the pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica
      in order to evaluate the strength, direction and drivers of the BEF relationship
      across a natural host-associated successional gradient. I constructed
      experimental communities using bacterial isolates from each time point and
      measured their respiration rates and competitive interactions. Communities
      assembled from mid-successional species pools showed the strongest positive
      relationships between community richness and respiration rates, driven primarily
      by linear additivity among isolates. Diffuse competition was common among all
      communities but greatest within mid-successional isolates. These results
      demonstrate the dependence of the BEF relationship on the temporal dynamics of
      the local species pool, implying that ecosystems may respond differently to the
      addition or removal of taxa at different points in time during succession.

PMID- 27629036
TI  - A heterogeneous landscape does not guarantee high crop pollination.
AB  - The expansion of pollinator-dependent crops, especially in the developing world,
      together with reports of worldwide pollinator declines, raises concern of
      possible yield gaps. Farmers directly reliant on pollination services for food
      supply often live in regions where our knowledge of pollination services is poor.
      In a manipulative experiment replicated at 23 sites across an Ethiopian
      agricultural landscape, we found poor pollination services and severe pollen
      limitation in a common oil crop. With supplementary pollination, the yield
      increased on average by 91%. Despite the heterogeneous agricultural matrix, we
      found a low bee abundance, which may explain poor pollination services. The
      variation in pollen limitation was unrelated to surrounding forest cover, local
      bee richness and bee abundance. While practices that commonly increase
      pollinators (restricted pesticide use, flower strips) are an integral part of the
      landscape, these elements are apparently insufficient. Management to increase
      pollination services is therefore in need of urgent investigation.

PMID- 27629037
TI  - Selfish evolution of cytonuclear hybrid incompatibility in Mimulus.
AB  - Intraspecific coevolution between selfish elements and suppressors may promote
      interspecific hybrid incompatibility, but evidence of this process is rare. Here,
      we use genomic data to test alternative models for the evolution of cytonuclear
      hybrid male sterility in Mimulus In hybrids between Iron Mountain (IM) Mimulus
      guttatus * Mimulus nasutus, two tightly linked M. guttatus alleles (Rf1/Rf2) each
      restore male fertility by suppressing a local mitochondrial male-sterility gene
      (IM-CMS). Unlike neutral models for the evolution of hybrid incompatibility loci,
      selfish evolution predicts that the Rf alleles experienced strong selection in
      the presence of IM-CMS. Using whole-genome sequences, we compared patterns of
      population-genetic variation in Rf at IM to a neighbouring population that lacks
      IM-CMS. Consistent with local selection in the presence of IM-CMS, the Rf region
      shows elevated FST, high local linkage disequilibrium and a distinct haplotype
      structure at IM, but not at Cone Peak (CP), suggesting a recent sweep in the
      presence of IM-CMS. In both populations, Rf2 exhibited lower polymorphism than
      other regions, but the low-diversity outliers were different between CP and IM.
      Our results confirm theoretical predictions of ubiquitous cytonuclear conflict in
      plants and provide a population-genetic mechanism for the evolution of a common
      form of hybrid incompatibility.

PMID- 27629038
TI  - Spatially cascading effect of perturbations in experimental meta-ecosystems.
AB  - Ecosystems are linked to neighbouring ecosystems not only by dispersal, but also
      by the movement of subsidy. Such subsidy couplings between ecosystems have
      important landscape-scale implications because perturbations in one ecosystem may
      affect community structure and functioning in neighbouring ecosystems via
      increased/decreased subsidies. Here, we combine a general theoretical approach
      based on harvesting theory and a two-patch protist meta-ecosystem experiment to
      test the effect of regional perturbations on local community dynamics. We first
      characterized the relationship between the perturbation regime and local
      population demography on detritus production using a mathematical model. We then
      experimentally simulated a perturbation gradient affecting connected ecosystems
      simultaneously, thus altering cross-ecosystem subsidy exchanges. We demonstrate
      that the perturbation regime can interact with local population dynamics to
      trigger unexpected temporal variations in subsidy pulses from one ecosystem to
      another. High perturbation intensity initially led to the highest level of
      subsidy flows; however, the level of perturbation interacted with population
      dynamics to generate a crash in subsidy exchange over time. Both theoretical and
      experimental results show that a perturbation regime interacting with local
      community dynamics can induce a collapse in population levels for recipient
      ecosystems. These results call for integrative management of human-altered
      landscapes that takes into account regional dynamics of both species and resource
      flows.

PMID- 27629039
TI  - Background complexity and the detectability of camouflaged targets by birds and
      humans.
AB  - Remaining undetected is often key to survival, and camouflage is a widespread
      solution. However, extrinsic to the animal itself, the complexity of the
      background may be important. This has been shown in laboratory experiments using
      artificially patterned prey and backgrounds, but the mechanism remains obscure
      (not least because 'complexity' is a multifaceted concept). In this study, we
      determined the best predictors of detection by wild birds and human participants
      searching for the same cryptic targets on trees in the field. We compared
      detection success to metrics of background complexity and 'visual clutter'
      adapted from the human visual salience literature. For both birds and humans, the
      factor that explained most of the variation in detectability was the textural
      complexity of the tree bark as measured by a metric of feature congestion
      (specifically, many nearby edges in the background). For birds, this swamped any
      effects of colour match to the local surroundings, although for humans, local
      luminance disparities between the target and tree became important. For both
      taxa, a more abstract measure of complexity, entropy, was a poorer predictor. Our
      results point to the common features of background complexity that affect visual
      search in birds and humans, and how to quantify them.

PMID- 27629040
TI  - Matrilineal inheritance of a key mediator of prenatal maternal effects.
AB  - Sex-linkage is predicted to evolve in response to sex-specific or sexually
      antagonistic selection. In line with this prediction, most sex-linked genes are
      associated with reproduction in the respective sex. In addition to traits
      directly involved in fertility and fecundity, mediators of maternal effects may
      be predisposed to evolve sex-linkage, because they indirectly affect female
      fitness through their effect on offspring phenotype. Here, we test for sex-linked
      inheritance of a key mediator of prenatal maternal effects in oviparous species,
      the transfer of maternally derived testosterone to the eggs. Consistent with
      maternal inheritance, we found that in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)
      granddaughters resemble their maternal (but not their paternal) grandmother in
      yolk testosterone deposition. This pattern of resemblance was not due to non
      genetic priming effects of testosterone exposure during prenatal development, as
      an experimental manipulation of yolk testosterone levels did not affect the
      females' testosterone transfer to their own eggs later in life. Instead, W
      chromosome and/or mitochondrial variation may underlie the observed matrilineal
      inheritance pattern. Ultimately, the inheritance of mediators of maternal effects
      along the maternal line will allow for a fast and direct response to female
      specific selection, thereby affecting the dynamics of evolutionary processes
      mediated by maternal effects.

PMID- 27629043
TI  - Neuro-fuzzy concepts applied for planning of the cereal crops: applications to
      the maize hybrids growing in a Romanian region.
AB  - The aim of our study is to improve the crop planning procedures using neuro-fuzzy
      concepts. In this paper we design a neuro-fuzzy procedure that offers the
      suitable maize hybrid, from a set of preferred hybrids, which must be organically
      farmed in the current year. Our method is a statistical one, on the one hand it
      processes data provided by the previous years and on the other hand it takes in
      account the vague character of the environmental factors. Also we present here
      some experimental results obtained by us on a certain set of real data, results
      which prove the efficiency of our approach. 

PMID- 27629042
TI  - Editing EU legislation to fit plant genome editing: The use of genome editing
      technologies in plant breeding requires a novel regulatory approach for new plant
      varieties that involves farmers.

PMID- 27629045
TI  - Origins of Selectivity and General Model for Chiral Phosphoric Acid-Catalyzed
      Oxetane Desymmetrizations.
AB  - The origins of the high enantioselectivity of chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed
      oxetane desymmetrizations were investigated by density functional theory (DFT)
      calculations. Distortion of the catalyst structure, caused by steric crowding in
      the catalyst pocket of one enantiomeric transition state, is the main cause for
      stereochemical preference. A general model was developed to assist in the
      rational design of new catalysts for related transformations.

PMID- 27629046
TI  - Single Particle-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy Analysis of Metallic
      Nanoparticles in Environmental Samples with Large Dissolved Analyte Fractions.
AB  - There is an increasing interest to use single particle-inductively coupled plasma
      mass spectroscopy (SP-ICPMS) to help quantify exposure to engineered
      nanoparticles, and their transformation products, released into the environment.
      Hindering the use of this analytical technique for environmental samples is the
      presence of high levels of dissolved analyte which impedes resolution of the
      particle signal from the dissolved. While sample dilution is often necessary to
      achieve the low analyte concentrations necessary for SP-ICPMS analysis, and to
      reduce the occurrence of matrix effects on the analyte signal, it is used here to
      also reduce the dissolved signal relative to the particulate, while maintaining a
      matrix chemistry that promotes particle stability. We propose a simple,
      systematic dilution series approach where by the first dilution is used to
      quantify the dissolved analyte, the second is used to optimize the particle
      signal, and the third is used as an analytical quality control. Using simple
      suspensions of well characterized Au and Ag nanoparticles spiked with the
      dissolved analyte form, as well as suspensions of complex environmental media
      (i.e., extracts from soils previously contaminated with engineered silver
      nanoparticles), we show how this dilution series technique improves resolution of
      the particle signal which in turn improves the accuracy of particle counts,
      quantification of particulate mass and determination of particle size. The
      technique proposed here is meant to offer a systematic and reproducible approach
      to the SP-ICPMS analysis of environmental samples and improve the quality and
      consistency of data generated from this relatively new analytical tool.

PMID- 27629044
TI  - Rac1-mediated cytoskeleton rearrangements induced by intersectin-1s deficiency
      promotes lung cancer cell proliferation, migration and metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mechanisms involved in lung cancer (LC) progression are poorly
      understood making discovery of successful therapies difficult. Adaptor proteins
      play a crucial role in cancer as they link cell surface receptors to specific
      intracellular pathways. Intersectin-1s (ITSN-1s) is an important multidomain
      adaptor protein implicated in the pathophysiology of numerous pulmonary diseases.
      To date, the role of ITSN-1s in LC has not been studied. METHODS: Human LC cells,
      human LC tissue and A549 LC cells stable transfected with myc-ITSN-1s construct
      (A549 + ITSN-1s) were used in correlation with biochemical, molecular biology and
      morphological studies. In addition scratch assay with time lapse microscopy and
      in vivo xenograft tumor and mouse metastasis assays were performed. RESULTS: ITSN
      1s, a prevalent protein of lung tissue, is significantly downregulated in human
      LC cells and LC tissue. Restoring ITSN-1s protein level decreases LC cell
      proliferation and clonogenic potential. In vivo studies indicate that
      immunodeficient mice injected with A549 + ITSN-1s cells develop less and smaller
      metastatic tumors compared to mice injected with A549 cells. Our studies also
      show that restoring ITSN-1s protein level increases the interaction between Cbl
      E3 ubiquitin ligase and Eps8 resulting in enhanced ubiquitination of the Eps8
      oncoprotein. Subsequently, downstream unproductive assembly of the Eps8-mSos1
      complex leads to impaired activation of the small GTPase Rac1. Impaired Rac1
      activation mediated by ITSN-1s reorganizes the cytoskeleton (increased thick
      actin bundles and focal adhesion (FA) complexes as well as collapse of the
      vimentin filament network) in favor of decreased LC cell migration and
      metastasis. CONCLUSION: ITSN-1s induced Eps8 ubiquitination and impaired Eps8
      mSos1 complex formation, leading to impaired activation of Rac1, is a novel
      signaling mechanism crucial for abolishing the progression and metastatic
      potential of LC cells.

PMID- 27629048
TI  - Which cheese to choose?

PMID- 27629047
TI  - Thirteen year retrospective review of the spectrum of inborn errors of metabolism
      presenting in a tertiary center in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) are individually rare; however,
      they are collectively common. More than 600 human diseases caused by inborn
      errors of metabolism are now recognized, and this number is constantly increasing
      as new concepts and techniques become available for identifying biochemical
      phenotypes. The aim of this study was to determine the type and distribution of
      IEMs in patients presenting to a tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia. METHOD: We
      conducted a retrospective review of children diagnosed with IEMs presenting to
      the Pediatric Department of King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
      over a 13-year period. RESULTS: Over the 13- year period of this retrospective
      cohort, the total number of live births reached 110,601. A total of 187 patients
      were diagnosed with IEMs, representing a incidence of 169 in 100,000 births
      (1:591). Of these, 121 patients (64.7 %) were identified to have small molecule
      diseases and 66 (35.3 %) to have large molecule diseases. Organic acidemias were
      the most common small molecule IEMs, while lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) were
      the most common large molecule diseases. Sphingolipidosis were the most common
      LSD. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the previous results of the high rate of IEMs
      in Saudi Arabia and urges the health care strategists in the country to devise a
      long-term strategic plan, including an IEM national registry and a high school
      carrier screening program, for the prevention of such disorders. In addition, we
      identified 43 novel mutations that were not described previously, which will help
      in the molecular diagnosis of these disorders.

PMID- 27629041
TI  - The integrated stress response.
AB  - In response to diverse stress stimuli, eukaryotic cells activate a common
      adaptive pathway, termed the integrated stress response (ISR), to restore
      cellular homeostasis. The core event in this pathway is the phosphorylation of
      eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2alpha) by one of four
      members of the eIF2alpha kinase family, which leads to a decrease in global
      protein synthesis and the induction of selected genes, including the
      transcription factor ATF4, that together promote cellular recovery. The gene
      expression program activated by the ISR optimizes the cellular response to stress
      and is dependent on the cellular context, as well as on the nature and intensity
      of the stress stimuli. Although the ISR is primarily a pro-survival, homeostatic
      program, exposure to severe stress can drive signaling toward cell death. Here,
      we review current understanding of the ISR signaling and how it regulates cell
      fate under diverse types of stress.

PMID- 27629049
TI  - Usual nutrient intakes of US infants and toddlers generally meet or exceed
      Dietary Reference Intakes: findings from NHANES 2009-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To our knowledge, few studies have described the usual nutrient
      intakes of US children aged <2 y or assessed the nutrient adequacy of their diets
      relative to the recommended Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). OBJECTIVE: We
      estimated the usual nutrient intake of US children aged 6-23 mo examined in
      NHANES 2009-2012 and compared them to age-specific DRIs as applicable. DESIGN:
      Dietary intake was assessed with two 24-h recalls for infants aged 6-11 mo (n =
      381) and toddlers aged 12-23 mo (n = 516) with the use of the USDA's Automated
      Multiple-Pass Method. Estimates of usual nutrient intakes from food and beverages
      were obtained with the use of the National Cancer Institute method. The
      proportions of children with intakes below and above the DRI were also estimated.
      RESULTS: The estimated usual intakes of infants were adequate for most nutrients;
      however, 10% had an iron intake below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR),
      and only 21% had a vitamin D intake that met or exceeded the recommended Adequate
      Intake (AI). More nutrient inadequacies were noted among toddlers; 1 in 4 had a
      lower-than-recommended fat intake (percentage of energy), and most had intakes
      that were below the EAR for vitamins E (82%) and D (74%). Few toddlers (<1%) met
      or exceeded the AI for fiber and potassium. In contrast, 1 in 2 had sodium
      intakes that exceeded the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL); >=16% and 41% of the
      children had excessive intakes (greater than the ULs) of vitamin A and zinc,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated usual intakes of infants were adequate
      for most nutrients. Most toddlers were at risk for inadequate intakes of vitamins
      D and E and had diets low in fiber and potassium. The sources contributing to
      excessive intakes of vitamin A and zinc among infants and toddlers may need
      further evaluation.

PMID- 27629050
TI  - Serum calcium and its complex association with incident type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27629052
TI  - Lunch eating predicts weight-loss effectiveness in carriers of the common allele
      at PERILIPIN1: the ONTIME (Obesity, Nutrigenetics, Timing, Mediterranean) study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We propose that eating lunch late impairs the mobilization of fat
      from adipose tissue, particularly in carriers of PERILIPIN1 (PLIN1) variants.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim was to test the hypothesis that PLIN1, a circadian lipid
      stabilizing protein in the adipocyte, interacts with the timing of food intake to
      affect weight loss. DESIGN: A total of 1287 overweight and obese subjects [229
      men and 1058 women; mean +/- SD body mass index (in kg/m2): 31 +/- 5] who
      attended outpatient obesity clinics were enrolled in the ONTIME (Obesity,
      Nutrigenetics, Timing, Mediterranean) study. Timing of food intake was estimated
      with a validated questionnaire. Anthropometric variables and PLIN1 genotypes were
      analyzed, including 6209T>C (rs2289487), 11482G>A (rs894160), 13041A>G
      (rs2304795), and 14995A>T (rs1052700). The main outcomes were effectiveness of
      the program and weight-loss progression during 28 wk of treatment. RESULTS: The
      PLIN1 locus was associated with variability in response to a weight-loss program.
      Specifically, carrying the minor C allele at the PLIN1 6209T>C was associated
      with better weight-loss response (P = 0.035). The probability of being a better
      responder [percentage of weight loss >=7.5% (median)] was 33% higher among C than
      among TT carriers (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.67; P = 0.017). We found an
      interaction of PLIN1 * food timing between the 14995A>T variant and timing of
      lunch eating for total weight loss (P = 0.035). Among AA carriers, eating late
      was associated with less weight loss (P < 0.001), whereas time of eating did not
      influence weight loss among TT carriers (P = 0.326). CONCLUSIONS: Variability at
      the PLIN1 locus is associated with variability in weight loss. Moreover, eating
      late is related to lower weight-loss effectiveness among carriers of the AA
      genotype at the PLIN1 14995A>T variant. These results contribute to our ability
      to implement more precise and successful obesity treatments. The ONTIME study was
      registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02829619.

PMID- 27629051
TI  - Maternal serum retinol and beta-carotene concentrations and neonatal bone
      mineralization: results from the Southampton Women's Survey cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies in older adults and animals have suggested contrasting
      relations between bone health and different vitamin A compounds. To our
      knowledge, the associations between maternal vitamin A status and offspring bone
      development have not previously been elucidated. OBJECTIVE: We examined the
      associations between maternal serum retinol and beta-carotene concentrations
      during late pregnancy and offspring bone mineralization assessed at birth with
      the use of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. DESIGN: In the Southampton Women's
      Survey mother-offspring birth cohort, maternal health, lifestyle, and diet were
      assessed prepregnancy and at 11 and 34 wk of gestation. In late pregnancy,
      maternal serum retinol and beta-carotene concentrations were measured. Offspring
      total body bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC), and bone area
      (BA) were measured within 2 wk after birth. RESULTS: In total, 520 and 446 mother
      offspring pairs had measurements of maternal serum retinol and beta-carotene,
      respectively. Higher maternal serum retinol in late pregnancy was associated with
      lower offspring total body BMC (beta = -0.10 SD/SD; 95% CI: -0.19, -0.02; P =
      0.020) and BA (beta = -0.12 SD/SD; 95% CI: -0.20, -0.03; P = 0.009) but not BMD.
      Conversely, higher maternal serum beta-carotene concentrations in late pregnancy
      were associated with greater total body BMC (beta = 0.12 SD/SD; 95% CI: 0.02,
      0.21; P = 0.016) and BA (beta = 0.12 SD/SD; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.22; P = 0.010) but
      not BMD. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal serum retinol and beta-carotene concentrations had
      differing associations with offspring bone size and growth at birth: retinol was
      negatively associated with these measurements, whereas beta-carotene was
      positively associated. These findings highlight the need for further
      investigation of the effects of maternal retinol and carotenoid status on
      offspring bone development.

PMID- 27629053
TI  - Dietary protein intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: results from the Melbourne
      Collaborative Cohort Study and a meta-analysis of prospective studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reported associations between protein intake from different sources
      and type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We prospectively
      examined the relations of total, animal, and plant protein intakes with incident
      T2D. DESIGN: We followed 21,523 participants (women: 61.7%) between 1990 and 2007
      from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study who were free of diabetes,
      cardiovascular disease, cancer, and kidney stones at baseline. We also conducted
      a meta-analysis that included the results from our cohort and from 10 previous
      prospective studies. RESULTS: A total of 929 new cases (4.3%) of T2D were
      documented during a mean of 11.7 y of follow-up. Multivariate-adjusted ORs for
      incident T2D in the highest compared with lowest quintiles of total and animal
      protein intakes as percentages of energy were 1.23 (95% CI: 0.96, 1.56; P-trend =
      0.029) and 1.29 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.67; P-trend = 0.014), respectively. These
      associations appeared to be greater in men and in participants with normal
      baseline plasma glucose, body mass index, or blood pressure. Plant protein intake
      was inversely associated with incident T2D in women only (OR; 0.60; 95% CI: 0.37,
      0.99). In the meta-analysis of 11 prospective cohort studies with 505,624
      participants and 37,918 T2D cases (follow-up range: 5-24 y), pooled RRs for the
      comparison of the highest with lowest categories of total, animal, and plant
      protein intakes were 1.09 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.13), 1.19 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.28), and
      0.95 (95% CI: 0.89, 1.02), respectively. Associations between animal protein
      intake and T2D were similar across sex, geographic region, length of follow-up,
      study quality, and method of expressing protein intake. An inverse association
      between plant protein intake and T2D was observed in women (RR: 0.93; 95% CI:
      0.85, 1.00) and in US populations (RR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.84, 0.97). CONCLUSION:
      Higher intakes of total and animal protein were both associated with increased
      risks of T2D, whereas higher plant protein intake tended to be associated with
      lower risk of T2D.

PMID- 27629054
TI  - Energy expenditure and intake during puberty in healthy nonobese adolescents: a
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Puberty is a time of rapid growth and changing energy requirements
      and is a risk period for obesity. There is little high-quality evidence on the
      pubertal alterations of energy expenditure and intake, and this has limited our
      understanding of energy balance during this important life stage. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to summarize existing evidence on pubertal energy
      expenditure and intake in healthy nonobese adolescents. DESIGN: Studies were
      identified through CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of
      Science databases up to August 2015. Articles presenting objectively measured
      data for basal or resting metabolic rate (BMR/RMR), total daily energy
      expenditure (TDEE), and/or energy intake (EI) for >=2 categories of puberty were
      included. Relevant data adjusted for fat-free mass (FFM) also were extracted.
      Data were dichotomized into prepubertal and pubertal groups and compared through
      the use of standardized mean differences (SMDs). Heterogeneous study
      methodologies precluded meta-analysis. RESULTS: The search netted 6770 articles,
      with 12 included for review. From these, 6 of 9 studies supported significantly
      higher absolute BMR/RMR during puberty (SMD: 1.10-5.93), and all of the studies
      favored significantly higher absolute TDEE during puberty (SMD: 0.46-9.55). These
      corresponded to a 12% difference and an 18% difference in absolute BMR/RMR and
      TDEE, respectively. Results adjusted for FFM were equivocal, with 3 studies
      favoring higher (1 significantly) and 3 favoring significantly lower adjusted
      BMR/RMR during puberty. Only 1 study reported EI, showing 41% and 25% greater
      absolute intakes in pubertal males and females, respectively. These differences
      were not significant after adjustment for FFM. CONCLUSIONS: Reasonably consistent
      evidence exists to support higher absolute BMR/RMR and TDEE in pubertal than in
      prepubertal adolescents. Differences are largely accounted for by FFM, among
      other potential factors such as growth- and puberty-related hormones. This review
      argues for further research into hormonal influences on pubertal energy balance
      and subsequent effects on obesity risk.

PMID- 27629055
TI  - Variation and the spice of life.

PMID- 27629056
TI  - Fish consumption, fish oils, and cardiovascular events: still waiting for
      definitive evidence.

PMID- 27629057
TI  - Emotion Regulation Strategies, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Compassion
      Satisfaction in Healthcare Providers.
AB  - The aim of the present study is to examine the relationships between two emotion
      regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression),
      secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction in a sample of 190
      healthcare providers. Another aim of this study is to examine if the relations
      between emotion regulation strategies and traumatic stress symptoms are moderated
      by compassion satisfaction. The respondents volunteered to take part in the
      research and completed self-reporting measures describing the use of emotional
      regulation strategies, the symptoms of secondary traumatic stress, and the
      compassion satisfaction. The results revealed negative associations between
      cognitive reappraisal and secondary traumatic stress, while expressive
      suppression is positively associated with arousal. Moreover, cognitive
      reappraisal is positively related to compassion satisfaction, while secondary
      traumatic stress symptoms are negatively correlated with compassion satisfaction.
      Furthermore, the relationship between expressive suppression and intrusions is
      moderated by compassion satisfaction. The implications of these results for
      enhancing professional quality of life in the context of secondary exposure to
      traumatic life events are discussed.

PMID- 27629058
TI  - A space network structure constructed by tetraneedlelike ZnO whiskers supporting
      boron nitride nanosheets to enhance comprehensive properties of poly(L-lacti
      acid) scaffolds.
AB  - In this study, the mechanical strength and modulus of poly(L-lacti acid) (PLLA)
      scaffolds were enhanced with the mechanical properties of boron nitride
      nanosheets (BNNSs) and tetraneedlelike ZnO whiskers (T-ZnOw). The adhesion and
      proliferation of cells were improved as well as osteogenic differentiation of
      stem cells was increased. Their dispersion statues in PLLA matrix were improved
      through a space network structure constructed by three-dimensional T-ZnOw
      supporting two-dimensional BNNSs. The results showed that the compressive
      strength, modulus and Vickers hardness of the scaffolds with incorporation of 1
      wt% BNNSs and 7 wt% T-ZnOw together were about 96.15%, 32.86% and 357.19% higher
      than that of the PLLA scaffolds, respectively. This might be due to the effect of
      the pull out and bridging of BNNSs and T-ZnOw as well as the crack deflection,
      facilitating the formation of effective stress transfer between the reinforcement
      phases and the matrix. Furthermore, incorporation of BNNSs and T-ZnOw together
      into PLLA scaffolds was beneficial for attachment and viability of MG-63 cells.
      More importantly, the scaffolds significantly increased proliferation and
      promoted osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
      (hBMSCs). The enhanced mechanical and biological properties provide the
      potentials of PLLA/BNNSs/T-ZnOw scaffolds for the application into bone tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 27629061
TI  - Update on the Management of Parkinson's Disease: Focus on Psychosis.

PMID- 27629059
TI  - New medical treatments for lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic
      hyperplasia and future perspectives.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) in men are a common clinical
      problem in urology and have been historically strictly linked to benign prostatic
      hyperplasia (BPH), which may lead to bladder outlet obstruction (BOO). New
      molecules have been approved and have entered the urologists' armamentarium,
      targeting new signaling pathways and tackling specific aspects of LUTS. Objective
      of this review is to summarize the evidence regarding the new medical therapies
      currently available for male non-neurogenic LUTS, including superselective alpha1
      antagonists, PDE-5 inhibitors, anticholinergic drugs and intraprostatic
      onabotulinum toxin injections. METHODS: The National Library of Medicine Database
      was searched for relevant articles published between January 2006 and December
      2015, including the combination of "BPH", "LUTS", "medical" and "new". Each
      article's title, abstract and text were reviewed for their appropriateness and
      their relevance. One hundred forty eight articles were reviewed. RESULTS: Of the
      148 articles reviewed, 92 were excluded. Silodosin may be considered a valid
      alternative to non-selective alpha1-antagonists, especially in the older patients
      where blood pressure alterations may determine major clinical problems and
      ejaculatory alterations may be not truly bothersome. Tadalafil 5 mg causes a
      significant decrease of IPSS score with an amelioration of patients' QoL,
      although with no significant increase in Qmax. Antimuscarinic drugs are effective
      on storage symptoms but should be used with caution in patients with elevated
      post-void residual. Intraprostatic injections of botulinum toxin are well
      tolerated and effective, with a low rate of adverse events; however profound
      ameliorations were seen also in the sham arms of RCTs evaluating intraprostatic
      injections. CONCLUSION: New drugs have been approved in the last years in the
      medical treatment of BPH-related LUTS. Practicing urologists should be familair
      with their pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.

PMID- 27629060
TI  - DNA damage and Repair Modify DNA methylation and Chromatin Domain of the Targeted
      Locus: Mechanism of allele methylation polymorphism.
AB  - We characterize the changes in chromatin structure, DNA methylation and
      transcription during and after homologous DNA repair (HR). We find that HR
      modifies the DNA methylation pattern of the repaired segment. HR also alters
      local histone H3 methylation as well chromatin structure by inducing DNA
      chromatin loops connecting the 5' and 3' ends of the repaired gene. During a two
      week period after repair, transcription-associated demethylation promoted by Base
      Excision Repair enzymes further modifies methylation of the repaired DNA.
      Subsequently, the repaired genes display stable but diverse methylation profiles.
      These profiles govern the levels of expression in each clone. Our data argue that
      DNA methylation and chromatin remodelling induced by HR may be a source of
      permanent variation of gene expression in somatic cells.

PMID- 27629063
TI  - Tectonic and climatic impacts on the biota within the Red River Fault, evidence
      from phylogeography of Cycas dolichophylla (Cycadaceae).
AB  - Dramatic crustal deformation and river incision in Southwest China induced by the
      Indo-Asian collision have long been argued to contribute to the complicated
      landscapes, heterogeneous environment and abundant biodiversity in this region.
      However, biological impacts in promoting intraspecific phylogeographical
      subdivision and divergence along the Red River Fault zone (RRF) remain poorly
      understood. To investigate the possible biological effects of tectonic movements
      and environment variations within the RRF, the phylogeography of Cycas
      dolichophylla-an endemic but widely distributed Cycas in Southwest China and
      North Vietnam along the RRF were carried out based on four chloroplast DNA
      intergenic spacers (cpDNA), three nuclear DNA sequences (nDNA) and 16 simple
      sequence repeat variations (SSR). Two different phylogeographical patterns were
      detected: a Southwest-Northeast break across the RRF disclosed by chlorotypes and
      a China-Vietnam separation revealed by SSR. A Bayesian skyline plot from cpDNA
      data demonstrated a historical increasing, but a recent declining, dynamic in
      population size during the Pleistocene. Consequently, we infer it is the local
      environmental variation during Cenozoic that contributed to the complex landscape
      and microclimate mosaics, facilitating speciation and divergence of C.
      dolichophylla. Subsequently, the Quaternary climatic fluctuations coupled with
      human activities profoundly influenced the genetic structure and demographic
      history of this species.

PMID- 27629064
TI  - Managing multimorbidity in primary care in patients with chronic respiratory
      conditions.
AB  - The term multimorbidity is usually defined as the coexistence of two or more
      chronic conditions within an individual, whereas the term comorbidity
      traditionally describes patients with an index condition and one or more
      additional conditions. Multimorbidity of chronic conditions markedly worsens
      outcomes in patients, increases treatment burden and increases health service
      costs. Although patients with chronic respiratory disease often have physical
      comorbidities, they also commonly experience psychological problems such as
      depression and anxiety. Multimorbidity is associated with increased health-care
      utilisation and specifically with an increased number of prescription drugs in
      individuals with multiple chronic conditions such as chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease. This npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine Education Section
      case study involves a patient in a primary care consultation presenting several
      common diseases prevalent in people of this age. The patient takes nine different
      drugs at this moment, one or more pills for each condition, which amounts to
      polypharmacy. The problems related with polypharmacy recommend that a routine
      medication review by primary care physicians be performed to reduce the risk of
      adverse effects of polypharmacy among those with multiple chronic conditions. The
      primary care physician has the challenging role of integrating all of the
      clinical problems affecting the patient and reviewing all medicaments (including
      over-the-counter medications) taken by the patient at any point in time, and has
      the has the key to prevent the unwanted consequences of polypharmacy. Multimorbid
      chronic disease management can be achieved with the use of care planning, unified
      disease templates, use of information technology with appointment reminders and
      with the help of the wider primary care and community teams.

PMID- 27629065
TI  - Differential mucosal IL-10-induced immunoregulation of innate immune responses
      occurs in influenza infected infants/toddlers and adults.
AB  - Young children (<5 years of age but especially those <2-year old) exhibit high
      rates of morbidity and frequently require hospitalizations due to complications
      from respiratory viral infections. This is also a population for which we
      understand less about how their unique level of immunological maturation affects
      their antiviral immune responses. However, we do know from prior studies that
      their T cells appear to apoptose in the lungs owing to limited interferon
      (IFN)gamma autocrine signaling during infection. To begin to further understand
      additional limits, we utilized an infant/toddler murine model infected with
      influenza virus with an adult comparator. In our model, young mice exhibited
      lower interleukin (IL)-10+IFNgamma+ co-producing CD4 T cells infiltrating the
      lungs that paralleled with a failed switch from an innate to adaptive immune
      response at the mid infection stage. Specifically, limited co-IL-10 production
      correlated with a lack of influenza-specific antibodies and subsequent complement
      receptor signaling (complement receptor type-1 related gene Y (CCRY)/p65) to the
      lung infiltrating CD4 T cells therefore limiting their IKAROs upregulation. Thus,
      limited IL-10 production appeared to diminish signaling to lung macrophages to
      stop accumulating late into infection. Taken together, our results suggest a
      novel role for complement mediated signaling in CD4 T cells with respect to IL-10
      co-production. Furthermore, a subsequent failure to shift from the unfocused
      innate immune response to the specific adaptive responses may be a principle
      cause in the enhanced morbidity common in respiratory viral infection of young
      children.

PMID- 27629066
TI  - CenH3 evolution reflects meiotic symmetry as predicted by the centromere drive
      model.
AB  - The centromere drive model explaining rapid evolution of eukaryotic centromeres
      predicts higher frequency of positive selection acting on centromeric histone H3
      (CenH3) in clades with asymmetric meiosis compared to the clades with only
      symmetric meiosis. However, despite the impression one might get from the
      literature, this key prediction of the centromere drive model has not only never
      been confirmed, but it has never been tested, because all the previous studies
      dealt only with the presence or absence instead of the frequency of positive
      selection. To provide evidence for or against different frequencies of positively
      selected CenH3 in asymmetrics and symmetrics, we have inferred the selective
      pressures acting on CenH3 in seventeen eukaryotic clades, including plants,
      animals, fungi, ciliates and apicomplexa, using codon-substitution models, and
      compared the inferred frequencies between asymmetrics and symmetrics in a
      quantitative manner. We have found that CenH3 has been evolving adaptively much
      more frequently in clades with asymmetric meiosis compared with clades displaying
      only symmetric meiosis which confirms the prediction of centromere drive model.
      Our findings indicate that the evolution of asymmetric meiosis required CenH3 to
      evolve adaptively more often to counterbalance the negative consequences of
      centromere drive.

PMID- 27629062
TI  - Factors associated with smoking among tuberculosis patients in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the prevalence of smoking and analyze associated factors
      in a cohort of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in Spain between 2006
      and 2013. METHODS: Multicenter, cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study
      using a national database of TB patients, using logistic regression to calculate
      odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: We analyzed 5,846 cases
      (62 % men, mean age 39 years, 33 % foreigners). 23.4 % were alcohol abuser, 1.3 %
      were injected drug users (IDU), 4.6 % were co-infected with HIV, and 7.5 % had a
      history of TB treatment. 6.6 % and 0.8 % showed resistance to one and multiple
      drugs, respectively. The predominant clinical presentation was pulmonary (71 %)
      with a cavitary radiological pattern in 32.8 % of cases. 82 % of cases were
      confirmed microbiologically, and 54 % were smear-positive microscopy. 2,300 (39.3
      %) patients were smokers. The following factors were associated with smoking:
      male sex (OR = 2.26;CI:1.97;2.60), Spanish origin (OR = 2.79;CI:2.40-3.24),
      alcoholism (OR = 2.85;CI:2.46;3.31), IDU (OR = 2.78;CI:1.48;5.52), homelessness
      (OR = 1.99;CI:1.14-3.57), pulmonary TB (OR = 1.61;CI:1.16;2.24), cavitary
      radiological pattern (OR = 1.99;CI:1.43;2.79) and a smear-positive microscopy at
      the time of diagnosis (OR = 1.39;CI:1.14;1.17). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of
      smoking among TB patients is high. Smokers with TB have a distinct
      sociodemographic, clinical, radiological and microbiological profile to non
      smokers.

PMID- 27629067
TI  - The effects of letter spacing and coloured overlays on reading speed and accuracy
      in adult dyslexia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zorzi et al. (2012, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 109, 11455) found
      evidence that extra-large letter spacing aids children with dyslexia, but the
      evidence for the coloured overlays is contradictory (e.g., Henderson et al.,
      2013, J. Res. Special Educ. Needs, 13, 57; Wilkins, 2002, Ophthalmic Physiol.
      Opt., 22, 448), and possible combined advantages have not been identified. AIMS:
      To investigate whether extra-large letter spacing or coloured overlays can
      alleviate reading problems in dyslexic adults. SAMPLE: The participants were 24
      dyslexic and 24 non-dyslexic university students, matched for age and fluid
      intelligence. METHODS: The reading speed and the errors made by a dyslexic and a
      control group were measured in four conditions: with and without coloured
      overlays and with normally and largely spaced texts. RESULTS: Large letter
      spacing improves the reading speed in general, as well as improves the reading
      accuracy in dyslexic readers. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the positive
      effect of letter spacing on reading performance.

PMID- 27629068
TI  - 100  degrees C Thermal Stability of Printable Perovskite Solar Cells Using Porous
      Carbon Counter Electrodes.
AB  - Many efforts have been made towards improving perovskite (PVK) solar cell
      stability, but their thermal stability, particularly at 85  degrees C (IEC 61646
      climate chamber tests), remains a challenge. Outdoors, the installed solar cell
      temperature can reach up to 85  degrees C, especially in desert regions,
      providing sufficient motivation to study the effect of temperature stress at or
      above this temperature (e.g., 100  degrees C) to confirm the commercial viability
      of PVK solar cells for industrial companies. In this work, a three-layer
      printable HTM-free CH3 NH3 PbI3 PVK solar cell with a mesoporous carbon back
      contact and UV-curable sealant was fabricated and tested for thermal stability
      over 1500 h at 100  degrees C. Interestingly, the position of the UV-curing glue
      was found to drastically affect the device stability. The side-sealed cells show
      high PCE stability and represent a large step toward commercialization of next
      generation organic-inorganic lead halide PVK solar cells.

PMID- 27629069
TI  - Failure to achieve immunological recovery in HIV-infected patients with clinical
      and virological success after 10 years of combined ART: role of treatment course.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We assessed factors, including treatment course, associated with
      failure to obtain a 10 year immunological response after starting first
      generation PI-containing combined ART (cART). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the
      prospective COPILOTE cohort of HIV-infected patients started on a first
      generation PI-containing regimen in 1997-99, the impact of cART history on the
      failure to achieve immunological response measured at 10 years was assessed by
      multivariate logistic regression models in the 399 patients with clinical and
      virological success of cART. RESULTS: Failure of CD4 response (CD4 >500/mm3) was
      associated with age >=40 years at baseline (P < 0.001), CD4 cell counts <=500/mm3
      at month 4 (P = 0.016) or month 12 (P < 0.001) and >=3 months of cART
      interruption (P = 0.016). Factors associated with failure to achieve complete
      immunological response (CD4 >500/mm3 and CD4:CD8 ratio >1) were CD4:CD8 ratio
      <=0.8 at month 8 (P < 0.001) or month 12 (P < 0.001), >=3 months of cumulative
      cART interruption (P = 0.011), >=3 antiretroviral regimens (P = 0.009) and <=4
      treatment lines (P = 0.015). Baseline CD4 and CD4:CD8 ratio were not predictors
      of the 10 year immunological outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In this therapeutic cohort of
      patients starting first-generation PI-containing cART in 1997-99, poor initial
      immunological response had a negative impact on 10 year CD4 and CD4 plus CD4:CD8
      ratio response, despite prolonged virological success. Lack of treatment
      interruption may improve long-term immunological outcome in HIV infection.

PMID- 27629071
TI  - Commentary: Are Children Like Werewolves? Full Moon and Its Association with
      Sleep and Activity Behaviors in an International Sample of Children.

PMID- 27629073
TI  - Exercise and the lungs: nature or nurture?

PMID- 27629070
TI  - Simplification to dual therapy (atazanavir/ritonavir + lamivudine) versus
      standard triple therapy [atazanavir/ritonavir + two nucleos(t)ides] in
      virologically stable patients on antiretroviral therapy: 96 week results from an
      open-label, non-inferiority, randomized clinical trial (SALT study).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We evaluated whether maintenance therapy with atazanavir/ritonavir
      plus lamivudine (ATV/r + 3TC) was non-inferior to ATV/r plus two nucleosides
      (ATV/r + 2NUCs) at 96 weeks of follow-up. METHODS: SALT is a multicentre, open
      label, non-inferiority clinical trial in HIV-1-infected virologically suppressed
      patients. Hepatitis B virus surface antigen-negative subjects with no previous
      treatment failure/resistance mutations and HIV-1-RNA <50 copies/mL for >=6 months
      were randomized (1 : 1) to ATV/r + 3TC or ATV/r + 2NUCs. The primary endpoint was
      HIV-1-RNA <50 copies/mL in the PP population. Non-inferiority was demonstrated if
      the lower bound of the 95% CI for the difference was not below -12%. RESULTS:
      Some 286 patients were analysed. At week 96, 74.4% had HIV-1-RNA <50 copies/mL in
      the ATV/r + 3TC arm versus 73.9% in the ATV/r + 2NUCs arm (95% CI for the
      difference, -9.9%-11.0%). In both groups, similar values were observed for
      patients with confirmed virological failure in ATV/r + 3TC versus ATV/r + 2NUCs
      (9 versus 5), death (1 versus 0), discontinuation due to ART-related toxicity (7
      versus 11), withdrawal from the study (7 versus 9) and loss to follow-up (6
      versus 6). One patient taking ATV/r + 2NUCs developed resistance mutations (M184V
      and L63P). Similar values were obtained for change in mean CD4 count [19 versus
      18 cells/mm3 (95% CI for the difference, -49.3-50.7), grade 3-4 adverse events
      (70.7% versus 70.2%) and changes in the global deficit score, -0.3 (95% CI, -0.5
      to -0.1) for ATV/r + 3TC, versus -0.2 (95% CI, -0.4 to -0.1) for ATV/r + 2NUCs].
      CONCLUSIONS: The long-term results of switching to ATV/r + 3TC show that this
      strategy is effective, safe and non-inferior to ATV + 2NUCs in virologically
      suppressed HIV-infected patients.

PMID- 27629072
TI  - Roles of the first-generation claudin binder, Clostridium perfringens
      enterotoxin, in the diagnosis and claudin-targeted treatment of epithelium
      derived cancers.
AB  - Given that most malignant tumors are derived from epithelium, developing a
      strategy for treatment of epithelium-derived cancers (i.e., carcinomas) is a
      pivotal issue in cancer therapy. Carcinomas, including ovarian, breast, prostate,
      and pancreatic cancers, are known to overexpress various claudins (CLDNs); in
      particular, CLDN-3 and -4 are frequently overexpressed in malignant case. The
      generation of CLDN binders is a key for expanding CLDN-targeted cancer therapy
      but has been delayed due to the small size of CLDN extracellular domains
      (approximately 50 amino acids for the first domain and 15 amino acids for the
      second) and their high homology among species. Interestingly, however, the
      receptors for Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE), a foodborne toxin in
      humans, happen to be identical to CLDN-3 and -4. Thus, the first CLDN binder,
      CPE, has provided us CLDN-targeted cancer therapy from a concept into a potential
      reality. In this review, we describe roles of CPE technology in cancer therapy
      and discuss future directions in the CLDN-targeting concept-to-therapy process.

PMID- 27629075
TI  - How the brain tips the scale.

PMID- 27629074
TI  - Passive heat therapy: a ready route to vascular health?

PMID- 27629076
TI  - Delineating the effects of aerobic training versus aerobic capacity on satellite
      cell behaviour in humans.

PMID- 27629077
TI  - Satellite cells: erythropoietin treatment and endurance training.

PMID- 27629078
TI  - Fuelling cortical excitability during exercise: what's the matter with delivery?

PMID- 27629079
TI  - Studies using pharmacological blockade of muscle afferents provide new insights
      into the neurophysiology of perceived exertion.

PMID- 27629080
TI  - Autophagy regulation in human skeletal muscle during exercise.

PMID- 27629081
TI  - Exercise and oxidative stress.

PMID- 27629082
TI  - Diversity and biogeography of a species-rich ant fauna of the Australian seasonal
      tropics.
AB  - Although ants are an ecologically dominant and extensively studied faunal group
      throughout the tropics, there is a poor understanding of tropical ant diversity
      and distribution at large spatial scales. Here we use a collection developed from
      3 decades of ant surveys to present the first analysis of ant diversity and
      biogeography of a large tropical region. Our objective was to document the
      species richness, composition, and biogeographic distributions of the ant fauna
      of the 400 000 km2 "Top End" of Australia's Northern Territory. The known Top End
      ant fauna comprises 901 native species from 59 genera. The richest genera are
      Pheidole (90 species), Melophorus (83), Monomorium (83), Camponotus (71),
      Meranoplus (63), Polyrhachis (57), Rhytidoponera (50), Tetramorium (43),
      Cerapachys (32), and Iridomyrmex (31). The fauna is the center of diverse
      radiations within species-groups of genera such as Meranoplus, Rhytidoponera, and
      Leptogenys. It also includes IndoMalayan species that have likely bypassed the
      normal dispersal route into Australia through Cape York Peninsula in North
      Queensland. Faunistic similarity with other regions of far northern Australia is
      associated more with rainfall than with geographic proximity. Most (60%) of Top
      End ant species have not been recorded elsewhere, and, despite uncertainties
      relating to species delimitation and sampling intensity, this appears to be a
      credible estimate of the level of endemism. Such exceptionally high endemism can
      be attributed to the Top End's geographic isolation from other regions of
      northern Australia with comparably high rainfall.

PMID- 27629083
TI  - Asymmetric Multifunctional Heterogeneous Membranes for pH- and Temperature
      Cooperative Smart Ion Transport Modulation.
AB  - Asymmetric multifunctional heterogeneous membranes are demonstrated by combing a
      block copolymer polystyrene-block-poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate)
      membrane with a track-etched porous poly(ethylene terephthalate) membrane. This
      hybrid membrane is capable of integrating pH- and temperature-cooperative high
      performance ionic rectification, highly efficient cation gating, and excellent
      stability and controllability, which allows broad application in biosensing,
      energy conversion, and filtration.

PMID- 27629084
TI  - Adverse outcome of coarctation stenting in patients with Turner syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examines the outcome and procedural outcomes of
      percutaneous stent angioplasty for aortic coarctation in patients with Turner
      syndrome (TS). BACKGROUND: TS occurs in 1 in 2,500 live-born females and is
      associated with aortic coarctation. METHODS: In this multicenter, retrospective
      cohort study, all patients with TS and a coarctation of the aorta, treated with
      percutaneous stent implantation were included. The procedural strategies were
      dictated by local protocols. Adverse events at short- and long-term follow-up and
      qualitative parameters concerning the stent implantation were assessed. RESULTS:
      In the largest study to date of TS patients receiving aortic stents, a total of
      19 patients from 10 centers were included. Twelve patients were treated for
      native and 7 for recurrent coarctation. Age at intervention was 16.9 (7-60) years
      (median; min-max). The coarctation diameter increased significantly from 8.0 mm
      (2-12) pre-intervention to 15.0 mm (10-19) post-intervention (P < 0.001). Three
      (15.8%) adverse events occurred within 30 days of the procedure, including two
      dissections despite the use of covered stents, one resulting in death. At long
      term follow-up (6.5 years, min-max: 1-16), two additional deaths occurred not
      known to be stent-related. CONCLUSIONS: Though percutaneous treatment of aortic
      coarctation in TS patients is effective, it is associated with serious morbidity
      and mortality. These risks suggest that alternative treatment options should be
      carefully weighed against percutaneous stenting strategies. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629085
TI  - Importance of truncal-type occlusion in stentriever-based thrombectomy for acute
      stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether angiographically defined occlusion type could
      predict of the etiology of acute intracranial large artery occlusion and the
      stentriever response. METHODS: We reviewed consecutive patients with acute
      intracranial large artery occlusion who underwent endovascular treatment and
      examined their workups for embolic sources. Patient demographics, laboratory
      findings, hyperdense artery sign, and angiographic occlusion type (truncal-type
      or branching-site occlusion) were compared between embolic sources (+) and (-)
      groups. These variables were also compared between stentriever failure and
      success groups. Details of endovascular procedures were also compared according
      to occlusion type. RESULTS: A total of 259 patients (mean age 70.3 years; M:F =
      132:127) were finally included. Of these patients, 216 (83.4%) were assigned to
      the embolic sources (+) group after thorough evaluation. Young age, no coronary
      artery disease, and truncal-type occlusion (odds ratio [OR] 9.07; 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 3.74-22.0) were independently associated with the embolic source (
      ) group. Of the overall group, 224 patients (86.5%) underwent stentriever-based
      endovascular treatment. Hypertension, diabetes, high C-reactive protein level,
      and truncal-type occlusion (OR 32.2; 95% CI 7.78-133.0) were independent
      predictors of stentriever failure. Truncal-type occlusion was associated with
      more reocclusion (77.3% vs 5.0%), resulting in recanalization failure by the
      stentriever (81.8% vs 20.3%), a longer puncture-to-recanalization time (118.0 vs
      49.5 minutes), and more rescue treatment for final successful recanalization
      (78.9% vs 7.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Angiographic occlusion type is an independent
      predictor of stentriever refractoriness and of the underlying stroke mechanism.

PMID- 27629086
TI  - Clinical relevance of microbleeds in acute stroke thrombolysis: Comprehensive
      meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether
      the presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) on pretreatment MRI of patients with
      acute ischemic stroke treated with IV thrombolysis is associated with increased
      risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and poor functional outcome.
      METHODS: We searched PubMed for relevant studies and calculated pooled odds
      ratios (OR) for symptomatic ICH and poor (i.e., modified Rankin Scale score >2) 3
      to 6-month functional outcome using random effects models with DerSimonian-Laird
      weights among individuals with vs without CMBs. RESULTS: Eight eligible studies
      including 2,601 stroke patients treated with IV thrombolysis were pooled in a
      meta-analysis. The cumulative CMBs prevalence was 24% (95% confidence interval
      [CI] 18%-30%). The pooled symptomatic ICH incidence was 5% (95% CI 4%-7%) among
      patients with CMBs and 3% (95% CI 2%-5%) in patients without CMBs. CMB presence
      was associated with higher risk of symptomatic ICH compared to patients without
      CMBs (OR 2.18; 95% CI 1.12-4.22; p = 0.021). Four studies (n = 1,665) reported
      data on 3- to 6-month poststroke functional outcome. The pooled incidence of poor
      functional outcome was 52% (95% CI 45%-59%) in patients with CMBs vs 41% (95% CI
      35%-46%) in those without CMBs. Meta-analysis of these studies demonstrated OR
      for CMBs presence and adverse outcome to be 1.58 (95% CI 1.18-2.14; p = 0.002).
      CONCLUSIONS: CMBs are associated with greater symptomatic ICH risk and poor
      functional outcome in ischemic stroke patients undergoing thrombolytic therapy.
      In the absence of adjusted analyses and randomized evidence, this risk seems
      acceptable and should probably not discourage recanalization therapies in this
      patient population (Level B recommendation: nonrandomized Class IIa evidence).

PMID- 27629087
TI  - Predicting failure of acute stroke intervention.

PMID- 27629088
TI  - Aprepitant for the management of nausea with inpatient IV dihydroergotamine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of oral aprepitant, a
      substance P/neurokinin A receptor antagonist, in controlling nausea associated
      with IV dihydroergotamine (DHE) administered for medically refractory migrainous
      headache in patients not responding to standard antiemetics or with a history of
      uncontrolled nausea with DHE. METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review of
      prospectively collected hourly diary data and clinical notes of patients
      hospitalized between 2011 and 2015 for inpatient treatment with DHE. Patients
      were classified using the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd
      edition (beta version). Peak and average daily nausea scores from hourly diaries,
      or daily entries of notes, and concurrent antiemetic use were collected and
      tabulated. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients, of whom 24 had daily diaries, with
      chronic migraine with or without aura, with or without medication overuse, or new
      daily persistent headache of a migrainous type, were identified. In 36 of 57
      cases in which aprepitant was administered during hospitalization, there was a
      50% reduction in the average daily number of as-needed antinausea medications. Of
      57 patients, 52 reported that the addition of aprepitant improved nausea. Among
      21 of 24 patients with hourly diary data, nausea scores were reduced and in all
      12 with vomiting there was cessation of emesis after aprepitant was added.
      Aprepitant was well tolerated with no treatment emergent adverse events.
      CONCLUSIONS: Aprepitant can be effective in the treatment of refractory DHE
      induced nausea and emesis. Given the broader issue of troublesome nausea and
      vomiting in acute presentations of migraine, general neurologists may consider
      what place aprepitant has in the management of such patients. CLASSIFICATION OF
      EVIDENCE: This study provides Class IV evidence that for patients with medically
      refractory migraine receiving IV DHE, oral aprepitant reduces nausea.

PMID- 27629090
TI  - Genetics of multiple system atrophy: Back to square one?

PMID- 27629089
TI  - A genome-wide association study in multiple system atrophy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify genetic variants that play a role in the pathogenesis of
      multiple system atrophy (MSA), we undertook a genome-wide association study
      (GWAS). METHODS: We performed a GWAS with >5 million genotyped and imputed single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 918 patients with MSA of European ancestry and
      3,864 controls. MSA cases were collected from North American and European
      centers, one third of which were neuropathologically confirmed. RESULTS: We found
      no significant loci after stringent multiple testing correction. A number of
      regions emerged as potentially interesting for follow-up at p < 1 * 10-6,
      including SNPs in the genes FBXO47, ELOVL7, EDN1, and MAPT. Contrary to previous
      reports, we found no association of the genes SNCA and COQ2 with MSA.
      CONCLUSIONS: We present a GWAS in MSA. We have identified several potentially
      interesting gene loci, including the MAPT locus, whose significance will have to
      be evaluated in a larger sample set. Common genetic variation in SNCA and COQ2
      does not seem to be associated with MSA. In the future, additional samples of
      well-characterized patients with MSA will need to be collected to perform a
      larger MSA GWAS, but this initial study forms the basis for these next steps.

PMID- 27629091
TI  - Synergistic effects of longitudinal amyloid and vascular changes on lobar
      microbleeds.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether amyloid and hypertensive cerebral small vessel
      disease (hCSVD) changes synergistically affect the progression of lobar
      microbleeds in patients with subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment
      (svMCI). METHODS: Among 72 patients with svMCI who underwent brain MRI and [11C]
      Pittsburgh compound B (PiB)-PET, 52 (72.2%) completed the third year of follow
      up. These patients were evaluated by annual neuropsychological testing, brain
      MRI, and follow-up PiB-PET. RESULTS: Over 3 years, 31 of 52 patients (59.6%) had
      incident cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in the lobar and deep regions. Both baseline
      and longitudinal changes in lacune numbers were associated with increased numbers
      of lobar and deep microbleeds, while baseline and longitudinal changes in PiB
      uptake ratio were associated only with the progression of lobar microbleeds,
      especially in the temporal, parietal, and occipital areas. Regional white matter
      hyperintensity severity was also associated with regional lobar CMBs in the
      parietal and occipital regions. There were interactive effects between baseline
      and longitudinal lacune number and PiB retention on lobar microbleed progression.
      Increased lobar, but not deep, CMBs were associated with decreased scores in the
      digit span backward task and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that amyloid-related pathology and hCSVD have synergistic
      effects on the progression of lobar microbleeds, providing new clinical insight
      into the interaction between amyloid burden and hCSVD on CMB progression and
      cognitive decline with implications for developing effective prevention
      strategies.

PMID- 27629093
TI  - Ultra-early onset of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament with
      congenital rickets.

PMID- 27629095
TI  - Cerebral microbleeds in acute ischemic stroke: A red flag for IV thrombolysis.

PMID- 27629092
TI  - Why are acute ischemic stroke patients not receiving IV tPA? Results from a
      national registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine patient and hospital characteristics associated with not
      providing IV tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to eligible patients with acute
      ischemic stroke (AIS) in clinical practice. METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      cohort study of patients with AIS arriving within 2 hours of onset to hospitals
      participating in Get With The Guidelines-Stroke without documented
      contraindications to IV tPA from April 2003 through December 2011, comparing
      those who received tPA to those who did not. Multivariable generalized estimating
      equation logistic regression modeling identified factors associated with not
      receiving tPA. RESULTS: Of 61,698 eligible patients with AIS presenting within 2
      hours of onset (median age 73 years, 51% female, 74% non-Hispanic white, median
      NIH Stroke Scale score 11, interquartile range 6-18), 15,282 (25%) were not
      treated with tPA within 3 hours. Failure to give tPA decreased over time from 55%
      in 2003 to 2005 to 18% in 2010 to 2011 (p < 0.0001). After adjustment for all
      covariates, including stroke severity, factors associated with failure to treat
      included older age, female sex, nonwhite race, diabetes mellitus, prior stroke,
      atrial fibrillation, prosthetic heart valve, NIH Stroke Scale score <5, arrival
      off-hours and not via emergency medical services, longer onset-to-arrival and
      door-to-CT times, earlier calendar year, and arrival at rural, nonteaching, non
      stroke center hospitals located in the South or Midwest. CONCLUSIONS: Overall,
      about one-quarter of eligible patients with AIS presenting within 2 hours of
      stroke onset failed to receive tPA treatment. Thrombolysis has improved
      dramatically over time and is strongly associated with stroke center
      certification. Additionally, some groups, including older patients, milder
      strokes, women, and minorities, may be undertreated.

PMID- 27629094
TI  - SIGMAR1 mutation associated with autosomal recessive Silver-like syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the genetic and clinical features of a simplex patient
      with distal hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN) and lower limb spasticity (Silver
      like syndrome) due to a mutation in the sigma nonopioid intracellular receptor-1
      gene (SIGMAR1) and review the phenotypic spectrum of mutations in this gene.
      METHODS: We used whole-exome sequencing to investigate the proband. The variants
      of interest were investigated for segregation in the family using Sanger
      sequencing. Subsequently, a larger cohort of 16 unrelated dHMN patients was
      specifically screened for SIGMAR1 mutations. RESULTS: In the proband, we
      identified a homozygous missense variant (c.194T>A, p.Leu65Gln) in exon 2 of
      SIGMAR1 as the probable causative mutation. Pathogenicity is supported by
      evolutionary conservation, in silico analyses, and the strong phenotypic
      similarities with previously reported cases carrying coding sequence mutations in
      SIGMAR1. No other mutations were identified in 16 additional patients with dHMN.
      CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that coding sequence mutations in SIGMAR1 present
      clinically with a combination of dHMN and pyramidal tract signs, with or without
      spasticity, in the lower limbs. Preferential involvement of extensor muscles of
      the upper limbs may be a distinctive feature of the disease. These observations
      should be confirmed in future studies.

PMID- 27629096
TI  - Subarachnoid hemorrhage admissions retrospectively identified using a prediction
      model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To create an accurate prediction model using variables collected in
      widely available health administrative data records to identify hospitalizations
      for primary subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS: A previously established
      complete cohort of consecutive primary SAH patients was combined with a random
      sample of control hospitalizations. Chi-square recursive partitioning was used to
      derive and internally validate a model to predict the probability that a patient
      had primary SAH (due to aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation) using health
      administrative data. RESULTS: A total of 10,322 hospitalizations with 631 having
      primary SAH (6.1%) were included in the study (5,122 derivation, 5,200
      validation). In the validation patients, our recursive partitioning algorithm had
      a sensitivity of 96.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 93.9-98.0), a specificity of
      99.8% (95% CI 99.6-99.9), and a positive likelihood ratio of 483 (95% CI 254
      879). In this population, patients meeting criteria for the algorithm had a
      probability of 45% of truly having primary SAH. CONCLUSIONS: Routinely collected
      health administrative data can be used to accurately identify hospitalized
      patients with a high probability of having a primary SAH. This algorithm may
      allow, upon validation, an easy and accurate method to create validated cohorts
      of primary SAH from either ruptured aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation.

PMID- 27629097
TI  - Modifications of tau protein after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in rats are
      similar to those occurring in Alzheimer's disease - Hyperphosphorylation and
      cleavage of 4- and 3-repeat tau.
AB  - Epidemiological studies have suggested a close relationship between cerebral
      ischemia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). To clarify the pathological association of
      tau dynamics in both diseases, we performed comprehensive studies on the
      posttranslational modification of tau in cerebral ischemia and reperfusion (I/R)
      in rats. The present study suggests that both 4-repeat and 3-repeat tau isoforms
      are hyperphosphorylated in cerebral I/R, similar to the case in AD. The
      generation of a 60-kDa Asp421-truncated tau in cerebral I/R preceded the
      emergence of a 17-kDa 3-repeat tau fragment and a 25-kDa 4-repeat tau fragment.
      The regional redistribution of tau from the neuropil to neuronal perikarya in our
      stroke model is thought to share similarity with that occurring in AD. In
      addition, immunofluorescence staining revealed the formation of axonal
      varicosities in cerebral I/R. Altered tau distribution may influence microtubule
      stability, disturbances in axonal transport, and the resulting formation of
      axonal varicosities. The staining profiles of granules in the ischemic cortex
      that were immunopositive for RD3, RD4, and AT8 in neuronal perikarya and that
      were argyrophilic on Gallyas-Braak staining were similar to those in AD. These
      findings suggest that transient cerebral ischemia shares a common pathology with
      AD, in the modification of tau protein.

PMID- 27629099
TI  - Sex differences of human cortical blood flow and energy metabolism.
AB  - Brain energy metabolism is held to reflect energy demanding processes in neuropil
      related to the density and activity of synapses. There is recent evidence that
      men have higher density of synapses in temporal cortex than women. One
      consequence of these differences would be different rates of cortical energy
      turnover and blood flow in men and women. To test the hypotheses that rates of
      oxygen consumption (CMRO2) and cerebral blood flow are higher in men than in
      women in regions of cerebral cortex, and that the differences persist with aging,
      we used positron emission tomography to determine cerebral blood flow and
      cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen as functions of age in healthy volunteers of
      both sexes. Cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen did not change with age for either
      sex and there were no differences of mean values of cerebral metabolic rate of
      oxygen between men and women in cerebral cortex. Women had significant decreases
      of cerebral blood flow as function of age in frontal and parietal lobes. Young
      women had significantly higher cerebral blood flow than men in frontal and
      temporal lobes, but these differences had disappeared at age 65. The absent sex
      difference of cerebral energy turnover suggests that the known differences of
      synaptic density between the sexes are counteracted by opposite differences of
      individual synaptic activity.

PMID- 27629098
TI  - Comparison of two PET radioligands, [11C]FPEB and [11C]SP203, for quantification
      of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 in human brain.
AB  - Of the two 18F-labeled PET ligands currently available to image metabotropic
      glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), [18F]FPEB is reportedly superior because
      [18F]SP203 undergoes glutathionlyation, generating [18F]-fluoride ion that
      accumulates in brain and skull. To allow multiple PET studies on the same day
      with lower radiation exposure, we prepared [11C]FPEB and [11C]SP203 from
      [11C]hydrogen cyanide and compared their abilities to accurately quantify mGluR5
      in human brain, especially as regards radiometabolite accumulation. Genomic plot
      was used to estimate the ratio of specific-to-nondisplaceable uptake ( BPND)
      without using a receptor blocking drug. Both tracers quantified mGluR5; however
      [11C]SP203, like [18F]SP203, had radiometabolite accumulation in brain, as
      evidenced by increased distribution volume ( VT) over the scan period. Absolute
      VT values were ~30% lower for 11C-labeled compared with 18F-labeled radioligands,
      likely caused by the lower specific activities (and high receptor occupancies) of
      the 11C radioligands. The genomic plot indicated ~60% specific binding in
      cerebellum, which makes it inappropriate as a reference region. Whole-body scans
      performed in healthy subjects demonstrated a low radiation burden typical for 11C
      ligands. Thus, the evidence suggests that [11C]FPEB is superior to [11C]SP203. If
      prepared in higher specific activity, [11C]FPEB would presumably be as effective
      as [18F]FPEB for quantifying mGluR5 in human brain.

PMID- 27629100
TI  - Inverse relationship between brain glucose and ketone metabolism in adults during
      short-term moderate dietary ketosis: A dual tracer quantitative positron emission
      tomography study.
AB  - Ketones (principally beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate (AcAc)) are an
      important alternative fuel to glucose for the human brain, but their utilisation
      by the brain remains poorly understood. Our objective was to use positron
      emission tomography (PET) to assess the impact of diet-induced moderate ketosis
      on cerebral metabolic rate of acetoacetate (CMRa) and glucose (CMRglc) in healthy
      adults. Ten participants (35 +/- 15 y) received a very high fat ketogenic diet
      (KD) (4.5:1; lipid:protein plus carbohydrates) for four days. CMRa and CMRglc
      were quantified by PET before and after the KD with the tracers, 11C-AcAc and 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), respectively. During the KD, plasma ketones
      increased 8-fold ( p = 0.005) while plasma glucose decreased by 24% ( p = 0.005).
      CMRa increased 6-fold ( p = 0.005), whereas CMRglc decreased by 20% ( p = 0.014)
      on the KD. Plasma ketones were positively correlated with CMRa (r = 0.93; p <
      0.0001). After four days on the KD, CMRa represented 17% of whole brain energy
      requirements in healthy adults with a 2-fold difference across brain regions (12
      24%). The CMR of ketones (AcAc and beta-hydroxybutyrate combined) while on the KD
      was estimated to represent about 33% of brain energy requirements or
      approximately double the CMRa. Whether increased ketone availability raises CMR
      of ketones to the same extent in older people as observed here or in conditions
      in which chronic brain glucose hypometabolism is present remains to be
      determined.

PMID- 27629101
TI  - Multi-modal assessment of neurovascular coupling during cerebral ischaemia and
      reperfusion using remote middle cerebral artery occlusion.
AB  - Hyperacute changes in cerebral blood flow during cerebral ischaemia and
      reperfusion are important determinants of injury. Cerebral blood flow is
      regulated by neurovascular coupling, and disruption of neurovascular coupling
      contributes to brain plasticity and repair problems. However, it is unknown how
      neurovascular coupling is affected hyperacutely during cerebral ischaemia and
      reperfusion. We have developed a remote middle cerebral artery occlusion model in
      the rat, which enables multi-modal assessment of neurovascular coupling
      immediately prior to, during and immediately following reperfusion. Male Wistar
      rats were subjected to remote middle cerebral artery occlusion, where a long
      filament was advanced intraluminally through a guide cannula in the common
      carotid artery. Transcallosal stimulation evoked increases in blood flow, tissue
      oxygenation and neuronal activity, which were diminished by middle cerebral
      artery occlusion and partially restored during reperfusion. These evoked
      responses were not affected by administration of the thrombolytic alteplase at
      clinically used doses. Evoked cerebral blood flow responses were fully restored
      at 24 h post-middle cerebral artery occlusion indicating that neurovascular
      dysfunction was not sustained. These data show for the first time that the rat
      remote middle cerebral artery occlusion model coupled with transcallosal
      stimulation provides a novel method for continuous assessment of hyperacute
      neurovascular coupling changes during ischaemia and reperfusion, and offers
      unique insight into hyperacute ischaemic pathophysiology.

PMID- 27629103
TI  - Additional historical comments on pre-invasive testicular germ cell malignancy.

PMID- 27629104
TI  - Helping and hurting others: Person and situation effects on aggressive and
      prosocial behavior as assessed by the Tangram task.
AB  - The Tangram Help/Hurt Task is a laboratory-based measure designed to
      simultaneously assess helpful and hurtful behavior. Across five studies we
      provide evidence that further establishes the convergent and discriminant
      validity of the Tangram Help/Hurt Task. Cross-sectional and meta-analytic
      evidence finds consistently significant associations between helpful and hurtful
      scores on the Tangram Task and prosocial and aggressive personality traits.
      Experimental evidence reveals that situational primes known to induce aggressive
      and prosocial behavior significantly influence helpful and hurtful scores on the
      Tangram Help/Hurt Task. Additionally, motivation items in all studies indicate
      that tangram choices are indeed associated with intent of helping and hurting. We
      discuss the advantages and limitations of the Tangram Help/Hurt Task relative to
      established measures of helpful and hurtful behavior. Aggr. Behav. 43:133-146,
      2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629105
TI  - THE USE OF SMALL FIELD-OF-VIEW 3 TESLA MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FOR
      IDENTIFICATION OF ARTICULAR CARTILAGE DEFECTS IN THE CANINE STIFLE: AN EX VIVO
      CADAVERIC STUDY.
AB  - Noninvasive identification of canine articular cartilage injuries is challenging.
      The objective of this prospective, cadaveric, diagnostic accuracy study was to
      determine if small field-of-view, three tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      was an accurate method for identifying experimentally induced cartilage defects
      in canine stifle joints. Forty-two canine cadaveric stifles (n = 6/group) were
      treated with sham control, 0.5, 1.0, or 3.0 mm deep defects in the medial or
      lateral femoral condyle. Proton density-weighted, T1-weighted, fast-low angle
      shot, and T2 maps were generated in dorsal and sagittal planes. Defect location
      and size were independently determined by two evaluators and compared to
      histologic measurements. Accuracy of MRI was determined using concordance
      correlation coefficients. Defects were identified correctly in 98.8% (Evaluator
      1) and 98.2% (Evaluator 2) of joints. Concordance correlation coefficients
      between MRI and histopathology were greater for defect depth (Evaluator 1: 0.68
      0.84; Evaluator 2: 0.76-0.83) compared to width (Evaluator 1: 0.30-0.54;
      Evaluator 2: 0.48-0.68). However, MRI overestimated defect depth (histopathology:
      1.65 +/- 0.94 mm; Evaluator 1, range of means: 2.07-2.38 mm; Evaluator 2, range
      of means: 2-2.2 mm) and width (histopathology: 6.98 +/- 1.32 mm; Evaluator 1,
      range of means: 8.33-8.8 mm; Evaluator 2, range of means: 6.64-7.16 mm). Using
      the paired t-test, the mean T2 relaxation time of cartilage defects was
      significantly greater than the mean T2 relaxation time of adjacent normal
      cartilage for both evaluators (P < 0.0001). Findings indicated that MRI is an
      accurate method for identifying cartilage defects in the cadaveric canine stifle.
      Additional studies are needed to determine the in vivo accuracy of this method.

PMID- 27629102
TI  - Nucleoside diphosphate kinase B regulates angiogenic responses in the endothelium
      via caveolae formation and c-Src-mediated caveolin-1 phosphorylation.
AB  - Nucleoside diphosphate kinase B (NDPK-B) is an enzyme required for nucleoside
      triphosphate homeostasis, which has been shown to interact with caveolin-1 (Cav
      1). In endothelial cells (ECs), NDPK-B contributes to the regulation of
      angiogenesis and adherens junction (AJ) integrity. We therefore investigated
      whether an interaction of NDPK-B with Cav-1 in ECs is required for this
      regulation and the involvement of VEGF signaling herein. We report that
      simultaneous depletion of NDPK-B/Cav-1 in HUVECs synergistically impaired
      sprouting angiogenesis. NDPK-B depletion alone impaired caveolae formation, VEGF
      induced phosphorylation of c-Src/Cav-1 but not of ERK1/2/AKT/eNOS. In vivo, Cav-1
      /- mice showed impaired retinal vascularization at postnatal-day five, whereas
      NDPK-B-/- mice did not. Primary mouse brain ECs (MBMECs) from NDPK-B-/- mice
      showed no change in caveolae content and transendothelial-electrical resistance
      upon VEGF stimulation. Interestingly, NDPK-B-/- MBMECs displayed an accumulation
      of intracellular vesicles and increased Cav-1 levels. Dextran tracer analysis
      showed increased vascular permeability in the brain of NDPK-B-/- mice compared to
      wild type. In conclusion, our data indicate that NDPK-B is required for the
      correct localization of Cav-1 at the plasma membrane and the formation of
      caveolae. The genetic ablation of NDPK-B could partially be compensated by an
      increased Cav-1 content, which restored caveolae formation and some endothelial
      functions.

PMID- 27629106
TI  - Iron Availability Modulates the Persistence of Legionella pneumophila in Complex
      Biofilms.
AB  - Legionella pneumophila is a pathogenic bacteria found in biofilms in freshwater.
      Iron is an essential nutrient for L. pneumophila growth. In this study, complex
      biofilms were developed using river water spiked with L. pneumophila, and the
      persistence of L. pneumophila in these complex biofilms was evaluated. In order
      to study the role of iron in the persistence of L. pneumophila, river water was
      supplied with either iron pyrophosphate or iron chelators (deferoxamine mesylate,
      DFX for ferric iron and dipyridyl, DIP for ferrous iron) to modulate iron
      availability. The addition of iron pyrophosphate and DFX did not markedly affect
      the persistence of L. pneumophila in the biofilms, whereas that of DIP had a
      beneficial effect. Since DIP specifically chelates ferrous iron, we hypothesized
      that DIP may protect L. pneumophila from the deleterious effects of ferrous iron.
      In conclusion, ferrous iron appears to be important for the persistence of L.
      pneumophila in complex biofilms. However, further studies are needed in order to
      obtain a better understanding of the role of ferrous iron in the behavior of this
      bacterium in the environment.

PMID- 27629108
TI  - Is it time to develop a tiered classification scheme for salivary gland fine
      needle aspiration specimens?

PMID- 27629109
TI  - Propionibacterium acnes infection associated with cancerous prostate hypertrophy.

PMID- 27629110
TI  - Reflections in the rainforest: full-length mirrors facilitate behavioral
      observations of unhabituated, wild chimpanzees.
AB  - We describe behaviors of unhabituated wild chimpanzees in Gabon during repeated
      encounters with large mirrors installed permanently in their home range. Movement
      in proximity to the mirrors triggered video cameras that recorded the scene. Data
      are presented for 51 mirror encounters spanning a 3-year period. After initial
      wariness, mirror-directed aggressive behaviors were common, especially in adult
      males, but aggression gradually diminished and eventually almost completely
      ceased. Focusing on the two mirrors that elicited most reactions, the percentage
      of chimpanzees showing tension or anxiety also decreased across encounters. These
      mirrors elicited a range of socio-sexual behaviors interpreted as having a
      reassurance function, especially when group-level tension appeared high.
      Chimpanzees also occasionally directed these behaviors towards their own
      reflection. Despite increasing habituation and positive attraction to the
      mirrors, none of the chimpanzees displayed signs of self-recognition. We conclude
      that a combination of large mirrors and video traps can provide valuable
      information about unhabituated, semi-terrestrial primates in their natural
      habitat, by inducing the primates to stay in one place for longer than they might
      otherwise do.

PMID- 27629107
TI  - Age at menarche and age at natural menopause in East Asian women: a genome-wide
      association study.
AB  - Age at menarche (AM) and age at natural menopause (ANM) are complex traits with a
      high heritability. Abnormal timing of menarche or menopause is associated with a
      reduced span of fertility and risk for several age-related diseases including
      breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.
      To identify novel genetic loci for AM or ANM in East Asian women and to replicate
      previously identified loci primarily in women of European ancestry by genome-wide
      association studies (GWASs), we conducted a two-stage GWAS. Stage I aimed to
      discover promising novel AM and ANM loci using GWAS data of 8073 women from
      Shanghai, China. The Stage II replication study used the data from another
      Chinese GWAS (n = 1230 for AM and n = 1458 for ANM), a Korean GWAS (n = 4215 for
      AM and n = 1739 for ANM), and de novo genotyping of 2877 additional Chinese
      women. Previous GWAS-identified loci for AM and ANM were also evaluated. We
      identified two suggestive menarcheal age loci tagged by rs79195475 at 10q21.3
      (beta = -0.118 years, P = 3.4 * 10-6) and rs1023935 at 4p15.1 (beta = -0.145
      years, P = 4.9 * 10-6) and one menopausal age locus tagged by rs3818134 at
      22q12.2 (beta = -0.276 years, P = 8.8 * 10-6). These suggestive loci warrant a
      further validation in independent populations. Although limited by low
      statistical power, we replicated 19 of the 98 menarche loci and 5 of the 20
      menopause loci previously identified in women of European ancestry in East Asian
      women, suggesting a shared genetic architecture for these two traits across
      populations.

PMID- 27629111
TI  - Preliminary study on hand preference in captive northern white-cheeked gibbons
      (Nomascus leucogenys).
AB  - The postural origin hypothesis and the task complexity hypothesis propose that
      hand preference in non-human primates evolved in association with body posture
      and task complexity, respectively. The results of previous studies testing these
      two hypotheses, however, vary greatly with the different primate species and
      methods used. To investigate the effect of body posture and task complexity on
      hand preference, we recorded bouts of hand usage in nine captive northern white
      cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys) housed at Beijing Zoo as they reached for
      food items in a ground-reaching task, a box task, and a tube task. The results
      showed that four to seven of the nine gibbons displayed a hand preference at the
      individual level in different tasks, and that hand preference in individuals was
      task-specific; there was no group-level hand preference in any task. The box task
      seemed to elicit a greater strength of hand preference than the ground-reaching
      task at the individual level. Although the small sample size rules out drawing
      any strong conclusions concerning hand preference at the group level, our results
      suggest that the suspensory reaching posture might increase the expression of
      hand preference at the individual level. This study provides preliminary
      information on hand preference in captive northern white-cheeked gibbons, and
      will be helpful for future studies addressing the origin and evolution of hand
      preference in small apes.

PMID- 27629112
TI  - The famous cultivated mushroom Bailinggu is a separate species of the Pleurotus
      eryngii species complex.
AB  - The mushroom of the genus Pleurotus in western China, called Bailinggu, is a
      precious edible fungus with high economic value. However, its taxonomical
      position is unclear. Some researchers regard it as a variety of P. eryngii,
      namely P. eryngii var. tuoliensis, whereas others consider it to be a subspecies
      of P. eryngii, viz. P. eryngii subsp. tuoliensis. A total of 51 samples
      representing seven genetic groups of the genus Pleurotus were subjected to a
      phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of the translation elongation factor 1
      alpha gene (ef1a), the RNA polymerase II largest subunit gene (rpb1), the RNA
      polymerase II second largest subunit gene (rpb2) and nuc rDNA internal
      transcribed spacers (ITS). Our data indicate that the mushroom Bailinggu is a
      lineage independent of P. eryngii and should be lifted as its own species, namely
      P. tuoliensis. In addition, its known distribution range consists of both western
      China and Iran.

PMID- 27629113
TI  - Characterization of chronic arthritis in a multicenter study of 852 childhood
      onset systemic lupus erythematosus patients.
AB  - Chronic arthritis (CA) is an unusual condition in childhood-onset systemic lupus
      erythematosus (cSLE) and data in children is very limited. The aim of the study
      is to assess CA in a large population of cSLE patients, in a multicenter cross
      sectional study including 852 cSLE patients followed in ten Pediatric
      Rheumatology referral services in state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. CA was observed in
      32/852 (3.7 %) cSLE patients mostly in hands and ankles. Chronic monoarthritis
      was diagnosed in four cSLE patients, oligoarthritis in nine and polyarthritis in
      19. In the latter group, six had rhupus syndrome. Two oligoarticular patients had
      Jaccoud's arthropathy. CA was an isolated manifestation observed at disease onset
      in 13/32 (41 %) cSLE patients, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) was the
      first diagnosis in 18/32 (56 %). The comparison of last visit of patients with CA
      and without this manifestation revealed higher frequency of splenomegaly (28 vs.
      11 %, p = 0.002). The median of SLICC/ACR-DI score [1(0-9) vs. 0(0-7), p = 0.003]
      was significantly higher in CA patients compared to patients without this
      manifestation, likewise the frequency of musculoskeletal damage (31 vs. 9 % p =
      0.001). Frequencies of treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (75
      vs. 26 %, p < 0.0001), hydroxychloroquine sulfate (87 vs. 59 %, p = 0.001) and
      methotrexate (47 vs. 22 %, p = 0.001) were significantly higher in CA patients.
      This large multicenter study allowed us to characterize CA as a rare and early
      manifestation of cSLE, frequently mimicking JIA at disease onset. It is
      predominantly polyarticular, involving more often hands and ankles and it is
      associated with significant musculoskeletal accrual damage.

PMID- 27629114
TI  - Super flame-retardant lightweight rime-like carbon-phenolic nanofoam.
AB  - The desire for lightweight nanoporous materials with high-performance thermal
      insulation and efficient anti-ablation resistance for energy conservation and
      thermal protection/insulation has greatly motivated research and development
      recently. The main challenge to synthesize such lightweight materials is how to
      balance the relationship of low thermal conductivity and flame retardancy.
      Herein, we propose a new concept of lightweight "rime-like" structured carbon
      phenolic nanocomposites to solve this problem, where the 3D chopped network
      structured carbon fiber (NCF) monoliths are incorporated with nanoporous phenolic
      aerogel to retain structural and functional integrity. The nanometer-scaled
      porous phenolic (NP) was synthesized through polymerization-induced phase
      separation and ambient pressure drying using phenolic resin (PR) solution as
      reaction source, ethylene glycol (EG) as solvent and hexamethylenetetramine
      (HMTA) as catalyst. We demonstrate that the as-prepared NCF-NP nanocomposite
      exhibits with a low density of 0.25-0.35 g/cm(3), low thermal conductivity of
      0.125 Wm(-1)K(-1) and outstanding flame retardancy exceeding 2000  degrees C
      under arc-jet wind tunnel simulation environment. Our results show that the
      synthesis strategy is a promising approach for producing nanocomposites with
      excellent high-temperature heat blocking property.

PMID- 27629115
TI  - The Interplay of Implicit Causality, Structural Heuristics, and Anaphor Type in
      Ambiguous Pronoun Resolution.
AB  - Two visual-world eye-tracking experiments investigating pronoun resolution in
      Finnish examined the time course of implicit causality information relative to
      both grammatical role and order-of-mention information. Experiment 1 showed an
      effect of implicit causality that appeared at the same time as the first-mention
      preference. Furthermore, when we counterbalanced the semantic roles of the verbs,
      we found no effect of grammatical role, suggesting the standard observed subject
      preference has a large semantic component. Experiment 2 showed that both the
      personal pronoun han and the demonstrative tama preferred the antecedent
      consistent with the implicit causality bias; tama was not interpreted as
      referring to the semantically non-prominent entity. In contrast, structural
      prominence affected han and tama differently: we found a first-mention preference
      for han, but a second-mention preference for tama. The results suggest that
      semantic implicit causality information has an immediate effect on pronoun
      resolution and its use is not delayed relative to order-of-mention information.
      Furthermore, they show that order-of-mention differentially affects different
      types of anaphoric expressions, but semantic information has the same effect.

PMID- 27629116
TI  - N-H Imine as a Powerful Directing Group for Cobalt-Catalyzed Olefin
      Hydroarylation.
AB  - N-alkyl and N-aryl imines have been frequently used as directing groups in
      rhodium- and cobalt-catalyzed hydroarylation reactions of olefins and alkynes.
      However, the scope of such hydroarylation reactions has been limited by the
      difficulty of preparation of sterically hindered imines by condensation, and also
      by the steric bulkiness of the imine group itself. Reported herein is that an N-H
      imine serves as an alternative and highly effective directing group for cobalt
      catalyzed hydroarylation of olefins, and unlocks many of the limitations
      associated with the previously employed N-aryl imine directing group. The power
      of this minimal nitrogen directing group is manifested in a fourfold ortho
      alkylation of benzophenone imine, and it occurs rapidly at ambient temperature.

PMID- 27629118
TI  - Medullary neuronal loss is not associated with alpha-synuclein burden in multiple
      system atrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accumulation of alpha-synuclein in multiple system atrophy (MSA)
      affects medullary autonomic and respiratory control areas, including the rostral
      ventrolateral medulla and raphe nuclei. Relative neuronal vulnerability and its
      relationship to alpha-synuclein accumulation in these areas are unknown. The aim
      of this study was to determine the extent of loss of adrenergic neurons in the
      rostral ventrolateral medulla and serotonergic neurons in the ventrolateral
      medulla and raphe nuclei and its relationship with alpha-synuclein accumulation.
      METHODS: Medullary sections from 7 MSA and 6 control subjects were processed for
      tyrosine hydroxylase, tryptophan hydroxylase, and alpha-synuclein
      immunoreactivity. Neuronal counts were performed stereologically, whereas alpha
      synuclein burden in oligodendrocytes and neurons was quantified using object
      detection density (area/mm2). RESULTS: All MSA cases had orthostatic hypotension;
      5 had laryngeal stridor. There was marked neuronal loss in the rostral
      ventrolateral medulla and medullary raphe in all cases. Most severely affected
      were tyrosine hydroxylase ventrolateral medulla (C1) neurons (83% reduction),
      followed by tryptophan hydroxylase neurons in the ventrolateral medulla (70%),
      raphe obscurus (56%), pallidus (57%), and magnus (47%). alpha-Synuclein
      accumulation occurred predominantly as glial cytoplasmic inclusions with rare
      alpha-synuclein accumulation occurring within the remaining neurons. Density of
      alpha-synuclein did not correlate with neuronal loss in any of the areas
      analyzed, and there was no correlation between alpha-synuclein density and
      disease duration for any regions of interest. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      indicate that in MSA adrenergic neurons are more susceptible than serotonergic
      neurons in the medulla. Further, loss of medullary monoaminergic neurons may
      progress independently from alpha-synuclein accumulation in MSA. (c) 2016
      International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

PMID- 27629119
TI  - Are suburethral slings less successful in the elderly?
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: We aimed to evaluate the success of suburethral
      slings in women >=70 years of age. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study
      of women who underwent suburethral sling placement. Subjects were separated into
      three groups: <=50 years of age (group 1), 51 to 69 years of age (group 2), and
      >=70 years of age (group 3). The primary aim was to evaluate success as defined
      by >= improved on a validated patient improvement satisfaction score and a
      negative postoperative standardized stress test. RESULTS: There were 1,464
      subjects. Mean age was 44.51 +/- 4.25 (n = 296) for group 1, 60.5 +/- 5.28 (n =
      680) for group 2, and 77.68 +/- 5.41 (n = 488) for group 3. The median follow-up
      was 26 (6-498) weeks, 45 (6-498) weeks, and 42 (6-543) weeks, for groups 1, 2,
      and 3 respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated no
      difference in sling success according to age stratification. Lower success was
      associated with having had a previous sling (adjusted OR 0.25, 95 % CI 0.12-0.5),
      having detrusor overactivity (adjusted OR 0.44, 95 % CI 0.28-0.69), and having a
      history of urge urinary incontinence (UUI) for >= 4 years (adjusted OR 0.54, 95 %
      CI 0.31-0.95). CONCLUSIONS: There is no difference in sling success between the
      elderly and younger populations. However, those with previous sling surgery or a
      long standing history of UUI may be at a higher risk of failure.

PMID- 27629117
TI  - Immunological characterization of the early human fracture hematoma.
AB  - The initial inflammatory phase of fracture healing is of great importance for the
      clinical outcome. We aimed to develop a detailed time-dependent analysis of the
      initial fracture hematoma. We analyzed the composition of immune cell
      subpopulations by flow cytometry and the concentration of cytokines and
      chemokines by bioplex in 42 samples from human fractures of long bones <72 h post
      trauma. The early human fracture hematoma is characterized by maturation of
      granulocytes and migration of monocytes/macrophages and hematopoietic stem cells.
      Both T helper cells and cytotoxic T cells proliferate within the fracture
      hematoma and/or migrate to the fracture site. Humoral immunity characteristics
      comprise high concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-8,
      IFNgamma and TNFalpha, but also elevated concentration of anti-inflammatory
      cytokines, e.g., IL-1 receptor antagonist and IL-10. Furthermore, we found that
      cells of the fracture hematoma represent a source for key chemokines. Even under
      the bioenergetically restricted conditions that exist in the initial fracture
      hematoma, immune cells are not only present, but also survive, mature, function
      and migrate. They secrete a cytokine/chemokine cocktail that contributes to the
      onset of regeneration. We hypothesize that this specific microenvironment of the
      initial fracture hematoma is among the crucial factors that determine fracture
      healing.

PMID- 27629120
TI  - A Boryl-Substituted Diphosphene: Synthesis, Structure, and Reaction with n
      Butyllithium To Form a Stabilized Adduct by ppi-ppi Interaction.
AB  - A boryl-substituted diphosphene was synthesized through the nucleophilic
      borylation of PCl3 with a borylzinc reagent, followed by a reduction with Mg. A
      combined analysis of the resulting diboryldiphosphene by single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction, DFT calculations, and UV/Vis spectroscopy revealed a sigma-electron
      donating effect for the boryl substituent that was slightly weaker than that of
      the 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenyl (Mes*) ligand. The reaction of this
      diboryldiphosphene with (n) BuLi afforded a boryl-substituted phosphinophosphide
      that was, in comparison with the thermally unstable Mes*-substituted
      diaryldiphosphene, stabilized by a pi-electron-accepting effect of the boryl
      substituent.

PMID- 27629121
TI  - Alterations in the proliferative/apoptotic equilibrium in semen of adolescents
      with varicocele.
AB  - PURPOSE: To verify if the presence of varicocele (grades II and III) with and
      without seminal alterations, using the 5th centile cutoff values in table A1.1 of
      the World Health Organization (WHO, 2010) manual, alters the seminal plasma
      levels of proteins DNASE1 (deoxyribonuclease-1) and IGFBP7 (Insulin-like growth
      factor-binding protein 7), which are related to apoptosis regulation and cell
      proliferation, respectively, demonstrating that these proteins are important for
      correct spermatogenesis. METHODS: This cross sectional study was performed at the
      Sao Paulo Federal University Paulo between May 2014 and April 2016. A total of 61
      male adolescents were included in this study, of which 20 controls without
      varicocele (C), 22 with varicocele and normal semen analysis (VNS) and 19 with
      varicocele and altered semen analysis (VAS). Seminal plasma from each patient was
      used for Western blotting analysis of individual protein levels. Values of each
      protein were normalized to a testicular housekeeping protein (PARK7-protein
      deglycase DJ-1). RESULTS: Levels of IGFBP7 protein are increased in varicocele.
      Levels of DNASE1 are progressively decreased in varicocele (lower in varicocele
      and normal semen analysis, lowest in varicocele and altered semen analysis) when
      compared to adolescents without varicocele. DNASE1 levels are positively
      correlated with sperm concentration and morphology (correlation values of 0.400
      and 0.404, respectively; p values of 0.001 and 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      In conclusion, in adolescents, seminal plasma levels of IGFBP7, responsible for
      proliferative activity, are increased in varicocele grades II and III, and
      DNASE1, responsible for apoptosis regulation, are lower in varicocele, lowest in
      varicocele and low semen quality. These proteins demonstrate molecular
      alterations brought upon by varicocele. Moreover, DNASE1 is capable of
      discriminating a varicocele that causes alterations to semen quality from one
      that does not. We propose that the initial response of varicocele is to increase
      proliferative activity which, if followed by regulation of apoptosis, may lead to
      the ejaculation of a population of sperm that are in accordance with WHO cutoff
      values but, in the presence of dysregulated apoptosis, leads to lower sperm
      concentration and morphology.

PMID- 27629123
TI  - Production of xylonic acid by Klebsiella pneumoniae.
AB  - The glucose oxidation pathway is important for glucose catabolism in Klebsiella
      pneumoniae. Gluconic acid and 2-ketogluconic acid are intermediates of this
      pathway, and the production of these two chemicals has been developed in K.
      pneumoniae mutants. Catalysis characteristic research in this study has shown
      that xylose is a suitable substrate of the glucose dehydrogenase of this pathway.
      Here, using xylose as substrate, xylonic acid was accumulated in the broth of K.
      pneumoniae culture, and this process was dependent upon acidic conditions. Using
      a mixture of glucose and xylose as substrates, a mixture of xylonic acid and
      gluconic acid was produced by the Deltagad mutant of K. pneumoniae; gluconic acid
      was synthesized early, and xylonic acid synthesis began after most glucose was
      consumed. Using the hydrolysate of bamboo as substrate, mixture of 33 g/L
      gluconic acid and 14 g/L xylonic acid were produced by K. pneumoniae Deltagad. In
      fed-batch fermentation, 103 g/L xylonic acid was produced after 79 h culture,
      with a conversion ratio of 1.11 g/g. This is the first report of xylonic acid
      produced by K. pneumoniae. Production of xylonic acid and gluconic acid using
      bamboo hydrolysate is a novel approach for biomass utilization.

PMID- 27629122
TI  - The state of "freeze-for-all" in human ARTs.
AB  - The recent development of vitrification technologies and the good outcomes
      obtained in assisted reproduction technologies have supported new indications for
      freezing and segmentation of treatment. Beyond OHSS prevention and avoidance of
      embryo transfers in the setting of an adverse endocrinological profile or
      endometrial cavity, we have witnessed a trend to shift fresh embryo transfers to
      frozen embryo transfers in many programs. We critically review the available
      evidence and suggest that freeze-all is not "for all," but should be
      individualized.

PMID- 27629124
TI  - Evaluation of immunity to varicella zoster virus with a novel double antigen
      sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
AB  - Varicella is a highly contagious disease caused by primary infection of Varicella
      zoster virus (VZV). Varicella can be severe or even lethal in susceptible adults,
      immunocompromised patients and neonates. Determination of the status of immunity
      to VZV is recommended for these high-risk populations. Furthermore, measurement
      of population immunity to VZV can help in developing proper varicella vaccination
      programmes. VZV glycoprotein E (gE) is an antigen that has been demonstrated to
      be a highly accurate indicator of VZV-specific immunity. In this study,
      recombinant gE (rgE) was used to establish a double antigen sandwich enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The established sandwich ELISA showed high
      specificity and sensitivity in the detection of human sera, and it could detect
      VZV-specific antibodies at a concentration of 11.25 m IU/mL with a detection
      linearity interval of 11.25 to 360 m IU/mL (R 2 = 0.9985). The double gE antigen
      sandwich ELISA showed a sensitivity of 95.08 % and specificity of 100 % compared
      to the fluorescent-antibody-to-membrane-antigen (FAMA) test, and it showed a
      sensitivity of 100 % and a specificity of 94.74 % compared to a commercial
      neutralizing antibody detection kit. Thus, the established double antigen
      sandwich ELISA can be used as a sensitive and specific quantitative method to
      evaluate immunity to VZV.

PMID- 27629125
TI  - Insights into functional genes and taxonomical/phylogenetic diversity of
      microbial communities in biological heap leaching system and their correlation
      with functions.
AB  - Although the taxonomical/phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities in
      biological heap leaching systems has been investigated, the diversity of
      functional genes was still unclear, and, especially, the differentiation and the
      relationships of diversity and functions of microbial communities in leaching
      heap (LH) and leaching solution (LS) were also still unclear. In our study, a
      functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0) was employed to investigate the functional
      gene diversity, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to explore the
      taxonomical/phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities in LH and LS
      subsystems of Dexing copper mine (Jiangxi, China). Detrended correspondence
      analysis (DCA) showed that both functional gene structure and
      taxonomical/phylogenetic structure of microbial communities were significantly
      different between LH and LS. Signal intensities of genes, including genes for
      sulfur oxidation (e.g., soxB), metal homeostasis (e.g., arsm), carbon fixation
      (e.g., rubisco), polyphosphate degradation (e.g., ppk), and organic remediation
      (e.g., hydrocarbons) were significantly higher in LH, while signal intensities of
      genes for carbon degradation (e.g., amyA), polyphosphate synthesis (e.g., ppx),
      and sulfur reduction (e.g., dsrA) were significantly higher in LS. Further
      inspection revealed that microbial communities in LS and LH were dominated by
      Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum. However, rare species were relatively
      higher abundant in LH. Additionally, diversity index of functional genes was
      significantly different in LS (9.915 +/- 0.074) and LH (9.781 +/- 0.165), and the
      taxonomical/phylogenetic diversity index was also significantly different in LH
      (4.398 +/- 0.508) and LS (3.014 +/- 0.707). Functional tests, including sulfur
      oxidizing ability, iron-oxidizing ability, and pyrite bioleaching ability, showed
      that all abilities of microbial communities were significantly stronger in LH
      than those in LS. Further studies found that most key genes (e.g., soxC and
      dsrA), rather than functional gene diversity index, were significantly correlated
      with abilities of microbial communities by linear regression analysis and Pearson
      correlation tests. In addition, the abilities were significantly correlated with
      taxonomical/phylogenetic diversity index and some rare species (e.g.,
      Ferrithrix).

PMID- 27629126
TI  - Retrospective evaluation of clinical and pathological features, as well as
      diagnostic and treatment protocols of primary vaginal malignancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics and
      diagnostic and treatment protocols of primary vaginal carcinoma. Also, we
      compared the clinical and pathological features of primary vaginal carcinoma
      which intersect with cervical and vulvar carcinomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Sixteen patients with primary vaginal carcinoma, admitted to the Department of
      Gynecologic Oncology, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital between
      January 1983 and December 2012, were evaluated retrospectively. FIGO
      (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) Surgical staging was
      performed. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program was used
      for statistical analyses. RESULTS: The histological distribution of the 16
      patients with primary vaginal carcinoma was as follows: 9 patients (56.3%) with
      squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 5 (31.3%) with rhabdomyosarcoma, and 2 (12.5%)
      with adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION: The stage of the disease was found the be the
      main factor affecting the survival.

PMID- 27629127
TI  - Power morcellation for women undergoing laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy -
      safety of procedure and clinical experience from 426 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Minimally invasive gynaecological surgeries are performed for several
      malignant and nonmalignant indications. The aim of our study was to evaluate the
      rate of unexpected malignancies among women who underwent laparoscopical
      supracervical hysterectomy (LASH) with power morcellation. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The retrospective analysis included clinical data of 426 consecutive female
      patients who underwent LASH with power morcellation due to presumed benign
      disorders (78.4% - symptomatic uterine fibromas, 12.7% - abnormal uterine
      bleeding, 8.9% - suspicion of uterine adenomyosis) between January 2011 and
      December 2015. Pre-malignant or malignant preoperative abnormalities in the
      cervix and the uterine corpus were contraindications for LASH. RESULTS: The
      unexpected malignancies were found in four patients from study group: one ovarian
      cancer located on the inner part of simple ovarian cyst and 3 endometrial
      carcinomas (0.9%) were documented. All these patients underwent abdominal
      reoperations and no histological abnormalities were detected in the extirpated
      cervix and adnexa. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of unintended endometrial carcinoma
      in morcellated uterus after LASH was relatively small. However, careful pre
      operative counseling should be undertaken in order to exclude the possibility of
      any malignant disease in uteri among women scheduled to power morcellation.

PMID- 27629128
TI  - Urodynamic assessment of short-term effects of pelvic radiotherapy on bladder
      function in patients with gynecologic cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the short-term effects of adjuvant or primary curative
      radiotherapy (RT) on the urinary system in women with gynecologic cancer.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a prospective, concurrent cohort study including 55
      patients with gynecologic cancer who were divided into three groups. Group 1
      included 10 patients who were administered adjuvant RT following a radical
      hysterectomy (RH); Group 2 included 36 patients who were administered adjuvant RT
      following a type 1 hysterectomy and Group 3 included 9 patients who were
      administered primary curative RT. Urogynecologic assessments were carried out on
      patients before and six months after the treatment. RESULTS: Compared to
      pretreatment, no significant differences were observed in any of the three groups
      after treatment in terms of incontinence, first urge to urinate, normal urge to
      urinate, severe urge to urinate and changes in residual urine volumes. There was
      a significant decrease in maximal vesical pressure after treatment in Group 1 and
      Group 3. The maxi-mum detrusor pressure decreased significantly in Group 1. The
      post-treatment decline in bladder capacity in Group 1 and Group 2 was also
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: RH and pelvic RT cause lower urinary system
      dysfunction. Especially patients who receive primary curative RT and patients who
      are administered RT after RH, where more pelvic denervation occurs, are at higher
      risk due to high doses of RT.

PMID- 27629129
TI  - Assessment of the usefulness of pipelle biopsy in gynecological diagnostics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of pipelle in
      sampling diagnostic material from the uterine cavity and determining clinical
      factors, which may affect its effectiveness. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      retrospective analysis included 312 patients who underwent pipelle biopsy because
      of various indications. Evaluated factors which may affect the effectiveness of
      this method were: types of indications for the procedure, age, BMI, anteflexion
      or retroflexion of the uterus, presence of uterine fibroids, miscarriages,
      natural deliveries, deliveries in general. RESULTS: In 259 (83.01%) cases sampled
      material allowed for a histopathological diagnosis. In 53 (16.99%) of the women
      we failed to sample tissue material from the uterine cavity. Indications for the
      procedure, BMI, age and menopausal status were factors of potential impact on the
      diagnostic effectiveness (p < 0.05). The diagnostic value of pipelle was found to
      be the lowest in women with overweight and obesity (BMI > 28), post-menopausal
      women, women over 55 years of age and where biopsy was performed for indications
      other than abnormal uterine bleeding. On the other hand, pipelle shows clearly
      the highest effectiveness in sampling diagnostic material from the uterine cavity
      in young women (< 45 years of age), menstruating women, women with normal body
      weight or underweight (BMI < 23) and abnormal uterine bleeding. CONCLUSIONS:
      Choosing a pipelle as an endometrial biopsy method should consider the
      indications, BMI, age and menopausal status. Omission of these factors can
      increase non-diagnostic outcomes resulting in necessity of repeated biopsies, the
      risk of complications and increases the costs of health care system.

PMID- 27629130
TI  - Alternative tumor markers in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of various tumor
      markers (CA125, HE4, bcl2) measured in serum, urine and saliva in the
      differential diagnosis of adnexal masses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our study was
      conducted at the Baskent University Medical School, Department of Obstetrics and
      Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey, between November 2010 and March 2011. Fifty patients
      with a suspicion of malignant adnexal mass and 30 controls were included in the
      study. Serum and urine CA-125, HE4, and bcl2 levels were evaluated for their role
      in the diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). RESULTS: Serum CA-125 and
      HE4 levels, and urine HE4 levels were significantly higher in malignant cases as
      compared to controls (p < 0.05). Mean levels of bcl2 in saliva and urine were
      similar in malignant cases and controls (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated
      that serum CA125, serum HE4 and urine HE4 levels were elevated in patients with
      ovarian cancer. These findings should be assessed in future studies with larger
      sample sizes in order to reach more definite conclusions.

PMID- 27629131
TI  - Assessment of clinicopathological features, evaluation of treatment, and
      prognosis of clear cell and serous papillary endometrial carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical and pathological
      features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of uterine papillary serous
      carcinoma (UPSC) and clear-cell carcinoma (CC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-four
      patients who were operated on for UPSC and CC carcinoma at the Izmir Tepecik
      Research and Teaching Hospital, between January 1983 and December 2014, were
      included. Patients were evaluated for the following factors: age, gravidity,
      parity, preoperative CA-125, tumor size, myometrial and lymphovascular invasion,
      lymph node tumor metastasis, presence of atypical cells in peritoneal cytology,
      pathology results, operation types, whether or not they received postoperative
      adjuvant therapy, prognosis, and death rate. RESULTS: The stage of the disease
      was the main factor affecting disease-free and the overall survival. Cisplatin
      based chemotherapy was partially effective in patients with postoperative
      recurrence, while postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy proved to be more effective
      in preventing relapse. CONCLUSION: The studied parameters generally were
      concordant with the literature but, due to the relatively small sample size, more
      comprehensive and multicenter studies are needed to generate valid results.

PMID- 27629132
TI  - Posture and low back pain during pregnancy - 3D study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Back pain is a common complaint of pregnant women. The posture,
      curvatures of the spine and the center of gravity changes are considered as the
      mechanisms leading to pain. The study aimed to assess spinal curvatures and
      static postural characteristics with three-dimensional surface topography and
      search for relationships with the occurrence of back pain complaints among
      pregnant women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted from December 2012
      to February 2014. Patients referred from University Clinic of Gynecology and
      Obstetrics were examined outpatient at the Posture Study Unit of Department of
      Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Sixty-five women at 4-39 weeks of pregnancy were
      assessed and surveyed with Oswestry Disability Index; posture was evaluated using
      surface topography. RESULTS: The study confirmed that difficulties in sitting and
      standing are significant in the third trimester of the pregnancy. The overall
      tendency for significant lumbar curvature changes in pregnant women was not
      confirmed. Major changes in sagittal trunk inclination in relation to the plumb
      line were not observed in the study group. CONCLUSIONS: The issue regarding how
      the pregnancy causes changes in spinal curvature and posture remains open for
      further studies. Presented method of 3D surface topography can reveal postural
      changes, but that requires several exams of each subject and strict follow-up of
      the series of cases.

PMID- 27629133
TI  - Comparison of uterine, endometrial and ovarian blood flow by transvaginal color
      Doppler ultrasound in ovulatory and anovulatory cycles.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Blood flow to uterus and ovaries is demonstrated to be altered during
      mensturation. Studies has been published stating that blood flow differs also in
      ovulatory and anovulatory cycles. In this study, using color Doppler ultrasound,
      we aim to compare uterine, endometrial and ovarian blood flow during ovulatory
      and anovulatory cycles. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Women volunteers who are aged
      between 18-40 had no endocrinological problem and not recieving exogenous hormone
      therapy were included to study. Blood levels of FSH, LH, E2, prolactine, DHEAS,
      free T4 were collected in early follicular phase. Uterina, subendometrial and
      intraovarian artery blood flow pulsatility and resistance indexes were analysed
      using Doppler USG technique. Patients were called out to control on 21st of cycle
      and progesterone levels were analysed. Patients who has ovulation signs in USG
      and progesterone level above 5 ng/mL were included to ovulatory cycle group.
      Patient who has no signs of ovulation in ultrasound and has not enough
      progesterone level were included to anovulatory cycle group. RESULTS: LH and E2
      levels were significantly higher in anovulatory patients. No correlation was
      found between endometrial blood flow resistance and basal E2, prolactine,
      testosterone levels. However, DHEAS levels were related to endometrial blood flow
      resistance in anovulatory cycles. No correlation was found between ovarian blood
      flow resistance/uterine blood flow resistance and basal E2, prolactine,
      testosterone, DHEAS levels. CONCLUSIONS: There is statistically significant
      difference between endometrial, ovarian, uterine artery blood flow resistance in
      ovulatory and anovulatory cycles. Blood flow resistance was found to be increased
      in anovulatory patients. Increased E2 levels in anovulatory cycles were related
      to endometrial linethickness and endometrial volume.

PMID- 27629134
TI  - Does anticoagulant therapy improve adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with
      history of recurrent pregnancy loss?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a serious problem in the
      reproductive age women. We aimed to study the role of anticoagulant therapy on
      pregnancy complications and perinatal outcomes in pregnant patients with
      histories of RPL. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred fifty-three pregnants, with
      RPL history and thrombophilia positivity, were grouped into two as 89 treated
      with anticoagulant therapy and 64 non-treated. Treated and untreated groups were
      compared for pregnancy complications, delivery weeks, abortion rates, fetal birth
      weights, APGAR scores, live birth rates, and newborn intensive care admission
      rates. RESULTS: Of the total 153 pregnant patients (63%) 97 developed pregnancy
      complications; 55 (56.7%) were in the untreated group and 42 (43.3%) were in the
      treated group, which was statistically significant (p = 0.003). The differences
      in pregnancy complications were produced by differences in the numbers of IUFDs
      and anembryonic fetuses among the groups. The average neonatal birth weights of
      infants whose mothers had taken LMWH + ASA were significantly higher (p=0.011).
      The prematurely delivered infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care
      unit (NICU), and the NICU requirements were not statistically different between
      the groups (p = 0.446). However, live birth rates were significantly higher in
      the treated group than in the untreated group (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Anticoagulant therapy improves pregnancy complications and live birth rates in
      patients with RPL and hereditary thrombophilia.

PMID- 27629135
TI  - The use of contraception for patients after bariatric surgery.
AB  - Obesity in women of reproductive age is a serious concern regarding reproductive
      health. In many cases of infertility in obese women, reduction of body weight may
      lead to spontaneous pregnancy, without the need for more specific methods of
      treatment. Bariatric surgery is safe and is the most effective method for body
      weight reduction in obese and very obese patients. In practice there are two
      bariatric techniques; gastric banding, which leads to weight loss through intake
      restriction, and gastric bypass, leads to weight loss through food malabsorption.
      Gastric bypass surgery (the more frequently performed procedure), in most cases,
      leads to changes in eating habits and may result in vomiting, diarrhea and rapid
      body mass reduction. There are reliable data describing the continuous increase
      in the number of women who are trying to conceive, or are already pregnant,
      following bariatric surgery. Most medical specialists advise women to avoid
      pregnancy within 12-18 months after bariatric surgery. This allows for time to
      recover sufficiency from the decreased absorption of nutrients caused by the
      bariatric surgery. During this period there is a need for the use of reliable
      contraception. As there is a risk for malabsorption of hormones taken orally, the
      combined and progestogen-only pills are contraindicated, and displaced by non
      oral hormonal contraception or non-hormonal methods, including intrauterine
      devices and condoms.

PMID- 27629136
TI  - Systemic therapy for endometrial stromal sarcomas: current treatment options.
AB  - Uterine endometrial stromal sarcomas including true low-grade endometrial stromal
      sarcoma (LG-ESS) and high-grade (HG-ESS) or undifferentiated endometrial sarcoma
      (UES) constitute a group of rare, aggressive malignancies. Most LG-ESSs express
      steroid receptors. Surgery is the principal primary therapy for endometrial
      stromal sarcomas and should be considered in all cases. These malignancies are
      relatively radio- and chemoresistant. Chemotherapy is used in recurrent and
      advanced HG-ESS and UES. Currently, the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel
      is considered the most effective regimen, but at the expense of substantial
      toxicity. In steroid receptor positive advanced LG-ESS hormonal therapy, mainly
      with progestins, allows in some patients for a long-term survival. Aromatase
      inhibitors seem to be equally effective as first- and subsequent-line of
      treatment, and are well tolerated. The role of molecular-targeted therapies in
      endometrial stromal sarcomas remains to be established.

PMID- 27629137
TI  - Does IGF-1 play a role in the biology of endometrial cancer?
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a mitogen which plays a key role in
      regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. It belongs to the
      family of proteins also composed of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2), two
      types of membrane receptors (IGF-1R and IGF-2R), 6 binding proteins (IGFBP 1-6),
      hydrolyzing proteases, and reactive molecules binding proteins, which regulate
      the activity of growth factors. Disturbances in the functioning of
      IGFBP/IGF/1GF1R can lead to induction of carcinogenesis, which has been
      demonstrated in breast, prostate or colon cancers. Findings evaluating the role
      of IGF-1 in endometrial cancer biology are ambiguous and contradictory.
      Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed the role of IGF-1 in the process of
      carcinogenesis of endometrial cancer, based on the available literature.

PMID- 27629138
TI  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease diagnosed in utero. Review.
AB  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of most common
      inherited renal diseases. It is estimated that very early onset ADPKD affects
      even 2% patients. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive
      review of genetics, prenatal diagnosis and prognosis in very early onset
      autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

PMID- 27629139
TI  - TRPM7 channel inhibition mediates midazolam-induced proliferation loss in human
      malignant glioma.
AB  - The melastatin-like transient receptor potential 7 (TRPM7) has been implicated in
      proliferation or apoptosis of some cancers, indicating the potential of TRPM7 as
      an anti-anaplastic target. Here, we identified the characteristic TRPM7 channel
      currents in human malignant glioma MGR2 cells, which could be blocked by a
      pharmacologic inhibitor Gd3+. We mined the clinical sample data from Oncomine
      Database and found that human malignant glioma tissues expressed higher TRPM7
      mRNA than normal brain ones. Importantly, we identified a widely used clinical
      anesthetic midazolam as a TRPM7 inhibitor. Midazolam treatment for seconds
      suppressed the TRPM7 currents and calcium influx, and treatment for 48 h
      inhibited the TRPM7 expression. The inhibitory effect on TRPM7 accounts for the
      proliferation loss and G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest induced by midazolam. Our
      data demonstrates that midazolam represses proliferation of human malignant
      glioma cells through inhibiting TRPM7 currents, which may be further potentiated
      by suppressing the expression of TRPM7. Our result indicates midazolam as a
      pharmacologic lead compound with brain-blood barrier permeability for targeting
      TRPM7 in the glioma.

PMID- 27629141
TI  - Long non-coding RNA UCA1 enhances tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer cells
      through a miR-18a-HIF1alpha feedback regulatory loop.
AB  - Recent studies reported that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) might play critical
      roles in regulating endocrine resistance of breast cancer. Urothelial carcinoma
      associated 1 (UCA1) is an lncRNA with an oncogenic role in breast cancer. This
      study aimed to investigate whether UCA1 is involved in acquired tamoxifen
      resistance in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive cancer cells. Our findings reveal
      that tamoxifen induces UCA1 upregulation in ER-positive breast cancer cells in a
      HIF1alpha-dependent manner. UCA1 upregulation results in significantly enhanced
      tamoxifen resistance. The upregulated UCA1 sponges miR-18a, which is a negative
      regulator of HIF1alpha. Therefore, UCA1 upregulation is further enhanced through
      a miR-18a-HIF1alpha feedback loop. In addition, our data also showed that miR-18a
      is a modulator of tamoxifen sensitivity due to its regulative effect on cell
      cycle proteins. miR-18a inhibitor reduced the sensitivity of MCF-7 cells to
      tamoxifen, while miR-18a mimics sensitized BT474 cells to tamoxifen. Therefore,
      miR-18a downregulation also partly contributes to acquired tamoxifen resistance
      in the cancer cells. These findings provide some useful information for future
      clinical treatment of tamoxifen resistance.

PMID- 27629140
TI  - Emerging tale of UPR and cancer: an essentiality for malignancy.
AB  - A set of cellular response to counter any alteration in homeostasis of a cell
      originating at endoplasmic reticulum is collectively termed as unfolded protein
      response (UPR). It initially is adaptive in nature as to restore cellular
      normalcy failing in course often activates pro-apoptotic signaling pathway
      resulting in cell death. UPR has emerged as an essential adaptation mechanism
      that cross talk with various cellular processes for cancer pathogenesis.
      Interestingly, it plays diverse role in plethora of signaling pathways
      instrumental in transformation, cell invasion, cell migration, metastasis,
      neovascularization, proliferation, and maintenance of energy metabolism of
      cancerous cells. In cancerous cells, it is triggered by change in
      microenvironment of a cell usually driven by hypoxia, acidosis, and nutrient
      deprivation, which often leads to positive selection pressure involving the
      reprogramming of energy metabolism which promotes channelization of limited
      metabolites into the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP). Substantial evidences
      suggest the role of UPR in oncogene (Myc, mTOR, RAS, HER2) driven cancer
      transformation and progression. In this review, we have comprehensively
      underlined the role played by UPR in adaptation, transformation, proliferation,
      invasion, and metastasis of cancerous cells.

PMID- 27629142
TI  - Geldanamycin, an inhibitor of Hsp90, increases paclitaxel-mediated toxicity in
      ovarian cancer cells through sustained activation of the p38/H2AX axis.
AB  - Paclitaxel is a mitotic inhibitor used in ovarian cancer chemotherapy.
      Unfortunately, due to the rapid genetic and epigenetic changes in adaptation to
      stress induced by anticancer drugs, cancer cells are often able to become
      resistant to single or multiple anticancer agents. However, it remains largely
      unknown how paclitaxel resistance happens. In this study, we generated a cell
      line of acquired resistance to paclitaxel therapy, A2780T, which is cross
      resistant to other antimitotic drugs, such as PLK1 inhibitor or AURKA inhibitor.
      Immunoblotting revealed significant alterations in cell-cycle-related and
      apoptotic-related proteins involved in key signaling pathways. In particular,
      phosphorylation of p38, which activates H2AX, was significantly decreased in
      A2780T cells compared to the parental A2780 cells. Geldanamycin (GA), an
      inhibitor of Hsp90, sustained activation of the p38/H2AX axis, and A2780T cells
      were shown to be more sensitive to GA compared to A2780 cells. Furthermore,
      treatment of A2780 and A2780T cells with GA significantly enhanced sensitivity to
      paclitaxel. Meanwhile, GA cooperated with paclitaxel to suppress tumor growth in
      a mouse ovarian cancer xenograft model. In conclusion, GA may sensitize a subset
      of ovarian cancer to paclitaxel, particularly those tumors in which resistance is
      driven by inactivation of p38/H2AX axis.

PMID- 27629143
TI  - Transcriptome sequencing of HER2-positive breast cancer stem cells identifies
      potential prognostic marker.
AB  - In cancer stem cell theory, breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are postulated to be
      the root cause of recurrence and metastasis in breast cancer. Discovery of new
      biomarkers and development of BCSC-targeted therapy are practical issues that
      urgently need to be addressed in the clinic. However, few breast cancer stem cell
      targets are known. Given that there are few BCSCs, performing transcriptome
      sequencing on them thus far has not been possible. With the emergence of single
      cell sequencing technology, we have now undertaken such a study. We prepared
      single-cell suspensions, which were sorted using flow cytometry from breast tumor
      tissue and adjacent normal breast tissue from two HER2-positive patients. We
      obtained BCSCs, breast cancer cells, mammary cells, and CD44+ mammary cells.
      Transcriptome sequencing was then performed on these four cell types. Using
      bioinformatics, we identified 404 differentially expressed BCSC genes from the
      HER2-positive tumors and preliminary explored transcriptome characteristics of
      BCSCs. Finally, by querying a public database, we found that CA12 was a novel
      prognostic biomarker in HER2-positive breast cancer, which also had prognostic
      value in all breast cancer types. In conclusion, our results suggest that CA12
      may be associated with BCSCs, especially HER2-positive BCSCs, and is a potential
      novel therapeutic target and biomarker.

PMID- 27629144
TI  - Serum HE4 superior to CA125 in predicting poorer surgical outcome of epithelial
      ovarian cancer.
AB  - Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains the deadliest form of gynecological
      cancers. Optimal tumor debulking, no matter the primary or the interval, is the
      most important prognostic factor for EOC, so there is an urgent demand for
      biomarkers to predict surgical outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate
      whether serum human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) and cancer antigen 125 (CA125)
      could predict surgical outcome of EOC. The levels of preoperative serum HE4 and
      CA125 were determined by electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA) in 82 EOC patients,
      comprising 39 subjected to primary debulking surgery (PDS) and 43 with extensive
      stage III or IV disease to neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval
      debulking surgery (NACT-IDS). Among 39 patients subjected to primary debulking
      surgery, HE4 was superior to CA125 in predicting surgical outcome (area under
      curve [AUC] 0.758 vs. 0.633). At a cutoff of 353.22 pmol/L, HE4 reached 77.4 % in
      sensitivity and 75 % in specificity. The prediction of surgical outcome of
      interval debulking surgery based on preoperative HE4 and CA125 values was
      performed in 43 patients who received NACT-IDS. The difference of AUC between HE4
      and CA125 (0.793 vs. 0.663) indicating that HE4 was the better biomarker to
      predict surgical outcome of IDS. A pre-IDS HE4 value of 154.3 pmol/L is the
      optimal cutoff to identify patients who would not benefit from IDS with a
      sensitivity of 92.9 % and a specificity of 69 %. The change (>70 %) of HE4 before
      and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy could predict optimal interval debulking
      surgery. Serum HE4 was superior to CA125 in predicting surgical outcome of
      primary debulking surgery and interval debulking surgery. The change (absolute
      value or percentage) of HE4 in neoadjuvant chemotherapy could predict the outcome
      of interval debulking surgery.

PMID- 27629146
TI  - Evidence based practices are helping preterm birth outcomes in India.

PMID- 27629145
TI  - Poly r(C) binding protein is post-transcriptionally repressed by MiR-490-3p to
      potentiate squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Squamous cell skin carcinoma remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality
      with a huge cost of treatment, necessitating discovery and validation of potent
      therapeutic targets. Poly r(C) binding protein 1 (PCBP1) has been previously
      shown to function as a tumor suppressor. Previous work has shown that PCBP1
      expression is inversely correlated to maintenance of cancer stem cells in
      squamous cell skin carcinoma and prostate cancer, respectively. However, the
      precise mechanism that regulates PCBP1 expression has not been elucidated. Here,
      we show that loss of PCBP1 protein expression observed in CD34+ COLO-16 cells is
      orchestrated by translational silencing. Translational silencing is caused by
      targeting of PCBP1 mRNA by miR-490-3p. Exogenous manipulation of miR-490-3p
      levels can accordingly modulate PCBP1 protein expression, thus suggesting that
      miR-490-3p as a potential biomarker in squamous cell skin cancer with therapeutic
      benefits.

PMID- 27629147
TI  - Effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy on the risk of ventricular
      tachyarrhythmias in patients with chronic kidney disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on benefit from cardiac
      resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) in reducing ventricular
      tachyarrhythmia (VTA) risk among mild heart failure (HF) patients is not well
      understood. METHODS: We evaluated the impact of baseline renal function on VTAs
      in 1274 left bundle branch block (LBBB) patients enrolled in MADIT-CRT. Two
      prespecified subgroups were created based on estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (GFR): GFR <60 (n = 413) and GFR >=60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (n = 861). Primary end point
      was ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation/death (VT/VF/death).
      Secondary end points were any VT/VF and ventricular tachycardia >= 200 bpm or VF
      (fast VT/VF). RESULTS: There were 413 (32%) LBBB patients presenting with CKD,
      primarily of moderate severity (GFR mean 48.1 +/- 8.3). For patients with and
      without CKD, CRT-D was associated with lower risk of the primary end point
      (GFR<60: HR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.41-0.89, p = .010; GFR>=60: HR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.52
      0.89, p = .005), relative to ICD-only treatment. For patients in both renal
      function categories, CRT-D in comparison to ICD alone was associated with lower
      risk of VT/VF (GFR<60: HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.42-1.10, p = .113; GFR>=60: HR =
      0.65, 95% CI: 0.48-0.88, p = .005) and fast VT/VF (GFR<60: HR = 0.49, 95% CI:
      0.25-0.96, p = .038; GFR>=60: HR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.39-0.80, p = .001), when
      accounting for competing mortality risk. This effect was independent of CRT
      induced reverse remodeling. CONCLUSION: Among mild HF patients with LBBB, those
      with and without CKD both derived benefit from CRT-D in risk reduction in VTAs,
      independent of cardiac reverse remodeling.

PMID- 27629148
TI  - Safety of a Hybrid Closed-Loop Insulin Delivery System in Patients With Type 1
      Diabetes.

PMID- 27629149
TI  - [Suggestions to guide elderly patients on safe cycling].
AB  - Elderly cyclists are at high risk for a cycling accident, often followed by
      severe morbidity or mortality. Therefore, there is a chance that they discontinue
      a major form of autonomous and healthy mobility or have a cycling incident. By
      means of this case description, it is illustrated which steps should be taken by
      the doctor in guiding elderly, in order to remain safe cycling as long as
      possible.

PMID- 27629150
TI  - Septic arthritis in children in resource limited and non-resource limited
      countries: an update on diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Septic arthritis (SA) is an orthopedic emergency in childhood. It
      is uncommon in high resource settings. However, an incidence of 5-20 per 100,000
      children has been reported in low-income countries. Area covered: The predictive
      value of serum markers is still under debate and the proposed diagnostic
      algorithms for SA are not sufficiently validated in children. Recent data suggest
      that short-course intravenous treatment, followed by oral therapy, is as
      effective as traditional long-term treatment. Results from three randomized
      controlled trials suggest that the addition of systemic steroids may accelerate
      clinical improvement. Minimally invasive surgical techniques have been proposed
      for treatment in recent years. Expert commentary: The causes and the epidemiology
      of septic arthritis will continue to mutate according to the changes in
      immunization practices, bacterial resistance patterns and the implementation of
      PCR techniques. Future research should focus on the assessment of appropriate
      antibiotic regimens and surgical procedures.

PMID- 27629151
TI  - Conversion of Goat Fibroblasts into Lineage-Specific Cells Using a Direct
      Reprogramming Strategy.
AB  - Direct reprogramming is an efficient strategy to convert one cell type to
      another. In this study, due to the failure of maintaining the undifferentiated
      state of goat embryotic stem- and induced pluripotent stem-like cells in vitro,
      we explored an alternative way to directly convert goat fibroblasts to lineage
      specific cells. The 'Yamanaka factors' was ectopically expressed in fibroblasts
      for a short term to situate cells in a metastable state. By culturing with
      lineage-specific media for 1-2 weeks, the cardiomyocyte-like cells and neurocyte
      like cells were generated and confirmed by the quantitative RT-PCR and
      immunocytochemical staining. The metastable-state cells could also be converted
      into oocyte-like cells (OLCs) after culturing in media with retinoic acid (RA)
      and bovine follicular fluid (bFF) for 2-3 weeks. The generated OLCs were
      surrounded by cumulus granulosa cell-like cells and formed a structure resembling
      goat cumulus-oocyte complex from ovaries. This primary follicular structure could
      be developed further in oocyte mature medium and expressed germ cell-specific
      markers. In addition, we found that the induction efficiency was higher and OLC
      cell size was bigger in bFF than in RA treatment. Altogether, the direct
      reprogramming of goat fibroblasts into lineage-specific cells can facilitate stem
      cell research in domestic animals.

PMID- 27629152
TI  - Darier's sign in cutaneous plasmacytosis.

PMID- 27629153
TI  - Alignment of time-resolved data from high throughput experiments.
AB  - To better understand the dynamics of the underlying processes in cells, it is
      necessary to take measurements over a time course. Modern high-throughput
      technologies are often used for this purpose to measure the behavior of cell
      products like metabolites, peptides, proteins, [Formula: see text]RNA or mRNA at
      different points in time. Compared to classical time series, the number of time
      points is usually very limited and the measurements are taken at irregular time
      intervals. The main reasons for this are the costs of the experiments and the
      fact that the dynamic behavior usually shows a strong reaction and fast changes
      shortly after a stimulus and then slowly converges to a certain stable state.
      Another reason might simply be missing values. It is common to repeat the
      experiments and to have replicates in order to carry out a more reliable
      analysis. The ideal assumptions that the initial stimulus really started exactly
      at the same time for all replicates and that the replicates are perfectly
      synchronized are seldom satisfied. Therefore, there is a need to first adjust or
      align the time-resolved data before further analysis is carried out. Dynamic time
      warping (DTW) is considered as one of the common alignment techniques for time
      series data with equidistant time points. In this paper, we modified the DTW
      algorithm so that it can align sequences with measurements at different, non
      equidistant time points with large gaps in between. This type of data is usually
      known as time-resolved data characterized by irregular time intervals between
      measurements as well as non-identical time points for different replicates. This
      new algorithm can be easily used to align time-resolved data from high-throughput
      experiments and to come across existing problems such as time scarcity and
      existing noise in the measurements. We propose a modified method of DTW to adapt
      requirements imposed by time-resolved data by use of monotone cubic interpolation
      splines. Our presented approach provides a nonlinear alignment of two sequences
      that neither need to have equi-distant time points nor measurements at identical
      time points. The proposed method is evaluated with artificial as well as real
      data. The software is available as an R package tra (Time-Resolved data
      Alignment) which is freely available at:
      http://public.ostfalia.de/klawonn/tra.zip .

PMID- 27629154
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27629155
TI  - Early postoperative complications after middle lobe-preserving surgery for
      secondary lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Preservation of the middle lobe during lung surgery is traditionally
      avoided, because its presence in the hemithoracic cavity is considered a cause of
      complications. We report a series of lung cancer patients who underwent a
      secondary pulmonary resection with the preservation of the middle lobe to explore
      the complications and feasibility of these procedures. METHODS: We reviewed the
      clinical courses of six patients who underwent surgery for metachronous lung
      cancers. Five patients underwent right upper lobectomy, including one sleeve
      lobectomy, after having undergone prior right lower lobectomy. The remaining
      patient underwent a right lower lobectomy after having undergone a prior right
      upper lobectomy. RESULTS: There were no treatment-related deaths. One patient was
      readmitted for surgery to treat delayed air leakage progressing to pyothorax. One
      patient was treated for persistent air leakage. Two patients required
      intermittent drainage of pulmonary effusion, because of middle lobe atelectasis.
      The postoperative forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s were
      greater than the values predicted post-pneumonectomy in four evaluable patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: While postoperative complications after middle lobe-preserving
      surgery are manageable, their high incidence should be considered when performing
      this surgery.

PMID- 27629156
TI  - Simultaneous determination of eight metabolites of organophosphate and pyrethroid
      pesticides in urine.
AB  - A simultaneous method for quantifying eight metabolites of organophosphate
      pesticides and pyrethroid pesticides in urine samples has been established. The
      analytes were extracted using liquid-liquid extraction coupled with WCX solid
      phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. Eight metabolites were chemically derivatized
      before analysis using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS). The
      separation was performed on a HP-5MS capillary column (30 m * 0.25 mm * 0.25 um)
      with temperature programming. The detection was performed under electro-spray
      ionization (ESI) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. An internal standard
      method was used. The extraction solvent, types of SPE cartridges and eluents were
      optimized by comparing the sample recoveries under different conditions. The
      results showed that the calibration curves of the five organophosphorus
      pesticides metabolites were linear in the range of 0.2-200 MUg/L (r2 >= 0.992)
      and that of the three pyrethroid pesticides metabolites were linear in the range
      of 0.025-250 MUg/L (r2 >= 0.991). The limits of detection (LODs, S/N >= 3) and
      the limits of quantification (LOQs, S/N >= 10) of the eight metabolites were
      0.008-0.833 MUg/L and 0.25-2.5 MUg/L, respectively. The recoveries of the eight
      metabolites ranged from 54.08% to 82.49%. This efficient, stable, and cost
      effective method is adequate to handle the large number of samples required for
      surveying the exposure level of organophosphorus and pyrethroid pesticides in the
      general population.

PMID- 27629157
TI  - Hepatocellular carcinoma in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A link between
      oxidative stress and T-cell suppression.

PMID- 27629158
TI  - Altered intracortical myelin staining in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in
      severe mental illness.
AB  - Imaging and postmortem studies into the severe mental illnesses of major
      depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia (SZ) have
      revealed deficiencies in the myelination of deep white matter tracts of the
      brain. Recent studies have further suggested that deficits could extend to
      myelinated fibers running through the cortex in those illnesses. Disruptions in
      this intracortical myelin may underlie functional symptomology in MDD, BD, and
      SZ; thus, in this study, we hypothesized that individuals with these illnesses
      may have reduced myelin staining relative to controls in the cerebral cortex. We
      stained 60 sections of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for myelin with Luxol(r)
      fast blue in four groups: 15 BD, 15 MDD, 15 SZ, and 15 controls with no
      psychiatric illness. We digitally measured optical tissue attenuation reflecting
      the amount of myelin staining across six cortical depths in the middle frontal
      gyrus (MFG), in superficial white matter in the crown of the MFG, and in deep
      white matter. We found that a diagnosis of MDD or SZ meant that optical tissue
      attenuation was significantly reduced in the shallowest depths of the cortex.
      Furthermore, there was a trend toward reduced optical tissue attenuation in all
      illnesses across all myelinated regions we studied. These results encourage
      future studies into potential reductions in intracortical myelin in severe mental
      illness.

PMID- 27629159
TI  - Treatment recommendations for DSM-5-defined mixed features.
AB  - The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)
      mixed features specifier provides a less restrictive definition of mixed mood
      states, compared to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
      Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), including mood episodes that manifest
      with subthreshold symptoms of the opposite mood state. A limited number of
      studies have assessed the efficacy of treatments specifically for DSM-5-defined
      mixed features in mood disorders. As such, there is currently an inadequate
      amount of data to appropriately inform evidence-based treatment guidelines of DSM
      5 defined mixed features. However, given the high prevalence and morbidity of
      mixed features, treatment recommendations based on the currently available
      evidence along with expert opinion may be of benefit. This article serves to
      provide these interim treatment recommendations while humbly acknowledging the
      limited amount of evidence currently available. Second-generation antipsychotics
      (SGAs) appear to have the greatest promise in the treatment of bipolar disorder
      (BD) with mixed features. Conventional mood stabilizing agents (ie, lithium and
      divalproex) may also be of benefit; however, they have been inadequately studied.
      In the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) with mixed features, the
      comparable efficacy of antidepressants versus other treatments, such as SGAs,
      remains unknown. As such, antidepressants remain first-line treatment of MDD with
      or without mixed features; however, there are significant safety concerns
      associated with antidepressant monotherapy when mixed features are present, which
      merits increased monitoring. Lurasidone is the only SGA monotherapy that has been
      shown to be efficacious specifically in the treatment of MDD with mixed features.
      Further research is needed to accurately determine the efficacy, safety, and
      tolerability of treatments specifically for mood episodes with mixed features to
      adequately inform future treatment guidelines.

PMID- 27629160
TI  - Aripiprazole augmentation in highly treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive
      disorder - experience from a specialty clinic in India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effectiveness and tolerability of aripiprazole
      augmentation in patients with highly treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive
      disorder (OCD) in a real-world scenario. METHODS: We conducted a chart review of
      patients who were initiated on aripiprazole augmentation at a specialty OCD
      clinic in India between 2004 and 2014. Primary outcome measure was all-cause
      discontinuation. RESULTS: 23 patients were eligible for analysis. Patients had
      not achieved symptom remission despite a mean of over 3 prior SRI trials.
      Aripiprazole was continued to be used in seven patients (30%) at the time of last
      follow-up. Thirteen patients (57%) discontinued the drug due to side effects, and
      three patients (13%) discontinued aripiprazole citing no improvement. Six
      patients (26%) were noted to have >=25% reduction on the Yale-Brown Obsessive
      Compulsive Scale. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated, in a real-world setting,
      that aripiprazole may be a useful augmenting agent in a proportion of patients
      with highly treatment-resistant OCD. However, side effects may lead to premature
      discontinuation in many of them.

PMID- 27629229
TI  - Corrigendum to "Knockdown expression of Syndecan in the fat body impacts nutrient
      metabolism and the organismal response to environmental stresses in Drosophila
      melanogaster" [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. (2016) 103-108].

PMID- 27629230
TI  - Study of the effect of excited state concentration on photodegradation of the
      p3ht polymer.
AB  - We have studied photoinduced reduction of absorption and emission in p3ht, a
      semiconducting polymer, and found that the rate of photodegradation (destruction
      of the constituent thiophene rings) does not correlate with the luminescence
      intensity and, correspondingly, does not depend on the excited state
      concentration. This conclusion rules out Purcell enhancement of radiative decay
      rate as a possible explanation of the recently discovered reduction of the p3ht
      photodegradation rate in the vicinity of metallic substrates and lamellar metal
      dielectric metamaterials.

PMID- 27629231
TI  - Public perception of smog: A case study in Ningbo City, China.
AB  - : Smog has become a public environmental crisis in most areas of China, and in
      response, research efforts have mainly focused on the chemical properties of smog
      and its impact on human health. However, in-depth research on the public's
      perception of smog has not yet been conducted. A survey of residents living
      around eight state-controlled atmospheric environmental monitoring sites in
      Ningbo City was conducted using stratified sampling. The data was statistically
      analyzed to investigate people's views and behavioral tendencies in smog weather,
      the influence of different media reports on public outlook, and public opinions
      on the local atmosphere and pollution management in different areas. The results
      showed that people's perception of smog differs greatly from actual conditions,
      indicating that the public opinion tends to deviate when faced with a public
      crisis. Mainstream media (TV, newspaper, etc.), accounting for 67% of all media
      sources, are the main source for dissemination of smog information. The main
      sources of pollution, in order of decreasing contribution, according to residents
      of Ningbo City are as follows: motor vehicle exhaust, industrial coal combustion,
      large-scale construction, biomass burning, and kitchen fumes. IMPLICATIONS: Since
      2011, most areas of China have been affected by frequent smog. Most research on
      smog has been concentrated on its causes, alert systems, and prevention measures,
      whereas in-depth research on the public perception of smog has not yet been
      conducted. When a risky environmental event such as smog occurs, consequences may
      be more serious than the event itself will cause if people take irrational
      measures because of lacking relevant knowledge. Therefore, investigating people's
      attitude and response to smog is both theoretically and practically significant.

PMID- 27629232
TI  - Is social engagement linked to body image and depression among aging women?
AB  - Maintaining an active and engaged social life is a critical component of aging
      well, and women are generally more socially active than men. However, as women
      age their self-perceptions of their bodies may reduce social behaviors and
      consequently, increase depressive symptoms. Because little is known about how
      body image is associated with social engagement and depressive symptoms among
      aging women, four aspects of body image: satisfaction with cosmetic features,
      body function, physical appearance, and weight were assessed among women aged 65
      and older (n = 123). Regression analyses indicated that cosmetic appearance, body
      function, and physical appearance were associated with depressive symptoms,
      whereas satisfaction with weight was unrelated. Further, both greater
      satisfaction with cosmetic features and body function were associated with higher
      levels of social engagement, and social engagement mediated the association
      between these aspects of body satisfaction and depressive symptoms. The findings
      indicate that specific age-relevant aspects of body satisfaction are linked to
      social behavior and depression among aging women, and reduced body satisfaction
      may lead to lower social engagement, and consequently aging women's health and
      well-being may be diminished.

PMID- 27629234
TI  - Reversible Aromaticity Transfer in a Bora-Cycle: Boron-Ligand Cooperation.
AB  - Aromaticity is a central concept in chemistry. Reaction pathways involving
      reversible ligand dearomatization sequences emerged as a powerful tool for bond
      activation by metal complexes. Exploring this concept with a metal-free system,
      we have synthesized a pyridine-coordinated aminoborane which undergoes a
      temperature-induced formal dearomatization of the pyridine ring. NMR studies and
      DFT calculations revealed that this formal dearomatization sequence led to an
      aromaticity switch and the formation of a six-pi-electron boron-containing
      heteroaromatic system. Disrupting this aromatic system by coordination of an
      amine or a carboxylic acid to the boron center enabled N-H activation and O-H
      cleavage, leading to an unprecedented reversal aromaticity switch.

PMID- 27629233
TI  - Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Permeation of Bisphenol A and Pore
      Formation in a Lipid Membrane.
AB  - Bisphenol A (BPA) is particularly considered as one of the most suspicious
      endocrine disruptors. Exposure to BPA may bring about possible human toxicities,
      such as cancerous tumors, birth defects and neoteny. One of the key issues to
      understand its toxicities is how BPA enters cells. In this paper, we perform
      molecular dynamics simulations to explore the interactions between BPA and a
      phospholipid membrane (dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, DPPC bilayer). The
      simulation results show that BPA can easily enter the membrane from the aqueous
      phase. With the increasing concentrations of BPA in the membrane, BPA tends to
      aggregate and form into cluster. Meanwhile, several DPPC lipids are pulled out
      from each leaflet and adsorbed on the cluster surface, leading to pore formation.
      Detailed observations indicate that the lipid extraction results mainly from the
      dispersion interactions between BPA cluster and lipid tails, as well as weak
      electrostatic attractions between lipid headgroups and the two hydroxyl groups on
      BPA. The lipid extraction and pore formation may cause cell membrane damage and
      are of great importance to uncover BPA's cytotoxicity.

PMID- 27629235
TI  - Ten year maturation period in a level-I trauma center, a cohort comparison study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Many changes have been made to improve trauma care. Improved trauma team
      response and usage of a hybrid resuscitation room are examples of how this trauma
      center has developed. The aim was to assess how the outcome of the trauma
      population was influenced by the maturation. METHODS: A cohort comparison,
      between June 2004-July 2005 and 2014, was performed. All adult trauma patients
      with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) >15 were included. Variables collected were:
      patient demographics, mechanism of trauma, total prehospital time, pre- and
      inhospital trauma scores, vital signs, blood values and interventions, and
      physician staffed helicopter emergency medical services (P-HEMS) involvement and
      outcome. RESULTS: From June 2004 to July 2005 219, patients were admitted, and
      for the year 2014, this was 282 patients. The 2014 cohort was significantly older
      (mean age of 53.6 +/- 23.8 vs 45.6 +/- 22.7 years). The mean RTS did not differ.
      P-HEMS assists increased to 116 (13.5 %). The number of CT scans, blood
      transfusion, and acute trauma surgical interventions decreased. Mean LOS, ICU
      admission, and ICU LOS did not differ. The mortality rate, however, decreased by
      7.0 %, observed and predicted survival was significantly different in favour of
      the 2014 cohort, with a Z-score of 4.25. CONCLUSION: An increase in age is seen,
      though trauma scores remain comparable. The number of blood products transfused
      and acute trauma surgical interventions performed declines. Mortality
      significantly decreased and a significant difference in observed and predicted
      survival is seen. Showing improved trauma care in our hospital, in favour of the
      second period.

PMID- 27629237
TI  - Patient coping strategies in COPD across disease severity and quality of life: a
      qualitative study.
AB  - Quality of life (QoL) has a weak relationship with lung function (LF) impairment
      in COPD; some cope well despite poor LF, whereas others suffer disproportionate
      QoL impairment despite well-preserved LF. Adjuvant non-pharmacological
      interventions such as rehabilitation and psychological/behavioural support may
      help if acceptable and targeted appropriately, but they are under-used and
      sometimes declined by patients. This study aimed to explore and understand
      variations in experiences and coping strategies in patients with different
      severities of disease and disease-specific QoL. Thirty-four participants were
      purposively sampled across a spectrum of LF and QoL impairment, to cover a grid
      of sub-groups ('very severe LF, good QoL', moderate LF, poor QoL' and so on).
      Semi-structured interviews, digitally recorded, were analysed by thematic
      analysis. Data saturation was achieved. Four themes emerged: symptom impact,
      coping strategies, coping challenges and support needs. Most of them described
      using multiple coping strategies, yet over half reported significant challenges
      coping with COPD, including psychological impact, non-acceptance of diagnosis
      and/or disease progression, effects of co-morbidities and inadequate self
      management skills. Approximately half of the participants wanted further help,
      ideally non-pharmacological, across all LF impairment groups but mainly with
      lower QoL. Those with lower QoL additionally reported greater psychological
      distress and greater use of non-pharmacological support strategies where
      accessible. Patients who develop effective coping strategies have a better QoL
      independent of objective LF, whereas others cope poorly, are aware of this and
      report more use of non-pharmacological approaches. This study suggests that
      severely impaired QoL, irrelevant of lung function, is a powerful patient-centred
      indication to explore the positive benefits of psychological and behavioural
      support for distressed COPD patients.

PMID- 27629238
TI  - Graphene-Perovskite Solar Cells Exceed 18 % Efficiency: A Stability Study.
AB  - Interface engineering is performed by the addition of graphene and related 2 D
      materials (GRMs) into perovskite solar cells (PSCs), leading to improvements in
      the power conversion efficiency (PCE). By doping the mesoporous TiO2 layer with
      graphene flakes (mTiO2 +G), produced by liquid-phase exfoliation of pristine
      graphite, and by inserting graphene oxide (GO) as an interlayer between the
      perovskite and hole-transport layers, using a two-step deposition procedure in
      air, we achieved a PCE of 18.2 %. The obtained PCE value mainly results from
      improved charge-carrier injection/collection with respect to conventional PSCs.
      Although the addition of GRMs does not influence the shelf life, it is beneficial
      for the stability of PSCs under several aging conditions. In particular, mTiO2 +G
      PSCs retain more than 88 % of the initial PCE after 16 h of prolonged 1 sun
      illumination at the maximum power point. Moreover, when subjected to prolonged
      heating at 60  degrees C, the GO-based structures show enhanced stability with
      respect to mTiO2 +G PSCs, as a result of thermally induced modification at the
      mTiO2 +G/perovskite interface. The exploitation of GRMs in the form of
      dispersions and inks opens the way for scalable large-area production, advancing
      the possible commercialization of PSCs.

PMID- 27629239
TI  - Urolithiasis Treatment in Australia: The Age of Ureteroscopic Intervention.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of urolithiasis is increasing in the Western
      population. Significant advances in ureteroscopy and stone fragmentation energy
      sources have resulted in a paradigm shift in urolithiasis management. We aimed to
      assess the current state of urolithiasis management in Australia over the last 15
      years using population-based data. METHODS: Medicare Australia databases were
      accessed and Medicare rebate codes pertaining to ureteroscopy, extracorporeal
      shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) were
      extracted per state, year, and gender between 2001 and 2015. Population data were
      extracted from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website and provided the
      "population at risk" denominator to calculate incidence proportions. RESULTS:
      From January 2001 to December 2015, 114,789 ureteroscopy or pyeloscopy procedures
      for stone extraction in adult patients were performed in Australia. During the
      same period, 48,209 SWL and 6956 PCNL procedures were performed. Ureteroscopy and
      pyeloscopy procedures have been increasing by an average of 9.3% year-on-year,
      population adjusted, while SWL has decreased by 3.5% and PCNL by 6.4% every year
      over the same period. In absolute terms, scope procedures have increased yearly
      by an average of 3.9 per 100,000 of population (confidence interval [95% CI]:
      3.2, 4.5), while SWL has changed by -0.77 (95% CI: -0.88, -0.65) and PCNL by 
      0.16 (95% CI: -0.17, -0.14). CONCLUSION: Over the past 15 years in Australia, the
      total number of stone treatment procedures has increased significantly.
      Considerable increases in ureteroscopy were observed with relative and absolute
      reductions in SWL and PCNL. Regional variations in urolithiasis management
      strategies highlight the need for consensus on stone treatments within Australia.

PMID- 27629236
TI  - Unravelling the adiponectin paradox: novel roles of adiponectin in the regulation
      of cardiovascular disease.
AB  - : Adipose tissue (AT) has recently been identified as a dynamic endocrine organ
      secreting a wide range of adipokines. Adiponectin is one such hormone, exerting
      endocrine and paracrine effects on the cardiovascular system. At a cellular and
      molecular level, adiponectin has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti
      apoptotic roles, thereby mitigating key mechanisms underlying cardiovascular
      disease (CVD) pathogenesis. However, adiponectin expression in human AT as well
      as its circulating levels are increased in advanced CVD states, and it is
      actually considered by many as a 'rescue hormone'. Due to the complex mechanisms
      regulating adiponectin's biosynthesis in the human AT, measurement of its levels
      as a biomarker in CVD is highly controversial, given that adiponectin exerts
      protective effects on the cardiovascular system but at the same time its
      increased levels flag advanced CVD. In this review article, we present the
      involvement of adiponectin in CVD pathogenesis and we discuss its role as a
      clinical biomarker. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on
      Targeting Inflammation to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk. To view the other
      articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.22/issuetoc and
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcp.v82.4/issuetoc.

PMID- 27629241
TI  - Divergent Effects of Nitrogen Addition on Soil Respiration in a Semiarid
      Grassland.
AB  - Nitrogen (N) deposition has been steadily increasing for decades, with
      consequences for soil respiration. However, we have a limited understanding of
      how soil respiration responds to N availability. Here, we investigated the soil
      respiration responses to low and high levels of N addition (0.4 mol N m(-2) yr(
      1) vs 1.6 mol N m(-2) yr(-1)) over a two-year period in a semiarid Leymus
      chinensis grassland in Inner Mongolia, China. Our results show that low-level N
      addition increased soil respiration, plant belowground biomass and soil microbial
      biomass carbon (MBC), while high-level N additions decreased them. Soil
      respiration was positively correlated with plant belowground biomass, MBC, soil
      temperature and soil moisture. Together plant belowground biomass and MBC
      explained 99.4% of variation in mean soil respiration, with plant belowground
      biomass explaining 63.4% of the variation and soil MBC explaining the remaining
      36%. Finally, the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration was not influenced
      by N additions. Overall, our results suggest that low levels of N deposition may
      stimulate soil respiration, but large increases in N availability may decrease
      soil respiration, and that these responses are driven by the dissimilar responses
      of both plant belowground biomass and soil MBC.

PMID- 27629240
TI  - Commentary: A Metabolic Immune Checkpoint: Adenosine in Tumor Microenvironment.

PMID- 27629242
TI  - Detecting non-adherence by urine analysis in patients with uncontrolled
      hypertension: rates, reasons and reactions.
AB  - Poor adherence with pharmacotherapy is well recognised as one of the main
      barriers to achieving satisfactory blood pressure control, although accurately
      measuring patient adherence has historically been very challenging. Urine
      analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry has
      recently become routinely available as a method of screening for non-adherence.
      In addition to measuring rates of adherence in hypertensive patients, this study
      aimed to investigate the reasons for non-adherence given by patients and how
      patients react when they are informed of their results. This was a retrospective
      observational study looking at results from the routine use of this assay in a
      specialist hypertension clinic in Birmingham, UK, in patients with uncontrolled
      hypertension and those under consideration for renal denervation. Out of the 131
      patients analysed, only 67 (51%) were taking all their medications as prescribed.
      Forty-three patients (33%) were taking some of their medications, whilst 21
      patients (16%) were completely non-adherent. The most common reasons cited for
      non-adherence were adverse effects of medication and forgetfulness. Adherence
      rates for thiazide/thiazide-like diuretics and spironolactone were lower than for
      other classes of antihypertensive drug. Despite the objective nature and high
      sensitivity of the test, 36% of non-adherent patients disputed the results. A
      minority of patients did not attend follow-up. Further research investigating the
      implications of a 'non-adherence' result on the patient-clinician relationship is
      required.

PMID- 27629243
TI  - Prevalence and control of hypertension in the general practice in Italy: updated
      analysis of a large database.
AB  - Systematic assessment of blood pressure (BP) control rates may help to improve
      the clinical management of hypertension in clinical practice. This approach had
      limited application in Europe over the last three decades and only recently has
      been implemented in some countries. The present study is aimed at evaluating
      hypertension prevalence and control among adult outpatients followed by a large,
      representative sample of general practitioners (GPs) in Italy. We retrospectively
      analysed the data derived from the GP Health Search-CSD database in 2013.
      Hypertension prevalence and control were estimated within the overall population
      sample and in hypertensive outpatients, respectively, according to age and
      gender. Hypertension diagnosis was defined according to the International
      Classification of Diseases 9. Clinic BP levels were measured according to the
      European guidelines. BP control was defined as systolic/diastolic BP <140/90 mm
      Hg. Data from 911 753 individuals (52.2% females) were scrutinized. Hypertension
      was diagnosed in 236 377 (25.9%) patients, being higher in male aged <70 years
      than age-matched female. Hypertension control was recorded in 60.6% of
      hypertensive patients, being higher in female than male individuals aged <70
      years. Our current analysis demonstrates that about 26% of adult outpatients
      followed in the GP setting had hypertension and that about 61% had controlled BP
      levels. Both prevalence and control of hypertension appear to be higher when
      compared with the data reported from the analysis of the same database in 2005,
      thus confirming a positive trend in BP control in the GP clinical setting in
      Italy.

PMID- 27629245
TI  - Circulating miR-92a expression level in patients with essential hypertension: a
      potential marker of atherosclerosis.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRs) are key posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression in all
      eukaryotic cells and have a vital role in the evolution of hypertension and
      cardiovascular remodelling and, therefore, have emerged as potential biomarkers
      for cardiovascular disease. We assessed 240 participants, including 60 healthy
      volunteers with normal carotid intima-media thickness (nCIMT), 60 healthy
      volunteers with increased CIMT (iCIMT), 60 hypertensive patients with nCIMT and
      60 hypertensive patients with iCIMT. All patients underwent measurements of CIMT,
      carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and ambulatory blood pressure (BP)
      monitoring. Plasma miR-92a expression was quantified by real-time reverse
      transcription PCR. Correlations between miR-92a expression and BP parameters,
      CIMT and cfPWV were assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. We
      observed the lowest miR-92a expression (24.59+/-1.30 vs 27.76+/-2.13 vs 29.29+/
      1.89 vs 33.76+/-2.08; P<0.001) in healthy controls with nCIMT, followed by
      healthy controls with iCIMT, then hypertensive patients with nCIMT and the
      highest expression in hypertensive patients with iCIMT. Additionally, MiR-92a
      levels showed a significant positive correlation with 24-h mean systolic BP
      (r=0.807, P<0.001), 24-h mean diastolic BP (r=0.649, P<0.001), 24-h mean pulse
      pressure (PP) (r=0.697, P<0.001), 24-h daytime PP (r=0.654, P<0.001), 24-h
      nighttime PP (r=0.573, P<0.001), CIMT (r=0.571, P<0.001) and cfPWV (r=0.601,
      P<0.001). Our data present significant evidence that circulating miR-92a
      represents a potential noninvasive atherosclerosis marker in essential
      hypertensive patients.

PMID- 27629246
TI  - Synchronous vitellogenin expression and sexual maturation during migration are
      negatively correlated with juvenile hormone levels in Mythimna separata.
AB  - Annual migration of pests between different seasonal habitats can lead to serious
      crop damage. Reproductive immaturity is generally associated with the migratory
      process (oogenesis-flight syndrome), but the mechanism of reproductive
      development during migration varies unpredictably. Here, the vitellogenin gene
      (MsVg) and three key regulatory enzyme genes (MsJhamt, MsJheh and MsJhe) related
      to juvenile hormone (JH) synthesis and degradation were identified and
      characterized in Mythimna separata. The relative expression of MsVg varied
      significantly in response to seasonal changes and was significantly correlated
      with stages of ovarian development. The relatively low levels of JH titer did not
      differ significantly in male moths but slightly increased in female adults during
      the migratory season, which was consistent with changes in mRNA levels for
      MsJhamt, MsJheh and MsJhe. JH titer was negatively associated with relative
      seasonal levels of vitellogenin mRNA transcripts and with ovarian development in
      migrating M. separata. The synchrony of MsVg expression with sexual maturation
      highlighted the potential of MsVg transcript levels to serve as an index to
      monitor the adult reproductive status. In addition, the level of JH and sexual
      maturity were correlated with the extent of JH in regulating the MsVg expression
      and reproduction during seasonal northern and southern migration.

PMID- 27629244
TI  - Cadmium body burden and increased blood pressure in middle-aged American Indians:
      the Strong Heart Study.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant that has been associated with
      cardiovascular disease in populations, but the relationship of Cd with
      hypertension has been inconsistent. We studied the association between urinary Cd
      concentrations, a measure of total body burden, and blood pressure in American
      Indians, a US population with above national average Cd burden. Urinary Cd was
      measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and adjusted for
      urinary creatinine concentration. Among 3714 middle-aged American Indian
      participants of the Strong Heart Study (mean age 56 years, 41% male, 67% ever
      smokers, 23% taking antihypertensive medications), urinary Cd ranged from 0.01 to
      78.48 MUg g-1 creatinine (geometric mean=0.94 MUg g-1) and it was correlated with
      smoking pack-year among ever-smokers (r2=0.16, P<0.0001). Participants who were
      smokers were on average light-smokers (mean 10.8 pack-years), and urinary Cd was
      similarly elevated in light- and never-smokers (geometric means of 0.88 MUg g-1
      creatinine for both categories). Log-transformed urinary Cd was significantly
      associated with higher systolic blood pressure in models adjusted for age, sex,
      geographic area, body mass index, smoking (ever vs never, and cumulative pack
      years) and kidney function (mean blood pressure difference by lnCd concentration
      (beta)=1.64, P=0.002). These associations were present among light- and never
      smokers (beta=2.03, P=0.002, n=2627), although not significant among never
      smokers (beta=1.22, P=0.18, n=1260). Cd was also associated with diastolic blood
      pressure among light- and never-smokers (beta=0.94, P=0.004). These findings
      suggest that there is a relationship between Cd body burden and increased blood
      pressure in American Indians, a population with increased cardiovascular disease
      risk.

PMID- 27629247
TI  - Glutamate oxidation in astrocytes: Roles of glutamate dehydrogenase and
      aminotransferases.
AB  - The cellular distribution of transporters and enzymes related to glutamate
      metabolism led to the concept of the glutamate-glutamine cycle. Glutamate is
      released as a neurotransmitter and taken up primarily by astrocytes ensheathing
      the synapses. The glutamate carbon skeleton is transferred back to the
      presynaptic neurons as the nonexcitatory amino acid glutamine. The cycle was
      initially thought to function with a 1:1 ratio between glutamate released and
      glutamine taken up by neurons. However, studies of glutamate metabolism in
      astrocytes have shown that a considerable proportion of glutamate undergoes
      oxidative degradation; thus, quantitative formation of glutamine from the
      glutamate taken up is not possible. Oxidation of glutamate is initiated by
      transamination catalyzed by an aminotransferase, or oxidative deamination
      catalyzed by glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). We discuss methods available to
      elucidate the enzymes that mediate this conversion. Methods include
      pharmacological tools such as the transaminase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid,
      studies using GDH knockout mice, and siRNA-mediated knockdown of GDH in
      astrocytes. Studies in brain slices incubated with [15 N]glutamate demonstrated
      activity of GDH in astrocytes in situ. These results, in conjunction with reports
      in the literature, support the conclusion that GDH is active in astrocytes both
      in culture and in vivo and that this enzyme plays a significant role in glutamate
      oxidation. Oxidative metabolism of glutamate, primarily mediated by GDH, but also
      by transamination by aspartate aminotransferase, provides considerably more
      energy than is required to maintain the activity of the high-affinity glutamate
      transporters needed for efficient removal of glutamate from the synaptic cleft.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629250
TI  - Cross-Coupling of Organolithium with Ethers or Aryl Ammonium Salts by C-O or C-N
      Bond Cleavage.
AB  - Various aryl-, alkenyl-, and/or alkyllithium species reacted smoothly with aryl
      and/or benzyl ethers with cleavage of the inert C-O bond to afford cross-coupled
      products, catalyzed by commercially available [Ni(cod)2 ] (cod=1,5
      cyclooctadiene) catalysts with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands. Furthermore,
      the coupling reaction between the aryllithium compounds and aryl ammonium salts
      proceeded under mild conditions with C-N bond cleavage in the presence of a
      [Pd(PPh3 )2 Cl2 ] catalyst. These methods enable selective sequential
      functionalizations of arenes having both C-N and C-O bonds in one pot.

PMID- 27629251
TI  - What is past is prologue: A population-based case-control study of repeat
      victimization, premature mortality, and homicide.
AB  - We examined risk of male premature mortality associated with recent criminal
      victimization. Prior victimization is among the most consistent predictors of
      future risk but the explanation of repeat victimization remains elusive. Two
      general perspectives frame this debate. According to the state-dependence
      perspective, repeat victimization is forged through intervening processes
      connecting an initial with a subsequent violent victimization. According to the
      risk-heterogeneity perspective, this association is spurious because all
      victimization events for a person result from underlying individual traits.
      Research on health outcomes and premature mortality provides related, but often
      overlooked, conceptual assumptions about the co-occurring health burden of
      preventable injuries and disease. We extend and apply each of these perspectives
      in the current study to assess the nature and sources of repeat violent
      victimization. Data were from the Izhevsk (Russia) Family Study, a large-scale
      population-based case-control study. Cases (n = 1750) were all male deaths aged
      25-54 living in Izhevsk between October 2003 and October 2005. Controls (n =
      1750) were randomly selected from a city population register. Key independent
      variables were prior year prevalence of violent, property, and residential
      victimization. We used logistic regression to estimate mortality odds ratios.
      Results provided evidence for state dependence. We found that (i) after
      controlling for indicators of risk heterogeneity men who had been victims of
      violence (but not property or residential crime) within the past year were 2.6
      times more likely than those who had not to die prematurely; and (ii) the only
      type of death for which risk was higher was homicide. Aggr. Behav. 43:176-189,
      2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629252
TI  - Above-Bandgap Photovoltages in Antiferroelectrics.
AB  - The first antiferroelectric solar cell is presented. This study shows that
      antiferroelectric thin-film photovoltaic current can be switched on when biased
      into the polar phase to generate abovebandgap photovoltages in excess of 100 V
      and photovoltaic fields of several megavolts per centimeter, the largest ever
      measured for any material.

PMID- 27629248
TI  - A socio-structural approach to preventing injection drug use initiation:
      rationale for the PRIMER study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injection drug use remains a primary driver of HIV and HCV-related
      harms globally. However, there is a gap in efforts to prevent individuals from
      transitioning into injecting. People who inject drugs (PWID) play a key role in
      the transition of others into injecting, and while behavioral interventions have
      been developed to address this phenomenon, socio-structural approaches remain
      unexplored. To that end, we hypothesize that certain interventions designed to
      reduce injecting-related risk behaviors may also reduce the risk that PWID expose
      and introduce others into injecting. Identifying the preventive potential of
      existing interventions will inform broader efforts to prevent injecting and
      related harms. METHODS: The Preventing Injecting by Modifying Existing Responses
      (PRIMER) study is a multi-country mixed methods study with an aim to investigate
      whether specific interventions (e.g., opioid substitution therapy, supervised
      injection facilities, stable housing, incarceration environments) and related
      factors (e.g., public injecting and gender) influence the likelihood that PWID
      initiate others into injecting. This study will (1) investigate the PWID
      participation in injection initiation; (2) identify factors influencing the risk
      that PWID expose others to or facilitate injection initiation; (3) describe drug
      scene roles that increase the risk of PWID facilitating injection initiation; and
      (4) evaluate the impact of structural, social, or biomedical interventions on the
      risk that PWID facilitate injection initiation. It does so by pooling
      observational data from cohort studies of PWID in six cities: Vancouver, Canada;
      San Diego, USA; Tijuana, Mexico; Paris, Marseille, and Bordeaux, France. RESULTS:
      Team members are conducting a prospective, multi-site study of PWID (n = 3050) in
      North America and France that includes quantitative and qualitative data
      collection through four separate cohort studies of PWID (San Diego, STAHR II;
      Tijuana, El Cuete IV; Vancouver, V-DUS; Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris and
      Strasbourg, COSINUS). CONCLUSIONS: PRIMER is the largest study of injection
      initiation to date and the first to investigate structural approaches to
      preventing injection drug use initiation. Findings have the potential to inform
      the development and scale up of new and existing interventions to prevent
      transitions into injecting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Preventing Injecting by Modifying
      Existing Responses (PRIMER), NIDA DP2-DA040256-01 .

PMID- 27629249
TI  - Rituximab induces phenotypical and functional changes of NK cells in a non
      malignant experimental setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rituximab has broad and increasing application in rheumatic diseases.
      It is known from lymphoma studies that natural killer (NK) cells can lyse
      rituximab-coated transformed B cells. However, the role of NK cells in mediating
      rituximab-induced depletion of non-malignant B cells is unknown. The purpose of
      this study was to provide fundamental data on rituximab-mediated effects on NK
      cells in PBMCs without tumor cells, in order to simulate effects that could be
      relevant in patients with rheumatic disease. METHODS: Freshly isolated peripheral
      blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors were cultured overnight with
      therapeutic antibodies. NK cells were isolated using a commercial kit or depleted
      from PBMCs using anti-CD56 and anti-CD16 monoclonal antibodies and magnetic
      beads. Cells were analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry. Cytotoxicity assays were
      performed using (51)Cr-labeled K562 target cells. RESULTS: Addition of rituximab
      to PBMCs resulted in depletion of B cells, which was dependent on NK cells and
      serum factors. The extent of B cell depletion correlated with the percentage of
      NK cells. Following incubation with rituximab, NK cells within PBMCs were
      activated, degranulated and downregulated the low affinitiy Fc-gamma-receptor
      CD16 (FcgammaRIIIA). The co-activating receptor CD137 (41BB) was upregulated on a
      fraction of NK cells. NK cell function was altered in some donors in whom we
      observed rituximab-dependent reduction in NK cell cytotoxicity towards K562 tumor
      cells. CONCLUSIONS: NK cells mediate rituximab-induced B cell depletion.
      Rituximab induces altered NK cell phenotype and function.

PMID- 27629253
TI  - Influence of Post-disaster Evacuation on Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - AIM: After the Great East Japan Earthquake, over 160,000 residents near the
      Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were forced to evacuate due to a nuclear
      accident. Health problems in these evacuees have since become major issues. We
      examined the association between evacuation and incidence of metabolic syndrome
      (METS) among residents in Fukushima. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study among
      residents aged 40-74 years without METS at the time of the disaster in Fukushima.
      Among 20,269 residents who met the inclusion criteria before the disaster, 8,547
      residents (3,697 men and 4,850 women; follow-up proportion: 42.2%) remained
      available for follow-up examinations after the disaster by the end of March 2013.
      The main outcome was incidence of METS, defined by guidelines from the Japanese
      committee, using data from the Comprehensive Health Check before and after the
      disaster. We divided participants by evacuation status and compared outcomes
      between groups. Using a logistic regression model, we estimated the odds ratio
      for incidence of METS, adjusting for potential confounders, age, gender, waist
      circumference, exercise habit, and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Incidence of
      METS was higher in evacuees (men 19.2%, women 6.6%) than in non-evacuees (men
      11.0%, women 4.6%). Evacuees had higher body mass index, waist circumference,
      triglycerides, and fasting plasma glucose after the disaster than non-evacuees.
      We found a significant association between evacuation and incidence of METS
      (adjusted odds ratio 1.72, 95% confidence interval; 1.46-2.02). CONCLUSION: This
      is the first study to demonstrate that evacuation after a disaster is associated
      with increased incidence of METS.

PMID- 27629254
TI  - Potential Role of Lipometabolism-Related MicroRNAs in Peripheral Blood
      Mononuclear Cells as Biomarkers for Coronary Artery Disease.
AB  - AIM: To explore the relationship between lipometabolism-related microRNAs
      (miRNAs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the presence of
      coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: In the present study, 161 stable CAD
      patients and 149 health controls were enrolled. The expression levels of seven
      miRNAs (miR-21, miR-24, miR-29a, miR-33a, miR-34a, miR-103a, and miR-122) in
      PBMCs were qualified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT
      PCR). The miRNA markers that showed significant difference between the two groups
      were used for further analysis. The risk of miRNA contributing to the presence of
      CAD was estimated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. The
      area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate
      diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: The expression levels of miR-24, miR-33a, miR-103a,
      and miR-122 in PBMCs were significantly increased in CAD patients compared with
      controls and were significantly correlated with blood lipids in both CAD patients
      and controls. The increased levels of miR-24 (adjusted OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.07-1.62,
      P=0.009), miR-33a (adjusted OR=1.57, 95% CI 1.35-1.81, P<0.001), miR-103a
      (adjusted OR=1.01, 95% CI 1.01-1.02, P<0.001), and miR-122 (adjusted OR=1.03, 95%
      CI 1.01-1.04, P<0.001) were associated with risk of CAD. We identified a miRNA
      panel (miR-24, miR-33, miR-103a, and miR-122) that provided a high diagnostic
      accuracy of CAD (AUC=0.911, 95% CI 0.880-0.942). CONCLUSION: The increased
      expression levels of miR-24, miR-33a, miR-103a, and miR-122 in PBMCs are
      associated with risk of CAD. A panel of the four miRNAs has considerable clinical
      value in diagnosing stable CAD.

PMID- 27629255
TI  - Cardiothoracic Ratio as a Predictor of Cardiovascular Events in a Cohort of
      Hemodialysis Patients.
AB  - AIM: The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) on a chest X-ray is an indicator of cardiac
      enlargement, although its predictive power for cardiovascular disease (CVD)
      events in chronic kidney disease is unknown. We examined it in a cohort of
      hemodialysis patients, as compared with an N-terminal fragment of probrain
      natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). METHOD: This was an observational study with
      cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses including 517 maintenance hemodialysis
      patients and 122 healthy control subjects. The main predictors were CTR and serum
      NT-proBNP, and the main outcome was CVD events in 5 years. RESULTS: At baseline,
      the hemodialysis patients had higher median (interquartile range) levels of CTR
      [0.487 (0.457-0.520)] than the control group [0.458 (0.432-0.497)]. In the
      hemodialysis group, CTR was positively correlated with NT-proBNP (Spearman's
      r=0.44, P<0.001). During follow-up, 190 CVD events occurred. CTR was
      significantly associated with the risk of CVD [HR 2.12 (95% CI, 1.38-3.25) for
      the fourth quartile as compared with the second quartile of CTR] in a
      multivariate Cox model. In the same model, NT-proBNP (fourth versus first
      quartile) showed a HR of 3.27 (2.02-5.31). When CTR and NT-proBNP were
      simultaneously included as predictors, only NT-proBNP remained a significant
      predictor of CVD events, all-cause mortality and composite of CVD plus all-cause
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that CTR was a significant and independent
      predictor of CVD in hemodialysis patients. CTR can be used for CVD risk
      stratification in hemodialysis patients when NT-proBNP is not available.

PMID- 27629256
TI  - Assessment of the InSiGHT Interpretation Criteria for the Clinical Classification
      of 24 MLH1 and MSH2 Gene Variants.
AB  - Pathogenicity assessment of DNA variants in disease genes to explain their
      clinical consequences is an integral component of diagnostic molecular testing.
      The International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumors (InSiGHT) has
      developed specific criteria for the interpretation of mismatch repair (MMR) gene
      variants. Here, we performed a systematic investigation of 24 MLH1 and MSH2
      variants. The assessments were done by analyzing population frequency,
      segregation, tumor molecular characteristics, RNA effects, protein expression
      levels, and in vitro MMR activity. Classifications were confirmed for 15 variants
      and changed for three, and for the first time determined for six novel variants.
      Overall, based on our results, we propose the introduction of some refinements to
      the InSiGHT classification rules. The proposed changes have the advantage of
      homogenizing the InSIGHT interpretation criteria with those set out by the
      Evidence-based Network for the Interpretation of Germline Mutant Alleles (ENIGMA)
      consortium for the BRCA1/BRCA2 genes. We also observed that the addition of only
      few clinical data was sufficient to obtain a more stable classification for
      variants considered as "likely pathogenic" or "likely nonpathogenic." This shows
      the importance of obtaining as many as possible points of evidence for variant
      interpretation, especially from the clinical setting.

PMID- 27629258
TI  - Ecological selectivity of the emerging mass extinction in the oceans.
AB  - To better predict the ecological and evolutionary effects of the emerging
      biodiversity crisis in the modern oceans, we compared the association between
      extinction threat and ecological traits in modern marine animals to associations
      observed during past extinction events using a database of 2497 marine vertebrate
      and mollusc genera. We find that extinction threat in the modern oceans is
      strongly associated with large body size, whereas past extinction events were
      either nonselective or preferentially removed smaller-bodied taxa. Pelagic
      animals were victimized more than benthic animals during previous mass
      extinctions but are not preferentially threatened in the modern ocean. The
      differential importance of large-bodied animals to ecosystem function portends
      greater future ecological disruption than that caused by similar levels of
      taxonomic loss in past mass extinction events.

PMID- 27629257
TI  - miR-4262 Promotes Proliferation and Invasion of Human Breast Cancer Cells Through
      Directly Targeting KLF6 and KLF15.
AB  - miRNAs have been shown to be involved in breast cancer growth and progression.
      miR-4262 is a potential tumor promoter in human cancers. In this study, we first
      investigated the role of miR-4262 in the proliferation and invasion of human
      breast cancer cells. Our results showed that, compared with the adjacent tissues
      and MCF-10A normal breast epithelial cells, miR-4262 was markedly increased in
      the breast cancer tissues and five cell lines, including MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468,
      MDA-MB-435, SKBR3, and MCF-7. Then the miR-4262 mimic or oligo anta-miR-4262 was
      transfected into MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The results
      showed that the miR-4262 mimic greatly increased the miR-4262 level and the
      proliferation and invasion of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. In contrast, the anta
      miR-4262 had a completely opposite effect on miR-4262 expression, cell
      proliferation, and cell invasion in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. Moreover,
      bioinformatics and luciferase reporter gene assays confirmed that miR-4262
      targeted the mRNA 3'-UTR region of KLF6 and KLF15, two characterized tumor
      suppressor genes. miR-4262 suppressed protein levels of KLF6 and KLF15 in MDA-MB
      231 cells, and the suppression could be rescued by the transfection of pcDNA-KLF6
      and -KLF15. In conclusion, miR-4262 positively regulates proliferation and
      invasion of human breast cancer cells via suppression of KLF6 and KLF15.

PMID- 27629259
TI  - Curvilinear bodies are associated with adverse effects on muscle function but not
      with hydroxychloroquine dosing.
AB  - The clinical significance of curvilinear bodies (CB) seen in association with
      hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) therapy is uncertain. Patients with CB on muscle biopsy
      performed between 2006 and the present were identified, and their clinical
      features including body mass index and cumulative HCQ dose were recorded. A
      control group of 16 patients with idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM) on HCQ
      at time of biopsy but without evidence of CB was identified. Nineteen patients
      with CB were identified; details were available for 18. Among patients with CB,
      7/18 also had IIM. Seven out of ten patients with CB who did not have IIM or
      MHCI/II expression had proximal weakness; 7/11 had raised serum creatinine kinase
      (CK) levels. There was no difference in body weight (p = 0.47), body mass index
      (p = 0.93), cumulative HCQ dose (p = 0.52) or cumulative dose adjusted for body
      weight (p = 0.39) or body mass index (p = 0.32) between patients with CB and
      controls. Patients with CB had lower median CK levels than controls (p = 0.034).
      Weakness was present in 12/17 patients and 12/16 controls (p = 1.0). Concurrent
      proton-pump inhibitors were co-prescribed in 12/18 (67 %) patients with CB and in
      6/16 (38 %) controls (p = 0.17). Development of CB does not appear to be related
      to cumulative HCQ dose or body weight. Patients with CB frequently have muscle
      weakness in the absence of MHC1 expression suggesting a role for non-immune
      mechanisms of muscle injury. A high proportion of patients with CB are co
      prescribed proton-pump inhibitors raising the possibility that co-prescription of
      both agents may disrupt lysosomal function and adversely affect muscle function.

PMID- 27629260
TI  - Metastatic Signet-Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder in Cerebrospinal Fluid.
AB  - Primary bladder signet-ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) is extremely rare and
      associated with an aggressive course. To our knowledge, we describe the first
      metastatic bladder SRCC identified in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A 68-year-old
      male with 1 year history of primary bladder SRCC with spinal metastasis presented
      with multiple falls and loss of consciousness. Brain imaging showed high signal
      in the frontoparietal sulci and superior cerebellum. CSF analysis was significant
      for increased leukocytes with monocyte predominance while protein and glucose
      values were within normal range. There was a hypercellular population of
      pleomorphic tumor cells with signet-ring morphology, similar to those seen in his
      diagnostic bladder biopsies. The signet-ring cells were positive for cytokeratin
      7 and 20 and negative for CDX-2 and prostate-specific antigen. The patient's
      clinical condition rapidly deteriorated and he died less than a week after
      presentation. At autopsy, brain sections revealed signet ring cells in the
      meninges overlying the cerebrum, cerebellum, brainstem, spinal cord, and
      pituitary with superficial invasion of the brain parenchyma. No brain parenchymal
      lesions were present. This case illustrates a unique complication of primary
      bladder SRCC. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:73-76. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629261
TI  - Gingival condition associated with two types of orthodontic fixed retainers: a
      meta-analysis.
AB  - Background: The maintenance of gingival health around orthodontic fixed retainers
      (FRs) is difficult and different designs have been proposed. Objective: The goal
      of this systematic review was to analyse whether FR designs that allow
      unobstructed interproximal flossing, compared with the ones that do not, improve
      gingival parameters. Search methods: Detailed individual database search
      strategies for Cochrane Library, 'Latin' American and 'Caribbean' Health Sciences
      Literature, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were developed. Grey literature
      was also considered. Selection criteria: Clinical trials and cross-sectional
      studies that compared two types of FRs (plain and waved) were included and
      evaluated. Data collection and analysis: Study selection, data extraction, and
      risk of bias (RoB) assessment were performed individually and in duplicate. The
      methodology quality was assessed using the MAStARI RoB tool. Results: Four
      studies met the inclusion criteria, and all presented moderate RoB. While two of
      those studies found a statistically significant difference in gingival
      parameters, the other two did not report differences. A meta-analysis was
      conducted based on two of the selected studies, which performed evaluations of
      plaque index (PI) and calculus index (CI). The results revealed no differences on
      PI between wave FR and plain FR of 0.46 (0.24 to 0.69) and no differences on CI
      of 0.12 (-0.10 to 0.33). Regarding comfort, no clear differences were identified.
      Conclusions: There is not enough scientific evidence to support or not an
      association between FR design and gingival health, flossing frequency, or patient
      comfort. Registration: PROSPERO - CRD42016030059.

PMID- 27629262
TI  - Saddle point localization of molecular wavefunctions.
AB  - The quantum mechanical description of isomerization is based on bound eigenstates
      of the molecular potential energy surface. For the near-minimum regions there is
      a textbook-based relationship between the potential and eigenenergies. Here we
      show how the saddle point region that connects the two minima is encoded in the
      eigenstates of the model quartic potential and in the energy levels of the [H, C,
      N] potential energy surface. We model the spacing of the eigenenergies with the
      energy dependent classical oscillation frequency decreasing to zero at the saddle
      point. The eigenstates with the smallest spacing are localized at the saddle
      point. The analysis of the HCN <-> HNC isomerization states shows that the
      eigenstates with small energy spacing relative to the effective (v1, v3, l)
      bending potentials are highly localized in the bending coordinate at the
      transition state. These spectroscopically detectable states represent a chemical
      marker of the transition state in the eigenenergy spectrum. The method developed
      here provides a basis for modeling characteristic patterns in the eigenenergy
      spectrum of bound states.

PMID- 27629263
TI  - Plantar pressures are higher in cases with diabetic foot ulcers compared to
      controls despite a longer stance phase duration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current international guidelines advocate achieving at least a 30 %
      reduction in maximum plantar pressure to reduce the risk of foot ulcers in people
      with diabetes. However, whether plantar pressures differ in cases with foot
      ulcers to controls without ulcers is not clear. The aim of this study was to
      assess if plantar pressures were higher in patients with active plantar diabetic
      foot ulcers (cases) compared to patients with diabetes without a foot ulcer
      history (diabetes controls) and people without diabetes or a foot ulcer history
      (healthy controls). METHODS: Twenty-one cases with diabetic foot ulcers, 69
      diabetes controls and 56 healthy controls were recruited for this case-control
      study. Plantar pressures at ten sites on both feet and stance phase duration were
      measured using a pre-established protocol. Primary outcomes were mean peak
      plantar pressure, pressure-time integral and stance phase duration. Non
      parametric analyses were used with Holm's correction to correct for multiple
      testing. Binary logistic regression models were used to adjust outcomes for age,
      sex and body mass index. Median differences with 95 % confidence intervals and
      Cohen's d values (standardised mean difference) were reported for all significant
      outcomes. RESULTS: The majority of ulcers were located on the plantar surface of
      the hallux and toes. When adjusted for age, sex and body mass index, the mean
      peak plantar pressure and pressure-time integral of toes and the mid-foot were
      significantly higher in cases compared to diabetes and healthy controls (p <
      0.05). The stance phase duration was also significantly higher in cases compared
      to both control groups (p < 0.05). The main limitations of the study were the
      small number of cases studied and the inability to adjust analyses for multiple
      factors. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that plantar pressures are higher in cases
      with active diabetic foot ulcers despite having a longer stance phase duration
      which would be expected to lower plantar pressure. Whether plantar pressure
      changes can predict ulcer healing should be the focus of future research. These
      results highlight the importance of offloading feet during active ulceration in
      addition to before ulceration.

PMID- 27629265
TI  - Increased Dietary Salt Changes Baroreceptor Sensitivity and Intrarenal Renin
      Angiotensin System in Goldblatt Hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Renovascular hypertension (2-kidney 1-clip model (2K1C)) is
      characterized by renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activation. Increased Angiotensin
      II (AngII) leads to sympathoexcitation, oxidative stress, and alterations in
      sodium and water balance. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a
      discrete increase in sodium chloride intake in 2K1C rats leads to changes in
      cardiovascular and autonomic function, oxidative stress, and renin angiotensin
      aldosterone system. METHODS: After 4 weeks of induction of hypertension, rats
      were fed a normal sodium diet (0.4% NaCl) or a high-sodium diet (2% NaCl) for 2
      consecutive weeks. Experiments were carried out for 6 weeks after clipping. Mean
      arterial pressure (MAP), renal sympathetic nerve activity (rSNA), arterial
      baroreflex control of rSNA, and heart rate (HR) were assessed. Thiobarbituric
      acid reactive substances and glutathione were measured as indicators of systemic
      oxidative stress. Angiostensin-converting enzyme (ACE), ACE2, and angiotensinogen
      were evaluated in clipped and unclipped kidneys as also urinary angiotensinogen
      and plasma renin activity. Angiotensinogen, plasma renin activity (PRA) and
      angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and ACE2 in clipped and unclipped kidneys
      were evaluated. RESULTS: High-sodium diet did not change systemic oxidative
      stress, and basal values of MAP, HR, or rSNA; however, increased renal (-0.7+/
      0.2 vs. -1.5+/-0.1 spikes/s/mm Hg) and cardiac (-0.9+/-0.14 vs. -1.5+/-0.14
      bpm/mm Hg) baroreceptor reflex sensitivity in 2K1C rats. Although there was no
      alteration in PRA, a high-salt diet significantly decreased urinary
      angiotensinogen, ACE, and ACE2 expressions in the clipped and unclipped kidneys.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increased arterial baroreceptor control associated with a
      suppression of the intrarenal RAS in the 2K1C rats on high-salt diet provide a
      salt-resistant effect on hypertension and sympathoexcitation in renovascular
      hypertensive rats.

PMID- 27629264
TI  - Chiral PCB 91 and 149 Toxicity Testing in Embryo and Larvae (Danio rerio):
      Application of Targeted Metabolomics via UPLC-MS/MS.
AB  - In this study, we aimed to investigate the dysfunction of zebrafish embryos and
      larvae induced by rac-/(+)-/(-)- PCB91 and rac-/(-)-/(+)- PCB149. UPLC-MS/MS
      (Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) was
      employed to perform targeted metabolomics analysis, including the quantification
      of 22 amino acids and the semi-quantitation of 22 other metabolites.
      Stereoselective changes in target metabolites were observed in embryos and larvae
      after exposure to chiral PCB91 and PCB149, respectively. In addition, statistical
      analyses, including PCA and PLS-DA, combined with targeted metabolomics were
      conducted to identify the characteristic metabolites and the affected pathways.
      Most of the unique metabolites in embryos and larvae after PCB91/149 exposure
      were amino acids, and the affected pathways for zebrafish in the developmental
      stage were metabolic pathways. The stereoselective effects of PCB91/149 on the
      metabolic pathways of zebrafish embryos and larvae suggest that chiral PCB91/149
      exposure has stereoselective toxicity on the developmental stages of zebrafish.

PMID- 27629266
TI  - Gold-Catalyzed Synthesis of Quinolines from Propargyl Silyl Ethers and Anthranils
      through the Umpolung of a Gold Carbene Carbon.
AB  - A gold-catalyzed cascade annulation of propargylic silyl ethers with anthranils
      proceeds through a sequential ring opening/1,2-H-shift/protodeauration/Mukaiyama
      aldol cyclization. This method offers a regiospecific and modular access to 2
      aminoquinolines and other quinoline derivatives under mild conditions and with a
      broad functional-group tolerance. The conversion is possible on a gram scale,
      which underlines the synthetic practicability of this methodology. The
      versatility of the obtained scaffold has been demonstrated by useful
      postfunctionalization.

PMID- 27629267
TI  - The Implications of Brain MRI in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Our objective was to describe the types of providers who refer children with
      autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the
      referral reason, and MRI results. The most common referral reasons were autism
      spectrum disorder with seizures (33.7%), autism spectrum disorder alone (26.3%),
      and autism spectrum disorder with abnormal neurologic examination or preexisting
      finding (24%). Neurology (62.5%), general pediatric (22.3%), and
      developmental/behavioral practitioners (8.9%) referred the most patients. The
      prevalence of definite pathology was highest in children referred for autism
      spectrum disorder with abnormal neurologic examination/preexisting finding
      (26.2%, 95% CI: 16.8%-36%), headaches (25.7%, 95% CI: 11.2%-40.2%), or seizures
      (22%, 95% CI: 14.6%-29.5%), and was lowest in children referred for autism
      spectrum disorder alone (6.5%, 95% CI: 1.5%-11.6%). We concluded that there is a
      low prevalence of definite pathology in children with autism spectrum disorder
      undergoing brain MRI. In children with abnormal neurologic examination or
      preexisting finding, seizures, or headaches, one may consider performing brain
      MRI given the higher prevalence of pathology.

PMID- 27629268
TI  - Bioaccumulation and effects of metals on oxidative stress and neurotoxicity
      parameters in the frogs from the Pelophylax esculentus complex.
AB  - Metals are involved in the formation of reactive oxygen species and can induce
      oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of several
      metals on oxidative stress in the skin and muscle of the Pelophylax esculentus
      "complex" frogs (parental species Pelophylax ridibundus, Pelophylax lessonae, and
      their hybrid Pelophylax esculentus) that inhabit the wetland Obedska Bara in
      Serbia, and the potential use of these species as bioindicator organisms in
      biomonitoring studies. The biomarkers of oxidative stress (SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, GR,
      GST activities and GSH, SH concentrations) and cholinesterase activity were
      investigated. The concentrations of nine metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni,
      and Pb) were measured in the water and tissues. Correlations were established
      between metals and biomarkers in the tissues. The results of metal accumulation
      distinguished the skin of P. lessonae and muscle of P. ridibundus from other P.
      esculentus complex species. The oxidative stress biomarkers observed in P.
      ridibundus and P. esculentus had greater similarity than in P. lessonae. The P.
      lessonae displayed the highest number of correlations between biomarkers and
      metals. The results of tissue responses revealed that skin was more susceptible
      to metal-induced oxidative stress, with only exception of As. In the light of
      these findings, we can suggest the use of P. esculentus complex species as a
      biomonitoring species in studies of metal accumulation and metal-induced
      oxidative stress, but with special emphasis on P. lessonae.

PMID- 27629269
TI  - De novo transcriptome assembly and characterization of nine tissues of Lonicera
      japonica to identify potential candidate genes involved in chlorogenic acid,
      luteolosides, and secoiridoid biosynthesis pathways.
AB  - Lonicera japonica is one of the most important medicinal plants with applications
      in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine for thousands of years. Extensive
      studies on the constituents of L. japonica extracts have revealed an accumulation
      of pharmaceutically active metabolite classes, such as chlorogenic acid, luteolin
      and other flavonoids, and secoiridoids, which impart characteristic medicinal
      properties. Despite being a rich source of pharmaceutically active metabolites,
      little is known about the biosynthetic enzymes involved, and their expression
      profile across different tissues of L. japonica. In this study, we performed de
      novo transcriptome assembly for L. japonica, representing transcripts from nine
      different tissues. A total of 22 Gbps clean RNA-seq reads from nine tissues of L.
      japonica were used, resulting in 243,185 unigenes, with 99,938 unigenes annotated
      based on a homology search using blastx against the NCBI-nr protein database.
      Unsupervised principal component analysis and correlation studies using
      transcript expression data from all nine tissues of L. japonica showed
      relationships between tissues, explaining their association at different
      developmental stages. Homologs for all genes associated with chlorogenic acid,
      luteolin, and secoiridoid biosynthesis pathways were identified in the L.
      japonica transcriptome assembly. Expression of unigenes associated with
      chlorogenic acid was enriched in stems and leaf-2, unigenes from luteolin were
      enriched in stems and flowers, while unigenes from secoiridoid metabolic pathways
      were enriched in leaf-1 and shoot apex. Our results showed that different tissues
      of L. japonica are enriched with sets of unigenes associated with specific
      pharmaceutically important metabolic pathways and, therefore, possess unique
      medicinal properties. The present study will serve as a resource for future
      attempts for functional characterization of enzyme coding genes within key
      metabolic processes.

PMID- 27629272
TI  - Glucose biosensor based on immobilization of glucose oxidase on a carbon paste
      electrode modified with microsphere-attached l-glycine.
AB  - In the present study, a novel biosensor that is sensitive to glucose was prepared
      using the microspheres modified with (4-formyl-3-methoxyphenoxymethyl)polystyrene
      (FMPS) with l-glycine. Polymeric microspheres having Schiff bases were prepared
      from FMPS using the glycine condensation method. Glucose oxidase enzyme was
      immobilized onto modified carbon paste electrode by cross-linking with
      glutaraldehyde. Oxidation of enzymatically produced H2 O2 (+0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl)
      was used for determination of glucose. Optimal temperature and pH were found as
      50  degrees C and 8.0, respectively. The glucose biosensor showed a linear
      working range from 5.0 * 10-4 to 1.0 * 10-2 M, R2 = 0.999. Storage and
      operational stability of the biosensor were also investigated. The biosensor gave
      perfect reproducible results after 20 measurements with 3.3% relative standard
      deviation. It also had good storage stability.

PMID- 27629274
TI  - A rare case of bilateral renal artery thrombosis in a patient with atrial
      fibrillation despite appropriate anticoagulation.

PMID- 27629271
TI  - Factors determining the density of AQP4 water channel molecules at the brain
      blood interface.
AB  - Perivascular endfeet of astrocytes are enriched with aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-a water
      channel that is critically involved in water transport at the brain-blood
      interface and that recently was identified as a key molecule in a system for
      waste clearance. The factors that determine the size of the perivascular AQP4
      pool remain to be identified. Here we show that the size of this pool differs
      considerably between brain regions, roughly mirroring regional differences in
      Aqp4 mRNA copy numbers. We demonstrate that a targeted deletion of alpha
      syntrophin-a member of the dystrophin complex responsible for AQP4 anchoring
      removes a substantial and fairly constant proportion (79-94 %) of the
      perivascular AQP4 pool across the central nervous system (CNS). Quantitative
      immunogold analyses of AQP4 and alpha-syntrophin in perivascular membranes
      indicate that there is a fixed stoichiometry between these two molecules. Both
      molecules occur at higher densities in endfoot membrane domains facing pericytes
      than in endfoot membrane domains facing endothelial cells. Our data suggest that
      irrespective of region, endfoot targeting of alpha-syntrophin is the single most
      important factor determining the size of the perivascular AQP4 pool and hence the
      capacity for water transport at the brain-blood interface.

PMID- 27629273
TI  - Examining the durability of a hybrid, remote and computer-based cognitive
      remediation intervention for adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
AB  - AIM: Schizophrenia and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) share similar patterns
      of cognitive deficits. Up to 30% of those with 22q11DS develop schizophrenia
      during early adulthood. As cognitive decline has recently been found to predict
      onset of psychosis in adolescents with 22q11DS, early interventions such as
      cognitive remediation (CR) during adolescence are warranted. This paper
      investigates the durability of a remote, computerized, CR programme for youth
      with 22q11DS. Our aim was to determine if the positive effects of CR persisted 6
      months beyond intervention completion. METHODS: A longitudinal design with 21
      participants serving as their own controls was used. Youth were seen for
      neurocognitive assessments at pre-treatment, after the targeted 8-month
      intervention, at post-treatment, and 6 months after for follow-up. During the
      intervention, cognitive coaches met remotely with participants for CR via video
      conferencing three times a week, and offered task-specific strategies. To
      determine if intervention improvements held across the 6-month follow-up period,
      neurocognitive measures were statistically examined with repeated measures
      analysis of variances from pre-treatment through follow-up. RESULTS: Our CR
      intervention proved durable. Post-treatment improvements comprising cognitive
      flexibility, executive function, reaction time and working memory were maintained
      over the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Results confirm previous research
      regarding the durability of CR treatment and extend these findings to youth with
      22q11DS. The present study may serve to inform early intervention efforts focused
      on cognitive and functionally relevant rehabilitation goals for youth with
      22q11DS and suggests that 22q11DS can potentially serve as a suitable model for
      examining the trajectory preceding psychosis.

PMID- 27629276
TI  - A DNA Circuit for IsomiR Detection.
AB  - A synthetic DNA oligonucleotide has been programmed to function as a biological
      circuit to detect 5'-IsomiRs. The circuit consists of two integrated DNA
      switches. The first is "activated" when a DNA probe is enzymatically modified by
      a reverse transcriptase that incorporates nucleotides complementary to the 5'
      region of a microRNA (miRNA). Addition of the correct number and sequence of
      nucleotides enables the probe to assemble into an asymmetric DNA hairpin. The
      reconfigured hairpin probe then primes an internal polymerisation reaction,
      resulting in the synthesis of a symmetrical DNA hairpin. This activates the
      second switch, which then initiates the amplification of reverse-transcribed
      miRNA through a continuous cycle of DNA nicking and polymerisation. The DNA
      circuit enables sensitive and rapid detection of femtomoles of a miRNA transcript
      under isothermal conditions.

PMID- 27629275
TI  - Volume of Plasma Expansion and Functional Outcomes in Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasma expansion in acute ischemic stroke has potential to improve
      cerebral perfusion, but the long-term effects on functional outcome are mixed in
      prior trials. The goal of this study was to evaluate how the magnitude of plasma
      expansion affects neurological recovery in acute stroke. METHODS: This was a
      secondary analysis of data from the Albumin in Acute Stroke Part 2 trial
      investigating the relationship between the magnitude of overall intravenous
      volume infusion (crystalloid and colloid) to clinical outcome. The data were
      inclusive of 841 patients with a mean age of 64 years and a median National
      Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) of 11. In a multivariable-adjusted
      logistic regression model, this analysis tested the volume of plasma expansion
      over the first 48 h of hospitalization as a predictor of favorable outcome,
      defined as either a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 or 1 or a NIHSS score of 0
      or 1 at 90 days. This model included all study patients, irrespective of albumin
      or isotonic saline treatment. RESULTS: Patients that received higher volumes of
      plasma expansion more frequently had large vessel ischemic stroke and higher
      NIHSS scores. The multivariable-adjusted model revealed that there was decreased
      odds of a favorable outcome for every 250 ml additional volume plasma expansion
      over the first 48 h (OR 0.91, 95 % CI, 0.88-0.94). CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      demonstrates an association between greater volume of plasma expansion and worse
      neurological recovery.

PMID- 27629277
TI  - The inner membrane protein YhiM is necessary for Escherichia coli growth at high
      temperatures and low osmolarity.
AB  - To survive, Escherichia coli must be able to survive in rapidly changing
      environmental conditions including changes in temperature and osmolarity. We have
      studied the role of the inner membrane protein YhiM in changing environmental
      conditions. Our data indicate that YhiM is required for normal growth at 37 and
      41  degrees C but not 21  degrees C. YhiM-deficient cells grown at high
      temperatures spend more time in lag phase and stop growing at lower cell
      densities in comparison with their wild-type counterparts. They also have growth
      defects in low NaCl medium at 37  degrees C and do not grow at all at 41  degrees
      C. The effects of low NaCl can be rescued by addition of KCl or sucrose to the
      low salt medium. Finally, YhiM-deficient cells fail to grow in dilute medium at
      41  degrees C. These data suggest that YhiM may be important in protecting the
      cells from changes in temperature and osmolarity.

PMID- 27629278
TI  - Evaluation of a Novel Difficulty of Smoking Cessation Phenotype Based on Number
      of Quit Attempts.
AB  - Background: Numerous studies have sought to identify genes that influence the
      ability to quit smoking, but none found any that are consistently associated with
      smoking cessation. Methods: We developed a novel difficulty of quitting smoking
      phenotype based on the extremes of the number of quit attempts needed to achieve
      successful abstinence: Easy quitters were defined as having achieved long-term
      (>1 year) abstinence after their first quit attempt and difficult quitters as
      having reported 10 or more quit attempts. We conducted a two-stage study to
      determine if this phenotype could be useful for identifying single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) that influence smoking cessation. In stage 1, 82 SNPs in 26
      genes involved in nicotine signaling and metabolism were genotyped in 1357 easy
      quitters and 1321 difficult quitters from Cancer Prevention Study 3 (CPS-3). In
      stage 2, the 11 SNPs associated with difficult quitting in stage 1 (p < .1) were
      genotyped in an independent sample of 1300 easy quitters and 1299 difficult
      quitters from CPS-3. Results: Three of 11 SNPs (HTR1B rs6298, NR4A2 rs834829, and
      CYP2A65 rs8192729) were significantly associated with the difficult quitting
      phenotype in stage 2 (p < .05). In addition, a polygenic risk score based on the
      11 SNPs identified in stage 1 was significantly associated with the difficult
      quitting phenotype in stage 2 (odds ratio = 1.08, 95% confidence interval: 1.03
      1.14 per quintile, p trend = 4.5*10-3). Conclusions: Using a novel difficulty of
      quitting phenotype, three gene variants and a polygenic risk score based on 11
      SNPs were found to be significantly associated with smoking cessation.
      Implications: Our results provide evidence that a difficulty of quitting smoking
      phenotype based on the extremes of number of quit attempts could be a useful tool
      for identifying genetic variants that influence difficulty of smoking cessation.
      Knowledge of these genetic variants will indicate biological pathways that could
      be targeted for the development of novel smoking cessation aids and could be used
      to determine which smokers are most likely to benefit from such smoking cessation
      aids.

PMID- 27629279
TI  - Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Indoor and Outdoor Locations in Airports Across Europe
      and the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - Objective: Conduct a systematic evaluation of indoor and outdoor areas of
      selected airports, assess compliance and identify areas of improvement with smoke
      free policies in airports. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study conducted
      at 21 airports in Europe (11) and the United States (10). Using a standardized
      protocol, we assessed compliance (smoking, cigarette butts, smoke smell), and the
      physical environment (signage, ashtrays, designated smoking rooms [DSRs], tobacco
      sales). Results: Cigarette butts (45% vs. 0%), smoke smell (67% vs. 0%), ashtrays
      (18% vs. 10%), and DSRs (63% vs. 30%) were observed more commonly indoors in
      Europe than in the United States. Poor compliance indoors was related to the
      presence of DSRs (OR 4.8, 95% CI 0.69, 33.8) and to cigarettes sales in pre
      security areas (OR 6.0, 95% CI 0.57, 64.7), although not significantly different.
      Smoking was common in outdoor areas of airports in Europe and the United States
      (mean (SD) number of smokers 27.7 (23.6) and 6.3 (7.7), respectively, p value <
      .001). Around half (55%) of airports in Europe and all airports in the United
      States had some/partial outdoor smoking restrictions. Conclusions: Exposure to
      secondhand smoke (SHS) remains a public health problem in major airports across
      Europe and in some airports in the United States, specifically related to the
      presence of DSRs and SHS exposure in outdoor areas. Airports must remove DSRs.
      Research is needed in low- and middle-income countries and on the effectiveness
      of outdoor smoking-restricted areas around entryways. Eliminating smoking at
      airports will protect millions of people from SHS exposure and promote social
      norms that discourage smoking. Implications: Airports are known to allow
      exceptions to smoke-free policy by providing DSRs. We found that smoking still
      occurs in indoor areas in airports, particularly in the context of DSRs. Smoking,
      moreover, is widespread in outdoor areas and compliance with smoking restrictions
      is limited. Advancing smoke-free policy requires improvements to the physical
      environment of airports, including removal of DSRs and implementation of stricter
      outdoor smoking restrictions.

PMID- 27629280
TI  - Outcome and risk factors assessment for adverse events in advanced esophageal
      cancer patients after self-expanding metal stents placement.
AB  - Self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) are the treatment of choice for advanced
      esophageal cancers. Literature is scarce on risk factors predictors for adverse
      events after SEMS placement. Assess risk factors for adverse events after SEMS
      placement in advanced esophageal cancer and evaluate survival after SEMS
      placement. Cross-sectional study of patients with advanced esophageal cancer
      referred for SEMS placement, during a period of 3 years. Ninety-seven patients
      with advanced esophageal cancer placed SEMS. Adverse events were more common when
      tumors were located at the level of the distal esophagus/cardia (47% vs 23%, P =
      0.011, OR 3.1), with statistical significance being kept in the multivariate
      analysis (OR 3.1, P = 0.018). Time until adverse events was lower in the tumors
      located at the level of the distal esophagus/cardia (P = 0.036). Survival was
      higher in patients who placed SEMS with curative intent (327 days [126-528] vs.
      119 days [91-147], P = 0.002) and in patients submitted subsequently to surgery
      compared with those who did just chemo/radiotherapy or who did not do further
      treatment (563 days [378-748] vs. 154 days [133-175] vs. 46 days [20-72], P <
      0.001). Subsequent treatment kept statistical significance in the multivariate
      analysis (HR 3.4, P < 0.001). SEMS allow palliation of dysphagia in advanced
      esophageal cancer and are associated with an increased out-of-hospital survival,
      as long as there are conditions for further treatments. Tumors located at the
      level of the distal esophagus/cardia are associated with a greater number of
      adverse events, which also occur earlier.

PMID- 27629281
TI  - RORgamma antagonists and inverse agonists: a patent review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The transcription factor RORgamma plays a critical role in the
      expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin IL-17 and is therefore an
      attractive target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Interest in this
      molecular target has been heightened by the advancement of orally and topically
      administered RORgamma modulators into clinical trials. Areas covered: The present
      review seeks to summarize published patent applications from assignee companies
      that have disclosed Investigational New Drug (IND) filings for small molecule
      RORgamma/RORgammat antagonists and inverse agonists. Expert opinion: The field of
      RORgamma research is extremely competitive, with the majority of companies
      targeting psoriasis as the primary disease indication. Vitae Pharmaceuticals is
      currently the most advanced, with a potential first-in-class oral RORgamma
      modulator for the treatment of psoriasis. Future efforts will likely expand into
      potential applications of RORgamma-modulators in the lesser explored immune
      related areas of rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, and irritable
      bowel disorder, as well as cancer immunotherapy and castration-resistant prostate
      cancer.

PMID- 27629282
TI  - Neutrophilic figurate erythema: report of a new case in an adult and comparison
      between adult and paediatric cases.

PMID- 27629283
TI  - Community-based population-level interventions for promoting child oral health.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dental caries and gingival and periodontal disease are commonly
      occurring, preventable chronic conditions. Even though much is known about how to
      treat oral disease, currently we do not know which community-based population
      level interventions are most effective and equitable in preventing poor oral
      health. OBJECTIVES: Primary * To determine the effectiveness of community-based
      population-level oral health promotion interventions in preventing dental caries
      and gingival and periodontal disease among children from birth to 18 years of
      age. Secondary * To determine the most effective types of interventions
      (environmental, social, community and multi-component) and guiding theoretical
      frameworks.* To identify interventions that reduce inequality in oral health
      outcomes.* To examine the influence of context in the design, delivery and
      outcomes of interventions. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the following databases
      from January 1996 to April 2014: MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register
      of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
      Literature (CINAHL), the Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), BIOSIS
      Previews, Web of Science, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE),
      ScienceDirect, Sociological Abstracts, Social Science Citation Index, PsycINFO,
      SCOPUS, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses and Conference Proceedings Citation Index
      - Science. SELECTION CRITERIA: Included studies were individual- and cluster
      randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before-and-after studies and
      quasi-experimental and interrupted time series. To be included, interventions had
      to target the primary outcomes: dental caries (measured as decayed, missing and
      filled deciduous teeth/surfaces, dmft/s; Decayed, Missing and Filled permanent
      teeth/surfaces, DMFT/S) and gingival or periodontal disease among children from
      birth to 18 years of age. Studies had to report on one or more of the primary
      outcomes at baseline and post intervention, or had to provide change scores for
      both intervention and control groups. Interventions were excluded if they were
      solely of a chemical nature (e.g. chlorhexidine, fluoride varnish), were
      delivered primarily in a dental clinical setting or comprised solely
      fluoridation. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently
      performed screening, data extraction and assessment of risk of bias of included
      studies (a team of six review authors - four review authors and two research
      assistants - assessed all studies). We calculated mean differences with 95%
      confidence intervals for continuous data. When data permitted, we undertook meta
      analysis of primary outcome measures using a fixed-effect model to summarise
      results across studies. We used the I2 statistic as a measure of statistical
      heterogeneity. MAIN RESULTS: This review includes findings from 38 studies (total
      n = 119,789 children, including one national study of 99,071 children, which
      contributed 80% of total participants) on community-based oral health promotion
      interventions delivered in a variety of settings and incorporating a range of
      health promotion strategies (e.g. policy, educational activities, professional
      oral health care, supervised toothbrushing programmes, motivational
      interviewing). We categorised interventions as dietary interventions (n = 3),
      oral health education (OHE) alone (n = 17), OHE in combination with supervised
      toothbrushing with fluoridated toothpaste (n = 8) and OHE in combination with a
      variety of other interventions (including professional preventive oral health
      care, n = 10). Interventions generally were implemented for less than one year (n
      = 26), and only 11 studies were RCTs. We graded the evidence as having moderate
      to very low quality.We conducted meta-analyses examining impact on dental caries
      of each intervention type, although not all studies provided sufficient data to
      allow pooling of effects across similar interventions. Meta-analyses of the
      effects of OHE alone on caries may show little or no effect on DMFT (two studies,
      mean difference (MD) 0.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.11 to 0.36, low
      quality evidence), dmft (three studies, MD -0.3, 95% CI -1.11 to 0.52, low
      quality evidence) and DMFS (one study, MD -0.01, 95% CI -0.24 to 0.22, very low
      quality evidence). Analysis of studies testing OHE in combination with supervised
      toothbrushing with fluoridated toothpaste may show a beneficial effect on dmfs
      (three studies, MD -1.59, 95% CI -2.67 to -0.52, low-quality evidence) and dmft
      (two studies, MD -0.97, 95% CI -1.06 to -0.89, low-quality evidence) but may show
      little effect on DMFS (two studies, MD -0.02, 95% CI -0.13 to 0.10, low-quality
      evidence) and DMFT (three studies, MD -0.02, 95% CI -0.11 to 0.07, moderate
      quality evidence). Meta-analyses of two studies of OHE in an educational setting
      combined with professional preventive oral care in a dental clinic setting
      probably show a very small effect on DMFT (-0.09 weighted mean difference (WMD),
      95% CI -0.1 to -0.08, moderate-quality evidence). Data were inadequate for meta
      analyses on gingival health, although positive impact was reported. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: This review provides evidence of low certainty suggesting that
      community-based oral health promotion interventions that combine oral health
      education with supervised toothbrushing or professional preventive oral care can
      reduce dental caries in children. Other interventions, such as those that aim to
      promote access to fluoride, improve children's diets or provide oral health
      education alone, show only limited impact. We found no clear indication of when
      is the most effective time to intervene during childhood. Cost-effectiveness,
      long-term sustainability and equity of impacts and adverse outcomes were not
      widely reported by study authors, limiting our ability to make inferences on
      these aspects. More rigorous measurement and reporting of study results would
      improve the quality of the evidence.

PMID- 27629284
TI  - Survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients on non-invasive ventilation.
      What can we do more?

PMID- 27629285
TI  - Autophagy inhibition and mitochondrial remodeling join forces to amplify
      apoptosis in activation-induced cell death.
AB  - Mitochondrial structural and functional changes and the autophagy pathway
      crosstalk under several stress conditions. However, their interplay under
      physiological cell death stimulation has been unclear. In our recent report, we
      show that during activation-induced cell death (AICD), the T-cell receptor (TCR)
      dependent pathway that controls immune tolerance, autophagy is inhibited at an
      early stage. Further, we found that this inhibition is coupled with mitochondria
      fragmentation and cristae remodeling to unleash the apoptotic program. Last, we
      dissected the role of macroautophagy/autophagy versus mitophagy in the context of
      this physiological cell death, and bulk autophagy turned out to be able to remove
      dysfunctional and depolarized mitochondria. Our data suggest new possible
      approaches to modulate the immune function in the context of autoimmunity or
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 27629287
TI  - Mitochondrial MIsCUes in liver regeneration.

PMID- 27629286
TI  - Glucagon in artificial pancreas systems: Potential benefits and safety profile of
      future chronic use.
AB  - The role of glucagon in the pathophysiology of diabetes has long been recognized,
      although its approved clinical use has so far been limited to the emergency
      treatment of severe hypoglycaemia. A novel use of glucagon as intermittent mini
      boluses is proposed in the dual-hormone version (insulin and glucagon) of the
      external artificial pancreas. Short-term studies suggest that the incorporation
      of glucagon into artificial pancreas systems has the potential to further
      decrease hypoglycaemic risk and improve overall glucose control; however, the
      potential long-term safety and benefits also need to be investigated given the
      recognized systemic effects of glucagon. In the present report, we review the
      available animal and human data on the physiological functions of glucagon, as
      well as its pharmacological use, according to dosing and duration (acute and
      chronic). Along with its main role in hepatic glucose metabolism, glucagon
      affects the cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary and gastrointestinal systems. It has
      a potential role in weight reduction through its central satiety function and its
      role in increasing energy expenditure. Most of the pharmacological studies
      investigating the effects of glucagon have used doses exceeding 1 mg, in contrast
      to the mini-boluses used in the artificial pancreas. The available data are
      reassuring but comprehensive human studies using small but chronic glucagon doses
      that are close to the physiological ranges are lacking. We propose a list of
      variables that could be monitored during long-term trials of the artificial
      pancreas. Such trials should address the questions about the risk-benefit ratio
      of chronic glucagon use.

PMID- 27629288
TI  - The safe zone for blinded sternal interventions based on CT evaluation of midline
      congenital sternal foramina.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safe zone for performing
      blind sternal procedures based on computed tomography (CT) evaluation of
      congenital midline sternal foramina using multidetector computed tomography
      (MDCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was carried out on 1,180
      patients who underwent MDCT of the thorax from March 2015 to February 2016. The
      MDCT images were evaluated in axial and reformatted planes. Morphometry and
      prevalence of midline congenital sternal foramina (SF) and manubrio-foraminal
      distance (MFD) were evaluated. The safe zone was defined for a blinded
      intervention, based on palpable anatomical landmarks. Data were presented in
      terms of percentage, mean +/- standard deviation and calculations were carried
      out using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: The prevalence of SF in our study sample was
      11.6 %. The majority of SF were located in a typical position in the lower
      sternal body at the level of fifth costo-chondral junction (CCJ) in 108 patients
      (78.8 %). The structure directly beneath the SF was mediastinal fat in 73
      patients (53.3 %), followed by anterior pericardium in 44 patients (32.1 %) and
      lung parenchyma in 20 patients (14.6 %). The mean MFD in our study population was
      11.90 +/- 1.31 cm. CONCLUSIONS: Sternal interventions should be avoided at the
      level of fourth to sixth CCJ, which is considered the danger zone. An
      intervention at the fourth to sixth CCJ may lead to disastrous consequences in
      patients who have SF.

PMID- 27629289
TI  - The biology of extracellular vesicles with focus on platelet microparticles and
      their role in cancer development and progression.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous group of structures which can be
      classified into smaller in size and relatively homogenous exosomes (EXSMs)
      spherical fragments of lipid bilayers from inner cell compartments-and bigger in
      size ectosomes (ECSMs)-a direct consequence of cell-membrane blebbing. EVs can be
      found in body fluids of healthy individuals. Their number increases in cancer and
      other pathological conditions. EVs can originate from various cell types,
      including leukocytes, erythrocytes, thrombocytes, and neoplastic cells. Platelet
      microparticles (PMPs) are the most abundant population of EVs in blood. It is
      well documented that PMPs, being a crucial element of EVs signaling, are involved
      in tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis and may participate in the
      development of multidrug resistance by tumor cells. The aim of this review is to
      present the role of PMPs in carcinogenesis. The biology and functions of PMPs
      with a particular emphasis on the most recent scientific reports on EV properties
      are also characterized.

PMID- 27629292
TI  - Once-monthly paliperidone palmitate compared with conventional and atypical daily
      oral antipsychotic treatment in patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This analysis of the Paliperidone Palmitate Research in Demonstrating
      Effectiveness (PRIDE) study (NCT01157351) compared outcomes after administration
      of once-monthly paliperidone palmitate (PP) vs conventional oral antipsychotics
      (COAs) or atypical oral antipsychotics (AOAs). METHODS: PRIDE was a 15-month
      study of 444 individuals with schizophrenia and a history of incarceration. They
      were randomly assigned to PP or to 1 of 7 commonly prescribed OAs. Primary
      endpoint was time to first treatment failure (TF). Event-free probabilities were
      estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method; treatment group differences (PP vs COAs,
      PP vs AOAs, and PP vs oral paliperidone/risperidone) were assessed using a log
      rank test. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated
      using Cox proportional hazards regression models. No adjustment was made for
      multiplicity. RESULTS: Compared with PP, risk for first TF was 34% higher with
      COAs (HR: 1.34; 95% CI: 0.80-2.25), 41% higher with AOAs (HR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06
      1.88), and 39% higher with paliperidone/risperidone (HR: 1.39; 95% CI: 0.97
      1.99). Incidences of extrapyramidal symptom-related adverse events (AEs) were
      45.7%, 13.7%, and 10.6% in the COA, AOA, and oral paliperidone/risperidone groups
      vs 23.9% in the PP group. Incidences of prolactin-related AEs were 5.7%, 3.8%,
      and 3.5% vs 23.5%, and incidences of >=7% weight increase were 11.4%, 14.9%, and
      16.0% vs 32.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a lower risk of TF but a higher rate
      of some AEs after treatment with PP vs COAs, AOAs, and paliperidone/risperidone.
      Deselection of specific OAs and low patient-compliance rates with OAs likely
      biased the safety results.

PMID- 27629291
TI  - Study of apoptosis-related interactions in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Abnormalities in apoptotic functions contribute to the pathogenesis of colorectal
      cancer. In this study, molecular interactions behind the apoptotic regulation
      have been explored. For this purpose, enrichment analysis was performed
      considering microRNAs (miRNAs) that putatively target TP53 and altered during
      colon cancer. This revealed gene associated with both TP53 and miRNAs. Further
      analysis showed that a significant molecular interaction between the shortlisted
      candidates (TP53, miR-143, KRAS, BCL2, and PLK1) exists. Mutation study was
      conducted to confirm the clinical relevance of candidates. It showed that the
      mutation extent does not significantly alter survival in patients thus making
      these candidates suitable as drug targets. Overall, we showed the importance of
      interactions between TP53, miR-143, KRAS, BCL2, and PLK1 with respect to
      colorectal cancer using bioinformatics approach.

PMID- 27629293
TI  - [The Amsterdam Dementia Screening Test in cognitively healthy and clinical
      samples. An update of normative data].
AB  - The six tests in the Amsterdam Dementia Screening Test (ADST) examine the
      cognitive domains of episodic memory (delayed picture recognition, word
      learning), orientation, category fluency (animals and occupations),
      constructional ability (figure copying) and executive function (alternating
      sequences). New normative data were collected in a sample of 102 elderly
      volunteers (aged 65-94), including subjects with medical or other health
      conditions, except dementia or frank cognitive impairment (MMSE > 24). Included
      subjects were independent in complex instrumental activities of daily
      living.Fluency, not the other tests, needed adjustment for age and education. A
      deficit score (0-1) was computed for each test. Summation (range 0-6) proved
      useful in differentiating patients with dementia (N = 741) from normal elderly (N
      = 102).Positive and negative predictive power across a range of summed deficit
      scores and base rates are displayed in Bayesian probability tables.In the normal
      elderly, delayed recall for eight words was tested and adjusted for initial
      recall. A recognition test mixed the target words with eight distractors. Delayed
      recognition was adjusted for immediate and delayed recall.The ADST and the
      normative data in this paper help the clinical neuropsychologist to make
      decisions concerning the presence or absence of neurocognitive disorder in
      individual elderly examinees.

PMID- 27629290
TI  - A critical overview of long non-coding RNA in glioma etiology 2016: an update.
AB  - With the development of whole genome and transcriptome sequencing technologies, a
      growing body of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been identified and is
      receiving increasing attention. LncRNAs are non-protein encoding transcripts
      whose functions are crucial for advancing our comprehensive understanding of
      biological processes in human health and diseases, specifically glioma. It has
      been established that lncRNAs are differently expressed in the central nervous
      system and may play a vital role in glioma. As of June 2016, 20 lncRNAs have been
      identified that may play a role in glioma pathogenesis. Investigation into the
      role of lncRNAs in glioma may help to identify potential biomarkers which can
      improve the diagnosis and treatment of glioma. In this paper, we review current
      understanding of the function of lncRNAs in glioma initiation and progression.

PMID- 27629349
TI  - Lower-limb magnetic resonance angiography: performance of extracellular contrast
      agents versus blood pool contrast agent for both dynamic and high spatial
      resolution imaging in extended phase.
AB  - AIM: To prospectively compare the performance of extracellular space contrast
      agents (ECSCAs) versus a blood-pool contrast agent (BPCA) for a comprehensive
      lower-limb magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) protocol in patients with either
      claudication or critical ischaemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with
      claudication underwent lower-limb magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) (dynamic
      crural, three-station bolus chase, and infra-inguinal high resolution) using a
      triphasic injection method with both a ECSCA and BPCA to allow intra-individual
      comparison, and 30 patients with critical ischaemia were scanned with either a
      ECSCA or BPCA. The dynamic, bolus chase, and high-resolution images were scored
      for quality on a Likert scale (from 1-5). Signal- and contrast-to-noise ratios
      were analysed and statistical analysis performed. RESULTS: Overall, there was no
      statistically significant difference between the ECSCAs and BPCA for
      arteriographic dynamic imaging, bolus chase MRA, or the high spatial resolution
      imaging. Venous image quality was rated higher quality for BPCA scans than for
      ECSCA images for calf veins (not significantly for thigh veins). Venous imaging
      signal intensity measures were higher for BPCA imaging. CONCLUSION: Extended
      phase imaging using an ECSCA with this protocol provides arteriographic image
      quality equal to imaging with a BPCA. Venous depiction is good using ECSCAs with
      this approach, although better with BPCA.

PMID- 27629351
TI  - The GMC is working to improve revalidation.

PMID- 27629350
TI  - In search of novel ligands using a structure-based approach: a case study on the
      adenosine A2A receptor.
AB  - In this work, we present a case study to explore the challenges associated with
      finding novel molecules for a receptor that has been studied in depth and has a
      wealth of chemical information available. Specifically, we apply a previously
      described protocol that incorporates explicit water molecules in the ligand
      binding site to prospectively screen over 2.5 million drug-like and lead-like
      compounds from the commercially available eMolecules database in search of novel
      binders to the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AAR). A total of seventy-one compounds
      were selected for purchase and biochemical assaying based on high ligand
      efficiency and high novelty (Tanimoto coefficient <=0.25 to any A2AAR tested
      compound). These molecules were then tested for their affinity to the adenosine
      A2A receptor in a radioligand binding assay. We identified two hits that
      fulfilled the criterion of ~50 % radioligand displacement at a concentration of
      10 MUM. Next we selected an additional eight novel molecules that were predicted
      to make a bidentate interaction with Asn2536.55, a key interacting residue in the
      binding pocket of the A2AAR. None of these eight molecules were found to be
      active. Based on these results we discuss the advantages of structure-based
      methods and the challenges associated with finding chemically novel molecules for
      well-explored targets.

PMID- 27629352
TI  - Evaluation of the neural function of nonhuman primates with spinal cord injury
      using an evoked potential-based scoring system.
AB  - Nonhuman primate models of spinal cord injury (SCI) have been widely used in
      evaluation of the efficacy and safety of experimental restorative interventions
      before clinical trials. However, no objective methods are currently available for
      the evaluation of neural function in nonhuman primates. In our long-term clinical
      practice, we have used evoked potential (EP) for neural function surveillance
      during operation and accumulated extensive experience. In the present study, a
      nonhuman primate model of SCI was established in 6 adult cynomologus monkeys
      through spinal cord contusion injury at T8-T9. The neural function before SCI and
      within 6 months after SCI was evaluated based on EP recording. A scoring system
      including somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and transcranial electrical
      stimulation-motor evoked potentials (TES-MEPs) was established for the evaluation
      of neural function of nonhuman primates with SCI. We compared the motor function
      scores of nonhuman primates before and after SCI. Our results showed that the EP
      below the injury level significantly changed during the 6 months after SCI. In
      addition, a positive correlation was identified between the EP scores and motor
      function. The EP-based scoring system is a reliable approach for evaluating the
      motor function changes in nonhuman primates with SCI.

PMID- 27629353
TI  - Effect of short-term and prolonged stress on the biosynthesis of gonadotropin
      releasing hormone (GnRH) and GnRH receptor (GnRHR) in the hypothalamus and GnRHR
      in the pituitary of ewes during various physiological states.
AB  - Using an ELISA assay, the levels of GnRH and GnRHR were analysed in the preoptic
      area (POA), anterior (AH) and ventromedial hypothalamus (VM), stalk/median
      eminence (SME); and GnRHR in the anterior pituitary gland (AP) of non-breeding
      and breeding sheep subjected to short-term or prolonged stress. The ELISA study
      was supplemented with an analysis of plasma LH concentration. Short-term
      footshock stimulation significantly increased GnRH levels in hypothalamus in both
      seasons. Prolonged stress elevated or decreased GnRH concentrations in the POA
      and the VM, respectively during anoestrus, and lowered GnRH amount in the POA
      hypothalamus of follicular-phase sheep. An up-regulation of GnRHR levels was
      noted in both, anoestrous and follicular-phase animals. In the non-breeding
      period, a prolonged stress procedure increased GnRHR biosynthesis in the VM and
      decreased it in the SME and AP, while in the breeding time the quantities of
      GnRHR were significantly lower in the whole hypothalamus. In follicular-phase
      ewes the fluctuations of GnRH and GnRHR levels under short-term and prolonged
      stress were reflected in the changes of LH secretion, suggesting the existence of
      a direct relationship between GnRH and GnRH-R biosynthesis and GnRH/LH release in
      this period. The study showed that stress was capable of modulating the
      biosynthesis of GnRH and GnRHR; the pattern of changes was dependent upon the
      animal's physiological state and on the time course of stressor application. The
      obtained results indicate that the disturbances of gonadotropin secretion under
      stress conditions in sheep may be due to a dysfunction of GnRH and GnRHR
      biosynthetic pathways.

PMID- 27629354
TI  - Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from sludge biodrying instead of heat
      drying combined with mono-incineration in China.
AB  - : Sludge is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, both in the
      form of direct process emissions and as a result of indirect carbon-derived
      energy consumption during processing. In this study, the carbon budgets of two
      sludge disposal processes at two well-known sludge disposal sites in China (for
      biodrying and heat-drying pretreatments, both followed by mono-incineration) were
      quantified and compared. Total GHG emissions from heat drying combined with mono
      incineration was 0.1731 tCO2e t-1, while 0.0882 tCO2e t-1 was emitted from
      biodrying combined with mono-incineration. Based on these findings, a significant
      reduction (approximately 50%) in total GHG emissions was obtained by biodrying
      instead of heat drying prior to sludge incineration. IMPLICATIONS: Sludge
      treatment results in direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moisture
      reduction followed by incineration is commonly used to dispose of sludge in
      China; however, few studies have compared the effects of different drying
      pretreatment options on GHG emissions during such processes. Therefore, in this
      study, the carbon budgets of sludge incineration were analyzed and compared
      following different pretreatment drying technologies (biodrying and heat drying).
      The results indicate that biodrying combined with incineration generated
      approximately half of the GHG emissions compared to heat drying followed by
      incineration. Accordingly, biodrying may represent a more environment-friendly
      sludge pretreatment prior to incineration.

PMID- 27629355
TI  - Recent Advances in Means Safety as a Suicide Prevention Strategy.
AB  - Despite advances in theory and the development and implementation of evidence
      based treatments, the United States suicide rate has been rising continuously for
      over a decade. Although this does not indicate that traditional treatment
      approaches should be abandoned, it does highlight the need to supplement such
      approaches with alternatives. One seemingly highly valuable option is means
      safety, defined as the reduced access to and/or increased safe storage of
      potentially lethal methods for suicide. This paper provides a review of the
      current literature on the prevalence of six methods for suicide and preventative
      efforts aimed to reduce suicide rates. The majority of means safety interventions
      seem promising given that these methods are common and highly lethal. However,
      cultural and practical barriers will need to be taken into consideration when
      implementing these plans. Overall, means safety efforts and preventative measures
      seem to be promising ways to reduce the national suicide rate if implemented.

PMID- 27629356
TI  - Current Understanding of Psychosis in Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Psychosis in Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the greatest determinants of
      nursing home placement and caregiver stress. Traditionally associated with
      medications with dopaminergic effect, it has now been linked to other medications
      and other stressors e.g. systemic illnesses. The development of hallucinations in
      a PD patient can herald the onset of dementia and usually predicts increased
      mortality risk. Medication reduction in PD psychosis usually reduces the
      symptoms; however, this comes at the cost of worsening motor function. If
      gradually decreasing the patient's medications does not resolve the psychosis,
      the treatment of choice is an atypical antipychotic. Though only clozapine has
      level A recommendation for this indication, other atypicals like quetiapine
      continue to get used for this purpose on account of the logistics involved with
      clozapine use. Cholinesterase inhibitors are also increasingly being used for PD
      psychosis on account of the association with dementia. The treatment of PD
      psychosis is an unmet need in PD management and search for suitable agents
      constitutes an active area of research in PD.

PMID- 27629358
TI  - Mutation of Arg191 in FtsZ Impairs Cytokinetic Abscission of Bacillus subtilis
      Cells.
AB  - FtsZ monomers assemble to form a dynamic Z-ring at the midcell position in
      bacteria that coordinates bacterial cell division. Antibacterial agents plumbagin
      and SB-RA-2001 were found to bind to FtsZ and to inhibit Z-ring formation in
      bacteria. Docking analysis indicated similar binding regions for these two
      inhibitors on FtsZ, and residue R191 was involved in the binding interaction with
      both compounds. In this work, the importance of R191 in FtsZ assembly and in
      bacterial cell division was analyzed. R191A-FtsZ exhibited significantly poorer
      polymerization ability. Further, the mutant FtsZ could poison the assembly of
      wild-type FtsZ (WT-FtsZ). The expression of R191A-FtsZ in Bacillus subtilis
      strain PL2084 perturbed Z-ring formation and produced filamentous cells,
      indicating that the mutation hindered the division of these cells. The results
      suggested that the R191A mutation is a dominant negative mutation of FtsZ.
      Molecular dynamics simulations of R191A-FtsZ and WT-FtsZ revealed a kink in
      helices H5 and H7 in the active site of R191A-FtsZ compared to that of WT-FtsZ,
      which is required for FtsZ assembly. The findings suggested that R191 is an
      important residue for FtsZ assembly, which can be targeted for the design of FtsZ
      inhibitors.

PMID- 27629357
TI  - Low frequency pulsed electromagnetic field promotes C2C12 myoblasts proliferation
      via activation of MAPK/ERK pathway.
AB  - Low frequency pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) has been shown to affect the
      activity of various cell types and promote them proliferation. However, its
      effect on skeletal muscle cells remains to be determined. In our study, we
      confirmed that PEMF (100 Hz, 1 mT) could promote C2C12 myoblasts proliferation by
      using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assays, yet
      hardly any distinction was found in the rate of cell apoptosis between PEMF and
      control groups by flow cytometry (Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining method). To
      further study the mechanism of action of PEMF, Western blot was utilized to
      detect the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. After
      exposing C2C12 myoblasts to PEMF, we found the phosphorylation level of
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was significantly increased, while
      p38 MAPK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways were not affected.
      Pretreating the cells with the ERK kinase1/2 (MEK1/2) inhibitor U0126 obviously
      inhibited the proliferation of C2C12 cells. Taken together, our research for the
      first time demonstrated that PEMF promoted C2C12 myoblasts proliferation via
      activating MAPK/ERK pathway.

PMID- 27629359
TI  - Effects of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on older women's
      employment.
AB  - Labor force participation of women has declined since 1999; however, labor force
      participation of women 62+ has increased. The 2000-2006 waves of Health and
      Retirement Study (HRS) data, the initial years of the continuing upward
      trajectory, were used to test the effects of receipt of Social Security
      retirement benefits on older women's employment. The models tested: (a) the
      effect of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on whether employed; and
      (b) for women receiving Social Security retirement benefits, the effect of age
      elected receipt of benefits on whether employed. Both models included the effects
      of human capital characteristics and income sources. Receipt of Social Security
      benefits, pension income, and current age reduced the likelihood of employment;
      while educational level, good to excellent health, and nonmarried marital status
      increased the likelihood of employment. The older the woman was when she elected
      Social Security benefits, the more likely she was to be employed.

PMID- 27629360
TI  - Evaluation of the protective effect of thiamine pyrophosphate based on the
      biochemical analysis of rabbit foetuses at 30 days of gestation.
AB  - This study evaluated the effects of thiamine pyrophosphate (PPT) on the
      biochemical profiles of full-term rabbit foetuses that were subjected to
      experimental ischemia followed by 24h reperfusion. A total of 16 gestating rabbit
      dams were divided into two groups, one of which was treated by administering PPT
      and subjected to a process ischemia. During this interval, fetal blood samples
      were drawn from each dam (in the ischemia group) at 0, 15 and 45min. Ischemia for
      15 and 45min was not associated with changes in lactate levels of the Ischemia
      group foetuses. However, in the foetuses in the reperfusion groups without PPT
      lactate levels were significantly higher after 15 and 45min of arterial occlusion
      compared to time zero. These results demonstrate that PTT alters some acute and
      some longer-term biochemical outcomes of uterine ischemia perhaps important in
      preserving energy metabolism under hypoxic conditions.

PMID- 27629362
TI  - Solar-rechargeable battery based on photoelectrochemical water oxidation: Solar
      water battery.
AB  - As an alternative to the photoelectrochemical water splitting for use in the fuel
      cells used to generate electrical power, this study set out to develop a solar
      energy rechargeable battery system based on photoelectrochemical water oxidation.
      We refer to this design as a "solar water battery". The solar water battery
      integrates a photoelectrochemical cell and battery into a single device. It uses
      a water oxidation reaction to simultaneously convert and store solar energy. With
      the solar water battery, light striking the photoelectrode causes the water to be
      photo-oxidized, thus charging the battery. During the discharge process, the
      solar water battery reduces oxygen to water with a high coulombic efficiency
      (>90%) and a high average output voltage (0.6 V). Because the reduction potential
      of oxygen is more positive [E(0) (O2/H2O) = 1.23 V vs. NHE] than common
      catholytes (e.g., iodide, sulfur), a high discharge voltage is produced. The
      solar water battery also exhibits a superior storage ability, maintaining 99% of
      its specific discharge capacitance after 10 h of storage, without any evidence of
      self-discharge. The optimization of the cell design and configuration, taking the
      presence of oxygen in the cell into account, was critical to achieving an
      efficient photocharge/discharge.

PMID- 27629361
TI  - microRNA expression profiling and functional annotation analysis of their targets
      modulated by oxidative stress during embryonic heart development in diabetic
      mice.
AB  - Maternal pregestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM) induces congenital heart defects
      (CHDs). The molecular mechanism underlying PGDM-induced CHDs is unknown.
      microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, repress gene expression at the
      posttranscriptional level and play important roles in heart development. We
      performed a global miRNA profiling study to assist in revealing potential miRNAs
      modulated by PGDM and possible developmental pathways regulated by miRNAs during
      heart development. A total of 149 mapped miRNAs in the developing heart were
      significantly altered by PGDM. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the majority
      of the 2111 potential miRNA target genes were associated with cardiac development
      related pathways including STAT3 and IGF-1 and transcription factors (Cited2,
      Zeb2, Mef2c, Smad4 and Ets1). Overexpression of the antioxidant enzyme,
      superoxide dismutase 1, reversed PGDM-altered miRNAs, suggesting that oxidative
      stress is responsible for dysregulation of miRNAs. Thus, our study provides the
      foundation for further investigation of a miRNA-dependent mechanism underlying
      PGDM-induced CHDs.

PMID- 27629363
TI  - Redox Active Colloids as Discrete Energy Storage Carriers.
AB  - Versatile and readily available battery materials compatible with a range of
      electrode configurations and cell designs are desirable for renewable energy
      storage. Here we report a promising class of materials based on redox active
      colloids (RACs) that are inherently modular in their design and overcome
      challenges faced by small-molecule organic materials for battery applications,
      such as crossover and chemical/morphological stability. RACs are cross-linked
      polymer spheres, synthesized with uniform diameters between 80 and 800 nm, and
      exhibit reversible redox activity as single particles, as monolayer films, and in
      the form of flowable dispersions. Viologen-based RACs display reversible cycling,
      accessing up to 99% of their capacity and 99 +/- 1% Coulombic efficiency over 50
      cycles by bulk electrolysis owing to efficient, long-distance intraparticle
      charge transfer. Ferrocene-based RACs paired with viologen-based RACs cycled
      efficiently in a nonaqueous redox flow battery employing a simple size-selective
      separator, thus demonstrating a possible application that benefits from their
      colloidal dimensions. The unprecedented versatility in RAC synthetic and
      electrochemical design opens new avenues for energy storage.

PMID- 27629364
TI  - Selective targeting of CREB-binding protein/beta-catenin inhibits growth of and
      extracellular matrix remodelling by airway smooth muscle.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory disease,
      characterized by the development of structural changes (airway remodelling). beta
      catenin, a transcriptional co-activator, is fundamentally involved in airway
      smooth muscle growth and may be a potential target in the treatment of airway
      smooth muscle remodelling. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We assessed the ability of
      small-molecule compounds that selectively target beta-catenin breakdown or its
      interactions with transcriptional co-activators to inhibit airway smooth muscle
      remodelling in vitro and in vivo. KEY RESULTS: ICG-001, a small-molecule compound
      that inhibits the beta-catenin/CREB-binding protein (CBP) interaction, strongly
      and dose-dependently inhibited serum-induced smooth muscle growth and TGFbeta1
      induced production of extracellular matrix components in vitro. Inhibition of
      beta-catenin/p300 interactions using IQ-1 or inhibition of tankyrase 1/2 using
      XAV-939 had considerably less effect. In a mouse model of allergic asthma, beta
      catenin expression in the smooth muscle layer was found to be unaltered in
      control versus ovalbumin-treated animals, a pattern that was found to be similar
      in smooth muscle within biopsies taken from asthmatic and non-asthmatic donors.
      However, beta-catenin target gene expression was highly increased in response to
      ovalbumin; this effect was prevented by topical treatment with ICG-001.
      Interestingly, ICG-001 dose-dependently reduced airway smooth thickness after
      repeated ovalbumin challenge, but had no effect on the deposition of collagen
      around the airways, mucus secretion or eosinophil infiltration. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: Together, our findings highlight the importance of beta-catenin/CBP
      signalling in the airways and suggest ICG-001 may be a new therapeutic approach
      to treat airway smooth muscle remodelling in asthma.

PMID- 27629367
TI  - Associations between Electrophysiological Evidence of Reward and Punishment-Based
      Learning and Psychotic Experiences and Social Anhedonia in At-Risk Groups.
AB  - Both positive psychotic symptoms and anhedonia are associated with striatal
      functioning, but few studies have linked risk for psychotic disorders to a neural
      measure evoked during a striatal dopamine-related reward and punishment-based
      learning task, such as a reversal learning task (RLT; Cools et al, 2009). The
      feedback-related negativity (FRN) is a neural response that in part reflects
      striatal dopamine functioning. We recorded EEG during the RLT in three groups:
      (a) people with psychotic experiences (PE; n=20) at increased risk for psychotic
      disorders; (b) people with extremely elevated social anhedonia (SocAnh; n=22);
      and (c) controls (n=20). Behaviorally, consistent with increased striatal
      dopamine, the PE group exhibited better behavioral learning (ie, faster
      responses) after unexpected reward than after unexpected punishment. Moreover,
      although the control and SocAnh groups showed a larger FRN to punishment than
      reward, the PE group showed similar FRNs to punishment and reward, with a
      numerically larger FRN to reward than punishment (with similar results on these
      trials also found for a P3a component). These results are among the first to link
      a neural response evoked by a reward and punishment-based learning task
      specifically with elevated psychosis risk.

PMID- 27629365
TI  - Psychoneuroimmunology of Early-Life Stress: The Hidden Wounds of Childhood
      Trauma?
AB  - The brain and the immune system are not fully formed at birth, but rather
      continue to mature in response to the postnatal environment. The two-way
      interaction between the brain and the immune system makes it possible for
      childhood psychosocial stressors to affect immune system development, which in
      turn can affect brain development and its long-term functioning. Drawing from
      experimental animal models and observational human studies, we propose that the
      psychoneuroimmunology of early-life stress can offer an innovative framework to
      understand and treat psychopathology linked to childhood trauma. Early-life
      stress predicts later inflammation, and there are striking analogies between the
      neurobiological correlates of early-life stress and of inflammation. Furthermore,
      there are overlapping trans-diagnostic patterns of association of childhood
      trauma and inflammation with clinical outcomes. These findings suggest new
      strategies to remediate the effect of childhood trauma before the onset of
      clinical symptoms, such as anti-inflammatory interventions and potentiation of
      adaptive immunity. Similar strategies might be used to ameliorate the unfavorable
      treatment response described in psychiatric patients with a history of childhood
      trauma.

PMID- 27629370
TI  - Platinum Cubic Nanoframes with Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Durability Toward
      Oxygen Reduction.
AB  - We report the synthesis and electrocatalytic properties of Pt cubic nanoframes
      with ultrathin ridges less than 2 nm in thickness. The nanoframes were
      synthesized through site-selected deposition of Pt onto the corner and edge sites
      of Pd nanocubes, followed by selective removal of the Pd cores via chemical
      etching. The Br- ions chemisorbed on the side faces of a Pd nanocube played a
      critical role in enabling the siteselected deposition. In addition, the kinetics
      of deposition and the diffusion of Pt adatoms was optimized by carefully
      controlling the injection rate of the Pt precursor and the reaction temperature,
      respectively, to obtain the frame-like structure. When benchmarked against a
      commercial Pt/C comprised of Pt particles 2-3 nm in size, the Pt frame/C catalyst
      exhibited not only enhanced mass activity toward oxygen reduction, but also
      substantially improved catalytic durability. In an accelerated durability test,
      the Pt frame/C catalyst showed a mass activity more than 6* greater than for the
      Pt/C reference after 20 000 cycles of repeated potential sweeping. This
      improvement can be largely attributed to the frame-like structure, which is
      unique in suppressing both the detachment and aggregation of catalytic particles
      owing to the significantly enhanced interaction with carbon support.

PMID- 27629366
TI  - Pathogen-Host Defense in the Evolution of Depression: Insights into Epidemiology,
      Genetics, Bioregional Differences and Female Preponderance.
AB  - Significant attention has been paid to the potential adaptive value of depression
      as it relates to interactions with people in the social world. However, in this
      review, we outline the rationale of why certain features of depression including
      its environmental and genetic risk factors, its association with the acute phase
      response and its age of onset and female preponderance appear to have evolved
      from human interactions with pathogens in the microbial world. Approaching the
      relationship between inflammation and depression from this evolutionary
      perspective yields a number of insights that may reveal important clues regarding
      the origin and epidemiology of the disorder as well as the persistence of its
      risk alleles in the modern human genome.

PMID- 27629369
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Study of Loneliness Demonstrates a Role for Common
      Variation.
AB  - Loneliness is a complex biological trait that has been associated with numerous
      negative health outcomes. The measurement and environmental determinants of
      loneliness are well understood, but its genetic basis is not. Previous studies
      have estimated the heritability of loneliness between 37 and 55% using twins and
      family-based approaches, and have explored the role of specific candidate genes.
      We used genotypic and phenotypic data from 10 760 individuals aged ?50 years that
      were collected by the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to perform the first
      genome-wide association study of loneliness. No associations reached genome-wide
      significance (p>5 * 10-8). Furthermore, none of the previously published
      associations between variants within candidate genes (BDNF, OXTR, RORA, GRM8,
      CHRNA4, IL-1A, CRHR1, MTHFR, DRD2, APOE) and loneliness were replicated (p>0.05),
      despite our much larger sample size. We estimated the chip heritability of
      loneliness and examined coheritability between loneliness and several personality
      and psychiatric traits. Our estimates of chip heritability (14-27%) support a
      role for common genetic variation. We identified strong genetic correlations
      between loneliness, neuroticism, and a scale of 'depressive symptoms.' We also
      identified weaker evidence for coheritability with extraversion, schizophrenia,
      bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. We conclude that loneliness, as
      defined in this study, is a modestly heritable trait that has a highly polygenic
      genetic architecture. The coheritability between loneliness and neuroticism may
      reflect the role of negative affectivity that is common to both traits. Our
      results also reflect the value of studies that probe the common genetic basis of
      salutary social bonds and clinically defined psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 27629372
TI  - Resective surgery combined with corpus callosotomy for children with non-focal
      lesional Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The first prospective trial for resective surgery combined with
      corpus callosotomy (CCT) was performed to investigate the outcomes of the
      combined surgery in children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) without focal
      lesion on brain MRI. METHODS: This study enrolled 68 children with LGS and
      without focal lesion on brain MRI, of which 25 received medicine (medicine group)
      and 43 underwent surgery (surgery group), including 20 with exclusively resective
      surgery (exclusively resection subgroup) and 23 with resective surgery combined
      with CCT (combined CCT subgroup). All patients were followed for 3-5 years.
      RESULTS: Significant differences in seizure control were observed between the
      medicine group and the exclusively resection subgroup and combined CCT subgroup
      at the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year follow-ups. There was a trend that the children
      with resection combined with CCT had better seizure control than those with
      exclusively resection at the three follow-ups, but this could not be verified by
      the statistical method used. Furthermore, significant differences were not
      observed in seizure control between children with different MRI findings, age at
      surgery, or pathology in the surgery group. The percentage of long-term seizure
      free did not remain as high as the percentage of early stage seizure-free at 1
      year follow-up. However, the children with combined CCT surgery demonstrated more
      postoperative improvement than the children with resective surgery alone based on
      the mean QOL score (10.78 vs. 5.75, p = 0.0152) and full-scale IQ (7.91 vs. 4.55,
      p = 0.0446). CONCLUSIONS: Resective surgery combined with CCT can provide
      favorable seizure control and obvious improvements in QOL and IQ in children with
      LGS. This combined approach can be performed in carefully selected LGS children
      without focal lesions and can localize the epileptogenic zone following a
      comprehensive preoperative evaluation.

PMID- 27629371
TI  - Referred leg pain originating from the sacroiliac joint: 6-month outcomes from
      the prospective randomized controlled iMIA trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The first results from the randomized, controlled iFuse Implant
      System Minimally Invasive Arthrodesis (iMIA) trial showed that minimally invasive
      surgical management (MISM) of low back pain originating from the sacroiliac joint
      (SIJ) by placing transarticular triangular titanium implants reduced pain more
      effectively than conservative management (CM). We now conducted a separate
      analysis of the iMIA data to assess whether the referred leg pain (RLP) component
      of SIJ-associated pain may also be affected by MISM or CM. METHODS: Data from 101
      patients, recruited between June 2013 and May 2015 at nine European spine care
      centers, were included. Forty-nine patients were randomized to CM and 51 patients
      to MISM. RLP was defined as pain below the gluteal fold and assessed using the
      visual analogue scale (VAS). Changes in RLP over 6 months were the primary
      endpoint. RESULTS: The prevalence of clinically significant RLP was 76.2 %. Over
      6 months of follow-up, CM produced no significant change in RLP, which was 51.0
      VAS points (interquartile range (IQR) 17.0-75.0) at baseline. In contrast, in the
      MISM cohort, we found a significant decrease in RLP from VAS 58.0 (IQR 24.5-80.0)
      at baseline to VAS 13.5 (IQR 0.0-39.3) after 6 months (p < 0.01). Improvement of
      RLP was associated only with the type of treatment (OR 5.04, p < 0.01), but not
      with patient age, sex, or different patterns of pain referral. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      analysis shows that RLP is a frequent phenomenon in patients with SIJ-associated
      pain. At 6 months of follow-up, MISM helped relieve RLP more effectively than CM.
      Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique
      identifier: NCT01741025.

PMID- 27629373
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors of chorioamnionitis in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between chorioamnionitis, maternal risk
      factors and birth outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of 600 pregnant
      women was conducted at a maternity center in Dhaka from January to October 2011.
      Outcomes included histologic, microbiologic and clinical chorioamnionitis. Log
      binomial models assessed the association between risk factors and histologic
      chorioamnionitis (HC). RESULTS: Of the 552 women with placental specimens, 70
      (12.7%) were classified with HC: 46 (65.7%) with and 24 (34.3%) without fetal
      involvement. HC was associated with non-physician care (relative risk [RR] 2.04,
      95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04 to 4.00), home slab or hanging latrine (RR
      1.69, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.62), and lack of tetanus toxoid (RR 1.80, 95% CI 1.03 to
      3.14). Women with fever (RR 2.30, 95% CI 1.18 to 4.50) or discolored amniotic
      fluid (RR 1.74, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.81) had a higher risk of HC. Microbiologic and
      clinical chorioamnionitis were unreliable HC measures. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of
      HC is high; many cases are not captured by clinical diagnosis or microbiologic
      cultures.

PMID- 27629375
TI  - Comparing changing neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) levels in
      intubated and recently extubated neonates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a mode of mechanical
      ventilation that delivers ventilatory support in synchrony to the patient's
      respiratory needs using NAVA level, a proportionality constant that converts the
      electrical activity of the diaphragm (Edi) into a peak pressure (PIP). Recent
      published studies suggest that neonates can control the delivered ventilatory
      support through neural feedback. Systematically increasing the NAVA level
      initially increases the PIP while maintaining a constant Edi until an inflection
      point or breakpoint (BrP) is reached, at which time the PIP plateaus and the Edi
      signal decreases. This study was performed to establish if there is a correlation
      of pre- and post-extubation BrP in premature neonates. STUDY DESIGN: NAVA level
      was increased by 0.5 cm H2O mcV-1 every 3 min from 0.1 to 3.0 cm H2O mcV-1. PIP
      and Edi Peak and Minimum were recorded. STATISTICS: PIP and phasic Edi (Edi peak
      Edi min) were averaged for each NAVA level, plotted on a graph, and the BrP was
      determined by visual inspection of the inflection point for PIP. The data from
      the studies were then combined by averaging each variable at the BrP and for each
      change in NAVA level above and below the BrP. RESULTS: Fifteen infants were
      studied for paired titration studies. PIP increased until the BrP was reached and
      then plateaued during both the intubated and extubated titration studies. Edi
      decreased after the BrP was reached during the titration studies. The BrP
      increased when patients were extubated from NAVA to noninvasive (NIV) NAVA. As
      the NAVA level rose above the BrP, PIP plateaued at a higher level and Edi
      decreased less during the NIV NAVA titration study. CONCLUSIONS: Neonates
      demonstrated an increase in BrP, higher PIP and Edi when extubated from NAVA to
      NIV NAVA. This is most likely owing to the inefficiencies of NIV ventilation and
      suggests that neonates require a higher NAVA level when transitioning from NAVA
      to NIV NAVA.

PMID- 27629368
TI  - Inflammation, Glutamate, and Glia: A Trio of Trouble in Mood Disorders.
AB  - Increasing data indicate that inflammation and alterations in glutamate
      neurotransmission are two novel pathways to pathophysiology in mood disorders.
      The primary goal of this review is to illustrate how these two pathways may
      converge at the level of the glia to contribute to neuropsychiatric disease. We
      propose that a combination of failed clearance and exaggerated release of
      glutamate by glial cells during immune activation leads to glutamate increases
      and promotes aberrant extrasynaptic signaling through ionotropic and metabotropic
      glutamate receptors, ultimately resulting in synaptic dysfunction and loss.
      Furthermore, glutamate diffusion outside the synapse can lead to the loss of
      synaptic fidelity and specificity of neurotransmission, contributing to circuit
      dysfunction and behavioral pathology. This review examines the fundamental role
      of glia in the regulation of glutamate, followed by a description of the impact
      of inflammation on glial glutamate regulation at the cellular, molecular, and
      metabolic level. In addition, the role of these effects of inflammation on glia
      and glutamate in mood disorders will be discussed along with their translational
      implications.

PMID- 27629374
TI  - Neurodevelopmental outcomes in postnatal growth-restricted preterm infants with
      postnatal head-sparing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes in postnatal growth-restricted
      infants born <29 weeks with and without postnatal head-sparing (PHS). STUDY
      DESIGN: We analyzed developmental outcomes at 2 years of age among postnatally
      growth-restricted infants with and without head-sparing. The primary outcome was
      Bayley III cognitive composite score; secondary outcomes included Bayley III
      motor composite score, moderate/severe cerebral palsy, gross motor functional
      classification scale level?2, and presence or absence of neurodevelopmental
      impairment (NDI). RESULTS: Of 1098 infants evaluated at 18 to 22 months, 658 were
      postnatally growth restricted, of whom 301 had head-sparing. In the multivariate
      model including independent risk factors for poor growth and poor developmental
      outcome, infants with head-sparing had higher adjusted motor composite scores
      (mean difference 4.65, P<0.01), but no differences in other neurodevelopmental
      outcomes. CONCLUSION: PHS is associated with improved neurodevelopmental outcome
      in extremely preterm infants, specifically Bayley III motor scores, but whether
      beneficial effects of PHS persist later in life is unknown.

PMID- 27629378
TI  - Pathway Design, Engineering, and Optimization.
AB  - The microbial metabolic versatility found in nature has inspired scientists to
      create microorganisms capable of producing value-added compounds. Many endeavors
      have been made to transfer and/or combine pathways, existing or even engineered
      enzymes with new function to tractable microorganisms to generate new metabolic
      routes for drug, biofuel, and specialty chemical production. However, the success
      of these pathways can be impeded by different complications from an inherent
      failure of the pathway to cell perturbations. Pursuing ways to overcome these
      shortcomings, a wide variety of strategies have been developed. This chapter will
      review the computational algorithms and experimental tools used to design
      efficient metabolic routes, and construct and optimize biochemical pathways to
      produce chemicals of high interest.

PMID- 27629376
TI  - Generation and validation of a universal perinatal database and biospecimen
      repository: PeriBank.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is a dearth of biospecimen repositories available to perinatal
      researchers. In order to address this need, here we describe the methodology used
      to establish such a resource. STUDY DESIGN: With the collaboration of MedSci.net,
      we generated an online perinatal database with 847 fields of clinical
      information. Simultaneously, we established a biospecimen repository of the same
      clinical participants. RESULTS: The demographic and clinical outcomes data are
      described for the first 10 000 participants enrolled. The demographic
      characteristics are consistent with the demographics of the delivery hospitals.
      Quality analysis of the biospecimens reveals variation in very few analytes.
      Furthermore, since the creation of PeriBank, we have demonstrated validity of the
      database and tissue integrity of the biospecimen repository. CONCLUSION: Here we
      establish that the creation of a universal perinatal database and biospecimen
      collection is not only possible, but allows for the performance of state-of-the
      science translational perinatal research and is a potentially valuable resource
      to academic perinatal researchers.

PMID- 27629377
TI  - Distinct Roles for the N- and C-terminal Regions of M-Sec in Plasma Membrane
      Deformation during Tunneling Nanotube Formation.
AB  - The tunneling nanotube (TNT) is a structure used for intercellular communication,
      and is a thin membrane protrusion mediating transport of various signaling
      molecules and cellular components. M-Sec has potent membrane deformation ability
      and induces TNT formation in cooperation with the Ral/exocyst complex. Here, we
      show that the N-terminal polybasic region of M-Sec directly binds
      phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate for its localization to the plasma
      membrane during the initial stage of TNT formation. We further report a crystal
      structure of M-Sec, which consists of helix bundles arranged in a straight rod
      like shape, similar to the membrane tethering complex subunits. A positively
      charged surface in the C-terminal domains is required for M-Sec interaction with
      active RalA to extend the plasma membrane protrusions. Our results suggest that
      the membrane-associated M-Sec recruits active RalA, which directs the exocyst
      complex to form TNTs.

PMID- 27629379
TI  - Protein Electrochemistry: Questions and Answers.
AB  - This chapter presents the fundamentals of electrochemistry in the context of
      protein electrochemistry. We discuss redox proteins and enzymes that are not
      photoactive. Of course, the principles described herein also apply to
      photobioelectrochemistry, as discussed in later chapters of this book. Depending
      on which experiment is considered, electron transfer between proteins and
      electrodes can be either direct or mediated, and achieved in a variety of
      configurations: with the protein and/or the mediator free to diffuse in solution,
      immobilized in a thick, hydrated film, or adsorbed as a sub-monolayer on the
      electrode. The experiments can be performed with the goal to study the protein or
      to use it. Here emphasis is on mechanistic studies, which are easier in the
      configuration where the protein is adsorbed and electron transfer is direct, but
      we also explain the interpretation of signals obtained when diffusion processes
      affect the response.This chapter is organized as a series of responses to
      questions. Questions 1-5 are related to the basics of electrochemistry: what does
      "potential" or "current" mean, what does an electrochemical set-up look like?
      Questions 6-9 are related to the distinction between adsorbed and diffusive redox
      species. The answers to questions 10-13 explain the interpretation of slow and
      fast scan voltammetry with redox proteins. Questions 14-19 deal with catalytic
      electrochemistry, when the protein studied is actually an enzyme. Questions 20,
      21 and 22 are general.

PMID- 27629380
TI  - Commentary: Effect of Skeletal Muscle Native Tropomyosin on the Interaction of
      Amoeba Actin with Heavy Meromyosin.

PMID- 27629382
TI  - Medulloblastoma initiation and spread: Where neurodevelopment, microenvironment
      and cancer cross pathways.
AB  - Medulloblastomas are the most common malignant pediatric brain tumors. Over the
      past several decades, a wide range of tumor-centric studies have identified genes
      and their regulators within signaling pathways that promote medulloblastoma
      growth. This review aims to raise awareness that transdisciplinary research
      between developmental neurobiology and cancer foundations can advance our current
      understanding of how the nervous system contributes to medulloblastomas. By
      leveraging current advances in neurodevelopment, microenvironment (including
      secreted neuropeptides), neurotransmitters, and axon guidance cues, we can
      uncover novel mechanisms used by the nervous system to promote medulloblastoma
      growth and spread. This will ultimately result in development of improved
      strategies for cancer prevention and treatment of pediatric patients with this
      devastating disease. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629383
TI  - The Acute Care Assessment Tool: 'Pharmacy ACAT'.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Acute Care Assessment Tool (ACAT) was developed as a workplace
      based assessment (WPBA) for trainee performance whilst working in acute medicine.
      Here, we discuss the multi-professional potential of ACAT through a pilot with
      foundation and senior hospital pharmacists. CONTEXT: The pharmacy profession is
      engaging meaningfully with foundation training for pharmacists akin to doctor
      foundation training, and has launched a post-foundation recognition scheme as a
      route to advanced generalist or specialist practice. Foundation training has
      included the adoption of familiar WPBA, such as the mini-clinical evaluation
      exercise (mini-CEX) and case-based discussion (CbD). However, mini-CEX and CbD
      are 'snapshot' assessments, and we identified a need for the assessment of
      practice over a short period of time. A local director of medical education
      suggested ACAT. We identified a need for the assessment of practice over a short
      period of time INNOVATION: Permission was gained from the Joint Royal Colleges of
      Physicians to adapt the ACAT to form the 'Pharmacy ACAT'. Adaptations were based
      on the two current Royal Pharmaceutical Society competency frameworks used for
      foundation and post-foundation practice. The 'Pharmacy ACAT' was piloted across
      three acute hospitals (known as 'Trusts') in London for foundation trainees, and
      was found to be broadly acceptable in terms of time and was valued for feedback,
      particularly for foundation pharmacy trainees. Senior pharmacists at the single
      pilot site were more sceptical. IMPLICATIONS: We believe that the 'Pharmacy ACAT'
      should be considered for routine use in pharmacy foundation training in hospital
      and community practice as it 'plugs a gap' in the current scheme of WPBA, by
      allowing the assessment of a short period of practice as opposed to a snapshot.
      It also has potential for use at undergraduate level.

PMID- 27629381
TI  - Comparative DNA Methylation Profiling Reveals an Immunoepigenetic Signature of
      HIV-related Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - Monocytes/macrophages contribute to the neuropathogenesis of HIV-related
      cognitive impairment (CI); however, considerable gaps in our understanding of the
      precise mechanisms driving this relationship remain. Furthermore, whether a
      distinct biological profile associated with HIV-related CI resides in immune cell
      populations remains unknown. Here, we profiled DNA methylomes and transcriptomes
      of monocytes derived from HIV-infected individuals with and without CI using
      genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression profiling. We identified 1,032 CI
      associated differentially methylated loci in monocytes. These loci related to
      gene networks linked to the central nervous system (CNS) and interactions with
      HIV. Most (70.6%) of these loci exhibited higher DNA methylation states in the CI
      group and were preferentially distributed over gene bodies and intergenic regions
      of the genome. CI-associated DNA methylation states at 12 CpG sites associated
      with neuropsychological testing performance scores. CI-associated DNA methylation
      also associated with gene expression differences including CNS genes CSRNP1 (P =
      0.017), DISC1 (P = 0.012), and NR4A2 (P = 0.005); and a gene known to relate to
      HIV viremia, THBS1 (P = 0.003). This discovery cohort data unveils cell type
      specific DNA methylation patterns related to HIV-associated CI and provide an
      immunoepigenetic DNA methylation "signature" potentially useful for corroborating
      clinical assessments, informing pathogenic mechanisms, and revealing new
      therapeutic targets against CI.

PMID- 27629385
TI  - Unanimous versus partial rejection: How the number of excluders influences the
      impact of ostracism in children.
AB  - Previous research has shown that ostracism-the experience of being ignored and
      excluded-has negative effects on all of us, young and old. Using a Cyberball
      paradigm, the present research replicates the effects of ostracism on the moods
      (anger, anxiety, happiness, and anger) and fundamental needs (belongingness,
      control, meaningful existence, and self-esteem) of children (Study 1) and then
      extends the literature by examining the role of the number of ostracizers and
      inclusive members in this process by randomly assigning children to conditions
      varying in degree of ostracism (Study 2). Results of both studies showed that
      experiencing ostracism strongly and negatively affected all moods and fundamental
      needs-with the exception of anxiety. Study 2 in addition showed that the ratio of
      excluders to inclusive group members had different effects across outcomes. In
      all cases, complete ostracism produced the worst outcomes, suggesting that the
      presence of even a single ally reduces children's distress. For sadness,
      unanimous ostracism seemed particularly toxic. In some cases, facing two
      ostracizers produced significantly worse outcomes than only one, suggesting that
      consensual rejection might drive the negative effects on happiness, and sense of
      belonging, control, and meaningful existence. For self-esteem, only one
      ostracizer (in the presence of two inclusive members) was sufficient to induce a
      negative effect. Aggr. Behav. 43:190-203, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629384
TI  - Combined variants in factor VIII and prostaglandin synthase-1 amplify hemorrhage
      severity across three generations of descendants.
AB  - : Essentials Co-existent damaging variants are likely to cause more severe
      bleeding and may go undiagnosed. We determined pathogenic variants in a three
      generational pedigree with excessive bleeding. Bleeding occurred with concurrent
      variants in prostaglandin synthase-1 (PTGS-1) and factor VIII. The PTGS-1 variant
      was associated with functional defects in the arachidonic acid pathway. SUMMARY:
      Background Inherited human variants that concurrently cause disorders of primary
      hemostasis and coagulation are uncommon. Nevertheless, rare cases of co-existent
      damaging variants are likely to cause more severe bleeding and may go
      undiagnosed. Objective We prospectively sought to determine pathogenic variants
      in a three-generational pedigree with excessive bleeding. Patients/methods
      Platelet number, size and light transmission aggregometry to multiple agonists
      were evaluated in pedigree members. Transmission electron microscopy determined
      platelet morphology and granule content. Thromboxane release studies and light
      transmission aggregometry in the presence or absence of prostaglandin G2 assessed
      specific functional defects in the arachidonic acid pathway. Whole exome
      sequencing (WES) and targeted nucleotide sequence analysis identified potentially
      deleterious variants. Results Pedigree members with excessive bleeding had
      impaired platelet aggregation with arachidonic acid, epinephrine and low-dose
      ADP, as well as reduced platelet thromboxane B2 release. Impaired platelet
      aggregation in response to 2MesADP was rescued with prostaglandin G2 , a
      prostaglandin intermediate downstream of prostaglandin synthase-1 (PTGS-1) that
      aids in the production of thromboxane. WES identified a non-synonymous variant in
      the signal peptide of PTGS-1 (rs3842787; c.50C>T; p.Pro17Leu) that completely co
      segregated with disease phenotype. A variant in the F8 gene causing hemophilia A
      (rs28935203; c.5096A>T; p.Y1699F) was also identified. Individuals with both
      variants had more severe bleeding manifestations than characteristic of mild
      hemophilia A alone. Conclusion We provide the first report of co-existing
      variants in both F8 and PTGS-1 genes in a three-generation pedigree. The PTGS-1
      variant was associated with specific functional defects in the arachidonic acid
      pathway and more severe hemorrhage.

PMID- 27629386
TI  - Dynamically Regulated Ag Nanowire Arrays for Detecting Molecular Information of
      Substrate-Induced Stretched Cell Growth.
AB  - The modified coffee-ring effect is used to self-assemble highly uniform, long
      range-ordered Ag nanowire arrays. As the oriented Ag nanowire arrays provide
      excellent membranes for surface-enhanced Raman scattering, the molecular
      mechanism of cell adhesion and growth is systematically studied and well
      understood. This work has important significance for life science research.

PMID- 27629387
TI  - Significance of composition and particle size on the shear flow properties of
      wheat flour.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Size-based fractionation of flour particles is an important process
      in wheat milling. Inter-particle cohesion could affect the dynamic separation
      process and result in loss in throughput. This study quantifies the effect of
      particle properties that includes physical and chemical characteristics on the
      shear flow behavior of wheat flour. RESULTS: The cohesion and flow function
      values of wheat flour at three moisture contents (10%, 12%, and 14%), three
      particle sizes (75-106, 45-75, and <45 um) and three sifter loads (0.5, 1.0, and
      1.0 kPa) were significantly different (P < 0.05). The triggering moisture content
      and particle size where the flowability shifts from 'easy flowing' to 'very
      cohesive' were found to be 12% (wet basis) and 45 um, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      The high correlation observed between the chemical composition (damaged starch,
      protein, and fat) on the physical (bulk and tapped densities) and flow properties
      (cohesion, flow function, and angle of internal friction) demonstrates that
      chemical composition significantly contributes towards the differences in dynamic
      flowability of wheat flours. In addition, fat composition had a significant
      effect on the differences in flowability of wheat flours due to the increased
      inter-particulate cohesion. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27629388
TI  - Changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets during arthritis development in
      arthralgia patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple lymphocyte subsets like T and B cells have been connected to
      joint infiltration and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Identification
      of leucocyte subsets that are dysregulated in arthritis development could provide
      insight into the aetiology of RA. This study aimed to investigate the composition
      of the peripheral blood components, i.e. CD14(+) monocytes, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T
      lymphocytes (CD3(+)), CD80(+), C-X-C chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3)(+) and CD27(+)
      B lymphocytes (CD19(+)), CD16(+)CD56(+)CD3(-) natural killer (NK) cells and
      activated CD56(+)CD3(+) T cells, for association with arthritis development in
      patients with arthralgia. METHODS: Peripheral blood was collected from 89
      patients with early RA (disease duration <6 months), 37 healthy controls (HC) and
      113 patients with arthralgia (22 developed arthritis within <=1 year, 18
      developed arthritis after >1 year and 73 did not develop arthritis). Absolute
      numbers of monocytes and lymphocyte subsets in whole heparinized blood were
      determined with flow cytometry using quantification beads in combination with
      fluorescent labelled antibodies for T cells, B cells, monocytes, NK cells and
      activated T cells. RESULTS: In patients with early RA, significant decreases in
      numbers of (activated) T cells, CD80(+) and memory B cells and a trend towards
      smaller numbers of CD8(+) T cells was observed compared to HC. Similar
      differences were seen in patients with arthralgia who developed or did not
      develop arthritis (non-converters), with significantly decreased CD8(+) T cells
      and memory B cells. Patients with arthralgia who developed arthritis were split
      into groups that developed arthritis within 1 year (early converters) or after 1
      year (late converters). Late converters had a significantly decreased number of
      CD8(+) T cells compared to non-converters; early converters had a decreased
      number of memory B cells. Longitudinal analysis of converters showed a
      significant relative increase in CD80(+) B cells towards the conversion time
      point compared to 24 months prior to conversion. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed
      that patients with arthralgia who develop arthritis demonstrate a change in
      cellular immune parameters apparent in the periphery, starting with a decrease in
      cytotoxic T cells 24 months prior to arthritis development, followed by a
      decrease in the number of memory B cells 12 months prior to disease onset.

PMID- 27629389
TI  - Incorporating development of a patient-reported outcome instrument in a clinical
      drug development program: examples from a heart failure program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures can be used to support label
      claims if they adhere to US Food & Drug Administration guidance. The process of
      developing a new PRO measure is expensive and time-consuming. We report the
      results of qualitative studies to develop new PRO measures for use in clinical
      trials of omecamtiv mecarbil (a selective, small molecule activator of cardiac
      myosin) for patients with heart failure (HF), as well as the lessons learned from
      the development process. METHODS: Concept elicitation focus groups and individual
      interviews were conducted with patients with HF to identify concepts for the
      instrument. Cognitive interviews with HF patients were used to confirm that no
      essential concepts were missing and to assess patient comprehension of the
      instrument and items. RESULTS: During concept elicitation, the most frequently
      reported HF symptoms were shortness of breath, tiredness, fluid retention,
      fatigue, dizziness/light-headedness, swelling, weight fluctuation, and trouble
      sleeping. Two measures were developed based on the concepts: the Heart Failure
      Symptom Diary (HF-SD) and the Heart Failure Impact Scale (HFIS). Findings from
      cognitive interviews suggested that the items in the HF-SD and HFIS were relevant
      and well understood by patients. Multiple iterations of concept elicitation and
      cognitive interviews were needed based on FDA request for a broader patient
      population in the qualitative study. Lessons learned from the omecamtiv mecarbil
      PRO/clinical development program are discussed, including challenges of
      qualitative studies, patient recruitment, expected and actual timelines, cost,
      and engagement with various stakeholders. CONCLUSION: Development of a new PRO
      measure to support a label claim requires significant investment and early
      planning, as demonstrated by the omecamtiv mecarbil program.

PMID- 27629390
TI  - Weight Gain After Smoking Cessation and Atherosclerotic Low-Density Lipoprotein
      Marker.

PMID- 27629391
TI  - A SEM study of the antenna and mouthparts of Omosita colon (Linnaeus)
      (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).
AB  - There are direct relationships between the behavioral mechanisms and sensilla. To
      obtain a better understanding of the behavioral mechanisms in Omosita colon
      (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), we investigated the types, quantities, and
      distribution of sensilla on the antenna and mouthparts of O. colon by scanning
      electron microscopy. The clavate antenna comprised the scape, pedicel, and nine
      segment flagellomeres and had six types of sensilla, including two subtypes of
      sensilla chaetica (SC), three subtypes of sensilla basiconica (SB) and sensilla
      trichodea (ST), and one type of sensilla cavity, sensilla styloconica, and Bohm
      bristles (BB). The chewing mouthparts of O. colon consist of the labrum,
      mandible, maxillae, labium, and hypopharynx and had seven types sensilla,
      including two subtypes of SC and sensilla placodea, seven subtypes of SB, and one
      type of BB, ST, sensilla coeloconica, and sensilla campaniformia. In this
      research, we also deduced the relationships between the sensilla on the antenna
      and mouthparts and their functions.

PMID- 27629392
TI  - Knockdown of Ubiquitin-Specific Protease 14 (USP14) Inhibits the Proliferation
      and Tumorigenesis in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - Ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14), one of three proteasome-associated
      deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), plays an essential role in the development of
      human carcinoma. However, to the best of our knowledge, the role of USP14 in
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is unknown. In the current study, we
      investigated the expression and role of USP14 in ESCC. Our results showed that
      the level of USP14 was significantly increased in ESCC tissues and cell lines.
      Downregulation of USP14 significantly inhibited ESCC cell proliferation and ESCC
      tumor growth in nude mice. Downregulation of USP14 also suppressed the
      migration/invasion in ESCC cells. Mechanically, downregulation of USP14 decreased
      the protein expression levels of beta-catenin, cyclin D1, and c-Myc in ESCC
      cells. In conclusion, our study shows that USP14 plays an important role in the
      progression and metastasis of ESCC. Therefore, these data suggest that USP14 may
      be a potentially useful therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ESCC.

PMID- 27629393
TI  - FNAC Aided Diagnosis and Categorization of Hepatoblastoma:: A Report of Three
      Cases.
AB  - Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary malignant hepatic tumour of infancy and
      early childhood. Histologically hepatoblastomas are categorized into pure
      epithelial and mixed epithelial-mesenchymal types and epithelial type is further
      subcategorized into pure fetal type, fetal and embryonal type, pure embryonal,
      and small cell types. This categorization has been shown to have prognostic and
      therapeutic implication. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is useful in pre
      operative diagnosis and categorization in most cases of hepatoblastomas. Periodic
      acid-Schiff (PAS) stain can be helpful to differentiate fetal subtype from
      embryonal subtype of hepatoblastoma. Here we describe three cases of
      hepatoblastomas diagnosed and categorized on cytology with subsequent
      confirmation on histological examination. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:77-82. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629394
TI  - Amyloid structure exhibits polymorphism on multiple length scales in human brain
      tissue.
AB  - Aggregation of Abeta amyloid fibrils into plaques in the brain is a universal
      hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), but whether plaques in different
      individuals are equivalent is unknown. One possibility is that amyloid fibrils
      exhibit different structures and different structures may contribute
      differentially to disease, either within an individual brain or between
      individuals. However, the occurrence and distribution of structural polymorphisms
      of amyloid in human brain is poorly documented. Here we use X-ray
      microdiffraction of histological sections of human tissue to map the abundance,
      orientation and structural heterogeneities of amyloid. Our observations indicate
      that (i) tissue derived from subjects with different clinical histories may
      contain different ensembles of fibrillar structures; (ii) plaques harboring
      distinct amyloid structures can coexist within a single tissue section and (iii)
      within individual plaques there is a gradient of fibrillar structure from core to
      margins. These observations have immediate implications for existing theories on
      the inception and progression of AD.

PMID- 27629396
TI  - Identification of differentially expressed genes in Monochamus alternatus
      digested with azadirachtin.
AB  - The pine sawyer beetle Monochamus alternatus Hope, a major forest insect pest, is
      the primary vector of the destructive forest pest pine wood nematode,
      Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Azadirachtin, an active compound of neem, is
      biologically interesting because it represents a group of important, successful
      botanical pesticides. We provide insight into the molecular effects of
      azadirachtin on M. alternatus at the transcriptional level to provide clues about
      possible molecular-level targets and to establish a link between azadirachtin and
      insect global responses. We found that 920 and 9894 unique genes were
      significantly up- and down-regulated, respectively. We obtained expression
      patterns of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), identifying 4247, 3488 and
      7613 sequences that involved cellular components, molecular functions and
      biological processes, respectively, and showed that the DEGs were distributed
      among 50 Gene Ontology categories. The Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway
      enrichment analysis indicated that the DEGs were enriched in 50 pathways.
      Detailed gene profile knowledge of the interaction of azadirachtin with M.
      alternatus should facilitate the development of more effective azadirachtin-based
      products against M. alternatus and other target Coleoptera. These results further
      enhance the value of azadirachtin as a potential insecticide of biological
      origin, as well as for other biological applications.

PMID- 27629395
TI  - Minimal residual disease- and graft-vs.-host disease-guided multiple
      consolidation chemotherapy and donor lymphocyte infusion prevent second acute
      leukemia relapse after allotransplant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persons with acute leukemia relapsing after allotransplant and who
      respond to anti-leukemia interventions are at high risk of a second relapse. We
      studied the impact of minimal residual disease (MRD)- and graft-vs.-host disease
      (GvHD)-guided multiple consolidation chemotherapy and donor lymphocyte infusions
      (DLIs) to prevent second relapse in patients with acute leukemia relapsing post
      transplant and who achieved complete remission after induction chemotherapy and
      DLI. METHODS: Forty-seven subjects with acute leukemia relapsing after an
      allotransplant and who achieved complete remission after post-relapse induction
      chemotherapy and DLI were eligible. The use of consolidation chemotherapy and DLI
      was guided by the results of MRD testing and whether or not DLI caused acute
      and/or chronic GvHD. Outcomes were compared with those of 34 similar historical
      controls who did not receive consolidation chemotherapy and DLIs after induction
      chemotherapy and DLI. RESULTS: One-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR; 22
      % 95 % confidence interval (10, 35 %) vs. 56 % (39, 73 %); P < 0.0001), leukemia
      free survival (LFS; 71 % (57, 84 %) vs. 35 % (19, 51 %); P < 0.0001), and
      survival (78 % (66, 90 %) vs. 44 % (27, 61 %); P < 0.0001) was significantly
      better in subjects than controls. In multivariate analyses, no chronic GvHD after
      therapy (hazard ratio (HR) = 3.56 (1.09, 11.58); P = 0.035) and a positive MRD
      test after therapy (HR = 21.04 (4.44, 94.87); P < 0.0001) were associated with an
      increased CIR. CONCLUSION: These data suggest MRD- and GvHD-guided multiple
      consolidation chemotherapy and DLIs reduce CIR and increase LFS and survival
      compared with controls in persons relapsing after allotransplant for acute
      leukemia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR-ONC-12002912 . Donor lymphocyte infusion for
      the treatment of leukemia relapse following allogeneic hematopoeitic stem cell
      transplant.

PMID- 27629397
TI  - IL-9-producing Th9 cells may participate in pathogenesis of Takayasu's arteritis.
AB  - Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) is a type of large vessel vasculitis which involves
      the aorta and its major branches. Interleukin (IL)-9 or IL-9-producing Th9 cells
      were found to be involved in pathogenesis of autoimmune arteritis such as giant
      cell arteritis, but IL-9 or Th9 cells in TAK were not well known. Here, this
      study aims to analyze the levels of serum IL-9 and their major source Th9 cells
      in TAK. With the help of cytometric bead array (CBA), a total of 21 patients with
      TAK were examined for serum levels of cytokines IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17, IL-10,
      TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, and IL-9. Flow cytometry techniques were used to examine
      the frequencies of Th9 cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for
      11 patients with active TAK and 10 healthy controls. Higher serum levels of serum
      IL-6 (P < 0.05), TNF-alpha (P < 0.05), and IL-9 level (P < 0.05) were observed in
      TAK patients compared to those of healthy controls. Higher frequencies of CD4+ IL
      9+ T cells and CD4+ PU.1+ T cells in PBMCs and IL-9+ PU.1+ T cells in CD4+ T
      cells were observed in active TAK patients than those in healthy controls (all P
      < 0.01). The levels of IL-9 had a positive correlation with ESR (r = 0.975, P =
      0.015) in these cases. Our data suggested that Th9 cells and IL-9 could possibly
      be involved in the pathogenesis of TAK.

PMID- 27629398
TI  - Bringing Prebiotic Nucleosides and Nucleotides Down to Earth.
AB  - There may be more than one way leading to RNA: Recent discoveries in the
      synthesis of nucleoside and nucleotide precursors are described and put into the
      wider context of prebiotic systems chemistry. Mixing Butlerow's carbohydrate
      precursors with Traube's 5-formylaminopyrimidines has led to the formation of
      prebiotic purine nucleosides whereas the mixing of 5-phosphoribose with
      barbituric acid and melamine gave supramolecular fibers from stacks of
      Whitesides' rosettas.

PMID- 27629401
TI  - Supporting the careers of junior investigator scientists in geriatric
      psychoneuropharmacology.

PMID- 27629400
TI  - The effects of the court-type Thai traditional massage on anatomical relations,
      blood flow, and skin temperature of the neck, shoulder, and arm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Court-type Thai traditional massage (CTTM) has specific major signal
      points (MaSP) for treating musculoskeletal conditions. The objectives of this
      study are to investigate the anatomical surfaces and structures of MaSPs, and to
      examine blood flow (BF) and skin temperature (ST) changes after applying pressure
      on the MaSPs on neck, shoulder, and arm areas. METHODS: In the anatomical study,
      83 cadavers were dissected and the anatomical surfaces and structures of the 15
      MaSPs recorded. In human volunteers, BF, peak systolic velocity (PS), diameter of
      artery (DA), and ST changes were measured at baseline and after pressure
      application at 0, 30, 60, 180, and 300 s. RESULTS: There was no statistical
      difference in anatomical surfaces and structures of MaSP between the left and
      right side of the body. The 3 MaSPs on the neck were shown to be anatomically
      separated from the location of the common carotid arteries. The BF of MaSPs of
      the neck significantly and immediately increased after pressure application for
      30 s and for 60 s in the arm (p < 0.001). ST increased significantly and
      immediately after pressure application for 300 s (p < 0.001). There was no
      significant correlation between BF and ST at any of the MaSPs. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study showed that MaSP massages were mainly directed towards muscles. MaSPs can
      cause significant, but brief, increases in BF and ST. Further studies are
      suggested to identify changes in BF and ST for all of the MaSPs after actual
      massage treatment sessions as well as other physiological effects of massage.

PMID- 27629399
TI  - Two alternative DNA extraction methods to improve the detection of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis-complex members in cattle and red deer tissue samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), which is caused by Mycobacterium bovis and
      M. caprae, is a notifiable animal disease in Germany. Diagnostic procedure is
      based on a prescribed protocol that is published in the framework of German bTB
      legislation. In this protocol small sample volumes are used for DNA extraction
      followed by real-time PCR analyses. As mycobacteria tend to concentrate in
      granuloma and the infected tissue in early stages of infection does not
      necessarily show any visible lesions, it is likely that DNA extraction from only
      small tissue samples (20-40 mg) of a randomly chosen spot from the organ and
      following PCR testing may result in false negative results. In this study two DNA
      extraction methods were developed to process larger sample volumes to increase
      the detection sensitivity of mycobacterial DNA in animal tissue. The first
      extraction method is based on magnetic capture, in which specific capture
      oligonucleotides were utilized. These nucleotides are linked to magnetic
      particles and capture Mycobacterium-tuberculosis-complex (MTC) DNA released from
      10 to 15 g of tissue material. In a second approach remaining sediments from the
      magnetic capture protocol were further processed with a less complex extraction
      protocol that can be used in daily routine diagnostics. A total number of 100
      tissue samples from 34 cattle (n = 74) and 18 red deer (n = 26) were analyzed
      with the developed protocols and results were compared to the prescribed
      protocol. RESULTS: All three extraction methods yield reliable results by the
      real-time PCR analysis. The use of larger sample volume led to a sensitivity
      increase of DNA detection which was shown by the decrease of Ct-values.
      Furthermore five samples which were tested negative or questionable by the
      official extraction protocol were detected positive by real time PCR when the
      alternative extraction methods were used. By calculating the kappa index, the
      three extraction protocols resulted in a moderate (0.52; protocol 1 vs 3) to
      almost perfect agreement (1.00; red deer sample testing with all protocols).
      CONCLUSION: Both new methods yielded increased detection rates for MTC DNA
      detection in large sample volumes and consequently improve the official
      diagnostic protocol.

PMID- 27629402
TI  - 2016 international consensus on femoroacetabular impingement syndrome: the
      Warwick Agreement-why does it matter?

PMID- 27629404
TI  - Infographic. The Warwick Agreement on femoroacetabular impingement syndrome.

PMID- 27629403
TI  - The Warwick Agreement on femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAI syndrome): an
      international consensus statement.
AB  - The 2016 Warwick Agreement on femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome was
      convened to build an international, multidisciplinary consensus on the diagnosis
      and management of patients with FAI syndrome. 22 panel members and 1 patient from
      9 countries and 5 different specialties participated in a 1-day consensus meeting
      on 29 June 2016. Prior to the meeting, 6 questions were agreed on, and recent
      relevant systematic reviews and seminal literature were circulated. Panel members
      gave presentations on the topics of the agreed questions at Sports Hip 2016, an
      open meeting held in the UK on 27-29 June. Presentations were followed by open
      discussion. At the 1-day consensus meeting, panel members developed statements in
      response to each question through open discussion; members then scored their
      level of agreement with each response on a scale of 0-10. Substantial agreement
      (range 9.5-10) was reached for each of the 6 consensus questions, and the
      associated terminology was agreed on. The term 'femoroacetabular impingement
      syndrome' was introduced to reflect the central role of patients' symptoms in the
      disorder. To reach a diagnosis, patients should have appropriate symptoms,
      positive clinical signs and imaging findings. Suitable treatments are
      conservative care, rehabilitation, and arthroscopic or open surgery. Current
      understanding of prognosis and topics for future research were discussed. The
      2016 Warwick Agreement on FAI syndrome is an international multidisciplinary
      agreement on the diagnosis, treatment principles and key terminology relating to
      FAI syndrome.Author note The Warwick Agreement on femoroacetabular impingement
      syndrome has been endorsed by the following 25 clinical societies: American
      Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), Association of Chartered
      Physiotherapists in Sports and Exercise Medicine (ACPSEM), Australasian College
      of Sports and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP), Austian Sports Physiotherapists,
      British Association of Sports and Exercise Medicine (BASEM), British Association
      of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT), Canadian Academy of Sport and
      Exercise Medicine (CASEM), Danish Society of Sports Physical Therapy (DSSF),
      European College of Sports and Exercise Physicians (ECOSEP), European Society of
      Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA), Finnish Sports
      Physiotherapist Association (SUFT), German-Austrian-Swiss Society for Orthopaedic
      Traumatologic Sports Medicine (GOTS), International Federation of Sports Physical
      Therapy (IFSPT), International Society for Hip Arthroscopy (ISHA), Groupo di
      Interesse Specialistico dell'A.I.F.I., Norwegian Association of Sports Medicine
      and Physical Activity (NIMF), Norwegian Sports Physiotherapy Association (FFI),
      Society of Sports Therapists (SST), South African Sports Medicine Association
      (SASMA), Sports Medicine Australia (SMA), Sports Doctors Australia (SDrA), Sports
      Physiotherapy New Zealand (SPNZ), Swedish Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine
      (SFAIM), Swiss Society of Sports Medicine (SGMS/SGSM), Swiss Sports Physiotherapy
      Association (SSPA). 

PMID- 27629405
TI  - Personalised Hip Therapy: development of a non-operative protocol to treat
      femoroacetabular impingement syndrome in the FASHIoN randomised controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome is increasingly
      recognised as a cause of hip pain. As part of the design of a randomised
      controlled trial (RCT) of arthroscopic surgery for FAI syndrome, we developed a
      protocol for non-operative care and evaluated its feasibility. METHODS: In phase
      one, we developed a protocol for non-operative care for FAI in the UK National
      Health Service (NHS), through a process of systematic review and consensus
      gathering. In phase two, the protocol was tested in an internal pilot RCT for
      protocol adherence and adverse events. RESULTS: The final protocol, called
      Personalised Hip Therapy (PHT), consists of four core components led by
      physiotherapists: detailed patient assessment, education and advice, help with
      pain relief and an exercise-based programme that is individualised, supervised
      and progressed over time. PHT is delivered over 12-26 weeks in 6-10
      physiotherapist-patient contacts, supplemented by a home exercise programme. In
      the pilot RCT, 42 patients were recruited and 21 randomised to PHT. Review of
      treatment case report forms, completed by physiotherapists, showed that 13
      patients (62%) received treatment that had closely followed the PHT protocol. 13
      patients reported some muscle soreness at 6 weeks, but there were no serious
      adverse events. CONCLUSION: PHT provides a structure for the non-operative care
      of FAI and offers guidance to clinicians and researchers in an evolving area with
      limited evidence. PHT was deliverable within the National Health Service, is
      safe, and now forms the comparator to arthroscopic surgery in the UK FASHIoN
      trial (ISRCTN64081839). TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN 09754699.

PMID- 27629407
TI  - Gene-environment interaction between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      Val66Met polymorphism, psychosocial stress and dietary intake in early psychosis.
AB  - AIM: The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a major participant in the
      regulation of food intake and may play a role in the regulation of the stress
      response. We aimed to investigate whether there is a gene-environment interaction
      in the relationship between stress and BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in relation to
      dietary patterns in a sample of subjects with early psychosis. METHODS: We
      studied 124 early psychotic disorder (PD) patients, 36 At-Risk Mental States
      (ARMS) and 62 healthy subjects (HS). Dietary patterns were examined by a
      dietician. Physical activity, life stress and perceived stress were assessed by
      validated questionnaires. BDNF Val66Met polymorphism (rs6265) was genotyped. A
      gene-environment interaction was tested with multiple linear regression analysis
      while adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Perceived stress was not associated with
      calorie intake in HS. In ARMS subjects, Met-carriers who presented low-perceived
      stress were associated with increased caloric intake. Conversely, those who
      presented high-perceived stress were associated with reduced caloric intake. In
      PD, perceived stress was neither associated with increased calorie intake without
      an effect by BDNF genotype nor a gene-environment interaction. Perceived stress
      was associated with food craving in PD patients, independent of genotype, and in
      ARMS or HS who were Val homozygous. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the
      common Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene may modulate the relationship
      between life stress and calorie intake in subjects at risk for psychosis.

PMID- 27629406
TI  - Nutrient intakes and nutritional biomarkers in pregnant adolescents: a systematic
      review of studies in developed countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Babies born to adolescent mothers have been shown to have poorer
      outcomes compared to those born to adults. Nutritional status may have an
      important role to play in improving the health of pregnant adolescents; however
      there is a lack of evidence regarding the adequacy of adolescent diets during
      pregnancy. This systematic review aims to examine what is known about the
      nutritional status of adolescent pregnant women. METHODS: A systematic search of
      the literature identified 21 studies which met the inclusion criteria for the
      review. Primary research papers using any methods were included where they were
      published in English between January 1995 and May 2015 and included measurements
      of nutrient intakes or biological markers of nutritional status in pregnant women
      aged 11-19 years. Individual study data was first summarised narratively before
      study means were pooled to give an estimate of nutritional status in the
      population. RESULTS: The results show that individual studies reported intakes of
      energy, fibre and a number of key micronutrients which were below recommended
      levels. Biological markers of iron and selenium status also showed cause for
      concern. Pooled analysis of individual means as a percentage of UK Dietary
      Reference Intakes showed intakes of vitamin D (34.8 % CI 0-83.1) to be
      significantly below recommendations (p = 0.05). Serum selenium levels were also
      found to be low (61.8 MUg/L, CI 39-84). CONCLUSIONS: This review has identified a
      number of areas where the nutritional status of pregnant adolescents is sub
      optimal, which may have implications for the health of adolescent mothers and
      their babies. It was not however possible to examine the impact of supplement use
      or socio-demographic characteristics which limits the interpretation these
      results. Further work is needed to establish the characteristics of those most at
      risk within this population, how this differs from adult pregnant women and the
      role of supplementation in achieving adequate nutrition.

PMID- 27629408
TI  - Nonaccidental Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in an Urban Area as a Potential
      Source of Uncontrolled Organ Donors.
AB  - BACKGROUND Donation after cardiac death offers the possibility of increasing the
      pool of organs for transplantation by up to 30%. Maastricht category type 3 (M3)
      dominates in most countries with active DCD programs. During preparations to
      introduce a permanent program for uncontrolled donation after circulatory death
      in Szczecin, Poland, the donor pool has been estimated. In Poland, Maastricht
      category type 2 (M2) is considered a basic source for organ recovery. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of out-of-hospital cardiac
      arrests (OHCA) reported to local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) between 1
      December 2014 and 30 November 2015. The following inclusion criteria were used in
      the analysis: demographic (age 18-60 years, known identity), clinical (no chest
      or abdominal injury, no cachexia as an equivalent of wasting diseases), and
      organizational (weekdays from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm). RESULTS During 12-month
      period, 118 EMS interventions were recorded in response to sudden cardiac arrest.
      The stratification process mentioned above used criteria to establish potential,
      eligible, qualified, and actual donor pools (27 (30.3%), 24 (26.4%), 7 (7.3%),
      and 6 (6.7%), respectively). To establish a "virtual" actual number of uDCD, the
      nationwide average level of lack of authorization for donation was 12%.
      CONCLUSIONS Activation of a permanent program of organ recovery from uDCD would
      increase the donor pool by 6 cases. Compared to the number of brain-dead donors
      referred from regional hospitals, this increase would be equivalent to the
      formation of a new reporting center. The number of transplantable organs could
      increase by 22% per year. 

PMID- 27629409
TI  - Oral bioaccessibility of inorganic contaminants in waste dusts generated by
      laterite Ni ore smelting.
AB  - The laterite Ni ore smelting operations in Niquelandia and Barro Alto (Goias
      State, Brazil) have produced large amounts of fine-grained smelting wastes, which
      have been stockpiled on dumps and in settling ponds. We investigated granulated
      slag dusts (n = 5) and fly ash samples (n = 4) with a special focus on their
      leaching behaviour in deionised water and on the in vitro bioaccessibility in a
      simulated gastric fluid, to assess the potential exposure risk for humans. Bulk
      chemical analyses indicated that both wastes contained significant amounts of
      contaminants: up to 2.6 wt% Ni, 7580 mg/kg Cr, and 508 mg/kg Co. In only one fly
      ash sample, after 24 h of leaching in deionised water, the concentrations of
      leached Ni exceeded the limit for hazardous waste according to EU legislation,
      whereas the other dusts were classified as inert wastes. Bioaccessible fractions
      (BAF) of the major contaminants (Ni, Co, and Cr) were quite low for the slag
      dusts and accounted for less than 2 % of total concentrations. In contrast, BAF
      values were significantly higher for fly ash materials, which reached 13 % for Ni
      and 19 % for Co. Daily intakes via oral exposure, calculated for an adult (70 kg,
      dust ingestion rate of 50 mg/day), exceeded neither the tolerable daily intake
      (TDI) nor the background exposure limits for all of the studied contaminants.
      Only if a higher ingestion rate is assumed (e.g. 100 mg dust per day for workers
      in the smelter), the TDI limit for Ni recently defined by European Food Safety
      Authority (196 ug/day) was exceeded (324 ug/day) for one fly ash sample. Our data
      indicate that there is only a limited risk to human health related to the
      ingestion of dust materials generated by laterite Ni ore smelting operations if
      appropriate safety measures are adopted at the waste disposal sites and within
      the smelter facility.

PMID- 27629410
TI  - Caffeine Blocks HIV-1 Tat-Induced Amyloid Beta Production and Tau
      Phosphorylation.
AB  - The increased life expectancy of people living with HIV-1 who are taking
      effective anti-retroviral therapeutics is now accompanied by increased
      Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like neurocognitive problems and neuropathological
      features such as increased levels of amyloid beta (Abeta) and phosphorylated tau
      proteins. Others and we have shown that HIV-1 Tat promotes the development of AD
      like pathology. Indeed, HIV-1 Tat once endocytosed into neurons can alter
      morphological features and functions of endolysosomes as well as increase Abeta
      generation. Caffeine has been shown to have protective actions against AD and
      based on our recent findings that caffeine can inhibit endocytosis in neurons and
      can prevent neuronal Abeta generation, we tested the hypothesis that caffeine
      blocks HIV-1 Tat-induced Abeta generation and tau phosphorylation. In SH-SY5Y
      cells over-expressing wild-type amyloid beta precursor protein (AbetaPP), we
      demonstrated that HIV-1 Tat significantly increased secreted levels and
      intracellular levels of Abeta as well as cellular protein levels of
      phosphorylated tau. Caffeine significantly decreased levels of secreted and
      cellular levels of Abeta, and significantly blocked HIV-1 Tat-induced increases
      in secreted and cellular levels of Abeta. Caffeine also blocked HIV-1 Tat-induced
      increases in cellular levels of phosphorylated tau. Furthermore, caffeine blocked
      HIV-1 Tat-induced endolysosome dysfunction as indicated by decreased protein
      levels of vacuolar-ATPase and increased protein levels of cathepsin D. These
      results further implicate endolysosome dysfunction in the pathogenesis of AD and
      HAND, and by virtue of its ability to prevent and/or block neuropathological
      features associated with AD and HAND caffeine might find use as an effective
      adjunctive therapeutic agent.

PMID- 27629411
TI  - Combining in vitro protein detection and in vivo antibody detection identifies
      potential vaccine targets against Staphylococcus aureus during osteomyelitis.
AB  - Currently, little is known about the in vivo human immune response against
      Staphylococcus aureus during a biofilm-associated infection, such as
      osteomyelitis, and how this relates to protein production in biofilms in vitro.
      Therefore, we characterized IgG responses in 10 patients with chronic
      osteomyelitis against 50 proteins of S. aureus, analyzed the presence of these
      proteins in biofilms of the infecting isolates on polystyrene (PS) and human bone
      in vitro, and explored the relation between in vivo and in vitro data. IgG levels
      against 15 different proteins were significantly increased in patients compared
      to healthy controls. Using a novel competitive Luminex-based assay, eight of
      these proteins [alpha toxin, Staphylococcus aureus formyl peptide receptor-like 1
      inhibitor (FlipR), glucosaminidase, iron-responsive surface determinants A and H,
      the putative ABC transporter SACOL0688, staphylococcal complement inhibitor
      (SCIN), and serine-aspartate repeat-containing protein E (SdrE)] were also
      detected in a majority of the infecting isolates during biofilm formation in
      vitro. However, 4 other proteins were detected in only a minority of isolates in
      vitro while, vice versa, 7 proteins were detected in multiple isolates in vitro
      but not associated with significantly increased IgG levels in patients. Detection
      of proteins was largely confirmed using a transcriptomic approach. Our data
      provide further insights into potential therapeutic targets, such as for
      vaccination, to reduce S. aureus virulence and biofilm formation. At the same
      time, our data suggest that either in vitro or immunological in vivo data alone
      should be interpreted cautiously and that combined studies are necessary to
      identify potential targets.

PMID- 27629412
TI  - SM22alpha inhibits lamellipodium formation and migration via Ras-Arp2/3 signaling
      in synthetic VSMCs.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that smooth muscle (SM) 22alpha promotes the migration
      activity in contractile vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Based on the varied
      functions exhibited by SM22alpha in different VSMC phenotypes, we investigated
      the effect of SM22alpha on VSMC migration under pathological conditions. The
      results demonstrated that SM22alpha overexpression in synthetic VSMCs inhibited
      platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced cell lamellipodium formation and
      migration, which was different from its action in contractile cells. The results
      indicated two distinct mechanisms underlying inhibition of lamellipodium
      formation by SM22alpha, increased actin dynamic stability and decreased Ras
      activity via interference with interactions between Ras and guanine nucleotide
      exchange factor. The former inhibited actin cytoskeleton rearrangement in the
      cell cortex, while the latter significantly disrupted actin nucleation activation
      of the Arp2/3 complex. Baicalin, a herb-derived flavonoid compound, inhibited
      VSMC migration via upregulation of SM22alpha expression in vitro and in vivo.
      These data suggest that SM22alpha regulates lamellipodium formation and cell
      migration in a phenotype-dependent manner in VSMCs, which may be a new
      therapeutic target for vascular lesion formation.

PMID- 27629413
TI  - Discovery of a Xylooligosaccharide Oxidase from Myceliophthora thermophila C1.
AB  - By inspection of the predicted proteome of the fungus Myceliophthora thermophila
      C1 for vanillyl-alcohol oxidase (VAO)-type flavoprotein oxidases, a putative
      oligosaccharide oxidase was identified. By homologous expression and subsequent
      purification, the respective protein could be obtained. The protein was found to
      contain a bicovalently bound FAD cofactor. By screening a large number of
      carbohydrates, several mono- and oligosaccharides could be identified as
      substrates. The enzyme exhibits a strong substrate preference toward
      xylooligosaccharides; hence it is named xylooligosaccharide oxidase (XylO).
      Chemical analyses of the product formed upon oxidation of xylobiose revealed that
      the oxidation occurs at C1, yielding xylobionate as product. By elucidation of
      several XylO crystal structures (in complex with a substrate mimic, xylose, and
      xylobiose), the residues that tune the unique substrate specificity and
      regioselectivity could be identified. The discovery of this novel oligosaccharide
      oxidase reveals that the VAO-type flavoprotein family harbors oxidases tuned for
      specific oligosaccharides. The unique substrate profile of XylO hints at a role
      in the degradation of xylan-derived oligosaccharides by the fungus M. thermophila
      C1.

PMID- 27629414
TI  - Multiple Transcriptional Factors Regulate Transcription of the rpoE Gene in
      Escherichia coli under Different Growth Conditions and When the
      Lipopolysaccharide Biosynthesis Is Defective.
AB  - The RpoE sigma factor is essential for the viability of Escherichia coli RpoE
      regulates extracytoplasmic functions including lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      translocation and some of its non-stoichiometric modifications. Transcription of
      the rpoE gene is positively autoregulated by EsigmaE and by unknown mechanisms
      that control the expression of its distally located promoter(s). Mapping of 5'
      ends of rpoE mRNA identified five new transcriptional initiation sites (P1 to P5)
      located distal to EsigmaE-regulated promoter. These promoters are activated in
      response to unique signals. Of these P2, P3, and P4 defined major promoters,
      recognized by RpoN, RpoD, and RpoS sigma factors, respectively. Isolation of
      trans-acting factors, in vitro transcriptional and gel retardation assays
      revealed that the RpoN-recognized P2 promoter is positively regulated by a QseE/F
      two-component system and NtrC activator, whereas the RpoD-regulated P3 promoter
      is positively regulated by a Rcs system in response to defects in LPS core
      biosynthesis, overproduction of certain lipoproteins, and the global regulator
      CRP. Strains synthesizing Kdo2-LA LPS caused up to 7-fold increase in the rpoEP3
      activity, which was abrogated in Delta(waaC rcsB). Overexpression of a novel 73
      nucleotide sRNA rirA (RfaH interacting RNA) generated by the processing of 5' UTR
      of the waaQ mRNA induces the rpoEP3 promoter activity concomitant with a decrease
      in LPS content and defects in the O-antigen incorporation. In the presence of RNA
      polymerase, RirA binds LPS regulator RfaH known to prevent premature
      transcriptional termination of waaQ and rfb operons. RirA in excess could titrate
      out RfaH causing LPS defects and the activation of rpoE transcription.

PMID- 27629415
TI  - Alkaline Cytosolic pH and High Sodium Hydrogen Exchanger 1 (NHE1) Activity in Th9
      Cells.
AB  - CD4+ T helper 9 (Th9) cells are a newly discovered Th cell subset that produce
      the pleiotropic cytokine IL-9. Th9 cells can protect against tumors and provide
      resistance against helminth infections. Given their pivotal role in the adaptive
      immune system, understanding Th9 cell development and the regulation of IL-9
      production could open novel immunotherapeutic opportunities. The Na+/H+ exchanger
      1 (NHE1; gene name Slc9alpha1)) is critically important for regulating
      intracellular pH (pHi), cell volume, migration, and cell survival. The pHi
      influences cytokine secretion, activities of membrane-associated enzymes, ion
      transport, and other effector signaling molecules such as ATP and Ca2+ levels.
      However, whether NHE1 regulates Th9 cell development or IL-9 secretion has not
      yet been defined. The present study explored the role of NHE1 in Th9 cell
      development and function. Th cell subsets were characterized by flow cytometry
      and pHi was measured using 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)
      carboxyfluorescein-acetoxymethyl ester (BCECF-AM) dye. NHE1 functional activity
      was estimated from the rate of realkalinization following an ammonium pulse.
      Surprisingly, in Th9 cells pHi and NHE1 activity were significantly higher than
      in all other Th cell subsets (Th1/Th2/Th17 and induced regulatory T cells
      (iTregs)). NHE1 transcript levels and protein abundance were significantly higher
      in Th9 cells than in other Th cell subsets. Inhibition of NHE1 by siRNA-NHE1 or
      with cariporide in Th9 cells down-regulated IL-9 and ATP production. NHE1
      activity, Th9 cell development, and IL-9 production were further blunted by
      pharmacological inhibition of protein kinase Akt1/Akt2. Our findings reveal that
      Akt1/Akt2 control of NHE1 could be an important physiological regulator of Th9
      cell differentiation, IL-9 secretion, and ATP production.

PMID- 27629416
TI  - Polypeptide N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 13 Contributes to Neurogenesis via
      Stabilizing the Mucin-type O-Glycoprotein Podoplanin.
AB  - Mucin-type O-glycosylation is initiated by an evolutionarily conserved family of
      polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases (ppGalNAc-Ts). Previously, it was
      reported that ppGalNAc-T13 is restrictively expressed at a high level in the
      brain. Here we provide evidence for the critical role of ppGalNAc-T13 in neural
      differentiation. In detail, we show that the expression of ppGalNAc-T13 was
      dramatically up-regulated during early neurogenesis in mouse embryonic brains.
      Similar changes were also observed in cell models of neuronal differentiation by
      using either primary mouse cortical neural precursor cells or murine embryonal
      carcinoma P19 cells. Knockout of ppGalNAc-T13 in P19 cells suppressed not only
      neural induction but also neuronal differentiation. These effects are at least
      partly mediated by the mucin-type O-glycoprotein podoplanin (PDPN), as knockdown
      of PDPN led to a similar inhibition of neuronal differentiation and PDPN was
      significantly reduced at the posttranscriptional level after ppGalNAc-T13
      knockout. Further data demonstrate that PDPN acts as a substrate of ppGalNAc-T13
      and that the ppGalNAc-T13-mediated O-glycosylation on PDPN is important for its
      stability. Taken together, this study suggests that ppGalNAc-T13 contributes to
      neuronal differentiation through glycosylating and stabilizing PDPN, which
      provides insights into the regulatory roles of O-glycosylation in mammalian
      neural development.

PMID- 27629417
TI  - Induction of Glucocorticoid-induced Leucine Zipper (GILZ) Contributes to Anti
      inflammatory Effects of the Natural Product Curcumin in Macrophages.
AB  - GILZ (glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper) is inducible by glucocorticoids and
      plays a key role in their mode of action. GILZ attenuates inflammation mainly by
      inhibition of NF-kappaB and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation but does
      not seem to be involved in the severe side effects observed after glucocorticoid
      treatment. Therefore, GILZ might be a promising target for new therapeutic
      approaches. The present work focuses on the natural product curcumin, which has
      previously been reported to inhibit NF-kappaB. GILZ was inducible by curcumin in
      macrophage cell lines, primary human monocyte-derived macrophages, and murine
      bone marrow-derived macrophages. The up-regulation of GILZ was neither associated
      with glucocorticoid receptor activation nor with transcriptional induction or
      mRNA or protein stabilization but was a result of enhanced translation. Because
      the GILZ 3'-UTR contains AU-rich elements (AREs), we analyzed the role of the
      mRNA-binding protein HuR, which has been shown to promote the translation of ARE
      containing mRNAs. Our results suggest that curcumin treatment induces HuR
      expression. An RNA immunoprecipitation assay confirmed that HuR can bind GILZ
      mRNA. In accordance, HuR overexpression led to increased GILZ protein levels but
      had no effect on GILZ mRNA expression. Our data employing siRNA in LPS-activated
      RAW264.7 macrophages show that curcumin facilitates its anti-inflammatory action
      by induction of GILZ in macrophages. Experiments with LPS-activated bone marrow
      derived macrophages from wild-type and GILZ knock-out mice demonstrated that
      curcumin inhibits the activity of inflammatory regulators, such as NF-kappaB or
      ERK, and subsequent TNF-alpha production via GILZ. In summary, our data indicate
      that HuR-dependent GILZ induction contributes to the anti-inflammatory properties
      of curcumin.

PMID- 27629419
TI  - Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of Spiritual Well-Being Scale in
      Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the
      Persian version of Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) in patients with acute
      myocardial infarction. A multisite, cross-sectional survey was employed to
      determine the instrument's reliability (Cronbach's alpha and construct
      reliability) and validity (face, content, and construct). Using systematic
      sampling of adult outpatients at primary care clinic sites in the Qazvin City,
      Iran (N = 300), it was found that the Cronbach's alpha and construct reliability
      of both factors associated with the SWBS were above 0.7. The construct validity
      of the scale was determined using exploratory factor analysis. The findings
      supported two factors: relation with God and relation with life. Further
      investigation through confirmatory factor analysis (eigenvalues of greater than
      one) confirmed a third factor construct associated with the SWBS. A total of
      50.65 % of the variance were explained by these three factors. The overall
      findings of the study demonstrated that the SWBS is a valid and reliable
      instrument that has potential utility in future research and clinical practice
      settings.

PMID- 27629418
TI  - Generation of a Mutant Mucor hiemalis Endoglycosidase That Acts on Core
      fucosylated N-Glycans.
AB  - Endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase M (Endo-M), an endoglycosidase from the fungus
      Mucor hiemalis, is a useful tool for chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycoconjugates,
      including glycoprotein-based therapeutics having a precisely defined glycoform,
      by virtue of its transglycosylation activity. Although Endo-M has been known to
      act on various N-glycans, it does not act on core-fucosylated N-glycans, which
      exist widely in mammalian glycoproteins, thus limiting its application.
      Therefore, we performed site-directed mutagenesis on Endo-M to isolate mutant
      enzymes that are able to act on mammalian-type core-alpha1,6-fucosylated glycans.
      Among the Endo-M mutant enzymes generated, those in which the tryptophan at
      position 251 was substituted with alanine or asparagine showed altered substrate
      specificities. Such mutant enzymes exhibited increased hydrolysis of a synthetic
      alpha1,6-fucosylated trimannosyl core structure, whereas their activity on the
      afucosylated form decreased. In addition, among the Trp-251 mutants, the W251N
      mutant was most efficient in hydrolyzing the core-fucosylated substrate. W251N
      mutants could act on the immunoglobulin G-derived core-fucosylated glycopeptides
      and human lactoferrin glycoproteins. This mutant was also capable of transferring
      the sialyl glycan from an activated substrate intermediate (sialyl glyco
      oxazoline) onto an alpha1,6-fucosyl-N-acetylglucosaminyl biotin. Furthermore, the
      W251N mutant gained a glycosynthase-like activity when a N175Q substitution was
      introduced and it caused accumulation of the transglycosylation products. These
      findings not only give insights into the substrate recognition mechanism of
      glycoside hydrolase family 85 enzymes but also widen their scope of application
      in preparing homogeneous glycoforms of core-fucosylated glycoproteins for the
      production of potent glycoprotein-based therapeutics.

PMID- 27629420
TI  - Radiological features of healing in newborn clavicular fractures.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Given the frequency of abusive fractures among infants, and the lack
      of research and or evidence for the phases of fracture healing seen in this age
      group, this study aims to describe a timetable of radiological features of
      fracture healing among infants in the first months of life. METHODS: We completed
      a retrospective cross-sectional time-series study of birth-related clavicle
      fractures from 2006-2013. A total of 108 digital images were available for review
      from 61 infants. The presence or absence of four features of healing including
      periosteal reaction, callus formation, bridging callus and remodelling were
      scored by three radiologists. RESULTS: The level of agreement between the
      radiologists was good to high (0.60-0.90). Features of healing were first seen at
      7 days (periosteal reaction), 11 days (callus), 20 days (bridging) and 35 days
      (remodelling), respectively. The peak periods that each feature was present are
      as follows: periosteal reaction 11-42 days, callus 12-61 days, bridging 22-63
      days and remodelling 49-59 days. CONCLUSIONS: Birth-associated clavicle fractures
      in infants follow a logical progression of healing changes. Understanding the
      expected progression and timing of fracture healing may be helpful as it pertains
      to the timing of injury in cases of abuse in infants. KEY POINTS: * Large study
      describing the time frames of fracture healing in young infants. * Features of
      fracture healing develop in a logical progression. * Evidence provided for
      determining fractures are consistent with a proposed time frame. * It is of
      critical importance to have sound evidence for the dating of fractures.

PMID- 27629421
TI  - Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stent-grafts for transjugular
      intrahepatic portosystemic shunts in cirrhotic patients: Long-term patency and
      clinical outcome results.
AB  - PURPOSE: To retrospectively analyse long-term patency and overall survival of
      cirrhotic patients treated with TIPSS using e-PTFE-covered stents. Additionally,
      prognostic factors for better patency and survival were analysed. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Two hundred and eighty-five consecutive cirrhotic patients with severe
      portal hypertension-related symptoms were included. Follow-up, including clinical
      assessment and duplex ultrasound, was analysed up to end of study, patient's
      death, liver transplantation or TIPSS-reduction. Patency rates and overall
      survival were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method; potential differences in
      outcome between subgroups were calculated using the Pepe and Mori test. RESULTS:
      The 1-, 2- and 5-year primary patencies were 91.5 %, 89.2 % and 86.2 %,
      respectively, with no new shunt dysfunctions after 5 years' follow-up. TIPSS
      revision was performed more often in ascites patients (P = 0.02). The 1-, 4- and
      10-year survival rates were 69.2 %, 52.1 % and 30.7 %, respectively. Survival was
      higher in Child-Pugh class A-B (P = 0.04), in the recurrent bleeding group (P =
      0.008) and in patients with underlying alcoholic cirrhosis (P = 0.01).
      CONCLUSION: Long term, primary patency of e-PTFE-covered TIPSS stents remains
      very high (>80 %); shunt revision was required more frequently in ascites
      patients. Overall survival was better in Child-Pugh A-B patients with recurrent
      variceal bleeding and alcoholic liver cirrhosis. KEYPOINTS: * Long-term primary
      patency rate of e-PTFE-covered TIPSS stents remains very high. * No new shunt
      dysfunction was found after 5 years of follow-up. * Shunt revision was required
      more frequently in ascites patients. * Four and 10 years' overall survival was 50
      and 30 %, respectively.

PMID- 27629423
TI  - A case of primary cutaneous CD4+ small- to medium-sized pleomorphic T-cell
      lymphoma.

PMID- 27629422
TI  - siRNA-Mediated Silencing of HMGA2 Induces Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in
      Human Colorectal Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Overexpression of HMGA2, known as small non-histone chromosomal protein,
      is associated with progression of various tumors, including colorectal cancers.
      The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a specific HMGA2 siRNA on
      apoptosis and cell cycle of HCT-116 (colorectal carcinoma) cells. METHODS: The
      cells were transfected with siRNAs using a transfection reagent. The cytotoxic
      effects of HMGA2 siRNA on colorectal carcinoma cells were determined using MTT
      assay. Relative HMGA2 mRNA and protein levels were measured by QRT-PCR and
      western blotting, respectively. Apoptosis was measured by a TUNEL test based on
      labeling of DNA strand breaks. We also evaluated caspase-3, caspase-8, and
      caspase-9 expression by QRTPCR to determine which pathway is involved in
      apoptosis. Cell cycle was assessed by FACS and cell cycle analysis using PI DNA
      staining. RESULTS: HMGA2 siRNA significantly reduced both mRNA and protein
      expression levels 48 h after transfection and dose-dependent manner in colorectal
      carcinoma cells. We also showed that the silencing of HMGA2 led to the induction
      of apoptosis through intrinsic pathway and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phases of
      interphase in HCT-116 cells in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: These results propose that
      HMGA2 might play an important role in the progression of colorectal carcinoma and
      might be a potential therapeutic target for trigger apoptosis and cell cycle
      arrest in colorectal carcinoma.

PMID- 27629424
TI  - Liming in the sugarcane burnt system and the green harvest practice affect soil
      bacterial community in northeastern Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - Here we show that both liming the burnt sugarcane and the green harvest practice
      alter bacterial community structure, diversity and composition in sugarcane
      fields in northeastern Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Terminal restriction fragment
      length polymorphism fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene cloning and sequencing were
      used to analyze changes in soil bacterial communities. The field experiment
      consisted of sugarcane-cultivated soils under different regimes: green sugarcane
      (GS), burnt sugarcane (BS), BS in soil amended with lime applied to increase soil
      pH (BSL), and native forest (NF) as control soil. The bacterial community
      structures revealed disparate patterns in sugarcane-cultivated soils and forest
      soil (R = 0.786, P = 0.002), and overlapping patterns were shown for the
      bacterial community structure among the different management regimes applied to
      sugarcane (R = 0.194, P = 0.002). The numbers of operational taxonomic units
      (OTUs) found in the libraries were 117, 185, 173 and 166 for NF, BS, BSL and GS,
      respectively. Sugarcane-cultivated soils revealed higher bacterial diversity than
      NF soil, with BS soil accounting for a higher richness of unique OTUs (101 unique
      OTUs) than NF soil (23 unique OTUs). Cluster analysis based on OTUs revealed
      similar bacterial communities in NF and GS soils, while the bacterial community
      from BS soil was most distinct from the others. Acidobacteria and
      Alphaproteobacteria were the most abundant bacterial phyla across the different
      soils with Acidobacteria Gp1 accounting for a higher abundance in NF and GS soils
      than burnt sugarcane-cultivated soils (BS and BSL). In turn, Acidobacteria Gp4
      abundance was higher in BS soils than in other soils. These differential
      responses in soil bacterial community structure, diversity and composition can be
      associated with the agricultural management, mainly liming practices, and harvest
      methods in the sugarcane-cultivated soils, and they can be detected shortly after
      harvest.

PMID- 27629425
TI  - Hyperbaric versus isobaric bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia for caesarean
      section.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bupivacaine is an amide local anaesthetic used in hyperbaric and
      isobaric forms. These are administered intrathecally into the spine to provide
      regional anaesthesia for caesarean section. Several trials have compared
      hyperbaric and isobaric bupivacaine but none have conclusively shown the benefit
      of either. This review was first published in 2013 and updated in 2016.
      OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to:1. Determine the effectiveness of hyperbaric
      bupivacaine compared to isobaric bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia in women
      undergoing caesarean section;2. Determine the safety of hyperbaric bupivacaine
      compared to isobaric bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia in women undergoing
      caesarean section. SEARCH METHODS: We originally searched the following databases
      to January 2011: CENTRAL, MEDLINE and Embase.For this update, we reran our search
      in the above databases from January 2011 to March 2016; two studies are awaiting
      a response from authors for assessment and will be dealt with when we next update
      the review.We imposed no language restriction. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included
      all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving parturients undergoing spinal
      anaesthesia for elective caesarean section that compared the use of hyperbaric
      with isobaric bupivacaine. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors
      independently extracted the data. The data that were extracted included the
      number of events and the sample sizes in both the intervention and control
      groups. For continuous outcomes, we extracted mean and standard deviation.We
      reported odds ratios (ORs) and risk ratios (RRs) for binary outcomes, and mean
      differences (MDs) for continuous outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: We included three new
      RCTs in this update, which now comprises 10 studies with a total of 614
      participants. We judged most trials as having uncertain risk of bias regarding
      randomization. Other than this, the overall risk of bias was low. Most included
      trials had small sample sizes. All of the trials assessed the primary outcome of
      conversion to general anaesthesia. Ten trials comparing anaesthesia performed
      with hyperbaric and isobaric bupivacaine failed to show any difference in need
      for conversion to general anaesthesia (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.09 to 1.17, 614
      participants, very low quality of evidence). Nine trials also failed to show a
      difference in the need for supplemental analgesics (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.26 to 1.41,
      554 participants, very low quality of evidence). Four trials comparing
      requirement for ephedrine did not show any difference (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.57 to
      1.38, 256 participants, very low quality of evidence). Seven trials did not
      provide convincing evidence of difference in nausea and vomiting (RR 0.99, 95% CI
      0.57 to 1.72, 433 participants, low quality of evidence). Three trials failed to
      show a difference in headache (OR 1.82, 95% CI 0.47 to 6.99, 234 participants,
      low quality of evidence). Two trials showed that the time until sensory block to
      the thoracic 4th (T4) spinal level was shorter with hyperbaric bupivacaine (MD 
      1.06 minutes, 95% CI -1.80 to -0.31, 128 participants, moderate quality of
      evidence). Six trials showed no difference in the amount of ephedrine used (RR
      0.23, 95% CI -1.65 to 2.12, 386 participants, moderate quality of evidence).
      Three trials failed to show any difference in high block (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.16 to
      4.90, 205 participants). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Data are limited for some of the
      outcomes. Reporting of the included trials is less than optimal. For these
      reasons the overall quality of evidence is low or very low for most of the
      outcomes, based on the GRADE method of assessment. This review found that
      intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine had a more rapid onset of sensory blockade at
      the 4th thoracic vertebra (T4) level than isobaric bupivacaine. Hower, despite
      incorporating more data in the analysis, we found little evidence that the need
      for conversion to general anaesthesia and supplemental analgesia differed between
      the hyperbaric or isobaric bupivacaine groups. This is mainly due to the rarity
      of these outcomes, variability in the dose, use of adjuvant drugs and differences
      in the technique used for regional anaesthesia. There were no differences in the
      adverse effects studied. Any possible advantage of hyperbaric bupivacaine needs
      to be confirmed in larger randomized trials. In future research, criteria for
      conversion to general anaesthesia need to be defined objectively and applied
      uniformly.

PMID- 27629426
TI  - Health-related quality of life and physiological measurements in achalasia.
AB  - The diagnosis of achalasia is generally made based on patient symptoms, the
      appearance of the esophagus on endoscopy and barium esophagogram, and esophageal
      manometry. In addition, timed barium esophagography (TBE) can give useful
      information on the clearance of liquid barium over a 10 minute period and the
      passage of a barium tablet. What is unclear is how well these physiological
      measurements of esophageal function correlate with patient-perceived health
      related quality of life. Our aim was to assess whether objective physiological
      measurements of high-resolution manometry (HRM) and TBE will correlate with
      quantitative achalasia-related health-related quality of life (HRQoL)
      measurements. Patients referred for possible surgical treatment of achalasia were
      assessed preoperatively in the following manner. A gastroenterologist and surgeon
      clinically evaluated all patients. In addition to history and physical
      examination, patients underwent further testing with TBE, upper gastrointestinal
      endoscopy, and HRM. The diagnosis of achalasia was based on HRM. Prior to
      surgical treatment, patients completed the 'Measure of Achalasia Disease
      Severity' (ADS) which is a validated instrument assessing the severity of
      achalasia-associated HRQoL. Hundred and twenty patients were included in this
      study. The mean ADS score was 24.9 +/- 3.6. There was no statistically
      significant difference in score among the achalasia types: I, 24.0 +/- 4.3; II,
      25.4 +/- 3.2; III, 24.3 +/- 4.6. Using linear regression analysis, there was no
      statistically significant correlation between ADS scores and TBE column height or
      width at 1 and 5 minutes. There was no statistically significant difference
      between patients who could pass a 13 mm barium tablet (26.4 +/- 3.4) and those
      who could not (24.9 +/- 3.6). There was no statistically significant correlation
      between LES pressure and IRP with ADS scores. There is poor correlation between
      patient-perceived health-related quality of life and objective physiological
      measurements of achalasia. Therefore, the assessment of treatment outcomes of
      achalasia will need to require both an assessment of esophageal physiology as
      well as HRQoL.

PMID- 27629427
TI  - State of the art in non-animal approaches for skin sensitization testing: from
      individual test methods towards testing strategies.
AB  - The hazard assessment of skin sensitizers relies mainly on animal testing, but
      much progress is made in the development, validation and regulatory acceptance
      and implementation of non-animal predictive approaches. In this review, we
      provide an update on the available computational tools and animal-free test
      methods for the prediction of skin sensitization hazard. These individual test
      methods address mostly one mechanistic step of the process of skin sensitization
      induction. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) for skin sensitization describes the
      key events (KEs) that lead to skin sensitization. In our review, we have
      clustered the available test methods according to the KE they inform: the
      molecular initiating event (MIE/KE1)-protein binding, KE2-keratinocyte
      activation, KE3-dendritic cell activation and KE4-T cell activation and
      proliferation. In recent years, most progress has been made in the development
      and validation of in vitro assays that address KE2 and KE3. No standardized in
      vitro assays for T cell activation are available; thus, KE4 cannot be measured in
      vitro. Three non-animal test methods, addressing either the MIE, KE2 or KE3, are
      accepted as OECD test guidelines, and this has accelerated the development of
      integrated or defined approaches for testing and assessment (e.g. testing
      strategies). The majority of these approaches are mechanism-based, since they
      combine results from multiple test methods and/or computational tools that
      address different KEs of the AOP to estimate skin sensitization potential and
      sometimes potency. Other approaches are based on statistical tools. Until now,
      eleven different testing strategies have been published, the majority using the
      same individual information sources. Our review shows that some of the defined
      approaches to testing and assessment are able to accurately predict skin
      sensitization hazard, sometimes even more accurate than the currently used animal
      test. A few defined approaches are developed to provide an estimate of the
      potency sub-category of a skin sensitizer as well, but these approaches need
      further independent evaluation with a new dataset of chemicals. To conclude, this
      update shows that the field of non-animal approaches for skin sensitization has
      evolved greatly in recent years and that it is possible to predict skin
      sensitization hazard without animal testing.

PMID- 27629428
TI  - Naphthoquinoxaline metabolite of mitoxantrone is less cardiotoxic than the parent
      compound and it can be a more cardiosafe drug in anticancer therapy.
AB  - Mitoxantrone (MTX) is an antineoplastic agent used to treat several types of
      cancers and on multiple sclerosis, which shows a high incidence of
      cardiotoxicity. Still, the underlying mechanisms of MTX cardiotoxicity are poorly
      understood and the potential toxicity of its metabolites scarcely investigated.
      Therefore, this work aimed to synthesize the MTX-naphthoquinoxaline metabolite
      (NAPHT) and to compare its cytotoxicity to the parent compound in 7-day
      differentiated H9c2 cells using pharmacological relevant concentrations (0.01-5
      uM). MTX was more toxic in equivalent concentrations in all cytotoxicity tests
      performed [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide
      reduction, neutral red uptake, and lactate dehydrogenase release assays] and
      times tested (24 and 48 h). Both MTX and NAPHT significantly decreased
      mitochondrial membrane potential in 7-day differentiated H9c2 cells after a 12-h
      incubation. However, energetic pathways were affected in a different manner after
      MTX or NAPHT incubation. ATP increased and lactate levels decreased after a 24-h
      incubation with MTX, whereas for the same incubation time and concentrations,
      NAPHT did not cause any significant effect. The increased activity of ATP
      synthase seems responsible for MTX-induced increases in ATP levels, as oligomycin
      (an inhibitor of ATP synthase) abrogated this effect on 5 uM MTX-incubated cells.
      3-Methyladenine (an autophagy inhibitor) was the only molecule to give a partial
      protection against the cytotoxicity produced by MTX or NAPHT. To the best of our
      knowledge, this was the first broad study on NAPHT cardiotoxicity, and it
      revealed that the parent drug, MTX, caused a higher disruption in the energetic
      pathways in a cardiac model in vitro, whereas autophagy is involved in the
      toxicity of both compounds. In conclusion, NAPHT is claimed to largely contribute
      to MTX-anticancer properties; therefore, this metabolite should be regarded as a
      good option for a safer anticancer therapy since it is less cardiotoxic than MTX.

PMID- 27629429
TI  - An up-to-date overview of neurology training in Europe.

PMID- 27629431
TI  - Suppressed translation and ULK1 degradation as potential mechanisms of autophagy
      limitation under prolonged starvation.
AB  - Macroautophagy/autophagy is a well-organized process of intracellular
      degradation, which is rapidly activated under starvation conditions. Recent data
      demonstrate a transcriptional upregulation of several autophagy genes as a
      mechanism that controls autophagy in response to starvation. Here we report that
      despite the significant upregulation of mRNA of the essential autophagy
      initiation gene ULK1, its protein level is rapidly reduced under starvation.
      Although both autophagic and proteasomal systems contribute to the degradation of
      ULK1, under prolonged nitrogen deprivation, its level was still reduced in ATG7
      knockout cells, and only initially stabilized in cells treated with the lysosomal
      or proteasomal inhibitors. We demonstrate that under starvation, protein
      translation is rapidly diminished and, similar to treatments with the
      proteosynthesis inhibitors cycloheximide or anisomycin, is associated with a
      significant reduction of ULK1. Furthermore, it was found that inhibition of the
      mitochondrial respiratory complexes or the mitochondrial ATP synthase function
      that could also take place in the absence of substrates, promote upregulation of
      ULK1 mRNA and protein expression in an AMPK-dependent manner in U1810 lung cancer
      cells growing in complete culture medium. These inhibitors could also drastically
      increase the ULK1 protein in U1810 cells with knockout of ATG13, where the ULK1
      expression is significantly diminished. However, such upregulation of ULK1
      protein is negligible under starvation conditions, further signifying the
      contribution of translation and suggesting that transcriptional upregulation of
      ULK1 protein will be diminished under such conditions. Thus, we propose a model
      where inhibition of protein translation, together with the degradation systems,
      limit autophagy during starvation.

PMID- 27629432
TI  - The absence of the SOD1 gene causes abnormal monoaminergic neurotransmission and
      motivational impairment-like behavior in mice.
AB  - Copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1), a primary anti-oxidative enzyme,
      protects cells against oxidative stress. We report herein on a comparison of
      behavioral and neurobiological changes between SOD1 knockout (KO) and wild-type
      mice, in an attempt to assess the role of SOD1 in brain functions. SOD1 KO mice
      exhibited impaired motivational behavior in both shuttle-box learning and three
      chamber social interaction tests. High levels of dopamine transporter protein and
      an acceleration of serotonin turnover were also detected in the cerebrums of the
      SOD1 KO mice. These findings suggest that SOD1 deficiency disturbs monoaminergic
      neurotransmission leading to a decrease in motivational behavior.

PMID- 27629434
TI  - How Are Prescription Medications Stored in Urban Homes Where Children Live?
      Opportunities for Poisoning Prevention.

PMID- 27629433
TI  - Addition of or switch to insulin therapy in people treated with glucagon-like
      peptide-1 receptor agonists: A real-world study in 66 583 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Real world outcomes of addition or switch to insulin therapy in type
      2 diabetes (T2DM) patients on glucagon-like paptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA)
      with inadequately controlled hyperglycaemia, are not known. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Patients with T2DM (n = 66 583) with a minimum of 6 months of GLP-1RA
      treatment and without previous insulin treatment were selected. Those who added
      insulin (n = 39 599) or switched to insulin after GLP-1RA cessation (n = 4706)
      were identified. Adjusted changes in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), weight,
      systolic blood pressure (SBP), and LDL cholesterol were estimated over 24 months
      follow-up. RESULTS: Among those who continued with GLP-1RA treatment without
      adding or switching to insulin, the highest adjusted mean HbA1c change was
      achieved within 6 months, with no further glycaemic benefits observed during 24
      months of follow-up. Addition of insulin within 6 months of GLP-1RA initiation
      was associated with 18% higher odds of achieving HbA1c <7% at 24 months, compared
      with adding insulin later. At 24 months, those who added insulin reduced HbA1c
      significantly by 0.55%, while no glycaemic benefit was observed in those who
      switched to insulin. Irrespective of intensification with insulin, weight, SBP
      and LDL cholesterol were significantly reduced by 3 kg, 3 mm Hg, and 0.2 mmol/L,
      respectively, over 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Significant delay in intensification
      of treatment by addition of insulin is observed in patients with T2DM
      inadequately controlled with GLP-1RA. Earlier addition of insulin is associated
      with better glycaemic control, while switching to insulin is not clinically
      beneficial during 2 years of treatment. Non-responding patients on GLP-1RA would
      benefit from adding insulin therapy, rather than switching to insulin.

PMID- 27629436
TI  - Ascorbic acid and beta-carotene reduce stress-induced oxidative organ damage in
      rats.
AB  - Antioxidants are potential therapeutic agents for reducing stress-induced organ
      damage. We investigated the effects of ascorbic acid and beta-carotene on
      oxidative stress-induced cerebral, cerebellar, cardiac and hepatic damage using
      microscopy and biochemistry. Male Wistar albino rats were divided into five
      groups: untreated control, stressed, stressed + saline, stressed + ascorbic acid
      and stressed + beta-carotene. The rats in the stressed groups were subjected to
      starvation, immobilization and cold. The histopathological damage scores for the
      stressed and stressed + saline groups were higher than those of the control group
      for all organs examined. The histopathological damage scores and mean tissue
      malondialdehyde levels for the groups treated with antioxidants were lower than
      those for the stressed and stressed + saline groups. Mean tissue superoxide
      dismutase activities for groups that received antioxidants were higher than those
      for the stressed + saline group for most organs evaluated. Ascorbic acid and beta
      carotene can reduce stress-induced organ damage by both inhibiting lipid
      oxidation and supporting the cellular antioxidant defense system.

PMID- 27629437
TI  - Four Novel Splice-Switch Reporter Cell Lines: Distinct Impact of Oligonucleotide
      Chemistry and Delivery Vector on Biological Activity.
AB  - New advances in oligonucleotide (ON) chemistry emerge continuously, and over the
      last few years, several aspects of ON delivery have been improved. However, clear
      knowledge regarding how certain chemistries behave alone, or in combination with
      various delivery vectors, is limited. Moreover, characterization is frequently
      limited to a single reporter cell line and, when different cell types are
      studied, experiments are commonly not carried out under similar conditions,
      hampering comparative analysis. To address this, we have developed a small
      "tissue" library of new, stable, pLuc/705 splice-switching reporter cell lines
      (named HuH7_705, U-2 OS_705, C2C12_705, and Neuro-2a_705). Our data show that,
      indeed, the cell type used in activity screenings influences the efficiency of
      ONs of different chemistry (phosphorothioate with locked nucleic acid or 2'-O
      methyl with or without N,N-diethyl-4-(4-nitronaphthalen-1-ylazo)-phenylamine).
      Likewise, the delivery method, Lipofectamine(r) 2000, PepFect14 nanoparticles, or
      "naked" uptake, also demonstrates cell-type-dependent outcomes. Taken together,
      these cell lines can potentially become useful tools for future in vitro
      evaluation of new nucleic acid-based oligomers as well as delivery compounds for
      splice-switching approaches and cell-specific therapies.

PMID- 27629438
TI  - CBT in a Caribbean Context: A Controlled Trial of Anger Management in Trinidadian
      Prisons.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anger causes significant problems in offenders and to date few
      interventions have been described in the Caribbean region. AIM: To evaluate a
      package of CBT-based Anger Management Training provided to offenders in prison in
      Trinidad. METHOD: A controlled clinical trial with 85 participants who
      participated in a 12-week prison-based group anger management programme, of whom
      57 (67%: 16 control, 41 intervention) provided pretrial and posttrial outcome
      data at Times 1 and 2. RESULTS: Intervention and control groups were not directly
      comparable so outcome was analysed using t-tests. Reductions were noted for state
      and trait anger and anger expression, with an increase in coping skills for the
      intervention group. No changes were noted in the control group. The improvements
      seen on intervention were maintained at 4 month follow-up for a sub-group of
      participants for whom data were available. Several predictors of outcomes were
      identified.

PMID- 27629435
TI  - The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator controls biliary
      epithelial inflammation and permeability by regulating Src tyrosine kinase
      activity.
AB  - : In the liver, the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator
      (CFTR) regulates bile secretion and other functions at the apical membrane of
      biliary epithelial cells (i.e., cholangiocytes). CF-related liver disease is a
      major cause of death in patients with CF. CFTR dysfunction affects innate immune
      pathways, generating a para-inflammatory status in the liver and other epithelia.
      This study investigates the mechanisms linking CFTR to toll-like receptor 4
      activity. We found that CFTR is associated with a multiprotein complex at the
      apical membrane of normal mouse cholangiocytes, with proteins that negatively
      control Rous sarcoma oncogene cellular homolog (Src) activity. In CFTR-defective
      cholangiocytes, Src tyrosine kinase self-activates and phosphorylates toll-like
      receptor 4, resulting in activation of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer
      of activated B cells and increased proinflammatory cytokine production in
      response to endotoxins. This Src/nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of
      activated B cells-dependent inflammatory process attracts inflammatory cells but
      also generates changes in the apical junctional complex and loss of epithelial
      barrier function. Inhibition of Src decreased the inflammatory response of CF
      cholangiocytes to lipopolysaccharide, rescued the junctional defect in vitro, and
      significantly attenuated endotoxin-induced biliary damage and inflammation in
      vivo (Cftr knockout mice). CONCLUSION: These findings reveal a novel function of
      CFTR as a regulator of toll-like receptor 4 responses and cell polarity in
      biliary epithelial cells; this mechanism is pathogenetic, as shown by the
      protective effects of Src inhibition in vivo, and may be a novel therapeutic
      target in CF-related liver disease and other inflammatory cholangiopathies.
      (Hepatology 2016;64:2118-2134).

PMID- 27629439
TI  - Impact of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Maternal Obesity on Cord Blood
      Dynamic Thiol/Disulfide Homeostasis.
AB  - AIM: Our aim in this study was to investigate the effect of maternal obesity and
      gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on cord blood dynamic thiol/disulfide
      homeostasis. METHODS: A prospective case-control study was carried out in 125
      pregnant women (27 GDM, 30 obese, 68 controls). Cord blood samples were collected
      from all participants and native thiol-disulfide exchanges were examined with
      automated method enabling the measurement of both sides of thiol-disulfide
      balance. RESULTS: Disulfide amounts, disulfide/native thiol and disulfide/total
      thiol ratios were increased (p < 0.001), while native thiol/total thiol was
      decreased in the cord blood of babies born to an obese or diabetic mother (p <
      0.001). Moreover, increased disulfide amounts, disulfide/native thiol,
      disulfide/totalthiol ratios and decreased native/total thiol were found to be
      significantly associated with adverse outcomes in GDM. CONCLUSION: The current
      study suggests that the offsprings born to obese or diabetic mothers are exposed
      to increased oxidative stress.

PMID- 27629441
TI  - Commentary: Endovascular Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction due to Penile Artery
      Stenosis: Balloon Angioplasty of Small-Caliber Vessels Offers Valid Midterm
      Outcomes.

PMID- 27629440
TI  - Clinical and Imaging Outcomes up to 1 Year Following Balloon Angioplasty for
      Isolated Penile Artery Stenoses in Patients With Erectile Dysfunction: The
      PERFECT-2 Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the angiographic and clinical outcomes in patients with
      erectile dysfunction and isolated penile artery stenoses treated by balloon
      angioplasty. METHODS: In this prospective study, 22 patients (mean age 61.0+/-7.6
      years, range 50-79) with erectile dysfunction and 34 isolated penile artery
      stenoses (mean 74.9%+/-9.1%) were enrolled and underwent balloon angioplasty. The
      mean International Index for Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) score at baseline was
      10.3+/-4.5. The mean lesion length was 11.1+/-9.0 mm (mean reference vessel
      diameter 1.7+/-0.4 mm). The primary endpoint was in-segment restenosis >=50% by
      pelvic computed tomography angiography (CTA) at 8 months. The 1-year sustained
      clinical success (IIEF-5 score >=22 or a >=4-point change in the IIEF-5 score and
      no later decline by >=4) was the secondary outcome measure. RESULTS: Procedural
      success was achieved in 31 (91%) of 34 stenotic lesions; there was 1 flow
      limiting dissection and 2 arteries with >30% residual stenosis. At 8 months, 14
      of 34 lesions in 13 of 22 patients had CTA-documented binary restenosis. At 1
      year, sustained clinical success was achieved in 11 of 22 patients. Of the 9
      patients not developing binary restenosis, 8 achieved sustained clinical success.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings establish the safety and efficacy of penile artery
      angioplasty for patients with erectile dysfunction and isolated penile artery
      stenoses. They also highlight the unmet need for a more enduring treatment
      strategy for penile artery stenotic disease.

PMID- 27629479
TI  - Application of fractionized sampling and stacking for construction of an
      interface for online heart-cutting two-dimensional liquid chromatography.
AB  - In this study, an efficient interface, based on a fractionized sampling and
      stacking (FSS) strategy, was developed for online heart-cutting two-dimensional
      liquid chromatography (2D LC). This interface consisted of a two-position 4-port
      valve, a two-position 6-port valve and a two-position 10-port valve equipped with
      two 450-MUL stainless steel loops. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC)
      and reversed phase liquid chromatography (RP LC) were used in the first and
      second dimensions, respectively. The peak compression efficiency of this
      interface was investigated by analysis of ten standards. Good peak shapes of the
      ten standards were observed when the dilution ratio was over five and the co
      eluate plug volume was less than 10MUL. The 2D LC system was further applied to
      analysis of a crude extract of Panax ginseng leaves. Seventeen major constituents
      in the extract were monitored, which could not be well separated by one
      dimensional (1D) HILIC or RP LC method in a long separation gradient. The FSS
      interface successfully achieved the efficient combination of HILIC and RP LC, and
      the 17 constituents in ginseng extract got well separated under the optimized
      conditions. The FSS interface has shown great potential for 2D LC analysis of
      complex natural product samples. 

PMID- 27629480
TI  - Application of finite inverse gas chromatography in hypromellose acetate
      succinate-water-acetone systems.
AB  - A modification of a GC was developed to investigate both infinitely dilute and
      finite concentrations of solvents in polymers. Thermodynamic properties of
      hypromellose acetate succinate (HPMCAS-L)-acetone-water systems are important for
      the optimization of spray-drying processes used in pharmaceutical manufacturing
      of solid dispersion formulations. These properties, at temperatures below the
      glass transition temperature, were investigated using capillary column inverse
      gas chromatography (CCIGC). Water was much less soluble in the HPMCAS-L than
      acetone. Experiments were also conducted at infinitely dilute concentrations of
      one of the solvents in HPMCAS-L that was already saturated with the other
      solvent. Overall the partitioning of the water was not significantly affected by
      the presence of either water or acetone in the polymer. The acetone partition
      coefficient decreased as either acetone or water was added to the HPMCAS-L. A
      representation of the HPMCAS-L structure in terms of UNIFAC groups has been
      developed. With these groups, the UNIFAC-vdw-FV model did a reasonable job of
      predicting the phase equilibria in the binary and ternary systems. The Flory
      Huggins correlation with fitted interaction parameters represented the data well.

PMID- 27629481
TI  - Elevated hemoglobin A1c Is Associated with Carotid Plaque Vulnerability: Novel
      Findings from Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study in Hypertensive Stroke Patients.
AB  - The association between hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level and carotid plaque
      vulnerability has been rarely studied by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The
      present study of MRI-identified carotid atherosclerotic lesions in hypertensive
      patients with acute stroke therefore sought to determine the associations between
      HbA1c level and plaque morphological and compositional characteristics and acute
      cerebral infarction (ACI) severity. Eighty hypertensive patients with acute
      stroke were enrolled; stratified into high (>=6.5%) and low (<6.5%) HbA1c groups;
      and underwent carotid and brain MRI to assess carotid plaque features and ACI
      volume in the region supplied by the internal carotid artery (ICA) in the
      symptomatic side. Plaque burden [percent wall volume (PWV), max wall thickness
      (max-WT)] and lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) were larger in the high as compared
      to the low HbA1c group. High HbA1c was an independent risk factor for the
      presence of plaque (odds ratio [OR] = 3.71) and LRNC plaque (OR = 7.08). HbA1c
      independently correlated with ACI severity among patients with ICA region
      cerebral infarction and carotid plaque. Our study suggested that an elevated
      HbA1c may have an adverse effect on carotid plaque vulnerability especially those
      with larger LRNC volumes in hypertensive stroke patients, which might exacerbate
      the severity of ACIs.

PMID- 27629482
TI  - Evaluation of the potential effects of AS03-adjuvanted A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine
      administration on the central nervous system of non-primed and A(H1N1)pdm09
      primed cotton rats.
AB  - An increased risk of narcolepsy following administration of an AS03-adjuvanted
      A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic influenza vaccine (PandemrixTM) was described in children
      and adolescents in certain European countries. We investigated the potential
      effects of administration of the AS03-adjuvanted vaccine, non-adjuvanted vaccine
      antigen and AS03 Adjuvant System alone, on the central nervous system (CNS) in
      one-month-old cotton rats. Naive or A(H1N1)pdm09 virus-primed animals received 2
      or 3 intramuscular injections, respectively, of test article or saline at 2-week
      intervals. Parameters related to systemic inflammation (hematology, serum IL
      6/IFN-gamma/TNF-alpha) were assessed. Potential effects on the CNS were
      investigated by histopathological evaluation of brain sections stained with
      hematoxylin-and-eosin, or by immunohistochemical staining of microglia, using
      Iba1 and CD68 as markers for microglia identification/activation, albumin as
      indicator of vascular leakage, and hypocretin. We also determined cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) hypocretin levels and hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody titers.
      Immunogenicity of the AS03-adjuvanted A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic influenza vaccine was
      confirmed by the induction of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies. Both AS03
      adjuvanted vaccine and AS03 alone activated transient innate
      (neutrophils/eosinophils) immune responses. No serum cytokines were detected. CNS
      analyses revealed neither microglia activation nor inflammatory cellular
      infiltrates in the brain. No differences between treatment groups were detected
      for albumin extravascular leakage, CSF hypocretin levels, numbers of hypocretin
      positive neuronal bodies or distributions of hypocretin-positive axonal/dendritic
      projections. Consequently, there was no evidence that intramuscular
      administration of the test articles promoted inflammation or damage in the CNS,
      or blood-brain barrier disruption, in this model.

PMID- 27629483
TI  - Borderline resectable pancreatic cancer and the role of neoadjuvant
      chemoradiotherapy.
AB  - Borderline resectable pancreatic cancer is now recognized as a distinct clinical
      entity. In these cases, neoadjuvant treatment could maximize the potential for an
      R0 resection and avoid R1/R2 resections. In fact, by analyzing, the current
      literature is evident that approximately one-third of initially borderline
      resectable pancreatic tumors may undergo successful resection following
      neoadjuvant therapy. However, the enormous difficulties in achieving a consensus
      and the variability in therapeutic algorithms have delayed progress in
      establishing strong evidence-based practices for diagnosis and treatment. In
      addition, the absence of a unique definition of borderline resectable pancreatic
      cancer remains a great obstacle for planning a therapeutic strategy and surgical
      decision-making. If on the one hand, we can finally say that the presence of only
      few prospective trials generates no strong data to support a specific neoadjuvant
      therapy regimen in borderline resectable pancreatic cancer, on the other hand,
      there are many studies on patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer
      who receive neoadjuvant therapy that can enjoy an R0 resection with similar
      outcomes to up-front resectable disease.

PMID- 27629484
TI  - Changes in oncological outcomes: comparison of the conventional and minimally
      invasive esophagectomy, a single institution experience.
AB  - Minimally invasive esophagectomy is becoming the routine procedure for resectable
      esophageal cancer. The aim of this retrospective study is to analyze the
      oncologic adequacy of these two procedures at our Centre. Out of 1252 registered
      esophageal cancer patients at our institute from 2006 to 2015, 206 patients who
      underwent a surgical resection with curative intent and a complete medical record
      were retrospectively evaluated thru hospital medical record system (HIS).
      Patients were allocated into the conventional open OE, and minimally invasive MIE
      and Hybrid esophagectomy groups. Primary outcomes are tumor recurrence and
      disease-free survival over a minimum follow-up of 1 year along with assessment of
      adequacy of pathological specimen in terms of lymph nodes harvested and clear
      longitudinal <1 cm and circumferential (>=1 mm) resection margins for patients
      with post-neo-adjuvant residual disease. Secondary endpoint is to look for trends
      in the adequacy of oncologic clearance in each group over the study period.
      Overall, there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between
      groups (OE vs. MIE vs. Hybrid) for median number of lymph nodes retrieved (13
      vs.14 vs.15), resection margin positive disease (55.8 vs. 35.7 vs. 44 % of
      patients with any residual disease N = 103,50 %), or tumor recurrence (45.2 vs.
      37.3 vs. 25 %). Disease-free survival over a mean follow-up of 2.3 years was
      higher in the conventional group (13.8 months vs. 9.7MIE and 11.8hybrid) without
      any statistical significance. Learning curve for MIE to achieve a comparable mean
      lymph nodes harvest to OE was 1 year, while pathological complete resection
      stayed persistently better with minimally invasive approach. Minimally invasive
      esophagectomy is found to be oncologically adequate and gives results matching
      their conventional analogue with an increasing experience.

PMID- 27629485
TI  - Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer
      of modern medicine.
AB  - Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771) was an Italian anatomist who introduced
      the anatomo-clinical concept in medicine and established anatomy as the
      instrument to identify the seat and etiology of any disease. He was professor of
      anatomy at the prestigious University of Padua for more than 50 years. His first
      documented text in anatomy, Adversaria Anatomica was published in three volumes
      between 1706 and 1719. His accurate anatomical descriptions of human organs
      enhanced his reputation as the most famous anatomist of Europe during that
      period. Morgagni published the most important work of his life, the masterpiece
      in pathologic anatomy, De Sedibus, in 1761. The text is based on his pathologic
      observations from about 700 autopsy dissections of patients whom he had treated
      during their lifetime. De Sedibus provides the reader with a precise correlation
      between the anatomo-pathologic findings at post-mortem and the clinical symptoms
      of a disease observed during a lifetime. Morgagni's ability to integrate and
      synthesize information set him apart from his contemporaries, and his anatomo
      clinical method was a major breakthrough in the history of medicine as it helped
      physicians to diagnose a disease, analyse the prognosis of that disease and
      prepare a management protocol for the same. His achievements led to the emergence
      of pathologic anatomy as an exact science and with him began modern medicine.

PMID- 27629486
TI  - Enhanced T cell responses to IL-6 in type 1 diabetes are associated with early
      clinical disease and increased IL-6 receptor expression.
AB  - Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key pathogenic cytokine in multiple autoimmune diseases
      including rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, suggesting that
      dysregulation of the IL-6 pathway may be a common feature of autoimmunity. The
      role of IL-6 in type 1 diabetes (T1D) is not well understood. We show that signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and STAT1 responses to IL-6
      are significantly enhanced in CD4 and CD8 T cells from individuals with T1D
      compared to healthy controls. The effect is IL-6-specific because it is not seen
      with IL-10 or IL-27 stimulation, two cytokines that signal via STAT3. An
      important determinant of enhanced IL-6 responsiveness in T1D is IL-6 receptor
      surface expression, which correlated with phospho-STAT3 levels. Further, reduced
      expression of the IL-6R sheddase ADAM17 in T cells from patients indicated a
      mechanistic link to enhanced IL-6 responses in T1D. IL-6-induced STAT3
      phosphorylation was inversely correlated with time from diagnosis, suggesting
      that dysregulation of IL-6 signaling may be a marker of early disease. Finally,
      whole-transcriptome analysis of IL-6-stimulated CD4(+) T cells from patients
      revealed previously unreported IL-6 targets involved in T cell migration and
      inflammation, including lymph node homing markers CCR7 and L-selectin. In
      summary, our study demonstrates enhanced T cell responses to IL-6 in T1D due, in
      part, to an increase in IL-6R surface expression. Dysregulated IL-6
      responsiveness may contribute to diabetes through multiple mechanisms including
      altered T cell trafficking and indicates that individuals with T1D may benefit
      from IL-6-targeted therapeutic intervention such as the one that is being
      currently tested (NCT02293837).

PMID- 27629487
TI  - Treatment of otitis media by transtympanic delivery of antibiotics.
AB  - Otitis media is the most common reason U.S. children receive antibiotics. The
      requisite 7- to 10-day course of oral antibiotics can be challenging to deliver
      in children, entails potential systemic toxicity, and encourages selection of
      antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. We developed a drug delivery system that, when
      applied once to the tympanic membrane through the external auditory canal,
      delivers an entire course of antimicrobial therapy to the middle ear. A
      pentablock copolymer poloxamer 407-polybutylphosphoester (P407-PBP) was designed
      to flow easily during application and then to form a mechanically strong hydrogel
      on the tympanic membrane. U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved chemical
      permeation enhancers within the hydrogel assisted flux of the antibiotic
      ciprofloxacin across the membrane. This drug delivery system completely
      eradicated otitis media from nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) in 10 of 10
      chinchillas, whereas only 62.5% of animals receiving 1% ciprofloxacin alone had
      cleared the infection by day 7. The hydrogel system was biocompatible in the ear,
      and ciprofloxacin was undetectable systemically (in blood), confirming local drug
      delivery and activity. This fast-gelling hydrogel could improve compliance,
      minimize side effects, and prevent systemic distribution of antibiotics in one of
      the most common pediatric illnesses, possibly minimizing the development of
      antibiotic resistance.

PMID- 27629488
TI  - Efficacy of the Olyset Duo net against insecticide-resistant mosquito vectors of
      malaria.
AB  - Olyset Duo is a new long-lasting insecticidal net treated with permethrin (a
      pyrethroid) and pyriproxyfen, an insect growth regulator that disrupts the
      maturation of oocytes in mosquitoes exposed to the net. We tested the Olyset Duo
      net against pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, which transmit
      malaria parasites, in laboratory bioassays and in a trial in Benin using
      experimental huts that closely resemble local habitations. Host-seeking
      mosquitoes that entered to feed were free to contact the occupied nets and were
      collected the next morning from exit traps. Surviving blood-fed mosquitoes were
      observed for effects on reproduction. Control nets were treated with pyrethroid
      only or pyriproxyfen only, and nets were tested unwashed and after 20
      standardized washes. The Olyset Duo net showed improved efficacy and wash
      resistance relative to the pyrethroid-treated net in terms of mosquito mortality
      and prevention of blood feeding. The production of offspring among surviving
      blood-fed A. gambiae in the hut trial was reduced by the pyriproxyfen-treated net
      and the Olyset Duo net both before washing (90 and 71% reduction, respectively)
      and after washing (38 and 43% reduction, respectively). The degree of
      reproductive suppression in the hut trial was predicted by laboratory tunnel
      tests but not by cone bioassays. The overall reduction in reproductive rate of A.
      gambiae with the Olyset Duo net in the trial was 94% with no washing and 78%
      after 20 washes. The Olyset Duo net has the potential to provide community
      control of mosquito populations and reduce malaria transmission in areas of high
      insecticide resistance.

PMID- 27629489
TI  - Source separation of municipal solid waste: The effects of different separation
      methods and citizens' inclination-case study of Changsha, China.
AB  - : A case study on the source separation of municipal solid waste (MSW) was
      performed in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, China. The objective
      of this study is to analyze the effects of different separation methods and
      compare their effects with citizens' attitudes and inclination. An effect
      evaluation method based on accuracy rate and miscellany rate was proposed to
      study the performance of different separation methods. A large-scale
      questionnaire survey was conducted to determine citizens' attitudes and
      inclination toward source separation. Survey result shows that the vast majority
      of respondents hold consciously positive attitudes toward participation in source
      separation. Moreover, the respondents ignore the operability of separation
      methods and would rather choose the complex separation method involving four or
      more subclassed categories. For the effects of separation methods, the site
      experiment result demonstrates that the relatively simple separation method
      involving two categories (food waste and other waste) achieves the best effect
      with the highest accuracy rate (83.1%) and the lowest miscellany rate (16.9%)
      among the proposed experimental alternatives. The outcome reflects the
      inconsistency between people's environmental awareness and behavior. Such
      inconsistency and conflict may be attributed to the lack of environmental
      knowledge. Environmental education is assumed to be a fundamental solution to
      improve the effect of source separation of MSW in Changsha. Important management
      tips on source separation, including the reformation of the current pay-as-you
      throw (PAYT) system, are presented in this work. IMPLICATIONS: A case study on
      the source separation of municipal solid waste was performed in Changsha. An
      effect evaluation method based on accuracy rate and miscellany rate was proposed
      to study the performance of different separation methods. The site experiment
      result demonstrates that the two-category (food waste and other waste) method
      achieves the best effect. The inconsistency between people's inclination and the
      effect of source separation exists. The proposed method can be expanded to other
      cities to determine the most effective separation method during planning stages
      or to evaluate the performance of running source separation systems.

PMID- 27629490
TI  - Is retrograde intubation more successful than direct laryngoscopic technique in
      difficult endotracheal intubation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Difficult airway intubation is an emergency condition both at the
      emergency department (ED) and in out-of-hospital situations. Retrograde
      intubation (RI) is another option for difficult airway management. There are
      limited data regarding the successful rate of RI compared with direct
      laryngoscopy (DL) intubation, the commonly used method in the ED. METHODS: This
      study was a randomized, controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to
      either the RI or the DL technique to attempt intubation on a difficult airway
      mannequin (Cormack and Lehane grades 3-4). First, all participants received the
      training on the RI or DL, and then attempted intubation. After the training, the
      participants had 2 chances to intubate. The outcomes of this study included
      numbers of participants who successfully intubated and times of successful
      intubation. RESULTS: There were 100 participants in this study, with 50
      participants in each group (RI and DL). There was no significant difference
      between the groups in terms of experience at the ED or DL. The successful rate of
      intubation was significantly higher in the RI group than in the DL group (74% vs
      12%; P = .001), as was the rate of successful intubation on the first attempt
      (34% vs 8%; P = .026). There were no statistical differences between physicians
      and medical students in any of the 3 outcomes in either the DL or RI group.
      CONCLUSIONS: The RI technique had a higher success rate in difficult airway
      intubation than the DL technique, regardless of experience.

PMID- 27629491
TI  - Artefactual origin of biphasic cortical spike-LFP correlation.
AB  - Electrophysiological data acquisition systems introduce various distortions into
      the signals they record. While such distortions were discussed previously, their
      effects are often not appreciated. Here I show that the biphasic shape of
      cortical spike-triggered LFP average (stLFP), reported in multiple studies, is
      likely an artefact introduced by high-pass filter of the neural data acquisition
      system when the actual stLFP has a single trough around the zero lag.

PMID- 27629492
TI  - Fluorescent Nanodiamond-Gold Hybrid Particles for Multimodal Optical and Electron
      Microscopy Cellular Imaging.
AB  - There is a continuous demand for imaging probes offering excellent performance in
      various microscopy techniques for comprehensive investigations of cellular
      processes by more than one technique. Fluorescent nanodiamond-gold nanoparticles
      (FND-Au) constitute a new class of "all-in-one" hybrid particles providing unique
      features for multimodal cellular imaging including optical imaging, electron
      microscopy, and, and potentially even quantum sensing. Confocal and optical
      coherence microscopy of the FND-Au allow fast investigations inside living cells
      via emission, scattering, and photothermal imaging techniques because the FND
      emission is not quenched by AuNPs. In electron microscopy, transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) analysis of
      FND-Au reveals greatly enhanced contrast due to the gold particles as well as an
      extraordinary flickering behavior in three-dimensional cellular environments
      originating from the nanodiamonds. The unique multimodal imaging characteristics
      of FND-Au enable detailed studies inside cells ranging from statistical
      distributions at the entire cellular level (micrometers) down to the tracking of
      individual particles in subcellular organelles (nanometers). Herein, the
      processes of endosomal membrane uptake and release of FNDs were elucidated for
      the first time by the imaging of individual FND-Au hybrid nanoparticles with
      single-particle resolution. Their convenient preparation, the availability of
      various surface groups, their flexible detection modalities, and their single
      particle contrast in combination with the capability for endosomal penetration
      and low cytotoxicity make FND-Au unique candidates for multimodal optical
      electronic imaging applications with great potential for emerging techniques,
      such as quantum sensing inside living cells.

PMID- 27629493
TI  - Estrogen receptor signaling in the ferutinin-induced osteoblastic differentiation
      of human amniotic fluid stem cells.
AB  - AIMS: Ferutinin is a diaucane sesquiterpene with a high estrogenic activity.
      Since ferutinin is able to enhance osteoblastic differentiation of human amniotic
      fluid stem cells (hAFSCs), the aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the
      estrogen receptors alpha (ERalpha) and G-protein coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) in
      ferutinin-mediated osteoblastic differentiation. Moreover, it was investigated if
      MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways are involved in ferutinin-induced
      effects. MAIN METHODS: hAFSCs were cultured in a standard medium or in an
      osteoblastic medium for 14 or 21days and ferutinin was added at 10-8M.
      Immunofluorescence techniques and Western-blot 21analysis were used to study
      estrogen receptors and signaling pathways. KEY FINDINGS: In both undifferentiated
      and differentiated hAFSCs we identified ERalpha and GPR30 with a nuclear or
      cytoplasmatic localization, respectively. The presence of ferutinin in the
      osteoblastic medium leads to an increase in ERalpha expression. To dissect the
      role of estrogen receptors, MPP and G15 were used to selectively block ERalpha
      and GPR30, respectively. Notably, ferutinin enhanced osteoblastic differentiation
      in cells challenged with G15. Ferutinin was able to increase ERK and Akt
      phosphorylations with a different timing activation. These phosphorylations were
      antagonized by PD0325901, a MEK inhibitor, and wortmannin, a PI3K inhibitor. Both
      MPP and G15 inhibited the ferutinin-induced MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt pathway
      activations. In the osteoblastic condition, PD0325901, but not wortmannin,
      reduced the expression of OPN and RUNX-2, whereas ferutinin abrogated the down
      modulation triggered by PD0325901. SIGNIFICANCE: PI3K/Akt pathways seems to
      mediate the enhancement of hAFSCs osteoblastic differentiation triggered by
      ferutinin through ERalpha.

PMID- 27629494
TI  - Management of prisoners with autism is not perfect but is improving.

PMID- 27629495
TI  - Specific Tips for General Controversies in Sacral Neuromodulation.
AB  - The field of Sacral Neuromodulation is continually evolving and still in its
      infancy. Common dilemmas experienced with this therapy will be discussed in this
      article, including ways to avoid and manage them. The focus will be on test
      evaluations performed with either peripheral nerve evaluation (PNE) or staged
      procedure, the clinical effectiveness and safety of unilateral versus bilateral
      test stimulation for both the PNE and staged procedures, and best methods to
      determine the success of the trial phase. We will also discuss how to deal with
      the problem of declining efficacy of the device over time. The article presents a
      discussion on future technological innovations to enhance techniques and mode of
      positioning and use of leads, which along with a refined understanding of how
      neuromodulation is effective for different problems, will lead to better
      outcomes. 

PMID- 27629496
TI  - "It's a great benefit to have gray hair!": The intersection of gender, aging, and
      visibility in midlife professional women's narratives.
AB  - Midlife professional women's aging experiences, especially the experiences of
      changing physical appearance, are examined in this study. A discursive-narrative
      approach is used to analyze interviews of women working in senior professional
      and managerial jobs in Finland. The decline narrative is not enough to capture
      the experiences of these women; noticeable signs of aging can indeed have a
      positive connotation. After looking older and less attractive (in a stereotypical
      sense), women are no longer being subjected to a sexualized gaze and are taken
      more seriously. Aging opens up possibilities for "doing" gender differently and
      transcending rigid gender dichotomies and relationships.

PMID- 27629497
TI  - Muon dynamic radiography of density changes induced by hydrothermal activity at
      the La Soufriere of Guadeloupe volcano.
AB  - Imaging geological structures through cosmic muon radiography is a newly
      developed technique which shows a great potential in volcanology. Here we
      demonstrate that muon radiography permits to detect and characterize mass
      movements in shallow hydrothermal systems of low-energy active volcanoes like the
      La Soufriere lava dome. We present an experiment conducted on this volcano during
      the Summer 2014 and bring evidence that very important density changes occurred
      in three domains of the lava dome. Depending on their position and on the medium
      porosity the volumes of these domains vary from 1 * 10(6) m(3) to 7 * 10(6) m(3).
      However, the total mass budget remains approximately constant : two domains show
      a mass loss (Deltam? [-0.8;-0.4] * 10(9) kg) and the third one a mass gain
      (Deltam? [1.5; 2.5] * 10(9) kg). We attribute the negative mass changes to the
      formation of steam in shallow hydrothermal reservoir previously partly filled
      with liquid water. This coincides with the emergence of new fumaroles on top of
      the volcano. The positive mass change is synchronized with the negative mass
      changes indicating that liquid water probably flowed from the two reservoirs
      invaded by steam toward the third reservoir.

PMID- 27629498
TI  - Effect of plasticizers on the physico-mechanical properties of pullulan based
      pharmaceutical oral films.
AB  - The effect of different plasticizers (glycerol, vitamin E TPGS and triacetin) and
      their concentrations on the physico-mechanical properties of pullulan based oral
      films was studied. A full factorial (32) design of experiments was used. Elastic
      modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break and disintegration time were
      selected as response variables. Modulated differential scanning calorimeter
      (MDSC) was used for determining glass transition temperature (Tg) of pullulan
      films. The surface morphology of films was evaluated by SEM, while ATR-FTIR was
      used to obtain a molecular level understanding of polymer-plasticizer
      interactions. The DoE analysis allowed for the modelling of tensile strength and
      elongation at break. The highest elongations were observed in glycerol at 20%
      w/w. Majority of the films disintegrated within one minute without significant
      differences. ATR-FTIR spectra of pullulan alone and different plasticizer blend
      films show characteristic molecular interactions. The present study concluded
      that glycerol is suitable plasticizer compared to others for manufacturing
      pullulan based oral films.

PMID- 27629499
TI  - Estrogen receptor beta polymorphisms and cognitive performance in women:
      associations and modifications by genetic and environmental influences.
AB  - Genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to the pathogenesis of
      Alzheimer's dementia. Besides known genetic risk factors like the apolipoprotein
      (APO) Eepsilon4 allele, single nuclear polymorphisms (SNPs) of the estrogen
      receptors (ESRs) are candidate genetic risk factors, while air pollution
      represents an environmental risk factor for dementia. Effects of these risk
      factors and their interaction were investigated in the SALIA cohort of 834 non
      demented elderly women. Cognitive function was assessed by the CERAD-plus test
      battery. Air pollution was estimated by land use regression (LUR) models.
      Genotyping was carried out for nine ESR1 and ESR2 SNPs and two ApoE SNPs.
      Carriers of minor ESR2 alleles showed significantly reduced cognitive performance
      in the CERAD total score with most pronounced deficits in semantic memory
      (rs1256062, rs10144225, and rs2274705) and executive function (rs1256062). The
      minor allele effects of ESR2 were stronger in carriers of APOEepsilon4 for the
      cognitive domain 'executive function' (p value of interaction 0.023 for
      rs1256062). The investigated ESR1 SNPs were not associated with cognition.
      Furthermore, we found a significant gene-environment interaction between the ESR2
      SNP rs1256062 and air pollution on cognition. Carriers of two major alleles of
      rs1256062 were more susceptible for an air pollution-induced decrease in
      performance of 'figure copying' than carriers of minor alleles (p value of
      interaction, e.g., 0.031 for PM2.5). In conclusion, ESR2 but not ESR1 minor
      alleles were associated with lower cognitive performance in elderly women with an
      indication of a gene-gene interaction with APOEepsilon4. We also found
      indications for gene-environment interactions of ESR2 with traffic-related air
      pollution exposure on cognitive performance.

PMID- 27629501
TI  - [Chest decompression in emergency medicine and intensive care].
AB  - Decompression of the chest is a life-saving invasive procedure for tension
      pneumothorax, trauma-associated cardiopulmonary resuscitation or massive
      haematopneumothorax that every emergency physician or intensivist must master.
      Particularly in the preclinical setting, indication must be restricted to urgent
      cases, but in these cases chest decompression must be executed without delay,
      even in subpar circumstances. The methods available are needle decompression or
      thoracentesis via mini-thoracotomy with or without insertion of a chest tube in
      the midclavicular line of the 2nd/3rd intercostal space (Monaldi-position) or in
      the anterior to mid-axillary line of the 4th/5th intercostal space (Bulau
      position). Needle decompression is quick and does not require much material, but
      should be regarded as a temporary measure. Due to insufficient length of the
      usual 14-gauge intravenous catheters, the pleural cavity cannot be reached in a
      considerable percentage of patients. In the case of mini-thoracotomy, one must be
      cautious not to penetrate the chest inferior of the mammillary level, to employ
      blunt dissection techniques, to clearly identify the pleural space with a finger
      and not to use a trocar. In extremely urgent cases opening the pleural membrane
      by thoracostomy without inserting a chest tube is sufficient in mechanically
      ventilated patients. Complications are common and mainly include ectopic
      positions, which can jeopardise effectiveness of the procedure, sometimes fatal
      injuries to adjacent intrathoracic or - in case of too inferior placement -
      intraabdominal organs as well as haemorrhage or infections. By respecting the
      basic rules for safe chest decompression many of these complications should be
      avoidable.

PMID- 27629500
TI  - A comparative assessment of two kynurenic acid analogs in the formalin model of
      trigeminal activation: a behavioral, immunohistochemical and pharmacokinetic
      study.
AB  - Kynurenic acid (KYNA) has well-established protective properties against
      glutamatergic neurotransmission, which plays an essential role in the activation
      and sensitization process during some primary headache disorders. The goal of
      this study was to compare the effects of two KYNA analogs, N-(2-N,N
      dimethylaminoethyl)-4-oxo-1H-quinoline-2-carboxamide hydrochloride (KA-1) and N
      (2-N-pyrrolidinylethyl)-4-oxo-1H-quinoline-2-carboxamide hydrochloride (KA-2), in
      the orofacial formalin test of trigeminal pain. Following pretreatment with KA-1
      or KA-2, rats were injected with subcutaneous formalin solution in the right
      whisker pad. Thereafter, the rubbing activity and c-Fos immunoreactivity changes
      in the spinal trigeminal nucleus pars caudalis (TNC) were investigated. To obtain
      pharmacokinetic data, KA-1, KA-2 and KYNA concentrations were measured following
      KA-1 or KA-2 injection. Behavioral tests demonstrated that KA-2 induced larger
      amelioration of formalin-evoked alterations as compared with KA-1 and the
      assessment of c-Fos immunoreactivity in the TNC yielded similar results. Although
      KA-1 treatment resulted in approximately four times larger area under the curve
      values in the serum relative to KA-2, the latter resulted in a higher KYNA
      elevation than in the case of KA-1. With regard to TNC, the concentration of KA-1
      was under the limit of detection, while that of KA-2 was quite small and there
      was no major difference in the approximately tenfold KYNA elevations. These
      findings indicate that the differences between the beneficial effects of KA-1 and
      KA-2 may be explained by the markedly higher peripheral KYNA levels following KA
      2 pretreatment. Targeting the peripheral component of trigeminal pain processing
      would provide an option for drug design which might prove beneficial in headache
      conditions.

PMID- 27629504
TI  - Anticoagulation therapy: Use of edoxaban in cardioversion for AF.

PMID- 27629502
TI  - Multicentre study of the impact of morbidity on long-term survival following
      hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of morbidity on long-term outcomes following liver
      resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is currently unclear. METHODS: This
      was a retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients who underwent liver
      resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with curative intent in 24
      university hospitals between 1989 and 2009. Severe morbidity was defined as any
      complication of Dindo-Clavien grade III or IV. Patients with severe morbidity
      were compared with those without in terms of demographics, pathology, management,
      morbidity, overall survival, disease-free survival and time to recurrence.
      Independent predictors of severe morbidity were identified by multivariable
      analysis. RESULTS: A total of 522 patients were enrolled. Severe morbidity
      occurred in 113 patients (21.6 per cent) and was an independent predictor of
      overall survival (hazard ratio 1.64, 95 per cent c.i. 1.21 to 2.23), as were age
      at resection, multifocal disease, positive lymph node status and R0 resection
      margin. Severe morbidity did not emerge as an independent predictor of disease
      free survival. Independent predictors of time to recurrence included severe
      morbidity, tumour size, multifocal disease, vascular invasion and R0 resection
      margin. Major hepatectomy and intraoperative transfusion were independent
      predictors of severe morbidity. CONCLUSION: Severe morbidity adversely affects
      overall survival following liver resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

PMID- 27629503
TI  - Atrial fibrillation: Catheter ablation in pole position for AF treatment.

PMID- 27629505
TI  - Prevention: No cardiovascular benefit with CPAP use in patients with OSA.

PMID- 27629506
TI  - Dyslipidaemia: PCSK9 inhibitor reduces need for lipoprotein apheresis in familial
      hypercholesterolaemia.

PMID- 27629508
TI  - Acute coronary syndromes: Plaque erosion - antithrombotics without stenting.

PMID- 27629509
TI  - Thrombosis: Targeting factor XIa.

PMID- 27629511
TI  - Imaging: OCT-guided PCI improves procedural strategy.

PMID- 27629510
TI  - Anticoagulation therapy: Reversal of factor Xa activity.

PMID- 27629507
TI  - Pathogenesis and management of Brugada syndrome.
AB  - Brugada syndrome is an inherited disease characterized by an increased risk of
      sudden cardiac death owing to ventricular arrhythmias in the absence of
      structural heart disease. Since the first description of the syndrome >20 years
      ago, considerable advances have been made in our understanding of the underlying
      mechanisms involved and the strategies to stratify at-risk patients. The
      development of repolarization-depolarization abnormalities in patients with
      Brugada syndrome can involve genetic alterations, abnormal neural crest cell
      migration, improper gap junctional communication, or connexome abnormalities. A
      common phenotype observed on the electrocardiogram of patients with Brugada
      syndrome might be the result of different pathophysiological mechanisms.
      Furthermore, risk stratification of this patient cohort is critical, and although
      some risk factors for Brugada syndrome have been frequently reported, several
      others remain unconfirmed. Current clinical guidelines offer recommendations for
      patients at high risk of developing sudden cardiac death, but the management of
      those at low risk has not yet been defined. In this Review, we discuss the
      proposed mechanisms that underlie the development of Brugada syndrome and the
      current risk stratification and therapeutic options available for these patients.

PMID- 27629512
TI  - Dyslipidaemia: Benefit of dual lipid-lowering therapy after CABG surgery for ACS.

PMID- 27629513
TI  - Acute coronary syndromes: Long-term benefits of invasive therapy.

PMID- 27629514
TI  - Atrial fibrillation: New score for stroke risk.

PMID- 27629515
TI  - Interventional cardiology: Drug-eluting or bare-metal stents?

PMID- 27629516
TI  - Corrigendum: Transfer of mitochondria from astrocytes to neurons after stroke.

PMID- 27629517
TI  - Observed glacier and volatile distribution on Pluto from atmosphere-topography
      processes.
AB  - Pluto has a variety of surface frosts and landforms as well as a complex
      atmosphere. There is ongoing geological activity related to the massive Sputnik
      Planitia glacier, mostly made of nitrogen (N2) ice mixed with solid carbon
      monoxide and methane, covering the 4-kilometre-deep, 1,000-kilometre-wide basin
      of Sputnik Planitia near the anti-Charon point. The glacier has been suggested to
      arise from a source region connected to the deep interior, or from a sink
      collecting the volatiles released planetwide. Thin deposits of N2 frost, however,
      were also detected at mid-northern latitudes and methane ice was observed to
      cover most of Pluto except for the darker, frost-free equatorial regions. Here we
      report numerical simulations of the evolution of N2, methane and carbon monoxide
      on Pluto over thousands of years. The model predicts N2 ice accumulation in the
      deepest low-latitude basin and the threefold increase in atmospheric pressure
      that has been observed to occur since 1988. This points to atmospheric
      topographic processes as the origin of Sputnik Planitia's N2 glacier. The same
      simulations also reproduce the observed quantities of volatiles in the atmosphere
      and show frosts of methane, and sometimes N2, that seasonally cover the mid- and
      high latitudes, explaining the bright northern polar cap reported in the 1990s
      and the observed ice distribution in 2015. The model also predicts that most of
      these seasonal frosts should disappear in the next decade.

PMID- 27629518
TI  - Erratum: Structure of the adenosine A2A receptor bound to an engineered G
      protein.

PMID- 27629519
TI  - Multidimensional Perovskites: A Mixed Cation Approach Towards Ambient Stable and
      Tunable Perovskite Photovoltaics.
AB  - Although halide perovskites are able to deliver high power conversion
      efficiencies, their ambient stability still remains an obstacle for
      commercialization. Thus, promoting the ambient stability of perovskites has
      become a key research focus. In this review, we highlight the sources of
      instability in conventional 3 D perovskites, including water intercalation, ion
      migration, and thermal decomposition. Recently, the multidimensional perovskites
      approach has become one of the most promising strategies to enhance the stability
      of perovskites. As compared to pure 2 D perovskites, multidimensional perovskites
      typically possess more ideal band gaps, better charge transport, and lower
      exciton binding energy, which are essential for photovoltaic applications. The
      larger organic cations in multidimensional perovskites could also be more
      chemically stable at higher temperatures than the commonly used methylammonium
      cation. By combining 3 D and 2 D perovskites to form multidimensional
      perovskites, halide perovskite photovoltaics can attain both high efficiency and
      increased stability.

PMID- 27629520
TI  - Prolonged California aridity linked to climate warming and Pacific sea surface
      temperature.
AB  - California has experienced a dry 21(st) century capped by severe drought from
      2012 through 2015 prompting questions about hydroclimatic sensitivity to
      anthropogenic climate change and implications for the future. We address these
      questions using a Holocene lake sediment record of hydrologic change from the
      Sierra Nevada Mountains coupled with marine sediment records from the Pacific.
      These data provide evidence of a persistent relationship between past climate
      warming, Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) shifts and centennial to
      millennial episodes of California aridity. The link is most evident during the
      thermal-maximum of the mid-Holocene (~8 to 3 ka; ka = 1,000 calendar years before
      present) and during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) (~1 ka to 0.7 ka). In both
      cases, climate warming corresponded with cooling of the eastern tropical Pacific
      despite differences in the factors producing increased radiative forcing. The
      magnitude of prolonged eastern Pacific cooling was modest, similar to observed La
      Nina excursions of 1(o) to 2  degrees C. Given differences with current radiative
      forcing it remains uncertain if the Pacific will react in a similar manner in the
      21st century, but should it follow apparent past behavior more intense and
      prolonged aridity in California would result.

PMID- 27629521
TI  - Predicting aggression in adolescence: The interrelation between (a lack of)
      empathy and social goals.
AB  - In an attempt to explain the inconsistent findings and overall weak relation
      between empathy and aggression, we focused on the role of emotional empathy
      (emotions of concern, compassion or sympathy toward a (potential) victim),
      agentic goals (the desire to be dominant during social interaction with peers)
      and their interplay (mediation or moderation) in the prediction of proactive
      aggression (learned instrumental behavior) in adolescence. Data were collected
      from 550 young Dutch adolescents, who filled out multiple questionnaires.
      Findings showed that the link between a lack of empathic concern and proactive
      aggression is partly mediated and moderated by agentic goals. The moderation
      analyses showed that the predictive value of a lack of empathic concern with
      regard to proactive aggression was greater when adolescents reported a stronger
      desire to be dominant in social situations with peers. In addition, the findings
      supported the assumption that the relation between empathic concern and reactive
      aggression (a hostile and angry response to perceived provocation) is not
      mediated or moderated by agentic goals. Findings were discussed in terms of their
      implications for future research. Aggr. Behav. 43:204-214, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629522
TI  - Influence of Intermolecular Interactions on Valence Tautomeric Behaviors in Two
      Polymorphic Dinuclear Cobalt Complexes.
AB  - Two polymorphic structures have been well determined in a valence tautomeric (VT)
      dinuclear cobalt complex. These polymorphs showed distinct thermal- and
      photomagnetic behavior, and are thus ideal for studying the "pure" intermolecular
      factors to VT transitions. In polymorph 1A, the VT cations are arranged head-to
      waist with their neighbors and exhibit weak pi???pi interactions, resulting in a
      gradual and incomplete thermal VT transition. In contrast, the cations in
      polymorph 1B are arranged head-to-tail and exhibit relatively strong pi???pi
      interactions, leading to an abrupt and complete thermal VT transition with
      adjustable hysteresis loop at around room temperature. The VT process for both
      polymorphs can be induced by light, but the light-excited state of 1B?2H2 O has a
      higher thermal relaxation temperature than that of 1A?3H2 O.

PMID- 27629523
TI  - The fungicide triadimefon affects beer flavor and composition by influencing
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolism.
AB  - Despite the fact that beer is produced on a large scale, the effects of pesticide
      residues on beer have been rarely investigated. In this study, we used micro
      brewing settings to determine the effect of triadimefon on the growth of
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae and beer flavor. The yeast growth in medium was
      significantly inhibited (45%) at concentrations higher than 5 mg L(-1), reaching
      80% and 100% inhibition at 10 mg L(-1) and 50 mg L(-1), respectively. There were
      significant differences in sensory quality between beer samples fermented with
      and without triadimefon based on data obtained with an electronic tongue and
      nose. Such an effect was most likely underlain by changes in yeast fermentation
      activity, including decreased utilization of maltotriose and most amino acids,
      reduced production of isobutyl and isoamyl alcohols, and increased ethyl acetate
      content in the fungicide treated samples. Furthermore, yeast metabolic profiling
      by phenotype microarray and UPLC/TOF-MS showed that triadimefon caused
      significant changes in the metabolism of glutathione, phenylalanine and
      sphingolipids, and in sterol biosynthesis. Thus, triadimefon negatively affects
      beer sensory qualities by influencing the metabolic activity of S. cerevisiae
      during fermentation, emphasizing the necessity of stricter control over fungicide
      residues in brewing by the food industry.

PMID- 27629524
TI  - Seasonal Variation in the Peritoneal Dialysis-Related Infections: A Single Center
      Experience in the Mediterranean.
AB  - Seasonal variation in the incidence of peritoneal dialysis-related infections
      (PDRI) has been sparingly investigated, especially in the Mediterranean. Our aim
      was to explore this association in Malta. All PDRI occurring between Jan-2008 and
      Dec-2012 were retrospectively studied.A total of 137 patients were followed-up
      for a median time of 32.5 months (range: 2-81). During this time, 19% never had
      PDRI, 11.7% transferred permanently to hemodialysis and 6.6% received a kidney
      transplant. A total of 279 PDRI were identified, equating to 145 catheter-related
      infections (CRI) and 144 peritonitis episodes (including 10 catheter related
      peritonitis). A spring peak in the overall gram positive PDRI (0.61 vs.
      0.34/patient-year-at-risk, P=0.05), together with a peak in gram negative
      peritonitis in the warm period (0.13 vs. 0.07/patient-year at risk, P=0.04) was
      identified. The incidence rate ratios (Confidence Interval) involving the overall
      gram positive PDRI, gram positive peritonitis, coagulase-negative Streptococci
      (CoNS) and Streptococci were 1.82 (1.18-2.82, P=0.007), 2.20 (1.16-4.16, P=0.02),
      2.65 (1.17-6.02, P=0.02] and 3.18 (1.03-9.98, P=0.04) in spring when compared to
      winter. No significant difference in the overall PDRI, peritonitis or CRI rates
      between seasons or warm/cold period was identified.To our knowledge, this is the
      first study which examines the effect of seasons on the incidence of PDRI in the
      Mediterranean basin. Findings suggest that spring confers a higher risk for gram
      positive PDRIs, gram positive peritonitis, CoNS and Streptococcus, whilst the
      warm period was associated with a peak in the gram negative peritonitis.

PMID- 27629525
TI  - An Elastic Transparent Conductor Based on Hierarchically Wrinkled Reduced
      Graphene Oxide for Artificial Muscles and Sensors.
AB  - Using a 3D stretching method, a highly elastic reduced graphene oxide
      (rGO)/polyacrylic ester hierarchically wrinkled elastic transparent conductor
      (HWETC) is fabricated. Periodic hierarchical N-rGO layer wrinkling allows the
      HWETC to show high conductivity (100-457 Omega ?-1 ) and transmittance (67-85%)
      under substantial stretching (>400%) and bending deformation (~180 degrees ),
      which enables electrothermal actuation and strain sensing.

PMID- 27629526
TI  - A Response to: Commentary: Stabilizing Constructs through Collaboration across
      Different Research Fields as a Way to Foster the Integrative Approach of the
      Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project.

PMID- 27629527
TI  - Acardiac twin pregnancies part III: Model simulations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acardiac monochorionic twins lack cardiac function but grow by
      passive perfusion of the pump twin's deoxygenated arterial blood through
      placental arterioarterial (AA) and venovenous (VV) anastomoses and by hypoxia
      mediated neovascularization. Pump twins therefore must continuously increase
      their cardiac output which may cause heart failure. Our aims were: to adapt our
      twin-twin transfusion syndrome model for acardiac twin pregnancies, to simulate
      pump and acardiac twin development, and to examine the model for early prognostic
      markers of pump twin survival. METHODS: We used an infinite acardiac placental
      resistance, based on placental dye injection studies and simulations, suggesting
      the AA-Acardiac-VV series resistance determines the pump twin's excess cardiac
      output. Pump and acardiac development were expressed by the pump's excess cardiac
      output versus its normal value, represented by pump/acardiac umbilical venous
      diameter (UVD) ratios. RESULTS: UVD ratios distinguish between AA-VV anastomoses
      that do and do not cause hydropic pump twins. Pump twins can handle relative
      larger acardiac perfusion at later than earlier gestation. Both VV and acardiac
      resistances are significantly smaller than the AA resistance, based on
      respectively clinical data and acardiac blood volumetric growth. CONCLUSION: Our
      simulations support clinical results which show that UVD ratios aid in the
      prediction of pump twin risk. The AA anastomosis controls the future of both the
      pump and the acardiac. Correlation between acardiac size and pump twin risk is
      secondary to the AA size but remains clinically usable. These factors may aid in
      the development of methods for pump twin prognosis and the promotion of selective
      clinical interventions.Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2016.(c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:1008-1015, 2016. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629529
TI  - Interatrial Block and Risk of Ischemic Stroke - Reply.

PMID- 27629528
TI  - Endothelin-1-Induced Cell Hypertrophy in Cardiomyocytes is Improved by
      Fenofibrate: Possible Roles of Adiponectin.
AB  - AIM: Previous studies demonstrated that endothelin-1 (ET-1) can significantly
      increase the cell size and stimulate adiponectin expression in cultured human
      cardiomyocytes (HCM). The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects
      of fenofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha)
      activator, on cell hypertrophy and adiponectin expression in vitro and in a rat
      model of daunorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy. METHODS: The cultured human
      cardiomyocytes (HCM) were stimulated with or without ET-1. The cell size and the
      protein expressions of PPARalpha and adiponectin were tested by confocal
      Immunofluorescence study and Western blot, respectively. To study the effects of
      PPARalpha activation on ET-1-induced cell hypertrophy and adiponectin protein
      synthesis, HCM were pretreated with fenofibrate or small interfering RNA (siRNA)
      of PPARalpha. Echocardiographic parameters were measured and immunohistochemistry
      study of myocardial adiponectin expression was conducted in the in vivo study.
      RESULTS: ET-1 significantly increased the cell size, dose-dependently suppressed
      the expression of PPARalpha, and enhanced the expression of adiponectin; whereas,
      such an increase of cell size and enhancement of adiponectin expression were
      inhibited by the pre-treatment with fenofibrate. Addition of siRNA of PPARalpha
      abolished the effects of fenofibrate. Moreover, we found that fenofibrate
      treatment can significantly improve the left ventricular function and reverse the
      myocardial expression of adiponectin. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that
      fenofibrate may protect against ET-1-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and
      enhanced adiponectin expression through modulation of PPARalpha expression in
      vitro and limitation of daunorubicin cardiotoxicity in vivo, suggesting a novel
      mechanistic insight into the role of PPARalpha and adiponectin in cardiac
      hypertrophy and heart failure.

PMID- 27629530
TI  - Reduction of CD200 expression in glioma cells enhances microglia activation and
      tumor growth.
AB  - CD200, a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, can interact with its receptor
      CD200R, which plays an inhibitory role in the activation of microglia-the
      resident macrophages of the central nervous system. In this study, the rat C6
      glioma cell line (C6-1) that was previously characterized with high in vivo
      tumorigenicity was found to generate CD200 mRNA abundantly. However, CD200
      expression was barely detected in another C6 glioma cell clone (C6-2) that was
      previously found to display low tumorigenic behavior. The results from CD200
      immunohistochemistry on human glioma tissue array also showed that tumor cells in
      Grade I-II astrocytoma expressed a lower level of CD200 immunoreactivity than
      those detected in Grade III-IV glioblastoma multiforme. C6-1 transfectants with
      stable downregulation of CD200 gene expression using lentivirus knockdown
      approach were generated (C6-KD). Microglia and iNOS+ cells were increased when
      microglia were co-cultured with C6-KD cells. The colony formation of C6-KD was
      also augmented when those cells were co-cultured with microglia. Yet, increased
      colony formation of C6-KD transfectants in the co-culture with microglia was
      effectively suppressed by interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10. The in vivo results
      indicated that the tumor formation of C6-1 cells in rat brain was promoted after
      CD200 gene knockdown. Moreover, CD11b+ activated microglia and iNOS+ microglia
      were highly accumulated in the tumor site formed by C6-KD. In conclusion, our
      findings demonstrate that the downregulation of CD200 expression in CD200-rich
      glioma cells could foster the formation of an activated microglia-associated
      tumor microenvironment, leading to glioma progression. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629531
TI  - Alkyl pyrazine synthesis via an open heated bath with variable sugars, ammonia,
      and various amino acids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Semi-quantitative characteristics of headspace volatile pyrazines
      which constituted around 1% by weight of the final product have been previously
      described. The influence of reactant concentration, reaction temperature, and
      reaction time on both the yield of total alkyl pyrazines and the distribution
      pattern of specific identified pyrazines has not been reported. RESULTS: The
      optimum synthetic conditions were 5 mol L-1 NH4 OH, 2 mol L-1 rhamnose, 0.5 mol L
      1 leucine at 110 degrees C for 2 h. The greatest total amount of pyrazines
      obtained was 17 280 ug of extracted product which translated into 31% 2,6
      dimethyl pyrazine, 17% 2-methyl pyrazine, 15% 2-ethyl-6-methyl pyrazine, and 16%
      2-isoamyl-6-methyl pyrazine. CONCLUSION: The yield of synthesized pyrazines
      increased at higher temperatures. Quantitative total and specific pyrazine
      results as opposed to analysis of only headspace volatiles are more
      representative of pyrazine synthesis. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27629532
TI  - Possible mechanisms of Leukoagglutinin induced apoptosis in human cells in vitro.
AB  - Leukoagglutinin is one of the phytohemagglutinin isolectins isolated from
      Phaseolus vulgaris. In our recent study, we showed that this lectin is able to
      influence the growth of human cancer cells in vitro. In addition, using the
      acridine orange and ethidium bromide staining, we found that leukoagglutinin can
      induce apoptosis. In order to understand the molecular mechanisms of induction of
      apoptosis, we performed computational modeling with subsequent experimental
      verification of theoretical data in vitro. We developed computational models of
      leukoagglutinin interaction with pro- (FasR and TNFR) and anti-apoptotic (IGF-1
      and EGFR) receptors, and confirmed that leukoagglutinin may specifically interact
      with these receptors. Furthermore, we proved that leukoagglutinin can induce
      apoptosis in cancer (HEp-2) and non-cancer (4BL) cells, and observed that PHA-L
      is able to induce apoptosis through the up-regulation of Bax protein and
      activation of the effector caspase-3 and initiator caspase-8. However, these
      proteins have no effect on the Bcl-2 expression level.

PMID- 27629534
TI  - Using Computerized Cytomorphometry to Distinguish between Benign and Malignant
      Cases in Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Only a small number of studies on computerized cytomorphometry have
      been performed for thyroid FNAC. The present study aimed to determine the
      usefulness of computerized cytomorphometry methods to further classify thyroid
      lesions as benign or malignant and to compare the practicability and value of
      using Papanicolaou (Pap) and Giemsa stains in thyroid FNAC by evaluating their
      association to various cytologic nuclear parameters. METHODS: Fifty-eight thyroid
      lesions diagnosed by FNAC and categorized according to the Bethesda system for
      reporting thyroid cytopathology were evaluated in terms of various cytologic
      nuclear parameters, including nuclear area (NA), nuclear perimeter (NP), nuclear
      density (ND), long nuclear diameter (LND), and short nuclear diameter (SND). The
      Pap- and Giemsa-stained slides were examined separately. RESULTS: In the
      malignant cases, NA, NP, LND, and SND were higher than in the benign cases for
      both the Pap and Giemsa stains. NA, NP, LND, and SND were higher in Giemsa than
      Pap for both the benign and malignant groups. Statistically significant
      differences were detected between the benign and malignant cases in the AUS
      category. CONCLUSIONS: Computerized cytomorphometry is useful in distinguishing
      between benign and malignant lesions in thyroid FNAC. The measurement of
      cytologic nuclear parameters in cases suggestive of AUS may be useful for the
      probable classification of cases as benign or malignant. Although further studies
      are needed, in nuclear morphometric assessment of thyroid FNAC, Giemsa staining
      may be more useful and valuable than the Pap stain because of its association
      with various cytologic nuclear parameters. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2016;44:902-911.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629533
TI  - Synovial fluid adipokines are associated with clinical severity in knee
      osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study in female patients with joint effusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adipokines are related to knee osteoarthritis, but their exact role
      is not well known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between
      adipokines in synovial fluid and clinical severity in patients with knee
      osteoarthritis with joint effusion. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with
      systematic inclusion of female patients with symptomatic primary knee
      osteoarthritis with ultrasound-confirmed joint effusion. Age, physical exercise,
      knee osteoarthritis symptoms duration, classical cardiovascular risk factors and
      different anthropometric measurements were collected. Metabolic syndrome was
      defined in accordance to National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment
      Panel III. Radiographic severity was evaluated according to Kellgren-Lawrence
      scale and Lequesne index was used to assess clinical severity. Seven adipokines
      (leptin, adiponectin, resistin, visfatin, osteopontin, omentin and chemerin) and
      three inflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 6 and high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay in synovial fluid. RESULTS: Kellgren-Lawrence grade, physical exercise, all
      anthropometric measurements (especially waist circumference), tumor necrosis
      factor alpha, and high levels of leptin, resistin, and ostepontin were related to
      knee osteoarthritis severity. After adjustment for clinical confounders (age,
      symptom duration, and radiology), anthropometric measurements, inflammatory
      markers, and all evaluated adipokines, there were independent associations with
      clinical severity for resistin (directly associated) and visfatin (inversely
      associated). No other adipokines or inflammatory markers were independently
      associated with Lequesne index. The association of radiological parameters,
      physical exercise, and waist circumference with Lequesne index remained after
      adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Resistin was directly associated, and visfatin was
      inversely associated, with clinical severity in female patients with knee
      osteoarthritis with joint effusion. These associations were more important after
      adjustment for confounders, especially when all adipokines were evaluated.

PMID- 27629535
TI  - The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) in the general population:
      scale structure, reliability, measurement invariance and normative data: a cross
      sectional survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) is a self-report
      questionnaire measuring distress, depression, anxiety and somatization with
      separate scales. The 4DSQ has extensively been validated in clinical samples,
      especially from primary care settings. Information about measurement properties
      and normative data in the general population was lacking. In a Dutch general
      population sample we examined the 4DSQ scales' structure, the scales' reliability
      and measurement invariance with respect to gender, age and education, the scales'
      score distributions across demographic categories, and normative data. METHODS:
      4DSQ data were collected in a representative Dutch Internet panel. Confirmatory
      factor analysis was used to examine the scales' structure. Reliability was
      examined by Cronbach's alpha, and coefficients omega-total and omega
      hierarchical. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis was used to evaluate
      measurement invariance across gender, age and education. RESULTS: The total
      response rate was 82.4 % (n = 5273/6399). The depression scale proved to be
      unidimensional. The other scales were best represented as bifactor models
      consisting of a large general factor and one or more smaller specific factors.
      The general factors accounted for more than 95 % of the reliable variance of the
      scales. Reliability was high (>=0.85) by all estimates. The distress-, depression
      and anxiety scales were invariant across gender, age and education. The
      somatization scale demonstrated some lack of measurement invariance as a result
      of decreased thresholds for some of the items in young people (16-24 years) and
      increased thresholds in elderly people (65+ years). The somatization scale was
      invariant regarding gender and education. The 4DSQ scores varied significantly
      across demographic categories, but the explained variance was small (<6 %).
      Normative data were generated for gender and age categories. Approximately 17 %
      of the participants scored above average on de distress scale, whereas 12 %
      scored above average on de somatization scale. Percentages of people scoring high
      enough on depression or anxiety as to suspect the presence of depressive or
      anxiety disorder were 4.1 and 2.5 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence supports
      reliability and measurement invariance of the 4DSQ in the general Dutch
      population. The normative data provided in this study can be used to compare a
      subject's 4DSQ scores with a general population reference group.

PMID- 27629536
TI  - Investigating the Responses of Human Epithelial Cells to Predatory Bacteria.
AB  - One beguiling alternative to antibiotics for treating multi-drug resistant
      infections are Bdellovibrio-and-like-organisms (BALOs), predatory bacteria known
      to attack human pathogens. Consequently, in this study, the responses from four
      cell lines (three human and one mouse) were characterized during an exposure to
      different predatory bacteria, Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100, Bacteriovorus BY1
      and Bacteriovorax stolpii EB1. TNF-alpha levels were induced in Raw 264.7 mouse
      macrophage cultures with each predator, but paled in comparison to those obtained
      with E. coli. This was true even though the latter strain was added at an 11.1
      fold lower concentration (p < 0.01). Likewise, E. coli led to a significant (54%)
      loss in the Raw 264.7 murine macrophage viability while the predatory strains had
      no impact. Tests with various epithelial cells, including NuLi-1 airway, Caco2,
      HT29 and T84 colorectal cells, gave similar results, with E. coli inducing IL-8
      production. The viabilities of the NuLi-1 and Caco-2 cells were slightly reduced
      (8%) when exposed to the predators, while T84 viability remained steady. In no
      cases did the predatory bacteria induce actin rearrangement. These results
      clearly demonstrate the gentle natures of predatory bacteria and their impacts on
      human cells.

PMID- 27629537
TI  - The significance of the change pattern of serum CA125 level for judging prognosis
      and diagnosing recurrences of epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate of the three main
      malignant tumors of the female reproductive system, with a 5-year overall
      survival (OS) of only 20-30 %. Approximately 70 % of patients relapse without
      being cured. To explore the significance of serum CA125 level pre-treatment and
      the change pattern of CA125 post-treatment for judging prognosis and diagnosing
      recurrences of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: A radioimmunoassay was
      used to continuously monitor levels of serum CA125 in 152 patients with EOC. The
      first test was done before surgery, then once a month after surgery for more than
      two consecutive years. The data were analyzed by using Kaplan-Meier curves and
      the log-rank test, stratified chi-square test, Pearson correlation analysis, and
      multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: (1) There was a relationship
      between patient outcomes and the serum CA125 levels before treatment and the
      extent and speed of serum CA125 decrease after treatment. The outcomes of
      patients with pre-treatment serum CA125 <= 35 U/ml were better than those with
      serum CA125 > 35 U/ml; the outcomes of patients with serum CA125 who had a
      logarithmic decrease or a decrease to normal within a month after treatment were
      also better than those with a non-logarithmic decrease or a decrease to normal
      that took longer than a month. (2) The results of multivariate Cox regression
      analysis showed that serum CA125 levels before treatment and a decreased speed of
      decline after treatment were independent prognostic factors; (3) The mean level
      of serum CA125 at relapse was 116.28 U/ml. The average time from serum CA125
      increase to detection of a recurrent lesion by physical or imaging examination
      was 122 days. The correlation coefficient of serum CA125 level increase and tumor
      recurrence time was -0.674. (4) The area under the Receiver Operating
      Characteristic (ROC) curve of serum CA125 for diagnosing EOC recurrence was
      0.879, and the sensitivity and specificity were 67.39 and 86.79 %, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is important to monitor serum CA125 levels pre-treatment and the
      change pattern of CA125 post-treatment for judging prognosis and diagnosing
      recurrences of EOC.

PMID- 27629538
TI  - The Lattice Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation of Atomic Diffusion and Structural
      Transition for Gold.
AB  - For the kinetic simulation of metal nanoparticles, we developed a self-consistent
      coordination-averaged energies for Au atoms based on energy properties of gold
      bulk phases. The energy barrier of the atom pairing change is proposed and holds
      for the microscopic reversibility principle. By applying the lattice kinetic
      Monte Carlo simulation on gold films, we found that the atomic diffusion of Au on
      the Au(111) surface undergoes a late transition state with an energy barrier of
      about 0.2 eV and a prefactor between 40~50 A(2)/ps. This study also investigates
      the structural transition from spherical to faceted gold nanoparticles upon
      heating. The temperatures of structural transition are in agreement with the
      experimental melting temperatures of gold nanoparticles with diameters ranging
      from 2 nm to 8 nm.

PMID- 27629539
TI  - A novel SPAST frameshift mutation in a Chinese family with hereditary spastic
      paraplegia.

PMID- 27629542
TI  - Cycloaddition of P-C Single Bonds: Stereoselective Formation of Benzo-1,3,6,2
      trioxaphosphepine Complexes via a Ditopic van der Waals Complex.
AB  - While phosphaalkenes and phosphanes are known to participate in [4+n]
      cycloaddition reactions, P-C single bonds are inert in this respect. Herein,
      reactions of oxaphosphirane complexes with tetrachloro-ortho-benzoquinone are
      presented that reveal a stereoselective reaction of the endocyclic P-C bond to
      afford benzo-1,3,6,2-trioxaphosphepine complexes. High-level DFT calculations
      provide evidence that the final product is derived from a sequence of three
      consecutive steps involving a ditopic van der Waals complex.

PMID- 27629540
TI  - Sleep bruxism is related to decreased inhibitory control of trigeminal
      motoneurons, but not with reticulobulbar system.
AB  - Sleep bruxism (SB) is a stereotyped movement disorder characterized by grinding
      or clenching of the teeth during sleep. We aimed to understand the abnormal
      networks related to the excitability of masticatory pathways in patients with SB.
      Eleven patients with SB and age- and gender-matched 20 healthy subjects were
      prospectively enrolled in our study. The masseter inhibitory reflex (MIR) after
      electrical stimulation and auditory startle reaction (ASR) were examined. For MIR
      responses, durations of early and late silent period (SP) were shorter and the
      degree of suppression of SPs was significantly lower in SB group in comparison to
      those obtained in healthy subjects. The ASR responses even of the masseter
      muscle, however, were similar between patients with SB and healthy individuals.
      Abnormal MIR provides support for the decreased inhibitory control of the central
      masticatory circuits in SB whereas normal ASR suggests the integrity and normal
      functioning of brainstem pathways mediating startle reaction. Although the sample
      size is small, our results are in line with previous findings and suggest an
      abnormally decreased inhibition in trigeminal motoneurons to masseter muscle
      rather than reticulobulbar pathways in patients with SB.

PMID- 27629541
TI  - Whole genome sequencing of Salmonella Typhimurium illuminates distinct outbreaks
      caused by an endemic multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis type in
      Australia, 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Salmonella Typhimurium (STM) is an important cause of foodborne
      outbreaks worldwide. Subtyping of STM remains critical to outbreak investigation,
      yet current techniques (e.g. multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis,
      MLVA) may provide insufficient discrimination. Whole genome sequencing (WGS)
      offers potentially greater discriminatory power to support infectious disease
      surveillance. METHODS: We performed WGS on 62 STM isolates of a single, endemic
      MLVA type associated with two epidemiologically independent, food-borne outbreaks
      along with sporadic cases in New South Wales, Australia, during 2014. Genomes of
      case and environmental isolates were sequenced using HiSeq (Illumina) and the
      genetic distance between them was assessed by single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) analysis. SNP analysis was compared to the epidemiological context.
      RESULTS: The WGS analysis supported epidemiological evidence and genomes of
      within-outbreak isolates were nearly identical. Sporadic cases differed from
      outbreak cases by a small number of SNPs, although their close relationship to
      outbreak cases may represent an unidentified common food source that may warrant
      further public health follow up. Previously unrecognised mini-clusters were
      detected. CONCLUSIONS: WGS of STM can discriminate foodborne community outbreaks
      within a single endemic MLVA clone. Our findings support the translation of WGS
      into public health laboratory surveillance of salmonellosis.

PMID- 27629543
TI  - CKLF-Like MARVEL Transmembrane Domain-Containing Member 3 (CMTM3) Inhibits the
      Proliferation and Tumorigenisis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - The CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing 3 (CMTM3), a member of the
      CMTM family, was found in several human tumors and plays an important role in the
      development and progression of tumors. However, the role of CMTM3 in
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. Thus, in the present
      study, we explored its expression pattern in human HCC cell lines, as well as its
      functions in HCC cells. Our results demonstrated that the expression of CMTM3 is
      lowly expressed in HCC cell lines. In vitro, we found that overexpression of
      CMTM3 obviously inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and EMT process in HCC
      cells. Furthermore, overexpression of CMTM3 significantly downregulated the
      expression levels of phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3 in HepG2 cells. In vivo,
      overexpression of CMTM3 attenuated the tumor growth in Balb/c nude mice. In
      conclusion, we demonstrated that CMTM3 could play an important role in HCC
      metastasis by EMT induction via, at least partially, suppressing the JAK2/STAT3
      signaling pathway. Therefore, CMTM3 may serve as a potential molecular target in
      the prevention and/or treatment of HCC invasion and metastasis.

PMID- 27629545
TI  - Circulating Tumor Cells as an Indicator of Postoperative Lung Cancer: A Case
      Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are tumor cells that are shed from
      primary tumors and circulate in the peripheral blood. CTCs, as a surrogate of
      micro-metastasis, can be a useful clinical marker, but their clinical
      significance remains unclear in lung cancer. We now report a case of lung cancer
      in which the count of CTCs was useful in monitoring postoperative recurrence.
      CASE REPORT A 50-year-old man had undergone right upper lobectomy for lung cancer
      (pT1bN2M0, stage IIIA adenocarcinoma), followed by cisplatin-based adjuvant
      chemotherapy. After the patient's operation, we initiated monitoring of CTCs
      using CellSearch, and documented the change in the CTC count along with the
      development of cancer recurrence and response or progression to chemotherapy
      given for recurrent disease. CONCLUSIONS The CTC count may be useful in
      monitoring blood of patients with lung cancer. 

PMID- 27629546
TI  - Antitrypanosomal activity of Verbascum sinaiticum Benth. (Scrophulariaceae)
      against Trypanosoma congolense isolates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African Trypanosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease with a large
      impact on the livelihood of the rural poor in Sub-Saharan Africa. The available
      drugs for managing this disease are old, expensive and are facing the problem of
      drug resistance. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo
      antitrypanosomal efficacy of aqueous and absolute methanol leaf extracts of
      Verbascum sinaiticum Benth. against Trypanosoma congolense field isolate.
      METHODS: Verbascum sinaiticum (Local name 'qetetina') is a biennial plant, and 60
      150 cm tall. It is traditionally used to treat wound, stomachache, viral
      infection, cancer, sunstroke, fever, abdominal colic, diarrhea, hemorrhage,
      anthrax, and hepatitis. The efficacy of aqueous and absolute methanol leaf
      extracts of V. sinaiticum was evaluated in a randomized experiment with Swiss
      albino mice infected with T. congolense field isolate. The extracts were
      administered at doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg by intraperitoneal injection for
      seven days at 12 Days Post-Infection (DPI) when the peak parasitaemia level was
      approximately 10(8) trypanosomes/ml. Parasitaemia, Packed Cell Volume (PCV), mean
      survival time and change in body weight were used as indices for monitoring the
      efficacy of the extracts. Diminazene (28 mg/kg) was used as a positive control
      while 2 % Tween was used as the negative control. Phytochemicals screening were
      conducted following standard methods. RESULTS: The extracts showed no toxicity
      effect in Swiss albino mice and had LD50 above 2000 mg/kg. The phytochemicals
      screened in V. sinaiticum were alkaloids, flavonoids, glycoside, saponins,
      steroids, phenolic compounds, and tannins. The mice treated with absolute
      methanol leaf extract of V. sinaiticum at 400 mg/kg dose had significantly lower
      mean parasitaemia (7.20 +/- 0.16) (p < 0.001) as compared to the negative control
      group (8.82 +/- 0.12) on day 14 of treatment. Animals treated with the same dose
      had significant (p < 0.001) higher PCV value and body weight and as well as the
      highest mean survival time of 40.20 +/- 0.31 days as compared to the negative
      control at the end of the observation period. CONCLUSION: This study established
      that Verbascum sinaiticum had trypanocidal activity. The crude extracts have
      partially eliminated trypanosomes in a dose-dependent manner. The study can be a
      basis for future in-depth analysis of the biologically active chemicals.

PMID- 27629547
TI  - Principles and Design of a Zeeman-Sisyphus Decelerator for Molecular Beams.
AB  - We explore a technique for decelerating molecules using a static magnetic field
      and optical pumping. Molecules travel through a spatially varying magnetic field
      and are repeatedly pumped into a weak-field seeking state as they move towards
      each strong field region, and into a strong-field seeking state as they move
      towards weak field. The method is time-independent and so is suitable for
      decelerating both pulsed and continuous molecular beams. By using guiding magnets
      at each weak field region, the beam can be simultaneously guided and decelerated.
      By tapering the magnetic field strength in the strong field regions, and
      exploiting the Doppler shift, the velocity distribution can be compressed during
      deceleration. We develop the principles of this deceleration technique, provide a
      realistic design, use numerical simulations to evaluate its performance for a
      beam of CaF, and compare this performance to other deceleration methods.

PMID- 27629544
TI  - Zymomonas mobilis as a model system for production of biofuels and biochemicals.
AB  - Zymomonas mobilis is a natural ethanologen with many desirable industrial
      biocatalyst characteristics. In this review, we will discuss work to develop Z.
      mobilis as a model system for biofuel production from the perspectives of
      substrate utilization, development for industrial robustness, potential product
      spectrum, strain evaluation and fermentation strategies. This review also
      encompasses perspectives related to classical genetic tools and emerging
      technologies in this context.

PMID- 27629549
TI  - A genome-wide association study identifies a region strongly associated with
      symmetrical onychomadesis on chromosome 12 in dogs.
AB  - Symmetrical onychomadesis causes periodic loss of claws in otherwise healthy
      dogs. Genome-wide association analysis in 225 Gordon Setters identified a single
      region associated with symmetrical onychomadesis on chromosome 12 (spanning about
      3.3 mb). A meta-analysis including also English Setters indicated that this
      genomic region predisposes for symmetrical onychomadesis in English Setters as
      well. The associated region spans most of the major histocompatibility complex
      and nearly 1 Mb downstream. Like many other autoimmune diseases, associations of
      symmetrical onychomadesis with DLA class II alleles have been reported. In this
      study, no associated markers were revealed within any of the DLA-DRB1, -DQA1 or 
      DQB1 genes, and the odds for symmetrical onychomadesis in the Gordon Setters were
      much higher, carrying significant single nucleotide polymorphisms compared to the
      odds of any of the recorded DLA-DRB1/DQA1/DQB1 haplotypes. We noticed that some
      of the associated DLA haplotypes were different between the English Setters and
      the Gordon Setters. Interestingly, associated SNP chip markers showed a more
      consistent pattern of allelic variants related to cases or controls regardless of
      breed. In conclusion, the associated genetic markers identified in this study
      hold the potential to aid in selection of breeding animals to reduce the
      frequency of symmetrical onychomadesis in the dog.

PMID- 27629548
TI  - Rationale and design of the multidisciplinary team IntervenTion in cArdio
      oNcology study (TITAN).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. In the last
      decade, important gains in cancer survival have been achieved by advances in
      adjuvant treatment. However, many oncologic treatments also result in
      cardiovascular "toxicity". Furthermore, cardiac risk factors such as
      hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus are known to contribute to the
      progression of cardiac damage and clinical cardiotoxicity. As such, for many
      survivors, the risk of death from cardiac disease exceeds that of recurrent
      cancer. While provision of care by multidisciplinary teams has been shown to
      reduce mortality and hospitalizations among heart failure patients, the effect of
      assessments and interventions by multidisciplinary specialists in cancer patients
      receiving cardiotoxic chemotherapy regimens is currently unknown. Accordingly, we
      will examine the effect of a multi-disciplinary team interventions in the early
      assessment, identification and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in cancer
      patients receiving adjuvant systemic therapy. Our main hypothesis is to determine
      if the incidence of LV dysfunction in cancer patients undergoing adjuvant therapy
      can be reduced through a multidisciplinary team approach. METHODS/DESIGN: This is
      a randomized study comparing intensive multidisciplinary team intervention to
      usual care in the prevention of LV remodeling in patients receiving anthracycline
      or trastuzumab-based chemotherapy. Main objectives include early detection
      strategies for cardiotoxicity using novel biomarkers that reflect myocardial
      injury, remodeling and/or dysfunction; early identification and intensive
      treatment of cardiovascular risk factors; and early intervention with supportive
      care strategies including nutritional and pharmacist counselling, exercise
      training and cardiology team support. Secondary objectives include correlation of
      novel biomarkers to clinical outcomes; correlation of multidisciplinary
      interventions to adverse clinical outcomes; relationship of multidisciplinary
      interventions and chemotherapy dose density; preservation of lean muscle mass;
      and patient reported outcomes (symptom intensity and quality of life).
      DISCUSSION: Cardiac toxicity as a result of cancer therapies is now recognized as
      a significant health problem of increasing prevalence. To our knowledge, TITAN
      will be the first randomized trial examining the utility of multidisciplinary
      team care in the prevention of cardiotoxicity. We expect our results to inform
      comprehensive and holistic care for patients at risk for negative cancer therapy
      mediated sequelae. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01621659
      Registration Date 4 June 2012.

PMID- 27629550
TI  - Whole exome sequencing in families with CLL detects a variant in Integrin beta 2
      associated with disease susceptibility.

PMID- 27629551
TI  - A new model for the artificial aorta blood vessels using double-sided radial
      functionally graded biomaterials.
AB  - Based on radial functionally graded biomaterials and inspired by the geometry of
      a real aorta blood vessel, a new model was proposed to fabricate the artificial
      blood vessels. A finite element analyzer is employed to reach the optimal and
      proper material properties while earlier, it was validated by two famous
      theories, i.e., the first shear deformation and the plane elasticity. First, the
      geometry of a real ascending aorta part was simulated and then solved under the
      axially varying blood pressure and other real and actual conditions. Since the
      construction of artificial blood vessels just similar to the natural one is
      impossible, it was tried to find the best substitutes for other materials. Due to
      the significant properties of functionally graded biomaterials in the reduction
      in sudden changes of stress and deformation, these types of materials were
      selected and studied. Two types of conventional single-sided and an efficient
      double-sided radial functionally graded vessel were proposed and simulated. The
      elastic behaviors of proposed vessels were obtained and compared to ones
      previously attained from the real vessel. The results show that all the desired
      behaviors cannot be achieved by using a conventional single-sided radial FG
      vessel. Instead and as a conjecture, a smart double-sided radial FG biomaterial
      is suggested. Fortunately, the proposed material can meet all the desired goals
      and satisfy all of the indices simultaneously.

PMID- 27629552
TI  - An interval prototype classifier based on a parameterized distance applied to
      breast thermographic images.
AB  - Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women. Because of this,
      thermographic images have received a refocus for diagnosing this cancer type.
      This work proposes an innovative approach to classify breast abnormalities
      (malignant, benignant and cyst), employing interval temperature data in order to
      detect breast cancer. The learning step takes into account the internal variation
      of the intervals when describing breast abnormalities and uses a way to map these
      intervals into a space where they can be more easily separated. The method builds
      class prototypes, and the allocation step is based on a parameterized Mahalanobis
      distance for interval-valued data. The proposed classifier is applied to a breast
      thermography dataset from Brazil with 50 patients. We investigate two different
      scenarios for parameter configuration. The first scenario focuses on the overall
      misclassification rate and achieves 16 % misclassification rate and 93 %
      sensitivity to the malignant class. The second scenario maximizes the sensitivity
      to the malignant class, achieving 100 % sensitivity to this specific class, along
      with 20 % overall misclassification rate. We compare the performances of our
      approach and of many methods taken from the literature of interval data
      classification for the breast thermography task. Results show that our method
      outperforms competing algorithms.

PMID- 27629553
TI  - Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses.
AB  - The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) are neurodegenerative conditions that
      associate cognitive decline, progressive cerebellar atrophy, retinopathy, and
      myoclonic epilepsy. NCL result from the excessive accumulation of neuronal and
      extraneuronal lipopigments, despite having diverse underlying biochemical
      aetiologies. Here we review the clinical presentation, pathophysiology and
      genetics of these conditions as well as the approach to diagnosis and management.

PMID- 27629554
TI  - Estimating impacts of plantation forestry on plant biodiversity in southern Chile
      a spatially explicit modelling approach.
AB  - Monitoring the impacts of land-use practices is of particular importance with
      regard to biodiversity hotspots in developing countries. Here, conserving the
      high level of unique biodiversity is challenged by limited possibilities for data
      collection on site. Especially for such scenarios, assisting biodiversity
      assessments by remote sensing has proven useful. Remote sensing techniques can be
      applied to interpolate between biodiversity assessments taken in situ. Through
      this approach, estimates of biodiversity for entire landscapes can be produced,
      relating land-use intensity to biodiversity conditions. Such maps are a valuable
      basis for developing biodiversity conservation plans. Several approaches have
      been published so far to interpolate local biodiversity assessments in remote
      sensing data. In the following, a new approach is proposed. Instead of inferring
      biodiversity using environmental variables or the variability of spectral values,
      a hypothesis-based approach is applied. Empirical knowledge about biodiversity in
      relation to land-use is formalized and applied as ascription rules for image
      data. The method is exemplified for a large study site (over 67,000 km(2)) in
      central Chile, where forest industry heavily impacts plant diversity. The
      proposed approach yields a coefficient of correlation of 0.73 and produces a
      convincing estimate of regional biodiversity. The framework is broad enough to be
      applied to other study sites. 

PMID- 27629556
TI  - CMV infection in a cohort of HIV-exposed infants born to mothers receiving
      antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
AB  - Antiretroviral therapy has been shown to reduce rates of congenital CMV
      infection. Little information is available on the possible impact of
      antiretroviral therapy on postnatal breastfeeding-associated CMV infection
      acquisition. A cohort of 89 HIV-infected mothers and their children was studied.
      Women received antiretroviral therapy from week 25 of gestation until 6 months
      postpartum or indefinitely if meeting the criteria for treatment. All women were
      evaluated for CMV IgG presence and CMV DNA in breast milk. Children were tested
      for CMV infection by either the presence of IgM or the presence of CMV DNA in
      plasma at 1, 6 and 12 months and by the presence of IgG at 24 months. All mothers
      had high titers of CMV DNA in breast milk (5.7 log at Month 1 and 5.1 log at
      Month 6). Cumulative CMV infection rates were 60.3 % at Month 6, 69 % at Month 12
      and 96.4 % at Month 24. There was a significant negative correlation between the
      duration of antiretroviral treatment during pregnancy and levels of CMV DNA in
      breast milk at Month 1 (P = 0.033). There was a trend for a correlation between
      high titers of CMV DNA in breast milk at 6 months and CMV infection at 6 months
      (P = 0.069). In this cohort, more than 95 % of the children had acquired CMV
      infection by 2 years of age. Besides breastfeeding, which played a major role,
      also horizontal transmission between 1 and 2 years was certainly relevant in
      determining CMV infection acquisition.

PMID- 27629557
TI  - Singing as an adjunct therapy for children and adults with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis is a genetically inherited, life-threatening
      condition that affects major organs. The management of cystic fibrosis involves a
      multi-faceted daily treatment regimen that includes airway clearance techniques,
      pancreatic enzymes and other medications. Previous studies have found that
      compliance with this intensive treatment is poor, especially among adolescents.
      Because of both the nature and consequences of the illness and the relentless
      demands of the treatment, many individuals with cystic fibrosis have a poor
      quality of life. Anecdotal reports suggest that singing may provide both
      appropriate exercise for the whole respiratory system and a means of emotional
      expression which may enhance quality of life. This is an update of a previously
      published review. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of singing as an adjunct
      therapy to standard treatment on the quality of life, morbidity, respiratory
      muscle strength and pulmonary function of children and adults with cystic
      fibrosis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Group's Cystic Fibrosis Trials Register
      and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Date of latest search: 18
      February 2016.We also searched major allied complementary data bases, and
      clinical trial registers. Additionally, we handsearched relevant conference
      proceedings and journals. Date of latest search: 18 February 2016. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials in which singing (as an adjunct
      intervention) is compared with either a control intervention (for example,
      playing computer games or doing craft activities) or no singing in people with
      cystic fibrosis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Results of searches were reviewed
      against pre-determined criteria for inclusion. Only one eligible trial was
      available for analysis. MAIN RESULTS: Since only one small study (n = 40) was
      included, no meta-analysis could be performed. The included randomised controlled
      study was of parallel design and undertaken at two paediatric hospitals in
      Australia. The study evaluated the effects of a singing program on the quality of
      life and respiratory muscle strength of hospitalised children with cystic
      fibrosis (mean age 11.6 years, 35% male). While the singing group received eight
      individual singing sessions, the control group participated in preferred
      recreational activities, such as playing computer games or watching movies. This
      study was limited by a small sample size (51 participants) and a high drop-out
      rate (21%). There were no significant differences between the groups at either
      post-intervention or follow up; although by the end of treatment there were some
      within-group statistically significant increases for both singing and control
      groups in some of the domains of the quality of life questionnaire Cystic
      Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised (e.g. emotional, social and vitality domains). For
      the respiratory muscle strength indices, maximal expiratory pressure at follow up
      (six to eight weeks post-intervention) was higher in the singing group, mean
      difference 25.80 (95% confidence interval 5.94 to 45.66). There was no
      significant difference between groups for any of the other respiratory function
      parameters (maximal inspiratory pressure, spirometry) at either post-intervention
      or follow up. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to determine
      the effects of singing on quality of life or on the respiratory parameters in
      people with cystic fibrosis. However, there is growing interest in non-medical
      treatments for cystic fibrosis and researchers may wish to investigate the impact
      of this inexpensive therapy on respiratory function and psychosocial well-being
      further in the future.

PMID- 27629555
TI  - Metal accumulation in bobcats in the Southeastern USA.
AB  - Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are wide-ranging mammals found throughout the continental
      USA. As carnivores near the top of their food chain, bobcats would seem to be a
      useful bioindicator of metal pollution in terrestrial environments. However,
      there is very limited research on bobcats in toxicology studies. Here, we offer
      the first analysis of metal (copper, selenium, silver, and zinc) contaminants in
      the livers of wild bobcats. Liver tissues from 120 adult bobcats (i.e., estimated
      to be >=1 year old) were collected from 2003 to 2006 at four sites in Georgia and
      Florida, USA that experienced relatively similar levels of human disturbance. We
      found no differences in metal concentrations between males and females. At two of
      the sites sampled over three consecutive years, there was substantial year-to
      year variation in the concentrations of Cu, Se, and Zn. We also documented some
      variation between sites, but only between sites sampled in different years, which
      may reflect additional temporal, rather than spatial, variation. Concentrations
      of Cu and Ag were significantly positively correlated with one another, as were
      concentrations of Se and Zn. Contrary to expectation, there were no significant
      relationships between body weight and metal concentrations. Finally, comparison
      with results from previous metal toxicology studies of nine-banded armadillos
      (Dasypus novemcinctus) and Virginia opossums (Didelphis virgianus), collected
      from the same sites during the same years, showed differential patterns of
      accumulation across species, suggesting that ecological lifestyle is an important
      influence on metal accumulation. This study provides reference levels of metal
      contaminants in the liver of bobcats as well as insight into metal accumulation
      in a top level carnivore. 

PMID- 27629558
TI  - Use of a positional therapy device significantly improves nocturnal
      gastroesophageal reflux symptoms.
AB  - The aim of this study was to measure the efficacy of a positional therapy device
      (PTD) at reducing proton pump inhibitor (PPI) refractory nocturnal GERD symptoms.
      Among patients with GERD, nocturnal symptoms are very common. A recent study
      demonstrated a decrease in nocturnal acid exposure and reflux episodes in healthy
      volunteers who slept using a PTD. This is a single-center prospective trial
      involving patients on anti-secretory medications with continued nocturnal
      heartburn and regurgitation. Patients completed the Nocturnal GERD Symptom
      Severity and Impact Questionnaire (N-GSSIQ) and GERD health-related quality of
      life questionnaire (GERD-HRQL) at enrollment. Patients were instructed to sleep
      on the PTD for at least 6 hours a night during the two week study period;
      subjects continued their baseline anti-secretory medication dose. After 2 weeks,
      the questionnaires were repeated. A total of 27 patients (16 females and 11
      males; age 57.8 +/- 15.1) were recruited. After 2 weeks of PTD use, N-GSSIQ
      scores significantly improved from baseline, with a mean total score improvement
      of 39.5 (mean 57.7 [pre] vs. 18.2 [post], P < 0.001). Significant improvement
      from baseline was also observed for the GERD-HRQL questionnaire (29.8 vs. 16.7, P
      < 0.001). No adverse events were reported. At 3 months after the trial period,
      91% of the subjects continued to use the PTD on a nightly basis. Use of the PTD
      significantly decreased nocturnal GERD symptoms and improved GERD-HRQL. The PTD
      was well tolerated during the study period and for 3 months after enrollment.

PMID- 27629559
TI  - Incidence of bladder cancer after radiation for prostate cancer as a function of
      time and radiation modality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the risk of BlCa developing after radiation for PCa,
      stratified by ethnicity and follow-up duration. METHODS: The 1973-2011
      surveillance, epidemiology and end results database was used to determine the
      observed and expected number of BlCa after PCa radiation. The adjusted relative
      risks (RRs) of developing BlCa were calculated for the various radiation
      modalities relative to no radiation, stratified by ethnicity and follow-up
      duration. BlCa characteristics were compared between patients with a history of
      prostate radiation and those without PCa. RESULTS: PCa was radiated in 346,429
      men, 6401 of whom developed BlCa versus 2464 expected cases [SIR (95 % CI) of
      2.60 (2.53-2.66)]. All radiation modalities were found to have an increased RR of
      developing BlCa after 10 years, with brachytherapy having a significantly higher
      RR than external beam radiation (EBRT) or combined EBRT and brachytherapy in
      Caucasian men and a significantly higher RR than EBRT in men of other/unknown
      ethnicity. Post-radiation BlCa, in particular that after brachytherapy, had
      higher grade (P = 0.0001) and lower stage (P = 0.0001) versus the general
      population. CONCLUSIONS: The increased risk of BlCa after prostate radiation
      occurs predominantly after 10 years, regardless of ethnicity. The RR of
      developing BlCa after 10 years is significantly higher following brachytherapy
      than after EBRT or EBRT and brachytherapy. Bladder cancers after prostate
      radiation, especially after brachytherapy, are generally lower stage but higher
      grade than those in patients without PCa.

PMID- 27629560
TI  - PRNP/prion protein regulates the secretion of exosomes modulating CAV1/caveolin-1
      suppressed autophagy.
AB  - Prion protein modulates many cellular functions including the secretion of
      trophic factors by astrocytes. Some of these factors are found in exosomes, which
      are formed within multivesicular bodies (MVBs) and secreted into the
      extracellular space to modulate cell-cell communication. The mechanisms
      underlying exosome biogenesis were not completely deciphered. Here, we
      demonstrate that primary cultures of astrocytes and fibroblasts from prnp-null
      mice secreted lower levels of exosomes than wild-type cells. Furthermore, prnp
      null astrocytes exhibited reduced MVB formation and increased autophagosome
      formation. The reconstitution of PRNP expression at the cell membrane restored
      exosome secretion in PRNP-deficient astrocytes, whereas macroautophagy/autophagy
      inhibition via BECN1 depletion reestablished exosome release in these cells.
      Moreover, the PRNP octapeptide repeat domain was necessary to promote exosome
      secretion and to impair the formation of the CAV1-dependent ATG12-ATG5
      cytoplasmic complex that drives autophagosome formation. Accordingly, higher
      levels of CAV1 were found in lipid raft domains instead of in the cytoplasm in
      prnp-null cells. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that PRNP supports CAV1
      suppressed autophagy to protect MVBs from sequestration into phagophores, thus
      facilitating exosome secretion.

PMID- 27629563
TI  - Impact of cyanogen iodide in killing of Escherichia coli by the lactoperoxidase
      hydrogen peroxide-(pseudo)halide system.
AB  - In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, the heme protein lactoperoxidase is able to
      oxidize thiocyanate and iodide to hypothiocyanite, reactive iodine species, and
      the inter(pseudo)halogen cyanogen iodide. The killing efficiency of these
      oxidants and of the lactoperoxidase-H2O2-SCN-/I- system was investigated on the
      bioluminescent Escherichia coli K12 strain that allows time-resolved
      determination of cell viability. Among the tested oxidants, cyanogen iodide was
      most efficient in killing E. coli, followed by reactive iodine species and
      hypothiocyanite. Thereby, the killing activity of the LPO-H2O2-SCN-/I- system was
      greatly enhanced in comparison to the sole application of iodide when I- was
      applied in two- to twenty-fold excess over SCN-. Further evidence for the
      contribution of cyanogen iodide in killing of E. coli was obtained by applying
      methionine. This amino acid disturbed the killing of E. coli mediated by reactive
      iodine species (partial inhibition) and cyanogen iodide (total inhibition), but
      not by hypothiocyanite. Changes in luminescence of E. coli cells correlate with
      measurements of colony forming units after incubation of cells with the LPO-H2O2
      SCN-/I- system or with cyanogen iodide. Taken together, these results are
      important for the future optimization of the use of lactoperoxidase in
      biotechnological applications.

PMID- 27629564
TI  - Mental Health Service Use Among Young Adults: A Communication Framework for
      Program Development.
AB  - Research on mental health service engagement has been dominated by attempts to
      identify determinants of engagement. Such knowledge is important but incomplete.
      Once identified, program designers need to use evidence-based principles to
      design programs to bring about changes in the empirically identified
      determinants. Research is relatively silent on such principles. This article
      develops a framework to guide program designers' as they address factors that
      constrain and/or facilitate engagement. The framework is grounded in
      communication theory and evidence from related behavioral science research. The
      literature is summarized and used to generate a check-list of questions to
      consider when structuring engagement programs.

PMID- 27629561
TI  - Anticonvulsive Activity in Audiogenic DBA/2 Mice of 1,4-Benzodiazepines and 1,5
      Benzodiazepines with Different Activities at Cerebellar Granule Cell GABAA
      Receptors.
AB  - Herein, we tested in a model of generalized reflex epilepsy in mice different 1,4
      benzodiazepines and 1,5-benzodiazepines with agonistic activity at the GABAA
      receptor population contributing to the peak component of the chloride current
      elicited by GABA in cerebellar granule cells (CGCs) in culture. The substances
      have all higher lipophilia than clobazam, an antiepileptic drug well known and
      used in human therapy. This ensures that they all can pass relatively easily the
      blood-brain barrier (BBB). The benzodiazepines were administered
      intraperitoneally (i.p.) and tested for their activity against sound-induced
      tonic and clonic seizures in a genetic model of experimental epilepsy, the DBA/2
      mouse. Our data demonstrates an interesting inverse correlation between the ED50s
      and the efficacy (E %) of the drugs in increasing the peak chloride current
      elicited by GABA in cerebellar granule cells in culture. There is indication of
      the existence of a threshold of E % above which the increase of ED50 with
      increasing E % becomes linear. This is statistically significant for the clonic
      phase, whereas it is at the limit of significance for the tonic one. A possible
      interpretation of these results is that in this epilepsy model, projections from
      the cerebellum exert a convulsion prevention activity.

PMID- 27629565
TI  - The selection process can improve the outcome in locally advanced and recurrent
      colorectal cancer: activity and results of a dedicated multidisciplinary
      colorectal cancer centre.
AB  - AIM: There is wide disparity in the care of patients with multivisceral
      involvement of rectal cancer. The results are presented of treatment of advanced
      and recurrent colorectal cancer from a centre where a dedicated multidisciplinary
      team (MDT) is central to the management. METHOD: All consecutive MDT referrals
      between 2010 and 2014 were examined. Analysis was undertaken of the referral
      pathway, site, selection process, management decision, R0 resection rate,
      mortality/morbidity/Clavien-Dindo (CD) classification of morbidity, length of
      stay (LOS) and improvement of quality of life. RESULTS: There were 954 referrals.
      These included locally advanced primary rectal cancer (LAPRC b-TME) (39.0%),
      rectal recurrence (RR) (22.0%), locally advanced primary colon cancer (LAPCC
      T3c/d-T4) (21.1%), colon cancer recurrence (CR) (12.4%), locally advanced primary
      anal cancer (LAPAC-failure of CRT/T3c/d-T4) (3.0%) and anal cancer recurrence
      (AR) (2.2%). Among these patients 271 operations were performed, 212 primary and
      59 for recurrence. These included 16 sacrectomies, 134 total pelvic exenterations
      and 121 other multi-visceral exenterative procedures. An R0 resection (no
      microscopic margin involvement) was achieved in 94.4% and R1 (microscopic margin
      involvement) in 5.1%. In LAPRC b-TME the R0 rate was 96.1% and for RR it was 79%.
      The LOS varied from 13.3 to 19.9 days. RR operations had the highest morbidity
      (CD 1-2, 33.3%) and LAPRC operations had the highest rate of CD 3-4 complications
      (18.4%). Most (39.6%) of the referred patients were from other UK hospitals.
      CONCLUSION: Advanced colorectal cancer can be successfully treated in a dedicated
      referral centre, achieving R0 resection in over 90% with low morbidity and
      mortality. Implementation of a standardized referral pathway is encouraged.

PMID- 27629567
TI  - Dose-Response Models are Conditional on Determination of Causality.

PMID- 27629562
TI  - Interactions Between alpha-Synuclein and Tau Protein: Implications to
      Neurodegenerative Disorders.
AB  - Tau and alpha-Synuclein (alpha-Syn) are abundant brain proteins with distinct
      biological functions. Findings suggest that interactions between alpha-Syn and
      tau at the cellular level cause disruption of cytoskeletal organization, axonal
      transport defects, and aberrant synaptic organization. The ability of tau and
      alpha-Syn to affect each other directly or indirectly might contribute to the
      overlap in the clinical and pathological features of tauopathies and
      synucleinopathies. The interactions between alpha-Syn and tau, and the underlying
      molecular pathogenic mechanisms, including induction and spread of protein
      aggregates, still deserve further investigation.

PMID- 27629566
TI  - Unsupervised categorization with individuals diagnosed as having moderate
      traumatic brain injury: Over-selective responding.
AB  - PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: This study explored over-selectivity (executive dysfunction)
      using a standard unsupervised categorization task. Over-selectivity has been
      demonstrated using supervised categorization procedures (where training is
      given); however, little has been done in the way of unsupervised categorization
      (without training). METHODS AND PROCEDURE: A standard unsupervised categorization
      task was used to assess levels of over-selectivity in a traumatic brain injury
      (TBI) population. Individuals with TBI were selected from the Tertiary Traumatic
      Brain Injury Clinic at Swansea University and were asked to categorize two
      dimensional items (pictures on cards), into groups that they felt were most
      intuitive, and without any learning (feedback from experimenter). This was
      compared against categories made by a control group for the same task. OUTCOMES
      AND RESULTS: The findings of this study demonstrate that individuals with TBI had
      deficits for both easy and difficult categorization sets, as indicated by a
      larger amount of one-dimensional sorting compared to control participants.
      Deficits were significantly greater for the easy condition. CONCLUSIONS: The
      implications of these findings are discussed in the context of over-selectivity,
      and the processes that underlie this deficit. Also, the implications for using
      this procedure as a screening measure for over-selectivity in TBI are discussed.

PMID- 27629568
TI  - Collective enquiry and reflective action in research: towards a clarification of
      the terminology.
AB  - Moving from evidence-based medicine through knowledge translation into evidence
      based practice presents many challenges. Implementation research requires
      collaboration of researchers and end users to adapt interventions in response to
      different contexts. Such research progresses iteratively in response to feedback,
      reflection and then action, using theory of change and interactive response to
      diversity. The proliferation of terminology used to describe this research genre
      requires development of a robust taxonomy to categorize overlapping concepts
      where engagement of end users in the research process is core. Co-design research
      redresses past power imbalances where typically research was conducted 'on' not
      'with' populations. Ethics committees charged with protecting rights and autonomy
      of study participants need to recognize that in co-design, participants are not
      being 'done to' but are engaged and active partners in the study design, and
      hence relax their requirements for pre-specified study protocol and research
      documents. Determining which stakeholders should be involved, who can
      legitimately speak for a group, and how to ensure all have adequate input without
      being overburdened requires respectful ongoing negotiation. Ultimately,
      participant engagement is a philosophy not a methodology. Paradigm shift from
      linear strictly defined processes of traditional 'laboratory' research to dynamic
      approaches adaptive to changing contextual circumstances requires involvement and
      engagement of end users. This ensures that the evidence generated is relevant and
      applicable to intended populations, and facilitates sense of ownership in the new
      knowledge, maximizing its modification and utilization in diverse contexts.
      Implementing change in response to new information requires enthusiastic
      champions-none better than those involved in its creation.

PMID- 27629569
TI  - Home visits and nursing home visits by early-career GPs: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Home visits (HVs) and nursing home visits (NHVs) are accepted as core
      elements of general practice. There is concern regarding declining rates of HVs
      and an increasing demand for NHVs together with a perceived decreased willingness
      of younger GPs to provide these services. OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence
      and associations of recently vocationally qualified GPs ('graduates') performing
      HVs and NHVs. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of recent
      (within 5 years) graduates of 3 of Australia's 17 regional general practice
      training programs. Outcome factors were performing, as part of current practice,
      HVs and NHVs. Factors associated with each outcome were assessed by logistic
      regression with graduate and current practice characteristics and vocational
      training experiences as independent variables. RESULTS: Of 230 responding
      graduates, 48.1% performed HVs and 40.6% performed NHVs in their current clinical
      GP role. Factors associated with both HVs and NHVs were participating in in
      practice clinical teaching/supervision [odds ratios (ORs) 2.65 and 2.66],
      conducting HVs/NHVs during training (ORs 5.05 and 10.8) and working full-time
      (ORs for part-time work 0.20 and 0.29). Further associations with performing HVs
      were older GP age (compared to <36 years: ORs 3.65 for 36-40 and 2.53 for 41+),
      smaller practice size (OR 0.53 for larger practices), Australian undergraduate
      education (OR 0.31 for non-Australian) and greater number of years in their
      current practice as a qualified GP (OR 1.25 per year). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      of graduates' modest engagement with HVs and NHVs reinforce concerns regarding
      Australian general practice's capacity to accommodate the needs of an aging
      population.

PMID- 27629570
TI  - Individuals' Long Term Use of Cognitive Behavioural Skills to Manage their
      Depression: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) aims to teach people skills to
      help them self-manage their depression. Trial evidence shows that CBT is an
      effective treatment for depression and individuals may experience benefits long
      term. However, there is little research about individuals' continued use of CBT
      skills once treatment has finished. AIMS: To explore whether individuals who had
      attended at least 12 sessions of CBT continued to use and value the CBT skills
      they had learnt during therapy. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were held with
      participants from the CoBalT trial who had received CBT, approximately 4 years
      earlier. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically.
      RESULTS: 20 participants were interviewed. Analysis of the interviews suggested
      that individuals who viewed CBT as a learning process, at the time of treatment,
      recalled and used specific skills to manage their depression once treatment had
      finished. In contrast, individuals who viewed CBT only as an opportunity to talk
      about their problems did not appear to utilize any of the CBT skills they had
      been taught and reported struggling to manage their depression once treatment had
      ended. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest individuals may value and use CBT skills
      if they engage with CBT as a learning opportunity at the time of treatment. Our
      findings underline the importance of the educational model in CBT and the need to
      emphasize this to individuals receiving treatment.

PMID- 27629571
TI  - Nasal Fibrolipomatous Hamartoma, an Idiosyncratic Connective Tissue Malformation
      in an Infant.
AB  - We describe a congenital mass in the nasopharynx of an infant presenting with
      dyspnea and feeding difficulties. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated 2
      separate polypoid nasal cavity masses that were endoscopically resected.
      Histologically, both lesions were composed of mature adipose tissue with broad
      fibrous bands and several foci of brown fat. PLAG-1 and HMGA-2 were negative by
      immunostains. The best diagnosis was a fibrolipomatous hamartoma.

PMID- 27629572
TI  - Exposure to the Chinese Famine in Childhood Increases Type 2 Diabetes Risk in
      Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence shows that exposure to poor conditions in early life is
      associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases in adults. OBJECTIVE: We
      investigated whether exposure to the Chinese famine (1959-1961) in the fetal
      stage or in childhood (0-9 y) was associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and
      hyperglycemia in adulthood. METHODS: We included 7801 subjects aged 56.4 +/- 3.3
      y from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort. Subjects were classified into late-, middle-,
      and early-childhood-exposed, fetal-exposed, and unexposed groups. Excess
      mortality rate was used to evaluate the severity of famine. Logistic regression
      models were used to analyze the famine-dysglycemia associations. Generalized
      linear models were used to assess the famine effects on dysglycemia risk during
      the 5-y follow-up period among 3100 subjects. RESULTS: In descriptive analyses,
      the risk of T2D was significantly greater in the middle-childhood-exposed group
      (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.87; P = 0.007), and the risk of hyperglycemia was
      higher in the middle- and late-childhood-exposed groups than in the unexposed
      group (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.88 and OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.85,
      respectively). In sex-specific analyses, women exposed in middle childhood (OR:
      1.55; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.06) and late childhood (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.87) had a
      higher risk of T2D than unexposed women. This association was not found in men.
      Similar associations were found for hyperglycemia risk. Moreover, subjects who
      experienced severe famine in childhood had a 38% higher T2D risk (95% CI: 1.05,
      1.81) than those exposed to less severe famine. In retrospective cohort analyses,
      participants who experienced famine in middle childhood had a higher
      hyperglycemia risk relative to the unexposed group (RR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.08,
      3.90). CONCLUSION: Exposure to the Chinese famine in childhood was related to an
      increased risk of adulthood T2D and hyperglycemia, particularly in women.

PMID- 27629574
TI  - Reaching Nutritional Adequacy Does Not Necessarily Increase Exposure to Food
      Contaminants: Evidence from a Whole-Diet Modeling Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dietary guidelines are designed to help meet nutritional
      requirements, but they do not explicitly or quantitatively account for food
      contaminant exposures. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to test whether dietary
      changes needed to achieve nutritional adequacy were compatible with acceptable
      exposure to food contaminants. METHODS: Data from the French national dietary
      survey were linked with food contaminant data from the French Total Diet Study to
      estimate the mean intake of 204 representative food items and mean exposure to 27
      contaminants, including pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, nondioxin-like
      polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCBs) and dioxin-like compounds. For each sex, 2
      modeled diets that departed the least from the observed diet were designed: 1) a
      diet respecting only nutritional recommendations (NUT model), and 2) a diet that
      met nutritional recommendations without exceeding Toxicological Reference Values
      (TRVs) and observed contaminant exposures (NUTOX model). Food, nutrient, and
      contaminant contents in observed diets and NUT and NUTOX diets were compared with
      the use of paired t tests. RESULTS: Mean observed diets did not meet all
      nutritional recommendations, but no contaminant was over 48% of its TRV.
      Achieving all the nutrient recommendations through the NUT model mainly required
      increases in fruit, vegetable, and fish intake and decreases in meat, cheese, and
      animal fat intake. These changes were associated with significantly increased
      dietary exposure to some contaminants, but without exceeding 57% of TRVs. The
      highest increases were found for NDL-PCBs (from 26% to 57% of TRV for women).
      Reaching nutritional adequacy without exceeding observed contaminant exposure
      (NUTOX model) was possible but required further departure from observed food
      quantities. CONCLUSIONS: Based on a broad range of nutrients and contaminants,
      this first assessment of compatibility between nutritional adequacy and
      toxicological exposure showed that reaching nutritional adequacy might increase
      exposure to food contaminants, but within tolerable levels. However, there are
      some food combinations that can meet nutritional recommendations without
      exceeding observed exposures.

PMID- 27629575
TI  - Breast-Milk Cortisol and Cortisone Concentrations Follow the Diurnal Rhythm of
      Maternal Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Very preterm infants often receive donor milk from mothers who
      deliver at term, but its composition differs from that of their own mother's
      milk. Because breast-milk glucocorticoids can support developing neonates, we
      explored concentration variability within and between mothers. OBJECTIVE: We
      hypothesized that breast-milk glucocorticoid concentrations would be higher after
      very preterm delivery [gestational age (GA) <32 wk; study 1] and would follow the
      diurnal rhythm of maternal adrenocortical activity (study 2). METHODS: Study 1
      assessed differences in milk cortisol, cortisone, and the cortisone-to
      (cortisol+cortisone) ratio of mothers who delivered at (median) GA: 28.6 wk or at
      term weekly during the first month postpartum. Study 2 assessed variations in
      milk cortisol, cortisone, and the cortisone-to-(cortisol+cortisone) ratio over 24
      h, and tested Pearson correlations between milk and salivary concentrations in
      mothers who delivered at term (median GA: 38.9 wk) during week 4 postpartum. In
      these studies, foremilk glucocorticoids were measured by liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry. Associations of milk cortisol, milk cortisone, and the
      milk cortisone-to-(cortisol+cortisone) ratio with prematurity (study 1) or
      collection time (study 2) were studied with longitudinal data analyses. RESULTS:
      In study 1, giving birth to a very preterm infant was associated with reductions
      in milk cortisol and cortisone concentrations of 50% (beta: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.26,
      0.99; P = 0.05) and 53% (beta: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.93; P = 0.03), respectively,
      when adjusted for collection time. In study 2, concentrations of milk cortisol
      and cortisone were associated with collection time (both P < 0.01), peaking at
      ~0700. Milk and salivary concentrations of cortisol (r = 0.92, P < 0.01) and
      cortisone (r = 0.93, P < 0.01) as well as the cortisone-to-(cortisol+cortisone)
      ratio (r = 0.64, P < 0.01) were correlated with one another. CONCLUSIONS: Breast
      milk glucocorticoid concentrations follow the diurnal rhythm of maternal
      hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and are lower in mothers who deliver
      very preterm.

PMID- 27629573
TI  - The Human Milk Oligosaccharide 2'-Fucosyllactose Quenches Campylobacter jejuni
      Induced Inflammation in Human Epithelial Cells HEp-2 and HT-29 and in Mouse
      Intestinal Mucosa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni causes diarrhea worldwide; young children are
      most susceptible. Binding of virulent C. jejuni to the intestinal mucosa is
      inhibited ex vivo by alpha1,2-fucosylated carbohydrate moieties, including human
      milk oligosaccharides (HMOSs). OBJECTIVE: The simplest alpha1,2-fucosylated HMOS
      structure, 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL), can be predominant at <=5 g/L milk.
      Although 2'-FL inhibits C. jejuni binding ex vivo and in vivo, the effects of
      2'FL on the cell invasion central to C. jejuni pathogenesis have not been tested.
      Clinical isolates of C. jejuni infect humans, birds, and ferrets, limiting
      studies on its mammalian pathobiology. METHODS: Human epithelial cells HEp-2 and
      HT-29 infected with the virulent C. jejuni strain 81-176 human isolate were
      treated with 5 g 2'-FL/L, and the degree of infection and inflammatory response
      was measured. Four-week-old male wild-type C57BL/6 mice were fed antibiotics to
      reduce their intestinal microbiota and were inoculated with C. jejuni strain 81
      176. The sensitivity of the resulting acute transient enteric infection and
      immune response to inhibition by 2'-FL ingestion was tested. RESULTS: In HEp-2
      and HT-29 cells, 2'-FL attenuated 80% of C. jejuni invasion (P < 0.05) and
      suppressed the release of mucosal proinflammatory signals of interleukin (IL) 8
      by 60-70%, IL-1beta by 80-90%, and the neutrophil chemoattractant macrophage
      inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2) by 50% (P < 0.05). Ingestion of 2'-FL by mice
      reduced C. jejuni colonization by 80%, weight loss by 5%, histologic features of
      intestinal inflammation by 50-70%, and induction of inflammatory signaling
      molecules of the acute-phase mucosal immune response by 50-60% (P < 0.05). This
      acute model did not induce IL-17 (adaptive T cell response), a chronic response.
      CONCLUSIONS: In human cells in vitro (HEp-2, HT-29) and in a mouse infection
      model that recapitulated key pathologic features of C. jejuni clinical disease,
      2'-FL inhibited pathogenesis and its sequelae. These data strongly support the
      hypothesis that 2'-FL represents a new class of oral agent for prevention, and
      potentially for treatment, of specific enteric infectious diseases.

PMID- 27629576
TI  - Plasma Alkylresorcinols Reflect Gluten Intake and Distinguish between Gluten-Rich
      and Gluten-Poor Diets in a Population at Risk of Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many patients with celiac disease experience difficulties in
      adherence to a gluten-free diet. Methods for testing compliance to a gluten-free
      diet are costly and cumbersome. Thus, a simple biomarker of gluten intake is
      needed in a clinical setting and will be useful for epidemiologic studies
      investigating wider effects of gluten intake. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate
      plasma total alkylresorcinol concentrations as a measure of gluten intake.
      METHODS: In this randomized, controlled, crossover intervention study in 52
      Danish adults with features of the metabolic syndrome, we compared 8 wk of a
      gluten-rich and gluten-poor diet separated by a washout period of >=6 wk. We
      measured fasting plasma concentrations of alkylresorcinols to determine if they
      reflected differences in gluten intake as a secondary outcome of the original
      study. In addition, we investigated in 118 Danish adults the cross-sectional
      association between self-reported gluten intake and plasma alkylresorcinols in
      the same and a similar study at baseline. We used mixed-model ANCOVA for
      examining treatment effects, a classification tree to determine compliance to the
      gluten-poor diet, and linear regression models for examining baseline correlation
      between plasma alkylresorcinol concentrations and gluten intake. RESULTS: Plasma
      total alkylresorcinols decreased more during the gluten-poor period (geometric
      mean: -124.8 nmol/L; 95% CI: -156.5, -93.0 nmol/L) than in the gluten-rich period
      (geometric mean: -31.8 nmol/L; 95% CI: -63.1, -0.4 nmol/L) (P < 0.001). On the
      basis of the plasma alkylresorcinol profile, we built a classification tree to
      objectively determine compliance and found an overall participant
      misclassification error of 3.9%. In the cross-sectional study we found a 5.6%
      (95% CI: 2.4%, 8.9%) increase in plasma total alkylresorcinols per 1-g increase
      in reported gluten intake (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We propose the use of plasma
      alkylresorcinols to monitor compliance to a gluten-free diet as well as to help
      investigations into the possible effects of gluten in the wider population. This
      trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT017119913 and NCT01731366.

PMID- 27629577
TI  - Dietary Energy Density and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Incidence in the Cancer
      Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dietary energy density (ED) is a measure of diet quality that
      estimates the amount of energy per unit of food (kilocalories per gram) consumed.
      Low-ED diets are generally high in fiber and fruits and vegetables and low in
      fat. Dietary ED has been positively associated with body mass index (BMI) and
      other risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the
      associations of total dietary ED and energy-dense (high-ED) foods with
      postmenopausal breast cancer incidence. METHODS: Analyses included 56,795
      postmenopausal women from the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort with no
      previous history of breast or other cancers and who provided information on diet,
      lifestyle, and medical history in 1999. Multivariable-adjusted breast cancer
      incidence rate ratios (RRs and 95% CIs) were estimated for quintiles of total
      dietary ED and for the consumption of high-ED foods in Cox proportional hazards
      regression models. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 11.7 y, 2509 invasive
      breast cancer cases were identified, including 1857 estrogen receptor-positive
      and 277 estrogen receptor-negative tumors. Median dietary ED was 1.5 kcal/g (IQR:
      1.3-1.7 kcal/g). After adjusting for age, race, education, reproductive
      characteristics, and family history, high compared with low dietary ED was
      associated with a statistically significantly higher risk of breast cancer (RR
      for fifth quintile compared with first quintile: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.36; P
      trend = 0.03). The association between the amount of high-ED foods consumed and
      breast cancer risk was not statistically significant. We observed no differences
      by estrogen receptor status or effect modification by BMI, age, or physical
      activity. CONCLUSION: These results suggest a modest positive association between
      total dietary ED and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.

PMID- 27629578
TI  - Long-term treatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats with PD123319 and
      electrophysiological remodeling of left ventricular myocardium.
AB  - To investigate the effects of PD123319, an antagonist of angiotensin II subtype-2
      receptor (AT2R), on the electrophysiological characteristics of the left
      ventricular hypertrophic myocardium in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). A
      total of twenty-four 10-week-old male SHR were divided into two groups: PD123319
      and non-PD123319 groups (n = 12 in each). Twelve 10-week-old Wistar-Kyoto rats
      served as the control group. Systolic blood pressure, left ventricular mass index
      (LVMI), ventricular effective refractory period, and ventricular fibrillation
      threshold were also measured after 8 weeks. I Na, I CaL, I to, and membrane
      capacitance were measured in the left ventricular myocytes after 8 weeks by whole
      cell patch clamp. PD123319 increased LVMI compared with the non-PD123319 group
      (PD123319 vs. non-PD123319, 3.83 +/- 0.11 vs. 3.60 +/- 0.19 mg/g; P < 0.01).
      PD123319 also decreased the ventricular fibrillation threshold compared with the
      non-PD123319 group (PD123319 vs. non-PD123319, 14.75 +/- 0.65 vs. 16.0 +/- 0.86
      mA; P < 0.01). PD123319 enhanced membrane capacitance compared with the non
      PD123319 group (PD123319 vs. non-PD123319, 283.63 +/- 5.80 vs. 276.50 +/- 4.28
      pF; P < 0.05). PD123319 increased the density of I CaL compared with the non
      PD123319 group (PD123319 vs. non-PD123319, -6.76 +/- 0.48 vs. -6.13 +/- 0.30
      pA/pF; P < 0.05). PD123319 decreased the density of I to compared with the non
      PD123319 group (PD123319 vs. non-PD123319, 11.49 +/- 0.50 vs. 12.23 +/- 0.36
      pA/pF; P < 0.05). Long-term treatment with PD123319 worsened the development of
      myocyte hypertrophy and associated electrophysiological alterations in
      spontaneously hypertensive rat.

PMID- 27629580
TI  - Differences and Trading: Examining the Effects of Childhood Cancer on the
      Parental Subsystem-Part 1.
AB  - This article is the first of a three-part report of a research study that used
      hermeneutic inquiry to examine the effects of childhood cancer on the
      relationship between the parents of the child. In Part 1, we identity the topic
      of investigation and the relevant literature; describe the research question,
      method, and design; and begin our interpretations of the data with a focus on the
      couples who remained together and those who experienced relationship demise. In
      this analysis, we discovered that issues of difference and trading played a
      strong role in how the couples fared in their relationships. In Part 2 of this
      series, we focus on further interpretations, and in Part 3, we discuss the
      implications of the study for other parents and for health care professionals.

PMID- 27629579
TI  - Beta-cyclodextrin enhanced gastroprotective effect of (-)-linalool, a monoterpene
      present in rosewood essential oil, in gastric lesion models.
AB  - (-)-Linalool is a monoterpene constituent of many essential oils. This particular
      monoterpene has both anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. Moreover, this
      compound has been shown to be antinociceptive. However, the poor chemical
      stability and short half-life prevents the clinical application of (-)-linalool
      and many other essential oils. Important to the topic of this study, beta
      cyclodextrin (beta-CD) has been used to increase the solubility, stability, and
      pharmacological effects of numerous lipophilic compounds in vivo. In this study,
      the gastroprotective activities of (-)-linalool (LIN) and linalool incorporated
      into inclusion complex containing beta-cyclodextrin (LIN-betaCD) were evaluated
      using models of acute and chronic gastric ulcers in rodents. LIN and LIN-betaCD
      showed strong gastroprotective activity (p < 0.001). The LIN-betaCD complex
      revealed that the gastroprotective effect was significantly improved compared
      with LIN uncomplexed, suggesting that this improvement is related to increased
      solubility and stability. Taking together the potentiation of the antioxidant
      profile of this monoterpene, our results suggest that beta-CD may represent an
      important tool for improved gastroprotective activity of (-)-linalool and other
      water-insoluble compounds.

PMID- 27629581
TI  - First Evaluation of a Contingency Management Intervention Addressing Adolescent
      Substance Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors: Risk Reduction Therapy for Adolescents.
AB  - There is a need for interventions that comprehensively address youth substance
      use disorders (SUD) and sexual risk behaviors. Risk Reduction Therapy for
      Adolescents (RRTA) adapts a validated family-focused intervention for youth SUD
      to include sexual risk reduction components in a single intervention. In this
      first evaluation of RRTA, drug court involved youth were randomly assigned to
      RRTA (N=45) or usual services (US; N=60) and followed through 12-months post
      baseline. RRTA included weekly cognitive behavior therapy and behavior management
      training and contingency-contracting with a point earning system managed by
      caregivers targeting drug use and sexual risk antecedents. Longitudinal models
      estimated within-group change and between-group differences through 6- and 12
      month follow-up on outcomes for substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and
      protective HIV behaviors. Robust effects of the intervention were not detected
      under conditions of the study that included potent background interventions by
      the juvenile drug court. Considerations about future development and testing of
      sexual risk reduction therapy for youth are discussed, including the potential
      role of contingency management in future interventions.

PMID- 27629582
TI  - Infections as a cause of autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
AB  - Exogenous and endogenous environmental exposures and particularly infections may
      participate in the breakage of tolerance and the induction of autoimmunity in
      rheumatic diseases. Response to infections apparently occurs years before
      clinical manifestations and features of autoimmunity, such as autoantibodies, are
      detected years before clinical manifestations in autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
      In this review, we summarize the current evidence for a potential causal link
      between infectious agents and rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus,
      systemic sclerosis, Sjogren's syndrome and ANCA-associated vasculitis. 

PMID- 27629583
TI  - Corrigendum to "Evolution and Characterization of a New Reversibly Photoswitching
      Chromogenic Protein, Dathail" [J. Mol. Biol., 428, (2016), 1776-89].

PMID- 27629585
TI  - Gold-Catalyzed Intermolecular, anti-Markovnikov Hydroarylation of
      Methylenecyclopropanes with Indoles.
AB  - Cationic gold complexes containing an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand catalyze the
      intermolecular anti-Markovnikov hydroarylation of monosubstituted and cis- and
      trans-disubstituted methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) with N-alkyl and 1,2-dialkyl
      indoles to form the corresponding 3-(cyclopropylmethyl)indoles in high regio- and
      diastereoselectivity and in good to excellent chemical yield.

PMID- 27629584
TI  - Comparison of dual influenza and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination with
      influenza vaccination alone for preventing pneumonia and reducing mortality among
      the elderly: A meta-analysis.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to perform a meta-analysis comparing the
      effectiveness of influenza vaccination alone versus influenza plus pneumococcal
      dual vaccination for the prevention of pneumonia and mortality in adults >= 65
      years of age. Medline, Cochrane, CENTRAL, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases
      were searched. Inclusion criteria were: 1) Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 2
      arm prospective studies, or retrospective cohort studies; 2) Patients were >= 65
      years of age with or without chronic respiratory disease; 3) Patients received
      the influenza vaccine alone or dual pneumococcal and influenza vaccination; 4)
      Results included incidence of recurrent respiratory tract infections, length of
      hospital stay, and overall mortality rate. The outcomes were pneumonia and all
      cause mortality rates. Of 142 studies identified in the database searches, 6 were
      ultimately included in the systematic review, and 5 were included in meta
      analysis. The number of patients that received the influenza vaccination alone
      ranged from 211 to 29,346 (total = 53,107), and the number that received
      influenza+pneumococcal vaccination ranged from 246 to 72,107 (total = 102,068).
      Influenza+pneumococcal vaccination was associated with a significantly lower
      pneumonia rate than influenza vaccination alone (relative risk [RR] = 0.835, 95%
      confidence interval [CI]: 0.718-0.971, P = 0.019), and with a significantly lower
      all-cause mortality rate than influenza vaccination alone (relative risk [RR] =
      0.771, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.707-0.842, P = 0.001). In conclusion, the
      results of this study support concomitant pneumococcal and influenza vaccination
      of the elderly as a dual vaccination strategy is associated with lower pneumonia
      and all-cause mortality rates.

PMID- 27629586
TI  - Diagnostic copper imaging of Menkes disease by synchrotron radiation-generated X
      ray fluorescence analysis.
AB  - Copper (Cu) is an indispensable metal for normal development and function of
      humans, especially in central nervous system (CNS). However, its redox activity
      requires accurate Cu transport system. ATP7A, a main Cu(2+) transporting-ATPase,
      is necessary to efflux Cu across the plasma membrane and synthesize cuproenzymes.
      Menkes disease (MD) is caused by mutations in ATP7A gene. Clinically, MD is Cu
      deficiency syndrome and is treated with Cu-histidine injections soon after
      definite diagnosis. But outcome of the most remains poor. To estimate the
      standard therapy, Cu distribution in the treated classic MD patients is analyzed
      by synchrotron-generated X-ray fluorescence technique (SR-XRF), which identifies
      and quantifies an individual atom up to at subcellular level of resolution with
      wide detection area. SR-XRF analysis newly reveals that Cu exists in spinal cord
      parenchyma and flows out via venous and lymph systems. By systemic analysis,
      excess Cu is detected in the proximal tubular cells of the kidney, the mucosal
      epithelial cells of the intestine, and the lymph and venous systems. The current
      study suggests that the standard therapy supply almost enough Cu for patient
      tissues. But given Cu passes through the tissues to venous and lymph systems, or
      accumulate in the cells responsible for Cu absorption.

PMID- 27629587
TI  - Investigation of the influence of transport from oil and natural gas regions on
      elevated ozone levels in the northern Colorado front range.
AB  - : The Northern Colorado Front Range (NCFR) has been in exceedance of the ozone
      National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) since 2004, which has led to much
      debate over the sources of ozone precursors to the region, as this area is home
      to both the Denver, CO, metropolitan area and the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which
      has experienced rapid growth of oil and natural gas (O&NG) operations and
      associated emissions. Several recent studies have reported elevated levels of
      atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as a result of O&NG emissions and
      the potential for significant ozone production from these emissions, despite
      implementation of stricter O&NG VOC emissions regulations in 2008. Approximately
      88% of 1-hr elevated ozone events (>75 ppbv) occur during June-August, indicating
      that elevated ozone levels are driven by regional photochemistry. Analyses of
      surface ozone and wind observations from two sites, namely, South Boulder and the
      Boulder Atmospheric Observatory, both near Boulder, CO, show a preponderance of
      elevated ozone events associated with east-to-west airflow from regions with O&NG
      operations in the N-ESE, and a relatively minor contribution of transport from
      the Denver Metropolitan area to the SE-S. Transport from upwind areas associated
      with abundant O&NG operations accounts for on the order of 65% (mean for both
      sites) of 1-hr averaged elevated ozone levels, while the Denver urban corridor
      accounts for 9%. These correlations contribute to mounting evidence that air
      transport from areas with O&NG operation has a significant impact on ozone and
      air quality in the NCFR. IMPLICATIONS: This article builds on several previous
      pieces of research that implied significant contributions from oil and natural
      gas emissions on ozone production in the Northern Colorado Front Range. By
      correlating increased ozone events with transport analyses we show that there is
      a high abundance of transport events with elevated ozone originating from the
      Denver-Julesburg oil and natural gas basin. These findings will help air quality
      regulators to better assess contributing sources to ozone production and in
      directing policies to curb ozone pollution in this region.

PMID- 27629589
TI  - Patterns and severity of menopausal symptoms among Jordanian women.
AB  - We examined 359 women aged 45-65 years who visited Jordan University Hospital
      between February and November 2014. The menopausal symptoms were assessed using a
      validated Arabic version of the menopause rating scale. The mean age at menopause
      was 49.4 years. Women aged 50-55 years more frequently exhibited hot flushes and
      vaginal dryness. Although premenopausal women were 1.5 times more likely to
      experience irritability, perimenopausal women were more likely to experience hot
      flushes, physical and mental irritability, sexual problems, vaginal dryness, and
      joint and muscular discomfort. Hence, health care providers should focus on women
      at all stages of life.

PMID- 27629588
TI  - Effect of Cd2+ on tyrosinase: Integration of inhibition kinetics with
      computational simulation.
AB  - Cadmium ions (Cd2+) are a widespread and easily absorbed toxin to both humans and
      animals that can be spread via food, water, and air pollution. Tyrosinase (EC
      1.14.18.1) is a multifunctional copper-containing enzyme that is ubiquitously
      expressed in animals and plays a critical role in melanin production. We
      evaluated the toxic effects of Cd2+ on tyrosinase activity and conformation by
      measuring kinetics and computationally simulating the interactions. We found Cd2+
      to be a slope-hyperbolic noncompetitive-inhibition reversible inhibitor of
      tyrosinase, with an IC50 of 2.92+/-0.16mM and Ki of 0.23+/-0.02mM.
      Spectrofluorimetric measurements of intrinsic and ANS-binding fluorescence showed
      that Cd2+ did not induce significant changes to tyrosinase overall or to its
      regional active site conformations. Cd2+ showed its inactivation effect not by
      modulating apparent structural changes to tyrosinase, but by occupying binding
      sites. To gain further insight into the Cd2+/tyrosinase interaction, we performed
      computational docking and molecular dynamics simulations. The results
      consistently indicated that Cd2+ can interact with several residues near the
      tyrosinase active site, primarily HIS85 and ASN260. Our study provides insight
      into the mechanism of the toxic effects Cd2+ has on tyrosinase, which could
      affect the normal pigmentation pathway in animals.

PMID- 27629590
TI  - Twenty years of ModelDB and beyond: building essential modeling tools for the
      future of neuroscience.
AB  - Neuron modeling may be said to have originated with the Hodgkin and Huxley action
      potential model in 1952 and Rall's models of integrative activity of dendrites in
      1964. Over the ensuing decades, these approaches have led to a massive
      development of increasingly accurate and complex data-based models of neurons and
      neuronal circuits. ModelDB was founded in 1996 to support this new field and
      enhance the scientific credibility and utility of computational neuroscience
      models by providing a convenient venue for sharing them. It has grown to include
      over 1100 published models covering more than 130 research topics. It is actively
      curated and developed to help researchers discover and understand models of
      interest. ModelDB also provides mechanisms to assist running models both locally
      and remotely, and has a graphical tool that enables users to explore the
      anatomical and biophysical properties that are represented in a model. Each of
      its capabilities is undergoing continued refinement and improvement in response
      to user experience. Large research groups (Allen Brain Institute, EU Human Brain
      Project, etc.) are emerging that collect data across multiple scales and
      integrate that data into many complex models, presenting new challenges of scale.
      We end by predicting a future for neuroscience increasingly fueled by new
      technology and high performance computation, and increasingly in need of
      comprehensive user-friendly databases such as ModelDB to provide the means to
      integrate the data for deeper insights into brain function in health and disease.

PMID- 27629592
TI  - Synthesis of 2alpha- and 2beta-(3-hydroxypropyl)- 7,8-cis-14-epi-1alpha,25
      dihydroxy-19-norvitamin D3 and their biological activity.
AB  - According to the binding mode of 14-epi-1alpha,25-dihydroxy-19-nortachysterol in
      the ligand binding domain of human vitamin D receptor (hVDR), i.e., 5,6- and 7,8
      s-trans configuration that was shown by X-ray co-crystallographic analysis, 7,8
      cis-locked 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 analogs were synthesized. In this paper, the
      synthesis and biological activity of 2alpha- and 2beta-(3-hydroxypropyl)-7,8-cis
      14-epi-1alpha,25-dihydroxy-19-norvitamin D3 are reported. The A-ring and CD-ring
      precursors for the Julia-Kociensky coupling reaction to create a diene system of
      the target molecules were prepared using our original methods. hVDR binding
      affinity and osteocalcin promoter transactivation activity of the new 7,8-cis-14
      epi-vitamin D3 analogs were evaluated. Interestingly, the 2beta-substituted 7,8
      cis-analog was a better binder for hVDR than the 2alpha-isomeric counterpart.

PMID- 27629591
TI  - Unique roles of the unfolded protein response pathway in fungal development and
      differentiation.
AB  - Cryptococcus neoformans, a global fungal meningitis pathogen, employs the
      unfolded protein response pathway. This pathway, which consists of an
      evolutionarily conserved Ire1 kinase/endoribonuclease and a unique transcription
      factor (Hxl1), modulates the endoplasmic reticulum stress response and
      pathogenicity. Here, we report that the unfolded protein response pathway governs
      sexual and unisexual differentiation of C. neoformans in an Ire1-dependent but
      Hxl1-independent manner. The ire1? mutants showed defects in sexual mating, with
      reduced cell fusion and pheromone-mediated formation of the conjugation tube.
      Unexpectedly, these mating defects did not result from defective pheromone
      production because expression of the mating pheromone gene (MFalpha1) was
      strongly induced in the ire1? mutant. Ire1 controls sexual differentiation by
      modulating the function of the molecular chaperone Kar2 and by regulating mating
      induced localisation of mating pheromone transporter (Ste6) and receptor
      (Ste3/Cpralpha). Deletion of IRE1, but not HXL1, also caused significant defects
      in unisexual differentiation in a Kar2-independent manner. Moreover, we showed
      that Rim101 is a novel downstream factor of Ire1 for production of the capsule,
      which is a unique structural determinant of C. neoformans virulence. Therefore,
      Ire1 uniquely regulates fungal development and differentiation in an Hxl1
      independent manner.

PMID- 27629594
TI  - Serum 25(OH)D and adipokines levels in people with abdominal obesity.
AB  - Abdominal obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes
      mellitus and has been associated with vitamin D deficiency. Some studies have
      suggested an association between obesity and adipokine levels as well as low
      serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level but the underlying mechanisms of the
      interlink between vitamin D status and serum leptin and adiponectin
      concentrations are still disputed. We included 435 residents (132 males) from St.
      Petersburg, Russia into this study. All subjects had physical examination and
      demographics noted. Blood was collected after an overnight fast and plasma
      glucose, insulin, serum lipids, 25(OH)D and adipokines (adiponectin and leptin)
      concentrations were determined at baseline in all participants. Abdominal obesity
      was diagnosed in 310 (71.3%) subjects (251 females and 59 males). Vitamin D
      insufficiency and deficiency were found in 314 (72.2%) subjects. Mean (95% CI)
      age, body mass index (BMI) and serum 25(OH)D for the cohort were 47.6+/
      11.3years; 28.7+/-0.2kg/m2 and 62.5+/-24.3nmol/l respectively. Serum 25(OH)D
      level inversely correlated with body weight, waist circumference (WC) and BMI in
      females but not in males, was lower in diabetic than non-diabetic subjects, and
      was not significantly different in subjects with and without MetS. WC was
      positively correlated with leptin and negatively correlated with adiponectin. We
      found correlation between leptin and serum 25(OH)D level (r=-0.15, p=0.01) but
      this finding was a characteristic seen only in women. Our study showed a high
      prevalence of abdominal obesity, vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in
      residents from North-West region of Russia, close association between adipokine
      (leptin, adiponectin) concentrations as well as vitamin D status and body
      composition (WC, BMI). However in our study the interlink between leptin level
      and 25(OH)D was found only in females. Further investigations are required to
      study the relationship between serum 25(OH)D level, obesity and serum adipokine
      levels.

PMID- 27629595
TI  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is induced by cytotoxic drugs and is
      involved in immune escape and migration in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma.
AB  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is known to be involved in oncogenic
      transformation, tumour progression, and immunosuppression and is overexpressed in
      many solid tumours, including paediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). We investigated
      the function of MIF in RMS during treatment with cytotoxic drugs. RMS cell lines
      were analysed by flow cytometry, immunofluorescence staining, and ELISA. We
      demonstrated the overexpression of MIF in RMS cells and the enhanced expression
      and secretion after treatment with cytotoxic agents. Migration assays of RMS
      cells revealed that inhibitors of MIF (ISO-1, Ant.III 4-IPP, Ant.V, sulforaphane
      (SF)) and blocking antibodies caused reduced migration, indicating a role for MIF
      in metastatic invasion. Additionally, we investigated the function of MIF in
      immune escape. The development of a population containing immunosuppressive
      myeloid-derived suppressor cells was promoted by incubation in conditioned medium
      of RMS cells comprising MIF and was reversed by MIF inhibitors but not by
      antibodies. Although most inhibitors may restore immune activity, Ant.III and 10
      uM SF disturbed T cell proliferation in a CFSE assay, whereas T cell
      proliferation was not reduced by 3 uM SF, ISO-1 or antibodies. However, the
      inhibition of MIF by blocking antibodies did not increase the killing activity of
      allogenic PBMCs co-cultured with RMS cells. Our results reveal that MIF may be
      involved in an immune escape mechanism and demonstrate the involvement of MIF in
      immunogenic cell death during treatment with cytotoxic drugs. Targeting MIF may
      contribute to the restoration of immune sensitivity and the control of migration
      and metastatic invasion.

PMID- 27629593
TI  - Fetal-to-maternal signaling in the timing of birth.
AB  - Preterm birth remains the major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality
      throughout the world. This is due, in part, to our incomplete understanding of
      the mechanisms that underlie the maintenance of pregnancy and the initiation of
      parturition at term. In this article, we review our current knowledge of the
      complex, interrelated and concerted mechanisms whereby progesterone maintains
      myometrial quiescence throughout most of pregnancy, as well as those that mediate
      the upregulation of the inflammatory response and decline in progesterone
      receptor function leading to parturition. Herein, we review findings that
      demonstrate a role of the fetus in the timing of birth. Specifically, we focus on
      our own studies indicating that maturation of the fetal lung and enhanced
      secretion of the surfactant components, surfactant protein A (SP-A) and the
      potent inflammatory glycerophospholipid, platelet-activating factor (PAF),
      initiate a signaling cascade culminating in parturition. Our studies suggest an
      essential role of steroid receptor coactivators, SRC-1 and SRC-2, which activate
      expression of genes encoding SP-A and LPCAT1. LPCAT1 is a key enzyme in the
      synthesis of PAF, as well as DPPC, a highly surface-active glycerophospholipid
      component of surfactant. Thus, we describe a novel pathway through which the
      fetus contributes to the initiation of labor by signaling the mother when its
      lungs have achieved sufficient maturity for survival in an aerobic environment.

PMID- 27629596
TI  - Development of Bioresorbable Hydrophilic-Hydrophobic Electrospun Scaffolds for
      Neural Tissue Engineering.
AB  - In this study, electrospun fiber scaffolds based on biodegradable and
      bioabsorbable polymers and showing a similar structure to that of the
      extracellular matrix (ECM) present in the neural tissues were prepared. The
      effects of electrospun-based scaffolds processed from poly(lactic acid)
      (PLA)/poly(lactide-b-ethylene glycol-b-lactide) block copolymer (PELA) and
      PLA/polyethylene glycol (PEG) (50:50 by wt) blends on the morphology,
      wettability, and mechanical properties, as well as on neural stem cell (NSC)
      behavior, were investigated. Thus, PLA/PELA and PLA/PEG fiber mats composed of
      PEG with different chain lengths were evaluated for optimal use as tissue
      engineering scaffolds. In both cases, the hydrophilic character of the scaffold
      surface was increased from the introduction of PEG homopolymer or PEG-based block
      copolymer compared with neat PLA. A microphase separation and a surface erosion
      of PLA/PEG blend-based electrospun fibers were highlighted, whereas PLA/PELA
      blend-based fibers displayed a moderate hydrophilic surface and a tunable balance
      between surface erosion and bulk degradation. Even if the mechanical properties
      of PLA fibers containing PEG or PELA decreased slightly, an excellent compromise
      between stiffness and the ability to sustain large deformation was found for
      PLA/PELA(2k), which displayed a significant increase in strain at break, that is,
      up to 500%. Our results suggest that both neat PLA and PLA/PELA blends
      supplemented with growth factors may mimic neural-like constructs and provide
      structural stability. Nonetheless, electrospun PLA/PELA blends have a suitable
      surface property, which may act synergistically in the modulation of biopotential
      for implantable scaffolding in neural tissue engineering.

PMID- 27629597
TI  - Genetic Moderation of Intervention Efficacy: Dopaminergic Genes, The Incredible
      Years, and Externalizing Behavior in Children.
AB  - This study investigated whether children scoring higher on a polygenic plasticity
      index based on five dopaminergic genes (DRD4, DRD2, DAT1, MAOA, and COMT)
      benefited the most from the Incredible Years (IY) parent program. Data were used
      from a randomized controlled trial including 341 Dutch families with 4- to 8-year
      old children (55.7% boys) showing moderate to high levels of problem behavior. IY
      proved to be most effective in decreasing parent-reported (but not observed)
      externalizing behavior in boys (but not girls) carrying more rather than fewer
      dopaminergic plasticity alleles; this Gene * Intervention effect was most
      pronounced in the case of boys whose parents' manifested the most positive change
      in parenting in response to the intervention. These results proved robust across
      a variety of sampling specifications (e.g., intention to treat, ethnicity).

PMID- 27629600
TI  - Researchers should join protests over detained scientist.

PMID- 27629599
TI  - Congenital Zika syndrome: time to move from case series to case-control studies
      and data sharing.

PMID- 27629598
TI  - Major depressive disorder.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disease that is characterized
      by depressed mood, diminished interests, impaired cognitive function and
      vegetative symptoms, such as disturbed sleep or appetite. MDD occurs about twice
      as often in women than it does in men and affects one in six adults in their
      lifetime. The aetiology of MDD is multifactorial and its heritability is
      estimated to be approximately 35%. In addition, environmental factors, such as
      sexual, physical or emotional abuse during childhood, are strongly associated
      with the risk of developing MDD. No established mechanism can explain all aspects
      of the disease. However, MDD is associated with alterations in regional brain
      volumes, particularly the hippocampus, and with functional changes in brain
      circuits, such as the cognitive control network and the affective-salience
      network. Furthermore, disturbances in the main neurobiological stress-responsive
      systems, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system,
      occur in MDD. Management primarily comprises psychotherapy and pharmacological
      treatment. For treatment-resistant patients who have not responded to several
      augmentation or combination treatment attempts, electroconvulsive therapy is the
      treatment with the best empirical evidence. In this Primer, we provide an
      overview of the current evidence of MDD, including its epidemiology, aetiology,
      pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 27629601
TI  - Modernize radiation measurements to save lives.

PMID- 27629603
TI  - Illusory fears must not stifle chimaera research.

PMID- 27629602
TI  - Using waste water to flush out drug dealers.

PMID- 27629605
TI  - Genomics: History of brewer's yeast revealed.

PMID- 27629604
TI  - Microbiology: Nanoparticles kill resistant bacteria.

PMID- 27629606
TI  - Evolution: Why some groups have more species.

PMID- 27629608
TI  - Astronomy: Galaxy collisions make waves fast.

PMID- 27629607
TI  - Meteorology: Air particles boost rain extremes.

PMID- 27629609
TI  - Conservation: Hawaiian bird-life collapse.

PMID- 27629610
TI  - Electronics: Protection for transistors.

PMID- 27629611
TI  - Cancer biology: Location matters in cancer growth.

PMID- 27629612
TI  - Engineering: Fabric harvests two energy forms.

PMID- 27629614
TI  - Google's speech machine, Lasker awards and Obama's parasite.

PMID- 27629613
TI  - Infection: Feed a virus, starve a bacterium.

PMID- 27629615
TI  - Mystery deportation of particle physicist leads to swell of protest.

PMID- 27629616
TI  - Cancer experts unveil wishlist for US government 'moonshot'.

PMID- 27629617
TI  - Medical Nobel prize committee deals with surgical scandal.

PMID- 27629618
TI  - DNA reveals that giraffes are four species--not one.

PMID- 27629619
TI  - Ebola virus lingers longer than scientists thought.

PMID- 27629620
TI  - Milky Way mapper: 6 ways the Gaia spacecraft will change astronomy.

PMID- 27629621
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27629622
TI  - The office experiment: Can science build the perfect workspace?

PMID- 27629624
TI  - Agricultural R&D is on the move.

PMID- 27629625
TI  - Technology: Selfies in space.

PMID- 27629623
TI  - Secrets of life in the soil.

PMID- 27629627
TI  - Dendrology: The community of trees.

PMID- 27629628
TI  - Reproducibility: Harness passion of private fossil owners.

PMID- 27629629
TI  - Water supply: China's sponge cities to soak up rainwater.

PMID- 27629630
TI  - Taxonomy: Species can be named from photos.

PMID- 27629631
TI  - PhD thesis: Avoid bias against junior researchers.

PMID- 27629632
TI  - Great Barrier Reef: Clearing the way for reef destruction.

PMID- 27629633
TI  - Obituary. Seymour Papert (1928-2016).

PMID- 27629634
TI  - Earth science: Extraordinary world.

PMID- 27629636
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27629635
TI  - Materials science: Not so creepy under stress.

PMID- 27629637
TI  - The protein world.

PMID- 27629638
TI  - The coming of age of de novo protein design.
AB  - There are 20(200) possible amino-acid sequences for a 200-residue protein, of
      which the natural evolutionary process has sampled only an infinitesimal subset.
      De novo protein design explores the full sequence space, guided by the physical
      principles that underlie protein folding. Computational methodology has advanced
      to the point that a wide range of structures can be designed from scratch with
      atomic-level accuracy. Almost all protein engineering so far has involved the
      modification of naturally occurring proteins; it should now be possible to design
      new functional proteins from the ground up to tackle current challenges in
      biomedicine and nanotechnology. 

PMID- 27629639
TI  - Proteome complexity and the forces that drive proteome imbalance.
AB  - The cellular proteome is a complex microcosm of structural and regulatory
      networks that requires continuous surveillance and modification to meet the
      dynamic needs of the cell. It is therefore crucial that the protein flux of the
      cell remains in balance to ensure proper cell function. Genetic alterations that
      range from chromosome imbalance to oncogene activation can affect the speed,
      fidelity and capacity of protein biogenesis and degradation systems, which often
      results in proteome imbalance. An improved understanding of the causes and
      consequences of proteome imbalance is helping to reveal how these systems can be
      targeted to treat diseases such as cancer. 

PMID- 27629640
TI  - Unravelling biological macromolecules with cryo-electron microscopy.
AB  - Knowledge of the three-dimensional structures of proteins and other biological
      macromolecules often aids understanding of how they perform complicated tasks in
      the cell. Because many such tasks involve the cleavage or formation of chemical
      bonds, structural characterization at the atomic level is most useful.
      Developments in the electron microscopy of frozen hydrated samples (cryo-electron
      microscopy) are providing unprecedented opportunities for the structural
      characterization of biological macromolecules. This is resulting in a wave of
      information about processes in the cell that were impossible to characterize with
      existing techniques in structural biology. 

PMID- 27629642
TI  - Extreme creep resistance in a microstructurally stable nanocrystalline alloy.
AB  - Nanocrystalline metals, with a mean grain size of less than 100 nanometres, have
      greater room-temperature strength than their coarse-grained equivalents, in part
      owing to a large reduction in grain size. However, this high strength generally
      comes with substantial losses in other mechanical properties, such as creep
      resistance, which limits their practical utility; for example, creep rates in
      nanocrystalline copper are about four orders of magnitude higher than those in
      typical coarse-grained copper. The degradation of creep resistance in
      nanocrystalline materials is in part due to an increase in the volume fraction of
      grain boundaries, which lack long-range crystalline order and lead to processes
      such as diffusional creep, sliding and rotation. Here we show that
      nanocrystalline copper-tantalum alloys possess an unprecedented combination of
      properties: high strength combined with extremely high-temperature creep
      resistance, while maintaining mechanical and thermal stability. Precursory work
      on this family of immiscible alloys has previously highlighted their thermo
      mechanical stability and strength, which has motivated their study under more
      extreme conditions, such as creep. We find a steady-state creep rate of less than
      10(-6) per second-six to eight orders of magnitude lower than most
      nanocrystalline metals-at various temperatures between 0.5 and 0.64 times the
      melting temperature of the matrix (1,356 kelvin) under an applied stress ranging
      from 0.85 per cent to 1.2 per cent of the shear modulus. The unusual combination
      of properties in our nanocrystalline alloy is achieved via a processing route
      that creates distinct nanoclusters of atoms that pin grain boundaries within the
      alloy. This pinning improves the kinetic stability of the grains by increasing
      the energy barrier for grain-boundary sliding and rotation and by inhibiting
      grain coarsening, under extremely long-term creep conditions. Our processing
      approach should enable the development of microstructurally stable structural
      alloys with high strength and creep resistance for various high-temperature
      applications, including in the aerospace, naval, civilian infrastructure and
      energy sectors. 

PMID- 27629641
TI  - Mass-spectrometric exploration of proteome structure and function.
AB  - Numerous biological processes are concurrently and coordinately active in every
      living cell. Each of them encompasses synthetic, catalytic and regulatory
      functions that are, almost always, carried out by proteins organized further into
      higher-order structures and networks. For decades, the structures and functions
      of selected proteins have been studied using biochemical and biophysical methods.
      However, the properties and behaviour of the proteome as an integrated system
      have largely remained elusive. Powerful mass-spectrometry-based technologies now
      provide unprecedented insights into the composition, structure, function and
      control of the proteome, shedding light on complex biological processes and
      phenotypes. 

PMID- 27629644
TI  - Primitive Solar System materials and Earth share a common initial (142)Nd
      abundance.
AB  - The early evolution of planetesimals and planets can be constrained using
      variations in the abundance of neodymium-142 ((142)Nd), which arise from the
      initial distribution of (142)Nd within the protoplanetary disk and the
      radioactive decay of the short-lived samarium-146 isotope ((146)Sm). The apparent
      offset in (142)Nd abundance found previously between chondritic meteorites and
      Earth has been interpreted either as a possible consequence of nucleosynthetic
      variations within the protoplanetary disk or as a function of the differentiation
      of Earth very early in its history. Here we report high-precision Sm and Nd
      stable and radiogenic isotopic compositions of four calcium-aluminium-rich
      refractory inclusions (CAIs) from three CV-type carbonaceous chondrites, and of
      three whole-rock samples of unequilibrated enstatite chondrites. The CAIs, which
      are the first solids formed by condensation from the nebular gas, provide the
      best constraints for the isotopic evolution of the early Solar System. Using the
      mineral isochron method for individual CAIs, we find that CAIs without isotopic
      anomalies in Nd compared to the terrestrial composition share a (146)Sm/(144)Sm
      (142)Nd/(144)Nd isotopic evolution with Earth. The average (142)Nd/(144)Nd
      composition for pristine enstatite chondrites that we calculate coincides with
      that of the accessible silicate layers of Earth. This relationship between CAIs,
      enstatite chondrites and Earth can only be a result of Earth having inherited the
      same initial abundance of (142)Nd and chondritic proportions of Sm and Nd.
      Consequently, (142)Nd isotopic heterogeneities found in other CAIs and among
      chondrite groups may arise from extrasolar grains that were present in the disk
      and incorporated in different proportions into these planetary objects. Our
      finding supports a chondritic Sm/Nd ratio for the bulk silicate Earth and, as a
      consequence, chondritic abundances for other refractory elements. It also removes
      the need for a hidden reservoir or for collisional erosion scenarios to explain
      the (142)Nd/(144)Nd composition of Earth. 

PMID- 27629643
TI  - A nucleosynthetic origin for the Earth's anomalous (142)Nd composition.
AB  - A long-standing paradigm assumes that the chemical and isotopic compositions of
      many elements in the bulk silicate Earth are the same as in chondrites. However,
      the accessible Earth has a greater (142)Nd/(144)Nd ratio than do chondrites.
      Because (142)Nd is the decay product of the now-extinct (146)Sm (which has a half
      life of 103 million years), this (142)Nd difference seems to require a higher
      than-chondritic Sm/Nd ratio for the accessible Earth. This must have been
      acquired during global silicate differentiation within the first 30 million years
      of Solar System formation and implies the formation of a complementary (142)Nd
      depleted reservoir that either is hidden in the deep Earth, or lost to space by
      impact erosion. Whether this complementary reservoir existed, and whether or not
      it has been lost from Earth, is a matter of debate, and has implications for
      determining the bulk composition of Earth, its heat content and structure, as
      well as for constraining the modes and timescales of its geodynamical evolution.
      Here we show that, compared with chondrites, Earth's precursor bodies were
      enriched in neodymium that was produced by the slow neutron capture process (s
      process) of nucleosynthesis. This s-process excess leads to higher
      (142)Nd/(144)Nd ratios; after correction for this effect, the (142)Nd/(144)Nd
      ratios of chondrites and the accessible Earth are indistinguishable within five
      parts per million. The (142)Nd offset between the accessible silicate Earth and
      chondrites therefore reflects a higher proportion of s-process neodymium in the
      Earth, and not early differentiation processes. As such, our results obviate the
      need for hidden-reservoir or super-chondritic Earth models and imply a chondritic
      Sm/Nd ratio for the bulk Earth. Although chondrites formed at greater
      heliocentric distances and contain a different mix of presolar components than
      Earth, they nevertheless are suitable proxies for Earth's bulk chemical
      composition. 

PMID- 27629646
TI  - Reproducibility: Respect your cells!

PMID- 27629645
TI  - Discovery of species-wide tool use in the Hawaiian crow.
AB  - Only a handful of bird species are known to use foraging tools in the wild.
      Amongst them, the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) stands out with its
      sophisticated tool-making skills. Despite considerable speculation, the
      evolutionary origins of this species' remarkable tool behaviour remain largely
      unknown, not least because no naturally tool-using congeners have yet been
      identified that would enable informative comparisons. Here we show that another
      tropical corvid, the 'Alala (C. hawaiiensis; Hawaiian crow), is a highly
      dexterous tool user. Although the 'Alala became extinct in the wild in the early
      2000s, and currently survives only in captivity, at least two lines of evidence
      suggest that tool use is part of the species' natural behavioural repertoire:
      juveniles develop functional tool use without training, or social input from
      adults; and proficient tool use is a species-wide capacity. 'Alala and New
      Caledonian crows evolved in similar environments on remote tropical islands, yet
      are only distantly related, suggesting that their technical abilities arose
      convergently. This supports the idea that avian foraging tool use is facilitated
      by ecological conditions typical of islands, such as reduced competition for
      embedded prey and low predation risk. Our discovery creates exciting
      opportunities for comparative research on multiple tool-using and non-tool-using
      corvid species. Such work will in turn pave the way for replicated cross
      taxonomic comparisons with the primate lineage, enabling valuable insights into
      the evolutionary origins of tool-using behaviour. 

PMID- 27629647
TI  - A perfect medium for unrequited love.

PMID- 27629649
TI  - Amyloid-beta transmission or unexamined bias?

PMID- 27629648
TI  - Collinge et al. reply.

PMID- 27629650
TI  - Acoustic indices provide information on the status of coral reefs: an example
      from Moorea Island in the South Pacific.
AB  - Different marine habitats are characterised by different soundscapes. How or
      which differences may be representative of the habitat characteristics and/or
      community structure remains however to be explored. A growing project in passive
      acoustics is to find a way to use soundscapes to have information on the habitat
      and on its changes. In this study we have successfully tested the potential of
      two acoustic indices, i.e. the average sound pressure level and the acoustic
      complexity index based on the frequency spectrum. Inside and outside marine
      protected areas of Moorea Island (French Polynesia), sound pressure level was
      positively correlated with the characteristics of the substratum and acoustic
      complexity was positively correlated with fish diversity. It clearly shows
      soundscape can be used to evaluate the acoustic features of marine protected
      areas, which presented a significantly higher ambient sound pressure level and
      were more acoustically complex than non-protected areas. This study further
      emphasizes the importance of acoustics as a tool in the monitoring of marine
      environments and in the elaboration and management of future conservation plans.

PMID- 27629651
TI  - Dopant-Free Zinc Chlorophyll Aggregates as an Efficient Biocompatible Hole
      Transporter for Perovskite Solar Cells.
AB  - Chlorophylls (Chls) are abundant, naturally occurring pigments that play key
      roles in light-harvesting and electron/energy transfer in natural photosynthetic
      apparatus. To demonstrate the idea that Chls are suitable hole transporters, we
      employed two Chl derivatives, Chl-1 and Chl-2, which self-assembled readily into
      pi-stacking aggregates through a simple spincasting process, in perovskite solar
      cells (PSCs). The Chl aggregate films exhibit an ultra-smooth film surface, high
      hole mobility, appropriate energy levels, and efficient hole injection
      efficiencies that are all key characteristics for efficient hole transporters in
      PSCs. CH3 NH3 PbI3-x Clx -based PSCs with these Chls as hole transporters were
      fabricated and compared with P3HT as a standard hole transporter. PSCs based on
      Chl-1 and Chl-2 without the use of typical additives, such as 4-tert
      butylpyridine and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfinyl)imide, gave power
      conversion efficiencies of 11.44 and 8.06 %, respectively. This research provides
      a unique way to incorporate low-cost and environmentally friendly natural
      photosynthetic materials in the development of highly efficient photovoltaic
      devices.

PMID- 27629652
TI  - An ERP study on hostile attribution bias in aggressive and nonaggressive
      individuals.
AB  - Hostile attribution bias (e.g., tendency to interpret the intention of others as
      hostile in ambiguous social contexts) has been associated with impulsive
      aggression in adults, but the results are mixed and the complete sequence of
      hostile inferential processes leading to aggression has not been investigated
      yet. The goal of this event-related brain potentials (ERPs) study was to track
      the neural activity associated with the violation of expectations about hostile
      versus nonhostile intentions in aggressive and nonaggressive individuals and
      examine how this neural activity relates to self-reported hostile attributional
      bias and impulsive aggression in real life. To this end, scenarios with a hostile
      versus nonhostile social context followed by a character's ambiguous aversive
      behavior were presented to readers, and ERPs to critical words that specified the
      hostile versus nonhostile intent behind the behavior were analysed. Thirty-seven
      aggressive and fifty nonaggressive individuals participated in the study. The
      presentation of a critical word that violated hostile expectation caused an N400
      response that was significantly larger in aggressive than nonaggressive
      individuals. Results also showed an enhanced late positive potential-like
      component in aggressive individuals when hostile intention scenarios took place
      in a nonhostile context, which is associated with impulsive aggression in real
      life even after having controlled for the effect of self-reported hostile
      attributional bias. The Hostile Expectancy Violation paradigm evaluated in this
      study represents a promising tool to investigate the relationship between the
      online processing of hostile intent in others and impulsive aggression. Aggr.
      Behav. 43:217-229, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629653
TI  - Synthesis, Characterization and Unusual Reactivity of Vinylbenziodoxolones-Novel
      Hypervalent Iodine Reagents.
AB  - A novel type of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents, vinylbenziodoxolones (VBX), has
      been synthesized in a one-pot reaction from 2-iodobenzoic acid. VBX is bench
      stable, has been thoroughly characterized and the cyclic structure is supported
      by X-ray analysis. The reactivity of VBX was investigated in vinylation of
      nitrocyclohexane, and delivered vinylated products with opposite regioselectivity
      compared to acyclic vinyl(aryl)iodonium salts. The reagents could become a
      powerful tool in vinylation reactions under both metal-free and metal-catalyzed
      conditions.

PMID- 27629657
TI  - [Pour les medecins de famille, par des medecins de famille?].

PMID- 27629655
TI  - A Cooperative Interface for Highly Efficient Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.
AB  - A cooperative interface constructed by "lithiophilic" nitrogen-doped graphene
      frameworks and "sulfiphilic" nickel-iron layered double hydroxides (LDH@NG) is
      proposed to synergistically afford bifunctional Li and S binding to polysulfides,
      suppression of polysulfide shuttles, and electrocatalytic activity toward
      formation of lithium sulfides for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.
      LDH@NG enables high rate capability, long lifespan, and efficient stabilization
      of both sulfur and lithium electrodes.

PMID- 27629654
TI  - Crystal structures of the bifunctional tRNA methyltransferase Trm5a.
AB  - tRNA methyltransferase Trm5 catalyses the transfer of a methyl group from S
      adenosyl-L-methionine to G37 in eukaryotes and archaea. The N1-methylated
      guanosine is the product of the initial step of the wyosine hypermodification,
      which is essential for the maintenance of the reading frame during translation.
      As a unique member of this enzyme family, Trm5a from Pyrococcus abyssi (PaTrm5a)
      catalyses not only the methylation of N1, but also the further methylation of C7
      on 4-demethylwyosine at position 37 to produce isowyosine, but the mechanism for
      the double methylation is poorly understood. Here we report four crystal
      structures of PaTrm5a ranging from 1.7- to 2.3-A, in the apo form or in complex
      with various SAM analogues. These structures reveal that Asp243 specifically
      recognises the base moiety of SAM at the active site. Interestingly, the protein
      in our structures all displays an extended conformation, quite different from the
      well-folded conformation of Trm5b from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii reported
      previously, despite their similar overall architectures. To rule out the
      possibilities of crystallisation artefacts, we conducted the fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments. The FRET data suggested that
      PaTrm5a adopts a naturally extended conformation in solution, and therefore the
      open conformation is a genuine state of PaTrm5a.

PMID- 27629656
TI  - For family physicians, by family physicians?

PMID- 27629658
TI  - Other ways of knowing: Using critical discourse analysis to reexamine
      intraprofessional collaboration.

PMID- 27629659
TI  - Should primary care guidelines be written by family physicians? YES.

PMID- 27629660
TI  - Should primary care guidelines be written by family physicians? NO.

PMID- 27629661
TI  - [Les lignes directrices en soins primaires devraient-elles etre redigees par des
      medecins de famille? OUI].

PMID- 27629662
TI  - [Les lignes directrices en soins primaires devraient-elles etre redigees par des
      medecins de famille? NON].

PMID- 27629663
TI  - Rural maternity care.

PMID- 27629664
TI  - Concern is not based on evidence.

PMID- 27629665
TI  - Outdated approach to a common problem.

PMID- 27629666
TI  - Approach to preventive care in the elderly.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To guide family physicians in creating preventive screening and
      treatment plans for their elderly patients. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: The MEDLINE
      database was searched for Canadian guidelines on primary health care and the
      elderly; guidelines or meta-analyses or practice guidelines or systematic reviews
      related to mass screening in those aged 80 and older and the frail elderly,
      limited to between 2006 and July 2016; and articles on preventive health services
      for the elderly related to family practice or family physicians, limited to
      English-language publications between 2012 and July 2016. MAIN MESSAGE:
      Estimating life expectancy is not an easy or precise science, but frailty is an
      emerging concept that can help with this. The Canadian Task Force on Preventive
      Health Care offers cancer screening guidelines, but they are less clear for
      patients older than 74 years and management plans need to be individualized.
      Estimating remaining years of life helps guide your recommendations for
      preventive screening and treatment plans. Risks often increase along with an
      increase in frailty and comorbidity. Conversely, benefits often diminish as life
      expectancy decreases. Preventive management plans should take into account the
      patient's perspective and be mutually agreed upon. A mnemonic device for key
      primary care preventive areas-CCFP, short for cancer, cardiovascular disease,
      falls and osteoporosis, and preventive immunizations-might be useful. CONCLUSION:
      Family physicians might find addressing the following areas helpful when
      considering a preventive health intervention: age, life expectancy (including
      concept of frailty), comorbidities and functional status, risks and benefits of
      screening or treatment, and values and preferences of the patient.

PMID- 27629667
TI  - Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis in type 2 diabetes treated with a sodium-glucose
      cotransporter-2 inhibitor.

PMID- 27629668
TI  - Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis with canagliflozin: Not-so-sweet but avoidable
      complication of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor use.

PMID- 27629669
TI  - Choosing Wisely Canada.

PMID- 27629670
TI  - Blood donation and anemia.

PMID- 27629672
TI  - Appreciating humour.

PMID- 27629671
TI  - Test ordering by GP trainees: Effects of an educational intervention on attitudes
      and intended practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention on test
      ordering attitudes and intended practice of GP trainees, and any associations
      between changes in test ordering and trainee characteristics. DESIGN: Preworkshop
      and postworkshop survey of attitudes to test ordering, intended test-ordering
      practices for 3 clinical scenarios (fatigue, screening, and shoulder pain), and
      tolerance for uncertainty. SETTING: Three Australian regional general practice
      training providers. PARTICIPANTS: General practice trainees (N = 167).
      INTERVENTION: A 2-hour workshop session and an online module. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Proportion of trainees who agreed with attitudinal statements before
      and after the workshop; proportion of trainees who would order tests, mean number
      of tests ordered, and number of appropriate and inappropriate tests ordered for
      each scenario before and after the workshop. RESULTS: Of 167 trainees, 132
      (79.0%) completed both the preworkshop and postworkshop questionnaires. A total
      of 122 trainees attended the workshop. At baseline, 88.6% thought that tests can
      harm patients, 84.8% believed overtesting was a problem, 72.0% felt pressured by
      patients, 52.3% believed that tests would reassure patients, and 50.8% thought
      that they were less likely to be sued if they ordered tests. There were desirable
      changes in all attitudes after the workshop. Before the workshop, the mean number
      of tests that trainees would have ordered was 4.4, 4.8, and 1.5 for the fatigue,
      screening, and shoulder pain scenarios, respectively. After the workshop there
      were decreases in the mean number of both appropriate tests (decrease of 0.94)
      and inappropriate tests (decrease of 0.24) in the fatigue scenario; there was no
      change in the mean number of appropriate tests and a decrease in inappropriate
      tests (decrease of 0.76) in the screening scenario; and there was an increase in
      the proportion of trainees who would appropriately not order tests in the
      shoulder pain scenario. There were no significant associations between changes in
      test ordering and trainee demographic characteristics or tolerance for
      uncertainty subscale scores. CONCLUSION: General practice trainees have
      conflicting attitudes to test ordering and demonstrate nonrational test ordering
      in 3 common scenarios. A workshop on rational test ordering led to desirable
      changes in attitudes and more rational intended test ordering. Our findings
      inform the development of appropriate educational interventions that address
      nonrational testing in family medicine.

PMID- 27629673
TI  - Laughing alongside the best of evidence: Family physicians change ideas about
      tools, knowledge, practice, and medicine.

PMID- 27629674
TI  - Striving for comprehensiveness.

PMID- 27629675
TI  - [Vers des soins complets et globaux].

PMID- 27629676
TI  - [Faits saillants du Forum annuel].

PMID- 27629677
TI  - Annual Forum highlights.

PMID- 27629678
TI  - [D'autres facons de savoir: L'analyse critique du discours pour reexaminer la
      collaboration intraprofessionnelle].

PMID- 27629679
TI  - Rebuttal: Should primary care guidelines be written by family physicians? YES.

PMID- 27629680
TI  - Rebuttal: Should primary care guidelines be written by family physicians? NO.

PMID- 27629681
TI  - [Refutation : Les lignes directrices en soins primaires devraient-elles etre
      redigees par des medecins de famille? OUI].

PMID- 27629682
TI  - [Refutation : Les lignes directrices en soins primaires devraient-elles etre
      redigees par des medecins de famille? NON].

PMID- 27629684
TI  - [L'acidocetose euglycemique dans le diabete de type 2 traite avec un inhibiteur
      du cotransporteur sodium-glucose de type 2].

PMID- 27629683
TI  - [Aborder les soins preventifs chez les aines].
AB  - OBJECTIF: Guider les medecins de famille dans l'elaboration de plans de depistage
      et de traitements preventifs a l'intention de leurs patients ages. SOURCES DE
      L'INFORMATION: Une recension a ete effectuee dans la base de donnees MEDLINE pour
      trouver des lignes directrices canadiennes sur les soins de sante primaires et
      les personnes agees; des lignes directrices, des meta-analyses, des guides de
      pratique clinique ou des revisions systematiques portant sur le depistage de
      masse chez les 80 ans et plus et les aines fragiles, se limitant a ceux publies
      entre 2006 et juillet 2016; et des articles sur les services de sante preventifs
      a l'intention des aines et presentant un interet pour la pratique familiale ou
      les medecins de famille, limites a ceux publies en anglais entre 2012 et juillet
      2016. MESSAGE PRINCIPAL: L'estimation de l'esperance de vie n'est pas une science
      facile ou precise, mais la fragilite est un concept emergent susceptible d'etre
      utile a cet egard. Le Groupe d'etude canadien sur les soins de sante preventifs
      propose des lignes directrices sur le depistage du cancer, mais elles sont moins
      precises en ce qui concerne les patients de plus de 74 ans et il faut donc
      individualiser les plans de prise en charge. L'estimation des annees de vie qui
      restent aide a orienter vos recommandations concernant les plans de depistage et
      de traitements preventifs. Les risques augmentent souvent proportionnellement
      avec la fragilite et la comorbidite. D'autre part, les bienfaits diminuent
      souvent a mesure que l'esperance de vie raccourcit. Les plans de prise en charge
      preventive devraient tenir compte des points de vue du patient et etre convenus
      d'un commun accord. Un moyen mnemonique pour se rappeler des principaux domaines
      de prevention en soins primaires - CCMF, abreviation pour cancer,
      cardiovasculaire, mauvais equilibre, chute et osteoporose, fiche de vaccinations
      preventives - pourrait se reveler utile. CONCLUSION: Les medecins de famille
      pourraient trouver utile de tenir compte des elements suivants lorsqu'ils
      envisagent une intervention en soins preventifs : l'age, l'esperance de vie
      (incluant le concept de la fragilite), la comorbidite et l'etat fonctionnel, les
      risques et les bienfaits du depistage ou du traitement, de meme que les valeurs
      et les preferences du patient.

PMID- 27629685
TI  - [L'acidocetose diabetique euglycemique due a la canagliflozine: Une complication
      " acide " mais evitable de l'utilisation des inhibiteurs du cotransporteur sodium
      glucose de type 2].

PMID- 27629686
TI  - Treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms in benign prostatic hypertrophy with
      alpha-blockers.

PMID- 27629687
TI  - Exploring community faculty members' engagement in educational scholarship.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To obtain a deeper understanding of community faculty members'
      perceptions about engagement in educational scholarship. DESIGN: One-on-one
      semistructured interviews that were audiorecorded, transcribed verbatim, and
      subsequently analyzed. SETTING: Toronto, Ont. PARTICIPANTS: Purposive,
      theoretical sample of 8 physician faculty members at the University of Toronto.
      METHODS: Interview transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.
      Emergent themes were identified by the research team through a process of
      constant comparative analysis. MAIN FINDINGS: Community faculty members
      identified themselves professionally as clinicians and teachers, and they did not
      see themselves as scholars in medical education. While they believed that
      educational scholarship was important for the field more broadly, they did not
      see the personal or professional value of being involved. This attitude stemmed
      from the perception that there was not a direct link between scholarly activity
      and improvement in teaching or patient care. Instead, participants viewed
      scholarly activity as a mode of career advancement rather than practice
      improvement. Furthermore, they equated educational scholarship with clinical
      research, thereby excluding themselves from participation in scholarly
      activities. CONCLUSION: When developing strategies to engage community faculty
      members in educational scholarship, it is important to consider the implications
      of members' professional identity, as well as implicit models of scholarship. To
      expand the concept of educational scholarship beyond research activities,
      additional scholarly contributions need to be supported, recognized, and valued.

PMID- 27629688
TI  - Mentorship perceptions and experiences among academic family medicine faculty:
      Findings from a quantitative, comprehensive work-life and leadership survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To collect information about the types, frequency, importance, and
      quality of mentorship received among academic family medicine faculty, and to
      identify variables associated with receiving high-quality mentorship. DESIGN: Web
      based survey of all faculty members of an academic department of family medicine.
      SETTING: The Department of Family and Community Medicine of the University of
      Toronto in Ontario. PARTICIPANTS: All 1029 faculty members were invited to
      complete the survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Receiving mentorship rated as very
      good or excellent in 1 or more of 6 content areas relevant to respondents'
      professional lives, and information about demographic and practice
      characteristics, faculty ratings of their local departments and main practice
      settings, teaching activities, professional development, leadership, job
      satisfaction, and health. Bivariate and multivariate analyses identified
      variables associated with receiving high-quality mentorship. RESULTS: The
      response rate was 66.8%. Almost all (95.0%) respondents had received mentorship
      in several areas, with informal mentorship being the most prevalent mode.
      Approximately 60% of respondents rated at least 1 area of mentoring as very good
      or excellent. Multivariate logistic regression identified 5 factors associated
      with an increased likelihood of rating mentorship quality as very good or
      excellent: positive perceptions of their local department (odds ratio [OR] =
      4.02, 95% CI 2.47 to 6.54, P < .001); positive ratings of practice infrastructure
      (OR = 1.86, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.80, P = .003); increased frequency of receiving
      mentorship (OR = 2.78, 95% CI 1.59 to 4.89, P < .001); fewer years in practice
      (OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.19 to 3.12, P = .007); and practising in a family practice
      teaching unit (OR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.27, P = .040). CONCLUSION: With
      increasing emphasis on distributed education and community-based teachers, family
      medicine faculties will need to develop strategies to support effective
      mentorship across a range of settings and career stages.

PMID- 27629689
TI  - Satisfaction with civilian family medicine residency training: Perspectives from
      serving general duty medical officers in the Canadian Armed Forces.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate satisfaction with civilian residency training programs
      among serving general duty medical officers within the Canadian Armed Forces.
      DESIGN: A 23-item, cross-sectional survey face-validated by the office of the
      Surgeon General of the Canadian Armed Forces. SETTING: Canada. PARTICIPANTS:
      General duty medical officers serving in the Canadian Armed Forces as of February
      2014 identified through the Directorate of Health Services Personnel of the
      Canadian Forces Health Services Group Headquarters. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Satisfaction with and time spent in 7 domains of training: trauma, critical care,
      emergency medicine, psychiatry, occupational health, sports medicine, and base
      clinic training. Overall preparedness for leading a health care team, caring for
      a military population, working in isolated and challenging environments, and
      being deployed were evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Among the
      survey respondents (n = 135, response rate 54%), 77% agreed or strongly agreed
      that their family medicine residency training was relevant to their role as a
      general duty medical officer. Most respondents were either satisfied or very
      satisfied with their emergency medicine training (77%) and psychiatry training
      (63%), while fewer were satisfied or very satisfied with their sports medicine
      (47%), base clinic (41%), and critical care (43%) training. Even fewer
      respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their trauma (26%) and
      occupational health (12%) training. Regarding overall preparedness, 57% believed
      that they were adequately prepared to care for a military patient population, and
      52% of respondents believed they were prepared for their first posting. Fewer
      respondents (38%) believed they were prepared to work in isolated, austere, or
      challenging environments, and even fewer (32%) believed that residency training
      prepared them to lead a health care team. CONCLUSION: General duty medical
      officers were satisfied with many aspects of their family medicine residency
      training; however, military-specific areas for improvement were identified. Many
      of these areas might be addressed within the context of a 2-year residency
      program without risking the generalist nature of family medicine training. These
      findings provide valuable data for residency programs that accept military
      trainees across the country.

PMID- 27629690
TI  - Helicobacter pylori status among patients undergoing gastroscopy in rural
      northern Alberta.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the Helicobacter pylori status of patients who underwent
      gastroscopy. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Peace River Community
      Health Centre in rural northwestern Alberta. PARTICIPANTS: Data were collected
      from patients who had a gastroscopy performed by either of 2 family physicians
      between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2012. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      proportion of patients who had positive test results for H pylori overall and
      among first-time gastroscopy patients. For first-time gastroscopy patients, the
      associations between H pylori infection and patient age, sex, residence, and
      procedural indications and findings were explored. RESULTS: A total of 251
      gastroscopies were conducted in 229 unique patients during the study period.
      Overall, 12.4% (95% CI 8.3% to 16.4%) of patients had positive results for H
      pylori and among the 159 first-time gastroscopy patients, 17.6% (95% CI 11.7% to
      23.5%) had positive test results for H pylori. Helicobacter pylori status did not
      differ significantly by geography, sex, or age. The prevalence of H pylori was
      higher among patients with H pylori-related indications for gastroscopy (such as
      dyspepsia and upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding) than among patients with
      other indications; however, H pylori infection was not statistically
      significantly greater in patients diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease.
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of H pylori infection among patients undergoing
      gastroscopy in rural northern Alberta appears lower than other Canadian
      estimates. In regions with low H pylori rates, patients with dyspepsia might be
      better served by acid suppression and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
      cessation before investigating for H pylori infection. Population-based research
      is required to further describe regional differences in H pylori rates.

PMID- 27629692
TI  - [L'humour en cote a cote avec les meilleures donnees probantes: Les medecins de
      famille changent d'idee a propos des outils, du savoir, de la pratique et de la
      medecine].

PMID- 27629691
TI  - Asking patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs: Cross-sectional
      study of family physicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine family physicians' practices in and opinions on asking
      patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs, as well as physicians'
      comfort levels in asking. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study using self-administered
      questionnaires. SETTING: Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 155
      family physicians with office practices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of
      asking patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs and physicians'
      comfort levels in asking. Separate multiple linear regression analyses were
      conducted for each of these outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 139 questionnaires were
      returned for a response rate of 89.7 %. Of the respondents, 51.8 % stated that
      they asked patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs sometimes.
      Physician opinion that it was important to ask patients about religious and
      spiritual beliefs (P = .001) and physician comfort level with asking (P < .001)
      were significantly associated with physicians' frequency of asking patients about
      their religious and spiritual beliefs. Comfort level with asking patients about
      their religious and spiritual beliefs was significantly associated with the
      opinions that it was important to ask (P = .004) and that it was their business
      to ask (P = .003), as well as with lack of training as the reason for not asking
      (P = .007). CONCLUSION: This study found that family physicians were more likely
      to ask patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs if they had higher
      comfort levels in asking or if they believed that asking was important. Further,
      this study found that family physicians' comfort level with asking was higher if
      they believed that it was important to ask and that it was their business to ask
      about religious and spiritual beliefs. Physician comfort levels with asking
      patients about religious and spiritual beliefs can be addressed through adequate
      training and education.

PMID- 27629693
TI  - Taking the pulse of team functioning in interprofessional primary health care
      teams.

PMID- 27629694
TI  - Legionella Pneumophila: A Renal Vasculitis Trigger?

PMID- 27629695
TI  - [Pilonidal sinus: Secondary wound closure vs. Limberg flap : Cost and
      satisfaction analysis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: After excision of a pilonidal sinus, several treatment options are
      possible, but no gold standard has been established. A literature review revealed
      no study comparing the costs and time off work after either secondary wound
      closure or treatment with a Limberg transposition flap. The aim of this study was
      to focus on these aspects by analysing the patients treated at the
      KlinikumStadtSoest. METHOD: Sixty patients with pilonidal sinus after excision
      were treated either by secondary wound closure or Limberg transposition flap at
      the KlinikumStadtSoest between 2011 and 2012. The authors analysed
      retrospectively the patients' demographics, cost, and satisfaction with both
      techniques and compared them. RESULTS: For secondary wound closure (group 1) 19
      out of 31 patients and for Limberg transposition flap (group 2) 21 out of 29 met
      the inclusion criteria. Time off work following the final surgery (group 1: 69
      day vs. group 2: 30 days, p = 0.046) and the number of dressing changes (group 1:
      107 times vs. group 2: 16 times, p = 0.000) were significantly lower in the group
      of Limberg transposition flap (group 2) as well as the associated costs. The
      surgery-related costs were lower when treated by secondary wound closure.
      DISCUSSION: Plastic reconstruction with Limberg transposition flap (group 2)
      provides a chance to reduce the period of incapacity for work due to a shorter
      treatment period. With that said, patients should nonetheless be offered both
      techniques as the current literature does not reveal a clear benefit for either
      procedure.

PMID- 27629696
TI  - [Training course transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) : Concept and
      establishment of a training course for safe application].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years the video endoscopy-assisted transanal approach to
      total mesorectal excision (TME) combined with the conventional laparoscopic
      technique was developed as an alternative indication for treatment of low rectal
      cancer (TaTME). OBJECTIVE: The concept and results of the first German TaTME
      hands-on cadaver course with subsequent live surgery are presented. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The 2-day training course was structured into an anatomical and a
      clinical surgery part. The participants could learn from basics to live surgery
      and shared their experiences during presentations about currently available data,
      rationale and technique of TaTME with special emphasis on technical failures and
      pitfalls. The supervised simulator training and TaTME exercises at three cadaver
      work stations were proctored by experienced surgeons. On day 2 the participants
      observed two cases of TaTME at the moderated live surgery session. RESULTS: The
      step-up learning curve for the transanal approach could be clearly observed in
      each team from warm-up to hands-on training sessions. In the practical session
      the participants could train the milestones of the transanal approach on
      cadavers, including the pitfalls. Finally, the participants observed live surgery
      on two patients with low rectal tumors on day 2 of the course. CONCLUSION: A step
      up training course on cadavers is indispensable regarding implementation of
      techniques, such as TaTME into clinical practice. Coordinated clinical guest
      demonstrations provide translation of theoretical basic principles and practical
      skills from the cadaver course to real patient treatment. Participants should be
      encouraged to report their cases to registered trials or registries.

PMID- 27629698
TI  - Studying the pathophysiologic connection between cardiovascular and nervous
      systems using stem cells.
AB  - The cardiovascular and nervous systems are deeply connected during development,
      health, and disease. Both systems affect and regulate the development of each
      other during embryogenesis and the early postnatal period. Specialized neural
      crest cells contribute to cardiac structures, and a number of growth factors
      released from the cardiac tissue (e.g., glial cell line-derived neurotrophic
      factor, neurturin, nerve growth factor, Neurotrophin-3) ensure proper maturation
      of the incoming parasympathetic and sympathetic neurons. Physiologically, the
      cardiovascular and nervous systems operate in harmony to adapt to various
      physical and emotional conditions to maintain homeostasis through sympathetic and
      parasympathetic nervous systems. Moreover, neurocardiac regulation involves a
      neuroaxis consisting of cortex, amygdala, and other subcortical structures, which
      have the ability to modify lower-level neurons in the hierarchy. Given the
      interconnectivity of cardiac and neural systems, when one undergoes pathological
      changes, the other is affected to a certain extent. In addition, there are
      specific neurocardiac diseases that affect both systems simultaneously, such as
      Huntington disease, Lewy body diseases, Friedreich ataxia, congenital heart
      diseases, Danon disease, and Timothy syndrome. Over the last decade, in vitro
      modeling of neurocardiac diseases using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)
      has provided an invaluable opportunity to elevate our knowledge about the brain
      heart connection, since previously primary cardiomyocytes and neurons had been
      extremely difficult to maintain long-term in vitro. Ultimately, the ability of
      iPSC technology to model abnormal functional phenotypes of human neurocardiac
      disorders, combined with the ease of therapeutic screening using this approach,
      will transform patient care through personalized medicine in the future. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629699
TI  - Drying based on temperature-detection-assisted control in microwave-assisted
      pulse-spouted vacuum drying.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An online temperature-detection-assisted control system of microwave
      assisted pulse-spouted vacuum drying was newly developed. By using this system,
      temperature control can be automatically and continuously adjusted based on the
      detection of drying temperature and preset temperature. Various strategies for
      constant temperature control, linear temperature control and three-step
      temperature control were applied to drying carrot cubes. Drying kinetics and the
      quality of various temperature-controlled strategies online are evaluated for the
      new drying technology as well as its suitability as an alternative drying method.
      RESULTS: Drying time in 70  degrees C mode 1 had the shortest drying time and
      lowest energy consumption in all modes. A suitable colour, highest re-hydration
      ratio and fracture-hardness, and longest drying time occurred in 30-40-50 
      degrees C mode 3. The number of hot spots was reduced in 40-50-60  degrees C mode
      3. Acceptable carrot snacks were obtained in 50-60-70  degrees C mode 3 and 70 
      degrees C mode 2. All temperature curves showed that the actual temperatures
      followed the preset temperatures appropriately. CONCLUSIONS: With this system, a
      linear temperature-controlled strategy and a three-step temperature-controlled
      strategy can improve product quality and heating non-uniformity compared to
      constant temperature control, but need greater energy consumption and longer
      drying time. A temperature-detection-assisted control system was developed for
      providing various drying strategies as a suitable alternative in making a snack
      product. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27629700
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of cannabis use among athletes-A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite scientific evidence that marijuana impairs
      performance and mental health, there is evidence that some athletes are at higher
      risk for use. This review aims to identify possible risk factors associated with
      marijuana use in athletes. METHODS: A search was conducted in the PubMed database
      with the keywords: (marijuana OR cannabis OR tetrahydrocannabinol OR delta-9
      tetrahydrocannabinol OR THC) AND (sports OR sport OR athlete OR athletes). We
      retrieved 186 studies. After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 15
      studies remained for review. RESULTS: The review revealed a number of potential
      risk factors for marijuana use among adult athletes, including being male,
      Caucasian, using sport performance-enhancing drugs, using marijuana to enhance
      recreation or non-sport performance, and practicing specific types of sports
      including skeleton, bobsleding, and ice hockey. Contrary to use patterns in the
      general population, among athletes marijuana appears to take the place of tobacco
      as the second most widely used drug, after alcohol. Many elite athletes denied
      the use of marijuana, which suggests that toxicological testing is an important
      tool for identifying users, because it is more accurate than self-report.
      Geography appears important, as in areas of high consumption, prevalence among
      athletes appears to be greater as well. CONCLUSION AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:
      Contrary to the image that athletes do not use psychoactive drugs, this review
      suggests that a number of athletic subgroups are at increased risk for marijuana
      use. Surprisingly, a common rationale for use appears to be to enhance sports
      performance. As in the general population, experimentation starts early-in pre
      adolescence-at an age that prevention and guidance programs could have positive
      influences. (Am J Addict 2016;25:518-528).

PMID- 27629701
TI  - Palladium-catalyzed direct arylation and cyclization of o-iodobiaryls to a
      library of tetraphenylenes.
AB  - Aryl-aryl bond formation constitutes one of the most important subjects in
      organic synthesis. The recent developments in direct arylation reactions forming
      aryl-aryl bond have emerged as very attractive alternatives to traditional cross
      coupling reactions. Here, we describe a general palladium-catalyzed direct
      arylation and cyclization of o-iodobiaryls to build a library of tetraphenylenes.
      This transformation represents one of the very few examples of C-H activation
      process that involves simultaneous formation of two aryl-aryl bonds. Oxygen plays
      a vital role by ensuring high reactivity, with air as the promoter furnished the
      best results. We anticipate this ligand-free and aerobic catalytic system will
      simplify the synthesis of tetraphenylenes as many of the reported methods involve
      use of preformed organometallic reagents and will lead to the discovery of highly
      efficient new direct arylation process.

PMID- 27629697
TI  - Equine metabolic syndrome impairs adipose stem cells osteogenic differentiation
      by predominance of autophagy over selective mitophagy.
AB  - Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASC) hold great promise in the treatment
      of many disorders including musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular and/or
      endocrine diseases. However, the cytophysiological condition of cells, used for
      engraftment seems to be fundamental factor that might determine the effectiveness
      of clinical therapy. In this study we investigated growth kinetics, senescence,
      accumulation of oxidative stress factors, mitochondrial biogenesis, autophagy and
      osteogenic differentiation potential of ASC isolated from horses suffered from
      equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). We demonstrated that EMS condition impairs
      multipotency/pluripotency in ASCs causes accumulation of reactive oxygen species
      and mitochondria deterioration. We found that, cytochrome c is released from
      mitochondria to the cytoplasm suggesting activation of intrinsic apoptotic
      pathway in those cells. Moreover, we observed up-regulation of p21 and decreased
      ratio of Bcl-2/BAX. Deteriorations in mitochondria structure caused alternations
      in osteogenic differentiation of ASCEMS resulting in their decreased
      proliferation rate and reduced expression of osteogenic markers BMP-2 and
      collagen type I. During osteogenic differentiation of ASCEMS , we observed
      autophagic turnover as probably, an alternative way to generate adenosine
      triphosphate and amino acids required to increased protein synthesis during
      differentiation. Downregulation of PGC1alpha, PARKIN and PDK4 in differentiated
      ASCEMS confirmed impairments in mitochondrial biogenesis and function. Hence,
      application of ASCEMS into endocrinological or ortophedical practice requires
      further investigation and analysis in the context of safeness of their
      application.

PMID- 27629702
TI  - Atomic and electronic structure of trilayer graphene/SiC(0001): Evidence of
      Strong Dependence on Stacking Sequence and charge transfer.
AB  - The transport properties of few-layer graphene are the directly result of a
      peculiar band structure near the Dirac point. Here, for epitaxial graphene grown
      on SiC, we determine the effect of charge transfer from the SiC substrate on the
      local density of states (LDOS) of trilayer graphene using scaning tunneling
      microscopy/spectroscopy and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES).
      Different spectra are observed and are attributed to the existence of two stable
      polytypes of trilayer: Bernal (ABA) and rhomboedreal (ABC) staking. Their
      electronic properties strongly depend on the charge transfer from the substrate.
      We show that the LDOS of ABC stacking shows an additional peak located above the
      Dirac point in comparison with the LDOS of ABA stacking. The observed LDOS
      features, reflecting the underlying symmetry of the two polytypes, were
      reproduced by explicit calculations within density functional theory (DFT)
      including the charge transfer from the substrate. These findings demonstrate the
      pronounced effect of stacking order and charge transfer on the electronic
      structure of trilayer or few layer graphene. Our approach represents a
      significant step toward understand the electronic properties of graphene layer
      under electrical field.

PMID- 27629703
TI  - TRIM9 Mediates Netrin-1-Induced Neuronal Morphogenesis in the Developing and
      Adult Hippocampus.

PMID- 27629704
TI  - Dopamine Manipulation Affects Response Vigor Independently of Opportunity Cost.
AB  - Dopamine is known to be involved in regulating effort investment in relation to
      reward, and the disruption of this mechanism is thought to be central in some
      pathological situations such as Parkinson's disease, addiction, and depression.
      According to an influential model, dopamine plays this role by encoding the
      opportunity cost, i.e., the average value of forfeited actions, which is an
      important parameter to take into account when making decisions about which action
      to undertake and how fast to execute it. We tested this hypothesis by asking
      healthy human participants to perform two effort-based decision-making tasks,
      following either placebo or levodopa intake in a double blind within-subject
      protocol. In the effort-constrained task, there was a trade-off between the
      amount of force exerted and the time spent in executing the task, such that
      investing more effort decreased the opportunity cost. In the time-constrained
      task, the effort duration was constant, but exerting more force allowed the
      subject to earn more substantial reward instead of saving time. Contrary to the
      model predictions, we found that levodopa caused an increase in the force exerted
      only in the time-constrained task, in which there was no trade-off between effort
      and opportunity cost. In addition, a computational model showed that dopamine
      manipulation left the opportunity cost factor unaffected but altered the ratio
      between the effort cost and reinforcement value. These findings suggest that
      dopamine does not represent the opportunity cost but rather modulates how much
      effort a given reward is worth. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Dopamine has been
      proposed in a prevalent theory to signal the average reward rate, used to
      estimate the cost of investing time in an action, also referred to as opportunity
      cost. We contrasted the effect of dopamine manipulation in healthy participants
      in two tasks, in which increasing response vigor (i.e., the amount of effort
      invested in an action) allowed either to save time or to earn more reward. We
      found that levodopa-a synthetic precursor of dopamine-increases response vigor
      only in the latter situation, demonstrating that, rather than the opportunity
      cost, dopamine is involved in computing the expected value of effort.

PMID- 27629705
TI  - Spatiotopic Adaptation in Visual Areas.
AB  - The ability to perceive the visual world around us as spatially stable despite
      frequent eye movements is one of the long-standing mysteries of neuroscience. The
      existence of neural mechanisms processing spatiotopic information is
      indispensable for a successful interaction with the external world. However, how
      the brain handles spatiotopic information remains a matter of debate. We here
      combined behavioral and fMRI adaptation to investigate the coding of spatiotopic
      information in the human brain. Subjects were adapted by a prolonged presentation
      of a tilted grating. Thereafter, they performed a saccade followed by the brief
      presentation of a probe. This procedure allowed dissociating adaptation
      aftereffects at retinal and spatiotopic positions. We found significant
      behavioral and functional adaptation in both retinal and spatiotopic positions,
      indicating information transfer into a spatiotopic coordinate system. The brain
      regions involved were located in ventral visual areas V3, V4, and VO. Our
      findings suggest that spatiotopic representations involved in maintaining visual
      stability are constructed by dynamically remapping visual feature information
      between retinotopic regions within early visual areas. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:
      Why do we perceive the visual world as stable, although we constantly perform
      saccadic eye movements? We investigated how the visual system codes object
      locations in spatiotopic (i.e., external world) coordinates. We combined visual
      adaptation, in which the prolonged exposure to a specific visual feature alters
      perception, with fMRI adaptation, where the repeated presentation of a stimulus
      leads to a reduction in the BOLD amplitude. Functionally, adaptation was found in
      visual areas representing the retinal location of an adaptor but also at
      representations corresponding to its spatiotopic position. The results suggest
      that an active dynamic shift transports information in visual cortex to
      counteract the retinal displacement associated with saccade eye movements.

PMID- 27629706
TI  - Drosophila Neprilysins Are Involved in Middle-Term and Long-Term Memory.
AB  - Neprilysins are type II metalloproteinases known to degrade and inactivate a
      number of small peptides. Neprilysins in particular are the major amyloid-beta
      peptide-degrading enzymes. In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, neprilysin
      overexpression improves learning and memory deficits, whereas neprilysin
      deficiency aggravates the behavioral phenotypes. However, whether these enzymes
      are involved in memory in nonpathological conditions is an open question.
      Drosophila melanogaster is a well suited model system with which to address this
      issue. Several memory phases have been characterized in this organism and the
      neuronal circuits involved are well described. The fly genome contains five
      neprilysin-encoding genes, four of which are expressed in the adult. Using
      conditional RNA interference, we show here that all four neprilysins are involved
      in middle-term and long-term memory. Strikingly, all four are required in a
      single pair of neurons, the dorsal paired medial (DPM) neurons that broadly
      innervate the mushroom bodies (MBs), the center of olfactory memory. Neprilysins
      are also required in the MB, reflecting the functional relationship between the
      DPM neurons and the MB, a circuit believed to stabilize memories. Together, our
      data establish a role for neprilysins in two specific memory phases and further
      show that DPM neurons play a critical role in the proper targeting of
      neuropeptides involved in these processes. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Neprilysins
      are endopeptidases known to degrade a number of small peptides. Neprilysin
      research has essentially focused on their role in Alzheimer's disease and heart
      failure. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster to study whether neprilysins are
      involved in memory. Drosophila can form several types of olfactory memory and the
      neuronal structures involved are well described. Four neprilysin genes are
      expressed in adult Drosophila Using conditional RNA interference, we show that
      all four are specifically involved in middle-term memory (MTM) and long-term
      memory (LTM) and that their expression is required in the mushroom bodies and
      also in a single pair of closely connected neurons. The data show that these two
      neurons play a critical role in targeting neuropeptides essential for MTM and
      LTM.

PMID- 27629707
TI  - Methylphenidate Modulates Functional Network Connectivity to Enhance Attention.
AB  - Recent work has demonstrated that human whole-brain functional connectivity
      patterns measured with fMRI contain information about cognitive abilities,
      including sustained attention. To derive behavioral predictions from connectivity
      patterns, our group developed a connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM)
      approach (Finn et al., 2015; Rosenberg et al., 2016). Previously using CPM, we
      defined a high-attention network, comprising connections positively correlated
      with performance on a sustained attention task, and a low-attention network,
      comprising connections negatively correlated with performance. Validating the
      networks as generalizable biomarkers of attention, models based on network
      strength at rest predicted attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
      symptoms in an independent group of individuals (Rosenberg et al., 2016). To
      investigate whether these networks play a causal role in attention, here we
      examined their strength in healthy adults given methylphenidate (Ritalin), a
      common ADHD treatment, compared with unmedicated controls. As predicted,
      individuals given methylphenidate showed patterns of connectivity associated with
      better sustained attention: higher high-attention and lower low-attention network
      strength than controls. There was significant overlap between the high-attention
      network and a network with greater strength in the methylphenidate group, and
      between the low-attention network and a network with greater strength in the
      control group. Network strength also predicted behavior on a stop-signal task,
      such that participants with higher go response rates showed higher high-attention
      and lower low-attention network strength. These results suggest that
      methylphenidate acts by modulating functional brain networks related to sustained
      attention, and that changing whole-brain connectivity patterns may help improve
      attention. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Recent work identified a promising neuromarker
      of sustained attention based on whole-brain functional connectivity networks. To
      investigate the causal role of these networks in attention, we examined their
      response to a dose of methylphenidate, a common and effective treatment for
      attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, in healthy adults. As predicted,
      individuals on methylphenidate showed connectivity signatures of better sustained
      attention: higher high-attention and lower low-attention network strength than
      controls. These results suggest that methylphenidate acts by modulating strength
      in functional brain networks related to attention, and that changing whole-brain
      connectivity patterns may improve attention.

PMID- 27629709
TI  - Transitional Probabilities Are Prioritized over Stimulus/Pattern Probabilities in
      Auditory Deviance Detection: Memory Basis for Predictive Sound Processing.
AB  - Representations encoding the probabilities of auditory events do not directly
      support predictive processing. In contrast, information about the probability
      with which a given sound follows another (transitional probability) allows
      predictions of upcoming sounds. We tested whether behavioral and cortical
      auditory deviance detection (the latter indexed by the mismatch negativity event
      related potential) relies on probabilities of sound patterns or on transitional
      probabilities. We presented healthy adult volunteers with three types of rare
      tone-triplets among frequent standard triplets of high-low-high (H-L-H) or L-H-L
      pitch structure: proximity deviant (H-H-H/L-L-L), reversal deviant (L-H-L/H-L-H),
      and first-tone deviant (L-L-H/H-H-L). If deviance detection was based on pattern
      probability, reversal and first-tone deviants should be detected with similar
      latency because both differ from the standard at the first pattern position. If
      deviance detection was based on transitional probabilities, then reversal
      deviants should be the most difficult to detect because, unlike the other two
      deviants, they contain no low-probability pitch transitions. The data clearly
      showed that both behavioral and cortical auditory deviance detection uses
      transitional probabilities. Thus, the memory traces underlying cortical deviance
      detection may provide a link between stimulus probability-based change/novelty
      detectors operating at lower levels of the auditory system and higher auditory
      cognitive functions that involve predictive processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:
      Our research presents the first definite evidence for the auditory system
      prioritizing transitional probabilities over probabilities of individual sensory
      events. Forming representations for transitional probabilities paves the way for
      predictions of upcoming sounds. Several recent theories suggest that predictive
      processing provides the general basis of human perception, including important
      auditory functions, such as auditory scene analysis. Our results demonstrate that
      the memory traces underlying cortical deviance detection form a link between
      stimulus probability-based change/novelty detectors operating at lower levels of
      the auditory system and higher auditory cognitive functions that involve
      predictive processing.

PMID- 27629708
TI  - Coxsackievirus Adenovirus Receptor Loss Impairs Adult Neurogenesis, Synapse
      Content, and Hippocampus Plasticity.
AB  - Although we are beginning to understand the late stage of neurodegenerative
      diseases, the molecular defects associated with the initiation of impaired
      cognition are poorly characterized. Here, we demonstrate that in the adult brain,
      the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is located on neuron
      projections, at the presynapse in mature neurons, and on the soma of immature
      neurons in the hippocampus. In a proinflammatory or diseased environment, CAR is
      lost from immature neurons in the hippocampus. Strikingly, in hippocampi of
      patients at early stages of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), CAR levels are
      significantly reduced. Similarly, in triple-transgenic AD mice, CAR levels in
      hippocampi are low and further reduced after systemic inflammation. Genetic
      deletion of CAR from the mouse brain triggers deficits in adult neurogenesis and
      synapse homeostasis that lead to impaired hippocampal plasticity and cognitive
      deficits. We propose that post-translational CAR loss of function contributes to
      cognitive defects in healthy and diseased-primed brains. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:
      This study addressed the role of the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor
      (CAR), a single-pass cell adhesion molecule, in the adult brain. Our results
      demonstrate that CAR is expressed by mature neurons throughout the brain. In
      addition, we propose divergent roles for CAR in immature neurons, during
      neurogenesis, and at the mature synapse. Notably, CAR loss of function also
      affects hippocampal plasticity.

PMID- 27629710
TI  - Distinct fMRI Responses to Self-Induced versus Stimulus Motion during Free
      Viewing in the Macaque.
AB  - Visual motion responses in the brain are shaped by two distinct sources: the
      physical movement of objects in the environment and motion resulting from one's
      own actions. The latter source, termed visual reafference, stems from movements
      of the head and body, and in primates from the frequent saccadic eye movements
      that mark natural vision. To study the relative contribution of reafferent and
      stimulus motion during natural vision, we measured fMRI activity in the brains of
      two macaques as they freely viewed >50 hours of naturalistic video footage
      depicting dynamic social interactions. We used eye movements obtained during
      scanning to estimate the level of reafferent retinal motion at each moment in
      time. We also estimated the net stimulus motion by analyzing the video content
      during the same time periods. Mapping the responses to these distinct sources of
      retinal motion, we found a striking dissociation in the distribution of visual
      responses throughout the brain. Reafferent motion drove fMRI activity in the
      early retinotopic areas V1, V2, V3, and V4, particularly in their central visual
      field representations, as well as lateral aspects of the caudal inferotemporal
      cortex (area TEO). However, stimulus motion dominated fMRI responses in the
      superior temporal sulcus, including areas MT, MST, and FST as well as more
      rostral areas. We discuss this pronounced separation of motion processing in the
      context of natural vision, saccadic suppression, and the brain's utilization of
      corollary discharge signals. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Visual motion arises not
      only from events in the external world, but also from the movements of the
      observer. For example, even if objects are stationary in the world, the act of
      walking through a room or shifting one's eyes causes motion on the retina. This
      "reafferent" motion propagates into the brain as signals that must be interpreted
      in the context of real object motion. The delineation of whole-brain responses to
      stimulus versus self-generated retinal motion signals is critical for
      understanding visual perception and is of pragmatic importance given the
      increasing use of naturalistic viewing paradigms. The present study uses fMRI to
      demonstrate that the brain exhibits a fundamentally different pattern of
      responses to these two sources of retinal motion.

PMID- 27629711
TI  - Resolvin D1 Programs Inflammation Resolution by Increasing TGF-beta Expression
      Induced by Dying Cell Clearance in Experimental Autoimmune Neuritis.
AB  - Experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN) is the animal model of human acute
      inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies (AIDP), an auto-immune
      inflammatory demyelination disease of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the
      world's leading cause of acute autoimmune neuromuscular paralysis. EAN and AIDP
      are characterized by self-limitation with spontaneous recovery; however,
      endogenous pathways that regulate inflammation resolution in EAN and AIDP remain
      elusive. A pathway of endogenous mediators, especially resolvins and clearance of
      apoptotic cells, may be involved. Here, we determined that resolvin D1 (RvD1),
      its synthetic enzyme, and its receptor were greatly increased in PNS during the
      recovery stage of EAN. Both endogenous and exogenous RvD1 increased regulatory T
      (Treg) cell and anti-inflammatory macrophage counts in PNS, enhanced inflammation
      resolution, and promoted disease recovery in EAN rats. Moreover, RvD1 upregulated
      the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) level and pharmacologic inhibition
      of TGF-beta signaling suppressed RvD1-induced Treg cell counts, but not anti
      inflammatory macrophage counts, and RvD1-improved inflammation resolution and
      disease recovery in EAN rats. Mechanistically, the RvD1-enhanced macrophage
      phagocytosis of apoptotic T cells leading to reduced apoptotic T-cell
      accumulation in PNS induced TGF-beta production and caused Treg cells to promote
      inflammation resolution and disease recovery in EAN. Therefore, these data
      highlight the crucial role of RvD1 as an important pro-resolving molecule in EAN
      and suggest its potential as a therapeutic target in human neuropathies.
      SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN) is the animal
      model of human acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies, an auto
      immune inflammatory demyelination disease of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)
      and the world's leading cause of acute autoimmune neuromuscular paralysis. Here,
      we demonstrated that resolvin D1 (RvD1) promoted macrophage phagocytosis of
      apoptotic T cells in PNS, thereby upregulating transforming growth factor-beta by
      macrophages, increased local Treg cell counts, and finally promoted inflammation
      resolution and disease recovery in EAN. These data highlight the crucial role of
      RvD1 as an important pro-resolving molecule in EAN and suggest that it has
      potential as a therapeutic target in human neuritis.

PMID- 27629713
TI  - The Role of Striatal Feedforward Inhibition in the Maintenance of Absence
      Seizures.
AB  - Absence seizures are characterized by brief interruptions of conscious experience
      accompanied by oscillations of activity synchronized across many brain areas.
      Although the dynamics of the thalamocortical circuits are traditionally thought
      to underlie absence seizures, converging experimental evidence supports the key
      involvement of the basal ganglia (BG). In this theoretical work, we argue that
      the BG are essential for the maintenance of absence seizures. To this end, we
      combine analytical calculations with numerical simulations to investigate a
      computational model of the BG-thalamo-cortical network. We demonstrate that
      abnormally strong striatal feedforward inhibition can promote synchronous
      oscillatory activity that persists in the network over several tens of seconds as
      observed during seizures. We show that these maintained oscillations result from
      an interplay between the negative feedback through the cortico-subthalamo-nigral
      pathway and the striatal feedforward inhibition. The negative feedback promotes
      epileptic oscillations whereas the striatal feedforward inhibition suppresses the
      positive feedback provided by the cortico-striato-nigral pathway. Our theory is
      consistent with experimental evidence regarding the influence of BG on seizures
      (e.g., with the fact that a pharmacological blockade of the subthalamo-nigral
      pathway suppresses seizures). It also accounts for the observed strong
      suppression of the striatal output during seizures. Our theory predicts that well
      timed transient excitatory inputs to the cortex advance the termination of
      absence seizures. In contrast with the thalamocortical theory, it also predicts
      that reducing the synaptic transmission along the cortico-subthalamo-nigral
      pathway while keeping constant the average firing rate of substantia nigra pars
      reticulata reduces the incidence of seizures. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Absence
      seizures are characterized by brief interruptions of consciousness accompanied by
      abnormal brain oscillations persisting tens of seconds. Thalamocortical circuits
      are traditionally thought to underlie absence seizures. However, recent
      experiments have highlighted the key role of the basal ganglia (BG). This work
      argues for a novel theory according to which the BG drive the oscillatory
      patterns of activity occurring during the seizures. It demonstrates that
      abnormally strong striatal feedforward inhibition promotes synchronous
      oscillatory activity in the BG-thalamo-cortical network and relate this property
      to the observed strong suppression of the striatal output during seizures. The
      theory is compatible with virtually all known experimental results, and it
      predicts that well-timed transient excitatory inputs to the cortex advance the
      termination of absence seizures.

PMID- 27629712
TI  - The Interglomerular Circuit Potently Inhibits Olfactory Bulb Output Neurons by
      Both Direct and Indirect Pathways.
AB  - Sensory processing shapes our perception. In mammals, odor information is encoded
      by combinatorial activity patterns of olfactory bulb (OB) glomeruli. Glomeruli
      are richly interconnected by short axon cells (SACs), which form the
      interglomerular circuit (IGC). It is unclear how the IGC impacts OB output to
      downstream neural circuits. We combined in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology
      with optogenetics in mice and found the following: (1) the IGC potently and
      monosynaptically inhibits the OB output neurons mitral/tufted cells (MTCs) by
      GABA release from SACs: (2) gap junction-mediated electrical coupling is strong
      for the SAC->MTC synapse, but negligible for the SAC->ETC synapse; (3) brief IGC
      mediated inhibition is temporally prolonged by the intrinsic properties of MTCs;
      and (4) sniff frequency IGC activation in vivo generates persistent MTC
      inhibition. These findings suggest that the temporal sequence of glomerular
      activation by sensory input determines which stimulus features are transmitted to
      downstream olfactory networks and those filtered by lateral inhibition.
      SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Odor identity is encoded by combinatorial patterns of
      activated glomeruli, the initial signal transformation site of the olfactory
      system. Lateral circuit processing among activated glomeruli modulates olfactory
      signal transformation before transmission to higher brain centers. Using a
      combination of in vitro and in vivo optogenetics, this work demonstrates that
      interglomerular circuitry produces potent inhibition of olfactory bulb output
      neurons via direct chemical and electrical synapses as well as by indirect
      pathways. The direct inhibitory synaptic input engages mitral cell intrinsic
      membrane properties to generate inhibition that outlasts the initial synaptic
      action.

PMID- 27629714
TI  - Schwann Cell O-GlcNAc Glycosylation Is Required for Myelin Maintenance and Axon
      Integrity.
AB  - Schwann cells (SCs), ensheathing glia of the peripheral nervous system, support
      axonal survival and function. Abnormalities in SC metabolism affect their ability
      to provide this support and maintain axon integrity. To further interrogate this
      metabolic influence on axon-glial interactions, we generated OGT-SCKO mice with
      SC-specific deletion of the metabolic/nutrient sensing protein O-GlcNAc
      transferase that mediates the O-linked addition of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)
      moieties to Ser and Thr residues. The OGT-SCKO mice develop tomaculous
      demyelinating neuropathy characterized by focal thickenings of the myelin sheath
      (tomacula), progressive demyelination, axonal loss, and motor and sensory nerve
      dysfunction. Proteomic analysis identified more than 100 O-GlcNAcylated proteins
      in rat sciatic nerve, including Periaxin (PRX), a myelin protein whose mutation
      causes inherited neuropathy in humans. PRX lacking O-GlcNAcylation is
      mislocalized within the myelin sheath of these mutant animals. Furthermore,
      phenotypes of OGT-SCKO and Prx-deficient mice are very similar, suggesting that
      metabolic control of PRX O-GlcNAcylation is crucial for myelin maintenance and
      axonal integrity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The nutrient sensing protein O-GlcNAc
      transferase (OGT) mediates post-translational O-linked N-acetylglucosamine
      (GlcNAc) modification. Here we find that OGT functions in Schwann cells (SCs) to
      maintain normal myelin and prevent axonal loss. SC-specific deletion of OGT (OGT
      SCKO mice) causes a tomaculous demyelinating neuropathy accompanied with
      progressive axon degeneration and motor and sensory nerve dysfunction. We also
      found Periaxin (PRX), a myelin protein whose mutation causes inherited neuropathy
      in humans, is O-GlcNAcylated. Importantly, phenotypes of OGT-SCKO and Prx mutant
      mice are very similar, implying that compromised PRX function contributes to the
      neuropathy of OGT-SCKO mice. This study will be useful in understanding how SC
      metabolism contributes to PNS function and in developing new strategies for
      treating peripheral neuropathy by targeting SC function.

PMID- 27629717
TI  - Self-Complementary AAV9 Gene Delivery Partially Corrects Pathology Associated
      with Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (CLN3).
AB  - Juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) is a fatal lysosomal storage
      disease caused by autosomal-recessive mutations in CLN3 for which no treatment
      exists. Symptoms appear between 5 and 10 years of age, beginning with blindness
      and seizures, followed by progressive cognitive and motor decline and premature
      death (late teens to 20s). We explored a gene delivery approach for JNCL by
      generating two self-complementary adeno-associated virus 9 (scAAV9) constructs to
      address CLN3 dosage effects using the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) and
      beta-actin promoters to drive low versus high transgene expression, respectively.
      This approach was based on the expectation that low CLN3 levels are required for
      cellular homeostasis due to minimal CLN3 expression postnatally, although this
      had not yet been demonstrated in vivo One-month-old Cln3(Deltaex7/8) mice
      received one systemic (intravenous) injection of scAAV9/MeCP2-hCLN3 or
      scAAV9/beta-actin-hCLN3, with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing viruses
      as controls. A promoter-dosage effect was observed in all brain regions examined,
      in which hCLN3 levels were elevated 3- to 8-fold in Cln3(Deltaex7/8) mice
      receiving scAAV9/beta-actin-hCLN3 versus scAAV9/MeCP2-hCLN3. However, a
      disconnect occurred between CLN3 levels and disease improvement, because only the
      scAAV9 construct driving low CLN3 expression (scAAV9/MeCP2-hCLN3) corrected motor
      deficits and attenuated microglial and astrocyte activation and lysosomal
      pathology. This may have resulted from preferential promoter usage because
      transgene expression after intravenous scAAV9/MeCP2-GFP injection was primarily
      detected in NeuN(+) neurons, whereas scAAV9/beta-actin-GFP drove transgene
      expression in GFAP(+) astrocytes. This is the first demonstration of a systemic
      delivery route to restore CLN3 in vivo using scAAV9 and highlights the importance
      of promoter selection for disease modification in juvenile animals. SIGNIFICANCE
      STATEMENT: Juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) is a fatal lysosomal
      storage disease caused by CLN3 mutations. We explored a gene delivery approach
      using two self-complementary adeno-associated virus 9 (scAAV9) constructs to
      address CLN3 dosage effects using the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) and
      beta-actin promoters. hCLN3 levels were elevated 3- to 8-fold in Cln3(Deltaex7/8)
      mice receiving scAAV9/beta-actin-hCLN3 versus scAAV9/MeCP2-hCLN3 after a single
      systemic injection. However, only scAAV9/MeCP2-hCLN3 corrected motor deficits and
      attenuated glial activation and lysosomal pathology. This may reflect
      preferential promoter usage because transgene expression with scAAV9/MeCP2-green
      fluorescent protein (GFP) was primarily in neurons, whereas scAAV9/beta-actin-GFP
      drove transgene expression in astrocytes. This is the first demonstration of
      systemic delivery for CLN3 using scAAV9 and highlights the importance of promoter
      selection for disease modification in juvenile animals.

PMID- 27629715
TI  - Soluble Conformers of Abeta and Tau Alter Selective Proteins Governing Axonal
      Transport.
AB  - Despite the demonstration that amyloid-beta (Abeta) can trigger increased tau
      phosphorylation and neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) formation in vivo, the molecular
      link associating Abeta and tau pathologies remains ill defined. Here, we observed
      that exposure of cultured primary neurons to Abeta trimers isolated from brain
      tissue of subjects with Alzheimer's disease led to a specific conformational
      change of tau detected by the antibody Alz50. A similar association was supported
      by postmortem human brain analyses. To study the role of Abeta trimers in vivo,
      we created a novel bigenic Tg-Abeta+Tau mouse line by crossing Tg2576 (Tg-Abeta)
      and rTg4510 (Tg-Tau) mice. Before neurodegeneration and amyloidosis, apparent
      Abeta trimers were increased by ~2-fold in 3-month-old Tg-Abeta and Tg-Abeta+Tau
      mice compared with younger mice, whereas soluble monomeric Abeta levels were
      unchanged. Under these conditions, the expression of soluble Alz50-tau conformers
      rose by ~2.2-fold in the forebrains of Tg-Abeta+Tau mice compared with
      nontransgenic littermates. In parallel, APP accumulated intracellularly,
      suggestive of a putative dysfunction of anterograde axonal transport. We found
      that the protein abundance of the kinesin-1 light chain (KLC1) was reduced
      selectively in vivo and in vitro when soluble Abeta trimers/Alz50-tau were
      present. Importantly, the reduction in KLC1 was prevented by the intraneuronal
      delivery of Alz50 antibodies. Collectively, our findings reveal that specific
      soluble conformers of Abeta and tau cooperatively disrupt axonal transport
      independently from plaques and tangles. Finally, these results suggest that not
      all endogenous Abeta oligomers trigger the same deleterious changes and that the
      role of each assembly should be considered separately. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:
      The mechanistic link between amyloid-beta (Abeta) and tau, the two major proteins
      composing the neuropathological lesions detected in brain tissue of Alzheimer's
      disease subjects, remains unclear. Here, we report that the trimeric Abeta
      species induce a pathological modification of tau in cultured neurons and in
      bigenic mice expressing Abeta and human tau. This linkage was also observed in
      postmortem brain tissue from subjects with mild cognitive impairment, when Abeta
      trimers are abundant. Further, this modification of tau was associated with the
      intracellular accumulation of the precursor protein of Abeta, APP, as a result of
      the selective decrease in kinesin light chain 1 expression. Our findings suggest
      that Abeta trimers might cause axonal transport deficits in AD.

PMID- 27629716
TI  - Youthful Brains in Older Adults: Preserved Neuroanatomy in the Default Mode and
      Salience Networks Contributes to Youthful Memory in Superaging.
AB  - Decline in cognitive skills, especially in memory, is often viewed as part of
      "normal" aging. Yet some individuals "age better" than others. Building on prior
      research showing that cortical thickness in one brain region, the anterior
      midcingulate cortex, is preserved in older adults with memory performance
      abilities equal to or better than those of people 20-30 years younger (i.e.,
      "superagers"), we examined the structural integrity of two large-scale intrinsic
      brain networks in superaging: the default mode network, typically engaged during
      memory encoding and retrieval tasks, and the salience network, typically engaged
      during attention, motivation, and executive function tasks. We predicted that
      superagers would have preserved cortical thickness in critical nodes in these
      networks. We defined superagers (60-80 years old) based on their performance
      compared to young adults (18-32 years old) on the California Verbal Learning Test
      Long Delay Free Recall test. We found regions within the networks of interest
      where the cerebral cortex of superagers was thicker than that of typical older
      adults, and where superagers were anatomically indistinguishable from young
      adults; hippocampal volume was also preserved in superagers. Within the full
      group of older adults, thickness of a number of regions, including the anterior
      temporal cortex, rostral medial prefrontal cortex, and anterior midcingulate
      cortex, correlated with memory performance, as did the volume of the hippocampus.
      These results indicate older adults with youthful memory abilities have youthful
      brain regions in key paralimbic and limbic nodes of the default mode and salience
      networks that support attentional, executive, and mnemonic processes subserving
      memory function. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Memory performance typically declines
      with age, as does cortical structural integrity, yet some older adults maintain
      youthful memory. We tested the hypothesis that superagers (older individuals with
      youthful memory performance) would exhibit preserved neuroanatomy in key brain
      networks subserving memory. We found that superagers not only perform similarly
      to young adults on memory testing, they also do not show the typical patterns of
      brain atrophy in certain regions. These regions are contained largely within two
      major intrinsic brain networks: the default mode network, implicated in memory
      encoding, storage, and retrieval, and the salience network, associated with
      attention and executive processes involved in encoding and retrieval. Preserved
      neuroanatomical integrity in these networks is associated with better memory
      performance among older adults.

PMID- 27629718
TI  - Contributions of Rod and Cone Pathways to Retinal Direction Selectivity Through
      Development.
AB  - Direction selectivity is a robust computation across a broad stimulus space that
      is mediated by activity of both rod and cone photoreceptors through the ON and
      OFF pathways. However, rods, S-cones, and M-cones activate the ON and OFF
      circuits via distinct pathways and the relative contribution of each to direction
      selectivity is unknown. Using a variety of stimulation paradigms, pharmacological
      agents, and knockout mice that lack rod transduction, we found that inputs from
      the ON pathway were critical for strong direction-selective (DS) tuning in the
      OFF pathway. For UV light stimulation, the ON pathway inputs to the OFF pathway
      originated with rod signaling, whereas for visible stimulation, the ON pathway
      inputs to the OFF pathway originated with both rod and M-cone signaling. Whole
      cell voltage-clamp recordings revealed that blocking the ON pathway reduced
      directional tuning in the OFF pathway via a reduction in null-side inhibition,
      which is provided by OFF starburst amacrine cells (SACs). Consistent with this,
      our recordings from OFF SACs confirmed that signals originating in the ON pathway
      contribute to their excitation. Finally, we observed that, for UV stimulation, ON
      contributions to OFF DS tuning matured earlier than direct signaling via the OFF
      pathway. These data indicate that the retina uses multiple strategies for
      computing DS responses across different colors and stages of development.
      SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The retina uses parallel pathways to encode different
      features of the visual scene. In some cases, these distinct pathways converge on
      circuits that mediate a distinct computation. For example, rod and cone pathways
      enable direction-selective (DS) ganglion cells to encode motion over a wide range
      of light intensities. Here, we show that although direction selectivity is robust
      across light intensities, motion discrimination for OFF signals is dependent upon
      ON signaling. At eye opening, ON directional tuning is mature, whereas OFF DS
      tuning is significantly reduced due to a delayed maturation of S-cone to OFF cone
      bipolar signaling. These results provide evidence that the retina uses multiple
      strategies for computing DS responses across different stimulus conditions.

PMID- 27629720
TI  - The Core Molecular Machinery Used for Engulfment of Apoptotic Cells Regulates the
      JNK Pathway Mediating Axon Regeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - The mechanisms that govern the ability of specific neurons to regenerate their
      axons after injury are not well understood. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the
      initiation of axon regeneration is positively regulated by the JNK-MAPK pathway.
      In this study, we identify two components functioning upstream of the JNK
      pathway: the Ste20-related protein kinase MAX-2 and the Rac-type GTPase CED-10.
      CED-10, when bound by GTP, interacts with MAX-2 and functions as its upstream
      regulator in axon regeneration. CED-10, in turn, is activated by axon injury via
      signals initiated from the integrin alpha-subunit INA-1 and the nonreceptor
      tyrosine kinase SRC-1 and transmitted via the signaling module CED-2/CrkII-CED
      5/Dock180-CED-12/ELMO. This module is also known to regulate the engulfment of
      apoptotic cells during development. Our findings thus reveal that the molecular
      machinery used for engulfment of apoptotic cells also promotes axon regeneration
      through activation of the JNK pathway. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The molecular
      mechanisms of axon regeneration after injury remain poorly understood. In
      Caenorhabditis elegans, the initiation of axon regeneration is positively
      regulated by the JNK-MAPK pathway. In this study, we show that integrin, Rac
      GTPase, and several other molecules, all of which are known to regulate
      engulfment of apoptotic cells during development, also regulate axon
      regeneration. This signaling module activates the JNK-MAPK cascade via MAX-2, a
      PAK-like protein kinase that binds Rac. Our findings thus reveal that the
      molecular machinery used for engulfment of apoptotic cells also promotes axon
      regeneration through activation of the JNK pathway.

PMID- 27629719
TI  - The Arp2/3 Complex Is Essential for Distinct Stages of Spine Synapse Maturation,
      Including Synapse Unsilencing.
AB  - Dendritic filopodia are actin-rich structures that are thought to contribute to
      early spine synapse formation; however, the actin regulatory proteins important
      for early synaptogenesis are poorly defined. Using organotypic hippocampal slice
      cultures and primary neuron hippocampal cultures from Arp2/3 conditional knock
      out mice, we analyze the roles of the Arp2/3 complex, an actin regulator that
      creates branched actin networks, and demonstrate it is essential for distinct
      stages of both structural and functional maturation of excitatory spine synapses.
      Our data show that initially the Arp2/3 complex inhibits the formation of
      dendritic filopodia but that later during development, the Arp2/3 complex drives
      the morphological maturation from filopodia to typical spine morphology.
      Furthermore, we demonstrate that although the Arp2/3 complex is not required for
      key spine maturation steps, such as presynaptic contact and recruitment of MAGUK
      (membrane-associated guanylate kinase) scaffolding proteins or NMDA receptors, it
      is necessary for the recruitment of AMPA receptors. This latter process, also
      known as synapse unsilencing, is a final and essential step in the
      neurodevelopment of excitatory postsynaptic synaptogenesis, setting the stage for
      neuronal interconnectivity. These findings provide the first evidence that the
      Arp2/3 complex is directly involved in functional maturation of dendritic spines
      during the developmental period of spinogenesis. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:
      Excitatory spine synapse formation (spinogenesis) is a poorly understood yet
      pivotal period of neurodevelopment that occurs within 2-3 weeks after birth.
      Neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability and autism are
      characterized by abnormal spine structure, which may arise from abnormal
      excitatory synaptogenesis. The initial stage of spinogenesis is thought to begin
      with the emergence of actin-rich dendritic filopodia that initiate contact with
      presynaptic axonal boutons. However, it remains enigmatic how actin cytoskeletal
      regulation directs dendritic filopodial emergence or their subsequent maturation
      into dendritic spines during development and on into adulthood. In this study, we
      provide the first evidence that the Arp2/3 complex, a key actin nucleator, is
      involved in distinct stages of spine formation and is required for synapse
      unsilencing.

PMID- 27629721
TI  - Spinal Fbxo3-Dependent Fbxl2 Ubiquitination of Active Zone Protein RIM1alpha
      Mediates Neuropathic Allodynia through CaV2.2 Activation.
AB  - Spinal plasticity, a key process mediating neuropathic pain development, requires
      ubiquitination-dependent protein turnover. Presynaptic active zone proteins have
      a crucial role in regulating vesicle exocytosis, which is essential for synaptic
      plasticity. Nevertheless, the mechanism for ubiquitination-regulated turnover of
      presynaptic active zone proteins in the progression of spinal plasticity
      associated neuropathic pain remains unclear. Here, after research involving
      Sprague Dawley rats, we reported that spinal nerve ligation (SNL), in addition to
      causing allodynia, enhances the Rab3-interactive molecule-1alpha (RIM1alpha), a
      major active zone protein presumed to regulate neural plasticity, specifically in
      the synaptic plasma membranes (SPMs) of the ipsilateral dorsal horn. Spinal
      RIM1alpha-associated allodynia was mediated by Fbxo3, which abates Fbxl2
      dependent RIM1alpha ubiquitination. Subsequently, following deubiquitination,
      enhanced RIM1alpha directly binds to CaV2.2, resulting in increased CaV2.2
      expression in the SPMs of the dorsal horn. While exhibiting no effect on
      Fbxo3/Fbxl2 signaling, the focal knockdown of spinal RIM1alpha expression
      reversed the SNL-induced allodynia and increased spontaneous EPSC (sEPSC)
      frequency by suppressing RIM1alpha-facilitated CaV2.2 expression in the dorsal
      horn. Intrathecal applications of BC-1215 (a Fbxo3 activity inhibitor), Fbxl2
      mRNA-targeting small-interfering RNA, and omega-conotoxin GVIA (a CaV2.2 blocker)
      attenuated RIM1alpha upregulation, enhanced RIM1alpha expression, and exhibited
      no effect on RIM1alpha expression, respectively. These results confirm the
      prediction that spinal presynaptic Fbxo3-dependent Fbxl2 ubiquitination promotes
      the subsequent RIM1alpha/CaV2.2 cascade in SNL-induced neuropathic pain. Our
      findings identify a role of the presynaptic active zone protein in pain
      associated plasticity. That is, RIM1alpha-facilitated CaV2.2 expression plays a
      role in the downstream signaling of Fbxo3-dependent Fbxl2
      ubiquitination/degradation to promote spinal plasticity underlying the
      progression of nociceptive hypersensitivity following neuropathic injury.
      SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Ubiquitination is a well known process required for
      protein degradation. Studies investigating pain pathology have demonstrated that
      ubiquitination contributes to chronic pain by regulating the turnover of synaptic
      proteins. Here, we found that the spinal presynaptic active zone protein Rab3
      interactive molecule-1alpha (RIM1alpha) participates in neuropathic pain
      development by binding to and upregulating the expression of CaV2.2. In addition,
      Fbxo3 modifies this pathway by inhibiting Fbxl2-mediated RIM1alpha
      ubiquitination, suggesting that presynaptic protein ubiquitination makes a
      crucial contribution to the development of neuropathic pain. Research in this
      area, now in its infancy, could potentially provide a novel therapeutic strategy
      for pain relief.

PMID- 27629723
TI  - Targeting Rejection: Analysis of Specimen Acceptability and Rejection, and
      Framework for Identifying Interventions in a Single Tertiary Healthcare Facility.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Assessment of specimen rejection rates is an important laboratory
      quality measure for laboratories because of a potential negative impact on
      patient care. Here, we examined reasons for specimen rejection at a single,
      tertiary care healthcare institution and propose a framework for designing an
      efficient intervention. METHODS: During a 1-year period, we identified all
      specimens rejected at our hospital and performed an analysis of a wide range of
      associated variables: reason for rejection, patient location, type of
      phlebotomist, tests ordered, priority status, collection container used,
      transport time. RESULTS: Clotted and hemolyzed specimens accounted for the
      majority of rejected specimens, but significant differences in reasons for
      specimen rejection existed between patient care areas. Eighty-five percent of
      rejected specimens came from the Emergency Department and eight other inpatient
      care areas. Registered nurses drew approximately 85% of rejected specimens, while
      laboratory phlebotomy staff drew only 4%. CONCLUSIONS: While hemolysis and
      clotting are primary causes for specimen rejection, collection of all available
      data regarding specimen rejection data is essential for laboratories determining
      which factors are most significant causes of specimen rejection.

PMID- 27629722
TI  - Prefrontal Cortex Networks Shift from External to Internal Modes during Learning.
AB  - As we learn about items in our environment, their neural representations become
      increasingly enriched with our acquired knowledge. But there is little
      understanding of how network dynamics and neural processing related to external
      information changes as it becomes laden with "internal" memories. We sampled
      spiking and local field potential activity simultaneously from multiple sites in
      the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the hippocampus (HPC)-regions critical
      for sensory associations-of monkeys performing an object paired-associate
      learning task. We found that in the PFC, evoked potentials to, and neural
      information about, external sensory stimulation decreased while induced beta-band
      (~11-27 Hz) oscillatory power and synchrony associated with "top-down" or
      internal processing increased. By contrast, the HPC showed little evidence of
      learning-related changes in either spiking activity or network dynamics. The
      results suggest that during associative learning, PFC networks shift their
      resources from external to internal processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: As we
      learn about items in our environment, their representations in our brain become
      increasingly enriched with our acquired "top-down" knowledge. We found that in
      the prefrontal cortex, but not the hippocampus, processing of external sensory
      inputs decreased while internal network dynamics related to top-down processing
      increased. The results suggest that during learning, prefrontal cortex networks
      shift their resources from external (sensory) to internal (memory) processing.

PMID- 27629724
TI  - Urate crystal deposition and bone erosion in gout: 'inside-out' or 'outside-in'?
      A dual-energy computed tomography study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is currently unknown whether bone erosion in gout occurs through
      an 'inside-out' mechanism due to direct intra-osseous crystal deposition or
      through an 'outside-in' mechanism from the surface of bone. The aim of this study
      was to examine the mechanism ('outside-in' vs. 'inside-out') of monosodium urate
      (MSU) crystal deposition in bone erosion in gout. Specifically, we used three
      dimensional dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) to analyse the positional
      relationship between bone and MSU crystal deposition in tophaceous gout, and to
      determine whether intra-osseous crystal deposition occurs in the absence of
      erosion. METHODS: One hundred forty-four participants with gout and at least one
      palpable tophus had a DECT scan of both feet. Two readers independently scored
      all metatarsal heads (1433 bones available for scoring). For bones in contact
      with urate, the bone was scored for whether urate was present within an erosion,
      on the surface of bone or within bone only (true intra-osseous deposit). Data
      were analysed using generalised estimating equations. RESULTS: Urate in contact
      with bone was present in 370 (54.3 %) of 681 joints with urate deposition. For
      those bones in contact with urate, deposition was present on the surface of bone
      in 143 (38.6 %) of 370 joints and within erosion in 227 (61.4 %) of 370. True
      intra-osseous urate deposition was not observed at any site (p < 0.0001). For all
      bones with apparent intra-osseous deposition in one plane, examination in other
      planes revealed urate deposition within an en face erosion. CONCLUSIONS: In
      tophaceous gout, MSU crystal deposition is present within the joint, on the bone
      surface and within bone erosion, but it is not observed within bone in the
      absence of a cortical break. These data support the concept that MSU crystals
      deposit outside bone and contribute to bone erosion through an 'outside-in'
      mechanism.

PMID- 27629725
TI  - PIK3CA Mutations in Resected Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite advances in chemotherapy and radiotherapy in recent decades,
      the prognosis for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients is still poor. Targeted
      therapies in SCLC must be applied systemically to target not only the primary
      tumor but also metastases. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways
      play a key regulatory function in the survival, proliferation, energy metabolism
      and cellular architecture advantages of malignant cells. The phosphatidylinositol
      3-kinase catalytic alpha (PIK3CA) gene, which encodes the p110alpha catalytic
      subunit, plays a key role in the activation of AKT downstream signaling and
      mammary tumor progression. More than 75% of PIK3CA mutations are clustered in the
      helical (exon 9) and catalytic domains (exon 20). There have been very few
      studies reporting the PIK3CA mutations status of patients with SCLC who have
      undergone surgical treatment in mainland China. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study
      was to investigate the PIK3CA mutation in SCLC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and direct sequencing technology
      was used to detect the PIK3CA mutation in 14 cases of retrospectively collected
      SCLC patients who underwent surgical treatment at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital,
      Hangzhou, PRC, between 2002 and 2010. RESULTS: The research revealed no mutations
      in exons 9 and 20 of the PIK3CA gene. A nucleotide alteration of A1634C (E545A)
      of exon 9 turned out to be a pseudogene-positive, because the mutation
      disappeared when near-duplicate detection was employed. CONCLUSIONS: The
      incidence of PIK3CA mutation is low in SCLC patients, and the pseudogene-positive
      alteration of A1634C is prone to occur in exon 9 of PIK3CA mutations in human
      cancers.

PMID- 27629726
TI  - Effects of Thalidomide Combined with Interferon on Inhibiting Kasumi-1 Cell
      Proliferation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous clinical observations proved that the combination of
      thalidomide and interferon (IFN) had certain effects in relapsed or refractory
      AML. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and its
      mechanism of thalidomide and IFN on inhibiting the proliferation of Kasumi-1
      cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thalidomide, IFN and a combination of both drugs
      were used to treat Kasumi-1 cells. The inhibition of cell proliferation and the
      apoptosis rate were measured. Vascular endothelial growth factor levels and the
      expression of apoptosis-related proteins were detected by ELISA and Western
      blotting, respectively. RESULTS: Thalidomide and IFN could both inhibit Kasumi-1
      cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. When Kasumi-1 cells were treated
      with thalidomide 350 MUg/mL or IFN1400 U/mL for 48 h, the proliferation
      inhibition rates were (48.8 +/- 4.64)% and (50.19 +/- 2.59)% and the rates of
      apoptosis were (14.68 +/- 2.61)% and (21.71 +/- 0.71)%, respectively; when
      treated with a combination, the cell proliferation inhibition rate and apoptotic
      rate were statistically significantly higher than both the control group and the
      groups treated with a single drug. The ELISA assay revealed that both 350 MUg/mL
      of thalidomide and 1400 U/mL of IFN could reduce the VEGF levels in cell culture
      supernatants; the two-drug combination group had a further decreased VEGF
      concentration. Forty-eighthour treatment of thalidomide 350 MUg/mL and IFN 1400
      U/mL could significantly decrease Bcl-2 expression and increase the expression
      levels of phosphor-P38, BAX, cytochrome c, and cleaved caspase-3, -8, and -9 as
      compared to the control group. The combination group exhibited significantly
      greater extents of reduction in Bcl-2 protein and increases in p-P38, BAX, and
      cytochrome c, and cleaved caspase-3, -8, and -9 protein expression as compared to
      the single drug groups. CONCLUSIONS: Thalidomide and IFN can synergistically
      inhibit Kasumi-1 cell proliferation, which is possibly achieved through the
      mitochondrial and death receptor pathways and through the activation of the P38
      signaling pathway to induce apoptosis and by inhibiting Kasumi-1 cell autocrine
      VEGF secretion.

PMID- 27629727
TI  - Ventricular Effective Refraction Period and Ventricular Repolarization Analysis
      in Experimental Tachycardiomyopathy in Swine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Swine are recognized animal models of human cardiovascular diseases.
      However, little is known on the CHF-associated changes in the
      electrophysiological ventricular parameters of humans and animals. OBJECTIVES:
      The aim of this study was to analyze changes in the durations of ventricular
      effective refraction period (VERP), QT and QTc intervals of pigs with chronic
      tachycardia-induced tachycardiomyopathy (TIC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study
      was comprised of 28 adult pigs (8 females and 20 males) of the Polish Large White
      breed. A one-chamber pacemaker was implanted in each of the 28 pigs.
      Electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and electrophysiological studies were
      carried out prior to the pacemaker implantation and at subsequent 4-week
      intervals. All electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and short
      electrophysiological study measurements in all swine were done under general
      anesthesia (propofol) after premedication with midazolam, medetomidine, and
      ketamine. RESULTS: No significant changes in the duration of QT interval and
      corrected QT interval (QTc) were observed during consecutive weeks of the
      experiment. The duration of the QTc interval of female pigs was shown to be
      significantly longer than that of the males throughout the whole study period.
      Beginning from the 12th week of rapid ventricular pacing, a significant increase
      in duration of VERP was observed in both male and female pigs. Males and females
      did not differ significantly in terms of VERP duration determined throughout the
      whole study period. Ventricular pacing, stimulation with 2 and 3 premature
      impulses at progressively shorter coupling intervals and an imposed rhythm of 130
      bpm or 150 bpm induced transient ventricular tachycardia in one female pig and
      four male pigs. One episode of permanent ventricular tachycardia was observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: The number of induced arrhythmias increased proportionally to the
      severity of heart failure and duration of the experiment. However, relatively
      aggressive protocols of stimulation were required in order to induce arrhythmia
      in the studied pigs.

PMID- 27629728
TI  - The Effect of Silver Carp Skin-Derived Peptides on the Activities of VEGF and
      Hsp70.1 Gene Transcription Promoters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies conducted on human cell culture models have demonstrated that
      collagen-derived peptides can exert a beneficial effect in medicine. However, all
      these studies were conducted using animal collagen samples, most often
      originating from bovine or porcine skin. Currently attempts are being made to
      replace animal collagen with fish collagen. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was
      to compare the effect of silver carp skin-derived peptide extract on the
      transcriptional activities of human VEGF and hsp70.1 gene promoters inserted into
      the plasmids with secreted alkaline phosphatase as a reporter gene. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Changes in the activity of the promoters were investigated using a
      HEK293FT cell line transfected with pVEGF-SEAP or pHsp70-SEAP. The cells were
      cultured in dishes containing peptides separated using reverse-phase high
      performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The study demonstrated that the
      silver carp skin-derived peptide extract exerts both an inhibitory effect on the
      VEGF gene promoter and activating effect on the hsp70.1 gene promoter. Higher
      biological activity was recorded in the case of a freshly prepared peptide
      extract compared to one stored at 4 degrees C for three months. CONCLUSIONS: The
      silver carp skin-derived collagen peptides influence VEGF and hsp70.1 gene
      promoters' transcriptional activity.

PMID- 27629729
TI  - The Content of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin and Serum Concentration of the Soluble
      Transferrin Receptor for Diagnostics of Anemia in Chronically Hemodialyzed
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic renal disease constitutes a serious worldwide clinical
      problem. An important issue arising early during the treatment of renal failure
      is anemia. Patients in the end-stage of renal disease chronically treated with
      hemodialysis frequently suffer from anemia with iron deficiency. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of determining the reticulocyte
      hemoglobin content and serum concentration of soluble transferrin receptor in the
      detection of anemia caused by iron deficiency in comparison with the classic
      markers of iron circulation in serum in chronic dialysis patients with ESRD.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: 66 sets of hematologic results and iron turnover rates were
      analyzed, sampled from hemodialyzed patients (test group), as well as 34 sets of
      the same results taken from healthy people (control group). Statistically
      significant variables were found and a stepwise backward discriminant analysis
      was performed for them. RESULTS: The results showed that dialyzed patients have a
      significantly lower serum concentration of hemoglobin, CHr, HCT, TSAT, Fe and
      TIBC and significantly higher serum concentration of sTfR, ferritin and C
      reactive protein compared to the control group. Based on the results of
      discriminant analysis, we proposed a scheme for assessing the risk of anemia.
      CONCLUSIONS: The concentrations of hemoglobin, soluble transferrin receptor, iron
      in the serum and C-reactive protein turned out to be the most useful for
      diagnostic purposes. Moreover, the concentration of soluble transferrin receptor
      confirmed its high diagnostic value in the detection of iron deficiency-based
      anemia in patients undergoing dialysis for chronic renal failure at the end-stage
      compared to conventional iron turnover ratios in the serum.

PMID- 27629731
TI  - Compliance Among Adolescents with Arterial Hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The term "compliance" means the degree to which the patient's
      behavior, applying medication or certain lifestyle changes, is consistent with
      arrangements communicated to him by a doctor or other healthcare professional.
      Literature indicates that the degree of adherence to medical recommendations for
      hypertensive patients is unsatisfactory, making it the main cause of the low
      effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was
      to assess the compliance of adolescents in the field of pharmacological and non
      pharmacological methods of hypertension treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      study included 62 patients (20 women, 42 men) diagnosed with hypertension and
      treated in specialist healthcare facilities. As a research tool, a questionnaire
      prepared on the basis of recent literature was used. RESULTS: The vast majority
      of respondents (72.7%) declared that they were regularly taking antihypertensive
      drugs. The proportion of patients regularly taking antihypertensive drugs was
      higher in patients treated with monotherapy than with polytherapy (48.5% vs.
      24.2%). Among the methods of non-pharmacological treatment of hypertension, the
      most accepted lifestyle change in the study population was smoking cessation
      (83.8% of respondents) and reduction of salt consumption (64.5% of respondents),
      and the least acceptable lifestyle change was maintaining proper body weight by
      eating a low calorie diet (30.6% of respondents). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with
      hypertension adhere in varying degrees to medical recommendations related to the
      hypertension treatment. The available literature indicates that the currently
      effective way to improve cooperation with the patients is education.

PMID- 27629730
TI  - The Effect of Combined Ezetimibe/Atorvastatin Therapy vs. Atorvastatin
      Monotherapy on the Erythrocyte Membrane Structure in Patients with Coronary
      Artery Disease: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erythrocytes play an important role in atherogenesis. An excessive
      accumulation of cholesterol in erythrocyte membranes leads to disruption of the
      erythrocytes. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare the effect of two
      different hypolipidemic therapies on the structure of erythrocyte membranes.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 18 patients with angiographic confirmed
      coronary artery disease who, despite at least 6 months of hypolipidemic
      treatment, had not achieved LDL-C < 70 mg/dL and 18 healthy individuals as the
      control group. The following parameters were studied: total cholesterol level and
      erythrocyte membrane fluidity, lipid peroxidation, SH groups in membrane protein
      and plasma lipids. RESULTS: We observed a decrease in TC (20%), LDL-C (35%),
      level of lipid peroxidation (25%) and total cholesterol in erythrocytes (23%),
      and an increase in HDL-C (8%) and erythrocyte membrane fluidity of subsurface
      layers (14%) after 6 months of 10 mg atorvastatin + 10 mg ezetimibe therapy, in
      comparison with healthy controls. In the group treated with 40 mg atorvastatin
      for 6 months, decreased LDL-C (23%), lipid peroxidation (37%) and membrane
      cholesterol concentration (18%) was noted, as well as an increase in erythrocyte
      membrane fluidity in the subsurface layers (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Both the
      combination therapy and the monotherapy lead to an improvement of erythrocyte
      membrane structure, whose parameters reached values close to those in the control
      healthy group.

PMID- 27629732
TI  - Adiponectin and Cardiac Hypertrophy in Acromegaly.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adiponectin is an adipocytes-derived hormone which has been shown to
      possess insulin-sensitizing, antiatherogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties.
      In acromegaly, the data on adiponectin is contradictory. The relationship between
      adiponectin levels and cardiac parameters has not been studied. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of this study was to find out how adiponectin levels were affected in
      acromegalic patients and the relationship between adiponectin levels and cardiac
      parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included 30 subjects (15 male, 15 female),
      diagnosed with acromegaly and 30 healthy (10 male, 20 female) subjects. Serum
      glucose, insulin, GH, IGF-1 and adiponectin levels were obtained and the insulin
      resistance of the subjects was calculated. Echocardiographic studies of the
      subjects were performed. RESULTS: We determined that adiponectin levels were
      significantly higher in the acromegalic group than the control group. In the
      acromegalic group, there was no statistically significant relation between serum
      adiponectin and growth hormone (GH), or insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)
      levels (p = 0.3, p = 0.1). We demonstrated that cardiac function and structure
      are affected by acromegaly. IVST, PWT, LVMI, E/A ratio, DT, ET, IVRT, VPR, and
      LVESV values were increased and the results were statistically significant. In
      the acromegalic group, adiponectin levels were positively related with left
      ventricle mass index (LVMI) but this correlation was found to be statistically
      weak (p = 0.03). In our study, there was a positive correlation between VAI and
      LVM. We also could not find any correlation between VAI and adiponectin levels.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although insulin resistance and high insulin levels occur in active
      acromegaly patients, adiponectin levels were higher in our study as a consequence
      of GH lowering therapies. Our study showed that adiponectin levels may be an
      indicator of the cardiac involvement acromegaly. However, the usage of serum
      adiponectin levels in acromegalic patients as an indicator of cardiac involvement
      should be supported with other, wide, multi-centered studies.

PMID- 27629733
TI  - Evaluation of Selected Atherosclerosis Risk Factors in Women with Subclinical
      Hypothyroidism Treated with L-Thyroxine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is a common endocrine disorder,
      probably increasing cardiovascular (CV) risk. However, the relation between SCH
      and atherosclerosis risk factors remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      study was to evaluate selected atherosclerosis risk factors in women with SCH in
      comparison to a group of healthy women and women with overt hypothyroidism, as
      well as to investigate the influence of L-thyroxine replacement on those risk
      factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 187 obese women aged
      between 50 and 70 years: 100 women with SCH, 45 women with overt hypothyroidism
      and 42 women with TSH level in reference ranges. Anthropometric parameters were
      evaluated. Laboratory tests included thyroid hormones concentrations, lipid
      profile with apolipoproteins, CRP, homocysteine. Atherosclerotic indexes were
      calculated: LDL C/HDL C ratio, apoA1/apoB ratio and Castelli risk index. Women
      with hypothyroidism were given L-thyroxine treatment and after 6 months in
      euthyroidism the evaluation was repeated. RESULTS: Total cholesterol, LDL
      cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations as well as LDL-C/HDL-C ratio and
      Castelli index were higher in SCH than in controls and decreased after L-thyroxin
      substitution. All of the calculated atherosclerosis indexes showed significant
      positive correlations with TSH concentration in SCH group. Also in this group the
      systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly after treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Dyslipidemia in obese SCH women is not severe, but if untreated for
      many years, it may lead to atherosclerosis. Substitution therapy improves the
      lipid profile, changing the relations between protective and proatherogenic
      fractions of serum lipids, and optimises blood pressure.

PMID- 27629734
TI  - Alteration in Methylation Pattern of Retinoblastoma 1 Gene Promotor Region in
      Intestinal Metaplasia with or without Helicobacter pylori and Gastric Cancer
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori, intestinal metaplasia (IM), and gene methylation
      play important roles in gastric carcinogenesis. However, the association among H.
      pylori infection, IM, gastric cancer (GC), and gene methylation is not fully
      understood. Cell cycle control involving retinoblastoma 1 (RB1) gene is one of
      the main regulatory pathways reported to be altered in gastric carcinogenesis.
      OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this research is to assess the methylation status of
      RB1 gene in GC and IM with or without H. pylori infection, and to discuss the
      possible role of H. pylori-induced RB1 gene methylation in the mechanism of
      gastric carcinogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The methylation profile of RB1 gene
      was analyzed by sodium bisulfite modification and methylation-specific PCR in GC
      (n = 24), IM patients with H. pylori positive (n = 20) and negative (n = 20), and
      control subjects (n = 20). RESULTS: According to methylation levels in RB1 gene;
      the high correlation values were detected between H. pylori positive-IM group and
      GC group, and between H. pylori positive-IM and H. pylori negative-IM groups (p <
      0.05). No correlations between H. pylori negative-IM and GC groups and between GC
      and control groups were detected in methylation status of RB1 gene. CONCLUSIONS:
      High methylation levels in RB1 gene in H. pylori positive individuals may suggest
      an elevated risk of gastric cancer occurrence.

PMID- 27629735
TI  - The APOE E4 Allele Confers Increased Risk of Ischemic Stroke Among Greek
      Carriers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although several studies in various countries have indicated that the
      presence of the E4 allele of the apolipoprotein-E (APOE) gene is a risk factor
      for ischemic cerebrovascular disease, the strength of this association still
      remains a matter of debate. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the
      frequency of the APOE E4 allele and various other gene polymorphisms in in a well
      characterized sample of Greek patients and to evaluate the potential associations
      with the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) and coronary heart disease (CHD). MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A total of nine gene variants/polymorphisms - F5 (Leiden - R5 06Q,
      rs6025), F2 (20210G > A, rs1799963), F13A1 (V34L, rs5985), MTHFR (677C > T -
      A222V, rs1801133), MTHFR (1298A > C - E429A, rs1801131), FGB (-455G > A -c.-463G
      > A; rs1800790), SERPINE1 (PAI14G/5G - rs1799889), ACE (ACE I/D, rs1799752),
      ITGB3 (GPIIIa L33P, rs5918) and the APOE E2/E3/E4 alleles (rs7412, rs429358) -
      were genotyped in 200 newly diagnosed ischemic stroke (IS) patients, 165 patients
      with ischemic coronary heart disease (CHD) and 159 controls with no cerebroor
      cardiovascular disease (non-CVD). A statistical analysis was performed using
      univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: No significant
      association was found regarding most gene polymorphisms and the presence of IS or
      CHD in the patient cohort. However, the APOE E4 allele frequency was
      significantly higher (p = 0.02) among patients with ischemic stroke (IS) or IS +
      CHD (12.7%) when compared to the controls (5.1%). More accurately, E4 carriers
      had 2.66 and 2.71 times greater likelihood of IS or IS + CHD than non-carriers,
      respectively (OR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.39-5.07, OR = 2.71, 95% CI 0.98-7.48).
      CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to some previous studies, these results support the role
      of the APOE E4 allele as an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke and
      ischemic coronary heart disease among Greek patients.

PMID- 27629736
TI  - The Safety of Intravenous Cyclophosphamide in the Treatment of Rheumatic
      Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The therapeutic effects of cyclophosphamide (CP) in the treatment of
      systemic rheumatic diseases are related to its immune suppressive activity.
      However effective, the application of CP is restricted due to multiple adverse
      effects. OBJECTIVES: This retrospective study was conducted to determine the
      frequency of adverse effects attributed to CP toxicity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      study involved 65 patients (17 male; 48 female) receiving intravenous CP between
      October 2007 and December 2010. The mean age at onset was 51.2 years (range 19-77
      years). The most common diagnoses were systemic sclerosis (20), systemic lupus
      erythematosus (13) and vasculitis (13). The indications for treatment with CP
      were interstitial lung disease in the course of systemic diseases (33),
      vasculitis (24), glomerulonephritis (5) and changes in the central nervous system
      (3). The patients were administered 400-1000 mg CP in intravenous infusions at 2
      16 week intervals, with the addition of sodium 2-sulfanylethanesulfonate (mesna)
      before and after each pulse. RESULTS: Out of 65 patients 40 (60%) reported
      adverse effects: infections in 24 (37%), nausea in 19 (29%), vomiting in 11
      (17%), abdominal pain in 7 (11%) and pancytopenia in one, leading to cessation of
      the therapy. No association was found between the frequency of side effects and
      the treatment duration (p = 0.632), age (p = 0.852), diagnosis (p = 0.171) or
      nominal dose (p = 0.321). CONCLUSIONS: As knowledge about CP continues to
      increase, this medication remains a safe way to treat many rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 27629737
TI  - Multi- and Unifocal Thyroid Microcarcinoma: Are There Any Differences?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid microcarcinoma (TMC) often occurs as two or more separate
      foci, therefore a completion of primary surgery might be necessary. OBJECTIVES:
      To evaluate and compare the incidence, diagnostic accuracy, clinicopathological
      characteristics and surgical treatment of unifocal and multifocal thyroid
      microcarcinoma (UTMC vs. MTMC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed
      3,218 medical records of patients consecutively admitted and surgically treated
      in one center due to thyroid pathology. RESULTS: In the end, we evaluated 246
      (7.64%) patients with thyroid malignancy. Ninety-seven of them (39.43%) were
      diagnosed as TMC: 84 (86.59%) UTMC and 13 (13.41%) MTMC (p < 0.0001). All MTMC
      were unilateral tumors. The papillary type of cancer was found in 82 (97.62%)
      patients with UTMC and in 12 (92.31%) with MTMC (p = 0.8661). In the UTMC group,
      1 (1.19%) patient had follicular and 1 (1.19%) the medullary type of TMC. 1
      (7.69%) individual in the MTMC group had tumors composed of papillary and
      follicular cancer. The number of younger patients (age < 45) was comparable in
      both groups (p = 0.825). The trend was observed that ultrasound guided fine
      needle aspiration biopsy (UG-FNAB) revealed malignant processes before surgery in
      a greater number of patients with MTMC than UTMC (84.62% vs. 58.33%, p = 0.131).
      In the MTMC group, the number of larger tumors (> 5 mm) was greater (84.62% vs.
      65.48%), however the difference was not statistically significant. Thirteen
      percent of patients with UTMC presented cervical lymph node involvement, compared
      to nearly 8% of patients with MTMC (p = 0.298). Disease-related mortality was not
      observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of UTMC was significantly
      higher than MTMC. The majority of UTMC and MTMC were composed of the papillary
      type of cancer. MTMC and UTMC were equally frequent in both age groups. The
      accuracy of UG-FNAB was higher in patients with MTMC. The dimensions of most UTMC
      and MTMC was above 5 mm. The involvement of the cervical lymph node at the time
      of diagnosis in both groups is comparable and not infrequent.

PMID- 27629738
TI  - The Efficacy of Perioperative Antibiotic Therapy in Tonsillectomy Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While the results of early research suggested that perioperative
      antibiotic prophylaxis in tonsillectomy patients is associated with many
      benefits, these data were not confirmed by further studies and meta-analyses.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness and efficacy
      of antibiotic monotherapy in the healing of surgical wounds of patients
      undergoing bilateral resection of the palatine tonsils, based on an analysis of
      selected objective and subjective characteristics of wound healing during the
      postoperative period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 50 men and women
      who underwent routine resection of the palatine tonsils. The patients were
      randomized into two groups: Group I, undergoing tonsillectomy with cefuroxime
      prophylaxis (n = 25), and Group II, who were not given perioperative antibiotic
      therapy (n = 25). The severity of signs and complaints recorded on postoperative
      days 1-10 was scored on 3- and 10-item scales. RESULTS: The only significant
      intergroup differences pertained to problems with swallowing food and fluids on
      postoperative days 4-6, 8 and 9 (less prevalent in Group II), postoperative use
      of analgesics on postoperative day 9 (less frequent in Group II), the degree of
      mucosal swelling in the operated area on postoperative days 3 and 7 (less severe
      in Group II), and the amount of fibrin covering the tonsillar niches on the third
      postoperative day (significantly higher in Group I). CONCLUSIONS: The
      administration of antibiotics for prevention or control of infection should be
      preceded by a comprehensive analysis of the potential benefits and risks.
      Perioperative use of antibiotics is justified only in selected cases, i.e. in
      individuals with comorbidities.

PMID- 27629739
TI  - Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor Receptor, Tissue Factor, and VEGF-R Bound
      VEGF in Human Breast Cancer In Loco.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Doxorubicin and docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimens used in breast
      cancer patients are associated with high risk of febrile neutropenia (FN).
      Granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) are recommended for both treating
      and preventing chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Increased thrombosis incidence
      in G-CSF treated patients was reported; however, the underlying mechanisms remain
      unclear. The principal activator of blood coagulation in cancer is tissue factor
      (TF). It additionally contributes to cancer progression and stimulates
      angiogenesis. The main proangiogenic factor is vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF). OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate granulocyte-colony
      stimulating factor receptor (G-CSFR), tissue factor (TF) expression and vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF-R) bound VEGF in human breast cancer in
      loco. MATERIAL AND METHODS: G-CSFR, TF and VEGFR bound VEGF (VEGF: VEGFR) were
      assessed in 28 breast cancer tissue samples. Immunohistochemical (IHC)
      methodologies according to ABC technique and double staining IHC procedure were
      employed utilizing antibodies against G-CSFR, TF and VEGF associated with VEGFR
      (VEGF: VEGFR). RESULTS: Expression of G-CSFR was demonstrated in 20 breast cancer
      tissue specimens (71%). In 6 cases (21%) the expression was strong (IRS 9-12).
      Strong expression of TF was observed in all investigated cases (100%). Moreover,
      expression of VEGF: VEGFR was visualized in cancer cells (IRS 5-8). No presence
      of G-CSFR, TF or VEGF: VEGFR was detected on healthy breast cells. Double
      staining IHC studies revealed co-localization of G-CSFR and TF, G-CSFR and VEGF:
      VEGFR, as well as TF and VEGF: VEGFR on breast cancer cells and ECs. CONCLUSIONS:
      The results of the study indicate that GCSFR, TF and VEGF: VEGFR expression as
      well as their co-expression might influence breast cancer biology, and may
      increase thromboembolic adverse events incidence.

PMID- 27629740
TI  - Expression of Interactive Genes Associated with Apoptosis and Their Prognostic
      Value for Ovarian Serous Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malignant ovarian tumor is one of the leading causes of worldwide
      cancer death. It is usually characterized by insidious onset and late diagnosis
      because of the absence of symptoms, allowing ovarian cancer cases to progress
      rapidly and become unresectable. The tumor suppressor, p53, plays an important
      role in regulating cell cycles and apoptosis. p53 is regulated by several
      molecules, and it interacts with other apoptotic proteins. OBJECTIVES: To compare
      the prognosis of ovarian serous carcinoma and evaluate the expression of DNA
      PKcs, Akt3, GSK-3beta, and p53 in cancerous cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: DNA
      PKcs, Akt3, GSK-3beta, and p53 expression levels were scored using
      immunohistochemistry staining of tissue samples from 132 women with ovarian
      serous adenocarcinoma. Expression was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Analyses
      were stratified by age, tumor grades, cancer stages and serum CA 125 levels.
      RESULTS: Significant differences in DNA-PKcs, Akt3, and p53 expression were
      observed between participants with different stages and tumor grades of ovarian
      serous adenocarcinoma. DNA-PKcs and p53 expression increased along with
      increasing tumor grade. Meanwhile, DNA-PKcs, Akt3, and p53 expression increased
      along with increasing cancer stage, and with a decrease in 5-year overall
      survival rate. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that elevated expression of DNA
      PKcs, Akt3, and p53 in ovarian serous adenocarcinoma tissues are an indication of
      more advanced disease and worse prognosis.

PMID- 27629741
TI  - Induction and Maintenance Infliximab Therapy for the Treatment of Crohn's Disease
      with Perianal Fistulas in Children: Retrospective, Multicenter Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infliximab is a biological drug used for the treatment of Crohn's
      disease in children. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this retrospective study was the
      estimation of effectiveness and safety of infliximab in the treatment of Crohn's
      disease with perianal fistulas in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analysis
      comprised 50 children with Crohn's disease with perianal fistulas aged 9 to 18
      years (16 girls and 34 boys) who failed to respond to conventional therapy. The
      children were divided into two groups: the first group contained 23 children with
      simple fistulas and the second - 27 children with complex fistulas. All children
      were treated with infliximab, administered in the dose of 5 mg per kilogram of
      the body mass. In the induction phase infliximab was administered at weeks 0, 2
      and 6 and after clinical response in maintenance phase the drug was administered
      every 8 weeks; together for 12 months. RESULTS: In 76% of children after
      induction therapy with infliximab and in 71.87% after maintenance therapy the
      complete closure of fistula occurred. During the first year after the treatment a
      recurrence of a fistula was observed in 30.43% of the children. In two children
      anaphylactic shock was observed during injection of infliximab. The remaining
      children tolerated the drug well. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment with infliximab was
      effective in the majority of fistulazing Crohn's disease and caused the closure
      of perianal fistula which improved quality of life.

PMID- 27629742
TI  - Axl Is a Potential Cancer Prognostic Marker for the Migration and Invasion of
      Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Axl receptor tyrosine kinase has been demonstrated to be elevated
      and activated in many human cancers including liver, lung, breast, and pancreatic
      cancer. Its high expression has been considered as a cancer biomarker for
      predicting poor prognosis and increased invasiveness/metastasis. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of the study was to investigate the clinical significance of Axl in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its role in cell migration and invasion.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: We detected Axl expression in 86 collected NPC tissues and
      20 collected normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissues using quantitative reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemical
      staining. Axl was knocked down by a specific shRNA in NPC cell lines, 5-8F and 6
      10B. Transwell assays were used to determine NPC cell migration and invasion.
      RESULTS: The expressions of Axl mRNA and protein in NPC tissues were
      significantly higher than those in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissues (p <
      0.05, respectively). The positive expression of Axl was significantly correlated
      with distant metastasis and high TNM stage in NPC (p < 0.05, respectively).
      Furthermore, Axl positive expression was correlated with a worse overall survival
      of NPC patients (p < 0.05). Multivariate Cox repression analysis indicated that
      Axl was an independent factor for predicting overall survival of NPC patients (p
      < 0.05). In vitro studies found that Axl knockdown significantly reduced the
      number of migrated and invaded 5-8F and 6-10B cells (p < 0.05, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: The positive expression of Axl is correlated with the poor
      clinicopathological features in NPC. Furthermore, Axl is an independent
      prognostic marker for predicting overall survival of NPC patients. Functionally,
      Axl may facilitate tumour progression by promoting NPC cell migration and
      invasion.

PMID- 27629743
TI  - Distribution of 16S rRNA Methylases Among Different Species of Aminoglycoside
      Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Poland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aminoglycosides are a group of antimicrobial agents still the most
      commonly used in the treatment of life-threatening bacterial infections in human
      and animals. The emergence and spread of 16S rRNA methylases, which confer high
      level resistance to the majority of clinically relevant aminoglycosides,
      constitute a major public health concern. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to evaluate
      the distribution of 16S rRNA methylases among different species of
      Enterobacteriaceae during a five month-long survey in a tertiary hospital in
      Warszawa, Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the survey, a total of 1770 non
      duplicate clinical isolates were collected from all hospital wards in a tertiary
      hospital in Warszawa, Poland. The survey was conducted between 19 April and 19
      September 2010. The ability to produce 16S rRNA methylase was examined by
      determining MICs for gentamicin, kanamycin, amikacin by means of the agar
      dilution method. The isolates resistant to high concentration of aminoglycosides
      were PCR tested for genes: armA, rmtA, rmtB and rmtC. PCR products were subjected
      to DNA sequencing by the Sanger method. The genetic similarity of the ArmA
      producing isolates was analysed by pulsed-filed gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
      RESULTS: ArmA was the only 16S rRNA methylase detected in 20 of 1770 tested
      isolates. The overall prevalence rate of ArmA was 1.13%. In K. pneumoniae (n =
      742), P. mirabilis (n = 130), and E. cloacae (n = 253) collected in the survey,
      the prevalence of ArmA was 0.4%, 0.8% and 5.9%, respectively. The PFGE revealed
      both horizontal and clonal spread of the armA gene in the hospital. CONCLUSIONS:
      The prevalence of 16S rRNA methylase ArmA reported in this study is significantly
      higher than observed in other countries in Europe.

PMID- 27629744
TI  - Dental Caries Level and Sugar Consumption in 12-Year-Old Children from Poland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The frequent and high consumption of sugar products, particularly
      sucrose, is one of the causative factors of dental caries. Meta-analyses
      assessing the relationship between sugar intake and dental caries revealed that a
      restricted sugar intake to less than 10% of the daily energy intake results in
      substantial health benefits. Sugar consumption in Poland is 2-fold higher than
      recommended by the WHO. As change in dietary habits is slow, knowledge of whether
      a gradual reduction of sugar consumption influences beneficially the dental
      condition is important. OBJECTIVES: Assessment of the relationship between caries
      experience and sugar consumption in 12-year-old children. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The data obtained from the Statistical Agricultural Yearbooks of the Central
      Statistical Office in Poland regarding the average yearly sugar intake by a
      person in the years 1995-2013, and caries prevalence (frequency and DMFT)
      resulting from the national epidemiological studies of the 12-year-old children
      conducted by the Ministry of Health in those years were analyzed. The data was
      analyzed by linear regression. Regression function parameters and coefficients of
      determination were assessed for a possible link between sugar consumption and
      dental caries frequency and severity was expressed as DMFT value. RESULTS: The
      mean yearly sugar intake by a statistical Pole ranged from 43.6 kg (2002) to 35.3
      kg (2006). Despite a slight trend to lower the sugar consumption, its mean intake
      in 1995 and 2013 was the same (41.9 kg). Caries frequency and DMFT decreased in
      2012 compared to 1995 from 90.5% to 79.6% and from 4.3 to 3.53 kg in 2012,
      respectively. The increased sugar intake by 1 kg/year caused the increase of
      caries frequency by 1% and DMFT value by 0.2. CONCLUSIONS: Even a relatively low
      decrease in sugar consumption can exert some beneficial influence on the dental
      condition in adolescents, particularly upon the severity of caries.

PMID- 27629745
TI  - A Comparative Analysis of Selected Demographic Parameters for Evaluating Parity
      of Women in Poland, Spain, England and Wales for the Period 1996-2011.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Central Statistical Offices in Europe indicate an increase of
      women's parity age and extramarital births. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was
      to analyze the chosen demographics of parity in European countries of Poland,
      Spain, England and Wales in 1996-2011. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Statistical packet:
      women's average age at the time of their first and subsequent births, newborns'
      average body weight in relation to the age of mother; live marital and
      extramarital births. The age of mothers giving birth to their first and
      subsequent children in 1998-2011 in all of the researched countries is presented,
      and next compared in 1999, 2005 and 2011. An analysis of the births of children
      in marital and extramarital relationships as well as the body weight of live
      newborns is presented in detail in 1996-2006, and next in 6 year periods: 1999,
      2005 and 2011. RESULTS: The average age of the mother giving birth to her first
      baby in 1996-2011 oscillates around: 26-27 years in England and Wales, 28-30
      years in Spain and 23-26 years in Poland. In Poland, the highest average
      children's body weight, 3394 g, was achieved by children born by mothers at the
      age of 25-29. In Spain, however, at the mothers' age of 20-24, it was 3317 g. In
      England and Wales, at 30-34 years, it was 3262 g. The number of extramarital
      births in comparison to marital births is increasing. England and Wales has the
      lowest percentage of marital births, whereas Poland, the highest. In Spain,
      England and Wales we can observe an increase of extramarital births, while in
      Poland this number is stable at around 21.3%. CONCLUSIONS: The age of women
      having their first baby, the parity of later children, and extramarital births
      are increasing. In Poland, infant body weight is significantly bigger than in
      Spain, England and Wales.

PMID- 27629746
TI  - B-Group Vitamins: Chemoprevention?
AB  - The importance of vitamins in the prevention of cancer has attracted the
      attention of consumers, nutritionists and scientists for decades. The mechanisms
      of carcinogenesis, extended in the context of the function of vitamins, i.e.
      regulation of and participation in metabolic processes in the cell, suggest a
      substantial impact of these compounds on the initial stages of carcinogenesis.
      One-carbon metabolism involving folic acid, vitamins B2, B6 and B12, and folate
      metabolism doesn't only generate methyl groups, thus determining epigenetic
      processes, modifications of the genome and carcinogenesis. It also provides the
      compounds involved in the DNA synthesis and repair processes, especially the
      synthesis of purines and pyrimidines and the conversion of dUMP (2-deoxyuridine
      monophosphate) to dTMP (2-deoxythymidine monophosphate). In light of these
      pathways, folate, together with vitamins B2, B6 and B12, became a subject of
      interest as compounds whose deficit or surplus can potentially have an impact on
      the processes of carcinogenesis. Literature reports, however, do not fully
      confirm that the influence on the synthesis of nucleotides is connected with the
      inhibition of carcinogenesis. The impact of individual vitamins involved in one
      carbon metabolism on carcinogenesis and their role in the prevention of these
      conditions depend on the type of cancer and the dose administered. Nevertheless,
      the research conducted makes it possible to conclude a considerable and probably
      long-underestimated role of these compounds in the prevention of serious,
      difficult to treat or incurable diseases. 

PMID- 27629747
TI  - Clinical Aspects of the Use of Botulinum Toxin Type A in the Treatment of
      Dysfunction of the Masticatory System.
AB  - The purpose of this work is to present a new, still experimental method of
      treating temporomandibular disorders (TMD) by injecting botulinum toxin Type A
      (TBX-A), using its effects not as a toxin but as a medication. The mechanism of
      TBX-A, indications and contraindications for its use, as well as possible side
      effects, are discussed. Temporomandibular disorders are of concern to
      approximately 70-80% of the population. The effect of botulinum toxin depends on
      blocking the release of acetylcholine from a presynaptic neuromuscular synapse
      and, in the autonomous system, blocking its release from post-ganglionic
      cholinergic neurons. In cases of long-term TMJ disorders, muscle activity
      increases and spastic contractions may even appear. TBX-A offers an opportunity
      for a normal social and family life for many patients suffering from masticatory
      system disorders (MSD), who have been isolated from the environment by pain. The
      study is based on a review of the literature and the authors' own experiences
      during several attempts to treat patients by this method. TBX-A is a safe
      medicine when the injection is performed by a well-trained physician. 

PMID- 27629749
TI  - A Preliminary Clinical Comparison of the Use of Fascia Lata Allograft and
      Autogenous Connective Tissue Graft in Multiple Gingival Recession Coverage Based
      on the Tunnel Technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most effective method for treating gingival recessions (GR) is
      with an autogenous connective tissue graft (CTG) via flap surgery. Often,
      however, the amount of CTG that can be grafted is insufficient to cover all of a
      patient's gingival recessions at one time. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this
      study was to provide a 6-month comparative assessment of the results of covering
      multiple Miller Class I and II gingival recessions with a Fascia Lata Allograft
      (FL) and a CTG harvested from palatal mucosa. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study
      comprised a total of 30 people who underwent multiple gingival recession (GR)
      procedures using a modified, coronally advanced tunnel technique (MCAT). The
      patients were divided into two groups of 15 according to the type of materials
      used for gingival augmentation purposes: FL for the test group and CTG for the
      control group. A clinical assessment was made at baseline, as well as 3 and 6
      months following surgery. The following factors were assessed: recession depth,
      recession width, probing depth, clinical attachment level, height of keratinized
      tissue (HKT), distance between the cemento-enamel junction and the muco-gingival
      junction (CEJ-MGJ), API, SBI. The following values were calculated: average root
      coverage (ARC), complete root coverage (CRC). RESULTS: No statistically
      significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of clinical
      parameters assessed after 6 months, apart from CRC, which was 94.87 +/- 0.14 mm
      in the control group and 94.24 +/- 0.20 mm in the study group (p = 0.034). The
      average HKT in the control group after 6 months amounted to 2.86 +/- 1.60 mm, and
      in the test group to 3.09 +/- 0.95 mm, which translates into an increase in
      comparison to the baseline values of 0.73 mm (p < 0.001) and 0.48 mm (p = 0.017),
      respectively. CONCLUSION: FL Allografts may serve as an alternative to autogenous
      CTG in multiple gingival recession coverage procedures based on the tunnel
      technique.

PMID- 27629748
TI  - Impacted Teeth: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.
AB  - A tooth normally erupts when half to three-quarters of its final root length has
      developed. Tooth impaction is usually diagnosed well after this period and is
      generally asymptomatic. It is principally for this reason that patients seek
      treatment later than optimal. Tooth impaction is a common problem in daily
      orthodontic practice and, in most cases, it is recognized by chance in a routine
      dental examination. Therefore, it is very important that dental practitioners are
      aware of this condition, since early detection and intervention may help to
      prevent many harmful complications. The treatment of impacted teeth requires
      multidisciplinary cooperation between orthodontists, oral surgeons and sometimes
      periodontists. Orthodontic treatment and surgical exposure of impacted teeth are
      performed in order to bring the impacted tooth into the line of the arch. The
      treatment is long, more complicated and challenging. This article presents an
      overview of the prevalence, etiology, diagnosis, treatment and complications
      associated with the management of impacted teeth. 

PMID- 27629750
TI  - Lipid profiling of the therapeutic effects of berberine in patients with
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We recently demonstrated a positive effect of berberine on
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients after 16 weeks of treatment by
      comparing mere lifestyle intervention in type 2 diabetes patients with berberine
      treatment, which decreased the content of hepatic fat. However, the potential
      mechanisms of the clinical effects are unclear. We used a lipidomic approach to
      characterize the state of lipid metabolism as reflected in the circulation of
      subjects with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) before and after berberine
      treatment. METHODS: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry evaluated the various
      lipid metabolites in serum samples obtained from the participants (41 patients in
      the berberine group and 39 patients in the mere lifestyle intervention group)
      before and after treatment. RESULTS: A total of 256 serum lipid molecular species
      were identified and quantified. Both treatments regulated various types of lipids
      in metabolic pathways, such as free fatty acids, phosphoglycerides and
      glycerides, in metabolic pathways, but berberine induced a substantially greater
      change in serum lipid species compared with mere lifestyle intervention after
      treatment. Berberine also caused obvious differences on ceramides. Berberine
      treatment markedly decreased serum levels of ceramide and ceramide-1-phosphate.
      CONCLUSIONS: Berberine altered circulating ceramides, which may underlie the
      improvement in fatty liver disease. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00633282, Registered
      March 3, 2008.

PMID- 27629751
TI  - Neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy: an unusual cause of hypoxemia in
      children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD) is a heterogeneous group
      of rare disorders characterized by abnormal imaging findings, impaired gas
      exchange; and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality.
      Neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (NEHI) is a unique sub-group, which is more
      prevalent in infants and children younger than 2 years of age, and typically
      manifests with chronic tachypnea, retractions, hypoxemia and failure to thrive.
      NEHI insidiously appears in the first year of life, subtly masquerading as one of
      the more common lung diseases of childhood. Therefore, the diagnosis of NEHI is
      challenging and requires a systematic approach. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a
      case of an infant, with a history of recurrent respiratory infections and
      wheezing, who presented with persistent hypoxemia (PaO2 88 mmHg) and chronic
      respiratory symptoms, that prompted an extensive diagnostic work up for chILD;
      eventually a diagnosis of NEHI was made. CONCLUSION: NEHI is a rare chILD
      disorder presenting in the first 2 years of life with common but challenging key
      clinical features. Increased awareness among pediatricians and prompt recognition
      of the clinical presentation may enable timely diagnosis and improve disease
      management and prognosis.

PMID- 27629754
TI  - Review of Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and a
      Proposed Scanning Protocol.
AB  - Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common peripheral compressive neuropathy.
      Ultrasonography (US) is an emerging technology that can be used in the diagnosis
      of carpal tunnel syndrome. Although the cross-sectional area is the most studied
      and validated measurement for carpal tunnel syndrome, there is no standardized
      neuromuscular US scanning protocol. We review the most studied neuromuscular US
      characteristics and protocols in the evaluation of carpal tunnel syndrome and
      propose a standardized protocol for evaluating carpal tunnel syndrome with
      neuromuscular US based on current literature.

PMID- 27629755
TI  - Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Training Results in Physician
      Level Success for Emergency Department Technicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report our success and complication rates with emergency
      department (ED) technician-performed ultrasound (US)-guided peripheral
      intravenous (IV) catheter placement and to compare our results to similar studies
      in the literature. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of a prospective
      database of patients who underwent US-guided peripheral IV catheter placement
      attempts for clinical care in the ED. All patients meeting difficult IV access
      criteria who had a US-guided peripheral IV catheter placement attempted by a
      trained ED technician were included. Average attempts per success and overall
      success rates were compared to similar published studies. RESULTS: There were 830
      participants, with an overall success rate of ED technician- performed US-guided
      peripheral IV catheter placement of 97.5%. Clinicians categorized 82.6% of
      participants as having difficult IV access and reported that in 46.5%, a central
      venous catheter would have been necessary if the US-guided peripheral IV catheter
      failed. Of successful catheter attempts, 86.8% were placed on the first attempt;
      11.6% were placed on the second attempt; and 1.6% were placed on the third
      attempt. For this study, the average number of attempts per success was 1.15 (95%
      confidence interval, 1.12-1.18), which was lower than in 6 other published
      studies, ranging from 1.27 to 1.70. The overall success rate of our ED technician
      performed attempts was 0.970 (95% confidence interval, 0.956-0.983), which was
      higher than that reported in previous ED technician studies (0.79-0.80), and
      closer to that reported for physicians or nurses (0.87-0.97). The arterial
      puncture complication rate was 0.8%, which was also lower than in other published
      studies (1.25%-9.80%). CONCLUSIONS: With brief but comprehensive training, ED
      technicians can successfully obtain US-guided peripheral IV catheter access in
      patients with difficult IV access.

PMID- 27629756
TI  - For Women, Hernias Can Be a Pain.

PMID- 27629753
TI  - Management of Clinically and Mammographically Occult Benign Papillary Lesions
      Diagnosed at Ultrasound-Guided 14-Gauge Breast Core Needle Biopsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine how to manage clinically and mammographically occult
      benign papillary lesions diagnosed at ultrasound (US)-guided 14-gauge breast core
      needle biopsy (CNB) by evaluating their upgrade rates. METHODS: From our
      pathologic database of US-guided 14-gauge breast CNB, 69 benign papillomas and 9
      atypical papillomas with available subsequent excisional findings (surgery or
      vacuum-assisted removal with additional US follow-up for >=2 years) or US follow
      up alone (>=2 years) were included in this study. We analyzed their upgrade rates
      by using excisional or US follow-up findings, with no change at 2 years as the
      reference standard. Patient age, lesion size, lesion distance from the nipple,
      multiplicity, imaging-histologic concordance, and histologic findings were
      compared between groups with and without upgrades by statistical analysis.
      RESULTS: Surgical excision was performed in 53 (67.9%) of 78 benign papillary
      lesions and revealed 5 upgrades (11.4%) to atypical papillomas in 44 benign
      papillomas and 2 upgrades (22.2%) to ductal carcinomas in situ in 9 atypical
      papillomas. Among 12 benign papillomas (15.4%) with vacuum-assisted removal and
      US follow-up (>=2 years), 1 (8.3%) was upgraded to atypical papilloma. The
      remaining 13 benign papillomas (16.7%) were followed with US and were stable
      after a 2-year follow-up period. There were no significant differences in the
      variables between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Uniform surgical excision is not a
      reasonable management strategy for clinically and mammographically occult benign
      papillary lesions diagnosed at US-guided 14-gauge breast CNB. Clinically and
      mammographically occult benign papillary lesions may be subsequently managed by
      vacuum-assisted removal or imaging follow-up if atypia is not found.

PMID- 27629757
TI  - Prospective Comparison of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Transrectal and
      Transperineal Sonography, and Surgical Findings in Complicated Perianal Crohn
      Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transrectal sonography are the
      two accepted imaging modalities for evaluation of perianal fistulas and
      abscesses. Transperineal sonography is a new technique that is easy to learn and
      can be performed at any time. The purpose of this study was to prospectively
      compare the diagnostic accuracy of MRI, transrectal sonography, and transperineal
      sonography with surgical findings in patients with perianal Crohn disease.
      METHODS: All patients with perianal Crohn disease underwent MRI, transrectal
      sonography, and transperineal sonography within a few days before surgery.
      Fistulas were classified as simple (43.8%) or complex (52.2%) based on surgical
      findings. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with active perianal Crohn disease (12
      women and 11 men; mean age, 29.9 years; current therapy: antibiotics, 69.6%;
      azathioprine, 56.5%; and biologics, 73.9%; previous surgery, 26.1%; and
      proportion of smokers, 39.1%) were included. Sensitivity values for MRI,
      transrectal sonography, and transperineal sonography for diagnosis of fistulas
      were 84.6%, 84.6%, and 100%, respectively. Transperineal sonography was more
      sensitive for diagnosis of perianal abscesses than MRI and transrectal sonography
      (100%, 58.8%, and 92.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Transperineal sonography is a very
      accurate diagnostic method with outstanding sensitivity compared with MRI and
      transrectal sonography for evaluation of complicated perianal Crohn disease. Due
      to its simplicity and low cost, it is recommended that transperineal sonography
      be the first diagnostic modality in these cases.

PMID- 27629758
TI  - Sonographic Evaluation for Endometrial Polyps: The Interrupted Mucosa Sign.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the interrupted mucosa sign for identification of
      endometrial polyps, using pathologic confirmation as the reference standard,
      compared to other accepted sonographic findings. METHODS: We reviewed 195
      patients referred for pelvic sonographic evaluations for suspected endometrial
      polyps in this retrospective Institutional Review Board-approved study. Of these,
      82 had tissue sampling of the endometrium and constituted the final study group.
      Patient data, including age, menopausal status, last menstrual period, and final
      pathologic diagnosis, were recorded. Sonograms were reviewed by 2 blinded board
      certified radiologists for endometrial features, including thickness,
      echogenicity, vascularity, presence of a mass, and the interrupted mucosa sign.
      Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analysis were
      performed. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 44.99 (SD, 9.88) years,
      79.1% of whom were premenopausal. Pathologic diagnosis confirmed polyps in 58
      (70.73%). A single feeding vessel was visualized in 36 patients with polyps
      (62.07%), whereas the interrupted mucosa sign was visualized in 34 (58.62%). The
      presence of a feeding vessel, the interrupted mucosa sign, or both detected 48
      (82.76%) of the polyps. In the multivariate analysis, only the interrupted mucosa
      sign was a statistically significant predictor of pathologic diagnosis of a polyp
      (P= .035), with an odds ratio of 3.83 (95% confidence interval, 1.10-13.29).
      Other sonographic findings were not independent predictors of a polyp: mass (P =
      .35), single feeding vessel (P = .31), endometrial thickness (P = .88), and
      endometrial echogenicity (P = .45). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive
      predictive value of the interrupted mucosa sign were 59%, 75%, and 85%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The interrupted mucosa sign is a promising sonographic
      sign for identification of endometrial polyps, with greater predictive power than
      previously described signs. It has the potential to improve the diagnostic
      performance of sonography, especially when used in combination with other
      described signs.

PMID- 27629759
TI  - Evaluation of Right Ventricular Systolic Function in Patients With Chronic
      Pulmonary Heart Disease by 2-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the value of 2-dimensional (2D) speckle-tracking
      echocardiography for assessing right ventricular (RV) systolic function in
      patients with chronic pulmonary heart disease (CPHD) and the correlation of its
      parameters with the right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) on cardiac
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: According to pulmonary arterial
      systolic pressure, 80 patients with CPHD and tricuspid regurgitation were divided
      into 2 groups: 42 with mild pulmonary hypertension (PH; 30-50 mm Hg) and 38 with
      moderate or severe PH (>=50 mm Hg); 41 control participants were recruited. All
      participants underwent 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography and cardiac MRI. The
      longitudinal peak systolic strain and longitudinal peak systolic strain rate were
      measured by echocardiography in each segment of the RV free wall and
      interventricular septum and compared with the RVEF on cardiac MRI. RESULTS:
      Strain values in all segments of the RV free wall and interventricular septum
      were lower in the mild PH group than the control group (P < .05). Strain rate
      values in the apical segment of the RV free wall and basal segment of the
      interventricular septum were lower in the mild PH group than the control group
      (P< .05). Strain and strain rate values in all segments of the RV free wall and
      interventricular septum were lower in the moderate or severe PH group than the
      control group (P < .05). Strain and strain rate values in all segments of the RV
      free wall and interventricular septum were lower in the moderate or severe PH
      group than the mild PH group (P< .05). Strain and strain rate values in all
      segments of the RV free wall and the interventricular septum correlated with the
      RVEF (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The ability of speckle-tracking echocardiography to
      directly monitor RV myocardial function may allow early sensitive detection of
      subclinical myocardial dysfunction in patients with CPHD, with better risk
      stratification and timely institution of therapy.

PMID- 27629760
TI  - Proposal for an Assessment Training Program in Dermatologic Ultrasound by the
      DERMUS Group.

PMID- 27629761
TI  - Elastography Improves the Diagnostic Accuracy of Sonography in Differentiating
      Endometrial Polyps and Submucosal Fibroids.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess whether strain elastography may be used to visualize the
      different stiffness of endometrial polyps and submucosal fibroids. METHODS: We
      conducted a prospective monocentric single-operator study on diagnostic accuracy.
      Patients who qualified for hysteroscopy because of suspected endometrial polyps
      and submucosal fibroids were included. Before the procedure, all patients
      underwent routine sonographic and power Doppler examinations. Additionally, the
      stiffness of intrauterine lesions was assessed by strain elastography. The
      enhancement was adjusted to visualize hard myometrium and soft endometrium around
      the intrauterine lesion. Due to their histologic structure, we assumed that on
      strain elastography, endometrial polyps should appear as soft lesions, whereas
      submucosal fibroids should appear as hard lesions. Sonographic, power Doppler,
      and elastographic findings were verified by pathologic examinations after
      hysteroscopies. The diagnostic accuracy of sonography, power Doppler imaging, and
      strain elastography was compared by the McNemar test. RESULTS: Forty-seven
      patients were included and underwent hysteroscopy. In 29 cases, endometrial
      polyps were found, and in 18, submucosal fibroids were found. The diagnostic
      accuracy rates for B-mode sonography, power Doppler imaging, and strain
      elastography in distinguishing endometrial polyps and submucosal fibroids were
      70.2%, 65.9%, and 89.4%, respectively. The proportion of correct findings was
      significantly higher for strain elastography than for B-mode sonography (P =
      .0265) and power Doppler imaging (P = .0153). CONCLUSIONS: Strain elastography
      complements sonography in differentiating intrauterine lesions. Strain
      elastography may be used to visualize the different stiffness of endometrial
      polyps and submucosal fibroids.

PMID- 27629762
TI  - Prenatal Sonographic Predictors of Neonatal Coarctation of the Aorta.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify practical prenatal sonographic markers for the postnatal
      diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta. METHODS: We reviewed the fetal
      echocardiograms and postnatal outcomes of fetal cases of suspected coarctation of
      the aorta seen at a single institution between 2010 and 2014. True- and false
      positive cases were compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine
      echocardiographic predictors of coarctation of the aorta. Optimal cutoffs for
      these markers and a multivariable threshold scoring system were derived to
      discriminate fetuses with coarctation of the aorta from those without coarctation
      of the aorta. RESULTS: Among 35 patients with prenatal suspicion of coarctation
      of the aorta, the diagnosis was confirmed postnatally in 9 neonates (25.7% true
      positive rate). Significant predictors identified from multivariate analysis were
      as follows: Z score for the ascending aorta diameter of -2 or less (P = < .001),
      Z score for the mitral valve annulus of -2 or less (P= .033), Zscore for the
      transverse aortic arch diameter of -2 or less (P= .028), and abnormal aortic
      valve morphologic features (P= .026). Among all variables studied, the ascending
      aortic Z score had the highest sensitivity (78%) and specificity (92%) for
      detection of coarctation of the aorta. A multivariable threshold scoring system
      identified fetuses with coarctation of the aorta with still greater sensitivity
      (89%) and only mildly decreased specificity (88%). CONCLUSIONS: The finding of a
      diminutive ascending aorta represents a powerful and practical prenatal predictor
      of neonatal coarctation of the aorta. A multivariable scoring system, including
      dimensions of the ascending and transverse aortas, mitral valve annulus, and
      morphologic features of the aortic valve, provides excellent sensitivity and
      specificity. The use of these practical sonographic markers may improve prenatal
      detection of coarctation of the aorta.

PMID- 27629766
TI  - An Ultrasensitive Cyclization-Based Fluorescent Probe for Imaging Native HOBr in
      Live Cells and Zebrafish.
AB  - Bromine has been reported recently as being the 28(th) essential element for
      human health. HOBr, which is generated in vivo from bromide, is a required factor
      in the formation of sulfilimine crosslinks in collagen IV. However, to date, no
      method for the specific detection of native HOBr in vivo has been reported.
      Herein, we develop a simple small molecular probe for imaging HOBr based on a
      specific cyclization catalyzed by HOBr. The probe can be easily synthesized in
      high yield through a Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. The probe exhibits ultrahigh
      sensitivity at the picomole level, in addition to specificity for HOBr and real
      time response. Importantly, without Br(-) stimulation, this probe reports native
      HOBr levels in HepG2 cells. Thus, the probe is a promising new tool for imaging
      endogenous HOBr and may provide a means for finding new physiological functions
      of HOBr in living organisms.

PMID- 27629768
TI  - Elevated Homocysteine Level Related to Poor Outcome After Thrombolysis in Acute
      Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is a well-known risk factor for ischemic
      stroke. However, whether HHcy can influence the treatment outcome of acute
      ischemic stroke (AIS) patients has yet to be fully determined. In this study, we
      investigated the relationship between serum homocysteine (Hcy) level and
      prognosis in AIS patients who received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)
      treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients were recruited according to the research
      criteria and grouped by their serum Hcy levels. Neurological outcome was
      evaluated by National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score system
      before and 1 week after treatment, and functional outcome was evaluated by
      modified Rankin Scale (MRS) score system after 3 months. All patients took CT/MRI
      examination to detect cerebral hemorrhage in 24 hours after tPA treatment.
      Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was employed to assess if serum
      homocysteine level can be used as an index to predict the outcome after tPA
      treatment. RESULTS The mean (+/-SD) serum Hcy level of 194 patients was 22.62+/
      21.23 MUmol/L. After 1-week tPA treatment, the NIHSS scores of high Hcy level
      group were significantly higher than those of low level group (p<0.05), meantime
      the high Hcy group showed obvious symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage risk after
      24 hours (p<0.05). Poor outcome was presented in mRS score results after 3 months
      in high Hcy level group, which compared with low Hcy level group (p<0.01). The
      ROC showed that Hcy level was a moderately sensitive and specific index to
      predict the prognosis with an optimal cut-off value at 19.95 umol/L (sensitivity
      [58.2%], specificity [80.3%]). CONCLUSIONS High serum homocysteine level could
      potentially predict poor prognosis in acute ischemic stroke patients after tPA
      treatment. 

PMID- 27629770
TI  - Medication Adherence After Renal Transplantation-a Review of the Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whether or not patients follow the advice given by their healthcare
      professional is commonly referred to as adherence. In the case of kidney
      transplantation, transplant recipients need to take immunosuppressive drugs on a
      regular basis to prevent rejection of their transplant. However, medication
      adherence can be problematic for many patients. OBJECTIVES: This critical
      appraisal of evidence aimed to gain insights into factors contributing to
      adherence and non-adherence in recipients of kidney transplants, and to explore
      patients' perceptions regarding adherence to immunosuppression. METHODS: A
      comprehensive literature search was performed using Medline, PsycInfo, the Joanna
      Briggs Institute, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library. Included were primary research
      studies or reviews of primary research, independent of their research paradigms,
      on adult kidney or kidney/pancreas transplant recipients published in English or
      German. Children or adolescents were not considered. No time-frame was applied
      RESULTS: Fifty-two papers were included in the review. All extracted findings of
      included papers were organised according to the five factors influencing
      medication-taking behaviour as defined by the World Health Organisation: social
      and economic factors; therapy-related factors; patient-related factors; condition
      related factors; healthcare team and system-related factors. CONCLUSION: Reasons
      for non-adherence after kidney transplantations are diverse. Attention is
      attracted by the fact that potentially modifiable factors such as social support,
      experiences on dialysis, side effects, features of the treatment regimen,
      intentions and beliefs, forgetfulness and mental health issues play a greater
      role than other factors in the development of medication non-adherence. Factors
      not related to patient characteristics seem to be under researched.

PMID- 27629767
TI  - The expression of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 in gliomas patients and their
      prognosis.
AB  - The aim of this study is to explore the expression of microRNA (miRNA)-221 and
      miRNA-222 in human glioma cells and tissues. The expression of miRNA-221 and
      miRNA-222 in human glioma cell line U87, U251, A172, LN229 and surgery resected
      glioma tissues were measured. The survival rate of X-ray (2 Gy) irradiated glioma
      cells were calculated. 165 cases of glioma patients were recruited successfully;
      the expression of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 in their resected tissues were
      measured. The expression of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 in cancer tissues were
      obviously higher than control tissues (normal brain tissue) and control cell
      (gastric mucosal epithelial cell, GES) (p < 0.05). The highly malignant glioma
      tissues expressed significantly higher miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 than low malignant
      glioma tissues. Patients with highly expressed miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 have
      shorter survival time. Survival rate of glioma cells was significantly higher
      than GES cell after irradiation (p < 0.05); miRNA-221 in glioma cells. The
      expressions of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 in irritated glioma cells were positively
      correlated with the survival rate of glioma cells (r = 0.629, 0.712, both p <
      0.01). For the 165 glioma patients, the expressions of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222
      increased with the increasing of pathological grades (chi 2 = 42.85, p < 0.01);
      and their survival time decreased when miRNA-221 expression elevated (chi 2 =
      57.12, p < 0.01). MiRNA-221 and miRNA-222 express highly in human glioma cells
      and tissues. Expression of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 are closely related to
      pathological grading and prognosis of glioma; they could be used as independent
      prognostic factor for glioma.

PMID- 27629769
TI  - Attachment of Salmonella strains to a plant cell wall model is modulated by
      surface characteristics and not by specific carbohydrate interactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Processing of fresh produce exposes cut surfaces of plant cell walls
      that then become vulnerable to human foodborne pathogen attachment and
      contamination, particularly by Salmonella enterica. Plant cell walls are mainly
      composed of the polysaccharides cellulose, pectin and hemicelluloses
      (predominantly xyloglucan). Our previous work used bacterial cellulose-based
      plant cell wall models to study the interaction between Salmonella and the
      various plant cell wall components. We demonstrated that Salmonella attachment
      was favoured in the presence of pectin while xyloglucan had no effect on its
      attachment. Xyloglucan significantly increased the attachment of Salmonella cells
      to the plant cell wall model only when it was in association with pectin. In this
      study, we investigate whether the plant cell wall polysaccharides mediate
      Salmonella attachment to the bacterial cellulose-based plant cell wall models
      through specific carbohydrate interactions or through the effects of
      carbohydrates on the physical characteristics of the attachment surface. RESULTS:
      We found that none of the monosaccharides that make up the plant cell wall
      polysaccharides specifically inhibit Salmonella attachment to the bacterial
      cellulose-based plant cell wall models. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed
      that Salmonella cells can penetrate and attach within the tightly arranged
      bacterial cellulose network. Analysis of images obtained from atomic force
      microscopy revealed that the bacterial cellulose-pectin-xyloglucan composite with
      0.3 % (w/v) xyloglucan, previously shown to have the highest number of Salmonella
      cells attached to it, had significantly thicker cellulose fibrils compared to
      other composites. Scanning electron microscopy images also showed that the
      bacterial cellulose and bacterial cellulose-xyloglucan composites were more
      porous when compared to the other composites containing pectin. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study found that the attachment of Salmonella cells to cut plant cell walls was
      not mediated by specific carbohydrate interactions. This suggests that the
      attachment of Salmonella strains to the plant cell wall models were more
      dependent on the structural characteristics of the attachment surface. Pectin
      reduces the porosity and space between cellulose fibrils, which then forms a
      matrix that is able to retain Salmonella cells within the bacterial cellulose
      network. When present with pectin, xyloglucan provides a greater surface for
      Salmonella cells to attach through the thickening of cellulose fibrils.

PMID- 27629771
TI  - Genetic diversity and genomic signatures of selection among cattle breeds from
      Siberia, eastern and northern Europe.
AB  - Domestication in the near eastern region had a major impact on the gene pool of
      humpless taurine cattle (Bos taurus). As a result of subsequent natural and
      artificial selection, hundreds of different breeds have evolved, displaying a
      broad range of phenotypic traits. Here, 10 Eurasian B. taurus breeds from
      different biogeographic and production conditions, which exhibit different
      demographic histories and have been under artificial selection at various
      intensities, were investigated using the Illumina BovineSNP50 panel to understand
      their genetic diversity and population structure. In addition, we scanned genomes
      from eight breeds for signatures of diversifying selection. Our population
      structure analysis indicated six distinct breed groups, the most divergent being
      the Yakutian cattle from Siberia. Selection signals were shared (experimental P
      value < 0.01) with more than four breeds on chromosomes 6, 7, 13, 16 and 22. The
      strongest selection signals in the Yakutian cattle were found on chromosomes 7
      and 21, where a miRNA gene and genes related to immune system processes are
      respectively located. In general, genomic regions indicating selection overlapped
      with known QTL associated with milk production (e.g. on chromosome 19),
      reproduction (e.g. on chromosome 24) and meat quality (e.g. on chromosome 7). The
      selection map created in this study shows that native cattle breeds and their
      genetic resources represent unique material for future breeding.

PMID- 27629772
TI  - KCTD7-related progressive myoclonus epilepsy.
AB  - Progressive myoclonic epilepsy associated with KCTD7 mutations has been reported
      in 19 patients from 12 families. Patients show homozygous mutations in the coding
      regions of the KCTD7 gene. The disease starts in infancy. Patients typically show
      an initial severe epileptic disorder, with abundant epileptiform discharges on
      EEG and myoclonic seizures in the foreground, associated with cognitive
      regression and ataxia. Continuous multifocal myoclonus aggravated by action is
      observed in more than half of the cases. After a few years, the disease tends to
      stabilize and long survival can be expected. Some patients remain able to walk
      independently. The severity of the disease is variable from one patient to
      another, even within the same family. It is hypothesized that the epileptic
      disorder may influence the neurological regression observed in patients.

PMID- 27629773
TI  - microRNA-mediated resistance to hypoglycemia in the HepG2 human hepatoma cell
      line.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is generally accepted that the energy resources of cancer cells
      rely on anaerobic metabolism or the glycolytic system, even if they have
      sufficient oxygen. This is known as the Warburg effect. The cells skillfully
      survive under hypoglycemic conditions when their circumstances change, which
      probably at least partly involves microRNA (miRNA)-mediated regulation. METHODS:
      To determine how cancer cells exploit miRNA-mediated epigenetic mechanisms to
      survive in hypoglycemic conditions, we used DNA microarray analysis to
      comprehensively and simultaneously compare the expression of miRNAs and mRNAs in
      the HepG2 human hepatoma cell line and in cultured normal human hepatocytes.
      RESULTS: The hypoglycemic condition decreased the expression of miRNA-17-5p and 
      20a-5p in hepatoma cells and consequently upregulated the expression of their
      target gene p21. These regulations were also confirmed by using antisense
      inhibitors of these miRNAs. In addition to this change, the hypoglycemic
      condition led to upregulated expression of heat shock proteins and increased
      resistance to caspase-3-induced apoptosis. However, we could not identify miRNA
      mediated regulations, despite using comprehensive detection. Several interesting
      genes were also found to be upregulated in the hypoglycemic condition by the
      microarray analysis, probably because of responding to this cellular stress.
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that cancer cells skillfully survive in
      hypoglycemic conditions, which frequently occur in malignancies, and that some of
      the gene regulation of this process is manipulated by miRNAs.

PMID- 27629774
TI  - Qualitative assessment of user experiences of a novel smart phone application
      designed to support flexible intensive insulin therapy in type 1 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modern flexible multiple daily injection (MDI) therapy requires
      people with diabetes to manage complex mathematical calculations to determine
      insulin doses on a day to day basis. Automated bolus calculators assist with
      these calculations, add additional functionality to protect against hypoglycaemia
      and enhance the record keeping process, however uptake and use depends on the
      devices meeting the needs of the user. We aimed to obtain user feedback on the
      usability of a mobile phone bolus calculator application in adults with T1DM to
      inform future development of mobile phone diabetes support applications. METHODS:
      Adults with T1DM who had previously received education in flexible MDI therapy
      were invited to participate. Eligible respondents attended app education and one
      month later participated in a focus group to provide feedback on the features of
      the app in relation to usability for patient-based flexible MDI and future app
      development. RESULTS: Seven adults participated in the app training and follow up
      interview. App features that support dose adjustment to reduce hypoglycaemia risk
      and features that enable greater efficiency in dose calculation, record keeping
      and report generation were highly valued. CONCLUSIONS: Adults who are self
      managing flexible MDI found the Rapidcalc mobile phone app to be a useful self
      management tool and additional features to further improve usability, such as
      connectivity with BG meter and food databases, shortcut options to economise data
      entry and web based storage of data, were identified. Further work is needed to
      ascertain specific features and benefit for those with lower health literacy.

PMID- 27629775
TI  - Intratumoral Photodynamic Therapy With Newly Synthesized Pheophorbide a in Murine
      Oral Cancer.
AB  - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a therapeutic alternative for malignant tumors that
      uses a photosensitizer. Our group recently synthesized photosensitizer
      pheophorbide a (Pa) from chlorophyll-a. The present study investigated the
      therapeutic effect of PDT using intratumoral administration of the synthetic
      photosensitizer Pa in an in vivo murine oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)
      animal model. Pa accumulation was measured using the fluorescence spectrum and
      imaging in living C3H mice. Intratumoral treatment of Pa-PDT (IT Pa-PDT)
      significantly inhibited the growth of transplanted OSCC cells. Histopathological
      examination of tumor tissues showed that PCNA expression was significantly
      decreased, while TUNEL-stained cells were markedly increased in the IT Pa-PDT
      group compared to controls. IT Pa-PDT-induced apoptosis was confirmed by
      immunoblot. Reduction of Bcl-2 and cleavage of caspase 3 and PARP were observed
      in IT Pa-PDT. These data demonstrate that IT Pa-PDT inhibited tumor cell
      proliferation and induced apoptosis, which is correlated with the anticancer
      activity of IT Pa-PDT. These potent antitumor activities of IT Pa-PDT were
      observed in both the immunohistochemistry and Western blot experiments. Our
      findings suggest the intratumoral therapeutic potential of Pa-PDT on OSCC.
      Additionally, demonstrated detection of Pa using a fluorescence spectroscopy
      system or molecular imaging system provides a means for simultaneous diagnosis
      and treatment of OSCC.

PMID- 27629776
TI  - Antiplatelet versus anticoagulation treatment for patients with heart failure in
      sinus rhythm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Morbidity in patients with chronic heart failure is high, and this
      predisposes them to thrombotic complications, including stroke and
      thromboembolism, which in turn contribute to high mortality. Oral anticoagulants
      (e.g. warfarin) and antiplatelet agents (e.g. aspirin) are the principle oral
      antithrombotic agents. Many heart failure patients with sinus rhythm take aspirin
      because coronary artery disease is the leading cause of heart failure. Oral
      anticoagulants have become a standard in the management of heart failure with
      atrial fibrillation. However, a question remains regarding the appropriateness of
      oral anticoagulants in heart failure with sinus rhythm. This update of a review
      previously published in 2012 aims to address this question. OBJECTIVES: To assess
      the effects of oral anticoagulant therapy versus antiplatelet agents for all
      cause mortality, non-fatal cardiovascular events and risk of major bleeding in
      adults with heart failure (either with reduced or preserved ejection fraction)
      who are in sinus rhythm. SEARCH METHODS: We updated the searches in September
      2015 on CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE and Embase. We searched reference
      lists of papers and abstracts from cardiology meetings and contacted study
      authors for further information. We did not apply any language restrictions.
      Additionally, we searched two clinical trials registers: ClinicalTrials.gov
      (www.ClinicalTrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International
      Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) Search Portal
      apps.who.int/trialsearch/) (searched in July 2016). SELECTION CRITERIA: We
      included randomised controlled trials comparing antiplatelet therapy versus oral
      anticoagulation in adults with chronic heart failure in sinus rhythm. Treatment
      had to last at least one month. We compared orally administered antiplatelet
      agents (aspirin, ticlopidine, clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor, dipyridamole)
      versus anticoagulant agents (coumarins, warfarin, non-vitamin K oral
      anticoagulants). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently
      assessed trials for inclusion and assessed the risks and benefits of
      antithrombotic versus antiplatelet therapy using relative measures of effects,
      such as risk ratios (RR), accompanied with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The
      data extracted included data relating to the study design, patient
      characteristics, study eligibility, quality, and outcomes. We used GRADE criteria
      to assess the quality of the evidence. MAIN RESULTS: This update identified one
      additional study for inclusion, adding data for 2305 participants. This addition
      more than doubled the overall number of patients eligible for the review. In
      total, we included four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with a total of 4187
      eligible participants. All studies compared warfarin with aspirin. One RCT
      additionally compared warfarin with clopidogrel. All included RCTs studied
      patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.Analysis of all
      outcomes for warfarin versus aspirin was based on 3663 patients from four RCTs.
      All-cause mortality was similar for warfarin and aspirin (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.89 to
      1.13; 4 studies; 3663 participants; moderate quality evidence). Oral
      anticoagulation was associated with a reduction in non-fatal cardiovascular
      events, which included non-fatal stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary
      embolism, peripheral arterial embolism (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.00; 4 studies;
      3663 participants; moderate quality evidence). The rate of major bleeding events
      was twice as high in the warfarin groups (RR 2.00, 95% CI 1.44 to 2.78; 4
      studies; 3663 participants; moderate quality evidence). We generally considered
      the risk of bias of the included studies to be low.Analysis of warfarin versus
      clopidogrel was based on a single RCT (N = 1064). All-cause mortality was similar
      for warfarin and clopidogrel (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.21; 1 study; 1064
      participants; low quality evidence). There were similar rates of non-fatal
      cardiovascular events (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.45; 1 study; 1064 participants;
      low quality evidence). The rate of major bleeding events was 2.5 times higher in
      the warfarin group (RR 2.47, 95% CI 1.24 to 4.91; 1 study; 1064 participants; low
      quality evidence). Risk of bias for this study can be summarised as low. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence from RCTs to suggest that neither oral
      anticoagulation with warfarin or platelet inhibition with aspirin is better for
      mortality in systolic heart failure with sinus rhythm (high quality of the
      evidence for all-cause mortality and moderate quality of the evidence for non
      fatal cardiovascular events and major bleeding events). Treatment with warfarin
      was associated with a 20% reduction in non-fatal cardiovascular events but a
      twofold higher risk of major bleeding complications (high quality of the
      evidence). We saw a similar pattern of results for the warfarin versus
      clopidogrel comparison (low quality of the evidence). At present, there are no
      data on the role of oral anticoagulation versus antiplatelet agents in heart
      failure with preserved ejection fraction with sinus rhythm. Also, there were no
      data from RCTs on the utility of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants
      compared to antiplatelet agents in heart failure with sinus rhythm.

PMID- 27629778
TI  - E-cigarettes help smokers quit, Cochrane review confirms.

PMID- 27629777
TI  - Promoter DNA methylation of CDO1 gene and its clinical significance in esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - We have demonstrated that CDO1 methylation is frequently found in various
      cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but its clinical
      relevance has remained elusive. CDO1 methylation was investigated in 169 ESCC
      patients who underwent esophagectomy between 1996 and 2007. CDO1 methylation was
      assessed by Q-MSP (quantitative methylation specific PCR), and its clinical
      significance, including its relationship to prognosis, was analyzed. (i) The
      median TaqMeth value of CDO1 methylation was 9.4, ranging from 0 to 279.5. CDO1
      methylation was significantly different between cStage I and cStage II/III (P =
      0.02). (ii) On the log-rank plot, the optimal cut-off value was determined to be
      8.9; ESCC patients with high CDO1 methylation showed a significantly worse
      prognosis than those with low CDO1 methylation (P = 0.02). (iii) A multivariate
      Cox proportional hazards model identified only CDO1 hypermethylation as an
      independent prognostic factor (HR 2.00, CI 1.09-3.78, P = 0.03). (iv) CDO1
      hypermethylation stratified ESCC patients' prognosis in cStage II/III for both
      neoadjuvant chemo(radio)therapy (NAC)-positive and NAC-negative cases. Moreover,
      the CDO1 methylation level was significantly lower in cases with Grade 2/3 than
      in those with Grade 0/1 (P = 0.02) among cStage II/III ESCC patients with NAC.
      Promoter DNA hypermethylation of CDO1 could be an independent prognostic factor
      in ESCC; it may also reflect NAC eradication of tumor cells in the primary
      tumors.

PMID- 27629779
TI  - Mitochondria promote septin assembly into cages that entrap Shigella for
      autophagy.
AB  - Septins are cytoskeletal proteins implicated in cytokinesis and host-pathogen
      interactions. During macroautophagy/autophagy of Shigella flexneri, septins
      assemble into cage-like structures to entrap actin-polymerizing bacteria and
      restrict their dissemination. How septins assemble to entrap bacteria is not
      fully known. We discovered that mitochondria support septin cage assembly to
      promote autophagy of Shigella. Consistent with roles for the cytoskeleton in
      mitochondrial dynamics, we showed that DNM1L/DRP1 (dynamin 1 like) can interact
      with septins to enhance mitochondrial fission. Remarkably, Shigella fragment
      mitochondria and escape from septin cage entrapment in order to avoid autophagy.
      These results uncover a close relationship between mitochondria and septin
      assembly, and identify a new role for mitochondria in bacterial autophagy.

PMID- 27629780
TI  - Does psychosocial competency training for junior physicians working in pediatric
      medicine improve individual skills and perceived job stress.
AB  - : Pediatricians' job performance, work engagement, and job satisfaction are
      essential for both the individual physician and quality of care for their little
      patients and parents. Therefore, it is important to maintain or possibly augment
      pediatricians' individual and professional competencies. In this study, we
      developed and implemented a psychosocial competency training (PCT) teaching
      different psychosocial competencies and stress coping techniques. We investigated
      (1) the influence of the PCT on work-related characteristics: stress perception,
      work engagement, job satisfaction and (2) explored pediatricians' outcomes and
      satisfaction with PCT. Fifty-four junior physicians working in pediatric hospital
      departments participated in the training and were randomized in an intervention
      (n = 26) or a control group (n = 28). In the beginning, at follow-up 1 and 2,
      both groups answered a self-rated questionnaire on perceived training outcomes
      and work-related factors. The intervention group showed that their job
      satisfaction significantly increased while perceived stress scores decreased
      after taking part in the PCT. No substantial changes were observed with regard to
      pediatricians' work engagement. Participating physicians evaluated PCT with high
      scores for training design, content, received outcome, and overall satisfaction
      with the training. CONCLUSION: Professional psychosocial competency training
      could improve junior pediatricians' professional skills, reduce stress
      perception, increase their job satisfaction, and psychosocial skills. In
      addition, this study indicates that the PCT is beneficial to be implemented as a
      group training program for junior pediatricians at work. What is Known: * Junior
      pediatricians often report experiencing high levels of job strain and little
      supervisory support. * High levels of job demands make pediatricians vulnerable
      for mental health problems and decreased work ability. What is New: *
      Development, implementation, and evaluation of a psychosocial competency training
      for junior pediatricians working in clinical settings * Psychosocial competency
      training has the potential to improve pediatricians' psychosocial skills and
      perceptions of perceived work-related stress and job satisfaction.

PMID- 27629781
TI  - Eosinophilic tubulointerstitial nephritis on treatment with isotretinoin.
AB  - : Drug-related acute tubulointerstitial nephritis is one of the most common
      causes of childhood acute renal failures which originate from kidneys. Sixteen
      year old male patient with the history of isotretinoin use for the last 3 months
      was admitted with acute renal failure. Renal function parameters were measured as
      follows: blood urea nitrogen 21 mg/dL, serum creatinine 1.68 mg/dL, cystatin C
      1.15 mg/L, and estimated glomerular filtration rate based on cystatin C 56.5
      mL/min/1.73 m2. The patient whom pathological signs of renal biopsy sections
      revealed interstitial mononuclear cell and eosinophilic infiltration was
      diagnosed with acute tubulointerstitial nephritis. CONCLUSION: Isotretinoin is a
      vitamin A-derived agent which is commonly used in the treatment of acne and may
      cause drug-related acute tubulointerstitial nephritis. What is Known: *Drug
      related acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN) is one of the most common
      causes of childhood acute renal failures. What is New: *Isotretinoin may cause
      drug-related acute tubulointerstitial nephritis.

PMID- 27629782
TI  - Roles of aldo-keto reductases 1B10 and 1C3 and ATP-binding cassette transporter
      in docetaxel tolerance.
AB  - Docetaxel (DTX) is widely used for treatment of inveterate lung and prostate
      cancers, but its continuous administration elicits the hyposensitivity. Here, we
      established the DTX-resistant variants of human lung cancer A549 and androgen
      independent prostate cancer Du145 cells and found that the resistance development
      provoked aberrant up-regulations of aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1B10 and AKR1C3 in
      A549 and Du145 cells, respectively. In addition, the sensitivity to the DTX
      toxicity was significantly decreased and increased by overexpression and
      knockdown of the two AKR isoforms, respectively. Furthermore, the resistant cells
      exhibited a decreased level of reactive 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal formed during DTX
      treatment, and the decrease was alleviated by adding the AKR inhibitors,
      inferring that the two AKRs confer the chemoresistance through elevating the
      antioxidant properties. The development of DTX resistance was also associated
      with enhanced expression of an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB1 among
      the ABC transporter isoforms. The combined treatment with inhibitors of the two
      AKRs and ABCB1 additively sensitized the resistant cells to DTX. Intriguingly,
      the AKR1B10 inhibitor also suppressed the lung cancer cross-resistance against
      cisplatin. The results suggest that combined treatment with AKRs (1B10 and 1C3)
      and ABCB1 inhibitors exerts overcoming effect against the cancer resistance to
      DTX and cisplatin, and can be used as the adjuvant therapy.

PMID- 27629783
TI  - Repair of transperineal recto-urethral fistula using a fibrin sealant haemostatic
      patch.
AB  - AIM: Recto-urethral fistula (RUF) is a rare complication of radical
      prostatectomy. We report a transperineal approach using a fibrin sealant
      haemostatic patch. METHOD: Five consecutive patients who developed RUF following
      radical prostatectomy had a direct transperineal repair with a haemostatic patch
      (TachoSil(r)) and were assessed at a median follow-up of 35.5 (21-45) months.
      RESULTS: There were no early postoperative complications. The average length of
      hospital stay was 5 (4-7) days. One patient developed recurrence 4 weeks after
      removal of the urethral catheter. Following healing in four patients the stoma
      was reversed at a median interval of 3 months, and 9.5 (7-10) months following
      the prostatic surgery. In the four patients with successful closure there was no
      case of recurrence or anorectal or urinary dysfunction at a median follow-up of
      35.5 (21-45) months. CONCLUSION: Direct transperineal repair of RUF reinforced
      with a fibrin haemostatic patch of TachoSil is safe and effective.

PMID- 27629784
TI  - Internal Medicine Residents' Perceived Responsibility for Patients at Hospital
      Discharge: A National Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical residents are routinely entrusted with transitions of care,
      yet little is known about the duration or content of their perceived
      responsibility for patients they discharge from the hospital. OBJECTIVE: To
      examine the duration and content of internal medicine residents' perceived
      responsibility for patients they discharge from the hospital. The secondary
      objective was to determine whether specific individual experiences and
      characteristics correlate with perceived responsibility. DESIGN: Multi-site,
      cross-sectional 24-question survey delivered via email or paper-based form.
      PARTICIPANTS: Internal medicine residents (post-graduate years 1-3) at nine
      university and community-based internal medicine training programs in the United
      States. MAIN MEASURES: Perceived responsibility for patients after discharge as
      measured by a previously developed single-item tool for duration of
      responsibility and novel domain-specific questions assessing attitudes towards
      specific transition of care behaviors. KEY RESULTS: Of 817 residents surveyed,
      469 responded (57.4 %). One quarter of residents (26.1 %) indicated that their
      responsibility for patients ended at discharge, while 19.3 % reported perceived
      responsibility extending beyond 2 weeks. Perceived duration of responsibility did
      not correlate with level of training (P = 0.57), program type (P = 0.28), career
      path (P = 0.12), or presence of burnout (P = 0.59). The majority of residents
      indicated they were responsible for six of eight transitional care tasks (85.1
      99.3 % strongly agree or agree). Approximately half of residents (57 %) indicated
      that it was their responsibility to directly contact patients' primary care
      providers at discharge. and 21.6 % indicated that it was their responsibility to
      ensure that patients attended their follow-up appointments. CONCLUSIONS: Internal
      medicine residents demonstrate variability in perceived duration of
      responsibility for recently discharged patients. Neither the duration nor the
      content of residents' perceived responsibility was consistently associated with
      level of training, program type, career path, or burnout, suggesting there may be
      unmeasured factors such as professional role modeling that shape these
      perceptions.

PMID- 27629786
TI  - OTUB1 attenuates neuronal apoptosis after intracerebral hemorrhage.
AB  - OTUB1 is a member of deubiquitinating enzymes, which was shown as a proteasome
      associated DUB to be involved in the proteins Ub-dependent degradation. Previous
      studies have indicated that OTUB1 was expressed in brain. But its distribution
      and function in the brain remain unclear. In this study, we explored the roles of
      OTUB1 protein in the pathophysiology of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). From the
      results of Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence, we found
      an obvious up-regulation of OTUB1 in neurons adjacent to the hematoma after ICH.
      Furthermore, we also found that the increase of OTUB1 expression was accompanied
      by the enhanced expression of Bax and active caspase-3, and decreased expression
      of Bcl-2 in the pathological process of rat ICH. What's more, our in vitro study,
      using OTUB1 RNA interference in PC12 cells, suggested that OTUB1 might exert its
      anti-apoptotic function in neuronal apoptosis. Therefore, OTUB1 may play a role
      in protecting the brain from secondary damage following ICH.

PMID- 27629785
TI  - Ubiquitin-specific protease 39 is overexpressed in human lung cancer and promotes
      tumor cell proliferation in vitro.
AB  - Lung cancer is the most frequent cancer in the world. Previous studies have shown
      that ubiquitin-specific protease 39 (USP39) is upregulated in several cancers and
      associated with tumor malignant characters. However, the effects of USP39 in lung
      cancer have not been well understood. In the present study, we found USP39 was
      generally expressed higher in human lung cancer tissues than in normal tissues by
      Oncomine database mining, qRT-PCR, and western blot assay. Knockdown of USP39
      expression markedly reduced the proliferative and colony-forming ability of lung
      cancer cell lines 95D and A549. Flow cytometric analysis showed that USP39
      knockdown induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and enhanced cell apoptosis in
      95D cells. Moreover, depletion of USP39 blocked activation of Akt, mTOR, p53, and
      PARP signaling pathways. Taken together, our study indicates that USP39 may be
      functionally involved in lung cancer growth and act as a potential molecular
      target for human lung cancer diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 27629788
TI  - Providing Context for Ambient Particulate Matter and Estimates of Attributable
      Mortality.
AB  - Four papers on fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) by Anenberg et al., Fann et al.,
      Shin et al., and Smith contribute to a growing body of literature on estimated
      epidemiological associations between ambient PM2.5 concentrations and increases
      in health responses relative to baseline notes. This article provides context for
      the four articles, including a historical review of provisions of the U.S. Clean
      Air Act as amended in 1970, requiring the setting of National Ambient Air Quality
      Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants such as particulate matter (PM). The
      substantial improvements in both air quality for PM and population health as
      measured by decreased mortality rates are illustrated. The most recent revision
      of the NAAQS for PM2.5 in 2013 by the Environmental Protection Agency
      distinguished between (1) uncertainties in characterizing PM2.5 as having a
      causal association with various health endpoints, and as all-cause mortality, and
      (2) uncertainties in concentration--excess health response relationships at low
      ambient PM2.5 concentrations below the majority of annual concentrations studied
      in the United States in the past. In future reviews, and potential revisions, of
      the NAAQS for PM2.5 , it will be even more important to distinguish between
      uncertainties in (1) characterizing the causal associations between ambient PM2.5
      concentrations and specific health outcomes, such as all-source mortality,
      irrespective of the concentrations, (2) characterizing the potency of major
      constituents of PM2.5 , and (3) uncertainties in the association between ambient
      PM2.5 concentrations and specific health outcomes at various ambient PM2.5
      concentrations. The latter uncertainties are of special concern as ambient PM2.5
      concentrations and health morbidity and mortality rates approach background or
      baseline rates. 

PMID- 27629787
TI  - Vascular endothelial over-expression of soluble epoxide hydrolase (Tie2-sEH)
      enhances adenosine A1 receptor-dependent contraction in mouse mesenteric
      arteries: role of ATP-sensitive K+ channels.
AB  - Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) converts epoxyeicosatrienoic acids that are
      endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors into less active
      dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids. Previously, we reported a decrease in adenosine A1
      receptor (A1AR) protein levels in sEH knockout (sEH-/-) and an increase in sEH
      and A1AR protein levels in A2AAR-/- mice. Additionally, KATP channels are
      involved in adenosine receptor (AR)-dependent vascular relaxation. Thus, we
      hypothesize that a potential relationship may exist among sEH over-expression,
      A1AR upregulation, inactivation of KATP channels, and increased in vascular tone.
      We performed DMT myograph muscle tension measurements and western blot analysis
      in isolated mouse mesenteric arteries (MAs) from wild-type (WT) and endothelial
      over-expression of sEH (Tie2-sEH Tr) mice. Our data revealed that NECA (a non
      selective adenosine receptors agonist)-induced relaxation was significantly
      reduced in Tie2-sEH Tr mice, and CCPA (A1AR agonist)-induced contraction was
      increased in Tie2-sEH Tr mice. A1AR-dependent contraction in Tie2-sEH Tr mice was
      significantly attenuated by pharmacological inhibition of CYP4A (HET0016, 10 uM),
      PKCalpha (GO6976, 1 uM), and ERK1/2 (PD58059, 1 uM). Our western blot analysis
      revealed significantly higher basal protein expression of CYP4A, A1AR, and
      reduced p-ERK in MAs of Tie2-sEH Tr mice. Notably, pinacidil (KATP channel
      opener)-induced relaxation was also significantly reduced in MAs of Tie2-sEH Tr
      mice. Furthermore, KATP channel-dependent relaxation in MAs was enhanced by
      inhibition of PKCalpha and ERK1/2 in WT but not Tie2-sEH Tr mice. In conclusion,
      our data suggest that over-expression of sEH enhances A1AR-dependent contraction
      and reduces KATP channel-dependent relaxation in MAs. These results suggest a
      possible interaction between sEH, A1AR, and KATP channels in regulating vascular
      tone.

PMID- 27629789
TI  - Predictors of social integration for individuals with brain injury: An
      application of the ICF model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: People with brain injury often experience significant challenges to
      social and community engagement following injury. The purpose of this study was
      to investigate factors impacting social integration for adults with brain injury
      using the International Classification and Functioning, Disability and Health
      (ICF) as a conceptual model. METHODS: Adults with brain injury (n = 103)
      recruited through two US state brain injury associations participated in a survey
      study. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the predictive impact
      of components of the ICF model on social integration outcomes. Specifically,
      demographic (age, gender, SES), disability (severity of functional limitations),
      personal (disability acceptance, social self-efficacy) and environmental
      (neighbourhood climate, stigma, social support network) factors were entered as
      four conceptual groups of predictors to examine the incremental contribution of
      the variance in social integration explained by each set. RESULTS: As
      hypothesized, the inclusion of each block of predictors significantly improved
      the model. The overall regression model explained 41% of the variance in social
      integration. Specifically, SES (beta = 0.25), severity of functional limitations
      (beta = 0.29) and social support network (beta = 0.29) emerged as the strongest
      independent predictors. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study highlight the
      importance of adopting a biopsychosocial approach to understanding social
      integration for people with brain injury.

PMID- 27629790
TI  - Home-based anthropometric, blood pressure and pulse measurements in young
      children by trained data collectors in the National Children's Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The current study assessed whether home-based data collection by
      trained data collectors can produce high-quality physical measurement data in
      young children. DESIGN: The study assessed the quality of intra-examiner
      measurements of blood pressure, pulse rate and anthropometric dimensions using
      intra-examiner reliability and intra-examiner technical error of measurement
      (TEM). SETTING: Non-clinical, primarily private homes of National Children's
      Study participants in twenty-two study locations across the USA. SUBJECTS:
      Children in four age groups: 5-7 months (n 91), 11-16 months (n 393), 23-28
      months (n 1410) and 35-40 months (n 800). RESULTS: Absolute TEM ranged in value
      from 0.09 to 16.21, varying widely by age group and measure, as expected.
      Relative TEM spanned from 0.27 to 13.71 across age groups and physical measures.
      Reliabilities for anthropometric measurements by age group and measure ranged
      from 0.46 to >0.99 with most exceeding 0.90, suggesting that the large majority
      of anthropometric measures can be collected in a home-based setting on young
      children by trained data collectors. Reliabilities for blood pressure and pulse
      rate measurements by age group ranged from 0.21 to 0.74, implying these are less
      reliably measured with young children when taken in the data collection context
      described here. CONCLUSIONS: Reliability estimates >0.95 for weight, length,
      height, and thigh, waist and head circumference, and >0.90 for triceps and
      subscapular skinfolds, indicate that these measures can be collected in the field
      by trained data collectors without compromising data quality. These estimates can
      be used for interim evaluations of data collector training and measurement
      protocols.

PMID- 27629791
TI  - Heterologous Expression of PA8FAD9 and Functional Characterization of a Delta9
      Fatty Acid Desaturase from a Cold-Tolerant Pseudomonas sp. A8.
AB  - Fatty acid desaturase enzymes are capable of inserting double bonds between
      carbon atoms of saturated fatty acyl-chains to produce unsaturated fatty acids. A
      gene coding for a putative Delta9-fatty acid desaturase-like protein was isolated
      from a cold-tolerant Pseudomonas sp. A8, cloned and heterologously expressed in
      Escherichia coli. The gene named as PA8FAD9 has an open reading frame of 1185 bp
      and codes for 394 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 45 kDa. The
      enzyme showed high Delta9-fatty acid desaturase-like protein activity and
      increased overall levels of cellular unsaturated fatty acids in the recombinant
      E. coli cells upon expression at different temperatures. The results showed that
      the ratio of palmitoleic to palmitic acid in the recombinant E. coli cells
      increased by more than twice the amount observed in the control cells at 20 
      degrees C using 0.4 mM IPTG. GCMS analysis confirmed the ability of this enzyme
      to convert exogenous stearic acid to oleic acid incorporated into the recombinant
      E. coli membrane phospholipids. It may be concluded that the PA8FAD9 gene from
      Pseudomonas sp. A8 codes for a putative Delta9-fatty acid desaturase protein
      actively expressed in E. coli under the influence of temperature and an inducer.

PMID- 27629792
TI  - Systemic Administration of Connexin43 Mimetic Peptide Improves Functional
      Recovery after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Adult Rats.
AB  - Blocking of Connexin43 hemichannels, the main gap junction protein located on
      astrocytes in the central nervous system, has been shown to reduce neural injury
      in a number of models. We demonstrated previously that local administration of a
      Connexin43 mimetic peptide, Peptide5, reduces secondary tissue damage after
      spinal cord injury (SCI). Here, we investigated whether acute systemic delivery
      of Peptide5 is also protective in a model of SCI. Rats were subjected to a mild
      spinal cord contusion using the Multicentre Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study
      impactor and were injected intraperitoneally with Peptide5 or a scrambled peptide
      immediately and at 2 h and 4 h post-injury. Rats were tested for locomotor
      recovery and pain hypersensitivity and euthanized at 8 h, 24 h, two weeks, or six
      weeks post-injury. Compared with control rats, Peptide5 treated rats showed
      significant improvement in hindlimb locomotor function between three and six
      weeks post-injury and reductions in at-level mechanical allodynia at weeks one
      and six post-injury. Immunohistochemistry showed that Peptide5 treatment led to a
      reduction in total Connexin43 and increased phosphorylated Connexin43 at 8 h
      compared with scrambled peptide. At two and six weeks, lesion size, the
      astrocytic and the activated macrophage, and/or microglial response were all
      decreased in the Peptide5 animals. In addition, neuronal cell numbers were higher
      in the Peptide5 animals compared with the scrambled peptide treated rats at two
      and six weeks. These results show for the first time that systemic administration
      of Peptide5 to block the pathological opening of Connexin43 hemichannels is a
      feasible treatment strategy in this setting, ameliorating the secondary SCI.

PMID- 27629793
TI  - Time-frequency analyses of reaction times and theta/beta EEG ratio in pediatric
      patients with traumatic brain injury: A preliminary study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The literature on patients with attention deficit reports peculiar
      reaction time (RT) oscillation at very low frequencies (VLFO=0.06-0.2 Hz). The
      data were explained as default mode network (DMN) intrusion in goal-oriented
      activity. The present study investigates whether a pattern of recurrent lapses in
      attention can be detected in TBI patients and whether VLFO can be generalized to
      the sustained attention deficit, regardless of etiology. METHODS: Groups of
      pediatric TBIs and healthy controls performed four attentional tasks. RT and
      theta/beta timeseries were subjected to wavelet analyses. RESULTS: Significant
      high-power VLFOs were recorded in patient group performances but not in those of
      controls, both for RTs and theta/beta in all the tasks. CONCLUSION: This
      preliminary study suggests that central-midline theta/beta ratio could be
      considered a neurophysiological correlate of RT variability and that the general
      continuous goal-oriented activity can be cross-etiologically affected by
      recurrent lapses in attention regardless of the specific cognitive component
      involved.

PMID- 27629794
TI  - Gefitinib enhances human colon cancer cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis of via
      autophagy- and JNK-mediated death receptors upregulation.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a potent
      cancer cell-specific apoptosis-inducing cytokine with little toxicity to most
      normal cells. Here, we report that gefitinib and TRAIL in combination produce a
      potent synergistic effect on TRAIL-sensitive human colon cancer HCT116 cells and
      an additive effect on TRAIL-resistant HT-29 cells. Interestingly, gefitinib
      increases the expression of cell surface receptors DR4 and DR5, possibly
      explaining the synergistic effect. Knockdown of DR4 and DR5 by siRNA
      significantly decreases gefitinib- and TRAIL-mediated cell apoptosis, supporting
      this idea. Because the inhibition of gefitinib-induced autophagy by 3-MA
      significantly decreases DR4 and DR5 upregulation, as well as reduces gefitinib-
      and TRAIL-induced apoptosis, we conclude that death receptor upregulation is
      autophagy mediated. Furthermore, our results indicate that death receptor
      expression may also be regulated by JNK activation, because pre-treatment of
      cells with JNK inhibitor SP600125 significantly decreases gefitinib-induced death
      receptor upregulation. Interestingly, SP600125 also inhibits the expression CHOP,
      yet CHOP has no impact on death receptor expressions. We also find here that
      phosphorylation of Akt and ERK might also be required for TRAIL sensitization. In
      summary, our results indicate that gefitinib effectively enhances TRAIL-induced
      apoptosis, likely via autophagy and JNK- mediated death receptor expression and
      phosphorylation of Akt and ERK.

PMID- 27629795
TI  - Counseling Veterans Applying for Service Connection Status for Mental Health
      Conditions.
AB  - Veterans with mental health conditions that were either caused or aggravated by
      their military service are eligible to receive service-connected disability
      benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The process of applying for
      service connection status is complex, and it is not surprising that veterans
      frequently develop beliefs about service connection that may not be accurate and
      that could interfere with treatment. The authors describe some of these beliefs
      and offer suggestions to clinicians for addressing them. Veterans may believe
      that their clinician is directly involved in service connection determination or
      that therapy notes will determine the outcome of the claim. Veterans may not
      understand the basis for award of service connection and may interpret rejection
      of their claim as reflecting disrespect for their service or degree of distress.
      The authors argue that discussing these beliefs with veterans might enhance
      therapy by demonstrating familiarity with an important aspect of veterans'
      experience and by helping veterans address a significant and distressing issue.

PMID- 27629796
TI  - The Effects of Collaborative Care Training on Case Managers' Perceived Depression
      Related Services Delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of a depression care quality
      improvement (QI) intervention implemented by using Community Engagement and
      Planning (CEP), which supports collaboration across health and community-based
      agencies, or Resources for Services (RS), which provides technical assistance, on
      training participation and service delivery by primarily unlicensed, racially and
      ethnically diverse case managers in two low-income communities in Los Angeles.
      METHODS: The study was a cluster-randomized trial with program-level assignment
      to CEP or RS for implementation of a QI initiative for providing training for
      depression care. Staff with patient contact in 84 health and community-based
      programs that were eligible for the provider outcomes substudy were invited to
      participate in training and to complete baseline and one-year follow-up surveys;
      117 case managers (N=59, RS; N=58, CEP) from 52 programs completed follow-up.
      Primary outcomes were time spent providing services in community settings and use
      of depression case management and problem-solving practices. Secondary outcomes
      were depression knowledge and attitudes and perceived system barriers. RESULTS:
      CEP case managers had greater participation in depression training, spent more
      time providing services in community settings, and used more problem-solving
      therapeutic approaches compared with RS case managers (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Training participation, time spent providing services in community settings, and
      use of problem-solving skills among primarily unlicensed, racially and ethnically
      diverse case managers were greater in programs that used CEP rather than RS to
      implement depression care QI, suggesting that CEP offers a model for including
      case managers in communitywide depression care improvement efforts.

PMID- 27629797
TI  - Psychosocial Features of Clinically Relevant Patient Subgroups With Serious
      Mental Illness and Comorbid Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Care for people with serious mental illness and diabetes is
      complicated by clinical heterogeneity. This cross-sectional analysis of 200
      individuals with comorbid serious mental illness and diabetes explored
      differentiation between patient subgroups that were characterized on the basis of
      selected dimensions within a biopsychosocial framework. METHODS: Relationships
      between self-efficacy, treatment expectation, social support, and depression were
      first assessed via bivariate Spearman correlations among 200 individuals
      participating in a randomized controlled trial who had diabetes along with major
      depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. Next, latent profile analyses
      were conducted to determine underlying subgroups on the basis of these variables.
      The resultant groups were compared on diabetes control, function, and symptoms.
      RESULTS: Two subgroups emerged. One had more severe psychiatric symptoms, low
      scores on other psychosocial variables, and worse diabetes control. The other had
      low levels of psychiatric symptoms, better scores on other variables, and better
      diabetes control. CONCLUSIONS: Symptom presentation and internal and external
      resources appeared to be related to diabetes control for people with comorbid
      diabetes and serious mental illness. Care approaches need to go beyond standard
      education and consider biopsychosocial variables.

PMID- 27629798
TI  - A Research Agenda to Advance the Coordination of Care for General Medical and
      Substance Use Disorders.
AB  - The separation of addiction care from the general medical care system has a
      negative impact on patients' receipt of high-quality medical care. Clinical and
      policy-level strategies to improve the coordination of addiction care and general
      medical care include identifying and engaging patients with unhealthy substance
      use in general medical settings, providing effective chronic disease management
      of substance use disorders in primary care, including patient and family
      perspectives in care coordination, and implementing pragmatic models to pay for
      the coordination of addiction and general medical care. This Open Forum discusses
      practice and research recommendations to advance the coordination of general
      medical and addiction care. The discussion is based on the proceedings of a
      national meeting of experts in 2014.

PMID- 27629799
TI  - Is inguinal orchidopexy still a current procedure in the treatment of
      intraabdominal testis in the era of laparoscopic surgery?
AB  - PURPOSE: To report our experience in surgical management of nonpalpable
      intraabdominal testis (NPIT) by inguinal orchidopexy without division of the
      spermatic vessels. METHODS: We reviewed the records of NPIT patients who
      underwent orchidopexy between 2012 and 2015. All patients were evaluated
      ultrasonographically. When the testis was not detected ultrasonographically, a
      laparoscopic exploration was performed. If the testis was found on laparoscopy,
      surgery was resumed through an inguinal incision. A follow-up was performed at
      1week, 1, 3 and 6months. RESULTS: Twenty-one NPIT patients were treated, mean age
      21.0+/-11.7months. Ultrasound identified 15 cases of NPIT (71%); diagnostic
      laparoscopy was performed in 6 (29%). All patients underwent an inguinal
      orchidopexy. At 1week, four testes were in a high scrotal position. At 6months
      follow-up, one testis was in a high scrotal position and one retracted up to the
      external inguinal ring. No atrophy was recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Despite several
      attempts to find a surgical technique without any significant complications, all
      described procedures failed to meet the target. In our experience, inguinal
      orchidopexy is a safe, reliable and successful surgical procedure for the
      management of NPIT. It should be preferred to a technique requiring vascular
      division, burdened with a higher incidence of atrophy. TYPE OF STUDY: Treatment
      study. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Case series with no comparison group.

PMID- 27629800
TI  - Giant Two-photon Absorption in Circular Graphene Quantum Dots in Infrared Region.
AB  - We investigate theoretically the two-photon absorption (TPA) for circular
      graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with the edge of armchair and zigzag on the basis of
      electronic energy states obtained by solving the Dirac-Weyl equation numerically
      under finite difference method. The expressions for TPA cross section are derived
      and the transition selection rules are obtained. Results reveal that the TPA is
      significantly greater in GQDs than conventional semiconductor QDs in infrared
      spectrum (2-6 um) with a resonant TPA cross section of up to 10(11 )GM. The TPA
      peaks are tuned by the GQDs' size, edge and electron relaxation rate.

PMID- 27629801
TI  - Gas-phase photolytic production of hydroxyl radicals in an ultraviolet purifier
      for air and surfaces.
AB  - : We have measured the concentration of hydroxyl radicals (OH) produced in the
      gas phase by a commercially available purifier for air and surfaces, using the
      time rate of decay of n-heptane added to an environmental chamber. The hydroxyl
      generator, an Odorox(r) BOSSTM model, produces the OH through 185-nm photolysis
      of ambient water vapor. The steady-state concentration of OH produced in the 120
      m3 chamber is, with 2sigma error bars, (3.25 +/- 0.80) * 106 cm-3. The properties
      of the hydroxyl generator, in particular the output of the ultraviolet lamps and
      the air throughput, together with an estimation of the water concentration, were
      used to predict the amount of OH produced by the device, with no fitted
      parameters. To relate this calculation to a steady-state concentration, we must
      estimate the OH loss rate within the chamber owing to reaction with the n-heptane
      and the 7 ppb of background hydrocarbons that are present. The result is a
      predicted steady-state concentration in excellent agreement with the measured
      value. This shows we understand well the processes occurring in the gas phase
      during operation of this hydroxyl radical purifier. IMPLICATIONS: Hydroxyl
      radical air purifiers are used for cleaning both gaseous contaminants, such as
      volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or hazardous gases, and biological pathogens,
      both airborne and on surfaces. This is the first chemical kinetic study of such a
      purifier that creates gas-phase OH by ultraviolet light photolysis of H2O. It
      shows that the amount of hydroxyls produced agrees well with nonparameterized
      calculations using the purifier lamp output and device airflow. These results can
      be used for designing appropriate remediation strategies.

PMID- 27629802
TI  - Changing ASD-ADHD symptom co-occurrence across the lifespan with adolescence as
      crucial time window: Illustrating the need to go beyond childhood.
AB  - Literature on the co-occurrence between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and
      Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is strongly biased by a focus on
      childhood age. A review of the adolescent and adult literature was made on core
      and related symptoms of ADHD and ASD. In addition, an empirical approach was used
      including 17,173 ASD-ADHD symptom ratings from participants aged 0 to 84 years.
      Results indicate that ASD/ADHD constellations peak during adolescence and are
      lower in early childhood and old age. We hypothesize that on the border of the
      expected transition to independent adulthood, ASD and ADHD co-occur most because
      social adaptation and EF skills matter most. Lower correlations in childhood and
      older age may be due to more diffuse symptoms reflecting respectively still
      differentiating and de-differentiating EF functions. We plea for a strong
      research focus in adolescence which may -after early childhood- be a second
      crucial time window for catching-up pattern explaining more optimal outcomes. We
      discuss obstacles and oppportunities of a full lifespan approach into old age.

PMID- 27629803
TI  - To stay or to go? Postretirement housing choices of single Baby Boomer women.
AB  - Single women of the Baby Boomer generation are often financially disadvantaged in
      the retirement planning process due to their lower accumulated savings compared
      to male retirees. This disadvantage impacts significant consumption decisions
      such as postretirement housing choices. This study uses the theory of planned
      behavior to examine how certainty in intentions influences preparing and planning
      for postretirement housing. A typology of single Baby Boomer women is developed
      based on their financial, demographic, and psychological circumstances. Each
      segment likely requires different informational strategies and financial services
      to foster proactive planning for retirement. Significant implications exist for
      social policy and the financial services sector.

PMID- 27629804
TI  - Experimental Realization of Tunable Metamaterial Hyper-transmitter.
AB  - We realized the tunable metamaterial hyper-transmitter in the microwave range
      utilizing simple planar meta-structure. The single-layer metamaterial hyper
      transmitter shows that the transmission peak occurs at 14 GHz. In case of the
      dual-layer one, it is possible to control the transmission peak from 5 to 10 GHz.
      Moreover, all the transmission peaks reveal transmission over 100%. We
      experimentally and theoretically investigated these phenomena through 3
      dimensional simulation and measurement. The reason for being over 100% is also
      elucidated. The suggested hyper-transmitter can be used, for example, in
      enhancing the operating distance of the electromagnetic wave in Wi-Fi, military
      radar, wireless power transfer and self-driving car.

PMID- 27629805
TI  - Progranulin overexpression in sensory neurons attenuates neuropathic pain in
      mice: Role of autophagy.
AB  - Peripheral or central nerve injury is a frequent cause of chronic pain and the
      mechanisms are not fully understood. Using newly generated transgenic mice we
      show that progranulin overexpression in sensory neurons attenuates neuropathic
      pain after sciatic nerve injury and accelerates nerve healing. A yeast-2-hybrid
      screen revealed putative interactions of progranulin with autophagy-related
      proteins, ATG12 and ATG4b. This was supported by colocalization and proteomic
      studies showing regulations of ATG13 and ATG4b and other members of the autophagy
      network, lysosomal proteins and proteins involved in endocytosis. The association
      of progranulin with the autophagic pathway was functionally confirmed in primary
      sensory neurons. Autophagy and survival were impaired in progranulin-deficient
      neurons and improved in progranulin overexpressing neurons. Nerve injury in vivo
      caused an accumulation of LC3b-EGFP positive bodies in neurons of the dorsal root
      ganglia and nerves suggesting an impairment of autophagic flux. Overexpression of
      progranulin in these neurons was associated with a reduction of the stress marker
      ATF3, fewer protein aggregates in the injured nerve and enhanced stump healing.
      At the behavioral level, further inhibition of the autophagic flux by
      hydroxychloroquine intensified cold and heat nociception after sciatic nerve
      injury and offset the pain protection provided by progranulin. We infer that
      progranulin may assist in removal of protein waste and thereby helps to resolve
      neuropathic pain after nerve injury.

PMID- 27629806
TI  - Genomic findings in patients with clinical suspicion of 22q11.2 deletion
      syndrome.
AB  - Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, one of the most common human genomic
      syndromes, has highly heterogeneous clinical presentation. Patients usually
      harbor a 1.5 to 3 Mb hemizygous deletion at chromosome 22q11.2, resulting in
      pathognomic TBX1, CRKL and/or MAPK1 haploinsufficiency. However, there are some
      individuals with clinical features resembling the syndrome who are eventually
      diagnosed with genomic disorders affecting other chromosomal regions. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the additive value of high-resolution
      array-CGH testing in the cohort of 41 patients with clinical features of 22q11.2
      deletion syndrome and negative results of standard cytogenetic diagnostic testing
      (karyotype and FISH for 22q11.2 locus). Array-CGH analysis revealed no
      aberrations at chromosomes 22 or 10 allegedly related to the syndrome. Five (12.2
      %) patients were found to have other genomic imbalances, namely 17q21.31
      microdeletion syndrome (MIM#610443), 1p36 deletion syndrome (MIM#607872), NF1
      microduplication syndrome (MIM#613675), chromosome 6pter-p24 deletion syndrome
      (MIM#612582) and a novel interstitial deletion at 3q26.31 of 0.65 Mb encompassing
      a dosage-dependent gene NAALADL2. Our study demonstrates that the implementation
      of array-CGH into the panel of classic diagnostic procedures adds significantly
      to their efficacy. It allows for detection of constitutional genomic imbalances
      in 12 % of subjects with negative result of karyotype and FISH targeted for
      22q11.2 region. Moreover, if used as first-tier genetic test, the method would
      provide immediate diagnosis in ~40 % phenotypic 22q11.2 deletion subjects.

PMID- 27629807
TI  - Toxicological evaluation of dextran stabilized iron oxide nanoparticles in human
      peripheral blood lymphocytes.
AB  - Iron oxide nanoparticles present an attractive choice for carcinogenic cell
      destruction via hyperthermia treatment due to its small size and magnetic
      susceptibility. Dextran stabilized iron oxide nanoparticles (DIONPs) synthesized
      and characterized for this purpose were used to evaluate its effect on cellular
      uptake, cytotoxicity, and oxidative stress response in human peripheral blood
      lymphocytes. In the absence of efficient internalization and perceptible
      apoptosis, DIONPs were still capable of inducing significant levels of reactive
      oxygen species formation shortly after exposure. Although these particles did not
      cause any genotoxic effect, they enhanced the expression of a few relevant
      oxidative stress and antioxidant defense related genes, accompanied by an
      increase in the glutathione peroxidase activity. These results indicate that
      under the tested conditions, DIONPs induced only minimal levels of oxidative
      stress in lymphocytes. Understanding the biological interaction of DIONPs, the
      consequences as well as the associated mechanisms in vitro, together with
      information obtained from systemic studies, could be expected to advance the use
      of these particles for further clinical trials.

PMID- 27629810
TI  - Major depressive disorder.

PMID- 27629809
TI  - Hearing "Quack" and Remembering A Duck: Evidence for Fluency Attribution in Young
      Children.
AB  - Previous research has suggested that fluency does not influence memory decisions
      until ages 7-8. In two experiments (n = 96 and n = 64, respectively), children,
      aged 4, 6, and 8 years (Experiments 1 and 2), and adults (Experiment 2) studied a
      list of pictures. Participants completed a recognition test during which each
      study item was preceded by a sound providing either a highly predictive or mildly
      predictive context in order to make some test items more conceptually fluent.
      Overall, highly predictive items were recognized at a higher rate than mildly
      predictive items demonstrating an earlier development of the fluency heuristic
      than previously observed. The study provides insight into how children develop
      metacognitive expectations and when they start to use them to guide their memory
      responses.

PMID- 27629811
TI  - Comparing atom-based with residue-based descriptors in predicting binding site
      similarity: do backbone atoms matter?
AB  - AIM: We question the level of detail required in protein 3D-representation to
      detect site similarity which is relevant for polypharmacology prediction.
      RESULTS: We modified the in-house program SiteAlign to replace generic
      pharmacophoric descriptors of cavity-lining amino acids by descriptors accounting
      for solvent exposure. Benchmarking the novel, atom-based, method (SiteAlign2)
      revealed no global improvement of performance. However, in the rare cases of no
      sequence or global structure similarities between the compared proteins,
      SiteAlign2 was more successful if backbone atoms are key determinants of ligand
      binding. CONCLUSION: SiteAlign suits the comparison of binding sites for close or
      distant homologs. SiteAlign2 provides a better insight into the physical model of
      site similarity between nonhomologs, but at the expense of an increased
      sensitivity to atomic coordinates.

PMID- 27629808
TI  - Computational Metabolomics: A Framework for the Million Metabolome.
AB  - "Sola dosis facit venenum." These words of Paracelsus, "the dose makes the
      poison", can lead to a cavalier attitude concerning potential toxicities of the
      vast array of low abundance environmental chemicals to which humans are exposed.
      Exposome research teaches that 80-85% of human disease is linked to environmental
      exposures. The human exposome is estimated to include >400,000 environmental
      chemicals, most of which are uncharacterized with regard to human health. In
      fact, mass spectrometry measures >200,000 m/z features (ions) in microliter
      volumes derived from human samples; most are unidentified. This crystallizes a
      grand challenge for chemical research in toxicology: to develop reliable and
      affordable analytical methods to understand health impacts of the extensive human
      chemical experience. To this end, there appears to be no choice but to abandon
      the limitations of measuring one chemical at a time. The present review looks at
      progress in computational metabolomics to provide probability-based annotation
      linking ions to known chemicals and serve as a foundation for unambiguous
      designation of unidentified ions for toxicologic study. We review methods to
      characterize ions in terms of accurate mass m/z, chromatographic retention time,
      correlation of adduct, isotopic and fragment forms, association with metabolic
      pathways and measurement of collision-induced dissociation products, collision
      cross section, and chirality. Such information can support a largely unambiguous
      system for documenting unidentified ions in environmental surveillance and human
      biomonitoring. Assembly of this data would provide a resource to characterize and
      understand health risks of the array of low-abundance chemicals to which humans
      are exposed.

PMID- 27629812
TI  - Long-term adaptation of the influenza A virus by escaping cytotoxic T-cell
      recognition.
AB  - The evolutionary adaptation of the influenza A virus (IAV) to human antibodies is
      well characterised. Much less is known about the long-term evolution of cytotoxic
      T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, which are important antigens for clearance of
      infection. We construct an antigenic map of IAVs of all human subtypes using a
      compendium of 142 confirmed CTL epitopes, and show that IAV evolved gradually in
      the period 1932-2015, with infrequent antigenic jumps in the H3N2 subtype.
      Intriguingly, the number of CTL epitopes per virus decreases with more than one
      epitope per three years in the H3N2 subtype (from 84 epitopes per virus in 1968
      to 64 in 2015), mostly attributed to the loss of HLA-B epitopes. We confirm these
      observations with epitope predictions. Our findings indicate that selection
      pressures imposed by CTL immunity shape the long-term evolution of IAV.

PMID- 27629814
TI  - One-Pot Halogen Dance/Negishi Coupling of Dibromothiophenes for Regiocontrolled
      Synthesis of Multiply Arylated Thiophenes.
AB  - One-pot halogen dance/Negishi cross-coupling of readily available 2,5
      dibromothiophenes is described. A lithium diisopropylamide (LDA)-mediated halogen
      dance reaction resulted in the formation of thermodynamically stable alpha
      lithiodibromothiophenes, which were transmetalated with ZnCl2 and subjected to
      Negishi cross-coupling to provide the corresponding arylated dibromothiophenes in
      one pot. The resultant beta-bromo group was much less reactive than the remaining
      alpha-bromo group, which was used in a one-pot double Suzuki-Miyaura cross
      coupling, enabling facile synthesis of multiply arylated thiophenes.

PMID- 27629813
TI  - Infectious complications, steroid use and timing for emergency liver
      transplantation in acute liver failure: analysis in a Japanese center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corticosteroid (CS) has been introduced in most acute liver failure
      (ALF) patients for the purpose of suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines in Japan
      where a shortage of donor livers exists, whereas CS use is evaluated to be no
      benefit in Western countries. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the
      association between infectious complications and CS use in ALF, and determine
      when to evaluate treatment response and consider the timing for switching to
      liver transplantation (LT). METHODS: Corticosteroid was administered to patients
      in the early stage prospectively. Clinical and biochemical features of 110 adult
      patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Corticosteroids were administered to 78 (71%)
      patients. The duration between start of CS and onset of infection was 17 +/- 10
      days. Multivariate analysis revealed that infection was associated with age >50
      years (P = 0.034) and T-BIL >15 mg/dl (P < 0.001), and not with CS use (P =
      0.10). Accumulative incidence of infection was not different between patients
      with and without CS (P = 0.18). CONCLUSIONS: Corticosteroid use did not
      significantly increase the incidence of infection. Two weeks after introduction
      of CS is a critical point for evaluating treatment response, avoiding infectious
      complications and switching to LT.

PMID- 27629816
TI  - Chemically Assisted Formation of Monolayer Colloidosomes on Functional Particles.
AB  - A chemically assisted method is developed to form a monolayer polymer
      colloidosome shell on various functional materials. Functional carbon nanobubble
      colloidosomes or their derived hybrid structures can be fabricated by a
      subsequent thermal treatment.

PMID- 27629815
TI  - Telocytes in gastric lamina propria of the Chinese giant salamander, Andrias
      davidianus.
AB  - In this study, we attempt to identify gastric telocytes (TCs) of the Chinese
      giant salamander Andrias davidianus, by light microscopy, immunohistochemistry
      and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. Toluidine blue staining
      showed TCs with one to two very thin and long telopodes (Tps) that were located
      in gastric lamina propria. Tps had characteristic structures, including podoms,
      podomers and dichotomous branching. Immunohistochemistry showed the existence of
      CD34(+)/PDGFRalpha(+) TCs with moniliform Tps in stroma and were close to gastric
      glands and blood vessels. TEM micrographs also demonstrated the presence of TCs
      in interstitium between gastric glands. TCs/Tps were located in close proximity
      to gastric glands, blood vessels, endocrine cells and stem cells. In particular,
      Tps frequently surrounded stem cells. TCs and Tps, Tps and stem cells established
      close contacts. Moreover, the exosomes were also found near TCs/Tps. Our data
      confirmed the presence of TCs in gastric lamina propria of the amphibian, and
      suggested that TCs cooperate with resident stem cells to regulate endocrine cells
      and gastric glands regeneration and homeostasis.

PMID- 27629817
TI  - Albumin Dialysis as a Bridge From Total Hepatectomy to Liver Transplantation for
      Fulminant Hepatitis With Toxic Syndrome.

PMID- 27629818
TI  - Living kidney donation.

PMID- 27629820
TI  - Effect of the Nuss Procedure on the Physical Development of Patients with Pectus
      Excavatum.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study assessed physical development of patients with pectus
      excavatum and evaluated the effect of the Nuss procedure on physical development.
      METHODS: A total of 146 patients underwent the Nuss procedure; of these, at the
      time of the study, the bar had been removed from 123 patients (84.9%; male 93,
      female 30) who were eligible for participation in this study. Heights and body
      weights of patients were measured prior to surgery and immediately before bar
      removal. Chest computed tomography (CT) was performed preoperatively and
      immediately before bar removal. The associations between physical development and
      chest CT indices were evaluated. RESULTS: The height standard deviation score
      (SDS) was - 0.66 +/- 2.23 preoperatively and 0.04 +/- 1.34 immediately before bar
      removal (p <0.01). The weight SDS was - 0.02 +/- 2.59 preoperatively; it
      increased significantly to 0.56 +/- 1.56 immediately before bar removal (p
      <0.01). The Haller index (3.85 +/- 1.18 to 2.99 +/- 0.54; p <0.01) and asymmetric
      index (9.75 +/- 6.63 to 7.01 +/- 4.77; p <0.01) also showed improvements.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Nuss procedure may contribute positively to the physical
      development of patients with pectus excavatum.

PMID- 27629819
TI  - Simvastatin promotes NPC1-mediated free cholesterol efflux from lysosomes through
      CYP7A1/LXRalpha signalling pathway in oxLDL-loaded macrophages.
AB  - Statins, 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, are the
      first-line medications prescribed for the prevention and treatment of coronary
      artery diseases. The efficacy of statins has been attributed not only to their
      systemic cholesterol-lowering actions but also to their pleiotropic effects that
      are unrelated to cholesterol reduction. These pleiotropic effects have been
      increasingly recognized as essential in statins therapy. This study was designed
      to investigate the pleiotropic actions of simvastatin, one of the most commonly
      prescribed statins, on macrophage cholesterol homeostasis with a focus on
      lysosomal free cholesterol egression. With simultaneous nile red and filipin
      staining, analysis of confocal/multi-photon imaging demonstrated that simvastatin
      markedly attenuated unesterified (free) cholesterol buildup in macrophages loaded
      with oxidized low-density lipoprotein but had little effect in reducing the sizes
      of cholesteryl ester-containing lipid droplets; the reduction in free cholesterol
      was mainly attributed to decreases in lysosome-compartmentalized cholesterol.
      Functionally, the egression of free cholesterol from lysosomes attenuated pro
      inflammatory cytokine secretion. It was determined that the reduction of
      lysosomal free cholesterol buildup by simvastatin was due to the up-regulation of
      Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), a lysosomal residing cholesterol transporter. Moreover,
      the enhanced enzymatic production of 7-hydroxycholesterol by cytochrome P450 7A1
      and the subsequent activation of liver X receptor alpha underscored the up
      regulation of NPC1. These findings reveal a novel pleiotropic effect of
      simvastatin in affecting lysosomal cholesterol efflux in macrophages and the
      associated significance in the treatment of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27629821
TI  - A Qualitative Evaluation of an Inpatient Nursing Intervention for Depressed
      Elderly: The Systematic Activation Method.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article describes the evaluation of the implementation of a nursing
      intervention, that is, the Systematic Activation Method (SAM), among inpatients
      with late life depression (LLD). METHODS: A qualitative study in four clinical
      units for old age psychiatry. RESULTS: We identified facilitators and barriers
      relating to patient and nurse characteristics, as well as to contextual factors,
      from the perspective of mental health nurses. The nature of the LLD and the
      quality of the therapeutic relationship were major aspects that affected the
      implementation of the SAM. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Given the complexity of the
      implementation process, careful supervision and monitoring, with the active
      participation of management and the multidisciplinary team, are necessary.

PMID- 27629823
TI  - Impact of early childhood trauma on retention and phase advancement in an
      outpatient buprenorphine treatment program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early adverse life events such as childhood trauma have been linked
      to development of substance use disorders. The prevalence and impact on treatment
      of early childhood trauma in opioid-dependent individuals has received limited
      research attention. The present study examined reported childhood trauma and its
      relation to retention and adherence in an outpatient buprenorphine treatment
      program. METHODS: Medical records of individuals who completed childhood trauma
      questionnaire (CTQ) were reviewed to extract baseline data and demographics (N =
      113). Total and subscale CTQ scores were dichotomized to low versus moderate
      severe levels of trauma. Treatment course evaluation was based on successful
      phase advancement and retention in treatment during the first 90 days. Logistic
      regression models were used to examine associations between CTQ subscales and
      total score and the two outcomes adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Moderate
      severe trauma defined by total CTQ score was present in 16% of participants.
      Logistic regression models showed significant associations between physical and
      emotional neglect and drop out after adjusting for covariates. Individuals who
      had never married and those with positive admission urine drug screen for opiates
      associated significantly with drop out. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:
      The results from a convenience sample participating in a university-based
      buprenorphine treatment program demonstrated significant association between self
      reported early childhood trauma and retention during the first 90 days. These
      findings suggest that addressing early trauma could potentially improve adherence
      rates leading to reduced disease burden. This study extends the knowledge base on
      potential predictive factors associated with successful participation in
      outpatient buprenorphine treatment. (Am J Addict 2016;25:542-548).

PMID- 27629824
TI  - Thio- and Semicarbazones: Hope in the Search for Treatment of Leishmaniasis and
      Chagas Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis cause severe infections in humans
      and domestic animals in the tropics. Although typical diseases in Latin America,
      globalization and the migration of infected people has spread these diseases to
      countries in North America, Asia and Europe. Currently available drugs are not
      effective in the chronic phase, as well as cause side effects and develop
      resistance. RESULTS: Among the chemical groups studied as potential anti-T. cruzi
      and anti-Leishmania are the thio-and semicarbazones, which are easy to obtain,
      possess structural versatility and can sequester metal. In this article, we
      present an overview of thio-and semicarbazones associated with heterocycles,
      indanones, and styryl and aryl skeletons, including their metal complexes with
      antimony, platinum, palladium, copper, ruthenium, rhenium, manganese and
      vanadium. CONCLUSION: Because of the efficiency and selectivity that some of
      these derivatives have shown, it can be concluded that thio-and semicarbazones
      constitute promising chemical scaffolds in the search for new anti-parasitic
      agents.

PMID- 27629822
TI  - Catalytic Thr or Ser Residue Modulates Structural Switches in 2-Cys Peroxiredoxin
      by Distinct Mechanisms.
AB  - Typical 2-Cys Peroxiredoxins (2-Cys Prxs) reduce hydroperoxides with
      extraordinary rates due to an active site composed of a catalytic triad,
      containing a peroxidatic cysteine (CP), an Arg, and a Thr (or Ser). 2-Cys Prx are
      involved in processes such as cancer; neurodegeneration and host-pathogen
      interactions. During catalysis, 2-Cys Prxs switch between decamers and dimers.
      Analysis of 2-Cys Prx structures in the fully folded (but not locally unfolded)
      form revealed a highly conserved, non-conventional hydrogen bond (CH-pi) between
      the catalytic triad Thr of a dimer with an aromatic residue of an adjacent dimer.
      In contrast, structures of 2-Cys Prxs with a Ser in place of the Thr do not
      display this CH-pi bond. Chromatographic and structural data indicate that the
      Thr (but not Ser) destabilizes the decamer structure in the oxidized state
      probably through steric hindrance. As a general trend, mutations in a yeast 2-Cys
      Prx (Tsa1) favoring the dimeric state also displayed a decreased catalytic
      activity. Remarkably, yeast naturally contains Thr-Ser variants (Tsa1 and Tsa2,
      respectively) with distinct oligomeric stabilities in their disulfide states.

PMID- 27629825
TI  - Near-Field and Far-Field Directional Conversion of Spoof Surface Plasmon
      Polaritons.
AB  - A compact metallic meta-structure is proposed to realize directional conversion
      between spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) and propagating waves at
      millimeter wave and THz frequencies. The structure is constructed by embedding
      two slits or multi-slits array into a subwavelength metallic reflection grating.
      When the back-side of the structure is illuminated by an oblique beam with a
      fixed incident angle, the propagating wave will be unidirectionally converted
      into SSPPs with a considerable efficiency. Both the simulations and experiments
      demonstrate that the excitation ratio of the SSPPs between the two possible
      propagating directions (left and right) reaches up to about 340. Furthermore,
      assisted by the structure, near-field SSPPs can be also converted into far-field
      narrow beams with particular directions. Through frequency sweeping, wide-angle
      beam scanning is verified by theory and experiments. The work paves a new way for
      SSPPs launching and also provides fresh ideas for super-resolution imaging in the
      longer wavelength range.

PMID- 27629826
TI  - What are Probable Olfactory Markers of Alcohol Dependence?
AB  - As the olfactory system is closely connected with the brain areas responsible for
      the most crucial alterations in psychiatric populations, especially cognitive and
      emotional impairments, the study of olfactory processing may be a relevant
      approach to identify specific markers of alcohol dependence. The aim of this
      study was to propose the probable olfactory markers for alcohol dependence
      through a study of the olfactory parameters that involve the central olfactory
      pathway. We recruited the same 41 alcohol-dependent patients in an early (day 8)
      and late (day 67) stage of abstinence and 41 controls matched for gender, age,
      and smoking status. The participants underwent clinical assessments and several
      olfactory evaluations. The results revealed on one hand, the persistence of
      decreased intensity of positive emotion (happy), increased intensity of negative
      emotion (sad), and increased citation of surprise in patients, suggesting the
      presence of probable trait markers of alcohol dependence. On the other hand, we
      found decreased hedonic score for pleasant and neutral odorants, and decreased
      odor familiarity judgment only in the early stage of evaluation as probable state
      markers for alcohol dependence. These results may be underpinned by several
      neuropsychological alterations specific to this disease and their evolution after
      weaning. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings and to confirm
      the specificity and sensitivity of the olfactory tests in a larger sample of
      patients. The olfactory perception of all controls must be also retested in order
      to determine the specific state and/or trait markers of alcohol dependence.

PMID- 27629827
TI  - A novel turbidimetric immunoassay for fecal calprotectin optimized for routine
      chemistry analyzers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fecal calprotectin assays are widely used to exclude inflammatory
      bowel disease (IBD) in patients with suspected IBD. A problem with the fecal
      calprotectin assays is the rather long test-turnaround times. A particle enhanced
      turbidimetric immunoassays (PETIA) for fecal calprotectin would reduce test
      turnaround times and would permit more laboratories to perform the measurements.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate a new feces calprotectin PETIA. METHOD:
      Using routine fecal samples the feces calprotectin PETIA was validated on two
      chemistry analyzers, Mindray BS-380 and Cobas 501. RESULTS: The assay is linear
      in the range 11-2000 MUg/g, with a limit of quantitation of approximately 10
      MUg/g. No antigen excess hook effect was observed up to 10 000-15 000 MUg/g
      depending on the instrument used. The turbidimetric method showed a good
      agreement with the Buhlmann ELISA. The total coefficient of variation was 3%-8%
      in the 50-100 MUg/g range. CONCLUSION: The fecal calprotectin PETIA, fCal Turbo,
      is well suited for rapid analysis of fecal calprotectin on Mindray BS-380 or
      Cobas 501 clinical chemistry analyzers. The test results are commutable with
      Buhlmann fecal MRP8/14 ELISA.

PMID- 27629828
TI  - Phase and Interface Engineering of Platinum-Nickel Nanowires for Efficient
      Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution.
AB  - The design of high-performance electrocatalysts for the alkaline hydrogen
      evolution reaction (HER) is highly desirable for the development of alkaline
      water electrolysis. Phase- and interface-engineered platinum-nickel nanowires (Pt
      Ni NWs) are highly efficient electrocatalysts for alkaline HER. The phase and
      interface engineering is achieved by simply annealing the pristine Pt-Ni NWs
      under a controlled atmosphere. Impressively, the newly generated nanomaterials
      exhibit superior activity for the alkaline HER, outperforming the pristine Pt-Ni
      NWs and commercial Pt/C, and also represent the best alkaline HER catalysts to
      date. The enhanced HER activities are attributed to the superior phase and
      interface structures in the engineered Pt-Ni NWs.

PMID- 27629829
TI  - Development of a high throughput drug screening assay to identify compounds that
      protect oligodendrocyte viability and differentiation under inflammatory
      conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Newly proliferated oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) migrate and
      surround lesions of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating
      diseases, but fail to differentiate into oligodendrocytes (OLs) and remyelinate
      remaining viable axons. The abundance of secreted inflammatory factors within and
      surrounding these lesions likely plays a major inhibitory role, promoting cell
      death and preventing OL differentiation and axon remyelination. To identify
      clinical candidate compounds that may protect existing and differentiating OLs in
      patients, we have developed a high throughput screening (HTS) assay that utilizes
      purified rat OPCs. RESULTS: Using a fluorescent indicator of cell viability
      coupled with image quantification, we developed an assay to allow the
      identification of compounds that promote OL viability and differentiation in the
      presence of the synergistic inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor alpha
      and interferon-gamma. We have utilized this assay to screen the NIH clinical
      collection library and identify compounds that protect OLs and promote OL
      differentiation in the presence of these inflammatory cytokines. CONCLUSION: This
      primary OL-based cytokine protection assay is adaptable for HTS and may be easily
      modified for profiling of compounds in the presence of other potentially
      inhibitory molecules found in MS lesions. This assay should be of use to those
      interested in identifying drugs for the treatment of MS and other demyelinating
      diseases.

PMID- 27629830
TI  - Effect of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) on Rat Placenta Pathology and Perinatal
      Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND Fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 2.5
      MUm (PM2.5) has been reported to cause adverse effects on human health. Evidence
      has shown the association between PM2.5 exposure and adverse perinatal outcomes,
      and the most common method is epidemiological investigation. We wished to
      investigate the impact of PM2.5 on placenta and prenatal outcomes and its related
      mechanisms in a rat model. MATERIAL AND METHODS Pregnant rats were exposed to a
      low PM2.5 dose (15 mg/kg) with intratracheal instillation at pregnant day 10 and
      day 18, while the controls received an equivalent volume normal saline. All rats
      received cesarean section 24 h after the last intratracheal instillation and were
      sacrificed with anesthesia. Blood routine tests (BRT) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)
      were detected for analyzing inflammation and blood coagulation. Placenta tissue
      sections underwent pathologic examination, and the levels of homogenate
      glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) were
      determined for oxidative stress estimation. RESULTS Increased absorbed
      blastocysts, and lower maternal weight gain and fetal weight were found in the
      PM2.5 exposure group compared to controls (p<0.05). Exposure to PM2.5 caused a
      significant increase of blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), platelets, and IL-6
      levels (P<0.01). There were no differences in GSH-Px and MDA of placenta
      homogenate between the 2 groups (P>0.05). Placenta pathological examination
      demonstrated thrombus and chorioamnionitis in the PM2.5 exposure group.
      CONCLUSIONS PM2.5 exposure can result in placental pathological changes and
      adverse perinatal outcomes. The placental inflammation and hypercoagulability
      with vascular thrombosis may play important roles in placental impairment, but
      oxidative stress appears to be less important. 

PMID- 27629832
TI  - Quantitative Anatomy of the Trapezius Muscle in the Human Fetus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The trapezius muscle consists of three parts that are capable of
      functioning independently. Its superior part together with the levator scapulae
      and rhomboids elevate the shoulder, the middle part retracts the scapula, while
      the inferior part lowers the shoulder. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to
      supplement numerical data and to provide growth dynamics of the trapezius in the
      human fetus. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using methods of anatomical dissection,
      digital image analysis (NIS Elements AR 3.0), and statistics (Student's t-test,
      regression analysis), we measured the length, the width and the surface area of
      the trapezius in 30 fetuses of both sexes (13? k,17? ? ) aged 13-19 weeks.
      RESULTS: Neither sex nor laterality differences were found. All the studied
      parameters of the trapezius increased proportionately with age. The linear
      functions were computed as follows: y = -103.288 + 10.514 * age (r = 0.957) for
      total length of the trapezius muscle, y = -67.439 + 6.689 * age (r = 0.856) for
      length of its descending part, y = -8.493 + 1.033 * age (r = 0.53) for length of
      its transverse part, y = -27.545 + 2.802 * age (r = 0.791) for length of its
      ascending part, y = -19.970 + 2.505 * age (r = 0.875) for width of the trapezius
      muscle, and y = -2670.458 + 212.029 * age (r = 0.915) for its surface area.
      CONCLUSIONS: Neither sex nor laterality differences exist in the numerical data
      of the trapezius muscle in the human fetus. The descending part of trapezius is
      the longest, while its transverse part is the shortest. The growth dynamics of
      the fetal trapezius muscle follows proportionately.

PMID- 27629834
TI  - Galectin-3 in Patients with Acute Heart Failure: Preliminary Report on First
      Polish Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) as a biomarker of fibrosis and inflammation has
      been implicated in the development and progression of heart failure (HF) and may
      predict increased morbidity and mortality in society. OBJECTIVES: In this
      preliminary report we investigated the utility of a novel serum marker for the
      diagnosis of acute HF (AHF). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 14 AHF
      patients aged 67.0 +/- 14.6 yrs. with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)
      29.29 +/- 10.73%, hospitalized at the Intensive Coronary Care Unit, where the
      research took place. In addition, a control group consisting of 19 volunteers who
      were age, gender and ethnically matched to the HF group was recruited. In the
      study group, the concentrations of Gal-3, NT-proBNP, hsCRP and basic clinical
      parameters, such as prevalence of dyspnea and LVEF were determined. The
      concentration of Gal-3 in serum was examined by an automated quantitative test
      (VIDAS(r) Galectin-3, bioMerieux SA, France) using the ELFA technique. The
      survival rate was assessed after a 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: The median (IQR)
      Gal-3 concentrations in patients with AHF were higher (nearly 2.1-times) than in
      the control group - 17.8 (10.3-27.8) ng/mL vs. 8.4 (6.5-11.0) ng/mL; p = 0.0007.
      In our study group, the median (IQR) of concentrations of NT-proBNP 4723 (1415
      29725) pg/mL and hsCRP 10.0 (4.9-13.9) mg/L were observed. In those patients, the
      statistically significant correlation (Spearman's rank-correlation coefficient)
      between the concentrations of Gal-3 and NT-proBNP (Rs = 0.565; p = 0.035) as well
      as the value of LVEF and the concentration of hsCRP (Rs = -0.663; p = 0.020) were
      stated. The serum Gal-3 concentrations were significantly higher among the 4 HF
      patients (28.6%) who had died than among the HF patients who were alive after
      this time (n = 10) (55.6 +/- 37.6 ng/mL vs. 15.0 +/- 7.04 ng/mL; p = 0.005).
      CONCLUSIONS: Higher expression of Gal-3 is an indicator of myocardial fibrosis
      and remodeling in decompensated HF. Therefore, galectin-3 seems to be an
      interesting and valuable marker of AHF.

PMID- 27629833
TI  - The Formation of Blood Vessel After the Administration of the Plasmid Encoding
      Ang-1 Gene in Fischer Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic limb ischemia is a serious clinical problem. Patients who do
      not qualify for standard treatment may benefit from novel gene therapies.
      OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated angiogenesis following intramuscular injections
      of angiogenic plasmid Ang-1 in Fisher rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty rats had
      plasmids injected intramuscularly in their hind limbs. The study group consisted
      of 10 animals which received the Ang-1 plasmid, while the control group consisted
      of 10 rats that received an empty plasmid. All the animals were euthanized after
      12 weeks and tissue samples from the hind limb thigh muscles and internal organs
      were harvested for histological and immunohistochemical examinations. To assess
      the angiogenesis the number of vessels in the hind limb muscles visualized by the
      SMA and FVIII markers was counted for each animal in five separate microscopic
      fields. RESULTS: There were no pathological lesions or any signs of neoplastic
      angiogenesis in any of the 20 rats. The number of vessels visualized by the FVIII
      marker in the study group was two times higher than in the control group (median:
      12, range: 7-25 vs. median: 6, range: 2-15; p < 0.0001). The median estimated
      that the number of vessels visualized by the SMA marker is 63% higher in the
      study group compared to the control group (median: 6.5, range: 1-12 vs. median:
      4, range: 0-10; p = 0.0008). CONCLUSIONS: Intramuscular injections of Ang-1
      plasmids induced angiogenesis in the rat hind limb muscles.

PMID- 27629831
TI  - Decoding the usefulness of non-coding RNAs as breast cancer markers.
AB  - Although important advances in the management of breast cancer (BC) have been
      recently accomplished, it still constitutes the leading cause of cancer death in
      women worldwide. BC is a heterogeneous and complex disease, making clinical
      prediction of outcome a very challenging task. In recent years, gene expression
      profiling emerged as a tool to assist in clinical decision, enabling the
      identification of genetic signatures that better predict prognosis and response
      to therapy. Nevertheless, translation to routine practice has been limited by
      economical and technical reasons and, thus, novel biomarkers, especially those
      requiring non-invasive or minimally invasive collection procedures, while
      retaining high sensitivity and specificity might represent a significant
      development in this field. An increasing amount of evidence demonstrates that non
      coding RNAs (ncRNAs), particularly microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs
      (lncRNAs), are aberrantly expressed in several cancers, including BC. miRNAs are
      of particular interest as new, easily accessible, cost-effective and non-invasive
      tools for precise management of BC patients because they circulate in bodily
      fluids (e.g., serum and plasma) in a very stable manner, enabling BC assessment
      and monitoring through liquid biopsies. This review focus on how ncRNAs have the
      potential to answer present clinical needs in the personalized management of
      patients with BC and comprehensively describes the state of the art on the role
      of ncRNAs in the diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of response to therapy in
      BC.

PMID- 27629835
TI  - The Association Between Dental Status and Systemic Lipid Profile and Inflammatory
      Mediators in Patients After Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many epidemiological studies have proven that local infection may
      influence the levels of systemic lipid profile and inflammatory mediators.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to evaluate the association between the
      state of the oral cavity, lipids and inflammatory mediator concentrations in
      Poles after acute myocardial infarction (MI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of
      134 subjects with a mean age of 54.3 years (+/- 8.1) were included in the study.
      Sociodemographic and cardiologic variables were gathered. Subsequently, serum
      samples were collected for estimation of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides
      (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen and white blood cell counts
      (WBC). The periodontal parameters measured included bleeding on probing index
      (BoP), pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), the number of bleeding
      periodontal pockets (bPP) and the number of lost teeth. RESULTS: Overall,
      patients shared high levels of periodontal inflammation and tissue breakdown.
      Multivariate analysis revealed a significant association between the serum
      concentration of LDL-C and bPP (standardized coefficient b = 0.3179; p = 0.0009)
      and PD (b = 0.3186; p = 0.0015); the level of fibrinogen and the number of lost
      teeth (b = 0.3669; p = 0.0013); WBC and bPP (b = 0.2726; p = 0.0035) independent
      of age, sex, income, education, atherosclerotic disease in the family, tobacco
      smoking, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and BMI. No correlations were
      found regarding hsCRP serum concentration. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this
      study demonstrated for the first time that local inflammatory processes in the
      oral cavity are positively associated with the systemic levels of LDL-C,
      fibrinogen and WBC in adult Poles. This may underscore relationships between
      periodontitis and MI as well as potentially impinge on atherosclerotic processes
      and MI prognosis.

PMID- 27629836
TI  - Red Blood Cell Transfusion Dependency and Hyperferritinemia Are Associated with
      Impaired Survival in Patients Diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Results
      from the First Polish MDS-PALG Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of clonal
      stem cell disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, cytopenias and a
      risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Anemia is the most frequent
      cytopenia diagnosed in patients with MDS. Regular RBC transfusions are the only
      treatment option for about 40% of patients. Transfusion-dependent patients
      develop secondary iron overload. The influence of serum ferritin (SF)
      concentration on survival and acute myeloid leukemia transformation in MDS
      patients remains controversial. The data for the Central European population is
      scarce and so far there is no description for Poland. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this
      study was to perform a retrospective analysis of the relationship of SF
      concentration with red blood cell transfusion dependency, survival and
      transformation to acute myeloid leukemia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively evaluated the data of the 819 MDS patients (58% male; median age
      70 years) included in the MDS Registry of the MDS Section of the Polish Adult
      Leukemia Group (PALG). RESULTS: Analyses were performed on 190 patients diagnosed
      with MDS, maximal 6 months before inclusion to the registry in order to avoid
      selection bias (a shorter survival of higher risk MDS patients). Patients with
      hyperferritinemia higher than 1000 ng/L vs. patients with SF concentration lower
      than 1000 ng/L had a median survival of 320 days vs. 568 days, respectively (p
      log-rank = 0.014). The following factors were found to significantly worsen
      survival: RBC-transfusion dependence (p = 0.0033; HR 2.67L), platelet transfusion
      dependence (p = 0.0071; HR 3.321), hemoglobin concentration lower than 10 g/dL (p
      = 0.0036; HR 2.97), SF concentration higher than 1000 ng/L (p = 0.0023; HR =
      2.94), platelet count lower than 10 G/L (p = 0.0081 HR = 5.04), acute leukemia
      transformation (p = 0.0081; HR 1.968). CONCLUSIONS: Taking into account the
      relatively low number of patients in previous studies exploring hyperferritinemia
      in MDS, the results of the first Polish MDS Registry provide important insights.
      Hyperferritinemia higher than 1000 ng/L can be an important indicator of poor
      prognosis in MDS.

PMID- 27629837
TI  - Comparable Function of gamma-Tocopherols in Asthma Remission by Affecting Eotaxin
      and IL-4.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is one of the world's most common chronic disorders
      dangerous to human health. It has been hypothesized that the increased number of
      asthma sufferers may be due to changing antioxidant intake or vitamin deficiency.
      However, the influence of vitamins on asthma has rarely been considered.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of gamma
      tocopherols, a specific form of vitamin E, on asthma remission together with the
      possible mechanism behind the process. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eosinophil counting
      was applied to detect the total number of cells, eosinophils and lymphocytes.
      Meanwhile, HE staining was used for morphological detection. In addition, the
      eotaxin and IL-4 levels in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were
      measured using ELISA technology. RESULTS: The cell counting results showed that
      gamma-tocopherols possesses the capability to reduce the number of eosinophils.
      Moreover, the exudation of inflammatory cells together with the hyperplasia of
      goblet cells was also found to experience significant inhibition when treated
      with gamma-tocopherols. Furthermore, the high levels of eotaxin and IL-4 in the
      asthma group were evidently reduced under the treatment of gamma-tocopherols
      which was comparable with hexadecadrol. CONCLUSIONS: gamma-tocopherols can remit
      asthma by regulating the level of eotaxin and IL-4. Moreover, gamma-tocopherols
      may be regarded as a potential candidate for asthma treatment after much deeper
      explorations.

PMID- 27629839
TI  - Diabetic Patients with an Acute Myocardial Infarction in Terms of Risk Factors
      and Comorbidities Management: Characteristics of the Highest-Risk Individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and acute myocardial infarction
      (AMI) are heterogeneous individuals with different clinical status compared to
      patients without DM. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the group
      of diabetic patients with ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI) or non-ST-segment
      elevation infarction (NSTEMI) including risk factors, medical history, laboratory
      findings, advancement of coronary vessel atherosclerosis, and diagnostics and
      therapeutic modalities performed. A comparison of groups according to the type of
      MI was also made. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved all (n = 130) patients
      with DM and AMI, hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology, Medical University
      of Silesia, Katowice, in 2012. Clinical presentation, medical history, laboratory
      tests, imaging studies and additional tests as well as treatment management data
      were collected. Statistical analysis of the data obtained was performed using
      STATISTICA(r) software. Coronary angiography was performed in 120 subjects
      (92.3%). RESULTS: NSTEMI almost doubled STEMI occurrence in the study group
      (65.4% vs. 34.6%). Left main disease (LMD) was more often diagnosed in the NSTEMI
      subgroup of patients (14.1% vs. 6.7%). There were no significant differences
      between the compared groups as far as clinical presentation and comorbidities are
      concerned; more frequent previous PCI in NSTEMI patients was noticed, however
      (37.7% vs. 17.8%; p = 0.0195). The STEMI subgroup was characterized by higher
      leukocytosis (13.2 vs. 10.0 * 103/MUL; p < 0.001) and serum glucose concentration
      (217 vs. 182 mg%; p = 0.001); they were also treated with invasive methods more
      frequently (95.5% vs. 75%; p < 0.001) and the left anterior descending artery was
      delivered with stents more frequently (63.3% vs. 48.7%; p = 0.0426). CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with DM and AMI are burdened with metabolic disorders and numerous risk
      factors. They require aggressive diagnostics and therapy including new
      revascularization techniques and optimal medical treatment. Regardless of the
      type of AMI (STEMI or NSTEMI), the study group was homogeneous in terms of
      complaints, comorbidities and metabolic profile.

PMID- 27629838
TI  - Validation of the Polish Version of the Chronic Cough Quality of Life
      Questionnaire (Leicester Cough Questionnaire).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) is one of the few specific
      quality-of-life questionnaires (QOLQ) dedicated to measuring the impact of
      chronic cough on patients' health/condition. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was
      to validate the Polish version of the LCQ. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The LCQ was
      translated forward and backward. The Polish version of the LCQ was tested on 35
      patients suffering from chronic cough (23 women, median age 60 years, nonor ex
      smokers, median cough duration of 23 weeks). Its validity was tested by
      comparison to a visual analogue scale (VAS) of cough intensity and other health
      questionnaires (hospital anxiety and depression scale - HADS, Euro-Quality of
      Life Questionnaire - EQ5D, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire - SGRQ). The
      internal reliability of the Polish version of the LCQ was determined using the
      Cronbach alpha coefficient and its repeatability by the intraclass consistency
      coefficient. RESULTS: The translation of the LCQ into Polish was accepted by the
      author of the original LCQ. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for total LCQ was
      0.89, and reached 0.82, 0.86 and 0.78 for the physical, psychological and social
      domain, respectively. There were significant negative correlations between cough
      severity measured by VAS, the results of the EQ5D and SGRQ and the Polish version
      of the LCQ. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the test-retest reliability
      was significant (0.99). CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the LCQ has been
      validated and is a reliable tool to measure the impact of chronic cough on
      quality of life of patients with chronic cough.

PMID- 27629840
TI  - Abnormal Distribution of Gamma-Delta T Lymphocytes and Their Subsets in Type 1
      Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It was assumed that T gammadelta lymphocytes (T gammadelta) are
      involved in the autoimmune destruction of beta cells, presumably as regulatory
      cells. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper was to investigate T gammadelta cells
      mean percentage (%) in peripheral blood in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM)
      at the time of diagnosis and after twelve months of observation. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A total of 41 patients (21 boys, 51.2%) with new-onset T1DM were
      included. Exclusion criteria were: Other autoimmune disease, neoplasm, and
      inflammation. The control group comprised of 14 healthy (7 boys, 50.0%),
      normostenic children, with normal glucose metabolism and negative history of
      autoimmune disease and/or diabetes in family. RESULTS: The mean T gammadelta % in
      patients with new-onset T1DM (8.03 +/- 3.80) and after 12-months of follow-up
      (6.13 +/- 2.15) was lower than in controls (11.23 +/- 6.79), p = 0.042 and p =
      0.016, respectively. A depletion of those cells after one year was observed (p =
      0.067). Gender did not affect the level of T gammadelta and subsets. No
      association between T gammadelta and age neither in T1DM nor controls was
      observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypotheses that T gammadelta play
      a role in T1DM pathogenesis. If so, the decrease of those lymphocytes makes the
      probands more vulnerable to autoaggression. We report here for the first time the
      further depletion of T gammadelta after one year of insulin treatment, which may
      be due to the exacerbation of beta cell destruction in the course of insulitis.

PMID- 27629841
TI  - Alpha-Tocopherol May Protect Hepatocytes Against Oxidative Damage Induced by
      Endurance Training in Growing Organisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Training-induced oxidative stress can be reduced by alpha-tocopherol.
      Adequate intake of alpha-tocopherol could have health benefits for previously
      untrained young subjects. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the
      effects of training and different doses of alpha-tocopherol on exercise-induced
      oxidative stress in rat livers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Young male Wistar rats (n =
      40) were randomly divided into eight groups (undergoing training and not
      undergoing training, given orally administered alpha-tocopherol doses of 0, 0.5,
      1.0 and 4.0 mg). Every day for 10 consecutive days, the rats in the training
      groups ran for 15 min on a treadmill at 20 m/min to induce oxidative stress.
      Hepatic oxidative stress was evaluated based on the liver concentrations of 8
      hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
      (TBARS). RESULTS: The liver concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were significantly
      influenced by alpha-tocopherol doses (p < 0.001) and physical exercise (p <
      0.001). The liver concentrations of alpha-tocopherol increased in response to the
      highest dose (4 mg/d) of alpha-tocopherol in the non-training groups. In the
      training groups, the liver concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were independent of
      the dose. The levels of TBARS, a marker of lipid peroxidation, were lowest in the
      training and non-training rats administered 4.0 mg of alpha-tocopherol. Physical
      exercise and alpha-tocopherol doses significantly influenced TBARS concentrations
      (p = 0.004, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that
      running training causes lipids peroxidation and reduces alpha-tocopherol levels
      in the liver, but it does not contribute to DNA damage. Increased liver
      concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were found to exert a protective effect
      against oxidative damage induced by endurance training. An adequate intake of
      alpha-tocopherol is important for previously untrained young subjects.

PMID- 27629842
TI  - Predictors of Liver Disease Severity in Children with Chronic Hepatitis B.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluation of the liver histology is essential for the management of
      chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in children. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to
      analyze the histopathological features in children with CHB and compare them with
      clinical and laboratory data. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study comprised 30
      treatment-naive children (mean age: 12.8 +/- 2.4; mean duration of infection:
      11.7 +/- 2.5 years; 16/30 HBeAg-positive and 14/30 HBeAg-negative), who underwent
      a liver biopsy due to CHB. Liver biopsies were evaluated according to the
      modified Knodell score. RESULTS: A histopathological evaluation revealed mild to
      severe necroinflammatory activity (mean grading: 5.4 +/- 3.2) and fibrosis (mean
      staging: 1.7 +/- 0.9), irrespective of the HBeAg-status, viral load and duration
      of infection. One case of cirrhosis was observed. A multiple regression analysis
      revealed that alanine and aspartate aminotransferase (ALT and AST) levels were
      associated with the necroinflammatory activity (p = 0.001 for ALT, and p = 0.006
      for AST). No such correlation for fibrosis was observed; however, children with
      elevated AST were prone to more advanced fibrosis compared to children with
      normal AST level (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Children with CHB presented a wide
      range of liver changes over a decade after the infection. The severity of liver
      lesions did not differ according to the HBeAg status, viral load and duration of
      the infection. ALT and AST levels correlated positively with the inflammatory
      activity. AST seems to be a better predictor of fibrosis compared to ALT. Liver
      biopsy is a useful tool in evaluating the severity of liver disease in children
      with chronic hepatitis B, whereas clinical and laboratory parameters are weak
      predictors of liver injury.

PMID- 27629843
TI  - Lower Plasma Levels of Antioxidant Vitamins in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome:
      A Case Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a coexistence of metabolic risk factors
      affecting the development of cardiovascular diseases. Reactive oxygen species,
      which are excessively produced in MS, participate in its pathogenesis. Vitamins
      A, C and E are an important part of the non-enzymatic antioxidative barrier in
      humans. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to estimate plasma vitamin A, C and
      E levels and the intake of these vitamins from the diet in patients with MS.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 182 patients with MS, 94 men and 88
      women, aged 30-65 years (mean 57.31 +/- 8.28 years). The control group was
      comprised of 91 subjects, 56 men and 35 women, aged 41-65 years (mean 57.75 +/-
      5.84 years). The MS diagnosis was based on IDF criteria. The determination of the
      serum level of vitamin A, C and E was performed using the spectrophotometric
      method. The food intake was assessed by 24-h dietary recall. RESULTS: The mean
      plasma vitamin A, C and E levels were significantly lower in MS patients than in
      the controls (p = 0.05). No correlation was found between vitamin A, C and E
      intake from the diet and their plasma concentrations in MS patients. Plasma
      vitamin A, C and E deficiency was observed significantly more often in MS
      patients than in the control group (15.38% vs. 2.19%, 79.12% vs. 8.79% and 60.45%
      vs. 5.49%, p < 0.0001, respectively). BMI was the one factor significantly
      affecting the mean value of vitamin A, C and E levels in MS patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: MS patients demonstrated significantly lower plasma levels of
      vitamin A, C and E compared to the healthy subjects. Lower plasma levels of
      antioxidant vitamins with their high intake from the diet indicate antioxidant
      barrier impairment in MS patients.

PMID- 27629844
TI  - Assessment of Sequential and Standard Triple Therapy in Treatment of Helicobacter
      pylori Infection in Children Dependent on Bacteria Sensitivity to Antibiotics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the last decade a 10-day schema of sequential therapy of
      Helicobacter pylori infection based on proton pomp inhibitor (PPI), amoxicillin
      (AMO), clarithromycin (CLA) and metronidazole (MET) has been introduced. Many
      studies have emphasized greater efficacy of this therapy in comparison to the
      efficacy of the standard 7-day triple therapy (PPI + AMO + CLA or MET).
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the sequential and standard triple
      therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-nine children, aged 5 to 17 years, with
      symptoms of dyspepsia and gastric or duodenal ulcer were included in the study.
      The children were randomly divided into three groups. Group I - 23 children
      treated with PPI + AMO + CLA, group II - 23 children treated with PPI + AMO +
      MET, and group III - 23 children treated with sequential therapy. The diagnosis
      of Helicobacter pylori infection was based on histopathological evaluation of
      gastric mucosa sample and on culture. The sensitivity of bacterial strains to
      antibiotics was assessed based on E-tests. The efficacy of Helicobacter pylori
      eradication was assessed 6-8 weeks after the completion of the treatment.
      RESULTS: In children infected with Helicobacter pylori strains, which were
      sensitive to clarithromycin, the highest rate of eradication was obtained in the
      group treated with PPI + AMO + CLA (100%) and in the group treated with
      sequential therapy (90.48%), the lowest was in the group treated with PPI + AMO +
      MET. CONCLUSIONS: Efficiency of treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in
      children depended on sensitivity of the strains to clarithromycin. Sensitivity to
      metronidazole did not influence significantly the eradication rate.

PMID- 27629845
TI  - The Activity of JAK/STAT and NF-kappaB in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research is still being conducted in order to determine the
      mechanisms responsible for the initiation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as well as
      for its persistence and progression. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to
      establish the expression of the signal transducer and activator of transcription
      (STAT) transcription factors and the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of
      activated B cells (NFkappaB) transcription factor in peripheral blood leukocytes
      and synovial fluid cells. The correlations between the activation level of the
      transcription factors and the activity of the disease were also analyzed.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: In total, the study included 34 RA patients and 19 healthy
      individuals as controls. The expression of NFkappaB, STAT1, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5
      and STAT6 in peripheral blood leukocytes and synovial fluid cells was
      established. The immunocytochemistry method was used to determine the degree of
      activation of STAT and NF-kappaB transcription factors. For the location of the
      factors, primary polyclonal anti-STATs and monoclonal anti-NF-kappaB antibodies
      were used. RESULTS: The expression of STAT1, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5, STAT6 and
      NFkappaB was significantly higher in the group of RA patients than in the
      controls. No statistically significant differences were found between the
      expression of STATs in peripheral blood leukocytes and synovial fluid cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with the control group, the expression of the STAT and
      NFkappaB transcription factors in RA patients was higher, which may be helpful in
      better understanding the etiopathogenesis of the disease in the future, and may
      potentially have important therapeutic implications.

PMID- 27629846
TI  - Clinicopathological and Prognostic Analysis of Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the
      Colorectum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the colorectum is a kind of malignant
      tumor composed of neuroendocrine cells, with a unique hormone synthesis and
      secretory function. In recent years, more and more attention is being paid to
      this kind of tumor, with its high malignant potential, poor differentiation, high
      invasiveness and early metastasis. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of neuroendocrine
      carcinoma of the colorectum. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The clinical data on 49
      patients treated for neuroendocrine carcinoma of the colorectum from January 1995
      to January 2013 were retrospectively analyzed and relevant scientific literature
      was investigated. RESULTS: The study subjects included 34 males and 15 females,
      out of whom 27 patients underwent curative operations, while 18 underwent
      palliative resections and four others underwent biopsy. All 49 patients underwent
      adjuvant chemotherapy after operation. Of the 45 resection samples, vascular
      invasion was found in 33 patients (73.3%) and regional lymph node metastasis was
      found in 35 patients (77.8%). All the patients were followed up for a period of 3
      to 68 months. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 49.1%, 17.2% and
      6.9%, respectively. The patients' survival time was related to the tumor stage,
      vascular invasion and surgery type (radical or not), but not related to age,
      gender, tumor size or tumor location. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of
      the colon lacked specific clinical manifestations, but showed a high degree of
      malignancy and a poor prognosis. Tumour stage, vascular invasion and surgery type
      (radical or not) were important factors influencing the prognosis.

PMID- 27629847
TI  - Second-Line Chemotherapy of Advanced Colorectal Cancer: Predictive and Prognostic
      Factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer progression presents a significant clinical
      problem. After its dissemination, the foundation of its treatment comprises of
      palliative chemotherapy. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the
      predictive and prognostic value of clinical response to second line treatment
      (with capecitabine or with a two-drug regimen including irinotecan) and to
      analyze its relation to selected clinical and pathological variables with respect
      to time to disease progression. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The retrospective analysis
      of 164 patients with advanced colorectal cancer treated in 2001- -2008 included
      chosen clinical, pathological and follow-up data. RESULTS: Response to second
      line chemotherapy was observed in 34 out of 164 patients: In 18/82 in the
      irinotecan group (22%) and in 16/82 in the capecitabine group (19.5%). The mean
      survival time to progression following the second line of treatment amounted to
      5.85 and 6.2 months respectively. Statistically, a higher number of patients in
      good condition of 0 to 1 was documented in the group responding to treatment.
      Significant correlation was documented between primary stage of the disease and
      time to progression in patients treated with capecitabine (p = 0.0258). The
      recurrence of the disease was observed in 44/45 patients following operation with
      radical intention but with an insufficient number of excised lymph nodes. A
      significantly longer time to progression was observed in women treated with
      capecitabine. In logistic regression, lack of treatment response was found to be
      an independent factor affecting the time to disease progression. Patients who did
      not respond to the second line of treatment demonstrated a significantly shorter
      time to disease progression than patients who responded to it and they showed a
      significantly higher number of patients with leucopenia during treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Clinical response to treatment in both treated groups is of
      significant importance for the probability of local recurrence of the disease,
      preservation of a good patient's condition and the higher level of leukocytes
      during treatment.

PMID- 27629848
TI  - Adjustment to Life with Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Poland, lung cancer is the most common type of cancer in males
      (20% of all cases) and third most common type of cancer in females (9% of all
      cases), right behind breast and colorectal cancers. Recently, 28,000 new cases of
      lung cancer per year were reported in both genders. OBJECTIVES: The objective of
      the study was to asses coping strategies, pain management, acceptance of illness
      and adjustment to cancer in patients diagnosed with pulmonary carcinoma and the
      effect of socioeconomic variables on the abovementioned issues. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The study included 243 patients diagnosed with lung cancer during
      outpatient chemotherapy (classical chemotherapy and molecularly targeted
      therapies) at the Center of Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute in
      Warszawa. We applied the Paper and Pencil Interview (PAPI) technique. The
      questionnaire interview was composed of demographic questions and the following
      four psychometric tests: BPCQ measuring the influence of factors affecting pain
      management in patients, CSQ designed to evaluate pain coping strategies, AIS
      questionnaire, measuring disease acceptance, and the mini-Mac scale, assessing
      psychological adjustment to disease. RESULTS: The highest mean score recorded in
      the BPCQ was recorded in the powerful doctors subscale (16.79) and the lowest in
      the internal factors section (15.64). Education, professional status and income
      were the variables which differentiated the scores. We recorded the top average
      score in CSQ in the coping self statements subscale (mean = 19.64), and the
      lowest score in the reinterpreting pain sensations subscale (mean score = 10.32).
      The results of the test were differentiated by education and income. Patients had
      the highest Mini-MAC scale scores in the fighting spirit section (21.91).
      CONCLUSIONS: In the case of patients affected with lung cancer, education and
      professional status affect the way patients treat doctors in the disease process.
      These variables are also critical in patients' approach to disease and methods of
      coping with it.

PMID- 27629849
TI  - Expression of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1alpha in Invasive Breast Cancer with
      Metastasis to Lymph Nodes: Correlation with Steroid Receptors, HER2 and EPO-R.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) reflects
      the degree of cell hypoxia and its increased expression was found in most
      neoplasms, their metastasis as well as in some precancerous lesions. OBJECTIVES:
      The study aimed to investigate the expression HIF-1alpha in invasive breast
      cancer with metastasis to lymph nodes in correlation with steroid receptors (ER
      estrogen receptor, PR-progesterone receptor), HER2 (human epidermal growth factor
      receptor 2) and EPO-R (erythropoietin receptor). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of
      58 cases of invasive breast cancer with metastasis to lymph nodes were assessed
      for expression of HIF-1alpha, EPO-R, ER, PR and HER2. RESULTS: In our study,
      among all invasive breast cancers, 36.2% exhibited HIF-1alpha expression in the
      nuclei of neoplastic cells. We also assessed the correlation between histological
      type of cancer and basic immunohistochemical profile that included HIF-1alpha
      expression and statistical significance was noted only in the case of PR-/ER
      /HER2-/ /HIF-1alpha-/ and PR+/ER+/HER2-/HIF-1alpha-/ (p = 0.028 and p = 0.008,
      respectively). However, only in the case of the PR+/ER+/HER2-/HIF-1alpha+/
      immunohistochemical profile and histological grading did we note a statistical
      significance (p = 0.006). Expression of HIF-1alpha was most often noted in
      cancers exhibiting expression of HER2 protein (57.14%). Our study also assessed
      the relationship between the expression of HIF-1alpha in invasive breast cancers
      and the expression of EPO-R and areas of necrosis, demonstrating a statistically
      significant dependence (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Expression of HIF-1alpha was
      more often noted in invasive HER2+ cancers characterized by high degree of
      aggressiveness and poorer prognosis, which might suggest that presence of HIF
      1alpha protein expression in HER2+ cancers could be an additional prognostic
      factor, the frequent occurrence of the phenotype of HIF-1alpha and EPO-R in
      cancers invasive HER2 +, in the absence of ER and PR, may suggest that HIF-1alpha
      and EPO-R may be an indicator of the aggressiveness of invasive breast cancers,
      indicating the need for a specific forms of treatment in this group of patients.

PMID- 27629850
TI  - Celiac Disease and Epilepsy: The Effect of Gluten-Free Diet on Seizure Control.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Determining the true prevalence of celiac disease (CD) is difficult
      because of many atypical symptoms. Although CD primarily affects the
      gastrointestinal tract, patients may be asymptomatic or have extra intestinal
      symptoms. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we assessed the prevalence of CD in patients
      with epilepsy and the effect of a gluten-free diet on seizure control in these
      patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with epilepsy in Imam Reza and Farabi
      Hospitals, Kermanshah, Iran, were studied. At first, the patients were screened
      by means of measuring the immunoglobulin A antiendomysial (IgA) antibodies. In
      the patients testing positive for IgA antibodies, 2-3 endoscopic small bowel
      biopsies were taken from the distal duodenum to confirm CD changes. People with
      CD received a gluten-free diet for 5 months and their seizure activity was
      recorded. RESULTS: During the study period, we studied 113 patients with
      epilepsy. Seven patients (6%) were diagnosed with CD. After 5 months of
      instituting a gluten-free diet, in 6 patients seizures were completely under
      control and antiepileptic drugs were discontinued. In one case, anticonvulsant
      drugs were reduced by half and seizures were controlled. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      showed that about 6% of epileptic patients were positive for CD. Institution of a
      glutenfree diet is useful for seizure control in these patients.

PMID- 27629852
TI  - Relation Between Periodontal Status and Pre-Cancerous Condition (Oral Lichen
      Planus): A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic mucocutaneous disease
      mostly seen in middle aged and elderly females. Oral lichen planus can occur in
      different oral sites such as gingiva, labial, buccal mucosa and on the tongue.
      And can have an indirect effect on initiating periodontitis. OBJECTIVES: The
      purpose of the study was to evaluate the periodontal status of OLP patients and
      compare it with that of healthy controls. The presence of erosive lesions among
      gingival tissues makes oral hygiene procedures difficult to perform for obvious
      reasons. Plaque control and rigorous oral hygiene are primary requisites for the
      treatment of any oro-mucosal disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty patients with
      the erosive and reticular form of OLP as a study group and 30 healthy subjects as
      a control group were selected. The periodontal status of all subjects including
      gingival index (GI), Russell's periodontal index (PI) and bleeding on probing
      (BOP) were evaluated in both groups. Finally, the data was analyzed by a paired t
      test using SPSS software v. 22. RESULTS: The mean values of GI, PI and BOP were
      observed to be higher in the study group compared to the control group, and this
      was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The results shown are suggestive that
      periodontal status was poor in the study group as compared to the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Further studies need to investigate periodontal status in oral
      lichen planus patients with larger sample size, and careful follow-up of these
      will assure an increase in the quality of life of these patients. The patient
      should be informed regarding the risk of periodontal problems in OLP and should
      be advised to have regular dental checkups to avoid a worsening of the conditio.

PMID- 27629851
TI  - Effect of a 3-Week Low-Calorie Diet and Balneological Treatment on Selected
      Coagulation Parameters in Morbidly Obese Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most common cause of death among people with obesity are
      cardiovascular complications as a result of a hypercoagulability state.
      OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to assess the potential of coagulation
      system activation depending on the tissue factor and to analyze of the influence
      of a 3-week low-calorie diet and balneological treatment on selected coagulation
      parameters in morbidly obese patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included
      36 patients (28 females and 8 males; mean age 46) with the value of BMI > 40
      kg/m2. The study was designed in two stages: baseline and after 21-days. The
      evaluation of tissue factor (TF), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), von
      Willebrand factor (vWF), fibrinogen, D-dimer, thrombin-antithrombin complexes
      (TAT), and the activity of antithrombin (AT) was performed in patients before and
      after the treatment. The control group consisted of 24 healthy volunteers (16
      females and 8 males) at a mean age of 39 with BMI . 24.9 kg/m2. RESULTS: There
      were significantly higher levels of TF, TFPI, fibrinogen, TAT complexes and D
      dimer in the study group as compared to the controls. Moreover, there were no
      significant changes in the parameters studied before and after the treatment. In
      the group of obese patients, there were significant positive correlations between
      the concentrations of vWF and BMI and BMI changes and a significant negative
      correlation between the WHR changes and TFPI concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The
      study confirmed that morbidly obese patients represent a high risk of
      hypercoagulability state, despite no clinical evidence, which could be due to the
      great inhibitory potential of TFPI in suppressing the extrinsic pathway of the
      coagulation system. However, the lack of effect of the 3-week exposure to the LCD
      and balneological treatment in morbidly obese subjects indicates that substantial
      fat mass must be reduced before adequate hemostasis is re-established.

PMID- 27629853
TI  - Retrospective Evaluation of the Relationship Between the First Dental Visit and
      the Dental Condition of Six- and Seven-Year-Old Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The delayed time of a child?fs first dental visit can influence a
      future dental condition. OBJECTIVES: To assess the dental condition of children
      in relation to the age at which their first dental visit took place and the
      frequency of subsequent visits. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 584
      parents of 6.7-year-old children regarding the age and the reason for the first
      child?fs dental visit, the frequency of subsequent visits and caries preventive
      counseling obtained during the visits. The children?fs dental condition was
      assessed by dmft and DMFT values. RESULTS: Nine point five percent of the
      children first visited the dentist up to 1 year old, 44.0% over 3, and 38.7% have
      not yet had. The highest dmft and DMFT values were among children having their
      first dental visit at the age of < 2 . 3. The most frequent reason for the first
      visit was a check-up (54.3%) and a carious lesion (42.4%). Higher dmft and DMFT
      values were among children with a symptomatic first visit than with an
      asymptomatic one. Caries severity in the primary teeth was correlated with the
      reason for the first dental visit and the frequency of subsequent visits.
      CONCLUSIONS: Caries severity in primary teeth may be predicted by the reason for
      the first dental visit and the frequency of subsequent visits.

PMID- 27629854
TI  - Plasmatic microRNA as Potential Biomarkers of Multiple Sclerosis: Literature
      Review.
AB  - There is ongoing research with the goal of finding precise and sensitive
      biomarkers of multiple sclerosis (MS). Recently, researchers have paid particular
      attention to small, non-encoding, single stranded endogenous microRNA molecules
      (miR, miRNA). At first these molecules were thought to be found only within the
      cell. Today it is known, however, that they can also be found in the
      extracellular spaces (plasma, serum, saliva, urine, tears, sweat, milk, sperm and
      amniotic fluid, among others). It has been established that extracellular miRNA
      perform a wide spectrum of functions, such as transmitting signals between cells,
      modulating processes involved in angiogenesis, neurogenesis, proliferation or
      apoptosis. Given the high stability of these small molecules in the extracellular
      compartment (plasma), their tissue specificity and strong ties with pathological
      processes underlying multiple sclerosis, miRNA seem to be a good target for
      researchers trying to discover diseases' new markers. Determining an accurate
      miRNA expression profile in MS and correlating it with the gene profile may lead
      to the discovery of new pathophysiological processes. Demonstrating that changes
      in the composition and concentration of extracellular miRNA may in some cases
      correlate with certain aspects of the underlying disease (such as its severity)
      could lead to their use as biomarkers of MS. Further research is needed. 

PMID- 27629855
TI  - The Role of Mast Cells in Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Immunity and inflammation are deeply involved in Alzheimer's disease. The most
      important properties of pathological Alzheimer's disease are the extracellular
      deposits of amyloid a-protein plaque aggregates along with other unknown mutated
      proteins, which are implicated in immunity and inflammation. Mast cells are found
      in the brain of all mammalian species and in the periphery, and their biological
      mediators, including cytokines/chemokines, arachidonic acid products and stored
      enzymes, play an import role in Alzheimer's disease. Cytokines/chemokines, which
      are generated mostly by microglia and astrocytes in Alzheimer's disease,
      contribute to nearly every aspect of neuroinflammation and amyloid a-protein
      plaque aggregates may induce in mast cells the release of a plethora of
      mediators, including pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines such as interleukin-1,
      interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      vascular endothelial growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, CXCL8 and
      CCL2-3-4. These proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines are prominent mediators of
      neuroinflammation in brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, and their
      inhibition may be associated with improved recovery. In this review, we summarize
      the current knowledge regarding the roles of mast cell mediators (stored and de
      novo synthesis) in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. 

PMID- 27629856
TI  - Brain MRI Findings in Neurological Complications of Cancer Treatment.
AB  - The amount of people living with cancer is increasing; they live longer and have
      thus a higher risk of developing neurological complications. Magnetic resonance
      as a diagnostic procedure of choice in detecting the reasons of
      neurological/psychiatric symptoms in oncological patients is nowadays relatively
      easily accessible. Early diagnosis established by radiologists familiar with
      neurological entities that may follow cancer treatment allow clinicians to
      provide proper treatment, even if the diagnosis seems unbelievable. The review of
      MR images of acute and chronic neurological complications of cancer treatment
      from the authors' own archive is the focus of this report. Neurological
      complications of cancer can be metastatic and non-metastatic; the first cannot be
      considered as a treatment complication, the latter can be chemoor radiotherapy
      induced, acute, chronic and delayed. In our material we dealt with complications
      with dramatic course (stroke, PRES, acute leukoencephalopathy, Wernicke's
      encephalopathy) and with cases with milder and/or longer course (neuro
      infections, chronic leukoencephalopathy, telangiectasias and/or cavernous
      hemangiomas, second tumors: glioma and meningioma after irradiation). The central
      nervous system is very susceptible to complications of systemic cancer and its
      treatment. Even though the first thought of clinicians and radiologists after a
      patient's first neurological/psychiatric symptoms appears concerns the metastatic
      spread of the disease, they need to have an understanding that there are a number
      of other causes of such symptoms. The knowledge of entities which can be expected
      and diagnostic experience prevent clinicians from making wrong diagnosis. 

PMID- 27629857
TI  - Photodynamic Therapy As a Promising Method Used in the Treatment of Oral
      Diseases.
AB  - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) consists of three elements: photosensitizer, light and
      oxygen. The photosensitizer has the property of selective accumulation in
      abnormal or infected tissues without causing any damage to the healthy cells.
      This innovative therapeutic method has already been successfully adapted in many
      fields of medicine, e.g. dermatology, gynecology, urology and cancer therapy.
      Dentistry is also beginning to incorporate photodisinfection for treatment of the
      oral cavity. The antibacterial and fungicidal properties of the photosensitizer
      have been used to achieve better results in root canal treatment, periodontal
      therapy and the eradication of candidiasis in prosthodontics. The aim of this
      article is to discuss the effectiveness of photodynamic methods in the diagnosis
      and therapy of selected oral diseases. Scientific data and published papers
      regarding the antibacterial properties of PDT will be subjected to analysis.
      Photodynamic therapy will be discussed as an alternative treatment protocol in
      oncology, endodontics, periodontology and other fields of dentistry. 

PMID- 27629858
TI  - Palate anatomy and morphofunctional aspects of interpterygoid vacuities in
      temnospondyl cranial evolution.
AB  - Temnospondyls were the morphologically and taxonomically most diverse group of
      early tetrapods with a near-global distribution during the Palaeozoic and
      Mesozoic. Members of this group occupied a range of different habitats (aquatic,
      amphibious, terrestrial), reflected by large morphological disparity of the
      cranium throughout their evolutionary history. A diagnostic feature of
      temnospondyls is the presence of an open palate with large interpterygoid
      vacuities, in contrast to the closed palate of most other early tetrapods and
      their fish-like relatives. Although the function of the interpterygoid vacuities
      has been discussed in the past, no quantitative studies have been performed to
      assess their biomechanical significance. Here, we applied finite element
      analysis, to test the possibility that the interpterygoid vacuities served for
      stress distribution during contraction of the jaw closing musculature. Different
      original and theoretical skull models, in which the vacuities differed in size or
      were completely absent, were compared for their mechanical performance. Our
      results demonstrate that palatal morphology played a considerable role in cranial
      biomechanics of temnospondyls. The presence of large cranial vacuities were found
      to offer the dual benefit of providing additional muscle attachment areas and
      allowing for more effective force transmission and thus an increase in bite force
      without compromising cranial stability. 

PMID- 27629860
TI  - Myoclonus epilepsy and ataxia due to potassium channel mutation (MEAK) is caused
      by heterozygous KCNC1 mutations.
AB  - Progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME) is a distinct group of seizure disorders
      characterized by gradual neurological decline with ataxia, myoclonus and
      recurring seizures. There are several forms of PME, among which the most recently
      described is MEAK - myoclonus epilepsy and ataxia due to potassium channel
      mutation. This particular subtype is caused by a recurrent de novo heterozygous
      mutation (c.959G>A, p.Arg320His) in the KCNC1 gene, which maps to chromosome 11
      and encodes for the Kv3.1 protein (a subunit of the Kv3 subfamily of voltage
      gated potassium channels). Loss of Kv3 function disrupts the firing properties of
      fast-spiking neurons, affects neurotransmitter release and induces cell death.
      Specifically regarding Kv3.1 malfunctioning, the most affected neurons include
      inhibitory GABAergic interneurons and cerebellar neurons. Impairment of the
      former cells is believed to contribute to myoclonus and seizures, whereas
      dysfunction of the latter to ataxia and tremor. Phenotypically, MEAK patients
      generally have a normal early development. At the age of 6 to 14 years, they
      present with myoclonus, which tends to progressively worsen with time. Tonic
      clonic seizures may or may not be present, and some patients develop mild
      cognitive impairment following seizure onset. Typical electroencephalographic
      features comprise generalized epileptiform discharges and, in some cases,
      photosensitivity. Brain imaging is either normal or shows cerebellar atrophy. The
      identification of MEAK has both expanded the phenotypic and genotypic spectra of
      PME and established an emerging role for de novo mutations in PME.

PMID- 27629861
TI  - Methodological Challenges in Developing a Youth Questionnaire, Life & Health
      Young People, for Comparative Studies in Thailand and Sweden: About Bridging the
      Language Gap Between Two Non-English-Speaking Countries.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a Thai questionnaire ???????????????????????????????????
      (TYQ) to explore girls' and boys' living conditions, lifestyles, and self
      reported health with special focus on sexuality, based on a Swedish
      questionnaire, Liv & Halsa ung (SYQ). Challenges in developing a youth
      questionnaire for comparative studies are described. DESIGN: A multistep
      translation, sociocultural adaptation procedure, and a mixed-method validation
      test were performed using English as a common language within the research group.
      Three versions of SYQ were used as a pool of questions to develop the
      questionnaire. FINDINGS: From a field test, unclear questions were identified and
      minor adjustments made. Life & Health Young People in a Thai version was
      successfully developed. The English version was used to bridge the language gap.
      CONCLUSION: This unique multistep methodology, including mixed-method validation
      procedure, can be used by researchers in countries where English is not the main
      language.

PMID- 27629859
TI  - Predictors of response to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate plus peginterferon alfa
      2a combination therapy for chronic hepatitis B.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic hepatitis B, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate
      (TDF) plus pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) for 48-weeks results in higher rates of
      hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss than either monotherapy. AIM: To
      identify baseline and on-treatment factors associated with HBsAg loss at Week 72
      and provide a model for predicting HBsAg loss in patients receiving combination
      therapy for 48 weeks. METHODS: A secondary analysis of data from an open-label
      study where patients were randomised to TDF (300 mg/day, oral) plus PEG-IFN (PI,
      180 MUg/week, subcutaneous) for 48 weeks (TDF/PI-48w); TDF plus PEG-IFN for 16
      weeks, TDF for 32 weeks (TDF/PI-16w+TDF-32w); TDF for 120 weeks (TDF-120w) or PEG
      IFN for 48 weeks (PI-48w). Logistic regression methods were used to identify
      models that best predicted HBsAg loss at Week 72. RESULTS: Rates of HBsAg loss at
      Week 72 were significantly higher in the TDF/PI-48w group (6.5%) than in the
      TDF/PI-16w+TDF-32w (0.5%), TDF-120w (0%) and PI-48w (2.2%) groups (P = 0.09). The
      only baseline factor associated with response was genotype A. HBsAg decline at
      Week 12 or 24 of treatment was associated with HBsAg loss at Week 72 (P < 0.001).
      HBsAg decline >3.5 log10 IU/mL at Week 24 in the TDF/PI-48w group resulted in a
      positive predictive value of 85% and a negative predictive value of 99% for HBsAg
      loss at Week 72. CONCLUSIONS: HBsAg decline at Week 24 of TDF plus PEG-IFN
      combination therapy may identify patients who, after completing 48 weeks of
      treatment, have a better chance of achieving HBsAg loss at Week 72.

PMID- 27629862
TI  - Factors influencing veterinary surgeons' decision-making about dairy cattle
      vaccination.
AB  - The use of vaccines in the cattle industry is widespread; however, there is
      limited published guidance for use by decision-makers such as farmers and vets.
      To best support vets in advising dairy farmers on the optimisation of vaccination
      strategies, it is important to understand how and why vets make decisions about
      recommending the vaccination of cattle. The objective of this study was to
      explore in-depth farm animal vets' motivators and barriers to the implementation
      of vaccination strategies on British dairy farms. Semistructured interviews were
      conducted with 15 vets. Results indicated that vets have a positive attitude
      towards the use of vaccination and have few barriers to advising its
      implementation. Vets appear to group farmers into three 'character types'. This
      characterisation influences the vet-farmer relationship and how the vet
      communicates with the farmer. Vets required evidence of disease or a risk of
      disease as a motivator to advise vaccination. However, this seemed to be
      sometimes overruled by a risk-averse attitude; resulting in vaccination being
      advised 'just in case'. Crucially, the need for resources to support and build on
      the vet-farmer relationship is highlighted as an area requiring further
      exploration in order to optimise vaccination strategies on farm.

PMID- 27629864
TI  - Decreased photosynthesis and growth with reduced respiration in the model diatom
      Phaeodactylum tricornutum grown under elevated CO2 over 1800 generations.
AB  - Studies on the long-term responses of marine phytoplankton to ongoing ocean
      acidification (OA) are appearing rapidly in the literature. However, only a few
      of these have investigated diatoms, which is disproportionate to their
      contribution to global primary production. Here we show that a population of the
      model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, after growing under elevated CO2 (1000
      MUatm, HCL, pHT : 7.70) for 1860 generations, showed significant differences in
      photosynthesis and growth from a population maintained in ambient CO2 and then
      transferred to elevated CO2 for 20 generations (HC). The HCL population had lower
      mitochondrial respiration, than did the control population maintained in ambient
      CO2 (400 MUatm, LCL, pHT : 8.02) for 1860 generations. Although the cells had
      higher respiratory carbon loss within 20 generations under the elevated CO2 ,
      being consistent to previous findings, they downregulated their respiration to
      sustain their growth in longer duration under the OA condition. Responses of
      phytoplankton to OA may depend on the timescale for which they are exposed due to
      fluctuations in physiological traits over time. This study provides the first
      evidence that populations of the model species, P. tricornutum, differ
      phenotypically from each other after having been grown for differing spans of
      time under OA conditions, suggesting that long-term changes should be measured to
      understand responses of primary producers to OA, especially in waters with diatom
      dominated phytoplankton assemblages.

PMID- 27629863
TI  - Dental plaque bacteria with reduced susceptibility to chlorhexidine are multidrug
      resistant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chlorhexidine (CHX) is used in oral care products to help control
      dental plaque. In this study dental plaque bacteria were grown on media
      containing 2 MUg/ml chlorhexidine gluconate to screen for bacteria with reduced
      CHX susceptibility. The isolates were characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing
      and antibiotic resistance profiles were determined using the disc diffusion
      method. RESULTS: The isolates were variably resistant to multiple drugs including
      ampicillin, kanamycin, gentamicin and tetracycline. Two species, Chryseobacterium
      culicis and Chryseobacterium indologenes were able to grow planktonically and
      form biofilms in the presence of 32 MUg/ml CHX. In the CHX and multidrug
      resistant C. indologenes we demonstrated a 19-fold up-regulation of expression of
      the HlyD-like periplasmic adaptor protein of a tripartite efflux pump upon
      exposure to 16 MUg/ml CHX suggesting that multidrug resistance may be mediated by
      this system. Exposure of biofilms of these resistant species to undiluted
      commercial CHX mouthwash for intervals from 5 to 60 s indicated that the
      mouthwash was unlikely to eliminate them from dental plaque in vivo. CONCLUSIONS:
      The study highlights the requirement for increased vigilance of the presence of
      multidrug resistant bacteria in dental plaque and raises a potential risk of long
      term use of oral care products containing antimicrobial agents for the control of
      dental plaque.

PMID- 27629865
TI  - Comparison of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated
      radiation therapy, and volumetric-modulated arc therapy in the treatment of
      cervical esophageal carcinoma.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and toxicities of three
      dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT), intensity-modulated radiation
      therapy (IMRT), and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in patients with
      cervical esophageal cancer. Specifically, we asked whether technological advances
      conferred an advantage with respect to the clinical curative effect. Seventy
      eight patients with cervical esophageal cancer treated with definitive
      radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy at our institution between
      2007 and 2014 were enrolled in the study: 26 received 3DCRT, 30 were treated with
      IMRT, and 22 underwent VMAT. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox proportional
      hazard model were used to analyze overall survival (OS) and failure-free survival
      (FFS). Treatment-related toxicity was also assessed. For all patients, the 2-year
      OS and FFS rates were 56.2 and 53.9%, respectively. The 2-year OS for the 3DCRT,
      IMRT, and VMAT groups was 53.6, 55.6, and 60.6%, respectively (P = 0.965). The
      corresponding 2-year FFS rates were 49.5, 56.7, and 60.1% (P = 0.998). A
      univariate analysis of the complete response to treatment showed an advantage of
      treatment modality with respect to OS (P < 0.001). The development of acute
      hematologic toxicity was not significantly different among the three groups. The
      survival rates of patients treated with IMRT and VMAT were comparable to the
      survival of patients administered 3DCRT, while lower lung mean dose, V20, maximum
      dose of brachial plexus and spinal cord. Grade 1 radiation pneumonitis occurred
      significantly less in patients treated with IMRT and VMAT than with 3DCRT (P =
      0.011). A complete response was the most important prognostic factor of the
      patients with cervical esophageal cancer.

PMID- 27629866
TI  - Understanding Determinants of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Viral Load
      Suppression.
AB  - Racial and ethnic disparities in viral load suppression (VLS) have been well
      documented among people living with HIV (PLWH). The authors hypothesized that a
      contemporary analytic technique could reveal factors underlying these disparities
      and provide more explanatory power than broad stereotypes. Classification and
      regression tree analysis was used to detect factors associated with VLS among 11
      419 adult PLWH receiving treatment from 186 New York State HIV clinics in 2013. A
      total of 8885 (77.8%) patients were virally suppressed. The algorithm identified
      8 mutually exclusive subgroups characterized by age, housing stability, drug use,
      and insurance status but neither race nor ethnicity. Our findings suggest that
      racial and ethnic disparities in VLS exist but likely reflect underlying social
      and behavioral determinants of health.

PMID- 27629867
TI  - A Microfinance Program Targeting People Living with HIV in Uganda: Client
      Characteristics and Program Impact.
AB  - HIV has disproportionately affected economically vulnerable populations. HIV
      medical care, including antiretroviral therapy, successfully restores physical
      health but can be insufficient to achieve social and economic health. It may
      therefore be necessary to offer innovative economic support programs such as
      providing business training and microcredit tailored to people living with
      HIV/AIDS. However, microfinance institutions have shown reluctance to reach out
      to HIV-infected individuals, resulting in nongovernment and HIV care
      organizations providing these services. The authors investigate the baseline
      characteristics of a sample of medically stable clients in HIV care who are
      eligible for microcredit loans and evaluate their business and financial needs;
      the authors also analyze their repayment pattern and how their socioeconomic
      status changes after receipt of the program. The authors find that there is a
      significant unmet need for business capital for the sample under investigation,
      pointing toward the potentially beneficial role of providing microfinance and
      business training for clients in HIV care. HIV clients participating in the loans
      show high rates of repayment, and significant increases in (disposable) income,
      as well as profits and savings. The authors therefore encourage other HIV care
      providers to consider providing their clients with such loans.

PMID- 27629869
TI  - Significant Improvements Are Needed in HIV Care Continuum to Meet 90-90-90
      Targets in Georgia.
AB  - The objective of this report was to assess Georgia's progress toward Joint United
      Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 90-90-90 targets over the period between 2011 and
      2015. The number of HIV-positive persons was estimated using Spectrum software.
      Number of persons diagnosed, on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and virally
      suppressed were quantified using data from the national AIDS health information
      system. By the end of 2015, out of the estimated 7100 persons living with HIV,
      62% were diagnosed, 38% were on ART, and 32% were virally suppressed. There were
      improvements in each stage of cascade from 2011 to 2015: the proportion of
      diagnosed persons increased from 46% to 61%, ART coverage among diagnosed persons
      increased from 46% to 62%, and the proportion of virally suppressed patients
      among those on ART increased from 74% to 85%. Despite the progress, additional
      efforts are needed to reach the 90-90-90 targets. Reducing the number of people
      living with undiagnosed HIV will be critical for achieving goals.

PMID- 27629868
TI  - Prescription of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia Prophylaxis in HIV-Infected
      Patients.
AB  - The US treatment guidelines recommend Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP)
      prophylaxis for all HIV-infected persons with a CD4 count <200 cells/mm3 (ie,
      eligible for PCP prophylaxis). However, some studies suggest PCP prophylaxis may
      be unnecessary in virally suppressed patients. Using national data of HIV
      infected adults receiving medical care in the United States during 2009 to 2012,
      the authors assessed the weighted percentage of eligible patients who were
      prescribed PCP prophylaxis and the independent association between PCP
      prophylaxis prescription and viral suppression. Overall, 81% of eligible patients
      were prescribed PCP prophylaxis. Virally suppressed eligible patients were less
      likely to be prescribed PCP prophylaxis (prevalence ratio: 0.84; 95% confidence
      interval: 0.80-0.89). Although guidelines recommend PCP prophylaxis for all
      eligible patients, some HIV care providers might not prescribe PCP prophylaxis to
      virally suppressed patients. Additional data on the risk for PCP among virally
      suppressed patients are needed to clarify this controversy.

PMID- 27629870
TI  - Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus eludes selective autophagy by activating a
      host cell kinase.
AB  - Autophagy, a catabolic pathway of lysosomal degradation, acts not only as an
      efficient recycle and survival mechanism during cellular stress, but also as an
      anti-infective machinery. The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)
      was originally considered solely as an extracellular bacterium, but is now
      recognized additionally to invade host cells, which might be crucial for
      persistence. However, the intracellular fate of S. aureus is incompletely
      understood. Here, we show for the first time induction of selective autophagy by
      S. aureus infection, its escape from autophagosomes and proliferation in the
      cytoplasm using live cell imaging. After invasion, S. aureus becomes
      ubiquitinated and recognized by receptor proteins such as SQSTM1/p62 leading to
      phagophore recruitment. Yet, S. aureus evades phagophores and prevents further
      degradation by a MAPK14/p38alpha MAP kinase-mediated blockade of autophagy. Our
      study demonstrates a novel bacterial strategy to block autophagy and secure
      survival inside the host cell.

PMID- 27629873
TI  - Laparoscopic Meckel's diverticulectomy for small bowel volvulus - a video
      vignette.

PMID- 27629875
TI  - Author Synthesis and Response.

PMID- 27629871
TI  - N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in schizophrenia resistant to clozapine: a double blind
      randomised placebo controlled trial targeting negative symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clozapine is an effective treatment for a proportion of people with
      schizophrenia (SZ) who are resistant to the beneficial effects of other
      antipsychotic drugs. However, anything from 40-60 % of people on clozapine
      experience residual symptoms even on adequate doses of the medication, and thus
      could be considered 'clozapine resistant'. Agents that could work alongside
      clozapine to improve efficacy whilst not increasing the adverse effect burden are
      both desired and necessary to improve the lives of individuals with clozapine
      resistant SZ. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) is one such possible agent. Previous
      research from our research group provided promising pilot data suggesting the
      efficacy of NAC in this patient population. The aim of the study reported here is
      to expand this work by conducting a large scale clinical trial of NAC in the
      treatment of clozapine-resistant SZ. METHODS: This study is an investigator
      initiated, multi-site, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. It aims to include
      168 patients with clozapine-resistant SZ, divided into an intervention group
      (NAC) and a control group (placebo). Participants in the intervention group will
      receive 2 g daily of NAC. The primary outcome measures will be the negative
      symptom scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Secondary
      outcome measures will include: changes in quality of life (QoL) as measured by
      the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (LQoLP) and cognitive functioning as
      measured by the total score on the MATRICS. Additionally we will examine
      peripheral and cortical glutathione (GSH) concentrations as process outcomes.
      DISCUSSION: This large scale clinical trial will investigate the efficacy of NAC
      as an adjunctive medication to clozapine. This trial, if successful, will
      establish a cheap, safe and easy-to-use agent (NAC) as a 'go to' adjunct in
      patients that are only partly responsive to clozapine. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registration Number: Current
      Randomised Controlled Trial ACTRN12615001273572 . The date of registration 23
      November 2015.

PMID- 27629872
TI  - An information model for computable cancer phenotypes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Standards, methods, and tools supporting the integration of clinical
      data and genomic information are an area of significant need and rapid growth in
      biomedical informatics. Integration of cancer clinical data and cancer genomic
      information poses unique challenges, because of the high volume and complexity of
      clinical data, as well as the heterogeneity and instability of cancer genome data
      when compared with germline data. Current information models of clinical and
      genomic data are not sufficiently expressive to represent individual observations
      and to aggregate those observations into longitudinal summaries over the course
      of cancer care. These models are acutely needed to support the development of
      systems and tools for generating the so called clinical "deep phenotype" of
      individual cancer patients, a process which remains almost entirely manual in
      cancer research and precision medicine. METHODS: Reviews of existing ontologies
      and interviews with cancer researchers were used to inform iterative development
      of a cancer phenotype information model. We translated a subset of the Fast
      Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) models into the OWL 2 Description
      Logic (DL) representation, and added extensions as needed for modeling cancer
      phenotypes with terms derived from the NCI Thesaurus. Models were validated with
      domain experts and evaluated against competency questions. RESULTS: The DeepPhe
      Information model represents cancer phenotype data at increasing levels of
      abstraction from mention level in clinical documents to summaries of key events
      and findings. We describe the model using breast cancer as an example, depicting
      methods to represent phenotypic features of cancers, tumors, treatment regimens,
      and specific biologic behaviors that span the entire course of a patient's
      disease. CONCLUSIONS: We present a multi-scale information model for representing
      individual document mentions, document level classifications, episodes along a
      disease course, and phenotype summarization, linking individual observations to
      high-level summaries in support of subsequent integration and analysis.

PMID- 27629874
TI  - Factors associated with cancer worries in individuals participating in annual
      pancreatic cancer surveillance.
AB  - It is important to adequately and timely identify individuals with cancer worries
      amongst participants in a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) surveillance
      program, because they could benefit from psychosocial support to decrease
      distress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess both psychosocial and
      clinical factors associated with cancer worries. High-risk individuals
      participating in PDAC-surveillance were invited to annually complete a cancer
      worry scale (CWS) questionnaire which was sent after counseling by the clinical
      geneticist (T0), after intake for participation in PDAC-surveillance (T1), and
      then annually after every MRI and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) (T2 and
      further). Analyses were performed to identify factors associated with cancer
      worries in the second year of surveillance (T3). We found a significant intra
      individual decrease in cancer worries (beta = -0.84, P < 0.001), nevertheless, 33
      % of individuals had a CWS-score >=14 at T3. We found one factor significantly
      associated with cancer worries at T3: having a family member affected by PDAC <50
      years of age (beta = 0.22, P = 0.03). The detection of a cystic lesion, a
      shortened surveillance interval, or undergoing pancreatic surgery did not lead to
      more cancer worries (P = 0.163, P = 0.33, and P = 0.53, respectively). In
      conclusion, this study identified 'a family history of PDAC <50 years of age' as
      the only predictor of cancer worries experienced after 2 years of surveillance in
      individuals at high risk of developing PDAC. This knowledge could help clinicians
      to timely identify individuals 'at risk' for high levels of cancer worries who
      would likely benefit from psychosocial support.

PMID- 27629876
TI  - Acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas: a rare disease with different diagnostic
      and therapeutic implications than ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Acinar cell carcinoma (ACC) of the pancreas is a very rare cancer,
      constituting 1 % of all malignant non-endocrine pancreatic tumors. Only very
      limited data exist to guide treatment in patients with advanced ACC. METHODS:
      Between 2000 and 2015, 15 patients with ACC were diagnosed and/or treated at our
      high-volume comprehensive cancer center. Medical records and correlating serum
      levels of the potential serum tumor markers CA 19-9, CEA and lipase were analyzed
      retrospectively. RESULTS: A substantial antitumor activity was observed for
      treatment regimens containing 5-FU and oxaliplatin with partial responses or
      prolonged disease stabilizations (>12 months) observed in 6 out of 7 patients (86
      %). Activity was also observed for single-agent 5-FU and its oral prodrugs. Serum
      lipase levels were elevated in 7 of 12 patients with advanced disease (58 %),
      whereas CEA and CA 19-9 seemed to be of minor importance for ACC (elevated pre
      treatment levels in 4/12 and 3/12 cases, respectively). In selected patients,
      repeated serum lipase measurements were available and accurately predicted
      response to chemotherapy and relapse after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: 5-FU- and
      oxaliplatin-containing regimens are active in advanced ACC. Lipase kinetics may
      be a useful novel tool to monitor the course of disease as well as treatment
      effects in ACC.

PMID- 27629877
TI  - Liver tumor boundaries identified intraoperatively using real-time indocyanine
      green fluorescence imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: Clear delineation between tumors and normal tissues is ideal for real
      time surgical navigation imaging. We investigated applying indocyanine green
      (ICG) fluorescence imaging navigation using an intraoperative administration
      method in liver resection. METHODS: Fifty patients who underwent liver resection
      were divided into two groups based on clinical situation and operative purpose.
      In group I, sizes of superficial liver tumors were determined; tiny tumors were
      identified. In group II, the liver resection margin was determined; real-time
      navigation was performed. ICG was injected intravenously at the beginning of the
      operation; the liver surface was observed with a photodynamic eye (PDE). RESULTS:
      Liver resection margins were determined using PDE. Fluorescence contrast between
      normal liver and tumor tissues was obvious in 32 of 35 patients. A boundary for
      half the liver or specific liver segments was determined in nine patients by
      examining the portal vein anatomy after ICG injection. Eight small tumors not
      observed preoperatively were detected; the smallest was 2 mm. CONCLUSIONS: ICG
      fluorescence imaging navigation is a promising, simple, and safe tool for routine
      real-time intraoperative imaging during hepatic resection and clinical
      exploration in hepatocellular carcinoma, enabling high sensibility for
      identifying liver resection margins and detecting tiny superficial tumors.

PMID- 27629879
TI  - The high expression of long non-coding RNA PANDAR indicates a poor prognosis for
      colorectal cancer and promotes metastasis by EMT pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to have crucial
      regulatory roles in human cancer biology. LncRNA PANDAR is a novel identified
      lncRNA that was previously reported to be increased in various cancers; however,
      its effect in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was
      to explore the expression and role of lncRNA PANDAR in CRC. METHODS: The
      expression of lncRNA PANDAR was examined in CRC samples and cell lines by qRT
      PCR. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and univariate and multivariate Cox
      proportional hazards model were performed to evaluate the clinical and prognostic
      significance of lncRNA PANDAR in CRC patients. Furthermore, the biological
      function of lncRNA PANDAR on tumor cell growth, apoptosis and mobility was
      investigated through CCK-8, soft agar colony formation, flow cytometry, transwell
      migration and invasion assays in vitro. The potential mechanism of lncRNA PANDAR
      was demonstrated by Western blot and qRT-PCR. RESULTS: The expression level of
      PANDAR was higher in CRC tissues and cells compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues
      and normal colonic epithelial cells. Patients with high PANDAR expression level
      had poorer overall survival than those with low PANDAR expression. Moreover,
      multivariate analysis showed that the status of PANDAR expression was an
      independent prognostic indicator for CRC. Knockdown of PANDAR could inhibit cell
      growth, migration and invasion, arrest cell cycle as well as induce apoptosis of
      CRC cells in vitro study. In addition, PANDAR could affect epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition through inhibiting N-cadherin, vimentin, beta-catenin, Snail and Twist
      expression and increasing the expression levels of E-cadherin. CONCLUSION: Our
      data suggested that lncRNA PANDAR was a novel molecule involved in CRC
      progression, which provided a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic
      target for new therapies in patients with CRC.

PMID- 27629878
TI  - Desmoglein-2 is overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer tissues and its
      knockdown suppresses NSCLC growth by regulation of p27 and CDK2.
AB  - PURPOSE: Desmoglein-2 (Dsg2) is a cell adhesion protein of the cadherin
      superfamily. Altered Dsg2 expression is associated with tumorigenesis. This study
      determined Dsg2 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue specimens
      for association with clinicopathological and survival data and then assessed the
      effect of Dsg2 knockdown on regulation of NSCLC cell malignant behaviors in vitro
      and in nude mouse xenografts. METHODS: qRT-PCR and Western blot were used to
      detect Dsg2 expression in 28 paired NSCLC and normal tissue samples.
      Immunohistochemistry was used to detect Dsg2 expression in 70 cases of paraffin
      embedded NSCLC tissues. NSCLC A549, H1703, and H1299 cells were cultured with
      Dsg2 knockdown performed using Dsg2 siRNA. Cell viability, cell cycle, apoptosis,
      and colony formation were assessed. siRNA-transfected A549 cells were also used
      to generate tumor xenografts in nude mice. RESULTS: Both Dsg2 mRNA and protein
      were highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and associated with NSCLC size, but not
      with overall survival of patients. Moreover, knockdown of Dsg2 expression reduced
      NSCLC cell proliferation and arrested them at the G1 phase of the cell cycle, but
      did not significantly affect NSCLC cell apoptosis. Dsg2 knockdown downregulated
      cyclin-dependent kinase 2 expression and upregulated p27 expression. Nude mouse
      xenograft assays showed that Dsg2 knockdown inhibited NSCLC xenograft growth in
      vivo. CONCLUSION: This study revealed the importance of Dsg2 in suppression of
      NSCLC development and progression. Further studies will explore whether
      restoration of Dsg2 expression is a novel strategy in control of NSCLC.

PMID- 27629880
TI  - Erratum to: Conversion therapy for inoperable advanced gastric cancer patients by
      docetaxel, cisplatin, and S-1 (DCS) chemotherapy: a multi-institutional
      retrospective study.

PMID- 27629881
TI  - Clinicopathological features of programmed death ligand 1 expression with tumor
      infiltrating lymphocyte, mismatch repair, and Epstein-Barr virus status in a
      large cohort of gastric cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibodies against programmed death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand
      programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) have recently demonstrated promising results in
      gastric cancer (GC). PD-L1 expression, the presence of tumor-infiltrating
      lymphocytes (TILs), and mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency have been proposed as
      predictive biomarkers for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies. The aim of this study was
      to investigate the clinical relevance of PD-L1 expression with TIL, MMR, and
      Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) status in GC. METHODS: We performed a tissue microarray
      analysis in 487 advanced GC patients who underwent gastrectomy. PD-L1 expression
      on tumor cells (TCs) and tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), the densities
      of TILs, and MMR status were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. EBV was detected
      by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: PD-L1 expression on TCs and TIICs, MMR
      deficiency, and EBV positivity were identified in 22.8, 61.4, 5.1, and 5.1 %
      cases respectively. PD-L1 expression was more frequently observed in the elderly
      (TCs P = 0.002), in males (TCs P = 0.029; TIICs P = 0.043), in patients with
      poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with solid-type histological features (TCs P
      < 0.001; TIICs P < 0.001), in patients with MMR deficiency (TCs P < 0.001; TIICs
      P < 0.001), and in patients with EBV positivity (TCs P = 0.001; TIICs P = 0.050).
      Strong association was observed between PD-L1 expression and high densities of
      CD3-positive, CD8-positive, or forkhead box P3 positive TILs (TCs P < 0.001;
      TIICs P < 0.001). Neither PD-L1 expression on TCs nor that on TIICs was an
      independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In GC, PD-L1
      expression was associated with distinct clinicopathological features, including
      high densities of TILs, MMR deficiency, and EBV positivity, but was not a
      prognostic factor.

PMID- 27629882
TI  - Risk factors for endocarditis after transcatheter aortic valve replacement are
      identified.

PMID- 27629883
TI  - Cortical Thickness Changes and Their Relationship to Dual-Task Performance
      following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Youth.
AB  - Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common in youth, especially in those who
      participate in sport. Recent investigations from our group have shown that
      asymptomatic children and adolescents with mTBI continue to exhibit alterations
      in neural activity and cognitive performance compared with those without a
      history of mTBI. This is an intriguing finding, given that current return-to
      learn and return-to-play protocols rely predominately on subjective symptom
      reports, which may not be sensitive enough to detect subtle injury-related
      changes. As a result, youth may be at greater risk for re-injury and long-term
      consequences if they are cleared for activity while their brains continue to be
      compromised. It is currently unknown whether mTBI also affects brain
      microstructure in the developing brain, particularly cortical thickness, and
      whether such changes are also related to cognitive performance. The present study
      examined cortical thickness in 13 asymptomatic youth (10-14 years old) who had
      sustained an mTBI 3-8 months prior to testing compared with 14 age-matched
      typically developing controls. Cortical thickness was also examined in relation
      to working memory performance during single and dual task paradigms. The results
      show that youth who had sustained an mTBI had thinner cortices in the left
      dorsolateral prefrontal region and right anterior and posterior inferior parietal
      lobes. Additionally, cortical thinning was associated with slower reaction time
      during the dual-task condition in the injured youth only. The results also point
      to a possible relationship between functional and structural alterations as a
      result of mTBI in youth, and lend evidence for neural changes beyond symptom
      resolution.

PMID- 27629884
TI  - Baculovirus antiapoptotic protein P35 regulated the host apoptosis to enhance
      virus multiplication.
AB  - The baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV)
      possesses p35 gene, which encodes antiapoptosis protein P35 (or Ac-P35). A
      previous study showed that deleting p35 promoted premature cytolysis and caused
      the reduction of virus yield. In this report, we examined the role of P35 in
      regulating the expression of Ac-IAPs (inhibitor of apoptosis proteins in AcMNPV)
      and SfP53 (an apoptosis protein in Sf9 cells), and its effect on the production
      of progeny virus. Results showed that the overexpression of P35 caused a delay in
      the increase process of SfP53 before 36-h post infection and improved the
      transcription levels of iaps gene dramatically; it was more favorable to improve
      the transcription level of iap1 at 24-72 h post infection. Moreover, P35 could
      promote the production of progeny virus. This is the first study to disclose the
      relationship among p35, iap1, iap2, Sfp53 and the replication of the virus in the
      AcMNPV infection process, which provides the basis for improving the insecticidal
      activity of recombinant AcMNPV in terms of theory and technology.

PMID- 27629885
TI  - Nonlinear identification of the total baroreflex arc: higher-order nonlinearity.
AB  - The total baroreflex arc is the open-loop system relating carotid sinus pressure
      (CSP) to arterial pressure (AP). The nonlinear dynamics of this system were
      recently characterized. First, Gaussian white noise CSP stimulation was employed
      in open-loop conditions in normotensive and hypertensive rats with sectioned
      vagal and aortic depressor nerves. Nonparametric system identification was then
      applied to measured CSP and AP to establish a second-order nonlinear Uryson
      model. The aim in this study was to assess the importance of higher-order
      nonlinear dynamics via development and evaluation of a third-order nonlinear
      model of the total arc using the same experimental data. Third-order Volterra and
      Uryson models were developed by employing nonparametric and parametric
      identification methods. The R2 values between the AP predicted by the best third
      order Volterra model and measured AP in response to Gaussian white noise CSP not
      utilized in developing the model were 0.69 +/- 0.03 and 0.70 +/- 0.03 for
      normotensive and hypertensive rats, respectively. The analogous R2 values for the
      best third-order Uryson model were 0.71 +/- 0.03 and 0.73 +/- 0.03. These R2
      values were not statistically different from the corresponding values for the
      previously established second-order Uryson model, which were both 0.71 +/- 0.03
      (P > 0.1). Furthermore, none of the third-order models predicted well-known
      nonlinear behaviors including thresholding and saturation better than the second
      order Uryson model. Additional experiments suggested that the unexplained AP
      variance was partly due to higher brain center activity. In conclusion, the
      second-order Uryson model sufficed to represent the sympathetically mediated
      total arc under the employed experimental conditions.

PMID- 27629886
TI  - Serelaxin improves the pathophysiology of placental ischemia in the reduced
      uterine perfusion pressure rat model of preeclampsia.
AB  - Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy that has limited therapeutic
      options. In healthy pregnancy, relaxin plays an important vasodilatory role to
      maintain vascular compliance; however, currently, there is no preclinical
      evidence to support the use of relaxin during preeclampsia. Therefore, the goal
      of this study was to test the hypothesis that recombinant human relaxin-2
      (Serelaxin, Novartis; RLX) could reduce mean arterial pressure (MAP) and improve
      uterine artery resistance index (UARI) and nitric oxide bioavailability, and/or
      decrease prepro-endothelin-1 (PPET-1), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt
      1), and TNF-alpha) in the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) model of
      preeclampsia. On day 14 of gestation (GD14), pregnant rats were assigned to
      normal pregnant (NP), RUPP, RUPP+RLX, or NP+RLX groups. Treated rats received RLX
      at 0.4 MUg/h or RLX2 4 MUg/h RLX via minipump implanted on GD14. On GD18, carotid
      arterial catheters were inserted, and on GD19, MAP and tissues were collected.
      MAP was increased in RUPP rats compared with NP but was lowered with either dose
      of RLX. UARI and sFlt-1 were significantly improved in both treated RUPP groups.
      Total circulating nitrate-nitrite improved and placental PPET-1 and TNF-alpha
      were significantly decreased with the higher dose of RLX. Renal cortex PPET-1 was
      reduced with both doses of RLX. In conclusion, Serelaxin improved blood pressure,
      sFlt-1, TNF-alpha, UARI, and nitric oxide bioavailability and PPET-1 in a rat
      model of preeclampsia, thereby suggesting a potential therapeutic role for RLX in
      maintaining maternal health and prolonging pregnancy in the face of placental
      ischemia.

PMID- 27629889
TI  - 8-Prenylnaringenin promotes recovery from immobilization-induced disuse muscle
      atrophy through activation of the Akt phosphorylation pathway in mice.
AB  - 8-Prenylnaringenin (8-PN) is a prenylflavonoid that originates from hop extracts
      and is thought to help prevent disuse muscle atrophy. We hypothesized that 8-PN
      affects muscle plasticity by promoting muscle recovery under disuse muscle
      atrophy. To test the promoting effect of 8-PN on muscle recovery, we administered
      an 8-PN mixed diet to mice that had been immobilized with a cast to one leg for
      14 days. Intake of the 8-PN mixed diet accelerated recovery from muscle atrophy,
      and prevented reductions in Akt phosphorylation. Studies on cell cultures of
      mouse myotubes in vitro demonstrated that 8-PN activated the PI3K/Akt/P70S6K1
      pathway at physiological concentrations. A cell-culture study using an inhibitor
      of estrogen receptors and an in vivo experiment with ovariectomized mice
      suggested that the estrogenic activity of 8-PN contributed to recovery from
      disuse muscle atrophy through activation of an Akt phosphorylation pathway. These
      data strongly suggest that 8-PN is a naturally occurring compound that could be
      used as a nutritional supplement to aid recovery from disuse muscle atrophy.

PMID- 27629887
TI  - Mice lacking beta-carotene-15,15'-dioxygenase exhibit reduced serum testosterone,
      prostatic androgen receptor signaling, and prostatic cellular proliferation.
AB  - beta-Carotene-15,15'-dioxygenase (BCO1) cleaves dietary carotenoids at the
      central 15,15' double bond, most notably acting on beta-carotene to yield
      retinal. However, Bco1 disruption also impacts diverse physiological end points
      independent of dietary carotenoid feeding, including expression of genes
      controlling androgen metabolism. Using the Bco1-/- mouse model, we sought to
      probe the effects of Bco1 disruption on testicular steroidogenesis, prostatic
      androgen signaling, and prostatic proliferation. Male wild-type (WT) and Bco1-/-
      mice were raised on carotenoid-free AIN-93G diets before euthanasia between 10
      and 14 wk of age. Weights of the prostate and seminal vesicles were significantly
      lower in Bco1-/- than in WT mice (-18% and -29%, respectively). Serum
      testosterone levels in Bco1-/- mice were significantly reduced by 73%. Bco1
      disruption significantly reduced Leydig cell number and decreased testicular mRNA
      expression of Hsd17b3, suggesting inhibition of testicular testosterone
      synthesis. Immunofluorescent staining of the androgen receptor (AR) in the
      dorsolateral prostate lobes of Bco1-/- mice revealed a decrease in AR nuclear
      localization. Analysis of prostatic morphology suggested decreases in gland size
      and secretion. These findings were supported by reduced expression of the
      proliferation marker Ki-67 in Bco1-/- prostates. Expression analysis of 200
      prostate cancer- and androgen-related genes suggested that Bco1 loss
      significantly disrupted prostatic androgen receptor signaling, cell cycle
      progression, and proliferation. This is the first demonstration that Bco1
      disruption lowers murine circulating testosterone levels and thereby reduces
      prostatic androgen receptor signaling and prostatic cellular proliferation,
      further supporting the role of this protein in processes more diverse than
      carotenoid cleavage.

PMID- 27629888
TI  - Early postnatal amylin treatment enhances hypothalamic leptin signaling and
      neural development in the selectively bred diet-induced obese rat.
AB  - Selectively bred diet-induced obese (DIO) rats become obese on a high-fat diet
      and are leptin resistant before becoming obese. Compared with diet-resistant (DR)
      neonates, DIO neonates have impaired leptin-dependent arcuate (ARC) neuropeptide
      Y/agouti-related peptide (NPY/AgRP) and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone
      (alpha-MSH; from proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons) axon outgrowth to the
      paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Using phosphorylation of STAT3 (pSTAT3) as a
      surrogate, we show that reduced DIO ARC leptin signaling develops by postnatal
      day 7 (P7) and is reduced within POMC but not NPY/AgRP neurons. Since amylin
      increases leptin signaling in adult rats, we treated DIO neonates with amylin
      during postnatal hypothalamic development and assessed leptin signaling, leptin
      dependent ARC-PVN pathway development, and metabolic changes. DIO neonates
      treated with amylin from P0-6 and from P0-16 increased ARC leptin signaling and
      both AgRP and alpha-MSH ARC-PVN pathway development, but increased only POMC
      neuron number. Despite ARC-PVN pathway correction, P0-16 amylin-induced
      reductions in body weight did not persist beyond treatment cessation. Since
      amylin enhances adult DIO ARC signaling via an IL-6-dependent mechanism, we
      assessed ARC-PVN pathway competency in IL-6 knockout mice and found that the
      AgRP, but not the alpha-MSH, ARC-PVN pathway was reduced. These results suggest
      that both leptin and amylin are important neurotrophic factors for the postnatal
      development of the ARC-PVN pathway. Amylin might act as a direct neurotrophic
      factor in DIO rats to enhance both the number of POMC neurons and their alpha-MSH
      ARC-PVN pathway development. This suggests important and selective roles for
      amylin during ARC hypothalamic development.

PMID- 27629891
TI  - Temporal trends, regional variation and socio-economic differences in height, BMI
      and body proportions among German conscripts, 1956-2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We analyse temporal trends and regional variation among the most
      recent available anthropometric data from German conscription in the years 2008
      2010 and their historical contextualization since 1956. Design/setting/subjects
      The overall sample included German conscripts (N 13 857 313) from 1956 to 2010.
      RESULTS: German conscripts changed from growing in height to growing in breadth.
      Over the analysed 54 years, average height of 19-year-old conscripts increased by
      6.5 cm from 173.5 cm in 1956 (birth year 1937) to 180.0 cm in 2010 (birth year
      1991). This increase plateaued since the 1990s (1970s birth years). The increase
      in average weight, however, did not lessen during the last two decades but
      increased in two steps: at the end of the 1980s and after 1999. The weight and
      BMI distributions became increasingly right-skewed, the prevalence of overweight
      and obesity increased from 11.6 % and 2.1 % in 1984 to 19.9 % and 8.5 % in 2010,
      respectively. The north-south gradient in height (north = taller) persisted
      during our observations. Height and weight of conscripts from East Germany
      matched the German average between the early 1990s and 2009. Between the 1980s
      and the early 1990s, the average chest circumference increased, the average
      difference between chest circumference when inhaling and exhaling decreased, as
      did leg length relative to trunk length. CONCLUSIONS: Measuring anthropometric
      data for military conscripts yielded year-by-year monitoring of the health status
      of young men at a proscribed age. Such findings contribute to a more precise
      identification of groups at risk and thus help with further studies and to target
      interventions.

PMID- 27629890
TI  - Purmorphamine as a Shh Signaling Activator Small Molecule Promotes Motor Neuron
      Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Cultured on Nanofibrous PCL Scaffold.
AB  - There is variety of stem cell sources but problems in ethical issues,
      contamination, and normal karyotype cause many limitations in obtaining and using
      these cells. The cells in Wharton's jelly region of umbilical cord are abundant
      and available stem cells with low immunological incompatibility, which could be
      considered for cell replacement therapy. Small molecules have been presented as
      less expensive biologically active compounds that can regulate different
      developmental process. Purmorphamine (PMA) is a small molecule that, according to
      some studies, possesses certain differentiation effects. In this study, we
      investigated the effect of the PMA on Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cell (WJ
      MSC) differentiation into motor neuronal lineages instead of sonic hedgehog (Shh)
      on PCL scaffold. After exposing to induction media for 15 days, the cells were
      characterized for expression of motor neuron markers including PAX6, NF-H,
      Islet1, HB9, and choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) by quantitative reverse
      transcription (PCR) and immunocytochemistry. Our results demonstrated that
      induced WJ-MSCs with PMA could significantly express motor neuron markers in RNA
      and protein levels 15 days post induction. These results suggested that WJ-MSCs
      can differentiate to motor neuron-like cells with PMA on PCL scaffold and might
      provide a potential source in cell therapy for nervous system.

PMID- 27629892
TI  - Non-urgent Emergency Callers: Characteristics and Prognosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In Denmark, calls to the Danish emergency number 1-1-2 concerning
      medical emergencies are received by an emergency medical communication center
      (EMCC). At the EMCC, health care professionals (nurses, paramedics, and
      physicians) decide the necessary response, depending on the level of emergency as
      indicated by the Danish Index for Emergency Care. The index states 37 main
      criteria (symptoms) and five levels of emergency, descending from A (life
      threatening) to E (not serious). An ambulance is not sent to emergency level-E
      patients (level-E patients), but they are given other kinds of help/advice. No
      prior studies focusing on Danish level-E patients exist, hence the sparse
      knowledge about them. This study aimed to characterize level-E patients in the
      Central Denmark Region and to investigate their progress in the health care
      system after the 1-1-2 call, regarding contacting 1-1-2 again, general
      practitioner and Emergency Department (ED) visits, hospital admission, and death.
      METHODS: This is a retrospective follow-up study of callers who contacted the
      EMCC of the Central Denmark Region and were assessed as level-E patients from
      August 2013 to July 2014. The study population was identified in the EMCC
      dispatch software, whose data were supplemented with health care data from three
      national registries. RESULTS: Of the 53,414 patients who called 1-1-2 over the
      study period, 4,962 level-E patients were included in the study. The median age
      was 47 years (IQR: 24.3-67.7), and 53.4% were men. The most common main criteria
      were extremity pain - minor wounds. Within 1 day after their 1-1-2 call, 42.1%
      had a subsequent contact with the health care system. Of those, 5.9% called 1-1-2
      again, 24.3% contacted an ED, and 8.6% were admitted. The fatality rate was 0.1%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Level-E patients who contacted the EMCC of the Central Denmark
      Region were most frequently young adults. Almost 60% of level E-patients, who
      could be tracked, had no further contact with the health care system within a day
      after their 1-1-2 call. Of those who did, a quarter contacted an ED, indicating
      that level-E patients needed medical attention. The low fatality rates suggest
      limited undertriage, that is, level-E patients do not seem to need emergency
      medical service transportation. Further studies on undertriage among other things
      are needed.

PMID- 27629893
TI  - Evaluation of a Semiquantitative Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time
      of Flight Mass Spectrometry Method for Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
      of Positive Blood Cultures.
AB  - With the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria,
      rapid identification of the pathogen and its individual antibiotic resistance is
      crucial to ensure adequate antiinfective treatment at the earliest time point.
      Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass
      spectrometry for the identification of bacteria directly from the blood culture
      bottle has been widely established; however, there is still an urgent need for
      new methods that permit rapid resistance testing. Recently, a semiquantitative
      MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry-based method for the prediction of antibiotic
      resistance was described. We evaluated this method for detecting
      nonsusceptibility against two beta-lactam and two non-beta-lactam antibiotics. A
      collection of 30 spiked blood cultures was tested for nonsusceptibility against
      gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Furthermore, 99 patient-derived blood cultures were
      tested for nonsusceptibility against cefotaxime, piperacillin-tazobactam, and
      ciprofloxacin in parallel with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry identification from
      the blood culture fluid. The assay correctly classified all isolates tested for
      nonsusceptibility against gentamicin and cefotaxime. One misclassification for
      ciprofloxacin nonsusceptibility and five misclassifications for piperacillin
      tazobactam nonsusceptibility occurred. Identification of the bacterium and
      prediction of nonsusceptibility was possible within approximately 4 h.

PMID- 27629894
TI  - Comparison of BacT/Alert FAN and FAN Plus Bottles with Conventional Medium for
      Culturing Cerebrospinal Fluid.
AB  - We compared the BacT/Alert system FAN and FAN Plus media to conventional media
      for culturing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with 2,545 samples. FAN/FAN Plus bottles
      showed better performance for isolating microorganisms in CSF than conventional
      media (positive rate, 7.2% [182/2,545] versus 3.1% [80/2,545]). The incremental
      recovery rate of Cryptococcus neoformans from FAN Plus bottles was higher than
      that from FAN bottles.

PMID- 27629895
TI  - Comparison of PCR-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry with 16S rRNA PCR and
      Amplicon Sequencing for Detection of Bacteria in Excised Heart Valves.
AB  - Identification of the causative pathogen of infective endocarditis (IE) is
      crucial for adequate management and therapy. A broad-range PCR-electrospray
      ionization mass spectrometry (PCR-ESI-MS) technique was compared with broad
      spectrum 16S rRNA PCR and amplicon sequencing (16S rRNA PCR) for the detection of
      bacterial pathogens in 40 heart valves obtained from 34 definite infective
      endocarditis patients according to the modified Duke criteria and six
      nonendocarditis patients. Concordance between the two molecular techniques was
      98% for being positive or negative, 97% for concordant identification up to the
      genus level, and 77% for concordant identification up to the species level.
      Sensitivity for detecting the causative pathogen (up to the genus level) in
      excised heart valves was 88% for 16S rRNA PCR and 85% for PCR-ESI-MS; the
      specificity was 83% for both methods. The two molecular techniques were
      significantly more sensitive than valve culture (18%) and accurately identified
      bacteria in excised heart valves. In eight patients with culture-negative IE, the
      following results were obtained: concordant detection of Coxiella burnetii (n =
      2), Streptococcus gallolyticus (n = 1), Propionibacterium acnes (n = 1), and
      viridans group streptococci (n = 1) by both molecular tests, detection of P.
      acnes by PCR-ESI-MS whereas the 16S rRNA PCR was negative (n = 1), and a false
      negative result by both molecular techniques (n = 2). In one case of IE caused by
      viridans streptococci, PCR-ESI-MS was positive for Enterococcus spp. The
      advantages of PCR-ESI-MS compared to 16S rRNA PCR are its automated workflow and
      shorter turnaround times.

PMID- 27629896
TI  - Expansion of Comprehensive Screening of Male Sexually Transmitted Infection
      Clinic Attendees with Mycoplasma genitalium and Trichomonas vaginalis Molecular
      Assessment: a Retrospective Analysis.
AB  - Of 1,493 encounters of males at a sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic in
      a community with a high prevalence of STI, Chlamydia trachomatis was detected in
      8.7% and Neisseria gonorrhoeae was detected in 6.6%. Additional Trichomonas
      vaginalis and Mycoplasma genitalium screening found 17.4% and 23.9% of the
      encounters, respectively, to be positive for STI. STI agents were detected in
      13.7% of urine specimens; addition of pharyngeal and rectal collections to the
      analysis resulted in detection of STI agents in 19.0% and 23.9% of encounters,
      respectively. A total of 101 (23.8%) encounters of identified STI involved sole
      detection of M. genitalium Expansion of the STI analyte panel (including M.
      genitalium) and additional specimen source sampling within a comprehensive STI
      screening program increase identification of male STI carriers.

PMID- 27629898
TI  - New Panfungal Real-Time PCR Assay for Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections.
AB  - The diagnosis of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) is usually based on the
      isolation of the fungus in culture and histopathological techniques. However,
      these methods have many limitations often delaying the definitive diagnosis. In
      recent years, molecular diagnostics methods have emerged as a suitable
      alternative for IFI diagnosis. When there is not a clear suspicion of the fungus
      involved in the IFI, panfungal real-time PCR assays have been used, allowing
      amplification of any fungal DNA. However, this approach requires subsequent
      amplicon sequencing to identify the fungal species involved, increasing response
      time. In this work, a new panfungal real-time PCR assay using the combination of
      an intercalating dye and sequence-specific probes was developed. After DNA
      amplification, a melting curve analysis was also performed. The technique was
      standardized by using 11 different fungal species and validated in 60 clinical
      samples from patients with proven and probable IFI. A melting curve database was
      constructed by collecting those melting curves obtained from fungal species
      included in the standardization assay. Results showed high reproducibility
      (coefficient of variation [CV] < 5%; r > 0.95) and specificity (100%). The
      overall sensitivity of the technique was 83.3%, with the group of fungi involved
      in the infection detected in 77.8% of the positive samples with IFIs covered by
      molecular beacon probes. Moreover, sequencing was avoided in 67.8% of these
      "probe-positive" results, enabling report of a positive result in 24 h. This
      technique is fast, sensitive, and specific and promises to be useful for
      improving early diagnosis of IFIs.

PMID- 27629897
TI  - Disk Diffusion Testing for Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci: Does
      Moxalactam Improve upon Cefoxitin?
AB  - Disk diffusion testing is widely used to detect methicillin resistance in
      staphylococci, and cefoxitin is currently considered the best marker for mecA
      mediated methicillin resistance. In low-inoculum diffusion testing (colony
      suspension at 106 CFU/ml), the addition of moxalactam in combination with
      cefoxitin has been reported to improve on cefoxitin alone for the detection of
      methicillin-heteroresistant staphylococci. However, moxalactam is absent from
      EUCAST and CLSI guidelines, which use high-inoculum diffusion testing (colony
      suspension at 108 CFU/ml), calling into question the potential interest of
      including moxalactam in their recommendations. The inhibition zone diameters of
      cefoxitin and moxalactam, alone and in combination, were evaluated for
      concordance with mecA and mecC positivity in a large collection of clinical
      Staphylococcus isolates (611 Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus lugdunensis,
      and Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolates and 307 coagulase-negative
      staphylococci other than S. lugdunensis and S. saprophyticus isolates, of which
      22% and 53% were mecA-positive, respectively) and in 25 mecC-positive S. aureus
      isolates using high-inoculum diffusion testing. Receiver operating
      characteristic, sensitivity, and specificity analyses indicated that the
      detection of mecA- and mecC-positive and negative isolates did not improve with
      moxalactam, either alone or in combination with cefoxitin, compared to cefoxitin
      alone. These findings were similar in both the S. aureus/S. lugdunensis/S.
      saprophyticus group and in the coagulase-negative staphylococci group. Our
      results do not support the use of moxalactam as an additional marker of
      methicillin resistance when testing with high-inoculum disk diffusion.

PMID- 27629899
TI  - Resolution of a Protracted Serogroup B Meningococcal Outbreak with Whole-Genome
      Sequencing Shows Interspecies Genetic Transfer.
AB  - A carriage study was undertaken (n = 112) to ascertain the prevalence of
      Neisseria spp. following the eighth case of invasive meningococcal disease in
      young children (5 to 46 months) and members of a large extended indigenous ethnic
      minority Traveller family (n = 123), typically associated with high-occupancy
      living conditions. Nested multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was employed for case
      specimen extracts. Isolates were genome sequenced and then were assembled de novo
      and deposited into the Bacterial Isolate Genome Sequencing Database (BIGSdb).
      This facilitated an expanded MLST approach utilizing large numbers of loci for
      isolate characterization and discrimination. A rare sequence type, ST-6697,
      predominated in disease specimens and isolates that were carried (n = 8/14),
      persisting for at least 44 months, likely driven by the high population density
      of houses (n = 67/112) and trailers (n = 45/112). Carriage for Neisseria
      meningitidis (P < 0.05) and Neisseria lactamica (P < 0.002) (2-sided Fisher's
      exact test) was more likely in the smaller, more densely populated trailers.
      Meningococcal carriage was highest in 24- to 39-year-olds (45%, n = 9/20).
      Evidence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) was observed in four individuals
      cocolonized by Neisseria lactamica and Neisseria meningitidis One HGT event
      resulted in the acquisition of 26 consecutive N. lactamica alleles. This study
      demonstrates how housing density can drive meningococcal transmission and
      carriage, which likely facilitated the persistence of ST-6697 and prolonged the
      outbreak. Whole-genome MLST effectively distinguished between highly similar
      outbreak strain isolates, including those isolated from person-to-person
      transmission, and also highlighted how a few HGT events can distort the true
      phylogenetic relationship between highly similar clonal isolates.

PMID- 27629900
TI  - Whole-Genome Multilocus Sequence Typing of Extended-Spectrum-Beta-Lactamase
      Producing Enterobacteriaceae.
AB  - Molecular typing has become indispensable in the detection of nosocomial
      transmission of bacterial pathogens and the identification of sources and routes
      of transmission in outbreak settings, but current methods are labor-intensive,
      are difficult to standardize, or have limited resolution. Whole-genome multilocus
      sequence typing (wgMLST) has emerged as a whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based
      gene-by-gene typing method that may overcome these limitations and has been
      applied successfully for several species in outbreak settings. In this study,
      genus-, genetic-complex-, and species-specific wgMLST schemes were developed for
      Citrobacter spp., the Enterobacter cloacae complex, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella
      oxytoca, and Klebsiella pneumoniae and used to type a national collection of
      1,798 extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E)
      isolates obtained from patients in Dutch hospitals. Genus-, genetic-complex-, and
      species-specific thresholds for genetic distance that accurately distinguish
      between epidemiologically related and unrelated isolates were defined for
      Citrobacter spp., the E. cloacae complex, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae wgMLST was
      shown to have higher discriminatory power and typeability than in silico MLST. In
      conclusion, the wgMLST schemes developed in this study facilitate high-resolution
      WGS-based typing of the most prevalent ESBL-producing species in clinical
      practice and may contribute to further elucidation of the complex epidemiology of
      antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacteriaceae wgMLST opens up possibilities for the
      creation of a Web-accessible database for the global surveillance of ESBL
      producing bacterial clones.

PMID- 27629901
TI  - Comparison of Minocycline Susceptibility Testing Methods for Carbapenem-Resistant
      Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - Treatment options for infections due to carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii are extremely limited. Minocycline is a semisynthetic tetracycline
      derivative with activity against this pathogen. This study compared
      susceptibility testing methods that are used in clinical microbiology
      laboratories (Etest, disk diffusion, and Sensititre broth microdilution methods)
      for testing of minocycline, tigecycline, and doxycycline against 107 carbapenem
      resistant A. baumannii clinical isolates. Susceptibility rates determined with
      the standard broth microdilution method using cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton (MH)
      broth were 77.6% for minocycline and 29% for doxycycline, and 92.5% of isolates
      had tigecycline MICs of <=2 MUg/ml. Using MH agar from BD and Oxoid,
      susceptibility rates determined with the Etest method were 67.3% and 52.3% for
      minocycline, 21.5% and 18.7% for doxycycline, and 71% and 29.9% for tigecycline,
      respectively. With the disk diffusion method using MH agar from BD and Oxoid,
      susceptibility rates were 82.2% and 72.9% for minocycline and 34.6% and 34.6% for
      doxycycline, respectively, and rates of MICs of <=2 MUg/ml were 46.7% and 23.4%
      for tigecycline. In comparison with the standard broth microdilution results,
      very major rates were low (~2.8%) for all three drugs across the methods, but
      major error rates were higher (~5.6%), especially with the Etest method. For
      minocycline, minor error rates ranged from 14% to 37.4%. For tigecycline, minor
      error rates ranged from 6.5% to 69.2%. The majority of minor errors were due to
      susceptible results being reported as intermediate. For minocycline
      susceptibility testing of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains, very major
      errors are rare, but major and minor errors overcalling strains as intermediate
      or resistant occur frequently with susceptibility testing methods that are
      feasible in clinical laboratories.

PMID- 27629902
TI  - Next-Generation Epidemiology: Using Real-Time Core Genome Multilocus Sequence
      Typing To Support Infection Control Policy.
AB  - Multidrug-resistant bacteria are responsible for substantial morbidity and
      mortality worldwide. Tracking the nosocomial spread of resistant bacteria is
      critical to infection control. Mellmann et al. (J. Clin. Microbiol. 54:2874-2881,
      2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00790-16) have described prospective whole
      genome sequencing with core genome multilocus sequencing typing (cgMLST) analysis
      for real-time surveillance and have addressed the practical aspects of
      implementing this type of operation in the hospital setting.

PMID- 27629903
TI  - Characterization and Recognition of Brachyspira hampsonii sp. nov., a Novel
      Intestinal Spirochete That Is Pathogenic to Pigs.
AB  - Swine dysentery (SD) is a mucohemorrhagic colitis of swine classically caused by
      infection with the intestinal spirochete Brachyspira hyodysenteriae Since around
      2007, cases of SD have occurred in North America associated with a different
      strongly beta-hemolytic spirochete that has been molecularly and phenotypically
      characterized and provisionally named "Brachyspira hampsonii." Despite increasing
      international interest, B. hampsonii is currently not recognized as a valid
      species. To support its recognition, we sequenced the genomes of strains NSH-16T,
      NSH-24, and P280/1, representing B. hampsonii genetic groups I, II, and III,
      respectively, and compared them with genomes of other valid Brachyspira species.
      The draft genome of strain NSH-16T has a DNA G+C content of 27.4% and an
      approximate size of 3.2 Mb. Genomic indices, including digital DNA-DNA
      hybridization (dDDH), average nucleotide identity (ANI), and average amino acid
      identity (AAI), clearly differentiated B. hampsonii from other recognized
      Brachyspira species. Although discriminated genotypically, the three genetic
      groups are phenotypically similar. By electron microscopy, cells of different
      strains of B. hampsonii measure 5 to 10 MUm by 0.28 to 0.34 MUm, with one or two
      flat curves, and have 10 to 14 periplasmic flagella inserted at each cell end.
      Using a comprehensive evaluation of genotypic (gene comparisons and multilocus
      sequence typing and analysis), genomic (dDDH, ANI, and AAI) and phenotypic
      (hemolysis, biochemical profiles, protein spectra, antibiogram, and
      pathogenicity) properties, we classify Brachyspira hampsonii sp. nov. as a unique
      species with genetically diverse yet phenotypically similar genomovars (I, II,
      and III). We designate the type strain NSH-16 (= ATCC BAA-2463 = NCTC 13792).

PMID- 27629904
TI  - Comparison of NxTAG Respiratory Pathogen Panel and Anyplex II RV16 Tests for
      Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Pathogens in Hospitalized Children.
AB  - Multiplex molecular techniques can detect a diversity of respiratory viruses and
      bacteria that cause childhood acute respiratory infection rapidly and
      conveniently. However, currently available techniques show high variation in
      performance. We sought to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the novel multiplex
      NxTAG respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) RUO test versus a routine multiplex
      Anyplex II RV16 assay in respiratory specimens collected from children <18 years
      of age hospitalized with nonspecific symptoms of acute lower respiratory
      infection. Parallel testing was performed on nasopharyngeal aspirates
      prospectively collected at referral Children's Hospital Sant Joan de Deu
      (Barcelona, Spain) between June and November 2015. Agreement values between the
      two tests and kappa coefficients were assessed. Bidirectional sequencing was
      performed for the resolution of discordant results. A total of 319 samples were
      analyzed by both techniques. A total of 268 (84.0%) of them yielded concordant
      results. Positive percent agreement values ranged from 83.3 to 100%, while the
      negative percent agreement was more than 99% for all targets except for
      enterovirus/rhinovirus (EV/RV; 94.4%). Kappa coefficients ranged from 0.83 to
      1.00. Discrepancy analysis confirmed 66.0% of NxTAG RPP RUO results. A total of
      260 viruses were detected, with EV/RV (n = 105, 40.4%) being the most prevalent
      target. Viral coinfections were found in 44 (14.2%) samples. In addition, NxTAG
      RPP RUO detected single bacterial and mixed viral-bacterial infections in seven
      samples. NxTAG RPP RUO showed high positive and negative agreement with Anyplex
      II RV16 for main viruses that cause acute respiratory infections in children,
      coupled with an additional capability to detect some respiratory bacteria.

PMID- 27629907
TI  - Postural stability in patients with different types of head and neck trauma in
      comparison to healthy subjects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Dizziness is a common complaint in patients following mild head or
      neck trauma, but neurological signs are usually rare or absent. The aim of the
      study was to compare postural control in patients with different types of head
      and neck trauma to healthy subjects. METHODS: Balance function was evaluated by
      computerized dynamic platform posturography (CDPP) in 57 dizzy patients with
      whiplash injury (n = 11), mild head trauma without loss of consciousness (HTNLC)
      (n = 23), whiplash injury and mild head trauma without loss of consciousness
      (WHTNLC) (n = 12) and mild head trauma with loss of consciousness (n = 11) and in
      14 healthy subjects. RESULTS: Compared to healthy subjects and after adjustment
      for inter-group age differences, sway index (SI) was significantly higher in
      patients with WHTNLC in three of the tests. There were no significant differences
      within the patient group according to type of injury. When time following the
      injury was considered, the SI was non-significantly higher within the first week
      after trauma compared to other time intervals. CONCLUSION: The severity of the
      postural abnormality in patients with head and/or neck trauma is not uniform and
      is influenced by the type of trauma.

PMID- 27629906
TI  - Appetitive and Consummatory Sexual Behaviors of Rams Treated with Exogenous
      Testosterone and Exposed to Anestrus Dorper Ewes: Efficacy of the Male Effect.
AB  - We determine whether Dorper rams treated with testosterone in the sexual resting
      season trigger both appetitive and consummatory sexual behaviors and sexual and
      reproductive outcomes in anestrous ewes at 26 degrees  North during March-April.
      Dorper rams (n = 12, 2.5 years) were randomly divided prior to mating in two
      groups: GT (treated group; n = 6), treated with testosterone propionate (25 mg
      i.m. every 3 days * 3 weeks) and GC (control group; n = 6), treated with saline.
      Thereafter, adult anovulatory Dorper ewes (n = 61) were exposed to the GT-rams
      while the other group (n = 60) was exposed to the GC-rams. Ram's appetitive
      sexual behavior was similar (50 %) in both groups, yet the GT-rams exerted 100 %
      of the consummatory sexual behavior. Sexual and reproductive outcomes of the
      anestrus females exposed to both male groups considered two phases: 0-15 and 16
      25 days from exposure to males. Involved variables were: ewes in estrus, ewes
      ovulating, duration of estrus, pregnant ewes, and lambed ewes. All the average
      variables favored those ewes exposed to GT-males: ewes in estrus: 85 versus 40 %;
      ewes ovulating: 80 versus 53 %; duration of estrus: 37 versus 25 h; pregnant
      ewes: 60 versus 31 %, and lambed ewes: 57 versus 31 %. Results confirm that adult
      Dorper rams treated with exogenous testosterone had improved consummatory sexual
      behavior and induced increased ovulation and pregnancy rates when exposed to
      anestrus ewes. This feasible and inexpensive testosterone-based protocol through
      the male effect also enhanced both sexual and reproductive outcomes in previously
      anestrous Dorper ewes during the natural out-of-season. Results are important to
      speed up reproductive performance of sheep during the natural anestrous season at
      this latitude, while also they embrace interesting outcomes from a comparative
      sexual behavior stand point.

PMID- 27629905
TI  - Clinical Significance of Commensal Gram-Positive Rods Routinely Isolated from
      Patient Samples.
AB  - Commensal bacteria from the skin and mucosal surfaces are routinely isolated from
      patient samples and considered contaminants. The majority of these isolates are
      catalase-positive Gram-positive rods from multiple genera routinely classified as
      diphtheroids. These organisms can be seen upon Gram staining of clinical
      specimens or can be isolated as the predominant or pure species in culture,
      raising a priori suspicion of a possible involvement in infection. With the
      development and adoption of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of
      flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), suspicious isolates are now routinely
      identified to the species level. In this study, we performed a retrospective data
      review (2012 to 2015) and utilized site-specific laboratory criteria and chart
      reviews to identify species within the diphtheroid classification representative
      of true infection versus contamination. Our data set included 762 isolates from
      13 genera constituting 41 bacterial species. Only 18% represented true infection,
      and 82% were deemed contaminants. Clinically significant isolates were identified
      in anaerobic wounds (18%), aerobic wounds (30%), blood (5.5%), urine (22%),
      cerebrospinal fluid (24%), ophthalmologic cultures (8%), and sterile sites (20%).
      Organisms deemed clinically significant included multiple Actinomyces species in
      wounds, Propionibacterium species in joints and cerebrospinal fluid associated
      with central nervous system hardware, Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii (100%) in
      breast, and Corynebacterium striatum in multiple sites. Novel findings include
      clinically significant urinary tract infections by Actinomyces neuii (21%) and
      Corynebacterium aurimucosum (21%). Taken together, these findings indicate that
      species-level identification of diphtheroids isolated with a priori suspicion of
      infection is essential to accurately determine whether an isolate belongs to a
      species associated with specific types of infection.

PMID- 27629909
TI  - Identification of haemoglobin New York by haemoglobin A1c measurement using the
      Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing system.
AB  - Haemoglobinopathies may interfere with the haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measurement,
      leading to incorrect diagnosis and inappropriate treatment. It is essential that
      HbA1c assays are capable of identifying haemoglobinopathies. We report two cases
      of haemoglobin New York (HbNY) discovered through HbA1c analysis using capillary
      electrophoresis (Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing [C2FP], Sebia). We used these samples
      to evaluate the ability of three other HbA1c assays to identify this variant: ion
      exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (Variant II Turbo [VII-T], Bio
      Rad); boronate affinity high-performance liquid chromatography (Ultra2, Trinity
      Biotech) and immunoassay (Cobas c501 Tina-quant Generation 3, Roche Diagnostics).
      Each method was used for HbA1c assay of in samples from two cases of heterozygous
      haemoglobinopathy: beta0-thalassemia/HbNY (Case 1) and HbA/NY (Case 2). Only the
      C2FP system detected HbNY (an additional peak appeared between HbA1c and HbA0).
      Clinical laboratories should be aware of the limitations of their HbA1c assay
      methods especially in geographic areas, where haemoglobinopathy prevalence is
      high.

PMID- 27629910
TI  - Stabilization of circulating thyroglobulin mRNA transcripts in patients treated
      for differentiated thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - Background The clinical utility of serum thyroglobulin in the follow-up of
      patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma may be compromised by the presence
      of endogenous antithyroglobulin antibodies. To prevent interference by
      antithyroglobulin antibodies several groups have developed real-time PCR-based
      assays for quantification of blood thyroglobulin mRNA levels. For accurate
      quantification of thyroglobulin mRNA in blood preanalytical factors must be
      recognized and controlled. In this study, we evaluate the effect of different
      blood RNA stabilizing systems - the Tempus Blood RNA system and the PAXgene Blood
      RNA system - and storage time on RNA yield and quality, and thyroglobulin mRNA
      stability. Methods Blood samples from 11 patients previously treated for
      differentiated thyroid carcinoma were collected in K2-EDTA, Tempus and PAXgene
      tubes and maintained at room temperature. RNA was isolated following storage for
      0 and 72 h, and RNA yield, integrity and purity was determined. Thyroglobulin,
      GAPDH and ACTB mRNA levels were quantified by semi-quantitative real-time PCR.
      Results The RNA yield was significantly higher for blood collected in Tempus
      tubes compared with PAXgene tubes following storage for 72 h at room temperature
      ( P = 0.0011). High-quality RNA could be extracted from blood collected in
      PAXgene and Tempus tubes. Blood collected in K2-EDTA tubes, but not in PAXgene
      and Tempus tubes, showed significant changes in thyroglobulin mRNA levels
      following storage for 72 h at room temperature ( P = 0.0263). Conclusions
      Stabilization of blood in PAXgene and Tempus tubes enables storage at room
      temperature for up to 72 h, without compromising thyroglobulin mRNA levels.

PMID- 27629911
TI  - Analysis of urinary human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations in normal and
      failing pregnancies using longitudinal, Cox proportional hazards and two-stage
      modelling.
AB  - Background Human chorionic gonadotrophin is a marker of early pregnancy. This
      study sought to determine the possibility of being able to distinguish between
      healthy and failing pregnancies by utilizing patient-associated risk factors and
      daily urinary human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations. Methods Data were
      from a study that collected daily early morning urine samples from women trying
      to conceive (n = 1505); 250 of whom became pregnant. Data from 129 women who
      became pregnant (including 44 miscarriages) were included in these analyses. A
      longitudinal model was used to profile human chorionic gonadotrophin, a Cox
      proportional hazards model to assess demographic/menstrual history data on the
      time to failed pregnancy, and a two-stage model to combine these two models.
      Results The profile for log human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations in women
      suffering miscarriage differs to that of viable pregnancies; rate of human
      chorionic gonadotrophin rise is slower in those suffering a biochemical loss
      (loss before six weeks, recognized by a rise and fall of human chorionic
      gonadotrophin) and tends to plateau at a lower log human chorionic gonadotrophin
      in women suffering an early miscarriage (loss six weeks or later), compared with
      viable pregnancies. Maternal age, longest cycle length and time from luteinizing
      hormone surge to human chorionic gonadotrophin reaching 25 mIU/mL were found to
      be significantly associated with miscarriage risk. The two-stage model found that
      for an increase of one day in the time from luteinizing hormone surge to human
      chorionic gonadotrophin reaching 25 mIU/mL, there is a 30% increase in
      miscarriage risk (hazard ratio: 1.30; 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.62).
      Conclusion Rise of human chorionic gonadotrophin in early pregnancy could be
      useful to predict pregnancy viability. Daily tracking of urinary human chorionic
      gonadotrophin may enable early identification of some pregnancies at risk of
      miscarriage.

PMID- 27629912
TI  - Is the timing of surgery associated with avascular necrosis after unstable
      slipped capital femoral epiphysis? A multicenter study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An unstable slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is associated
      with a high rate of avascular necrosis (AVN). The etiology of AVN seems to be
      multifactorial, although it is not thoroughly known. The aims of our study were
      to determine the rate of AVN after an unstable SCFE and to investigate the risk
      factors for AVN, specifically evaluating the notion of an "unsafe window", during
      which medical interventions would increase the risk for AVN. METHODS: This
      retrospective multicenter study included 60 patients with an unstable SCFE
      diagnosed between 1985 and 2014. Timing of surgery was evaluated for three time
      periods, from acute onset of symptoms to surgery: period I, <24 h; period II,
      between 24 h and 7 days; and period III, >7 days. Multivariate logistic
      regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for AVN. RESULTS: Closed
      reduction and pinning was performed in 43 patients and in situ pinning in 17.
      Among these cases, 16 patients (27%) developed AVN. The rate of AVN was
      significantly higher in patients treated by closed reduction and pinning (15/43,
      35%) than in those treated by in situ pinning (1/17, 5.9%) (p = 0.022). In
      patients treated by closed reduction and pinning, the incidence of AVN was 2/11
      (18%) in period I, 10/13 (77%) in period II and 3/15 (20%) in period III, showing
      the significantly higher rate in period II (p = 0.002). The surgery provided in
      period II was identified as an independent risk factor for the development of
      AVN. CONCLUSIONS: Our rate of AVN was 27% using two classical treatment methods.
      Time-to-surgery, between 24 h and 7 days, was independently associated with AVN,
      supporting the possible existence of an "unsafe window" in patients with unstable
      SCFE treated by closed reduction and pinning.

PMID- 27629914
TI  - High steady-state column density of I((2)P3/2) atoms from I2 photodissociation at
      532 nm: Towards parity non-conservation measurements.
AB  - Steady-state column densities of 10(17) cm(-2) of I((2)P3/2) atoms are produced
      from photodissociation of I2 vapour at 290.5 K using 5 W of 532 nm laser light.
      Recombination of the I((2)P3/2) atoms at the cell walls is minimized by coating
      the cell surface with a hydrophobic silane (dimethyldichlorosilane/DMDCS).
      Operation at room temperature, and at an I2 vapour pressure of ~0.2 mbar, without
      using a buffer gas, allows relatively low Lorentz and Doppler widths of ~2pi *
      1.5 (FWHM) and ~2pi * 150 (HW at 1/e(2)) Mrad/s, respectively, at the M1
      transition of atomic iodine at 1315 nm. These high column densities and low
      linewidths are favorable for parity nonconservation optical rotation measurements
      near this M1 transition. Furthermore, as the cell is completely sealed, this
      method of production of high-density (127)I((2)P3/2) atoms is also compatible
      with using iodine radioisotopes, such as for the production of high-density
      (129)I((2)P3/2).

PMID- 27629913
TI  - Immunogenicity and safety of 3-dose primary vaccination with combined DTPa-HBV
      IPV/Hib in Indian infants.
AB  - Multivalent combination vaccines have reduced the number of injections and
      therefore improved vaccine acceptance, timeliness of administration and global
      coverage. The hexavalent diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-hepatitis B
      inactivated poliovirus/Haemophilus influenzae type b (DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib; Infanrix
      hexaTM) vaccine, administered according to various schedules, is widely used for
      the primary vaccination of infants worldwide. In the current publication, we are
      presenting the immunogenicity and safety of 3 doses of DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib vaccine
      when administered to Indian infants. 224 healthy infants (mean age 6.8 weeks)
      were vaccinated at 6-10-14 weeks (W) of age (n = 112) or 2-4-6 months (M) of age
      (n = 112). One month after the third vaccine dose, the
      seroprotection/seropositivity status against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus,
      polio, hepatitis B and Hib antigens ranged from 98.6% to 100% in both groups. The
      vaccine response rate to the pertussis antigens ranged from 97% to 100%. Pain (6
      10-14W group: 25.2%; 2-4-6M group: 13.4%) and fever (15.3% and; 15.2%,
      respectively) were the most frequently reported solicited local and general
      symptoms. Unsolicited adverse events were reported for 35.7% (6-10-14W group) and
      22.3% (2-4-6M group) of subjects. No vaccine related serious adverse events were
      reported. In conclusion, the hexavalent DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib vaccine was immunogenic
      and well tolerated, irrespective of the dosing schedule.

PMID- 27629915
TI  - Secondary debulking surgery for isolated pelvic nodal recurrence requiring
      external iliac vein excision and reconstruction in a patient with ovarian cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We report the details of a cytoreduction technique for pelvic lymph
      node recurrence with involvement of the external iliac vein (EIV) requiring a
      partial resection and reconstruction of the EIV. METHODS: A 51-year-old woman
      presented with ovarian cancer and isolated nodal recurrence located on the right
      side of the pelvis. As the tumor had infiltrated the EIV wall, we performed the
      EIV excision and reconstruction using an autogenous graft. RESULTS: EIV
      reconstruction was achieved using a right ovarian vein patch. No intra- or early
      postoperative complications occurred. A postoperative enhanced magnetic resonance
      imaging examination confirmed the patency of the EIV. CONCLUSION: An en bloc EIV
      excision and reconstruction for contiguous tumor involvement seems to be a
      feasible and safe surgical option.

PMID- 27629916
TI  - Gendered aspects of perceived and internalized HIV-related stigma in China.
AB  - Although studies have demonstrated that females experience more HIV-related
      stigma than males do, questions remain regarding the different dimensions of the
      stigma (i.e., perceived versus internalized) in China. The present study
      investigated gender differences in perceived and internalized HIV-related stigma,
      taking into account the potential influence of education. The study was conducted
      between October 2011 and March 2013. A total of 522 people living with HIV (PLH)
      were recruited from Anhui Province, China. The PLH participated in a survey using
      the Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) method. The gender differences in
      perceived and internalized HIV-related stigma were calculated with and without
      stratifying by education level. Female participants had significantly less
      education than the male participants. No significant difference was observed
      between females and males with respect to perceived stigma. However, females
      reported significantly higher internalized stigma than males did (p < .001). When
      socio-demographic characteristics were controlled, the gender difference in
      internalized stigma remained significant among educated participants (p = .038).
      The findings suggested that gender differences in HIV-related stigma were
      primarily found for internalized stigma. Heightened intervention efforts are
      encouraged to reduce internalized HIV-related stigma, particularly among female
      PLH in China and other regions with similar gender dynamics.

PMID- 27629917
TI  - CpG ODN mimicking CpG rich region of myxosporean Myxobolus supamattayai
      stimulates innate immunity in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) and defense
      against Streptococcus iniae.
AB  - Oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) containing unmethylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine
      CpG dinucleotides within specific sequence contexts (CpG motifs) have been
      reported as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Its immunostimulatory
      effects have been demonstrated in diverse vertebrate models. CpG ODN is typically
      found in bacterial or viral genome and recognized by a non-self recognition
      receptor Toll-like receptor9 (TLR9). Here, a new CpG ODN 1013 which mimics
      sequence of SSU rDNA of early eukaryotic organism myxosporidia, Myxobolus
      supamattayai, was employed to stimulate the immune responses of Asian sea bass
      Lates calcarifer. Its immunostimulant potentiality was comparatively compared
      with that of CpG ODN 1668, a widely used as functional immunostimulant. Both
      unmethylated CpG ODNs with some modified phosphorothioated positions were
      intraperitoneally injection (5 MUg/fish). Hematological examination,
      immunological assays and immune-related genes expression were evaluated 12 h, 1,
      3 and 5 d after post CpG ODN challenge. The immunosimulatory effect of these CpG
      ODNs on fish immunity to protect the bacterial pathogen Streptococcus iniae was
      also determined. The results demonstrated that these two CpG ODNs could induce
      immune responses in Asian sea bass including the significant (P < 0.05) increase
      level of WBC, peroxidase activity and oxidative radicals in head kidney (HK)
      leukocyte, serum innate immune parameters and up-regulation of four immune
      responsive genes compared with the control group. Most of immune responses
      induced by ODN 1668 were strong within 1 d but lesser extended while ODN 1013
      prolonged the stimulatory effects during the whole experimental period. After
      challenge with S. iniae, the survival proportion in ODN 1013-treated fish was
      apparently higher than that treated with ODN 1668 and PBS, respectively. The
      results together suggested that CpG ODN 1013 enhanced innate immune responses,
      including humoral and cellular responses, through TLR9 mediated signaling pathway
      which is mainly contribute to the protective immunity in Asian sea bass against
      S. iniae infection. These findings can lead to a new approach in immunostimulant
      development by using the novel CpG ODN originating from the parasite M.
      supamattayai, besides those from bacterial and viral genomes, for disease control
      in fish host.

PMID- 27629918
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging of leukoencephalopathy in amnestic workers exposed to
      organotin.
AB  - We report the clinical and neuroimaging findings of 4 men who worked in the
      production of inorganic metal tin ingot from organotin scrap who presented with
      similar episodes of reversible amnesia. T2-weighted-fluid-attenuated inversion
      recovery magnetic resonance imaging (FLAIR MRI) scans in 3 of the patients showed
      symmetric hyperintensity in the frontoparietal periventricular white matter and
      the corpus callosum, and reduced apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) based on
      diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). One patient had symmetric faint hyperintensity
      in the parietal periventricular white matter only in the FLAIR images. The
      patients had elevated urinary levels of dimethyltin (DMT) and trimethyltin (TMT),
      but these concentrations decreased following cessation of exposure. Triethyltin,
      however, was not detected in urine. We diagnosed the present cases with organotin
      intoxication based on 5 lines of evidence. First, all patients were workers in
      the same tin-processing industry, complained of similar clinical symptoms, and
      had similar neuroimaging results. Second, the clinical features are compatible
      with a diagnosis of organotin encephalopathy. Third, all 4 workers were exposed
      to organotin for several days, and had high urinary concentrations of DMT and
      TMT. Fourth, the clinical features and brain MRI results ruled out other cerebral
      diseases. Fifth, MRI findings support a diagnosis of organotin encephalopathy.

PMID- 27629919
TI  - Quantification of Cell-Penetrating Peptide Associated with Polymeric
      Nanoparticles Using Isobaric-Tagging and MALDI-TOF MS/MS.
AB  - High sensitivity quantification of the putative cell-penetrating peptide di
      arginine-histidine (RRH) associated with poly (ethyl-cyanoacrylate) (PECA)
      nanoparticles was achieved without analyte separation, using a novel application
      of isobaric-tagging and high matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization coupled
      to time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Isobaric-tagging reaction
      equilibrium was reached after 5 min, with 90% or greater RRH peptide successfully
      isobaric-tagged after 60 min. The accuracy was greater than 90%, which indicates
      good reliability of using isobaric-tagged RRH as an internal standard for RRH
      quantification. The sample intra- and inter-spot coefficients of variations were
      less than 11%, which indicate good repeatability. The majority of RRH peptides in
      the nanoparticle formulation were physically associated with the nanoparticles
      (46.6%), whereas only a small fraction remained unassociated (13.7%). The
      unrecovered RRH peptide (~40%) was assumed to be covalently associated with PECA
      nanoparticles. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27629920
TI  - Patterns of cooperation during collective emergencies in the help-or-escape
      social dilemma.
AB  - Although cooperation is central to the organisation of many social systems,
      relatively little is known about cooperation in situations of collective
      emergency. When groups of people flee from a danger such as a burning building or
      a terrorist attack, the collective benefit of cooperation is important, but the
      cost of helping is high and the temptation to defect is strong. To explore the
      degree of cooperation in emergencies, we develop a new social game, the help-or
      escape social dilemma. Under time and monetary pressure, players decide how much
      risk they are willing to take in order to help others. Results indicated that
      players took as much risk to help others during emergencies as they did under
      normal conditions. In both conditions, most players applied an egalitarian
      heuristic and helped others until their chance of success equalled that of the
      group. This strategy is less efficient during emergencies, however, because the
      increased time pressure results in fewer people helped. Furthermore, emergencies
      tend to amplify participants' initial tendency to cooperate, with prosocials
      becoming even more cooperative and individualists becoming even more selfish. Our
      framework offers new opportunities to study human cooperation and could help
      authorities to better manage crowd behaviours during mass emergencies.

PMID- 27629922
TI  - Effects of aeration frequency on leachate quality and waste in simulated hybrid
      bioreactor landfills.
AB  - : Research has been conducted to investigate the effects of daily aeration
      frequency on leachate quality and waste settlement in simulated hybrid landfill
      bioreactors. Four laboratory-scale reactors were constructed and operated for
      about 10 months to simulate different bioreactor operations, including one
      anaerobic bioreactor and three hybrid bioreactors with different aeration
      frequencies (one, two, and four times per day). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and
      biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) reduced more than 96% of the initial
      concentrations in all aerated bioreactors. The differences of COD and BOD5
      reductions among tested aeration frequencies were relatively small. For ammonia
      nitrogen, the higher aeration frequency (two or four times per day) resulted in
      the quicker reduction. Overall, the concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Co, Cu,
      Mn, Ni, and Zn) decreased over time except Cd and Pb. The reduction of redox
      sensitive metal concentrations (Mn, Co, Ni, and Cu) was greater in aerated
      bioreactors than in anaerobic bioreactor. Settlement of municipal solid waste
      (MSW) was enhanced with higher frequency of aeration events (four times per day).
      IMPLICATIONS: In recent years, hybird bioreactor landfill technology has gained a
      lot of attention. Appropriate aeration rate is crucial for hybrid bioreactor
      operation, but few studies have been done and different results were obtained.
      Research was conducted to investigate the effects of daily aeration frequency on
      leachate quality and waste settlement. Results indicated that aeration can
      effectively accelerate waste stabilization and remove organic carbon
      concentration and total nitrogen in the leachate.

PMID- 27629921
TI  - IL-13Ralpha2 uses TMEM219 in chitinase 3-like-1-induced signalling and effector
      responses.
AB  - Recent studies demonstrated that chitinase 3-like-1 (Chi3l1) binds to and signals
      via IL-13Ralpha2. However, the mechanism that IL-13Ralpha2 uses to mediate the
      effects of Chi3l1 has not been defined. Here, we demonstrate that the membrane
      protein, TMEM219, is a binding partner of IL-13Ralpha2 using yeast two-hybrid, co
      immunoprecipitation, co-localization and bimolecular fluorescence complementation
      assays. Furthermore, fluorescence anisotropy nanodisc assays revealed a direct
      physical interaction between TMEM219 and IL-13Ralpha2-Chi3l1 complexes. Null
      mutations or siRNA silencing of TMEM219 or IL-13Ralpha2 similarly decreased
      Chi3l1-stimulated epithelial cell HB-EGF production and macrophage MAPK/Erk and
      PKB/Akt activation. Null mutations of TMEM219 or IL-13Ralpha2 also phenocopied
      one another as regards the ability of Chi3l1 to inhibit oxidant-induced apoptosis
      and lung injury, promote melanoma metastasis and stimulate TGF-beta1. TMEM219
      also contributed to the decoy function of IL-13Ralpha2. These studies demonstrate
      that TMEM219 plays a critical role in Chi3l1-induced IL-13Ralpha2 mediated
      signalling and tissue responses.

PMID- 27629924
TI  - Gene expression: Systematic tuning of expression.

PMID- 27629925
TI  - Development: An atlas of embryogenesis.

PMID- 27629923
TI  - Mutations of SGO2 and CLDN14 collectively cause coincidental Perrault syndrome.
AB  - Perrault syndrome (PS) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by
      primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) in females and sensorineural hearing loss in
      males and females. In many PS subjects, causative variants have not been found in
      the five reported PS genes. The objective of this study was to identify the
      genetic cause of PS in an extended consanguineous family with six deaf
      individuals. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was completed on four affected members
      of a large family, and variants and co-segregation was confirmed by Sanger
      sequencing. All hearing impaired individuals, including the proband, are
      homozygous for a pathogenic variant of CLDN14, but this only explains the
      deafness. The PS proband is also homozygous for a frameshift variant
      (c.1453_1454delGA, p.(Glu485Lysfs*5)) in exon 7 of SGO2 encoding shugoshin 2,
      which is the likely cause of her concurrent ovarian insufficiency. In mouse,
      Sgol2a encoding shugoshin-like 2a is necessary during meiosis in both sexes to
      maintain the integrity of the cohesin complex that tethers sister chromatids.
      Human SGO2 has not previously been implicated in any disorder, but in this case
      of POI and perhaps others, it is a candidate for unexplained infertility.

PMID- 27629926
TI  - Cancer genomics: A fluid route to gene expression.

PMID- 27629927
TI  - Clinical genetics: Pathogenic non-coding variant identification.

PMID- 27629928
TI  - Evolution: Mapping adaptive mutations in an evolving system.

PMID- 27629929
TI  - DNA elements: Sequence and shape help target the X chromosome.

PMID- 27629930
TI  - Genetic variation: ExAC boosts clinical variant interpretation in rare diseases.

PMID- 27629934
TI  - Comment on "Fossil Fuel Combustion-Related Emissions Dominate Atmospheric Ammonia
      Sources during Severe Haze Episodes: Evidence from 15N-Stable Isotope in Size
      Resolved Aerosol Ammonium".

PMID- 27629933
TI  - Using area health education centers to promote interest in rural practice.
AB  - INTRODUCTON: In the USA, area health education centers (AHECs) work to recruit
      and educate students to serve in medically underserved communities, primary care,
      and rural settings. One important aspect of their work is connecting students
      with rural clinical experiences. Within these experiences, AHECs incorporate a
      community health/socioeconomic experience within the family medicine clerkship
      that may not be as prevalent in the standard family medicine clerkship
      experiences. The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between AHEC
      sponsored family medicine clerkships with a self-reported intent to practice in a
      rural setting upon graduation. METHODS: The study compared third-year medical
      students with the Indiana University School of Medicine, which participated in
      AHEC-sponsored family medicine clerkships to the standard family medicine
      clerkship. Following the 4-week clerkship, students were asked to report their
      intent to work in a rural setting using a five-point Likert scale. A &#967;2 test
      was used to determine the association of AHEC sponsorship, clerkship site
      location (rural/urban) and intent to practice in a rural setting. RESULTS: The
      study consisted of 587 students. There was a statistically significant
      association between self-reported intent and rural clerkship site, &#967;2 (1,
      <i>N</i>=587)=6.542, <i>p</i>=0.01. Furthermore, 21.6% (<i>n</i>=25) of students
      with a rural clerkship experience reported a greater intent compared to 12.3%
      (<i>n</i>=58) of students with non-rural clerkship experience. CONCLUSIONS: The
      study confirmed a significantly positive association between participation in
      medical clerkship experiences in a rural primary care setting and the intent to
      practice in a rural setting upon graduation. The results also support the
      potential value-added benefits through academic-community partnerships with
      AHECs, family medical and other primary care specialty clerkship programs may
      perhaps succeed in increasing student interest in pursuing a practice serving in
      rural communities upon graduation.

PMID- 27629935
TI  - Exploiting computationally derived out-of-the-box protein conformations for drug
      design.
AB  - Structural plasticity is an intrinsic property of proteins that allows each gene
      product to accomplish its tasks in a strictly regulated manner at a precise time
      and cellular location. Moreover, protein motions allow protein-ligand and protein
      protein recognition. The knowledge of the conformational ensemble that a drug
      target populates may be crucial for the design of small molecules that can
      differently modulate its function. X-ray crystallography and NMR have endlessly
      provided snapshots of protein states. However, experimental structure
      determination is not always straightforward. Therefore, attempts have been made
      to depict protein conformational landscapes through molecular dynamics and
      enhanced sampling methods. Here, we review how accounting for protein dynamics
      through in silico generated out-of-the-box protein conformations has started to
      impact on drug discovery.

PMID- 27629931
TI  - Targeting the cancer epigenome for therapy.
AB  - Next-generation sequencing has revealed that more than 50% of human cancers
      harbour mutations in enzymes that are involved in chromatin organization. Tumour
      cells not only are activated by genetic and epigenetic alterations, but also
      routinely use epigenetic processes to ensure their escape from chemotherapy and
      host immune surveillance. Hence, a growing emphasis of recent drug discovery
      efforts has been on targeting the epigenome, including DNA methylation and
      histone modifications, with several new drugs being tested and some already
      approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The future will see the
      increasing success of combining epigenetic drugs with other therapies. As
      epigenetic drugs target the epigenome as a whole, these true 'genomic medicines'
      lessen the need for precision approaches to individualized therapies.

PMID- 27629932
TI  - Prenatal and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
AB  - The past decade has seen the development of technologies that have revolutionized
      prenatal genetic testing; that is, genetic testing from conception until birth.
      Genome-wide single-cell arrays and high-throughput sequencing analyses are
      dramatically increasing our ability to detect embryonic and fetal genetic
      lesions, and have substantially improved embryo selection for in vitro
      fertilization (IVF). Moreover, both invasive and non-invasive mutation scanning
      of the genome are helping to identify the genetic causes of prenatal
      developmental disorders. These advances are changing clinical practice and pose
      novel challenges for genetic counselling and prenatal care.

PMID- 27629936
TI  - Shift work practices and opportunities for intervention.

PMID- 27629937
TI  - siRNA capsulated brain-targeted nanoparticles specifically knock down OATP2B1 in
      mice: a mechanism for acute morphine tolerance suppression.
AB  - Regulating main brain-uptake transporter of morphine may restrict its tolerance
      generation, then modify its antinociception. In this study, more than 2 fold
      higher intracellular uptake concentrations for morphine and morphine-6
      glucuronide (M6G) were observed in stable expression cells, HEK293-hOATP2B1 than
      HEK293-MOCK. Specifically, the Km value of morphine to OATP2B1 (57.58 +/- 8.90
      MUM) is 1.4-time more than that of M6G (80.31 +/- 21.75 MUM); Cyclosporine A
      (CsA), an inhibitor of OATP2B1, can inhibit their intracellular accumulations
      with IC50 = 3.90 +/- 0.50 MUM for morphine and IC50 = 6.04 +/- 0.86 MUM for M6G,
      respectively. To further investigate the role of OATP2B1 in morphine brain
      transport and tolerance, the novel nanoparticles of DGL-PEG/dermorphin capsulated
      siRNA (OATP2B1) were applied to deliver siRNA into mouse brain. Along with
      OATP2B1 depressed, a main reduction was found for each of morphine or M6G in
      cerebrums or epencephalons of acute morphine tolerance mice. Furthermore,
      calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIalpha (CaMKIIalpha) in mouse
      prefrontal cortex (mPFC) underwent dephosphorylation at Thr286. In conclusion,
      OATP2B1 downregulation in mouse brain can suppress tolerance via blocking
      morphine and M6G brain transport. These findings might help to improve the
      pharmacological effects of morphine.

PMID- 27629938
TI  - OSA screening with the pediatric sleep questionnaire for adolescents undergoing
      bariatric surgery in teen-LABS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is reported in 70% of adolescents who
      present for bariatric surgery. The Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) was
      developed to identify children at risk for OSA but is not validated in
      adolescents with obesity. The aims of this study were: (1) to assess validity of
      the PSQ to detect OSA and (2) to determine the correlation between anthropometric
      and polysomnography measurements. METHODS: A cross-sectional assessment of Teen
      Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery participants at high risk for OSA
      was performed. Participants completed an overnight polysomnography, and
      caregivers completed the PSQ. RESULTS: Forty-five participants (84% female, 78%
      Caucasian, mean age = 16.7 +/- 1.5 years) were evaluated. Mean BMI was 51.3 +/-
      7.7 kg/m2 and mean obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (oAHI) was 6.1 +/- 5.9
      events/h. For diagnosis of OSA (oAHI >=5), the total PSQ score sensitivity,
      specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were 86%, 38%, and 55%,
      respectively. For snoring >50% of the time, PPV was 84%, sensitivity was 64%, and
      specificity was 43%. Sagittal abdominal diameter correlated with oAHI and oxygen
      saturation nadir (rho = 0.34, P = 0.027), whereas BMI, neck, and waist
      circumference correlated with neither. CONCLUSIONS: The PSQ demonstrated low
      specificity, and PPV and the question regarding snoring >50% of the time did not
      effectively identify OSA. Sagittal abdominal diameter correlated with oAHI and
      oxygen saturation nadir.

PMID- 27629940
TI  - Formation of a Nonlinear Optical Host-Guest Hybrid Material by Tight Confinement
      of LDS 722 into Aluminophosphate 1D Nanochannels.
AB  - In this work, hemicyanine dye LDS 722 is encapsulated into the 1D elliptical
      nanochannels of MgAPO-11 aluminophosphate by a crystallization inclusion method.
      The synthesis of the hybrid material has been optimized through a systematic
      variation of the crystallization conditions in order to obtain pure and large
      crystals (around 20 MUm*30 MUm) suitable for optical applications. The tight
      fitting between the molecular size of the guest dye and the pore dimensions of
      the host has favored a rigid planar conformation of the dye, restricting its
      inherent flexibility, which is confirmed by molecular simulations. Consequently,
      the encapsulation of LDS 722 into MgAPO-11 has led to an astonishing enhancement
      of the fluorescence with respect to the dye into MgAPO-5, with slightly larger
      cylindrical channels, and with respect to the dye in solution. Moreover, the
      perfect alignment of LDS 722 (dye with intrinsic nonlinear-optical properties)
      along the channels of MgAPO-11 has revealed attractive second-order nonlinear
      properties, such as second harmonic generation, proven through microscopy
      measurements in single crystals.

PMID- 27629941
TI  - Dialyzability of Faropenem in Infected Patients on Chronic Hemodialysis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile of dialyzability of an oral
      penem antibiotic, faropenem (FRPM), in hemodialysis (HD) patients with
      infections. Eight patients took one tablet of FRPM (200 mg) every 12 h during an
      inter-dialysis period, and another tablet at 1-5 h before the beginning of the HD
      session. Blood samples were obtained during the HD session (3-4 h). Plasma FRPM
      concentrations in the arterial side were 4.8 +/- 2.5 and 2.8 +/- 1.0 ug/mL before
      and at the end of HD session, respectively, which are above the 50% minimal
      inhibitory concentrations of FRPM against the major pathogen (0.015-2 ug/mL).
      Dialyzer clearance and elimination fraction of FRPM were 14.9 +/- 6.8 mL/min per
      m2 and 20.4 +/- 9.9%, respectively. About 2% of FRPM was removed from the body
      during a single HD session. The infection-related symptoms, the white blood cell
      count and the level of C-reactive protein were improved by FRPM without any
      adverse effects. These data suggest that the dialyzability of FRPM is relatively
      low, and the amount of the drug removed by a single HD session is small. FRPM 200
      mg twice daily might provide an effective and safe dosage regimen without
      additional dosing at the end of the HD session.

PMID- 27629942
TI  - Zika Virus Infection and Solid Organ Transplantation: A New Challenge.
AB  - Public health concerns exist surrounding the epidemic of the Zika virus (ZIKV)
      and the rapid growth of transplantation in developing countries, including
      endemic zones of active arbovirus transmission, as well as travel to such regions
      by potential organ donors and recipients. Few data exist regarding the clinical
      characteristics of ZIKV infection in immunocompromised hosts. Laboratory
      screening protocols for transplantation to differentiate ZIKV infections from
      other endemic viral diseases and for the detection of possible donor-derived
      infection have not been stated. The diagnosis of ZIKV infection remains a
      challenge, fueled by the lack of standardized commercially available diagnostic
      tests and validated reference diagnostic laboratories, as well as the limited
      duration of ZIKV viremia. In this small series, ZIKV infection in renal and liver
      recipients presented without rash, conjunctivitis, or neurological symptoms, and
      with abnormal graft function, thrombocytopenia, and bacterial superinfection. We
      report the first case series of ZIKV infection in solid organ recipients, with a
      description of clinical and laboratory features and therapeutic management.

PMID- 27629939
TI  - Methylcrotonoyl-CoA carboxylase 1 potentiates RLR-induced NF-kappaB signaling by
      targeting MAVS complex.
AB  - RNA virus infections are detected by the RIG-I family of receptors, which signal
      through the adaptor molecule mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS). MAVS then
      recruits the adaptor's tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor (TRAF) 3
      and TRAF6, which in turn activate IRF3 and NF-kappaB, respectively, to induce
      interferons (IFNs) and inflammatory responses. Here we show that the biotin
      containing enzyme methylcrotonoyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (MCCC1) enhances virus
      induced, MAVS-mediated IFN and inflammatory cytokine expression through the NF
      kappaB signaling pathway. MCCC1 knockdown strongly inhibits induction of IFNs and
      inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, MCCC1 shows extensive antiviral activity
      toward RNA viruses, including influenza A virus, human enterovirus 71, and
      vesicular stomatitis virus. Here, we have elucidated the mechanism underlying
      MCCC1-mediated inhibition of viral replication. MCCC1 interacts with MAVS and
      components of the MAVS signalosome and contributes to enhanced production of type
      I IFNs and pro-inflammatory cytokines by promoting phosphorylation of the IkappaB
      kinase (IKK) complex and NF-kappaB inhibitor-alpha (IkappaBalpha), as well as NF
      kappaB nuclear translocation. This process leads to activation of IFNs and
      cytokine expression and subsequent activation of IFN-stimulated genes, including
      double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR and myxovirus resistance protein
      1. These findings demonstrate that MCCC1 plays an essential role in virus
      triggered, MAVS-mediated activation of NF-kappaB signaling.

PMID- 27629943
TI  - A Study on the Relationship between Reflux Esophagitis and Periodontitis.
AB  - Objective Metabolic syndrome and dental erosion have been demonstrated to
      correlate with gastroesophageal acid reflux disease (GERD), while periodontitis
      has been reported to have a positive relationship with metabolic syndrome.
      However, no correlation between periodontitis and GERD has yet been reported. We
      therefore investigated the relationship between periodontitis and GERD. Methods
      The subjects consisted of 280 individuals who visited the Health Center for a
      detailed medical checkup examination. Each underwent upper endoscopy and
      periodontitis examinations, with the latter performed by measuring the
      concentrations of lactate dehydrogenase and hemoglobin in saliva. The subjects
      were divided into those with positive and negative periodontitis findings, and
      the prevalence rates of endoscopically proven reflux esophagitis, dyslipidemia,
      hypertension, and hyperglycemia were compared. Results The number of subjects
      positive for periodontitis was 93, while 187 had negative findings. The
      prevalence of reflux esophagitis was not different between the positive and
      negative groups (8.6% vs. 8.0%). In addition, a multiple logistic regression
      analysis did not identify a positive relationship between the presence of
      periodontitis and reflux esophagitis. On the other hand, dyslipidemia and
      hypertension were more frequently observed in the subjects that were positive for
      periodontitis. Conclusion We did not find an association between periodontitis
      and reflux esophagitis in the present study. On the other hand, the presence of
      periodontitis was found to correlate with hypertension and dyslipidemia. 

PMID- 27629944
TI  - Risk Factors for Post-Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
      Pancreatitis and Stent Dysfunction after Preoperative Biliary Drainage in
      Patients with Malignant Biliary Stricture.
AB  - Objective To retrospectively evaluate the risk factors for post-endoscopic
      retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP) and stent
      dysfunction after performing preoperative biliary drainage (BD) in patients with
      malignant biliary stricture. Methods Between January 2003 and February 2013, 105
      consecutive patients who had undergone transpapillary BD before surgery were
      enrolled in this study. Procedure-related complications, stent dysfunction rates,
      and their respective risk factors were investigated. PEP was defined according to
      the consensus guidelines. Results Fifty-five patients had bile duct cancer, 31
      had pancreatic cancer, 16 had ampullary cancer, and 3 had gallbladder cancer.
      Endoscopic biliary stenting (EBS) and nasobiliary drainage (NBD) were performed
      in 84 patients and 21 patients, respectively. PEP occurred in 10% of the
      patients, with a significantly higher frequency in those with hilar/upper bile
      duct stricture (p=0.026) and a normal bilirubin level at admission (p=0.016). Of
      the 84 patients who underwent initial EBS, stent dysfunction occurred in 13%. The
      mean number of days from EBS to stent dysfunction was 14+/-12 days. A
      multivariate analysis revealed a male gender (p=0.048), a stent diameter <=8 Fr
      (p=0.036), and an ERCP procedure time >=45 minutes (p=0.021) to be risk factors
      for stent dysfunction. No NBD tube dysfunction was observed. Conclusion Patients
      with upper/hilar bile duct stricture or a normal bilirubin level are at high risk
      of developing PEP after preoperative BD. NBD or EBS with a large-bore stent is
      therefore recommended as preoperative BD. 

PMID- 27629946
TI  - A Comparison of the Abdominal Fat Distribution and Coronary Risk Markers in Body
      Mass Index-matched Subjects with and without Fatty Liver.
AB  - Objective The close relationship between fatty liver and metabolic syndrome
      suggests that individuals with fatty liver may have multiple coronary risk
      factors. In the present study, we investigated the relationships among fatty
      liver, abdominal fat distribution, and coronary risk markers. Methods and Results
      Eighty-seven pairs of men and 42 pairs of women who were matched for age and body
      mass index were enrolled in the present study. The obesity-related markers,
      abdominal fat distribution (examined by CT), and coronary risk markers were
      compared in subjects with and without fatty liver. The visceral fat area was
      significantly larger in the men with fatty liver than in the men without fatty
      liver. The plasma levels of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (LDL-C), as well as the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance level,
      were higher in both males and females with fatty liver than in those without
      fatty liver, while the plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL
      C) and adiponectin were lower in the males and females with fatty liver. The
      plasma levels of apolipoprotein B, remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C), and
      oxidized LDL were higher in men with fatty liver, but not in women with fatty
      liver. Conclusion Both males and females with fatty liver had lower insulin
      sensitivity, lower plasma levels of HDL-C and adiponectin, and higher
      triglyceride and LDL-C levels. However, the plasma levels of apolipoprotein B,
      RLP-C, and oxidized LDL were only higher and closely associated with fatty liver
      in men. Men with fatty liver had a higher risk of coronary disease than women
      with fatty liver. 

PMID- 27629945
TI  - Repeat Catheter Ablation of Long-standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation in
      Patients with a Total Atrial Fibrillation Duration of More Than 2 Years: Effects
      of the CHA2DS2-VASc Score and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate on the
      Outcomes.
AB  - Objective Little is known about the outcome of repeat catheter ablation of long
      standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with a total AF duration
      of more than 2 years. The main objective of this study was to explore the results
      and factors affecting the clinical success rate of these repeat procedures.
      Methods We enrolled 99 patients with a total AF duration of more than 2 years and
      recurrent atrial arrhythmias after the initial catheter ablation of long-standing
      persistent AF. The enrolled patients were divided into two groups named the AF
      recurrence group (50 patients) and the atrial tachycardia (AT)-recurrence group
      (49 patients) and all underwent a strict follow-up. The quality of life (QOL) and
      AF-related symptom classification were assessed at baseline and at 24 months post
      re-ablation. Results After a mean follow-up of 31 months, 30 (30.3%) patients
      were free from arrhythmia recurrence, and the success rate in the AT-recurrence
      group was higher than that in the AF-recurrence group (32.7% vs. 28.0%, p=0.614).
      A Cox regression analysis revealed a CHA2DS2-VASc score >=3 to be a predictor of
      recurrence. AF recurrent patients with an abnormal renal function were more prone
      to undergo a failed procedure. However, an abnormal renal function had no effect
      on the outcome of the repeat procedure for patients with AT recurrence. At the 24
      month follow-up, patients maintaining sinus rhythm (SR) had a significantly
      improved QOL and AF-related symptoms. Conclusion The success rate of repeat
      procedures for long-standing persistent AF and a total AF duration of more than 2
      years is poor for patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score >=3. An impaired renal
      function has an unfavorable effect on the outcome for patients with AF
      recurrence. For patients maintaining SR, both the QOL and AF symptomatology
      improve significantly. 

PMID- 27629947
TI  - The Prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency in Japanese Patients with
      Diabetic Nephropathy.
AB  - Objective The purpose of this study was to measure serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      [25(OH)D] levels in Japanese patients with diabetic nephropathy and determine the
      relationship between 25(OH)D concentrations and various factors. Methods The
      study subjects included 442 patients with type 2 diabetes. Their serum levels of
      creatinine, HbA1c, intact-parathyroid hormone, urinary albumin, 25(OH)D, and 1,25
      dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] were measured and their estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) was determined. The patients were divided into four groups
      based on the risk for progression to chronic kidney disease (CKD): low, moderate,
      high, very high, based on their eGFR and their level of albuminuria. Results The
      median 25(OH)D level was 14.6 ng/mL; 11% of the patients had 25(OH)D deficiency
      (<10 ng/mL), and 2% of patients had active vitamin D deficiency, as defined by a
      1,25(OH)2D level of <22 pg/mL. The serum 25(OH)D level was correlated with the
      serum 1,25(OH)2D level in patients with a very high risk for CKD, but not in
      those with a moderate or high risk for CKD. Conclusion Although the vitamin D
      levels of the Japanese patients with diabetic nephropathy and CKD were low, the
      prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, as defined by the 1,25(OH)2D level, was low.
      Albuminuria, younger age, and female gender were associated with a low 25(OH)D
      level. The serum level of 25(OH)D should be monitored to assess the vitamin D
      status of patients with nephropathy and CKD. 

PMID- 27629948
TI  - Prevalence of Renal Dysfunction among Evacuees and Non-evacuees after the Great
      East Earthquake: Results from the Fukushima Health Management Survey.
AB  - Objective We conducted the present study to evaluate the prevalence of chronic
      kidney disease (CKD) and CKD complications among evacuees and non-evacuees after
      the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Methods
      Twenty-seven thousand and eighty-eight subjects who were living near the
      Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, aged >=40
      years by the Heath Care Insures, were included in the analyses. Metabolic factors
      were compared between the evacuees and non-evacuees stratified by the eGFR and
      proteinuria grades. Results The prevalence of CKD with a low eGFR (<60
      mL/min/1.73 m(2)) and proteinuria were 21.59% and 1.85%, respectively. The risk
      of CKD complications was classified into four grades according to the eGFR and
      proteinuria grades. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia
      were significantly higher in the very high risk group than in the low risk group.
      The prevalence of diabetes and dyslipidemia were significantly higher in evacuees
      than in non-evacuees in only the low risk group. However, a multivariate logistic
      regression analysis showed that evacuation was not significantly associated with
      the risk of a low eGFR or proteinuria. Conclusion This study did not reach the
      definitive conclusion that evacuation elevated the risk of CKD complication,
      although evacuation might lead to increased CKD complications in the future. We
      believe that this information is important for follow-up and lifestyle change
      recommendations for evacuees. 

PMID- 27629949
TI  - Gene Expression Profile of Inflammatory Myopathy with Malignancy is Similar to
      that of Dermatomyositis rather than Polymyositis.
AB  - Objective An association has been reported between inflammatory myopathies (IMs),
      which include polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM), and malignancy, and the
      concept of cancer-associated myositis (CAM) was recently proposed. We herein
      attempted to determine the features and etiologies of these myopathies. Methods
      We analyzed the gene expression levels via microarray and real-time quantitative
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses to identify genes that
      were specifically upregulated or downregulated with suspected inflammatory
      involvement and verified the microarray data via an immunohistochemical (IHC)
      analysis in additional cases. Patients We selected 14 patients with the following
      conditions: PM without malignancy (n=3), DM without malignancy (n=3), CAM (n=3),
      and Controls (no pathological changes or malignancy; n=5). Results PM was
      distinct from DM and CAM in a clustering analysis and exhibited the highest
      numbers of overexpressed genes and specific pathologies in a gene ontology
      analysis. The IHC analysis confirmed the gene expression results. Conclusion PM
      is associated with severe inflammatory pathological findings, primarily in the
      cell-mediated immune system. DM and CAM exhibit similarities in the gene
      expression and IHC results, which suggest that humoral immunity is the main
      etiology for both myopathies, indicating the importance of cancer screening in
      patients with IMs, particularly DM. 

PMID- 27629950
TI  - Comparative Study of Infliximab Therapy and Methotrexate Monotherapy to Improve
      the Clinical Effect in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.
AB  - Objective We examined whether infliximab (IFX) therapy was more effective than
      methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy to achieve an improvement in depressive states in
      Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients. Methods We examined 152 RA patients (72 IFX
      patients and 80 MTX patients). We conducted an open-label cohort study to
      evaluate the disease activity of RA (Simplified Disease Activity Index; SDAI),
      depressive states (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; HAM-D), Activity of
      Daily Living (ADL) (modified Health Assessment Questionnaire; mHAQ) and Quality
      of Life (QOL) [Short Form (SF)-36] in patients before and 6 months after
      receiving therapy. The HAM-D, SDAI, mHAQ and SF-36 scores after 6 months of
      therapy were measured as the outcomes. Results We analyzed 60 IFX patients and 53
      MTX patients. The HAM-D scores significantly improved in both groups (p<0.001),
      but there was no significant difference in the effectiveness between the IFX and
      MTX therapies (p=0.792). The SDAI scores significantly improved in both groups
      after therapy (p<0.001), and IFX therapy was more effective than MTX therapy
      (p=0.004). The mHAQ and HAM-D scores also improved significantly in both groups
      after therapy (p<0.001), but no significant difference in the effectiveness
      between the IFX and MTX therapies was observed (p=0.272, 0.792). The scores of
      all 8 items of the SF-36 improved in both groups after therapy, but IFX therapy
      was more effective than MTX therapy in only 4 of the 8 items (p<0.05). Conclusion
      Both IFX and MTX therapy improved the clinical efficacy, ADL, QOL and depressive
      states. However, no significant differences regarding an improvement in the
      depressive states and ADL were observed between IFX therapy and MTX monotherapy. 

PMID- 27629951
TI  - Persistence and Half-lives of Anti-measles and Anti-rubella Antibodies in
      Japanese Hospital Workers: A Longitudinal Study.
AB  - Objective Antibody testing for endemic viruses in healthcare workers is used as
      an index of immunoprotection in Japan. However, it remains unclear how these
      antibody titers chronologically change and how they should be interpreted.
      Methods We retrospectively collected two sets of antibody titers to measles and
      rubella, measured in 2013 and within the preceding 5 years, in adult hospital
      workers by an enzyme-linked immunoassay and calculated in international units.
      Subjects infected with, or vaccinated against, these viruses over this period
      were eliminated. Seropositivities and geometric mean titers were analyzed. Decay
      rates and half-lives of antibodies were calculated using a mixed-effect model
      according to the subjects' ages and antibody titers. Results We analyzed 469
      subjects for measles and 439 for rubella. Comparison with previous data revealed
      a mean measurement interval of 1,026 days between the previous and present tests,
      with seropositivity rates of 98.0% (previous) vs. 99.3% (present) for measles;
      974 days and 90.7% vs. 94.9%, respectively, for rubella. For measles and rubella,
      97.4% and 86.1%, respectively, of previously seropositive subjects remained
      positive in the present test. The geometric mean titers in the present and
      previous tests were 924.3 IU/mL and 853.2 IU/mL (measles) and 46.23 IU/mL and
      40.78 IU/mL (rubella), respectively. In the mixed-effect model, measles and
      rubella antibody titers showed an increasing trend with age. Conclusion
      Seropositivities against measles and rubella can remain high for more than 5
      years. Among adult hospital workers in Japan, the antibody titers against measles
      and rubella have a sufficient lifetime persistence. 

PMID- 27629953
TI  - Newly Developed Endoscopic Treatment for Small Bowel Polyps: Cold Snare
      Polypectomy.
AB  - A 72-year-old man with the history of small bowel carcinoma was diagnosed to have
      a sessile polyp in the jejunum during a follow-up examination. We performed
      double-balloon endoscopy and removed the polyp by means of cold snare
      polypectomy. The follow-up endoscopy showed no residual lesion. Cold snare
      polypectomy has been established as a safe and effective method for the
      endoscopic treatment of colonic polyps with a low risk of causing electrocautery
      burns and perforation. However, this technique has not yet been applied for small
      bowel lesions. This case report, for the first time, shows the feasibility of
      performing cold snare polypectomy for small bowel polyps. 

PMID- 27629952
TI  - Acute Small Bowel Obstruction and Small Bowel Perforation as a Clinical Debut of
      Intestinal Endometriosis: A Report of Four Cases and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Endometriosis is a quite common pathology, however, intestinal endometriosis is a
      rare condition, which typically occurs with chronic symptoms. Its acute
      presentation is very infrequent. We herein report four cases of intestinal
      endometriosis, in which the clinical debut occurred acutely: two as an acute
      small bowel obstruction and two as a small bowel perforation. None of the cases
      had a preoperative diagnosis of endometriosis. The interest of these cases lies
      in this exceptional form of presentation, such as a surgical acute abdomen.
      Therefore, intestinal endometriosis should be taken into account in the
      differential diagnosis of an acute obstructive or perforative process of the
      small or large bowel. 

PMID- 27629954
TI  - Paraneoplastic Limbic Encephalitis in a Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2
      positive Gastric Cancer Patient Treated with Trastuzumab-combined Chemotherapy: A
      Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNSs) are rare nervous system dysfunctions
      in cancer patients, which are primarily observed with small-cell lung cancer,
      gynecological cancer, and thymoma. We herein present an uncommon case of PNS in
      an anti-Hu antibody-positive patient with human epidermal growth factor receptor
      (HER)-2-positive gastric cancer (GC), who developed limbic encephalitis and a
      worsening cognitive function. Trastuzumab-combined chemotherapy was initiated and
      appeared to be partially effective for controlling the neurological symptoms and
      tumor volume. Chemotherapy failure eventually led to uncontrollable neurological
      symptoms. This is the first case demonstrating that trastuzumab-combined
      chemotherapy may be effective for controlling neurological symptoms of PNS in
      HER2-positive GC patients. 

PMID- 27629955
TI  - An Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy Analysis of Elemental Changes of a
      Persimmon Phytobezoar Dissolved in Coca-Cola.
AB  - To investigate the mechanism of phytobezoar dissolution by Coca-Cola((r)),
      persimmon phytobezoar pieces removed from a 60-year-old Japanese woman were
      analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The amount of calcium
      significantly decreased after dissolution treatment using Coca-Cola((r)),
      suggesting a potential contribution of calcium to dissolution mechanisms.
      Moreover, immersion in Coca-Cola((r)) for 120 hours on the exterior surface
      revealed that Coca-Cola((r)) did not permeate persimmon phytobezoars. This is the
      first study to investigate the mechanisms of persimmon phytobezoar permeability
      and dissolution induced by Coca-Cola((r)). 

PMID- 27629957
TI  - IgG4-related Disease Involving Multiple Organs with Elevated Serum Interleukin-6
      Levels.
AB  - A 63-year-old woman presented to our hospital with elevated levels of serum IgG4,
      marked wall thickening of the gallbladder, hepatomegaly, and abdominal
      lymphadenopathy. She experienced a recurrent fever and leg edema. Her laboratory
      data demonstrated anemia, hypoalbuminemia, and elevated serum levels of
      interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. The patient was eventually diagnosed with
      IgG4-related disease according to the comprehensive diagnostic criteria, although
      the patient exhibited common clinical manifestations of multicentric Castleman
      disease such as a fever, anemia, lymphadenopathy, and elevated levels of serum
      interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. This case report highlights the
      difficulties in differentiating between these two diseases. 

PMID- 27629956
TI  - Successful Conservative Treatment of a Cholecystoduodenal Fistula Caused by a
      Cytomegalovirus-associated Duodenal Ulcer.
AB  - An 87-year-old woman on oral prednisolone was diagnosed with a cholecystoduodenal
      fistula (CDF) caused by a cytomegalovirus-associated duodenal ulcer (DU) and was
      managed conservatively. A CDF caused by a DU is extremely rare. Although surgical
      repair is recommended for the treatment of a CDF caused by cholecystolithiasis,
      appropriate treatment for CDF caused by a DU remains controversial. This case
      report of a CDF caused by a DU suggests that conservative treatment is feasible
      in the absence of DU-associated complications, such as an untreatable hemorrhage
      or obstruction; this finding is compatible with previously reported cases that
      were conservatively treated. 

PMID- 27629958
TI  - A Splenic Epithelial Cyst: Increased Size, Exacerbation of Symptoms, and Elevated
      Levels of Serum Carcinogenic Antigen 19-9 after 6-year Follow-up.
AB  - A 58-year-old man, who had presented with a large cyst between the pancreatic
      tail and splenic hilum 6 years previously, was referred to our hospital with
      exacerbation of abdominal distention. Computed tomography revealed a well
      demarcated, unilocular cyst, with a beak sign for the pancreas, without wall
      thickening or nodules suggestive of a non-neoplastic cyst. Compared with 6 years
      previously, the cyst had increased in size from 14.7 cm to 19.5 cm, and the serum
      carcinogenic antigen 19-9 level had increased from 635 U/mL to 1,918 U/mL. To
      prevent spontaneous rupture, laparotomy was performed, and the cyst was
      pathologically diagnosed as a splenic epithelial cyst. 

PMID- 27629959
TI  - Acute Coronary Syndrome in a Puerperal Patient with Coronary Artery Ectasia due
      to a Coronary Artery Fistula.
AB  - Coronary artery fistulas are rare and the feeding artery is ectatic and tortuous.
      It is not well-known whether coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a risk factor of
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the puerperal periods. A 40-year-old woman with
      a coronary artery fistula and an ectatic right coronary artery (RCA) had
      delivered twins. A month later, she had chest pain and coronary angiography
      revealed thrombogenesis in the RCA. She had no risk factors of cardiovascular
      disease or thrombogenesis. We should recognize that CAE is a risk factor for ACS
      in women in the perinatal and puerperal periods. 

PMID- 27629960
TI  - Intractable Coronary Spastic Angina Improvement after Continuous Combined
      Estrogen-progestin Hormonal Contraception Use in a Premenopausal Woman.
AB  - A 44-year-old woman, who had been previously diagnosed with coronary spastic
      angina and treated with standard medical therapy including calcium channel
      blockers, was admitted to our hospital due to chest pain at rest. Her chest pain
      attacks were concentrated just before and during menstruation. Despite the
      administration of an intravenous infusion of nitroglycerin and nicorandil, strong
      heart attacks with ST elevation occurred frequently after this admission.
      However, following continuous combined estrogen-progestin hormonal contraception
      use (estradiol plus dienogest), her attacks disappeared completely. Reduced
      estrogen levels before and during menstruation were speculated to be associated
      with her angina attacks. 

PMID- 27629961
TI  - An Adult Case of Unicommissural Unicuspid Aortic Valve Diagnosed Based on the
      Intraoperative Findings.
AB  - We herein report an adult case of unicommissural unicuspid aortic valve (UAV). A
      59-year-old man, who was noted to have a cardiac murmur at 31 years of age, was
      admitted to our hospital due to acute heart failure. Severe calcification in the
      aortic valve with severe low-flow/low-gradient aortic stenosis and moderate
      aortic regurgitation was observed and thought to be the cause of heart failure,
      however, the etiology of aortic valve dysfunction was not clear. Aortic valve
      replacement was subsequently performed, and unicommissural UAV was diagnosed
      according to the intraoperative findings. UAV is very rare congenital aortic
      valve disease which is rarely diagnosed preoperatively. 

PMID- 27629962
TI  - Isolated Adrenocorticotropin Deficiency Concomitant with Graves' Disease: A Case
      Report and Literature Review.
AB  - A 73-year-old Japanese woman with untreated Graves' hyperthyroidism developed
      glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency (AI) after a supraphysiological dose
      of prednisolone therapy for bronchial asthma. Days later, she had high plasma
      adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels and was expected to recover from
      glucocorticoid-induced AI. Her plasma ACTH levels remained high over 3 months
      during a physiological dose of hydrocortisone replacement. However, she suffered
      a further decrease in her serum cortisol level and was diagnosed with isolated
      adrenocorticotropin deficiency (IAD), in which bioinactive ACTH likely caused the
      high ACTH value. IAD should be considered as an unusual disorder associated with
      Graves' disease, especially in older patients. 

PMID- 27629963
TI  - First Japanese Case of Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase II Deficiency with the
      Homozygous Point Mutation S113L.
AB  - Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (CPT II) deficiency is a rare inherited
      disorder related to recurrent episodes of rhabdomyolysis. The adult myopathic
      form of CPT II deficiency is relatively benign and difficult to diagnose. The
      point mutation S113L in CPT2 is very common in Caucasian patients, whereas F383Y
      is the most common mutation among Japanese patients. We herein present a case of
      CPT II deficiency in a Japanese patient homozygous for the missense mutation
      S113L. The patient showed a decreased frequency of rhabdomyolysis recurrence
      after the administration of a diet containing medium-chain triglyceride oil and
      supplementation with carnitine and bezafibrate. 

PMID- 27629965
TI  - Complete Remission of Minimal Change Disease Following an Improvement of Lung
      Mycobacterium avium Infection.
AB  - A 46-year-old woman suddenly developed peripheral edema. Her massive proteinuria,
      hypoproteinemia, and renal biopsy findings yielded the diagnosis of minimal
      change disease (MCD). In addition, lung Mycobacterium avium infection was
      diagnosed according to a positive culture of her bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.
      The lung lesion was improved by anti-nontuberculous mycobacteria therapy.
      Surprisingly, her proteinuria also gradually decreased and she attained complete
      remission of MCD without any immunosuppressive therapy. She has subsequently
      remained in complete remission. We herein report an interesting case of MCD with
      lung Mycobacterium avium infection, suggesting a causal relationship among
      infection, immune system abnormality, and MCD/nephrotic syndrome. 

PMID- 27629964
TI  - Membranous Nephropathy with an Enhanced Granular Expression of Thrombospondin
      Type-1 Domain-containing 7A in a Pregnant Woman.
AB  - A 30-year-old woman with proteinuria first noted at 26 weeks of gestation was
      admitted to undergo further evaluation. A renal biopsy revealed membranous
      nephropathy (MN). There was no evidence of any secondary MN. Prednisolone was
      initiated 6 months after delivery. Four months later, her urine protein became
      negative. Enhanced granular staining for thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing
      7A (THSD7A) in the glomeruli was retrospectively detected in a biopsy specimen. A
      literature review revealed that 60% of cases of THSD7A-related MN occurred in
      women of childbearing age. Therefore, THSD7A-related MN should be considered in
      female patients presenting with idiopathic MN in childbearing age. 

PMID- 27629966
TI  - Primary Marginal Zone Lymphoma in the Posterior Mediastinum with Pleural
      Involvement.
AB  - We herein report a case of primary marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) of the posterior
      mediastinum in an 84-year-old woman. Computed tomography of the chest showed a
      posterior mediastinal mass in the right thoracic paravertebral region with right
      pleural effusion. Pathological findings of a surgical biopsy from the posterior
      mediastinum, along with immunohistochemical and flow cytometric results,
      indicated MZL. The patient was treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy
      for the mediastinal lesion and achieved complete remission. A relapse occurred 3
      months after the initial treatment regimen. However, a second relapse has not
      occurred more than 2 years after second-line chemotherapy. This is the first case
      of MZL originating in the posterior mediastinum. 

PMID- 27629967
TI  - Case Series of Pulmonary Tumor Embolism and Intravascular Lymphoma: Evaluation of
      the Usefulness of Pulmonary Microvascular Cytology.
AB  - Pulmonary tumor embolism (PTE) and intravascular lymphoma cause rapidly
      progressive deterioration and an antemortem diagnosis is difficult. The
      usefulness of pulmonary microvascular cytology (PMC) in the diagnosis of these
      disorders has been reported in sporadic case reports. We retrospectively
      evaluated the records of 7 patients with tumor cells in the pulmonary
      microvasculature (4 with PTE and 3 with malignant lymphoma) who underwent
      pulmonary microvascular cytology. Two of the 4 patients with PTE and 2 of the 3
      patients with malignant lymphoma (all 3 had intravascular metastasis) had
      positive PMC results. These findings suggested that PMC may be useful in the
      diagnosis of these disorders. 

PMID- 27629968
TI  - Postoperative Recurrence of Invasive Thymoma with Cold Agglutinin Disease and
      Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia.
AB  - A 50-year-old man presented to our hospital in 1995. Invasive thymoma was
      diagnosed and extended thymectomy and left upper lobe partial resection were
      performed. In 2013, he complained of dyspnea. Chest computed tomography showed
      postoperative recurrence of invasive thymoma. Several chemotherapies were
      administered. Severe anemia and an increase in the total bilirubin level were
      observed with chemotherapies. In additional, an examination showed that the
      direct Coombs test was positive. Cold agglutinin was also high. We herein
      experienced a rare case of postoperative recurrence of invasive thymoma with cold
      agglutinin disease and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. 

PMID- 27629969
TI  - Bronchoscopic Investigation of Atypical Drug-induced Hypersensitivity Syndrome
      Showing Viral Lung Involvement.
AB  - We herein report a case of atypical drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DIHS)
      involving serological reactivation of cytomegalovirus induced by carbamazepine
      with pulmonary and skin manifestations. These lesions were not present on
      admission, but developed on virus reactivation as indicated by the presence of
      inclusion bodies and multinucleated giant cells in alveolar cells with CD8(+) T
      lymphocyte infiltration on a transbronchial lung biopsy. Although the precise
      mechanism of DIHS remains unknown, this case suggests the crucial role of viral
      reactivation in pulmonary lesions in DIHS. 

PMID- 27629970
TI  - A Novel Phenotype of a Hereditary Hemochromatosis Type 4 with Ferroportin-1
      Mutation, Presenting with Juvenile Cataracts.
AB  - Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an inherited disorder usually seen in Northern
      Europeans, which results in iron overload syndrome. A few cases have also been
      reported in Japan. We herein report a Japanese man presenting with fever,
      arthritis, liver dysfunction, and hyperferritinemia who was diagnosed with type 4
      HH. He was heterozygous for the 1520A>G (His507Arg) mutation in the ferroportin-1
      gene (SLC40A1). He had a familial cataract as an infant, but hereditary
      hyperferritinemia cataract syndrome was excluded. This is the first report of
      type 4 HH with juvenile cataracts and suggests that there is an association
      between hyperferritinemia and early cataract formation. 

PMID- 27629971
TI  - Subdural Hematoma Associated with Dasatinib and Intrathecal Methotrexate
      Treatment in Philadelphia Chromosome-positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - Dasatinib has been associated with an increased risk of bleeding, with the most
      prominent risk noted in patients with advanced-stage chronic myeloid leukemia and
      thrombocytopenia. We herein report two cases of Philadelphia chromosome-positive
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia in which a subdural hematoma developed in
      association with low-dose (40-50 mg/day) dasatinib treatment and lumbar puncture
      for intrathecal methotrexate injection. Both patients were in complete remission,
      with normal platelet counts and coagulation status. We suggest that dasatinib,
      even at a low dose, may impair platelet aggregation and that lumbar puncture may
      increase the risk of a subdural hematoma (occasionally bilateral) in patients
      receiving dasatinib. 

PMID- 27629972
TI  - Successful Treatment of Amyloid Light-chain Amyloidosis in a Charcot-Marie-Tooth
      Disease Patient with Lenalidomide, Cyclophosphamide, and Dexamethasone.
AB  - A 70-year-old woman with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) suffered from
      nephrotic syndrome and a renal biopsy revealed non-AA amyloid depositions that
      contained immunoglobulin light chain lambda. Her serum lambda free LC was
      elevated to 80.8 mg/L and she was diagnosed with primary amyloid light-chain (AL)
      amyloidosis. She was subsequently treated with lenalidomide, cyclophosphamide,
      and dexamethasone (RCD). After 14 cycles of RCD, she achieved complete remission.
      Her serum albumin levels gradually normalized to 3.1 g/dL. No exacerbation of
      neurologic symptoms related to CMT was observed. Thus, RCD may be a well
      tolerated and effective regimen for treating AL amyloidosis in patients with CMT
      disease. 

PMID- 27629973
TI  - Restless Bladder in an Elderly Woman: An Unusual Feature or a Variant of Restless
      Legs Syndrome?
AB  - We herein report an elderly patient with a history of restless legs syndrome
      (RLS) who developed unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen and perineum. The
      patient' s symptoms occurred during the evening and at rest and forced the
      patient to void, resulting in some symptom relief. Urological examinations and
      spinal magnetic resonance imaging findings were unremarkable. The adjunctive use
      of rotigotine resolved her symptoms. The symptoms were considered to be "restless
      bladder". Further studies are required to elucidate whether restless bladder is
      an identical condition to the clinical entities of other RLS variants or whether
      it represents an unusual feature of RLS. 

PMID- 27629975
TI  - A Senile Case of Late-onset Pompe's Disease.
AB  - A 72-year-old, seemingly healthy, Japanese man suddenly lost consciousness. At
      the emergency room, the patient's Glasgow coma scale score was 10 and a thoracic
      breathing pattern was observed. An arterial blood gas analysis indicated acute
      hypercarbic respiratory failure. He was placed on non-invasive positive pressure
      ventilation. The next day he was alert. Manual muscle testing revealed that his
      face, neck and limb muscle strength were normal. He could walk, and Gowers' sign
      was not observed. Computed tomography showed atrophy of the paravertebral,
      abdominal wall and diaphragm crura muscles, without apparent limb muscle
      involvement. Pompe's disease was diagnosed based on the results of biochemical
      and genetic tests for acid alpha-glucosidase. 

PMID- 27629974
TI  - Acute Motor-dominant Polyneuropathy as Guillain-Barre Syndrome and Multiple
      Mononeuropathies in a Patient with Sjogren's Syndrome.
AB  - A patient with xerostomia and xerophthalmia due to Sjogren's syndrome presented
      with acute motor-dominant polyneuropathy and multiple mononeuropathy with
      antiganglioside antibodies. Nerve conduction studies and a sural nerve biopsy
      revealed the neuropathy as a mixture of segmental demyelination and axonal
      degeneration. Positive results were obtained for several antiganglioside
      antibodies. Corticosteroid treatment proved effective. The neuropathy was
      considered to represent a mixture of polyneuropathy as Guillain-Barre syndrome
      and multiple mononeuropathy via Sjogren's syndrome. We speculate that Guillain
      Barre syndrome occurred in the patient and Guillain-Barre syndrome itself
      activated multiple mononeuropathy via Sjogren's syndrome. 

PMID- 27629976
TI  - An HIV-infected Pregnant Woman Treated with the Long-term Administration of
      Antiretroviral Therapy Including Raltegravir.
AB  - A 27-year-old HIV-infected pregnant Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital
      at gestational week 14. The patient's HIV viral load was 71,000 copies/mL, and
      her CD4 cell count was 147 cells/mm(3). Zidovudine, lamivudine, and
      lopinavir/ritonavir were administered at gestational week 18. Because the viral
      load increased to 222,000 copies/mL at the initiation of antiretroviral therapy,
      we added raltegravir. The decrease in the viral load was satisfactory, and a
      caesarean delivery was performed. Although the plasma concentration of
      raltegravir in the neonate was significantly high (2,482 ng/mL), no adverse event
      was confirmed. There was no evidence of the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. 

PMID- 27629977
TI  - Capnocytophaga ochracea-related Bacterium Bacteremia in a Hypertrophic
      Cardiomyopathy Patient without Neutropenia.
AB  - Gram-negative fusiform rods were detected in a blood culture obtained from a 63
      year-old man who had been hospitalized for a long duration for severe heart
      failure. Although the organism could not be identified using a conventional
      method, it was finally identified as a bacterium of the Capnocytophaga ochracea
      group based on the results of biochemical testing, 16S rRNA sequencing and a
      matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry
      analysis. Although neutropenic patients with poor oral hygiene are exclusively
      vulnerable to Capnocytophaga bacteremia, this case was unique because such
      predisposing conditions were not noted. A multi-centered investigation is
      warranted for a better understanding of this clinically rare, but potentially
      pathogenic organism. 

PMID- 27629979
TI  - Gynecomastia as a Paraneoplastic Symptom of Choriocarcinoma.

PMID- 27629978
TI  - Multiple Organomegaly Exhibited in a Patient with Graves' Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 27629980
TI  - Thromboembolism Supervened on Eosinophilia Induced by Mycoplasma Pneumonia.

PMID- 27629981
TI  - Nocardia Intramuscular Abscess in an Elderly Patient.

PMID- 27629982
TI  - Maculopapular Rash: A Diagnostic Clue to Systemic Sarcoidosis.

PMID- 27629983
TI  - Hard Palate Lesion due to Herpes Zoster Virus Infection.

PMID- 27629984
TI  - Compromised Neurocircuitry in Chronic Blast-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - The aim of this study was to apply recently developed automated fiber
      segmentation and quantification methods using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and
      DTI-based deterministic and probabilistic tractography to access local and global
      diffusion changes in blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury (bmTBI). Two
      hundred and two (202) male active US service members who reported persistent post
      concussion symptoms for more than 6 months after injury were recruited. An
      additional forty (40) male military controls were included for comparison. DTI
      results were examined in relation to post-concussion and post-traumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) symptoms. No significant group difference in DTI metrics was
      found using voxel-wise analysis. However, group comparison using tract profile
      analysis and tract specific analysis, as well as single subject analysis using
      tract profile analysis revealed the most prominent white matter microstructural
      injury in chronic bmTBI patients over the frontal fiber tracts, that is, the
      front-limbic projection fibers (cingulum bundle, uncinate fasciculus), the fronto
      parieto-temporal association fibers (superior longitudinal fasciculus), and the
      fronto-striatal pathways (anterior thalamic radiation). Effects were noted to be
      sensitive to the number of previous blast exposures, with a negative association
      between fractional anisotropy (FA) and time since most severe blast exposure in a
      subset of the multiple blast-exposed group. However, these patterns were not
      observed in the subgroups classified using macrostructural changes (T2 white
      matter hyperintensities). Moreover, post-concussion symptoms and PTSD symptoms,
      as well as neuropsychological function were associated with low FA in the major
      nodes of compromised neurocircuitry. Hum Brain Mapp 38:352-369, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27629985
TI  - The Relationship Between Sleep Patterns, Quality of Life, and Social and Clinical
      Characteristics in Chinese Patients With Schizophrenia.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine the pattern of sleep behavior
      in schizophrenia patients treated in primary care. DESIGN AND METHODS: Altogether
      623 schizophrenia patients in 22 primary care services were recruited. Sleep
      duration and demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. FINDINGS:
      The mean expected total sleep time was 8.8 hr (SD 1.8) and the mean actual total
      sleep time was 8.2 hr (SD 2.1). The frequency of short, medium, and long sleepers
      was 18.1, 38.4, and 43.5%, respectively. Major medical conditions and any type of
      insomnia were independently associated with short sleep, while long sleep was
      associated with unemployment and use of second-generation antipsychotics.
      PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: More attention should be paid to sleep duration in this
      population group.

PMID- 27629988
TI  - Global Ionospheric Modelling using Multi-GNSS: BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS and GPS.
AB  - The emergence of China's Beidou, Europe's Galileo and Russia's GLONASS satellites
      has multiplied the number of ionospheric piercing points (IPP) offered by GPS
      alone. This provides great opportunities for deriving precise global ionospheric
      maps (GIMs) with high resolution to improve positioning accuracy and ionospheric
      monitoring capabilities. In this paper, the GIM is developed based on multi-GNSS
      (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo) observations in the current multi
      constellation condition. The performance and contribution of multi-GNSS for
      ionospheric modelling are carefully analysed and evaluated. Multi-GNSS
      observations of over 300 stations from the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) and
      International GNSS Service (IGS) networks for two months are processed. The
      results show that the multi-GNSS GIM products are better than those of GIM
      products based on GPS-only. Differential code biases (DCB) are by-products of the
      multi-GNSS ionosphere modelling, the corresponding standard deviations (STDs) are
      0.06 ns, 0.10 ns, 0.18 ns and 0.15 ns for GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo,
      respectively in satellite, and the STDs for the receiver are approximately
      0.2~0.4 ns. The single-frequency precise point positioning (SF-PPP) results
      indicate that the ionospheric modelling accuracy of the proposed method based on
      multi-GNSS observations is better than that of the current dual-system GIM in
      specific areas.

PMID- 27629986
TI  - Building better lithium-sulfur batteries: from LiNO3 to solid oxide catalyst.
AB  - Lithium nitrate (LiNO3) is known as an important electrolyte additive in lithium
      sulfur (Li-S) batteries. The prevailing understanding is that LiNO3 reacts with
      metallic lithium anode to form a passivation layer which suppresses redox
      shuttles of lithium polysulfides, enabling good rechargeability of Li-S
      batteries. However, this view is seeing more challenges in the recent studies,
      and above all, the inability of inhibiting polysulfide reduction on Li anode. A
      closely related issue is the progressive reduction of LiNO3 on Li anode which
      elevates internal resistance of the cell and compromises its cycling stability.
      Herein, we systematically investigated the function of LiNO3 in redox-shuttle
      suppression, and propose the suppression as a result of catalyzed oxidation of
      polysulfides to sulfur by nitrate anions on or in the proximity of the electrode
      surface upon cell charging. This hypothesis is supported by both density
      functional theory calculations and the nitrate anions-suppressed self-discharge
      rate in Li-S cells. The catalytic mechanism is further validated by the use of
      ruthenium oxide (RuO2, a good oxygen evolution catalyst) on cathode, which equips
      the LiNO3-free cell with higher capacity and improved capacity retention over 400
      cycles.

PMID- 27629987
TI  - Adolescent predictors of alcohol use in adulthood: A 22-year longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The excessive consumption of alcohol is a major issue
      in the United States and elsewhere. It is associated with a number of adverse
      health consequences, as well as difficulty in relationships and employment.
      Therefore, the present longitudinal study investigates the direct and indirect
      adolescent predictors of alcohol use in adulthood. METHODS: Among the 674
      participants (53% African Americans, 47% Puerto Ricans), 60% were females (n =
      405). Mplus software was used to perform structural equation modeling. RESULTS:
      Parental problems with alcohol use in the participants' late adolescence were
      related to low parent-child attachment in late adolescence, which in turn, was
      related to self delinquency in late adolescence. This was related to peer
      delinquency in emerging adulthood, which in turn, was associated with alcohol use
      in emerging adulthood and in adulthood. Low parent-child attachment in late
      adolescence was also related to low satisfaction with school in late adolescence,
      which in turn, was related to self delinquency in late adolescence. This was
      associated with alcohol use in emerging adulthood, which in turn, was associated
      with alcohol use in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: One of
      the key implications of this study is that an impaired low parent-child
      attachment relationship is a determinant of children's engagement in delinquent
      behavior and ultimately the use of alcohol in adult life. Implications for social
      interventions from the findings of the current study were also discussed. (Am J
      Addict 2016;25:549-556).

PMID- 27629989
TI  - Comparing the 2,2'-Biphenylenedithiophosphinate Binding of Americium with
      Neodymium and Europium.
AB  - Advancing our understanding of the minor actinides (Am, Cm) versus lanthanides is
      key for developing advanced nuclear-fuel cycles. Herein, we describe the
      preparation of (NBu4 )Am[S2 P((t) Bu2 C12 H6 )]4 and two isomorphous lanthanide
      complexes, namely one with a similar ionic radius (i.e., Nd(III) ) and an
      isoelectronic one (Eu(III) ). The results include the first measurement of an Am
      S bond length, with a mean value of 2.921(9) A, by single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction. Comparison with the Eu(III) and Nd(III) complexes revealed subtle
      electronic differences between the complexes of Am(III) and the lanthanides.

PMID- 27629991
TI  - Serum S100beta as a prognostic marker in patients with non-traumatic intracranial
      hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The serum concentration of S100beta protein reportedly predicts
      outcomes after brain injury. We examined the prognostic accuracy of S100beta in
      patients with non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage. METHODS: This was a
      prospective, observational study of patients with non-traumatic intracranial
      hemorrhage treated in the intensive care unit at our university hospital.
      Computed tomography imaging findings and the level of consciousness on admission
      were recorded. Serum S100beta concentration was measured serially during the
      first six days of admission. Patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH group) or
      intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH group) were analyzed separately. The 3-month and 1
      year functional outcomes were assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).
      RESULTS: Of 108 patients enrolled, 66 were included in the SAH group and 42 in
      the ICH group. High initial S100beta concentration was associated with Glasgow
      Coma Score 3-6 on admission (SAH group 0.61 MUg/L versus 0.15 MUg/L, P=0.001 and
      ICH group 1.00 MUg/L versus 0.42 MUg/L, P=0.005). Initial S100beta concentration
      correlated with ICH volume (rho=0.50, P<0.001) and IVH Sum Score (rho=0.30,
      P=0.013). The thresholds for the initial S100beta concentration with 100%
      specificity for poor outcome (GOS 1-3) were 1.40 MUg/L for SAH and 1.76 MUg/L for
      ICH group. ORs varied between 3.1 and 6.1 for S100beta on poor outcome in the SAH
      group. Increasing S100beta level during study period was associated with poor
      outcome in the SAH group. CONCLUSIONS: Serum S100beta concentration corresponds
      with the severity of neurological insult and predicts poor outcome in patients
      with non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage.

PMID- 27629990
TI  - Regulation of adult neural progenitor cell functions by purinergic signaling.
AB  - Extracellular purines are signaling molecules in the neurogenic niches of the
      brain and spinal cord, where they activate cell surface purinoceptors at
      embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs) and adult neural progenitor cells (NPCs).
      Although mRNA and protein are expressed at NSCs/NPCs for almost all subtypes of
      the nucleotide-sensitive P2X/P2Y, and the nucleoside-sensitive adenosine
      receptors, only a few of those have acquired functional significance. ATP is
      sequentially degraded by ecto-nucleotidases to ADP, AMP, and adenosine with
      agonistic properties for distinct receptor-classes. Nucleotides/nucleosides
      facilitate or inhibit NSC/NPC proliferation, migration and differentiation. The
      most ubiquitous effect of all agonists (especially of ATP and ADP) appears to be
      the facilitation of cell proliferation, usually through P2Y1Rs and sometimes
      through P2X7Rs. However, usually P2X7R activation causes necrosis/apoptosis of
      NPCs. Differentiation can be initiated by P2Y2R-activation or P2X7R-blockade. A
      key element in the transduction mechanism of either receptor is the increase of
      the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration, which may arise due to its release
      from intracellular storage sites (G protein-coupling; P2Y) or due to its passage
      through the receptor-channel itself from the extracellular space (ATP-gated ion
      channel; P2X). Further research is needed to clarify how purinergic signaling
      controls NSC/NPC fate and how the balance between the quiescent and activated
      states is established with fine and dynamic regulation. GLIA 2017;65:213-230.

PMID- 27629992
TI  - The aging digestive tract: what should anesthesiologists know about it?
AB  - At present, elderly individuals represent approximately 18.5% of the European
      population and account for about 23% of surgical procedures performed. This
      patient population is at a higher risk for perioperative complications and
      adverse postoperative outcome. This narrative review highlights our current
      knowledge about physiological changes in the aging gut and the implications for
      anesthesiologists. The reduced response to stimuli in the pharynx, and reduction
      of the cough reflex that occurs in many older individuals, probably explains the
      increased incidence of aspiration pneumonia that occurs in the elderly. These
      changes also increase the risk for aspiration during anesthesia. Aging affects
      the clearance of fluids and solids in the esophagus, associated with a higher
      incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Healthy aging appears to be
      associated with modest slowing of gastric emptying, but this does not demand
      prolonged preoperative fasting. The physiological changes associated with
      polypharmacy also make elderly patients a risk group for pulmonary aspiration
      during anesthesia. Further research is needed to determine the effects of
      commonly used anesthetic agents on the pharyngo-gastrointestinal tract in elderly
      patients.

PMID- 27629993
TI  - Effect of Partially Fluorinated N-Alkyl-Substituted Piperidine-2-carboxamides on
      Pharmacologically Relevant Properties.
AB  - The modulation of pharmacologically relevant properties of N-alkyl-piperidine-2
      carboxamides was studied by selective introduction of 1-3 fluorine atoms into the
      n-propyl and n-butyl side chains of the local anesthetics ropivacaine and
      levobupivacaine. The basicity modulation by nearby fluorine substituents is
      essentially additive and exhibits an exponential attenuation as a function of
      topological distance between fluorine and the basic center. The intrinsic
      lipophilicity of the neutral piperidine derivatives displays the characteristic
      response noted for partially fluorinated alkyl groups attached to neutral
      heteroaryl systems. However, basicity decrease by nearby fluorine substituents
      affects lipophilicities at neutral pH, so that all partially fluorinated
      derivatives are of similar or higher lipophilicity than their non-fluorinated
      parents. Aqueous solubilities were found to correlate inversely with
      lipophilicity with a significant contribution from crystal packing energies, as
      indicated by variations in melting point temperatures. All fluorinated
      derivatives were found to be somewhat more readily oxidized in human liver
      microsomes, the rates of degradation correlating with increasing lipophilicity.
      Because the piperidine-2-carboxamide core is chiral, pairs with enantiomeric N
      alkyl groups are diastereomeric. While little response to such stereoisomerism
      was observed for basicity or lipophilicity, more pronounced variations were
      observed for melting point temperatures and oxidative degradation.

PMID- 27629995
TI  - Phyto-glycosides as Therapeutic Target in the Treatment of Diabetes.
AB  - Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by increased level of
      glucose in the blood due to defects in insulin action, insulin secretion or both.
      The effective management of diabetes is extremely important, otherwise, chronic
      uncontrolled diabetes could lead to diabetes late complications namely
      neuropathy, retinopathy, cardiomyopathy and nephropathy. The survey has shown
      that diabetes mellitus is one of the five leading causes of death all over the
      world. The therapeutic agents in clinical practice are facing the challenge of
      several unwanted effects, ineffectiveness in a large population and patient
      compliance therefore, new effective therapies are most warrant. In this
      connection, the natural product could be the best option as already accepted
      therapeutic modality since time immemorial. This review encounters various plant
      derived glycosides with antidiabetic effects; mediated through different
      mechanism(s). It is concluded that focusing glycosides as antidiabetic therapy
      could lead to the discovery of some new effective therapeutic agents.

PMID- 27629996
TI  - Novel Antibacterial Agents: An Emergent Need to Win the Battle Against
      Infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple strategies have been recommended for prevention and control
      of antibacterial resistance. Solutions will need to be found soon if we are not
      to run the serious risk of losing the ability to treat bacterial infections,
      especially the ones arising from multi-resistant strains. Deep knowledge of the
      resistance mechanisms followed by novel therapeutic drugs and vaccines are
      needed. A consolidated, multidisciplinary and regulated strategy is required by
      this challenge. OBJECTIVE: This review will be focused on new strategies to
      control infections. Among strategies to tackle antibiotic resistance that have
      been under investigation, are the use of antimicrobial peptides, phage therapy
      and phage enzymes, therapeutic antibodies, quorum sensing inhibitors and,
      finally, the antibacterial nanomedicines. Although all of the approaches seem to
      be effective, and at least one of them has been in use for relatively a long time
      (phage therapy), antibacterial nanomedicines show the most diverse range of
      different approaches regarding potential translation to clinics. RESULTS &
      CONCLUSION: Several advances have been made but a great effort is still mandatory
      in order to reach feasible, effective and marketable novel antimicrobial
      products.

PMID- 27629994
TI  - Clinical features and treatment outcomes of septic arthritis due to Mycobacterium
      massiliense associated with intra-articular injection: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are increasing reports on nosocomial Mycobacterium massiliense
      infection, but septic arthritis and osteomyelitis because of that microorganism
      is rare. This report focuses on the clinical aspects of M. massiliense arthritis
      outbreak concurrent with soft tissue infection. CASE PRESENTATION: An outbreak of
      septic arthritis among patients who had been injected at a single clinic occurred
      in South Korea between April and September 2012. This may be associated with
      repeated injection of triamcinolone contaminated with M. massiliense. Nine of the
      Korean patients visited our hospital complaining of painful swelling of the
      knees. During treatment course, patients are suffered from soft tissue abscess
      around the injection site. Acid-fast bacilli culture for infected tissue was
      positive in five patients, and polymerase chain reaction for non-tuberculous
      mycobacteria was positive in four patients. They were treated with antibiotics,
      repeated arthroscopic surgeries, incision and drainage for a long time. All
      patients were eventually cured but three patients have suffered from a decreased
      range of motion. CONCLUSION: Early clinical suspicion and microbiological
      diagnosis are key factors in reducing morbidity since septic arthritis with M.
      massiliense manifests late after the injection and treatment of it is a laborious
      process.

PMID- 27629998
TI  - Myoclonus and seizures in progressive myoclonus epilepsies: pharmacology and
      therapeutic trials.
AB  - Generalized motor seizures, usually tonic-clonic, tonic-vibratory, myoclonic or
      clonic, and stimulus-sensitive/action myoclonus are typical features of
      progressive myoclonus epilepsies (PMEs). Despite the introduction of many
      anticonvulsants, the treatment of these symptoms, particularly myoclonus, remains
      challenging, due to the incomplete and often transitory effects of most drugs.
      Moreover, treatment is only symptomatic, since therapy targeting the underlying
      aetiology for these genetic conditions is in its infancy. Traditional
      antiepileptic drugs for the treatment of PMEs are valproate, clonazepam, and
      phenobarbital (or primidone). These drugs may improve the overall performance of
      PME patients by decreasing their generalized seizures and, to a lesser extent,
      their myoclonic jerks. Newer drugs which have been shown to be effective include
      piracetam, levetiracetam, topiramate, zonisamide, and possibly perampanel for
      Lafora disease. The potential of other drugs (such as L-triptophan and N
      acetylcysteine) and procedures (such as vagal and deep brain stimulation) has
      also been discussed. The available data on the efficacy of drugs are mainly based
      on small series or anecdotal reports. Two prospective, randomized, double blind
      studies investigating the novel SV2A ligand, brivaracetam, in genetically
      confirmed Unverricht-Lundborg patients have been performed with disappointing
      results. When treating PMEs, particular care should be paid to avoid drugs known
      to aggravate myoclonus or myoclonic seizures, such as phenytoin, carbamazepine,
      oxcarbazepine, lamotrigine, vigabatrin, tiagabine, gabapentin, and pregabalin.
      The emergency treatment of motor status, which often complicates the course of
      PMEs, consists of intravenous administration of benzodiazepines, valproate, or
      levetiracetam.

PMID- 27629997
TI  - Revision of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM) disseminated
      intravascular coagulation (DIC) diagnostic criteria using antithrombin activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With advances in the treatment of sepsis, the systemic inflammatory
      response syndrome (SIRS) has been losing its prognostic power. Since the SIRS
      category is no longer used for the diagnosis of sepsis, the disseminated
      intravascular coagulation (DIC) diagnostic criteria released by Japanese
      Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM) should be modified. Thus, the purpose of
      this study was to examine the appropriateness of replacing the SIRS score with
      antithrombin activity in JAAM-DIC diagnostic criteria. METHODS: We analyzed data
      from 819 septic patients who had received recombinant thrombomodulin. The
      relationships between the 28-day mortality rate and baseline laboratory and
      clinical parameters were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses, and
      the impact of replacing the SIRS criteria with antithrombin activity was
      evaluated. RESULTS: The SIRS score, prothrombin time ratio, and antithrombin
      activity were associated with the 28-day mortality rate (P values = 0.013, 0.018,
      and 0.003, respectively, by multivariate analysis). A modified version of the
      JAAM-DIC diagnostic criteria using an antithrombin activity <70 % was capable of
      diagnosing the identical number (n = 706) and a similar severity of patients
      (mortality, 34.6 % versus 34.8 %). CONCLUSION: Since anticoagulant therapy is
      expected to be more effective in patients with more severe coagulation disorders,
      the modified version of the JAAM-DIC diagnostic criteria might be useful for
      discriminating patients with sepsis who are good candidates for anticoagulant
      therapy.

PMID- 27629999
TI  - [Attitudes towards using eHealth in psychiatry and psychotherapy : A pilot survey
      at the DGPPN Congress 2014].
AB  - The use of modern communication and information technology in the health sector,
      known as eHealth, has the potential to reduce gaps in psychiatric and
      psychotherapeutic healthcare. In order to successfully implement eHealth it is
      important to assess the attitude of all stakeholders. The attitude of the
      patients towards eHealth has been frequently investigated but there is a lack of
      research on the side of the professionals. The attitude towards eHealth from the
      perspective of professionals has only rarely been evaluated in German-speaking
      countries; therefore, we carried out a survey at the German Association for
      Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN) congress in 2014 that
      included 282 psychiatrists, neurologists and psychologists in order to explore
      their attitudes towards eHealth . Furthermore, the professionals were asked in
      which therapeutic areas, for which age groups and for which clinical pictures
      they would expect benefits. In general, the participants expressed a positive
      attitude towards eHealth . They expected benefits for a multitude of therapeutic
      areas, particularly for adolescents and adults and especially for the treatment
      of depression and anxiety disorders; however, they felt only minimally informed
      about eHealth opportunities indicating a high need for educational and training
      requirements.

PMID- 27630000
TI  - [Drugs for improvement of motor deficits after stroke].
AB  - Randomized controlled trials with a variety of drugs have been performed for
      approximately 20 years in order to support functional restitution of motor
      deficits after a stroke. Nowadays, serotonin reuptake inhibitors show the highest
      level of evidence due to the largest number of positive studies and L-dopa also
      seems to be effective; however, much fewer studies have been conducted. In the
      majority of trials amphetamines provided no additional benefits and D-cycloserine
      cannot be recommended either. Future therapeutic approaches, e.g. anti-nogo
      antibodies and cell therapy are presented.

PMID- 27630001
TI  - Systematic review with meta-analysis: the risk of mother-to-child transmission of
      hepatitis B virus infection in sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      has been quoted as 70-90% among women positive for hepatitis B surface antigen
      (HBsAg) and e antigen (HBeAg), and 5-30% among HBsAg-positive HBeAg-negative
      women. These risks are derived from Asia; little is known about sub-Saharan
      Africa. AIM: To determine the risk of mother-to-child transmission in sub-Saharan
      Africa, according to maternal HBeAg and type of prophylaxis. METHODS: We searched
      Medline, Global Health, Embase, African Journals Online and African Index
      Medicus. We included observational or interventional studies that enrolled
      infants of HBV-infected women, and that tested for HBsAg or HBV DNA between 3 and
      12 months of age. RESULTS: Fifteen articles from 11 African countries were
      included. Among HBeAg-positive women, the pooled risk was 38.3% (95% CI: 7.0
      74.4%) without prophylaxis, which was significantly lower than the lower bound of
      70-90% risk in the literature (P = 0.007). Among HBeAg-negative women, the pooled
      risk was 4.8% (95% CI: 0.1-13.3%) without prophylaxis, which lays within the
      lower range of the 5-30% risk in Asia. By extrapolating the pooled transmission
      risks to the number of births to infectious mothers, an estimated 1% of newborns
      (n = 367 250) are annually infected with HBV at birth in sub-Saharan Africa.
      CONCLUSIONS: Compared to Asia, the risk of mother-to-child transmission is low in
      sub-Saharan Africa. However, the annual number of infants perinatally infected
      with HBV is twice the number of incident paediatric HIV infections in sub-Saharan
      Africa (n = 190 000). This highlights the importance of preventing mother-to
      child transmission of HBV in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been long neglected.

PMID- 27630003
TI  - Nonsuicidal Self-Injury of Adolescents.
AB  - Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is more common in adolescent and young adult
      populations than in the past. NSSI is typically used to deal with distressing
      negative affective states, especially anger and depression, and mixed emotional
      states. Pediatricians; primary care, family medicine, and emergency room
      physicians; and mental health professionals are faced with the charge of
      responding to NSSI behaviors among patients. Physicians in family medicine,
      pediatrics, and primary care settings play an essential role in initiating the
      beginning step in the treatment process for those who self-injure. All providers
      can strengthen the care provided to those who engage in NSSI via assessing the
      risk accurately, understanding the functions of the behavior, and assisting the
      patient in connecting with treatment. This article provides medical and mental
      health professionals with an overview of intervention strategies that may be
      useful when counseling adolescents and their families. In addition, areas for
      continued research are discussed. 

PMID- 27630002
TI  - Oxidative damage and chemokine production dominate days before immune cell
      infiltration and EAE disease debut.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis is widely accepted as an inflammatory disease.
      However, studies indicate that degenerative processes in the CNS occur prior to
      inflammation. In the widely used animal model experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis (EAE), we investigated the significance of degenerative
      processes from mitochondrial membrane potentials, reactive oxidative species,
      cell death markers, chemokines, and inflammatory cell types in brain, spinal
      cord, and optic nerve tissue during the effector phase of the disease, before
      clinical disease was evident. METHODS: Sixty-two rats were placed in eight
      groups, n = 6 to 10. Four groups were immunized with spinal cord homogenate
      emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant (one served as EAE group), three groups
      were immunized with complete Freund's adjuvant only, and a control group was
      injected with phosphate buffered saline only. Groups were sacrificed 3, 5, 7, or
      12-13 days after the intervention and analyzed for early signs of CNS
      degeneration. RESULTS: Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and oxidative
      changes was observed days before clinical disease debut at day 9.75 +/- 0.89. The
      early mitochondrial changes were not associated with cytochrome C release,
      cleavage of caspases 9 (38/40 kDa) and 3 (17/19 kDa), and cleavage of PARP (89
      kDa) or spectrin (120/150 kDa), and apoptosis was not initiated. Axonal
      degeneration was only present at disease onset. Increases in a range of cytokines
      and chemokines were observed systemically as a consequence of immunization with
      complete Freund's adjuvant, whereas the encephalitogenic emulsion induced an
      upregulation of the chemokines Ccl2, Ccl20, and Cxcl1, specifically in brain
      tissue, 7 days after immunization. CONCLUSION: Five to seven days after
      immunization, subtle decreases in the mitochondrial membrane potential and an
      increased reactive oxygen species burden in brain tissue were observed. No cell
      death was detected at these time-points, but a specific expression pattern of
      chemokines indicates activity in the CNS, several days before clinical disease
      debut.

PMID- 27630004
TI  - Translation to Primary Care of an Effective Teen Safe Driving Program for
      Parents.
AB  - Addressing teen driver crashes, this study adapted an effective Checkpoints(TM)
      program for parents of teen drivers for dissemination by primary care
      practitioners (PCPs) and the web; distributed the PCP/web program through
      pediatric practices; and examined dissemination to/implementation by parents. The
      website, youngDRIVERparenting.org, and brief intervention protocol were
      developed. PCPs delivered interventions and materials to parents, referred them
      to the website, and completed follow-up surveys. Google Analytics assessed
      parents' website use. Most PCPs reported delivering interventions with fidelity,
      and thought the program important and feasible. Brief interventions/website
      referrals, averaging 4.4 minutes, were delivered to 3465 (87%) of 3990 eligible
      parents by 133 PCPs over an 18-week average. Website visits (1453) were made by
      42% of parents, who spent on average 3:53 minutes viewing 4.2 topics. This
      program costs little (its website, training and promotional materials are
      available) and could be one component of a comprehensive approach to reducing
      teen driver crashes. 

PMID- 27630005
TI  - Disaster Preparedness in Families With Children With Special Health Care Needs.
AB  - Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) may present unique challenges for
      disaster preparedness. This study's objective was to determine the impact of a
      disaster supply starter kit intervention on preparedness for families of CSHCN.
      The study was a 1-group pre-post cohort design with consecutive enrollment at the
      Arkansas Children's Hospital Medical Home Clinic. Pre- and postintervention
      survey findings were compared using McNemar's test. Of the 249 enrolled, 223
      completed the postsurvey. At presurvey, 43% had an Emergency Information Form,
      compared with 79% at postsurvey (P < .001). At presurvey, 18% had a disaster kit,
      compared with 99.6% at postsurvey, and 44% added items. Of the 183 respondents
      who did not have a disaster kit at presurvey, 99% (n = 182) had a disaster kit on
      postsurvey, and 38% (n = 70) added items. An inexpensive educational disaster
      supply starter kit may increase preparedness. Further investigation on
      sustainability and dissemination to other populations is needed. 

PMID- 27630006
TI  - Improving Resident Knowledge of Spacers.
AB  - Studies show the delivery of inhaled medications is maximized when a metered-dose
      inhaler (MDI) with a spacer is utilized. Our residents expressed concern with
      their knowledge of MDIs and spacers. This study was designed to address those
      concerns. Residents were given a 12-question pre-intervention, self-assessment
      questionnaire that explored their overall knowledge and comfort in utilizing MDI
      with spacers. Participants then received educational intervention via multimedia
      videos and a demonstration of proper use of MDI with spacer. Participants were
      given the same questionnaire immediately following the education and again 3
      months later. Improvement was significant (P < .05) for each element studied as
      derived from the 12 questions. Improvement remained significant when these
      variables were assessed in the 3-month follow-up. In this study, we successfully
      improved the ability of our residents to deliver quality care by improving their
      knowledge and confidence in utilizing MDIs with spacers. 

PMID- 27630007
TI  - Pediatric Hoverboard Injuries: A Need for Enhanced Safety Measures and Public
      Awareness.

PMID- 27630008
TI  - Fever and Jaundice in a Previously Healthy Teenager.

PMID- 27630009
TI  - Efficacy of the READY-Girls Program on General Risk-Taking Behaviors, Condom Use,
      and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Young Adolescent Females With Type 1
      Diabetes.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the short-term efficacy (3
      months) of early diabetes-specific READY-Girls preconception counseling (RGPC) on
      more general risk-taking behaviors, condom use, and sexually transmitted
      infections (STIs) among adolescent females with type 1 diabetes. METHODS:
      Secondary analysis was performed with data pooled from 2 independent randomized
      controlled trials to evaluate the short-term impact of RGPC. The pooled sample
      had 136 participants (mean age, 16.9 years; range, 13-19 years) and compared
      those who received the RGPC (n = 76) with a control group who received standard
      care (n = 60). Both groups self-reported on demographic characteristics, risk
      taking behaviors (eg, substance use and unsafe sex), birth control, and STIs.
      RESULTS: No effect of RGPC emerged on risk-taking behaviors, condom use, and
      STIs. Only 25% (n = 36) of the adolescents were sexually active at baseline, and
      29% (n = 39) were sexually active at 3 months. Their overall mean age of sexual
      debut was 15.4 years, with more than half reporting an episode of unprotected
      sex. Condoms were the most frequent type of birth control used by both groups at
      both time points. By 3 months, only 4 participants had been diagnosed with an
      STI. Over time, subjects in both groups became more sexually active and used more
      condoms. CONCLUSION: RGPC did not appear to directly affect general risk-taking
      behaviors or STIs, since it focuses on diabetes and reproductive health issues.
      Condom use did increase over time in both groups. More information on risk-taking
      behaviors and STIs should be included in diabetes-specific preconception
      counseling programs, including RGPC.

PMID- 27630010
TI  - The impact of the speed of food intake on gastroesophageal reflux events in obese
      female patients.
AB  - Obesity increases the risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The
      majority of the reflux attacks occur postprandially. The influence of the speed
      of food intake on gastroesophageal reflux events is unclear in obese patients. To
      determine the influence of the speed of food intake on intraesophageal reflux
      events in obese patients with and without GERD. A total of 26 obese female
      patients were recruited. The patients underwent esophageal manometry to evaluate
      the upper limit of the lower esophageal sphincter and subsequently placement of a
      Multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (MII-pH) catheter. All patients were asked
      to eat the same standard meal (double cheeseburger, 1 banana, 100 g yogurt and
      200 mL water; total energy value, 744 kcal; 37.6% carbohydrates, 21.2% proteins
      and 41.2% lipids) within 5 or 30 minutes under observation in a random order on
      two consecutive days. All reflux episodes over a 3-hour postprandial period were
      manually analyzed and compared. The mean age was 46 +/- 12 (18-66) years. The
      mean body mass index (BMI) was 39.9 +/- 8.4 kg/m2. There was no difference
      between the fast- and slow-eating group in the number of refluxes within the 3
      postprandial hours. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the 24
      hour MII-pH monitoring results, that is, 16 subjects with normal MII-pH
      monitoring and 10 patients with pathologic MII-pH monitoring. There was no effect
      of the speed of food intake in either the patients with or without GERD. In
      contrast to the general belief, this study suggested that the speed of food
      intake does not influence the number of refluxes in obese female patients with or
      without GERD.

PMID- 27630011
TI  - Blood Glucose Variability: A Strong Independent Predictor of Neurological
      Outcomes in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.
AB  - PURPOSE: In patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), increased
      glucose variability (GV) is associated with increased mortality and cerebral
      infarction; however, there are no reports demonstrating an association between GV
      and neurological outcome. This study investigated whether GV had an independent
      effect on neurological outcomes in patients with SAH in the intensive care unit.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive adult patients hospitalized with SAH between
      January 1, 2009, and May 31, 2015 (N = 122) were retrospectively reviewed.
      Univariate/multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent
      predictors of poor neurological outcome. Patients were divided according to the
      mean glucose level (80-139 vs 140-200 mg/dL) and further subdivided using
      quartiles (Q) of the standard deviation (SD, representing variability) of the
      glucose level (Q1, Q2 + 3, and Q4). RESULTS: Unfavorable neurological outcomes
      occurred in 44.2% of the patients. On multiple regression analysis, age, Hunt and
      Kosnik grade, SD of glucose (odds ratio [OR], 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.02-1.17; P < .01), and minimum blood glucose level (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.91
      0.99; P < .01) were significantly associated with unfavorable neurological
      outcomes. Both groups (mean glucose levels: 80-139 and 140-200 mg/dL groups) had
      increasing unfavorable neurological outcomes with increasing SD of glucose (Q1,
      15.0%; Q2 + 3, 40.0%; Q4, 52.4% and Q1, 44.4%; Q2 + 3, 50%; Q4, 88.9% in the 80
      139 and 140-200 mg/dL groups, respectively). Patients with minimum glucose of <90
      mg/dL comprised >50% of unfavorable neurological outcome. CONCLUSION: Increased
      GV was an independent predictor of unfavorable neurological outcomes in patients
      with SAH.

PMID- 27630013
TI  - Language and speech outcomes of children with hearing loss and additional
      disabilities: identifying the variables that influence performance at five years
      of age.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined language and speech outcomes in young children
      with hearing loss and additional disabilities. DESIGN: Receptive and expressive
      language skills and speech output accuracy were evaluated using direct assessment
      and caregiver report. Results were analysed first for the entire participant
      cohort, and then to compare results for children with hearing aids (HAs) versus
      cochlear implants (CIs). STUDY SAMPLE: A population-based cohort of 146 five-year
      old children with hearing loss and additional disabilities took part. RESULTS:
      Across all participants, multiple regressions showed that better language
      outcomes were associated with milder hearing loss, use of oral communication,
      higher levels of cognitive ability and maternal education, and earlier device
      fitting. Speech output accuracy was associated with use of oral communication
      only. Average outcomes were similar for children with HAs versus CIs, but their
      associations with demographic variables differed. For HA users, results resembled
      those for the whole cohort. For CI users, only use of oral communication and
      higher cognitive ability levels were significantly associated with better
      language outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The results underscore the importance of early
      device fitting for children with additional disabilities. Strong conclusions
      cannot be drawn for CI users given the small number of participants with complete
      data.

PMID- 27630015
TI  - Robotic-assisted locomotor training enhances ankle performance in adults with
      incomplete spinal cord injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ankle joint control plays an important role in independent walking.
      This study investigated the effects of robotic-assisted locomotor training on
      impaired ankle joint control in individuals with chronic incomplete spinal cord
      injury. METHODS: Sixteen individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury underwent
      12 one-h sessions of robotic-assisted locomotor training for 4 weeks, while 16
      individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury served as inactive controls.
      Changes in ankle control measures, torque and co-activation were evaluated during
      maximal voluntary contractions in dorsi- and plantar-flexion. Changes in walking
      performance measures using Timed Up and Go (TUG), 10-m walk (10MWT) and 6-min
      walk (6MWT) tests were evaluated at 2 time points: baseline and after 4 weeks.
      RESULTS: Maximal voluntary contractions torque during both dorsi- and plantar
      flexion contractions improved markedly in the robotic-assisted locomotor training
      group compared with baseline. Furthermore, after the training, co-activation
      during the dorsi-flexion maximal voluntary contractions decreased in the training
      group compared with controls. In addition, the training group significantly
      improved walking mobility (TUG) and speed (10MWT) compared with baseline.
      Finally, correlation analysis indicated a significant linear relationship between
      maximal voluntary contraction torques and walking performance measures.
      CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence that robotic-assisted locomotor
      training improves ankle joint control, which may translate into enhanced walking
      performance in individuals with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury.

PMID- 27630016
TI  - A suggestion for intracorporeal anastomosis - a video vignette.

PMID- 27630014
TI  - The synchronized trial on expectant mothers with depressive symptoms by omega-3
      PUFAs (SYNCHRO): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Maternal depression can be harmful to both mothers and their
      children. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation has been
      investigated as an alternative intervention for pregnant women with depressive
      symptoms because of the supporting evidence from clinical trials in major
      depression, the safety advantage, and its anti-inflammatory and neuroplasticity
      effects. This study examines the efficacy of omega-3 PUFA supplementation for
      pregnant women with depressive symptoms in Taiwan and Japan, to provide evidence
      available for Asia. The rationale and protocol of this trial are reported here.
      METHODS: The Synchronized Trial on Expectant Mothers with Depressive Symptoms by
      Omega-3 PUFAs (SYNCHRO) is a multicenter, double-blind, parallel group,
      randomized controlled trial. Participants will be randomized to either the omega
      3 PUFAs arm (1,200 mg eicosapentaenoic acid and 600 mg docosahexaenoic acid
      daily) or placebo arm. Primary outcome is total score on the Hamilton Rating
      Scale for Depression (HAMD) at 12 weeks after the start of the intervention. We
      will randomize 56 participants to have 90 % power to detect a 4.7-point
      difference in mean HAMD scores with omega-3 PUFAs compared with placebo. Because
      seafood consumption varies across countries and this may have a major effect on
      the efficacy of omega-3 PUFA supplementation, 56 participants will be recruited
      at each site in Taiwan and Japan, for a total number of 112 participants.
      Secondary outcomes include depressive symptoms at 1 month after childbirth,
      diagnosis of major depressive disorder, changes in omega-3 PUFAs concentrations
      and levels of biomarkers at baseline and at 12 weeks' follow-up, and standard
      obstetric outcomes. Data analyses will be by intention to treat. The trial was
      started in June 2014 and is scheduled to end in February 2018. DISCUSSION: The
      trial is expected to provide evidence that can contribute to promoting mental
      health among mothers and children in Asian populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02166424 . Registered 15 June 2014; University Hospital
      Medical Information Network (UMIN) Center: UMIN000017979. Registered 20 May 2015.

PMID- 27630017
TI  - Proinflammatory cytokines remain elevated despite long-term remission in
      Cushing's disease: a prospective study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Inflammation contributes to the development of metabolic and
      cardiovascular disease. Cushing's disease (CD), a state of chronic glucocorticoid
      (GC) excess characterized by visceral obesity and insulin resistance, may be
      associated with increased systemic inflammation. Cardiovascular mortality in CD
      remains elevated even after successful remission. It is unclear whether a chronic
      low-grade inflammatory state persists even after remission of CD, which may
      account for the increased CVD mortality. PURPOSE: (1) To assess circulating
      proinflammatory cytokines in patients with active CD and BMI-matched controls;
      (2) to prospectively follow plasma cytokine concentrations in patients with CD
      before and after surgical remission; and (3) to assess whether plasma cytokine
      concentrations correlate with adipose tissue distribution and ectopic lipid
      content in liver and muscle. METHODS: Plasma cytokines from prospectively
      enrolled patients with CD (N = 31) were quantified during active disease (v1) vs
      controls (N = 18) and 19.5 +/- 12.9 months after surgical remission (v2). Fasting
      plasma IL-6, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IL-8, IL-17 and IL-10 were quantified using a
      multiplex assay. Total and regional fat masses were measured by whole-body MRI.
      RESULTS: Circulating IL-6 and IL-1beta were elevated in patients with active CD
      vs controls (P < 0.05) and remained elevated in CD after surgical remission,
      despite decreases in BMI (P < 0.001), HOMA-IR (P < 0.001), and visceral, hepatic
      and intermuscular fat (P < 0.001, <0.001 and 0.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite long-term remission and improvements in fat distribution and insulin
      sensitivity, patients with CD may suffer from a state of chronic low-grade
      inflammation, which could contribute to increased cardiovascular mortality.

PMID- 27630018
TI  - Pumping the Brakes: Neurotrophic Factors for the Prevention of Cognitive
      Impairment and Dementia after Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of disability and death
      worldwide, affecting as many as 54,000,000-60,000,000 people annually. TBI is
      associated with significant impairments in brain function, impacting cognitive,
      emotional, behavioral, and physical functioning. Although much previous research
      has focused on the impairment immediately following injury, TBI may have much
      longer-lasting consequences, including neuropsychiatric disorders and cognitive
      impairment. TBI, even mild brain injury, has also been recognized as a
      significant risk factor for the later development of dementia and Alzheimer's
      disease. Although the link between TBI and dementia is currently unknown, several
      proposed mechanisms have been put forward, including alterations in glucose
      metabolism, excitotoxicity, calcium influx, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative
      stress, and neuroinflammation. A treatment for the devastating long-term
      consequences of TBI is desperately needed. Unfortunately, however, no such
      treatment is currently available, making this a major area of unmet medical need.
      Increasing the level of neurotrophic factor expression in key brain areas may be
      one potential therapeutic strategy. Of the neurotrophic factors, granulocyte
      colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) may be particularly effective for preventing
      the emergence of long-term complications of TBI, including dementia, because of
      its ability to reduce apoptosis, stimulate neurogenesis, and increase
      neuroplasticity.

PMID- 27630012
TI  - Periodontal and other oral manifestations of immunodeficiency diseases.
AB  - The list of immunodeficiency diseases grows each year as novel disorders are
      discovered, classified, and sometimes reclassified due to our ever-increasing
      knowledge of immune system function. Although the number of patients with
      secondary immunodeficiencies (SIDs) greatly exceeds those with primary
      immunodeficiencies (PIDs), the prevalence of both appears to be on the rise
      probably because of scientific breakthroughs that facilitate earlier and more
      accurate diagnosis. Primary immunodeficiencies in adults are not as rare as once
      thought. Globally, the main causes of secondary immunodeficiency are HIV
      infection and nutritional insufficiencies. Persons with acquired immune disorders
      such as AIDS caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are now living long
      and fulfilling lives as a result of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
      Irrespective of whether the patient's immune-deficient state is a consequence of
      a genetic defect or is secondary in nature, dental and medical practitioners must
      be aware of the constant potential for infections and/or expressions of
      autoimmunity in these individuals. The purpose of this review was to study the
      most common conditions resulting from primary and secondary immunodeficiency
      states, how they are classified, and the detrimental manifestations of these
      disorders on the periodontal and oral tissues.

PMID- 27630019
TI  - Characterization of Atg38 and NRBF2, a fifth subunit of the autophagic
      Vps34/PIK3C3 complex.
AB  - The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase Vps34 is part of several protein complexes. The
      structural organization of heterotetrameric complexes is starting to emerge, but
      little is known about organization of additional accessory subunits that interact
      with these assemblies. Combining hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry
      (HDX-MS), X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy (EM), we have
      characterized Atg38 and its human ortholog NRBF2, accessory components of complex
      I consisting of Vps15-Vps34-Vps30/Atg6-Atg14 (yeast) and PIK3R4/VPS15
      PIK3C3/VPS34-BECN1/Beclin 1-ATG14 (human). HDX-MS shows that Atg38 binds the
      Vps30-Atg14 subcomplex of complex I, using mainly its N-terminal MIT domain and
      bridges the coiled-coil I regions of Atg14 and Vps30 in the base of complex I.
      The Atg38 C-terminal domain is important for localization to the phagophore
      assembly site (PAS) and homodimerization. Our 2.2 A resolution crystal structure
      of the Atg38 C-terminal homodimerization domain shows 2 segments of alpha-helices
      assembling into a mushroom-like asymmetric homodimer with a 4-helix cap and a
      parallel coiled-coil stalk. One Atg38 homodimer engages a single complex I. This
      is in sharp contrast to human NRBF2, which also forms a homodimer, but this
      homodimer can bridge 2 complex I assemblies.

PMID- 27630020
TI  - Understanding factors affecting patient and public engagement and recruitment to
      digital health interventions: a systematic review of qualitative studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous types of digital health interventions (DHIs) are available
      to patients and the public but many factors affect their ability to engage and
      enrol in them. This systematic review aims to identify and synthesise the
      qualitative literature on barriers and facilitators to engagement and recruitment
      to DHIs to inform future implementation efforts. METHODS: PubMed, MEDLINE,
      CINAHL, Embase, Scopus and the ACM Digital Library were searched for English
      language qualitative studies from 2000 - 2015 that discussed factors affecting
      engagement and enrolment in a range of DHIs (e.g. 'telemedicine', 'mobile
      applications', 'personal health record', 'social networking'). Text mining and
      additional search strategies were used to identify 1,448 records. Two reviewers
      independently carried out paper screening, quality assessment, data extraction
      and analysis. Data was analysed using framework synthesis, informed by
      Normalization Process Theory, and Burden of Treatment Theory helped conceptualise
      the interpretation of results. RESULTS: Nineteen publications were included in
      the review. Four overarching themes that affect patient and public engagement and
      enrolment in DHIs emerged; 1) personal agency and motivation; 2) personal life
      and values; 3) the engagement and recruitment approach; and 4) the quality of the
      DHI. The review also summarises engagement and recruitment strategies used. A
      preliminary DIgital Health EnGagement MOdel (DIEGO) was developed to highlight
      the key processes involved. Existing knowledge gaps are identified and a number
      of recommendations made for future research. Study limitations include English
      language publications and exclusion of grey literature. CONCLUSION: This review
      summarises and highlights the complexity of digital health engagement and
      recruitment processes and outlines issues that need to be addressed before
      patients and the public commit to digital health and it can be implemented
      effectively. More work is needed to create successful engagement strategies and
      better quality digital solutions that are personalised where possible and to gain
      clinical accreditation and endorsement when appropriate. More investment is also
      needed to improve computer literacy and ensure technologies are accessible and
      affordable for those who wish to sign up to them. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:
      International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42015029846.

PMID- 27630021
TI  - Modulation of appetite, lipid and glucose metabolism of juvenile grass carp
      (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) by different dietary protein levels.
AB  - This study was undertaken to explore the systemic metabolic strategies of
      juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) to maintain growth when fed with
      different dietary protein levels. The optimal growth group and two growing
      discomfort groups were selected through the basic data, to explain the growth
      difference from appetite regulation and lipid and glucose metabolism perspective.
      Three experimental diets were formulated with three dietary protein levels at
      200.3, 296.1 and 442.9 g kg-1, named P1, P2 and P3, respectively. Juvenile grass
      carp (initial body weight 12.28 +/- 0.14 g) were fed with three diets with 3
      replications per dietary treatment in an indoor recirculation system for an 8
      week feeding trial. Fish fed with diet P2 dietary group showed significantly
      higher WG, SGR, FI and PER than other groups. Compared with other groups, mRNA
      expressions of NPY, Y8a and Y8b in fish fed with P2 significantly down-regulated,
      while the expressions of CCK and CART in fish fed with P3 significantly down
      regulated (P < 0.05). With increasing dietary protein levels, G6Pase, GK, PK and
      PEPCK were all significantly inhibited (P < 0.05). For lipid metabolism, the mRNA
      expression of ACC in P1 dietary group was significantly higher than P3 dietary
      group; besides, LPL expression in P3 group was significantly higher than other
      two groups (P < 0.05). PPARalpha expression in P2 was significantly lower than
      other groups (P < 0.05). These results suggested that grass carp fed with P2
      (296.1 g kg-1 protein level) showed highest weight gain, contributed to more
      balanced nutrient metabolism and appetite regulation. Too high dietary protein
      (442.9 g kg-1) should be avoided because it induced lowest PER, body lipid and
      liver lipid, and inhibited glucose and lipid metabolism in juvenile grass carp.

PMID- 27630022
TI  - NAD-preferring malic enzyme: localization, regulation and its potential role in
      herring (Clupea harengus) sperm cells.
AB  - Herring spermatozoa exhibit a high activity of NAD-preferring malic enzyme (NAD
      ME). This enzyme is involved in the generation of NADH or NADPH in the
      decarboxylation of malate to form pyruvate and requires some divalent cations to
      express its activity. In order to confirm that NAD-ME isolated from herring sperm
      cells is localized in mitochondria, we performed immunofluorescent analysis and
      assayed spectrophotometrically the malic enzyme reaction. Production of
      polyclonal rabbit antibodies against NAD-ME from herring spermatozoa enabled
      identification of mitochondrial localization of this enzyme inside herring
      spermatozoa. The kinetic studies revealed that NAD-ME was competitively inhibited
      by ATP up to tenfold. Addition of fumarate reversed ATP-dependent inhibition of
      NAD-ME to 55 % of its maximum activity. The pH-dependent regulation of malic
      enzyme activity was also examined. Malic enzyme showed maximum activity at pH
      near 7.0 in all studied conditions. Finally, the role of malic enzyme activity
      regulation in mitochondria of herring sperm cells was discussed.

PMID- 27630023
TI  - Which factors affect the long-term survival of patients with hepatocellular
      carcinoma UICC stage IV?
AB  - AIM: In the 7th edition of the TNM classification, not only HCC with distant
      metastases but also those with regional lymph node metastases are classified as
      stage IV. MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS: From our prospectively recorded tumor
      registry, 138 patients (17 %) with HCC were in stage IV. Among those were 68 and
      70, respectively, in stage IVA (regional lymph node metastases) and IVB (distant
      metastases). The tumors were less frequently treated with resection or local
      ablative treatment (chemoembolization, RFA, SIRT, percutaneous radiation) than
      patients in stage I-III. Ten HCCs were resected. Five of the resected patients
      were in stage IVA and five in stage IVB. After tumor resection, patients lived
      longer than those who underwent local or systemic treatment only (p = 0.003 or p
      = 0.001, respectively). In the univariate survival analysis, the stage IV
      patients' long-term survival was decreased statistically significantly through
      elevated bilirubin, low albumin, Okuda stage III and BCLC stage D. Patients' age
      and sex, pre-treatment AFP level, Child stage and the presence of venous invasion
      did not influence survival. In the multivariate analysis (Cox regression), tumor
      resection and BCLC stage were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSION:
      Patients with HCC in TNM stage IV have a very poor prognosis. Only few patients
      are eligible for resection because of the extent of tumor growth, comorbidities
      and general condition. These, however, benefit markedly from tumor resection with
      lymph node dissection and possibly resection of distant metastases.

PMID- 27630024
TI  - A systematic review of yoga interventions as integrative treatment in breast
      cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Breast cancer is a significant public health problem all over the world.
      The treatment of breast cancer has many side effects. Yoga has been suggested as
      an integrative form of therapy for breast cancer. The purpose of this study was
      to systematically review yoga interventions for breast cancer and determine the
      efficacy of these interventions as integrative modalities of treatment in
      altering various outcomes related to breast cancer. METHODS: Studies were
      included if (1) exclusively targeted breast cancer patients; (2) published
      between 2013 and May 2016; (3) written in the English language; (4) published in
      a peer-reviewed journals indexed in MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, ERIC and Alt Health
      Watch; (5) they used any type of yoga as a part of or the whole intervention; and
      (6) utilized a quantitative design for evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 23
      interventions met the inclusion criteria. Majority of the studies had been done
      in USA (n = 9), followed by Germany (n = 3), India (n = 3) and Turkey (n = 2).
      One study each was from Australia, Canada, Iran, Taiwan, Poland, and UK. Twenty
      two of the 23 interventions had statistically significant changes in studied
      outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limitations of wide variabilities in
      sample size, lack of standardized approach in conducting yoga, multiplicity of
      outcome measures, varying durations of interventions and lack of using behavioral
      theories, yoga as an integrative form of therapy for breast cancer is a promising
      approach. More interventions utilizing yoga need to be tested.

PMID- 27630025
TI  - Optical Sensing of Fluoride Through a Self-Organized Fluorescent Ensemble of
      Quinizarin-Al(III) Complex.
AB  - A one-pot, cost-effective system for sensing fluoride ions using quinizarin as a
      novel chromophore is reported. Quinizarin complexes with Al(III) to form a self
      organized turn-on fluorescence system in methanol. In the presence of fluoride
      ions, this system undergoes a subsequent ligand swap reaction with the fluoride
      ion and consequently the fluorescence turns off, delivering a sensitive route for
      the estimation of fluoride. This domino effect presents a sensitive and selective
      reaction system for the detection of fluoride ions in the concentration range 0.5
      15 ppm. The study was performed using spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric
      techniques. Various analytical parameters such as pH, equilibration time, ambient
      temperature, and applicability of the method have been reported along with the
      study of the associated interfering ions.

PMID- 27630026
TI  - Gluten contamination in gluten-free bakery products: a risk for coeliac disease
      patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to assess the safety of gluten-free bakery
      products for consumption by coeliac patients. Design/setting In the current
      exploratory cross-sectional quantitative study, a total of 130 samples were
      collected from twenty-five bakeries in Brasilia (Brazil). For the quantification
      of gluten, an ELISA was used. The threshold of 20 ppm gluten was considered as
      the safe upper limit for gluten-free food, as proposed in the Codex Alimentarius.
      RESULTS: The results revealed a total of 21.5 % of contamination among the bakery
      products sampled. Sixty-four per cent of the bakeries sold at least one
      contaminated product in our sample. CONCLUSIONS: These findings represent a risk
      for coeliac patients since the ingestion of gluten traces may be sufficient to
      adversely impact on their health.

PMID- 27630027
TI  - Letter by Garcia-Garcia and Brugaletta Regarding Article, "Optical Coherence
      Tomography-Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in ST-Segment-Elevation
      Myocardial Infarction: A Prospective Propensity-Matched Cohort of the
      Thrombectomy Versus Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Alone Trial".

PMID- 27630028
TI  - Letter by Secemsky et al Regarding Article, "Relationship Between Femoral
      Vascular Closure Devices and Short-Term Mortality From 271 845 Percutaneous
      Coronary Intervention Procedures Performed in the United Kingdom Between 2006 and
      2011: A Propensity Score-Corrected Analysis From the British Cardiovascular
      Intervention Society".

PMID- 27630029
TI  - Response by Farooq et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Relationship Between
      Femoral Vascular Closure Devices and Short-Term Mortality From 271 845
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Procedures Performed in the United Kingdom
      Between 2006 and 2011: A Propensity Score-Corrected Analysis From the British
      Cardiovascular Intervention Society".

PMID- 27630030
TI  - Misinformed debates on FGM can harm understanding.

PMID- 27630032
TI  - Commentary on Some Recent Theses Relevant to Combating Aging: October 2016.

PMID- 27630031
TI  - Continuous Quality Improvement Efforts Increase Survival with Favorable
      Neurologic Outcome after Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess system-wide implementation of specific therapies focused on
      perfusion during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and cerebral recovery after
      Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC). METHODS: Before and after retrospective
      analysis of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest database. Implementation trial in
      the urban/suburban community of Alameda County, California, USA, population 1.6
      million, from November 2009-December 2012. Adult patients with non-traumatic out
      of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) who received CPR and/or defibrillation. The
      impedance threshold device was used throughout this study and there was an
      increased use of mechanical CPR (mCPR) and in-hospital therapeutic hypothermia
      (HTH). RESULTS: Rates of ROSC, survival to hospital discharge and Cerebral
      Performance Category (CPC) scores were compared using univariate and
      multivariable analyses. A total of 2,926 adult non-traumatic patients with OHCA
      received CPR during the study period. From 2009-2011 to 2012, there was an
      increase in ROSC from 29.0% to 34.4% (p = 0.003) and a non-significant increase
      in hospital discharge from 10.2% to 12.0% (p = 0.16). There was a 76% relative
      increase in survival with favorable neurologic function between the two periods,
      as determined by CPC <= 2, from 4.5% to 7.9% (unadjusted OR = 1.80; CI = 1.31,
      2.48; p < 0.001). After adjusting for witnessed arrest, bystander CPR, initial
      rhythm (VT/VF vs. others), placement of an advanced airway, EMS response time,
      drugs administered, and age, the OR was 1.61 (1.10, 2.36; p = 0.015). Using a
      stepwise multivariable logistic regression model, the independent predictors of
      CPC <= 2 were 2012 (vs. 2009-2011; p = 0.022), witnessed arrest (p < 0.001),
      initial rhythm VT/VF (p < 0.001), and advanced airway (inverse association p <
      0.001). Additional analyses of the three prescribed therapies, separately and in
      combination, demonstrated that for those patients admitted to the hospital, mCPR
      with HTH had the biggest impact on survival to hospital discharge with CPC <= 2.
      CONCLUSIONS: Specific therapies within a system of care (mCPR, HTH), developed to
      enhance circulation during CPR and cerebral recovery after ROSC, significantly
      improved survival by 74% with favorable neurologic function following OHCA.

PMID- 27630033
TI  - Social participation and quality-of-life of patients with traumatic brain injury
      living in the community: A mixed methods study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the quality-of-life (QoL) and social participation of
      patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) living in the community in Japan.
      METHODS: A mixed-methods study of 29 post-TBI patients and 12 family members was
      conducted. Objective scales were used to evaluate QoL (Short Form Health Survey
      SF-36), depression (Zung Self-rating Depression Scale) and psychosocial function
      (Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale, 2nd edition). Subjective views of
      changes in social functioning, participation and suitability of family support
      were obtained by a semi-structured interview. Participants were classified into
      'change' and 'no-change' groups for social participation and between-group
      comparisons of QoL and determinant factors of QoL were evaluated. RESULTS: The SF
      36 social role component was significantly associated with the suitability of
      family support, followed by their understanding. However, QoL was not
      significantly associated with changes in social participation. Social
      participation was particularly influenced by the absence of rehabilitation
      support for low-skill labourers and housewives, whether they lost their
      employment or not. CONCLUSIONS: Advances in rehabilitation services are required,
      particularly to meet the specific needs of housewives and low-skill labourers.
      Families should receive sufficient education and short- and long-term strategies
      for providing suitable support to patients and their families should be
      implemented.

PMID- 27630034
TI  - A novel role for the 3'-5' exoribonuclease Dis3L2 in controlling cell
      proliferation and tissue growth.
AB  - In a complex organism, cell proliferation and apoptosis need to be precisely
      controlled in order for tissues to develop correctly. Excessive cell
      proliferation can lead to diseases such as cancer. We have shown that the
      exoribonuclease Dis3L2 is required for the correct regulation of proliferation in
      a natural tissue within the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Dis3L2 is a
      member of a highly conserved family of exoribonucleases that degrade RNA in a 3'
      5' direction. We show that knockdown of dis3L2 in the Drosophila wing imaginal
      discs results in substantial wing overgrowth due to increased cellular
      proliferation rather than an increase in cell size. Imaginal discs are specified
      in the embryo before proliferating and differentiating to form the adult
      structures of the fly. Using RNA-seq we identified a small set of mRNAs that are
      sensitive to Dis3L2 activity. Of the mRNAs which increase in levels and are
      therefore potential targets of Dis3L2, we identified 2 that change at the post
      transcriptional level but not at the transcriptional level, namely CG2678 (a
      transcription factor) and pyrexia (a TRP cation channel). We also demonstrate a
      compensatory effect between Dis3L2 and the 5'-3' exoribonuclease Pacman
      demonstrating that these 2 exoribonucleases function to regulate opposing
      pathways within the developing tissue. This work provides the first description
      of the molecular and developmental consequences of Dis3L2 inactivation in a non
      human animal model. The work is directly relevant to the understanding of human
      overgrowth syndromes such as Perlman syndrome.

PMID- 27630036
TI  - The cost-effectiveness of TheraBite(r) as treatment for acute myogenic
      temporomandibular disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a very common and costly pain
      problem concerning the temporomandibular joint. A previous study has shown that
      for the treatment of acute myogenic TMD, TheraBite(r) (TB) offers a faster and
      greater effect than usual care consisting of physical therapy (PT). This study
      estimates the cost-effectiveness of TB compared to PT. METHODS: Differences in
      costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) between TB and PT are analyzed
      using a decision model. RESULTS: The point estimate for the incremental cost
      effectiveness ratio is -28,068 EUR (-30,191 USD) per QALY (dominant) for TB
      versus PT. At the willingness-to-pay ratio of 20,000 EUR (21,513 USD) per QALY,
      TB has a 97% probability of being cost-effective compared to PT. CONCLUSION: TB
      is expected to be cost-effective compared to PT for the treatment of acute
      myogenic TMD, offering faster recovery of quality of life for patients, at a
      lower cost to society.

PMID- 27630035
TI  - Comparison of aesthetic facial criteria between Caucasian and East Asian female
      populations: An esthetic surgeon's perspective.
AB  - Objective aesthetic criteria are important for patient evaluation and analysis
      during aesthetic surgeries, while successful aesthetic surgeries must take into
      account the underlying ethnic differences. The aim of this study is to help
      surgeons and scientists better plan facial aesthetic surgeries and understand the
      aesthetic needs according to different patients by reviewing and comparing the
      current aesthetic principles and preferences in Caucasian and East Asian
      populations. PubMed and The Cochrane Library were searched using keywords
      regarding anthropometric measurements. Only original clinical studies and reviews
      written in English and Chinese and those that focused on the objective assessment
      of facial aesthetics in Caucasian and East Asian female populations were retained
      for review. Reference lists of the selected articles were also reviewed for
      eligible studies. Sixty-five articles that described objective aesthetic criteria
      in Caucasian and East Asian female populations were found through PubMed, among
      which 47 included Caucasian populations and 18 included East Asian populations.
      Compared with White women, East Asian women prefer a small, delicate, and less
      robust face, lower position of double eyelid, more obtuse nasofrontal angle,
      rounder nose tip, smaller tip projection, and slightly more retruded mandibular
      profile. Various differences exist between objective facial aesthetic criteria in
      Caucasian and East Asian populations. Further studies that focus on the objective
      aesthetic criteria of facial attractiveness in different ethnicities need to be
      conducted, especially in Asian countries. Level V: Opinions of respected
      authorities, based on clinical experience, descriptive studies, or reports of
      expert committees.

PMID- 27630037
TI  - Focused Ultrasound-Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Opening: Association with
      Mechanical Index and Cavitation Index Analyzed by Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced
      Magnetic-Resonance Imaging.
AB  - Focused ultrasound (FUS) with microbubbles can temporally open the blood-brain
      barrier (BBB), and the cavitation activities of microbubbles play a key role in
      the BBB-opening process. Previous attempts used contrast-enhanced magnetic
      resonance imaging (CE-MRI) to correlate the mechanical index (MI) with the scale
      of BBB-opening, but MI only partially gauged acoustic activities, and CE-MRI did
      not fully explore correlations of pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic behaviors.
      Recently, the cavitation index (CI) has been derived to serve as an indicator of
      microbubble-ultrasound stable cavitation, and may also serve as a valid indicator
      to gauge the level of FUS-induced BBB opening. This study investigates the
      feasibility of gauging FUS-induced BBB opened level via the two indexes, MI and
      CI, through dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI analysis as well as passive
      cavitation detection (PCD) analysis. Pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic parameters
      derived from DCE-MRI were characterized to identify the scale of FUS-induced BBB
      opening. Our results demonstrated that DCE-MRI can successfully access
      pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic BBB-opened behavior, and was highly correlated
      both with MI and CI, implying the feasibility in using these two indices to gauge
      the scale of FUS-induced BBB opening. The proposed finding may facilitate the
      design toward using focused ultrasound as a safe and reliable noninvasive CNS
      drug delivery.

PMID- 27630038
TI  - Letter to the editor: Does long-term use of analgesics increase the risk of
      radiographic progression of knee osteoarthritis and future total knee
      replacement?

PMID- 27630039
TI  - Cross-Study Differences in the Etiology of Reading Comprehension: a Meta
      Analytical Review of Twin Studies.
AB  - Numerous twin studies have examined the genetic and environmental etiology of
      reading comprehension, though it is likely that etiological estimates are
      influenced by unidentified sample conditions (e.g. Tucker-Drob and Bates, Psychol
      Sci:0956797615612727, 2015). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to average the
      etiological influences of reading comprehension and to explore the potential
      moderators influencing these estimates. Results revealed an average heritability
      estimate of h2 = 0.59, with significant variation in estimates across studies,
      suggesting potential moderation. Moderation results indicated publication year,
      grade level, project, zygosity methods, and response type moderated heritability
      estimates. The average shared environmental estimate was c2 = 0.16, with
      publication year, grade and zygosity methods acting as significant moderators.
      These findings support the role of genetics on reading comprehension, and a small
      significant role of shared environmental influences. The results suggest that our
      interpretation of how genes and environments influence reading comprehension
      should reflect aspects of study and sample.

PMID- 27630041
TI  - Timing Diatomaceous Earth-Filled Dustbox Use for Management of Northern Fowl
      Mites (Acari: Macronyssidae) in Cage-Free Poultry Systems.
AB  - Northern fowl mite management on conventionally caged birds relies on synthetic
      pesticide sprays to wet the vent. Cage-free chickens cannot be effectively
      treated this way, and pesticide use is restricted in organic production.
      Dustbathing behavior is encouraged in newer production systems for increased hen
      welfare. Diatomaceous earth (DE) is an approved organic insecticide that can be
      mixed with sand in dustboxes, suppressing mites but not excluding them, and
      potentially allowing development of mite immunity. We tested two hypotheses: 1)
      that DE-filled dustboxes placed before northern fowl mite introduction
      (prophylactic use) prevents mite populations from reaching economically damaging
      thresholds, and 2) that bird exposure to low mite numbers allows for protective
      hen immunity to develop and suppress mites after dustboxes are removed. We also
      tested if different beak trimming techniques (a commercial practice) affect mite
      growth. Mites were introduced to birds after dustboxes were made available.
      Average mite densities in flocks remained below damaging levels while dustboxes
      were available. Average mite populations rebounded after dustbox removal (even
      though DE persisted in the environment) regardless of the timing of removal. Mite
      densities on birds where a traditional hot-blade beak trimming technique was used
      (trial 1) were high. Mite densities in trial 2, where a newer precision infra-red
      trimming was used, were lower. The newer infra-red trimming method resulted in
      nearly intact beaks, which were better for mite control by bird grooming
      behaviors. The combination of early dustbox use and infra-red beak trimming
      should allow producers to avoid most mite damage in cage-free flocks.

PMID- 27630040
TI  - A one-step centrifugal ultrafiltration method to concentrate enteric viruses from
      wastewater.
AB  - A one-step centrifugal ultrafiltration method was developed to enhance rapid
      detection of human enteric viruses and co-occurring viruses in wastewater.
      Samples were collected pre- and post-UV treatment at two full-scale tertiary
      municipal wastewater treatment plants in Calgary, Canada. Viruses were
      concentrated from 100mL wastewater samples through direct centrifugation using
      the Centricon Plus-70 ultrafilter. Seven viruses, including norovirus, rotavirus,
      sapovirus, astrovirus, enterovirus, adenovirus and JC virus, were tested using
      real-time quantitative PCR (rt-qPCR) and cell culture. All of the viruses were
      detected in pre- and post-UV samples by rt-qPCR, with rotavirus the most numerous
      (6.6 log10 GE copies/L). Infectious viruses, by cell culture, were found in all
      tested pre-UV samples but only in one post-UV sample. The results were comparable
      and consistent to that obtained using virus adsorption-elution method, indicating
      that the centrifugal ultrafiltration method is adequate to retain the viruses and
      maintain their infectivity during processing. As a simple, rapid and cost
      effective method to screen wastewater viruses, this one-step centrifugal
      ultrafiltration method may serve as an effective approach to assess virus removal
      and gain knowledge of human virus activity during wastewater treatment.

PMID- 27630042
TI  - Morphological abnormalities and cell death in the Asian citrus psyllid
      (Diaphorina citri) midgut associated with Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus.
AB  - Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) is a phloem-limited, gram-negative,
      fastidious bacterium that is associated with the development of citrus greening
      disease, also known as Huanglongbing (HLB). CLas is transmitted by the Asian
      citrus psyllid (ACP) Diaphorina citri, in a circulative manner. Two major
      barriers to transmission within the insect are the midgut and the salivary
      glands. We performed a thorough microscopic analysis within the insect midgut
      following exposure to CLas-infected citrus trees. We observed changes in nuclear
      architecture, including pyknosis and karyorrhexis as well as changes to the actin
      cytoskeleton in CLas-exposed midgut cells. Further analyses showed that the
      changes are likely due to the activation of programmed cell death as assessed by
      Annexin V staining and DNA fragmentation assays. These results suggest that
      exposure to CLas-infected trees induces apoptotic responses in the psyllid midgut
      that should be further investigated. Understanding the adaptive significance of
      the apoptotic response has the potential to create new approaches for controlling
      HLB.

PMID- 27630044
TI  - "It's not very feminine to have a mustache": Experiences of Danish women with
      polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - This article explores women's lived experiences with polycystic ovary syndrome
      (PCOS) on the basis of semistructured interviews with 21 Danish women. It
      provides insights about the problems that they experienced and how they coped
      with PCOS. The interviews revealed that they were highly influenced by society's
      femininity norms. Many of them perceived their bodies as "different" because of
      the symptoms of PCOS, namely, hirsutism. They used different strategies to live
      up to body ideals and cope with the symptoms. However, hirsutism had a decisive
      negative influence on the women's everyday lives, particularly with regard to
      male partners and sexual relations.

PMID- 27630046
TI  - Antioxidant defense system parameters in isolated fish hepatocytes exposed to
      bisphenol A - Effect of vitamin C.
AB  - In this study, isolated hepatocytes of pearl mullet (Alburnus tarichi) were
      exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) at concentrations of 25, 50, 100, and 200 MUM for 24
      h. Moreover, an in vitro antioxidant concentration of vitamin C (50 MUM) was
      administrated to the culture medium along with the BPA exposures. Next, the
      antioxidant defense system parameters were analyzed. According to the results,
      the highest concentration of BPA (200 MUM) proved to be severely toxic for the
      cells. The increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-S
      transferase (GST), the fluctuated activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and
      the decreased content of reduced glutathione (GSH) were compared to the control
      group after the BPA exposures. Vitamin C co-administration was found to cause
      further increases in the SOD, GPx, and GST activities in some of the experimental
      groups and vitamin C could not restore the GSH content. Malondialdehyde (MDA)
      levels were observed to be unaffected in all exposure groups. These results show
      that BPA causes alterations in the antioxidant defenses of the isolated fish
      hepatocytes. In addition, vitamin C co-administration along with BPA was found to
      be non-protective against BPA-induced oxidative stress, consequently, aggravated
      a negative BPA impact. 

PMID- 27630045
TI  - Topoisomerases and the regulation of neural function.
AB  - Topoisomerases are unique enzymes that regulate torsional stress in DNA to enable
      essential genome functions, including DNA replication and transcription. Although
      all cells in an organism require topoisomerases to maintain normal function, the
      nervous system in particular shows a vital need for these enzymes. Indeed, a
      range of inherited human neurologic syndromes, including neurodegeneration,
      schizophrenia and intellectual impairment, are associated with aberrant
      topoisomerase function. Much remains unknown regarding the tissue-specific
      function of neural topoisomerases or the connections between these enzymes and
      disease aetiology. Precisely how topoisomerases regulate genome dynamics within
      the nervous system is therefore a crucial research question.

PMID- 27630047
TI  - Antioxidant activities of protein hydrolysates obtained from the housefly larvae.
AB  - The housefly is an important resource insect and the housefly larvae are ideal
      source of food additives. The housefly larvae protein hydrolysates were obtained
      by enzymatic hydrolysis by alcalase and neutral proteinase. Their antioxidant
      activities were investigated, including the superoxide and hydroxyl
      radicalscavenging activity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging
      activity, reducing power and metal chelating activity. The antioxidant activities
      of both hydrolysates increased with their increasing concentrations. The alcalase
      hydrolysate (AH) showed higher scavenging activities against hydroxyl radical and
      superoxide anion radical at low concentrations and higher metal-chelating
      activity than the neutral proteinase hydrolysate (NPH). The NPH exhibited higher
      scavenging activity against DPPH free radical and higher reducing power than the
      AH. Both hydrolysates showed more than 50% superoxide anion radical-scavenging
      activity at 10 MUg/mL. These results indicate that both housefly larvae protein
      hydrolysates display high antioxidant activities and they could serve as
      potential natural antioxidant food additives. 

PMID- 27630048
TI  - Schistosoma mansoni: Antiparasitic effects of orally administered Nigella sativa
      oil and/or Chroococcus turgidus extract.
AB  - Schistosoma mansoni is one of the parasites causing schistosomiasis, a disease
      which threatens millions of people all over the world. Traditional chemical drugs
      are not fully effective against schistosomaisis due to the evolving drug
      resistant worm strains, so exploring new remedies derived from natural products
      is a good way to fight schistosomiasis. In the present investigation two natural
      products, Nigella sativa oil and Chroococcus turgidus extract were used
      separately or in a combination to explore their effect on S. mansoni. The
      infected mice treated with Chroococcus turgidus extract or/and sativa seed oil
      showed a significant decrease in the total worm burden. The total number of
      deposited eggs by females of S. mansoni was significantly decreased in the liver
      of mice treated with Chroococcus turgidus extract or/and sativa seed oil.
      However, in the intestine, the number of eggs was significantly reduced in mice
      treated with algal extract and those treated with both algal extract and oil.
      Fecundity of female S. mansoni showed a significant decrease from mice treated
      with algal extract or/and sativa seed oil. According to SEM investigations the
      tegmental surface, oral and ventral suckers of worms also showed considerable
      changes; as the tubercles lost their spines, some are swollen and torn out. The
      suckers become edematous and enlarged while the tegmental surface is damaged due
      to the treatment with Chroococcus turgidus extract or/and sativa seed oil. In
      conclusion, the Nigella sativa oil and Chroococcus turgidus extract are promising
      natural compounds that can be used in fighting schistosomiasis. 

PMID- 27630043
TI  - MBOAT7 rs641738 increases risk of liver inflammation and transition to fibrosis
      in chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - Cirrhosis likely shares common pathophysiological pathways despite arising from a
      variety of liver diseases. A recent GWAS identified rs641738, a polymorphism in
      the MBOAT7 locus, as being associated with the development of alcoholic
      cirrhosis. Here we explore the role of this variant on liver inflammation and
      fibrosis in two cohorts of patients with chronic hepatitis C. In 2,051 patients,
      rs641738 associated with severe hepatic inflammation and increased risk of
      fibrosis, as well as fast fibrosis progression. At functional level, rs641738
      associated with MBOAT7 transcript and protein levels in liver and blood, and with
      serum inflammatory, oxidative stress and macrophage activation markers. MBOAT7
      was expressed in immune cell subsets, implying a role in hepatic inflammation. We
      conclude that the MBOAT7 rs641738 polymorphism is a novel risk variant for liver
      inflammation in hepatitis C, and thereby for liver fibrosis.

PMID- 27630049
TI  - New insight into the Delia platura Meigen caused alteration in nutrient content
      of soybean (Glycine max L. Merill).
AB  - Climate change has brought about an increasing level of seedcorn maggot (Delia
      platura Meigen, 1826) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) damage in Hungary. In order to have
      a more accurate understanding of the effects of these plant injuries induced by
      the larvae of D. platura, the nutrient content of soybean (Glycine max L.
      Merill.) was studied. Our results show that the moisture, raw fat, raw fibre, and
      raw ash content of the batches damaged by D. platura were significantly less in
      comparison with that of the control samples. In response to the deleterious
      effect of the insect, the infected soybean plants showed forced ripening (P =
      0.004) (P > 0.05). The difference of moisture content between damaged and control
      samples was 2.30% on average. The fact of nutritional value loss was also
      reflected by the alteration of sugar mobilisation. As the result of this
      experiment the sucrose breakdown to glucose and fructose during the germination
      was significantly slower in the damaged seeds than that of the control ones.
      Overall, this late and surprising damage caused by D. platura led to the forced
      ripening of the affected soybean plants and a significant change in their
      nutritional values. Based on the herein reported results, it is presumable that
      in cases when the current climatic extremities, which are envisaged to occur more
      frequently in the future, and effects of agricultural practices will be coincided
      in the future a qualitative change of the produced soybean batches can be
      expected through the damage caused by this fly species. 

PMID- 27630050
TI  - Characterization of community structure of culturable endophytic fungi in sweet
      cherry composite trees and their growth-retarding effect against pathogens.
AB  - Endophytic fungi have the potential to protect their host plants in stress
      situations. Characterizing the ecology and complex interaction between these
      endophytes and their host plants is therefore of great practical importance,
      particularly in horticultural plants. Among horticultural plants, fruit trees
      form a special category because of their longevity and because they are
      composites of rootstock and scion, which often belong to different plant species.
      Here we present the first characterization of culturable endophytic fungal
      community of sweet cherry. Samples from the Hungarian cultivar 'Petrus' grafted
      on 11 different rootstocks were collected in autumn and in spring in a bearing
      orchard and the dependence of colonization rate and endophyte diversity on
      rootstock, organ and season was analysed. On the basis of their ITS sequences 26
      fungal operational taxonomic units were identified at least down to the genus
      level. The dominant genus, comprising more than 50% of all isolates, was
      Alternaria, followed by different Fusarium and Epicoccum species. We observed
      some organ-specificity amongst endophytes, and organs showed more sizeable
      differences in colonization rates and endophyte diversity than rootstocks. Most
      dynamic endophyte populations, strongly influenced by environmental conditions
      and crop management, were observed in leaves. The potential of selected
      endophytes to confer protection against Monilinia laxa was also analysed and 7
      isolates were found to inhibit the growth of this pathogen in vitro. 

PMID- 27630051
TI  - Determination of zinc oxide nanoparticles toxicity in root growth in wheat
      (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings.
AB  - The effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) was studied in wheat (Triticum
      aestivum L.) seedlings under in vitro exposure conditions. To avoid precipitation
      of nanoparticles, the seedlings were grown in half strength semisolid Murashige
      and Skoog medium containing 0, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 500 mg L(-1) of ZnONPs.
      Analysis of zinc (Zn) content showed significant increase in roots. In vivo
      detection using fluorescent probe Zynpyr-1 indicated accumulation of Zn in
      primary and lateral root tips. All concentrations of ZnONPs significantly reduced
      root growth. However, significant decrease in shoot growth was observed only
      after exposure to 400 and 500 mg L(-1) of ZnONPs. The reactive oxygen species and
      lipid peroxidation levels significantly increased in roots. Significant increase
      in cell-wall bound peroxidase activity was observed after exposure to 500 mg L(
      1) of ZnONPs. Histochemical staining with phloroglucinol-HCl showed lignification
      of root cells upon exposure to 500 mg L(-1) of ZnONPs. Treatment with propidium
      iodide indicated loss of cell viability in root tips of wheat seedlings. These
      results suggest that redox imbalances, lignification and cell death has resulted
      in reduction of root growth in wheat seedlings exposed to ZnONPs nanoparticles. 

PMID- 27630052
TI  - Preculturing effect of thidiazuron on in vitro shoot multiplication and
      micropropagation round in Capparis decidua (Forsk.) an important multipurpose
      plant.
AB  - An efficient protocol was developed for clonal multiplication of an important
      shrub: Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew, through in vitro shoot induction and
      multiplication from nodal explants. Pretreatment of nodal explants in a liquid
      Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium augmented with various thidiazuron (TDZ)
      concentrations at relatively high levels (5-100 MUM) for different time duration
      (4, 8, 12 and 16 d), proved a significant approach for in vitro shoot production.
      After an initial exposure time to TDZ, nodal explants were inoculated onto a MS
      basal medium devoid of TDZ for further induction and proliferation. The highest
      regeneration rate (85%), average number of shoots/explant (8.7 +/- 0.22) and
      maximum shoot length (3.9 +/- 0.33 cm) were obtained from the nodal explants
      exposed to 50 MUM TDZ for 8 d. The nodal explants excised from the proliferated
      cultures of TDZ (50 MUM) for 8 d were used as explants and showed an enhancement
      rate after next three round of in vitro propagation. Best results for rooting was
      obtained by ex vitro treatment of shoots with 200 MUM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA)
      for 20 min. as it produced an average of 5.7 +/- 0.41 roots per microshoot with
      4.4 +/- 0.39 cm root length in 84% shoots. Different planting substrates was
      tested for maximum survival of hardening off micropropagated plantlets and
      soilrite proved most effective than others as 97.1 +/- 7.21 plantlets survived.
      All micropropagated plants grew well in natural conditions and showed similar
      morphology to the mother plant. 

PMID- 27630053
TI  - Purification and characterization of alginate lyase from locally isolated marine
      Pseudomonas stutzeri MSEA04.
AB  - An alginate lyase with high specific enzyme activity was purified from
      Pseudomonas stutzeri MSEA04, isolated from marine brown algae. The alginate lyase
      was purified by precipitation with ammonium sulphate, acetone and ethanol
      individually. 70% ethanol fraction showed maximum specific activity (133.3 U/mg).
      This fraction was re-purified by anion exchange chromatography DEAE- Cellulose A
      52. The loaded protein was separated into 3 peaks. The second protein peak was
      the major one which contained 48.2% of the total protein recovered and 79.4% of
      the total recovered activity. The collected fractions of this peak were subjected
      to further purification by re-chromatography on Sephadex G-100. Alginate lyase
      activity was fractionated in the Sephadex column into one major peak, and the
      specific activity of this fraction reached 116 U/mg. The optimal substrate
      concentration, pH and temperature for alginate lyase activity were 8 mg/ml, pH
      7.5 and 37  degrees C, respectively. While, Km and Vmax values were 1.07 mg
      alginate/ ml and 128.2 U/mg protein, respectively. The enzyme was partially
      stable below 50  degrees C, and the activity of the enzyme was strongly enhanced
      by K(+), and strongly inhibited by Ba(+2), Cd(+2), Fe(+2) and Zn(+2). The
      purified enzyme yielded a single band on SDS-PAGE with molecular weight (40.0
      kDa). 

PMID- 27630056
TI  - Reply to Comment on "Fossil Fuel Combustion-Related Emissions Dominate
      Atmospheric Ammonia Sources during Severe Haze Episodes: Evidence from 15N-Stable
      Isotope in Size-Resolved Aerosol Ammonium".

PMID- 27630054
TI  - D-galactose catabolism in Penicillium chrysogenum: Expression analysis of the
      structural genes of the Leloir pathway.
AB  - In this study, we analyzed the expression of the structural genes encoding the
      five enzymes comprising the Leloir pathway of D-galactose catabolism in the
      industrial cell factory Penicillium chrysogenum on various carbon sources. The
      genome of P. chrysogenum contains a putative galactokinase gene at the annotated
      locus Pc13g10140, the product of which shows strong structural similarity to
      yeast galactokinase that was expressed on lactose and D-galactose only. The
      expression profile of the galactose-1-phosphate uridylyl transferase gene at
      annotated locus Pc15g00140 was essentially similar to that of galactokinase. This
      is in contrast to the results from other fungi such as Aspergillus nidulans,
      Trichoderma reesei and A. niger, where the ortholog galactokinase and galactose-1
      phosphate uridylyl transferase genes were constitutively expressed. As for the
      UDP-galactose-4-epimerase encoding gene, five candidates were identified. We
      could not detect Pc16g12790, Pc21g12170 and Pc20g06140 expression on any of the
      carbon sources tested, while for the other two loci (Pc21g10370 and Pc18g01080)
      transcripts were clearly observed under all tested conditions. Like the 4
      epimerase specified at locus Pc21g10370, the other two structural Leloir pathway
      genes - UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (Pc21g12790) and phosphoglucomutase
      (Pc18g01390) - were expressed constitutively at high levels as can be expected
      from their indispensable function in fungal cell wall formation. 

PMID- 27630055
TI  - Anti-listerial effect of selected essential oils and thymol.
AB  - The anti-listerial effect of marjoram, thyme essential oils (EOs) and thymol on
      Listeria monocytogenes inoculated chicken breast fillets was investigated. Before
      inoculation the fillets were pretreated by washing or not under running tap
      water. Inoculated samples were kept at 6  degrees C for 24 h to allow the growth
      of L. monocytogenes. After this, the fillets were put in marinating solutions
      containing salt (5%) and EOs or thymol in MIC/2 concentration established in
      vitro. Total germ count (TGC) and L. monocytogenes count was monitored on the
      meat surface and in the marinating solutions following 24 and 48 h storage at 6 
      degrees C. Thyme and thymol reduced significantly Listeria cell count (1-3 log
      CFU) in both samples. They also gave good flavour to the fried meat. The doses of
      EOs used were optimal for antimicrobial efficiency and had a pleasant flavour
      effect. Washing was not efficient in reducing total germ count. 

PMID- 27630057
TI  - The use of fake ligands from computational solvent mapping in ligand and
      structure-based virtual screening.
AB  - AIM: Virtual screening selects compounds that resemble a known modulator or
      compounds that fit into the binding site of a target protein. Computational
      solvent mapping defines important chemical features for binding to a target
      protein. Results/methodology: We have tested the ability to use solvent mapping
      for generating a 'fake' ligand that is a negative image of the binding site. We
      used this fake ligand as a query for the program ROCS and to define the search
      space of the docking programs FRED and HYBRID. CONCLUSION: The fake ligands
      perform comparably to or better than the ligands from crystal structures across a
      set of ten targets. Thus, the approach is suitable for guiding virtual screening
      and hit-to-lead optimization.

PMID- 27630058
TI  - Accounting for rate-dependent category boundary shifts in speech perception.
AB  - The perception of temporal contrasts in speech is known to be influenced by the
      speech rate in the surrounding context. This rate-dependent perception is
      suggested to involve general auditory processes because it is also elicited by
      nonspeech contexts, such as pure tone sequences. Two general auditory mechanisms
      have been proposed to underlie rate-dependent perception: durational contrast and
      neural entrainment. This study compares the predictions of these two accounts of
      rate-dependent speech perception by means of four experiments, in which
      participants heard tone sequences followed by Dutch target words ambiguous
      between /alphas/ "ash" and /a:s/ "bait". Tone sequences varied in the duration of
      tones (short vs. long) and in the presentation rate of the tones (fast vs. slow).
      Results show that the duration of preceding tones did not influence target
      perception in any of the experiments, thus challenging durational contrast as
      explanatory mechanism behind rate-dependent perception. Instead, the presentation
      rate consistently elicited a category boundary shift, with faster presentation
      rates inducing more /a:s/ responses, but only if the tone sequence was
      isochronous. Therefore, this study proposes an alternative, neurobiologically
      plausible account of rate-dependent perception involving neural entrainment of
      endogenous oscillations to the rate of a rhythmic stimulus.

PMID- 27630061
TI  - From Ion-Like Ethylzinc Aluminates to [EtZn(arene)2 ]+ [Al(ORF )4 ]- Salts.
AB  - Attempts to prepare previously unknown simple and very Lewis acidic [RZn]+
      [Al(ORF )4 ]- salts from ZnR2 , AlR3 , and HO-RF delivered the ion-like
      RZn(Al(ORF )4 ) (R=Me, Et; RF =C(CF3 )3 ) with a coordinated counterion, but
      never the ionic compound. Increasing the steric bulk in RZn+ to R=CH2 CMe3 , CH2
      SiMe3 , or Cp*, thus attempting to induce ionization, failed and led only to
      reaction mixtures including anion decomposition. However, ionization of the ion
      like EtZn(Al(ORF )4 ) compound with arenes yielded the [EtZn(arene)2 ]+ [Al(ORF
      )4 ]- salts with arene=toluene, mesitylene, or o-difluorobenzene (o-DFB)/toluene.
      In contrast to the ion-like EtZn(eta3 -C6 H6 )(CHB11 Cl11 ), which co
      crystallizes with one benzene molecule, the less coordinating nature of the
      [Al(ORF )4 ]- anion allowed the ionization and preparation of the purely
      organometallic [EtZn(arene)2 ]+ cation. These stable materials have further
      applications as, for example, initiators of isobutene polymerization. DFT
      calculations to compare the Lewis acidities of the zinc cations to those of a
      large number of organometallic cations were performed on the basis of fluoride
      ion affinity. The complexation energetics of EtZn+ with arenes and THF was
      assessed and related to the experiments.

PMID- 27630060
TI  - Complex inheritance in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension patients with several
      mutations.
AB  - Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a rare and progressive disease with low
      incidence and prevalence, and elevated mortality. PAH is characterized by
      increased mean pulmonary artery pressure. The aim of this study was to analyse
      patients with combined mutations in BMPR2, ACVRL1, ENG and KCNA5 genes and to
      establish a genotype-phenotype correlation. Major genes were analysed by
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing. Genotype-phenotype
      correlation was performed. Fifty-seven (28 idiopathic PAH, 29 associated PAH
      group I) were included. Several mutations in different genes, classified as
      pathogenic by in silico analysis, were present in 26% of PAH patients. The most
      commonly involved gene was BMPR2 (12 patients) followed by ENG gene (9 patients).
      ACVRL1 and KCNA5 genes showed very low incidence of mutations (5 and 1 patients,
      respectively). Genotype-phenotype correlation showed statistically significant
      differences for gender (p = 0.045), age at diagnosis (p = 0.035), pulmonary
      vascular resistance (p = 0.030), cardiac index (p = 0.035) and absence of
      response to treatment (p = 0.011). PAH is consequence of a heterogeneous
      constellation of genetic arrangements. Patients with several pathogenic mutations
      seem to display a more severe phenotype.

PMID- 27630062
TI  - Excessive Attention to Major Complications in Frequent Dialysis: A Misleading
      Point for Patients' Quality of Life?

PMID- 27630059
TI  - Oncogenic Mutations Differentially Affect Bax Monomer, Dimer, and Oligomeric Pore
      Formation in the Membrane.
AB  - Dysfunction of Bax, a pro-apoptotic regulator of cellular metabolism is
      implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. We have constructed the
      first atomistic models of the Bax oligomeric pore consisting with experimental
      residue-residue distances. The models are stable, capturing well double electron
      electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy measurements and provide structural
      details in line with the DEER data. Comparison with the latest experimental
      results revealed that our models agree well with both Bax and Bak pores, pointed
      to a converged structural arrangement for Bax and Bak pore formation. Using multi
      scale molecular dynamics simulations, we probed mutational effects on Bax
      transformation from monomer -> dimer -> membrane pore formation at atomic
      resolution. We observe that two cancer-related mutations, G40E and S118I,
      allosterically destabilize the monomer and stabilize an off-pathway swapped
      dimer, preventing productive pore formation. This observation suggests a
      mechanism whereby the mutations may work mainly by over-stabilizing the monomer 
      > dimer transformation toward an unproductive off-pathway swapped-dimer state.
      Our observations point to misfolded Bax states, shedding light on the molecular
      mechanism of Bax mutation-elicited cancer. Most importantly, the structure of the
      Bax pore facilitates future study of releases cytochrome C in atomic detail.

PMID- 27630063
TI  - What we need to know about renal nerve ablation for treatment of hypertension and
      other states of sympathetic overactivity.
AB  - Renal nerves are key players in the regulation of kidney function and blood
      pressure control. Targeting the neurogenic mechanisms underlying hypertension and
      cardiac and renal disease has been attempted by means of surgical and
      pharmacologic approaches and most recently by catheter-based interventions aimed
      at disrupting renal sympathetic nerve traffic. The recent developments in the
      area and the relevant questions that need to be addressed to advance the field
      further are briefly reviewed in this article.

PMID- 27630065
TI  - Role of the deubiquitinating enzyme ubiquitin-specific protease-14 in
      proteostasis in renal cells.
AB  - Kidney cell injury may be associated with protein misfolding and induction of
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Examples include complement-induced glomerular
      epithelial cell (GEC)/podocyte injury in membranous nephropathy and ischemia
      reperfusion injury. Renal cell injury can also result from mutations in integral
      proteins, which lead to their misfolding and accumulation. Certain nephrin
      missense mutants misfold, accumulate in the ER, and induce ER stress. We examined
      if enhancement of ubiquitin-proteasome system function may facilitate
      proteostasis and confer protection against injury. Ubiquitin-specific protease 14
      (Usp14) is reported to retard proteasomal protein degradation. Thus inhibition of
      Usp14 may enhance degradation of misfolded proteins and attenuate cell injury. In
      GEC, the reporter proteins GFPu (a "misfolded" protein) and CD3delta (an ER
      associated degradation substrate) undergo time-dependent proteasomal degradation.
      Complement did not affect degradation of CD3delta-yellow fluorescent protein
      (YFP), but accelerated degradation of GFPu, and the Usp14-directed inhibitor IU1
      further accelerated this degradation. Conversely, overexpression of Usp14 reduced
      degradation of GFPu and CD3delta-YFP. In 293T cells, IU1 did not enhance
      degradation of disease-associated nephrin missense mutants I171N and S724C,
      whereas overexpression of Usp14 reduced degradation. IU1 was cytoprotective after
      injury induced by the ER stressor tunicamycin and in vitro ischemia-reperfusion,
      but did not affect complement-induced cytotoxicity. In conclusion, Usp14 controls
      proteasomal degradation of some misfolded proteins. In addition, a Usp14-directed
      inhibitor reduces cytotoxicity in the context of global protein misfolding during
      certain types of renal cell injury.

PMID- 27630066
TI  - Epidemic of fractures during a period of snow and ice: has anything changed 33
      years on?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We reproduced a frequently cited study that was published in the
      British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 1981 assessing the extent of 'snow-and-ice'
      fractures during the winter period. SETTING: This study aims to provide an
      insight into how things have changed within the same emergency department (ED) by
      comparing the findings of the BMJ paper published 33 years ago with the present
      date. PARTICIPANTS: As per the original study, all patients presenting to the ED
      with a radiological evidence of fracture during three different 4-day periods
      were included. The three 4-day periods included 4 days of snow-and-ice conditions
      and two control 4-day periods when snow and ice was not present; the first was 4
      days within the same year, with a similar amount of sunshine hours, and the
      second was 4 days 1 calendar year later. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:
      To identify the frequency, distribution and pattern of fractures sustained in
      snow-and-ice conditions compared to control conditions as well as comparisons
      with the index study 33 years ago. RESULTS: A total of 293 patients with
      fractures were identified. Overall, there was a 2.20 (CI 1.7 to 3.0, p <0.01)
      increase in risk of fracture during snow-and-ice periods compared to control
      conditions. There was an increase (p <0.01) of fractures of the arm, forearm and
      wrist (RR 3.2 (CI 1.4 to 7.6) and 2.9 (CI 1.5 to 5.4) respectively). CONCLUSIONS:
      While the relative risk was not of the magnitude 33 years ago, the overall number
      of patients presenting with a fracture during snow-and-ice conditions remains
      more than double compared to control conditions. This highlights the need for
      improved understanding of the impact of increased fracture burden on hospitals
      and more effective preventative measures.

PMID- 27630064
TI  - MRI tools for assessment of microstructure and nephron function of the kidney.
AB  - MRI can provide excellent detail of renal structure and function. Recently, novel
      MR contrast mechanisms and imaging tools have been developed to evaluate
      microscopic kidney structures including the tubules and glomeruli. Quantitative
      MRI can assess local tubular function and is able to determine the concentrating
      mechanism of the kidney noninvasively in real time. Measuring single nephron
      function is now a near possibility. In parallel to advancing imaging techniques
      for kidney microstructure is a need to carefully understand the relationship
      between the local source of MRI contrast and the underlying physiological change.
      The development of these imaging markers can impact the accurate diagnosis and
      treatment of kidney disease. This study reviews the novel tools to examine kidney
      microstructure and local function and demonstrates the application of these
      methods in renal pathophysiology.

PMID- 27630067
TI  - Transition into and out of daylight saving time and spontaneous delivery: a
      population-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the circadian rhythm disruption following the
      transition into and out of daylight saving time (DST) is associated with an
      increased risk of spontaneous delivery. DESIGN: We compared the number of
      spontaneous deliveries in the Swedish Medical Birth Register during the week
      after the change to and the week after the change from DST (exposure periods)
      with the average number of spontaneous deliveries in the control period, defined
      as the week before and the week after each exposure period. SETTING: Sweden, 1993
      2006. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were the
      weekly and the daily number of spontaneous deliveries in the exposure and the
      control periods. In secondary analyses we also compared the mean length of
      pregnancy of the women with spontaneous deliveries in the exposure and control
      periods. RESULTS: The number of deliveries during the week after the transition
      into or out of DST was similar to that in the comparison period (18 519 observed
      vs 18 434 expected in case of the spring shift and 19 073 observed vs 19 122
      expected in case of the autumn shift); the corresponding incidence ratio and 95%
      CIs were 1.005 (0.990 to 1.019) and 0.997 (0.983 to 1.012), respectively. There
      were no differences in the length of gestation of the deliveries in the exposure
      and the control periods. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not support the hypothesis
      that a minor circadian rhythm disruption is associated with an increased short
      term risk of spontaneous delivery.

PMID- 27630068
TI  - HIV testing history and preferences for future tests among gay men, bisexual men
      and other MSM in England: results from a cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The British HIV Association's (BHIVA) testing guidelines recommend
      men who have sex with men (MSM) test annually or more frequently if ongoing risk
      is present. We identify which groups of MSM in England are less likely to have
      tested for HIV and their preferences for future tests by testing model, in order
      to inform health promotion programmes. METHODS: Data come from the Gay Men's Sex
      Survey 2014, a cross-sectional survey of MSM, aged 16 years or older and living
      in the UK. Only men who did not have diagnosed HIV and were living in England
      were included in this analysis. We used logistic regression models to understand
      how social determinants of health were associated with not testing for HIV in the
      past 12 months, and never having tested. We then cross-tabulated preferred
      testing location by demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Younger men, older men
      and men who were not gay identified were least likely to have tested for HIV.
      Higher educational attainment, migrancy, Black ethnicity and being at higher of
      risk were associated with greater levels of HIV testing. Men who were less likely
      to have tested for HIV preferred a wider range of options for future HIV testing.
      CONCLUSIONS: If the BHIVA's HIV testing policy of 2008 was used to guide testing
      priorities among MSM focus would be on increasing the rate of annual testing
      among MSM at less risk of HIV (ie, younger men, older men and non-gay identified
      MSM). Instead the promotion of more frequent testing among the groups most at
      risk of infection should be prioritised in order to reduce the time between
      infection and diagnosis.

PMID- 27630069
TI  - Development of an active behavioural physiotherapy intervention (ABPI) for acute
      whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) II management: a modified Delphi study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop an active behavioural physiotherapy intervention (ABPI) for
      managing acute whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) II using a modified Delphi
      method to develop consensus for the basic features of the ABPI. DESIGN: Modified
      Delphi study. Our systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating conservative
      management for acute WADII found that a combined ABPI may be a useful
      intervention to prevent patients progressing to chronicity. No previous research
      has considered a combined behavioural approach and active physiotherapy in the
      management of acute WADII patients. The ABPI was therefore developed using a
      rigorous consensus method using international research and local clinical
      whiplash experts. Descriptive statistics were used to assess consensus in each
      round. SETTING: Online international survey. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of
      97 potential participants (aiming to recruit n=30) consisting of international
      research whiplash experts, UK private physiotherapists and UK postgraduate
      musculoskeletal physiotherapy students were invited to participate via electronic
      mail with an attached participant information sheet and consent form. RESULTS: 36
      individuals signed and returned the consent form. In round 1, 32/36 participants
      (response rate=89%, mean age+/-SD=36.03+/-13.22 years) across 8 countries
      (Australia, Finland, Greece, India, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK)
      contributed to round 1 questionnaire. Response rates were 78% and 75% for rounds
      2 and 3, respectively. Following round 3, 12 underlying principles (eg, return to
      normal function as soon as possible, pain management, encouragement of self
      management, reduce fear avoidance and anxiety) achieved consensus. The treatment
      components reaching consensus included behavioural (eg, education, reassurance,
      self-management) and physiotherapy components (eg, exercises for stability and
      mobility). No passive intervention achieved consensus. CONCLUSIONS: Experts
      suggested and agreed the underlying principles and treatment components of the
      ABPI for the management of acute WADII. The ABPI was underpinned by social
      cognitive theory focusing on self-efficacy enhancement prior to conducting a
      phase II trial.

PMID- 27630070
TI  - Proportion of neonatal readmission attributed to length of stay for childbirth: a
      population-based cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Most literature on length of stay (LOS) for childbirth focuses on
      'early' discharge as opposed to 'optimal' time of discharge and has conflicting
      results due to heterogeneous definitions of 'early' discharge and differing
      eligibility criteria for these programmes. We aimed to determine the LOS
      associated with the lowest neonatal readmission rate following childbirth by
      examining the incidence pattern of neonatal readmission for different LOS using
      the Kitagawa decomposition. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using
      administrative hospitalisation data. SETTING: Canada (excluding Quebec) from 2003
      to 2010. PATIENTS: Term, singleton live births without congenital anomalies.
      INTERVENTIONS: LOS for childbirth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Neonatal readmissions
      within 30 days of birth. RESULTS: 1 875 322 live births were included. Neonatal
      LOS peaked at day 1 (47.3%) after vaginal birth and day 3 (49.3%) following
      caesarean section; 4.2% of infants were readmitted following vaginal birth and
      2.2% after caesarean section. In 2008-2010, most readmissions occurred among
      infants discharged in the first 2 days (83.8%) following a vaginal birth and
      among infants discharged in the first 3 days (81.7%) following a caesarean birth.
      Readmissions increased from 4.1% in 2003-2005 to 4.6% in 2008-2010 among vaginal
      births and from 2.0% to 2.4% among caesarean births and occurred mostly due to
      changes in the day-specific readmission rates and not due to reductions in LOS.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of readmission suggest that readmission rates are lowest
      following a 1-2-day stay following a vaginal birth and a 2-4-day stay following a
      caesarean birth given the outpatient support in the community.

PMID- 27630071
TI  - Investigating the feasibility of an enhanced contact intervention in self-harm
      and suicidal behaviour: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial delivering a
      Social support and Wellbeing Intervention following Self Harm (SWISH).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Self-harm is a strong predictor for suicide. Risks for repeat
      behaviour are heightened in the aftermath of an index episode. There is no
      consensus on the most effective type of intervention to reduce repetition.
      Treatment options for patients who do not require secondary mental health
      services include no support, discharge to general practitioner or referral to
      primary care mental health support services. The aim of this study is to assess
      whether it is feasible to deliver a brief intervention after an episode and
      whether this can reduce depressive symptoms and increase the sense of well-being
      for patients who self-harm. METHODS: This is a non-blinded parallel group
      randomised clinical trial. 120 patients presenting with self-harm and/or suicidal
      ideation to mental health services over a 12-month period who are not referred to
      secondary services will be randomised to either intervention plus treatment as
      usual (TAU), or control (TAU only). Patients are assessed at baseline, 4 and 12
      weeks with standardised measures to collect data on depression, well-being and
      service use. Primary outcome is depression scores and secondary outcomes are well
      being scores and use of services. The findings will indicate whether a rapid
      response brief intervention is feasible and can reduce depression and increase
      well-being among patients who self-harm and do not require secondary services.
      ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was granted by the UK National Health
      Service (NHS) Ethics Committee process (REC 6: 14/WA/0074). The findings of the
      trial will be disseminated through presentations to the participating Health
      Board and partners, peer-reviewed journals and national and international
      conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN76914248; Pre-results.

PMID- 27630072
TI  - Is peripheral access for apheresis procedures underutilized in clinical practice?
      A single centre experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The majority of reports regarding general vascular access choices for
      apheresis procedures argue that peripheral venous access should be considered
      first. However, the clinical reality appears to be different. While some
      procedures mandate central vascular access (e.g., therapeutic apheresis
      procedures in critically ill patients) and in some cases it is the patient's
      preference, we propose that the majority of elective procedures can be
      successfully performed peripherally. PURPOSE: To establish the feasibility and
      suitability of peripheral access for different apheresis procedures, undertaken
      in elective or emergency settings. METHODS: The choice of vascular access devices
      and cannulation sites were analysed retrospectively from all apheresis procedures
      performed between January 2014 and December 2015 at a single institution.
      RESULTS: Over 2 years a total of 3714 procedures were performed on 1061 patients.
      Absolute number of procedures (percentage) done peripherally: autologous and
      allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell harvest-400 (88%) and 458 (97%)
      respectively; mononuclear cell harvest-88 (93%); automated red cell exchange-1954
      (80%); therapeutic plasma exchange-766 (26%); white blood cell depletion-48
      (71%). Choice of vascular access for all procedures (absolute number
      [percentage]): peripheral and ultrasound-guided peripheral deep vein cannulation
      2683 (72%); central venous catheter access: femoral-331 (9%); jugular-511 (14%);
      subclavian-2 (<1%); double-lumen port-187 (5%). Peripheral access in all
      apheresis procedures (emergency and elective) was 72%; for purely elective
      procedures this number increased to 80% to 97%, depending on the procedure.
      CONCLUSION: In our institution the majority of elective apheresis procedures are
      successfully performed using peripheral access.

PMID- 27630074
TI  - The EASE Quality Improvement Project: Improving Safe Sleep Practices in Ohio
      Children's Hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations, many
      hospitalized infants are not observed in the appropriate safe sleep environment.
      Caregivers tend to model sleep patterns observed in a hospital setting. This
      project assessed the change in infant safe sleep practices within 6 children's
      hospitals after the implementation of a statewide quality improvement program.
      METHODS: The AAP recruited hospitalists from each of the state's children's
      hospitals and asked them to form "safe sleep teams" within their institutions.
      Teams used a standardized data tool to collect information on the infant's age
      and sleep position/environment. They collected baseline data and then weekly for
      the duration of the 12-month project. Teams were required to implement at least 3
      Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. We calculated changes in safe sleep practices over
      time. Providers received Maintenance of Certification Part IV credit for
      participation. RESULTS: Teams collected 5343 audits at all participating sites.
      At baseline, only 279 (32.6%) of 856 of the sleeping infants were observed to
      follow AAP recommendations, compared with 110 (58.2%) of 189 (P < .001) at the
      project's conclusion. The presence of empty cribs was the greatest improvement
      (38.1% to 67.2%) (P < .001). Removing loose blankets (77.8% to 50.0%) (P < .001)
      was the most common change made. Audits also showed an increase in education of
      families about safe sleep practices from 48.2% to 75.4% (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Multifactorial interventions by hospitalist teams in a multi-institutional
      program within 1 state's children's hospitals improved observed infant safe sleep
      behaviors and family report of safe sleep education. These behavior changes may
      lead to more appropriate safe sleep practices at home.

PMID- 27630075
TI  - Disorder-Specific Alteration in White Matter Structural Property in Adults With
      Autism Spectrum Disorder Relative to Adults With ADHD and Adult Controls.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) are not only often comorbid but also overlapped in behavioral and
      cognitive abnormalities. Little is known about whether these shared phenotypes
      are based on common or different underlying neuropathologies. Therefore, this
      study aims to examine the disorder-specific alterations in white matter (WM)
      structural property. METHOD: The three comparison groups included 23 male adults
      with ASD (21.4 +/- 3.1 years), 32 male adults with ADHD (23.4 +/- 3.3 years), and
      29 age-matched healthy male controls (22.4 +/- 3.3 years). After acquisition of
      the diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI), whole brain tractography was reconstructed
      by a tract-based automatic analysis. Generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA)
      values were computed to indicate tract-specific WM property with adjusted P value
      < 0.05 for false discovery rate correction. RESULTS: Post hoc analyses revealed
      that men with ASD exhibited significant lower GFA values than men with ADHD and
      male controls in six identified fiber tracts: the right arcuate fasciculus, right
      cingulum (hippocampal part), anterior commissure, and three callosal fibers
      (ventrolateral prefrontal cortex part, precentral part, superior temporal part).
      There was no significant difference in the GFA values of any of the fiber tracts
      between men with ADHD and controls. In men with ASD, the GFA values of the right
      arcuate fasciculus and right cingulum (hippocampal part) were negatively
      associated with autistic social-deficit symptoms, and the anterior commissure GFA
      value was positively correlated with intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      highlights the disorder-specific alteration of the microstructural property of WM
      tracts in male adults with ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:384-395, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27630076
TI  - Efficient Radiation by Electrically Small Antennas made of Coupled Split-ring
      Resonators.
AB  - In this paper, coupled split-ring resonators (SRRs) are used to construct the
      electrically small antennas. We show that through strong magnetic coupling, the
      coupled SRRs composite can oscillate at a wavelength much larger than its total
      size. Due to its magnetic dipole feature, the coupled SRRs composite allows the
      electromagnetic (EM) power to radiate and hence forms the electrically small
      antenna (ESA). Because of the high-Q resonance, the ESA could be easily matched
      to the driving circuit in the microwave region, through mutual induction
      approach. We also demonstrate that the radiation efficiency of such ESAs can be
      drastically improved if the current distribution on individual SRRs is similar,
      which is achievable by carefully designing the ESAs. From our simulations and
      experimental measurements, the ESAs' radiation efficiency can reach up to 41%,
      with relative footprint of 0.05lambda0 * 0.05lambda0. Our approach would be an
      effective way to realize ESAs with high efficiency, which can be implemented on
      chip through the standard planar lithography.

PMID- 27630073
TI  - Body Composition and BMI Growth Charts in Children With Down Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: New US Down syndrome (DS) BMI growth charts were
      recently published, but their utility in identifying children with excess
      adiposity or increased cardiometabolic risk (CMR) remains unknown. We sought to
      compare the ability of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) BMI
      85th percentile and DS-specific BMI 85th percentile to identify excess adiposity
      in children with DS. METHODS: Participants with DS aged 10 to 20 years were
      enrolled in a cross-sectional CMR study. Data from typically developing children
      enrolled in the Bone Mineral Density in Childhood Study (BMDCS) were used for
      comparison. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess the CDC BMI
      85th percentile in the BMDCS and DS groups, and the DS-specific BMI 85th
      percentile in the DS group, relative to fat mass index (FMI) >=80th percentile, a
      threshold associated with increased CMR. RESULTS: Included were 121 DS
      participants (age 14.8 +/- 3.3 years, 57% girls) and 7978 BMDCS reference data
      points (age 15.0 +/- 3.0 years, 51.3% girls). The CDC BMI 85th percentile
      identified FMI >=80th percentile with 96.9% sensitivity and 87.4% specificity in
      typically developing children. Similarly, the CDC BMI 85th percentile identified
      FMI >=80th percentile with 100% sensitivity and 78.3% specificity in children
      with DS. In contrast, the sensitivity of the DS-specific BMI 85th percentile was
      only 62.3% (P < .0001), but was 100% specific. CONCLUSIONS: For children with DS
      >=10 years, the CDC BMI growth chart 85th percentile is a better indicator of
      excess adiposity, than the new DS-specific BMI charts. Additional studies are
      needed to clarify the relationships of BMI and FMI with CMR in DS.

PMID- 27630077
TI  - Chromones: A Promising Ring System for New Anti-inflammatory Drugs.
AB  - The quest for safer anti-inflammatory drugs is still the focus of several
      medicinal chemistry programs. Chromones (4H-chromen-4-ones) are a group of
      naturally occurring compounds ubiquitous in plants, and the chromone core has
      proven to be a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry. Herein we provide an
      overview of the relevance of chromones as anti-inflammatory agents, specifically
      as inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX), 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), interleukin-5 (IL
      5), and nitric oxide (. NO) production. Numerous structure-activity relationships
      and mechanisms of action are discussed. This review is therefore intended to
      provide a foundation for the design and synthesis of novel chromone-based
      compound libraries for further development into safer and more efficient anti
      inflammatory agents.

PMID- 27630078
TI  - Sodium and Manganese Stoichiometry of P2-Type Na2/3 MnO2.
AB  - To realize a reversible solid-state Mn(III/IV) redox couple in layered oxides, co
      operative Jahn-Teller distortion (CJTD) of six-coordinate Mn(III) (t2g (3) -eg
      (1) ) is a key factor in terms of structural and physical properties. We develop
      a single-phase synthesis route for two polymorphs, namely distorted and
      undistorted P2-type Na2/3 MnO2 having different Mn stoichiometry, and investigate
      how the structural and stoichiometric difference influences electrochemical
      reaction. The distorted Na2/3 MnO2 delivers 216 mAh g(-1) as a 3 V class positive
      electrode, reaching 590 Wh (kg oxide)(-1) with excellent cycle stability in a non
      aqueous Na cell and demonstrates better electrochemical behavior compared to
      undistorted Na2/3 MnO2 . Furthermore, reversible phase transitions correlated
      with CJTD are found upon (de)sodiation for distorted Na2/3 MnO2 , providing a new
      insight into utilization of the Mn(III/IV) redox couple for positive electrodes
      of Na-ion batteries.

PMID- 27630079
TI  - Multifunctional 3D printing of heterogeneous hydrogel structures.
AB  - Multimaterial additive manufacturing or three-dimensional (3D) printing of
      hydrogel structures provides the opportunity to engineer geometrically dependent
      functionalities. However, current fabrication methods are mostly limited to one
      type of material or only provide one type of functionality. In this paper, we
      report a novel method of multimaterial deposition of hydrogel structures based on
      an aspiration-on-demand protocol, in which the constitutive multimaterial
      segments of extruded filaments were first assembled in liquid state by sequential
      aspiration of inks into a glass capillary, followed by in situ gel formation. We
      printed different patterned objects with varying chemical, electrical,
      mechanical, and biological properties by tuning process and material related
      parameters, to demonstrate the abilities of this method in producing
      heterogeneous and multi-functional hydrogel structures. Our results show the
      potential of proposed method in producing heterogeneous objects with spatially
      controlled functionalities while preserving structural integrity at the switching
      interface between different segments. We anticipate that this method would
      introduce new opportunities in multimaterial additive manufacturing of hydrogels
      for diverse applications such as biosensors, flexible electronics, tissue
      engineering and organ printing.

PMID- 27630081
TI  - Different dermoscopic patterns of cutaneous melanoma metastases in the same
      patient.

PMID- 27630080
TI  - Osteoclastic-like giant cells in a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 27630082
TI  - POEMS syndrome.

PMID- 27630083
TI  - Post-modern therapeutic approaches for progressive myoclonus epilepsy.
AB  - While the PME are arguably the severest epilepsies and neurological disorders,
      the vast majority are monogenic. Additionally, many affect straightforward
      biochemical pathways. Finally, by definition, they occur in previously healthy
      and well-developed brains. As such, their therapies should be easier than in
      complex, albeit often less severe, neurological developmental disorders where the
      complex, poorly understood, and extremely difficult-to-correct, neural network of
      the brain is affected. This last article reviews the latest cutting edge
      technologies in monogenic disease therapy, with some examples provided applicable
      to a number of disease. It aims to give a sense of where we are and how much
      closer we are, to the goal of making an actual organic difference.

PMID- 27630084
TI  - Expertise Revisited.

PMID- 27630086
TI  - Alzheimer's Research UK 2016 Conference report.
AB  - The annual Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) Conference was hosted by the Manchester
      and North West Network Centre on March 8-9, 2016. In this report, we provide a
      summary of the research presented.

PMID- 27630085
TI  - Plasma cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 are associated with the development of
      acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with severe traumatic brain
      injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk of the
      development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). TBI and ARDS
      pathophysiologic mechanisms are known to independently involve significant
      inflammatory responses. The literature on the association between plasma
      inflammatory cytokines and ARDS in patients with TBI is sparse. METHODS: The
      study was a secondary analysis of the safety of a randomized trial of
      erythropoietin and transfusion threshold in patients with severe TBI.
      Inflammatory markers within the first 24 hours after injury were compared in
      patients who developed ARDS and patients without ARDS, using Cox proportional
      hazards models. RESULTS: There were 200 patients enrolled in the study. The
      majority of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytokine levels were obtained
      within 6 hours. Plasma proinflammatory markers IL-6 and IL-8 and anti
      inflammatory marker IL-10 were associated with the development of ARDS (adjusted
      hazard ratio (HR) = 1.55, confidence interval (CI) = 1.14, 2.11, P = 0.005 for IL
      6; adjusted HR = 1.32, CI = 1.10, 1.59, P = 0.003 for IL-8). CONCLUSION: Plasma
      markers of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 are associated with ARDS in patients with severe
      TBI. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00313716 registered 4/2006.

PMID- 27630087
TI  - Distribution patterns of metastases in recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes in
      patients with squamous cell esophageal cancer.
AB  - Esophageal cancers frequently metastasize to recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph
      nodes (RLNNs). Knowledge of anatomic metastatic RLNN (mRLNN) distributions is
      needed for lymph node dissection during esophageal cancer surgery. Among 189
      patients with esophageal cancer who underwent esophagectomy between 2008 and
      2010, 51 (27.0%) had mRLNN. Sixty-four mRLNNs (right, 31; left, 33) were
      identified via preoperative computed tomography (CT); more than 2 unilateral
      metastases and/or nodes with unclear boundaries were excluded. Anatomical
      characteristics, including vertical distance from the sternal notch level,
      circumferential angle to the mid-sagittal tracheal plane, and short and long
      axes, were measured via CT. Respective mean right and left vertical distances
      from the sternal notch were +2.0 +/- 13.1 mm and -14.5 +/- 23.8 mm (p = 0.0006).
      Left mRLNNs existed in vertically wider and inferior areas along recurrent
      laryngeal nerve, compared to right mRLNNs. The respective mean right and left
      circumferential angles around the trachea (from the anterior mid-sagittal plane)
      were 137.2 +/- 11.2 degrees  and 94.3 +/- 31.6 degrees  (p < 0.0001). Left mRLNNs
      were distributed more widely around the trachea, especially anteriorly. The short
      axes were larger for right mRLNNs than for left mRLNNs (8.6 mm vs. 6.8 mm, p =
      0.026). Compared with the right side, left mRLNNs were smaller and had a
      vertically longer and circumferentially wider distribution. Careful attention
      should be given to the left side during curative RLNN dissection.

PMID- 27630088
TI  - Beyond the Direct Activation of Cannabinoid Receptors: New Strategies to Modulate
      the Endocannabinoid System in CNS-Related Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) are signalling
      lipids which belong to the class of endocannabinoids (ECs) and exert their
      actions by activating cannabinoid receptor type-1 (CB1) and type-2 (CB2). These
      receptors are involved in many physiological and pathological processes in the
      central nervous system (CNS) and in peripheral organs. Despite many potent and
      selective ligands for cannabinoid receptors have been generated over the last two
      decades, this class of compounds achieved only a very limited therapeutic
      success, mainly because of the CB1- mediated side effects. METHODS: The compounds
      and results presented in this review article have been gathered from an extensive
      research in public databases for patents, clinical trials and scientific
      literature. Reference to patent numbers, clinical trial registry numbers,
      websites and scientific articles is provided in the text and/or in the reference
      section. RESULTS: Over the last 10-15 years, many inhibitors for the main EC
      hydrolytic enzymes fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), monoacylglycerol lipase
      (MAGL), alpha,beta-hydrolase domain-6 (ABHD6) and -12 (ABHD12) have been
      synthesized and characterized in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, other targets
      have been explored for the modulation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Among
      them, several novel inhibitors for COX-2, diacylglycerol lipases and the putative
      endocannabinoid membrane transporter have been described in the literature.
      Polypharmacological approaches which combine mild or reversible inhibition of at
      least two of these targets are also under investigation. CONCLUSIONS: The ECS
      offers several therapeutic opportunities beyond the direct activation of
      cannabinoid receptors. The modulation of EC levels in vivo represents an
      interesting therapeutic perspective for several CNS-related diseases. Based on
      the literature and patent literature this review provides an overview of the
      different classes of inhibitors for FAAH, MAGL, ABHDs and COX-2 used as tool
      compounds and for clinical development with a special focus on CNS-related
      diseases.

PMID- 27630090
TI  - Challenges to validity in single-group interrupted time series analysis.
AB  - RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Single-group interrupted time series analysis
      (ITSA) is a popular evaluation methodology in which a single unit of observation
      is studied; the outcome variable is serially ordered as a time series, and the
      intervention is expected to "interrupt" the level and/or trend of the time
      series, subsequent to its introduction. The most common threat to validity is
      history-the possibility that some other event caused the observed effect in the
      time series. Although history limits the ability to draw causal inferences from
      single ITSA models, it can be controlled for by using a comparable control group
      to serve as the counterfactual. METHOD: Time series data from 2 natural
      experiments (effect of Florida's 2000 repeal of its motorcycle helmet law on
      motorcycle fatalities and California's 1988 Proposition 99 to reduce cigarette
      sales) are used to illustrate how history biases results of single-group ITSA
      results-as opposed to when that group's results are contrasted to those of a
      comparable control group. RESULTS: In the first example, an external event
      occurring at the same time as the helmet repeal appeared to be the cause of a
      rise in motorcycle deaths, but was only revealed when Florida was contrasted with
      comparable control states. Conversely, in the second example, a decreasing trend
      in cigarette sales prior to the intervention raised question about a treatment
      effect attributed to Proposition 99, but was reinforced when California was
      contrasted with comparable control states. CONCLUSIONS: Results of single-group
      ITSA should be considered preliminary, and interpreted with caution, until a more
      robust study design can be implemented.

PMID- 27630089
TI  - HSV-2 glycoprotein gD targets the CC domain of tetherin and promotes tetherin
      degradation via lysosomal pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HSV-2 is the major cause of genital herpes. We previously
      demonstrated that the host viral restriction factor tetherin restricts HSV-2
      release and is antagonized by several HSV-2 glycoproteins. However, the
      mechanisms underlying HSV-2 glycoproteins mediated counteraction of tetherin
      remain unclear. In this study, we investigated whether tetherin restricts the
      cell-to-cell spread of HSV-2 and the mechanisms underlying HSV-2 gD mediated
      antagonism of tetherin. METHODS: Infectious center assays were used to test
      whether tetherin could affect cell-to-cell spread of HSV-2. Coimmunoprecipitation
      assays were performed to map the tetherin domains required for HSV-2 gD-mediated
      downregulation. Immunoflurence assays were performed to detect the accumulation
      of tetherin in lysosomes or proteasomes. All experiments were repeated for at
      least three times and the data were performed statistical analysis. RESULTS: 1)
      Tetherin restricts cell-to-cell spread of HSV-2; 2) HSV-2 gD specifically
      interacts with the CC domain of tetherin; 3) HSV-2 gD promotes tetherin to the
      lysosomal degradation pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Tetherin not only restricts HSV-2
      release but also its cell-to-cell spread. In turn, HSV-2 gD targets the CC domain
      of tetherin and promotes its degradation in the lysosome. Findings in this study
      have increased our understanding of tetherin restriction and viral
      countermeasures.

PMID- 27630091
TI  - Active lung volume recruitment to preserve vital capacity in Duchenne muscular
      dystrophy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To consider the effect of active lung volume recruitment ("air
      stacking") on rate of decline in vital capacity. DESIGN: Retrospective cross
      sectional design. PATIENTS: People with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. METHODS:
      Vital capacity was measured at every patient visit and then graphed. Air stacking
      using volume-preset ventilation or manual resuscitator bag was introduced to all
      patients after their vital capacity plateaued (reached a lifetime maximum).
      RESULTS: For 151 consecutive patients with multi-year data, the 1-year rate of
      greatest decline in post-plateau vital capacity was 104 ml (8.8%)/year and
      occurred from age 20 to 21 years. For 53 patients with multi-visit data for whom
      air stacking was begun at the immediate post-plateau visit, the 1-year rate of
      greatest decline in vital capacity was 118 ml (8.5%) and occurred from age 20 to
      21 years. Between annual visits, vital capacity and maximum insufflation capacity
      increased 26.4% and 43.3% of the time, respectively. The peak of maximal vital
      capacity decline occurred more than 5 years later than previously reported
      without air stacking. CONCLUSION: For patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy,
      active lung volume recruitment may help to preserve vital capacity. Effects on
      post-plateau vital capacity may be a useful outcome measure for therapeutic
      trials.

PMID- 27630092
TI  - Maxillary overdentures supported by four or six implants in the anterior region:
      5-year results from a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare a four- and six-implant maxillary overdenture after an
      observation period of 5 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty subjects with
      functional problems concerning their maxillary denture, who had ample bone volume
      in the anterior region to place four or six implants, were included and randomly
      assigned to either group. Implant and overdenture survival, clinical performance,
      marginal bone loss and patient satisfaction were assessed. RESULTS: Forty-six
      patients completed the 5-year follow-up. One implant failed in the six implants
      group (99.2% survival) and none in the four implants group (100% survival). No
      overdentures had to be replaced during the observation period and the number of
      complications was limited. Clinical function was good, with no difference in
      clinical parameters between the groups. Mean marginal bone resorption was 0.50 +/
      0.37 and 0.52 +/- 0.43 mm in the four and six implant group respectively.
      CONCLUSION: In patients with functional complaints of their maxillary denture,
      bar-supported overdentures on four implants in the anterior maxillary region were
      not inferior to overdentures supported by six implants after 5 years of function.
      Implant survival and patient satisfaction were high, clinical parameters
      favourable, bone loss and complications to the denture were minor in both groups
      (Clinical trial registration number: NTR2969).

PMID- 27630093
TI  - TAMIS of a rectal haemangioma - a video vignette.

PMID- 27630094
TI  - Labial swelling: a rare presentation of pubic bone tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB), being a global health problem, represents variedly. Its
      presentation as a labial swelling secondary to pubic bone TB has been reported
      rarely in literature. We report a case of pubic bone TB presenting as a labial
      swelling in a woman of reproductive age. Early diagnosis with fine needle
      aspiration cytology, acid-fast bacillus (AFB) staining, AFB culture and magnetic
      resonance imaging with early initiation of treatment resulted in a favourable
      outcome.

PMID- 27630097
TI  - Detecting and Trapping of a Single C. elegans Worm in a Microfluidic Chip for
      Automated Microplate Dispensing.
AB  - Microfluidic devices offer new technical possibilities for a precise manipulation
      of Caenorhabditis elegans due to the comparable length scale. C. elegans is a
      small, free-living nematode worm that is a popular model system for genetic,
      genomic, and high-throughput experimental studies of animal development and
      neurobiology. In this paper, we demonstrate a microfluidic system in
      polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for dispensing of a single C. elegans worm into a 96
      well plate. It consists of two PDMS layers, a flow and a control layer. Using
      five microfluidic pneumatic valves in the control layer, a single worm is trapped
      upon optical detection with a pair of optical fibers integrated perpendicular to
      the constriction channel and then dispensed into a microplate well with a
      dispensing tip attached to a robotic handling system. Due to its simple design
      and facile fabrication, we expect that our microfluidic chip can be expanded to a
      multiplexed dispensation system of C. elegans worms for high-throughput drug
      screening.

PMID- 27630096
TI  - Feasibility of supervised self-testing using an oral fluid-based HIV rapid
      testing method: a cross-sectional, mixed method study among pregnant women in
      rural India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: HIV self-testing can increase coverage of essential HIV services.
      This study aimed to establish the acceptability, concordance and feasibility of
      supervised HIV self-testing among pregnant women in rural India. METHODS: A cross
      sectional, mixed methods study was conducted among 202 consenting pregnant women
      in a rural Indian hospital between August 2014 and January 2015. Participants
      were provided with instructions on how to self-test using OraQuick((r)) HIV
      antibody test, and subsequently asked to self-test under supervision of a
      community health worker. Test results were confirmed at a government-run
      integrated counselling and testing centre. A questionnaire was used to obtain
      information on patient demographics and the ease, acceptability and difficulties
      of self-testing. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of 35
      participants to understand their experiences. RESULTS: In total, 202 participants
      performed the non-invasive, oral fluid-based, rapid test under supervision for
      HIV screening. Acceptance rate was 100%. Motivators for self-testing included:
      ease of testing (43.4%), quick results (27.3%) and non-invasive procedure
      (23.2%). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% for 201 tests, and one test was
      invalid. Concordance of test result interpretation between community health
      workers and participants was 98.5% with a Cohen's Kappa (k) value of k=0.566 with
      p<0.001 for inter-rater agreement. Although 92.6% participants reported that the
      instructions for the test were easy to understand, 18.7% required the assistance
      of a supervisor to self-test. Major themes that emerged from the qualitative
      interviews indicated the importance of the following factors in influencing
      acceptability of self-testing: clarity and accessibility of test instructions;
      time-efficiency and convenience of testing; non-invasiveness of the test; and
      fear of incorrect results. Overall, 96.5% of the participants recommended that
      the OraQuick((r)) test kits should become publicly available. CONCLUSIONS: Self
      testing for HIV status using an oral fluid-based rapid test under the supervision
      of a community health worker was acceptable and feasible among pregnant women in
      rural India. Participants were supportive of making self-testing publicly
      available. Policy guidelines and implementation research are required to advance
      HIV self-testing for larger populations at scale.

PMID- 27630098
TI  - Techniques for thoracic duct cannulation without thoracotomy in piglets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pigs are the natural hosts of many zoonotic pathogens such as
      influenza viruses and Staphylococcus aureus and thus have advantages over non
      natural hosts when studying these zoonotic diseases. In addition, pulmonary
      infections are a key issue in the pig industry, for example: porcine reproductive
      and respiratory syndrome virus infection. Exploration of the pathogenesis of
      swine pulmonary infections, in particular at the onset of disease, will provide
      valuable information for the development of vaccines against these diseases.
      Therefore, there is need to develop a methodology that allows for in vivo
      sampling of efferent pulmonary lymph with minimum damage to the target tissues
      for studying the pathogenesis of swine pulmonary infections. RESULTS: We
      introduce the surgical procedures for cannulating the thoracic duct at its point
      of entry into the external jugular vein cranial to the first rib on the left in
      pigs. Using this methodology, we monitored the amounts of triglyceride and
      cholesterol in the lymph collected from the thoracic duct following 30 h fasting
      and at multiple time points after meals. It was found that the levels of
      triglyceride rather than cholesterol corresponded to the milky appearance of the
      lymph samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our techniques provide a strategy for collecting
      lymph including pulmonary lymph from the thoracic duct without thoracotomy. A pig
      model for collecting in vivo, in situ efferent lymph draining the lower
      respiratory tract and its local lymph nodes in real-time with minimal tissue
      damage to the target tissues opens a new door for studying disease processes in
      pulmonary infections. Techniques described here are the key to this door.

PMID- 27630095
TI  - Halo and spillover effect illustrations for selected beneficial medical devices
      and drugs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Negative news media reports regarding potential health hazards of
      implanted medical devices and pharmaceuticals can lead to a 'negative halo
      effect,' a phenomenon whereby judgments about a product or product type can be
      unconsciously altered even though the scientific support is tenuous. To determine
      how a 'negative halo effect' may impact the rates of use and/or explantation of
      medical products, we analyzed the occurrence of such an effect on three implanted
      medical devices and one drug: 1) intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs); 2)
      silicone gel-filled breast implants (SGBI); 3) metal-on-metal hip implants (MoM);
      and 4) the drug Tysabri. METHODS: Data on IUD use from 1965 to 2008 were gathered
      from the Department of Health and Human Services Vital and Health Statistics and
      peer-reviewed publications. Data regarding SGBI implant and explantation rates
      from 1989 to 2012 were obtained from the Institute of Medicine and the American
      Society of Plastic Surgeons. MoM implant and explantation data were extracted
      from the England and Wales National Joint Registry and peer-reviewed
      publications. Tysabri patient data were reported by Elan Corporation or Biogen
      Idec Inc. Data trends for all products were compared with historical recall or
      withdrawal events and discussed in the context of public perceptions following
      such events. RESULTS: We found that common factors altered public risk
      perceptions and patterns of continued use. First, a negative halo effect may be
      driven by continuing patient anxiety despite positive clinical outcomes. Second,
      negative reports about one product can spill over to affect the use of dissimilar
      products in the same category. Third, a negative halo effect on an entire
      category of medical devices can be sustained regardless of the scientific
      findings pertaining to safety. Fourth, recovery of a product's safety reputation
      and prevalent use may take decades in the U.S., even while these products may
      exhibit widespread use and good safety records in other countries. CONCLUSIONS:
      We conclude that the 'negative halo effect' associated with a stigma, rather than
      an objective risk-benefit assessment of medical products can increase negative
      health outcomes for patients due to reduced or inappropriate product usage.

PMID- 27630099
TI  - Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in introduced raccoons (Procyon
      lotor)-first evidence from Poland and Germany.
AB  - The raccoon (Procyon lotor) carnivore native to North America is a fast
      spreading, invasive species in the Europe now. At the moment, the highest
      population occupies areas near the German-Polish border. The data on the
      occurrence of Cryptosporidium spp. and microsporidia in raccoons is limited to
      North America's territory and is totally lacking in the case of their
      introduction to Europe. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate
      the occurrence of microparasites, i.e., Cryptosporidium spp. and microsporidia in
      the introduced raccoons obtained from localities in Poland and Germany. A PCR
      based approach that permitted genetic characterization via sequence analysis was
      applied to raccoon fecal samples (n = 49), collected during 2012-2014. All fecal
      samples were simultaneously tested with the use of genetic markers, and DNA of
      microsporidia and Cryptosporidium spp. was detected among the examined raccoons.
      The results of our research confirmed the presence of Cryptosporidium skunk
      genotype and Enterocytozoon bieneusi NCF2 genotype. The results suggest a
      possible role of raccoons in the contamination of the environment, including
      urban areas, with pathogens of zoonotic significance as well as their role in the
      transmission and introduction of new genotypes of microparasites in the areas
      where P. lotor has not been observed yet. To our knowledge, there has been no
      literature data on the above genotypes detected previously in humans or animals
      from the examined study sites so far.

PMID- 27630100
TI  - Insights on the host associations and geographic distribution of Hymenolepis
      folkertsi (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) among rodents across temperate latitudes of
      North America.
AB  - Synoptic data and an understanding of helminth parasite diversity among diverse
      rodent assemblages across temperate latitudes of North America remain remarkably
      incomplete. Renewed attention to comprehensive survey and inventory to establish
      the structure of biodiverse faunas is essential in providing indicators and
      proxies for identifying the outcomes of accelerating change linked to climate
      warming and anthropogenic forcing. Subsequent to the description of Hymenolepis
      folkertsi in the oldfield mouse, Peromyscus polionotus, additional specimens of
      hymenolepidids were collected or discovered in archived museum repositories from
      multiple species of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus leucopus), the
      golden mouse (Ochrotomys nuttalli), chipmunks (Tamias striatus, Tamias amoenus),
      the 13-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), and tree squirrels
      (Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger) from disjunct localities in the USA
      spanning southern Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, the Upper
      Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and central Idaho. Specimens were largely
      consistent morphologically with the original description of H. folkertsi. Initial
      DNA sequence data, from a portion of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit
      1, demonstrated intraspecific variation among three apparently geographically
      isolated populations attributed to H. folkertsi (uncorrected genetic distances of
      2.7 % (Idaho and Michigan), 2.4 % (Virginia + Pennsylvania and Michigan), and
      1.89 % (VA + PA and ID). Geography rather than host association explains the
      distribution and occurrence of H. folkertsi, and host colonization among deer
      mice, chipmunks, and other sciurids within regional sites is indicated. Genetic
      divergence revealed across localities for H. folkertsi suggests historically
      isolated populations, consistent with extended evolutionary and biogeographic
      trajectories among hymenolepidids and species of Peromyscus and Tamias in North
      America. Field inventory, that revealed these parasite populations, substantially
      alters our understanding of the distribution of diversity and provides insights
      about the nature of the complex relationships that serve to determine cestode
      faunas in rodents.

PMID- 27630101
TI  - Artemisia absinthium-borne compounds as novel larvicides: effectiveness against
      six mosquito vectors and acute toxicity on non-target aquatic organisms.
AB  - The eco-friendly control of mosquito vectors is a crucial challenge of public
      health importance. Here we evaluated the larvicidal potential of Artemisia
      absinthium essential oil (EO) and its three major chemical constituents against
      six mosquito vectors: Anopheles stephensi, Anopheles subpictus, Aedes aegypti,
      Aedes albopictus, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Culex tritaeniorhynchus. The EO was
      obtained by leaf hydro-distillation. Its chemical composition was analyzed using
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Major components were (E)-beta-farnesene
      (31.6 %), (Z)-en-yn-dicycloether (11.12 %), and (Z)-beta-ocimene (27.8 %). The EO
      was toxic effect against larval populations of An. stephensi, An. subpictus, Ae.
      aegypti, Ae. albopictus, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, with
      LC50 values of 41.85, 52.02, 46.33, 57.57, 50.57, and 62.16 MUg/ml. (E)-beta
      farnesene, (Z)-en-yn-dicycloether, and (Z)-beta-ocimene were highly effective on
      An. stephensi (LC50 = 8.13, 16.24 and 25.84 MUg/ml) followed by An. subpictus
      (LC50 = 10.18, 20.99, and 30.86 MUg/ml), Ae. aegypti (LC50 = 8.83,17.66, and
      28.35 MUg/ml), Ae. albopictus (LC50 = 11.38,23.47, and 33.72 MUg/ml), Cx.
      quinquefasciatus (LC50 = 9.66, 19.76, and 31.52 MUg/ml), and Cx.
      tritaeniorhynchus (LC50 = 12.51,25.88, and 37.13 MUg/ml). Notably, the EO and its
      major compounds were safer to the non-target organisms Chironomous circumdatus,
      Anisops bouvieri and Gambusia affinis, with LC50 values ranging from 207.22 to
      4385 MUg/ml. Overall, our results highlight that (E)-beta-farnesene, (Z)-en-yn
      dicycloether, and (Z)-beta-ocimene from the A. absinthium EO represent promising
      eco-friendly larvicides against six key mosquito vectors with moderate toxicity
      against non-target organisms.

PMID- 27630102
TI  - Control of parasitic infection with ivermectin long-acting injection (IVOMEC(r)
      GOLD) and production benefit in first-season grazing cattle facing a high-level
      larval challenge in Germany.
AB  - Gastrointestinal and pulmonary nematode infections are affecting the health and
      productivity of grazing cattle worldwide. To evaluate the effects of a single
      treatment with ivermectin long-acting injection (IVM LAI; IVOMEC(r) GOLD, Merial;
      3.15 % ivermectin w/v) in first-grazing season cattle, two studies were conducted
      under continued stocking conditions for 84 or 100 days in Bavaria, Germany. Each
      study involved 68 naturally infected, approximately 4- to 6-month-old Brown Swiss
      bull calves. Animals were blocked based on pretreatment body weights. Within each
      block of four animals, animals were randomly assigned to treatments: one to
      saline (control) and three to IVM LAI. Treatments were injected at 1 mL/50 kg
      body weight subcutaneously in front of the shoulder. Animals in both studies were
      managed as one herd each grazing together. Cattle were weighed and fecal samples
      were collected pretreatment and at intervals thereafter for determination of
      weight gain and treatment efficacy, respectively. Fecal examination including
      composite fecal culture indicated the presence of nematodes of the genera
      Cooperia (dominating), Haemonchus, Nematodirus, Ostertagia, Strongyloides,
      Trichostrongylus, Trichuris, and Dictyocaulus, and Moniezia cestodes in the
      cattle. Following treatment, IVM LAI-treated cattle did not shed any Dictyocaulus
      larvae for 84 days while controls continued to pass larvae. Compared to the
      controls, IVM LAI-treated cattle had significantly (p < 0.01) lower strongylid
      egg counts at each occasion. Percentage reductions were >=94 % up to 70 days
      after treatment and were >=83.9 and 58.9 % at 84 and 100 days. Over the 84- or
      100-day study periods, IVM LAI-treated cattle gained significantly more weight
      than the controls: 22.7 and 12.4 kg, respectively. The two studies demonstrated a
      high efficacy of IVM LAI against gastrointestinal and pulmonary nematode
      infections under field conditions in Germany which was associated with
      significant benefit as to weight gain.

PMID- 27630104
TI  - Erratum to: Meiotic recombination analysis in female ducks (Anas platyrhynchos).

PMID- 27630103
TI  - Cerebral and non-cerebral coenurosis: on the genotypic and phenotypic diversity
      of Taenia multiceps.
AB  - We characterised the causative agents of cerebral and non-cerebral coenurosis in
      livestock by determining the mitochondrial genotypes and morphological phenotypes
      of 52 Taenia multiceps isolates from a wide geographical range in Europe, Africa,
      and western Asia. Three studies were conducted: (1) a morphological comparison of
      the rostellar hooks of cerebral and non-cerebral cysts of sheep and goats, (2) a
      morphological comparison of adult worms experimentally produced in dogs, and (3)
      a molecular analysis of three partial mitochondrial genes (nad1, cox1, and 12S
      rRNA) of the same isolates. No significant morphological or genetic differences
      were associated with the species of the intermediate host. Adult parasites
      originating from cerebral and non-cerebral cysts differed morphologically, e.g.
      the shape of the small hooks and the distribution of the testes in the mature
      proglottids. The phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial haplotypes produced
      three distinct clusters: one cluster including both cerebral isolates from Greece
      and non-cerebral isolates from tropical and subtropical countries, and two
      clusters including cerebral isolates from Greece. The majority of the non
      cerebral specimens clustered together but did not form a monophyletic group. No
      monophyletic groups were observed based on geography, although specimens from the
      same region tended to cluster. The clustering indicates high intraspecific
      diversity. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that all variants of T. multiceps
      can cause cerebral coenurosis in sheep (which may be the ancestral phenotype),
      and some variants, predominantly from one genetic cluster, acquired the
      additional capacity to produce non-cerebral forms in goats and more rarely in
      sheep.

PMID- 27630105
TI  - BMA Council to consider options before proceeding with five day strikes.

PMID- 27630106
TI  - miR-23b improves cognitive impairments in traumatic brain injury by targeting
      ATG12-mediated neuronal autophagy.
AB  - Dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to involve in the
      pathophysiological process of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and modulate
      autophagy-related genes (ATGs) expression. Our previous studies showed that
      neuronal autophagy was activated in the injury hippocampus post- TBI and
      associated with neurological and cognitive impairments. The present study was
      designed to investigate the possible role of miR-23b in TBI-induced cognitive
      impairments. We found the overexpression of miR-23b conferred a better
      neuronprotective effects after TBI by decreasing lesion volume, alleviating brain
      edema, inhibiting neuron apoptosis and attenuating long-term neurological
      deficits, and most interestingly, improving cognitive impairments. To further
      explore the molecular underlying this neuronprotection, we evaluated autophagic
      activity and ATG12 expression in the injury hippocampus CA1 region. The results
      identified that miR-23b directly targeted to the 3'UTR region of ATG12 mRNA to
      suppress the activation of neuronal autophagy by a dual-luciferase reporter
      system. Notably, overexpression of ATG12 abrogated the neuronprotective effects
      of miR-23b on TBI-induced neurological and cognitive impairments. Taken together,
      these date revealed inhibition of ATG12-mediated autophagic activity by miR-23b
      overexpression might be involve in cognitive improvement after TBI, indicating
      that miR-23b might be a potential therapeutic target for TBI.

PMID- 27630107
TI  - A novel family of plant nuclear envelope-associated proteins.
AB  - This paper describes the characterisation of a new family of higher plant nuclear
      envelope-associated proteins (NEAPs) that interact with other proteins of the
      nuclear envelope. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the family consists of
      three genes expressed ubiquitously (AtNEAP1-3) and a pseudogene (AtNEAP4). NEAPs
      consist of extensive coiled-coil domains, followed by a nuclear localisation
      signal and a C-terminal predicted transmembrane domain. Domain deletion mutants
      confirm the presence of a functional nuclear localisation signal and
      transmembrane domain. AtNEAP proteins localise to the nuclear periphery as part
      of stable protein complexes, are able to form homo- and heteromers, and interact
      with the SUN domain proteins AtSUN1 and AtSUN2, involved in the linker of
      nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex. An A. thaliana cDNA library
      screen identified a putative transcription factor called AtbZIP18 as a novel
      interactor of AtNEAP1, which suggest a connection between NEAP and chromatin. An
      Atneap1 Atneap3 double-knockout mutant showed reduced root growth, and altered
      nuclear morphology and chromatin structure. Thus AtNEAPs are suggested as inner
      nuclear membrane-anchored coiled-coil proteins with roles in maintaining nuclear
      morphology and chromatin structure.

PMID- 27630108
TI  - The Relationship Between Physical Activity and Alcohol Use Among Adults in the
      United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To synthesize published literature that has tested the relationship
      between physical activity and alcohol use. DATA SOURCE: A systematic review of
      literature published between January 2005 and May 2015 was conducted by searching
      the databases: PsychInfo, Medline, and Pubmed. STUDY INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION
      CRITERIA: Inclusion criteria: must have tested for the relationship between
      physical activity and alcohol use; used adult samples within the United States.
      EXCLUSION CRITERIA: utilized samples from outside the United States, adolescents,
      or alcohol dependent and heavy drinkers. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted
      from studies that achieved a quality score of 4 or greater. The following
      information was recorded for each study: sample characteristics, the variable
      that served as the predictor, study design, covariates included in analyses, and
      the direction/nature of the relationship. DATA SYNTHESIS: The search captured
      1036 unique articles, 16 of which were included in the final systematic review.
      RESULTS: Nearly 88% of the studies with college students and 75% of studies with
      nonstudent adults reported a positive relationship between physical activity and
      alcohol use. CONCLUSION: Research published in the past decade implies a positive
      relationship between physical activity and alcohol use. Findings have important
      implications for the design of health promotion programs targeting physical
      activity and alcohol use.

PMID- 27630109
TI  - Path Analysis of Campus Walkability/Bikeability and College Students' Physical
      Activity Attitudes, Behaviors, and Body Mass Index.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the
      walkability/bikeability of college campuses and students' body mass index (BMI)
      with student physical activity (PA) attitudes and behaviors as potential
      mediators. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Thirteen university campuses.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1384 student participants. MEASURES:
      Walkability/bikeability environmental score (ES): 12-item audit assessed an
      average of 44 path segments per campus. Students were measured for height and
      weight and completed online surveys. Physical activity stage of change/behavior
      intentions were assessed using the transtheoretical model. The Cognitive
      Behavioral Physical Activity Questionnaire assessed outcome expectations, self
      regulation, and personal barriers. International Physical Activity Questionnaire
      assessed walking-, moderate-, and vigorous-intensity PA. ANALYSIS: Descriptive
      statistics, zero-order correlations, and path analysis with maximum likelihood
      estimation. RESULTS: The overall model fit was good with chi2 of 171.388 ( df =
      18), P < .001, comparative fit index value of .95, and a root mean square of
      approximation of .079. After controlling for gender, there was a direct negative
      association between walkability/bikeability ES and BMI (beta = -.085) and
      positive association between personal barriers and BMI (beta = .134).
      Walkability/bikeability ES was positively associated with walking-intensity PA
      (beta = .010). Self-regulation was positively associated with moderate-intensity
      PA (beta = .213), which, in turn, was negatively associated with BMI (beta = 
      .057). CONCLUSIONS: The ease of walking and biking on a campus was related to
      college students' walking behavior and their BMI. Students' PA behavioral
      intentions were associated with moderate PA and lower BMI. These results provide
      evidence to focus on policies and structural supports for walkable/bikeable
      environments to supplement and enhance interventions encouraging individual
      behavior change for PA and weight management.

PMID- 27630110
TI  - Obesity Prevention Program in Childcare Centers: Two-Year Follow-Up.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the impact of an early childhood obesity prevention
      intervention "Healthy Caregivers-Healthy Children" (HC2) on dietary patterns and
      body mass index percentile (PBMI) over 2 school years. DESIGN: Randomized
      controlled trial. SETTING: Childcare centers. PARTICIPANTS: Low-income families.
      INTERVENTION: Intervention centers (N = 12) received HC2 which consisted of (1)
      menu modifications, (2) a healthy eating and physical activity curriculum for
      children, and (3) a parent curriculum for healthy meal preparation, reinforced
      through a role-modeling curriculum. Control centers (N = 16) received an injury
      prevention/safety intervention. MEASURES: Child PBMI and parent report of child's
      consumption of fruits/vegetables and unhealthy food. ANALYSIS: Confirmatory
      factor analysis verified the psychometric properties of factor scores for
      children's consumption of fruits/vegetables and unhealthy food. Growth curve
      analysis assessed the impact of HC2 on change in consumption of fruits/vegetables
      and unhealthy food and PBMI over 2 school years. RESULTS: Children in the
      intervention group (n = 754) had a negative slope (beta = -1.95, standard error
      [SE] = 0.97, P = .04), indicating less increase in PBMI versus control children
      (n = 457). Stratified analyses showed that obese children in the intervention arm
      had a significantly higher increase in fruit/vegetable consumption versus control
      group obese children (beta = 0.24, SE = 0.08, P = .003). CONCLUSION: The HC2
      intervention resulted in the maintenance of healthy PBMI over 2 preschool years
      among low-income multiethnic children. These findings support efforts to
      implement healthy weight programs in the childcare setting.

PMID- 27630111
TI  - Effect of Mandatory Unit and Individual Physical Training on Fitness in Military
      Men and Women.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to look at the effect of additional
      individual physical training (PT) in addition to mandatory unit PT as well as
      other risk factors on physical fitness. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design.
      SETTING: This study was conducted on a US military installation. PARTICIPANTS:
      Participants were 6290 male and 558 female active duty US Army soldiers in 3
      light infantry brigades. MEASURES: Participants completed self-administered
      questionnaires asking about individual characteristics, PT, and physical fitness.
      Cut points were established for soldiers scoring within the top 33% for each of
      the 3 Army Physical Fitness Test events (2-mile run, sit-ups, and push-ups) and
      top 50% in each of the tests combined for overall performance. ANALYSIS: Odds
      ratios and 95% confidence intervals from multivariate analyses were calculated.
      RESULTS: Variables impacting physical fitness performance of men and women
      included increased body mass index, leading unit PT sessions, and individual
      distance running mileage. Other variables impacting physical performance for men
      included increased age, smoking, and individual resistance training. CONCLUSION:
      Soldiers performing additional individual PT demonstrated a positive influence on
      fitness compared to unit PT participation alone. Increased age and being
      overweight/obese negatively influenced physical fitness. To enhance fitness
      performance through unit PT, running by ability groups and resistance training
      should be encouraged by leadership.

PMID- 27630112
TI  - Prevalence and Correlates of Missing Meals Among High School Students-United
      States, 2010.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence and correlates of missing meals among
      adolescents. DESIGN: The 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition
      Study, a cross-sectional study. SETTING: School based. PARTICIPANTS: A nationally
      representative sample of 11 429 high school students. MEASURES: Breakfast, lunch,
      and dinner consumption; demographics; measured and perceived weight status;
      physical activity and sedentary behaviors; and fruit, vegetable, milk, sugar
      sweetened beverage, and fast-food intake. ANALYSIS: Prevalence estimates for
      missing breakfast, lunch, or dinner on >=1 day during the past 7 days were
      calculated. Associations between demographics and missing meals were tested.
      Associations of lifestyle and dietary behaviors with missing meals were examined
      using logistic regression controlling for sex, race/ethnicity, and grade.
      RESULTS: In 2010, 63.1% of students missed breakfast, 38.2% missed lunch, and
      23.3% missed dinner; the prevalence was highest among female and non-Hispanic
      black students. Being overweight/obese, perceiving oneself to be overweight, and
      video game/computer use were associated with increased risk of missing meals.
      Physical activity behaviors were associated with reduced risk of missing meals.
      Students who missed breakfast were less likely to eat fruits and vegetables and
      more likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food. CONCLUSION:
      Breakfast was the most frequently missed meal, and missing breakfast was
      associated with the greatest number of less healthy dietary practices.
      Intervention and education efforts might prioritize breakfast consumption.

PMID- 27630113
TI  - Food Service Guideline Policies on State Government-Controlled Properties.
AB  - PURPOSE: Food service guideline (FSG) policies can impact millions of daily meals
      sold or provided to government employees, patrons, and institutionalized persons.
      This study describes a classification tool to assess FSG policy attributes and
      uses it to rate FSG policies. DESIGN: Quantitative content analysis. SETTING:
      State government facilities in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were
      from 50 states and District of Columbia in the United States. MEASURES: Frequency
      of FSG policies and percentage alignment to tool. ANALYSIS: State-level policies
      were identified using legal research databases to assess bills, statutes,
      regulations, and executive orders proposed or adopted by December 31, 2014. Full
      text reviews were conducted to determine inclusion. Included policies were
      analyzed to assess attributes related to nutrition, behavioral supports, and
      implementation guidance. RESULTS: A total of 31 policies met the inclusion
      criteria; 15 were adopted. Overall alignment ranged from 0% to 86%, and only 10
      policies aligned with a majority of the FSG policy attributes. Western states had
      the most FSG policies proposed or adopted (11 policies). The greatest number of
      FSG policies were proposed or adopted (8 policies) in 2011, followed by the years
      2013 and 2014. CONCLUSION: The FSG policies proposed or adopted through 2014 that
      intended to improve the food and beverage environment on state government
      property vary considerably in their content. This analysis offers baseline data
      on the FSG landscape and information for future FSG policy assessments.

PMID- 27630116
TI  - Vocational rehabilitation in European physical and rehabilitation medicine
      training.
AB  - is missing (Letter to the Editor).

PMID- 27630115
TI  - Cpf1 nucleases demonstrate robust activity to induce DNA modification by
      exploiting homology directed repair pathways in mammalian cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cpf1 nucleases have recently been repurposed for site-specific genome
      modification. Two members of the Cpf1 family, the AsCpf1 from Acidaminococcus sp.
      and the LbCpf1 from Lachnospiraceae bacterium were shown to induce higher indel
      frequencies than SpCas9 when examining four randomly-selected target sequences
      for each type of nuclease. Whether they are a real match for Cas9 nucleases,
      however, remains to be verified. RESULTS: Here, we used AsCpf1 and LbCpf1 to
      induce homology directed repair, either single strand annealing (SSA) or
      homologous recombination (HR), in N2a mouse neuroblastoma cells. Exploiting a
      plasmid that contains two GFP halves with overlapping sequences and exploring 20
      targets, on all but one both nucleases consistently performed with above 10 %
      efficiency. Several Cas9 nucleases have been previously characterised in order to
      find an orthogonal counterpart for the most widely used promiscuous SpCas9. Here,
      we found that AsCpf1 and LbCpf1 might be better candidates than three of the best
      such counterparts: Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus, from Streptococcus
      thermophilus and from Neisseria meningitidis, when assessed for inducing
      efficient SSA mediated repair in N2a cells. When tested on genomic targets
      exploiting HR, both nucleases were able to induce the integration of a donor
      cassette with 1000 bp-long homologous arms. We also generated plasmids that
      express these Cpf1 nucleases together with their cognate crRNAs and that are
      equipped with type IIS restriction enzyme sites to facilitate spacer cloning.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that employing As- or LbCpf1 nuclease to induce
      homology directed repair in N2a cells, although is less effective at present than
      employing SpCas9, it is an equally or more effective tool than the most
      frequently used orthogonal Cas9 counterparts of SpCas9. These findings support
      the position of Cpf1 nucleases on the side of SpCas9 on the palette of effective
      genome engineering tools. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Eugene Koonin,
      Haruhiko Siomi and Jean-Yves Masson.

PMID- 27630118
TI  - Variation in vegetative morphology tracks the complex genetic diversification of
      the mycoheterotrophic species Pyrola japonica sensu lato.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Although the evolution of full mycoheterotrophy has
      attracted many plant researchers, molecular phylogenetic studies that focus on
      the transition from partial to full mycoheterotrophy are limited to a few taxa.
      Pyrola japonica sensu lato is an ideal model for examining the evolution of
      mycoheterotrophy, owing to its variable leaf size, which suggests that the
      species comprises several transitional stages. METHODS: To elucidate the
      molecular and morphological changes that occur during the evolutionary transition
      between partial and full mycoheterotrophy in P. japonica s.l. from 18 populations
      in Japan, we estimated a parsimony network of plastid haplotypes based on three
      noncoding regions, measured the leaf size and scape color of the shoots, and
      compared morphology among haplotypes. KEY RESULTS: The seven haplotypes exhibited
      star-like relationships, and at least three divergent haplotypes were associated
      with differences in morphology. The first was mainly observed in large-leaved and
      green-scaped populations, whereas the second was observed in extremely small
      leaved and reddish-scaped populations, which indicated a high degree of
      mycoheterotrophy, and the last was detected among mixed populations with both
      green- and reddish-scaped shoots with intermediate leaf sizes. In addition, the
      inconsistent association between the haplotypes and morphology suggests a complex
      relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Pyrola japonica s.l. has at least three separate
      genetic lineages that have different leaf morphologies. The genetic lineages and
      their coexistence could have led to the variable leaf size and suggest the
      possibility that gene flow from partial to full mycoheterotrophs could reverse
      the evolutionary transition to full mycoheterotrophy.

PMID- 27630117
TI  - Protective effect of melatonin on soluble Abeta1-42-induced memory impairment,
      astrogliosis, and synaptic dysfunction via the Musashi1/Notch1/Hes1 signaling
      pathway in the rat hippocampus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amyloid-beta (Abeta) plays a key role in Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      pathogenesis, and soluble Abeta oligomers are more cytotoxic than Abeta fibrils.
      Recent evidence suggests that Notch signaling is affected by AD and other brain
      diseases. Melatonin exerts beneficial effects on many aspects of AD and may
      protect against myocardial ischemia via Notch1 signaling regulation. Therefore,
      we hypothesized that the Notch1 signaling pathway is involved in the
      neuroprotective role of melatonin against soluble Abeta1-42. METHODS: An AD rat
      model was established via repeated intracerebroventricular administration of
      soluble Abeta1-42. Melatonin treatment was administered 24 hours prior to Abeta1
      42 administration via an intraperitoneal injection. The effects of melatonin on
      spatial learning and memory, synaptic plasticity, and astrogliosis were
      investigated. The expression of several Notch1 signaling components, including
      Notch1, the Notch1 intracellular domain (NICD), Hairy and enhancer of split 1
      (Hes1, a downstream effector of Notch), and Musashi1 (a positive regulator of
      Notch), were examined using immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and
      quantitative real-time PCR. In vitro studies were conducted to determine whether
      the melatonin-mediated protection against Abeta1-42 was inhibited by DAPT, an
      inhibitor of Notch signaling. RESULTS: Melatonin improved the Abeta1-42-induced
      impairment in spatial learning and memory, attenuated synaptic dysfunction, and
      reduced astrogliosis. Melatonin also ameliorated the effects of Abeta1-42 on
      Notch1, NICD, Hes1, and Musashi1. The in vitro studies demonstrated that DAPT
      effectively blocked the neuroprotective effect of melatonin against Abeta1-42.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that melatonin may improve the soluble Abeta1
      42-induced impairment of spatial learning and memory, synaptic plasticity, and
      astrogliosis via the Musashi1/Notch1/Hes1 signaling pathway.

PMID- 27630119
TI  - Isolated coastal populations of Tilia americana var. caroliniana persist long
      term through vegetative growth.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Sprouting in woody plant species allows for the long-term
      persistence of small, isolated populations experiencing changing environments and
      can preserve genetic diversity in these populations despite the infrequent
      recruitment of sexually produced individuals. We examined demographic data
      collected over a 10-yr period for Tilia americana var. caroliniana populations in
      the context of genetic structure as an empirical case study of this concept.
      METHODS: Two back-barrier islands on the Georgia coast of the United States were
      completely censused for Tilia americana var. caroliniana. Recruitment, growth,
      and mortality of all stems were tracked over 10 yr. All genets were genotyped
      using eight nuclear microsatellite loci to assess population genetic structure
      among sampled stems and among populations in the region. KEY RESULTS: The two
      island populations differed in their ability to establish seedlings despite
      having similar patterns in flowering frequency. Seedling mortality was high
      throughout the 10 yr, and cycling of ramets within genets was common. Long-term
      recruitment in this system appears to be primarily a result of vegetative growth
      via basal sprouts. Genetic structure was limited, both between islands and among
      populations in the region. CONCLUSIONS: Long-lived woody species that persist by
      vegetative reproduction may unexpectedly influence regional forest responses to
      climate change, particularly on the trailing edge of a species' distribution.

PMID- 27630121
TI  - Changes in physical activity and screen time related to psychological well-being
      in early adolescence: findings from longitudinal study ELANA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychological well-being influences health behaviours differently in
      adolescent boys and girls. We evaluated the role of psychological well-being in
      early adolescence in the onset and persistence of insufficient physical activity
      and exceeding recommended screen time, depending on gender. METHODS: This work
      derives from a cohort study called Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Nutritional
      Assessment conducted among elementary school students from two public and four
      private schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 2010-2013. We analysed data from
      2010 and 2012 from 526 adolescents. Physical activity was evaluated using the
      International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Those who performed less than 60
      min per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were classified as
      insufficiently active. Screen time was evaluated based on daily time spent in
      front of television, video games, and computers. Those who had 4 h or more screen
      time per day were classified as exceeding the recommended time. Psychological
      well-being was assessed using the psychological domain of the KIDSCREEN 27
      questionnaire. Linear regression was used to estimate coefficient (beta) and r
      (2) values for continuous variables. Relative risks (RR) and confidence intervals
      (95 % CI) for onset and persistence of insufficient activity and exceeding
      recommended screen time were estimated with Poisson regression models. RESULTS:
      Among girls, linear regression analyses showed a significant inverse association
      between psychological well-being and screen minutes per day at T2 (r (2) =
      0.049/beta = -3.81 (95 % CI -7.0, -0.9)), as well as an association between poor
      psychological well-being and onset of exceeding recommended screen time in
      categorical analyses (RR crude: 1.3; CI 95 % 1.1, 1.7; RR adjusted: 1.3; CI 95 %
      1.0, 1.6). For boys, an association was found between psychological well-being
      and onset of insufficient activity 2 years later (RR crude: 1.3; CI 95 % 1.2,
      1.4; RR adjusted: 1.2; CI 95 % 1.1, 1.4). CONCLUSION: Adolescence is crucial for
      the development of unhealthy behaviours related to psychological well-being
      status in the context of a middle-income country. Gender differences are
      important because poor psychological well-being seems to affect sedentary
      behaviour in girls more than in boys, and predicts insufficient activity among
      boys.

PMID- 27630120
TI  - Cell wall dynamics during apple development and storage involves hemicellulose
      modifications and related expressed genes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fruit quality depends on a series of biochemical events that modify
      appearance, flavour and texture throughout fruit development and ripening. Cell
      wall polysaccharide remodelling largely contributes to the elaboration of fleshy
      fruit texture. Although several genes and enzymes involved in cell wall
      polysaccharide biosynthesis and modifications are known, their coordinated
      activity in these processes is yet to be discovered. RESULTS: Combined
      transcriptomic and biochemical analyses allowed the identification of putative
      enzymes and related annotated members of gene families involved in cell wall
      polysaccharide composition and structural changes during apple fruit growth and
      ripening. The early development genes were mainly related to cell wall
      biosynthesis and degradation with a particular target on hemicelluloses. Fine
      structural evolutions of galactoglucomannan were strongly correlated with mannan
      synthase, glucanase (GH9) and beta-galactosidase gene expression. In contrast,
      fewer genes related to pectin metabolism and cell expansion (expansin genes) were
      observed in ripening fruit combined with expected changes in cell wall
      polysaccharide composition. CONCLUSIONS: Hemicelluloses undergo major structural
      changes particularly during early fruit development. The high number of early
      expressed beta-galactosidase genes questions their function on galactosylated
      structures during fruit development and storage. Their activity and cell wall
      substrate remains to be identified. Moreover, new insights into the potential
      role of peroxidases and transporters, along with cell wall metabolism open the
      way to further studies on concomitant mechanisms involved in cell wall
      assembly/disassembly during fruit development and storage.

PMID- 27630124
TI  - Pathological and Clinical Analysis of Vascular Catheterization Models in Rats,
      with Exploration of Interventions to Improve Clinical Tolerance.
AB  - Permanent vascular catheterization for intravascular access is one of the most
      commonly applied techniques used on rodents in pharmacology studies. However, use
      of the intravascular catheters is complicated by nontolerance due to
      thromboembolic disease and sepsis. We have undertaken an extensive pathologic and
      clinical analysis of an intravascular catheterization model in Wistar Han and
      Sprague-Dawley rats, with a particular focus on carotid artery catheterization
      with or without jugular vein catheterization, in order to define the pathologic
      mechanisms behind nontolerance and define clinical end points to ensure maximal
      animal welfare. Further, we have explored various potential solutions to increase
      the tolerance of the procedure. In these studies, indwelling catheters were found
      to cause a high degree of thromboembolic disease with infarction in the brain,
      cecal tip, and kidneys being the primary causes of nontolerance. Loss of greater
      than 10% body weight was determined to be the most sensitive indicator of
      nontolerance and was closely correlated with degree of renal parenchymal loss.
      Sepsis was noted as a very rare complication, indicating that routine aseptic
      surgical techniques are adequate for preventing this complication.

PMID- 27630122
TI  - TP53 drives invasion through expression of its Delta133p53beta variant.
AB  - TP53 is conventionally thought to prevent cancer formation and progression to
      metastasis, while mutant TP53 has transforming activities. However, in the
      clinic, TP53 mutation status does not accurately predict cancer progression. Here
      we report, based on clinical analysis corroborated with experimental data, that
      the p53 isoform Delta133p53beta promotes cancer cell invasion, regardless of TP53
      mutation status. Delta133p53beta increases risk of cancer recurrence and death in
      breast cancer patients. Furthermore Delta133p53beta is critical to define
      invasiveness in a panel of breast and colon cell lines, expressing WT or mutant
      TP53. Endogenous mutant Delta133p53beta depletion prevents invasiveness without
      affecting mutant full-length p53 protein expression. Mechanistically WT and
      mutant Delta133p53beta induces EMT. Our findings provide explanations to 2 long
      lasting and important clinical conundrums: how WT TP53 can promote cancer cell
      invasion and reciprocally why mutant TP53 gene does not systematically induce
      cancer progression.

PMID- 27630123
TI  - Nuclear pore assembly proceeds by an inside-out extrusion of the nuclear
      envelope.
AB  - The nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates nucleocytoplasmic transport through the
      nuclear envelope. How the NPC assembles into this double membrane boundary has
      remained enigmatic. Here, we captured temporally staged assembly intermediates by
      correlating live cell imaging with high-resolution electron tomography and super
      resolution microscopy. Intermediates were dome-shaped evaginations of the inner
      nuclear membrane (INM), that grew in diameter and depth until they fused with the
      flat outer nuclear membrane. Live and super-resolved fluorescence microscopy
      revealed the molecular maturation of the intermediates, which initially contained
      the nuclear and cytoplasmic ring component Nup107, and only later the cytoplasmic
      filament component Nup358. EM particle averaging showed that the evagination base
      was surrounded by an 8-fold rotationally symmetric ring structure from the
      beginning and that a growing mushroom-shaped density was continuously associated
      with the deforming membrane. Quantitative structural analysis revealed that
      interphase NPC assembly proceeds by an asymmetric inside-out extrusion of the
      INM.

PMID- 27630125
TI  - Epigenetic Reprogramming Sensitizes CML Stem Cells to Combined EZH2 and Tyrosine
      Kinase Inhibition.
AB  - : A major obstacle to curing chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is residual disease
      maintained by tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-persistent leukemic stem cells
      (LSC). These are BCR-ABL1 kinase independent, refractory to apoptosis, and serve
      as a reservoir to drive relapse or TKI resistance. We demonstrate that Polycomb
      Repressive Complex 2 is misregulated in chronic phase CML LSCs. This is
      associated with extensive reprogramming of H3K27me3 targets in LSCs, thus
      sensitizing them to apoptosis upon treatment with an EZH2-specific inhibitor
      (EZH2i). EZH2i does not impair normal hematopoietic stem cell survival.
      Strikingly, treatment of primary CML cells with either EZH2i or TKI alone caused
      significant upregulation of H3K27me3 targets, and combined treatment further
      potentiated these effects and resulted in significant loss of LSCs compared to
      TKI alone, in vitro, and in long-term bone marrow murine xenografts. Our findings
      point to a promising epigenetic-based therapeutic strategy to more effectively
      target LSCs in patients with CML receiving TKIs. SIGNIFICANCE: In CML, TKI
      persistent LSCs remain an obstacle to cure, and approaches to eradicate them
      remain a significant unmet clinical need. We demonstrate that EZH2 and H3K27me3
      reprogramming is important for LSC survival, but renders LSCs sensitive to the
      combined effects of EZH2i and TKI. This represents a novel approach to more
      effectively target LSCs in patients receiving TKI treatment. Cancer Discov;
      6(11); 1248-57. (c)2016 AACR.See related article by Xie et al., p. 1237This
      article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1197.

PMID- 27630127
TI  - A Three-Drug Combo for Multiple Myeloma.
AB  - A phase III trial suggests that the combination of daratumumab, bortezomib, and
      dexamethasone is more powerful in patients with relapsed or relapsed and
      refractory melanoma than bortezomib plus dexamethasone. Patients who received all
      three drugs had a higher overall response rate and improved 12-month progression
      free survival.

PMID- 27630126
TI  - Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia- Initiating Cells Require Polycomb Group Protein
      EZH2.
AB  - : Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have revolutionized chronic myelogenous
      leukemia (CML) management. Disease eradication, however, is hampered by innate
      resistance of leukemia-initiating cells (LIC) to TKI-induced killing, which also
      provides the basis for subsequent emergence of TKI-resistant mutants. We report
      that EZH2, the catalytic subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), is
      overexpressed in CML LICs and required for colony formation and survival and cell
      cycle progression of CML cell lines. A critical role for EZH2 is supported by
      genetic studies in a mouse CML model. Inactivation of Ezh2 in conventional
      conditional mice and through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing prevents
      initiation and maintenance of disease and survival of LICs, irrespective of BCR
      ABL1 mutational status, and extends survival. Expression of the EZH2 homolog EZH1
      is reduced in EZH2-deficient CML LICs, creating a scenario resembling complete
      loss of PRC2. EZH2 dependence of CML LICs raises prospects for improved therapy
      of TKI-resistant CML and/or eradication of disease by addition of EZH2
      inhibitors. SIGNIFICANCE: This work defines EZH2 as a selective vulnerability for
      CML cells and their LICs, regardless of BCR-ABL1 mutational status. Our findings
      provide an experimental rationale for improving disease eradication through
      judicious use of EZH2 inhibitors within the context of standard-of-care TKI
      therapy. Cancer Discov; 6(11); 1237-47. (c)2016 AACR.See related article by Scott
      et al., p. 1248This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1197.

PMID- 27630129
TI  - Sri Lanka declared malaria free.

PMID- 27630128
TI  - Reduction of selenite to Se(0) nanoparticles by filamentous bacterium
      Streptomyces sp. ES2-5 isolated from a selenium mining soil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element in living systems.
      Microorganisms play a pivotal role in the selenium cycle both in life and in
      environment. Different bacterial strains are able to reduce Se(IV) (selenite) and
      (or) Se(VI) (selenate) to less toxic Se(0) with the formation of Se nanoparticles
      (SeNPs). The biogenic SeNPs have exhibited promising application prospects in
      medicine, biosensors and environmental remediation. These microorganisms might be
      explored as potential biofactories for synthesis of metal(loid) nanoparticles.
      RESULTS: A strictly aerobic, branched actinomycete strain, ES2-5, was isolated
      from a selenium mining soil in southwest China, identified as Streptomyces sp.
      based on 16S rRNA gene sequence, physiologic and morphologic characteristics.
      Both SEM and TEM-EDX analysis showed that Se(IV) was reduced to Se(0) with the
      formation of SeNPs as a linear chain in the cytoplasm. The sizes of the SeNPs
      were in the range of 50-500 nm. The cellular concentration of glutathione per
      biomass decreased along with Se(IV) reduction, and no SeNPs were observed in
      different sub-cellular fractions in presence of NADPH or NADH as an electron
      donor, indicating glutathione is most possibly involved in vivo Se(IV) reduction.
      Strain ES2-5 was resistant to some heavy metal(loid)s such as Se(IV), Cr(VI) and
      Zn(II) with minimal inhibitory concentration of 50, 80 and 1.5 mM, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The reducing mechanism of Se(IV) to elemental SeNPs under aerobic
      condition was investigated in a filamentous strain of Streptomyces. Se(IV)
      reduction is mediated by glutathione and then SeNPs synthesis happens inside of
      the cells. The SeNPs are released via hypha lysis or fragmentation. It would be
      very useful in Se bioremediation if Streptomyces sp. ES2-5 is applied to the
      contaminated site because of its ability of spore reproduction, Se(IV) reduction,
      and adaptation in soil.

PMID- 27630114
TI  - Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 and Its Class B G Protein-Coupled Receptors: A Long March
      to Therapeutic Successes.
AB  - The glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is a class B G protein
      coupled receptor (GPCR) that mediates the action of GLP-1, a peptide hormone
      secreted from three major tissues in humans, enteroendocrine L cells in the
      distal intestine, alpha cells in the pancreas, and the central nervous system,
      which exerts important actions useful in the management of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus and obesity, including glucose homeostasis and regulation of gastric
      motility and food intake. Peptidic analogs of GLP-1 have been successfully
      developed with enhanced bioavailability and pharmacological activity. Physiologic
      and biochemical studies with truncated, chimeric, and mutated peptides and GLP-1R
      variants, together with ligand-bound crystal structures of the extracellular
      domain and the first three-dimensional structures of the 7-helical transmembrane
      domain of class B GPCRs, have provided the basis for a two-domain-binding
      mechanism of GLP-1 with its cognate receptor. Although efforts in discovering
      therapeutically viable nonpeptidic GLP-1R agonists have been hampered, small
      molecule modulators offer complementary chemical tools to peptide analogs to
      investigate ligand-directed biased cellular signaling of GLP-1R. The integrated
      pharmacological and structural information of different GLP-1 analogs and
      homologous receptors give new insights into the molecular determinants of GLP-1R
      ligand selectivity and functional activity, thereby providing novel opportunities
      in the design and development of more efficacious agents to treat metabolic
      disorders.

PMID- 27630130
TI  - Student Perceptions of Clinical Quality and Safety.

PMID- 27630131
TI  - Dynamic Sequence Evolution of a Sex-Associated B Chromosome in Lake Malawi
      Cichlid Fish.
AB  - B chromosomes are extra chromosomes found in many species of plants, animals, and
      fungi. B chromosomes often manipulate common cellular processes to increase their
      frequency, sometimes to the detriment of organismal fitness. Here, we
      characterize B chromosomes in several species of Lake Malawi cichlid fish. Whole
      genome sequencing of Metriaclima zebra "Boadzulu" individuals revealed blocks of
      sequence with unusually high sequence coverage, indicative of increased copy
      number of those sequences. These regions of high sequence coverage were found
      only in females. SNPs unique to the high copy number sequences permitted the
      design of specific amplification primers. These primers amplified fragments only
      in Metriaclima lombardoi individuals that carried a cytologically identified B
      chromosome (B-carriers), indicating these extra copies are located on the B
      chromosome. These same primers were used to identify B-carrying individuals in
      additional species from Lake Malawi. Across 7 species, a total of 43 B-carriers
      were identified among 323 females. B-carriers were exclusively female; no B
      chromosomes were observed in the 317 males surveyed from these species.
      Quantitative analysis of the copy number variation of B-specific sequence blocks
      suggests that B-carriers possess a single B chromosome, consistent with previous
      karyotyping of M. lombardoi A single B chromosome in B-carriers is consistent
      with 2 potential drive mechanisms: one involving nondisjunction and preferential
      segregation in a mitotic division prior to the germ-line, and the other involving
      preferential segregation during meiosis I.

PMID- 27630133
TI  - Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia Reduces Right Ventricular Systolic Function With
      Maintained Ventricular-Pulmonary Coupling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blockade of cardiac sympathetic fibers by thoracic epidural
      anesthesia may affect right ventricular function and interfere with the coupling
      between right ventricular function and right ventricular afterload. Our main
      objectives were to study the effects of thoracic epidural anesthesia on right
      ventricular function and ventricular-pulmonary coupling. METHODS: In 10 patients
      scheduled for lung resection, right ventricular function and its response to
      increased afterload, induced by temporary, unilateral clamping of the pulmonary
      artery, was tested before and after induction of thoracic epidural anesthesia
      using combined pressure-conductance catheters. RESULTS: Thoracic epidural
      anesthesia resulted in a significant decrease in right ventricular contractility
      (DeltaESV25: +25.5 mL, P=0.0003; DeltaEes: -0.025 mm Hg/mL, P=0.04). Stroke work,
      dP/dtMAX, and ejection fraction showed a similar decrease in systolic function
      (all P<0.05). A concomitant decrease in effective arterial elastance (DeltaEa: 
      0.094 mm Hg/mL, P=0.004) yielded unchanged ventricular-pulmonary coupling.
      Cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, and mean arterial blood pressure
      were unchanged. Clamping of the pulmonary artery significantly increased
      afterload (DeltaEa: +0.226 mm Hg/mL, P<0.001). In response, right ventricular
      contractility increased (DeltaESV25: -26.6 mL, P=0.0002; DeltaEes: +0.034 mm
      Hg/mL, P=0.008), but ventricular-pulmonary coupling decreased (Delta(Ees/Ea) = 
      0.153, P<0.0001). None of the measured indices showed significant interactive
      effects, indicating that the effects of increased afterload were the same before
      and after thoracic epidural anesthesia. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic epidural anesthesia
      impairs right ventricular contractility but does not inhibit the native positive
      inotropic response of the right ventricle to increased afterload. Right
      ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling was decreased with increased afterload
      but not affected by the induction of thoracic epidural anesthesia. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=2844. Unique
      identifier: NTR2844.

PMID- 27630134
TI  - Mental Exit Block: Escaping the Pulmonary Veins in Search of New Approaches to
      Atrial Fibrillation Management.

PMID- 27630132
TI  - Outcome of the Swedish Nationwide Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A general abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening program,
      targeting 65-year-old men, has gradually been introduced in Sweden since 2006 and
      reached nationwide coverage in 2015. The aim of this study was to determine the
      outcome of this program. METHODS: Data on the number of invited and examined men,
      screening-detected AAAs, AAAs operated on, and surgical outcome were retrieved
      from all 21 Swedish counties for the years 2006 through 2014. AAA-specific
      mortality data were retrieved from the Swedish Cause of Death Registry. A linear
      regression analysis was used to estimate the effect on AAA-specific mortality
      among all men >=65 years of age for the observed time period. The long-term
      effects were projected by using a validated Markov model. RESULTS: Of 302 957 men
      aged 65 years invited, 84% attended. The prevalence of screening-detected AAA was
      1.5%. After a mean of 4.5 years, 29% of patients with AAA had been operated on,
      with a 30-day mortality rate of 0.9% (1.3% after open repair and 0.3% after
      endovascular repair, P<0.001). The introduction of screening was associated with
      a significant reduction in AAA-specific mortality (mean, 4.0% per year of
      screening, P=0.020). The number needed to screen and the number needed to operate
      on to prevent 1 premature death were 667 and 1.5, respectively. With a total
      population of 9.5 million, the Swedish national AAA-screening program was
      predicted to annually prevent 90 premature deaths from AAA and to gain 577
      quality-adjusted life-years. The incremental cost-efficiency ratio was estimated
      to be ?7770 per quality-adjusted life-years. CONCLUSIONS: Screening 65-year-old
      men for AAA is an effective preventive health measure and is highly cost
      effective in a contemporary setting. These findings confirm the results from
      earlier randomized controlled trials and model studies in a large population
      based setting of the importance for future healthcare decision making.

PMID- 27630135
TI  - Lone Atrial Fibrillation Is Associated With Impaired Left Ventricular Energetics
      That Persists Despite Successful Catheter Ablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lone atrial fibrillation (AF) may reflect a subclinical
      cardiomyopathy that persists after sinus rhythm (SR) restoration, providing a
      substrate for AF recurrence. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effect
      of restoring SR by catheter ablation on left ventricular (LV) function and
      energetics in patients with AF but no significant comorbidities. METHODS: Fifty
      three patients with symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent AF and without
      significant valvular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, coronary artery disease,
      uncontrolled thyroid disease, systemic inflammatory disease, diabetes mellitus,
      or obstructive sleep apnea (ie, lone AF) undergoing ablation and 25 matched
      control subjects in SR were investigated. Magnetic resonance imaging quantified
      LV ejection fraction (LVEF), peak systolic circumferential strain (PSCS), and
      left atrial volumes and function, whereas phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy evaluated ventricular energetics (ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP).
      AF burden was determined before and after ablation by 7-day Holter monitoring;
      intermittent ECG event monitoring was also undertaken after ablation to
      investigate for asymptomatic AF recurrence. RESULTS: Before ablation, both LV
      function and energetics were significantly impaired in patients compared with
      control subjects (LVEF, 61% [interquartile range (IQR), 52%-65%] versus 71% [IQR,
      69%-73%], P<0.001; PSCS, -15% [IQR, -11 to -18%] versus -18% [IQR, -17% to -19%],
      P=0.002; ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP, 1.81+/-0.35 versus 2.05+/-0.29,
      P=0.004). As expected, patients also had dilated and impaired left atria compared
      with control subjects (all P<0.001). Early after ablation (1-4 days), LVEF and
      PSCS improved in patients recovering SR from AF (LVEF, 7.0+/-10%, P=0.005; PSCS, 
      3.5+/-4.3%, P=0.001) but were unchanged in those in SR during both assessments
      (both P=NS). At 6 to 9 months after ablation, AF burden reduced significantly
      (from 54% [IQR, 1.5%-100%] to 0% [IQR 0%-0.1%]; P<0.001). However, LVEF and PSCS
      did not improve further (both P=NS) and remained impaired compared with control
      subjects (P<0.001 and P=0.003, respectively). Similarly, there was no significant
      improvement in atrial function from before ablation (P=NS), and this remained
      lower than in control subjects (P<0.001). The ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP was
      unaffected by heart rhythm during assessment and AF burden before ablation (both
      P=NS). It was unchanged after ablation (P=0.57), remaining lower than in control
      subjects regardless of both recovery of SR and freedom from recurrent AF (P=0.006
      and P=0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with lone AF have impaired
      myocardial energetics and subtle LV dysfunction, which do not normalize after
      ablation. These findings suggest that AF may be the consequence (rather than the
      cause) of an occult cardiomyopathy, which persists despite a significant
      reduction in AF burden after ablation.

PMID- 27630137
TI  - Could Modification of Titin Contribute to an Answer for Heart Failure With
      Preserved Ejection Fraction?

PMID- 27630138
TI  - Nonfatal Gun Use in Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - Guns figure prominently in the homicide of women by an intimate partner. Less is
      known, however, about their nonfatal use against an intimate partner. Following
      Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
      guidelines, we searched eight electronic databases and identified 10 original
      research articles that reported the prevalence of the nonfatal use of firearms
      against an intimate partner. Results indicate that (1) there is relatively little
      research on the subject of intimate partners' nonfatal gun use against women. (2)
      The number of U.S. women alive today who have had an intimate partner use a gun
      against them is substantial: About 4.5 million have had an intimate partner
      threaten them with a gun and nearly 1 million have been shot or shot at by an
      intimate partner. Whether nonfatal gun use is limited to the extreme form of
      abuse (battering) or whether it occurs in the context of situational violence
      remains to be seen. Regardless, when it comes to the likely psychological impact,
      it may be a distinction without a difference; because guns can be lethal quickly
      and with relatively little effort, displaying or threatening with a gun can
      create a context known as coercive control, which facilitates chronic and
      escalating abuse. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed,
      all of which include expanding an implicit focus on homicide to include an
      intimate partner's nonfatal use of a gun.

PMID- 27630136
TI  - Experimentally Increasing the Compliance of Titin Through RNA Binding Motif-20
      (RBM20) Inhibition Improves Diastolic Function In a Mouse Model of Heart Failure
      With Preserved Ejection Fraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) stiffening contributes to heart failure with
      preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a syndrome with no effective treatment
      options. Increasing the compliance of titin in the heart has become possible
      recently through inhibition of the splicing factor RNA binding motif-20. Here, we
      investigated the effects of increasing the compliance of titin in mice with
      diastolic dysfunction. METHODS: Mice in which the RNA recognition motif (RRM) of
      one of the RNA binding motif-20 alleles was floxed and that expressed the
      MerCreMer transgene under control of the alphaMHC promoter (referred to as
      cRbm20DeltaRRM mice) were used. Mice underwent transverse aortic constriction
      (TAC) surgery and deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) pellet implantation. RRM
      deletion in adult mice was triggered by injecting raloxifene (cRbm20DeltaRRM
      raloxifene), with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-injected mice (cRbm20DeltaRRM-DMSO)
      as the control. Diastolic function was investigated with echocardiography and
      pressure-volume analysis; passive stiffness was studied in LV muscle strips and
      isolated cardiac myocytes before and after elimination of titin-based stiffness.
      Treadmill exercise performance was also studied. Titin isoform expression was
      evaluated with agarose gels. RESULTS: cRbm20DeltaRRM-raloxifene mice expressed
      large titins in the hearts, called supercompliant titin (N2BAsc), which, within 3
      weeks after raloxifene injection, made up ~45% of total titin. TAC/DOCA
      cRbm20DeltaRRM-DMSO mice developed LV hypertrophy and a marked increase in LV
      chamber stiffness as shown by both pressure-volume analysis and echocardiography.
      LV chamber stiffness was normalized in TAC/DOCA cRbm20DeltaRRM-raloxifene mice
      that expressed N2BAsc. Passive stiffness measurements on muscle strips isolated
      from the LV free wall revealed that extracellular matrix stiffness was equally
      increased in both groups of TAC/DOCA mice (cRbm20DeltaRRM-DMSO and cRbm20DeltaRRM
      raloxifene). However, titin-based muscle stiffness was reduced in the mice that
      expressed N2BAsc (TAC/DOCAcRbm20DeltaRRM-raloxifene). Exercise testing
      demonstrated significant improvement in exercise tolerance in TAC/DOCA mice that
      expressed N2BAsc. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition of the RNA binding motif-20-based titin
      splicing system upregulates compliant titins, which improves diastolic function
      and exercise tolerance in the TAC/DOCA model. Titin holds promise as a
      therapeutic target for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

PMID- 27630140
TI  - Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio and Saphenous Vein Graft Disease.

PMID- 27630139
TI  - BTK Modulates p53 Activity to Enhance Apoptotic and Senescent Responses.
AB  - p53 is a tumor suppressor that prevents the emergence of transformed cells by
      inducing apoptosis or senescence, among other responses. Its functions are
      regulated tightly by posttranslational modifications. Here we show that Bruton's
      tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a novel modulator of p53. We found that BTK is induced
      in response to DNA damage and p53 activation. BTK induction leads to p53
      phosphorylation, which constitutes a positive feedback loop that increases p53
      protein levels and enhances the transactivation of its target genes in response
      to stress. Inhibiting BTK reduced both p53-dependent senescence and apoptosis.
      Further, BTK expression also upregulated DNA damage signals and apoptosis. We
      conclude that despite being involved in oncogenic signals in blood malignancies,
      BTK has antineoplastic properties in other contexts, such as the enhancement of
      p53's tumor suppressor responses. Along with evidence that BTK expression
      correlates with good prognosis in some epithelial tumors, our findings may
      encourage a reevaluation of the clinical uses of BTK inhibitors in cancer
      therapy. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5405-14. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27630141
TI  - Victor Almon McKusick (21 October 1921-22 July 2008): Philosophical approach and
      historiography.
AB  - While many authors have surveyed the contributions of Victor Almon McKusick, MD
      (21 October 1921-22 July 2008) to establishing the field of medical genetics, no
      authors have reviewed his significant contributions as an historian to the field
      of the history of medicine. In discussing relevant biographical themes and their
      functional influence in his life, his philosophical approach to the study of the
      history of medicine and his unique historiography, blending various major schools
      of thought into a hybrid analytical approach to historical research, was
      evaluated. The evaluation drew on a series of interviews conducted with McKusick
      in 2004 and 2005, review of a selection of his published historical
      contributions, and review of secondary sources.

PMID- 27630142
TI  - Age and Sex Differences in Body Mass Index as a Predictor of Hip Fracture: A
      NOREPOS Study.
AB  - It is unclear whether very high body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)2)
      lowers risk of hip fracture. Our objectives in this study were 1) to examine the
      association between BMI and subsequent hip fracture according to sex and age and
      2) to explore whether the importance of known risk factors varied across BMI. We
      followed 61,787 participants (29,511 female and 32,276 male) in the Cohort of
      Norway (ages 50-79 years at baseline in 1994-2003) with regard to hip fracture.
      BMI was calculated from measured height and weight. During a median follow-up
      period of 8.4 years, 1,603 women and 951 men suffered a hip fracture. Hazard
      ratios for hip fracture and associated 95% confidence intervals were estimated.
      After adjustment for potential confounders, women with BMI <22 had a hazard ratio
      of 1.38 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18, 1.60) for hip fracture, as compared
      with women with BMI 22-24.9; and women with BMI >=30 had a hazard ratio of 0.57
      (95% CI: 0.49, 0.66). Corresponding results in men were hazard ratio = 1.66 (95%
      CI: 1.35, 2.05) and hazard ratio = 0.77 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.96), respectively. Below
      age 70 years, there was no further decrease in fracture risk at BMIs of 25 or
      more, while in women aged 70-79 years, the risk continued to decrease with
      increasing BMI. The associations between risk factors and hip fracture were
      similar in strength across BMI strata.

PMID- 27630143
TI  - Methods for Handling Missing Variables in Risk Prediction Models.
AB  - Prediction models should be externally validated before being used in clinical
      practice. Many published prediction models have never been validated. Uncollected
      predictor variables in otherwise suitable validation cohorts are the main factor
      precluding external validation. We used individual patient data from 9 different
      cohort studies conducted in the United States, Europe, and Latin America that
      included 7,892 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who enrolled
      between 1981 and 2006. Data on 3-year mortality and the predictors of age,
      dyspnea, and airflow obstruction were available. We simulated missing data by
      omitting the predictor dyspnea cohort-wide, and we present 6 methods for handling
      the missing variable. We assessed model performance with regard to discriminative
      ability and calibration and by using 2 vignette scenarios. We showed that the use
      of any imputation method outperforms the omission of the cohort from the
      validation, which is a commonly used approach. Compared with using the full data
      set without the missing variable (benchmark), multiple imputation with fixed or
      random intercepts for cohorts was the best approach to impute the systematically
      missing predictor. Findings of this study may facilitate the use of cohort
      studies that do not include all predictors and pave the way for more widespread
      external validation of prediction models even if 1 or more predictors of the
      model are systematically missing.

PMID- 27630144
TI  - Positive Allosteric Modulation of the Muscarinic M1 Receptor Improves Efficacy of
      Antipsychotics in Mouse Glutamatergic Deficit Models of Behavior.
AB  - Current antipsychotics are effective in treating the positive symptoms associated
      with schizophrenia, but they remain suboptimal in targeting cognitive
      dysfunction. Recent studies have suggested that positive allosteric modulation of
      the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) may provide a novel means of
      improving cognition. However, very little is known about the potential of
      combination therapies in extending coverage across schizophrenic symptom domains.
      This study investigated the effect of the M1 mAChR positive allosteric modulator
      BQCA [1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxylic acid], alone or
      in combination with haloperidol (a first-generation antipsychotic), clozapine (a
      second-generation atypical antipsychotic), or aripiprazole (a third-generation
      atypical antipsychotic), in reversing deficits in sensorimotor gating and spatial
      memory induced by the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist, MK-801 [(5R,10S)
      (+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine]. Sensorimotor
      gating and spatial memory induction are two models that represent aspects of
      schizophrenia modeled in rodents. In prepulse inhibition (an operational measure
      of sensorimotor gating), BQCA alone had minimal effects but exhibited different
      levels of efficacy in reversing MK-801-induced prepulse inhibition disruptions
      when combined with a subeffective dose of each of the three (currently
      prescribed) antipsychotics. Furthermore, the combined effect of BQCA and
      clozapine was absent in M1-/- mice. Interestingly, although BQCA alone had no
      effect in reversing MK-801-induced memory impairments in a Y-maze spatial test,
      we observed a reversal upon the combination of BQCA with atypical antipsychotics,
      but not with haloperidol. These findings provide proof of concept that a
      judicious combination of existing antipsychotics with a selective M1 mAChR
      positive allosteric modulator can extend antipsychotic efficacy in glutamatergic
      deficit models of behavior.

PMID- 27630145
TI  - Right Heart Catheterization via Dialysis Arteriovenous Shunts in End-Stage Renal
      Disease Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Right heart catheterization is an important diagnostic tool but
      carries risks of adverse events. Little is known about the feasibility and safety
      of using dialysis arteriovenous (AV) shunts. We aim to evaluate the feasibility
      and safety of using dialysis AV shunts for access in right heart catheterization.
      METHODS: Hemodialysis patients who required right heart catheterization were
      prospectively enrolled. A 7 Fr sheath was inserted and a balloon-tipped pulmonary
      artery catheter was advanced for right heart catheterization. Patients were
      followed for 1 month, and technical success, procedure details, and complications
      were recorded. RESULTS: Thirteen patients received right heart catheterization
      via AV shunts. Three patients were evaluated for heart failure, and 10 were
      examined for pulmonary hypertension. Median patient age was 69 years
      (interquartile range [IQR], 58-77 years), and median shunt age was 50 months
      (IQR, 32-75 months). Five shunts were located in the upper arm, 2 were in the
      right arm, and 5 were native fistulas. All AV shunt punctures were successful on
      the first attempt. All right heart catheterizations were completed via AV shunts,
      and the technical success rate was 100%. Median fluoroscopy time was 6.9 minutes.
      No venous access complications or right heart catheterization-related
      complications occurred immediately after the procedure or during the 1-month
      follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: AV dialysis shunts can be used for venous access
      for right heart catheterization with acceptable feasibility and patient
      tolerability. Further randomized studies are needed to confirm the benefits of
      this approach compared with other approaches.

PMID- 27630146
TI  - Short Duration vs Standard Duration of Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy After
      Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents - A
      Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression Analysis of Randomized
      Controlled Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend 12 months of dual-antiplatelet therapy
      (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent
      (DES) implantation. Whether the duration of DAPT can be safely shortened with use
      of second-generation DESs is unclear. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis of
      randomized controlled trials comparing short duration (SD) (3-6 months) with
      standard longer duration (LD) (>=12 months) DAPT in patients treated with
      primarily second-generation DES implantation. Meta-regression was performed to
      explore the relationship between acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the effect of
      DAPT duration. RESULTS: Six studies were included, with 12,752/13,928 (91.5%)
      patients receiving second-generation DESs. A total of 5367 patients (39%) had PCI
      in the setting of ACS. There was no difference in all-cause mortality (1.1% vs
      1.2%; odds ratio [OR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-1.18; P=.36) or
      cardiac mortality (0.9% vs 1.0%; OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.61-1.39; P=.69) with SD-DAPT
      vs LD-DAPT, respectively. Definite/probable stent thrombosis (0.5% vs 0.3%; OR,
      1.33; 95% CI, 0.75-2.34; P=.51), myocardial infarction (1.5% vs 1.3%; OR, 1.17;
      95% CI, 0.88-1.56; P=.29), and stroke (0.4% vs 0.4%; OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.60-1.81;
      P=.88) were similar between the groups. Compared with LD-DAPT, SD-DAPT was
      associated with lower clinically significant bleeding (0.9% vs 1.4%; OR, 0.64;
      95% CI, 0.46-0.89; P=.01). Meta-regression analysis showed no significant
      association between the proportion of ACS patients in trials and duration of DAPT
      for the outcomes of mortality (P=.95), myocardial infarction (P=.98), or stent
      thrombosis (P=.89). CONCLUSION: In low-risk patients treated with contemporary
      second-generation DES implantation, SD-DAPT has similar rates of mortality,
      myocardial infarction, and stent thrombosis, with lower rates of bleeding
      compared with LD-DAPT.

PMID- 27630147
TI  - Comparison Between Radial Approach and Femoral Approach With Vascular Closure
      Devices on the Occurrence of Access-Site Complications and Periprocedural
      Bleeding After Percutaneous Coronary Procedures: A Systematic Review and Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Periprocedural bleedings, often related to vascular access site,
      represent an important drawback of percutaneous coronary procedures and are
      associated with worse outcomes. Radial access (RA) and, potentially, femoral
      access (FA) with vascular closure device (VCD) are useful strategies in order to
      mitigate periprocedural bleedings; nevertheless, their relative efficacy is
      largely undetermined. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis
      of available studies comparing the efficacy of RA and FA with hemostasis by VCD
      (FA + VCD) on the reduction of access-site complications and/or periprocedural
      bleedings. METHODS: Published studies reporting outcomes on access-site
      complications and periprocedural bleedings were included in the analysis. Data
      were extracted by two independent reviewers; odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence
      interval (CI) were calculated by random-effects model and were used as summary
      statistics. RESULTS: We included in the analysis 13 studies, of which 5 were
      randomized. Access-site complications were reported by 11 studies, amounting to
      157,031 patients (77,713 in the RA group and 79,318 in the FA + VCD group),
      whereas periprocedural bleedings were reported by 12 studies, amounting to
      600,196 patients (137,277 in the RA group and 462,919 in the FA + VCD group). RA
      was associated with a significant reduction in access-site complications (OR,
      0.25; 95% CI ,0.21-0.31; P<.001) and periprocedural bleedings (OR, 0.40; 95% CI,
      0.34-0.48; P<.001) as compared with FA + VCD; the results were consistent among
      randomized and observational studies. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis shows that
      RA is superior to FA + VCD in the reduction of access-site complications and
      periprocedural bleedings.

PMID- 27630149
TI  - Sixty seconds on . . . Department of Health accounts.

PMID- 27630150
TI  - A New Miniature Respirable Sampler for In-mask Sampling: Part 2-Tests Performed
      Inside the Mask.
AB  - This paper is the second in a series of two describing the performance of a
      miniature and low-weight respirable sampler designed to fit inside filtering
      facepiece (FFP) and half-mask type respirators. The first paper described the
      design of the miniature sampler and evaluated the particle and collection
      performance of the miniature sampler. This paper assesses its comparability with
      the traditional inward leakage measurement technique, and its safe use.
      Simultaneous mass measurements of a respirable sodium chloride aerosol were taken
      inside a total inward leakage chamber by a miniature sampler and by sodium flame
      photometry. Direct side-by-side comparison of the two methods yielded excellent
      correlation (R 2 = 0.99), as did comparison when sampling from inside four
      different masks when worn by a breathing Sheffield dummy head. In addition,
      comparison tests were carried out using three models of FFP worn by human
      volunteers both with and without the miniature sampler, in order to test whether
      or not the presence of the miniature sampler negatively affected the protection
      offered. The difference between the tests carried out with the miniature sampler
      and without the miniature sampler was not statistically significant (P = 0.3). In
      all cases, the masks performed within their protection class, whether the
      miniature sampler was fitted or not. We therefore conclude that the miniature
      sampler does not significantly affect the protection offered by the masks. The
      miniature sampler may prove a viable option for in-mask measurements of
      respirable dust where low air concentrations of hazardous material are expected.

PMID- 27630148
TI  - Application of intermittent negative pressure on the lower extremity and its
      effect on macro- and microcirculation in the foot of healthy volunteers.
AB  - Intermittent negative pressure (INP) applied to the lower leg and foot may
      increase peripheral circulation. However, it is not clear how different patterns
      of INP affect macro- and microcirculation in the foot. The aim of this study was
      therefore to determine the effect of different patterns of negative pressure on
      foot perfusion in healthy volunteers. We hypothesized that short periods with INP
      would elicit an increase in foot perfusion compared to no negative pressure. In
      23 healthy volunteers, we continuously recorded blood flow velocity in a distal
      foot artery, skin blood flow, heart rate, and blood pressure during application
      of different patterns of negative pressure (-40 mmHg) to the lower leg. Each
      participant had their right leg inside an airtight chamber connected to an INP
      generator. After a baseline period at atmospheric pressure, we applied four
      different 120 sec sequences with either constant negative pressure or different
      INP patterns, in a randomized order. The results showed corresponding
      fluctuations in blood flow velocity and skin blood flow throughout the INP
      sequences. Blood flow velocity reached a maximum at 4 sec after the onset of
      negative pressure (average 44% increase above baseline, P < 0.001). Skin blood
      flow and skin temperature increased during all INP sequences (P < 0.001). During
      constant negative pressure, average blood flow velocity, skin blood flow, and
      skin temperature decreased (P < 0.001). In conclusion, we observed increased foot
      perfusion in healthy volunteers after the application of INP on the lower limb.

PMID- 27630151
TI  - A New Miniature Respirable Sampler for In-mask Sampling: Part 1-Particle Size
      Selection Performance.
AB  - The Health and Safety Laboratory has developed a miniature respirable sampler to
      gain a better understanding of the exposure of workers to hazardous substances
      when they are wearing respiratory protective equipment (RPE) or helmets with
      visors in the workplace. The study was in two parts and the first part, described
      herein, was to develop the sampler and test its collection characteristics.
      Assessment of the impact of the sampler on RPE safety and its comparability with
      traditional laboratory-based approaches to measure protection factors was
      discussed in a second article. The miniature sampler (weight-5.4g, length-13mm)
      was designed to fit into the space available between the nose and chin of an
      individual inside a filtering facepiece type mask and has a radially
      omnidirectional inlet with a porous foam particle selector that allows the
      collection of the respirable fraction on a downstream filter. The sampling
      efficiency was compared with the respirable convention. A close match with the
      respirable convention was obtained at a flow rate of 1 l min-1 and the 50%
      penetration cut off value (d 50) was 4.08 um. After 3 hours sampling in high
      humidity (95%), the penetration curve had shifted towards smaller particle sizes
      (d 50 = 3.81 um) with 88% of the calculated bias values within 10%. The miniature
      sampler measured respirable dust and crystalline silica mass concentrations
      comparable with performance of the Safety In Mines Personal Dust Sampler
      (SIMPEDS), commonly used in Great Britain, at a flow rate of 0.8 l min-1 The d 50
      for the miniature sampler at 0.8 l min-1 (4.4 um) is within 5% of the d 50 of the
      SIMPEDS at its prescribed flow rate of 2.2 l min-1 (4.2 um). These results
      indicated that the miniature sampler was a good candidate to proceed with tests
      with RPE described in the second part of this series of two papers.

PMID- 27630152
TI  - Strike action will intensify winter pressures on A&E, say NHS leaders.

PMID- 27630153
TI  - Newborn Screening for Lysosomal Storage Disorders: Quo Vadis?

PMID- 27630154
TI  - Accession of Tumor Heterogeneity by Multiplex Transcriptome Profiling of Single
      Circulating Tumor Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcriptome analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) holds great
      promise to unravel the biology of cancer cell dissemination and identify
      expressed genes and signaling pathways relevant to therapeutic interventions.
      METHODS: CTCs were enriched based on their EpCAM expression (CellSearch(r)) or by
      size and deformability (ParsortixTM), identified by EpCAM and/or pan-keratin
      specific antibodies, and isolated for single cell multiplex RNA profiling.
      RESULTS: Distinct breast and prostate CTC expression signatures could be
      discriminated from RNA profiles of leukocytes. Some CTCs positive for epithelial
      transcripts (EpCAM and KRT19) also coexpressed leukocyte/mesenchymal associated
      markers (PTPRC and VIM). Additional subsets of CTCs within individual patients
      were characterized by divergent expression of genes involved in epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (e.g., CDH2, MMPs, VIM, or ZEB1 and 2), DNA repair
      (RAD51), resistance to cancer therapy (e.g., AR, AR-V7, ERBB2, EGFR), cancer
      stemness (e.g., CD24 and CD44), activated signaling pathways involved in tumor
      progression (e.g., PIK3CA and MTOR) or cross talks between tumors and immune
      cells (e.g., CCL4, CXCL2, CXCL9, IL15, IL1B, or IL8). CONCLUSIONS: Multimarker
      RNA profiling of single CTCs reveals distinct CTC subsets and provides important
      insights into gene regulatory networks relevant for cancer progression and
      therapy.

PMID- 27630155
TI  - Formulas for Calculating Calcium Values Underestimate Hypocalcemia in
      Hemodialysis Patients.

PMID- 27630157
TI  - Exposure and current health issues in Minamisoma.
AB  - Various reports have shown that internal and external exposure levels of local
      residents after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were very
      low. However, there are serious postdisaster health effects in the form of
      increased prevalence of diabetes and other chronic conditions. Stress, changes in
      the social environment and in living arrangements, and disruption in healthcare
      support provided by a network of people have resulted in increasing the cost of
      care and changing patients' behaviour, such as delay in visiting a hospital. In
      addition to radiation protection, it is necessary, when looking after the health
      of Fukushima residents, to focus on human networking, social infrastructure, and
      protection of culture and history that are intangible, and not to overlook their
      roles in health.

PMID- 27630156
TI  - Is the $1000 Genome as Near as We Think? A Cost Analysis of Next-Generation
      Sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The substantial technological advancements in next-generation
      sequencing (NGS), combined with dropping costs, have allowed for a swift
      diffusion of NGS applications in clinical settings. Although several commercial
      parties report to have broken the $1000 barrier for sequencing an entire human
      genome, a valid cost overview for NGS is currently lacking. This study provides a
      complete, transparent and up-to-date overview of the total costs of different NGS
      applications. METHODS: Cost calculations for targeted gene panels (TGP), whole
      exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) were based on the
      Illumina NextSeq500, HiSeq4000, and HiSeqX5 platforms, respectively. To
      anticipate future developments, sensitivity analyses are performed. RESULTS: Per
      sample costs were ?1669 for WGS, ? 792 for WES and ?333 for TGP. To reach the
      coveted $1000 genome, not only is the long-term and efficient use of the
      sequencing equipment needed, but also large reductions in capital costs and
      especially consumable costs are also required. CONCLUSIONS: WES and TGP are
      considerably lower-cost alternatives to WGS. However, this does not imply that
      these NGS approaches should be preferred in clinical practice, since this should
      be based on the tradeoff between costs and the expected clinical utility of the
      approach chosen. The results of the present study contribute to the evaluation of
      such tradeoffs.

PMID- 27630158
TI  - Measurement and communication: what worked and what did not in Fukushima.
AB  - The accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant contaminated the soil of
      densely populated regions in Fukushima Prefecture with radiocaesium, which poses
      risks of internal and external exposure to the residents. However, extensive
      whole-body-count surveys have shown that internal exposure levels of residents
      are negligible. In addition, data from personal dosimeters have shown that
      external exposure levels have decreased, so the estimated annual external dose of
      the majority of people is <1 mSv in most areas of Fukushima. Despite these
      reassuring data, many problems remain in Fukushima, many of which are
      psychosocial rather than radiological. This article will discuss the roles of
      measurement and communication in the postaccident phase based on 5 years of
      experience.

PMID- 27630159
TI  - Report of decontamination at Tominari Elementary School.
AB  - On 19 April 2011, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and
      Technology designated 13 elementary schools, including Tominari Elementary School
      in Date city, as high-dose schools that needed to restrict outdoor activities due
      to the effects of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
      Approximately 1 week later, the municipal government took action to remove the
      topsoil from the school grounds, and the prohibition of outdoor activities at
      Tominari Elementary School was lifted. The school staff continued to work on
      decontaminating the surrounding areas using high-pressure washers and brushes.
      There were certain positive outcomes, but a more effective decontamination method
      was required. In July 2011, the municipal government started an environmental
      remediation project, both inside and outside the school buildings, with
      researchers and decontamination workers at Tominari Elementary School, involving
      members of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), local communities, and
      volunteers using various effective and specialised forms of decontamination. As a
      result, Tominari Elementary School was able to recommence swimming lessons at the
      end of the first semester, which had been thought to be impossible. This article
      will provide information about the importance of 'dialogue' for decontamination,
      how engagement of the experts gave members of the PTA and the local community a
      feeling of 'security and safety', and how the decontamination work was an ever
      expanding collaborative work of a large number of people.

PMID- 27630160
TI  - Thinking, talking, and working with professional community workers after the
      Fukushima nuclear accident.
AB  - This article examines postdisaster public health activities (focusing primarily
      on parenting support) through collaboration between universities and local
      government, and reports on the support provided to public health nurses, who are
      the gatekeepers of community health. For a year after the Fukushima disaster,
      discussions were held on the short- and long-term measures for responding to the
      concerns of parents, who face difficulty interpreting risks. Child health checkup
      data and mothers' counselling sessions with public health nurses were analysed to
      gather evidence to reinforce the health system over the long term. As the results
      of the analysis showed a need for the development of a system for communicating
      health information in ways that are accessible to residents, a health literacy
      training programme was developed and implemented for public health nurses in
      Fukushima Prefecture.

PMID- 27630161
TI  - Erroneous conclusions about the association between light alcohol drinking and
      the risk of cancer: comments on Bagnardi et al.'s meta-analysis.

PMID- 27630162
TI  - William Frankland: From Fleming to Saddam Hussein.

PMID- 27630163
TI  - Breakpoint Cluster Region-Mediated Inflammation Is Dependent on Casein Kinase II.
AB  - The breakpoint cluster region (BCR) is known as a kinase and cause of leukemia
      upon fusing to Abl kinase. In this study, we demonstrate that BCR associated with
      the alpha subunit of casein kinase II (CK2alpha), rather than BCR itself, is
      required for inflammation development. We found that BCR knockdown inhibited NF
      kappaB activation in vitro and in vivo. Computer simulation, however, suggested
      that the putative BCR kinase domain has an unstable structure with minimal
      enzymatic activity. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis
      showed that CK2alpha associated with BCR. We found the BCR functions are mediated
      by CK2alpha. Indeed, CK2alpha associated with adaptor molecules of TNF-alphaR and
      phosphorylated BCR at Y177 to establish a p65 binding site after TNF-alpha
      stimulation. Notably, p65 S529 phosphorylation by CK2alpha creates a p300 binding
      site and increased p65-mediated transcription followed by inflammation
      development in vivo. These results suggest that BCR-mediated inflammation is
      dependent on CK2alpha, and the BCR-CK2alpha complex could be a novel therapeutic
      target for various inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 27630164
TI  - Transcriptional Repression of IFN Regulatory Factor 7 by MYC Is Critical for Type
      I IFN Production in Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells.
AB  - Type I IFNs are crucial mediators of human innate and adaptive immunity and are
      massively produced from plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). IFN regulatory
      factor (IRF)7 is a critical regulator of type I IFN production when pathogens are
      detected by TLR 7/9 in pDC. However, hyperactivation of pDC can cause life
      threatening autoimmune diseases. To avoid the deleterious effects of aberrant pDC
      activation, tight regulation of IRF7 is required. Nonetheless, the detailed
      mechanisms of how IRF7 transcription is regulated in pDC are still elusive. MYC
      is a well-known highly pleiotropic transcription factor; however, the role of MYC
      in pDC function is not well defined yet. To identify the role of transcription
      factor MYC in human pDC, we employed a knockdown technique using human pDC cell
      line, GEN2.2. When we knocked down MYC in the pDC cell line, production of IFN
      stimulated genes was dramatically increased and was further enhanced by the TLR9
      agonist CpGB. Interestingly, MYC is shown to be recruited to the IRF7 promoter
      region through interaction with nuclear receptor corepressor 2/histone
      deacetylase 3 for its repression. In addition, activation of TLR9-mediated NF
      kappaB and MAPK and nuclear translocation of IRF7 were greatly enhanced by MYC
      depletion. Pharmaceutical inhibition of MYC recovered IRF7 expression, further
      confirming the negative role of MYC in the antiviral response by pDC. Therefore,
      our results identify the novel immunomodulatory role of MYC in human pDC and may
      add to our understanding of aberrant pDC function in cancer and autoimmune
      disease.

PMID- 27630166
TI  - Quantitative Mass Spectrometry To Study Inflammatory Cartilage Degradation and
      Resulting Interactions with the Complement System.
AB  - Joint diseases are often characterized by inflammatory processes that result in
      pathological changes in joint tissues, including cartilage degradation and
      release of components into the synovial fluid. The complement system plays a
      central role in promoting the inflammation. Because several cartilage proteins
      are known to interact with complement, causing either activation or inhibition of
      the system, we aimed to investigate these interactions comprehensively. Bovine
      cartilage explants were cultured with IL-1alpha to induce cartilage degradation,
      followed by incubation with human serum. Label-free selected reaction monitoring
      mass spectrometry was used to specifically quantify complement proteins
      interacting with the cartilage explant. In parallel, the time-dependent
      degradation of cartilage was detected using mass spectrometry analysis (liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry). Complement proteins resulting from
      activation of the classical, alternative, and terminal pathways were detected on
      IL-1alpha-stimulated cartilage at time points when clear alterations in
      extracellular matrix composition had occurred. Increased levels of the complement
      activation product C4d, as detected by ELISA in serum after incubation with IL
      1alpha-stimulated cartilage, confirmed the selected reaction monitoring results
      indicating complement activation. Further, typical activated (cleaved) C3
      fragments were detected by Western blotting in extracts of IL-1alpha-stimulated
      cartilage. No complement activation was triggered by cartilage cultured in the
      absence of IL-1alpha. Components released from IL-1alpha-stimulated cartilage
      during culture had an inhibitory effect on complement activation. These were
      released after a longer incubation period with IL-1alpha and may represent a
      feedback reaction to cartilage-triggered complement activation observed after a
      shorter incubation period.

PMID- 27630165
TI  - Long-Lived CD4+IFN-gamma+ T Cells rather than Short-Lived CD4+IFN-gamma+IL-10+ T
      Cells Initiate Rapid IL-10 Production To Suppress Anamnestic T Cell Responses
      during Secondary Malaria Infection.
AB  - CD4+ T cells that produce IFN-gamma are the source of host-protective IL-10
      during primary infection with a number of different pathogens, including
      Plasmodium spp. The fate of these CD4+IFN-gamma+IL-10+ T cells following
      clearance of primary infection and their subsequent influence on the course of
      repeated infections is, however, presently unknown. In this study, utilizing IFN
      gamma-yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) and IL-10-GFP dual reporter mice, we show
      that primary malaria infection-induced CD4+YFP+GFP+ T cells have limited memory
      potential, do not stably express IL-10, and are disproportionately lost from the
      Ag-experienced CD4+ T cell memory population during the maintenance phase
      postinfection. CD4+YFP+GFP+ T cells generally exhibited a short-lived effector
      rather than effector memory T cell phenotype postinfection and expressed high
      levels of PD-1, Lag-3, and TIGIT, indicative of cellular exhaustion.
      Consistently, the surviving CD4+YFP+GFP+ T cell-derived cells were unresponsive
      and failed to proliferate during the early phase of secondary infection. In
      contrast, CD4+YFP+GFP- T cell-derived cells expanded rapidly and upregulated IL
      10 expression during secondary infection. Correspondingly, CD4+ T cells were the
      major producers within an accelerated and amplified IL-10 response during the
      early stage of secondary malaria infection. Notably, IL-10 exerted quantitatively
      stronger regulatory effects on innate and CD4+ T cell responses during primary
      and secondary infections, respectively. The results in this study significantly
      improve our understanding of the durability of IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells
      postinfection and provide information on how IL-10 may contribute to optimized
      parasite control and prevention of immune-mediated pathology during repeated
      malaria infections.

PMID- 27630167
TI  - Five minutes with . . . Steve Rolles, drug policy analyst.

PMID- 27630168
TI  - Reduction in circulating bile acid and restricted diffusion across the intestinal
      epithelium are associated with a decrease in blood cholesterol in the presence of
      oat beta-glucan.
AB  - Although oat (1,3:1,4)-beta-glucan (BG) has been shown to decrease blood
      cholesterol in intervention trials, the detailed mechanism is not yet defined,
      but restricted reabsorption of bile acids (BAs) has been hypothesized. Using pigs
      as a model for humans we demonstrated that, compared to the control, BG added to
      the diet for 26 d caused decreases of 24% in blood total BAs (TBAs), 34% in total
      cholesterol (TC), and 57% in LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) (P < 0.01); decreases of 20%
      TBA in the midjejunum and terminal ileum (P < 0.01); increases of 80% in cecal
      total neutral sterols (TNSs) including cholesterol (P < 0.01); a 50% reduction in
      BA active transport across ex vivo ileum after 40 min (P < 0.001); and 32%
      decrease in jejunal microvillus heights with apparent increased goblet cell
      activity. The results suggest that BG not only physically hinders the active
      reabsorption of BAs and uptake of cholesterol, but also changes the BAs profile
      with lower circulating levels without excess excretion in the feces, thus
      resulting in reduced blood TC and LDL-C. Fermentation of sterols reaching the
      colon enhanced production of therapeutic ursodeoxycholic acid, suppressed toxic
      lithocholic acid, and decreased the possibility of cholesterol absorption by
      transforming the latter into coprostanol, a nonabsorbable NS.-Gunness, P.,
      Michiels, J., Vanhaecke, L., De Smet, S., Kravchuk, O., Van de Meene, A., Gidley,
      M. J. Reduction in circulating bile acid and restricted diffusion across the
      intestinal epithelium are associated with a decrease in blood cholesterol in the
      presence of oat beta-glucan.

PMID- 27630171
TI  - Hypomania induced by a Garcinia cambogia supplement.

PMID- 27630169
TI  - Galectin-3 regulates inflammasome activation in cholestatic liver injury.
AB  - Macrophage activation is an important feature of primary biliary cholangitis
      (PBC) pathogenesis and other cholestatic liver diseases. Galectin-3 (Gal3), a
      pleiotropic lectin, is produced by monocytic cells and macrophages. However, its
      role in PBC has not been addressed. We hypothesized that Gal3 is a key to induce
      NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in
      macrophages and in turn to propagate proinflammatory IL-17 signaling. In liver
      tissues from patients with PBC and dnTGF-betaRII mice, a model of autoimmune
      cholangitis, the expression of Gal3, NLRP3, and the adaptor protein adaptor
      apoptosis-associated speck-like protein was induced, with the downstream
      activation of caspase-1 and IL-1beta. In wild-type hepatic macrophages,
      deoxycholic acid induced the association of Gal3 and NLRP3 with direct activation
      of the inflammasome, resulting in an increase in IL-1beta. Downstream retinoid
      related orphan receptor C mRNA, IL-17A, and IL-17F were induced. In Gal3-/-
      macrophages, no inflammasome activation was detected. To confirm the key role of
      Gal3 in the pathogenesis of cholestatic liver injury, we generated dnTGF
      betaRII/galectin-3-/- (dn/Gal3-/-) mice, which showed impaired inflammasome
      activation along with significantly improved inflammation and fibrosis. Taken
      together, our data point to a novel role of Gal3 as an initiator of inflammatory
      signaling in autoimmune cholangitis, mediating the activation of NLRP3
      inflammasome and inducing IL-17 proinflammatory cascades. These studies provide a
      rationale to target Gal3 in autoimmune cholangitis and potentially other
      cholestatic diseases.-Tian, J., Yang, G., Chen, H.-Y., Hsu, D. K., Tomilov, A.,
      Olson, K. A., Dehnad, A., Fish, S. R., Cortopassi, G., Zhao, B., Liu, F.-T.,
      Gershwin, M. E., Torok, N. J., Jiang, J. X. Galectin-3 regulates inflammasome
      activation in cholestatic liver injury.

PMID- 27630172
TI  - The long-term co-occurrence of psychiatric illness and behavioral problems
      following child sexual abuse.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is a growing body of research investigating the relationship
      between child sexual abuse and a range of adverse outcomes. However, very little
      is known about the long-term co-occurrence of psychiatric disorders and
      behavioral problems among this vulnerable population, or the interaction between
      characteristics of the abuse, such as the nature and timing of the child sexual
      abuse, and the extent of subsequent adversities. This study aimed to determine
      the rate and co-occurrence of mental health morbidity, criminal justice system
      contact, and fatal self-harm among medically confirmed victims of child sexual
      abuse, and to identify abuse variables associated with a greater likelihood of
      cumulative adverse experiences. METHODS: The forensic medical records of 2759
      cases of child sexual abuse assessed between 1964 and 1995 were linked with
      public psychiatric, criminal justice and coronial administrative databases
      between 13 and 44 years following abuse. Cases were compared to 2677 matched
      comparisons from the general population. RESULTS: Abuse victims were more likely
      (odds ratio = 7.2, 95% confidence interval = [4.9, 10.4], p < 0.001) to
      experience cumulative adverse psychiatric and behavioral problems relative to
      comparisons. Almost half (47.6%) of victims who died of suicide or drug overdose
      had a history of offending, further victimization and mental illness. Relative to
      comparisons, female victims demonstrated the largest increase in odds for
      cumulative outcomes (odds ratio = 9.8, 95% confidence interval = [5.8, 16.8], p <
      0.001), whereas in absolute terms, male victims were at an elevated risk for all
      types and combinations of adverse outcomes, except fatal self-harm. Boys who were
      older at abuse, had multiple abuse episodes or who were abused by an extra
      familial perpetrator were most likely to experience poorer clinical trajectories.
      Only being older at abuse was associated with cumulative adverse experiences for
      females. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual abuse, particularly during adolescence (ages 12-16
      years), appears to be a risk factor for co-occurring adverse experiences. This
      study identifies particular groups of child sexual abuse victims as at-risk and
      requiring targeted intervention.

PMID- 27630170
TI  - Human macrophage cathepsin B-mediated C-terminal cleavage of apolipoprotein A-I
      at Ser228 severely impairs antiatherogenic capacity.
AB  - Apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) is the major component of HDL and central to the
      ability of HDL to stimulate ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1)
      dependent, antiatherogenic export of cholesterol from macrophage foam cells, a
      key player in the pathology of atherosclerosis. Cell-mediated modifications of
      apoA-I, such as chlorination, nitration, oxidation, and proteolysis, can impair
      its antiatherogenic function, although it is unknown whether macrophages
      themselves contribute to such modifications. To investigate this, human monocyte
      derived macrophages (HMDMs) were incubated with human apoA-I under conditions
      used to induce cholesterol export. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and
      Western blot analysis identified that apoA-I is cleaved (~20-80%) by HMDMs in a
      time-dependent manner, generating apoA-I of lower MW and isoelectric point. Mass
      spectrometry analysis identified a novel C-terminal cleavage site of apoA-I
      between Ser228-Phe229 Recombinant apoA-I truncated at Ser228 demonstrated
      profound loss of capacity to solubilize lipid and to promote ABCA1-dependent
      cholesterol efflux. Protease inhibitors, small interfering RNA knockdown in
      HMDMs, mass spectrometry analysis, and cathepsin B activity assays identified
      secreted cathepsin B as responsible for apoA-I cleavage at Ser228 Importantly, C
      terminal cleavage of apoA-I was also detected in human carotid plaque. Cleavage
      at Ser228 is a novel, functionally important post-translational modification of
      apoA-I mediated by HMDMs that limits the antiatherogenic properties of apoA-I.
      Dinnes, D. L. M., White, M. Y., Kockx, M., Traini, M., Hsieh, V., Kim, M.-J.,
      Hou, L., Jessup, W., Rye, K.-A., Thaysen-Andersen, M., Cordwell, S. J.,
      Kritharides, L. Human macrophage cathepsin B-mediated C-terminal cleavage of
      apolipoprotein A-I at Ser228 severely impairs antiatherogenic capacity.

PMID- 27630173
TI  - Improving safety for women in psychiatric wards.

PMID- 27630175
TI  - From Phytocannabinoids to Cannabinoid Receptors and Endocannabinoids: Pleiotropic
      Physiological and Pathological Roles Through Complex Pharmacology.
AB  - Apart from having been used and misused for at least four millennia for, among
      others, recreational and medicinal purposes, the cannabis plant and its most
      peculiar chemical components, the plant cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids), have
      the merit to have led humanity to discover one of the most intriguing and
      pleiotropic endogenous signaling systems, the endocannabinoid system (ECS). This
      review article aims to describe and critically discuss, in the most comprehensive
      possible manner, the multifaceted aspects of 1) the pharmacology and potential
      impact on mammalian physiology of all major phytocannabinoids, and not only of
      the most famous one Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, and 2) the adaptive pro
      homeostatic physiological, or maladaptive pathological, roles of the ECS in
      mammalian cells, tissues, and organs. In doing so, we have respected the
      chronological order of the milestones of the millennial route from
      medicinal/recreational cannabis to the ECS and beyond, as it is now clear that
      some of the early steps in this long path, which were originally neglected, are
      becoming important again. The emerging picture is rather complex, but still
      supports the belief that more important discoveries on human physiology, and new
      therapies, might come in the future from new knowledge in this field.

PMID- 27630176
TI  - Cerebrospinal fluid secretion by the choroid plexus?

PMID- 27630177
TI  - Reply to Oreskovic et al.

PMID- 27630178
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27630179
TI  - GPs earned L90 600 on average in 2014-15.

PMID- 27630180
TI  - Can We Predict the Unpredictable after Vascular Access Creation?

PMID- 27630174
TI  - Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Genetic Disease That Involves Mucociliary
      Dysfunction of the Peripheral Airways.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an incurable complex genetic disorder that
      is associated with sequence changes in 7 genes (MUC5B, TERT, TERC, RTEL1, PARN,
      SFTPC, and SFTPA2) and with variants in at least 11 novel loci. We have
      previously found that 1) a common gain-of-function promoter variant in MUC5B
      rs35705950 is the strongest risk factor (genetic and otherwise), accounting for
      30-35% of the risk of developing IPF, a disease that was previously considered
      idiopathic; 2) the MUC5B promoter variant can potentially be used to identify
      individuals with preclinical pulmonary fibrosis and is predictive of radiologic
      progression of preclinical pulmonary fibrosis; and 3) MUC5B may be involved in
      the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis with MUC5B message and protein expressed
      in bronchiolo-alveolar epithelia of IPF and the characteristic IPF honeycomb
      cysts. Based on these considerations, we hypothesize that excessive production of
      MUC5B either enhances injury due to reduced mucociliary clearance or impedes
      repair consequent to disruption of normal regenerative mechanisms in the distal
      lung. In aggregate, these novel considerations should have broad impact,
      resulting in specific etiologic targets, early detection of disease, and novel
      biologic pathways for use in the design of future intervention, prevention, and
      mechanistic studies of IPF.

PMID- 27630182
TI  - Defining Glomerular Disease in Mechanistic Terms: Implementing an Integrative
      Biology Approach in Nephrology.
AB  - Advances in biomedical research allow for the capture of an unprecedented level
      of genetic, molecular, and clinical information from large patient cohorts, where
      the quest for precision medicine can be pursued. An overarching goal of precision
      medicine is to integrate the large-scale genetic and molecular data with deep
      phenotypic information to identify a new mechanistic disease classification. This
      classification can ideally be used to meet the clinical goal of the right
      medication for the right patient at the right time. Glomerular disease presents a
      formidable challenge for precision medicine. Patients present with similar signs
      and symptoms, which cross the current disease categories. The diseases are
      grouped by shared histopathologic features, but individual patients have dramatic
      variability in presentation, progression, and response to therapy, reflecting the
      underlying biologic heterogeneity within each glomerular disease category.
      Despite the clinical challenge, glomerular disease has several unique advantages
      to building multilayered datasets connecting genetic, molecular, and structural
      information needed to address the goals of precision medicine in this population.
      Kidney biopsy tissue, obtained during routine clinical care, provides a direct
      window into the molecular mechanisms active in the affected organ. In addition,
      urine is a biofluid ideally suited for repeated measurement from the diseased
      organ as a liquid biopsy with potential to reflect the dynamic state of renal
      tissue. In our review, current approaches for large-scale data generation and
      integration along the genotype-phenotype continuum in glomerular disease will be
      summarized. Several successful examples of this integrative biology approach
      within glomerular disease will be highlighted along with an outlook on how
      achieving a mechanistic disease classification could help to shape glomerular
      disease research and care in the future.

PMID- 27630181
TI  - Predictors of Initiation for Predialysis Arteriovenous Fistula.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The optimal timing of predialysis arteriovenous
      fistula surgery remains uncertain. We evaluated factors associated with
      hemodialysis initiation in patients undergoing predialysis arteriovenous fistula
      surgery and derived a model to predict future initiation of dialysis. DESIGN,
      SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Our study retrospectively identified 308
      patients undergoing predialysis arteriovenous fistula creation at a large medical
      center in 2006-2012 to determine whether they initiated hemodialysis. Multiple
      variable logistic regression analyzed which demographic and clinical factors
      predicted initiation of dialysis within 2 years of arteriovenous fistula surgery.
      A receiver operating characteristic area under the curve was used to quantify the
      predictive value of preoperative factors on the likelihood of initiating
      hemodialysis within 2 years. RESULTS: Overall, hemodialysis was initiated within
      6 months, 1 year, and 2 years in 119 (39%), 175 (57%), and 211 (68%) patients,
      respectively. Using multiple variable logistic regression, four factors were
      associated with hemodialysis initiation at 2 years: eGFR at access surgery (odds
      ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.31 to 0.64 per 5 ml/min per 1.73 m2;
      P<0.001), diabetes (odds ratio, 2.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.22 to 5.15;
      P=0.003), GFR trajectory (odds ratio, 1.54; 95% confidence interval, 1.09 to 2.17
      per 3 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year; P=0.01), and spot urine protein-to-creatinine
      ratio (odds ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.14 to 1.71 per 1 U; P<0.001).
      eGFR alone had a moderate predictive value for dialysis initiation (area under
      the curve =0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.63 to 0.76; P<0.001), whereas the
      full model had a higher predictive value (area under the curve =0.83; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.77 to 0.88; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The likelihood of
      initiating hemodialysis within 2 years of predialysis arteriovenous fistula
      surgery is associated with eGFR at access surgery, diabetes, GFR trajectory, and
      magnitude of proteinuria. The combined use of all four variables improves the
      ability to predict future hemodialysis compared with the use of eGFR alone.

PMID- 27630183
TI  - Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Girls and
      Boys With CKD.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Prior studies suggested that women with CKD have
      higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality than men, although
      putative mechanisms for this higher risk have not been identified. We assessed
      sex differences in (1) CVD risk factors and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH),
      and (2) the relationship of left ventricular mass (LVM) with different measures
      of body size in children with CKD. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND
      MEASUREMENTS: The study population comprised 681 children with CKD from the
      Chronic Kidney Disease in Children cohort, contributing 1330 visits. CVD risk
      factors were compared cross-sectionally by sex. LVH was defined as LVM/height2.7
      >95th percentile and LVM relative to estimated lean body mass (eLBM) >95th
      percentile for age and sex. Differences in LVM by sex were assessed by adjusting
      for age, weight, height, and eLBM using bivariate and multivariate regression
      models. RESULTS: Girls were less likely to have uncontrolled hypertension (26%
      versus 38%, P=0.001), had lower diastolic BP z-scores (+0.3 versus +0.6,
      P=0.001), and had lower prevalence of high triglycerides (38% versus 47%, P=0.03)
      compared with boys. When LVH was defined by LVM indexed to height, girls had
      higher prevalence of LVH (16% versus 9%, P=0.01); when LVH was defined by LVM
      relative to eLBM, prevalence of LVH was similar between girls and boys (18%
      versus 17%, P=0.92). In regression models adjusting for eLBM, no sex differences
      in LVM were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Despite lack of increased prevalence of CVD
      risk factors, indexing LVM to height showed a higher proportion of LVH among
      girls, while estimates of LVH based on eLBM showed no sex differences. Indexing
      LVM to eLBM may be an alternative to height indexing in children with CKD.

PMID- 27630186
TI  - Occurrence and diversity of both bacterial and fungal communities in dental unit
      waterlines subjected to disinfectants.
AB  - Chemical disinfectants are widely advocated to reduce the microbial contamination
      in dental unit waterlines (DUWL). However, until now their efficacy has been
      poorly examined after long-term application. In this study, through quantitative
      PCR and high-throughput sequencing, both bacterial and fungal communities were
      profiled from 8- to 12-year-old DUWL treated with disinfectants commonly used by
      European dentists. Water was collected from the tap water supplying units to the
      output exposure point of the turbine handpiece following a stagnation period and
      dental care activity. Results showed that (i) the unit itself is the principal
      source of microbial contamination and (ii) water stagnation, DU maintenance
      practices and quality of water supplying DU appeared as parameters driving the
      water quality. Despite disinfecting treatment combined to flushing process, the
      microbial contamination remained relevant in the studied output water, in
      association with a high bacterial and fungal diversity. The occurrence of
      potentially pathogenic microorganisms in these treated DUWL demonstrated a
      potential infectious risk for both patients and dental staff. A disinfectant
      shock before a prolonged stagnation period could limit the microbial
      proliferation inside DUWL. Necessity to proceed to regular water quality control
      of DUWL was highlighted.

PMID- 27630185
TI  - Microgravity as a biological tool to examine host-pathogen interactions and to
      guide development of therapeutics and preventatives that target pathogenic
      bacteria.
AB  - Space exploration programs have long been interested in the effects of
      spaceflight on biology. This research is important not only in its relevance to
      future deep space exploration, but also because it has allowed investigators to
      ask questions about how gravity impacts cell behavior here on Earth. In the
      1980s, scientists designed and built the first rotating wall vessel, capable of
      mimicking the low shear environment found in space. This vessel has since been
      used to investigate growth of both microorganisms and human tissue cells in low
      shear modeled microgravity conditions. Bacterial behavior has been shown to be
      altered both in space and under simulated microgravity conditions. In some cases,
      bacteria appear attenuated, whereas in others virulence is enhanced. This has
      consequences not only for manned spaceflight, but poses larger questions about
      the ability of bacteria to sense the world around them. By using the microgravity
      environment as a tool, we can exploit this phenomenon in the search for new
      therapeutics and preventatives against pathogenic bacteria for use both in space
      and on Earth.

PMID- 27630187
TI  - Dietary Nitrate Acutely and Markedly Increased Exhaled Nitric Oxide in a Cystic
      Fibrosis Case.
AB  - Airway nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signaling molecule with
      bronchoprotective, anti-inflammatory and anti-infective roles. Cystic fibrosis
      (CF) is a chronic lung condition associated with deceased exhaled NO. Strategies
      to increase exhaled NO in CF have yielded inconsistent results. A potential new
      method of increasing systemic NO involves ingestion of dietary, inorganic nitrate
      which is reduced to nitrite and NO. We present the case of a 12-year-old,
      athletic boy with CF who demonstrated acute but marked increases in exhaled NO
      following dietary nitrate consumption compared to placebo.

PMID- 27630184
TI  - ZRF1 Chromatin Regulators Have Polycomb Silencing and Independent Roles in
      Development.
AB  - Histone H2A monoubiquitination (H2Aub1), catalyzed by Polycomb-Repressive
      Complex1 (PRC1), is a key epigenetic mark in Polycomb silencing. However, little
      is known about how H2Aub1 is read to exert downstream physiological functions.
      The animal ZUOTIN-RELATED FACTOR1 (ZRF1) has been reported to bind H2Aub1 to
      promote or repress the expression of varied target genes. Here, we show that the
      Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ZRF1 homologs, AtZRF1a and AtZRF1b, are key
      regulators of multiple processes during plant growth and development. Loss of
      function of both AtZRF1a and AtZRF1b in atzrf1a atzrf1b mutants causes seed
      germination delay, small plant size, abnormal meristem activity, abnormal flower
      development, as well as gametophyte transmission and embryogenesis defects. Some
      of these defects overlap with those described previously in the PRC1-defective
      mutants atbmi1a atbmi1b and atring1a atring1b, but others are specific to atzrf1a
      atzrf1b In line with this, 4,519 genes (representing more than 14% of all genes)
      within the Arabidopsis genome are found differentially expressed in atzrf1a
      atzrf1b seedlings, and among them, 114 genes are commonly up-regulated in
      atring1a atring1b and atbmi1a atbmi1b Finally, we show that in both atzrf1a
      atzrf1b and atbmi1a atbmi1b seedlings, the seed developmental genes ABSCISIC ACID
      INSENSITIVE3, CRUCIFERIN3, and CHOTTO1 are derepressed, in association with the
      reduced levels of H2Aub1 and histone H3 lysine-27 trimethylation (H3K27me3).
      Collectively, our results indicate that AtZRF1a/b play both PRC1-related and PRC1
      unrelated functions in regulating plant growth and development and that AtZRF1a/b
      promote H2Aub1 and H3K27me3 deposition in gene suppression. Our work provides
      novel insight into the mechanisms of function of this family of evolutionarily
      conserved chromatin regulators.

PMID- 27630188
TI  - Research ethics committee decision-making in relation to an efficient neonatal
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Randomised controlled trials, a gold-standard approach to reduce
      uncertainties in clinical practice, are growing in cost and are often slow to
      recruit. We determined whether methodological approaches to facilitate large,
      efficient clinical trials were acceptable to UK research ethics committees
      (RECs). DESIGN: We developed a protocol in collaboration with parents, for a
      comparative-effectiveness, randomised controlled trial comparing two widely used
      blood transfusion practices in preterm infants. We incorporated four approaches
      to improve recruitment and efficiency: (i) point-of-care design using electronic
      patient records for patient identification, randomisation and data acquisition,
      (ii) short two-page information sheet; (iii) explicit mention of possible
      inclusion benefit; (iv) opt-out consent with enrolment as the default. With the
      support of the UK Health Research Authority, we submitted an identical protocol
      to 12 UK REC. SETTING: RECs in the UK. MAIN OUTCOME: Number of REC granting
      favourable opinions. RESULTS: The use of electronic patient records was
      acceptable to all RECs; one REC raised concerns about the short parent
      information sheet, 10 about inclusion benefit and 9 about opt-out consent.
      Following responses to queries, nine RECs granted a favourable final opinion and
      three rejected the application because they considered the opt-out consent
      process invalid. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of RECs in this study consider the use
      of electronic patient record data, short information sheets, opt-out consent and
      mention of possible inclusion benefit to be acceptable in neonatal comparative
      effectiveness research. We identified a need for guidance for RECs in relation to
      opt-out consent processes. These methods provide opportunity to facilitate large
      randomised controlled trials.

PMID- 27630190
TI  - Development, Implementation, and Outcomes of a Delirium Protocol in the Surgical
      Trauma Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delirium in the critically ill is associated with increased
      mortality, length of stay (LOS), and prolonged cognitive dysfunction. Existing
      guidelines provide no recommendation for use of combination nonpharmacological
      and pharmacological prevention protocols or use of antipsychotic medications for
      the prevention or treatment of delirium. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the
      impact of implementing a delirium treatment protocol on the number of delirium
      free days experienced by acutely delirious patients in the surgical trauma
      intensive care unit (STICU). METHODS: This retrospective, institutional review
      board-approved, pre-implementation (PRE) versus post-implementation (POST) cohort
      evaluated delirious patients admitted to the STICU. Patients were evaluated based
      on the duration of delirium. Secondary end points included ICU LOS, amount of
      atypical and typical antipsychotic medication used, amount of analgesia and
      sedation used, and adverse drug events associated with antipsychotics. RESULTS:
      Of the 593 evaluated, 89 patients were included (38 PRE vs 51 POST).
      Implementation of a delirium protocol reduced the number of delirious days, 8.2
      +/- 5.7 days PRE versus 4.5 +/- 4.4 days POST; P = 0.001. ICU LOS in surviving
      patients and use of concomitant medications, intravenous morphine equivalents,
      and propofol were significantly reduced in the POST group. CONCLUSION: The
      implementation of a delirium protocol with nonpharmacological and pharmacological
      interventions had an impact on STICU patients experiencing acute delirium by
      significantly increasing delirium-free days and reducing the ICU LOS, in addition
      to decreased administration of concomitant medications.

PMID- 27630191
TI  - Impact of a Pharmacy-Cardiology Collaborative Practice on Dofetilide Safety
      Monitoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited studies have been published examining dofetilide's
      postmarketing use and its recommended monitoring. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      impact of a collaborative pharmacy-cardiology antiarrhythmic drug (AAD)
      monitoring program on dofetilide monitoring. METHODS: This retrospective cohort
      study was performed to assess if a novel monitoring program improved compliance
      with dofetilide-specific monitoring parameters based on the Food and Drug
      Administration's Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. RESULTS: A total of 30
      patients were included in the analysis. The monitoring parameters evaluated
      included electrocardiogram, serum potassium, serum magnesium, and kidney
      function. The primary outcome evaluated was the composite of these dofetilide
      monitoring parameters obtained in each cohort. In the standard cohort, 245 of 352
      (69.6%) monitoring parameters were completed versus 134 of 136 (98.5%) in the
      intervention group ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A collaborative pharmacy-cardiology
      AAD monitoring program was associated with a significant improvement in
      dofetilide monitoring. This improvement could potentially translate into enhanced
      patient safety outcomes, such as prevention of adverse drug reactions and
      decreased hospitalizations.

PMID- 27630192
TI  - Efficacy and Outcomes After Vasopressin Guideline Implementation in Septic Shock.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In septic shock, the dose of norepinephrine (NE) at which vasopressin
      (AVP) should be added is unknown. Following an increase in AVP price, our medical
      intensive care unit (MICU) revised its vasopressor guidelines to reserve AVP for
      patients requiring greater than 50 ug/min of NE. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this
      study is to compare efficacy and safety outcomes for patients admitted before the
      guideline revision with those for patients admitted after the revision. METHODS:
      This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to
      Vanderbilt University Medical Center from November 1, 2014, to November 30, 2015.
      Before June 1, 2015, the vasopressor guidelines recommended initiation of AVP for
      patients requiring 10 ug/min of NE or greater. After June 1, 2015, the guidelines
      recommended initiation of AVP at a NE dose of 50 ug/min or greater. RESULTS: Time
      to achieve goal mean arterial pressure (MAP) was shorter in the postintervention
      group (2.0 vs 1.3 hours; P = 0.03) in univariate analysis but not after adjusting
      for prespecified confounders. Incidence of new arrhythmias was similar between
      the 2 groups (14.9% vs 10.9%; P = 0.567). In multivariable analysis accounting
      for baseline severity of illness, admission after the revision was associated
      with decreased 28-day mortality (odds ratio = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.16-0.71; P =
      0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Use of a vasopressor guideline restricting AVP initiation in
      septic patients to those on at least 50 ug/min of NE appeared to be safe and did
      not affect the time to reach goal MAP.

PMID- 27630193
TI  - Distinct biological events generated by ECM proteolysis by two homologous
      collagenases.
AB  - It is well established that the expression profiles of multiple and possibly
      redundant matrix-remodeling proteases (e.g., collagenases) differ strongly in
      health, disease, and development. Although enzymatic redundancy might be inferred
      from their close similarity in structure, their in vivo activity can lead to
      extremely diverse tissue-remodeling outcomes. We observed that proteolysis of
      collagen-rich natural extracellular matrix (ECM), performed uniquely by
      individual homologous proteases, leads to distinct events that eventually affect
      overall ECM morphology, viscoelastic properties, and molecular composition. We
      revealed striking differences in the motility and signaling patterns, morphology,
      and gene-expression profiles of cells interacting with natural collagen-rich ECM
      degraded by different collagenases. Thus, in contrast to previous notions, matrix
      remodeling systems are not redundant and give rise to precise ECM-cell crosstalk.
      Because ECM proteolysis is an abundant biochemical process that is critical for
      tissue homoeostasis, these results improve our fundamental understanding its
      complexity and its impact on cell behavior.

PMID- 27630194
TI  - Inevitability and containment of replication errors for eukaryotic genome lengths
      spanning megabase to gigabase.
AB  - The replication of DNA is initiated at particular sites on the genome called
      replication origins (ROs). Understanding the constraints that regulate the
      distribution of ROs across different organisms is fundamental for quantifying the
      degree of replication errors and their downstream consequences. Using a simple
      probabilistic model, we generate a set of predictions on the extreme sensitivity
      of error rates to the distribution of ROs, and how this distribution must
      therefore be tuned for genomes of vastly different sizes. As genome size changes
      from megabases to gigabases, we predict that regularity of RO spacing is lost,
      that large gaps between ROs dominate error rates but are heavily constrained by
      the mean stalling distance of replication forks, and that, for genomes spanning
      ~100 megabases to ~10 gigabases, errors become increasingly inevitable but their
      number remains very small (three or less). Our theory predicts that the number of
      errors becomes significantly higher for genome sizes greater than ~10 gigabases.
      We test these predictions against datasets in yeast, Arabidopsis, Drosophila, and
      human, and also through direct experimentation on two different human cell lines.
      Agreement of theoretical predictions with experiment and datasets is found in all
      cases, resulting in a picture of great simplicity, whereby the density and
      positioning of ROs explain the replication error rates for the entire range of
      eukaryotes for which data are available. The theory highlights three domains of
      error rates: negligible (yeast), tolerable (metazoan), and high (some plants),
      with the human genome at the extreme end of the middle domain.

PMID- 27630195
TI  - 'Surfing' the cardiovascular epidemic SURF (SUrvey of Risk Factors), a welcome
      initiative to improve monitoring of patients with coronary heart disease.

PMID- 27630196
TI  - Selection on Position of Nonsense Codons in Introns.
AB  - Introns occasionally remain in mature messenger RNAs (mRNAs) due to splicing
      errors and the translated, aberrant proteins that result represent a metabolic
      cost and may have other deleterious consequences. The nonsense-mediated decay
      (NMD) pathway degrades aberrant mRNAs, which it recognizes by the presence of an
      in-frame premature termination codon (PTC). We investigated whether selection has
      shaped the location of PTCs in introns to reduce waste and facilitate NMD. We
      found across seven model organisms, that in both first and last introns, PTCs
      occur earlier in introns than expected by chance, suggesting that selection
      favors earlier position. This pattern is more pronounced in species with larger
      effective population sizes. The pattern does not hold for last introns in the two
      mammal species, however, perhaps because in these species NMD is not initiated
      from 3'-terminal introns. We conclude that there is compelling evidence that the
      location of PTCs is shaped by selection for reduced waste and efficient
      degradation of aberrant mRNAs.

PMID- 27630197
TI  - Impaired Recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Alveolar Macrophages From
      Diabetic Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased tuberculosis risk and
      severity. We previously reported that tuberculosis susceptibility in diabetic
      mice results from a delay in innate immune response to inhaled Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis, leading to delayed adaptive immune priming and, consequently, a
      higher plateau lung bacterial burden and greater immune pathology. METHODS:  We
      tested the capacity of alveolar macrophages from diabetic mice to phagocytose M.
      tuberculosis ex vivo and promote T-cell activation in vivo. RESULTS:  Alveolar
      macrophages from diabetic mice had reduced expression of CD14 and macrophage
      receptor with collagenous structure (MARCO), which recognize the bacterial cell
      wall component trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM). Diabetic alveolar macrophages
      exhibited reduced phagocytosis of M. tuberculosis or TDM-coated latex beads. This
      alveolar macrophage phenotype was absent in peritoneal and bone marrow-derived
      macrophages. Transfer of infected alveolar macrophages from diabetic mice into
      nondiabetic recipients confirmed an intrinsic alveolar macrophage defect that
      hindered T-cell priming. The diabetic alveolar macrophage phenotype depended in
      part on expression of the receptor for advanced glycation end products.
      CONCLUSIONS:  Reduced MARCO and CD14 expression contributes to defective sentinel
      function of alveolar macrophages, promoting tuberculosis susceptibility in
      diabetic hosts at a critical early step in the immune response to aerosol
      infection.

PMID- 27630198
TI  - Nitric Oxide-Dependent Endothelial Dysfunction and Reduced Arginine
      Bioavailability in Plasmodium vivax Malaria but No Greater Increase in
      Intravascular Hemolysis in Severe Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathogenesis of severe Plasmodium vivax malaria is poorly understood.
      Endothelial dysfunction and reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability
      characterize severe falciparum malaria, but have not been assessed in severe
      vivax malaria. METHODS: In patients with severe vivax malaria (n = 9), patients
      with nonsevere vivax malaria (n = 58), and healthy controls (n = 79), we measured
      NO-dependent endothelial function by using reactive hyperemia-peripheral arterial
      tonometry (RH-PAT) and assessed associations with arginine, asymmetric
      dimethylarginine (ADMA), and hemolysis. RESULTS: The L-arginine level and the L
      arginine to ADMA ratio (a measure of L-arginine bioavailability) were reduced in
      patients with severe vivax malaria and those with nonsevere vivax malaria,
      compared with healthy controls (median L-arginine level, 65, 66, and 98 umol/mL,
      respectively [P = .0001]; median L-arginine to ADMA ratio, 115, 125, and 187,
      respectively [P = .0001]). Endothelial function was impaired in proportion to
      disease severity (median RH-PAT index, 1.49, 1.73, and 1.97 in patients with
      severe vivax malaria, those with nonsevere vivax malaria, and healthy controls,
      respectively; P = .018) and was associated with the L-arginine to ADMA ratio.
      While the posttreatment fall in hemoglobin level was greater in severe vivax
      malaria as compared to nonsevere vivax malaria (2.5 vs 1 g/dL; P = .0001),
      markers of intravascular hemolysis were not higher in severe disease.
      CONCLUSIONS: Endothelial function is impaired in nonsevere and severe vivax
      malaria, is associated with reduced L-arginine bioavailability, and may
      contribute to microvascular pathogenesis. Severe disease appears to be more
      associated with extravascular hemolysis than with intravascular hemolysis.

PMID- 27630200
TI  - Color stability and lipid oxidation of broiler breast meat from animals raised on
      organic versus non-organic production systems.
AB  - The aim of the present research was to evaluate the influence of organic and non
      organic production systems on color stability and lipid oxidation of broiler meat
      Pectoralis major (PM) stored under refrigeration (4 degrees C) for 9 days. PM
      samples from organic (ORG) and non-organic (NORG) production systems were
      compared based on physicochemical analyses (instrumental color, myoglobin
      concentration, metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA), pH, and lipid oxidation)
      performed in 4 different trials (n = 4). In general, NORG broilers demonstrated
      higher (P < 0.05) b* and lipid oxidation values than ORG, whereas ORG samples
      exhibited increased (P < 0.05) MRA, ratio of reflectance at 630 per 580
      nanometers (R 630/580), and a* values. The lower color stability observed in NORG
      samples can be partly due to lipid oxidation. Therefore, the production system
      can affect color and lipid stability of broiler breast meat during storage.

PMID- 27630199
TI  - Respiratory Virus-Associated Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and Viral
      Clustering in Malawian Children in a Setting With a High Prevalence of HIV
      Infection, Malaria, and Malnutrition.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  We used data from 4 years of pediatric severe acute respiratory
      illness (SARI) sentinel surveillance in Blantyre, Malawi, to identify factors
      associated with clinical severity and coviral clustering. METHODS:  From January
      2011 to December 2014, 2363 children aged 3 months to 14 years presenting to the
      hospital with SARI were enrolled. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested for
      influenza virus and other respiratory viruses. We assessed risk factors for
      clinical severity and conducted clustering analysis to identify viral clusters in
      children with viral codetection. RESULTS:  Hospital-attended influenza virus
      positive SARI incidence was 2.0 cases per 10 000 children annually; it was
      highest among children aged <1 year (6.3 cases per 10 000), and human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children aged 5-9 years (6.0 cases per 10
      000). A total of 605 SARI cases (26.8%) had warning signs, which were positively
      associated with HIV infection (adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 2.4; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 1.4-3.9), respiratory syncytial virus infection (aRR, 1.9; 95% CI,
      1.3-3.0) and rainy season (aRR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6-3.8). We identified 6 coviral
      clusters; 1 cluster was associated with SARI with warning signs. CONCLUSIONS: 
      Influenza vaccination may benefit young children and HIV-infected children in
      this setting. Viral clustering may be associated with SARI severity; its
      assessment should be included in routine SARI surveillance.

PMID- 27630201
TI  - Sieve-based coreference resolution enhances semi-supervised learning model for
      chemical-induced disease relation extraction.
AB  - The BioCreative V chemical-disease relation (CDR) track was proposed to
      accelerate the progress of text mining in facilitating integrative understanding
      of chemicals, diseases and their relations. In this article, we describe an
      extension of our system (namely UET-CAM) that participated in the BioCreative V
      CDR. The original UET-CAM system's performance was ranked fourth among 18
      participating systems by the BioCreative CDR track committee. In the Disease
      Named Entity Recognition and Normalization (DNER) phase, our system employed
      joint inference (decoding) with a perceptron-based named entity recognizer (NER)
      and a back-off model with Semantic Supervised Indexing and Skip-gram for named
      entity normalization. In the chemical-induced disease (CID) relation extraction
      phase, we proposed a pipeline that includes a coreference resolution module and a
      Support Vector Machine relation extraction model. The former module utilized a
      multi-pass sieve to extend entity recall. In this article, the UET-CAM system was
      improved by adding a 'silver' CID corpus to train the prediction model. This
      silver standard corpus of more than 50 thousand sentences was automatically built
      based on the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) database. We evaluated our
      method on the CDR test set. Results showed that our system could reach the state
      of the art performance with F1 of 82.44 for the DNER task and 58.90 for the CID
      task. Analysis demonstrated substantial benefits of both the multi-pass sieve
      coreference resolution method (F1 + 4.13%) and the silver CID corpus (F1
      +7.3%).Database URL: SilverCID-The silver-standard corpus for CID relation
      extraction is freely online available at: https://zenodo.org/record/34530
      (doi:10.5281/zenodo.34530).

PMID- 27630203
TI  - The Parent Experience of Assessment Scale (PEAS): Development and Relation to
      Parent Satisfaction.
AB  - This study outlines the development of the Parent Experience of Assessment Scale
      (PEAS), which is based on principles of Therapeutic Assessment. The study
      includes pilot testing of a 64-item questionnaire across 134 participants, with
      psychometric analyses utilizing confirmatory factor analysis. The revised version
      consists of 24 items across five subscales with appropriate internal consistency
      reliability (alphas from .76 to .88). The PEAS demonstrates statistically
      significant relations with general parent satisfaction, with two subscales
      indicating significant direct effects via structural equation modeling. The PEAS
      has the potential utility to provide more nuanced clinical and investigative
      feedback regarding the parent process during child psychological assessment.

PMID- 27630202
TI  - Establishment of Kawasaki disease database based on metadata standard.
AB  - Kawasaki disease (KD) is a rare disease that occurs predominantly in infants and
      young children. To identify KD susceptibility genes and to develop a diagnostic
      test, a specific therapy, or prevention method, collecting KD patients' clinical
      and genomic data is one of the major issues. For this purpose, Kawasaki Disease
      Database (KDD) was developed based on the efforts of Korean Kawasaki Disease
      Genetics Consortium (KKDGC). KDD is a collection of 1292 clinical data and
      genomic samples of 1283 patients from 13 KKDGC-participating hospitals. Each
      sample contains the relevant clinical data, genomic DNA and plasma samples
      isolated from patients' blood, omics data and KD-associated genotype data.
      Clinical data was collected and saved using the common data elements based on the
      ISO/IEC 11179 metadata standard. Two genome-wide association study data of total
      482 samples and whole exome sequencing data of 12 samples were also collected. In
      addition, KDD includes the rare cases of KD (16 cases with family history, 46
      cases with recurrence, 119 cases with intravenous immunoglobulin non
      responsiveness, and 52 cases with coronary artery aneurysm). As the first public
      database for KD, KDD can significantly facilitate KD studies. All data in KDD can
      be searchable and downloadable. KDD was implemented in PHP, MySQL and Apache,
      with all major browsers supported.Database URL: http://www.kawasakidisease.kr.

PMID- 27630204
TI  - Response Inconsistency of Patient-Reported Symptoms as a Predictor of Discrepancy
      Between Patient and Clinician-Reported Depression Severity.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which discrepancy between self
      reported and clinician-rated severity of depression are due to inconsistent self
      reports. Response inconsistency threatens the validity of the test score. We used
      data from a large sample of outpatients ( N = 5,959) who completed the self
      report Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the clinician-rated Montgomery
      Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). We used item response theory based person
      fit analysis to quantify the inconsistency of the self-report item scores.
      Inconsistency was weakly positively related to patient-clinician discrepancy
      (i.e., higher BDI-II scores relative to MADRS scores). The mediating effect of
      response inconsistency in the relationship between discrepancy and demographic
      (e.g., ethnic origin) and clinical variables (e.g., cognitive problems) was
      negligible. The small direct and mediating effects of response inconsistency
      suggest that inaccurate patient self-reports are not a major cause of patient
      clinician discrepancy in outpatient samples. Future research should investigate
      the role of clinician biases in explaining clinician-patient discrepancy.

PMID- 27630205
TI  - Apple peel polyphenols: a key player in the prevention and treatment of
      experimental inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce oxidative stress (OxS) and
      inflammation via several mechanisms. These beneficial effects may be due to their
      high polyphenol content. The aims of the present study are to evaluate the
      preventive and therapeutic aspects of polyphenols in dried apple peel powder
      (DAPP) on intestinal inflammation while elucidating the underlying mechanisms and
      clinical benefits. Induction of intestinal inflammation in mice was performed by
      oral administration of the inflammatory agent dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) at
      2.5% for 10 days. Physiological and supraphysiological doses of DAPP (200 and 400
      mg/kg/day respectively) were administered by gavage for 10 days pre- and post-DSS
      treatment. DSS-mediated inflammation caused weight loss, shortening of the colon,
      dystrophic detachment of the epithelium, and infiltration of mono- and poly
      morphonuclear cells in the colon. DSS induced an increase in lipid peroxidation,
      a down-regulation of antioxidant enzymes, an augmented expression of
      myeloperoxidase (MPO) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an elevated production of
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and a shift in mucosa-associated microbial composition.
      However, DAPP normalized most of these abnormalities in preventive or therapeutic
      situations in addition to lowering inflammatory cytokines while stimulating
      antioxidant transcription factors and modulating other potential healing
      pathways. The supraphysiological dose of DAPP in therapeutic situations also
      improved mitochondrial dysfunction. Relative abundance of Peptostreptococcaceae
      and Enterobacteriaceae bacteria was slightly decreased in DAPP-treated mice. In
      conclusion, DAPP exhibits powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action in
      the intestine and is associated with the regulation of cellular signalling
      pathways and changes in microbiota composition. Evaluation of preventive and
      therapeutic effects of DAPP may be clinically feasible in individuals with
      intestinal inflammatory bowel diseases.

PMID- 27630206
TI  - Increased Interleukin-32 Levels in Obesity Promote Adipose Tissue Inflammation
      and Extracellular Matrix Remodeling: Effect of Weight Loss.
AB  - Interleukin (IL)-32 is a recently described cytokine involved in the regulation
      of inflammation. We aimed to explore whether IL-32 could function as an
      inflammatory and angiogenic factor in human obesity and obesity-associated type 2
      diabetes. Samples obtained from 90 subjects were used in the study. Obese
      patients exhibited higher expression levels of IL-32 in visceral adipose tissue
      (AT) as well as in subcutaneous AT and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. IL32
      was mainly expressed by stromovascular fraction cells, and its expression was
      significantly enhanced by inflammatory stimuli and hypoxia, whereas no changes
      were found after the incubation with anti-inflammatory cytokines. The addition of
      exogenous IL-32 induced the expression of inflammation and extracellular matrix
      related genes in human adipocyte cultures, and IL32-silenced adipocytes showed a
      downregulation of inflammatory genes. Furthermore, adipocyte-conditioned media
      obtained from obese patients increased IL32 gene expression in human monocyte
      cultures, whereas the adipocyte-conditioned media from lean volunteers had no
      effect on IL32 mRNA levels. These findings provide evidence, for the first time,
      about the inflammatory and remodeling properties of IL-32 in AT, implicating this
      cytokine in obesity-associated comorbidities.

PMID- 27630210
TI  - Hypersensitivity Reaction Following Administration of Low-Dose Oral Vancomycin
      for the Treatment of Clostridium difficile in a Patient With Normal Renal
      Function.
AB  - Systemic absorption of oral vancomycin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile
      is thought to be trivial in patients without risk factors for increased systemic
      absorption and is often overlooked in clinical practice. A 51-year-old male
      elicits a suspected immunoglobulin E-mediated hypersensitivity following
      administration of low-dose oral vancomycin for the treatment of severe C
      difficile. The patient had normal renal function and was administered low doses
      of the medication, however, had a medical history significant for diverticulitis.
      Applying the Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale, a score of 5 was
      obtained, indicating a probable association between the administration of oral
      vancomycin and the hypersensitivity reaction. This case demonstrates that
      hypersensitivity reactions following low-dose oral vancomycin administration in
      patients with severe C difficile are possible, despite having normal renal
      function. Other risk factors for systemic absorption of oral vancomycin need to
      be evaluated in the literature, including severity of disease and underlying
      gastrointestinal processes.

PMID- 27630207
TI  - Gas6 Promotes Oligodendrogenesis and Myelination in the Adult Central Nervous
      System and After Lysolecithin-Induced Demyelination.
AB  - A key aim of therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) is to promote the regeneration
      of oligodendrocytes and remyelination in the central nervous system (CNS). The
      present study provides evidence that the vitamin K-dependent protein growth
      arrest specific 6 (Gas6) promotes such repair in in vitro cultures of mouse optic
      nerve and cerebellum. We first determined expression of Gas6 and TAM (Tyro3, Axl,
      Mer) receptors in the mouse CNS, with all three TAM receptors increasing in
      expression through postnatal development, reaching maximal levels in the adult.
      Treatment of cultured mouse optic nerves with Gas6 resulted in significant
      increases in oligodendrocyte numbers as well as expression of myelin basic
      protein (MBP). Gas6 stimulation also resulted in activation of STAT3 in optic
      nerves as well as downregulation of multiple genes involved in MS development,
      including matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), which may decrease the integrity of
      the blood-brain barrier and is found upregulated in MS lesions. The
      cytoprotective effects of Gas6 were examined in in vitro mouse cerebellar slice
      cultures, where lysolecithin was used to induce demyelination. Cotreatment of
      cerebellar slices with Gas6 significantly attenuated demyelination as determined
      by MBP immunostaining, and Gas6 activated Tyro3 receptor through its
      phosphorylation. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that Gas6/TAM signaling
      stimulates the generation of oligodendrocytes and increased myelin production via
      Tyro3 receptor in the adult CNS, including repair after demyelinating injury.
      Furthermore, the effects of Gas6 on STAT3 signaling and matrix MMP9
      downregulation indicate potential glial cell repair and immunoregulatory roles
      for Gas6, indicating that Gas6-TAM signaling could be a potential therapeutic
      target in MS and other neuropathologies.

PMID- 27630211
TI  - Serum Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 (FABP4) Predicts Pre-eclampsia in Women With
      Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between fatty acid binding protein 4
      (FABP4) and pre-eclampsia risk in women with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
      METHODS: Serum FABP4 was measured in 710 women from the Diabetes and Pre
      eclampsia Intervention Trial (DAPIT) in early pregnancy and in the second
      trimester (median 14 and 26 weeks' gestation, respectively). RESULTS: FABP4 was
      significantly elevated in early pregnancy (geometric mean 15.8 ng/mL
      [interquartile range 11.6-21.4] vs. 12.7 ng/mL [interquartile range 9.6-17]; P <
      0.001) and the second trimester (18.8 ng/mL [interquartile range 13.6-25.8] vs.
      14.6 ng/mL [interquartile range 10.8-19.7]; P < 0.001) in women in whom pre
      eclampsia later developed. Elevated second-trimester FABP4 level was
      independently associated with pre-eclampsia (odds ratio 2.87 [95% CI 1.24-6.68],
      P = 0.03). The addition of FABP4 to established risk factors significantly
      improved net reclassification improvement at both time points and integrated
      discrimination improvement in the second trimester. CONCLUSIONS: Increased second
      trimester FABP4 independently predicted pre-eclampsia and significantly improved
      reclassification and discrimination. FABP4 shows potential as a novel biomarker
      for pre-eclampsia prediction in women with type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 27630212
TI  - Pancreatic Safety of Sitagliptin in the TECOS Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the incidence of acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer
      in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease who were treated with
      sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i). RESEARCH DESIGN AND
      METHODS: In the Trial Evaluating Cardiovascular Outcomes with Sitagliptin (TECOS)
      study, a cardiovascular safety study of sitagliptin, all suspected cases of acute
      pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer were collected prospectively for 14,671
      participants during a median follow-up time of 3 years, and were adjudicated
      blindly. RESULTS: Baseline differences were minimal between participants
      confirmed to have no pancreatic events, acute pancreatitis, or pancreatic cancer.
      Among those participants randomized to receive sitagliptin, 23 (0.3%) (vs. 12
      randomized to receive placebo [0.2%]) had pancreatitis (hazard ratio 1.93 [95% CI
      0.96-3.88], P = 0.065; 0.107 vs. 0.056/100 patient-years), with 25 versus 17
      events, respectively. Severe pancreatitis (two fatal) occurred in four
      individuals allocated to receive sitagliptin. Cases of pancreatic cancer were
      numerically fewer with sitagliptin (9 [0.1%]) versus placebo (14 [0.2%]) (hazard
      ratio 0.66 [95% CI 0.28-1.51], P = 0.32; 0.042 vs. 0.066 events/100 patient
      years). Meta-analysis with two other DPP-4i cardiovascular outcome studies showed
      an increased risk for acute pancreatitis (risk ratio 1.78 [95% CI 1.13-2.81], P =
      0.01) and no significant effect for pancreatic cancer (risk ratio 0.54 [95% CI
      0.28-1.04], P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer were
      uncommon events with rates that were not statistically significantly different
      between the sitagliptin and placebo groups, although numerically more sitagliptin
      participants developed pancreatitis and fewer developed pancreatic cancer. Meta
      analysis suggests a small absolute increased risk for pancreatitis with DPP-4i
      therapy.

PMID- 27630215
TI  - Anti-C1q autoantibodies from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus induce
      C1q production by macrophages.
AB  - Antibodies against C1q (anti-C1q) are frequently found in patients with systemic
      lupus erythematosus (SLE). The anti-C1q antibodies strongly correlate with the
      occurrence of lupus nephritis and low-circulating C1q levels. Previous studies
      have demonstrated that myeloid cells, i.e., dendritic cells and macrophages, are
      a major source of C1q. However, a direct effect of anti-C1q on C1q secretion by
      macrophages has not yet been established. In the present study, we investigated
      the C1q secretion profile of in vitro human monocyte-derived macrophages (HMDMs)
      obtained from healthy donors and from patients with SLE. The effect of SLE
      patient-derived anti-C1q bound to immobilized C1q (imC1q) and imC1q alone on
      HMDMs was investigated by C1q secretion levels, the expression of membrane-bound
      and intracellular C1q using flow cytometry and ImageStreamX technology, and
      testing the ability of secreted C1q to activate the classical pathway (CP) of the
      complement. Bound anti-C1q induced significantly greater C1q secretion levels as
      compared with imC1q alone or healthy donor IgG. The extent of C1q secretion by
      HMDMs correlated with IgG anti-C1q levels of patients with SLE but not of healthy
      controls. Furthermore, bound autoantibodies and imC1q induced continuous and de
      novo C1q synthesis as evident by the intracellular C1q content, which correlated
      with C1q secretion levels. Finally, secreted C1q was able to activate the CP, as
      reflected by C4b deposition. Interestingly, anti-C1q-dependent C1q secretion
      could also be observed in SLE patient-derived cells. In conclusion, our data
      indicate that imC1q-bound anti-C1q strongly stimulate the C1q production by
      HMDMs. Anti-C1q-induced C1q secretion might be an important immune-modulatory
      factor in SLE.

PMID- 27630213
TI  - Getting It "Right".
AB  - Ethical principles in conducting technology-based research require effective and
      efficient methods of ensuring adequate informed consent. This study examined how
      well participants understood the informed consent form for an online postpartum
      depression trial. Pregnant women ( N = 1,179) who consented to the trial
      demonstrated an understanding of the purpose (86.1%) and procedures of the study
      (75.8%), and the minimal risks associated with answering sensitive questions
      online (79%). Almost all (99.6%) understood that psychological treatment was not
      offered. Participants with current depression incorrectly indicated that
      participation would replace current psychological treatment relative to
      participants with a lifetime or no depression history (19.6% vs. 13.5 % vs.
      10.4%, respectively) and that there were no associated risks with participation
      (29.6% vs.17.6% vs. 16.7%, respectively). Findings provide initial evidence that
      most individuals who seek online psychological resources are informed consumers.

PMID- 27630214
TI  - Regulation of FcRgamma function by site-specific serine phosphorylation.
AB  - The common FcRgamma, an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-
      containing adaptor protein, associates with multiple leukocyte receptor complexes
      and mediates signal transduction through the ITAM in the cytoplasmic domain. The
      presence of multiple serine and threonine residues within this motif suggests the
      potential for serine/threonine phosphorylation in modulating signaling events.
      Single-site mutational analysis of these residues in RBL-2H3 cells indicates that
      each may contribute to net FcRgamma-mediated signaling, and mass spectrometry of
      WT human FcRgamma from receptor-stimulated cells shows consistent preferential
      phosphorylation of the serine residue at position 51. Immunoblot analysis, mass
      spectrometry, and mutational analyses showed that phosphorylation of serine 51 in
      the 7-residue spacer between the 2 YxxL sequences regulates FcRgamma signaling by
      inhibiting tyrosine phosphorylation at the membrane proximal Y47 position of the
      ITAM, but not phosphorylation at position Y58. This inhibition results in reduced
      Syk recruitment and activation. With in vitro kinase assays, PKC-delta and PKA
      show preferential phosphorylation of S51. Serine/threonine phosphorylation of the
      FcRgamma ITAM, which functions as an integrator of multiple signaling elements,
      may explain in part the contribution of variants in PKC-delta and other PKC
      isoforms to some autoimmune phenotypes.

PMID- 27630216
TI  - CD4+ T cells from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis exhibit reduced
      apoptosis and down-regulation of proapoptotic Bim in peripheral blood.
AB  - The pathogenesis of the progressive liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis
      (PSC), remains largely elusive. The strong genetic association with HLA loci
      suggests that T cell-dependent, adaptive immune reactions could contribute to
      disease pathogenesis. Recent studies have indicated that PSC is also associated
      with polymorphisms in the locus encoding for proapoptotic Bim (BCL2L11). Bim is
      crucial for the maintenance of immunologic tolerance through induction of
      apoptosis in activated T cells. Of interest with regard to PSC is the finding
      that BCL2L11-deficient mice develop periductular infiltrates. We, therefore,
      investigated, whether defective apoptosis of T cells might contribute to the
      phenotype of PSC. Thus, we induced apoptosis of T cells from patients with PSC
      and controls by repeated T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation or cytokine
      withdrawal. We found that CD4+ T cells, but not CD8+ T cells, from patients with
      PSC exhibited significantly reduced apoptosis in response to both, TCR
      restimulation or cytokine withdrawal. This increased apoptosis resistance was
      associated with significantly reduced up-regulation of proapoptotic Bim in T
      cells from patients with PSC. However, T cell apoptosis did not seem to be
      influenced by the previously described BCL2L11 polymorphisms. Reduced CD4+ T cell
      apoptosis in patients with PSC was not due to reduced cell activation, as
      indicated by a similar surface expression of the activation markers CD69, CD25,
      and CD28 in T cells from patients and controls. Thus, decreased apoptosis of
      activated CD4+ T cells may be part of the immune dysregulation observed in
      patients with PSC.

PMID- 27630217
TI  - Lipoxin A4, a 5-lipoxygenase pathway metabolite, modulates immune response during
      acute respiratory tularemia.
AB  - Respiratory infection with Francisella tularensis (Ft) is characterized by a
      muted, acute host response, followed by sepsis-like syndrome that results in
      death. Infection with Ft establishes a principally anti-inflammatory environment
      that subverts host-cell death programs to facilitate pathogen replication.
      Although the role of cytokines has been explored extensively, the role of
      eicosanoids in tularemia pathogenesis is not fully understood. Given that lipoxin
      A4 (LXA4) has anti-inflammatory properties, we investigated whether this lipid
      mediator affects host responses manifested early during infection. The addition
      of exogenous LXA4 inhibits PGE2 release by Ft-infected murine monocytes in vitro
      and diminishes apoptotic cell death. Tularemia pathogenesis was characterized in
      5-lipoxygenase-deficient (Alox5-/-) mice that are incapable of generating LXA4
      Increased release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, as well as
      increased apoptosis, was observed in Alox5-/- mice as compared with their wild
      type counterparts. Alox5-/- mice also exhibited elevated recruitment of
      neutrophils during the early phase of infection and increased resistance to
      lethal challenge. Conversely, administration of exogenous LXA4 to Alox5-/- mice
      made them more susceptible to infection thus mimicking wild-type animals. Taken
      together, our results suggest that 5-LO activity is a critical regulator of
      immunopathology observed during the acute phase of respiratory tularemia,
      regulating bacterial burden and neutrophil recruitment and production of
      proinflammatory modulators and increasing morbidity and mortality. These studies
      identify a detrimental role for the 5-LO-derived lipid mediator LXA4 in Ft
      induced immunopathology. Targeting this pathway may have therapeutic benefit as
      an adjunct to treatment with antibiotics and conventional antimicrobial peptides,
      which often have limited efficacy against intracellular bacteria.

PMID- 27630220
TI  - Metoclopramide may be effective for clozapine-induced hypersalivation.

PMID- 27630218
TI  - Interleukin 7 immunotherapy improves host immunity and survival in a two-hit
      model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia.
AB  - Patients with protracted sepsis develop impaired immunity, which predisposes them
      to acquiring secondary infections. One of the most common and lethal secondary
      infections is Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia. Immunoadjuvant therapy is a
      promising approach to reverse sepsis-induced immunosuppression and improve
      morbidity and mortality from secondary infections. Interleukin-7 is an
      immunoadjuvant that improves survival in clinically relevant animal models of
      polymicrobial peritonitis and in fungal sepsis. This study investigated the
      effect of recombinant human interleukin-7 (rhIL-7) on survival in a 2-hit model
      of sublethal cecal ligation and puncture followed by P. aeruginosa pneumonia.
      Potential immunologic mechanisms responsible for the rhIL-7 putative beneficial
      effect were also examined, focusing on IL-17, IL-22, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha,
      cytokines that are critical in the control of sepsis and pulmonary Pseudomonas
      infections. Results showed that rhIL-7 was highly effective in preventing P.
      aeruginosa-induced death, i.e., 92% survival in rhIL-7-treated mice versus 56%
      survival in control mice. rhIL-7 increased absolute numbers of immune effector
      cells in lung and spleen and ameliorated the sepsis-induced loss of lung innate
      lymphoid cells (ILCs). rhIL-7 also significantly increased IL-17-, IFN-gamma-,
      and TNF-alpha-producing lung ILCs and CD8 T cells as well as IFN-gamma- and TNF
      alpha-producing splenic T cell subsets and ILCs. Furthermore, rhIL-7 enhanced NF
      kappaB and STAT3 signaling in lungs during sepsis and pneumonia. Given the high
      mortality associated with secondary P. aeruginosa pneumonia, the ability of rhIL
      7 to improve immunity and increase survival in multiple animal models of sepsis,
      and the remarkable safety profile of rhIL-7, clinical trials with rhIL-7 should
      be considered.

PMID- 27630221
TI  - In Her Own Words: Women Describe Their Use of Force Resulting in Court-Ordered
      Intervention.
AB  - Although researchers and practitioners have established that men and women use
      force in their intimate heterosexual relationships for very different reasons,
      there is a dearth of information regarding the events that surrounds women's
      arrests and subsequent court orders to anti-violence intervention programming.
      This information is fundamental to improving Criminal Legal System (CLS) and
      community-partner understanding of and response to intimate partner violence
      (IPV). The authors meet this need by analyzing 208 women's descriptions of their
      arrests and subsequent court order to intervention programs for using force. From
      these, the authors frame nine categorical descriptions of women's actions. The
      descriptions and categories highlight areas for CLS and community-partners'
      growing understanding of this complex issue.

PMID- 27630222
TI  - Indigenous Partner Violence, Indigenous Sentencing Courts, and Pathways to
      Desistance.
AB  - Mainstream sentencing courts do little to change the behavior of partner violence
      offenders, let alone members of more socially marginal groups. Indigenous
      offenders face a court system that has little relevance to the complexity of
      their relations and lived experiences. Assisted by respected Elders and Community
      Representatives, Australian Indigenous sentencing courts seek to create a more
      meaningful sentencing process that has a deeper impact on Indigenous offenders'
      attitudes and, ultimately, their behavior. Drawing from interviews with 30
      Indigenous offenders, we explore the ways in which the courts can motivate
      Indigenous partner violence offenders on pathways to desistence.

PMID- 27630219
TI  - Technical Advance: Changes in neutrophil migration patterns upon contact with
      platelets in a microfluidic assay.
AB  - Neutrophils are traditionally regarded as the "first responders" of the immune
      system. However, recent observations revealed that platelets often respond
      earlier to recruit and activate neutrophils within sites of injury and
      inflammation. Currently, platelet-neutrophil interactions are studied by
      intravital microscopy. Although such studies provide exceptional, physiologic in
      vivo data, they are also laborious and have low throughput. To accelerate
      platelet-neutrophil interaction studies, we have developed and optimized an ex
      vivo microfluidic platform with which the interactions between platelets and
      moving neutrophils are measured at single-cell level in precise conditions and
      with high throughput. With the use of this new assay, we have evaluated changes
      in neutrophil motility upon direct contact with platelets. Motility changes
      include longer distances traveled, frequent changes in direction, and faster
      neutrophil velocities compared with a standard motility response to
      chemoattractant fMLP. We also found that the neutrophil-platelet direct
      interactions are transient and mediated by CD62P-CD162 interactions, localized
      predominantly at the uropod of moving neutrophils. This "crawling," oscillatory
      neutrophil behavior upon platelet contact is consistent with previous in vivo
      studies and validates the use of this new test for the exploration of this
      interactive relationship.

PMID- 27630223
TI  - Massive Hemorrhage From Multiple Hepatic Artery Aneurysms.
AB  - A 66-year-old man, with an abnormal porta hepatis, consistent with tumor or
      inflammation, developed massive bleeding from one of numerous hepatic artery
      aneurysms, and coil embolization achieved control of bleeding. He died of
      subsequent multisystem organ failure, and the most likely diagnosis was either
      polyarteritis nodosa or segmental arterial mediolysis. Although the dual hepatic
      blood supply allows a degree of arterial embolization, this case demonstrates the
      risks associated with large territory hepatic arterial embolization in the
      presence of hemodynamic instability. We discuss the management issues related to
      massive hepatic bleeding when no surgical approach is possible.

PMID- 27630224
TI  - Subclavian site should be preferred for central venous access.

PMID- 27630225
TI  - Vaginal birth after caesarean at home in England: an opportunity for shared
      decision-making.

PMID- 27630226
TI  - Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Induces Phosphorylation and Reorganization of Lamin A/C
      through the gamma134.5 Protein That Facilitates Nuclear Egress.
AB  - : Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) remodels nuclear membranes during virus egress.
      Although the UL31 and UL34 proteins control nucleocapsid transit in infected
      cells, the molecular interactions required for their function are unclear. Here
      we report that the gamma134.5 gene product of HSV-1 facilitates nucleocapsid
      release to the cytoplasm through bridging the UL31/UL34 complex, cellular p32,
      and protein kinase C. Unlike wild-type virus, an HSV mutant devoid of gamma134.5
      or its amino terminus is crippled for viral growth and release. This is
      attributable to a defect in virus nuclear egress. In infected cells, wild-type
      virus recruits protein kinase C to the nuclear membrane and triggers its
      activation, whereas the gamma134.5 mutants fail to exert such an effect.
      Accordingly, the gamma134.5 mutants are unable to induce phosphorylation and
      reorganization of lamin A/C. When expressed in host cells gamma134.5 targets p32
      and protein kinase C. Meanwhile, it communicates with the UL31/UL34 complex
      through UL31. Deletion of the amino terminus from gamma134.5 disrupts its
      activity. These results suggest that disintegration of the nuclear lamina
      mediated by gamma134.5 promotes HSV replication. IMPORTANCE: HSV nuclear egress
      is a key step that determines the outcome of viral infection. While the nuclear
      egress complex mediates capsid transit across the nuclear membrane, the
      regulatory components are not clearly defined in virus-infected cells. We report
      that the gamma134.5 gene product, a virulence factor of HSV-1, facilitates
      nuclear egress cooperatively with cellular p32, protein kinase C, and the nuclear
      egress complex. This work highlights a viral mechanism that may contribute to the
      pathogenesis of HSV infection.

PMID- 27630227
TI  - The Presumed Polyomavirus Viroporin VP4 of Simian Virus 40 or Human BK
      Polyomavirus Is Not Required for Viral Progeny Release.
AB  - : The minor capsid protein of human BK polyomavirus (BKPyV), VP2, and its N
      terminally truncated form, VP3, are both important for viral entry. The closely
      related simian virus 40 (SV40) reportedly produces an additional truncated form
      of VP2/3, denoted VP4, apparently functioning as a viroporin promoting progeny
      release. The VP4 open reading frame is conserved in some polyomaviruses,
      including BKPyV. In this study, we investigated the role of VP4 in BKPyV
      replication. By transfecting viral genomes into primary human renal proximal
      tubule epithelial cells, we demonstrated that unaltered BKPyV and mutants with
      start codon substitutions in VP4 (VP2M229I and VP2M229A) abolishing putative VP4
      production were released at the same level to supernatants. However, during
      infection studies, VP2M229I and VP2M229A exhibited 90% and 65% reduced
      infectivity, respectively, indicating that isoleucine substitution inadvertently
      disrupted VP2/3 function to the detriment of viral entry, while inhibition of VP4
      production during late infection was well tolerated. Unexpectedly, and similarly
      to BKPyV, wild-type SV40 and the corresponding VP4 start codon mutants (VP2M228I
      and VP2M228A) transfected into monkey kidney cell lines were also released at
      equal levels. Upon infection, only the VP2M228I mutant exhibited reduced
      infectivity, a 43% reduction, which also subsequently led to delayed host cell
      lysis. Mass spectrometry analysis of nuclear extracts from SV40-infected cells
      failed to identify VP4. Our results suggest that neither BKPyV nor SV40 require
      VP4 for progeny release. Moreover, our results reveal an important role in viral
      entry for the amino acid in VP2/VP3 unavoidably changed by VP4 start codon
      mutagenesis. IMPORTANCE: Almost a decade ago, SV40 was reported to produce a late
      nonstructural protein, VP4, which forms pores in the nuclear membrane,
      facilitating progeny release. By performing transfection studies with unaltered
      BKPyV and SV40 and their respective VP4-deficient mutants, we found that VP4 is
      dispensable for progeny release, contrary to the original findings. However,
      infection studies demonstrated a counterintuitive reduction of infectivity of
      certain VP4-deficient mutants. In addition to the isoleucine-substituted SV40
      mutant of the original study, we included alanine-substituted VP4-deficient
      mutants of BKPyV (VP2M229A) and SV40 (VP2M228A). These revealed that the
      reduction in infectivity was not caused by a lack of VP4 but rather depended on
      the identity of the single amino acid substituted within VP2/3 for VP4 start
      codon mutagenesis. Hopefully, our results will correct the longstanding
      misconception of VP4's role during infection and stimulate continued work on
      unraveling the mechanism for release of polyomavirus progeny.

PMID- 27630229
TI  - Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Enters Human Keratinocytes by a Nectin-1-Dependent, Rapid
      Plasma Membrane Fusion Pathway That Functions at Low Temperature.
AB  - : Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infects humans through stratified epithelia that
      are composed primarily of keratinocytes. The route of HSV-1 entry into
      keratinocytes has been the subject of limited investigation, but it is proposed
      to involve pH-dependent endocytosis, requiring the gD-binding receptor nectin-1.
      Here, we have utilized the nTERT human keratinocyte cell line as a new model for
      dissecting the mechanism of HSV-1 entry into the host. Although immortalized,
      these cells nonetheless retain normal growth and differentiation properties of
      primary cells. Using short interfering RNA (siRNA) depletion studies, we confirm
      that, despite nTERT cells expressing high levels of the alternative gD receptor
      HVEM, HSV-1 requires nectin-1, not HVEM, to enter these cells. Strikingly, virus
      entry into nTERT cells occurred with unusual rapidity, such that maximum
      penetration was achieved within 5 min. Moreover, HSV-1 was able to enter
      keratinocytes but not other cell types at temperatures as low as 7 degrees C,
      conditions where endocytosis was shown to be completely inhibited. Transmission
      electron microscopy of early entry events at both 37 degrees C and 7 degrees C
      identified numerous examples of naked virus capsids located immediately beneath
      the plasma membrane, with no evidence of virions in cytoplasmic vesicles. Taken
      together, these results imply that HSV-1 uses the nectin-1 receptor to enter
      human keratinocyte cells via a previously uncharacterized rapid plasma membrane
      fusion pathway that functions at low temperature. These studies have important
      implications for current understanding of the relationship between HSV-1 and its
      relevant in vivo target cell. IMPORTANCE: The gold standard of antiviral
      treatment for any human virus infection is the prevention of virus entry into the
      host cell. In the case of HSV-1, primary infection in the human begins in the
      epidermis of the skin or the oral mucosa, where the virus infects keratinocytes,
      and it is therefore important to understand the molecular events involved in HSV
      1 entry into this cell type. Nonetheless, few studies have looked specifically at
      entry into these relevant human cells. Our results reveal a new route for virus
      entry that is specific to keratinocytes, involves rapid entry, and functions at
      low temperatures. This may reflect the environmental conditions encountered by
      HSV-1 when entering its host through the skin and emphasizes the importance of
      studying virus-host interactions in physiologically relevant cells.

PMID- 27630230
TI  - Characterization of the Glycoprotein Stable Signal Peptide in Mediating Pichinde
      Virus Replication and Virulence.
AB  - Arenaviruses can cause lethal hemorrhagic fevers in humans with few preventative
      and therapeutic measures. The arenaviral glycoprotein stable signal peptide (SSP)
      is unique among signal peptides in that it is an integral component of the mature
      glycoprotein complex (GPC) and plays important roles not only in GPC expression
      and processing but also in the membrane fusion process during viral entry. Using
      the Pichinde virus (PICV) reverse genetics system, we analyzed the effects of
      alanine substitutions at many conserved residues within the SSP on viral
      replication in cell culture and in a guinea pig infection model. Our data showed
      that the K33A, F49A, and C57A mutations abolished GPC-mediated cell entry and
      therefore could not allow for the generation of viable recombinant viruses,
      demonstrating that these residues are essential for the PICV life cycle. The G2A
      mutation caused a marked reduction of cell entry at the membrane fusion step, and
      while this mutant virus was viable, it was significantly attenuated in vitro and
      in vivo The N20A mutation also reduced membrane fusion activity and viral
      virulence in guinea pigs, but it did not significantly affect cell entry or viral
      growth in cell culture. Two other mutations (N37A and R55A) did not affect
      membrane fusion or viral growth in vitro but significantly reduced viral
      virulence in vivo Taken together, our data suggest that the GPC SSP plays an
      essential role in mediating viral entry and also contributes to viral virulence
      in vivo IMPORTANCE: Several arenaviruses, such as Lassa fever virus, can cause
      severe and lethal hemorrhagic fever diseases with high mortality and morbidity,
      and no FDA-approved vaccines or therapies are currently available. Viral entry
      into cells is mediated by arenavirus GPC that consists of an SSP, the receptor
      binding GP1, and transmembrane GP2 protein subunits. Using a reverse genetics
      system of a prototypic arenavirus, Pichinde virus (PICV), we have shown for the
      first time in the context of virus infections of cell culture and of guinea pigs
      that the SSP plays an essential role in mediating the membrane fusion step as
      well as in other yet-to-be-determined processes during viral infection. Our study
      provides important insights into the biological roles of GPC SSP and implicates
      it as a good target for the development of antivirals against deadly human
      arenavirus pathogens.

PMID- 27630228
TI  - Magnitude and Quality of Cytokine and Chemokine Storm during Acute Infection
      Distinguish Nonprogressive and Progressive Simian Immunodeficiency Virus
      Infections of Nonhuman Primates.
AB  - : Acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection represents a period of
      intense immune perturbation and activation of the host immune system. Study of
      the eclipse and viral expansion phases of infection is difficult in humans, but
      studies in nonprogressive and progressive nonhuman primate (NHP) infection models
      can provide significant insight into critical events occurring during this time.
      Cytokines, chemokines, and other soluble immune factors were measured in
      longitudinal samples from rhesus macaques infected with either SIVmac251
      (progressive infection) or SIVmac239Deltanef (attenuated/nonprogressive
      infection) and from African green monkeys infected with SIVsab9315BR
      (nonpathogenic infection). Levels of acute-phase peak viral replication were
      highest in SIVmac251 infection but correlated positively with viremia at 3 months
      postinfection in all three infection models. SIVmac251 infection was associated
      with stronger corresponding acute-phase cytokine/chemokine responses than the
      nonprogressive infections. The production of interleukin 15 (IL-15), IL-18, gamma
      interferon (IFN-gamma), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), monocyte
      chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1beta (MIP
      1beta), and serum amyloid A protein (SAA) during acute SIVmac251 infection, but
      not during SIVmac239Deltanef or SIVsab9315BR infection, correlated positively
      with chronic viremia at 3 months postinfection. Acute-phase production of MCP-1
      correlated with viremia at 3 months postinfection in both nonprogressive
      infections. Finally, a positive correlation between the acute-phase area under
      the curve (AUC) for IL-6 and soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and chronic viremia was
      observed only for the nonprogressive infection models. While we observed dynamic
      acute inflammatory immune responses in both progressive and nonprogressive SIV
      infections, the responses in the nonprogressive infections were not only lower in
      magnitude but also qualitatively different biomarkers of disease progression.
      IMPORTANCE: NHP models of HIV infection constitute a powerful tool with which to
      study viral pathogenesis in order to gain critical information for a better
      understanding of HIV infection in humans. Here we studied progressive and
      nonprogressive simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection models in both
      natural and nonnatural host NHP species. Regardless of the pathogenicity of the
      virus infection and regardless of the NHP species studied, the magnitude of
      viremia, as measured by area under the curve, during the first 4 weeks of
      infection correlated positively with viremia in chronic infection. The magnitude
      of cytokine and chemokine responses during primary infection also correlated
      positively with both acute-phase and chronic viremia. However, the pattern and
      levels of specific cytokines and chemokines produced differed between
      nonprogressive and progressive SIV infection models. The qualitative differences
      in the early immune response in pathogenic and nonpathogenic infections
      identified here may be important determinants of the subsequent disease course.

PMID- 27630231
TI  - Dynamics and Correlates of CD8 T-Cell Counts in Africans with Primary Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection.
AB  - : In individuals with HIV-1 infection, depletion of CD4+ T cells is often
      accompanied by a malfunction of CD8+ T cells that are persistently activated
      and/or exhausted. While the dynamics and correlates of CD4 counts have been well
      documented, the same does not apply to CD8 counts. Here, we examined the CD8
      counts in a cohort of 497 Africans with primary HIV-1 infection evaluated in
      monthly to quarterly follow-up visits for up to 3 years in the absence of
      antiretroviral therapy. Statistical models revealed that (i) CD8 counts were
      relatively steady in the 3- to 36-month period of infection and similar between
      men and women; (ii) neither geography nor heterogeneity in the HIV-1 set-point
      viral load could account for the roughly 10-fold range of CD8 counts in the
      cohort (P > 0.25 in all tests); and (iii) factors independently associated with
      relatively high CD8 counts included demographics (age <= 40 years, adjusted P =
      0.010) and several human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) alleles, including HLA
      A*03:01 (P = 0.013), B*15:10 (P = 0.007), and B*58:02 (P < 0.001). Multiple
      sensitivity analyses provided supporting evidence for these novel relationships.
      Overall, these findings suggest that factors associated with the CD8 count have
      little overlap with those previously reported for other HIV-1-related outcome
      measures, including viral load, CD4 count, and CD4/CD8 ratio. IMPORTANCE:
      Longitudinal data from 497 HIV-1 seroconverters allowed us to systematically
      evaluate the dynamics and correlates of CD8+ T-cell counts during untreated
      primary HIV-1 infection in eastern and southern Africans. Our findings suggest
      that individuals with certain HLA-I alleles, including A*03 (exclusively
      A*03:01), persistently maintain relatively high CD8 counts following HIV-1
      infection, a finding which may offer an intriguing explanation for the recently
      reported, negative association of A*03 with HIV-1-specific, broadly neutralizing
      antibody responses. In future studies, attention to HLA-I genotyping data may
      benefit in-depth understanding of both cellular and humoral immunity, as well as
      the intrinsic balances of these types of immunity, especially in settings where
      there is emerging evidence of antagonism between the two arms of adaptive
      immunity.

PMID- 27630232
TI  - Fc Receptor-Mediated Activities of Env-Specific Human Monoclonal Antibodies
      Generated from Volunteers Receiving the DNA Prime-Protein Boost HIV Vaccine DP6
      001.
AB  - : HIV-1 is able to elicit broadly potent neutralizing antibodies in a very small
      subset of individuals only after several years of infection, and therefore,
      vaccines that elicit these types of antibodies have been difficult to design. The
      RV144 trial showed that moderate protection is possible and that this protection
      may correlate with antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity. Our
      previous studies demonstrated that in an HIV vaccine phase I trial, the DP6-001
      trial, a polyvalent Env DNA prime-protein boost formulation could elicit potent
      and broadly reactive, gp120-specific antibodies with positive neutralization
      activities. Here we report on the production and analysis of HIV-1 Env-specific
      human monoclonal antibodies (hMAbs) isolated from vaccinees in the DP6-001 trial.
      For this initial report, 13 hMAbs from four vaccinees in the DP6-001 trial showed
      broad binding to gp120 proteins of diverse subtypes both autologous and
      heterologous to vaccine immunogens. Equally cross-reactive Fc receptor-mediated
      functional activities, including ADCC and antibody-dependent cellular
      phagocytosis (ADCP) activities, were present with both immune sera and isolated
      MAbs, confirming the induction of nonneutralizing functional hMAbs by the DNA
      prime-protein boost vaccination. Elicitation of broadly reactive hMAbs by
      vaccination in healthy human volunteers confirms the value of the polyvalent
      formulation in this HIV vaccine design. IMPORTANCE: The roles of Fc receptor
      mediated protective antibody responses are gaining more attention due to their
      potential contribution to the low-level protection against HIV-1 infection that
      they provided in the RV144 trial. At the same time, information about hMabs from
      other human HIV vaccine studies is very limited. In the current study, both
      immune sera and monoclonal antibodies from vaccinated humans showed not only high
      level ADCC and ADCP activities but also cross-subtype ADCC and ADCP activities
      when a polyvalent DNA prime-protein boost vaccine formulation was used.

PMID- 27630233
TI  - Herpes Simplex Virus 1 UL37 Protein Tyrosine Residues Conserved among All
      Alphaherpesviruses Are Required for Interactions with Glycoprotein K, Cytoplasmic
      Virion Envelopment, and Infectious Virus Production.
AB  - : The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) UL37 protein functions in virion envelopment
      at trans-Golgi membranes, as well as in retrograde and anterograde transport of
      virion capsids. Recently, we reported that UL37 interacts with glycoprotein K
      (gK) and its interacting partner protein UL20 (N. Jambunathan, D. Chouljenko, P.
      Desai, A. S. Charles, R. Subramanian, V. N. Chouljenko, and K. G. Kousoulas, J
      Virol 88:5927-5935, 2014, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00278-14), facilitating
      cytoplasmic virion envelopment. Alignment of UL37 homologs encoded by
      alphaherpesviruses revealed the presence of highly conserved residues in the
      central portion of the UL37 protein. A cadre of nine UL37 site-specific mutations
      were produced and tested for their ability to inhibit virion envelopment and
      infectious virus production. Complementation analysis revealed that replacement
      of tyrosines 474 and 480 with alanine failed to complement the UL37-null virus,
      while all other mutated UL37 genes complemented the virus efficiently. The
      recombinant virus DC474-480 constructed with tyrosines 474, 476, 477, and 480
      mutated to alanine residues produced a gK-null-like phenotype characterized by
      the production of very small plaques and accumulation of capsids in the cytoplasm
      of infected cells. Recombinant viruses having either tyrosine 476 or 477 replaced
      with alanine produced a wild-type phenotype. Immunoprecipitation assays revealed
      that replacement of all four tyrosines with alanines substantially reduced the
      ability of gK to interact with UL37. Alignment of HSV UL37 with the human
      cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus UL37 homologs revealed that Y480 was
      conserved only for alphaherpesviruses. Collectively, these results suggest that
      the UL37 conserved tyrosine 480 residue plays a crucial role in interactions with
      gK to facilitate cytoplasmic virion envelopment and infectious virus production.
      IMPORTANCE: The HSV-1 UL37 protein is conserved among all herpesviruses,
      functions in both retrograde and anterograde transport of virion capsids, and
      plays critical roles in cytoplasmic virion envelopment by interacting with gK. We
      show here that UL37 tyrosine residues conserved among all alphaherpesviruses
      serve critical roles in cytoplasmic virion envelopment and interactions with gK.

PMID- 27630235
TI  - The gamma134.5 Neurovirulence Gene of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Modifies the Exosome
      Secretion Profile in Epithelial Cells.

PMID- 27630234
TI  - Rationally Designed Vaccines Targeting the V2 Region of HIV-1 gp120 Induce a
      Focused, Cross-Clade-Reactive, Biologically Functional Antibody Response.
AB  - : Strong antibody (Ab) responses against V1V2 epitopes of the human
      immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp120 envelope (Env) correlated with
      reduced infection rates in studies of HIV, simian-human immunodeficiency virus
      (SHIV), and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). In order to focus the Ab
      response on V1V2, we used six V1V2 sequences and nine scaffold proteins to
      construct immunogens which were tested using various immunization regimens for
      their ability to induce cross-reactive and biologically active V2 Abs in rabbits.
      A prime/boost immunization strategy was employed using gp120 DNA and various V1V2
      scaffold proteins. The rabbit polyclonal Ab responses (i) were successfully
      focused on the V1V2 region, with weak or only transient responses to other Env
      epitopes, (ii) displayed broad cross-reactive binding activity with gp120s and
      the V1V2 regions of diverse strains from clades B, C, and E, (iii) included V2
      Abs with specificities similar to those found in HIV-infected individuals, and
      (iv) remained detectable >=1 year after the last boosting dose. Importantly, sera
      from rabbits receiving V1V2-scaffold immunogens displayed Ab-dependent cellular
      phagocytosis whereas sera from rabbits receiving only gp120 did not. The results
      represent the first fully successful example of reverse vaccinology in the HIV
      vaccine field with rationally designed epitope scaffold immunogens inducing Abs
      that recapitulate the epitope specificity and biologic activity of the human
      monoclonal Abs from which the immunogens were designed. Moreover, this is the
      first immunogenicity study using epitope-targeting, rationally designed vaccine
      constructs that induced an Fc-mediated activity associated with protection from
      infection with HIV, SIV, and SHIV. IMPORTANCE: Novel immunogens were designed to
      focus the antibody response of rabbits on the V1V2 epitopes of HIV-1 gp120 since
      such antibodies were associated with reduced infection rates of HIV, SIV, and
      SHIV. The vaccine-induced antibodies were broadly cross-reactive with the V1V2
      regions of HIV subtypes B, C and E and, importantly, facilitated Fc-mediated
      phagocytosis, an activity not induced upon immunization of rabbits with gp120.
      This is the first immunogenicity study of vaccine constructs that focuses the
      antibody response on V1V2 and induces V2-specific antibodies with the ability to
      mediate phagocytosis, an activity that has been associated with protection from
      infection with HIV, SIV, and SHIV.

PMID- 27630236
TI  - A Library of Infectious Hepatitis C Viruses with Engineered Mutations in the E2
      Gene Reveals Growth-Adaptive Mutations That Modulate Interactions with Scavenger
      Receptor Class B Type I.
AB  - : While natural hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection results in highly diverse
      quasispecies of related viruses over time, mutations accumulate more slowly in
      tissue culture, in part because of the inefficiency of replication in cells. To
      create a highly diverse population of HCV particles in cell culture and identify
      novel growth-enhancing mutations, we engineered a library of infectious HCV with
      all codons represented at most positions in the ectodomain of the E2 gene. We
      identified many putative growth-adaptive mutations and selected nine highly
      represented E2 mutants for further study: Q412R, T416R, S449P, T563V, A579R,
      L619T, V626S, K632T, and L644I. We evaluated these mutants for changes in
      particle-to-infectious-unit ratio, sensitivity to neutralizing antibody or CD81
      large extracellular loop (CD81-LEL) inhibition, entry factor usage, and buoyant
      density profiles. Q412R, T416R, S449P, T563V, and L619T were neutralized more
      efficiently by anti-E2 antibodies and T416R, T563V, and L619T by CD81-LEL.
      Remarkably, all nine variants showed reduced dependence on scavenger receptor
      class B type I (SR-BI) for infection. This shift from SR-BI usage did not
      correlate with a change in the buoyant density profiles of the variants,
      suggesting an altered E2-SR-BI interaction rather than changes in the virus
      associated lipoprotein-E2 interaction. Our results demonstrate that residues
      influencing SR-BI usage are distributed across E2 and support the development of
      large-scale mutagenesis studies to identify viral variants with unique functional
      properties. IMPORTANCE: Characterizing variant viruses can reveal new information
      about the life cycle of HCV and the roles played by different viral genes.
      However, it is difficult to recapitulate high levels of diversity in the
      laboratory because of limitations in the HCV culture system. To overcome this
      limitation, we engineered a library of mutations into the E2 gene in the context
      of an infectious clone of the virus. We used this library of viruses to identify
      nine mutations that enhance the growth rate of HCV. These growth-enhancing
      mutations reduced the dependence on a key entry receptor, SR-BI. By generating a
      highly diverse library of infectious HCV, we mapped regions of the E2 protein
      that influence a key virus-host interaction and provide proof of principle for
      the generation of large-scale mutant libraries for the study of pathogens with
      great sequence variability.

PMID- 27630237
TI  - Monitoring Integration over Time Supports a Role for Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes and
      Ongoing Replication as Determinants of Reservoir Size.
AB  - : The dynamics of HIV reservoir accumulation off antiretroviral therapy (ART) is
      underexplored. Levels of integrated HIV DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs) were longitudinally monitored before and after antiviral therapy. HIV
      integration increased over time in both elite controllers (ECs; n = 8) and
      noncontrollers (NCs; n = 6) before ART, whereas integration remained stable in
      patients on ART (n = 4). The median annual fold change was higher in NCs than in
      ECs and negatively correlated with CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte
      (CTL) function as assessed by infected CD4 T-cell elimination (ICE) and granzyme
      B activity did not significantly change over time in ECs, suggesting that the
      gradual increase in integrated HIV DNA observed in ECs was not a result of
      progressive loss of immune-mediated control. Also, acutely infected (n = 7) but
      not chronically infected (n = 6) patients exhibited a significant drop in
      integrated HIV DNA 12 months after ART initiation. In conclusion, in the absence
      of ART, integrated HIV accumulates over time both in NCs and in ECs, at variable
      individual rates. Starting ART early in infection leads to a greater drop in
      integrated HIV DNA than does initiating treatment after years of infection. The
      increase in integrated HIV DNA over time suggests that early treatment may be of
      benefit in limiting HIV reservoirs. IMPORTANCE: The establishment of a latent
      reservoir represents a barrier to cure among HIV-infected individuals. The
      dynamics of HIV reservoir accumulation over time in patients before antiviral
      therapy is underexplored, in large part because it is difficult to accurately and
      reproducibly measure the size of HIV reservoir in this setting. In our study, we
      compared the dynamics of integrated HIV DNA over time in ECs and NCs before and
      after ART was initiated. We found that integrated HIV DNA levels progressively
      increase over time in the absence of ART, but with a higher, albeit variable,
      rate in NCs compared to ECs. In addition, integrated HIV DNA declines more
      dramatically when ART is initiated in acute rather than chronic HIV infection,
      suggesting important differences between acute and chronic infection. Our study
      highlights the role of HIV replication and CTL control in reservoir accumulation
      in sanctuary sites and why ART appears to be more effective in acute infection.

PMID- 27630239
TI  - Immunodominant T-Cell Epitopes in the VP1 Capsid Protein of Rhinovirus Species A
      and C.
AB  - : Rhinovirus (RV) species A and C are the most frequent cause of respiratory
      viral illness worldwide, and RV-C has been linked to more severe exacerbations of
      asthma in young children. Little is known about the immune responses to the
      different RV species, although studies comparing IgG1 antibody titers found
      impaired antibody responses to RV-C. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
      assess whether T-cell immunity to RV-C is similarly impaired. We measured T-cell
      proliferation to overlapping synthetic peptides covering the entire VP1 capsid
      protein of an RV-A and RV-C genotype for 20 healthy adult donors. Human leukocyte
      antigen (HLA) was typed in all the donors in order to investigate possible
      associations between the HLA type and RV peptide recognition. Total and specific
      IgG1 antibody titers to the VP1 proteins of both RV-A and RV-C were also measured
      to examine associations between the antibody and T-cell responses. We identified
      T-cell epitopes that are specific to and representative of each RV-A and RV-C
      species. These epitopes stimulated CD4+-specific T-cell proliferation, with
      similar magnitudes of response for both RV species. All the donors, independent
      of their HLA-DR or -DQ type, were able to recognize the immunodominant RV-A and 
      C regions of VP1. Furthermore, the presence or absence of specific antibody
      titers was not related to changes in T-cell recognition. Our results indicate a
      dissociation between the antibody and T-cell responses to rhinoviruses. The
      species-representative T-cell epitopes identified in this study are valuable
      tools for future studies investigating T-cell responses to the different RV
      species. IMPORTANCE: Rhinoviruses (RVs) are mostly associated with the common
      cold and asthma exacerbations, although their contributions to most upper and
      lower respiratory tract diseases have increasingly been reported. Species C (RV
      C) has been associated with more frequent and severe asthma exacerbations in
      young children and, along with RV-A, is the most clinically relevant species.
      Little is known about how our immune system responds to rhinoviruses, and there
      are limited tools to study specific adaptive immunity against each rhinovirus
      species. In this study, we identified immunodominant T-cell epitopes of the VP1
      proteins of RV-A and RV-C, which are representative of each species. The study
      found that T-cell responses to RV-A and RV-C were of similar magnitudes, in
      contrast with previous findings showing RV-C-specific antibody responses were
      low. These findings will provide the basis for future studies on the immune
      response to rhinoviruses and can help elucidate the mechanisms of severity of
      rhinovirus-induced infections.

PMID- 27630238
TI  - SUMO Modification Stabilizes Enterovirus 71 Polymerase 3D To Facilitate Viral
      Replication.
AB  - : Accumulating evidence suggests that viruses hijack cellular proteins to
      circumvent the host immune system. Ubiquitination and SUMOylation are extensively
      studied posttranslational modifications (PTMs) that play critical roles in
      diverse biological processes. Cross talk between ubiquitination and SUMOylation
      of both host and viral proteins has been reported to result in distinct
      functional consequences. Enterovirus 71 (EV71), an RNA virus belonging to the
      family Picornaviridae, is a common cause of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Little
      is known concerning how host PTM systems interact with enteroviruses. Here, we
      demonstrate that the 3D protein, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of EV71,
      is modified by small ubiquitin-like modifier 1 (SUMO-1) both during infection and
      in vitro Residues K159 and L150/D151/L152 were responsible for 3D SUMOylation as
      determined by bioinformatics prediction combined with site-directed mutagenesis.
      Also, primer-dependent polymerase assays indicated that mutation of SUMOylation
      sites impaired 3D polymerase activity and virus replication. Moreover, 3D is
      ubiquitinated in a SUMO-dependent manner, and SUMOylation is crucial for 3D
      stability, which may be due to the interplay between the two PTMs. Importantly,
      increasing the level of SUMO-1 in EV71-infected cells augmented the SUMOylation
      and ubiquitination levels of 3D, leading to enhanced replication of EV71. These
      results together suggested that SUMO and ubiquitin cooperatively regulated EV71
      infection, either by SUMO-ubiquitin hybrid chains or by ubiquitin conjugating to
      the exposed lysine residue through SUMOylation. Our study provides new insight
      into how a virus utilizes cellular pathways to facilitate its replication.
      IMPORTANCE: Infection with enterovirus 71 (EV71) often causes neurological
      diseases in children, and EV71 is responsible for the majority of fatalities.
      Based on a better understanding of interplay between virus and host cell,
      antiviral drugs against enteroviruses may be developed. As a dynamic cellular
      process of posttranslational modification, SUMOylation regulates global cellular
      protein localization, interaction, stability, and enzymatic activity. However,
      little is known concerning how SUMOylation directly influences virus replication
      by targeting viral polymerase. Here, we found that EV71 polymerase 3D was
      SUMOylated during EV71 infection and in vitro Moreover, the SUMOylation sites
      were determined, and in vitro polymerase assays indicated that mutations at
      SUMOylation sites could impair polymerase synthesis. Importantly, 3D is
      ubiquitinated in a SUMOylation-dependent manner that enhances the stability of
      the viral polymerase. Our findings indicate that the two modifications likely
      cooperatively enhance virus replication. Our study may offer a new therapeutic
      strategy against virus replication.

PMID- 27630240
TI  - Human Monoclonal Antibody 81.39a Effectively Neutralizes Emerging Influenza A
      Viruses of Group 1 and 2 Hemagglutinins.
AB  - : The pandemic threat posed by emerging zoonotic influenza A viruses necessitates
      development of antiviral agents effective against various antigenic subtypes.
      Human monoclonal antibody (hMAb) targeting the hemagglutinin (HA) stalk offers a
      promising approach to control influenza virus infections. Here, we investigated
      the ability of the hMAb 81.39a to inhibit in vitro replication of human and
      zoonotic viruses, representing 16 HA subtypes. The majority of viruses were
      effectively neutralized by 81.39a at a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of
      <0.01 to 4.9 MUg/ml. Among group 2 HA viruses tested, a single A(H7N9) virus was
      not neutralized at 50 MUg/ml; it contained HA2-Asp19Gly, an amino acid position
      previously associated with resistance to neutralization by the group 2 HA
      neutralizing MAb CR8020. Notably, among group 1 HA viruses, H11-H13 and H16
      subtypes were not neutralized at 50 MUg/ml; they shared the substitution HA2
      Asp19Asn/Ala. Conversely, H9 viruses harboring HA2-Asp19Ala were fully
      susceptible to neutralization. Therefore, amino acid variance at HA2-Asp19 has
      subtype-specific adverse effects on in vitro neutralization. Mice given a single
      injection (15 or 45 mg/kg of body weight) at 24 or 48 h after infection with
      recently emerged A(H5N2), A(H5N8), A(H6N1), or A(H7N9) viruses were protected
      from mortality and showed drastically reduced lung viral titers. Furthermore,
      81.39a protected mice infected with A(H7N9) harboring HA2-Asp19Gly, although the
      antiviral effect was lessened. A(H1N1)pdm09-infected ferrets receiving a single
      dose (25 mg/kg) had reduced viral titers and showed less lung tissue injury,
      despite 24- to 72-h-delayed treatment. Taken together, this study provides
      experimental evidence for the therapeutic potential of 81.39a against diverse
      influenza A viruses. IMPORTANCE: Zoonotic influenza viruses, such as A(H5N1) and
      A(H7N9) subtypes, have caused severe disease and deaths in humans, raising public
      health concerns. Development of novel anti-influenza therapeutics with a broad
      spectrum of activity against various subtypes is necessary to mitigate disease
      severity. Here, we demonstrate that the hemagglutinin (HA) stalk-targeting human
      monoclonal antibody 81.39a effectively neutralized the majority of influenza A
      viruses tested, representing 16 HA subtypes. Furthermore, delayed treatment with
      81.39a significantly suppressed virus replication in the lungs, prevented
      dramatic body weight loss, and increased survival rates of mice infected with
      A(H5Nx), A(H6N1), or A(H7N9) viruses. When tested in ferrets, delayed 81.39a
      treatment reduced viral titers, particularly in the lower respiratory tract, and
      substantially alleviated disease symptoms associated with severe A(H1N1)pdm09
      influenza. Collectively, our data demonstrated the effectiveness of 81.39a
      against both seasonal and emerging influenza A viruses.

PMID- 27630241
TI  - Varicella-Zoster Virus Downregulates Programmed Death Ligand 1 and Major
      Histocompatibility Complex Class I in Human Brain Vascular Adventitial
      Fibroblasts, Perineurial Cells, and Lung Fibroblasts.
AB  - : Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vasculopathy produces stroke, giant cell
      arteritis, and granulomatous aortitis, and it develops after virus reactivates
      from ganglia and spreads transaxonally to arterial adventitia, resulting in
      persistent inflammation and pathological vascular remodeling. The mechanism(s) by
      which inflammatory cells persist in VZV-infected arteries is unknown; however,
      virus-induced dysregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) may play a role.
      Specifically, PD-L1 can be expressed on virtually all nucleated cells and
      suppresses the immune system by interacting with the programmed cell death
      protein receptor 1, found exclusively on immune cells; thus, downregulation of PD
      L1 may promote inflammation, as seen in some autoimmune diseases. Both flow
      cytometry and immunofluorescence analyses to test whether VZV infection of
      adventitial cells downregulates PD-L1 showed decreased PD-L1 expression in VZV
      infected compared to mock-infected human brain vascular adventitial fibroblasts
      (HBVAFs), perineural cells (HPNCs), and fetal lung fibroblasts (HFLs) at 72 h
      postinfection. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses showed no change in PD-L1 transcript
      levels between mock- and VZV-infected cells, indicating a posttranscriptional
      mechanism for VZV-mediated downregulation of PD-L1. Flow cytometry analyses
      showed decreased major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) expression in
      VZV-infected cells and adjacent uninfected cells compared to mock-infected cells.
      These data suggest that reduced PD-L1 expression in VZV-infected adventitial
      cells contribute to persistent vascular inflammation observed in virus-infected
      arteries from patients with VZV vasculopathy, while downregulation of MHC-I
      prevents viral clearance. IMPORTANCE: Here, we provide the first demonstration
      that VZV downregulates PD-L1 expression in infected HBVAFs, HPNCs, and HFLs,
      which, together with the noted VZV-mediated downregulation of MHC-I, might foster
      persistent inflammation in vessels, leading to pathological vascular remodeling
      during VZV vasculopathy and persistent inflammation in infected lungs to promote
      subsequent infection of T cells and hematogenous virus spread. Identification of
      a potential mechanism by which persistent inflammation in the absence of
      effective viral clearance occurs in VZV vasculopathy and VZV infection of the
      lung is a step toward targeted therapy of VZV-induced disease.

PMID- 27630242
TI  - Altered Glycosylation Patterns Increase Immunogenicity of a Subunit Hepatitis C
      Virus Vaccine, Inducing Neutralizing Antibodies Which Confer Protection in Mice.
AB  - : Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global health problem for which no
      vaccine is available. HCV has a highly heterogeneous RNA genome and can be
      classified into seven genotypes. Due to the high genetic and resultant antigenic
      variation among the genotypes, inducing antibodies capable of neutralizing most
      of the HCV genotypes by experimental vaccination has been challenging. Previous
      efforts focused on priming humoral immune responses with recombinant HCV envelope
      E2 protein produced in mammalian cells. Here, we report that a soluble form of
      HCV E2 (sE2) produced in insect cells possesses different glycosylation patterns
      and is more immunogenic, as evidenced by the induction of higher titers of
      broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) against cell culture-derived HCV (HCVcc)
      harboring structural proteins from a diverse array of HCV genotypes. We affirm
      that continuous and discontinuous epitopes of well-characterized bNAbs are
      conserved, suggesting that sE2 produced in insect cells is properly folded. In a
      genetically humanized mouse model, active immunization with sE2 efficiently
      protected against challenge with a heterologous HCV genotype. These data not only
      demonstrate that sE2 is a promising HCV vaccine candidate, but also highlight the
      importance of glycosylation patterns in developing subunit viral vaccines.
      IMPORTANCE: A prophylactic vaccine with high efficacy and low cost is urgently
      needed for global control of HCV infection. Induction of broadly neutralizing
      antibodies against most HCV genotypes has been challenging due to the antigenic
      diversity of the HCV genome. Here, we refined a high-yield subunit HCV vaccine
      that elicited broadly neutralizing antibody responses in preclinical trials. We
      found that soluble HCV E2 protein (sE2) produced in insect cells is distinctly
      glycosylated and is more immunogenic than sE2 produced in mammalian cells,
      suggesting that glycosylation patterns should be taken into consideration in
      efforts to generate antibody-based recombinant vaccines against HCV. We further
      showed that sE2 vaccination confers protection against HCV infection in a
      genetically humanized mouse model. Thus, our work identified a promising broadly
      protective HCV vaccine candidate that should be considered for further
      preclinical and clinical development.

PMID- 27630243
TI  - Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Vif N-Terminal Residues Selectively Counteract
      Feline APOBEC3s.
AB  - : Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) Vif protein counteracts feline APOBEC3s
      (FcaA3s) restriction factors by inducing their proteasomal degradation. The
      functional domains in FIV Vif for interaction with FcaA3s are poorly understood.
      Here, we have identified several motifs in FIV Vif that are important for
      selective degradation of different FcaA3s. Cats (Felis catus) express three types
      of A3s: single-domain A3Z2, single-domain A3Z3, and double-domain A3Z2Z3. We
      proposed that FIV Vif would selectively interact with the Z2 and the Z3 A3s.
      Indeed, we identified two N-terminal Vif motifs (12LF13 and 18GG19) that
      specifically interacted with the FcaA3Z2 protein but not with A3Z3. In contrast,
      the exclusive degradation of FcaA3Z3 was regulated by a region of three residues
      (M24, L25, and I27). Only a FIV Vif carrying a combination of mutations from both
      interaction sites lost the capacity to degrade and counteract FcaA3Z2Z3. However,
      alterations in the specific A3s interaction sites did not affect the cellular
      localization of the FIV Vif protein and binding to feline A3s. Pulldown
      experiments demonstrated that the A3 binding region localized to FIV Vif residues
      50 to 80, outside the specific A3 interaction domain. Finally, we found that the
      Vif sites specific to individual A3s are conserved in several FIV lineages of
      domestic cat and nondomestic cats, while being absent in the FIV Vif of pumas.
      Our data support a complex model of multiple Vif-A3 interactions in which the
      specific region for selective A3 counteraction is discrete from a general A3
      binding domain. IMPORTANCE: Both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and feline
      immunodeficiency virus (FIV) Vif proteins counteract their host's APOBEC3
      restriction factors. However, these two Vif proteins have limited sequence
      homology. The molecular interaction between FIV Vif and feline APOBEC3s are not
      well understood. Here, we identified N-terminal FIV Vif sites that regulate the
      selective interaction of Vif with either feline APOBEC3Z2 or APOBEC3Z3. These
      specific Vif sites are conserved in several FIV lineages of domestic cat and
      nondomestic cats, while being absent in FIV Vif from puma. Our findings provide
      important insights for future experiments describing the FIV Vif interaction with
      feline APOBEC3s and also indicate that the conserved feline APOBEC3s interaction
      sites of FIV Vif allow FIV transmissions in Felidae.

PMID- 27630244
TI  - Hepatitis C Virus Is Released via a Noncanonical Secretory Route.
AB  - : We analyzed hepatitis C virus (HCV) morphogenesis using viral genomes encoding
      a mCherry-tagged E1 glycoprotein. HCV-E1-mCherry polyprotein expression,
      intracellular localization, and replication kinetics were comparable to those of
      untagged HCV, and E1-mCherry-tagged viral particles were assembled and released
      into cell culture supernatants. Expression and localization of structural E1 and
      nonstructural NS5A followed a temporospatial pattern with a succinct decrease in
      the number of replication complexes and the appearance of E1-mCherry punctae.
      Interaction of the structural proteins E1, Core, and E2 increased at E1-mCherry
      punctae in a time-dependent manner, indicating that E1-mCherry punctae represent
      assembled or assembling virions. E1-mCherry did not colocalize with Golgi
      markers. Furthermore, the bulk of viral glycoproteins within released particles
      revealed an EndoH-sensitive glycosylation pattern, indicating an absence of viral
      glycoprotein processing by the Golgi apparatus. In contrast, HCV-E1-mCherry
      trafficked with Rab9-positive compartments and inhibition of endosomes
      specifically suppressed HCV release. Our data suggest that assembled HCV
      particles are released via a noncanonical secretory route involving the endosomal
      compartment. IMPORTANCE: The goal of this study was to shed light on the poorly
      understood trafficking and release routes of hepatitis C virus (HCV). For this,
      we generated novel HCV genomes which resulted in the production of fluorescently
      labeled viral particles. We used live-cell microscopy and other imaging
      techniques to follow up on the temporal dynamics of virus particle formation and
      trafficking in HCV-expressing liver cells. While viral particles and viral
      structural protein were found in endosomal compartments, no overlap of Golgi
      structures could be observed. Furthermore, biochemical and inhibitor-based
      experiments support a HCV release route which is distinguishable from canonical
      Golgi-mediated secretion. Since viruses hijack cellular pathways to generate
      viral progeny, our results point toward the possible existence of a not-yet
      described cellular secretion route.

PMID- 27630245
TI  - Regulation of HSV glycoprotein induced cascade of events governing cell-cell
      fusion.
AB  - : Receptor dependent HSV-induced fusion requires glycoproteins gD, gH/gL, and gB.
      Our current model posits that during fusion receptor-activated conformational
      changes in gD activate gH/gL, which subsequently triggers transformation of the
      pre-fusion form of gB into a fusogenic state. To examine the role of each
      glycoprotein in receptor dependent cell-cell fusion we took advantage of our
      discovery that fusion by wild type HSV-2 glycoproteins occurs twice as fast as
      that achieved by HSV-1 glycoproteins. By sequentially swapping each glycoprotein
      between the two serotypes, we established that fusion speed was governed by
      gH/gL, with gH being the main contributor. While the mutant forms of gB fuse at
      distinct rates that are dictated by their molecular structure, these restrictions
      can be overcome by gH2/gL2, thereby enhancing their activity. We also found that
      deregulated forms of gD1 and gH2/gL2 can alter the fusogenic potential of gB,
      promoting cell fusion in the absence of a cellular receptor and that deregulated
      forms of gB can drive the fusion machinery to even higher levels. Low pH enhanced
      fusion by affecting the structure of both gB and gH/gL mutants. Together, our
      data highlight the complexity of the fusion machinery, the impact of the
      activation state of each glycoprotein on the fusion process and the critical role
      of gH/gL in regulating HSV induced fusion. IMPORTANCE: Cell-cell fusion mediated
      by HSV glycoproteins requires gD, gH/gL, gB and a gD receptor. Here, we show that
      fusion by wild type HSV-2 glycoproteins occurs twice as fast as that achieved by
      HSV-1 glycoproteins. By sequentially swapping each glycoprotein between the two
      serotypes, we found that the fusion process was controlled by gH/gL. Restrictions
      imposed on the gB structure by mutations could be overcome by gH2/gL2, enhancing
      their activity. Using low pH or deregulated forms of gD1 and gH2/gL2 the
      fusogenic potential of gB could only be increased in the absence of receptor,
      underlining the exquisite regulation that occurs in the presence of receptor. Our
      data highlight the complexity of the fusion machinery, the impact of the
      activation state of each glycoprotein on the fusion process and the critical role
      of gH/gL in regulating HSV induced fusion.

PMID- 27630247
TI  - Proceedings of the University of Pennsylvania eighth annual conference on
      statistical issues in clinical trials: Statistical issues in pragmatic clinical
      trials.

PMID- 27630246
TI  - HIV Envelope gp120 Alters T Cell Receptor Mobilization in the Immunological
      Synapse of Uninfected CD4 T Cells and Augments T Cell Activation.
AB  - : HIV is transmitted most efficiently from cell to cell, and productive infection
      occurs mainly in activated CD4 T cells. It is postulated that HIV exploits
      immunological synapses formed between CD4 T cells and antigen-presenting cells to
      facilitate the targeting and infection of activated CD4 T cells. This study
      sought to evaluate how the presence of the HIV envelope (Env) in the CD4 T cell
      immunological synapse affects synapse formation and intracellular signaling to
      impact the downstream T cell activation events. CD4 T cells were applied to
      supported lipid bilayers that were reconstituted with HIV Env gp120, anti-T cell
      receptor (anti-TCR) monoclonal antibody, and ICAM-1 to represent the surface of
      HIV Env-bearing antigen-presenting cells. The results showed that the HIV Env did
      not disrupt immunological synapse formation. Instead, the HIV Env accumulated
      with TCR at the center of the synapse, altered the kinetics of TCR recruitment to
      the synapse and affected synapse morphology over time. The HIV Env also prolonged
      Lck phosphorylation at the synapse and enhanced TCR-induced CD69 upregulation,
      interleukin-2 secretion, and proliferation to promote virus infection. These
      results suggest that HIV uses the immunological synapse as a conduit not only for
      selective virus transmission to activated CD4 T cells but also for boosting the T
      cell activation state, thereby increasing its likelihood of undergoing productive
      replication in targeted CD4 T cells. IMPORTANCE: There are about two million new
      HIV infections every year. A better understanding of how HIV is transmitted to
      susceptible cells is critical to devise effective strategies to prevent HIV
      infection. Activated CD4 T cells are preferentially infected by HIV, although how
      this is accomplished is not fully understood. This study examined whether HIV co
      opts the normal T cell activation process through the so-called immunological
      synapse. We found that the HIV envelope is recruited to the center of the
      immunological synapse together with the T cell receptor and enhances the T cell
      receptor-induced activation of CD4 T cells. Heightened cellular activation
      promotes the capacity of CD4 T cells to support productive HIV replication. This
      study provides evidence of the exploitation of the normal immunological synapse
      and T cell activation process by HIV to boost the activation state of targeted
      CD4 T cells and promote the infection of these cells.

PMID- 27630249
TI  - Regulation Catches Up to Reality.
AB  - The FDA recently conducted an Advisory Panel meeting to evaluate the safety,
      efficacy, and benefits of granting a nonadjunctive label claim for the DEXCOM G5
      Mobile continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. If approved, this claim will
      allow users to make day-to-day treatment decisions, including insulin dosing
      directly from the glucose values and rate of changes arrows generated by the CGM
      device, without the requirement of a confirmatory measurement with a self
      monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) meter. Sporadic SMBG testing gives limited data,
      while CGM gives a value every 5 minutes and has alerts, alarms, trending
      information and allows caregivers to follow the user in real time 24/7. This
      indication will lead to more wide spread use of CGM and improve overall care with
      protection of hypoglycemia.

PMID- 27630248
TI  - GAPP: A Proteogenomic Software for Genome Annotation and Global Profiling of Post
      translational Modifications in Prokaryotes.
AB  - Although the number of sequenced prokaryotic genomes is growing rapidly,
      experimentally verified annotation of prokaryotic genome remains patchy and
      challenging. To facilitate genome annotation efforts for prokaryotes, we
      developed an open source software called GAPP for genome annotation and global
      profiling of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in prokaryotes. With a
      single command, it provides a standard workflow to validate and refine predicted
      genetic models and discover diverse PTM events. We demonstrated the utility of
      GAPP using proteomic data from Helicobacter pylori, one of the major human
      pathogens that is responsible for many gastric diseases. Our results confirmed
      84.9% of the existing predicted H. pylori proteins, identified 20 novel protein
      coding genes, and corrected four existing gene models with regard to translation
      initiation sites. In particular, GAPP revealed a large repertoire of PTMs using
      the same proteomic data and provided a rich resource that can be used to examine
      the functions of reversible modifications in this human pathogen. This software
      is a powerful tool for genome annotation and global discovery of PTMs and is
      applicable to any sequenced prokaryotic organism; we expect that it will become
      an integral part of ongoing genome annotation efforts for prokaryotes. GAPP is
      freely available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/gappproteogenomic/.

PMID- 27630251
TI  - Candida species diversity and antifungal susceptibility patterns in oral samples
      of HIV/AIDS patients in Baja California, Mexico.
AB  - Candidiasis is the most common opportunistic fungal infection in HIV patients.
      The aims of this study were to identify the prevalence of carriers of Candida,
      Candida species diversity, and in vitro susceptibility to antifungal drugs. In
      297 HIV/AIDS patients in Baja California, Mexico, Candida strains were identified
      by molecular methods (PCR-RFLP) from isolates of oral rinses of patients in
      Tijuana, Mexicali, and Ensenada. 56.3% of patients were colonized or infected
      with Candida. In Tijuana, there was a significantly higher percentage of carriers
      (75.5%). Out of the 181 strains that were isolated, 71.8% were Candida albicans
      and 28.2% were non-albicans species. The most common non-albicans species was
      Candida tropicalis (12.2%), followed by Candida glabrata (8.3%), Candida
      parapsilosis (2.2%), Candida krusei (1.7%), and Candida guilliermondii (1.1%).
      Candida dubliniensis was not isolated. Two associated species were found in 11
      patients. In Mexicali and Ensenada, there was a lower proportion of Candida
      carriers compared to other regions in Mexico and worldwide, however, in Tijuana,
      a border town with many peculiarities, a higher carrier rate was found. In this
      population, only a high viral load was associated with oral Candida carriers.
      Other factors such as gender, use of antiretroviral therapy, CD4+ T-lymphocyte
      levels, time since diagnosis, and alcohol/ tobacco consumption, were not
      associated with Candida carriers.

PMID- 27630252
TI  - Detection of mucormycetes and other pathogenic fungi in formalin fixed paraffin
      embedded and fresh tissues using the extended region of 28S rDNA.
AB  - Molecular methods of detection based on DNA-sequencing of the internal
      transcribed spacer 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) or 5? end region of 28S (D1-D2 region)
      of ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) have been used extensively for molecular
      identification and detection of fungal infections. However, these regions are not
      always informative for identification of mucormycetes and other rare fungal
      pathogens as they often contain large introns, heterogenic regions, and/or cannot
      be PCR-amplified using broad range fungal PCR primers. In addition, because of
      the difficulties of recovering intact fungal DNA from human specimens, smaller
      regions of DNA are more useful for the direct detection of fungal DNA in tissues
      and fluids. In this study, we investigated the utility of 12F/13R PCR primers
      targeting a 200-230 bp region of the extended 28S region of rDNA for molecular
      identification of fungal DNA in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues and
      other clinical specimens. We demonstrated that this region can be successfully
      used for identification of all genera and some species of clinically relevant
      mucormycetes, as well as other medically important fungi, such as Aspergillus,
      Fusarium, Coccidioides, and Cryptococcus. We also demonstrated that PCR
      amplification and direct sequencing of the extended 28S region of rDNA was more
      sensitive compared to targeting the ITS2 region, as we were able to detect and
      identify mucormycetes and other fungal pathogens in tissues from patients with
      histopathological and/or culture evidence of fungal infections that were negative
      with PCR using ITS-specific primers.

PMID- 27630253
TI  - Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis With Botulinum Toxin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examined the effect of botulinum toxin upon plantar
      fasciitis through a randomized, controlled, and blinded trial. MATERIALS: Between
      2012 and 2015, 50 patients presented with plantar fasciitis. Twenty-five patients
      each randomly received an IncobotulinumtoxinA (IBTA) or saline injection of their
      affected foot. Pre- and postinjection function and pain were graded with the Foot
      and Ankle Ability Measures (FAAM) and visual analog scale (VAS), respectively.
      All 50 study patients who randomly received either placebo or IBTA presented at 6
      and 12 months after injection. RESULTS: At 6 months, the mean FAAM increased from
      35.9 to 40.9 of 100, and the mean pain score decreased from 8.4 to 7.9 of 10
      within the placebo group. At 6 months, the mean FAAM increased from 36.3 to 73.8
      of 100, and mean pain score decreased from 7.2 to 3.6 of 10 within the IBTA
      group. These postinjection scores were significantly better than the placebo
      group ( P = .01). At 12 months after injection, the IBTA group maintained
      significantly better function and pain than the placebo group ( P < .05). By that
      time, 0 (0%) and 3 (12%) patients who received IBTA and saline, respectively,
      underwent surgery for recalcitrant plantar fasciitis ( P < .005). CONCLUSION:
      Compared with placebo saline injection, using IBTA to treat plantar fasciitis
      resulted in significantly better improvement in foot function and pain. IBTA also
      lessened the need for operative treatment of plantar fasciitis. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: I, Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study.

PMID- 27630254
TI  - The Effect of Empowerment and Self-Determination on Health Outcomes.
AB  - There remains a persistent gap in health outcomes between wealthy and poor
      countries. Basic measures such as life expectancy and infant and under-five
      mortality remain divergent, with preventable deaths being unacceptably high,
      despite significant efforts to reduce these disparities. We examine the impact of
      empowerment, measured by Freedom House's ratings of country's political rights
      and civil liberties, while controlling for per capita gross domestic product,
      secondary school enrollment, and income inequality, on national health outcomes.
      Using data from 1970 to 2013 across 149 countries, our results suggest, quite
      strongly, that higher levels of empowerment have a significant positive
      association with life expectancy, particularly for females, and lower rates of
      infant and under-five mortality. Our results point to the need for efforts to
      stimulate economic growth be accompanied with reforms to increase the levels
      empowerment through increasing political rights and civil liberties.

PMID- 27630255
TI  - Longitudinal analysis of virtual community perceptions of cohesion: The role of
      cooperation, communication, and competition.
AB  - Online, virtual group interactions may help adherence to health promotion
      programs. The purpose of this study was to explore longitudinal relationships
      among dimensions of group cohesion and group-interaction variables to inform and
      improve group-based strategies within programs aimed at promoting physical
      activity in virtual communities. In all, 56 online virtual users completed a
      group dynamics-based physical activity promotion intervention and assessments of
      group cohesion and group interaction at baseline and 4 weeks. Friendly
      competition and cooperation were consistently strong predictors of cohesion.
      Facilitating a sense of friendly competition and cooperation may increase
      engagement in physical activity programs by bolstering group cohesion.

PMID- 27630250
TI  - Marine Bacterial and Archaeal Ion-Pumping Rhodopsins: Genetic Diversity,
      Physiology, and Ecology.
AB  - The recognition of a new family of rhodopsins in marine planktonic bacteria,
      proton-pumping proteorhodopsin, expanded the known phylogenetic range,
      environmental distribution, and sequence diversity of retinylidene photoproteins.
      At the time of this discovery, microbial ion-pumping rhodopsins were known solely
      in haloarchaea inhabiting extreme hypersaline environments. Shortly thereafter,
      proteorhodopsins and other light-activated energy-generating rhodopsins were
      recognized to be widespread among marine bacteria. The ubiquity of marine
      rhodopsin photosystems now challenges prior understanding of the nature and
      contributions of "heterotrophic" bacteria to biogeochemical carbon cycling and
      energy fluxes. Subsequent investigations have focused on the biophysics and
      biochemistry of these novel microbial rhodopsins, their distribution across the
      tree of life, evolutionary trajectories, and functional expression in nature.
      Later discoveries included the identification of proteorhodopsin genes in all
      three domains of life, the spectral tuning of rhodopsin variants to wavelengths
      prevailing in the sea, variable light-activated ion-pumping specificities among
      bacterial rhodopsin variants, and the widespread lateral gene transfer of
      biosynthetic genes for bacterial rhodopsins and their associated photopigments.
      Heterologous expression experiments with marine rhodopsin genes (and associated
      retinal chromophore genes) provided early evidence that light energy harvested by
      rhodopsins could be harnessed to provide biochemical energy. Importantly, some
      studies with native marine bacteria show that rhodopsin-containing bacteria use
      light to enhance growth or promote survival during starvation. We infer from the
      distribution of rhodopsin genes in diverse genomic contexts that different marine
      bacteria probably use rhodopsins to support light-dependent fitness strategies
      somewhere between these two extremes.

PMID- 27630257
TI  - Romberg Sign and neuromythology.

PMID- 27630258
TI  - Replies to 'Romberg's sign no longer stands up': Reply to 'Romberg's test no
      longer stands up'.

PMID- 27630259
TI  - ABN news.

PMID- 27630260
TI  - A mitotic nuclear envelope tether for Gle1 also impacts nuclear and nucleolar
      architecture.
AB  - During Aspergillus nidulans mitosis peripheral nuclear pore complex (NPC)
      proteins (Nups) disperse from the core NPC structure. Unexpectedly, one predicted
      peripheral Nup, Gle1, remains at the mitotic NE via an unknown mechanism. Gle1
      affinity purification identified MtgA ( M: itotic T: ether for G: le1), which
      tethers Gle1 to the NE during mitosis, but not during interphase when Gle1 is at
      NPCs. MtgA is the ortholog of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe telomere-anchoring
      inner nuclear membrane protein Bqt4. Like Bqt4, MtgA has meiotic roles but is
      functionally distinct from Bqt4 as MtgA is not required for tethering telomeres
      to the NE. Domain analyses revealed MtgA targeting to the NE requires its C
      terminal transmembrane domain and a nuclear localization signal. Importantly,
      MtgA functions beyond Gle1 mitotic targeting and meiosis and impacts nuclear and
      nucleolar architecture when deleted or overexpressed. Deletion of MtgA generates
      small, round nuclei whereas overexpressing MtgA generates larger nuclei with
      altered nuclear compartmentalization resulting from NE expansion around the
      nucleolus. The accumulation of MtgA around the nucleolus promotes a similar
      accumulation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein Erg24 lowering its levels
      in the ER. This study extends the functions of Bqt4-like proteins to include
      mitotic Gle1 targeting and modulation of nuclear and nucleolar architecture.

PMID- 27630261
TI  - The interaction of Munc 18 (p67) with the p10 domain of p35 protects in vivo
      Cdk5/p35 activity from inhibition by TFP5, a peptide derived from p35.
AB  - In a series of studies, we have identified TFP5, a truncated fragment of p35, the
      Cdk5 kinase regulatory protein, which inhibits Cdk5/p35 and the hyperactive
      Cdk5/p25 activities in test tube experiments. In cortical neurons, however, and
      in vivo in Alzheimer's disease (AD) model mice, the peptide specifically inhibits
      the Cdk5/p25 complex and not the endogenous Cdk5/p35. To account for the
      selective inhibition of Cdk5/p25 activity, we propose that the "p10" N-terminal
      domain of p35, absent in p25, spares Cdk5/p35 because p10 binds to macromolecules
      (e.g., tubulin and actin) as a membrane-bound multimeric complex that favors p35
      binding to Cdk5 and catalysis. To test this hypothesis, we focused on Munc 18, a
      key synapse-associated neuronal protein, one of many proteins copurifying with
      Cdk5/p35 in membrane-bound multimeric complexes. Here we show that, in vitro, the
      addition of p67 protects Cdk5/p35 and has no effect on Cdk5/p25 activity in the
      presence of TFP5. In cortical neurons transfected with p67siRNA, we also show
      that TFP5 inhibits Cdk5/p35 activity, whereas in the presence of p67 the activity
      is protected. It does so without affecting any other kinases of the Cdk family of
      cyclin kinases. This difference may be of significant therapeutic value because
      the accumulation of the deregulated, hyperactive Cdk5/p25 complex in human brains
      has been implicated in pathology of AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 27630262
TI  - Amyloid beta-peptides interfere with mitochondrial preprotein import competence
      by a coaggregation process.
AB  - Abeta peptides play a central role in the etiology of Alzheimer disease (AD) by
      exerting cellular toxicity correlated with aggregate formation. Experimental
      evidence has shown intraneuronal accumulation of Abeta peptides and interference
      with mitochondrial functions. Nevertheless, the relevance of intracellular Abeta
      peptides in the pathophysiology of AD is controversial. Here we found that the
      two major species of Abeta peptides, in particular Abeta42, exhibited a strong
      inhibitory effect on the preprotein import reactions essential for mitochondrial
      biogenesis. However, Abeta peptides interacted only weakly with mitochondria and
      did not affect the inner membrane potential or the structure of the preprotein
      translocase complexes. Abeta peptides significantly decreased the import
      competence of mitochondrial precursor proteins via an extramitochondrial
      coaggregation mechanism. Coaggregation and import inhibition were significantly
      stronger for the longer peptide Abeta42, correlating with its importance in AD
      pathology. Our results demonstrate that direct interference of aggregation-prone
      Abeta peptides with mitochondrial protein biogenesis represents a crucial aspect
      of the pathobiochemical mechanisms contributing to cellular damage in AD.

PMID- 27630263
TI  - A novel role for yeast casein kinases in glucose sensing and signaling.
AB  - Yeasts have sophisticated signaling pathways for sensing glucose, their preferred
      carbon source, to regulate its uptake and metabolism. One of these is the
      sensor/receptor-repressor (SRR) pathway, which detects extracellular glucose and
      transmits an intracellular signal that induces expression of HXT genes. The yeast
      casein kinases (Ycks) are key players in this pathway. Our model of the SRR
      pathway had the Ycks functioning downstream of the glucose sensors, transmitting
      the signal from the sensors to the Mth1 and Std1 corepressors that are required
      for repression of HXT gene expression. However, we found that overexpression of
      Yck1 fails to restore glucose signaling in a glucose sensor mutant. Conversely,
      overexpression of a glucose sensor suppresses the signaling defect of a yck
      mutant. These results suggest that the Ycks act upstream or at the level of the
      glucose sensors. Indeed, we found that the glucose sensor Rgt2 is phosphorylated
      on Yck consensus sites in its C-terminal tail in a Yck-dependent manner and that
      this phosphorylation is required for corepressor binding and ultimately HXT
      expression. This leads to a revised model of the SRR pathway in which the Ycks
      prime a site on the cytoplasmic tails of the glucose sensors to promote binding
      of the corepressors.

PMID- 27630264
TI  - Syndapin/SDPN-1 is required for endocytic recycling and endosomal actin
      association in the C. elegans intestine.
AB  - Syndapin/Pascin family F-BAR domain proteins bind directly to membrane lipids and
      are associated with actin dynamics at the plasma membrane. Previous reports have
      also implicated mammalian syndapin 2 in endosome function during receptor
      recycling, but precise analysis of a putative recycling function for syndapin in
      mammalian systems is difficult because of syndapin effects on the earlier step of
      endocytic uptake, and potential redundancy among the three separate genes that
      encode mammalian syndapin isoforms. Here we analyze the endocytic transport
      function of the only C. elegans syndapin, SDPN-1. We find that SDPN-1 is a
      resident protein of the early and basolateral recycling endosomes in the C.
      elegans intestinal epithelium, and sdpn-1 deletion mutants display phenotypes
      indicating a block in basolateral recycling transport. sdpn-1 mutants accumulate
      abnormal endosomes positive for early endosome and recycling endosome markers
      that are normally separate, and such endosomes accumulate high levels of
      basolateral recycling cargo. Furthermore, we observed strong colocalization of
      endosomal SDPN-1 with the F-actin biosensor Lifeact, and found that loss of SDPN
      1 greatly reduced Lifeact accumulation on early endosomes. Taken together our
      results provide strong evidence for an in vivo function of syndapin in endocytic
      recycling, and suggest that syndapin promotes transport via endosomal fission.

PMID- 27630266
TI  - Institutional Cost of Unplanned 30-Day Readmission Following Open and
      Endovascular Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vascular surgical patients have a high rate of readmission, and the
      cost of readmission for these patients has not been described. Herein, we
      characterize and compare institutional index hospitalization and 30-day
      readmission cost following open and endovascular vascular procedures. METHODS:
      The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      database was used to identify inpatient open and endovascular procedures at a
      single institution, from January 2011 through June 2012. Variable and fixed costs
      for index hospitalization and unplanned 30-day readmissions were obtained using
      SAP BusinessObjects. Patient characteristics and outcome variables were analyzed
      using Student t tests or Wilcoxon rank-sum nonparametric tests for continuous
      variables and Fisher exact tests for categorical variables. RESULTS: One thousand
      twenty-six inpatient procedures were included in the analysis. There were 605
      (59%) open and 421 (41%) endovascular procedures with a 30-day unplanned
      readmission rate of 16.9% and 17.8%, respectively (P = .679). The mean index
      hospitalization costs for open and endovascular procedures were US$27 653 and
      US$23 999, respectively (P = .146). The mean costs for 30-day unplanned
      readmission for open and endovascular procedures were US$19 117 and US$17 887,
      respectively (P = .635). Among open procedures, the mean cost for patients not
      readmitted was US$28 321 compared to US$31 115 for those readmitted (P = .003).
      Among endovascular procedures, the mean cost for patients not readmitted was
      US$26 908 compared to US$32 262 for those readmitted (P = .028). CONCLUSION: The
      cost of index hospitalization and 30-day unplanned readmission are similar for
      open and endovascular procedures. Readmitted patients had a higher mean index
      hospitalization cost irrespective of open or endovascular procedure.

PMID- 27630265
TI  - The exocytic Rabs Ypt3 and Ypt2 regulate the early step of biogenesis of the
      spore plasma membrane in fission yeast.
AB  - During fission yeast sporulation, a membrane compartment called the forespore
      membrane (FSM) is newly formed on the spindle pole body (SPB). The FSM expands by
      membrane vesicle fusion, encapsulates the daughter nucleus resulting from
      meiosis, and eventually matures into the plasma membrane of the spore. Although
      many of the genes involved in FSM formation have been identified, its molecular
      mechanism is not fully understood. Here a genetic screen for sporulation
      deficient mutations identified Ypt3, a Rab-family small GTPase known to function
      in the exocytic pathway. The ypt3-ki8 mutant showed defects in both the
      initiation of FSM biogenesis and FSM expansion. We also show that a mutation in
      Ypt2, another Rab protein that may function in the same pathway as Ypt3,
      compromises the initiation of FSM formation. As meiosis proceeds, both GFP-Ypt3
      and GFP-Ypt2 are observed at the SPB and then relocalize to the FSM. Their
      localizations at the SPB precede FSM formation and depend on the meiotic SPB
      component Spo13, a putative GDP/GTP exchange factor for Ypt2. Given that Spo13 is
      essential for initiating FSM formation, these results suggest that two exocytic
      Rabs, Ypt3 and Ypt2, regulate the initiation of FSM formation on the SPB in
      concert with Spo13.

PMID- 27630267
TI  - Comparative Outcomes of Ultrasound-Assisted Thrombolysis and Standard Catheter
      Directed Thrombolysis in the Treatment of Acute Pulmonary Embolism.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of patients
      undergoing ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis (USAT) and standard catheter
      directed thrombolysis (CDT) for the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism (PE).
      METHODS: The records of all patients in our institution having undergone CDT or
      USAT for massive or submassive PE from 2009 to 2014 were retrospectively
      reviewed. Standard statistical methods were used to compare characteristics and
      to assess for longitudinal change in outcomes. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients, 27
      CDT and 36 USAT, were treated for massive (12.7%) or submassive (87.3%) PE. Of
      which, 96.8% were treated for bilateral PE. Baseline patient characteristics did
      not differ between the 2 treatment groups. There was no difference in total dose
      of lytic administered (CDT: 23.2 +/- 13.7 mg; USAT: 27.5 +/- 12.9 mg; P = .2).
      Two patients in the CDT and 1 in the USAT groups required conversion to surgical
      thrombectomy (CDT: 7.4%; USAT: 2.8%; P = .6). Rates of major and minor bleeding
      complications (CDT: 11.0%; USAT: 13.9%; P = .8) did not differ significantly
      between the CDT and USAT groups. Estimated survival at 90 days was 92% for CDT
      and 93% for USAT and 82% at 1 year for both groups (P = .8). All
      echocardiographic parameters improved significantly from baseline to 1-year
      follow-up, but quantitative improvement did not differ between groups.
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests no statistical differences in clinical and
      hemodynamic outcomes or procedural complication rates between USAT and standard
      CDT for the treatment of acute PE. Prospective studies are needed to further
      evaluate comparative and cost-effectiveness of different interventions for acute
      massive and submassive PE.

PMID- 27630268
TI  - Celiac Artery Stenting in the Treatment of Intestinal Ischemia Due to the
      Sacrifice of the Dominant Inferior Mesenteric Artery During Endovascular Aortic
      Repair.
AB  - A 42-year-old man had intestinal ischemia 7 weeks after endovascular abdominal
      aortic aneurysm repair due to sacrifice of the inferior mesenteric artery, which
      had compensated for the intestinal blood supply because of the total occlusion of
      the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and severe stenosis of the celiac artery
      (CA). He was diagnosed in the active phase of Takayasu arteritis, and an
      emergency endovascular treatment was performed. After the SMA failed to be
      recanalized, a stent was successfully placed into the CA; this choice was made
      based on the preexisting collaterals between them. The symptoms were relieved
      shortly after the operation. The Kirk arcade, the Barkow arcade, and the enlarged
      pancreaticoduodenal arcade were visualized on the follow-up computed tomography
      angiography. Based on this case, a short review of celiomesenteric and
      intermesenteric collateral circulations is presented. 

PMID- 27630269
TI  - Aneurysm Formation After Endovascular Treatment of Acute Type A Dissection.
AB  - Recently, reports have described successful endovascular stent graft (ESG)
      treatment of patients with acute type A aortic dissection. We report 1 ESG
      treatment for this condition and the complication of a new aneurysm formation
      during a 6-month follow-up. 

PMID- 27630271
TI  - Lurbinectedin Specifically Triggers the Degradation of Phosphorylated RNA
      Polymerase II and the Formation of DNA Breaks in Cancer Cells.
AB  - We have defined the mechanism of action of lurbinectedin, a marine-derived drug
      exhibiting a potent antitumor activity across several cancer cell lines and tumor
      xenografts. This drug, currently undergoing clinical evaluation in ovarian,
      breast, and small cell lung cancer patients, inhibits the transcription process
      through (i) its binding to CG-rich sequences, mainly located around promoters of
      protein-coding genes; (ii) the irreversible stalling of elongating RNA polymerase
      II (Pol II) on the DNA template and its specific degradation by the
      ubiquitin/proteasome machinery; and (iii) the generation of DNA breaks and
      subsequent apoptosis. The finding that inhibition of Pol II phosphorylation
      prevents its degradation and the formation of DNA breaks after drug treatment
      underscores the connection between transcription elongation and DNA repair. Our
      results not only help to better understand the high specificity of this drug in
      cancer therapy but also improve our understanding of an important transcription
      regulation mechanism. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(10); 2399-412. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27630272
TI  - Targeting tyrosine receptor kinase B in gliomas.

PMID- 27630273
TI  - Paradoxical Role of HMGB1 in Pancreatic Cancer: Tumor Suppressor or Tumor
      Promoter?
AB  - Pancreatic cancer has a dismal prognosis and there is an increasing and unmet
      need to identify better diagnostic and therapeutic targets in order to ameliorate
      the course of the disease. HMGB1, a nuclear DNA-binding protein that acts as a
      transcription factor, is currently in the limelight. HMGB1 exhibits a dual role
      in pancreatic cancer; when intracellular, it acts as an anti-tumor protein
      stabilizing the genome, whereas extracellular HMGB1 behaves as a pro-tumor
      protein with cytokine, chemokine and growth factor functions. Although the exact
      mechanisms of HMGB1 in pancreatic cancer are still to be elucidated, the
      significance of this protein for processes, such as autophagy, immunogenic cell
      death, tumor growth, metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy, have become
      increasingly clear. In this review, we provide a systematic summary and review of
      the biological and clinical relevance of HMGB1 in pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 27630274
TI  - Osteogenic Sarcoma: A 21st Century Review.
AB  - Compared to other bone tumors, bone osteogenic sarcoma (BOS) continues to confer
      a much grimmer prognosis as the survival benefit of traditional chemotherapy
      treatment regimens is still unsatisfactory. Chemotherapy was demonstrated to be
      effective in eradicating both primary tumor and pulmonary metastases in the last
      century, with effective agents used in various combination regimens having
      changed the survival rate from less than 10% to 75%. The most common primary bone
      cancer, BOS is conventionally a primary intramedullary high-grade malignant tumor
      characterized by malignant cells forming immature bone or osteoid. BOS is a
      disease with diverse morphological presentations. The treatment of all
      morphological variants seem to have been the same for over 30 years. The
      introduction of antiproliferative agents such as insulin growth factor-binding
      protein 3 hold promise of a potentially veritable therapeutic target. In this
      review, we highlight recent data on osteosarcoma to consolidate a platform able
      to connect bench and bedside.

PMID- 27630275
TI  - Update on Hereditary Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - In the past two decades, significant advances have been made in our understanding
      of colorectal (CRC) tumors with DNA mismatch (MMR) repair deficiency. The
      knowledge from molecular and genetic alterations in a variety of clinical
      conditions has refined the disease terminology and classification. Hereditary non
      polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) encompasses a spectrum of conditions that
      have significant phenotypic overlapping that makes clinical diagnosis a
      challenging task. Distinguishing among the HNPCC disorders is clinically
      important, as the approach to surveillance for patients and their at-risk family
      members differs according to risks for colonic and extracolonic cancer associated
      with each syndrome. Prospective and next-generation studies will provide valuable
      clinical information regarding the natural history of disease that will help
      differentiate the Lynch syndrome mimics and guide diagnosis and management for
      heterogeneous conditions currently grouped under the category of familial CRC.
      The review is intended to present and discuss the molecular nature of various
      conditions related to MMR deficiency and discusses the tools and strategies that
      have been used in detecting these conditions.

PMID- 27630277
TI  - The Role of Cetuximab in the Induction of Anticancer Immune Response in
      Colorectal Cancer Treatment.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies binding the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), such
      as cetuximab or panitumumab, are widely used targeted therapeutics for the
      treatment of patients with colorectal cancer. The clinical significance of these
      drugs has so far been associated with combined chemotherapy or radiation. It has
      been shown that these treatment strategies have their clinical limitations and do
      not fully exploit the immunomodulatory effect of these drugs. In this review, we
      discuss the mechanisms of immunomodulation together with the anticancer immune
      response to the monoclonal antibodies targeted to the EGFR. The combination of
      anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies with other immunotherapeutic treatment modalities
      certainly brings new opportunities for targeted therapy in patients with
      colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27630276
TI  - DNA Methylation Machinery in the Endometrium and Endometrial Cancer.
AB  - During the normal menstrual cycle, endometrial tissue undergoes many biochemical
      and morphological changes which are under the control of steroid hormone levels.
      DNA methylation plays a key role in gene expression regulation and influences
      functional changes in endometrial tissue. Eliminating senescent cells from the
      functional layer of the endometrium is mediated by apoptotic cell death, which
      helps maintain cellular homeostasis. Aberrant DNA methylation changes result in
      deregulation of important apoptotic proteins during endometrial carcinogenesis
      and thus apoptosis resistance development. Evading apoptosis is still a major
      problem in the successful treatment of endometrial cancer patients with advanced
      disease. Despite intensive study of the cancer epigenome, there is missing
      information about disrupted apoptotic gene regulation in DNA methylation levels.
      Therefore, it is necessary to spread our knowledge in the field of epigenetics to
      help us differentiate normal and cancer tissues and detect the early stages of
      cancer disease.

PMID- 27630278
TI  - Lymphangiogenesis and Anti-lymphangiogenesis in Cutaneous Melanoma.
AB  - Cutaneous malignant melanoma is an aggressive tumor characterized by early lymph
      node metastasis and bad prognosis. Although the spread of tumor cells in the
      regional lymph nodes is very important in the staging, prognosis and therapeutic
      strategy of malignant melanoma, the mechanism(s) of initial lymphatic vessels
      invasion is are) not completely understood. In the present review, we analyze the
      main factors involved in melanoma-associated lymphangiogenesis, based on existing
      available evidence. Currently, there are no anti-lymphangiogenic drugs approved
      for clinical trials. On the other hand, inhibition of lymph node metastasis has
      been demonstrated in experimental models by inhibiting tumor-associated
      lymphangiogenesis.

PMID- 27630280
TI  - Color-coded Imaging Enables Fluorescence-guided Surgery to Resect the Tumor Along
      with the Tumor Microenvironment in a Syngeneic Mouse Model of EL-4 Lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) of cancer is an emerging
      technology. We have previously shown the importance of resecting both the tumor
      and the tumor microenvironment (TME) for curative FGS. We also previously
      developed a syngeneic model using the mouse lymphoma cell line EL-4, expressing
      red fluorescent protein (EL-4-RFP), growing in green fluorescent protein (GFP)
      transgenic mice, which we have used in the present report to develop FGS of the
      tumor microenvironment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: EL-4-RFP lymphoma cells were
      injected subcutaneously in C57/BL6 GFP transgenic mice. EL-4-RFP cells
      subsequently formed tumors by 35 days after cell transplantation. Using the
      portable hand-held Dino-Lite digital imaging system, subcutaneous tumors were
      resected by FGS. Resected tumor tissues were visualized with the Olympus FV1000
      confocal microscope. RESULTS: Using the Dino-Lite, subcutaneous tumors and the
      tumor microenvironment were clearly visualized and resected. In the resected
      tumor, host stromal cells, including adipocyte-like cells and blood vessels with
      lymphocytes, were observed by confocal microscopy in addition to cancer cells by
      color-coded confocal imaging. The cancer cells and stromal cells in the TME were
      deeply intermingled in a highly-complex pattern. CONCLUSION: Color-coded FGS is
      an effective method to completely resect cancer cells along with the stromal
      cells in the TME which interact in a highly-complex pattern. Microscopically,
      cancer cells invade the TME and vice versa. To prevent tumor recurrence, it is
      necessary to resect the TME along with the tumor.

PMID- 27630279
TI  - Mismatch Repair Polymorphisms as Markers of Breast Cancer Prevalence in the
      Breast Cancer Family Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Major breast cancer susceptibility genes involved in DNA repair,
      including BRCA1 and BRCA2, have been identified. However, mutations in these
      genes account for only 5-10% of identified breast cancer cases. Additional DNA
      repair pathway genes may also contribute to susceptibility. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We investigated the association between 12 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in mismatch repair (MMR) genes and breast cancer risk among
      313 sister-sets enrolled in the New York site of the Breast Cancer Family
      Registry (BCFR) (n=744) using conditional logistic regression analysis. RESULTS:
      An increase in breast cancer risk was observed for women with the MUTYH_rs3219489
      variant allele (odds ratio (OR)=2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.10-4.52) and
      for women with the MSH2_rs2303428 variant allele (OR=1.73, 95% CI=1.00-2.99).
      CONCLUSION: Deficiencies in DNA repair pathways, such as MMR, have implications
      for the onset of familial breast cancer.

PMID- 27630281
TI  - Silencing Prion Protein in HT29 Human Colorectal Cancer Cells Enhances Anticancer
      Response to Fucoidan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The putative functions of the cellular prion protein (PrP(c)) are
      believed to be associated with cell signaling, differentiation, survival, and
      cancer progression. With respect to cancer development and progression,
      elevations and mutations of PrP(c) expression have been shown to increase the
      risk for malignancy and metastasis in breast and colorectal cancer. Since both
      natural supplements and direct regulation of PrP(c) expression contribute to
      inhibition of cancer progression and growth, we hypothesized that knockdown of
      PrP(c) could lead to an enhanced synergic effect on the inhibition of cancer
      growth by fucoidan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PrP(c) expression was suppressed in
      HT29 human colon cancer cells by utilizing small-interfering RNA (si-PRNP), and
      cells were subsequently used to study the antiproliferative and anticancer
      effects of fucoidan treatment of HT29 human colon cancer cells. RESULTS: Fucoidan
      treatment significantly inhibited growth and reduced cyclin and cyclin-dependent
      kinase (CDK) expression in HT29 colon cancer cells. Furthermore, silencing PrP(c)
      expression with si-PRNP amplified the fucoidan-induced changes in cell
      proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. Intraperitoneal injection of si-PRNP
      with fucoidan reduced proliferation and tumor volume in Balb/c nude mice. This
      enhanced antitumor efficacy was associated with decreased angiogenesis.
      CONCLUSION: Combination of fucoidan with silencing of PrP(c) has a synergic
      effect on the inhibition of HT29 colon cancer cell growth. Furthermore, we
      provide evidence for the therapeutic application of PrP(c) silencing with other
      anticancer drugs for cancer.

PMID- 27630282
TI  - 68Ga-DOTATOC and FDG PET Imaging of Preclinical Neuroblastoma Models.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Somatostatine receptors subtype 2 (SSTR2) are regarded as a
      potential target in neuroblastoma (NB) for imaging and promising therapeutic
      approaches. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the SSTR2
      status by (68)Ga-[tetraxetan-D-Phe1, Tyr3]-octreotide ((68)Ga-DOTATOC) positron
      emission tomography (PET) and the tumour metabolic activity by (18)F
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET in different experimental models of NB. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Three cell lines of human NB with different levels of expression of
      SSTR2 were grafted into nude mice. Animals were imaged with FDG and (68)Ga
      DOTATOC and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was determined to
      quantify tracer uptake. Ex vivo biodistribution of (68)Ga-DOTATOC and
      immunohistochemical analysis of NB xenografts were performed. RESULTS: Compared
      with FDG, the SUVmax of (68)Ga-DOTATOC uptake by the tumour was lower but the
      ratio to background was higher; there was a strong positive correlation between
      SUVmax values observed with the two tracers (r(2)=0.65). Sorting the cell lines
      according to uptake of FDG or (68)Ga-DOTATOC, injected activity per gram of
      tissue, Ki67 index or expression of SSTR2 assessed visually led to the same
      classification. CONCLUSION: (68)Ga-DOTATOC allows preclinical imaging of NB
      according to the intensity of the expression of SSTR2. In contrast with what has
      been reported for neuroendocrine tumours, in this NB model, the (68)Ga-DOTATOC
      uptake was positively correlated with FDG uptake and with Ki67 index, usual
      markers of tumour aggressiveness. If confirmed in humans, this result would
      favour a theranostic application of (68)Ga-DOTATOC in NB, even in advanced
      stages.

PMID- 27630283
TI  - CD40 Expression in Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Is Associated with
      Tumor Progression and Lymph Node Metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The co-stimulatory molecule cluster of differentiation 40 (CD40) is
      widely expressed in various types of malignant tumors, but its role remains
      unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between
      CD40 expression and clinicopathological variables in patients with esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), as well as the function of CD40 expressed on ESCC
      tumor cells in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumor specimens of patients who
      underwent surgical resection for ESCC were immunohistochemically analyzed for
      CD40 expression. RESULTS: Of the 122 specimens, 45 (37%) were positive for CD40.
      Significant positive correlation was found between CD40 expression and p-stage
      (p=0.0011), histopathological grade (p=0.0143), pT-classification (p=0.0011), and
      pN-classification (p=0.0007). Survival of patients with stage III and IV disease
      with positive CD40 expression was significantly shorter than that of those with
      negative expression (log-rank test, p=0.0422). In in vitro analysis, while the
      addition of recombinant human CD154 did not inhibit growth, it did induce a
      significant increase in interleukin 6 production in ESCC cell lines. CONCLUSION:
      These results suggest that functional expression of CD40 on tumor cells might
      play an important role in tumor progression and lymph node metastasis in ESCC.

PMID- 27630284
TI  - Non-toxic Efficacy of the Combination of Caffeine and Valproic Acid on Human
      Osteosarcoma Cells In Vitro and in Orthotopic Nude-mouse Models.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: We have previously reported that caffeine can enhance
      chemotherapy efficacy of bone and soft-tissue sarcoma via cell-cycle
      perturbation. Valproic acid has histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory activity.
      The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the combination of
      valproic acid and caffeine on human osteosarcoma cells in vitro and in orthotopic
      nude-mouse models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human osteosarcoma cell lines (MG63,
      143B and SaOS2) were used. Cell survival after a 72 h exposure to valproic acid
      and caffeine was assessed with a WST-8 assay. Half maximal inhibitory
      concentration (IC50) values and combination indices (CIs) were calculated.
      Caspase 3 activity was measured by a fluorochrome inhibitor of caspase (FLICA)
      assay. 143B cells were also transplanted to the tibia of nude mice and treated
      with these drugs. RESULTS: Both valproic acid and caffeine caused concentration
      dependent cell death of the osteosarcoma cell lines in vitro. Apoptosis induction
      was observed with the Caspase 3 assay. The combination was synergistic. The
      combination of valproic acid and caffeine showed effective anti-tumor activity in
      vivo without the need for conventional anticancer drugs or any observable
      toxicity Conclusion: Efficacy of combination therapy with caffeine and valproic
      acid in osteosarcoma was observed in vitro and in vivo without toxicity,
      suggesting that either or both drugs can be effectively combined with appropriate
      chemotherapy in the future.

PMID- 27630285
TI  - A Mouse Model of Fluorescent Protein-expressing Disseminated Peritoneal Lymphoma
      for Fluorescence-guided Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) of tumors is an area of intense
      development. Peritoneally-disseminated cancer, however, represents a difficult
      surgical challenge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To help meet this challenge, EL4 mouse
      T-cell lymphoma cells expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP) were injected
      intraperitoneally in nude mice. RESULTS: Two weeks after injection of EL4-RFP
      cells, established peritoneally-disseminated tumors were observed. FGS was
      performed using a hand-held portable fluorescence imaging system (Dino-Lite). FGS
      enabled detection of very small peritoneal disseminated tumors and completely
      resected them in contrast to bright-light which only partially detected the
      tumors. CONCLUSION: The present report indicates the feasibility of FGS of
      peritoneally-disseminated cancer.

PMID- 27630286
TI  - The Utility of Serum CA9 for Prognostication in Prostate Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9) catalyses the interconversion of
      carbon dioxide to carbonic acid and bicarbonate and is considered a putative
      biomarker of tumour hypoxia. We set out to evaluate the prognostic significance
      of CA9 in prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Plasma samples were assessed
      from 68 men with high-risk localised prostate cancer treated with radical
      prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RT), and 20 men with castration-resistant
      prostate cancer (CRPC) treated with docetaxel chemotherapy between 2010 and 2012
      at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada. RESULTS: Of the 68 patients with
      high-risk localised prostate cancer, 57 underwent RP and 11 underwent RT.
      Baseline CA9 was not associated with recurrence or prostate-specific antigen in
      either group (p=0.98 and 0.20, respectively). CA9 levels before chemotherapy
      correlated with overall survival (r=-0.37; two-sided p=0.11). CONCLUSION:
      Baseline CA9 in men with CRPC may portend a more aggressive prostate cancer
      phenotype with poorer survival.

PMID- 27630287
TI  - Photodynamic Therapy Using Novel Glucose-conjugated Chlorin Increases Apoptosis
      of Cholangiocellular Carcinoma in Comparison with Talaporfin Sodium.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective laser treatment for
      locally treating advanced bile duct carcinoma (BDC). The study's objective was to
      evaluate the increased cytocidal effect by apoptotic PDT using a novel
      photosensitizer, glucose-conjugated chlorin, by irradiation of light-emitting
      diode laser (G-PDT) in comparison with conventional PDT using talaporfin sodium
      (T-PDT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cytocidal effect of G-PDT was compared to
      that of T-PDT as a control. Tumor viability was determined by an in vitro MTS
      assay. The percentage of apoptosis-positive cells was examined by triple stain
      flow cytometry (annexin V, ethidium homodimer III and Hoechst 33342) in the BDC
      cell line (NOZ cell) in vitro. The change in transplanted tumor volume in vivo (4
      week-old male BALB/c mice) was examined 7 days after PDT. RESULTS: Cell death was
      induced in a light dose-dependent manner by PDT. The laser power was set at 5
      Jules/cm(2) to obtain half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) in T-PDT and G
      PDT and the concentration of photosensitivity for G-PDT (2.02 MUg/ml) was lower
      than that for T-PDT (4.14 MUg/ml). Both T-PDT and G-PDT showed increased
      induction rates in comparison to the light only or G-chlorin only. Furthermore,
      the rate of apoptosis in the G-PDT (92.6%) was increased in comparison to that in
      the T-PDT (38.9%). The increased rates of tumor volume during the 7 days in both
      the G-PDT and T-PDT groups were significantly lower than that in the non-PDT
      group (p<0.01). At day 7, the increased rates of tumor volume in the G-PDT group
      were significantly lower than that in the T-PDT group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The
      new G-PDT treatment showed a high prevalence of apoptosis and inhibition of tumor
      growth in treatment of BDC cells.

PMID- 27630288
TI  - Human Colorectal Cancer Stage-dependent Global DNA Hypomethylation of Cancer
      associated Fibroblasts.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in
      tumor development and progression. The prevailing consensus favors the view that
      a specific epigenetic signature underpins the stable CAF phenotype. The aim of
      the present study was to assess global DNA methylation in CAFs during the adenoma
      carcinoma sequence in non-familial sporadic human colorectal cancer (CRC).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining of nuclear 5-methylcytosine
      (5'-meCyt) was performed in matched samples of colonic tumor tissue and normal
      colonic mucosa excised from six patients with adenomas and four with
      adenocarcinomas. The staining intensity was expressed semi-quantitatively as the
      immunohistochemical staining score (ISS). RESULTS: ISS values of human colonic
      CAFs and adenomatous samples were 14.00+/-2.2 and 14.08+/-1.8, respectively,
      showing no statistically significant difference. In contrast, a marked trend was
      found towards global DNA hypomethylation in CAFs from adenocarcinomatous
      specimens compared to matched normal mucosa: ISS: 9.25+/-2.44 (range=6-11) vs.
      16.17+/-0.75, respectively, p<0.03. CONCLUSION: Final stages of cancer
      development in CRC are associated with global DNA hypomethylation in stromal
      CAFs.

PMID- 27630289
TI  - Association of Enhancer of Zeste 2 (EZH2) Genotypes with Bladder Cancer Risk in
      Taiwan.
AB  - AIM: Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and its incidence
      is particularly high in many developed regions including southwestern Taiwan.
      However, the genetic contribution to the etiology of bladder cancer is not well
      understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of the enhancer
      of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) genotypes with Taiwan bladder cancer risk. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Three polymorphic variants of EZH2 were analyzed regarding their
      association with bladder cancer risk, and three hundred and seventy-five patients
      with bladder cancer and same number of age- and gender-matched healthy controls
      recruited were genotyped by the PCR-RFLP method. RESULTS: Among the three
      polymorphic sites examined, the genotypes of EZH2 rs887569 (C to T), but not
      rs41277434 (A to C) or rs3757441 (T to C), were positively associated with
      bladder cancer risk (p for trend =0.0146). Individuals with the EZH2 rs887569 TT
      genotypes were associated with decreased cancer risk than those with wild-type CC
      genotype. The stratified analyses showed that EZH2 rs887569 TT genotypes had
      protective effects on non-smokers but obviously not on smokers. CONCLUSION: Our
      findings provide evidence that the T allele of EZH2 rs887569 may be associated
      with the lower risk of bladder cancer development, especially among non-smokers.

PMID- 27630290
TI  - Assessment of Promoter Methylation Identifies PTCH as a Putative Tumor-suppressor
      Gene in Human CLL.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by a clonal
      accumulation of neoplastic lymphocytes, indicating disruption of apoptosis.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Differential methylation hybridization analysis was
      performed to identify novel target genes silenced by CpG island methylation in
      patients with CLL. RESULTS: Patched (PTCH), a tumor-suppressor gene, was found to
      be frequently methylated in CLL samples compared to samples derived from healthy
      individuals. De novo methylation of a CpG island region located upstream of PTCH
      exon 1 was confirmed by pyrosequencing in 17/37 (46%) of peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells of patients with CLL, but in none isolated from seven healthy
      individuals. No association was found between PTCH hypermethylation and currently
      used prognostic CLL factors. CONCLUSION: Our investigation suggests that
      epigenetic silencing of PTCH is a mechanism contributing to CLL tumorigenesis.

PMID- 27630291
TI  - Oncological Safety of Lipofilling in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis
      and Update on Clinical Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lipofilling is an increasingly popular technique for breast
      reconstruction following both mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery (BCS).
      However, concerns remain over its oncological safety and its effect on cancer
      recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature review and meta
      analysis was carried out. Patients who had undergone mastectomy or BCS were
      investigated separately in order to find out whether the addition of lipofilling
      had a significant effect on locoregional recurrence rate. RESULTS: Eleven studies
      were used in the analysis, yielding a total of 2,382 patients. For patients
      undergoing mastectomy (mean follow-up=36.2 months, range=12-90 months) or BCS
      (mean follow-up=30.2 months, range=12-60 months), the addition of lipofilling was
      not found to significantly affect the locoregional recurrence rate. CONCLUSION:
      This meta-analysis demonstrates that lipofilling is an oncologically safe
      procedure to be incorporated into breast reconstruction following either
      mastectomy or BCS for breast cancer. However, a careful oncological follow-up is
      recommended. In the future, more adequately powered controlled clinical trials
      are needed in order to fully understand long-term outcomes after lipofilling.

PMID- 27630292
TI  - Th2 Dominance Might Induce Carcinogenesis in Patients with HCV-related Liver
      Cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: It has been reported that type 2 helper T-cell (Th2) cytokines
      down-regulate antitumor immunity, while Th1 cytokines up-regulate it. We
      previously reported that hepatocarcinogenesis was associated with Th2 dominance
      in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver cirrhosis (LC), but we did
      not determine whether Th2 dominance induced carcinogenesis or carcinogenesis led
      to Th2 dominance. The aim of the study was to clarify whether Th2 dominance
      induces carcinogenesis or vice versa in patients with HCV-related liver diseases.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study population was 82 adult Japanese patients who had
      chronic inflammation due to HCV infection diagnosed by pathological examination
      of liver biopsy specimens, including 21 patients with early hepatocellular
      carcinoma (eHCC) and HCV-related LC. All patients were admitted to our hospital
      between 2008 and 2014. eHCC was treated by radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The non
      HCC patients were divided into four subgroups based on the fibrosis score of
      Desment (stage F1-4). Blood samples were collected just before starting RFA and
      after 4 weeks of RFA. Flow cytometry was used to assess the percentages of
      IFNgamma(+) and IL4(-) (Th1) cells and IFNgamma(-) and IL4(+) (Th2) cells in
      CD4(+) T-cells of peripheral blood before the start of each RFA session. RESULTS:
      There were 21 patients with fibrosis stage 1, 21 with stage 2, 18 with stage 3,
      22 with stage 4, and 21 patients with eHCC. Before RFA, Th1 cells were
      significantly more frequent in the F4 and eHCC groups than in the F1 group,
      although there was no significant difference between the HCC and F1 groups after
      RFA. Both before and after RFA, Th2 cells were significantly more frequent in the
      HCC group than in the F1 group. CONCLUSION: Th2 dominance was not altered by
      elimination of eHCC after RFA therapy. Therefore, Th2 dominance might induce
      carcinogenesis in patients with HCV-related LC rather than carcinogenesis leading
      to Th2 dominance.

PMID- 27630293
TI  - MEK Inhibitor Suppresses Expression of the miR-17-92 Cluster with G1-Phase Arrest
      in HT-29 Human Colon Cancer Cells and MIA PaCa-2 Pancreatic Cancer Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, and the deregulated
      expression of miRNAs is associated with tumor development. Among these, the miR
      17-92 cluster, including six mature miRNAs, is known as an oncogenic miRNA
      cluster because expression of the miR-17-92 cluster is frequently elevated in a
      variety of malignant tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated whether a
      mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor, PD0325901, suppresses
      expression of the miR-17-92 cluster in HT-29 human colon cancer cells and MIA
      PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cells. RESULTS: PD0325901 inhibited cell growth with G1
      phase arrest and suppressed expression of the miR-17-92 cluster. Furthermore,
      phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), which is a target molecule of the miR-17
      92 cluster, was up-regulated by PD0325901. The exogenous expression of miR-17
      slightly, but significantly reduced G1-phase arrest by PD0325901. CONCLUSION:
      These results raise the possibility that a MEK inhibitor causes G1-phase arrest,
      at least partially, through suppression of the miR-17-92 cluster.

PMID- 27630294
TI  - Altered Expression of PRKX, WNT3 and WNT16 in Human Nodular Basal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Nodular and superficial are the most common subtypes of basal
      cell carcinoma (BCC). Signaling pathways such as Hedgehog (HH) and Wingless (WNT)
      signaling are associated with BCC phenotypic variation. The aim of the study was
      to evaluate of the expression profiles of 84 genes related to the WNT and HH
      signaling pathways in patients with nodular and superficial BCC. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 58 BCCs and 13 samples of normal skin were evaluated by
      quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect the gene
      expression profile. RESULTS: qPCR array showed segregation in BCC subtypes
      compared to healthy skin. PRKX, WNT3 and WNT16 were significantly (p<0.05)
      altered: PRKX was up-regulated, and WNT3 and WNT16 were down-regulated in nodular
      BCC. CONCLUSION: PRKX, WNT3 and WNT16 genes, belonging to the WNT signaling
      pathway, are involved in the tumorigenic process of nodular BCC.

PMID- 27630295
TI  - Significance of Expression of Complement C4d in Esophageal Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most
      difficult malignancies to cure. C4d is a degradation product of the classical
      complement pathway and is suggested as an early diagnostic marker for other SCCs.
      The purpose of this study was to clarify the association of complement C4d with
      ESCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining for C4d was performed on
      surgical specimens obtained from 114 patients with ESCC. RESULTS: Positive C4d
      expression was observed in 70 (61.4%) cases and negative expression in 44 (38.6%)
      cases. There was a significant inverse correlation between C4d expression and
      depth of tumor invasion (p=0.0001), lymph node metastasis (p=0.011), lymphatic
      invasion (p=0.033), and TNM stage (p=0.0021). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that
      negative C4d expression tended to lead to shorter overall survival (p=0.232).
      CONCLUSION: C4d expression in ESCC might be useful in developing treatment
      strategies or suppression of ESCC.

PMID- 27630296
TI  - Extracellular Matrix-dependent Pathways in Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines Reveal
      Potential Targets for Anticancer Therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer cells grown in a 3D culture are more resistant to anticancer
      therapy treatment compared to those in a monolayer 2D culture. Emerging evidence
      has suggested that the key reasons for increased cell survival could be gene
      expression changes in cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction-dependent
      manner. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Global gene-expression changes were obtained in
      human colorectal carcinoma HT29 and DLD1 cell lines between 2D and laminin-rich
      (lr) ECM 3D growth conditions by gene-expression microarray analysis. The most
      significantly altered functional categories were revealed by Kyoto Encyclopedia
      of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. RESULTS: The microarray
      data revealed that 841 and 1190 genes were differentially expressed in colorectal
      carcinoma DLD1 and HT29 cells. KEGG analysis indicated that the most
      significantly altered categories were cell adhesion, mitogen-activated protein
      kinase and immune response. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate altered pathways
      related to cancer development and progression and suggest potential ECM-regulated
      targets for the development of anticancer therapies.

PMID- 27630297
TI  - Photodynamic Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using 5-Aminolevulinic Acid.
AB  - Backgtound/Aim: Since hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high recurrence rate,
      accurate diagnosis of its location and curative resection is important to improve
      survival. This study evaluated the utility of photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) using
      5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) for HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used two human
      hepatoma cell lines (HuH-7 and Hep G2). Cells were treated with 5-ALA for 4 h. 5
      ALA-induced fluorescence was then examined under a fluorescence microscope. We
      designed hepatoma mouse models, with mice receiving an intraperitoneal injection
      of 5-ALA. After 4 h, their liver tumors were removed and examined under a
      fluorescence microscope. We also analyzed 12 HCC patients who underwent curative
      liver resection. The patients were administered 5-ALA orally before surgery. The
      excised livers were sectioned and examined by fluorescence microscopy. RESULTS:
      In vitro and in vivo, red fluorescence of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) was observed
      in tumors. In 11 of 12 patients, red fluorescence was observed in their HCC. The
      tumor of only one patient did not exhibit red fluorescence because it had been
      necrosed by transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). CONCLUSION: Red
      fluorescence of PpIX was observed in hepatoma cells, tumors of HCC mouse models
      and HCC of patients. PDD of HCC using 5-ALA is simple and may be useful for real
      time diagnosis during liver resection.

PMID- 27630298
TI  - Expression of CD31 in Mycosis Fungoides.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common primary cutaneous T
      cell lymphoma (CTCL) characterized by malignant proliferation of mature T
      lymphocytes and primary skin involvement. Recent reports suggest that
      angiogenesis may play a role in the growth and spread of this malignancy. Cluster
      of differentiation 31 (CD31) is a protein classified into the Ig-superfamily of
      cell adhesion molecules, expressed on endothelial cells and majority of
      hematopoietic non-erythroid cells. The aim of our study was to explore the role
      of angiogenesis in MF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the expression of CD31
      in relation to clinicopathological data and potential impact on patients' outcome
      in MF utilizing immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot (WB) techniques in 73
      and 19 MF and 21 and 4 control samples, respectively. RESULTS: In the IHC study,
      statistical analysis revealed significantly higher CD31 expression in MF compared
      to the controls (p<0.0001) with highest expression in advanced stages vs. early
      ones and controls (p<0.0001 for both). In regard to skin involvement, expression
      was also elevated in more infiltrative (T3, tumors) and in more extensive (T4,
      erythroderma) cutaneous lesions compared to less infiltrative and limited skin
      lesions (T1, T2, patches and/or plaques) (p<0.01 for both). Regarding the
      extracutaneous spread, higher CD31 expression correlated with nodal involvement
      (N1-3 vs. N0; p<0.0001). In the WB study, statistical analysis revealed
      significantly higher CD31 expression only in advanced vs. early stage of MF
      (p<0.05). In regard to skin involvement, expression was also elevated in T3 and
      T4 as compared T1+T2 (p=0.08, p<0.05; respectively). Higher CD31 expression
      correlated with nodal involvement (N1-3 vs. N0; p<0.01). A strong significant
      correlation between CD31 expression at the protein level analyzed by IHC and WB
      was noticed (r=0.802, p<0.0001). Moreover, strong positive correlations between
      IHC expression of CD31 and podoplanin (PDPN; r=0.582, p<0.0001), vascular
      endothelial growth factor C (VEGFC; r=0.332, p<0.01) and Ki-67 (r=0.330, p<0.01)
      were disclosed. CONCLUSION: Expression of CD31 in MF skin biopsies provides new
      evidence for the role of angiogenesis in the progression of MF. Additionally, the
      new data revealed prompts for further research on potential use of CD31 as a new
      marker of the disease advancement, as well as the target of new therapeutic
      strategies.

PMID- 27630300
TI  - Evaluating the Effect of Micropump(c) Position, Internal Pressure and Doxorubicin
      Dosage on Efficacy of Pressurized Intra-peritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC)
      in an Ex Vivo Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) is a
      novel clinical approach to the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis. A well
      established, not anatomic ex vivo PIPAC model was used to investigate the
      influence of changes in internal pressure, distance of the Micropump((c)) (MIP)
      to the distributing surface and the drug concentration on the penetration depth
      of doxorubicin in the target tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Doxorubicin was
      aerosolized in an ex vivo PIPAC model using a hermetic container system mimicking
      the abdominal cavity. Fresh post-mortem swine peritoneum was cut into
      proportional samples. Tissue specimens were spatially placed at 4 different spots
      within the box: P1, on the distributing surface of the box, directly opposite to
      MIP; P2, on the side wall of the box; P3, on the ceiling of the box; P4, on the
      distributing surface with a partial cover. Impact of changes in the following
      parameters were analyzed and compared with clinically established values (CEVs)
      at our center: pressure (CEV=12 mmHg), distance of the MIP from the distributing
      surface (CEV=8 cm) and doxorubicin concentration (CEV=3 mg/50 ml). In-tissue
      doxorubicin penetration depth was measured using fluorescence microscopy on
      frozen thin sections. RESULTS: Tissue positioning in the box had a significant
      impact on drug penetration after PIPAC with CEV. Under CEV conditions, the
      highest drug penetration depth was observed in the tissue placed on the
      distributing surface directly opposite to the MIP (P1: 351 MUm, P2: 77 MUm, P3:
      66 MUm, P4: 34 MUm). A closer positioning of the MIP lead to a significantly
      higher mean depth penetration of doxorubicin in the P1 in contrast to other
      samples in which a reduced drug penetration was observed (1 cm vs. 8 cm distance
      from MIP to the distributing surface, P1 at 1 cm: 469 MUm vs. P1 at 8 cm: 351
      MUm, p<0.0001; P2 at 1 cm: 25 MUm vs. P2 at 8 cm: 77 MUm, p<0.0001; P3 at 1 cm:
      21 MUm vs. P3 at 8 cm: 66 MUm, p<0.001; P4 at 1 cm: 13 MUm vs. P4 at 8 cm: 39
      MUm, p=0.021). Higher doxorubicin concentrations led to a highly significant
      increase of drug penetration in P1 (1 cm vs. 8 cm, p<0.0001), but only a little
      significant increase in other samples. An increase of internal pressure did not
      show a significant increase in penetration depth of doxorubicin. CONCLUSION: Our
      ex vivo data suggest that a higher pressure does not increase the penetration
      deepness of doxorubicin. Higher drug dosage and a closer positioning of the MIP
      toward the target lead to a higher penetration of doxorubicin within the samples.
      A more homogeneous penetration within all targets cannot be achieved by changing
      drug concentration, position of the nozzle or pressure increase.

PMID- 27630299
TI  - AXIN1 Expression and Localization in Meningiomas and Association to Changes of
      APC and E-cadherin.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Tumor suppressor gene AXIN1 is an inhibitor of Wnt signaling
      pathway. It down-regulates the pathway's main signaling effector molecule, beta
      catenin, in an AXIN-based destruction complex. In the present study we
      investigated the involvement of AXIN1 in intracranial meningioma. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Loss of heterozygosity and microsatellite instability analyses were
      performed. The consequences of genetic changes on protein expression levels were
      studied in the same patients by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Allelic deletions
      of AXIN1 gene were found in 21.1% of meningiomas. Microsatellite instability was
      also observed in 5.3% of cases. Weak or lack of AXIN1 expression was found in
      21.9% of meningiomas. We found strong statistical correlations between
      cytoplasmic localization of AXIN1 and its weak expression and also between the
      simultaneous cytoplasmic and nuclear localizations and moderate and strong
      expression levels (p<0.000). The findings on AXIN1 were compared to concomitant
      expression of APC, beta-catenin and E-cadherin in the same patients by Chi-Square
      tests and Pearson's correlations. Analysis revealed that AXIN1 genetic changes
      were significantly associated to lack of the expression of APC and presence of
      mutant APC proteins (p<0.018). Moderate and strong cytoplasmic and nuclear AXIN1
      expressions were positively correlated to strong expression of E-cadherin
      (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings on genetic changes and expression levels of
      AXIN1 bring novel data on its involvement in meningeal brain tumors and reveal
      AXIN1's relation to specific Wnt molecules.

PMID- 27630301
TI  - Electroinduced Delivery of Hydrogel Nanoparticles in Colon 26 Cells, Visualized
      by Confocal Fluorescence System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nano-scale drug delivery systems (nano-DDS) are under intense
      investigation. Nano-platforms are developed for specific administration of small
      molecules, drugs, genes, contrast agents [quantum dots (QDs)] both in vivo and in
      vitro. Electroporation is a biophysical phenomenon which consists of the
      application of external electrical pulses across the cell membrane. The aim of
      this study was to research electro-assisted Colon 26 cell line internalization of
      QDs and QD-loaded nano-hydrogels (polymersomes) visualized by confocal microscopy
      and their influence on cell viability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The experiments
      were performed on the Colon 26 cancer cell line, using a confocal fluorescent
      imaging system and cell viability test. RESULTS: Electroporation facilitated the
      delivery of nanoparticles in vivo. We demonstrated increased voltage-dependent
      delivery of nanoparticles into cells after electrotreatment, without significant
      cell viability reduction. CONCLUSION: The delivery and retention of the
      polymersomes in vitro is a promising tool for future cancer treatment strategies
      and nanomedcine.

PMID- 27630302
TI  - Mutation Screening of Her-2, N-ras and Nf1 Genes in Brain Tumor Biopsies.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: A deeper understanding of the complex molecular pathology of
      brain malignancies is needed in order to develop more effective and targeted
      therapies of these highly lethal disorders. In an effort to further enlighten the
      molecular pathology of brain oncogenesis involving the her-2 (erbB-2/neu/ngl)/N
      ras/nf1 pathway, we screened the genotypes of specimens from various types of
      brain tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied specimens included 35 biopsies
      of four general categories: 13 neuroglial tumors (4 astrocytomas, 2
      oligodendrogliomas, 7 glioblastomas multiforme), 14 meningiomas, 3 other nervous
      system tumors (2 schwannomas, 1 craniopharyngioma) and 5 metastatic tumors (such
      as lung carcinomas and chronic myelocytic leukemia). Screening for most common
      mutations in oncogenes her-2, N-ras and tumor suppressor gene nf1 was conducted
      with molecular hybridization techniques (Southern blotting, dot blot and single
      strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, respectively), and was
      confirmed by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Gene amplification of her-2 was observed in
      only two cases (6%), namely in one glioblastoma and in one meningioma. Screening
      of 3 hot spot codons of the N-ras gene (12, 13 and 61) and subsequent DNA
      sequencing revealed mutations in 19 biopsies encompassing all categories (54%).
      Screening for mutations in exons of the nf1 gene by SSCP analysis detected a
      novel nonsense mutation in exon 31 in a unique case of a glioblastoma biopsy (3%)
      taken from a patient without neurofibromatosis type I. CONCLUSION: Activated N
      ras appears to be a major oncogene in brain oncogenesis, exhibiting the most
      important role in the her-2/N-ras/nf1 pathway.

PMID- 27630303
TI  - Generation of Human Antibodies Against a Specific Peptide: a Novel Strategy Based
      on Human Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: We developed a novel platform to produce fully human antibodies
      that could be used as tools in cancer research. This study was based on
      maturation of B-cells into plasma cells and the subsequent secretion of fully
      human antibodies against a 9-mer peptide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A peptide was
      introduced to dendritic cells, followed by co-cultivation with cluster of
      differentiation 4 (CD4+) cells from healthy donors and CD19(+) cells from
      patients with cancer. In order to detect plasma cells, we used microscopy, flow
      cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), and western blotting.
      RESULTS: Oval-shaped cells with eccentric nuclei were found which expressed high
      levels of CD27 (up to 73%) and CD138 (up to 31%). An antibody against the
      selected peptide was detected in the culture supernatants of all samples
      according to ELISA and western blot analyses. CONCLUSION: This platform
      successfully generated fully human antibodies against a specific epitope.

PMID- 27630304
TI  - GADD34 Promotes Tumor Growth by Inducing Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor hypoxia induces the expression of growth arrest and DNA damage
      inducible protein (GADD34). However, the role of GADD34 in tumor growth remains
      unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gadd34 expression was knocked-down through
      lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in tumor cells, which were
      subsequently injected subcutaneously into mice. Tumor volumes and myeloid-derived
      suppressor cells (MDSCs) were monitored. Isolated MDSCs were incubated with tumor
      supernatant to investigate the impact of GADD34 on cytokine secretion of MDSCs.
      RESULTS: We observed that reduction of GADD34 expression significantly suppressed
      tumor, and resulted in decreased accumulation of MDSCs and T-cells, and
      inhibition of GADD34 reduced secretion of vascular epithelial growth factor alpha
      and transforming growth factor beta by MDSCs. CONCLUSION: These findings provide
      a promising strategy for targeting GADD34 activity in order to inhibit tumor
      growth.

PMID- 27630305
TI  - Characterization of CD44+ALDH1+Ki-67- Cells in Non-malignant and Neoplastic
      Lesions of the Breast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer stem cells are tumor cells that present self-renewal, clonal
      tumor initiation capacity and clonal long-term repopulation potential. We have
      previously demonstrated that the co-expression of the breast cancer stem cell
      (BCSC) markers hyaluronan receptor (CD44) and aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) in
      ductal carcinomas in situ could be determinant for disease progression. Combining
      these established BCSC markers with Ki-67 to evaluate quiescence we sought to
      identify, evaluate the distribution and estimate the mean percentages of
      CD44(+)ALDH1(+)Ki-67(-) breast cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Triple
      immunohistochemistry for CD44, ALDH1 and Ki-67 was applied in a series of 16
      normal, 54 non-malignant and 155 malignant breast tissues. Clinical relevance was
      inferred by associations with markers of breast cancer behavior, progression and
      survival. RESULTS: The mean percentages of cells with this phenotype increased
      significantly from non-malignant lesions to high-grade ductal carcinomas in situ,
      decreasing in invasive ductal carcinomas, as also evidenced by an inverse
      correlation with histological grade and tumor size. The mean percentage of
      CD44(+)ALDH1(+)Ki-67(-) cells was also significantly higher in women who
      developed distant metastasis and died due to breast cancer, and a significant
      association with human epidermal growth factor type 2 (HER2) negativity was
      observed. CONCLUSION: Our novel findings indicate that CD44(+)ALDH1(+)Ki-67(-)
      tumor cells may favor distant metastasis and can predict overall survival in
      patients with ductal carcinomas of the breast. More importantly, quiescence may
      have a crucial role for tumor progression, treatment resistance and metastatic
      ability of BCSCs.

PMID- 27630306
TI  - Correlation Between Poor Prognosis and Lower TPPP Gene Expression in
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Post-resection recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tends
      to derive from multicentric origins, which indicates that the background liver
      microenvironment affects carcinogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained
      control liver samples [super normal (SN)] from 11 patients with secondary
      metastatic liver malignancies and used expression and methylation arrays to
      compare them with non-cancerous liver tissue from a patient with typical HCC with
      chronic hepatitis C (corresponding normal (CN)]. RESULTS: The expression array
      showed that gene expression of tubulin polymerization-promoting protein (TPPP)
      was lower in CN compared with SN. The methylation array showed a greater TPPP
      methylation index for CN than for SN. Transcripts of TPPP differed significantly
      among SN (n=11), CN (n=179), and tumor tissue of HCC (n=179) (median of 116,
      4.60, and 2.63, respectively, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed lower TPPP
      expression in tumor than in normal tissue (ratio <0.3, n=57) to independently
      predict poor overall survival (p=0.031). CONCLUSION: Significantly lower TPPP
      expression was found in HCC and CN tissue compared to SN and indicated poor
      prognosis.

PMID- 27630307
TI  - Pivotal Roles of Ginsenoside Rg3 in Tumor Apoptosis Through Regulation of
      Reactive Oxygen Species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Elevated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is observed in
      various cancer types and pathophysiological conditions. In cancer cells, ROS
      induce cell proliferation, genetic instability, and a malignant phenotype.
      Ginsenoside Rg3 is the main pharmacologically active component in ginseng and has
      been reported to have an antioxidant effect. To overcome lung cancer by
      regulating the ROS level, we investigated the antitumor effect and mechanism of
      Rg3 and its antioxidative property on Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Inhibition of ROS was suppressed in LLC cells by Rg3 treatment, and
      these cells were used to investigate the antioxidant, antiproliferative, and
      antitumor effects in LLC cells. RESULTS: ROS production was increased in cells
      grown in serum-containing media (conditioned media) compared to those grown in
      serum-free media. The high level of ROS induced LLC cell proliferation, but
      treatment with Rg3 (200 ng/ml) resulted in reduction of ROS, leading to
      inhibition of cell proliferation. Treatment with Rg3 significantly reduced cyclin
      and cyclin-dependent kinase expression in LLC cells. Additionally, Rg3 treatment
      significantly suppressed activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases and
      induced LLC cell apoptosis through activation of pro-apoptotic proteins and
      suppression of anti-apoptotic proteins. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these
      findings demonstrate the role of Rg3 in reduction of the intracellular ROS level,
      attenuation of proliferation via augmentation of cell cycle- and cell
      proliferation-associated proteins, and activation of apoptosis through regulation
      of apoptosis-associated proteins in LLC. These findings suggest that Rg3 could be
      used as a therapeutic agent in lung cancer.

PMID- 27630308
TI  - Inhibition of Fatty Acid Synthesis Induces Apoptosis of Human Pancreatic Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - Cancer cells tend to have a high requirement for lipids, including fatty acids,
      cholesterol and triglyceride, because of their rapid proliferative rate compared
      to normal cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of inhibition of
      lipid synthesis on the proliferation and viability of human pancreatic cancer
      cells. Of the inhibitors of lipid synthesis that were tested, 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2
      furoic acid (TOFA), which is an inhibitor of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and the
      fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibitors cerulenin and irgasan, significantly
      suppressed the proliferation of MiaPaCa-2 and AsPC-1 cells. Treatment of MiaPaCa
      2 cells with these inhibitors significantly increased the number of apoptotic
      cells. In addition, TOFA increased caspase-3 activity and induced cleavage of
      poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in MiaPaCa-2 cells. Moreover, addition of palmitate
      to MiaPaCa-2 cells treated with TOFA rescued cells from apoptotic cell death.
      These results suggest that TOFA induces apoptosis via depletion of fatty acids
      and that, among the various aspects of lipid metabolism, inhibition of fatty acid
      synthesis may be a notable target for the treatment of human pancreatic cancer
      cells.

PMID- 27630309
TI  - Tissue Microarray Is a Reliable Tool for the Evaluation of HER2 Amplification in
      Breast Cancer.
AB  - AIM: We examined an economical method for evaluating the amplification of the
      human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene in breast cancer specimens.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared HER2 amplification determined by fluorescence
      in situ hybridization (FISH) on whole-tissue (WT) blocks used for diagnostic and
      on tissue microarray (TMA) sections for a cohort of 521 consecutive patients with
      breast cancer. In a subset of 116 patients, we examined HER2 concordance from the
      WT section and a TMA section from a randomly chosen additional block (a proxy of
      the core biopsy). RESULTS: Overall concordance for HER2 amplification between WT
      and TMA sections was 98.2%, and between sections from WT and from the additional
      block was 99.0%. CONCLUSION: The high concordance rates support the use of TMA
      for the evaluation of HER2 amplification in breast cancer and suggest that FISH
      can be used to assess HER2 using core biopsies.

PMID- 27630311
TI  - Feasibility of Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy in Daily Practice for Patients with
      NSCLC Stage III.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), approximately
      25% have locally advanced disease. For patients with irresectable (N2-3 or T4) or
      inoperable disease, treatment consists of chemoradiotherapy. Concomitant
      chemoradiotherapy improves survival compared to sequential chemoradiotherapy in
      these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Treatment plans and completion of treatment
      was evaluated for all patients treated at the St. Antonius Hospital from 2008
      2011 for NSCLC stage IIIA/B not eligible for surgery. RESULTS: Between 2008 and
      2011, 180 patients with NSCLC stage III were treated at our hospital. A total of
      152 patients were not eligible for surgery; in 78 (51%) patients, primary
      treatment was chemoradiotherapy; 31 (20%) were planned for concomitant treatment.
      The most frequent reasons for refraining from concomitant chemoradiotherapy were
      limitations of radiotherapy constraints and condition of the patients (87%).
      CONCLUSION: Although concomitant chemoradiotherapy is the standard-of-care in
      patients with stage IIIA/B NSCLC ineligible for surgery, the majority (80%) of
      the patients were treated otherwise.

PMID- 27630310
TI  - Local Concentrations of CC-Chemokine-Ligand 18 Correlate with Tumor Size in Non
      small Cell Lung Cancer and Are Elevated in Lymph Node-positive Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in tumor growth and
      spreading. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) make up a large proportion of the
      tumor mass and are one of the main producers of CC-chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18),
      which is believed to carry out important functions in the immunological
      interactions that promote tumor progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Cytokines/chemokines were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from the tumor
      site and serum before and after resection in patients with proven non-small cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC). RESULTS: CCL18 concentrations in BAL positively correlated
      with the radiologically determined tumor volume (r=0.72, p=0.0003) in NSCLC. In
      addition, tumors with lymph-node metastasis exhibited significantly higher CCL18
      concentrations in BAL (p=0.049) than those without. Serum CCL18 concentrations
      did not differ significantly before and after tumor resection. CONCLUSION: The
      increased release of CCL18 with greater tumor size is most likely due to the
      accompanied growth of leukocyte infiltrate. With previous findings taken into
      account, this could be one factor contributing to tumor invasiveness and
      particularly lymphatic spread in patients with larger tumors.

PMID- 27630312
TI  - Strong KDM4B and KDM4D Expression Associates with Radioresistance and Aggressive
      Phenotype in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epigenetic regulators, including Jumonji domain 2 (JMJD2/KDM4)
      proteins are involved in post-translational modification of histone demethylation
      and have a major role in carcinogenesis of many solid tumors. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We assessed immunohistochemically the expression of lysine (K)-specific
      demethylase 4 (KDM4)A, KDM4B and KDM4D in tumors from 91 patients of adriamycin,
      bleomycin, vinblastine, darcabazine (ABVD)-treated classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
      RESULTS: Strong cytoplasmic KDM4B expression in the reactive cellular infiltrate
      and also in Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells predicted poor relapse-free survival (RFS)
      (p=0.020 and p=0.022, respectively) in patients with limited-stage disease.
      Strong KDM4B expression in RS cells was also related to B-symptoms (p=0.007) and
      advanced stage (p=0.024). Strong KDM4D expression in the cytoplasm of RS cells
      was also associated with poor RFS in limited-stage patients RFS (p=0.043) and,
      most significantly, in patients receiving involved-field radiotherapy (p=0.007).
      CONCLUSION: KDM4B and KDM4D expression may associate with an aggressive subtype
      of classical Hodgkin lymphoma and be linked with radioresistance.

PMID- 27630313
TI  - Comparison Between a Combined Transrectal and Transperineal Approach and a
      Transrectal Approach for Prostate Rebiopsy.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate whether a combination method involving the transrectal (TR) and
      transperineal (TP) approach can increase the cancer detection rate relative to
      the TR approach regarding repeat prostate biopsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One
      thousand and nineteen patients underwent initial prostate biopsies and 298 repeat
      prostate biopsies. All initial biopsies were conducted transrectally. Of the
      repeat biopsies, 179 (60.1%) were performed using the combined transrectal and
      transperineal (TR+TP) approach; 113 (37.9%) were carried out transrectally. All
      biopsies were performed under ultrasound guidance using a 16-gauge core biopsy
      needle; 651 were diagnosed as prostate cancer; 224 patients underwent radical
      prostatectomies (RPs). We evaluated the cancer detection rates between the biopsy
      methods in the repeat biopsy cohort and compared the clinical and pathological
      features of the RP specimens between the initial and repeat biopsy groups.
      RESULTS: A median of 12 and 20 cores were obtained in the initial and repeat
      biopsy patients, respectively. Cancer detection rates regarding biopsies 1, 2, 3,
      4 and 5 were 49.2% (551/1,119), 34.7% (75/216), 33.3% (20/60), 26.7% (4/15) and
      14.3% (1/7), respectively. There were no significant differences between the TR
      and the TR+TP approach (32.7% vs. 33.5%). RP specimens diagnosed using repeat
      biopsies showed more anterior dominant tumors relative to those diagnosed using
      the initial biopsies (59.5% vs. 35.9%; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The TR+TP
      combination approach could not increase cancer detection rates relative to the TR
      approach in the repeat biopsy cohort. However, 16-gauge needle biopsy
      demonstrated acceptable cancer detection rates in the comparatively small number
      of biopsy cores.

PMID- 27630314
TI  - Prognostic Significance of Pre-treatment Serum C-Reactive Protein Level in
      Patients with Adenocarcinoma of the Uterine Cervix.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate pre-treatment serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level as a
      prognostic parameter in patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pre-treatment CRP levels were analyzed to determine
      potential associations with clinicopathological parameters and to assess
      prognostic value in 46 patients with sole adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.
      RESULTS: The mean (+/-SD) pre-treatment serum CRP level was 5.82 (7.21) mg/l.
      Serum CRP concentration significantly correlated positively with age at diagnosis
      (p=0.001), lymphovascular space invasion (p=0.0026), recurrent disease (p=0.0001)
      and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage
      (p=0.0002). In multivariate Cox regression models with age, FIGO stage,
      histological grade and lymph node status, elevated CRP and cancer antigen 125
      levels were associated with shortened survival (p<0.05). Overall 5-year survival
      rate of patients with pre-treatment serum CRP level <5.0 mg/l was 100% compared
      to 46.9% for patients with pre-treatment CRP level >=5.0 mg/l. CONCLUSION: Serum
      CRP level can be seen as an additional independent prognostic parameter in
      patients with the rare histological subtype adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.

PMID- 27630315
TI  - Prognostic Factors for Survival in Patients Treated with Multimodal Therapy for
      Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: To identify predictors of survival after multimodal treatment
      including surgery plus postoperative radio(chemo)therapy) for anaplastic thyroid
      cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine potential factors were evaluated in nine
      patients regarding survival after 6, 12 and 24 months. These factors were age,
      gender, Karnofsky performance score, tumour stage, nodal stage, resection margin
      status, radiation dose, concurrent chemotherapy administered with irradiation and
      symptom control at the end of radiotherapy. RESULTS: Survival rates were 67% at 6
      months, 56% at 12 months and 22% at 24 months. On univariate survival analysis,
      concurrent radiochemotherapy (p=0.018) and controlled symptoms at the end of
      radiotherapy (p=0.03) were associated with improved survival. A trend for better
      survival was seen in patients with microscopically (R1) versus macroscopically
      (R2) residual disease (p=0.058). CONCLUSION: Prognostic factors for survival
      after multimodal treatment for anaplastic thyroid cancer were identified.
      Concurrent radio-chemotherapy resulted in significantly better survival and
      should be recommended.

PMID- 27630316
TI  - Palliation of Ulcerative Breast Lesions with Radiation.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Patients with advanced breast cancer may experience ulcerative
      breast lesions. Breast cancer with ulcerative lesions has been shown to severely
      affect a patient's quality of life (QoL). The role of palliative radiation
      therapy (RT) in the management of ulcerative breast lesions needs to be further
      explored. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the RT records for
      all patients who underwent palliative RT for breast cancer at our urban academic
      medical center. A total of 13 patients were identified, and we herein report
      their demographics, treatment characteristics, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS:
      The mean age of the patients receiving palliative RT for ulcerative breast cancer
      was 64 years. All patients had stage IV disease when they were evaluated for RT.
      The mean radiation dose received for palliative RT was 27.54 Gy in 11 fractions,
      with a median dose of 30 Gy in 15 fractions. Six (46%) patients had received
      prior RT to the same breast, with a median dose of 59.5 Gy in 31 fractions. Among
      these six patients, the average interval between initial RT and ulceration was
      69.5 months. The median overall survival for the whole patient cohort since
      ulceration was 5 months and the mean survival did not differ between patients
      with previous history of RT and RT-naive patients (4.50 vs. 4.57; p=0.95). Six
      out of the nine (69%) patients who received 30 Gy or more reported clinical
      improvement, whereas none of the four patients who received less than 30 Gy
      reported any benefit. There were no radiation-associated toxicities reported by
      patients. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that palliative RT (>=30 Gy) is an
      efficacious treatment for ulcerative breast cancer with minimal toxicity. Prior
      RT should not be a contraindication, as patients with previous history of RT have
      similar low toxicity rates compared to RT-naive patients.

PMID- 27630317
TI  - Diaphragmatic Surgery in Advanced Ovarian, Tubal and Peritoneal Cancer. A 7-Year
      Retrospective Analysis of the Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer Network.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to analyze diaphragmatic interventions and their
      complications in primary cytoreductive surgery (PCS) and to study their impact on
      attaining complete tumor resection (CTR) in advanced ovarian cancer (AOC), which
      is purportedly reflected in better disease-free and overall survival. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: The study's collective consisted of 536 consecutive patients
      presenting a first diagnosis of AOC who underwent PCS between 2007 and 2013 at
      the Charite Medical University, Berlin. A total of 268 patients underwent
      diaphragmatic interventions, while 268 did not undergo any kind of diaphragmatic
      surgery. RESULTS: Diaphragmatic interventions were indicated in 50% of cases with
      AOC. The surgical interventions varied between diaphragmatic partial resection
      (44.8%), stripping (53%) and only infrared coagulation (2.2%). The postoperative
      complication rate was higher in the diaphragm-intervention group in comparison to
      the group without any diaphragmatic intervention (49.6% vs. 38.8%), but most
      postoperative complications were not directly related to the diaphragmatic
      intervention itself but to the statically significant increase of other radical
      surgical procedures in this group. Pleura effusion was the only increased
      complication with a direct correlation with diaphragmatic surgery (25.4% vs.
      14.2%). Preoperatively apparent stage IV (pleura effusion) disease, very high
      cancer antigen-125 value, serous papillary tumors and the presence of massive
      ascites (>500 ml) were statistically significant predictors of the need for
      diaphragmatic surgery in order to achieve CTR. CONCLUSION: Our current findings
      consider diaphragmatic surgery as being acceptable, feasible and in many cases as
      an essential intervention to achieve CTR or suboptimal debulking with an
      acceptable complication rate.

PMID- 27630318
TI  - Assessment of Pharmacokinetic Interaction Between Capecitabine and Cetuximab in
      Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients.
AB  - AIM: This study focuses on the plasma disposition and metabolic activation of
      capecitabine (CCB) when administered alone or when combined with cetuximab (CTX).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-four chemo-naive patients with KRAS wild-type
      colorectal cancer were randomized into two arms and received either CCB alone
      (1,000 mg/m(2) bid p.o.), followed by CCB plus CTX (loading dose (LD)=400 mg/m(2)
      followed by 250 mg/m(2) weekly i.v. maintenance dose) (Arm A; n=12 patients
      (patients)) or CCB plus CTX followed by CCB alone (Arm B; n=12 patients). Plasma
      samples were collected from the cubital vein and CCB, 5'-desoxy-5-fluorocytidine
      (5'-DFCR) and 5'-desoxy-5 fluorouridine (5'-DFUR) were quantified by a sensitive,
      selective reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. Non
      compartment pharmacokinetic parameters have been calculated by Phoenix WinNonlin.
      RESULTS: No clinically relevant impact of CTX on CCB pharmacokinetic parameters
      and metabolic conversion could be detected in both arms after statistical
      evaluation (ANOVA). CONCLUSION: From the pharmacokinetic point of view, co
      administration of CTX to CCB seems to be safe.

PMID- 27630319
TI  - Hepatic Resection After Prehepatectomy Chemotherapy for Metastatic Colorectal
      Cancer: A Propensity-Matched Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver metastases from colorectal cancer (CRC) are best managed using
      multiple modalities, but the role of chemotherapy prior to resection of
      marginally resectable liver metastases remains unsettled. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Consecutive patients treated for marginally resectable CRC liver metastases were
      matched using a propensity-score analysis based on the probability of a patient
      having up-front surgery or prehepatectomy chemotherapy followed by surgery.
      RESULTS: The study group consisted of 70 propensity-matched patients undergoing
      up-front surgery or prehepatectomy chemotherapy followed by surgery. Groups were
      similar in terms of baseline characteristics. Median estimated blood loss (605 ml
      vs. 957 ml, p=0.006), number of patients requiring transfusion (5 vs. 14,
      p=0.016) and median postoperative hospital stay (13 vs. 17 days, p=0.005) were
      significantly less in the prehepatectomy chemotherapy group. CONCLUSION: Hepatic
      resection after prehepatectomy chemotherapy for patients with marginally
      resectable CRC liver metastases can lead to favorable short-term outcomes.

PMID- 27630320
TI  - Parenchymal Congestion Is Important for Rapid Regeneration of the Future Liver
      Remnant Following the ALPPS Procedure.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate whether the congested area that develops in associating liver
      partition with portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) contributes to
      rapid future liver remnant (FLR) hypertrophy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eight
      patients undergoing liver partition and right portal vein (RPV) ligation within
      the FLR in the first operation of ALPPS were compared with eight patients
      undergoing RPV embolization in the FLR as the first operation of classical two
      stage (CTS) hepatectomy. RESULTS: Extrapolated kinetic growth of the FLR in ALPPS
      was 32.7+/-18.7 ml/day, 7.8-times that in CTS (4.2+/-2.0 ml/day, p=0.001).
      Extrapolated kinetic reduction in volume of the ventral aspect of the right
      paramedian sector, which became congested after the first procedure in ALPPS, was
      19.8+/-11.6 ml/day, 11-times that in CTS (1.8+/-1.3 ml/day, p=0.001). CONCLUSION:
      Production of a congested area within the deportalized liver may contribute
      importantly to rapid FLR hypertrophy during ALPPS.

PMID- 27630321
TI  - BILLCD8 - A Multivariable Survival Model as a Simple and Clinically Useful
      Prognostic Tool to Identify High-risk Cutaneous Melanoma Patients.
AB  - AIM: To develop a multivariable survival model based on histopathological
      parameters that would provide the best possible estimate of the risk of death in
      cutaneous melanoma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Breslow thickness and
      Infiltrating Lymphocytes (BILL(CD8)) is based on two key parameters, namely
      Breslow thickness and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) shown to be the most
      important prognostic factors using logistic regression model. The next step was
      to apply a decision tree method to analyze the impact of the percentage of CD8+
      lymphocytes on the risk of cancer death. RESULTS: A patient is given two points
      if Breslow thickness is >2 mm and one point if TILs are not found in the tumor.
      The probability of death over a 4-year follow-up is 75% if the patient's score is
      3 points; in patients with 0 point score the risk of death is 0%. A significant
      positive impact of high percentage of CD8+ lymphocytes on the risk of death was
      shown in the subgroup of melanoma patients with Breslow thickness >2 mm where the
      risk of death is only 28%. In the case of low percentage of CD8+ lymphocytes in
      melanomas with Breslow thickness over 2 mm, the risk is as high as 67%.
      CONCLUSION: Breslow thickness and TILs, with the evaluation of the CD8+
      lymphocytes, may be used for precise prognostic stratification of patients and
      may help intensify the follow-up, diagnose a relapse sooner and apply proper
      treatment.

PMID- 27630322
TI  - Usefulness of Reduced Port Surgery for Left Colon Cancer.
AB  - AIM: Although laparoscopic surgery has made minimally invasive treatment
      available for colon cancer, various innovations aimed at developing even more
      minimally invasive treatment modalities have been reported in recent years.
      Needlescopic surgery, in which forceps with a small-diameter shaft are used to
      safely reduce invasiveness without increasing surgeons' stress, has been
      reported. We introduced the reduced-port surgery (RPS) technique by using needle
      forceps for the treatment of sigmoidal colon cancer and cancer of the
      rectosigmoidal region, with the aim of safely reducing invasiveness while
      maintaining curability. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The subjects of this study were
      patients with sigmoidal colon and rectosigmoidal cancer who underwent
      laparoscopic resection between January 2012 and December 2014. The patients were
      divided into a conventional multiport surgery (MPS) group and an RPS group for
      comparison and analysis. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the
      operative time, volume of blood loss, incidence of postoperative complications,
      especially anastomotic leak, intestinal obstruction, and surgical site infection.
      The length of postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the RPS
      group. CONCLUSION: Without compromising safety and curability, RPS can reduce not
      only the number, but also the size of incisions, and make even more minimally
      invasive surgery feasible. Because this procedure is relatively easy to introduce
      to young surgeons, we consider it to be useful.

PMID- 27630323
TI  - Laparoscopy-assisted Proximal Gastrectomy with Double Tract Anastomosis Is
      Beneficial for Vitamin B12 and Iron Absorption.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Double tract anastomosis (DTA) is a recently revisited reconstruction
      method for preventing reflux esophagitis in laparoscopy-assisted proximal
      gastrectomy (LAPG). However, only few studies have shown the advantages of LAPG
      DTA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients underwent LAPG-DTA compared to 17
      patients undergoing laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) matched with
      preoperative stage. Laboratory results, including hemoglobin, serum ferritin,
      serum iron and vitamin B12, were compared. RESULTS: Reflux esophagitis developed
      in two and one patient in the LAPG-DTA and LATG groups, respectively. In the
      laboratory analysis, fewer patients experienced decrease of serum ferritin below
      the low normal limit in the LAPG-DTA group. There was a significantly lower
      proportion of patients in the LAPG-DTA group whose vitamin B12 level decreased
      below the low normal limit. CONCLUSION: LAPG-DTA has the advantages of allowing
      absorption of iron and vitamin B12 without reflux esophagitis in proximal early
      gastric cancer compared to LATG.

PMID- 27630324
TI  - Malakoplakia of the Urinary Bladder in a Patient with Chronic Lymphocytic
      Leukemia Under Ibrutinib Therapy: A Case Report.
AB  - Malakoplakia, a rare granulomatous disease of infectious etiology, is commonly
      observed in immunocompromised patients. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is
      characterized by profound immune dysregulation resulting in significant infection
      related morbidity and mortality, and several drugs used in CLL treatment have a
      severe immunosuppressive effect. Ibrutinib, has become a new standard-of-care in
      patients with CLL, especially for those harboring unfavorable genetic
      characteristics such as 17 p deletion, with however, unknown long-term
      immunological consequences. Here we report a case of a patient with CLL with 17 p
      deletion diagnosed with malakoplakia of the urinary bladder under ibrutinib
      therapy who developed severe hypogammaglobulinemia during treatment
      administration. Presumably, ibrutinib might contribute to the development of
      malakoplakia on the grounds of induced immunosuppression. This case report
      highlights the need for regular assessment of immunogammaglobulin adequacy during
      treatment with ibrutinib, considering that it should be given on a permanent
      basis.

PMID- 27630325
TI  - Radiotherapy for Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer in Very Elderly Patients.
AB  - AIM: The standard therapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is radical
      total cystectomy; however, radiotherapy (RT) is performed in patients who cannot
      tolerate surgery due to advanced age. This study aimed to retrospectively examine
      whether the feasibility of concurrent use of intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC)
      can be assessed using both treatment results of RT for MIBC in elderly patients
      and the G8 Screening Tool. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied 16 patients who had
      received intra-arterial chemoradiotherapy (IACRT) or RT alone between February
      2004 and December 2012. The median age was 83 (range=75-91) years. Twelve
      patients had stage II and 4 had stage III disease. Ten patients received IACRT
      and six received RT alone. In order to determine whether the G8 score
      distinguishes patients for treatment with IACRT or RT alone, we calculated the
      cut-off of the G8 score for addition of IAC. RESULTS: The overall median G8 score
      was 12 (range=9-15), with scores of 13 (range=12-15) in the IACRT group and 10
      (range=9-11) in the RT-alone group. The G8 score was 12 or more in all patients
      in the IACRT group. The median follow-up period was 35 (range=6-64) months. The 2
      and 5-year overall survival rates were 80% and 66.7% in the IACRT group. The 1-
      and 2-year survival rates in the RT-alone group were 50% and 25%, respectively.
      Regarding late adverse events, only one patient experienced grade 2 genitourinary
      toxicity. CONCLUSION: IACRT was considered to be useful for the treatment of MIBC
      in elderly patients, with tolerable adverse events. Moreover, used in conjunction
      with age and performance status, the G8 Screening Tool is potentially applicable
      for determining the feasibility of performing IAC. To our knowledge, this is the
      first report about the correlation between G8 score and feasibility of IAC.

PMID- 27630326
TI  - Association of CA27.29 and Circulating Tumor Cells Before and at Different Times
      After Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Early-stage Breast Cancer - The
      SUCCESS Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence for the prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs)
      in early-stage breast cancer is swiftly increasing. An alternative approach for
      identifying patients at risk for recurrence is based on the detection of the
      mucin-1 (MUC1)-based tumor marker CA27.29. Here we report the association of
      these two prognostic markers before and immediately after chemotherapy (CHT), as
      well as after 2 and 5 years of follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The SUCCESS trial
      compared fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel vs.
      FEC followed by docetaxel plus gemcitabine, and 2 vs. 5 years of treatment with
      zoledronic acid in 3,754 patients with node-positive or high-risk node-negative
      early-stage breast cancer. CA27.29 was measured with the ST AIA-PACK CA27.29
      reagent (Tosoh Bioscience, Belgium). The cutoff for CA27.29 positivity was >31
      U/ml. CTCs were assessed with the CellSearch System (Veridex, USA). The cutoff
      for CTC positivity was >=1 CTC/15 ml whole blood. The relationship between CTC
      positivity and CA27.29 positivity was assessed based on Chi-square statistics and
      Cramer's V, which varies from 0 (no association between the variables) to 1
      (complete association). Samples for CA27.29 and CTC determinations during follow
      up were only drawn from patients that had no relapse. RESULTS: Both CA27.29 and
      CTC data were available for 1,981, 1,602, 1,159 and 707 patients before,
      immediately after and at 2 and 5 years after CHT, respectively. Positivity rates
      for CTC were 21.3%, 22.8%, 18.6% and 8.5%, respectively. CA27.29 was positive in
      7.9%, 21.0%, 2.8%and 7.5%, respectively. Positivity for both CA27.29 and CTC was
      found in 2.4%, 4.2%, 0.7% and 1.8% of patients, respectively. The association
      between CA27.29 and CTC was significant but weak before CHT (p=0.0015; Cramer's
      V=0.063) and 5 years after CHT (p<0.001; Cramer's V=0.164), and not significant
      immediately after CHT (p=0.162; Cramer's V=0.035) and 2 years after (p=0.349;
      Cramer's V=0.028). CONCLUSION: We showed that CTC and CA27.29 positivity were
      significantly, but only weakly associated before CHT and 5 years after CHT, while
      no significant association was found immediately or 2 years after CHT during the
      course of early-stage breast cancer. It, therefore, seems reasonable to further
      evaluate the prognostic value of CTCs and CA27.29 as a combined prognostic test
      of two potentially independent markers that might provide complementary
      prognostic information.

PMID- 27630327
TI  - Local Therapies Can Improve Intracerebral Control in Patients with Cerebral
      Metastasis from Gynecological Cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Patients with gynecological malignancies account for 2% of
      patients with cerebral metastases. Many patients receive whole-brain irradiation
      (WBI) alone. Local therapies (resection, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)) are
      becoming more popular. This study compared intracerebral control after local
      therapy to WBI alone in patients with gynecological malignancies. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Of 56 patients, 45 received WBI alone, 6 SRS alone and 5 resection plus
      WBI. Treatment type, age, performance score, cancer site, number of cerebral
      lesions, metastases outside the brain, recursive partitioning analysis (RPA)
      class and period from gynecological cancer diagnosis to brain metastasis
      treatment were evaluated. RESULTS: On univariate analyses, local therapy
      (p=0.003), single cerebral lesion (p<0.001) and RPA class 1/2 (p=0.027) were
      positively related to intracerebral control. On Cox regression analysis, local
      therapy (p=0.013) and RPA class 1/2 (p=0.014) were significant. CONCLUSION: Local
      therapies led to better intracerebral control than WBI alone and should be
      considered for brain metastasis from gynecological malignancies whenever
      reasonable.

PMID- 27630328
TI  - Tumour Budding Correlates with Aggressiveness of Cutaneous Squamous-cell
      Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Tumour budding (TB) is a specific pathological feature that has
      been found to be associated with an aggressive outcome in several cancer types;
      however, to our knowledge, TB has not yet been assessed in squamous-cell
      carcinomas of the skin (SCC). The aim of the study was to study whether TB
      correlates with aggressiveness in cutaneous SCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      examined 31 aggressive SCC (that later developed local recurrences or metastases)
      in comparison with 21 non-aggressive SCC (not complicated by recurrence or
      metastasis). TB was expressed as the mean number of tumour buds in five adjacent
      high-power fields of each SCC. RESULTS: Aggressive SCC had a much higher TB score
      compared to control SCC (1.63+/-1.35 vs. 0.49+/-0.9, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: As
      with other cancer types, TB seems to be a pathological marker of aggressiveness
      of cutaneous SCC, along with other features known to be associated with an
      aggressive outcome (tumour thickness, level of invasion and lymphovascular or
      perineural invasion). Further studies including a larger number of tumours will
      hopefully validate TB as a new pathological predictor of aggressiveness in
      cutaneous SCC and will allow its correlation with other pathological features of
      SCC aggressiveness to be defined.

PMID- 27630329
TI  - Prognostic Significance of TMPRSS2-ERG Fusion Gene in Prostate Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Current research of prostate cancer (PCa) offers a promising way
      of identifying patients with adverse prognosis who do benefit from radical
      treatment that can affect quality of life as resections are associated with
      numerous side-effects. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship of
      TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene status, tumor tissue prostate-specific antigen (PSA),
      prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3), miR-23b, miR-26a and miR-221 expression levels
      in combination with preoperative serum PSA level to the risk of PCa recurrence
      after radical prostatectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of
      108 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. PSA was measured in peripheral
      blood collected preoperativelly. The expression of TMPRSS2-ERG transcript and the
      expression of miR-23b, miR-26a and miR-221 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded
      (FFPE) tumor tissues was analyzed by reverse transcription (RT) real-time
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Significantly shorter time to
      recurrence was observed in patients with high expression of TMPRSS2-ERG
      (p=0.0020). High levels of preoperative PSA (>10.0 ng/ml) proved to be marker of
      shorter time to recurrence (p=0.0153). The most promising marker of the risk of
      recurrence after radical prostatectomy was a combination of high level of
      preoperative serum PSA and high expression of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion transcript in
      tumor tissue (p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: A combination of high preoperative serum PSA
      and high expression of TMPRSS2-ERG could be promising in distinguishing those
      tumors that are aggressive and life-threatening.

PMID- 27630330
TI  - A Case of Vanishing Brain Metastasis in a Melanoma Patient on Nivolumab.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Melanoma is among the top three cancers to present with brain
      metastasis. The risk of brain metastases in advanced melanoma increases with
      disease duration. Cytotoxic chemotherapy does not have a significant role in the
      management of melanoma patients with brain metastases, neither alone nor in
      conjunction with radiation therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We herein discuss a
      case of a 66-year-old male diagnosed initially with stage III-B melanoma and
      underwent a wide local excision with a split thickness graft and sentinel lymph
      node biopsy, followed by adjuvant treatment with high-dose interferon. RESULTS:
      On subsequent follow up he was found to have a brain lesion, which later on
      resolved after starting ipilumumab. Five to twenty percent of patients with
      melanoma of any stage develop cerebral metastases. CONCLUSION: Immunotherapy
      modalities, ipilimumab has been shown to have activity against brain metastases.

PMID- 27630331
TI  - Prediction of KRAS Mutation in Rectal Cancer Using MRI.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of the study was to investigate imaging predictors of Kirsten
      ras (KRAS) mutations using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with
      rectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 275 patients with rectal cancer
      were enrolled. They underwent pretreatment rectal MRI, and then KRAS mutation
      evaluation following surgery. Two reviewers assessed diverse MRI findings
      associated with rectal cancer. RESULTS: KRAS mutations were detected in 107
      (38.9%). KRAS mutations were associated with N stage, gross tumor pattern, axial
      length of the tumor, and the ratio of the axial to the longitudinal dimensions of
      the tumor (p=0.0064, p<0.0001, p=0.0003 and p=0.0090). The frequency of KRAS
      mutations was higher in N2 stage (53.70%), and polypoid tumors (59.09%). Tumors
      with KRAS mutations exhibited a longer axial length, as well as a larger ratio of
      the axial to the longitudinal dimensions. CONCLUSION: KRAS mutations were
      associated with N stage, a polypoid pattern, axial tumor length, and the ratio of
      the axial to the longitudinal dimensions of the tumor.

PMID- 27630332
TI  - Prognostic Role of BRAF Mutations in Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The impact of tumor biology on prognosis in patients with
      colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) has been the topic of intense research.
      Specifically, the presence of BRAF mutations has been recently associated with
      adverse long-term outcomes. We examined the existing literature on the prognostic
      implications of BRAF mutations in patients with CRLM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      structured review of the literature was performed between 5/1/2016 and 6/1/2016
      using the PubMed database. Original research articles published between 1/1/2010
      and 4/01/2016 were considered eligible. The primary end-points were overall
      survival (OS)/disease-specific survival (DSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS)
      among patients with BRAF mutated CRLM who underwent resection. RESULTS: Eight
      studies were included. All studies reported on OS/DSS, while 6 reported on RFS.
      BRAF mutant status was a strong independent predictor of both worse OS/DSS and
      RFS in 7 and 4 studies, respectively. CONCLUSION: BRAF-mutant lesions are
      consistently associated with poor prognosis. Consequently, the indications of
      CRLM resection in this patient group should be reconsidered.

PMID- 27630333
TI  - Laparoscopic Gastrectomy Followed by Chemotherapy for Advanced Gastric Cancer
      Diagnosed During Pregnancy: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer in pregnant women is rare. When physicians encounter a
      patient with pregnancy-associated gastric cancer, it is important to take a
      multidisciplinary approach and respect the will of the patient. We herein
      describe a case of gastric cancer during pregnancy. CASE REPORT: A 36-year-old
      woman at 18 weeks of gestation was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer. She
      underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy at 23 weeks of gestation and
      four cycles of FOLFOX6 without any severe toxicity. At 36 weeks of gestation, a
      healthy baby was born. After delivery, the patient was treated with additional
      chemotherapy. She has finished chemotherapy and has been followed-up without
      recurrence for 1 year after operation. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic gastrectomy
      followed by chemotherapy for gastric cancer during pregnancy might be a safe
      option.

PMID- 27630334
TI  - Overall Survival After Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy for Intracerebral Metastases
      from Testicular Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: To identify predictors and develop a score for overall survival
      of patients with intracerebral metastasis from testicular cancer. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Whole-brain radiation therapy program, age, Karnofsky performance score
      (KPS), number of intracerebral metastases, number of other metastatic sites and
      time between testicular cancer diagnosis and radiation therapy were analyzed for
      their association with overall survival in eight patients. RESULTS: KPS of 80-90%
      was significantly associated with better overall survival (p=0.006), one or no
      other metastatic sites showed a trend for a better outcome (p=0.10). The
      following scores were assigned: KPS 60-70%=0 points, KPS 80-90%=1 point, >=2
      other metastatic sites=0 points, 0-1 other metastatic sites=1 point. Two groups,
      with 0 and with 1-2 points, were formed. Overall survival rates were 33% vs. 100%
      at 6 months and 0% vs. 100% at 12 months (p=0.006), respectively. CONCLUSION: A
      simple instrument enabling physicians to judge the overall survival of patients
      with intracerebral metastasis from testicular cancer is provided.

PMID- 27630335
TI  - Synchronous Type 1 Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma in a Patient with Rectal
      Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Synchronous colorectal cancer (CRC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is relatively
      rare, particularly when the synchronous RCC is of papillary subtype, which is
      exceedingly rare. We report a case of a 63-year-old Caucasian man with
      synchronous CRC and type 1 papillary RCC. After the patient presented with three
      episodes of melena, colonoscopy followed by biopsy confirmed rectal
      adenocarcinoma. The computed tomographic imaging also showed an incidental mass
      of the upper pole of the left kidney suspicious for RCC. Once chemoradiation
      therapy was successfully completed, an ultra low anterior resection and partial
      nephrectomy were performed concurrently. Histological examination showed
      colorectal adenocarcinoma (ypT1 N0 Mx) and papillary RCC type I (pT1a Nx Mx).
      Although the exact pathogenesis of synchronous CRC and RCC is unknown, it has
      been suggested that almost all patients with this entity do not have Lynch
      syndrome. The majority of these patients usually present with CRC-related
      symptoms and then, during workup, are subsequently found to have an incidental
      renal mass that is most often diagnosed as clear cell subtype of RCC. To the best
      of our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of synchronous CRC and
      type 1 papillary RCC.

PMID- 27630336
TI  - Postoperative Radiotherapy After Limb-sparing Surgery for Soft-tissue Sarcomas of
      the Distal Extremities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) of the distal extremities are a rare
      disease entity, hence proper treatment strategy is not well established. We
      evaluated the local control, survival and complications of treating sarcomas in
      the wrist, hand, ankle and foot with limb-sparing surgery (LSS) and postoperative
      radiotherapy (PORT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with STS in wrist,
      hand, ankle and foot who received PORT after LSS from August 2008 to November
      2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Primary outcome was 5-year local recurrence
      free survival (LRFS). Secondary outcomes were 5-year distant metastasis-free
      survival (DMFS) and toxicities. RESULTS: The median age was 32 (range=12-78)
      years. The most frequent STS location was the foot in 11 patients (64%) followed
      by two patients each in the wrist, hand and ankle, respectively. Fourteen
      patients (82%) underwent wide resection with flap grafts and the same number of
      patients achieved clear resection margins. The median postoperative radiation
      dose was 54 (range=46-60) Gy. Five patients also received chemotherapy. At a
      median follow-up of 39 (range=6-87) months, 5-year LRFS and DMFS were both 100%.
      Only one patient experienced grade 3 radiation dermatitis and there was no major
      wound complication. Radiation-induced bone fracture occurred in two patients.
      CONCLUSION: PORT after LSS showed excellent local control for STS in the wrist,
      hand, ankle and foot. Considering the good local control and saving of limb
      function without any significant toxicity, the combination of LSS followed by
      PORT could be an appropriate and safe modality for STS of the distal extremities.

PMID- 27630337
TI  - Multiparametric-Magnetic Resonance/Ultrasound Fusion Targeted Prostate Biopsy
      Improves Agreement Between Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy Gleason Score.
AB  - AIM: To investigate if targeted prostate biopsy (TBx) has superior performance to
      standard untargeted biopsy (SBx) in determining the optimal agreement between
      biopsy and surgical Gleason Score (GS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: An analysis of our
      institutional longitudinal database identified 683 consecutive patients who
      underwent either SBx (18-20 standardized transrectal ultrasound
      peripheral/transitional zone cores) or TBx alone (4-6 cores for each
      multiparametric magnetic resonance suspicious lesion, Prostate Imaging Reporting
      and Data System [(PI-RADS)>=3] after a previous negative first SBx. A total of
      246 consecutive patients with diagnosis of prostate cancer (117 SBx and 129 TBx
      diagnoses) who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy between January
      2014 and December 2015, were enrolled. The concordance of biopsy GS to
      pathological GS, as well as the association between categorical variables [age,
      digital rectal exam (DRE), TNM, PI-RADS], were analyzed by Fisher's exact test.
      RESULTS: Prostate cancer was diagnosed in 32.0% of the SBx group and in 49.3% of
      TBx. The rate of correctly classified, up-graded and down-graded GS was 53.8% vs.
      91.5%, 39.3% vs. 7.8% and 6.8% vs. 0.8% for SBx and TBx, respectively (p<0.001).
      The GS concordance rates for SBx and TBx cohorts were: 14.3% vs. 41.7% for GS 6,
      61.0% vs. 83.8% for GS 3+4, 56.3% vs. 75.0% for GS 4+3, 27.3% vs. 100% for GS 8
      and 80% vs. 100% for GS 9, respectively. CONCLUSION: TBx ensured a higher of
      accuracy of prostate cancer detection and a better performance in discriminating
      significant from insignificant prostate cancer, when compared to SBx. TBx
      significantly reduced the risk of GS up-/down-grading at radical prostatectomy
      for all histopathological categories. This is a notable advance in the selection
      of candidates for active surveillance.

PMID- 27630338
TI  - The Prognostic Impact of Jumonji Domain-containing 2B in Patients with Resected
      Lung Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Jumonji domain-containing 2B, JMJD2B, has been shown to play an
      important role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer cells. However, the
      significance of JMJD2B in patients with lung cancer remains to be elucidated.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight patients with resected adenocarcinoma, whose
      data regarding oncogenic drivers in lung cancer were available, were included in
      the study. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed with a specific antibody
      for JMJD2B to investigate JMJD2B expression and the significance of JMJD2B
      expression in survival after surgery was evaluated. RESULTS: Among the 78
      patients, 50 (64%) exhibited JMJD2B immunopositivity. The overall survival (OS)
      of the 50 JMJD2B-positive patients after surgery was significantly inferior to
      that of the JMJD2B-negative patients (five-year survival=56.7% vs. 92.6%; log
      rank: p=0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that JMJD2B positivity was an
      independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSION: JMJD2B may be a novel prognostic
      factor for resected lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27630339
TI  - Two-year Follow-up of Volumetric-modulated Arc Therapy for Treating Internal
      Mammary Nodes in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: We evaluated dosimetric and clinical results of volumetric
      modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treating internal mammary nodes (IMNs) in patients
      with locally advanced breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between July 2012 and
      December 2013, treatment outcomes of 31 patients with stage III breast cancer
      treated with postoperative radiotherapy including the IMN field using VMAT were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 25.2 months. VMAT showed good
      homogeneity and improved conformity. The incidence of lung toxicity of grade 2 or
      more was 3.2%, and cardiac toxicity was not observed. No patient developed local
      recurrence. CONCLUSION: VMAT appears safe for the treatment of locally advanced
      breast cancer including the IMN field.

PMID- 27630340
TI  - Sentinel Lymph Node Detection by Blue Dye Versus Indocyanine Green Fluorescence
      Imaging in Colon Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Nodal staging is used in colorectal cancer (CRC) to determine
      which patients should receive adjuvant chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the role of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging (ICG-FI) in sentinel
      lymph node (SLN) detection compared to the standard technique. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Twenty patients with CRC admitted for elective colectomy were included
      (NCT01995591). Ex vivo SLN detection was performed using patent blue (PB) and
      free ICG injected around the tumor. RESULTS: Identification rates were 95%
      (19/20) for both techniques. Sensitivity was 43% for PB and 57% for ICG.
      Correlation between the techniques was 83%. FI was more sensitive in patients
      with body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m(2) Serial section analysis did not allow for
      up-staging of patients. CONCLUSION: The use of ICG-FI is superior to the blue dye
      technique in patients with a BMI >25 kg/m(2) However, the sensitivity of ICG-FI
      in SLN detection remains low, with a high rate of false-negative results.

PMID- 27630341
TI  - Treatment Complications and Long-term Outcomes of Total Body Irradiation in
      Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Single Institute Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment-related toxicity and
      clinical outcomes of total body irradiation (TBI) in patients with acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      review of all patients with ALL who underwent TBI-based conditioning regimen at
      our Institution between 2000 and 2012. RESULTS: A total of 211 patients were
      included. The median follow-up was 40 months. The 5-year overall survival and
      disease-free survival were 64.7% and 62.8%, respectively. The 5-year overall
      survival rate for the 163 children was 67.6% (95% confidence interval=55-77%).
      Disease status at time of transplant did not improve disease-free survival.
      Gastrointestinal acute toxicity was the most common early side-effect (19.9%).
      Acute graft-versus-host disease was reported in 31 patients (14.7%). Main late
      toxicities were cataract induction (12.8%) and growth, gonadal and endocrine
      effects (36%). CONCLUSION: TBI-based conditioning regimen led to a high survival
      rate with remarkably low radiation-related toxicity, suggesting that TBI provides
      a feasible therapeutic option in patients with ALL.

PMID- 27630342
TI  - Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on the Rate of Bowel Resection in Advanced
      Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - AIM: To assess the decrease in the number of bowel resections (BR) necessary to
      achieve complete cytoreduction (CC-0) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC)
      permitted by neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were
      selected from a population of advanced EOC cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2009
      at the Curie Institute: 97 patients with Federation International of Gynecology
      and Obstetrics IIIc and IV with unresectable disease treated with NAC followed by
      interval debulking surgery were included. We proceeded to a systematic blinded
      review of all the surgical reports pre-and post-NAC by two different surgeons to
      assess the surgical procedures required to obtain CC-0. RESULTS: Before NAC, at
      least 84 patients (87%) would have required BR to obtain a CC-0 resection. At
      interval debulking surgery, 47 (49%) still required a BR, which corresponds to a
      decrease of 38% (p<0.0001). The same decrease was observed for resection of small
      bowel, colon and rectosigmoid, as follows: 54 to 17 (77% to 24%, p<0.0001), 45 to
      19 (56% to 24%, p<0.0001) and 72 to 25 (90% to 31%, p<0.0001), respectively. The
      median overall survival (OS) among CC-0 patients with and without BR was 57
      months [95% confidence interval (CI)=25-90 months] and 50 months [95% CI=43-57
      months], respectively (p=0.71). The OS among patients without complete resection
      was significantly worse, with a median of 21 months (95% CI=17-32 months,
      p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: NAC significantly reduces the need and rate of BR in
      advanced EOC, but also of small bowel, colon and rectosigmoid resection. There is
      no loss of OS, after BR especially if the debulking surgery is complete.

PMID- 27630343
TI  - Increased Brahma-related Gene 1 Expression Predicts Distant Metastasis and
      Shorter Survival in Patients with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated aberrant Brahma-related gene 1
      (BRG1) expression in various tumor types. Increased BRG1 expression has recently
      been shown to correlate with aggressive oncogenic behavior in many different
      types of human cancer. However, the role of BRG1 in breast cancer development and
      progression is not fully understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated BRG1
      expression in 224 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast
      using tissue microarray samples and immunohistochemistry. We also investigated
      whether BRG1 expression status is associated with clinicopathological
      characteristics and outcomes of patients with IDC. RESULTS: Among the 224
      patients with IDC, 37.5% (84/224) exhibited high BRG1 expression. IDC exhibited
      significantly higher BRG1 expression compared to ductal carcinoma in situ
      (p=0.009) and normal breast tissue (p=0.005). High BRG1 expression in IDC
      significantly correlated with higher histological grade (p=0.035) and presence of
      distant metastasis (p=0.002). Furthermore, high BRG1 expression was an
      independent factor for predicting distant metastasis (relative risk=4.079;
      p=0.007). In addition, high BRG1 expression predicted shorter overall (p=0.011)
      and recurrence-free (p=0.003) survival in patients with IDC. In particular, BRG1
      had a significant prognostic value in predicting recurrence-free survival of
      patients with IDC with lymph node metastasis or stage III disease. CONCLUSION:
      BRG1 is involved in the progression and metastasis of breast cancer and can serve
      as a novel biomarker predictive of distant metastasis and patient outcomes.

PMID- 27630344
TI  - Survival Trends in Elderly Patients with Glioblastoma in the United States: a
      Population-based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide along with radiotherapy
      following surgery (the Stupp regimen) is the preferred therapy for young patients
      with glioblastoma as well as for elderly (>70 years) ones with favorable risk
      factors. This study investigated the survival trend since the introduction of the
      use of the Stupp regimen in elderly patients in a population-based setting.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 database
      was used to identify patients aged >=70 years with glioblastoma as the first
      primary cancer diagnosed from 1999 to 2010. Chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier
      analysis with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard method were used for
      analysis. RESULT: A total of 5,575 patients were included in the survival
      analysis. Survival in Stupp era (year of diagnosis >=2005) was significantly
      better compared to the pre-Stupp era with p<0.001 by log-rank test, with 1-, 2-
      and 3-year overall survival of 18.8% vs. 12.9%, 6.5% vs. 2.1% and 3.1% vs. 0.9%
      respectively, and hazard ratio for death in 3 years in the Stupp era was 0.87
      (95% confidence interval=0.82-0.92; p<0.001) when compared with the pre-Stupp
      era. Factors such as younger age (<85 years), female sex, married status,
      Caucasian race and total resection favored better survival compared to their
      counterparts. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the survival of elderly patients
      with glioblastoma has improved since the introduction of the Stupp regimen.
      However, there are significant differences in survival rates among various
      cohorts.

PMID- 27630345
TI  - Preoperative Systemic Inflammation and Complications Affect Long-term Gallbladder
      Carcinoma Outcomes Following Surgery with Curative Intent.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBCA) has extremely poor outcomes. We
      aimed to investigate clinicopathological prognostic variables, including the
      modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), for patients with resected GBCA.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 54 patients with GBCA
      resected between 1996 and 2014. Univariate and multivariate analyses were
      performed to identify prognostic factors associated with overall and recurrence
      free survival. RESULTS: Curative resection (R0) was achieved in 43 patients
      (79.6%). The median patient age was 74 years (range=25-99 years), and the
      majority (n=33, 61.1%) were women. Incidental GBCA was detected in 18 patients
      (33.3%). The overall and recurrence-free survival rates were 63.3% and 55.8% at 3
      years and 58.4% and 51.3% at 5 years, respectively. In multivariate analysis,
      postoperative intra-abdominal complications (p=0.015), non-curative resection
      (p=0.008), worse histological type (p=0.003), and elevated mGPS (p=0.002) were
      independent predictors of worse overall survival. Surgical complications
      (p=0.015), non-curative resection (p=0.005), worse histological type (p=0.002),
      and elevated mGPS (p=0.022) were also independent predictors of worse recurrence
      free survival. CONCLUSION: Curative resection was important for long-term
      survival for GBCA. A high preoperative mGPS and occurrence of surgical
      complications were independent prognostic indicators of poor survival in GBCA.

PMID- 27630346
TI  - Prophylactic Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy for Preoperative
      Suspicion of Prostate Cancer: Experience with 55 Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Expanded indications are not yet reported for robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP) performed by experienced surgeons for
      patients with preoperative suspicion of prostate cancer. We report our experience
      with 55 cases of prophylactic RARP for preoperative suspicion of prostate cancer,
      including postoperative pathological characteristics and outcomes. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: This retrospective study reviewed data of a subset of 55 consecutive
      patients among 1,060 patients who underwent RARP for preoperative suspicion of
      prostate cancer. Pathological characteristics and outcomes of patients with
      suspected prostate cancer were analyzed and preoperative, intraoperative and
      postoperative parameters were compared between three groups. Patients were
      stratified by final pathology reports of RARP specimens: Group I: Prostate
      cancer, N=22 (40%); group II: abnormal (prostate intraepithelial neoplasia;
      atypical small acinar proliferation), N=18 (32.7%); and group III: benign
      (nodular hyperplasia or inflammation), N=15 (27.3%). RESULTS: Mean preoperative
      prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was 16.04+/-2.21 ng/ml. Twenty-two patients with
      adenocarcinoma had pathology stage pT2a/T2b/ T2c/T3a/T3b (6/7/2/6/1 patients,
      respectively), with positive surgical margins in 18.2% (4/22). Preoperative
      incidence of PSA velocity >0.75 ng/ml/yr was significantly higher in group I than
      in groups II and III (81.8% vs. 38.9% vs. 33.3%, p=0.004). Predictive parameters
      of prostate cancer showed that PSA velocity (>0.75 vs. <=0.75 ng/ml/yr) had crude
      odds ratio of 9.0 for group I vs. group III, p=0.005. Posteperatively,
      statistically significant improvements were found in uroflow rate, post-voiding
      residual urine and symptom scores (all p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Prophylactic RARP
      with bilateral neurovascular bundle preservation performed by experienced
      surgeons is a safe and viable option for preoperative suspicion of prostate
      cancer.

PMID- 27630347
TI  - Feasibility and Safety of Laparoscopic Total Mesometrial Resection in Early-stage
      Cervical Cancer.
AB  - AIM: In this study we aimed to analyze the safety and feasibility of total
      mesometrial resection (TMMR) using the laparoscopic approach. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Laparoscopic TMMR and pelvic lymphadenectomy (LNE) was carried out in 34
      patients with cervical cancer FIGO IA-IIB from April 2012-April 2016 at our
      tertiary center. Para-aortic LNE was performed when indicated. The main outcomes
      included surgical margins, a number of retrieved lymph node, intra- and post
      operative complications, and recurrence rates. RESULTS: Complete microscopic
      tumor resection was confirmed in 33/34 (97%) patients. No conversion to open
      surgery was necessary. Mean intra-operative blood loss was only 65.2 ml with no
      blood transfusions required. Intra-operative complications occurred in 4/34
      (11.8%) cases (2 bladder injuries and 2 ureteric injuries). Post-operative
      complications were observed in 10/35 (29.4%) cases. Only one complication
      occurred after 30 days (vesico-vaginal fistula). There was a loco-regional
      recurrence within a mean follow-up time of 25.9 months. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic
      TMMR appears to be feasible and safe in the treatment of early-stage cervical
      cancer. Further large-scale studies are required.

PMID- 27630348
TI  - The Benefit of Baseline Staging-Risk Assessment of Distant Breast Cancer
      Metastases by Tumor Stage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite recommendations of international societies, use of baseline
      staging in breast cancer varies considerably. We retrospectively analyzed the
      prevalence of metastases in each pTN stage to estimate the benefit of staging.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The prevalence of metastases at primary diagnosis (M1) and
      in the first year after diagnosis (M112) was determined in 2,906 patients.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of M1 was 0.95% [95% confidence interval (CI)=0.53-1.70%]
      in pT1pN0, 2.17% (95% CI=1.00-4.64) in pT1pN1 and 1.53% (95% CI=0.78-2.99%) in
      pT2pN0. The prevalence of M112 was 2.17% (95% CI=1.47-3.18%) in pT1pN0 and 3.25%
      in pathological stage IIA (upper confidence bound 5.14%). In pT2pN1 the
      prevalence of M1 and M112 was 3.49% (95% CI=1.96-6.14%) and 6.35% (95% CI=4.15
      9.60%), respectively. Results for stage pT3pN0 and higher were inconclusive.
      CONCLUSION: Baseline staging can be safely abandoned in pathological stage I and
      IIA. Individual decisions should be made for pT2pN1. Staging is recommended in
      stages of pT3pN0 or higher.

PMID- 27630349
TI  - Insurance Status and Other Non-biological Factors Predict Outcomes in Acute
      Myelogenous Leukemia: Analysis of Data from the National Cancer Database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has made significant
      progress in the last 30 years; however, numerous factors affect outcomes in
      patients with AML. Well-known risk factors are age, cytogenetics, and treatment
      intensity. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of insurance
      status on the outcome of AML; age, Carlson comorbidity index, distance travelled
      to the treatment center, and type of treatment center were adjusted by analyzing
      data from National Cancer Database (NCDB). In the wake of the Affordable Care
      Act, and its impact on insurance coverage, evaluating the effect having insurance
      has on health outcome is urgently necessary. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were
      analyzed from 67,443 men and women (>=18 years of age), who were registered in
      the NCDB and diagnosed with AML between 1998 and 2011 with follow-up to the end
      of 2012. The primary predictor variable was payer status, and the outcome
      variable was overall survival. Additional variables addressed and adjusted,
      included: sex, age, race, Charleston Comorbidity index, level of education,
      income, distance traveled, facility type, diagnosing/treating facility, treatment
      delay, and chemotherapy. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for
      other predictor variables, payer status was a statistically significant predictor
      of overall survival for AML. Relative to privately insured patients, patients
      with Medicaid had a 17% increased risk, those without insurance had a 21%
      increased risk, those with Medicare had a 19% increased risk and those with
      unknown insurance status had a 22% increased risk of mortality from AML. The
      percentage of patients surviving from AML after 24 months was 37.6%, 31.4%,
      32.3%, 31.8%, and 33.1% for patients with private, unknown, Medicare, uninsured,
      and Medicaid payer status, respectively. All factors investigated were found to
      be significant predictors of AML survival except distance traveled. CONCLUSION:
      We observed that payer status has a statistically significant relationship with
      overall survival from AML.

PMID- 27630350
TI  - Prognostic Significance of Solid and Micropapillary Components in Invasive Lung
      Adenocarcinomas Measuring <=3 cm.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: We aimed to analyze the clinical impact of solid and
      micropapillary components in a series of Japanese patients resected for <=3 cm
      lung adenocarcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 115 patients with <=3 cm
      lung adenocarcinomas were reviewed and classified according to the American
      Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society classification. The
      presence of solid (S+) or micropapillary component (MP+) was defined when the
      component constituted >=1% of the entire tumor. The impact of these components on
      disease-free (DFS) and disease-specific (DSS) survival was analyzed. RESULTS:
      Thirty (26.1%) cases with S+ and 27 (23.5%) with MP+ were identified, and
      multivariate analysis indicated that S+ status significantly reduced the duration
      of DFS and DSS. In 86 patients of acinar- and papillary-predominant subgroups, S+
      and/or MP+ had the most significant effect on DFS and DSS by multivariate
      analysis. CONCLUSION: S+ and/or MP+ status predict worse prognosis in patients
      with acinar- and papillary-predominant lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27630351
TI  - Lymphoma of the Cervix: Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphoma of the uterine cervix (LUCX) is rare and may occur as a
      primary or secondary manifestation of this disease. Clinical and cytological
      presentations of LUCX vary and establishing diagnosis is often difficult. Surgery
      followed by radiation or chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment. CASE REPORT:
      We present the case of a 73-year-old woman with recurrent pathological PAP smears
      of the cervix and a history of chronic lymphatic leukemia 15 years ago.
      Colposcopy of the cervix showed no acetowhite lesion and a conization was
      performed. Histology revealed endocervical lymphoid cells, specified as low
      malignant B-Non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the cervix based on the expression of CD5,
      CD20, and CD23, whilst CD10 and cyclin D1 were negative. The diagnosis was
      confirmed by flow cytometry of peripheral blood. Staging revealed enlarged
      iliacal, para-aortic, mediastinal, cervical, subclavicular, and inguinal lymph
      nodes and hepatosplenomegaly. Bone marrow analysis confirmed lymphoid
      infiltration consistent with B-cell lymphoma. The patient was scheduled for a
      combined immuno-chemotherapy with obinutuzumab and chlorambucil. In a MEDLINE
      literature search, 246 cases of LUCX were identified. One hundred and eighty-five
      cases were primary and 61 cases were secondary manifestations of LUCX. With a
      mean follow-up time of 38 months, overall survival was 81%. Data in the
      literature including clinical and histological characteristics of LUCX as well as
      the clinical management and prognosis are discussed herein. CONCLUSION: LUCX is
      rare and has distinct clinical and histological features. LUCX is usually treated
      with local surgical excision followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

PMID- 27630352
TI  - Outcomes After Whole-brain Radiotherapy for Brain Metastases with 5*4 Gy:
      Importance of Overall Treatment Time.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: To investigate the impact of overall treatment time (OTT) of
      whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) with 5*4 Gy on outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Forty-four patients for whom WBRT was started on a Monday (OTT=5 days) were
      compared to 136 patients, for whom WBRT was started on another weekday (OTT=7
      days; weekend break) regarding intracerebral control and survival. Seven other
      factors were also analyzed. RESULTS: Intracerebral control at 6 and 12 months was
      64% and 36% after OTT of 5 days vs. 57% and 38% after OTT of 7 days (p=0.68). On
      multivariate analysis, intracerebral control was positively associated with a
      better Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score (ECOG-PS) (p<0.001).
      Survival at 6 and 12 months was 36% and 16% after OTT of 5 days vs. 35% and 19%
      after OTT of 7 days (p=0.81). On multivariate analysis, survival was positively
      associated with better ECOG-PS (p<0.001) and absence of extracerebral lesions
      (p=0.004). CONCLUSION: Prolongation of OTT to 7 days had no impact on outcomes
      after WBRT with 5*4 Gy.

PMID- 27630353
TI  - Bevacizumab for Ovarian Cancer at High Risk of Progression: Reproducibility of
      Trial Results in 'Real-world' Patients.
AB  - Bevacizumab has become a 'community standard' at many UK centres as part of first
      line treatment of patients with ovarian cancer at high risk of progression
      [International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IV, or
      suboptimally debulked stage III] based on the results of phase III trials such as
      ICON-7. Its impact in patients treated outside clinical trials is, however, still
      unknown. In this study, we investigated patient characteristics, treatment
      patterns, adverse events and progression-free survival in 'real-world' patients
      in South West Wales. A total of 60 patients, treated between 2012 and 2015, were
      included in the study. Patient characteristics were less favourable compared to
      the bevacizumab-treated high-risk group in the ICON-7 trial (median age: 66 vs.
      60 years; stage IV: 58% vs. 42%; performance status 0: 18% vs. 41%); 75% had
      received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before starting bevacizumab. After a median
      treatment duration of 8 months (range=0-34 months), 45 patients (75%) had
      experienced disease progression and 34 (56.7%) had died. Median progression-free
      survival was 16 months (95% confidence interval=14.4-17.6 months). The most
      common toxicities consisted of proteinuria (66.7%, all grade 1) and grade 1-2
      hypertension (15%). Cardiovascular incidents, two of which were fatal, occurred
      in 6.7% of patients. In conclusion, our study provides encouraging evidence that
      the routine use of bevacizumab as part of first-line treatment of patients with
      ovarian cancer at high risk of progression may be associated with outcomes
      comparable with those obtained in clinical trials.

PMID- 27630354
TI  - Appetite Loss as an Adverse Effect During Treatment with EGFR-TKIs in Elderly
      Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - AIM: We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the frequency of appetite
      loss during treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase
      inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) in elderly patients, aged 75 years or older, with non-small
      cell lung cancer harboring EGFR gene mutations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of a
      total of 64 patients, including 39 relatively young (hereinafter, younger)
      patients and 25 elderly patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Appetite loss of all
      grades (p=0.074) and of grade 3 or greater (p=0.030) was more frequently observed
      in elderly patients. Diarrhea and oral mucositis were also more frequent in
      elderly patients, although they did not reach statistical significance. No
      apparent differences were observed in the frequency of aspartate
      aminotransferase/ alanine aminotransferase elevation, skin rash or fatigue
      between the two patient groups. The median (95% confidence interval) progression
      free survival times were 10.8 (6.6-16.4) months and 11.8 (4.4-20.3) months in the
      younger and elderly patient groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      suggest that appetite loss is a major adverse effect in elderly patients with non
      small cell lung cancer receiving treatment with EGFR-TKIs.

PMID- 27630356
TI  - Treatment Outcome of Low-dose Interleukin-2 Therapy in Patients with Metastatic
      Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most fatal urological malignancies.
      Approximately 30% of patients with RCC have metastasis at initial diagnosis and
      another 30% have metastasis after radical nephrectomy. Immunotherapy using
      interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been the main treatment
      for metastatic RCC (mRCC) patients, with this therapy being still occasionally
      recommended. The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose IL
      2 and to investigate the prognosis of the patients. Study subjects included 37
      patients who were clinically diagnosed with mRCC and received low-dose IL-2
      therapy between December 1999 and October 2014. We investigated the relationship
      between prognosis and clinical features. The median overall survival (OS), that
      was calculated from the first use of cytokine therapy, was 19.8 months, while the
      median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.82 months. PFS was prolonged in
      patients who received IL-2 as first-line therapy or second-line therapy following
      IFN-alpha therapy. IL-2 therapy should be used as a first- or second-line therapy
      following IFN-alpha therapy. IL-2 may have a lower response if it is used after
      molecular-targeted therapy or other treatments.

PMID- 27630355
TI  - Efficacy and Toxicity of Panitumumab After Progression on Cetuximab and
      Predictive Value of MiR-31-5p in Metastatic Wild-type KRAS Colorectal Cancer
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), panitumumab is generally
      considered to be ineffective after the progression on cetuximab therapy. However,
      few studies have demonstrated that a small subset of mCRC patients may benefit
      from panitumumab in this setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In our study, wild-type
      KRAS mCRC patients, enrolled into the nationwide Czech registry CORECT between
      January 2007 and December 2012, were screened for panitumumab therapy after
      progression on cetuximab. RESULTS: We identified 26 mCRC in the registry with
      well documented progression on cetuximab in combination with irinotecan-based
      chemotherapy (FOLFIRI or irinotecan alone) who received panitumumab monotherapy.
      Partial response (PR) was achieved in 3 (11.5%) patients and stable disease (SD)
      in 7 (26.9%) patients after 8 weeks of therapy. Thirteen (50.0%) patients had
      evidence of progressive disease (PD) and in 3 (11.5%) cases response was not
      available. Furthermore, we confirmed that higher expression levels of newly
      described biomarker, miR-31-5p, in tumor are significantly associated with
      shorter progression-free survival (PFS) in patients treated with cetuximab
      (p=0.038); however, we did not observe association between miR-31-5p and response
      to panitumumab in mCRC patients after progression on cetuximab. CONCLUSION: It
      remains possible that a subset of mCRC patients may benefit from panitumumab
      after progression on cetuximab.

PMID- 27630357
TI  - No Survival Benefit from the Inhibition of Renin-Angiotensin System in Biliary
      Tract Cancer.
AB  - AIM: The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was investigated as a target for cancer
      treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 287 patients with biliary tract
      cancer (BTC) receiving chemotherapy were retrospectively studied to evaluate the
      role of inhibition of RAS by angiotensin system inhibitors (ASIs). Progression
      free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between 74 patients
      with hypertension, on ASIs (ASI group), 50 patients with hypertension not on ASIs
      (non-ASI with HT group) and 163 patients without hypertension (non-HT group).
      Interactions between the use of ASIs and various subgroups were explored.
      RESULTS: The median PFS was 3.6, 3.9 and 4.6 months (p=0.495) and the median OS
      was 11.6, 10.9 and 13.1 months (p=0.668), respectively. The use of ASIs was not
      associated with OS (hazard ratio 1.00, p=0.975) and no subgroups with better
      survival were identified. CONCLUSION: No survival benefit from ASIs was observed
      in BTC.

PMID- 27630358
TI  - Prevention and Treatment of Cancer: Hypes and Hopes 6th International
      Translational Cancer Research Conference.
AB  - Cancer is primarily an "old-age" disease that has an "age-old" history. The
      overall incidence of cancer is much higher in Western countries, but is rapidly
      growing in Eastern countries perhaps due to change in life-style. Almost three
      million studies published to date indicate that cancer is a hyperproliferative
      disorder that arises from dysregulation of multiple cell signaling pathways. The
      cancer genome landscape indicates that approximately 140 genes and 12 cell
      signaling pathways drive almost all cancers. "Targeted therapy," a buzz word in
      cancer treatment for the past two decades, has provided antibodies, as well as
      small-molecule inhibitors. These therapies have been successful only in few
      instances. However, in most cases, minor increase in overall survival has been
      reported at the cost of huge expense. An alternative strategy is to prevent
      cancer or to diagnose and treat the disease at an early stage to gain survival
      benefits. Such interventions are also cost-effective. To address some of these
      issues, the 6th International Translational Cancer Research Conference was held
      during February 4-7th, 2016, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India; the homeland of
      Mahatma Gandhi. This conference was focused on utilizing multidisciplinary
      approaches for prevention and early treatment that would likely simultaneously or
      sequentially target many key pathways. Several distinguished speakers were
      invited from around the world. This article highlights primary features of this
      conference.

PMID- 27630359
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 27630360
TI  - Retraction.

PMID- 27630363
TI  - Principles of Cancer Genetics. Second Edition.

PMID- 27630362
TI  - Gap Junction Protocols.

PMID- 27630364
TI  - Atypical Elements in Drug Design.

PMID- 27630365
TI  - Biomarkers in Neoplastic Neuropathology.

PMID- 27630366
TI  - Dermatological Cryosurgery and Cryotherapy.

PMID- 27630367
TI  - Mitochondria and Cell Death.

PMID- 27630368
TI  - Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology.

PMID- 27630369
TI  - Focus on Bio-Image Informatics.

PMID- 27630370
TI  - Cancer and Zebrafish. Mechanisms, Techniques, and Models.

PMID- 27630371
TI  - DAMMIF, a program for rapid ab-initio shape determination in small-angle
      scattering.
AB  - DAMMIF, a revised implementation of the ab-initio shape-determination program
      DAMMIN for small-angle scattering data, is presented. The program was fully
      rewritten, and its algorithm was optimized for speed of execution and modified to
      avoid limitations due to the finite search volume. Symmetry and anisometry
      constraints can be imposed on the particle shape, similar to DAMMIN. In
      equivalent conditions, DAMMIF is 25-40 times faster than DAMMIN on a single CPU.
      The possibility to utilize multiple CPUs is added to DAMMIF. The application is
      available in binary form for major platforms.

PMID- 27630372
TI  - A Large-Scale Computational Analysis of Corneal Structural Response and Ectasia
      Risk in Myopic Laser Refractive Surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate biomechanical strain as a structural susceptibility
      metric for corneal ectasia in a large-scale computational trial. METHODS: A
      finite element modeling study was performed using retrospective Scheimpflug
      tomography data from 40 eyes of 40 patients. LASIK and PRK were simulated with
      varied myopic ablation profiles and flap thickness parameters across eyes from
      LASIK candidates, patients disqualified for LASIK, subjects with atypical
      topography, and keratoconus subjects in 280 simulations. Finite element analysis
      output was then interrogated to extract several risk and outcome variables. We
      tested the hypothesis that strain is greater in known at-risk eyes than in normal
      eyes, evaluated the ability of a candidate strain variable to differentiate eyes
      that were empirically disqualified as LASIK candidates, and compared the
      performance of common risk variables as predictors of this novel susceptibility
      marker across multiple virtual subjects and surgeries. RESULTS: A candidate
      susceptibility metric that expressed mean strains across the anterior residual
      stromal bed was significantly higher in eyes with confirmed ectatic
      predisposition in preoperative and all postoperative cases (P<=.003). The strain
      metric was effective at differentiating normal and at-risk eyes (area under
      receiver operating characteristic curve >= 0.83, P<=.002), was highly correlated
      to thickness-based risk metrics (as high as R(2) = 95%, P<.001 for the percent of
      stromal tissue altered (PSTA)), and predicted large portions of the variance in
      predicted refractive response to surgery (R(2) = 57%, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: This
      study represents the first large-scale 3-dimensional structural analysis of
      ectasia risk and provides a novel biomechanical construct for expressing
      structural risk in refractive surgery. Mechanical strain is an effective marker
      of known ectasia risk and correlates to predicted refractive error after myopic
      photoablative surgery.

PMID- 27630375
TI  - French Crossings: II. Laughing Over Boundaries.
AB  - Under the generic title, 'French Crossings', this Presidential Address explores
      the history of laughter in French society, and humour's potential for
      trangressing boundaries. It focuses on the irreverent and almost entirely unknown
      book of comic drawings entitled Livre de caricatures tant Bonnes que mauvaises
      (Book of Caricatures, both Good and Bad), that was composed between the 1740s and
      the mid-1770s by the luxury Parisian embroiderer and designer, Charles-Germain de
      Saint-Aubin, and his friends and family. The bawdy laughter that the book seems
      intended to provoke gave it its nickname of the Livre de culs (Book of Arses).
      Yet despite the scatological character of many of the drawings, the humour often
      conjoined lower body functions with rather cerebral and erudite wit. The laughter
      provoked unsparingly targeted and exposed to ridicule the social elite, cultural
      celebrities and political leaders of Ancien Regime France. This made it a
      dangerous object, which was kept strictly secret. Was this humour somehow pre- or
      proto-Revolutionary? In fact, the work is so embedded in the culture of the
      Ancien Regime that 1789 was one boundary that the work signally fails to cross.

PMID- 27630373
TI  - Ranibizumab for the Prevention of Radiation Complications in Patients Treated
      With Proton Beam Irradiation for Choroidal Melanoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the safety and potential efficacy of ranibizumab for
      prevention of radiation complications in patients treated with proton irradiation
      for choroidal melanoma. METHODS: Forty patients with tumors located within 2 disc
      diameters of the optic nerve and/or macula were enrolled in this open-label
      study. Participants received ranibizumab 0.5 mg or 1.0 mg at tumor localization
      and every 2 months thereafter for the study duration of 24 months. The incidence
      of adverse events, visual acuity, and other measures of ocular morbidity related
      to radiation complications were assessed. Historical controls with similar follow
      up meeting the eligibility criteria for tumor size, location, and baseline visual
      acuity were assembled for comparison. RESULTS: Fifteen patients with large tumors
      and 25 patients with small/medium tumors were enrolled. Thirty-two patients
      completed the month 24 visit. No serious ocular or systemic adverse events
      related to ranibizumab were observed. At 24 months, the proportion of patients
      with visual acuity >= 20/200 was 30/31 (97%) in the study group versus 92/205
      (45%) in historical controls (P < .001). The proportion of patients with visual
      acuity >=20/40 was 24/31 (77%) in the study group versus 46/205 (22%) in controls
      at 24 months (P<.001). Clinical evidence of radiation maculopathy at month 24 was
      seen in 8/24 (33%) patients with small/medium tumors versus 42/62 (68%) of
      controls (P = .004). Three patients with large tumors developed metastases.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this small pilot study, prophylactic ranibizumab appears
      generally safe in patients treated with proton irradiation for choroidal
      melanoma. High rates of visual acuity retention were observed through 2 years.

PMID- 27630376
TI  - French Crossings: III. The Smile of the Tiger.
AB  - This article continues the theme of 'French Crossings' explored in other
      Presidential Addresses by focussing on the border zone between the human and the
      animal. The focus is on the allegedly tiger-like character attributed to
      Maimilien Robespierre, particularly after his fall from power and his execution
      in 1794. This theme is explored in terms of Thermidorian propaganda, French
      Revolutionary historiography and the ancient discipline of physiognomy, which was
      reactivated by Johann-Caspar Lavater in the late eighteenth century and still
      influential through much of the nineteenth. Robespierre's animal rather than
      human status was also held to emerge in his inability to smile or laugh, a
      significant point also in that the meaning of the smile was changing in the same
      period.

PMID- 27630374
TI  - The Effect of Different Dosing Schedules of Intravitreal Sirolimus, a Mammalian
      Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Inhibitor, in the Treatment of Non-Infectious Uveitis
      (An American Ophthalmological Society Thesis).
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine if two different doses of intravitreal sirolimus, an mTOR
      inhibitor, can decrease inflammation and is safe in eyes with non-infectious
      posterior, intermediate, or panuveitis in the Sirolimus as a Therapeutic Approach
      UVEitis: Protocol-2 (SAVE-2) Study. METHODS: SAVE-2 is a prospective randomized,
      phase II, open-label interventional clinical trial conducted at 4 clinical
      centers in the United States. Eligible subjects were randomized into one of two
      treatments. Group 1 received 440ug of intravitreal sirolimus in study eyes on
      days 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150; group 2 received 880ug of intravitreal
      sirolimus on days 0, 60, and 120. Fellow eyes were also eligible to receive
      sirolimus (of opposite dose to that of study eye). Primary endpoint of the study
      was at month 6 (M6). RESULTS: 24 subjects have been randomized in SAVE-2 and are
      included in the analysis. Vitreous haze decreased by >=2 steps in 63.6% and 50%
      of patients in groups 1 and 2, respectively at M6 (p=0.695). Mean change in best
      corrected visual acuity for subjects was +3.66 and -2.91 ETDRS letters in group 1
      and 2, respectively. Among subjects with macular edema at baseline (n=13), the
      mean change in foveal thickness was -89.42um in group 1 and +81.5um in group 2 at
      M6. CONCLUSIONS: Both low and high doses of intravitreal sirolimus were found to
      decrease vitreous haze in eyes with non-infectious uveitis. Low dose (440ug)
      sirolimus administered monthly may be more efficacious in reducing uveitic
      macular edema than high dose (880ug) administered every 2 months.

PMID- 27630377
TI  - Macromechanics of Hearing: The Unknown Known.
AB  - The following summarizes the key points addressed during a tutorial session on
      the Macromechanics of Hearing that took place at the 12th International Workshop
      on the Mechanics of Hearing held at Cape Sounio, Greece, in June 2014. The
      tutorial was intended to present an overview of basic ideas and to address topics
      of current interest relevant to the Workshop. The session was recorded, and the
      audio file and accompanying visual content of the presentation can be found in
      the Mechanics of Hearing Digital Library (www.mechanicsofhearing.org).

PMID- 27630378
TI  - Thermal Tides in the Martian Middle Atmosphere as Seen by the Mars Climate
      Sounder.
AB  - The first systematic observations of the middle atmosphere of Mars (35km-80km)
      with the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) show dramatic patterns of diurnal thermal
      variation, evident in retrievals of temperature and water ice opacity. At the
      time of writing, the dataset of MCS limb retrievals is sufficient for spectral
      analysis within a limited range of latitudes and seasons. This analysis shows
      that these thermal variations are almost exclusively associated with a diurnal
      thermal tide. Using a Martian General Circulation Model to extend our analysis we
      show that the diurnal thermal tide dominates these patterns for all latitudes and
      all seasons.

PMID- 27630379
TI  - Preschool Interpersonal Relationships Predict Kindergarten Achievement: Mediated
      by Gains in Emotion Knowledge.
AB  - Using longitudinal data, this study tested a model in which preschool
      interpersonal relationships promoted kindergarten achievement in a pathway
      mediated by growth in emotion knowledge. The sample included 164 children
      attending Head Start (14% Hispanic-American, 30% African-American, 56% Caucasian;
      56% girls). Preschool interpersonal relationships were indexed by student-teacher
      relationship closeness and positive peer interactions. Two measures of emotion
      knowledge (identifying emotions in photographs, recognizing emotions in stories)
      were assessed at the start and end of the preschool year. Structural equation
      models revealed that positive interpersonal relationships (with teachers and
      peers) predicted gains in emotion knowledge (identification, recognition) during
      the preschool year. Positive interpersonal relationships in preschool also
      predicted kindergarten achievement (controlling for initial preschool
      achievement); however, this association was mediated by gains in emotion
      knowledge during the preschool year. Implications are discussed for school
      readiness programs serving economically-disadvantaged children.

PMID- 27630380
TI  - Effects of Time since Diagnosis on the Association between Parent and Child
      Distress in Families with Pediatric Cancer.
AB  - Although parental distress and child distress have been linked in families of
      children with cancer, how these associations change over time is unknown. The
      present study examined how the amount of time elapsed since the child's diagnosis
      moderates the associations between self-reported parent and child symptoms of
      depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress in 255 parent-child dyads. Time
      since diagnosis moderated the associations between parental symptoms and child
      reported anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Dyads farther out from diagnosis
      exhibited stronger associations between parental and child symptoms. Findings
      suggest the importance of monitoring the psychological adjustment of parents and
      children over time.

PMID- 27630382
TI  - Adult intussusception: An 8 years institutional review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intussusception is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in adults.
      Its diagnosis could be elusive based solely on clinical features because of
      protean presentation. Supplementary imaging allows for preoperative diagnosis,
      early institution of definitive management, and a better clinical outcome.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records of adults managed for intestinal obstruction by
      laparotomy in a surgical unit of a tertiary health facility were retrospectively
      examined. The subgroup having an intraoperative diagnosis of intussusception was
      extracted and analyzed. Data obtained included age, sex, and primary symptom at
      presentation. Presence of intestinal perforation, the histology of the lead point
      of resected tissues, and the final disposition of the patients were documented.
      RESULTS: Four hundred and three patients underwent surgical management of
      intestinal obstruction. Eight patients (2%) had an intraoperative diagnosis of
      intussusception at laparotomy; four males and four females (male: female = 1:1).
      Abdominal pain was the presentation in 7 (87.5%) and anal protrusion in 1
      (12.5%). Four patients (50%) had bowel perforation with peritonitis. Seven of the
      resected intestines had lead points which were benign. Two patients (25%) died
      from sepsis. Resection and anastomosis were done for all the patients.
      CONCLUSION: Intussusception in adults is uncommon but carries a high morbidity
      and mortality which can be reduced with a good clinical assessment, appropriate
      imaging, and early laparotomy.

PMID- 27630381
TI  - The effect of deoxyribonucleic acid extraction methods from lymphoid tissue on
      the purity, content, and amplifying ability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, definitive diagnosis of numerous diseases is based on the
      genetic and molecular findings. Therefore, preparation of fundamental materials
      for these evaluations is necessary. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the first
      material for the molecular pathology and genetic analysis, and better results
      need more pure DNA. Furthermore, higher concentration of achieved DNA causes
      better results and higher amplifying ability for subsequent steps. We aim to
      evaluate five DNA extraction methods to compare DNA intimacy including purity,
      concentration, and amplifying ability with each other. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      lymphoid tissue DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE)
      tissue through five different methods including phenol-chloroform as the
      reference method, DNA isolation kit (QIAamp DNA FFPE Tissue Kit, Qiagen,
      Germany), proteinase K and xylol extraction and heat alkaline plus mineral oil
      extraction as authorship innovative method. Finally, polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR) and real-time PCR method were assessed to compare each following method
      consider to DNA purity and its concentration. RESULTS: Among five different
      applied methods, the highest mean of DNA purity was related to heat alkaline
      method. Moreover, the highest mean of DNA concentration was related to heat
      alkaline plus mineral oil. Furthermore, the best result in quantitative PCR was
      in proteinase K method that had the lowest cycle threshold averages among the
      other extraction methods. CONCLUSION: We concluded that our innovative method for
      DNA extraction (heat alkaline plus mineral oil) achieved high DNA purity and
      concentration.

PMID- 27630383
TI  - The relationship between malaria parasitemia, malaria preventive measures and
      average birth weight of babies in a tertiary facility in Owerri, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the global efforts made to eradicate malaria, it continues to
      be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in both neonates and the
      parturients. This study was done to determine the relationship between placental
      parasitemia, average neonatal birth weight and the relationship between the use
      of malaria preventive measures and the occurrence of placental parasitemia with
      the aim to improving maternal and neonatal outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      cross-sectional study was done at the labor ward unit of the Federal Medical
      Center, Owerri, from December 2013 to May 2014. It involved one hundred and
      eighty primigravidae and baby pairs recruited consecutively. Thick and thin blood
      films were made from maternal peripheral blood and placenta. The babies were
      examined and weighed immediately after delivery. RESULTS: Most of the
      participants had only one dose of intermittent preventive therapy (75%) with
      statistically significant higher level of fever episodes (P < 0.0001). Forty
      participants (58.0%) did not use any form of malaria preventive measure in
      pregnancy (P < 0.0001) and had a significantly higher placental parasitemia when
      compared with their counterparts. Average birth weight of neonates with placental
      parasitemia in mothers who used intermittent presumptive therapy (IPT) only (t =
      2.22, P = 0.005), and IPT + insecticide-treated net (ITN) (t = 7.91, P <= 0.000)
      was significantly higher than those who did not use any form of malaria
      prevention in pregnancy (t = 4.69, P <= 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Primigravidae with
      placental or maternal peripheral parasitemia who failed to use malaria preventive
      measures delivered babies with reduced average birth weight. A scheme aimed at
      making ITN readily available, and improving the girl child education is highly
      recommended.

PMID- 27630384
TI  - Utility of a single mid-trimester measurement of plasminogen activator Type 1 and
      fibronectin to predict preeclampsia in pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia (PE) is the second most common cause of maternal death
      after obstetric hemorrhage in Africa, a resource-limited region. This study was
      designed to examine the potential usefulness of a single screening plasma
      plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and fibronectin (FN) level for the
      prediction of PE in pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a cohort of 180
      pregnant women who were normotensive at baseline, venous blood samples were
      obtained before 20 weeks of gestation for the assay of plasma levels of PAI-1 and
      FN levels measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay technique. Twenty nonpregnant
      normotensive women were also evaluated as a control group. Outcomes of gestation
      were evaluated and correlated with the plasma levels of PAI and FN measured at
      mid-trimester. Mean plasma values of PAI-1 and FN were also compared between the
      different outcome groups. RESULTS: Plasma PAI-1 level was significantly higher in
      the pregnant women (8.68 +/- 0.56 ng/ml) than in nonpregnant controls (5.55 +/-
      0.32 ng/ml) (P = 0.01). However, plasma FN did not show any significant
      difference in pregnant women (2.60 +/- 0.37 MUg/ml) and nonpregnant controls
      (2.60 +/- 0.23 MUg/ml) (P = 0.9). Mid-trimester mean plasma PAI-1 level measured
      in women who developed PE (7.08 +/- 5.49 ng/ml, n = 12) and gestational
      hypertension (GH) (9.78 +/- 6.2 ng/ml, n = 13) was not significantly different in
      comparison to normotensive pregnant women (8.78 +/- 5.63 ng/ml, n = 153) (P =
      0.75). Likewise, the mean FN level in women who developed PE was also not
      significantly different from nonpreeclamptics; however, the FN level in the
      pregnant women who developed GH was significantly different from women who
      remained normotensive throughout pregnancy (P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Single mid
      trimester assessment of PAI-1 and FN levels in maternal plasma was not found to
      be useful in predicting PE as an outcome of pregnancy in the study population.

PMID- 27630385
TI  - Awareness and knowledge of National School Health Policy and School Health
      Programme among public secondary school teachers in Ibadan metropolis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The awareness, knowledge, and involvement of teachers in the
      implementation of School Health Programme (SHP) in secondary schools are
      essential in ensuring the effectiveness and overall success of the School Health
      Policy. This study assessed the awareness and knowledge of teachers on SHP in
      Ibadan metropolis. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out
      using a two-stage sampling technique to select 426 secondary school teachers
      across all the five Urban Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ibadan metropolis by
      balloting. Pretested semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data
      from 426 teachers. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics,
      Chi-square, and logistics regression tests at 5% level of significance. RESULTS:
      About one-third of the respondents had heard of National School Health Policy
      (NSHP); however, few had seen the document. About half of the respondents were
      aware of the SHP in their schools. Many of the respondents had a good knowledge
      of SHP. Age and level of education of participants significantly influenced the
      knowledge of SHP. Above 50 years of age and postgraduate qualification were the
      significant predictors for the good knowledge of SHP. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of
      the NSHP was low despite the good knowledge of SHP. This could be due to the
      tertiary education that most of the respondents had. Concerted efforts of
      stakeholders are required to intensify the health education awareness campaign to
      improve teachers' knowledge based on NSHP.

PMID- 27630386
TI  - Evaluation of sexual dimorphism by discriminant function analysis of toe length
      (1T-5T) of adult Igbo populace in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sex determination is an important and one of the foremost criteria in
      establishing the identity of an individual, and this is achieved by investigating
      various anatomical structures to establish sex discriminatory features. The
      present study conducted baseline data for the toe with a view of finding
      discriminatory sex characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 420
      subjects were studied by direct linear measurements of the toe length (big toe
      [1T] to the fifth toes [5T]) of both feet using a digital Vernier caliper with
      accuracy of 0.01 mm. Statistical Package for Social Sciences  (IBM, version 23,
      Armonk, New York, USA), Levene's ANOVA outcome informed the use of t-tests to
      compare mean differences. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used to
      evaluate the possibility of sex categorization. The significance level was set at
      95%. RESULTS: The mean +/- standard deviation values of the right (R) toes for
      the males were 49.63 +/- 4.43 mm (1T), 36.92 +/- 5.14 mm (2T), 30.35 +/- 4.95 mm
      (3T), 25.55 +/- 3.97 mm (4T) and 22.21 +/- 2.94 mm (5T), whereas the female
      values were 45.73 +/- 4.07 mm (1T), 33.31 +/- 4.66 mm (2T), 26.63 +/- 4.02 mm
      (3T), 22.89 +/- 3.43 mm (4T), and 19.77 +/- 2.70 mm (5T). The left male values
      were 49.16 +/- 4.32 mm (1T), 36.82 +/- 5.16 mm (2T), 30.88 +/- 4.91 mm (3T),
      26.13 +/- 3.99 mm (4T), and 22.46 +/- 3.24 mm (5T), whereas the female values
      were 45.33 +/- 4.05 mm (1T), 33.05 +/- 4.70 mm (2T), 27.27 +/- 4.29 mm (3T),
      23.10 +/- 3.36 mm (4T), 19.81 +/- 2.59 mm (5T). From the results, males displayed
      significantly higher mean values than females in all measured parameters (t =
      2.405, P = 0.018) with no asymmetry (P > 0.05); although T3 and T4 were larger on
      the left foot. The DFA model when tested with the present data derived a
      significant F likelihood ratio test (P < 0.001), a Wilks' lambda predictability
      value of 0.759 having a model accuracy of 69.5% with a better prediction for
      female (70%) than males (69%). CONCLUSION: The use of toe length alone may not be
      effective for sex differentiation; however, it can serve as an adjunct in
      forensic investigation involving sex identification.

PMID- 27630387
TI  - Evaluation of serum level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 in
      patients with congenital heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of the study is to assess the levels of tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in patients with congenital
      heart diseases (CHDs) and control. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this case-control
      study, sixty patients with CHD with ages of 1 month to 15 years and thirty
      healthy subjects were assessed. All objects measured in height, weight, age, sex,
      and body mass index (BMI). Patients diagnosed by echocardiography and patients'
      blood samples were 3 ml and taken in the catheterization laboratory through
      catheter and kept for 60 min at a room with normal temperature and separated
      serum has been held. All samples in compliance with the cold chain carried out to
      biochemistry laboratory and finally the levels of serum TNF-alpha and IL-6 were
      measured by Elisa Kit. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social
      Sciences version 20. Nonparametric tests by considering 95% confidence interval
      were applied. RESULTS: The mean of age in cyanotic patients was 4.28 ? 3.44
      years, a cyanotic was 3.12 ? 3.87 years and for the control group was 3.30 ? 3.61
      years. Comparison of TNF-alpha (Mann-Whitney U-test = 56.62, P < 0.001), IL-6
      (Mann-Whitney U-test = 313.5, P < 0.001), right ventricular (RV) pressure (Mann
      Whitney U-test = 27, P < 0.001), pulmonary artery (PA) pressure (Mann-Whitney U
      test = 618, P = 0.015), and BMI (Mann-Whitney U-test = 214.5, P < 0.001) in the
      case and control groups resulted in significant differences. To compare TNF-alpha
      (Chi-square = 57.82, P < 0.001), IL-6 (Chi-square = 54.70, P < 0.001), RV
      pressure (Chi-square = 71.35, P < 0.001), PA pressure (Chi-square = 5.92, P =
      00.052), oxygen saturation (Chi-square = 74.70, P < 0.001), and BMI (Chi-square =
      34.90, P < 0.001) in cyanotic, acyanotic, and control groups resulted that there
      were significant differences between these three groups except PA pressure.
      CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that in patients with CHD, serum
      levels of TNF-alpha increased but IL-6 not changed when compared to control and
      this increase in necrosis tumoral factor-alpha would be related with hypoxia and
      remarkable left to right shunt and caused growth retardation in these patients.

PMID- 27630388
TI  - Outcome of radical retropubic prostatectomy at the Lagos State University
      Teaching Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in
      Nigeria and most cases present when the disease is already in an advanced stage.
      Radical prostatectomy for early prostate cancer is therefore not a commonly
      performed operation by urologists in Nigeria. We have had training and
      significant experience in radical retropubic prostatectomy. We, therefore, report
      the outcome of our initial experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We review the
      record of men with early prostate cancer who had radical retropubic prostatectomy
      in our institution from 2007 to 2015. RESULTS: There were 34 men who had radical
      retropubic prostatectomy in the 8-year period of review. The youngest and oldest
      patients were aged 50 and 71 years, respectively. The mean age was 64.2 years.
      All the patients were diagnosed following 12-core ultrasound-guided transrectal
      prostate biopsy for elevated serum prostate specific antigen (PSA). The mean
      serum PSA was 15.3 (range 8.5-100.3) ng/ml. The disease was pT1, pT2, and pT3 in
      6, 20, and 8 patients respectively. General anesthesia was employed in 28 (82.4%)
      patients and combined epidural and subarachnoid block anesthesia for 6 (17.6%)
      patients. The total duration of operation was 128-252 min (mean = 160 min). No
      blood transfusion was given in 5 (14.7%) patients while each of the remaining 29
      (85.3%) patients had 2-5 units of blood intra- or post-operatively. There was no
      perioperative mortality. Complications include operation-induced erectile
      dysfunction in 12 (35.3%), major urinary incontinence in 1 (2.9%), lymphocele in
      2 (5.9%), and reoperation due to anastomotic leak and right ureteric injury in 1
      (2.9%). After a median follow-up of 42 months, disease recurrence has occurred in
      3 (8.8%) patients 1 (2.9%) of whom has died of diabetic renal failure.
      CONCLUSION: Radical prostatectomy can be safely performed in men with early
      prostate cancer in Nigeria and should be offered to suitable patients.

PMID- 27630389
TI  - DNA methylation analysis of secreted frizzled-related protein 2 gene for the
      early detection of colorectal cancer in fecal DNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) with high sensitivity
      screening is essential for the reduction of cancer-specific mortality. Abnormally
      methylated genes that are responsible for the pathogenesis of cancers can be used
      as biomarkers for the detection of CRC. The methylation status of the secreted
      frizzled-related protein 2 (SFRP2) gene was evaluated for their use as a marker
      in the noninvasive detection of CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Methylation-specific
      polymerase chain reaction was performed to analyze the promoter CpG methylation
      of SFRP2 in the fecal DNA of 25 patients with CRC and 25 individuals exhibiting
      normal colonoscopy results. RESULTS: Promoter methylation levels of SFRP2 in CRC
      patients and in healthy controls were 60% and 8%, respectively. Methylation of
      the SFRP2 promoter in fecal DNA is associated with the presence of colorectal
      tumors. CONCLUSION: Hence, the detection of aberrantly methylated DNA in fecal
      samples may present a promising, noninvasive screening method for CRC.

PMID- 27630390
TI  - Postexposure prophylaxis for Lassa fever: Experience from a recent outbreak in
      Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Secondary transmission of Lassa fever (LF) occurs in the community
      and in health-care facilities, and is associated with high fatality in Nigeria.
      We investigated the role of oral ribavirin postexposure prophylaxis (orPEP) in
      preventing LF among the primary contacts of confirmed cases from December 2015 to
      March 2016. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Epidemiological and clinical data of LF
      contacts were prospectively collected. However, information regarding ribavirin
      adverse effects (AEs) were collected retrospectively through a telephone
      interview. High-risk contacts were clinically monitored ? orPEP. RESULTS: Thirty
      five (94.6%) out of the 37 individuals enrolled in the study were contacts of
      confirmed LF cases, and friends and family members (54%) constituted the largest
      group. However, only 29 (83%) individuals were classified as high-risk contacts.
      Twenty-one (60%) of contacts were prescribed ribavirin with 6 (28.6%) of them
      reporting AEs. Body weakness (33%) was the most frequent AE, but there was no
      incidence of treatment discontinuation due to AE. Furthermore, there were no
      reported cases of LF among all respondents (0%), whether they had orPEP or not.
      CONCLUSION: Secondary transmission of LF seems uncommon and the benefit of orPEP
      is uncertain. Although AEs of ribavirin may not be uncommon, they are rarely
      serious enough to cause treatment interruption. More emphasis should be on
      supporting persons looking after LF cases adopt measures that minimize the risks
      of exposure.

PMID- 27630391
TI  - Erratum: Serum copper and zinc levels in preeclamptic Nigerian women.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 184 in vol. 57.]. 

PMID- 27630393
TI  - Effects of lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in exercises on lung capacity
      in healthy adults.
AB  - [Purpose] To examine the effects of lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in
      exercises on the lung capacities of healthy subjects. [Subjects and Methods]
      Twenty-nine healthy subjects with no orthopedic history of the back were
      recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a experimental group and control
      group. Subjects were allocated to one of two groups; an experimental group that
      underwent lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in exercises and a control
      group that underwent treadmill and abdominal drawing-in exercises. Lung
      capacities were evaluated 4 weeks after exercises. [Results] The experimental
      group showed significant increments in EV, ERV, IRV, VT vs. pre-intervention
      results, and the control group showed significant increments in the EVC and IRV.
      Significant intergroup differences were observed in terms of post-training gains
      in EVC, IRV, and VT. [Conclusion] Combined application of lumbopelvic sling and
      abdominal drawing-in exercises were found to have a positive effect on lung
      capacity. 

PMID- 27630392
TI  - Immediate effects of different frequencies of auditory stimulation on lower limb
      motor function of healthy people.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to explore the immediate effects of
      different frequencies of auditory stimulation on the lower limb motor function of
      healthy people. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 7 healthy people (5
      males and 2 females). The subjects' lower limb function was measured without
      auditory stimulation (control), and with auditory stimulation of 500, 1,000,
      1,500, and 2,000 Hz. The measured parameters were maximum knee extension torque,
      average knee extension torque, the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) time, Functional
      Reach (FR), and the 10-meter walking time. [Results] The TUG times of 500, 1,500,
      and 2,000 Hz auditory stimulation showed significant decreases compared to the
      control. The 10-m walking times of 1,000 and 2,000 Hz auditory stimulation showed
      significant decreases compared to the control. [Conclusion] The results show that
      auditory stimulation improved the TUG and 10-meter walking times of healthy
      people and that different frequencies of auditory stimulation had different
      effects on lower limb motor function. 

PMID- 27630394
TI  - Clinical measures as valid predictors and discriminators of the level of
      community ambulation of hemiparetic stroke survivors.
AB  - [Purpose] To investigate clinical measures as valid predictors and discriminators
      of the level of community ambulation of hemiparetic stroke survivors. [Subjects
      and Methods] Seventy-five hemiparetic stroke patients were separated into a
      community ambulation group (>0.8 m/s) and a limited community ambulation group
      (0.4-0.8 m/s). The dorsiflexor strength of the affected side, Sit to Stand (STS)
      test, Timed Up & Go (TUG) test, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment
      (FMA), Falls Efficacy Scale (FES), 2-min step test (2mST), and 6-min walk test
      (6mWT) were used for evaluation. The discriminative powers of the tests and
      measures were investigated using the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC)
      curve, and odd ratios were calculated to predict the level of community
      ambulation. [Results] The cutoff values for predicting the level of community
      ambulation (>0.8 m/s) were <14.77 s for TUG, <12.6 s for STS, a score >46.5 for
      BBS, a score >25.5 for FMA, a score <13.5 for FES, >7.5 kg for dorsiflexor
      strength, >30 times for 2mST, and >318 m for 6mWT. All clinical measures except
      FES had moderate accuracy according to the area under the curve of 0.76-0.88 (70
      93%). [Conclusion] Clinical measures (except FES) have moderate validity in
      predicting the level of community ambulation of stroke survivors. 

PMID- 27630395
TI  - Association of neuropathic pain with ultrasonographic measurements of femoral
      cartilage thickness and clinical parameters in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate whether neuropathic pain is
      associated with femoral condylar cartilage thickness, electrical pain threshold,
      and clinical parameters in patients with knee osteoarthritis. [Subjects and
      Methods] Sixty patients over the age of 40 diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis
      were enrolled. The PainDETECT questionnaire, Western Ontario and McMaster
      Universities Osteoarthritis Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and
      Short Form-36 questionnaire were completed for all patients. Electrical sensory
      threshold and electrical pain threshold measurements were obtained. Femoral
      condylar cartilage thickness was determined by means of ultrasound. [Results]
      PainDETECT scores of 13 or greater were observed in 28 (46.7%) patients,
      indicating the presence of neuropathic pain. These patients were found to have
      greater average pain severity, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
      Osteoarthritis Index, and depression and anxiety scores and lower Short Form-36
      scores than patients without neuropathic pain. Patients with neuropathic pain
      showed lower knee electrical sensory threshold and pain threshold values on
      average than patients without neuropathic pain. Femoral condylar cartilage
      thickness was not different between the two groups. [Conclusion] Neuropathic pain
      is associated with increased pain severity and decreased functional capacity and
      adversely affects quality of life and mood in patients with knee osteoarthritis. 

PMID- 27630396
TI  - Long-term interventions effects of robotic training on patients after anterior
      cruciate ligament reconstruction.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to examine the long-term interventions
      effects of robot-assisted therapy rehabilitation on functional activity levels
      after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. [Subjects and Methods] The
      subjects were 8 patients (6 males and 2 females) who received anterior cruciate
      ligament reconstruction. The subjects participated in robot-assisted therapy
      lasting for one month. The Timed Up-and-Go test, 10-Meter Walk test, Functional
      Reach Test, surface electromyography of the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis,
      and extensor strength of isokinetic movement of the knee joint were evaluated
      before and after the intervention. [Results] The average value of the of vastus
      medialis EMG, Functional Reach Test, and the maximum and average extensor
      strength of the knee joint isokinetic movement increased significantly, and the
      time of the 10-Meter Walk test decreased significantly. [Conclusion] These
      results suggest that walking ability and muscle strength can be improved by
      robotic walking training as a long-term intervention. 

PMID- 27630397
TI  - The relationship between the load on the knee joint during walking and the
      biomechanical characteristics of single-leg standing.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship
      between the external knee adduction moment (KAM) during walking and the
      biomechanical characteristics of single-leg standing in healthy subjects.
      [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-eight healthy subjects were recruited for this
      study. Data were collected while the subjects performed walking and single-leg
      standing using a motion analysis system with six digital video cameras and two
      force plates. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to quantify the
      relationship between peak KAM during walking and single-leg standing. To
      determine whether the kinematic behavior of the pelvis and trunk during single
      leg standing are associated with peak KAM during walking, Pearson's correlation
      coefficients were calculated and stepwise linear regression was performed.
      [Results] The peak KAM during single-leg standing was significantly correlated
      with that during walking. The peak KAM during walking was significantly
      correlated with the peak lateral lean of the trunk and the peak lateral tilt of
      the pelvis during single-leg standing. The results of stepwise linear regression
      analysis show the peak KAM during walking was partially explained by the peak
      lateral lean of the trunk during single-leg standing. [Conclusion] Our findings
      suggest that single-leg standing might be a useful method for predicting the peak
      KAM during walking. 

PMID- 27630398
TI  - Bone mass and vitamin D levels in Parkinson's disease: is there any difference
      between genders?
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to determine the bone mineral density,
      vitamin D level, and frequencies of osteopenia and osteoporosis in patients with
      Parkinson's disease and to compare male and female patients with the controls
      separately. [Subjects and Methods] One hundred fifteen Parkinson's disease
      patients (47 males, 68 females; age range: 55-85 years) and 117 age- and gender
      matched controls (47 males, 70 females) were enrolled in the study. Bone mineral
      density measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and serum D vitamin levels
      of each participant were recorded. [Results] The mean lumbar spine, femur neck,
      and total femur bone mineral density levels, T-scores, and vitamin D levels were
      found to be significantly lower in Parkinson's disease patients in both genders.
      Furthermore, osteoporosis rates were found be significantly higher only in female
      Parkinson's disease patients compared with female controls. [Conclusion] Data
      from the present study revealed that while osteoporosis was significantly higher
      only in female Parkinson's disease patients, all Parkinson's disease patients had
      lower bone mineral density scores and vitamin D levels compared with the controls
      regardless of gender, suggesting that clinicians should pay attention to the
      osteoporosis risk in Parkinson's disease and that adequate preventive measures
      should be taken in order to limit the future risk due to osteoporotic fractures. 

PMID- 27630399
TI  - Absolute and relative reliability of lumbar interspinous process ultrasound
      imaging measurements.
AB  - [Purpose] The intra- and inter-examiner reliabilities of lumbar interspinous
      process distances measured by ultrasound imaging were examined. [Subjects and
      Methods] The subjects were 10 males who had no history of orthopedic diseases or
      dysfunctions. Ten lumbar interspinous images from 360 images captured from 10
      subjects were selected. The 10 images were measured by nine examiners. The lumbar
      interspinous process distance measurements were performed five times by each
      examiner. In addition, four of the nine examiners measured the distances again
      after 4 days for test-retest analysis. In statistical analysis, the intraclass
      correlation coefficient was used to investigate relative reliability, and Bland
      Altman analysis was used to investigate absolute reliability. [Results] The
      intraclass correlation coefficients (1, 1) for intra-examiner reliability ranged
      from 0.985 to 0.998. For inter-rater reliability, the intraclass correlation
      coefficient (2, 1) was 0.969. The intraclass correlation coefficients (1, 2) for
      test-retest reliability ranged from 0.991 to 0.999. The Bland-Altman analysis
      results indicated no systematic error. [Conclusion] The results indicate that
      ultrasound measurements of interspinous process distance are highly reliable even
      when measured only once by a single person. 

PMID- 27630400
TI  - Rehabilitation outcomes in patients with early and two-stage reconstruction of
      flexor tendon injuries.
AB  - [Purpose] The primary aim of this study was to assess rehabilitation outcomes for
      early and two-stage repair of hand flexor tendon injuries. The secondary purpose
      of this study was to compare the findings between treatment groups. [Subjects and
      Methods] Twenty-three patients were included in this study. Early repair (n=14)
      and two-stage repair (n=9) groups were included in a rehabilitation program that
      used hand splints. This retrospective evaluated patients according to their
      demographic characteristics, including age, gender, injured hand, dominant hand,
      cause of injury, zone of injury, number of affected fingers, and accompanying
      injuries. Pain, range of motion, and grip strength were evaluated using a visual
      analog scale, goniometer, and dynamometer, respectively. [Results] Both groups
      showed significant improvements in pain and finger flexion after treatment
      compared with baseline measurements. However, no significant differences were
      observed between the two treatment groups. Similar results were obtained for grip
      strength and pinch grip, whereas gross grip was better in the early tendon repair
      group. [Conclusion] Early and two-stage reconstruction of patients with flexor
      tendon injuries can be performed with similarly favorable responses and effective
      rehabilitation programs. 

PMID- 27630401
TI  - The effects of hippotherapy on postural balance and functional ability in
      children with cerebral palsy.
AB  - [Purpose] This study evaluated the effects of hippotherapy on seated postural
      balance, dynamic balance, and functional performance in children with cerebral
      palsy and compared the effects of 12 and 24 sessions on seated postural balance.
      [Subjects and Methods] This study included 15 children with cerebral palsy aged
      between 5 and 10 years. INTERVENTIONS: A hippotherapy protocol was performed for
      30 minutes, twice a week, for 12 weeks. Postural balance in a sitting position
      was measured using an AMTI AccuSway Plus force platform 1 week before initiating
      the hippotherapy program and after 12 and 24 weeks. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS)
      and Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) were used before and
      after 24 sessions. [Results] Significant differences were observed for center of
      pressure (COP) variables, including medio-lateral (COPml), anteroposterior
      displacement (COPap), and velocity of displacement (VelCOP), particularly after
      24 sessions. There were also significant differences in BBS scores and PEDI score
      increases associated with functional skills (self-care, social function, and
      mobility), caregiver assistance (self-care), social function, and mobility.
      [Conclusion] Hippotherapy resulted in improvement in postural balance in the
      sitting position, dynamic balance, and functionality in children with cerebral
      palsy, an effect particularly significant after 24 hippotherapy sessions.

PMID- 27630402
TI  - Effects of 12-week exercise training on osteocalcin, high-sensitivity C-reactive
      protein concentrations, and insulin resistance in elderly females with
      osteoporosis.
AB  - [Purpose] This study examined the effects of exercise training on bone metabolism
      markers, inflammatory markers, and physical fitness in patients with osteoporosis
      from an osteoporosis-related immunological perspective. [Subjects and Methods]
      Twenty-nine elderly female subjects (age, 74.2 +/- 3.2 years) were classified
      into normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups based on the T-score measured
      using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The exercise was performed voluntarily by
      the patients for 1 hour per day, three times per week, for 12 weeks. [Results]
      The differences between bone mineral content, bone mineral density, and
      osteocalcin concentrations increased significantly in the osteoporosis group
      after 12 weeks of exercise and were significantly higher than those in the normal
      and osteopenia groups. However, the homeostatic model assessment of insulin
      resistance score decreased significantly in the osteoporosis group after 12 weeks
      of exercise. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentrations tended to
      decrease in all groups after 12 weeks of exercise and showed an inverse
      correlation with osteocalcin concentration; however, no statistical significance
      was observed. [Conclusion] Our findings suggest that an exercise program in
      patients with osteopenia and osteoporosis effectively reduces the risk of
      osteoporotic fracture and related diseases since it improves bone density and
      physical fitness and reduces inflammatory marker levels. 

PMID- 27630403
TI  - The effect of Monkey Chair and Band exercise system on shoulder range of motion
      and pain in post-stroke patients with hemiplegia.
AB  - [Purpose] A simple rehabilitation device system for strengthening upper limb
      muscles in hemiplegic patients was developed. This system, which stimulates
      active exercise while accounting for intensity, time, and frequency, was examined
      in the present pilot study. [Subjects and Methods] Patients had shoulder pain and
      limited shoulder movement. Changes in range of motion (ROM) and scores of a
      visual analog scale (VAS) for pain were evaluated in the experimental and control
      groups every four weeks for twelve weeks. The modified motor assessment scale
      (MMAS) was used before and after experiments. [Results] Significant differences
      between experimental times in ROM for shoulder flexion, abduction, and adduction
      on the paralyzed side were observed in the experimental group at every time
      point. Pain VAS scores in the experimental group improved progressively and
      significantly with time, indicating a consistently increasing effect of exercise.
      There were significant differences between the MMAS scores before and after
      completion of the program in the experimental group. [Conclusion] Muscle
      strengthening is important in hemiplegic patients, and active exercise was more
      efficient than passive exercise in this regard. Rehabilitation with the Monkey
      Chair and Band system may represent an efficient and important tool in upper limb
      training and comprehensive modern rehabilitation therapy. 

PMID- 27630404
TI  - Analysis of the reliability of the make test in young adults by using a hand-held
      dynamometer.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to analyze intra-rater and inter-rater
      reliabilities of the make test, a manual muscle testing measurement method, using
      a hand-held dynamometer in Korean young adults. [Subjects and Methods] A total of
      42 university students participated in this study. The make test, a manual muscle
      testing method, was conducted. A hand-held dynamometer was used to measure elbow
      joint flexion during the make test. [Results] Both intra-rater (the intraclass
      correlation coefficient=0.992) and inter-rater reliabilities (the intraclass
      correlation coefficient=0.949) were excellent, with values over 0.9. [Conclusion]
      The make test is a useful manual muscle testing method with high intra-rater and
      inter-rater reliability. 

PMID- 27630405
TI  - Correlation between toe flexor strength and ankle dorsiflexion ROM during the
      countermovement jump.
AB  - [Purpose] This study assessed the relationships between peak toe flexor muscle
      strength, ankle dorsiflexion range of motion, and countermovement jump height.
      [Subjects and Methods] Eighteen healthy volunteers participated in the study.
      Each participant completed tests for peak toe flexor muscle strength, ankle
      dorsiflexion range of motion, and countermovement jump height. [Results] The
      results showed (1) a moderate correlation between ankle dorsiflexion range of
      motion and countermovement jump height and (2) a high correlation between peak
      first toe flexor muscle strength and countermovement jump height. Peak first toe
      flexor muscle strength and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion are the main
      contributors to countermovement jump performance. [Conclusion] These findings
      indicate that the measurement of peak first toe flexor muscle strength and ankle
      dorsiflexion range of motion may be useful in clinical practice for improving
      jump performance in athletes training for sports such as volleyball and
      basketball. 

PMID- 27630406
TI  - Comparison of joint kinematics and pedaling force in the young and the elderly.
AB  - [Purpose] Proper pedaling posture can improve muscle strength and cardiopulmonary
      function. To investigate proper pedaling posture for the elderly, this study
      compared the pedaling efficiency of the elderly with that of the young by using
      an index of effectiveness (IE) and kinematic results. [Subjects and Methods]
      Eight adults in their twenties and eight in their seventies participated in 3
      min, 40 rpm cycle pedaling tests, with the same load and cadence. The joint
      angle, range of motion (ROM), and IE were compared by measuring 3-dimensional
      motion and 3-axis pedal-reaction force during 4 pedaling phases (Phase 1: 330-30
      degrees , Phase 2: 30-150 degrees , Phase 3: 150-210 degrees , and Phase 4: 210
      330 degrees ). [Results] The knee and ankle ROM, maximum knee extension, and
      maximum ankle dorsiflexion in the elderly were significantly decreased compared
      with those in the young. Moreover, there were significant differences in IE for
      the total phase, Phase 1, and Phase 4 between the elderly and young. IE of the
      young was greater than that of the elderly, except in Phase 3. [Conclusion] Joint
      movement in the elderly during pedaling was limited. This study provides
      information that will facilitate the proposal of an efficient pedaling method for
      the elderly. 

PMID- 27630407
TI  - Ultrasonographic evaluation of the femoral cartilage thickness in patients with
      hypothyroidism.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hypothyroidism
      on femoral cartilage thickness by using ultrasound, which has been found to be
      useful in the early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. [Subjects and Methods]
      Forty patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism and 30 age-, gender-, smoking
      status, physical activity-, and body mass index-matched healthy subjects were
      enrolled. The thickness of the femoral articular cartilage was measured using a 7
      to 12-MHz linear probe. Three mid-point measurements were taken from each knee
      at the lateral condyle, intercondylar area, and medial condyle. [Results] Age,
      gender, body mass index, smoking status, and physical activity were similar
      between the groups, but patients with hypothyroidism had thinner femoral
      cartilage than the healthy controls at all measurement sites. Nonetheless, the
      differences were not statistically significant (except in the case of the left
      medial condyle). [Conclusion] Ultrasonographic measurement of femoral cartilage
      thickness may be useful in the early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis in patients
      with hypothyroidism. 

PMID- 27630409
TI  - Correlation between accelerometry and clinical balance testing in stroke.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the
      Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and acceleration of postural sway in the Clinical Test
      of Sensory Interaction and Balance (CTSIB) by using a triaxial accelerometer for
      quantitative assessment. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-seven stroke patients
      participated in this study. Balance ability was evaluated with the BBS, and
      postural sway was evaluated with a triaxial accelerometer. The data were then
      analyzed for frequency and correlation by using statistical software (SPSS 18.0).
      [Result] Acceleration in left-right and forward-backward directions in all
      conditions of the CTSIB assessment showed a significant correlation with BBS
      assessment. Acceleration in Signal Vector Magnitude values in condition 3 of the
      CTSIB assessment showed a significant correlation with BBS assessment.
      [Conclusion] This study revealed that postural sway represented balance ability
      as acceleration in the quantitative measurement of kinematic analysis. This
      finding suggests that the triaxial accelerometer could be used as a measurement
      tool in clinical conditions. 

PMID- 27630410
TI  - Reliability and validity of the modified functional ambulation category scale in
      patients with hemiparalysis.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to examine the inter- and intra-rater reliability and
      validity of the modified functional ambulation category (mFAC) scale. [Subjects
      and Methods] The participants were 66 stroke patients with hemiparalysis. The
      inter- and intra-rater validity of the mFAC was calculated using the Spearman
      correlation coefficient. A score comparison of the stable or maximum gait speed
      with regard to mFAC and modified Rivermead Mobility Index (mRMI) performances was
      performed as a univariate linear regression analysis to determine how the Kruskal
      Wallis test affects the mRMI and stable/maximum gait speed with regard to mFAC.
      [Results] The inter-rater reliability of the mFAC (intraclass coefficient [ICC])
      was 0.982 (0.971-0.989), with a kappa coefficient of 0.923 and a consistency
      ratio of 94%. In contrast, the intra-rater reliability of the mFAC (ICC) was
      0.991 (0.986-0.995), with a kappa coefficient of 0.961 and a consistency ratio of
      96%, showing higher reliability. Moreover, there was a significant difference in
      stable/maximum gait speed between the mFAC and the mRMI. [Conclusion] Since the
      mFAC has sufficient inter- and intra-reliability and high validity, it can be
      used as an assessment tool that reflects the gait performance and mobility of
      stroke patients. 

PMID- 27630408
TI  - Post-stroke depression inhibits improvement in activities of daily living in
      patients in a convalescent rehabilitation ward.
AB  - [Purpose] There have been no investigations into the improvement of activities of
      daily living among patients suffering from post-stroke depression on admission to
      convalescent rehabilitation wards in Japan. This study aimed to assess the
      improvement of activities in daily living in patients with or without post-stroke
      depression at the time of admission to a convalescent rehabilitation ward.
      [Subjects and Methods] This retrospective study included 108 stroke patients
      divided into two groups according to their Geriatric Depression Scale 15-item
      short form scores. Activities of daily living were assessed using the Functional
      Independence Measure. The degree of improvement on the Functional Independence
      Measure was defined as the difference between scores on admission and at
      discharge. [Results] The Functional Independence Measure gain score was
      significantly different from the Functional Independence Measure total score.
      There was a significant interaction between time period and post-stroke
      depression factors for the Functional Independence Measure total score. A
      multiple regression analysis revealed a significant association between Geriatric
      Depression Scale score and Functional Independence Measure total score.
      [Conclusion] The present study suggests that post-stroke depression has a
      negative impact on recovery of activities of daily living and on rehabilitation
      outcomes in a convalescent rehabilitation ward setting. 

PMID- 27630411
TI  - Measurement of balance function and community participation in stroke survivors.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the relationship between balance
      function and community participation in stroke survivors. [Subjects and Methods]
      Sixty-three patients diagnosed with hemiparetic stroke participated in this study
      (36 males, 27 females, aged 58.6 +/- 15.2 years). The participants were assessed
      for balance function and their level of participation in the community, using
      activity card sorting and the Berg Balance Scale. A regression analysis was used
      to identify the influence of balance function on instrumental activities of daily
      living and leisure and social activities. [Results] The results of the regression
      analysis indicated that balance function measured by using the Berg Balance Scale
      affected community participation of patients with hemiparetic stroke.
      Participation in instrumental activities of daily living and leisure and social
      activities was affected by balance function. [Conclusion] This study provides
      useful information for designing efficient programs and identifying their
      effectiveness for enhancement of community participation in stroke survivors. 

PMID- 27630412
TI  - The influence of a medio-lateral unstable sole on invertor and evertor activation
      while descending stairs.
AB  - [Purpose] This study examined the effects of a medio-lateral unstable sole on
      invertor and evertor activation while descending stairs. [Subjects and Methods]
      The subjects were 30 university students with no history of ankle sprain. They
      descended stairs while wearing the medio-lateral unstable sole or with bare feet.
      Electromyography was used to record the activity of the tibialis anterior and
      peroneus longus and brevis muscles and paired t-tests were used to assess
      statistical significance. [Results] The medio-lateral unstable sole group showed
      increased tibialis anterior and peroneus longus and brevis muscle activation
      compared to the barefoot group. [Conclusion] Medio-lateral unstable sole can be
      used with exercises to prevent further ankle damage by activating both the
      inversion and eversion muscles. 

PMID- 27630413
TI  - Clinical and electrophysiological evaluation of neutral wrist nocturnal splinting
      in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
AB  - [Purpose] To prospectively assess the effectiveness of neutral wrist nocturnal
      splinting in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) by using clinical scores
      and nerve conduction studies (NCS). [Subjects and Methods] Forty-one patients
      enrolled in the study were clinically evaluated by a symptom severity scale (SSS)
      and functional status scale (FSS), and were electrophysiologically evaluated by
      conventional NCS; distal motor latency (DML), sensory conduction velocity (SCV),
      and difference in sensory latency between the median and ulnar nerves (DeltaDSL)
      were measured. Subjects were treated with wrist splinting. Patients who showed no
      improvement in symptoms were treated with other conservative treatments, the
      remaining patients continued to wear splints. SSS, FSS, and NCS were evaluated
      after splinting as well. [Results] The follow-up was completed in 20 patients (31
      wrists) with splinting. SSS and FSS decreased, the DML shortened and DeltaDSL
      decreased significantly after splinting for 3.03 +/- 1.16 months. There were
      significant correlations between SSS and DML, SCV of wrist digit 2, and SCV of
      wrist digit 4. No correlations were found between SSS and DeltaDSL, and FSS and
      the parameters of NCS. [Conclusion] Neutral wrist nocturnal splinting is
      effective in at least short term for CTS patients. There is a weak correlation
      between clinical scores and NCS, which suggests that both approaches should be
      used to effectively assess the therapeutic effect of CTS treatment. 

PMID- 27630414
TI  - Correlation between the gross motor performance measurement and pediatric balance
      scale with respect to movement disorder in children with cerebral palsy.
AB  - [Purpose] To determine whether the Gross Motor Performance Measurement is useful
      in predicting the future score of the Pediatric Balance Scale, this study
      examined the correlation between the 2 measurement tools with respect to movement
      disorder in children with cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 38
      study subjects with cerebral palsy were divided into 3 groups (spastic,
      dyskinetic, and ataxic) by means of systematic proportional stratified sampling
      in accordance with the characteristics of their movement disorders. [Results] The
      spastic Pediatric Balance Scale had an intermediate level of positive correlation
      with dissociated movement (r=0.411), alignment (r=0.518), and weight shift
      (r=0.461). The dyskinetic Pediatric Balance Scale had a strong positive
      correlation with dissociated movement (r=0.905), coordination (r=0.882),
      alignment (r=0.930), and stability (r=0.924). The ataxic Pediatric Balance Scale
      had an intermediate level of positive correlation with the overall Gross Motor
      Performance Measurement (r=0.636), and a strong positive correlation with
      dissociated movement (r=0.866), coordination (r=0.871) and stability (r=0.984).
      [Conclusion] Gross Motor Performance Measurement is important in evaluating the
      quality of movement, and can be considered an excellent supplementary tool in
      predicting functional balance. 

PMID- 27630415
TI  - Noninvasive ventilation on mortality of acute respiratory distress syndrome.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of noninvasive
      ventilation (NIV) in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). [Subjects and
      Methods] The clinical data of 58 patients with ARDS that required mechanical
      ventilation in two intensive care units (ICU) was reviewed. [Results]
      Endotracheal intubation was performed in 55.17% of the total patients and in
      39.53% of the patients who received NIV treatment. The APACHE II score for
      patients who only received IV was significantly higher than those who only
      underwent NIV (25.67 +/- 5.30 vs. 18.12 +/- 7.20). However, there were no
      significant differences in 28-day/90-day survival rates, duration of mechanical
      ventilation, and length of ICU stay between these two groups. For patients from a
      NIV-to-IV group, the APACHE II scores before endotracheal intubation were higher
      than the scores from IV patients (26.12 +/- 4.08 vs. 21.94 +/- 6.10). The 90-day
      survival rate in the NIV-to-IV group was significantly lower than that of the IV
      only group (23.5% vs. 73.3%), although there was no difference in the 28-day
      survival rate between the two groups. [Conclusion] The application of NIV reduces
      the percentage of patients requiring endotracheal intubation. 

PMID- 27630416
TI  - The correlation between muscle activity of the quadriceps and balance and gait in
      stroke patients.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between
      quadriceps muscle activity and balance and gait in stroke patients. [Subjects and
      Methods] Fifty-five stroke patients (30 males 25 females; mean age 58.7 years;
      stroke duration 4.82 months; Korean mini-mental state examination score 26.4)
      participated in this study. MP100 surface electromyography, BioRescue, and
      LUKOtronic were used to measure the quadriceps muscle activity, balance, and
      gait, respectively. [Results] There was a significant correlation between
      quadriceps muscle activity (vastus lateralis % reference voluntary contraction,
      vastus medialis % reference voluntary contraction) and balance (limits of
      stability) and gait (gait velocity) but there was none between vastus lateralis %
      reference voluntary contraction, vastus medialis % reference voluntary
      contraction. [Conclusion] An increase in quadriceps muscle activity will improve
      balance and gait ability. To improve function in stroke patients, training is
      needed to strengthen the quadriceps muscles. 

PMID- 27630417
TI  - Using health games for rehabilitation of patients with infantile cerebral palsy.
AB  - [Purpose] The purposes of this study were to evaluate whether the therapeutic
      games developed by the study team are significantly effective for upper limb
      rehabilitation of patients with cerebral palsy and to assess the development of
      the games and the evolution of patients throughout the therapy sessions.
      [Subjects and Methods] This study demonstrates the results of using therapeutic
      games in patients with infantile cerebral palsy. The therapies were performed in
      30-minute sessions for about 1 to 4 months. This study shows the progress of five
      children with cerebral palsy during the sessions. The time it took the children
      on each road and the times required to complete a task were measured. In
      addition, the level of difficulty of the games was gradually increased at each
      session. [Results] Results have shown good progress on the accuracy of the
      movements and an increase in concentration level during the execution of the
      games, showing an improvement in the patients' performance by 40-55% faster.
      [Conclusions] Health games encourage children to comply with therapy. The
      advantage of the game is that the patient can perform the therapy at home, which
      could help achieve further progress in patients. 

PMID- 27630418
TI  - The effects of bilateral movement training on upper limb function in chronic
      stroke patients.
AB  - [Purpose] This study compared the functional and kinematic changes associated
      with two rehabilitation protocols: bilateral and unilateral movement training.
      [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-five patients with chronic stroke were randomly
      assigned to two training protocols for four weeks of training. Each training
      session consisted of three tasks. The tasks were performed with either the
      impaired and unimpaired arms moving synchronously (bilateral training) or with
      the impaired arm alone (unilateral training). To compare the changes associated
      with each rehabilitation protocol, functional and kinematic assessments were
      performed before and after the interventions. The functional state of each
      patient was measured by the Box and Block Test, and the kinematic variables were
      assessed by three-dimensional motion analysis. The Box and Block Test was used to
      assess the functional abilities of the affected upper limb. Kinematic
      measurements of upper limb movement were measured with a 3-dimensional motion
      analysis system. [Results] Results showed that the bilateral movement group had
      significantly improved motion of the shoulder compared to the unilateral movement
      group. [Conclusion] Bilateral movement training should be used to improve upper
      limb function in patients with chronic stroke. 

PMID- 27630419
TI  - The immediate effects of therapeutic keyboard music playing for finger training
      in adults undergoing hand rehabilitation.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effects of
      therapeutic keyboard music playing on the finger function of subjects' hands
      through measurements of the joint position error test, surface electromyography,
      probe reaction time, and writing time. [Subjects and Methods] Ten subjects were
      divided randomly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group
      used therapeutic keyboard music playing and the control group used grip training.
      All subjects were assessed and evaluated by the joint position error test,
      surface electromyography, probe reaction time, and writing time. [Results] After
      accomplishing therapeutic keyboard music playing and grip training, surface
      electromyography of the two groups showed no significant change, but joint
      position error test, probe reaction time, and writing time obviously improved.
      [Conclusion] These results suggest that therapeutic keyboard music playing is an
      effective and novel treatment for improving joint position error test scores,
      probe reaction time, and writing time, and it should be promoted widely in
      clinics. 

PMID- 27630420
TI  - Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the community balance and
      mobility scale in patients with hemiplegia after stroke.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to translate and adapt the Community Balance
      and Mobility Scale (CB&M) into Korean (K-CB&M) and to verify the reliability and
      validity of scores obtained with Korean patients. [Subjects and Methods] A total
      of 16 subjects were recruited from St. Vincent's Hospital in South Korea. At each
      testing session, subjects completed the K-CB&M, Berg balance scale (BBS), timed
      up and go test (TUG), and functional reaching test. All tests were administered
      by a physical therapist, and subjects completed the tests in an identical
      standardized order during all testing sessions. [Results] The inter- and intra
      rater reliability coefficients were high for most subscores, while moderate inter
      rater reliability was observed for the items "walking and looking" and "walk,
      look, and carry", and moderate intra-rater reliability was observed for "forward
      to backward walking". There was a positive correlation between the K-CB&M and BBS
      and a negative correlation between the K-CB&M and TUG in the convergent validity
      assessments. [Conclusion] The reliability and validity of the K-CB&M was high,
      suggesting that clinical practitioners treating Korean patients with hemiplegia
      can use this material for assessing static and dynamic balance. 

PMID- 27630421
TI  - Measurement of force sense reproduction in the knee joint: application of a new
      dynamometric device.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of a newly
      designed dynamometric device for use in frequent force producing/reproducing
      tasks on the knee joint. [Subjects and Methods] In this cross-sectional study
      (Development & Reliability), 30 young healthy males and females (age 23.4 +/-
      2.48 years) were selected among students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
      by simple randomized selection. The study instrument was designed to measure any
      isometric contraction force exerted by the knee joint flexor/extensor muscles,
      known as the ipsilateral and contralateral methods. Participant knees were fixed
      in 60 degrees  flexion, and each participant completed the entire set of
      measurements twice, 72 hours apart. [Results] The findings showed a good
      intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.73 to 0.81 for all muscle groups. The
      standard error of measurement and smallest detectable difference for flexor
      muscle groups were 0.37 and 1.02, respectively, while the values increased to
      standard error of measurement=0.38 and smallest detectable difference=1.05 for
      extensor muscle groups. [Conclusion] The device designed could quantify the
      forces producing/reproducing tasks on the knee joint with a high rate of
      reliability, and can probably be applied for outcome measurements in
      proprioceptive assessment of the knee joint. 

PMID- 27630423
TI  - Association between floating toe and toe grip strength in school age children: a
      cross-sectional study.
AB  - [Purpose] This study investigated the association between floating toe and toe
      grip strength. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 635 Japanese children aged 9-11
      years participated in this study. Floating toe was evaluated using footprint
      images, while toe grip strength was measured using a toe grip dynamometer. All
      1,270 feet were classified into a floating toe group and a normal toe group
      according to visual evaluation of the footprint images. Intergroup differences in
      toe grip strength were analyzed using the unpaired t-test and logistic regression
      analysis adjusted for age, gender, and Rohrer Index. [Results] There were 512
      feet (40.3%) in the floating toe group. Mean toe grip strength of the feet with
      floating toe was significantly lower than that of normal feet (floating toe
      group, 12.9 +/- 3.7 kg; normal toe group, 13.6 +/- 4.1 kg). In addition, lower
      toe grip strength was associated with floating toe on logistic regression
      analysis after adjustment for age, gender, and Rohrer Index (odds ratio, 0.954;
      95% confidence interval, 0.925-0.984). [Conclusion] This study revealed that
      lower toe grip strength was significantly associated with floating toe.
      Therefore, increasing toe grip strength may play a role in preventing floating
      toe in school age children. 

PMID- 27630422
TI  - Correlations between sagittal plane kinematics and landing impact force during
      single-leg lateral jump-landings.
AB  - [Purpose] The correlations of peak vertical ground reaction force and sagittal
      angles during single-leg lateral jump-landing with noncontact anterior cruciate
      ligament injury remain unknown. This study aimed to clarify the correlations
      between kinematics and impact force during lateral jump-landing. [Subjects and
      Methods] Twenty active males were included in the analysis. A sagittal-view movie
      camera and force plate were time synchronized. Trunk and lower extremity sagittal
      angles were measured 100 ms before initial contact and at peak vertical ground
      reaction force. Peak vertical ground reaction force, time between initial contact
      and peak vertical ground reaction force, and loading rate were calculated.
      [Results] The mean sagittal angle was 40.7 degrees  +/- 7.7 degrees  for knee
      flexion during the flight phase and 16.4 degrees  +/- 6.3 degrees  for pelvic
      anterior inclination during the landing phase. The mean peak vertical ground
      reaction force was four times the body weight. The median time to peak vertical
      ground reaction force was 63.8 ms. The knee flexion during the flight phase and
      pelvic anterior inclination angles during the landing phase were related to the
      peak vertical ground reaction force. [Conclusion] Increasing knee flexion and
      decreasing pelvic anterior inclination might reduce the impact during single-leg
      lateral jump-landing. 

PMID- 27630425
TI  - Differences in gait velocity and trunk acceleration during semicircular turning
      gait with and without bag in females of very advanced age.
AB  - [Purpose] Gait velocity and trunk acceleration during semicircular turning gait
      with and without carrying a hand-held bag were compared in females of very
      advanced age. [Subjects and Methods] Ten female volunteers of very advanced age
      who could walk independently were recruited for this study. Gait velocity and
      trunk acceleration were measured using an accelerometer during semicircular
      turning gait with and without carrying a hand-held bag. [Results] Gait velocity
      during semicircular turning gait was greater with the bag than without the bag.
      [Conclusions] Trunk stability during semicircular turning gait was higher when
      the subjects carried a bag. Additional arm load could be considered during gait
      training in females of very advanced age. 

PMID- 27630424
TI  - Effect of Mulligan's mobilization with movement technique on gait function in
      stroke patients.
AB  - [Purpose] We examined the effectiveness of Mulligan's mobilization with movement
      (MWM) technique on spatiotemporal variables of gait in individuals who had a
      stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-four subjects were randomly divided into 2
      groups: Mulligan's mobilization with movement group (n=12) and "weight-bearing
      with placebo" mobilization with movement group (n=12). The subjects in the
      mobilization with movement group performed 5 sets of 10 glides a day, 5 times a
      week for 4 weeks. The mobilization with movement technique comprised grade III
      movements that involved gliding and resting. The control group subjects performed
      lunges in the same conditions as those of the experimental group. Gait function
      was measured in terms of spatiotemporal parameters to determine the effect of
      mobilization with movement. [Results] The mobilization with movement group showed
      significant improvements in velocity, cadence, stride length, single-support
      time, and step length of the affected side, and step length and stride length of
      the non-affected side. Overall, the mobilization with movement group showed
      significantly greater improvements than the control group in terms of velocity,
      cadence, and single-support time of the affected side. [Conclusion] Mobilization
      with movement can be used to improve the gait function of patients recovering
      from stroke. 

PMID- 27630426
TI  - Effects of increasing physical activity on foot structure and ankle muscle
      strength in adults with obesity.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of increasing
      physical activity on foot structure and ankle muscle strength in adults with
      obesity and to verify whether the rate of change in foot structure is related to
      that in ankle muscle strength. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-seven adults with
      obesity completed a 12-week program in which the intensity of physical activity
      performed was gradually increased. Physical activity was monitored using a three
      axis accelerometer. Foot structure was assessed using a three-dimensional foot
      scanner, while ankle muscle strength was measured using a dynamometry. [Results]
      With the increasing physical activity, the participants' feet became thinner (the
      rearfoot width, instep height, and girth decreased) and the arch became higher
      (the arch height index increased) and stiffer (the arch stiffness index
      increased); the ankle muscle strength also increased after the intervention.
      Additionally, the changes in the arch height index and arch stiffness index were
      not associated with changes in ankle muscle strength. [Conclusion] Increasing
      physical activity may be one possible approach to improve foot structure and
      function in individuals with obesity. 

PMID- 27630427
TI  - Correlations between metabolic syndrome, serologic factors, and gallstones.
AB  - [Purpose] This study investigated the serologic factors associated with metabolic
      syndrome and gallstones. [Subjects and Methods] The study evaluated subjects who
      visited a health promotion center in Seoul from March 2, 2013 to February 28,
      2014, and had undergone abdominal ultrasonography. Height, weight, and blood
      pressure were measured. Blood sampling was performed for high-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting blood glucose, total bilirubin, direct
      bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine
      aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, uric acid, total cholesterol, low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol, thyroid stimulating hormone, and red and white blood
      cell counts. We conducted logistic regression analysis to assess the risk factors
      associated with metabolic syndrome. [Results] The risk factors for metabolic
      syndrome in men, in order of decreasing weight, were red blood cell count, body
      mass index, maximum size of gallstones, white blood cell count, waist
      circumference, and uric acid level. The factors in women, in order of decreasing
      weight, were red blood cell count, presence/absence of gallstones, uric acid
      level, body mass index, fasting blood glucose, and waist circumference.
      [Conclusion] Most serum biochemical factors and gallstone occurrence could be
      used to indicate the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome, independent of
      gender. 

PMID- 27630428
TI  - Three-dimensional motion analysis of lumbopelvic rhythm during lateral trunk
      bending.
AB  - [Purpose] To examine the variations in the lumbopelvic rhythm and lumbar-hip
      ratio in the frontal plane. [Subjects and Methods] Markers were placed on the T10
      and T12 spinous processes, bilateral paravertebral muscles at the T11 level, the
      pelvis, and the femur. Lumbar spine and hip angles were measured during lateral
      trunk bending using three-dimensional motion analysis. Data from the trunk
      lateral bending movement were categorized into descending (start of hip movement
      to when the hip angle reached its maximum value) and ascending (from the maximum
      hip angle to the end of movement) phases. The lumbar-hip ratio was calculated as
      the ratio of the lumbar spine angle to the hip angle. [Results] The lumbar-hip
      ratio decreased from 5.9 to 3.6 in the descending phase, indicating lumbar spinal
      movement was less than hip movement. In the ascending phase, the lumbar-hip ratio
      was reversed. The lumbopelvic rhythm was better expressed by a cubic or quadratic
      function rather than a linear function. These functions indicate that when the
      hip inclines by 1 degrees  that the lumbar spine bends laterally by 2.4 degrees .
      [Conclusion] The lumbopelvic rhythm and lumbar-hip ratio indicate lumbar lateral
      bending instead of a limitation of hip inclination. 

PMID- 27630430
TI  - Correlation between center of pressure and functional balance in non-faller
      elderly practitioners of Tai Chi Chuan.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to determine the correlation between center of
      pressure and functional balance in non-faller elderly practitioners of Tai Chi.
      [Subjects and Methods] For the study, nine non-faller elderly practitioners of
      Tai Chi who were able to maintain a standing posture and walk independently were
      recruited. Timed one-leg standing and timed up-and-go tests were used as
      functional balance tests and force platform to measure the center of pressure.
      The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated for the timed up-and-go/timed
      one-leg standing test scores and center of pressure parameter values. [Results]
      None of the correlations was statistically significant, but moderate correlations
      were observed between the pairs timed one-leg standing/sway area of center of
      pressure, timed one-leg standing/standard deviation of center of pressure in the
      mediolateral direction, timed one-leg standing/mean velocity of center of
      pressure in the anteroposterior direction, and timed up-and-go test sway area of
      center of pressure. [Conclusion] Timed one-leg standing is more appropriate than
      timed up-and-go test for the measurement of functional balance in non-faller
      elderly practitioners of Tai Chi. 

PMID- 27630429
TI  - Effects of spring-loaded crutches on gastrocnemius activity and upward
      displacement of the body during gait.
AB  - [Purpose] This study investigated the effects of spring-loaded crutches on
      gastrocnemius muscle activity and upper body displacement in the sagittal plane
      during gait. [Subjects and Methods] The study involved 12 healthy males. All
      subjects performed crutch gait by using spring-loaded crutches and axillary
      crutches. During this gait, the gastrocnemius muscle activity was measured using
      a wireless electromyography system, and upward displacement of the body was
      measured using a three-dimensional motion analysis system. [Results] The
      gastrocnemius activity was significantly lower but upward displacement of the
      body was significantly greater with the spring-loaded crutches than with axillary
      crutches. [Conclusion] Spring-loaded crutches allow efficient crutch gait and
      involve less effort from the gastrocnemius muscle. 

PMID- 27630431
TI  - Effect of home-based training using a slant board with dorsiflexed ankles on
      walking function in post-stroke hemiparetic patients.
AB  - [Purpose] To investigate the effects of a 30-day rehabilitation program using a
      slant board on walking function in post-stroke hemiparetic patients. [Subjects
      and Methods] Six hemiparetic patients with gait disturbance were studied. The
      patients were instructed to perform a home-based rehabilitation program using a
      slant board, thrice daily for 30 days, the exercise included standing on the
      slant board for 3 minutes, with both ankles dorsiflexed without backrest. For all
      patients, the Brunnstrom Recovery Stage, Barthel Index, range of motion of the
      ankle joint, modified Ashworth scale scole for calf muscle, sensory impairments
      with Numeral Rating Scale, maximum walking speed, number of steps, and Timed "Up
      and Go" test were serially evaluated at the beginning and end of the 30-day
      program. [Results] The program significantly increased walking velocity,
      decreased the number of steps in the 10-m walking test, and decreased Timed "Up
      and Go" test performance time. [Conclusion] This rehabilitation program using the
      slant board was safe and improved walking function in patients. The improvement
      in walking function could be due to a forward shift of the center of gravity,
      which can be an important part of motor learning for gait improvement. 

PMID- 27630433
TI  - Postural optimization during functional reach while kneeling and standing.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity of
      functional reach models by comparing actual values with estimated values.
      [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-eight volunteers were included in this study (male:
      14, female: 14, age: 21 +/- 1 years, height: 166.8 +/- 9.0 cm, and body mass:
      60.1 +/- 8.5 kg). The maximum forward fingertip position and joint angles were
      measured using the original equipment. In addition, the maximum forward fingertip
      position, shoulder joint angle, and knee or ankle joint angle were estimated
      using the functional reach model. [Results] The correlation coefficients between
      actual data and estimated data for the maximum forward fingertip position,
      shoulder joint angle, and ankle joint angle while standing were 0.93, 0.83, and
      0.73, respectively. The correlation coefficients between actual data and
      estimated data for the maximum forward fingertip position, shoulder joint angle,
      and knee joint angle while kneeling were 0.86, 0.81, and 0.72, respectively.
      [Conclusion] The validity of both functional reach models in estimating optimal
      posture was confirmed. Therefore, the functional reach model is useful for
      evaluation of postural control and optimal postural control exercises. 

PMID- 27630432
TI  - Impact of work environment and work-related stress on turnover intention in
      physical therapists.
AB  - [Purpose] This study was conducted to provide basic data for solutions to reduce
      the turnover rate of physical therapists. It should help create efficient
      personnel and organization management by exploring the impact of the work
      environment and work-related stress on turnover intention and analyzing the
      correlation between them. [Subjects and Methods] A survey was conducted with 236
      physical therapists working at medical institutions in the Daejeon and
      Chungcheong areas. For the analysis on the collected data, correlational and
      linear regression analyses were conducted using the SPSS 18.0 program and
      Cronbach's alpha coefficient. [Results] The results showed a statistically
      significant positive correlation between turnover intention and work-related
      stress but a statistically significant negative correlation respectively between
      turnover intention and work environment. Work-related stress (beta=0.415) had a
      significant positive impact on turnover intention and work environment (beta=
      0.387) had a significant negative impact on turnover intention. [Conclusion] To
      increase satisfaction level with the profession as well as the workplace for
      physical therapists, improvement of the work environment was the most necessary
      primary improvement. 

PMID- 27630434
TI  - Influence of repeated bouts of eccentric exercise on high-intensity aerobic
      performance.
AB  - [Purpose] It is believed that eccentric high-intensity exercise can decrease
      performance in subsequent exercise. However, with repetition, the deleterious
      effects can be minimized. Thus, this study evaluated the influence of repeated
      bouts of eccentric exercise on subsequent high-intensity aerobic performance.
      [Subjects and Methods] Seven healthy and sedentary male volunteers were
      recruited. a) Visit 1: determination of maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) and speed
      associated with maximum oxygen uptake (vVO2max) in incremental treadmill testing;
      b) Visit 2: run to exhaustion at vVO2max (Tlim control); c) Visit 3: 10 sets of
      10 depth jumps, followed by a run to exhaustion at vVO2max (Tlim 1); d) Visit 4:
      after 6 weeks without any physical training, the volunteers carried out the same
      procedures as on the third visit (Tlim 2). Data were analyzed using one-way
      analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the post-hoc Tukey test. [Results] Significant
      differences were found between Tlim control and Tlim 1 (283.4 +/- 47.7 s vs.
      125.2 +/- 64.1 s, respectively), these were not different from Tlim 2.
      [Conclusion] Eccentric exercise showed deleterious effects on subsequent high
      intensity aerobic performance. These effects were minimized after the exercise
      protocol was repeated 6 weeks after the first event. 

PMID- 27630435
TI  - Effects of isometric hip movements on electromyographic activities of the trunk
      muscles during plank exercises.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of isometric
      hip adduction and abduction on trunk muscle activity during plank exercises.
      [Subjects and Methods] Nineteen healthy male subjects were recruited for this
      study. All subjects performed the traditional plank exercise (TP), plank exercise
      with isometric hip adduction (PHAD), and plank exercise with isometric hip
      abduction (PHAB) by using an elastic band. Electromyographic (EMG) activities of
      the internal oblique (IO) and external oblique (EO) were measured during the 3
      plank exercises by using an Electromyography system. [Results] Internal oblique
      and external oblique muscle activities were significantly greater during plank
      exercise with isometric hip adduction and plank exercise with isometric hip
      abduction than during traditional plank exercise. Internal oblique and external
      oblique muscle activities did not differ between the plank exercise with
      isometric hip adduction and plank exercise with isometric hip abduction
      conditions. [Conclusion] These findings demonstrate that loaded isometric hip
      movements may be a useful strategy to increase trunk muscle activity during plank
      exercises. 

PMID- 27630436
TI  - Effect of a 12-week complex training on the body composition and
      cardiorespiratory system of female college students.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a complex exercise
      program on the body composition and cardiorespiratory system of female college
      students. [Subjects and Methods] This study included 20 female college students
      who had not participated in any particular sports in the last 3 months. The
      complex exercise program consisted of two parts, aerobic exercise and weight
      training. First, aerobic exercise was implemented (30 min 5 times a week for 12
      weeks) according to the participants' exercise tolerance. Second, weight training
      was implemented (40 min 5 times a week for 12 weeks) with 60% of 1 repetition
      maximum (RM). [Results] The t-test results showed significant differences in body
      composition between the before and after the complex exercise program. The
      subjects' body weights and body fat percentages were decreased, and their
      skeletal muscle masses were increased. Increased levels of maximal oxygen uptake
      (VO2max), maximal expiratory volume (VEmax), and maximal heart rate (HRmax) were
      also observed. [Conclusion] In conclusion, the 12-week complex exercise program,
      including aerobic and weight training, had positive effects on the body
      composition and cardiorespiratory system of the female college students. 

PMID- 27630437
TI  - Comparison of the hamstring/quadriceps ratio in females during squat exercise
      using various foot wedges.
AB  - [Purpose] This study compared the hamstring/quadriceps ratio in females during
      squat exercise using various foot wedges. [Subjects and Methods] Nine females
      participated in this study. Surface electrodes measurements were taken over the
      hamstring and quadriceps under 3 squat exercise conditions, and the
      hamstring/quadriceps ratio was calculated. [Results] The hamstring/quadriceps
      ratio was significantly increased during squat exercise in inclined wedge
      condition (7.4 +/- 1.8), compared to the declined wedge condition (5.3 +/- 2.2)
      and no wedge condition (6.4 +/- 3.2). [Conclusion] This study suggests that squat
      exercise in the inclined wedge condition may be effective for increasing the
      hamstring/quadriceps ratio in females. 

PMID- 27630438
TI  - Effect of intensive aerobic exercise on respiratory capacity and walking ability
      with chronic stroke patients: a randomized controlled pilot trial.
AB  - [Purpose] To investigate the effects of intensive aerobic exercise on respiratory
      capacity and walking ability in chronic stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods]
      The subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=6) or a control
      group (n=6). Patients in the experimental group received intensive aerobic
      exercise for 30 minutes and traditional physical therapy once a day, five days a
      week, for four weeks. The control group received aerobic exercise for 30 minutes
      and traditional physical therapy for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for four
      weeks. [Results] After the intervention, both groups showed significant
      improvements in the forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one
      second, 10-meter walking test, and six-minute walking test over the baseline
      results. The comparison of the two groups after the intervention revealed that
      the experimental group showed more significant improvements in the forced vital
      capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, and six-minute walking test.
      There was no significant difference in saturation pulse oximetry oxygen and 10
      meter walking test between the groups. [Conclusion] The results of this study
      suggest that intensive aerobic exercise has a positive effect on respiratory
      capacity and walking endurance in patients with chronic stroke. 

PMID- 27630439
TI  - The effects of trunk kinesio taping on balance ability and gait function in
      stroke patients.
AB  - [Purpose] Kinesio taping is a therapeutic method used in the treatment of various
      musculoskeletal and neuromuscular deficits, but there is limited evidence of the
      effects of trunk kinesio taping in neurologic patients. Therefore, this study
      aimed to determine the effects of trunk kinesio taping on balance ability and
      gait function in persons after a stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-five post
      stroke patients were included in this study. Kinesio tape was applied to four
      trunk muscles. Before and after the taping, in all subjects, the balance ability
      was measured using the Wii Balance Board, and gait function was assessed using
      the GAITRite system. [Results] The difference in gait function before and after
      trunk taping was not statistically significant. However, a variability of balance
      ability showed statistically significant differences. [Conclusion] These results
      suggest that taping may be a helpful method during rehabilitation programs for
      stroke patients. Its application to the trunk muscles is especially useful for
      improving balance ability. 

PMID- 27630440
TI  - Correlation between mobility assessed by the Modified Rivermead Mobility Index
      and physical function in stroke patients.
AB  - [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between
      mobility assessed by the Modified Rivermead Mobility Index and variables
      associated with physical function in stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] One
      hundred stroke patients (35 males and 65 females; age 58.60 +/- 13.91 years)
      participated in this study. Modified Rivermead Mobility Index, muscle strength
      (manual muscle test), muscle tone (Modified Ashworth Scale), range of motion of
      lower extremity, sensory function (light touch and proprioception tests), and
      coordination (heel to shin and lower-extremity motor coordination tests) were
      assessed. [Results] The Modified Rivermead Mobility Index was correlated with all
      the physical function variables assessed, except the degree of knee extension. In
      addition, stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that coordination (heel to
      shin test) was the explanatory variable closely associated with mobility in
      stroke patients. [Conclusion] The Modified Rivermead Mobility Index score was
      significantly correlated with all the physical function variables. Coordination
      (heel to shin test) was closely related to mobility function. These results may
      be useful in developing rehabilitation programs for stroke patients. 

PMID- 27630441
TI  - The clinical effect of hydraulic distension plus manual therapy on patients with
      frozen shoulder.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to develop a clinical protocol for the treatment of
      frozen shoulder using applied hydraulic distension plus manual therapy. [Subjects
      and Methods] Patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups: 60 patients in group A
      were treated with hydraulic distension plus manual therapy, and 61 in group B
      were treated with hydraulic distension alone. Treatment effects were assessed
      using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (pain and satisfaction), and active range of
      motion of the shoulder (forward flexion, internal and external rotation) before
      treatments and at 2, 6, 12, 24 weeks, and 1 year after the last injections.
      [Results] Patients in group A achieved faster pain relief and better satisfaction
      than patients in group B during the 6 weeks after treatment. However, no
      significant difference in VAS was observed between the groups at final follow-up.
      AROM of the shoulder was improved at final follow-up in both groups. [Conclusion]
      Hydraulic distension plus manual therapy provided faster pain relief, a higher
      level of patient satisfaction, and an earlier improvement in AROM of the shoulder
      than hydraulic distension alone in patients with frozen shoulder. 

PMID- 27630442
TI  - Immediate effects of different treatments for the wrist joints of subdominant
      hands, using electromechanical reaction time.
AB  - [Purpose] The aim of this study was to examine the immediate effects of muscle
      strength training and neuromuscular joint facilitation distal resistance training
      on wrist joints by using electromechanical reaction time. [Subjects and Methods]
      The subjects were 12 healthy young people (24.2 +/- 3.1 years, 169.7 +/- 6.5 cm,
      65.3 +/- 12.6 kg). Two kinds of isotonic contraction techniques were applied on
      the wrist joint: the wrist joint extension muscle strength training and the wrist
      joint extension pattern of neuromuscular joint facilitation. The
      electromechanical reaction time, premotor time, and motor time of the left upper
      limb were measured before and after each intervention session of muscle strength
      training and neuromuscular joint facilitation. [Results] The neuromuscular joint
      facilitation group showed significant shortening of the electromechanical
      reaction time and motor time after the intervention. [Conclusion] These results
      suggest that the electromechanical reaction time and motor time of the wrist
      joint can be improved by neuromuscular joint facilitation together with proximal
      resistance training, which can be used as a new form of exercise for improving
      the functions of subdominant hand wrist joints. 

PMID- 27630443
TI  - Determination of effective treatment duration of interferential current therapy
      using electromyography.
AB  - [Purpose] This study used electromyography to measure the effective treatment
      duration of interferential current therapy for muscle fatigue. [Subjects and
      Methods] Fifteen healthy adult men volunteered to participate in the study (age:
      24.2 +/- 1.3 years; weight: 67.6 +/- 4.92 kg; height: 176.4 +/- 4.92 cm). All
      subjects performed 5 min of isometric back extension exercise to produce muscle
      fatigue, and were then treated with interferential current therapy for 15 min,
      with electromyography monitoring (treatment group). After sufficient rest, the
      exercise was repeated for 5 min and an electromyography signal was acquired for
      15 min with no treatment (control group). [Results] In the treatment group, the
      median frequency shifted to a higher level; the root mean square decreased over
      time, and then maintained a minimum amplitude. However, there were few changes in
      the electromyography signal after exercise in the control group. [Conclusion]
      Electromyography signals can provide information about the effective duration for
      muscle fatigue treatment as well as the muscle characteristics during treatment.
      This study should be helpful for clinicians by demonstrating the appropriate
      duration of therapy for relief of muscle stiffness. 

PMID- 27630444
TI  - Scoliosis bracing and exercise for pain management in adults-a case report.
AB  - [Purpose] For adult patients with late-onset idiopathic scoliosis, cosmetic
      concerns and pain are the main reasons for seeking treatment at a physician's
      office. The purpose of this paper was to describe the mid-term effect of physical
      rehabilitation and part-time bracing on an adult scoliosis patient who had been
      suffering from chronic low back pain for fourteen years. [Subject and Methods]
      CASE DESCRIPTION: A 37-year-old female patient with late-onset idiopathic
      scoliosis presented in the office of the first author in January 2014. She
      reported having chronic pain (low back pain) since the age of 23 and reported
      daily pain at a level of 5-7 on average on a Visual Analogue Scale of 0 to 10.
      She received a short scoliosis-specific Schroth exercise program and was also
      fitted with a Gensingen brace for part-time wear. [Results] At a 16 month follow
      up, the patient no longer suffered from daily low back pain (with heavy lifting
      only) and was fully active. Additionally, her lumbar Cobb angle and angle of
      trunk rotation improved. [Conclusion] Patients with late-onset idiopathic
      scoliosis and pain may benefit from a pattern-specific conservative treatment
      approach. In this population, surgical intervention should be regarded as the
      last resort, since there are many long-term unknowns with surgery.

PMID- 27630445
TI  - Does kinematics add meaningful information to clinical assessment in post-stroke
      upper limb rehabilitation? A case report.
AB  - [Purpose] The aims of this case study were to: (a) quantify the impairment and
      activity restriction of the upper limb in a hemiparetic patient; (b)
      quantitatively evaluate rehabilitation program effectiveness; and (c) discuss
      whether more clinically meaningful information can be gained with the use of
      kinematic analysis in addition to clinical assessment. The rehabilitation program
      consisted of the combined use of different traditional physiotherapy techniques,
      occupational therapy sessions, and the so-called task-oriented approach. [Subject
      and Methods] Subject was a one hemiplegic patient. The patient was assessed at
      the beginning and after 1 month of daily rehabilitation using the Medical
      Research Council scale, Nine Hole Peg Test, Motor Evaluation Scale for Upper
      Extremity in Stroke Patients, and Hand Grip Dynamometer test as well as a
      kinematic analysis using an optoelectronic system. [Results] After treatment,
      significant improvements were evident in terms of total movement duration,
      movement completion velocity, and some smoothness parameters. [Conclusion] Our
      case report showed that the integration of clinical assessment with kinematic
      evaluation appears to be useful for quantitatively assessing performance changes.

PMID- 27630446
TI  - Change in functional balance after an exercise program with Nintendo Wii in
      Latino patients with cerebral palsy: a case series.
AB  - [Purpose] This study aimed to explore the possibility of improving functional
      balance using an exercise program with Nintendo and the Balance Board peripheral
      in subjects with cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] This study included 4
      male outpatients of a neurological center. All participants received an exercise
      program based on the use of Nintendo with the Balance Board peripheral. Training
      consisted of three 25-min sessions per week for 6 weeks. Each session was guided
      by a physical therapist. Timed up-and-go and one-leg standing tests were
      conducted before and after the intervention. [Results] All subjects showed
      significant improvements in the results of the timed up-and-go test. However,
      there were no significant changes in the results of the one-leg standing test.
      [Conclusion] The exercise protocol involving Nintendo with the Balance Board
      peripheral appears to improve functional dynamic balance in patients with
      cerebral palsy. However, static functional balance does not improve after 6 weeks
      of training. 

PMID- 27630447
TI  - Effects of matrix rhythm therapy on primary lymphedema: a case report.
AB  - [Purpose] Primary lymphedema occurs because of genetic predisposition and
      developmental insufficiency of the lymphatic system. Matrix Rhythm Therapy was
      developed as an external and dynamic method that supplies rhythmic mobilization
      of the fluids in tissues. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of
      Matrix Rhythm Therapy in primary lymphedema. [Subject and Methods] A 36-year-old
      female with left lower limb lymphedema was evaluated. Leg circumference was
      measured before and at the end of treatment, and 1 and 3 months later. The
      circumferences were converted to volumetric values. Twenty sessions of Matrix
      Rhythm Therapy (5 days/week) were applied to the affected leg, spine, and
      abdominal regions. Patient satisfaction was assessed with the Global Rating of
      Change scale. [Results] Volumetric values were 1,573.28 ml before treatment,
      1,573.13 ml at the end of treatment, 1,516.70 ml 1 month later, and 1,441.61 ml 3
      months later. At the end of treatment, the volumetric reduction was not
      significant; however, when compared with baseline, measurements at 1 and 3 months
      decreased by 3.59% and 8.36%, respectively. The Global Rating of Change score was
      2. [Conclusion] Matrix Rhythm Therapy could not reduce lymphedema when used
      alone, but long-term treatment may show positive effects. 

PMID- 27630448
TI  - Novel, high-quality surface plasmon resonance microscopy.
AB  - A surface plasmon resonance microscope capable of high-quality speckle-free
      imaging has been designed that uses a laser as a source. An inexpensive acoustic
      transducer is used to reduce speckle and other image artifacts arising from the
      use of illumination from an inexpensive laser pointer. The microscope is
      described and operation of the system demonstrated.

PMID- 27630449
TI  - 3D simulations of wet foam coarsening evidence a self similar growth regime.
AB  - In wet liquid foams, slow diffusion of gas through bubble walls changes bubble
      pressure, volume and wall curvature. Large bubbles grow at the expenses of
      smaller ones. The smaller the bubble, the faster it shrinks. As the number of
      bubbles in a given volume decreases in time, the average bubble size increases:
      i.e. the foam coarsens. During coarsening, bubbles also move relative to each
      other, changing bubble topology and shape, while liquid moves within the regions
      separating the bubbles. Analyzing the combined effects of these mechanisms
      requires examining a volume with enough bubbles to provide appropriate statistics
      throughout coarsening. Using a Cellular Potts model, we simulate these mechanisms
      during the evolution of three-dimensional foams with wetnesses of phi = 0.00,
      0.05 and 0.20. We represent the liquid phase as an ensemble of many small fluid
      particles, which allows us to monitor liquid flow in the region between bubbles.
      The simulations begin with 2 * 105 bubbles for phi = 0.00 and 1.25 * 105 bubbles
      for phi = 0.05 and 0.20, allowing us to track the distribution functions for
      bubble size, topology and growth rate over two and a half decades of volume
      change. All simulations eventually reach a self-similar growth regime, with the
      distribution functions time independent and the number of bubbles decreasing with
      time as a power law whose exponent depends on the wetness.

PMID- 27630450
TI  - How do we move forward on the social determinants of health: The global
      governance challenges.

PMID- 27630451
TI  - TLR Signalling Pathways Diverge in Their Ability to Induce PGE2.
AB  - PGE2 is a lipid mediator abundantly produced in inflamed tissues that exerts
      relevant immunoregulatory functions. Dendritic cells (DCs) are key players in the
      onset and shaping of the inflammatory and immune responses and, as such, are well
      known PGE2 targets. By contrast, the precise role of human DCs in the production
      of PGE2 is poorly characterized. Here, we asked whether different ligands of Toll
      like receptors (TLRs), a relevant family of pathogen-sensing receptors, could
      induce PGE2 in human DCs. The only active ligands were LPS (TLR4 ligand) and R848
      (TLR7-8 ligand) although all TLRs, but TLR9, were expressed and functional. While
      investigating the molecular mechanisms hindering the release of PGE2, our
      experiments highlighted so far oversight differences in TLR signalling pathways
      in terms of MAPK and NF-kappaB activation. In addition, we identified that the
      PGE2-limiting checkpoint downstream TLR3, TLR5, and TLR7 was a defect in COX2
      induction, while TLR1/2 and TLR2/6 failed to mobilize arachidonic acid, the
      substrate for the COX2 enzyme. Finally, we demonstrated the in vivo expression of
      PGE2 by myeloid CD11c(+) cells, documenting a role for DCs in the production of
      PGE2 in human inflamed tissues. 

PMID- 27630453
TI  - Non-disclosure of genetic risks: The case for developing legal wrongs.
AB  - In ABC v. St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust, the High Court of England and Wales
      rejected the argument that doctors have a legal duty to disclose actionable
      genetic risks to a patient's relatives. This article reconsiders the concept of a
      duty to disclose actionable genetic risks in the context of widening perceptions
      of legal harm and developing professional and public perceptions of corresponding
      wrongs.

PMID- 27630454
TI  - Effectiveness of flow inflating device in providing Continuous Positive Airway
      Pressure for critically ill children in limited-resource settings: A prospective
      observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is an emerging popular
      concept, which includes bi-level positive airway pressure or continuous positive
      airway pressure (CPAP). In settings with scarce resources for NIV machines, CPAP
      can be provided through various indigenous means and one such mode is flow
      inflating device - Jackson-Rees circuit (JR)/Bain circuit. The study analyses the
      epidemiology, various clinical indications, predictors of CPAP failure, and
      stresses the usefulness of flow inflating device as an indigenous way of
      providing CPAP. METHODS: A prospective observational study was undertaken in the
      critical care unit of a Government Tertiary Care Hospital, from November 2013 to
      September 2014. All children who required CPAP in the age group 1 month to 12
      years of both sexes were included in this study. They were started on indigenous
      CPAP through flow inflating device on clinical grounds based on the pediatric
      assessment triangle, and the duration and outcome were analyzed. RESULTS: This
      study population included 214 children. CPAP through flow inflating device was
      successful in 89.7% of cases, of which bronchiolitis accounted for 98.3%. A
      prolonged duration of CPAP support of >96 h was required in pneumonia. CPAP
      failure was noted in 10.3% of cases, the major risk factors being children <1
      year and pneumonia with septic shock. CONCLUSION: We conclude that flow inflating
      devices - JR/Bain circuit are effective as an indigenous CPAP in limited resource
      settings. Despite its benefits, CPAP is not a substitute for invasive
      ventilation, as when the need for intubation arises timely intervention is
      needed.

PMID- 27630455
TI  - Complications and benefits of intrahospital transport of adult Intensive Care
      Unit patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The transport of critically ill patients for procedures or tests
      outside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is potentially hazardous; hence, the
      transport process must be organized and efficient. Plenty of data is available on
      pre- and inter-hospital transport of patients; the data on intrahospital
      transport of patients are limited. We audited the complications and benefits of
      intrahospital transport of critically ill patients in our tertiary care center
      over 6 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty adult critically ill
      cancer patients transported from the ICU for either diagnostic or therapeutic
      procedure over 6 months were included. The data collected include the
      destination, the accompanying person, total time spent outside the ICU, and any
      adverse events and adverse change in vitals. RESULTS: Among the 120 adult
      patients, 5 (4.1%) required endotracheal intubation, 5 (4.1%) required
      intercostal drain placement, and 20 (16.7%) required cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation (CPR). Dislodgement of central venous catheter occurred in 2 (1.6%)
      patients, drain came out in 3 (2.5%) patients, orogastric tube came out in 1
      (0.8%) patient, 2 (1.6%) patients self-extubated, and in one patient,
      tracheostomy tube was dislodged. The adverse events were more in patients who
      spent more than 60 min outside the ICU, particularly requirement of CPR (18 [25%]
      vs. 2 [4.2%], <=60 min vs. >60 min, respectively) with P < 0.05. Transport led to
      change in therapy in 32 (26.7%) patients. CONCLUSION: Transport in critically ill
      cancer patients is more hazardous and needs adequate pretransport preparations.
      Transport in spite being hazardous may lead to a beneficial change in therapy in
      a significant number of patients.

PMID- 27630452
TI  - The Roles of Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells in Tumor Microenvironment Associated
      with Inflammation.
AB  - State of tumor microenvironment (TME) is closely linked to regulation of tumor
      growth and progression affecting the final outcome, refractoriness, and relapse
      of disease. Interactions of tumor, immune, and mesenchymal stromal/stem cells
      (MSCs) have been recognized as crucial for understanding tumorigenesis. Due to
      their outstanding features, stem cell-like properties, capacity to regulate
      immune response, and dynamic functional phenotype dependent on microenvironmental
      stimuli, MSCs have been perceived as important players in TME. Signals provided
      by tumor-associated chronic inflammation educate MSCs to alter their phenotype
      and immunomodulatory potential in favor of tumor-biased state of MSCs. Adjustment
      of phenotype to TME and acquisition of tumor-promoting ability by MSCs help tumor
      cells in maintenance of permissive TME and suppression of antitumor immune
      response. Potential utilization of MSCs in treatment of tumor is based on their
      inherent ability to home tumor tissue that makes them suitable delivery vehicles
      for immune-stimulating factors and vectors for targeted antitumor therapy. Here,
      we review data regarding intrusive effects of inflammatory TME on MSCs capacity
      to affect tumor development through modification of their phenotype and
      interactions with immune system. 

PMID- 27630456
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors of pneumothorax among patients admitted to a
      Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pneumothorax should be considered a medical emergency and requires a
      high index of suspicion and prompt recognition and intervention. AIMS: The
      objective of the study was to evaluate cases developing pneumothorax following
      admission to a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) over a 5-year period.
      SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Case notes of all PICU patients (n = 1298) were reviewed,
      revealing that 135 cases (10.4%) developed pneumothorax, and these were compared
      with those patients who did not. The most common tool for diagnosis used was
      chest X-ray followed by a clinical examination. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Case notes
      of 1298 patients admitted in PICU over 1-year study. RESULTS: Patients with
      pneumothorax had higher mortality rate (P < 0.001), longer length of stay (P <
      0.001), higher need for mechanical ventilation (MV) (P < 0.001), and were of
      younger age (P < 0.001), lower body weight (P < 0.001), higher pediatric index of
      mortality 2 score on admission (P < 0.001), higher pediatric logistic organ
      dysfunction score (P < 0.001), compared to their counterpart. Iatrogenic
      pneumothorax (IP) represented 95% of episodes of pneumothorax. The most common
      causes of IP were barotrauma secondary to MV, central vein catheter insertion,
      and other (69.6%, 13.2%, and 17.2%, respectively). Compared to ventilated
      patients without pneumothorax, ventilated patients who developed pneumothorax had
      a longer duration of MV care (P < 0.001) and higher nonconventional and high
      frequency oscillatory ventilation settings (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated that pneumothorax is common in Alexandria University PICU patients,
      especially in those on MV and emphasized the importance of the strict application
      of protective lung strategies among ventilated patients to minimize the risk of
      pneumothorax.

PMID- 27630457
TI  - Experiences in end-of-life care in the Intensive Care Unit: A survey of resident
      physicians.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The practice of intensive care includes withholding and
      withdrawal of care, when appropriate, and the goals of care change around this
      time to comfort and palliation. We decided to survey the attitudes, training, and
      skills of intensive care residents in relation to end-of-life (EoL) care. All
      residents at our institute who has worked for at least a month in an adult
      Intensive Care Unit were invited to participate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After
      Institutional Ethics Committee approval, a Likert-scale questionnaire, divided
      into five composite measures of EoL skills including training and attitude, was
      handed over to individual residents and completed data were anonymized. Frequency
      and descriptive analysis was performed for the demographic variables. Central
      tendency, variability, and reliability were examined for the five composite
      measures. Scale internal consistency was checked by Cronbach's coefficient alpha.
      Multivariate forward conditional regression analysis was conducted to examine the
      association of demographic data or EoL experience to composite measures. RESULTS:
      Of the 170 eligible residents, we received 120 (70.5%) responses. CONCLUSIONS:
      Internal medicine residents have more experience in caring for dying patients and
      conducting EoL discussions. Even though majority of participants reported that
      they are comfortable with the concept of EoL care, this does not always reflect
      the actual practice in the hospital. There is a need for further training in
      skills around EoL care. As this is a self-assessment survey, the specific
      measures of attitudes and skills in EoL are poorly reflected, indicating a need
      for further research.

PMID- 27630458
TI  - Can intravenous acetaminophen reduce the needs to more opioids to control pain in
      intubated patients?
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the effect of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen on reducing the
      need for morphine sulfate in intubated patients admitted to the Intensive Care
      Unit (ICU). SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Current study was done as a clinical trial on
      the patients supported by mechanical ventilator. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Behavioral
      pain scale (BPS) scoring system was used to measure pain in the patients. All of
      the patients received 1 g, IV acetaminophen, every 6 h during the 1(st) and 3(rd)
      days of admission and placebo during the 2(nd) and 4(th) days. Total dose of
      morphine sulfate needed, its complications, and the BPS scores at the end of
      every 6 h interval were compared. RESULTS: Totally forty patients were enrolled.
      The mean pain scores were significantly lower in the 2(nd) and 4(th) days (4.33
      and 3.66, respectively; mean: 4.0) in which the patients had received just
      morphine sulfate compared to the 1(st) and 3(rd) days (7.36 and 3.93,
      respectively; mean: 5.65) in which the patients had received acetaminophen in
      addition to morphine sulfate too (P < 0.001). Cumulative dose of morphine sulfate
      used, was significantly higher in the 1(st) and 3(rd) days (8.92 and 3.15 mg,
      respectively; 12.07 mg in total) compared to the 2(nd) and 4(th) days (6.47 mg
      and 3.22 mg, respectively; 9.7 mg in total) (P = 0.035). CONCLUSION: In our
      study, IV acetaminophen had no effect on decreasing the BPSs and need of morphine
      sulfate in intubated patients admitted to ICU.

PMID- 27630459
TI  - Epidemiology of traumatic cardiac arrest in patients presenting to emergency
      department at a level 1 trauma center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is a paucity of literature on prehospital care and
      epidemiology of traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) in India. This study highlights
      the profile and characteristics of TCA. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was
      conducted to study epidemiological profile of TCA patients >=1 year presenting to
      a level 1 trauma center of India. RESULTS: One thousand sixty-one patients were
      recruited in the study. The median age (interquartile range) was 32 (23-45) years
      (male:female ratio of 5.9:1). Asystole (253), pulseless electrical activity (11),
      ventricular fibrillation (six), and ventricular tachycardia (five) were initial
      arrest rhythm. Road traffic crash (RTC) (57.16%), fall from height (18.52%), and
      assault (10.51%) were modes of injury. Prehospital care was provided by police
      (36.59%), ambulance (10.54%), relatives (45.40%), and bystanders (7.47% cases).
      Return of spontaneous circulation was seen in 69 patients, of which only three
      survived to hospital discharge. CONCLUSION: RTC in young males was a major cause
      of TCA. Asystole was the most common arrest rhythm. Police personnel were major
      prehospital service provider. Prehospital care needs improvement including the
      development of robust TCA registry.

PMID- 27630460
TI  - Comparison of outcome predictions by the Glasgow coma scale and the Full Outline
      of UnResponsiveness score in the neurological and neurosurgical patients in the
      Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - Assessment of level of consciousness is very important in predicting patient's
      outcome from neurological illness. Glasgow coma scale (GCS) is the most commonly
      used scale, and Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) score is also recently
      validated as an alternative to GCS in the evaluation of the level of
      consciousness. We carried out a prospective study in 97 patients aged above 16
      years. We measured GCS and FOUR score within 24 h of Intensive Care Unit
      admission. The mean GCS and the FOUR scores were lower among nonsurvivors than
      among the survivors and were statistically significant (P < 0.001).
      Discrimination for GCS and FOUR score was fair with the area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve of 0.79 and 0.82, respectively. The cutoff point
      with best Youden index for GCS and FOUR score was 6.5 each. Below the cutoff
      point, mortality was higher in both models (P < 0.001). The Hosmer-Lemeshow Chi
      square coefficient test showed better calibration with FOUR score than GCS. A
      positive correlation was seen between the models with Spearman's correlation
      coefficient of 0.91 (P < 0.001). 

PMID- 27630461
TI  - Single-photon emission computed tomography imaging for brain death donor
      counseling.
AB  - Organ donation awareness is very poor in India. We have a high demand for
      transplant organs with poor supply. Apnea test is the confirmatory test for brain
      death in our country. The Transplantation of Human Organs Act does not support
      any ancillary testing for the confirmation of brain death in our country.
      Radionuclide scan is used widely in western countries as a confirmatory test. We
      in our institution used this as a tool for family counseling with successful
      conversion rate. 

PMID- 27630462
TI  - Acute respiratory failure in scrub typhus patients.
AB  - Respiratory failure is a serious complication of scrub typhus. In this
      prospective study, all patients with a diagnosis of scrub typhus were included
      from a single center Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Demographic, clinical
      characteristics, laboratory, and imaging parameters of these patients at the time
      of ICU admission were compared. Of the 55 scrub typhus patients, 27 (49%) had an
      acute respiratory failure. Seventeen patients had acute respiratory distress
      syndrome, and ten had cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Respiratory supported patients
      were older had significant chronic lungs disease and high severity illness scores
      (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II and Sequential Organ Failure
      Assessment score). At ICU admission, these patients presented with more deranged
      laboratory markers, including high bilirubin, high creatine kinase, high lactate,
      metabolic acidosis, low serum albumin, and presence of ascites. The average ICU
      and hospital stay were 4.27 +/- 2.74 and 6.53 +/- 3.52 days, respectively, in the
      respiratory supported group. Three patients died in respiratory failure group,
      while only one patient died in nonrespiratory failure group. 

PMID- 27630463
TI  - Volatile anesthetic for the control of posthypoxic refractory myoclonic status.
AB  - Posthypoxic myoclonus (Lance-Adams syndrome) is characterized by myoclonus
      involving multiple muscle groups which is resistant to most conventional
      antiepileptic drugs. We present a case of hypoxic brain injury-induced myoclonic
      status epilepticus successfully controlled with isoflurane. The antimyoclonic
      effects of isoflurane are likely due to potentiation of inhibitory postsynaptic
      GABAA receptor-mediated currents and its effects on thalamocortical pathways. It
      is effective even when intravenous agents fail to control myoclonus. It may be a
      useful alternative to intravenous anesthetics as a third tier therapy in patients
      with refractory status myoclonus. 

PMID- 27630464
TI  - Implementing measures to minimize the global incidence of falls and its
      associated complications.

PMID- 27630465
TI  - Esophageal pressure-guided mechanical ventilation: Strong physiological basis,
      just needs more evidence.

PMID- 27630466
TI  - RE: Successful management of zinc phosphide poisoning.

PMID- 27630467
TI  - Nasogastric tube insertion easily done: The SORT maneuver.

PMID- 27630468
TI  - Yakson touch as a part of early intervention in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit:
      A systematic narrative review - comment.

PMID- 27630469
TI  - Erratum: Postoperative nutrition practices in abdominal surgery patients in a
      tertiary referral hospital Intensive Care Unit: A prospective analysis.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 319 in vol. 20, PMID: 27390454.]. 

PMID- 27630470
TI  - Atlantoaxial facetal distraction spacers: Indications and techniques.

PMID- 27630471
TI  - Tuberculosis of craniovertebral junction: Role of facets in pathogenesis and
      treatment.

PMID- 27630472
TI  - Is "total" tumor resection and facial nerve functional preservation possible in
      large acoustic neurinoma?

PMID- 27630473
TI  - Meningiomas: Are they curable?

PMID- 27630475
TI  - Neglected dislocation in sub-axial cervical spine: Case series and a suggested
      treatment protocol.
AB  - CONTEXT: Approaches suggested for treatment of neglected dislocations in the
      subaxial cervical spine (SACS) include only anterior approach (a), only posterior
      approach (b), posterior-anterior approach, posterior-anterior-posterior approach,
      and anterior-posterior-anterior-posterior approach. No protocol is suggested in
      literature to guide surgeons treating neglected dislocations. AIM: To describe a
      protocol for the treatment of neglected dislocation in the SACS. SETTINGS AND
      DESIGNS: Retrospective case series and review of literature. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Six consecutive patients of neglected dislocation (presenting to us more
      than 3 weeks following trauma) of the SACS were operated as per the protocol
      suggested in this paper. A retrospective review of the occupational therapy
      reports, patient records, and radiographs was performed. Only cases with time
      lapse of more than 3 weeks between the time of injury and initial management have
      been included in the review. RESULTS: Closed reduction (CR) was achieved in three
      patients following cervical traction and these were managed by anterior cervical
      discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Open reduction via posterior approach and soft
      tissue release was required to achieve reduction in two patients. Following
      reduction posterior instrumented fusion was done in them. One patient with
      preoperative neurological deficit needed a facetectomy to achieve reduction.
      Following short-segment fixation, ACDF was also performed in this patient. None
      of the patients deteriorated neurologically following surgery. Fusion was
      achieved in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative and intraoperative traction
      have a role in the management of neglected dislocations in the cervical spine. If
      CR is achieved the patient may be managed by ACDF. If CR is not achieved,
      posterior soft tissue release may be done to achieve reduction and partial
      facetectomy must be reserved for cases in which reduction is not achieved after
      soft tissue release. A treatment protocol for management of neglected dislocation
      in the SACS has been suggested in this paper.

PMID- 27630474
TI  - Morphological comparison of cervical vertebrae in adult females with different
      sagittal craniofacial patterns: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) methods have gained popularity
      to assess growth and development status for orthodontic patients. Although
      craniofacial and craniocervical structures are known to be associated, there is
      no evidence in the literature if this relation might negatively affect the
      accuracy of CVM assessments. Therefore, this study aimed to comparatively
      investigate the sizes of the 2(nd), 3(rd), and 4(th) cervical vertebrae in adult
      females (radius union stage of skeletal maturity) who have different sagittal
      skeletal patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted,
      and 151 lateral cephalometric radiographs of adult female patients were assessed
      in the study. Patients were assigned to three groups according to ANB angle.
      Parameters including concavity depth at the lower border of the 2(nd), 3(rd), and
      4(th) cervical vertebrae and base length, upper border length, body length,
      posterior height, anterior height, and body height of the 3(rd) and 4(th)
      cervical vertebrae bodies were measured. One-way analysis of variance was used
      for between-group comparisons. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences
      were found between groups in terms of concavity depth at the lower borders of the
      2(nd), 3(rd), and 4(th) cervical vertebrae (P > 0.05). Base length, upper border
      length, body length, posterior height, anterior height, and body height of the
      3(rd) and 4(th) cervical vertebrae were also similar between groups (P > 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study supports that sagittal craniofacial
      pattern has no effect on the accuracy of using the methods assessing CVM and
      calculating cervical vertebral age.

PMID- 27630476
TI  - Microdiscectomy or tubular discectomy: Is any of them a better option for
      management of lumbar disc prolapse.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Various types of minimally invasive techniques have been developed
      for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. The original laminectomy was refined
      into microdiscectomy (MD). MD is the gold standard in management of lumbar disc
      herniation and is used as a yardstick for comparison with newer procedures such
      as tubular discectomy. So far, no studies have been reported in Indian population
      comparing tubular discectomy and microdiscectomy. The aim of this study was to
      compare immediate postoperative and 1-year outcome of patients undergoing tubular
      discectomy with those undergoing MD and to evaluate the learning curve as well as
      complication rates of tubular discectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-six
      patients of MD and 102 (48 early and 54 late) patients of tubular discectomy (TD)
      were operated at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, which is a tertiary level center
      between July 2009 and January 2012. They were studied for the following data:
      Baseline characteristics, visual analog scale (VAS) for leg pain and back pain,
      Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, length of hospital stay, time taken to
      return to work, duration of surgery, intra- and post-operative complications, and
      reoperation rates. RESULTS: The VAS score for leg pain, back pain, and ODI scores
      showed improvement in both groups during the 1(st) year after surgery. Time taken
      to return to work and mean hospital stay was shorter in case of TD as compared to
      MD group. The mean duration of surgery was 34 min shorter for conventional MD.
      The incidence of dural tear was 6.5% in MD group and 10.4% in early TD and
      decreased to 7.4% in late TD group. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that rate of
      recovery is significantly faster for TD as compared to conventional MD. In
      contrast, we encountered fewer complications in MD approach as compared to TD
      which although were not statistically significant and which also decreased as we
      gained experience.

PMID- 27630477
TI  - Vertebral augmentation by kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty: 8 years experience
      outcomes and complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: Minimally invasive percutaneous vertebral augmentation
      techniques; vertebroplasty, and kyphoplasty have been treatment choices for
      vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). The purpose of this study is to evaluate
      the outcomes of the patients who underwent vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty
      regarding complications, correction of vertebral body height, kyphosis angle and
      pain relief assessment using visual analog score (VAS) for pain. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective review of the hospital records for 100 consecutive
      patients treated with kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty in our department database.
      Patients with osteoporotic compression fractures, traumatic compressions, and
      osteolytic vertebral lesions, including metastases, hemangiomas, and multiple
      myeloma, were included in the study. Preoperative and postoperative VAS pain
      scores, percentages of vertebral compression and kyphotic angles were measured
      and compared as well as demographic characteristics and postoperative
      complications. Mobilization and length of stay (LOS) were recorded. RESULTS: One
      hundred patients were treated by 110 procedures. 64 patients were operated on due
      to osteoporosis (72 procedures). Twelve patients were operated on because of
      metastasis (13 procedures), 8 patients were operated on because of multiple
      myeloma (9 procedures). Five patients had two surgeries, 1 patient had 3
      surgeries, and 1 patient had 5 surgeries. The mean preoperative VAS was 74.05 +/-
      9.8. In total, 175 levels were treated, 46 levels by kyphoplasty and 129 by
      vertebroplasty. The mean postoperative VAS was 20.94 +/- 11.8. Most of the
      patients were mobilized in the same day they of surgery. Mean LOS was 1.83 days.
      Six patients had nonsymptomatic leakage of polymethlymethacrylate, and patient
      had epidural hematoma, which was operated on performing hemi-laminectomy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous vertebroplasty and balloon kyphoplasty are both
      effective and safe minimally invasive procedures for the stabilization of VCFs.
      However, complications should be kept in mind during decision making.

PMID- 27630479
TI  - Comparison of hinged and contoured rods for occipitocervical arthrodesis in
      adults: A clinical study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A rigid construct that employs an occipital plate and upper
      cervical screws and rods is the current standard treatment for craniovertebral
      junction (CVJ) instability. A rod is contoured to accommodate the
      occipitocervical angle. Fatigue failure has been associated these acute bends.
      Hinged rod systems have been developed to obviate intraoperative rod contouring.
      OBJECT: The aim of this study is to determine the safety and efficacy of the
      hinged rod system in occipitocervical fusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study
      retrospectively evaluated 39 patients who underwent occipitocervical arthrodesis.
      Twenty patients were treated with hinged rods versus 19 with contoured rods.
      Clinical and radiographic data were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: Preoperative
      and postoperative Nurick and Frankel scores were similar between both groups. The
      use of allograft, autograft or bone morphogenetic protein was similar in both
      groups. The average number of levels fused was 4.1 (+/-2.4) and 3.4 (+/-2) for
      hinged and contoured rods, respectively. The operative time, estimated blood
      loss, and length of stay were similar between both groups. The occiput to C2
      angle was similarly maintained in both groups and all patients demonstrated no
      movement across the CVJ on flexion-extension X-rays during their last follow-up.
      The average follow-up for the hinged and contoured rod groups was 12.2 months and
      15.9 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Hinged rods provide a safe and effective
      alternative to contoured rods during occipitocervical arthrodesis.

PMID- 27630478
TI  - Proposed clinical internal carotid artery classification system.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Numerical classification systems for the internal carotid artery
      (ICA) are available, but modifications have added confusion to the numerical
      systems. Furthermore, previous classifications may not be applicable uniformly to
      microsurgical and endoscopic procedures. The purpose of this study was to develop
      a clinically useful classification system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed
      cadaver dissections of the ICA in 5 heads (10 sides) and evaluated 648 internal
      carotid arteries with computed tomography angiography. We identified specific
      anatomic landmarks to define the beginning and end of each ICA segment. RESULTS:
      The ICA was classified into eight segments based on the cadaver and imaging
      findings: (1) Cervical segment; (2) cochlear segment (ascending segment of the
      ICA in the temporal bone) (relation of the start of this segment to the base of
      the styloid process: Above, 425 sides [80%]; below, 2 sides [0.4%]; at same
      level, 107 sides [20%]; P < 0.0001) (relation of cochlea to ICA: Posterior, 501
      sides [85%]; posteromedial, 84 sides [14%]; P < 0.0001); (3) petrous segment
      (horizontal segment of ICA in the temporal bone) starting at the crossing of the
      eustachian tube superolateral to the ICA turn in all 10 samples; (4) Gasserian
      Clival segment (ascending segment of ICA in the cavernous sinus) starting at the
      petrolingual ligament (PLL) (relation to vidian canal on imaging: At same level,
      360 sides [63%]; below, 154 sides [27%]; above, 53 sides [9%]; P < 0.0001); in
      this segment, the ICA projected medially toward the clivus in 275 sides (52%) or
      parallel to the clivus with no deviation in 256 sides (48%; P < 0.0001); (5)
      sellar segment (medial loop of ICA in the cavernous sinus) starting at the
      takeoff of the meningeal hypophyseal trunk (ICA was medial into the sella in 271
      cases [46%], lateral without touching the sella in 127 cases [23%], and abutting
      the sella in 182 cases [31%]; P < 0.0001); (6) sphenoid segment (lateral loop of
      ICA within the cavernous sinus) starting at the crossing of the fourth cranial
      nerve on the lateral aspect of the cavernous ICA and located directly lateral to
      the sphenoid sinus; (7) ring segment (ICA between the 2 dural rings) starting at
      the crossing of the third cranial nerve on the lateral aspect of the ICA; (8)
      cisternal segment starting at the distal dural ring. CONCLUSIONS: The
      classification may be applied uniformly to all skull base surgical approaches
      including lateral microsurgical and ventral endoscopic approaches, obviating the
      need for 2 separate classification systems. The classification allows
      extrapolation of relevant clinical information because each named segment may
      indicate potential surgical risk to specific structures.

PMID- 27630480
TI  - Pure spinal epidural cavernous hemangioma: A case series of seven cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pure spinal epidural cavernous hemangiomas (PSECHs) are rare
      vascular lesions with about 100 cases reported. Herein, we present a case series
      of 7 PSECHs discussing their clinical presentation, radiological characteristics,
      surgical technique and intraoperative findings, pathological features, and
      functional outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrieved from the retrolective
      databases of the senior authors, patients with pathologically confirmed PSECH
      operated between January 2002 and November 2015. From their medical records, the
      patients' sociodemographic, clinical, radiological, surgical, and
      histopathological data were retrieved and analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the
      seven cases was 50.3 years. Four were females. All the five cases (71.4%) in the
      thoracic spine had myelopathy and the 2 (28.6%) lumbar cases had sciatica. Local
      pain was present in all the cases. All the lesions were isointense on T1-weighted
      images, hyperintense on T2-weighted images, and in five cases there was strong
      homogeneous enhancement. In six cases (85.7%), classical laminectomy was done;
      lesions resected in one piece in five cases. Total excision was achieved in all
      the cases. Lesions were thin-walled dilated blood vessels, lined with
      endothelium, and engorged with blood and with scanty loose fibrous stroma. The
      median follow-up was 12 months (range: 1-144 months). All patients gradually
      improved neurologically and achieved a good outcome with no recurrence at the
      last follow-up. CONCLUSION: PSECH although rare is increasing reported and ought
      to be included in the differential diagnosis of spinal epidural lesions. Early
      surgical treatment with total resection is recommended as would result in a good
      prognosis.

PMID- 27630481
TI  - Chronic neglected irreducible atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation in adolescence.
AB  - Atlantoaxial rotatory fixation (AARF) is a rare condition and delayed diagnosis.
      We report a case of chronic neglected atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation in
      adolescence child that was treated by serial skull traction followed by posterior
      fusing by method pioneered by Goel et al. A 15-year-old male presented with signs
      of high cervical myelopathy 2 years after trauma to neck childhood. There was
      upper cervical kyphosis, direct tenderness over C2 spinous process, atrophy of
      both hand muscles with weakness in grip strength. Reflexes in upper and lower
      extremities were exaggerated. Imaging showed Type 3 (Fielding and Hawkins)
      rotatory atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD). Treatment options available were 1.
      Staged anterior Transoral release & reduction followed by posterior fusion
      described by Govender and Kumar et al, 2. Posterior open reduction of joint and
      fusion, 3. Occipitocervical fusion with decompression. Our case was AARF
      presented to us with almost 2-year post injury. Considering complications
      associated with anterior surgery and posterior open reduction, we have opted for
      closed reduction by serially applying weight to skull traction under closed
      neurological monitoring. We have serially increased weight up to 15 kg over a
      period of 1 week before. We have achieved some reduction which was confirmed by
      traction lateral radiographs and computerized axial tomography scan. Residual
      subluxation corrected intra-operatively indirectly by using reduction screws in
      Goel et al. PROCEDURE: Finally performed for C1-C2 fusion to take care of
      Instability. We like to emphasis here role of closed reduction even in delayed
      and neglected cases.

PMID- 27630482
TI  - Response to "Syringomyelia secondary to 'occult' dorsal arachnoid webs: Report of
      two cases with review of literature" by Sayal et al.

PMID- 27630483
TI  - Could nanoparticles make tooth surface too greasy for microorganisms to boom?

PMID- 27630484
TI  - Dental neglect, child maltreatment, and the role of the dental profession.

PMID- 27630485
TI  - Early clinical exposure: New paradigm in Medical and Dental Education.

PMID- 27630486
TI  - Digital dentistry: Unraveling the mysteries of computer-aided design computer
      aided manufacturing in prosthodontic rehabilitation.

PMID- 27630487
TI  - A discussion on how to apply resin-modified glass ionomers.

PMID- 27630488
TI  - Evidence-based dentistry: An overview.

PMID- 27630489
TI  - Current scenario of academic research among health-care providers in India.

PMID- 27630490
TI  - A regeneration-based, nonobturation root-canal treatment for fully-mature teeth:
      Six years' experience with "SealBio".
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To provide scientific evidence on the outcome of a large number of
      cases treated by SealBio over the longer follow-up period. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      One hundred and thirty-four teeth in 116 patients presenting with pulp and
      periapical disease were randomly recruited between 2009 and 2014. SealBio was
      performed, and cases were followed up at regular intervals up to 6-year. RESULTS:
      Of the total 134 teeth treated, 16 teeth could not be followed up and 9 cases
      failed (7.62% of cases). In only 4 cases (approximately 3.38% of cases), the
      failure could be directly attributed to endodontic causes. In the remaining 5
      cases, coronal leakage from under the crown margins or dislodged restoration was
      found after 3-5 years of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: SealBio was found to be a
      successful, nonobturation, regeneration-based endodontic treatment protocol. By
      cell homing of endogenous stem cells, a biological seal rather than an artificial
      seal with gutta-percha and sealer cement is possible to achieve. It is highly
      cost saving and easier to perform, in addition to other advantages, such as
      retreatment is much simpler, and postcore restoration is possible after SealBio
      treatment.

PMID- 27630492
TI  - Effect of nanoscale particles incorporation on microhardness of polymers for oral
      prosthesis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the incorporation of
      pigments on surface hardness of four acrylic resins subjected to thermocycling
      and analyze their elemental composition using energy dispersive X-ray
      spectroscopy (EDS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one discs of each resin were
      fabricated, whereas seven had no additive, seven had 3% of nanoscale pigments and
      last seven had 10% of them. The percentage was obtained by measuring the total
      weight of each resin disc. Besides, seven discs composed by only nanoscale
      pigments were also fabricated, totalizing 91 discs. The pigment was weighed by
      using an analytical balance (BEL Analytical Equipment, SP, Brazil). The surface
      hardness was measured through a hardness tester machine before and after
      thermocycling (5-55 degrees C, for 2000 cycles). Data were analyzed by ANOVA and
      Tukey's test (P < 0.05). The chemical composition of the discs composed only by
      nanoscale pigments was analyzed with EDS test. RESULTS: Hardness of all resins
      decreased after thermocycling. The lowest values were observed on the discs with
      3% of nanoscale pigments and discs fabricated only with them. EDS showed the
      presence of titanium dioxide. CONCLUSION: Discs with 7% of pigments (after
      thermocycling) showed higher hardness values.

PMID- 27630491
TI  - Evaluation of chemokines in gingival crevicular fluid in children with band and
      loop space maintainers: A clinico-biochemical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemokines are pro-inflammatory cells that can be induced during an
      immune response to recruit cells of the immune system to a site of infection.
      AIM: This study was conducted to detect the presence of chemokines, macrophage
      inflammatory protein-1alpha (MIP-1alpha), and 1beta (MIP-1beta) and estimate
      their levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in children with band and loop
      space maintainers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta levels were
      estimated in GCF samples from twenty healthy children and twenty children with
      band and loop space maintainers. Periodontal status was evaluated by measuring
      gingival index, plaque index, and Russell's periodontal index. The GCF samples
      were quantified by ELISA, and the levels of MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta were
      determined. RESULTS: The mean MIP-1alpha concentrations in healthy children and
      those with space maintainers were 395.75 pg/ul and 857.85 pg/ul, respectively,
      and MIP-1beta was 342.55 pg/ul and 685.25 pg/ul, respectively. MIP-1alpha and MIP
      1beta levels in GCF from children with space maintainers were significantly
      higher than in the healthy group, and statistically significant difference
      existed between these two groups. CONCLUSION: MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta can be
      considered as novel biomarkers in the biological mechanism underlying the
      pathogenesis of gingival inflammation in children with space maintainers.

PMID- 27630494
TI  - Plaque removal efficacy of Colgate 360 toothbrush: A clinical study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this clinical study was to confirm the plaque removal efficacy of
      the Colgate 360 Whole Mouth Clean Toothbrush. STUDY DESIGN: This was a single
      center, monadic, case-controlled study with the 7 days duration. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of eighty participants (56 male and 24 female) aged between 18
      and 45 years with a minimum of 20 permanent teeth (excluding the third molars)
      without any prosthetic crowns and an initial plaque score of minimum 1.5 as
      determined by Modified Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (1970) participated in the
      study. There were two dropouts during the study duration, one male and one
      female. The participants were instructed to brush for 1 min, after which plaque
      index was recorded again. They were then instructed to brush their teeth twice a
      day for 1 min with the assigned toothbrush (Colgate 360 Whole Mouth Clean
      Toothbrush) and a commercially available fluoride toothpaste for the next 7 days.
      On the 7(th) day, all the participants were recalled for follow-up and plaque
      examination. The plaque index scores (pre- and post-brushing) were recorded,
      tabulated, and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The mean plaque indices reduced
      after brushing both on day 1 and day 7. There was also a reduction in mean plaque
      indices from day 1 to day 7. All these reductions were statistically significant
      (P < 0.001). The reduction in plaque scores was independent of the gender of the
      participants however female participants showed lower scores as compared to male
      participants (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated a
      significant reduction in plaque scores with the use of Colgate 360 Whole Mouth
      Clean Soft Toothbrush throughout the study period. Continued use resulted in a
      further significant reduction in plaque scores irrespective of the gender of
      participants.

PMID- 27630495
TI  - Evaluation of sealing ability of BiodentineTM and mineral trioxide aggregate in
      primary molars using scanning electron microscope: A randomized controlled in
      vitro trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the sealing ability of mineral
      trioxide aggregate (MTA) and BiodentineTM when used to repair the furcal
      perforations in primary molars using scanning electron microscope (SEM). STUDY
      DESIGN: The study sample comprised forty recently extracted primary molars. These
      teeth were placed in a 5.25% sodium hypochlorite solution for 24 h and washed
      with tap water. Access cavities were made using a round bur in high-speed
      handpiece. Perforations were made in the center of the floor of the pulpal
      chamber using a 0.5 mm round bur. The teeth were randomly assigned into two
      experimental groups based on the material used to seal the perforation: Group A -
      MTA and Group B - BiodentineTM. The packed materials were allowed to set for 24
      h. The samples were sectioned longitudinally and the extent of marginal
      adaptation was measured by SEM. Wilcoxon-signed rank test was used for
      statistical analysis using SPSS software. RESULTS: All teeth exhibited
      microleakage, but BiodentineTM showed significantly less leakage (0.149) compared
      to MTA (0.583). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, BiodentineTM
      showed lesser microleakage compared to MTA and thus may be a good alternative to
      MTA.

PMID- 27630493
TI  - Impact of hydrogen peroxide activated by lighting-emitting diode/laser system on
      enamel color and microhardness: An in situ design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hydrogen peroxide (HP) at lower concentration can provide less
      alteration on enamel surface and when combined with laser therapy, could decrease
      tooth sensitivity. This in situ study evaluated the influence of 15% and 35% HP
      gel activated by lighting-emitting diode (LED)/laser light for in-office tooth
      bleaching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four bovine enamel slabs were polished
      and subjected to surface microhardness (load of 25 g for 5 s). The specimens were
      placed in intraoral palatal devices of 11 volunteers (n = 11). Sample was
      randomly distributed into four groups according to the bleaching protocol: 15%
      HP, 15% HP activated by LED/laser, 35% HP, and 35% HP activated by LED/laser. The
      experimental phase comprised 15 days and bleaching protocols were performed on
      the 2(nd) and 9(th) days. Surface microhardness (KHN) and color changes were
      measured and data were analyzed by ANOVA (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: There were no
      significant differences in microhardness values neither in color alteration of
      enamel treated with 15% HP and 35% HP activated or not by LED/laser system (P >
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both concentrations of HP (15 or 35%), regardless of
      activated by an LED/laser light, did not affect the surface microhardness and had
      the same effectiveness in enamel bleaching.

PMID- 27630496
TI  - Comparative evaluation of shear bond strength and nanoleakage of conventional and
      self-adhering flowable composites to primary teeth dentin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The latest advancement in adhesive dentistry is the development of
      self adhering flowable composite resin which incorporates the self-etch adhesion
      technology to eliminate the steps of etching, rinsing, priming and bonding. Few
      studies have addressed resin bonding to primary teeth. AIM: The aim of this study
      was to compare the shear bond strength and nanoleakage of conventional and self
      adhering flowable composites to primary teeth dentin. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This
      study was conducted in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry,
      I.T.S Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida; in association
      with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, I.T.S Engineering College, Greater
      Noida; and the Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF), Jawaharlal
      Nehru University, New Delhi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty of the ninety primary
      teeth were evaluated for shear bond strength and thirty for nanoleakage. The
      samples were divided into three groups; Group I - Dyad Flow (Kerr), Group II -
      Fusio Liquid Dentin (Pentron Clinical Technologies) and Group III - G-aenial
      Universal Flo (GC). Shear bond strength was determined using a universal testing
      machine. Nanoleakage pattern was observed under scanning electron microscope.
      RESULTS: The shear bond strength of conventional flowable composite was
      significantly greater than self adhering flowable composite (p<0.05). Nanoleakage
      scores of both conventional and self adhering flowable composites were
      comparable. CONCLUSIONS: Self adhering flowable composites combine properties of
      composites and self etch adhesives, eliminating the need for separate bond
      application that simplifies direct restorative procedure. The evolution of self
      adhering materials could open new horizons for pediatric dentistry.

PMID- 27630497
TI  - Evaluation of pulpal response of deciduous teeth after direct pulp capping with
      bioactive glass and mineral trioxide aggregate.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the pulpal response of primary teeth
      after direct pulp capping (DPC) with two biocompatible materials namely mineral
      trioxide aggregate (MTA) and bioactive glass (BAG). SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This
      study was a randomized clinical trial. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 22
      healthy primary canine teeth scheduled for extraction for orthodontic reasons
      were selected. The teeth were divided into two groups of 11 and underwent DPC.
      The exposure sites were randomly capped with MTA or BAG in the two groups. After
      2 months, the teeth were extracted and prepared for histopathologic evaluation.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS:
      In the BAG group, inflammation was seen in three patients; internal resorption
      and abscess were not seen at all. In the MTA group, inflammation was seen in one
      patient and internal resorption and abscess were not seen in any patient.
      Fisher's exact test showed no significant difference between the two groups (P >
      0.05). Dentinal bridge formation was noted in five patients in the BAG group and
      six patients in the MTA group. No significant difference was observed between the
      BAG and MTA groups using Chi-square analysis (P = 0.67). CONCLUSION: Based on the
      results of this study, MTA and BAG can be used for DPC of primary teeth.

PMID- 27630498
TI  - Comparative assessment of the effectiveness of different cleaning methods on the
      growth of Candida albicans over acrylic surface.
AB  - CONTEXT: This study evaluated the efficacy of denture adhesive, cleanser,
      chlorhexidine, and brushing against Candida albicans biofilm developed on an
      acrylic surface and predicted the most effective, simple, and inexpensive way to
      maintain denture health, thereby preventing denture stomatitis. AIMS: To find the
      best possible method for maintaining denture hygiene. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This
      retrospective analysis was conducted in the Guru Nanak Institute of Dental
      Sciences and Research, Kolkata, and this in vitro study was designed to minimize
      denture stomatitis among denture wearing population. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty
      acrylic discs of equal dimensions after exposure to C. albicans were treated for
      a duration of 24 h with denture adhesive, cleanser, 0.2% chlorhexidine
      individually, or in combinations simulating clinical conditions dividing in six
      groups, ten samples each (n = 10). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: After treatment,
      colony count was evaluated and statistically analyzed by post hoc Tukey's test
      and Dunnett's test to determine the most effective way of prevention. RESULTS:
      The statistical post hoc analysis (Tukey's test and Dunnett's test) showed high
      significance (P < 0.0001). The group treated with adhesive showed high fungal
      growth compared to the control group, whereas chlorhexidine showed high potency
      to prevent C. albicans, whereas adhesive increased the adhesion of C. albicans to
      acrylic surface. CONCLUSIONS: Denture adhesive increases the adherence of C.
      albicans to denture surface. Other cleaning chemicals such as cleanser and
      chlorhexidine decrease the adherence. Moreover, among the all denture cleaning
      protocol, chlorhexidine drastically inhibit the adherence, as well as growth of
      C. albicans over denture surface.

PMID- 27630499
TI  - Expression of periodontal inflammation into left ventricular hypertrophy in Type
      2 diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic periodontitis, an inflammatory disease, is closely related to
      certain systemic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and Type 2
      diabetes mellitus. These conditions, occurring as comorbidities, synergically
      affect periodontal tissues. AIM: This study aims to examine whether chronic
      gingivitis and chronic generalized severe periodontitis in patients with Type 2
      diabetes mellitus are associated with increased left ventricular mass (LVM).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 45 patients affected with Type 2 diabetes
      mellitus were recruited and divided into three groups with 15 patients each
      according to their periodontal status: Group I consisting of healthy individuals,
      Group II consisting of chronic gingivitis, and Group III consisting of chronic
      generalized severe periodontitis. They were assessed clinically, biochemically,
      and echocardiographically. LVM was calculated according to Devereux formula and
      was indexed to height. RESULTS: The differences in the means for LVM and LVM
      index (LVMI) were statistically significant in three groups with a P = 0.006 and
      0.014, respectively. After adjusting for the confounders, the mean values of LVM
      in Group I, II, and III were 149.35 +/- 35.51 g, 147.95 +/- 31.59 g, and 156.36
      +/- 36.57 g, respectively and for LVMI, the mean values were 43.61 +/- 12.16
      g/m(2.7) (Group I), 47.12 +/- 10.84 g/m(2.7) (Group II), and 46.34 +/- 12.55
      g/m(2.7) (Group III). CONCLUSIONS: A positive association between chronic
      generalized severe periodontitis and increased LVM in Type 2 DM patients was
      observed, suggesting the role of periodontal disease in the left ventricular
      hypertrophy.

PMID- 27630500
TI  - Interaction of IL1B and IL1RN polymorphisms, smoking habit, gender, and ethnicity
      with aggressive and chronic periodontitis susceptibility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the interleukin-1 (IL-1) plays a critical role in the
      pathogenesis of periodontitis, associations between IL1 gene cluster
      polymorphisms and the disease remains unclear. AIMS: To investigate the
      importance of IL1B-511C>T (rs16944), IL1B +3954C>T (rs1143634), and IL1RN intron
      2 variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) (rs2234663) polymorphisms, individually or
      in combination, as the risk factors of periodontitis in a Southeastern Brazilian
      population with a high degree of miscegenation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of
      145 individuals, with aggressive (aggressive periodontitis [AgP], n = 43) and
      chronic (chronic periodontitis [CP], n = 52) periodontitis, and controls (n = 50)
      were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (IL1RN intron 2 VNTR) or PCR
      restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) (IL1B-511 C>T and IL1B +
      3954C>T) techniques. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The independent t-test, Chi-square,
      and Fisher's exact tests were used. The SNPStats program was used for haplotype
      estimation and multiplicative interaction analyses. RESULTS: The IL1B +3954T
      allele represented risk for CP (odds ratio [OR] = 2.84), particularly in smokers
      (OR = 4.43) and females (OR = 6.00). The minor alleles IL1RN*2 and *3 increased
      the risk of AgP (OR = 2.18), especially the IL1RN*2*2 genotype among  white
      Brazilians (OR = 7.80). Individuals with the combinations of the IL1B + 3954T and
      IL1RN*2 or *3-containing genotypes were at increased risk of developing CP (OR =
      4.50). Considering the three polymorphisms (rs16944, rs1143634, and rs2234663),
      the haplotypes TC2 and CT1 represented risk for AgP (OR = 3.41) and CP (OR =
      6.39), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the IL1B +3954C>T and
      IL1RN intron 2 VNTR polymorphisms are potential candidates for genetic biomarkers
      of periodontitis, particularly in specific groups of individuals.

PMID- 27630501
TI  - Evaluation of moxifloxacin-hydroxyapatite composite graft in the regeneration of
      intrabony defects: A clinical, radiographic, and microbiological study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The formation of new connective periodontal attachment is contingent
      upon the elimination or marked reduction of pathogens at the treated periodontal
      site. An anti-microbial agent, i.e. moxifloxacin has been incorporated into the
      bone graft to control infection and facilitate healing during and after
      periodontal therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: By purposive sampling, 15 patients
      with at least two contralateral vertical defect sites were selected. The selected
      sites in each individual were divided randomly into test and control sites
      according to split-mouth design. Test site received moxifloxacin-hydroxyapatite
      composite graft and control site received hydroxyapatite-placebo gel composite
      graft. Probing depth (PD) and Clinical attachment level (CAL) were assessed at
      baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Bone probing depth (BPD) and hard tissue
      parameters such as amount of defect fill, percentage of defect fill, and changes
      in alveolar crest were assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Changes in
      subgingival microflora were also assessed by culturing the subgingival plaque
      samples at baseline and at 3-month follow-up. The clinical, radiographic, and
      microbiological data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using
      descriptive statistics, paired sample t-test, independent t-test, and contingency
      test. RESULTS: On intragroup comparison at test and control sites, there was a
      significant improvement in all clinical and radiographic parameters. However, on
      intergroup comparison of the same, there was no statistically significant
      difference between test and control sites at any interval. Although test sites
      showed slightly higher amount of bone fill, it was not statistically significant.
      There was a significant reduction in the counts of Aggregatibacter
      actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis at both sites from baseline to
      3 months. In addition, there was a significant reduction at test sites as
      compared to control sites at 3-month follow-up (P = 0.003 and P = 0.013).
      CONCLUSION: The reduction in microbial counts found in test sites at 3-month
      follow-up could not bring similar significant improvements in the clinical and
      radiographic parameters though the test sites showed slightly higher bone fill.

PMID- 27630502
TI  - Evaluation of facial divine proportion in North Indian Population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the facial divine proportion and its relationship with
      facial attractiveness in North Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For
      evaluation of various facial proportions, standardized frontal facial photographs
      of total 300 subjects between 18 and 30 years of age were obtained. Black and
      white copies of these photographs were presented in front of an evaluation jury
      for assigning scores of facial attractiveness and finally 130 attractive subjects
      were selected. These subjects were divided into two groups, Group I (attractive
      females n = 65) and Group II (attractive males n = 65) and they were further
      analyzed for various parameters of facial proportions. Unpaired Student's t-test
      was used to compare both groups. RESULTS: Group I showed that five of seven
      vertical facial proportions were close to divine proportion (1.618) whereas only
      two vertical proportions in Group II were close to it. Transverse facial
      proportions in both groups deviated more from divine proportion (1.618) and were
      closer to silver proportion (1.414). CONCLUSIONS: Most of the facial proportions
      of attractive females in the North-Indian population were close to the divine
      proportion. Thus, facial divine proportion could be an important factor in the
      perception of facial attractiveness of North-Indian attractive females.

PMID- 27630503
TI  - A comparative evaluation of extraction socket preservation with demineralized
      freeze-dried bone allograft alone and along with platelet-rich fibrin: A clinical
      and radiographic study.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate clinically and radiographically, the bone fill in extraction
      sockets using demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft alone and along with
      platelet-rich fibrin (PRF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled
      clinical trial was carried out on 36 nonrestorable single-rooted teeth sites.
      Sites were randomized into demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA)
      combined with PRF - test and DFDBA - control groups using a coin toss method.
      After the placement of graft material, collagen membrane was used to cover it.
      The clinical parameters recorded were ridge width and ridge height. All the
      parameters were recorded at baseline and at 90 and 180 days. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
      USED: Independent t-test and paired t-test. RESULTS: In both groups, there is
      significant reduction in loss of ridge width and ridge height from baseline to 90
      days (P < 0.001), baseline to 180 days (P < 0.001), and 90-180 days (P < 0.001).
      However, when both the groups were compared the test group favored in the
      reduction of ridge width while there was no statistical difference in reduction
      of ridge height among at different intervals. CONCLUSIONS: Although DFDBA is
      considered as an ideal graft material, PRF can be used as an adjunctive with
      DFDBA for socket preservation.

PMID- 27630505
TI  - Correction of Class II malocclusion and soft tissue profile in an adult patient.
AB  - Treatment of Class II malocclusion in nongrowing individuals is a challenging
      situation for the clinician. Class II malocclusion with bialveolar protrusion
      often dictates premolar extractions with maximum anchorage. The present article
      describes the case of an adult female with skeletal Class II malocclusion,
      bimaxillary protrusion, increased overjet, deep bite, lip protrusion, everted
      lower lip, deep mentolabial sulcus, and lip incompetence. To correct the
      malocclusion, all four first premolars were extracted. Direct anchorage from
      miniscrews was used for retraction of the anterior segment. The mandibular buccal
      segment was protracted into the extraction space using Class II mechanics. Ideal
      Class I canine and molar relation were achieved in 24 months. There was a
      significant improvement in facial profile and smile esthetics of the patient. 

PMID- 27630506
TI  - Orthodontic-orthognathic interventions in orthognathic surgical cases: "Paper
      surgery" and "model surgery" concepts in surgical orthodontics.
AB  - Thorough planning and execution is the key for successful treatment of
      dentofacial deformity involving surgical orthodontics. Presurgical planning
      (paper surgery and model surgery) are the most essential prerequisites of
      orthognathic surgery, and orthodontist is the one who carries out this procedure
      by evaluating diagnostic aids such as crucial clinical findings and radiographic
      assessments. However, literature pertaining to step-by-step orthognathic surgical
      guidelines is limited. Hence, this article makes an attempt to provide an insight
      and nuances involved in the planning and execution. The diagnostic information
      revealed from clinical findings and radiographic assessments is integrated in the
      "paper surgery" to establish "surgical-plan." Furthermore, the "paper surgery" is
      emulated in "model surgery" such that surgical bite-wafers are created, which aid
      surgeon to preview the final outcome and make surgical movements that are deemed
      essential for the desired skeletal and dental outcomes. Skeletal complexities are
      corrected by performing "paper surgery" and an occlusion is set up during "model
      surgery" for the fabrication of surgical bite-wafers. Further, orthodontics is
      carried out for the proper settling and finishing of occlusion. Article describes
      the nuances involved in the treatment of Class III skeletal deformity individuals
      treated with orthognathic surgical approach and illustrates orthodontic
      orthognathic step-by-step procedures from "treatment planning" to "execution" for
      successful management of aforementioned dentofacial deformity. 

PMID- 27630504
TI  - Comparative evaluation of co-enzyme Q10 and Melaleuca alternifolia as antioxidant
      gels in treatment of chronic periodontitis: A clinical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy has been proven to be an
      effective treatment for patients with chronic periodontitis. Coenzyme Q10 and tea
      tree oil (TTO) are known to have potential therapeutic benefits in chronic
      periodontitis. AIMS: The aim of the study is to compare the efficacy of Coenzyme
      Q10 (Perio Q((r))) and tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) gel as an adjunct to
      scaling and root planing in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Patients were divided equally into three groups: Group I (Control
      group): those receiving placebo gel + SRP, Group II (Test group I): those
      receiving Perio Q(TM) gel + SRP, and Group III (Test group II): those receiving
      tea tree oil gel + SRP. A total of 15 patients with 45 sites were enrolled in the
      study. Clinical parameters evaluated were plaque index (PI), gingival bleeding
      index (GI), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL).
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Paired t-test was applied using SPSS software.
      RESULTS: Mean PPD reduction for Group I, Group II, and Group III was 0.50 +/-
      0.2, 2.95 +/- 0.20, and 2.09 +/- 0.15, respectively. Mean CAL reduction for Group
      I, Group II, and Group III was 0.45 +/- 0.22, 2.33 +/- 0.04, and 2.28 +/- 0.09,
      respectively. Changes in mean PI scores for Group I, Group II, and Group III were
      0.67 +/- 017, 1.00 +/- 0.11, and 1.08 +/- 0.05 and GBI scores were 0.92 +/- 0.29,
      1.08 +/- 0.13, and 0.88 +/- 0.28, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Coenzyme Q10 and tea
      tree oil gel proved to be effective in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

PMID- 27630507
TI  - Verrucous carcinoma-an enigma: Case report and review.
AB  - Verrucous hyperplasia, verrucous keratosis, and VC may not be distinguished
      clinically or may coexist. Though it appears remarkably harmless, the
      histopathological diagnosis of VC should be accompanied with careful
      identification of tumors with a greater chance to become frank cancers. Here, we
      report two cases of OVC, referring all the diagnostic intricacy occurring in the
      clinicopathological examination along with a review of the scientific literature.

PMID- 27630508
TI  - Correction of anterior crossbite using modified transparent aligners: An esthetic
      approach.
AB  - Anterior crossbite results from the abnormal axial inclination of one or more
      anterior teeth. It is a major esthetic and functional anomaly which has to be
      corrected in the primary and early mixed dentition period to allow the normal
      development of maxilla and mandible as well as the occlusion. Several treatment
      options are available to correct the problem. A unique appliance, "modified
      transparent tray aligners" was used to correct the anterior crossbite in an 8
      year-old child. The clinical presentation, fabrication of the appliance, and the
      outcome are discussed. 

PMID- 27630509
TI  - Bone defect rehabilitation using lyophilized bone preshaped on a
      stereolithographic model.
AB  - Bone grafting provides ideal conditions to the patient's rehabilitation with
      dental implants. In addition, prototyped tridimensional models allow the surgical
      procedure to be simulated and enable important anatomic structures to be
      visualized. To present a bone defect rehabilitated with xenogenic bone preshaped
      on a stereolithographic model and the follow-up after 7 years of treatment. The
      present case report describes a bone defect rehabilitated with a lyophilized bone
      block preshaped on a stereolithographic model. The patient, a 56-year-old woman,
      was referred to the dental office presenting a bone defect in the anterior
      maxilla. Bone regeneration intervention was performed with xenogenic grafting and
      barrier membrane. The follow-up of the postoperative period and after 7 years is
      presented. After 7 years, the tomographic exam showed the maintenance of bone at
      the grafted site, representing the long-term success of the treatment. 

PMID- 27630510
TI  - Neuroblastoma in early childhood: A rare case report and review of literature.
AB  - Neuroblastoma is an extremely rare pediatric neoplasm whose prognosis becomes
      poor and poor as the age advances. It can be sporadic or nonfamilial in origin.
      It is primarily a tumor of abdominal origin from where it metastasis to lymph
      nodes, liver, intracranial and orbital sites, and central nervous system. There
      is no standard dental treatment protocol for the management of neuroblastoma due
      to its poor survival rate and rarity. However, dental treatment may follow the
      protocol of preventive and restorative. Surgicals should be performed under
      supervision as it may trigger metastasis. We report a rare case of neuroblastoma
      in a 3-year-old child presenting classical oral manifestations such as bilateral
      palatal swelling, rolled border ulcer on the posterior part of hard palate
      adjacent to primary molars, and bilateral proptosis. 

PMID- 27630511
TI  - Management of localized advance loss of periodontal support associated Grade II
      furcation and intrabony defect in chronic periodontitis patient through
      amalgamation of platelet-rich fibrin and hydroxyapatite bioactive glass composite
      granules.
AB  - Periodontal disease is infectious, complex, multifactorial, chronic inflammatory
      disease of supporting periodontal tissues that not only alters the bone
      morphology but also leads to the reduction in bone height. Different types of
      bony deformities such as horizontal, vertical, craters, and furcation result from
      periodontal disease, but vertical and Grade II furcation defects are more
      amenable to regenerative periodontal therapy. The present case report describes
      the current concept of periodontal diagnosis and the clinical radiographical
      efficiency of platelet-rich fibrin and hydroxyapatite bioactive glass composite
      granules graft combination in the management of localized advance osseous defects
      with respect to tooth number 36 in chronic periodontitis patient at 1 year
      postoperatively. 

PMID- 27630512
TI  - Management of a massive compound odontoma in a 9-year child.
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to describe the case of surgical management of
      massive compound odontoma with 36 denticles in a 9-year-boy who presented with a
      complaint of pain and swelling in mandibular left posterior region and retained
      74. The denticles were removed after the removal of retained 74 completely and
      wound healing was observed. Odontomas are considered as hamartomatous dental
      malformation rather than true neoplasm of odontogenic origin. They are the most
      commonly occurring abnormally formed dental tissues that interfere with eruption
      of associated teeth. The eruption disturbances seen due to odontomas are delayed
      eruption or deflection of associated teeth. These malformations are usually
      asymptomatic and discovered during routine radiographic investigations. Correct
      diagnosis followed by proper treatment plan results in a favorable prognosis. 

PMID- 27630513
TI  - Simultaneous correction of functional posterior cross bite and midline shift.
AB  - The most frequent cause of functional posterior crossbite is the reduction in
      width of the maxillary dental arch. This posterior crossbite is associated with
      anterior crowding which is presented as an infrapositioned canine or a palatally
      positioned lateral incisor on one side; this leads to an upper midline shift
      toward the crowded side. The present case report shows the management of
      posterior crossbite with functional shift and upper midline shift simultaneously
      without adverse side effects. In this case, rapid maxillary expansion along with
      fixed appliance is used to correct posterior crossbite with the upper dental
      midline shift using reciprocal action of elastic transseptal fibers. 

PMID- 27630514
TI  - Intraosseous verrucous carcinoma arising from an orthokeratinized odontogenic
      keratocyst: A report of a rarest entity.
AB  - Intraosseous verrucous carcinomas (VCs) arising from odontogenic cysts are a rare
      entity. An unusual case of a VC arising from the orthokeratinized odontogenic
      cyst is described for the first time. The microscopic features of the lesion are
      presented. 

PMID- 27630515
TI  - A K-fold Averaging Cross-validation Procedure.
AB  - Cross-validation type of methods have been widely used to facilitate model
      estimation and variable selection. In this work, we suggest a new K-fold cross
      validation procedure to select a candidate 'optimal' model from each hold-out
      fold and average the K candidate 'optimal' models to obtain the ultimate model.
      Due to the averaging effect, the variance of the proposed estimates can be
      significantly reduced. This new procedure results in more stable and efficient
      parameter estimation than the classical K-fold cross validation procedure. In
      addition, we show the asymptotic equivalence between the proposed and classical
      cross validation procedures in the linear regression setting. We also demonstrate
      the broad applicability of the proposed procedure via two examples of parameter
      sparsity regularization and quantile smoothing splines modeling. We illustrate
      the promise of the proposed method through simulations and a real data example.

PMID- 27630516
TI  - Job Coaching and Success in Gaining and Sustaining Employment Among Homeless
      People.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: People who are homeless experience many barriers that affect their
      ability to gain and sustain work. In this study, we investigate whether personal
      job coaching support contributes toward employment success. METHODS: The short-
      and long-term employment outcomes of 2,480 clients participating in a labor
      market program were analyzed. RESULTS: Clients being supported by a job coach
      have significantly higher chances of gaining employment than those not being
      supported. This holds particularly true for the youngest age-group. Furthermore,
      results also indicate that job coaching improves clients' chances of successfully
      sustaining employment. CONCLUSIONS: Personal approaches and individual coaching
      seem to be promising strategies in social work practice and specifically in
      return to work programs for people who have experienced homelessness.

PMID- 27630518
TI  - Developing Productive Partnerships With Technology and Device Vendors To Improve
      the Training of Staff.
AB  - Improve staff training with vendor partnerships. 

PMID- 27630517
TI  - Social Workers' Orientation Toward the Evidence-Based Practice Process: A Dutch
      Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study assesses social workers' orientation toward the evidence
      based practice (EBP) process and explores which specific variables (e.g. age) are
      associated. METHODS: Data were collected from 341 Dutch social workers through an
      online survey which included a Dutch translation of the EBP Process Assessment
      Scale (EBPPAS), along with 13 background/demographic questions. RESULTS: The
      overall level of orientation toward the EBP process is relatively low. Although
      respondents are slightly familiar with it and have slightly positive attitudes
      about it, their intentions to engage in it and their actual engagement are
      relatively low. Respondents who followed a course on the EBP process as a student
      are more oriented toward it than those who did not. Social workers under 29 are
      more familiar with the EBP process than those over 29. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend
      educators to take a more active role in teaching the EBP process to students and
      social workers.

PMID- 27630519
TI  - Congress Enters Contentious Debate on Biosimilar Naming: Bill Provision Sides
      With Brand-Name Companies Over USP.
AB  - Congress set to tackle biosimilar naming debate. 

PMID- 27630520
TI  - Drug and Device News.
AB  - Approvals, new indications, regulatory activities, and more. 

PMID- 27630521
TI  - Pharmaceutical Approval Update.
AB  - Cabozantinib (Cabometyx) for advanced renal cell carcinoma;
      glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (Bevespi Aerosphere) for chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease; and ephedrine sulfate (Akovaz) for hypotension during
      anesthesia. 

PMID- 27630522
TI  - Aripiprazole Lauroxil (Aristada): An Extended-Release, Long-Acting Injection For
      the Treatment of Schizophrenia.
AB  - Aripiprazole lauroxil (Aristada) for the treatment of schizophrenia. 

PMID- 27630523
TI  - Cost Avoidance Utilizing a Batching Process for Isoproterenol.

PMID- 27630524
TI  - Value Purchasing Programs Make Plodding Progress: Drug Manufacturers Question
      Some Pay-for-Performance Methodologies.
AB  - Escalating drug prices have seeded interest in value-based purchasing, but
      confusion and controversy have slowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
      Services, state agencies, and private insurers from pursuing the potential
      savings. 

PMID- 27630525
TI  - Covering the Cost of the Cure: From Hepatitis C to Cancer, New Therapies Are
      Straining a System Plagued by Inefficiency.
AB  - As researchers devise ever-more-costly therapies and P&T committees try to
      balance innovation and affordability, managed care experts warn that the struggle
      to pay the bills could threaten the sustainability of the nation's inefficient
      health care system. 

PMID- 27630526
TI  - Telehealth: Applications From a Legal and Regulatory Perspective.
AB  - Telehealth is becoming mainstream in the U.S., as more consumers, employers,
      hospital systems, and even insurers adopt the technology. The authors explore the
      challenges of regulation, reimbursement, and licensing as the modality evolves. 

PMID- 27630527
TI  - Corrections.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 423 in vol. 41, PMID: 27408518.]. 

PMID- 27630528
TI  - William B. White Explains the Changes In the Way We Look at Blood Pressure: Which
      Numbers Matter Most-and Why Can They Be Deceptive?
AB  - Dr. White, known worldwide as an expert in the use of 24-hour ambulatory blood
      pressure monitoring (ABPM), discusses hypertension, the importance of accurate
      measurement, and the utility of ABPM for effective diagnoses and treatment. 

PMID- 27630529
TI  - ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer And European Post-Chicago
      Melanoma/Skin Cancer Meeting.
AB  - We present sessions on the latest trials and treatments for colorectal cancer
      from the ESMO World Congress and report on new developments in diagnostics and
      therapy presented at the European Post-Chicago Melanoma/Skin Cancer Meeting. 

PMID- 27630530
TI  - Supplements for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

PMID- 27630531
TI  - Photolysis of Hi-CO Nitrogenase - Observation of a Plethora of Distinct CO
      Species using Infrared Spectroscopy.
AB  - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to study the
      photochemistry of CO-inhibited Azotobacter vinelandii nitrogenase using visible
      light at cryogenic temperatures. The FT-IR difference spectrum of photolyzed hi
      CO at 4 K comprises negative bands at 1973 cm-1 and 1679 cm-1 together with
      positive bands at 1711 cm-1, 2135 and 2123 cm-1. The negative bands are assigned
      to a hi-CO state that comprises 2 metal-bound CO ligands, one terminally bound,
      and one bridged and/or protonated species. The positive band at 1711 cm-1 is
      assigned to a lo-CO product with a single bridged and/or protonated metal-CO
      group. We term these species 'Hi-1' and 'Lo-1' respectively. The high-energy
      bands are assigned to a liberated CO trapped in the protein pocket. Warming
      results in CO recombination, and the temperature dependence of the recombination
      rate yields an activation energy of 4 kJ mol-1. Two alpha-H195 variant enzymes
      yielded additional signals. Asparagine substitution, alpha-H195N, gives a
      spectrum containing 2 negative 'Hi-2' bands at 1936 and 1858 cm-1 with a positive
      'Lo-2' band at 1780 cm-1, while glutamine substitution, alpha-H195Q, produces a
      complex spectrum that includes a third CO species, with negative 'Hi-3' bands at
      1938 and 1911 cm-1 and a positive feature 'Lo-3' band at 1921 cm-1. These species
      can be assigned to a combination of terminal, bridged, and possibly protonated CO
      groups bound to the FeMo-cofactor active site. The proposed structures are
      discussed in terms of both CO inhibition and the mechanism nitrogenase catalysis.
      Given the intractability of observing nitrogenase intermediates by
      crystallographic methods, IR-monitored photolysis appears to be a promising and
      information-rich probe of nitrogenase structure and chemistry.

PMID- 27630533
TI  - Talking about a Christine Borland sculpture: effective empathy in contemporary
      anatomy art (and an emerging counterpart in medical training?).
AB  - This Introduction and interview discusses the poetical and empathic insights that
      are a key to the effectiveness of contemporary artist Christine Borland's
      practice and its relevance to the medical humanities, visual art research and
      medical students' training. It takes place in a context of intensive interest in
      reciprocity and conversation as well as expert exchange between the fields of
      Medicine and Contemporary Arts. The interview develops an understanding of
      medical research and the application of its historical resources and contemporary
      practice-based research in contemporary art gallery exhibitions. Artists tend not
      to follow prescriptive programmes towards new historical knowledge, however, a
      desire to form productive relationships between history and contemporary art
      practice does reveal practical advantages. Borland's research also includes
      investigations in anatomy, medical practices and conservation.

PMID- 27630534
TI  - Phylogenetic confirmation of the genus Robbea (Nematoda: Desmodoridae,
      Stilbonematinae) with the description of three new species.
AB  - The Stilbonematinae are a monophyletic group of marine nematodes that are
      characterized by a coat of thiotrophic bacterial symbionts. Among the ten known
      genera of the Stilbonematinae, the genus Robbea Gerlach 1956 had a problematic
      taxonomic history of synonymizations and indications of polyphyletic origin. Here
      we describe three new species of the genus, R. hypermnestra sp. nov., R.
      ruetzleri sp. nov. and R. agricola sp. nov., using conventional light microscopy,
      interference contrast microscopy and SEM. We provide 18S rRNA gene sequences of
      all three species, together with new sequences for the genera Catanema and
      Leptonemella. Both our morphological analyses as well as our phylogenetic
      reconstructions corroborate the genus Robbea. In our phylogenetic analysis the
      three species of the genus Robbea form a distinct clade in the Stilbonematinae
      radiation and are clearly separated from the clade of the genus Catanema, which
      has previously been synonymized with Robbea. Surprisingly, in R. hypermnestra sp.
      nov. all females are intersexes exhibiting male sexual characters. Our extended
      dataset of Stilbonematinae 18S rRNA genes for the first time allows the
      identification of the different genera, e.g. in a barcoding approach.
      http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D37C3F5A-CF2B-40E6-8B09-3C72EEED60B0.

PMID- 27630532
TI  - Artificial Diiron Enzymes with a De Novo Designed Four-Helix Bundle Structure.
AB  - A single polypeptide chain may provide an astronomical number of conformers.
      Nature selected only a trivial number of them through evolution, composing an
      alphabet of scaffolds, that can afford the complete set of chemical reactions
      needed to support life. These structural templates are so stable that they allow
      several mutations without disruption of the global folding, even having the
      ability to bind several exogenous cofactors. With this perspective, metal
      cofactors play a crucial role in the regulation and catalysis of several
      processes. Nature is able to modulate the chemistry of metals, adopting only a
      few ligands and slightly different geometries. Several scaffolds and metal
      binding motifs are representing the focus of intense interest in the literature.
      This review discusses the widespread four-helix bundle fold, adopted as a
      scaffold for metal binding sites in the context of de novo protein design to
      obtain basic biochemical components for biosensing or catalysis. In particular,
      we describe the rational refinement of structure/function in diiron-oxo protein
      models from the due ferri (DF) family. The DF proteins were developed by us
      through an iterative process of design and rigorous characterization, which has
      allowed a shift from structural to functional models. The examples reported
      herein demonstrate the importance of the synergic application of de novo design
      methods as well as spectroscopic and structural characterization to optimize the
      catalytic performance of artificial enzymes.

PMID- 27630535
TI  - ECOLOGICALLY VALID LONG-TERM MOOD MONITORING OF INDIVIDUALS WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER
      USING SPEECH.
AB  - Speech patterns are modulated by the emotional and neurophysiological state of
      the speaker. There exists a growing body of work that computationally examines
      this modulation in patients suffering from depression, autism, and post-traumatic
      stress disorder. However, the majority of the work in this area focuses on the
      analysis of structured speech collected in controlled environments. Here we
      expand on the existing literature by examining bipolar disorder (BP). BP is
      characterized by mood transitions, varying from a healthy euthymic state to
      states characterized by mania or depression. The speech patterns associated with
      these mood states provide a unique opportunity to study the modulations
      characteristic of mood variation. We describe methodology to collect unstructured
      speech continuously and unobtrusively via the recording of day-to-day cellular
      phone conversations. Our pilot investigation suggests that manic and depressive
      mood states can be recognized from this speech data, providing new insight into
      the feasibility of unobtrusive, unstructured, and continuous speech-based
      wellness monitoring for individuals with BP.

PMID- 27630536
TI  - The influence of the structure of the Au(110) surface on the ordering of a
      monolayer of cytochrome P450 reductase at the Au(110)/phosphate buffer interface.
AB  - The reflection anisotropy spectra (RAS) observed initially from Au(110)/phosphate
      buffer interfaces at applied potentials of -0.652 and 0.056 V are very similar to
      the spectra observed from ordered Au(110) (1 * 3) and anion induced (1 * 1)
      surface structures respectively. These RAS profiles transform to a common profile
      after cycling the potential between these two values over 72 h indicating the
      formation of a less ordered surface. The RAS of a monolayer of a P499C variant of
      the human flavoprotein cytochrome P450 reductase adsorbed at 0.056 V at an
      ordered Au(110)/phosphate buffer interface is shown to arise from an ordered
      layer in which the optical dipole transitions are in a plane that is orientated
      roughly normal to the surface and parallel to either the [110] or [001] axes of
      the Au(110) surface. The same result was found previously for adsorption of P499C
      on an ordered interface at -0.652 V. The adsorption of P499C at the disordered
      surface does not result in the formation of an ordered monolayer confirming that
      the molecular ordering is strongly influenced by both the local structure and the
      long range macroscopic order of the Au(110) surface.

PMID- 27630537
TI  - Nanomedicine: Addressing Cardiovascular Disease and Cardiovascular Tissue
      Regeneration.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease is becoming an increasingly significant problem. In
      attempts to overcome many of the traditional hurdles of cardiovascular disease
      treatment, therapeutic approaches have been gradually moving beyond an exclusive
      focus on orally delivered drugs towards the development of nanoscale
      applications. These technologies exploit molecular scale events to improve drug
      and gene delivery applications, enhance preventative medicine and diagnostic
      strategies, and create biomimicking substrates for vascular tissue engineering.
      As nanoscale treatments enter the arena of clinical medicine, new ways of
      thinking about and routes for applying nanomedicine to cardiovascular health
      issues are emerging. With focuses on drug delivery, gene therapy, and
      biomimetics, this article will provide a comprehensive review of various
      nanomedicine applications for combating atherosclerosis and for improving upon
      current vascular tissue engineering designs.

PMID- 27630538
TI  - Uncovering the Social Deficits in the Autistic Brain. A Source-Based Morphometric
      Study.
AB  - Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that mainly affects social interaction
      and communication. Evidence from behavioral and functional MRI studies supports
      the hypothesis that dysfunctional mechanisms involving social brain structures
      play a major role in autistic symptomatology. However, the investigation of
      anatomical abnormalities in the brain of people with autism has led to
      inconsistent results. We investigated whether specific brain regions, known to
      display functional abnormalities in autism, may exhibit mutual and peculiar
      patterns of covariance in their gray-matter concentrations. We analyzed
      structural MRI images of 32 young men affected by autistic disorder (AD) and 50
      healthy controls. Controls were matched for sex, age, handedness. IQ scores were
      also monitored to avoid confounding. A multivariate Source-Based Morphometry
      (SBM) was applied for the first time on AD and controls to detect maximally
      independent networks of gray matter. Group comparison revealed a gray-matter
      source that showed differences in AD compared to controls. This network includes
      broad temporal regions involved in social cognition and high-level visual
      processing, but also motor and executive areas of the frontal lobe. Notably, we
      found that gray matter differences, as reflected by SBM, significantly correlated
      with social and behavioral deficits displayed by AD individuals and encoded via
      the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule scores. These findings provide support
      for current hypotheses about the neural basis of atypical social and mental
      states information processing in autism. 

PMID- 27630539
TI  - The Comparisons of Cerebral Hemodynamics Induced by Obstructive Sleep Apnea with
      Arousal and Periodic Limb Movement with Arousal: A Pilot NIRS Study.
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) with
      periodic limb movement during sleep (PLMS) are two sleep disorders characterized
      by repetitive respiratory or movement events associated with cortical arousals.
      We compared the cerebral hemodynamic changes linked to periodic apneas/hypopneas
      with arousals (AHA) in four OSA-patients with periodic limb movements (PLMA) with
      arousals in four patients with RLS-PLMS using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
      AHA induced homogenous pattern of periodic fluctuations in oxygenated (HbO2) and
      deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin, i.e., the decrease of HbO2 was accompanied by an
      increase of HHb during the respiratory event and resolved to reverse pattern when
      cortical arousal started. Blood volume (BV) showed the same pattern as HHb but
      with relative smaller amplitude in most of the AHA events.These changing patterns
      were significant as Wilcoxon signed-rank tests gave p < 0.001 when comparing the
      area under the curve of these hemodynamic parameters to zero. By contrast, in
      PLMA limb movements induced periodic increments in HbO2 and BV (Wilcoxon signed
      rank tests, p < 0.001), but HHb changed more heterogeneously even during the
      events coming from the same patient. Heart rate (HR) also showed different
      patterns between AHA and PLMA. It significantly decreased during the respiratory
      event (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.001) and then increased after the
      occurrence of cortical arousal (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.001); while in
      PLMA HR first increased preceding the occurrence of cortical arousal (Wilcoxon
      signed-rank test, p < 0.001) and then decreased. The results of this preliminary
      study show that both AHA and PLMA induce changes in cerebral hemodynamics. The
      occurrence of cortical arousal is accompanied by increased HR in both events, but
      by different BV changes (i.e., decreased/increased BV in AHA/PLMA, respectively).
      HR changes may partially account for the increased cerebral hemodynamics during
      PLMA; whereas in AHA probable vasodilatation mediated by hypoxia/hypercapnia is
      more crucial for the post-arousal hemodynamics. The differences between changes
      of cerebral hemodynamics and HR may indicate different pathological mechanisms
      behind these two sleep disorder events. 

PMID- 27630540
TI  - DVS Benchmark Datasets for Object Tracking, Action Recognition, and Object
      Recognition.

PMID- 27630541
TI  - Cerebral Microvascular Endothelial Cell Apoptosis after Ischemia: Role of Enolase
      Phosphatase 1 Activation and Aci-Reductone Dioxygenase 1 Translocation.
AB  - Enolase-phosphatase 1 (ENOPH1), a newly discovered enzyme of the methionine
      salvage pathway, is emerging as an important molecule regulating stress
      responses. In this study, we investigated the role of ENOPH1 in blood brain
      barrier (BBB) injury under ischemic conditions. Focal cerebral ischemia induced
      ENOPH1 mRNA and protein expression in ischemic hemispheric microvessels in rats.
      Exposure of cultured brain microvascular endothelial cells (bEND3 cells) to
      oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) also induced ENOPH1 upregulation, which was
      accompanied by increased cell death and apoptosis reflected by increased 3-(4, 5
      Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide formation, lactate
      dehydrogenase release and TUNEL staining. Knockdown of ENOPH1 expression with
      siRNA or overexpressing ENOPH1 with CRISPR-activated plasmids attenuated or
      potentiated OGD-induced endothelial cell death, respectively. Moreover, ENOPH1
      knockdown or overexpression resulted in a significant reduction or augmentation
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, apoptosis-associated proteins
      (caspase-3, PARP, Bcl-2 and Bax) and Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress proteins
      (Ire-1, Calnexin, GRP78 and PERK) in OGD-treated endothelial cells. OGD
      upregulated the expression of ENOPH1's downstream protein aci-reductone
      dioxygenase 1 (ADI1) and enhanced its interaction with ENOPH1. Interestingly,
      knockdown of ENOPH1 had no effect on OGD-induced ADI1 upregulation, while it
      potentiated OGD-induced ADI1 translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.
      Lastly, knockdown of ENOPH1 significantly reduced OGD-induced endothelial
      monolayer permeability increase. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that ENOPH1
      activation may contribute to OGD-induced endothelial cell death and BBB
      disruption through promoting ROS generation and the activation of apoptosis
      associated proteins, thus representing a new therapeutic target for ischemic
      stroke. 

PMID- 27630542
TI  - Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurons in the Hippocampus Exhibit Molecularly Distinct
      Large Dense Core Vesicles.
AB  - Hippocampal interneurons comprise a diverse family of inhibitory neurons that are
      critical for detailed information processing. Along with gamma-aminobutyric acid
      (GABA), interneurons secrete a myriad of neuroactive substances via secretory
      vesicles but the molecular composition and regulatory mechanisms remain largely
      unknown. In this study, we have carried out an immunohistofluorescence analysis
      to describe the molecular content of vesicles in distinct populations of
      hippocampal neurons. Our results indicate that phogrin, an integral protein of
      secretory vesicles in neuroendocrine cells, is highly enriched in parvalbumin
      positive interneurons. Consistently, immunoelectron microscopy revealed phogrin
      staining in axon terminals of symmetrical synapses establishing inhibitory
      contacts with cell bodies of CA1 pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, phogrin is
      highly expressed in CA3 and dentate gyrus (DG) interneurons which are both
      positive for PV and neuropeptide Y. Surprisingly, chromogranin B a canonical
      large dense core vesicle marker, is excluded from inhibitory cells in the
      hippocampus but highly expressed in excitatory CA3 pyramidal neurons and DG
      granule cells. Our results provide the first evidence of phogrin expression in
      hippocampal interneurons and suggest the existence of molecularly distinct
      populations of secretory vesicles in different types of inhibitory neurons. 

PMID- 27630543
TI  - The Impact of BK Channels on Cellular Excitability Depends on their Subcellular
      Location.
AB  - Large conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (or BK channels) fulfil a
      multitude of roles in the central nervous system. At the soma of many neuronal
      cell types they control the speed of action potential (AP) repolarization and
      therefore they can have an impact on neuronal excitability. Due to their presence
      in nerve terminals they also regulate transmitter release. BK channels have also
      been shown to be present in the dendrites of some neurons where they can regulate
      the magnitude and duration of dendritic spikes. Here, we investigate the impact
      of modulating the activation of BK channels at different locations on the
      cellular excitability of cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons. We find that while
      somatic BK channels help to repolarize APs at the soma and mediate the fast after
      hyperpolarization, dendritic BK channels are responsible for repolarization of
      dendritic calcium spikes and thereby regulate somatic AP burst firing. We found
      no evidence for a role of dendritic BK channels in the regulation of
      backpropagating AP amplitude or duration. These experiments highlight the diverse
      roles of BK channels in regulating neuronal excitability and indicate that their
      functional impact depends on their subcellular location. 

PMID- 27630544
TI  - Editorial: Sensory Hair Cell Death and Regeneration.

PMID- 27630545
TI  - Sustained Attentional States Require Distinct Temporal Involvement of the Dorsal
      and Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex.
AB  - Attending the sensory environment for cue detection is a cognitive operation that
      occurs on a time scale of seconds. The dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal
      cortex (mPFC) contribute to separate aspects of attentional processing. Pyramidal
      neurons in different parts of the mPFC are active during cognitive behavior, yet
      whether this activity is causally underlying attentional processing is not known.
      We aimed to determine the precise temporal requirements for activation of the
      mPFC subregions during the seconds prior to cue detection. To test this, we used
      optogenetic silencing of dorsal or ventral mPFC pyramidal neurons at defined time
      windows during a sustained attentional state. We find that the requirement of
      ventral mPFC pyramidal neuron activity is strictly time-locked to stimulus
      detection. Inhibiting the ventral mPFC 2 s before or during cue presentation
      reduces response accuracy and hampers behavioral inhibition. The requirement for
      dorsal mPFC activity on the other hand is temporally more loosely related to a
      preparatory attentional state, and short lapses in pyramidal neuron activity in
      dorsal mPFC do not affect performance. This only occurs when the dorsal mPFC is
      inhibited during the entire preparatory period. Together, our results reveal that
      a dissociable temporal recruitment of ventral and dorsal mPFC is required during
      attentional processing.

PMID- 27630547
TI  - Decoding Target Distance and Saccade Amplitude from Population Activity in the
      Macaque Lateral Intraparietal Area (LIP).
AB  - Primates perform saccadic eye movements in order to bring the image of an
      interesting target onto the fovea. Compared to stationary targets, saccades
      toward moving targets are computationally more demanding since the oculomotor
      system must use speed and direction information about the target as well as
      knowledge about its own processing latency to program an adequate, predictive
      saccade vector. In monkeys, different brain regions have been implicated in the
      control of voluntary saccades, among them the lateral intraparietal area (LIP).
      Here we asked, if activity in area LIP reflects the distance between fovea and
      saccade target, or the amplitude of an upcoming saccade, or both. We recorded
      single unit activity in area LIP of two macaque monkeys. First, we determined for
      each neuron its preferred saccade direction. Then, monkeys performed visually
      guided saccades along the preferred direction toward either stationary or moving
      targets in pseudo-randomized order. LIP population activity allowed to decode
      both, the distance between fovea and saccade target as well as the size of an
      upcoming saccade. Previous work has shown comparable results for saccade
      direction (Graf and Andersen, 2014a,b). Hence, LIP population activity allows to
      predict any two-dimensional saccade vector. Functional equivalents of macaque
      area LIP have been identified in humans. Accordingly, our results provide further
      support for the concept of activity from area LIP as neural basis for the control
      of an oculomotor brain-machine interface. 

PMID- 27630546
TI  - Persistent Thalamic Sound Processing Despite Profound Cochlear Denervation.
AB  - Neurons at higher stages of sensory processing can partially compensate for a
      sudden drop in peripheral input through a homeostatic plasticity process that
      increases the gain on weak afferent inputs. Even after a profound unilateral
      auditory neuropathy where >95% of afferent synapses between auditory nerve fibers
      and inner hair cells have been eliminated with ouabain, central gain can restore
      cortical processing and perceptual detection of basic sounds delivered to the
      denervated ear. In this model of profound auditory neuropathy, auditory cortex
      (ACtx) processing and perception recover despite the absence of an auditory
      brainstem response (ABR) or brainstem acoustic reflexes, and only a partial
      recovery of sound processing at the level of the inferior colliculus (IC), an
      auditory midbrain nucleus. In this study, we induced a profound cochlear
      neuropathy with ouabain and asked whether central gain enabled a compensatory
      plasticity in the auditory thalamus comparable to the full recovery of function
      previously observed in the ACtx, the partial recovery observed in the IC, or
      something different entirely. Unilateral ouabain treatment in adult mice
      effectively eliminated the ABR, yet robust sound-evoked activity persisted in a
      minority of units recorded from the contralateral medial geniculate body (MGB) of
      awake mice. Sound driven MGB units could decode moderate and high-intensity
      sounds with accuracies comparable to sham-treated control mice, but low-intensity
      classification was near chance. Pure tone receptive fields and synchronization to
      broadband pulse trains also persisted, albeit with significantly reduced quality
      and precision, respectively. MGB decoding of temporally modulated pulse trains
      and speech tokens were both greatly impaired in ouabain-treated mice. Taken
      together, the absence of an ABR belied a persistent auditory processing at the
      level of the MGB that was likely enabled through increased central gain.
      Compensatory plasticity at the level of the auditory thalamus was less robust
      overall than previous observations in cortex or midbrain. Hierarchical
      differences in compensatory plasticity following sensorineural hearing loss may
      reflect differences in GABA circuit organization within the MGB, as compared to
      the ACtx or IC.

PMID- 27630549
TI  - Altered Electroencephalographic Activity Associated with Changes in the Sleep
      Wakefulness Cycle of C57BL/6J Mice in Response to a Photoperiod Shortening.
AB  - AIM: Under natural conditions diurnal rhythms of biological processes of the
      organism are synchronized with each other and to the environmental changes by
      means of the circadian system. Disturbances of the latter affect hormonal levels,
      sleep-wakefulness cycle and cognitive performance. To study mechanisms of such
      perturbations animal models subjected to artificial photoperiods are often used.
      The goal of current study was to understand the effects of circadian rhythm
      disruption, caused by a short light-dark cycle regime, on activity of the
      cerebral cortex in rodents. METHODS: We used electroencephalogram to assess the
      distribution of vigilance states, perform spectral analysis, and estimate the
      homeostatic sleep drive. In addition, we analyzed spontaneous locomotion of
      C57BL/6J mice under symmetric, 22-, 21-, and 20-h-long light-dark cycles using
      video recording and tracking methods. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We found that
      shortening of photoperiod caused a significant increase of slow wave activity
      during non-rapid eye movement sleep suggesting an elevation of sleep pressure
      under such conditions. While the rhythm of spontaneous locomotion was completely
      entrained by all light-dark cycles tested, periodic changes in the power of the
      theta- and gamma-frequency ranges during wakefulness gradually disappeared under
      22- and 21-h-long light-dark cycles. This was associated with a significant
      increase in the theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling during wakefulness. Our
      results thus provide deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the
      impairment of learning and memory retention, which is associated with disturbed
      circadian regulation.

PMID- 27630550
TI  - Implicit and Explicit Routes to Recognize the Own Body: Evidence from Brain
      Damaged Patients.
AB  - Much research suggested that recognizing our own body-parts and attributing a
      body-part to our physical self-likely involve distinct processes. Accordingly,
      facilitation for self-body-parts was found when an implicit, but not an explicit,
      self-recognition was required. Here, we assess whether implicit and explicit
      bodily self-recognition is mediated by different cerebral networks and can be
      selectively impaired after brain lesion. To this aim, right- (RBD) and left-
      (LBD) brain damaged patients and age-matched controls were presented with rotated
      pictures of either self- or other-people hands. In the Implicit task participants
      were submitted to hand laterality judgments. In the Explicit task they had to
      judge whether the hand belonged, or not, to them. In the Implicit task, controls
      and LBD patients, but not RBD patients, showed an advantage for self-body
      stimuli. In the Explicit task a disadvantage emerged for self-compared to others'
      body stimuli in controls as well as in patients. Moreover, when we directly
      compared the performance of patients and controls, we found RBD, but not LBD,
      patients to be impaired in both the implicit and explicit recognition of self
      body-part stimuli. Conversely, no differences were found for others' body-part
      stimuli. Crucially, 40% RBD patients showed a selective deficit for implicit
      processing of self-body-part stimuli, whereas 27% of them showed a selective
      deficit in the explicit recognition of their own body. Additionally, we provide
      anatomical evidence revealing the neural basis of this dissociation. Based on
      both behavioral and anatomical data, we suggest that different areas of the right
      hemisphere underpin implicit and explicit self-body knowledge. 

PMID- 27630548
TI  - Development of the Neurochemical Architecture of the Central Complex.
AB  - The central complex represents one of the most conspicuous neuroarchitectures to
      be found in the insect brain and regulates a wide repertoire of behaviors
      including locomotion, stridulation, spatial orientation and spatial memory. In
      this review article, we show that in the grasshopper, a model insect system, the
      intricate wiring of the fan-shaped body (FB) begins early in embryogenesis when
      axons from the first progeny of four protocerebral stem cells (called W, X, Y, Z,
      respectively) in each brain hemisphere establish a set of tracts to the primary
      commissural system. Decussation of subsets of commissural neurons at stereotypic
      locations across the brain midline then establishes a columnar neuroarchitecture
      in the FB which is completed during embryogenesis. Examination of the expression
      patterns of various neurochemicals in the central complex including
      neuropeptides, a neurotransmitter and the gas nitric oxide (NO), show that these
      appear progressively and in a substance-specific manner during embryogenesis.
      Each neuroactive substance is expressed by neurons located at stereotypic
      locations in a given central complex lineage, confirming that the stem cells are
      biochemically multipotent. The organization of axons expressing the various
      neurochemicals within the central complex is topologically related to the
      location, and hence birthdate, of the neurons within the lineages. The
      neurochemical expression patterns within the FB are layered, and so reflect the
      temporal topology present in the lineages. This principle relates the
      neuroanatomical to the neurochemical architecture of the central complex and so
      may provide insights into the development of adaptive behaviors. 

PMID- 27630551
TI  - The Beat to Read: A Cross-Lingual Link between Rhythmic Regularity Perception and
      Reading Skill.
AB  - This work assesses one specific aspect of the relationship between auditory
      rhythm cognition and language skill: regularity perception. In a group of 26
      adult participants, native speakers of 11 different native languages, we
      demonstrate a strong and significant correlation between the ability to detect a
      "roughly" regular beat and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as a measure of
      language skill (Spearman's rho, -0.47, p < 0.01). There was no such robust
      relationship for the "mirror image" task of irregularity detection, i.e., the
      ability to detect ongoing small deviations from a regular beat. The correlation
      between RAN and regularity detection remained significant after partialling out
      performance on the irregularity detection task (rho, -0.41, p, 0.022), non-verbal
      IQ (rho, -0.37, p < 0.05), or musical expertise (rho, -0.31, p < 0.05). Whilst
      being consistent with the "shared resources model" in terms of rhythm as a common
      basis of language and music, evolutionarily as well as in individual development,
      the results also document how two related rhythm processing abilities relate
      differently to language skill. Specifically, the results support a universal
      relationship between rhythmic regularity detection and reading skill that is
      robust to accounting for differences in fluid intelligence and musical expertise,
      and transcends language-specific differences in speech rhythm. 

PMID- 27630552
TI  - Exploring the Role of Brain Oscillations in Speech Perception in Noise:
      Intelligibility of Isochronously Retimed Speech.
AB  - A growing body of evidence shows that brain oscillations track speech. This
      mechanism is thought to maximize processing efficiency by allocating resources to
      important speech information, effectively parsing speech into units of
      appropriate granularity for further decoding. However, some aspects of this
      mechanism remain unclear. First, while periodicity is an intrinsic property of
      this physiological mechanism, speech is only quasi-periodic, so it is not clear
      whether periodicity would present an advantage in processing. Second, it is still
      a matter of debate which aspect of speech triggers or maintains cortical
      entrainment, from bottom-up cues such as fluctuations of the amplitude envelope
      of speech to higher level linguistic cues such as syntactic structure. We present
      data from a behavioral experiment assessing the effect of isochronous retiming of
      speech on speech perception in noise. Two types of anchor points were defined for
      retiming speech, namely syllable onsets and amplitude envelope peaks. For each
      anchor point type, retiming was implemented at two hierarchical levels, a slow
      time scale around 2.5 Hz and a fast time scale around 4 Hz. Results show that
      while any temporal distortion resulted in reduced speech intelligibility,
      isochronous speech anchored to P-centers (approximated by stressed syllable vowel
      onsets) was significantly more intelligible than a matched anisochronous
      retiming, suggesting a facilitative role of periodicity defined on linguistically
      motivated units in processing speech in noise. 

PMID- 27630553
TI  - Perceptual and Social Attributes Underlining Age-Related Preferences for Faces.
AB  - Although aesthetic preferences are known to be important in person perception and
      can play a significant role in everyday social decisions, the effect of the age
      of the observer on aesthetic preferences for faces of different ages has not yet
      been fully investigated. In the present study we investigated whether aesthetic
      preferences change with aging, with an age-related bias in favoring faces from
      one's own age group. In addition, we examined the role of age on both the
      perceptual qualities and the social attributes of faces that may influence these
      aesthetic judgements. Both younger and older adult observers provided ratings to
      images of younger, middle-aged and older unfamiliar faces. As well as
      attractiveness, the rating dimensions included other perceptual (distinctiveness,
      familiarity) and social (competence, trustworthiness and dominance) factors. The
      results suggested a consistent aesthetic preference for youthful faces across all
      ages of the observers but, surprisingly, no evidence for an age-related bias in
      attractiveness ratings. Older adults tended to provide higher ratings of
      attractiveness, competence and trustworthiness to the unfamiliar faces,
      consistent with the positivity effect previously reported. We also tested whether
      perceptual factors such as face familiarity or distinctiveness affected aesthetic
      ratings. Only ratings of familiarity, but not distinctiveness, were positively
      associated with the attractiveness of the faces. Moreover, ratings of familiarity
      decreased with increasing age of the face. With regard to the social
      characteristics of the faces, we found that the age of the face negatively
      correlated with ratings of trustworthiness provided by all observers, but with
      the competence ratings of older observers only. Interestingly, older adults
      provided higher ratings of perceived competence and trustworthiness to younger
      than older faces. However, our results also suggest that higher attractiveness
      ratings, together with older aged faces, led to more positive evaluations of
      competence. The results are discussed within the context of an age-related
      decline in the differentiation of faces in memory. Our findings have important
      implications for a better understanding of age-related perceptual factors and
      cognitive determinants of social interactions with unfamiliar others across the
      adult lifespan. 

PMID- 27630554
TI  - Interhemispheric Inhibition Induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over
      Primary Sensory Cortex.
AB  - The present study investigated whether the long-interval interhemispheric
      inhibition (LIHI) is induced by the transcranial magnetic stimulation over the
      primary sensory area (S1-TMS) without activation of the conditioning side of the
      primary motor area (M1) contributing to the contralateral motor evoked potential
      (MEP), whether the S1-TMS-induced LIHI is dependent on the status of the S1
      modulated by the tactile input, and whether the pathways mediating the LIHI are
      different from those mediating the M1-TMS-induced LIHI. In order to give the TMS
      over the S1 without eliciting the MEP, the intensity of the S1-TMS was adjusted
      to be the sub-motor-threshold level and the trials with the MEP response elicited
      by the S1-TMS were discarded online. The LIHI was induced by the S1-TMS given 40
      ms before the test TMS in the participants with the attenuation of the tactile
      perception of the digit stimulation (TPDS) induced by the S1-TMS, indicating that
      the LIHI is induced by the S1-TMS without activation of the conditioning side of
      the M1 contributing to the contralateral MEP in the participants in which the
      pathways mediating the TPDS is sensitive to the S1-TMS. The S1-TMS-induced LIHI
      was positively correlated with the attenuation of the TPDS induced by the S1-TMS,
      indicating that the S1-TMS-induced LIHI is dependent on the effect of the S1-TMS
      on the pathways mediating the TPDS at the S1. In another experiment, the effect
      of the digit stimulation given before the conditioning TMS on the S1- or M1-TMS
      induced LIHI was examined. The digit stimulation produces tactile input to the S1
      causing change in the status of the S1. The S1-TMS-induced LIHI was enhanced when
      the S1-TMS was given in the period in which the tactile afferent volley produced
      by the digit stimulation just arrived at the S1, while the LIHI induced by above
      motor-threshold TMS over the contralateral M1 was not enhanced by the tactile
      input. Thus, the S1-TMS-induced LIHI is dependent on the status of the S1
      modulated by the tactile input, and the pathways mediating the sub-motor
      threshold S1-TMS-induced LIHI are not the same as the pathways mediating the
      above-motor-threshold M1-TMS-induced LIHI. 

PMID- 27630555
TI  - Gestalt Perceptual Organization of Visual Stimuli Captures Attention
      Automatically: Electrophysiological Evidence.
AB  - The visual system leverages organizational regularities of perceptual elements to
      create meaningful representations of the world. One clear example of such
      function, which has been formalized in the Gestalt psychology principles, is the
      perceptual grouping of simple visual elements (e.g., lines and arcs) into unitary
      objects (e.g., forms and shapes). The present study sought to characterize
      automatic attentional capture and related cognitive processing of Gestalt-like
      visual stimuli at the psychophysiological level by using event-related potentials
      (ERPs). We measured ERPs during a simple visual reaction time task with bilateral
      presentations of physically matched elements with or without a Gestalt
      organization. Results showed that Gestalt (vs. non-Gestalt) stimuli are
      characterized by a larger N2pc together with enhanced ERP amplitudes of non
      lateralized components (N1, N2, P3) starting around 150 ms post-stimulus onset.
      Thus, we conclude that Gestalt stimuli capture attention automatically and entail
      characteristic psychophysiological signatures at both early and late processing
      stages. Highlights We studied the neural signatures of the automatic processes of
      visual attention elicited by Gestalt stimuli. We found that a reliable early
      correlate of attentional capture turned out to be the N2pc component. Perceptual
      and cognitive processing of Gestalt stimuli is associated with larger N1, N2, and
      P3. 

PMID- 27630557
TI  - Editorial: Neural and Computational Modeling of Movement Control.

PMID- 27630558
TI  - Anatomical Correlates of Non-Verbal Perception in Dementia Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with dementia who have dissociations in verbal and non-verbal
      sound processing may offer insights into the anatomic basis for highly related
      auditory modes. METHODS: To determine the neuronal networks on non-verbal
      perception, 16 patients with Alzheimer's dementia (AD), 15 with behavior variant
      fronto-temporal dementia (bv-FTD), 14 with semantic dementia (SD) were evaluated
      and compared with 15 age-matched controls. Neuropsychological and auditory
      perceptive tasks were included to test the ability to compare pitch changes,
      scale-violated melody and for naming and associating with environmental sound.
      The brain 3D T1 images were acquired and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used
      to compare and correlated the volumetric measures with task scores. RESULTS: The
      SD group scored the lowest among 3 groups in pitch or scale-violated melody
      tasks. In the environmental sound test, the SD group also showed impairment in
      naming and also in associating sound with pictures. The AD and bv-FTD groups,
      compared with the controls, showed no differences in all tests. VBM with task
      score correlation showed that atrophy in the right supra-marginal and superior
      temporal gyri was strongly related to deficits in detecting violated scales,
      while atrophy in the bilateral anterior temporal poles and left medial temporal
      structures was related to deficits in environmental sound recognition.
      CONCLUSIONS: Auditory perception of pitch, scale-violated melody or environmental
      sound reflects anatomical degeneration in dementia patients and the processing of
      non-verbal sounds are mediated by distinct neural circuits.

PMID- 27630560
TI  - Long-Term Dietary Folate Deficiency Accelerates Progressive Hearing Loss on
      CBA/Ca Mice.
AB  - Dietary folic acid deficiency induced early hearing loss in C57BL/6J mice after 2
      months, corroborates the epidemiological association previously described between
      vitamin deficiency and this sensory impairment. However, this strain is prone to
      early hearing loss, and hence we decided to analyze whether the effects exerted
      by folate deprivation follow the same pattern in a mouse strain such as CBA/Ca,
      which is resistant to hearing impairment. Here, we show results of a long-term
      study on hearing carried out on CBA/Ca mice subjected to dietary folate
      deprivation. Systemic changes included decreased serum folate levels,
      hyperhomocysteinemia and signs of anemia in the group fed with folate-deficient
      (FD) diet. Initial signs of hearing loss were detected in this strain after 8
      months of vitamin deficiency, and correlated with histological damage in the
      cochleae. In conclusion, the data presented reinforce the importance of adequate
      folic acid levels for the auditory system and suggest that the impact of dietary
      deficiencies may depend on the genetic background. 

PMID- 27630556
TI  - Modeling of Cerebral Oxygen Transport Based on In vivo Microscopic Imaging of
      Microvascular Network Structure, Blood Flow, and Oxygenation.
AB  - Oxygen is delivered to brain tissue by a dense network of microvessels, which
      actively control cerebral blood flow (CBF) through vasodilation and contraction
      in response to changing levels of neural activity. Understanding these network
      level processes is immediately relevant for (1) interpretation of functional
      Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) signals, and (2) investigation of neurological
      diseases in which a deterioration of neurovascular and neuro-metabolic physiology
      contributes to motor and cognitive decline. Experimental data on the structure,
      flow and oxygen levels of microvascular networks are needed, together with
      theoretical methods to integrate this information and predict physiologically
      relevant properties that are not directly measurable. Recent progress in optical
      imaging technologies for high-resolution in vivo measurement of the cerebral
      microvascular architecture, blood flow, and oxygenation enables construction of
      detailed computational models of cerebral hemodynamics and oxygen transport based
      on realistic three-dimensional microvascular networks. In this article, we review
      state-of-the-art optical microscopy technologies for quantitative in vivo imaging
      of cerebral microvascular structure, blood flow and oxygenation, and theoretical
      methods that utilize such data to generate spatially resolved models for blood
      flow and oxygen transport. These "bottom-up" models are essential for the
      understanding of the processes governing brain oxygenation in normal and disease
      states and for eventual translation of the lessons learned from animal studies to
      humans. 

PMID- 27630559
TI  - Changes in the Transcriptome of Human Astrocytes Accompanying Oxidative Stress
      Induced Senescence.
AB  - Aging is a major risk factor for many neurodegenerative disorders. A key feature
      of aging biology that may underlie these diseases is cellular senescence.
      Senescent cells accumulate in tissues with age, undergo widespread changes in
      gene expression, and typically demonstrate altered, pro-inflammatory profiles.
      Astrocyte senescence has been implicated in neurodegenerative disease, and to
      better understand senescence-associated changes in astrocytes, we investigated
      changes in their transcriptome using RNA sequencing. Senescence was induced in
      human fetal astrocytes by transient oxidative stress. Brain-expressed genes,
      including those involved in neuronal development and differentiation, were
      downregulated in senescent astrocytes. Remarkably, several genes indicative of
      astrocytic responses to injury were also downregulated, including glial
      fibrillary acidic protein and genes involved in the processing and presentation
      of antigens by major histocompatibility complex class II proteins, while pro
      inflammatory genes were upregulated. Overall, our findings suggest that
      senescence-related changes in the function of astrocytes may impact the
      pathogenesis of age-related brain disorders. 

PMID- 27630561
TI  - Altered Value Coding in the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Healthy Older
      Adults.
AB  - Previous work suggests that aging is associated with changes in risk taking but
      less is known about their underlying neural basis, such as the potential age
      differences in the neural processing of value and risk. The goal of the present
      study was to investigate adult age differences in functional neural responses in
      a naturalistic risk-taking task. Twenty-six young adults and 27 healthy older
      adults completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task while undergoing functional
      magnetic resonance imaging. Young and older adults showed similar overt risk
      taking behavior. Group comparison of neural activity in response to risky vs.
      control stimuli revealed similar patterns of activation in the bilateral
      striatum, anterior insula (AI) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Group
      comparison of parametrically modulated activity in response to continued pumping
      similarly revealed comparable results for both age groups in the AI and,
      potentially, the striatum, yet differences emerged for regional activity in the
      vmPFC. At whole brain level, insular, striatal and vmPFC activation was
      predictive of behavioral risk taking for young but not older adults. The current
      results are interpreted and discussed as preserved neural tracking of risk and
      reward in the AI and striatum, respectively, but altered value coding in the
      vmPFC in the two age groups. The latter finding points toward older adults
      exhibiting differential vmPFC-related integration and value coding. Furthermore,
      neural activation holds differential predictive validity for behavioral risk
      taking in young and older adults. 

PMID- 27630562
TI  - Cerebral Blood Flow Alterations as Assessed by 3D ASL in Cognitive Impairment in
      Patients with Subcortical Vascular Cognitive Impairment: A Marker for Disease
      Severity.
AB  - Abnormal reductions in cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF) have been identified in
      subcortical vascular cognitive impairment (SVCI). However, little is known about
      the pattern of CBF reduction in relation with the degree of cognitive impairment.
      CBF measured with three-dimensional (3D) Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) perfusion
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) helps detect functional changes in subjects with
      SVCI. We aimed to compare CBF maps in subcortical ischemic vascular disease
      (SIVD) subjects with and without cognitive impairment and to detect the
      relationship of the regions of CBF reduction in the brain with the degree of
      cognitive impairment according to the z-score. A total of 53 subjects with SVCI
      and 23 matched SIVD subjects without cognitive impairment (controls), underwent a
      whole-brain 3D ASL MRI in the resting state. Regional CBF (rCBF) was compared
      voxel wise by using an analysis of variance design in a statistical parametric
      mapping program, with patient age and sex as covariates. Correlations were
      calculated between the rCBF value in the whole brain and the z-score in the 53
      subjects with SVCI. Compared with the control subjects, SVCI group demonstrated
      diffuse decreased CBF in the brain. Significant positive correlations were
      determined in the rCBF values in the left hippocampus, left superior temporal
      pole gyrus, right superior frontal orbital lobe, right medial frontal orbital
      lobe, right middle temporal lobe, left thalamus and right insula with the z
      scores in SVCI group. The noninvasively quantified resting CBF demonstrated
      altered CBF distributions in the SVCI brain. The deficit brain perfusions in the
      temporal and frontal lobe, hippocampus, thalamus and insula was related to the
      degree of cognitive impairment. Its relationship to cognition indicates the
      clinical relevance of this functional marker. Thus, our results provide further
      evidence for the mechanisms underlying the cognitive deficit in patients with
      SVCI. 

PMID- 27630563
TI  - Profile of Antiemetic Activity of Netupitant Alone or in Combination with
      Palonosetron and Dexamethasone in Ferrets and Suncus murinus (House Musk Shrew).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chemotherapy-induced acute and delayed emesis involves the
      activation of multiple pathways, with 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT; serotonin)
      playing a major role in the initial response. Substance P tachykinin NK1 receptor
      antagonists can reduce emesis induced by disparate emetic challenges and
      therefore have a clinical utility as broad inhibitory anti-emetic drugs. In the
      present studies, we investigate the broad inhibitory anti-emetic profile of a
      relatively new NK1 receptor antagonist, netupitant, alone or in combination with
      the long acting 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, palonosetron, for a potential to
      reduce emesis in ferrets and shrews. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ferrets were
      pretreated with netupitant and/or palonosetron, and then administered apomorphine
      (0.125 mg/kg, s.c.), morphine (0.5 mg/kg, s.c.), ipecacuanha (1.2 mg/kg, p.o.),
      copper sulfate (100 mg/kg, intragastric), or cisplatin (5-10 mg/kg, i.p.); in
      other studies netupitant was administered to Suncus murinus before motion (4 cm
      horizontal displacement, 2 Hz for 10 min). RESULTS: Netupitant (3 mg/kg, p.o.)
      abolished apomorphine-, morphine-, ipecacuanha- and copper sulfate-induced
      emesis. Lower doses of netupitant (0.03-0.3 mg/kg, p.o.) dose-dependently reduced
      cisplatin (10 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced emesis in an acute (8 h) model, and motion
      induced emesis in S. murinus. In a ferret cisplatin (5 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced acute
      and delayed emesis model, netupitant administered once at 3 mg/kg, p.o.,
      abolished the first 24 h response and reduced the 24-72 h response by 94.6%; the
      reduction was markedly superior to the effect of a three times per day
      administration of ondansetron (1 mg/kg, i.p.). A single administration of
      netupitant (1 mg/kg, p.o.) plus palonosetron (0.1 mg/kg, p.o.) combined with
      dexamethasone (1 mg/kg, i.p., once per day), also significantly antagonized
      cisplatin-induced acute and delayed emesis and was comparable with a once-daily
      regimen of ondansetron (1 mg/kg, p.o.) plus aprepitant (1 mg/kg, p.o.) in
      combination with dexamethasone (1 mg/kg, i.p.). CONCLUSION: In conclusion,
      netupitant has potent and long lasting anti-emetic activity against a number of
      emetic challenges indicating broad inhibitory properties. The convenience of
      protection afforded by the single dosing of netupitant together with palonosetron
      was demonstrated and also is known to provide an advantage over other therapeutic
      strategies to control emesis in man.

PMID- 27630564
TI  - Reactive Neurogenesis and Down-Regulation of the Potassium-Chloride Cotransporter
      KCC2 in the Cochlear Nuclei after Cochlear Deafferentation.
AB  - While many studies have been devoted to investigating the homeostatic plasticity
      triggered by cochlear hearing loss, the cellular and molecular mechanisms
      involved in these central changes remain elusive. In the present study, we
      investigated the possibility of reactive neurogenesis after unilateral cochlear
      nerve section in the cochlear nucleus (CN) of cats. We found a strong cell
      proliferation in all the CN sub-divisions ipsilateral to the lesion. Most of the
      newly generated cells survive up to 1 month after cochlear deafferentation in all
      cochlear nuclei (except the dorsal CN) and give rise to a variety of cell types,
      i.e., microglial cells, astrocytes, and neurons. Interestingly, many of the
      newborn neurons had an inhibitory (GABAergic) phenotype. This result is
      intriguing since sensory deafferentation is usually accompanied by enhanced
      excitation, consistent with a reduction in central inhibition. The membrane
      potential effect of GABA depends, however, on the intra-cellular chloride
      concentration, which is maintained at low levels in adults by the potassium
      chloride co-transporter KCC2. The KCC2 density on the plasma membrane of neurons
      was then assessed after cochlear deafferentation in the cochlear nuclei
      ipsilateral and contralateral to the lesion. Cochlear deafferentation is
      accompanied by a strong down-regulation of KCC2 ipsilateral to the lesion at 3
      and 30 days post-lesion. This study suggests that reactive neurogenesis and down
      regulation of KCC2 is part of the vast repertoire involved in homeostatic
      plasticity triggered by hearing loss. These central changes may also play a role
      in the generation of tinnitus and hyperacusis. 

PMID- 27630565
TI  - Flavonoid C-glucosides Derived from Flax Straw Extracts Reduce Human Breast
      Cancer Cell Growth In vitro and Induce Apoptosis.
AB  - Flax straw of flax varieties that are grown for oil production is a by product
      which represents a considerable biomass source. Therefore, its potential
      application for human use is of high interest. Our research has revealed that
      flax straw is rich in flavonoid C-glucosides, including vitexin, orientin, and
      isoorientin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and
      possible proapoptotic effect of flax straw derived C-glucosides of flavonoids in
      the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7). The effects of flax straw
      derived flavonoid C-glucosides on cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells were
      evaluated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT)
      and sulforhodamine B assays. The expression of apoptosis-related genes was
      assessed by real-time PCR. Our data revealed that flax C-glucosides as well as
      pure compounds are cytotoxic toward MCF-7 cells and inhibit their proliferation.
      Moreover, the induction of apoptosis was correlated with the changes in the mRNA
      level of pro-apoptotic genes. Increased expression of bax and caspase-7, -8, and 
      9 and decreased mRNA expression of bcl-2 was observed, whereas the mRNA levels of
      p53 and mdm2 were not altered. These results clearly demonstrated that flax straw
      metabolites effectively induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in human breast
      adenocarcinoma cells. 

PMID- 27630566
TI  - Preparation and Distribution of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Dosage Formulations
      for Investigational and Therapeutic Use in the United States.
AB  - Cannabis is classified as a schedule I controlled substance by the US Drug
      Enforcement Agency, meaning that it has no medicinal value. Production is legally
      restricted to a single supplier at the University of Mississippi, and
      distribution to researchers is tightly controlled. However, a majority of the
      population is estimated to believe that cannabis has legitimate medical or
      recreational value, numerous states have legalized or decriminalized possession
      to some degree, and the federal government does not strictly enforce its law and
      is considering rescheduling. The explosive increase in open sale and use of
      herbal cannabis and its products has occurred with widely variable and in many
      cases grossly inadequate quality control at all levels-growing, processing,
      storage, distribution, and use. This paper discusses elements of the analytical
      and regulatory system that need to be put in place to ensure standardization for
      the researcher and to reduce the hazards of contamination, overdosing, and
      underdosing for the end-user. 

PMID- 27630568
TI  - Pazopanib in Metastatic Renal Cancer: A "Real-World" Experience at National
      Cancer Institute "Fondazione G. Pascale".
AB  - Pazopanib is an oral angiogenesis inhibitor, currently approved for treatment of
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) and soft tissue sarcoma. The present study
      analyzed the outcomes of pazopanib in first-line treatment of mRCC, in a single
      Italian cancer center. In the light of the retrospective, observational nature
      and the unselected population, our experience can be defined a "real-world"
      study. The medical records of 38 mRCC patients treated with front-line pazopanib
      were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. The progression free survival (PFS)
      and the overall survival (OS) were the primary endpoints, while secondary
      objectives included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR),
      and treatment tolerability. Pazopanib achieved a median PFS (mPFS) of 12.7 months
      (95% CI, 6.9-18.5 months). The median OS (mOS) was 26.2 months (95% CI, 12.6-39.9
      months); the observed ORR and DCR were 30.3 and 72.7%, respectively, with a
      median duration of response of 11 weeks. mPFS appeared not to be influenced by
      number of co-morbidities (< 3 vs. >=3), gender, Fuhrman grade and age.
      Conversely, the ORR and the DCR positively affect the mPFS (HR = 0.05 [95% CI,
      0.05-0.55], p = 0.01; HR = 0.10 [95% CI, 0.02-0.43], p = 0.002, respectively). A
      worse outcome was associated with a lower mPFS in patients with liver metastases
      (p = 0.2) and with a high tumor burden (number of metastatic sites < 6 vs. >=6)
      (p = 0.08). Worst OS was observed in patients aged >=70 years old (HR = 6.91 [95%
      CI, 1.49-31.91], p = 0.01). The treatment was well-tolerated: no grade 4 adverse
      events, nor discontinuation due to toxicities was reported. Grade 3 hypertension
      affected positively the OS reaching the statistical significance (HR = 0.22 [95%
      CI, 0.05-0.8], p = 0.03). Thyroid dysfunction (hypo and hyperthyroidism) seems to
      correlate with better outcome in terms of a longer mPFS (HR = 0.12 [95% CI, 0.02
      0.78], p = 0.02). Our results are consistent with those reported in prospective
      phase III trials and the published retrospective "real world" experiences. This
      analysis confirms the safety and efficacy of pazopanib in first-line setting,
      both in frail patients with multiple co-morbidities and Karnofsky PS < 80% and in
      younger, healthier patients with a number of metastatic sites < 6. 

PMID- 27630567
TI  - The Walker 256 Breast Cancer Cell- Induced Bone Pain Model in Rats.
AB  - The majority of patients with terminal breast cancer show signs of bone
      metastasis, the most common cause of pain in cancer. Clinically available drug
      treatment options for the relief of cancer-associated bone pain are limited due
      to either inadequate pain relief and/or dose-limiting side-effects. One of the
      major hurdles in understanding the mechanism by which breast cancer causes pain
      after metastasis to the bones is the lack of suitable preclinical models. Until
      the late twentieth century, all animal models of cancer induced bone pain
      involved systemic injection of cancer cells into animals, which caused severe
      deterioration of animal health due to widespread metastasis. In this mini-review
      we have discussed details of a recently developed and highly efficient
      preclinical model of breast cancer induced bone pain: Walker 256 cancer cell-
      induced bone pain in rats. The model involves direct localized injection of
      cancer cells into a single tibia in rats, which avoids widespread metastasis of
      cancer cells and hence animals maintain good health throughout the experimental
      period. This model closely mimics the human pathophysiology of breast cancer
      induced bone pain and has great potential to aid in the process of drug discovery
      for treating this intractable pain condition. 

PMID- 27630569
TI  - Cholinergic Machinery as Relevant Target in Acute Lymphoblastic T Leukemia.
AB  - Various types of non-neuronal cells, including tumors, are able to produce
      acetylcholine (ACh), which acts as an autocrine/paracrine growth factor. T
      lymphocytes represent a key component of the non-neuronal cholinergic system. T
      cells-derived ACh is involved in a stimulation of their activation and
      proliferation, and acts as a regulator of immune response. The aim of the present
      work was to summarize the data about components of cholinergic machinery in T
      lymphocytes, with an emphasis on the comparison of healthy and leukemic T cells.
      Cell lines derived from acute lymphoblastic leukemias of T lineage (T-ALL) were
      found to produce a considerably higher amount of ACh than healthy T lymphocytes.
      Additionally, ACh produced by T-ALL is not efficiently hydrolyzed, because
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity is drastically decreased in these cells. Up
      regulation of muscarinic ACh receptors was also demonstrated at expression and
      functional level, whereas nicotinic ACh receptors seem to play a less important
      role and not form functional channels in cells derived from T-ALL. We
      hypothesized that ACh over-produced in T-ALL may act as an autocrine growth
      factor and play an important role in leukemic clonal expansion through shaping of
      intracellular Ca(2+) signals. We suggest that cholinergic machinery may be
      attractive targets for new drugs against T-ALL. Specifically, testing of high
      affinity antagonists of muscarinic ACh receptors as well as antagomiRs, which
      interfere with miRNAs involved in the suppression of AChE expression, may be the
      first choice options. 

PMID- 27630571
TI  - Presynaptic Release-Regulating mGlu1 Receptors in Central Nervous System.
AB  - Group I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors consists of mGlu1 and mGlu5
      receptor subtypes. These receptors are widely distributed in the central nervous
      system (CNS), where they preferentially mediate facilitatory signaling in
      neurones and glial cells, mainly by favoring phospholipase (PLC) translocation.
      Based on the literature so far available, group I Metabotropic glutamate
      receptors (mGluRs) are preferentially expressed at the postsynaptic side of
      chemical synapsis, where they participate in the progression of the chemical
      stimulus. Studies, however, have shown the presence of these receptors also at
      the presynaptic level, where they exert several functions, including the
      modulation of transmitter exocytosis. Presynaptic Group I mGluRs can be both
      autoreceptors regulating release of glutamate and heteroreceptors regulating the
      release of various transmitters, including GABA, dopamine, noradrenaline, and
      acetylcholine. While the existence of presynaptic release-regulating mGlu5
      receptors is largely recognized, the possibility that mGlu1 receptors also are
      present at this level has been a matter of discussion for a long time. A large
      body of evidence published in the last decade, however, supports this notion.
      This review aims at revisiting the data from in vitro studies concerning the
      existence and the role of release-regulating mGlu1 receptors presynaptically
      located in nerve terminals isolated from selected regions of the CNS. The
      functional interaction linking mGlu5 and mGlu1 receptor subtypes at nerve
      terminals and their relative contributions as modulators of central transmission
      will also be discussed. We apologize in advance for omission in our coverage of
      the existing literature. 

PMID- 27630572
TI  - Polypharmacy Cut-Off for Gait and Cognitive Impairments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polypharmacy is a well-established risk factor for falls, and these
      are one of the major health problems that affect the quality of life as people
      age. However, the risk of mobility and cognitive impairments consecutive to
      polypharmacy has been little addressed, despite the association between these
      adverse outcomes and falls. Moreover, the rare polypharmacy cut-offs were all but
      one arbitrarily determined. OBJECTIVE: Studying relationships between
      polypharmacy and both mobility and cognitive impairments, and statistically
      determining a cut-off point in the number of medicinal molecule beyond which
      polypharmacy has deleterious consequences with respect to mobility and cognitive
      impairment. METHODS: We enrolled 113 community-dwelling adults aged 55 years and
      older with a fall history, with or without injury, in the previous year. We
      carefully collected information about daily medicinal molecules taken. We
      assessed basic mobility and global cognition with the Time-Up-and-Go and the
      Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, respectively (clinicaltrials.gov
      NCT02292316). RESULTS: Timed-Up and Go test and MoCA scores were both
      significantly correlated with the number of molecule, used. Receiver Operating
      Characteristic curves indicate, with high prediction (p < 0.002), that daily
      consumption of five or more molecules is associated with risk for both impaired
      mobility and global cognition. These relationships were independent of the number
      of comorbidities and of the pharmacological class. CONCLUSION: Community-dwelling
      adults aged 55 years and older who take five or more daily medicinal molecules
      are at high risk for both mobility and cognitive impairments. Physicians and
      patients should be aware of these new findings, especially when there are
      multiple prescribers involved in the care of the patient.

PMID- 27630573
TI  - 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic Acid (20-HETE) Modulates Canonical Transient Receptor
      Potential-6 (TRPC6) Channels in Podocytes.
AB  - The arachidonic acid metabolite 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE)
      regulates renal function, including changes in glomerular function evoked during
      tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF). This study describes the cellular actions of 20
      HETE on cultured podocytes, assessed by whole-cell recordings from cultured
      podocytes combined with pharmacological and cell-biological manipulations of
      cells. Bath superfusion of 20-HETE activates cationic currents that are blocked
      by the pan-TRP blocker SKF-96365 and by 50 MUM La(3+), and which are attenuated
      after siRNA knockdown of TRPC6 subunits. Similar currents are evoked by a
      membrane-permeable analog of diacylgycerol (OAG), but OAG does not occlude
      responses to maximally-activating concentrations of 20-HETE (20 MUM). Exposure to
      20-HETE also increased steady-state surface abundance of TRPC6 subunits in
      podocytes as assessed by cell-surface biotinylation assays, and increased
      cytosolic concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS). TRPC6 activation by 20
      HETE was eliminated in cells pretreated with TEMPOL, a membrane-permeable
      superoxide dismutase mimic. Activation of TRPC6 by 20-HETE was also blocked when
      whole-cell recording pipettes contained GDP-betaS, indicating a role for either
      small or heterotrimeric G proteins in the transduction cascade. Responses to 20
      HETE were eliminated by siRNA knockdown of podocin, a protein that organizes
      NADPH oxidase complexes with TRPC6 subunits in this cell type. In summary,
      modulation of ionic channels in podocytes may contribute to glomerular actions of
      20-HETE. 

PMID- 27630574
TI  - Faster Movement Speed Results in Greater Tendon Strain during the Loaded Squat
      Exercise.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tendon dynamics influence movement performance and provide the
      stimulus for long-term tendon adaptation. As tendon strain increases with load
      magnitude and decreases with loading rate, changes in movement speed during
      exercise should influence tendon strain. METHODS: Ten resistance-trained men
      [squat one repetition maximum (1RM) to body mass ratio: 1.65 +/- 0.12] performed
      parallel-depth back squat lifts with 60% of 1RM load at three different speeds:
      slow fixed-tempo (TS: 2-s eccentric, 1-s pause, 2-s concentric), volitional-speed
      without a pause (VS) and maximum-speed jump (JS). In each condition joint
      kinetics, quadriceps tendon length (LT), patellar tendon force (FT), and rate of
      force development (RFDT) were estimated using integrated ultrasonography, motion
      capture, and force platform recordings. RESULTS: Peak LT, FT, and RFDT were
      greater in JS than TS (p < 0.05), however no differences were observed between VS
      and TS. Thus, moving at faster speeds resulted in both greater tendon stress and
      strain despite an increased RFDT, as would be predicted of an elastic, but not a
      viscous, structure. Temporal comparisons showed that LT was greater in TS than JS
      during the early eccentric phase (10-14% movement duration) where peak RFDT
      occurred, demonstrating that the tendon's viscous properties predominated during
      initial eccentric loading. However, during the concentric phase (61-70 and 76-83%
      movement duration) differing FT and similar RFDT between conditions allowed for
      the tendon's elastic properties to predominate such that peak tendon strain was
      greater in JS than TS. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our current understanding, there may
      be an additional mechanical stimulus for tendon adaptation when performing large
      range-of-motion isoinertial exercises at faster movement speeds.

PMID- 27630575
TI  - Are There Critical Fatigue Thresholds? Aggregated vs. Individual Data.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying task failure from fatiguing physical efforts have been
      the focus of many studies without reaching consensus. An attractive but debated
      model explains effort termination with a critical peripheral fatigue threshold.
      Upon reaching this threshold, feedback from sensory afferents would trigger task
      disengagement from open-ended tasks or a reduction of exercise intensity of
      closed-ended tasks. Alternatively, the extant literature also appears compatible
      with a more global critical threshold of loss of maximal voluntary contraction
      force. Indeed, maximal voluntary contraction force loss from fatiguing exercise
      realized at a given intensity appears rather consistent between different
      studies. However, when looking at individual data, the similar maximal force
      losses observed between different tasks performed at similar intensities might
      just be an "artifact" of data aggregation. It would then seem possible that such
      a difference observed between individual and aggregated data also applies to
      other models previously proposed to explain task failure from fatiguing physical
      efforts. We therefore suggest that one should be cautious when trying to infer
      models that try to explain individual behavior from aggregated data. 

PMID- 27630570
TI  - Role of Platelet-Derived Microvesicles As Crosstalk Mediators in Atherothrombosis
      and Future Pharmacology Targets: A Link between Inflammation, Atherosclerosis,
      and Thrombosis.
AB  - Reports in the last decade have suggested that the role of platelets in
      atherosclerosis and its thrombotic complications may be mediated, in part, by
      local secretion of platelet-derived microvesicles (pMVs), small cell blebs
      released during the platelet activation process. MVs are the most abundant cell
      derived microvesicle subtype in the circulation. High concentrations of
      circulating MVs have been reported in patients with atherosclerosis, acute
      vascular syndromes, and/or diabetes mellitus, suggesting a potential correlation
      between the quantity of microvesicles and the clinical severity of the
      atherosclerotic disease. pMVs are considered to be biomarkers of disease but new
      information indicates that pMVs are also involved in signaling functions. pMVs
      evoke or promote haemostatic and inflammatory responses, neovascularization, cell
      survival, and apoptosis, processes involved in the pathophysiology of
      cardiovascular disease. This review is focused on the complex cross-talk between
      platelet-derived microvesicles, inflammatory cells and vascular elements and
      their relevance in the development of the atherosclerotic disease and its
      clinical outcomes, providing an updated state-of-the art of pMV involvement in
      atherothrombosis and pMV potential use as therapeutic agent influencing
      cardiovascular biomedicine in the future. 

PMID- 27630576
TI  - MORN5 Expression during Craniofacial Development and Its Interaction with the BMP
      and TGFbeta Pathways.
AB  - MORN5 (MORN repeat containing 5) is encoded by a locus positioned on chromosome
      17 in the chicken genome. The MORN motif is found in multiple copies in several
      proteins including junctophilins or phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase family
      and the MORN proteins themselves are found across the animal and plant kingdoms.
      MORN5 protein has a characteristic punctate pattern in the cytoplasm in
      immunofluorescence imaging. Previously, MORN5 was found among differentially
      expressed genes in a microarray profiling experiment of the chicken embryo head.
      Here, we provided in situ hybridization to analyse, in detail, the MORN5
      expression in chick craniofacial structures. The expression of MORN5 was first
      observed at stage HH17-18 (E2.5). MORN5 expression gradually appeared on either
      side of the primitive oral cavity, within the maxillary region. At stage HH20
      (E3), prominent expression was localized in the mandibular prominences lateral to
      the midline. From stage HH20 up to HH29 (E6), there was strong expression in
      restricted regions of the maxillary and mandibular prominences. The frontonasal
      mass (in the midline of the face) expressed MORN5, starting at HH27 (E5). The
      expression was concentrated in the corners or globular processes, which will
      ultimately fuse with the cranial edges of the maxillary prominences. MORN5
      expression was maintained in the fusion zone up to stage HH29. In sections MORN5
      expression was localized preferentially in the mesenchyme. Previously, we
      examined signals that regulate MORN5 expression in the face based on a previous
      microarray study. Here, we validated the array results with in situ hybridization
      and QPCR. MORN5 was downregulated 24 h after Noggin and/or RA treatment. We also
      determined that BMP pathway genes are downstream of MORN5 following siRNA
      knockdown. Based on these results, we conclude that MORN5 is both regulated by
      and required for BMP signaling. The restricted expression of MORN5 in the lip
      fusion zone shown here supports the human genetic data in which MORN5 variants
      were associated with increased risk of non-syndromic cleft lip with or without
      cleft palate. 

PMID- 27630578
TI  - Aortic Baroreceptors Display Higher Mechanosensitivity than Carotid
      Baroreceptors.
AB  - Arterial baroreceptors are mechanical sensors that detect blood pressure changes.
      It has long been suggested that the two arterial baroreceptors, aortic and
      carotid baroreceptors, have different pressure sensitivities. However, there is
      no consensus as to which of the arterial baroreceptors are more sensitive to
      changes in blood pressure. In the present study, we employed independent methods
      to compare the pressure sensitivity of the two arterial baroreceptors. Firstly,
      pressure-activated action potential firing was measured by whole-cell current
      clamp with a high-speed pressure clamp system in primary cultured baroreceptor
      neurons. The results show that aortic depressor neurons possessed a higher
      percentage of mechano-sensitive neurons. Furthermore, aortic baroreceptor neurons
      show a lower pressure threshold than that of carotid baroreceptor neurons.
      Secondly, uniaxial stretching of baroreceptor neurons, that mimics the forces
      exerted on blood vessels, elicited a larger increase in intracellular Ca(2+) rise
      in aortic baroreceptor neurons than in carotid baroreceptor neurons. Thirdly, the
      pressure-induced action potential firing in the aortic depressor nerve recorded
      in vivo was also higher. The present study therefore provides for a basic
      physiological understanding on the pressure sensitivity of the two baroreceptor
      neurons and suggests that aortic baroreceptors have a higher pressure sensitivity
      than carotid baroreceptors. 

PMID- 27630577
TI  - Mitochondrial DNA Sequence and Lack of Response to Anoxia in the Annual Killifish
      Austrofundulus limnaeus.
AB  - The annual killifish Austrofundulus limnaeus inhabits ephemeral ponds in regions
      of Venezuela, South America. Permanent populations of A. limnaeus are maintained
      by production of stress-tolerant embryos that are able to persist in the
      desiccated sediment. Previous work has demonstrated that A. limnaeus have a
      remarkable ability to tolerate extended periods of anoxia and desiccating
      conditions. After considering temperature, A. limnaeus embryos have the highest
      known tolerance to anoxia when compared to any other vertebrate yet studied.
      Oxygen is completely essential for the process of oxidative phosphorylation by
      mitochondria, the intracellular organelle responsible for the majority of
      adenosine triphosphate production. Thus, understanding the unique properties of
      A. limnaeus mitochondria is of great interest. In this work, we describe the
      first complete mitochondrial genome (mtgenome) sequence of a single adult A.
      limnaeus individual and compare both coding and non-coding regions to several
      other closely related fish mtgenomes. Mitochondrial features were predicted using
      MitoAnnotator and polyadenylation sites were predicted using RNAseq mapping. To
      estimate the responsiveness of A. limnaeus mitochondria to anoxia treatment, we
      measure relative mitochondrial DNA copy number and total citrate synthase
      activity in both relatively anoxia-tolerant and anoxia-sensitive embryonic
      stages. Our cross-species comparative approach identifies unique features of ND1,
      ND5, ND6, and ATPase-6 that may facilitate the unique phenotype of A. limnaeus
      embryos. Additionally, we do not find evidence for mitochondrial degradation or
      biogenesis during anoxia/reoxygenation treatment in A. limnaeus embryos,
      suggesting that anoxia-tolerant mitochondria do not respond to anoxia in a manner
      similar to anoxia-sensitive mitochondria. 

PMID- 27630579
TI  - Essential Role of Lyn in Fibrosis.
AB  - Fibrotic disorders involve replacement of normal parenchyma with myofibroblasts,
      which deposit connective tissue, leading to obliteration of the function of the
      underlying organ. The treatment options are inadequate and reflect the fact that
      signaling targets in myofibroblasts are unknown. Here we identify the hyperactive
      Lyn signaling in myofibroblasts of patients with chronic pancreatitis-induced
      fibrosis. Lyn activation coexpress with markers of activated myofibroblasts, and
      is increased ~11-fold in chronic pancreatitis compared to normal tissue.
      Inhibition of Lyn with siRNA or INNO-406 leads to the substantial decrease of
      migration and proliferation of human chronic pancreatitis myofibroblasts in
      vitro, while leaving migration and proliferation of normal myofibroblasts only
      slightly affected. Furthermore, inhibition of Lyn prevents synthesis of
      procollagen and collagen in myofibroblasts in a mouse model of chronic
      pancreatitis-induced fibrosis. We conclude that Lyn, as a positive regulator of
      myofibroblast migration, proliferation, and collagen production, is a key target
      for preventing fibrosis. 

PMID- 27630580
TI  - Recognition of Fibrotic Infarct Density by the Pattern of Local Systolic
      Diastolic Myocardial Electrical Impedance.
AB  - Myocardial electrical impedance is a biophysical property of the heart that is
      influenced by the intrinsic structural characteristics of the tissue. Therefore,
      the structural derangements elicited in a chronic myocardial infarction should
      cause specific changes in the local systolic-diastolic myocardial impedance, but
      this is not known. This study aimed to characterize the local changes of systolic
      diastolic myocardial impedance in a healed myocardial infarction model. Six pigs
      were successfully submitted to 150 min of left anterior descending (LAD) coronary
      artery occlusion followed by reperfusion. 4 weeks later, myocardial impedance
      spectroscopy (1-1000 kHz) was measured at different infarction sites. The
      electrocardiogram, left ventricular (LV) pressure, LV dP/dt, and aortic blood
      flow (ABF) were also recorded. A total of 59 LV tissue samples were obtained and
      histopathological studies were performed to quantify the percentage of fibrosis.
      Samples were categorized as normal myocardium (<10% fibrosis), heterogeneous scar
      (10-50%) and dense scar (>50%). Resistivity of normal myocardium depicted phasic
      changes during the cardiac cycle and its amplitude markedly decreased in dense
      scar (18 +/- 2 Omega.cm vs. 10 +/- 1 Omega.cm, at 41 kHz; P < 0.001,
      respectively). The mean phasic resistivity decreased progressively from normal to
      heterogeneous and dense scar regions (285 +/- 10 Omega.cm, 225 +/- 25 Omega.cm,
      and 162 +/- 6 Omega.cm, at 41 kHz; P < 0.001 respectively). Moreover, myocardial
      resistivity and phase angle correlated significantly with the degree of local
      fibrosis (resistivity: r = 0.86 at 1 kHz, P < 0.001; phase angle: r = 0.84 at 41
      kHz, P < 0.001). Myocardial infarcted regions with greater fibrotic content show
      lower mean impedance values and more depressed systolic-diastolic dynamic
      impedance changes. In conclusion, this study reveals that differences in the
      degree of myocardial fibrosis can be detected in vivo by local measurement of
      phasic systolic-diastolic bioimpedance spectrum. Once this new bioimpedance
      method could be used via a catheter-based device, it would be of potential
      clinical applicability for the recognition of fibrotic tissue to guide the
      ablation of atrial or ventricular arrhythmias. 

PMID- 27630581
TI  - Risk Factors for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Are Prevalent in People with Psychosis
      and Correlate with Impaired Social Functioning and Poor Physical Health.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in the general community is associated
      with obesity, smoking, alcohol, and sedative medication use and contributes to
      depressed mood, daytime sedation, and sudden cardiovascular deaths. Poor
      cardiovascular health, impaired social functioning, and negative and cognitive
      symptoms are also among the common clinical features of psychotic disorders.
      People with psychosis have higher rates of sleep disturbance; however, OSA has
      not been extensively investigated in this population. AIMS: This study aimed to
      determine the prevalence of OSA and general sleep disruption symptoms in a
      representative Australian sample of people with psychosis. We investigated the
      prevalence of potential risk factors for OSA, including obesity, psychotropic
      medications, and substance abuse in this population. Finally, we evaluated
      associations between symptoms of OSA, symptoms of general sleep disruption, and
      various clinical features in people with psychosis. METHODS: Participants took
      part in the Second National Australian Survey of Psychosis, a population-based
      survey of Australians with a psychotic disorder aged 18-64 years. Symptoms
      associated with OSA (snoring and breathing pauses during sleep) in the past year
      were assessed using questions from the University of Maryland Medical Centre
      Questionnaire and symptoms associated with general sleep disruption in the past
      week using the Assessment of Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data collected
      included psychiatric diagnosis and symptoms, education, employment, medications,
      smoking status, physical activity, drug and alcohol use, and cognitive function.
      Physical health measures included body mass index, waist circumference, blood
      pressure, fasting blood glucose, and lipids. RESULTS: Snoring was reported by
      41.9%; 7% stating they frequently stopped breathing (pauses) during sleep.
      Univariate logistic regressions show OSA symptoms (pauses and snoring) were
      associated with older age, female gender, lower levels of social participation or
      employment, cardiovascular risk factors, sedentary lifestyle, and poorer quality
      of life, while symptoms of general sleep disruption were more likely in people
      with depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Australians with psychosis have high levels
      of sleep disturbance, including OSA. OSA symptoms were associated with
      cardiovascular disease risk factors, reduced social participation and employment,
      and poorer quality of life. Whether correction of OSA can improve these factors
      in people with psychosis remains to be determined.

PMID- 27630583
TI  - Psychomotor Behavior: A Practical Approach in Drosophila.
AB  - Psychomotor behaviors are governed by fine relationships between physical
      activity and cognitive functions. Disturbances in psychomotor development and
      performance are a hallmark of many mental illnesses and often appear as
      observable and measurable behaviors. Here, we describe a new method called an
      "equilibrist test," which can be used to quantify psychomotor learning and
      performance in Drosophila. We also show how this test can be used to quantify
      motor disturbances at relatively early stages in the development of
      neurodegenerative diseases. 

PMID- 27630584
TI  - A Commentary on Parent-Child Cognitive Learning Interaction Research: What Have
      We Learned from Two Decades of Research?
AB  - The role of family influences on preschool and school age cognitive development
      has received considerable empirical attention from cognitive developmental
      psychology researchers in the last few decades. As a result of the interest,
      investigators have focused their attention on developing coding/observational
      systems to capture the interactions occurring between mothers and their young
      children. This paper reviews a select body of research on parent-child cognitive
      learning interactions with the goal of determining how the researchers have
      operationalized the behaviors that occur within learning interactions. The paper
      concludes with a discussion of the suggestions on next steps for conducting
      parent-child cognitive learning interaction research in the future. 

PMID- 27630582
TI  - Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Adverse Childhood Events, and Buccal Cell Telomere
      Length in Elderly Swiss Former Indentured Child Laborers.
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased risk for age
      related diseases and early mortality. Accelerated biological aging could
      contribute to this elevated risk. The aim of the present study was to assess
      buccal cell telomere length (BTL) - a proposed marker of biological age - in men
      and women with and without PTSD. The role of childhood trauma was assessed as a
      potential additional risk factor for shorter telomere length. The sample included
      62 former indentured Swiss child laborers (age: M = 76.19, SD = 6.18) and 58
      healthy controls (age: M = 71.85, SD = 5.97). Structured clinical interviews were
      conducted to screen for PTSD and other psychiatric disorders. The Childhood
      Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to assess childhood trauma exposure.
      Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure BTL. Covariates
      include age, sex, years of education, self-evaluated financial situation,
      depression, and mental and physical functioning. Forty-eight (77.42%) of the
      former indentured child laborers screened positive for childhood trauma, and 21
      (33.87%) had partial or full-blown PTSD. Results did not support our hypotheses
      that PTSD and childhood trauma would be associated with shorter BTL. In fact,
      results revealed a trend toward longer BTL in participants with partial or full
      PTSD [F(2,109) = 3.27, p = 0.04, eta(2) = 0.06], and longer BTL was marginally
      associated with higher CTQ scores (age adjusted: beta = 0.17 [95% CI: -0.01 to
      0.35], t = 1.90, p = 0.06). Furthermore, within-group analyses indicated no
      significant association between BTL and CTQ scores. To the best of our knowledge,
      this is the first study exploring the association between childhood trauma and
      BTL in older individuals with and without PTSD. Contrary to predictions, there
      were no significant differences in BTL between participants with and without PTSD
      in our adjusted analyses, and childhood adversity was not associated with BTL.
      Possible explanations and future research possibilities are discussed. 

PMID- 27630585
TI  - An Expressive Bodily Movement Repertoire for Marimba Performance, Revealed
      through Observers' Laban Effort-Shape Analyses, and Allied Musical Features: Two
      Case Studies.
AB  - Musicians' expressive bodily movements can influence observers' perception of
      performance. Furthermore, individual differences in observers' music and motor
      expertise can shape how they perceive and respond to music performance. However,
      few studies have investigated the bodily movements that different observers of
      music performance perceive as expressive, in order to understand how they might
      relate to the music being produced, and the particular instrument type. In this
      paper, we focus on marimba performance through two case studies-one solo and one
      collaborative context. This study aims to investigate the existence of a core
      repertoire of marimba performance expressive bodily movements, identify key music
      related features associated with the core repertoire, and explore how observers'
      perception of expressive bodily movements might vary according to individual
      differences in their music and motor expertise. Of the six professional musicians
      who observed and analyzed the marimba performances, three were percussionists and
      experienced marimba players. Following training, observers implemented the Laban
      effort-shape movement analysis system to analyze marimba players' bodily
      movements that they perceived as expressive in audio-visual recordings of
      performance. Observations that were agreed by all participants as being the same
      type of action at the same location in the performance recording were examined in
      each case study, then across the two studies. A small repertoire of bodily
      movements emerged that the observers perceived as being expressive. Movements
      were primarily allied to elements of the music structure, technique, and
      expressive interpretation, however, these elements appeared to be interactive. A
      type of body sway movement and more localized sound generating actions were
      perceived as expressive. These movements co-occurred and also appeared
      separately. Individual participant data revealed slightly more variety in the
      types and locations of actions observed, with judges revealing preferences for
      observing particular types of expressive bodily movements. The particular
      expressive bodily movements that are produced and perceived in marimba
      performance appear to be shaped by music-related and sound generating features,
      musical context, and observer music and motor expertise. With an understanding of
      bodily movements that are generated and perceived as expressive, embodied music
      performance training programs might be developed to enhance expressive performer
      audience communication. 

PMID- 27630586
TI  - Promoting Mentalizing in Pupils by Acting on Teachers: Preliminary Italian
      Evidence of the "Thought in Mind" Project.
AB  - Mentalization research focuses on different aspects of this topic, highlighting
      individual differences in mentalizing and proposing programs of intervention for
      children and adults to increase this ability. The "Thought in Mind Project" (TiM
      Project) provides training targeted to adults-teachers or parents-to increase
      their mentalization and, consequently, to obtain mentalization improvement in
      children. The present research aimed to explore for the first time ever the
      potential of training for teachers based on the TiM Project, regarding the
      enhancement of mentalizing of an adult who would have interacted as a teacher
      with children. For this reason, two teachers - similar for meta-cognitive and
      meta-emotional skills - and their classes (N = 46) were randomly assigned to the
      training or control condition. In the first case, the teacher participated in
      training on the implementation of promotion of mentalizing in everyday school
      teaching strategies; in the second case the teacher participated in a control
      activity, similar to training for scheduling and methods, but without promoting
      the implementation of mentalization (in both conditions two meetings lasting
      about 3 h at the beginning of the school year and two supervisions during the
      school year were conducted). The children were tested by tasks assessing several
      aspects of mentalization (second and third-order false belief understanding,
      Strange Stories, Reading the mind in the Eyes, Mentalizing Task) both before and
      after the teacher participate in the TiM or control training (i.e., at the
      beginning and at the end of the school year). The results showed that, although
      some measured components of mentalization progressed over time, only the TiM
      Project training group significantly improved in third order false belief
      understanding and changed - in a greater way compared to the control group - in
      two of the three components of the Mentalizing Task. These evidences are
      promising about the idea that the creation of a mentalizing community promotes
      the mentalization abilities of its members. 

PMID- 27630587
TI  - Performing Surgery: Commonalities with Performers Outside Medicine.
AB  - This paper argues for the inclusion of surgery within the canon of performance
      science. The world of medicine presents rich, complex but relatively under
      researched sites of performance. Performative aspects of clinical practice are
      overshadowed by a focus on the processes and outcomes of medical care, such as
      diagnostic accuracy and the results of treatment. The primacy of this "clinical"
      viewpoint-framed by clinical professionals as the application of medical
      knowledge-hides resonances with performance in other domains. Yet the language of
      performance is embedded in the culture of surgery-surgeons "perform" operations,
      work in an operating "theater" and use "instruments." This paper asks what might
      come into view if we take this performative language at face value and
      interrogate surgery from the perspective of performance science. 

PMID- 27630588
TI  - The Effects of Increased Body Temperature on Motor Control during Golf Putting.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of increased core temperature on the
      performance outcome and movement kinematics of elite golfers during a golf
      putting task. The study aimed to examine individual differences in the extent to
      which increased temperature influenced the rate of putting success, whether
      increased temperature speeded up the timing of the putting downswing and whether
      elite golfers changed their movement kinematics during times of thermal stress.
      Six participants performed 20 putts to each of four putt distances (1, 2, 3, and
      4 m) under normal temperature conditions and when core body temperature was
      increased. There was no significant difference in the number of successful putts
      between the two temperature conditions, but there was an increase in putterhead
      velocity at ball impact on successful putts to distances of 1 and 4 m when
      temperature was elevated. This reflected an increase in swing amplitude rather
      than a reduction in swing duration as hypothesized. There were individual
      differences in the motor control response to thermal stress as three of the
      golfers changed the kinematic parameters used to scale their putting movements to
      achieve putts of different distances at elevated temperatures. Theoretical
      implications for these findings and the practical implications for elite golfers
      and future research are discussed. 

PMID- 27630590
TI  - Silent Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Bilingual Children.
AB  - This paper focuses on reading fluency by bilingual primary school students, and
      the relation of text fluency to their reading comprehension. Group differences
      were examined in a cross-sectional design across the age range when fluency is
      posed to shift from word-level to text-level. One hundred five bilingual children
      from primary grades 3, 4, and 5 were assessed for English word reading and
      decoding fluency, phonological awareness, rapid symbol naming, and oral language
      proficiency with standardized measures. These skills were correlated with their
      silent reading fluency on a self-paced story reading task. Text fluency was
      quantified using non-linear analytic methods: recurrence quantification and
      fractal analyses. Findings indicate that more fluent text reading appeared by
      grade 4, similar to monolingual findings, and that different aspects of fluency
      characterized passage reading performance at different grade levels. Text fluency
      and oral language proficiency emerged as significant predictors of reading
      comprehension. 

PMID- 27630589
TI  - Switch Costs Occur at Lemma Stage When Bilinguals Name Digits: Evidence from
      Language-Switching and Event-Related Potentials.
AB  - Switch costs are generally found in language switching tasks. However, the locus
      where switch costs occur during bilingual language production remains unclear.
      Several studies that used a cued language-switching paradigm have attempted to
      investigate this question in bilingual language production, but researchers have
      not reached a consensus. Moreover, we are interested in where switch costs occur
      when language selection occurs after lemma activation. Previous studies have not
      investigated this question because most previous studies presented language cues
      before or along with the stimuli. Therefore, we used a modified cued language
      switching paradigm with a combined event-related potentials (ERPs) technique to
      explore the locus of switch costs during bilingual language production. The cue
      and stimulus were separated and presented in two different presentation sequences
      in which Indonesian-Chinese bilingual speakers were instructed to name digits in
      their L1 or L2 according to the color of the cue. The ERPs related to the cue and
      stimulus for two presentation sequences were measured. In the stimulus-cue
      sequence, the analysis that was time-locked to cues revealed a reversed switch
      cost as early as 220 ms after the cue onset; furthermore, a switch cost was shown
      in L1 with a late stage post-cue onset. The results suggested that when language
      selection occurred after lemma activation, the switch costs mainly occurred at
      the lemma selection stage. In the cue-stimulus sequence, the analysis that was
      time-locked to cues did not reveal significant main effects of switching, whereas
      the analysis that was time-locked to digits yielded a switch cost, again
      indicating that switch costs mainly occurred at the lemma selection stage rather
      than at the language task schema competition stage. Overall, our results
      indicated that when bilinguals spoke digits aloud in the language switching task,
      switch costs mainly occurred at the lemma selection stage. 

PMID- 27630592
TI  - Production of Referring Expressions for an Unknown Audience: A Computational
      Model of Communal Common Ground.
AB  - This article presents a computational model of the production of referring
      expressions under uncertainty over the hearer's knowledge. Although situations
      where the hearer's knowledge is uncertain have seldom been addressed in the
      computational literature, they are common in ordinary communication, for example
      when a writer addresses an unknown audience, or when a speaker addresses a
      stranger. We propose a computational model composed of three complimentary
      heuristics based on, respectively, an estimation of the recipient's knowledge, an
      estimation of the extent to which a property is unexpected, and the question of
      what is the optimum number of properties in a given situation. The model was
      tested in an experiment with human readers, in which it was compared against the
      Incremental Algorithm and human-produced descriptions. The results suggest that
      the new model outperforms the Incremental Algorithm in terms of the proportion of
      correctly identified entities and in terms of the perceived quality of the
      generated descriptions. 

PMID- 27630591
TI  - Editorial: Music and Disorders of Consciousness: Emerging Research, Practice and
      Theory.

PMID- 27630594
TI  - Attraction Effects in Honorific Agreement in Korean.
AB  - Previous studies have suggested that sentence processing is mediated by content
      addressable direct retrieval processes (McElree, 2000; McElree et al., 2003).
      However, the memory retrieval processes may differ as a function of the type of
      dependency. For example, while many studies have reported facilitatory intrusion
      effects associated with a structurally illicit antecedent during the processing
      of subject-verb number or person agreement and negative polarity items
      (Pearlmutter et al., 1999; Xiang et al., 2009; Dillon et al., 2013), studies
      investigating reflexives have not found consistent evidence of intrusion effects
      (Parker et al., 2015; Sturt and Kwon, 2015; cf. Nicol and Swinney, 1989; Sturt,
      2003). Similarly, the memory retrieval processes could be also sensitive to cross
      linguistic differences (cf. Lago et al., 2015). We report one self-paced reading
      experiment and one eye-tracking experiment that examine the processing of subject
      verb honorific agreement, a dependency that is different from those that have
      been studied to date, in Korean, a typologically different language from those
      previously studied. The overall results suggest that the retrieval processes
      underlying the processing of subject-verb honorific agreement in Korean are
      susceptible to facilitatory intrusion effects from a structurally illicit but
      feature-matching subject, with a pattern that is similar to subject-verb
      agreement in English. In addition, the attraction effect was not limited to the
      ungrammatical sentences but was also found in grammatical sentences. The clear
      attraction effect in the grammatical sentences suggest that the attraction effect
      does not solely arise as the result of an error-driven process (cf. Wagers et
      al., 2009), but is likely also to result from general mechanisms of retrieval
      processes of activating of potential items in memory (Vasishth et al., 2008). 

PMID- 27630595
TI  - On the Measurement of Procrastination: Comparing Two Scales in Six European
      Countries.
AB  - Procrastination is a common problem, but defining and measuring it has been
      subject to some debate. This paper summarizes results from students and employees
      (N = 2893) in Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Sweden using the Pure
      Procrastination Scale (PPS) and the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS; Steel,
      2010), both assumed to measure unidimensional and closely related constructs.
      Confirmatory factor analyses indicated inadequate configural fit for the
      suggested one-factor model for PPS; however, acceptable fit was observed for a
      three-factor model corresponding to the three different scales the PPS is based
      on. Testing measurement invariance over countries and students-employees revealed
      configural but not strong or strict invariance, indicating that both instruments
      are somewhat sensitive to cultural differences. We conclude that the PPS and IPS
      are valid measures of procrastination, and that the PPS may be particularly
      useful in assessing cultural differences in unnecessary delay. 

PMID- 27630596
TI  - Why Are There Failures of Systematicity? The Empirical Costs and Benefits of
      Inducing Universal Constructions.
AB  - Systematicity is a property of cognition where capacity for certain cognitive
      abilities implies capacity for certain other (structurally related) cognitive
      abilities. This property is thought to derive from a capacity to
      represent/process common structural relations between constituents of cognizable
      entities, however, systematicity may not always materialize in such admissible
      contexts. A theoretical challenge is to explain why systematicity fails to
      materialize in contexts that allow the realization (e.g., by induction) of common
      structure (universal construction). We hypothesize that one cause of failure
      arises when the potential gain afforded by induction of common structure is
      overshadowed by the immediate benefit of learning the task as independent
      stimulus-response associations. This hypothesis was tested in an experiment that
      required learning two series of pair maps that involved products (universal
      construction), or non-products (control) of varied size: the number of unique
      cue/target elements (three to six) constituting pairs. Each series was learned in
      either ascending or descending order of size. Only performance on the product
      series was affected by order: systematicity was obtained universally in the
      descend group, but only on large sets in the ascend group, as revealed by the
      significant order * size interaction for errors in the product condition, F (3,
      87) = 3.38, p < 0.05. Smaller maps are more easily learned without inducing the
      common product structure, which is more readily observable with larger maps:
      larger maps provide more evidence for relationships between stimulus dimensions
      that facilitate the discovery of the common structure. The new challenge, then,
      is to explain the systematic learnability of stimulus-response maps, i.e., second
      order systematicity. 

PMID- 27630593
TI  - Power and Autistic Traits.
AB  - Autistic traits can help people gain and sustain power, and has probably done so
      throughout history, says the present paper. A number of testable claims follow
      from this assumption. First, the powerful should have more autistic traits than
      others - which they do appear to have. Among other things, powerful people, and
      those with many autistic traits, tend to prefer solitary activities and are often
      aloof. Moreover, they are often rigid and socially insensitive, low on empathy
      and with low scores on the trait of agreeableness - and as a rule they do not
      have many friends. Both groups are also more self-centered than others, more
      honest, less submissive, more sensitive to slights, and with a stronger tendency
      to engage in abstract thinking. They tend to behave in bossy or dominant ways,
      and their moral judgment is more based on rules than on feelings. In addition to
      experimental evidence, I cite biographies showing that a surprising number of
      presidents, prime ministers and other powerful people seem to have had traits
      like those in question - and interestingly, in animals, leaders are often rigid
      and insensitive to group members' needs and feelings, mostly acting the way they
      are themselves inclined to, not responding much to others. Problem solving is
      important in leadership, and people with many autistic traits appear often to be
      better thinkers than typical subjects with similar IQs. However, these and other
      congruities could be coincidences. Hence the question of whether traits the two
      groups have in common also have a common cause constitutes a strong test of the
      paper's thesis - and a common cause does appear to exist, in the form of
      testosterone's effects on the central nervous system. Finally, there is evidence
      that, other things equal, powerful men have more reproductive success than
      others. If men wielding power do indeed have more autistic traits than those less
      powerful, this will lead to, other things equal, such traits becoming more common
      - which can help explain the prevalence of autistic traits. 

PMID- 27630597
TI  - Cognitive Load Does Not Affect the Behavioral and Cognitive Foundations of Social
      Cooperation.
AB  - The present study serves to test whether the cognitive mechanisms underlying
      social cooperation are affected by cognitive load. Participants interacted with
      trustworthy-looking and untrustworthy-looking partners in a sequential Prisoner's
      Dilemma Game. Facial trustworthiness was manipulated to stimulate expectations
      about the future behavior of the partners which were either violated or confirmed
      by the partners' cheating or cooperation during the game. In a source memory
      test, participants were required to recognize the partners and to classify them
      as cheaters or cooperators. A multinomial model was used to disentangle item
      memory, source memory and guessing processes. We found an expectancy-congruent
      bias toward guessing that trustworthy-looking partners were more likely to be
      associated with cooperation than untrustworthy-looking partners. Source memory
      was enhanced for cheating that violated the participants' positive expectations
      about trustworthy-looking partners. We were interested in whether or not this
      expectancy-violation effect-that helps to revise unjustified expectations about
      trustworthy-looking partners-depends on cognitive load induced via a secondary
      continuous reaction time task. Although this secondary task interfered with
      working memory processes in a validation study, both the expectancy-congruent
      guessing bias as well as the expectancy-violation effect were obtained with and
      without cognitive load. These findings support the hypothesis that the expectancy
      violation effect is due to a simple mechanism that does not rely on demanding
      elaborative processes. We conclude that most cognitive mechanisms underlying
      social cooperation presumably operate automatically so that they remain
      unaffected by cognitive load. 

PMID- 27630598
TI  - Intuitive Feelings of Warmth and Confidence in Insight and Noninsight Problem
      Solving of Magic Tricks.
AB  - The focus of the current study is on intuitive feelings of insight during problem
      solving and the extent to which such feelings are predictive of successful
      problem solving. We report the results from an experiment (N = 51) that applied a
      procedure where the to-be-solved problems were 32 short (15 s) video recordings
      of magic tricks. The procedure included metacognitive ratings similar to the
      "warmth ratings" previously used by Metcalfe and colleagues, as well as
      confidence ratings. At regular intervals during problem solving, participants
      indicated the perceived closeness to the correct solution. Participants also
      indicated directly whether each problem was solved by insight or not. Problems
      that people claimed were solved by insight were characterized by higher accuracy
      and higher confidence than noninsight solutions. There was no difference between
      the two types of solution in warmth ratings, however. Confidence ratings were
      more strongly associated with solution accuracy for noninsight than insight
      trials. Moreover, for insight trials the participants were more likely to repeat
      their incorrect solutions on a subsequent recognition test. The results have
      implications for understanding people's metacognitive awareness of the cognitive
      processes involved in problem solving. They also have general implications for
      our understanding of how intuition and insight are related. 

PMID- 27630599
TI  - Impairments of Social Motor Synchrony Evident in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - Social interactions typically involve movements of the body that become
      synchronized over time and both intentional and spontaneous interactional
      synchrony have been found to be an essential part of successful human
      interaction. However, our understanding of the importance of temporal dimensions
      of social motor synchrony in social dysfunction is limited. Here, we used a
      pendulum coordination paradigm to assess dynamic, process-oriented measures of
      social motor synchrony in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD). Our data indicate that adolescents with ASD demonstrate less
      synchronization in both spontaneous and intentional interpersonal coordination.
      Coupled oscillator modeling suggests that ASD participants assembled a
      synchronization dynamic with a weaker coupling strength, which corresponds to a
      lower sensitivity and decreased attention to the movements of the other person,
      but do not demonstrate evidence of a delay in information transmission. The
      implication of these findings for isolating an ASD-specific social
      synchronization deficit that could serve as an objective, bio-behavioral marker
      is discussed. 

PMID- 27630600
TI  - Do Baseline Executive Functions Mediate Prospective Memory Performance under a
      Moderate Dose of Alcohol?
AB  - Prospective memory (PM) is memory for delayed intentions. While deleterious
      effects of acute doses of alcohol on PM have been documented previously using
      between-subjects comparisons, the current study adopted a single blind placebo
      controlled within-subjects design to explore whether the extent to which alcohol
      related impairments in PM are mediated by executive functions (EFs). To this end,
      52 male social drinkers with no history of substance-related treatment were
      tested using two parallel versions of a clinical measure of PM (the Memory for
      Intentions Test; Raskin et al., 2010), and a battery of EF measures. Testing took
      place on two occasions, with the order of administration of the alcohol and
      placebo conditions being fully counterbalanced. Overall, PM was worse under
      alcohol and participants showed deficits on five of the six subscales making up
      the clinical test. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that
      EFs did not predict PM performance decrements overall but did predict performance
      when time cues were presented and when verbal responses were required. Phonemic
      fluency was the strongest of the EF predictors; a greater capacity to gain
      controlled access to information in long-term memory predicted a smaller
      difference between placebo- and alcohol-related performance on both the time cue
      and verbal response scales. PM is crucial to compliance with, and response to,
      both therapy programs and alcohol harm prevention campaigns. The results indicate
      that individual differences in cognitive function need to be taken into account
      when designing such interventions in order to increase their effectiveness. 

PMID- 27630601
TI  - Changes in Sleep Problems and Psychological Flexibility following
      Interdisciplinary Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain: An
      Observational Cohort Study.
AB  - AIMS: Cognitive and behavioral treatments (CBT) for sleep problems and chronic
      pain have shown good results, although these results could improve. More recent
      developments based on the psychological flexibility model, the model underlying
      Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may offer a useful addition to
      traditional CBT. The aim of this study was to examine whether an ACT-based
      treatment for chronic pain is associated with improved sleep. Secondly, we
      examined the associations between changes on measures of psychological
      flexibility and sleep-related outcomes. METHODS: The study used an observational
      cohort methodology. Participants were 252 patients (73.8% female) attending a 4
      week, interdisciplinary, pain management program in London, United Kingdom.
      Participants completed standard self-report measures of pain and functioning,
      sleep outcomes, and processes of psychological flexibility. Pre- to post
      treatment, and pre-treatment to follow-up measures were examined for
      statistically significant differences using paired samples t-tests. Secondarily,
      hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine change in
      process measures in relation to change in treatment outcome. RESULTS:
      Participants showed statistically significant improvements (all p < 0.001) at
      post-treatment on measures of insomnia severity (d = 0.45), sleep interference (d
      = 0.61), and sleep efficiency (d = 0.32). Significant improvements in insomnia
      severity and sleep interference were also observed at 9-month follow up. Small to
      medium effect sizes were observed across the sleep outcomes. Statistically
      significant changes were also observed on measures of psychological flexibility,
      and these improvements were significantly associated with improvements on sleep
      related outcomes, independently contributing up to 19% of unique variance.
      CONCLUSION: This study supports the potential usefulness of ACT-based treatments
      for chronic pain for addressing co-occurring sleep difficulties. Further research
      is needed to determine how to improve the impact of this treatment for co-morbid
      pain and sleep difficulties, possibly using a randomized-controlled trial design.

PMID- 27630602
TI  - Uncovering the Framework of Brain-Mind-Body in Creative Insight.

PMID- 27630603
TI  - Psychological Momentum-A Key to Continued Success.
AB  - One of the most fundamental characteristics about humans is their desire for
      success, especially in highly competitive societies. What does it take to be
      successful? Is success simply a matter of better performance, and if so, what
      specifically is it about performance that determines success? A long research
      tradition suggests that psychological momentum (PM) plays a critical role in goal
      pursuit and achievement. Accordingly, sequential runs of success are an essential
      feature of high levels of performance, meaning that better performers perceive
      and experience momentum of success more frequently, ride it as long as they can,
      and as a result, become more successful in the end. Theoretically, momentum is a
      principle vehicle of performance that will significantly augment future success
      and facilitate goal achievement. Consequently, an overall performance consists of
      occurrences of momentum that vary in frequency and duration. The higher the
      frequency and the higher the duration, the more likely is success. Research
      suggests that the main psychological processes that underpin momentum effects are
      confidence, perceived competence, and internal (ability-skill) attributions.
      Based upon related research, it is hypothesized that PM starts as a conscious
      process but subsequently becomes a major facilitator of nonconscious automatic
      execution of human behavior and performance. 

PMID- 27630605
TI  - Effects of Team Emotional Authenticity on Virtual Team Performance.
AB  - Members of virtual teams lack many of the visual or auditory cues that are
      usually used as the basis for impressions about fellow team members. We focus on
      the effects of the impressions formed in this context, and use social exchange
      theory to understand how these impressions affect team performance. Our pilot
      study, using content analysis (n = 191 students), suggested that most individuals
      believe that they can assess others' emotional authenticity in online settings by
      focusing on the content and tone of the messages. Our quantitative study examined
      the effects of these assessments. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis (n
      = 81 student teams) suggested that team-level trust and teamwork behaviors
      mediate the relationship between team emotional authenticity and team
      performance, and illuminate the importance of team emotional authenticity for
      team processes and outcomes. 

PMID- 27630604
TI  - Can We Distinguish Emotions from Faces? Investigation of Implicit and Explicit
      Processes of Peak Facial Expressions.
AB  - Most previous studies on facial expression recognition have focused on the
      moderate emotions; to date, few studies have been conducted to investigate the
      explicit and implicit processes of peak emotions. In the current study, we used
      transiently peak intense expression images of athletes at the winning or losing
      point in competition as materials, and investigated the diagnosability of peak
      facial expressions at both implicit and explicit levels. In Experiment 1,
      participants were instructed to evaluate isolated faces, isolated bodies, and the
      face-body compounds, and eye-tracking movement was recorded. The results revealed
      that the isolated body and face-body congruent images were better recognized than
      isolated face and face-body incongruent images, indicating that the emotional
      information conveyed by facial cues was ambiguous, and the body cues influenced
      facial emotion recognition. Furthermore, eye movement records showed that the
      participants displayed distinct gaze patterns for the congruent and incongruent
      compounds. In Experiment 2A, the subliminal affective priming task was used, with
      faces as primes and bodies as targets, to investigate the unconscious emotion
      perception of peak facial expressions. The results showed that winning face prime
      facilitated reaction to winning body target, whereas losing face prime inhibited
      reaction to winning body target, suggesting that peak facial expressions could be
      perceived at the implicit level. In general, the results indicate that peak
      facial expressions cannot be consciously recognized but can be perceived at the
      unconscious level. In Experiment 2B, revised subliminal affective priming task
      and a strict awareness test were used to examine the validity of unconscious
      perception of peak facial expressions found in Experiment 2A. Results of
      Experiment 2B showed that reaction time to both winning body targets and losing
      body targets was influenced by the invisibly peak facial expression primes, which
      indicated the unconscious perception of peak facial expressions. 

PMID- 27630606
TI  - Differences in Arithmetic Performance between Chinese and German Children Are
      Accompanied by Differences in Processing of Symbolic Numerical Magnitude.
AB  - Symbolic numerical magnitude processing skills are assumed to be fundamental to
      arithmetic learning. It is, however, still an open question whether better
      arithmetic skills are reflected in symbolic numerical magnitude processing
      skills. To address this issue, Chinese and German third graders were compared
      regarding their performance in arithmetic tasks and in a symbolic numerical
      magnitude comparison task. Chinese children performed better in the arithmetic
      tasks and were faster in deciding which one of two Arabic numbers was numerically
      larger. The group difference in symbolic numerical magnitude processing was fully
      mediated by the performance in arithmetic tasks. We assume that a higher degree
      of familiarity with arithmetic in Chinese compared to German children leads to a
      higher speed of retrieving symbolic numerical magnitude knowledge. 

PMID- 27630607
TI  - Editorial: Face Perception across the Life-Span.

PMID- 27630608
TI  - Defogging Climate Change Communication: How Cognitive Research Can Promote
      Effective Climate Communication.

PMID- 27630609
TI  - Which Are the Most Burdensome Functioning Areas in Depression? A Cross-National
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study aimed to identify the most burdensome functioning domains
      in depression and their differential impact on the quality of life (QoL) of
      individuals from nine countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from two multi-country projects-the World Health
      Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and the
      Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE)-were analyzed. Eight
      functioning domains (pain, mobility, self-care, cognition, interpersonal
      activities, domestic life, and work, sleep and energy, and affect) and QoL were
      assessed in 4051 individuals with depression. RESULTS: The analyses of the pooled
      sample showed that affect (beta = -0.21, p < 0.001), domestic life and work (beta
      = -0.16, p < 0.001) and interpersonal activities (beta = -0.15, p < 0.001) were
      the most affected functioning domains. When the analysis was stratified by
      gender, women showed similar patterns to the total sample, whereas mobility, self
      care, cognition and pain were not significant amongst men. The cross-national
      analysis revealed that difficulties in affect and interpersonal activities were
      common across countries, whereas the rest of the domains showed country
      variability. In addition, being a woman (beta = -0.05), being older (beta =
      0.07), being married (beta = 0.05), not having a comorbid condition (beta = 
      0.03) and having a higher education (beta = 0.04) were all factors associated
      with higher levels of QoL. CONCLUSION: There was a variation in the level of
      decrements in different functioning domains across countries. This is in line
      with the growing evidence that reporting functioning sum-scores obscures
      potential differences among people. Functioning tools should capture the
      distinctiveness among individuals in order to provide tailored responses.

PMID- 27630610
TI  - Electrophysiological Evidence Reveals Differences between the Recognition of
      Microexpressions and Macroexpressions.
AB  - Microexpressions are fleeting facial expressions that are important for judging
      people's true emotions. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying
      the recognition of microexpressions (with duration of less than 200 ms) and
      macroexpressions (with duration of greater than 200 ms). We used an affective
      priming paradigm in which a picture of a facial expression is the prime and an
      emotional word is the target, and electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related
      potentials (ERPs) to examine neural activities associated with recognizing
      microexpressions and macroexpressions. The results showed that there were
      significant main effects of duration and valence for N170/vertex positive
      potential. The main effect of congruence for N400 is also significant. Further,
      sLORETA showed that the brain regions responsible for these significant
      differences included the inferior temporal gyrus and widespread regions of the
      frontal lobe. Furthermore, the results suggested that the left hemisphere was
      more involved than the right hemisphere in processing a microexpression. The main
      effect of duration for the event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) was
      significant, and the theta oscillations (4 to 8 Hz) increased in recognizing
      expressions with a duration of 40 ms compared with 300 ms. Thus, there are
      different EEG/ERPs neural mechanisms for recognizing microexpressions compared to
      recognizing macroexpressions. 

PMID- 27630611
TI  - How People's Motivational System and Situational Motivation Influence Their Risky
      Financial Choices.
AB  - People's preferences for risks have been a subject of interest to researchers in
      both the economy and psychology fields over the last few years. This has given
      rise to many important findings about the role of psychological factors that
      influence people's choices. The presented studies focused on the role of
      motivational systems (described by Higgins in the Regulatory Focus Theory) in
      explaining people's financial choices. The main goal was to examine the
      relationship between people's chronic promotion and prevention motivational
      system and their propensity to (1) invest, (2) undertake investment risks, and
      (3) assume financial risks in gambling tasks in both the gain and loss decision
      making frame. Moreover, we aimed to investigate how chronic motivational systems
      confronted with situationally induced promotion and prevention motivation would
      affect people's propensity to invest and embrace financial risks. Two CAWI
      studies on a Polish national representative sample (N 1 = 1093; N 2 = 1096) were
      conducted. The second study consisted of two waves with a 2-week break. The
      studies provided evidence of higher chronic promotion motivation as well as
      higher prevention motivation associated with the propensity to invest; however,
      induced promotion motivation results in a lower propensity to invest compared to
      induced prevention motivation. Participants with an activated promotion system
      built more risky portfolios than individuals with an induced prevention system.
      Moreover, participants with a low chronic promotion system built more risky
      portfolios than individuals with a high promotion motivation system as long as
      their prevention system was also low. In terms of gambling decisions in both the
      gain and loss frame, a higher level of chronic promotion motivation and
      situationally induced promotion motivation were related to the preference for the
      non-sure option over the sure one. 

PMID- 27630612
TI  - Monitoring Upper Limb Recovery after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: Insights beyond
      Assessment Scores.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preclinical investigations in animal models demonstrate that enhanced
      upper limb (UL) activity during rehabilitation promotes motor recovery following
      spinal cord injury (SCI). Despite this, following SCI in humans, no commonly
      applied training protocols exist, and therefore, activity-based rehabilitative
      therapies (ABRT) vary in frequency, duration, and intensity. Quantification of UL
      recovery is limited to subjective questionnaires or scattered measures of muscle
      function and movement tasks. OBJECTIVE: To objectively measure changes in UL
      activity during acute SCI rehabilitation and to assess the value of wearable
      sensors as novel measurement tools that are complimentary to standard clinical
      assessments tools. METHODS: The overall amount of UL activity and kinematics of
      wheeling were measured longitudinally with wearable sensors in 12 thoracic and 19
      cervical acute SCI patients (complete and incomplete). The measurements were
      performed for up to seven consecutive days, and simultaneously, SCI-specific
      assessments were made during rehabilitation sessions 1, 3, and 6 months after
      injury. Changes in UL activity and function over time were analyzed using linear
      mixed models. RESULTS: During acute rehabilitation, the overall amount of UL
      activity and the active distance wheeled significantly increased in tetraplegic
      patients, but remained constant in paraplegic patients. The same tendency was
      shown in clinical scores with the exception of those for independence, which
      showed improvements at the beginning of the rehabilitation period, even in
      paraplegic subjects. In the later stages of acute rehabilitation, the quantity of
      UL activity in tetraplegic individuals matched that of their paraplegic
      counterparts, despite their greater motor impairments. Both subject groups showed
      higher UL activity during therapy time compared to the time outside of therapy
      time. CONCLUSION: Tracking day-to-day UL activity is necessary to gain insights
      into the real impact of a patient's impairments on their UL movements during
      therapy and during their leisure time. In the future, this novel methodology may
      be used to reliably control and adjust ABRT and to evaluate the progress of UL
      rehabilitation in clinical trials.

PMID- 27630613
TI  - Recurrent Embolic Strokes of Undetermined Source in a Patient with Extreme
      Lipoprotein(a) Levels.
AB  - Lipoprotein(a) is a plasma lipoprotein and known cardiovascular risk factor, most
      recently implicated in the development of high-risk carotid atherosclerotic
      plaques without significant carotid stenosis. We present a case of a young
      African-American female with recurrent embolic strokes of undetermined source.
      After our thorough investigation, we identified the link between a small,
      irregular plaque in the right internal carotid artery, and an extremely elevated
      plasma level of lipoprotein(a) as the source of her embolic strokes. 

PMID- 27630614
TI  - The Importance of Context: Uncovering Species- and Tissue-Specific Effects of
      Genetic Risk Variants for Type 2 Diabetes.

PMID- 27630618
TI  - Editorial: Recent Advances in Symbiosis Research: Integrative Approaches.

PMID- 27630617
TI  - The Ticking of the Epigenetic Clock: Antipsychotic Drugs in Old Age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposed to antipsychotic drugs (APDs), older individuals with
      dementing illness are at risk of cerebrovascular adverse effects (CVAE),
      including sudden death. Transient microvascular dysfunctions are known to occur
      in younger persons exposed to APDs; however, they seldom progress to CVAE,
      suggesting that APDs alone are insufficient for engendering this untoward effect.
      It is, therefore, believed that a preexistent microvascular damage is necessary
      for CVAE to take place, but the exact nature of this lesion remains unclear. CNS
      small vessel disease (SVD) is a well-known age-related risk factor for strokes,
      dementia, and sudden death, which may constitute the initial CVAE-predisposing
      pathology. Therefore, we propose the two strikes CVAE paradigm, in which SVD
      represents the first strike, while exposure to APDs, the second. In this model,
      both strikes must be present for CVAE to take place, and the neuroimaging load of
      white matter hyperintensities may be directly proportional with the CVAE risk. To
      investigate this hypothesis at the molecular level, we focused on a seemingly
      unrelated phenomenon: both APDs and SVD were found protective against a similar
      repertoire of cancers and their spread to the brain (1-4). Since microRNA-29 has
      shown efficacy against the same malignancies and has been associated with small
      vessels pathology, we narrowed our search down to this miR, hypothesizing that
      the APDs mechanism of action includes miR-29 upregulation, which in turn
      facilitates the development of SVD. AIM: To assess whether miR-29 can be utilized
      as a peripheral blood biomarker for SVD and CVAE risk. METHOD: We conducted a
      search of experimentally verified miR-29 target genes utilizing the public domain
      tools miRanda, RNA22 and Weizemann Institute of Science miRNA Analysis. We
      identified in total 67 experimentally verified target genes for miR-29 family, 18
      of which correlate with microvascular integrity and may be relevant for CVAE.
      CONCLUSION: Upregulated microRNA-29 silences the expression of 18 genes connected
      with capillary stability, engendering a major vulnerability for SVD (first
      strike) which in turn increases the risk for CVAE after exposure to APDs (second
      strike).

PMID- 27630615
TI  - Maternal Dexamethasone Exposure Alters Synaptic Inputs to Gonadotropin-Releasing
      Hormone Neurons in the Early Postnatal Rat.
AB  - Maternal dexamethasone [(DEX); a glucocorticoid receptor agonist] exposure delays
      pubertal onset and alters reproductive behavior in the adult offspring. However,
      little is known whether maternal DEX exposure affects the offspring's
      reproductive function by disrupting the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
      neuronal function in the brain. Therefore, this study determined the exposure of
      maternal DEX on the GnRH neuronal spine development and synaptic cluster inputs
      to GnRH neurons using transgenic rats expressing enhanced green fluorescent
      protein (EGFP) under the control of GnRH promoter. Pregnant females were
      administered with DEX (0.1 mg/kg) or vehicle (VEH, water) daily during gestation
      day 13-20. Confocal imaging was used to examine the spine density of EGFP-GnRH
      neurons by three-dimensional rendering and synaptic cluster inputs to EGFP-GnRH
      neurons by synapsin I immunohistochemistry on postnatal day 0 (P0) males. The
      spine morphology and number on GnRH neurons did not change between the P0 males
      following maternal DEX and VEH treatment. The number of synaptic clusters within
      the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT) was decreased by maternal
      DEX exposure in P0 males. Furthermore, the number and levels of synaptic cluster
      inputs in close apposition with GnRH neurons was decreased following maternal DEX
      exposure in the OVLT region of P0 males. In addition, the postsynaptic marker
      molecule, postsynaptic density 95, was observed in GnRH neurons following both
      DEX and VEH treatment. These results suggest that maternal DEX exposure alters
      neural afferent inputs to GnRH neurons during early postnatal stage, which could
      lead to reproductive dysfunction during adulthood. 

PMID- 27630616
TI  - A "Timed" Kiss Is Essential for Reproduction: Lessons from Mammalian Studies.
AB  - Reproduction is associated with the circadian system, primarily as a result of
      the connectivity between the biological clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus
      (SCN) and reproduction-regulating brain regions, such as preoptic area (POA),
      anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), and arcuate nucleus (ARC).
      Networking of the central pacemaker to these hypothalamic brain regions is partly
      represented by close fiber appositions to specialized neurons, such as kisspeptin
      and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons; accounting for rhythmic
      release of gonadotropins and sex steroids. Numerous studies have attempted to
      dissect the neurochemical properties of GnRH neurons, which possess intrinsic
      oscillatory features through the presence of clock genes to regulate the
      pulsatile and circadian secretion. However, less attention has been given to
      kisspeptin, the upstream regulator of GnRH and a potent mediator of reproductive
      functions including puberty. Kisspeptin exerts its stimulatory effects on GnRH
      secretion via its cognate Kiss-1R receptor that is co-expressed on GnRH neurons.
      Emerging studies have found that kisspeptin neurons oscillate on a circadian
      basis and that these neurons also express clock genes that are thought to
      regulate its rhythmic activities. Based on the fiber networks between the SCN and
      reproductive nuclei such as the POA, AVPV, and ARC, it is suggested that
      interactions among the central biological clock and reproductive neurons ensure
      optimal reproductive functionality. Within this neuronal circuitry, kisspeptin
      neuronal system is likely to "time" reproduction in a long term during
      development and aging, in a medium term to regulate circadian or estrus cycle,
      and in a short term to regulate pulsatile GnRH secretion. 

PMID- 27630619
TI  - Transcriptional and Physiological Changes during Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      Reactivation from Non-replicating Persistence.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis can persist for years in the hostile environment of
      the host in a non-replicating or slowly replicating state. While active disease
      predominantly results from reactivation of a latent infection, the molecular
      mechanisms of M. tuberculosis reactivation are still poorly understood. We
      characterized the physiology and global transcriptomic profiles of M.
      tuberculosis during reactivation from hypoxia-induced non-replicating
      persistence. We found that M. tuberculosis reactivation upon reaeration was
      associated with a lag phase, in which the recovery of cellular physiological and
      metabolic functions preceded the resumption of cell replication. Enrichment
      analysis of the transcriptomic dynamics revealed changes to many metabolic
      pathways and transcription regulons/subnetworks that orchestrated the metabolic
      and physiological transformation in preparation for cell division. In particular,
      we found that M. tuberculosis reaeration lag phase is associated with down
      regulation of persistence-associated regulons/subnetworks, including DosR, MprA,
      SigH, SigE, and ClgR, as well as metabolic pathways including those involved in
      the uptake of lipids and their catabolism. More importantly, we identified a
      number of up-regulated transcription regulons and metabolic pathways, including
      those involved in metal transport and remobilization, second messenger-mediated
      responses, DNA repair and recombination, and synthesis of major cell wall
      components. We also found that inactivation of the major alternative sigma
      factors SigE or SigH disrupted exit from persistence, underscoring the importance
      of the global transcriptional reprogramming during M. tuberculosis reactivation.
      Our observations suggest that M. tuberculosis lag phase is associated with a
      global gene expression reprogramming that defines the initiation of a
      reactivation process. 

PMID- 27630620
TI  - Silencing of Anopheles stephensi Heme Peroxidase HPX15 Activates Diverse Immune
      Pathways to Regulate the Growth of Midgut Bacteria.
AB  - Anopheles mosquito midgut harbors a diverse group of endogenous bacteria that
      grow extensively after the blood feeding and help in food digestion and nutrition
      in many ways. Although, the growth of endogenous bacteria is regulated by various
      factors, however, the robust antibacterial immune reactions are generally
      suppressed in this body compartment by a heme peroxidase HPX15 crosslinked mucins
      barrier. This barrier is formed on the luminal side of the midgut and blocks the
      direct interactions and recognition of bacteria or their elicitors by the immune
      reactive midgut epithelium. We hypothesized that in the absence of HPX15, an
      increased load of exogenous bacteria will enormously induce the mosquito midgut
      immunity and this situation in turn, can easily regulate mosquito-pathogen
      interactions. In this study, we found that the blood feeding induced AsHPX15 gene
      in Anopheles stephensi midgut and promoted the growth of endogenous as well as
      exogenous fed bacteria. In addition, the mosquito midgut also efficiently
      regulated the number of these bacteria through the induction of classical Toll
      and Imd immune pathways. In case of AsHPX15 silenced midguts, the growth of
      midgut bacteria was largely reduced through the induction of nitric oxide
      synthase (NOS) gene, a downstream effector molecule of the JAK/STAT pathway.
      Interestingly, no significant induction of the classical immune pathways was
      observed in these midguts. Importantly, the NOS is a well known negative
      regulator of Plasmodium development, thus, we proposed that the induction of
      diverged immune pathways in the absence of HPX15 mediated midgut barrier might be
      one of the strategies to manipulate the vectorial capacity of Anopheles mosquito.

PMID- 27630621
TI  - LPS-Activated Monocytes Are Unresponsive to T4 Phage and T4-Generated Escherichia
      coli Lysate.
AB  - A growing body of data shows that bacteriophages can interact with different
      kinds of immune cells. The objective of this study was to investigate whether T4
      bacteriophage and T4-generated Escherichia coli lysate affect functions of
      monocytes, the key population of immune cells involved in antibacterial immunity.
      To that end, we evaluated how T4 and E. coli lysate influence the expression of
      main costimulatory molecules including CD40, CD80 and CD86, TLR2, TLR4 on
      monocytes, as well as the production of IL-6 and IL-12 in cultures of peripheral
      blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Separate experiments were performed on
      unactivated and LPS-activated PBMCs cultures. Both studied preparations
      significantly increased the percentage of CD14(+)CD16(-)CD40(+) and CD14(+)CD16(
      )CD80(+) monocytes in unactivated PBMCs cultures, as well as the concentration of
      IL-6 and IL-12 in culture supernates. However, neither purified T4 nor E. coli
      lysate had any significant effect on monocytes in LPS-activated PBMCs cultures.
      We conclude that LPS-activated monocytes are unresponsive to phages and products
      of phage-induced lysis of bacteria. This study is highly relevant to phage
      therapy because it suggests that in patients with infections caused by Gram
      negative bacteria the administration of phage preparations to patients and lysis
      of bacteria by phages are not likely to overly stimulate monocytes. 

PMID- 27630622
TI  - Contribution of Multiple Inter-Kingdom Horizontal Gene Transfers to Evolution and
      Adaptation of Amphibian-Killing Chytrid, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.
AB  - Amphibian populations are experiencing catastrophic declines driven by the fungal
      pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Although horizontal gene transfer
      (HGT) facilitates the evolution and adaptation in many fungi by conferring novel
      function genes to the recipient fungi, inter-kingdom HGT in Bd remains largely
      unexplored. In this study, our investigation detects 19 bacterial genes
      transferred to Bd, including metallo-beta-lactamase and arsenate reductase that
      play important roles in the resistance to antibiotics and arsenates. Moreover,
      three probable HGT gene families in Bd are from plants and one gene family coding
      the ankyrin repeat-containing protein appears to come from oomycetes. The
      observed multi-copy gene families associated with HGT are probably due to the
      independent transfer events or gene duplications. Five HGT genes with
      extracellular locations may relate to infection, and some other genes may
      participate in a variety of metabolic pathways, and in doing so add important
      metabolic traits to the recipient. The evolutionary analysis indicates that all
      the transferred genes evolved under purifying selection, suggesting that their
      functions in Bd are similar to those of the donors. Collectively, our results
      indicate that HGT from diverse donors may be an important evolutionary driver of
      Bd, and improve its adaptations for infecting and colonizing host amphibians. 

PMID- 27630623
TI  - Novel Methyltransferase Recognition Motif Identified in Chania multitudinisentens
      RB-25(T) gen. nov., sp. nov.

PMID- 27630624
TI  - Interspecific Bacterial Interactions are Reflected in Multispecies Biofilm
      Spatial Organization.
AB  - Interspecies interactions are essential for the persistence and development of
      any kind of complex community, and microbial biofilms are no exception.
      Multispecies biofilms are structured and spatially defined communities that have
      received much attention due to their omnipresence in natural environments.
      Species residing in these complex bacterial communities usually interact both
      intra- and interspecifically. Such interactions are considered to not only be
      fundamental in shaping overall biomass and the spatial distribution of cells
      residing in multispecies biofilms, but also to result in coordinated regulation
      of gene expression in the different species present. These communal interactions
      often lead to emergent properties in biofilms, such as enhanced tolerance against
      antibiotics, host immune responses, and other stresses, which have been shown to
      provide benefits to all biofilm members not only the enabling sub-populations.
      However, the specific molecular mechanisms of cellular processes affecting
      spatial organization, and vice versa, are poorly understood and very complex to
      unravel. Therefore, detailed description of the spatial organization of
      individual bacterial cells in multispecies communities can be an alternative
      strategy to reveal the nature of interspecies interactions of constituent
      species. Closing the gap between visual observation and biological processes may
      become crucial for resolving biofilm related problems, which is of utmost
      importance to environmental, industrial, and clinical implications. This review
      briefly presents the state of the art of studying interspecies interactions and
      spatial organization of multispecies communities, aiming to support theoretical
      and practical arguments for further advancement of this field. 

PMID- 27630625
TI  - Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Pacific Oyster Hemolymph Microbiota across
      Multiple Scales.
AB  - Unveiling the factors and processes that shape the dynamics of host associated
      microbial communities (microbiota) under natural conditions is an important part
      of understanding and predicting an organism's response to a changing environment.
      The microbiota is shaped by host (i.e., genetic) factors as well as by the biotic
      and abiotic environment. Studying natural variation of microbial community
      composition in multiple host genetic backgrounds across spatial as well as
      temporal scales represents a means to untangle this complex interplay. Here, we
      combined a spatially-stratified with a longitudinal sampling scheme within
      differentiated host genetic backgrounds by reciprocally transplanting Pacific
      oysters between two sites in the Wadden Sea (Sylt and Texel). To further
      differentiate contingent site from host genetic effects, we repeatedly sampled
      the same individuals over a summer season to examine structure, diversity and
      dynamics of individual hemolymph microbiota following experimental removal of
      resident microbiota by antibiotic treatment. While a large proportion of
      microbiome variation could be attributed to immediate environmental conditions,
      we observed persistent effects of antibiotic treatment and translocation
      suggesting that hemolymph microbial community dynamics is subject to within
      microbiome interactions and host population specific factors. In addition, the
      analysis of spatial variation revealed that the within-site microenvironmental
      heterogeneity resulted in high small-scale variability, as opposed to large-scale
      (between-site) stability. Similarly, considerable within-individual temporal
      variability was in contrast with the overall temporal stability at the site
      level. Overall, our longitudinal, spatially-stratified sampling design revealed
      that variation in hemolymph microbiota is strongly influenced by site and
      immediate environmental conditions, whereas internal microbiome dynamics and
      oyster-related factors add to their long-term stability. The combination of small
      and large scale resolution of spatial and temporal observations therefore
      represents a crucial but underused tool to study host-associated microbiome
      dynamics. 

PMID- 27630627
TI  - In silico Logistic Model for Table Olive Related Microorganisms As a Function of
      Sodium Metabisulphite, Cinnamaldehyde, pH, and Type of Acidifying Agent.
AB  - A probabilistic/logistic model, based on binary data (growth/no growth), was used
      to assess the effects of sodium metabisulphite (SM) and cinnamaldehyde (CIN; 0
      1000 mg/L) against the main microbial groups found in table olive environment
      [lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts, and Enterobacteriaceae], according to pH
      (range 3.5-5.0), and type of acidifying agent (HCl or pyruvic acid). The
      inhibitory effect of SM depended on the pH while that of CIN was scarcely
      influenced by it (except for LAB). LAB were more sensitive to SM, while yeasts
      were to CIN. The use of pyruvic acid for correction of pH always produced a
      reduction (compared to HCl) of the inhibitory power of both preservatives. The in
      silico models for HCl showed that, at pH 4.0, and growth probability 0.01, the
      LAB population might be inhibited by the presence in the medium of 150 mg/L SM or
      1000 mg/L CIN, while in the case of yeasts, 450 mg/L SM, or 150 mg/L CIN are
      required. No growth of Enterobacteriaceae was observed at this (or lower) pH
      level. The results obtained may contribute to the stabilization of non-thermally
      treated table olive packaging. 

PMID- 27630628
TI  - Size and Carbon Content of Sub-seafloor Microbial Cells at Landsort Deep, Baltic
      Sea.
AB  - The discovery of a microbial ecosystem in ocean sediments has evoked interest in
      life under extreme energy limitation and its role in global element cycling.
      However, fundamental parameters such as the size and the amount of biomass of sub
      seafloor microbial cells are poorly constrained. Here we determined the volume
      and the carbon content of microbial cells from a marine sediment drill core
      retrieved by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), Expedition 347, at
      Landsort Deep, Baltic Sea. To determine their shape and volume, cells were
      separated from the sediment matrix by multi-layer density centrifugation and
      visualized via epifluorescence microscopy (FM) and scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM). Total cell-carbon was calculated from amino acid-carbon, which was
      analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after cells had been
      purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The majority of microbial
      cells in the sediment have coccoid or slightly elongated morphology. From the
      sediment surface to the deepest investigated sample (~60 m below the seafloor),
      the cell volume of both coccoid and elongated cells decreased by an order of
      magnitude from ~0.05 to 0.005 MUm(3). The cell-specific carbon content was 19-31
      fg C cell(-1), which is at the lower end of previous estimates that were used for
      global estimates of microbial biomass. The cell-specific carbon density increased
      with sediment depth from about 200 to 1000 fg C MUm(-3), suggesting that cells
      decrease their water content and grow small cell sizes as adaptation to the long
      term subsistence at very low energy availability in the deep biosphere. We
      present for the first time depth-related data on the cell volume and carbon
      content of sedimentary microbial cells buried down to 60 m below the seafloor.
      Our data enable estimates of volume- and biomass-specific cellular rates of
      energy metabolism in the deep biosphere and will improve global estimates of
      microbial biomass. 

PMID- 27630629
TI  - Unexpectedly High Beta-Diversity of Root-Associated Fungal Communities in the
      Bolivian Andes.
AB  - Bolivia is one of the most biologically diverse countries on the planet. Between
      the Andes and the Amazon drainage basin spans the Yungas, a vast forested region
      shown to be extremely species rich in macro-organisms. However, it remains
      unclear whether this high diversity is also reflected in microbial diversity.
      Here we assess the genetic, taxonomic and functional diversity of root-associated
      fungi surrounding Cinchona calisaya trees, a typical element of the intermediate
      altitudes of the Bolivian Yungas. We determine the relative effects of edaphic
      properties, climate, and geography in regulating fungal community assembly. We
      show that alpha-diversity for these fungal communities was similar to temperate
      and arid ecosystems, averaging 90.1 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) per
      sample, with reads predominantly assigned to the Ascomycota phylum and with a
      saprotrophic lifestyle. beta-diversity was calculated as the distance-decay rate,
      and in contrast to alpha-diversity, was exceptionally high with a rate of -0.407.
      Soil properties (pH and P) principally regulated fungal community assembly in an
      analogous manner to temperate environments, with pH and phosphorus explaining 7.8
      and 7.2% of community variation respectively. Surprisingly, altitude does not
      influence community formation, and there is limited evidence that climate
      (precipitation and temperature) play a role. Our results suggest that sampling
      should be performed over a wide geographical and environmental range in order to
      capture the full root-associated fungal diversity in subtropical regions. This
      study sheds further light on the diversity and distribution of the world's
      "hidden biodiversity." 

PMID- 27630630
TI  - Exposure of ELF-EMF and RF-EMF Increase the Rate of Glucose Transport and TCA
      Cycle in Budding Yeast.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the transcriptional response to 50 Hz extremely
      low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) and 2.0 GHz radio frequency
      electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure by Illumina sequencing technology using
      budding yeast as the model organism. The transcription levels of 28 genes were
      upregulated and those of four genes were downregulated under ELF-EMF exposure,
      while the transcription levels of 29 genes were upregulated and those of 24 genes
      were downregulated under RF-EMF exposure. After validation by reverse
      transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), a concordant
      direction of change both in differential gene expression (DGE) and RT-qPCR was
      demonstrated for nine genes under ELF-EMF exposure and for 10 genes under RF-EMF
      exposure. The RT-qPCR results revealed that ELF-EMF and RF-EMF exposure can
      upregulate the expression of genes involved in glucose transportation and the
      tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, but not the glycolysis pathway. Energy metabolism
      is closely related with the cell response to environmental stress including EMF
      exposure. Our findings may throw light on the mechanism underlying the biological
      effects of EMF. 

PMID- 27630626
TI  - Current State of Knowledge in Microbial Degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic
      Hydrocarbons (PAHs): A Review.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) include a group of organic priority
      pollutants of critical environmental and public health concern due to their
      toxic, genotoxic, mutagenic and/or carcinogenic properties and their ubiquitous
      occurrence as well as recalcitrance. The increased awareness of their various
      adverse effects on ecosystem and human health has led to a dramatic increase in
      research aimed toward removing PAHs from the environment. PAHs may undergo
      adsorption, volatilization, photolysis, and chemical oxidation, although
      transformation by microorganisms is the major neutralization process of PAH
      contaminated sites in an ecologically accepted manner. Microbial degradation of
      PAHs depends on various environmental conditions, such as nutrients, number and
      kind of the microorganisms, nature as well as chemical property of the PAH being
      degraded. A wide variety of bacterial, fungal and algal species have the
      potential to degrade/transform PAHs, among which bacteria and fungi mediated
      degradation has been studied most extensively. In last few decades microbial
      community analysis, biochemical pathway for PAHs degradation, gene organization,
      enzyme system, genetic regulation for PAH degradation have been explored in great
      detail. Although, xenobiotic-degrading microorganisms have incredible potential
      to restore contaminated environments inexpensively yet effectively, but new
      advancements are required to make such microbes effective and more powerful in
      removing those compounds, which were once thought to be recalcitrant. Recent
      analytical chemistry and genetic engineering tools might help to improve the
      efficiency of degradation of PAHs by microorganisms, and minimize uncertainties
      of successful bioremediation. However, appropriate implementation of the
      potential of naturally occurring microorganisms for field bioremediation could be
      considerably enhanced by optimizing certain factors such as bioavailability,
      adsorption and mass transfer of PAHs. The main purpose of this review is to
      provide an overview of current knowledge of bacteria, halophilic archaea, fungi
      and algae mediated degradation/transformation of PAHs. In addition, factors
      affecting PAHs degradation in the environment, recent advancement in genetic,
      genomic, proteomic and metabolomic techniques are also highlighted with an aim to
      facilitate the development of a new insight into the bioremediation of PAH in the
      environment. 

PMID- 27630631
TI  - DNA Phosphorothioate Modification Plays a Role in Peroxides Resistance in
      Streptomyces lividans.
AB  - DNA phosphorothioation, conferred by dnd genes, was originally discovered in the
      soil-dwelling bacterium Streptomyces lividans, and thereafter found to exist in
      various bacterial genera. However, the physiological significance of this sulfur
      modification of the DNA backbone remains unknown in S. lividans. Our studies
      indicate that DNA phosphorothioation has a major role in resistance to oxidative
      stress in the strain. Although Streptomyces species express multiple
      catalase/peroxidase and organic hydroperoxide resistance genes to protect them
      against peroxide damage, a wild type strain of S. lividans exhibited two-fold to
      10-fold higher survival, compared to a dnd (-) mutant, following treatment with
      peroxides. RNA-seq experiments revealed that, catalase and organic hydroperoxide
      resistance gene expression were not up-regulated in the wild type strain,
      suggesting that the resistance to oxidative stress was not due to the up
      regulation of these genes by DNA phosphorothioation. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis
      was conducted to trace the expression of the catalase and the organic
      hydroperoxide resistance genes after peroxides treatments. A bunch of these genes
      were activated in the dnd (-) mutant rather than the wild type strain in response
      to peroxides. Moreover, the organic hydroperoxide peracetic acid was scavenged
      more rapidly in the presence than in the absence of phosphorothioate
      modification, both in vivo and in vitro. The dnd gene cluster can be up-regulated
      by the disulfide stressor diamide. Overall, our observations suggest that DNA
      phosphorothioate modification functions as a peroxide resistance system in S.
      lividans. 

PMID- 27630632
TI  - Simple and Versatile Turbidimetric Monitoring of Bacterial Growth in Liquid
      Cultures Using a Customized 3D Printed Culture Tube Holder and a Miniaturized
      Spectrophotometer: Application to Facultative and Strictly Anaerobic Bacteria.
AB  - Here we introduce a novel strategy for turbidimetric monitoring of bacterial
      growth in liquid culture. The instrumentation comprises a light source, a
      customized 3D printed culture tube holder and a miniaturized spectrophotometer,
      connected through optical cables. Due to its small footprint and the possibility
      to operate with external light, bacterial growth was directly monitored from
      culture tubes in a simple and versatile fashion. This new portable measurement
      technique was used to monitor the growth of facultative (Escherichia coli
      ATCC/25922, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC/29213) and strictly (Butyrivibrio
      fibrisolvens JW11, Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus P18, and Propionibacterium acnes
      DSMZ 1897) anaerobic bacteria. For E. coli and S. aureus, the growth rates
      calculated from normalized optical density values were compared with those ones
      obtained using a benchtop spectrophotometer without significant differences (P =
      0.256). For the strictly anaerobic species, a high precision (relative standard
      deviation < 3.5%) was observed between replicates up to 48 h. Regarding its
      potential for customization, this manifold could accommodate further developments
      for customized turbidimetric monitoring, such as the use of light-emitting diodes
      as a light source or flow cells. 

PMID- 27630633
TI  - 'Get in Early'; Biofilm and Wax Moth (Galleria mellonella) Models Reveal New
      Insights into the Therapeutic Potential of Clostridium difficile Bacteriophages.
AB  - Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a global health threat associated with
      high rates of morbidity and mortality. Conventional antibiotic CDI therapy can
      result in treatment failure and recurrent infection. C. difficile produces
      biofilms which contribute to its virulence and impair antimicrobial activity.
      Some bacteriophages (phages) can penetrate biofilms and thus could be developed
      to either replace or supplement antibiotics. Here, we determined the impact of a
      previously optimized 4-phage cocktail on C. difficile ribotype 014/020 biofilms,
      and additionally as adjunct to vancomycin treatment in Galleria mellonella larva
      CDI model. The phages were applied before or after biofilm establishment in
      vitro, and the impact was analyzed according to turbidity, viability counts and
      topography as observed using scanning electron and confocal microscopy. The
      infectivity profiles and efficacies of orally administered phages and/or
      vancomycin were ascertained by monitoring colonization levels and larval survival
      rates. Phages prevented biofilm formation, and penetrated established biofilms. A
      single phage application reduced colonization causing extended longevity in the
      remedial treatment and prevented disease in the prophylaxis group. Multiple phage
      doses significantly improved the larval remedial regimen, and this treatment is
      comparable to vancomycin and the combined treatments. Taken together, our data
      suggest that the phages significantly reduce C. difficile biofilms, and prevent
      colonization in the G. mellonella model when used alone or in combination with
      vancomycin. The phages appear to be highly promising therapeutics in the targeted
      eradication of CDI and the use of these models has revealed that prophylactic use
      could be a propitious therapeutic option. 

PMID- 27630635
TI  - Rel Is Required for Morphogenesis of Resting Cells in Mycobacterium smegmatis.
AB  - Recently we showed that upon transfer of growing Mycobacterium smegmatis into
      saline, the bacilli exited the canonical cell division cycle and formed septated
      multi-nucleoided cells. Under shock starvation (i.e., in saline without any
      carbon source), differentiation terminated at this stage with internally
      remodeled Large Resting Cells (LARCs). Whereas under gentle starvation (i.e., in
      saline with trace amounts of a carbon source), the septated multi-nucleoided
      bacilli completed cell division and separated into mono-nucleoided Small Resting
      Cells (SMRCs). This demonstrated that the non-sporulating mycobacteria are in
      fact capable of forming morphologically differentiated resting cells when exposed
      to starvation. Depending on the specific starvation conditions they can form two
      different resting cell types, LARCs or SMRCs, which share a common cellular
      differentiation pathway. The mRNA encoding the (p)ppGpp synthetase Rel was found
      to be transiently upregulated immediately upon starvation under both conditions,
      suggesting a role for the stringent response factor in both LARC and SMRC
      development. Here, we disrupted Rel function by generating two types of mutant M.
      smegmatis strains: a rel nonsense mutant (rel (E4TAG)) in which translation is
      prematurely terminated at codon 4, and a rel deletion mutant (Deltarel) in which
      the entire coding sequence was deleted. Both mutants showed identical phenotypes:
      sparse septum formation, less DNA compaction, and failure in formation of both
      the septated multi-nucleoided LARCs and the small-cell morphotype SMRC under
      starvation conditions. All phenotypes were rescued through the introduction of a
      wild-type copy of rel. Therefore, we conclude that loss-of-function mutations in
      rel block the development of both LARCs and SMRCs by preventing the first
      morphogenetic step in mycobacterial resting cell development, the formation of
      septated multi-nucleoided cells. Interestingly, in contrast to Rel's role in most
      other bacteria, starvation survival was not affected by loss of rel function. Our
      results suggest that Rel may play a starvation-induced morphogenetic role in
      mycobacteria. 

PMID- 27630634
TI  - Escherichia coli Type III Secretion System 2 ATPase EivC Is Involved in the
      Motility and Virulence of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli.
AB  - Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) are crucial for bacterial infections because
      they deliver effector proteins into host cells. The Escherichia coli type III
      secretion system 2 (ETT2) is present in the majority of E. coli strains, and
      although it is degenerate, ETT2 regulates bacterial virulence. An ATPase is
      essential for T3SS secretion, but the function of the ETT2 ATPase has not been
      demonstrated. Here, we show that EivC is homologous to the beta subunit of F0F1
      ATPases and it possesses ATPase activity. To investigate the effects of ETT2
      ATPase EivC on the phenotype and virulence of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli
      (APEC), eivC mutant and complemented strains were constructed and characterized.
      Inactivation of eivC led to impaired flagella production and augmented fimbriae
      on the bacterial surface, and, consequently, reduced bacterial motility. In
      addition, the eivC mutant strain exhibited attenuated virulence in ducks,
      diminished serum resistance, reduced survival in macrophage cells and in ducks,
      upregulated fimbrial gene expression, and downregulated flagellar and virulence
      gene expression. The expression of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)
      1beta and IL-8 were increased in HD-11 macrophages infected with the eivC mutant
      strain, compared with the wild-type strain. These virulence-related phenotypes
      were restored by genetic complementation. These findings demonstrate that ETT2
      ATPase EivC is involved in the motility and pathogenicity of APEC. 

PMID- 27630636
TI  - Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus Causing Clinical and Subclinical Infections
      in Atlantic Salmon Have Different Genetic Fingerprints.
AB  - Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is the causative agent of IPN, an
      important disease of salmonids. IPNV infections result in either sub-clinical or
      overt disease and the basis of this difference is not well-understood. The
      objective of the present study was to determine the VP2 gene of the virus
      associated with the different forms of clinical manifestation. Groups of Atlantic
      salmon (Salmo salar L.) reared in farms located in different IPN disease
      pressures were monitored from brood stock until grow-out over a 3 year period.
      Hatcheries A1 and B1 as well as cooperating seawater farms were located in a low
      disease risk area while hatcheries A2 and B2 as well as their cooperating
      seawater farms were in high IPN risk areas. Samples including eggs, milt, whole
      fry, kidney depending on the stage of production were collected during outbreaks
      or in apparently healthy populations where no outbreaks occurred. The virus was
      re-isolated in CHSE cells and the VP2 gene amplified by RT-PCR followed by
      sequencing. During the freshwater stage, there were no disease outbreaks at
      hatcheries A1, A2, and B1 (except in one fish group that originated from hatchery
      B2), although IPNV was isolated from some of the fish groups at all 3 hatcheries.
      By contrast, all fish groups at hatchery B2 suffered IPN outbreaks. In seawater,
      only groups of fish originating from hatchery A1 had no IPN outbreaks albeit
      virus being isolated from the fish. On the other hand, fish originating from
      hatcheries A2, B1, and B2 experienced outbreaks in seawater. The VP2 amino acid
      fingerprint of the virus associated with subclinical infections from A1 and co
      operating seawater sites was V64A137P217T221A247N252S281D282E319. By contrast,
      all virus isolates associated with clinical infections had the motif
      I64T137T217A221T247V252T281N282A319, where underlined amino acids represent the
      avirulent and highly virulent motif, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of amino
      acid sequences showed 2 clades, one of isolates associated with subclinical
      infections (from A1 and cooperating seawater farms) and the other of isolates
      from fish with overt disease (all other sites). Furthermore, the clustering
      pattern of isolates suggests more circulation of virus within fish groups rather
      than between them. 

PMID- 27630637
TI  - Subcutaneous Phaeohyphomycosis Due to Pyrenochaeta romeroi Mimicking a Synovial
      Cyst.
AB  - Opportunistic subcutaneous fungal infections are increasing nowadays due to the
      growing number of medical conditions causing immunosuppression, especially organ
      transplant. The incidence rate of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis is very low.
      Most studies found are case reports. They showed a wide variation of clinical
      presentations. Pyrenochaeta romeroi, a fungus from the Dematiaceae group is a
      saprophyte found in soil and plants and a possible causative agent of
      phaeohyphomycosis. We present a rare case of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis
      caused by P. romeroi mimicking a synovial cyst in a diabetic patient. 

PMID- 27630638
TI  - Extracellular Vesicles Including Exosomes Regulate Innate Immune Responses to
      Hepatitis B Virus Infection.
AB  - The innate immune system is essential for controlling viral infection. Hepatitis
      B virus (HBV) persistently infects human hepatocytes and causes hepatocellular
      carcinoma. However, the innate immune response to HBV infection in vivo remains
      unclear. Using a tree shrew animal model, we showed that HBV infection induced
      hepatic interferon (IFN)-gamma expression during early infection. Our in vitro
      study demonstrated that hepatic NK cells produced IFN-gamma in response to HBV
      only in the presence of hepatic F4/80(+) cells. Moreover, extracellular vesicles
      (EVs) released from HBV-infected hepatocytes contained viral nucleic acids and
      induced NKG2D ligand expression in macrophages by stimulating MyD88, TICAM-1, and
      MAVS-dependent pathways. In addition, depletion of exosomes from EVs markedly
      reduced NKG2D ligand expression, suggesting the importance of exosomes for NK
      cell activation. In contrast, infection of hepatocytes with HBV increased
      immunoregulatory microRNA levels in EVs and exosomes, which were transferred to
      macrophages, thereby suppressing IL-12p35 mRNA expression in macrophages to
      counteract the host innate immune response. IFN-gamma increased the hepatic
      expression of DDX60 and augmented the DDX60-dependent degradation of cytoplasmic
      HBV RNA. Our results elucidated the crucial role of exosomes in antiviral innate
      immune response against HBV. ACCESSION NUMBER: Accession number of RNA-seq data
      is DRA004164 (DRA in DDBJ).

PMID- 27630639
TI  - High-Throughput Sequencing-Based Immune Repertoire Study during Infectious
      Disease.
AB  - The selectivity of the adaptive immune response is based on the enormous
      diversity of T and B cell antigen-specific receptors. The immune repertoire, the
      collection of T and B cells with functional diversity in the circulatory system
      at any given time, is dynamic and reflects the essence of immune selectivity. In
      this article, we review the recent advances in immune repertoire study of
      infectious diseases, which were achieved by traditional techniques and high
      throughput sequencing (HTS) techniques. HTS techniques enable the determination
      of complementary regions of lymphocyte receptors with unprecedented efficiency
      and scale. This progress in methodology enhances the understanding of immunologic
      changes during pathogen challenge and also provides a basis for further
      development of novel diagnostic markers, immunotherapies, and vaccines. 

PMID- 27630640
TI  - Transfer of Maternal Antimicrobial Immunity to HIV-Exposed Uninfected Newborns.
AB  - The transfer of maternal immune factors to the newborn is critical for protection
      from infectious disease in early life. Maternally acquired passive immunity
      provides protection until the infant is beyond early life's increased
      susceptibility to severe infections or until active immunity is achieved
      following infant's primary immunization. However, as reviewed here, human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection alters the transfer of immune factors from
      HIV-infected mothers to the HIV-exposed newborns and young infants. This may
      relate to the immune activation in HIV-infected pregnant women, associated with
      the production of inflammatory cytokines at the maternofetal interface associated
      with inflammatory responses in the newborn. We also summarize mother-targeting
      interventions to improve the health of infants born to HIV-infected women, such
      as immunization during pregnancy and reduction of maternal inflammation. Maternal
      immunization offers the potential to compensate for the decreased
      transplacentally transferred maternal antibodies observed in HIV-exposed infants.
      Current data suggest reduced immunogenicity of vaccines in HIV-infected pregnant
      women, possibly reducing the protective impact of maternal immunization for HIV
      exposed infants. Fortunately, levels of antibodies appear preserved in the breast
      milk of HIV-infected women, which supports the recommendation to breast-feed
      during antiretroviral treatment to protect HIV-exposed infants. 

PMID- 27630641
TI  - Evaluation of Functional NK Cell Responses in Vaccinated and SIV-Infected Rhesus
      Macaques.
AB  - NK cells are crucial components of the innate immune system due to their capacity
      to exert rapid cytotoxic and immunomodulatory function in the absence of prior
      sensitization. NK cells can become activated by exposure to target cells and/or
      by cytokines produced by antigen-presenting cells. In this study, we examined the
      effects of a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) vaccine regimen and subsequent
      SIV infection on the cytotoxic and immunomodulatory functions of circulatory NK
      cells. While vaccination did not significantly impact the capacity of NK cells to
      kill MHC-devoid 721.221 target cells, SIV-infection led to a significant decrease
      in target cell killing. NK cells from uninfected macaques were responsive to a
      low dose (5 ng/ml) of IL-15 pre-activation, leading to significant increases in
      their cytotoxic potential, however, NK cells from SIV-infected macaques required
      a higher dose (50 ng/ml) of IL-15 pre-activation in order to significantly
      increase their cytotoxic potential. By contrast, no differences were observed in
      the capacity of NK cells from vaccinated and SIV-infected macaques to respond to
      IL-12 and IL-18. Similarly, NK cells both before and after infection exhibited
      equivalent responses to Fc-mediated activation. Collectively, our results show
      that early SIV-infection impairs the natural cytotoxic capacity of circulatory NK
      cells without affecting Fc-mediated or cytokine-producing function. 

PMID- 27630642
TI  - Corrigendum: Recent Advances in Lentiviral Vaccines for HIV-1 Infection.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 243 in vol. 7, PMID: 27446074.]. 

PMID- 27630643
TI  - Diverging Drought Resistance of Scots Pine Provenances Revealed by Infrared
      Thermography.
AB  - With recent climate changes, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests have been
      affected by die-off events. Assisted migration of adapted provenances mitigates
      drought impacts and promotes forest regeneration. Although suitable provenances
      are difficult to identify by traditional ecophysiological techniques, which are
      time consuming and invasive, plant water status can be easily assessed by
      infrared thermography. Thus, we examined the stress responses of 2-year-old
      potted Scots pine seedlings from six provenances (Bulgaria, France, Germany,
      Italy, Poland, and Spain) based on two thermal indices (crop water stress index
      and stomatal conductance index). Both indices were derived from infrared images
      during a 6-week drought/control treatment in a greenhouse in the summer of 2013.
      The pines were monitored during the stress and subsequent recovery period. After
      controlling for fluctuating environmental conditions, soil moisture or treatment
      specific water supply was the most important driver of drought stress. The stress
      magnitude and response to soil water deficit depended on provenance. Under
      moderate drought conditions, pines from western and eastern Mediterranean
      provenances (Bulgaria, France, and Spain) expressed lower stress levels than
      those from both continental provenances (Germany and Poland). Moreover, pines
      from continental provenances were less resilient (showed less recovery after the
      stress period) than Mediterranean pines. Under extreme drought, all provenances
      were equally stressed with almost no significant differences in their thermal
      indices. Provenance-specific differences in drought resistance, which are
      associated with factors such as summer precipitation at the origin of Scots pine
      seedlings, may offer promising tracks of adaptation to future drought risks. 

PMID- 27630644
TI  - Over-expression of Topoisomerase II Enhances Salt Stress Tolerance in Tobacco.
AB  - Topoisomerases are unique enzymes having an ability to remove or add DNA
      supercoils and untangle the snarled DNA. They can cut, shuffle, and religate DNA
      strands and remove the torsional stress during DNA replication, transcription or
      recombination events. In the present study, we over-expressed topoisomerase II
      (TopoII) in tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum) and examined its role in growth and
      development as well as salt (NaCl) stress tolerance. Several putative transgenic
      plants were generated and the transgene integration and expression was confirmed
      by PCR and Southern blot analyses, and RT-PCR analysis respectively. Percent seed
      germination, shoot growth, and chlorophyll content revealed that transgenic lines
      over-expressing the NtTopoIIalpha-1 gene exhibited enhanced tolerance to salt
      (150 and 200 mM NaCl) stress. Moreover, over-expression of TopoII lead to the
      elevation in proline and glycine betaine levels in response to both
      concentrations of NaCl as compared to wild-type. In response to NaCl stress,
      TopoII over-expressing lines showed reduced lipid peroxidation derived
      malondialdehyde (MDA) generation. These results suggest that TopoII plays a
      pivotal role in salt stress tolerance in plants. 

PMID- 27630646
TI  - Genetic Diversity and Physiological Performance of Portuguese Wild Beet (Beta
      vulgaris spp. maritima) from Three Contrasting Habitats.
AB  - The establishment of stress resilient sugar beets (Beta vulgaris spp. vulgaris)
      is an important breeding goal since this cash crop is susceptible to drought and
      salinity. The genetic diversity in cultivated sugar beets is low and the beet
      wild relatives are useful genetic resources for tolerance traits. Three wild beet
      populations (Beta vulgaris spp. maritima) from contrasting environments,
      Vaiamonte (VMT, dry inland hill), Comporta (CMP, marsh) and Oeiras (OEI,
      coastland), and one commercial sugar beet (Isella variety, SB), are compared. At
      the genetic level, the use of six microsatellite allowed to detect a total of
      seventy six alleles. It was observed that CMP population has the highest value
      concerning the effective number of alleles and of expected heterozygosity. By
      contrast, sugar beet has the lowest values for all the parameters considered.
      Loci analysis with STRUCTURE allows defining three genetic clusters, the sea beet
      (OEI and CMP), the inland ruderal beet (VMT) and the sugar beet (SB). A screening
      test for progressive drought and salinity effects demonstrated that: all
      populations were able to recover from severe stress; drought impact was higher
      than that from salinity; the impact on biomass (total, shoot, root) was
      population specific. The distinct strategies were also visible at physiological
      level. We evaluated the physiological responses of the populations under drought
      and salt stress, namely at initial stress stages, late stress stages, and early
      stress recovery. Multivariate analysis showed that the physiological performance
      can be used to discriminate between genotypes, with a strong contribution of leaf
      temperature and leaf osmotic adjustment. However, the separation achieved and the
      groups formed are dependent on the stress type, stress intensity and duration.
      Each of the wild beet populations evaluated is very rich in genetic terms
      (allelic richness) and exhibited physiological plasticity, i.e., the capacity to
      physiologically adjust to changing environments. These characteristics emphasize
      the importance of the wild beet ecotypes for beet improvement programs. Two
      striking ecotypes are VMT, which is the best to cope with drought and salinity,
      and CMP which has the highest root to shoot ratio. These genotypes can supply
      breeding programs with distinct goals. 

PMID- 27630645
TI  - Identification, Characterization, and Expression Analysis of Cell Wall Related
      Genes in Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, a Food, Fodder, and Biofuel Crop.
AB  - Biomass based alternative fuels offer a solution to the world's ever-increasing
      energy demand. With the ability to produce high biomass in marginal lands with
      low inputs, sorghum has a great potential to meet second-generation biofuel
      needs. Despite the sorghum crop importance in biofuel and fodder industry, there
      is no comprehensive information available on the cell wall related genes and gene
      families (biosynthetic and modification). It is important to identify the cell
      wall related genes to understand the cell wall biosynthetic process as well as to
      facilitate biomass manipulation. Genome-wide analysis using gene family specific
      Hidden Markov Model of conserved domains identified 520 genes distributed among
      20 gene families related to biosynthesis/modification of various cell wall
      polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and lignin. Chromosomal
      localization analysis of these genes revealed that about 65% of cell wall related
      genes were confined to four chromosomes (Chr. 1-4). Further, 56 tandem
      duplication events involving 169 genes were identified in these gene families
      which could be associated with expansion of genes within families in sorghum.
      Additionally, we also identified 137 Simple Sequence Repeats related to 112 genes
      and target sites for 10 miRNAs in some important families such as cellulose
      synthase, cellulose synthase-like, and laccases, etc. To gain further insight
      into potential functional roles, expression analysis of these gene families was
      performed using publically available data sets in various tissues and under
      abiotic stress conditions. Expression analysis showed tissue specificity as well
      as differential expression under abiotic stress conditions. Overall, our study
      provides a comprehensive information on cell wall related genes families in
      sorghum which offers a valuable resource to develop strategies for altering
      biomass composition by plant breeding and genetic engineering approaches. 

PMID- 27630647
TI  - Transcriptome Analysis of Cadmium-Treated Roots in Maize (Zea mays L.).
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal and is highly toxic to all plant species. However,
      the underlying molecular mechanism controlling the effects of auxin on the Cd
      stress response in maize is largely unknown. In this study, the transcriptome
      produced by maize 'Zheng 58' root responses to Cd stress was sequenced using
      Illumina sequencing technology. In our study, six RNA-seq libraries yielded a
      total of 244 million clean short reads and 30.37 Gb of sequence data. A total of
      6342 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were grouped into 908 Gene Ontology
      (GO) categories and 198 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes terms. GO term
      enrichment analysis indicated that various auxin signaling pathway-related GO
      terms were significantly enriched in DEGs. Comparison of the transcript
      abundances for auxin biosynthesis, transport, and downstream response genes
      revealed a universal expression response under Cd treatment. Furthermore, our
      data showed that free indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) levels were significantly
      reduced; but IAA oxidase activity was up-regulated after Cd treatment in maize
      roots. The analysis of Cd activity in maize roots under different Cd and auxin
      conditions confirmed that auxin affected Cd accumulation in maize seedlings.
      These results will improve our understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms
      underlying the response to Cd stress in maize roots. 

PMID- 27630648
TI  - Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Expression Analysis of the TCP
      Gene Family in Prunus mume.
AB  - TCP proteins, belonging to a plant-specific transcription factors family, are
      known to have great functions in plant development, especially flower and leaf
      development. However, there is little information about this gene family in
      Prunus mume, which is widely cultivated in China as an ornamental and fruit tree.
      Here a genome-wide analysis of TCP genes was performed to explore their evolution
      in P. mume. Nineteen PmTCPs were identified and three of them contained putative
      miR319 target sites. Phylogenetic and comprehensive bioinformatics analyses of
      these genes revealed that different types of TCP genes had undergone different
      evolutionary processes and the genes in the same clade had similar chromosomal
      location, gene structure, and conserved domains. Expression analysis of these
      PmTCPs indicated that there were diverse expression patterns among different
      clades. Most TCP genes were predominantly expressed in flower, leaf, and stem,
      and showed high expression levels in the different stages of flower bud
      differentiation, especially in petal formation stage and gametophyte development.
      Genes in TCP-P subfamily had main roles in both flower development and
      gametophyte development. The CIN genes in double petal cultivars might have key
      roles in the formation of petal, while they were correlated with gametophyte
      development in the single petal cultivar. The CYC/TB1 type genes were highly
      detected in the formation of petal and pistil. The less-complex flower types of
      P. mume might result from the fact that there were only two CYC type genes
      present in P. mume and a lack of CYC2 genes to control the identity of flower
      types. These results lay the foundation for further study on the functions of TCP
      genes during flower development. 

PMID- 27630649
TI  - Investigating Biochemical and Developmental Dependencies of Lignification with a
      Click-Compatible Monolignol Analog in Arabidopsis thaliana Stems.
AB  - Lignin is a key structural component of plant cell walls that provides rigidity,
      strength, and resistance against microbial attacks. This hydrophobic polymer also
      serves a crucial role in water transport. Despite its abundance and essential
      functions, several aspects of lignin biosynthesis and deposition remain cryptic.
      Lignin precursors are known to be synthesized in the cytoplasm by complex
      biosynthetic pathways, after which they are transported to the apoplastic space,
      where they are polymerized via free radical coupling reactions into polymeric
      lignin. However, the lignin deposition process and the factors controlling it are
      unclear. In this study, the biochemical and developmental dependencies of
      lignification were investigated using a click-compatible monolignol analog, 3-O
      propargylcaffeyl alcohol (3-OPC), which can incorporate into both in vitro
      polymerized lignin and Arabidopsis thaliana tissues. Fluorescence labeling of 3
      OPC using click chemistry followed by confocal fluorescence microscopy enabled
      the detection and imaging of 3-OPC incorporation patterns. These patterns were
      consistent with endogenous lignification observed in different developmental
      stages of Arabidopsis stems. However, the concentration of supplied monolignols
      influenced where lignification occurred at the subcellular level, with low
      concentrations being deposited in cell corners and middle lamellae and high
      concentrations also being deposited in secondary walls. Experimental inhibition
      of multiple lignification factors confirmed that 3-OPC incorporation proceeds via
      a free radical coupling mechanism involving peroxidases/laccases and reactive
      oxygen species (ROS). Finally, the presence of peroxide-producing enzymes
      determined which cell walls lignified: adding exogenous peroxide and peroxidase
      caused cells that do not naturally lignify in Arabidopsis stems to lignify. In
      summary, 3-OPC accurately mimics natural lignification patterns in different
      developmental stages of Arabidopsis stems and allows for the dissection of key
      biochemical and enzymatic factors controlling lignification. 

PMID- 27630650
TI  - A Polynucleotide Repeat Expansion Causing Temperature-Sensitivity Persists in
      Wild Irish Accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Triplet repeat expansions underlie several human genetic diseases such as
      Huntington's disease and Friedreich's ataxia. Although such mutations are
      primarily known from humans, a triplet expansion associated genetic defect has
      also been reported at the IIL1 locus in the Bur-0 accession of the model plant
      Arabidopsis thaliana. The IIL1 triplet expansion is an example of cryptic genetic
      variation as its phenotypic effects are seen only under genetic or environmental
      perturbation, with high temperatures resulting in a growth defect. Here we
      demonstrate that the IIL1 triplet expansion associated growth defect is not a
      general stress response and is specific to particular environmental
      perturbations. We also confirm and map genetic modifiers that suppress the effect
      of IIL1 triplet repeat expansion. By collecting and analyzing accessions from the
      island of Ireland, we recover the repeat expansion in wild populations suggesting
      that the repeat expansion has persisted at least 60 years in Ireland. Through
      genome-wide genotyping, we show that the repeat expansion is present in diverse
      Irish populations. Our findings indicate that even deleterious alleles can
      persist in populations if their effect is conditional. Our study demonstrates
      that analysis of groups of wild populations is a powerful tool for understanding
      the dynamics of cryptic genetic variation. 

PMID- 27630651
TI  - Overexpression of the Starch Phosphorylase-Like Gene (PHO3) in Lotus japonicus
      has a Profound Effect on the Growth of Plants and Reduction of Transitory Starch
      Accumulation.
AB  - Two isoforms of starch phosphorylase (PHO; EC 2.4.1.1), plastidic PHO1 and
      cytosolic PHO2, have been found in all plants studied to date. Another starch
      phosphorylase-like gene, PHO3, which is an ortholog of Chlamydomonas PHOB, has
      been detected in some plant lineages. In this study, we identified three PHO
      isoform (LjPHO) genes in the Lotus japonicus genome. Expression of the LjPHO3
      gene was observed in all tissues tested in L. japonicus, and the LjPHO3 protein
      was located in the chloroplast. Overexpression of LjPHO3 in L. japonicus resulted
      in a drastic decline in starch granule sizes and starch content in leaves. The
      LjPHO3 overexpression transgenic seedlings were smaller, and showed decreased
      pollen fertility and seed set rate. Our results suggest that LjPHO3 may
      participate in transitory starch metabolism in L. japonicus leaves, but its
      catalytic properties remain to be studied. 

PMID- 27630652
TI  - Genome-Wide Analysis of the Glutathione S-Transferase Gene Family in Capsella
      rubella: Identification, Expression, and Biochemical Functions.
AB  - Extensive subfunctionalization might explain why so many genes have been
      maintained after gene duplication, which provides the engine for gene family
      expansion. However, it is still a particular challenge to trace the evolutionary
      dynamics and features of functional divergences in a supergene family over the
      course of evolution. In this study, we identified 49 Glutathione S-transferase
      (GST) genes from the Capsella rubella, a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana
      and a member of the mustard family. Capsella GSTs can be categorized into eight
      classes, with tau and phi GSTs being the most numerous. The expansion of the two
      classes mainly occurs through tandem gene duplication, which results in tandem
      arrayed gene clusters on chromosomes. By integrating phylogenetic analysis,
      expression patterns, and biochemical functions of Capsella and Arabidopsis GSTs,
      functional divergence, both in gene expression and enzymatic properties, were
      clearly observed in paralogous gene pairs in Capsella (even the most recent
      duplicates), and orthologous GSTs in Arabidopsis/Capsella. This study provides
      functional evidence for the expansion and organization of a large gene family in
      closely related species. 

PMID- 27630653
TI  - Allocation of Heme Is Differentially Regulated by Ferrochelatase Isoforms in
      Arabidopsis Cells.
AB  - Heme is involved in various biological processes as a cofactor of hemoproteins
      located in various organelles. In plant cells, heme is synthesized by two
      isoforms of plastid-localized ferrochelatase, FC1 and FC2. In this study, by
      characterizing Arabidopsis T-DNA insertional mutants, we showed that the
      allocation of heme is differentially regulated by ferrochelatase isoforms in
      plant cells. Analyses of weak (fc1-1) and null (fc1-2) mutants suggest that FC1
      producing heme is required for initial growth of seedling development. In
      contrast, weak (fc2-1) and null (fc2-2) mutants of FC2 showed pale green leaves
      and retarded growth, indicating that FC2-producing heme is necessary for
      chloroplast development. During the initial growth stage, FC2 deficiency caused
      reduction of plastid cytochromes. In addition, although FC2 deficiency marginally
      affected the assembly of photosynthetic reaction center complexes, it caused
      relatively larger but insufficient light-harvesting antenna to reaction centers,
      resulting in lower efficiency of photosynthesis. In the later vegetative growth,
      however, fc2-2 recovered photosynthetic growth, showing that FC1-producing heme
      may complement the FC2 deficiency. On the other hand, reduced level of
      cytochromes in microsomal fraction was discovered in fc1-1, suggesting that FC1
      producing heme is mainly allocated to extraplastidic organelles. Furthermore, the
      expression of FC1 is induced by the treatment of an elicitor flg22 while that of
      FC2 was reduced, and fc1-1 abolished the flg22-dependent induction of FC1
      expression and peroxidase activity. Consequently, our results clarified that FC2
      produces heme for the photosynthetic machinery in the chloroplast, while FC1 is
      the housekeeping enzyme providing heme cofactor to the entire cell. In addition,
      FC1 can partly complement FC2 deficiency and is also involved in defense against
      stressful conditions. 

PMID- 27630654
TI  - Divergence in Eco-Physiological Responses to Drought Mirrors the Distinct
      Distribution of Chamerion angustifolium Cytotypes in the Himalaya-Hengduan
      Mountains Region.
AB  - Polyploid species generally occupy harsher habitats (characterized by cold,
      drought and/or high altitude) than diploids, but the converse was observed for
      Chamerion angustifolium, in which diploid plants generally inhabit higher
      altitudes than their polyploid derivatives. Plants at high altitudes may
      experience cold-induced water stress, and we therefore examined the physiological
      responses of diploid and hexaploid C. angustifolium to water stress to better
      understand the ecological differentiation of plants with different ploidy levels.
      We conducted a common garden experiment by subjecting seedlings of different
      ploidy levels to low, moderate, and severe water stress. Fourteen indicators of
      physiological fitness were measured, and the anatomical characteristics of the
      leaves of each cytotype were determined. Both cytotypes were influenced by
      drought, and diploids exhibited higher fitness in terms of constant root:shoot
      ratio (R:S ratio) and maximum quantum yield of PS II (Fv/Fm ), less reduced
      maximal photosynthetic rate (A max), transpiration rate (E), intercellular CO2
      concentration (C i) and stomatal conductance (g s), and higher long-term water
      use efficiency (WUEL) under severe water stress than did hexaploids. Analysis of
      leaf anatomy revealed morphological adjustments for tolerating water deficiency
      in diploids, in the form of closely packed mesophyll cells and small conduits in
      the midvein. Our results indicate that diploid C. angustifolium is more tolerant
      of drought than hexaploid plants, ensuring the successful survival of the diploid
      at high altitudes. This eco-physiological divergence may facilitate the species
      with different cytotypes to colonize new and large geographic ranges with
      heterogeneous environmental conditions. 

PMID- 27630655
TI  - The Effect of Green Synthesized CuO Nanoparticles on Callogenesis and
      Regeneration of Oryza sativa L.
AB  - In this study, we have investigated the effect of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO
      NPs) on callogenesis and regeneration of Oryza sativa L (Super Basmati, Basmati
      2000, Basmati 370, and Basmati 385). In this regard, CuO-NPs have been bio
      synthesized via Azadirachta indica leaf extract. Scanning electron microscope
      (SEM) analysis depicts average particle size of 40 +/- 5 nm with highly
      homogenous and spherical morphology. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) have been employed to confirm the phase
      purity of the synthesized NPs. It is found that CuO-NPs exhibit very promising
      results against callus induction. It is attributed to the fact that green
      synthesized CuO-NPs at optimum dosage possess very supportive effects on plant
      growth parameters. In contrast to callogenesis, differential regeneration pattern
      has been observed against all of the examined O. sativa L. indigenous verities.
      Overall observation concludes that CuO, being one of the essential plant
      nutrients, has greatly tailored the nutritive properties at nano-scale. 

PMID- 27630656
TI  - Symbiotic Performance of Diverse Frankia Strains on Salt-Stressed Casuarina
      glauca and Casuarina equisetifolia Plants.
AB  - Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing associations between Casuarina trees and the
      actinobacteria Frankia are widely used in agroforestry in particular for
      salinized land reclamation. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of
      salinity on the establishment of the actinorhizal symbiosis between C. glauca and
      two contrasting Frankia strains (salt sensitive; CcI3 vs. salt tolerant; CeD) and
      the role of these isolates in the salt tolerance of C. glauca and C.
      equisetifolia plants. We show that the number of root nodules decreased with
      increasing salinity levels in both plants inoculated with CcI3 and CeD. Nodule
      formation did not occur in seedlings inoculated with CcI3 and CeD, at NaCl
      concentrations above 100 and 200 mM, respectively. Salinity also affected the
      early deformation of plant root hairs and reduced their number and size. In
      addition, expression of symbiotic marker Cg12 gene, which codes for a subtilase,
      was reduced at 50 mM NaCl. These data suggest that the reduction of nodulation in
      C. glauca under salt stress is in part due to inhibition of early mechanisms of
      infection. We also show that prior inoculation of C. glauca and C. equisetifolia
      with Frankia strains CcI3 and CeD significantly improved plant height, dry
      biomass, chlorophyll and proline contents at all levels of salinity tested,
      depending on the Casuarina-Frankia association. There was no correlation between
      in vitro salt tolerance of Frankia strains and efficiency in planta under salt
      stressed conditions. Our results strongly indicate that increased N nutrition,
      photosynthesis potential and proline accumulation are important factors
      responsible for salt tolerance of nodulated C. glauca and C. equisetifolia. 

PMID- 27630657
TI  - Efficient Inactivation of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation Related Genes in Lotus
      japonicus Using CRISPR-Cas9.
AB  - The targeted genome editing technique, CRISPR/Cas9 system, has been widely used
      to modify genes of interest in a predictable and precise manner. In this study,
      we describe the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated efficient editing of representative SNF
      (symbiotic nitrogen fixation) related genes in the model legume Lotus japonicus
      via Agrobacterium-mediated stable or hairy root transformation. We first
      predicted nine endogenous U6 genes in Lotus and then demonstrated the efficacy of
      the LjU6-1 gene promoter in driving expression of single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) by
      using a split yellow fluorescence protein (YFP) reporter system to restore the
      fluorescence in Arabidopsis protoplasts. Next, we chose a customized sgRNA
      targeting SYMRK (symbiosis receptor-like kinase) loci and achieved ~35% mutagenic
      efficiency in 20 T0 transgenic plants, two of them containing biallelic
      homozygous mutations with a 2-bp deletion near the PAM region. We further
      designed two sgRNAs targeting three homologous leghemoglobin loci (LjLb1, LjLb2,
      LjLb3) for testing the possibility of generating multi-gene knockouts. 20 out of
      70 hairy root transgenic plants exhibited white nodules, with at least two LjLbs
      disrupted in each plant. Compared with the constitutively active CaMV 35S
      promoter, the nodule-specific LjLb2 promoter was also effective in gene editing
      in nodules by hairy root transformation. Triple mutant knockout of LjLbs was also
      obtained by stable transformation using two sgRNAs. Collectively, these studies
      demonstrate that the CRISPR/Cas9 system should greatly facilitate functional
      analyses of SNF related genes in Lotus japonicus. 

PMID- 27630658
TI  - Genetic Distinctiveness of Rye In situ Accessions from Portugal Unveils a New
      Hotspot of Unexplored Genetic Resources.
AB  - Rye (Secale cereale L.) is a cereal crop of major importance in many parts of
      Europe and rye breeders are presently very concerned with the restrict pool of
      rye genetic resources available. Such narrowing of rye genetic diversity results
      from the presence of "Petkus" pool in most modern rye varieties as well as
      "Petkus" * "Carsten" heterotic pool in hybrid rye breeding programs. Previous
      studies on rye's genetic diversity revealed moreover a common genetic background
      on landraces (ex situ) and cultivars, regardless of breeding level or
      geographical origin. Thus evaluation of in situ populations is of utmost
      importance to unveil "on farm" diversity, which is largely undervalued. Here, we
      perform the first comprehensive assessment of rye's genetic diversity and
      population structuring using cultivars, ex situ landraces along a comprehensive
      sampling of in situ accessions from Portugal, through a molecular-directed
      analysis using SSRs markers. Rye genetic diversity and population structure
      analysis does not present any geographical trend but disclosed marked differences
      between genetic backgrounds of in situ accessions and those of cultivars/ex situ
      collections. Such genetic distinctiveness of in situ accessions highlights their
      unexplored potential as new genetic resources, which can be used to boost rye
      breeding strategies and the production of new varieties. Overall, our study
      successfully demonstrates the high prospective impact of comparing genetic
      diversity and structure of cultivars, ex situ, and in situ samples in
      ascertaining the status of plant genetic resources (PGR). 

PMID- 27630662
TI  - Evaluation of RFID Tags to Permanently Mark Trees in Natural Populations.
AB  - Long-term ecological and genetic studies in natural populations of tree species
      require marking techniques so that individuals can be re-visited over time, even
      in difficult terrain. Both GPS coordinates and physical labels have disadvantages
      that can make re-finding trees difficult. We tested passive and semi-active radio
      frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers as a means to relocate
      individual trees. Passive RFID tags do not provide a good solution because of low
      transmission power of hand-held readers and strong directionality. Semi-active
      RFID tags provide detection over longer distances, but also suffer from strong
      directionality. Active RFID tags promise an improvement over semi-passive tags,
      and could be evaluated in a future study. We conclude that RFID technology has
      the potential to improve the ability of researchers to locate individual trees
      repeatedly under natural conditions, and can be used in conjunction with other
      marking techniques such as physical tags and GPS coordinates. 

PMID- 27630661
TI  - Aligning Microtomography Analysis with Traditional Anatomy for a 3D Understanding
      of the Host-Parasite Interface - Phoradendron spp. Case Study.
AB  - The complex endophytic structure formed by parasitic plant species often
      represents a challenge in the study of the host-parasite interface. Even with the
      large amounts of anatomical slides, a three-dimensional comprehension of the
      structure may still be difficult to obtain. In the present study we applied the
      High Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (HRXCT) analysis along with usual plant
      anatomy techniques in order to compare the infestation pattern of two mistletoe
      species of the genus Phoradendron. Additionally, we tested the use of contrasting
      solutions in order to improve the detection of the parasite's endophytic tissue.
      To our knowledge, this is the first study to show the three-dimensional structure
      of host-mistletoe interface by using HRXCT technique. Results showed that
      Phoradendron perrottetii growing on the host Tapirira guianensis forms small
      woody galls with a restricted endophytic system. The sinkers were short and
      eventually grouped creating a continuous interface with the host wood. On the
      other hand, the long sinkers of P. bathyoryctum penetrate deeply into the wood of
      Cedrela fissilis branching in all directions throughout the woody gall area,
      forming a spread-out infestation pattern. The results indicate that the HRXCT is
      indeed a powerful approach to understand the endophytic system of parasitic
      plants. The combination of three-dimensional models of the infestation with
      anatomical analysis provided a broader understanding of the host-parasite
      connection. Unique anatomic features are reported for the sinkes of P.
      perrottetii, while the endophytic tissue of P. bathyoryctum conformed to general
      anatomy observed for other species of this genus. These differences are
      hypothesized to be related to the three-dimensional structure of each endophytic
      system and the communication stablished with the host. 

PMID- 27630660
TI  - Identification of Candidate Anthocyanin-Related Genes by Transcriptomic Analysis
      of 'Furongli' Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) during Fruit Ripening Using RNA-Seq.
AB  - Anthocyanins are important pigments and are responsible for red coloration in
      plums. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying
      anthocyanin accumulation in plum fruits. In this study, the RNA-seq technique was
      used to analyze the transcriptomic changes during fruit ripening in the red
      fleshed plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cultivar 'Furongli'. Over 161 million high
      quality reads were assembled into 52,093 unigenes and 49.4% of these were
      annotated using public databases. Of these, 25,681 unigenes had significant hits
      to the sequences in the NCBI Nr database, 17,203 unigenes showed significant
      similarity to known proteins in the Swiss-Prot database and 5816 and 8585
      unigenes had significant similarity to existing sequences in the Kyoto
      Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and the Cluster of Orthologous Groups
      databases, respectively. A total of 3548 unigenes were differentially expressed
      during fruit ripening and 119 of these were annotated as involved in
      "biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites." Biological pathway analysis and
      gene ontology term enrichment analysis revealed that 13 differentially expressed
      genes are involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Furthermore, transcription
      factors such as MYB and bHLH, which may control anthocyanin biosynthesis, were
      identified through coexpression analysis of transcription factors, and structural
      genes. Real-time qPCR analysis of candidate genes showed good correlation with
      the transcriptome data. These results contribute to our understanding of the
      molecular mechanisms underlying anthocyanin biosynthesis in plum flesh. The
      transcriptomic data generated in this study provide a basis for further studies
      of fruit ripening in plum. 

PMID- 27630659
TI  - Roots Withstanding their Environment: Exploiting Root System Architecture
      Responses to Abiotic Stress to Improve Crop Tolerance.
AB  - To face future challenges in crop production dictated by global climate changes,
      breeders and plant researchers collaborate to develop productive crops that are
      able to withstand a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses. However, crop
      selection is often focused on shoot performance alone, as observation of root
      properties is more complex and asks for artificial and extensive phenotyping
      platforms. In addition, most root research focuses on development, while a direct
      link to the functionality of plasticity in root development for tolerance is
      often lacking. In this paper we review the currently known root system
      architecture (RSA) responses in Arabidopsis and a number of crop species to a
      range of abiotic stresses, including nutrient limitation, drought, salinity,
      flooding, and extreme temperatures. For each of these stresses, the key molecular
      and cellular mechanisms underlying the RSA response are highlighted. To explore
      the relevance for crop selection, we especially review and discuss studies
      linking root architectural responses to stress tolerance. This will provide a
      first step toward understanding the relevance of adaptive root development for a
      plant's response to its environment. We suggest that functional evidence on the
      role of root plasticity will support breeders in their efforts to include root
      properties in their current selection pipeline for abiotic stress tolerance,
      aimed to improve the robustness of crops. 

PMID- 27630663
TI  - Differential Contribution of the First Two Enzymes of the MEP Pathway to the
      Supply of Metabolic Precursors for Carotenoid and Chlorophyll Biosynthesis in
      Carrot (Daucus carota).
AB  - Carotenoids and chlorophylls are photosynthetic pigments synthesized in plastids
      from metabolic precursors provided by the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP)
      pathway. The first two steps in the MEP pathway are catalyzed by the
      deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS) and reductoisomerase (DXR) enzymes.
      While DXS has been recently shown to be the main flux-controlling step of the MEP
      pathway, both DXS and DXR enzymes have been proven to be able to promote an
      increase in MEP-derived products when overproduced in diverse plant systems.
      Carrot (Daucus carota) produces photosynthetic pigments (carotenoids and
      chlorophylls) in leaves and in light-exposed roots, whereas only carotenoids
      (mainly alpha- and beta-carotene) accumulate in the storage root in darkness. To
      evaluate whether DXS and DXR activities influence the production of carotenoids
      and chlorophylls in carrot leaves and roots, the corresponding Arabidopsis
      thaliana genes were constitutively expressed in transgenic carrot plants. Our
      results suggest that DXS is limiting for the production of both carotenoids and
      chlorophylls in roots and leaves, whereas the regulatory role of DXR appeared to
      be minor. Interestingly, increased levels of DXS (but not of DXR) resulted in
      higher transcript abundance of endogenous carrot genes encoding phytoene
      synthase, the main rate-determining enzyme of the carotenoid pathway. These
      results support a central role for DXS on modulating the production of MEP
      derived precursors to synthesize carotenoids and chlorophylls in carrot,
      confirming the pivotal relevance of this enzyme to engineer healthier, carotenoid
      enriched products. 

PMID- 27630664
TI  - Epigenetic Memory as a Basis for Intelligent Behavior in Clonal Plants.
AB  - Environmentally induced epigenetic change enables plants to remember past
      environmental interactions. If this memory capability is exploited to prepare
      plants for future challenges, it can provide a basis for highly sophisticated
      behavior, considered intelligent by some. Against the backdrop of an overview of
      plant intelligence, we hypothesize: (1) that the capability of plants to engage
      in such intelligent behavior increases with the additional level of complexity
      afforded by clonality, and; (2) that more faithful inheritance of epigenetic
      information in clonal plants, in conjunction with information exchange and
      coordination between connected ramets, is likely to enable especially advanced
      intelligent behavior in this group. We therefore further hypothesize that this
      behavior provides ecological and evolutionary advantages to clonal plants,
      possibly explaining, at least in part, their widespread success. Finally, we
      suggest avenues of inquiry to enable assessing intelligent behavior and the role
      of epigenetic memory in clonal species. 

PMID- 27630666
TI  - Against Dataism and for Data Sharing of Big Biomedical and Clinical Data with
      Research Parasites.

PMID- 27630665
TI  - Post-transcriptional Regulation of BRCA2 through Interactions with miR-19a and
      miR-19b.
AB  - Breast cancer type 2, early onset susceptibility gene (BRCA2) is a major
      component of the homologous recombination DNA repair pathway. It acts as a tumor
      suppressor whose function is often lost in cancers. Patients with specific
      mutations in the BRCA2 gene often display discrete clinical, histopathological,
      and molecular features. However, a subset of sporadic cancers has wild type BRCA2
      and display defects in the homology-directed repair pathway, which is the
      hallmark of 'BRCAness.' The mechanisms by which BRCAness arises are not well
      understood but post-transcriptional regulation of BRCA2 gene expression by
      microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to this phenotype. Here, we examine the post
      transcriptional effects that some members of the six-miRNA cluster known as the
      miR-17/92 cluster have on the abundance of BRCA2's messenger RNA (mRNA) and
      protein. We discuss two interactions involving the miR-19a and miR-19b members of
      the cluster and the 3'UTR of BRCA2's mRNA. We investigated these miRNA:mRNA
      interactions in 15 cell lines derived from pancreatic, breast, colon, and kidney
      tissue. We show that over-expression of these two miRNAs results in a concomitant
      decrease of BRCA2's mRNA and protein expression in a subset of the tested cell
      lines. Additionally, using luciferase reporter assays we identified direct
      interactions between miR-19a/miR-19b and a miRNA response element (MRE) in
      BRCA2's 3'UTR. Our results suggest that BRCA2 is subject to a complex post
      transcriptional regulatory program that has specific dependencies on the genetic
      and phenotypic background of cell types. 

PMID- 27630667
TI  - Analysis of Case-Parent Trios Using a Loglinear Model with Adjustment for
      Transmission Ratio Distortion.
AB  - Transmission of the two parental alleles to offspring deviating from the
      Mendelian ratio is termed Transmission Ratio Distortion (TRD), occurs throughout
      gametic and embryonic development. TRD has been well-studied in animals, but
      remains largely unknown in humans. The Transmission Disequilibrium Test (TDT) was
      first proposed to test for association and linkage in case-trios (affected
      offspring and parents); adjusting for TRD using control-trios was recommended.
      However, the TDT does not provide risk parameter estimates for different genetic
      models. A loglinear model was later proposed to provide child and maternal
      relative risk (RR) estimates of disease, assuming Mendelian transmission. Results
      from our simulation study showed that case-trios RR estimates using this model
      are biased in the presence of TRD; power and Type 1 error are compromised. We
      propose an extended loglinear model adjusting for TRD. Under this extended model,
      RR estimates, power and Type 1 error are correctly restored. We applied this
      model to an intrauterine growth restriction dataset, and showed consistent
      results with a previous approach that adjusted for TRD using control-trios. Our
      findings suggested the need to adjust for TRD in avoiding spurious results.
      Documenting TRD in the population is therefore essential for the correct
      interpretation of genetic association studies. 

PMID- 27630669
TI  - A Comparison of Deterministic and Stochastic Modeling Approaches for Biochemical
      Reaction Systems: On Fixed Points, Means, and Modes.
AB  - In the mathematical modeling of biochemical reactions, a convenient standard
      approach is to use ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that follow the law of
      mass action. However, this deterministic ansatz is based on simplifications; in
      particular, it neglects noise, which is inherent to biological processes. In
      contrast, the stochasticity of reactions is captured in detail by the discrete
      chemical master equation (CME). Therefore, the CME is frequently applied to
      mesoscopic systems, where copy numbers of involved components are small and
      random fluctuations are thus significant. Here, we compare those two common
      modeling approaches, aiming at identifying parallels and discrepancies between
      deterministic variables and possible stochastic counterparts like the mean or
      modes of the state space probability distribution. To that end, a mathematically
      flexible reaction scheme of autoregulatory gene expression is translated into the
      corresponding ODE and CME formulations. We show that in the thermodynamic limit,
      deterministic stable fixed points usually correspond well to the modes in the
      stationary probability distribution. However, this connection might be disrupted
      in small systems. The discrepancies are characterized and systematically traced
      back to the magnitude of the stoichiometric coefficients and to the presence of
      nonlinear reactions. These factors are found to synergistically promote large and
      highly asymmetric fluctuations. As a consequence, bistable but unimodal, and
      monostable but bimodal systems can emerge. This clearly challenges the role of
      ODE modeling in the description of cellular signaling and regulation, where some
      of the involved components usually occur in low copy numbers. Nevertheless,
      systems whose bimodality originates from deterministic bistability are found to
      sustain a more robust separation of the two states compared to bimodal, but
      monostable systems. In regulatory circuits that require precise coordination, ODE
      modeling is thus still expected to provide relevant indications on the underlying
      dynamics. 

PMID- 27630670
TI  - Lim kinase, a bi-functional effector in injury-induced structural plasticity of
      synapses.
AB  - The structural plasticity of synaptic terminals contributes to normal nervous
      system function but also to neural degeneration, in the form of terminal
      retraction, and regeneration, due to process growth. Synaptic morphological
      change is mediated through the actin cytoskeleton, which is enriched in axonal
      and dendritic terminals. Whereas the three RhoGTPases, RhoA, Cdc42 and Rac,
      function as upstream signaling nodes sensitive to extracellular stimuli, LIMK
      cofilin activity serves as a common downstream effector to up-regulate actin
      turnover, which is necessary for both polymerization and depolymerization. The
      dual effects of LIMK activity make LIMK a potential target of therapeutic
      intervention for injury-induced synaptic plasticity, as LIMK inhibition can
      stabilize actin cytoskeleton and preserve existing structure. This therapeutic
      benefit of LIMK inhibition has been demonstrated in animal models of injury
      induced axon retraction and neuritic sprouting by rod photoreceptors. A better
      understanding of the regulation of LIMK-cofilin activity and the interaction with
      the microtubular cytoskeleton may open new ways to promote synaptic regeneration
      that can benefit neuronal degenerative disease. 

PMID- 27630668
TI  - What Is the Impact of mRNA 5' TL Heterogeneity on Translational Start Site
      Selection and the Mammalian Cellular Phenotype?
AB  - A major determinant in the efficiency of ribosome loading onto mRNAs is the 5' TL
      (transcript leader or 5' UTR). In addition, elements within this region also
      impact on start site selection demonstrating that it can modulate the protein
      readout at both quantitative and qualitative levels. With the increasing wealth
      of data generated by the mining of the mammalian transcriptome, it has become
      evident that a genes 5' TL is not homogeneous but actually exhibits significant
      heterogeneity. This arises due to the utilization of alternative promoters, and
      is further compounded by significant variability with regards to the precise
      transcriptional start sites of each (not to mention alternative splicing).
      Consequently, the transcript for a protein coding gene is not a unique mRNA, but
      in-fact a complexed quasi-species of variants whose composition may respond to
      the changing physiological environment of the cell. Here we examine the potential
      impact of these events with regards to the protein readout. 

PMID- 27630672
TI  - Aldynoglia cells and modulation of RhoGTPase activity as useful tools for spinal
      cord injury repair.
AB  - A combined approach in spinal cord injury (SCI) therapy is the modulation of the
      cellular and molecular processes involved in glial scarring. Aldaynoglial cells
      are neural cell precursors with a high capacity to differentiate into neurons,
      promote axonal growth, wrapping and myelination of resident neurons. These
      important characteristics of aldaynoglia can be combined with specific inhibition
      of the RhoGTPase activity in astroglia and microglia that cause reduction of
      glial proliferation, retraction of glial cell processes and myelin production by
      oligodendrocytes. Previously we used experimental central nervous system (CNS)
      injury models, like spinal cord contusion and striatal lacunar infarction and
      observed that administration of RhoGTPase glycolipid inhibitor or aldaynoglial
      cells, respectively, produced a significant gain of functional recovery in
      treated animals. The combined therapy with neuro-regenerative properties strategy
      is highly desirable to treat SCI for functional potentiation of neurons and
      oligodendrocytes, resulting in better locomotor recovery. Here we suggest that
      treatment of spinal lesions with aldaynoglia from neurospheres plus local
      administration of a RhoGTPase inhibitor could have an additive effect and promote
      recovery from SCI. 

PMID- 27630671
TI  - Repair of traumatic plasmalemmal damage to neurons and other eukaryotic cells.
AB  - The repair (sealing) of plasmalemmal damage, consisting of small holes to
      complete transections, is critical for cell survival, especially for neurons that
      rarely regenerate cell bodies. We first describe and evaluate different measures
      of cell sealing. Some measures, including morphological/ultra-structural
      observations, membrane potential, and input resistance, provide very ambiguous
      assessments of plasmalemmal sealing. In contrast, measures of ionic current flow
      and dye barriers can, if appropriately used, provide more accurate assessments.
      We describe the effects of various substances (calcium, calpains, cytoskeletal
      proteins, ESCRT proteins, mUNC-13, NSF, PEG) and biochemical pathways (PKA, PKC,
      PLC, Epac, cytosolic oxidation) on plasmalemmal sealing probability, and suggest
      that substances, pathways, and cellular events associated with plasmalemmal
      sealing have undergone a very conservative evolution. During sealing, calcium ion
      influx mobilizes vesicles and other membranous structures (lysosomes,
      mitochondria, etc.) in a continuous fashion to form a vesicular plug that
      gradually restricts diffusion of increasingly smaller molecules and ions over a
      period of seconds to minutes. Furthermore, we find no direct evidence that
      sealing occurs through the collapse and fusion of severed plasmalemmal leaflets,
      or in a single step involving the fusion of one large wound vesicle with the
      nearby, undamaged plasmalemma. We describe how increases in perikaryal calcium
      levels following axonal transection account for observations that cell body
      survival decreases the closer an axon is transected to the perikaryon. Finally,
      we speculate on relationships between plasmalemmal sealing, Wallerian
      degeneration, and the ability of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to seal cell membranes
      and rejoin severed axonal ends - an important consideration for the future
      treatment of trauma to peripheral nerves. A better knowledge of biochemical
      pathways and cytoplasmic structures involved in plasmalemmal sealing might
      provide insights to develop treatments for traumatic nerve injuries, stroke,
      muscular dystrophy, and other pathologies. 

PMID- 27630673
TI  - Points regarding cell transplantation for the treatment of spinal cord injury.
AB  - Transplantation of somatic cells, including bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs),
      bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMNCs), and choroid plexus epithelial cells
      (CPECs), enhances the outgrowth of regenerating axons and promotes locomotor
      improvements. They are not integrated into the host spinal cord, but disappear
      within 2-3 weeks after transplantation. Regenerating axons extend at the spinal
      cord lesion through the astrocyte-devoid area that is filled with connective
      tissue matrices. Regenerating axons have characteristics of peripheral nerves:
      they are associated with Schwann cells, and embedded in connective tissue
      matrices. It has been suggested that neurotrophic factors secreted from BMSCs and
      CPECs promote "intrinsic" ability of the spinal cord to regenerate. Transplanted
      Schwann cells survive long-term, and are integrated into the host spinal cord,
      serving as an effective scaffold for the outgrowth of regenerating axons in the
      spinal cord. The disadvantage that axons are blocked to extend through the glial
      scar at the border of the lesion is overcome. Schwann cells have been approved
      for clinical applications. Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) survive long
      term, proliferate, and differentiate into glial cells and/or neurons after
      transplantation. No method is available at present to manipulate and control the
      behaviors of NPSCs to allow them to appropriately integrate into the host spinal
      cord. NPSP transplantation is not necessarily effective for locomotor
      improvement. 

PMID- 27630674
TI  - Reactive astrocyte scar and axon regeneration: suppressor or facilitator?

PMID- 27630675
TI  - The complex contribution of the astrocyte scar.

PMID- 27630676
TI  - The astrocyte scar - not so inhibitory after all?

PMID- 27630677
TI  - Mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO), astrocytes and neuroinflammation.

PMID- 27630678
TI  - Novel rehabilitation paradigm for restoration of hand functions after
      tetraplegia.

PMID- 27630679
TI  - Advancements in the mind-machine interface: towards re-establishment of direct
      cortical control of limb movement in spinal cord injury.

PMID- 27630680
TI  - Aligned carbon nanotube containing scaffolds for neural tissue regeneration.

PMID- 27630681
TI  - Remodeling neuroscience education in medical student training: how early exposure
      and mentorship are promoting student interest in neurology and neurosurgery.

PMID- 27630682
TI  - Resveratrol effects on neural connectivity during aging.

PMID- 27630683
TI  - How does zebrafish support new strategies for neuroprotection and
      neuroregeneration in hypoxia-related diseases?

PMID- 27630684
TI  - Beneficial effects of date palm fruits on neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27630685
TI  - Novel role for transcranial magnetic stimulation to study post-traumatic
      respiratory neuroplasticity.

PMID- 27630686
TI  - Endogenous neural progenitor cells in the repair of the injured spinal cord.

PMID- 27630687
TI  - NLRP3 inflammasome in retinal ganglion cell loss in optic neuropathy.

PMID- 27630688
TI  - Avoiding experimental bias by systematic antibody validation.

PMID- 27630690
TI  - Correction: The changes of oligodendrocytes induced by anesthesia during brain
      development.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 1386 in vol. 10, PMID: 26604888.]. 

PMID- 27630689
TI  - Effect of ischemic preconditioning on antioxidant status in the gerbil
      hippocampal CA1 region after transient forebrain ischemia.
AB  - Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is a condition of sublethal transient global
      ischemia and exhibits neuroprotective effects against subsequent lethal ischemic
      insult. We, in this study, examined the neuroprotective effects of IPC and its
      effects on immunoreactive changes of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) 1 and SOD2, catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in
      the gerbil hippocampal CA1 region after transient forebrain ischemia. Pyramidal
      neurons of the stratum pyramidale (SP) in the hippocampal CA1 region of animals
      died 5 days after lethal transient ischemia without IPC (8.6% (ratio of remanent
      neurons) of the sham-operated group); however, IPC prevented the pyramidal
      neurons from subsequent lethal ischemic injury (92.3% (ratio of remanent neurons)
      of the sham-operated group). SOD1, SOD2, CAT and GPX immunoreactivities in the
      sham-operated animals were easily detected in pyramidal neurons in the stratum
      pyramidale (SP) of the hippocampal CA1 region, while all of these
      immunoreactivities were rarely detected in the stratum pyramidale at 5 days after
      lethal transient ischemia without IPC. Meanwhile, their immunoreactivities in the
      sham-operated animals with IPC were similar to (SOD1, SOD2 and CAT) or higher
      (GPX) than those in the sham-operated animals without IPC. Furthermore, their
      immunoreactivities in the stratum pyramidale of the ischemia-operated animals
      with IPC were steadily maintained after lethal ischemia/reperfusion. Results of
      western blot analysis for SOD1, SOD2, CAT and GPX were similar to
      immunohistochemical data. In conclusion, IPC maintained or increased the
      expression of antioxidant enzymes in the stratum pyramidale of the hippocampal
      CA1 region after subsequent lethal transient forebrain ischemia and IPC exhibited
      neuroprotective effects in the hippocampal CA1 region against transient forebrain
      ischemia. 

PMID- 27630691
TI  - Electroacupuncture alleviates cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury via
      modulation of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway.
AB  - Electroacupuncture (EA) has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory actions, but
      whether the neuroprotective effect of EA against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion
      (I/R) injury involves modulation of the extracellular regulated kinase 1/2
      (ERK1/2) signaling pathway is unclear. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)
      was performed in Sprague-Dawley rats for 2 hours followed by reperfusion for 24
      hours. A 30-minute period of EA stimulation was applied to both Baihui (DU20) and
      Dazhui (DU14) acupoints in each rat (10 mm EA penetration depth, continuous wave
      with a frequency of 3 Hz, and a current intensity of 1-3 mA) when reperfusion was
      initiated. EA significantly reduced infarct volume, alleviated neuronal injury,
      and improved neurological function in rats with MCAO. Furthermore, high mRNA
      expression of Bax and low mRNA expression of Bcl-2 induced by MCAO was prevented
      by EA. EA substantially restored total glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione
      (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels. Additionally, Nrf2 and
      glutamylcysteine synthetase (GCS) expression levels were markedly increased by
      EA. Interestingly, the neuroprotective effects of EA were attenuated when ERK1/2
      activity was blocked by PD98059 (a specific MEK inhibitor). Collectively, our
      findings indicate that activation of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway contributes to
      the neuroprotective effects of EA. Our study provides a better understanding of
      the regulatory mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effectiveness of EA. 

PMID- 27630692
TI  - Mechanisms of electroacupuncture effects on acute cerebral ischemia/reperfusion
      injury: possible association with upregulation of transforming growth factor beta
      1.
AB  - Electroacupuncture at the head acupoints Baihui (GV20) and Shuigou (GV26)
      improves recovery of neurological function following ischemic cerebrovascular
      events, but its mechanism remains incompletely understood. We hypothesized that
      the action of electroacupuncture at these acupoints is associated with elevated
      serum levels of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1). To test this, we
      established a rat model of cerebral ischemia by middle cerebral artery occlusion.
      Electroacupuncture was performed at Baihui and Shuigou with a "disperse-dense"
      wave at an alternating frequency of 2 and 150 Hz, and at a constant intensity of
      3 mA. Each electroacupuncture session lasted 30 minutes and was performed every
      12 hours for 3 days. Neurological severity scores were lower in injured rats
      after acupuncture than in those not subjected to treatment. Furthermore, serum
      level of TGF-beta1 was greater after electroacupuncture than after no treatment.
      Our results indicate that electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shuigou increases the
      serum level of TGF-beta1 in rats with acute cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury,
      and exerts neuroprotective effects. 

PMID- 27630693
TI  - Neuroprotective effect of angiotensin II type 2 receptor during cerebral
      ischemia/reperfusion.
AB  - Angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) activation has been shown to protect
      against stroke, but its precise mechanism remains poorly understood. We
      investigated whether the protective effect of AT2R against ischemia/reperfusion
      injury is mediated by the suppression of immune and inflammatory responses. Rat
      models of middle cerebral artery occlusion were intraperitoneally injected with
      physiological saline, the AT2R agonist CGP42112 (1 mg/kg per day) or antagonist
      PD123319 (1 mg/kg per day). In the CGP42112 group, AT2R expression increased, the
      infarct area decreased, interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      expression decreased, and interleukin-10 expression increased compared with the
      saline group. Antagonisin AT2R using PD123319 produced the opposite effects.
      These results indicate that AT2R activation suppresses immune and inflammatory
      responses, and protects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. 

PMID- 27630694
TI  - Dynamic changes in neuronal autophagy and apoptosis in the ischemic penumbra
      following permanent ischemic stroke.
AB  - The temporal dynamics of neuronal autophagy and apoptosis in the ischemic
      penumbra following stroke remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we
      investigated the dynamic changes in autophagy and apoptosis in the penumbra to
      provide insight into potential therapeutic targets for stroke. An adult Sprague
      Dawley rat model of permanent ischemic stroke was prepared by middle cerebral
      artery occlusion. Neuronal autophagy and apoptosis in the penumbra post-ischemia
      were evaluated by western blot assay and immunofluorescence staining with
      antibodies against LC3-II and cleaved caspase-3, respectively. Levels of both LC3
      II and cleaved caspase-3 in the penumbra gradually increased within 5 hours post
      ischemia. Thereafter, levels of both proteins declined, especially LC3-II. The
      cerebral infarct volume increased slowly 1-4 hours after ischemia, but
      subsequently increased rapidly until 5 hours after ischemia. The severity of the
      neurological deficit was positively correlated with infarct volume. LC3-II and
      cleaved caspase-3 levels were high in the penumbra within 5 hours after ischemia,
      and after that, levels of these proteins decreased at different rates. LC3-II
      levels were reduced to a very low level, but cleaved caspase-3 levels remained
      high 72 hours after ischemia. These results indicate that there are temporal
      differences in the activation status of the autophagic and apoptotic pathways.
      This suggests that therapeutic targeting of these pathways should take into
      consideration their unique temporal dynamics. 

PMID- 27630695
TI  - Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging following major ozonated
      autohemotherapy for treatment of acute cerebral infarction.
AB  - Major ozonated autohemotherapy has been shown to promote recovery of upper limb
      motor function in patients with acute cerebral infarction, but whether major
      ozonated autohemotherapy affects remote injury remains poorly understood. Here,
      we assumed that major ozonated autohemotherapy contributes to recovery of
      clinical function, possibly by reducing remote injury after acute cerebral
      infarction. Sixty acute cerebral infarction patients aged 30-80 years were
      equally and randomly allocated to ozone treatment and control groups. Patients in
      the ozone treatment group received medical treatment and major ozonated
      autohemotherapy (47 mg/L, 100 mL ozone) for 10 +/- 2 days. Patients in the
      control group received medical treatment only. National Institutes of Health
      Stroke Scale score, modified Rankin scale score, and reduced degree of fractional
      anisotropy values of brain magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging were
      remarkably decreased, brain function improved, clinical efficiency significantly
      increased, and no obvious adverse reactions detected in the ozone treatment group
      compared with the control group. These findings suggest that major ozonated
      autohemotherapy promotes recovery of neurological function in acute cerebral
      infarction patients by reducing remote injury, and additionally, exhibits high
      safety. 

PMID- 27630696
TI  - CD163 promotes hematoma absorption and improves neurological functions in
      patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.
AB  - Clinical outcomes are positively associated with hematoma absorption. The
      monocyte-macrophage scavenger receptor, CD163, plays an important role in the
      metabolism of hemoglobin, and a soluble form of CD163 is present in plasma and
      other tissue fluids; therefore, we speculated that serum CD163 affects hematoma
      absorption after intracerebral hemorrhage. Patients with intracerebral hemorrhage
      were divided into high- and low-level groups according to the average CD163 level
      (1,977.79 +/- 832.91 ng/mL). Compared with the high-level group, the low-level
      group had a significantly slower hematoma absorption rate, and significantly
      increased National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores and modified Rankin
      Scale scores. These results suggest that CD163 promotes hematoma absorption and
      the recovery of neurological function in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. 

PMID- 27630698
TI  - Heat shock protein 70 protects PC12 cells against ischemia-hypoxia/reoxygenation
      by maintaining intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis.
AB  - Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) maintains Ca(2+) homeostasis in PC12 cells, which
      may protect against apoptosis; however, the mechanisms of neuroprotection are
      unclear. Therefore, in this study, we examined Ca(2+) levels in PC12 cells
      transfected with an exogenous lentiviral HSP70 gene expression construct, and we
      subsequently subjected the cells to ischemia-hypoxia/reoxygenation injury. HSP70
      overexpression increased neuronal viability and ATPase activity, and it decreased
      cellular reactive oxygen species levels and intracellular Ca(2+) concentration
      after hypoxia/reoxygenation. HSP70 overexpression enhanced the protein and mRNA
      expression levels of sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA),
      but it decreased the protein and mRNA levels of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate
      receptor (IP3R), thereby leading to decreased intracellular Ca(2+) concentration
      after ischemia-hypoxia/reoxygenation. These results suggest that exogenous HSP70
      protects against ischemia-hypoxia/reoxygenation injury, at least in part, by
      maintaining cellular Ca(2+) homeostasis, by upregulating SERCA expression and by
      downregulating IP3R expression. 

PMID- 27630697
TI  - Apelin-13 as a novel target for intervention in secondary injury after traumatic
      brain injury.
AB  - The adipocytokine, apelin-13, is an abundantly expressed peptide in the nervous
      system. Apelin-13 protects the brain against ischemia/reperfusion injury and
      attenuates traumatic brain injury by suppressing autophagy. However, secondary
      apelin-13 effects on traumatic brain injury-induced neural cell death and blood
      brain barrier integrity are still not clear. Here, we found that apelin-13
      significantly decreases cerebral water content, mitigates blood-brain barrier
      destruction, reduces aquaporin-4 expression, diminishes caspase-3 and Bax
      expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and reduces apoptosis. These
      results show that apelin-13 attenuates secondary injury after traumatic brain
      injury and exerts a neuroprotective effect. 

PMID- 27630699
TI  - Magnetic stimulation at Neiguan (PC6) acupoint increases connections between
      cerebral cortex regions.
AB  - Stimulation at specific acupoints can activate cortical regions in human
      subjects. Previous studies have mainly focused on a single brain region. However,
      the brain is a network and many brain regions participate in the same task. The
      study of a single brain region alone cannot clearly explain any brain-related
      issues. Therefore, for the present study, magnetic stimulation was used to
      stimulate the Neiguan (PC6) acupoint, and 32-channel electroencephalography data
      were recorded before and after stimulation. Brain functional networks were
      constructed based on electroencephalography data to determine the relationship
      between magnetic stimulation at the PC6 acupoint and cortical excitability.
      Results indicated that magnetic stimulation at the PC6 acupoint increased
      connections between cerebral cortex regions. 

PMID- 27630701
TI  - Correction: ROCK inhibition as a novel potential strategy for axonal regeneration
      in optic neuropathies.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 1949 in vol. 10, PMID: 26889182.]. 

PMID- 27630700
TI  - Detection of Ca(2+)-dependent acid phosphatase activity identifies neuronal
      integrity in damaged rat central nervous system after application of bacterial
      melanin.
AB  - The study aims to confirm the neuroregenerative effects of bacterial melanin (BM)
      on central nervous system injury using a special staining method based on the
      detection of Ca(2+)-dependent acid phosphatase activity. Twenty-four rats were
      randomly assigned to undergo either unilateral destruction of sensorimotor cortex
      (group I; n = 12) or unilateral rubrospinal tract transection at the cervical
      level (C3-4) (group II; n = 12). In each group, six rats were randomly selected
      after surgery to undergo intramuscular injection of BM solution (BM subgroup) and
      the remaining six rats were intramuscularly injected with saline (saline
      subgroup). Neurological testing confirmed that BM accelerated the recovery of
      motor function in rats from both BM and saline subgroups. Two months after
      surgery, Ca(2+)-dependent acid phosphatase activity detection in combination with
      Chilingarian's calcium adenoside triphosphate method revealed that BM stimulated
      the sprouting of fibers and dilated the capillaries in the brain and spinal cord.
      These results suggest that BM can promote the recovery of motor function of rats
      with central nervous system injury; and detection of Ca(2+)-dependent acid
      phosphatase activity is a fast and easy method used to study the regeneration
      promoting effects of BM on the injured central nervous system. 

PMID- 27630702
TI  - Genistein suppresses the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in hippocampal neurons
      in rats with Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Genistein is effective against amyloid-beta toxicity, but the underlying
      mechanisms are unclear. We hypothesized that genistein may protect neurons by
      inhibiting the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, and thereby play a role in the
      prevention of Alzheimer's disease. A rat model of Alzheimer's disease was
      established by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactose and intracerebral
      injection of amyloid-beta peptide (25-35). In the genistein treatment groups, a 7
      day pretreatment with genistein (10, 30, 90 mg/kg) was given prior to
      establishing Alzheimer's disease model, for 49 consecutive days. Terminal
      deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay
      demonstrated a reduction in apoptosis in the hippocampus of rats treated with
      genistein. Western blot analysis showed that expression levels of capase-3, Bax
      and cytochrome c were decreased compared with the model group. Furthermore,
      immunohistochemical staining revealed reductions in cytochrome c and Bax
      immunoreactivity in these rats. Morris water maze revealed a substantial
      shortening of escape latency by genistein in Alzheimer's disease rats. These
      findings suggest that genistein decreases neuronal loss in the hippocampus, and
      improves learning and memory ability. The neuroprotective effects of genistein
      are associated with the inhibition of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, as
      shown by its ability to reduce levels of caspase-3, Bax and cytochrome c. 

PMID- 27630703
TI  - Protective effects of ginsenoside Rg1 against hydrogen peroxide-induced injury in
      human neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - The active ingredient of ginseng, ginsenosides Rg1, has been shown to scavenge
      free radicals and improve antioxidant capacity. This study hypothesized that
      ginsenosides Rg1 has a protective role in human neuroblastoma cells injured by
      H2O2. Ginsenosides Rg1 at different concentrations (50 and 100 MUM) was used to
      treat H2O2 (150 MUM)-injured SH-SY5Y cells. Results demonstrated that ginsenoside
      Rg1 elevated the survival rate of SH-SY5Y cells injured by H2O2, diminished the
      amount of leaked lactate dehydrogenase, and increased superoxide dismutase
      activity. Ginsenoside Rg1 effectively suppressed caspase-3 immunoreactivity, and
      contributed to heat shock protein 70 gene expression, in a dose-dependent manner.
      These results indicate that ginsenoside Rg1 has protective effects on SH-SY5Y
      cells injured by H2O2 and that its mechanism of action is associated with anti
      oxidation and the inhibition of apoptosis. 

PMID- 27630704
TI  - Differential temporal expression of matrix metalloproteinases following sciatic
      nerve crush.
AB  - We previously performed transcriptome sequencing and found that genes for matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs), such as MMP7 and 12, seem to be highly upregulated
      following peripheral nerve injury, and may be involved in nerve repair. In the
      present study, we systematically determined the expression levels of MMPs and
      their regulators at 1, 4, 7 and 14 days after sciatic nerve crush injury. The
      number of differentially expressed genes was elevated at 4 and 7 days after
      injury, but decreased at 14 days after injury. Among the differentially expressed
      genes, those most up-regulated showed fold changes of more than 214, while those
      most down-regulated exhibited fold changes of more than 2-10. Gene sequencing
      showed that, at all time points after injury, a variety of MMP genes in the
      "Inhibition of MMPs" pathway were up-regulated, and their inhibitor genes were
      down-regulated. Expression of key up- and down-regulated genes was verified by
      quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis and found to be
      consistent with transcriptome sequencing. These results suggest that MMP-related
      genes are strongly involved in the process of peripheral nerve regeneration. 

PMID- 27630705
TI  - Extracellular matrix from human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells as
      a scaffold for peripheral nerve regeneration.
AB  - The extracellular matrix, which includes collagens, laminin, or fibronectin,
      plays an important role in peripheral nerve regeneration. Recently, a Schwann
      cell-derived extracellular matrix with classical biomaterial was used to mimic
      the neural niche. However, extensive clinical use of Schwann cells remains
      limited because of the limited origin, loss of an autologous nerve, and extended
      in vitro culture times. In the present study, human umbilical cord-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs), which are easily accessible and more
      proliferative than Schwann cells, were used to prepare an extracellular matrix.
      We identified the morphology and function of hUCMSCs and investigated their
      effect on peripheral nerve regeneration. Compared with a non-coated dish tissue
      culture, the hUCMSC-derived extracellular matrix enhanced Schwann cell
      proliferation, upregulated gene and protein expression levels of brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor, and vascular
      endothelial growth factor in Schwann cells, and enhanced neurite outgrowth from
      dorsal root ganglion neurons. These findings suggest that the hUCMSC-derived
      extracellular matrix promotes peripheral nerve repair and can be used as a basis
      for the rational design of engineered neural niches. 

PMID- 27630706
TI  - Low-power laser therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome: effective optical power.
AB  - Low-power laser therapy has been used for the non-surgical treatment of mild to
      moderate carpal tunnel syndrome, although its efficacy has been a long-standing
      controversy. The laser parameters in low-power laser therapy are closely related
      to the laser effect on human tissue. To evaluate the efficacy of low-power laser
      therapy, laser parameters should be accurately measured and controlled, which has
      been ignored in previous clinical trials. Here, we report the measurement of the
      effective optical power of low-power laser therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome. By
      monitoring the backside reflection and scattering laser power from human skin at
      the wrist, the effective laser power can be inferred. Using clinical measurements
      from 30 cases, we found that the effective laser power differed significantly
      among cases, with the measured laser reflection coefficient ranging from 1.8% to
      54%. The reflection coefficient for 36.7% of these 30 cases was in the range of
      10-20%, but for 16.7% of cases, it was higher than 40%. Consequently, monitoring
      the effective optical power during laser irradiation is necessary for the laser
      therapy of carpal tunnel syndrome. 

PMID- 27630708
TI  - Recovery of an injured corticospinal tract by subcortical peri-lesional
      reorganization in a patient with intracerebral hemorrhage.

PMID- 27630707
TI  - Dose response and time course of manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging
      for visual pathway tracing in vivo.
AB  - Axonal tracing is useful for detecting optic nerve injury and regeneration, but
      many commonly used methods cannot be used to observe axoplasmic flow and synaptic
      transmission in vivo. Manganese (Mn(2+))-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging
      (MEMRI) can be used for in vivo longitudinal tracing of the visual pathway. Here,
      we explored the dose response and time course of an intravitreal injection of
      MnCl2 for tracing the visual pathway in rabbits in vivo using MEMRI. We found
      that 2 mM MnCl2 enhanced images of the optic nerve but not the lateral geniculate
      body or superior colliculus, whereas at all other doses tested (5-40 mM), images
      of the visual pathway from the retina to the contralateral superior colliculus
      were significantly enhanced. The images were brightest at 24 hours, and then
      decreased in brightness until the end of the experiment (7 days). No signal
      enhancement was observed in the visual cortex at any concentration of MnCl2.
      These results suggest that MEMRI is a viable method for temporospatial tracing of
      the visual pathway in vivo. Signal enhancement in MEMRI depends on the dose of
      MnCl2, and the strongest signals appear 24 hours after intravitreal injection. 

PMID- 27630709
TI  - Consumers' Kansei Needs Clustering Method for Product Emotional Design Based on
      Numerical Design Structure Matrix and Genetic Algorithms.
AB  - Consumers' Kansei needs reflect their perception about a product and always
      consist of a large number of adjectives. Reducing the dimension complexity of
      these needs to extract primary words not only enables the target product to be
      explicitly positioned, but also provides a convenient design basis for designers
      engaging in design work. Accordingly, this study employs a numerical design
      structure matrix (NDSM) by parameterizing a conventional DSM and integrating
      genetic algorithms to find optimum Kansei clusters. A four-point scale method is
      applied to assign link weights of every two Kansei adjectives as values of cells
      when constructing an NDSM. Genetic algorithms are used to cluster the Kansei NDSM
      and find optimum clusters. Furthermore, the process of the proposed method is
      presented. The details of the proposed approach are illustrated using an example
      of electronic scooter for Kansei needs clustering. The case study reveals that
      the proposed method is promising for clustering Kansei needs adjectives in
      product emotional design. 

PMID- 27630710
TI  - Online Hierarchical Sparse Representation of Multifeature for Robust Object
      Tracking.
AB  - Object tracking based on sparse representation has given promising tracking
      results in recent years. However, the trackers under the framework of sparse
      representation always overemphasize the sparse representation and ignore the
      correlation of visual information. In addition, the sparse coding methods only
      encode the local region independently and ignore the spatial neighborhood
      information of the image. In this paper, we propose a robust tracking algorithm.
      Firstly, multiple complementary features are used to describe the object
      appearance; the appearance model of the tracked target is modeled by
      instantaneous and stable appearance features simultaneously. A two-stage sparse
      coded method which takes the spatial neighborhood information of the image patch
      and the computation burden into consideration is used to compute the
      reconstructed object appearance. Then, the reliability of each tracker is
      measured by the tracking likelihood function of transient and reconstructed
      appearance models. Finally, the most reliable tracker is obtained by a well
      established particle filter framework; the training set and the template library
      are incrementally updated based on the current tracking results. Experiment
      results on different challenging video sequences show that the proposed algorithm
      performs well with superior tracking accuracy and robustness. 

PMID- 27630711
TI  - Comparison of the Multiattribute Utility Instruments EQ-5D and SF-6D in a Europe
      Wide Population-Based Cohort of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease 10 Years
      after Diagnosis.
AB  - Background. The treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is costly,
      and limited resources call for analyses of the cost effectiveness of therapeutic
      interventions. The present study evaluated the equivalency of the Short Form 6D
      (SF-6D) and the Euro QoL (EQ-5D), two preference-based HRQoL instruments that are
      broadly used in cost-effectiveness analyses, in an unselected IBD patient
      population. Methods. IBD patients from seven European countries were invited to a
      follow-up visit ten years after their initial diagnosis. Clinical and demographic
      data were assessed, and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) was employed. Utility scores
      were obtained by calculating the SF-6D index values from the SF-36 data for
      comparison with the scores obtained with the EQ-5D questionnaire. Results. The SF
      6D and EQ-5D provided good sensitivities for detecting disease activity-dependent
      utility differences. However, the single-measure intraclass correlation
      coefficient was 0.58, and the Bland-Altman plot indicated numerous values beyond
      the limits of agreement. Conclusions. There was poor agreement between the
      measures retrieved from the EQ-5D and the SF-6D utility instruments. Although
      both instruments may provide good sensitivity for the detection of disease
      activity-dependent utility differences, the instruments cannot be used
      interchangeably. Cost-utility analyses performed with only one utility instrument
      must be interpreted with caution. 

PMID- 27630712
TI  - The Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Lumbar Epidural Injection for Failed Back
      Surgery Syndrome.
AB  - Purpose. Failed back surgery syndrome is a chronic pain condition requiring
      rapid, effective, and efficient management. This study evaluates the effect of
      adding dexmedetomidine to lumbar epidural steroids in patients with failed back
      surgery syndrome. Methods. Fifty patients suffering from failed back surgery
      syndrome were randomly assigned to one of two groups, receiving an epidural
      injection of 20 mL of either a mixture of betamethasone (14 mg) and bupivacaine
      0.5 mg (group C) or a mixture of betamethasone (14 mg), bupivacaine 0.5 mg, and
      dexmedetomidine (0.5 MUg/kg) (group D) adjusted to the volume with normal saline.
      The effect was evaluated using visual analogue scale (VAS), analgesic
      requirement, and Oswestry disability index 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12
      weeks after injection. Results. VAS and ibuprofen consumption showed a
      significant reduction in group D. The Oswestry disability index was significantly
      improved in group D. There were no records of hypotension, bradycardia, sedation,
      or hypoxemia in both groups. Conclusion. The present study demonstrated potential
      safe and effective usage of adding dexmedetomidine to epidural steroid to control
      pain in patients with failed back surgery syndrome. 

PMID- 27630713
TI  - Do Times until Treatment for Foreign Body Aspiration Relate to Complications?
AB  - Introduction. Foreign body aspiration is an emergency condition and may be fatal.
      Delayed diagnosis and treatment may be associated with complications. This study
      evaluated the association between time until treatment and complications due to
      foreign body aspiration. Methods. This study was a retrospective study conducted
      at Khon Kaen University Hospital, Thailand. We enrolled patients diagnosed with
      foreign body aspiration with evidence of foreign body detected using direct
      laryngobronchoscopy at any area from the larynx to the bronchus. Descriptive
      statistics were used to analyze the association of times of treatment with
      complications of foreign body aspiration. Results. During the study period, there
      were 43 patients that met the study criteria. The most common age group was 0-2
      years. Plant seeds were the most common foreign bodies (41.9%), and the right
      main bronchus was the most common site (16 patients, 37.2%). There were 30
      patients (69.8%) that experienced complications from foreign body aspiration.
      Pneumonia was the most common complication (14 patients, 32.6%). The retention
      time was not significantly associated with the presence of complications (p
      value: 0.366). Two patients (4.7%) died due to complete airway obstruction and
      prolonged hypoxia. Conclusion. Times until treatment were not significantly
      associated with complications from foreign body aspiration. 

PMID- 27630714
TI  - Risk of Malignant Neoplasm in Patients with Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis 1980
      2007 in relation to a Comparator Cohort: A Population-Based Study.
AB  - Objective. To determine whether the incidence of malignancy is increased in
      patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to a matched comparison cohort
      and to identify risk for any individual malignancy in RA. Methods. A cohort of
      813 Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents who first fulfilled 1987 ACR criteria
      for RA in 1980-2007 was previously identified by medical record review. Medical
      records of 813 RA cases and a comparison cohort of age and sex matched Olmsted
      County residents without RA were evaluated retrospectively for cancer occurrence.
      Patients in both cohorts were followed until death, migration from Olmsted
      County, or 12/31/2014. Results. The RA and non-RA cohorts (mean age at
      incidence/index date: 55.9 [SD: 15.7] years; 68.4% females in both cohorts) were
      followed on average of 14.1 (SD: 7.7) and 14.9 (SD: 8.1) years, respectively.
      Prior to RA incidence/index date, 52 RA patients and 66 non-RA subjects had
      malignancies excluding NMSC (p = 0.21). During follow-up, significantly more
      malignancies occurred in patients with RA (n = 143) than in comparator subjects
      (n = 118; hazard ratio: 1.32; p = 0.027). Inclusion of NMSC obviated this
      difference. Conclusion. After excluding NMSC, there was a small to moderately
      increased risk of malignancies in patients with RA. Cancer surveillance is
      imperative in all patients with RA. 

PMID- 27630715
TI  - Corrigendum to "The Efficacy of Inositol and N-Acetyl Cysteine Administration
      (Ovaric HP) in Improving the Ovarian Function in Infertile Women with PCOS with
      or without Insulin Resistance".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2014/141020.]. 

PMID- 27630716
TI  - Factors Contributing to Massive Blood Loss on Peripartum Hysterectomy for
      Abnormally Invasive Placenta: Who Bleeds More?
AB  - Introduction. To identify factors that determine blood loss during peripartum
      hysterectomy for abnormally invasive placenta (AIP-hysterectomy). Methods. We
      reviewed all of the medical charts of 11,919 deliveries in a single tertiary
      perinatal center. We examined characteristics of AIP-hysterectomy patients, with
      a single experienced obstetrician attending all AIP-hysterectomies and using the
      same technique. Results. AIP-hysterectomy was performed in 18 patients (0.15%:
      18/11,919). Of the 18, 14 (78%) had a prior cesarean section (CS) history and the
      other 4 (22%) were primiparous women. Planned AIP-hysterectomy was performed in
      12/18 (67%), with the remaining 6 (33%) undergoing emergent AIP-hysterectomy. Of
      the 6, 4 (4/6: 67%) patients were primiparous women. An intra-arterial balloon
      was inserted in 9/18 (50%). Women with the following three factors significantly
      bled less in AIP-hysterectomy than its counterpart: the employment of an intra
      arterial balloon (4,448 +/- 1,948 versus 8,861 +/- 3,988 mL), planned
      hysterectomy (5,003 +/- 2,057 versus 9,957 +/- 4,485 mL), and prior CS (5,706 +/-
      2,727 versus 9,975 +/- 5,532 mL). Patients with prior CS (-) bled more: this may
      be because these patients tended to undergo emergent surgery or attempted
      placental separation. Conclusion. Patients with intra-arterial balloon catheter
      insertion bled less on AIP-hysterectomy. Massive bleeding occurred in emergent
      AIP-hysterectomy without prior CS. 

PMID- 27630717
TI  - Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Human Exocrine Pancreas Spontaneously Express
      Pancreas Progenitor-Cell Markers in a Cell-Passage-Dependent Manner.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from bone marrow, adipose tissue, and most
      connective tissues have been recognized as promising sources for cell-based
      therapies. MSCs have also been detected in human pancreatic tissue, including
      endocrine and exocrine cells. These adult human pancreas-derived MSCs have
      generated a great deal of interest owing to their potential use in the
      differentiation of insulin-producing cells for diabetes treatment. In the present
      study, we isolated MSCs from the adult human exocrine pancreas to determine
      whether isolated MSCs have the potential to differentiate into pancreatic
      endocrine cells and, therefore, whether they can be used in stem cell-based
      therapies. Pancreatic tissue was digested by collagenase and an enriched exocrine
      cell fraction was obtained by density-gradient separation. Crude exocrine cells
      were methodically cultured in suspension and then in adherent culture. We
      expanded the human pancreatic exocrine-derived MSCs (hpMSCs) by cell passaging in
      culture and confirmed by flow cytometry that >90% expressed human classic surface
      markers of MSCs. Interestingly, these cells expressed pancreatic transcription
      factors, such as Pdx1, Ngn3, and MafA, similar to pancreatic progenitor cells.
      These results indicated that hpMSCs can be used for the differentiation of
      pancreatic endocrine cells and may be used in type 1 diabetes treatment. 

PMID- 27630718
TI  - Induction of Tenogenic Differentiation Mediated by Extracellular Tendon Matrix
      and Short-Term Cyclic Stretching.
AB  - Tendon and ligament pathologies are still a therapeutic challenge, due to the
      difficulty in restoring the complex extracellular matrix architecture and
      biomechanical strength. While progress is being made in cell-based therapies and
      tissue engineering approaches, comprehensive understanding of the fate of
      progenitor cells in tendon healing is still lacking. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the effect of decellularized tendon matrix and moderate cyclic
      stretching as natural stimuli which could potentially direct tenogenic fate.
      Equine adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) were seeded on
      decellularized tendon matrix scaffolds. Mechanical stimulation was applied in a
      custom-made cyclic strain bioreactor. Assessment was performed 4 h, 8 h, and 24 h
      following mechanical stimulation. Scaffold culture induced cell alignment and
      changes in expression of tendon-related genes, although cell viability was
      decreased compared to monolayer culture. Short mechanical stimulation periods
      enhanced most of the scaffold-induced effects. Collagen 1A2 expression levels
      were decreased, while collagen 3A1 and decorin levels were increased. Tenascin-C
      and scleraxis expression showed an initial decrease but had increased 24 h after
      stimulation. The results obtained suggest that decellularized tendon matrix,
      supported by cyclic stretching, can induce tenogenic differentiation and the
      synthesis of tendon components important for matrix remodeling. 

PMID- 27630719
TI  - Detection of Hepatitis E Virus Genotype 1 Among Blood Donors From Southwest of
      Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV) is endemic in developing
      countries and reveals significant regional differences. Several studies have
      reported virus transmission via blood transfusion. To date, however, no cases of
      HEV RNA detection in blood donors have been reported from Iran. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of this study was to determine the presence of HEV RNA in plasma samples of
      blood donors referred to a blood transfusion center in Shiraz in the southwest of
      Iran. The HEV genotypes were also investigated using nucleotide sequencing.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 700 blood donors who were
      referred to Fars blood transfusion organization from January to March 2014.
      Plasma samples were screened for the presence of HEV IgG and IgM antibodies by
      standard enzyme immunoassay. Samples seroreactive to anti-HEV were further tested
      for the presence of HEV RNA using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with
      universal primers for detection of all four HEV genotypes. Positive PCR samples
      were then subjected to DNA sequencing for further analysis. RESULTS: Fifty (50,
      7.1%) out of 700 plasma samples tested positive for anti-HEV antibodies. HEV RNA
      was detected in 7/50 (12%) of the antibody-positive samples, the majority of
      which were IgM positive. Sequence analysis of seven isolates of the HEV RNA ORF 2
      gene region revealed > 80% similarity with genotype 1. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis
      indicates that the HEV isolated from blood donors in the southwest of Iran
      belongs to genotype 1. However, more samples from other geographic regions of
      Iran are needed to confirm these findings. Because transmission of HEV by
      administration of blood or blood components is likely to occur, it may be
      sensible to screen donor blood for HEV to eliminate transfusion-transmitted HEV
      infection when the recipient is immunocompromised.

PMID- 27630720
TI  - Intrahepatic Toll-Like Receptor 3 in Chronic HBV Infection Subjects: Asymptomatic
      Carriers, Active Chronic Hepatitis, Cirrhosis, and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The entire disease spectrum of chronic HBV infection (CHB) includes
      asymptomatic carriers (AC), active chronic hepatitis (ACH), cirrhosis (Cir), and
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous study have demonstrated that the
      costimulation profiles from the livers of patients influenced immune responses
      and played various immunological roles in AC, ACH, Cir, and HCC. In addition,
      activation of TLR3 signaling in the liver may contribute to HBV clearance,
      although some HBV components are able to block TLR3 signaling and counteract HBV
      clearance through positive or negative feedback loops. Previous clinical studies
      have demonstrated that different TLR3 expressions are present in ACH patients,
      but no studies investigated the expression of TLR3 proteins in the livers of
      patients with AC, Cir, or HCC. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated intrahepatic
      TLR3 expression throughout the entire disease spectrum of CHB patients and
      assessed the interrelations between TLR3 and costimulation proteins. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Patients with ACH, Cir, HCC, and AC and healthy donors (HD) were
      recruited. TLR3 expression in the livers of patients were investigated using
      western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Correlations between TLR3 and
      costimulation proteins, including CD80, CD86, CD83, CD28, CTLA-4, CD40, and ICAM
      1, were assessed. RESULTS: The TLR3 protein in the ACH group tended toward
      reduction although the P Value of the comparison between the ACH group and HD
      group was not statistically significant. The TLR3 levels in the HCC, AC, and Cir
      groups were higher than those in the HD and ACH groups. TLR3 was not interrelated
      with all costimulation proteins in the DCs and T cells in all five groups. No
      group presented any interrelation between TLR3 and CD40, except the AC group.
      CONCLUSIONS: The AC, HCC, and Cir patients displayed increased levels of the
      intrahepatic TLR3 protein compared to the HD and AC patients. Both activation of
      TLR3/INF-beta signaling and inhibition of TLR3/INF-beta signaling by HBV
      components influenced TLR3 expression in the AC, ACH, Cir, and HCC subjects.
      However, TLR3 signaling did not influence the expression of costimulatory protein
      in the ACH, Cir, or HCC patients. TLR3/ IFN-beta signaling did influence immune
      responses in the livers of CHB patients.

PMID- 27630721
TI  - Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy: A Life-Threatening Condition Requiring a Life
      Saving Approach.

PMID- 27630723
TI  - Reporting Quality Assessment of Randomized Controlled Trials Published in
      Hepatitis Monthly.

PMID- 27630722
TI  - Hepatitis B-Related Concerns and Anxieties Among People With Chronic Hepatitis B
      in Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The psychological wellbeing of people with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)
      may be negatively affected due to the chronic and transmissible nature of the
      disease, and possible serious complications (e.g. cirrhosis and liver cancer).
      There are limited data investigating concerns and anxieties among people living
      with CHB. OBJECTIVES: This study examined feelings about having hepatitis B among
      people with CHB, including hepatitis B-related concerns and anxieties. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Using convenience sampling, people with CHB attending four public
      liver clinics and one general practice in three Australian jurisdictions between
      April and September 2013 completed a self-administered questionnaire about their
      feelings about having hepatitis B. RESULTS: Ninety-three people completed the
      survey. Mean age was 45 years, 57% were men, and 93% were born overseas (75% from
      Asia). Seventy-six percent of participants reported having hepatitis B-related
      concerns and anxieties. The most common concerns were of developing liver cancer
      (57%), and infecting other people (53%). Thirty-five percent of participants were
      unwilling to talk to anyone about their hepatitis B while 25% changed how they
      lived as a result of having hepatitis B. Lower educational level was associated
      with feeling scared of hepatitis B (adjusted Odds Ratio [OR]: 4.04; 95%CI: 1.09,
      14.90; P = 0.04), and an unwillingness to talk to anyone about hepatitis B
      (adjusted OR: 4.41; 95%CI: 1.09, 17.83; P = 0.04). Very good English proficiency
      was associated with a higher likelihood of participants changing how they lived
      (adjusted OR: 12.66; 95%CI: 2.21, 72.42; P < 0.01), and seeing life differently
      as a result of having hepatitis B (adjusted OR: 21.10; 95%CI: 3.70, 120.19; P <
      0.01). Health professionals were the key person for 34% of participants in
      helping them cope with having hepatitis B, while 18% reported that no one
      supported them. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatitis B-related concerns and anxieties are
      prevalent among people with CHB. Clinical management of people with CHB must
      address their psychological support needs as an essential component of
      comprehensive care.

PMID- 27630724
TI  - Improvement in the Amino Acid Imbalance in Hepatitis C Virus Infected Patients
      After Viral Eradication by Interferon Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic liver diseases (CLDs), hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) infection in particular may cause various metabolic disorders. We
      previously reported that the value of the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to
      tyrosine (BTR) decreased with the progression of liver fibrosis. OBJECTIVES: We
      investigated the changes in clinical variables during interferon (IFN) treatment
      and assessed whether HCV eradication improved the amino acid imbalance in HCV
      infected patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected the
      clinical data of HCV-related CLD patients whose BTR values had been measured both
      pre- and post-IFN treatment. A total of 17 patients with a sustained viral
      response (SVR) (mean observational period: 1085.0 days) and 19 patients without
      an SVR (Non-SVR) (mean observational period: 1002.5 days) were studied. RESULTS:
      In patients with an SVR, the serum levels of aminotransferases were decreased
      after HCV eradication. Although general liver functional tests (albumin and total
      bilirubin) did not significantly change, the BTR values significantly increased.
      However, in patients without an SVR, an improvement in the BTR value was not
      observed after IFN treatment. CONCLUSIONS: HCV eradication can improve the amino
      acid imbalance in HCV infected patients.

PMID- 27630725
TI  - Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Viral Infection Among Pregnant Women in Peshawar,
      Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viral hepatitis during pregnancy is associated with a high risk of
      maternal complications. The virus has a high risk of vertical transmission and it
      has been reported as the leading cause of maternal death. OBJECTIVES: To study
      the prevalence of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viral infections among
      pregnant women in the Peshawar district of Pakistan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      cross-sectional study took place between July 2013 and April 2014. A total of
      10,288 samples were collected from pregnant women living in different areas of
      the Peshawar district. The samples were centrifuged at a high speed in order to
      obtain a clear supernatant serum. All samples were screened for HBV and HCV using
      the immunochromatographic technique. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of HBV was
      found to be 1.16%, although it varied throughout the study period. The highest
      prevalence of HBV (1.69%) was observed during January 2014. The overall
      prevalence of HCV infection among the pregnant women was observed to be 1.42%.
      The highest prevalence of HCV infection (2.22%) was found during March 2014.
      CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence of HBV and HCV was 1.16% and 1.42%,
      respectively. The incidence of HCV infection among the pregnant women was higher
      than that of HBV infection.

PMID- 27630726
TI  - Prevalence of Serologic Hepatitis B Markers in Blood Donors From Puebla, Mexico:
      The Association of Relatively High Levels of Anti-Core Antibodies With the
      Detection of Surface Antigen and Genomic DNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes chronic hepatitis, hepatic
      cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Surface antigen (HBsAg) detection is a
      definitive test that can confirm HBV infection, while the presence of antibodies
      against the core protein (anti-HBc) suggests either a previous or ongoing
      infection or occult hepatitis B infection (OBI). OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      present study was to determine the prevalence of anti-HBc and HBsAg in blood
      donors. Further, the study aimed to estimate the anti-HBc level at which HBV DNA
      is detected in putative OBI cases, as well as to search for mutations in the "a"
      determinant associated with the non-detection of HBsAg in serum. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study from 2003-2009. The study included
      120,552 blood donors from the state of Puebla, Mexico. Different commercial
      systems based on microparticles (enzymatic (MEIA) or chemiluminescent (CMIA))
      were used to determine the HBsAg and anti-HBc levels. For the detection of HBV
      DNA, a nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) was used and the genotypes
      were determined using Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Of the 120,552 blood donors,
      1437 (1.19%, 95% CI: 1.12 - 1.26) were reactive to anti-HBc, while 82 (0.066%,
      95% CI: 0.053 - 0.079) were reactive to HBsAg. Some 156 plasma samples collected
      in 2009 from anti-HBc-positive/HBsAg-negative blood donors were submitted for HBV
      DNA detection in a search for probable OBI. Viral DNA was detected in 27/156
      (17.3%, 95% CI: 11.5 - 23.1). Our results show an association between HBV DNA or
      HBsAg and anti-HBc S/CO levels >= 4.0. All DNA samples were identified as
      genotype H and some "a" determinant mutations were identified, although none
      corresponded to mutations previously reported to hinder the detection of HBsAg by
      commercial immunoassays. CONCLUSIONS: We observed that as the anti-HBc levels
      increase, there is a higher prevalence of the viral protein HBsAg in blood
      donors. Samples testing positive for HBV-DNA were seen to exhibit a ten-fold
      higher presence of anti-HBc S/CO >= 4 than those with S/CO >= 1 and < 4.0, which
      highlights the relevance of anti-HBc determination in blood donor samples.

PMID- 27630727
TI  - The Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Core Amino Acid 70 Substitution and Genotypes
      of Polymorphisms Near the IFNL3 Gene in Iranian Patients With Chronic Hepatitis
      C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Molecular studies have demonstrated that the hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      genotype and host genetics play predictive roles in the management of patients
      infected with HCV. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the HCV genotype,
      core amino acid (aa) 70 substitution, and polymorphisms near the IFNL3 gene
      (including rs12979860 and rs8099917) among Iranian patients with chronic
      hepatitis C (CHC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the
      molecular profiles of the HCV genotype, core aa 70 substitution, and rs12979860
      and rs8099917 polymorphisms and plasma HCV RNA levels were determined in 429 CHC
      patients including 141 hemophilic, 84 thalassemic, and 204 non-hemophilic, non
      thalassemic patients. RESULTS: The hepatitis C virus subtype 1a was the most
      common subtype in the study population. Core aa substitution Arg70Gln was
      strongly associated with cirrhosis (OR = 2.49; 95% CI = 1.13 - 5.50; P = 0.020).
      Core aa 70 substitutions were more frequently observed in patients with the HCV
      subtype 1b than in patients with any other HCV subtypes (P < 0.001). Core aa 70
      substitutions were also more common in patients with the rs12979860 TT genotype
      than in patients with non-TT genotypes (17.3% vs. 8.5%, P = 0.022) and also in
      rs8099917 non-TT genotypes than in the TT genotype (14.0% vs. 7.0%, P = 0.026).
      The HCV genotypes and rs8099917 polymorphisms were correlated in which HCV
      subtype 1b was in favor of rs8099917 GG and HCV subtype 3a favored rs8099917 TT
      (P = 0.021). Furthermore, the rs12979860 TT and rs8099917 GG genotypes showed
      significantly lower HCV RNA levels than the other genotypes (P < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: There is an as yet unexplained association between HCV and host
      parameters with unknown mechanisms in patients with chronic HCV infection. The
      assessments of core aa 70 substitution and polymorphisms near the IFNL3 gene
      could offer promising steps to improve the management of patients with HCV.

PMID- 27630729
TI  - Hepatitis A Is a Health Hazard for Iranian Pilgrims Who Go to Holly Karbala: A
      Preliminary Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iraq is a highly endemic area for the prevalence of hepatitis A and
      annually hosts a large number of Iranian pilgrims, most of whom are susceptible
      to infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV). OBJECTIVES: This study reports the
      health hazard of hepatitis A for Iranian pilgrims who go to holly Karbala from
      the Mazandaran province. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the
      data of all patients with acute hepatitis A admitted in the Razi teaching
      hospital from November 23, 2014 to January 24, 2015, with a history of recently
      returning from holly Karbala or being exposed to Karbala pilgrims, were
      registered. RESULTS: A total number of nine patients were registered. Seven
      patients were male and two were female. The mean age was 30.11 +/- 10.09.Two
      patients were from the same family. All patients had typical symptoms of acute
      hepatitis A. None of the patients died nor did fulminant occur in any patients.
      In addition, all patients were treated with supportive treatment and subsequently
      recovered. CONCLUSIONS: This number of pilgrim patients with acute hepatitis A
      from a single province compels us to conduct more evaluations and follow up
      monitoring on all persons travelling to Karbala and be sensitive to early
      diagnoses of the pilgrims. In the future, it is important to be mindful of
      administering the HAV vaccine and Ig.

PMID- 27630730
TI  - Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine for Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the main causes of heart failure and could
      increase death, hospitalization, and rehospitalization rate. The effect of
      conventional medicine treatment (CMT) is limited; meanwhile, the combination of
      CMT and Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine (OCHM) represents exciting adjunctive
      therapies. In this study, we ascertained the therapeutic effect of OCHM in
      combination with CMT for dilated cardiomyopathy by using meta-analysis methods
      for controlled clinical trials. We searched studies from five databases and
      extracted data from these studies. We also assessed the methodological quality of
      the included studies. We evaluated the following outcome measures to estimate the
      prognosis in patients with DCM: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left
      ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD), stroke volume (SV), brain
      natriuretic peptide (BNP), 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and overall efficacy. The
      result showed that OCHM combined with CMT for the improvement of therapeutic
      effect in DCM patients. However, the evidence remains weak due to the small
      sample size, high clinical heterogeneity, and poor methodological quality of the
      included trials. Further, large sample size and well-designed trials are needed. 

PMID- 27630728
TI  - Manipulation of Regulatory Cells' Responses to Treatments for Chronic Hepatitis B
      Virus Infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of effective treatments in hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      infection remains a controversial topic. Although the currently approved drugs
      for HBV control the disease's progression and also limit associated outcomes,
      these drugs may not fully eradicate HBV infection. In addition to better managing
      patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection, the induction of seroclearance
      by these drugs has been a commonly discussed topic in recent years. OBJECTIVES:
      In this study, we focused on treating CHB infection via the manipulation of T
      cells' responses to identify possible approaches to cure CHB. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: All studies relevant to the role of cellular and humoral responses in
      HBV infection (especially regulatory cells) were investigated via a systematic
      search of different databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar.
      Considering extracted data and also our unpublished data regarding the
      association between regulatory cytokines and CHB, we introduced a novel approach
      for the induction of seroclearance. RESULTS: Considering the increased levels of
      regulatory cytokines and also regulatory T cells (Tregs) during CHB, it seems
      that these cells are deeply involved in CHB infection. The inhibition of
      regulatory T cells may reverse the dysfunction of effector T cells in patients
      with CHB infection. In order to inhibit Tregs' responses, different types of
      approaches could be employed to restore the impaired function of effector T
      cells. The blockade of IL-10, IL-35, CTLA-4, PD-1, and TIM-3 were discussed
      throughout this study. Regardless of the efficacy of these methods, CHB patients
      may experience serious liver injuries due to the cytotoxic action of CD8+ T
      cells. Antiviral therapy and a decrease in HBV DNA to undetectable levels could
      also significantly reduce the risk of the hepatitis B flare. CONCLUSIONS: The
      inhibition of Tregs is a novel therapeutic approach to cure chronically HBV
      infected patients. However, further studies are needed to investigate the safety
      and efficacy of this approach.

PMID- 27630731
TI  - Modulatory Effect of Eui-E-In-Tang on Serum Leptin Concentration in Obese Korean
      Female Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - Background. Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation and cytokines.
      However, to date, the relationship between the serum levels of cytokines in obese
      individuals and taking herbal drugs remains largely unexplored. Methods. Serum
      cytokines were assessed by multiplex cytokine profiling assay. Serum samples of
      obese female Korean adults (obese group; n = 20) as well as normal female Korean
      adults (normal group; n = 21) were collected at the start and end of study
      period. Twenty obese female Korean adults were randomized to receive Eui-E-In
      Tang (Eui-E-In-Tang group; n = 9) at a daily dose of 9 g or a matched placebo
      (placebo group; n = 11) for 12 weeks. Results. According to investigating serum
      cytokine levels at the start point of this study, the serum C-peptide, insulin,
      leptin, lipocalin-2, and adipsin levels in the obese group were found to be
      significantly higher than in the normal group. And the investigation of serum
      cytokine levels at the end point of this study demonstrated that mean serum
      leptin of Eui-E-In-Tang group was found to be significantly reduced (P = 0.037).
      Conclusions. This study provides preliminary evidence that Eui-E-In-Tang may
      exert immunomodulatory effect via altering the circulating concentration of
      leptin in Korean female adults. 

PMID- 27630732
TI  - A Role of Ginseng and Its Constituents in the Treatment of Central Nervous System
      Disorders.
AB  - Ginseng, a perennial plant belonging to the Panax genus of the Araliaceae family,
      has been used in China, Korea, and Japan as a traditional herbal medicine for
      thousands of years. Ginseng is recorded to have exhibited a wide variety of
      beneficial pharmacological effects and has become a popular and worldwide known
      health supplement and drug. The protective effects of ginseng on central nervous
      system are discussed in this review. Ginseng species and ginsenosides and their
      intestinal metabolism and bioavailability are concisely introduced. The molecular
      mechanisms of the effects of ginseng on central nervous system, mainly focused on
      the neuroprotection properties of ginseng, memory, and learning enhanced
      properties, and the effects on neurodegenerative disorders are presented. Thus,
      ginseng and its constituents are of potential merits in the treatment of cerebral
      disorders. 

PMID- 27630733
TI  - Immunomodulatory and Antimicrobial Activity of Babassu Mesocarp Improves the
      Survival in Lethal Sepsis.
AB  - Attalea speciosa syn Orbignya phalerata Mart. (babassu) has been used in the
      treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases. Aim of the study. To
      investigate the antimicrobial and immunological activity of babassu mesocarp
      extract (EE). Material and Methods. The in vitro antimicrobial activity was
      evaluated by disk diffusion assay and by determination of the minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) to Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus
      faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA). The flavonoids and phenolic acids content were determined by
      chromatography. The in vivo assays were performed in Swiss mice submitted to
      sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The mice received EE subcutaneously
      (125 or 250 mg/Kg), 6 hours after the CLP. The number of lymphoid cells was
      quantified and the cytokines production was determined by ELISA after 12 h.
      Results. EE was effective as antimicrobial to E. faecalis, S. aureus, and MRSA.
      EE is rich in phenolic acids, a class of compounds with antimicrobial and
      immunological activity. An increased survival can be observed in those groups,
      possibly due to a significant inhibition of TNF-alpha and IL-6. Conclusions. The
      EE showed specific antimicrobial activity in vitro and an important antiseptic
      effect in vivo possibly due to the antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activity. 

PMID- 27630734
TI  - "The Monkey on Your Shoulder": A Qualitative Study of Lymphoedema Patients'
      Attitudes to and Experiences of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.
AB  - Background. Lymphoedema, a distressing consequence of cancer treatment, has
      significant negative impact on health-related quality of life. Multidisciplinary
      approaches are needed to improve physical and psychosocial wellbeing. Acupuncture
      and moxibustion (acu/moxa), two modalities of traditional East Asian medicine,
      may contribute to improved outcomes for cancer survivors with lymphoedema. Aim.
      To explore how patients with lymphoedema secondary to cancer treatment perceive
      and experience acu/moxa treatment. Design and Setting. A qualitative focus group
      study, nested in a 3-step mixed methods observational study, was carried out in a
      cancer drop-in and information centre in north-west London. Methods. Six focus
      groups and one telephone interview were conducted with 23 survivors of breast or
      head and neck cancer, who had completed up to 13 acu/moxa treatments. Scripts
      were transcribed, coded, and analysed to identify salient and overarching themes.
      Results. Participants described feeling disempowered by cancer treatment and
      subsequent diagnosis of lymphoedema. Acu/moxa was valued for its whole-person
      approach and for time spent with a practitioner who cared, listened, and
      responded. Participants reported changes in physical and psychosocial health,
      including increased energy levels and reduced pain and discomfort, and feelings
      of empowerment, personal control, and acceptance. Many were motivated to improve
      self-care. Conclusion. Many participants who received acu/moxa treatment reported
      improved wellbeing and a more proactive attitude towards self-care. 

PMID- 27630735
TI  - Inhibitory Effect of Valencene on the Development of Atopic Dermatitis-Like Skin
      Lesions in NC/Nga Mice.
AB  - Valencene (VAL) isolated from Cyperus rotundus possesses various biological
      effects such as antiallergic and antimelanogenesis activity. We investigated the
      effect of VAL on atopic dermatitis (AD) skin lesions and their molecular
      mechanisms. We topically applied VAL to 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB)
      sensitized NC/Nga mice. Modified scoring atopic dermatitis index, scratching
      behavior, and histological/immunohistochemical staining were used to monitor
      disease severity. RT-PCR, western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      were used to determine the level of IgE, proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines
      production, and skin barrier proteins expression. Topical application of VAL
      significantly reduced AD-like symptoms and recovered decreased expression of
      filaggrin in DNCB-sensitized NC/Nga mice. The levels of serum IgE, IL-1beta, IL
      6, and IL-13 in skin/splenic tissue were reduced. In vitro studies using TNF
      alpha and IFN-gamma treated HaCaT cells revealed that VAL inhibited the
      exaggerated expression of Th2 chemokines including TARC/CCL17, MDC/CCL22, and
      proinflammatory chemokines such as CXCL8, GM-CSF, and I-CAM through blockade of
      the NF-kappaB pathway. In addition, expression of the skin barrier protein,
      involucrin, was also increased by VAL treatment. VAL inhibited the production and
      expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated RAW
      264.7 cells. These results suggest that VAL may serve as a potential therapeutic
      option for AD. 

PMID- 27630737
TI  - Welcome to Obstetric Medicine: the Medicine of Pregnancy.

PMID- 27630736
TI  - Transitioning to a Data Driven Mental Health Practice: Collaborative Expert
      Sessions for Knowledge and Hypothesis Finding.
AB  - The surge in the amount of available data in health care enables a novel,
      exploratory research approach that revolves around finding new knowledge and
      unexpected hypotheses from data instead of carrying out well-defined data
      analysis tasks. We propose a specification of the Cross Industry Standard Process
      for Data Mining (CRISP-DM), suitable for conducting expert sessions that focus on
      finding new knowledge and hypotheses in collaboration with local workforce. Our
      proposed specification that we name CRISP-IDM is evaluated in a case study at the
      psychiatry department of the University Medical Center Utrecht. Expert interviews
      were conducted to identify seven research themes in the psychiatry department,
      which were researched in cooperation with local health care professionals using
      data visualization as a modeling tool. During 19 expert sessions, two results
      that were directly implemented and 29 hypotheses for further research were found,
      of which 24 were not imagined during the initial expert interviews. Our work
      demonstrates the viability and benefits of involving work floor people in the
      analyses and the possibility to effectively find new knowledge and hypotheses
      using our CRISP-IDM method. 

PMID- 27630738
TI  - Maternal mortality in the developing world: why do mothers really die?
AB  - Every year some eight million women suffer preventable or remediable pregnancy
      related complications and over half a million will die unnecessarily. Most of
      these deaths could be averted at little or no extra cost, even where resources
      are limited, but in order to take action, and develop and implement changes to
      maternity services to save mothers and newborns lives, a change in cultural
      attitudes and political will, as well as improvements in the provision of health
      and social care, is required. Further, to aid programme planners, more in-depth
      information than that which may already be available through national statistics
      on maternal mortality rates or death certificate data is urgently needed. What is
      required is an in-depth understanding of the clinical, social, cultural or any
      other underlying factors which lead to mothers' deaths. Such information can be
      obtained by using any of the five methodologies outlined in the World Health
      Organizations programme and philosophy for maternal death or disability reviews,
      'Beyond the Numbers', briefly described here and which are now being introduced
      in a number of countries around the world. 

PMID- 27630739
TI  - Maternal mortality in the developed world: lessons from the UK confidential
      enquiry.
AB  - The UK confidential maternal mortality enquiry shows that not only has maternal
      mortality decreased since 1952, the year of the first enquiry, but also the
      pattern of maternal mortality has changed markedly. Major surgical causes of
      death, such as post-partum haemorrhage and ruptured uterus, are no longer as
      important as medical causes such as heart disease. The 'Top Ten' recommendations
      in the current report for the years 2003-2005 emphasise the need for health care
      practitioners to be aware of the risks that medical conditions, both pre-existing
      and those arising de novo in pregnancy, impose on the expectant and newly
      delivered mother. Training and further education programmes should emphasise the
      importance of medical problems in pregnancy without omitting the knowledge and
      skills in basic obstetrics that have made such an impact on maternal mortality in
      the past. 

PMID- 27630740
TI  - The impact of an educational pamphlet on knowledge and anxiety in women with
      preeclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to evaluate whether or not an educational
      pamphlet could improve knowledge without increasing anxiety in women with
      preeclampsia. METHODS: One hundred women recruited from an inpatient setting with
      suspected or proven preeclampsia were asked to answer a questionnaire assessing
      demographics, knowledge (primary outcome), anxiety and satisfaction (secondary
      outcomes) after being randomized to an intervention group (who received a
      pamphlet) or a control group (who did not received a pamphlet). The pamphlet and
      questionnaire, both designed by a multidisciplinary team, were read and answered
      at the same time. RESULTS: Baseline and demographic characteristics were similar
      between the two groups. Knowledge about the symptoms of pre-eclampsia was
      excellent in both groups (61% to 100% correct answers). Women in both groups were
      well aware that preeclampsia in the past (P = 0.22) and a family history of
      preeclampsia (P = 0.57) were risk factors. There was a significant difference in
      knowledge about the risk of some fetal complications, including death (90% versus
      39%, P < 0.01) and all maternal complications (P < 0.05) favouring the
      intervention group. Despite increased knowledge about preeclampsia and its risks,
      anxiety was not greater in the intervention group. Overall, there was a trend
      towards less knowledge in vulnerable subgroups (non-white, low income and
      schooling levels), but the improvement of knowledge with the pamphlet was
      equivalent. Baseline anxiety was higher in the vulnerable groups, but was
      generally not increased by the pamphlet. CONCLUSION: An educational pamphlet for
      women with suspected preeclampsia was able to increase knowledge without
      increasing anxiety.

PMID- 27630741
TI  - A practical approach to using spot urine protein/creatinine ratios for assessing
      proteinuria in pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the spot
      urine protein/creatinine ratio compared with the 24-hour urine protein in
      pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: In this prospective cohort study of inpatient pregnant
      women, the protein/creatinine ratio and dipstick protein were assessed from a
      single urine sample collected at the start of the 24-hour urine. Both tests were
      compared with the 24-hour urine protein for correlation and test characteristics.
      RESULTS: In the 196 specimens analysed, we found a strong correlation between the
      spot urine protein/creatinine ratio and 24-hour urine protein (r (2) = 0.78, P <
      0.01). A protein/creatinine ratio <0.1 ruled out significant proteinuria (>=300
      mg/day) with sensitivity and negative predictive value 100%. A protein/creatinine
      ratio >=0.4 detected significant proteinuria (specificity and positive predictive
      value of 100%). A protein/creatinine ratio >=4.6 had a specificity and positive
      predictive value of 100% for detecting severe proteinuria (>=5000 mg/day). Urine
      dipsticks correlated poorly with the 24-hour urine protein (r (2) = 0.40, P =
      0.826). Nineteen percent of dipsticks reading nil or trace were false-negative
      results. CONCLUSION: The spot urine protein/creatinine ratio correlated well with
      the 24-hour urine protein and performed better than the urine dipsticks.
      Significant proteinuria in pregnancy was excluded if the protein/creatinine ratio
      was <0.1 and identified when it was >=0.4.

PMID- 27630742
TI  - Kawasaki syndrome during pregnancy: a case report and literature review.
AB  - Kawasaki disease (KD) is characterized by persistent fever, mucous membrane
      hyperaemia, cervical lymph node enlargement, exanthema and periungual
      desquamation. It is seen mainly in children, with <60 cases reported in adults.
      We present the case, the first to the best of our knowledge, of a 17-year-woman
      who developed KD during the second trimester of pregnancy and died 47 days
      postpartum from cardiac arrest due to acute myocardial infarction. The case, the
      medical history, the clinical outcome and the postmortem findings are discussed,
      and we review the literature on adult KD. 

PMID- 27630743
TI  - How we deliver obstetric care.

PMID- 27630744
TI  - The use of retrievable inferior vena cava filters in pregnancy: Another
      successful case report, but are we actually making a difference?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnant women with venous thromboembolism are traditionally managed
      with anticoagulation, but inferior vena cava filters are an alternative. We
      balanced risks and benefits of an inferior vena cava filter in a decision
      analysis. METHODS: We constructed a decision model to compare in pregnant women
      with VTE the outcome of (1) inferior vena cava filter and anticoagulant treatment
      versus (2) anticoagulant treatment only. RESULTS: Assuming a 63% risk reduction
      from an inferior vena cava filter (baseline mortality rate of venous
      thromboembolism of 0.5%), 318 women would need to be treated with inferior vena
      cava filters to prevent one venous thromboembolism related maternal death.
      Sensitivity analyses indicated that at a mortality rate of 0.5% the risk
      reduction from inferior vena cava filters needed to be 80%, while at a mortality
      rate of 2% a risk reduction of 20% would justify inferior vena cava filters.
      CONCLUSIONS: In view of their potential morbidity, inferior vena cava filters
      should be restricted to pregnant woman at strongly increased risk of recurrent
      venous thromboembolism.

PMID- 27630745
TI  - First trimester screening for pre-eclampsia.
AB  - The commercial availability of tests in the first trimester of pregnancy that
      predict the later development of pre-eclampsia has prompted considerable debate
      regarding their clinical utility and the degree to which they fulfil the
      longstanding principles of screening. Such tests have been shown to achieve
      detection rates for early pre-eclampsia (requiring delivery prior to 34 weeks) of
      over 90%, for a false positive rate of 10%. However, their capacity to predict
      later onset pre-eclampsia, which accounts for the bulk of the disease burden, is
      much more limited. The relatively few studies validating the performance of these
      tests in different populations have demonstrated significant variations in
      performance. Moreover, prospective research confirming that the administration of
      aspirin to those screened to be high risk reduces the incidence of pre-eclampsia
      is yet to be completed, and there may be harms in restricting aspirin therapy to
      this group, given its broader beneficial effect. In light of these limitations,
      further development of these tests is recommended prior to their introduction to
      clinical practice. 

PMID- 27630746
TI  - Oxidative stress in pregnancy and reproduction.
AB  - Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathophysiology of many reproductive
      complications including infertility, miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, fetal growth
      restriction and preterm labour. The presence of excess reactive oxygen species
      can lead to cellular damage of deoxyribonucleic acids, lipids and proteins.
      Antioxidants protect cells from peroxidation reactions, limiting cellular damage
      and helping to maintain cellular membrane integrity. There is overwhelming
      evidence for oxidative stress causing harm in reproduction. However, there is
      sparse evidence that supplementation with commonly used antioxidants (mostly
      vitamins C and E) makes any difference in overcoming oxidative stress or
      reversing disease processes. There may be potential for antioxidant therapy to
      ameliorate or prevent disease, but this requires a thorough understanding of the
      mechanism of action and specificity of currently used antioxidants. 

PMID- 27630747
TI  - Obstetric medical care in Canada.
AB  - Obstetric medicine is a growing area of interest within internal medicine in
      Canada. Canadians continue to travel broadly to obtain relevant training,
      particularly in the United Kingdom. However, there is now a sufficient body of
      expertise in Canada that a cadre of 'home-grown' obstetric internists is emerging
      and staying within Canada to improve maternity care. As this critical mass of
      practitioners grows, it is apparent that models of obstetric medicine delivery
      have developed according to local needs and patterns of practice. This article
      aims to describe the state of obstetric medicine in Canada, including general
      internal medicine services as the rock on which Canadian obstetric medicine has
      been built, the Canadian training curriculum and opportunities, organisation of
      obstetric medicine service delivery and the future. 

PMID- 27630748
TI  - Engagement with and outcomes of a Midwifery-led intervention group for pregnant
      women of high body mass index.
AB  - AIMS: To compare pregnancy care, maternal and neonatal outcomes of women with
      Body Mass Index (BMI) >30 enrolled in a Weight Intervention Group versus other
      models of antenatal care. METHODS: Retrospective, case-control study of mothers
      with BMI >30 managed with a specialised programme versus age-matched women
      enrolled in standard models of care. RESULTS: One thousand, one hundred and
      fifteen of 9954 pregnant women with singleton pregnancies, had a BMI >30, of whom
      9.6% enrolled in the intervention group. Compared to controls, the intervention
      group had superior implementation of local high BMI guidelines, including;
      nutritional /weight gain advice (86% vs. 46%, p < 0.001), regular weighing (80%
      vs. 33%, p < 0.001), lactation consultant referrals (8% vs. 1%, p = 0.02), third
      trimester anaesthetic review and ultrasound (50% vs. 20.9%, p = 0.04 and 55% vs.
      43%). Initiation of breastfeeding was higher in the intervention group (100% vs.
      90%, p = 0.001). No significant difference was noted in Caesarean rate (30% vs
      32%) and birthweight (3538 g vs 3560 g). CONCLUSIONS: Women with high BMI
      enrolled in a specialised antenatal management programme received increased care,
      and had superior breastfeeding initiation rates. However, engagement was poor,
      and no significant differences were noted in antenatal or postnatal
      complications, mode of birth or neonatal outcome.

PMID- 27630749
TI  - Management of thyroid disease in pregnancy - Room for improvement in the first
      trimester.
AB  - BACKGROUND: First-trimester care of maternal thyroid dysfunction has previously
      been shown to be poor. This study evaluates early management of thyroid
      dysfunction in pregnancy in Australia. METHODS: Patients reviewed by the
      Obstetric Medicine team for thyroid dysfunction from 1 January 2012 to 30 June
      2013 were included. Data were collected on gestation at referral from the
      patient's general practitioner to the antenatal clinic, information provided in
      the referral letter, thyroid function tests and thyroid medications. RESULTS:
      Eighty-five women were included in the study. At the time of general practitioner
      referral to antenatal services, 19% of women with preexisting thyroid disease had
      no thyroid function tested. Forty-three percent had an abnormal thyroid
      stimulating hormone defined as being outside the laboratory-specific pregnancy
      reference range if available, or outside the level of 0.1-2.5 mIu/L in the first
      trimester, 0.2-3.0 mIu/L in the second trimester and 0.3-3.0 mIu/L in the third
      trimester. Only 21% of women increased their thyroxine dose prior to their first
      antenatal clinic review. CONCLUSION: This study highlights that a significant
      proportion of women with known thyroid disease either have untested thyroid
      function in the first trimester or a thyroid-stimulating hormone outside of
      levels recommended by guidelines.

PMID- 27630750
TI  - Pregnancy and lactation advice: How does Australian Product Information compare
      with established information resources?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Product information is a popular medicines information resource;
      however, there is some evidence that its pregnancy and lactation information is
      overconservative, which can lead to inadequate treatment of pregnant and
      lactating women. METHODS: A thorough analysis of pregnancy and lactation
      information within Australian Product Information and Consumer Medicines
      Information was performed. The statements within these resources were compared
      with established clinical resources: Australian Medicines Handbook, Therapeutic
      Guidelines, South Australian Perinatal Practice Guidelines, Organization of
      Teratology Information Specialists, LactMed, Motherisk and the Pregnancy and
      Breastfeeding Medicines Guide published by the Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne.
      RESULTS: Product Information was found to be the most cautious resource, with
      44.5% of pregnancy recommendations and 69% of lactation recommendations reviewed
      being more conservative than other resources. CONCLUSION: Product Information is
      an imperfect and often overconservative reference for pregnant and lactating
      women. Health professionals are urged to review established clinical resources to
      inform decision making.

PMID- 27630751
TI  - Cytomegalovirus may mimic the presentation of intrahepatic cholestasis and
      hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets in immunosuppressed pregnant
      women.
AB  - Most published cases of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy relate to
      congenital abnormalities in neonates infected in early pregnancy, while the
      mother remains asymptomatic. We describe a diagnostically challenging case of an
      immunosuppressed woman with scleroderma who developed deranged liver function
      tests attributed to intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and haemolysis,
      elevated liver enzymes and low platelets syndrome but was ultimately found to
      have disseminated cytomegalovirus. Cytomegalovirus can present in a myriad of
      ways. Clinicians caring for immunocompromised pregnant women should consider
      cytomegalovirus as a possible differential diagnosis when reviewing abnormal
      liver function tests. 

PMID- 27630752
TI  - Rupture of internal pudendal artery aneurysm following spontaneous vaginal
      delivery: An uncommon cause of post-partum bleeding.
AB  - Pregnancy-related rupture of an arterial aneurysm is an unusual occurrence
      associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Various pregnancy
      related physiologic changes appear to make pregnancy a high-risk situation for
      rupture of either preexisting arterial aneurysms or those that develop throughout
      the course of pregnancy. Splenic artery aneurysms are the most common (60%),
      followed by hepatic (20%), superior mesenteric (5.9%), celiac (4%), ovarian,
      uterine, and renal (<2%) artery. Even rarer are aneurysms involving the internal
      iliac artery and its branches, to which there is only one published case report.
      In this report, we present a case of a 34-year-old pregnant gravida1 para0 who,
      following a normal vaginal delivery, had a severe rupture of the right internal
      pudendal artery and subsequently developed a massive hematoma which ultimately
      required embolization treatment. 

PMID- 27630753
TI  - Surgical management of a large peritoneal pseudocyst causing acute kidney injury
      secondary to abdominal compartment syndrome in a rare case of congenital absence
      of omentum during pregnancy.
AB  - Complete congenital absence of the omentum is very rare with only one previously
      reported case. We present a unique case of the management of a pregnant woman
      with a large pelvic pseudocyst caused by complications related to congenital
      absence of omentum, resulting in acute kidney injury, likely secondary to acute
      compartment syndrome. This case highlights the importance of considering acute
      compartment syndrome in critically unwell pregnant women and reiterates the need
      to measure intra-abdominal pressure when clinically indicated. Given that
      pregnancy is in itself a state of intra-abdominal hypertension, obstetricians
      should maintain a high index of suspicion in the context of additional risk
      factors. 

PMID- 27630754
TI  - Comparing Prices for Food and Diet Research: The Metric Matters.
AB  - An important issue in research into access to healthy food is how best to compare
      the price of foods. The appropriate metric for comparison has been debated at
      length, with proponents variously stating that food prices should be compared in
      terms of their energy content, their edible mass, or their typical portion size.
      In this article we assessed the impact of using different food price metrics on
      the observed difference in price between food groups and categories of
      healthiness, using United Kingdom consumer price index data for 148 foods and
      beverages in 2012. We found that the choice of metric had a marked effect on the
      findings and conclude that this must be decided in advance to suit the reason for
      comparing food prices.

PMID- 27630755
TI  - FEATURE SCREENING FOR TIME-VARYING COEFFICIENT MODELS WITH ULTRAHIGH DIMENSIONAL
      LONGITUDINAL DATA.
AB  - Motivated by an empirical analysis of the Childhood Asthma Management Project,
      CAMP, we introduce a new screening procedure for varying coefficient models with
      ultrahigh dimensional longitudinal predictor variables. The performance of the
      proposed procedure is investigated via Monte Carlo simulation. Numerical
      comparisons indicate that it outperforms existing ones substantially, resulting
      in significant improvements in explained variability and prediction error.
      Applying these methods to CAMP, we are able to find a number of potentially
      important genetic mutations related to lung function, several of which exhibit
      interesting nonlinear patterns around puberty.

PMID- 27630756
TI  - Effect of Cross-Sex Hormonal Replacement on Antioxidant Enzymes in Rat
      Retroperitoneal Fat Adipocytes.
AB  - We report the effect of cross-sex hormonal replacement on antioxidant enzymes
      from rat retroperitoneal fat adipocytes. Eight rats of each gender were assigned
      to each of the following groups: control groups were intact female or male (F and
      M, resp.). Experimental groups were ovariectomized F (OvxF), castrated M (CasM),
      OvxF plus testosterone (OvxF + T), and CasM plus estradiol (CasM + E2) groups.
      After sacrifice, retroperitoneal fat was dissected and processed for histology.
      Adipocytes were isolated and the following enzymatic activities were determined:
      Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx),
      glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and glutathione reductase (GR). Also,
      glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) were measured. In OvxF,
      retroperitoneal fat increased and adipocytes were enlarged, while in CasM rats a
      decrease in retroperitoneal fat and small adipocytes are observed. The cross-sex
      hormonal replacement in F rats was associated with larger adipocytes and a
      further decreased activity of Cu-Zn SOD, CAT, GPx, GST, GR, and GSH, in addition
      to an increase in LPO. CasM + E2 exhibited the opposite effects showing further
      activation antioxidant enzymes and decreases in LPO. In conclusion, E2 deficiency
      favors an increase in retroperitoneal fat and large adipocytes. Cross-sex
      hormonal replacement in F rats aggravates the condition by inhibiting antioxidant
      enzymes. 

PMID- 27630758
TI  - In Vitro Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activity and Wound Healing Properties of
      Jaboticaba (Plinia peruviana) Fruit Peel Hydroalcoholic Extract.
AB  - Jaboticaba is a fruit from a native tree to Brazil, Plinia peruviana. Jaboticaba
      peels are an important source of antioxidant molecules such as phenolic
      compounds. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro the activity of a hydroalcoholic
      extract of jaboticaba fruit peels (HEJFP) in wound healing processes and
      antioxidant activity in murine fibroblasts (L929 cell line). HEJFP concentrations
      (0.5, 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 ug/mL) were tested in MTT assay and cell
      proliferation was verified at 100 ug/mL after 24 h and at 25, 50, and 100 ug/mL
      after 48 h of extract exposure. Evaluation of antioxidant activity was performed
      at 0.5, 5, 25, 50, and 100 ug/mL HEJFP concentrations. Cell treatment with HEJFP
      at 25, 50, and 100 ug/mL for 24 h followed by H2O2 exposure for 3 h showed a
      strong cytoprotective effect. In vitro scratch wound healing assay indicated that
      none of tested HEJFP concentrations (0.5, 5, 25, 50, and 100 ug/mL) were capable
      of increasing migration rate after 12 h of incubation. These results demonstrate
      a positive effect of HEJFP on the wound healing process on L929 fibroblasts cell
      line, probably due to the antioxidant activity exhibited by phytochemicals in the
      extract. 

PMID- 27630757
TI  - Gsk3 Signalling and Redox Status in Bipolar Disorder: Evidence from Lithium
      Efficacy.
AB  - Objective. To discuss the link between glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) and the
      main biological alterations demonstrated in bipolar disorder (BD), with special
      attention to the redox status and the evidence supporting the efficacy of lithium
      (a GSK3 inhibitor) in the treatment of BD. Methods. A literature research on the
      discussed topics, using Pubmed and Google Scholar, has been conducted. Moreover,
      a manual selection of interesting references from the identified articles has
      been performed. Results. The main biological alterations of BD, pertaining to
      inflammation, oxidative stress, membrane ion channels, and circadian system, seem
      to be intertwined. The dysfunction of the GSK3 signalling pathway is involved in
      all the aforementioned "biological causes" of BD. In a complex scenario, it can
      be seen as the common denominator linking them all. Lithium inhibition of GSK3
      could, at least in part, explain its positive effect on these biological
      dysfunctions and its superiority in terms of clinical efficacy. Conclusions.
      Deepening the knowledge on the molecular bases of BD is fundamental to
      identifying the biochemical pathways that must be targeted in order to provide
      patients with increasingly effective therapeutic tools against an invalidating
      disorder such as BD. 

PMID- 27630759
TI  - Lower Superoxide Dismutase 2 (SOD2) Protein Content in Mononuclear Cells Is
      Associated with Better Survival in Patients with Hemodialysis Therapy.
AB  - Mitochondrial superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) converts superoxide anions to
      hydrogen peroxide and oxygen. Human data on SOD2 protein content in chronic
      kidney disease (CKD) are sparse and mortality data are lacking. We investigated
      SOD2 protein content in monocytes from patients with hemodialysis therapy (n =
      81), CKD stage 1-5 (n = 120), and healthy controls (n = 13) using in-cell Western
      assays. SOD2 protein decreased from CKD stage 1 until stage 4 whereas it
      increased again in stage 5 with and without hemodialysis. SOD2 gene expression,
      analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR, was not significantly different between
      the groups. Elevating cellular superoxide production reduced SOD2 protein
      content. This effect was abolished by the superoxide dismutase mimetic Tempol.
      Using gelelectrophoresis and Western blot we did not detect nitrotyrosine
      modifications of SOD2 in CKD. Finally, in patients with CKD stage 5 with
      hemodialysis therapy higher than median SOD2 protein content was associated with
      higher all-cause mortality. In conclusion, SOD2 protein content declined in CKD
      until stage 4 while SOD2 gene expression did not. Increased cellular superoxide
      anion production might affect SOD2 protein content. In advanced CKD (stage 5)
      SOD2 protein content increased again, but higher than median SOD2 protein content
      in these patients did not confer a survival benefit. 

PMID- 27630761
TI  - Applying Central Composite Design and Response Surface Methodology to Optimize
      Growth and Biomass Production of Haemophilus influenzae Type b.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is the leading cause of bacterial
      meningitis, otitis media, pneumonia, cellulitis, bacteremia, and septic arthritis
      in infants and young children. The Hib capsule contains the major virulence
      factor, and is composed of polyribosyl ribitol phosphate (PRP) that can induce
      immune system response. Vaccines consisting of Hib capsular polysaccharide (PRP)
      conjugated to a carrier protein are effective in the prevention of the
      infections. However, due to costly processes in PRP production, these vaccines
      are too expensive. OBJECTIVES: To enhance biomass, in this research we focused on
      optimizing Hib growth with respect to physical factors such as pH, temperature,
      and agitation by using a response surface methodology (RSM). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We employed a central composite design (CCD) and a response surface
      methodology to determine the optimum cultivation conditions for growth and
      biomass production of H. influenzae type b. The treatment factors investigated
      were initial pH, agitation, and temperature, using shaking flasks. After Hib
      cultivation and determination of dry biomass, analysis of experimental data was
      performed by the RSM-CCD. RESULTS: The model showed that temperature and pH had
      an interactive effect on Hib biomass production. The dry biomass produced in
      shaking flasks was about 5470 mg/L, which was under an initial pH of 8.5, at 250
      rpm and 35 degrees  C. CONCLUSIONS: We found CCD and RSM very effective in
      optimizing Hib culture conditions, and Hib biomass production was greatly
      influenced by pH and incubation temperature. Therefore, optimization of the
      growth factors to maximize Hib production can lead to 1) an increase in bacterial
      biomass and PRP productions, 2) lower vaccine prices, 3) vaccination of more
      susceptible populations, and 4) lower risk of Hib infections.

PMID- 27630760
TI  - Mitochondria in the Aging Muscles of Flies and Mice: New Perspectives for Old
      Characters.
AB  - Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass accompanied by a decrease in muscle
      strength and resistance and is the main cause of disability among the elderly.
      Muscle loss begins long before there is any clear physical impact in the senior
      adult. Despite all this, the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle aging are far
      from being understood. Recent studies have identified that not only mitochondrial
      metabolic dysfunction but also mitochondrial dynamics and mitochondrial calcium
      uptake could be involved in the degeneration of skeletal muscle mass.
      Mitochondrial homeostasis influences muscle quality which, in turn, could play a
      triggering role in signaling of systemic aging. Thus, it has become apparent that
      mitochondrial status in muscle cells could be a driver of whole body physiology
      and organismal aging. In the present review, we discuss the existing evidence for
      the mitochondria related mechanisms underlying the appearance of muscle aging and
      sarcopenia in flies and mice. 

PMID- 27630762
TI  - Attenuation and Production of the Amphotericin B-Resistant Leishmania tropica
      Strain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infections caused by Leishmania are becoming major public health
      problems on a global scale. Many species of Leishmania around the world are
      obtaining resistance levels of up to 15 folds, as estimated by the World Health
      Organization. Leishmania showing resistance is relatively difficult to observe
      and maintain in laboratory settings. OBJECTIVES: The current study deals with the
      generation of Leishmania tropica strains that are resistant to amphotericin B
      (amp B). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The L. tropica strain was attenuated using
      continuous passaging 20 times. The infectivity of L. tropica was confirmed in
      BALB/c mice. The L. tropica resistant strain was produced in vitro using a
      continuous increase in drug pressure. The cross resistance of L. tropica to other
      drugs was also investigated. RESULTS: After 20 continuous passages, the BALB/c
      mice tested negative in the development of leishmaniasis. At a concentration of
      0.1 ug/mL, L. tropica showed resistance to amp B. The newly developed
      promastigotes were 16 times more resistant compared to the resistance of the wild
      type promastigotes. The resistant L. tropica strain showed cross resistance to
      itraconazole and had a resistance index that was greater than five. The resistant
      strain displayed maximum stability for more than three months in the drug-free
      medium. CONCLUSIONS: The resistant strain of L. tropica can be produced in
      laboratories using continuous drug pressure. The attenuated resistant strain has
      significant implications (both medically and academically) in the ability to
      overcome resistance.

PMID- 27630763
TI  - Intra-Abdominal Abscess and Primary Peritonitis Caused by Streptococcus
      anginosus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Streptococcus anginosus group of bacteria are low-virulence
      bacteria existing as commensals in the oral flora and gastrointestinal tracts of
      humans. S. anginosus may spread to the blood in individuals with poor oral
      hygiene in cases of oral infections, such as gingivitis and tooth abscesses, that
      develop following the loss of mucosal unity. This may lead to infections in the
      whole body, primarily as brain and liver abscesses. CASE PRESENTATION: A 32-year
      old male patient presented with complaints of nausea, vomiting, and diffuse
      abdominal pain. Diffuse abdominal tenderness and rebound tenderness were detected
      particularly in the epigastrium and right upper quadrant. Laboratory assessment
      revealed a leukocyte count of 20,500/mm(3). Free fluid around the liver and
      heterogeneous areas of abscess formation in the right lateral gallbladder were
      revealed on abdominal computed tomography. Diffuse adhesions between the bowel
      and seropurulent free liquid in the abdomen were detected on surgical
      exploration, and a sample was taken for cultures. The patient was discharged
      without complications on the sixth postoperative day and his antibiotic course
      was completed with 4 weeks of oral treatment. We reviewed the literature for
      similar cases of disseminated pyogenic infections caused by the S. anginosus
      group. CONCLUSIONS: It should be kept in mind that the oral flora bacterium S.
      anginosus may cause transient bacteremia and deep-seated organ abscesses in
      immunodeficient patients with poor oral hygiene. Such patients with intra
      abdominal abscesses should be treated with antibiotics and surgery.

PMID- 27347377
TI  - Lovastatin lactone may improve irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C)
      by inhibiting enzymes in the archaeal methanogenesis pathway.
AB  - Methane produced by the methanoarchaeon Methanobrevibacter smithii ( M. smithii)
      has been linked to constipation, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS
      C), and obesity. Lovastatin, which demonstrates a cholesterol-lowering effect by
      the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase, may also have an anti-methanogenesis effect
      through direct inhibition of enzymes in the archaeal methanogenesis pathway. We
      conducted protein-ligand docking experiments to evaluate this possibility.
      Results are consistent with recent clinical findings. METHODS: F420-dependent
      methylenetetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase ( mtd), a key methanogenesis
      enzyme was modeled for two different methanogenic archaea: M. smithii and
      Methanopyrus kandleri. Once protein models were developed, ligand-binding sites
      were identified. Multiple ligands and their respective protonation, isomeric and
      tautomeric representations were docked into each site, including F420-coenzyme
      (natural ligand), lactone and beta-hydroxyacid forms of lovastatin and
      simvastatin, and other co-complexed ligands found in related crystal structures.
      RESULTS: 1) Generally, for each modeled site the lactone form of the statins had
      more favorable site interactions compared to F420; 2) The statin lactone forms
      generally had the most favorable docking scores, even relative to the native
      template PDB ligands; and 3) The statin beta-hydroxyacid forms had less favorable
      docking scores, typically scoring in the middle with some of the F420 tautomeric
      forms. Consistent with these computational results were those from a recent phase
      II clinical trial ( NCT02495623) with a proprietary, modified-release lovastatin
      lactone (SYN-010) in patients with IBS-C, which showed a reduction in symptoms
      and breath methane levels, compared to placebo. CONCLUSION: The lactone form of
      lovastatin exhibits preferential binding over the native-F420 coenzyme ligand in
      silico and thus could inhibit the activity of the key M. smithii methanogenesis
      enzyme mtd in vivo. Statin lactones may thus exert a methane-reducing effect that
      is distinct from cholesterol lowering activity, which requires HMGR inhibition by
      statin beta-hydroxyacid forms.

PMID- 25177484
TI  - Systems analysis of the prostate tumor suppressor NKX3.1 supports roles in DNA
      repair and luminal cell differentiation.
AB  - NKX3.1 is a homeobox transcription factor whose function as a prostate tumor
      suppressor remains insufficiently understood because neither the transcriptional
      program governed by NKX3.1, nor its interacting proteins have been fully
      revealed. Using affinity purification and mass spectrometry, we have established
      an extensive NKX3.1 interactome which contains the DNA repair proteins Ku70,
      Ku80, and PARP, thus providing a molecular underpinning to previous reports
      implicating NKX3.1 in DNA repair. Transcriptomic profiling of NKX3.1-negative
      prostate epithelial cells acutely expressing NKX3.1 revealed a rapid and complex
      response that is a near mirror image of the gene expression signature of human
      prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). Pathway and network analyses suggested
      that NKX3.1 actuates a cellular reprogramming toward luminal cell differentiation
      characterized by suppression of pro-oncogenic c-MYC and interferon-STAT signaling
      and activation of tumor suppressor pathways. Consistently, ectopic expression of
      NKX3.1 conferred a growth arrest depending on TNFalpha and JNK signaling. We
      propose that the tumor suppressor function of NKX3.1 entails a transcriptional
      program that maintains the differentiation state of secretory luminal cells and
      that disruption of NKX3.1 contributes to prostate tumorigenesis by permitting
      luminal cell de-differentiation potentially augmented by defects in DNA repair. 

PMID- 27347382
TI  - Multiple statistical tests: Lessons from a d20.
AB  - Statistical analyses are often conducted with alpha= .05. When multiple
      statistical tests are conducted, this procedure needs to be adjusted to
      compensate for the otherwise inflated Type I error. In some instances in tabletop
      gaming, sometimes it is desired to roll a 20-sided die (or 'd20') twice and take
      the greater outcome. Here I draw from probability theory and the case of a d20,
      where the probability of obtaining any specific outcome is (1)/ 20, to determine
      the probability of obtaining a specific outcome (Type-I error) at least once
      across repeated, independent statistical tests. 

PMID- 27547379
TI  - Overstimulation of the inhibitory nervous system plays a role in the pathogenesis
      of neuromuscular and neurological diseases: a novel hypothesis.
AB  - Based upon a thorough review of published clinical observations regarding the
      inhibitory system, I hypothesize that this system may play a key role in the
      pathogenesis of a variety of neuromuscular and neurological diseases.
      Specifically, excitatory overstimulation, which is commonly reported in
      neuromuscular and neurological diseases, may be a homeostatic response to
      inhibitory overstimulation. Involvement of the inhibitory system in disease
      pathogenesis is highly relevant, given that most approaches currently being
      developed for treating neuromuscular and neurological diseases focus on reducing
      excitatory activity rather than reducing inhibitory activity. 

PMID- 27630768
TI  - Fine tuning of cytosolic Ca (2+) oscillations.
AB  - Ca (2+) oscillations, a widespread mode of cell signaling, were reported in non
      excitable cells for the first time more than 25 years ago. Their fundamental
      mechanism, based on the periodic Ca (2+) exchange between the endoplasmic
      reticulum and the cytoplasm, has been well characterized. However, how the
      kinetics of cytosolic Ca (2+) changes are related to the extent of a
      physiological response remains poorly understood. Here, we review data suggesting
      that the downstream targets of Ca (2+) are controlled not only by the frequency
      of Ca (2+) oscillations but also by the detailed characteristics of the
      oscillations, such as their duration, shape, or baseline level. Involvement of
      non-endoplasmic reticulum Ca (2+) stores, mainly mitochondria and the
      extracellular medium, participates in this fine tuning of Ca (2+) oscillations.
      The main characteristics of the Ca (2+) exchange fluxes with these compartments
      are also reviewed. 

PMID- 27630771
TI  - Hypertension Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Survey
      among Middle-Aged Adults in Chongqing, China.
AB  - Hypertension is a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease in China, and yet
      little is known about health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its associations
      with demographic and social-economic characteristics in middle-aged patients with
      hypertension. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in Chongqing, China, using
      a multistage stratified random sampling methodology. Data was collected on 1,224
      eligible adults, aged between 45 and 53 years, including the Medical Outcomes
      Survey Short Form-36 to measure HRQOL. Hypertension was associated with poor
      state of physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health,
      vitality, and social function (p < 0.05 for all). In multivariable analyses,
      education level, job conditions, average monthly income, smoking status, sleep
      quality, perception of relationship with family, childhood breastfeeding history,
      and body mass index were associated with domains of SF36 among those with
      hypertension (p < 0.05 for all). Hypertensive respondents with high education,
      marital status, breastfeeding, higher incomes, good quality of sleep, positive
      relationship with family, and higher body mass index have better HRQOL in middle
      aged people with hypertension. Those unemployed had a better state of general
      health and had a poorer state of social function. Nonsmokers had a poorer state
      of bodily pain than smokers. This study provides detailed information of the
      implications for health care providers to gain a more complete picture of their
      hypertension patients' health. 

PMID- 27630770
TI  - Potential associations between chronic whiplash and incomplete spinal cord
      injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: This research utilized a cross-sectional design with control group
      inclusion. OBJECTIVES: Preliminary evidence suggests that a portion of the
      patient population with chronic whiplash may have sustained spinal cord damage.
      Our hypothesis is that in some cases of chronic whiplash-associated disorders
      (WAD), observed muscle weakness in the legs will be associated with local signs
      of a partial spinal cord injury of the cervical spine. SETTING: University based
      laboratory in Chicago, IL, USA. METHODS: Five participants with chronic WAD were
      compared with five gender/age/height/weight/body mass index (BMI) control
      participants. For a secondary investigation, the chronic WAD group was compared
      with five unmatched participants with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI).
      Spinal cord motor tract integrity was assessed using magnetization transfer
      imaging. Muscle fat infiltration (MFI) was quantified using fat/water separation
      magnetic resonance imaging. Central volitional muscle activation of the
      plantarflexors was assessed using a burst superimposition technique. RESULTS: We
      found reduced spinal cord motor tract integrity, increased MFI of the neck and
      lower extremity muscles and significantly impaired voluntary plantarflexor muscle
      activation in five participants with chronic WAD. The lower extremity structural
      changes and volitional weakness in chronic WAD were comparable to participants
      with iSCI. CONCLUSION: The results support the position that a subset of the
      chronic whiplash population may have sustained partial damage to the spinal cord.
      SPONSORSHIP: NIH R01HD079076-01A1, NIH T32 HD057845 and the Foundation for
      Physical Therapy Promotion of Doctoral Studies program.

PMID- 27630769
TI  - Tailoring biomaterial surface properties to modulate host-implant interactions:
      implication in cardiovascular and bone therapy.
AB  - Host body response to a foreign medical device plays a critical role in defining
      its fate post implantation. It is thus important to control host-material
      interactions by designing innovative implant surfaces. In the recent years,
      biochemical and topographical features have been explored as main target to
      produce this new type of bioinert or bioresponsive implants. The review discusses
      specific biofunctional materials and strategies to achieve a precise control over
      implant surface properties and presents possible solutions to develop next
      generation of implants, particularly in the fields of bone and cardiovascular
      therapy.

PMID- 27630772
TI  - Novel Form of Curcumin Improves Endothelial Function in Young, Healthy
      Individuals: A Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Study.
AB  - Curcumin, a turmeric extract, may protect against cardiovascular diseases by
      enhancing endothelial function. In this randomized controlled double-blind
      parallel prospective study, fifty-nine healthy adults were assigned to placebo,
      50 mg (50 mg), or 200 mg (200 mg) curcumin, for 8 weeks. The higher curcumin (200
      mg) supplementation produced a dose-mediated improvement in endothelial function
      measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD). The outcome was a clinically
      substantial 3.0% increase (90% CI 0.7 to 5.3%, p = 0.032; benefit : harm odds
      ratio 546 : 1) with the 200 mg dose, relative to placebo. The 50 mg dose also
      increased FMD relative to placebo by 1.7% (-0.6 to 4.0%, p = 0.23; 25 : 1), but
      the outcome was not clinically decisive. In apparently healthy adults, 8 weeks of
      200 mg oral curcumin supplementation resulted in a clinically meaningful
      improvement in endothelial function as measured by FMD. Oral curcumin
      supplementation may present a simple lifestyle strategy for decreasing the risk
      of cardiovascular diseases. This trial was registered at ISRCTN registry
      (ISRCTN90184217). 

PMID- 27630773
TI  - Triptans Use for Migraine Headache among Nonelderly Adults with Cardiovascular
      Risk.
AB  - Objective. To examine the association between the cardiovascular (CV) risk
      factors and triptans use among adults with migraine. Methods. A retrospective
      cross-sectional study design was used. Data were derived from 2009-2013 Medical
      Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The study sample consisted of adults (age > 21
      years) with migraine headache (N = 1,652). Multivariable logistic regression was
      used to examine the relationship between CV risk factors and triptans use.
      Results. Overall, 21% adults with migraine headache used triptans. Nearly two
      thirds (61%) of adults with migraine had at least one CV risk factor. A
      significantly lower percentage of adults with CV risk (18.1%) used triptans
      compared to those without CV risk factors (25.5%). After controlling for
      demographic, socioeconomic status, access to care, and health status, adults with
      no CV risk factors were more likely to use triptans as compared to those with one
      CV risk factor (AOR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.17-2.87). There were no statistically
      significant differences in triptans use between those with two or more CV risk
      factors and those with one CV risk factor. Conclusion. An overwhelming majority
      of adults with migraine had a contraindication to triptans based on their CV risk
      factors. The use of triptans among adults with migraine and multiple CV risk
      factors warrants further investigation. 

PMID- 27630774
TI  - Corrigendum to "Subjective Experiences of Speech and Language Therapy in Patients
      with Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2015/839895.]. 

PMID- 27630775
TI  - Clinical Effects of Gamma-Radiation-Resistant Aspergillus sydowii on Germ-Free
      Mice Immunologically Prone to Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - We report and investigated a case of inadvertent contamination of 125 mice
      (housed in two germ-free positive-pressurized isolators) with emerging human and
      coral pathogen Aspergillus sydowii. The infected mice correspond to genetic line
      SAMP1/YitFc, which have 100% immune predisposition to develop Crohn's disease
      like spontaneous pathologies, namely, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Pathogen
      update based on a scoping review of the literature and our clinical observations
      and experimentation are discussed. The unwanted infection of germ-free mice
      (immunologically prone to suffer chronic inflammation) with human pathogen A.
      sydowii resulted in no overt signs of clinical disease over 3-week exposure
      period, or during DSS-induced colitis experiments. Results and observations
      suggest that A. sydowii alone has limited clinical effect in immunocompromised
      germ-free mice or that other commensal microbial flora is required for
      Aspergillus-associated disease to occur. 

PMID- 27630776
TI  - Proteases from Canavalia ensiformis: Active and Thermostable Enzymes with
      Potential of Application in Biotechnology.
AB  - Extracts of leaves, seeds, roots, and stem from a tropical legume, C. ensiformis,
      were prepared employing buffers and detergent in aqueous solution. Leaf extracts
      had the highest protein content and the most pronounced peptidase activity with
      optimal pH in the neutral to alkaline range. All extracts exhibited peaks of
      activity at various pH values, suggesting the presence of distinctive classes of
      proteases. N-alpha-Tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester hydrolysis was maximal at 30
      degrees C to 60 degrees C and peptidase activity from all extracts presented very
      good thermal stability after 24 h incubation at 70 degrees C. C. ensiformis
      proteases exhibited molecular masses of about 200-57, 40-37, and 20-15 kDa by SDS
      PAGE analysis. These enzymes cleaved hemoglobin, bovine serum albumin, casein,
      and gelatin at different levels. Serine and metalloproteases are the major
      proteases in C. ensiformis extracts, modulated by divalent cations, stable at 1%
      of surfactant Triton X-100 and at different concentrations of the reducing agent
      beta-mercaptoethanol. Thus, C. ensiformis expresses a particular set of proteases
      in distinctive organs with high activity and stability, making this legume an
      important source of proteases with biotechnological potential. 

PMID- 27630778
TI  - Role of Spindle Oscillations across Lifespan in Health and Disease.

PMID- 27630780
TI  - A Case of Metastatic Adamantinoma That Responded Well to Sunitinib.
AB  - Adamantinoma is a rare low-grade malignant bone tumor of epithelial origin.
      Metastatic adamantinoma has been reported to be resistant to chemotherapy. We
      report a case of metastatic adamantinoma to the lung, 10 years after the initial
      diagnosis of tibial mass. The patient received radiation therapy to the lung with
      partial response. A surveillance PET scan revealed progression of the lung mass
      and biopsy confirmed to be progressive residual metastatic adamantinoma. He
      received carboplatin and etoposide for 7 months and achieved a partial response.
      Four months later, PET scan showed disease progression. We started him on
      sunitinib, a multikinase inhibitor. He achieved a good partial response for 3
      years. He died due to pneumonia at the age of 72. 

PMID- 27630779
TI  - Plasticity and Awareness of Bodily Distortion.
AB  - Knowledge of the body is filtered by perceptual information, recalibrated through
      predominantly innate stored information, and neurally mediated by direct sensory
      motor information. Despite multiple sources, the immediate prediction,
      construction, and evaluation of one's body are distorted. The origins of such
      distortions are unclear. In this review, we consider three possible sources of
      awareness that inform body distortion. First, the precision in the body metric
      may be based on the sight and positioning sense of a particular body segment.
      This view provides information on the dual nature of body representation, the
      reliability of a conscious body image, and implicit alterations in the metrics
      and positional correspondence of body parts. Second, body awareness may reflect
      an innate organizational experience of unity and continuity in the brain, with no
      strong isomorphism to body morphology. Third, body awareness may be based on
      efferent/afferent neural signals, suggesting that major body distortions may
      result from changes in neural sensorimotor experiences. All these views can be
      supported empirically, suggesting that body awareness is synthesized from
      multimodal integration and the temporal constancy of multiple body
      representations. For each of these views, we briefly discuss abnormalities and
      therapeutic strategies for correcting the bodily distortions in various clinical
      disorders.

PMID- 27630782
TI  - Tailgut Cyst and Perineal Hydatid Cyst: A Case Report with Multimodality Imaging
      Findings.
AB  - A tailgut cyst is a rare developmental lesion and usually is located in the
      retrorectal or presacral space. Extrahepatic hydatid disease has been reported in
      several locations including the pelvis and it often poses a diagnostic challenge.
      There are very few reported cases of primary perineal hydatid cysts. We present
      the multimodality imaging findings of a tailgut cyst and concurrent perineal
      hydatid disease in a 32-year-old male patient. 

PMID- 27630781
TI  - Systemic Air Embolism Associated with Pleural Pigtail Chest Tube Insertion.
AB  - Pleural pigtail catheter placement is associated with many complications
      including pneumothorax, hemorrhage, and chest pain. Air embolism is a known but
      rare complication of pleural pigtail catheter insertion and has a high risk of
      occurrence with positive pressure ventilation. In this case report, we present a
      50-year-old male with bilateral pneumonia who developed a pneumothorax while on
      mechanical ventilation with continuous positive airway pressure mode. During the
      placement of the pleural pigtail catheter to correct the pneumothorax, the
      patient developed a sudden left sided body weakness and became unresponsive. An
      air embolism was identified in the right main cerebral artery, which was fatal. 

PMID- 27630783
TI  - Giant Cell Tumor of Bone: Documented Progression over 4 Years from Its Origin at
      the Metaphysis to the Articular Surface.
AB  - The exact location of origin for giant cell tumors of bone (GCTB) remains
      controversial, as lesions are not routinely imaged early but rather late when the
      tumor is large and clinically symptomatic. At the time of diagnosis, GCTB are
      classically described as lucent, eccentric lesions with nonsclerotic margins,
      located within the epiphysis to a greater extent than the metaphysis. Here we
      present a case of a biopsy proven GCTB initially incidentally seen on MRI as a
      small strictly metaphyseal lesion, which over the course of several years
      expanded across a closed physis to involve the epiphysis and abut the articular
      surface/subchondral bone plate. 

PMID- 27630785
TI  - Influence of Cushioning Variables in the Workplace and in the Family on the
      Probability of Suffering Stress.
AB  - Stress at work and in the family is a very common issue in our society that
      generates many health-related problems. During recent years, numerous studies
      have sought to define the term stress, raising many contradictions that various
      authors have studied. Other authors have attempted to establish some criteria, in
      subjective and not very quantitative ways, in an attempt to reduce and even to
      eliminate stressors and their effects at work and in the family context. The
      purpose of this study was to quantify so-called cushioning variables, such as
      control, social support, home/work life conciliation, and even sports and leisure
      activities, with the purpose of, as much as possible, reducing the negative
      effects of stress, which seriously affects the health of workers. The study
      employs data from the Fifth European Working Conditions Survey, in which nearly
      44,000 interviewees from 34 countries in the European Union participated. We
      constructed a probabilistic model based on a Bayesian network, using variables
      from both the workplace and the family, the aforementioned cushioning variables,
      as well as the variable stress. If action is taken on the above variables, then
      the probabilities of suffering high levels of stress may be reduced. Such action
      may improve the quality of life of people at work and in the family. 

PMID- 27630784
TI  - Tobacco and Alcohol Use and the Impact of School Based Antitobacco Education for
      Knowledge Enhancement among Adolescent Students of Rural Kerala, India.
AB  - Objectives. Limited information is available on adolescent tobacco and alcohol
      use in rural Kerala, the southernmost state in India. The study was conducted to
      estimate the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use among adolescent school
      students and further to understand the extent of knowledge pertaining to tobacco
      before and after conducting awareness programmes in schools. Methods. A cross
      sectional study was conducted in 10 government schools of rural
      Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala state based on a multistaged sampling
      design. Using a pretested semistructured questionnaire, prevalence and patterns
      of tobacco use by students and their households, as well as students' knowledge
      on tobacco hazards before and after delivering antitobacco messages, were
      collected. Results. The overall prevalence of self-reported ever users of tobacco
      in the current academic year was 7.4% (95% CI 5.86-8.94), while that of ever
      alcohol users was 5.6% (95% CI 4.25-6.95). Knowledge assessment scores revealed a
      significant increase in the mean knowledge scores after posttraining evaluation
      (mean score = 10.34) when compared to pretraining evaluation (mean score = 9.26)
      (p < 0.0001). Conclusion. Apart from antitobacco awareness programmes, strict
      monitoring of trade of tobacco and alcohol products near educational institutions
      has to be conducted consistently to curb the problem. 

PMID- 27630786
TI  - An Intervention Study on the Implementation of Control Banding in Controlling
      Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Management and workers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
      often find it hard to comprehend the requirements related to controlling risks
      due to exposure to substances. An intervention study was set up in order to
      support 45 SMEs in improving the management of the risks of occupational exposure
      to chemicals, and in using the control banding tool and exposure model
      Stoffenmanager in this process. METHODS: A 2-year intervention study was carried
      out, in which a mix of individual and collective training and support was
      offered, and baseline and effect measurements were carried out by means of
      structured interviews, in order to measure progress made. A seven-phase
      implementation evolutionary ladder was used for this purpose. Success and failure
      factors were identified by means of company visits and structured interviews.
      RESULTS: Most companies clearly moved upwards on the implementation evolutionary
      ladder; 76% of the companies by at least one phase, and 62% by at least two
      phases. Success and failure factors were described. CONCLUSION: Active training
      and coaching helped the participating companies to improve their chemical risk
      management, and to avoid making mistakes when using and applying Stoffenmanager.
      The use of validated tools embedded in a community platform appears to support
      companies to organize and structure their chemical risk management in a business
      wise manner, but much depends upon motivated occupational health and safety (OHS)
      professionals, management support, and willingness to invest time and means.

PMID- 27630787
TI  - Analysis Testing of Sociocultural Factors Influence on Human Reliability within
      Sociotechnical Systems: The Algerian Oil Companies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The influence of sociocultural factors on human reliability within an
      open sociotechnical systems is highlighted. The design of such systems is
      enhanced by experience feedback. METHODS: The study was focused on a survey
      related to the observation of working cases, and by processing of
      incident/accident statistics and semistructured interviews in the qualitative
      part. In order to consolidate the study approach, we considered a schedule for
      the purpose of standard statistical measurements. We tried to be unbiased by
      supporting an exhaustive list of all worker categories including age, sex,
      educational level, prescribed task, accountability level, etc. The survey was
      reinforced by a schedule distributed to 300 workers belonging to two oil
      companies. This schedule comprises 30 items related to six main factors that
      influence human reliability. RESULTS: Qualitative observations and schedule data
      processing had shown that the sociocultural factors can negatively and positively
      influence operator behaviors. CONCLUSION: The explored sociocultural factors
      influence the human reliability both in qualitative and quantitative manners. The
      proposed model shows how reliability can be enhanced by some measures such as
      experience feedback based on, for example, safety improvements, training, and
      information. With that is added the continuous systems improvements to improve
      sociocultural reality and to reduce negative behaviors.

PMID- 27630777
TI  - Role of NMDA Receptor-Mediated Glutamatergic Signaling in Chronic and Acute
      Neuropathologies.
AB  - N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) have two opposing roles in the brain. On
      the one hand, NMDARs control critical events in the formation and development of
      synaptic organization and synaptic plasticity. On the other hand, the
      overactivation of NMDARs can promote neuronal death in neuropathological
      conditions. Ca(2+) influx acts as a primary modulator after NMDAR channel
      activation. An imbalance in Ca(2+) homeostasis is associated with several
      neurological diseases including schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
      disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These chronic
      conditions have a lengthy progression depending on internal and external factors.
      External factors such as acute episodes of brain damage are associated with an
      earlier onset of several of these chronic mental conditions. Here, we will review
      some of the current evidence of how traumatic brain injury can hasten the onset
      of several neurological conditions, focusing on the role of NMDAR distribution
      and the functional consequences in calcium homeostasis associated with synaptic
      dysfunction and neuronal death present in this group of chronic diseases.

PMID- 27630788
TI  - Development of a Tailored Analysis System for Korean Working Conditions Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Korean Working Conditions Surveys (KWCS), referencing European
      Working Conditions Surveys, have been conducted three times in order to survey
      working condition and develop work-related policies. However, we found three
      limitations for managing the collected KWCS data: (1) there was no computerized
      system for managing data; (2) statistical KWCS data were provided by limited one
      way communication; and (3) the concept of a one-time provision of information was
      pursued. We suggest a web-based public service system that enables ordinary
      people to make greater use of the KWCS data, which can be managed constantly in
      the future. METHODS: After considering data characteristics, we designed a
      database, which was able to have the result of all pairwise combinations with two
      extracted data to construct an analysis system. Using the data of the social
      network for each user, the tailored analysis system was developed. This system
      was developed with three methods: clustering and classification for building a
      social network, and an infographic method for improving readability through a
      friendly user interface. RESULTS: We developed a database including one input
      entity consisting of the sociodemographic characteristics and one output entity
      consisting of working condition characteristics, such as working pattern and work
      satisfaction. A web-based public service system to provide tailored contents was
      completed. CONCLUSION: This study aimed to present a customized analysis system
      to use the KWCS data efficiently, provide a large amount of data in a form that
      can give users a better understanding, and lay the ground for helping researchers
      and policy makers understand the characteristics.

PMID- 27630789
TI  - Outdoor Workers' Use of Sun Protection at Work and Leisure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Outdoor workers are at risk of high ultraviolet radiation exposure,
      and may have difficulty using sun protection. The objectives were to determine
      the prevalence of sun protection behaviors in a sample of outdoor construction
      workers, and to assess which factors predict better sun protection practices.
      METHODS: Participants were recruited via construction unions. Workers answered a
      questionnaire on demographics, skin cancer risk, sun protection behaviors, and
      job. Sun protection behavior scores (from questions on sunscreen use, sleeved
      shirt, hat, shade seeking, sunglasses) were calculated by converting Likert-scale
      answers to scores from 0 to 4, and taking the mean (separately for work and
      leisure). Determinants of sun protection behavior scores were examined for work
      and leisure using generalized linear models. RESULTS: Seventy-seven workers had
      complete questionnaire data (participation 98%). Sun protection behaviors used
      most often were hats (79% often/always) and sleeved shirts (82% often/always);
      least prevalent were shade-seeking (8% often/always) and sunscreen (29%
      often/always). For both work and leisure scores, the strongest predictor was skin
      type, with fairer-skinned individuals having higher sun protection behavior
      scores. Workers had higher scores at work than on weekends. Workplaces that
      required hats and sleeved shirts for safety purposes had higher protection
      behavior scores. CONCLUSION: This high-participation rate cohort helps
      characterize sun protection behaviors among outdoor workers. Workers practiced
      better sun protection at work than on weekends, suggesting that workplace
      policies supportive of sun protection could be useful for skin cancer prevention
      in the construction industry.

PMID- 27630790
TI  - A Policy Intervention Study to Identify High-Risk Groups to Prevent Industrial
      Accidents in Republic of Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to identify high-risk groups for
      industrial accidents by setting up 2003 as the base year and conducting an in
      depth analysis of the trends of major industrial accident indexes the index of
      industrial accident rate, the index of occupational injury rate, the index of
      occupational illness and disease rate per 10,000 people, and the index of
      occupational injury fatality rate per 10,000 people for the past 10 years.
      METHODS: This study selected industrial accident victims, who died or received
      more than 4 days of medical care benefits, due to occupational accidents and
      diseases occurring at workplaces, subject to the Industrial Accident Compensation
      Insurance Act, as the study population. RESULTS: According to the trends of four
      major indexes by workplace characteristics, the whole industry has shown a
      decreasing tendency in all four major indexes since the base year (2003); as of
      2012, the index of industrial accident rate was 67, while the index of
      occupational injury fatality rate per 10,000 people was 59. CONCLUSION: The
      manufacturing industry, age over 50 years and workplaces with more than 50
      employees showed a high severity level of occupational accidents. Male workers
      showed a higher severity level of occupational accidents than female workers. The
      employment period of < 3 years and newly hired workers with a relatively shorter
      working period are likely to have more occupational accidents than others.
      Overall, an industrial accident prevention policy must be established by
      concentrating all available resources and capacities of these high-risk groups.

PMID- 27630791
TI  - An Analysis of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Butchers in Kano
      Metropolis, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Butchering is often associated with high rates of work-related
      musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). However, published work on the prevalence of
      WRMSDs among butchers in Nigeria is scarce. This is important because meat
      processing practices differ across geographical and cultural locations. This
      study was therefore aimed at analyzing WRMSDs among butchers in Kano metropolis.
      METHODS: Sociodemographic and work-settings information was obtained from 102
      male cattle butchers (age, 37.49 +/- 11.68 years) through survey. Information on
      the prevalence and pattern of musculoskeletal disorders was obtained from the
      respondents using the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire. Additional information
      on health seeking practices was also obtained using a pro forma. Associations
      between the prevalence of WRMSDs and each of the sociodemographic data and work
      settings were explored using Chi-square analysis. The level of significance was
      set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The 12-month and point prevalence rates of WRMSDs among
      butchers in this study were 88.2% and 74.5%, respectively. Whereas lower back
      complaints (66.7%) were the overall and lower body quadrant's most commonly
      reported WRMSDs among the butchers surveyed, wrist/hand complaints were the
      leading upper quadrant's (45.1%) most commonly reported WRMSDs among the
      respondents. There were significant associations between age and majority of
      WRMSDs in the body regions. Only 23.3% of the 90 individuals who had WRMSD
      visited the hospital to seek redress for their WRMSD. CONCLUSION: The prevalence
      of WRMSDs is high among butchers in Kano Metropolis. Few individuals with WRMSD
      utilize healthcare facilities. Age is a major risk factor in this setting.

PMID- 27630792
TI  - Occupational Health and Safety and Organizational Commitment: Evidence from the
      Ghanaian Mining Industry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study seeks to examine the relationship and impact of
      occupational health and safety on employees' organizational commitment in Ghana's
      mining industry. The study explores occupational health and safety and the
      different dimensions of organizational commitment. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      survey design was used for this study. The respondents were selected based on
      simple random sampling. Out of 400 questionnaires administered, 370 were returned
      (77.3% male and 22.7% female) and used for the study. Correlation and multiple
      regression analysis were used to determine the relationship and impact between
      the variables. RESULTS: The findings of this study revealed positive and
      significant relationship between occupational health and safety management, and
      affective, normative, and continuance commitment. Additionally, the results
      revealed the significant impact of occupational health and safety on affective,
      normative, and continuance commitment. CONCLUSION: Management within the mining
      sector of Ghana must recognize the fact that workers who feel healthy and safe in
      the performance of their duties, develop emotional attachment and have a sense of
      obligation to their organization and are most likely committed to the
      organization. Employees do not just become committed to the organization; rather,
      they expect management to first think about their health and safety needs by
      instituting good and sound policy measures. Thus, management should invest in the
      protection of employees' health and safety in organizations.

PMID- 27630793
TI  - Analysis of Workplace Accidents in Automotive Repair Workshops in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To analyze the effects of the factors associated with different types
      of injury (superficial wounds, dislocations and sprains, bone fractures,
      concussion and internal injuries, burns scalding and freezing) caused by
      occupational accidents in automotive repair workshops. METHODS: Study of a sample
      consisting of 89,954 industry accidents reported from 2003 to 2008. Odds ratios
      were calculated with a 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: Belonging to a small
      company is a risk factor for suffering three of the five types of injury studied.
      Women are less likely to suffer burns and superficial wounds, and more likely to
      suffer dislocations or sprains. Foreign workers are more likely to suffer
      concussion and internal injuries. CONCLUSION: Health and safety strategies and
      accident prevention measures should be individualized and adapted to the type of
      worker most likely to be injured in each type of accident. Occupational health
      and safety training courses designed according to worker profile, and improving
      the participation of the workers in small firms creating regional or roving
      safety representatives would improve working conditions.

PMID- 27630794
TI  - Evaluation of Interhandle Distance During Pushing and Pulling of a Four-Caster
      Cart for Upper Limb Exertion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examined the relationship between interhandle distances
      and upper limb exertion during simply pushing and pulling of a cart with four
      swivel wheels, defined by a roll box pallet (RBP) in a Japanese industrial
      standard. METHODS: Six healthy young male participants were asked to push and
      pull an RBP at a distance of 5.2 m under six conditions corresponding to
      different interhandle distances (40 cm, 60 cm, and 80 cm) and weights (130 kg and
      250 kg). The upper limb exertion was studied by shoulder abduction and flexion,
      and elbow flexion, as well as surface electromyogram (EMG) in shoulder extensor,
      and elbow flexor and extensor. Participants were required to provide subjective
      evaluations on operability after each trial. RESULTS: Subjective operability
      indicated that a narrower interhandle distance had a better operability for
      pushing. Interhandle distance was also related to upper limb exertion especially
      for pushing. A narrow interhandle distance caused smaller shoulder adduction but
      larger elbow flexion. The normalized EMG data revealed that muscular activity
      became smaller with a narrow interhandle distance in shoulder extensor. During
      the pulling task, elbow flexion was smaller at a narrow interhandle distance,
      although subjective operability and normalized EMG were not significantly varied.
      CONCLUSION: A wider interhandle distance, such as 80 cm, was not suitable in the
      forwardbackward movement of the RBP. Therefore, this study concluded that an
      interhandle distance of 40 cm would be suitable for pushing and pulling an RBP to
      protect the workers' hands against the risk of injury by installing inner
      handles.

PMID- 27630795
TI  - Domestic Violence in the Canadian Workplace: Are Coworkers Aware?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Domestic violence (DV) is associated with serious consequences for
      victims, children, and families, and even national economies. An emerging
      literature demonstrates that DV also has a negative impact on workers and
      workplaces. Less is known about the extent to which people are aware of
      coworkers' experiences of DV. METHODS: Using data from a pan-Canadian sample of
      8,429 men and women, we examine: (1) awareness of coworker DV victimization and
      perpetration; (2) the warning signs of DV victimization and perpetration
      recognized by workers; (3) whether DV victims are more likely than nonvictims to
      recognize DV and its warning signs in the workplace; and (4) the impacts of DV
      that workers perceive on victims'/perpetrators' ability to work. RESULTS: Nearly
      40% of participants believed they had recognized a DV victim and/or perpetrator
      in the workplace and many reported recognizing more than one warning sign. DV
      victims were significantly more likely to report recognizing victims and
      perpetrators in the workplace, and recognized more DV warning signs. Among
      participants who believed they knew a coworker who had experienced DV, 49.5%
      thought the DV had affected their coworker's ability to work. For those who knew
      a coworker perpetrating DV, 37.9% thought their coworker's ability to work was
      affected by the abusive behavior. CONCLUSION: Our findings have implications for
      a coordinated workplace response to DV. Further research is urgently needed to
      examine how best to address DV in the workplace and improve outcomes for victims,
      perpetrators, and their coworkers.

PMID- 27630797
TI  - Response to "Ergonomic Intervention For Musculoskeletal Disorders in Construction
      Workers".

PMID- 27630798
TI  - Corrigendum to "Unions, Health and Safety Committees, and Workplace Accidents in
      the Korean Manufacturing Sector" [Saf Health Work 7 (2) (2016) 161-165].
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.shaw.2016.02.005.]. 

PMID- 27630796
TI  - Risk Assessment of Exposure to Silica Dust in Building Demolition Sites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Building demolition can lead to emission of dust into the
      environment. Exposure to silica dust may be considered as an important hazard in
      these sites. The objectives of this research were to determine the amount of
      workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust and assess the relative risk of
      silicosis and the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer in
      demolition workers. METHODS: Four sites in the Tehran megacity region were
      selected. Silica dust was collected using the National Institute for Occupational
      Safety and Health method 7601 and determined spectrophotometrically. The Mannetje
      et al and Rice et al models were chosen to examine the rate of silicosis-related
      mortality and the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer,
      respectively. RESULTS: The amount of demolition workers' exposure was in the
      range of 0.085-0.185 mg/m(3). The range of relative risk of silicosis related
      mortality was increased from 1 in the workers with the lowest exposure level to
      22.64/1,000 in the employees with high exposure level. The range of the excess
      lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer was in the range of 32-60/1,000
      exposed workers. CONCLUSION: Geometric and arithmetic mean of exposure was higher
      than threshold limit value for silica dust in all demolition sites. The risk of
      silicosis mortality for many demolition workers was higher than 1/1,000
      (unacceptable level of risk). Estimating the lifetime lung cancer mortality
      showed a higher risk of mortality from lung cancer in building demolition
      workers.

PMID- 27630799
TI  - Palisaded Encapsulated Neuroma of the Trunk: A Case Report and Review of
      Palisaded Encapsulated Neuroma.
AB  - Palisaded encapsulated neuroma is a rare, benign cutaneous tumor. It most
      commonly presents as a solitary, flesh-colored, dome-shaped nodule affecting the
      face. However, albeit rarely, palisaded encapsulated neuroma may also appear on
      the trunk, genitals, or extremities. We describe the clinical and pathologic
      findings of a male patient who presented with a palisaded encapsulated neuroma on
      his left flank. In addition, we review the characteristics of patients with
      truncal palisaded encapsulated neuromas and summarize the clinical and histologic
      differential diagnosis of this tumor. 

PMID- 27630801
TI  - Core Measures for Congestive Heart Failure in a Tertiary Care Setting in
      Pakistan.
AB  - PURPOSE:  Heart failure presents a huge burden for individual patients and the
      healthcare system as a whole. This study aims to assess the adherence to these
      core measures as identified by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
      Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)/ American Heart Association (AHA) by physicians
      of Pakistan. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY:  We conducted a cross-sectional study in
      Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan from the period of April 2013
      to April 2016. Patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure were drawn from
      a coding section of hospital's record department. Data was evaluated to assess
      how strictly doctors were following core measures identified by JCAHO/AHA for the
      given diagnosis. Inclusion criteria for this study were patients >= 17 years of
      age and patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure according to New York
      Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Patients with congenital anomalies and
      structural heart wall problems, like sarcoidosis, hemochromatosis, and
      amyloidosis, were excluded from the study. RESULTS:  Mean ejection fraction (EF)
      was found to be 27.23 +/- 11.72 percent. Symptoms assessment of heart failure was
      done in 16/421 (3.8%) patients according to NYHA classification and in 405/421
      (96.2%) patients according to outpatient-based heart failure assessment based on
      physician's experience other than NYHA classification. Left ventricle ejection
      fraction (LVEF) was assessed in 411/421 (97%) patients. Out of these, 336/411
      (81.7%) patients had EF < 40%. Mean EF was found to be significantly higher in
      females as compared to males (p < 0.001). Three hundred and thirty-six out of 411
      (81.7%) patients with EF < 40% needed angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors
      (ACEi) and beta-blocker (BB) prescriptions. ACEi were prescribed only to 230/336
      (68.7%) patients and 248/336 (73.8%) patients were given BB with documented
      contraindication to ACEi and BB in 7.36% and 17% patients, respectively. There
      was no significant association between gender and mean duration of
      hospitalization (p = 0.411). No significant association was found between EF <=
      40% and mean duration of hospitalization (p = 0.426). CONCLUSION:  We found that
      symptom assessment of congestive heart failure (CHF) patients, according to NYHA
      guidelines, are strikingly low. Also, a significant percentage of patients who
      need ACEi and BB are not prescribed the required medications despite
      echocardiography showing low left ventricular function.

PMID- 27630800
TI  - Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome - Clinical and Radiological Findings of
      Three Cases.
AB  - Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) is an autosomal dominant disorder,
      characterized by skeletal anomalies and multiple keratocystic odontogenic tumors
      of the jaws. The skeletal anomalies of this syndrome are mandibular prognathism,
      bossing of frontal and parietal bones, high-arched palate, and bifid rib. We
      report three cases with NBCCS, emphasizing the clinical and radiographic
      findings, the importance of the early diagnosis of NBCCS, and a preventive
      multidisciplinary approach in the management of NBCCS. 

PMID- 27630802
TI  - A Novel, Minimally-Invasive Approach to Repair Degenerative Disk Disease in an
      Ovine Model Using Injectable Polymethyl-Methacrylate and Bovine Collagen
      (PMMA/BC).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The natural, inflammatory repair processes of an injured
      intervertebral degenerative disc can propagate further injury and destruction.
      While there are many different treatment modalities of the pain related to
      degenerative disc disease, none are actually reparative in nature. Treatment
      strategies to repair a degenerative disc without inducing a destructive
      inflammatory milieu have been elusive.  PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment
      is to discover the feasibility of reconstructing an injured intervertebral disc
      using an injected, inert polymer as the foundation for endogenous collagen
      growth. STUDY DESIGN: In this ovine model of six subjects in total, we introduce
      a modality where a large inert polymer, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), in
      conjunction bovine collagen (BC) is injected into the intervertebral disc.
      Following six months of observation, histologic specimens were evaluated
      macroscopically and microscopically for evidence of a benefit of the injectable
      PMMA/BC. METHODS: We obtained six merino sheep for this study. Concentric
      injuries were made to four of their lumbar intervertebral discs. Two of those
      levels were treated with a percutaneous injection of 0.3 cc of PMMA/BC. The
      remaining lumbar levels were left untreated and were our controls. After six
      months, all subjects were sacrificed. Their four levels were extracted and were
      examined macroscopically and microscopically. RESULTS: All subjects tolerated the
      lumbar injury and percutaneous injection of PMMA/BC well. After the six month
      interval, all subjects have demonstrated an intact architecture of their lumbar
      disc height at the macroscopic and microscopic level. Microscopically, there was
      no evidence of external migration of the PMMA/BC microspheres, nor was there any
      evidence of an inflammatory response by its presence. Notably, the PMMA/BC
      microspheres were well-incorporated into the concentric disc tears and had
      undergone endogenous collagen formation in its environment. Treatment levels were
      revealing for maintenance of disc height without evidence of an ongoing
      degeneration. The controlled levels were revealing for continued disc
      degeneration with loss of disc height and evolving injury at the level of the
      concentric tear. CONCLUSIONS: This ovine model demonstrates a novel and promising
      technique for prevention and arrest of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration.

PMID- 27630803
TI  - Pressure Ulcer Prevention in the Hospital Setting Using Silicone Foam Dressings.
AB  - Patient care is of the utmost importance in the hospital setting. Bedrest and
      immobility during hospitalization, especially in the surgical and intensive care
      setting, place the patient at high risk for pressure ulcers. It is very important
      to prevent or notice a pressure ulcer forming due to the significant health care
      costs involved and patient health associated with them. Various measures are in
      place to prevent patients from getting pressure ulcers, but a newer material,
      silicone foam dressings, has been introduced as an alternative solution for the
      prevention of these ulcers. We review the current literature to examine whether
      the standard protocol or silicone material is superior to the prevention of
      pressure ulcer formation. We conclude that silicone foam dressings, when used as
      prophylactic treatment, seems very promising and may even be superior to the
      standard care of prevention. However, there were limitations to some studies and
      further research is needed to confirm the role of silicone foam dressings. 

PMID- 27630804
TI  - Emerging Bacterial Infection: Identification and Clinical Significance of Kocuria
      Species.
AB  - Recently there have been reports of gram-positive cocci which are morphologically
      similar to both Staphylococci and the Micrococci. These bacteria have been
      identified as Kocuria species with the help of automated identification system
      and other molecular methods including 16S rRNA (ribosomal ribonucleic acid)
      evaluation. Kocuria belongs to the family Micrococcaceae which also includes
      Staphylococcus species and Micrococcus species. Isolation and clinical
      significance of these bacteria from human specimens warrant great caution as it
      does not necessarily confirm infection due to their ubiquitous presence, and as a
      normal flora of skin and mucous membranes in human and animals. Most clinical
      microbiology laboratories ignore such bacteria as laboratory and specimen
      contaminants. With increasing reports of infections associated with these
      bacteria, it is now important for clinical microbiologists to identify and
      enumerate the virulence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of such bacteria
      and assist clinicians in improving the patient care and management. We review the
      occurrence and clinical significance of Kocuria species. 

PMID- 27630805
TI  - A Review Of Oculoplastic Photography: A Guide For Clinician Photographers.
AB  - Clinical photography in the field of oculoplastic surgery has many applications.
      It is possible for clinicians to obtain standardized clinical photographs without
      a studio. A clinician photographer has the advantage of knowing exactly what to
      photograph as well as having immediate access to the images. In order to maintain
      standardization in the photographs, the photographic settings should remain
      constant. This article covers essential photographic equipment, camera settings,
      patient pose, and digital asset management. 

PMID- 27630806
TI  - Are Educators Actually Coaches? The Implication of Teaching and Learning via
      Simulation in Education in Healthcare Professions.
AB  - Simulation is a unique pedagogical tool designed specifically to develop skills,
      attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge using experiential learning. Though the
      teachers in the field of simulation are known as educators, they are generally
      categorized as educators or coaches and must employ unique pedagogic approaches.
      Though the aspects of educating and coaching are similar, there are numerous
      differences that set the two roles apart. Thus, the purpose of this editorial is
      to highlight the differences between the two roles and also to contextualize
      their differences, as they relate to simulation in healthcare professions,
      teaching, and learning. The fundamental proposition of this editorial is to
      highlight that the teachers who use simulation as their teaching and learning
      technology function as coaches and not educators as they are currently labeled.
      Like Haji et al. propose in their article titled "What we call what we do affects
      how we do it: a new nomenclature for simulation research in medical education,"
      we propose that there needs to be a slight shift in the nomenclature of
      simulation. 

PMID- 27630807
TI  - Macrocycle-Based Hydroxamate Ligands for Complexation and Immunoconjugation of
      89Zirconium for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging.
AB  - Four novel chelators (L1-L4) and their 89zirconium complexes were prepared and
      compared with the 89zirconium desferrioxamine B (DFO) complex. The new chelates
      are based on 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) and 1,4,8,11
      tetraazacyclotetradecane (cyclam) scaffolds and present either three or four
      hydroxamate arms for coordination with Zr4+ ions with coordination numbers
      between six and eight. The 89Zr-L4 complex showed similar stability to that of
      89Zr-DFO when incubated in either rat blood plasma or ethylenediaminetetraacetic
      acid challenge experiments. Positron imaging and biodistribution studies in mice
      showed that 89Zr-L4 had similar pharmacokinetic behavior to that of 89Zr-DFO,
      with rapid renal elimination and low residual activity in background tissues. A
      bifunctional version of L4 (L5) was synthesized and conjugated to trastuzumab; an
      anti-HER2/neu antibody. Immunopositron emission tomography imaging and
      biodistribution with 89Zr-L5-trastuzumab revealed high tumor to background ratios
      (tumor/blood ratio: 14.2 +/- 2.25) and a high tumor specificity that was
      comparable to the performance of 89Zr-DFO-trastuzumab.

PMID- 27630808
TI  - Gambling related family coping and the impact of problem gambling on families in
      Hong Kong.
AB  - Despite substantial evidence that problem gambling is associated with a wide
      range of family difficulties, limited effort has been devoted to studying the
      negative impacts on family members as a result of problem gambling and how they
      cope and function under the impacts of problem gambling in Chinese communities.
      Among the very few Chinese-specific gambling-related family impact studies, none
      have examined how gambling-related family coping responses are related to
      gambling-related family impacts. Based on a sample of treatment-seeking Chinese
      family members of problem gamblers, this study aimed to explore: (1) the
      demographic characteristics and health and psychological well-being of the family
      members; (2) the gambling-related family member impacts (active disturbance,
      worrying behavior); (3) the family coping strategies (engaged, tolerant-inactive
      and withdrawal coping); (4) the relationship between gambling-related family
      member impacts, psychological distress and family coping strategies. It was
      hypothesized that positive significant relationships would be found between
      family member impacts, psychological distress and family coping strategies. From
      March 2011 to February 2012, a total of 103 family members of problem gamblers
      who sought help from Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Even Centre in Hong Kong were
      interviewed. Results showed that a majority of family members were partners or ex
      partners of the gambler with low or no income. A large proportion of participants
      reported moderate to high psychological distress (72.6 %), poor to fair general
      health (60.2 %), and poor to neither good nor bad quality of life (61.1 %).
      Family member impacts were positively significantly correlated to all family
      coping strategies and psychological distress. Tolerant-inactive coping had the
      strongest relationships with family member impacts and psychological distress.
      Strong relationships between family member impacts and psychological distress
      were also found. The results provide preliminary support for aspects of the
      stress-strain-coping-support model in the Chinese culture. It is suggested that
      family member-specific treatment groups targeting family coping are required to
      alleviate the level of negative impacts of gambling disorder on family members.

PMID- 27630809
TI  - Gender differences in the prospective association between maternal alcohol
      consumption trajectories and young adult offspring's problem gambling at 30
      years.
AB  - Although a large number of studies have examined the association between young
      adult's alcohol consumption and their problem gambling behaviours, none of these
      studies address the prospective association between mother's alcohol consumption
      and their young adult offspring's problem gambling behaviours. Using data from a
      30 year prospective pre-birth cohort study in Brisbane, Australia (n = 1691), our
      study examines whether different maternal alcohol consumption trajectories
      predict offspring's risk of problem gambling behaviours and whether these
      associations differ by the young adults' gender. Offspring's level of problem
      gambling behaviours was assessed by the short version of the Canadian Problem
      Gambling Index, with about 10.6 % of young adults having some risk of problem
      gambling behaviours. Trajectories of maternal alcohol consumption were determined
      by group-based trajectory modelling over five time points. Our study found that
      mother's alcohol consumption pattern fits into three drinking trajectory groups,
      namely abstainers (17.2 %), a low-stable drinkers group (64.6 %) and a moderate
      escalating drinkers group (18.2 %). Multivariate logistic regression analyses
      showed that the moderate-escalating alcohol trajectory group is independently
      associated with a risk of their male young adult offspring having problem
      gambling behaviours at 30 years-even after adjustment for a range of potential
      confounding variables. Mothers who exhibit a persistent life course pattern of
      moderate-escalating drinking have male children who have a high risk of engaging
      in problem gambling behaviours. Offspring's alcohol consumption partially
      mediated the association between maternal drinking trajectories and young adult's
      risk of problem behaviours. High levels of maternal alcohol consumption may lead
      to male offspring antisocial behaviours. Programs intended to address problem
      gambling behaviours by young adults may need to focus on male group with a focus
      which specifically addresses family influences as these contribute to gambling
      behaviour.

PMID- 27630810
TI  - Gambling participation and policies in Malaysia.
AB  - Regulatory policies for responsible gambling practices in Asia are constantly
      evolving as the gambling industry and technological landscape change over time.
      Malaysia makes an interesting case study for a commentary on gambling
      participation and policies, as this country has a unique dual justice system with
      religious and ethnic diversity that may impact on the way in which gambling
      activities are regulated. This regulatory ecosystem has important consequences on
      behaviour change, treatment approaches and recovery processes involved in
      gambling disorder. This commentary will discuss evidence for Malaysian gambling
      antecedents, public policy and socioeconomic impacts of gambling, possible costs
      and benefits of gambling legalization, and issues pertinent to regulating
      gambling activities in Malaysia.

PMID- 27630811
TI  - Bread, milk and a Tattslotto ticket: the interpretive repertoires of young adult
      gambling in Australia.
AB  - The discourse of Australian young adults who gamble regularly was analysed to
      explore key dilemmas and challenges of a generation who grew up with the positive
      and negative impacts of gambling advertisements. Qualitative interviews of seven
      young recreational gamblers who regularly frequent gaming machine venues were
      conducted. The discourse that they used to describe their gambling involvement,
      motivation, development and subjective views were analysed and three central
      repertoires: 'Culture not self,' 'If it makes you happy,' and 'No problem here!'
      were identified. The current findings demonstrate the participants' attempts to
      understand and legitimise their gambling. Further, it was suggested that young
      adults face a series of dilemmas when deciding whether to gamble and to what
      extent they gamble. Their discourse highlights the tension between individual
      agency, societal expectations and familial influence. The respondents primarily
      gambled for social reasons in a manner which they perceived as culturally
      acceptable. The importance of harm minimization and public awareness campaigns
      directed at young adults was also discussed.

PMID- 27630812
TI  - Development, implementation, and evaluation of a multi-addiction prevention
      program for primary school students in Hong Kong: the B.E.S.T. Teen Program.
AB  - Based on the evaluation findings of the B.E.S.T. Teen Program which aimed at
      promoting behavioral, emotional, social, and thinking competencies in primary
      school students, it is argued in this paper that promotion of psychosocial
      competence to prevent addiction in primary school students is a promising
      strategy. A total of 382 Primary 5 (Grade 5) and 297 Primary 6 (Grade 6) students
      from five primary schools in Hong Kong participated in the program. Different
      evaluation strategies were adopted to evaluate the program. First, objective
      outcome evaluation adopting a non-equivalent group pretest-posttest experimental
      control group design was conducted to examine change in the students. Second, to
      gauge students' perceptions of the program, subjective outcome evaluation was
      conducted. The evaluation findings basically converged to tentatively suggest
      that young adolescents benefited from participating in the program. Implications
      on the development, implementation, and evaluation of addiction prevention
      programs for teenagers are discussed.

PMID- 27630813
TI  - Gaming behavior and addiction among Hong Kong adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Game playing is very popular among Hong Kong teenagers. This study
      aimed to investigate adolescent gaming behavior and addiction at the Internet
      cafe, and to explore perceived benefits and harms associated with the activity.
      METHODS: A convenient sample of 13 male high school students aged 12-15 years
      (mean age = 13.6 years) were interviewed at two Internet cafes. Young's (Caught
      in the net, Wiley, New York, 1998) criteria of Internet addiction were modified
      to assess gaming addiction. RESULTS: Internet cafes were described as a safe and
      ideal rendezvous for gamers. The benefits of gaming included fun and
      satisfaction, fostering social support and teamwork, meeting new friends and
      becoming sociable, boosting cognitive techniques and intellectual agility,
      improved responsiveness and quick thinking. Perceived harms of gaming addiction
      were reduced time and interest in other important activities, poor academic
      performance, physical harms and emotional distress, disrupted friendship with non
      gaming peers, risked family relationship and financial problems. Five
      interviewees (38.5 %) could be categorized as pathological gamers and two were
      problem gamers (15.4 %). The psychological factors associated with gaming
      addiction include low self-esteem, a strong desire for aggressive and exciting
      experiences, reliance on gaming to kill time and to obtain satisfaction, coping
      with problems and negative emotions, and obsession with achieving higher rankings
      in games. The social and environmental risk factors are accessibility to the
      Internet cafes, aggressive promotional activities at the Internet cafes, peer
      pressure, family influence and early gaming experiences, perceived parental
      approval, lack of parental supervision, and poor family relationship.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study results throw light on prevention programs.

PMID- 27630814
TI  - Adolescent gambling behaviour, a single latent construct and indicators of risk:
      findings from a national survey of New Zealand high school students.
AB  - This study explores underlying latent construct/s of gambling behaviour, and
      identifies indicators of "unhealthy gambling". Data were collected from Youth'07
      a nationally representative sample of New Zealand secondary school students (N =
      9107). Exploratory factor analyses, item-response theory analyses, multiple
      indicators-multiple causes, and differential item functioning analyses were used
      to assess dimensionality of gambling behaviour, underlying factors, and
      indicators of unhealthy gambling. A single underlying continuum of gambling
      behaviour was identified. Gambling frequency and 'gambling because I can't stop'
      were most strongly associated with unhealthy gambling. Gambling to 'feel better
      about myself' and to 'forget about things' provided the most precise
      discriminants of unhealthy gambling. Multivariable analyses found that school
      connectedness was associated with lower levels of unhealthy gambling.

PMID- 27630815
TI  - Gambling among adolescents with and without hearing loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This exploratory study investigates the prevalence of gambling,
      preferred types of gambling, and problem gambling in Swedish young people aged 15
      18 years with and without hearing loss. METHODS: A cross-sectional health survey
      was conducted in Orebro County, Sweden in 2014. A standardized questionnaire was
      distributed to 4888 students, and 4329 filled it. There were 318 (8 %) students
      with hearing loss. The response rate was 82 %. The 2-item Lie/Bet questionnaire
      (Johnson et al. in Psychol Rep 80:83-88, 1997) was used for measuring problem
      gambling. RESULTS: More students with hearing loss had gambled during their
      lifetime (35 %) and in the past year (25 %) than their hearing counterparts
      (lifetime: 24 %; past-year: 19 %). More students with hearing loss compared to
      normal hearing students were identified as problem gamblers (7.7 % compared to
      4.3 %). CONCLUSION: More research is needed on gambling among people with hearing
      loss as well as other disabilities.

PMID- 27630816
TI  - Fungemia due to Kodamaea ohmeri in a young infant and review of the literature.
AB  - Fungal infections have become an important cause of morbidity and mortality in
      hospitalized children due to many complicating and underlying conditions. We
      present the case of a newborn infant with fungemia due to Kodamaea ohmeri who had
      a good outcome of the infection after using the combination of antifungal
      treatment and central venous catheter removal. 

PMID- 27630817
TI  - Praxis-induced reflex seizures mainly precipitated by writing due to a parietal
      focal cortical dysplasia.
AB  - We report the case of a 23-year-old left-handed woman with medically intractable
      praxis-induced reflex seizures mainly precipitated by writing. Selective
      resection of subtle end-of-sulcus cortical dysplasia in the right inferior
      parietal lobule resulted in freedom from seizures. To the best of our knowledge,
      this is the first case of praxis-induced reflex seizures mainly precipitated by
      writing in which a focal lesion was found and treated successfully by surgery. 

PMID- 27630818
TI  - Fantastic confabulation in right frontal lobe epilepsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interictal behavioral symptoms in frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) are
      variable and often difficult to discriminate from other localization-related
      epilepsies. METHODS AND RESULTS: We report two female patients with right FLE who
      exhibited fantastic confabulations. One of the patients had a 14-year history of
      hypermotor seizures, and the other had a 10-year history of dyscognitive seizures
      with automatism. Their fantastic confabulations arose in the context of moderate
      to-severe cognitive impairment and of a variety of behavioral abnormalities,
      including emotional withdrawal and compulsive behaviors. CONCLUSION: Fantastic
      confabulations are rare but may be a relatively specific behavioral marker for
      FLE-associated psychosis.

PMID- 27630820
TI  - Three atypical lethal cases associated with acute Zika virus infection in
      Suriname.
AB  - Acute Zika virus infection usually presents with a self-limiting triad of fever,
      rash and arthritis. There is limited information on severe or lethal cases. We
      report three cases of lethal acute Zika infection, confirmed with polymerase
      chain reaction, in adult patients with some co-morbidities. The patients showed
      rapid clinical deterioration with hemorrhagic and septic shock, and exaggerated
      acute and innate inflammatory responses with pronounced coagulopathy, and died
      soon after admission to the hospital. It remains unclear whether the fatal
      outcomes were due to acute Zika virus infection alone or to the combination with
      exacerbated underlying prior disease or co-infection. Nonetheless, the severity
      of these cases implies that increased awareness for atypical presentations of
      Zika virus infection, and careful clinical assessment of patients with symptoms
      of Zika, is warranted during current and future outbreaks. 

PMID- 27630821
TI  - Direct field method for root biomass quantification in agroecosystems.
AB  - The present article describes a field auger sampling method for row-crop root
      measurements. In agroecosystems where crops are planted in a specific design (row
      crops), sampling procedures for root biomass quantification need to consider the
      spatial variability of the root system. This article explains in detail how to
      sample and calculate root biomass considering the sampling position in the field
      and the differential weight of the root biomass in the inter-row compared to the
      crop row when expressing data per area unit. This method is highly reproducible
      in the field and requires no expensive equipment and/or special skills. It
      proposes to use a narrow auger thus reducing field labor with less destructive
      sampling, and decreases laboratory time because samples are smaller. The small
      sample size also facilitates the washing and root separation with tweezers. This
      method is suitable for either winter- or summer crop roots. *Description of a
      direct field method for row-crop root measurements.*Description of data
      calculation for total root-biomass estimation per unit area.*The proposed method
      is simple, less labor- and less time consuming. 

PMID- 27630819
TI  - Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate and cancer: Evaluation of a
      possible common genetic background through the analysis of GWAS data.
AB  - Previous research suggests a genetic overlap between nonsyndromic cleft lip with
      or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) and cancer. The aim of the present study was to
      identify common genetic risk loci for NSCL/P and cancer entities that have been
      reported to co-occur with orofacial clefting. This was achieved through the
      investigation of large genome-wide association study datasets. Investigations of
      12 NSCL/P single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 32 cancer datasets, and 204
      cancer SNPs in two NSCL/P datasets, were performed. The SNPs rs13041247 (20q12)
      and rs6457327 (6p21.33) showed suggestive evidence for an association with both
      NSCL/P and a specific cancer entity. These loci harbor genes of biological
      relevance to oncogenesis (MAFB and OCT4, respectively). This study is the first
      to characterize possible pleiotropic risk loci for NSCL/P and cancer in a
      systematic manner. The data represent a starting point for future research by
      identifying a genetic link between NSCL/P and cancer. 

PMID- 27630824
TI  - Editorial: Plastic Surgery for the Oncological Patient.

PMID- 27630823
TI  - Immunophenotype Discovery, Hierarchical Organization, and Template-Based
      Classification of Flow Cytometry Samples.
AB  - We describe algorithms for discovering immunophenotypes from large collections of
      flow cytometry samples and using them to organize the samples into a hierarchy
      based on phenotypic similarity. The hierarchical organization is helpful for
      effective and robust cytometry data mining, including the creation of collections
      of cell populations' characteristic of different classes of samples, robust
      classification, and anomaly detection. We summarize a set of samples belonging to
      a biological class or category with a statistically derived template for the
      class. Whereas individual samples are represented in terms of their cell
      populations (clusters), a template consists of generic meta-populations (a group
      of homogeneous cell populations obtained from the samples in a class) that
      describe key phenotypes shared among all those samples. We organize an FC data
      collection in a hierarchical data structure that supports the identification of
      immunophenotypes relevant to clinical diagnosis. A robust template-based
      classification scheme is also developed, but our primary focus is in the
      discovery of phenotypic signatures and inter-sample relationships in an FC data
      collection. This collective analysis approach is more efficient and robust since
      templates describe phenotypic signatures common to cell populations in several
      samples while ignoring noise and small sample-specific variations. We have
      applied the template-based scheme to analyze several datasets, including one
      representing a healthy immune system and one of acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
      samples. The last task is challenging due to the phenotypic heterogeneity of the
      several subtypes of AML. However, we identified thirteen immunophenotypes
      corresponding to subtypes of AML and were able to distinguish acute promyelocytic
      leukemia (APL) samples with the markers provided. Clinically, this is helpful
      since APL has a different treatment regimen from other subtypes of AML. Core
      algorithms used in our data analysis are available in the flowMatch package at
      www.bioconductor.org. It has been downloaded nearly 6,000 times since 2014. 

PMID- 27630822
TI  - A retrospective epidemiological study on the incidence of salmonellosis in the
      State of Qatar during 2004-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Salmonella is a food- and water-borne pathogen that can be easily
      spread in a population, leading to the outbreak of salmonellosis that is caused
      by ingestion of mixed salads contaminated by the pathogen. Most cases occur in
      the late spring months and can be seen as single cases, clusters, or episodes.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and
      epidemiological characteristics of salmonellosis in the State of Qatar. METHODS:
      This was a retrospective, descriptive study carried out in laboratory-confirmed
      cases of salmonellosis during 2004-2012 from all Salmonella surveillance centers.
      Therapeutic records of patients who were clinically suspected of having
      Salmonella diseases were analyzed. Initially, cases with typhoid fever were
      investigated in the laboratory by means of Widal agglutination tests, while non
      typhoidal Salmonella diseases were determined based on culture technique.
      RESULTS: The annual incident of salmonellosis cases were 12.3, 23.0, 30.3, 19.4,
      15.3, 18.0, 22.7, 18.5, and 18.1 per 100,000 population in 2006-2011 and 2012,
      respectively. The number of salmonellosis cases was high among less than 2-year
      old females and 3-year-old males. In addition, one-fourth of patients (27.7%)
      were Qatari when compared to other nationalities. A significant difference in age
      was found between Qatari (6.08 +/- 12.28 years) and non-Qatari (15.04 +/- 19.56
      years) patients. Of the reported cases, 79.8% included the onset date of the
      first symptoms. Contact phone numbers were available for 94% of the cases but
      addresses were available for only 50.4% of cases. The time difference between
      onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 5.4 +/- 5.7 days. The most frequent serotype
      reported were type b (41.9%), type d (26.9%), and type c1 (12.2%). CONCLUSION:
      The present surveillance data showed a high incidence of salmonellosis in Qatar
      that poses a serious public health problem. Special intervention and health
      awareness programs are required for early screening, detection, and treatment as
      well as for strengthening the surveillance system of salmonellosis, with special
      emphasis on the laboratory study of cases.

PMID- 27630825
TI  - Editorial: The Emerging Role for PP2A in Hematologic Malignancies.

PMID- 27630826
TI  - Treatment of Elderly Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck.
AB  - The demographics of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is
      marked by a growing number of patients aged 65 and over, which is in line with
      global projections for other cancer types. In developed countries, more than half
      of new SCCHN cases are diagnosed in older people, and in 15 years from now, the
      proportion is expected to rise by more than 10%. Still, a high-level evidence
      based consensus to guide the clinical decision process is strikingly lacking. The
      available data from retrospective studies and subset analyses of prospective
      trials suffer from a considerable underrepresentation of senior participants. The
      situation is even more challenging in the recurrent and/or metastatic setting,
      where usually only palliative measures are employed. Nevertheless, it is becoming
      clear that, if treated irrespective of chronological age, fit elderly patients in
      a good general condition and with a low burden of comorbidities may derive a
      similar survival advantage as their younger counterparts. Despite that,
      undertreatment represents a widespread phenomenon and, together with competing
      non-cancer mortality, is suggested to be an important cause of the worse
      treatment outcomes observed in this population. Due to physiological changes in
      drug metabolism occurring with advancing age, the major concerns relate to
      chemotherapy administration. In locally advanced SCCHN, concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy in patients over 70 years remains a point of controversy owing
      to its possibly higher toxicity and questionable benefit. However, accumulating
      evidence suggests that it should, indeed, be considered in selected cases when
      biological age is taken into account. Results from a randomized trial conducted
      in lung cancer showed that treatment selection based on a comprehensive geriatric
      assessment (CGA) significantly reduced toxicity. However, a CGA is time-consuming
      and not necessary for all patients. To overcome this hurdle, geriatric screening
      tools have been introduced to decide who needs such a full evaluation. Among the
      various screening instruments, G8 and Flemish version of the Triage Risk
      Screening Tool were prospectively verified and found to have prognostic value.
      We, therefore, conclude that also in SCCHN, the application of elderly specific
      prospective trials and integration of clinical practice-oriented assessment tools
      and predictive models should be promoted. 

PMID- 27630828
TI  - Development of 11-Plex MOL-PCR Assay for the Rapid Screening of Samples for Shiga
      Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli.
AB  - Strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are a serious threat to
      the health, with approximately half of the STEC related food-borne illnesses
      attributable to contaminated beef. We developed an assay that was able to screen
      samples for several important STEC associated serogroups (O26, O45, O103, O104,
      O111, O121, O145, O157) and three major virulence factors (eae, stx 1 , stx 2) in
      a rapid and multiplexed format using the Multiplex oligonucleotide ligation-PCR
      (MOL-PCR) assay chemistry. This assay detected unique STEC DNA signatures and is
      meant to be used on samples from various sources related to beef production,
      providing a multiplex and high-throughput complement to the multiplex PCR assays
      currently in use. Multiplex oligonucleotide ligation-PCR (MOL-PCR) is a nucleic
      acid-based assay chemistry that relies on flow cytometry/image cytometry and
      multiplex microsphere arrays for the detection of nucleic acid-based signatures
      present in target agents. The STEC MOL-PCR assay provided greater than 90%
      analytical specificity across all sequence markers designed when tested against
      panels of DNA samples that represent different STEC serogroups and toxin gene
      profiles. This paper describes the development of the 11-plex assay and the
      results of its validation. This highly multiplexed, but more importantly dynamic
      and adaptable screening assay allows inclusion of additional signatures as they
      are identified in relation to public health. As the impact of STEC associated
      illness on public health is explored additional information on classification
      will be needed on single samples; thus, this assay can serve as the backbone for
      a complex screening system.

PMID- 27630827
TI  - Unique Footprint in the scl1.3 Locus Affects Adhesion and Biofilm Formation of
      the Invasive M3-Type Group A Streptococcus.
AB  - The streptococcal collagen-like proteins 1 and 2 (Scl1 and Scl2) are major
      surface adhesins that are ubiquitous among group A Streptococcus (GAS). Invasive
      M3-type strains, however, have evolved two unique conserved features in the scl1
      locus: (i) an IS1548 element insertion in the scl1 promoter region and (ii) a
      nonsense mutation within the scl1 coding sequence. The scl1 transcript is
      drastically reduced in M3-type GAS, contrasting with a high transcription level
      of scl1 allele in invasive M1-type GAS. This leads to a lack of Scl1 expression
      in M3 strains. In contrast, while scl2 transcription and Scl2 production are
      elevated in M3 strains, M1 GAS lack Scl2 surface expression. M3-type strains were
      shown to have reduced biofilm formation on inanimate surfaces coated with
      cellular fibronectin and laminin, and in human skin equivalents. Repair of the
      nonsense mutation and restoration of Scl1 expression on M3-GAS cells, restores
      biofilm formation on cellular fibronectin and laminin coatings. Inactivation of
      scl1 in biofilm-capable M28 and M41 strains results in larger skin lesions in a
      mouse model, indicating that lack of Scl1 adhesin promotes bacterial spread over
      localized infection. These studies suggest the uniquely evolved scl1 locus in the
      M3-type strains, which prevents surface expression of the major Scl1 adhesin,
      contributed to the emergence of the invasive M3-type strains. Furthermore these
      studies provide insight into the molecular mechanisms mediating colonization,
      biofilm formation, and pathogenesis of group A streptococci.

PMID- 27630831
TI  - Unilateral Existence of Chondro-epitrochlearis: Its Embryological Perspectives
      and Clinical Implications.
AB  - Chondroepitrochlearis (CET) is an anomalous muscular slip that originates from
      the pectoralis major muscle and inserts into epicondyle of the humerus. The
      morphology of this variant form of pectoralis major can vary from slender to
      strong musculo-tendinous. In its course, it usually crosses the neurovascular
      structures of arm; their compression is a major complication that could be
      manifested by its persistence. In the present case, potentially anomalous CET
      muscle with the slender slip of origin, but strong tendinous insertion to the
      medial epicondyle of the humerus was found unilaterally. This musculo-tendinous
      structure was found to be compressing the brachial artery and median nerve in the
      arm. Detailed embryological and clinical perspective of such variant muscular
      slip helps the physiotherapists, orthopaedicians in their treatment strategy in
      complain of restricted shoulder movement. It may also help the neurologists,
      radiologists in their diagnostic approach of ulnar neuropathy. 

PMID- 27630830
TI  - Morphometric Study on Bicipital Groove among South Indian Population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Bicipital Groove (BG) is an indentation between the lesser and
      greater tubercles of the proximal part of the humerus. It conveys biceps tendon,
      its synovial sheath and ascending branch of anterior circumflex humeral artery.
      The knowledge of the morphometry is important for the understanding of the
      functional aspect of the shoulder region. AIM: To study the morphometry of
      bicipital groove of humerus in south Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      the present study, 100 adult humeri (50 right and 50 left) were examined. The
      length of the medial wall, lateral wall, width and depth were measured by using
      vernier calliper. The humeri were examined for the presence of supratubercular
      ridge. All the parameters were accurately measured and the data were analysed.
      RESULTS: The mean length of BG on right side was 84.79+/-5.84 mm and 87.33+/
      6.40mm on the left side. The mean width of BG on right side was 6.84+/-1.01mm and
      7.74+/-1.96mm on the left side. The mean depth of BG on right side was 4.21+/
      0.58 mm and 5.01+/-1.05mm on the left side. The mean length of the medial and
      lateral walls on the right side was 24.22+/-1.02mm and 32.05+/-2.21mm
      respectively and that on the left side was 23.31+/-2.21mm and 31.12+/-0.24mm
      respectively. 17% of humeri on the right side and 14% on the left side showed the
      presence of supratubercular ridge of Meyer in the present study. CONCLUSION:
      Bicipital groove is present in the shoulder region where wide range of movements
      occurs. Osseous spurs and supratubercular ridge may predispose dislocation of
      tendon of biceps brachii. Hence morphometric knowledge is obligatory and is
      significant functionally and clinically for better understanding of this region.

PMID- 27630829
TI  - The PorX Response Regulator of the Porphyromonas gingivalis PorXY Two-Component
      System Does Not Directly Regulate the Type IX Secretion Genes but Binds the PorL
      Subunit.
AB  - The Type IX secretion system (T9SS) is a versatile multi-protein complex
      restricted to bacteria of the Bacteriodetes phylum and responsible for the
      secretion or cell surface exposition of diverse proteins that participate to S
      layer formation, gliding motility or pathogenesis. The T9SS is poorly
      characterized but a number of proteins involved in the assembly of the secretion
      apparatus in the oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis have been identified
      based on genome substractive analyses. Among these proteins, PorY, and PorX
      encode typical two-component system (TCS) sensor and CheY-like response regulator
      respectively. Although the porX and porY genes do not localize at the same
      genetic locus, it has been proposed that PorXY form a bona fide TCS. Deletion of
      porX in P. gingivalis causes a slight decrease of the expression of a number of
      other T9SS genes, including sov, porT, porP, porK, porL, porM, porN, and porY.
      Here, we show that PorX and the soluble cytoplasmic domain of PorY interact.
      Using electrophoretic mobility shift, DNA-protein co-purification and
      heterologous host expression assays, we demonstrate that PorX does not bind T9SS
      gene promoters and does not directly regulate expression of the T9SS genes.
      Finally, we show that PorX interacts with the cytoplasmic domain of PorL, a
      component of the T9SS membrane core complex and propose that the CheY-like PorX
      protein might be involved in the dynamics of the T9SS.

PMID- 27630832
TI  - Anatomic Variant of Liver, Gall Bladder and Inferior Vena Cava.
AB  - The morphology and relations of liver, gall bladder and inferior vena cava are
      cardinal. Their anatomical variations may be a reason for the adverse surgical
      outcome. During routine anatomy dissection of an abdomen, we noticed a variant
      liver, gall bladder and inferior vena cava in a 63-year-old male cadaver. In the
      specimen, a retrohepatic segment of inferior vena cava was found to be
      intrahepatic. On dissection, it was observed that inferior vena cava was covered
      entirely by a liver tissue on its dorsal aspect. In the same specimen, the gall
      bladder had undulated inferior surface. On dissection of the gall bladder,
      numerous mucosal folds were present in the interior. A band of fibrous tissue was
      found, which was extending from the right side of the gall bladder to the
      falciform ligament. Hence, preoperative scanning of congenital variations of the
      liver, gall bladder and inferior vena cava may be compassionate in planning safe
      surgeries and interventional abdominal procedures. 

PMID- 27630834
TI  - Serum gamma-Glutamyltransferase, Alanine Aminotransferase and Aspartate
      Aminotransferase Activity in Healthy Blood Donor of Different Ethnic Groups in
      Gorgan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Measure of liver enzymes may help to increase safety of blood
      donation for both blood donor and recipient. Determination of liver enzymes may
      prepare valuable clinical information. AIM: To assess serum gamma
      Glutamyltransferase (GGT), Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), and Aspartate
      Aminotransferase (AST) activities in healthy blood donors in different ethnic
      groups in Gorgan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed in 450 healthy
      male blood donors, in three ethnic groups (Fars, Sistanee and Turkman) who
      attended Gorgan blood transfusion center. Liver enzymes (GGT, ALT and AST) were
      determined. RESULTS: Serum AST and ALT in three ethnic groups were significant
      except for serum GGT levels. There was significant correlation between family
      histories of liver disease and systolic blood pressure and AST in Fars, and GGT
      in Sistanee ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: Several factors, such as age, family
      history of diabetes mellitus, family history of liver disease and smoking habit
      had no effect on some liver enzymes in different ethnic groups in this area.
      Variation of AST, ALT, and GGT enzyme activities in healthy subjects was
      associated with some subjects in our study groups. According to our study, it
      suggests that screening of AST and GGT enzymes in subjects with family history of
      liver disease is necessary in different ethnic groups.

PMID- 27630833
TI  - An Increase Incidence in Uric Acid Nephrolithiasis: Changing Patterns.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nephrolithiasis is a complex disease affecting all age groups
      globally. As the causative factors for nephrolithiasis rises significantly, its
      incidence, prevalence and recurrence continues to baffle clinicians and patients.
      AIM: To study the prevalence of different types of renal stones extracted by
      Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and open surgical procedures. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Renal stones from 50 patients were retrieved by Percutaneous
      Nephrolithotomy (PCNL), Ureterorenoscopy (URS) and open surgical techniques for
      qualitative tests for detection of calcium, oxalate, uric acid, phosphate,
      ammonium ion, carbonate, cystine and xanthine. RESULTS: Three patients had stone
      removed by open surgery and rest had undergone PCNL. Nine of the stones were pure
      of calcium oxalate, 9 were of pure uric acid and 32 were mixed stones. Forty one
      stones had calcium. Among the mixed stones, oxalate was present in 25 samples (39
      of total), uric acid was seen in 17 (25 of total stones), phosphate was present
      in 23 (23 of total) and carbonate was present in 4 stones (4 of total). Only 1
      patient had triple phosphate stone. 12 were of staghorn appearance of which 6
      were of struvite type, 6 were pure uric acid and remaining were mixed oxalate
      phosphate stones. CONCLUSION: Our study, though in a small number of hospital
      based patients, found much higher prevalence of uric acid stones and mixed stones
      than reported by previous hospital based studies in north India (oxalate
      stones~90%, uric acid~1% and mixed stones~3%). Biochemical analysis of renal
      stones is warranted in all cases.

PMID- 27630835
TI  - Lipid Profile in Cardiac Syndrome X: Association with Helicobacter pylori.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammation caused by Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori)
      infection has a pathogenic role in Cardiac Syndrome X (CSX). In addition, it has
      shown that bacterial infection may affect blood lipids. AIM: To assess if
      H.pylori affects the level of lipid profile in CSX. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty
      eight CSX patients and 97 healthy controls were enrolled. The Total Cholesterol
      (TC), Triglyceride (TG), Lipoprotein A (LP{A}), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL),
      High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Apoprotein A1 (APOA1), and Apoprotein B (APOB)
      was estimated colorimetrically. In addition, the presence of IgG antibody to
      H.pylori was tested in plasma samples by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
      method. RESULTS: TC, LP{A}, LDL, APOA1 and APOB levels in CSX group were
      significantly higher than those of the control group (p<0.05). But, these
      parameters in H.pylori positive and H.pylori negative, among CSX and control
      groups were not significant. CONCLUSION: Increased plasma level of lipid profile
      and H.pylori infection were associated with CSX; it seems that plasma lipid
      disorders have a significant role in the development of CSX.

PMID- 27630837
TI  - Comments on "Alternate Nostril Breathing at Different Rates and Its Influence on
      Heart Rate Variability in Non Practitioners of Yoga".

PMID- 27630836
TI  - Effects of a Dietary Beetroot Juice Treatment on Systemic and Cerebral
      Haemodynamics- A Pilot Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Beetroot Juice (BJ) contains dietary nitrates that increase the
      blood Nitric Oxide (NO) level, decrease Blood Pressure (BP), increase athletic
      performance and improve cognitive functions but the mechanism remains unclear.
      Ultrasonographic measurement of middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity with
      computation of Cerebral Augmentation Index (CAIx) is a measure of the reflected
      flow signal, modulated by changes in cerebrovascular resistance and compliance.
      AIM: This pilot study tests the hypothesis that ingestion of an amount of BJ
      sufficient to raise the blood NO level two-to three-fold, decreases Transcranial
      Doppler (TCD) measured CAIx. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy young-adult
      African-American women were studied at two levels of submaximal exercise, 40% and
      80% of their predetermined peak oxygen consumptions. The subjects ingested
      nitrate-free orange juice (OJ, control) and an isocaloric BJ beverage (1.5 mg/mL
      nitrate, 220 Cal), on different days, 1-2 weeks apart. RESULTS: The BJ treatment
      increased blood NO and decreased systolic BP at rest and at the two levels of
      exercise. The BJ treatment decreased CAIx only at the two levels of exercise
      (from 79 +/- 2% to 62 +/- 2% and from 80 +/- 2% to 60 +/- 3%, p<0.05). Exercise
      increased TCD-measured resistance and pulsatility indices (RIx, PIx) without
      changing AIx. The BJ treatment had no effect on RIx and PIx. CONCLUSION: These
      findings suggest that decreased CAIx associated with aerobic exercise reflects
      the change in cerebral haemodynamics resulting from dietary nitrate
      supplementation. Future studies should determine whether the BJ-induced decrement
      in CAIx is correlated with an improvement in brain function.

PMID- 27630838
TI  - Identification of Streptococcus pyogenes - Phenotypic Tests vs Molecular Assay
      (spy1258PCR): A Comparative Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Traditionally Group A Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) is
      differentiated from other beta haemolytic streptococci (BHS) by certain
      presumptive tests such as bacitracin sensitivity and production of Pyrollidonyl
      Aryl Sulfatase (PYR). The phenotypic and genotypic confirmatory tests are
      Lancefield grouping for cell wall carbohydrate antigen and PCR for spy1258 gene
      respectively. Reliance on presumptive tests alone may lead to misidentification
      of isolates. AIM: To compare the predictive values of routine phenotypic tests
      with spy1258 PCR for the identification of Streptococcus pyogenes. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This comparative analytical study was carried out in the Department of
      Microbiology, JIPMER, Puducherry, over a period of 18 months (1(st) November 2013
      to 30(th) April 2015). Two hundred and six consecutive BHS isolates from various
      clinical samples were subjected to phenotypic tests such as bacitracin
      sensitivity, PYR test and Lancefield grouping. The results were compared with
      spy1258 PCR which was considered 95 the confirmatory test for identification.
      RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of phenotypic tests were as follows;
      Susceptibility to bacitracin - 95.42%, 70.96%, PYR test - 95.42%, 77.41%,
      Lancefield grouping- 97.71%, 80.64%. CONCLUSION: Clinical laboratories should not
      depend on bacitracin sensitivity as a single presumptive test for the routine
      identification of GAS but should use supplemental tests such as PYR test or latex
      agglutination test and for best results use spy1258 PCR.

PMID- 27630839
TI  - Identification of HIV Mutation as Diagnostic Biomarker through Next Generation
      Sequencing.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Current clinical detection of Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV
      1) is used to target viral genes and proteins. However, the immunoassay, such as
      viral culture or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), lacks accuracy in the
      diagnosis, as these conventional assays rely on the stable genome and HIV-1 is a
      highly-mutated virus. Next generation sequencing (NGS) promises to be
      transformative for the practice of infectious disease, and the rapidly reducing
      cost and processing time mean that this will become a feasible technology in
      diagnostic and research laboratories in the near future. The technology offers
      the superior sensitivity to detect the pathogenic viruses, including unknown and
      unexpected strains. AIM: To leverage the NGS technology in order to improve
      current HIV-1 diagnosis and genotyping methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten blood
      samples were collected from HIV-1 infected patients which were diagnosed by RT
      PCR at Singapore Communicable Disease Centre, Tan Tock Seng Hospital from October
      2014 to March 2015. Viral RNAs were extracted from blood plasma and reversed into
      cDNA. The HIV-1 cDNA samples were cleaned up using a PCR purification kit and the
      sequencing library was prepared and identified through MiSeq. RESULTS: Two common
      mutations were observed in all ten samples. The common mutations were identified
      at genome locations 1908 and 2104 as missense and silent mutations respectively,
      conferring S37N and S3S found on aspartic protease and reverse transcriptase
      subunits. CONCLUSION: The common mutations identified in this study were not
      previously reported, therefore suggesting the potential for them to be used for
      identification of viral infection, disease transmission and drug resistance. This
      was especially the case for, missense mutation S37N which could cause an amino
      acid change in viral proteases thus reducing the binding affinity of some
      protease inhibitors. Thus, the unique common mutations identified in this study
      could be used as diagnostic biomarkers to indicate the origin of infection as
      being from Singapore.

PMID- 27630840
TI  - A Pilot Study on Carbapenemase Detection: Do We See the Same Level of Agreement
      as with the CLSI Observations.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rapid identification of carbapenemase producing organisms is of
      great importance for timely detection, treatment and implementation of control
      measures to prevent the spread. The Modified Hodge Test (MHT) and Carba NP test
      is recommended by CLSI for the detection of carbapenemases in Enterobacteriaceae.
      However, MHT may give false positive results or fail to detect metallo beta
      lactamases (MBLs). In the US, MHT is the most widely used test for detection of
      carbapenemases and has been found to have a sensitivity and specificity of >90%
      for bla KPC producers. However, in India, the prevalence of bla NDM is higher
      than bla KPC producers. AIM: To evaluate the usefulness of CarbaNP in an Indian
      setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 260 isolates of carbapenem resistant
      E.coli (n=57), Klebsiella spp. (n=85), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=60), and
      Acinetobacter baumannii (58) isolated from clinical specimens between 2012-2014
      at the Christian Medical College, Vellore were included in the study. All the
      carbapenem resistant isolates were subjected to CarbaNP, MHT and multiplex PCR
      for detection of carbapenemase genes. RESULTS: CarbaNP was found to be positive
      in 88% (n=50/57), 81% (n=69/51), 38% (n=23/60) and 81% (n=47/58) for E.coli,
      Klebsiella spp., P. aeruginosa, and A. baumannii respectively. While in MHT it
      showed, 89% (n=51/57) and 81 % (n=69/85) for E.coli and Klebsiella spp.
      respectively. In P.aeruginosa, synergy testing of imipenem plus cloxacillin
      showed that, 65% of CarbaNP negatives were ampC producers. Overall, the
      sensitivity and specificity of CarbaNP was found to be 94% and 100 for bla NDM;
      77% and 100 % for bla OXA-48 like producers and 81% and 100% for CarbAcinetoNP
      respectively. CONCLUSION: This observation was more than what was reported in
      CLSI guidelines. Therefore, it is advisable to evaluate an assay for better
      laboratory diagnosis at respective regions.

PMID- 27630841
TI  - GyrA ser83 and ParC trp106 Mutations in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi
      Isolated from Typhoid Fever Patients in Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Typhoid fever is endemic in India and other developing countries,
      causing major public health problems with high morbidity and mortality. The
      resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) towards commonly
      prescribed antimicrobials is increasing in developing countries. However, there
      have been several reports of the therapeutic failure of fluoroquinolones in
      patients with Salmonella infection. Resistance to quinolones/ fluoroquinolones
      commonly arises due to target site mutation. AIM: The present study was planned
      to analyze mutation in Quinolone Resistance Determining Region (QRDR) of
      quinolone resistant Salmonella isolates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 133 S.
      Typhi isolates (blood (n = 131), stool (n=1) and bone marrow aspirate (n=1)) from
      tertiary care hospitals in Chennai and Puducherry, were included in this study.
      Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) were carried out according to the
      Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI)guidelines 2014. Mutations in gyrA
      and parC genes were analyzed by PCR-RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length
      Polymorphism) method followed by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Of the 133 S. Typhi,
      99.2% were resistant to nalidixic acid and 21% were resistant to ciprofloxacin by
      MIC method. 94% of isolates showed Ser 83 mutation in gyrA and 21.8% of isolates
      showed Trp106-Gly mutation in parC. CONCLUSION: Mutations in gyrA and parC genes
      are highly prevalent among Salmonella species. Irrational use of fluoroquinolones
      may increase the accumulation of mutations in the DNA gyrase and topoisomerase
      encoding genes, which lead to the emergence of high level fluoroquinolone
      resistant Salmonella strains in future.

PMID- 27630842
TI  - Simple Molecular Methods for Early Detection of Chloroquine Drug Resistance in
      Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malaria is a human disease of which causes high morbidity and
      mortality. In Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the resistance to antimalarial
      drugs, especially chloroquine (CQ) is one of the paramount factors contributing
      to the global increase in morbidity and mortality, due to malaria. Hence, there
      is a need for detection of chloroquine drug resistance genes i.e., pfcrt-o
      (Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter-o) and pfmdr-1
      (Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance-1) of P. falciparum and pvcrt-o
      (Plasmodium vivax chloroquine resistance transporter-o) and pvmdr-1 (Plasmodium
      vivax multidrug resistance-1) of P. vivax by using molecular methods to prevent
      mortality in malarial cases. AIM: To standardize chloroquine drug sensitivity
      testing by molecular method so as to provide reports of chloroquine within 6-8
      hours to physicians for better treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was
      conducted over a period of one year from January to December 2014. A Total of 300
      blood samples were collected from malaria suspected patient attending MGM
      Hospital, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai, India. Out of 300 blood samples, 44 were malaria
      positive as assessed by Thick and Thin blood smear stained, by Leishman's method
      and examination with light microscope. Chloroquine drug sensitivity testing was
      performed using WHO III plate method (micro test). Nested PCR was done for
      detection of pfcrt-o and pfmdr-1 for P. falciparum and pvcrt-o, pvmdr-1 genes for
      P. vivax. RESULTS: Total 44 samples were included in this study, out of which 22
      samples confirmed for Plasmodium falciparum and 22 samples confirmed for
      Plasmodium vivax. Out of 22 P. falciparum 15 (68.18%) samples were chloroquine
      resistant. P. vivax showed chloroquine resistance to 5 samples (22.73%) by method
      similar to WHO III plate method (micro test) and nested PCR. CONCLUSION: Drug
      resistance testing by molecular methods is useful for early detection of
      antimalarial drug resistance. pfmdr-1 along with pfcrt-o can be used as biomarker
      for chloroquine drug resistance in P. falciparum and pvmdr-1 along with pvcrt-o
      for P. vivax.

PMID- 27630844
TI  - Salmonella typhi Splenic Abscess Following Blunt Abdominal Injury: A Case Report.
AB  - Splenic abscess as a complication of enteric fever due to Salmonella typhi is a
      rare entity. Here, we are presenting a case of splenic abscess caused by
      Salmonella typhi with a blunt injury to the abdomen as the predisposing factor.
      The patient underwent total splenectomy due to failure of conservative
      management. Splenic abscess is a potential life threatening disease if left
      untreated. In spite of its rarity, Salmonella typhi has to be considered as a
      possible pathogen causing the disease. 

PMID- 27630843
TI  - Microbiology of Non-Tunnelled Catheter-Related Infections.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aerobic bacterial infections often complicate vascular access in
      patients receiving haemodialysis, leading to Catheter-Related Blood Stream
      Infections (CRBSI). Various studies report Gram - positive bacteria,
      Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in particular, as the most common aetiologic
      agent. Studies on microbiological analysis in this subset of population from
      India are very few. AIM: To examine clinical and bacteriological profiles of
      haemodialysis patients developing CRBSI, the antibiotic susceptibility of the
      bacteria isolated from these patients and determine nasal carriage of S. aureus
      in the study subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a prospective observational
      design 127 patients receiving haemodialysis (84 males; 43 females) from October
      2011 to March 2013 were enrolled in this study. At each dialysis session,
      catheters were examined for any evidence of infection. In case of suspicion for
      infection, pus swab, blood culture and the catheter tips were sent to
      microbiology laboratory for site specific investigations. Vancomycin injection
      was empirically administered to these patients pending culture results. Data
      obtained was examined for relationship of CRBSI with clinical and socio
      demographic risk factors. RESULTS: Out of 127 patients, 19 developed CRBSI, 10
      developed exit-site infections and 33 patients were noted to have colonization of
      their catheters. The most common organisms included S. aureus in 24 (45.2%)
      catheter tips, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 9 (17%), Acinetobacter spp.
      in 5 (9%), Enterobacter spp. in 4 (7.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae in 3 (5.6%)
      catheter tips. Bacteraemia was found in 19 (20.7%) patients and P. aeruginosa was
      the most commonly isolated organism amongst them (38.8%). Staphylococcal nasal
      carriage was seen in 60 (69%) patients and 36 (41.4%) of these isolates were
      methicillin-resistant. Significant factors associated with CRBSI included history
      of bacteraemia, presence of diabetes mellitus, long duration (>15 days) of
      catheterization and antibiotic use within three months (p<0.05 for all).
      CONCLUSION: Although S. aureus was the most common colonizer of non-tunnelled
      central access catheters among haemodialysis patients, CRBSI was most frequently
      caused by P. aeruginosa, which may have a bearing on our current antibiotic
      policy.

PMID- 27630845
TI  - Chronic Giardiasis in a Case of Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID): A Case
      Report.
AB  - Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) is a primary immunodeficiency
      characterized by low antibody levels and recurrent infections. This makes an
      individual more prone to recurrent respiratory and gastrointestinal tract
      infections. In cases where there is persistent positive finding of intestinal
      parasites in stool, a high index of suspicion should be raised to rule out
      immunodeficiency state. Early diagnosis of such cases will help in reducing the
      morbidity and better management of the patient. A case of CVID in 18-year-old
      male with recurrent lower respiratory tract infection and chronic diarrhoea due
      to Giardia lamblia is reported herewith. 

PMID- 27630846
TI  - Zika Virus: An Emergence of a New Arbovirus.
AB  - The world is facing a new pandemic in progress due to a mosquito-borne flavivirus
      popularly known as Zika virus. The emergence of this new virus is really alarming
      with the sudden increment in the cases of microcephaly reported from Brazil. The
      findings attributing the involvement of Zika virus as the reason for congenital
      deformations in the babies born in afflicted areas have really shocked the world.
      The present knowledge about this virus is very limited and in the absence of
      further studies the precautions seems to be the best way of protection from this
      virus. The present article is a short review about this new virus. 

PMID- 27630847
TI  - Recent Outbreaks of Diphtheria in Dibrugarh District, Assam, India.
AB  - Diphtheria is still a significant child health problem in countries with low
      immunization coverage. Reports of diphtheria in adult population are also
      increasing. Here we describe three recent outbreaks of diphtheria in Dibrugarh
      district, Assam in two consecutive years. The study was undertaken in Assam
      Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh after the diagnosis of two Diphtheria cases
      in the month of September and October 2015 and another in January 2016. Outbreak
      investigation was done after defining operational definition and throat swabs
      were collected from thirty three (33) individuals including three (3) index cases
      and thirty (30) close contacts. Diagnosis was done by clinical findings, direct
      microscopy, bacteriological culture and in-house designed multiplex Polymerase
      Chain Reaction (PCR) of the isolates for the expression of Corynebacterium
      diphtheriae specific rpoB gene and tox gene. Out of the 10 confirmed cases, 2 and
      7 were in the first two outbreaks while only one in the third outbreak
      respectively. All the cases were of age > 10 years, unimmunized or partially
      immunized. The overall mortality was 20%. PCR results revealed all the culture
      positive isolates to be tox gene positive. Diphtheria is a resurgent problem in
      our region with a significant age shift towards adult. 

PMID- 27630848
TI  - Role of Histomorphology and Chronic Inflammation Score in Chronic Dacryocystitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diseases of lacrimal drainage system account for nearly 3% of
      visits to eye clinic. Chronic dacryocystitis is a frequently encountered disorder
      among these patients. Histomorphology of specimens obtained after
      Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is a pertinent indicator of prognostic outcome. AIM:
      The aim of the study was to evaluate histopathology of specimens obtained after
      DCR and to elucidate patterns and score of chronic inflammation encountered.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted for a period of one year. Total of
      50 patients who were clinically diagnosed as Chronic Dacryocystitis and underwent
      DCR were included. Following DCR, specimens of lacrimal sac, nasal mucous
      membrane and nasal bone were collected. Histopathological slides were examined
      for chronic inflammatory cell infiltration, fibrosis and capillary proliferation
      and were graded according to severity, in each specimen. A Chronic Inflammation
      Score (CIS) was recorded for each case. RESULTS: The average age of patients was
      39.04+/-14.22 years and their age ranged between 13 and 62 years. There were 28
      (56%) females and 22 (44%) males in the study group. The nasal bone did not
      reveal any abnormality in any case. The nasal mucous membrane showed mild chronic
      inflammatory cell infiltration in 46 (92%) cases and moderate degree in 4 (8%)
      patients. Chronic inflammation with granulation tissue formation was noted in
      lacrimal sacs of all patients. The CIS revealed that 14 (28%) cases belonged to
      "mild" group, 26 (52%) to "moderate" group and 10 (20%) to "severe" category.
      CONCLUSION: The inclusion of CIS in histomorphological evaluation of DCR
      specimens is recommended since it is one of the parameters that influence course
      of the disease.

PMID- 27630849
TI  - Expression of p63 and Bcl-2 in Malignant Thyroid Tumors and their Correlation
      with other Diagnostic Immunocytochemical Markers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bcl-2 is a marker recently studied in thyroid tumours and proposed
      to have prognostic significance. p63 is expressed in a proportion of papillary
      thyroid carcinoma cases and may have a role in tumour progression. AIM: To study
      expression of Bcl2 and p63 in thyroid tumours and correlation of Bcl-2 with
      diagnostic markers including Thyroglobulin, Calcitonin and Carcinoembryonic
      antigen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytology smears of 35 cases of thyroid cancer
      were studied over a period of 18 months. In 20 cases histopathology was
      available. Immunocytochemistry for Bcl-2 and p63 was done, and diagnostic markers
      were applied as and when required. RESULTS: p63 showed focal nuclear expression
      in 46.1% of papillary thyroid carcinoma cases, and was negative in all other
      tumours. Bcl-2 was positive in 88.9% of follicular carcinomas, 100% of papillary
      carcinomas and 83.3% of medullary carcinoma cases, and showed focal weak
      expression in 40% of Anaplastic Carcinoma (ATC) cases, thereby signifying down
      regulation (p-value = 0.001). There was significant down regulation of
      Thyroglobulin (Tg) in ATC vs well differentiated follicular derived tumours (p
      value <= 0.016). Positive correlation was noted between expression of Bcl-2 and
      Calcitonin (0.93) and Bcl-2 and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) (0.89), and weak
      positive correlation (0.65) between Tg and Bcl-2. CONCLUSION: Bcl-2 is
      downregulated in anaplastic carcinomas as compared to well differentiated thyroid
      tumours, and shows correlation with differentiation associated tumour antigens.
      Thus, loss of Bcl-2 was associated with loss of differentiation in thyroid
      tumours. Anaplastic carcinoma as such is associated with worse prognosis and loss
      of Bcl-2 may be partly responsible for the same. p63 is specific but less
      sensitive marker for PTC. Further studies are required to determine the role of
      Bcl-2 and p63 in thyroid tumours.

PMID- 27630851
TI  - A Clinicopathological Study of Benign Phyllodes Tumour of Breast with Emphasis on
      Unusual Features.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Benign Phyllodes Tumours (PTs) are rare fibroepithelial neoplasms
      that resemble fibroadenoma. But unlike fibroadenoma, benign PT can recur and both
      stromal & epithelial components can progress to malignancy. Contrary to earlier
      belief that benign PT is a stromal neoplasm and possibly arises from
      fibroadenoma, more recent molecular studies have suggested that both stroma and
      epithelium can become neoplastic. Sometimes, benign PT can occur synchronously
      with fibroadenoma. Here histomorphologic analysis of eleven cases of benign PT
      are presented including some unusual features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven
      cases of benign PT diagnosed between Dec 2014 and Jan 2016 in the Department of
      Pathology were studied. The demographic and clinicopathological features were
      analysed. RESULTS: The most common age group affected was 20-30 years (range: 13
      45). Clinical features included pain, lump and bleeding from nipple. The tumour
      size varied from 2.5-18 cm in diameter. H&E stained sections showed secondary
      changes (haemorrhage, myxoid, change, cystic degeneration), epithelial
      hyperplasia (8), squamous & columnar metaplasia (1), benign tubular adenoma like
      areas (1), Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) (1), Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC)
      (1), Pseudoangiomatous Stromal Hyperplasia (PASH) (1), histologic infarction (2),
      tumour necrosis (1) and synchronous fibroadenoma (1). Unusual histologic features
      included atypical ductal hyperplasia, DCIS, IDC, synchronous fibroadenoma and
      tubular adenoma like areas arising within benign PT. CONCLUSION: This study shows
      a spectrum of hyperplastic, metaplastic, dysplastic, benign, in-situ-malignancy
      and even invasive ductal malignancy occurring in benign PT. Therefore adequate
      and extensive sampling is recommended for accurate diagnosis.

PMID- 27630850
TI  - Prevalence of Autoantibodies and HLA DR, DQ in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Type I diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is caused by autoimmune destruction
      of beta-cells of pancreas. Two forms of T1DM are known called as 1A (autoimmune)
      and 1B (idiopathic). AIM: Aim was to study the prevalence of Anti-TTG IgA, Anti
      TPO, GADA, ZnT8 and IA-2 autoantibodies and HLA DR and DQ genes and its
      diagnostic value in T1DM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty four T1DM patients, 59
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and 28 healthy controls were included in
      study. Antibodies levels were estimated by ELISA and HLA typing was performed by
      SSP-PCR method. RESULT: The prevalence of various autoantibodies in T1DM were
      Anti-TTG 14.7%, Anti-TPO 17.65%, GADA 38.23%, ZnT8 11.76% and IA-2 5.88%. Only
      GADA and ZnT8 were significantly positive in T1DM. GADA (66.67%) and ZnT8
      (33.33%) positivity was more in patients below 15 years age while levels of other
      antibodies were higher after 15 years age. All autoantibodies were detected in
      higher frequency in T1DM than in T2DM and controls. HLA DR and DQ typing showed
      highly significant increase in DRB1*0301 (61.76%, p=0.00) and DQB1*0201 (64.71%,
      p=0.00) in T1DM. Subjects with HLA DRB1*0301 and DQB1*0201 had 80-100% positive
      prevalence of GADA, ZnT8, IA-2, Anti-TTG and Anti-TPO autoantibodies. CONCLUSION:
      Combination of GADA antibody with DRB1 and DQB1 estimation improved diagnosis of
      T1A than insulin antigen specific antibodies alone.

PMID- 27630852
TI  - Comparison of Cell Preparations between Commercially Available Filter Cards of
      the Cytospin with Custom Made Filter Cards.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cytological evaluation of body fluids is an important diagnostic
      technique. Cytocentrifuge has contributed immensely to improve the diagnostic
      yield of the body fluids. Cytocentrifuge requires a filter card for absorbing the
      cell free fluid. This is the only consumable which needs to be purchased from the
      manufacturer at a significant cost. AIM: To compare the cell density in
      cytocentrifuge preparations made from commercially available filter cards with
      custom made filter cards. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective
      analytical study undertaken in department of pathology of a tertiary care centre.
      A 300 GSM handmade paper with the absorbability similar to the conventional card
      was obtained and fashioned to suit the filter card slot of the cytospin. Thirty
      seven body fluids were centrifuged using both conventional and custom made filter
      card. The cell density was measured as number of cells per 10 high power fields.
      The median cell density was compared using Mann-Whitney U test. The agreement
      between the values was analysed using Bland Altman analysis. RESULTS: The median
      cell count per 10 High power field (HPF) with conventional card was 386 and that
      with custom made card was 408. The difference was not statistically significant
      (p = 0.66). There was no significant difference in the cell density and
      alteration in the morphology between the cell preparations using both the cards.
      CONCLUSION: Custom made filter card can be used for cytospin cell preparations of
      body fluids without loss of cell density or alteration in the cell morphology and
      at a very low cost.

PMID- 27630853
TI  - Effectiveness of Pooled Platelet Transfusion in Concordant and Discordant Groups
      among Dengue Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dengue affects more than 50 million people per year and is one of
      the most common causes of severe thrombocytopaenia. Thrombocytopaenia is a common
      complication of dengue and other viral fevers apart from malaria, typhoid,
      leptospirosis, leukaemia and megaloblastic anaemia. A platelet count of
      <20,000/MUl is characteristically seen in dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue
      fever. It results from immune complex mediated platelet destruction or bone
      marrow suppression. Severe thrombocytopaenia <10,000/MUl is one of the
      indications for prophylactic platelet transfusion therapy to prevent haemorrhage.
      AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of transfusion of ABO compatible and ABO
      incompatible pooled platelet units in severe thrombocytopaenia cases. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: In this study ABO compatible and incompatible pooled platelet units
      were transfused to serologically confirmed dengue cases having thrombocytopaenia
      with or without bleeding manifestations. Each of the adult patients received 4-6
      units of pooled platelet concentrates prepared from random donor whole blood
      suspended in plasma for severe thrombocytopaenia. Pre and post transfusion
      platelet counts were compared. Children aged less than 12 years, pregnant women
      and patients with splenomegaly those on ayurvedic and homeopathic therapy,
      recipients of packed red cells on the same day of platelet transfusion and
      recipients of multiple platelet transfusions within 24 hours were excluded from
      the study. RESULTS: The median post transfusion platelet increments (PPI) and
      corrected count increments (CCI) at 4hour post transfusion were 25,000/MUL (5,000
      80,000/MUL) and 18,000/MUL (range 8,000/MUL- 47,500/MUL) respectively among the
      responders. Median PPI and CCI at 24 hours were 45,000/MUL and 28,863/MUL among
      the responders. The median CCI at 4 hour post transfusion among the non
      responders was 850/MUL and at 24hours was 1,425/MUL. At 24 hours responders
      showed significantly higher PPI as compared to non responders. The average
      platelets transfused were 4units in case of responders and 8 units in case of non
      responders. CONCLUSION: ABO identical and compatible pooled platelet transfusions
      were more successful in increasing the post transfusion platelet counts as
      compared to ABO incompatible pooled platelets.

PMID- 27630854
TI  - Unusually Aggressive Primary Testicular Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma with Post
      Therapy Extensive Metastasis.
AB  - Primary Testicular Lymphoma (PTL) is a rare intermediate to high grade tumour,
      diffuse large cell being the most common type. Unlike nodal Diffuse Large B-Cell
      Lymphoma (DLBCL), testicular DLBCL has a less aggressive course and better
      prognosis. Metastasis is uncommon in testicular DLBCL. Commonly involved sites
      are contralateral testes, Waldeyer's ring, skin, lung, Central Nervous System
      (CNS) and prostate, however the kidneys, liver, bone marrow, pleura and bones are
      more rarely involved. We report a case of testicular DLBCL which has metastasized
      to skin and bone marrow with an aggressive clinical course in a year, in-spite of
      combined modality of therapy given to the patient. Bone marrow infiltration is
      common and well documented with nodal DLBCL, however there is no published
      literature for simultaneous bone marrow and skin infiltration in testicular DLBCL
      till date. Other large studies done in the west have shown that distinct
      metastasis is usually common but the median progression-free survival is usually
      in years. This case stresses on shorter period of progression after standard
      treatment protocol in this part of the world, thus highlighting the need for
      other extensive studies to define specific treatment protocol for testicular
      DLBCL. 

PMID- 27630855
TI  - Congenital Giant Teratoma Arising from the Hard Palate: A Rare Clinical
      Presentation.
AB  - Teratomas are rare tumours which originate from all 3 germs cell layers namely
      endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm, with varying proportions of each component. The
      most common site of teratoma is in the sacro-coccygeal region. Teratomas are
      generally benign and have well appreciable clinical and histopathological
      features. Incidence of congenital teratoma is 1 in 4000. In head and neck region
      congenital teratomas usually associated with other anomalies like cystic hygroma
      and cleft palate with an incidence of 1 in 400. The approximately reported
      incidence of palatal teratoma is 1 in 35000 to 40000 live-births. Upper airway
      difficulty causes anticipated functional problems at hypopharynx. The prognosis
      of palatal teratoma mostly depends on the risk and extent of neonatal respiratory
      distress. We present a rare case of congenital teratoma arising from the hard
      palate in a new born girl. The outcome in this case was bad due to the large mass
      causing respiratory difficulty and bleeding from the ruptured cystic areas
      leading to hypovolemic shock. After two hours of delivery, baby expired. 

PMID- 27630856
TI  - Wuchereria bancrofti: Unusual Presentation as Pancytopenia.
AB  - Wuchereria bancrofti is an endemic filarial nematode spread by a mosquito vector.
      The clinical manifestations vary from asymptomatic microfilaremeia to lymhoedema.
      We report two cases of microfilaria of Wuchereria bancrofti in bone marrow
      presenting as peripheral pancytopenia. The patient did not have any classical
      features of lymphoedema or elephantiasis. The diagnostic demonstration of
      microfilaria with unusual presentations has been done in cytology specimens from
      various sites. Microfilaria infection in association with peripheral blood
      pancytopenia has been rarely reported. An aetiopathological co-relation of these
      haematological manifestations of microfilaria needs further investigation. 

PMID- 27630857
TI  - Splenic Epidermoid Cyst in a Five-Year-Old Child.
AB  - Splenic epidermoid cysts are rare non-parasitic true cysts affecting the spleen.
      We report a five-year-old child who presented with an abdominal lump associated
      with pain of 15 days. Ultrasonography of the abdomen showed a huge cystic lesion
      of obscure origin. At laprotomy a huge unilocular cyst involving upper part of
      spleen containing pultaceous fluid was seen and its removal necessitated
      splenectomy. Histopathological findings were consistent with splenic epidermoid
      cyst. Thus histopathology helped in elucidating the aetiology and diagnosis. 

PMID- 27630859
TI  - Bilateral Xanthogranulomatous Orchiepididymitis in a Diabetic Patient.

PMID- 27630858
TI  - Acquired Solitary Glomangiomyoma on the Forearm: A Rare Case Report.
AB  - Glomus tumours are benign lesions which are frequently seen on hand (particularly
      subungual region). In this report a 52-year-old male patient with glomangiomyoma
      on the left forearm has been presented. With a preliminary diagnosis of
      haemangioma, a subcutaneous well-circumscribed nodular lesion of the patient was
      excised. On histomorphological examination glomus cells, vascular structures and
      spindle-shaped smooth muscle cells were seen around it. Immunohistochemistry of
      smooth muscle cells and glomus cells showed positivity for smooth muscle actin.
      By means of these findings, the patient was diagnosed with glomangiomyoma. Glomus
      tumours are rare in the forearm (In the literature there are two cases).
      Moreover, glomangiomyomas are the least common histomorphological type of glomus
      tumour and are generally seen in the lower extremity. In the literature, a few
      cases of glomangioma and solitary glomus tumour has been described on the forearm
      histologically and only a few glomangiomyoma cases on forearm location. We have
      presented the glomangiomyoma on the forearm as a rarely-seen case. Early
      diagnosis of the glomangiomyoma on the forearm is of importance for the
      prevention of morbidity. 

PMID- 27630860
TI  - The Role of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2/neu) in Mucoepidermoid
      Carcinomas.

PMID- 27630861
TI  - No Benefit of BCR-ABL1 Screening in Polycythemia.

PMID- 27630862
TI  - Valproic Acid versus Lamotrigine as First-line Monotherapy in Newly Diagnosed
      Idiopathic Generalized Tonic -Clonic Seizures in Adults - A Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Idiopathic Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures (GTCS) are frequently
      encountered in adults. Their successful control is necessary to improve the
      quality of life of these patients. Valproic acid is a simple branched-chain
      carboxylic acid and lamotrigine is a phenyltriazine derivative. Opinions differ
      in regards to their effectiveness in idiopathic GTCS. AIM: To compare the
      effectiveness of valproic acid and lamotrigine in newly diagnosed adults with
      idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic seizures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present
      prospective randomized study was conducted on 60 patients suffering from
      idiopathic GTCS. Thirty patients received valproic acid and rest 30 patients
      received lamotrigine. All patients were followed regularly monthly for one year
      for treatment response and adverse effects. RESULTS: After 12 months follow-up,
      76.67% patients taking valproic acid and 56.67% patients taking lamotrigine were
      seizure-free. Common adverse effects recorded were nausea, dyspepsia, headache
      and skin rash. CONCLUSION: Valproic acid is more effective than lamotrigine as
      first-line drug in the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed idiopathic
      generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

PMID- 27630863
TI  - Quantitative Gene Expression of ERG9 in Model Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Chamomile
      Extract For Human Cancer Treatment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Over expression of squalene synthase gene causes induction of
      growth tumour and reduction of apoptosis. This gene which is conserved between
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and humans, is named (ERG9). AIM: In this work, we
      studied the effect of Matricaria recutita extract on ERG9 gene (squalene
      synthase) expression in S.cerevisiae which was used as organism model in cancer
      therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: S. cerevisiae was cultured in YPD medium plus
      0,250, 1000 and 3000 MUg/ml of Matricaria recutita extract and we evaluated the
      (ERG9) gene expression by Real-time RT-PCR method after 24 hours. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS USED: At least 3 independent experiments were done. Data were analyzed
      using One-way ANOVA and Dunnett's test. A p-value of less than 0.01 was
      considered as significant. RESULTS: We found that 250, 1000 and 3000 MUg/ml of
      Matricaria recutita extract could reduce expression of ERG9 gene significantly
      (p<0.01). Interestingly, the expression of this gene was completely inhibited in
      1000 and 3000 MUg/ml concentrations. CONCLUSION: This study predicted that
      Matricaria recutita extract produced anti-cancer effects in humans, because it
      could inhibit the expression of an analogue key gene in this malignant disease.
      Further investigations should be made, to study its molecular mechanism of action
      at the mammal cell level.

PMID- 27630864
TI  - Dating of Acute and Subacute Subdural Haemorrhage: A Histo-Pathological Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Microscopic study of the organization of the Subdural Haemorrhage
      (SDH) verified against the time period can help us in the determination of its
      age which has serious medico-legal implications. Very few studies concerning the
      dating of SDH are present in the literature. AIM: This study was conducted for
      dating the early subdural haemorrhage by routine histopathological stains.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective analytical study was conducted during July
      2009 to December 2010. A total of 100 cases (50 males and 50 females) fulfilling
      the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this study. Routine
      histopathological staining of the subdural haematoma was done. RESULTS:
      Correlation between the frequency of a given histomorphological phenomenon and
      the length of the Post-Traumatic Interval (PTI) was evidential. All the
      histomorphological features, when correlated with PTI groups, were found to be
      statistically significant, except for Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes (PMN).
      CONCLUSION: We concluded that routine histopathology was reliable in the dating
      of early subdural haemorrhages.

PMID- 27630865
TI  - The Impact of Evidence-Based Practices on Postoperative Pain in Patients
      undergoing Gastrointestinal Surgery in Amiralmomenin Hospital in Zabol During
      2014-2015.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Evidence-Based Practices (EBP), have gained considerable ground
      in treatment and care, increases the quality of nurses' clinical care. Yet EBP is
      less frequently employed despite its efficiency and importance. Pain management
      is an important component of nursing care and sufficient pain control has still
      remained as a challenge despite routine nursing practices that are already
      provided. AIM: The present study intended to define the impact of evidence-based
      nursing practices on postoperative pain in patients undergoing gastrointestinal
      surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was a single group quasi
      experimental study with before/after design. The study was conducted in the
      General Surgery Departments of the Amiralmomenin Hospital in Zabol during 2014
      2015. A purposive sampling method was used to study 55 patients undergoing
      abdominal surgery. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The patients
      pain severity was defined before and after implementing evidence-based practices.
      The collected data were analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and
      inferential statistics. RESULTS: The results showed that 61.8% of patients
      experienced severe postoperative pain. The mean perceived pain ratings in women
      and men were 7.88+/-1.78 and 9.42+/-0.81, respectively. The mean pain intensity
      was 8.48+/-1.66 before the intervention and reached 7.16+/-1.71 after the
      intervention, which was significant based on Kruskal-Wallis test (p=0.003). The
      mean postoperative pain experienced by the patients (p<0.01) and pain-relief
      following the intervention (p=0.002) was significant for gender. CONCLUSION: This
      study suggests that a high percentage of patients experienced acute postoperative
      pain despite routine nursing care, while evidence-based nursing practices could
      significantly alleviate pain.

PMID- 27630866
TI  - Open Defecation in India: A Major Health Hazard and Hurdle in Infection Control.

PMID- 27630867
TI  - Exploring Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is one of the most common form of dementia occurring in
      elderly population worldwide. Currently Abeta42, tau and p-tau in the
      cerebrospinal fluid is estimated for confirmation of AD. CSF which is being used
      as the potent source for biomarker screening is obtained by invasive lumbar
      punctures. Thus, there is an urgent need of minimal invasive methods for
      identification of diagnostic markers for early detection of AD. Blood serum and
      plasma serves as an appropriate source, due to minimal discomfort to the
      patients, promoting frequent testing, better follow-up and better consent to
      clinical trials. Hence, the need of the hour demands discovery of diagnostic and
      prognostic patient specific signature biomarkers by using emerging technologies
      of mass spectrometry, microarrays and peptidomics. In this review we summarize
      the present scenario of AD biomarkers such as circulatory biomarkers, blood based
      amyloid markers, inflammatory markers and oxidative stress markers being
      investigated and also some of the potent biomarkers which might be able to
      predict early onset of Alzheimer's and delay cognitive impairment. 

PMID- 27630868
TI  - Reconstructive Surgery Camp for Leprosy Deformities in a Tertiary Hospital: An
      Example of Service Delivery at Low Costs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Seventy percent of all cases of leprosy in the world occur in
      India. 8,462 new cases of disability were reported in India between 2010-11.
      Reconstructive Surgery Camps (RSC) provide free of cost plastic surgical
      expertise to patients of leprosy with deformity. AIM: The aim of this article was
      to report the outcomes of a RSC in a tertiary level university hospital in India.
      We also described the types of deformities in the patient group and the cost of
      conducting such a camp. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The RSC involved 130 patients with
      leprosy related deformities operated by a team of plastic surgeons in a tertiary
      university hospital over 5 days. Health workers of the National Leprosy
      Elimination Program identified patients at community level. The camp was funded
      by the central government of India and the patients were provided incentives for
      undergoing treatment. RESULTS: Plantar ulcer was the commonest deformity (51.5%)
      while lagopthalmos (9.2%) was the least common deformity in the patient group.
      The overall complication rate in our study was around 10.6% (n=11). The total
      cost of this camp was 730,000 rupees (L7029.9). CONCLUSION: Reconstructive
      surgery in a camp setup is a low cost alternative of correcting leprosy related
      deformity. It also provides valuable practical experience in reconstructive
      surgery to surgical trainees. Tertiary hospital based camps for conducting large
      scale surgeries may be a cost effective alternative to reduce waiting lists in
      public health sectors. Long-term studies monitoring patients operated in a camp
      setting would be worthwhile.

PMID- 27630869
TI  - A Cross-sectional Study of the Pattern of Body Image Perception among Female
      Students of BBM College in Vijayapur, North Karnataka.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Body image is an essential aspect of young girls' self-definition
      and individual identity which is influenced by various biological, psychological
      and social factors. Excessive concern about body image, body image misconception
      are leading to dissatisfaction, disturbed eating patterns, affecting the
      nutritional status and also leading to depression and anxiety disorders. This
      concept of body image has been less explored in Indian context, especially among
      young girls. AIMS: The objectives of the study were to assess the body image
      perception among young college going girls, using a visual analog scale and to
      compare body image perception and satisfaction with their BMI levels and weight
      changing methods adopted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional
      study was conducted among 63 female students studying BBM course at a private
      commerce institution in Vijayapur city. Data was collected using a self
      administered questionnaire containing details of basic socio-demographic
      information and a validated visual analogue scale. Height was measured by Seca
      Stadiometer, weight was measured using Digital weighing machine and Body Mass
      Index levels were calculated. Percentages were calculated for descriptive
      variables. Chi-square test was applied for analysing categorical variables.
      Spearman Rank correlation test was applied for analysing ordinal data. RESULTS: A
      39.7% of participants were underweight and 15.9% were overweight/obese. Majority
      of underweight and overweight girls (72% and 89%, respectively) perceived
      themselves as normal weight. Body image satisfaction of participants was found to
      be significantly associated with their body image perception, mothers'
      educational status and also with relatives' and peer group's opinions about their
      body weight. Unhealthy weight changing patterns like skipping meals (13%),
      increasing quantity and frequency of meals (17%) were reported among study
      participants. CONCLUSION: This exploratory study highlights the gap between young
      girls' body image perception and their BMI levels, indicating body image
      misconception. Lower literacy level of mothers and opinions of relatives and
      friends significantly influenced body image satisfaction among study
      participants. Higher percentage of underweight (39.7%) coupled with unhealthy
      weight changing patterns reportedly adopted by participants (30%) indicates need
      for further research on this issue, to help inform public health nutrition
      programmes.

PMID- 27630870
TI  - The Role of Socioeconomic Status on Health-Related Quality of Life in the West of
      Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The quality of life involves different dimensions of people's
      social mental, physical welfare and health. AIM: This study aimed to determine
      the effects of economic- social factors on quality of life in 2013 in the west of
      Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we selected cases
      among different counties of Ilam province by multi-stage cluster sampling. Data
      collection tools were general economic questionnaires and the quality of life
      questionnaire SF-36. Data analysed using multiple regression models. RESULTS:
      Nine hundred and eighteen participants were selected mean+/-sd age for the
      studied participant was 32.97+/-9.5 years and mean+/-sd scores for their quality
      of life were 61.74+/- 12.31. Based on results of logistic regression, the good
      quality of life among women was 1.2 times more than men and among married was
      1.47 times more than single. After adjustments on other covariates, the odds of
      good quality of life for people with good and median economic condition was
      respectively 1.8 and 3.4 times more than groups with bad economic condition.
      CONCLUSION: Therefore, the general improvement of people's quality of life can be
      influenced by increasing social cooperation, improving health care services and
      providing counseling services about obtained policies by health care.

PMID- 27630871
TI  - Comparison of Boric Acid and Combination Drug of Polymyxin, Neomycin and
      Hydrocortisone (polymyxin NH) in the Treatment of Acute Otitis Externa.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute otitis externa is an inflammation of the external auditory
      canal known as "swimmer's ear". Direct costs including medical treatment,
      painkillers, antibiotics, steroids or both and indirect costs are also
      remarkable. AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of boric acid
      and polymyxin, neomycin and hydrocortisone composition in the treatment of acute
      otitis externa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was carried
      out on 80 patients aged more than 17-year-old who were referred to Kashani
      hospital clinic with a diagnosis of acute otitis externa by otolaryngologist. The
      patients were randomly allocated to two groups (A: Boric acid and B: polymyxin NH
      ear drops) and Painkiller was prescribed and administered orally for all patients
      and in the presence of fever, cellulitis around the ears and neck adenopathy,
      broad-spectrum systemic antibiotics were used besides topical treatment. Symptoms
      of patients who were evaluated by a physician includes pain, discharge from the
      ear, swelling of the ear canal, auricle swelling, tenderness, and ear itching. In
      addition, pain was evaluated in patients and was recorded by Macgill Pain
      Questionnaire, in the first, third, seventh and tenth days. RESULTS: Results
      showed that itching on third day (p=0.007) and swelling of the ear canal in the
      examination of the third day (p=0.006) and the seventh day (p=0.001) in the
      polymyxin NH group was more than those of boric acid group. Overall mean pain
      based on McGill questionnaire was 11.10+/-1.49 in boric acid group in the
      examination on the first day and was 4.05+/-0.22 in the examination on the tenth
      day and in the polymyxin NH group, it was 10.9+/-0.99 on the first day and 4.20+/
      0.40 on the tenth day. In both groups, pain relief was the same and there was no
      significant difference between two groups (p=0.075). CONCLUSION: The findings of
      this study showed slight differences in the effectiveness of the boric acid drug
      and combination of polymyxin, neomycin and hydrocortisone in the treatment of
      patients with acute otitis externa that is of clinical significance.

PMID- 27630872
TI  - Paediatric Extracranial Spinal Accessory Nerve Schwannoma: An Extremely Rare Case
      Report.
AB  - Schwannoma in head and neck region are quiet common and generally arise from last
      four cranial nerves. Spinal accessory nerve involvement is very rare. We are
      hereby presenting an extremely rare case of paediatric XI nerve schwannoma
      hitherto unreported in English medical literature till date. 

PMID- 27630873
TI  - Morphometric Analysis of Peripapillary Thickness in Hypertensives and
      Normotensives using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hypotension following antihypertensive treatment is associated with
      retinal nerve fibre loss. There are studies that have reported the changes in
      RNFL in hypertensives. AIM: To compare the Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer (RNFL)
      thickness using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in hypertensive and
      normotensive individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional study was
      conducted from October 2012 to September 2014 to compare the RNFL thickness using
      SD OCT in hypertensive {no other ocular or systemic co-morbidity, vision better
      or equal to 6/9 (n=30)} and normotensive (n=30) individuals. RESULTS:
      Statistically significant RNFL loss was detected in hypertensives (98.31 +/-
      7.01) when compared to the normotensives (102.51 +/- 8.72) p=0.001. CONCLUSION:
      Significant loss of RNFL in hypertensives point towards the altered
      autoregulation and warrants larger studies to assess the clinical relevance.

PMID- 27630874
TI  - Study of Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus
      Using Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diabetic retina undergoes degenerative changes in retinal nerve
      fiber layer (RNFL) in addition to vascular changes. Loss of RNFL with changes in
      inner retina and their association with metabolic control have been studied with
      varied results in diabetic patients. AIM: To compare the RNFL thickness between
      diabetic patients and age matched healthy controls and to correlate the thickness
      to metabolic control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and sixty five patients
      were enrolled in the study out of which 50 served as controls, 58 patients were
      diabetic without retinopathy and 57 patients had diabetic retinopathy. Both eyes
      of all patients underwent optical coherence tomography scans for RNFL and
      ganglion cell complex. Foveal and parafoveal thickness were also measured. All
      the parameters were compared to patient's metabolic control. RESULTS: RNFL
      thinning was observed in superotemporal (p-value = 0.001) and upper nasal sectors
      (p-value = 0.031) around the optic disc in eyes with diabetic retinopathy.
      Ganglion cell complex also showed statistically significant thinning in diabetic
      patients. Creatinine levels showed a weak negative correlation to the RNFL.
      CONCLUSION: This study positively concluded that neurodegeneration in an early
      component of diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 27630875
TI  - An Unusual Case of Extensive Lattice Degeneration and Retinal Detachment.
AB  - Lattice degeneration of the retina is not infrequently encountered on a dilated
      retinal examination and many of them do not need any intervention. We report a
      case of atypical lattice degeneration variant with peripheral retinal detachment.
      An asymptomatic 35-year-old lady with minimal refractive error was found to have
      extensive lattice degeneration, peripheral retinal detachment and fibrotic
      changes peripherally with elevation of retinal vessels on dilated retinal
      examination. There were also areas of white without pressure, chorioretinal
      scarring and retinal breaks. All the changes were limited to beyond the equator
      but were found to span 360 degrees. She was treated with barrage laser all around
      to prevent extension of the retinal detachment posteriorly. She remained stable
      till her latest follow-up two years after the barrage laser. This case is
      reported for its rarity with a discussion of the probable differential diagnoses.
      To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such findings in
      lattice degeneration. 

PMID- 27630876
TI  - Endogenous Panophthalmitis in a case of Multiple Myeloma and Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - Multiple myeloma cripples the human body in many ways, one of them being
      decreased immunity. Infections occurring spontaneously can increase the
      morbidity. We report a case of an elderly lady with multiple myeloma on treatment
      and uncontrolled diabetes, who developed loss of vision, swelling and redness of
      left eye of 4 days duration. There was no history of injury or entry of a foreign
      body. She also had left arm cellulitis. Ocular examination revealed visual acuity
      of 6/36 in right eye and no perception of light in left eye. Anterior segment of
      the right eye was insignificant while the left eye showed features suggestive of
      panophthalmitis. B scan revealed choroidal detachment and confirmed
      panophthalmitis. She underwent evisceration of the left eye. The cause of
      spontaneous infections is an immunocompromised state due to multiple myeloma and
      uncontrolled diabetes. This case report highlights the propensity of multiple
      myeloma to cause infections of the eye debilitating enough to cause severe visual
      morbidity. 

PMID- 27630877
TI  - Congenital Aniridia with Ectopia Lentis.

PMID- 27630878
TI  - A Prospective Study on Prevalence and Causes of Anaemia in Patients with Acute
      Coronary Syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anaemia is a contributor for adverse prognosis in Acute Coronary
      Syndrome (ACS), but the epidemiology and causes of anaemia in such patients is
      not defined. AIM: To study the prevalence and aetiology of anaemia in
      hospitalized patients with ACS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All consecutive patients
      admitted with ACS from January to March, 2010 were included. Their clinical
      information was recorded. RESULTS: Of 130 (87 males) consecutive admissions for
      ACS, 47.7% had unstable angina, 10% had Non ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction
      (NSTEMI) and 42.3% had ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Overall
      prevalence of anaemia (haemoglobin <130 g/l in men and <120 g/l in women) was
      51.5% (n=67) and was more prevalent in women (n=30, 69.8%) than men (n=37,
      42.5%). Moderate to severe anaemia was more in women (34.9%) compared to men
      (20.8%). Anaemia was more common in unstable angina patients (58.2%) than in
      NSTEMI (11.9%) or STEMI (29.9%) patients (p=0.013). Aspirin (p<0.01) and/or
      clopidogrel intake (p<0.01) and raised serum creatinine (p<0.01) were more often
      in anaemic patients. Heart failure (p<0.01) and triple vessel disease (p<0.05)
      were associated with anaemia. Multivariate predictors of duration of hospital
      stay were haemoglobin (p<0.05) at admission and revascularisation procedure
      (p=0.01) during hospital stay. The most common cause of anaemia was iron
      deficiency (29.9%). CONCLUSION: Anaemia was common in our patients admitted with
      ACS. Female gender, antiplatelet drug intake and raised creatinine were
      associated with anaemia, which in turn was associated with adverse in-hospital
      outcomes. The impact of correcting anaemia on outcomes in ACS needs long term
      prospective study.

PMID- 27630880
TI  - Association of Risk Estimates of Three Different Cardiovascular Risk Assessment
      Tools with Carotid Intima Media Thickness in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Risk assessment tools used to calculate the Cardiovascular Disease
      (CVD) risk such as the Framingham Risk Score (FRS), United Kingdom Prospective
      Diabetes study (UKPDS) risk engine and the World Health Organization (WHO) risk
      score have not been tested on their ability to detect subclinical atherosclerosis
      in most developing countries. AIM: To study the association between the
      calculated CVD risk scores using each of these tools and Carotid Intima Medial
      Thickness (CIMT), a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis, in a group of patients
      with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in Sri Lanka. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We calculated
      CVD risk scores of 68 randomly selected patients with T2DM with no history or
      symptoms of CVD and measured their CIMT using B-mode ultrasonography (USS).
      Carotid USS was considered positive when the maximum carotid IMT was 0.9mm or
      when arteriosclerotic plaques were detected. The 10-year CVD risk was calculated
      using the FRS, the UKPDS risk engine and the WHO risk score. Pearson correlation
      was used to study the association between CVD risk scores with CIMT. RESULTS: Of
      the 68 patients studied, 50% were males and their mean age (SD) was 56.9 (+/-9.6)
      years. The mean age at onset and duration of diabetes were 44.3(+/-9.1) and
      12.2(+/-7.6) years respectively. Of the scoring methods, UKPDS tool had weak, but
      significantly positive (r = 0.26, p < 0.05) and FRS had positive but not
      significant association (r= 0. 21) with CIMT. There was a negative association
      between CIMT and WHO risk score (r= - 0.07). CONCLUSION: Of the three CVD risk
      assessment tools, both UKPDS risk engine and FRS have almost equal ability
      (former being marginally superior) in predicting underlying atherosclerotic
      vascular disease in patients with T2DM. Negative association of the WHO risk
      score with CIMT argues against its utility for CVD screening. These findings
      highlight the need for developing more sensitive and reliable CVD risk assessment
      tools for developing countries.

PMID- 27630879
TI  - Mastication Frequency and Postprandial Blood Sugar Levels in Normoglycaemic and
      Dysglycaemic Individuals: A Cross- Sectional Comparative Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mastication has potential to affect postprandial blood glucose
      levels by affecting cephalic phase of insulin release. However, limited number of
      studies done in this regard has yielded conflicting results. AIM: To evaluate
      effects of mastication on postprandial blood glucose levels. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We compared routine and thorough mastication in 2 separate groups:
      dysglycaemic (prediabetics and diabetics) and normoglycaemic in prospective
      interventional study. Blood glucose levels were measured pre-prandial and
      postprandial (after 2 hours) on separate days after routine and thorough
      mastication in both groups. RESULTS: In normoglycaemic group, thorough
      mastication significantly reduced postprandial blood glucose levels at 2 hours
      (128.25+/- 7.82 mg/dl on routine mastication vs 119.74+/-9.08 mg/dl on thorough
      mastication, p<0.05). Comparatively, in dysglycaemic group, thorough mastication
      had little effect on postprandial blood glucose levels at 2 hours (244.07+/-22.37
      mg/dl vs. 243.55+/-22.87 mg/dl). CONCLUSION: In normoglycaemic group,
      postprandial blood glucose concentration upon thorough mastication was
      significantly lower, due to early-phase insulin secretion. This simple lifestyle
      modification of thorough mastication can be a useful preventive measure against
      diabetes in people with a strong family history and other risk factors for
      diabetes who have not yet developed diabetes or prediabetes.

PMID- 27630881
TI  - The Relationship between Nerve Conduction Study and Clinical Grading of Carpal
      Tunnel Syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the most common nerve entrapment.
      Subjective sensory symptoms are common place in patients with CTS, but sometimes
      they are not supported by objective findings in the neurological examination.
      Electrodiagnostic (EDx) studies are a valid and reliable means of confirming the
      diagnosis. The amplitudes along with the conduction velocities of the sensory
      nerve action potential and motor nerve action potential reflect the functional
      state of axons, and are useful parameters and complement the clinical grading in
      the assessment of severity of CTS. AIM: To conduct median nerve sensory and motor
      conduction studies on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and correlate the
      relationship between nerve conduction study parameters and the clinical severity
      grading. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on clinical assessment, the study patients
      were divided into 03 groups with mild CTS, moderate CTS and severe CTS
      respectively as per Mackinnson's classification. Median and ulnar nerve
      conduction studies were performed on bilateral upper limbs of 50 patients with
      symptoms of CTS and 50 age and sex matched healthy control subjects. The
      relationship between the clinical severity grade and various nerve conduction
      study parameters were correlated. RESULTS: In this prospective case control
      study, 50 patients with symptoms consistent with CTS and 50 age and sex matched
      healthy control subjects were examined over a 10 month period. A total of 30
      patients had unilateral CTS (right upper limb in 19 and left upper limb in 11)
      and 20 patients had bilateral CTS. Female to male ratio was 3.54 to 1. Age ranged
      from 25 to 81 years. The mean age at presentation was 49.68+/-11.7 years.
      Tingling paresthesias of hand and first three fingers were the most frequent
      symptoms 48 (98%). Tinel's and Phalen's sign were positive in 36 (72%) and 44
      (88%) patients respectively. The mean duration of symptoms at presentation was
      52.68+/-99.81 weeks. 16 patients (32%) had mild CTS, 25 (50%) had moderate CTS
      and 9 (18%) had severe CTS clinically. Prolongation of motor latency, latency
      difference between median and ulnar amplitudes, motor and sensory nerve
      conduction velocities, sensory latency between median and ulnar nerves, sensory
      nerve conduction velocities showed significant changes in comparison with
      controls. Among them sensory latency difference between median and ulnar nerves
      and sensory nerve conduction velocities are the most sensitive and specific for
      diagnosing CTS. CONCLUSION: In this study, there was a graded deterioration of
      electrophysiological parameters along with the clinical severity grades, thus
      reiterating the fact that NCS provide additional, independent objective evidence
      in the diagnosis and severity assessment of CTS. The sensory conductions were
      more sensitive than motor conductions in assessing CTS.

PMID- 27630882
TI  - A Study of Haemostatic Parameters in Patients of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) is characterized by derangement of
      various components of the haemostatic system resulting in thrombo-haemorrhagic
      complications. Although less common than other myeloproliferative neoplasms,
      derangement of various components of the haemostatic system is observed in CML.
      Haemostatic abnormalities have been described in relation to hyperleucostasis and
      drugs used to treat CML. However, the correlation between haemostatic
      derangements and phase of CML is unclear in the literature. AIM: The purpose of
      this cross-sectional study was to assay various haemostatic parameters in
      patients of CML receiving Imatinib and to determine any correlation between them
      and phases of disease as well as the status of remission. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      The study included 30 patients with CML (17 males, 13 females, mean age of 35.53
      +/- 8.92 years) receiving imatinib mesylate. Haemostatic parameters including
      platelet counts, Prothrombin Time (PT), activated Partial Thromboplastin Time
      (APTT), fibrinogen, D-dimers and Factor VIII levels were assayed for all patients
      using standard methods. Bcr-abl gene product (quantitative) was determined on the
      peripheral blood by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
      Patients were grouped into phases of disease (chronic, accelerated and blast) and
      their response to imatinib was determined in the form of remission (clinical,
      haematological and molecular). Correlations were drawn between them using
      spearman's coefficient. RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was found
      between PT (p=0.002), fibrinogen (p=0.011), D-dimers (p=0.050), Factor VIII
      levels (p=0.006) with the phase of CML and a significant negative correlation was
      observed between PT (p=0.003, 0.006), fibrinogen (p=0.010, 0.005), D-dimers
      (p=0.035, 0.017), Factor VIII levels (p=0.005, 0.001) and clinical and
      haematological remission respectively. No significant correlation of platelet
      counts and APTT was seen with the phase of CML or remission status. CONCLUSION:
      Haemostatic system is significantly disturbed in CML and correlate positively
      with the progression of the disease. Imatinib treatment leads to improvement in
      some of these parameters.

PMID- 27630884
TI  - Biologics Use in Asian Indian Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Physician's
      Perspective.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
      drug (NSAID) therapeutic failure is treated with biologics. AIM: To compare the
      clinical outcomes of different biologics for Asian Indian patients with AS who
      have NSAID therapeutic failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five AS patients
      with NSAID failure were administered Etanercept (n=15) (50mg SQ, weekly) or
      Infliximab (n=20) (5mg/kg IV every 2(nd) month) based on patient convenience or
      physician discretion as per 2015 ACR/SAA/SPARTAN recommendations. Baseline
      demographic details, time to diagnosis, disease duration, presence of low
      backache, early morning stiffness, peripheral joint and extraarticular
      involvement, ESR, CRP values and HLA-B27 score were obtained. Baseline values of
      scores of BASMI-3 and MASES were calculated. To monitor the disease activity,
      BASDAI and ASDAS-ESR scores were recorded at baseline, and after 6 months and 12
      months of therapy initiation. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Comparison of means:
      independent samples t-test; comparison of parameters over time: repeated measures
      ANOVA. RESULTS: Both groups were comparable in all parameters at therapy
      initiation except in the baseline BASMI-3 score which was significantly higher in
      patients who received Etanercept. Over 12 months of treatment, the reduction in
      disease activity, as evidenced by reduction in the mean BASDAI and ASDAS-ESR
      scores was statistically significant for all patients when considered together,
      as well as when Etanercept and Infliximab were considered separately (p<0.0001 in
      all cases). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the
      magnitude of reduction in the mean BASDAI and ASDAS-ESR scores between patients
      who received Etanercept and those who received infliximab (p=0.696 and 0.618
      respectively). CONCLUSION: Etanercept and Infliximab offer statistically similar
      reduction in disease severity in Asian Indian AS patients with NSAID failure.
      Further studies with larger sample size are warranted.

PMID- 27630883
TI  - Neuropsychiatric Profile in Malaria: An Overview.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malaria is the most important parasitic disease of humans causes
      clinical illness over 300-500 million people globally and over one million death
      every year globally. The involvement of the nervous system in malaria is studied
      in this paper, to help formulate a strategy for better malaria management. AIM:
      To study the Neuropsychiatric manifestation in malaria. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This was a prospective observational study in 170 patients with a clinical
      diagnosis of malaria admitted in various medical wards of medicine department of
      PBM Hospital, Bikaner during epidemic of malaria. It included both sexes of all
      age groups except the paediatric range. The diagnosis of malaria was confirmed by
      examination of thick and thin smear/optimal test/strip test. Only those cases
      that had asexual form of parasite of malaria in the blood by smear examination or
      optimal test were included in the study. RESULTS: Out of total 170 patients 104
      (62%) reported Plasmodium falciparum (PF), Plasmodium vivax (PV) were 57 (33.5%)
      followed by mixed (PF+PV) 9 (5.3%) cases. The total PBF-MP test positivity was
      84.5%. Maximum patients were belonging to the age range of 21-40 year with male
      predominance. Neuropsychiatric manifestation seen in falciparum malaria (n=111)
      as follow: altered consciousness 20 (18.01%), headache 17 (15.32%), neck rigidity
      5 (4.5%), convulsion 5 (4.55%), extra pyramidal rigidity 2 (1.8%), decorticate
      rigidity 1 (0.90%), decerebrate rigidity 1 (0.90%), cerebellar ataxia 3 (2.7%),
      subarachnoid haemorrhage 1 (0.90%), aphasia 2 (1.8%), subconjunctival haemorrhage
      1 (0.90%), conjugate deviation of eye 1 (0.90%) and psychosis 6 (5.40%). Twenty
      one patients presented with cerebral malaria out of 111 patients. Most patients
      of cerebral malaria presented with altered level of consciousness followed by
      headache and psychosis. Acute confusional state with clouding of consciousness
      was the most common presentation of psychosis (50%). CONCLUSION: Neuropsychiatric
      manifestations are not an uncommon presentation of malaria. Most commonly caused
      by PF malaria. Malaria should be thought as a differential diagnosis in pyrexia
      with neuropsychiatric manifestation. Observation obtained in the study will be
      highly useful for the diagnosis and management of patients suffering from
      malaria.

PMID- 27630885
TI  - Quality of Basic Life Support - A Comparison between Medical Students and
      Paramedics.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Poor survival rates after cardiac arrest can partly be explained by
      poor basic life support skills in medical professionals. AIM: This study aimed to
      assess quality of basic life support in medical students and paramedics.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study with 100
      early medical students (group A), 100 late medical students (group B) and 100
      paramedics (group C), performing a 20-minute basic life support simulation in
      teams of two. Average frequency and absolute number of chest compressions per
      minute (mean (+/-SD)), chest decompression (millimetres of compression remaining,
      mean (+/-SD)), hands-off-time (seconds/minute, mean (+/-SD)), frequency of
      switching positions between ventilation and chest compression (per 20 minutes)
      and rate of sufficient compressions (depth >=50mm) were assessed as quality
      parameters of CPR. RESULTS: In groups A, B and C the rates of sufficiently deep
      chest compressions were 56%, 42% and 52%, respectively, without significant
      differences. Male gender and real-life CPR experience were significantly
      associated with deeper chest compression. Frequency and number of chest
      compressions were within recommended goals in at least 96% of all groups.
      Remaining chest compressions were 6 mm (+/-2), 6 mm (+/-2) and 5 mm (+/-2) with a
      significant difference between group A and C (p=0.017). Hands-off times were
      6s/min (+/-1), 5s/min (+/-1) and 4s/min (+/-1), which was significantly different
      across all three groups. CONCLUSION: Overall, paramedics tended to show better
      quality of CPR compared to medical students. Though, chest compression depth as
      an important quality characteristic of CPR was insufficient in almost 50% of
      participants, even in well trained paramedics. Therefore, we suggest that an
      effort should be made to find better ways to educate health care professionals in
      BLS.

PMID- 27630887
TI  - A Rare Case of Solitary Peutz Jeghers Type Hamartomatous Duodenal Polyp with
      Dysplasia!
AB  - Solitary Peutz Jeghers (SPJ) type hamartomatous polyp is a rare and separate
      entity from classic Peutz Jeghers syndrome (PJS). A hamartomatous polyp without
      associated mucocutaneous pigmentations, any other gastrointestinal polyp or a
      family history of PJS is diagnosed as a SPJ type polyp. We described a case of 22
      year-old young man in whom solitary duodenal polyp was incidentally detected and
      resected. Histopathological examination revealed PJ type hamartomatous polyp with
      foci of adenomatous and moderate dysplastic change. Very few cases of solitary
      duodenal PJ type hamartomatous polyps with malignant transformation have been
      reported. They can be treated with endoscopic or surgical resection. Endoscopic
      ultrasound can give an idea about the depth of involvement. This is a rare case
      of duodenal solitary PJ polyp with dysplasia in a young patient. 

PMID- 27630886
TI  - Facial Diplegia with Paresthesia: An Uncommon Variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
AB  - Facial nerve palsy (FNP) is a common medical problem and can be unilateral or
      bilateral. Unilateral facial palsy has an incidence of 25 per 100,000 population
      and most of them are idiopathic. However, facial diplegia or bilateral facial
      nerve palsy (B-FNP) is rare with an incidence of just 1 per 5,000,000 population
      and only 20 percent cases are idiopathic. Facial diplegia is said to be
      simultaneous if the other side is affected within 30 days of involvement of first
      side. Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a common cause of facial diplegia and
      almost half of these patients have facial nerve involvement during their illness.
      Facial Diplegia with Paresthesias (FDP) is a rare localized variant of GBS which
      is characterized by simultaneous facial diplegia, distal paresthesias and minimal
      or no motor weakness. We had a patient who presented with simultaneous weakness
      of bilateral facial nerve and paresthesias. A diagnosis of GBS was made after
      diligent clinical examination and relevant investigations. Patient responded to
      IVIG therapy and symptoms resolved within two weeks of therapy. 

PMID- 27630888
TI  - Rare Case of Unilateral Hypoplasia of Lung with Associated Ventricular Mass in an
      Adult.
AB  - Hypoplasia of the lung is a rare congenital condition which can be: a) primary
      i.e. no apparent cause is found; or b) secondary i.e. associated with other
      congenital anomalies that are implicated in its pathogenesis. These anomalies may
      involve the diaphragm, cardiovascular, central nervous, urogenital and
      musculoskeletal system. Patients usually present in neonatal, infancy or
      childhood period and very rarely in adulthood. Our patient was an adult having a
      unilateral hypoplastic lung associated with a ventricular mass and to our
      knowledge this rare combination has never been reported in the English
      literature; though there are reports of prenatal or newborns with hypoplastic
      lung and rhabdomyoma of ventricle who did not survive. 

PMID- 27630889
TI  - Native Triple Valve Endocarditis as Complication of Post-Abortal Sepsis.
AB  - Infective endocarditis (IE) is a highly morbid condition in pregnancy which poses
      both maternal and fetal risk. In majority of cases, endocarditis occurs only on
      single valve and usually occurs on valve with structural disease or prosthetic
      valve. Multi-valvular involvement is not common and so we report a case of native
      triple valve endocarditis as a complication of post abortal sepsis which was
      successfully treated medically. 

PMID- 27630890
TI  - All That Glitters is Not Gold: All Unilateral Oedema is Not DVT.
AB  - Innominate vein stenosis or thrombotic occlusion can occur in dialysis patients.
      Central vein stenosis is a common problem in patients on dialysis. Placement of a
      central vein catheter for dialysis access increases the risk of central vein
      stenosis. Central vein stenosis sometimes can jeopardize the arteriovenous
      fistula and arteriovenous graft in the ipsilateral extremity unless recognized
      early and treated. We describe three patients with left innominate vein stenosis
      who were known case of chronic kidney disease on haemodialysis and had a left
      brachio-cephalic fistula and presented with unilateral facial and upper limb
      oedema. 

PMID- 27630891
TI  - A Rare Case of Fatal Endocarditis and Sepsis Caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in
      a Patient with Chronic Renal Failure.
AB  - Nosocomial catheter-related and Arteriovenous fistula (AV)-related infections are
      significant concern in patients undergoing haemodialysis. These infections are
      associated with multiple complications as well as mortality and demands immediate
      and appropriate management. While coagulase-negative staphylococci, S.aureus, and
      Escherichia coli are the most common causes of catheter-related infections in
      haemodialysis patients, such infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa are
      relatively rare. Here, we present an unusual case of 36-year-old male patient
      with chronic renal failure, who developed endocarditis and sepsis from
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection of the left hand arteriovenous fistula. The
      bacteraemia in the present case caused multiple complications including dry
      gangrene of bilateral lower limbs, stroke, endophthalmitis, left brachial artery
      thrombosis and vegetations on the interventricular septum and aortic wall.
      Despite antibiotic treatment, the patient suffered a cardiac arrest and could not
      be revived. 

PMID- 27630893
TI  - Consider Differentials of MRI Myocarditis in Noncompaction.

PMID- 27630892
TI  - Vascular Disease in Young Indians (20-40 years): Role of Dyslipidemia.
AB  - Dyslipidemia is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
      Atherosclerosis begins early in life as suggested by "fatty streaks" observed in
      coronaries of healthy organ donors aged 20-29 years. Premature occurrence of
      coronary heart disease (CHD) in Indians, increases the risk for young
      individuals. Management of Dyslipidemia in the young Indian poses several
      challenges. In this article we provide in-depth review of prevalence, guidelines'
      perspective and expert comments on management of Dyslipidemia in the young (20-40
      years) Indian. 

PMID- 27630894
TI  - Delta-Beta Thalassaemia Screening.

PMID- 27630895
TI  - Reconstruction of Female Urethra with Tubularized Anterior Vaginal Flap.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Female urethral injury is a rare disease. Causes of urethral
      injuries are prolonged obstructed labour, gynaecological surgeries like
      vaginoplasty and post traumatic urethral injuries. The present study was
      conducted to evaluate outcome of female urethral reconstruction using tubularized
      anterior vaginal wall flap covered with fibroadipose martius flap and autologous
      fascia sling in patients with urethral loss. AIM: Aim of study was to evaluate
      outcome of reconstruction of female urethra with tubularized anterior vaginal
      flap. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of all the patients with
      complete urethral loss was done from August 2008 to July 2015. Total seven
      patients were included in study. All patients presenting with total urethral loss
      were included. These patients were treated with tubularized anterior vaginal
      flap. Neourethra was covered with Martius labial flap and autologous fascia lata
      or rectus abdominis fascia sling. Most common cause of urethral loss was
      obstructed labour (57.1%). Postoperatively patients were assessed for continence,
      urine flow rate, ultrasound for upper urinary tract and post void residue.
      RESULTS: Mean operative time was 180 minutes (160-200 minutes) and Intraoperative
      blood loss was 220ml (170-260 ml). Mean postoperative hospital stay was eight
      days (seven to nine days) Mean post surgery maximum urine flow rate was more than
      15ml/sec (6.7-18.2ml/sec) and mean post void residual urine was 22.5ml (10-50ml).
      Median follow-up time was 35 months. All patients were catheter free and
      continent post three weeks of surgery except one patient who developed mild
      stress urinary incontinence. One patient developed urethral stenosis which was
      managed by intermittent serial urethral dilatation. CONCLUSION: Female
      neourethral reconstruction with tabularized anterior vaginal flap and autologous
      pubovaginal sling is feasible in patients of total urethral loss with success
      rate of approximately 86%. It should be considered in patients of complete
      urethral loss with adequate healthy vaginal tissue.

PMID- 27630896
TI  - Concised Form for Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Symptom Scale in Children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Symptom Scales (SS) are questionnaires for evaluating and following
      up of special illnesses. SS used for the diagnosis and follow-up of Lower Urinary
      Tract Dysfunction (LUTD) in children is called LUTD Symptom Scale (LUTDSS). AIM:
      Aim of the present study was to identify the questions which are more important
      for the diagnosis of LUTD in children and create a simpler SS. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: From January 2005 to March 2015, 631 children between the age 5 and 15
      were enrolled in this study. Eleven children with active urinary tract infections
      were excluded from the study. Two hundred sixty three children from the nursery
      and secondary school saying that they have no urinary complaints and having
      LUTDSS <9 were designed as control group. Three hundred fifty seven children with
      LUTDSS score >=9 were thought as having LUTD and diagnoses were verified with 3
      day bladder diaries and 2-time Uroflow-EMG-PVR tests. The answered questions of
      LUTDSS in patient and control group were compared. RESULTS: Children with daytime
      incontinence (first question of questionnaire) were 47.7 (4.8-510) times
      (p=0.01), children with enuresis (third question) were 59.53 (6.2-961) times
      (p=0.001), children with pause while urinating (eighth question) were 28.7 (4.4
      2090) times (p=0.001), children with urgency (tenth question) were 54.7 (29.3
      604) times (p=0.039) more likely to have LUTD than the children not having these
      complaints. The area under ROC curve created by using 1,3,8, and 10 questions was
      calculated 86.4%. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis and control of LUTD can be made by
      using only 1., 3., 8. and 10. questions, and these 4 questions could form simpler
      SS for LUTD in children.

PMID- 27630897
TI  - Esthesioneuroblastomas: Reservations and Recommendations.
AB  - Neuroectodermal tumour has a wide range of biological activity that ranges from
      an indolent course to local recurrence and rapid widespread metastasis. We
      describe, herewith, 2 patients with Esthesioneuroblastomas (ENB) who had varied
      atypical clinical presentation. The first case presented with Intracranial
      Pressure (ICP) headache and acute visual deterioration with radiology revealing
      an extra axial lesion with extension into the nasal cavity while the second case
      presented with nasal congestion and progressive headache of long duration. We
      review the unusual characteristics that may uncommonly occur in ENBs and
      elaborate regarding which of these must be considered when evaluating patients
      with this malignancy. 

PMID- 27630898
TI  - An Innovative Technique for Columellar Reconstruction using 'Flip-Over' Buccal
      Mucosa Flap.
AB  - Loss of columella is a significant deformity and its reconstruction proves to be
      quite difficult. An 18-year-old lady had loss of columella due to burn while
      steam inhalation at a young age and required reconstruction for the same. Labial
      mucosa has been used as a source of tissue for columellar reconstruction since
      long. We describe a modification of the buccal mucosal flap to manage a difficult
      case of columellar deficiency. The buccal mucosa flap was used to cover the
      columellar defect in the usual manner in the first stage and in second stage,
      along with division of the base, the residual length of the mucosal flap was used
      to add to the thickness of columella by doubling it on itself. 

PMID- 27630899
TI  - Angioleiomyoma of the Plantar-Medial Arch: A Case Report.
AB  - An angioleiomyoma is a benign soft tissue tumour that arises from smooth muscle
      layer of blood vessels. The true aetiology of these masses is largely unknown and
      quite often may not be associated with pain. This paper illustrates the
      occurrence of an angioleiomyoma in the medial arch of the foot, a previously
      unreported location. Significant delay occurred in the patient being referred for
      specialist consultation, after attending numerous general practitioners for
      management. This highlighted the need for ongoing publication for case reports of
      this nature. The patient underwent excision with no recurrence of the lesion
      reported at 12 months. Often masses of this type may be left alone. However, when
      symptomatic simple excision will suffice where no other surrounding complication
      exists and where the mass is well encapsulated in the sub cutaneous area. 

PMID- 27630900
TI  - Penile Circular Fasciocutaneous (McAninch) Flap as an Option for Complex Anterior
      Urethral Stricture in Case of Non-Viable Buccal Mucosal Graft.
AB  - The penile circular fasciocutaneous flap (FCF) is employed in the successful
      single stage reconstruction of long segment complex anterior urethral strictures
      especially when buccal mucosa is unavailable due to various reasons. A 65-year
      old gentleman, chronic smoker and tobacco chewer, hypertensive on treatment,
      presented with obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms for 8 months. He had no
      prior urethral catheterization. On examination, he had circumcised penis, with
      stenosis of the external urethral meatus. Glans had no changes suggesting
      balanitis xerotica obliterans. Suprapubic cystostomy was done as he developed
      acute urinary retention during evaluation. Retrograde urethrogram (RGU) showed
      pan-anterior urethral stricture. He was planned for substitution urethroplasty.
      On oral cavity examination, he had moderate trismus with oral submucous fibrosis.
      As buccal mucosal graft was unavailable, he was planned for FCF. A ventral onlay
      tubularization FCF urethroplasty from meatus to bulbar urethra based on dartos
      dorsal pedicle was done. His postoperative recovery was uneventful. Pericatheter
      RGU did not show extravastion and he voided well with Qmax 14 ml/second. He is
      doing well at follow-up. 

PMID- 27630901
TI  - Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma of Urachal Origin Presenting as Irritative Lower
      Urinary Tract Symptoms and Pain Abdomen: A Rare Case Report.
AB  - Signet ring cell carcinoma of urachus is a very rare tumour. It generally
      presents as a high grade, high stage tumour and in most of the cases it has
      regional or distant metastasis at the time of presentation. It is known to have a
      uniformly poor prognosis. We present here a very interesting and rare case report
      of signet ring cell carcinoma of urachus in a 61-year-old male who presented with
      irritative lower urinary tract symptoms and pain abdomen. High index of suspicion
      led to the early diagnosis and timely surgical intervention. The patient is doing
      well on follow-up. 

PMID- 27630902
TI  - A Giant Retroperitoneal Lymphangioma: A Case Report.
AB  - Lymphangioma is a congenital lesion of childhood. They usually present in head
      and neck region. Intra-abdominal lymphangioma in an adult is a rare lesion which
      poses diagnostic difficulty. Although asymptomatic, they may present with an
      acute abdomen. Here, we report a rare case of huge asymptomatic retro-peritoneal
      lymphangioma who underwent complete surgical excision with an uneventful
      postoperative period. 

PMID- 27630903
TI  - Communicating (Open) Renal Hydatid Cyst Managed Successfully with Renal Sparing
      Approach.
AB  - Renal hydatid disease accounts for 2% of all cases of hydatid cysts. With the
      majority of isolated renal hydatid disease patients being asymptomatic, hydatid
      cysts grow slowly for several years. They may be associated with pressure
      symptoms or flank pain, depending on their size and location. Hydatiduria occurs
      in less than one-fifth of the patients. In the absence of hydatiduria, diagnosis
      is usually radiological. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment which is usually
      renal sparing surgery as most cysts are non-communicating. In cases of cyst
      communicating with the collecting system, nephrectomy remains the mainstay of
      treatment. We report a case of hydatiduria due to a communicating hydatid cyst
      diagnosed on CT urography, where a renal sparing approach was followed and the
      patient was managed with cystopericystectomy, closure of Pelvicalyceal System
      (PCS) and double J (DJ) stenting with an excellent result. 

PMID- 27630904
TI  - The Earliest Presenting Umbilical Port Site Hernia Following Laparoscopic
      Cholecystectomy: A Case Report.
AB  - Port site hernia after laparoscopic surgery is a rare complication. Here we
      present a case of a 55-year-old female, diagnosed with an anterior abdominal wall
      hernia through the 10mm umbilical port, just two days after her laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy. The uniqueness of this case is its extremely early presentation.
      Patient presented with features of acute intestinal obstruction and due to prompt
      diagnosis and timely intervention, she underwent a successful reduction of hernia
      and an anatomical repair of the fascial and peritoneal defect through the midline
      laparotomy incision. 

PMID- 27630905
TI  - Bilateral Multi-Focal Sporadic Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Unique Surgical
      Challenge.

PMID- 27630906
TI  - Mobile Cam Lap Endotrainer.

PMID- 27630907
TI  - Fetal Cardiodynamics by Echocardiography in Insulin Dependent Maternal Diabetes
      and Its Correlation with Pregnancy Outcome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Maternal diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk of
      fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Usual screening tests have not proved
      to be good prognostic indicators of fetal distress. Fetal cardiodynamics is
      potentially a useful screening tool. AIM: To determine if cardiodynamics of the
      fetus differ in pregnancy with diabetes requiring insulin than those without and
      to determine whether cardiodynamics predict fetal and neonatal outcomes.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective case control study was carried out in 40
      pregnant women with diabetes who required insulin for blood sugar control. Twenty
      uncomplicated pregnant women were taken as controls. Systolic and diastolic
      cardiac functions along with interventricular septal thickness were assessed at
      26-28 weeks and again at 34-36 weeks of gestation in fetuses by echocardiography.
      Fetal and neonatal adverse outcomes were evaluated in terms of major and minor
      morbidity. RESULTS: Among all parameters, E/A ratio across both mitral and
      tricuspid valves, myocardial performance index and cardiac output were
      significantly different in fetuses of diabetic mothers at both gestations.
      However, pulmonary vein pulsatility index and interventricular septal thickness
      were similar between the two groups. At 26-28 weeks of gestation myocardial
      performance index correlated with abnormal biophysical profile whereas cardiac
      output correlated with minor morbidity. At 34-36 weeks of gestation, cardiac
      output correlated with abnormal biophysical profile while both MPI and cardiac
      output correlated with minor morbidity. CONCLUSION: Echocardiographic parameters
      of fetuses of diabetic women significantly differed from those of uncomplicated
      non-diabetic women. However, only myocardial performance index and cardiac output
      correlated with adverse fetal and neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 27630908
TI  - Comparison of the Efficiency of Posterior Intravaginal Sling (PIVS) Procedure in
      Older and Younger Groups.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vaginal vault prolapsus is a challenging problem for the patients
      and physicians. There may be differences between young and elderly patients in
      terms of efficiency and safety of surgical procedures. AIM: The aim of our study
      was to compare the efficiency of the Posterior Intravaginal Sling (PIVS)
      procedure in older versus younger patient groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total
      of 40 patients who underwent the PIVS procedure were chosen. Twenty of these
      patients were younger than 60 years of age (Group I) while the other 20 patients
      were 60 years of age or older (Group II). Preoperative Pelvic Organ Prolapsed
      Quantification (POP-Q) reference points were compared with postoperative data at
      the first year following surgery. Student's t-test was used to analyse continuous
      variables and the chi(2) test was used to analyse categorical data. The Mann
      Whitney test was used for data that were not normally distributed. RESULTS:
      Anatomical cure rates were 90 percent in both groups (p=1.00). There were
      significantly greater improvements in POP-Q points in group I than group II.
      CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that PIVS as minimally invasive procedure for
      vaginal vault prolapsed and is effective in all age groups.

PMID- 27630909
TI  - The Role of Serum Beta hCG in Early Diagnosis and Management Strategy of Ectopic
      Pregnancy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The presentation of Ectopic Pregnancy (EP) can be highly variable
      and serum Beta hCG estimation plays an important role in early diagnosis. AIM:
      Aim of the study was to determine the trends of hCG levels in EP and to explore
      the role of hCG in decisions related to management and follow-up of EPs.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of women who had EPs from January
      2006 to December 2012 at an advanced tertiary care centre in southern India was
      carried out. These women had undergone treatment based on the hospital protocol.
      RESULTS: The study identified 337 women with EP. Thirty one surgically confirmed
      cases were diagnosed below the discriminatory zone of 1500 mIU/ml. Among women
      who had Beta hCG estimations 48 hours apart, plateauing was observed in 22.5%
      while decrease >15% was noted in 26.8%. Almost half (47.9%) of the cases had an
      increase >15% and a few (2.8%) demonstrated an initial fall followed by a rise in
      titres. In 23.9% of these women, there was a rise >53% similar to intrauterine
      pregnancy. The average pre-treatment Beta hCG was 429.8, 3866.2 and 12961.5
      mIU/ml for those who received expectant, medical and direct surgical treatment
      respectively. 43 women with relative contraindications received medical
      management and 39 were lost to follow-up after medical and expectant management.
      Excluding them, the success rate of these two modalities was 76.6% and 85.0%
      respectively. CONCLUSION: No single level of Beta hCG is diagnostic of EP and
      serial levels can demonstrate atypical trends in some cases. Hence,
      interpretation of these results should be done in conjunction with clinical and
      sonographic findings to arrive at a correct diagnosis.

PMID- 27630910
TI  - Effect of Normal Saline on Cleaning Uterine Cavity During Cesarean Delivery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cesarean delivery is the most common and costly gynaecologic
      surgery, with an increase in rate all over the world. AIM: The present study
      aimed to estimate the effect of uterine cavity cleansing with normal saline
      solution during cesarean delivery on the rate of infection, fever, bleeding and
      postoperative gastrointestinal complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study
      was a clinical trial carried out on 90 pregnant women who underwent elective
      cesarean delivery. The subjects were randomly assigned into two groups of 45
      individuals, including rinsing in 500ml of normal saline solution during cesarean
      delivery (intervention group) and non-rinsed (control group). Postoperative
      complications include bleeding, fever, wound infection were examined. The data
      related to postoperative gastrointestinal complications and endometritis at the
      second day and one and six weeks after surgery were collected and data were
      analysed through SPSS 17. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between
      two groups regarding febrile morbidity two days after the surgery. The rate of
      one-week postoperative febrile morbidity was higher in the control group but not
      statistically significant. The difference in the incidence of fever, wound
      infection and endometritis on the second day and on the first week was not
      statistically significant but the incidence of endometritis on the sixth week
      after surgery was significant in the intervention group than control group and
      was less in the intervention group, the wound infection at sixth week after
      surgery was fewer in the intervention group but not statistically significant.
      There was no significant difference between two groups in terms of
      gastrointestinal complications. CONCLUSION: Uterine cavity cleansing with normal
      saline solution during cesarean delivery may decrease postoperative complication,
      although the reduction is not statistically significant.

PMID- 27630912
TI  - Comparison of Vaginal versus Oral Estradiol Administration in Improving the
      Visualization of Transformation Zone (TZ) during Colposcopy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Colposcopy is an important diagnostic tool in the evaluation of
      patients with abnormal pap smears. However, in 10-20% transformation zone
      (TZ)/squamo-columnar junction is not completely visualized and these patients are
      deemed to have an incomplete colposcopy examination. Such patients usually
      require conization, a procedure associated with significant morbidity. Various
      agents like misoprostol, estrogens and laminaria tents have been used in the past
      to overcome the non-visualization of TZ. AIM: The present study was conducted
      with the aim to compare the efficacy of vaginal versus oral estradiol
      administration in overcoming incomplete colposcopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty
      patients with non/partially visualized TZ during colposcopy were recruited for
      the study. These patients were randomly distributed into two groups: In Group I,
      25MUg estradiol was administered intravaginally daily for seven consecutive days
      followed by a repeat colposcopy on day 8. In Group II, a seven day course of
      25MUg oral estradiol was followed by a repeat colposcopy on day 8. The efficacy
      of the two regimens in improving visualization of the TZ on colposcopy and their
      adverse effect profile was compared. RESULTS: Vaginal estradiol had an overall
      efficacy of 70% in improving visualization of the TZ as compared to oral
      estradiol which was effective in 50% of patients (p-value-0.19). Major adverse
      effects in both the group of patients were nausea and vaginal discharge with no
      significant differences among the two groups. CONCLUSION: Both vaginal and oral
      estrogens had comparable efficacy and similar adverse effect profile in improving
      visualization of the TZ.

PMID- 27630911
TI  - To Evaluate the Efficacy of Combination Antioxidant Therapy on Oxidative Stress
      Parameters in Seminal Plasma in the Male Infertility.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Infertility is defined as inability to conceive after 1 year of
      unprotected intercourse and it affects 7% of male population and 8-10% of
      couples. According to estimates WHO, 13-19 million couples in India are
      infertile. Oxidative stress is the causative factor in 25% of infertile males.
      AIM: To study the efficacy of antioxidant therapy on oxidative stress parameters
      in seminal plasma of infertile male. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients of
      male infertility were enrolled in study after two abnormal semen analyses reports
      at 2-3 weeks interval, of oligozoospermia and/or asthenozoospermia, as per WHO
      guide line 1999. First semen sample was collected at a time of enrollment of
      study and second semen sample was collected three months after combined
      antioxidant therapy. Semen samples from the infertile male (the second
      confirmatory sample of oligoasthenozoospermia) were taken and after liquefaction
      semen sample were utilized for various analyses, 0.5 ml of sample for standard
      semen analysis, 1.2 ml sample for separation of seminal plasma to evaluate
      Oxidative stress (OS) parameters like Malondialdehyde (MDA), Protein Carbonyl
      (PC) and antioxidant capacity by Glutathione (GSH). We followed the patient for
      three months after completion of the treatment. RESULTS: Semen parameters - Out
      of 40 patients recruited in the study group 7 patients had only oligospermia (1
      to 20 million/ml) and 31 patients had oligoasthenozoospermia (motility range 0
      50%) and 2 patients had oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. There was no patient with
      asthenospermia alone as abnormal semen parameters. After the three months
      treatment with combined antioxidants the semen parameters like count (mean SD = 
      1.70+/-1.44) and motility (mean +SD= -9.56+/-9.05) were significantly increased
      (p-value=0.000). Oxidative Stress Assessment - The level of MDA which is a marker
      of oxidative stress was significantly lower after the three months therapy of
      antioxidants (p-value=0.002) whereas another marker which is denoted by PC was
      also lower after the treatment but not statistically significant (p-value=0.584).
      The level of antioxidants GSH also significantly increased after the treatment (p
      value=0.000). After the treatment out of 40, five patients conceived (16.7%).
      CONCLUSION: As we have seen through this study antioxidant dramatically reduced
      the oxidative stress markers and enhancing the antioxidant enzymes. They should
      be used on routine basis in case of male infertility.

PMID- 27630913
TI  - Hydrosalpinx as a Rare Presentation of Synchronous Ovarian and Endometrial
      Carcinoma - A Case Report.
AB  - Hydrosalpinx in postmenopausal woman is rare. Most commonly it is due to primary
      ovarian malignancy with fallopian tube involvement or primary fallopian tube
      carcinoma. But hydrosalpinx with no malignancy in the fallopian tube, associated
      with synchronous malignancy of ovary and endometrium is rare. In a postmenopausal
      women, hydrosalpinx is commonly due to fallopian tube malignancy or rarely pelvic
      inflammatory disease. We present a rare and very interesting case of 65-year-old
      nulliparous postmenopausal women with bilateral hydrosalpinx and pyometra who was
      found to have papillary serous adenocarcinoma of the ovary and endometroid
      adenocarcinoma of endomertrium with normal fallopian tube. One should always
      suspect genital malignancy with this presentation, especially in this age group. 

PMID- 27630914
TI  - Broad Ligament Pregnancy - Success Story of a Laparoscopically Managed Case.
AB  - Abdominal pregnancies constitute 1% of ectopic pregnancies, among which broad
      ligament pregnancy is a rare form. The maternal mortality rate has been reported
      to be as high as 20%. The diagnosis is seldom established before surgery.
      Laparoscopic management of broad ligament ectopic pregnancy is the ideal form of
      treatment in appropriately selected patients. We present the case report of
      successful laparoscopic treatment of a 3x3.5cm broad ligament pregnancy. A search
      of literature shows that ours is the 6(th) case report of such a rare ectopic
      pregnancy managed endoscopically successfully. 

PMID- 27630915
TI  - Pregnancy with Pemphigoid Gestationis: A Rare Entity.
AB  - Pemphigoid Gestationis (PG) is a rare autoimmune blistering disease with an
      incidence of 1/50000 pregnancies. Presentation in the second or third trimester
      is most common and tends to recur in subsequent pregnancies with earlier onset
      and a more severe course. Direct Immunofluorescence (DIF) staining is
      confirmatory on skin biopsy specimen. A 24-year-old female presented at 6 months
      period of gestation with increased blood pressure records. On examination, there
      were fresh bullous lesions along with old healed scar marks on the abdomen and
      limbs. Termination of pregnancy was done due to high BP. Patient delivered a
      fresh still birth weighing 750 gm. No postpartum flare ups were seen and she was
      discharged on prednisolone in a satisfactory condition. 

PMID- 27630916
TI  - Definitive Management of Open Tibia Fractures Using Limb Reconstruction System.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Open fractures are treated as surgical emergency and early
      administration of intravenous antibiotic coupled with early irrigation and
      debridement decreases the infection rate dramatically. Limb Reconstruction System
      (LRS) is a unilateral rail system which consists of Shanz pins, rail rods and
      sliding clamps. It is specifically designed to enable the surgeon to perform
      simple and effective surgery as it offers rigid fixation of fracture fragments,
      allowing early weight bearing and reduces economic burden. AIM: To determine the
      efficacy of Limb Reconstruction System for treatment of compound tibia fractures.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study was carried out where in 54 cases out
      of 412 compound tibia fractures having Modified Gustilo Anderson Type IIIA and
      IIIB with a mean age of 42+/-5 years were treated using LRS over a period of 26
      months. Limb reconstruction system was used in acute docking mode or with
      corticotomy and bone transport was done depending upon the bone loss. The soft
      tissue condition was assessed and split thickness skin grafting and flap repairs
      were done as per the need. Clinical and radiological assessment was done at every
      follow-up. Bony and functional assessment was done by Association for the Study
      and Application of the Methods of Illizarov (ASAMI) criteria. RESULTS: Among 54
      patients, bony results as per ASAMI score were excellent in 36, good in 14, fair
      in 2 and poor in 2 patients. Functional results were excellent in 43, good in 7,
      fair in 4 patients. The average fracture union time was 8 months. Post-surgery
      patient satisfaction was excellent since fixation allowed weight bearing
      immediately. Average hospital stay was 7 days and financial burden was reduced by
      40% as compared to multi staged surgery. The average time of return to work was
      20 days. CONCLUSION: LRS is an easy, simple and definitive surgical procedure
      that allows immediate full weight bearing walking. It reduces hospital stay, is
      cost effective with excellent patient compliance and can also be used for bone
      lengthening/transportation.

PMID- 27630918
TI  - Gas Bubbles in the Bone: A Case Report.
AB  - Intraosseous pneumatocysts are benign gas-filled cavities within bones which are
      most commonly found in ilium, sacrum and vertebrae. The lesions are asymptomatic
      and found incidentally while evaluating for other injuries. Here, we present an
      intraosseous pneumatocyst of ilium in a 23-year-old male patient. Although once
      thought to be rare, intraossseous pneumatocyst are now believed to be more
      common. Thus, familiarity with their appearance is essential to avoid unnecessary
      workup. Intraosseous pneumatocysts are differentiated from more clinically
      significant differential diagnoses like osteonecrosis and osteomyelitis by their
      characteristic appearance of intraosseous air collections with sclerotic rim. 

PMID- 27630917
TI  - Efficacy of Epidural Steroid Injection in Management of Lumbar Prolapsed
      Intervertebral Disc: A Comparison of Caudal, Transforaminal and Interlaminar
      Routes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Epidural steroid is an important modality in the conservative
      management of prolapsed lumbar disc and is being used for over 50 years. However,
      controversy still persists regarding their effectiveness in reducing the pain and
      improving the function with literature both supporting and opposing them are
      available. AIM: To study the efficacy of epidural steroid injection in the
      management of pain due to prolapsed lumbar intervertebral disc and to compare the
      effectiveness between caudal, transforaminal and interlaminar routes of
      injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 152 patients with back pain with or
      without radiculopathy with a lumbar disc prolapse confirmed on MRI, were included
      in the study and their pre injection Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) Score
      was calculated. By simple randomization method (picking a card), patients were
      enrolled into one of the three groups and then injected methyl prednisone in the
      epidural space by one of the techniques of injection i.e. caudal, transforaminal
      and interlaminar. Twelve patients didn't turn up for the treatment and hence were
      excluded from the study. Remaining 140 patients were treated and were included
      for the analysis of the results. Eighty two patients received injection by caudal
      route, 40 by transforaminal route and 18 by interlaminar route. Post injection
      JOA Score was calculated at six month and one year and effectiveness of the
      medication was calculated for each route. The data was compared by LSD and ANOVA
      method to prove the significance. Average follow-up was one year. RESULTS: At one
      year after injecting the steroid, all three routes were found to be effective in
      improving the JOA Score (Caudal route in 74.3%, transforaminal in 90% and
      interlaminar in 77.7%). Transforaminal route was significantly more effective
      than caudal (p=0.00) and interlaminar route (p=0.03) at both 6 months and one
      year after injection. No significant difference was seen between the caudal and
      interlaminar route (p=0.36). CONCLUSION: The management of low back pain and
      radicular pain due to a prolapsed lumbar intervertebral disc by injecting methyl
      prednisone in epidural space is satisfactory in the current study. All three
      injection techniques are effective with the best result obtained by
      transforaminal route.

PMID- 27630919
TI  - Osseous Consolidation of an Aseptic Delayed Union of a Lower Leg Fracture after
      Parathyroid Hormone Therapy - A Case Report.
AB  - The absence of osseous consolidation of a fracture within the normal time period
      is defined as delayed union or non-union. Both for the patient and from a socio
      economic point of view, impaired fracture healing represents a major problem.
      Risk factors for a delayed fracture healing are insufficient immobilisation, poor
      adaptation of the fracture surfaces, interposition of soft tissue in the fracture
      gap, as well as circulation disturbances, metabolic disease, smoking and
      infections. In animal studies, a positive effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on
      fracture healing has been shown. PTH has a direct stimulatory effect on
      osteoblasts and osteoclasts. In addition, it appears to influence the effect of
      osseous growth factors. Few cases with the empiric off-label use of PTH that
      showed a tendency to support delayed or non-union fractures have been published.
      We report about a patient with a fracture of the lower leg and no osseous
      consolidation after 7 months. Four Months after therapy with 20 MUg teriparatide
      per day for 8 weeks the fracture was consolidated and the patient had regained
      full and pain free weight bearing capacity of the leg with no reported side
      effects. 

PMID- 27630920
TI  - Colloidion Baby: A Rare Clinical Entity.

PMID- 27630921
TI  - Clinical Relevance of Single-Voxel (1)H MRS Metabolites in Discriminating
      Suprasellar Tumors.
AB  - INTRODUTION: Spatially resolved metabolic data obtained from Proton Magnetic
      Resonance Spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) provides information which increases the
      diagnostic accuracy of imaging sequences in predicting the histology of
      suprasellar tumors. AIM: To evaluate the role of (1)H MRS in the diagnosis of
      various suprasellar tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty cases of various
      suprasellar, hypothalamic and third ventricular neoplasms were investigated with
      long-echo single voxel (1)H -MRS using 1.5 Tesla clinical imager. Single-voxel
      spectroscopic examinations were guided by T1-weighted or T2-weighted images.
      Statistical analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS software version 19. RESULTS:
      We observed that whenever brain tissue was damaged or replaced by any process,
      NAA was markedly reduced. Extra-axial lesions which do not infiltrate brain or
      contain neuroglial tissue, didn't demonstrate any NAA resonances. Cr was used as
      an internal standard for semi-quantitative evaluation of metabolic changes of
      other brain metabolites. Increased Cho was seen in processes with elevated cell
      membrane turnover. CONCLUSION: Spectra obtained from different tumors exhibit
      reproducible differences while histologically similar tumors yield characteristic
      spectra with only minor differences. Pituitary tumors were typically
      characterized by significant reduction of NAA, Cr peak and moderate elevation of
      Cho peak. Gliomas were typically characterized by decrease of NAA and Cr peaks
      and increase of Cho peak. Craniopharyngiomas were typically characterized by
      significant decrease of all metabolites.

PMID- 27630922
TI  - Correlation of Strain Elastography with Conventional Sonography and FNAC/Biopsy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Elastography is a new promising technique that can be especially
      helpful when used as an adjunct to conventional B-mode ultrasound in evaluating
      breast lesions. AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of four
      interpretation criteria for elastography and to compare the diagnostic
      performance of sonoelastography with that of conventional sonography in
      characterising breast lesions as benign or malignant with FNAC/biopsy
      correlation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred breast lesions were prospectively
      evaluated by ultrasound as well as by strain elastography followed by FNAC/
      biopsy correlation. The criteria used were Elastography Score, Strain Ratio,
      Distance Ratio and Area Ratio. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive
      predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated for each modality.
      The best cut-off point was calculated for each of the interpretation criteria
      using the MedCalc version 10.1 software. The diagnostic performance of the
      interpretation criteria was compared with that of conventional sonography by the
      area under the receiver operating characteristic curve using SPSS software.
      RESULTS: The elastography score was found to have the best performance among the
      4 criteria used with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 82.66%,
      respectively at the best cut-off point between 3 and 4. At a best cut-off point
      for conventional sonography between BI-RADS categories 4A and 4B, the sensitivity
      and specificity were found to be 96% and 92% respectively. The area under the
      curve value was slightly greater for conventional sonography (0.980) than for the
      elastography score (0.913) using receiver operating characteristic curve
      analysis. CONCLUSION: While all interpretation criteria were able to
      differentiate benign and malignant lesions with statistical significance, the
      elastography score was found to be the most accurate. While conventional
      ultrasound remains the primary modality for the characterization of breast
      masses, elastography was found to have a role in low suspicion lesions (BI-RADS 3
      and 4A) where it's greater specificity could justify avoiding unnecessary biopsy.

PMID- 27630923
TI  - Cortical Clefts and Cortical Bumps: A Continuous Spectrum.
AB  - Cortical 'clefts' (schizencephaly) and cortical 'bumps' (polymicrogyria) are
      malformations arising due to defects in postmigrational development of neurons.
      They are frequently encountered together, with schizencephalic clefts being lined
      by polymicrogyria. We present the case of an eight-year-old boy who presented
      with seizures. Imaging revealed closed lip schizencephaly, polymicrogyria and a
      deep 'incomplete' cleft lined by polymicrogyria not communicating with the
      lateral ventricle. We speculate that hypoperfusion or ischaemic cortical injury
      during neuronal development may lead to a spectrum of malformations ranging from
      polymicrogyria to incomplete cortical clefts to schizencephaly. 

PMID- 27630924
TI  - Illustrated Imaging Essay on Congenital Heart Diseases: Multimodality Approach
      Part III: Cyanotic Heart Diseases and Complex Congenital Anomalies.
AB  - From the stand point of radiographic analysis most of the complex cyanotic
      congenital heart diseases (CHD), can be divided into those associated with
      decreased or increased pulmonary vascularity. Combination of a specific cardiac
      configuration and status of lung vasculature in a clinical context allows plain
      film diagnosis to be predicted in some CHD. Correlation of the position of the
      cardiac apex in relation to the visceral situs is an important information that
      can be obtained from the plain film. This information helps in gathering
      information about the atrio-ventricular, ventricular arterial concordance or
      discordance. Categorization of the cyanotic heart disease based on vascularity is
      presented below. Thorough understanding of cardiac anatomy by different imaging
      methods is essential in understanding and interpreting complex cardiac disease.
      Basic anatomical details and background for interpretation are provided in the
      previous parts of this presentation. 

PMID- 27630925
TI  - Spectrum of Radiological Manifestations in Lymphoproliferative Malignancies with
      Unusual Extra Nodal Soft Tissue Involvement.
AB  - Lymphoproliferative malignancies constitute a wide spectrum of haematological
      malignancies and their prevalence is widely increasing. Non-Hodgkin lymphomas and
      Hodgkin disease, frequently involve extranodal soft tissue structures in the head
      and neck, thorax and abdomen. These malignancies may involve virtually any type
      of soft tissues to any extent; hence many different imaging manifestations are
      possible which may mimic other disorders. The imaging characteristics of
      extranodal lymphomatous soft tissue involvement are described and classified here
      according to the site of involvement in 6 cases (primary diseases with orbital,
      muscle, extra testicular, scalp, sinonasal and pachymeningeal/dural involvement).
      In majority of these cases at presentation we found a predominantly homogeneous
      soft tissue mass with mildly high attenuation on CT and a T2 intermediate signal
      on MRI at these sites without any manifestation of disease elsewhere but on
      follow-up two out of these six cases developed systemic disease elsewhere. Few
      consistent patterns were noticed on CT and MRI which might help to include
      lymphomas as an important differential diagnosis of soft tissue masses. Though a
      definitive diagnosis requires a biopsy (bone marrow, lymph node, or mass), and
      other laboratory tests, imaging primarily aims at staging of the disease and
      identification of new or recurrent disease. 

PMID- 27630926
TI  - Rare Mimickers of Exostosis: A Case Series.
AB  - Exophytic growths from bones are a common entity. Osteochondroma is the most
      common benign exophytic lesion and we tend to diagnose every benign looking
      exophytic lesion as osteochondroma. Here we reported two entities of cases, one
      was Nora's lesion and another one was supracondylar process of humerus, both of
      which were mimickers of osteochondroma and their salient and differentiating
      features from osteochondromas. 

PMID- 27630927
TI  - Effect of Oral Pregabalin as Preemptive Analgesic in Patients Undergoing Lower
      Limb Orthopedic Surgeries under Spinal Anaesthesia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Conquering postoperative pain which has significant impact on the
      surgery outcome can be challenging for the clinicians. Pregabalin is a GABA
      analogue used for various neuropathic pain syndromes. Very few studies are there
      with the use of pregabalin as a preemptive analgesic for orthopedic surgeries.
      AIM: To compare pregabalin 150 mg with placebo for postoperative pain control in
      patients undergoing elective lower limb orthopedic surgeries under spinal
      anaesthesia and to assess any side effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized
      double blinded prospective study was undertaken. Ninety patients with ASA
      physical status I, II, aged between 18-50 years were enrolled in the study. One
      hour prior to spinal anaesthesia Group C - received colour matched empty
      capsules, Group P - received 150mg of oral pregabalin. Spinal anaesthesia was
      administered in sitting position in L3-L4 space with Inj. Bupivacaine heavy
      (0.5%) at a dose of 0.3mg/kg body weight with 20 mg being the maximum dose using
      25 gauge spinal needle. Rescue analgesia was provided with using Inj. Diclofenac
      1.5 mg/kg intramuscular. RESULTS: Time for rescue analgesia (VAS score >3) was
      significantly increased in Group P than in Group C. The total dose of diclofenac
      required in the 24 hour postoperative period was significantly lower in Group P
      than in Group C. The sedation scores and patient satisfaction scores were also
      more in Group P than in Group C. CONCLUSION: Preemptive pregabalin in an oral
      dose of 150 mg offers good postoperative analgesia in lower limb orthopedic
      surgeries under spinal anaesthesia.

PMID- 27630928
TI  - Comparsion of Intravenous Lignocaine, Tramadol and Keterolac for Attenuation of
      Propofol Injection Pain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Propofol possesses many characteristics of an ideal intravenous
      anaesthetic agent, providing a smooth induction and a rapid recovery. However, it
      has been reported to evoke considerable pain on injection in 10-100% of patients.
      The cause of pain upon intravenous injection of propofol remains a mystery. AIM:
      To study and compare the efficacy of Lignocaine, Tramadol and Ketorolac in
      minimizing the propofol injection pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hundred adult
      patients (ASA grade I and grade II) scheduled for elective surgery under general
      anaesthesia with propofol as an inducing agent were considered for the study.
      Patients were randomly divided into 4 groups of 25 patients each Group L
      (lignocaine) Group T (tramadol) Group K (ketorolac) and Group N (normal saline).
      Pain scores were measured by the investigator immediately following injection of
      propofol. All patients' responses were graded by a verbal pain score. RESULTS:
      All the results were tabulated and analysed using the one-way ANOVA and z-test.
      There was no statistically significant difference among group L (24%), T (28%)
      and K (28%) for pain on injection, but significant difference of all 3 groups was
      there when compared with group N. CONCLUSION: Intravenous lignocaine, tramadol
      and ketorolac all 3 drugs significantly reduce propofol injection pain. However,
      lignocaine appears to be more acceptable cause of less pain and fewer side
      effects as compared to tramadol and ketorolac.

PMID- 27630929
TI  - The Effects of Diclofenac Suppository and Intravenous Acetaminophen and their
      Combination on the Severity of Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Spinal
      Anaesthesia During Cesarean Section.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The main tasks of postoperative care are postoperative pain and
      complications control which play an important role in accelerating the recovery
      of patient's general condition. AIM: This study was performed in order to compare
      the effects of diclofenac suppository, intravenous acetaminophen and their
      combination on the severity of postoperative pain in patients undergoing spinal
      anaesthesia for cesarean section in Sayyad Shirazi teaching Hospital, Gorgon,
      Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a double-blind clinical trial on 90
      patients undergoing cesarean section. The patients were randomly divided into
      three groups, group A: 100 mg diclofenac suppository, group B: 1000 mg
      intravenous acetaminophen, group C: 100 mg diclofenac suppository and 500 mg
      intravenous acetaminophen. The same spinal anaesthesia circumstances were applied
      for all the participants. At the end of surgery, pain severity was assessed
      according to VAS scale at different times. Data were then analysed by SPSS 18
      statistical software. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was (28.27+/-6.07).
      There was significant difference between the mean pain scores of the three groups
      before the intervention (p=0.018), which was considered as co-variate. This
      difference was more notable between the combination of acetaminophen - diclofenac
      group and diclofenac alone. After the intervention, significant difference was
      observed in mean pain severity between acetaminophen group and the combination
      group and also between diclofenac and the combination group. During the study,
      the least mean pain severity was found in the combination group and the highest
      was observed in the diclofenac group. CONCLUSION: Results of this study indicates
      a significant effect of concomitant use of intravenous acetaminophen and
      diclofenac suppository on pain severity reduction and reducing the need for
      repeated doses of narcotics and prolonging the postoperative analgesia.

PMID- 27630930
TI  - Analgesic Efficacy of Ultrasound Guided FICB in Patients with Hip Fracture.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures are often encountered in the elderly and present
      special problems to the anaesthesiologist. Fascia iliaca compartment block is
      another technique with the intent to block all the three nerves like 3-in-1 nerve
      block. AIM: To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound guided fascia iliaca
      compartment block to facilitate positioning of patients with hip fracture for
      spinal anaesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was conducted
      in 50 patients aged between 40-80 years, belonging to American Society of
      Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I-III undergoing surgery for hip
      fracture. All 50 patients received an ultrasound guided Fascia Iliaca Compartment
      Block (FICB) in the premedication room with 30 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine by 23G
      spinal needle. Sensory blockade was evaluated 5, 10 and 20 minutes after
      ropivacaine administration using loss of perception to cold in the lateral,
      anterior and medial part of the thigh. Visual analogue scale scores were noted
      before the block, 20 minutes after block and during positioning for spinal
      anaesthesia. Patient's acceptance for FICB was evaluated 24 hour after arriving
      back to the orthopaedics ward using a two-point score. Any episode of hypotension
      or bradycardia was noted and managed accordingly. RESULTS: In lateral part of
      thigh, at 5 minutes sensory blockade was present in 33 patients (66%) and at 10
      minutes sensory blockade was present in 45 cases (90%). In anterior part of
      thigh, sensory blockade was present in 34 cases (68%) at 5 minutes time interval
      and at 10 minutes sensory blockade was present in 48 cases (96%). In medial part
      of thigh, 28 cases (56%) had sensory blockade at 5 minutes and at 10 minutes in
      43 cases (86%). Sensory blockage was same at 20 minutes as on 10 minutes interval
      in all thigh parts. Before FIC block average VAS was 7.5 which was decreased to
      average of 2.94 at 20 minutes after block which was statistically significant
      (p<0.01). During positioning for spinal anaesthesia, 46 patients had VAS less
      than 4. Positioning during spinal anaesthesia was assessed unsatisfactory (0) in
      2 cases (4%), satisfactory (1) in 5 cases (10%), good (2) in 25 cases (50%) and
      excellent (3) in 18 cases (36%). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound guided FICB can be
      performed safely without complications in controlling pain for patients with hip
      fracture. Performing an FICB before positioning for spinal anaesthesia provides
      good pain management and facilitates spinal performance with wide patient
      acceptance, hence improving overall quality and efficiency of care.

PMID- 27630931
TI  - Tracheobronchial Injury caused by Blunt Trauma: Case Report and Review of
      Literature.
AB  - Tracheobronchial injuries are rare cases requiring skillful airway management. We
      report a challenging case of tracheobronchial injury in a young adult who was run
      over by a tractor and was referred to us from a peripheral hospital with
      endotracheal tube in situ. He was severely hypoxaemic on initial presentation.
      Diagnostic work up showed high suspicion for right bronchial transection along
      with left lung upper lobe contusion. Due to deteriorating clinical condition of
      the patient and despite immediate unavailability of fibreoptic bronchoscope,
      patient was immediately taken up for right posterolateral thoracotomy and double
      lumen tube was inserted. The position of the tube was confirmed clinically. As
      soon as the fibreoptic bronchoscope arrived, it was again used to confirm the
      position of double lumen tube. Patient's clinical condition improved after repair
      of the injured right bronchus and he was later extubated the next day. 

PMID- 27630932
TI  - The Effect of Stress Management Based on Group Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy on
      Marital Satisfaction in Infertile Women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the developed world, infertility is on rise and has become a
      social concern. This is considered as a serious stress in life and exerts a
      severe psychological impact on the couple. AIM: This study was conducted to study
      the efficacy of stress management based on group cognitive-behavioural therapy on
      marital satisfaction in infertile women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a quasi
      experimental study with a pretest-post-test design and control group. The study
      sample consisted of 40 infertile women enrolled based on convenience sampling and
      randomly assigned to two groups: experimental and control, of 20 each. Then, the
      experimental group underwent 10 two-hour stress management sessions per cognitive
      behavioural therapy. The instruments used in this study were marital satisfaction
      inventory ENRICH and a checklist of demographic characteristics. Immediately and
      three months after completion of the intervention, the instruments were
      administered to the participants. The data was analysed by analysis of covariance
      in SPSS 18. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in marital satisfaction
      between the experimental and control groups in both post-test (p=0.001) and
      follow-up (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The stress management based on cognitive
      behavioural therapy could contribute to increasing marital satisfaction in
      infertile women. The effect could remain stable three months after the last
      interventions (follow-up).

PMID- 27630933
TI  - Prevalence of Psychiatric Morbidity in Females amongst Infertile Couples- A
      Hospital Based Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Infertility leads to significant stress among couple and the
      reaction to infertility differs among males and females. AIM: To know the
      prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in infertile couples and compare the
      prevalence of various psychiatric disorders among husband and wife. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 couples diagnosed with
      infertility from outdoor clinics. Both male and female partner of couple were
      interviewed for detailed history and clinical examination was done. General
      Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was applied to detect any psychological strain in
      couples and in those with illness, final diagnosis were made on the basis of DSM 
      IV (TR). The data thus generated was subjected to appropriate Statistical
      Analysis. RESULTS: Out of the 50 couples, 54% of females had psychiatric
      morbidity. The most common diagnosis amongst the female participants was MDD
      (Major Depressive Disorder) (18%), whereas the second most common diagnosis was
      GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) (16%). Psychiatric morbidity was found in only
      26% of males suffering with Adjustment Disorder being most common diagnosis (8%)
      and Dysthymia and MDD as the second most common diagnosis (6% each). Majority of
      patients having psychiatric morbidity were from age group 20-29 years. The
      difference between females and male counterparts was statistically significant.
      CONCLUSION: Psychiatric morbidity was higher among female partners than male
      partners. The difference was statistically significant and the situation needs
      further workup.

PMID- 27630934
TI  - Intense Pulsed light Versus 1,064 Long-Pulsed Neodymium: Yttrium-Aluminum- Garnet
      Laser in the Treatment of Facial Acne Vulgaris.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Laser and light-based procedures provide a good and safe modality
      for treatment of active acne lesions when used properly. AIM: To compare the
      clinical efficacy of intense pulsed light (IPL) versus 1,064 long-pulsed
      Neodymium:Yttrium-Aluminum- Garnet (Nd: YAG) in treatment of facial acne
      vulgaris. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy four patients recruited between June
      2013 and August 2014 was enrolled in this controlled, single-blind, split-face
      clinical trial. All participants received 3 sessions of IPL on the right side of
      the face and 1,064-nm Nd:YAG on the left side of the face at 4-weeks intervals.
      Final assessment was made by comparison of the changes in the count of
      inflammatory acne lesions (inflammatory papules, pustules, nodules and cyst) and
      non-inflammatory acne lesions (Comedones) and the acne severity score between
      both therapies, based on standardized photography. RESULTS: At the final visit,
      the inflammatory acne lesions were reduced on the IPL and 1,064-nm Nd:YAG treated
      sides by 67.1% and 70.2% respectively (p<0.05 for each), while non inflammatory
      acne lesions were reduced by 18.3% and 19.3% respectively (p>0.05 for each). For
      both therapies, there was significant difference in the improvement on
      inflammatory acne lesions in comparison to non-inflammatory lesions (p<0.05 for
      each). There was no significant difference in the efficacy of the two therapies
      in reducing the percentage of both types of acne lesions count from baseline to
      the end of the study (p>0.05 for each). CONCLUSION: Both IPL and 1,064-nm Nd:YAG
      laser are effective in treatment of inflammatory facial acne vulgaris. There is
      no significant difference between the effects of both therapies on facial acne
      lesions.

PMID- 27630935
TI  - Cisplatin Concentrations in Long and Short Duration Infusion: Implications for
      the Optimal Time of Radiation Delivery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cisplatin has radiosensitizing properties and the best
      sensitization to radiotherapy occurs with a higher plasma concentration of
      cisplatin. To our knowledge the optimal time sequence between chemotherapy and
      administration of radiation therapy, to obtain maximum effect from concurrent
      chemoradiation is unclear. AIM: The aim of this study was to measure the two
      cisplatin infusion regimens in order to determine the total and free cisplatin
      post infusion concentration changes over time. These changes may have clinical
      implications on the optimum time of administration of post infusion radiation
      therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two cohorts of patients were recruited and both,
      total and free plasma concentration of cisplatin following long and short
      durations of intravenous infusion was determined. Blood samples were collected at
      0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3 and 5 hours from the start of the infusion in the 1hour
      infusion group and at 2, 3, 3.5, 4, 6 and 24 hours from the start of the
      infusion, in the 3 hour infusion group. Total and free cisplatin concentrations
      were measured using a validated HPLC-UV method. RESULTS: The highest
      concentration of total and free cisplatin was achieved at the end of the infusion
      in both regimens. Total cisplatin concentration declined 30 minutes after the end
      of infusion in both the groups. After 1hour of discontinuing cisplatin, the free
      cisplatin concentration also declined significantly. CONCLUSION: We conclude that
      radiation should be administered within 30 minutes of completion of the infusion
      irrespective of the duration of infusion.

PMID- 27630936
TI  - A Study on Dosimetric Outcomes and Acute Toxicity of Post Mastectomy Adjuvant
      Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hypofractionated External Beam Radiotherapy (HFRT) is a relatively
      new adjuvant Radiotherapy (RT) schedule for breast cancers following breast
      conservation surgery and less commonly, following mastectomy. Here we report our
      experience on normal tissue exposure and acute toxicity of HFRT after mastectomy.
      AIM: To assess the dosimetric outcomes and acute toxicity profile of adjuvant
      HFRT following mastectomy for breast cancer. MATERIALS AND MATERIALS: This
      prospective observational study considered consecutive patients planned for
      adjuvant HFRT (42.5 Gy in 16 sessions delivered over 3 weeks) to the chest wall
      with/without regional nodes between October 2014 and June 2015. The dosimetric
      parameters including dose homogeneity to the target volume and exposure to heart
      and lung were analyzed. Acute haematological and dermatological toxicity was
      recorded until upto three months after completion of RT. RESULTS: Among the 56
      patients treated with HFRT, the mean age was 49 years (range: 28-69 years).
      Pathologically positive nodes and >=pT3 primary was observed in 44 (78.6%) and 12
      (21.4%) patients, respectively. Majority (87.5%) received prior adjunct
      chemotherapy. RT to the supraclavicular fossa was delivered for 39 (69.6%)
      patients. The mean V90 and V95 to the Planning Target Volume (PTV) were 95% (+/-
      3.3%) and 93% (+/- 4%), respectively. The maximum dose received was on average
      47.7 Gy (112%; range: 46.2-48.5 Gy). The mean lung dose was 10.2 Gy (+/- 3.5 Gy)
      and V20 was 20.9% (+/- 6%). The mean V25 to heart was 6.6% (+/- 4.8%) for left
      sided and 0% for right sided tumours (p=0.001). Acute skin toxicity peaked at
      completion of RT and was tolerable (grade 0, I, II and III reactions were 75%,
      16% and 1.8%, respectively). No patient had >= grade III haematological toxicity,
      and treatment was not interrupted for any patient. CONCLUSION: Adjuvant HFRT
      could be planned while meeting the dose constraints to normal tissues in all
      patients and was well tolerated, with mild to moderate acute adverse effects that
      did not warrant any therapeutic intervention or treatment interruption.

PMID- 27630937
TI  - Penile Sarcoma: Report of a Rare Malignancy.
AB  - Penile cancer is an uncommon malignancy. Squamous cell carcinoma constitutes
      approximately 95% of all histology. Non-squamous malignancies are rare in penis.
      Sarcomas of penis are rarer among them. Spindle cell sarcoma is one of the
      extremely rare sarcoma of penis. To best of our knowledge, only two cases have
      been reported so far, one in English literature and other in Japanese. We are
      presenting this uncommon case of spindle cell sarcoma of penis, which was
      diagnosed with microscopy with its characteristic immunohistochemistry. The
      disease had an aggressive course with multiple recurrences in a short duration
      despite margin negative resection. Disease responded poorly with the chemotherapy
      and patient succumbed to the disease. 

PMID- 27630938
TI  - Mediastinal Mass with Hyper-eosinophilia in a Young Boy -A Diagnostic Dilemma.
AB  - Mediastinal masses in children comprises of a heterogeneous group of tumours. In
      such cases, biopsy and histological analysis are mandatory for planning of
      treatment. We have reported an unusual aetiology for a mediastinal mass in a
      young boy presenting with features of Superior Vena Caval Obstruction (SVCO) who
      also had marked blood and marrow eosinophilia mimicking Chronic Eosinophilic
      Leukaemia (CEL). We have also discussed the differential diagnoses of mediastinal
      tumours with hyper-eosinophilia and possible therapeutic implications. 

PMID- 27630939
TI  - Development and Validation of Educational Leaflet for Caregivers of Preterm
      Infants.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Facilitation of child development is usually emphasized in the form
      of early intervention classes and practical demonstrations. However, non
      adherence to home program for such interventions has been reported due to various
      reasons. AIM: To develop and validate an educational leaflet as a supplement
      guide for caregivers to promote better development of their child during 4-6
      months of age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An in-depth literature review and focus
      group discussion with the experts was conducted to formulate the content of
      leaflet. Initial framework consisted of introduction, main text with pictorial
      representation and instructions about facilitation of various milestones, do's
      don'ts and disclaimer. Validation was done through a questionnaire consisting of
      9 questions pertaining to completeness, understandability, legibility, clarity
      and utility of educational material for caregivers and a section for comments.
      Leaflet with enclosed questionnaire was distributed to 14 validators (2
      neonatologists, 4 paediatricians and 8 physiotherapists), along with a covering
      letter stating the purpose and relevance of this educational material, and the
      importance of their participation in validation process. Scoring was done on 5
      point Likert scale for each item in the material. RESULTS: Responses from the 14
      evaluators were collected and analysed. Item level content validity index (I-CVI)
      was calculated for individual items which ranged from 0.73 - 1. Scale level
      Content Validity Index (S-CVI) was calculated for complete nine items and it was
      found to be 0.91. Validators expressed their views to include a column on normal
      milestones across 4-6 months of age and also to highlight the significance of
      performing each activity mentioned in the leaflet. These suggestions were
      incorporated in consensus with the subject experts and the final draft was made.
      CONCLUSION: Educational leaflet for caregivers of 4-6 months preterm infants has
      been developed and validated. It can be provided as a supplement guide to the
      caregivers to facilitate better development of their child.

PMID- 27630940
TI  - Evaluation of p27 Expression in Salivary Gland Neoplasms; A Step Forward in
      Unveiling the Role of p27.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Salivary gland neoplasms are not uncommon lesions that are seen in
      the head and neck region. The role of cell cycle regulators as well as that of
      oncogenes remains unexplored in the pathogenesis of these neoplasms. AIM: Present
      study was conducted to evaluate the expression of p27 in the three common
      salivary gland neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 34 cases (19
      pleomorphic adenoma, 8 mucoepidermoid carcinoma and 7 adenoid cystic carcinoma)
      were included. The sections were subjected to p27 staining and rated for the
      expression. RESULTS: Of the total 52.6% of pleomorphic adenoma cases, 25% of
      mucoepidermoid carcinoma cases and only 14.2% of adenoid cystic carcinoma cases
      showed strong expression suggesting variable p27 expression in both malignant
      neoplasms. Normal salivary gland tissue was stained as a positive control for the
      evaluation. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest an important role for
      p27 in pathogenesis of mucoepidermoid carcinoma as well as adenoid cystic
      carcinoma while its role in pathogenesis of pleomorphic adenoma remains
      questionable keeping in view the strong expression of p27 in the same.

PMID- 27630941
TI  - Buccal Micronuclei Assay as a Tool For Biomonitoring DNA Damage in Oral Lichen
      Planus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The malignant transformation rate of Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is
      between 0% and 5.8%. Oral lesions of lichen planus clinically presents itself
      multifocally, simulating the process of field cancerization in high risk
      malignancies. The Buccal MicroNucleus Cytome Assay (BMN Assay) provides a
      platform to identify the high risk individuals by evaluating the markers of
      nuclear damage at an earliest micro invasive phase. AIM: To evaluate DNA damage
      in exfoliated buccal mucosal cells in individuals with oral lichen planus lesions
      and thereby to delineate the high risk group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Buccal
      smears from 22 OLP and 10 control samples were stained in modified Feulgen
      Rossenback reaction for micronuclei assay. Cytological evaluation of number of
      MicroNucleated cells (CMN), Total Number of Micronuclei (TMN) in micronucleated
      cells was done in both groups. RESULTS: Frequency of micronucleated cells (CMN)
      when compared among the study and control group, a mean value of 4.27 +/- 1.80
      and 0.90 +/- 0.88 were obtained respectively. On comparing the total number of
      micronuclei in the micronucleated cells (TMN) between the study and control
      groups, a mean value of 5.38 +/- 2.42 and 1.5 +/- 0.88 were obtained
      respectively. CONCLUSION: There was a significant increase in the frequency of
      micronuclei and the micronucleated cells in the oral lichen planus as compared to
      normal individuals.

PMID- 27630942
TI  - Ultrastructural Analysis of Incinerated Teeth by Scanning Electron Microscope - A
      Short Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In forensic context precise knowledge on physical and histological
      changes of teeth subjected to high temperatures is of great importance.
      Preserving fragile incinerated teeth for physical, histological and ultra
      structural examinations is essential in fire investigations involving the origin
      of fire, its cause as well as the identification of victims which relies on a
      thorough understanding of the structural changes in dental tissues subjected to
      heat. AIM: The study was conducted to evaluate the physical and ultrastructural
      changes seen in freshly extracted teeth when subjected to gradual heating at
      different temperatures using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). SETTINGS AND
      DESIGN: Freshly extracted teeth collected from subjects of different age groups
      were subjected to different temperatures using laboratory furnace and findings
      were correlated to the temperature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was
      conducted on 60 healthy freshly extracted teeth belonging to age group between 20
      30 years. Group A comprised of control group which included teeth that were not
      subjected to heat whereas Group B, C and D comprised of teeth that were subjected
      to different temperatures i.e., 100(o)C, 300(o)C and 600(o)C respectively for a
      time of fifteen minutes in laboratory furnace, after which they were processed
      for SEM examination. Each group included 15 teeth; 5 anteriors, 5 premolars and 5
      molars. RESULTS: Examination under SEM revealed definite ultra structural changes
      which were explicitly seen at particular temperatures (100(o)C, 300(o)C and
      600(o)C). The samples showed cracks and charring of the tooth structure with
      ultra structural findings such as pebbles, granules, dots on enamel surface; and
      soap bubble pattern, honey comb pattern and snail track pattern on cementum
      surface. CONCLUSION: Because of the consistency of morphological changes and the
      ultra structural patterns at various temperatures, evaluation of incinerated
      dental remains using SEM can provide additional investigative avenues in victim
      identification and in the areas of forensic fire investigations.

PMID- 27630943
TI  - Nanoleakage Evaluation of Posterior Teeth Restored with Low Shrinkable Resin
      Composite- An invitro Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The effect of nanoleakage on the integrity of resin-dentin bond has
      been in interest for long-term adhesion. AIM: This study evaluated the
      nanoleakage in premolar teeth restored with low shrinkable resin composite.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 40 human premolars were used for nanoleakage
      evaluation in this study. Each group was divided into four equal groups; Group A:
      using silorane with its adhesive system. Group B: using silorane with G-bond.
      Group C: using Filtek supreme composite with G-bond. Group D: using Filtek
      supreme composite with AdheSE adhesive. Nanoleakage analysed using Scaning
      Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometery (EDX).
      RESULTS: The amount of silver present in hybrid layer depend on the adhesive
      used; this indicated different nanoleakage expressions in different adhesive
      systems. Filtek Z350 composite with G-bond showed clear silver uptake in both the
      adhesive and hybrid layer. Low shrinkable resin composite (silorane) with its
      adhesive system showed less silver penetration and slight silver peak on the
      elemental energy spectroscopy of energy dispersive X-Ray spectrometry (EDS) as
      compared to other samples. CONCLUSION: Adhesives used between different groups,
      influence the location and degree of nanoleakage. There is difference in
      nanoleakage patterns between two-step and one-step adhesives and also among the
      one-step adhesives themselves.

PMID- 27630944
TI  - Evaluating the Relationship of Dental Fear with Dental Health Status and
      Awareness.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dental fear is one of the most common problems in dentistry, for
      both the patient and for the dentist. This issue can have an important effect on
      an individual's dental health. AIM: The aim of this paper was to report on the
      prevalence of dental anxiety and to explore if high levels of anxiety are
      associated with sociodemographic factors, oral health status, and level of oral
      health awareness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample for this cross-sectional
      study included 294 patients (154 males and 140 females). All participants filled
      out a Dental Fear Survey (DFS) to evaluate their level of dental fear. Gender,
      age, education level, socioeconomic status and oral health awareness were also
      noted. Oral health behaviors and oral health awareness levels were investigated
      using seven questions. Also, the periodontal status of all participants was
      evaluated using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN).
      Differences between different subgroups were tested using the chi-square test.
      RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the DFS groups
      with regard to sociodemographic data. Women had significantly higher scores than
      men, and young patients had significantly higher scores than others. Patients
      with low education levels and low socioeconomic status had high DFS scores.
      Periodontal status was better in groups that had scores in the low and moderate
      ranges compared to groups that had high scores on the DFS. There was a
      statistically significant difference between the groups of DFS and CPITN
      (p<0.05). Patients with low and moderate levels of DFS answered the oral health
      knowledge questions correctly. There was a statistically significant difference
      between the DFS groups based on correct answers to the oral health knowledge
      questions (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The elimination of dental fear is very important
      and should be treated according to a patient-centered assessment. These
      individuals were informed about the dental treatment procedure so their
      prejudices were eliminated. Patients with a high level of dental fear may be
      given psychiatric support for comfortable treatment procedure.

PMID- 27630945
TI  - Minor Salivary Gland Changes in Oral Epithelial Dysplasia and Oral Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma - A Histopathological Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The most common etiology for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is
      tobacco and tobacco related products which cause nuclear damage to the
      keratinocytes. The chemical carcinogens not only affect the lining of oral
      epithelium but also affect the lining epithelium of the excretory ducts of the
      salivary glands. Thus, there is a possibility of epithelial dysplasia of the
      salivary duct epithelium which may lead to potential malignant transformation.
      AIM: The study was performed to see the changes in the minor salivary glands and
      excretory ducts in cases of oral epithelial dysplasia and OSCC. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 278 archival cases of mild, moderate and severe epithelial
      dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, OSCC including verrucous carcinoma were
      histopathologically evaluated to observe changes in the excretory ducts and the
      minor salivary glands. RESULTS: In the study there were 56.5% males and 43.5%
      females. The age group that was most commonly affected in both the sexes was 50
      60 yr old. Buccal mucosa was the most common site of involvement. Ductal changes
      observed in the excretory duct include simple hyperplasia, metaplastic changes
      such as mucous, oncocytic & squamous, and infiltration of inflammatory cells and
      malignant cells. Acinar changes observed were degeneration, squamous metaplasia,
      myoepithelial cell proliferation and inflammatory cell infiltration. Both the
      excretory ducts and ducts within the gland showed dysplasia. CONCLUSION:
      According to observations in our study it is suggested that histopathological
      interpretation for oral mucosal lesions especially oral epithelial dysplasias and
      OSCC should also include changes related to salivary gland tissue to provide a
      better treatment plan and prevent recurrence of the malignant tumours.

PMID- 27630947
TI  - Imaging More Imagining less: An Insight into Knowledge, Attitude and Practice
      Regarding Radiation Risk on Pregnant Women among Dentists of Ghaziabad - A Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The safety of diagnostic imaging during pregnancy is an important
      aspect for all clinicians. Pregnant women often do not receive proper dental care
      as the dentists are not aware of low diagnostic radiation doses involved in
      dental radiation. AIM: To assess awareness of radiation risks on pregnant women
      among dentists of Ghaziabad city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 268
      practicing dentists in Ghaziabad were selected for a questionnaire based cross
      sectional study. Data consisted of 18 questions which assessed the knowledge,
      attitude and practice of dental professionals regarding radiation risks on
      pregnant women. The questionnaire was distributed and collected personally by the
      principal investigator. Data was analyzed by Mann Whitney U test and chi-square
      test. The level of significance was set at p <= 0.05. RESULTS: The results showed
      that the dentists who had attended continuing dental education program had
      increased level of knowledge regarding radiation effects among pregnant women as
      compared to the dentists who had not attended continuing dental education
      programs (p<0.05). Among them who had attended continuing dental education
      programs 93.3% were aware of the safe dose of radiation and 62% were aware of
      threshold radiation doses of pregnancy termination. On the contrary there was no
      significant difference in the knowledge, attitude and practice scores regarding
      radiation risks on pregnant women based on their academic qualification
      (p>=0.05). CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge among dentists was found to be
      satisfactory, this outcome shows that continuing dental education regarding
      radiation protection principles and its risks on pregnant women is required to
      ensure maximum safety both for clinician as well as pregnant women.

PMID- 27630946
TI  - Comparative Analysis of Crack Propagation in Roots with Hand and Rotary
      Instrumentation of the Root Canal -An Ex-vivo Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Success of any endodontic treatment depends on strict adherence to
      'endodontic triad'. Preparation of root canal system is recognized as being one
      of the most important stages in root canal treatment. At times, we inevitably end
      up damaging root dentin which becomes a Gateway for infections like perforation,
      zipping, dentinal cracks and minute intricate fractures or even vertical root
      fractures, thereby resulting in failure of treatment. Several factors may be
      responsible for the formation of dentinal cracks like high concentration of
      sodium hypochlorite, compaction methods and various canal shaping methods. AIM:
      To compare and evaluate the effects of root canal preparation techniques and
      instrumentation length on the development of apical root cracks. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Seventy extracted premolars with straight roots were mounted on resin
      blocks with simulated periodontal ligaments, exposing 1-2 mm of the apex followed
      by sectioning of 1mm of root tip for better visualization under stereomicroscope.
      The teeth were divided into seven groups of 10 teeth each - a control group and
      six experimental groups. Subgroup A & B were instrumented with: Stainless Steel
      hand files (SS) up to Root Canal Length (RCL) & (RCL -1 mm) respectively; sub
      group C & D were instrumented using ProTaper Universal (PTU) up to RCL and (RCL 
      1mm) respectively; subgroup E & F were instrumented using ProTaper Next (PTN) up
      to RCL & (RCL -1 mm) respectively. Stereomicroscopic images of the
      instrumentation sequence were compared for each tooth. The data was analyzed
      statistically using descriptive analysis by 'Phi' and 'Cramers' test to find out
      statistical significance between the groups. The level of significance was set at
      p< 0.05 using SPSS software. RESULTS: Stainless steel hand file group showed most
      cracks followed by ProTaper Universal & ProTaper Next though statistically not
      significant. Samples instrumented up to 1mm short of working length (RCL-1mm)
      showed lesser number of cracks. CONCLUSION: All groups showed cracks formation,
      the stainless steel group being the highest. Working 1mm short of apex reduces
      the incidence of crack formation.

PMID- 27630948
TI  - Colour Preference to Emotions in Relation to the Anxiety Level among School
      Children in Puducherry - A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dental setting plays an important role in child's behavior and
      cooperation to the planned dental treatment. Adding attractive colours to the
      dental environment and by incorporating colourful equipments can make the child
      feel good and be at ease. This study tries to convey the relationship between
      colours and dental anxiety among children. AIM: To evaluate the colour preference
      to emotions in relation to children's age, gender and anxiety level. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A total of 382 children aged 6-12 years were randomly selected from
      schools in and around Puducherry. Modified dental anxiety scale was recorded by a
      calibrated examiner. Each question was scored from one (not anxious) to five
      (extremely anxious); such that the total score ranges from 5 to 25, wherein a
      score of 15 or more was considered to be anxious. Based on this, children were
      divided into anxious and non-anxious groups. All the children were provided with
      eight different coloured crayon pencils and were asked to shade two cartoon
      emoticons indicating happiness and sadness with their preferred colour. Values
      were tabulated and statistically analyzed to evaluate the association between the
      variables using Z test, Chi-square, Chi-square goodness of fit and odds ratio.
      (p<=0.05 was considered statistically significant). RESULTS: Among 382 children,
      77% (294) were graded as anxious and 23% (88) as non- anxious. For positive
      emotion (happiness), 31.2% (119) children preferred blue followed by pink 29.3%
      (112). For negative emotion (sadness), 52.1% (199) of children preferred black
      and 46.9% (179) preferred red. Association between colour and emotion was highly
      significant (p= 0.005). CONCLUSION: From the colours preferred by the children in
      our study, it can be concluded that colours like blue and pink in the dental set
      up could enhance a positive attitude while black and red could develop a negative
      outlook in their mind.

PMID- 27630949
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of Arimedadi Oil with 0.2% Chlorhexidine Gluconate in
      Prevention of Plaque and Gingivitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chemical plaque control measures are advocated to maintain proper
      oral hygiene. Ayurvedic medicines are alternatives considered with minimal side
      effects to treat systemic diseases and dental diseases. So the present study was
      conducted to assess the anti-plaque efficacy of Arimedadi (herbal) oil against
      0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash. AIM: To assess the anti-plaque efficacy
      of Arimedadi (herbal) oil against 0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 45 patients aged 18 to 21 years, with mild to
      moderate gingivitis were recruited and were divided randomly into three groups
      with 15 subjects in each group. After baseline data, scaling and polishing was
      performed. Group A, as Control, Group B, Chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash and
      Group C used experimental Arimedadi oil mouthwash. Instructions were given to use
      10 ml mouthwash twice daily after 30 min of tooth brushing for 1 min till 21
      days. Plaque Index (PI) and Gingival Index (GI) were taken to assess Plaque and
      Gingival health on 7(th) day, 14(th) day and at 21(st) day. The statistical
      analysis was done using Paired t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed
      by Post Hoc test. RESULTS: There was similar improvement in gingival health among
      both groups compared to control group up to 21 days (p<0.001). However from
      14(th) day to 21(st) day there was no difference in gingival health between
      Chlorhexidine and Arimedadi group (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Arimedadi oil is equally
      effective to Chlorhexidine gluconate as an adjunct to mechanical plaque control
      in prevention of plaque accumulation and gingivitis. Arimedadi oil could be an
      effective and safe alternative to 2% Chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash due to its
      prophylactic and therapeutic benefits.

PMID- 27630950
TI  - Evaluation of Mechanical and Physical Properties of Clinically Used and Recycled
      Superelastic NiTi Wires.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The initial leveling and aligning phase has been simplified with
      the introduction of superelastic nickel-titanium archwires. The relatively high
      cost of these wires has prompted some of the clinicians to reuse them after
      sterilization. The quantitative changes in the surface properties of superelastic
      'NiTi' wires after clinical application and recycling by autoclave method have
      not been established in earlier studies. AIM: To quantify the changes in
      mechanical and physical properties of four different commercially available
      superelastic nitinol (NiTi) archwires after clinical usage and recycling.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The superelastic 'NiTi archwires obtained from four
      different manufacturers: Group I-GAC (McMinnville, USA); Group II- 3M Company
      (California, USA); Group III- G&H Company(Franklin, USA) and Group IV- American
      Orthodontics (AO) (Sheboygan, USA) were selected for the study. Each of the four
      groups comprised of 20 samples of wire with 10 of them selected randomly as
      control and remaining 10 as test specimen in each group. The experimental
      archwires were placed on selected patients for a period of three months followed
      by Standard Autoclave sterilization at 121 degrees C and 15 to 20 psi pressure
      for 20 minutes and were retrieved. The tensile strength was evaluated by Instron
      Universal Testing Machine. The quantification of changes in surface roughness was
      investigated by grid method using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The Control
      Wires (C) were evaluated at initial time "T1" where as the Experimental sample of
      wires (T) were subjected to testing at an initial time 'T1' and after clinical
      usage and sterilization at 'T2'. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Paired t-test was used for
      intra-group comparison and one way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey tests were used for
      inter-group comparison. RESULTS: There was significant decrease in tensile
      strength (p = 0.0015 to 0.001) and surface roughness (p< 0.001) between control
      and experimental arch wires within each group when properties at T1 and T2 were
      compared. CONCLUSION: The study suggests discouraging the use of clinically used
      and sterilized superelastic NiTi archwires.

PMID- 27630951
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy of Physics Forceps versus Conventional Forceps
      in Orthodontic Extractions: A Prospective Randomized Split Mouth Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tooth extraction is one of the most commonly performed procedures
      in dentistry. It is usually a traumatic procedure often resulting in immediate
      destruction and loss of alveolar bone and surrounding soft tissues. Various
      instruments have been described to perform atraumatic extractions which can
      prevent damage to the paradental structures. Recently developed physics forceps
      is one of the instruments which is claimed to perform atraumatic extractions.
      AIM: The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of physics forceps
      with conventional forceps in terms of operating time, prevention of marginal bone
      loss & soft tissue loss, postoperative pain and postoperative complications
      following bilateral premolar extractions for orthodontic purpose. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In this prospective split-mouth study, outcomes of the 2 groups (n = 42
      premolars) requiring extraction of premolars for orthodontic treatment purpose
      using Physics forceps and Conventional forceps were compared. Clinical outcomes
      in form of time taken, loss of buccal soft tissue and buccal cortical plate based
      on extraction defect classification system, postoperative pain and other
      complication associated with extraction were recorded and compared. RESULTS:
      Statistically significant reduction in the operating time was noted in physics
      forceps group. Marginal bone loss and soft tissue loss was also significantly
      lesser in physics forceps group when compared to conventional forceps group.
      However, there was no statistically significant difference in severity of
      postoperative pain between both groups. CONCLUSION: The results of the present
      study suggest that physics forceps was more efficient in reducing operating time
      and prevention of marginal bone loss & soft tissue loss when compared to
      conventional forceps in orthodontically indicated premolar extractions.

PMID- 27630952
TI  - Pro-Activeness of Parents in Accepting Behavior Management Techniques: A Cross
      Sectional Evaluative Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The contemporary parents are more active and participate in the
      decision making during dental treatment. AIM: To assess the parents' acceptance
      towards behavior management techniques commonly used in the pediatric dentistry
      in different dental situation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-one parents
      participated in the study. Children's dental fear was assessed by the parents
      before attending power point presentation using Dental Subscale of the Children's
      Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS). Parents viewed power point presentation of eight
      behavior management techniques being used during pediatric dental treatment. The
      techniques were: 1) Voice control; 2) Tell-Show-Do; 3) Positive reinforcement; 4)
      Parental presence or absence; 5) HOME; 6) Physical restraint; 7) N2O-O2 sedation;
      8) General anesthesia. Parents were asked to arrange various behavior management
      techniques from most accepted technique to least accepted technique in various
      dental situations according to their view. RESULTS: All the parents completed the
      questionnaire. Most children show increased anxiety related to dental component
      of CFSS-DS scale particularly during the administration of local anesthetic. In
      present study most preferred behavior management technique was Tell-Show-Do
      followed by positive reinforcement and least preferred behavior management
      technique was general anesthesia followed by physical restraint. CONCLUSION:
      Children's anxiety level increases during the condition related to dentistry
      which can be overcome by developing positive approach in children and parents
      towards dentistry and by utilizing various behaviour management strategies. A
      generalized low parental tolerance level for firm management techniques was seen
      in the present study population.

PMID- 27630953
TI  - Evaluation of Vinegar as a Disinfectant for Extracted Human Teeth - An in-Vitro
      Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In dentistry, extracted human teeth are routinely used to learn
      technical and preclinical skills. Since human teeth harbour many pathogens these
      should be disinfected before use to minimize the risk of infections. Some
      commonly used disinfectants in laboratories are 10% formalin, 3% hydrogen
      peroxide (H2O2), 5.25% Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl), 70% alcohol and normal saline
      which have their own disadvantages like carcinogenicity, toxicity, cost
      effectiveness etc. Many studies have been conducted using these solutions but
      there is no evidence to suggest a suitable alternative for disinfecting extracted
      teeth. Vinegar is a sour liquid comprised mainly of acetic acid. It is cheap and
      commercially available shown to be effective in the prevention and control of
      microbial contamination. AIM: The present study was conducted for evaluation of
      vinegar as a disinfectant for extracted teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this
      study a total of 40 (n=40) extracted non carious teeth were taken which were
      disinfected with various physical methods such as sterilization, autoclaving and
      chemical methods by using Vinegar, 70% Alcohol, 10% Formalin, 3% Hydrogen
      peroxide and 5.25% NaOCL. Later, teeth from each group were placed individually
      in separate test tubes containing 10ml of brain heart infusion broth at 37
      degrees C for 48 hrs to observe the evidence of growth of microorganisms.
      RESULTS: Results were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test. Vinegar, 10% Formalin
      and 3% Hydrogen peroxide were effective. The results were statistically
      significant with Kruskal-Wallis test value 28.053 and p-value was <0.001.
      CONCLUSION: Vinegar can be used as an effective disinfectant for extracted human
      teeth.

PMID- 27630954
TI  - Comparative Evaluation of Two Different Ultrasonic Liquid Coolants on Dental
      Aerosols.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dentists are more prone for developing infectious diseases
      especially related to respiratory system. The ultrasonic scaler which is a major
      source of dental aerosol production is most frequently used contrivance in a
      dental set up. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of povidone
      iodine and chlorhexidine gluconate as an ultrasonic liquid coolant on aerosols in
      comparison with distilled water. The objectives of this study were to compare the
      potency of povidone iodine and chlorhexidine gluconate on reducing dental
      aerosols and quantitative assessment of microbial content of dental aerosols at
      right, left and behind the dental chair. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study 30
      subjects were selected who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were divided into
      three groups. Group 1 (Control group): Ultrasonic scaling with distilled water
      (10 subjects), Group 2 (Test group): Ultrasonic scaling with 2% povidone iodine
      (10 subjects), Group 3 (Test group): Ultrasonic scaling with 0.12% chlorhexidine
      (10 subjects). At the baseline one blood agar plate was kept for 10 minutes in
      the fumigated chamber before ultrasonic scaling, thereafter three blood agar
      plates were kept at a distance of 0.4 meters away on either side of the patient
      and 2 meters behind the patient's mouth during ultrasonic scaling. Blood agar
      plates were kept for gravitometric settling of dental aerosols. RESULTS: At
      baseline, no significant numbers of Colony-Forming Units (CFU) were detected. It
      is found that Group 3 (chlorhexidine gluconate) showed effective CFU reduction
      (27.17 +/-12.5 CFU) when compared to distilled water (124.5 +/- 30.08 CFU) and
      povidone iodine (60.43 +/- 33.33 CFU). More CFU were found on blood agar plates
      which were kept on right side in all the three groups. The results obtained were
      statistically significant (p< 0.001). CONCLUSION: Chlorhexidine gluconate is more
      effective in reducing dental aerosols when compared to povidone iodine and
      distilled water. Povidone iodine showed better CFU reduction when compared with
      distilled water. Hence, chlorhexidine or povidone iodine can also be used as an
      ultrasonic liquid coolant for reducing the number of dental aerosols during
      ultrasonic scaling.

PMID- 27630955
TI  - Estimation and Comparison of Salivary Calcium, Phosphorous, Alkaline Phosphatase
      and pH Levels in Periodontal Health and Disease: A Cross-sectional Biochemical
      Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In oral diagnostics there is a great challenge to determine
      biomarkers for screening and evaluating the disease activity. Biomarkers can also
      serve as a useful tool to measure the efficacy of the therapy. AIM: To evaluate
      and compare the levels of salivary calcium, phosphorous, alkaline phosphatase and
      pH levels in periodontally healthy subjects and patients with gingivitis and
      periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study consisted of 150 subjects
      aged between 20-45 years who were divided into three groups; periodontally
      healthy, gingivitis and chronic periodontitis. Prior to the clinical examination
      the demographic details, relevant information of the subject, gingival index,
      plaque index, Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) and pH were recorded. Biochemical assay of
      saliva i.e., inorganic calcium, phosphorous and alkaline phosphatase were
      estimated by colorimetric method. ANOVA and Tukey's test were applied for
      statistical analysis. RESULTS: The mean levels of biomarkers studied were;
      inorganic calcium (12.55MUg/dl), phosphorous (14.50MUg/dl), alkaline phosphatase
      (49.62MUg/dl) and pH (11.65). There was a gradual increase in these levels as the
      condition progressed from health to gingivitis or periodontitis which was
      statistically significant at p<0.001. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, it can
      be concluded that, the biomarkers like salivary calcium, phosphorous, alkaline
      phosphatase and pH can be considered for evaluating the diagnosis and prognosis
      of periodontal tissues in disease and health.

PMID- 27630956
TI  - Effect of Chlorhexidine with Fluoride Mouthrinse on Plaque Accumulation, Plaque
      pH - A Double Blind Parallel Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mouthwashes are important means used in chemical control of dental
      plaque. There is strong evidence suggestive of better effectiveness, when
      fluoride is added to chlorhexidine mouthwash. AIM: To assess the anti-plaque
      efficacy of Chlorhexidine combined with Fluoride mouthwash and to measure its
      impact on plaque accumulation and on plaque pH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Initially
      100 subjects were screened. A double blind, parallel randomized clinical trial
      was conducted on 30 subjects after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria.
      Other independent variables were matched before randomly allocating them in three
      groups: Group A-Chlorhexidine as positive control, Group B-Chlorhexidine +
      Fluoride as test group and Group C- Distilled water as negative control. Oral
      prophylaxis of participants was done before onset of the study. Plaque pH was
      assessed before and immediately after rinsing at 0, 5 and 10 minutes interval and
      after 7 days with digital pH electrode (pHepR pH meter, Hanna Instruments R10285)
      and accumulation of plaque was recorded by Turesky et al., modification of
      Quigley Hein Plaque Index (1970). ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis.
      RESULTS: Although there was a statistically significant reduction in mean plaque
      scores from baseline to seven days in both Groups A and B, Group B showed better
      anti-plaque efficacy . Almost equal drop in plaque pH was seen for both the
      groups at 5 and 10 minutes. CONCLUSION: Better anti-plaque efficacy was observed
      in Group B (Chlorhexidine and Fluoride combination) with minimum variation of
      plaque pH.

PMID- 27630957
TI  - Comparative Morphologic Evaluation and Occluding Effectiveness of Nd: YAG, CO2
      and Diode Lasers on Exposed Human Dentinal Tubules: An Invitro SEM Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dentinal hypersensitivity is one of the most common problem,
      encountered in dental practice but has least predictable treatment outcome. The
      advent of lasers in dentistry has provided an additional therapeutic option for
      treating dentinal hypersensitivity. Although various lasers have been tried over
      a period of time to treat dentinal hypersensitivity, but still the doubt persist
      as to which laser leads to maximum dentinal tubular occlusion and is most
      suitable with minimal hazardous effects. AIM: To compare the effects of Nd: YAG,
      CO2 and 810-nm diode lasers on width of exposed dentinal tubule orifices and to
      evaluate the morphologic changes on dentinal surface of human tooth after laser
      irradiation by scanning electron microscope (SEM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty
      root specimens were obtained from ten freshly extracted human premolars, which
      were randomly divided into four groups of ten each. Group I: control group
      treated with only saline, Group II: Nd:YAG laser, Group III: CO2 laser and Group
      IV: 810-nm diode laser. The specimens were examined using SEM. After calculating
      mean tubular diameter for each group, the values were compared statistically
      using parametric one-way ANOVA test and Turkey's post hoc multiple comparison
      test. RESULTS: All the three lased groups showed a highly statistical significant
      result with p-value of <0.001 as compared to non-lased group. On intergroup
      comparison within the lased groups, all the three groups showed statistically
      significant difference in the reduction of dentinal tubular diameter (p-value <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: Nd: YAG laser was found to be most effective, followed by the
      CO2 laser and 810-nm diode laser was found to be least effective. The morphologic
      changes like craters, cracks and charring effect of the dentine were seen maximum
      by the use of CO2 laser.

PMID- 27630958
TI  - Bacterial Viability within Dental Calculus: An Untrodden, Inquisitive Clinico
      Patho- Microbiological Research.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammatory periodontal diseases i.e. gingivitis and
      periodontitis are one of the most common afflictions faced by human beings.
      Dental plaque, which is a pool of pathogenic microorganisms, remains to be
      current mainstay in etiopathogenesis. Dental calculus, which is a mineralized
      product of this plaque remains ignored and is considered merely as an ash heap of
      minor significance. However, the intriguing array in disease etiopathogenesis
      bulldozed researchers to suspect the role of calculus in disease chrysalis but
      still the viability of bacteria inside calculus and thus its pathogenicity
      remains an intricacy; the answer to which lies in the Pandora's Box. AIM: The
      present study was undertaken to investigate the viability of bacteria within
      dental calculus along with their identification. Also, to classify dental
      calculus on the basis of mineralization and to observe the variation of viable
      microflora found in dental calculus with the extent of mineralization and disease
      severity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 samples were obtained, by
      harvesting two samples of supragingival calculus from each patient having chronic
      inflammatory periodontal disease. These samples were divided into two groups
      (Group A and Group B). Samples of Group A were kept non-irradiated and samples of
      Group B were exposed to UV radiation. The samples were categorized into less,
      moderately and highly mineralized according to the force required for crushing
      them. All the crushed calculus samples were then divided into three parts. These
      were used for dark-field microscopy, gram staining and bacterial cultures.
      Bacterial identification of the cultures obtained was also carried out by
      performing various biochemical assays. RESULTS: The present study revealed the
      presence of motile spirochaetes within the samples under dark-field microscope.
      Gram staining revealed presence of numerous gram positive cocci and gram negative
      bacilli. Bacterial cultures showed growth of variety of aerobic and capnophilic
      microorganisms. CONCLUSION: The present study concludes the presence of viable
      aerobic and capnophilic bacteria inside dental calculus which may reside within
      the lacunae and channels in the calculus.

PMID- 27630959
TI  - A Comparative Evaluation of Sealing Ability of New MTA Based Sealers with
      Conventional Resin Based Sealer: An In-vitro Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Root canal obturation is the most important step in the root canal
      treatment that aims to obtain a complete hermetic seal and to prevent the re
      growth of microorganisms in the root canal system. To accomplish this, many
      endodontic obturation materials and sealers are being used. AIM: To evaluate and
      compare the apical microleakage of a resin based sealer; Adseal with Mineral
      Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) based sealers; Pro root MTA and MTA Fillapex. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Total 75 extracted human single rooted teeth were taken and
      decoronated at cemento-enamel junction. The access cavities and biomechanical
      preparation were performed using endodontic rotary system. The teeth were
      randomly divided into five groups with n=15; Group I - Gutta-percha and Adseal
      sealer; Group II - Gutta-percha and MTA Fillapex; Group III- Gutta-percha and Pro
      root MTA; Group IV- Gutta-percha without sealer (positive control group); Group V
      Root canal remained empty (negative control). All the specimens were stored at
      37(0)C with 100% humidity for one week. All root surfaces except the apical 2mm
      were covered with two layers of nail varnish and then immersed in an aqueous
      solution of 2% methylene blue dye for 72 hours. Roots were longitudinally split
      using a diamond disk. Linear apical dye penetration was measured under
      Stereomicroscope at 40X magnification. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data obtained
      was subjected to statistical analysis using paried t-test, ANOVA for interclass
      comparison, with SPSS statistical software (version 20.0). RESULTS: The
      intraobserver reliability was found to be insignificant in each of the triplicate
      study of all the three study samples. MTA Fillapex group showed maxmium apical
      microleakage followed by Pro root MTA and Adseal sealer. CONCLUSION: The results
      concluded that Adseal sealer showed minimal dye penetration followed by Pro root
      MTA and MTA Fillapex. Thus, concluding that Adseal sealer is better in apical
      sealing than Pro root MTA and MTA Fillapex.

PMID- 27630960
TI  - Breaking the Chain of Infection: Dental Unit Water Quality Control.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The air-water syringes, ultrasonic scalers, high speed air turbine
      handpieces are connected to dental units by a network of small-bore plastic tubes
      through which water and air travel to activate or cool the instruments and it had
      been shown that this system is extensively contaminated with microbial biofilms
      and pose a potential risk of infection for patients as well as dental
      professionals. AIM: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of various disinfectants
      in reducing the microbial colony count in water derived from Dental Unit
      Waterlines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five random dental units were selected and
      samples were collected before and after intervention with 5 disinfectants (0.02%
      H2O2 continuously, 0.02% H2O2 continuously with shock treatment with 0.25% H2O2
      weekly, 0.12% Chlorohexidine and 12% Ethanol overnight, 1:50 Original Listerine
      overnight, 2% Sodium Perborate and 2% EDTA 5 minutes in morning) using different
      disinfection methods for 4 weeks. Samples were cultured on Reasoner's 2A (R2A)
      agar for microbial counting. RESULTS: Results were recorded as Colony forming
      units/ml (cfu/ml) and were evaluated statistically. Results showed that all the
      dental unit waterlines were heavily contaminated with microbes before any
      intervention. After 1 day of disinfection regime the counts reduced significantly
      and showed progressive reduction in consecutive weeks. Goals set by ADA & CDC
      were ultimately achieved at the end of 4 weeks. CONCLUSION: All the disinfectants
      were equally effective in reducing the microbial colony count of DUWLs,
      irrespective of their concentration and method of disinfection.

PMID- 27630961
TI  - A Comparative Analysis of Cytokeratin 18 and 19 Expressions in Odontogenic
      Keratocyst, Dentigerous Cyst and Radicular Cyst with a Review of Literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Odontogenic cysts viz Odontogenic Keratocyst (OKC), Dentigerous
      Cyst (DC) and Radicular Cyst (RC) occur commonly in the oral and maxillofacial
      region. Cytokeratin (CK) expression studies have been done to evaluate diagnostic
      accuracy, role in pathogenesis, elucidate behaviour and role in treatment
      protocols. However, variations have been reported in the expression of CK
      patterns in these odontogenic cysts, which could be due to the lack of
      standardization of laboratory techniques. The present study has tried to shed
      light on CK 18 and 19 expression in odontogenic cysts and offer the brief review
      of previous studies on these CK. AIM: The aim of the present study was to
      evaluate the intensity and expression patterns of CK 18 and 19 in OKCs, DCs and
      RCs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 cases, 20 each of OKC, DC and RC were
      confirmed histologically and evaluated for immunohistochemical expression pattern
      and intensity of CK 18 and 19. RESULTS: A focal and variable expression of CK 18
      was observed in 25% of OKCs, 15% of DCs and 10% of RCs. CK 19 was expressed in
      75% of OKCs and 100% in DCs as well as RCs. CONCLUSION: The intensity and
      expression of Cytokeratin 19 was more in all three cysts compared to Cytokeratin
      18.

PMID- 27630962
TI  - Knowledge and Attitude among General Dental Practitioners towards Minimally
      Invasive Dentistry in Riyadh and AlKharj.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Minimally Invasive Dentistry (MID) emphasizes conservative caries
      management strategies resulting in less destruction of tooth structure, a
      deviation of the traditional GV Black's restorative principles. However, there
      seems to be either deficiency in knowledge or little intention by general dental
      practitioners to adopt these principles. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess
      the knowledge and attitude among general dental practitioners towards minimally
      invasive dentistry in Riyadh and AlKharj cities of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Self-administered structured questionnaires were handed to general
      dental practitioners (GDPs) in the cities of Riyadh and AlKharj in Saudi Arabia.
      Several questions, including Likert-type scale response categories (1-5), were
      used. The questions assessed the respondents' levels of agreement regarding
      diagnostic, preventive and restorative techniques such as use of caries risk
      assessment, use of high fluoride tooth paste, Atraumatic Restorative Treatment
      and tunnel preparations. RESULTS: Out of 200 respondents, 161 GDPs with overall
      response rate of 80.5% completed the questionnaires. The GDPs showed
      significantly different approach with regards to the use of sharp explorer for
      caries detection (p = 0.014). Almost 60% of the participants had received no
      special education regarding minimally invasive procedures. Moreover, GDPs who had
      received MID training showed significantly better knowledge and attitude in
      adopting minimally invasive techniques for both diagnosis and treatment of dental
      caries. CONCLUSION: Although GDPs possess knowledge about the benefits of MID;
      however, study showed deficiencies in their attitudes towards caries detection
      methods and application of minimally invasive dentistry procedures.

PMID- 27630964
TI  - Angiosarcoma of Anterior Mandibular Gingiva Showing Recurrence - A Case Report
      with Immunohistochemistry.
AB  - Angiosarcomas of oral cavity and salivary gland represent 1% of all cases
      reported in the literature and are therefore considered as extremely rare. To the
      best of our knowledge very few cases of angiosarcomas involving mandibular
      gingiva have been reported previously. Here, we report a case of angiosarcoma
      occurring in the gingiva with review of literature on clinical features. A 30
      year-old female patient presented with a complaint of a small growing mass in
      relation to lower front teeth. Intraoral examination revealed a soft sessile
      growth arising from the labial gingiva in relation to 31 and 41 on the labial
      aspect extending distally to 32. The lesion was locally excised.
      Histolopathological analysis showed that the tumour was composed of spindle
      shaped to polygonal cells with hyperchromatic nuclei, conspicuous nucleoli and
      intracytoplasmic vacuoles, mitotic figure were also scattered.
      Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the tumour cells was positive for
      factor VIII-related antigen, CD31 and CD34. An excisional biopsy showed a
      diagnosis of angiosarcoma. After two months patient reported back with the same
      chief complaint. This present case is a 17(th) case report of angiosarcoma
      arising in anterior mandiblular gingiva. 

PMID- 27630965
TI  - Fallacious Carcinoma- Spindle Cell Variant of Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Spindle cell carcinoma is a unique, rare and peculiar biphasic tumour of head and
      neck which is not frequently observed in the oral cavity. This variant of
      squamous cell carcinoma although of monophasic epithelial origin, simulates a
      sarcoma and is an aggressive carcinoma with high frequency of recurrence and
      metastasis. A correct and timely diagnosis is of paramount importance. Most of
      the tumours require an Immunohistochemistry (IHC) panel for confirmation or
      diagnosis. We report a case of spindle cell carcinoma with varied
      histopathological morphology and clinical presentation in a middle aged female
      with a brief review of literature. 

PMID- 27630963
TI  - Knowledge, Awareness and Attitude towards Emergency Management of Dental Trauma
      among the Parents of Kolkata-An Institutional Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Traumatic dental injuries are one of the commonly encountered
      dental emergencies. Missing anterior tooth in children due to any injury can be a
      source of considerable physical and psychological discomfort for the child. The
      prognosis of some dental injuries depends to a great extent on parents' knowledge
      of correct and prompt emergency measures. AIM: The purpose of this cross
      sectional study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and awareness level of
      parents regarding the emergency management of dental trauma and to find out the
      relation of the responses to social variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of
      2000 parents were surveyed over a period of three months using a pretested close
      ended questionnaire prepared in English, Hindi as well as in the regional
      language which was divided into three parts: Part 1 contained questions on
      personal information, Part 2 on an imaginary case of trauma to assess their
      knowledge regarding trauma management and Part 3 related to their attitude
      towards dental trauma management education. The data was statistically analysed
      using descriptive and chi-square statistics. RESULTS: The overall knowledge of
      parents regarding emergency management of trauma was not satisfactory. Although
      most of the people were in favour of taking professional consultation for
      emergency management of trauma but most of them were unaware of the steps that
      need to be taken on their part so as to minimize complications and improve
      prognosis. CONCLUSION: Educational campaigns are the need of the day to increase
      the knowledge of parents regarding emergency management of dental trauma.

PMID- 27630966
TI  - Biodentine Pulpotomy in Mature Permanent Molar: A Case Report.
AB  - Irreversible pulpitis is the most common reason for endodontic treatment in
      primary and permanent teeth. Root canal therapy and extraction are the two viable
      and most documented treatment options for the same. Studies with regards to
      management of mature permanent teeth with carious exposure and treatment with
      vital pulp therapies such as adult permanent tooth pulpotomy are scarce. However,
      permanent tooth pulpotomy with the new calcium-silicate based cements (Mineral
      Trioxide Aggregate and Biodentine) can help preserve the tooth pulp vitality and
      promote healing and repair foregoing the more invasive root canal therapy
      procedure. A 12-year old male patient with irreversible pulpitis in right
      mandibular first permanent molar was treated with complete coronal pulpotomy with
      placement of Biodentine in the pulp chamber and a full coronal coverage using
      stainless steel crown. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed at
      three, six, twelve and eighteen months. At the end of 18 months, the patient was
      completely asymptomatic and the tooth was free of any clinical and radiographic
      signs of inflammation and infection. 

PMID- 27630967
TI  - Primary Inadequate Management of Dental Trauma.
AB  - Tooth fractures are common complications due to trauma in the oral cavity. Tooth
      fragments and foreign bodies may be embedded in soft tissues as a result of
      dentofacial trauma and go unnoticed in emergency situations. The inadequate
      management of such cases may lead to complications, such as foreign-body reaction
      and scarring. This report describes two cases with dental fragments embedded in
      the lower lip, which went unnoticed until the patients presented later for
      completely different treatments and emphasizes the importance of clinical and
      radiographic examination of soft tissues, even in cases that present late for
      dental trauma management. 

PMID- 27630968
TI  - Clinical Efficacy of Azithromycin as an Adjunctive Therapy to Non-Surgical
      Periodontal Treatment of Periodontitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Over the years, numerous trials have sufficiently documented
      benefits of adjuvant administration of antibiotics in combination to Scaling and
      Root Planing (SRP) in treatment of periodontitis. Nevertheless there are
      justified doubts in respect to antibiotics administration with regard to
      increasing development of resistances. AIM: The aim of this review study and meta
      analysis was to verify a possible benefit of Azithromycin (AZM) as an alternative
      adjuvant antibiotic in combination with SRP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic
      databases (Pubmed) were searched from the earliest point of record until May
      2015. A hand search was also conducted. The variables considered in this respect
      were Probing Depth (PD), Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Bleeding on Probing
      (BOP) and SRP. A meta-analysis containing trials comparing SRP as a sole therapy
      with SRP and administration of AZM was produced once all of the data obtained had
      been reviewed. RESULTS: Six randomised clinical trials were accepted into the
      review and the meta-analysis following the process of trial selection. Meta
      analysis revealed larger overall effects by the systemic administration of AZM
      compared with SRP on their own in terms of PD, CAL, BOP, Plaque-Index and total
      bacterial load reduction after three and six months. CONCLUSION: The data used in
      this study revealed that the systemic administration of AZM is beneficial
      compared with SRP on its own for the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

PMID- 27630969
TI  - Ultrasound: A Revenant Therapeutic Modality in Dentistry.
AB  - An ultrasound (US) gives a visible image of the organs that are present inside
      the body. In medicine it serves for diagnosing and also its therapeutic benefits
      are well established for bone healing, osteointegration and soft tissue healing.
      In dentistry it is widely used for diagnostic purposes. When it was discovered it
      was introduced for therapeutic purposes, but due to lack of clinical studies its
      use as therapy was remittent in dentistry. The aim of the present paper was to
      establish the efficiency of therapeutic US in maxillofacial region for
      alleviating the pain and to see the other applications. Our search included the
      English terms like ultrasonography, applications, dentistry in Google search
      engine, PubMed and Medline from 1980 to 2015. We found very few articles showing
      the effects of therapeutic Ultrasound (US) in treatment of pain and healing in
      dentistry. We concluded that clinical benefits of in vivo studies were very
      little and demands further rigorous research to strive for the therapeutic
      success of US. 

PMID- 27630970
TI  - Modified Wrap-Around Retainer: A Quick Tip To Enhance the Retention of the
      Appliance.
AB  - As the teeth are in an inherently unstable position after the completion of the
      orthodontic treatment, a little pressure even from the soft tissues may create a
      relapse tendency. So there is always a need for a retention period until the
      gingival and periodontal reorganization is completed around the new position of
      the tooth. Removable appliances can be used effectively for the retention purpose
      of which Begg's wrap around retainers are most commonly used. This article
      presents a new modification in the design of the appliance which will help us to
      use the retainer more efficiently. 

PMID- 27630971
TI  - Actinomycotic Osteomyelitis of the Maxilla - A Delusive Presentation.

PMID- 27630972
TI  - Endodontic Management of Type III Dens Invaginatus with an Open Apex.

PMID- 27630973
TI  - Unusual Presentation of Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinoma of Face: Surgical
      Challenge.

PMID- 27630974
TI  - Gold Tooth Tattoos: Identifying Features in Forensic Odontology.

PMID- 27630975
TI  - Panoramic Radiographic Appearance of Giant Bilateral Tonsilloliths.

PMID- 27630976
TI  - Correction.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2014/9459.5116.]. 

PMID- 27630977
TI  - Two-Person Technique of Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy for Achalasia with an Advanced
      Endoscopist and a Thoracic Surgeon: Initial Experience.
AB  - Background and Aims. We initiated peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) utilizing a
      two-person technique with combination of an advanced endoscopist and a thoracic
      surgeon with complementary skills. Our aim was to determine the feasibility and
      outcomes in initial 20 patients. Methods. In this observational study, main
      outcomes measured were therapeutic success in relieving symptoms (Eckardt score <
      3), decrease in lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressures, improvement in
      emptying on timed barium esophagogram (TBE), and complications. Results. POEM was
      successful in all 20 patients with a mean operative time of 140.1 + 32.9 minutes.
      Eckardt symptom scores decreased significantly at two-month follow-up (6.4 + 2.9
      versus 0.25 + 0.45, p < 0.001). Both basal and residual LES pressures decreased
      significantly (28.2 + 14.1 mmHg versus 12.8 + 6.3 and 22.4 + 11.3 versus 6.3 +
      3.4 mmHg, p = 0.025 and <0.001, resp.). Barium column height at 5 minutes on TBE
      reduced from 6.8 + 4.9 cm to 2.3 + 2.9 cm (p = 0.05). Two patients (10%) had
      mucosal perforations and one had delayed bleeding (5%). Conclusions. Two-person
      technique of POEM with combination of an advanced endoscopist and a thoracic
      surgeon is highly successful with low risk of complications. 

PMID- 27630979
TI  - Evaluation and Comparison of Multiple Test Methods, Including Real-time PCR, for
      Legionella Detection in Clinical Specimens.
AB  - Legionella is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause Pontiac fever, a mild
      upper respiratory infection and Legionnaire's disease, a more severe illness. We
      aimed to compare the performance of urine antigen, culture, and polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) test methods and to determine if sputum is an acceptable
      alternative to the use of more invasive bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Data for
      this study included specimens tested for Legionella at Public Health Ontario
      Laboratories from 1st January, 2010 to 30th April, 2014, as part of routine
      clinical testing. We found sensitivity of urinary antigen test (UAT) compared to
      culture to be 87%, specificity 94.7%, positive predictive value (PPV) 63.8%, and
      negative predictive value (NPV) 98.5%. Sensitivity of UAT compared to PCR was
      74.7%, specificity 98.3%, PPV 77.7%, and NPV 98.1%. Out of 146 patients who had a
      Legionella-positive result by PCR, only 66 (45.2%) also had a positive result by
      culture. Sensitivity for culture was the same using either sputum or BAL (13.6%);
      sensitivity for PCR was 10.3% for sputum and 12.8% for BAL. Both sputum and BAL
      yield similar results regardless testing methods (Fisher Exact p-values = 1.0,
      for each test). In summary, all test methods have inherent weaknesses in
      identifying Legionella; therefore, more than one testing method should be used.
      Obtaining a single specimen type from patients with pneumonia limits the ability
      to diagnose Legionella, particularly when urine is the specimen type submitted.
      Given ease of collection and similar sensitivity to BAL, clinicians are
      encouraged to submit sputum in addition to urine when BAL submission is not
      practical from patients being tested for Legionella. 

PMID- 27630978
TI  - Associations between EBV and CMV Seropositivity, Early Exposures, and Gut
      Microbiota in a Prospective Birth Cohort: A 10-Year Follow-up.
AB  - Early-life infections with persistent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) are delayed in affluent countries, probably due to
      alterations in early environmental exposures, such as maternal age, siblings, and
      day-care attendance. We have previously reported that the timing of EBV and CMV
      contraction is related both to allergic sensitization and changes in functional
      competence of immune cells, while the presence/absence of lactobacilli
      [Lactobacillus (L.) casei, L. paracasei, and L. rhamnosus] or Staphylococcus (S.)
      aureus in feces is related to the risk for allergy. Here, we used the same
      prospective longitudinal birth cohort of children to investigate early-life
      environmental exposures and their influence on EBV and CMV contraction over time.
      Since gut microbes also belong to this category of early exposures, we
      investigated their association with herpesvirus contraction. Our results show
      that these two viruses are acquired with different kinetics and that EBV and CMV
      seroprevalence at 10 years of age was 47 and 57%, respectively. We also observed
      that a delayed EBV or CMV infection was associated with older maternal age [time
      ratio (TR) 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.21, P adj < 0.001 and TR
      1.09, CI 1.03-1.16, P adj = 0.008, respectively]. Further, we present the novel
      finding that S. aureus colonization reduced the time to CMV acquisition (TR 0.21,
      CI 0.06-0.78, P adj = 0.02). Together, these findings suggest that there is a
      relationship between timing of herpesvirus acquisition and early-life immune
      modulating exposures, which interestingly also includes the early infant gut
      microbiota. 

PMID- 27630980
TI  - Use of a Nutrition Behavior Change Counseling Tool: Lessons from a Rapid
      Qualitative Assessment in Eastern Zambia.
AB  - The U.S. Agency for International Development Feed the Future Mawa Project - led
      by Catholic Relief Services - aims to improve food and economic security for
      farming households in Zambia's Eastern Province. Mawa employs social and behavior
      change (SBC) strategies with households and communities to improve nutrition and
      reduce stunting among children under two (CU2). To support these strategies, sub
      partner University Research Co., LLC employed a participatory process to develop
      a series of 35 action cards, each illustrating one project-promoted behavior,
      that are used at household and community group levels. Caregivers of CU2 are
      given a full set of action cards to promote household dialogue and support for
      the promoted behaviors. As a final step in the action card tool development
      process, a qualitative rapid assessment was conducted 1 month after
      implementation to investigate preliminary ways action cards were being used, and
      if the methods of using the cards had the potential to impact behavior change.
      The research team conducted nine key informant interviews and four focus group
      discussions with Mawa staff and administered 41 qualitative interview
      questionnaires with project participants in the Chipata and Lundazi districts.
      Although not based on a representative sampling frame, the assessment produced
      valuable results for program improvement purposes. It also provided a feedback
      mechanism for community-based staff and project participants, a crucial step in
      the participatory tool development process. The assessment found that Mawa staff
      at every level use action cards combined with at least one other social behavior
      change tool for each nutrition intervention. Our results suggest that Mawa staff
      and project participants share a common understanding of the cards' purpose. Each
      group noted that the cards provide a visual cue for action and reinforce previous
      Mawa nutrition messages. Intended uses confirmed by the assessment include
      encouraging household cooperation, negotiating behavior change, telling stories,
      and integrating messages with other project sectors. Based on the findings,
      recommendations for future project activities include aligning efforts against a
      theory of change to optimize use of all SBC tools; leveraging action card use to
      strengthen cross-sectoral integration within Mawa; and specific ongoing
      monitoring of action card use to improve activity implementation. 

PMID- 27630982
TI  - Designing Solutions for the Retirement System - In Search of Balance between
      Economy and Health.
AB  - Social security system currently faces a number of difficulties arising of
      changes in the demographic structure of societies, like the decrease in
      fertility, lengthening of life expectancy, and unfavorable change in the
      proportion of the population receiving retirement benefits to the population in
      working age. In result, social security systems are being subjected to transition
      aimed at securing their financial stability, part of which is a tendency to rise
      the retirement age and eliminate all the incentives to prematurely exit the labor
      market. On the other hand, this process of transition, as observed in Poland, is
      being driven mainly by political processes and due to economic reasons, while
      lacking public health evidence. This raises a danger that in final result the
      financial savings will be illusory only and that the final configuration of the
      system will be inconsistent with the actual social needs of the population and
      will not efficiently protect against the social risks. In this article, we
      present arguments for using the Healthy Life Years indicator in analyses relating
      to the performance of social security systems. The indicator may help to reflect
      differences in health status of different professional groups and adjust system's
      solutions to conditions characterizing these groups, in terms of both risk
      protection and prevention. 

PMID- 27630981
TI  - The Amagugu Intervention: A Conceptual Framework for Increasing HIV Disclosure
      and Parent-Led Communication about Health among HIV-Infected Parents with HIV
      Uninfected Primary School-Aged Children.
AB  - Advances in access to HIV prevention and treatment have reduced vertical
      transmission of HIV, with most children born to HIV-infected parents being HIV
      uninfected themselves. A major challenge that HIV-infected parents face is
      disclosure of their HIV status to their predominantly HIV-uninfected children.
      Their children enter middle childhood and early adolescence facing many
      challenges associated with parental illness and hospitalization, often
      exacerbated by stigma and a lack of access to health education and support.
      Increasingly, evidence suggests that primary school-aged children have the
      developmental capacity to grasp concepts of health and illness, including HIV,
      and that in the absence of parent-led communication and education about these
      issues, HIV-exposed children may be at increased risk of psychological and social
      problems. The Amagugu intervention is a six-session home-based intervention,
      delivered by lay counselors, which aims to increase parenting capacity to
      disclose their HIV status and offer health education to their primary school-aged
      children. The intervention includes information and activities on disclosure,
      health care engagement, and custody planning. An uncontrolled pre-post-evaluation
      study with 281 families showed that the intervention was feasible, acceptable,
      and effective in increasing maternal disclosure. The aim of this paper is to
      describe the conceptual model of the Amagugu intervention, as developed post
      evaluation, showing the proposed pathways of risk that Amagugu aims to disrupt
      through its intervention targets, mechanisms, and activities; and to present a
      summary of results from the large-scale evaluation study of Amagugu to
      demonstrate the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention model. This
      relatively low-intensity home-based intervention led to: increased HIV disclosure
      to children, improvements in mental health for mother and child, and improved
      health care engagement and custody planning for the child. The intervention model
      demonstrates the potential for disclosure interventions to include pre-adolescent
      HIV education and prevention for primary school-aged children. 

PMID- 27630983
TI  - Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy in Greece: Toward a Different Path.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Affordable, accessible, and innovation-promoting pharmaceutical care
      is essential to the operation of a sustainable health system. External reference
      pricing (ERP), a common pharmaceutical policy in Europe, suffers today from
      indigenous weaknesses that may cause market distortions and barriers to care,
      burdening mostly the weak economies, and hence, raising ethical and political
      worrying. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: A non-randomized experiment was conducted, in
      order to examine the influence of flexible and adaptable to health systems'
      affordability ERP structures. Outcomes were assessed by measuring deviations from
      Greek prices' level ex ante, as well as effects on pharmaceutical markets
      affiliated to the European ERP system. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Pharmaceutical
      pricing models that fit prices to income and affordability are better in all
      aspects, as they produce fairer results, while resulting in low external costs
      for the European ERP network as a whole. Small sets of reference countries are
      preferred to large baskets, as they produce similar results, while presenting
      better qualities by increasing the flexibility of the reimbursement system and
      the transparency of the market.

PMID- 27630985
TI  - A Novel Peptide Thrombopoietin Mimetic Designing and Optimization Using
      Computational Approach.
AB  - Thrombopoietin receptor (TPOR) is a cytokine receptor protein present on the cell
      surface. The activation of TPOR by thrombopoietin (TPO) (a glycoprotein hormone)
      triggers an intracellular cascade of megakaryocytopoiesis for the formation of
      platelets. Recent studies on ex vivo megakaryocytopoiesis have evolved the
      possibilities of therapeutics uses. These findings have paved the way for the
      development of various TPO alternatives (recombinant TPO, peptide, and non
      peptide TPO mimetics), which are useful in regenerative medicine. However, these
      alternatives possess various limitations such as induction of autoimmune effects,
      high production cost, low specificity, and hence activity. In the present study,
      a novel peptidic TPO mimetic was designed through computational studies by
      studying the binding sites of TPO and TMP to TPOR and analogs of known mimetics.
      Screening of combinatorial library was done through molecular docking using
      ClusPro. These studies indicated mimetic-9 as a significant molecule since it was
      found to have better binding score of -938.8 kcal/mol with seven hydrogen bonds
      and a high number of hydrophobic interactions, than known mimetic TMP with
      docking score of -798.4 kcal/mol and TMP dimer with docking score of -811.9
      kcal/mol for TPOR. Mimetic9-TPOR complex was further assessed by the molecular
      dynamics simulation, and their complex was found to be stable with an RMSD value
      of 0.091 A. While studying the parameters, mimetic-9 was found to have overall
      good physiochemical properties with positive grand average hydropathy (GRAVY)
      score and high instability index score and was found to be localized in the
      extracellular region. The designed mimetic-9 might prove to be a useful lead
      molecule for mimicking the role of TPO for in vitro platelet production with
      higher efficiency. 

PMID- 27630984
TI  - Economic Evaluation of Pharmacogenetic Tests in Patients Subjected to Renal
      Transplantation: A Review of Literature.
AB  - Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for the patients with end-stage
      renal failure. Genetic factors, among others, can influence variability in
      response to immunosuppressive drugs. Nowadays, due to restrictive health
      resources, the question arises whether routine pharmacogenetic analyses should be
      done in the renal transplant recipients or not. The aim of this literature review
      was to present the up-to-date information considering the economic feasibility of
      pharmacogenetic testing in patients subjected to renal transplantation. The
      organization United Network for Organ Sharing in the US estimated that total
      costs per renal transplant concerning these analyses were $334,300 in 2014.
      Pharmacogenetic testing prior to treatment initiation could be helpful to predict
      and assess treatment response and the risks for adverse drug reactions. This kind
      of testing before treatment initiation seems to be one of the most promising
      applications of pharmacokinetics. Although pharmacogenetic tests were found to be
      a cost-effective or cost-saving strategy in many cases, some authors represent
      another opinion. However, if the real costs of renal transplantation are
      recognized, the application of these tests in the standard daily practice could
      be considered more realistic, which additionally emphasizes the importance of
      future studies assessing their cost effectiveness. 

PMID- 27630986
TI  - Diacylglycerol Kinases in the Coordination of Synaptic Plasticity.
AB  - Synaptic plasticity is activity-dependent modification of the efficacy of
      synaptic transmission. Although, detailed mechanisms underlying synaptic
      plasticity are diverse and vary at different types of synapses, diacylglycerol
      (DAG)-associated signaling has been considered as an important regulator of many
      forms of synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP) and long
      term depression (LTD). Recent evidences indicate that DAG kinases (DGKs), which
      phosphorylate DAG to phosphatidic acid to terminate DAG signaling, are important
      regulators of LTP and LTD, as supported by the results from mice lacking specific
      DGK isoforms. This review will summarize these studies and discuss how specific
      DGK isoforms distinctly regulate different forms of synaptic plasticity at pre-
      and postsynaptic sites. In addition, we propose a general role of DGKs as
      coordinators of synaptic plasticity that make local synaptic environments more
      permissive for synaptic plasticity by regulating DAG concentration and
      interacting with other synaptic proteins. 

PMID- 27630987
TI  - Glucose Uptake and Intracellular pH in a Mouse Model of Ductal Carcinoma In situ
      (DCIS) Suggests Metabolic Heterogeneity.
AB  - Mechanisms for the progression of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive
      breast carcinoma remain unclear. Previously we showed that the transition to
      invasiveness in the mammary intraepithelial neoplastic outgrowth (MINO) model of
      DCIS does not correlate with its serial acquisition of genetic mutations. We
      hypothesized instead that progression to invasiveness depends on a change in the
      microenvironment and that precancer cells might create a more tumor-permissive
      microenvironment secondary to changes in glucose uptake and metabolism.
      Immunostaining for glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and the hypoxia marker carbonic
      anhydrase 9 (CAIX) in tumor, normal mammary gland and MINO (precancer) tissue
      showed differences in expression. The uptake of the fluorescent glucose analog
      dye, 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl) amino]-2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-NBDG),
      reflected differences in the cellular distributions of glucose uptake in normal
      mammary epithelial cells (nMEC), MINO, and Met1 cancer cells, with a broad
      distribution in the MINO population. The intracellular pH (pHi) measured using
      the fluorescent ratio dye 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-155 carboxyfluorescein
      (BCECF) revealed expected differences between normal and cancer cells (low and
      high, respectively), and a mixed distribution in the MINO cells, with a subset of
      cells in the MINO having an increased rate of acidification when proton efflux
      was inhibited. Invasive tumor cells had a more alkaline baseline pHi with high
      rates of proton production coupled with higher rates of proton export, compared
      with nMEC. MINO cells displayed considerable variation in baseline pHi that
      separated into two distinct populations: MINO high and MINO low. MINO high had a
      noticeably higher mean acidification rate compared with nMEC, but relatively high
      baseline pHi similar to tumor cells. MINO low cells also had an increased
      acidification rate compared with nMEC, but with a more acidic pHi similar to
      nMEC. These findings demonstrate that MINO is heterogeneous with respect to
      intracellular pH regulation which may be associated with an acidified regional
      microenvironment. A change in the pH of the microenvironment might contribute to
      a tumor-permissive or tumor-promoting progression. We are not aware of any
      previous work showing that a sub-population of cells in in situ precancer
      exhibits a higher than normal proton production and export rate. 

PMID- 27630988
TI  - Influenza SIRS with Minimal Pneumonitis.
AB  - Although systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a known complication
      of severe influenza pneumonia, it has been reported very rarely in patients with
      minimal parenchymal lung disease. We here report a case of severe SIRS, anasarca,
      and marked vascular phenomena with minimal or no pneumonitis. This case
      highlights that viruses, including influenza, may cause vascular dysregulation
      causing SIRS, even without substantial visceral organ involvement. 

PMID- 27630989
TI  - Lack of Effects of a Single High-Fat Meal Enriched with Vegetable n-3 or a
      Combination of Vegetable and Marine n-3 Fatty Acids on Intestinal Peptide Release
      and Adipokines in Healthy Female Subjects.
AB  - Peptides released from the small intestine and colon regulate short-term food
      intake by suppressing appetite and inducing satiety. Intake of marine omega-3 (n
      3) fatty acids (FAs) from fish and fish oils is associated with beneficial health
      effects, whereas the relation between intake of the vegetable n-3 fatty acid
      alpha-linolenic acid and diseases is less clear. The aim of the present study was
      to investigate the postprandial effects of a single high-fat meal enriched with
      vegetable n-3 or a combination of vegetable and marine n-3 FAs with their
      different unsaturated fatty acid composition on intestinal peptide release and
      the adipose tissue. Fourteen healthy lean females consumed three test meals with
      different fat quality in a fixed order. The test meal consisted of three cakes
      enriched with coconut fat, linseed oil, and a combination of linseed and cod
      liver oil. The test days were separated by 2 weeks. Fasting and postprandial
      blood samples at 3 and 6 h after intake were analyzed. A significant postprandial
      effect was observed for cholecystokinin, peptide YY, glucose-dependent
      insulinotropic polypeptide, amylin and insulin, which increased, while leptin
      decreased postprandially independent of the fat composition in the high-fat meal.
      In conclusion, in healthy, young, lean females, an intake of a high-fat meal
      enriched with n-3 FAs from different origin stimulates intestinal peptide release
      without any difference between the different fat compositions. 

PMID- 27630990
TI  - The Influence of Copy-Number of Targeted Extrachromosomal Genetic Elements on the
      Outcome of CRISPR-Cas Defense.
AB  - Prokaryotic type I CRISPR-Cas systems respond to the presence of mobile genetic
      elements such as plasmids and phages in two different ways. CRISPR interference
      efficiently destroys foreign DNA harboring protospacers fully matching CRISPR RNA
      spacers. In contrast, even a single mismatch between a spacer and a protospacer
      can render CRISPR interference ineffective but causes primed adaptation-efficient
      and specific acquisition of additional spacers from foreign DNA into the CRISPR
      array of the host. It has been proposed that the interference and primed
      adaptation pathways are mediated by structurally different complexes formed by
      the effector Cascade complex on matching and mismatched protospacers. Here, we
      present experimental evidence and present a simple mathematical model that shows
      that when plasmid copy number maintenance/phage genome replication is taken into
      account, the two apparently different outcomes of the CRISPR-Cas response can be
      accounted for by just one kind of effector complex on both targets. The results
      underscore the importance of consideration of targeted genome biology when
      considering consequences of CRISPR-Cas systems action. 

PMID- 27630991
TI  - dMM-PBSA: A New HADDOCK Scoring Function for Protein-Peptide Docking.
AB  - Molecular-docking programs coupled with suitable scoring functions are now
      established and very useful tools enabling computational chemists to rapidly
      screen large chemical databases and thereby to identify promising candidate
      compounds for further experimental processing. In a broader scenario, predicting
      binding affinity is one of the most critical and challenging components of
      computer-aided structure-based drug design. The development of a molecular
      docking scoring function which in principle could combine both features, namely
      ranking putative poses and predicting complex affinity, would be of paramount
      importance. Here, we systematically investigated the performance of the MM-PBSA
      approach, using two different Poisson-Boltzmann solvers (APBS and DelPhi), in the
      currently rising field of protein-peptide interactions (PPIs), identifying the
      correct binding conformations of 19 different protein-peptide complexes and
      predicting their binding free energies. First, we scored the decoy structures
      from HADDOCK calculation via the MM-PBSA approach in order to assess the
      capability of retrieving near-native poses in the best-scoring clusters and of
      evaluating the corresponding free energies of binding. MM-PBSA behaves well in
      finding the poses corresponding to the lowest binding free energy, however the
      built-in HADDOCK score shows a better performance. In order to improve the MM
      PBSA-based scoring function, we dampened the MM-PBSA solvation and coulombic
      terms by 0.2, as proposed in the HADDOCK score and LIE approaches. The new
      dampened MM-PBSA (dMM-PBSA) outperforms the original MM-PBSA and ranks the decoys
      structures as the HADDOCK score does. Second, we found a good correlation between
      the dMM-PBSA and HADDOCK scores for the near-native clusters of each system and
      the experimental binding energies, respectively. Therefore, we propose a new
      scoring function, dMM-PBSA, to be used together with the built-in HADDOCK score
      in the context of protein-peptide docking simulations. 

PMID- 27630992
TI  - Disease-Associated Mutations in the HSPD1 Gene Encoding the Large Subunit of the
      Mitochondrial HSP60/HSP10 Chaperonin Complex.
AB  - Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) forms together with heat shock protein 10 (HSP10)
      double-barrel chaperonin complexes that are essential for folding to the native
      state of proteins in the mitochondrial matrix space. Two extremely rare monogenic
      disorders have been described that are caused by missense mutations in the HSPD1
      gene that encodes the HSP60 subunit of the HSP60/HSP10 chaperonin complex.
      Investigations of the molecular mechanisms underlying these disorders have
      revealed that different degrees of reduced HSP60 function produce distinct
      neurological phenotypes. While mutations with deleterious or strong dominant
      negative effects are not compatible with life, HSPD1 gene variations found in the
      human population impair HSP60 function and depending on the mechanism and degree
      of HSP60 dys- and mal-function cause different phenotypes. We here summarize the
      knowledge on the effects of disturbances of the function of the HSP60/HSP10
      chaperonin complex by disease-associated mutations. 

PMID- 27630993
TI  - Comparing Intraoral Radiography and Computed Tomography for Detecting
      Radiographic Signs of Periodontitis and Endodontic Disease in Dogs: An Agreement
      Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether computed tomography (CT) and intraoral
      radiography are interchangeable for detecting signs of periodontitis and
      endodontic disease in dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An agreement study was
      performed using 40 dogs that previously underwent intraoral radiography and CT
      during the same anesthetic episode. Images of each tooth were examined by two
      blinded observers for signs of periodontitis and/or endodontic disease. Agreement
      between imaging modalities and between observers was assessed using the Kappa
      statistic. RESULTS: Agreement between modalities for detecting periodontitis in
      the maxillae ranged from poor to very good (kappa 0.07-1.00) with 16/20 (80%) of
      the teeth having a score of moderate or better (kappa >= 0.41). Agreement between
      modalities for detecting signs consistent with periodontitis in the mandibles
      ranged from poor to very good (kappa 0.01-1.00) with 10/22 (45%) of the teeth
      having a score of good or better (kappa >= 0.61); 50% of the disagreement was
      present in the incisors. Agreement between modalities for detecting signs
      consistent with endodontic disease in the whole mouth ranged from fair to very
      good (kappa 0.21-1.00) with 30/42 (71%) of the teeth having a score of moderate
      or better (kappa >= 0.41). Agreement between observers evaluating intraoral
      radiology ranged from poor to very good (kappa 0.05-1) for detecting signs
      consistent with periodontitis and from fair to very good (kappa 0.36-1) for
      detecting signs consistent with endodontic disease, in the whole mouth. Agreement
      between observers evaluating CT ranged from fair to very good (kappa 0.35-1) for
      detecting signs consistent with periodontitis and from fair to very good (kappa
      0.36-1) for detecting signs consistent with endodontic disease, in the whole
      mouth. CONCLUSION: Performing both CT and intraoral radiography may be
      unnecessary to detect signs consistent with periodontitis and endodontic disease
      in dogs based on the amount of agreement between modalities and observers when CT
      images are acquired and reconstructed in 0.5 or 1 mm slice thickness, except for
      diagnosing periodontitis in the mandibular incisors.

PMID- 27630994
TI  - Editorial: Gut Health: The New Paradigm in Food Animal Production.

PMID- 27630996
TI  - Veterinary Pathology - A Path Forward with New Directions and Opportunities.

PMID- 27630995
TI  - Risks Involved in the Use of Enrofloxacin for Salmonella Enteritidis or
      Salmonella Heidelberg in Commercial Poultry.
AB  - The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the risks involved in the
      use of Enrofloxacin for Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) or Salmonella Heidelberg (SH)
      in commercial poultry and determine the effects of a probiotic as an antibiotic
      alternative. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the risks involved in the
      use of Enrofloxacin for SE or SH in commercial poultry. Experiment 1 consisted of
      two trials. In each trial, chickens were assigned to one of three groups; control
      + SE challenged; Enrofloxacin 25 mg/kg + SE; and Enrofloxacin 50 mg/kg + SE.
      Chickens received Enrofloxacin in the drinking water from days 1 to 5 of age. On
      day 6, all groups received fresh water without any treatment. All chickens were
      orally gavaged with 10(7) cfu/chick of SE at 7 days of age and euthanized on 8
      days of age. In Experiment 2, turkey poults were assigned to one of the three
      groups; control + SH; probiotic + SH; and Enrofloxacin 50 mg/kg + SH. Poults
      received probiotic or Enrofloxacin in the drinking water from days 1 to 5 of age.
      On day 6, poults received fresh water without any treatment. Poults were orally
      gavaged with 10(7) cfu/poult of SH at 7 days of age. Poults were weighed and
      humanely killed 24 h post-SH challenge to evaluate serum concentration of
      fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran to evaluate intestinal permeability,
      metagenomics, and SH infection. In both trials of Experiment 1, chickens treated
      with Enrofloxacin were more susceptible to SE organ invasion and intestinal
      colonization when compared with control non-treated chickens (P < 0.05). In
      Experiment 2, poults treated with 50 mg/kg of Enrofloxacin showed an increase in
      body weight, however, this group also showed an increase in SH susceptibility,
      intestinal permeability, and lower proportion of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes,
      but with control group had the highest proportion of Proteobacteria. By contrast,
      poults that received the probiotic had the highest proportion of Firmicutes and
      Bacteroidetes, but lowest Proteobacteria. The results of the present study
      suggest that prophylactic utilization of Enrofloxacin at five times the
      recommended dose in poultry increases the susceptibility to salmonellae
      infections, and confirms that probiotics may be an effective tool in salmonellae
      infections. 

PMID- 27630997
TI  - Canine Lymphoma, More Than a Morphological Diagnosis: What We Have Learned about
      Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.
AB  - Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common canine aggressive B-cell
      lymphoma worldwide, and new recent molecular approaches have shown that DLBCL
      constitutes a heterogeneous tumor that cannot be unraveled by morphology and
      immunophenotype. DLBCL behaves aggressively, typically progressing over a short
      period of time, and the therapy response may be difficult to be predicted.
      Recently, the rate of bone marrow infiltration by flow cytometry has been
      demonstrated to be prognostic, but more sensible markers are needed. As the
      clinical behavior is different, there is vast clinical and basic research devoted
      to identifying prognostically or biologically distinct DLBCL subgroups.
      Transcriptomic analysis by gene expression profile, copy number variations by
      array comparative genomic hybridization and epigenetic perturbations have
      tentatively described this heterogeneity. Molecular subgroups using oncogenic
      pathways and target genes have also been correlated to different outcome in a
      small number of cases. The objectives of this review are to summarize the current
      knowledge on the biology, clinical, and pathological characteristics of canine
      DLBCL. To date, DLBCL probably is the most investigated tumor in veterinary
      medicine, and its relevance as spontaneous model for human DLBCL has been
      confirmed by these studies. In future, these discoveries will ultimately lead to
      a better understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms, possibly translating
      into more effective therapeutic strategies. 

PMID- 27630999
TI  - Common Mental Disorders among Occupational Groups: Contributions of the Latent
      Class Model.
AB  - Background. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) is widely used for
      evaluating common mental disorders. However, few studies have evaluated the SRQ
      20 measurements performance in occupational groups. This study aimed to describe
      manifestation patterns of common mental disorders symptoms among workers
      populations, by using latent class analysis. Methods. Data derived from 9,959
      Brazilian workers, obtained from four cross-sectional studies that used similar
      methodology, among groups of informal workers, teachers, healthcare workers, and
      urban workers. Common mental disorders were measured by using SRQ-20. Latent
      class analysis was performed on each database separately. Results. Three classes
      of symptoms were confirmed in the occupational categories investigated. In all
      studies, class I met better criteria for suspicion of common mental disorders.
      Class II discriminated workers with intermediate probability of answers to the
      items belonging to anxiety, sadness, and energy decrease that configure common
      mental disorders. Class III was composed of subgroups of workers with low
      probability to respond positively to questions for screening common mental
      disorders. Conclusions. Three patterns of symptoms of common mental disorders
      were identified in the occupational groups investigated, ranging from distinctive
      features to low probabilities of occurrence. The SRQ-20 measurements showed
      stability in capturing nonpsychotic symptoms. 

PMID- 27630998
TI  - The Function of the MEF2 Family of Transcription Factors in Cardiac Development,
      Cardiogenomics, and Direct Reprogramming.
AB  - Proper formation of the mammalian heart requires precise spatiotemporal
      transcriptional regulation of gene programs in cardiomyocytes. Sophisticated
      regulatory networks have evolved to not only integrate the activities of distinct
      transcription factors to control tissue-specific gene programs but also, in many
      instances, to incorporate multiple members within these transcription factor
      families to ensure accuracy and specificity in the system. Unsurprisingly,
      perturbations in this elaborate transcriptional circuitry can lead to severe
      cardiac abnormalities. Myocyte enhancer factor-2 (MEF2) transcription factor
      belongs to the evolutionarily conserved cardiac gene regulatory network. Given
      its central role in muscle gene regulation and its evolutionary conservation,
      MEF2 is considered one of only a few core cardiac transcription factors. In
      addition to its firmly established role as a differentiation factor, MEF2
      regulates wide variety of, sometimes antagonistic, cellular processes such as
      cell survival and death. Vertebrate genomes encode multiple MEF2 family members
      thereby expanding the transcriptional potential of this core transcription factor
      in the heart. This review highlights the requirement of the MEF2 family and their
      orthologs in cardiac development in diverse animal model systems. Furthermore, we
      describe the recently characterized role of MEF2 in direct reprogramming and
      genome-wide cardiomyocyte gene regulation. A thorough understanding of the
      regulatory functions of the MEF2 family in cardiac development and cardiogenomics
      is required in order to develop effective therapeutic strategies to repair the
      diseased heart.

PMID- 27631000
TI  - A Preliminary In Vitro Study on the Efficacy of High-Power Photodynamic Therapy
      (HLLT): Comparison between Pulsed Diode Lasers and Superpulsed Diode Lasers and
      Impact of Hydrogen Peroxide with Controlled Stabilization.
AB  - Aim. In periodontology lasers have been suggested for the photodynamic therapy
      (PDT): such therapy can be defined as the inactivation of cells, microorganisms,
      or molecules induced by light and not by heat. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate results of PDT using a 980 nm diode laser (Wiser Doctor Smile, Lambda
      SPA, Italy) combined with hydrogen peroxide, comparing a pulsed diode laser (LI)
      activity to a high-frequency superpulsed diode laser (LII). Materials and
      Methods. Primary fibroblasts and keratinocytes cell lines, isolated from human
      dermis, were irradiated every 48 h for 10 days using LI and LII combined with
      SiOxyL(+) TM Solution (hydrogen peroxide (HP) stabilized with a glycerol
      phosphate complex). Two days after the last irradiation, the treated cultures
      were analyzed by flow cytofluorometry (FACS) and western blotting to quantify
      keratin 5 and keratin 8 with monoclonal antibodies reactive to cytokeratin 5 and
      cytokeratin 8. Antimicrobial activity was also evaluated. Results. Both
      experimental models show the superiority of LII against LI. In parallel,
      stabilized HP provided better results in the regeneration test in respect to
      common HP, while the biocidal activity remains comparable. Conclusion. The use of
      high-frequency lasers combined with stabilized hydrogen peroxide can provide
      optimal results for a substantial decrease of bacterial count combined with a
      maximal biostimulation induction of soft tissues and osteogenesis. 

PMID- 27631001
TI  - Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 -1562C/T Gene Polymorphism Is Associated with Diabetic
      Nephropathy.
AB  - To investigate the association between the metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) -1562C/T
      polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in Han Chinese, the patients with type
      2 diabetes were collected and divided into the non-DN (NDN) and DN groups;
      controls were recruited. Genotype and allele frequencies were assessed using
      polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results
      showed that SBP, DBP, HbA1c, UAER, Cr, BUN, TG, and TC were higher in the DN
      group compared with the control and NDN groups. SBP, HbA1c, and TC in DN patients
      with the TT and CT genotypes were lower than in those with CC. Compared with
      controls, the frequency of the T allele in the DN group was significantly lower.
      The MMP9 -1562C allele, SBP, Cr, BUN, TG, and TC were independent risk factors
      for DN. All of the above suggested that the MMP9 -1562C/T polymorphism was
      associated with DN in Han Chinese. 

PMID- 27631003
TI  - In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Helicobacter Activities of Eryngium foetidum
      (Apiaceae), Bidens pilosa (Asteraceae), and Galinsoga ciliata (Asteraceae)
      against Helicobacter pylori.
AB  - This study was performed to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of extracts of
      Bidens pilosa, Galinsoga ciliata, and Eryngium foetidum against 6 clinical
      strains of Helicobacter pylori in vitro and in vivo. Broth microdilution method
      was used in vitro. In vivo, Swiss mice were inoculated with H. pylori and divided
      into 5 groups; the control group received the vehicle and the four others
      received 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg of methanol extract of Eryngium foetidum and
      ciprofloxacin (500 mg/kg) for 7 days, respectively. Helicobacter pylori
      colonization and number of colonies in gastric biopsies culture were assessed on
      days 1 and 7 after treatment. The lowest MIC value (64 MUg/mL) and the best
      spectrum of bactericidal effect (MBC/MIC = 1) were obtained with the methanol
      extract of Eryngium foetidum. The number of H. pylori infected animals was 17%
      (plant-extract) and 0% (ciprofloxacin) compared to 100% for the infected
      untreated group. Plant-extract (381.9 +/- 239.5 CFU) and ciprofloxacin (248 +/-
      153.2 CFU) significantly reduced bacterial load in gastric mucosa compared to
      untreated, inoculated mice (14350 +/- 690 CFU). Conclusion. The present data
      provided evidence that methanol extract of Eryngium foetidum could be a rich
      source of metabolites with antimicrobial activity to fight Helicobacter pylori
      infections. 

PMID- 27631004
TI  - Differences in Rhodococcus equi Infections Based on Immune Status and Antibiotic
      Susceptibility of Clinical Isolates in a Case Series of 12 Patients and Cases in
      the Literature.
AB  - Rhodococcus equi is an unusual zoonotic pathogen that can cause life-threatening
      diseases in susceptible hosts. Twelve patients with R. equi infection in Kentucky
      were compared to 137 cases reported in the literature. Although lungs were the
      primary sites of infection in immunocompromised patients, extrapulmonary
      involvement only was more common in immunocompetent patients (P < 0.0001).
      Mortality in R. equi-infected HIV patients was lower in the HAART era (8%) than
      in pre-HAART era (56%) (P < 0.0001), suggesting that HAART improves prognosis in
      these patients. Most (85-100%) of clinical isolates were susceptible to
      vancomycin, clarithromycin, rifampin, aminoglycosides, ciprofloxacin, and
      imipenem. Interestingly, there was a marked difference in susceptibility of the
      isolates to cotrimoxazole between Europe (35/76) and the US (15/15) (P < 0.0001).
      Empiric treatment of R. equi infection should include a combination of two
      antibiotics, preferably selected from vancomycin, imipenem,
      clarithromycin/azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, rifampin, or cotrimoxazole. Local
      antibiograms should be checked prior to using cotrimoxazole due to developing
      resistance. 

PMID- 27631002
TI  - Applications of Chondrocyte-Based Cartilage Engineering: An Overview.
AB  - Chondrocytes are the exclusive cells residing in cartilage and maintain the
      functionality of cartilage tissue. Series of biocomponents such as different
      growth factors, cytokines, and transcriptional factors regulate the mesenchymal
      stem cells (MSCs) differentiation to chondrocytes. The number of chondrocytes and
      dedifferentiation are the key limitations in subsequent clinical application of
      the chondrocytes. Different culture methods are being developed to overcome such
      issues. Using tissue engineering and cell based approaches, chondrocytes offer
      prominent therapeutic option specifically in orthopedics for cartilage repair and
      to treat ailments such as tracheal defects, facial reconstruction, and urinary
      incontinence. Matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation/implantation
      is an improved version of traditional autologous chondrocyte transplantation
      (ACT) method. An increasing number of studies show the clinical significance of
      this technique for the chondral lesions treatment. Literature survey was carried
      out to address clinical and functional findings by using various ACT procedures.
      The current study was conducted to study the pharmacological significance and
      biomedical application of chondrocytes. Furthermore, it is inferred from the
      present study that long term follow-up studies are required to evaluate the
      potential of these methods and specific positive outcomes. 

PMID- 27631005
TI  - Data-Driven User Feedback: An Improved Neurofeedback Strategy considering the
      Interindividual Variability of EEG Features.
AB  - It has frequently been reported that some users of conventional neurofeedback
      systems can experience only a small portion of the total feedback range due to
      the large interindividual variability of EEG features. In this study, we proposed
      a data-driven neurofeedback strategy considering the individual variability of
      electroencephalography (EEG) features to permit users of the neurofeedback system
      to experience a wider range of auditory or visual feedback without a
      customization process. The main idea of the proposed strategy is to adjust the
      ranges of each feedback level using the density in the offline EEG database
      acquired from a group of individuals. Twenty-two healthy subjects participated in
      offline experiments to construct an EEG database, and five subjects participated
      in online experiments to validate the performance of the proposed data-driven
      user feedback strategy. Using the optimized bin sizes, the number of feedback
      levels that each individual experienced was significantly increased to 139% and
      144% of the original results with uniform bin sizes in the offline and online
      experiments, respectively. Our results demonstrated that the use of our data
      driven neurofeedback strategy could effectively increase the overall range of
      feedback levels that each individual experienced during neurofeedback training. 

PMID- 27631007
TI  - Estimation of Response Functions Based on Variational Bayes Algorithm in Dynamic
      Images Sequences.
AB  - We proposed a nonparametric Bayesian model based on variational Bayes algorithm
      to estimate the response functions in dynamic medical imaging. In dynamic renal
      scintigraphy, the impulse response or retention functions are rather complicated
      and finding a suitable parametric form is problematic. In this paper, we
      estimated the response functions using nonparametric Bayesian priors. These
      priors were designed to favor desirable properties of the functions, such as
      sparsity or smoothness. These assumptions were used within hierarchical priors of
      the variational Bayes algorithm. We performed our algorithm on the real online
      dataset of dynamic renal scintigraphy. The results demonstrated that this
      algorithm improved the estimation of response functions with nonparametric
      priors. 

PMID- 27631006
TI  - Identifying the Types of Ion Channel-Targeted Conotoxins by Incorporating New
      Properties of Residues into Pseudo Amino Acid Composition.
AB  - Conotoxins are a kind of neurotoxin which can specifically interact with
      potassium, sodium type, and calcium channels. They have become potential drug
      candidates to treat diseases such as chronic pain, epilepsy, and cardiovascular
      diseases. Thus, correctly identifying the types of ion channel-targeted
      conotoxins will provide important clue to understand their function and find
      potential drugs. Based on this consideration, we developed a new computational
      method to rapidly and accurately predict the types of ion-targeted conotoxins.
      Three kinds of new properties of residues were proposed to use in pseudo amino
      acid composition to formulate conotoxins samples. The support vector machine was
      utilized as classifier. A feature selection technique based on F-score was used
      to optimize features. Jackknife cross-validated results showed that the overall
      accuracy of 94.6% was achieved, which is higher than other published results,
      demonstrating that the proposed method is superior to published methods. Hence
      the current method may play a complementary role to other existing methods for
      recognizing the types of ion-target conotoxins. 

PMID- 27631009
TI  - Establishment of Simple and Routine Methods in Early Diagnosis of Gentamicin
      Induced Kidney Injury Based on a Rat Model.
AB  - The changes in biomarkers of gentamycin- (GM-) induced kidney injury have been
      studied by using simple and routine methods and also assessed the efficacy and
      utility of these routine biomarkers in early diagnosis. Eighty Sprague-Dawley
      (SD) rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: three experimental groups treated
      with different GM dosages (4, 20, and 100 mg.kg(-1)) and a control group. The
      experimental groups were given intramuscular GM injections once daily for 14
      days, and the control group was given intramuscular sterile water. Blood and
      urine samples were collected on treatment days 1, 3, 7, and 14 to test for total
      protein (TP), albumin (ALB), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), uric
      acid (UA), pH, specific gravity (SG), proteins (PRO), and cells in urinary
      sediment. Histopathology and kidney coefficient were performed on excised kidney
      specimens. The result indicated that serum CRE, BUN, and TP, urine PRO, and
      urinary hyaline casts and low-transitional epithelium showed an immediate and
      highly sensitive response to kidney injury, and the combined diagnosis with the
      above methods could be used in early diagnosis. Particularly, the process of the
      test was simple and quick, no special equipment, so it is more suit for primary
      medical institution. 

PMID- 27631008
TI  - Altered Clock and Lipid Metabolism-Related Genes in Atherosclerotic Mice Kept
      with Abnormal Lighting Condition.
AB  - Background. The risk of atherosclerosis is elevated in abnormal lipid metabolism
      and circadian rhythm disorder. We investigated whether abnormal lighting
      condition would have influenced the circadian expression of clock genes and clock
      controlled lipid metabolism-related genes in ApoE-KO mice. Methods. A mouse model
      of atherosclerosis with circadian clock genes expression disorder was established
      using ApoE-KO mice (ApoE-KO LD/DL mice) by altering exposure to light. C57 BL/6J
      mice (C57 mice) and ApoE-KO mice (ApoE-KO mice) exposed to normal day and night
      and normal diet served as control mice. According to zeitgeber time samples were
      acquired, to test atheromatous plaque formation, serum lipids levels and
      rhythmicity, clock genes, and lipid metabolism-related genes along with Sirtuin 1
      (Sirt1) levels and rhythmicity. Results. Atherosclerosis plaques were formed in
      the aortic arch of ApoE-KO LD/DL mice. The serum lipids levels and oscillations
      in ApoE-KO LD/DL mice were altered, along with the levels and diurnal
      oscillations of circadian genes, lipid metabolism-associated genes, and Sirt1
      compared with the control mice. Conclusions. Abnormal exposure to light
      aggravated plaque formation and exacerbated disorders of serum lipids and clock
      genes, lipid metabolism genes and Sirt1 levels, and circadian oscillation. 

PMID- 27631010
TI  - Nonconventional Use of Flash-Lamp Pulsed-Dye Laser in Dermatology.
AB  - Flash-lamp pulsed-dye laser (FPDL) is a nonablative technology, typically used in
      vascular malformation therapy due to its specificity for hemoglobin. FPDL
      treatments were performed in a large group of patients with persistent and/or
      recalcitrant different dermatological lesions with cutaneous microvessel
      involvement. In particular, 149 patients (73 males and 76 females) were treated.
      They were affected by the following dermatological disorders: angiokeratoma
      circumscriptum, genital and extragenital viral warts, striae rubrae, basal cell
      carcinoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, angiolymphoid hyperplasia, and Jessner-Kanof
      disease. They all underwent various laser sessions. 89 patients (59.7%) achieved
      excellent clearance, 32 patients (21.4%) achieved good-moderate clearance, 19
      patients (12.7%) obtained slight clearance, and 9 subjects (6.1%) had low or no
      removal of their lesion. In all cases, FPDL was found to be a safe and effective
      treatment for the abovementioned dermatological lesions in which skin
      microvessels play a role in pathogenesis or development. Further and single
      indication studies, however, are required to assess a standardized and
      reproducible method for applying this technology to "off-label" indications. 

PMID- 27631012
TI  - Automatic Liver Segmentation from CT Images Using Single-Block Linear Detection.
AB  - Automatic liver segmentation not only plays an important role in the analysis of
      liver disease, but also reduces the cost and humanity's impact in segmentation.
      In addition, liver segmentation is a very challenging task due to countless
      anatomical variations and technical difficulties. Many methods have been designed
      to overcome these challenges, but these methods still need to be improved to
      obtain the desired segmentation precision. In this paper, a fast algorithm is
      proposed for liver extraction from CT images with single-block linear detection.
      The proposed method does not require iteration; thus, the computational time and
      complexity are decreased enormously. In addition, the initialization is not
      crucial in the algorithm, so the algorithm's robustness and specificity are
      improved. The experimental evaluation of the proposed method revealed effective
      segmentation in normal and abnormal (liver hemangioma and liver cancer) abdominal
      CT images. The average sensitivity, accuracy, and specificity for liver cancer
      are 96.59%, 98.65%, and 99.03%, respectively. The results of image segmentation
      approximate the manual segmentation results by the technical doctor. Moreover,
      our method shows superior flexibility to newly published method with comparable
      performance. The advantage of our method is verified with experimental results,
      which is described in detail. 

PMID- 27631011
TI  - Comparative Assessment of Health Benefits of Praziquantel Treatment of Urogenital
      Schistosomiasis in Preschool and Primary School-Aged Children.
AB  - Schistosomiasis is a major public health problem in Africa. However, it is only
      recently that its burden has become recognised as a significant component
      impacting on the health and development of preschool-aged children. A
      longitudinal study was conducted in Zimbabwean children to determine the effect
      of single praziquantel treatment on Schistosoma haematobium-related morbidity
      markers: microhaematuria, proteinuria, and albuminuria. Changes in these
      indicators were compared in 1-5 years versus 6-10 years age groups to determine
      if treatment outcomes differed by age. Praziquantel was efficacious at reducing
      infection 12 weeks after treatment: cure rate = 94.6% (95% CI: 87.9-97.7%).
      Infection rates remained lower at 12 months after treatment compared to baseline
      in both age groups. Among treated children, the odds of morbidity at 12 weeks
      were significantly lower compared to baseline for proteinuria: odds ratio (OR) =
      0.54 (95% CI: 0.31-0.95) and albuminuria: OR = 0.05 (95% CI: 0.02-0.14).
      Microhaematuria significantly reduced 12 months after treatment, and the effect
      of treatment did not differ by age group: OR = 0.97 (95% CI: 0.50-1.87). In
      conclusion, praziquantel treatment has health benefits in preschool-aged children
      exposed to S. haematobium and its efficacy on infection and morbidity is not age
      dependent. 

PMID- 27631013
TI  - Microflora Disturbance during Progression of Glucose Intolerance and Effect of
      Sitagliptin: An Animal Study.
AB  - Background. Emerging evidences have shown a close interplay between obesity,
      diabetes, and intestinal flora disturbance. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor,
      exemplified by sitagliptin, is highly efficacious in treating type 2 diabetes
      (T2DM), yet little is known if sitagliptin exerts beneficial effects on
      microbiota associated with obesity and T2DM. We evaluated changes of gut
      microbiota following the induction of obesity and T2DM in a streptozotocin
      treated high fat/high carbohydrate fed (HF/HC-STZ) rat model and explored the
      effect of sitagliptin on gut microbiota for HF/HC-STZ rats. Methods. Sitagliptin
      was administered via oral gavage to diabetic rats. Fecal DNA extraction and 454
      pyrosequencing based on analysis of 16S rRNA genes was utilized to determine the
      overall structure of microbiota in fecal DNA samples. Results. Results showed
      that, at the level of phylum, there was higher abundance of Firmicutes and
      Tenericutes and less abundance of Bacteroidetes in obese rats compared to their
      lean counterparts. At the level of genus, short-chain fatty acid- (SCFA-)
      producing bacteria, Blautia, Roseburia, and Clostridium, and probiotics
      Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and so forth were identified significantly
      different from each other among conditions. Conclusion. Marked shifts of the gut
      microbiota structure were observed in the rats during development of glucose
      intolerance. Intestinal flora changed in the process of glucose intolerance, and
      treatment of sitagliptin moderately corrected the dysbiosis of microbiota in
      T2DM. 

PMID- 27631014
TI  - Noninvasive Tracking of Encapsulated Insulin Producing Cells Labelled with
      Magnetic Microspheres by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
AB  - Microencapsulated islets are usually injected free-floating into the peritoneal
      cavity, so the position of the grafts remains elusive after transplantation. This
      study aims to assess magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a noninvasive means to
      track microencapsulated insulin producing cells following transplantation.
      Encapsulated insulin producing cells (MIN6 and human islets) were labelled with
      magnetic microspheres (MM), assessed for viability and insulin secretion, and
      imaged in vitro using a clinical grade 3 T MRI and in vivo using both clinical
      grade 3 T and research grade 11.7 T MRI. Fluorescent imaging demonstrated the
      uptake of MM by both MIN6 and human islets with no changes in cell morphology and
      viability. MM labelling did not affect the glucose responsiveness of encapsulated
      MIN6 and islets in vitro. In vivo encapsulated MM-labelled MIN6 normalized sugar
      levels when transplanted into diabetic mice. In vitro MRI demonstrated that
      single microcapsules as well as clusters of encapsulated MM-labelled cells could
      be visualised clearly in agarose gel phantoms. In vivo encapsulated MM-labelled
      MIN6 could be visualised more clearly within the peritoneal cavity as discrete
      hypointensities using the high power 11.7 T but not the clinical grade 3 T MRI.
      This study demonstrates a method to noninvasively track encapsulated insulin
      producing cells by MM labelling and MRI. 

PMID- 27631016
TI  - An Epidemiological Profile of CrossFit Athletes in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CrossFit is a conditioning and training program that has been gaining
      recognition and interest among the physically active population. Approximately
      440 certified and registered CrossFit fitness centers and gyms exist in Brazil,
      with approximately 40,000 athletes. To date, there have been no epidemiological
      studies about the CrossFit athlete in Brazil. PURPOSE: To evaluate the profile,
      sports history, training routine, and presence of injuries among athletes of
      CrossFit. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was based on a questionnaire administered to CrossFit athletes
      from various specialized fitness centers in Brazil. Data were collected from May
      2015 to July 2015 through an electronic questionnaire that included demographic
      data, level of sedentary lifestyle at work, sports training history prior to
      starting CrossFit, current sports activities, professional monitoring, and
      whether the participants experienced any injuries while practicing CrossFit.
      RESULTS: A total of 622 questionnaires were received, including 566 (243 women
      [42.9%] and 323 men [57.1%]) that were completely filled out and met the
      inclusion criteria and 9% that were incompletely filled out. Overall, 176
      individuals (31.0%) mentioned having experienced some type of injury while
      practicing CrossFit. We found no significant difference in injury incidence rates
      regarding demographic data. There was no significant difference regarding
      previous sports activities because individuals who did not practice prior
      physical activity showed very similar injury rates to those who practiced at any
      level. CONCLUSION: CrossFit injury rates are comparable to those of other
      recreational or competitive sports, and the injuries show a profile similar to
      weight lifting, power lifting, weight training, Olympic gymnastics, and running,
      which have an injury incidence rate nearly half that of soccer.

PMID- 27631015
TI  - Operative Management of Patellar Instability in the United States: An Evaluation
      of National Practice Patterns, Surgical Trends, and Complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of patellofemoral instability has evolved as our
      understanding of the relevant pathoanatomy has improved. In light of these
      developments, current practice patterns and management trends have likely changed
      to reflect these advancements; however, this has not been evaluated in a formal
      study. PURPOSE: To determine nationwide patient demographics, surgical trends,
      and postoperative complications associated with the operative management of
      patellar instability surgery. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study.
      METHODS: A large private-payer database (PearlDiver) comprising patients covered
      by Humana and United Healthcare insurance policies was retrospectively reviewed
      using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes to identify patients who
      underwent surgery for patellar instability. The study cohort was established by
      querying for patients billed under CPT codes 27420, 27422, or 27427 while
      satisfying the diagnostic requirement of patellar instability (International
      Classification of Diseases-9th Revision codes 718.36, 718.86, or 836.3). Patient
      demographics, surgical trends, concomitant procedures, and postoperative
      complications were determined. RESULTS: A total of 6190 patients underwent
      surgical management for patellar instability. Adolescents (age range, 10-19
      years) represented 51.5% of cases, and 59.6% were female. The number of patellar
      instability procedures increased annually over the study period in both the
      Humana (P = .004, R (2) = 0.76) and United Healthcare (P = .097, R (2) = 0.54)
      cohorts. The most common concomitant procedures were lateral retinacular release
      (43.7%), chondroplasty (31.1%), tibial tubercle osteotomy (13.1%), removal of
      loose bodies (10.5%), osteochondral grafting (9.5%), and microfracture surgery
      (9.5%). Manipulation under anesthesia was required in 4.6% of patients within 1
      year. Patellar fracture within 1 year and infection within 30 days occurred in
      2.1% and 1.2% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: Patellar instability surgery
      has increased over the past decade. This finding may be attributed to growing
      clinical evidence to support these procedures as well as increased surgeon
      familiarity and comfort with these specific techniques. We observed an
      unexpectedly high rate of concomitant lateral retinacular release. Overall, the
      rates of commonly recognized complications (stiffness, patellar fracture, and
      postoperative infection) were similar to those observed in smaller case series.

PMID- 27631017
TI  - The Financial and Professional Impact of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in
      National Football League Athletes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries can have negative
      consequences on the careers of National Football League (NFL) players, however no
      study has ever analyzed the financial impact of these injuries in this
      population. PURPOSE: To quantify the impact of ACL injuries on salary and career
      length in NFL athletes. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.
      METHODS: Any player in the NFL suffering an ACL injury from 2010 to 2013 was
      identified using a comprehensive online search. A database of NFL player salaries
      was used to conduct a matched cohort analysis comparing ACL-injured players with
      the rest of the NFL. The main outcomes were the percentage of players remaining
      in the NFL and mean salary at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years after injury. Cohorts were
      subdivided based on initial salary: group A, <$500,000; group B, <=$500,000 to
      $2,000,000; and group C, >$2,000,000. Mean cumulative earnings were calculated by
      multiplying the percentage of players remaining in the league by their mean
      salaries and compounding this each season. RESULTS: NFL athletes suffered 219 ACL
      injuries from 2010 to 2013. The 7504 other player seasons in the NFL during this
      time were used as controls. Significantly fewer ACL-injured players than controls
      remained in the NFL at each time point (P < .05). In group A, significantly less
      ACL-injured players remained in the NFL at 1 to 3 seasons after injury (P < .05),
      and in group B, significantly less ACL-injured players remained in the NFL at 1
      and 2 seasons after injury (P < .05). There was no significant decrease in group
      C. Players in groups A and B remaining in the NFL also had a lower mean salary
      than controls (P < .05 in season 1). The mean cumulative earnings over 4 years
      for ACL-injured players was $2,070,521 less per player than uninjured controls.
      CONCLUSION: On average, ACL-injured players earned $2,070,521 less than salary
      matched controls over the 4 years after injury. Players initially earning less
      than $2 million per year have lower mean salaries and are less likely to remain
      in the league than uninjured controls. The careers of players initially earning
      over $2 million per year, meanwhile, are not negatively affected. This
      demonstrates the degree of negative impact these injuries have on the careers of
      NFL players. It also indicates that a player's standing within the league before
      injury strongly influences how much an ACL injury will affect his career.

PMID- 27631018
TI  - Serum proteins are extracted along with monolayer cells in plasticware and
      interfere with protein analysis.
AB  - Washing and lysing monolayer cells directly from cell culture plasticware is a
      commonly used method for protein extraction. We found that multiple protein bands
      were enriched in samples with low cell numbers from the 6-well plate cultures.
      These proteins contributed to the overestimation of cell proteins and led to the
      uneven protein loading in Western blotting analysis. In Coomassie blue stained
      SDS-PAGE gels, the main enriched protein band is about 69 kDa and it makes up
      13.6% of total protein from 104 U251n cells. Analyzed by mass spectrometry, we
      identified two of the enriched proteins: bovine serum albumin and bovine serum
      transferrin. We further observed that serum proteins could be extracted from
      other cell culture plates, dishes and flasks even after washing the cells 3 times
      with PBS. A total of 2.3 mg of protein was collected from a single well of the 6
      well plate. A trace amount of the protein band was still visible after washing
      the cells 5 times with PBS. Thus, serum proteins should be considered if
      extracting proteins from plasticware, especially for samples with low cell
      numbers.

PMID- 27631020
TI  - Proteome data associated with the leaf senescence in Glycine max.
AB  - The data presented in this article are associated with the article "Coupling of
      gel-based 2-DE and 1-DE shotgun proteomics approaches to dig deep into the leaf
      senescence proteome of Glycine max" (R. Gupta, S.J. Lee, C.W. Min, S.W. Kim, K.
      H. Park, D.-W. Bae, et al., 2016) [1]. Leaf senescence is one of the important
      aspects of the life cycle of a plant that leads to the recycling of nutrients
      from source to sink cells. To understand the leaf senescence-associated proteins,
      we used a combination of gel-based 2-DE and 1-DE shotgun proteomic approaches.
      Here, we display the 2-DE, Mass spectrometry, and Gene ontology data related with
      the leaf senescence in soybean [1]. 

PMID- 27631021
TI  - Data on the physical characterization of oil in water emulsions.
AB  - This article contains experimental data and images for the physical
      characterization of oil in water emulsions. Mentioned data are related to the
      research article "Effect of stabilizers, oil level and structure on the growth of
      Zygosaccharomyces bailii and on physical stability of model systems simulating
      acid sauces" (A.L. Zalazar, M.F. Gliemmo, C.A. Campos, 2016) [1]. Physical
      characterization of emulsions was performed through the evaluation of Span and
      Specific Surface Area (SSA) determined by light scattering using a Mastersizer.
      Furthermore, microscopy images were recorded by confocal scanning laser
      microscopy (CSLM). The latter are presented to collaborate in the analysis of
      emulsion microstructure. 

PMID- 27631022
TI  - Retracted: Epidemiological Pattern of Newly Diagnosed Children with Type 1
      Diabetes Mellitus, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
AB  - [This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2013/421569.].

PMID- 27631019
TI  - Many Roles of CCL20: Emphasis on Breast Cancer.
AB  - CCL20 or MIP3alpha is a small ~8 kDa protein primarily expressed in the liver,
      colon, prostate, cervix, and skin. The cellular receptor for CCL20 is CCR6. CCl20
      unlike many other cytokines only binds CCR6, making the CCL20/CCR6 pathway an
      attractive drug target. Since the initial discovery of CCL20 in the early 1990's,
      there has been an increase in the evidence implicating the chemokine and its
      receptor in a number of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and human
      immunodeficiency virus infection. CCL20 has also been linked to malignancies such
      as ovarian, colorectal and pancreatic cancers. CCL20 can also attract tumor
      promoting immune-suppressive cells to the tumor microenvironment, which may
      contribute to the immune evasive potential of the tumor and tumor progression.

PMID- 27631023
TI  - Immediate Postpartum Intrauterine Contraceptive Device Insertions in Caesarean
      and Vaginal Deliveries: A Comparative Study of Follow-Up Outcomes.
AB  - Background. Immediate postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device (IPPIUCD) is a
      lucrative postpartum family planning method which provides effective reversible
      contraception to women in the delivery setting. Our aim was to study the clinical
      outcomes of IPPIUCD insertions and compare them as a factor of route of insertion
      (vaginal versus caesarean). Methods. This is a retrospective analytical study
      done in a tertiary care teaching institute. A Cohort of 593 vaginal and caesarean
      deliveries with IPPIUCD insertions, over a two-year period, was studied and
      compared for follow-up results. Outcome measures were safety (perforation,
      irregular bleeding, unusual vaginal discharge, and infection), efficacy
      (pregnancy, expulsions, and discontinuations), and incidence of undescended IUCD
      strings. Descriptives were calculated for various outcomes and chi square tests
      were used for comparison in between categorical variables. Results. Overall
      complication rates were low. No case of perforation or pregnancy was reported.
      Spontaneous expulsions were present in 5.3% cases and were significantly higher
      in vaginal insertions (p = 0.042). The incidence of undescended strings was high
      (38%), with highly significant difference between both groups (p = 0.000).
      Conclusion. IPPIUCD is a strong weapon in the family planning armoury and should
      be encouraged in both vaginal and caesarean deliveries. Early follow-up should be
      encouraged to detect expulsions and tackle common problems. 

PMID- 27631025
TI  - Environmentally Endemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains with Mutations in lasR Are
      Associated with Increased Disease Severity in Corneal Ulcers.
AB  - The Steroids for Corneal Ulcers Trial (SCUT) was a multicenter, international
      study of bacterial keratitis in which 101 Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections were
      treated. Twenty-two of 101 P. aeruginosa isolates collected had a colony
      morphology characteristic of a loss-of-function mutation in lasR, the gene
      encoding a quorum-sensing master regulator. Ulcers caused by these 22 strains
      were associated with larger areas of corneal opacification, worse vision, and a
      lower rate of vision recovery in response to treatment than ulcers caused by the
      other isolates. The lasR sequences from these isolates each contained one of
      three nonsynonymous substitutions, and these strains were deficient in production
      of LasR-regulated protease and rhamnolipids. Replacement of lasR with either of
      the two most common lasR alleles from the SCUT isolates was sufficient to
      decrease protease and rhamnolipid production in PA14. Loss of LasR function is
      associated with increased production of CupA fimbriae, and the LasR-defective
      isolates exhibited higher production of CupA fimbriae than LasR-intact isolates.
      Strains with the same lasR mutation were of the same multilocus sequence type,
      suggesting that LasR-deficient, environmental P. aeruginosa strains were endemic
      to the area, and infections caused by these strains were associated with worse
      patient outcomes in the SCUT study. (This study has been registered at
      ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT00324168.) IMPORTANCE The LasR
      transcription factor is an important regulator of quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa
      and positively controls multiple virulence-associated pathways. The emergence of
      strains with lasR loss-of-function alleles in chronic disease is well described
      and is thought to represent a specific adaptation to the host environment.
      However, the prevalence and virulence of these strains in acute infections remain
      unclear. This report describes observations revealing that lasR mutants were
      common among isolates from a large, multicenter clinical study of keratitis and
      were associated with worse clinical outcomes than LasR-intact strains despite
      reduced production of LasR-regulated factors. Additionally, these lasR mutants
      were closely related strains or clones, as determined by molecular analysis.
      Because bacterial keratitis is community acquired, these data indicate infection
      by endemic, LasR-deficient strains in the environment. These results suggest that
      the conventional paradigm regarding the role for LasR-mediated regulation of
      virulence is more complex than previously appreciated. 

PMID- 27631027
TI  - Evidence for Air-Seeding: Watching the Formation of Embolism in Conifer Xylem.
AB  - Water transport in plants is based on a metastable system as the xylem "works" at
      negative water potentials (psi). At critically low psi, water columns can break
      and cause embolism. According to the air-seeding hypothesis, this occurs by air
      entry via the pits. We studied the formation of embolism in dehydrating xylem
      sections of Juniperus virginiana (Cupressaceae), which were monitored
      microscopically and via ultrasonic emission analyses. After replacement of water
      by air in outer tracheid layers, a complex movement of air-water menisci into
      tracheids was found. With decreasing psi, pits started to aspirate and the speed
      of menisci movements increased. In one experiment, an airseeding event could be
      detected at a pit. The onset of ultrasonic activity was observed when pits
      started to close, and ultrasonic emission ceased at intense dehydration.
      Experiments clearly indicated that predictions of the air-seeding hypothesis are
      correct: At low psi, pit mechanisms to prevent air entry failed and air spread
      into tracheids. psi fluctuations caused complex movements of air-water menisci
      and pits, and at low psi, air-seeding caused ultrasonic emissions. Main insights
      are presented in a video.

PMID- 27631026
TI  - Biochemical Characterization of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
      Helicase.
AB  - Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) helicase is a superfamily
      1 helicase containing seven conserved motifs. We have cloned, expressed, and
      purified a Strep-fused recombinant MERS-CoV nonstructural protein 13 (M-nsp13)
      helicase. Characterization of its biochemical properties showed that it unwound
      DNA and RNA similarly to severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV nsp13 (S-nsp13)
      helicase. We showed that M-nsp13 unwound in a 5'-to-3' direction and efficiently
      unwound the partially duplex RNA substrates with a long loading strand relative
      to those of the RNA substrates with a short or no loading strand. Moreover, the
      Km of ATP for M-nsp13 is inversely proportional to the length of the 5' loading
      strand of the partially duplex RNA substrates. Finally, we also showed that the
      rate of unwinding (ku) of M-nsp13 is directly proportional to the length of the
      5' loading strand of the partially duplex RNA substrate. These results provide
      insights that enhance our understanding of the biochemical properties of M-nsp13.
      IMPORTANCE Coronaviruses are known to cause a wide range of diseases in humans
      and animals. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel
      coronavirus discovered in 2012 and is responsible for acute respiratory syndrome
      in humans in the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and the United States of
      America. Helicases are motor proteins that catalyze the processive separation of
      double-stranded nucleic acids into two single-stranded nucleic acids by utilizing
      the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis. MERS-CoV helicase is one of the most
      important viral replication enzymes of this coronavirus. Herein, we report the
      first bacterial expression, enzyme purification, and biochemical characterization
      of MERS-CoV helicase. The knowledge obtained from this study might be used to
      identify an inhibitor of MERS-CoV replication, and the helicase might be used as
      a therapeutic target. 

PMID- 27631024
TI  - PIK3CA-associated developmental disorders exhibit distinct classes of mutations
      with variable expression and tissue distribution.
AB  - Mosaicism is increasingly recognized as a cause of developmental disorders with
      the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS). Mosaic mutations of PIK3CA have
      been associated with the widest spectrum of phenotypes associated with overgrowth
      and vascular malformations. We performed targeted NGS using 2 independent deep
      coverage methods that utilize molecular inversion probes and amplicon sequencing
      in a cohort of 241 samples from 181 individuals with brain and/or body
      overgrowth. We identified PIK3CA mutations in 60 individuals. Several other
      individuals (n = 12) were identified separately to have mutations in PIK3CA by
      clinical targeted-panel testing (n = 6), whole-exome sequencing (n = 5), or
      Sanger sequencing (n = 1). Based on the clinical and molecular features, this
      cohort segregated into three distinct groups: (a) severe focal overgrowth due to
      low-level but highly activating (hotspot) mutations, (b) predominantly brain
      overgrowth and less severe somatic overgrowth due to less-activating mutations,
      and (c) intermediate phenotypes (capillary malformations with overgrowth) with
      intermediately activating mutations. Sixteen of 29 PIK3CA mutations were novel.
      We also identified constitutional PIK3CA mutations in 10 patients. Our molecular
      data, combined with review of the literature, show that PIK3CA-related overgrowth
      disorders comprise a discontinuous spectrum of disorders that correlate with the
      severity and distribution of mutations.

PMID- 27631029
TI  - Next Generation Cancer Data Discovery, Access, and Integration Using Prizms and
      Nanopublications.
AB  - To encourage data sharing in the life sciences, supporting tools need to minimize
      effort and maximize incentives. We have created infrastructure that makes it easy
      to create portals that supports dataset sharing and simplified publishing of the
      datasets as high quality linked data. We report here on our infrastructure and
      its use in the creation of a melanoma dataset portal. This portal is based on the
      Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) and Prizms, an infrastructure to
      acquire, integrate, and publish data using Linked Data principles. In addition,
      we introduce an extension to CKAN that makes it easy for others to cite datasets
      from within both publications and subsequently-derived datasets using the
      emerging nanopublication and World Wide Web Consortium provenance standards.

PMID- 27631028
TI  - Real-time magnetic resonance imaging guidance improves the diagnostic yield of
      endomyocardial biopsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnostic yield of endomyocardial biopsy is low, particularly in
      disease that affects the myocardium in a non-uniform distribution. We
      hypothesized that real-time MRI guidance could improve the yield through targeted
      biopsy of focal myocardial pathology. METHODS: An animal model of focal
      myocardial pathology was created by infusing 3mL of fluorescent microspheres
      (NuFlow Hydrocoat, 15MUm diameter, 5 million spheres/mL) followed by 2mL of 100%
      ethanol to a branch coronary artery. Animals were survived for minimum 14days,
      before undergoing MRI guided endomyocardial biopsy using a custom 6.5Fr active
      visualization MRI-conditional bioptome and X-ray guided biopsy using a commercial
      bioptome. Specimens were analyzed using a dissecting microscope under ultraviolet
      light to determine the proportion of 'on-target' specimens containing fluorescent
      microspheres. RESULTS: A total of 77 specimens were obtained using real-time MRI
      guidance and 87 using X-ray guidance, in five animals. Specimens obtained with
      the MRI-conditional bioptome were smaller compared with the commercial X-ray
      bioptome. Real-time MRI guidance significantly increased the diagnostic yield of
      endomyocardial biopsy (82% vs. 56% on-target biopsy specimens with real-time MRI
      vs. X-ray guidance, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Endomyocardial biopsy performed using
      real-time MRI guidance is feasible and significantly improves the diagnostic
      yield compared with X-ray fluoroscopy guidance.

PMID- 27631077
TI  - Utilization and Surgical Skill Transferability of the Simulator Robot to the
      Clinical Robot for Urology Surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Virtual reality is an increasingly popular surgical training tool
      in Australia, following the introduction of Australia's first virtual reality
      simulation machine at Liverpool Hospital, Sydney. This literature review aims at
      identifying gaps in previous studies, and in providing a comprehensive review of
      future studies to be further developed in Australia. METHOD: A multi-field
      research was performed combining the key terms 'uro*' and 'virtua*' and 'simula*'
      and 'robo*'. Academic search engines used in this literature review included
      'Medline', 'Scopus', and 'Sciencedirect'. Studies with laparoscopic skills as a
      focused investigation but not robotic skills were excluded. Critical appraisal of
      each of the article was conducted with a discussion of key topic involving
      urologists with expert skills on robotic surgery. RESULT: A thorough literature
      review discovered 3 main types of studies in this area. These are: (1) validity
      studies; (2) studies specific for urology procedures; (3) studies on skill
      transfer, in general. Cohort study and randomized control trial are the 2
      dominant forms of research designs. CONCLUSION: Future studies need to focus more
      around the investigation of operation-specific training, in conjunction with
      skills-based teaching. Also, it is important that these studies incorporate
      teamwork, decision-making, and communication skills.

PMID- 27631078
TI  - Comparison of shear wave velocity measurements assessed with two different
      ultrasound systems in an ex-vivo tendon strain phantom.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare the reliability of SW velocity
      measurements of two different ultrasound systems and their correlation with the
      tangent traction modulus in a non-static tendon strain model. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A bovine tendon was fixed in a custom-made stretching device. Force was
      applied increasing from 0 up to 18 Newton. During each strain state the tangent
      traction modulus was determined by the stretcher device, and SW velocity (m/s)
      measurements using a Siemens S3000 and a Supersonic Aixplorer US machine were
      done for shear modulus (kPa) calculation. RESULTS: A strong significant positive
      correlation was found between SW velocity assessed by the two ultrasound systems
      and the tangent traction modulus (r = 0.827-0.954, p < 0.001), yet all SW
      velocity-based calculations underestimated the reference tissue tangent modulus.
      Mean difference of SW velocities with the S3000 was 0.44 +/- 0.3 m/s (p = 0.002)
      and with the Aixplorer 0.25 +/- 0.3 m/s (p = 0.034). Mean difference of SW
      velocity between the two US-systems was 0.37 +/- 0.3 m/s (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION:
      In conclusion, SW velocities are highly dependent on mechanical forces in the
      tendon tissue, but for controlled mechanical loads appear to yield reproducible
      and comparable measurements using different US systems.

PMID- 27631080
TI  - Evidence of Interruption of the comM Gene in a Large Series of Clinical Isolates
      of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - Recent studies have recognized the ATPase-encoding comM gene as a hot spot for
      the integration of Acinetobacter baumannii resistance islands (RIs). Despite the
      circulation of high numbers of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii (MDR-AB) isolates
      in Middle East countries, no information is available about the interruption of
      comM and subsequent transposition into comM in isolates belonging to the global
      clones (GC) GC1, GC2, or GC3. In this study 401 A. baumannii isolates from
      hospitals in Tehran, Iran, were included. The resistance profile was determined
      by disc diffusion against 22 antibiotics. PCR was used to assess the GC type,
      presence of the comM gene, and the boundary junctions (J1 and J2) of RIs. Most of
      the MDR-AB isolates (384 of 388; 98%) and more than half of the susceptible A.
      baumannii isolates (9 of 13; 69%) had interrupted comM gene-carrying integrative
      elements. Among the isolates tested, 57 belonged to GC1, 86 to GC2, and 8 to GC3.
      A set of 250 isolates showed distinct patterns of allele-specific PCR for ompA,
      csuE, and blaOXA-51-like genes. All but 2 of the GC1 isolates and 2 of the GC2
      isolates contained interrupted comM genes. Four A. baumannii isolates harbored
      intact comM, but were multiply resistant to antibiotics. This study demonstrated
      that the comM gene is targeted by transposons in Iranian MDR-AB isolates
      belonging to different GCs. The data also showed that the carriage of interrupted
      comM is not exclusive to MDR isolates of A. baumannii.

PMID- 27631079
TI  - Bone imaging findings in genetic and acquired lipodystrophic syndromes: an
      imaging study of 24 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the bone imaging features of lipodystrophies in the
      largest cohort ever published. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively examined
      bone imaging data in 24 patients with lipodystrophic syndromes. Twenty-two had
      genetic lipodystrophy: 12/22 familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD) and 10/22
      congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL), 8 with AGPAT2-linked CGL1 and 2 with
      seipin-linked CGL2. Two patients had acquired generalized lipodystrophy (AGL) in
      a context of non-specific autoimmune disorders. Skeletal radiographs were
      available for all patients, with radiographic follow-up for two. Four patients
      with CGL1 underwent MRI, and two of them also underwent CT. RESULTS: Patients
      with FPLD showed non-specific degenerative radiographic abnormalities.
      Conversely, CGL patients showed three types of specific radiographic alterations:
      diffuse osteosclerosis (in 7 patients, 6 with CGL1 and 1 with CGL2), well-defined
      osteolytic lesions sparing the axial skeleton (7 CGL1 and 1 CGL2), and pseudo
      osteopoikilosis (4 CGL1). Pseudo-osteopoikilosis was the sole bone abnormality
      observed in one of the two patients with AGL. Osteolytic lesions showed
      homogeneous low signal intensity (SI) on T1-weighted and high SI on T2-weighted
      MR images. Most of them were asymptomatic, although one osteolytic lesion
      resulted in a spontaneous knee fracture and secondary osteoarthritis in a patient
      with CGL1. MRI also showed diffuse fatty bone marrow alterations in patients with
      CGL1, with intermediate T1 and high T2 SI, notably in radiographically normal
      areas. CONCLUSIONS: The three types of peculiar imaging bone abnormalities
      observed in generalized lipodystrophic syndromes (diffuse osteosclerosis, lytic
      lesions and/or pseudo-osteopoikilosis) may help clinicians with an early
      diagnosis in pauci-symptomatic patients.

PMID- 27631081
TI  - Retrospective Multicenter Study on Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infections
      after Appendectomy for Acute Appendicitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSI) are seen in up to 5% of patients after
      appendectomy for acute appendicitis. SSI are associated with prolonged hospital
      stay and increased costs. The aim of this multicenter study was to identify
      factors associated with SSI after appendectomy for acute appendicitis. METHODS:
      Patients who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis between June 2014 and
      January 2015 in 6 teaching hospitals in the southwest of the Netherlands were
      included. Patient, diagnostic, intra-operative and disease-related factors were
      collected from the patients' charts. Primary outcome was surgical site infection.
      Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify independent risk
      factors for SSI. RESULTS: Some 637 patients were included. Forty-two patients
      developed a SSI. In univariable analysis body temperature >38 degrees C, CRP>65
      and complex appendicitis were associated with SSI. After multivariable logistic
      regression with stepwise backwards elimination, complex appendicitis was
      significantly associated with SSI (OR 4.09; 95% CI 2.04-8.20). Appendiceal stump
      closure with a stapler device was inversely correlated with SSI (OR 0.40; 95% CI
      0.24-0.97) Conclusions: Complex appendicitis is a risk factor for SSI and
      warrants close monitoring postoperatively. The use of a stapler device for
      appendiceal stump closure is associated with a reduced risk of SSI.

PMID- 27631082
TI  - Identification of Climatic Factors Affecting the Epidemiology of Human West Nile
      Virus Infections in Northern Greece.
AB  - Climate can affect the geographic and seasonal patterns of vector-borne disease
      incidence such as West Nile Virus (WNV) infections. We explore the association
      between climatic factors and the occurrence of West Nile fever (WNF) or West Nile
      neuro-invasive disease (WNND) in humans in Northern Greece over the years 2010
      2014. Time series over a period of 30 years (1979-2008) of climatic data of air
      temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature, volumetric soil water content,
      wind speed, and precipitation representing average climate were obtained
      utilising the ECMWF's (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) Re
      Analysis (ERA-Interim) system allowing for a homogeneous set of data in time and
      space. We analysed data of reported human cases of WNF/WNND and Culex mosquitoes
      in Northern Greece. Quantitative assessment resulted in identifying associations
      between the above climatic variables and reported human cases of WNF/WNND. A
      substantial fraction of the cases was linked to the upper percentiles of the
      distribution of air and soil temperature for the period 1979-2008 and the lower
      percentiles of relative humidity and soil water content. A statistically relevant
      relationship between the mean weekly value climatic anomalies of wind speed
      (negative association), relative humidity (negative association) and air
      temperature (positive association) over 30 years, and reported human cases of
      WNF/WNND during the period 2010-2014 could be shown. A negative association
      between the presence of WNV infected Culex mosquitoes and wind speed could be
      identified. The statistically significant associations could also be confirmed
      for the week the WNF/WNND human cases appear and when a time lag of up to three
      weeks was considered. Similar statistically significant associations were
      identified with the weekly anomalies of the maximum and minimum values of the
      above climatic factors. Utilising the ERA-Interim re-analysis methodology it
      could be shown that besides air temperature, climatic factors such as soil
      temperature, relative humidity, soil water content and wind speed may affect the
      epidemiology of WNV. 

PMID- 27631083
TI  - Aspects of T Cell-Mediated Immunity Induced in Mice by a DNA Vaccine Based on the
      Dengue-NS1 Antigen after Challenge by the Intracerebral Route.
AB  - Dengue disease has emerged as a major public health issue across tropical and
      subtropical countries. Infections caused by dengue virus (DENV) can evolve to
      life-threatening forms, resulting in about 20,000 deaths every year worldwide.
      Several animal models have been described concerning pre-clinical stages in
      vaccine development against dengue, each of them presenting limitations and
      advantages. Among these models, a traditional approach is the inoculation of a
      mouse-brain adapted DENV variant in immunocompetent animals by the intracerebral
      (i.c.) route. Despite the historical usage and relevance of this model for
      vaccine testing, little is known about the mechanisms by which the protection is
      developed upon vaccination. To cover this topic, a DNA vaccine based on the DENV
      non-structural protein 1 (pcTPANS1) was considered and investigations were
      focused on the induced T cell-mediated immunity against i.c.-DENV infection.
      Immunophenotyping assays by flow cytometry revealed that immunization with
      pcTPANS1 promotes a sustained T cell activation in spleen of i.c.-infected mice.
      Moreover, we found that the downregulation of CD45RB on T cells, as an indicator
      of cell activation, correlated with absence of morbidity upon virus challenge.
      Adoptive transfer procedures supported by CFSE-labeled cell tracking showed that
      NS1-specific T cells induced by vaccination, proliferate and migrate to
      peripheral organs of infected mice, such as the liver. Additionally, in late
      stages of infection (from the 7th day onwards), vaccinated mice also presented
      reduced levels of circulating IFN-gamma and IL-12p70 in comparison to non
      vaccinated animals. In conclusion, this work presented new aspects about the T
      cell-mediated immunity concerning DNA vaccination with pcTPANS1 and the i.c.
      infection model. These insights can be explored in further studies of anti-dengue
      vaccine efficacy. 

PMID- 27631084
TI  - In Vitro Genotoxicity Testing: Significance and Use in Environmental Monitoring.
AB  - There is ongoing concern about the consequences of mutations in humans and biota
      arising from environmental exposures to industrial and other chemicals. Genetic
      toxicity tests have been used to analyze chemicals, foods, drugs, and
      environmental matrices such as air, water, soil, and wastewaters. This is because
      the mutagenicity of a substance is highly correlated with its carcinogenicity.
      However, no less important are the germ cell mutations, because the adverse
      outcome is related not only to an individual but also to population levels. For
      environmental analysis the most common choices are in vitro assays, and among
      them the most widely used is the Ames test (Salmonella/microsome assay). There
      are several protocols and methodological approaches to be applied when
      environmental samples are tested and these are discussed in this chapter, along
      with the meaning and relevance of the obtained responses. Two case studies
      illustrate the utility of in vitro mutagenicity tests such as the Ames test. It
      is clear that, although it is not possible to use the outcome of the test
      directly in risk assessment, the application of the assays provides a great
      opportunity to monitor the exposure of humans and biota to mutagenic substances
      for the purpose of reducing or quantifying that exposure.

PMID- 27631085
TI  - miR-196a Ameliorates Cytotoxicity and Cellular Phenotype in Transgenic
      Huntington's Disease Monkey Neural Cells.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by
      the expansion of polyglutamine (polyQ) tract that leads to motor, cognitive and
      psychiatric impairment. Currently there is no cure for HD. A transgenic HD
      nonhuman primate (HD-NHP) model was developed with progressive development of
      clinical and pathological features similar to human HD, which suggested the
      potential preclinical application of the HD-NHP model. Elevated expression of miR
      196a was observed in both HD-NHP and human HD brains. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis
      were ameliorated by the overexpression of miR-196a in HD-NHP neural progenitor
      cells (HD-NPCs) and differentiated neural cells (HD-NCs). The expression of
      apoptosis related gene was also down regulated. Mitochondrial morphology and
      activity were improved as indicated by mitotracker staining and the upregulation
      of CBP and PGC-1alpha in HD-NPCs overexpressing miR-196a. Here we demonstrated
      the amelioration of HD cellular phenotypes in HD-NPCs and HD-NCs overexpressing
      miR-196a. Our results also suggested the regulatory role of miR-196a in HD
      pathogenesis that may hold the key for understanding molecular regulation in HD
      and developing novel therapeutics. 

PMID- 27631088
TI  - Correction: ERP Correlates of Proactive and Reactive Cognitive Control in
      Treatment-Naive Adult ADHD.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159833.].

PMID- 27631087
TI  - Ex Vivo Confocal Spectroscopy of Autofluorescence in Age-Related Macular
      Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the autofluorescence (AF) signature of the microscopic
      features of retina with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using 488 nm
      excitation. METHODS: The globes of four donors with AMD and four age-matched
      controls were embedded in paraffin and sectioned through the macula. Sections
      were excited using a 488 nm argon laser, and the AF emission was captured using a
      laser scanning confocal microscope (496-610 nm, 6 nm resolution). The data cubes
      were then analyzed to compare peak emission spectra between the AMD and the
      controls. Microscopic features, including individual lipofuscin and
      melanolipofuscin granules, Bruch's Membrane, as well macroscopic features, were
      considered. RESULTS: Overall, the AMD eyes showed a trend of blue-shifted
      emission peaks compared with the controls. These differences were statistically
      significant when considering the emission of the combined RPE/Bruch's Membrane
      across all the tissue cross-sections (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The AF signatures
      of ex vivo AMD RPE/BrM show blue-shifted emission spectra (488 nm excitation)
      compared with the control tissue. The magnitude of these differences is small (~4
      nm) and highlights the potential challenges of detecting these subtle spectral
      differences in vivo.

PMID- 27631086
TI  - Exceptional Heterogeneity in Viral Evolutionary Dynamics Characterises Chronic
      Hepatitis C Virus Infection.
AB  - The treatment of HCV infection has seen significant progress, particularly since
      the approval of new direct-acting antiviral drugs. However these clinical
      achievements have been made despite an incomplete understanding of HCV
      replication and within-host evolution, especially compared with HIV-1. Here, we
      undertake a comprehensive analysis of HCV within-host evolution during chronic
      infection by investigating over 4000 viral sequences sampled longitudinally from
      15 HCV-infected patients. We compare our HCV results to those from a well-studied
      HIV-1 cohort, revealing key differences in the evolutionary behaviour of these
      two chronic-infecting pathogens. Notably, we find an exceptional level of
      heterogeneity in the molecular evolution of HCV, both within and among infected
      individuals. Furthermore, these patterns are associated with the long-term
      maintenance of viral lineages within patients, which fluctuate in relative
      frequency in peripheral blood. Together, our findings demonstrate that HCV
      replication behavior is complex and likely comprises multiple viral
      subpopulations with distinct evolutionary dynamics. The presence of a structured
      viral population can explain apparent paradoxes in chronic HCV infection, such as
      rapid fluctuations in viral diversity and the reappearance of viral strains years
      after their initial detection.

PMID- 27631089
TI  - Stakeholder Analysis of Community Distribution of Misoprostol in Lao PDR: A
      Qualitative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Globally, significant progress has been made in reducing maternal
      mortality, yet in many low-resource contexts it remains unacceptably high. Many
      of these deaths are due to postpartum haemorrhage and are preventable with access
      to essential obstetric care. Where there are barriers to access, maternal deaths
      could be prevented if community-level misoprostol was available. The purpose of
      this study was to explore perceptions of stakeholders regarding misoprostol use
      in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, a setting with high maternal mortality.
      METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 stakeholders in the
      capital, Vientiane and in one northern province identified as a site for a
      possible intervention. The sample included international and national
      stakeholders involved in policy-making and providing maternal and reproductive
      health services. FINDINGS: Most stakeholders supported a pilot program for
      community distribution of misoprostol but levels of awareness of the drug's use
      in preventing postpartum haemorrhage and level of influence over policy direction
      varied considerably. Some international organizations, all identified as powerful
      in influencing policy, were ambivalent about the use of community distribution of
      misoprostol. Concerns related to the capacity of village health workers or lay
      people to safely administer misoprostol, whether its distribution would undermine
      efforts to improve access to safe delivery services and active management of the
      third stage of labour, the ease with which prescription drugs can be bought over
      the counter, and technical, logistical, and financial constraints. CONCLUSION:
      Access to appropriate oxytocic drugs is a matter of health equity. In settings
      without access to essential obstetrical care, misoprostol represents a viable
      solution for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage. Understanding
      stakeholders' perspectives and their legitimate concerns on misoprostol can
      inform interventions in order to assuage these concerns and enable disadvantaged
      women to access misoprostol and its potentially life-saving benefits.

PMID- 27631090
TI  - Meta-transcriptome Profiling of the Human-Leishmania braziliensis Cutaneous
      Lesion.
AB  - Host and parasite gene expression in skin biopsies from Leishmania braziliensis
      infected patients were simultaneously analyzed using high throughput RNA
      sequencing. Biopsies were taken from 8 patients with early cutaneous
      leishmaniasis and 17 patients with late cutaneous leishmaniasis. Although
      parasite DNA was found in all patient lesions at the time of biopsy, the patients
      could be stratified into two groups: one lacking detectable parasite transcripts
      (PTNeg) in lesions, and another in which parasite transcripts were readily
      detected (PTPos). These groups exhibited substantial differences in host
      responses to infection. PTPos biopsies contained an unexpected increase in B
      lymphocyte-specific and immunoglobulin transcripts in the lesions, and an
      upregulation of immune inhibitory molecules. Biopsies without detectable parasite
      transcripts showed decreased evidence for B cell activation, but increased
      expression of antimicrobial genes and genes encoding skin barrier functions. The
      composition and abundance of L. braziliensis transcripts in PTPos lesions were
      surprisingly conserved among all six patients, with minimal meaningful
      differences between lesions from patients with early and late cutaneous
      leishmaniasis. The most abundant parasite transcripts expressed in lesions were
      distinct from transcripts expressed in vitro in human macrophage cultures
      infected with L. amazonensis or L. major. Therefore in vitro gene expression in
      macrophage monolayers may not be a strong predictor of gene expression in
      lesions. Some of the most highly expressed in vivo transcripts encoded amastin
      like proteins, hypothetical genes, putative parasite virulence factors, as well
      as histones and tubulin. In summary, RNA sequencing allowed us to simultaneously
      analyze human and L. braziliensis transcriptomes in lesions of infected patients,
      and identify unexpected differences in host immune responses which correlated
      with active transcription of parasite genes.

PMID- 27631091
TI  - Efficacy and safety of once-yearly zoledronic acid in Japanese patients with
      primary osteoporosis: two-year results from a randomized placebo-controlled
      double-blind study (ZOledroNate treatment in Efficacy to osteoporosis; ZONE
      study).
AB  - : In a 2-year randomized, placebo-controlled study of 665 Japanese patients with
      primary osteoporosis, once-yearly administration of zoledronic acid (5 mg)
      reduced the risk of new morphometric vertebral fractures. INTRODUCTION: The
      purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of once-yearly
      intravenous infusion of ZOL in Japanese patients with primary osteoporosis.
      METHODS: This was a two-year multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double
      blind, parallel-group comparative study (ZONE Study). Subjects were 665 Japanese
      patients between the ages of 65 and 89 years who had prevalent vertebral
      fracture. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive once-yearly intravenous
      infusion of 5 mg of ZOL or placebo at baseline and 12 months. RESULTS: The 2-year
      incidence of new morphometric vertebral fracture was 3.0 % (10/330 subjects) in
      the ZOL group and 8.9 % (29/327) in the placebo group (p = 0.0016). The 24-month
      cumulative incidence of new morphometric vertebral fracture was 3.3 % in the ZOL
      group versus 9.7 % in the placebo group (log-rank test: p = 0.0029; hazard ratio:
      0.35; 95 % confidence interval: 0.17-0.72). The cumulative incidence of any
      clinical fracture, clinical vertebral fracture, and non-vertebral fracture was
      significantly reduced in the ZOL group by 54, 70, and 45 %, respectively,
      compared to the placebo group. At 24 months, ZOL administration increased bone
      mineral density in the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip (t test: p <
      0.0001). No new adverse events or osteonecrosis of the jaw were observed in this
      study. CONCLUSIONS: Once-yearly administration of ZOL 5 mg to Japanese patients
      with primary osteoporosis reduced the risk of new morphometric vertebral
      fractures and was found to be safe.

PMID- 27631092
TI  - Cut-points for associations between vitamin D status and multiple musculoskeletal
      outcomes in middle-aged women.
AB  - : This was the first study examining optimal vitamin D status for musculoskeletal
      health in middle-aged women. A 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of at least 29 to 33
      nmol/L appears required for optimal musculoskeletal health, but the current cut
      off of 50 nmol/L may be warranted. INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to determine
      whether cut-points exist for associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      (25OHD) and musculoskeletal health outcomes in middle-aged women, below which
      greater 25OHD levels are associated with musculoskeletal health benefits and
      above which no such associations exist. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study
      of 344 women aged 36-57 years. Cut-points for associations of serum 25OHD with
      lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) bone mineral density (BMD), lower limb
      muscle strength (LMS), timed up and go test (TUG), functional reach test (FRT),
      lateral reach test (LRT), and step test (ST) were explored using locally weighted
      regression smoothing and nonlinear least-squares estimation, and associations
      above and below the identified cut-points were estimated using segmented
      regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of low 25OHD was 28 % (<50 nmol/L).
      Significant cut-points (nmol/L) were identified for FN BMD 31 (95 % confidence
      interval (CI): 18, 43), LS BMD 31 (17, 45), TUG 30 (24, 36), ST 33 (24, 31), FRT
      31 (18, 43), and LMS 29 (8, 49) but not LRT (42 (-8, 93). Below these cut-points,
      there were beneficial associations between higher 25OHD level and each outcome,
      while above the cut-points, there were no beneficial associations. CONCLUSIONS:
      In middle-aged women, there are thresholds for associations between serum 25OHD
      concentrations and bone density and most balance measures, suggesting that 25OHD
      levels of at least 29 to 33 nmol/L are required for optimal musculoskeletal
      health in this population. The current cut-off of 50 nmol/L may be higher than
      needed for some outcomes but appears warranted overall.

PMID- 27631093
TI  - Evaluation of Genotoxic Pressure along the Sava River.
AB  - In this study we have performed a comprehensive genotoxicological survey along
      the 900 rkm of the Sava River. In total, 12 sites were chosen in compliance with
      the goals of GLOBAQUA project dealing with the effects of multiple stressors on
      biodiversity and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The genotoxic potential was
      assessed using a complex battery of bioassays performed in prokaryotes and
      aquatic eukaryotes (freshwater fish). Battery comprised evaluation of
      mutagenicity by SOS/umuC test in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002. The level
      of DNA damage as a biomarker of exposure (comet assay) and biomarker of effect
      (micronucleus assay) and the level of oxidative stress as well (Fpg-modified
      comet assay) was studied in blood cells of bleak and spirlin (Alburnus
      alburnus/Alburnoides bipunctatus respectively). Result indicated differential
      sensitivity of applied bioassays in detection of genotoxic pressure. The standard
      and Fpg-modified comet assay showed higher potential in differentiation of the
      sites based on genotoxic potential in comparison with micronucleus assay and
      SOS/umuC test. Our data represent snapshot of the current status of the river
      which indicates the presence of genotoxic potential along the river which can be
      traced to the deterioration of quality of the Sava River by communal and
      industrial wastewaters. The major highlight of the study is that we have provided
      complex set of data obtained from a single source (homogeneity of analyses for
      all samples). 

PMID- 27631094
TI  - Psychological impact of serial prostate-specific antigen tests in Japanese men
      waiting for prostate biopsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is common to repeat prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurements
      for men with intermediate PSA elevation before prostate biopsy. In this scenario,
      men with persistently elevated PSA values may have considerable psychological
      distress. We attempted to determine whether elevated PSA values have
      psychological effects on these men in association with the timing of measurement,
      PSA kinetics, and biopsy results. METHODS: In order to investigate the initial
      and late effects of PSA tests on psychological distress during serial
      measurements, two groups of men with screen-positive results (PSA >=3 ng/ml) were
      studied-205 men whose first questionnaires regarding anxiety and depression were
      taken at initial screening (group A), and 103 men whose questionnaires were taken
      at repeated measurement for prior PSA elevation (group B). RESULTS: The level of
      distress was generally low. There were no significant differences in distress
      between the two groups, suggesting a constant psychological effect by elevated
      PSA values over a long period of time. The distress of men in group A increased
      significantly as PSA levels rose and decreased when they fell to normal range. On
      the other hand, the distress of men in group B did not change regardless of PSA
      kinetics, indicating that their psychological condition seemed susceptible to
      subtle PSA change only in the initial phase of measurements. Unexpectedly, men
      with benign results showed insignificant but higher distress after prostate
      biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: Although a small fraction of men have psychological distress
      caused by changes in PSA levels, the benefits, risks (psychological and
      physical), and limitations of PSA tests must be adequately explained to the
      patients before entering the screening program.

PMID- 27631095
TI  - Ultrastructural histometric evidence for expansion of the sustentacular cell
      envelope in response to hypersecretion of adrenal chromaffin cells in mice.
AB  - In our previous immuno-light microscopic study with an antibody for fatty acid
      binding protein of type 7 or brain type (FABP-7, B-FABP), the adrenomedullary
      sustentacular cells were revealed to have secondary processes that present faint
      immunostaining and an ill-defined sheet-like appearance, in addition to the well
      recognized primary processes that present distinct immunostaining and a fibrous
      appearance. The secondary processes were regarded as corresponding to known
      ultrastructural profiles of sustentacular cells with a thickness of less than 0.2
      um (the resolution limit of light microscopy), and the processes were considered
      to be largely responsible for enveloping chromaffin cells. Due to those findings,
      the present immuno-electron microscopic study was performed to determine whether
      the secondary processes change the extent of their envelope for chromaffin cells
      under the intense secretion induced by water immersion-restraint stress. To
      achieve this, we focused on immunopositive ultrastructural profiles with a
      thickness of less than 0.2 um. The measured lengths of the immunopositive
      profiles in the specimens from stressed mice were found to be significantly
      larger than those in specimens from normal mice, indicating an increase in the
      extent of the envelope of the sheet-like processes for the chromaffin cells.
      Thus, confining our measurements to the secondary process profiles, not the
      entire cell profiles, proved to be a key factor in the detection-for the first
      time-of the change in size of the sustentacular cell envelope upon changes in the
      secretory activity of enveloped chromaffin cells. The possible functional
      significance of this change in size is discussed here.

PMID- 27631096
TI  - Low origin of the radial artery: a case study including a review of literature
      and proposal of an embryological explanation.
AB  - A low origin of the radial artery is a rare anatomical variation, with the
      incidence estimated at 0.2 %. This report presents a previously unrecorded case
      of an unusual distal origin of the radial artery, co-occurring with a double
      recurrent radial artery. The radial artery arose under the pronator teres muscle,
      76 mm below the intercondylar line of the humerus. After emerging from under the
      tendon of the pronator teres muscle, the radial artery took a typical course and
      terminated in the deep palmar arch. Additionally, the double radial recurrent
      artery branched directly off the brachial artery, near the level of the radial
      neck. A well-developed muscular branch of the first radial recurrent artery ran
      beneath the brachioradialis muscle and supplied the brachioradialis, extensor
      carpi radialis longus and brevis, as well as supinator muscles. The second
      (accessory) radial recurrent artery took origin from the posterior aspect of the
      brachial artery, ran deep to the distal tendon of the biceps brachii muscle and
      terminated by joining the articular network of elbow. According to recent
      theories, the plexiform appearance of the arteries at early stages of upper limb
      development allows for formation of alternative pathways of blood flow, which may
      give rise to variations in the definitive arterial pattern.

PMID- 27631097
TI  - Evaluation of right atrial function by two-dimensional speckle-tracking
      echocardiography in patients with right ventricular myocardial infarction.
AB  - Right ventricular myocardial infarction (RVMI) damages the systolic and diastolic
      functions of the RV, so the right atrium interacts with the RV with an acutely
      altered function. The aim of our study was to compare right atrial function as
      evaluated by 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) between patients with
      inferior wall myocardial infarction (INFMI) and patients affected by both
      inferior myocardial infarction and right ventricular myocardial infarction (INFMI
      + RVMI). Our study recruited 70 consecutive patients with INFMI (43 patients
      without RVMI and 27 patients with RVMI). Right atrial function was evaluated by
      2DSTE. Early diastolic strain, systolic strain rate, absolute value of early
      diastolic strain rate, expansion index, and diastolic emptying index of the right
      atrium were reduced in the patients with INFMI + RVMI compared to the patients
      with INFMI. The area under the curve for early diastolic strain for INFMI
      diagnosis was 0.682 (p value = 0.011, 95 % CI 0.550-0.815). Right atrial early
      diastolic longitudinal strain <27.5 % had 59.3 % sensitivity and 79.1 %
      specificity for the discrimination of INFMI + RVMI from INFMI. Our results
      demonstrated that right atrial reservoir and conduit functions were impaired in
      the patients with INFMI + RVMI compared with the patients with INFMI.

PMID- 27631099
TI  - Acrostichum, a Pioneering Fern of Floodplain Areas from the Late Oligocene
      Sarinena Formation of the Iberian Peninsula.
AB  - Acrostichum is considered today an opportunistic fern in disturbed areas, which
      indicates the first stages of colonisation of such zones. However, in the fossil
      record, Acrostichum appears related to fluvio-lacustrine environments, freshwater
      marshes and mangrove deposits. We report here for first time fossil evidence of
      Acrostichum that reveals a pioneering behaviour of this fern in the colonisation
      of perturbed communities in Europe, which corroborates previous assumptions about
      the paleobiology of Acrostichum. Plant remains were collected from the Chattian
      (late Oligocene) La Val fossil site (Estadilla, Huesca, northeastern Spain)
      belonging to the Sarinena Formation, which mainly embraces crevasse splays,
      levees and floodplain deposits. Evidence shows that Acrostichum grew within the
      levee's vegetal community or close to/on the river banks as well as on floodplain
      areas and closer to/on the shores of ephemeral ponds. But most importantly, the
      observed co-existence of Equisetum and Acrostichum remains in the same beds
      indicates that such strata represent short-lived inundated terrains, e.g.,
      floodplains where the water table was temporarily stagnant. Evidence shows
      wetland environments dominated by pioneering taxa, implying a pioneering role for
      Acrostichum during the late Oligocene in the Iberian Peninsula. 

PMID- 27631098
TI  - The Effect of Renal Function Impairment on the Mortality of Cirrhotic Patients: A
      Nationwide Population-Based 3-Year Follow-up Study.
AB  - Renal function impairment (RFI) contributes to poor prognosis in cirrhotic
      patients. However, there have been no studies that seek to identify the effect of
      different types of RFI on the mortality of cirrhotic patients. We used the
      National Health Insurance Database, derived from the Taiwan National Health
      Insurance Program, to identify 44365 cirrhotic patients between January 1, 2007
      and December 31, 2007. RFI was identified in 2832 cirrhotic patients, including
      1075 with acute renal failure (ARF) (169 with hepatorenal syndrome, HRS; 906 with
      non-hepatorenal syndrome, NHRS), 705 with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and 1052
      with end stage renal disease (ESRD). After Cox proportional hazard regression
      analysis adjusted by gender, age, and comorbid disorders, the 30-day, 30 to 90
      day, 90-day to 1-year, and 1 to 3-year mortality hazard ratios (HR) compared to
      the non-RFI group were: (ARF) 5.19 (4.70-5.74), 3.23 (2.76-3.77), 1.51 (1.26
      1.81), and 1.35 (1.13-1.61), respectively; (CKD) 2.70 (2.30-3.18), 2.03 (1.66
      2.49), 1.60 (1.34-1.90), and 1.26 (1.06-1.49), respectively; and (ESRD) 1.42
      (1.17-1.72), 1.62 (1.35-1.94), 1.90 (1.68-2.15), and 1.67 (1.48-1.89),
      respectively. Compared to NHRS, the 30-day, 30 to 90-day, 90-day to 1-year, and 1
      to 3-year mortality HRs of HRS were 1.03 (0.80-1.32), 2.13 (1.46-3.11), 1.58
      (0.90-2.75), and 2.51 (1.41-4.48), respectively, in cirrhotic patients with ARF.
      These results indicate the effects of CKD and ESRD on the mortality of cirrhotic
      patients are distributed equally in every survival stage, whereas the effect of
      ARF appears only in the early stage. Compared to NHRS, HRS contributes to a
      higher mortality risk at the late survival stage. 

PMID- 27631100
TI  - Ameliorative effect of kolaviron, a biflavonoid complex from Garcinia kola seeds
      against scopolamine-induced memory impairment in rats: role of antioxidant
      defense system.
AB  - In Alzheimer's disease (AD) basal forebrain cholinergic neurons appear to be
      targeted primarily in early stages of the disease. Scopolamine (muscarinic
      receptor antagonist) has been used for decades to induce working and reference
      memory impairment in rodents. In this study, we evaluated the protective effect
      of kolaviron, a biflavonoid complex isolated from Garcinia kola seeds extract
      against scopolamine-induced memory impairment/oxidative stress. Rats were
      pretreated with kolaviron (25, 50 or 100 mg/kg p.o.) for 3 consecutive days,
      scopolamine (3 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered 1 h post-treatment on day 3. Five
      minutes post-scopolamine injection, memory function was assessed using the Y-maze
      or Morris water maze tests (MWM) in rats. The rats were sacrificed and brains
      isolated on the 8th day after the MWM test for estimation of acetylcholinesterase
      activity and nitrosative/oxidative stress status. Scopolamine injection induced
      deficit (P < 0.05) in percentage alternation behaviour in the Y-maze test
      indicating memory impairment which was ameliorated by kolaviron in a dose
      dependent manner. Also, pre-training treatment with kolaviron significantly
      improved spatial learning evidenced in the session-dependent and more efficient
      localization of the hidden platform in the MWM test. Moreover, scopolamine
      injection induced significant increase in lipid peroxidation (prefrontal cortex),
      nitrite generation (striatum and hippocampus) and a decrease in glutathione
      (prefrontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus) and superoxide dismutase (striatum
      and hippocampus) level which was attenuated by kolaviron pre-treatment. These
      findings showed that kolaviron possesses cognition enhancing effect through
      enhancement of antioxidant defense and cholinergic systems.

PMID- 27631102
TI  - Radiation Risks of Leukemia, Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma Incidence in the Mayak
      Cohort: 1948-2004.
AB  - Incidence of all types of lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers, including
      Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, acute and chronic
      myeloid leukemia (AML and CML respectively), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
      and other forms of leukemia have been studied in a cohort of 22,373 workers
      employed at the Mayak Production Association (PA) main facilities during 536,126
      person-years of follow-up from the start of employment between 1948 and 1982 to
      the end of 2004. Risk assessment was performed for both external gamma-radiation
      and internal alpha-exposure of red bone marrow due to incorporated Pu-239 using
      Mayak Workers Dosimetry System 2008 taking into account non-radiation factors.
      The incidence of leukemia excluding CLL showed a non-linear dose response
      relationship for external gamma exposure with exponential effect modifiers based
      on time since exposure and age at exposure. Among the major subtypes of leukemia,
      the excess risk of AML was the highest within the first 2-5 years of external
      exposure (ERR per Gy: 38.40; 90% CI: 13.92-121.4) and decreased substantially
      thereafter, but the risks remained statistically significant (ERR per Gy: 2.63;
      90% CI: 0.07-12.55). In comparison, excess CML first occurred 5 years after
      exposure and decreased about 10 years after exposure, although the association
      was not statistically significant (ERR per Gy: 1.39; 90% CI: -0.22-7.32). The
      study found no evidence of an association between leukemia and occupational
      exposure to internal plutonium ERR per Gy 2.13; 90% CI: <0-9.45). There was also
      no indication of any relationship with either external gamma or internal
      plutonium radiation exposure for either incidence of Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin
      lymphoma or multiple myeloma. 

PMID- 27631101
TI  - Selenium attenuates apoptosis, inflammation and oxidative stress in the blood and
      brain of aged rats with scopolamine-induced dementia.
AB  - A potent antioxidant, selenium might modulate dementia-induced progression of
      brain and blood oxidative and apoptotic injuries. The present study explores
      whether selenium protects against experimental dementia (scopolamine, SCOP)
      induced brain, and blood oxidative stress, apoptosis levels, and cytokine
      production in rats. Thirty-two rats were equally divided into four groups. The
      first group was used as an untreated control. The second group was treated with
      SCOP to induce dementia. The third and fourth groups received 1.5 mg/kg selenium
      (sodium selenite) and SCOP + selenium, respectively. Dementia was induced in the
      second and forth groups by intraperitoneal SCOP (1 mg/kg) administration. Brain,
      plasma, and erythrocyte lipid peroxidation levels as well as plasma TNF-alpha,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, and IL-4 levels were high in the SCOP group though they
      were low in selenium treatments. Selenium and selenium + SCOP treatments
      increased the lowered glutathione peroxidase activity, reduced glutathione,
      vitamins A and E concentrations in the brain, erythrocytes and plasma of the SCOP
      group. Apoptotic value expressions as active caspase-3, procaspase-9, and PARP
      were also increased by SCOP, while they were decreased by selenium and selenium +
      SCOP treatments. In conclusion, selenium induced protective effects against
      experimental dementia-induced brain, and blood oxidative injuries and apoptosis
      through regulation of cytokine production, vitamin E, glutathione concentrations,
      and glutathione peroxidase activity.

PMID- 27631104
TI  - The Genomic and Morphological Effects of Bisphenol A on Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - The environmental toxin bisphenol A (BPA) is a known mammalian hormone disrupter
      but its effects on plants have not been well established. The effect of BPA on
      gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana was determined using microarray analysis
      and quantitative gene PCR. Many hormone responsive genes showed changes in
      expression after BPA treatment. BPA disrupted flowering by a mechanism that may
      involve disruption of auxin signaling. The results presented here indicate that
      BPA is a plant hormone disrupter. 

PMID- 27631105
TI  - Erratum to: Comparative assessment of image quality for coronary CT angiography
      with iobitridol and two contrast agents with higher iodine concentrations:
      iopromide and iomeprol. A multicentre randomized double-blind trial.

PMID- 27631106
TI  - The value of diffusion kurtosis magnetic resonance imaging for assessing
      treatment response of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal
      cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility and value of diffusion kurtosis (DK)
      imaging in assessing treatment response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in
      patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). METHODS: Forty-one patients
      were included. All patients underwent pre- and post-CRT DCE-MRI on a 3.0-Tesla
      MRI scanner. Imaging indices (D app , K app and ADC values) were measured. Change
      value (?X) and change ratio (r?X) were calculated. Pathological tumour regression
      grade scores (Mandard) were the standard reference (good responders: pTRG 1-2;
      poor responders: pTRG 3-5). Diagnostic performance was compared using ROC
      analysis. RESULTS: For the pre-CRT measurements, pre-D app-10th was significantly
      lower in the good responder group than that of the poor responder group (p =
      0.036). For assessing treatment response to neoadjuvant CRT, pre-D app-10th
      resulted in AUCs of 0.753 (p = 0.036) with a sensitivity of 66.67 % and a
      specificity of 77.78 %. The r?D app had a relatively high AUC (0.859) and high
      sensitivity (100 %) compared with other image indices. CONCLUSIONS: DKI is
      feasible for selecting good responders for neoadjuvant CRT for LARC. KEY POINTS:
      * LARC responded well after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with lower pre-D app
      10th . * LARC responded well with greater increases in mean ADC and D app . * The
      change ratio of D app (r?D app ) had a relatively better diagnostic performance.

PMID- 27631103
TI  - Acetylation Reader Proteins: Linking Acetylation Signaling to Genome Maintenance
      and Cancer.
AB  - Chromatin-based DNA damage response (DDR) pathways are fundamental for preventing
      genome and epigenome instability, which are prevalent in cancer. Histone
      acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) catalyze the addition
      and removal of acetyl groups on lysine residues, a post-translational
      modification important for the DDR. Acetylation can alter chromatin structure as
      well as function by providing binding signals for reader proteins containing
      acetyl-lysine recognition domains, including the bromodomain (BRD). Acetylation
      dynamics occur upon DNA damage in part to regulate chromatin and BRD protein
      interactions that mediate key DDR activities. In cancer, DDR and acetylation
      pathways are often mutated or abnormally expressed. DNA damaging agents and drugs
      targeting epigenetic regulators, including HATs, HDACs, and BRD proteins, are
      used or are being developed to treat cancer. Here, we discuss how histone
      acetylation pathways, with a focus on acetylation reader proteins, promote genome
      stability and the DDR. We analyze how acetylation signaling impacts the DDR in
      the context of cancer and its treatments. Understanding the relationship between
      epigenetic regulators, the DDR, and chromatin is integral for obtaining a
      mechanistic understanding of genome and epigenome maintenance pathways,
      information that can be leveraged for targeting acetylation signaling, and/or the
      DDR to treat diseases, including cancer.

PMID- 27631107
TI  - Endometrial cancer with cervical stromal invasion: diagnostic accuracy of
      diffusion-weighted and dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging at 3T.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of diffusion-weighted (DW) and
      dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for detecting
      cervical stromal invasion in endometrial cancer. METHODS: Eighty-three
      consecutive women with endometrial cancer underwent preoperative evaluation in a
      3-T unit, including T2-weighted, DW (b = 0 and 1000 s/mm2), and DCE MR imaging.
      Two radiologists independently assessed presence of cervical stromal invasion,
      with histopathological reference as gold standard. RESULTS: For assessing
      cervical stromal invasion, the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity,
      respectively for Reader 1/Reader 2, were as follows: DW MR imaging- 95.2 %/91.6
      %, 91.7 %/100 %, and 95.8 %/90.1 %; DCE MR imaging- 91.6 %/88 %, 58.3 %/50 %, and
      97.2 %/94.4 %. The diagnostic performance of DW MR imaging (Reader 1: areas under
      the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.98; Reader 2: AUC = 0.97)
      was significantly higher than that of DCE MR imaging (p = 0.009 for Reader 2) or
      T2-weighted MR imaging (Reader 1: p = 0.006; Reader 2: p = 0.013). Patients with
      cervical stromal invasion showed a significantly greater canal width (p < 0.0001)
      and myometrial invasion extent (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: DW MR imaging has
      superior diagnostic performance compared with DCE MR imaging in the detection of
      cervical stromal invasion. KEY POINTS: * DWI demonstrates a higher accuracy than
      DCE in detecting cervical stromal invasion. * Tumour ADC values are similar
      between patients without or with cervical invasion. * Canal widening causes false
      negativity on DCE and T2W but not on DWI.

PMID- 27631108
TI  - Multicenter external validation of two malignancy risk prediction models in
      patients undergoing 18F-FDG-PET for solitary pulmonary nodule evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To achieve multicentre external validation of the Herder and Bayesian
      Inference Malignancy Calculator (BIMC) models. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty
      nine solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) collected from four major hospitals which
      underwent 18-FDG-PET characterization were included in this multicentre
      retrospective study. The Herder model was tested on all available lesions (group
      A). A subgroup of 180 SPNs (group B) was used to provide unbiased comparison
      between the Herder and BIMC models. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area
      under the curve (AUC) analysis was performed to assess diagnostic accuracy.
      Decision analysis was performed by adopting the risk threshold stated in British
      Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines. RESULTS: Unbiased comparison performed In
      Group B showed a ROC AUC for the Herder model of 0.807 (95 % CI 0.742-0.862) and
      for the BIMC model of 0.822 (95 % CI 0.758-0.875). CONCLUSIONS: Both the Herder
      and the BIMC models were proven to accurately predict the risk of malignancy when
      tested on a large multicentre external case series. The BIMC model seems
      advantageous on the basis of a more favourable decision analysis. KEY POINTS: *
      The Herder model showed a ROC AUC of 0.807 on 180 SPNs. * The BIMC model showed a
      ROC AUC of 0.822 on 180 SPNs. * Decision analysis is more favourable to the BIMC
      model.

PMID- 27631109
TI  - Diffusion-weighted MR neurography of median and ulnar nerves in the wrist and
      palm.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the feasibility of diffusion-weighted magnetic
      resonance neurography (DW-MRN) in the visualisation of extremity nerves in the
      wrist and palm. METHODS: Thirty-two volunteers and 21 patients underwent imaging
      of the wrist and palm on a 3-T MR scanner. In all subjects, two radiologists
      evaluated the image quality on DW-MRN using a four-point grading scale. Kappa
      statistics were obtained for inter-observer performance. In volunteers, the chi
      squared test was used to assess the differences in nerve visualisation on DW-MRN
      and axial fat-suppressed proton density weighted imaging (FS-PDWI). RESULTS: In
      volunteers, the mean image quality scores for the median nerve (MN) and ulnar
      nerve (UN) were 3.71 +/- 0.46 and 3.23 +/- 0.67 for observer 1, and 3.70 +/- 0.46
      and 3.22 +/- 0.71 for observer 2, respectively. The inter-observer agreement was
      excellent (k = 0.843) and good (k = 0.788), respectively. DW-MRN provided
      significantly improved visualisations of the second and the third common palmar
      digital nerves and three branches of UN compared with FS-PDWI (P < 0.05). In
      patients, the mean image quality scores for the two observers were 3.24 +/- 0.62
      and 3.10 +/- 0.83, inter-observer performance was excellent (k = 0.842).
      CONCLUSIONS: DW-MRN is feasible for improved visualisation of extremity nerves
      and their lesions in the wrist and palm with adequate image quality, thereby
      providing a supplementary method to conventional MR imaging. KEY POINTS: * DW-MRN
      provides adequate image quality for wrist and palm neurography * DW-MRN performs
      similarly to FS-PDWI in nerve visualisation at the wrist * DW-MRN provides
      improved visualisation of small nerves in the palm * DW-MRN serves as a
      supplementary method to evaluate peripheral neuropathies.

PMID- 27631110
TI  - Molecular Survey of Cell Source Usage during Subtotal Hepatectomy-Induced Liver
      Regeneration in Rats.
AB  - Proliferation of hepatocytes is known to be the main process in the hepatectomy
      induced liver regrowth; however, in cases of extensive loss it may be
      insufficient for complete recovery unless supported by some additional sources
      e.g. mobilization of undifferentiated progenitors. The study was conducted on rat
      model of 80% subtotal hepatectomy; the objective was to evaluate contributions of
      hepatocytes and resident progenitor cells to the hepatic tissue recovery via
      monitoring specific mRNA and/or protein expression levels for a panel of genes
      implicated in growth, cell differentiation, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Some
      of the genes showed distinctive temporal expression patterns, which were loosely
      associated with two waves of hepatocyte proliferation observed at 2 and 7 days
      after the surgery. Focusing on genes implicated in regulation of the progenitor
      cell activity, we came across slight increases in expression levels for Sox9 and
      two genes encoding tumor necrosis factor-like cytokine TWEAK (Tnfsf12) and its
      receptor Fn14 (Tnfrsf12a). At the same time, no increase in numbers of
      cytokeratin 19-positive (CK19+) cells was observed in periportal areas, and no
      CK19+ cells were found in hepatic plates. Since CK19 is thought to be a specific
      marker of both cholangiocytes and the hepatic progenitor cells, the data indicate
      a lack of activation of the resident progenitor cells during recovery of hepatic
      tissue after 80% subtotal hepatectomy. Thus, proliferation of hepatocytes
      invariably makes the major contribution to the hepatic tissue recovery, although
      in the cases of subtotal loss this contribution is distinctively modulated. In
      particular, induction of Sox9 and TWEAK/Fn14 regulatory pathways, conventionally
      attributed to progenitor cell activation, may incidentally stimulate mitotic
      activity of hepatocytes. 

PMID- 27631111
TI  - Exploring the Inflammatory Metabolomic Profile to Predict Response to TNF-alpha
      Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - In clinical practice, approximately one-third of patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA) respond insufficiently to TNF-alpha inhibitors (TNFis). The aim of
      the study was to explore the use of a metabolomics to identify predictors for the
      outcome of TNFi therapy, and study the metabolomic fingerprint in active RA
      irrespective of patients' response. In the metabolomic profiling, lipids,
      oxylipins, and amines were measured in serum samples of RA patients from the
      observational BiOCURA cohort, before start of biological treatment. Multivariable
      logistic regression models were established to identify predictors for good- and
      non-response in patients receiving TNFi (n = 124). The added value of metabolites
      over prediction using clinical parameters only was determined by comparing the
      area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC), sensitivity,
      specificity, positive- and negative predictive value and by the net
      reclassification index (NRI). The models were further validated by 10-fold cross
      validation and tested on the complete TNFi treatment cohort including moderate
      responders. Additionally, metabolites were identified that cross-sectionally
      associated with the RA disease activity score based on a 28-joint count (DAS28),
      erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or C-reactive protein (CRP). Out of 139
      metabolites, the best-performing predictors were sn1-LPC(18:3-omega3/omega6), sn1
      LPC(15:0), ethanolamine, and lysine. The model that combined the selected
      metabolites with clinical parameters showed a significant larger AUC-ROC than
      that of the model containing only clinical parameters (p = 0.01). The combined
      model was able to discriminate good- and non-responders with good accuracy and to
      reclassify non-responders with an improvement of 30% (total NRI = 0.23) and
      showed a prediction error of 0.27. For the complete TNFi cohort, the NRI was
      0.22. In addition, 88 metabolites were associated with DAS28, ESR or CRP
      (p<0.05). Our study established an accurate prediction model for response to TNFi
      therapy, containing metabolites and clinical parameters. Associations between
      metabolites and disease activity may help elucidate additional pathologic
      mechanisms behind RA. 

PMID- 27631112
TI  - Caregiver Activation and Home Hospice Nurse Communication in Advanced Cancer
      Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Activated patients have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to
      manage their care, resulting in positive outcomes such as lower hospital
      readmission and fewer adverse consequences due to poor communication with
      providers. Despite extensive evidence on patient activation, little is known
      about activation in the home hospice setting, when family caregivers assume more
      responsibility in care management. OBJECTIVE: We examined caregiver and nurse
      communication behaviors associated with caregiver activation during home hospice
      visits of patients with advanced cancer using a prospective observational design.
      METHODS: We adapted Street's Activation Verbal Coding tool to caregiver
      communication and used qualitative thematic analysis to develop codes for nurse
      communications that preceded and followed each activation statement in 60 audio
      recorded home hospice visits. RESULTS: Caregiver communication that reflected
      activation included demonstrating knowledge regarding the patient/care,
      describing care strategies, expressing opinions regarding care, requesting
      explanations of care, expressing concern about the patient, and redirecting the
      conversation toward the patient. Nurses responded by providing education,
      reassessing the patient/care environment, validating communications, clarifying
      care issues, updating/revising care, and making recommendations for future care.
      Nurses prompted caregiver activation through focused care-specific questions,
      open-ended questions/statements, and personal questions. CONCLUSIONS: Few studies
      have investigated nurse/caregiver communication in home hospice, and, to our
      knowledge, no other studies focused on caregiver activation. The current study
      provides a foundation to develop a framework of caregiver activation through
      enhanced communication with nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Activated
      caregivers may facilitate patient-centered care through communication with nurses
      in home hospice, thus resulting in enhanced outcomes for patients with advanced
      cancer.

PMID- 27631113
TI  - Symptom Management and Psychosocial Needs of Adults With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
      During Induction Treatment: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with a new diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are at
      risk of experiencing a high symptom burden due to the disease and its treatment,
      which includes a long period of hospitalization. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this pilot
      work was to describe the multidimensional symptoms and health-related quality of
      life experienced by patients with a new diagnosis of AML across induction
      chemotherapy. METHODS: A prospective, longitudinal descriptive study design was
      implemented to evaluate symptoms and health-related quality of life at the time
      of enrollment through 6 weeks postdiagnosis and identify who might be most at
      risk of experiencing high symptom burden. RESULTS: A total of 19 participants
      were included in this analysis. Moderate to severe levels of distress were
      present in 25% to 50% of participants, depending on timing in treatment. Females
      and those with a previous history of a psychological disorder reported higher
      symptom burden during treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that adults
      with AML experience multiple distressing symptoms during the induction treatment.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Timely routine multidimensional assessment of symptoms
      in individuals undergoing induction chemotherapy treatment for AML is critical as
      they may be experiencing multiple concurrent symptoms. Additional research to
      advance symptom assessment and amelioration of distressing symptoms to improve
      health-related quality of life is needed in this unique population.

PMID- 27631114
TI  - Trajectories of Symptom Clusters, Performance Status, and Quality of Life During
      Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy in Patients With High-Grade Brain Cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symptom clusters must be identified in patients with high-grade brain
      cancers for effective symptom management during cancer-related therapy.
      OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to identify symptom clusters in patients
      with high-grade brain cancers and to determine the relationship of each cluster
      with the performance status and quality of life (QOL) during concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). METHODS: Symptoms were assessed using the Memorial
      Symptom Assessment Scale, and the performance status was evaluated using the
      Karnofsky Performance Scale. Quality of life was assessed using the Functional
      Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General. This prospective longitudinal survey was
      conducted before CCRT and at 2 to 3 weeks and 4 to 6 weeks after the initiation
      of CCRT. RESULTS: A total of 51 patients with newly diagnosed primary malignant
      brain cancer were included. Six symptom clusters were identified, and 2 symptom
      clusters were present at each time point (ie, "negative emotion" and
      "neurocognitive" clusters before CCRT, "negative emotion and decreased vitality"
      and "gastrointestinal and decreased sensory" clusters at 2-3 weeks, and "body
      image and decreased vitality" and "gastrointestinal" clusters at 4-6 weeks). The
      symptom clusters at each time point demonstrated a significant relationship with
      the performance status or QOL. CONCLUSIONS: Differences were observed in symptom
      clusters in patients with high-grade brain cancers during CCRT. In addition, the
      symptom clusters were correlated with the performance status and QOL of patients,
      and these effects could change during CCRT. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The
      results of this study will provide suggestions for interventions to treat or
      prevent symptom clusters in patients with high-grade brain cancer during CCRT.

PMID- 27631115
TI  - Taking Care of Our Friends and Neighbors: DeVita's The Death of Cancer and the
      Challenge of Letting Go.

PMID- 27631116
TI  - Stakeholder-Engaged Measure Development for Pediatric Obstructive Sleep
      Disordered Breathing: The Obstructive Sleep-Disordered Breathing and
      Adenotonsillectomy Knowledge Scale for Parents.
AB  - Importance: Parental decision making about adenotonsillectomy (AT) for
      obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (oSDB) is associated with decisional
      conflict that may be alleviated with improved knowledge about symptoms and
      treatments. Objective: To develop a measure of parental knowledge about oSDB and
      AT. Design, Setting, and Participants: A sequential design was used for scale
      development. A prototype measure containing 9 oSDB and AT themes and 85 items was
      administered in survey format via an online platform. Participants included 19
      clinician experts (otolaryngologists and pediatricians) and 13 laymen (parents of
      children who snore or do not snore, and other adults). Quantitative and
      qualitative responses were used to modify the measure and create the knowledge
      scale. Content validity of the scale was established through expert feedback and
      evaluation. Criterion validity was established with t test comparisons of experts
      with laymen. Reliability of the responses was assessed with Cronbach alpha
      testing. Main Outcomes and Measures: An 85-item prototype measure and 39-item
      modified measure were evaluated for consensus/approval and psychometric
      integrity. Results: Of 45 potential participants, 32 individuals (71%) responded
      to the prototype scale. Respondents included 19 clinician experts (59%)
      (otolaryngologists and pediatricians) and 13 laymen (41%) (parents of children
      who snore [n = 8] or do not snore [n = 2] and other adults [n = 3]); demographic
      data were not collected. Content analysis and qualitative feedback were largely
      rated positively: 27 respondents (84%) stated that the measure was a good
      evaluation of knowledge, 30 respondents (94%) commented that the items were
      clear, and 31 individuals (97%) approved of its organization, although there were
      several suggestions for rewording and/or addition of response options. Experts
      identified themes most important for assessing oSDB (symptoms) and AT
      (experiences: risks and benefits) knowledge. These qualitative comments were used
      to modify the scale, and items were eliminated if more than 2 were reported as
      misleading or less than 85% of clinicians provided correct responses. Five themes
      (oSDB symptoms, treatment options, AT risks, anesthesia, and AT benefits) and 39
      items composed the final scale. Experts scored higher than laymen on the oSDB and
      AT Knowledge Scale for Parents overall (17 [94%] vs 12 [67%]; Cohen d = 1.96; 95%
      CI, 1.05-2.86) and within all themes, including experiences of children with oSDB
      (19 [88%] vs 13 [62%]; Cohen d = 1.53; 95% CI, 0.71-2.32), treatment options (19
      [97%] vs 12 [68%]; Cohen d = 1.74; 95% CI, 0.88-2.57), AT risks (17 [97%] vs 12
      [59%]; Cohen d = 1.94; 95% CI, 1.03-2.83), anesthesia (17 [97%] vs 12 [79%];
      Cohen d = 1.09; 95% CI, 0.29-1.88), and AT benefits (17 [95%] vs 12 [67%]; Cohen
      d = 1.28; 95% CI, 0.46-2.09), demonstrating criterion validity. All responses
      demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach alpha = 0.94). Conclusions and Relevance:
      The oSDB and AT Knowledge Scale for Parents is psychometrically sound for use in
      the assessment of parental knowledge.

PMID- 27631117
TI  - Psychometric Testing of the Self-care of Hypertension Inventory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is a global public health issue. Self-care is an
      essential component of HTN treatment, but no instruments are available with which
      to measure self-care of HTN. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to test the
      psychometric properties of the Self-care of Hypertension Inventory (SC-HI).
      METHODS: Using the Self-care of Chronic Illness theory, we developed a 24-item
      measure of maintenance, monitoring, and management appropriate for persons with
      chronic HTN, tested it for content validity, and then tested it in a convenience
      sample of 193 adults. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify measure
      structure. Cronbach's alpha and factor determinacy scores and were used to assess
      reliability. Validity was tested with the Medical Outcomes Study General
      Adherence Scale and the Decision Making Competency Inventory. RESULTS: Seventy
      percent of the sample was female; mean age was 56.4 +/- 13 years; mean duration
      of HTN was 11 +/- 9 years. Removal of 1 item on alcohol consumption resulted in a
      unidimensional self-care maintenance factor with acceptable structure and
      internal consistency (alpha = .83). A multidimensional self-care management
      factor included "consultative" and "autonomous" factors (factor determinacy score
      = 0.75). A unidimensional confidence factor captured confidence in and
      persistence with each aspect of self-care (alpha = .83). All the self-care
      dimensions in the final 23-item instrument were associated with treatment
      adherence and several with decision making. CONCLUSION: These findings support
      the conceptual basis of self-care in patients with HTN as a process of
      maintenance, monitoring, and management. The SC-HI confidence scale is promising
      as a measure of self-efficacy in self-care.

PMID- 27631118
TI  - Employment Status and Sick Leave After First-Time Implantable Cardioverter
      Defibrillator Implantation: Results From the COPE-ICD Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the Copenhagen Outpatient Programme-Implantable Cardioverter
      Defibrillator (COPE-ICD) Trial, a positive effect from a cost-saving,
      comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program was found on physical and mental
      health in patients with ICDs. OBJECTIVE: In the context of the COPE-ICD Trial,
      the aims of this study is to investigate (a) employment status after ICD
      implantation, (b) the number of sick days related to ICD implantation, (c)
      differences in employment status and sick days between rehabilitation and usual
      care groups, and (d) predictors of employment status and sick leave. METHOD:
      Patients with first-time ICD implantation were randomized to comprehensive
      cardiac rehabilitation or usual care. One year after ICD implantation, patients
      answered questions about employment status and sick leave. Differences were
      tested using the Student t test and the chi test. Predictors of employment status
      and sick leave were tested using logistic regression and linear regression
      models. RESULT: A total of 196 patients were randomized. The questionnaire was
      completed by 138 patients (70%). In total, 47% had worked before ICD
      implantation. After 1 year, 81% were still working and their mean (SD) number of
      sick days was 33.8 (58.3). Age 60 years or younger and secondary ICD indication
      were predictors of working after 1 year. Patients with secondary ICD indication
      had more sick days and patients who were not married had fewer sick days.
      CONCLUSION: Most patients who worked before ICD implantation returned to work
      after the ICD was placed. Those who were married and had an ICD for secondary
      prevention took more sick days after the ICD than did those without these
      characteristics. Those who were younger and have a secondary indication ICD were
      more likely to be working 1 year after ICD implantation.

PMID- 27631119
TI  - Patient Activation in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent data suggest that patient activation, or having the knowledge,
      skills, and confidence to engage and manage one's own health, favorably impacts
      patient behaviors and health outcomes. However, the role of activation in
      patients with heart failure is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are to
      measure the level of activation of patients hospitalized with acute decompensated
      heart failure (ADHF) and to determine whether activation is associated with in
      hospital and early postdischarge outcomes. METHODS: We prospectively recruited
      Southeastern Minnesota residents hospitalized at Mayo Clinic hospitals with ADHF
      from January 2014 to July 2015. Activation was measured using the Patient
      Activation Measure questionnaire. RESULTS: Among the 302 patients enrolled, the
      mean age was 77.3 years, 57.3% were men, and 46.8% had preserved ejection
      fraction. The median (25th-75th percentile) length of stay was 4 (3-7) days. In
      total, 7 (2.3%) patients died before discharge. Most survivors were discharged to
      home (73.6%) or skilled nursing facilities (23.7%). The number of patients in
      each activation level from highest to lowest was 9 (3.0%), 121 (40.1%), 122
      (40.4%), and 50 (16.6%). Patients with lower activation were older, were less
      educated, had lower patient satisfaction, and had worse health literacy. They
      were more often discharged to skilled nursing facilities and had higher 30-day
      mortality, although 30-day readmission did not differ by activation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients hospitalized with ADHF with lower activation are less satisfied, have
      worse health literacy, more often require skilled care, and are at increased risk
      for early postdischarge mortality. Activation can be easily measured and may help
      clinicians identify high-risk patients.

PMID- 27631120
TI  - The Relationship of Depressive Symptoms and Vitamin D Intake to Cardiac Event
      Free Survival in Patients With Heart Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low vitamin D and depressive symptoms are associated with
      inflammation activation that predicts cardiovascular disease. Little is known
      about the relationships among vitamin D intake, depressive symptoms, and cardiac
      events in heart failure (HF). PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to determine the
      relationships among vitamin D deficiency, depressive symptoms, and cardiac
      events. METHODS: A total of 204 HF patients completed a 3-day food diary to
      determine average daily intake of vitamin D. Patients completed the Patient
      Health Questionnaire-9 to assess somatic and cognitive depressive symptoms and
      were split into 2 groups using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 cut-point score
      of 10 (< 10, no depressive symptoms; >= 10, depressive symptoms). Data on cardiac
      events during 1 year were obtained through medical record review. Hierarchical
      Cox and logistic regressions were used for data analyses. RESULTS: Sixty patients
      (29.4%) had depressive symptoms and 106 (52.0%) had vitamin D deficiency.
      Depressive symptoms (hazard ratio [HR], 1.93; P = .031) and vitamin D deficiency
      (HR, 1.84, P = .036) predicted shorter cardiac event-free survival in Cox
      regression. Depressive symptoms predicted shorter cardiac event-free survival in
      patients with vitamin D deficiency (HR, 2.16; P = .038), but not those with
      vitamin D adequacy. Somatic depressive symptoms were associated with vitamin D
      deficiency (odds ratio, 1.12; P = .028) in logistic regression, whereas cognitive
      depressive symptoms were not. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency and depressive
      symptoms predicted shorter cardiac event-free survival. Depressive symptoms did
      not predict cardiac events in HF patients with vitamin D adequacy. Somatic
      depressive symptoms predicted vitamin D deficiency, but cognitive depressive
      symptoms did not. Additional research is necessary to determine the protective
      role of vitamin D in the link between somatic depressive symptoms and cardiac
      events.

PMID- 27631123
TI  - Regulating "Quack" Medicine and Decision-Making For Children Re-visited.

PMID- 27631121
TI  - Hybrid SSF/SHF Processing of SO2 Pretreated Wheat Straw-Tuning Co-fermentation by
      Yeast Inoculum Size and Hydrolysis Time.
AB  - Wheat straw is one of the main agricultural residues of interest for bioethanol
      production. This work examines conversion of steam-pretreated wheat straw (using
      SO2 as a catalyst) in a hybrid process consisting of a short enzymatic
      prehydrolysis step and a subsequent simultaneous saccharification and
      fermentation (SSF) step with a xylose-fermenting strain of Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae. A successful process requires a balanced design of reaction time and
      temperature in the prehydrolysis step and yeast inoculum size and temperature in
      the SSF step. The pretreated material obtained after steam pretreatment at 210 
      degrees C for 5 min using 2.5 % SO2 (based on moisture content) showed a very
      good enzymatic digestibility at 45  degrees C but clearly lower at 30  degrees C.
      Furthermore, the pretreatment liquid was found to be rather inhibitory to the
      yeast, partly due to a furfural content of more than 3 g/L. The effect of varying
      the yeast inoculum size in this medium was assessed, and at a yeast inoculum size
      of 4 g/L, a complete conversion of glucose and a 90 % conversion of xylose were
      obtained within 50 h. An ethanol yield (based on the glucan and xylan in the
      pretreated material) of 0.39 g/g was achieved for a process with this yeast
      inoculum size in a hybrid process (10 % water-insoluble solid (WIS)) with 4 h
      prehydrolysis time and a total process time of 96 h. The obtained xylose
      conversion was 95 %. A longer prehydrolysis time or a lower yeast inoculum size
      resulted in incomplete xylose conversion.

PMID- 27631122
TI  - Addition of Surfactants and Non-Hydrolytic Proteins and Their Influence on
      Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse.
AB  - Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG 4000) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated
      with the purpose of evaluating their influence on enzymatic hydrolysis of
      sugarcane bagasse. Effects of these supplements were assayed for different
      enzymatic cocktails (Trichoderma harzianum and Penicillium funiculosum) that
      acted on lignocellulosic material submitted to different pretreatment methods
      with varying solid (25 and 100 g/L) and protein (7.5 and 20 mg/g cellulose)
      loadings. The highest levels of glucose release were achieved using partially
      delignified cellulignin as substrate, along with the T. harzianum cocktail:
      increases of 14 and 18 % for 25 g/L solid loadings and of 33 and 43 % for 100 g/L
      solid loadings were reached for BSA and PEG supplementation, respectively.
      Addition of these supplements could maintain hydrolysis yield even for higher
      solid loadings, but for higher enzymatic cocktail protein loadings, increases in
      glucose release were not observed. Results indicate that synergism might occur
      among these additives and cellulase and xylanases. The use of these supplements,
      besides depending on factors such as pretreatment method of sugarcane bagasse,
      enzymatic cocktails composition, and solid and protein loadings, may not always
      lead to positive effects on the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic material, making it
      necessary further statistical studies, according to process conditions.

PMID- 27631124
TI  - Neisseria meningitidis presenting as acute abdomen and recurrent reactive
      pericarditis.
AB  - Meningococcal meningitis is a well established potential fatal infection
      characterized by fever, headache, petechial rash, and vomiting in the majority of
      cases. However, protean manifestations including abdominal pain, sore throat,
      diarrhea and cough, even though rare, should not be overlooked. Similarly,
      although disseminated infection could potentially involve various organ-targets,
      secondary immune related complications including joints or pericardium should be
      dealt with caution, since they remain unresponsive to appropriate antibiotic
      regimens. We hereby report the rare case of an otherwise healthy adult female,
      presenting with acute abdominal pain masking Neisseria meningitidis serotype B
      meningitis, later complicated with recurrent reactive pericarditis despite
      appropriate antibiotic treatment. There follows a review of current literature.

PMID- 27631125
TI  - Primary AL amyloidosis presenting with systemic lymphadenopathy with
      calcification.

PMID- 27631127
TI  - Heat Shock Protein 90alpha Is a Potential Serological Biomarker of Acute
      Rejection after Renal Transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), a molecular chaperone associated with
      the activation of client proteins, was recently reported to play an important
      role in immunologic reactions. To date, the role of HSP90 in solid organ
      transplantations has remained unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      relationship between serum HSP90alpha levels and acute allograft rejection after
      organ and tissue transplantation using serum samples from kidney allograft
      recipients, an in vitro antibody-mediated rejection model, and a murine skin
      transplantation. RESULTS: Serum HSP90alpha levels were significantly higher in
      kidney recipients at the time of acute rejection (AR) than in those with no
      evidence of rejection. In most cases with AR, serum HSP90 decreased to baseline
      after the treatment. On the other hand, serum HSP90alpha was not elevated as much
      in patients with chronic rejection, calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity, or BK
      virus nephropathy as in AR patients. In vitro study showed that HSP90alpha
      concentration in the supernatant was significantly higher in the supernatant of
      human aortic endothelial cells cocultured with specific anti-HLA IgG under
      complement attack than in that of cells cocultured with nonspecific IgG. In mice
      receiving skin transplantation, serum HSP90alpha was elevated when the first
      graft was rejected and the level further increased during more severe rejection
      of the second graft. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that HSP90alpha is released
      into the serum by cell damage due to AR in organ and tissue transplantation, and
      it is potentially a new biomarker to help detect AR in kidney recipients.

PMID- 27631129
TI  - Low Temperature Storage of Telenomus remus (Nixon) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae)
      and its Factitious Host Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
AB  - We conducted three bioassays to evaluate the effect of low-temperature storage of
      eggs (host) and pupae and adults (parasitoid) on the biology and parasitism
      capacity of the egg parasitoid Telenomus remus (Nixon) (Hymenoptera:
      Platygastridae). Viable stored Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) (Lepidoptera:
      Pyralidae) eggs were parasitized to the same degree or even higher than fresh
      eggs when stored until 14 days at 5 degrees C or until 21 days at 10 degrees C.
      In contrast, the percentage of parasitized sterilized eggs was equal to the
      control only when stored for 7 and 14 days. Survival of T. remus pupae declined
      with storage time at both studied temperatures (5 and 10 degrees C). However,
      after 7 days of storage, survival of pupae was still 86.3 and 64.9% at 10 and 5
      degrees C, respectively. The number of adult male survivors remained similar
      until the fourth storage day at both 5 and 10 degrees C. In contrast, female
      survival did not differ until day 8 at 10 degrees C or day 6 at 5 degrees C.
      Parasitism capacity of stored adults was not altered by storage compared with the
      control. Therefore, we conclude that the maximal storage time at 10 degrees C is
      21 days for viable C. cephalonica eggs and 7 days for T. remus pupae, while
      parasitoid adults should not be stored for more than 4 days at either 5 or 10
      degrees C.

PMID- 27631128
TI  - Descriptions of the Immature Stages of Lutzomyia (Tricholateralis) cruciata
      (Coquillett) (Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae).
AB  - The present study presents morphological and chaetotaxic descriptions of the
      immature stages of Lutzomyia (Tricholateralis) cruciata (Coquillett), a probable
      vector of leishmaniasis in Mexico. The egg exochorion is consistent with the
      species already known as Lu. (Tricholaterialis), but different from the Lu.
      cruciata egg of Chiapas, Mexico. The fourth instar larva of Lu. (Tricholateralis)
      cruciata possesses a novel antenna, combining morphological characteristics of
      categories 2 and 3 for neotropical sandflies. Differences between the chaetotaxy
      of first and fourth instar larvae of Lu. cruciata with those of Lu. (Lutzomyia)
      and Lu. (Tricholaterlis) are compared and discussed. This is the first time in
      which the chaetotaxy and morphology of pupa of a species belonging to Lutzomyia
      (Tricholateralis) sensu Galati have been described, and we recorded for the first
      time the anterior prothorax setae, which was previously only considered for Old
      World species.

PMID- 27631131
TI  - Testing the Efficacy of Global Biodiversity Hotspots for Insect Conservation: The
      Case of South African Katydids.
AB  - The use of endemism and vascular plants only for biodiversity hotspot delineation
      has long been contested. Few studies have focused on the efficacy of global
      biodiversity hotspots for the conservation of insects, an important, abundant,
      and often ignored component of biodiversity. We aimed to test five alternative
      diversity measures for hotspot delineation and examine the efficacy of
      biodiversity hotspots for conserving a non-typical target organism, South African
      katydids. Using a 1 degrees  fishnet grid, we delineated katydid hotspots in two
      ways: (1) count-based: grid cells in the top 10% of total, endemic, threatened
      and/or sensitive species richness; vs. (2) score-based: grid cells with a mean
      value in the top 10% on a scoring system which scored each species on the basis
      of its IUCN Red List threat status, distribution, mobility and trophic level. We
      then compared katydid hotspots with each other and with recognized biodiversity
      hotspots. Grid cells within biodiversity hotspots had significantly higher count
      based and score-based diversity than non-hotspot grid cells. There was a
      significant association between the three types of hotspots. Of the count-based
      measures, endemic species richness was the best surrogate for the others.
      However, the score-based measure out-performed all count-based diversity
      measures. Species richness was the least successful surrogate of all. The strong
      performance of the score-based method for hotspot prediction emphasizes the
      importance of including species' natural history information for conservation
      decision-making, and is easily adaptable to other organisms. Furthermore, these
      results add empirical support for the efficacy of biodiversity hotspots in
      conserving non-target organisms. 

PMID- 27631126
TI  - Open source molecular modeling.
AB  - The success of molecular modeling and computational chemistry efforts are, by
      definition, dependent on quality software applications. Open source software
      development provides many advantages to users of modeling applications, not the
      least of which is that the software is free and completely extendable. In this
      review we categorize, enumerate, and describe available open source software
      packages for molecular modeling and computational chemistry. An updated online
      version of this catalog can be found at
      https://opensourcemolecularmodeling.github.io.

PMID- 27631130
TI  - Niclosamide is a Negative Allosteric Modulator of Group I Metabotropic Glutamate
      Receptors: Implications for Neuropathic Pain.
AB  - PURPOSE: Novel therapeutics are greatly needed that target specific pathological
      receptors and pathways involved in Neuropathic Pain (NP). Extending our previous
      work published in this Journal on Group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)
      modulators, we now investigate the therapeutic potential of niclosamide in
      modulating aberrant glutamate transmission in NP. METHOD: Calcium mobilization
      assays and cross-receptor selectivity experiments are conducted to characterize
      the pharmacological activity of niclosamide. A focused series of niclosamide
      analogues is then prepared to elucidate key structural determinants that emerged
      from computational molecular modeling analysis on drug-receptor interactions.
      Finally, niclosamide and a carbamate derivative are studied to assess their
      efficacy in an NP-evoked mechanical hyperalgesia model in rats. RESULTS:
      Niclosamide is a low-nanomolar allosteric antagonist of Group I mGluRs with high
      selectivity for Group I over homologous Group III mGluRs. The phenolic hydroxyl
      group of niclosamide forms a crucial hydrogen bond with mGluR1/5. Its bioactive
      coplanar conformation is further stabilized by the nitro substituent on the B
      ring and an intramolecular bond. Mechanical hyperalgesia in NP rats is reversed
      by niclosamide through three different dosing routes. CONCLUSION: To our
      knowledge, this is the first report of the salicylanilide class of compounds as
      potential treatments for NP.

PMID- 27631132
TI  - Alpha-Synuclein, a Novel Viral Restriction Factor Hiding in Plain Sight.
AB  - Alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) is a highly conserved protein encoded by the SNCA
      gene and is expressed uniquely in neurons of both the central and peripheral
      nervous systems (CNS and PNS). alpha-Syn is known to cause sporadic and familial
      forms of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the role for neuronal expression of
      alpha-syn in the first place remains unknown. We review and discuss recently
      published work that suggests a novel role for alpha-syn expression in neurons as
      a restriction factor that inhibits virus transmission from the PNS to the CNS.
      The potential new role for alpha-syn expression as a virus inhibitor may provide
      new approaches to understand the pathogenesis of PD and provide novel approaches
      to prevent and treat this common neurodegenerative disease.

PMID- 27631133
TI  - Antibodies directed against annexin A2 and obstetric morbidity.
AB  - Acquired and inherited thrombophilia have both been reported to be associated
      with an increased risk of obstetric complications in early or later stages of
      pregnancy. Annexin A2 (ANXA2) is strongly expressed in vascular and placental
      tissues and plays a crucial role in fibrinolysis. The aim of the present study
      was to evaluate the prevalence of antibodies directed against ANXA2 in patients
      with recurrent miscarriage or obstetric complications. Anti-ANXA2 antibodies
      (aANXA2) were detected by ELISA in the sera from 46 women with obstetric
      morbidity, mainly recurrent miscarriage. The cut-off value for positivity was
      defined as 3 standard deviations above the mean optical density (OD) obtained in
      the sera from 42 female blood donors. The prevalence of aANXA2 in patients and
      healthy individuals was 15.2% and 2.3%, respectively. A statistically significant
      difference was observed between the 2 groups in terms of aANXA2 IgG titers
      (p=0.01). The highest aANXA2 levels were observed in sera from 2 patients with
      recurrent miscarriage and one patient with preeclampsia. aANXA2 could play a role
      in thrombotic mechanisms leading to recurrent pregnancy loss and placental
      vascular disease. Further studies are needed to determine whether ANXA2 is
      critical for maintenance of placental integrity.

PMID- 27631134
TI  - A novel regulatory circuit to control indole biosynthesis protects Escherichia
      coli from nitrosative damages during the anaerobic respiration of nitrate.
AB  - Indole is a widely distributed microbial secondary metabolite. It mediates a
      broad range of physiological processes in both its producing and surrounding
      species. Yet, indole biosynthesis during the anaerobiosis of bacteria remains
      largely uncharacterized. Here, we find that while indole production is promoted
      during fermentation and anaerobic respiration of fumarate and trimethylamine N
      oxide in E. coli, its biosynthesis is repressed during anaerobic respiration of
      nitrate especially during exponential growth. We show that expression of the
      indole biosynthetic operon tnaCAB is repressed under this condition by the two
      component systems NarXL and NarPQ in the global regulator FNR dependent manner.
      During stationary growth phase of nitrate respiration, indole biosynthesis is
      derepressed. However, cellular indole concentration remains low. We demonstrate
      that this is due to the rapid conversion of indole into mutagenic indole
      nitrosative derivatives under this condition. Consistent with this, a supplement
      of exogenous indole during nitrate respiration causes elevated mutation
      frequencies in E. coli cells lacking the detoxifying efflux genes mdtEF, and
      ectopic over-expression of tnaAB genes decreases the fitness of E. coli to this
      physiological condition. Together, these results suggest that indole production
      is tuned to the bioenergetics activities of E. coli to facilitate its adaptation
      and fitness.

PMID- 27631135
TI  - It's time to change the culture of sports.

PMID- 27631136
TI  - Serum endotrophin identifies optimal responders to PPARgamma agonists in type 2
      diabetes.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The treatment of type 2 diabetes with full peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) agonists improves insulin
      sensitivity, but is associated with weight gain, heart failure, peripheral oedema
      and bone loss. Endotrophin, the C-terminal fragment of the alpha3 chain of
      procollagen type VI (also called Pro-C6), is involved in both adipose tissue
      matrix remodelling and metabolic control. We established a serum assay for
      endotrophin to assess if this novel adipokine could identify type 2 diabetic
      patients who respond optimally to PPARgamma agonists, improving the risk-to
      benefit ratio. METHODS: The BALLET trial (NCT00515632) compared the glucose
      lowering effects and safety of the partial PPARgamma agonist balaglitazone with
      those of pioglitazone in individuals with type 2 diabetes on stable insulin
      therapy. The per protocol population (n = 297) was stratified into tertiles based
      on baseline endotrophin levels. Participants were followed-up after 26 weeks,
      after which correlational analysis was carried out between endotrophin levels and
      measures of glucose control. This is a secondary post hoc analysis. RESULTS:
      Endotrophin was significantly associated with therapeutic response to
      balaglitazone and pioglitazone. At week 26, only individuals in the upper two
      tertiles showed significant reductions in HbA1c and fasting serum glucose
      compared with baseline. The OR for a 1% and a 0.5% reduction in HbA1c for
      individuals in the upper two tertiles were 3.83 (95% CI 1.62, 9.04) p < 0.01, and
      3.85 (95% CI 1.94, 7.61) p < 0.001, respectively. Endotrophin levels correlated
      with adipose tissue mass, insulin resistance and fatty liver index. Notably,
      PPARgamma-associated adverse effects, such as moderate-to-severe lower extremity
      oedema, only occurred in the lower tertile. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Elevated
      endotrophin serum levels predict response to two insulin sensitisers and reduce
      the risk of associated adverse effects, thereby, identifying patients with type 2
      diabetes who may profit from PPARgamma agonist treatment.

PMID- 27631138
TI  - Sarcandra glabra combined with lycopene protect rats from lipopolysaccharide
      induced acute lung injury via reducing inflammatory response.
AB  - Sarcandra glabra (Chinese name, Zhongjiefeng) is an important herb widely used in
      traditional Chinese medicine. Lycopene has been shown to be a powerful
      antioxidant. This study aims to test the hypothesis that Sarcandra glabra
      combined with lycopene protect rats from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced acute
      lung injury (ALI). Metabolomics approach combined with pathological inspection,
      serum biochemistry examination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western
      blotting were used to explore the protective effects of Sarcandra glabra and
      lycopene on LPS-induced ALI, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Results
      showed that Sarcandra glabra and lycopene could significantly ameliorate LPS
      induced histopathological injuries, improve the anti-oxidative activities of
      rats, decrease the levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6, suppress the activations of MAPK
      and transcription factor NF-kappaB and reverse the disturbed metabolism towards
      the normal status. Taken together, this integrated study revealed that Sarcandra
      glabra combined with lycopene had great potential in protecting rats from LPS
      induced ALI, which would be helpful to guide the clinical medication.

PMID- 27631139
TI  - DNA Binding and Recognition of a CC Mismatch in a DNA Duplex by Water-Soluble
      Peptidocalix[4]arenes: Synthesis and Applications.
AB  - Water-soluble peptidocalix[4]arenes were synthesized by the introduction of
      arginine-rich narrow groove-binding residues at lower rims through solid-phase
      synthesis. The study of binding of these water-soluble bidentate ligands to well
      matched and mismatched DNA duplexes by fluorescent titrations, ethidium bromide
      (EB) displacement assays, DNA-melting experiments, and circular dichroism (CD)
      analysis revealed a sequence-dependent groove-binding mechanism.

PMID- 27631137
TI  - The suppression of hepatic glucose production improves metabolism and insulin
      sensitivity in subcutaneous adipose tissue in mice.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Despite the strong correlation between non-alcoholic fatty liver
      disease and insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis is associated with greater
      whole-body insulin sensitivity in several models. We previously reported that the
      inhibition of hepatic glucose production (HGP) protects against the development
      of obesity and diabetes despite severe steatosis, thanks to the secretion of
      specific hepatokines such as fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and angiopoietin
      related growth factor. In this work, we focused on adipose tissue to assess
      whether liver metabolic fluxes might, by interorgan communication, control
      insulin signalling in lean animals. METHODS: Insulin signalling was studied in
      the adipose tissue of mice lacking the catalytic subunit of glucose 6
      phosphatase, the key enzyme in endogenous glucose production, in the liver (L
      G6pc -/- mice). Morphological and metabolic changes in the adipose tissues were
      characterised by histological analyses, gene expression and protein content.
      RESULTS: Mice lacking HGP exhibited improved insulin sensitivity of the
      phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway in the subcutaneous adipose tissue
      associated with a browning of adipocytes. The suppression of HGP increased FGF21
      levels in lean animals, and increased FGF21 was responsible for the metabolic
      changes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue but not for its greater insulin
      sensitivity. The latter might be linked to an increase in the ratio of
      monounsaturated to saturated fatty acids released by the liver. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      work provides evidence that HGP controls subcutaneous adipose tissue browning and
      insulin sensitivity through two pathways: the release of beneficial hepatokines
      and changes in hepatic fatty acids profile.

PMID- 27631140
TI  - Omega-3 and Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Bipolar Disorder: A Review of
      Biomarker and Treatment Studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is growing evidence that inflammation is an important mediator
      of pathophysiology in bipolar disorder. The omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6)
      polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolic pathways participate in several
      inflammatory processes and have been linked through epidemiologic and clinical
      studies to bipolar disorder and its response to treatment. We review the data on
      PUFAs as biomarkers in bipolar disorder and n-3 PUFA used as treatment for
      bipolar disorder. DATA SOURCES: PubMed and CINAHL were searched for articles on
      PUFA and bipolar disorder published in the English language through November 6,
      2013, with an updated search conducted on August 20, 2015. Keywords searched
      included omega 3 fatty acids and bipolar disorder, omega 3 fatty acids and
      bipolar mania, omega 3 fatty acids and bipolar depression, omega 3 fatty acids
      and mania, omega 3 fatty acids and cyclothymia, omega 3 fatty acids and
      hypomania, fatty acids and bipolar disorder, essential fatty acids and bipolar
      disorder, polyunsaturated fatty acids and bipolar disorder, DHA and bipolar
      disorder, and EPA and bipolar disorder. STUDY SELECTION: Studies selected
      measured PUFAs as biomarkers or introduced n-3 PUFA as treatment. RESULTS: We
      identified 17 relevant human clinical articles that either compared PUFA levels
      between a bipolar disorder group and a control group or used a PUFA intervention
      to treat depression or mania in bipolar disorder. Human studies suggest low n-3
      red blood cell PUFA concentrations and correlations with clinical severity in
      studies of plasma concentrations in symptomatic bipolar disorder. Results of
      published n-3 PUFA dietary supplementation trials for bipolar disorder indicate
      efficacy in treatment for mania or depression in 5 of 5 open-label trials,
      efficacy in treatment of depression in 1 of 7 randomized controlled trials, and a
      signal for treatment of depression in 1 meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Biomarker
      studies of PUFA and treatment studies of n-3 PUFA in bipolar disorder show
      promise for indicating a way forward in the study of PUFA in bipolar disorder.
      Investigation of the intake and metabolism of the n-3 and n-6 PUFA when
      supplementation is provided in treatment trials might offer clues for
      identification of when and how PUFA may be important for treatment in bipolar
      disorder.

PMID- 27631141
TI  - Age at Onset of Bipolar Disorder Related to Parental and Grandparental Illness
      Burden.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The age at onset of bipolar disorder varies greatly in different
      countries and continents. The association between load of family history of
      psychiatric illness and age at onset has not been adequately explored. METHODS:
      979 outpatients with bipolar disorder (from 4 sites in the United States and 3 in
      the Netherlands and Germany) gave informed consent and completed a questionnaire
      about their demographics, age at onset of illness, and family history of unipolar
      and bipolar disorder, alcohol and substance abuse comorbidity, suicide attempts,
      and "other" illnesses in their parents, 4 grandparents, and any offspring. We
      examined how the parental and grandparental burden of these illnesses related to
      the age at onset of the patients' bipolar disorder. RESULTS: The burden of family
      psychiatric history was strongly related to an earlier age at onset of illness in
      both US and European patients (F3,906 = 35.42, P < .0001). However, compared to
      the Europeans, patients in the United States had both more family history of most
      difficulties and notably earlier age at onset. Earlier age at onset was
      associated with a greater illness burden in the patient's offspring (t568 = 4.1,
      P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: More parental and grandparental psychiatric illness was
      associated with an earlier age at onset of bipolar disorder, which is earlier in
      the United States compared with Europe and is strongly related to a poor long
      term prognosis. This apparent polygenic contribution to early onset deserves
      further study and therapeutic attempts at ameliorating the transgenerational
      impact.

PMID- 27631142
TI  - Time Course and Predictors of Suicidal Ideation During Citalopram Treatment in
      the STAR*D Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are first-line treatment for
      major depressive disorder (MDD), but their impact on suicidal ideation is
      equivocal. Our goal is to examine the time course and clinical predictors of
      citalopram-induced suicidal ideation during phase 1 of the Sequenced Treatment
      Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial. METHODS: Of the 4,041 subjects
      with DSM-IV nonpsychotic MDD in the STAR*D trial phase 1 (2001-2006), we included
      in our analysis 3,577 subjects who reported side-effect data and had received
      citalopram (20-60 mg/d) for 8-14 weeks. Suicidal ideation was reported on item 12
      of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Self-Report. Survival
      analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to assess
      baseline characteristics associated with emergence and worsening of suicidal
      ideation. RESULTS: Suicidal ideation was more likely to occur early in citalopram
      treatment, with few subjects showing emergence or worsening occurring after 6
      weeks of treatment. Clinical variables explained very little of the variance in
      worsening or emergence of suicidal ideation with citalopram treatment
      (generalized R2 <= 2% in survival analysis). Being Hispanic, taking sedative
      medications, increased depression severity, absence of hypersomnia, and cardiac
      comorbidity were significantly (P <= .04) associated with greater likelihood of
      emergence of suicidal ideation in patients without suicidal ideation at baseline.
      Being widowed, better work performance, weight loss at baseline, and the presence
      of vascular or neurologic comorbidities were associated with a greater likelihood
      of worsening of suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline clinical variables were
      poor predictors of emergence or worsening of suicidal ideation. As such,
      increased research focusing on clinical correlates rather than clinical
      predictors of suicidal ideation may be useful, as intervening events may be
      crucial in bringing about increased suicidality. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00021528.

PMID- 27631143
TI  - Behavioral Effects of Neurofeedback Compared to Stimulants and Physical Activity
      in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of neurofeedback as a treatment for attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and whether neurofeedback is a viable
      alternative for stimulant medication, is still an intensely debated subject. The
      current randomized controlled trial compared neurofeedback to (1) optimally
      titrated methylphenidate and (2) a semi-active control intervention, physical
      activity, to account for nonspecific effects. METHODS: A multicenter 3-way
      parallel-group study with balanced randomization was conducted. Children with a
      DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of ADHD, aged 7-13 years, were randomly allocated to receive
      neurofeedback (n = 39), methylphenidate (n = 36), or physical activity (n = 37)
      over a period of 10-12 weeks. Neurofeedback comprised theta/beta training on the
      vertex (Cz). Physical activity consisted of moderate to vigorous intensity
      exercises. Neurofeedback and physical activity were balanced in terms of number
      (~30) and duration of sessions. A double-blind pseudorandomized placebo
      controlled crossover titration procedure was used to determine an optimal dose in
      the methylphenidate intervention. Parent and teacher ratings on the Strengths and
      Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms
      and Normal Behavior (SWAN) were used to assess intervention outcomes. Data
      collection took place between September 2010 and March 2014. RESULTS: Intention
      to-treat analyses revealed an improvement in parent-reported behavior on the SDQ
      and the SWAN Hyperactivity/Impulsivity scale, irrespective of received
      intervention (etap2 = 0.21-0.22, P <= .001), whereas the SWAN Inattention scale
      revealed more improvement in children who received methylphenidate than
      neurofeedback and physical activity (etap2 = 0.13, P <= .001). Teachers reported
      a decrease of ADHD symptoms on all measures for methylphenidate, but not for
      neurofeedback or physical activity (range of etap2 = 0.14-0.29, P < .001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The current study found that optimally titrated methylphenidate is
      superior to neurofeedback and physical activity in decreasing ADHD symptoms in
      children with ADHD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier:
      NCT01363544.

PMID- 27631144
TI  - Functional Recovery After Postpartum Psychosis: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Postpartum psychosis is an acute and severe mood disorder. Although
      the prognosis is generally good, postpartum psychosis is a highly stressful life
      event presumed to have a major impact on functioning and well-being beyond the
      acute stage of the illness. We studied functional recovery, including
      psychosocial functioning and the presence of psychological distress, in patients
      with a recent diagnosis of postpartum psychosis. METHODS: Seventy-eight patients
      with postpartum psychosis consecutively admitted for inpatient hospitalization
      between 2005 and 2011 were assessed 9 months postpartum. Included were patients
      with DSM-IV-TR diagnoses of psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, brief
      psychotic disorder, or mood disorder with psychotic features, each requiring the
      additional specifier "with postpartum onset." Functioning was assessed in 4
      domains by the Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation-Range of Impaired
      Functioning Tool (LIFE-RIFT). Symptomatology was measured by the Brief Symptom
      Inventory and compared to a matched population-based cohort. RESULTS: Nine months
      postpartum, 74% (58/78) of women with postpartum psychosis reported good
      functioning on the domains of work, interpersonal relations, recreation, and
      global satisfaction. Moreover, 88% (69/78) of patients with postpartum psychosis
      had resumed their premorbid employment and household responsibilities. Compared
      to the general population, patients with postpartum psychosis reported a higher
      burden of depression and anxiety (effect sizes r <= 0.14). Patients who had a
      relapse episode (18%) experienced considerable functional impairments across
      several domains. CONCLUSIONS: Nine months postpartum, the majority of patients
      with postpartum psychosis reported good functional recovery. Our relatively
      improved functional outcomes compared to nonpostpartum onset could be attributed
      to the postpartum onset and/or more favorable risk factor profile.

PMID- 27631145
TI  - Association Between Stigma and Depression Outcomes Among Chinese Immigrants in a
      Primary Care Setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Stigma has been proposed to be a major underlying factor contributing
      to lower rates of mental health service utilization among racial/ethnic
      minorities in the United States. Yet, surprisingly little research has
      specifically explored associations between stigma, race/ethnicity, and
      psychiatric morbidity. This study aims to assess the impact of stigmatizing
      attitudes on depression outcomes among a psychiatrically underserved, immigrant
      Chinese population. METHODS: Between 2009 and 2012, 190 Chinese immigrants with
      major depressive disorder as diagnosed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric
      Interview were enrolled in a trial of culturally sensitive collaborative care for
      depression. Participants' self-reported stigma regarding their symptoms was
      assessed at study entry using the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue, and
      depressive symptoms were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
      (HDRS) at baseline and follow-up. Hierarchical linear regression was used to
      assess the association between baseline stigma score and change in HDRS score,
      adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Higher stigma scores at baseline
      were significantly associated with attenuated improvement in both HDRS score and
      quality of life at 6 months (P < .05 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Stigma has a
      directly harmful effect on depression outcomes, even after individuals have been
      accurately diagnosed within a culturally sensitive community health center and
      agreed to treatment. These results support further research into interventions
      targeting stigma to improve mental health outcomes among minority populations.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is a secondary analysis of prospectively collected
      data from the randomized controlled trial registered by ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier: NCT00854542.

PMID- 27631146
TI  - Tic-Related Versus Tic-Free Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Clinical Picture and 2
      Year Natural Course.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The tic-related subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has a
      distinct clinical profile. The course of tic-related OCD has previously been
      investigated in treatment studies, with inconclusive results. This study aimed to
      compare clinical profiles between tic-related and tic-free OCD patients and to
      establish the influence of tics on the 2-year natural course in adult OCD
      patients. METHODS: Within the Netherlands OCD Association cohort, 377 patients
      with a current DSM-IV diagnosis of OCD were divided into a tic-related group
      (28%) and a tic-free group and compared on clinical variables with t tests or
      chi2 tests. Linear mixed-model analyses were used to compare the 2-year course
      between the groups, with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) as
      primary outcome measure. Data were collected from 2005 to 2007 and from 2007 to
      2009. RESULTS: Compared to patients with tic-free OCD, those with tic-related OCD
      reported earlier disease onset (P = .009) and more symmetry/ordering symptoms (P
      = .002). Overall symptom severity was similar in both groups. Patients with tic
      related OCD reported increased traits of attention-deficit hyperactivity (P <
      .001) and autism (P = .005) compared to the tic-free OCD group. Clinical
      improvement at 2-year follow-up (mean = 5.3-point decrease on the Y-BOCS, P <
      .001, 95% CI = 4.3 to 6.3) was not significantly moderated by tic status (P =
      .24). This remained unchanged after correcting for baseline differences.
      CONCLUSIONS: Tics do not critically affect the 2-year course of adult OCD, but
      tic-related OCD shows differences from tic-free OCD, such as early onset and
      increased autism and ADHD traits, that may indicate a neurodevelopmental subtype.

PMID- 27631147
TI  - Disability and Functioning of Patients Who Use Psychiatric Hospital Emergency
      Services.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: First, to compare the level of disability and functioning of patients
      who access psychiatric emergency services by diagnosis and service use frequency.
      Second, to compare patients who access psychiatric emergency services to the
      general population in terms of demographics and the level of disability and
      functioning. METHODS: Data from 420 patients were obtained by time-based sampling
      from August 2011 to February 2012 in the emergency department of a psychiatric
      hospital that provides services to adolescents and adults. The 2011 and 2012
      Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor surveys were used as a
      representative adult general population sample. Disability and functioning were
      measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule
      (WHODAS). RESULTS: Variation in WHODAS scores among psychiatric emergency
      patients was observed within but not between diagnostic categories and within
      frequency of use of these services categories. Psychiatric emergency patients had
      a mean WHODAS score of 38.0, significantly higher (P < .001) than the mean score
      of 5.0 for the general population; however, there was overlap in the distribution
      of WHODAS scores. Compared to the general population, psychiatric emergency
      patients were more likely to be men, younger in age, never married, and
      unemployed or a student. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric emergency patients are
      demographically different when compared to the general population. Furthermore,
      since disability and functioning are highly variable within but not between
      psychiatric diagnostic categories, data on disability and functioning should be
      collected for psychiatric emergency patients, in addition to diagnosis data, to
      more accurately align patients with the appropriate intensity of services.

PMID- 27631148
TI  - Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the US Veteran Population According to
      DSM-5: Results From the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: With the publication of DSM-5, important changes were made to the
      diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including the
      addition of 3 new symptoms. Some have argued that these changes will further
      increase the already high rates of comorbidity between PTSD and other psychiatric
      disorders. This study examined the prevalence of DSM-5 PTSD, conditional
      probability of PTSD given certain trauma exposures, endorsement of specific PTSD
      symptoms, and psychiatric comorbidities in the US veteran population. METHODS:
      Data were analyzed from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study
      (NHRVS), a Web-based survey of a cross-sectional, nationally representative,
      population-based sample of 1,484 US veterans, which was fielded from September
      through October 2013. Probable PTSD was assessed using the PTSD Checklist-5.
      RESULTS: The weighted lifetime and past-month prevalence of probable DSM-5 PTSD
      was 8.1% (SE = 0.7%) and 4.7% (SE = 0.6%), respectively. Conditional probability
      of lifetime probable PTSD ranged from 10.1% (sudden death of close family member
      or friend) to 28.0% (childhood sexual abuse). The DSM-5 PTSD symptoms with the
      lowest prevalence among veterans with probable PTSD were trauma-related amnesia
      and reckless and self-destructive behavior. Probable PTSD was associated with
      increased odds of mood and anxiety disorders (OR = 7.6-62.8, P < .001), substance
      use disorders (OR = 3.9-4.5, P < .001), and suicidal behaviors (OR = 6.7-15.1, P
      < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In US veterans, the prevalence of DSM-5 probable PTSD,
      conditional probability of probable PTSD, and odds of psychiatric comorbidity
      were similar to prior findings with DSM-IV-based measures; we found no evidence
      that changes in DSM-5 increase psychiatric comorbidity. Results underscore the
      high rates of exposure to both military and nonmilitary trauma and the high
      public health burden of DSM-5 PTSD and comorbid conditions in veterans.

PMID- 27631150
TI  - Labels, identity and narratives in children with primary speech and language
      impairments.
AB  - PURPOSE: There has been debate about labels in relation to speech and language
      impairments. However, children's views are missing from this debate, which is
      risky considering that labels with negative associations may result in stigma.
      The aim of this study was to explore the range of identities which children with
      primary speech and language impairments presented in their narratives and to
      investigate their evaluations of these identities with a view to understanding
      the values they attach to labels. METHOD: Eleven children aged 9-12 years with
      primary speech and language impairments were recruited to the study. Fifty nine
      semi-structured interviews were conducted with the aim of generating storied
      accounts of everyday experiences. The data were analysed using thematic analysis.
      Two themes were identified in the data: desired identities and undesired
      identities. RESULT: The findings suggest that the children were actively involved
      in identity construction and wanted to be seen in positive ways. They disliked
      labels assigned by others, which they considered portrayed them in negative ways.
      CONCLUSION: The debate about labels could be progressed by consulting with
      children themselves asking for their ideas in relation to labels in specialist
      education, and speech and language pathology.

PMID- 27631149
TI  - Effects of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising on Patient Prescription Requests and
      Physician Prescribing: A Systematic Review of Psychiatry-Relevant Studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To systematically analyze the effects of direct-to-consumer
      advertising (DTCA) on patient requests for medication and physician prescribing
      across psychiatry-relevant studies. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Thomson
      Reuters' ISI Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar were searched (1999-2014) using
      variations of the terms direct-to-consumer advertising and psychiatric. Reference
      lists and an online repository of DTCA manuscripts were also scrutinized. STUDY
      SELECTION: English-language studies collecting data at the point of service,
      focusing on or including psychiatric medication, and assessing the effects of
      DTCA on patient and/or physician behavior were included. Of 989 articles
      identified, 69 received full-text review. Four studies across 5 manuscripts met
      inclusion criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted on participants, study
      design, methodological quality, and results. Methodological quality of individual
      studies was assessed using adapted criteria from the Effective Public Health
      Practice Project. Confidence in conclusions across studies was determined using
      principles from the well-established GRADE system. FINDINGS: Due to lack of
      replication across strong randomized controlled trials (RCTs), no conclusions
      merited high confidence. With moderate confidence, we concluded that DTCA
      requests (1) are granted most of the time (1 RCT, 3 observational), (2) prompt
      higher prescribing volume (1 RCT, 1 observational), (3) promote greater adherence
      to minimally acceptable treatment guidelines for patients with depression (1
      RCT), and (4) stimulate overprescribing among patients with an adjustment
      disorder (1 RCT). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that DTCA requests are typically
      accommodated, promote higher prescribing volume, and have competing effects on
      treatment quality. More methodologically strong studies are needed to increase
      confidence in conclusions.

PMID- 27631151
TI  - Long-term operation of microbial electrosynthesis cell reducing CO2 to multi
      carbon chemicals with a mixed culture avoiding methanogenesis.
AB  - In microbial electrosynthesis (MES), CO2 can be reduced preferably to multi
      carbon chemicals by a biocathode-based process which uses electrochemically
      active bacteria as catalysts. A mixed anaerobic consortium from biological origin
      typically produces methane from CO2 reduction which circumvents production of
      multi-carbon compounds. This study aimed to develop a stable and robust CO2
      reducing biocathode from a mixed culture inoculum avoiding the methane
      generation. An effective approach was demonstrated based on (i) an enrichment
      procedure involving inoculum pre-treatment and several culture transfers in
      H2:CO2 media, (ii) a transfer from heterotrophic to autotrophic growth and (iii)
      a sequential batch operation. Biomass growth and gradual acclimation to CO2
      electro-reduction accomplished a maximum acetate production rate of
      400mgLcatholyte-1d-1 at -1V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Methane was never detected in more
      than 300days of operation. Accumulation of acetate up to 7-10gL-1 was repeatedly
      attained by supplying (80:20) CO2:N2 mixture at -0.9 to -1V (vs. Ag/AgCl). In
      addition, ethanol and butyrate were also produced from CO2 reduction. Thus, a
      robust CO2 reducing biocathode can be developed from a mixed culture avoiding
      methane generation by adopting the specific culture enrichment and operation
      procedures without the direct addition of chemical inhibitor.

PMID- 27631152
TI  - Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with cognitive
      training is a safe and effective modality for the treatment of Alzheimer's
      disease: clinical experience.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia among the elderly.
      Common treatments available and non-pharmacological interventions have their
      limitations, and new therapeutic approaches are critically needed. Transcranial
      magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique that generates an electric
      current-inducing modulation in cortical excitability. The previous clinical
      trials showed that combinations of rTMS and cognitive training (rTMS-COG), as
      provided by the NeuroAD medical device system, offer a novel, safe, and effective
      method improving mild-to-moderate AD patients. In this article, we present our
      experience with rTMS-COG treatment, in clinical settings, of 30 mild-to-moderate
      AD patients that received rTMS-COG commercial treatments in two clinics for 1-h
      daily sessions, 5 days per week, for 6 weeks (30 sessions). Five patients
      returned for a second treatment. ADAS-Cog and MMSE scores were measured pre- and
      post-treatments. The main analyses were conducted on patients who received 1
      treatment (n = 30). Data received from the five returning patients were analyzed
      separately. The effect of rTMS-COG treatment was statistically significant
      regarding both ADAS-Cog (-2.4 point improvement, PV <0.001) and MMSE (+1.7 points
      improvement, PV <0.001) scores. About 80 % of patients gained some cognitive
      improvement following NeuroAD treatment, with more than 60 % improving by more
      than two points, for a minimum of 9 months. The Neuronix NeuroAD System was shown
      to be a safe and effective non-invasive modality for cognitive improvement of
      Alzheimer patients, with measurable outcomes lasting, in some of them, for up to
      1 year, following completion of the 6-week daily intervention course (a carryover
      effect).

PMID- 27631153
TI  - Optimal Interval for Success in Judo World-Ranking Competitions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the optimal interval between competitions for success in
      the different events of the judo world tour. METHODS: A total of 20,916 female
      and 29,900 male competition participations in the judo world-tour competitions
      held between January 2009 and December 2015 were analyzed, considering the
      dependent variable, winning a medal, and the independent variables, levels of
      competition. RESULTS: There was an increased probability of winning a medal when
      the interval was in the 10- to 13-wk range for both male and female athletes
      competing at Grand Prix, Continental-Championship, and World-Championship events,
      whereas for Grand Slam, only men had an increased probability of winning a medal
      in this interval range. Furthermore, men had increased probability of podium
      positions in Continental Championship, World Master, and Olympic Games when the
      interval was longer than 14 wk. CONCLUSION: Optimal interval period between
      successive competitions varies according to competition level and sex; shorter
      intervals (6-9 wk) were better for female athletes competing at the lowest
      competition level (Continental Open), but for most of the competitions, the 10-
      to 13-wk interval was detected as optimal for both male and female athletes
      (Grand Prix, Continental Championship, and World Championship), whereas for the
      ranking-based qualified male competitions (ie, Masters and Olympic Games), a
      longer period (>14 wk) is needed.

PMID- 27631155
TI  - RNA-Generated and Gene-Edited Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Modeling
      and Therapy.
AB  - Cellular reprogramming by epigenomic remodeling of chromatin holds great promise
      in the field of human regenerative medicine. As an example, human-induced
      Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) obtained by reprograming of patient somatic cells
      are sufficiently similar to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and can generate all cell
      types of the human body. Clinical use of iPSCs is dependent on methods that do
      not utilize genome altering transgenic technologies that are potentially unsafe
      and ethically unacceptable. Transient delivery of exogenous RNA into cells
      provides a safer reprogramming system to transgenic approaches that rely on
      exogenous DNA or viral vectors. RNA reprogramming may prove to be more suitable
      for clinical applications and provide stable starting cell lines for gene
      editing, isolation, and characterization of patient iPSC lines. The introduction
      and rapid evolution of CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing systems has provided a readily
      accessible research tool to perform functional human genetic experiments. Similar
      to RNA reprogramming, transient delivery of mRNA encoding Cas9 in combination
      with guide RNA sequences to target specific points in the genome eliminates the
      risk of potential integration of Cas9 plasmid constructs. We present optimized
      RNA-based laboratory procedure for making and editing iPSCs. In the near-term
      these two powerful technologies are being harnessed to dissect mechanisms of
      human development and disease in vitro, supporting both basic, and translational
      research. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1262-1269, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27631154
TI  - Chronic atrial ionic remodeling by aldosterone: potentiation of L-type Ca2+
      channels and its arrhythmogenic significance.
AB  - It is widely accepted that aldosterone induces atrial fibrillation (AF) by
      promoting structural changes, but its effects on the function of primary atrial
      myocytes remain unknown. We have investigated this point in adult rat atrial
      myocytes, chronically exposed to the hormone. This treatment produced larger
      amplitude of Ca2+ transients, longer action potential (AP) duration, and higher
      incidence of unsynchronized Ca2+ oscillations. Moreover, it also gave rise to
      increases in both cell membrane capacitance (Cm, 30 %) and activity of L-type
      Ca2+ channels (LTCCs, 100 %). Concerning K+ currents, a twofold increase was also
      observed, but only in a delayed rectifier component (IKsus). Interestingly, the
      maximal conductance (Gmax) of Na+ channels was also enhanced, but it occurred in
      the face of a negative shift in the voltage dependence of inactivation. Thus, at
      physiological potentials, a decreased fraction of available channels neutralized
      the effect on GNa-max. With regard to the effects on both Cm and LTCCs, they
      involved activation of mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs), were dose-dependent
      (EC50 ~20-130 nM), and developed and recovered in days. Neither gating currents
      nor protein levels of LTCCs were altered. Instead, the effect on LTCCs was
      mimicked by cAMP, reverted by a PKA inhibitor, and attenuated by a nitric oxide
      donor (short-term exposures). Both EGTA and the antioxidant NAC prevented the
      increase in Cm, without significantly interfering with the upregulation of LTCCs.
      Overall, these results show that chronic exposures to aldosterone result in dire
      functional changes at the single myocyte level, which may explain the link
      between aldosteronism and AF.

PMID- 27631156
TI  - Chikungunya virus infections among travellers returning to Spain, 2008 to 2014.
AB  - Since the first documented autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus in the
      Caribbean island of Saint Martin in 2013, the infection has been reported within
      the Caribbean region as well as North, Central and South America. The risk of
      autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus becoming established in Spain may
      be elevated due to the large numbers of travellers returning to Spain from
      countries affected by the 2013 epidemic in the Caribbean and South America, as
      well as the existence of the Aedes albopictus vector in certain parts of Spain.
      We retrospectively analysed the laboratory diagnostic database of the National
      Centre for Microbiology, Institute of Health Carlos III (CNM-ISCIII) from 2008 to
      2014. During the study period, 264 confirmed cases, of 1,371 suspected cases,
      were diagnosed at the CNM-ISCIII. In 2014 alone, there were 234 confirmed cases.
      The highest number of confirmed cases were reported from the Dominican Republic
      (n = 136), Venezuela (n = 30) and Haiti (n = 11). Six cases were viraemic in
      areas of Spain where the vector is present. This report highlights the need for
      integrated active case and vector surveillance in Spain and other parts of Europe
      where chikungunya virus may be introduced by returning travellers. 

PMID- 27631157
TI  - Alternative approach for carious tissue removal in primary teeth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally-invasive techniques for the management of carious dental
      tissue has been well documented. This study aimed to report on the clinical and
      radiographic response after partial caries removal on left mandibular primary
      second molar. CASE REPORT: A 6-year-old boy sought treatment because of pain in
      the left mandibular primary second molar. The tooth had a deep caries lesion on
      the occlusal surface, with loss of enamel structure and dentine proximity with
      the pulp confirmed by periapical radiograph. According to the clinical and
      radiographic diagnosis, partial caries removal was the treatment of choice.
      Calcium hydroxide cement was used as pulp capping material. FOLLOW-UP: In this
      case report, partial caries removal showed satisfactory clinical and radiographic
      outcomes after 18-month following-up period. CONCLUSION: Partial caries removal
      only is applicable when properly indicated. However, further clinical studies
      with longer following-up periods are necessary.

PMID- 27631158
TI  - Hypofibrinogenemia as a clue in the presumptive diagnosis of acute promyelocytic
      leukemia.
AB  - Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a medical emergency. In order to evaluate
      the usefulness of initial coagulation parameters in the predictive value of APL
      diagnosis, 1304 consecutive newly diagnosed acute leukemia patients, including
      APL (n=211), non-APL acute myeloid leukemia (n=781) and acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia (n=312) were retrospectively evaluated between January 2011 and May
      2015. The area under curve (AUC) of fibrinogen was the largest among the
      coagulation markers based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
      The optimum cutoff value of fibrinogen was 1.87g/L (AUC=0.912, sensitivity 80.1%
      and specificity 88.8%). The optimum cutoff value of D-dimer was 2191MUg/L
      (AUC=0.786, sensitivity 81.1% and specificity 67.8%). The AUC difference between
      the fibrinogen and D-dimer was significant (P<0.001). Other coagulation markers
      showed less predictive power. Importantly, in the analysis of high white blood
      cell count (over 10*109/L) subgroup, a low fibrinogen level could efficiently
      discriminate APL patients from controls (AUC=0.983, sensitivity 96.4% and
      specificity 94.4%) with a criterion value <=1.71g/L. Thus, our results suggest
      that a low fibrinogen level could be a key marker in early prediction of APL
      diagnosis.

PMID- 27631160
TI  - Factors associated with HBV virological breakthrough.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about non-adherence to HBV therapy. This study aimed
      to investigate the relationship between self-reported missed days of antiviral
      therapy and HBV virological breakthrough and factors associated with virological
      breakthrough. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 211 HBV patients receiving
      oral antiviral therapies was undertaken at three tertiary hospitals in Sydney,
      Australia. Associations between 0 to >6 missed days in the last 30 days and
      virological breakthrough (defined as >10-fold rise in serum HBV DNA above nadir
      or after achieving virological response in the last 12 months) were examined.
      Logistic regression analyses determined the number of missed days most strongly
      associated with virological breakthrough and the associated factors. We report
      odds ratios (ORs) and relative risks (RRs). RESULTS: Of the 204, 32 participants
      (15.6%) had quantifiable HBV DNA levels (>20 IU/ml); 15 (46.8%) of them
      experienced virological breakthrough. Participants reported never missing
      medication (n=130, 63.7%) or missing 1 day (n=23, 11.3%), >1 day (n=23, 11.3%), 2
      6 days (n=15, 7.3%) and >6 days (n=13, 6.4%). The most discriminating definition
      of non-adherence was missing >1 day of medication (RR=8.3; OR=10.2, 95% CI 3.1,
      33.8, receiver operating characteristic curve 0.76). Factors independently
      associated with virological breakthrough included non-adherence (OR=9.0, 95% CI
      2.5, 31.9) diagnosed with HBV <=14 years (OR=5.3, 95% CI 1.0, 26.2) and age <=47
      years (OR=5.4, 95% CI 1.1, 26.9). CONCLUSIONS: Results provide an evidence-based
      definition of non-adherence to inform clinical practice and provide a basis for
      key patient education messages. Closer monitoring of groups at risk of viral
      breakthrough is required.

PMID- 27631159
TI  - The use of Erwinia asparaginase for adult patients with acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia after pegaspargase intolerance.
AB  - Asparaginase administration has become a crucial component of front-line
      pediatric and pediatric-insipired multi-agent regimens for the treatment of acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The aim of this retrospective study was to assess
      the safety and feasibility of switching to Erwinia asparaginase after
      pegaspargase intolerance in adult ALL patients treated at Memorial Sloan
      Kettering Cancer Center. Our analysis included 10 patients, with a median age of
      39 years (range 20-72), male predominance (90%), and a typical B-cell to T-cell
      ratio (70:30%) for ALL. Nine patients were switched to Erwinia asparaginase after
      pegaspargase hypersensitivity and one patient after grade 4 hyperbilirubinemia
      secondary to pegaspargase. With Erwinia asparaginase, no hypersensitivity
      reactions occurred and no patient developed other known clinical asparaginase
      related toxicities. Laboratory adverse effects consisted of mostly mild elevation
      in liver enzymes. No morphologic relapses have occurred in any patient switched
      to Erwinia asparaginase in first remission at a follow up of 0.4-34.6 months.
      These findings are unique in that all of our patients received Erwinia
      asparaginase after hypersensitivity or intolerance to pegaspargase and 50% of
      them were older than 40 years of age, a population with very limited Erwinia
      asparaginase data. Our observations provide preliminary information that
      treatment with Erwinia asparaginase can proceed as scheduled in adult patients,
      despite pegaspargase hypersensitivity and possibly liver intolerance.

PMID- 27631162
TI  - Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin resistance in Switzerland: regional
      differences and trends from 2004 to 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The global epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus (MRSA) is heterogeneous. The objective of this study was to evaluate MRSA
      epidemiology in Switzerland over an 11-year period. METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective study with time series analysis on S. aureus including MRSA and non
      multidrug resistant MRSA (NmMRSA). We used NmMRSA as a marker for community
      acquired MRSA. NmMRSA was defined as MRSA susceptible to at least three of the
      following agents: ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, tetracycline and trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole. RESULTS: A total of 14 648 MRSA and 115 917 methicillin
      susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates were included. Despite an overall decrease
      of the proportion of MRSA among S. aureus clinical isolates (from 14% in 2004 to
      8% in 2014), an increasing trend in NmMRSA was observed. Variations in
      geographical distribution were noted, with a decrease in the proportion of MRSA
      in the Italian- and French-speaking regions (from 20-26% in 2004 to 12% in 2014)
      and low prevalence (3-5%) in the German-speaking region. We noticed an increase
      in the proportion of MRSA in outpatients (+0.03% per quarter per year) and in the
      younger population (+0.05% per quarter per year) compared with a decreasing trend
      in inpatients and the elderly. CONCLUSION: The proportion of MRSA among S. aureus
      isolates in Switzerland decreased overall from 2004 to 2014. Worrisome increases
      of NmMRSA were found in younger persons and outpatients.

PMID- 27631161
TI  - Beyond aphasia: Altered EEG connectivity in Broca's patients during working
      memory task.
AB  - Broca's region and adjacent cortex presumably take part in working memory (WM)
      processes. Electrophysiologically, these processes are reflected in synchronized
      oscillations. We present the first study exploring the effects of a stroke
      causing Broca's aphasia on these processes and specifically on synchronized
      functional WM networks. We used high-density EEG and coherence analysis to map WM
      networks in ten Broca's patients and ten healthy controls during verbal WM task.
      Our results demonstrate that a stroke resulting in Broca's aphasia also alters
      two distinct WM networks. These theta and gamma functional networks likely
      reflect the executive and the phonological processes, respectively. The striking
      imbalance between task-related theta synchronization and desynchronization in
      Broca's patients might represent a disrupted balance between task-positive and WM
      irrelevant functional networks. There is complete disintegration of left fronto
      centroparietal gamma network in Broca's patients, which could reflect the damaged
      phonological loop.

PMID- 27631163
TI  - A Novel Flow Cytometric Method for the Simultaneous Detection of Antibodies
      Against Platelet, Lymphocyte, And Neutrophil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Platelet or neutrophil antibodies (Ab) detected by an indirect method
      need to be further investigated to confirm that they are HLA (lymphocyte)
      specific. This can only be determined by the assessment of lymphocytes from the
      same donor. We have developed an improved flow cytometric method for the
      simultaneous detection of Abs against three distinct cell types (platelets,
      lymphocytes, and neutrophils) in a single suspension. METHODS: We prepared white
      blood cell (WBC) suspensions using an overlay procedure. To enhance the retrieval
      of the three cell types during flow cytometry, the acquisition time was divided
      into two periods, platelet phase and WBC phase, and a different live acquisition
      gate was applied to each phase. The sample/control ratio of mean fluorescence
      intensity (MFI) was measured for each cell type. RESULTS: The number of cells in
      the starting cell suspension and the retrieved cell numbers of the three cell
      types were sufficient to detect their cognate antibodies. There was no
      significant difference between the MFI ratios observed in the current protocol
      and those from the conventional method (P > 0.05), and positive correlations were
      found (P < 0.05) for all three cell types. Each positive control serum with a
      specific set of Abs showed the typical comprehensive reaction pattern to the
      three cell types. Based on such patterns, 47% (14/30) of the patient sera that
      reacted with platelets were demonstrated to be due to anti-HLA Abs without
      platelet Abs. CONCLUSIONS: Our method could enhance both interpretation accuracy
      of the diagnostic test results and laboratory efficiency. As an increased
      reaction with platelets is commonly due to anti-HLA Abs, the reactivity of the
      lymphocytes from the same donor should also be tested, which can be routinely
      done by using our protocol. (c) 2016 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

PMID- 27631164
TI  - Investigation of First Identified mcr-1 Gene in an Isolate from a U.S. Patient -
      Pennsylvania, 2016.
AB  - In 2015, scientists reported the emergence of the plasmid-encoded mcr-1 gene
      conferring bacterial resistance to the antibiotic colistin (1), signaling
      potential emergence of a pandrug-resistant bacterium. In May 2016, mcr-1-positive
      Escherichia coli was first isolated from a specimen from a U.S. patient (2) when
      a Pennsylvania woman was evaluated for a urinary tract infection. The urine
      culture and subsequent testing identified the gene in an extended-spectrum beta
      lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli with reduced susceptibility to colistin. The
      patient had no international travel for approximately 1 year, no livestock
      exposure, and a limited role in meal preparation with store-bought groceries;
      however, she had multiple and repeated admissions to four medical facilities
      during 2016. 

PMID- 27631165
TI  - Home Telehealth and Caregiving Appraisal in Chronic Illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Remote health monitoring applications are being adopted to improve
      the health of chronically ill individuals. Little work has focused on the effects
      of these technologies on informal caregivers (CG) of patients with chronic
      illnesses. OBJECTIVES: To examine differences in caregiving appraisal between CG
      of enrolled and nonenrolled Veterans in the home telehealth (HT) program.
      METHODS: Cross-sectional survey methodology in 244 dyads (Veteran and CG) from 6
      rural Midwestern Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. Survey variables were derived
      from the 2004 National Alliance for Caregiving survey, along with measures of
      caregiving strain, burden, and satisfaction. RESULTS: We found no differences
      when comparing HT and non-HT CG. In multivariate analyses combining the two
      groups, CG characteristics associated with CG strain included younger age,
      providing help with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of
      daily living, use of coping skills, depressive symptoms, and less use of unpaid
      help (all p <= 0.001). Burden was associated with CG use of coping skills,
      caregiving confidence, and relationship quality with the Veteran (all p <
      0.0001). CG satisfaction was associated with presence of social support (p <
      0.0001). High CG strain was associated with Veteran hospitalization in the
      combined group (p = 0.03). Burden (p = 0.0002) was significantly associated with
      CG satisfaction. DISCUSSION: Existing HT infrastructure provides an opportunity
      to incorporate training and support programs for CG of chronically ill patients.
      Such programs could improve CG confidence and use of positive coping skills,
      lower strain and burden, and potentially improve the health of both the care
      recipient and CG.

PMID- 27631168
TI  - Indications and results of pancreatic stump duct occlusion after
      duodenopancreatectomy.
AB  - Severe post-operative complications after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) are
      largely due to pancreatic fistula onset. The occlusion of the main pancreatic
      duct using synthetic glue may prevent these complications. Aim of this study is
      to describe this technique and to report short- and long-term results as well as
      the post-operative endocrine and exocrine insufficiency. Two hundred and four
      patients who underwent PD with occlusion of the main pancreatic duct in a period
      of 15 years were retrospectively analyzed. Post-operative complications and their
      management were the main aim of the study with particular focus on pancreatic
      fistula incidence and its treatment. At 1-year follow-up endocrine and exocrine
      functions were analyzed. We observed a 54 % pancreatic fistula incidence, most of
      which (77/204 patients) were a grade A fistula with little change in medical
      management. Twenty-eight patients developed a grade B fistula while only 2 % of
      patients (5/204) developed a grade C fistula. Nine patients required re
      operation, 5 of whom had a post-operative grade C fistula. Post-operative
      mortality was 3.4 %. At 1-year follow-up, 31 % of patients developed a post
      operative diabetes while exocrine insufficiency was encountered in 88 % of
      patients. The occlusion of the main pancreatic duct after PD can be considered a
      relatively safe and easy-to-perform procedure. It should be reserved to selected
      patients, especially in case of soft pancreatic texture and small pancreatic duct
      and in elderly patients with comorbidities, in whom pancreatic fistula-related
      complications could be life threatening.

PMID- 27631169
TI  - Characterization of Ordering in A-Site Deficient Perovskite Ca1-xLa2x/3TiO3 Using
      STEM/EELS.
AB  - The vacancy ordering behavior of an A-site deficient perovskite system, Ca1
      xLa2x/3TiO3, was studied using atomic resolution scanning transmission electron
      microscopy (STEM) in conjunction with electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS),
      with the aim of determining the role of A-site composition changes. At low La
      content (x = 0.2), adopting Pbnm symmetry, there was no indication of long-range
      ordering. Domains, with clear boundaries, were observed in bright-field (BF)
      imaging, but were not immediately visible in the corresponding high-angle annular
      dark-field (HAADF) image. These boundaries, with the aid of displacement maps
      from A-site cations in the HAADF signal, are shown to be tilt boundaries. At the
      La-rich end of the composition (x = 0.9), adopting Cmmm symmetry, long-range
      ordering of vacancies and La3+ ions was observed, with alternating La-rich and La
      poor layers on (001)p planes, creating a double perovskite lattice along the c
      axis. These highly ordered domains can be found isolated within a random
      distribution of vacancies/La3+, or within a large population, encompassing a
      large volume. In regions with a high number density of double perovskite domains,
      these highly ordered domains were separated by twin boundaries, with 90 degrees 
      or 180 degrees  lattice rotations across boundaries. The occurrence and
      characteristics of these ordered structures are discussed and compared with
      similar perovskite systems.

PMID- 27631170
TI  - Development and characterization of cross-linked gellan gum and retrograded
      starch blend hydrogels for drug delivery applications.
AB  - The retrogradation of high amylose starch (5% or 10%), by isothermal cycles at 4
      degrees C (method 1) or by alternating thermal cycles (method 2) was efficient
      and promoted important structural modifications. Hydrogels of gellan gum and
      starch retrograded blends, containing or not ketoprofen, were prepared by ionic
      and dual cross-linking, at different concentrations of polymer and cross-linkers,
      and characterized by texture and rheological analysis, X-ray diffraction and
      morphological analysis. The ionic cross-linking and starch retrograded by method
      1 contributed to the improvement of hardness and cohesiveness of hydrogels while
      the dual cross-linking and starch retrograded by method 2 favored the
      adhesiveness. The rising of polymer concentration lead to the improvement of all
      mechanical parameters. Rheological data demonstrated that non-cross-linked
      dispersions showed a behavior of weak gels and the cross-linked hydrogels
      presented a predominantly elastic behavior (G'?G"), peculiar of strong gels. X
      ray diffraction, rheological data and the scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM)
      revealed that the increase of polymers and cross-linkers concentration and the
      presence of drug resulted in stronger and more stable tridimensional structures.
      The suitable adhesiveness and high strength and elasticity of hydrogels H253IC
      KT, H255IC-KT, H21053DC-KT and H21055DC-KT make them more promising materials for
      the design of mucoadhesive drug delivery systems.

PMID- 27631171
TI  - Subject-specific musculoskeletal loading of the tibia: Computational load
      estimation.
AB  - The systematic development of subject-specific computer models for the analysis
      of personalized treatments is currently a reality. In fact, many advances have
      recently been developed for creating virtual finite element-based models. These
      models accurately recreate subject-specific geometries and material properties
      from recent techniques based on quantitative image analysis. However, to
      determine the subject-specific forces, we need a full gait analysis, typically in
      combination with an inverse dynamics simulation study. In this work, we aim to
      determine the subject-specific forces from the computer tomography images used to
      evaluate bone density. In fact, we propose a methodology that combines these
      images with bone remodelling simulations and artificial neural networks. To test
      the capability of this novel technique, we quantify the personalized forces for
      five subject-specific tibias using our technique and a gait analysis. We compare
      both results, finding that similar vertical loads are estimated by both methods
      and that the dominant part of the load can be reliably computed. Therefore, we
      can conclude that the numerical-based technique proposed in this work has great
      potential for estimating the main forces that define the mechanical behaviour of
      subject-specific bone.

PMID- 27631172
TI  - Computational design and fabrication of a novel bioresorbable cage for tibial
      tuberosity advancement application.
AB  - Tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) is a promising method for the treatment of
      cruciate ligament rupture in dogs that usually implies the implantation of a
      titanium cage as bone implant. This cage is non-biodegradable and fails in
      providing adequate implant-bone tissue integration. The objective of this work is
      to propose a new process chain for designing and manufacturing an alternative
      biodegradable cage that can fulfill specific patient requirements. A three
      dimensional finite element model (3D FEM) of the TTA system was first created to
      evaluate the mechanical environment at cage domain during different stages of the
      dog walk. The cage microstructure was then optimized using a topology
      optimization tool, which addresses the accessed local mechanical requirements,
      and at same time ensures the maximum permeability to allow nutrient and oxygen
      supply to the implant core. The designed cage was then biofabricated by a 3D
      powder printing of tricalcium phosphate cement. This work demonstrates that the
      combination of a 3D FEM with a topology optimization approach enabled the design
      of a novel cage for TTA application with tailored permeability and mechanical
      properties, that can be successfully 3D printed in a biodegradable bioceramic
      material. These results support the potential of the design optimization strategy
      and fabrication method to the development of customized and bioresorbable
      implants for bone repair.

PMID- 27631174
TI  - Synthesis of bovine serum albumin-protected high fluorescence Pt16-nanoclusters
      and their application to detect sulfide ions in solutions.
AB  - Highly fluorescent (quantum yield, QY = 17%) Pt16-nanoclusters (Pt16-NCs@BSA)
      have been prepared via a one-step ultrasonic-assistance method by using cheap and
      easily available ascorbic acid as reductant and bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a
      stabilizing agent in aqueous solution. The fluorescence properties of the Pt
      NCs@BSA can be easily controlled by optimizing conditions, and the products are
      extremely stable and could be used for the detection of sulfide ions (S(2-)) in
      solutions as a specific luminescence sensor. The present synthesis method is
      performed in one step, being cost-effective with a particularly short reaction
      time, which could be extended to the synthesis of other kinds of protein
      protected Pt-NCs. 

PMID- 27631173
TI  - Endothelial pattern formation in hybrid constructs of additive manufactured
      porous rigid scaffolds and cell-laden hydrogels for orthopedic applications.
AB  - Vascularization of tissue engineering constructs (TECs) in vitro is of critical
      importance for ensuring effective and satisfactory clinical outcomes upon
      implantation of TECs. Biomechanical properties of TECs have remarkable influence
      on the in vitro vascularization of TECs. This work utilized in vitro experiments
      and finite element analysis to investigate endothelial patterns in hybrid
      constructs of soft collagen gels and rigid macroporous poly(epsilon-caprolactone)
      beta-tricalcium phosphate (PCL-beta-TCP) scaffold seeded/embedded with human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) for bone tissue engineering
      applications. We first fabricated and characterized well-defined porous PCL-beta
      TCP scaffolds with identical pore size (500um) but different strut sizes (200 and
      400um) using additive manufacturing (AM) technology, and then assessed the
      HUVEC's proliferation and morphogenesis within collagen, PCL-beta-TCP scaffold,
      and the collagen-scaffold hybrid construct. Results showed that, in the hybrid
      construct, the cell population in the collagen component dropped by day 7 but
      then increased by day 14. Also, cells migrated onto the struts of the scaffold
      component, proliferated over time, and formed networks on the thinner struts
      (i.e., 200um). Also, the thinner struts resulted in formation of long linear
      cellular cords structures within the pores. Finite element simulation
      demonstrated principal stress patterns similar to the observed cell-network
      pattern. It is probable that the scaffold component modulated patterns of
      principal stresses in the collagen component as biomechanical cues for
      reorganization of cell network patterns. Also, the scaffold component
      significantly improved the mechanical integrity of hydrogel component in the
      hybrid construct for weight-bearing applications. These results have collectively
      indicated that the manipulation of micro-architecture of scaffold could be an
      effective means to further regulate and guide desired cellular response in hybrid
      constructs.

PMID- 27631175
TI  - Study of Transected Sciatic Nerve Repair by Amniotic Membrane with Betamethasone
      in Adult Albino Wistar Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of amniotic
      membrane impregnated with betamethasone on regeneration of transected sciatic
      nerve injury in adult albino Wister rats. METHODS: In this research, 42 male
      adult rats were divided into six equal groups. 1) Normal (intact) group: healthy
      rats without any injury; 2) CONTROL GROUP: sciatic nerve was cut and sutured; 3)
      Sham group: 0.2 mL culture medium was injected on the epineurium in the injury;
      4) Amniotic membrane group (AM): Acellular amniotic membrane was used around the
      damaged sciatic nerve; 5) Betamethasone group (B): 0.2 mL Betamethasone (4 mg/mL)
      was injected in the site of damaged nerve and 6) Amniotic membrane group and
      Betamethasone (AM/B) group: Acellular amniotic membrane impregnated with 0.2 mL
      betamethasone was used around the damaged sciatic nerve. The rate of recovery was
      studied by Sciatic Functional Index (SFI), withdrawal reflex latency (WRL) test
      and electroctrophysiological assessments at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after surgery.
      Histological assessment was done 8 weeks after surgery. RESULTS: At 8 weeks after
      surgery, SFI, WRL test and electrophysiological values in AM/B group were
      significantly improved compared to control and sham groups (P < 0.05).
      Histological results showed improvement in therapeutic groups, especially AM/B
      group compared to control and sham groups and other therapeutic groups (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The present study showed the positive effects of Amniotic
      membrane and Betamethasone on nerve regeneration of transected sciatic nerve in a
      rat model.

PMID- 27631176
TI  - Effect of Air Temperature and Universal Thermal Climate Index on Respiratory
      Diseases Mortality in Mashhad, Iran.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Climatic factors with desired and sometimes undesired effects lead to
      changes in the human body, such as hypothermia, influenza, heart disease, stroke,
      asthma, etc. The present study investigates the role of temperature in
      respiratory mortality in Mashhad, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among the
      respiratory mortality data, daily temperature, wind speed and relative humidity
      from 2004 to 2013 were used. First, Tmrt parameter was calculated through Ray Man
      software and the values of UTCI index were obtained using Bioklima software.
      Finally, the correlation between the thresholds of the above-mentioned index and
      temperature as well as mortality was calculated. In addition, the mortality risk
      ratio in all of these thresholds was calculated. RESULT: The results show that
      the UTCI index has changed from 32 degrees C to 40 degrees C in Mashhad. There is
      a strong and negative relationship between the maximum temperature (r = -0.90, P
      value < 0.001) and mortality, and a positive relationship between the minimum
      temperature and mortality. In addition, the correlation between index and
      mortality shows that the highest positive and strong correlation is observed in
      negative temperature thresholds with cold stress. Thresholds with thermal stress
      are also inversely associated with mortality. The study of the mortality risk
      ratio in all thermal stress thresholds shows that in average cold stresses and a
      10 degrees C reduction, the mortality risk ratio increases by 1.36% in the
      significance level of 95%. CONCLUSION: Generally, mortality increases with
      decreasing temperature and increasing cold stresses and the mortality risk
      increases by 1.36% per 10 degrees C reduction.

PMID- 27631177
TI  - Development of Poly (A)-Tailed Universal Reverse Transcription PCR Method for
      Sequence-Independent Amplification of Rearranged Rotavirus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Group A Rotaviruses (GARV) are the main viral cause of acute
      gastroenteritis, leading to 870,000 deaths annually in the developing world and
      representing a major health problem. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of this
      disease are crucial. Gene rearrangement within segmented viruses as well as
      rotavirus is seen throughout chronic rotavirus infection in immunodeficient young
      children and through serial passage of rotavirus in cell culture at a high
      multiplicity of infection. Detailed knowledge of rotavirus biology allows design
      of a vaccine against rotavirus by engineered antigens. The aim of this study was
      to develop Poly (A) -Tailed universal Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain
      Reaction (RT-PCR) method and compare the efficacy of this procedure with specific
      multiplex PCR protocol for detecting normal and rearranged segments. METHODS:
      Virus was propagated on confluent monolayer of MA-104 cells and aliquots of each
      passage were kept frozen for further RNA genomic profiles analysis by
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Purified Rota virus RNA was polyadenylated
      and used for the amplification and detection of normal and rearranged segments of
      rotavirus using RT-PCR. RESULTS: The generation of gene rearrangement through
      multiple serial passages of rotavirus was shown using MOI >= 1 . The rearranged
      RNA segments of NSP1 and NSP3 genes with different migration pattern in PAGE were
      detected by poly(A)RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: In the current research, a novel Poly(A) 
      Tailed Universal Reverse Transcription PCR method was introduced for the high
      throughput amplification and analysis of the informative untranslated regions of
      the rotavirus genome.

PMID- 27631178
TI  - Regression of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver by Vitamin D Supplement: A Double-Blind
      Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evidence indicates that NAFLD patients are vitamin D deficient.
      Vitamin D has new roles in lipid and glucose metabolism. The aim of this study
      was to examine the effects of calcitriol supplementation on the NAFLD progression
      based on liver lipid accumulation, serum lipid profile and insulin resistance.
      METHODS: We randomly assigned 73 patients with NAFLD-confirmed by ultra
      sonography to 12 weeks of treatment with hypocaloric diet (reduction of 500 kcal
      per day) plus 25 ug of calcitriol supplement or a hypocaloric diet plus placebo.
      Before and after treatment, we assessed anthropometric parameters, grade of fatty
      liver, serum lipoproteins, liver enzymes and insulin level. RESULT: Baseline
      variables were not significantly different between groups. A statistically
      significant reduction in anthropometric measures was observed over the 12 weeks
      in both groups. However, no significant differences were seen between groups
      after intervention. Compared with the placebo, reductions in triglyceride and an
      increase in HDL cholesterol were seen over the 12 weeks of intervention in the
      calcitriol group (P = 0.002 and P = 0.004). AST level was decreased in the
      calcitriol group (-4.2 +/- 4.3 umol/L, P < 0.001), but increased in the placebo
      group (12.6 +/- 6.1 umol/L, P = 0.02) after 12 weeks. Reductions in mean
      difference of ALT, insulin and HOMA were significantly higher in the calcitriol
      than placebo group (P = 0.01, P = 0.007 and 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Calcitriol
      supplementation combined with weight loss diet showed no significant effects on
      anthropometric measures in NAFLD patients. However, it may have positive effects
      on lipid profile, liver enzyme tests and insulin sensitivity during a weight-loss
      program.

PMID- 27631179
TI  - Caring for Acutely Ill Patients in General Wards: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The number of acutely ill patients has risen in general wards due
      to the aging population, more advanced and complicated therapeutic methods,
      economic changes in the health system, therapeutic choices and shortage of
      intensive care unit beds. This may lead to adverse events and outcomes with
      catastrophic results. The purpose of this study was to describe the conditions of
      acutely ill patients, from the perspective of caregivers. METHODS: The study was
      conducted in Tehran University of Medical Sciences and its two affiliated general
      teaching hospitals. Ten nurses and physicians participated in interviews, which
      were analyzed using qualitative content analysis methods. RESULTS: Four main
      categories of difficulties in caring for acutely ill patients in general wards
      were described: problems in identifying acutely ill patients, problems in
      clinical management of acutely ill patients, inappropriate use of Intensive Care
      Unit (ICU) beds, and poor structure for mortality control. The staff do not
      appropriately diagnose the signs of deterioration. There are problems with the
      appropriate management of acutely ill patients, even if they are considered to be
      acutely ill and in need of special attention in general wards. CONCLUSION: Many
      shortcomings exist caring for acutely ill patients, ranging from identification
      to clinical management; there are also structural and contextual problems. An
      immediate plan is necessary to circumvent the challenges and to improve the care
      for acutely ill patients. These challenges highlight the need for changes in
      current levels of care for acutely ill patients, as well as the need for
      appropriate support systems.

PMID- 27631180
TI  - Evaluation of miR-182/miR-100 Ratio for Diagnosis and Survival Prediction in
      Bladder Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) plays an important role in
      development of several cancer types, including bladder cancer (BCa). However, the
      relationship between the ratio of miR-181/miR-100 and the prognosis of BCa has
      not been studied yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of miR
      182, miR-100 and their clinical significance in BCa. METHODS: Upregulation of miR
      182 and down-regulation of miR-100 were validated in tissue specimens of 134 BCa
      cases compared with 148 normal bladder epithelia (NBE) specimens  using TaqMan
      based real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The diagnostic
      and prognostic evaluation of miR-182, miR-100, and miR-182/miR-100 ratio was also
      performed. RESULTS: miR-182 was upregulated in BCa and miR-100 was down-regulated
      in BCa compared with NBE (P < 0.001). The areas under receiver operating
      characteristic curves (AUCs-ROC) for miR-182 and miR-100 were 0.913 and 0.810,
      respectively. However, miR-182/miR-100 ratio increased the diagnostic
      performance, yielding an AUC of 0.981 (97.01% sensitivity and 90.54%
      specificity). Moreover, miR-182/miR-100 ratio was associated with pT-stage,
      histological grade, BCa recurrence and carcinoma in situ (P < 0.05 for all).
      Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that miR-182/miR-100 ratio was an
      independent prognostic factor for overall survival (Hazard ratio: 7.142; 95% CI:
      2.106 - 9.891; P < 0.01). Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier curve analysis revealed that
      high-level of miR-182/miR-100 ratio was significantly correlated with shortened
      survival time for BCa patients (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The miR-182/miR-100 ratio
      may serve as a novel promising biomarker for diagnosis and survival prediction in
      BCa. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of miR-182/miR-100 ratio as
      a non-invasive diagnostic tool for BCa.

PMID- 27631181
TI  - Validation of Simplified Tools for Assessment of Sodium Intake in Iranian
      Population: Rationale, Design and Initial Findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 24-hour urine sodium excretion is considered the gold standard
      method to estimate salt intake. However, since this method is not easy to
      perform, this study developed two instruments, including a semi-quantitative food
      frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and one spot urine sodium excretion, to assess
      sodium intake. These two methods were then compared with 24-h urine sodium
      excretion and twelve 24-h recalls during a year. METHODS: This study was
      performed on 219 healthy subjects aged >= 6 years in 2014-2015. The FFQ was
      completed twice, at baseline and one year thereafter, to examine the
      reproducibility of the FFQ. The validity of three spot urine sodium excretions in
      the morning, afternoon, and evening and FFQ for the assessment of sodium intake
      were compared against the 24-h urine sodium excretion method. Moreover, the
      validity of FFQ was examined against 24-h dietary recalls for the assessment of
      total sodium consumption and contribution of food groups to sodium intake. The
      content validity of the FFQ was estimated by an expert panel including 10
      nutritionists. RESULTS: Based on their nutrients, the final food items were
      categorized into 11 groups including: 1) dairy products, 2) fruits, 3)
      vegetables, 4) meat and egg, 5) grains and legumes, 6) mixed dishes, prepared
      foods, and restaurant foods, 8) nuts and seeds, 8) oils and fats, 9) sauces and
      desserts, 10) drinks, and 11) others. CONCLUSIONS: Spot urine and a specific FFQ
      comprising 136 items were used to develop a method for the assessment of sodium
      intake and contribution of foods to its intake among the Iranian population. This
      method can be used in large-scale population studies at the national level.

PMID- 27631182
TI  - Validation for Persian Versions of "Desire for Drug Questionnaire" and "Obsessive
      Compulsive Drug Use Scale" in Heroin Dependents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Drug Craving could be defined as a subjective motivational state
      associated with a strong desire to consume drugs. Craving is a subjective
      phenomenon; therefore, self-report (subjective) craving measures are usually
      referenced. Two well-known questionnaires for measurement of drug craving
      severity are Desire for Drug Questionnaire or DDQ (for instant craving) and
      Obsessive Compulsive Drug Use Scale or OCDUS [for craving in a period of time
      (periodic craving), usually one week]. In this study, we evaluated the content
      related validity of these questionnaires for Persian-language speaking
      crystalline-heroin abusers. METHODS: After translation by two different groups,
      back translation and retranslation process of the DDQ and OCDUS questionnaires
      were achieved by an expert team in English language; we used them for evaluation
      of instant and periodic craving among 131 male crystalline-heroin abusers. Then,
      both DDQ and OCDUS questionnaire's scores were subjected to an exploratory
      principal components factor analysis (PCA). The criterion for factor extraction
      was an eigenvalue equal to or more than 1. RESULTS: The factor analysis of DDQ
      and OCDUS led to three factors for DDQ and four factors for OCDUS; each group of
      factors together explained 62% and 65% of the common factor variance,
      respectively. There was no significant correlation between different DDQ and
      OCDUS components and demographic factors. Nevertheless, approximately all of the
      seven OCDUS and DDQ components were significantly correlated to each other.
      CONCLUSION: The Persian version of DDQ and OCDUS questionnaires could be
      considered as valid and reliable instruments for evaluation of drug craving in
      male crystalline-heroin Persian-language speaking abusers.

PMID- 27631183
TI  - Standardization as a Tool for Causal Inference in Medical Research.
AB  - Traditional standardization methods have been used in medical research for a long
      time to standardize the effect of interest for one confounder such as age. Model
      based standardization extension of these methods is used when we have more than
      one variable produces an effect which is the population average and has marginal
      causal interpretation. In this paper, we discuss the most traditional model-based
      standardization methods that are used to estimate the marginal causal effect of
      exposure. We applied these methods to data from Tehran Thyroid Study and
      estimated the standardized effect of exposure on outcome. Based on the simulation
      studies, covariate standardization is preferred except when 1) we have enough
      information about the mechanism of exposure or 2) the outcome is rare and
      exposure is frequent, so propensity score standardization is suggested. 

PMID- 27631184
TI  - Multi-Target Approach to Metastatic Adrenal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Adrenal cell carcinoma is a rare tumor and more than 70% of patients present with
      advanced stages. Adrenal cell carcinoma is an aggressive tumor with a poor
      prognosis. Surgical intervention is the gold standard treatment and mitotane is
      the only drug approved for the treatment of adrenal cell carcinoma. Until
      recently in 2012, the etoposide, doxorubicin, cisplatin plus mitotane are
      approved as first-line therapy based on response rate and progression-free
      survival. This case illustrates a case of advanced adrenal cell carcinoma in a
      young girl who presented with huge adrenal mass with inferior vena cava
      thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Multi-approach of therapy was used to control
      the tumor size and metastasis. Therefore, it may prolong her survival rate for up
      to 5 years and 4 months. 

PMID- 27631185
TI  - Pericardial Graft vs. Host Disease in a Patient with beta-Thalassemia Major.
AB  - Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in young children improves results in beta
      thalassemia major. Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is an important complication
      of peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. GVHD affects heart with a behavior
      resembling an autoimmune disease, including pericardial effusion. We describe a
      22-year-old beta-thalassemia major patient who underwent bone marrow
      transplantation with an HLA-identical sibling donor. The patient didn't have any
      serious problem until 15 months after transplantation. He presented with chest
      discomfort and progressive dyspnea. Early echocardiogram showed mild pericardial
      effusion. Four days later, the effusion had increased, impending to cardiac
      temponade requiring pericardectomy. Immunospressive drugs and pericardectomy
      resulted in significant improvement in ventricular filling.  Cardiac cGVHD, an un
      common complication of HSCT may be presented as pericardial effusion. Although
      early initiation of steroids is very important, heart monitoring is necessary to
      diagnose cardiac temponade. 

PMID- 27631186
TI  - Factors Influencing Outcomes in Intensive Care Unit Patients with Nosocomial
      Infections.

PMID- 27631187
TI  - Precision Medicine 2.0: The Rise of Glocal Innovation, Superconnectors, and
      Design Thinking.

PMID- 27631188
TI  - Conference Report: First Pharmacogenetics and Precision Medicine Conference in
      Africa (April 7-9, 2016, Cape Town, South Africa).

PMID- 27631189
TI  - Pharmacogenomics of Rosuvastatin: A Glocal (Global+Local) African Perspective and
      Expert Review on a Statin Drug.
AB  - The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in African populations residing
      in the African continent is on the rise fueled by both a steady increase in CVD
      risk factors and comorbidities such as human immunodeficiency virus/acquired
      immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), tuberculosis, and parasitic diseases such
      as bilharzia. Statins are recommended together with lifestyle changes in the
      treatment of hypercholesterolemia and overall reduction of cardiovascular events.
      Rosuvastatin in particular is an attractive candidate in the management of CVDs
      in African populations often plagued with multimorbidities owing to both its
      potency and low drug-to-drug interaction potential. In this expert review, we
      describe the pharmacogenetics of rosuvastatin and how it may instrumentally
      affect the African populations. We describe polymorphisms in the candidate genes,
      ABCG2, SLCO1B1, CYP2C9, APOE, PCSK9, LDLR, LPA, and HMGCR, and their role in the
      potency and safety of rosuvastatin therapy. We report on qualitative and
      quantitative differences in the distribution of genetic variants that affect
      efficacy and toxicity of rosuvastatin. These differences are observed across
      world populations (Caucasian, European, and Asian) as well as within African
      populations. Finally, we advocate for extensive pharmacogenetic studies in
      African populations that take into account the genetic diversity of intra-African
      ethnic groups and the genetic differences between African populations and other
      global populations, with a collaborative and collective aim to provide effective
      and safe use of rosuvastatin in management of CVD in Africa. Our key thesis
      presented in this innovation field analysis is that rosuvastatin precision
      medicine can serve as a veritable Glocal (Global and Local) model to offer
      pharmacogenetic-guided optimal therapeutics for the public in both developing and
      developed regions of the world.

PMID- 27631190
TI  - A Comprehensive Proteomics Analysis of the Human Iris Tissue: Ready to Embrace
      Postgenomics Precision Medicine in Ophthalmology?
AB  - The annual economic burden of visual disorders in the United States was estimated
      at $139 billion. Ophthalmology is therefore one of the salient application fields
      of postgenomics biotechnologies such as proteomics in the pursuit of global
      precision medicine. Interestingly, the protein composition of the human iris
      tissue still remains largely unexplored. In this context, the uveal tract
      constitutes the vascular middle coat of the eye and is formed by the choroid,
      ciliary body, and iris. The iris forms the anterior most part of the uvea. It is
      a thin muscular diaphragm with a central perforation called pupil. Inflammation
      of the uvea is termed uveitis and causes reduced vision or blindness. However,
      the pathogenesis of the spectrum of diseases causing uveitis is still not very
      well understood. We investigated the proteome of the iris tissue harvested from
      healthy donor eyes that were enucleated within 6 h of death using high-resolution
      Fourier transform mass spectrometry. A total of 4959 nonredundant proteins were
      identified in the human iris, which included proteins involved in signaling, cell
      communication, metabolism, immune response, and transport. This study is the
      first attempt to comprehensively profile the global proteome of the human iris
      tissue and, thus, offers the potential to facilitate biomedical research into
      pathological diseases of the uvea such as Behcet's disease, Vogt Koyonagi
      Harada's disease, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Finally, we make a call to
      the broader visual health and ophthalmology community that proteomics offers a
      veritable prospect to obtain a systems scale, functional, and dynamic picture of
      the eye tissue in health and disease. This knowledge is ultimately pertinent for
      precision medicine diagnostics and therapeutics innovation to address the
      pressing needs of the 21st century visual health.

PMID- 27631191
TI  - Human Genetic Variation, Sport and Exercise Medicine, and Achilles Tendinopathy:
      Role for Angiogenesis-Associated Genes.
AB  - Sport and Exercise Medicine is one of the important subspecialties of 21st
      century healthcare contributing to improving the physical function, health, and
      vitality of populations while reducing the prevalence of lifestyle-related
      diseases. Moreover, sport and exercise are associated with injuries such as
      Achilles tendinopathy, which is a common tendon injury. The angiogenesis
      associated signaling pathway plays a key role in extracellular matrix remodeling,
      with increased levels of angiogenic cytokines reported after cyclic stretching of
      tendon fibroblasts. We investigated the variants in angiogenesis genes in
      relation to the risk of Achilles tendinopathy in two population samples drawn
      independently from South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK). The study
      sample comprised 120 SA and 130 UK healthy controls, and 108 SA and 87 UK
      participants with Achilles tendinopathy. All participants were genotyped for five
      functional polymorphisms in the vascular endothelial growth factor, A isoform
      (VEGFA) (rs699947, rs1570360, rs2010963) and kinase insert-domain receptor (KDR)
      genes (rs1870377, rs2071559). The VEGFA A-G-G inferred haplotype was associated
      with an increased risk of Achilles tendinopathy in the SA group (15% in controls
      vs. 20% in cases, p = 0.048) and the combined SA+UK group (14% in controls vs.
      20% in cases, p = 0.009). These new findings implicate the VEGFA gene with
      Achilles tendinopathy risk, while highlighting the potential biological
      significance of the angiogenesis signaling pathway in the etiology of Achilles
      tendinopathy. The evidence suggesting a genetic contribution to the
      susceptibility of sustaining a tendon injury is growing. We anticipate that high
      throughput and multi-omics approaches, building on genomics, proteomics, and
      metabolomics, may soon uncover the pathophysiology of many diseases in the field
      of Sports and Exercise Medicine, as a new frontier of global precision medicine.

PMID- 27631193
TI  - SLCO1B1 Gene Variations Among Tanzanians, Ethiopians, and Europeans: Relevance
      for African and Worldwide Precision Medicine.
AB  - The solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 1B1 (SLCO1B1) gene
      encodes for a membrane-bound organic anion transporter protein involved in active
      cellular influx of many endogenous compounds and xenobiotics. SLCO1B1 genetic
      variation is associated, for example, with highly variable rifampicin exposure,
      thus influencing the cornerstone antituberculosis therapy, especially in sub
      Saharan Africa where it is a key therapeutic modality. Yet, there is no SLCO1B1
      guided pharmacogenetic dosing recommendation for rifampicin to reduce the risk of
      adverse events or therapy failure. Accordingly, comparative characterization of
      SLCO1B1, particularly within understudied African populations, is crucial and
      timely for global precision medicine, given the importance of antituberculosis
      therapy worldwide. Therefore, we report here the allele, genotype, and haplotype
      frequencies for common SLCO1B1 gene polymorphisms among Europeans (N = 57),
      Tanzanians (N = 361), and Ethiopians (N = 632). Our results show that the allele
      frequencies of rs4149032T, rs2306283G, rs11045819A, and rs4149056C differ
      significantly among Ethiopians (48.1%, 60.3%, 2.8%, 19.1%). Tanzanians (51.9%,
      86.8%, 4.7%, 3.2%), and Europeans (19.8%, 34.2%, 7.9%, 22.8%) (p < 0.001).
      Notably, the most common haplotypes in Tanzanians (TGCT; g.38664T + c.388G +
      c.463C + c.521T = 61.1%) and Europeans (CGCT, all wild-type SLCO1B*1A = 59.8%)
      occurred at a much lower frequency in Ethiopians (TGCT = 38.8% and CGCT = 31.6%)
      (p < 0.0001). Additionally, the nonfunctional SLCO1B1 haplotypes CGCC (*15) and
      CACC (*5) are relatively common or detectable in Ethiopians (14.1%, 3.2%,
      respectively) and Europeans (18.1%, 2.8%) but rare in Tanzanians (1.9% and 0%,
      respectively) (p < 0.001). These new observations collectively underscore that
      precision medicine for rifampicin and other cornerstone therapeutics will require
      a comparative study of each and every population in the African continent as well
      as globally. SLCO1B1 and its extensive within- and between-population variations
      have to be carefully borne in mind for global precision medicine.

PMID- 27631192
TI  - African Lettuce (Launaea taraxacifolia) Displays Possible Anticancer Effects and
      Herb-Drug Interaction Potential by CYP1A2, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19 Inhibition.
AB  - Medicinal plants are part of the healthcare systems worldwide, especially in low-
      and middle-income countries. African lettuce (Launaea taraxacifolia) is
      cultivated extensively in Africa, from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia and
      Tanzania in the east, and in Southern Africa. Potential anticancer effects of L.
      taraxacifolia have been suggested, but little is known about putative molecular
      mechanisms or potential for herb-drug interactions through inhibition or
      induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes. We investigated the effects of crude
      aqueous extracts of L. taraxacifolia on growth kinetics and cell cycle
      progression of the WHC01 esophageal cancer cells. Antiproliferative and apoptotic
      effects were evaluated using the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5
      diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay and flow cytometry, while examining, in
      parallel, the genes regulating apoptosis and cell cycle in this cell culture
      model. In addition, we tested the inhibitory and enzyme kinetic effects of the
      aqueous L. taraxacifolia using recombinant human CYP450 isozyme model systems
      (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19). L. taraxacifolia exhibited a significant growth
      inhibitory effect on the WHC01 cancer cells. Most cell cycle genes were
      downregulated. Cell cycle analysis showed a G0-G1 cell cycle arrest in WHC01
      cells in the presence of L. taraxacifolia extract, accompanied by morphological
      changes. L. taraxacifolia extract treatment resulted in downregulation of
      expression levels of CYP1A2 (p < 0.0005) and CYP2C19 (p < 0.003) by 50-70%. L.
      taraxacifolia extract caused reversible and time-dependent inhibition of the
      recombinant CYP1A2, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19. This study provides new insights on
      possible anticancer effects of L. taraxacifolia, a widely used medicinal plant in
      parts of Africa and across the world especially by patients with cancer. Further
      mechanistic studies expanding on these observations would be timely and
      contribute to the field of global precision medicine that requires solid
      understanding of drug and herb molecular mechanisms of action and drug-herb
      interaction potentials, given the worldwide use of medicinal plants.

PMID- 27631194
TI  - Mapping SLCO1B1 Genetic Variation for Global Precision Medicine in Understudied
      Regions in Africa: A Focus on Zulu and Cape Admixed Populations.
AB  - The U.S. President Barack Obama has announced, in his State of the Union address
      on January 20, 2015, the Precision Medicine Initiative, a US$215-million program.
      For global precision medicine to become a reality, however, biological and
      environmental "variome" in previously understudied populations ought to be mapped
      and catalogued. Chief among the molecular targets that warrant global mapping is
      the organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1), encoded by solute
      carrier organic anion transporter family member 1B1 (SLCO1B1), a hepatic uptake
      transporter predominantly expressed in the basolateral side of hepatocytes. Human
      OATP1B1 plays a crucial role in the transport of a wide variety of substrates.
      This includes endogenous compounds such as bile salts as well as medicines,
      including benzylpenicillin, methotrexate, pravastatin, and rifampicin, and
      natural toxins microcystin and phalloidin. Genetic variations observed in the
      SLCO1B1 gene have been associated with altered in vitro and in vivo OATP1B1
      transport activity, and consequently influencing patients' response to medicines,
      toxins, and susceptibility to common complex diseases. Well-characterized
      haplotypes, *5 (RS4149056C) and *15 (RS4149056T), have been associated with a
      strikingly reduced uptake of multiple OATP1B1 substrates, including estrone-3
      sulfate, estradiol-17beta-d-glucuronide, atorvastatin, cerivastatin, pravastatin,
      and rifampicin. In particular, RS4149056C is observed in 60% of the Cape admixed
      (CA) population and is associated with increased plasma concentrations of many
      statins as well as fexofenadine and repaglinide. We designed and optimized a
      SNaPshot minisequencing panel to characterize the variants of relevance for
      precision medicine in the clinic. We report here the first study on allele and
      genotype frequencies for 10 nonsynonymous, 4 synonymous, and 6 intronic single
      nucleotide polymorphisms of SLCO1B1 in the Zulu and CA populations of South
      Africa. These variants are further contextualized here, in relation to their
      potential clinical relevance. These observations collectively contribute to
      current efforts to advance global precision medicine in understudied populations
      and resource-limited regions of the world.

PMID- 27631196
TI  - Assessment of PM2.5 sources and their corresponding level of uncertainty in a
      coastal urban area using EPA PMF 5.0 enhanced diagnostics.
AB  - Datasets that include only the PM elemental composition and no other important
      constituents such as ions and OC, should be treated carefully when used for
      source apportionment. This work is demonstrating how a source apportionment study
      utilizing PMF 5.0 enhanced diagnostic tools can achieve an improved solution with
      documented levels of uncertainty for such a dataset. The uncertainty of the
      solution is rarely reported in source apportionment studies or it is reported
      partially. Reporting the uncertainty of the solution is very important especially
      in the case of small datasets. PM2.5 samples collected in Patras during the year
      2011 were used. The concentrations of 22 elements (Z=11-33) were determined using
      PIXE. Source apportionment analysis revealed that PM2.5 emission sources were
      biomass burning (11%), sea salt (8%), shipping emissions (10%), vehicle emissions
      (33%), mineral dust (2%) and secondary sulfates (33%) while unaccounted mass was
      3%. Although Patras city center is located in a very close proximity to the
      city's harbor, the contribution of shipping originating emissions was never
      before quantified. As rotational stability is hard to be achieved when a small
      dataset is used the rotational stability of the solution was thoroughly
      evaluated. A number of constraints were applied to the solution in order to
      reduce rotational ambiguity.

PMID- 27631197
TI  - Decay kinetics of microbial source tracking (MST) markers and human adenovirus
      under the effects of sunlight and salinity.
AB  - Artificial seawater and freshwater microcosms inoculated with raw sewage were set
      up to compare the persistence of microbial source tracking (MST) markers (i.e.
      Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta), Methanobrevibacter smithii (M. smithii),
      human polyomaviruses JC and BK (HPyVs)) and human adenoviruses under different
      sunlight intensity and salinity. PMA pretreatment successfully eliminated the
      false-positive detection of dead bacterial cells in the model-development
      experiment. The results were then validated using real environmental matrices in
      microcosms inoculated with raw sewage. The genome concentrations of the targets
      followed a first-order decay pattern with 90% reduction of the initial amounts in
      <5days for both artificial and natural surface waters. Decay rate constant (k1)
      were developed microorganisms in artificial water matrices. Due to the different
      water environment conditions, improved decay rates (k2) incorporated with
      sunlight, TSS and TOC adjustment coefficients were used for validation of the
      natural water matrices. Based on the predictive squared correlation coefficient
      (Q2F) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) validation criteria, the improved k2 were
      able to provide better prediction on the survival of target microorganisms in
      environmental surface waters (Q2F>0.6 and RMSE ranged from 0.05 to 1.81). For
      microbial source tracking purposes, HPyVs are suggested to be better MST markers
      in freshwater, while B. theta is recommended for seawater based on the decay
      models developed in this study. The targeted DNA of M. smithii should only be
      used to indicate recent human faecal pollution in surface waters due to their
      faster decay than human adenoviruses.

PMID- 27631198
TI  - Effect of surfactants on the aggregation and stability of TiO2 nanomaterial in
      environmental aqueous matrices.
AB  - The high likelihood of the coexistence of surfactants and engineered nano
      materials (ENMs) in aqueous environments redoubles the need to study the effects
      of surfactants on the behavior and transport of nano-materials. In this study, we
      chose anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and nonionic nonylphenol ethoxylate
      (NPEO, Tergitol NP-9) to study the effect of surfactants on the behaviors of a
      typical TiO2 ENM in water environment. An adsorption isotherm and zeta potential
      study showed that both surfactants could be adsorbed onto the surface of nano
      TiO2 but that only SDS can significantly decrease the zeta potential of TiO2. For
      a better simulation of the dynamic natural water environment, we conducted a 24-h
      batch experiment to study the aggregation behaviors of nano-TiO2 in the presence
      of SDS or NP-9 surfactants and recorded the sedimentation of the aggregates in
      solutions containing the surfactants over a 24h-period. SDS and NP-9 both reduced
      the growth of the TiO2 aggregates and retarded the aggregate sedimentation at
      surfactant concentrations >=0.015% (w:v). The aggregation of TiO2 was far more
      remarkable in six environmental water matrices from different natural origins
      than in Milli-Q water, mainly because of the relatively high ionic strength of
      the former. The introduction of surfactants, however, still retarded the
      aggregation and sedimentation of TiO2 in the six environmental water matrices.
      SDS exerted a stronger reductive effect than NP-9. This study reveals that the
      presence of surfactants may increase the bioavailability and environmental risk
      of nanomaterial contaminants by retarding the aggregation and promoting the
      transport of nanomaterials in natural aqueous environments.

PMID- 27631195
TI  - Deciphering Brain Insulin Receptor and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Receptor
      Signalling.
AB  - Insulin receptor (IR) and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) are
      highly conserved receptor tyrosine kinases that share signalling proteins and are
      ubiquitously expressed in the brain. Central application of insulin or IGF1
      exerts several similar physiological outcomes, varying in strength, whereas
      disruption of the corresponding receptors in the brain leads to remarkably
      different effects on brain size and physiology, thus highlighting the unique
      effects of the corresponding hormone receptors. Central insulin/IGF1 resistance
      impacts upon various levels of the IR/IGF1R signalling pathways and is a feature
      of the metabolic syndrome and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's
      disease. The intricacy of brain insulin and IGF1 signalling represents a
      challenge for the identification of specific IR and IGF1R signalling differences
      in pathophysiological conditions. The present perspective sheds light on
      signalling differences and methodologies for specifically deciphering brain IR
      and IGF1R signalling.

PMID- 27631199
TI  - Remote Ischemic Preconditioning for Prevention of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients
      Undergoing On-Pump Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may attenuate acute kidney injury (AKI).
      However, results of studies evaluating the effect of RIPC on AKI after cardiac
      surgery have been controversial and contradictory.The aim of this meta-analysis
      is to examine the association between RIPC and AKI after on-pump cardiac
      surgery.The authors searched relevant studies in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane
      Library through December 2015.We considered for inclusion all randomized
      controlled trials that the role of RIPC in reducing AKI and renal replacement
      therapy (RRT) among patients underwent on-pump cardiac surgical procedures.We
      collected the data on AKI, initiation of RRT, serum creatinine (sCr) levels, and
      in-hospital mortality. Random- and fixed-effect models were used for pooling
      data.Nineteen trials including 5100 patients were included. The results of this
      meta-analysis showed a significant benefit of RIPC for reducing the incidence of
      AKI after cardiac interventions (odds ratio [OR] = 0.84; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.73-0.98; P = 0.02). No significant difference was found in the incidence
      of RRT between RIPC and control (OR, 0.76, 95% CI, 0.46-1.24; P = 0.36). In
      addition, compared with standard medical care, RIPC showed no significant
      difference in postoperative sCr (IV 0.07; 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.16; P = 0.20;
      postoperative day 1; IV 0.00; 95% CI, -0.08 to 0.09; P = 0.92; postoperative day
      2; IV 0.04; 95% CI, -0.05 to 0.12; P = 0.39; postoperative day 3), and in
      hospital mortality (OR, 1.21, 95% CI, 0.64-2.30; P = 0.56).According to the
      results from present meta-analysis, RIPC was associated with a significant
      reduction AKI after on-pump cardiac surgery but incidence of RRT, postoperative
      sCr, and in-hospital mortality. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials
      and experimental researches comparing RIPC are desirable. 

PMID- 27631200
TI  - Is cerebral glucose metabolism related to blood-brain barrier dysfunction and
      intrathecal IgG synthesis in Alzheimer disease?: A 18F-FDG PET/CT study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between blood-brain
      barrier (BBB) dysfunction, intrathecal IgG synthesis, and brain glucose
      consumption as detectable by means of serum/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) albumin
      index (Qalb) and IgG index [(CSF IgG/serum IgG) * Serum albumin/CSF albumin)] and
      2-deoxy-2-(F) fluoro-D-glucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography (PET/CT) in a selected population affected by Alzheimer disease (AD).
      The study included 134 newly diagnosed AD patients according to the NINCDS-ADRDA
      criteria. The mean (+/-SD) age of the patients was 70 (+/-6) years; 60 were male
      and 64 were female. Mini mental State Examination was equal to 18.9 (+/-7.2). All
      patients underwent a CSF assay and magnetic resonance before F-FDG PET scanning.
      The relationships were evaluated by means of statistical parametric mapping
      (SPM8). We found a significant negative correlation between the increase of Qalb
      and F-FDG uptake in the Brodmann Area 42 and 22 that corresponds to the left
      superior temporal gyrus, with higher Qalb values being related to a reduced
      glucose consumption in these areas. No significant relationships have been found
      between brain glucose consumption and IgG index. The results of our study suggest
      that BBB dysfunction is related to reduction of cortical activity in the left
      temporal cortex in AD subjects.

PMID- 27631201
TI  - Religiosity in black and white older Americans: Measure adaptation, psychometric
      validation, and racial difference.
AB  - Racial difference of religiosity in a heterogeneous older population had long
      been a focal point of gerontological research. However, most religiosity measures
      were developed from homogenous sample, few underwent rigorous psychometric
      validation, and studies on racial difference of religiosity had been obstructed.
      This cross-sectional study adapted a religiosity measure originally designed for
      blacks only to a heterogeneous older population of blacks and whites, validated
      its psychometric properties, and examined racial difference of religiosity. Based
      on qualitative research of concepts, intensive literature review, and abundant
      experiences in this field, we adapted the original measure. Then, using the data
      collected from a survey of 196 black and white Americans 55 years and older in
      Charlotte, North Carolina, we investigated full-scale psychometric properties of
      the adapted measure at the item-, domain-, and measure- level. These psychometric
      validations included item analysis, item-scale correlations, correlation matrix
      among items, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine if the original
      factor structure held after adaptation, and reliability analysis using Cronbach's
      alpha. Finally, using Multiple Indicators and MultIple Causes (MIMIC) models, we
      examined racial difference of religiosity through regression with latent
      variables, while potential measurement bias by race through differential item
      functioning (DIF) was adjusted in the MIMIC models. In result, we successfully
      adapted the original 12-item religiosity measure for blacks into an 8-item
      version for blacks and whites. Although sacrificed few reliability for brevity,
      the adapted measure demonstrated sound psychometric properties, and retained the
      original factor structure. We also found racial differences of religiosity in all
      three domains of the measure, even after adjustment of the detected measurement
      biases in two domains. In conclusion, the original measure can be adapted to and
      validated for a heterogeneous older population of blacks and whites. Although the
      adapted measure can be used to measure the three domains of religiosity in blacks
      and whites, the observed racial differences of religiosity need to be adjusted
      for measurement biases before meaningful comparisons. 

PMID- 27631202
TI  - Variations of movement disorders in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor
      encephalitis: A nationwide study in Taiwan.
AB  - Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is one of the most common
      autoimmune encephalitis that presents with a wide variety of movement disorders.
      The purpose of our study is to review the manifestations and duration of movement
      disorders in different ages with NMDAR encephalitis.A retrospective cohort of 28
      patients (20 females and 8 males) with positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) anti
      NMDAR antibody in a 5-year period from major hospitals in Taiwan was enrolled.
      They were categorized into 3 age groups: 7 patients were <=10 years, 14 patients
      were 10 to 18 years, and 7 patients were >18 years.Total 28 patients (20 females
      and 8 males) with age ranging from 8 months to 38 years were enrolled. Nearly all
      patients (n = 27/28, 96%) presented with at least 2 types of disorders, including
      orofacial-lingual dyskinesia (OFLD; n = 20), catatonia (n = 19), tremor (n = 11),
      bradykinesia (n = 11), dystonia (n = 11), choreoathethosis (n = 9), and ballism
      (n = 3). Only 1 patient below 10 years presented with isolated periodic
      choreoathethosis without other movement disorders. OFLD was common in all age
      groups. Choreoathetosis was most common in patients aged <=10 years, while
      catatonia was most common in patients aged >10 years (P = 0.001 and 0.020,
      respectively). Bradykinesia was also more common in patients aged >10 years (P =
      0.020). The clinical presentations of movement disorders were not significantly
      different in the age of 10 to 18 years and those >18 years. Neither patient <=10
      years old nor male patients had associated tumors. All patients' movement
      disorders were improved after treatment, while female patients with tumors had
      worse short-term outcome (P = 0.014). Compared with other disorders,
      choreoathetosis persisted significantly longer in patients <=10 years (P =
      0.038), while OFLD and catatonia last longer in patients >10 years (P = 0.047 and
      0.002, respectively).Our study shows that hyperkinetic movements such as
      choreoathetosis are more common and last longer in younger age groups, whereas
      hypokinetic movements such as catatonia and bradykinesia are more common and last
      longer in older age groups. Female patients with ovarian tumors had worse short
      term outcome. 

PMID- 27631203
TI  - The risk of lymph node metastasis makes it unsafe to expand the conventional
      indications for endoscopic treatment of T1 colorectal cancer: A retrospective
      study of 428 patients.
AB  - Though endoscopic treatment is an option for T1 colorectal cancer (CRC), the
      optimal indications and long-term outcomes of this strategy need to be validated.
      Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate long-term outcomes of
      endoscopy versus surgery and optimal indications for endoscopic treatment of T1
      CRC.This retrospective study included 428 T1 CRC patients treated with initial
      endoscopy (n = 224) or surgery (n = 204) at Severance Hospital between 2005 and
      2012. Patients were subdivided into 4 groups according to conventional
      indications (CIs) for endoscopic treatment: negative lateral/vertical margins;
      submucosal invasion depth within 1000 MUm; no lymphovascular invasion (LVI); well
      or moderately differentiated. For prognosis evaluation, short-term outcomes
      (resection margin and complications) and long-term outcomes (recurrence and
      cancer-specific mortality) were evaluated.Endoscopic treatment achieved en bloc
      resection in 86.6% of 224 patients. Recurrence and mortality did not differ
      between the endoscopy and surgery groups with or without CIs. For patients with
      CIs, although 80 patients were treated endoscopically with 1 (1.3%) recurrence
      and 0 mortality, 75 patients were treated surgically with 2 (2.7%) recurrence and
      1 (1.3%) mortality. Multivariate analysis revealed that LVI positivity and poorly
      differentiated histology were independently associated with lymph node metastasis
      (LNM; P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively).To determine whether the depth of
      submucosal invasion among criteria of CIs could be extended for endoscopic
      treatment, LNM was analyzed by extending the depth of submucosal invasion. There
      was no LNM in 155 patients within conventional indication. When the depth of
      submucosal invasion was extended up to 1500 MUm, LNM was occurred (1/197 patient
      [0.5%]). In addition, when the depth of submucosal invasion was extended up to
      2000 MUm, LNM was increased (4/271 patient [1.5%]).Endoscopic treatment is safe,
      effective, and is associated with favorable long-term outcomes compared to
      surgery for initial treatment of T1 CRC patients with CIs. However, the risk of
      LNM makes it unsafe to extend the CIs for endoscopic therapy in these patients. 

PMID- 27631204
TI  - Effectiveness of a multidisciplinary heart failure disease management programme
      on 1-year mortality: Prospective cohort study.
AB  - We performed a multicenter prospective observational cohort study (Epidemiologie
      et Pronostic de l'Insuffisance Cardiaque Aigue en Lorraine, Epidemiology and
      Prognosis of Acute Heart Failure in Lorraine [EPICAL2]) to evaluate the
      effectiveness on mortality of a community-based multidisciplinary disease
      management programme (DMP) for heart failure (HF) patients.Between October 2011
      and October 2012, 1816 patients, who were hospitalized for acute HF or who
      developed acute HF during a hospitalization, were included from 21 hospitals in a
      northeast region of France. At hospital admission, their mean age was 77.3
      (standard deviation [SD] 11.6) years and mean left ventricular ejection fraction
      was 45.0 (SD 16.0)%. A subset of patients were enrolled in a multidimensional DMP
      for HF (n = 312, 17.2%), based on structured patient education, home monitoring
      visits by HF-trained nurses, and automatic alerts triggered by significant
      clinical and biological changes to the patient. The DMP involved general
      practitioners, nurses, and cardiologists collaborating via an individual web
      based medical electronic record. The outcome was all-cause mortality from the 3rd
      to the 12th month after discharge. During the follow-up, a total of 377 (20.8%)
      patients died: 321 (21.3%) in the control group and 56 (17.9%) in the DMP group.
      In a propensity score analysis, DMP was associated with lower 1-year all-cause
      mortality (hazard ratio 0.65, 95% CI 0.46-0.92). Instrumental variable analysis
      gave similar results (hazard ratio 0.56, 0.27-1.16).In a real world setting, a
      multidimensional DMP for HF with structured patient education, home nurse
      monitoring, and appropriate physician alerts may improve survival when
      implemented after discharge from hospitalization due to worsening HF. 

PMID- 27631205
TI  - Juvenile polyposis syndrome: An unusual case report of anemia and
      gastrointestinal bleeding in young infant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Juvenile polyposis syndrome, a rare disorder in children, is
      characterized with multiple hamartomatous polyps in alimentary tract. A variety
      of manifestations include bleeding, intussusception, or polyp prolapse. In this
      study, we present an 8-month-old male infant of juvenile polyposis syndrome
      initially presenting with chronic anemia. To the best of our knowledge, this is
      the youngest case reported in the literature. METHODS: We report a rare case of
      an 8-month-old male infant who presented with chronic anemia and gastrointestinal
      bleeding initially. Panendoscopy and abdominal computed tomography showed
      multiple polyposis throughout the entire alimentary tract leading to
      intussusception. Technetium-99m-labeled red blood cell (RBC) bleeding scan
      revealed the possibility of gastrointestinal tract bleeding in the jejunum.
      Histopathological examination on biopsy samples showed Peutz-Jeghers syndrome was
      excluded, whereas the diagnosis of juvenile polyposis syndrome was established.
      RESULTS: Enteroscopic polypectomy is the mainstay of the treatment. However,
      polyps recurred and occupied the majority of the gastrointestinal tract in 6
      months. Supportive management was given. The patient expired for severe sepsis at
      the age of 18 months. CONCLUSION: Juvenile polyposis syndrome is an inherited
      disease, so it is not possible to prevent it. Concerning of its poor outcome and
      high mortality rate, it is important that we should increase awareness and
      education of the parents at its earliest stages.

PMID- 27631206
TI  - Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for postoperative spinal dural arterio-venous fistula
      patients: An observational cohort study.
AB  - Spinal dural arterio-venous fistula (SDAVF) is a common type of spinal vascular
      malformation. Surgical obliteration of the fistula can cure SDAVF anatomically,
      but the functional outcome is unsatisfactory.The aim of the study was to evaluate
      the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on the functional recovery of
      postoperative SDAVF patients.This prospective cohort study included postoperative
      SDAVF patients. Patients were divided into control and HBOT groups. Patients in
      control group received conventional treatment, whereas those in the HBOT group
      received conventional treatment plus HBOT (2.0 atmospheric pressure absolute, 14
      days). Follow-up was done at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery for
      evaluation, including symptoms. To assess the effectiveness of HBOT on SDAVF
      patients, we compared the postoperative magnetic resonance imaging and
      neurological outcomes of each group with respect to modified Aminoff-Lougue scale
      and modified Denis Pain and Numbness Scale.From September 1, 2013 to January 31,
      2014, 33 SDAVF patients (27 male) treated by microsurgery were included in this
      study. Sixteen patients were in the HBOT group and 17 patients were in the
      control group. At 24 months follow-up, the improvement of mDPNS for the HBOT
      group was significantly larger than those of the control group (2.25 vs 0.88; P =
      0.005). In the HBOT group, the average length of hypersignal in magnetic
      resonance imaging T2 image decrease at 3 months after surgery was 3.25 compared
      with 2.29 in the control group (P = 0.009). No major adverse effects were
      reported for all 16 patients who received HBOT.The current findings suggest that
      HBOT is an effective and safe treatment to relieve lower body pain and numbness
      for postoperative SDAVF patients. 

PMID- 27631207
TI  - Effects of bovine colostrum on recurrent respiratory tract infections and
      diarrhea in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bovine colostrum (BC) has direct antimicrobial and endotoxin
      neutralizing effects throughout the alimentary tract, as well as other
      bioactivities that suppress gut inflammation and promote mucosal integrity and
      tissue repair under various conditions related to tissue injury. The precise role
      of BC in respiratory and gastrointestinal (GI) infections in children is not well
      defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of
      BC administration in preventing recurrent upper respiratory tract infections
      (URTI) and diarrhea in children. METHODS: One hundred sixty children (aged 1-6
      years) having recurrent episodes of URTI or diarrhea received BC for 4 weeks. The
      number of episodes of URTI, diarrhea, and frequency of hospitalization required
      for URTI and diarrhea occurring during the study period were assessed at weeks 8
      and 24. RESULTS: From a total number of 160 children, 81 patients (50.63%) were
      males. The mean age (+/- SD) was 3.65 (+/- 2.01) years. The mean (+/- SD) total
      number of infections was significantly decreased after BC therapy from 8.6 +/-
      5.1 at baseline to 5.5 +/- 1.2 after 2 months (P < 0.001) and to 5.7 +/- 1.6
      after 6 months (P < 0.001). The mean (+/- SD) total number of URTI (P < 0.0001),
      number of episodes of diarrhea (P < 0.001), and number of hospital admissions (P
      < 0.001) were significantly decreased after BC therapy. CONCLUSION: BC is
      effective in the prophylaxis of recurrent URTI and diarrhea as it reduces the
      number of episodes and the hospitalization due to these infections. Results of
      this study suggest that BC could be provided as a therapeutic option for children
      with recurrent URTI and diarrhea.

PMID- 27631208
TI  - Prevalence of chronic cough and possible causes in the general population based
      on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
AB  - Although chronic cough is very common, its prevalence and causes have been rarely
      reported in the large general population including smokers. This study aimed to
      identify the prevalence of possible causes of chronic cough and their clinical
      impact.From Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES)
      data including 119,280 adults aged over 40 years, 302 individuals with chronic
      cough were recruited irrespective of smoking status. Data from questionnaire,
      laboratory tests including spirometry, chest radiographs, and
      otorhinolaryngologic examination were analyzed.The prevalence of chronic cough in
      adults was 2.5% +/- 0.2%. Current smokers occupied 47.7% +/- 3.8% of study
      population and 46.8% +/- 3.9% of the subjects showed upper airway cough syndrome
      (UACS). Based on spirometry, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was
      identified in 26.4% +/- 3.5%. Asthma explained for 14.5% +/- 2.8% of chronic
      cough. Only 4.1% +/- 1.6% showed chronic laryngitis suggesting gastro-esophageal
      reflux-related cough. Abnormalities on chest radiography were found in 4.0% +/-
      1.2%. Interestingly, 50.3% +/- 4.5% of study subjects had coexisting causes. In
      multivariate analysis, only current smoking (odds ratio [OR] 3.16, P < 0.001),
      UACS (OR 2.50, P < 0.001), COPD (OR 2.41, P < 0.001), asthma (OR 8.89, P <
      0.001), and chest radiographic abnormalities (OR 2.74, P = 0.003) were
      independent risk factor for chronic cough. This pattern was not different
      according to smoking status excepting the prevalence of COPD.Smoking, COPD, and
      chest radiographic abnormalities should be considered as causes of chronic cough,
      along with UACS and asthma. Gastro-esophageal reflux-related cough is not
      prevalent in study population. 

PMID- 27631209
TI  - Circulating long noncoding RNA GAS5 is a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of
      nonsmall cell lung cancer.
AB  - The recently discovered long noncoding RNAs have the potential to regulate many
      biological processes, which are aberrantly expressed in many tumor types. Our
      previous study showed that the long noncoding RNA-growth arrest-specific
      transcript 5 (GAS5) was decreased in lung cancer tissue, which contributed to the
      proliferation and apoptosis of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). GAS5 was also
      associated with the prognosis of lung cancer patients. These results suggest that
      GAS5 may represent a novel prognostic indicator and a target for gene therapy in
      NSCLC. However, the expression and diagnosis significance of GAS5 in the plasma
      of NSCLC patients was unknown. The plasma samples were more readily available
      than the tissue samples in clinical, so we designed the study to investigate the
      diagnosis value of GAS5 in blood samples. In our study, 90 patients with NSCLC
      and 33 healthy controls were included. Blood samples were collected before
      surgery and therapy. We extracted the free RNA in the plasma and analyzed the
      expression of GAS5 with quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Suitable
      statistics methods were used to compare the plasma GAS5 levels of preoperative
      and postoperative plasma samples between the NSCLC patients and healthy controls.
      Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the
      diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of plasma GAS5 in NSCLC. The results
      showed that GAS5 was detectable and stable in the plasma of NSCLC patients.
      Furthermore, the plasma levels of GAS5 were significantly down-regulated in NSCLC
      patients compared with healthy controls (P = 0.000). Moreover, GAS5 levels
      increased markedly on the seventh day after surgery compared with preoperative
      GAS5 levels in NSCLC patients (P = 0.003). GAS5 expression levels could be used
      to distinguish NSCLC patients from control patients with an area under the curve
      of 0.832 (P < 0.0001; sensitivity, 82.2%; specificity, 72.7%). The combination of
      the GAS5 and carcinoembryonic antigen could produce an area of 0.909 under the
      receiver-operating characteristic curve in distinguishing NSCLC patients from
      control subjects (95% confidence interval 0.857-0.962, P = 0.000). We have
      demonstrated that GAS5 expression was decreased in NSCLC Plasma. Plasma samples
      were more accessible than tissue samples in clinical; therefore, GAS5 could be an
      ideal biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC. 

PMID- 27631210
TI  - A case report of targeted therapy with apatinib in a patient with advanced
      gastric cancer and high serum level of alpha-fetoprotein.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is an important marker for hepatocellular
      carcinoma, and the detection of serum AFP is currently the principle method for
      the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. The prevalence of gastric cancer (GC)
      with high level of serum AFP is extremely rare, but has unique clinical features.
      CASE SUMMARY: We herein present a rare case with GC and high level of serum AFP.
      A 64-year-old Chinese female underwent gastrectomy was diagnosed as gastric
      adenocarcinoma and the pathological stage was T1bN0M0, IA. With the progression
      of disease, the tumor widely metastasized and the serum AFP level increased
      progressively with the highest level of 3396 ng/mL. She successively entered into
      3 lines palliative systematic chemotherapy and fourth-line targeted therapy of
      apatinib, a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptor-2. Although previous studies suggested that
      the prognosis of this special type of GC was poor, this patient lived for 22
      months after tumor transfer. Apatinib kept her progression-free survival for 5
      months, and the overall survival was 4.5 years. CONCLUSION: So, we speculate that
      maybe we can focus apatinib on serum AFP elevated GC patients.

PMID- 27631211
TI  - The outcomes of therapeutic decision in lower 3rd rectal cancer patients.
AB  - To investigate the outcomes of the selective neoadjuvant concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in lower 3rd rectal cancer patients in different groups
      (with or without neoadjuvant CCRT), especially in survival rate, local recurrence
      rate, and sphincter preservation rate.From January 1999 to December 2012, 69
      consecutive patients who had histologically proven adenocarcinoma of lower 3rd
      rectum, defined preoperatively as lower tumor margin within 7 cm from the anal
      verge as measured by rigid sigmoidoscopy, received total mesorectum excision
      (TME). Our inclusion criteria of neoadjuvant CCRT are lower 3rd rectal cancer,
      stage II/III, and large (diameter >5 cm or >1/2 of circumference). Neoadjuvant
      concurrent CCRT had begun to apply lower 3rd rectal cancer patients or not. The
      radiation techniques of neoadjuvant CCRT for lower 3rd rectal cancer patients
      were all conventional fraction intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and
      concurrent fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy.Five-year overall survival rate, disease
      free survival rate, and local recurrence rate for lower 3rd rectal cancer
      patients in group I were 51%, 45%, and 25%, respectively. On the contrary, 5-year
      overall survival rate, disease-free survival rate, and local recurrence rate for
      lower rectal cancer patients in group II were 70%, 70%, and 3%, respectively. The
      5-year sphincter sparing rate was increased from 38.2% to 100% after the
      beginning of neoadjuvant CCRT. Analyzing local recurrence, overall survival rate,
      disease-specific survival rate, and sphincter sparing rate in group II were
      statistically significant superior to group I.Five-year overall survival rate,
      disease-free survival rate, and sphincter sparing rate for lower 3rd rectal
      cancer patients were improved after the addition of neoadjuvant CCRT. No
      unacceptable toxicity was noted after conventional fraction IMRT and concurrent
      fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy. Our study showed neoadjuvant CCRT could be
      valuable for lower 3rd rectal cancer patients. 

PMID- 27631212
TI  - A case report of motesanib-induced biliary sludge formation causing obstructive
      cholangitis with acute pancreatitis treated by endoscopic sphincterotomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gallbladder toxicity was reported in most motesanib studies with
      varying frequency and at variable times after initiation of treatment. METHOD AND
      RESULTS: A 44-year-old man was admitted due to severe epigastric pain. The
      patient was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer 9 months ago and received 6
      cycles of chemotherapy with motesanib, paclitaxel, and carboplatin.
      Ultrasonography showed a large amount of sludge within gallbladder. Computed
      tomography scan demonstrated diffuse dilatation of biliary tree with distended
      gallbladder without evidence of stone and mild pancreatic swelling. Endoscopic
      retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed yellowish viscous mucoid plug
      impacting ampullary orifice and dilated bile duct with amorphous filling defect
      at distal half of common duct. Endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed to prevent
      biliary obstruction and recurrent pancreatitis after removal of mucoid material.
      CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of obstructive
      cholangitis and acute pancreatitis associated with sludge formation during
      motesanib therapy. Endoscopic sphincterotomy appears to be useful to treat and
      prevent biliary obstruction caused by motesanib-induced biliary sludge.

PMID- 27631213
TI  - Comparative effectiveness of percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis for different
      sacrum types in patients with chronic pain due to lumbar disc herniation: A
      propensity score matching analysis.
AB  - For percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis (PEA) in patients with chronic low back
      and/or leg pain, comparative efficacy of lumbar PEA between the sacral types has
      not yet been investigated. This study aimed to determine the comparative efficacy
      of lumbar PEA between the sacral types in chronic pain with lumbosacral herniated
      intervertebral disc (L-HIVD).A total of 1158 chronic low back and/or leg pain
      patients who diagnosed with L-HIVD and underwent PEA between February 2011 and
      March 2015 were retrospectively examined. All enrolled patients were divided into
      2 types: dome-sacral type and flat type. To avoid confounding bias, propensity
      score analysis was used. Numeric rating scales (NRS) and Patients' Global
      Impression of Change (PGIC) were compared between the 2 types at baseline and at
      3 months post-PEA.After conducting a propensity score matching analysis, 114
      patients were included in each type. The mean sacral angle significantly differed
      between the flat-sacral and dome-sacral types (P < 0.001). A linear mixed effect
      model analysis showed that the adjusted NRS score at baseline was 7.58 [95%
      confidence interval (CI): 7.40-7.76] for the flat-sacral type and 7.47 (95% CI:
      7.29-7.64) for the dome-sacral type. The adjusted NRS score after 3 months post
      PEA was 4.27 (95% CI: 3.77-4.77) for the flat-sacral type and 3.71 (95% CI: 3.21
      4.21) for the dome-sacral type. We detected no significant differences in NRS at
      baseline (P = 0.371) and after 3 months (P = 0.121) between the 2 groups. No
      significant differences were observed in terms of the NRS score between the 2
      groups during the 3 months follow-up (omnibus P = 0.223). There were no
      significant differences in PGIC between flat-sacral and dome-sacral types at 3
      months after the follow-up period (4.40 +/- 2.17 and 4.67 +/- 1.88, respectively,
      P = 0.431).PEA provides sufficient pain relief for chronic pain due to L-HIVD at
      3 months postprocedure. The sacral type might not affect the outcome of lumbar
      PEA in chronic pain associated lumbar HIVD. 

PMID- 27631214
TI  - Circulating biomarkers in acute myofascial pain: A case-control study.
AB  - The aims of the present study were to compare levels of circulating inflammatory
      biomarkers and growth factors between patients with myofascial pain syndrome
      (MPS) and healthy control participants, and to assess the relationship among
      inflammatory markers and growth factors in the two groups.Biomarkers levels were
      assessed in patients (n = 37) with myofascial pain complaints recruited from the
      hospital emergency department and non-MPS controls (n = 21), recruited via
      advertisements in the hospital and community.Blood levels of the cytokines,
      namely, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interleukin-12 (IL
      12), and the chemokine, namely, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1),
      macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), eotaxin, granulocyte-macrophage colony
      stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and macrophage inflammatory
      proteins-1beta (MIP-1beta) were significantly higher in patients with MPS than
      controls. The results of the growth factor analyses revealed significantly higher
      levels of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), platelet-derived growth factor
      (PDGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in MPS patients versus
      controls. The pattern of correlation coefficients between cytokines and growth
      factors differed considerably for MPS patients and controls with far fewer
      significant positive coefficients observed in the controls. Serum inflammatory
      and growth factor biomarkers were elevated in MPS patients.Inflammatory
      biomarkers and growth factor levels may play an important role in the onset and
      maintenance of MPS and therefore may be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of
      MPS. Understanding the mechanisms of inflammation in MPS necessitates future
      research. 

PMID- 27631215
TI  - The evolution of computed tomography from organ-selective to whole-body scanning
      in managing unconscious patients with multiple trauma: A retrospective cohort
      study.
AB  - We aimed to evaluate the benefit of whole-body computed tomography (WBCT)
      scanning for unconscious adult patients suffering from high-energy multiple
      trauma compared with the conventional stepwise approach of organ-selective
      CT.Totally, 144 unconscious patients with high-energy multiple trauma from single
      level I trauma center in North Taiwan were enrolled from January 2009 to December
      2013. All patients were managed by a well-trained trauma team and were suitable
      for CT examination. The enrolled patients are all transferred directly from the
      scene of an accident, not from other medical institutions with a definitive
      diagnosis. The scanning regions of WBCT include head, neck, chest, abdomen, and
      pelvis. We analyzed differences between non-WBCT and WBCT groups, including
      gender, age, hospital stay, Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, Revised
      Trauma Score, time in emergency department (ED), medical cost, and survival
      outcome.Fifty-five patients received the conventional approach for treating
      trauma, and 89 patients received immediate WBCT scanning after an initial
      examination. Patients' time in ED was significantly shorter in the WBCT group in
      comparison with the non-WBCT group (158.62 +/- 80.13 vs 216.56 +/- 168.32 min, P
      = 0.02). After adjusting for all possible confounding factors, we also found that
      survival outcome of the WBCT group was better than that of the non-WBCT group
      (odds ratio: 0.21, 95% confidence interval: 0.06-0.75, P = 0.016).Early
      performing WBCT during initial trauma management is a better approach for
      treating unconscious patients with high-energy multiple trauma. 

PMID- 27631216
TI  - Association of decreased serum sTREM-1 level with the severity of coronary artery
      disease: Inhibitory effect of sTREM-1 on TNF-alpha- and oxLDL-induced
      inflammatory reactions in endothelial cells.
AB  - Soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (sTREM-1) is closely
      involved in autoimmune diseases and inflammatory reactions. We aimed to
      investigate whether serum sTREM-1 is related to coronary artery disease (CAD) and
      to evaluate the biological effects of sTREM-1 in cell experiments.This cross
      sectional study included 263 consecutive patients with angiographically
      documented CAD, who were admitted for diagnosis and interventional treatment of
      CAD (CAD group), with 162 participants without CAD serving as controls (control
      group). Serum levels of sTREM-1 and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP)
      were determined in all participants. In cell experiments, the influence of sTREM
      1 on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)- or oxidized low-density lipoprotein
      (oxLDL)-induced inflammatory reactions was evaluated in human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs).Serum level of sTREM-1 was significantly lower in CAD
      patients than in controls (P < 0.001). sTREM-1 values were related to the number
      of diseased coronary arteries (Spearman r = -0.413, P < 0.001) and the severity
      represented by Gensini score (Pearson r = -0.336, P < 0.001). Multivariable
      logistic regression analysis revealed that decreased sTREM-1 were independent
      determinants of CAD (OR = 0.428, P < 0.001). In cell experiments, recombinant
      sTREM-1 protein concentration-dependently inhibited the expression of IL-1beta,
      IL-6, TNF-alpha, VCAM-1, and ICAM-1 induced by TNF-alpha or oxLDL in HUVECs.This
      study demonstrates that decreased serum sTREM-1 level is significantly associated
      with the presence and severity of CAD. sTREM-1 restrains inflammatory reaction in
      endothelial cells, suggesting that it might be a potential vascular protective
      factor. 

PMID- 27631217
TI  - Factors associated with increased risk for pain catastrophizing in patients with
      chronic neck pain: A retrospective cross-sectional study.
AB  - Pain catastrophizing is becoming increasingly recognized as a clinically
      important psychological factor in chronic musculoskeletal pain. In this
      retrospective cross-sectional study, we have identified factors associated with
      an increased risk for pain catastrophizing in chronic neck pain (CNP) patients.
      We obtained data from our medical database on 331 patients who were treated for
      neck pain as their chief complaint at our clinic. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale
      (PCS) was used to define a high pain catastrophizing state (PCS score >=21) in
      this study. Patient demographics, pain-related factors, and psychological factors
      were evaluated with logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors of high
      pain catastrophizing among patients with CNP. A total of 256 patients with CNP
      satisfied the study inclusion criteria and were included in the analyses. The
      median PCS score was 16 (range, 0-45), and 86 of 256 patients (33.5%) reported a
      PCS score >=21. In multivariate analysis, high pain intensity, clinical insomnia,
      and a high level of depression/anxiety were strongly associated with high pain
      catastrophizing in patients with CNP. Depression was the strongest predictor of
      high pain catastrophizing, with an odds ratio of 7.35 (95% confidence interval
      2.23-24.22). High pain catastrophizing was not significantly related to age,
      gender, comorbidities, or neck pain-related physical symptoms. In conclusion,
      poor psychological states should be addressed as an important part of pain
      management in CNP patients who are susceptible to high pain catastrophizing. 

PMID- 27631218
TI  - Prevalence of obesity and acanthosis nigricans among young children in the
      children's healthy living program in the United States Affiliated Pacific.
AB  - Estimate prevalence of obesity and acanthosis nigricans (AN) among children in
      United States Affiliated Pacific (USAP) jurisdictions.Cross-sectional measurement
      of weight, height, and AN in 5775, 2 to 8 years old in 51 communities-Hawai'i,
      Alaska, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa,
      Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), 4 Federated States of Micronesia
      (Pohnpei, Yap, Kosrae, Chuuk). Analyses weighted to jurisdiction-specific sex and
      age distributions accounting for clustering of communities within
      jurisdictions.Prevalence of obesity was 14.0%, overweight 14.4%, healthy weight
      68.9%, and underweight 2.6%, higher in males (16.3%) than females (11.6%), higher
      among 6 to 8 years old (16.3%) than 2 to 5 years old (12.9%), highest in American
      Samoa (21.7%), and absent in RMI. In total, 4.7% of children had AN, with no sex
      difference, higher in 6 to 8 years old (6.8%) than 2 to 5 years old (3.5%) and
      highest in Pohnpei (11.9%), and absent in Alaska. Obesity was highly associated
      with AN (odds ratio = 9.25, 95% confidence interval = 6.69-12.80), with the
      strongest relationships among Asians, followed by Native Hawaiians and Pacific
      Islanders (NHPI).Obesity, age, and Asian and NHPI race were positively associated
      with AN. 

PMID- 27631219
TI  - Cell-free DNA in pregnancy with choriocarcinoma and coexistent live fetus: A case
      report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This case report describes the use of analysis of cell-free DNA in
      the blood of a patient with a pregnancy with one live fetus and a choriocarcinoma
      diagnosed at 22 weeks of gestation. RESULTS: The result of the analysis of 16
      microsatellite loci on 14 chromosomes in the cell-free DNA in plasma was
      consistent with the result of the analysis of a tumor biopsy indicating
      biparental diploid origin of the genome. The DNA markers were discordant with the
      markers of the placenta indicating two separate conceptions. CONCLUSION: Our
      results indicate that analysis of cell-free DNA in plasma allows determination of
      the origin of a choriocarcinoma without tissue biopsy, even in the presence of a
      co-existent pregnancy.

PMID- 27631220
TI  - A comparison of bone mineral densities and body composition between Southeast
      Asia college students and Chinese college students.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare bone mineral densities (BMDs) and body
      composition between Southeast Asia college students and Chinese college students,
      in order to provide a certain reference enhancing college students' physical
      fitness.A total of 1694 Chinese college students (294 men and 1400 women, aged 18
      22 years) and 250 Southeast Asia college students (148 men and 102 women, aged 19
      22 years) were included in the study. Weight, height, and body mass index were
      measured anthropometrically. BMD values were determined by ultrasound bone
      densitometer and body composition was determined by body composition
      analyzer.Southeast Asia college students were overweight than Chinese college
      students (250 vs 1694) (P < 0.05). Chinese college students had a significantly
      lower body weight, fat mass, lean tissue mass, lean body weight, estimation of
      bone mass, protein, and metabolic rate but higher BMD at the calcaneus compared
      with Southeast Asia college students (P < 0.05 for all parameters). However, body
      water, intracellular fluid, and extracellular fluid were not significantly
      different between Chinese college students and Southeast Asia college students (P
      > 0.01 for all parameters).The results of this cross-sectional study suggest that
      Chinese college students had a higher BMD but lower body composition than
      Southeast Asia college students, which may be associated with genes, diet,
      exercise, and other factors. 

PMID- 27631221
TI  - The effect of naloxone treatment on opioid-induced side effects: A meta-analysis
      of randomized and controlled trails.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of naloxone on opioid-induced side effects,
      the present meta-analysis was constructed. METHODS: Electronic databases
      including PubMed, EMBASE, and CNKI (China National Knowledge Internet) were used
      for literature search. Studies on comparison of opioid-side effects between
      naloxone-treated group and placebo or normal saline-related group were included
      in the meta-analysis. Heterogeneity analysis was performed with Chi-square and I
      test. Pooled analysis was based on fixed-effects model, if heterogeneity between
      the eligible studies was negligible (I < 50%, P > 0.05), otherwise, random
      effects model was used. Sensitivity analysis was applied to assess the robustness
      of the results and publication bias was evaluated by Begg and Egger test.
      RESULTS: Thirteen studies including 1138 patients were included in the meta
      analysis. Pooled analysis indicated that naloxone could significantly reduce the
      occurrence of pruritus (RR [risk ratio] = 0.252, 95% CI [confidence interval] =
      0.137-0.464), nausea (RR = 0.323, 95% CI = 0.245-0.428), and vomiting (RR =
      0.338, 95% CI = 0.192-0.593) which were induced by opioids. However, naloxone did
      not relieve pain (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.052, 95% CI = -0.453 to
      0.348) and somnolence (RR = 0.561, 95% CI = 0.287 to 1.097) in patients received
      opioid treatment. Additionally, there were no significant publication bias
      between the included studies (Begg test, P = 0.602; Egger test, P = 0.388).
      CONCLUSION: Addition of naloxone might act as an effective treatment for
      prophylaxis of opioid-induced pruritus, nausea, and vomiting in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 27631222
TI  - Waning of vaccine-induced immunity to measles in kidney transplanted children.
AB  - Vaccine-preventable diseases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality
      in solid organ transplant recipients who undergo immunosuppression after
      transplantation. Data on immune responses and long-term maintenance after
      vaccinations in such population are still limited.We cross-sectionally evaluated
      the maintenance of immune response to measles vaccine in kidney transplanted
      children on immunosuppressive therapy. Measles-specific enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay and B-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot were performed in
      74 kidney transplant patients (Tps) and in 23 healthy controls (HCs) previously
      vaccinated and tested for humoral protection against measles. The quality of
      measles antibody response was measured by avidity test. B-cell phenotype,
      investigated via flow cytometry, was further correlated to the ability of Tps to
      maintain protective humoral responses to measles over time.We observed the loss
      of vaccine-induced immunity against measles in 19% of Tps. Nonseroprotected
      children showed signs of impaired B-cell distribution as well as immune
      senescence and lower antibody avidity. We further reported as time elapsed
      between vaccination and transplantation, as well as the vaccine administration
      during dialysis are clinical factors affecting the maintenance of the immune
      memory response against measles.Tps present both quantitative and qualitative
      alterations in the maintenance of protective immunity to measles vaccine.
      Prospective studies are needed to optimize the vaccination schedules in kidney
      transplant recipients in order to increase the immunization coverage over time in
      this population. 

PMID- 27631223
TI  - Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predicts persistent organ failure and in-hospital
      mortality in an Asian Chinese population of acute pancreatitis.
AB  - Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has frequently been reported as a
      significant indicator of systemic inflammation in various medical conditions. The
      association underlying NLR and outcomes in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP)
      has not been evaluated after the publication of revised Atlanta
      classification.This was a single-center retrospective diagnostic accuracy study
      and a cohort outcome study. From 2009 to 2015, Asian Chinese patients with a
      diagnosis of AP presented within 72 hours from symptom onset and underwent
      neutrophil, lymphocyte assessment at presentation were included in this study.
      The outcomes were the occurrence of persistent organ failure (POF), intensive
      care unit (ICU) stay >7 days, and in-hospital mortality. The relationships of
      baseline neutrophil, lymphocyte count, and NLR with outcomes were assessed with
      multivariate Cox regression model.A total of 974 consecutive AP patients were
      clinically eligible. The mean neutrophils, lymphocytes, and NLR for the entire
      population were 10.23 +/- 4.76  * 10/L, 1.05 +/- 0.49  * 10/L, and 12.88 +/-
      11.25. Overall, 223 (22.9%) of the patients developed with POF, 202 (20.7%) spent
      more than 7 days in ICU, and 58 (6.0%) died during hospitalization. The NLR had a
      superior predictive performance than neutrophils and lymphocytes. Using an NLR
      cutoff of 11, the area under the curves (AUC) were 0.76 for POF, 0.74 for longer
      ICU stay, and 0.79 for death during hospitalization. After multivariate analysis,
      NLR >= 11 was further identified as an independent prognostic factor (hazard
      ratio [HR] 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.89; HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.03
      2.00; HR 2.75, 95% CI 1.12-6.76; all P value < 0.05). Following stratification
      according to quartiles of NLR, positive trends for the association across
      increasing NLR quartiles and the 3 outcomes were observed (P values for trends
      across quartiles were 0.007, 0.016, and 0.028, respectively). The adjusted HRs
      for highest NLR quartile versus the lowest were 2.80 (95% CI 1.42-5.51) (POF),
      2.79 (95% CI 1.37-5.70) (ICU > 7 days), and 2.22 (95% CI 0.49-10.05) (mortality),
      respectively.Our data show for the first time that an increased NLR is an
      independent risk factor for POF, longer ICU stay, and in-hospital mortality in
      AP. 

PMID- 27631224
TI  - Prognostic effect of tuberculosis on patients with occupational lung diseases: A
      13-year observational study in a nationwide cohort.
AB  - Occupational lung diseases are well recognized risk factors for tuberculosis
      (TB). However, little research investigated the effect of TB on the clinical
      course and outcome of occupational lung diseases.We conducted a 13-year
      observational study of a nationwide cohort to evaluate the risk and prognosis of
      TB among patients with occupational lung diseases in Taiwan.By using the Taiwan
      National Health Insurance database, occupational lung diseases cohort was
      identified according to diagnosis codes from 1998 to 2008 and prospectively
      monitored until the end of 2010, loss to follow-up, or death. Newly diagnosed TB,
      comorbidities, and demographic characteristics were evaluated as prognostic
      variables in the survival analysis of patients with occupational lung diseases
      using Cox proportional hazard regression models.A total of 12,787 study
      participants were enrolled with an average of 9.69 years of follow-up. Among
      them, 586 (4.58%) had newly diagnosed TB and 3180 (24.87%) died during follow-up.
      The incidence of TB was 473 per 100,000 person-years, and the risk of TB
      infection significantly increased over time. The independent risk factors for
      mortality included male gender (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.23, 95% confidence interval
      [CI]: 1.91-2.60), age (HR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.05-1.06), TB (HR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.01
      1.37), congestive heart failure (HR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.17-1.79), cerebrovascular
      disease (HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.15-1.57), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR:
      1.44, 95% CI: 1.33-1.56), and asthma (HR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.15-1.40). In addition,
      patients with TB infections had worse outcomes in the survival analysis than
      those without TB (log-rank test P = 0.02).Despite the low prevalence of
      occupational lung diseases in Taiwan, patients with those diseases had a higher
      TB incidence than the general population did (473 vs 55 per 100,000 person
      years). Furthermore, even with effective antimicrobial chemotherapy, TB infection
      was a prognostic factor leading to poor outcomes in the patients with
      occupational lung diseases. We recommend intensive medical surveillance of TB in
      these high-risk patients for better control of TB and improvement of occupational
      health in Taiwan. 

PMID- 27631225
TI  - Absorption fever characteristics due to percutaneous renal biopsy-related
      hematoma.
AB  - This study aims to describe the unique characteristics of absorption fever in
      patients with a hematoma after percutaneous renal biopsy (PRB) and distinguish it
      from secondary infection of hematoma.We retrospectively studied 2639 percutaneous
      renal biopsies of native kidneys. We compared the clinical characteristics
      between 2 groups: complication group (gross hematuria and/or perirenal hematoma)
      and no complication group. The axillary temperature of patients with a hematoma
      who presented with fever was measured at 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, and 18:00. The
      onset and duration of fever and the highest body temperature were recorded.
      Thereafter, we described the time distribution of absorption fever and obtained
      the curve of fever pattern.Of 2639 patients, PRB complications were observed in
      154 (5.8%) patients. Perirenal hematoma was the most common complication, which
      occurred in 118 (4.5%) of biopsies, including 74 small hematoma cases (thickness
      <=3 cm) and 44 large hematoma cases (thickness >3 cm). Major complications were
      observed in only 6 (0.2%) cases resulting from a large hematoma. Of 118 patients
      with a perirenal hematoma, absorption fever was observed in 48 cases.
      Furthermore, large hematomas had a 5.23-fold higher risk for absorption fever
      than the small ones.Blood pressure, renal insufficiency, and prothrombin time
      could be risk factors for complications. Fever is common in patients with
      hematoma because of renal biopsy and is usually noninfectious. Evaluation of
      patients with post-biopsy fever is necessary to identify any obvious infection
      sources. If no focus is identified, empiric antibiotic therapy should not be
      initiated nor should prophylactic antibiotics be extended for prolonged
      durations. Absorption fevers will resolve in time without specific therapeutic
      interventions. 

PMID- 27631226
TI  - Serum soluble TWEAK levels are decreased in treatment naive noncirrhotic chronic
      hepatitis B patients.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying hepatic inflammation and fibrogenesis in chronic
      hepatitis B (CHB) are complex and several cytokines are involved. Tumor necrosis
      factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a member of the tumor necrosis
      factor superfamily which also acts as a cytokine. This study was conducted to
      evaluate serum soluble TWEAK (sTWEAK) levels in noncirrhotic CHB patients.Fifty
      two treatment naive CHB patients and 30 healthy controls were included in the
      study and serum sTWEAK concentrations were measured using commercially available
      ELISA kits.Mean serum sTWEAK concentration was significantly lower in CHB group
      than healthy controls (189.6 +/- 63.3 pg/mL in CHB group and 297.6 +/- 61.5 pg/mL
      in control group, P < 0.001). According to the degree of necroinflammation in
      liver biopsies mean sTWEAK concentrations were found to be 168.14 +/- 51.51,
      206.96 +/- 58.51, and 223.62 +/- 78.88 pg/mL in patients with mild, moderate, and
      severe inflammation, respectively, and the difference between groups was
      statistically significant (P = 0.022). sTWEAK concentration was also found to be
      significantly higher in patients with advanced fibrosis in liver biopsy samples
      (169.59 +/- 52.02 and 211.17 +/- 68.22 pg/mL in patients with mild and advanced
      fibrosis, respectively, P = 0.016). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      curves were obtained in CHB group to differentiate patients with advanced
      fibrosis from patients with mild fibrosis. Area under curve (AUC) was 0.676 (95%
      Cl; 0.526-0.825) for sTWEAK and for the specified cut-off value of 213.67 pg/mL
      sensitivity and specificity were 60% and 81.4%, respectively. ROC curve for
      sTWEAK to differentiate patients with severe inflammation revealed an AUC of
      0.664 (95% Cl; 0.450-0.878). A cut-off value of 243.27 pg/mL yielded 54.5%
      sensitivity and 82.9% specificity.Serum sTWEAK concentration is decreased in
      treatment naive CHB patients. Further studies with simultaneous determination of
      circulating sTWEAK concentrations and TWEAK and factor-inducible 14 (Fn14)
      expressions in the liver biopsy samples would clarify the exact association of
      TWEAK/Fn14 pathway in the pathogenesis of CHB. 

PMID- 27631227
TI  - Spindle cell carcinoma of the esophagus: A multicenter analysis in comparison
      with typical squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - This study conducted a retrospective multicenter analysis to investigate the
      clinicopathological features, optimal therapeutic strategy, and prognosis of
      spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) of the esophagus.A total of 71 patients with
      esophageal SpCC from 3 large cancer centers in China were systematically
      analyzed. All patients received curative resection, 13 patients received adjuvant
      radiotherapy and 15 patients received adjuvant combination chemotherapy.
      Additionally, a total of 1852 patients with typical esophageal SCC (SCC) were
      selected as controls in this study.SpCC mostly presented as a polypoid appearance
      (66.2%), and the surrounding mucosa showed high-grade hyperplasia or superficial
      SCC in 31 cases (43.7%). Two patients even had extensive carcinoma in situ that
      spread to the resection margins. Patients in the SpCC group were more likely to
      present with stage I lesions compared with those in the typical SCC group (33.8%
      vs 8.0%, P < 0.001). Although the percentage of T1/2 lesions was higher in the
      SpCC group than in the typical SCC group (67.6% vs 29.7%, P < 0.001), both groups
      had similar rates of locoregional lymphatic metastases (45.1% vs 48.4%, P =
      0.578). The median survival time and 5-year overall survival of the SpCC group
      was 43 months and 44.8%, respectively, higher than 37.5 months and 38.3%,
      respectively, for the typical SCC group (P = 0.044). In univariate analysis, the
      macroscopical type and pathological T, N, and TNM stages had a statistically
      significant impact on the prognosis of SpCC after curative resection. However,
      only the TNM stage (hazard ratio, 2.708; 95% confidence interval, 1.786-4.105, P
      < 0.001) was identified as an independent prognostic factor in multivariate
      analysis. The 5-year OS of SpCC in stages I (79.8%) and II (39.7%) were
      significantly longer than that of stages III/IV (16.2%) (P < 0.001 and P =
      0.012). As those SpCC cases that received chemoradiotherapy were in more advanced
      stages, their prognosis was still worse than SpCC patients who did not receive
      chemoradiotherapy even after such treatment (P = 0.042, 0.010, respectively).SpCC
      shows a highly aggressive tendency of lymphatic spread, although it does not tend
      to infiltrate deeply into the esophageal wall. Compared with typical SCC that
      also underwent esophagectomy with extended lymphadenectomy, SpCC may achieve a
      better survival rate. Further investigation is warranted to examine the effect of
      postoperative chemoradiotherapy on the prognosis of SpCC. 

PMID- 27631228
TI  - Prognostic significance of low microRNA-218 expression in patients with different
      types of cancer: Evidence from published studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mounting evidence showed that microRNAs may be useful as prognostic
      biomarkers of cancer. Therefore, we summarize the predictive role of microRNA-218
      (miR-218) for survival in patients with various cancers. METHODS: We performed a
      systematic literature review and assessed the quality of included studies based
      on Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology group (MOOSE). Hazard
      ratios (HRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to
      assess the correlation between miR-218 expression and prognosis of different
      cancers. RESULTS: We identified 10 studies for pooled analyses. For overall
      survival, a lower expression levels of miR-218 significantly predicted poorer
      survival, with the pooled HR of 2.61 (95% CI: 2.11-3.22, P < 0.001). For disease
      free survival/progressive-free survival/recurrence-free survival (DFS/PFS/RFS), a
      lower expression level of miR-218 significantly predicted worse DFS/PFS/RFS in
      various carcinomas, with the pooled HR of 2.73 (95% CI: 2.08-3.58, P < 0.001).
      Similarly, subgroup analysis by detection method, ethnicity and cancer subtype
      analysis suggested that lower expression of miR-218 correlated with. CONCLUSION:
      Our data demonstrated that lower miR-218 expression is significantly associated
      with poorer overall survival (OS) and DFS/PFS/RFS and may be a novel prognostic
      biomarker in some cancer types.

PMID- 27631230
TI  - Assessment of regional right ventricular systolic function in patients with
      obstructive sleep apnea syndrome using velocity vector imaging.
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is the most common type of sleep disorder
      which is associated with a series of cardiovascular disorders, including right
      ventricular (RV) dysfunction. However, it is difficult to assess the RV function
      systematically using a conventional echocardiography because RV has a complex
      geometrical shape. A case-control study was performed to assess the regional
      right ventricular potential dysfunction in patients with OSAS using velocity
      vector imaging (VVI) from March 2014 to October 2015.Sixty-nine patients with
      OSAS were divided into 3 groups: mild, moderate, and severe according to the
      apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). A total of 31 cases of healthy subjects were enrolled
      as the control group. Digital images of apex 4-chamber views were acquired to
      measure the peak systolic velocity (V), strain (ST), and strain rate (STR) of
      right ventricular free wall (RVFW) basal, middle, and apical segments using
      VVI.The peak systolic velocity of RVFW basal segments in the mild OSAS group
      increased (t = 2.22, P = 0.049) and gradually reduced in the moderate and severe
      groups compared with the controls. The values of systolic ST and STR of apical
      segments decreased in the mild OSAS group compared with the normal control group
      (t = 3.30, P = 0.02; t = 3.75, P = 0.01, respectively), and decreased furthermore
      in the moderate and severe OSAS groups.The change in the right ventricular
      regional systolic function starts before the development of heart dysfunction and
      pulmonary hypertension. At the early stage of OSAS, the deformation decreases in
      the RVFW apical segment, and the peak systolic velocities increase in the RVFW
      basal segment. The VVI is a sensitive method which is expected to be a worthy
      technique for early clinical therapy in patients with OSAS. 

PMID- 27631229
TI  - Urban-rural disparity in utilization of preventive care services in China.
AB  - Preventive care service is considered pivotal on the background of demographic
      ageing and a rise in chronic diseases in China. The disparity in utilization of
      preventive care services between urban and rural in China is a serious issue. In
      this paper, we explored factors associated with urban-rural disparity in
      utilization of preventive care services in China, and determined how much of the
      urban-rural disparity was attributable to each determinant of utilization in
      preventive care services. Using representative sample data from China Health and
      Nutrition Survey in 2011 (N = 12,976), the present study performed multilevel
      logistic model to examine the factors that affected utilization of preventive
      care services in last 4 weeks. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method was applied to
      divide the utilization of preventive care disparity between urban and rural
      residents into a part that can be explained by differences in observed covariates
      and unobserved part. The percentage of rural residents utilizing preventive care
      service in last 4 weeks was lower than that of urban residents (5.1% vs 9.3%).
      Female, the aged, residents with higher education level and household income,
      residents reporting self-perceived illness in last 4 weeks and physician
      diagnosed chronic disease had higher likelihood of utilizing preventive care
      services. Household income was the most important factor accounting for 26.6% of
      urban-rural disparities in utilization of preventive care services, followed by
      education (21.5%), self-perceived illness in last 4 weeks (7.8%), hypertension
      (4.4%), diabetes (3.3%), other chronic diseases (0.8%), and health insurance (
      1.0%). Efforts to reduce financial barriers for low-income individuals who cannot
      afford preventive services, increasing awareness of the importance of obtaining
      preventive health services and providing more preventive health services covered
      by health insurance, may help to reduce the gap of preventive care services
      utilization between urban and rural. 

PMID- 27631231
TI  - Treatment of deep-seated facial microcystic lymphatic malformations with
      intralesional injection of pingyangmycin.
AB  - Treatment of microcystic lymphatic malformations (LMs) is still a great challenge
      to physicians in the field of managing vascular anomalies. Several kinds of
      treatment have been proposed for microcystic LMs, but the responses to these
      treatment modalities vary considerably among individuals. The aim of the study
      was to investigate the safety and efficacy of intralesional injection of
      pingyangmycin for microcystic LMs located in the deep facial region.Twenty-one
      consecutive patients with deep-seated facial microcystic LMs were treated with
      intralesional injection of pingyangmycin between March 2010 and April 2015. The
      patients received 2 to 8 injections, and the average session was 3.7. The
      therapeutic efficacy was accessed on the basis of the imaging findings and
      clinical measurements.Among the 21 patients, the clinical responses were
      excellent in 7 patients (33.33%), good in 9 patients (42.86%), fair in 3 patients
      (14.29%), and poor in 2 patients (9.52%). No severe side effects were
      encountered. Furthermore, therapeutic outcomes were significantly associated with
      lesion location (P = 0.006) and number of injections (P = 0.003).Our study
      supports that sclerotherapy with pingyangmycin is safe and effective for the
      treatment of deep-seated facial microcystic LMs. 

PMID- 27631232
TI  - Association between genetic polymorphisms of MMP8 and the risk of steroid-induced
      osteonecrosis of the femoral head in the population of northern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is the most
      common clinical nontraumatic ONFH. Once ONFH occurs, it seriously reduces
      patients' quality of life. The matrix metalloproteinase/tissue inhibitor of
      metalloproteinase (MMP/TIMP) system was found to play a significant role in the
      development of ONFH. The aim of this study was to identify the associations
      between 7 genes selected from the MMP/TIMP system and steroid-induced ONFH.
      METHODS: We genotyped 34 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 7 genes
      selected from the MMP/TIMP system in a case-control study with 285 cases of
      steroid-induced ONFH and 308 healthy controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the chi-squared test, genetic
      model analysis, haplotype analysis, and stratification analysis. RESULTS: We
      found that the minor alleles of rs1940475 and rs11225395 in MMP8 were associated
      with a 1.32-fold increased risk of steroid-induced ONFH in the allelic model
      analysis (P = 0.021 and 0.022, respectively). In the genetic model analysis, we
      found that rs3740938, rs2012390, rs1940475, and rs11225395 were associated with
      an increased risk of steroid-induced ONFH. In further stratification analysis,
      rs3740938 and rs2012390 displayed a significantly increased risk of steroid
      induced ONFH in females under the dominant (rs3740938, OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.50
      4.83, P = 0.001; rs2012390, OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.31-4.03, P = 0.012) and additive
      (rs3740938, OR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.24-3.29, P = 0.010; rs2012390, OR = 1.77, 95%
      CI: 1.12-2.80, P = 0.047) models. In addition, haplotype "AGTCA" of MMP8 was
      found to be associated with a 1.40-fold increased risk of steroid-induced ONFH
      (95% CI: 1.04-1.88, P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: Our results verify that genetic
      variants of MMP8 contribute to steroid-induced ONFH susceptibility in the
      population of northern China. In addition, we found that gender differences might
      interact with MMP8 polymorphisms to contribute to the overall susceptibility to
      steroid-induced ONFH.

PMID- 27631233
TI  - HLA-DR, and not PLA2R, is expressed on the podocytes in kidney allografts in de
      novo membranous nephropathy.
AB  - Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is known to be associated with antibodies
      acting on the M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) of the podocyte. However,
      the mechanism underlying de novo membranous nephropathy (dn MN)
      posttransplantation remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the
      mechanism underlying dn MN.We selected 8 cases with dn MN and compared them to 20
      IMN cases. Fifteen cases of stable grafts were selected as controls.Several
      differences between the dn MN group and the IMN group were detected. IgG4 showed
      negligible positive staining in patients with dn MN, while it was predominant in
      the IMN group (1/8 vs 20/20, P < 0.001). Serum anti-PLA2R antibodies and anti
      PLA2R antibodies of the podocyte were very few in the dn MN patients; however,
      these antibodies were detected in most of the IMN patients (serum anti-PLA2R
      antibodies: 1/8 vs 16/20, P = 0.002, anti-PLA2R antibodies of the podocyte: 0/8
      vs 17/20, P < 0.001). The dn MN patients also showed higher ratio of interstitial
      inflammation, peritubular capillaritis, and peritubular capillary C4d deposition.
      Importantly, human leukocyte antigens (HLA)-DR expression was detected on the
      podocytes in most of the dn MN patients, but none of the IMN patients and stable
      graft patients showed HLA-DR expression.These data suggested that the PLA2R
      pathway, which is known to play a role in IMN, was not involved in the mechanism
      underlying dn MN. On the contrary, dn MN might be associated with the alloimmune
      response directed against the podocyte. 

PMID- 27631234
TI  - Approaching the facts between genetic mutation and clinical practice of
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A case report with RAF1 770C>T mutant.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is one of the most common
      cardiomyopathies, which induces sudden cardiac death. Several mutants have been
      identified among HCM cases. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 10-month female infant who
      experienced cough, fever, aggressive exertional dyspnea, and recurrent cyanosis
      was admitted to our hospital. The patient was first diagnosed with type I
      respiratory failure, dysfunction of heart, severe pneumonia, and also some
      cardiac disorders were suspected. The echocardiography, cardiac computed
      tomography scan, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging scan, and also
      electrocardiogram were performed to confirm a diagnosis of HCM. Moreover, the
      whole-genome sequencing and chromatin analysis have been suggested. Based on the
      sequencing analysis, a new heterozygous mutant of RAF1 at c. 770C>T had been
      identified in absence of the same mutant in both her parents. Besides, the
      existence of normal karyotypes was confirmed among 3 samples. CONCLUSION: So we
      first reported a single mutant of RAF1 770C>T with idiopathic HCM in a very early
      age. This patient would have suffered significant cardiac ventricular hypertrophy
      with more severe clinical manifestation in an extremely younger age compared with
      other identified mutations. However, we could only take limited advantages of
      deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing in HCM diagnosis and therapy. Reporting
      additional observations of well designed cohorts with a long-term follow-up would
      be very helpful to accelerate the transition of genetic molecular research on
      HCM.

PMID- 27631235
TI  - Different mean thickness implicates involvement of the cortex in migraine.
AB  - The results of neuroimaging studies on migraines have shown that the functions
      and functional connectivity networks of some brain regions are altered in
      migraine patients, and different brain structure volumes have also been observed
      in recent years. However, it is still not known whether the mean thickness of the
      cortex is different in migraine patients.A total of 48 migraine without aura
      (MWoA) patients in interictal phase and 48 healthy controls were enrolled in this
      study. All subjects received neurological and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      examinations. Automatic segmentation processing of high-resolution MRI structure
      images was performed using FreeSurfer software.The mean cortical thickness of
      many brain regions in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal
      lobe, and insula in the migraine patient group was significantly decreased
      compared with that in the healthy control group. The mean cortical thickness of
      the insula anterior was positively correlated with the duration of the disease
      course, while the mean cortical thickness of insula superior and insula inferior
      was negatively correlated with the duration of the disease course.The results
      showed that MWoA results from a complex interactive reaction involving many brain
      regions and many brain network systems together. However, it is still not clear
      whether the difference in the brain structure of migraine patients is the result
      or the cause of headache, which is a topic that must be better elucidated.
      Therefore, longitudinal neuroimaging studies on migraine patients with large
      samples sizes should be performed using more advanced neuroimaging techniques. 

PMID- 27631236
TI  - Bidirectional association between obstructive sleep apnea and depression: A
      population-based longitudinal study.
AB  - An association may exist between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and depression.
      However, results regarding this association are inconsistent, and the direction
      of the association between OSA and depression remains unknown. Therefore, we used
      the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to investigate the
      bidirectional association between OSA and depression.A total of 6427 OSA patients
      and 32,135 age and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled to analyze the risk
      of depression among patients with OSA, where 27,073 patients with depression and
      135,365 control subjects were enrolled to address the risk of OSA among patients
      with depression. All subjects were followed to identify their outcomes of
      interest from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2012.Cox proportional-hazards
      models, after adjusting for potential confounders, demonstrated that patients
      with OSA had an increased risk (adjusted hazard ratio 2.48, 95% confidence
      interval 2.20-2.79) of developing depression, whereas those with depression were
      associated with an increased risk of future OSA (adjusted hazard ratio 2.30, 95%
      confidence interval 2.11-2.50).Our results suggested that a strong bidirectional
      relationship exists between OSA and depression, with each disease influencing the
      development of the other. Health providers are recommended to ensure the early
      detection and management of depression among patients with OSA and vice versa. 

PMID- 27631237
TI  - Complications after total knee replacement in patients with chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease: A nationwide case-control study.
AB  - The incidence and prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is
      associated with increasing age. Osteoarthritis is also a growing problem in the
      aging population, and total knee replacement (TKR) is a common surgical procedure
      for this population. An increasing number of COPD patients are receiving TKR, but
      few studies have examined the complications and outcomes after TKR in COPD
      patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the complications,
      including mortality, wound infections, hospitalization readmission, pneumonia
      (PN), and cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) in patients with COPD after receiving
      TKR.The National Health Insurance operated by the government is a nationwide
      health care program with universal coverage in Taiwan. It covers approximately
      99% of the total Taiwanese population of 23 million people. In this case-control
      study, we analyzed the longitudinally linked National Health Insurance Research
      Database, which consists of a cohort of 1,000,000 randomly selected enrollees
      retrospectively followed from 1996 to 2010. This study analyzed patients who
      underwent TKR surgery between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2009 by
      identifying the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision,
      Clinical Modification code. We separated patients into COPD and non-COPD groups.
      Five study outcomes and complications were measured after TKR, including
      mortality for 1 and 3 years, wound infections for 1 and 2 years, hospitalization
      readmission for 30 and 90 days, PN for 30 and 90 days, and CVAs.A total of 3431
      patients who underwent TKR surgery were identified, including 358 patients with
      COPD and 3073 patients without COPD. The COPD group had a higher percentage of 90
      day PN (3.7% vs. 1.1%), 30-day readmission (7.0% vs. 4.0%), 30-day CVA (1.7% vs.
      0.6%), 90-day CVA (3.9% vs. 2.1%), and 3-year mortality (3.9% vs. 2.1%) than the
      non-COPD group. COPD was associated with 90-day PN (adjusted hazard ratio[HR)] =
      2.12, P = 0.030) after adjusting for sex, cardiovascular disease, and CVA
      occurrence.Patients with COPD had a higher risk of PN after TKR than patients
      without COPD, but no significant differences were found for CVAs and mortality. 

PMID- 27631238
TI  - Serial serum alkaline phosphatase as an early biomarker for osteopenia of
      prematurity.
AB  - Metabolic bone disease of prematurity is a condition characterized by reduction
      in bone mineral content (osteopenia). It is a problem faced by very low birth
      weight (VLBW) infants because of lack of fetal mineralization during the last
      trimester. Our aim was to assess serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level as an
      early biomarker for osteopenia in premature infants and to estimate an optimal
      cutoff value of serum ALP at which osteopenia is detected radiologically in
      premature newborns.This prospective study was conducted on a cohort of 120
      newborn infants of both sex of <=34 weeks' gestational age and <1500 g birth
      weight. Two blood samples, from each infant on at least 2 consecutive weeks, were
      reported for calcium, phosphorus, and ALP. Evidence of osteopenia was evaluated
      radiologically by performing wrist/knee x-ray.Sixteen infants (13.3%) had
      evidence of osteopenia in x-ray, whereas 104 infants (86.7%) were nonosteopenic
      and all the osteopenic infants were <1000-g birth weight. Birth weight and
      gestational age were significantly inversely related to serum ALP levels. Both
      samples showed statistically significantly higher mean ALP level in osteopenic
      than nonosteopenics (P < 0.001, and P < 0.001 respectively). There was no
      constant value of serum ALP related to radiologic evidence of osteopenia.
      However, the optimal cutoff value of serum ALP at which osteopenia is detected is
      500 IU/L with 100% sensitivity and 80.77% specificity.High levels of ALP can be
      considered a reliable biomarker to predict the status of bone mineralization and
      the need for radiological evaluation in premature infants particularly those
      <1000-g birth weight and <32 weeks' gestation. 

PMID- 27631239
TI  - Impact of payment system change from per-case to per-diem on high severity
      patient's length of stay.
AB  - A new payment system, the diagnosis-related group (DRG) system, and Korean
      diagnosis procedure combination (KDPC, per-diem) payment system were officially
      introduced in 2002 and in 2012, respectively. We evaluated the impact of payment
      system change from per-case to per-diem on high severity patient's length of stay
      (LOS).Claim data was used. A total of 36,240 case admissions and 72,480 control
      admissions were included in the analysis. Segmented regression analysis of
      interrupted time series between cases and controls was conducted. Hospitals that
      consistently participated in the DRG payment system and changed to the KDPC
      payment system were defined as case hospitals. Hospitals that consistently
      participated in the DRG payment system were defined as control hospitals.LOS
      increased by 0.025 days per month (P = 0.0055) for 3 surgical diagnosis-related
      admissions due to the bundled payment system change. LOS among emergency
      admissions also increased and showed an increasing tendency under the KDPC. The
      LOS increase was observed specifically for complex procedure admissions and high
      severity cases (CCI 0, 1: 0.022, P = 0.0142; CCI 2, 3: 0.026, P = 0.0288; CCI >=
      4: 0.055, P = 0.0003).Although both payment systems are optimized to decrease
      LOS, incentives to reduce LOS are stronger under the DRG system than under the
      KDPC system. It is worth noting that too strong incentive for reducing LOS is
      suitable to high severity cases. 

PMID- 27631241
TI  - Recurrent spontaneous subserosal hematoma of ileum causing intestinal obstruction
      in a patient with menkes disease: A case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Menkes disease (MD) is a disorder of copper metabolism due to ATP7A
      gene mutation that leads to severe copper deficiency. Deformed blood vessels can
      be found in many parts of the body, and intracranial hematoma is generally
      reported. METHODS: We report a Taiwanese boy with MD who had recurrent
      spontaneous subserosal hematoma of ileum presenting as intestinal obstruction,
      with the 2 episodes 23 months apart. The patient returned to the usual physical
      status after surgical removal of the hematoma. RESULTS: The defective copper
      metabolism causes dysfunction of a plenty of copper-dependent enzymes, giving
      rise to unique kinky hair appearance, progressive neurodegeneration, and
      connective tissue abnormalities. To our knowledge, this is the first report on
      recurrent subserosal hemorrhage of intestine in MD. CONCLUSION: Owing to the
      fragile structure of blood vessels, subserosal hematoma should be considered when
      patients with MD having intestinal obstruction.

PMID- 27631240
TI  - Different clinical characteristics in sporadic young-age onset colorectal cancer.
AB  - The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing in young-age patients, but
      the clinical history is not established. Authors analyzed the clinical
      characteristics of young-age onset CRC to support basic information for setting
      treatment policies.Between January 2006 to January 2014, 100 CRC patients
      diagnosed at the age of 10 to 39 were analyzed. The clinicopathologic
      characteristics were reviewed based on medical records. Survival outcomes
      including overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and progression
      free survival (PFS) were analyzed. This study was conducted as a retrospective,
      observation study.Among 100 patients, 86 patients were diagnosed as CRC at their
      thirties. Seventy-nine patients had no familial history of cancer. At initial
      diagnosis, 59 patients showed the normal CEA level (<=3 ng/mL), and 61 patients
      were diagnosed as advanced CRC (40% stage III, 21% stage IV). Sixty-four patients
      had lower location-sigmoid colon, rectosigmoid junction, or rectum. Recurrence
      rate was 7.9% in stage I to III CRC. Although median OS was not reached, patients
      with normal CEA level showed better survival outcome (P = 0.013) and patients
      with perineural invasion showed poorer survival (P = 0.011). The 5-year survival
      rate of total patient population was estimated as 75%. However, median OS of
      stage IV patients were 19 months (range 7.9-60.63 months), shorter than
      historical data of >24 months.Young-age CRC was most commonly diagnosed at their
      thirties, with no familial history, normal range of CEA and located below sigmoid
      colon. In young-age onset stage IV CRC, patients showed inferior OS compared to
      historical data. Based on our data, different surveillance program other than
      serum CEA level (e.g., sigmoidoscopy) is needed in young-age patient population. 

PMID- 27631242
TI  - C3 glomerulonephritis in multiple myeloma: A case report and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: C3 glomerulonephritis (C3 GN) is a recently defined entity
      characterized by predominant C3 deposition in glomeruli due to abnormal
      activation of the alternative pathway of complement system. C3 GN has been
      reported to be associated with several systemic diseases. However, the
      association between C3 GN and multiple myeloma (MM) has not been well
      established. METHODS: We herein describe a case presenting with C3 GN on top of
      MM. RESULTS: A 64-year-old Chinese female presented with gross hematuria, renal
      dysfunction, anemia, and weight loss. Results of serum immunofixation assay and
      bone marrow biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of IgG-lambda-type MM. In addition,
      renal biopsy demonstrated histological findings characteristic of C3 GN,
      including mesangial and endocapillary proliferation under light microscope,
      electron-dense deposits under electron microscope, and diffuse granular
      deposition of C3 with no immunoglobulin under immunofluorescence microscope.
      These histological findings, combined with low serum C3 level, suggested the
      occurrence of C3 GN in the context of MM. CONCLUSION: This case study provides
      additional evidence to the literature in terms of the association between C3 GN
      and MM. We hypothesize that C3 GN may present as a new variant of nephropathy in
      MM and the mechanism behind this association merits further study.

PMID- 27631243
TI  - In vivo neurometabolic profiling in orthostatic tremor.
AB  - The pathogenesis of orthostatic tremor (OT) remains unclear, although some
      evidence points to dysfunction in the brainstem or cerebellum. We used single
      voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) (3 T) to investigate
      whether neurochemical changes underlie abnormal cerebellar or cortical function
      in OT. Fourteen OT patients and 14 healthy controls underwent 1H-MRS studies with
      voxels placed in midparietal gray matter and cerebellum (vermis and central white
      matter). Spectral analysis was analyzed using the software package LCModel
      (version 6.3). The absolute metabolite concentrations and ratios of total N
      acetylaspartate + N-acetylaspartyl glutamate (NAA), choline-containing compounds,
      myoinositol, and glutamate + glutamine to creatine were calculated. In
      midparietal gray matter spectra, we found a significant decrease in the absolute
      concentration of NAA in OT patients versus healthy controls (7.76 +/- 0.25 vs
      8.11 +/- 0.45, P = 0.017). A similar decrease in NAA was seen in the cerebellar
      vermis (7.33 +/- 0.61 vs 8.55 +/- 1.54, P = 0.014) and cerebellar white matter
      (8.54 +/- 0.79 vs 9.95 +/- 1.57, P = 0.010). No differences in the other
      metabolites or their ratios were observed. Reductions in both cerebral cortical
      and cerebellar NAA suggest that there is neuronal damage or loss in OT, raising
      the intriguing question as to whether OT is a neurodegenerative disease. Along
      with clinical history and electrophysio0logical examination, 1H-MRS could serve
      as a useful diagnostic aid for OT. 

PMID- 27631244
TI  - Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is associated with platelet storage
      pool deficiency.
AB  - Mechanisms have been postulated to explain postural orthostatic tachycardia
      syndrome (POTS), however, the etiology of this often debilitating disorder
      remains unknown. We conducted a retrospective case-control study of 181 POTS
      patients who exhibited/reported bleeding symptoms for a specific platelet (PL)
      dysfunction disorder, delta granule storage pool deficiency (delta-SPD).Patients
      were included only if results of blood tests for delta-SPD were available.
      Electron microscopy was utilized to diagnose delta-SPD. An ELISA assay was used
      to determine serotonin (5HT) concentration in PLs and medical record review was
      employed to collect patients' clinical symptoms.The most common bleeding symptom
      was easy bruising (71%) but frequent nose bleeds, heavy menstrual bleeding, and a
      family history of bleeding were also commonly reported. Of the patients studied,
      81% were diagnosed with delta-SPD. Our investigation of 5HT concentration
      extracted from PLs revealed significantly lower levels of 5HT in POTS patients
      when compared to that of control subjects. Our data suggest that patients with
      POTS have significant comorbidities including bleeding symptoms and/or family
      bleeding histories, and have diminished PL 5HT levels supporting the hypothesis
      that POTS is a low 5HT level disorder. While we describe a significant
      relationship with POTS and delta-SPD, this finding does not constitute an
      etiology for POTS.Our results establish an additional comorbidity frequently seen
      in POTS that could explain a number of disparate symptoms often affecting the
      severity of POTS. 

PMID- 27631245
TI  - HIV and cancer registry linkage identifies a substantial burden of cancers in
      persons with HIV in India.
AB  - We utilized computerized record-linkage methods to link HIV and cancer databases
      with limited unique identifiers in Pune, India, to determine feasibility of
      linkage and obtain preliminary estimates of cancer risk in persons living with
      HIV (PLHIV) as compared with the general population.Records of 32,575 PLHIV were
      linked to 31,754 Pune Cancer Registry records (1996-2008) using a probabilistic
      matching algorithm. Cancer risk was estimated by calculating standardized
      incidence ratios (SIRs) in the early (4-27 months after HIV registration), late
      (28-60 months), and overall (4-60 months) incidence periods. Cancers diagnosed
      prior to or within 3 months of HIV registration were considered prevalent.Of 613
      linked cancers to PLHIV, 188 were prevalent, 106 early incident, and 319 late
      incident. Incident cancers comprised 11.5% AIDS-defining cancers (ADCs),
      including cervical cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but not Kaposi sarcoma
      (KS), and 88.5% non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs). Risk for any incident cancer
      diagnosis in early, late, and combined periods was significantly elevated among
      PLHIV (SIRs: 5.6 [95% CI 4.6-6.8], 17.7 [95% CI 15.8-19.8], and 11.5 [95% CI 10
      12.6], respectively). Cervical cancer risk was elevated in both incidence periods
      (SIRs: 9.6 [95% CI 4.8-17.2] and 22.6 [95% CI 14.3-33.9], respectively), while
      NHL risk was elevated only in the late incidence period (SIR: 18.0 [95% CI 9.8
      30.20]). Risks for NADCs were dramatically elevated (SIR > 100) for eye-orbit,
      substantially (SIR > 20) for all-mouth, esophagus, breast, unspecified-leukemia,
      colon-rectum-anus, and other/unspecified cancers; moderately elevated (SIR > 10)
      for salivary gland, penis, nasopharynx, and brain-nervous system, and mildly
      elevated (SIR > 5) for stomach. Risks for 6 NADCs (small intestine, testis,
      lymphocytic leukemia, prostate, ovary, and melanoma) were not elevated and 5
      cancers, including multiple myeloma not seen.Our study demonstrates the
      feasibility of using probabilistic record-linkage to study cancer/other
      comorbidities among PLHIV in India and provides preliminary population-based
      estimates of cancer risks in PLHIV in India. Our results, suggesting a
      potentially substantial burden and slightly different spectrum of cancers among
      PLHIV in India, support efforts to conduct multicenter linkage studies to obtain
      precise estimates and to monitor cancer risk in PLHIV in India. 

PMID- 27631246
TI  - Reconstruction of the postauricular defects using retroauricular artery
      perforator-based island flaps: Anatomical study and clinical report.
AB  - The objectives of the study were to introduce and investigate the reliability of
      a new flap for postauricular defects using the retroauricular artery
      perforator.Twenty auricles from 10 Asian human cadavers were dissected to examine
      the retroauricular perforator distribution and diameter. Fourteen patients with
      postauricular defects underwent reconstruction using the retroauricular artery
      perforator from 2013 to 2015. After locating the position of the perforator by
      ultrasound Doppler blood flow detection, a suitable flap was designed according
      to the defect's size, condition, and distance from the pedicle. The flap was
      meticulously elevated, rotated appropriately, and sutured to the defect. The
      donor site was then closed.Cadaver dissection showed that the posterior auricular
      artery produces at least 2 constant branches with an external diameter of 0.84 +/
      0.25 mm at the origin. These branches proceed toward the mastoid process at the
      height of the auriculocephalic angle to nourish the skin and fascia. A total of
      14 clinical cases were available for 3 to 12 months postoperative follow-up. All
      flaps survived completely, maintaining good skin color, perfect outer contour,
      and complete patient satisfaction with the aesthetic results after initial
      treatment.Retroauricular artery perforator-based island flaps appear to be ideal
      for 1-stage reconstruction of postauricular skin defects. 

PMID- 27631247
TI  - Serotype 6B from a pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine induces cross-functional
      antibody responses in adults to serotypes 6A, 6C, and 6D.
AB  - Cross-reactivity of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides is a key element for
      formulating pneumococcal vaccines and evaluating vaccine efficacy. This study
      examined whether 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23), which
      only contains 6B, can elicit cross-functional immune responses against recently
      discovered serotypes (6C and 6D), as well as against 6A, in 2 adult age
      groups.Young adults (25-51 years; N = 28) and elderly subjects (over 65 years; N
      = 60) were immunized with PPSV23. Functional antibody responses were determined
      in pre- and postimmune sera via multiplexed opsonophagocytic killing assay
      against serotypes 6A/B/C/D.At postimmunization, the geometric mean opsonic
      indices (OIs) for 6B and nonvaccine serotypes (6A, 6C, and 6D) significantly
      increased in both age groups. The geometric fold increases of OIs for 6B/A/C/D
      significantly differed (18.2, 24.8, 3.1, and 7.1, respectively). Proportions of
      subjects with 4-fold increases in OIs for 6B/A/C/D were 73%, 70%, 31%, and 49%,
      respectively. Correlations of fold increases in OIs were highest between 6B and
      6A, followed by 6B and 6D, then by 6B and 6C. Comparisons of young adults and the
      elderly revealed that most immunogenicity variables were higher in the former
      group.Our data demonstrated that 6B in PPSV23 induced cross-functional immune
      responses against serotypes 6A, 6C, and 6D, according to the degree of similarity
      in their capsular polysaccharide structures. In addition, we found significant
      age-related differences in PPSV23-induced cross-reactivity. 

PMID- 27631248
TI  - Inspiratory muscle training in stroke patients with congestive heart failure: A
      CONSORT-compliant prospective randomized single-blind controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary function can be adversely affected after a
      cerebrovascular accident in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The aim
      of this study was to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of inspiratory
      muscle training (IMT) for stroke patients with CHF. METHODS: A prospective
      randomized single-blind controlled trial was conducted in a single tertiary
      medical center in southern Taiwan between May 2011 and July 2015. Forty-one
      patients were enrolled, of whom 21 completed the study (IMT group n = 11 and
      control group n = 10). Both groups participated in a conventional stroke
      rehabilitation program. Patients in the IMT group received an additional IMT
      program beginning with an intensity of 30% maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP),
      then increased by 2cmH2O each week for 30 minutes daily for at least 5 days a
      week for 10 weeks. MIP, maximal expiratory pressure, spirometry, resting
      oxyhemoglobin saturation, modified Borg Scale, Fatigue Assessment Scale, and
      Barthel Index were assessed in each patient. RESULTS: There were significant
      differences from baseline in MIP (P = 0.008), percent predicted forced vital
      capacity (P = 0.033), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (P = 0.008),
      percent predicted FEV1 (P = 0.008), and Barthel Index (P = 0.012) in the IMT
      group, and Barthel Index (P = 0.027) in the control group. There were significant
      differences between groups in MIP (20.91 +/- 19.73 vs -9.00 +/- 26.01, adjusted P
      value = 0.023) and Barthel Index (24.55 +/- 22.30 vs 7.50 +/- 8.25, adjusted P
      value = 0.044). CONCLUSION: The 10-week IMT was feasible and effective in
      improving inspiratory force and activities of daily living for the stroke
      patients with CHF.

PMID- 27631249
TI  - Strategies for the prevention of catheter-related bladder discomfort: A PRISMA
      compliant systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ideal measures to prevent postoperative catheter-related bladder
      discomfort (CRBD) remain unestablished. We conducted the systematic review and
      meta-analysis to clarify the significance of potential interventions. METHODS: We
      followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis
      statement guidelines, and searched databases from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and referred
      Cochrane Library for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) published before December
      2014. Reference lists from reviews or related articles were screened and checked
      for the related RCTs. Data extraction was performed carefully by 2 authors,
      respectively, and methodological quality was assessed by scoring system. Meta
      analysis was applied for studies using the similar strategies or same reagents on
      the similar participants focused on CRBD. The primary outcome measure was the
      incidence of postoperative CRBD. RESULTS: We identified 8 RCTs with interventions
      ranging from perioperative managements to pharmacological or multicomponent
      interventions. Meta-analysis showed ketamine was associated with less incidence
      of CRBD compared with placebo (pool risk ratio [RR] = -0.75, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] = 0.17-3.44, P < 0.01) at 0 hour, 1 hour (RR = -0.26, 95%CI = -0.38
      to -0.13, P < 0.01), and 2 hours (RR = 0.31, 95%CI = 0.17-0.55, P < 0.01) and 6
      hours (RR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.11-0.49, P < 0.01) after operation. Oxybutynin did
      not affect the incidence of CRBD (RR = 0.46, 95%CI = 0.20-1.03, P = 0.06).
      Anticholinergic drugs also lower the incidence of CRBD at 0 hour (RR = 0.52, 95%
      CI = 0.38-0.71, P < 0.01), 1 hour (RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.51-0.86, P < 0.01), 2
      hours (RR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.46-0.84, P < 0.01), and 6 hours (RR = 0.56, 95%CI =
      0.38-0.81, P < 0.01) postoperatively. Tramadol and gabapentin were also useful in
      lower the incidence and severity of CRBD in a RCT with 50 patients. CONCLUSION:
      The included studies showed great effectiveness in incidence of postoperative
      CRBD. Meta-analysis supported that ketamine, oxybutynin, and anticholinergic
      reagents interventions were useful in preventing postoperative catheter-related
      bladder discomfort.

PMID- 27631251
TI  - Gallium SPECT/CT in evaluation of IgG4-related disease: A case report and
      literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical picture of IgG4-related sclerosing disease (IgG4-RSD)
      may mimic lymphoma, and should be in the differential diagnosis of patients with
      this clinical picture. CASE SUMMARY: A 32-year-old female had recurrent swelling
      of both eyelids for more than 15 years. Examination revealed elastic, firm,
      swollen lacrimal glands about 2-3 cm in diameter that was not painful. Head and
      orbits magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed mass lesions over the bilateral
      lacrimal glands, submandibular glands, and left foramen of ovale. The
      differential diagnosis included lymphoid tissue, inflammatory masses, and
      lymphoma. Gallium single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography
      (SPECT/CT) showed uptake in the bilateral lacrimal glands, right parotid and
      bilateral submandibular glands, bilateral perirenal region, mediastinal,
      prevertebral, paraaortic, lumbar, bilateral pelvic (including internal iliac
      chain) lymph nodes, anterior aspect of right 3rd rib, and lateral aspect of left
      6th rib. CT showed multiple enlarged lymph nodes in the mediastinum, right
      pulmonary hilum, prevertebral space of the thoracolumbar spine, retroperitoneal
      paraaortic area, bilateral parailiac areas, and bilateral perirenal spaces.
      Antinuclear and anti-SSA/SSB antibodies were negative, and the serum IgG4 level
      was 740 mg/dL (normal, 8-140 mg/dL). Right parotid gland biopsy showed abundant
      IgG4-positive plasma cells. Mikulicz disease (IgG4-related sclerosing disease)
      was diagnosed and she received glucocorticoid treatment. Follow-up CT and MRI
      showed with resolved eyelid swelling and perirenal mass lesions. Follow-up
      gallium scan was normal. CONCLUSION: Gallium SPECT/CT can be a useful tool for
      initial and follow-up evaluation of IgG4-RSD.

PMID- 27631252
TI  - An unusual presentation of eruptive xanthoma: A case report and literature
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eruptive xanthomas are benign skin lesions caused by localized
      deposition of lipids in the dermis. The lesions are generally caused by elevated
      levels of serum triglycerides that leak through the capillaries and are
      phagocytosed by macrophages in the dermis. Clinical manifestation varies from
      asymptomatic skin lesions to intense pruritus and tenderness. METHODS: We present
      a case of a middle-aged man admitted with diabetic ketoacidosis secondary to
      noncompliance with insulin. He was found to have skin lesions as multiple crusted
      papules on the extremities. Further evaluation revealed elevated serum
      triglycerides. A diagnosis of eruptive xanthomas was made on skin biopsy, and
      after starting treatment with lipid lowering agents his cutaneous lesions
      gradually subsided. CONCLUSION: Appearance of eruptive xanthomas can signify the
      onset of serious complications. Prompt recognition of such skin manifestations is
      warranted to prevent development of fatal medical condition like coronary artery
      disease and pancreatitis.

PMID- 27631250
TI  - Comparative clinical implications of admission electrocardiographic findings for
      patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - Early risk stratification is crucial for appropriate management using invasive
      strategies in non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and
      electrocardiography (ECG) has been widely used for risk stratification. However,
      ECG findings in NSTEMI vary, and there is a need to define the clinical
      characteristics and outcomes according to ECG.We analyzed the admission ECGs of
      345 NSTEMI patients who underwent coronary angiography from 2006 to 2013.
      Demographics, procedural characteristics, and clinical outcomes were analyzed.The
      ST-segment depression, T-wave inversion, and no ECG change groups included 114,
      90, and 141 patients, respectively. The ST-segment depression group trended
      toward older, nonsmoking, and female, with a lower body mass index (BMI) and a
      higher incidence of comorbidities, than the no ECG change group. The ST-segment
      depression group also had a higher Killip class, a lower left ventricular
      ejection fraction, a higher regional wall motion score index (RWMSI), and 3
      vessel coronary artery disease angiographically, than the no ECG change group.
      Patients with T-wave inversion trended toward older, female, lower BMI, less
      smoking, lower creatine kinase MB, and more left anterior descending (LAD) artery
      involvement, than the no ECG change group. In clinical outcomes, the ST-segment
      depression group had a higher mortality rate at 30 days and 12 months after the
      index procedure than the no ECG change group, whereas the T-wave inversion group
      showed similar clinical outcomes.Patients with ST-segment depression have a
      greater burden of comorbidities with risk factors and worse clinical outcomes,
      whereas patients with T-wave inversion have an intermediate number of risk
      factors but similar outcomes, compared with the no ECG change group. Further
      study is necessary to evaluate the prognostic impact of the baseline ECG on
      admission. 

PMID- 27631253
TI  - Limitation of duty hour regulations for pediatric resident wellness: A mixed
      methods study in Japan.
AB  - Duty hour regulations have been placed in residency programs to address mental
      health concerns and to improve wellness. Here, we elucidate the prevalence of
      depressive symptoms after implementing an overnight call shift system and the
      factors associated with burnout or depression among residents.A sequential
      exploratory mixed methods study was conducted in a tertiary care pediatric and
      perinatal hospital in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 41 pediatric residents
      participated in the cross-sectional survey. We determined and compared the
      prevalence of depressive symptoms and the number of actual working hours before
      and after implementing the shift system. A follow-up focus-group interview with 4
      residents was conducted to explore the factors that may trigger or prevent
      depression and burnout.Mean working hours significantly decreased from 75.2 hours
      to 64.9 hours per week. Prevalence of depressive symptoms remained similar before
      and after implementation of the shift system. Emotional exhaustion and
      depersonalization from the burnout scale were markedly associated with
      depression. High workload, stress intolerance, interpersonal difficulties, and
      generation gaps regarding work-life balance could cause burnout. Stress
      tolerance, workload monitoring and balancing, appropriate supervision, and peer
      support could prevent burnout.Although the overnight call shift system was
      effective in reducing working hours, its effectiveness in managing mental health
      issues among pediatric residents remains unclear. Resident wellness programs
      represent an additional strategy and they should be aimed at fostering peer
      support and improvement of resident-faculty interactions. Such an approach could
      be beneficial to the relationship between physicians of different generations
      with conflicting belief structures. 

PMID- 27631254
TI  - The efficacy of cap-assisted colonoscopy performed by a single endoscopist in
      patients after colorectal resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of a transparent cap is regarded as a simple method to obtain
      better outcomes compared with standard colonoscopy. In this study, we
      investigated whether cap-assisted colonoscopy can improve the quality of
      procedure-related outcomes in patients with a history of colorectal resection.
      METHODS: This study was designed as a prospective, randomized, controlled trial
      conducted at a single tertiary center by a single endoscopist (Kang J.). A total
      183 patients after colorectal resection due to primary colorectal cancer were
      enrolled and 1:1 randomized to undergo either cap-assisted colonoscopy (CAP
      group) or standard colonoscopy (non-CAP group). The primary endpoint was the
      comparison of cecal intubation time between the 2 groups. RESULTS: The mean cecal
      intubation time of the CAP group (n = 89) was significantly shorter than that of
      the non-CAP group (n = 89) (538 seconds vs 677 seconds, P = 0.024). In the CAP
      group, the endoscopist performed faster intubation than average more often
      compared with the non-CAP group (71.9% vs 57.3%). In regard to moving average
      curve, the CAP group showed a gentle slope during the learning period, while the
      non-CAP group showed a steep decrease. CONCLUSION: The cap-assisted colonoscopy
      could reduce cecal intubation time and achieve more frequent faster intubation
      compared with standard colonoscopy in patients after colorectal resection.

PMID- 27631255
TI  - Antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis with
      hypocomplementemia has a higher incidence of serious organ damage and a poor
      prognosis.
AB  - A relationship between antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated
      vasculitis (AAV) and complement has been shown, and complement has an important
      role in the pathogenesis of AAV. The clinical characteristics of AAV with
      hypocomplementemia still remain unclear.We conducted an observational study of 81
      patients with AAV (median onset age 71 years; 58% female). Using medical records,
      we analyzed the patients' baseline variables, laboratory data, clinical symptoms,
      and therapeutic outcomes after treatments including episodes of relapses,
      initiation of dialysis, and death. We defined hypocomplementemia as the state in
      which at least one of the following was lower than the lower limit of the normal
      range: complement 3 (C3), complement 4 (C4), and total complement activity
      (CH50).Sixteen patients (20%) had hypocomplementemia at their diagnosis of AAV.
      Compared to the AAV patients without hypocomplementemia (n = 65), those with
      hypocomplementemia had significantly higher rates of the occurrence of skin
      lesions (8 [50%] vs. 8 [12%], P = 0.002), diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) (6
      [38%] vs. 5 [8%], P = 0.006), and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) (3 [19%] vs. 0
      [0%], P = 0.007). The AAV patients with hypocomplementemia had significantly
      lower platelet levels (16.5 * 10 vs. 24.9 * 10 cells/MUL, P = 0.023) compared to
      those without hypocomplementemia. More positive immune complex deposits in renal
      biopsy specimens were seen in the AAV patients with hypocomplementemia than in
      those without hypocomplementemia (4 [80%] vs. 2 [18%], P = 0.036). Assessed by a
      log-rank test, hypocomplementemia at disease onset was significantly associated
      with death (P = 0.033).Hypocomplementemia in AAV at the disease onset was a risk
      factor for the serious organ damage, and a life prognostic factor. It is thus
      very important to pay attention to the levels of complement at the diagnosis of
      AAV. 

PMID- 27631256
TI  - Tumor growth rate of invasive breast cancers during wait times for surgery
      assessed by ultrasonography.
AB  - Several studies suggest that delay in the surgical treatment of breast cancer is
      significantly associated with lower survival. This study evaluated the tumor
      growth rate (TGR) of invasive breast cancers during wait times for surgery
      quantitatively using ultrasonography (US) and identified clinicopathologic
      factors associated with TGR.This retrospective study was approved by our
      institutional review board and the requirement for written informed consent was
      waived. Between August 2013 and September 2014, a total of 323 unifocal invasive
      breast cancers in 323 women with serial US images at the time of diagnosis and
      surgery were included. Tumor diameters and volumes were measured using 2
      orthogonal US images. TGR during wait times for surgery was quantified as
      specific growth rates (SGR; %/day) and was compared with clinicopathologic
      variables using univariate and multivariate analyses.Median time from diagnosis
      to surgery was 31 days (range, 8-78 days). Maximum tumor diameters and volumes at
      the time of surgery (mean, 15.6 mm and 1.6 cm) were significantly larger than at
      diagnosis (14.7 mm and 1.3 cm) (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, surrogate
      molecular subtype was a significant independent factor of SGR (P = 0.001); triple
      negative cancers showed the highest SGR (1.003%/day) followed by HER2-positive
      (0.859 %/day) and luminal cancers (luminal B, 0.208 %/day; luminal A, 0.175%/day)
      (P < 0.001). Clinical T stage was more frequently upgraded in nonluminal (triple
      negative, 18% [12/67]; HER2-positive, 14% [3/22]) than luminal cancers (luminal
      B, 3% [1/30]; luminal A, 2% [4/204]) (P < 0.001).Invasive breast cancers with
      aggressive molecular subtypes showed faster TGR and more frequent upgrading of
      clinical T stage during wait times for surgery. 

PMID- 27631257
TI  - Learning curve for gastric cancer patients with laparoscopy-assisted distal
      gastrectomy: 6-year experience from a single institution in western China.
AB  - Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) is widely used for gastric cancer
      (GC) patients nowadays. This study aimed to investigate the time trend of
      outcomes so as to describe the learning curve for GC patients with LADG at a
      single medical institution in western China over a 6-year period.A total of 246
      consecutive GC patients with LADG were divided into 5 groups (group A: 46
      patients from 2006 to 2007; group B: 47 patients in 2008; group C: 49 patients in
      2009; group D: 73 patients in 2010; and group E: 31 patients in 2011). All
      surgeries were conducted by the same surgeon. Comparative analyses were
      successively performed by Mann-Whitney U test or Student t test among the 5
      different groups for the clinical data, including clinicopathologic
      characteristics, surgical parameters, postoperative course, and survival
      outcomes, through which the learning curve was described.There were no
      differences in the baseline information among the 5 groups (P > 0.05), and the
      proportion of advanced GC patients with LADG slightly increased from 58.7% to
      77.4% during the 6 years. Besides, the proportion of D2/D2+ lymphadenectomy and
      the number of retrieved lymph nodes gradually grew from 60.9% to 80.6% and from
      20.0 to 28.8, respectively. In addition, the operation time decreased from 299.2
      to 267.8 minutes, while the estimated blood loss dropped from 175.2 to 146.8 mL.
      Furthermore, some surgical parameters (surgical duration and blood loss) and
      postoperative course (such as postoperative complications, the time to
      ambulation, to first flatus, and to first liquid intake as well as the length of
      hospital stay) were all observed to be significantly different between group A
      and other groups (P < 0.05), illustrating a similar downward trend and remaining
      stable to form a plateau after 46 cases in group A. However, no difference on
      overall survival was found among these 5 groups, and multivariate analysis
      indicated that factors, such as age, tumor differentiation, tumor size, and T
      stage as well as N stage, were independent prognostic factors for patients with
      LADG.Improvement on surgical parameters and postoperative course can be seen over
      the past years, and the cutoff value of the learning curve of LADG for surgeons
      with rich experience in open operation might be 46 cases. 

PMID- 27631258
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of acetabular orientation in normal Chinese
      children.
AB  - There are no data regarding the acetabular orientation on magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI); this study investigates the changes of acetabular orientation with
      age in normal Chinese children.We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of
      children who underwent hip MRI examination at our hospital from January 2009 to
      December 2015. A total of 180 patients with normal MRI reading of the hip joints
      were included and were divided into 14 groups according to age: from 6 months of
      age and then for each year from 1 to 16 years. The bony and cartilage acetabular
      anteversion angle (AAA), acetabular inclination angle (AIA), and acetabular index
      (AI) were measured. Total bony and cartilage femoral head coverage angles were
      measured on axial section total femoral head coverage angle (a-TCA) and coronal
      section total femoral head coverage angle (c-TCA).The mean bony AAA and AIA were
      12.2 +/- 2.5 degrees  and 50.9 +/- 2.5 degrees , respectively; both of them
      stayed constant from the age of 6 months to 16 years. Similar results were found
      in cartilage AAA (12.1 +/- 2.5 degrees ) and AIA (41.2 +/- 3.0 degrees ). There
      was no difference between bony and cartilage AAA, but bony AIA was significantly
      larger than cartilage AIA. Bony AI was 24.1 +/- 2.4 degrees  at the age of 6
      months, decreasing to 12.5 +/- 2.3 degrees  by 12 to 13 years of age; cartilage
      AI (5.9 +/- 1.7 degrees ) maintained a steady value with age. The mean bony a-TCA
      and c-TCA at 6 months were 117.0 +/- 5.8 degrees  and 127.5 +/- 5.1 degrees ,
      increasing to 144.5 +/- 4.6 degrees  and 140.7 +/- 2.5 degrees  at the age of 16
      years. However, the cartilage a-TCA (145.2 +/- 7.2 degrees ) and c-TCA (154.1 +/-
      5.7 degrees ) did not change significantly with age.Both bony and cartilage AAA
      and AIA remain constant up to the age of 16 years in normal Chinese pediatric
      population. Although the cartilage coverage of femoral head by the acetabulum
      remains unchanged with age, the bony coverage of femoral head increases. 

PMID- 27631259
TI  - Opioid-free general anesthesia in patient with Steinert syndrome (myotonic
      dystrophy): Case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We report on the anesthetic management using opioid-free method of
      a patient with Steinert syndrome (myotonic dystrophy, MD), autosomal dominant
      dystrophy which is characterized by consistent contracture of muscle following
      stimulation. A myotonic crisis can be induced by numerous factors including
      hypothermia, shivering, and mechanical or electrical stimulation. In patients
      with MD, hypersensitivity to anesthetic drugs, especially muscle relaxants and
      opioids, may complicate postoperative management. If opioids are employed
      (systemic or neuraxial), then ICU care and continuous pulse oximetry must be
      considered given the high risk for respiratory depression and aspiration.
      Patients with MD present high sensitivity to the usual anesthetics such as
      volatile and muscle relaxants (both depolarizing and nondepolarizing). Opioids
      may induce muscle rigidity in this type of MD. Therefore, omitting opioids is
      recommended. Due to hypersensitivity to opioids and increased susceptibility to
      intra- and postoperative complications, it is recommended to introduce opioid
      free anesthesia (OFA), for example, with use of dexmedetomidine (DEX). This is a
      new method of conducting general anesthesia without opioids and is based on
      concept of multimodal approach to pain management. METHODS: A 31-year-old male
      patient (183 cm, 69 kg) was scheduled for laparoscopic operation of
      cholecystectomy. The patient received intravenously (IV): propofol in a dose of
      250 mg followed by continuous infusion, rocuronium in a dose of 20 mg, and DEX in
      a loading dose of 0.6 MUg/kg over 10 minutes followed by continuous infusion of
      dose of 0.2 MUg/kg/hour. RESULTS: The course of anesthesia and postoperative
      period were uneventful. The patient exited the operating theatre in a good
      medical state, with vitals within normal limits and fully regained consciousness.
      CONCLUSION: DEX is effective and safe for moderately painful procedures in
      patients with the elevated risk of respiratory and cardiovascular failure. This
      substance provides adequate analgesia level during surgeries of patients
      suffering from MD.

PMID- 27631261
TI  - Long-term efficacy and toxicity of abacavir/lamivudine/nevirapine compared to the
      most prescribed ARV regimens before 2013 in a French Nationwide Cohort Study.
AB  - Data on the long-term efficacy and safety of abacavir/lamivudine (ABC/3TC) and
      nevirapine (NVP) are scarce. This combination has the advantage of simplifying
      treatment and improving long-term tolerance. The aim of this study was to compare
      the rate of any discontinuation of antiretroviral (ARV) regimen because of
      virologic failure (VF), and/or adverse drug reaction (ADR) among patients
      receiving stable ARV regimens for at least 6 months.ABC/3TC/NVP was compared to
      ABC/3TC with either ritonavir-boosted darunavir (DRV/r) or ritonavir-boosted
      atazanavir (ATV/r), unboosted ATV, or tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) with
      either one of the following: ATV/r, unboosted ATV, DRV/r, efavirenz (EFV), or
      NVP, in the French prospective multicenter Dat'AIDS cohort.The study enrolled
      16,511 patients treated with following ARV regimens: ABC/3TC/NVP (n = 1089),
      TDF/FTC/NVP (n = 1542), ABC/3TC/DRV/r (n = 1065), ABC/3TC/ATV/r (n = 1847),
      ABC/3TC/ATV (n = 563), TDF/FTC/ATV/r (n = 3519), TDF/FTC/DRV/r (n = 2767),
      TDF/FTC/ATV (n = 419), and TDF/FTC/EFV (n = 3700). Mean follow-up was 36 +/- 24
      months. Patients treated with ABC/3TC/NVP received this regimen as a switch
      regimen in 97% of cases. By multivariable analysis, the risk of treatment
      discontinuation due to VF was similar between ABC/3TC/NVP and other ARV regimens,
      except for TDF/FTC/ATV and ABC/3TC/ATV, which were associated with a higher risk
      of treatment interruption due to VF (hazard ratio [HR] 1.99; 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 1.29-3.06 and HR 2.19; 95% CI 1.51-3.18, respectively). Treatment
      discontinuation due to ADR was lowest with the ABC/3TC/NVP regimen. Other ARV
      regimens were associated with a 1.80- to 3.19-fold increase in the risk of
      treatment discontinuation due to ADR (P < 0.0001 for all comparisons).ABC/3TC/NVP
      as a simplification regimen is a long-term effective regimen with lower
      discontinuation due to long-term toxicity compared with other standard ARV
      regimens. 

PMID- 27631262
TI  - High spatial resolution time-resolved magnetic resonance angiography of lower
      extremity tumors at 3T: Comparison with computed tomography angiography.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare diagnostic value of high spatial resolution
      time-resolved magnetic resonance angiography with interleaved stochastic
      trajectory (TWIST) using Gadobutrol to Computed tomography angiography (CTA) for
      preoperative evaluation of lower extremity tumors.This prospective study was
      approved by the institutional review board. Fifty consecutive patients (31 men,
      19 women, age range 18-80 years, average age 42.7 years) with lower extremity
      tumors underwent TWIST magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and CTA. Digital
      subtraction angiography was available for 8 patients. Image quality of MRA was
      compared with CTA by 2 radiologists according to a 4-point Likert scale. Arterial
      involvement by tumor was compared using kappa test between MRA and CTA. The
      ability to identify feeding arteries and arterio-venous fistulae (AVF) was
      compared using Wilcoxon signed rank test and McNemar test, respectively.Image
      quality of MRA and CTA was rated without a statistically significant difference
      (3.88 +/- 0.37 vs. 3.97 +/- 0.16, P = 0.135). Intramodality agreement was high
      for the identification of arterial invasion (kappa = 0.806 +/- 0.073 for Reader
      1, kappa = 0.805 +/- 0.073 for Reader 2). Readers found AVF in 27 of 50 MRA cases
      and 14 of 50 CTA cases (P < 0.001). Mean feeding arteries identified with MRA
      were significantly more than that with CTA (2.08 +/- 1.72 vs. 1.62 +/- 1.52, P =
      .02).TWIST MRA is a reliable imaging modality for the assessment of lower
      extremity tumors. TWIST MRA is comparable to CTA for the identification of AVF
      and feeding arteries. 

PMID- 27631260
TI  - Cross-sectional study of virological failure and multinucleoside reverse
      transcriptase inhibitor resistance at 12 months of antiretroviral therapy in
      Western India.
AB  - The free antiretroviral therapy (ART) program in India has scaled up to register
      second largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS across the globe. To assess
      the effectiveness of current first-line regimen we estimated virological
      suppression on completion of 1 year of ART. The study describes the correlates of
      virological failure (VF) and multinucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
      (NRTI) drug resistance mutations (DRMs).In this cross-sectional study conducted
      between June and August 2014, consecutive adults from 4 State sponsored ART
      clinics of western India were recruited for plasma viral load screening at 12 +/-
      2 months of ART initiation. Individuals with plasma viral load >1000 copies/mL
      were selected for HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping. Logistic regression
      analyses were performed to assess factors associated with VF and multi-NRTI
      resistance mutations. Criteria adopted for multi-NRTI resistance mutation were
      either presence of K65R or 3 or more thymidine analog mutations (TAMs) or
      presence of M184V along with 2 TAMs.Of the 844 study participants, virological
      suppression at 1 year was achieved in 87.7% of individuals. Factors significantly
      associated with VF (P < 0.005) were 12 months CD4 count of <=100 cells/MUL
      (adjusted OR -7.11), low reported adherence (adjusted OR -4.44), and those living
      without any partner (adjusted OR -1.98). In patients with VF, the prevalence of
      non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) DRM (78.75%) were higher
      as compared to NRTI (58.75%). Multi-NRTI DRMs were present in 32.5% of sequences
      and were significantly associated with CD4 count of <=100 cells/MUL at baseline
      (adjusted OR -13.00) and TDF-based failing regimen (adjusted OR -20.43).
      Additionally, low reported adherence was negatively associated with multi-NRTI
      resistance (adjusted OR -0.11, P = 0.015). K65R mutation was significantly
      associated with tenofovir (TDF)-based failing regimen (P < 0.001).The study
      supports early linkage of HIV-infected individuals to the program for ART
      initiation, adherence improvement, and introduction of viral load monitoring.
      With recent introduction of TDF-based regimen, the emergence of K65R needs to be
      monitored closely among HIV-1 subtype C-infected Indian population. 

PMID- 27631263
TI  - Submandibular oncocytic carcinoma: A case report and literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oncocytic carcinoma (OC) arising in the submandibular gland is an
      unusual malignant neoplasm, with <20 cases previously reported. The cancer is
      characterized by numerous morphologically abnormal mitochondria present in the
      cytoplasm and marked cellular pleomorphism. At its most severe, the tumor may
      invade into the surrounding tissues, including intravascular, lymphatic, or
      perineural invasion, and lead to regional nodal or distant metastasis. METHODS:
      The current study describes a novel OC case in a 46-year-old male, the youngest
      case of the review. The patient presented with a 5-month history of an
      intermittently painful mass. RESULTS: Following magnetic resonance imaging,
      excisional biopsy, hematoxylin-eosin staining, phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin
      staining, and immunohistochemical examination, an OC of the submandibular gland
      was diagnosed. CONCLUSION: The current study summarizes the pathogenesis,
      diagnosis, therapeutics, and the prognosis of OC. The literature review regarding
      this rare disease is also presented to emphasize the lack of specific markers of
      OC and the risk of cervical lymph metastasis.

PMID- 27631265
TI  - Betel quid chewing leads to the development of unique de novo malignancies in
      liver transplant recipients, a retrospective single center study in Taiwan.
AB  - Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the choice of treatment not only for
      end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure but also for hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC). The development of de novo malignancies after liver
      transplantation plays an important role in late mortality; the incidence of late
      mortality has increased owing to improved survival. The incidence of de novo
      malignancies is 2.3% to 25%, which is 2 to 3 times that of malignancies in the
      general population. The most commonly reported de novo malignancies in solid
      organs are skin cancer, Karposi sarcoma, and colon cancer according to the
      frequency of exposure to a specific carcinogen. We hypothesized that exposure to
      different carcinogens would change the distribution of de novo malignancies among
      patients after OLT. In Taiwan, 10% of the population is exposed to a unique
      carcinogen, the betel quid, which is associated with a high incidence of head and
      neck cancer (HNC) among the Taiwanese population.From 2004 to 2014, we
      retrospectively reviewed 484 cases post-OLT at our institution and 16 patients
      with 17 de novo malignancies were identified. Most of the patients had HNC, which
      is in contrast to previous literature reports.Univariate and multivariate
      analyses identified betel quid chewing as the main leading factor for HNC in the
      Taiwanese population.Routine screening of the oral mucosa in patients with the
      habit of betel quid chewing is recommended in Taiwan for the early detection of
      HNC. Routine screening with aggressive treatment after diagnosis of HNC in
      patients with the habit of chewing betel quid, who underwent OLT, resulted in
      good patient prognosis. 

PMID- 27631266
TI  - Different surgical strategies of patients with intravenous leiomyomatosis.
AB  - Intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL) is a rare benign tumor. The study aimed to
      assess outcomes of patients treated surgically for IVL.Between November 2002 and
      January 2015, 76 patients were treated for IVL. The stage of IVL was evaluated
      preoperatively by echocardiography and enhanced computerized tomography (CT)
      scan, and graded into 4 stages according to intravascular tumor progression. We
      recorded age, lower limb edema before surgery, surgical parameters, and
      hospitalization expenses. Patients were followed up every 6 months and tumor
      recurrence was assessed by CT and ultrasound. Patients were followed up for a
      mean of 4.5 +/- 2.5 years (range 1-13 years) and there was no operative,
      hospital, or long-term mortality or were lost to follow-up.The rate of lower
      extremity edema, amount of blood loss, postoperative transfusion, length of
      intensive care unit (ICU) stay, postoperative hospitalization, and
      hospitalization expenses differed significantly between patients at different
      presurgery stages. Tumors recurred in 4 of 7 patients with stage I IVL that opted
      for surgery that preserved the ovaries and uterus. No recurrence was observed in
      patients graded stage II or more, in all of which the uterus and ovaries were
      removed. Recurrence was observed in only 4 of 76 cases of IVL, all of whom opted
      for surgery that spared the ovaries and uterus.Different surgical strategies
      should be decided based on the staging to completely remove the tumor and ensure
      the safety of patients. Removal of both ovaries is necessary for inhibiting tumor
      growth and avoiding recurrence. 

PMID- 27631264
TI  - The relationship between GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1 genetic polymorphisms and
      bladder cancer susceptibility: A meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have investigated the relationship between GSTA1,
      GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1 polymorphisms and bladder cancer (BCa) susceptibility,
      respectively, but the results remain inconsistent. So, we conducted this meta
      analysis including 79 case-control studies to explore such relationships.
      METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, Web of Science, and CNKI
      for relevant available studies. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) were implemented to evaluate the intensity of associations.
      Publication bias was estimated using Begg funnel plots and Egger regression test.
      To assess the stability of the results, we used sensitivity analysis with the
      method of calculating the results again by omitting 1 single study each time.
      Between-study heterogeneity was tested using the I statistic. RESULTS: No
      significant association between GSTA1 polymorphism and BCa susceptibility (OR =
      1.05, 95% CI 0.83-1.33) was noted. Besides, meaningful association between
      individuals who carried the GSTM1 null genotype and increased BCa risk was
      detected (OR = 1.39, 95%CI 1.28-1.51). When stratified by ethnicity, significant
      difference was found in both Caucasian (OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.23-1.58) and Asian
      populations (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.31-1.61). Moreover, in the subgroup analysis by
      source of controls (SOC), the results were significant in both hospital-based
      control groups (OR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.35-1.64) and population-based control groups
      (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.07-1.37). Additionally, the analysis revealed no
      significant association between GSTP1 polymorphism and BCa risk (OR = 1.07, 95%
      CI 0.96-1.20). What is more, significant associations between GSTT1 polymorphism
      and BCa susceptibility were discovered (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.00-1.22). In the
      subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significant associations between GSTT1 null
      genotype and BCa risk were observed only in Caucasians (OR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.09
      1.44). Furthermore, when stratified by SOC, no obvious relationship was found
      between the GSTT1 null genotype polymorphism with hospital-based population (OR =
      1.11, 95% CI 0.97-1.28) or population-based population (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.96
      1.27). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that GSTM1 null genotype and GSTT1 null
      genotype might be related to higher BCa risk, respectively. However, no
      associations were observed between GSTA1 or GSTP1 polymorphisms and BCa
      susceptibility.

PMID- 27631267
TI  - Prevalence and causes of low vision and blindness in Baotou: A cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and causes of low vision
      and blindness in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.A cross-sectional study was carried out.
      Multistage sampling was used to select samples. The visual acuity was estimated
      using LogMAR and corrected by pinhole as best-corrected visual acuity.There were
      7000 samples selected and 5770 subjects included in this investigation. The
      overall bilateral prevalence rates of low vision and blindness were 3.66% (95%
      CI: 3.17-4.14) and 0.99% (95% CI: 0.73-1.24), respectively. The prevalence of
      bilateral low vision, blindness, and visual impairment increased with age and
      decreased with education level. The main leading cause of low vision and
      blindness was cataract. Diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration
      were found to be the second leading causes of blindness in Baotou.The low vision
      and blindness were more prevalent in elderly people and subjects with low
      education level in Baotou. Cataract was the main cause for visual impairment and
      more attention should be paid to fundus diseases. In order to prevent blindness,
      much more eye care programs should be established. 

PMID- 27631268
TI  - Safety and efficacy of cervical laminoplasty using a piezosurgery device compared
      with a high-speed drill.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Piezosurgery is a relatively new osteotomy technique using
      microvibrations of scalpels at ultrasonic frequencies to perform safe and
      effective osteotomies without damage to adjacent soft tissue, which is widely
      used in spinal, oral, and maxillofacial surgery. We hypothesized that such a
      device could also be useful in cervical laminoplasty. The purpose of this study
      was to compare the safety and efficacy of a piezosurgery device with those of a
      highspeed drill in cervical laminoplasty. METHODS: A prospectively randomized
      clinical study was designed. Forty-two consecutive patients were enrolled in the
      study. All patients underwent modified expansive open-door laminoplasty and were
      randomly divided into 2 groups according to the instrument for transection of the
      lamina, using high-speed drill (drill group) or piezosurgery device (piezosurgery
      group). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative drainage
      were recorded. Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score and visual analogue
      scale (VAS) as clinical assessments were quantified. RESULTS: No significant
      difference was observed in the operation time between the 2 groups. In the
      piezosurgery group, there were less loss of the intraoperative blood and
      postoperative drainage compared with the drill group. However, clinical results
      (VAS and JOA scores) showed no significant difference between both groups during
      the all follow-up periods. CONCLUSION: The piezosurgery is a useful instrument
      and at least as safe and efficacious as the conventional high-speed drill in
      cervical laminoplasty.

PMID- 27631270
TI  - A prospective, randomized and controlled study of interscalene brachial plexus
      block for arthroscopic shoulder surgery: A comparison of C5 and conventional
      approach, a CONSORT-compliant article.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The shoulder area is mainly innervated with the C5 and C6 nerve
      roots, and interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB) is widely used for
      postoperative analgesia after shoulder surgery. However, it is associated with
      adverse effects, such as numbness and weakness in the blocked arm due to an
      unwanted block of the lower brachial plexus (C7-T1). We hypothesized that the C5
      approach during ISB would provide postoperative analgesia while minimizing
      adverse events after arthroscopic shoulder surgery. METHODS: A total of 92
      patients scheduled for arthroscopic shoulder surgery were enrolled and randomly
      assigned to 1 of the 3 groups: The control (no ISB, n = 31), conventional ISB
      (ISB with the conventional approach, n = 31), or C5 ISB (ISB with the C5
      approach, n = 30) group. ISB was performed before the induction of anesthesia,
      and a subacromial catheter was placed in all patients at the end of the surgery.
      Postoperative pain scores, numbness, and weakness were recorded at 2, 8, and 24
      hours after surgery. Oxygen saturation and overall patient satisfaction scores
      were also assessed at 1 and 48 hour after surgery, respectively. RESULTS: The
      pain scores were lower in the conventional ISB group and the C5 ISB group than in
      the control group at postoperative 2 and 8 hours (P < 0.05). The incidence and
      degree of numbness and weakness of the blocked arm were significantly lower in
      the C5 ISB group than in the conventional ISB group (P < 0.05). Oxygen saturation
      were lower in the conventional ISB group and C5 ISB group than in the control
      group (P = 0.01). Overall patient satisfaction scores were higher in the C5 ISB
      group than in the control or conventional ISB group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The
      C5 approach for ISB provides analgesia as effectively as the conventional
      approach following arthroscopic shoulder surgery, with the advantages of minimal
      numbness and weakness.

PMID- 27631269
TI  - Traditional Chinese medicine therapy decreases the pneumonia risk in patients
      with dementia.
AB  - Pneumonia is a frequent complication in dementia patients and is associated with
      high mortality rates. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine
      whether traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy can decrease pneumonia risk in
      dementia patients. The cohort dataset was obtained from the Longitudinal Health
      Insurance Database 2005, a sublibrary of the National Health Insurance Research
      Database, containing all medical data of 1 million beneficiaries, randomly
      selected from the all Insurers in year 2005.Newly diagnosed dementia patients (n
      = 9712) without pneumonia were analyzed from January 1997 to December 2003. After
      matching by sex, age, urban level, Charlson comorbidity index, insured amount,
      and comorbidities, 1376 pairs (1:1) of TCM and non-TCM users were acquired. Every
      dementia patient was individually recorded from 1997 to 2012 to identify
      pneumonia incidence (onset after 3 months of dementia diagnosis).Demographic
      characteristics, Charlson comorbidity index, comorbidities, behavioral and
      psychological symptoms of dementia, and psychotropic drugs were also
      investigated. Cox proportional regression was used to compute hazard ratios and
      95% confidence intervals (CIs) after adjustment for the above-mentioned
      variables.There were 419 (30.5%) and 762 (55.4%) pneumonia cases in the TCM and
      non-TCM cohorts during a mean follow-up period of 7.6 years. The adjusted hazard
      ratios (95% CI) for pneumonia admission was 0.62 (0.55-0.70) for the TCM
      group.Patients who received TCM therapy at higher cumulative doses or for longer
      periods experienced increased protection from pneumonia admission. Ma-Xing-Gan
      Shi-Tang, Yin-Qiao-San, and Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang might represent possible formulae
      reducing the incidence of pneumonia. TCM might be associated with a lower risk of
      pneumonia in dementia patients. 

PMID- 27631271
TI  - In-hospital medical complications associated with stroke recurrence after initial
      ischemic stroke: A prospective cohort study from the China National Stroke
      Registry.
AB  - In-hospital medical complications are common and strongly associated with the
      risk of death and dependency in stroke patients. Whether similar associations
      extend to stroke recurrence is unclear. We prospectively and systematically
      investigated whether in-hospital medical complications are associated with
      recurrent stroke of patients in the China National Stroke Registry (CNSR). We
      examined patients with initial ischemic stroke enrolled in CNSR between 2007 and
      2008. Recurrent stroke at 3, 6, and 12 months post-stroke was used as stroke
      outcome. Medical complications were associated with stroke outcomes using
      multivariable logistic regression.Of the 7593 study patients, recurrent stroke
      occurred in 1115 (14.7%) within 12 months after stroke onset. In-hospital medical
      complications were independent risk factors for stroke recurrence in patients
      with initial ischemic stroke at 3 months (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.19, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 1.85 to 2.60), 6 months (adjusted OR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.74
      to 2.38), and 12 months (adjusted OR = 1.88; 95% CI 1.62 to 2.19) after onset.
      The persistence of secondary prevention medications in patients with
      complications was lower than that in patients without complications.Stroke
      recurrence post-acute ischemic stroke is significantly associated with in
      hospital medical complications. 

PMID- 27631273
TI  - Lipid-Based Formulations Can Enable the Model Poorly Water-Soluble Weakly Basic
      Drug Cinnarizine To Precipitate in an Amorphous-Salt Form During In Vitro
      Digestion.
AB  - The tendency for poorly water-soluble weakly basic drugs to precipitate in a
      noncrystalline form during the in vitro digestion of lipid-based formulations
      (LBFs) was linked to an ionic interaction between drug and fatty acid molecules
      produced upon lipid digestion. Cinnarizine was chosen as a model weakly basic
      drug and was dissolved in a medium-chain (MC) LBF, which was subject to in vitro
      lipolysis experiments at various pH levels above and below the reported pKa value
      of cinnarizine (7.47). The solid-state form of the precipitated drug was analyzed
      using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR),
      and crossed polarized light microscopy (CPLM). In addition, the phase
      distribution of cinnarizine upon lipolysis was analyzed using high-performance
      liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cinnarizine precipitated in a noncrystalline form
      during lipolysis experiments at pH 6.5, pH 5.5, and pH 4.0 but precipitated in a
      crystalline form at pH 8.0 according to XRD measurements on the pellets.
      Differences were also observed in the FTIR spectra of the pellet phases at pH 8.0
      and pH 6.5, with the absorption bands in the C-N stretch region of the IR spectra
      supporting a shift from the starting free base crystalline material to the
      hydrochloride salt, thus supporting the case that ionic interactions between weak
      bases and fatty acid molecules during digestion are responsible for producing
      amorphous-salts upon precipitation. The conclusion has wide implications for
      understanding past in vitro and in vivo data for lipid-based formulations of
      basic drugs, as well as future formulation design and optimization.

PMID- 27631274
TI  - A Bowl with Marbles: Revision of the Thecate Amoeba Genus Lecythium
      (Chlamydophryidae, Tectofilosida, Cercozoa, Rhizaria) Including a Description of
      Four New Species and an Identification Key.
AB  - Although testate amoebae have attracted interest of protistologists for more than
      150 years, some groups especially those with a hyaline, organic test (= theca)
      are still poorly known. One of those is the genus Lecythium (Chlamydophryidae,
      Tectofilosida, Cercozoa, Rhizaria), first described by Hertwig and Lesser in
      1874. Only old, sometimes obscure, species descriptions were available until only
      recently a new species of Lecythium was described and a small ribosomal subunit
      RNA gene (SSU) sequence was provided. To shed light on the phylogeny and taxonomy
      of Lecythium, we (a) cultured six isolates of five Lecythium species and provide
      morphological as well as ecological observations, (b) obtained six new SSU
      sequences and conducted phylogenetic analyses of the Tectofilosida, showing that
      Lecythium splits into terrestrial and freshwater clades, and (c) did an intensive
      literature research on testate amoebae with a theca and provide an illustrated
      identification key focusing on Lecythium. For the first time, the presence of
      cysts in the genus Lecythium is reported and we compared those to the cysts of
      the presumed closely related Chlamydophrys stercorea. Our results suggest that
      still many undescribed Lecythium species will be found in terrestrial and
      freshwater habitats.

PMID- 27631272
TI  - Attention during functional tasks is associated with motor performance in
      children with developmental coordination disorder: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - This cross-sectional and exploratory study aimed to compare motor performance and
      electroencephalographic (EEG) attention levels in children with developmental
      coordination disorder (DCD) and those with typical development, and determine the
      relationship between motor performance and the real-time EEG attention level in
      children with DCD.Eighty-six children with DCD [DCD: n = 57; DCD and attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): n = 29] and 99 children with typical
      development were recruited. Their motor performance was assessed with the
      Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) and attention during the tasks of
      the MABC was evaluated by EEG.All children with DCD had higher MABC impairment
      scores and lower EEG attention scores than their peers (P < 0.05). After
      accounting for age, sex, body mass index, and physical activity level, the
      attention index remained significantly associated with the MABC total impairment
      score and explained 14.1% of the variance in children who had DCD but not ADHD (P
      = 0.009) and 17.5% of the variance in children with both DCD and ADHD (P =
      0.007). Children with DCD had poorer motor performance and were less attentive to
      movements than their peers. Their poor motor performance may be explained by
      inattention. 

PMID- 27631275
TI  - Obituary: Eberhard Schnepf (April 4, 1931-April 10, 2016).

PMID- 27631276
TI  - Obituary: Keith Vickerman, March 21, 1933-June 28, 2016.

PMID- 27631277
TI  - Induction of Maltose Release by Light in the Endosymbiont Chlorella variabilis of
      Paramecium bursaria.
AB  - The endosymbiotic green algae of Paramecium bursaria are known to release a
      photosynthate to the host cells. The endosymbiont Chlorella variabilis F36-ZK
      isolated in Japan releases maltose under acidic conditions, and such release
      requires both light and low pH. However, whether photosynthate release is due to
      light sensing by photoreceptors or is merely a consequence of active
      photosynthesis is unclear. Herein, we studied the effect of light on maltose
      release from C. variabilis F36-ZK; we measured maltose release using a
      combination of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone derivative and 14C-tracer methods.
      Blue (450nm) or red (around 600nm) light was most effective to stimulate maltose
      release. This suggests that the photosynthetic pathway probably participates in
      maltose release, because the effective wavelength corresponds to the absorption
      spectrum of chlorophyll. Furthermore, maltose release was slightly affected by
      addition of a photosynthetic inhibitor, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea,
      but was abolished by another inhibitor of photosynthesis, 2,5-dibromo-6-isopropyl
      3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, suggesting that electron flow through photosystem I
      may be more involved in maltose release. Interestingly, starving F36-ZK cells
      cultured under prolonged dark conditions did not release maltose but retained
      their photosynthetic capacity. Our results thus show that maltose release is
      regulated by light and cellular conditions in endosymbiotic Chlorella.

PMID- 27631278
TI  - Light- and Electron-microscopical Study of Belonocystis marina sp. nov.
      (Eukaryota: incertae sedis).
AB  - BelonocystisRainer, 1968 is an enigmatic protist genus, which currently lacks any
      supergroup affiliation. The spherical cells of this organism move on the
      substratum using fine non-branching pseudopodia. The cell surface is surrounded
      with a spiky covering. Belonocystis marina sp. nov. was studied using light- and
      electron microscopy. It was clearly shown that the surface structures of
      Belonocystis were scales, not a capsule. The new species could be distinguished
      by the morphology of the scales, which had a bulbous base with three "skirts"
      (circular latticed structures) and a spike consisting of many twisted fibrils.
      Each scale was associated with a short cytoplasmic outgrowth. The organic nature
      of these scales was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis. Large
      multinucleated stages were discovered in the life-cycle of this organism. A
      survey of the cell ultrastructure revealed all the common eukaryotic organelles,
      including mitochondria with tubular cristae. No microtubules were detected in
      ultrathin sections of pseudopodia. Examination of food vacuole contents confirmed
      that this organism was bacterivorous. The finding of Belonocystis marina is the
      first record of the genus in a marine habitat. Many similarities in the scale
      structure and fine structure of the cell between Belonocystis and Luffisphaera
      were discussed.

PMID- 27631280
TI  - New features in the Saudi Medical Journal.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631281
TI  - The axenic cultivation of Leishmania donovani amastigotes.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631279
TI  - Cohesion of Clonal Life History, Senescence and Rejuvenation Induced by Autogamy
      of the Histophagous Ciliate Tetrahymena rostrata.
AB  - The histophagous ciliate Tetrahymena rostrata was found as a parasite in the
      renal organs of the land snails Zonitoides nitidus and Cochlicopa lubrica. A
      starvation medium induced encystment, meiosis, autogamy, and development of new
      macronuclei. The cell division rate declined linearly with number of divisions
      from the last autogamy until senescence. The senescing strains were rejuvenated
      by further encystment-induced autogamy. It is expected, that these processes
      contribute to genetic variability among the local, small, and isolated T.
      rostrata populations. Consistent with this expectation, small divergences in the
      cox-1 sequences appeared even among these strains, which had been isolated from
      different specimens of the same host species at the same site. The divergences in
      this gene between our T. rostrata strains from Z. nitidus and other strains from
      C. lubrica, Helix aspersa, and Deroceras reticulatum in Spain (Segade et al.
      2009, Parasitology 136:771-782), were beyond the limits of intra-species
      variability within the genus Tetrahymena. However there is the lack of inter
      strain differences in the life history and cytology among our, the Spanish, and
      those T.rostrata strains, that are not available for "barcoding" anymore.
      Therefore, variability in the life history and morphology within T .rostrata is
      constrained by natural selection.

PMID- 27631282
TI  - Surgical pathology of appendectomy specimens.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631283
TI  - Unusual high presentation of torsion of testicular appendages.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631284
TI  - Venous thrombo-embolism at high altitude.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631285
TI  - Congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631286
TI  - Gastric cancer in Jordan.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631287
TI  - Major complications of laparoscopy.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631288
TI  - Ectopic pregnancy in North Jordan.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631289
TI  - Reproductive health of female radiographers.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631290
TI  - Peanut allergy: The frequency of sensitization to peanut allergen in patients
      with allergic disease.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631291
TI  - The prevalence of antibiotic resistance among gram negative bacilli from
      Intensive Care Units in Oman.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631292
TI  - Prevalence of coxsackieviruses among healthy populations and opthalmic disease
      patients in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631293
TI  - Normative dental treatment needs among primary school children in Jubail, Saudi
      Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631295
TI  - Bilateral ureteral obstruction after appendectomy in a child.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631294
TI  - Pattern of adult medical admissions to a general hospital in Yemen.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631296
TI  - Total vaginal replacement with sigmoid colon for partial testicular feminilizing
      syndrome in pediatric age.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631297
TI  - Idiopathic lobular granulomatous mastitis: Is it a form of terminal duct lobular
      unit duct ectasia?
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631298
TI  - Etiological aspects of Cushing's syndrome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631299
TI  - Establishing liaison psychiatric services: An old age perspective.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27631300
TI  - CDC Online Course: Reproductive Health in Emergency Preparedness and Response.
AB  - In an emergency, the needs of women of reproductive age, particularly pregnant
      and postpartum women, introduce unique challenges for public health and clinical
      care. Incorporating reproductive health issues and considerations into emergency
      preparedness and response is a relatively new field. In recent years, several
      resources and tools specific to reproductive health have been developed. However,
      there is still a need for training about the effects of emergencies on women of
      reproductive age. In an effort to train medical and public health professionals
      about these topics, the CDC Division of Reproductive Health developed
      Reproductive Health in Emergency Preparedness and Response, an online course that
      is available across the United States.

PMID- 27631301
TI  - Abstracts from the 2016 Meeting Report of the Signature Research and Career
      Development Programs June 7-8, 2016The Office of Research on Women's Health 2016
      Meeting Report of the Signature Research and Career Development Programs.

PMID- 27631303
TI  - Sulfhydryl-Based Inhibition of delta-ALA-D and Na+ , K+ -ATPase Activities
      Depends on the Organoselenium Group Bonded to the Isoquinoline.
AB  - Organoselenium compounds and isoquinoline derivatives have their toxicity linked
      to induction of pro-oxidant situations. delta-Aminolevulinate dehydratase (delta
      ALA-D) and Na+ , K+ -ATPase have sulfhydryl groups susceptible to oxidation.
      Thus, we investigated toxicological effects of 4-organoseleno-isoquinoline
      derivatives, cerebral monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, on rat cerebral delta-ALA-D
      and Na+ , K+ -ATPase activities and the involvement of sulfhydryl groups in
      vitro. Compounds substituted with fluoro (4-(4-fluorophenylseleno)-3
      phenylisoquinoline), chloro (4-(4-chlorophenylseleno)-3-phenylisoquinoline) and
      trifluoro (4-(3-trifluoromethylphenylseleno)-3-phenylisoquinoline) at the
      selenium-bonded aromatic ring inhibited delta-ALA-D (IC50 values: 78.42, 92.27,
      44.98 uM) and Na+ , K+ -ATPase (IC50 values: 41.36, 89.43, 50.66 uM) activities,
      possibly due to electronic effects induced by these groups. 3-Phenyl-4
      (phenylseleno) isoquinoline (without substitution at the selenium-bonded aromatic
      ring) and 4-(4-methylphenylseleno)-3-phenylisoquinoline (with a methyl group
      substituted at the selenium-bonded aromatic ring) did not alter the activity of
      these enzymes. Dithiothreitol, a reducing agent, restored the enzymatic
      activities inhibited by 4-(4-fluorophenylseleno)-3-phenylisoquinoline, 4-(4
      chlorophenylseleno)-3-phenylisoquinoline and 4-(3-trifluoromethylphenylseleno)-3
      phenylisoquinoline, suggesting the involvement of sulfhydryl residues in this
      effect. However, the release of essential zinc seems not to be related to the
      delta-ALA-D inhibition by these compounds. According to these data, the effect of
      oral administration (300 mg/kg, intragastric) of 3-phenyl-4-(phenylseleno)
      isoquinoline on markers of systemic toxicity in Wistar rats was evaluated. None
      signs of toxicity was observed during or after treatment. This study suggests
      that the insertion of electron-withdrawing groups in the aromatic ring bonded to
      the selenium atom of isoquinolines tested increased its inhibitory effect on
      sulfhydryl enzymes in vitro. 3-Phenyl-4-(phenylseleno) isoquinoline, which has
      documented pharmacological properties, had no toxicological effects on the
      parameters evaluated in this study. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1144-1150, 2017. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27631304
TI  - Rapid and not culture-dependent assay based on multiplex PCR-SSR analysis for
      monitoring inoculated yeast strains in industrial wine fermentations.
AB  - Wine industry needs a simple method for rapid diagnosis of the dominance of
      inoculated strains that could be performed routinely during the fermentation
      process. We present a suitable, high-throughput, and low-cost method to monitor
      rapidly the dominance of inoculated yeast strains in industrial fermentations of
      red and white wines using an activated carbon cleaning pretreatment, and a rapid
      DNA extraction method plus multiplex PCR-SSR analysis. We apply this technique
      directly to samples of fermenting wines without previously isolating yeast
      colonies. Results are obtained in a maximum time of 4.5 h.

PMID- 27631306
TI  - "You can't choose these emotions... they simply jump up": Ambiguities in
      Resilience-Building Interventions in Israel.
AB  - Following the growing critique of the use of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in
      post-disaster interventions, a new type of intervention aimed at building
      resilience in the face of traumatic events has been making its first steps in the
      social field. Drawing on fieldwork of a resilience-building program for pre
      clinical populations in Israel, we analyze the paradoxes and ambiguities entailed
      in three inter-related aspects of this therapeutic project: The proposed clinical
      ideology aimed at immunizing against traumas; the discursive and non-discursive
      practices used by the mental-health professionals; and, participants'
      difficulties to inhabit the new resilient subject. These contradictions revolve
      around the injunction to rationally handle emotions in response to disruptive
      traumatic events. Hence, the attempt to separate between a sovereign rational
      subject and a post-traumatic subject is troubled in the face of experiences of
      trauma and social suffering. Furthermore, we demonstrate how these difficulties
      reconstitute unresolved tensions between mimetic and anti-mimetic tendencies that
      have been pervading the understanding of trauma in the therapeutic professions.
      Finally, we discuss how the construction of the resilient subject challenges the
      expanding bio-medical and neoliberal self-management paradigm in mental health.

PMID- 27631305
TI  - Colonic prolapse after intersphincteric resection for very low rectal cancer: a
      report of 12 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are no published data concerning management of patients with
      exteriorized colonic prolapse (CP) after intersphincteric rectal resection (ISR)
      and side-to-end coloanal manual anastomosis (CAA) for very low rectal cancer. The
      aim of the present study was to report our experience in 12 consecutive cases of
      CP following ISR with CAA. METHODS: From 2006 to 2014, all patients with very low
      rectal cancer who developed CP after ISR and CAA were reviewed. Demographic and
      surgical data, prolapse symptoms and treatment were recorded. Postoperative
      morbidity, functional outcomes and results after prolapse surgery were recorded.
      RESULTS: Twelve out of 143 patients (8 %) who underwent ISR with side-to-end CAA
      for low rectal cancer presented CP: 7/107 ISR (7 %) with partial resection of the
      internal anal sphincter (IAS) and 5/36 ISR (14 %) with subtotal or total
      resection of the IAS (NS). CP was diagnosed after a median of 6 months (range 2
      72 months) after ISR. All patients with CP suffered from pain and fecal
      incontinence. Median Wexner fecal incontinence score before surgery was 16.5
      (range 12-20). Three patients refused reoperation. Nine patients underwent
      transanal surgery with prolapse resection (including colonic stump and side-to
      end anastomosis) and new end-to-end CAA (with posterior myorraphy in 4 cases).
      After a median follow-up of 30 months (range 8-87 months), 3/9 patients (33 %)
      had CP recurrence: One with very poor function was treated by abdominoperineal
      resection and definitive stoma. The 2 others were successfully reoperated on
      transanally. Median Wexner fecal incontinence score after CP surgery was 9 (range
      0-20). No CP recurrence was noted for the 6 other patients, and function improved
      in all cases. Thus, at the end of follow-up, 8/9 patients (89 %) had no
      recurrence after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: We believe surgery must be attempted in
      these patients who develop CP after ISR with CAA for very low rectal cancer in
      order to improve function and symptoms. A transanal approach with CP resection
      and new end-to-end anastomosis appeared to be safe and effective. Larger studies
      are needed to confirm our results.

PMID- 27631307
TI  - "I Don't Have Time for an Emotional Life": Marginalization, Dependency and
      Melancholic Suspension in Disability.
AB  - Social scientific analyses of inequality inform interventions ranging from the
      material and political to the personal and psychological. At the extremes of this
      continuum, Marxian militants view the exploration of the inner lives of oppressed
      people as irrelevant to liberation, while psychoanalysts bemoan the naivete of
      "depsychologized" conceptions of the social subject. While both approaches have
      been applied to disability inequality, an historical materialist view has
      dominated the discipline of disability studies, where attention has only recently
      turned to psychological aspects of oppression. This article provides a brief
      introduction to some key aspects of the social and economic marginalization
      experienced globally by the disability minority. Thereafter, the complex debates
      around materialist and psychological accounts of, and interventions upon, racism
      and disablism are explored and compared, with particular reference to the place
      of grief and loss in disability discourse. The clinical fragment which forms the
      title of this paper introduces an engagement with Cheng's model of racial
      melancholia, its conceptual origins and explanatory power. The balance of the
      paper considers how Cheng's work may help illuminate how it is that disability
      inequality, like that of race, may remain an obstinate reality notwithstanding
      material interventions aimed at overturning it.

PMID- 27631308
TI  - Goal-directed visual attention drives health goal priming: An eye-tracking
      experiment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Several lab and field experiments have shown that goal priming
      interventions can be highly effective in promoting healthy food choices. Less is
      known, however, about the mechanisms by which goal priming affects food choice.
      This experiment tested the hypothesis that goal priming affects food choices
      through changes in visual attention. Specifically, it was hypothesized that
      priming with the dieting goal steers attention toward goal-relevant, low energy
      food products, which, in turn, increases the likelihood of choosing these
      products. METHODS: In this eye-tracking experiment, 125 participants chose
      between high and low energy food products in a realistic online supermarket task
      while their eye movements were recorded with an eye-tracker. One group was primed
      with a health and dieting goal, a second group was exposed to a control prime,
      and a third group was exposed to no prime at all. RESULTS: The health goal prime
      increased low energy food choices and decreased high energy food choices.
      Furthermore, the health goal prime resulted in proportionally longer total dwell
      times on low energy food products, and this effect mediated the goal priming
      effect on choices. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the effect of priming
      on consumer choice may originate from an increase in attention for prime
      congruent items. This study supports the effectiveness of health goal priming
      interventions in promoting healthy eating and opens up directions for research on
      other behavioral interventions that steer attention toward healthy foods.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631309
TI  - Do cobalt and chromium levels predict osteolysis in metal-on-metal total hip
      arthroplasty?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Serum metal ions are part of the regular follow-up routine of
      patients with metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasties (MoM-THA). Increased cobalt
      levels have been suggested to indicate implant failure and corrosion. QUESTIONS:
      (1) Is there a correlation between the size of the osteolysis measured on a CT
      scan and metal ion levels? (2) Can metal ion levels predict the presence of
      osteolysis in MoM-THA? (3) Are cobalt and chromium serum levels or the cobalt
      chromium-ratio diagnostic for osteolysis? MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT scans of
      patients (n = 75) with a unilateral MoM-THA (Birmingham Hip System, Smith &
      Nephew, TN, USA) implanted by a single surgeon were reviewed to determine the
      presence of osteolysis. Statistical analysis was performed to detect its
      association with metal ion levels at the time of the imaging exam. RESULTS: The
      incidence of osteolysis was the same in men and women (35.6 vs 35.7 %). The
      cobalt-chromium-ratio correlates with the size of the osteolysis on the CT scan
      and the femoral component size in the overall study population (p = 0.050, p =
      0.001) and in men (p = 0.002, p = 0.001) but not in women (p = 0.312, p = 0.344).
      The AUC for the cobalt-chromium-ratio to detect osteolysis was 0.613 (p = 0.112)
      for the overall population, 0.710 for men (p = 0.021) and 0.453 (p = 0.684) for
      women. The data suggest that a cut off level of 1.71 for the cobalt-chromium
      ratio has a sensitivity of 62.5 % and specificity of 72.4 % to identify male
      patients with osteolysis. CONCLUSIONS: The disproportional increase of cobalt
      over chromium, especially in male patients with large component sizes can not be
      explained by wear alone and suggests that other processes (corrosion) might
      contribute to metal ion levels and might be more pronounced in patients with
      larger component sizes.

PMID- 27631310
TI  - 18F-alfatide PET/CT may predict short-term outcome of concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study aims to investigate the role of 18F-alfatide positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in predicting the short-term outcome of
      concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Eighteen patients with advanced NSCLC had undergone 18F
      alfatide PET/CT scans before CCRT and PET/CT parameters including maximum and
      mean standard uptake values (SUVmax/SUVmean), peak standard uptake values
      (SUVpeak) and tumor volume (TVPET and TVCT) were obtained. The SUVmax of tumor
      and normal tissues (lung, blood pool and muscle) were measured, and their ratios
      were denoted as T/NT (T/NTlung, T/NTblood and T/NTmuscle). Statistical methods
      included the Two-example t test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Receiver-operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: We
      found that SUVmax, SUVpeak, T/NTlung, T/NTblood and T/NTmuscle were higher in non
      responders than in responders (P = 0.0024, P = 0.016, P < 0.001, P = 0.003, P =
      0.004). According to ROC curve analysis, the thresholds of SUVmax, SUVpeak,
      T/NTlung, T/NTblood and T/NTmuscle were 5.65, 4.46, 7.11, 5.41, and 11.75,
      respectively. The five parameters had high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy
      in distinguishing non-responders and responders. Multivariate logistic regression
      analyses showed that T/NTlung was an independent predictor of the short-term
      outcome of CCRT in patients with advanced NSCLC (P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: 18F
      alfatide PET/CT may be useful in predicting the short-term outcome of CCRT in
      patients with advanced NSCLC.

PMID- 27631311
TI  - "Experience Keeps a Dear School": the Effects of Ethnicity and Caregiving
      Experience on Hiring a Healthcare Advocate.
AB  - In the present study, ethnic differences in evaluating the severity and
      associated needs of medical complications experienced by an elderly man and the
      likelihood of seeking professional assistance (i.e., hire a healthcare advocate
      [HCA]) to care for him, and for one's own family or parent should they become
      ill, as a function of previous caregiving experience, were investigated. The 974
      participants were White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander. They read a
      hypothetical vignette about a 75-year-old man, Daryl, who was experiencing health
      problems. Participants were instructed to imagine that they were James, Daryl's
      son, and asked to indicate how severe his condition(s) were, how much medical
      assistance he would require, and how likely they would be to hire an HCA to
      assist him. They were also asked to report whether they previously had assisted a
      parent with activities of daily living (Assistance) and whether they would be
      likely to hire an HCA in the future if 1) a family member or 2) a parent,
      specifically, became ill. Two, 2 (Assistance) * 4 (Ethnicity) multivariate
      analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) were performed to assess differential responses
      among individuals of different ethnicities as a function of previous caregiver
      experience. A priori interaction contrasts were examined to determine whether
      Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander participants differed on the outcomes
      from White participants as a function of previous caregiver experience. There
      were no significant differences between Black or Asian/Pacific Islander and White
      participants, but Hispanic participants assigned significantly higher severity
      and need for medical assistance ratings and were significantly more likely to
      indicate that they would seek assistance from an HCA with respect to the vignette
      and for their own parents in the future if they had provided caregiving to a
      parent in the past, whereas White participants were less likely to seek
      assistance from an HCA if they had provided caregiving in the past to a parent.
      Although ethnic differences in evaluations of Daryl's condition and in the
      reported likelihoods of hiring an HCA in various contexts as a function of
      previous caregiving experience were limited, there are important inter-cultural
      differences to recognize. It may be important in future research to assess ethnic
      differences in the expectations and experiences of caregiving.

PMID- 27631312
TI  - Colonic self-expanding metal stent (SEMS) as a bridge to surgery in left-sided
      malignant colonic obstruction: an 8-year review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Colonic stenting has evolved to be an alternative to emergency
      laparotomy in the management of acute left-sided malignant colonic obstruction.
      This retrospective comparative study aimed to review the outcomes of colonic
      stent as bridge to surgery with emergency operation in a regional hospital in
      Hong Kong. METHOD: Consecutive patients who were admitted from January 2006 to
      July 2014 with diagnosis of malignant left-sided colonic obstruction (from
      splenic flexure to rectosigmoid colon) were included. Patients with peritonitis
      or disseminated disease were excluded. Colonic stenting was attempted in all
      eligible patients when fluoroscopy was available in the endoscopy suite during
      office hour. Otherwise, emergency operation was performed. For patients with
      clinical success in colonic stenting, interval colectomies were performed. The
      postoperative outcomes, including the 30-days mortality, the stoma creation rate,
      the complication rate as well as the survival data were analyzed on an intention
      to-treat (ITT) basis. RESULTS: From January 2006 to July 2014, 62 patients
      underwent colonic stenting and 40 patients underwent emergency operations. The
      technical success rate and the clinical success rate of stenting were 95.2 and
      83.9 %, respectively. Laparoscopic resection was achieved in 74.2 % in the
      stenting group. More primary anastomoses were performed in the stenting group
      (71.0 vs. 27.5 %, p = 0.000). The stenting group had a significantly lower
      permanent stoma rate (16.1 vs. 52.5 %, p < 0.000), fewer Dindo grade III to IV
      postoperative morbidity (16.1 vs. 40 %, p = 0.007), and the 30-day mortality rate
      was lower (3.2 vs. 17.5 %, p = 0.018), translating into a better overall 5-year
      survival rate. The disease-free survival was comparable between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Colonic self-expanding metal stent is effective in the management of
      acute left-sided colonic obstruction. It is associated with reduced stoma
      creation rate and postoperative morbidity. The oncological safety is not
      jeopardized by stenting and the interval operation.

PMID- 27631313
TI  - Long-term oncological outcomes of robotic versus laparoscopic total mesorectal
      excision of mid-low rectal cancer following neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy.
AB  - PROPOSE: The use of robotic surgery and neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT)
      for rectal cancer is increasing steadily worldwide. However, there are
      insufficient data on long-term outcomes of robotic surgery in this clinical
      setting. The aim of this study was to compare the 5-year oncological outcomes of
      laparoscopic vs. robotic total mesorectal excision for mid-low rectal cancer
      after neoadjuvant CRT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred thirty-eight patients
      who underwent robotic (n = 74) or laparoscopic (n = 64) resections between
      January 2006 and December 2010 for mid and low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant
      CRT were identified from a prospective database. The long-term oncological
      outcomes of these patients were analyzed using prospective follow-up data.
      RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 56.1 +/- 16.6 months (range 11-101). The
      5-year overall survival (OS) rate of the laparoscopic and robotic groups was 93.3
      and 90.0 %, respectively, (p = 0424). The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate
      was 76.0 % (laparoscopic) vs. 76.8 % (robotic) (p = 0.834). In a subgroup
      analysis according to the yp-stage (complete pathologic response, yp-stage I, yp
      stage II, or yp-stage III), the between-group oncological outcomes were not
      significantly different. The local recurrence rate was 6.3 % (laparoscopic, n =
      4) vs. 2.7 % (robotic, n = 2) (p = 0.308). The systemic recurrence rate was 15.6
      % (laparoscopic, n = 10) vs. 18.9 % (robotic, n = 14) (p = 0.644). All
      recurrences occurred within less than 36 months in both groups. The median period
      of recurrence was 14.2 months. CONCLUSION: Robotic surgery for rectal cancer
      after neoadjuvant CRT can be performed safely, with long-term oncological
      outcomes comparable to those obtained with laparoscopic surgery. More large-scale
      studies and long-term follow-up data are needed.

PMID- 27631314
TI  - Factors predicting outcome from enhanced recovery programmes in laparoscopic
      colorectal surgery: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review of published literature for the factors
      reported to predict outcomes of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programmes
      following laparoscopic colorectal surgery. BACKGROUND: ERAS programmes and the
      use of laparoscopy have been widely adopted in colorectal surgery bringing short
      term patient benefit. However, there is a minority of patients that do not
      benefit from these strategies and their identification is not well characterised.
      The factors that underpin outcomes from ERAS programmes for laparoscopic patients
      are not understood. METHODS: A systematic search of the MEDLINE, Embase and
      Cochrane databases was conducted to identify suitable articles published between
      2000 and 2015. The search strategy captured terms for ERAS, colorectal resection,
      prediction and outcome measures. RESULTS: Thirty-four studies containing 10,861
      laparoscopic resections were included. Thirty-one (91 %) studies were confined to
      elective cases. Predictive analysis of outcome was most frequently based on
      length of stay (LOS), morbidity and readmission which were the main outcome
      measures of 29 (85 %), 26 (76 %) and 18 (53 %) of the included studies,
      respectively. Forty-seven percentage of included studies investigated the impact
      of ERAS programme compliance on these outcomes. Reduced protocol compliance was
      the most frequently identified modifiable predictive factor for adverse LOS,
      morbidity and readmission. CONCLUSION: Protocol compliance is the most frequently
      reported predictive factor for outcomes of ERAS programmes following laparoscopic
      colorectal resection. Reduced compliance increases LOS, morbidity and readmission
      to hospital. The impact of compliance with individual ERAS protocol elements is
      insufficiently studied, and the lack of a standardised framework for evaluating
      ERAS programmes makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions about which
      factors exert the greatest impact on outcome after laparoscopic colorectal
      resection.

PMID- 27631315
TI  - Esophageal insufflation computed tomography for the diagnosis and management of
      esophageal submucosal tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The selection of therapy for benign esophageal lesions depends in
      part on whether the lesion extends to or through the esophageal muscle wall. The
      advent of endoscopic dissection of deep lesions has made this distinction
      important in the choice between different forms of advanced endoscopic therapy.
      The goal of this study was to evaluate esophageal insufflation computed
      tomography (EICT) for the diagnosis and management of esophageal submucosal
      tumors (SMTs). METHODS: Between April 2011 and May 2013 at the Second Affiliated
      Hospital of Harbin Medical University, 27 patients with esophageal SMTs diagnosed
      by gastroscopy were studied observationally. Entry criteria included tumors
      larger than 0.5 cm. We compared endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and EICT to assess
      lesion depth and the relationship between the submucosal lesion and the
      esophageal wall using the resected lesion as the gold standard. RESULTS: Twenty
      seven esophageal SMTs were evaluated. EUS and EICT accurately identified nine as
      superficial to the muscularis propria. EICT correctly identified the relation of
      the tumor extension and the outer esophageal wall in all 18 lesions that
      originated from the muscularis propria; only nine were correctly assessed by EUS
      (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: EICT enables improved judgment of the relation of
      esophageal lesions and the esophageal-mediastinal border. We propose EICT as a
      new, safe, effective, useful, simple and high-tolerance method for assessing the
      depth and relationships of esophageal submucosal lesions.

PMID- 27631316
TI  - Impact of responsive insertion technology (RIT) on reducing discomfort during
      colonoscopy: randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In many countries, colonoscopies for colorectal cancer screening are
      performed without sedation due to the cost. Changes in the structure of the
      endoscopes are designed to facilitate the colonoscopic examination, reduce the
      duration of the procedure, and improve the imaging of the intestinal lumen. The
      variable stiffness of the endoscope and the recently introduced responsive
      insertion technology (RIT) are features aimed at easing colonoscope insertion and
      reducing the discomfort and pain during the examination. The aim of the study is
      to analyze whether the new RIT system can improve the practice of colonoscopy
      under no anesthesia with respect to the widely available variable stiffness
      colonoscopes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This analysis included 647 patients who
      underwent complete colonoscopy in the screening program. All colonoscopies were
      performed without sedation. Olympus series 180 and 190 endoscopes equipped with a
      magnetic positioning system were used. Group I included patients who were
      examined using endoscopes equipped with responsive insertion technology (RIT),
      and group II included patients who were examined using conventional variable
      stiffness colonoscopies. The main objective was to evaluate the cecal intubation
      time, the number of loops, the requirement to apply manual pressure to different
      areas of the abdomen and the degree of discomfort and pain expressed on a visual
      analogue scale (VAS). ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01688557. RESULTS: Group I
      consisted of 329 patients, and group II included 318 patients. The mean age of
      the patients was 58.4 years (SD +/- 4.21). Both groups were compared in terms of
      age, sex, and BMI. The mean cecal intubation time was 209 s in group I and 224 s
      in group II (p < 0.05). Increased loop formation was observed upon endoscope
      insertion in group II (1.7 vs. 1.35) (p < 0.05) and required more manual pressure
      to the abdomen (2.2 vs. 1.7) (p = 0.001). In group I, less discomfort and pain,
      as graded on a VAS (2.3 vs. 2.6), were noted. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of
      RIT reduced of the cecal intubation time. The modified structure of the endoscope
      rendered the colonoscopic examination easier by reducing loop formation upon
      insertion with a subsequently reduced rate of auxiliary maneuvers.

PMID- 27631317
TI  - Laparoscopic wedge resection for suspected large (>=5 cm) gastric
      gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic wedge resection (LWR) for small gastric gastrointestinal
      stromal tumors (GIST) is now widely accepted, but its application for large GISTs
      remains controversial. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and safety of
      LWR for suspected large (>=5 cm) gastric GISTs. METHODS: Retrospective review of
      82 consecutive patients who underwent attempted LWR for suspected gastric GIST.
      LWR for large (>=5 cm) (n = 23) tumors was compared with LWR for small (<5 cm)
      tumors (n = 59). The 23 patients with LWR for large tumors were also compared to
      36 consecutive patients who underwent open wedge resection (OWR) for large
      tumors. RESULTS: Comparison between patients who underwent LWR for large versus
      small tumors demonstrated that resection of large tumors was associated with a
      longer operating time. There was no difference in other perioperative outcomes,
      and oncological outcomes such as frequency of close margins (<=1 mm) and
      recurrence-free survival. Comparison between patients who underwent LWR versus
      OWR for large tumors showed that LWR was associated with decreased median time to
      fluid or solid diet, shorter postoperative stay but longer operating times. There
      was no difference in oncological outcomes. CONCLUSION: LWR for suspected large
      gastric GIST is feasible and safe. It is associated with similar short-term
      outcomes with LWR for small tumors and favorable short-term outcomes over OWR for
      large tumors without compromising on oncological outcomes.

PMID- 27631319
TI  - Impact of Super Monkey Ball and Underground video games on basic and advanced
      laparoscopic skill training.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This abstract profiles the comparison of correlations between
      previously validated Super Monkey Ball (SMB) and recently introduced Underground
      (U) video game on the Nintendo Wii U to multiple validated tasks used for
      developing basic and advanced laparoscopic skills. METHODS: Sixty-eight
      participants, 53 residents and 15 attending surgeons, performed the Top Gun Pea
      Drop, FLS Peg Pass, intracorporeal suturing, and two video games (SMB and U). SMB
      is an over-the-counter game, and U was formulated for laparoscopic skill
      training. RESULTS: Spearman's rank correlations were performed looking at
      performance comparing the three validated laparoscopic training tasks, and SMB/U.
      The SMB score had a moderate correlation with intracorporeal suturing (rho =
      0.39, p < 0.01), and the final score involving all three tasks (rho = 0.39, p <
      0.01), but low correlations with Pea Drop Drill and FLS Peg Transfer (rho = 0.11,
      0.18, p < 0.01). The U score had a small correlation with intracorporeal suturing
      and final score (rho = 0.09, 0.13, p < 0.01). However, there were correlations
      between U score and Pea Drop Drill, and FLS Peg Transfer (rho = 0.24, 0.27, p <
      0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: In this study, SMB had a very significant
      correlation with intracorporeal suturing. U demonstrated more of a correlation
      with basic skills. At this point, our conclusion would be that both are effective
      for laparoscopic skill training, and they should be used in tandem rather than
      alone.

PMID- 27631318
TI  - The surgical outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy
      versus laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy for periampullary neoplasms: a
      comparative study of a single center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a difficult and complex operation.
      The introduction of robotics has opened up new angles in pancreatic surgery. This
      study aims to assess the surgical outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic
      pancreaticoduodenectomy relative to its laparoscopic counterpart. METHODS: A
      retrospective study was designed to compare the surgical outcomes of 27 robot
      assisted laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (RPD) and 25 laparoscopic
      pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). Perioperative data, including operating time,
      complication, morbidity and mortality, estimated blood loss, and postoperative
      length of stay, were analyzed. RESULTS: The robotic group exhibited significantly
      shorter operative time (mean 387 vs. 442 min), shorter hospital stay (mean 17 vs.
      24 days), and less blood loss (mean 219 vs. 334 ml) than those in the LPD group.
      No statistical difference was observed between the two groups in terms of
      complication rate, mortality rate, R0 resection rate, and number of harvested
      lymph node. CONCLUSIONS: RPD is more efficient and secure process than LPD among
      properly selected patients. RPD is therefore a feasible alternative to the
      laparoscopic procedure. Further studies are needed to evaluate the cost
      effectiveness of the robotic approach for PD.

PMID- 27631320
TI  - Technical description of the microinjection pump (MIP(r)) and granulometric
      characterization of the aerosol applied for pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol
      chemotherapy (PIPAC).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) is gaining
      acceptance in clinical practice, but detailed information about the
      microinjection pump (MIP(r)), the generated aerosol and drug distribution is
      missing. ANALYTICAL METHODS: Ex vivo granulometric analyses by means of laser
      diffraction spectrometry were performed for MIP(r) aerosol characterization.
      Beside the standard operation conditions, the impact of the volumetric liquid
      flow rate on the aerosol characteristics was investigated with different liquids.
      Granulometric results as well as the local drug distribution were verified by ex
      vivo gravimetric analyses. On the basis of determined MIP(r) characteristics, the
      aerosol droplet size, which is necessary for a homogenous intra-abdominal drug
      distribution, was calculated. RESULTS: Granulometric analyses showed that the
      MIP(r) aerosol consists of a bimodal volume-weighted particle size distribution
      (PSD3) with a median droplet diameter of x 50,3 = 25 um. Calculations reveal that
      the droplet size for a homogenous intra-abdominal drug distribution during PIPAC
      therapy should be below 1.2 um. We show that >97.5 vol% of the aerosolized liquid
      is delivered as droplets with >=3 um in diameter, which are primarily deposited
      on the surface beneath the MIP(r) by gravitational settling and inertial
      impaction. These findings were confirmed by ex vivo gravimetric analyses, where
      more than 86.0 vol% of the aerosolized liquid was deposited within a circular
      area with a diameter of 15 cm. CONCLUSIONS: The granulometric aerosol properties,
      as well as the aerodynamic conditions achieved by standard MIP(r) operation, do
      not support the idea of widespread or homogenous drug distribution in the
      abdominal cavity.

PMID- 27631321
TI  - [Gender aspects in female and male physicians : Occupational and psychosocial
      stress].
AB  - BACKGROUND: International studies have shown that physicians have an elevated
      risk of developing depression or burnout syndrome. Gender aspects with regard to
      occupation are discussed in German politics and society. Currently, there is
      little data comparing female and male physicians with regard to stress at work,
      depression, and burnout. OBJECTIVES: Are there differences between male and
      female physicians with respect to psychosocial strain, emotional exhaustion, and
      depression? METHODS: In different cross-sectional studies, anaesthetists,
      psychiatrists and dentists filled out a questionnaire containing questions on
      personal data, occupation, past medical history and medication intake. Additional
      standardized questionnaires (Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Maslach Burnout
      Inventory (MBI)) were performed. RESULTS: The return rate was 51.8 % (n = 3782).
      Male and female physicians vary significantly in social data, participation in
      the job, and health status. Female physicians are on average not married (p <
      0.001) and have significantly fewer children (p < 0.05). Leading positions are
      mostly held by male physicians (p < 0.001); female physicians more often work in
      part-time jobs (p < 0.001). Female physicians reached higher scores of emotional
      exhaustion (MBI) (p < 0.01) and depression (BDI) (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The
      study shows big differences between male and female physicians with respect to
      their occupation, personal life, and psychosocial wellbeing. Female physicians
      more often report burnout and depression. Causes might be family and job strain,
      gender aspects in hierarchy, as well as different recognition and interpretation
      of symptoms.

PMID- 27631322
TI  - [Evaluation of the Babylotse-Plus screening form : Evaluation of a simple
      instrument to systematically identify parents of newborns with severe
      psychosocial stress at Charite Berlin].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The well-being and healthy development of children are at risk in
      families with severe psychosocial stress. In Germany, simple and valid screening
      instruments are lacking to identify families in need of early support.
      OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine the diagnostic accuracy of a simple perinatal
      screening form to identify families at high psychosocial risk. METHODS: For every
      mother giving birth at Charite Berlin between January and August 2013 the short
      Babylotse-Plus screening form with 27 items was filled out by medical staff.
      Completing the form took about 5 min. After calculating a sum score, values of
      >=3 were defined as "likely at risk". A one-hour comprehensive standardized
      interview with the parents after birth served as the reference standard for
      assessing family resources and stress factors. RESULTS: Among the 279
      participants included in the analyses, 215 were "likely at risk" and 64 had a low
      or no risk, the latter were randomly selected among all families with scores <3.
      The screening form had an excellent sensitivity (98.9 %; 95 % confidence interval
      93.4-99.9 %) to detect families likely at risk, whereas its specificity was only
      low (33.0 %; 95 % confidence interval 30.5-33.5 %). This resulted in a rather
      poor positive likelihood ratio of 1.5 but a very good negative likelihood ratio
      of 0.03. CONCLUSIONS: The screening form identified families with psychosocial
      risks well, but many families with low or no risk were falsely defined as being
      at risk. Before recommending the screening instrument for clinical practice,
      further studies are needed in different settings to improve the specificity
      without reducing its high sensitivity.

PMID- 27631324
TI  - Allograft selection for distal femur through cutting contour registration.
AB  - Allograft reconstruction is an acceptable procedure for the recovery of normal
      anatomy after the bone tumor resection. During the past few years, several
      automated methods have been proposed to select the best anatomically matching
      allograft from the virtual donor bone bank. The surface-based automated method
      uses the contralateral healthy bone to obtain the normal surface shape of the
      diseased bone, which could achieve good matching of the defect and the selected
      allograft. However, the surface-based method focuses on the matching of the whole
      bone so that the matching of the contact surface between the allograft and the
      recipient bone may not be optimal. To deal with the above problem, we propose a
      cutting contour based method for the allograft selection. Cutting contour from
      the recipient bone could reflect the structural information of the defect and is
      seldom influenced by tumor. Thus the cutting contour can be used as the matching
      template to find the optimal alignment of the recipient bone and the allograft.
      The proposed method is validated using the data of distal femurs where bone
      transplantation is commonly performed. Experimental results show that the
      proposed method generally outperforms the surface-based method within modest
      extra time. Overall, our contour-based method is an effective complementary
      technique for allograft selection in the virtual bone bank.

PMID- 27631323
TI  - Lyophilized allogeneic bone tissue as an antibiotic carrier.
AB  - The rising number of primary joint replacements worldwide causes an increase of
      revision surgery of endoprostheses due bacterial infection. Revision surgery
      using non-cemented implants seems beneficial for the long-term outcome and the
      use of antibiotic-impregnated bone grafts might control the infection and give a
      good support for the implant. In this study we evaluated the release of
      antibiotics from fresh-frozen and lyophilized allogeneic bone grafts. Lyophilized
      bone chips and fresh frozen bone chips were mixed with gentamicin sulphate,
      gentamicin palmitate, vancomycin, calcium carbonate/calcium sulphate impregnated
      with gentamicin sulphate, and calcium carbonate/calcium sulphate bone substitute
      material impregnated with vancomycin. The efficacy of each preparation was
      measured by drug release tests and bacterial susceptibility using B. subtilis, S.
      aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The release of gentamicin
      from lyophilized bone was similar to the release rate from fresh frozen bone
      during all the experimental time. That fact might be related to the similar
      porosity and microstructure of the bone chips. The release of gentamicin from
      lyophilized and fresh frozen bone was high in the first and second day,
      decreasing and keeping a low rate until the end of the second week. Depending on
      the surgical strategy either polymethylmethacrylate or allogeneic bone are able
      to deliver sufficient concentrations of gentamicin to achieve bacterial
      inhibition within two weeks after surgery. In case of uncemented revision of
      joint replacements allogeneic bone is able to deliver therapeutic doses of
      gentamicin and peak levels immediately after implantation during a fortnight. The
      use of lyophilized and fresh frozen bone allografts as antibiotic carriers is
      recommended for prophylaxis of bone infection.

PMID- 27631326
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of different imaging modalities following computed tomography
      (CT) scanning for assessing the resectability with curative intent in pancreatic
      and periampullary cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periampullary cancer includes cancer of the head and neck of the
      pancreas, cancer of the distal end of the bile duct, cancer of the ampulla of
      Vater, and cancer of the second part of the duodenum. Surgical resection is the
      only established potentially curative treatment for pancreatic and periampullary
      cancer. A considerable proportion of patients undergo unnecessary laparotomy
      because of underestimation of the extent of the cancer on computed tomography
      (CT) scanning. Other imaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
      positron emission tomography (PET), PET-CT, and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) have
      been used to detect local invasion or distant metastases not visualised on CT
      scanning which could prevent unnecessary laparotomy. No systematic review or meta
      analysis has examined the role of different imaging modalities in assessing the
      resectability with curative intent in patients with pancreatic and periampullary
      cancer. OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of MRI, PET scan, and
      EUS performed as an add-on test or PET-CT as a replacement test to CT scanning in
      detecting curative resectability in pancreatic and periampullary cancer. SEARCH
      METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Health
      Technology Assessment (HTA) databases up to 5 November 2015. Two review authors
      independently screened the references and selected the studies for inclusion. We
      also searched for articles related to the included studies by performing the
      "related search" function in MEDLINE (OvidSP) and Embase (OvidSP) and a "citing
      reference" search (by searching the articles that cite the included articles).
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We included diagnostic accuracy studies of MRI, PET scan, PET
      CT, and EUS in patients with potentially resectable pancreatic and periampullary
      cancer on CT scan. We accepted any criteria of resectability used in the studies.
      We included studies irrespective of language, publication status, or study design
      (prospective or retrospective). We excluded case-control studies. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently performed data extraction and
      quality assessment using the QUADAS-2 (quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy
      studies - 2) tool. Although we planned to use bivariate methods for analysis of
      sensitivities and specificities, we were able to fit only the univariate fixed
      effect models for both sensitivity and specificity because of the paucity of
      data. We calculated the probability of unresectability in patients who had a
      positive index test (post-test probability of unresectability in people with a
      positive test result) and in those with negative index test (post-test
      probability of unresectability in people with a positive test result) using the
      mean probability of unresectability (pre-test probability) from the included
      studies and the positive and negative likelihood ratios derived from the model.
      The difference between the pre-test and post-test probabilities gave the overall
      added value of the index test compared to the standard practice of CT scan
      staging alone. MAIN RESULTS: Only two studies (34 participants) met the inclusion
      criteria of this systematic review. Both studies evaluated the diagnostic test
      accuracy of EUS in assessing the resectability with curative intent in pancreatic
      cancers. There was low concerns about applicability for most domains in both
      studies. The overall risk of bias was low in one study and unclear or high in the
      second study. The mean probability of unresectable disease after CT scan across
      studies was 60.5% (that is 61 out of 100 patients who had resectable cancer after
      CT scan had unresectable disease on laparotomy). The summary estimate of
      sensitivity of EUS for unresectability was 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI)
      0.54 to 0.97) and the summary estimate of specificity for unresectability was
      0.80 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.96). The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood
      ratio were 4.3 (95% CI 1.0 to 18.6) and 0.2 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.8) respectively. At
      the mean pre-test probability of 60.5%, the post-test probability of unresectable
      disease for people with a positive EUS (EUS indicating unresectability) was 86.9%
      (95% CI 60.9% to 96.6%) and the post-test probability of unresectable disease for
      people with a negative EUS (EUS indicating resectability) was 20.0% (5.1% to
      53.7%). This means that 13% of people (95% CI 3% to 39%) with positive EUS have
      potentially resectable cancer and 20% (5% to 53%) of people with negative EUS
      have unresectable cancer. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Based on two small studies, there
      is significant uncertainty in the utility of EUS in people with pancreatic cancer
      found to have resectable disease on CT scan. No studies have assessed the utility
      of EUS in people with periampullary cancer.There is no evidence to suggest that
      it should be performed routinely in people with pancreatic cancer or
      periampullary cancer found to have resectable disease on CT scan.

PMID- 27631325
TI  - A biopsy-integrated algorithm for determining Gleason 6 upgrading risk stratifies
      risk of active surveillance failure in prostate cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A significant proportion of patients that fail active surveillance
      (AS) for prostate cancer management do so because of cancer upgrading. A
      previously validated upgrading nomogram generates a score that predicts risk of
      biopsy Gleason 6 upgrading following radical prostatectomy in lower-risk
      populations that are candidates for Active Surveillance (Cancer, 2013).
      OBJECTIVES: We hypothesize that the upgrading risk (UR) score generated by this
      nomogram at diagnosis improves the ability to predict patients that will
      subsequently fail AS. METHODS: To evaluate the nomogram, retrospective data from
      several institutional cohorts of patients who met AS criteria, group 1 (n = 75)
      and group 2 (n = 1230), were independently examined. A UR score was generated
      using the coefficients from the nomogram consisting of PSA density (PSAD), BMI,
      maximum % core involvement (MCI), and number of positive cores. AS failure was
      defined as Gleason score (GS) >6, >50 % maximum core involvement, or >2 positive
      cores on biopsy. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression
      models, upgrading risk score, and other clinicopathologic features were each
      assessed for their ability to predict AS failure. RESULTS: Clinicopathologic
      parameters were similar in both groups with the exception of mean PSAD (0.13 vs.
      0.11, p < 0.01) and follow-up (2.1 vs. 3.2 years, p = 0.2). Most common cause of
      AS failure was GS > 6 (group 1) compared to >2 positive cores (group 2). On
      univariate analysis in both populations, features at diagnosis including PSAD and
      the UR score were significant in predicting AS failure by upgrading (Gleason > 6)
      and any failure. Multivariate analysis revealed the UR score predicts AS failure
      by GS upgrading (HR 1.8, 95 % CI 1.12-2.93; p = 0.01) and any failure criteria
      (HR 1.7, 95 % CI 1.06-2.65); p = 0.02) for group 1. Likewise, the UR score in
      group 2 predicts AS failure with GS upgrading (HR 1.3, 95 % CI 1.15-1.42; p <
      0.0001) and any failure criteria (HR 1.18, 95 % CI 1.18-1.38; p < 0.0001). An ROC
      generated an AUC of 0.66. Decision curve analysis demonstrated a high net benefit
      for the UR score across a range of threshold probabilities. Based on these
      outcomes, at 3 years, patients in the lowest risk quartile have a 15 % risk of AS
      failure versus a 46 % risk in the highest quartile (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The
      UR score was predictive of pathologic AS failure on multivariate analysis in
      several AS cohorts. It outperformed single clinicopathologic criteria and may
      provide a useful adjunct using clinicopathologic data to stratify patients
      considering AS.

PMID- 27631327
TI  - Caffeine Induces a Stimulant Effect and Increases Dopamine Release in the Nucleus
      Accumbens Shell Through the Pulmonary Inhalation Route of Administration in Rats.
AB  - Oral, intraperitoneal, or intravenous have been the common routes of
      administration used to study the behavioral and neurochemical pharmacology of
      caffeine, one of the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide. We have
      reported that caffeine is an active adulterant frequently found in coca-paste
      (CP)-seized samples, a highly addictive form of smokable cocaine. The role of
      caffeine in the psychostimulant and neurochemical effects induced by CP remains
      under study. No preclinical animal studies have been performed so far to
      characterize the effects of caffeine when it is administered through the
      pulmonary inhalation route. Caffeine (10, 25, and 50 mg) was volatilized and rats
      were exposed to one inhalation session of its vapor. The stimulant effect was
      automatically recorded and plasmatic levels of caffeine were measured. Caffeine
      capability (50 mg) to increase extracellular dopamine (DA) levels in nucleus
      accumbens shell was also studied by in vivo microdialysis in non-anesthetized
      animals. A dose-dependent stimulant effect induced by volatilized caffeine was
      observed and this effect was directly related with caffeine plasmatic levels. A
      significant increase in the extracellular DA was achieved after 50 mg of
      volatilized caffeine exposure. This is the first report showing pharmacological
      acute effects of caffeine through the pulmonary inhalation route of
      administration and suggests that this could be a condition under which caffeine
      can elevate its weak reinforcing effect and even enhance the psychostimulant
      effect and abuse liability of smokable adulterated psychostimulant drugs.

PMID- 27631328
TI  - Estimation of Mineral and Trace Element Profile in Bubaline Milk Affected with
      Subclinical Mastitis.
AB  - The milk samples from buffaloes of Murrah breed at mid lactation stage, reared at
      an organised dairy farm, were screened for subclinical mastitis based on
      bacteriological examination and somatic cell count following International Dairy
      Federation criteria. Milk samples from subclinical mastitis infected and healthy
      buffaloes were analysed to evaluate physicochemical alterations in terms of
      protein, fat, pH, electrical conductivity, chloride, minerals (sodium, potassium
      and calcium) and trace elements (iron, zinc, copper and selenium). In the present
      study, protein, fat, zinc, iron, calcium and selenium content was significantly
      lower (P < 0.001), while pH and electrical conductivity were significantly higher
      in mastitic milk as compared to normal milk. Concentration of electrolytes mainly
      sodium and chloride significantly increased with higher somatic cell count in
      mastitic milk and to maintain osmolality; potassium levels decreased
      proportionately. Correlation matrix revealed significantly positive
      interdependences of somatic cell count with pH, electrical conductivity, sodium
      and chloride. However, protein, fat, calcium and potassium were correlated
      negatively with elevated somatic cell count in mastitic milk. It is concluded
      that udder infections resulting in elevated somatic cells may alter the mineral
      and trace element profile of milk, and magnitude of changes may have diagnostic
      and prognostic value.

PMID- 27631329
TI  - Long-Term Outcomes of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery in Japan: Results of a
      Multi-Institutional Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of bariatric procedures performed in Japan is increasing.
      There are isolated reports of bariatric surgery, but there have been no
      nationwide surveys including long-term data. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      data for patients who underwent bariatric and metabolic surgery throughout Japan
      and reviewed outcomes. Surveys were sent to ten institutions for number of
      procedures, preoperative patient weight and preoperative obesity-related
      comorbidities, and data at 1, 3, and 5 years postoperatively. Improvement of type
      2 diabetes mellitus at 3 years after surgery was stratified by baseline ABCD
      score, based on age, body mass index, C-peptide level, and duration of diabetes.
      RESULTS: Replies were received from nine of the ten institutions. From August
      2005 to June 2015, 831 patients, including 366 males and 465 females, underwent
      bariatric procedures. The mean age was 41 years, and mean BMI was 42 kg/m2. The
      most common procedure was laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (n = 501, 60 %)
      followed by laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with duodenojejunal bypass (n = 149,
      18 %). Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was performed in 100 patients (12
      %), and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding was performed in 81 (10 %). At 3
      years postoperatively, the remission rate of obesity-related comorbidities was 78
      % for diabetes, 60 % for hypertension, and 65 % for dyslipidemia. Patients with
      complete remission of diabetes at 3 years postoperatively had a higher ABCD score
      than those without (6.4 +/- 1.6 vs 4.2 +/- 2.0, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric
      and metabolic surgery for Japanese morbidly obese patients is safe and effective.
      These results are comparable with the results of previous studies.

PMID- 27631330
TI  - Accelerated reduction of serum thyroxine and hippocampal histone acetylation
      links to exacerbation of spatial memory impairment in aged CD-1 mice pubertally
      exposed to bisphenol-a.
AB  - Age-related cognitive decline has been associated with changes in endogenous
      hormones and epigenetic modification of chromatin, including histone acetylation.
      Developmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as bisphenol-A
      (BPA) that produces endocrine disruption and epigenetic changes, may be a risk
      factor for accelerating cognitive deficits during aging. Thus, we exposed CD-1
      mice to BPA (0, 1, and 100 mg/l BPA in the drinking water) orally during puberty
      (from postnatal days 28 to 56) and investigated whether pubertal BPA exposure
      exacerbates the age-related impairment of spatial cognition in old age (18 months
      old) and whether serum sex and thyroid hormones or hippocampal histone
      acetylation (H3K9ac and H4K8ac) are associated with cognitive effects. A young
      control group (6 months old) was added to analyze the age effect. Results showed
      untreated aged mice had marked decline of spatial learning and memory in the
      novel location recognition and radial six-arm water maze tasks, with decreased
      levels of these hormones and hippocampal H3K9ac and H4K8ac compared to young
      controls. The BPA treatment exacerbated age-related spatial cognitive impairment
      and accelerated the reduction of free thyroxine (FT4), H3K9ac, and H4K8ac, and
      the 100 mg/l BPA group showed more significant impact. Additionally, correlation
      analyses revealed that lower levels of FT4, H3K9ac, and H4K8ac were accompanied
      by decreased spatial memory abilities. We concluded that accelerated reduction of
      serum FT4 and hippocampal H3K9ac and H4K8ac might be linked to exacerbation of
      age-related spatial cognitive impairment due to pubertal BPA exposure.

PMID- 27631332
TI  - A journal club for peer mentorship: helping to navigate the transition to
      independent practice.
AB  - The transition from residency to independent practice presents unique challenges
      for physicians. New attending physicians often have unmet learning needs in non
      clinical domains. An attending physician is an independent medical practitioner,
      sometimes referred to as a staff physician or consultant. Peer mentorship has
      been explored as an alternative to traditional mentorship to meet the learning
      needs of new attendings. In this article, the authors describe how a journal club
      for general internal medicine fellowship graduates helped ease the transition by
      facilitating peer mentorship. Journal club members were asked to bring two things
      to each meeting: a practice-changing journal article, and a 'transition to
      practice' discussion topic such as a diagnostic dilemma, billing question, or a
      teaching challenge. Discussions fell into three broad categories that the authors
      have termed: trading war stories, measuring up, and navigating uncharted waters.
      It is likely that physicians have a strong need for peer mentorship in the first
      few years after the transition from residency, and a journal club or similar
      discussion group may be one way to fulfil this. 

PMID- 27631331
TI  - Targeting HSP70 and GRP78 in canine osteosarcoma cells in combination with
      doxorubicin chemotherapy.
AB  - Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are molecular chaperones subdivided into several
      families based on their molecular weight. Due to their cytoprotective roles,
      these proteins may help protect cancer cells against chemotherapy-induced cell
      death. Investigation into the biologic activity of HSPs in a variety of cancers
      including primary bone tumors, such as osteosarcoma (OSA), is of great interest.
      Both human and canine OSA tumor samples have aberrant production of HSP70. This
      study assessed the response of canine OSA cells to inhibition of HSP70 and GRP78
      by the ATP-mimetic VER-155008 and whether this treatment strategy could sensitize
      cells to doxorubicin chemotherapy. Single-agent VER-155008 treatment decreased
      cellular viability and clonogenic survival and increased apoptosis in canine OSA
      cell lines. However, combination schedules with doxorubicin after pretreatment
      with VER-155008 did not improve inhibition of cellular viability, apoptosis, or
      clonogenic survival. Treatment with VER-155008 prior to chemotherapy resulted in
      an upregulation of target proteins HSP70 and GRP78 in addition to the co
      chaperone proteins Herp, C/EBP homologous transcription protein (CHOP), and BAG
      1. The increased GRP78 was more cytoplasmic in location compared to untreated
      cells. Single-agent treatment also revealed a dose-dependent reduction in
      activated and total Akt. Based on these results, targeting GRP78 and HSP70 may
      have biologic activity in canine osteosarcoma. Further studies are required to
      determine if and how this strategy may impact the response of osteosarcoma cells
      to chemotherapy.

PMID- 27631333
TI  - Childhood acromegaly due to X-linked acrogigantism: long term follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: Acromegaly in infancy is extremely rare. We describe a 32 year old woman
      who presented at 6 months of age with isolated macrocephaly, followed by
      accelerated linear growth. At 21 months of age, her head circumference was 55 cm
      (+5.5 SD), height was 97.6 cm (+4.4 SD) and weight was 20.6 kg (+6.2 SD). She had
      markedly elevated levels of growth hormone (GH) (135 ng/ml), IGF-1 (1540 ng/ml)
      and prolactin (370 ng/ml). A pituitary macroadenoma was surgically resected.
      Immunohistochemical staining was positive for GH. Post-operatively, she developed
      ACTH and TSH deficiency and diabetes insipidus. METHODS: Long term clinical
      follow-up and genetic testing with chromosomal microarray analysis. RESULTS:
      Despite GH deficiency, she grew well until 7 1/2 years old, with subsequent
      decline in growth velocity, and received GH therapy for 5 years. Puberty was
      initiated with estrogen therapy. As an adult, she has no stigmata of acromegaly,
      with a height of 164.5 cm and non-acromegalic features. IGF-1 has remained in the
      low normal range. Prolactin has been mildly elevated. Serial MRIs have shown no
      evidence of tumor recurrence. She receives replacement therapy with
      hydrocortisone, levothyroxine and DDAVP. Chromosomal microarray analysis revealed
      that she has X-linked acrogigantism (X-LAG) due to a de novo duplication of
      Xq26.3 (516 kb). She recently became pregnant following ovarian stimulation and
      chorionic villus sampling revealed that she is carrying a male with the same
      duplication. CONCLUSION: This report provides detailed long term clinical follow
      up of a patient with X-LAG syndrome.

PMID- 27631334
TI  - Complications of acromegaly: thyroid and colon.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In acromegaly the long-term exposure to high growth hormone (GH)
      and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels may result in specific
      complications in different human organs, including the thyroid gland and the
      colon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We will review here the evidence available
      regarding the characteristic thyroid and colon complications in acromegaly.
      RESULTS: This review summarizes the published data observing noncancerous
      structural abnormalities (thyroid nodules, colonic polyps) and thyroid and colon
      cancer in patients diagnosed with acromegaly. CONCLUSION: Thyroid micro
      carcinomas are probably over-diagnosed among acromegalic patients. In regard to
      colon cancer, there is no sufficient data to suggest that colon cancer risk is
      higher in acromegaly compared to the general population.

PMID- 27631335
TI  - Pegvisomant: a growth hormone receptor antagonist used in the treatment of
      acromegaly.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review published data on pegvisomant and its therapeutic role in
      acromegaly. METHODS: Electronic searches of the published literature were
      conducted using the keywords: acromegaly, growth hormone (GH) receptor
      (antagonist), pegvisomant, therapy. Relevant articles (n = 141) were retrieved
      and considered for inclusion in this manuscript. RESULTS: Pegvisomant is a
      genetically engineered, recombinant growth hormone receptor antagonist, which is
      effective in normalizing serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in the
      majority of patients with acromegaly and ameliorating symptoms and signs
      associated with GH excess. Pegvisomant does not have direct antiproliferative
      effects on the underlying somatotroph pituitary adenoma, which is the etiology of
      GH excess in the vast majority of patients with acromegaly. Therefore, patients
      receiving pegvisomant monotherapy require regular pituitary imaging in order to
      monitor for possible increase in tumor size. Adverse events in patients on
      pegvisomant therapy include skin rashes, lipohypertrophy at injection sites, and
      idiosyncratic liver toxicity (generally asymptomatic transaminitis that is
      reversible upon drug discontinuation), thus necessitating regular patient
      monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Pegvisomant is an effective therapeutic agent in
      patients with acromegaly who are not in remission after undergoing pituitary
      surgery. It mitigates excess GH action, as demonstrated by IGF-1 normalization,
      but has no direct effects on pituitary tumors causing acromegaly. Regular
      surveillance for possible tumor growth and adverse effects (hepatotoxicity, skin
      manifestations) is warranted.

PMID- 27631336
TI  - Sequence-Specific Targeting of Bacterial Resistance Genes Increases Antibiotic
      Efficacy.
AB  - The lack of effective and well-tolerated therapies against antibiotic-resistant
      bacteria is a global public health problem leading to prolonged treatment and
      increased mortality. To improve the efficacy of existing antibiotic compounds, we
      introduce a new method for strategically inducing antibiotic hypersensitivity in
      pathogenic bacteria. Following the systematic verification that the AcrAB-TolC
      efflux system is one of the major determinants of the intrinsic antibiotic
      resistance levels in Escherichia coli, we have developed a short antisense
      oligomer designed to inhibit the expression of acrA and increase antibiotic
      susceptibility in E. coli. By employing this strategy, we can inhibit E. coli
      growth using 2- to 40-fold lower antibiotic doses, depending on the antibiotic
      compound utilized. The sensitizing effect of the antisense oligomer is highly
      specific to the targeted gene's sequence, which is conserved in several bacterial
      genera, and the oligomer does not have any detectable toxicity against human
      cells. Finally, we demonstrate that antisense oligomers improve the efficacy of
      antibiotic combinations, allowing the combined use of even antagonistic
      antibiotic pairs that are typically not favored due to their reduced activities.

PMID- 27631337
TI  - Validation of specificity of antibodies for immunohistochemistry: the case of
      ROR2.
AB  - The Wnt signalling receptor receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2
      (ROR2) is implicated in numerous human cancers. However, there have been
      conflicting reports regarding ROR2 expression, some studies showing upregulation
      and others downregulation of ROR2 in the same cancer type. The majority of these
      studies used immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect ROR2 protein, without
      validation of the used antibodies. There appears to be currently no consensus on
      the antibody best suited for ROR2 detection or how ROR2 expression changes in
      various cancer types. We examined three commercially available ROR2 antibodies
      and found that only one bound specifically to ROR2. Another antibody cross
      reacted with other proteins, and the third failed to detect ROR2 at all. ROR2
      detection by IHC on 107 patient samples using the ROR2 specific antibody showed
      that the majority of colorectal cancers show loss of ROR2 protein. We found no
      association between ROR2 staining and poor patient survival, as had been
      previously reported. These results question the previously reported association
      between ROR2 and poor patient survival in colorectal cancer. Future studies
      should use fully validated antibodies when detecting ROR2 protein, as non
      specific staining can lead to irrelevant observations and misinterpretations.

PMID- 27631340
TI  - Reverse Coarse-Graining for Equation-Free Modeling: Application to Multiscale
      Molecular Dynamics.
AB  - Constructing atom-resolved states from low-resolution data is of practical
      importance in many areas of science and engineering. This problem is addressed in
      this article in the context of multiscale factorization methods for molecular
      dynamics. These methods capture the crosstalk between atomic and coarse-grained
      scales arising in macromolecular systems. This crosstalk is accounted for by
      Trotter factorization, which is used to separate the all-atom from the coarse
      grained phases of the computation. In this approach, short molecular dynamics
      runs are used to advance in time the coarse-grained variables, which in turn
      guide the all-atom state. To achieve this coevolution, an all-atom microstate
      consistent with the updated coarse-grained variables must be recovered. This
      recovery is cast here as a nonlinear optimization problem that is solved with a
      quasi-Newton method. The approach yields a Boltzmann-relevant microstate whose
      coarse-grained representation and some of its fine-scale features are preserved.
      Embedding this algorithm in multiscale factorization is shown to be accurate and
      scalable for simulating proteins and their assemblies.

PMID- 27631339
TI  - Seedling development in maize cv. B73 and blue light-mediated proteomic changes
      in the tip vs. stem of the coleoptile.
AB  - In 2009, the draft genome of the reference inbred line of maize (Zea mays L. spp.
      mays cv. B73) was published so that, using this specific corn variety, molecular
      analyses of physiological processes became possible. However, the morphology and
      developmental patterns of B73 maize, compared with that of the more frequently
      used hybrid varieties, have not yet been analyzed. Here, we describe organ
      development in seedlings of B73 maize and in those of six other hybrid cultivars,
      and document significant morphological as well as quantitative differences
      between these varieties of Z. mays. In a second set of experiments, we used
      etiolated seedlings of B73 maize to analyze the effect of blue light (BL) on the
      patterns of proteins in the tip vs. growing region of this sheath-like organ. By
      using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D DIGE), coupled with
      tandem mass spectrometry, we detected, in the microsomal fraction of maize
      coleoptile tips, rapid changes in the abundance of protein spots of maize
      phototropin 1 and several metabolic enzymes. In the sub-apical (growing) region
      of the coleoptile, proteomic changes were less pronounced. These results suggest
      that the tip of the coleoptile of B73 maize may serve as a unique model system
      for dissecting BL responses in a light-sensitive plant organ of known function.

PMID- 27631338
TI  - Morphological, immunohistochemical, and chromosomal analysis of multicystic
      chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, an architecturally unusual challenging variant.
AB  - Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) is typically composed of large leaf-like
      cells and smaller eosinophilic cells arranged in a solid-alveolar pattern.
      Eosinophilic, adenomatoid/pigmented, or neuroendocrine variants have also been
      described. We collected 10 cases of ChRCC with a distinct multicystic pattern out
      of 733 ChRCCs from our registry, and subsequently analyzed these by morphology,
      immunohistochemistry, and array comparative genomic hybridization. Of the 10
      patients, 6 were males with an age range of 50-89 years (mean 68, median 69).
      Tumor size ranged between 1.2 and 20 cm (mean 5.32, median 3). Clinical follow-up
      was available for seven patients, ranging 1-19 years (mean 7.2, median 2.5). No
      aggressive behavior was documented. We observed two growth patterns, which were
      similar in all tumors: (1) variable-sized cysts, resembling multilocular cystic
      neoplasm of low malignant potential and (2) compressed cystic and tubular pattern
      with slit-like spaces. Raisinoid nuclei were consistently present while necrosis
      was absent in all cases. Half of the cases showed eosinophilic/oncocytic
      cytology, deposits of pigment (lipochrome) and microcalcifications. The other
      half was composed of pale or mixed cell populations. Immunostains for epithelial
      membrane antigen (EMA), CK7, OSCAR, CD117, parvalbumin, MIA, and Pax 8 were
      positive in all tumors while negative for vimentin, TFE3, CANH 9, HMB45,
      cathepsin K, and AMACR. Ki67 immunostain was positive in up to 1 % of neoplastic
      cells. Molecular genetic examination revealed multiple chromosomal losses in two
      fifths analyzable tumors, while three cases showed no chromosomal numerical
      aberrations. ChRCC are rarely arranged in a prominent multicystic pattern, which
      is probably an extreme form of the microcystic adenomatoid pigmented variant of
      ChRCC. The spectrum of tumors entering the differential diagnosis of ChRCC is
      quite different from that of conventional ChRCC. The immunophenotype of ChRCC is
      identical with that of conventional ChRCC. Chromosomal numerical aberration
      pattern was variable; no chromosomal numerical aberrations were found in three
      cases. All the cases in this series have shown an indolent and non-aggressive
      behavior.

PMID- 27631342
TI  - Oxetanes: Recent Advances in Synthesis, Reactivity, and Medicinal Chemistry.
AB  - The four-membered oxetane ring has been increasingly exploited for its
      contrasting behaviors: its influence on physicochemical properties as a stable
      motif in medicinal chemistry and its propensity to undergo ring-opening reactions
      as a synthetic intermediate. These applications have driven numerous studies into
      the synthesis of new oxetane derivatives. This review takes an overview of the
      literature for the synthesis of oxetane derivatives, concentrating on advances in
      the last five years up to the end of 2015. These methods are clustered by
      strategies for preparation of the ring and further derivatization of preformed
      oxetane-containing building blocks. Examples of the use of oxetanes in medicinal
      chemistry are reported, including a collation of oxetane derivatives appearing in
      recent patents for medicinal chemistry applications. Finally, examples of oxetane
      derivatives in ring-opening and ring-expansion reactions are described.

PMID- 27631341
TI  - Patterning cellular compartments within TRACER cultures using sacrificial gelatin
      printing.
AB  - In the past decade, it has been well recognised that the tumour microenvironment
      contains microenvironmental components such as hypoxia that significantly
      influence tumour cell behaviours such, invasiveness and therapy resistance, all
      of which provide new targets for studying cancer biology and developing
      anticancer therapeutics. In response, a large number of two-dimensional and three
      dimensional (3D) in vitro tumour models have been developed to recapitulate
      different aspects of the tumour microenvironment and enable the study of related
      biological questions. While more complex models enable new biological insight,
      such models often involve time-consuming and complex fabrication or analysis
      processes, which limit their adoption by the broader cancer biology community. To
      address this, we recently reported the development of a new platform that enables
      easy assembly and analysis of 3D tumour cultures, the tissue roll for analysis of
      cellular environment response (TRACER). The TRACER platform enables
      recapitulation of many spatial aspects of the tumour microenvironment to ask a
      variety of questions, however its original design contains only one cell type. In
      contrast tumours in vivo often contain a neoplastic and stromal compartment. To
      expand the types of questions the TRACER system is useful for asking, here we
      present a strategy to pattern distinct cell type domains into TRACER layers using
      a custom-built gelatin-dispensing pen. The pen allows deposition of a temporary
      gelatin barrier into the TRACER scaffold to define domain boundaries between cell
      populations. The gelatin can be melted away after cell seeding to allow
      interaction of cell populations from adjacent domains. Our device offers a simple
      strategy to generate complex multi-cell type tumour cultures for analysis of
      fundamental biology and drug development applications.

PMID- 27631343
TI  - When membranes need an ESCRT: endosomal sorting and membrane remodelling in
      health and disease.
AB  - Originally discovered as regulators of cargo sorting during endosomal
      trafficking, ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport) proteins
      are emerging as flexible machines that shape the behaviour of membranes
      throughout the cell. Deregulation of ESCRT activity is observed in neuro
      degenerative diseases, virus infection and cancer. However, the mechanisms of
      pathogenesis involving ESCRTs have not yet fully come into focus. Here, we review
      the current knowledge of ESCRT function in health and disease and provide
      educated guesses for future research and focused therapeutic intervention. 

PMID- 27631344
TI  - Two-Step Route to Diverse N-Functionalized Peptidomimetic-like Isatins through an
      Oxidation/Intramolecular Oxidative-Amidation Cascade of Ugi Azide and Ugi Three
      Component Reaction Products.
AB  - Two-step methodology described herein showcases the first example of an
      oxidation/oxidative amidation cyclization cascade of MCR products toward diverse
      N-functionalized isatins. Products of both the Ugi 3CR and the Ugi azide
      reactions are oxidatively cyclized through a postcondensation process utilizing
      selenium dioxide. This methodology was found to be applicable for the generation
      of bis-peptidomimetic-like isatins containing multiple points of diversification.

PMID- 27631345
TI  - Selective C-H Activation at a Molecular Rhodium Sigma-Alkane Complex by Solid/Gas
      Single-Crystal to Single-Crystal H/D Exchange.
AB  - The controlled catalytic functionalization of alkanes via the activation of C-H
      bonds is a significant challenge. Although C-H activation by transition metal
      catalysts is often suggested to operate via intermediate sigma-alkane complexes,
      such transient species are difficult to observe due to their instability in
      solution. This instability may be controlled by use of solid/gas synthetic
      techniques that enable the isolation of single-crystals of well-defined sigma
      alkane complexes. Here we show that, using this unique platform, selective alkane
      C-H activation occurs, as probed by H/D exchange using D2, and that five
      different isotopomers/isotopologues of the sigma-alkane complex result, as
      characterized by single-crystal neutron diffraction studies for three examples.
      Low-energy fluxional processes associated with the sigma-alkane ligand are
      identified using variable-temperature X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR
      spectroscopy, and periodic DFT calculations. These observations connect sigma
      alkane complexes with their C-H activated products, and demonstrate that alkane
      ligand mobility, and selective C-H activation, are possible when these processes
      occur in the constrained environment of the solid-state.

PMID- 27631346
TI  - Investigation of Escherichia coli Harboring the mcr-1 Resistance Gene -
      Connecticut, 2016.
AB  - The mcr-1 gene confers resistance to the polymyxins, including the antibiotic
      colistin, a medication of last resort for multidrug-resistant infections. The mcr
      1 gene was first reported in 2015 in food, animal, and patient isolates from
      China (1) and is notable for being the first plasmid-mediated colistin resistance
      mechanism to be identified. Plasmids can be transferred between bacteria,
      potentially spreading the resistance gene to other bacterial species. Since its
      discovery, the mcr-1 gene has been reported from Africa, Asia, Europe, South
      America, and North America (2,3), including the United States, where it has been
      identified in Escherichia coli isolated from three patients and from two
      intestinal samples from pigs (2,4-6). In July 2016, the Pathogen Detection System
      at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (Bethesda, Maryland)
      identified mcr-1 in the whole genome sequence of an E. coli isolate from a
      Connecticut patient (7); this is the fourth isolate from a U.S. patient to
      contain the mcr-1 gene. 

PMID- 27631348
TI  - Evaluation of Visual Quality in Patients With Fuchs Endothelial Corneal
      Dystrophy.
AB  - Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is a bilateral corneal endothelial
      dystrophy characterized by the deposition of extracellular matrix (guttae),
      thickening of Descemet membrane, and progressive loss of corneal endothelial
      cells. Progressive endothelial cellular loss leads to corneal edema and impairs
      visual function. In eyes with FECD, corneal edema begins in the central cornea
      and expands into the periphery. FECD is the most common dystrophic reason for
      corneal transplantation in many countries. Some patients with FECD report visual
      discomfort despite the absence of corneal edema. Intraocular forward light
      scatter impairs patients' quality of vision (QOV), and corneal guttae associated
      with FECD may cause intraocular light scatter and glare, which can be extremely
      debilitating despite the absence of edema. We recently investigated the effect of
      the severity of corneal guttae on QOV in patients with mild FECD. It was shown
      that corneal guttae increased forward light scatter that negatively affected QOV
      in eyes with mild FECD without severe corneal edema. Therefore, quantification of
      corneal guttae would be useful to determine surgical indications for eyes with
      mild FECD. This review discusses QOV in patients with FECD.

PMID- 27631347
TI  - High-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography in the Differentiation of
      Inflammatory Versus Noninflammatory Peripheral Corneal Thinning.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether high-resolution optical coherence tomography (HR
      OCT) can aid in differentiation of inflammatory versus noninflammatory causes of
      peripheral corneal thinning. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 10 patients
      with peripheral corneal thinning and their respective slit-lamp photographs and
      HR-OCT images. RESULTS: Ten patients were identified who had peripheral corneal
      thinning and HR-OCT images. Five had a clinical history consistent with Terrien
      marginal degeneration (TMD), whereas 5 had thinning believed to be inflammatory
      in origin. In the eyes with presumed TMD, patients denied pain or inflammation.
      HR-OCT images demonstrated stromal thinning in the presence of an intact
      epithelium. The stroma underneath the epithelium in the area of thinning had a
      similar reflectivity pattern as the nonaffected cornea. There was epithelial
      marsupialization evident in 2 of the 5 images. In the 4 patients with a clinical
      history of inflammation (bulbar hyperemia and pain), and in the 1 patient with
      active inflammation at the time of HR-OCT imaging, HR-OCT also demonstrated
      thinning with an intact epithelium. In contrast to the TMD group, in the group
      with signs of inflammation, a dense hyperreflective band was noted in the stroma
      directly below the epithelium in the area of thinning, suggestive of scarring
      and/or cellular infiltration. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with a clinical history of
      inflammation and corneal thinning, HR-OCT revealed a hyperreflective band
      directly under the epithelium in the area of thinning, which was not seen in
      patients with presumed noninflammatory melts and thinning.

PMID- 27631349
TI  - Novel Insights Into the Immunoregulatory Function and Localization of Dendritic
      Cells.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells that normally play a critical
      role in stimulating T-cell-dependent immune responses. However, tolerogenic DCs
      (CD11cMHC-IICD80CD86) induce immune tolerance by stimulating regulatory T cells
      (Tregs: CD4CD25Foxp3). Although tolerogenic DCs are used to treat autoimmune
      diseases and to prevent transplantation rejection, the mechanisms by which they
      regulate alloimmunity are poorly understood. Here, we review our previous studies
      aiming to elucidate the mechanisms involved in immune rejection of corneal
      allografts using a corneal transplant model. We found that donor-derived
      tolerogenic DCs significantly prolonged corneal allograft survival by suppressing
      indirect allosensitization. We also reported the precise distribution of
      intraepithelial corneal DCs, termed Langerhans cells (LCs: CD11cLangerinMHC-II)
      in the cornea, which we maintain play a critical role in regulating corneal
      immunity. By confocal microscopy, we constructed 3-dimensional images of corneal
      LCs, which demonstrated that their cell bodies are present in the basal cell
      layer of the corneal epithelium. Furthermore, LC dendrites extend toward the
      ocular surface, but do not connect to epithelial tight junctions, indicating that
      they cannot directly interact with ocular surface antigens. We confirm the
      potential of DC therapy for corneal graft rejection and report the function of
      intraepithelial DCs (LCs) in the normal cornea.

PMID- 27631350
TI  - Cell Therapy of Corneal Diseases.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells isolated from connective tissues are pluripotent and
      differentiate into phenotypes of connective tissue cell lineages (osteoblasts,
      chondrocytes, and adipocytes) in vitro and in vivo. They have been used to treat
      mouse models of connective tissue disease such as lumican-null (Lum) and
      mucopolysaccharidosis (Gusb) mice. Mesenchymal stem cells have unique
      immunosuppressive properties allowing evasion of host rejection; thus, they are
      valuable tools for cell therapy of congenital and acquired diseases involving
      immune dysfunction of multiple tissues including ocular surface tissues (cornea).
      We previously showed that human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells (UMSCs)
      modulated host immune responses, enabling them to survive xenograft
      transplantation. In vitro, UMSCs modulated inflammatory cells by inhibiting
      adhesion and invasion, and inducing cell death. UMSCs also regulated M1/M2
      macrophage polarization and induced T-regulatory cell maturation from naive
      intraperitoneal cavity lavage cells. UMSCs exposed to inflammatory cells
      synthesized a rich extracellular glycocalyx composed of hyaluronan (HA) bound to
      the heavy chains (HCs) of inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (HC-HA), which contains
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha-stimulated gene 6 (TSG6) that catalyzes the transfer
      of HCs to HA, versican, and pentraxin-3. Our in vivo and in vitro results showed
      that the glycocalyx regulated inflammatory cells, allowing UMSCs to survive host
      immune rejection. Administration of antibodies against glycocalyx constituents or
      digestion with hyaluronidase and chondroitinase ABC abolished the UMSCs' ability
      to modulate immune responses. Treatment with anti-CD44 antibodies also diminished
      modulation of M2 macrophages by UMSCs, indicating that cell surface CD44 is
      required for correct UMSC glycocalyx assembly to modulate inflammatory cells.

PMID- 27631351
TI  - Two-Photon Microscopy of the Mouse Peripheral Cornea Ex Vivo.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the 3-dimensional (3D) cell and extracellular matrix
      (ECM) structure of mouse peripheral corneas in normal and corneal
      neovascularization tissues using 2-photon microscopy (TPM) based on both
      intrinsic and extrinsic moxifloxacin contrasts. METHODS: Peripheral corneas in
      freshly enucleated mouse eyes were imaged by TPM based on both intrinsic and
      extrinsic contrasts. Intrinsic autofluorescence and second harmonic generation
      were used to image cells and ECM collagen, respectively. Moxifloxacin ophthalmic
      solution was applied to image cells. The peripheral cornea, limbus, and sclera
      were imaged in 3D. In addition to normal mice, mouse models of suture-induced
      corneal neovascularization were imaged to visualize changes in the
      microstructure. RESULTS: Complex 3D cell and ECM structures in the cornea,
      limbus, and sclera were visualized by TPM. TPM images based on intrinsic
      contrasts visualized both cell and ECM structures, and TPM images based on
      moxifloxacin visualized cell structures with enhanced contrast. On the limbus
      side of the mouse peripheral cornea, TPM images visualized the vasculature in the
      limbus, the trabecular meshwork/Schlemm canal, iris, and ciliary body. On the
      scleral side, TPM images visualized cell and ECM structures in the sclera and
      multiple cell layers below the sclera. TPM images of the peripheral cornea in the
      corneal neovascularization condition visualized the extension of vasculature from
      the limbus to the cornea. CONCLUSIONS: TPM imaging based on both intrinsic and
      external moxifloxacin contrasts visualized detailed 3D cell and ECM
      microstructures in the mouse peripheral cornea. TPM based on moxifloxacin might
      be advantageous for studying cell structures by enhancing image contrast.

PMID- 27631352
TI  - Translational Immunoimaging and Neuroimaging Demonstrate Corneal Neuroimmune
      Crosstalk.
AB  - Corneal immunoimaging and neuroimaging approaches facilitate in vivo analyses of
      the cornea, including high-resolution imaging of corneal immune cells and nerves.
      This approach facilitates the analyses of underlying immune and nerve alterations
      not detected by clinical slit-lamp examination alone. In this review, we describe
      recent work performed in our translational ocular immunology center with a focus
      on "bench-to-bedside" and "bedside-to-bench" research. The ability to visualize
      dendritiform immune cells (DCs) in patients with laser in vivo confocal
      microscopy (IVCM), recently discovered in the central murine cornea, has allowed
      us to demonstrate their utility as a potential surrogate biomarker for
      inflammatory ocular surface diseases. This biomarker for inflammation allows the
      measurement of therapeutic efficacy of anti-inflammatory drugs and its utility as
      an endpoint in clinical trials with high interobserver agreement. IVCM image
      analyses from our studies has demonstrated a significant increase in DC density
      and size in ocular disease, a positive correlation between DC density and
      clinical signs and symptoms of disease and pro-inflammatory tear cytokines, and a
      strong negative correlation between DC density and subbasal nerve density. In
      conjunction with preclinical research investigating the inflammatory state in a
      partial or fully denervated cornea, our results indicated that corneal nerves are
      directly involved in the regulation of homeostasis and immune privilege in the
      cornea.

PMID- 27631354
TI  - Implementation of Oral and Rectal Gonococcal and Chlamydial Nucleic Acid
      Amplification-Based Testing as a Component of Local Health Department Activities.
AB  - From January 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015, 452 individuals received extragenital
      nucleic acid amplification-based Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis
      testing through public health venues. Seventy-four individuals (16%) tested
      positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and/or Chlamydia trachomatis at an
      extragenital site and 40 (54%) would not have been effectively diagnosed and
      treated in the absence of extragenital testing.

PMID- 27631353
TI  - Azithromycin Treatment Failure for Chlamydia trachomatis Among Heterosexual Men
      With Nongonococcal Urethritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Three recent prospective studies have suggested that the 1-g dose of
      azithromycin for Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) was less effective than expected,
      reporting a wide range of treatment failure rates (5.8%-22.6%). Reasons for the
      disparate results could be attributed to geographic or methodological
      differences. The purpose of this study was to reexamine the studies and attempt
      to harmonize methodologies to reduce misclassification as a result of false
      positives from early test-of-cure (TOC) or reinfection as a result of sexual
      exposure rather than treatment failure. METHODS: Men who had sex with women, who
      received 1-g azithromycin under directly observed therapy for presumptive
      treatment of nongonococcal urethritis with confirmed Ct were included. Baseline
      screening was performed on urethral swabs or urine, and TOC screening was
      performed on urine using nucleic acid amplification tests. Posttreatment vaginal
      sexual exposure was elicited at TOC. Data from the 3 studies were obtained and
      reanalyzed. Rates of Ct retest positive were examined for all cases, and a
      sensitivity analysis was conducted to either reclassify potential false
      positives/reinfections as negative or remove them from the analysis. RESULTS: The
      crude treatment failure rate was 12.8% (31/242). The rate when potential false
      positives/reinfections were reclassified as negative was 6.2% (15/242) or when
      these were excluded from analysis was 10.9% (15/138). CONCLUSIONS: In these
      samples of men who have sex with women with Ct-related nongonococcal urethritis,
      azithromycin treatment failure was between 6.2% and 12.8%. This range of failure
      is lower than previously published but higher than the desired World Health
      Organization's target chlamydia treatment failure rate of < 5%.

PMID- 27631355
TI  - Trichomonas vaginalis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Coinfection Among Women
      Under Community Supervision: A Call for Expanded T. vaginalis Screening.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The United States has a large community supervision population, a
      growing number of whom are women. Trichomonas vaginalis infection is strongly
      associated with an increased risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      acquisition and transmission, particularly among women, but there is a paucity of
      research on HIV and T. vaginalis co-infection among women under community
      supervision. METHODS: This article examines the prevalence of T. vaginalis
      infection and T. vaginalis and HIV coinfection at baseline among women under
      community supervision in New York City. It also examines the 12-month outcomes of
      women treated for T. vaginalis. Women received biological tests for HIV and T.
      vaginalis at baseline and 12 months follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 333 women tested
      for sexually transmitted infections, 77 women (23.1%) tested positive for T.
      vaginalis at baseline and 44 (13.3%) were HIV positive. Human immunodeficiency
      virus-positive women had significantly higher rates of T. vaginalis infection
      than HIV-negative women (36.4% vs 21.3%, P <= 0.05). Sixteen women (4.8%) were
      coinfected with T. vaginalis and HIV. Of the 77 women who were positive for T.
      vaginalis infection at baseline, 58 (75.3%) received treatment by a health care
      provider. Of those who received treatment, 17 (29.3%) tested positive for T.
      vaginalis at the 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high prevalence of T.
      vaginalis among this sample of women, particularly among HIV-positive women, and
      high levels of reinfection or persistent infection, screening for T. vaginalis
      among women under community supervision may have a substantial impact on reducing
      HIV acquisition and transmission among this high-risk population.

PMID- 27631356
TI  - Clinical Evaluation of 2 Point-of-Care Lateral Flow Tests for the Diagnosis of
      Syphilis.
AB  - A diagnostic performance study comparing the only Food and Drug Administration
      approved, point-of-care (POC) treponemal test (Syphilis Health Check) and the
      World Health Organization pre-qualified SD Bioline POC treponemal test against a
      treponemal hemagglutination test (TPHA) and a sequential algorithm of
      nontreponemal rapid plasma reagin and TPHA found both POC tests had >85%
      sensitivity compared with the TPHA and >85% sensitivity and >95% specificity
      compared with the rapid plasma reagin and TPHA standards.

PMID- 27631357
TI  - Development and Validation of the Human Papillomavirus Attitudes and Beliefs
      Scale in a National Canadian Sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parents' human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination decision-making is
      strongly influenced by their attitudes and beliefs toward vaccination. To date,
      psychometrically evaluated HPV vaccination attitudes scales have been narrow in
      their range of measured beliefs and often limited to attitudes surrounding female
      HPV vaccination. The study aimed to develop a comprehensive, validated and
      reliable HPV vaccination attitudes and beliefs scale among parents of boys.
      METHODS: Data were collected from Canadian parents of 9- to 16-year-old boys
      using an online questionnaire completed in 2 waves with a 7-month interval. Based
      on existing vaccination attitudes scales, a set of 61 attitude and belief items
      were developed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted.
      Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha and stability over time
      with intraclass correlations. RESULTS: The HPV Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HABS)
      was informed by 3117 responses at time 1 and 1427 at time 2. The HABS contains 46
      items organized in 9 factors: Benefits (10 items), Threat (3 items), Influence (8
      items), Harms (6 items), Risk (3 items), Affordability (3 items), Communication
      (5 items), Accessibility (4 items), and General Vaccination Attitudes (4 items).
      Model fit at time 2 were: chi/df = 3.13, standardized root mean square residual =
      0.056, root mean square error approximation (confidence interval) = 0.039 (0.037
      0.04), comparative fit index = 0.962 and Tucker-Lewis index = 0.957. Cronbach's
      alphas were greater than 0.8 and intraclass correlations of factors were greater
      than 0.6. CONCLUSIONS: The HABS is the first psychometrically-tested scale of HPV
      attitude and beliefs among parents of boys available for use in English and
      French. Further testing among parents of girls and young adults and assessing
      predictive validity are warranted.

PMID- 27631358
TI  - Prevalence of 9-Valent Human Papillomavirus Types by Race/Ethnicity in the
      Prevaccine Era, United States, 2003-2006.
AB  - Before any vaccine introduction, overall DNA prevalence of any 9-valent human
      papillomavirus (9vHPV) types, HPV 31/33/45/52/58, and HPV 16/18 was 16.0%, 9.5%,
      and 6.2%, respectively, among female participants in National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey. Non-Hispanic black females were more likely to have
      infection with HPV 31/33/45/52/58, but not HPV 16/18, compared to non-Hispanic
      white females.

PMID- 27631359
TI  - Multitype Infections With Human Papillomavirus: Impact of Human Immunodeficiency
      Virus Coinfection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection predisposes women to
      genital coinfection with human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Concurrent infection with
      multiple HPV types has been documented, but its frequency, correlates, and impact
      on development of precancer are poorly defined in HIV-seropositive women.
      METHODS: Human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women and -seronegative
      comparison women were enrolled in a cohort study and followed every 6 months from
      1994 to 2006. Cervicovaginal lavage samples were tested for HPV types using
      polymerase chain reaction amplification with MY09/MY11 consensus primers followed
      by hybridization with consensus and HPV type-specific probes. Analyses were
      performed using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Multitype HPV
      infections were found in 594 (23%) of 2543 HIV-seropositive women and 49 (5%) of
      895 HIV-seronegative women (P < 0.0001). Compared with HPV uninfected women,
      those with multiple concurrent HPV infections were more likely to be younger,
      nonwhite, and current smokers, with lower CD4 counts and HIV RNA levels. The
      average proportion of women with multitype HPV infections across visits was 21%
      in HIV-seropositive women and 3% in HIV-seronegative women (P <0.0001). Compared
      with infection with 1 oncogenic HPV type, multitype concurrent infection with at
      least 1 other HPV type at baseline did not measurably increase the risk of ever
      having cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3+ detected during follow-up (odds
      ratio, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-2.03, P = 0.65). CONCLUSIONS:
      Concurrent multitype HPV infection is common in HIV-seropositive women and
      frequency rises as CD4 count declines, but multitype infection does not increase
      precancer risk.

PMID- 27631361
TI  - Sex Work as an Emerging Risk Factor for Human Immunodeficiency Virus
      Seroconversion Among People who Inject Drugs in the SurvUDI Network.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent analyses have shown an emerging positive association between
      sex work and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence among people who inject
      drugs (PWIDs) in the SurvUDI network. METHODS: Participants who had injected in
      the past 6 months were recruited across the Province of Quebec and in the city of
      Ottawa, mainly in harm reduction programs. They completed a questionnaire and
      provided gingival exudate for HIV antibody testing. The associations with HIV
      seroconversion were tested with a Cox proportional hazard model using time
      dependent covariables including the main variable of interest, sexual activity
      (sex work; no sex work; sexually inactive). The final model included significant
      variables and confounders of the associations with sexual activity. RESULTS:
      Seventy-two HIV seroconversions were observed during 5239.2 person-years (py) of
      follow-up (incidence rates: total = 1.4/100 py; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1
      1.7; sex work = 2.5/100 py; 95% CI, 1.5-3.6; no sex work = 0.8/100 py; 95% CI,
      0.5-1.2; sexually inactive = 1.8/100 py; 95% CI, 1.1-2.5). In the final
      multivariate model, HIV incidence was significantly associated with sexual
      activity (sex work: adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 2.19; 95% CI, 1.13-4.25;
      sexually inactive: AHR, 1.62; 95% CI, 0.92-2.88), and injection with a
      needle/syringe used by someone else (AHR, 2.84; 95% CI, 1.73-4.66). CONCLUSIONS:
      Sex work is independently associated with HIV incidence among PWIDs. At the other
      end of the spectrum of sexual activity, sexually inactive PWIDs have a higher HIV
      incidence rate, likely due to more profound dependence leading to increased
      vulnerabilities, which may include mental illness, poverty, and social exclusion.
      Further studies are needed to understand whether the association between sex work
      and HIV is related to sexual transmission or other vulnerability factors.

PMID- 27631360
TI  - Alcohol Use and Associations With Biological Markers and Self-Reported Indicators
      of Unprotected Sex in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Female Sex Workers in
      Mombasa, Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of alcohol use and sexual behavior in African populations
      have primarily been cross-sectional, used nonvalidated measures of alcohol use,
      or relied on self-reported sexual risk endpoints. Few have focused on human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive women. METHODS: Longitudinal data were
      collected from a cohort of HIV-positive Kenyan female sex workers. At enrollment
      and annual visits, participants were asked about past-year alcohol use using the
      Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The primary endpoint was
      detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in vaginal secretions at quarterly
      examinations. Associations between hazardous/harmful alcohol use (AUDIT score
      >=7), PSA detection, and secondary measures of sexual risk were evaluated using
      generalized estimating equations with a log binomial regression model. RESULTS: A
      total of 405 women contributed 2750 vaginal samples over 606 person-years of
      follow-up. Hazardous/harmful alcohol use was reported at 16.6% of AUDIT
      assessments and was associated with higher risk of PSA detection (relative risk
      1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-2.01) relative to no alcohol use. This
      association was attenuated and no longer statistically significant, after
      adjusting for age, work venue, intimate partner violence, depression, and
      partnership status (adjusted relative risk, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.82
      1.56). In exploratory analyses, alcohol use was associated with self-report of
      unprotected sex and with sexually transmitted infection acquisition. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although hazardous/harmful alcohol use was not associated with detection of PSA
      in adjusted analysis, associations with secondary outcomes suggest that alcohol
      use is at least a marker of sexual risk behavior.

PMID- 27631362
TI  - Associations Between Internalized Homophobia and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among
      Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess internalized homophobia (IH) and its relationship to sexual
      risk behaviors and prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STIs) in a
      clinic-based sample of young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM). METHODS:
      Six hundred YBMSM completed a self-interview and provided specimens for testing.
      A 7-item scale assessed IH, and 19 sexual risk behaviors were assessed. RESULTS:
      In adjusted models, compared with men with less IH, those with greater IH were
      more likely to report: any condomless anal receptive sex (P = 0.01) and sex with
      women (P < 0.001). Alternatively, men with greater IH were less likely to:
      discuss acquired immune deficiency syndrome prevention with sex partners (P =
      0.009), disclose their same sex sexual behavior to providers (P = 0.01), be
      tested for human immunodeficiency virus in the past 12 months (P = 0.04), report
      condomless oral sex (P = 0.049), and test RPR positive (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      With some exceptions, IH among YBMSM attending STI clinics may influence their
      sexual risk behaviors; however, STI prevalence was not associated with this
      construct.

PMID- 27631363
TI  - ePGA: A Web-Based Information System for Translational Pharmacogenomics.
AB  - One of the challenges that arise from the advent of personal genomics services is
      to efficiently couple individual data with state of the art Pharmacogenomics
      (PGx) knowledge. Existing services are limited to either providing static views
      of PGx variants or applying a simplistic match between individual genotypes and
      existing PGx variants. Moreover, there is a considerable amount of haplotype
      variation associated with drug metabolism that is currently insufficiently
      addressed. Here, we present a web-based electronic Pharmacogenomics Assistant
      (ePGA; http://www.epga.gr/) that provides personalized genotype-to-phenotype
      translation, linked to state of the art clinical guidelines. ePGA's translation
      service matches individual genotype-profiles with PGx gene haplotypes and infers
      the corresponding diplotype and phenotype profiles, accompanied with summary
      statistics. Additional features include i) the ability to customize translation
      based on subsets of variants of clinical interest, and ii) to update the
      knowledge base with novel PGx findings. We demonstrate ePGA's functionality on
      genetic variation data from the 1000 Genomes Project. 

PMID- 27631364
TI  - Correction: Ethics in Community-Based Research with Vulnerable Children:
      Perspectives from Rwanda.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157042.].

PMID- 27631365
TI  - Patterns of HIV Treatment Adherence do not Differ Between Male and Female
      Adolescents in Botswana.
AB  - We hypothesized that longer and more frequent dosing gaps among boys in Botswana
      taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      infection compared to girls could account for previously seen gender-specific
      differences in outcomes. We monitored 154 male and 134 female adolescents for 2
      years with medication event monitoring systems (MEMS). Median adherence was 95.6
      % for males and 95.7 % for females (p = 0.40). There were no significant gender
      differences in the number of >=7 day (p = 0.55) and >=14 day (p = 0.48) dosing
      gaps. The median maximal gap was 7.7 days for males and 8.0 days for females (p =
      0.47). These findings are not consistent with clinically meaningful gender
      differences in adherence.

PMID- 27631366
TI  - Anti-retroviral Therapy Based HIV Prevention Among a Sample of Men Who Have Sex
      with Men in Cape Town, South Africa: Use of Post-exposure Prophylaxis and
      Knowledge on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis.
AB  - Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) have been affected disproportionately by the
      global HIV pandemic. Rates of consistent condom-use are low and there is a need
      for further biomedical prevention interventions to prevent new HIV infections.
      Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can reduce the risk of HIV, but uptake among MSM
      is low. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an innovative anti-retroviral-based HIV
      prevention tool might be an appropriate intervention for MSM who have recently
      accessed PEP that involves HIV negative individuals taking daily
      tenofovir+emtricitabine for HIV prevention. 44 MSM, attending a primary health
      care level MSM-focused sexual health clinic in Cape Town, South Africa, who had
      initiated PEP were enrolled in this study. Participants were followed up after 2,
      4 and 12 weeks. Self-administered electronic surveys were completed at the
      initial, 4 and 12 week visit. Barriers and facilitators to accessing PEP and
      remaining adherent were examined, as was knowledge about PrEP. Thirty-two
      participants (80 %) were <40 years of age (range 20-65 years). 35 % of the
      participants reported their reason for requiring PEP as condomless receptive anal
      intercourse. A further 20 % required PEP following condomless penetrative anal
      intercourse; 27.5 % required PEP due to a broken condom during receptive anal sex
      and 2 participants during insertive anal sex. Three participants did not complete
      28 days of PEP or were lost to follow up. Over half (58.5 %) of the participants
      reported being completely adherent to their regime; under a third (31.7 %)
      reported missing one PEP dose; and 9.8 % reported missing more than one dose.
      36/40 (90 %) had heard of PrEP and 30/40 (75 %) indicated that they would use
      PrEP if it were accessible to them. That we enrolled 44 MSM who accessed PEP from
      a Department of Health affiliated clinic over 12 months, speaks to the low uptake
      by MSM of PEP services in South Africa. Adherence was high and demonstrates that
      adherence support is feasible from a state health clinic. Reported risk behaviors
      in some high-risk participants did not change over time, demonstrating the need
      for additional longer-term HIV preventions such as PrEP. PEP users could
      conceivably be transitioned from PEP to PrEP.

PMID- 27631368
TI  - EO-Performance relationships in Reverse Internationalization by Chinese Global
      Startup OEMs: Social Networks and Strategic Flexibility.
AB  - Due to the context-sensitive nature of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), it is
      imperative to in-depth explore the EO-performance mechanism in China at its
      critical, specific stage of economic reform. Under the context of "reverse
      internationalization" by Chinese global startup original equipment manufacturers
      (OEMs), this paper aims to manifest the unique links and complicated
      interrelationships between the individual EO dimensions and firm performance.
      Using structural equation modeling, we found that during reverse
      internationalization, proactiveness is positively related to performance; risk
      taking is not statistically associated with performance; innovativeness is
      negatively related to performance. The proactiveness-performance relationship is
      mediated by Strategic flexibility and moderated by social networking
      relationships. The dynamic and complex institutional setting, coupled with the
      issues of overcapacity and rising labor cost in China may explain why our
      distinctive results occur. This research advances the understanding of how
      contingent factors (social network relationships and strategic flexibility)
      facilitate entrepreneurial firms to break down institutional barriers and reap
      the most from EO. It brings new insights into how Chinese global startup OEMs
      draw on EO to undertake reverse internationalization, responding the calls for
      unraveling the heterogeneous characteristics of EO sub-dimensions and for more
      contextually-embedded treatment of EO-performance associations. 

PMID- 27631367
TI  - School, Supervision and Adolescent-Sensitive Clinic Care: Combination Social
      Protection and Reduced Unprotected Sex Among HIV-Positive Adolescents in South
      Africa.
AB  - Social protection can reduce HIV-risk behavior in general adolescent populations,
      but evidence among HIV-positive adolescents is limited. This study quantitatively
      tests whether social protection is associated with reduced unprotected sex among
      1060 ART-eligible adolescents from 53 government facilities in South Africa.
      Potential social protection included nine 'cash/cash-in-kind' and 'care'
      provisions. Analyses tested interactive/additive effects using logistic
      regressions and marginal effects models, controlling for covariates. 18 % of all
      HIV-positive adolescents and 28 % of girls reported unprotected sex. Lower rates
      of unprotected sex were associated with access to school (OR 0.52 95 % CI 0.33
      0.82 p = 0.005), parental supervision (OR 0.54 95 % CI 0.33-0.90 p = 0.019), and
      adolescent-sensitive clinic care (OR 0.43 95 % CI 0.25-0.73 p = 0.002). Gender
      moderated the effect of adolescent-sensitive clinic care. Combination social
      protection had additive effects amongst girls: without any provisions 49 %
      reported unprotected sex; with 1-2 provisions 13-38 %; and with all provisions 9
      %. Combination social protection has the potential to promote safer sex among HIV
      positive adolescents, particularly girls.

PMID- 27631369
TI  - Strong Relationships in Acid-Base Chemistry - Modeling Protons Based on
      Predictable Concentrations of Strong Ions, Total Weak Acid Concentrations, and
      pCO2.
AB  - Understanding acid-base regulation is often reduced to pigeonholing clinical
      states into categories of disorders based on arterial blood sampling. An earlier
      ambition to quantitatively explain disorders by measuring production and
      elimination of acid has not become standard clinical practice. Seeking back to
      classical physical chemistry we propose that in any compartment, the requirement
      of electroneutrality leads to a strong relationship between charged moieties.
      This relationship is derived in the form of a general equation stating charge
      balance, making it possible to calculate [H+] and pH based on all other charged
      moieties. Therefore, to validate this construct we investigated a large number of
      blood samples from intensive care patients, where both data and pathology is
      plentiful, by comparing the measured pH to the modeled pH. We were able to
      predict both the mean pattern and the individual fluctuation in pH based on all
      other measured charges with a correlation of approximately 90% in individual
      patient series. However, there was a shift in pH so that fitted pH in general is
      overestimated (95% confidence interval -0.072-0.210) and we examine some
      explanations for this shift. Having confirmed the relationship between charged
      species we then examine some of the classical and recent literature concerning
      the importance of charge balance. We conclude that focusing on the charges which
      are predictable such as strong ions and total concentrations of weak acids leads
      to new insights with important implications for medicine and physiology.
      Importantly this construct should pave the way for quantitative acid-base models
      looking into the underlying mechanisms of disorders rather than just classifying
      them. 

PMID- 27631370
TI  - Interplay between Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) and p62/SQSTM-1 in
      Selective Autophagy.
AB  - The deposit of polyubiquitinated aggregates has been implicated in the
      pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), and growing evidence indicates that
      selective autophagy plays a critical role in the clearance of ubiquitin-positive
      protein aggregates by autophagosomes. The selective autophagic receptor p62/SQSTM
      1, which associates directly with both ubiquitin and LC3, transports ubiquitin
      conjugates to autophagosomes for degradation. Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2
      (LRRK2), a PD-associated protein kinase, is tightly controlled by autophagy
      lysosome degradation as well as by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. However,
      little is known about the degradation of ubiquitinated LRRK2 via selective
      autophagy. In the present study, we found that p62/SQSTM-1 physically interacts
      with LRRK2 as a selective autophagic receptor. The overexpression of p62 leads to
      the robust degradation of LRRK2 through the autophagy-lysosome pathway. In
      addition, LRRK2 indirectly regulates Ser351 and Ser403 phosphorylation of p62. Of
      particular interest, the interaction between phosphorylated p62 and Keap1 is
      reduced by LRRK2 overexpression. Therefore, we propose that the interplay between
      LRRK2 and p62 may contribute to the pathophysiological function and homeostasis
      of LRRK2 protein. 

PMID- 27631371
TI  - Physicochemical and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Novel Environmentally Benign
      Heterocyclic Azomethine Dyes: Experimental and Theoretical Studies.
AB  - Novel heterocyclic azomethine dyes were prepared by the reaction of anthracene-9
      carbaldehyde with different heterocyclic amines under microwave irradiation.
      Structures of the azomethine dyes were confirmed by the elemental analysis, mass
      spectrometry and several spectroscopic techniques. We studied absorbance and
      fluorescence spectra of the azomethine dyes in various solvents. They are found
      to be good absorbers and emitters. We also report photophysical properties like,
      extinction coefficient, oscillator strength, stokes shift and transition dipole
      moment. This reflects physicochemical behaviors of synthesized dyes. In addition,
      their intramolecular charge transfer and nonlinear optical properties, supported
      by natural bond orbital technique, were also studied computationally by density
      functional theory. The negative nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear
      absorption coefficient were measured for these dyes using the closed and open
      aperture Z-scan technique with a continuous wave helium-neon laser. These are
      found to vary linearly with solution concentration. 

PMID- 27631373
TI  - Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for the Treatment of Vocal Fold Scarring: A
      Systematic Review of Preclinical Studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Therapy with mesenchymal stem cells exhibits potential for the
      development of novel interventions for many diseases and injuries. The use of
      mesenchymal stem cells in regenerative therapy for vocal fold scarring exhibited
      promising results to reduce stiffness and enhance the biomechanical properties of
      injured vocal folds. This study evaluated the biomechanical effects of
      mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the treatment of vocal fold scarring. DATA
      SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched.
      METHODS: Controlled studies that assessed the biomechanical effects of
      mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the treatment of vocal fold scarring were
      included. Primary outcomes were viscoelastic properties and mucosal wave
      amplitude. RESULTS: Seven preclinical animal studies (n = 152 single vocal folds)
      were eligible for inclusion. Evaluation of viscoelastic parameters revealed a
      decreased dynamic viscosity (eta') and elastic modulus (G'), i.e., decreased
      resistance and stiffness, in scarred vocal folds treated with mesenchymal stem
      cells compared to non-treated scarred vocal folds. Mucosal wave amplitude was
      increased in scarred vocal folds treated with mesenchymal stem cells vs. non
      treated scarred vocal folds. CONCLUSION: The results from these studies suggest
      an increased regenerative effect of therapy with mesenchymal stem cells for
      scarred vocal folds and are encouraging for further clinical studies.

PMID- 27631372
TI  - The Role of Cytokine PF4 in the Antiviral Immune Response of Shrimp.
AB  - During viral infection in vertebrates, cytokines play important roles in the host
      defense against the virus. However, the function of cytokines in invertebrates
      has not been well characterized. In this study, shrimp cytokines involved in
      viral infection were screened using a cytokine antibody microarray. The results
      showed that three cytokines, the Fas receptor (Fas), platelet factor 4 (PF4) and
      interleukin-22 (IL-22), were significantly upregulated in the white spot syndrome
      virus (WSSV)-challenged shrimp, suggesting that these cytokines played positive
      regulatory roles in the immune response of shrimp against the virus. Further
      experiments revealed that PF4 had positive effects on the antiviral immunity of
      shrimp by enhancing the shrimp phagocytic activity and inhibiting the apoptotic
      activity of virus-infected hemocytes. Therefore, our study presented a novel
      mechanism of cytokines in the innate immunity of invertebrates. 

PMID- 27631376
TI  - Correction: Virus Infection of Plants Alters Pollinator Preference: A Payback for
      Susceptible Hosts?
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005790.].

PMID- 27631374
TI  - Development and Assessment of a Geographic Knowledge-Based Model for Mapping
      Suitable Areas for Rift Valley Fever Transmission in Eastern Africa.
AB  - Rift Valley fever (RVF), a mosquito-borne disease affecting ruminants and humans,
      is one of the most important viral zoonoses in Africa. The objective of the
      present study was to develop a geographic knowledge-based method to map the areas
      suitable for RVF amplification and RVF spread in four East African countries,
      namely, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia, and to assess the predictive
      accuracy of the model using livestock outbreak data from Kenya and Tanzania. Risk
      factors and their relative importance regarding RVF amplification and spread were
      identified from a literature review. A numerical weight was calculated for each
      risk factor using an analytical hierarchy process. The corresponding geographic
      data were collected, standardized and combined based on a weighted linear
      combination to produce maps of the suitability for RVF transmission. The accuracy
      of the resulting maps was assessed using RVF outbreak locations in livestock
      reported in Kenya and Tanzania between 1998 and 2012 and the ROC curve analysis.
      Our results confirmed the capacity of the geographic information system-based
      multi-criteria evaluation method to synthesize available scientific knowledge and
      to accurately map (AUC = 0.786; 95% CI [0.730-0.842]) the spatial heterogeneity
      of RVF suitability in East Africa. This approach provides users with a
      straightforward and easy update of the maps according to data availability or the
      further development of scientific knowledge.

PMID- 27631377
TI  - Glutamate Receptor Interacting Protein 1 Mediates Platelet Adhesion and Thrombus
      Formation.
AB  - Thrombosis-associated pathologies, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, are
      major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Because platelets are
      necessary for hemostasis and thrombosis, platelet directed therapies must balance
      inhibiting platelet function with bleeding risk. Glutamate receptor interacting
      protein 1 (GRIP1) is a large scaffolding protein that localizes and organizes
      interacting proteins in other cells, such as neurons. We have investigated the
      role of GRIP1 in platelet function to determine its role as a molecular scaffold
      in thrombus formation. Platelet-specific GRIP1-/- mice were used to determine the
      role of GRIP1 in platelets. GRIP1-/- mice had normal platelet counts, but a
      prolonged bleeding time and delayed thrombus formation in a FeCl3-induced vessel
      injury model. In vitro stimulation of WT and GRIP1-/- platelets with multiple
      agonists showed no difference in platelet activation. However, in vivo platelet
      rolling velocity after endothelial stimulation was significantly greater in GRIP1
      /- platelets compared to WT platelets, indicating a potential platelet adhesion
      defect. Mass spectrometry analysis of GRIP1 platelet immunoprecipitation revealed
      enrichment of GRIP1 binding to GPIb-IX complex proteins. Western blots confirmed
      the mass spectrometry findings that GRIP1 interacts with GPIbalpha, GPIbbeta, and
      14-3-3. Additionally, in resting GRIP1-/- platelets, GPIbalpha and 14-3-3 have
      increased interaction compared to WT platelets. GRIP1 interactions with the GPIb
      IX binding complex are necessary for normal platelet adhesion to a stimulated
      endothelium. 

PMID- 27631375
TI  - The Genetic Basis of Host Preference and Resting Behavior in the Major African
      Malaria Vector, Anopheles arabiensis.
AB  - Malaria transmission is dependent on the propensity of Anopheles mosquitoes to
      bite humans (anthropophily) instead of other dead end hosts. Recent increases in
      the usage of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) in Africa have been
      associated with reductions in highly anthropophilic and endophilic vectors such
      as Anopheles gambiae s.s., leaving species with a broader host range, such as
      Anopheles arabiensis, as the most prominent remaining source of transmission in
      many settings. An. arabiensis appears to be more of a generalist in terms of its
      host choice and resting behavior, which may be due to phenotypic plasticity
      and/or segregating allelic variation. To investigate the genetic basis of host
      choice and resting behavior in An. arabiensis we sequenced the genomes of 23
      human-fed and 25 cattle-fed mosquitoes collected both in-doors and out-doors in
      the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. We identified a total of 4,820,851 SNPs, which
      were used to conduct the first genome-wide estimates of "SNP heritability" for
      host choice and resting behavior in this species. A genetic component was
      detected for host choice (human vs cow fed; permuted P = 0.002), but there was no
      evidence of a genetic component for resting behavior (indoors versus outside;
      permuted P = 0.465). A principal component analysis (PCA) segregated individuals
      based on genomic variation into three groups which were characterized by
      differences at the 2Rb and/or 3Ra paracentromeric chromosome inversions. There
      was a non-random distribution of cattle-fed mosquitoes between the PCA clusters,
      suggesting that alleles linked to the 2Rb and/or 3Ra inversions may influence
      host choice. Using a novel inversion genotyping assay, we detected a significant
      enrichment of the standard arrangement (non-inverted) of 3Ra among cattle-fed
      mosquitoes (N = 129) versus all non-cattle-fed individuals (N = 234; chi2, p =
      0.007). Thus, tracking the frequency of the 3Ra in An. arabiensis populations may
      be of use to infer selection on host choice behavior within these vector
      populations; possibly in response to vector control. Controlled host-choice
      assays are needed to discern whether the observed genetic component has a direct
      relationship with innate host preference. A better understanding of the genetic
      basis for host feeding behavior in An. arabiensis may also open avenues for novel
      vector control strategies based on driving genes for zoophily into wild mosquito
      populations.

PMID- 27631378
TI  - Comparison of Delta-Shape Anastomosis and Extracorporeal Billroth I Anastomosis
      after Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review
      with Meta-Analysis of Short-Term Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the
      safety and relative benefits of delta-shape anastomosis (DA) by comparing to
      conventional laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with Billroth I
      gastroduodenostomy (LADG BI). METHODS: Studies and relevant literature regarding
      DA versus LADG BI were searched in the electronic databases. Operation time,
      postoperative complications, estimated blood loss, number of retrieved lymph
      nodes, time to first flatus, time to oral intake, length of postoperative
      hospitalization in DA and LADG BI were pooled and compared using meta-analysis.
      Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the effect of DA. RESULTS: Eight studies
      of 1739 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with LADG BI, DA
      had shorter postoperative hospitalization (WMD = -0.47, 95%CI: -0.69 to -0.25,
      P<0.01), less blood loss (WMD = - 25.90, 95%CI: -43.11 to -8.70, P<0.01), shorter
      time to oral intake (WMD = -0.25, 95%CI: -0.49 to -0.01, P = 0.04), and more
      retrieved lymph nodes (WMD = 1.36, 95%CI: 0.30 to 2.43, P = 0.01). Operation time
      (WMD = -0.07, 95%CI -15.58 to 15.43, P = 0.99), overall postoperative
      complication rate (OR = 1.05, 95%CI: 0.74 to 1.49, P = 0.63), surgical
      complication rate (OR = 1.02, 95%CI: 0.70 to 1.49, P = 0.90), nonsurgical
      complication rate (OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 0.54 to 2.72, P = 0.64), leakage rate (OR =
      2.54, 95%CI: 0.92 to 7.01, P = 0.07), stricture rate (OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.09 to
      1.44, P = 0.15), wound complication rate (OR = 0.71, 95%CI: 0.33 to 1.55, P =
      0.39), time to first flatus (WMD = -0.10, 95%CI: -0.27 to 0.07, P = 0.26), and
      proximal surgical margin (WMD = -0.25, 95%CI: -1.14 to 0.65, P = 0.59) was not
      statistically different. CONCLUSION: Compared with LADG BI, DA is a safe and
      feasible procedure, with significantly reduced blood loss, time to oral intake,
      and postoperative hospitalization.

PMID- 27631379
TI  - Racial Differences Among Factors Associated with Participation in Clinical
      Research Trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify whether racial differences exist among various factors
      associated with patients' decision to participate in clinical research trials.
      METHODS: A self-administered, IRB-approved survey was utilized with inclusion
      criteria requiring subjects to be 18 years of age or older, having active patient
      status and ability to complete the survey without assistance. Subjects were asked
      to rate potential influential motivators, barriers, and facilitators on a "no
      influence" (0) to "most influence" (4) scale for participation in research that
      tests a new drug or device. Kruskal-Wallis testing was used to identify factors
      significantly associated with race. RESULTS: Analysis included 1643 surveys: 949
      (57.8 %) Caucasian; 217 (13.2 %) African-American; 317 (19.3 %) Hispanic; 62 (3.8
      %) Multiracial; and 98 (6.0 %) "Other" minorities. Statistically significant
      differences (p <= .02) by race were found for five out of ten motivating factors.
      "How well the research study is explained to me" had the highest mean value for
      all races except other minorities, for whom "Knowledge learned from my
      participation will benefit someone in the future" scored highest. "Risk of
      unknown side-effects" was the greatest barrier for all races. CONCLUSION: Racial
      differences exist not only between Caucasians and Minorities for the factors
      associated with their clinical trial participation, but also among different
      minority races themselves. To promote diversity in research, recruitment
      strategies for each individual race should be customized based on what matters to
      the target population.

PMID- 27631380
TI  - Predictors and Moderators of Educational Interventions to Increase the Likelihood
      of Potential Living Donors for Black Patients Awaiting Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - Our aim was to identify predictors and moderators of the effects of a house calls
      (HC) educational intervention, relative to a group-based (GB) intervention and to
      individual counseling (IC), in a randomized controlled trial to increase the
      likelihood of having living donor (LD) evaluations initiated and live donor
      kidney transplantation (LDKT). Black adults wait listed for kidney
      transplantation (N = 152) were randomized into one of the three educational
      conditions. We examined demographic, clinical, psychosocial, and socio-contextual
      baseline characteristics as predictors and moderators of having a potential LD
      initiate evaluation. HC assignment (OR = 2.024.7311.05, P = 0.001), younger age
      (OR = 0.910.940.98, P = 0.001), more willingness to discuss donation with others
      (OR = 1.081.371.75, P = 0.01), and larger social network (OR = 1.011.091.18, P =
      0.04) were significant multivariable predictors of having >=1 LD initiate
      evaluation. Age (P = 0.03) and social network size (P = 0.02) moderated the
      effect of HC relative to IC and GB, but not GB relative to IC, on LD evaluation
      initiation. Our findings suggest that HC is most effective for patients <60 years
      old and those with average or large social network size.

PMID- 27631381
TI  - Discrepancies in Race and Ethnicity Documentation: a Potential Barrier in
      Identifying Racial and Ethnic Disparities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data collection on race and ethnicity is critical in the assessment
      of racial disparities related to health. Studies comparing clinical and
      administrative data show discrepancies in race documentation and attribution.
      METHODS: Self-reported data from two studies were compared to demographics in the
      electronic health record (EHR) extracted from the Biomedical Translational
      Research Information System (BTRIS) repository. McNemar and Bhapkar analyses were
      conducted to quantify the agreement of ethnicity and race between self-reported
      and EHR data. Pearson's chi-square tests were used to explore the relationship
      between acculturation, length of time in the USA, country of residence, and how
      individuals self-reported their race. RESULTS: The sample (n = 280) was
      predominantly female (52.1 %), with a mean age of 47 (SD +/- 13.74), mean years
      in the USA were 12.8 (SD +/- 11.67) and the majority were born outside of the
      USA. (55.6 %). Those who self-identified as Hispanic (n = 208) scored a mean of
      5.5 (SD +/- 3.07) on the short acculturation scale (SAS) that ranges 4 to 20;
      lower scores indicate less acculturation. A significant difference was found
      between the way race is reported in the electronic medical record and self
      reported data among those people who identified as Hispanic, with significant
      differences in the white (p < 0.0001) and other (p < 0.0001) categories.
      CONCLUSIONS: The misclassification of race is most frequent in those individuals
      who self-identified as Hispanic. As the Hispanic population in the USA continues
      to grow, understanding the factors that affect the way that individuals from this
      heterogeneous population self-report race may provide important guidance in
      tailoring care to address health disparities.

PMID- 27631382
TI  - Estimating the Impact of Expanding Treatment Coverage and Allocation Strategies
      for Chronic Hepatitis C in a Direct Antiviral Agent Era.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important worldwide public health
      problem, and most of the global HCV burden is in low- to middle-income countries.
      This study aimed to estimate the future burden of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and
      the impact of public health policies using novel antiviral agents in Thailand. A
      mathematical model of CHC transmission dynamics was constructed to examine the
      disease burden over the next 20 years using different treatment strategies. We
      compared and evaluated the current treatment (PEGylated interferon and ribavirin)
      with new treatments using novel direct-acting antiviral agents among various
      treatment policies. Thailand's CHC prevalence was estimated to decrease 1.09%
      0.19% in 2015-2035. Expanding treatment coverage (i.e., a five-fold increment in
      treatment accessibility) was estimated to decrease cumulative deaths (33,007
      deaths avoided, 25.5% reduction) from CHC-related decompensated cirrhosis and
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The yearly incidence of HCC-associated HCV was
      estimated to decrease from 2,305 to 1,877 cases yearly with expanding treatment
      coverage. A generalized treatment scenario (i.e., an equal proportional
      distribution of available treatment to individuals at all disease stages
      according to the number of cases at each stage) was predicted to further reduce
      death from HCC (9,170 deaths avoided, 11.3% reduction) and the annual incidence
      of HCC (i.e., a further decrease from 1,877 to 1,168 cases yearly, 37.7%
      reduction), but cumulative deaths were predicted to increase (by 3,626 deaths,
      3.7% increase). Based on the extensive coverage scenario and the generalized
      treatment scenario, we estimated near-zero death from decompensated cirrhosis in
      2031. In conclusion, CHC-related morbidity and mortality in Thailand are
      estimated to decrease dramatically over the next 20 years. Treatment coverage and
      allocation strategies are important factors that affect the future burden of CHC
      in resource-limited countries like Thailand. 

PMID- 27631384
TI  - Weight Stigma Reduction and Genetic Determinism.
AB  - One major approach to weight stigma reduction consists of decreasing beliefs
      about the personal controllability of-and responsibility for-obesity by educating
      about its biogenetic causes. Evidence on the efficacy of this approach is mixed,
      and it remains unclear whether this would create a deterministic view,
      potentially leading to detrimental side-effects. Two independent studies from
      Germany using randomized designs with delayed-intervention control groups served
      to (1) develop and pilot a brief, interactive stigma reduction intervention to
      educate N = 128 university students on gene * environment interactions in the
      etiology of obesity; and to (2) evaluate this intervention in the general
      population (N = 128) and determine mechanisms of change. The results showed (1)
      decreased weight stigma and controllability beliefs two weeks post-intervention
      in a student sample; and (2) decreased internal attributions and increased
      genetic attributions, knowledge, and deterministic beliefs four weeks post
      intervention in a population sample. Lower weight stigma was longitudinally
      predicted by a decrease in controllability beliefs and an increase in the belief
      in genetic determinism, especially in women. The results underline the usefulness
      of a brief, interactive intervention promoting an interactionist view of obesity
      to reduce weight stigma, at least in the short term, lending support to the
      mechanisms of change derived from attribution theory. The increase in genetic
      determinism that occurred despite the intervention's gene * environment focus had
      no detrimental side-effect on weight stigma, but instead contributed to its
      reduction. Further research is warranted on the effects of how biogenetic causal
      information influences weight management behavior of individuals with obesity. 

PMID- 27631383
TI  - Molecular Typing of Mycobacterium bovis from Cattle Reared in Midwest Brazil.
AB  - Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (BTB), the
      pathogen responsible for serious economic impact on the livestock sector. In
      order to obtain data on isolated M. bovis strains and assist in the control and
      eradication program for BTB, a cross sectional descriptive molecular epidemiology
      study in the Brazilian Midwest was conducted. Through spoligotyping and 24-loci
      MIRU-VNTR methods, 37 clinical isolates of M. bovis circulating in the region
      were analyzed, 10 isolated from the state of Mato Grosso, 12 from the state of
      Mato Grosso do Sul and 15 from the state of Goias. The spoligotyping analysis
      identified 10 distinct M. bovis profiles (SB0121 n = 14, SB0295 n = 6, SB0140 n =
      6, SB0881 n = 3, SB1144 n = 2, SB1145 n = 2, SB0134 n = 1, SB1050 n = 1, SB1055 n
      = 1, SB1136 n = 1) grouped in six clusters and four orphan patterns. The MIRU
      VNTR 24-loci grouped the same isolates in six clusters and 22 unique orphan
      patterns, showing higher discriminatory power than spoligotyping. When
      associating the results of both techniques, the isolates were grouped in five
      clusters and 24 unique M. bovis profiles. Among the 24-loci MIRU-VNTR evaluated,
      two, ETR-A and QUB 11b loci, showed high discriminatory ability (h = >= 0.50),
      while MIRU 16, MIRU 27, ETR-B, ETR-C, Mtub21 and QUB 26 loci showed moderate
      ability (h = 0.33 or h = 0.49) and were the most effective in evaluating the
      genotypic similarities among the clinical M. bovis isolate samples. Herein, the
      29 patterns found amongst the 37 isolates of M. bovis circulating in the
      Brazilian Midwest can be due to the animal movement between regions,
      municipalities and farms, thus causing the spread of various M. bovis strains in
      herds from Midwest Brazil. 

PMID- 27631386
TI  - Randomized Controlled Trial on Effectiveness of Intermittent Serial Casting on
      Spastic Equinus Foot in Children with Cerebral Palsy After Botulinum Toxin-A
      Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Physical therapy (PT) and botulinum toxin-A (BTX-A) injections are
      widely used in the treatment of spastic equinus foot due to cerebral palsy. The
      aim of this study was to show effects of intermittent serial casting (SC) in
      addition to standard treatment on spasticity, passive range of motion (PROM), and
      gait. DESIGN: Fifty-one ambulatory patients, treated by BTX-A to plantar flexor
      muscles, were randomly assigned to casting or control groups in a 2:1 ratio. Both
      groups received PT for 3 weeks. Casting group additionally received intermittent
      SC during 3 consecutive weekends. Assessments included Modified Ashworth Scale
      (MAS), Tardieu Scale, Observational Gait Scale (OGS), and Physician Global
      Assessment at baseline and posttreatment weeks 4 and 12. RESULTS: Significant
      improvements in PROM, MAS, Tardieu Scale, and OGS were recorded in both groups (P
      < 0.001 for all). Average changes in MAS, PROM, angle of catch, spasticity angle,
      and OGS of the casting group were significantly higher than those of the controls
      at week 4 (P = 0.006, P = 0.002, P < 0.001, P = 0.005, P = 0.011), and 12 (P =
      0.013, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.011, P < 0.001). Follow-up Physician Global
      Assessment also favored casting group (P < 0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS:
      Combining intermittent SC with BTX-A injections and PT might provide additional
      benefits for spastic equinus foot. TO CLAIM CME CREDITS: Complete the self
      assessment activity and evaluation online at http://www.physiatry.org/JournalCME
      CME OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to:
      (1) identify treatment options for spastic equinus goot in children with cerebral
      palsy; (2) explain different approaches of serial casting with an additional
      model of intermittent casting; and (3) describe the potential benefits of
      combined treatment modalities, including intermittent serial casting, for spastic
      equinus foot in children with cerebral palsy. LEVEL: Advanced ACCREDITATION: The
      Association of Academic Physiatrists is accredited by the Accreditation Council
      for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for
      physicians.The Association of Academic Physiatrists designates this activity for
      a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should only claim
      credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

PMID- 27631387
TI  - Adding a Transverse Scan in the Ultrasound Diagnosis of Extensor Tendinopathy.

PMID- 27631385
TI  - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use for HIV Management in the State of
      Florida: Medical Monitoring Project.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to describe complementary and alternative
      medicine (CAM) use and to assess the relationships between CAM use and
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA
      viral load suppression among a sample of persons living with HIV (PLWH) engaged
      in care in the state of Florida. DESIGN: The Florida Medical Monitoring Project
      (n = 803) collected repeated cross-sectional data for surveillance of clinical
      outcomes among PLWH from 2009 to 2010. Past-year CAM use specifically for the
      management of HIV was measured via self-report. Logistic regression models were
      conducted to assess the effect of CAM use on ART adherence and viral load
      suppression, controlling for demographic and clinical factors using backwards
      stepwise deletion of factors with a p-value of >0.25. RESULTS: CAM use was
      reported in 53.3% (n = 428). In bivariate analysis, CAM use was the highest among
      those 40-49 years of age (61%; p < 0.05), males (56%; p < 0.01), whites (61%; p =
      0.001), and those educated beyond high school (59%; p < 0.05). Among those using
      CAM, 63% and 37% reported one and two or more CAM modalities, respectively. CAM
      modalities included biologically based therapies (89%), mind-body
      medicine/manipulative body-based therapies (30%), spiritual healing (23%), energy
      therapies (6%), and whole medical systems (6%). In multivariable analyses, any
      CAM use and number of CAM methods used were not associated with ART adherence.
      Any CAM use was not associated with detectable viral load (adjusted odds ratio
      [aOR] 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58-1.12; p = 0.20). Those using two or
      more methods had significantly decreased risk for detectable viral load (aOR
      0.60; 95% CI 0.39-0.92; p < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: CAM use was not associated with
      negative effects on ART adherence. CAM users were less likely to have detectable
      viral load compared with non-users. Future research should focus on CAM use among
      PLWH not engaged in HIV care and the longitudinal patterns of CAM use and
      possible effects of long-term health outcomes.

PMID- 27631388
TI  - Is the Cardiovascular Response Equivalent Between a Supervised Center-Based
      Setting and a Self-care Home-Based Setting When Rating of Perceived Exertion Is
      Used to Guide Aerobic Exercise Intensity During a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate if exercise intensity guided
      by rating of perceived exertion (RPE) results in an equivalent cardiovascular
      response when applied in either a center-based or a home-based setting. DESIGN:
      Data from patients with heart disease (post-valve surgery and atrial fibrillation
      post-radiofrequency ablation) participating in exercise-based rehabilitation were
      included. Patients performed a 12-week program in either a center- or a home
      based setting. Using RPE, patients recorded their exercise intensity 3 times
      during an aerobic training phase. Exercise intensity was objectively measured
      using heart rate (HR) monitors. RESULTS: A total of 2622 RPE values with
      corresponding HR data were available. There was no difference in the level of
      association (interaction P = 0.51) between HR and RPE seen in the center-based
      setting (mean of 6.1 beats/min per 1.0 difference in RPE; 95% confidence
      interval, 4.8-7.5 beats/min) compared with the home-based setting (mean of 5.3
      beats/min per 1.0 difference in RPE; 95% confidence interval, 4.0-6.5 beats/min).
      The level of patient familiarization, exercise intensity, and patient
      characteristics did not affect the level of association between RPE and HR.
      CONCLUSIONS: Independent of exercise setting, RPE appears to be equally effective
      in guiding exercise intensity of patients participating in cardiac
      rehabilitation.

PMID- 27631390
TI  - Avoiding Harm and Achieving Good in Rehabilitation Hospitals and Units.

PMID- 27631389
TI  - Program Interruptions and Short-Stay Transfers Represent Potential Targets for
      Inpatient Rehabilitation Care-Improvement Efforts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to present comprehensive descriptive
      summaries of program interruptions and short-stay transfers among Medicare fee
      for-service beneficiaries receiving inpatient rehabilitation after stroke,
      traumatic brain injury (TBI), and traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries with any of the 3 conditions
      of interest who were admitted to inpatient rehabilitation directly from an acute
      hospital between July 1, 2012, and November 15, 2013. RESULTS: In the final
      sample (stroke, n = 71 769; TBI, n = 7109; SCI, n = 659), program interruption
      rates were 0.9% (stroke), 0.8% (TBI), and 1.4% (SCI). Short-stay transfer rates
      were 22.3% (stroke), 21.8% (TBI), and 31.6% (SCI); 14.7% of short-stay transfers
      and 12.3% of interruptions resulting in a return to acute care were identified as
      potentially preventable among those with stroke; 10.2% of transfers and 11.7% of
      interruptions among those with TBI, and 3.8% of transfers and 11.1% of
      interruptions among those with SCI. CONCLUSIONS: Broad health care policies aimed
      at improving quality and reducing costs are currently being implemented. Reducing
      program interruptions and short-stay transfers during inpatient rehabilitative
      care represents a potential target for care-improvement efforts. Future research
      focused on identifying modifiable risk factors for potentially undesirable
      outcomes will allow for targeted preventative interventions.

PMID- 27631391
TI  - Correction: Hemoglobin E Prevalence among Ethnic Groups Residing in Malaria
      Endemic Areas of Northern Thailand and Its Lack of Association with Plasmodium
      falciparum Invasion In Vitro.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148079.].

PMID- 27631392
TI  - Exploring the HYDRAtion method for loading siRNA on liposomes: the interplay
      between stability and biological activity in human undiluted ascites fluid.
AB  - Delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) is recently gaining tremendous
      attention for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The present study investigated the
      potential of different liposomal formulations composed of (2,3-dioleoyloxy
      propyl)-trimethylammonium (DOTAP) and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3
      phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) encapsulating siRNA (hydration method) for their
      ability to knockdown luciferase (Luc) activity in human ovarian cancer SKOV-3
      cells. Fluorescence single particle tracking (fSPT) and fluorescence correlation
      spectroscopy (FCS) in human-undiluted ascites fluid obtained from a peritoneal
      carcinomatosis patient revealed that cationic hydra-lipoplexes (HYDRA-LPXs) and
      HYDRA-LPXs decorated with stable DSPE-PEG (DSPE HYDRA-LPXs) showed high stability
      during at least 24 h. HYDRA-LPXs decorated with sheddable C8 and C16 PEG
      Ceramides (Cer HYDRA-LPXs) resulted in rapid and premature release of siRNA
      already in the first hours. Despite their role in preventing aggregation in vivo,
      liposomes decorated with stable PEG residues resulted in a poor transfection
      compared to the ones decorated with sheddable PEG residues in reduced serum
      conditions. Yet, the transfection efficiency of both Cer HYDRA-LPXs significantly
      decreased following 1 h of incubation in ascites fluid due to a drastic drop in
      the cellular uptake, while DSPE HYDRA-LPXs are still taken up by cells, but too
      stable to induce efficient gene silencing.

PMID- 27631393
TI  - Predictive Factors and Value of ypN+ after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Clinically
      Lymph Node-Negative Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathological complete response (pCR) with neoadjuvant chemotherapy
      (NAC) has been regarded as a surrogate endpoint for disease-free survival (DFS)
      and overall survival (OS) of patients with breast cancer. No consensus regarding
      the definition of pCR has been established; there are several definitions
      according to a variety of classifications. Eradication of cancer cells in both
      breast and lymph nodes has been better associated with improved prognosis than in
      the breast alone. Even in patients diagnosed as having clinically node-negative
      cancer before NAC, postoperative pathological examination often shows axillary
      lymph node metastases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of the 771 patients with breast
      cancer who underwent NAC in the Cancer Institute Hospital between January 2000
      and May 2009, 146 patients preoperatively diagnosed as having node-negative
      breast cancer were retrospectively evaluated. We have made the definition of
      clinically lymph node-negative (N0) as follows: first, ultrasonography before NAC
      did not show any lymphadenopathy. Second, a cytological procedure confirmed
      negative study for each patient when ultrasonography suggested lymphadenopathy.
      RESULTS: The median observation period was 79.7 months, and the median age of the
      subjects was 51 years. Pathological examination at the time of the surgery showed
      lymph node metastases (ypN+) in 46 patients (31.5%). Histological therapeutic
      effects revealed ypT0/is in 9 patients (6.2%) and ypTinv in 137 (93.8%).
      Multivariate analysis demonstrated that younger age (49>), large tumor size, NG3,
      and ypN+ were significant poor prognostic factors for DFS (p = 0.020, p = 0.008,
      P = 0.022 and p = 0.010, respectively). Moreover, ypN+ was the only significant
      poor prognostic factor for OS (p = 0.022). The predictive factors of ypN+ in
      clinically lymph node-negative breast cancer were ypTinv (p = 0.036) and the
      luminal type (HR+ and HER2-) (p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: The prognosis of clinically
      lymph node negative breast cancer depended on ypN+, which was associated with
      ypTinv and luminal subtype.

PMID- 27631394
TI  - Causal inference and longitudinal data: a case study of religion and mental
      health.
AB  - PURPOSE: We provide an introduction to causal inference with longitudinal data
      and discuss the complexities of analysis and interpretation when exposures can
      vary over time. METHODS: We consider what types of causal questions can be
      addressed with the standard regression-based analyses and what types of covariate
      control and control for the prior values of outcome and exposure must be made to
      reason about causal effects. We also consider newer classes of causal models,
      including marginal structural models, that can assess questions of the joint
      effects of time-varying exposures and can take into account feedback between the
      exposure and outcome over time. Such feedback renders cross-sectional data
      ineffective for drawing inferences about causation. RESULTS: The challenges are
      illustrated by analyses concerning potential effects of religious service
      attendance on depression, in which there may in fact be effects in both
      directions with service attendance preventing the subsequent depression, but
      depression itself leading to lower levels of the subsequent religious service
      attendance. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal designs, with careful control for prior
      exposures, outcomes, and confounders, and suitable methodology, will strengthen
      research on mental health, religion and health, and in the biomedical and social
      sciences generally.

PMID- 27631395
TI  - The Impact of Sport Participation on Bone Mass and Geometry in Male Adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: Exercise is an effective approach for developing bone mass and
      adolescence is a key period to optimize bone health. However, sports-specific
      training may have different effects on bone outcomes. This study examined the
      differences on bone outcomes between osteogenic (football) and nonosteogenic
      (swimming and cycling) sports and a control group in male adolescents. METHODS:
      One hundred twenty one males (13.1 +/- 0.1 yr) were measured: 41 swimmers, 37
      footballers, 29 cyclists, and 14 controls. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
      measured bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content at lumbar spine,
      right and left hip, and total body. Hip Structural Analysis evaluated bone
      geometry at the femoral neck. Quantitative ultrasound evaluated bone stiffness at
      both feet. RESULTS: Footballers had significantly higher BMD at total body less
      head (7%-9%), total hip (12%-21%), and legs (7%-11%) compared with all groups and
      significantly higher BMD at the femoral neck than controls (14%). Cyclists had
      higher BMD at the trochanter (10%) and bone mineral content at the arms (10%)
      compared with controls. Geometrical analysis showed that footballers had
      significantly higher cross-sectional area (8%-19%) compared with all groups,
      cross-sectional moment of inertia (17%) compared with controls and section
      modulus compared with cyclists (11%) and controls (21%). Footballers had
      significantly higher bone stiffness compared with all groups (10%-20%) at the
      dominant foot and (12%-13%) at the nondominant foot compared with swimmers and
      controls. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent male footballers exhibited higher bone density,
      geometry, and stiffness compared with swimmers, cyclists and controls. Although
      swimmers and cyclists had higher bone outcomes compared with controls, these
      differences were not significant.

PMID- 27631397
TI  - Using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures to Optimize Results-From Good to Great.

PMID- 27631396
TI  - Exercise Intervention in Pediatric Patients with Solid Tumors: The Physical
      Activity in Pediatric Cancer Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The randomized controlled trial "Physical Activity in Pediatric
      Cancer" determined the effects of an inhospital exercise intervention combining
      aerobic and muscle strength training on pediatric cancer patients with solid
      tumors undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: Participants were allocated
      to an exercise (n = 24, 17 boys; mean +/- SEM age, 10 +/- 1 yr) or control group
      (n = 25, 18 boys; 11 +/- 1 yr). Training included three sessions per week for 19
      +/- 2 wk. Participants were assessed at treatment initiation, termination, and 2
      months after end treatment. The primary endpoint was muscle strength (as assessed
      by upper and lower-body five-repetition-maximum tests). Secondary endpoints
      included cardiorespiratory fitness, functional capacity during daily life
      activities, physical activity, body mass and body mass index, and quality of
      life. RESULTS: Most sessions were performed in the hospital's gymnasium.
      Adherence to the program averaged 68% +/- 4% and no major adverse events or
      health issues were noted. A significant interaction (group-time) effect was found
      for all five-repetition maximum tests (leg/bench press and lateral row; all P <
      0.001). Performance significantly increased after training (leg press: 40% [95%
      confidence interval [CI], 15-41 kg); bench press: 24% [95% CI, 6-14 kg]; lateral
      row 25% [95% CI, 6-15 kg]), whereas an opposite trend was found in controls. Two
      month post values tended to be higher than baseline for leg (P = 0.017) and bench
      press (P = 0.014). In contrast, no significant interaction effect was found for
      any of the secondary endpoints. CONCLUSION: An inhospital exercise program for
      pediatric cancer patients with solid tumors undergoing neoadjuvant treatment
      increases muscle strength despite the aggressiveness of such therapy.

PMID- 27631398
TI  - Myxedema Coma Secondary to Central Hypothyroidism: A Rare but Real Cause of
      Altered Mental Status in Pediatrics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myxedema coma (MC), a medical emergency defined as severe
      hypothyroidism leading to altered mental status, is more common in older women
      with hypothyroidism. METHODS/RESULTS: A 7-year-old Caucasian male with chromosome
      1q deletion presented with altered mental status preceded by milestone
      regression. His presenting labs results were: thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
      0.501 MUIU/ml and free thyroxine (T4) <0.5 ng/dl. His morning cortisol level was
      8.1 MUg/dl with repeat testing, while TSH was 1.119 MUIU/ml and free T4 was 0.5
      ng/dl. Low-dose cosyntropin test showed baseline and peak cortisol levels of 1.9
      and 16 MUg/dl, respectively. Aside from altered mental status, heart block was
      present in addition to hypothermia and hypercarbia. Diffuse cerebral cortical and
      corpus callosum atrophy were seen on MRI. An intravenous (i.v.) stress dose of
      hydrocortisone was administered for 24 h prior to an i.v. loading dose of
      levothyroxine. His activity level subsequently returned to baseline within 48 h
      after treatment had been initiated. CONCLUSION: Though MC is rare, occurring
      mainly with noncompliance in primary hypothyroidism, it may occur at the
      diagnosis of secondary hypothyroidism. Based on features like hypothermia,
      hypoventilation, and cardiovascular instability occurring in the setting of
      central hypothyroidism, it should be suspected and managed urgently in order to
      avert the associated high mortality resulting from treatment delays.

PMID- 27631400
TI  - Optimizing Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Surgery for Early- and Late-Stage Breast
      Cancer.

PMID- 27631399
TI  - Aggressive Posterior Retinopathy of Prematurity Is Associated with Multiple
      Infectious Episodes and Thrombocytopenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most severe form of rapidly progressing retinopathy of
      prematurity (ROP) is termed aggressive posterior ROP (APROP). APROP frequently
      causes severe visual impairment in affected preterm infants despite timely and
      appropriate laser treatment. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the postnatal
      characteristics associated with APROP development in a national Swedish cohort.
      METHODS: This retrospective, 1:1 matched case-control study included all infants
      that developed APROP in zone 1 (n = 9) between 2008 and 2012. Control infants,
      matched for gestational age and birth weight, developed ROP no worse than stage 2
      (n = 9). We retrieved data from medical records on infant birth characteristics,
      postnatal morbidities, and blood analyses from birth to the first ROP treatment.
      Infectious episodes included sepsis, C-reactive protein >=10 mg/l, and other
      clinical signs of infection that required antibiotic treatment. A platelet count
      <100 * 109/l was considered to be thrombocytopenia. RESULTS: All APROP cases
      postnatally developed at least two infectious episodes, one in the first month
      and one around the time of ROP diagnosis. All APROP cases exhibited
      thrombocytopenia in the first month, and 6/9 exhibited thrombocytopenia around
      the time of ROP diagnosis. Compared to the controls, APROP cases more frequently
      developed necrotizing enterocolitis (8/9 vs. 1/9; p < 0.01) and sepsis (9/9 vs.
      3/9; p < 0.01), and they had significantly lower median platelet counts (90 *
      109/l, range 4-459, vs. 158 * 109/l, range 20-500; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION:
      Multiple infectious episodes and thrombocytopenia, particularly around the time
      of ROP diagnosis, were associated with APROP development.

PMID- 27631401
TI  - Wrong or merely prohibited: Special treatment of strict liability in intuitive
      moral judgment.
AB  - Most crimes in America require that the defendant have mens rea, Latin for
      "guilty mind." However, mens rea is not legally required for strict liability
      crimes, such as speeding, for which someone is guilty even if ignorant or
      deceived about her speed. In 3 experiments involving participants responding to
      descriptive vignettes, we investigated whether the division of strict liability
      crimes in the law reflects an aspect of laypeople's intuitive moral cognition.
      Experiment 1 (N = 396; 236 male, 159 female, 1 other; Mage = 30) found evidence
      that it does: ignorance and deception were less mitigating for strict liability
      crimes than for "mens rea" crimes. Experiments 2 (N = 413; 257 male, 154 female,
      2 other; Mage = 31) and 3 (N = 404; 183 male, 221 female, Mage = 35) revealed
      that strict liability crimes are not treated as pure moral violations, but
      additionally as violations of convention. We found that for strict liability
      crimes, ratings of moral wrongness and punishment were influenced to a greater
      extent by the fact that a rule had been violated, even when harm was kept
      constant, mirroring the legal distinction of malum prohibitum (wrong as
      prohibited) versus malum in se (wrong in itself). Further, we found that rules
      prohibiting strict liability crimes were judged more arbitrary than corresponding
      rules for "mens rea" crimes, and that this judgment was related to the role of
      mental states. Jointly, the findings suggest a surprising correspondence between
      the law and laypeople's intuitive judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631404
TI  - Missing Odds Ratios and Reworded Text in Abstract Results Section.

PMID- 27631406
TI  - Risk factors for emergency caesarean section in planned vaginal breech delivery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify risk factors for emergency caesarean section in women
      attempting a vaginal breech delivery at term. METHODS: Data from 1092 breech
      deliveries performed between 1998 and 2013 at a Swiss cantonal hospital were
      extracted from an electronic database. Of the 866 women with a singleton, full
      term pregnancy, 464 planned a vaginal breech delivery. Fifty-seven percent
      (265/464) were successful in delivering vaginally. Multivariate regression
      analyses of risk factors were performed, and neonatal and maternal complications
      were compared. RESULTS: Risk factors for failed vaginal delivery were peridural
      anaesthesia (OR 2.05; 95 % CI 1.09-3.84; p = 0.025), nulliparity (OR 2.82; 95 %
      CI 1.87-4.25; p < 0.001), high birth weight (OR 1.17; 95 % CI 1.04-1.30; p =
      0.006) and induction of labour (OR 1.56; 95 % CI 1.003-2.44; p = 0.048). Maternal
      age, height and weight; gestational age; or newborn length and head circumference
      were not associated with an unplanned caesarean section. The rate of successful
      vaginal delivery in the low risk sub-group (multiparous women without induction
      of labour) was 58-83 %, depending on birth weight category. The likelihood of
      success for the high risk sub-group (nulliparous women with induction of labour)
      fell below a third at neonatal birth weights >3250 g. Complication rates were low
      in the cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Use of peridural anaesthesia, nulliparity, high birth
      weight and induction of labour were risk factors for unsuccessful vaginal breech
      delivery requiring an unplanned caesarean section. Awareness of these risk
      factors is useful when counselling women who are considering a vaginal breech
      delivery.

PMID- 27631405
TI  - Effects of statins on the kidneys in patients with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effects of statins on kidneys in diabetic patients remain unclear.
      METHODS: This was an observational, historical cohort study of type 2 diabetic
      patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >=30 mL/min/1.73 m2. We
      studied 412 patients newly prescribed statins, and 946 controls without a
      prescription history of statins (including the follow-up period). Outcomes were
      annual change in eGFR, >=30 % decrease in eGFR from baseline, and progression of
      albuminuria, analyzed using a propensity score matching. RESULTS: A total of 168
      pairs were matched for propensity score. Annual eGFR change (mL/min/1.73 m2/year)
      in the statin group was greater than in controls (-2.24 vs. -1.56, p = 0.024).
      The hazard ratio of the statin group (vs. controls) for >=30 % decrease in eGFR
      and progression of albuminuria was 1.74 (p = 0.082) and 0.85 (p = 0.624),
      respectively. When the statin group was classified by differences in statin
      solubility, eGFR change and hazard ratio for >=30 % decrease in eGFR in the
      lipophilic statin group were greater than in controls (-2.64 vs. -1.71, p = 0.031
      and 2.15, p = 0.049); however, the outcomes in the hydrophilic statin group were
      not different (-2.35 vs. -1.71, p = 0.106 and 1.08, p = 0.827). The hazard ratio
      of lipophilic and hydrophilic statin group (vs. controls) for progression of
      albuminuria was 1.31 (p = 0.552) and 0.69 (p = 0.367). In the analyses using the
      unmatched cohort, similar results were obtained. CONCLUSIONS: Statins have no
      beneficial effects on kidneys in diabetic patients. In fact, lipophilic statins
      might have potential harmful effects on kidney function.

PMID- 27631407
TI  - Foetal surgery and using in utero therapies to reduce the degree of disability
      after birth. Could it be morally defensible or even morally required?
AB  - In 2008 the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act amendments made deliberately
      choosing to bring disability into the world, using assisted reproduction, a
      criminal offence. This paper considers whether the legal prohibition above,
      should influence other policy areas concerning the welfare of future children
      such as new possibilities presented by foetal surgery and in utero gene therapy.
      If we have legal duties to avoid disability in one context should this influence
      our avoidance of disability in this other context? This paper investigates
      whether the State might have a stake in wider promotion of practices to reduce
      the degree of disability in foetuses that will come to exist (as opposed to those
      that will be aborted). Not selecting for disability does not affect the welfare
      of any future individual, whereas treating in utero abnormalities can optimize
      the eventual child's welfare; antenatal interventions stand to improve clinical
      outcomes and welfare should that specific child be born. I explore why the State
      may want to intervene in the antenatal setting and to what extent, if at all; the
      State should implement these technologies. I argue that if the State is justified
      in intervening to outlaw the choosing to create disabled lives using assisted
      reproductive techniques, it is also justified in putting pressure on prospective
      parents to accept therapies in utero to help their child be born less disabled.
      However, I qualify this with the argument that the State is not justified in
      using force or the criminal law in this situation during pregnancy.

PMID- 27631408
TI  - Qualifying choice: ethical reflection on the scope of prenatal screening.
AB  - In the near future developments in non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) may soon
      provide couples with the opportunity to test for and diagnose a much broader
      range of heritable and congenital conditions than has previously been possible.
      Inevitably, this has prompted much ethical debate on the possible implications of
      NIPT for providing couples with opportunities for reproductive choice by way of
      routine prenatal screening. In view of the possibility to test for a
      significantly broader range of genetic conditions with NIPT, the European Society
      of Human Genetics (ESHG) and American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) recommend
      that, pending further debate, prenatal screening for reproductive choice should
      only be offered where concerning serious congenital conditions and childhood
      disorders. In support of this recommendation, the ESHG and ASHG discuss a number
      of ethical issues on which they prompt further debate: the informational privacy
      of the future child, the trivialization of abortion, the risk of information
      overload, and issues of distributive justice. This paper responds to this call
      with further reflection on each ethical issue and how it relates to the moral
      justification of providing couples with opportunities for meaningful reproductive
      choice. The paper concludes that whilst there may be good reasons for qualifying
      the scope of any unsolicited prenatal screening offer to serious congenital
      conditions and childhood disorders, if prenatal screening is justified for
      providing couples with opportunities for meaningful reproductive choice, then
      health services may have obligations to empower couples with the same opportunity
      where concerning other conditions.

PMID- 27631410
TI  - Plasma levels and estimated dopamine D2 receptor occupancy of long-acting
      injectable risperidone during maintenance treatment of schizophrenia: a 3-year
      follow-up study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dopamine D2 receptor occupancy levels needed for the maintenance
      treatment of schizophrenia remain to be elucidated. We examined 3-year clinical
      outcomes of patients with schizophrenia who received long-acting injectable
      risperidone (LAI risperidone) at baseline and investigated their dopamine D2
      receptor occupancy levels, estimated from plasma drug concentrations. METHODS: A
      chart review of 52 outpatients with schizophrenia who participated in the
      original cross-sectional study was conducted to examine their 3-year clinical
      outcomes between April and September 2015. Patients who continued outpatient
      treatment with LAI risperidone without any usage of concomitant chlorpromazine
      equivalent antipsychotic dosage at >200 mg/day for the 3-year period were asked
      to participate in the follow-up assessments that included the Brief Psychiatric
      Rating Scale (BPRS) and estimated dopamine D2 receptor occupancy levels at
      trough, using plasma concentrations of risperidone plus 9-hydroxyrisperidone.
      Data were compared with the same patients collected 3 years earlier. RESULTS:
      Among the original 52 participants, 14 participants (27 %) continued outpatient
      treatment with LAI risperidone. Ten participants (19 %) provided plasma samples;
      mean +/- SD measured trough concentration of risperidone plus 9
      hydroxyrisperidone significantly increased from 22.9 +/- 15.6 to 31.8 +/- 17.5
      ng/mL (P = 0.02). Estimated dopamine D2 receptor occupancy numerically increased
      from 63.0 +/- 10.9 to 69.0 +/- 11.0 % (P = 0.12). A significant worsening was
      observed in the BPRS total score among these patients (mean +/- SD, 34.3 +/- 12.7
      to 46.5 +/- 16.9, P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Paradoxically, the increased plasma
      concentration was found to be associated with a significant worsening of the
      clinical outcome. More investigations are indicated to shed further light on
      optimal levels of D2 blockade in the maintenance treatment of schizophrenia.

PMID- 27631409
TI  - A new carbamidemethyl-linked lanthanoid chelating tag for PCS NMR spectroscopy of
      proteins in living HeLa cells.
AB  - Structural analyses of proteins under macromolecular crowding inside human
      cultured cells by in-cell NMR spectroscopy are crucial not only for explicit
      understanding of their cellular functions but also for applications in medical
      and pharmaceutical sciences. In-cell NMR experiments using human cultured cells
      however suffer from low sensitivity, thus pseudocontact shifts from protein
      tagged paramagnetic lanthanoid ions, analysed using sensitive heteronuclear two
      dimensional correlation NMR spectra, offer huge potential advantage in obtaining
      structural information over conventional NOE-based approaches. We synthesised a
      new lanthanoid-chelating tag (M8-CAM-I), in which the eight-fold,
      stereospecifically methylated DOTA (M8) scaffold was retained, while a stable
      carbamidemethyl (CAM) group was introduced as the functional group connecting to
      proteins. M8-CAM-I successfully fulfilled the requirements for in-cell NMR: high
      affinity to lanthanoid, low cytotoxicity and the stability under reducing
      condition inside cells. Large PCSs for backbone N-H resonances observed for M8
      CAM-tagged human ubiquitin mutant proteins, which were introduced into HeLa cells
      by electroporation, demonstrated that this approach readily provides the useful
      information enabling the determination of protein structures, relative
      orientations of domains and protein complexes within human cultured cells.

PMID- 27631411
TI  - PPAR Gamma Coactivator 1 Beta (PGC-1beta) Reduces Mammalian Target of Rapamycin
      (mTOR) Expression via a SIRT1-Dependent Mechanism in Neurons.
AB  - Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key regulator of metabolism, cell
      growth, and protein synthesis. Since decreased mTOR activity has been found to
      slow aging in many species, the aim of this study was to examine the activity of
      mTOR and its phosphorylated form in in vitro and in vivo models mimicking
      Alzheimer's disease (AD), and investigate the potential pathway of PGC-1beta in
      regulating mTOR expression. Primary neurons and N2a cells were treated with
      Abeta25-35, while untreated cells served as controls. The expression of mTOR, p
      mTOR (Ser2448), and PGC-1beta was determined with Western blotting and RT-PCR
      assay, and the translocation of mTOR was detected using confocal microscopy.
      Abeta25-35 treatment stimulated the translocation of mTOR from cytoplasm to
      nucleus, and resulted in elevated expression of mTOR and p-mTOR (Ser2448) and
      reduced PGC-1beta expression. In addition, overexpression of PGC-1beta was found
      to decrease mTOR expression. The results of this study demonstrate that Abeta
      increases the expression of mTOR and p-mTOR at the site of Ser2448, and the
      stimulation of Abeta is likely to depend on sirtuin 1, PPARgamma, and PGC-1beta
      pathway in regulating mTOR expression.

PMID- 27631412
TI  - [Involvement of mucous membranes in autoimmune bullous diseases].
AB  - Autoimmune bullous diseases are characterized by intraepidermal or subepidermal
      autoantibody deposition that leads to blisters and secondary erosion. Mucous
      membranes are frequently affected in pemphigus vulgaris and always involved in
      cicatricial and mucosal pemphigoid. Mucosal lesions are detected less frequently
      in patients with bullous pemphigoid or epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. The
      diagnosis of autoimmune bullous disorders is based on determination of the
      subtype of autoantibodies bound in the skin and the clinical picture. Treatment
      is based on immunosuppression related to the type of disease and severity of the
      mucosal symptoms. Ocular involvement in mucosal pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris
      requires systemic treatment.

PMID- 27631413
TI  - Insights into the Epiphyseal Cartilage Origin and Subsequent Osseous
      Manifestation of Juvenile Osteochondritis Dissecans with a Modified Clinical MR
      Imaging Protocol: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Purpose To retrospectively determine if a modified clinical magnetic resonance
      (MR) imaging protocol provides information on the origin of juvenile
      osteochondritis dissecans (JOCD) lesions and allows for staging on the basis of
      the proposed natural history of JOCD to better guide clinical management of the
      disease. Materials and Methods This institutional review board-approved, HIPAA
      compliant, retrospective study was performed in 13 consecutive patients (mean
      age, 14.9 years; age range, 10-22 years; nine male and four female patients) and
      one additional comparative patient (a 44-year-old man), in which 19 knees with 20
      JOCD lesions were imaged. Seventeen lesions occurred in the medial femoral
      condyle, two occurred in the lateral femoral condyle, and one occurred in the
      medial trochlea. The clinical 3-T MR imaging protocol was supplemented with a
      routinely available multiecho gradient-recalled-echo sequence with the shortest
      attainable echo time of approximately 4 msec (T2* mapping). Results At the
      earliest manifestation, the lesion was entirely cartilaginous (n = 1).
      Subsequently, primary cartilaginous lesions within the epiphyseal cartilage
      developed a rim calcification that originated from normal subjacent bone, which
      defined a clear cleft between the lesion progeny and the parent bone (n = 9).
      Secondarily, progeny lesions became ossified (n = 7) while at the same time
      forming varying degrees of osseous bridging and/or clefting with the parent bone.
      Two healed lesions with a linear bony scar and one detached lesion were
      identified. Conclusion The modified MR imaging protocol allowed for
      identification of the epiphyseal cartilage origin and subsequent stages of
      ossification in JOCD. The approach allows further elucidation of the natural
      history of the disease and may better guide clinical management. (c) RSNA, 2016.

PMID- 27631414
TI  - Decreased Network Efficiency in Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes.
AB  - Purpose To investigate the functional connectome alterations in benign epilepsy
      with centrotemporal spikes with respect to the occurrence of interictal epileptic
      discharges (IEDs) during functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Materials
      and Methods This prospective study was approved by the local institutional review
      board and was HIPAA compliant. All participants were consecutively enrolled with
      written informed consent. Forty-three right-handed patients were classified into
      IED (n = 20, 13 girls and seven boys; mean age +/- standard deviation, 9.00 years
      +/- 1.95) and non-IED (n = 23, 11 girls and 12 boys; mean age, 10.22 years +/-
      2.13) groups on the basis of electroencephalographic data simultaneously recorded
      during resting-state functional MR imaging at 3.0 T. The functional connectome
      features (estimated with graph theoretical analysis) in patient groups and
      control subjects who were matched for sex, age, and education level (n = 28, all
      right-handed, 13 girls and 15 boys; mean age, 10.00 years +/- 2.31) were compared
      by using one-way analysis of variance. Results Patients with IEDs and those
      without IEDs showed consistently abnormal global topology in their functional
      networks (ie, decreased global efficiency; P < .05) relative to that of control
      subjects, with no differences between the two patient groups (P > .05). Decreased
      regional efficiency and connectivity strength were observed in the patients with
      IEDs and those without (mainly in the perirolandic and frontal areas) relative to
      control subjects (P < .05). Moreover, the altered functional features
      significantly correlated with clinical characteristics (ie, disease duration and
      age at symptom onset, P < .05). Conclusion These findings suggest that decreased
      global and regional efficiency are prominent functional deficits in children with
      benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes and can be readily identified with
      resting-state functional MR imaging, irrespective of IEDs. (c) RSNA, 2016 Online
      supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 27631417
TI  - The So-Called Fermi Paradox Is Misleading, Flawed, and Harmful.

PMID- 27631415
TI  - [The KAMRATM inlay : A realistic approach?]
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The KAMRATM inlay (AcuFocus, Irvine, California, USA) is
      an additional option for correcting presbyopia that has been used for many years
      in refractive surgery. Our objective is to report our three-month postoperative
      results of KAMRATM inlay implantation in terms of near, intermediate and distance
      vision. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All 24 patients (average age 54.1 +/- 6.0 years)
      were treated with the KAMRATM inlay in the non-dominant eye (75 % in the left
      eye) by the same surgeon (MEH). The KAMRATM inlay was implanted under a 200 um
      thick femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK flap in 2 emmetropic presbyopic patients,
      13 hyperopic presbyopic patients and 9 myopic presbyopic patients, without ocular
      pathologies. The uncorrected distance, intermediate, and near vision were
      assessed. The central corneal thickness (CCT), endothelial cell density (ECD) and
      visual field were assessed both pre- and post-operatively. In addition, patients
      were asked to complete a patient satisfaction questionnaire. Follow-ups were
      carried out one day, one week, and 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months postoperatively.
      RESULTS: After three months, all 24 eyes revealed an increase in the mean
      uncorrected distant visual acuity in the non-dominant eye from 0.4 +/- 0.2 to 0.9
      +/- 0.1, an increase in the mean uncorrected intermediate visual acuity (logMAR,
      Jaeger 75 cm) from 0.6 +/- 0.3 (J 11) to 0.0 +/- 0.0 (J 1) and an increase in the
      mean uncorrected near visual acuity (logMAR, Jaeger 45 cm) from 0.6 +/- 0.2 (J 9)
      to 0.0 +/- 0.0 (J 1) monocularly. The visual acuity did not change over the time.
      The CCT and ECD remained unchanged compared with the findings before surgery.
      Subjectively, the questionnaire showed high patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION:
      Femtosecond laser-assisted KAMRATM inlay implantation can be used in post-LASIK
      emmetropic patients and patients with a monofocal intraocular lens. It can also
      be combined with LASIK (for ametropic patients). The potential reversibility, low
      impairment of psychophysical investigations and the high degree of patient
      satisfaction makes this novel technique designed to increase depth of focus a
      reliable method for the surgical correction of presbyopia. Patient selection and
      centration of the KAMRATM inlay is crucial.

PMID- 27631416
TI  - Blockade of programmed death-1/programmed death ligand pathway enhances the
      antitumor immunity of human invariant natural killer T cells.
AB  - The role of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in antitumor immunity has
      been studied extensively, and clinical trials in patients with advanced cancer
      have revealed a prolonged survival in some cases. In recent years, humanized
      blocking antibodies against co-stimulatory molecules such as PD-1 have been
      developed. The enhancement of T cell function is reported to improve antitumor
      immunity, leading to positive clinical effects. However, there are limited data
      on the role of PD-1/programmed death ligand (PDL) molecules in human iNKT cells.
      In this study, we investigated the interaction between PD-1 on iNKT cells and PDL
      on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in the context of iNKT cell stimulation. The
      blockade of PDL1 at the time of stimulation resulted in increased release of
      helper T cell (Th) 1 cytokines from iNKT cells, leading to the activation of NK
      cells. The direct antitumor function of iNKT cells was also enhanced after
      stimulation with anti-PDL1 antibody-treated APCs. According to these results, we
      conclude that the co-administration of anti-PDL1 antibody and alpha
      galactosylceramide (alphaGalCer)-pulsed APCs enhances iNKT cell-mediated
      antitumor immunity.

PMID- 27631418
TI  - Anthropometrics and Body Composition in East African Runners: Potential Impact on
      Performance.
AB  - Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), fractional utilization of VO2max during running,
      and running economy (RE) are crucial factors for running success for all
      endurance athletes. Although evidence is limited, investigations of these key
      factors indicate that East Africans' superiority in distance running is largely
      due to a unique combination of these factors. East African runners appear to have
      a very high level of RE most likely associated, at least partly, with
      anthropometric characteristics rather than with any specific metabolic property
      of the working muscle. That is, evidence suggest that anthropometrics and body
      composition might have important parameters as determinants of superior
      performance of East African distance runners. Regrettably, this role is often
      overlooked and mentioned as a descriptive parameter rather than an explanatory
      parameter in many research studies. This brief review article provides an
      overview of the evidence to support the critical role anthropometrics and body
      composition has on the distance running success of East African athletes. The
      structural form and shape of these athletes also has a downside, because having
      very low BMI or body fat increases the risk for relative energy deficiency in
      sport (RED-S) conditions in both male and female runners, which can have serious
      health consequences.

PMID- 27631419
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Epiphrenic Diverticulum: Technique and Controversies.
AB  - The goal of this article is to illustrate the current minimal invasive approaches
      to patients with epiphrenic diverticulum in terms of preoperative evaluation,
      surgical technique, and outcomes. Two techniques will be presented: a
      laparoscopic and a video-assisted thoracic repair. Indications for each technique
      will be discussed as well as proper patient selection and management. Current
      controversies in the treatment of patients with this rare disease will be
      addressed.

PMID- 27631420
TI  - From feelings of imprisonment to group cohesion: A qualitative analysis of group
      analytic psychotherapy with dual diagnosed patients admitted to an acute
      inpatient psychiatric unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Group cohesion, the establishment of hope, and the expression of
      feelings have been said to be the basic ingredients of group psychotherapy. To
      date, there is few literature describing therapeutic processes in short stay
      settings such as acute psychiatric wards and with special patient groups such as
      addictions. Our goal with this study is to describe and analyze group processes
      in such contexts. METHODS: We used a qualitative methodology combining constant
      comparative methods and hermeneutical triangulation to analyze therapeutic
      narratives in the context of a group analytic process carried following Foulkes'
      and Yalom's styles. RESULTS: The results provide a picture of the therapeutic
      process including the use of norms to strengthen group cohesion facilitating the
      expression of emotions in early stages of group development. CONCLUSIONS: This
      analysis is intended to be a guide for practitioners implementing group therapy
      in contexts involving several constraints, such as acute psychiatric wards.

PMID- 27631422
TI  - Self-oriented Ag-based polycrystalline cubic nanostructures through polymer
      stabilization.
AB  - This paper presents the study of the dynamics of the formation of polymer
      assisted highly-orientated polycrystalline cubic structures (CS) by a fractal
      mediated mechanism. This mechanism involves the formation of seed Ag@Co
      nanoparticles by InterMatrix Synthesis and subsequent overgrowth after incubation
      at a low temperature in chloride and phosphate solutions. These ions promote the
      dissolution and recrystallization in an ordered configuration of pre-synthetized
      nanoparticles initially embedded in negatively-charged polymeric matrices. During
      recrystallization, silver ions aggregate in AgCl@Co fractal-like structures, then
      evolve into regular polycrystalline solid nanostructures (e.g. CS) in a single
      crystallization step on specific regions of the ion exchange resin (IER) which
      maintain the integrity of polycrystalline nanocubes. Here, we study the essential
      role of the IER in the formation of these CS for the maintenance of their
      integrity and stability. Thus, this synthesis protocol may be easily expanded to
      the composition of other nanoparticles providing an interesting, cheap and simple
      alternative for cubic structure formation and isolation. 

PMID- 27631421
TI  - Robotic and laparoendoscopic single-site utero-sacral ligament suspension for
      apical vaginal prolapse: evaluation of our technique and perioperative outcomes.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate our technique and steps of robotic
      and laparoendoscopic single-site utero-sacral ligament suspension in the
      treatment of patients with symptomatic apical vaginal prolapse. A retrospective
      analysis was done using the data in 2 community hospital. Eighteen women
      presented with vaginal apex prolapse and desired minimally invasive surgery
      (video): (a) Laparoendoscopic single-site utero-sacral ligament suspension (LESS
      UTSLS) (n = 13) or (b) robotic-assisted single-site utero-sacral ligament
      suspension (RASS-UTSLS) (n = 5) were eligible to participate. All participants
      underwent a standardized evaluation, including a structured urogynecologic
      history and physical examination with pelvic organ prolapse quantitative stage.
      Participants also completed validated questionnaire about pain scale. Multiples
      perioperative values were obtained to evaluate our minimally invasive approach.
      There were no differences in demographic, pre-operative anatomic, and functional
      data between groups. Concomitant anti-incontinence surgery with trans-obturator
      tape among the LESS-UTSLS vs RASS-UTSLS groups was performed in 2 (15 %) compared
      with 0 (0 %) and vaginal hysterectomy 2 (15 %) compared with supracervical
      hysterectomy 2 (40 %), respectively. The UTSLS operating time was similar in the
      RASS group compared with the LESS group (difference 9 min. There were only one
      POP (8 %) recurrence (stage 3) and one umbilical hernia (8 %) in the LESS-UTSLS
      group after 12 months of surgery. Two patients (15 %) developed stress urinary
      incontinence after LESS-UTSLS. We presented our technique and perioperative
      outcomes. RASS-UTSLS was similar operative times to LESS UTSL (+9 min), no
      differences in post-operative pain, anatomic support, or complications 6 months.
      We found that robotic surgical systems may accelerate the learning curve in the
      single-site surgery. Future investigations are warranted to discern the best
      applications for robotic single site technology in benign gynecologic surgery.

PMID- 27631423
TI  - Interaction of low and high LET radiation in TK6 cells-mechanistic aspects and
      significance for radiation protection.
AB  - Most environmental, occupational and medical exposures to ionising radiation are
      associated with a simultaneous action of different radiation types. An open
      question remains whether radiations of different qualities interact with each
      other to yield effects stronger than expected based on the assumption of
      additivity. It is possible that DNA damage induced by high linear energy transfer
      (LET) radiation will lead to an opening of the chromatin structure making the DNA
      more susceptible to attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by the low
      LET radiation. In such case, the effect of mixed beams should be strongly
      expressed in cells that are sensitive to ROS. The present investigation was
      carried out to test if cells with an impaired capacity to handle oxidative stress
      are particularly sensitive to the effect of mixed beams of alpha particles and x
      rays. Clonogenic cell survival curves and mutant frequencies were analysed in TK6
      wild type (wt) cells and in TK6 cells with a knocked down hMYH glycosylase. The
      results showed a synergistic effect of mixed beams on clonogenic cell survival of
      TK6wt but not TK6MYH- cells. The frequencies of mutants showed a high degree of
      interexperimental variability without any indications for synergistic effects of
      mixed beams. TK6MYH- cells were generally more tolerant to radiation exposure
      with respect to clonogenic cell survival but showed a strong increase in mutant
      frequency. The results demonstrate that exposure of wt cells to a mixed beam of
      alpha particles and x-rays leads to a detrimental effect which is stronger than
      expected based on the assumption of additivity. The role of oxidative stress in
      the reaction of cells to mixed beams remains unclear.

PMID- 27631425
TI  - Graphics Processing Unit Acceleration and Parallelization of GENESIS for Large
      Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - The graphics processing unit (GPU) has become a popular computational platform
      for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of biomolecules. A significant speedup in
      the simulations of small- or medium-size systems using only a few computer nodes
      with a single or multiple GPUs has been reported. Because of GPU memory
      limitation and slow communication between GPUs on different computer nodes, it is
      not straightforward to accelerate MD simulations of large biological systems that
      contain a few million or more atoms on massively parallel supercomputers with
      GPUs. In this study, we develop a new scheme in our MD software, GENESIS, to
      reduce the total computational time on such computers. Computationally intensive
      real-space nonbonded interactions are computed mainly on GPUs in the scheme,
      while less intensive bonded interactions and communication-intensive reciprocal
      space interactions are performed on CPUs. On the basis of the midpoint cell
      method as a domain decomposition scheme, we invent the single particle
      interaction list for reducing the GPU memory usage. Since total computational
      time is limited by the reciprocal-space computation, we utilize the RESPA
      multiple time-step integration and reduce the CPU resting time by assigning a
      subset of nonbonded interactions on CPUs as well as on GPUs when the reciprocal
      space computation is skipped. We validated our GPU implementations in GENESIS on
      BPTI and a membrane protein, porin, by MD simulations and an alanine-tripeptide
      by REMD simulations. Benchmark calculations on TSUBAME supercomputer showed that
      an MD simulation of a million atoms system was scalable up to 256 computer nodes
      with GPUs.

PMID- 27631424
TI  - Primary Leiomyosarcoma of the Pancreas-a Case Report and a Comprehensive Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: Primary mesenchymal tumors of the pancreas are rare, with
      leiomyosarcomas the most encountered entities among the pancreatic sarcomas. With
      few exceptions, single case reports published over the last six decades
      constitute the entire scientific literature on this topic. Thus, evidence
      regarding clinical decision-making is scant. METHODS: Based on a case report and
      an extensive literature search in PubMed, we discuss the clinical aspects and
      current management of this rare malignancy. RESULTS: We identified only two
      papers with more than a single case presentation; these institutional patient
      series were limited to five and nine patients. Additionally, a few papers sought
      to summarize the individual case reports published in the English and/or Chinese
      language. The clinical presentation is rather non-specific. Moreover, modern
      imaging modalities are insufficiently accurate to diagnose leiomyosarcoma of the
      pancreas. Treatment goals include a complete resection with free margins. Proper
      morphologic examination using immunohistochemistry and the application of a
      grading system are clinically important for prognostication. The efficacy of
      adjuvant treatments has not been established. CONCLUSION: Primary pancreatic
      leiomyosarcoma is extremely rare, and the scientific literature is primarily
      based on single case reports. Conclusions on management and prognosis should be
      drawn with caution. A multidisciplinary team consultation is warranted to discuss
      a thorough individual treatment plan based on the available scientific
      literature, despite its low evidence level.

PMID- 27631426
TI  - Possible Pathways of Capecitabine-Induced Hand-Foot Syndrome.
AB  - Capecitabine, an oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, inhibits DNA synthesis and has
      received FDA approval for treatment of metastatic colorectal and breast cancers.
      Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a serious dose-limiting toxicity and the most
      frequently reported side effect of capecitabine. Because of the lack of knowledge
      about the causative mechanism of HFS, scarce information is available for
      effective treatment or prevention. Data are based on published literatures and
      reports available from the HFS development program database. The purpose of this
      Review is to provide information regarding definition, clinical manifestation,
      and the possible mechanisms of HFS induced by capecitabine. Ethnic variations in
      the clinical presentation of HFS warrant further attention. Several physiological
      and pharmacological mechanisms have been investigated, such as cyclooxygenase
      (COX) inflammatory-type reaction, accumulation of capecitabine metabolites, and
      enzymes and transporters involved in the metabolism and absorption. Although
      current studies describe the possible mechanisms of HFS induced by capecitabine,
      much remains to be determined. It appears from this scientific evidence that
      additional study is needed to determine the effect of skin-mediated metabolism in
      the possible mechanism of HFS induced by capecitabine.

PMID- 27631427
TI  - Improvement in visualization of carotid artery uniformity using silent magnetic
      resonance angiography.
AB  - Three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF MRA) has
      been widely used in clinics. TOF MRA can cause dephasing artifacts, which lead to
      an intraluminal signal decrease. Silent MRA is a novel imaging technique that
      uses arterial spin labeling to achieve an ultrashort echo time (uTE), which is
      expected to decrease these effects and allow for accurate assessment of the flow
      in blood vessels. This study quantified the accuracy of Silent MRA images for
      visualizing the turbulent flow in flow-phantom and in vivo studies. The vessel
      contrast and coefficients of variation (CVs) for Silent MRA and TOF MRA were
      compared using normal and stenosis phantoms. Then, we performed both types of MRA
      on seven healthy volunteers. In the phantom study, although the contrast in the
      TOF MRA images was low distal to the stenosis region and at a high flow velocity,
      the contrast in the Silent MRA images did not change under these conditions.
      Furthermore, the mean CV for Silent MRA was smaller than that for TOF MRA under
      stenosis conditions. In the in vivo study, the mean contrast and vessel
      uniformity were significantly higher for Silent MRA than for TOF MRA. Although
      Silent MRA has limited spatial resolution and requires additional imaging time,
      this method may have the potential to improve the image quality of the carotid
      artery.

PMID- 27631429
TI  - Application of a quantitative 1H-NMR (1H-qNMR) method for the determination of
      geniposidic acid and acteoside in Plantaginis semen.
AB  - A quantitative 1H-NMR method (1H-qNMR) was developed to determine the
      concentration of acteoside and geniposidic acid in Plantaginis semen, which is an
      important crude drug for diuretic purposes. The purity of geniposidic acid and
      acteoside was determined by the ratio of the intensity of the H-3 signal at delta
      7.51 ppm or the H-7" signal at delta 7.58 ppm in methanol-d 4 to that of a
      hexamethyldisilane (HMD) signal at 0.04 ppm, respectively. The concentration of
      HMD was corrected with the International System of Units traceability using
      potassium hydrogen phthalate of certified reference material grade. The
      geniposidic acid content in two batches of Plantaginis semen as determined by 1H
      qNMR was found to be 0.84 and 1.00 %, and the acteoside content was determined to
      be 0.80 and 0.93 %. We demonstrated that this method is useful for the
      quantitative analysis of geniposidic acid and acteoside in Plantainis semen.

PMID- 27631428
TI  - Ephedra Herb extract activates/desensitizes transient receptor potential
      vanilloid 1 and reduces capsaicin-induced pain.
AB  - Kampo medicines containing Ephedra Herb (EH) such as eppikajutsubuto and
      makyoyokukanto are used to treat myalgia, arthralgia, and rheumatism. The
      analgesic effects of these Kampo medicines are attributed to the anti
      inflammatory action of EH. However, the molecular mechanism of the analgesic
      effect of EH remains to be clarified. In this study, the effects of EH extract
      (EHE) on transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), a nonselective ligand
      gated cation channel, which plays an essential role in nociception on sensory
      neurons, were investigated using mTRPV1/Flp-In293 cells (stable mouse TRPV1
      expressing transfectants). Administration of EHE increased the intracellular Ca2+
      concentration in these cells, which was inhibited by the TRPV1 antagonist, N-(4
      tert-butylphenyl)-1,2-dihydro-4-(3-chloropyridine-2-yl) tetrahydropyrazine-1
      carboxamide (BCTC), indicating that EHE activated TRPV1. Examination of EHE
      induced nociceptive pain in vivo revealed that an intradermal (i.d.) injection of
      EHE into the hind paw of mice induced paw licking, a pain-related behavior, and
      that the extract increased paw licking times in a dose-dependent manner. The EHE
      induced paw licking was also inhibited by BCTC. An i.d. injection of EHE 30 min
      before administration of capsaicin decreased capsaicin-induced paw licking times.
      Similarly, oral administration of the extract also suppressed capsaicin-induced
      paw licking, without affecting the physical performance of the mice. These
      results suggest that EHE suppresses capsaicin-induced paw licking by regulating
      TRPV1 activity. Thus, the antinociceptive effects of EHE seem to be produced by
      its direct action on sensory neurons through TRPV1.

PMID- 27631430
TI  - Mapping Structure-Composition-Property Relationships in V- and Fe-Doped LiMnPO4
      Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - A series of LiMn1-x-yFexVyPO4 (LMFVP) nanomaterials have been synthesized using a
      pilot-scale continuous hydrothermal synthesis process (CHFS) and evaluated as
      high voltage cathodes in Li-ion batteries at a production rate of 0.25 kg h-1.
      The rapid synthesis and screening approach has allowed the specific capacity of
      the high Mn content olivines to be optimized, particularly at high discharge
      rates. Consistent and gradual changes in the structure and performance are
      observed across the compositional region under investigation; the doping of Fe at
      20 at% (with respect to Mn) into lithium manganese phosphate, rather than V or
      indeed codoping of Fe and V, gives the best balance of high capacity and high
      rate performance.

PMID- 27631431
TI  - Trichome patterning control involves TTG1 interaction with SPL transcription
      factors.
AB  - Epidermal cell differentiation is a paramount and conserved process among plants.
      In Arabidopsis, a ternary complex formed by MYB, bHLH transcription factors and
      TTG1 modulates unicellular trichome morphogenesis. The formation of multicellular
      glandular trichomes of the xerophytic shrub Cistus creticus that accumulate
      labdane-type diterpenes, has attained much attention renowned for its medicinal
      properties. Here, we show that C. creticus TTG1 (CcTTG1) interacts with the
      SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPLA/B) proteins, putative homologs of
      AtSPL4/5 that in turn interact with AtTTG1. These interactions occur between
      proteins from evolutionarily distant species supporting the conserved function of
      TTG1-SPL complex. Overexpression of AtSPL4 and AtSPL5 decreased the expression of
      GLABRA2 (AtGL2), the major regulator of trichome morphogenesis, resulting in
      trichome reduction on the adaxial surface of cauline leaves, thereby illuminating
      the significance of TTG1-SPLs interactions in trichome formation control. AtGL2
      and AtSPL4 have opposite expression patterns during early stages of leaf
      development. We postulate an antagonistic effect between SPLs and the
      heterogeneous MYB-bHLH factors binding to TTG1. Hence, the SPLs potentially
      rearrange the complex, attenuating its transcriptional activity to control
      trichome distribution.

PMID- 27631433
TI  - Principles of Network Architecture Emerging from Comparisons of the Cerebral
      Cortex in Large and Small Brains.
AB  - The cerebral cortex retains its fundamental organization, layering, and input
      output relations as it scales in volume over many orders of magnitude in mammals.
      How is its network architecture affected by size scaling? By comparing network
      organization of the mouse and rhesus macaque cortical connectome derived from
      complete neuroanatomical tracing studies, a recent study in PLOS Biology shows
      that an exponential distance rule emerges that reveals the falloff in connection
      probability with distance in the two brains that in turn determines common
      organizational features.

PMID- 27631432
TI  - The germin-like protein OsGLP2-1 enhances resistance to fungal blast and
      bacterial blight in rice.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: This is the first report that GLP gene (OsGLP2-1) is involved in
      panicle blast and bacterial blight resistance in rice. In addition to its
      resistance to blast and bacterial blight, OsGLP2-1 has also been reported to co
      localize with a QTLs for sheath blight resistance in rice. These suggest that the
      disease resistance provided by OsGLP2-1 is quantitative and broad spectrum. Its
      good resistance to these major diseases in rice makes it to be a promising target
      in rice breeding. Rice (Oryza sativa) blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae and
      bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae are the two most
      destructive rice diseases worldwide. Germin-like protein (GLP) gene family is one
      of the important defense gene families which have been reported to be involved in
      disease resistance in plants. Although GLP proteins have been demonstrated to
      positively regulate leaf blast resistance in rice, their involvement in
      resistance to panicle blast and bacterial blight, has not been reported. In this
      study, we reported that one of the rice GLP genes, OsGLP2-1, was significantly
      induced by blast fungus. Overexpression of OsGLP2-1 quantitatively enhanced
      resistance to leaf blast, panicle blast and bacterial blight. The temporal and
      spatial expression analysis revealed that OsGLP2-1is highly expressed in leaves
      and panicles and sub-localized in the cell wall. Compared with empty vector
      transformed (control) plants, the OsGLP2-1 overexpressing plants exhibited higher
      levels of H2O2 both before and after pathogen inoculation. Moreover, OsGLP2-1 was
      significantly induced by jasmonic acid (JA). Overexpression of OsGLP2-1 induced
      three well-characterized defense-related genes which are associated in JA
      dependent pathway after pathogen infection. Higher endogenous level of JA was
      also identified in OsGLP2-1 overexpressing plants than in control plants both
      before and after pathogen inoculation. Together, these results suggest that
      OsGLP2-1 functions as a positive regulator to modulate disease resistance. Its
      good quantitative resistance to the two major diseases in rice makes it to be a
      promising target in rice breeding.

PMID- 27631434
TI  - White matter properties differ in 6-year old Readers and Pre-readers.
AB  - Reading, an essential life skill in modern society, is typically learned during
      childhood. Adults who can read show white matter differences compared to adults
      who never learned to read. Studies have not established whether children who can
      read show similar white matter differences compared to children who cannot read.
      We compared 6-year old children who could decode written English words and
      pseudowords (n = 31; Readers) and 6-year old children who could not decode
      pseudowords and had a standard score <100 on a task for reading single words (n =
      11; Pre-readers). We employed diffusion MRI and tractography to extract
      fractional anisotropy (FA) along the trajectory of six bilateral intra
      hemispheric tracts and two posterior subdivisions of the corpus callosum. Readers
      demonstrated significantly increased FA within the left anterior segment of the
      superior longitudinal fasciculus (aSLF-L) and the right uncinate fasciculus (UF
      R) compared to Pre-readers. FA in the aSLF-L was significantly correlated with
      phonological awareness; FA in the UF-R was significantly correlated with
      language. Correlations in the UF-R but not the aSLF-L remained significant after
      controlling for reading ability, revealing that UF-R group differences were
      related to both children's language and reading abilities. Taken together, these
      findings demonstrate new evidence showing that individual differences in white
      matter structure relate to whether children have begun to read.

PMID- 27631435
TI  - The influence of dyadic symptom distress on threat appraisals and self-efficacy
      in advanced cancer and caregiving.
AB  - PURPOSE: Physical and psychological symptoms experienced by patients with
      advanced cancer influence their well-being; how patient and family caregiver
      symptom distress influence each other's well-being is less understood. This study
      examined the influence of patient and caregiver symptom distress on their threat
      appraisals and self-efficacy to cope with cancer. METHODS: We conducted a
      secondary analysis of baseline data from an RCT that enrolled patients with
      advanced cancer and their family caregivers (N = 484 dyads). Structural equation
      modeling and the actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) were used
      to examine two models: threat appraisals as a mediator of the relationship
      between symptom distress and individual and family-related self-efficacy; and,
      self-efficacy (individual and family dimensions) as mediators of the relationship
      between symptom distress and threat appraisals. RESULTS: Data suggest the self
      efficacy mediation model was the preferred model. More patient and caregiver
      symptom distress was directly associated with their own lower self-efficacy and
      more threatening appraisals. Patient and caregiver individual self-efficacy also
      mediated the relationship between their own symptom distress and threat
      appraisals. There were also significant interdependent effects. More patient
      symptom distress was associated with less caregiver family-related self-efficacy,
      and more caregiver symptom distress was directly associated with more threatening
      patient appraisals. CONCLUSIONS: Patient and caregiver symptom distress
      influenced their own and in some cases each other's cognitive appraisals.
      Limitations of this study include the use of cross-sectional data and assessments
      of individually-focused (vs. family-focused) threat appraisals. These findings
      highlight the need to consider the management of patient and caregiver symptoms
      during advanced cancer.

PMID- 27631437
TI  - A novel bispecific peptide HIV-1 fusion inhibitor targeting the N-terminal heptad
      repeat and fusion peptide domains in gp41.
AB  - HIV-1 fusion with the target cell is initiated by the insertion of the gp41
      fusion peptide (FP) into the target cell membrane and the interaction between the
      gp41 N- and C-terminal heptad repeats (NHR and CHR), followed by the formation of
      the six-helix bundle (6-HB) fusion core. Therefore, both FP and NHR are important
      targets for HIV-1 fusion inhibitors. Here, we designed and synthesized a dual
      target peptidic HIV-1 fusion inhibitor, 4HR-LBD-VIRIP, in which 4HR-LBD is able
      to bind to the gp41 NHR domain, while VIRIP is able to interact with gp41 FP. We
      found that 4HR-LBD-VIRIP is about tenfold more potent than 4HR-LBD and VIRIP in
      inhibiting HIV-1IIIB infection and HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env)-mediated
      cell-cell fusion, suggesting that this dual-target HIV-1 fusion inhibitor
      possesses a strong synergistic antiviral effect. A biophysical analysis indicates
      that 4HR-LBD-VIRIP can interact with N70 peptide that contains the gp41 NHR and
      FP domains and binds with lipid membrane. This study provides a new approach for
      designing novel viral fusion inhibitors against HIV and other enveloped viruses
      with class I membrane fusion proteins.

PMID- 27631436
TI  - Drug Synergism of Proteasome Inhibitors and Mitotane by Complementary Activation
      of ER Stress in Adrenocortical Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - Mitotane is the only drug approved for treatment of the orphan disease
      adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and was recently shown to be the first clinically
      used drug acting through endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress induced by toxic
      lipids. Since mitotane has limited clinical activity as monotherapy, we here
      study the potential of activating ER-stress through alternative pathways. The
      single reliable NCI-H295 cell culture model for ACC was used to study the impact
      MG132, bortezomib (BTZ) and carfilzomib (CFZ) on mRNA and protein expression of
      ER-stress markers, cell viability and steroid hormone secretion. We found all
      proteasome inhibitors alone to trigger expression of mRNA (spliced X-box protein
      1, XBP1) and protein markers indicative of the inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1)
      dependent pathway of ER-stress but not phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation
      factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha), a marker of the PRKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase
      (PERK)-dependent pathway. Whereas mitotane alone activated both pathways,
      combination of BTZ and CFZ with low-dose mitotane blocked mitotane-induced
      eIF2alpha phosphorylation but increased XBP1-mRNA splicing indicating that
      proteasome inhibitors can commit signalling towards a single ER-stress pathway in
      ACC cells. By applying the median effect model of drug combinations using cell
      viability as a read out, we determined significant drug synergism between
      mitotane and both BTZ and CFZ. In conclusion, combination of mitotane with
      activators of ER-stress through the unfolded protein response is synergistic in
      an ACC cell culture model. Since proteasome inhibitors are readily available
      clinically, they are attractive candidates to study for ACC treatment in clinical
      trials in combination with mitotane.

PMID- 27631438
TI  - Methodological Approach to Use Fresh and Cryopreserved Vessels as Tools to
      Analyze Pharmacological Modulation of the Angiogenic Growth.
AB  - The sprouting of new vessels is greatly influenced by the procedure chosen. We
      sought to optimize the experimental conditions of the angiogenic growth of fresh
      and cryopreserved vessels cultured in Matrigel with the aim to use this system to
      analyze the pharmacological modulation of the process. Segments of second-order
      branches of rat mesenteric resistance arteries, thoracic aorta of rat or mouse,
      and cryopreserved rat aorta and human femoral arteries were cultured in Matrigel
      for 7-21 days in different mediums, as well as in the absence of endothelial or
      adventitia layer. Quantification of the angiogenic growth was performed by either
      direct measurement of the mean length of the neovessels or by calcein AM staining
      and determination of fluorescence intensity and area. Fresh and cryopreserved
      arterial rings incubated in Matrigel exhibited a spontaneous angiogenic response
      that was strongly accelerated by fetal calf serum. Addition of vascular
      endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, endothelial growth factor,
      or recombinant insulin-like growth factor failed to increase aortic sprouting,
      unless all were added together. Removal of adventitia, but not the endothelial
      layer, abrogated the angiogenic response of aortic rings. Determination of the
      mean neovessel length is an easy and accurate method to quantify the angiogenic
      growth devoid of confounding factors, such as inclusion of other cellular types
      surrounding the neovessels. Activity of a alpha1-adrenoceptor agonist
      (phenylephrine) and its inhibition by a selective antagonist (prazosin) were
      analyzed to prove the usefulness of the Matrigel system to evaluate the
      pharmacological modulation of the angiogenic growth. 

PMID- 27631439
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631440
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631441
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631442
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631443
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631444
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631445
TI  - [The perioperative myocardial infarction - an interdisciplinary task].
AB  - Cardiovascular complications, particularly perioperative myocardial infarction
      (PMI), are major contributors to mortaliyt after noncardiac surgery. PMI often
      occurs unnoticed without symptoms or ECG changes. Despite ist silent
      presentation, PMI is associated with increased mortality. The combination of high
      associated mortality and diagnostic challenges mandates increased awareness of
      PMI. Perioperative myocardial infarction may result from plaque rupture (PMI type
      I) or be caused by a myocardial supply-demand imbalance of oxygen without plaque
      rupture (PMI type II). Most PMIs occur within the first 3 days after surgery,
      highlighting the need for clinical monitoring in order to allow fast diagnosis
      and initiation of appropriate therapy. Measurement of cardiac troponin and 12
      lead ECG are the diagnostic cornerstone. Therapy of PMI represents a challenge
      for physicians and requires a collaboration of surgeons, anesthesiologists and
      cardiologists. 

PMID- 27631446
TI  - [The new German guideline on postpartum haemorrhage (PPH): essential aspects for
      coagulation and circulatory therapy].
AB  - Worldwide, post-partum haemorrhage (PHH) remains one of the leading causes for
      maternal mortality. The German Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, the German
      Midwifes' Society, the German Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis and the
      German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care updated the former
      guideline. The resulting recommendations are the results of a structured
      literature search and a formal consensus process and contain all aspects of PPH
      including diagnosis, causes, risk factors and therapy. Key aspect of the
      anaesthesiological and haemostatic therapies is the development of an
      interdisciplinary standard operating procedure containing medical options related
      to the bleeding's cause and severity as well as the surgical option. For
      suspected PPH, this guideline emphasizes clinical and laboratory-based
      diagnostics, as only those will enable an early identification of the bleeding's
      causes and the resulting causative therapy. Recommendations cover evidence-based
      application of uterotonics for atony as well as tranexamic acid, calcium, factor
      concentrates and blood products. Additionally, recommendations are given on the
      topics of cell salvage, controlled hypotension and restrictive transfusion
      triggers. 

PMID- 27631447
TI  - [Control of hemodynamic and cerebral perfusion in children - which monitoring
      should be used?].
AB  - Options for hemodynamic and cerebral perfusion monitoring in pediatric anesthesia
      are limited, but it should be used to reduce the potential damage due to
      hypotension and reduced cerebral perfusion. Non-invasive blood pressure
      measurement should be used in all cases of pediatric anesthesia and near-infrared
      spectroscopy for risk pediatric patients. In former times measurement of non
      invasive blood pressure had no priority, this is not state of the art based on
      current data. 

PMID- 27631448
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631449
TI  - [Organ replacement therapy - renal replacement therapy in intensive care
      medicine].
AB  - Critically ill patients who are treated in an intensive care unit are at
      increased risk of developing acute renal failure. Every episode of renal failure
      decreases life expectancy. However, acute renal failure is no longer an immediate
      cause of death because renal function can be substituted medically and
      mechanically, by the use of renal replacement therapy. Hemodialysis and
      hemofiltration are the 2 fundamental modalities of renal replacement therapy and
      may be performed intermittently or continuously. The decision for one particular
      therapy has to be made for each patient individually. Peritoneal dialysis is an
      alternative treatment for acute renal failure, but is not available for immediate
      use in most centers. Contrast media and rhabdomyolysis are 2 common causes of
      toxic renal failure in the intensive care unit. However, they cannot be prevented
      by hemodialysis. 

PMID- 27631450
TI  - [Organ replacement therapy - extracorporeal liver assist devices].
AB  - Liver failure is a disease with a high mortality rate. Often liver
      transplantation is the sole therapeutic option. On the one hand, liver support
      systems probably support the liver to allow regeneration, on the other hand they
      are an option to bridge for transplantation. This article gives an overview on
      the clinically used liver assist devices (molecular adsorbent recirculating
      system [MARS], Prometheus system, single-pass albumin dialysis [SPAD],
      plasmapheresis) and discusses the applications in liver failure. 

PMID- 27631451
TI  - [Cardiac support and replacement therapies].
AB  - Circulatory support represents an integral part within the treatment of the
      critically ill patient. Sophisticated pharmacologic regimens help to maintain
      systemic perfusion pressure by increasing vascular tone as well as mediating
      positive inotropic effects. Besides the administration of catecholamines and
      phosphodiesterase-III-inhibitors, in particular the administration of
      levosimendan represents a promising alternative during low-cardiac-output.
      Nevertheless, sufficient evidence demonstrating a survival benefit for any
      pharmacologic regimen is nonexistent. In case pharmacological measures do not
      suffice mechanical cardiopulmonary support (MCS) may be used. MCS may be used
      during cardiopulmonary resuscitation or a "low-cardiac-output-syndrome" as
      bridging towards decision, recovery or long-term support. Venoarterial
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vaECMO) may take over cardiopulmonary
      function and may improve survival as well as neurological outcome after
      cardiogenic shock or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. 

PMID- 27631453
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631452
TI  - [Respiratory and extracorporeal lung support].
AB  - Mechanical ventilation is the most commonly used form of respiratory support to
      restore or maintain adequate gas exchange. However, mechanical ventilation does
      not provide a physiological form of breathing. Neither does it provide an optimal
      ventilation / perfusion ratio due to passive movement of the diagphragm favoring
      the non-dependent parts of the lung. Furthermore, patients are in danger of
      ventilator-associated/induced lung injury (VALI/VILI). Hence, lung protective
      ventilation is mandatory in patients with an acute respiratory distress syndrome
      (ARDS) and should likewise be used in the operating room. Extracorporeal
      pulmonary support is required in case mechanical ventilation is unable to secure
      sufficient gas exchange or VILI is imminent. Venovenous extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation (vvECMO) acts as lung replacement therapy and may improve survival
      along with treatment in an ARDS-center. 

PMID- 27631455
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631454
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631456
TI  - Hydrogen Bonding Cluster-Enabled Addition of Sulfonic Acids to Haloalkynes:
      Access to Both (E)- and (Z)-Alkenyl Sulfonates.
AB  - We developed an efficient synthesis of alkenyl sulfonates via hydrogen bonding
      cluster-enabled addition of sulfonic acids to haloalkynes. The reactivity of
      sulfonic acids could be significantly enhanced in the presence of strong hydrogen
      bonding donors. This metal-free method results in good chemical yields for a wide
      range of haloalkyne substrates and demonstrates good functional group tolerance.
      What is more, we can control the stereoselectivity of addition (cis vs trans) by
      varying the steric bulk of the sulfonic acid.

PMID- 27631457
TI  - Heptavalent Neptunium in a Gas-Phase Complex: (NpVIIO3+)(NO3-)2.
AB  - A central goal of chemistry is to achieve ultimate oxidation states, including in
      gas-phase complexes with no condensed phase perturbations. In the case of the
      actinide elements, the highest established oxidation states are labile Pu(VII)
      and somewhat more stable Np(VII). We have synthesized and characterized gas-phase
      AnO3(NO3)2- complexes for An = U, Np, and Pu by endothermic NO2 elimination from
      AnO2(NO3)3-. It was previously demonstrated that the PuO3+ core of PuO3(NO3)2-
      has a Pu-O* radical bond such that the oxidation state is Pu(VI); it follows that
      in UO3(NO3)2- it is the stable U(VI) oxidation state. On the basis of the
      relatively more facile synthesis of NpO3(NO3)2-, a Np(VII) oxidation state is
      inferred. This interpretation is substantiated by reactivity of the three
      complexes: NO2 spontaneously adds to UO3(NO3)2- and PuO3(NO3)2- but not to
      NpO3(NO3)2-. This unreactive character is attributed to a Np(VII)O3+ core with
      three stable Np?O bonds, this in contrast to reactive U-O* and Pu-O* radical
      bonds. The computed structures and reaction energies for the three AnO3(NO3)2-
      support the conclusion that the oxidation states are U(VI), Np(VII), and Pu(VI).
      The results establish the extreme Np(VII) oxidation state in a gas-phase complex,
      and demonstrate the inherently greater stability of Np(VII) versus Pu(VII).

PMID- 27631458
TI  - Commentary on Overview of ATX-101 (Deoxycholic Acid Injection).

PMID- 27631459
TI  - Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Dorsal Foot: An Update and Comprehensive Review of
      the Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultraviolet radiation is a well-known risk factor for basal cell
      carcinoma (BCC). Therefore, the high incidence of BCCs in sun-exposed areas such
      as the head and neck is unsurprising. However, unexpectedly, BCCs on the sun
      protected dorsal foot have also been reported, and tumor occurrence here suggests
      that other factors besides ultraviolet radiation may play a role in BCC
      pathogenesis. Because only few dorsal foot BCCs have been reported, data on their
      clinical features and management are limited. OBJECTIVE: To perform an updated
      review of the literature on clinical characteristics and treatment of dorsal foot
      BCCs. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive literature review by searching the
      PubMed database with the key phrases "basal cell carcinoma dorsal foot," "basal
      cell carcinoma foot," and "basal cell carcinoma toe." RESULTS: We identified 20
      cases of dorsal foot BCCs in the literature, 17 of which had sufficient data for
      analysis. Only 1 case was treated with Mohs micrographic surgery. We present 8
      additional cases of dorsal foot BCCs treated with Mohs micrographic surgery.
      CONCLUSION: Basal cell carcinomas on the dorsal foot are rare, and potential risk
      factors include Caucasian descent and personal history of skin cancer. Mohs
      micrographic surgery seems to be an effective treatment option.

PMID- 27631460
TI  - A Mechanistic Model of Platelet-Rich Plasma Treatment for Androgenetic Alopecia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a novel procedure used to treat
      androgenetic alopecia (AGA). OBJECTIVE: Propose a mechanism of action of PRP
      therapy for AGA. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A thorough literature search including
      PRP research for AGA therapy as well as PRP research in other areas of medicine
      was conducted. RESULTS: A mechanistic model for the action of PRP on the hair
      follicle was created. CONCLUSION: Platelet-rich plasma therapy stimulates hair
      growth through the promotion of vascularization and angiogenesis, as well as
      encourages hair follicles to enter and extend the duration of the anagen phase of
      the growth cycle. The process is accomplished through growth factor-mediated
      increased activation of wingless (Wnt)/beta-catenin, extracellular signaling
      regulated kinase (ERK), and protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathways, which
      leads to the necessary cellular proliferation and differentiation.

PMID- 27631461
TI  - Single Session Treatment of Rolling Acne Scars Using Tumescent Anesthesia, 20%
      Trichloracetic Acid Extensive Subcision, and Fractional CO2 Laser.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Successful treatment of acne scars is challenging. Many modalities
      have been used with marginal success. OBJECTIVE: The authors describe a
      combination of a superficial chemical peel, subcision, and fractional carbon
      dioxide (CO2) laser resurfacing in a single-treatment session as a novel
      treatment approach for rolling acne scars. METHODS: A total of 114 patients (75
      women and 39 men) with predominantly rolling acne scars were treated with a 20%
      trichloracetic acid chemical peel, subcision with a novel dissecting instrument,
      and the CO2 laser under tumescent anesthesia. This was a retrospective,
      uncontrolled, unblinded study. RESULTS: The mean improvement after a single
      treatment was 2.9 on a scale of 1 to 4 with few complications. Ninety percent of
      the patients were satisfied with their final result and desired no additional
      treatment. CONCLUSION: The combination of a trichloracetic acid 20% chemical
      peel, subcision, and fractional CO2 laser resurfacing combined with tumescent
      anesthesia is both safe and effective in the treatment of rolling acne scars.

PMID- 27631462
TI  - Pediatric Patients With Solid or Hematological Tumor Disease: Vancomycin
      Population Pharmacokinetics and Dosage Optimization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In pediatric cancer patients, determination of optimal vancomycin
      dosage is essential because of high risk of inadequate concentrations and
      bacterial resistance. The aim of this study was to determine vancomycin
      pharmacokinetic parameters in this population and propose dosage optimization to
      achieve optimal concentration. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the use of
      vancomycin in pediatric cancer patients with febrile neutropenia (hematological
      or solid tumor disease). Vancomycin was administered by continuous infusion, and
      dosages were adapted according to therapeutic drug monitoring results. Blood
      cultures were performed before the first dose of antibiotic. Vancomycin
      pharmacokinetic population parameters were determined using NONMEM software, and
      dosage simulations were performed according to the target concentration (20-25
      mg/L). RESULTS: One hundred twenty-one patients were included in this study,
      representing 301 vancomycin concentrations. Blood cultures were positive in 37.5%
      of patients, and observed pathogens were mainly Staphylococcus spp. (43.8%
      methicillin resistant). Volume of distribution (95% confidence interval) was 34.7
      L (17.3-48.0), and total apparent clearance (CL) (95% confidence interval) was
      correlated to body weight, tumor disease, and cyclosporine coadministration: CL =
      thetaCL * (WT/70) L/h with thetaCL = 3.49 (3.02-3.96), 4.66 (3.98-5.31), and 4.97
      (4.42-5.41) in patients managed for hematological malignancies with or without
      cyclosporine coadministration and for solid malignancies, respectively. Based on
      simulation results, vancomycin dosage (milligram per kilogram) should be adapted
      to each child on the basis of its body weight and cyclosporine coadministration.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the requirement to adapt vancomycin dosage in
      cancer pediatric population. Simulations have allowed to describe new dosage
      schedules, and a chart was created for clinicians to adapt vancomycin dosage.

PMID- 27631463
TI  - Cetuximab Pharmacokinetics Influences Overall Survival in Patients With Head and
      Neck Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A retrospective study was conducted to analyze interindividual
      variability of cetuximab pharmacokinetics and its influence on survival
      (progression-free survival and overall survival [OS]) in a cohort of head and
      neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS: Thirty-four patients received
      cetuximab as an infusion loading dose of 400 mg/m followed by weekly infusions of
      250 mg/m. Twenty-one patients had locally advanced HNSCC, and 13 had
      metastatic/recurrent HNSCC. Cetuximab concentrations were measured by the enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay, and its pharmacokinetics was analyzed by a population
      approach. Survivals were analyzed with the log-rank test. RESULTS: Cetuximab
      pharmacokinetics was best described using a 2-compartment model with both first
      order and saturable (zero-order) eliminations. Estimated pharmacokinetic
      parameters (%CV) were central volume of distribution V1 = 3.18 L (6%), peripheral
      volume of distribution V2 = 5.4 L (42%), elimination clearance CL = 0.57 L/d
      (31%), distribution clearance Q = 0.64 L/d, and zero-order elimination rate k0 =
      6.72 mg/d (29%). Both V1 and V2 increased with the body surface area. Adjunction
      of chemotherapy reduced CL and increased k0. OS was inversely related with
      cetuximab global clearance (P = 0.007) and was higher in patients with severe
      radiation dermatitis (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Cetuximab pharmacokinetics in
      patients with HNSCC can be described using a 2-compartment model combining linear
      and nonlinear mechanisms of elimination. OS is associated with both cetuximab
      global clearance and severe radiation dermatitis.

PMID- 27631464
TI  - Variable Linezolid Exposure in Intensive Care Unit Patients-Possible Role of Drug
      Drug Interactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Standard doses of linezolid may not be suitable for all patient
      groups. Intensive care unit (ICU) patients in particular may be at risk of
      inadequate concentrations. This study investigated variability of drug exposure
      and its potential sources in this population. METHODS: Plasma concentrations of
      linezolid were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography in a
      convenience sample of 20 ICU patients treated with intravenous linezolid 600 mg
      twice daily. Ultrafiltration applying physiological conditions (pH 7.4/37 degrees
      C) was used to determine the unbound fraction. Individual pharmacokinetic (PK)
      parameters were estimated by population PK modeling. As measures of exposure to
      linezolid, area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) and trough
      concentrations (Cmin) were calculated and compared with published therapeutic
      ranges (AUC 200-400 mg*h/L, Cmin 2-10 mg/L). Coadministered inhibitors or
      inducers of cytochrome P450 and/or P-glycoprotein were noted. RESULTS: Data from
      18 patients were included into the PK evaluation. Drug exposure was highly
      variable (median, range: AUC 185, 48-618 mg*h/L, calculated Cmin 2.92, 0.0062
      18.9 mg/L), and only a minority of patients had values within the target ranges
      (6 and 7, respectively). AUC and Cmin were linearly correlated (R = 0.98), and
      classification of patients (underexposed/within therapeutic range/overexposed)
      according to AUC or Cmin was concordant in 15 cases. Coadministration of
      inhibitors was associated with a trend to higher drug exposure, whereas 3
      patients treated with levothyroxine showed exceedingly low drug exposure (AUC ~60
      mg*h/L, Cmin <0.4 mg/L). The median unbound fraction in all 20 patients was
      90.9%. CONCLUSIONS: Drug exposure after standard doses of linezolid is highly
      variable and difficult to predict in ICU patients, and therapeutic drug
      monitoring seems advisable. PK drug-drug interactions might partly be responsible
      and should be further investigated; protein binding appears to be stable and
      irrelevant.

PMID- 27631466
TI  - Use of Ultraviolet Photodissociation Coupled with Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry
      To Determine Structure and Sequence from Drift Time Selected Peptides and
      Proteins.
AB  - We demonstrate the capabilities of a laser-coupled ion mobility mass spectrometer
      for analysis of peptide sequence and structure showing ultraviolet
      photodissociation (UVPD) spectra of mass and mobility selected ions. A Synapt G2
      S mass spectrometer has been modified to allow photointeraction of ions post the
      mobility cell. For this work, we have employed a single wavelength laser, which
      irradiates at 266 nm. We present the unique capabilities of this instrument and
      demonstrate several key features. Irradiation of luteinizing hormone releasing
      hormone (LHRH), growth hormone releasing hexapeptide (GHRP-6), and TrpCage
      (sequence NLYIQWLKDGGPSSGRPPPS) yields extensive b- and y-type fragmentation as
      well as a- and c-type ions. In addition, we observe side chain losses, including
      the indole group from tryptophan, and immonium ions. For negatively charged ions,
      we show the advantage of using collision-induced dissociation (CID) post-UVPD:
      radical ions are produced following irradiation, and these fragment with higher
      efficiency. Further, we have incorporated ion mobility and subsequent drift time
      gating into the UVPD method allowing the separate analysis of m/z-coincident
      species, both conformers and multimers. To demonstrate, we selectively dissociate
      the singly charged dimer or doubly charged monomer of the peptide gramicidin A
      and conformers of the [M + 5H]5+ form of the peptide melittin. Each mobility
      selected form has a different "fingerprint" dissociation spectrum, both
      predominantly containing b and y fragments. Differences in the intensities of
      various loss channels between the two species were revealed. The smaller
      conformer of melittin has fewer cleavage sites along the peptide backbone than
      the larger conformer suggesting considerable structural differences. For
      gramicidin, a single laser shot UVPD discriminates between primary
      photodissociation and subsequent fragmentation of fragments. We also show how
      this modified instrument facilitates activated electron photodissociation. UVPD
      IM-MS analysis serves both as a method for peptide sequencing for peptides of
      similar (or identical) m/z and a method for optical analysis of mobility
      separated species.

PMID- 27631465
TI  - pH-Controlled Assembly of DNA Tiles.
AB  - We demonstrate a strategy to trigger and finely control the assembly of
      supramolecular DNA nanostructures with pH. Control is achieved via a rationally
      designed strand displacement circuit that responds to pH and activates a
      downstream DNA tile self-assembly process. We observe that the DNA structures
      form under neutral/basic conditions, while the self-assembly process is
      suppressed under acidic conditions. The strategy presented here demonstrates a
      modular approach toward building systems capable of processing biochemical inputs
      and finely controlling the assembly of DNA-based nanostructures under isothermal
      conditions. In particular, the presented architecture is relevant for the
      development of complex DNA devices able to sense and respond to molecular markers
      associated with abnormal metabolism.

PMID- 27631467
TI  - Preliminary Findings from an Investigation of Zika Virus Infection in a Patient
      with No Known Risk Factors - Utah, 2016.
AB  - On July 12, 2016, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) was notified by a
      clinician caring for an adult (patient A) who was evaluated for fever, rash, and
      conjunctivitis that began on July 1. Patient A had not traveled to an area with
      ongoing Zika virus transmission; had not had sexual contact with a person who
      recently traveled; and had not received a blood transfusion, organ transplant, or
      mosquito bites (1). Patient A provided care over several days to an elderly male
      family contact (the index patient) who contracted Zika virus abroad. The index
      patient developed septic shock with multiple organ failure and died in the
      hospital on June 25, 2016. The index patient's blood specimen obtained 2 days
      before his death had a level of viremia approximately 100,000 times higher than
      the average level reported in persons infected with Zika virus (2). Zika virus
      infection was diagnosed in patient A by real-time reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) testing on a urine specimen collected 7 days
      after symptom onset. In addition, a serum specimen collected 11 days after
      symptom onset, after patient A's symptoms had resolved, was positive for
      antibodies to Zika virus by Zika immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) and had neutralizing antibodies detected by
      plaque-reduction neutralization testing (PRNT). Working with Salt Lake and Davis
      County Health Departments, UDOH requested assistance from CDC with an
      investigation to determine patient A's exposures and determine a probable source
      of infection. 

PMID- 27631468
TI  - Agronomic Characteristics Related to Grain Yield and Nutrient Use Efficiency for
      Wheat Production in China.
AB  - In order to make clear the recent status and trend of wheat (Triticum aestivum
      L.) production in China, datasets from multiple field experiments and published
      literature were collected to study the agronomic characteristics related to grain
      yield, fertilizer application and nutrient use efficiency from the year 2000 to
      2011. The results showed that the mean grain yield of wheat in 2000-2011 was 5950
      kg/ha, while the N, P2O5 and K2O application rates were 172, 102 and 91 kg/ha on
      average, respectively. The decrease in N and P2O5 and increase in K2O balanced
      the nutrient supply and was the main reason for yield increase. The partial
      factor productivity (PFP, kg grain yield produced per unit of N, P2O5 or K2O
      applied) values of N (PFP-N), P (PFP-P) and K (PFP-K) were in the ranges of
      29.5~39.6, 43.4~74.9 and 44.1~76.5 kg/kg, respectively. While PFP-N showed no
      significant changes from 2000 to 2010, both PFP-P and PFP-K showed an increased
      trend over this period. The mean agronomic efficiency (AE, kg grain yield
      increased per unit of N, P2O5 or K2O applied) values of N (AEN), P (AEP) and K
      (AEK) were 9.4, 10.2 and 6.5 kg/kg, respectively. The AE values demonstrated
      marked inter-annual fluctuations, with the amplitude of fluctuation for AEN
      greater than those for AEP and AEK. The mean fertilizer recovery efficiency (RE,
      the fraction of nutrient uptake in aboveground plant dry matter to the nutrient
      of fertilizer application) values of N, P and K in the aboveground biomass were
      33.1%, 24.3% and 28.4%, respectively. It was also revealed that different wheat
      ecological regions differ greatly in wheat productivity, fertilizer application
      and nutrient use efficiency. In summary, it was suggested that best nutrient
      management practices, i.e. fertilizer recommendation applied based on soil
      testing or yield response, with strategies to match the nutrient input with
      realistic yield and demand, or provided with the 4R's nutrient management (right
      time, right rate, right site and right fertilizer) should be adopted widely to
      improve the yield production and nutrient use efficiency. 

PMID- 27631470
TI  - Correction: Coverage of Adequately Iodized Salt Is Suboptimal and Rice
      Fortification Using Public Distribution Channels Could Reach Low-Income
      Households: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Survey of Anganwadi Center Catchment
      Areas in Telangana, India.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158554.].

PMID- 27631469
TI  - Update and Next Steps for Real-World Translation of Interventions for Type 2
      Diabetes Prevention: Reflections From a Diabetes Care Editors' Expert Forum.
AB  - The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 415 million adults worldwide
      now have diabetes and 318 million have impaired glucose tolerance. These numbers
      are expected to increase to 642 million and 482 million, respectively, by 2040.
      This burgeoning pandemic places an enormous burden on countries worldwide,
      particularly resource-poor regions. Numerous landmark trials evaluating both
      intensive lifestyle modification and pharmacological interventions have
      persuasively demonstrated that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or its onset can
      be delayed in high-risk individuals with impaired glucose tolerance. However, key
      challenges remain, including how to scale up such approaches for widespread
      translation and implementation, how to select appropriately from various
      interventions and tailor them for different populations and settings, and how to
      ensure that preventive interventions yield clinically meaningful, cost-effective
      outcomes. In June 2015, a Diabetes Care Editors' Expert Forum convened to discuss
      these issues. This article, an outgrowth of the forum, begins with a summary of
      seminal prevention trials, followed by a discussion of considerations for
      selecting appropriate populations for intervention and the clinical implications
      of the various diagnostic criteria for prediabetes. The authors outline knowledge
      gaps in need of elucidation and explore a possible new avenue for securing
      regulatory approval of a prevention-related indication for metformin, as well as
      specific considerations for future pharmacological interventions to delay the
      onset of type 2 diabetes. They conclude with descriptions of some innovative,
      pragmatic translational initiatives already under way around the world.

PMID- 27631471
TI  - CRP-Cyclic AMP Regulates the Expression of Type 3 Fimbriae via Cyclic di-GMP in
      Klebsiella pneumoniae.
AB  - Klebsiella pneumoniae is the predominant pathogen isolated from liver abscesses
      of diabetic patients in Asian countries. However, the effects of elevated blood
      glucose levels on the virulence of this pathogen remain largely unknown. Type 3
      fimbriae, encoded by the mrkABCDF genes, are important virulence factors in K.
      pneumoniae pathogenesis. In this study, the effects of exogenous glucose and the
      intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling pathway on type 3 fimbriae expression
      regulation were investigated. The production of MrkA, the major subunit of type 3
      fimbriae, was increased in glucose-rich medium, whereas cAMP supplementation
      reversed the effect. MrkA production was markedly increased by cyaA or crp
      deletion, but slightly decreased by cpdA deletion. In addition, the mRNA levels
      of mrkABCDF genes and the activity of PmrkA were increased in Deltacrp strain, as
      well as the mRNA levels of mrkHIJ genes that encode cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP)
      related regulatory proteins that influence type 3 fimbriae expression. Moreover,
      the activities of PmrkHI and PmrkJ were decreased in DeltalacZDeltacrp strain.
      These results indicate that CRP-cAMP down-regulates mrkABCDF and mrkHIJ at the
      transcriptional level. Further deletion of mrkH or mrkI in Deltacrp strain
      diminished the production of MrkA, indicating that MrkH and MrkI are required for
      the CRP regulation of type 3 fimbriae expression. Furthermore, the high activity
      of PmrkHI in the DeltalacZDeltacrp strain was diminished in
      DeltalacZDeltacrpDeltamrkHI, but increased in the DeltalacZDeltacrpDeltamrkJ
      strain. Deletion of crp increased the intracellular c-di-GMP concentration and
      reduced the phosphodiesterase activity. Moreover, we found that the mRNA levels
      of multiple genes related to c-di-GMP metabolism were altered in Deltacrp strain.
      These indicate that CRP regulates type 3 fimbriae expression indirectly via the c
      di-GMP signaling pathway. In conclusion, we found evidence of a coordinated
      regulation of type 3 fimbriae expression by the CRP-cAMP and c-di-GMP signaling
      pathways in K. pneumoniae. 

PMID- 27631474
TI  - Treatments for Diabetic Macular Edema: Past, Present, and Future.

PMID- 27631472
TI  - Socio-Economic Status and Reproduction among Adults Born with an Oral Cleft: A
      Population-Based Cohort Study in Norway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been reported that people born with orofacial clefts do worse
      in life than their peers regarding a range of social markers, such as academic
      achievement and reproduction. We have compared otherwise healthy individuals with
      and without clefts, to investigate if these differences are due to the cleft or
      other background factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a retrospective national
      cohort study, based on compulsory registers with data collected prospectively, we
      included everybody born in Norway between 1967 and 1992 (1490279 individuals,
      2584 with clefts). This cohort was followed until the year 2010, when the
      youngest individuals were 18 years old. In order to ensure that the individuals
      were not affected by unknown syndromes or diseases, we excluded all individuals
      with any chronic medical condition, or who had other birth defects than clefts,
      hydroceles and dislocated hips. Individuals with oral clefts who were included in
      the study are said to have isolated clefts. RESULTS: Isolated cleft patients are
      similar to the general population regarding education, income and social class.
      Isolated cleft patients have lower fertility than the background population, but
      considering only married couples this difference in fertility disappeared.
      CONCLUSIONS: An oral cleft did not appear to affect future socioeconomic status
      or chances of becoming a parent for children born in Norway. An exception was
      males with cleft lip and palate, but differences were small.

PMID- 27631473
TI  - E2F1 Orchestrates Transcriptomics and Oxidative Metabolism in Wharton's Jelly
      Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Growth-Restricted Infants.
AB  - Wharton's jelly-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) isolated from newborns with
      intrauterine fetal growth restriction were previously shown to exert anabolic
      features including insulin hypersensitivity. Here, we extend these observations
      and demonstrate that MSCs from small for gestational age (SGA) individuals have
      decreased mitochondrial oxygen consumption rates. Comparing normally grown and
      SGA MSCs using next generation sequencing studies, we measured global
      transcriptomic and epigenetic profiles and identified E2F1 as an over-expressed
      transcription factor regulating oxidative metabolism in the SGA group. We further
      show that E2F1 regulates the differential transcriptome found in SGA derived MSCs
      and is associated with the activating histone marks H3K27ac and H3K4me3. One of
      the key genes regulated by E2F1 was found to be the fatty acid elongase ELOVL2, a
      gene involved in the endogenous synthesis of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Finally,
      we shed light on how the E2F1-ELOVL2 pathway may alter oxidative respiration in
      the SGA condition by contributing to the maintenance of cellular metabolic
      homeostasis. 

PMID- 27631475
TI  - Macular Retinal Sublayer Thicknesses in G11778A Leber Hereditary Optic
      Neuropathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To determine macular retinal sublayer thickness changes
      in G11778A Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The
      authors performed a cross-sectional study by segmenting spectral-domain Cirrus
      OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) 512 * 128 macular cube scans from a
      prospective, observational study of G11778A LHON. The thickness of the retinal
      sublayers of LHON affected subjects and asymptomatic carriers were compared to
      those of a normal group. RESULTS: The study included 20 LHON-affected subjects
      (13 males; age: 31 years +/- 14 years, range: 10 years to 61 years; time since
      onset of visual loss: 5.9 years +/- 8.7 years; 0.4-29.8), 31 asymptomatic LHON
      carriers (five males; age: 38 years +/- 18 years, range: 9 years to 65 years),
      and 14 normal subjects (five males; age: 39 years +/- 13 years, range: 23 years
      to 61 years). The retinal sublayer thickness parameters were not significantly
      correlated with age in any of the groups. There were no differences between
      carriers and normal subjects for thickness of total retina or any sublayer.
      Affected LHON retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer plus inner
      plexiform layer (GCL+IPL) were thinner, whereas the photoreceptor outer segment
      (OS) layer was thicker than carriers and normal subjects (P values ranged from
      .042 to < .001), except for the OS layer in the inferior inner ring and temporal
      outer ring. Differences between groups were not significant in the inner nuclear
      layer plus outer plexiform layer (INL+OPL). The affected LHON outer nuclear layer
      plus inner segment layer was thicker in some quadrants, and the affected LHON
      choroid layer was generally thinner than carriers and normal subjects; however,
      these differences were not significant after accounting for age. CONCLUSION: LHON
      affected patients have thickened photoreceptor OS layers in spite of having
      thinner RNFL and GCL+IPL layers. The findings indicate LHON also has an effect on
      the morphology of the photoreceptors. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
      2016;47:802-810.].

PMID- 27631476
TI  - Regional Changes in Choroidal Thickness in Branch Retinal Artery Occlusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To assess regional changes in choroidal thickness in
      the affected temporal hemifield of eyes with branch retinal artery occlusion
      (BRAO) compared to the unaffected temporal hemifield of the same eye and to
      fellow eyes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six eyes of six patients with unilateral BRAO
      with fellow eyes serving as controls. Using optical coherence tomography,
      choroidal thickness was measured at 49 points and averaged for each hemifield.
      RESULTS: In BRAO eyes, choroidal thickness was greater in the affected hemifield
      (209.5 um +/- 13.9 um) compared to the unaffected hemifield (181.3 um +/- 8.9 um;
      P = .001). In fellow-eyes, there was no difference between the two hemifields
      (180.3 um +/- 18.1 um vs. 193.7 um +/- 16 um; P = .39). The choroid was thicker
      in the affected BRAO eye hemifield compared to the corresponding fellow eye
      hemifield (209.5 um +/- 13.9 um vs. 180.3 um +/- 18.1 um; P = .01), whereas no
      difference was observed among unaffected BRAO eye hemifield and corresponding
      fellow eye hemifield (181.3 um +/- 8.9 um vs. 193.7 um +/- 16 um; P = .1).
      Subfoveal choroidal thickness between BRAO and fellow eyes was similar (185.5 um
      +/- 25.7 um vs. 194.5 um +/- 20.8 um; P = .4). CONCLUSION: The choroid was 15.6%
      thicker in the affected hemifield of BRAO eyes compared to the unaffected
      hemifield of same eye and 16.2% thicker than the corresponding hemifield in
      fellow eyes. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:811-818.].

PMID- 27631477
TI  - Small-Gauge Pars Plana Vitrectomy With SF6 Gas for the Repair of Primary
      Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment With Multiple Breaks.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To compare outcomes of 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy
      (PPV) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas for primary rhegmatogenous retinal
      detachment (RRD) associated with multiple-quadrant versus single-quadrant breaks.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of patients with RRD who underwent 25
      gauge PPV with breaks involving multiple quadrants (Group A) or versus a single
      quadrant (Group B). RESULTS: One hundred eighteen eyes of 118 patients with a
      mean age of 60.4 years +/- 11.8 years were reviewed, 27 with multiple-quadrant
      breaks and 91 with single-quadrant breaks. Single surgery anatomical success was
      achieved in 92.6% of Group A versus 93.4% of Group B patients (P = .88). The
      location and number of quadrants did not account for the variation in single
      surgery success or visual outcome. CONCLUSIONS: RRD with multiple-quadrant breaks
      is not associated with worst outcomes than single-quadrant breaks when treated
      with 25-gauge PPV and SF6 gas. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
      2016;47:820-827.].

PMID- 27631478
TI  - In Vivo Evidence of Inner Retinal Neurodegeneration in Retinitis Pigmentosa Using
      Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate the topographic changes in macular
      ganglion cell inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness in eyes with retinitis
      pigmentosa (RP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-five eyes of 25 subjects with RP who
      underwent spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) using the Cirrus
      HD-OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) were analyzed retrospectively. A control
      group of 67 eyes of 48 age-matched healthy volunteers was also included for
      comparison. Average, minimum, and sectoral macular GCIPL, as well as retinal
      nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and outer retinal (OR) thicknesses, were collected and
      compared between RP and control groups. RESULTS: The average and sectoral macular
      GCIPL thicknesses were significantly reduced in RP eyes compared with controls (P
      < .0001). Average macular RNFL thickness was reduced in RP eyes compared with
      controls (P < .054). CONCLUSIONS: In eyes with RP, display reduced GCIPL, RNFL,
      and OR thickness. The identification of alteration in RNFL, OR, and GCIPL
      thickness may be useful for future therapeutic implications. [Ophthalmic Surg
      Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:828-835.].

PMID- 27631479
TI  - Aflibercept for Diabetic Macular Edema in Eyes Previously Treated With
      Ranibizumab and/or Bevacizumab May Further Improve Macular Thickness.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-term anatomic and visual outcomes
      after aflibercept (Eylea; Regeneron, Tarrytown, NY) in eyes with diabetic macular
      edema (DME) previously treated with ranibizumab (Lucentis; Genentech, South San
      Francisco, CA) and/or bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech, South San Francisco, CA).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single-center, retrospective, noncomparative study of 30
      eyes in 23 patients with DME treated with prior ranibizumab and/or bevacizumab
      before switching to aflibercept. RESULTS: Eyes received an average of 16 prior
      injections (range: three injections to 31 injections; median: 17 injections). The
      mean central subfoveal thickness (CST) improved from 453 um at the time of first
      anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection (range: 304 um to 686
      um; median: 429 um), to 374 um at the time of the switch to aflibercept (range:
      267 um to 547 um; median: 361 um; P = .02), to 332 um after the first aflibercept
      injection (range: 242 um to 545 um; median: 318 um; P < .001). Visual acuity
      improved after switching to aflibercept at the first follow-up visit (logMAR 0.40
      [Snellen equivalent 20/50]) to logMAR 0.35 (Snellen equivalent 20/45) (P = .044).
      CONCLUSIONS: In eyes with persistent DME treated with ranibizumab and/or
      bevacizumab, switching to aflibercept may further improve macular thickness.
      Given the cost difference between the three drugs, a randomized trial evaluating
      a stepwise approach may be worthwhile. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
      2016;47:836-839.].

PMID- 27631481
TI  - Intraoperative Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging and Assessment of the Macula
      During Cataract Surgery: A Novel Technique.
AB  - The authors describe a technique to qualitatively analyze the posterior segment
      during cataract surgery using intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT).
      Macular iOCT can be done before and after intraocular lens implantation after the
      media is rendered clear following phacoemulsification. A handheld irrigating
      planoconcave contact lens is placed over the cornea with the operating microscope
      in retroillumination mode. After focusing the microscope and upon getting a clear
      view of the posterior segment, iOCT is switched on, centered at the macula, and
      focused. This technique enables the surgeon to intraoperatively analyze and
      document the macular morphology and vitreoretinal interface. Potential uses of
      this technique include intraoperative decision-making regarding concurrent use of
      anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents or steroids in cases with dense
      cataracts where preoperative OCT is difficult. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging
      Retina. 2016;47:846-847.].

PMID- 27631480
TI  - Characteristics and Outcomes of Simultaneous Bilateral Rhegmatogenous Retinal
      Detachments.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To better understand the clinical course and outcomes
      of simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments managed by modern vitreoretinal
      surgical techniques. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 21 patients
      (42 eyes) presenting between April 2000 and June 2015 with simultaneous bilateral
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. RESULTS: Mean visual acuity (VA) improved
      from 20/100 at presentation to 20/40 at last follow-up (P = .01). The mean final
      VA for patients undergoing scleral buckle (SB) alone was 20/30 (log MAR 0.17),
      pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) alone was 20/40 (logMAR 0.33), and combined PPV/SB
      was 20/80 (logMAR 0.59) (P = .019). Primary reattachment rate in this series was
      98%. CONCLUSION: In contrast to prior studies, which investigated the management
      of simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments primarily by SB alone, multiple
      treatment modalities were utilized in this study, including vitrectomy alone, and
      overall success of retinal detachment repair was high regardless of treatment
      modality chosen. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:840-845.].

PMID- 27631482
TI  - Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography of Chorioretinal Diseases.
AB  - Fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) have been
      the gold standard for the evaluation of retinal and choroidal vasculature in the
      last three decades and have revolutionized the diagnosis of retinal and choroidal
      vascular diseases. The advantage of these imaging modalities lies in their
      ability to document retinal and choroidal vasculature through the dynamic
      assessment of contrast transit over time in the intravascular and extravascular
      spaces. However, disadvantages include the absence of depth resolution, blurring
      of details by contrast leakage, and the inability to selectively evaluate
      different levels of the retinal and choroidal microvasculature. In addition,
      these angiographic methods require intravenous dye, which may cause adverse
      reactions such as nausea, vomiting, and rarely, anaphylaxis. Optical coherence
      tomography angiography (OCTA) is a noninvasive imaging technique that, in
      contrast to dye-based angiography, is faster and depth-resolved, allowing in some
      cases for more precise evaluation of the vascular plexuses of the retina and
      choroid. The method has been demonstrated in the assessment of various vascular
      diseases such as venous occlusions, diabetic retinopathy, macular
      neovascularization, and others. Limitations of this imaging modality include a
      small registered field of view and the inability to visualize leakage and dye
      transit over time. It is also subject to a variety of artifacts, including those
      generated by blinking and eye movement during image acquisition. However, more
      than an alternative for FA and ICGA, OCTA is bringing new insights to our
      understanding of retinal and choroidal vascular structure and is changing
      fundamental paradigms in the clinical management of pathologic conditions.
      [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:848-861.].

PMID- 27631483
TI  - Central Retinal Vein Occlusion and Paracentral Acute Middle Maculopathy Diagnosed
      With En Face Optical Coherence Tomography.
AB  - A 21-year-old healthy female presented with acute-onset vision loss in the left
      eye. Multimodal imaging, including fundus photography and fluorescein
      angiography, was unremarkable. En face optical coherence tomography (OCT)
      demonstrated paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM) lesions in a perivenular
      fern-like pattern leading to the diagnosis of central retinal vein occlusion
      (CRVO). En face OCT can be an important modality to identify the distribution of
      abnormalities of the middle retina such as PAMM. The distribution of PAMM lesions
      in the posterior pole will be a critical element in the determination of the
      etiologic disorder. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:862-864.].

PMID- 27631485
TI  - Retinotomy Closure Following Subretinal Stem Cell Transplant With a 30-Gauge
      Needle.
AB  - The authors report two cases of posterior retinotomy closure following subretinal
      stem cell transplantation for age-related macular degeneration with a 30-gauge
      needle - a larger bore needle than those used in prior studies. Partial
      retinotomy closure was seen on optical coherence tomography within 24 hours in
      one patient, whereas complete closure occurred by the 5-month and 1-year follow
      up visits. A trace retinal hemorrhage occurred in one case, with resolution by 12
      weeks. These findings demonstrate the likelihood of uncomplicated, spontaneous
      retinotomy closure following subretinal stem cell transplantation with a 30-gauge
      needle. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:869-873.].

PMID- 27631484
TI  - Integrating Scleral Buckling, Transscleral Drainage of Subretinal Fluid,
      Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, and Laser Photocoagulation
      in Stage 3B Coats' Total Retinal Detachment.
AB  - The integration of quadruple therapy in a 13-year-old boy with stage 3B Coats'
      disease achieved retinal reattachment and visual improvement. Scleral buckling
      might play a role in retinal detachment in Coats' disease, although it has
      previously been considered insignificant. Instead of performing vitrectomy and
      internal drainage with a drainage hole in the retina, less-invasive procedures
      that do not require retinotomy appear to be beneficial in cases of advanced
      Coats' disease. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:865-868.].

PMID- 27631486
TI  - Retinal Vasculitis in Anti-Synthetase Syndrome.
AB  - A 31-year-old woman with a history of anti-synthetase syndrome-related myositis
      and interstitial lung disease presented with acute-onset blurry vision and rash
      on her hands and feet. Visual acuity was hand motion in her right eye and 20/40
      in her left eye. Dilated fundus exam showed extensive retinal vasculitis, diffuse
      intraretinal hemorrhages, and subretinal fluid. Optical coherence tomography
      revealed significant macular thickening, and fluorescein angiography revealed
      vascular leakage with peripheral nonperfusion. Aggressive systemic
      immunosuppression was initiated, with gradual resolution of her disease during 8
      months of follow-up. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:874-879.].

PMID- 27631487
TI  - Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography and Vascular Perfusion Map
      Findings in Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent chronic sleep disorder
      associated with considerable systemic and ophthalmic consequences. The authors
      present the retinal vascular findings of a visually asymptomatic 56-year-old man
      clinically diagnosed with OSA using swept-source optical coherence tomography and
      vascular perfusion mapping. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:880
      884.].

PMID- 27631488
TI  - 8 Questions with Dr. Moshfeghi.

PMID- 27631489
TI  - Differential Expression of MicroRNAs in Endarterectomy Specimens Taken from
      Patients with Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Carotid Plaques.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Stroke and transient ischemic attacks are considered as clinical
      manifestations of atherosclerotic disease due to on-going vascular inflammation
      and finally atherothrombosis of the carotid arteries. MicroRNAs (miRNA/miR) are
      known to be involved in vascular inflammation and plaque destabilization. The aim
      of this study was to analyze the expression profile of selected miRNAs in
      endarterectomy specimen from carotid arteries that were taken from patients with
      asymptomatic and symptomatic atherosclerotic plaques. METHODS AND RESULTS: 11
      miRNAs were selected and their expression was analyzed using real-time RT-PCR.
      Therefore, samples were divided into three different groups. On the one hand we
      investigated the expression patterns from patients in asymptomatic (n = 14) and
      symptomatic (n = 10) plaques; on the other hand we took samples from normal
      configurated internal mammary arteries (n = 15). Out of these 11 targets we
      identified some miRNAs, which were up- or down-regulated in either one of the two
      groups. Interestingly, the expression of two miRNAs was significantly different
      between asymptomatic and symptomatic samples, namely miR-21 (P<0.01) and miR-143
      (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: In the present study, we identified miRNA subtypes which
      showed different expression in endarterectomy specimen from patients with
      asymptomatic and symptomatic plaques, suggesting that these miRNAs correlated
      with advanced vascular inflammation and plaque stability. They may represent new
      therapeutic targets for vascular proliferative diseases such as atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27631490
TI  - Effects of Steroids on Quality of Recovery and Adverse Events after General
      Anesthesia: Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis of Randomized Clinical
      Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quality of recovery (QoR) after surgery is a relevant outcome. The
      early postoperative quality of recovery of a patient can be determined using the
      QoR-40 questionnaire. The aim of this meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis
      was to determine if perioperative administration of glucocorticosteroids improved
      patients' quality of recovery after general anesthesia and if adverse events
      occurred. METHODS: We searched six databases, including trial registration sites.
      Randomized clinical trials reporting the efficacy of glucocorticosteroids on
      quality of recovery evaluated using the QoR-40 after general anesthesia were
      eligible. The QoR-40 data were combined as the mean difference with confidence
      intervals using a random-effects model. The I2 statistic was used to assess
      heterogeneity. The quality of the trials was evaluated using the Cochrane
      methodology. Moreover, Trial Sequential Analysis was carried out to prevent the
      inflation of type 1 errors caused by multiple testing and sparse data. We also
      assessed adverse events. RESULTS: Three randomized clinical trials (totaling 301
      patients) were analyzed. The results from one published and four unpublished
      randomized clinical trials were unavailable. Dexamethasone was investigated in
      all three trials, and the results suggested that it significantly improved QoR-40
      at postoperative day one scores compared with placebo (mean difference [95%
      confidence interval]: 14.2 points [10.4 to 18.1]; P < 0.001; I2 = 0%). We could
      not conduct sensitivity analysis because of the absence of trials with low risk
      of bias. The Trial Sequential Analysis-adjusted confidence interval was -1.6 to
      30.0, indicating that further trials are required. The reporting of adverse
      events was insufficient. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that perioperative
      dexamethasone administration may improve short-term (i.e., one day) quality of
      recovery after general anesthesia and surgery. We need more randomized clinical
      trials with low risk of bias assessing the effects of glucocorticosteroids on
      quality of life, other outcomes, and adverse events. Updated systematic reviews
      should then be conducted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: University Hospital Medical
      Information Network Clinical Trials Registry: UMIN000015678.

PMID- 27631491
TI  - Noninvasive Prenatal Paternity Testing (NIPAT) through Maternal Plasma DNA
      Sequencing: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Short tandem repeats (STRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been
      already used to perform noninvasive prenatal paternity testing from maternal
      plasma DNA. The frequently used technologies were PCR followed by capillary
      electrophoresis and SNP typing array, respectively. Here, we developed a
      noninvasive prenatal paternity testing (NIPAT) based on SNP typing with maternal
      plasma DNA sequencing. We evaluated the influence factors (minor allele frequency
      (MAF), the number of total SNP, fetal fraction and effective sequencing depth)
      and designed three different selective SNP panels in order to verify the
      performance in clinical cases. Combining targeted deep sequencing of selective
      SNP and informative bioinformatics pipeline, we calculated the combined paternity
      index (CPI) of 17 cases to determine paternity. Sequencing-based NIPAT results
      fully agreed with invasive prenatal paternity test using STR multiplex system.
      Our study here proved that the maternal plasma DNA sequencing-based technology is
      feasible and accurate in determining paternity, which may provide an alternative
      in forensic application in the future. 

PMID- 27631492
TI  - National Outbreak of Multidrug Resistant Salmonella Heidelberg Infections Linked
      to a Single Poultry Company.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: This large outbreak of foodborne salmonellosis demonstrated the
      complexity of investigating outbreaks linked to poultry products. The outbreak
      also highlighted the importance of efforts to strengthen food safety policies
      related to Salmonella in chicken parts and has implications for future changes
      within the poultry industry. OBJECTIVE: To investigate a large multistate
      outbreak of multidrug resistant Salmonella Heidelberg infections. DESIGN:
      Epidemiologic and laboratory investigations of patients infected with the
      outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg and traceback of possible food
      exposures. SETTING: United States. Outbreak period was March 1, 2013 through July
      11, 2014. PATIENTS: A case was defined as illness in a person infected with a
      laboratory-confirmed Salmonella Heidelberg with 1 of 7 outbreak pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis (PFGE) XbaI patterns with illness onset from March 1, 2013
      through July 11, 2014. A total of 634 case-patients were identified through
      passive surveillance; 200/528 (38%) were hospitalized, none died. RESULTS:
      Interviews were conducted with 435 case-patients: 371 (85%) reported eating any
      chicken in the 7 days before becoming ill. Of 273 case-patients interviewed with
      a focused questionnaire, 201 (74%) reported eating chicken prepared at home.
      Among case-patients with available brand information, 152 (87%) of 175 patients
      reported consuming Company A brand chicken. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
      was completed on 69 clinical isolates collected from case-patients; 67% were drug
      resistant, including 24 isolates (35%) that were multidrug resistant. The source
      of Company A brand chicken consumed by case-patients was traced back to 3
      California production establishments from which 6 of 7 outbreak strains were
      isolated. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiologic, laboratory, traceback, and environmental
      investigations conducted by local, state, and federal public health and
      regulatory officials indicated that consumption of Company A chicken was the
      cause of this outbreak. The outbreak involved multiple PFGE patterns, a variety
      of chicken products, and 3 production establishments, suggesting a reservoir for
      contamination upstream from the production establishments. Sources of bacteria
      and genes responsible for resistance, such as farms providing birds for slaughter
      or environmental reservoir on farms that raise chickens, might explain how
      multiple PFGE patterns were linked to chicken from 3 separate production
      establishments and many different poultry products.

PMID- 27631493
TI  - Loss of the Greatwall Kinase Weakens the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint.
AB  - The Greatwall kinase/Mastl is an essential gene that indirectly inhibits the
      phosphatase activity toward mitotic Cdk1 substrates. Here we show that although
      Mastl knockout (MastlNULL) MEFs enter mitosis, they progress through mitosis
      without completing cytokinesis despite the presence of misaligned chromosomes,
      which causes chromosome segregation defects. Furthermore, we uncover the
      requirement of Mastl for robust spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) maintenance
      since the duration of mitotic arrest caused by microtubule poisons in MastlNULL
      MEFs is shortened, which correlates with premature disappearance of the essential
      SAC protein Mad1 at the kinetochores. Notably, MastlNULL MEFs display reduced
      phosphorylation of a number of proteins in mitosis, which include the essential
      SAC kinase MPS1. We further demonstrate that Mastl is required for multi-site
      phosphorylation of MPS1 as well as robust MPS1 kinase activity in mitosis. In
      contrast, treatment of MastlNULL cells with the phosphatase inhibitor okadaic
      acid (OKA) rescues the defects in MPS1 kinase activity, mislocalization of
      phospho-MPS1 as well as Mad1 at the kinetochore, and premature SAC silencing.
      Moreover, using in vitro dephosphorylation assays, we demonstrate that Mastl
      promotes persistent MPS1 phosphorylation by inhibiting PP2A/B55-mediated MPS1
      dephosphorylation rather than affecting Cdk1 kinase activity. Our findings
      establish a key regulatory function of the Greatwall kinase/Mastl->PP2A/B55
      pathway in preventing premature SAC silencing.

PMID- 27631494
TI  - Effects of Digested Onion Extracts on Intestinal Gene Expression: An Interspecies
      Comparison Using Different Intestine Models.
AB  - Human intestinal tissue samples are barely accessible to study potential health
      benefits of nutritional compounds. Numbers of animals used in animal trials,
      however, need to be minimalized. Therefore, we explored the applicability of in
      vitro (human Caco-2 cells) and ex vivo intestine models (rat precision cut
      intestine slices and the pig in-situ small intestinal segment perfusion (SISP)
      technique) to study the effect of food compounds. In vitro digested yellow (YOd)
      and white onion extracts (WOd) were used as model food compounds and
      transcriptomics was applied to obtain more insight into which extent mode of
      actions depend on the model. The three intestine models shared 9,140 genes which
      were used to compare the responses to digested onions between the models.
      Unsupervised clustering analysis showed that genes up- or down-regulated by WOd
      in human Caco-2 cells and rat intestine slices were similarly regulated by YOd,
      indicating comparable modes of action for the two onion species. Highly variable
      responses to onion were found in the pig SISP model. By focussing only on genes
      with significant differential expression, in combination with a fold change >
      1.5, 15 genes showed similar onion-induced expression in human Caco-2 cells and
      rat intestine slices and 2 overlapping genes were found between the human Caco-2
      and pig SISP model. Pathway analyses revealed that mainly processes related to
      oxidative stress, and especially the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway, were affected by onions
      in all three models. Our data fit with previous in vivo studies showing that the
      beneficial effects of onions are mostly linked to their antioxidant properties.
      Taken together, our data indicate that each of the in vitro and ex vivo intestine
      models used in this study, taking into account their limitations, can be used to
      determine modes of action of nutritional compounds and can thereby reduce the
      number of animals used in conventional nutritional intervention studies. 

PMID- 27631495
TI  - Small GSK-3 Inhibitor Shows Efficacy in a Motor Neuron Disease Murine Model
      Modulating Autophagy.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive motor neuron degenerative
      disease that has no effective treatment up to date. Drug discovery tasks have
      been hampered due to the lack of knowledge in its molecular etiology together
      with the limited animal models for research. Recently, a motor neuron disease
      animal model has been developed using beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (L-BMAA), a
      neurotoxic amino acid related to the appearing of ALS. In the present work, the
      neuroprotective role of VP2.51, a small heterocyclic GSK-3 inhibitor, is analysed
      in this novel murine model together with the analysis of autophagy. VP2.51 daily
      administration for two weeks, starting the first day after L-BMAA treatment,
      leads to total recovery of neurological symptoms and prevents the activation of
      autophagic processes in rats. These results show that the L-BMAA murine model can
      be used to test the efficacy of new drugs. In addition, the results confirm the
      therapeutic potential of GSK-3 inhibitors, and specially VP2.51, for the disease
      modifying future treatment of motor neuron disorders like ALS. 

PMID- 27631496
TI  - Aberrant Functional Connectivity of the Amygdala Complexes in PTSD during
      Conscious and Subconscious Processing of Trauma-Related Stimuli.
AB  - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by altered functional
      connectivity of the amygdala complexes at rest. However, amygdala complex
      connectivity during conscious and subconscious threat processing remains to be
      elucidated. Here, we investigate specific connectivity of the centromedial
      amygdala (CMA) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) during conscious and subconscious
      processing of trauma-related words among individuals with PTSD (n = 26) as
      compared to non-trauma-exposed controls (n = 20). Psycho-physiological
      interaction analyses were performed using the right and left amygdala complexes
      as regions of interest during conscious and subconscious trauma word processing.
      These analyses revealed a differential, context-dependent responses by each
      amygdala seed during trauma processing in PTSD. Specifically, relative to
      controls, during subconscious processing, individuals with PTSD demonstrated
      increased connectivity of the CMA with the superior frontal gyrus, accompanied by
      a pattern of decreased connectivity between the BLA and the superior colliculus.
      During conscious processing, relative to controls, individuals with PTSD showed
      increased connectivity between the CMA and the pulvinar. These findings
      demonstrate alterations in amygdala subregion functional connectivity in PTSD and
      highlight the disruption of the innate alarm network during both conscious and
      subconscious trauma processing in this disorder. 

PMID- 27631498
TI  - Activating Attachments Reduces Memories of Traumatic Images.
AB  - Emotional memories, and especially intrusive memories, are a common feature of
      many psychological disorders, and are overconsolidated by stress. Attachment
      theory posits that activation of mental representations of attachment figures can
      reduce stress and boost coping. This study tested the proposition that attachment
      activation would reduce consolidation of emotional and intrusive memories. Sixty
      seven undergraduate students viewed subliminal presentations of traumatic and
      neutral images, which were preceded by subliminal presentations of either
      attachment-related images or non-attachment-related images; free recall and
      intrusive memories were assessed two days later. Participants with low avoidant
      attachment tendencies who received the attachment primes recalled fewer memories
      and reported fewer intrusions than those who received the non-attachment primes.
      Unexpectedly, those with high anxious attachment tendencies reported fewer
      memories. These findings generally accord with attachment theory, and suggest
      that consolidation of emotional memories can be moderated by activation of
      attachment representations. 

PMID- 27631497
TI  - CD40 Expression in Fibrocytes Is Induced by TSH: Potential Synergistic Immune
      Activation.
AB  - CONTEXT: Fibrocytes appear to participate in inflammation and tissue remodeling
      in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). These patients have
      increased frequencies of circulating TSH receptor (TSHR)- and CD40-positive
      fibrocytes, suggesting TSHR and CD40 may play roles in proinflammatory cytokine
      production, which ultimately leads to orbital inflammation and tissue remodeling.
      OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential interactions between the TSHR and CD40
      signaling pathways and their roles in IL-6 and TNF-alpha production. DESIGN AND
      OUTCOME MEASURES: CD40 expression on fibrocytes was assessed using flow
      cytometry; IL-6 and TNF-alpha protein release using Luminex technology; increased
      IL-6 and TNF-alpha mRNA abundance, using real-time PCR; TSH- and CD40 ligand
      (CD40L)-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in fibrocytes, by western blot analysis;
      TSHR-CD40 protein-protein interaction, using co-immunoprecipitation, and CD40
      TSHR co-localization, using immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: TSH enhances CD40
      expression at a pre-translational level in fibrocytes. Production of IL-6 and TNF
      alpha after costimulation with TSH and CD40L was greater than that after TSH or
      CD40L stimulation alone. TSH and CD40L costimulation also resulted in greater Akt
      phosphorylation. Akt and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB inhibitors significantly
      reduced cytokine production after TSH and CD40L costimulation. TSHR and CD40L are
      colocalized on the cell surface and form a complex. CONCLUSIONS: TSHR and CD40 in
      fibrocytes appear to be physically and functionally related. TSH stimulates CD40
      production on the fibrocyte surface. Cytokine expression upon simultaneous
      stimulation of TSHR and CD40 is greater than levels achieved with TSH or CD40L
      alone. Increased expression of CD40 by TSH is a potential mechanism for this
      process.

PMID- 27631499
TI  - Seated T'ai Chi in Older Taiwanese People Using Wheelchairs: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial Investigating Mood States and Self-Efficacy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is growing interest in t'ai chi, but little research has
      addressed whether t'ai chi is effective in older people using wheelchairs for
      mobilization. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of seated t'ai chi
      exercise and usual standard activities on mood states and self-efficacy in older
      people living in a long-term care facility and using wheelchairs for
      mobilization. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial (trial registration no.
      ACTRN12613000029796). SETTING: One long-term-care facility in Taiwan.
      PARTICIPANTS: Sixty participants were randomly assigned by a computer-generated
      random sequence to a t'ai chi group (n = 30) or a usual exercise and
      entertainment activities group (n = 30). INTERVENTION: Seated t'ai chi exercise
      for 40 minutes three times a week for 26 weeks was provided. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Mood states (Profile of Mood States Short Form [POMS-SF]) and self
      efficacy (Self-Efficacy for Exercise [SEE]). RESULTS: At week 26, participants in
      the t'ai chi group reported significantly lower mood states on the fatigue
      inertia dimension of the POMS-SF (mean score +/- standard deviation, 3.56 +/-
      3.71) than did the control group (mean score, 7.16 +/- 6.36) (F [1, 58] = 7.15; p
      < 0.05). The t'ai chi group recorded significantly higher SEE levels (mean, 35.66
      +/- 36.83) than did those in the control group (mean, 15.30 +/- 26.43) (F [1, 58]
      = 6.05; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the importance of t'ai chi
      for a reduction in the fatigue-inertia mood state and an increase in self
      efficacy for older people using wheelchairs.

PMID- 27631500
TI  - One Health: Addressing Global Challenges at the Nexus of Human, Animal, and
      Environmental Health.

PMID- 27631502
TI  - Collision-Induced Dissociation of Electrosprayed NaCl Clusters: Using Molecular
      Dynamics Simulations to Visualize Reaction Cascades in the Gas Phase.
AB  - Infusion of NaCl solutions into an electrospray ionization (ESI) source produces
      [Na(n+1)Cl n ]+ and other gaseous clusters. The n = 4, 13, 22 magic number
      species have cuboid ground state structures and exhibit elevated abundance in ESI
      mass spectra. Relatively few details are known regarding the mechanisms whereby
      these clusters undergo collision-induced dissociation (CID). The current study
      examines to what extent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be used to garner
      insights into the sequence of events taking place during CID. Experiments on
      singly charged clusters reveal that the loss of small neutrals is the dominant
      fragmentation pathway. MD simulations indicate that the clusters undergo
      extensive structural fluctuations prior to decomposition. Consistent with the
      experimentally observed behavior, most of the simulated dissociation events
      culminate in ejection of small neutrals ([NaCl] i , with i = 1, 2, 3). The MD
      data reveal that the prevalence of these dissociation channels is linked to the
      presence of short-lived intermediates where a relatively compact core structure
      carries a small [NaCl] i protrusion. The latter can separate from the parent
      cluster via cleavage of a single Na-Cl contact. Fragmentation events of this type
      are kinetically favored over other dissociation channels that would require the
      quasi-simultaneous rupture of multiple electrostatic contacts. The CID behavior
      of NaCl cluster ions bears interesting analogies to that of collisionally
      activated protein complexes. Overall, it appears that MD simulations represent a
      valuable tool for deciphering the dissociation of noncovalently bound systems in
      the gas phase. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27631503
TI  - Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Vegetables Grown Using Paper Mill
      Wastewater in Wonji Gefersa, Ethiopia.
AB  - Heavy metals are among the major contaminants of vegetables. A study was
      conducted at Wonji Gefersa farms where paper wastewater is used for cultivation
      of vegetable crops. Four vegetable samples, namely Swiss chard, carrot, tomato,
      green pepper, as well as paper wastewater were examined for heavy metal [Lead
      (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr) and Cobalt
      (Co)] contamination using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The levels of Pb, Cd
      and Cr in paper wastewater were all above the safe limit for FAO standards for
      wastewater quality for irrigation. The concentration of Pb in Swiss chard and
      Green peeper was exceeded the permissible limits. The study reveals that Pb metal
      contamination in the study area which poses health risk with time unless an
      urgent step is taken by relevant agencies to address this issue.

PMID- 27631501
TI  - Profiling of Small Nucleolar RNAs by Next Generation Sequencing: Potential New
      Players for Breast Cancer Prognosis.
AB  - One of the most abundant, yet least explored, classes of RNA is the small
      nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), which are well known for their involvement in post
      transcriptional modifications of other RNAs. Although snoRNAs were only
      considered to perform housekeeping functions for a long time, recent studies have
      highlighted their importance as regulators of gene expression and as
      diagnostic/prognostic markers. However, the prognostic potential of these RNAs
      has not been interrogated for breast cancer (BC). The objective of the current
      study was to identify snoRNAs as prognostic markers for BC. Small RNA sequencing
      (Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx) was performed for 104 BC cases and 11 normal
      breast tissues. Partek Genomics Suite was used for analyzing the sequencing
      files. Two independent and proven approaches were used to identify prognostic
      markers: case-control (CC) and case-only (CO). For both approaches, snoRNAs
      significant in the permutation test, following univariate Cox proportional
      hazards regression model were used for constructing risk scores. Risk scores were
      subsequently adjusted for potential confounders in a multivariate Cox model. For
      both approaches, thirteen snoRNAs were associated with overall survival and/or
      recurrence free survival. Patients belonging to the high-risk group were
      associated with poor outcomes, and the risk score was significant after adjusting
      for confounders. Validation of representative snoRNAs (SNORD46 and SNORD89) using
      qRT-PCR confirmed the observations from sequencing experiments. We also observed
      64 snoRNAs harboring piwi-interacting RNAs and/or microRNAs that were predicted
      to target genes (mRNAs) involved in tumorigenesis. Our results demonstrate the
      potential of snoRNAs to serve (i) as novel prognostic markers for BC and (ii) as
      indirect regulators of gene expression. 

PMID- 27631504
TI  - Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Current-Use Pesticides in Atmospheric
      Particulate Matter in Houston, Texas.
AB  - The atmospheric concentrations of seven current-use pesticides in particulate
      matter were determined at four locations throughout the Houston metropolitan area
      in TSP and PM2.5 samples from September 2013. Atmospheric concentrations in both
      TSP and PM2.5 ranged from below method detection limits (MDLs) to nearly 1100 pg
      m-3. The three compounds most frequently detected above MDLs were chlorothalonil,
      bifenthrin, and lambda-cyhalothrin. Atmospheric chlorothalonil concentrations
      were above 800 pg m-3 in several TSP samples, but <MDL in PM2.5 samples.
      Bifenthrin atmospheric concentrations, which were detected above MDLs in all
      samples, differed between urban and suburban sites, while also being more
      associated with fine particulate matter. lambda-cyhalothrin had high atmospheric
      concentrations at one of the suburban sites and the industrial site, but was <MDL
      in the urban site samples. Diurnal trends in atmospheric concentration, as
      related to wind direction, showed that daytime peaks came from east while
      nighttime peaks came from northeast directions.

PMID- 27631505
TI  - Biodegradation of Phenanthrene by Pseudomonas sp. JPN2 and Structure-Based
      Degrading Mechanism Study.
AB  - The strain Pseudomonas sp. JPN2 had a high potential to degrade phenanthrene
      degrading 98.52 % of the initial amount of 100 mg L-1 after 10 days incubation.
      The analysis of metabolites demonstrated that the cleavage of phenanthrene
      started at the C9 and C10 positions on the aromatic ring by the dioxygenation
      reaction, and then further degraded via a phthalate pathway. To understand the
      interaction between phenanthrene and the amino acid residues in the active site
      of the target enzyme, a molecular docking simulation was performed. The results
      showed that the distances of C9-O1 and C10-O2 atoms were 3.47 and 3.67 A,
      respectively. The C9 and C10 positions of the phenanthrene ring are much closer
      to the dioxygen molecule in the active site relative to the other atoms.
      Therefore, the C9 and C10 positions are vulnerable to attack in the initial
      oxygenation process.

PMID- 27631506
TI  - Endocrine Disruptors and Child Health: New Insights.

PMID- 27631507
TI  - Efficacy of Vitrectomy Combined with Subretinal Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen
      Activator for Subretinal versus Subpigment Epithelial versus Combined
      Hemorrhages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes after subretinal
      recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) treatment for subretinal
      hemorrhages (SRH), subpigment epithelial hemorrhages (SPH), and combined
      subretinal and subpigment epithelial hemorrhages (CH). METHODS: An observational
      analysis of patients treated with subretinal rtPA was performed. The primary
      endpoint was the assessment of visual improvement (best-corrected visual acuity,
      BCVA) after surgery. Secondary endpoints were evaluation of the maximal
      hemorrhage diameter (MHD) and central macular thickness (CMT) measured by
      spectral domain optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: From a total of 83 eyes
      included in the study, 19 eyes showed SRH, 11 eyes SPH, and 53 eyes CH. For SRH
      and CH, the mean BCVA, MHD, and CMT improved significantly (p < 0.05). For
      patients with SPH, both the mean MHD and CMT decreased significantly (p < 0.05),
      whereas the mean BCVA improved only slightly after surgery (p = 0.28).
      CONCLUSION: Vitrectomy combined with subretinal rtPA injection and gas or air
      tamponade has a strong functional and anatomical effect on both SRH and CH and
      also seems to slightly improve the anatomical outcome in SPH.

PMID- 27631508
TI  - Relation Between Cochlear Mechanics and Performance of Temporal Fine Structure
      Based Tasks.
AB  - This study examined whether the mechanical characteristics of the cochlea could
      influence individual variation in the ability to use temporal fine structure
      (TFS) information. Cochlear mechanical functioning was evaluated by swept-tone
      evoked otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), which are thought to comprise linear
      reflection by micromechanical impedance perturbations, such as spatial variations
      in the number or geometry of outer hair cells, on the basilar membrane (BM). Low
      rate (2 Hz) frequency modulation detection limens (FMDLs) were measured for
      carrier frequency of 1000 Hz and interaural phase difference (IPD) thresholds as
      indices of TFS sensitivity and high-rate (16 Hz) FMDLs and amplitude modulation
      detection limens (AMDLs) as indices of sensitivity to non-TFS cues. Significant
      correlations were found among low-rate FMDLs, low-rate AMDLs, and IPD thresholds
      (R = 0.47-0.59). A principal component analysis was used to show a common factor
      that could account for 81.1, 74.1, and 62.9 % of the variance in low-rate FMDLs,
      low-rate AMDLs, and IPD thresholds, respectively. An OAE feature, specifically a
      characteristic dip around 2-2.5 kHz in OAE spectra, showed a significant
      correlation with the common factor (R = 0.54). High-rate FMDLs and AMDLs were
      correlated with each other (R = 0.56) but not with the other measures. The
      results can be interpreted as indicating that (1) the low-rate AMDLs, as well as
      the IPD thresholds and low-rate FMDLs, depend on the use of TFS information coded
      in neural phase locking and (2) the use of TFS information is influenced by a
      particular aspect of cochlear mechanics, such as mechanical irregularity along
      the BM.

PMID- 27631509
TI  - The use of narrow band imaging for the detection of benign lesions of the larynx.
AB  - In the cases of uncertainty, even if the patient has no complaints about his
      voice quality, sometimes, benign vocal fold mass lesions are removed to exclude
      malignancy with the risk of resultant dysphonia. Narrow Band Imaging (NBI)
      enables a specific visualization of vessel structures in the superficial tissue.
      Benign lesions of the larynx are frequently characterized by abnormal vessel
      configuration or an absence of vessels in the area of the lesion. It was
      hypothesized that, in the primary diagnosis of patients with these benign
      lesions, the combination of white light and NBI endoscopy enables a better
      detection compared with white light endoscopy alone. Twenty-nine patients (eight
      patients with a cyst on a vocal fold, eight with a polyp, seven with a Reinke's
      edema, two with a leukoplakia, one with a carcinoma, one with a granuloma, and
      two without any pathologic finding) were examined with normal white light and NBI
      endoscopy. 87 video sequences (29 white, 29 NBI, and 29 white/NBI) were generated
      and randomized and presented to 20 otolaryngologists who rated the videos in
      terms of the suspected diagnosis. Results were compared with the histopathologic
      findings of microlaryngoscopy. The probability of detecting benign lesions of the
      vocal folds was higher using NBI in combination with white light endoscopy
      compared with white light endoscopy alone. For vocal fold cysts, this difference
      was statistically significant. NBI endoscopy in combination with normal white
      light endoscopy improves the detection rate of benign lesions of the larynx,
      especially of vocal fold cysts.

PMID- 27631510
TI  - Clinicopathological, Cytogenetic, and Prognostic Analysis of 131 Myeloid Sarcoma
      Patients.
AB  - Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is an extramedullary tumor of immature myeloid cells. We
      analyzed 131 patients with MS, including: (1) de novo MS; (2) MS with concomitant
      acute myeloid leukemia (AML); (3) MS following myelodysplastic syndrome,
      myeloproliferative neoplasm, or chronic myelogenous leukemia; and (4) MS as a
      recurrence of AML. The most common development site was the lymph node.
      Testicular lesions were statistically more frequent in MS as a recurrence of AML
      than in other types of MS (P=0.0183). MS tended to lack myeloid markers
      (myeloperoxidase was present in 63.2%, CD68 in 51.3%, CD13 in 48.7%, and CD33 in
      48.7% of patients) and express T-cell markers such as CD3 (20.7%) and CD5
      (34.2%). All T-cell marker-positive MS cases were negative for the alphabeta and
      gammadelta T-cell receptors on immunohistochemistry. Underlying myelodysplastic
      syndrome or myeloproliferative neoplasm was a poor prognostic factor (vs. de novo
      MS: P=0.0383; vs. MS with concomitant AML: P=0.0143). However, there was no
      statistical difference in prognosis between de novo MS and MS with concomitant
      AML (P=0.288). There were no significant differences in prognosis between the
      prognoses of T-cell marker-positive and T-cell marker-negative MS cases. In
      addition, CXCR4 expression was a poor prognostic factor in MS (P=0.0229). This
      study involves the largest MS cohort to date and expands the clinical and
      pathologic knowledge of the disease.

PMID- 27631511
TI  - Mechanical Implantation of Urothelium Into Periureteral Soft Tissue: A Series of
      4 Cases Mimicking High-stage Urothelial Carcinoma.
AB  - In the upper genitourinary tract of the ureter and renal pelvis, any invasion of
      urothelial carcinoma (UC) beyond the thin muscularis is considered pT3 disease,
      which may prompt adjuvant chemotherapy. Ureteroscopy is commonly used in the
      workup of these lesions to obtain tissue biopsies and cytology specimens, or to
      place stents for the relief of obstructive symptoms. The current study describes
      4 cases in which the presence of small nests of urothelium in periureteral and
      peripelvic soft tissue was noted after ureteroscopic instrumentation, mimicking
      high-stage UC. All 4 cases had a history of ureteral instrumentation with biopsy
      of the suspected UC. The diagnostic biopsies showed low-grade noninvasive
      papillary UC (n=2), papillary urothelial neoplasm of uncertain malignant
      potential (n=1), and benign inverted urothelial papilloma (n=1). In the
      definitive resection specimens, small nests of bland urothelium were present in
      the periureteral or peripelvic soft tissue, raising the possibility of pT3 UC. We
      interpreted these displaced small nests to be the result of mechanical
      implantation occurring during the ureteroscopic procedure on the basis of the
      finding of associated linear fibrosis, inflammation, hemorrhage, and foreign body
      giant cells. In the setting of low-grade or benign urothelial neoplasms in the
      upper urinary tract, caution is warranted when cytologically bland nests of the
      urothelium are identified beyond the muscularis that could represent mechanically
      induced implants as opposed to invasive UC extending into peripelvic or
      periureteral soft tissue.

PMID- 27631512
TI  - Proposal of a Provisional Classification of Sebaceous Carcinoma Based on Hormone
      Receptor Expression and HER2 Status.
AB  - Despite recent progress in comprehensive genetic analysis, little is known about
      the molecular pathogenesis of sebaceous carcinoma. On the basis of the ontogenic
      proximity of sebaceous and mammary glands, we designed an intrinsic
      classification for sebaceous carcinoma adapted from that of breast cancer and
      evaluated its clinical significance. We investigated 42 cases of sebaceous
      carcinoma, including 32 ocular and 10 extraocular cases. Immunohistochemical
      analyses for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), androgen
      receptor (AR), HER2, Ki67, and CK5/6 and fluorescence in situ hybridization for
      the HER2 gene were performed. The immunohistochemistry for ER, PR, and AR showed
      positivity in 18 (42.9%), 11 (26.2%), and 34 (81.0%) cases, respectively.
      Expression of the HER2 protein was found in 10 (33.8%) cases, whereas extra
      copies were found in 3 (7.1%). According to our system, there were 16 (38.1%)
      cases of the luminal 1 subtype, 4 (9.5%) of the luminal 2 subtype, and 7 (16.7%)
      of the HER2 subtype, respectively. Fifteen cases (35.7%) belonged to the triple
      negative group. In univariable analysis, loss of AR was significantly associated
      with shorter disease-free survival (P=0.020), whereas the expression of HER2 was
      associated with a better outcome with borderline significance (P=0.060). The
      luminal 2 subtype showed the best survival, and the all-negative subtype showed
      the worst (P=0.001). In multivariable analysis, negativity of PR or AR, low
      CK5/6, and female sex were independent poor prognostic factors (all P<0.05). This
      is the first study to categorize sebaceous carcinoma on the basis of the possible
      link between its molecular pathogenesis and future therapeutic applications.

PMID- 27631513
TI  - Letter to the Editor With Regard to the Article Entitled: "A Consensus for
      Classification and Pathologic Reporting of Pseudomyxoma Peritoneii and Associated
      Appendiceal Neoplasia".

PMID- 27631514
TI  - EGFR Exon 20 Insertion/Duplication Mutations Characterize Fibrous Hamartoma of
      Infancy.
AB  - Fibrous hamartoma of infancy (FHI) is a benign mesenchymal tumor histologically
      characterized by a mixture of intersecting fascicles of
      fibroblasts/myofibroblasts in collagenous stroma, nests of primitive oval or
      stellate cells in basophilic mucoid stroma, and mature adipose tissue. We
      hypothesized that FHI, because of histologic overlap with mesenchymal overgrowth
      tumors seen in CLOVES (Congenital Lipomatous Overgrowth with Vascular, Epidermal,
      Skeletal anomalies) and Proteus syndromes, may harbor mutations in signaling
      pathways associated with cellular proliferation. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded
      material from a discovery set of 4 cases of FHI was investigated by targeted next
      generation sequencing of a panel of cancer-associated genes. The results were
      confirmed by targeted Sanger sequencing of EGFR exon 20. A validation set of 8
      cases of FHI and 10 cases of other pediatric fatty tumors were investigated by
      targeted Sanger sequencing of EGFR exon 20. All 12 cases of FHI, and none of the
      10 control tumors, showed EGFR exon 20 insertion/duplication mutations. This is
      the first report of molecular aberrations in FHI. The consistent occurrence of
      EGFR exon 20 insertion/duplication mutations in 100% of cases of FHI studied
      suggests that they must play a principal role in the pathogenesis of FHI, likely
      by conferring a potential for growth and local infiltration. Although surgical
      treatment will remain the mainstay of FHI treatment, tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      may have an adjunctive role in cases that are difficult to resect.

PMID- 27631515
TI  - Secretory Carcinoma of the Skin Harboring ETV6 Gene Fusions: A Cutaneous Analogue
      to Secretory Carcinomas of the Breast and Salivary Glands.
AB  - Mammary analogue secretory carcinoma is a low-grade salivary gland carcinoma that
      exhibits analogous features to secretory carcinoma of the breast including the
      presence of a t(12;15) translocation resulting in the ETV6-NTRK3 gene fusion.
      Rare cases of purported secretory carcinoma of the skin adnexa have been
      reported, but their relationship to true secretory carcinoma of the breast and
      salivary glands is unclear, as they generally do not harbor ETV6 rearrangements.
      Cases of cutaneous neoplasms with histologic features identical to secretory
      carcinoma of the breast and salivary glands were identified from the consultation
      files of 3 academic medical institutions. Immunohistochemistry was performed for
      S100 protein, mammaglobin and STAT5a. Break-apart fluorescence in situ
      hybridization was used evaluate for disruption of the ETV6 gene. Six cases of
      cutaneous secretory carcinoma were identified. The tumors arose in 4 women and 2
      men, ranging from 24 to 71 years in age (mean, 47 y). The carcinomas presented in
      the skin of the axilla (n=4), ventral neck (n=1), and cheek (n=1). The tumors
      arose in the superficial dermis in association with adnexal structures. None of
      the patients had a prior or concurrent breast or salivary gland tumor. They were
      histologically characterized by well-circumscribed but unencapsulated
      proliferations of bland, eosinophilic cells arranged in microcysts and follicles
      with intraluminal secretions. Ectopic breast or salivary gland tissue was not
      identified. The cases were diffusely positive for S100 protein (6 of 6),
      mammaglobin (6 of 6), and STAT5a (5 of 5). All 6 cases harbored rearrangements of
      ETV6. All tumors were treated by simple excision alone. No recurrences or
      metastases developed in the 2 cases with follow-up. Secretory carcinoma of the
      skin represents a phenotypic, immunohistochemical, and genetic counterpart to
      secretory carcinoma of the breast and salivary glands. This tumor entity is less
      anatomically restricted than previously supposed.

PMID- 27631516
TI  - Cystic Epithelial Tumors of the Prostate: One Case Supporting a Continuous
      Spectrum From Cystadenoma to Cystadenocarcinoma With Ductal Features.

PMID- 27631518
TI  - TFE3-Fusion Variant Analysis Defines Specific Clinicopathologic Associations Amog
      Xp11 Translocation Cancers.

PMID- 27631517
TI  - EBV-negative Aggressive NK-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma: Clinical, Pathologic, and
      Genetic Features.
AB  - Aggressive natural killer cell leukemia (ANKL) is a systemic NK-cell neoplasm,
      almost always associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Rare cases of EBV
      negative ANKL have been described, and some reports suggested more indolent
      behavior. We report the clinicopathologic, immunophenotypic, and molecular
      characteristics of 7 EBV-negative ANKL. All patients were adults, with a median
      age of 63 years (range 22 to 83 y) and an M:F ratio of 2.5:1. Five patients were
      White, 1 Black, and 1 Asian. All patients presented acutely, with fever (6/7),
      cytopenias (6/7), and splenomegaly (4/7). Four patients had lymphadenopathy, 4
      had extranodal disease. Bone marrow involvement was present in 5, with
      hemophagocytosis in 3. Peripheral blood was involved in 5 with the neoplastic
      cells containing prominent azurophilic granules. By immunohistochemistry and/or
      flow cytometry, the tumor cells lacked surface CD3 and were positive for CD56
      (7/7), CD2 (5/5), CD8 (3/7), CD30 (4/5), and granzyme-B (6/6). They were negative
      for CD4, CD5, betaF1, TCRgamma, LMP1, and EBV-encoded RNA. Polymerase chain
      reaction for TCRG clonality was polyclonal. Mutational analysis revealed missense
      mutations in the STAT3 gene in both cases studied. Median survival was 8 weeks
      from the onset of disease. One patient received allogeneic bone marrow transplant
      and is alive with no disease (follow-up 15 mo). EBV-negative ANKL exists but is
      rare. It tends to occur in older patients and is indistinguishable clinically and
      pathologically from EBV-positive ANKL, with a similar fulminant clinical course.
      The high prevalence of Asian patients seen with EBV-positive disease seems less
      evident with EBV-negative cases.

PMID- 27631522
TI  - Yolk Sac Tumor in Extragonadal Pelvic Sites: Still a Diagnostic Challenge.
AB  - We present the clinicopathologic features of 15 cases of extragonadal yolk sac
      tumor (EGYST) detected in female patients and reviewed at our institution from
      1988 to 2016. We recorded: patient age, clinical presentation, tumor location,
      FIGO stage (where applicable), histologic patterns including presence/absence of
      Schiller-Duval bodies, other germ cell or somatic components, immunoperoxidase
      results, treatment, and outcome. Patients' ages ranged from 17 to 87 (median, 62)
      years and presentation included: abnormal uterine bleeding, 12; hematuria, 1;
      labial mass, 1; abdominal pain, 1. Primary sites were as follows: uterus (11),
      vagina (1), vulva (1), bladder (1), and peritoneum (1). Seven patients presented
      at FIGO stage III or IV. The following histologic patterns were observed:
      microcystic/reticular (7), glandular (8), solid (8), papillary (5), and hepatoid
      (1). An admixture of histologic patterns was present in 10 cases. Schiller-Duval
      bodies were seen in only 3 (23%) cases. Eight cases (46%), all uterine primaries,
      had associated somatic components, and 2 (15%) had a second germ cell component.
      In 13/14 (93%) cases, the yolk sac tumor component was either missed or
      misclassified as adenocarcinoma. Immunoperoxidase studies facilitated the
      diagnosis in all cases as follows: SALL4, 12/12; CDX2, 10/12; alpha fetoprotein,
      7/14; glypican-3, 9/10; cytokeratin 20, 5/9 (rare cells); cytokeratin 7, 3/12
      (nondiffuse); PAX8, 2/9 (variable expression). All patients received chemotherapy
      and all except 1 underwent surgical resection. Follow-up from 5 to 86 months was
      available for 13 patients: 5 died of disease, 6 are alive with disease, and 2
      have no evidence of disease. EGYST arising in the female pelvis of
      peri/postmenopausal patients may be associated with a somatic component and
      represent either somatically derived YST or YST differentiation within a somatic
      carcinoma. EGYST in younger patients is likely a true germ cell neoplasm, and may
      respond to germ cell appropriate chemotherapy. The benefit of germ cell
      appropriate chemotherapy in somatically derived EGYST is less clear. Awareness
      that the presence of glandular or microcystic patterns may lead to under
      recognition or misdiagnosis of EGYST in combination with immunomarkers for germ
      cell and yolk sac differentiation will facilitate the diagnosis.

PMID- 27631521
TI  - Validation of a Proposed Tumor Regression Grading Scheme for Pancreatic Ductal
      Adenocarcinoma After Neoadjuvant Therapy as a Prognostic Indicator for Survival.
AB  - Neoadjuvant therapy has been increasingly used to treat patients with potentially
      resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Although the College of
      American Pathologists (CAP) grading scheme for tumor response in posttherapy
      specimens has been used, its clinical significance has not been validated.
      Previously, we proposed a 3-tier histologic tumor regression grading (HTRG)
      scheme (HTRG 0, no viable tumor; HTRG 1, <5% viable tumor cells; HTRG 2, >=5%
      viable tumor cells) and showed that the 3-tier HTRG scheme correlated with
      prognosis. In this study, we sought to validate our proposed HTRG scheme in a new
      cohort of 167 consecutive PDAC patients who completed neoadjuvant therapy and
      pancreaticoduodenectomy. We found that patients with HTRG 0 or 1 were associated
      with a lower frequency of lymph node metastasis (P=0.004) and recurrence
      (P=0.01), lower ypT (P<0.001) and AJCC stage (P<0.001), longer disease-free
      survival (DFS, P=0.004) and overall survival (OS, P=0.02) than those with HTRG 2.
      However, there was no difference in either DFS or OS between the groups with CAP
      grade 2 and those with CAP grade 3 (P>0.05). In multivariate analysis, HTRG grade
      0 or 1 was an independent prognostic factor for better DFS (P=0.03), but not OS.
      Therefore we validated the proposed HTRG scheme from our previous study. The
      proposed HTRG scheme is simple and easy to apply in practice by pathologists and
      might be used as a successful surrogate for longer DFS in patients with
      potentially resectable PDAC who completed neoadjuvant therapy and surgery.

PMID- 27631520
TI  - Novel High-grade Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma: A Morphologic Mimicker of Myxoid
      Leiomyosarcoma.
AB  - Endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESS) are often underpinned by recurrent chromosomal
      translocations resulting in the fusion of genes involved in epigenetic
      regulation. To date, only YWHAE-NUTM2 rearrangements are associated with
      distinctive high-grade morphology and aggressive clinical behavior. We identified
      3 ESS morphologically mimicking myxoid leiomyosarcoma of the uterus and sought to
      describe their unique histopathologic features and identify genetic alterations
      using next-generation sequencing. All cases displayed predominantly spindled
      cells associated with abundant myxoid stroma and brisk mitotic activity. Tumors
      involved the endometrium and demonstrated tongue-like myometrial infiltration.
      All 3 were associated with an aggressive clinical course, including multisite
      bony metastases in 1 patient, progressive peritoneal disease after chemotherapy
      in another, and metastases to the lung and skin in the last patient. All 3 ESS
      were found to harbor ZC3H7B-BCOR gene fusions by targeted sequencing and
      fluorescence in situ hybridization. On the basis of the review of these cases, we
      find that ESS with ZC3H7B-BCOR fusion constitutes a novel type of high-grade ESS
      and shares significant morphologic overlap with myxoid leiomyosarcoma.

PMID- 27631523
TI  - Volatiles Mediating Parasitism of Euschistus conspersus and Halyomorpha halys
      Eggs by Telenomus podisi and Trissolcus erugatus.
AB  - This study identified chemicals found on the eggs of two stink bug species, one
      native to western North America, Euschistus conspersus, and an invasive species
      from Asia, Halyomorpha halys. The responses of two scelionid egg parasitoids,
      Trissolcus erugatus and Telenomus podisi, toward natural stink bug egg volatiles,
      and synthetic reconstructions of egg volatiles, were tested in bioassays. A
      compound, methyl (2E,4Z)-2,4-decadienoate, previously identified as the major
      component of the male-produced aggregation pheromone of E. conspersus, was the
      major volatile identified from extracts of E. conspersus eggs. In contrast, for
      H. halys, the sesquiterpenoids that compose the male-produced aggregation
      pheromone of this species were not detected on eggs, whereas the presence of
      hexadecanal, octadecanal, and eicosanal was detected. In laboratory olfactometer
      tests, both Tr. erugatus and Te. podisi females were attracted to extracts of E.
      conspersus eggs, and to synthetic methyl (2E,4Z)-2,4-decadienoate. However,
      female Tr. erugatus and Te. podisi wasps were repelled, both by extracts of H.
      halys eggs and by a blend of the aldehydes identified from H. halys eggs. A
      follow-up field study, using hexane-washed and intact E. conspersus as sentinel
      eggs, showed that the parasitoids Trissolcus erugatus and Gryon obesum emerged
      from these eggs. Sentinel hexane-washed eggs treated with 3 ng of methyl (2E,4Z)
      2,4-decadienoate were parasitized more by these two species than were hexane
      washed or unwashed eggs, whereas hexane-washed eggs treated with a comparable
      dose of the C16,18,20 aldehyde mixture were avoided by these parasitoids. In a
      further field experiment, Trissolcus basalis was the primary parasitoid found in
      sticky traps baited with methyl (2E,4Z)-2,4-decadienoate, indicating that this
      species was attracted to, but either did not oviposit or develop in the E.
      conspersus sentinel eggs in the previous experiment.

PMID- 27631524
TI  - Identification of a Novel Moth Sex Pheromone Component from Chilecomadia
      valdiviana.
AB  - Chilecomadia valdiviana (Philippi) (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) is an insect native to
      Chile. The larval stages feed on the wood of economically important fruit tree
      species such as apple, pear, olive, cherry, and avocado, and also on eucalyptus.
      This causes weakening and, in case of severe infestation, death of the tree. We
      report identification of the sex pheromone produced by females of this species.
      Hexane extracts of the abdominal glands of virgin females were analyzed by gas
      chromatography (GC) with electroantennographic detection, GC coupled with mass
      spectrometry, and GC coupled to infrared spectroscopy. The major pheromone
      component was identified as (7Z,10Z)-7,10-hexadecadienal (Z7,Z10-16:Ald), and
      minor components present in the extracts were (Z)-7-hexadecenal and (Z)-9
      hexadecenal, hexadecanal, and (9Z,12Z)-9,12-octadecadienal. Structural
      assignments were carried out by comparison of analytical data of the natural
      products and their dimethyl disulfide adducts with those of authentic reference
      samples. In field tests, traps baited with Z7,Z10-16:Ald captured significantly
      more males than control traps.

PMID- 27631525
TI  - GABA Receptors in the Medial Preoptic Area Modulate the Onset of Oestradiol
      Induced Maternal Behaviour in Hysterectomised-Ovariectomised, Pregnant Rats.
AB  - We studied the participation of GABA neurotransmission in the medial preoptic
      area (mPOA) with respect to the onset of the pup retrieval response and nest
      building. Pregnant female rats were implanted with bilateral cannulae in the mPOA
      on day 12 of pregnancy and, on day 16, the females were hysterectomised and
      ovariectomised and given 200 MUg/kg of oestradiol benzoate. Two days later, the
      females received one of the following intracerebral drug treatments: GABAB
      agonist baclofen (200 ng); GABAB antagonist phaclofen (1 MUg); GABAA antagonist
      bicuculline (60 ng); or physiological saline. Five minutes after intracerebral
      infusion, three foster pups were introduced into the females' home cage. The
      subjects were observed for pup grouping (retrieval) during 15 min, after which
      the pups were left with the female. During the next 12 h, an observation was made
      every 1 h to determine whether the pups had been grouped (retrieved) or not. The
      GABAB agonist baclofen reduced the proportion of females retrieving pups from 4
      to 8 h following pup introduction. By contrast, both the GABAA antagonist
      bicuculline and the GABAB antagonist phaclofen enhanced the proportion of females
      retrieving pups during the first 3 h of observation. The latency to pup retrieval
      in subjects treated with the GABAB agonist baclofen was significantly longer than
      that in subjects given any of the antagonists. All females built a nest but
      baclofen reduced nest quality. These data show that activation of GABAB receptors
      in the mPOA has an inhibitory effect on basic maternal behaviours, whereas
      blockade of either the GABAA or GABAB receptor facilitates pup retrieval. It is
      possible that reduced GABAergic tone in the mPOA is a key element in the
      initiation of maternal behaviours in postparturient rats.

PMID- 27631526
TI  - The effect of the Falcon 460 EC fungicide on soil microbial communities, enzyme
      activities and plant growth.
AB  - Fungicides are considered to be effective crop protection chemicals in modern
      agriculture. However, they can also exert toxic effects on non-target organisms,
      including soil-dwelling microbes. Therefore, the environmental fate of fungicides
      has to be closely monitored. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence
      of the Falcon 460 EC fungicide on microbial diversity, enzyme activity and
      resistance, and plant growth. Samples of sandy loam with pHKCl 7.0 were collected
      for laboratory analyses on experimental days 30, 60 and 90. Falcon 460 EC was
      applied to soil in the following doses: control (soil without the fungicide),
      dose recommended by the manufacturer, 30-fold higher than the recommended dose,
      150-fold higher than the recommended dose and 300-fold higher than the
      recommended dose. The observed differences in the values of the colony
      development index and the eco-physiological index indicate that the mixture of
      spiroxamine, tebuconazole and triadimenol modified the biological diversity of
      the analyzed groups of soil microorganisms. Bacteria of the genus Bacillus and
      fungi of the genera Penicillium and Rhizopus were isolated from fungicide
      contaminated soil. The tested fungicide inhibited the activity of dehydrogenases,
      catalase, urease, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase. The greatest changes
      were induced by the highest fungicide dose 300-fold higher than the recommended
      dose. Dehydrogenases were most resistant to soil contamination. The Phytotoxkit
      test revealed that the analyzed fungicide inhibits seed germination capacity and
      root elongation. The results of this study indicate that excessive doses of the
      Falcon 460 EC fungicide 30-fold higher than the recommended dose to 300-fold
      higher than the recommended dose) can induce changes in the biological activity
      of soil. The analyzed microbiological and biochemical parameters are reliable
      indicators of the fungicide's toxic effects on soil quality.

PMID- 27631527
TI  - Spawning and multiple end points of the embryo-larval bioassay of the blue mussel
      Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lmk).
AB  - Since the 1960s, little has been done to improve and simulate the use of short
      duration chronic bioassays of bivalve embryos, particularly in mussels. However,
      these test organisms offer great advantages in relation to other groups, due to
      the ease of obtaining breeders in cultivation systems, in the environment and any
      time, and due to their high sensitivity to chemicals or contaminants. To
      contribute some methodological aspects, this study uses techniques to stimulate
      spawning or improve the obtaining of gametes for use in bioassays with the mussel
      Mytilus galloprovincialis. It also evaluates different criteria for determining
      the effect on the larvae, for estimation of EC50 and NOEC values, based on
      morphological analysis of developmental delay and the biometrics of the larvae.
      KCl proved to be a reliable inducer of spawning, with positive responses in 10 of
      the 12 months of the year tested. Moreover, this chemical, in association with
      NH4Cl, demonstrated the capacity to activate immature oocytes obtained from
      extirpated gonads, enabling an improvement in fertilization rates. The different
      criteria adopted to determine the effects on the larvae in the assays with
      reference toxicants (SDS and K2Cr2O7) resulted in EC50 and NOEC values without
      significant differences, indicating reliability in the results and freedom in the
      choice of criteria of effect to be adopted in the trials.

PMID- 27631528
TI  - [Prevention and treatment of cachexia : Exercise and nutritional therapy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cachexia is a multifactorial and complex syndrome characterized by
      progressive functional impairment and ongoing loss in quality of life, which lead
      to a deterioration of the prognosis for affected patients. The prevalence of
      cachexia can be very high and is up to 80 % in patients with malignant tumors.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the relevance of exercise and
      nutrition in the prevention and therapy of cachexia. METHODS: An evaluation of
      the current literature on exercise and nutritional therapy in patients with
      cachexia or with advanced stage diseases where a high prevalence of cachexia is
      probable, was carried out. RESULTS: There is a lack of scientific evidence for
      the benefits of exercise in cachexia. A major problem of relevant studies was
      that cachexia was frequently not defined according to valid criteria; however,
      data indicate a benefit of exercise training in patients with advanced diseases
      associated with a high prevalence of cachexia. A solely nutritional intervention
      and dietary counselling seem to be of minimal benefit. The administration of
      omega 3 fatty acids is controversially discussed. CONCLUSION: Although there is a
      lack of data on the effects of exercise and nutritional therapy in cachexia,
      there is evidence for the benefits. The present data indicate the necessity for
      the use of a multimodal treatment including exercise, nutritional and
      pharmacological therapy in cachexia. There is a great necessity for prospective
      studies.

PMID- 27631530
TI  - [Management of rheumatoid arthritis].
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common inflammatory rheumatic disease. Due to
      the destruction of joints in the course of the disease it leads to significant
      morbidity in affected patients. The quality of life and even life expectancy can
      be severely impaired. Early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment is a
      decisive step towards a more benign course of the disease. New classification
      criteria have been published in order to help in early diagnosis. Methods of
      imaging, such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging help in the detection
      of synovitis, which is the major pathomorphological manifestation of arthritis
      and should be identified without any doubt. Treatment follows the rule of treat
      to target with the aim of achieving remission or if this is not realistic, at
      least the lowest possible level of disease activity. The first and perhaps most
      important step in therapy is the initiation of methotrexate or if
      contraindications are present, another disease-modifying antirheumatic drug
      (DMARD) as soon as the diagnosis is made. Initial addition of glucocorticoids is
      recommended, which should be reduced in dose and terminated as soon as possible.
      Furthermore, either the combination of different DMARDs or the start of biologic
      DMARDs, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors or second
      generation biologic DMARDs is possible as a treatment option. The treatment
      follows the rule of shared decision-making and is the standard to treat
      comorbidities, the use an interdisciplinary approach and to treat functional
      deficits by rehabilitation measures, such as physiotherapy.

PMID- 27631529
TI  - [Update palliative pain therapy].
AB  - Cancer pain and pain associated with non-neoplastic diseases can be associated
      with pain mechanisms, such as a peripheral or central sensitization or
      deafferentation. The clarification allows indirect conclusions about the
      underlying mechanisms based on clinical signs, such as allodynia or hyperalgesia.
      Non-opioid analgesics are the basis of cancer pain therapy according to the World
      Health Organization (WHO) pain ladder. In the case of severe cancer pain,
      treatment can be escalated directly from level 1 to level 3. Opioids are highly
      effective for the treatment of cancer pain even with a neuropathic component,
      which can occur in up to 40 % of cases as amixed pain syndrome. Coanalgesics
      represent a valuable therapeutic adjunct for better pain control and can address
      treatment of comorbidities, such as anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. When
      liver and/or renal function is reduced, the dosage of many drugs has to be
      adapted. Treatment of multimorbid or critically ill patients with opioids and
      antidepressants/anticonvulsants requires consideration of numerous possible
      pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic interactions.

PMID- 27631532
TI  - Plant phenolic acids induce programmed cell death of a fungal pathogen: MAPK
      signaling and survival of Cochliobolus heterostrophus.
AB  - Plant aromatic compounds provide signals and a nutrient source to pathogens, and
      also act as stressors. Structure-activity relationships suggest two pathways
      sensing these compounds in the maize pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus, one
      triggering a stress response, and one inducing enzymes for their degradation.
      Focusing on the stress pathway, we found that ferulic acid causes rapid
      appearance of TUNEL-positive nuclei, dispersion of histone H1:GFP, hyphal
      shrinkage, and eventually membrane damage. These hallmarks of programmed cell
      death (PCD) were not seen upon exposure to caffeic acid, a very similar compound.
      Exposure to ferulic acid dephosphorylated two MAP kinases: Hog1 (stress
      activated) and Chk1 (pathogenicity related), while increasing phosphorylation of
      Mps1 (cell integrity related). Mutants lacking Hog1 or Chk1 are hypersensitive to
      ferulic acid while Mps1 mutants are not. These results implicate three MAPK
      pathways in the stress response. Ferulic acid and the antifungal fludioxonil have
      opposite additive effects on survival and on dephosphorylation of Hog1, which is
      thus implicated in survival. The results may explain why some fungal pathogens of
      plants undergo cell death early in host invasion, when phenolics are released
      from plant tissue.

PMID- 27631531
TI  - [Management of polymyalgia rheumatica and large vessel vasculitis].
AB  - Imaging methods, such as joint and color duplex sonography, magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) nowadays facilitate the
      diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica and large vessel vasculitides and have now
      been included in the new classification criteria. In patients with typical
      symptoms, color duplex sonography of the temporal artery can replace a biopsy of
      the temporal artery for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA); however, the
      role of these methods for patient follow-up and assessment of prognosis is
      unclear. Polymyalgia rheumatica is treated with glucocorticoids (GC) in an
      initial dosage of up to 20 mg per day. In patients with large vessel vasculitis
      higher doses are needed for induction of remission. Furthermore, the rate of
      relapse and GC-related adverse events are higher in GCA and Takayasu arteritis
      (TA). Thus, initial GC-sparing treatment with methotrexate or other
      immunosuppressants is recommended. Recent study data show an effectiveness of
      biologics. Recent data of the first placebo-controlled proof of concept trials
      showed that the interleukin-6 antagonist tocilizumab reduces GC requirements and
      relapse rates in patients with GCA and polymyalgia rheumatica. Both ustekinumab,
      a monocalonal antibody against interleukin-12/23p40 and the CTLA-4 immunoglobulin
      abatacept appeared to be effective in recent pilot trials for GCA. Antibodies
      against tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) were ineffective for polymyalgia
      rheumatica and GCA in placebo-controlled trials but data from open label studies
      suggested some efficacy in refractory TA.

PMID- 27631533
TI  - Plate-based diversity subset screening generation 2: an improved paradigm for
      high-throughput screening of large compound files.
AB  - High-throughput screening (HTS) is an effective method for lead and probe
      discovery that is widely used in industry and academia to identify novel chemical
      matter and to initiate the drug discovery process. However, HTS can be time
      consuming and costly and the use of subsets as an efficient alternative to
      screening entire compound collections has been investigated. Subsets may be
      selected on the basis of chemical diversity, molecular properties, biological
      activity diversity or biological target focus. Previously, we described a novel
      form of subset screening: plate-based diversity subset (PBDS) screening, in which
      the screening subset is constructed by plate selection (rather than individual
      compound cherry-picking), using algorithms that select for compound quality and
      chemical diversity on a plate basis. In this paper, we describe a second
      generation approach to the construction of an updated subset: PBDS2, using both
      plate and individual compound selection, that has an improved coverage of the
      chemical space of the screening file, whilst only selecting the same number of
      plates for screening. We describe the validation of PBDS2 and its successful use
      in hit and lead discovery. PBDS2 screening became the default mode of singleton
      (one compound per well) HTS for lead discovery in Pfizer.

PMID- 27631535
TI  - Pain-relieving agents for infantile colic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infantile colic is a common disorder in the first months of life,
      affecting somewhere between 4% and 28% of infants worldwide, depending on
      geography and definitions used. Although it is self limiting and resolves by four
      months of age, colic is perceived by parents as a problem that requires action.
      Pain-relieving agents, such as drugs, sugars and herbal remedies, have been
      suggested as interventions to reduce crying episodes and severity of symptoms.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and safety of pain-relieving agents for
      reducing colic in infants younger than four months of age. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched the following databases in March 2015 and again in May 2016: CENTRAL,
      Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO, along with 11 other databases. We also
      searched two trial registers, four thesis repositories and the reference lists of
      relevant studies to identify unpublished and ongoing studies. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs evaluating the
      effects of pain-relieving agents given to infants with colic. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: We used the standard methodological procedures of The Cochrane
      Collaboration. MAIN RESULTS: We included 18 RCTs involving 1014 infants. All
      studies were small and at high risk of bias, often presenting major shortcomings
      across multiple design factors (e.g. selection, performance, attrition, lack of
      washout period).Three studies compared simethicone with placebo, and one with
      Mentha piperita; four studies compared herbal agents with placebo; two compared
      sucrose or glucose with placebo; five compared dicyclomine with placebo; and two
      compared cimetropium - one against placebo and the other at two different
      dosages. One multiple-arm study compared sucrose and herbal tea versus no
      treatment. Simethicone. Comparison with placebo revealed no difference in daily
      hours of crying reported for simethicone at the end of treatment in one small,
      low-quality study involving 27 infants. A meta-analysis of data from two cross
      over studies comparing simethicone with placebo showed no difference in the
      number of of infants who responded positively to treatment (risk ratio (RR) 0.95,
      95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73 to 1.23; 110 infants, low-quality evidence).One
      small study (30 participants) compared simethicone with Mentha piperita and found
      no difference in crying duration, number of crying episodes or number of
      responders. Herbal agents. We found low-quality evidence suggesting that herbal
      agents reduce the duration of crying compared with placebo (mean difference (MD)
      1.33, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.96; three studies, 279 infants), with different magnitude
      of benefit noted across studies (I2 = 96%). We found moderate-quality evidence
      indicating that herbal agents increase response over placebo (RR 2.05, 95% CI
      1.56 to 2.70; three studies, 277 infants). Sucrose. One very low-quality study
      involving 35 infants reported that sucrose reduced hours spent crying compared
      with placebo (MD 1.72, 95% CI 1.38 to 2.06). Dicyclomine. We could consider only
      one of the five studies of dicyclomine (48 infants) for the primary comparison.
      In this study, more of the infants given dicyclomine responded than than those
      given placebo (RR 2.50, 95% CI 1.17 to 5.34). Cimetropium bromide. Data from one
      very low-quality study comparing cimetropium bromide with placebo showed reduced
      crying duration among infants treated with cimetropium bromide (MD -30.20 minutes
      per crisis, 95% CI -39.51 to -20.89; 86 infants). The same study reported that
      cimetropium increased the number of responders (RR 2.29, 95% CI 1.44 to 3.64).No
      serious adverse events were reported for all of the agents considered, with the
      exception of dicyclomine, for which two of five studies reported relevant adverse
      effects (longer sleep 4%, wide-eyed state 4%, drowsiness 13%). AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: At the present time, evidence of the effectiveness of pain-relieving
      agents for the treatment of infantile colic is sparse and prone to bias. The few
      available studies included small sample sizes, and most had serious limitations.
      Benefits, when reported, were inconsistent.We found no evidence to support the
      use of simethicone as a pain-relieving agent for infantile colic.Available
      evidence shows that herbal agents, sugar, dicyclomine and cimetropium bromide
      cannot be recommended for infants with colic.Investigators must conduct RCTs
      using standardised measures that allow comparisons among pain-relieving agents
      and pooling of results across studies. Parents, who most often provide the
      intervention and assess the outcome, should always be blinded.

PMID- 27631534
TI  - FACE-Q Eye Module for Measuring Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Cosmetic Eye
      Treatments.
AB  - Importance: Aesthetic eye treatments can dramatically change a person's
      appearance, but outcomes are rarely measured from the patient perspective. The
      patient perspective could be measured using an eye-specific patient-reported
      outcome measure. Objective: To describe the development and psychometric
      evaluation of FACE-Q scales and an adverse effect checklist designed to measure
      outcomes following cosmetic eye treatments. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      Pretreatment and posttreatment patients 18 years and older who had undergone
      facial aesthetic procedures were recruited from plastic surgery clinics in United
      States and Canada and completed FACE-Q scales between June 6, 2010, and July 14,
      2014. We used Rasch Measurement Theory, a modern psychometric approach, to refine
      the scales and to examine psychometric properties. Main Outcomes and Measures:
      The FACE-Q Eye Module, which has 4 scales that measure appearance of the eyes,
      upper and lower eyelids, and eyelashes. Scale scores range from 0 (worst) to 100
      (best). The module also includes a checklist measuring postblepharoplasty adverse
      effects. Results: Overall, 233 patients (81% response rate) 18 years and older
      participated. Adverse effects included being bothered by eyelid scars, dry eyes,
      and eye irritation. In Rasch Measurement Theory analysis, each scale's items had
      ordered thresholds and good item fit. Person Separation Index and Cronbach alpha
      were greater than or equal to 0.83. Higher scores on the eye scales correlated
      with fewer adverse effects (range, -0.26 to -0.36). In the pretreatment group,
      older age correlated with lower scores (range, -0.42 to -0.51) on the scales
      measure appearance of the eyes and upper and lower eyelids. Compared with the
      pretreatment group, posttreatment participants reported significantly better
      scores on the scales measuring appearance of eyes overall, as well as upper and
      lower eyelids. Conclusions and Relevance: The FACE-Q Eye Module can be used in
      clinical practice, research and quality improvement to collect evidence-based
      outcomes data. Level of Evidence: NA.

PMID- 27631536
TI  - The side-to-side fashion for individual distal coronary anastomosis using venous
      conduit.
AB  - Regarding to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the end-to-side anastomosis
      (ESA) has been performed as a gold standard. Recently, the effectiveness of the
      distal side-to-side anastomosis (SSA) in CABG using internal mammary artery has
      been reported. The benefit of SSA comparing to ESA also has been disclosed by
      computing simulation. However, use of SSA by venous conduit for individual CABG
      has not been reported. In this study, we investigated feasibility of SSA. From
      January 2013 to October 2014, we conducted 114 CABGs. There were 92 venous distal
      anastomoses without sequential anastomotic site (61 SSA and 31 ESA). The
      anastomosis was evaluated before discharge and at 1 year after the procedure by
      angiography or multi-detector row computed tomographic coronary angiography. The
      median values for time to anastomosis were 13 min in the two group (p = 0.89).
      There was no revision of anastomosis in both groups. Additional stitches for
      hemostasis were required significantly less in SSA than ESA (18.0 vs 45.2 %,
      respectively, p < 0.05). Early angiographic patency; 96.6 % for SSA vs 93.5 % for
      ESA (p = 0.50), and percentage of good anastomotic figure; 91.2 % for SSA vs 87.1
      % for ESA (p = 0.54) were similar in both groups. The angiographic patency at 1
      year were 92.9 % for SSA and 81.0 % for ESA (p = 0.16). There was no predictive
      factor for early and late graft failure. Our study showed feasibility of SSA
      using venous conduit in individual CABG based on early and mid-term angiographic
      results. This anastomotic fashion is easy to perform and maybe beneficial in
      blood flow pattern.

PMID- 27631537
TI  - Silencing sirtuins: A novel way to thwart reperfusion injury?

PMID- 27631540
TI  - Decoding pressure stimulation locations on the fingers from human neural
      activation patterns.
AB  - In this functional MRI study, we investigated how the human brain activity
      represents tactile location information evoked by pressure stimulation on
      fingers. Using the searchlight multivoxel pattern analysis, we looked for local
      activity patterns that could be decoded into one of four stimulated finger
      locations. The supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and the thalamus were found to contain
      distinct multivoxel patterns corresponding to individual stimulated locations. In
      contrast, the univariate general linear model analysis contrasting stimulation
      against resting phases for each finger identified activations mainly in the
      primary somatosensory cortex (S1), but not in SMG or in thalamus. Our results
      indicate that S1 might be involved in the detection of the presence of pressure
      stimuli, whereas the SMG and the thalamus might play a role in identifying which
      finger is stimulated. This finding may provide additional evidence for
      hierarchical information processing in the human somatosensory areas. 

PMID- 27631541
TI  - Structural and functional correlates of visual field asymmetry in the human brain
      by diffusion kurtosis MRI and functional MRI.
AB  - Human visual performance has been observed to show superiority in localized
      regions of the visual field across many classes of stimuli. However, the
      underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to determine whether
      the visual information processing in the human brain is dependent on the location
      of stimuli in the visual field and the corresponding neuroarchitecture using
      blood-oxygenation-level-dependent functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion kurtosis
      MRI, respectively, in 15 healthy individuals at 3 T. In fMRI, visual stimulation
      to the lower hemifield showed stronger brain responses and larger brain
      activation volumes than the upper hemifield, indicative of the differential
      sensitivity of the human brain across the visual field. In diffusion kurtosis
      MRI, the brain regions mapping to the lower visual field showed higher mean
      kurtosis, but not fractional anisotropy or mean diffusivity compared with the
      upper visual field. These results suggested the different distributions of
      microstructural organization across visual field brain representations. There was
      also a strong positive relationship between diffusion kurtosis and fMRI responses
      in the lower field brain representations. In summary, this study suggested the
      structural and functional brain involvements in the asymmetry of visual field
      responses in humans, and is important to the neurophysiological and psychological
      understanding of human visual information processing. 

PMID- 27631542
TI  - Novel Phagocytosis-Resistant Extended-Spectrum beta-Lactamase-Producing
      Escherichia coli From Keratitis.
AB  - Importance: Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli
      are highly antibiotic resistant, and primary ocular infection by ESBL E coli has
      rarely been reported. A novel mutation conferring phagocytosis resistance would
      position a strain well to infect the cornea. Observations: A woman with recurrent
      keratitis presented with a corneal ulcer, which was culture positive for ESBL E
      coli. Resistant to nearly all other antimicrobials, the infection was treated
      with amikacin and polymyxin B-trimethoprim, and the ulcer resolved over 3 weeks.
      Analysis of the E coli genome showed it to belong to multilocus sequence type 131
      (ST131). This isolate was found to possess a novel deletion in yrfF, an essential
      regulator of bacterial capsule synthesis. Disruption of yrfF, which confers
      mucoidy and increased virulence, has not been previously observed in ESBL E coli
      from any infection site. This novel variant was experimentally proven to cause
      the mucoid phenotype, and corresponding resistance to phagocytic killing.
      Conclusions and Relevance: Increased resistance to immune clearance in an ESBL E
      coli lineage already known for its virulence is an unsettling development. This
      phenotype, which likely positioned it as an unusual cause of corneal ulcer, can
      be easily recognized in the laboratory, which should help limit its spread.

PMID- 27631543
TI  - Racial Differences in Association of Serum Calcium with Mortality and Incident
      Cardio- and Cerebrovascular Events.
AB  - CONTEXT: Abnormalities in calcium metabolism may potentially contribute to the
      development of vascular disease. Calcium metabolism may be different in African
      American (AA) vs white individuals, but the effect of race on the association of
      serum calcium with clinical outcomes remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study
      sought to examine race-specific associations of serum calcium levels with
      mortality and with major incident cardiovascular events. DESIGN AND SETTING: This
      was a historical cohort study in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health
      care facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included veterans (n = 1 967 622)
      with estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The association between serum calcium levels with all-cause mortality,
      incident coronary heart disease (CHD), and ischemic stroke incidence was examined
      in multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, including an
      interaction term for calcium and race. RESULTS: The association of calcium with
      all-cause mortality was U-shaped in both AA and white patients, but race modified
      the association of calcium with all-cause mortality. Compared with white
      patients, AA patients experienced lower risk of mortality when calcium was >= 8.8
      mg/dL, with a statistically significant interaction (P < .001). Conversely, AA vs
      white race was associated with higher mortality when calcium was < 8.8 mg/dL.
      Calcium showed no significant association with ischemic stroke or CHD in both
      races; and race did not modify these associations (P = .37 and 0.11, respectively
      for interaction term). CONCLUSIONS: Race modified the U-shaped association
      between calcium and all-cause mortality. Serum calcium is not associated with
      incident stroke or CHD in either AA or white patients. The race-specific
      difference in the association of calcium levels with mortality warrants further
      examination.

PMID- 27631545
TI  - Palatal Perforation as a Rare Complication of Nasal Septoplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nasal septoplasty is one of the most commonly performed surgical
      procedures by otolaryngologists or plastic surgeons and is generally performed to
      improve the quality of life. Although nasal surgeries are generally safe and
      effective procedures, various complications have been described in the
      literature. METHODS: In this article, we present a rare case of fracture of a
      part of the hard palate resulting in palatal perforation after nasal septoplasty
      surgery early diagnosed and successfully treated. RESULTS: Patient follow-up 1
      year after oronasal closure revealed complete healing of the hard palate without
      the presence of fistula. CONCLUSIONS: Palatal perforation during septoplasty is
      extremely rare and, even though it is not a life-threatening complication, has
      potentially annoying effects; according to its size, it can result in nasal
      speech, oral health problems, and nasal regurgitation of liquids and is sometimes
      related with reconstructive challenging problems. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This
      journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a
      full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the
      Table of Contents or the A5 online Instructions to Authors.
      www.springer.com/00266 .

PMID- 27631544
TI  - Elite sprint swimming performance is enhanced by completion of additional warm-up
      activities.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of completing additional warm-up strategies in
      the transition phase between the pool warm up and the start of a race on elite
      sprint swimming performance. Twenty-five elite swimmers (12 men, 20 +/- 3 years;
      13 women, 20 +/- 2 years, performance standard ~807 FINA2014 points) completed a
      standardised pool warm up followed by a 30-min transition phase and a 100-m
      freestyle time trial. During the transition phase, swimmers wore a tracksuit
      jacket with integrated heating elements and performed a dry land-based exercise
      routine (Combo), or a conventional tracksuit and remained seated (Control). Start
      (1.5% +/- 1.0%, P = 0.02; mean +/- 90% confidence limits) and 100-m time trial
      (0.8% +/- 0.4%, P < 0.01) performances were improved in Combo. Core temperature
      declined less (-0.2 degrees C +/- 0.1 degrees C versus -0.5 degrees C +/- 0.1
      degrees C, P = 0.02) during the transition phase and total local (trapezius)
      haemoglobin concentration was greater before the time trial in Combo (81 uM +/-
      25 uM versus 30 uM +/- 18 uM, P < 0.01; mean +/- standard deviation) than in
      Control. Combining swimmers traditional pool warm up with passive heating via
      heated jackets and completion of dry land-based exercises in the transition phase
      improves elite sprint swimming performance by ~0.8%.

PMID- 27631546
TI  - Masking the Close Eye Appearance in the East Asian Female Population:
      Infratemporal Hairline Reduction with Hair Grafting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effectiveness of hairline advancement in treating
      patients with perceived close-set eyes due to a wide infratemple area. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Infratemple area hairline advancement was performed in 19 patients
      with perceived close-set eyes caused by a wide infratemple area; all were women
      with a mean age of 29.4 years. RESULTS: The wide infratemple area was effectively
      narrowed in the frontal view in all patients. The mean reduction in the distance
      between the bilateral infratemple hairlines in the frontal view was 5.2 mm (range
      3.9-6.3 mm). The appearance of close-set eyes was ameliorated, and patient
      satisfaction was high. No side effects, such as asymmetry or wound infection,
      were encountered. CONCLUSION: Hairline advancement surgery appears to be a safe
      and effective means of treating patients with perceived close-set eyes due to a
      wide infratemple area. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors
      assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these
      Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the
      online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

PMID- 27631547
TI  - What is the Optimal Range of Medial Pocket Dissection in Breast Augmentation? An
      Anatomical Study of Chinese Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The range of the medial dissection forbidden zone, defined as the no
      touch zone in this study, is of great importance in breast augmentation.
      Currently, 30 mm of the no-touch zone is marked and the pocket dissection does
      not pass medial to this zone, which lacks anatomical evidence. This study aimed
      to determine the optimal range of the no-touch zone in breast augmentation by
      precisely locating relevant anatomical structures. METHODS: Preoperative
      multidetector-row CT angiography (MDCTA) was performed in 36 Chinese female
      patients who were to receive breast reconstruction. The MDCTA data were used to
      measure the healthy side's horizontal distance from the cutaneous perforators of
      the internal thoracic artery to the midline, from the sternal origin of the
      pectoralis major to the midline, from the sternal border to the midline, at the
      2nd to 5th intercostal spaces in the subpectoral plane. RESULTS: All the target
      tissues were identified in MDCTA data. Mean distances from cutaneous perforators
      of the internal thoracic artery to the midline of the 2nd to 5th intercostal
      spaces were 19.66 +/- 4.08, 20.37 +/- 3.88, 21.00 +/- 3.63, and 21.35 +/- 4.80
      mm; and that from the sternal origin of pectoralis major to midline were 5.00 +/-
      4.01, 4.83 +/- 2.85, 11.67 +/- 5.35, and 19.19 +/- 7.10 mm; and that from the
      sternal border to the midline were 12.48 +/- 1.70, 14.02 +/- 2.05, 13.52 +/-
      2.91, and 4.68 +/- 4.44 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Most of perforators of the internal
      thoracic arteries are disrupted in the current surgical process, indicating that
      the restrictive factor that affects the range of the no-touch zone is the sternal
      origin of the pectoralis major, rather than the cutaneous perforators. The range
      of the no-touch zone can be minimized to 20 mm in the 2nd and 3rd intercostal
      spaces, and can be 30 mm in the 4th intercostal space. However, surgeons should
      be more cautious to avoid disrupting the origin of the pectoralis major when
      dissecting the pocket of the 4th and 5th intercostal spaces. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
      IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each
      article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please
      refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors
      www.springer.com/00266 .

PMID- 27631548
TI  - The Gore-Tex Suture in Periareolar Closure: A Modified Closure Technique.
AB  - In breast reduction and mastopexy procedures, the periareolar closure forms a
      vital component of the surgery. Periareolar closures completed with an absorbable
      suture may be prone to significant widening, hypertrophy and/or areolar
      distortion. In an effort to avoid this, some surgeons use a non
      absorbable/permanent suture material [Franco (Arch Plast Surg 41 (6): 728-733,
      2014)]. Hammond (Plast Reconstr Surg 119 (3):804-809, 2007) recommends the use of
      a Gore-Tex(r) suture for this purpose in view of the supple, pliable nature of
      the material; however, there remain at least occasional instances of infection
      and extrusion of the knot used to tie off the Gore-Tex "purse-string" [Franco
      (Arch Plast Surg 41 (6): 728-733, 2014); Salgarello (Aesthet Plast Surg 37
      (5):1061-1062, 2013)]. We describe a method of securing the suture ends, which
      avoids the creation of a bulky knot, thus minimising the risk of infection and
      suture extrusion. Level of Evidence V This journal requires that authors assign a
      level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based
      Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online
      Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

PMID- 27631549
TI  - Paclitaxel-eluting stents versus sirolimus-eluting stents in patients with
      diabetes mellitus undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - Uncertainties exist with regard to the efficacy of paclitaxel-eluting stents
      (PES) versus sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) in diabetes patients undergoing
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We performed a meta-analysis of
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to investigate the outcome of PES versus SES
      in diabetes patients undergoing PCI. A literature search was started, and we
      found all studies conducted from 2005 to 2016. We systematically searched the
      literature through the MEDLINE, Cochrane library, and EMBASE. Quality assessments
      were evaluated with the Jadad scale. Data were extracted considering the
      characteristics of efficacy and the safety of the designs. 12 RCTs satisfy the
      inclusion criteria. There is a significant decrease of target lesion
      revascularization (TLR) (MD = 0.65, 95 % CI = 0.42-1.00, P = 0.05) in a year and
      more than 1 year (MD = 0.54, 95 % CI = 0.37-0.78, P = 0.00010). A significant
      decrease of target vessel revascularization (TVR) in more than 1 year is (MD =
      0.62, 95 % CI = 0.47-0.81, P = 0.0004). A significant decrease of major adverse
      cardiac events (MACE) in more than 1 year is (MD = 0.73, 95 % CI = 0.60-0.89, P =
      0.002). Nevertheless, there is no significant difference in mortality (MD = 0.85,
      95 % CI = 0.66-1.11, P = 0.24), stent thrombosis (ST) (MD = 0.65, 95 % CI = 0.35
      1.21, P = 0.18), or myocardial infarction (MD = 1.04, 95 % CI = 0.71-1.51, P =
      0.84). SES may be more significant in decreasing TLR, TVR, and MACE than PES
      without significantly increasing mortality, ST and MI in diabetes patients. 

PMID- 27631551
TI  - Inactivation of p27kip1 Promoted Nonspecific Inflammation by Enhancing Macrophage
      Proliferation in Islet Transplantation.
AB  - Islet transplantation suffers from low efficiency caused by nonspecific
      inflammation-induced graft loss after transplantation. This study reports
      increased islet loss and enhanced inflammatory response in p27-deficient mice
      (p27-/-) and proposes a possible mechanism. Compared with wild type, p27-/- mice
      showed more severe functional injury of islet, with increased serum levels of
      inflammatory cytokines IL-1 and TNF-alpha, inducing macrophage proliferation.
      Furthermore, the increased number, proapoptotic proteins, and nuclear factor
      kappa b (NF-kappaB) phosphorylation status of the infiltrating macrophages were
      accompanied by increased TNF-alpha mRNA level of islet graft site in p27-/- mice.
      Moreover, in vitro, we found that macrophages were still activated and cocultured
      with islet and promoted islet loss even blocking the direct effect of TNF-alpha
      on islets. Malondialdehyde (MDA, an end product of lipid peroxidation) in islet
      and media were increased after cocultured with macrophages. p27 deficiency also
      increased macrophage proliferation and islet injury. Therefore, p27 inactivation
      promotes injury islet graft loss via the elevation of proliferation and
      inflammatory cytokines secretion in infiltrating macrophages which induced
      nonspecific inflammation independent of TNF-alpha/nuclear factor-kappa b pathway.
      This potentially represents a promising therapeutic target in improving islet
      graft survival.

PMID- 27631550
TI  - Neuroprotective Role of MicroRNA-22 in a 6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Cell Model of
      Parkinson's Disease via Regulation of Its Target Gene TRPM7.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder
      with only symptomatic treatment available, is characterized by a progressive loss
      of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. Ample evidence indicated that microRNAs
      (miRs) could regulate post-transcriptional gene expression and neuronal disease.
      In the present study, we have evaluated the effects and mechanism of miR-22 in
      PC12 pheochromocytoma cells treated with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) to mimic PD.
      RT-PCR results showed that the expression of miR-22 is downregulated in 6-OHDA
      treated PC12 cells, and the overexpression of miR-22 significantly promoted the
      survival and proliferation of 6-OHDA-induced PC12 cells, whereas miR-22 inhibitor
      reversed these effects. In addition, PC12 cells were treated with miR-22 mimics
      or inhibitor following 6-OHDA administration, which medicated ROS production and
      upregulation or downregulation of caspase-3 activity, respectively. A luciferase
      reporter assay revealed that transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) is
      a direct target gene of miR-22, and miR-22 overexpression markedly downregulated
      the level of TRPM7. Strikingly, further analysis showed that miR-22 mediated 6
      OHDA-induced PC12 cell survival and proliferation by targeting TRPM7. Taken
      together, the present study showed that miR-22 overexpression exhibited
      neuroprotective and reversal effects on the 6-OHDA-induced PC12 cell growth and
      apoptosis by targeting TRPM7.

PMID- 27631555
TI  - Transformational leadership and burnout: The role of thriving and followers'
      openness to experience.
AB  - Grounding our research in conservation of resources theory, we set out to shed
      light on the relationship between transformational leadership (TFL) and employee
      burnout. Specifically, we considered both thriving at work, a personal resource,
      and employees' openness to experience (OTE), a key resource, to uncover whether
      all employees benefit equally from TFL (a contextual resource). In detail, we
      argued that the negative effect of TFL on employee burnout is mediated by
      employee thriving at work, and that employees' OTE constitutes a boundary
      condition of this process. Our moderated mediation model was tested with 2 waves
      of data from 148 employees from a midsized German manufacturing company. The
      results supported our hypotheses and revealed that employees' thriving at work
      mediated the link between TFL and reduced burnout. As predicted, these
      relationships were moderated by employees' personality in such a way that TFL
      affected thriving and hence burnout of employees high on OTE, but not of
      employees low on OTE. Taken together, our findings suggest that TFL serves as a
      resource that protects employees from burning out, but also highlights the need
      to consider employees' personality in perceptions of and reactions to leadership.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631554
TI  - Timed Inhibition of Orexin System by Suvorexant Improved Sleep and Glucose
      Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetic db/db Mice.
AB  - Sleep disturbances are associated with type 2 diabetes; therefore, the
      amelioration of sleep may improve metabolic disorders. To investigate this
      possibility, we here examined the effects of suvorexant, an antiinsomnia drug
      targeting the orexin system, on sleep and glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic
      mice. Diabetic db/db mice had a longer wakefulness time during the resting
      period, as compared with nondiabetic db/m+ control mice. The single or 7-day
      administration of suvorexant at lights-on (ie, the beginning of the resting
      phase) increased nonrapid eye movement sleep time during the resting phase and,
      as a consequence, reduced awake time. The daily resting-phase administration of
      suvorexant for 2-4 weeks improved impaired glucose tolerance in db/db mice
      without affecting body weight gain, food intake, systemic insulin sensitivity, or
      serum insulin, and glucagon levels. No changes were detected in the markers of
      lipid metabolism and inflammation, such as the hepatic triglyceride content and
      Tnf-alpha mRNA levels in liver and adipose tissues. The improving effect of
      suvorexant on glucose tolerance was associated with a reduction in the expression
      levels of hepatic gluconeogenic factors, including phosphoenolpyruvate
      carboxykinase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator
      1alpha in the liver in the resting phase. In contrast, the daily awake-phase
      administration of suvorexant had no beneficial effect on glucose metabolism.
      These results suggest that the suvorexant-induced increase of sleep time at the
      resting phase improved hepatic glucose metabolism in db/db mice. Our results
      provide insight into the development of novel pharmacological interventions for
      type 2 diabetes that target the orexin-operated sleep/wake regulatory system.

PMID- 27631553
TI  - The Bone Sparing Effects of 2-Methoxyestradiol Are Mediated via Estrogen Receptor
      alpha in Male Mice.
AB  - 2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME2), a metabolite of 17beta-estradiol (E2), exerts bone
      sparing effects in animal models. We hypothesized that the underlying mechanism
      is back conversion of 2ME2 to E2, which subsequently acts via estrogen receptor
      (ER)alpha. We measured serum E2 levels in orchidectomized wild-type (WT) mice
      treated with 2ME2 66.6 MUg/d or placebo. In placebo-treated animals, E2 was below
      the detection limit. In 2ME2-treated mice, the serum E2 level was 4.97 +/- 0.68
      pg/mL. This corresponds to the level found in diesterus in cycling female mice.
      Next, we investigated bone parameters in orchidectomized WT and ERalpha knockout
      mice treated with 2ME2 or placebo for 35 days. 2ME2 (6.66 MUg/d) preserved
      trabecular and cortical bone in WT mice. Trabecular volumetric-bone mineral
      density was 64 +/- 20%, and trabecular bone volume/total volume was 60 +/- 20%
      higher in the metaphyseal region of the femur in the 2ME2 group, compared with
      placebo (P < .01). Both trabecular number and trabecular thickness were increased
      (P < .01). Cortical bone mineral content in the diaphyseal region of the femur
      was 31 +/- 3% higher in the 2ME2 group, compared with placebo (P < .001). This
      was due to larger cortical area (P < .001). Three-point bending showed an
      increased bone strength in WT 2ME2-treated animals compared with placebo (maximum
      load [Fmax] +19+/-5% in the 2ME2 group, P < .05). Importantly, no bone parameter
      was affected by 2ME2 treatment in ERalpha knockout mice. In conclusion, 2ME2
      treatment of orchidectomized mice results in increased serum E2. ERalpha mediates
      the bone sparing effects of 2ME2. The likely mediator of this effect is E2
      resulting from back conversion of 2ME2.

PMID- 27631552
TI  - Foxo1 Is Required for Normal Somatotrope Differentiation.
AB  - The etiology for half of congenital hypopituitarism cases is unknown. Our long
      term goal is to expand the molecular diagnoses for congenital hypopituitarism by
      identifying genes that contribute to this condition. We have previously shown
      that the forkhead box transcription factor, FOXO1, is present in approximately
      half of somatotropes at embryonic day (e) 18.5, suggesting it may have a role in
      somatotrope differentiation or function. To elucidate the role of FOXO1 in
      somatotrope differentiation and function, Foxo1 was conditionally deleted from
      the anterior pituitary (Foxo1Deltapit). Uncommitted progenitor cells are
      maintained and able to commit to the somatotrope lineage normally based on the
      expression patterns of Sox2, a marker of uncommitted pituitary progenitors, and
      Pou1f1 (also known as Pit1), which marks committed progenitors. Interestingly,
      Foxo1Deltapit embryonic mice exhibit delayed somatotrope differentiation as
      evidenced by an almost complete absence of GH immunoreactivity at e16.5 and
      reduced expression of Gh at e18.5 and postnatal day (P) 3. Consistent with this
      conclusion, expression of GHRH receptor, a marker of terminally differentiated
      somatotropes, is significantly reduced at e18.5 and P3 in the absence of FOXO1.
      The mechanism of FOXO1 regulation of somatotrope differentiation may involve the
      basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Neurod4, which has been implicated
      in somatotrope differentiation and is significantly reduced in Foxo1Deltapit
      mice. Foxo1Deltapit mice do not exhibit growth defects, and at P21 their
      pituitary glands exhibit a normal distribution of somatotropes. These studies
      demonstrate that FOXO1 is important for initial somatotrope specification
      embryonically but is dispensable for postnatal somatotrope expansion and growth.

PMID- 27631557
TI  - The Effect of Polymorphism on Surface Energetics of D-Mannitol Polymorphs.
AB  - The aim of this work was to assess the effect of different crystalline
      polymorphism on surface energetics of D-mannitol using finite dilution inverse
      gas chromatography (FD-IGC). Pure alpha, beta and delta polymorphs were prepared
      via solution crystallisation and characterised by powder X-ray diffraction (P
      XRD). The dispersive surface energies were found to range from 43 to 34 mJ/m2, 50
      to 41 mJ/m2, and 48 to 38 mJ/m2, for alpha, beta, and delta, respectively, for
      surface coverage ranging from 0.006 to 0.095. A deconvolution modelling approach
      was employed to establish their energy sites. The primary sites corresponded to
      maxima in the dispersive surface energy of 37.1 and 33.5; 43.3 and 39.5; and
      38.6, 38.4 and 33.0; for alpha, beta, and delta, respectively. This methodology
      was also extended to an alpha-beta polymorph mixture to estimate the amount of
      the constituent alpha and beta components present in the sample. The dispersive
      surface energies of the alpha-beta mixture were found to be in the range of 48 to
      37 mJ/m2 with 40.0, 42.4, 38.4 and 33.1 mJ/m2 sites. The deconvolution modelling
      method extracted the energy contribution of each of the polymorphs from data for
      the polymorphic mixture. The mixture was found to have a beta-polymorph surface
      content of ~19%. This work shows the influence of polymorphism on surface
      energetics and demonstrates that FD-IGC coupled with a simple modelling approach
      to be a powerful tool for assessing the specific nature of this energetic
      distribution including the quantification of polymorphic content on the surface.

PMID- 27631556
TI  - Development of a Novel Simplified PBPK Absorption Model to Explain the Higher
      Relative Bioavailability of the OROS(r) Formulation of Oxybutynin.
AB  - A new minimal Segmented Transit and Absorption model (mSAT) model has been
      recently proposed and combined with intrinsic intestinal effective permeability
      (P eff,int ) to predict the regional gastrointestinal (GI) absorption (f abs ) of
      several drugs. Herein, this model was extended and applied for the prediction of
      oral bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of oxybutynin and its enantiomers to
      provide a mechanistic explanation of the higher relative bioavailability observed
      for oxybutynin's modified-release OROS(r) formulation compared to its immediate
      release (IR) counterpart. The expansion of the model involved the incorporation
      of mechanistic equations for the prediction of release, transit, dissolution,
      permeation and first-pass metabolism. The predicted pharmacokinetics of
      oxybutynin enantiomers after oral administration for both the IR and OROS(r)
      formulations were in close agreement with the observed data. The predicted
      absolute bioavailability for the IR formulation was within 5% of the observed
      value, and the model adequately predicted the higher relative bioavailability
      observed for the OROS(r) formulation vs. the IR counterpart. From the model
      predictions, it can be noticed that the higher bioavailability observed for the
      OROS(r) formulation was mainly attributable to differences in the intestinal
      availability (F G ) rather than due to a higher colonic f abs , thus confirming
      previous hypotheses. The predicted f abs was almost 70% lower for the OROS(r)
      formulation compared to the IR formulation, whereas the F G was almost eightfold
      higher than in the IR formulation. These results provide further support to the
      hypothesis of an increased F G as the main factor responsible for the higher
      bioavailability of oxybutynin's OROS(r) formulation vs. the IR.

PMID- 27631559
TI  - Validation of ELDO approaches for retrospective assessment of cumulative eye lens
      doses of interventional cardiologists-results from DoReMi project.
AB  - The first validation results of the two approaches developed in the ELDO project
      for retrospective assessment of eye lens doses for interventional cardiologists
      (ICs) are presented in this paper. The first approach (a) is based on both the
      readings from the routine whole body dosimeter worn above the lead apron and
      procedure-dependent conversion coefficients, while the second approach (b) is
      based on detailed information related to the occupational exposure history of the
      ICs declared in a questionnaire and eye lens dose records obtained from the
      relevant literature. The latter approach makes use of various published eye lens
      doses per procedure as well as the appropriate correction factors which account
      for the use of radiation protective tools designed to protect the eye lens. To
      validate both methodologies, comprehensive measurements were performed in several
      Polish clinics among recruited physicians. Two dosimeters measuring whole body
      and eye lens doses were worn by every physician for at least two months. The
      estimated cumulative eye lens doses, calculated from both approaches, were then
      compared against the measured eye lens dose value for every physician separately.
      Both approaches results in comparable estimates of eye lens doses and tend to
      overestimate rather than underestimate the eye lens doses. The measured and
      estimated doses do not differ, on average, by a factor higher than 2.0 in 85% and
      62% of the cases used to validate approach (a) and (b), respectively. In specific
      cases, however, the estimated doses differ from the measured ones by as much as a
      factor of 2.7 and 5.1 for method (a) and (b), respectively. As such, the two
      approaches can be considered accurate when retrospectively estimating the eye
      lens doses for ICs and will be of great benefit for ongoing epidemiological
      studies.

PMID- 27631561
TI  - Climacteric: past, present and future!

PMID- 27631558
TI  - A Quality by Design Approach to Developing and Manufacturing Polymeric
      Nanoparticle Drug Products.
AB  - The translation of nanomedicines from concepts to commercial products has not
      reached its full potential, in part because of the technical and regulatory
      challenges associated with chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC)
      development of such complex products. It is critical to take a quality by design
      (QbD) approach to developing nanomedicines-using a risk-based approach to
      identifying and classifying product attributes and process parameters and
      ultimately developing a deep understanding of the products, processes, and
      platform. This article exemplifies a QbD approach used by BIND Therapeutics,
      Inc., to industrialize a polymeric targeted nanoparticle drug delivery platform.
      The focus of the approach is on CMC affairs but consideration is also given to
      preclinical, clinical, and regulatory aspects of pharmaceutical development.
      Processes are described for developing a quality target product profile and
      designing supporting preclinical studies, defining critical quality attributes
      and process parameters, building a process knowledge map, and employing QbD to
      support outsourced manufacturing.

PMID- 27631560
TI  - Intraoperative acceleration measurements to quantify improvement in tremor during
      deep brain stimulation surgery.
AB  - Deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery is extensively used in the treatment of
      movement disorders. Nevertheless, methods to evaluate the clinical response
      during intraoperative stimulation tests to identify the optimal position for the
      implantation of the chronic DBS lead remain subjective. In this paper, we
      describe a new, versatile method for quantitative intraoperative evaluation of
      improvement in tremor with an acceleration sensor that is mounted on the
      patient's wrist during surgery. At each anatomical test position, the improvement
      in tremor compared to the initial tremor is estimated on the basis of extracted
      outcome measures. This method was tested on 15 tremor patients undergoing DBS
      surgery in two centers. Data from 359 stimulation tests were acquired. Our
      results suggest that accelerometric evaluation detects tremor changes more
      sensitively than subjective visual ratings. The effective stimulation current
      amplitudes identified from the quantitative data (1.1 +/- 0.8 mA) are lower than
      those identified by visual evaluation (1.7 +/- 0.8 mA) for similar improvement in
      tremor. Additionally, if these data had been used to choose the chronic implant
      position of the DBS lead, 15 of the 26 choices would have been different. These
      results show that our method of accelerometric evaluation can potentially improve
      DBS targeting.

PMID- 27631563
TI  - The impact of a sexual enhancement program on the sexual function of
      postmenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of sex education on sexual function in
      postmenopausal women. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial was carried on 104
      postmenopausal women, aged 40-60 years, residing in the cities of Chalus and
      Nowshahr, Iran. Their sexual function was assessed using the Female Sexual
      Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire. The participants were randomly assigned to
      two groups: (1) intervention, in which the subjects received a sexual enhancement
      program with weekly follow-ups; and (2) controls, who received general
      educational material on postmenopause. Both groups were re-assessed after 12
      weeks using the FSFI questionnaire. RESULTS: There were no significant
      differences between the two groups in terms of demographic and socioeconomic
      characteristics, or their total scores of FSFI, in the initial stage of the
      study. After implementation of the sexual enhancement program, however, the total
      scores of sexual function, as well as the scores in the arousal and pain domains,
      were significantly higher in the intervention group, compared to the control
      group (24.41 vs. 22.70, 3.35 vs. 2.73, and 4.50 vs. 3.98, respectively).
      CONCLUSION: Sexual function of postmenopausal women can be improved by a sexual
      enhancement program.

PMID- 27631562
TI  - CE/BZA effects on bone and quality of life in European postmenopausal women: a
      pooled analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of conjugated estrogens/bazedoxifene
      (CE/BZA) on bone mineral density (BMD), bone turnover markers (BTM), and
      menopause-specific quality of life (MENQOL) in European women. METHODS: Data
      through 12 months were pooled from two double-blind, randomized, controlled
      trials in non-hysterectomized postmenopausal women who received CE/BZA or
      placebo. Women from European study sites with evaluable BMD (n = 60), BTM (n =
      56), and MENQOL questionnaire (n = 236) data were included and compared with 1523
      women from US study sites (n = 730 with evaluable data for bone outcomes).
      RESULTS: At month 12, CE 0.45 mg/BZA 20 mg and CE 0.625 mg/BZA 20 mg,
      respectively, significantly improved BMD (adjusted difference vs. placebo) in
      lumbar spine (2.5%, 2.9%; both p <= 0.011) and total hip (1.7%, 2.2%, both p <=
      0.002), significantly improved serum BTMs (osteocalcin: -31.1%, -33.1%; C
      telopeptide: -48.5%, -36.8%) vs. placebo (osteocalcin: 6.7%, C-telopeptide: 4.2%;
      all p < 0.001), and significantly improved MENQOL vasomotor function scores (
      2.1, -2.2) vs. placebo (-0.7; both p < 0.001). No significant treatment *
      subpopulation interactions were observed for any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS:
      Twelve-month CE/BZA treatment prevented bone loss and improved vasomotor function
      in European postmenopausal women. Findings were similar to those in the
      subpopulation of women enrolled at US study sites.

PMID- 27631564
TI  - Emotion regulation difficulties in binge eating disorder with and without the
      overvaluation of weight and shape.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between overvaluation
      of weight/shape ('overvaluation') and emotion regulation (ER) difficulties among
      women with binge eating disorder (BED) symptoms. Four groups of women were
      recruited from a community-based sample and compared on ER difficulties:
      individuals with probable BED with (n=102) and without (n=72) overvaluation, and
      non-binge eating obese (n=40) and healthy-weight (n=40) control participants.
      Data for patients with a formal diagnosis of BED receiving treatment from a
      previous study were included for numerical comparative purposes. Women with
      probable BED and overvaluation reported significantly greater ER difficulties
      than all other groups and had similar levels of ER difficulties to BED patients.
      Women with probable BED in the absence of overvaluation were comparable to the
      obese control group on total ER difficulties and the majority of the ER
      difficulties subscales. The findings provide further evidence for the clinical
      significance of overvaluation among individuals with BED symptomatology. BED in
      the absence of overvaluation does not appear to align with current models of the
      disorder in which ER difficulties are viewed as a core etiological mechanism.
      Further research is needed to elucidate the status of this presentation.

PMID- 27631565
TI  - Perceived parental care during childhood, ACTH, cortisol and nicotine dependence
      in the adult.
AB  - Studies evidenced the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
      and tobacco smoking in adulthood. An appropriate parenting style has been found
      to be associated with children's less frequent tobacco consumption. Hypothalamus
      pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hyperactivity could represent the potential link
      between ACEs, mood disorders and smoking susceptibility. We studied a sample of
      50 male smokers, affected by nicotine dependence and 50 controls who never
      smoked. Self-reported retrospective perception of neglect (Child Experience of
      Care and Abuse: CECA-Q questionnaire), age of smoking onset, number of
      cigarette/day, psychiatric symptoms (Symptoms Check List 90 scale: SCL 90) and
      basal level of ACTH and cortisol have been evaluated. Total SCL-90 scores, CECA-Q
      values and cortisol plasma level were significantly higher among smokers.
      Cortisol and ACTH values showed a significant direct correlation with CECA-Q and
      SCL90 total score and an inverse significant correlation with the age of smoking.
      Cortisol and ACTH did not correlate with the number of cigarette smoked. Once
      controlled for SCL90 and CECA-Q with multiple regression measures, the
      association between smoking and hormone levels reversed, suggesting that
      increased cortisol and ACTH basal levels were attributable to preexisting
      conditions such as early-life exposure to emotional neglect, psychological
      problems and a predisposition to addictive behavior.

PMID- 27631567
TI  - Fermi's Paradox Is a Daunting Problem-Under Whatever Label.

PMID- 27631566
TI  - First Molecular Identification of Dirofilaria repens in a Dog Blood Sample from
      Guanajuato, Mexico.
AB  - Dirofilaria repens is the causative zoonotic agent of subcutaneous
      dirofilariosis. Although the American continent is considered currently free of
      D. repens infections, in the past few years there have been some reports
      suggesting the presence of this agent in the Americas. In Guanajuato, Mexico,
      there is a report of the presence of D. repens. To determine whether this
      parasite is really present in Guanajuato, a total of 177 EDTA blood samples from
      dogs were tested using the modified Knott's technique. Using this technique, we
      found 15 positive samples, which were then analyzed using the PCR technique, with
      a panfilarial set of primers and a specific primer pair for D. repens. In one
      sample, the expected band was present and the corresponding amplicon, sequenced,
      displayed a 100% identity to D. repens, confirming the presence of this exotic
      and zoonotic filarial species in the municipality of Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico.

PMID- 27631569
TI  - Influence of defect distribution on the reducibility of CeO2-x nanoparticles.
AB  - Ceria nanoparticles (NPs) are fundamental in heterogeneous catalysis because of
      their ability to store or release oxygen depending on the ambient conditions.
      Their oxygen storage capacity is strictly related to the exposed planes,
      crystallinity, density and distribution of defects. In this work a study of ceria
      NPs produced with a ligand-free, physical synthesis method is presented. The NP
      films were grown by a magnetron sputtering based gas aggregation source and
      studied by high resolution- and scanning-transmission electron microscopy and x
      ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In particular, the influence of the oxidation
      procedure on the NP reducibility has been investigated. The different
      reducibility has been correlated to the exposed planes, crystallinity and density
      and distribution of structural defects. The results obtained in this work
      represent a basis to obtain cerium oxide NP with desired oxygen transport
      properties. 

PMID- 27631570
TI  - Facet-Dependent Oxidative Goethite Growth As a Function of Aqueous Solution
      Conditions.
AB  - Nitroaromatic compounds are groundwater pollutants that can be degraded through
      reactions with Fe(II) adsorbed on iron oxide nanoparticles, although little is
      known about the evolving reactivity of the minerals with continuous pollutant
      exposure. In this work, Fe(II)/goethite reactivity toward 4-chloronitrobenzene (4
      ClNB) as a function of pH, organic matter presence, and reactant concentrations
      was explored using sequential-spike batch reactors. Reaction rate constants were
      smaller with lower pH, introduction of organic matter, and diluted reactant
      concentrations as compared to a reference condition. Reaction rate constants did
      not change with the number of 4-ClNB spikes for all reaction conditions. Under
      all conditions, oxidative goethite growth was demonstrated through X-ray
      diffraction, magnetic characterization, and transmission electron microscopy.
      Nonparametric statistics were applied to compare histograms of lengths and widths
      of goethite nanoparticles as a function of varied solution conditions. The
      conditions that slowed the reaction also resulted in statistically shorter and
      wider particles than for the faster reactions. Additionally, added organic matter
      interfered with particle growth on the favorable {021} faces to a greater extent,
      with statistically reduced rate of growth on the tip facets and increased rate of
      growth on the side facets. These data demonstrate that oxidative growth of
      goethite in aqueous systems is dependent on major groundwater variables, such as
      pH and the presence of organic matter, which could lead to the evolving
      reactivity of goethite particles in natural environments.

PMID- 27631568
TI  - Mitochondrial 16S rRNA Is Methylated by tRNA Methyltransferase TRMT61B in All
      Vertebrates.
AB  - The mitochondrial ribosome, which translates all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
      encoded proteins, should be tightly regulated pre- and post-transcriptionally.
      Recently, we found RNA-DNA differences (RDDs) at human mitochondrial 16S (large)
      rRNA position 947 that were indicative of post-transcriptional modification.
      Here, we show that these 16S rRNA RDDs result from a 1-methyladenosine (m1A)
      modification introduced by TRMT61B, thus being the first vertebrate
      methyltransferase that modifies both tRNA and rRNAs. m1A947 is conserved in
      humans and all vertebrates having adenine at the corresponding mtDNA position
      (90% of vertebrates). However, this mtDNA base is a thymine in 10% of the
      vertebrates and a guanine in the 23S rRNA of 95% of bacteria, suggesting
      alternative evolutionary solutions. m1A, uridine, or guanine may stabilize the
      local structure of mitochondrial and bacterial ribosomes. Experimental assessment
      of genome-edited Escherichia coli showed that unmodified adenine caused impaired
      protein synthesis and growth. Our findings revealed a conserved mechanism of rRNA
      modification that has been selected instead of DNA mutations to enable proper
      mitochondrial ribosome function.

PMID- 27631571
TI  - Reply by Authors.

PMID- 27631572
TI  - Re: Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Risk of Nonspine Fractures among Older
      Community Dwelling U.S. Men: L. M. Marshall, J. A. Lapidus, J. Wiedrick, E.
      Barrett-Connor, D. C. Bauer, E. S. Orwoll and J. K. Parsons J Urol 2016;196:166
      172.

PMID- 27631573
TI  - Visuomotor integration of relevant and irrelevant angry and fearful facial
      expressions.
AB  - Our brain codes the features of perceptual events in a distributed fashion,
      raising the question of how information belonging to one event is processed
      without any interference of features from other events. Hommel (1998) suggested
      the "event file" concept to elucidate these mechanisms: an episodic memory trace
      "binding" together perceptual features and actions related to an object. Using a
      similar paradigm, we designed a pilot experiment and four additional experiments
      to investigate whether emotion, similarly than perceptual features, could bind
      with a motor response when the emotion was relevant and irrelevant for the task.
      Few studies have revealed this to be the case. We investigated how angry and
      fearful faces expressed by avatars and humans might be subject to a binding
      phenomenon. Our results show that at least three degrees of visuomotor binding
      seem to coexist: one implicating the relevant feature of the task with a strong
      effect on behavior, another implicating the location with a smaller behavioral
      effect (even if not task related), and a third implicating non-task-related
      features with behavioral effects only under specific conditions in which emotion
      could play a role. Our adaptation of Hommel's paradigm showed that emotional
      percepts can be subject to visuomotor binding effects even if the emotion is not
      task related confirming the important role of emotional information for the
      central nervous system. These findings offer new perspective in the investigation
      of the emotion-action binding at the neuronal level. 

PMID- 27631574
TI  - Stabilization and detection of hydrophylloquinone as di-O-methyl derivative.
AB  - Phylloquinone is a redox active naphthoquinone involved in electron transport in
      plants. The function of this reduced form remains unclear due to its instability,
      which has precluded detection. Herein, a simple method that permits the
      stabilization of the reduced form of phylloquinone by di-O-methylation and HPLC
      detection is described. 

PMID- 27631575
TI  - Multivariate optimization of the hollow fibre liquid phase microextraction of
      muscimol in human urine samples.
AB  - A liquid phase microextraction based on hollow fibre followed by liquid
      chromatographic determination was developed for the extraction and quantitation
      of the hallucinogenic muscimol from urine samples. Method applicability on polar
      hallucinogens was also tested on two alkaloids, a psychedelic hallucinogen,
      tryptamine and a polar amino acid, tryptophan which exists in its charged state
      in the entire pH range. A multivariate design of experiments was used in which a
      half fractional factorial approach was applied to screen six factors (donor phase
      pH, acceptor phase HCl concentration, carrier composition, stirring rate,
      extraction time and salt content) for their extent of vitality in carrier
      mediated liquid microextractions. Four factors were deemed essential for the
      effective extraction of each analyte. The vital factors were further optimized
      for the extraction of single-spiked analyte solutions using a central composite
      design. When the simultaneous extraction of analytes was performed under
      universal factor conditions biased towards maximizing the enrichment of muscimol,
      a good composite desirability value of 0.687 was obtained. The method was finally
      applied on spiked urine samples with acceptable enrichments of 4.1, 19.7 and 24.1
      obtained for muscimol, tryptophan and tryptamine respectively. Matrix-based
      calibration curves were used to address matrix effects. The r(2) values of the
      matrix-based linear regression prediction models ranged from 0.9933 to 0.9986.
      The linearity of the regression line of the matrix-based calibration curves for
      each analyte was directly linked to the analyte enrichment repeatability which
      ranged from an RSD value of 8.3-13.1%. Limits of detection for the developed
      method were 5.12, 3.10 and 0.21ngmL(-1) for muscimol, tryptophan and tryptamine
      respectively. The developed method has proven to offer a viable alternative for
      the quantitation of muscimol in human urine samples. 

PMID- 27631576
TI  - Behavioral Toxicity Revisited: Iatrogenic Comorbidity in Psychiatric Evaluation
      and Treatment.
AB  - In 1968, DiMascio and Shader provided a conceptual framework for behavioral
      toxicity of psychotropic drugs (ie, the pharmacological actions of a drug that,
      within the dose range in which it has been found to possess clinical utility, may
      produce alterations in mood, perceptual, cognitive, and psychomotor functions
      that limit the capacity of the individual or constitute a hazard to one's well
      being). A drug effect such as sedation or motor stimulation may be considered
      adverse for one patient and yet therapeutic and desired for another patient;
      within the same patient, it may be of value at one stage of one's illness and
      adverse at a later stage. The concept of behavioral toxicity encompasses adverse
      events that may be limited to the period of drug administration and/or persist
      long after their discontinuation. These latter phenomena can be subsumed under
      the rubric of iatrogenic comorbidity. Behavioral toxicity may ensue with any type
      of medical drug. Examples related to antidepressant drug use (onset of
      suicidality and aggression, switching from unipolar to bipolar course, withdrawal
      phenomena upon discontinuation, postwithdrawal persistent disorders) are
      discussed. Consideration of potential vulnerability to adverse events including
      behavioral toxicity should be placed in the context of the benefits that
      treatment may entail.

PMID- 27631577
TI  - Prevalence of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Related Apathy in Patients
      With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

PMID- 27631578
TI  - Nightmares Associated With Vilazodone in a Patient With Major Depressive
      Disorder.

PMID- 27631579
TI  - Simulation fails to replicate stress in trainees performing a technical procedure
      in the clinical environment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Simulation-based training (SBT) has become an increasingly
      important method by which doctors learn. Stress has an impact upon learning,
      performance, technical, and non-technical skills. However, there are currently no
      studies that compare stress in the clinical and simulated environment. We aimed
      to compare objective (heart rate variability, HRV) and subjective (state trait
      anxiety inventory, STAI) measures of stress theatre with a simulated environment.
      METHODS: HRV recordings were obtained from eight anesthetic trainees performing
      an uncomplicated rapid sequence induction at pre-determined procedural steps
      using a wireless Polar RS800CX monitor (c) in an emergency theatre setting. This
      was repeated in the simulated environment. Participants completed an STAI before
      and after the procedure. RESULTS: Eight trainees completed the study. The theatre
      environment caused an increase in objective stress vs baseline (p = .004). There
      was no significant difference between average objective stress levels across all
      time points (p = .20) between environments. However, there was a significant
      interaction between the variables of objective stress and environment (p = .045).
      There was no significant difference in subjective stress (p = .27) between
      environments. DISCUSSION: Simulation was unable to accurately replicate the
      stress of the technical procedure. This is the first study that compares the
      stress during SBT with the theatre environment and has implications for the
      assessment of simulated environments for use in examinations, rating of technical
      and non-technical skills, and stress management training.

PMID- 27631580
TI  - Lymphedema Is a Disease of the Skin.

PMID- 27631581
TI  - Debunking Lymphedema Risk-Reduction Behaviors: Risky Conclusions.

PMID- 27631584
TI  - Kathy Bates Delivers Historic Speech at 2016 Gordon Research Conference in
      Lymphatics - Ventura, CA.

PMID- 27631582
TI  - The Use of Noninvasive Imaging Techniques in the Assessment of Secondary
      Lymphedema Tissue Changes as Part of Staging Lymphedema.
AB  - Too often, in clinical settings, the diagnosis and evolution of lymphedema is
      determined by limb circumference measurements and/or volume calculations. Besides
      the unrecognition of small lymphedemas, these techniques provide little to no
      information concerning the stage of the lymphedema. This latter is important in
      choosing appropriate treatment modalities and making an accurate prognosis.
      Different imaging techniques are described in literature giving insights in
      tissue changes due to lymphedema. The aim of this article is giving an overview
      of possible texture changes linked to the different edema stages, visualized with
      noninvasive imaging procedures like ultrasonography, computed tomography, dual
      energy x-ray absorptiometry, or magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 27631585
TI  - Benchmark of GW Approaches for the GW100 Test Set.
AB  - For the recent GW100 test set of molecular ionization energies, we present a
      comprehensive assessment of different GW methodologies: fully self-consistent GW
      (scGW), quasiparticle self-consistent GW (qsGW), partially self-consistent GW0
      (scGW0), perturbative GW (G0W0), and optimized G0W0 based on the minimization of
      the deviation from the straight-line error (DSLE-min GW). We compare our GW
      calculations to coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples
      [CCSD(T)] reference data for GW100. We find scGW and qsGW ionization energies in
      excellent agreement with CCSD(T), with discrepancies typically smaller than 0.3
      eV (scGW) and 0.2 eV (qsGW), respectively. For scGW0 and G0W0 the deviation from
      CCSD(T) is strongly dependent on the starting point. We further relate the
      discrepancy between the GW ionization energies and CCSD(T) to the deviation from
      straight line error (DSLE). In DSLE-minimized GW calculations, the DSLE is
      significantly reduced, yielding a systematic improvement in the description of
      the ionization energies.

PMID- 27631586
TI  - The Vitamin B12 Analog Cobinamide Is an Effective Antidote for Oral Cyanide
      Poisoning.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cyanide is a major chemical threat, and cyanide ingestion carries a
      higher risk for a supra-lethal dose exposure compared to inhalation but provides
      an opportunity for effective treatment due to a longer treatment window and a
      gastrointestinal cyanide reservoir that could be neutralized prior to systemic
      absorption. We hypothesized that orally administered cobinamide may function as a
      high-binding affinity scavenger and that gastric alkalinization would reduce
      cyanide absorption and concurrently increase cobinamide binding, further
      enhancing antidote effectiveness. METHODS: Thirty New Zealand white rabbits were
      divided into five groups and were given a lethal dose of oral cyanide poisoning
      (50 mg). The survival time of animals was monitored with oral cyanide alone, oral
      cyanide with gastric alkalinization with oral sodium bicarbonate buffer (500 mg),
      and in combination with either aquohydroxocobinamide or dinitrocobinamide (250
      mM). Red blood cell cyanide concentration, plasma cobinamide, and thiocyanate
      concentrations were measured from blood samples. RESULTS: In cyanide ingested
      animals, oral sodium bicarbonate alone significantly prolonged survival time to
      20.3 +/- 8.6 min compared to 10.5 +/- 4.3 min in saline-treated controls, but did
      not lead to overall survival. Aquohydroxocobinamide and dinitrocobinamide
      increased survival time to 64 +/- 41 (p < 0.05) and 75 +/- 16.4 min (p < 0.001),
      respectively. Compared to aquohydroxocobinamide, dinitrocobinamide showed greater
      systemic absorption and reduced blood pressure. Dinitrocobinamide also markedly
      increased the red blood cell cyanide concentration. Under all conditions, the
      plasma thiocyanate concentration gradually increased with time. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrates a promising new approach to treat high-dose cyanide ingestion,
      with gastric alkalinization alone and in combination with oral cobinamide for
      treating a supra-lethal dose of orally administered cyanide in rabbits.

PMID- 27631587
TI  - An Efficient Synthesis of 2-Substituted Benzimidazoles via Photocatalytic
      Condensation of o-Phenylenediamines and Aldehydes.
AB  - A photocatalytic method has been developed for the efficient synthesis of
      functionalized benzimidazoles. This protocol involves photocatalytic condensation
      of o-phenylenediamines with various aldehydes using the Rose Bengal as
      photocatalyst. The method was found to be general and was successfully employed
      for accessing pharmaceutically important benzimidazoles by the condensation of
      aromatic, heteroaromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with o-phenylenediamines, in
      good-to-excellent yields. Notably, the method was found to be effective for the
      condensation of less reactive heterocyclic aldehydes with o-phenylenediamines.

PMID- 27631589
TI  - A national physician survey of diagnostic error in paediatrics.
AB  - This cross-sectional survey explored paediatric physician perspectives regarding
      diagnostic errors. All paediatric consultants and specialist registrars in
      Ireland were invited to participate in this anonymous online survey. The response
      rate for the study was 54 % (n = 127). Respondents had a median of 9-year
      clinical experience (interquartile range (IQR) 4-20 years). A diagnostic error
      was reported at least monthly by 19 (15.0 %) respondents. Consultants reported
      significantly less diagnostic errors compared to trainees (p value = 0.01).
      Cognitive error was the top-ranked contributing factor to diagnostic error, with
      incomplete history and examination considered to be the principal cognitive
      error. Seeking a second opinion and close follow-up of patients to ensure that
      the diagnosis is correct were the highest-ranked, clinician-based solutions to
      diagnostic error. Inadequate staffing levels and excessive workload were the most
      highly ranked system-related and situational factors. Increased access to and
      availability of consultants and experts was the most highly ranked system-based
      solution to diagnostic error. CONCLUSION: We found a low level of self-perceived
      diagnostic error in an experienced group of paediatricians, at variance with the
      literature and warranting further clarification. The results identify perceptions
      on the major cognitive, system-related and situational factors contributing to
      diagnostic error and also key preventative strategies. WHAT IS KNOWN: *
      Diagnostic errors are an important source of preventable patient harm and have an
      estimated incidence of 10-15 %. * They are multifactorial in origin and include
      cognitive, system-related and situational factors. What is New: * We identified a
      low rate of self-perceived diagnostic error in contrast to the existing
      literature. * Incomplete history and examination, inadequate staffing levels and
      excessive workload are cited as the principal contributing factors to diagnostic
      error in this study.

PMID- 27631588
TI  - Granulocyte transfusions in critically ill children with prolonged neutropenia:
      side effects and survival rates from a single-center analysis.
AB  - Granulocyte transfusions for neutropenic patients have been used for over 40
      years, although effectiveness, indications, and both patient and donor safety
      remain debated. This single-center study assessed the side effects, clinical
      course, and survival of granulocyte transfusions in critically ill pediatric
      patients, with underlying hemato-oncological disorders, prolonged neutropenia,
      and proven or suspected severe infection. Donor-specific side effects and
      influence of donor-specific characteristics on patient outcome were also
      investigated. A median of 4.02 * 10(10) cells was collected from 39 healthy
      donors for 118 granulocyte concentrates. Donors reported no significant side
      effects. Complications for patients were frequent but mostly minor and included
      vomiting, hypotension, and dyspnea. In one episode of life-threatening dyspnea,
      association with the granulocyte transfusion could not be ruled out. Overall
      survival on day 100 was 61.9 %. Patients received a median of 0.13 * 10(10) cells
      per kg body weight. Doses above this median were associated with a significantly
      better survival. Lower patient weight and age-/sex-adjusted weight were also
      associated with better survival. CONCLUSION: Granulocyte mobilization and
      collection is a safe practice. Transfusions are well tolerated in critically ill
      patients. Patient weight and transfused cells per kg bodyweight are major
      determinants of survival in pediatric patients. WHAT IS KNOWN: * Granulocyte
      transfusions for neutropenic patients have been used for over 40 years * The
      effectiveness of the technique remains controversial * Patient and donor safety
      remain debated * New mobilization protocols generate higher yields of
      granulocytes What is new: * Granulocyte collection can safely be performed *
      Granulocytes can safely be administered to patients * Lower patient weight and
      age-/sex-adjusted weight are associated with better survival rates * Patients
      receiving above 0.13 * 10 (10) cells per kg body weight had an excellent outcome
      * Further standardized, prospective studies are warranted.

PMID- 27631590
TI  - The association between childcare and risk of childhood overweight and obesity in
      children aged 5 years and under: a systematic review.
AB  - The aim of this paper was to systematically review the published evidence on the
      relationship between the type of childcare and risk of childhood overweight or
      obesity. The databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and EMBASE were searched
      using combinations of the various search terms to identify eligible observational
      studies published between 2000 and May 2016 in English. Fifteen publications from
      7 countries matched the inclusion criteria. The most commonly reported childcare
      arrangements were centre-based (e.g. creche) and informal care (e.g. relatives,
      neighbours, friends). Informal care was most frequently associated with an
      increased risk of childhood overweight and obesity. Associations were also found
      for other lifestyle variables such as low maternal education, high birth-weight,
      maternal employment, ethnicity, maternal overweight/obesity and father's Body
      Mass Index (BMI). CONCLUSION: The relationship between childcare and childhood
      overweight/obesity is multi-faceted with many aspects linked to childhood
      adiposity, in particular the age of initiation to care, type of care (i.e.
      informal care) and shorter breastfeeding duration were related with infant
      adiposity. WHAT IS KNOWN: * Lifestyle factors during early years affect health
      outcomes in adulthood, particularly in children with low birth weight. * Pre
      school stage influences children's body composition and growth. What is new: *
      This is the first systematic review of observational studies examining the
      association between childcare and childhood overweight and obesity in preschool
      children. * 'Informal' care is linked to early introduction to solid foods, less
      physical activity and obesity.

PMID- 27631591
TI  - Autologous transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue to induce puberty-the
      endocrinologists' view.
AB  - : Transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue has been shown to successfully
      induce pregnancies. Furthermore, puberty may be induced by transplanted ovarian
      tissue in girls suffering from premature primary ovarian insufficiency (PPOI) due
      to gonadotoxic therapy. Therefore, the question arises if ovarian tissue
      cryopreservation should be recommended for puberty induction in prepubertal girls
      with cancer prior to gonadotoxic therapies. Although this strategy seems to be
      more natural than administering exogenous steroid sex hormones, there are some
      disadvantages from the endocrinological point of view. During physiologic
      puberty, serum estradiol levels increase very slowly, followed by irregular and
      finally regular ovulations with progesterone production during the luteal phase.
      PPOI presents as hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism. When transplanting ovarian
      tissue in girls with PPOI, the elevated gonadotrophins will promote a sudden
      follicular growth of one or several follicles with a sharp increase of serum
      estrogen levels and regular ovulations. This will result into an accelerated
      pubertal development with the risk of overt weight gain, cutaneous striae and
      premature growth stop possibly leading to psychological implications. CONCLUSION:
      Transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue should not be recommended as an
      alternative to medically induced puberty.

PMID- 27631592
TI  - Status of and candidates for cell therapy in liver cirrhosis: overcoming the
      "point of no return" in advanced liver cirrhosis.
AB  - The treatment of liver cirrhosis is currently being standardized and developed
      specifically to reduce activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), inhibit
      fibrosis, increase degradation of matrix components, and reduce activated
      myofibroblasts. Cell therapy can be applied in the treatment of liver cirrhosis;
      however, the characteristic features of this therapy differ from those of other
      treatments because of the involvement of a living body origin and production of
      multiple cytokines, chemokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and growth
      factors. Thus, cell therapies can potentially have multiple effects on the
      damaged liver, including alleviating liver cirrhosis and stimulating liver
      regeneration with affecting the host cells. Cell therapies initially involved
      autologous bone marrow cell infusion, and have recently developed to include the
      use of specific cells such as mesenchymal stem cells and macrophages. The
      associated molecular mechanisms, routes of administration, possibility of
      allogeneic cell therapy, and host conditions appropriate for cell therapies are
      now being extensively analyzed. In this review, we summarize the status and
      future prospects of cell therapy for liver cirrhosis.

PMID- 27631594
TI  - Prospective randomized study of endoscopic biliary stone extraction using either
      a basket or a balloon catheter: the BasketBall study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Japan and Europe, a retrieval basket is generally used for
      endoscopic extraction of bile duct stones, while in the US, a retrieval balloon
      is mainly used. However, the efficacies of these two devices have not been
      previously compared. Therefore, the present multicenter, prospective, randomized
      study was performed to compare the efficacies of these two devices for endoscopic
      biliary stone extraction. METHODS: This study was designed as a non-inferiority
      study in comparing a basket removal with a balloon removal. Six Japanese
      institutions participated in this study, which included 184 patients with bile
      duct stones <11 mm in diameter with no limitation in the number of stones. The
      stones were identified and measured during ERCP, after which the patients were
      randomly assigned to undergo endoscopic stone extraction using either a basket
      catheter or a balloon catheter. The primary end point was the rate of complete
      removals of stones within 10 min, and the secondary end point was the rate of
      procedure-related complications. RESULTS: There were 91 patients in the basket
      group and 93 in the balloon group. The rate of successful stone extraction within
      10 min was 81.3 % (74/91) in the basket group and 83.9 % (78/93) in the balloon
      group (p = 0.7000). The complication rate was 6.6 % in the basket group and 11.8
      % in the balloon group (p = 0.3092). Complications included bleeding,
      pancreatitis, and cholangitis. CONCLUSIONS: Basket and balloon catheters showed
      similar efficacies for endoscopic biliary stone extraction when stone size is 11
      mm or smaller.

PMID- 27631595
TI  - Giant Polarization and High Temperature Monoclinic Phase in a Lead-Free
      Perovskite of Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-BiFeO3.
AB  - Lead-free piezoelectrics have attracted increasing attention because of the
      awareness of lead toxicity to the environment. Here, a new bismuth-based lead
      free perovskite, (1 - x)Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-xBiFeO3, has been synthesized via a high
      pressure and high-temperature method. It exhibits interesting properties of giant
      polarization, morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), and monoclinic phase. In
      particular, large tetragonality (c/a = 1.228) and giant spontaneous polarization
      of 110 MUC/cm2 has been obtained in 0.6 Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-0.4BiFeO3, which is much
      higher than most available lead-free materials and conventional Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. MPB
      is clearly identified to be constituted of tetragonal and monoclinic phases at x
      = 0.5. Notably, a single monoclinic phase has been observed at x = 0.6, which
      exhibits an intriguing high-temperature property. The present results are helpful
      to explore new lead-free MPB systems in bismuth-based compounds.

PMID- 27631593
TI  - Safety and efficacy of dual therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir for older
      patients with chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Daclatasvir and asunaprevir combination therapy has shown a high
      virological response for chronic genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected
      patients. However, the safety and efficacy of the therapy for older patients are
      unknown. METHODS: One hundred seventy patients younger than 75 years and 139
      patients aged 75 years or older with genotype 1 HCV infection were treated for 24
      weeks with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir. Pretreatment drug-resistance-associated
      variants at NS5A-L31 and NS5A-Y93 were determined by the Invader assay.
      Virological response and adverse events according to age were analyzed. RESULTS:
      The sustained virological response (SVR) rate for older patients was similar to
      that for younger patients (97.1 and 92.4 % respectively). In multivariate
      regression analysis, prior simeprevir treatment (odds ratio 56.6 for absence; P <
      0.001) was identified as a significant independent predictor of SVR. The SVR rate
      for patients with pretreatment resistance-associated variants (RAVs) at a low
      population frequency (less than 25 %) was similar to that for patients with no
      detectable RAVs. The frequency of adverse events was similar between younger and
      older patients. All 19 very elderly patients (85 years or older) completed the 24
      weeks of treatment and achieved SVR. CONCLUSIONS: Older patients have a
      virological response and tolerance of daclatasvir plus asunaprevir therapy
      similar to those of younger patients. Even though RAVs were detected, virological
      response similar to that for patients with no detectable RAVs may still be
      expected for patients with RAVs as long as the population frequency is low.

PMID- 27631596
TI  - The prognostic value of GLUT-1 staining in the detection of malignant
      transformation in oral mucosa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks as the sixth most
      common tumor entity worldwide. Unfortunately, the multimodal treatment consisting
      of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy does not show the desired efficacy. The
      intent of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of an oral
      brush biopsy in combination with glucose transporter (GLUT)-1 staining in
      identifying premalignant and malignant lesions. METHODS: A total of 72 patients
      were included in the study, divided into four diagnostic subgroups (24 healthy,
      15 carcinoma, 18 leukoplakia, 15 oral lichen planus). Oral brush biopsies were
      taken and analyzed for GLUT-1 expression by immunocytologic staining. Incisional
      biopsy served as the gold standard. RESULTS: Twelve (80 %) of the 15 carcinomas,
      nine (50 %) of the 18 leukoplakia, nine (60 %) of the 15 oral lichen planus, and
      none of the healthy specimens stained positive for GLUT-1. This resulted in a
      sensitivity rate of 80 % and a specificity rate of 68.42 %. Diagnostic accuracy
      was 70.83 % based on the correct diagnoses in 51 of 72 patients. CONCLUSION: An
      oral brush biopsy can easily be performed throughout the entire oral cavity, is
      noninvasive, and shows high sensitivity and specificity rates with conventional
      cytology or computer-assisted analysis. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The significance of
      GLUT-1-specific staining with an oral brush biopsy is more limited than expected
      but could be used as an additional tool in detecting malignant transformation in
      the oral cavity.

PMID- 27631599
TI  - Trends in Pharmacologic Interventions for Preventing Recurrence of Crohn's
      Disease After Ileocolonic Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prophylactic treatment of postoperative Crohn's disease (CD) plays a
      critical role in maintaining clinical remission. We performed the first study in
      the last decade to examine secular trends in the use of pharmacologic
      interventions after ileocolonic resection in the United States, to understand
      whether clinical practice converges with recent advances in scientific knowledge.
      METHODS: A retrospective study of a U.S. national claims database was performed.
      The study cohort included 106 CD patients in the years 1999 to 2001 (prebiologic
      era) and 294 CD patients in the years 2009 to 2011 (postbiologic era), who
      underwent ileocolonic resection. Medication use in the 12 months after the
      surgery was examined. RESULTS: Significant variations in care were evident in
      both study periods. Across the 2 study periods, there was an increased use of
      biologics (from 0% to 36.4%) and a substantial reduction in the use of 5
      aminosalicylic acid (from 50.9% to 28.2%; P < 0.0001). Therapeutic interventions
      that have been found ineffective in published studies continued to be widely
      applied: one-third of patients were prescribed corticosteroids, and several cases
      of prolonged use of corticosteroids or antibiotics were observed in both cohorts.
      Disease behavior (penetrating, stricturing, or nonpenetrating and nonstricturing)
      was not associated with the choice of postoperative therapeutic interventions,
      with the exception of an increased use of antibiotics among patients with
      penetrating disease. CONCLUSIONS: There is a substantial gap between advances in
      postoperative care for ileocolonic CD and clinical practice. Strategies to
      expedite the integration of new knowledge and evidence into practice are urgently
      needed.

PMID- 27631598
TI  - Sofosbuvir/Ledipasvir Without Ribavirin Achieved High Sustained Virologic
      Response for Hepatitis C Recurrence After Liver Transplantation: Two-Center
      Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current recommended regimens to treat patients with hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) infection after liver transplantation include the use of ribavirin (RBV).
      Limited data are available on the efficacy of RBV-free regimens posttransplant,
      particularly the use of sofosbuvir (SOF)/ledipasvir (LDV) without RBV in this
      patient population. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of SOF/LDV fixed
      dose combination without RBV in patients with HCV recurrence posttransplant.
      METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 46 patients with HCV recurrence
      posttransplant. SOF/LDV without RBV was used for 12 weeks in patients with early
      stage fibrosis (F0-F2) or for 24 weeks in those with advanced fibrosis (F3-F4)
      and/or cholestatic hepatitis. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic
      response at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Secondary outcomes included
      relapse after treatment and adverse events. RESULTS: Forty-six patients, with a
      mean age of 62 +/- 8 years, a median duration since time of transplant of 904
      days (range, 78-3525 days), an HCV genotype 1, and a mean baseline viral load of
      7.79 million IU/mL, were treated. Of these, 32 patients were treated for 12
      weeks, and 14 patients were treated for 24 weeks. Twenty-five patients (54%) were
      treatment experienced (21 with interferon and 4 with SOF). All 46 patients (100%)
      achieved sustained virological response (SVR) 12. Neither virologic relapses nor
      serious adverse events were noted. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of SOF/LDV
      without RBV for 12 or 24 weeks produced 100% SVR 12 in patients with HCV
      recurrence after liver transplantation. The use of RBV may not be necessary to
      achieve SVR in this patient population.

PMID- 27631597
TI  - Oral health and orofacial pain in older people with dementia: a systematic review
      with focus on dental hard tissues.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to provide a systematic overview including
      a quality assessment of studies about oral health and orofacial pain in older
      people with dementia, compared to older people without dementia. METHODS: A
      systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, CINAHL, and the Cochrane
      Library. The following search terms were used: dementia and oral health or
      stomatognathic disease. The quality assessment of the included articles was
      performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). RESULTS: The search yielded 527
      articles, of which 37 were included for the quality assessment and quantitative
      overview. The median NOS score of the included studies was 5, and the mean was
      4.9 (SD 2.2). The heterogeneity between the studies was considered too large to
      perform a meta-analysis. An equivalent prevalence of orofacial pain, number of
      teeth present, decayed missing filled teeth index, edentulousness percentage, and
      denture use was found for both groups. However, the presence of caries and
      retained roots was higher in older people with dementia than in those without.
      CONCLUSIONS: Older people with dementia have worse oral health, with more
      retained roots and coronal and root caries, when compared to older people without
      dementia. Little research focused on orofacial pain in older people with
      dementia. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The current state of oral health in older people
      with dementia could be improved with oral care education of caretakers and
      regular professional dental care.

PMID- 27631600
TI  - High Vitamin D-Binding Protein Concentration, Low Albumin, and Mode of Remission
      Predict Relapse in Crohn's Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D (25(OH)D) deficiency occurs in active Crohn's disease (CD)
      and may be secondary to reduced sunlight exposure and oral intake. Vitamin D
      binding protein (VDBP) levels, however, fluctuate less with season and sunlight.
      The aim, therefore, was to examine patients with CD in remission and determine
      any associations between VDBP, serum 25(OH)D, and the calculated free 25(OH)D
      concentrations with the risk of disease flare. METHODS: Subjects were identified
      from prospectively maintained inflammatory bowel disease databases at 3 teaching
      hospitals in Australia. Patients were in steroid-free clinical remission at the
      time of blood draw and were followed for at least 12 months. Total and epimer
      25(OH)D3, VDBP concentrations, and genotypes were determined. RESULTS: A total of
      309 patients with CD (46% men) met the inclusion criteria. A disease flare
      occurred in 100 (32.4%). Serum 25(OH)D3 was deficient (<50 nmol/L) in 36 (12%)
      and insufficient (50-75 nmol/L) in 107 (35%) patients. Total, free, and epimer
      25(OH)D3 serum levels did not predict disease flare. Higher VDBP concentrations,
      however, significantly correlated with increased risk of disease flare (hazard
      ratio 1.2, 95% CI, 1.0-1.5). On multivariate analysis, VDBP concentration, low
      albumin, and medication-induced remission were significantly more associated with
      disease flare. VDBP genotypes were significantly associated with 25(OH)D and VDBP
      concentrations but not disease flare. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency was
      uncommon in our patients with CD in remission, and serum 25(OH)D3 did not predict
      disease flare, whereas higher VDBP concentrations were significantly associated
      with disease flare. Further investigations to explore the possible mechanisms for
      this association are warranted.

PMID- 27631601
TI  - Obstetrical Outcomes of Ultrasound Identified Uterine Fibroids in Pregnancy.
AB  - Objective We aimed to determine if fibroids in pregnancy, categorized by size,
      are associated with adverse obstetrical outcomes. Study Design Demographic,
      clinical, and delivery data were collected from charts of women with singleton
      gestations who delivered at >20 weeks gestation with fibroids identified at
      routine anatomy scan and their randomly selected age-matched controls. Largest
      fibroid diameter was used to categorize small fibroids (<=5 cm) and large
      fibroids (>5 cm). Results We included 450 patients: 264 patients with fibroids
      (174 small, 90 large fibroids) and 186 age-matched controls. Women with large
      fibroids had significantly greater blood loss than women with small fibroids and
      women with no fibroids (p-value <0.0001 and <0.0001 after adjusting for delivery
      mode). When fibroid size was compared individually, there was a significantly
      higher rate of primary cesarean section in both small and large fibroid groups
      when compared with women with no fibroids (p-values 0.044 and 0.003 after
      adjusting for body mass index). Conclusion Women with fibroids in pregnancy have
      higher rates of primary cesarean delivery and are at significant risk for
      increased blood loss at the time of delivery.

PMID- 27631603
TI  - Selective and Efficient Cysteine Conjugation by Maleimides in the Presence of
      Phosphine Reductants.
AB  - Sulfhydryl functions of thiol-containing amino acids are prime attachment sites
      for conjugation of labels, ligands, or drugs to proteinaceous compounds. Usually
      the thiol is offered a xenobiotic electrophilic moiety from the molecule to be
      attached such as a maleimido function. As sulfhydryls tend to oxidize into
      disulfides they must be reduced before conjugation. A popular thiol reduction
      reagent in biosciences is the substituted phosphine tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine
      (TCEP). Yet, phosphines are nucleophilic, too, and thus potentially compete with
      thiols for the electron-poor alkene moiety of maleimide resulting in complex
      product mixtures. To overcome this shortcoming we developed a method to eliminate
      excess reducing agent in the reaction mixture by selective oxidation of the
      phosphine with azidobenzoic acid before coupling. This results in a selective and
      efficient labeling of cysteines by maleimides.

PMID- 27631604
TI  - Zika Virus Disease Cases - 50 States and the District of Columbia, January 1-July
      31, 2016.
AB  - Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus primarily transmitted to humans by
      Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (1). Zika virus infections have also been documented
      through intrauterine transmission resulting in congenital infection; intrapartum
      transmission from a viremic mother to her newborn; sexual transmission; blood
      transfusion; and laboratory exposure (1-5). Most Zika virus infections are
      asymptomatic (1,6). Clinical illness, when it occurs, is generally mild and
      characterized by acute onset of fever, maculopapular rash, arthralgia, or
      nonpurulent conjunctivitis. However, Zika virus infection during pregnancy can
      cause adverse outcomes such as fetal loss, and microcephaly and other serious
      brain anomalies (1-3). Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition
      affecting the peripheral nervous system, also has been associated with Zika virus
      infection (1). Following the identification of local transmission of Zika virus
      in Brazil in May 2015, the virus has continued to spread throughout the Region of
      the Americas, and travel-associated cases have increased (7). In 2016, Zika virus
      disease and congenital infections became nationally notifiable conditions in the
      United States (8). As of September 3, 2016, a total of 2,382 confirmed and
      probable cases of Zika virus disease with symptom onset during January 1-July 31,
      2016, had been reported from 48 of 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
      Most cases (2,354; 99%) were travel-associated, with either direct travel or an
      epidemiologic link to a traveler to a Zika virus-affected area. Twenty-eight (1%)
      cases were reported as locally acquired, including 26 associated with mosquito
      borne transmission, one acquired in a laboratory, and one with an unknown mode of
      transmission. Zika virus disease should be considered in patients with compatible
      clinical signs or symptoms who traveled to or reside in areas with ongoing Zika
      virus transmission or who had unprotected sex with someone who traveled to those
      areas. Health care providers should continue to educate patients, especially
      pregnant women, about the importance of avoiding infection with Zika virus, and
      all pregnant women should be assessed for possible Zika virus exposure at each
      prenatal visit (2). 

PMID- 27631605
TI  - Variations in the Availability of Pollen Resources Affect Honey Bee Health.
AB  - Intensive agricultural systems often expose honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to
      large temporal variations in the availability (quantity, quality and diversity)
      of nutritional resources. Such nutritional irregularity is expected to affect
      honey bee health. We therefore tested under laboratory conditions the effect of
      such variation in pollen availability on honey bee health (survival and nursing
      physiology-hypopharyngeal gland development and vitellogenin expression). We fed
      honey bees with different diets composed of pollen pellets collected by honey
      bees in an agricultural landscape of western France. Slight drops (5-10%) in the
      availability of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) pollen resulted in significant
      reductions of all tested variables. Despite some variations in taxonomic
      diversity and nutritional quality, the pollen mixes harvested over the season had
      a similar positive influence on honey bee health, except for the one collected in
      late July that induced poor survival and nursing physiology. This period
      coincided with the mass-flowering of maize (Zea mays L.), an anemophilous crop
      which produces poor-quality pollen. Therefore, changes in bee health were not
      connected to variations in pollen diversity but rather to variations in pollen
      depletion and quality, such as can be encountered in an intensive agricultural
      system of western France. Finally, even though pollen can be available ad libitum
      during the mass-flowering of some crops (e.g. maize), it can fail to provide bees
      with diet adequate for their development. 

PMID- 27631606
TI  - Correction: Comparison of the Non-VKA Oral Anticoagulants Apixaban, Dabigatran,
      and Rivaroxaban in the Extended Treatment and Prevention of Venous
      Thromboembolism: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160064.].

PMID- 27631607
TI  - Oxygenation Threshold Derived from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: Reliability and
      Its Relationship with the First Ventilatory Threshold.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements of oxygenation reflect
      O2 delivery and utilization in exercising muscle and may improve detection of a
      critical exercise threshold. PURPOSE: First, to detect an oxygenation breakpoint
      (Delta[O2HbMb-HHbMb]-BP) and compare this breakpoint to ventilatory thresholds
      during a maximal incremental test across sexes and training status. Second, to
      assess reproducibility of NIRS signals and exercise thresholds and investigate
      confounding effects of adipose tissue thickness on NIRS measurements. METHODS:
      Forty subjects (10 trained male cyclists, 10 trained female cyclists, 11
      endurance trained males and 9 recreationally trained males) performed maximal
      incremental cycling exercise to determine Delta[O2HbMb-HHbMb]-BP and ventilatory
      thresholds (VT1 and VT2). Muscle haemoglobin and myoglobin O2 oxygenation
      ([HHbMb], [O2HbMb], SmO2) was determined in m. vastus lateralis. Delta[O2HbMb
      HHbMb]-BP was determined by double linear regression. Trained cyclists performed
      the maximal incremental test twice to assess reproducibility. Adipose tissue
      thickness (ATT) was determined by skinfold measurements. RESULTS: Delta[O2HbMb
      HHbMb]-BP was not different from VT1, but only moderately related (r = 0.58-0.63,
      p<0.001). VT1 was different across sexes and training status, whereas
      Delta[O2HbMb-HHbMb]-BP differed only across sexes. Reproducibility was high for
      SmO2 (ICC = 0.69-0.97), Delta[O2HbMb-HHbMb]-BP (ICC = 0.80-0.88) and ventilatory
      thresholds (ICC = 0.96-0.99). SmO2 at peak exercise and at occlusion were
      strongly related to adipose tissue thickness (r2 = 0.81, p<0.001; r2 = 0.79,
      p<0.001). Moreover, ATT was related to asymmetric changes in Delta[HHbMb] and
      Delta[O2HbMb] during incremental exercise (r = -0.64, p<0.001) and during
      occlusion (r = -0.50, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the oxygenation threshold is
      reproducible and potentially a suitable exercise threshold, VT1 discriminates
      better across sexes and training status during maximal stepwise incremental
      exercise. Continuous-wave NIRS measurements are reproducible, but strongly
      affected by adipose tissue thickness.

PMID- 27631608
TI  - Renal Denervation in a Real Life Setting: A Gradual Decrease in Home Blood
      Pressure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the blood pressure dynamics after renal denervation
      through monthly home blood pressure measurements throughout the first 12 months.
      METHODS: A cohort of 70 patients performed highly standardized monthly home blood
      pressure monitoring during the first year after denervation according to the
      European Society of Hypertension guidelines. At baseline and 12 months follow-up,
      office and ambulatory blood pressure as well as routine physical and laboratory
      assessment was performed. RESULTS: Home blood pressure decreased with a rate of
      0.53 mmHg/month (95% CI 0.20 to 0.86) systolic and 0.26 mmHg/month (95% CI 0.08
      to 0.44) diastolic throughout 12 months of follow-up, while the use of
      antihypertensive medication remained stable (+0.03 daily defined doses/month, 95%
      CI -0.01 to 0.08). On average, a 12 month reduction of 8.1 mmHg (95% CI 4.2 to
      12.0) was achieved in home systolic blood pressure, 9.3 mmHg (95% CI -14.2 to 
      4.4) as measured by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and 15.9 mmHg
      (95% CI -23.8 to -7.9) on office measurements. CONCLUSION: Blood pressure
      reduction after renal denervation occurs as a gradual decrease that extends to at
      least one-year follow-up. Home monitoring seems a suitable alternative for
      ambulatory blood pressure monitoring after renal denervation.

PMID- 27631602
TI  - Radicals: Reactive Intermediates with Translational Potential.
AB  - This Perspective illustrates the defining characteristics of free radical
      chemistry, beginning with its rich and storied history. Studies from our
      laboratory are discussed along with recent developments emanating from others in
      this burgeoning area. The practicality and chemoselectivity of radical reactions
      enable rapid access to molecules of relevance to drug discovery, agrochemistry,
      material science, and other disciplines. Thus, these reactive intermediates
      possess inherent translational potential, as they can be widely used to expedite
      scientific endeavors for the betterment of humankind.

PMID- 27631609
TI  - Disruption of Rest Leads to the Early Onset of Cataracts with the Aberrant
      Terminal Differentiation of Lens Fiber Cells.
AB  - REST (RE1-silencing transcription factor, also called Nrsf) is involved in the
      maintenance of the undifferentiated state of neuronal stem/progenitor cells in
      vitro by preventing precocious expression of neuronal genes. REST expression was
      then decreased in developing neurons to down-regulate neuronal genes which allow
      their maturation. However, the function of REST during neurogenesis in vivo
      remains to be elucidated because of the early embryonic lethal phenotype of
      conventional Rest knockout mice. In order to investigate the role of REST in
      ocular tissues, we generated and examined the mice evoking genetic ablation to
      Rest specifically to neural tissues including ocular tissue. We used a Sox1-Cre
      allele to excise the floxed Rest gene in the early neural tissues including the
      lens and retinal primordia. The resulting Rest conditional knockout (CKO) and co
      cntrol mice were used in comparative morphological, histological, and gene
      expression analyses. Rest CKO mice had an abnormal lens morphology after birth.
      The proliferation of lens epithelial cells was likely to be slightly reduced, and
      vacuoles formed without a visible increase in apoptotic cells. Although the
      aberrant expression of late onset cataract marker proteins was not detected, the
      expression of Notch signaling-related genes including a previously identified
      REST-target gene was up-regulated around birth, and this was followed by the down
      regulated expression of lens fiber regulators such as c-Maf and Prox1. Rest CKO
      induces a unique cataract phenotype just after birth. Augmented Notch signaling
      and the down-regulated expression of lens fiber regulator genes may be
      responsible for this phenotype. Our results highlight the significance of REST
      function in lens fiber formation, which is necessary for maintaining an intact
      lens structure. 

PMID- 27631610
TI  - Monitoring Treatment Progress and Providing Feedback is Viewed Favorably but
      Rarely Used in Practice.
AB  - Numerous trials demonstrate that monitoring client progress and using feedback
      for clinical decision-making enhances treatment outcomes, but available data
      suggest these practices are rare in clinical settings and no psychometrically
      validated measures exist for assessing attitudinal barriers to these practices.
      This national survey of 504 clinicians collected data on attitudes toward and use
      of monitoring and feedback. Two new measures were developed and subjected to
      factor analysis: The monitoring and feedback attitudes scale (MFA), measuring
      general attitudes toward monitoring and feedback, and the attitudes toward
      standardized assessment scales-monitoring and feedback (ASA-MF), measuring
      attitudes toward standardized progress tools. Both measures showed good fit to
      their final factor solutions, with excellent internal consistency for all
      subscales. Scores on the MFA subscales (Benefit, Harm) indicated that clinicians
      hold generally positive attitudes toward monitoring and feedback, but scores on
      the ASA-MF subscales (Clinical Utility, Treatment Planning, Practicality) were
      relatively neutral. Providers with cognitive-behavioral theoretical orientations
      held more positive attitudes. Only 13.9 % of clinicians reported using
      standardized progress measures at least monthly and 61.5 % never used them.
      Providers with more positive attitudes reported higher use, providing initial
      support for the predictive validity of the ASA-MF and MFA. Thus, while clinicians
      report generally positive attitudes toward monitoring and feedback, routine
      collection of standardized progress measures remains uncommon. Implications for
      the dissemination and implementation of monitoring and feedback systems are
      discussed.

PMID- 27631612
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of vaping cannabis in a sample of young adults.
AB  - Vaping nicotine (i.e., the use of e-cigarettes and similar devices to inhale
      nicotine) is becoming increasingly popular among young people. Though some
      vaporizers are capable of vaporizing cannabis, sparse research has investigated
      this method of cannabis administration. The present study examines the prevalence
      and correlates of vaping cannabis in a sample of 482 college students.
      Participants reported high lifetime rates of vaping nicotine (37%) and cannabis
      (29%). Men (rs = 0.09, p = .047) and individuals from higher socioeconomic status
      families (rs = 0.14, p = .003) vaped cannabis more frequently than women and
      individuals from lower SES families. In addition, those who vaped cannabis more
      frequently were more open to new experiences (rs = 0.17, p < .001) and showed
      greater approval of smoking cannabis regularly (rs = 0.35, p < .001). Among the
      largest correlates of cannabis vaping were frequent cannabis use (rs = 0.70, p <
      .001) and nicotine vaping (rs = 0.46, p < .001), suggesting that availability of
      cannabis and vaporizers is particularly important. Participants' top reason for
      vaping cannabis, endorsed by 65% of those who had vaped cannabis, was convenience
      and discreetness for use in public places. Several correlates distinguished
      cannabis users who vaped from cannabis users who did not vape, most notably more
      frequent cannabis use (odds ratios [OR] = 3.68, p < .001), alcohol use (OR =
      2.07, p < .001), nicotine vaping (OR = 1.73, p < .001), and greater approval of
      smoking cannabis regularly (OR = 2.15, p < .001). Findings suggest that cannabis
      vaping is prevalent among young adults, particularly among those who use other
      substances frequently and have more favorable attitudes toward smoking cannabis.
      Research is needed on the antecedents and potential harms and benefits of
      cannabis vaping in young adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631611
TI  - Keeping Clubhouses Open: Toward a Roadmap for Sustainability.
AB  - Clubhouses are recovery centers that help persons with serious mental illness
      obtain and maintain community-based employment, education, housing, social
      integration, and other services. Key informants from U.S. clubhouses were
      interviewed to create a conceptual framework for clubhouse sustainability.
      Survival analyses tested this model for 261 clubhouses. Clubhouses stayed open
      significantly longer if they had received full accreditation, had more
      administrative autonomy, and received funding from multiple rather than sole
      sources. Cox regression analyses showed that freestanding clubhouses which were
      accredited endured the longest. Budget size, clubhouse size, and access to
      managed care did not contribute significantly to sustainability.

PMID- 27631613
TI  - Activity enjoyment, not frequency, is associated with alcohol-related problems
      and heavy episodic drinking.
AB  - Depression and alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly co-occur, and this comorbidity
      is associated with greater impairment and higher likelihood of relapse compared
      to either disorder alone. Identifying shared vulnerability across depression and
      AUD may aid in developing more parsimonious treatment approaches. Low levels of
      positive reinforcement for healthy behaviors have been implicated as a shared
      vulnerability across both depression and AUD. However, prior research in this
      area has largely been conducted among college students and has rarely examined
      depression and AUD symptoms together. This study aims to extend prior literature
      by examining the association between both the frequency and enjoyment of
      activities and AUD symptoms in a national sample of adults (n = 609) while also
      accounting for depressive symptoms. Study results indicated that low levels of
      enjoyment were associated with greater alcohol-related problems and frequency of
      heavy episodic drinking, above and beyond depressive symptoms. The frequency of
      potentially pleasurable activities was unrelated to alcohol-related problems or
      heavy episodic drinking. Findings extend prior literature by providing evidence
      for the association between enjoyment of activities and alcohol use, above and
      beyond depressive symptoms, among a national sample of adults. These results
      suggest that prioritizing enjoyment of activities, rather than frequency, may be
      important for behavioral intervention efforts to address heavy drinking and
      associated problems. Future longitudinal research using observational methods of
      behavior is needed to identify causal relationships between activity enjoyment
      and AUD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631614
TI  - Perceptions of breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) levels among a sample of bar
      patrons with BrAC values of 0.08% or higher.
AB  - Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) is a commonly used measure of alcohol
      intoxication. Because of the potential negative consequences of excessive alcohol
      consumption, it is important to examine how accurately intoxicated individuals
      can estimate their BrAC values, especially individuals over the legal BrAC
      driving threshold (i.e., 0.08%). To better understand perceptions of BrAC values
      among intoxicated individuals, this field study examined actual BrAC values and
      BrAC range estimates (0.08% and above, 0.02-0.07%, less than 0.02%) among a
      sample of bar patrons (N = 454) with BrAC levels at 0.08% or higher. Bivariate
      and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between
      actual BrAC values and perceived BrAC levels. We also examined whether the
      following demographic and drinking variables were associated with underestimating
      BrAC in this sample: gender, age, race, college student status, plans to get
      home, and hazardous drinking. Results indicated that the majority (60.4%) of
      participants underestimated their BrAC (i.e., less than 0.08%) and lower BrAC
      values correlated with underestimating BrAC ranges (p < .001, 95% CI[0.2, 0.6]).
      Further, females (p = .001, 95% CI[1.3, 3.3]) and participants under 21 (p =
      .039, 95% CI = 1.0, 2.6) were significantly more likely to estimate their BrAC to
      be less than 0.08%, which is concerning given that young (less than 21)
      intoxicated females are a group at high risk for sexual assault on college
      campuses. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631615
TI  - Attentional bias to betel quid cues: An eye tracking study.
AB  - The World Health Organization regards betel quid as a human carcinogen, and DSM
      IV and ICD-10 dependence symptoms may develop with heavy use. This study,
      conducted in central Taiwan, investigated whether betel quid chewers can exhibit
      overt orienting to selectively respond to the betel quid cues. Twenty-four male
      chewers' and 23 male nonchewers' eye movements to betel-quid-related pictures and
      matched pictures were assessed during a visual probe task. The eye movement index
      showed that betel quid chewers were more likely to initially direct their gaze to
      the betel quid cues, t(23) = 3.70, p < .01, d = .75, and spent more time, F(1,
      23) = 4.58, p < .05, eta2 = .17, and were more fixated, F(1, 23) = 5.18, p < .05,
      eta2 = .18, on them. The visual probe index (response time) failed to detect the
      chewers' attentional bias. The current study provided the first eye movement
      evidence of betel quid chewers' attentional bias. The results demonstrated that
      the betel quid chewers (but not the nonchewers) were more likely to initially
      direct their gaze to the betel quid cues, and spent more time and were more
      fixated on them. These findings suggested that when attention is directly
      measured through the eye tracking technique, this methodology may be more
      sensitive to detecting attentional biases in betel quid chewers. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27631616
TI  - The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the cumulative effect of a
      routine (hot-to-) cold shower on sickness, quality of life and work productivity.
      METHODS: Between January and March 2015, 3018 participants between 18 and 65
      years without severe comorbidity and no routine experience of cold showering were
      randomized (1:1:1:1) to a (hot-to-) cold shower for 30, 60, 90 seconds or a
      control group during 30 consecutive days followed by 60 days of showering cold at
      their own discretion for the intervention groups. The primary outcome was illness
      days and related sickness absence from work. Secondary outcomes were quality of
      life, work productivity, anxiety, thermal sensation and adverse reactions.
      RESULTS: 79% of participants in the interventions groups completed the 30
      consecutive days protocol. A negative binomial regression model showed a 29%
      reduction in sickness absence for (hot-to-) cold shower regimen compared to the
      control group (incident rate ratio: 0.71, P = 0.003). For illness days there was
      no significant group effect. No related serious advents events were reported.
      CONCLUSION: A routine (hot-to-) cold shower resulted in a statistical reduction
      of self-reported sickness absence but not illness days in adults without severe
      comorbidity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands National Trial Register NTR5183.

PMID- 27631617
TI  - Quantitation of the Rank-Rankl Axis in Primary Biliary Cholangitis.
AB  - There is substantial data that suggests an abnormality of innate immunity in
      patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) which includes the transcription
      factor nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) and well as downstream inflammatory signaling
      pathways. In addition, ImmunoChip analysis has identified a novel PBC-associated
      locus near the receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL) gene. Based on these
      observations, we investigated the role of the RANKL axis in the liver of patients
      with PBC compared to controls. We used immunohistochemistry to quantitate liver
      expression of RANKL, its receptor (RANK), and importantly the decoy receptor
      osteoprotegerin (OPG), including a total of 122 liver samples (PBC = 37, primary
      sclerosing cholangitis = 20, autoimmune hepatitis = 26, chronic hepatitis B = 32
      and unaffected controls = 7). In addition, we studied RANKL-RANK-OPG co
      localization in CD4 and CD8 T cells, B cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, NK,
      NKT cells, hepatocytes, and cholangiocytes. We report herein that RANK is
      constitutively expressed by cholangiocytes in both unaffected and diseased liver.
      However, cholangiocytes from PBC express significantly higher levers of RANK than
      either the unaffected controls or liver diseased controls. CD4, CD8 and CD19
      cells with in the portal areas around bile ducts in PBC express significantly
      higher levels of RANKL compared to controls. Importantly, the overall hepatic
      RANKL level and the ratio of hepatic RANKL/OPG correlated with disease severity
      in PBC. In conclusion, our data indicate a role of RANK-RANKL axis in the innate
      immune activation in PBC and we hypothesize that the damaged cholangiocytes,
      which express high levels of RANK, lead to the recruitment of RANKL positive
      cells and ultimately the classic portal tract infiltrates. 

PMID- 27631618
TI  - Novel Reassortant H5N6 Influenza A Virus from the Lao People's Democratic
      Republic Is Highly Pathogenic in Chickens.
AB  - Avian influenza viruses of H5 subtype can cause highly pathogenic disease in
      poultry. In March 2014, a new reassortant H5N6 subtype highly pathogenic avian
      influenza virus emerged in Lao People's Democratic Republic. We have assessed the
      pathogenicity, pathobiology and immunological responses associated with this
      virus in chickens. Infection caused moderate to advanced disease in 6 of 6
      chickens within 48 h of mucosal inoculation. High virus titers were observed in
      blood and tissues (kidney, spleen, liver, duodenum, heart, brain and lung) taken
      at euthanasia. Viral antigen was detected in endothelium, neurons, myocardium,
      lymphoid tissues and other cell types. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were elevated
      compared to non-infected birds. Our study confirmed that this new H5N6
      reassortant is highly pathogenic, causing disease in chickens similar to that of
      Asian H5N1 viruses, and demonstrated the ability of such clade 2.3.4-origin H5
      viruses to reassort with non-N1 subtype viruses while maintaining a fit and
      infectious phenotype. Recent detection of influenza H5N6 poultry infections in
      Lao PDR, China and Viet Nam, as well as six fatal human infections in China,
      demonstrate that these emergent highly pathogenic H5N6 viruses may be widely
      established in several countries and represent an emerging threat to poultry and
      human populations. 

PMID- 27631619
TI  - Clinical Significance of Pre- and Post-Transplant BAFF Levels in Kidney
      Transplant Recipients.
AB  - It is well known that pre-transplant B cell activating factor (BAFF) levels are
      associated with the development of de novo anti-HLA antibodies and antibody
      mediated rejection post-transplant. However, the clinical significance of BAFF
      values at allograft rejection has not been determined. In this study, we
      investigated the clinical significance of pre-transplant BAFF level as well as
      post-transplant BAFF levels measured when indication biopsy was done. We checked
      for anti-HLA antibodies in 115 kidney transplant recipients who required
      allograft biopsy due to an increase in serum creatinine. With the same serum
      specimen, we measured BAFF levels, and in 78 of these patients, pre-transplant
      BAFF and anti-HLA antibody levels were detected as well. Patients in each group
      were divided into tertiles according to BAFF levels. We investigated the
      relationship between BAFF levels and the occurrence of anti-HLA antibodies. Pre
      transplant BAFF levels showed significant association with pre-transplant
      sensitization, and also with early rejection (Tertile 3, 26.9% vs. Tertile 1,
      11.5%; P<0.05). Post-transplant BAFF levels showed significant association with
      pre-transplant sensitization, but did not show association with anti-HLA
      antibodies and positive donor-specific antibodies at the time of biopsy. We did
      not find any association between post-transplant BAFF levels and allograft biopsy
      results, Banff scores and microvascular inflammation scores. In conclusion, pre
      transplant BAFF levels are associated with pre-transplant sensitization and are
      useful in predicting allograft rejection. But post-transplant BAFF levels
      measured at the time of indication biopsy are not associated with the appearance
      of de novo HLA-DSA, allograft rejection, biopsy findings and other allograft
      outcomes. 

PMID- 27631620
TI  - Big Data Mining and Adverse Event Pattern Analysis in Clinical Drug Trials.
AB  - Drug adverse events (AEs) are a major health threat to patients seeking medical
      treatment and a significant barrier in drug discovery and development. AEs are
      now required to be submitted during clinical trials and can be extracted from
      ClinicalTrials.gov ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ ), a database of clinical
      studies around the world. By extracting drug and AE information from
      ClinicalTrials.gov and structuring it into a database, drug-AEs could be
      established for future drug development and repositioning. To our knowledge,
      current AE databases contain mainly U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
      approved drugs. However, our database contains both FDA-approved and experimental
      compounds extracted from ClinicalTrials.gov . Our database contains 8,161
      clinical trials of 3,102,675 patients and 713,103 reported AEs. We extracted the
      information from ClinicalTrials.gov using a set of python scripts, and then used
      regular expressions and a drug dictionary to process and structure relevant
      information into a relational database. We performed data mining and pattern
      analysis of drug-AEs in our database. Our database can serve as a tool to assist
      researchers to discover drug-AE relationships for developing, repositioning, and
      repurposing drugs.

PMID- 27631622
TI  - Population Genetic Structure of Apple Scab (Venturia inaequalis (Cooke) G.
      Winter) in Iran.
AB  - The population genetic structure of 278 Venturia inaequalis isolates, collected
      from different apple cultivars of eighteen different provinces in Iran, was
      investigated using 22 polymorphic microsatellite markers. Analysis of molecular
      variation, Bayesian clustering and Nei's genetic distance analyses based on 88
      microsatellite alleles indicated substantial levels of gene flow among the
      collection sites. Ninety three percent of the variation was observed among the
      individuals within the populations and only 7% variation was observed among the
      populations. Structure analysis grouped the isolates into two populations.
      Maximum number of pathogen genotypes (44) was observed in the North of Iran that
      grows various different apple cultivars. Investigation on the variation of the
      pathogen on different cultivars in the North of Iran suggested a significant
      differentiation of the pathogen populations between wild apple and commercial
      cultivars. During sampling, varying ranges of scab infection were observed on
      various apple cultivars in forests, monoculture and mix orchards. Wild type apple
      (Malus orientalis) along the Caspian Sea Coast had the most infection in
      comparison with the Iranian endemic and commercial cultivars. Based on the
      genetic analysis and host tracking scenario of the pathogen, it was presumed that
      Iran could potentially be the center of origin of V. inaequalis, which requires
      further detailed studies with isolates collected from different parts of central
      Asia and world for confirmation. 

PMID- 27631621
TI  - A Recombination Directionality Factor Controls the Cell Type-Specific Activation
      of sigmaK and the Fidelity of Spore Development in Clostridium difficile.
AB  - The strict anaerobe Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of nosocomial
      diarrhea, and the oxygen-resistant spores that it forms have a central role in
      the infectious cycle. The late stages of sporulation require the mother cell
      regulatory protein sigmaK. In Bacillus subtilis, the onset of sigmaK activity
      requires both excision of a prophage-like element (skinBs) inserted in the sigK
      gene and proteolytical removal of an inhibitory pro-sequence. Importantly, the
      rearrangement is restricted to the mother cell because the skinBs recombinase is
      produced specifically in this cell. In C. difficile, sigmaK lacks a pro-sequence
      but a skinCd element is present. The product of the skinCd gene CD1231 shares
      similarity with large serine recombinases. We show that CD1231 is necessary for
      sporulation and skinCd excision. However, contrary to B. subtilis, expression of
      CD1231 is observed in vegetative cells and in both sporangial compartments.
      Nevertheless, we show that skinCd excision is under the control of mother cell
      regulatory proteins sigmaE and SpoIIID. We then demonstrate that sigmaE and
      SpoIIID control the expression of the skinCd gene CD1234, and that this gene is
      required for sporulation and skinCd excision. CD1231 and CD1234 appear to
      interact and both proteins are required for skinCd excision while only CD1231 is
      necessary for skinCd integration. Thus, CD1234 is a recombination directionality
      factor that delays and restricts skinCd excision to the terminal mother cell.
      Finally, while the skinCd element is not essential for sporulation, deletion of
      skinCd results in premature activity of sigmaK and in spores with altered surface
      layers. Thus, skinCd excision is a key element controlling the onset of sigmaK
      activity and the fidelity of spore development.

PMID- 27631623
TI  - Shifts in the Clonal Distribution of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      in Kuwait Hospitals: 1992-2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) is constantly changing globally, determining the prevailing MRSA clones in
      a local healthcare facility is important for better management of infections.
      This study investigated clonal composition and distribution of MRSA isolates in
      Kuwait's hospitals using a combination of molecular typing methods. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In total, 400 non-repeat MRSA isolates were obtained between 1992 and
      2010 in 13 public hospitals and were characterized using antibiogram, SCCmec
      typing, spa typing, and multilocus-sequence typing. Clonal assignment and
      detection of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance genes were performed by
      DNA microarray. RESULTS: The isolates were resistant to kanamycin (74.2%),
      erythromycin (69.5%), tetracycline (66.7%), gentamicin (61%), ciprofloxacin,
      (61%), fusidic acid (53.5%), clindamycin (41.5%), high-level mupirocin resistance
      (5.2%) and carried aphA3, aacA-aphD, ermA, ermC, mupA, tetK, tetM, fusC and far1.
      Molecular typing revealed 31 different MRSA clones consisting of ST239-MRSA-III
      (52.2%), ST22-MRSA-IV (9.2%), ST80-MRSA-IV (7.5%), ST5-MRSA-II/IV/V/VI (6.5%),
      ST30-MRSA-IV (3.5%), ST241-MRSA-III (2.7%), ST6-MRSA-IV (2.2%), ST36-MRSA-II (2%)
      and ST772-MRSA-V (1.75%). The isolates differed in the carriage of genes for
      enterotoxins, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), toxic shock syndrome toxin (tst
      1), arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME) and exfoliative toxins. The number
      of clones increased from one (ST239-III-t037) in 1992 to 30 in 2010 including ST8
      IV-t008 [PVL+] [ACME+] (USA300), ST772-V (Bengal Bay clone) and ST2816 identified
      for the first time in Kuwait. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that the MRSA
      isolates belonged to diverse clones that changed in numbers and diversity
      overtime. Although ST239-MRSA-III, a healthcare-associated clone remained the
      dominant MRSA clone overtime, the newly emerged clones consisted mostly of
      community-associated.

PMID- 27631624
TI  - A Rational Engineering Strategy for Designing Protein A-Binding Camelid Single
      Domain Antibodies.
AB  - Staphylococcal protein A (SpA) and streptococcal protein G (SpG) affinity
      chromatography are the gold standards for purifying monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)
      in therapeutic applications. However, camelid VHH single-domain Abs (sdAbs or
      VHHs) are not bound by SpG and only sporadically bound by SpA. Currently, VHHs
      require affinity tag-based purification, which limits their therapeutic potential
      and adds considerable complexity and cost to their production. Here we describe a
      simple and rapid mutagenesis-based approach designed to confer SpA binding upon a
      priori non-SpA-binding VHHs. We show that SpA binding of VHHs is determined
      primarily by the same set of residues as in human mAbs, albeit with an unexpected
      degree of tolerance to substitutions at certain core and non-core positions and
      some limited dependence on at least one residue outside the SpA interface, and
      that SpA binding could be successfully introduced into five VHHs against three
      different targets with no adverse effects on expression yield or antigen binding.
      Next-generation sequencing of llama, alpaca and dromedary VHH repertoires
      suggested that species differences in SpA binding may result from frequency
      variation in specific deleterious polymorphisms, especially Ile57. Thus, the SpA
      binding phenotype of camelid VHHs can be easily modulated to take advantage of
      tag-less purification techniques, although the frequency with which this is
      required may depend on the source species. 

PMID- 27631625
TI  - Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Respiratory Tract Infections in Healthy
      Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled
      Trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D supplementation may be a simple preventive measure against
      respiratory tract infections (RTIs) but evidence from randomized controlled
      trials is inconclusive. We aimed to systematically summarize results from
      interventions studying the protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on
      clinical and laboratory confirmed RTIs in healthy adults and children. METHODS:
      Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and CINAHL were screened from inception until present
      (last updated in January 2016) completed by a search of the grey literature,
      clinical trial registers and conference abstracts. We included randomized trials
      comparing vitamin D versus placebo or no treatment. Two independent reviewers
      were responsible for study selection and data extraction. Cochrane's risk of bias
      tool and the GRADE approach were used for quality assessment. Estimates were
      pooled with random-effects models. Heterogeneity was explored by sub-group and
      meta-regression analyses. RESULTS: Of 2627 original hits, 15 trials including
      7053 individuals were ultimately eligible. All used oral cholecalciferol. We
      found a 6% risk reduction with vitamin D3 supplementation on clinical RTIs, but
      the result was not statistically significant (RR 0.94; 95% CI 0.88 to 1.00).
      Heterogeneity was large (I-square 57%) and overall study quality was low. There
      were too few studies to reliably assess a potential risk reduction of laboratory
      confirmed RTI. Evidence was insufficient to demonstrate an association between
      vitamin D supplementation and risk of clinical RTI in sub-groups with vitamin D
      deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: In previously healthy individuals vitamin D
      supplementation does not reduce the risk of clinical RTIs. However, this
      conclusion is based on a meta-analysis where the included studies differed with
      respect to population, baseline vitamin D levels and study length. This needs to
      be considered when interpreting the results. Future trials should focus on
      vitamin D deficient individuals and apply more objective and standardized outcome
      measurements.

PMID- 27631628
TI  - Re: Functional and Therapeutic Indications of Liposuction: Personal Experience
      and Review of the Literature: Erratum.

PMID- 27631626
TI  - Differentiation between Glioblastoma Multiforme and Primary Cerebral Lymphoma:
      Additional Benefits of Quantitative Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging.
AB  - The differentiation between glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and primary cerebral
      lymphoma (PCL) is important because the treatments are substantially different.
      The purpose of this article is to describe the MR imaging characteristics of GBM
      and PCL with emphasis on the quantitative ADC analysis in the tumor necrosis, the
      most strongly-enhanced tumor area, and the peritumoral edema. This retrospective
      cohort study collected 104 GBM (WHO grade IV) patients and 22 immune-competent
      PCL (diffuse large B cell lymphoma) patients. All these patients had pretreatment
      brain MR DWI and ADC imaging. Analysis of conventional MR imaging and
      quantitative ADC measurement including the tumor necrosis (ADCn), the most
      strongly-enhanced tumor area (ADCt), and the peritumoral edema (ADCe) were done.
      ROC analysis with optimal cut-off values and area-under-the ROC curve (AUC) was
      performed. For conventional MR imaging, there are statistical differences in
      tumor size, tumor location, tumor margin, and the presence of tumor necrosis
      between GBM and PCL. Quantitative ADC analysis shows that GBM tended to have
      significantly (P<0.05) higher ADC in the most strongly-enhanced area (ADCt) and
      lower ADC in the peritumoral edema (ADCe) as compared with PCL. Excellent AUC
      (0.94) with optimal sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 86% for differentiating
      between GBM and PCL was obtained by combination of ADC in the tumor necrosis
      (ADCn), the most strongly-enhanced tumor area (ADCt), and the peritumoral edema
      (ADCe). Besides, there are positive ADC gradients in the peritumoral edema in a
      subset of GBMs but not in the PCLs. Quantitative ADC analysis in these three
      areas can thus be implemented to improve diagnostic accuracy for these two brain
      tumor types. The histological correlation of the ADC difference deserves further
      investigation. 

PMID- 27631629
TI  - Surveillance Immunity: An Emerging Paradigm of Innate Defense Activation in
      Caenorhabditis elegans.

PMID- 27631630
TI  - Risk of Peripheral Artery Occlusive Disease in Patients with Vertigo, Tinnitus,
      or Sudden Deafness: A Secondary Case-Control Analysis of a Nationwide, Population
      Based Health Claims Database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cochleovestibular symptoms, such as vertigo, tinnitus, and sudden
      deafness, are common manifestations of microvascular diseases. However, it is
      unclear whether these symptoms occurred preceding the diagnosis of peripheral
      artery occlusive disease (PAOD). Therefore, the aim of this case-control study
      was to investigate the risk of PAOD among patients with vertigo, tinnitus, and
      sudden deafness using a nationwide, population-based health claim database in
      Taiwan. METHODS: We identified 5,340 adult patients with PAOD diagnosed between
      January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 and 16,020 controls, frequency matched on
      age interval, sex, and year of index date, from the Taiwan National Health
      Insurance Research Database. Risks of PAOD in patients with vertigo, tinnitus, or
      sudden deafness were separately evaluated with multivariate logistic regression
      analyses. RESULTS: Of the 5,340 patients with PAOD, 12.7%, 6.7%, and 0.3% were
      diagnosed with vertigo, tinnitus, and sudden deafness, respectively. In the
      controls, 10.6%, 6.1%, and 0.3% were diagnosed with vertigo (P < 0.001), tinnitus
      (P = 0.161), and sudden deafness (P = 0.774), respectively. Results from the
      multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the risk of PAOD was
      significantly increased in patients with vertigo (adjusted odds ratio = 1.12, P =
      0.027) but not in those with tinnitus or sudden deafness. CONCLUSIONS: A modest
      increase in the risk of PAOD was observed among Taiwanese patients with vertigo,
      after adjustment for comorbidities.

PMID- 27631631
TI  - Five shades of grey: Generalization in distractor-based retrieval of S-R
      episodes.
AB  - Binding theories assume that a stimulus and a response made to it are bound
      together, as in the case of the theory of event coding, in an event file (Hommel,
      Musseler, Aschersleben, & Prinz, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(05), 849-937,
      2001). This binding occurs after even a single encounter with the stimulus and
      the response. Repeating any part of the event file will cause the entire file to
      be retrieved. However not only are relevant stimuli bound with responses but even
      irrelevant stimuli that co-occur with the target can be bound with the response,
      and repeating such a distractor will result in the event file being retrieved.
      Yet previous studies focused on retrieval effects due to repetition of the same
      distractor. In this experiment we analysed whether perceptually similar
      distractors still influence actions due to distractor-based retrieval of
      responses. Thirty-one participants responded to the shape of the stimulus while
      ignoring the luminance (5 different shades of grey). The similarity of the
      stimulus luminance between two consecutive trials influenced response times on
      response repetition trials. Response repetition effects were particularly
      facilitated with exact repetitions of the irrelevant feature luminance, and the
      strength of this effect diminished with increasing dissimilarity of luminance in
      a linear fashion. We conclude that response-retrieval effects due to distractor
      bindings follow the rules of generalization, as discussed in the conditioning
      literature.

PMID- 27631632
TI  - A "looming bias" in spatial hearing? Effects of acoustic intensity and spectrum
      on categorical sound source localization.
AB  - Continuous increases of acoustic intensity (up-ramps) can indicate a looming
      (approaching) sound source in the environment, whereas continuous decreases of
      intensity (down-ramps) can indicate a receding sound source. From psychoacoustic
      experiments, an "adaptive perceptual bias" for up-ramp looming tonal stimuli has
      been proposed (Neuhoff, 1998). This theory postulates that (1) up-ramps are
      perceptually salient because of their association with looming and potentially
      threatening stimuli in the environment; (2) tonal stimuli are perceptually
      salient because of an association with single and potentially threatening
      biological sound sources in the environment, relative to white noise, which is
      more likely to arise from dispersed signals and nonthreatening/nonbiological
      sources (wind/ocean). In the present study, we extrapolated the "adaptive
      perceptual bias" theory and investigated its assumptions by measuring sound
      source localization in response to acoustic stimuli presented in azimuth to imply
      looming, stationary, and receding motion in depth. Participants (N = 26) heard
      three directions of intensity change (up-ramps, down-ramps, and steady state,
      associated with looming, receding, and stationary motion, respectively) and three
      levels of acoustic spectrum (a 1-kHz pure tone, the tonal vowel /?/, and white
      noise) in a within-subjects design. We first hypothesized that if up-ramps are
      "perceptually salient" and capable of eliciting adaptive responses, then they
      would be localized faster and more accurately than down-ramps. This hypothesis
      was supported. However, the results did not support the second hypothesis.
      Rather, the white-noise and vowel conditions were localized faster and more
      accurately than the pure-tone conditions. These results are discussed in the
      context of auditory and visual theories of motion perception, auditory
      attentional capture, and the spectral causes of spatial ambiguity.

PMID- 27631635
TI  - Estimation of the biserial correlation and its sampling variance for use in meta
      analysis.
AB  - Meta-analyses are often used to synthesize the findings of studies examining the
      correlational relationship between two continuous variables. When only
      dichotomous measurements are available for one of the two variables, the biserial
      correlation coefficient can be used to estimate the product-moment correlation
      between the two underlying continuous variables. Unlike the point-biserial
      correlation coefficient, biserial correlation coefficients can therefore be
      integrated with product-moment correlation coefficients in the same meta
      analysis. The present article describes the estimation of the biserial
      correlation coefficient for meta-analytic purposes and reports simulation results
      comparing different methods for estimating the coefficient's sampling variance.
      The findings indicate that commonly employed methods yield inconsistent estimates
      of the sampling variance across a broad range of research situations. In
      contrast, consistent estimates can be obtained using two methods that appear to
      be unknown in the meta-analytic literature. A variance-stabilizing transformation
      for the biserial correlation coefficient is described that allows for the
      construction of confidence intervals for individual coefficients with close to
      nominal coverage probabilities in most of the examined conditions. Copyright (c)
      2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27631636
TI  - Cystic Benign Metastasizing Leiomyoma of the Lung Mimicking Hydatid Cyst.
AB  - A 60-year-old woman, with history of a resected uterine benign leiomyoma, is
      operated for a cystic lesion in the left lung, mimicking an hydatid cyst, and
      confirmed histologically as Cystic Benign Metastasizing Leiomyoma.

PMID- 27631637
TI  - Error in Results Section.

PMID- 27631634
TI  - Ropivacaine, Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Plasma Levels during
      Intermittent Epidural and Continuous Wound Infusion of Ropivacaine for Analgesia
      after Hysterectomy or Myomectomy: An Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The concentration-time profile of the long-acting local
      anesthetic ropivacaine after epidural (EP) administration at fixed time intervals
      or continuous subcutaneous (SC) infusion has not been fully evaluated. The
      objective of this work was to determine total plasma concentrations of
      ropivacaine and changes in cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) levels during EP and SC. METHODS: In this prospective
      randomized controlled trial, 18 patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy or
      myomectomy were randomly selected to receive ropivacaine either every 6 h via an
      EP catheter or by continuous wound infusion along the skin incision, after a
      bolus dose, for 48 h. Total plasma ropivacaine concentrations were measured
      before the bolus and 2, 4, 8, 24, 48, and 50 h after the bolus using high
      performance liquid chromatography-UV and IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were measured
      at 0, 8 and 24 h with ELISA and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: During EP, mean
      +/- SD ropivacaine concentrations were relatively stable up to 50 h
      postoperatively, that is, 239 +/- 89 ng/ml, while during SC, initial
      concentrations between 2 and 8 h were comparatively lower (101.5 +/- 42.9 ng/ml)
      than 24-50 h concentrations (437.1 +/- 206 ng/ml). An increase in IL-6 levels was
      noted between 0 and 24 h during EP and SC, but TNF-alpha levels increased
      slightly, between 0 and 24 h, only during EP. CONCLUSION: Ropivacaine plasma
      concentrations with both EP and SC were found to be safe throughout the
      administration time interval. IL-6 levels increased during the same time
      interval, while TNF levels varied only slightly.

PMID- 27631633
TI  - Glycerol enhances fungal germination at the water-activity limit for life.
AB  - For the most-extreme fungal xerophiles, metabolic activity and cell division
      typically halts between 0.700 and 0.640 water activity (approximately 70.0-64.0%
      relative humidity). Here, we investigate whether glycerol can enhance xerophile
      germination under acute water-activity regimes, using an experimental system
      which represents the biophysical limit of Earth's biosphere. Spores from a
      variety of species, including Aspergillus penicillioides, Eurotium halophilicum,
      Xerochrysium xerophilum (formerly Chrysosporium xerophilum) and Xeromyces
      bisporus, were produced by cultures growing on media supplemented with glycerol
      (and contained up to 189 mg glycerol g dry spores-1 ). The ability of these
      spores to germinate, and the kinetics of germination, were then determined on a
      range of media designed to recreate stresses experienced in microbial habitats or
      anthropogenic systems (with water-activities from 0.765 to 0.575). For A.
      penicillioides, Eurotium amstelodami, E. halophilicum, X. xerophilum and X.
      bisporus, germination occurred at lower water-activities than previously recorded
      (0.640, 0.685, 0.651, 0.664 and 0.637 respectively). In addition, the kinetics of
      germination at low water-activities were substantially faster than those reported
      previously. Extrapolations indicated theoretical water-activity minima below
      these values; as low as 0.570 for A. penicillioides and X. bisporus. Glycerol is
      present at high concentrations (up to molar levels) in many types of microbial
      habitat. We discuss the likely role of glycerol in expanding the water-activity
      limit for microbial cell function in relation to temporal constraints and
      location of the microbial cell or habitat. The findings reported here have also
      critical implications for understanding the extremes of Earth's biosphere; for
      understanding the potency of disease-causing microorganisms; and in
      biotechnologies that operate at the limits of microbial function.

PMID- 27631638
TI  - The Structural Features of Sports and Race Betting Inducements: Issues for Harm
      Minimisation and Consumer Protection.
AB  - Minimal research has been published about inducements for sports and race
      betting, despite their ready availability and aggressive advertising. This paper
      aimed to document the range and structural features of these inducements, and
      analyse their alignment with the harm minimisation and consumer protection goals
      of responsible gambling. A scan of all inducements offered on the websites of 30
      major race and sports betting brands located 223 separate inducements which we
      categorised into 15 generic types, all offering financial incentives to purchase.
      These comprised sign-up offers, refer-a-friend offers, happy hours, mobile
      betting bonuses, multi-bet offers, refund/stake-back offers, matching
      stakes/deposits, winnings paid for 'close calls', bonus or better odds, bonus or
      better winnings, competitions, reduced commission, free bets to selected punters,
      cash rebates and other free bets. All inducements were subject to numerous terms
      and conditions which were complex, difficult to find, and obscured by legalistic
      language. Play-through conditions of bonus bets were particularly difficult to
      interpret and failed basic requirements for informed choice. Website
      advertisements for inducements were prominently promoted but few contained a
      responsible gambling message. The results were analysed to generate 12 research
      propositions considered worthy of empirical research to inform much needed
      regulatory reform in this area.

PMID- 27631640
TI  - Development of microsatellite markers using next-generation sequencing for the
      columnar cactus Echinopsis chiloensis (Cactaceae).
AB  - The aim of this study was to develop microsatellite markers as a tool to study
      population structure, genetic diversity and effective population size of
      Echinopsis chiloensis, an endemic cactus from arid and semiarid regions of
      Central Chile. We developed 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers for E.
      chiloensis using next-generation sequencing and tested them in 60 individuals
      from six sites, covering all the latitudinal range of this species. The number of
      alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 8, while the observed (Ho) and expected (He)
      heterozygosity ranged from 0.0 to 0.80 and from 0.10 to 0.76, respectively. We
      also detected significant differences between sites, with FST values ranging from
      0.05 to 0.29. Microsatellite markers will enable us to estimate genetic diversity
      and population structure of E. chiloensis in future ecological and
      phylogeographic studies.

PMID- 27631639
TI  - Insulin-independent GLUT4 translocation in proliferative vascular smooth muscle
      cells involves SM22alpha.
AB  - : The insulin-sensitive glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) is a predominant
      facilitative glucose transporter in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and is
      significantly upregulated in rabbit neointima. This study investigated the role
      of GLUT4 in VSMC proliferation, the cellular mechanism underlying PDGF-BB
      stimulated GLUT4 translocation, and effects of SM22alpha, an actin-binding
      protein, on this process. Chronic treatment of VSMCs with PDGF-BB significantly
      elevated GLUT4 expression and glucose uptake. PDGF-BB-induced VSMC proliferation
      was dependent on GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake. Meanwhile, the response of GLUT4
      to insulin decreased in PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs. PDGF-BB-induced GLUT4
      translocation partially rescued glucose utilization in insulin-resistant cells.
      Immunofluorescence and western blot analysis revealed that PDGF-BB induced GLUT4
      translocation in an actin dynamics-dependent manner. SM22alpha disruption
      facilitated GLUT4 translocation and glucose uptake by promoting actin dynamics
      and cortical actin polymerization. Similar results were observed in VSMCs of
      SM22alpha -/- mice. The in vivo experiments showed that the glucose level in the
      neointima induced by ligation was significantly increased in SM22alpha -/- mice,
      accompanied by increased neointimal thickness, compared with those in wild-type
      mice. These findings suggest that GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake is involved in
      VSMC proliferation, and provide a novel link between SM22alpha and glucose
      utilization in PDGF-BB-triggered proliferation. KEY MESSAGES: * GLUT4-mediated
      glucose uptake is required for the VSMC proliferation. * PDGF-BB-induced GLUT4
      translocation partially rescues glucose uptake in insulin resistance. * SM22alpha
      disruption enhances PDGF-BB-induced GLUT4 translocation. * Glucose level in
      injured vascular tissue is positively correlated with neointimal hyperplasia.

PMID- 27631642
TI  - Sigmoid resection with primary anastomosis and ileostomy versus laparoscopic
      lavage in purulent peritonitis from perforated diverticulitis: outcome analysis
      in a prospective cohort of 40 consecutive patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: This prospective study aimed to compare outcomes after laparoscopic
      peritoneal lavage (LPL) and sigmoid resection with primary colorectal anastomosis
      (RPA). METHODS: From June 2010 to June 2015, 40 patients presenting with Hinchey
      III peritonitis from perforated diverticulitis underwent LPL or RPA. Patients
      with Hinchey II or IV peritonitis and patients who underwent an upfront Hartmann
      procedure were excluded. Primary endpoint was overall 30-day or in-hospital
      postoperative morbidity after surgical treatment of peritonitis. RESULTS: Twenty
      five patients underwent RPA and 15 LPL. Overall postoperative morbidity and
      mortality rates were not significantly different after RPA and LPL (40 vs 67 %, p
      = 0.19; 4 vs 6.7 %, p = 1, respectively). Intra-abdominal morbidity and
      reoperation rates were significantly higher after LPL compared to RPA (53 vs 12
      %, p < 0.01; 40 vs 4 %, p = 0.02, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed
      that LPL (p = 0.028, HR = 18.936, CI 95 % = 1.369-261.886) was associated with an
      increased risk of postoperative intra-abdominal septic morbidity. Among 6
      patients who underwent reoperation after LPL, 4 had a Hartmann procedure. All
      surviving patients who had a procedure requiring stoma creation underwent stoma
      reversal after a median delay of 92 days after LPL and 72 days after RPA (p =
      0.07). CONCLUSION: LPL for perforated diverticulitis is associated with a high
      risk of inadequate intra-abdominal sepsis control requiring a Hartmann procedure
      in up to 25 % of patients. RPA appears to be safer and more effective. It may
      represent the best option in this context.

PMID- 27631643
TI  - Long-term outcome of extralevator abdominoperineal excision (ELAPE) for low
      rectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Extralevator abdominoperineal excision (ELAPE) was introduced to improve
      outcomes for low-lying locally advanced rectal cancers (LARC) not amenable to
      sphincter preserving procedures. This study investigates prospectively outcomes
      of patients operated on with ELAPE compared with a similar cohort of patients
      operated on with conventional APE. METHODS: After the exclusion of patients
      without neoadjuvant therapy, in-hospital mortality, and incomplete
      metastatectomy, we identified 72 consecutive patients who had undergone either
      conventional APE (n = 36) or ELAPE (n = 36) for LARC <=6 cm from the anal verge.
      The primary outcome measure was local recurrence at 5 years, and secondary
      outcome measures were cause-specific and overall survival. RESULTS: Median
      distance from the anal verge was significantly lower in the ELAPE group (2 vs. 4
      cm, p = 0.029). Inadvertent bowel perforation could be completely avoided in the
      ELAPE group, but amounted to 16.7 % in the conventional APE group (p = 0.025).
      Cumulative local recurrence rate at 5 years was 18.2 % in the APE group compared
      to 5.9 % in the ELAPE group (p = 0.153). Local recurrence without distant
      metastases occurred in 15.5 % in the APE group but was not observed in the ELAPE
      group (p = 0.039). We did not detect significant differences in cause-specific
      nor in overall survival. CONCLUSION: ELAPE results in lower local recurrence
      rates as compared with conventional APE. We conclude that the extralevator
      approach should be the procedure of choice for advanced low rectal cancer not
      amenable to sphincter preserving procedures.

PMID- 27631644
TI  - Kinematics of ACL and anterolateral ligament. Part I: Combined lesion.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify the influence of ALL lesions on static and dynamic laxity in
      ACL-deficient knee. METHODS: The study was performed in 10 fresh-frozen knees.
      The joints were analysed in the following conditions: intact, ACL resection and
      ACL + ALL resection. Testing parameters were defined as: anterior displacement at
      30 degrees  and 90 degrees  of flexion (AP30, AP90) applying a manual-maximum
      load; internal rotation at 30 degrees  and 90 degrees  of flexion (INT30, INT90)
      applying a 5 N m torque and internal rotation and acceleration during manual
      pivot-shift (PS) test. Kinematics was acquired by a navigation system; a testing
      rig and a torquemeter were used to control the limb position and the applied
      torque. Paired Student's t test was conducted to assess statistical difference,
      and significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: The ALL resection determined a
      significant increase in terms of internal rotation (INT30 P = 0.02, INT90 P =
      0.03), while AP30 (P n.s) and AP90 (P n.s) were not affected. ALL resection
      produced a significant increase in terms of acceleration during PS test (P <
      0.01), but no significant change in PS internal rotation was observed.
      CONCLUSION: The ALL plays a significant role in controlling static internal
      rotation and acceleration during PS test. On the other hand, ALL resection did
      not produce any significant change in terms of anterior displacement. A trend was
      seen for the internal rotation during the pivot-shift test to increase after ALL
      resection was higher when compared to the intact and isolated ACL lesion states;
      however, the differences were not significant. The results highlight the clinical
      relevance of this structure that should be assessed before an ACL reconstruction
      in order to avoid residual laxity.

PMID- 27631646
TI  - Lateral osteophytes do not represent a contraindication to medial
      unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: a 15-year follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: Lateral osteophytes have been reported to be associated with lateral
      compartment disease and as such it is unclear whether medial unicompartmental
      knee arthroplasty should be performed if these are present. METHODS: Using the
      OARSI classification system, 0 (no osteophyte) to 3 (large osteophyte),
      radiographs from a series of cemented meniscal-bearing unicompartmental knee
      arthroplasty implanted in the setting of full-thickness lateral cartilage where
      lateral osteophytes were not considered a contraindication were identified and
      factors associated with the presence and size of lateral osteophytes, and their
      impact on clinical outcomes and implant survival were assessed. RESULTS: Pre
      operative radiographs from 458 knees (392 patients), independently followed up
      for a mean 10.5 years (range 5.3-16.6), were assessed. Lateral osteophytes were
      present in 62 % of knees with 18 % scored as Grade 3. Inter-observer reliability
      was good (kappa = 0.70). The presence and size of lateral osteophytes was
      associated with younger age at joint replacement (p = 0.01) and increasing BMI (p
      = 0.01). No association was seen with gender, pre-operative status, assessed
      using the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), American Knee Society (AKSS) Objective or
      Functional Score, Tegner activity score, or size of medial tibial lesion.
      Subgroup analysis of Grade 3 Osteophytes revealed that these were associated with
      a greater degree of macroscopic ACL damage. At 10 years there was no difference
      in function (n.s.), and at 15 years no difference in implant survival or
      mechanism of failure between groups (n.s.). Subgroup analysis of Grade 3
      osteophytes found no significant difference in functional outcome at 10 years or
      implant survival at 15 years. CONCLUSION: The presence of lateral osteophytes is
      not a contraindication to medial meniscal-bearing unicompartmental knee
      arthroplasty. The clinical relevance of this study is that it highlights the
      importance of an appropriate pre-operative assessment of the lateral compartment
      as in the setting of full-thickness cartilage at operation lateral osteophytes do
      not compromise long-term functional outcome or implant survival. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 27631647
TI  - Navigated "small implants" in knee reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: At the beginning of this century, unprecedented interest in the concept
      of using less invasive approaches for the treatment of knee degenerative diseases
      was ignited. Initial interest in this approach was about navigated and non
      navigated knee reconstruction using small implants and conventional total knee
      arthroplasty. METHODS: To this end, a review of the published literature relating
      to less invasive compartmental arthroplasty of the knee using computer-based
      alignment techniques and on soft tissue-dedicated small implants is presented.
      The authors present and compare their personal results using these techniques
      with those reported in the current literature. These involved the use of a
      shorter incision and an emphasis sparing. However, nowadays most surgeons look at
      compartmental knee resurfacing with the use of small implants as the new
      customized approach for younger and higher-demand patients. The aim of this paper
      is to stimulate further debate. RESULTS: Since the beginning of 2000, computer
      assisted surgery has been applied to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and later to
      compartmental knee arthroplasty. Recent studies in the literature have reported
      better implant survivorship for younger patients using navigation in TKA at
      longer-term follow-up. Only one published report was identified showing superior
      clinical outcomes at short-term follow-up using computer-assisted technology
      compared with conventional alignment techniques in small implant surgery. No
      studies were found in the literature that demonstrated similar clinical
      advantages with navigated small implants at long-term follow-up. Two published
      meta-analyses were identified reporting better implant and limb alignment and no
      increase in complications using a navigated unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.
      However, neither meta-analysis showed superior clinical outcomes or survivorship
      with the navigated techniques. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we can assert that
      replacing just the damaged compartment and preserving the normal biomechanics
      will require not only new implant designs but also new technologies allowing the
      surgeon to make extremely precise adjustments to implant alignment and providing
      continuous feedback during surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 27631648
TI  - Biliary adenofibroma: A rare hepatic lesion with malignant features.

PMID- 27631645
TI  - Origin and insertion of the medial patellofemoral ligament: a systematic review
      of anatomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) is the major medial soft
      tissue stabiliser of the patella, originating from the medial femoral condyle and
      inserting onto the medial patella. The exact position reported in the literature
      varies. Understanding the true anatomical origin and insertion of the MPFL is
      critical to successful reconstruction. The purpose of this systematic review was
      to determine these locations. METHODS: A systematic search of published (AMED,
      CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Library) and unpublished literature
      databases was conducted from their inception to the 3 February 2016. All papers
      investigating the anatomy of the MPFL were eligible. Methodological quality was
      assessed using a modified CASP tool. A narrative analysis approach was adopted to
      synthesise the findings. RESULTS: After screening and review of 2045 papers, a
      total of 67 studies investigating the relevant anatomy were included. From this,
      the origin appears to be from an area rather than (as previously reported) a
      single point on the medial femoral condyle. The weighted average length was 56 mm
      with an 'hourglass' shape, fanning out at both ligament ends. CONCLUSION: The
      MPFL is an hourglass-shaped structure running from a triangular space between the
      adductor tubercle, medial femoral epicondyle and gastrocnemius tubercle and
      inserts onto the superomedial aspect of the patella. Awareness of anatomy is
      critical for assessment, anatomical repair and successful surgical patellar
      stabilisation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic review of anatomical dissections and
      imaging studies, Level IV.

PMID- 27631649
TI  - Shift workers have a similar diet quality but higher energy intake than day
      workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Shift work is associated with adverse health outcomes, and an
      unhealthy diet may be a contributing factor. We compared diet quantity and
      quality between day and shift workers, and studied exposure-response
      relationships regarding frequency of night shifts and years of shift work.
      METHODS: Cross-sectional general population data from the European Prospective
      Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) cohort was used.
      Dietary intake was assessed in 1993-1997 among adults aged 20-70 years using a
      food frequency questionnaire. We calculated energy intake, the Mediterranean Diet
      Score (MDS) and WHO-based Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI). In 2011-2014, we
      retrospectively identified 683 shift workers and 7173 day workers in 1993-1997.
      Using multivariable-adjusted linear regression analysis, we estimated regression
      coefficients (beta) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of the differences in
      dietary intake between day and shift workers. RESULTS: Shift workers had a higher
      energy intake than day workers (beta:56 kcal/d, 95% CI 10-101), and a higher
      consumption of grains, dairy products, meat and fish (P<0.05). The difference in
      energy intake was largest for shift workers with >=5 night shifts/month. They
      consumed 103 kcal/d (95% CI 29-176) more than day workers. No associations were
      found with MDS and HDI. CONCLUSION: Shift workers and particularly those with a
      high frequency of night shifts had a higher energy intake than day workers.
      Regardless of number of night shifts and years of shift work, shift workers had
      similar diet quality as day workers. This suggests that increased energy intake
      among shift workers may contribute to shift work-induced adverse health outcomes.

PMID- 27631650
TI  - Impact of Climatic Conditions on Physical Activity: A 2-Year Cohort Study in the
      Arabian Gulf Region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effects that climatic conditions,
      especially extreme heat, have on physical activity (PA) levels. The aim of this 2
      year cohort analysis undertaken in the Arabian Gulf region was to assess changes
      in objectively-assessed PA as a result of changes in climatic conditions.
      METHODS: A total of 2088 adults (1390 men and 698 women) from many regions of the
      world were enrolled in a community health program in Qatar, were included in this
      study. For 2 years participants recorded daily step count using an Omron HJ-720
      ITC pedometer. Daily climate parameters included temperature, relative humidity
      and other conditions. RESULTS: From linear mixed model analysis it was evident
      that higher average temperature and humidity, and the Wet bulb Globe Temperature
      (WbGT), resulted in a reduction of the number of steps taken per day. Analysis of
      interaction effects also revealed that the effects of heat stress were equivalent
      across gender, age, and the region participants came from according to a World
      Health Organization classification scheme. CONCLUSIONS: Increased temperature and
      humidity are associated with a reduction in the number of steps taken per day.
      Community-based PA programs in hot hot/humid climates should consider novel
      approaches to increase PA levels.

PMID- 27631651
TI  - Thank You to Otology and Neurotology's Interim Editor-in-Chief.

PMID- 27631652
TI  - Letter From the New Editor-in-Chief.

PMID- 27631654
TI  - Special Issue for Papers Presented at the Annual Meeting of the German Audiology
      and Neurootology Group 2014 (ADANO) in Dresden/Germany.

PMID- 27631653
TI  - Role of STAT1 and Oxidative Stress in Gentamicin-Induced Hair Cell Death in Organ
      of Corti.
AB  - RATIONALE: Oxidative stress plays a critical role in gentamicin-induced hair cell
      death. Previous work has implicated the cytoplasmic transcription factor signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) as a potential mediator of
      drug-induced ototoxicity, but role in aminoglycosides is largely unknown. This
      study investigated aminoglycosides-induced cell death, exploring contributions of
      reactive oxygen species and STAT1 pathway in injury and protection. METHODS:
      Neonatal murine organ of Corti explants from 2 to 3 day postnatal pups (n = 96)
      were treated with gentamicin at (4 MUM, 50 MUM) for 4 to 72 hours, with/without
      protectants. Effects on STAT1 pathway and gentamicin-induced hair cell death were
      measured with 50 MUM Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG, a STAT1 inhibitor) and all
      trans retinoic acid (atRA, a STAT1 activator). Hair cell morphology was evaluated
      and hair cell loss was quantified with cytocochleograms. Mitochondrial membrane
      potential was assayed and superoxide generation and suppression was measured with
      dihydroethidium (DHE) staining. RESULTS: Co-administration of 50 MUM EGCG
      conferred protection from 4 MUM gentamicin toxicity (p < 0.001), whereas atRA
      potentiated gentamicin-induced hair cell death (p < 0.001). On
      immunohistochemistry, STAT1 phosphorylation at theserine 727 (Ser) residues was
      increased at 72 hours with 4 MUM gentamicin. With administration of 50 MUM
      gentamicin, there was activation of STAT1 Tyr at 4 hours and STAT1 Ser at 16
      hours. Gentamicin dissipated mitochondrial membrane potentials, and EGCG
      attenuated gentamicin-induced oxidative stress at 72 hours. CONCLUSION: EGCG
      protected outer hair cells from gentamicin toxicity in a cochlear explant model,
      with the underlying mechanism involving both reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      suppression and STAT1 inhibition.

PMID- 27631655
TI  - What Could Posturography Tell Us About Balance Problems in Parkinson's Disease?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Impaired balance in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) leads to
      loss of balance and frequent falls. Computerized dynamic posturography allows the
      assessment of stance tasks whereas mobile posturography analyzes the balance in
      free-field conditions, where falls among PD patients commonly occur (e.g. sitting
      down or standing up). The aim of the present study is to assess postural
      stability in PD patients with both techniques. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study.
      SETTING: University Hospitals, ambulatory care (outpatient clinic). PATIENTS:
      Thirty-three patients diagnosed with idiopathic PD. INTERVENTION: Balance
      assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dizziness handicap inventory (DHI), activities
      specific balance confidence scale (ABC), composite score of sensory organization
      test (SOT), results of free-field body sway analysis (standard balance deficit
      test (SBDT)), or geriatric SBDT. RESULTS: PD patients showed a significantly
      higher sway in the roll direction in almost all of the SBDT conditions. Also,
      pathological sway compared with normative values was more prominent in complex
      tasks. There is a significant correlation between the different objective
      variables of the postural study (SOT and SBDT) and the ABC, but not with the DHI.
      Finally, the percentage of PD patients with a pathological score in SOT-composite
      score was 54.5% whereas in SBDT-composite score it was significantly higher
      (93.9%). CONCLUSION: Mobile posturography is more accurate in depicting the
      reality of balance impairment in PD patients than platform posturography. Also,
      ABC relates better than DHI to the significant psychological consequences of
      balance impairments. An increased lateral trunk sway seems to be a key factor of
      postural instability in PD patients.

PMID- 27631656
TI  - Functional Result After Cochlear Implantation in Children and Adults With Single
      sided Deafness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with single-sided deafness (SSD) suffer from reduced
      binaural hearing (i.e., sound localization and speech in noise discrimination).
      Cochlear implantation has recently been introduced for patients with SSD, as an
      alternative to hearing devices that employ contralateral routing of the signal.
      Application to children has also been started. METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyze a case series of 4 children and 17 adults with SSD, treated with cochlear
      implantation. The outcome of adult patients was compared with a control group of
      27 patients with bilateral profound hearing loss using a cochlear implant.
      RESULTS: During 12 months, the mean speech recognition score increased from 30 to
      41% for monosyllabic words in adults, and from 58 to 89% for multisyllabic
      numbers. The cochlear implant (CI) improved hearing in noise in all SSD patients,
      as was demonstrated by a significant improvement of the speech reception
      threshold in different speech and noise configurations. Sound localization
      correlated angle detection error improved with CI use at every time point. The
      maximum word recognition score for monosyllabic words in quiet correlated with
      the logarithm of the duration of deafness; improvement of the speech reception
      threshold and RMS angle detection error by the CI did not. CONCLUSION: All SSD
      patients benefitted from the CI in different hearing situations. Patients with
      SSD for a long period can improve after cochlear implantation.

PMID- 27631657
TI  - Management of Cochlear Implant Electrode Migration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study reviewed a cochlear implant (CI) patient population
      after surgery, which received a free-fitting electrode carrier designed for
      hearing preservation. The aim was to determine the rate of electrode migration of
      the CI electrodes and present clinical and surgical implications. STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective patient review. SETTING: Tertiary referral university hospital.
      PATIENTS: Two hundred seventy-eight patients implanted uni- or bilaterally with
      lateral wall electrodes designed for hearing preservation (358 implants). The
      control group was 323 patients implanted uni- or bilaterally with preformed
      perimodiolar electrodes (468 implants). INTERVENTIONS: Determination of CI
      electrode migration was conducted according to a clinical test protocol. Revision
      surgery was offered in confirmed patients of electrode migration. A bone groove
      was considered to improve the fixation of the electrode. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Audiological testing including speech audiometry, subjective sound quality
      rating, and bilateral pitch comparison in bilateral patients, as well as
      radiological examinations, were conducted. RESULTS: Electrode migration was
      observed solely in patients implanted with lateral wall electrodes; 10 of 358
      patients with free-fitting electrodes (2.8%) had electrode migration, which was
      successfully confirmed by the proposed clinical test protocol. Nine of the 10
      confirmed patients underwent reinsertion surgery. Mean perception score decreased
      from 75.0% to 62.1% after electrode migration and recovered completely after
      reinsertion surgery. A flowchart to detect electrode migration was designed for
      clinical practice. CONCLUSION: Although electrode migration is a rare
      complication in CI surgery, long-term follow-up diagnostics should include a test
      protocol to detect electrode shifts of lateral wall electrode arrays. A
      reinsertion surgery should be conducted in confirmed patients to recover speech
      perception.

PMID- 27631658
TI  - Hearing Preservation With a Midscalar Electrode Comparison of a Regular and
      Steroid/Pressure Optimized Surgical Approach in Patients With Residual Hearing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to observe the rate of hearing preservation
      with a midscalar electrode with two surgical approaches. STUDY DESIGN:
      Prospective study. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Twenty patients
      with residual hearing. Group A: 11 patients (mean age 56.1, 4 men, 7 women) mean
      HL 250 Hz, 36.4 dB; 500 Hz, 50.0 dB and 1 kHz, 81.4 dB. Group B: nine patients
      (mean age, 52.8 yr, 7 women, 2 men), 250 Hz, 36.7 dB; 500 Hz, 49.4 dB and 1 kHz,
      87.8 dB. INTERVENTION: Implantation with a midscalar electrode with two surgical
      approaches. Group A approach consisted of a slow insertion (2 min), careful round
      window opening, tool insertion, intraoperative and postoperative iv. prednisone,
      tool insertion and 24 hour postoperation bed-rest. In group B additionally the
      round window was widely opened and the electrode was wetted with triamcinolone.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Measurement of the mean hearing loss in both groups.
      RESULTS: We observed a statistically significant different hearing preservation
      for groups A and B. Although group A reached a mean hearing loss (250, 500, 1
      kHz) of 42.6 dB, group B showed a mean loss of residual hearing of 9.1 dB after 1
      month. CONCLUSION: A substantial rate of hearing preservation can be achieved
      with a midscalar electrode. A hearing preserving approach focusing on decreasing
      the intracochlear fluid pressure and local steroids has a strong effect on the
      hearing preservation.

PMID- 27631659
TI  - Long-term Hearing Preservation Outcomes After Cochlear Implantation for Electric
      Acoustic Stimulation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study reviewed outcomes of hearing preservation (HP) surgery in a
      cochlear implant patient population, with clinical follow-up results up to 11
      years after implantation. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case review. SETTING:
      Tertiary referral university hospital. PATIENTS: Ninety six patients (103 ears)
      with partial deafness who underwent HP surgery at the University Hospital
      Frankfurt since 1999 were included. Electrode carriers were Cochlear Slim
      Straight, MED-EL Standard, Medium, Flex, and Flex. INTERVENTION: Cochlear
      implantation using the HP surgery technique with either the cochleostomy or round
      window approach. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pure-tone averages for low frequencies
      (125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, PTAlow) and speech perception scores of the Freiburg
      monosyllable and number tests in quiet. PTAlow shifts were used to evaluate HP as
      complete for <=10 dB, partial between 10 and 30 dB, and minimal for >=30 dB. Time
      intervals were: preoperative, postoperative, after 12 months, and long-term (>24
      months, mean 51.4 months, range 2-11 years). Impacts of electrode design and
      surgical approach were analyzed. RESULTS: Postoperatively (n = 103), HP was
      complete in 32 (31.1%), partial in 49 (47.6%), minimal in 14 (13.6%), and loss of
      hearing occurred in 8 cases (7.8%). After 12 months (n = 81), HP was complete in
      22 (27.2%), partial in 33 (40.7%), minimal in 11 (13.6%), and loss of hearing
      occurred in 7 additional cases. For long-term outcomes (n = 62) HP was complete
      in 7 (11.3%), partial in 24 (38.7%), minimal in 9 (14.5%), and loss of hearing
      occurred in 7 additional cases (total 22/103, 21.4%). Cases with residual hearing
      who could utilize acoustic amplification (i.e., PTAlow < 80 dB HL) were 82/95
      (85.3%) postoperatively, 58/66 (87.9%) after 12 months, and 38/40 (95.0%) for
      long-term outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term HP is feasible in a subset of
      patients. Patients with sufficient long-term residual hearing had the
      prerequisite to benefit from additional acoustic stimulation. No correlation of
      total hearing loss with etiology, electrode design, or surgical approach was
      evident. Apart from individual effects of structural damage or inflammation,
      genetic factors are suggested to influence HP. Cases with total hearing loss
      still demonstrated successful speech perception in long-term monosyllable
      recognition scores.

PMID- 27631660
TI  - Adult Cochlear Implant Users Are Able to Discriminate Basic Tonal Features in
      Musical Patterns: Evidence From Event-related Potentials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Measurement of electrophysiological correlates of discrimination
      abilities of basic musical features in pre- and postlingually deafened adult
      cochlear implant (CI) users. STUDY DESIGN: Electroencephalographic study.
      Comparison between CI users and matched normal hearing controls. PATIENTS: Thirty
      six hearing impaired adults using a cochlear implant for 4 to 15 months. Profound
      hearing impairment was acquired either before (N = 12) or after language
      acquisition (N = 17). Seven patients suffered from a single-sided deafness.
      METHODS: Presentation of auditory stimuli consisting of musical four tone
      standard patterns and deviant patterns varying with regard to tone pitch, timbre,
      intensity, and rhythm of two different degrees. Analysis of electrophysiological,
      event-related mismatch responses. RESULTS: Cochlear implant users elicited
      significant mismatch responses on most deviant features. Comparison to controls
      revealed significantly smaller mismatch negativity amplitudes. Except for one
      parameter (pitch) there were no reliable differences between pre- and
      postlingually deafened CI users. CONCLUSION: Despite a highly reduced complexity
      of neural auditory stimulation by the cochlear implant device in comparison to
      the physiological cochlear input, CI users exhibit cortical discriminatory
      responses to relatively subtle basic tonal alterations.

PMID- 27631661
TI  - Impact of Prosthesis Length on Tympanic Membrane's and Annular Ligament's
      Stiffness and the Resulting Middle Ear Sound Transmission.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Prosthesis' length creates tension in ossicular reconstructions,
      which directly effects the middle ear sound transmission. BACKGROUND: Relatively
      long prostheses are often used to stabilize the middle ear reconstruction to
      prevent dislocation. Thereby, tension on the flexible components such as the
      tympanic membrane (TM) and the annular ligament (AL) is increased. Only little is
      known on the amount of displacement-related stiffening of the TM and AL, as well
      as the consecutive reduction in middle ear transfer function (METF). METHODS: An
      expandable total ossicular replacement prosthesis was tensionfree inserted in
      nine cadaveric temporal bones between the malleus handle and the stapes
      footplate. Upon heat activation the prosthesis was lengthened, thus inducing
      tension on the reconstruction. The METF was assessed before and after elongation.
      TM's and AL's stiffness were determined by measuring their force-displacement
      characteristics. RESULTS: Upon activation the prostheses were elongated between
      50 and 200 MUm. A frequency-dependent METF reduction was measured with a decrease
      of 5 to 25 dB below 1.0 kHz. At frequencies >2.0 kHz the reduction was less
      prominent or the METF showed even an improvement of up to 10 dB. TM's stiffness
      remained constant during the elongation-induced displacement, whereas the AL's
      stiffness increased. The METF reduction below 1.0 kHz correlated with the
      increasing AL's stiffness. CONCLUSION: Tension has a significant impact on the
      METF after middle ear reconstruction. As little tension as possible should be
      used to enable best sound transmission. Stabilization of prosthesis should be
      achieved with dislocation devices to ensure secure coupling to the ossicular
      remnants without creating additional tension.

PMID- 27631662
TI  - Adaptive Mechanical Stabilization of a Free-Floating Fully Implantable Hearing
      Aid.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: An implantable acousto-mechanical transducer will yield a higher
      output if its mass can be virtually increased through the use of a secondary
      actuator. BACKGROUND: Current hearing aids and implants rely on feedback
      compensation to prevent instability (e.g. howling), usually in the form of a
      digital or analogue filter. We examine the effect of mechanically stabilizing a
      piezo-driven mechanical amplifier inserted into the incudostapedial joint gap.
      The aim of this study is to determine whether this is possible and discern the
      advantages and disadvantages of the design. METHODS: We examine a 10:1 scale
      model of a prospective implantable hearing aid comprising one piezoelectric
      sensor and two independent piezoelectric actuators in a single-titanium housing.
      As expected, the maximum gain of the device is limited by feedback between sensor
      input and the output of the primary actuator. The secondary actuator is used to
      provide a counter force to the recoil of the primary output piezo. This adds a
      virtual mass to the device, effectively reducing feedback in the mechano-acoustic
      path. The compensation unit (CU) described here is driven by a real-time adaptive
      control algorithm. RESULTS: Using the above approach, we observe an added stable
      gain of >30 dB, and report a functional hearing gain of up to 40 dB. Physical and
      digital feedback compensation can be employed in parallel for best results. The
      experimental data is backed by computer simulations. CONCLUSION: These results
      compare favorably with previous studies of a two-piezo transducer with digital
      feedback control and show the potential for the transducer as a hearing aid for
      high-frequency hearing loss.

PMID- 27631663
TI  - Intracranial Pressure and Promontory Vibration With Soft Tissue Stimulation in
      Cadaveric Human Whole Heads.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Intracranial pressure and skull vibrations are correlated and depend
      on the stimulation position and frequency. BACKGROUND: A hearing sensation can be
      elicited by vibratory stimulation on the skin covered skull, or by stimulation on
      soft tissue such as the neck. It is not fully understood whether different
      stimulation sites induce the skull vibrations responsible for the perception or
      whether other transmission pathways are dominant. The aim of this study was to
      assess the correlation between intracranial pressure and skull vibration measured
      on the promontory for stimulation to different sites on the head. METHODS:
      Measurements were performed on four human cadaver heads. A bone conduction
      hearing aid was held in place with a 5-Newton steel headband at four locations
      (mastoid, forehead, eye, and neck). While stimulating in the frequency range of
      0.3 to 10 kHz, acceleration of the cochlear promontory was measured with a Laser
      Doppler Vibrometer, and intracranial pressure at the center of the head with a
      hydrophone. RESULTS: Promontory acceleration and intracranial pressure was
      measurable for all stimulation sites. The ratios were comparable between all
      stimulation sites for frequencies below 2 kHz. CONCLUSION: These findings
      indicate that both promontory acceleration and intracranial pressure are involved
      for stimulation on the sites investigated. The transmission pathway of sound
      energy is comparable for the four stimulation sites.

PMID- 27631664
TI  - Modeling the Test-Retest Statistics of a Localization Experiment in the Full
      Horizontal Plane.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Two approaches to model the test-retest statistics of a localization
      experiment basing on Gaussian distribution and on surrogate data are introduced.
      Their efficiency is investigated using different measures describing directional
      hearing ability. BACKGROUND: A localization experiment in the full horizontal
      plane is a challenging task for hearing impaired patients. In clinical routine,
      we use this experiment to evaluate the progress of our cochlear implant (CI)
      recipients. Listening and time effort limit the reproducibility. METHODS: The
      localization experiment consists of a 12 loudspeaker circle, placed in an
      anechoic room, a "camera silens". In darkness, HSM sentences are presented at 65
      dB pseudo-erratically from all 12 directions with five repetitions. This
      experiment is modeled by a set of Gaussian distributions with different standard
      deviations added to a perfect estimator, as well as by surrogate data. Five
      repetitions per direction are used to produce surrogate data distributions for
      the sensation directions. To investigate the statistics, we retrospectively use
      the data of 33 CI patients with 92 pairs of test-retest-measurements from the
      same day. RESULTS: The first model does not take inversions into account, (i.e.,
      permutations of the direction from back to front and vice versa are not
      considered), although they are common for hearing impaired persons particularly
      in the rear hemisphere. The second model considers these inversions but does not
      work with all measures. CONCLUSION: The introduced models successfully describe
      test-retest statistics of directional hearing. However, since their applications
      on the investigated measures perform differently no general recommendation can be
      provided. The presented test-retest statistics enable pair test comparisons for
      localization experiments.

PMID- 27631665
TI  - Potassium and Water Coadsorption on TiO2(110): OH-Induced Anchoring of Potassium
      and the Generation of Single-Site Catalysts.
AB  - Potassium deposition on TiO2(110) results in reduction of the substrate and
      formation of loosely bound potassium species that can move easily on the oxide
      surface to promote catalytic activity. The results of density functional
      calculations predict a large adsorption energy (~3.2 eV) with a small barrier
      (~0.25 eV) for diffusion on the oxide surface. In scanning tunneling microscopy
      images, the adsorbed alkali atoms lose their mobility when in contact with
      surface OH groups. Furthermore, K adatoms facilitate the dissociation of water on
      the titania surface. The K-(OH) species generated are good sites for the binding
      of gold clusters on the TiO2(110) surface, producing Au/K/TiO2(110) systems with
      high activity for the water-gas shift.

PMID- 27631666
TI  - Deoxygenation of Unhindered Alcohols via Reductive Dealkylation of Derived
      Phosphate Esters.
AB  - Primary alcohols can be deoxygenated cleanly and in yields of 60-95% by reduction
      of derived diphenyl phosphate esters with lithium triethylborohydride in
      tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. Selective deoxygenation of a primary alcohol
      in the presence of a secondary alcohol was demonstrated. The two-step process can
      be performed in one pot, making it simple and convenient.

PMID- 27631667
TI  - Traumatic Cataract and Heterochromia Iridis.

PMID- 27631668
TI  - VISUAL VIGNETTE.

PMID- 27631669
TI  - AN OVERVIEW OF ENDOGENOUS SUBCLINICAL HYPERTHYROIDISM AND CARDIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 27631671
TI  - REINVIGORATING THE OSTEOPOROSIS MESSAGE.

PMID- 27631673
TI  - When green is positive and red is negative: Aging and the influence of color on
      emotional memories.
AB  - Numerous studies have reported age-related differences in memory for emotional
      information. One explanation places emphasis on an emotion processing preference
      in older adults that reflects their socioemotional self-relevant goals. Here, we
      evaluate the degree to which this preference in memory may be modulated by color.
      In 2 experiments, younger and older adults were asked to study a series of
      affective words (Experiment 1) or affective pictures (Experiment 2) and then
      presented with an immediate yes/no memory recognition task. In particular, words
      and pictures were colored according to the following valence-color associations:
      positive-green, negative-red, and neutral-blue. Each study condition included
      both congruent (e.g., positive-green) and incongruent associations (e.g.,
      positive-red). For both experiments, participants showed an advantage for
      congruent associations compared with other types of valence-color pairings that
      emphasized a robust joint effect of color and affective valence in memory. More
      specifically, older adults' memory was sensitive to positive-green stimuli only.
      We discussed results in line with mechanisms underlying positivity effects in
      memory and the effect of color on emotional memory encoding. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27631672
TI  - GLUCOCORTICOID REPLACEMENT REGIMENS IN CHRONIC ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY: A
      SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Various glucocorticoid (GC) regimens have been used in the treatment
      of patients with adrenal insufficiency, yet the differences between such regimens
      on health outcomes are unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta
      analysis to compare the effects of GC regimens on quality of life (QoL), bone
      density, incidence of adrenal crisis, and death. In pediatric studies, we also
      searched for final adult height. METHODS: We searched 6 databases through July
      2016. Studies were selected and appraised by independent reviewers. Data were
      pooled using the profile likelihood random-effects model. RESULTS: We included 34
      studies. We found no difference in QoL scores between higher (>=30 mg/day of
      hydrocortisone [HC] equivalence) vs. lower daily doses (<30 mg/day of HC
      equivalence) (P = .15) or based on frequency of daily dosing (once, twice or
      thrice daily). Extended-release (1 study), dual-/modified-release (3 studies),
      and continuous subcutaneous (3 studies) forms of GCs were associated with higher
      QoL scores. There was no significant association between dose and type of GC and
      the incidence of adrenal crises. The effect on bone mineral density was
      heterogeneous. No data were available on mortality or final adult height in
      children. The quality of evidence was low due to increased risk of bias,
      imprecision, and heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: Extended-/dual-release, and
      continuous subcutaneous forms of GC may be associated with higher QoL scores.
      However, this is derived from short-term and imprecise evidence, warranting low
      confidence. ABBREVIATIONS: AI = adrenal insufficiency BMD = bone mineral density
      GC = glucocorticoids HC = hydrocortisone QoL = quality of life RCT = randomized
      controlled trial.

PMID- 27631674
TI  - Spatial patterns of air pollutants and social groups: a distributive
      environmental justice study in the phoenix metropolitan region of USA.
AB  - Quantifying spatial distribution patterns of air pollutants is imperative to
      understand environmental justice issues. Here we present a landscape-based
      hierarchical approach in which air pollution variables are regressed against
      population demographics on multiple spatiotemporal scales. Using this approach,
      we investigated the potential problem of distributive environmental justice in
      the Phoenix metropolitan region, focusing on ambient ozone and particulate
      matter. Pollution surfaces (maps) are evaluated against the demographics of
      class, age, race (African American, Native American), and ethnicity (Hispanic). A
      hierarchical multiple regression method is used to detect distributive
      environmental justice relationships. Our results show that significant
      relationships exist between the dependent and independent variables, signifying
      possible environmental inequity. Although changing spatiotemporal scales only
      altered the overall direction of these relationships in a few instances, it did
      cause the relationship to become nonsignificant in many cases. Several consistent
      patterns emerged: people aged 17 and under were significant predictors for
      ambient ozone and particulate matter, but people 65 and older were only
      predictors for ambient particulate matter. African Americans were strong
      predictors for ambient particulate matter, while Native Americans were strong
      predictors for ambient ozone. Hispanics had a strong negative correlation with
      ambient ozone, but a less consistent positive relationship with ambient
      particulate matter. Given the legacy conditions endured by minority racial and
      ethnic groups, and the relative lack of mobility of all the groups, our findings
      suggest the existence of environmental inequities in the Phoenix metropolitan
      region. The methodology developed in this study is generalizable with other
      pollutants to provide a multi-scaled perspective of environmental justice issues.

PMID- 27631675
TI  - Regulatory requirements for nuclear power plant site selection in Malaysia-a
      review.
AB  - Malaysia has initiated a range of pre-project activities in preparation for its
      planned nuclear power programme. Clearly one of the first steps is the selection
      of sites that are deemed suitable for the construction and operation of a nuclear
      power plant. Here we outline the Malaysian regulatory requirements for nuclear
      power plant site selection, emphasizing details of the selection procedures and
      site characteristics needed, with a clear focus on radiation safety and radiation
      protection in respect of the site surroundings. The Malaysia Atomic Energy
      Licensing Board (AELB) site selection guidelines are in accord with those
      provided in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Stated Nuclear
      Regulatory Commission (USNRC) documents. To enhance the suitability criteria
      during selection, as well as to assist in the final decision making process,
      possible assessments using the site selection characteristics and information are
      proposed.

PMID- 27631676
TI  - Fatty Acid Composition of Tropical Fish Depends on Reservoir Trophic Status and
      Fish Feeding Habit.
AB  - Eutrophication results in a deficiency of n-3 LC-PUFA (long-chain polyunsaturated
      fatty acids) in aquatic food chains, affecting fish nutrition and physiology. The
      trophic transfer of FA (fatty acids) to fish species of different feeding habits
      was investigated in two reservoirs in southeast Brazil-the mesotrophic Ponte Nova
      Reservoir (PN) and the hypereutrophic Billings Reservoir (Bil). Total FA profile
      of stomach contents and adipose tissue, triacylglycerols (TAG), and phospholipids
      (PL) from liver and muscle of the omnivorous Astyanax fasciatus and the
      carnivorous Hoplias malabaricus were analyzed by gas chromatography. A prevalence
      of n-6PUFA, as 18:2n-6 (linoleic acid) and 20:4n-6 (arachidonic acid, ARA) was
      observed in the stomach contents and in the tissues of A. fasciatus from the PN
      reservoir. In contrast, n-3 LC-PUFA, as 20:5n-3 (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA) was
      accumulated in fish tissues from Bil, resulting in higher n3/n6 and EPA/ARA
      ratios, compared to fish from PN. This differential FA accumulation was also
      observed for H. malabaricus, but differences were slightly minor, and no changes
      were observed in the EPA/ARA ratios between fish from both reservoirs. Regardless
      reservoir, FA profiles of TAG resembled that of their diet, whereas FA profiles
      of PL were more conservative and mainly comprised by LC-PUFA. We conclude that
      reservoir trophic status affected the FA composition of food resources available
      to these fish species, resulting in differential allocation of n-3 and n-6 FA. As
      expected, FA profile of the investigated fish species also reflected their
      feeding habit and physiological demands.

PMID- 27631678
TI  - Consumption and diffusion of dissolved oxygen in sedimentary rocks.
AB  - Fe(II)-bearing minerals (e.g., biotite, chlorite, and pyrite) are a promising
      reducing agent for the consumption of atmospheric oxygen in repositories for the
      geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. To estimate effective
      diffusion coefficients (De, in m2s-1) for dissolved oxygen (DO) and the reaction
      rates for the oxidation of Fe(II)-bearing minerals in a repository environment,
      we conducted diffusion-chemical reaction experiments using intact rock samples of
      Mizunami sedimentary rock. In addition, we conducted batch experiments on the
      oxidation of crushed sedimentary rock by DO in a closed system. From the results
      of the diffusion-chemical reaction experiments, we estimated the values of De for
      DO to lie within the range 2.69*10-11<De<6.30*10-11. Values of the second-order
      rate constant (k, in Lmol-1s-1) were in the range -3.66<log k<-2.83 (from batch
      experiments) and in the range -3.87<log k<-2.22 (from diffusion-chemical reaction
      experiments). Many of these values are within the range of previously published
      rates for reaction between O2(aq) and Fe(II) surface complexes. The average value
      for the total concentration of reactive sites was about 10-4molm-2 from batch
      experiments. In contrast, the value of reactive sites estimated from the physical
      surface area was about 10-8molm-2, indicating that the reaction within intact
      rock is limited to the sites that originally existed with accessible porosity for
      O2(aq). This difference arises because the batch experiments used powdered
      samples, meaning that new sites which formed during milling were added to the
      original reaction sites. On the basis of these observations and interpretations,
      diffusion-chemical reaction experiments make it possible to determine the values
      of the kinetic parameter and diffusivity for an intact rock sample
      simultaneously.

PMID- 27631677
TI  - Protective Role of PPARdelta in Lipoapoptosis of Pancreatic beta Cells.
AB  - Lipoapoptosis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.
      Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARdelta), a vital regulator
      of glucose and lipid metabolism, may reduce fatty acid-induced pancreatic beta
      cell lipotoxicity in diabetes. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms
      underlying this process are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated
      the effect of activation of PPARdelta on palmitate-induced beta cell apoptosis,
      and we explored the potential mechanism of the antiapoptotic effect. The cell
      apoptosis was determined by DNA fragmentation analysis and Hoechst 33342
      staining. The expressing of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in INS-1
      cells was assessed by Western blotting, quantification of PCR, and was further
      confirmed by immunofluorescence staining. The potential of PPARdelta to interact
      with homologous PPRE in the GLP-1R gene was determined by Chromatin
      immunoprecipitation (ChIP). Our results showed that exposure of INS-1 cells to
      palmitate for 24 h caused a significant increase in cell apoptosis, which was
      inhibited by GW501516. PPARdelta exerted anti-apoptotic effects in pancreatic
      beta cells via the PI3 K/PKB/FoxO1 signaling pathway. Moreover, PPARdelta
      upregulated the GLP-1R expression under lipotoxic conditions. The ChIP assay
      revealed a direct binding of PPARdelta to a noncanonical PPRE motif of the GLP-1R
      gene in INS-1 cells. Our study suggested that the anti-apoptotic action of
      PPARdelta may involve its transcriptional regulation of GLP-1R and PI3
      K/PKB/FoxO1 signaling. GW501516 and possible other GW-based strategies may confer
      additional benefit beyond improved glycemic control.

PMID- 27631679
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, and determination of genotoxic effect of a novel
      dimeric 8-hydroxyquinoline Cd(II) SCN complex.
AB  - In this study, a Cd(II) complex was synthesized using 8-hydroxyquinoline and
      thiocyanate as the ligands and structurally characterized with the combination of
      FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, UV-vis, and MS spectral data. Then, genotoxic effects of
      the prepared complex were investigated. Genotoxic properties of the dimeric 8
      hydroxyquinolinthiocyanatoCd(II) [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2] complex synthesized as drug raw
      material were analyzed in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Concentrations of
      1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 MUg/mL [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2] were used for 24 and 48  h durations.
      [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2] significantly increased chromosomal aberrations (CAs) at 4, 6,
      and 8 MUg/mL concentrations after a 24- h period and 2 and 4 MUg/mL after a 48-h
      period. [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2] significantly decreased the mitotic index (MI) at all
      concentrations, both at 24 and 48 h. Micronuclei frequency (MN) was not affected
      by [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2] treatment compared with the control. After application for a
      48 h period, 6 and 8 MUg/mL concentrations showed toxic effects both in
      chromosomal abnormality and in micronucleus tests. It also decreased the
      cytokinesis-block proliferation index (CBPI), but this result was statistically
      significant only at 6 and 8 MUg/mL concentrations. In the comet assay (single
      cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE)), significant increases in comet tail length,
      tail moment, and tail intensity were observed at all concentrations.
      [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2] displays clastogenic effect in the concentrations used in human
      peripheral lymphocytes at chromosomal abnormality, micronucleus tests, and
      cytokinesis-block proliferation index parameters. Further studies should be
      conducted in other test systems to evaluate the complete genotoxic potential of
      [Cd2(8Q)2(SCN)2].

PMID- 27631680
TI  - Stent-assisted coiling in ruptured cerebral aneurysms: multi-center experience in
      acute phase.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to report on a multi-center experience
      of ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated in acute phase with stent-assisted
      coil embolization, including primary success rates and midterm follow-up results.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed on a sample of 40
      patients (14 men, 26 women, mean age 59.7 years) affected by ruptured saccular
      aneurysms and treated by stent-assisted coiling in acute phase; double
      antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel bisulphate and acetylsalicylic acid was
      started after the procedure. Angiographic follow-up at 1 year was recorded.
      RESULTS: 20 % of the aneurysms were located in the posterior circulation, and 85
      % presented a wide neck. Mean size of the sac was 7 mm (range 3-22 mm). Complete
      sac exclusion was obtained in 92.5 % and neck remnant in 7.5 %. The overall
      complications rate was 15 %. In 7.5 %, stent occlusion occurred intra
      procedurally. In 12.5 %, re-bleeding was detected within 3 weeks after the
      procedure. Ischemic area related to the procedure was observed at follow-up in
      7.5 %. Hydrocephalus developed in 15 %. 7.5 % presented with sac re-bleeding
      between 1 and 5 months after the procedure. In 15 %, the 3-6 months of follow-up
      revealed aneurysm refilling. 25 % of the patients presented vessel stenosis at
      the 1-year DSA of control. 33 % of the patients reported sensory-motor deficits.
      82.5 % had a favorable outcome (GOS: IV-V), while 17.5 % presented a poor score
      (GOS: I-III). CONCLUSIONS: Stent-assisted coil embolization is a feasible
      endovascular treatment option for ruptured intracranial aneurysms, which is
      difficult to approach with simple coiling; however, neurointerventionalists need
      to consider a mild increase of post-procedural complications rate.

PMID- 27631682
TI  - A virus resonance light scattering sensor based on mussel-inspired molecularly
      imprinted polymers for high sensitive and high selective detection of Hepatitis A
      Virus.
AB  - We described a novel resonance light scattering (RLS) sensor for the specific
      recognition of trace quantities of Hepatitis A Virus (HAV); the sensor was based
      on a mussel-inspired hepatitis molecularly imprinted polymer. As a recognition
      element, polydopamine (PDA)-coated totivirus-imprinted polymer was introduced on
      the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles (virus-imprinted SiO2@PDA NPs) using an
      efficient one-step synthesis method. The target virus was selectively captured by
      the imprinted polymer films, thereby increasing the RLS intensity. A simple
      fluorescence spectrophotometer was employed to measure the changes in the
      intensity. The enhanced RLS intensity (?IRLS) was proportional to the
      concentration of HAV in the range of 0.04-6.0nmol?L-1, with a low limit of
      detection of 8.6pmol?L-1. The selectivity study confirmed that the resultant HAV
      imprinted SiO2@PDA NPs possessed high selectivity for HAV. The sensor was
      successfully applied for the direct detection of additional HAV from a 20,000
      fold dilution of human serum. The proposed strategy is simple, eco-friendly,
      highly selective, and sensitive.

PMID- 27631681
TI  - Modulation of Nav1.8 by Lysophosphatidic Acid in the Induction of Bone Cancer
      Pain.
AB  - Given that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and the tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium
      channel Nav1.8 are both involved in bone cancer pain, the present study was
      designed to investigate whether crosstalk between the LPA receptor LPA1 (also
      known as EDG2) and Nav1.8 in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) contributes to the
      induction of bone cancer pain. We showed that the EDG2 antagonist Ki16198 blocked
      the mechanical allodynia induced by intrathecal LPA in naive rats and attenuated
      mechanical allodynia in a rat model of bone cancer. EDG2 and Nav1.8 expression in
      L4-6 DRGs was upregulated following intrathecal or hindpaw injection of LPA. EDG2
      and Nav1.8 expression in ipsilateral L4-6 DRGs increased with the development of
      bone cancer. Furthermore, we showed that EDG2 co-localized with Nav1.8 and LPA
      remarkably enhanced Nav1.8 currents in DRG neurons, and this was blocked by
      either a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor or a PKCepsilon inhibitor. Overall, we
      demonstrated the modulation of Nav1.8 by LPA in DRG neurons, and that this
      probably underlies the peripheral mechanism by which bone cancer pain is induced.

PMID- 27631683
TI  - A multichannel smartphone optical biosensor for high-throughput point-of-care
      diagnostics.
AB  - Current reported smartphone spectrometers are only used to monitor or measure one
      sample at a time. For the first time, we demonstrate a multichannel smartphone
      spectrometer (MSS) as an optical biosensor that can simultaneously optical sense
      multiple samples. In this work, we developed a novel method to achieve the
      multichannel optical spectral sensing with nanometer resolution on a smartphone.
      A 3D printed cradle held the smartphone integrated with optical components. This
      optical sensor performed accurate and reliable spectral measurements by optical
      intensity changes at specific wavelength or optical spectral shifts. A custom
      smartphone multi-view App was developed to control the optical sensing parameters
      and to align each sample to the corresponding channel. The captured images were
      converted to the transmission spectra in the visible wavelength range from 400nm
      to 700nm with the high resolution of 0.2521nm per pixel. We validated the
      performance of this MSS via measuring the concentrations of protein and
      immunoassaying a type of human cancer biomarker. Compared to the standard
      laboratory instrument, the results sufficiently showed that this MSS can achieve
      the comparative analysis detection limits, accuracy and sensitivity. We envision
      that this multichannel smartphone optical biosensor will be useful in high
      throughput point-of-care diagnostics with its minimizing size, light weight, low
      cost and data transmission function.

PMID- 27631684
TI  - L-cysteine capped ZnS:Mn quantum dots for room-temperature detection of dopamine
      with high sensitivity and selectivity.
AB  - Dopamine (DA) is one of the most important catecholamine neurotransmitters of the
      human central nervous system, and is involved in many behavioral responses and
      brain functions. Below normal DA levels in biological fluids can lead to
      different neurodegenerative conditions. For excess DA levels, a failure in energy
      metabolism is indicated. In this study, a facile room-temperature phosphorescence
      sensor is developed to detect DA based on l-cysteine capped Mn doped ZnS quantum
      dots (l-cys ZnS:Mn QDs). The QDs display a prominent orange emission band peaking
      at ~598nm, which is strongly quenched upon addition of DA in alkaline medium. The
      sensor exhibits a linear working range of ~0.15-3.00MUM, and a limit of detection
      of ~7.80nM. These results are explained in terms of a pH-dependent electron
      transfer process, in which the oxidized dopamine quinone functions as an
      efficient electron acceptor. The QDs-based sensor shows a high selectivity to DA
      over common interfering biomolecules (including some amino acids, ascorbic acid,
      chloride and glucose). The sensor has been successfully applied for the detection
      of DA in urine samples, yielding recoveries as high as 93%. Our findings indicate
      that our developed sensor exhibits high sensitivity and reproducibility to
      determine DA even in biological fluids where DA is at low levels, e.g., in the
      central nervous system, which is the usual clinical profile of a
      neurodegenerative disorder associated to the Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 27631685
TI  - In-situ mobilization and transformation of iron oxides-adsorbed arsenate in
      natural groundwater.
AB  - Although reductive dissolution of Fe(III) oxides has been well accepted for As
      mobilization in alluvial aquifers, the key factors controlling this process are
      poorly understood. Arsenic(V)-adsorbing ferrihydrite, goethite and hematite were
      used to examine in-situ mobilization and transformation of adsorbed As(V) and
      Fe(III) oxides. In the Hetao basin, seven wells with wide ranges of groundwater
      As were selected to host As(V)-Fe(III) oxides sand. During 80 d experiments, As
      was firstly desorbed and then released via reductive dissolution of iron oxide
      from ferrihydrite, while only desorption was observed from goethite/hematite
      sand. Desorbed As was predominantly controlled by groundwater HCO3- and DOC,
      while reductive dissolution-related As release was mainly regulated by ORP
      values, DOC and Fe(II) concentrations. Mineral transformation from ferrihydrite
      to lepidocrocite and goethite/or mackinawite would also contribute to As release.
      Arsenic species was transformed from As(V) to As(III) on ferrihydrite, but
      remained unchanged on goethite and hematite. Arsenic partition between As-Fe(III)
      oxide sand and real groundwater ranged between 0.012 and 0.102L/g. Kd-sand
      between As-goethite sand/As-hematite sand and groundwater fell within the ranges
      observed between sediments and groundwater. This study suggests that As
      desorption, reductive dissolution and mineral transformation of ferrihydrite
      would be the major processes controlling As mobility.

PMID- 27631686
TI  - Multivariate optimization for the simultaneous bioremoval of BTEX and chlorinated
      aliphatic hydrocarbons by Pseudomonas plecoglossicida.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the effects of some major parameters on the
      cometabolic removal of cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE) and trichloroethylene
      (TCE), mixed with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes, by an indigenous
      bacterial isolate Pseudomonas plecoglossicida. Such statistical methodologies as
      hierarchical cluster analysis heat map and principal component analysis were
      applied to better evaluate the effects of major parameters (soil pH, temperature,
      moisture, and cis-DCE/TCE concentrations) on the biological process. The
      bioremoval experiments were carried out in microcosms containing soil slurry, and
      the headspace concentrations of contaminants were analyzed by gas chromatography.
      The optimal bioremoval conditions for the mixture were soil water content >110%,
      pH 8-9, and temperature 15-20 degrees C, while the cis-DCE/TCE concentration did
      not significantly affect the mixture bioremoval within the tested range (~10mg
      per kg soil). Under the optimal conditions, benzene (97.7%), toluene (96.3%), and
      ethylbenzene (89.8%) were almost completely removed, while cis-DCE (24.5%), TCE
      (29.0%), m,p-xylene (36.3%), and o-xylene (29.6%) showed lower removal
      efficiencies. The obtained results would help to better design a remediation
      technology to be applied to the sites contaminated with mixed wastes, and the
      statistical methodologies used in this study appear to be very efficient and
      could serve as a template for optimization.

PMID- 27631687
TI  - Surfactant foam flushing for in situ removal of DNAPLs in shallow soils.
AB  - An innovative process combining surfactant foam and surfactant flushing (SF) for
      the remediation of a shallow saturated soil contaminated with a dense non-aqueous
      phase liquid (DNAPL) residual was investigated at bench-scale. First, foam was
      formed by injecting DHSS surfactant and nitrogen in alternation in soil (SAG
      process) at constant pressure. The effect of pressure gradients set point
      (<=90kPam-1) on DNAPL recovery was investigated. Foam front mobilized DNAPL with
      a piston-like fast propagation (1.8md-1) despite the low pressure gradients. 34
      60% of DNAPL residual was extracted with low surfactant consumption (<0.4kgkg-1
      DNAPL removed). Then, a solubilizing agent (Tergitol) was injected into soil,
      previously treated with foam, to improve the DNAPL removal. It led a removal up
      to 95% whereas only 2 porous volume (PV) of solubilizing solution were injected.
      As a comparison, when the solubilizing agent was injected without foam pre
      treatment, 40 PV would have been required to lead the removal up to 90%.
      Considering the overall treatment, the technology we developed requires 10-times
      less surfactant than the traditional SF technology. This technology is especially
      suitable for very shallow soils where injection pressure has to be kept at a low
      level to avoid soil heaving.

PMID- 27631688
TI  - Infection by Leishmania spp. in Free-Ranging Opossums (Didelphis albiventris) in
      an Environmentally Protected Area Inhabited by Humans in Southeastern Brazil.
AB  - There is a growing concern about the participation of wild hosts and reservoirs
      in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis, particularly within the context of
      increasingly frequent environmental changes and the expansion of the One Health
      concept. This work is a molecular research of infection by Leishmania spp. among
      the wildlife of an environmentally protected area located in the municipality of
      Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The studied area has a history of intense
      environmental changes, with notifications of human cases of cutaneous
      leishmaniasis in the 1990s, and a focus of canine visceral leishmaniasis since
      2009. Eighty-two wild mammals were sampled by monthly captures in this region
      over a 1-year period. Blood samples were collected from each animal and subjected
      to DNA extraction and PCR using primers for the region of the internal
      transcribed spacer-1. The results of gene sequencing for the first time revealed
      the infection of opossums (Didelphis albiventris) by Leishmania spp., subgenera
      Leishmania and Viannia, in Campinas. These findings, in addition to environmental
      and historical characteristics of the studied area, indicate a possible role of
      wildlife in the introduction and/or maintenance of natural foci of leishmaniasis
      transmission.

PMID- 27631689
TI  - Electronic structure of (In,Mn)As quantum dots buried in GaAs investigated by
      soft-x-ray ARPES.
AB  - Electronic structure of a molecular beam epitaxy-grown system of (In,Mn)As
      quantum dots (QDs) buried in GaAs is explored with soft-x-ray angle-resolved
      photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) using photon energies around 1 keV. This
      technique, ideally suited for buried systems, extends the momentum-resolving
      capabilities of conventional ARPES with enhanced probing depth as well as
      elemental and chemical state specificity achieved with resonant photoexcitation.
      The experimental results resolve the dispersive energy bands of the GaAs
      substrate buried in ~2 nm below the surface, and the impurity states (ISs)
      derived from the substitutional Mn atoms in the (In,Mn)As QDs and oxidized Mn
      atoms distributed near the surface. An energy shift of the Mn ISs in the QDs
      compared to (In,Mn)As DMS is attributed to the band offset and proximity effect
      at the interface with the surrounding GaAs. The absence of any ISs in the
      vicinity of the VBM relates the electron transport in (In,Mn)As QDs to the
      prototype (In,Mn)As diluted magnetic semiconductor. The SX-ARPES results are
      supported by measurements of the shallow core levels under variation of probing
      depth through photon energy. X-ray absorption measurements identify significant
      diffusion of interstitial Mn atoms out of the QDs towards the surface, and the
      role of magnetic circular dichroism is to block the ferromagnetic response of the
      (In,Mn)As QDs. Possible routes are drawn to tune the growth procedure aiming at
      practical applications of the (In,Mn)As based systems. 

PMID- 27631690
TI  - An overview of acupuncture for psoriasis vulgaris, 2009-2014.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic, proliferative, and inflammatory skin disease which
      affects around 2-3% of the global population. Current pharmacotherapy is
      effective, however medication with safe and long-lasting therapeutic effects is
      needed. Acupuncture for psoriasis is widely used in China as well as other Asian
      countries, and is gradually becoming accepted globally. To determine the
      characteristics and advantages of acupuncture treatment for psoriasis, and to
      improve the clinical outcomes of this disease in the future, this review
      summarizes literature on acupuncture treatment for psoriasis published between
      2009 and 2014. Databases search was conducted with the China National Knowledge
      Infrastructure (CNKI), MEDLINE, and PubMed databases over a time period ranging
      from January 2009 to December 2014. The condition term was "psoriasis" and the
      key intervention terms were "needling", "moxibustion", "auriculotherapy",
      "cupping and bloodletting therapy", "catgut embedding therapy", "point-injection
      therapy", "traditional Chinese medicine fumigation therapy", "fire needling
      therapy", and "vesiculation moxibustion". Languages were limited to English and
      Chinese. Therapeutic mechanisms, therapy, therapeutic characteristics, advantages
      and limits of acupuncture for psoriasis are discussed. The conclusion is that
      acupuncture therapies for psoriasis are simple, convenient, and effective, with
      long-lasting therapeutic effects as well as minimal side effects and toxicity.

PMID- 27631692
TI  - Chasing Ecological Interactions.
AB  - Basic research on biodiversity has concentrated on individual species-naming new
      species, studying distribution patterns, and analyzing their evolutionary
      relationships. Yet biodiversity is more than a collection of individual species;
      it is the combination of biological entities and processes that support life on
      Earth. To understand biodiversity we must catalog it, but we must also assess the
      ways species interact with other species to provide functional support for the
      Tree of Life. Ecological interactions may be lost well before the species
      involved in those interactions go extinct; their ecological functions disappear
      even though they remain. Here, I address the challenges in studying the
      functional aspects of species interactions and how basic research is helping us
      address the fast-paced extinction of species due to human activities.

PMID- 27631691
TI  - Clinical Application of Picodroplet Digital PCR Technology for Rapid Detection of
      EGFR T790M in Next-Generation Sequencing Libraries and DNA from Limited Tumor
      Samples.
AB  - Although next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a robust technology for
      comprehensive assessment of EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinomas with acquired
      resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, it may not provide sufficiently rapid
      and sensitive detection of the EGFR T790M mutation, the most clinically relevant
      resistance biomarker. Here, we describe a digital PCR (dPCR) assay for rapid
      T790M detection on aliquots of NGS libraries prepared for comprehensive
      profiling, fully maximizing broad genomic analysis on limited samples. Tumor DNAs
      from patients with EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinomas and acquired resistance to
      epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors were prepared for Memorial Sloan
      Kettering-Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets sequencing,
      a hybrid capture-based assay interrogating 410 cancer-related genes. Precapture
      library aliquots were used for rapid EGFR T790M testing by dPCR, and results were
      compared with NGS and locked nucleic acid-PCR Sanger sequencing (reference high
      sensitivity method). Seventy resistance samples showed 99% concordance with the
      reference high sensitivity method in accuracy studies. Input as low as 2.5 ng
      provided a sensitivity of 1% and improved further with increasing DNA input. dPCR
      on libraries required less DNA and showed better performance than direct genomic
      DNA. dPCR on NGS libraries is a robust and rapid approach to EGFR T790M testing,
      allowing most economical utilization of limited material for comprehensive
      assessment. The same assay can also be performed directly on any limited DNA
      source and cell-free DNA.

PMID- 27631693
TI  - Interventions Using Regular Activities to Engage High-Risk School-Age Youth: a
      Review of After-School Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
AB  - In this paper, I review an issue that is an urgent challenge in the development
      field-the effectiveness of after-school programs for preventing school-age youth
      violence in vulnerable settings in Latin American and the Caribbean. These
      programs have proliferated in the region and include sports, recreation, music,
      tutoring, and other focused activities. Given their popularity and because they
      target known risk factors for violence (such as drop-out from school, poor
      academic performance, lack of motivation, too much idle time, low quality and
      quantity of adult supervision, and social isolation), it is critical to examine
      empirically whether they can be effective prevention strategies. Unfortunately,
      most rigorous trials of after-school interventions to prevent youth violence have
      been conducted in developed countries, with far fewer in Latin America. In this
      review, a broad range of databases was searched systematically. Only six studies
      in five Latin American and Caribbean countries were identified. Reported results
      indicate at least some benefits for youth behavior, although not across all
      youth. Additional concerns regarding how these programs are implemented and
      whether specific components can be tied to violence prevention are noted. The
      need for more rigorous evaluation of these programs is noted.

PMID- 27631694
TI  - Pickle Flavors Relish in Drosophila Immunity.
AB  - Immune responses must be tightly controlled to avoid host damage. In Drosophila,
      two NF-kappaB signaling pathways, Toll and Imd, mediate host immune responses. In
      this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Morris et al. (2016) introduce Pickle, a
      nuclear IkappaB that inhibits Drosophila immune signaling by modulating the NF
      kappaB Relish.

PMID- 27631695
TI  - The Type III Secretion System Cleans up Its Act(in).
AB  - Inflammasome-associated innate immune receptors sense host-cell targeting by the
      type III secretion system (T3SS) of pathogenic Yersinia. In this issue of Cell
      Host & Microbe, Chung et al. (2016) show that the Yersinia T3SS effector protein
      YopM counteracts this recognition pathway by restricting the pyrin inflammasome,
      thus increasing bacterial fitness.

PMID- 27631696
TI  - No TRIFling Matter on STING.
AB  - STING is a crucial component of the mammalian innate immune response to microbial
      infection. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Wang et al. (2016) report that
      TRIF, an adaptor of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), is essential for STING-mediated
      innate antiviral immunity as well as pro-protozoal responses.

PMID- 27631697
TI  - The Expanding Virosphere.
AB  - Multicomponent viruses are common in plants and fungi. In this issue of Cell Host
      & Microbe, Ladner et al. (2016) describe a multicomponent virus from animals.
      This supports an emerging view that invertebrates harbor a remarkable viral
      diversity and highlights how little of the virosphere has been explored.

PMID- 27631698
TI  - HIV Reservoir: Finding the Right Needles in a Needlestack.
AB  - HIV forms a reservoir that persists despite prolonged therapy and is considered
      the main barrier to an HIV cure. Baxter et al. (2016) in this issue of Cell Host
      & Microbe and Boritz et al. (2016) in a recent Cell paper shed new light on HIV
      persistence in infected individuals.

PMID- 27631699
TI  - Signal Integration by the IkappaB Protein Pickle Shapes Drosophila Innate Host
      Defense.
AB  - Pattern recognition receptors are activated following infection and trigger
      transcriptional programs important for host defense. Tight regulation of NF
      kappaB activation is critical to avoid detrimental and misbalanced responses. We
      describe Pickle, a Drosophila nuclear IkappaB that integrates signaling inputs
      from both the Imd and Toll pathways by skewing the transcriptional output of the
      NF-kappaB dimer repertoire. Pickle interacts with the NF-kappaB protein Relish
      and the histone deacetylase dHDAC1, selectively repressing Relish homodimers
      while leaving other NF-kappaB dimer combinations unscathed. Pickle's ability to
      selectively inhibit Relish homodimer activity contributes to proper host immunity
      and organismal health. Although loss of pickle results in hyper-induction of
      Relish target genes and improved host resistance to pathogenic bacteria in the
      short term, chronic inactivation of pickle causes loss of immune tolerance and
      shortened lifespan. Pickle therefore allows balanced immune responses that
      protect from pathogenic microbes while permitting the establishment of beneficial
      commensal host-microbe relationships. 

PMID- 27631700
TI  - STING Requires the Adaptor TRIF to Trigger Innate Immune Responses to Microbial
      Infection.
AB  - The intracellular microbial nucleic acid sensors, TLR3 and STING, recognize
      pathogen molecules and signal to activate the interferon pathway. The TIR-domain
      containing protein TRIF is the sole adaptor of TLR3. Here, we report an essential
      role for TRIF in STING signaling: various activators of STING could not induce
      genes in the absence of TRIF. TRIF and STING interacted directly, through their
      carboxy-terminal domains, to promote STING dimerization, intermembrane
      translocation, and signaling. Herpes simplex virus (HSV), which triggers the
      STING signaling pathway and is controlled by it, replicated more efficiently in
      the absence of TRIF, and HSV-infected TRIF(-/-) mice displayed pronounced
      pathology. Our results indicate that defective STING signaling may be responsible
      for the observed genetic association between TRIF mutations and herpes simplex
      encephalitis in patients. 

PMID- 27631701
TI  - The Potency of Nef-Mediated SERINC5 Antagonism Correlates with the Prevalence of
      Primate Lentiviruses in the Wild.
AB  - The cellular factor serine incorporator 5 (SERINC5) impairs HIV-1 infectivity but
      is antagonized by the viral Nef protein. We analyzed the anti-SERINC5 activity of
      Nef proteins across primate lentiviruses and examined whether SERINC5 represents
      a barrier to cross-species transmissions and/or within-species viral spread. HIV
      1, HIV-2, and SIV Nefs counteract human, ape, monkey, and murine SERINC5
      orthologs with similar potency. However, HIV-1 Nefs are more active against
      SERINC5 than HIV-2 Nefs, and chimpanzee SIV (SIVcpz) Nefs are more potent than
      those of their monkey precursors. Additionally, Nefs of HIV and most SIVs rely on
      the dileucine motif in the C-terminal loop for anti-SERINC5 activity, while the
      Nef from colobus SIV (SIVcol) evolved different inhibitory mechanisms. We also
      found a significant correlation between anti-SERINC5 potency and the SIV
      prevalence in the respective ape and monkey species. Thus, Nef-mediated SERINC5
      antagonism may determine the ability of primate lentiviruses to spread within
      natural hosts. 

PMID- 27631704
TI  - Visual perception of complex shape-transforming processes.
AB  - Morphogenesis-or the origin of complex natural form-has long fascinated
      researchers from practically every branch of science. However, we know
      practically nothing about how we perceive and understand such processes. Here, we
      measured how observers visually infer shape-transforming processes. Participants
      viewed pairs of objects ('before' and 'after' a transformation) and identified
      points that corresponded across the transformation. This allowed us to map out in
      spatial detail how perceived shape and space were affected by the
      transformations. Participants' responses were strikingly accurate and mutually
      consistent for a wide range of non-rigid transformations including complex growth
      like processes. A zero-free-parameter model based on matching and
      interpolating/extrapolating the positions of high-salience contour features
      predicts the data surprisingly well, suggesting observers infer spatial
      correspondences relative to key landmarks. Together, our findings reveal the
      operation of specific perceptual organization processes that make us remarkably
      adept at identifying correspondences across complex shape-transforming processes
      by using salient object features. We suggest that these abilities, which allow us
      to parse and interpret the causally significant features of shapes, are
      invaluable for many tasks that involve 'making sense' of shape.

PMID- 27631702
TI  - Identification of Interferon-Stimulated Genes with Antiretroviral Activity.
AB  - Interferons (IFNs) exert their anti-viral effects by inducing the expression of
      hundreds of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). The activity of known ISGs is
      insufficient to account for the antiretroviral effects of IFN, suggesting that
      ISGs with antiretroviral activity are yet to be described. We constructed an
      arrayed library of ISGs from rhesus macaques and tested the ability of hundreds
      of individual macaque and human ISGs to inhibit early and late replication steps
      for 11 members of the retroviridae from various host species. These screens
      uncovered numerous ISGs with antiretroviral activity at both the early and late
      stages of virus replication. Detailed analyses of two antiretroviral ISGs
      indicate that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) can inhibit retroviral
      replication by metabolite depletion while tripartite motif-56 (TRIM56)
      accentuates ISG induction by IFNalpha and inhibits the expression of late HIV-1
      genes. Overall, these studies reveal numerous host proteins that mediate the
      antiretroviral activity of IFNs. 

PMID- 27631703
TI  - Two-stage dilute-acid and organic-solvent lignocellulosic pretreatment for
      enhanced bioprocessing.
AB  - A two stage pretreatment approach for biomass is developed in the current work in
      which dilute acid (DA) pretreatment is followed by a solvent based pretreatment
      (N-methyl morpholine N oxide - NMMO). When the combined pretreatment (DAWNT) is
      applied to sugarcane bagasse and corn stover, the rates of hydrolysis and overall
      yields (>90%) are seen to dramatically improve and under certain conditions 48h
      can be taken off the time of hydrolysis with the additional NMMO step to reach
      similar conversions. DAWNT shows a 2-fold increase in characteristic rates and
      also fractionates different components of biomass - DA treatment removes the
      hemicellulose while the remaining cellulose is broken down by enzymatic
      hydrolysis after NMMO treatment to simple sugars. The remaining residual solid is
      high purity lignin. Future work will focus on developing a full scale economic
      analysis of DAWNT for use in biomass fractionation. 

PMID- 27631707
TI  - Negative Association of Hospital Efficiency Under Increasing Geographic Elevation
      on Acute Myocardial Infarction In-Patient Mortality.
AB  - Although variation in-patient outcomes based on hospitals' geographic location
      has been studied, altitude of hospitals above sea level may also affect patient
      outcomes. Possibly, because of negative physical and psychological effects of
      altitude on hospital employees, hospital efficiency may decline at higher
      altitudes. Greater focus on hospital efficiency, despite decreasing efficiency at
      higher altitudes, could increase demands on hospital employees and further
      deteriorate patient outcomes. Using data envelopment analysis on a sample of 840
      hospital-year observations representing 95,504 patients with acute myocardial
      infarction (AMI) in the United States, and controlling for patient, hospital, and
      county characteristics and controlling for hospital, state, and year fixed
      effects, we find support for the negative association between hospital altitude
      and efficiency; for 1 percentage point increase in efficiency and every 1,000
      feet increase in altitude above the sea level, the mortality of patients with AMI
      increases by 0.66 percentage points. The findings have implications for hospital
      performance at increasing geographic elevation and introduces to the literature
      the notion of "health economics of elevation," to suggest that elevation of a
      hospital may be an important criterion for consideration for policy makers and
      insurance firms.

PMID- 27631705
TI  - Perceptions of early body image socialization in families: Exploring knowledge,
      beliefs, and strategies among mothers of preschoolers.
AB  - This study sought to explore parental perceptions of body image in preschoolers.
      We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 primary caregivers of
      preschoolers to examine knowledge, beliefs, and strategies regarding early body
      image socialization in families. Thematic Analysis yielded three themes
      highlighting knowledge gaps, belief discrepancies, and limited awareness of
      strategies. Findings regarding knowledge: Most participants defined body image as
      objective attractiveness rather than subjective self-assessment (53%) and focused
      on negative body image. Beliefs: Although 97% of participants believed weight and
      shape impact children's self-esteem, 63% believed preschoolers too young to have
      a body image. Strategies: Most participants (53%) said family was a primary
      influence on body image, but identified few effective strategies and 63% said
      they did not do anything to influence children's body image. Findings suggested
      family body image socialization in preschoolers is occurring outside the
      awareness of parents and the concept of positive body image is underdeveloped.

PMID- 27631706
TI  - Using Nurse Practitioner Co-Management to Reduce Hospitalizations and
      Readmissions Within a Home-Based Primary Care Program.
AB  - Nurse practitioner (NP) co-management involves an NP and physician sharing
      responsibility for the care of a patient. This study evaluates the impact of NP
      co-management for clinically complex patients in a home-based primary care
      program on hospitalizations, 30-day hospital readmissions, and provider
      satisfaction. We compared preenrollment and postenrollment hospitalization and 30
      day readmission rates of home-bound patients active in the Nurse Practitioner Co
      Management Program within the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program (MSVD) (n =
      87) between January 1, 2012, and July 1, 2013. Data were collected from
      electronic medical records. An anonymous online survey was administered to all
      physicians active in the MSVD in July 2013 (n = 13).After enrollment in co
      management, patients have lower annual hospitalization rates (1.26 vs. 2.27, p =
      .005) and fewer patients have 30-day readmissions (5.8% vs. 17.2%, p = .004).
      Eight of 13 physicians feel "much" or "somewhat" less burned out by their work
      after implementation of co-management. The high level of provider satisfaction
      and reductions in annual hospitalization and readmission rates among high-risk
      home-bound patients associated with NP co-management may yield not only benefits
      for patients, caregivers, and providers but also cost savings for institutions.

PMID- 27631708
TI  - Low Rate of Adverse Events Associated With Inpatient Parenteral Prostacyclins.
AB  - Parenteral prostacyclin is the most-effective therapy for patients with pulmonary
      arterial hypertension. Administration is complex, and administration errors are
      potentially life threatening. Hospital policies to minimize the risk to patients
      are necessary, but their effectiveness has not been well studied. We quantified
      the adverse event incident rate per at-risk patient day in a tertiary care
      hospital with an established parenteral prostacyclin policy. Patients on
      parenteral prostacyclin including new initiations from January 2003 to January
      2013 were identified, encompassing 386 discrete admissions. Reports of adverse
      events were obtained from the inpatient risk feedback-reporting process and
      detailed chart review. Policy-divergent events were analyzed both categorically
      and by the degree of severity. Overall, 153 total policy-divergent events were
      identified. Data analysis indicated an incident rate of 45.9 per 1,000 patient
      days. In total, 21 of 153 potential errors reached the patient, translating to an
      incident rate of 6.3 per 1,000 patient days. Incident rate for "serious
      symptomatic" or "catastrophic" policy-divergent events was 3.3 per 1,000 patient
      days. Even with specific prostacyclin training and administration policy, there
      remains a small risk of adverse events in hospitalized pulmonary hypertension
      patients receiving parenteral prostacyclin.

PMID- 27631709
TI  - Automated Detection of Sepsis Using Electronic Medical Record Data: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - Severe sepsis and septic shock are global issues with high mortality rates. Early
      recognition and intervention are essential to optimize patient outcomes.
      Automated detection using electronic medical record (EMR) data can assist this
      process. This review describes automated sepsis detection using EMR data. PubMed
      retrieved publications between January 1, 2005 and January 31, 2015. Thirteen
      studies met study criteria: described an automated detection approach with the
      potential to detect sepsis or sepsis-related deterioration in real or near-real
      time; focused on emergency department and hospitalized neonatal, pediatric, or
      adult patients; and provided performance measures or results indicating the
      impact of automated sepsis detection. Detection algorithms incorporated systemic
      inflammatory response and organ dysfunction criteria. Systems in nine studies
      generated study or care team alerts. Care team alerts did not consistently lead
      to earlier interventions. Earlier interventions did not consistently translate to
      improved patient outcomes. Performance measures were inconsistent. Automated
      sepsis detection is potentially a means to enable early sepsis-related therapy
      but current performance variability highlights the need for further research.

PMID- 27631710
TI  - An Assessment of the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative: Lessons Learned From a
      Detailed Assessment of a Well-Established Profession-Based Performance
      Measurement Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: National performance measurement programs used to improve quality
      and/or accountability are prevalent. Professional society-based programs largely
      assess practice or provider performance. We tested the limitations of the Quality
      Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI), a well-established program. METHODS: We
      investigated the potential limitations of the QOPI limited sampling strategy and
      end-of-life (EOL) metrics through a retrospective review of all decedents meeting
      the QOPI eligibility criteria at a large three-site community oncology practice.
      Relative precision for each EOL metric was measured and simulated scenarios
      modeled via log-normal distributions were compared. RESULTS: A total of 246
      deaths were identified; only 14% of decedents were included in the QOPI limited
      sample. Important differences in relative precision between samples were evident.
      Chemotherapy administered at the EOL was 2.8 times greater among the full cohort
      compared to the sample. CONCLUSION: The limited sampling strategy demonstrated
      the lack of precision explained by sampling variability confounded in smaller
      sample sizes. Our analyses demonstrated that practices reporting the same metric
      may stem from very different underlying distributions, which limits the ability
      to understand complex practice patterns and improve care. These findings may be
      of significance to other performance measurement programs that utilize similar
      testing strategies.

PMID- 27631711
TI  - Can Clinicians Predict Readmissions? A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current risk-stratification models insufficiently identify
      readmission risk. SETTING: Academic medical center in Boston, MA. PATIENTS: One
      hundred seventy-seven medicine inpatients. METHODS: We prospectively interviewed
      clinicians about whether they would be surprised if patients scheduled for
      discharge were readmitted within 30 days and to identify one patient at the
      highest risk. Multivariate models examined the impact of clinicians' judgment on
      readmission. RESULTS: The 30-day same-hospital readmission rate was 10.7%. The
      number of hospitalizations (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.04-1.30), emergency department visits (1.10, 1.02-1.19), and discharge
      medications (1.07, 1.00-1.14) were associated with readmission in bivariate
      models. The negative-predictive value when clinicians would be surprised about a
      readmission was high (95%). CONCLUSION: Clinicians are better at predicting those
      not readmitted than those who are.

PMID- 27631712
TI  - Collaborative Learning in the Texas Medicaid 1115 Waiver Program.
AB  - The Texas Medicaid 1115 Transformation Waiver reforms the state's safety net
      systems by creating a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment incentive pool for
      innovative healthcare delivery. The Waiver supports the design and implementation
      of transformative projects. As part of the Waiver requirements, regions created
      Learning Collaboratives to collaborate on project implementation and outcomes.
      This paper describes the experience of one region in adapting the Institute for
      Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series (IHI BTS) model, as a framework for
      their Learning Collaborative. Implementation of the Learning Collaborative was
      systematic, multidimensional, and regularly evaluated. Some features of the IHI
      model were adapted, specifically longer Plan-Do-Check-Act cycles and the lack of
      a single clinical focus. This experience demonstrates the ability of a region to
      improve health from a more diverse perspective than the traditional IHI BTS
      Collaboratives. Within the region, organizations are connecting, agencies are
      building continuums of care, and stakeholders are involved in healthcare
      delivery. The initial stages show a remarkable increase in communication and
      enhanced relationships between providers. At the end of the 5-year Waiver,
      evaluation of the impact of the regional and cohort Learning Collaboratives will
      determine how well the adapted IHI BTS model facilitated improvements in the
      community's health.

PMID- 27631714
TI  - Comparison of recommended sanctions for lapses in professionalism of
      undergraduate medical students in a Saudi Arabian and a Scottish medical school.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical Professionalism is recognized as a cultural construct. We
      explore perceptions of the severity of lapses in professionalism of undergraduate
      medical students at two medical schools with different cultural contexts.
      METHODS: Respondents from two medical schools (Saudi Arabia & UK) recommended
      sanctions for the first time, unmitigated lapses in academic professionalism,
      using the Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory 1: Academic Integrity. RESULTS:
      While more than two-thirds of the recommended sanctions for the 30 items of poor
      professionalism were fully or nearly congruent among the 1125 respondents, there
      were substantial differences in recommended response for one-third of the items,
      with a strong tendency for the Saudi students to recommend more lenient sanctions
      than the Scottish students. CONCLUSION: The strategy of using recommended
      sanctions as a proxy for the perception of the severity of different lapses in
      professionalism may be a useful tool in learning and teaching academic
      professionalism among medical students in different cultural contexts.

PMID- 27631713
TI  - Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials That Evaluate the Effectiveness of Hospital
      Initiated Postdischarge Interventions on Hospital Readmission.
AB  - Under pressure to avoid readmissions, hospitals are increasingly employing
      hospital-initiated postdischarge interventions (HiPDI), such as home visits and
      follow-up phone calls, to help patients after discharge. This study was conducted
      to assess the effectiveness of HiPDI on reducing hospital readmissions using a
      systematic review of clinical trials published between 1990 and 2014. We analyzed
      twenty articles on HiPDI (from 503 reviewed abstracts) containing 7,952 index
      hospitalizations followed for a median 3 months (range 1-24) after discharge for
      readmission. The two most common HiPDI included follow-up phone calls (n = 14,
      70%) or home visits (n = 11, 55%); eighty-five percent (n = 17) of studies had
      multiple HiPDI. In meta-analysis, exposure to HiPDI was associated with a lower
      likelihood of readmission (odds ratio [OR], 0.8 [95% CI, 0.7-0.9]). Patients
      receiving >=2 postdischarge home visits or >=2 follow-up phone calls had the
      lowest likelihood of readmission (OR, 0.5 [95% CI, 0.4-0.8]). Hospital-initiated
      postdischarge interventions seem to have an effect on reducing hospital
      readmissions. Together, multiple home visits and follow-up phone calls may be the
      most effective HiPDI to reduce hospital readmission.

PMID- 27631716
TI  - Application of digital volume correlation to study the efficacy of prophylactic
      vertebral augmentation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prophylactic augmentation is meant to reinforce the vertebral body,
      but in some cases it is suspected to actually weaken it. Past studies only
      investigated structural failure and the surface strain distribution. To elucidate
      the failure mechanism of the augmented vertebra, more information is needed about
      the internal strain distribution. This study aims to measure, for the first time,
      the full-field three-dimensional strain distribution inside augmented vertebrae
      in the elastic regime and to failure. METHODS: Eight porcine vertebrae were
      prophylactically-augmented using two augmentation materials. They were scanned
      with a micro-computed tomography scanner (38.8MUm voxel resolution) while
      undeformed, and loaded at 5%, 10%, and 15% compressions. Internal strains (axial,
      antero-posterior and lateral-lateral components) were computed using digital
      volume correlation. FINDINGS: For both augmentation materials, the highest
      strains were measured in the regions adjacent to the injected cement mass,
      whereas the cement-interdigitated-bone was less strained. While this was already
      visible in the elastic regime (5%), it was a predictor of the localization of
      failure, which became visible at higher degrees of compression (10% and 15%),
      when failure propagated across the trabecular bone. Localization of high strains
      and failure was consistent between specimens, but different between the cement
      types. INTERPRETATION: This study indicated the potential of digital volume
      correlation in measuring the internal strain (elastic regime) and failure in
      augmented vertebrae. While the cement-interdigitated region becomes stiffer (less
      strained), the adjacent non-augmented trabecular bone is affected by the stress
      concentration induced by the cement mass. This approach can help establish better
      criteria to improve vertebroplasty.

PMID- 27631717
TI  - Awareness of Mouth Cancer Among Adult Dental Patients Attending the Kuwait
      University Dental School Clinic.
AB  - In Kuwait, the age-standardized incidence rate (per 100,000) for oral cancer is
      1.5 and the mortality rate is 0.4. Early detection of oral cancer combined with
      appropriate treatment greatly improves the chances of cure and the quality of
      life. However, little is known about patient awareness of this disease and the
      ability to identify early signs, particularly among high-risk groups. Hence, the
      aim of this study is to assess dental patients' awareness and knowledge of mouth
      cancer and beliefs and perceptions about risk factors. A self-administered
      questionnaire was used to collect information from a convenience sample of
      outpatients attending the dental admission clinic. The questionnaire included
      questions to ascertain information on socio-demographic characteristics,
      knowledge of risk factors, and signs of oral cancer as well as sources of
      information regarding the same. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package
      for the Social Sciences for Windows 19.0. A total of 160 questionnaires were
      distributed out of which 136 completed questionnaires were returned and used for
      the study. The mean knowledge score for oral cancer risk factors was found to be
      5.2 +/- 2.7 out of ten while that of signs and symptoms was 3.4 +/- 2.7 out of
      eight. When the knowledge of risk factors of oral cancer was taken into
      consideration along with variables, significant difference was seen only in sex
      with women having better knowledge (p = 0.03). Knowledge about signs and symptoms
      of oral cancer revealed a highly significant difference with the level of
      education (p = 0.03). Family, friends, and colleagues were mentioned as the main
      source of information regarding oral cancer. Our findings suggest that knowledge
      regarding oral cancer risk factors, signs, and symptoms was found to be lacking
      among the dental patients which emphasizes the need for patient education at the
      dental centers as well as public awareness programs.

PMID- 27631715
TI  - Discovery of a Quinoline-4-carboxamide Derivative with a Novel Mechanism of
      Action, Multistage Antimalarial Activity, and Potent in Vivo Efficacy.
AB  - The antiplasmodial activity, DMPK properties, and efficacy of a series of
      quinoline-4-carboxamides are described. This series was identified from a
      phenotypic screen against the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum (3D7) and
      displayed moderate potency but with suboptimal physicochemical properties and
      poor microsomal stability. The screening hit (1, EC50 = 120 nM) was optimized to
      lead molecules with low nanomolar in vitro potency. Improvement of the
      pharmacokinetic profile led to several compounds showing excellent oral efficacy
      in the P. berghei malaria mouse model with ED90 values below 1 mg/kg when dosed
      orally for 4 days. The favorable potency, selectivity, DMPK properties, and
      efficacy coupled with a novel mechanism of action, inhibition of translation
      elongation factor 2 (PfEF2), led to progression of 2 (DDD107498) to preclinical
      development.

PMID- 27631718
TI  - Impact of door-to-balloon time on long-term mortality in high- and low-risk
      patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Door-to-balloon time (DTBT) less than 90min remains the benchmark of
      timely reperfusion in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The relative
      long-term benefit of timely reperfusion in STEMI patients with differing risk
      profiles is less certain. Thus, we aimed to assess the impact of DTBT on long
      term mortality in high- and low-risk STEMI patients. METHOD: We analysed baseline
      clinical and procedural characteristics of 2539 consecutive STEMI patients who
      underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from the Melbourne
      Interventional Group registry from 2004 to 2012. Patients were classified high
      risk (HR-STEMI) if they presented with cardiogenic shock, out-of-hospital cardiac
      arrest (OHCA) or Killip class >=2; or low-risk (LR-STEMI) if there were no high
      risk features. We then stratified high- and low-risk patients by DTBT (<=90min
      vs. >90min) and assessed long-term mortality. RESULT: Of the 2539 patients, 395
      (16%) met the high-risk criteria. A DTBT <=90min was achieved in 43% of HR-STEMI
      patients and in 55% of LR-STEMI patients. Patients in the HR-STEMI compared to LR
      STEMI cohort had higher in-hospital (31% vs. 1%, p<0.01) and long-term mortality
      (37% vs. 7%, p<0.01). A DTBT <=90min was associated with significant improvements
      in short- and long-term mortality in both groups. A DTBT <=90min was an
      independent multivariate predictor of long-term survival in LR-STEMI (hazard
      ratio [HR] 0.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.3-0.9, p=0.02) but not in HR-STEMI
      (HR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-1.1, p=0.11). CONCLUSION: A DTBT <=90min was associated with
      improved short- and long-term outcomes in high- and low-risk STEMI patients.
      However, it was only an independent predictor of long-term survival in LR-STEMI
      patients.

PMID- 27631719
TI  - The effectiveness of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) counselling
      on estimated 10-year cardiovascular risk among patients with newly diagnosed
      grade 1 hypertension: A randomised clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) has been shown to
      lower blood pressure in the West. However, the real-life impact of DASH on
      reducing cardiovascular (CV) risk in routine clinical setting has not been
      studied. METHODS: A parallel-group, open-labelled, physician-blinded, randomised
      controlled trial was conducted in January-June 2013 and followed up for 6- and 12
      months in primary care settings in Hong Kong. Patients newly diagnosed with grade
      1 hypertension (aged 40-70years) who had no concomitant medical conditions
      requiring dietary modifications were consecutively recruited. Subjects were
      randomised to standard education (usual care) (n=275), or usual care plus
      dietitian-delivered DASH-based dietary counselling in a single one-to-one session
      (intervention) (n=281). Primary outcomes were the changes in estimated 10-year CV
      risk. RESULTS: Outcome data were available for 504 (90.6%) and 485 (87.2%)
      patients at 6 and 12months, respectively. There was no difference in the
      reduction of 10-year CV risk between the two groups at 6months (-0.13%, 95%
      confidence interval [95% CI] -0.50% to 0.23%, p=0.477) and 12months (-0.08%, 95%
      CI -0.33% to 0.18%, p=0.568). Multivariate regression analyses showed that male
      subjects, younger patients, current smokers, subjects with lower educational
      level, and those who dined out for main meals for >=4 times in a typical week
      were significantly associated with no improvements in CV risk. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings may not support automatic referral of newly diagnosed grade 1
      hypertensive patients for further one-to-one dietitian counselling on top of
      primary care physician's usual care. Patients with those risk factors identified
      should receive more clinical attention to reduce their CV risk. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ChiCTR-TRC-13003014 (http://www.chictr.org.cn/enindex.aspx).

PMID- 27631720
TI  - Changes in Tricarbastannatrane Transannular N-Sn Bonding upon Complexation Reveal
      Lewis Base Donicities.
AB  - Hypercoordinated complexes involving tricarbastannatrane cation
      [N(CH2CH2CH2)3Sn]+ with various Lewis bases are investigated in the gas and
      solution phases using a combination of infrared multiple photon dissociation
      (IRMPD) spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and density functional theory
      calculations. Coordination is found to occur at the apical position leading to a
      pentacoordinated Sn center. Strongly electron donating Lewis bases disrupt the
      N...Sn transannular interaction and induce higher degrees of geometric distortion
      at the metal center than weakly donating Lewis bases, an effect that manifests as
      anharmonic shifts in the vibrational spectra. Once characterized in the gas
      phase, [N(CH2CH2CH2)3Sn(Lewis base)]+ structures were embedded in a
      dichloroethane polarizable continuum model to investigate solution phase
      properties. Calculated 119Sn NMR chemical shifts were found to be in good
      agreement with those measured experimentally, thus suggesting that the bonding
      properties of [N(CH2CH2CH2)3Sn]+ are essentially the same in the gas and solution
      phases.

PMID- 27631721
TI  - Angiotensin receptor blockers and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Some studies reported that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
      reduced the risk of breast cancer. However, other studies did not show similar
      results. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched. The
      strength of the association between ARBs and the risk of breast cancer was
      measured by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS:
      Eight eligible studies with 1,994,880 individuals were considered for this meta
      analysis. ARBs was not associated with the risk of breast cancer (OR=0.93; 95%
      CI: 0.81-1.06; I2=86%). In the subgroup analysis of race, a significantly
      decreased breast cancer risk were observed in Asians (OR=0.62; 95% CI: 0.53-0.73;
      I2=0%). However, a significantly increased breast cancer risk were observed in
      Caucasians (OR=1.08; 95% CI: 1.02-1.13; I2=28%). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided
      evidence that ARBs was associated with decreased breast cancer in Asians and
      increased risk of breast cancer in Caucasians.

PMID- 27631722
TI  - Psychosocial difficulties of individuals with multiple sclerosis: the PARADISE-24
      questionnaire.
AB  - The aim of this study is to identify the most relevant psychosocial difficulties
      (PSDs) experienced by persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS); to evaluate the
      relation between an overall level of PSDs measured with the PARADISE-24 and other
      variables; to assess which factors may predict PARADISE-24 overall score. Adults
      PwMS were consecutively enrolled and completed a battery of eight self-reported
      instruments (i.e. SCQ, EUROHIS-QOL 8, BRS, BFI-10, JSPE, OSS-3, WHODAS-12,
      PARADISE-24). A clinical evaluation was performed for each patient and the
      Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score was determined by neurologists. A
      total of 80 PwMS, mean age 41.0, 65% women, 62% married, and 76.3% working, 86.3%
      relapsing-remitting MS, with an EDSS median score of 1.5, took part in the study.
      The mean disease duration was 7.7 years. The most frequently reported PSDs
      involved motor and emotional functioning. Free of charge access to medicines;
      health treatments and family, friends and health professionals' assistance
      represented the most important facilitators. WHODAS-12 and EUROHIS-QOL 8 were
      excluded from regression because of their strong correlation with PARADISE-24.
      EDSS, BRS, OSS-3, and neuroticism were the main predictors of the PARADISE-24
      score. Despite MS heterogeneity, a common pattern of PSDs can be observed among
      PwMS. The level of physical impairment and personal resilience were the main
      predictors of the overall level of PSDs in PwMS, with a lower but significant
      additional role played by social support and personality traits. Attention to
      PSDs and their predictors, using PARADISE-24, can help clinicians to plan
      tailored and personalized rehabilitation programs.

PMID- 27631723
TI  - Surgical Management of the Undescended Testis: Recent Advances and Controversies.
AB  - Undescended testis (UDT) is the most common disorder of sexual development in
      boys and affects 3.5% of male newborns. Although approximately half of newborn
      UDTs descend spontaneously, some boys develop an ascending testis later in
      childhood. Recent guideline recommendations advocate orchiopexy by 18 months of
      age to maximize potential for fertility and perhaps reduce the risk for
      testicular carcinoma in the future. For palpable testes, a standard inguinal
      approach is appropriate. However, the prescrotal approach is often effective for
      low inguinal testes and reduces surgical time and patient discomfort with an
      equivalent success rate in boys with an ascending testis. Some advocate
      monitoring until adolescence to determine whether the testis will spontaneously
      descend into the scrotum, but data do not support this approach. Instead, prompt
      orchiopexy is recommended. In boys with a nonpalpable testis, approximately 50%
      are abdominal or high in the inguinal canal and 50% are atrophic, typically in
      the scrotum. Routine inguinal/scrotal ultrasound is not recommended, although in
      an older boy who is overweight, it is appropriate. If the patient has
      contralateral testicular hypertrophy, scrotal exploration is appropriate, and
      removal of the testicular remnant and contralateral scrotal orchiopexy to prevent
      future contralateral testicular torsion is recommended. In most cases, diagnostic
      laparoscopy is advised to determine whether the testis is abdominal. For the
      abdominal testis, there are numerous treatment options. If the testis is mobile
      or a peeping testis just distal to the internal inguinal ring, standard one-stage
      laparoscopic or open orchiopexy should be attempted using the Prentiss maneuver.
      If the testicular vessels are short or the testis is not mobile, a two-stage
      Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy is appropriate. The second stage can be performed
      laparoscopically or open. Another option is microvascular testicular
      autotransplantation, which is a technically demanding procedure. Surgical results
      of abdominal orchiopexy are highly variable, short term, and highly subjective.
      Prospective clinical trials with follow-up into adolescence and adulthood are
      necessary to assess the success of various surgical approaches.

PMID- 27631724
TI  - Comments to Recent Guidelines on Undescended Testis.
AB  - During the past couple of decades, our understanding of the treatment of
      undescended testis (UDT) has hugely expanded and it is still dynamically
      changing: new diagnostic tools are available, and experimental procedures are
      becoming a real-life treatment options. Our community needs to continuously
      update our guidelines. It is also our responsibility to build up, not a uniform,
      but a patient-oriented guideline which can provide information for both primary
      care providers and pediatric surgeons. Here, in Europe, we endeavor to change the
      different national guidelines to one common European pediatric surgical guideline
      in the treatment of UDT.

PMID- 27631725
TI  - Investigation of a Catenane with a Responsive Noncovalent Network: Mimicking Long
      Range Responses in Proteins.
AB  - We report a functional synthetic model for studying the noncovalent networks
      (NCNs) required for complex protein functions. The model [2]-catenane is self
      assembled from dipeptide building blocks and contains an extensive network of
      hydrogen bonds and aromatic interactions. Perturbations to the catenane cause
      compensating changes in the NCNs structure and dynamics, resulting in long
      distance changes reminiscent of a protein. Key findings include the notion that
      NCNs require regions of negative cooperativity, or "frustrated" noncovalent
      interactions, as a source of potential energy for driving the response. We refer
      to this potential energy as latent free energy and describe a mechanistic and
      energetic model for responsive systems.

PMID- 27631727
TI  - Announcement: National Child Passenger Safety Week - September 18-24, 2016.
AB  - This year, National Child Passenger Safety Week is September 18-24. In the United
      States, motor vehicle-related injuries are a leading cause of death among
      children (1). In 2014, a total of 602 passenger vehicle occupants aged 0-12 years
      died as a result of a crash (2), and more than 121,350 were injured (1). Of the
      children who died in 2014, 34% were known to be unrestrained (2). To keep child
      passengers as safe as possible, drivers should use age- and size-appropriate
      restraints for all child passengers until adult seat belts fit properly (a lap
      belt should lay across upper thighs, not abdomen, and a shoulder belt should lay
      across shoulder and chest, not neck or face) and follow the American Academy of
      Pediatrics child passenger safety recommendations (3). In addition, children aged
      <13 years should be properly restrained in the back seat. 

PMID- 27631726
TI  - Plasma miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p as diagnostic biomarkers for
      pancreatic cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) by using sensitive and specific
      biomarkers is considered necessary. MiRNAs are master regulators of gene
      expression and several biological processes, and they are dysregulated in various
      cancers, where they play a vital role in either cancer progression or
      suppression. So, this study was designed to investigate the role of plasma miR-22
      3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p expression as possible diagnostic markers in PC
      patients as compared to serum CA19-9. In addition, the correlation of those
      miRNAs and CA19-9 with clinical characteristics of PC patients was analyzed.
      METHODS: The expression levels of selected miRNAs and serum CA19-9 concentration
      were determined for 35 patients with PDAC and 15 healthy controls by quantitative
      real-time RT-PCR and electro-chemiluminescence immune assay, respectively. The
      sensitivities of miRNAs as biomarkers of PC were evaluated and compared with CA19
      9 using a receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: The levels of
      three miRNAs (miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p) and CA19-9 were
      significantly higher in PC patients, even those with early-stage disease (IB and
      IIB), than in healthy control. Both miRNAs and CA19-9 were associated with tumor
      stage. The high sensitivities of the three selected miRNAs and CA19-9 were
      observed. CONCLUSION: The measurement of miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p
      may prove to have clinical utility in diagnosis of PC. Those miRNAs are ideal
      early biomarkers for PC diagnosis. So, they can effectively be used with serum
      CA19-9 for PC screening in early tumor stage.

PMID- 27631728
TI  - Association of the genetic diversity of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor
      genes and HLA-C ligand in Saudi women with breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) progression and metastases have been linked to antitumor
      immunity inefficiency and particularly to natural killer (NK) cells. Killer cell
      immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are the most polymorphic receptors of NK
      cells. Through their interactions with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-C ligands,
      they modulate NK and T cell actions against target cells. Therefore, we studied
      the combinatorial effect of KIR genes and their HLA-C ligands on the
      susceptibility to development of BC in Saudi women. The presence of KIR genes and
      HLA-C1 and HLA-C2 groups was typed in 50 Saudi patients living in Riyadh and 65
      healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers.
      Our results indicated a protective effect by the KIR2DS2, 2DS3, and 2DL5A genes
      against BC (OR = 0.25, 0.21, and 0.27, respectively, and p < 0.01). The
      synergistic action of the three genes was observed when they occurred together,
      and the absence of the three genes increased BC occurrence by 6.5-fold.
      Distribution of the HLA-C1/C2 ligand between patients and controls showed an
      increase in the risk of BC occurrence for the heterozygote C1/C2 (OR = 2.33; 95 %
      CI = 1.08-5.02; p = 0.037) and a protective effect of the homozygote C2C2 (OR =
      0.03; 95 % CI = 0.009-0.098; p < 0.001). Combinatory analyses of KIR genes and
      their HLA-C ligands showed protective effects of KIR2DL2 and 2DL3 in the absence
      of their HLA-C1 ligand. These results suggested that KIR-gene content combined
      with their ligand could influence the risk of BC development in women in Saudi
      Arabia.

PMID- 27631730
TI  - Two-Spotted Ladybeetle Adalia bipunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): A
      Commercially Available Predator to Control Asian Citrus Psyllid Diaphorina citri
      (Hemiptera: Liviidae).
AB  - The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is an
      economically important pest of citrus because it serves as a vector of the causal
      pathogens of huanglongbing (HLB) also known as citrus greening disease. The
      increased use of insecticides for control of D. citri negatively impacts several
      natural enemies including some effective ladybeetle species which are not
      available commercially. The two-spotted ladybeetle, Adalia bipunctata
      (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is found in some crop and forest ecosystems of Asia,
      Europe and North America and available commercially. It is known to attack aphids
      and mealybugs but there are no published records of feeding on psyllids. We
      evaluated suitability and preference of A. bipunctata for nymphs of D. citri
      compared to corn leaf aphid Rhopalosiphum maidis (Hemiptera: Aphididae) a global
      pest of cereal crops and prey for many predaceous insects. We also compared
      development and reproduction of A. bipunctata on these two species with frozen
      eggs of the Mediterranean flour moth Ephestia kuehniella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
      at 25 degrees C. Initially, more D. citri than R. maidis nymphs were consumed in
      the no-choice tests although final consumption by larva and adult of A.
      bipunctata did not differ in the choice and no-choice tests. Larval development
      was prolonged by one day on D. citri compared to R. maidis nymphs but did not
      differ between either of these diets and E. kuehniella. Larval survival to adult
      averaged 93-100% and was not impacted by diet. Adult life span did not differ
      between diets although those on D. citri and R. maidis nymphs weighed less and
      produced fewer but more fertile eggs than on E. kuehniella eggs. Significant
      reduction of D. citri nymphs averaging 54% was observed in colonies caged with
      adult A. bipunctata on field planted citrus. R degrees  (net reproductive rate)
      was least for beetles fed R. maidis, but otherwise there were no significant
      differences in demographic parameters. Successful feeding, development and
      reproductive performance of A. bipunctata suggest its usefulness as biological
      control agent of D. citri as well as aphid species exemplified by R. maidis. 

PMID- 27631731
TI  - Correction: Serum- and Glucocorticoid-Inducible Kinase-1 (SGK-1) Plays a Role in
      Membrane Trafficking in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130778.].

PMID- 27631729
TI  - Polymicrogyria and myoclonic epilepsy in autosomal recessive cutis laxa type 2A.
AB  - Cutis laxa syndromes are rare inherited disorders of skin and connective tissue
      metabolism associated with variable systemic involvement. The main clinical
      manifestation is loose, wrinkled, redundant, inelastic skin, hypotonia, typical
      facies including short nose and down-slanting palpebral fissures, and varying
      degrees of developmental delay. The aim of this report is to describe two
      siblings diagnosed with a moderate form of ATP6V0A2-related cutis laxa with
      polymicrogyria (cobblestone-like brain dysgenesis). One of the patients has
      myoclonic epilepsy which may have contributed to his more severe clinical
      presentation. The literature on cutis laxa syndromes is reviewed.

PMID- 27631732
TI  - Economic Evaluation of Screening Strategies Combined with HPV Vaccination of
      Preadolescent Girls for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several approaches to reduce the incidence of invasive cervical
      cancers exist. The approach adopted should take into account contextual factors
      that influence the cost-effectiveness of the available options. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the cost-effectiveness of screening strategies combined with a
      vaccination program for 10-year old girls for cervical cancer prevention in
      Vientiane, Lao PDR. METHODS: A population-based dynamic compartment model was
      constructed. The interventions consisted of a 10-year old girl vaccination
      program only, or this program combined with screening strategies, i.e., visual
      inspection with acetic acid (VIA), cytology-based screening, rapid human
      papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing, or combined VIA and cytology testing.
      Simulations were run over 100 years. In base-case scenario analyses, we assumed a
      70% vaccination coverage with lifelong protection and a 50% screening coverage.
      The outcome of interest was the incremental cost per Disability-Adjusted Life
      Year (DALY) averted. RESULTS: In base-case scenarios, compared to the next best
      strategy, the model predicted that VIA screening of women aged 30-65 years old
      every three years, combined with vaccination, was the most attractive option,
      costing 2 544 international dollars (I$) per DALY averted. Meanwhile, rapid HPV
      DNA testing was predicted to be more attractive than cytology-based screening or
      its combination with VIA. Among cytology-based screening options, combined VIA
      with conventional cytology testing was predicted to be the most attractive
      option. Multi-way sensitivity analyses did not change the results. Compared to
      rapid HPV DNA testing, VIA had a probability of cost-effectiveness of 73%.
      Compared to the vaccination only option, the probability that a program
      consisting of screening women every five years would be cost-effective was around
      60% and 80% if the willingness-to-pay threshold is fixed at one and three GDP per
      capita, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A VIA screening program in addition to a girl
      vaccination program was predicted to be the most attractive option in the health
      care context of Lao PDR. When compared with other screening methods, VIA was the
      primary recommended method for combination with vaccination in Lao PDR.

PMID- 27631734
TI  - A Research Agenda for Racial Equity: Applications of the Ferguson Commission
      Report to Public Health.
AB  - The Ferguson Commission was an independent body of 16 commissioners in operation
      from November 2014 to December 2015 and appointed by Missouri governor Jay Nixon
      to examine the root causes underlying the death of Michael Brown Jr. Its report,
      "Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity," raises many issues on
      racial equity that public health is well suited to address, such as trends in
      police use of force, the health implications of the school-based discipline gap,
      and the health benefits of a coordinated housing strategy. Public health can also
      learn from the principles the commission adopted, including being unflinching in
      the questions asked and conclusions drawn, applying a racial equity lens to
      public health work, and moving beyond programmatic solutions to policy solutions.

PMID- 27631733
TI  - Cosavirus, Salivirus and Bufavirus in Diarrheal Tunisian Infants.
AB  - Three newly discovered viruses have been recently described in diarrheal
      patients: Cosavirus (CosV) and Salivirus (SalV), two picornaviruses, and
      Bufavirus (BuV), a parvovirus. The detection rate and the role of these viruses
      remain to be established in acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in diarrheal Tunisian
      infants. From October 2010 through March 2012, stool samples were collected from
      203 children <5 years-old suffering from AGE and attending the Children's
      Hospital in Monastir, Tunisia. All samples were screened for CosV, SalV and BuV
      as well as for norovirus (NoV) and group A rotavirus (RVA) by molecular biology.
      Positive samples for the three screened viruses were also tested for astrovirus,
      sapovirus, adenovirus, and Aichi virus, then genotyped when technically feasible.
      During the study period, 11 (5.4%) samples were positive for one of the three
      investigated viruses: 2 (1.0%) CosV-A10, 7 (3.5%) SalV-A1 and 2 (1.0%) BuV-1,
      whereas 71 (35.0%) children were infected with NoV and 50 (24.6%) with RVA. No
      mixed infections involving the three viruses were found, but multiple infections
      with up to 4 classic enteric viruses were found in all cases. Although these
      viruses are suspected to be responsible for AGE in children, our data showed that
      this association was uncertain since all infected children also presented
      infections with several enteric viruses, suggesting here potential water-borne
      transmission. Therefore, further studies with large cohorts of healthy and
      diarrheal children will be needed to evaluate their clinical role in AGE. 

PMID- 27631735
TI  - Fathers' Representation in Observational Studies on Parenting and Childhood
      Obesity: A Systematic Review and Content Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The involvement of fathers in caregiving has increased substantially
      over the past 30 years. Yet in child and adolescent psychopathology, few studies
      include fathers as research participants and few present results for fathers
      separate from those for mothers. We test for the first time whether a similar
      pattern exists in research on parenting and childhood obesity. OBJECTIVES: To
      conduct a systematic review and quantitative content analysis of observational
      studies on parenting and childhood obesity to (1) document the inclusion of
      fathers, relative to mothers, as research participants and (2) examine
      characteristics of studies that did and did not include fathers. This study
      presents new data on the number and gender of parent research participants.
      SEARCH METHODS: We searched title, abstract, and Medical Subject Headings term
      fields in 5 research databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Academic Search Premier,
      PsycINFO, and CINAHL) using terms combining parents or parenting (e.g., mother,
      father, caregiver, parenting style, food parenting) and obesity (e.g., obesity,
      body weight, overweight) or obesity-related lifestyle behaviors (e.g., diet,
      snacking, physical activity, outdoor play, exercise, media use). SELECTION
      CRITERIA: We identified and screened studies as per the Preferred Reporting Items
      for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) published between January 2009
      and December 2015, examining links between parenting and childhood obesity,
      including parents or caregivers as research participants, and written in English.
      We excluded interventions, nonhuman studies, dissertations, conference abstracts,
      and studies on youths with specific medical conditions. Of 5557 unique studies,
      667 studies were eligible. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: For each of the 667
      studies, 4 coders were trained to code characteristics of the study (e.g.,
      publication year, geographic region, journal, study focus) and parent research
      participants (e.g., parent gender, demographic background, biological
      relationship with child, and residential status). We established intercoder
      reliability before coding the full sample of studies (mean Krippendorf's alpha =
      .79; average percentage agreement = 94%). MAIN RESULTS: Of the studies, 1%
      included only fathers. By contrast, 36% included only mothers. Although slightly
      more than 50% of studies (n = 347) included at least 1 father, only 57 studies
      reported results for fathers separate from those for mothers. When we combined
      them with studies including only fathers, 10% of studies overall reported results
      for fathers. Samples sizes of fathers were small compared with mothers. Of
      studies with fathers, 59% included 50 or fewer fathers, whereas 22% of studies
      with mothers included 50 or fewer mothers. The mean sample size for fathers
      across all eligible studies was 139, compared with 672 for mothers. Overall,
      fathers represented 17% of parent participants across all eligible studies.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study unequivocally demonstrates that fathers are
      underrepresented in recent observational research on parenting and childhood
      obesity. Public health implications. The underrepresentation of fathers in
      obesity research compromises the development of effective family interventions
      for childhood obesity prevention. Targeted opportunities and incentives are
      needed to support research with fathers.

PMID- 27631736
TI  - A Prospective Study of Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Mortality in Finland.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the simultaneous effects of social isolation and
      loneliness on mortality. METHODS: We analyzed a representative Finnish sample (n
      = 8650) from the cross-sectional Living Conditions Survey of 1994, with a 17-year
      follow-up period (1995-2011), by using Cox regression models adjusted for several
      possible confounding variables. We examined the possible nonlinear threshold
      effect of social isolation on mortality. RESULTS: The analyses revealed that
      social isolation predicted mortality even after we controlled for loneliness and
      control variables. The connection between social isolation and mortality was
      linear in nature and there was no synergistic effect between social isolation and
      loneliness. The effect of loneliness became nonsignificant when studied
      simultaneously with social isolation. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals strong
      evidence for an adverse effect of social isolation on mortality. Social isolation
      and loneliness seem to have distinct pathways to mortality and health. The
      results imply that the risk of mortality exists along a continuum, affecting not
      only those who experience extreme social isolation, but also those who suffer
      from mild to progressively increasing intensity of isolation.

PMID- 27631737
TI  - Housing Assistance and Blood Lead Levels: Children in the United States, 2005
      2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare blood lead levels (BLLs) among US children aged 1 to 5
      years according to receipt of federal housing assistance. METHODS: In our
      analyses, we used 2005 to 2012 data for National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey (NHANES) respondents that were linked to 1999 to 2014 administrative
      records from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). After we
      restricted the analysis to children with family income-to-poverty ratios below
      200%, we compared geometric mean BLLs and the prevalence of BLLs of 3 micrograms
      per deciliter or higher among children who were living in assisted housing at the
      time of their NHANES blood draw (n = 151) with data for children who did not
      receive housing assistance (n = 1099). RESULTS: After adjustment, children living
      in assisted housing had a significantly lower geometric mean BLL (1.44 ug/dL; 95%
      confidence interval [CI] = 1.31, 1.57) than comparable children who did not
      receive housing assistance (1.79 ug/dL; 95% CI = 1.59, 2.01; P < .01). The
      prevalence ratio for BLLs of 3 micrograms per deciliter or higher was 0.51 (95%
      CI = 0.33, 0.81; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Children aged 1 to 5 years during 2005 to
      2012 who were living in HUD-assisted housing had lower BLLs than expected given
      their demographic, socioeconomic, and family characteristics.

PMID- 27631738
TI  - Islamophobia and Public Health in the United States.
AB  - Anti-Muslim sentiments are increasingly common globally and in the United States.
      The recent rise in Islamophobia calls for a public health perspective that
      considers the stigmatized identity of Muslim Americans and health implications of
      Islamophobic discrimination. Drawing on a stigma, discrimination, and health
      framework, I expand the dialogue on the rise of Islamophobia to a discussion of
      how Islamophobia affects the health of Muslim Americans. Islamophobia can
      negatively influence health by disrupting several systems-individual (stress
      reactivity and identity concealment), interpersonal (social relationships and
      socialization processes), and structural (institutional policies and media
      coverage). Islamophobia deserves attention as a source of negative health
      outcomes and health disparities. Future public health research should explore the
      multilevel and multidimensional pathways between Islamophobia and population
      health.

PMID- 27631739
TI  - Changes to the Design of the National Health Interview Survey to Support Enhanced
      Monitoring of Health Reform Impacts at the State Level.
AB  - Pursuant to passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the
      National Center for Health Statistics has enhanced the content of the National
      Health Interview Survey (NHIS)-the primary source of information for monitoring
      health and health care use of the US population at the national level-in several
      key areas and has positioned the NHIS as a source of population health
      information at the national and state levels. We review recent changes to the
      NHIS that support enhanced health reform monitoring, including new questions and
      response categories, sampling design changes to improve state-level analysis, and
      enhanced dissemination activities. We discuss the importance of the NHIS, the
      continued need for state-level analysis, and suggestions for future
      consideration.

PMID- 27631740
TI  - Pediatric Asthma Care Coordination in Underserved Communities: A
      Quasiexperimental Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of care coordination on asthma outcomes among
      children in underserved urban communities. METHODS: We enrolled children, most of
      whom had very poorly or not well-controlled asthma, in medical-social care
      coordination programs in Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois;
      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2011 to 2014.
      Participants (n = 805; mean age = 7 years) were 60% male, 50% African American,
      and 42% Latino. We assessed asthma symptoms and health care utilization via
      parent interview at baseline and 12 months. To prevent overestimation of
      intervention effects, we constructed a comparison group using bootstrap
      resampling of matched control cases from previous pediatric asthma trials.
      RESULTS: At follow-up, intervention participants had 2.2 fewer symptom days per
      month (SD = 0.3; P < .01) and 1.9 fewer symptom nights per month (SD = 0.35; P <
      .01) than did the comparison group. The relative risk in the past year associated
      with the intervention was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.45, 0.89) for an
      emergency department visit and 0.69 (95% CI = 0.47, 1.01) for hospitalization.
      CONCLUSIONS: Care coordination may improve pediatric asthma symptom control and
      reduce emergency department visits. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Expanding third-party
      reimbursement for care coordination services may help reduce pediatric asthma
      disparities.

PMID- 27631741
TI  - Provider Bias in Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Promotion and
      Removal: Perceptions of Young Adult Women.
AB  - Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is effective and acceptable. However,
      concern exists about potential provider bias in LARC promotion. No study has
      documented contraceptive users' attitudes toward or experiences with provider
      influence and bias regarding LARC. We collected qualitative data in 2014 to
      address this gap. Participants were 50 young adult women with any history of
      contraceptive use (including LARC) in Dane County, Wisconsin. Women often
      described providers as a trusted source of contraceptive information. However,
      several women reported that their preferences regarding contraceptive selection
      or removal were not honored. Furthermore, many participants believed that
      providers recommend LARC disproportionately to socially marginalized women. We
      encourage contraceptive counseling and removal protocols that directly address
      historical reproductive injustices and that honor patients' wishes.

PMID- 27631743
TI  - Leading-Brand Advertisement of Quitting Smoking Benefits for E-Cigarettes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To provide regulators and the US Food and Drug Administration with a
      description of cessation-themed advertising among electronic cigarette (e
      cigarette) brands. METHODS: We performed a content analysis of 6 months (January
      through June 2015) of advertising by e-cigarette brands on their company
      sponsored social media channels and blogs as well as user-generated content
      (testimonials) appearing within brand-sponsored Web sites. An explicit claim of
      cessation efficacy unambiguously states that e-cigarettes help in quitting
      smoking, and implicit claims use euphemisms such as "It works." We selected a
      cohort of 23 leading e-cigarette brands, either by their rank in advertising
      spending or their prevalence in Internet searches. RESULTS: Among leading e
      cigarette brands, 22 of 23 used cessation-themed advertisements. Overall, 23% of
      the advertisements contained cessation claims, of which 18% were explicit and 82%
      were implicit. CONCLUSIONS: Among leading e-cigarette advertisers, cessation
      themes are prevalent with implicit messaging predominating over explicit quit
      claims. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: These results can help the Food and Drug
      Administration clarify whether tobacco products should be regulated as drugs with
      therapeutic purpose or as recreational products.

PMID- 27631742
TI  - Moderation of the Relation of County-Level Cost of Living to Nutrition by the
      Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of county-level cost of living with
      nutrition among low-income Americans. METHODS: We used the National Household
      Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (2012-2013; n = 14 313; including 5414
      persons in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
      Program [SNAP]) to examine associations between county-level cost-of-living
      metrics and both food acquisitions and the Healthy Eating Index, with control for
      individual-, household-, and county-level covariates and accounting for
      unmeasured confounders influencing both area of living and food acquisition.
      RESULTS: Living in a higher-cost county-particularly one with high rent costs-was
      associated with significantly lower volume of acquired vegetables, fruits, and
      whole grains; greater volume of acquired refined grains, fats and oils, and added
      sugars; and an 11% lower Healthy Eating Index score. Participation in SNAP was
      associated with nutritional improvements among persons living in higher-cost
      counties. CONCLUSIONS: Living in a higher-cost county (particularly with high
      rent costs) is associated with poorer nutrition among low-income Americans, and
      SNAP may mitigate the negative nutritional impact of high cost of living.

PMID- 27631744
TI  - From Compassionate Conservatism to Obamacare: Funding for the Ryan White Program
      During the Obama Administration.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine President Obama's fiscal commitment to the Ryan White
      Program (formerly Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act), which
      provides funding for economically disadvantaged people and families affected by
      HIV. METHODS: We analyzed budgetary request and congressional appropriation data
      from 2009 to 2016. The data are available from the Health Resources and Services
      Administration and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. RESULTS: Increased
      coverage for people living with HIV/AIDS provided by the Affordable Care Act most
      likely led the Obama administration to request small increases and at times
      decreases in funding for the Ryan White Program. Congress passed either small
      increases or decreases in appropriations for the Ryan White Program. CONCLUSIONS:
      Decreases or small increases in the Ryan White Program funding risk progress made
      in treating HIV among economically disadvantaged patients.

PMID- 27631745
TI  - Defining Ethical Placemaking for Place-Based Interventions.
AB  - As place-based interventions expand and evolve, deeper reflection on the meaning
      of ethical placemaking is essential. I offer a summary account of ethical
      placemaking, which I propose and define as an ethical ideal and practice for
      health and for health justice, understood as the capability to be healthy. I
      point to selected wide-ranging examples-an urban pathway, two long-term care
      settings, innovations in refugee health services, and a McDonald's restaurant-to
      help illustrate these ideas.

PMID- 27631746
TI  - Trends in HIV Infection Among Persons Who Inject Drugs: United States and Puerto
      Rico, 2008-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe trends in HIV diagnoses and prevalence among persons who
      inject drugs (PWID), and trend variations by jurisdiction. METHODS: We used
      National HIV Surveillance System data to estimate the number of HIV diagnoses
      made during 2008 through 2013, and measured trends by estimated annual percent
      change; and persons living with diagnosed HIV infection at year-end 2008 to 2012,
      and measured trends in prevalence by the 2012-2008 arithmetic difference.
      RESULTS: During 2008 through 2013, the number of HIV diagnoses was stable among
      all persons (< 2% per year), and decreased among PWID (> 10% per year) overall
      and in 10 jurisdictions. The Black-to-White PWID diagnosis ratio was 2 to 1.
      During 2008 through 2012, the number of persons living with diagnosed HIV
      infection increased overall, was stable among PWID, and decreased in 14
      jurisdictions. CONCLUSIONS: Had the rate of decrease in diagnoses of HIV
      infection among PWID equaled that of all persons, an additional 1500 diagnoses
      would have occurred between 2008 and 2013. Prevalence was stable among PWID, and
      increased overall among all persons living with HIV infection. Pronounced racial
      inequities persist, particularly for Blacks, and appear to be diminishing.

PMID- 27631747
TI  - Penn Center for Community Health Workers: Step-by-Step Approach to Sustain an
      Evidence-Based Community Health Worker Intervention at an Academic Medical
      Center.
AB  - Community-engaged researchers who work with low-income communities can be reliant
      on grant funding. We use the illustrative case of the Penn Center for Community
      Health Workers (PCCHW) to describe a step-by-step framework for achieving
      financial sustainability for community-engaged research interventions. PCCHW
      began as a small grant-funded research project but followed an 8-step framework
      to engage both low-income patients and funders, determine outcomes, and calculate
      return on investment. PCCHW is now fully funded by Penn Medicine and delivers the
      Individualized Management for Patient-Centered Targets (IMPaCT) community health
      worker intervention to 2000 patients annually.

PMID- 27631748
TI  - Health Care Use and Spending for Medicaid Enrollees in Federally Qualified Health
      Centers Versus Other Primary Care Settings.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare health care use and spending of Medicaid enrollees seen at
      federally qualified health centers versus non-health center settings in a context
      of significant growth. METHODS: Using fee-for-service Medicaid claims from 13
      states in 2009, we compared patients receiving the majority of their primary care
      in federally qualified health centers with propensity score-matched comparison
      groups receiving primary care in other settings. RESULTS: We found that health
      center patients had lower use and spending than did non-health center patients
      across all services, with 22% fewer visits and 33% lower spending on specialty
      care and 25% fewer admissions and 27% lower spending on inpatient care. Total
      spending was 24% lower for health center patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis of
      2009 Medicaid claims, which includes the largest sample of states and more recent
      data than do previous multistate claims studies, demonstrates that the health
      center program has provided a cost-efficient setting for primary care for
      Medicaid enrollees.

PMID- 27631749
TI  - Work-Related Depression in Primary Care Teams in Brazil.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify work-related factors associated with depressive symptoms
      and probable major depression in primary care teams. METHODS: Cross-sectional
      study among primary care teams (community health workers, nursing assistants,
      nurses, and physicians) in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil (2011-2012; n = 2940),
      to assess depressive symptoms and probable major depression and their
      associations with job strain and other work-related conditions. RESULTS:
      Community health workers presented higher prevalence of probable major depression
      (18%) than other primary care workers. Higher odds ratios for depressive symptoms
      or probable major depression were associated with longer duration of employment
      in primary care; having a passive, active, or high-strain job; lack of supervisor
      feedback regarding performance; and low social support from colleagues and
      supervisors. CONCLUSIONS: Observed levels of job-related depression can endanger
      the sustainability of primary care programs. Public Health implications.
      Strategies are needed to deliver care to primary care workers with depression,
      facilitating diagnosis and access to treatment, particularly in low- and middle
      income countries. Preventive interventions can include training managers to
      provide feedback and creating strategies to increase job autonomy and social
      support at work.

PMID- 27631750
TI  - Harnessing the Question-Behavior Effect to Enhance Colorectal Cancer Screening in
      an mHealth Experiment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess whether asking questions about a future behavior changes
      this behavior (i.e., the question-behavior effect) when applied to a population
      level intervention to enhance colorectal cancer screening. METHODS: In 2013, text
      message reminders were sent to a national sample of 50 000 Israeli women and men
      aged 50 to 74 years following a fecal occult blood test invitation. Participants
      were randomized into 4 intervention groups (2 interrogative reminders, with or
      without reference to social context; 2 noninterrogative reminders, with or
      without social context) and a no-intervention control group. The outcome was
      fecal occult blood test uptake (n = 48 091, following attrition). RESULTS:
      Performance of fecal occult blood test was higher in the interrogative-reminder
      groups than in the other 3 groups (odds ratio = 1.11; 95% confidence interval =
      1.05, 1.19); the effect size was small, varying in the different group
      comparisons from 0.03 to 0.06. CONCLUSIONS: The question-behavior effect appears
      to be modestly effective in colorectal cancer screening, but the absolute number
      of potential screenees may translate into a clinically significant health
      promotion change.

PMID- 27631751
TI  - Implementing an Evidence-Based Fall Prevention Intervention in Community Senior
      Centers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of implementing an evidence-based fall
      prevention intervention in community senior centers. METHODS: We used a single
      group design to evaluate the Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance (TJQMBB)
      program's adoption, population reach, implementation, effectiveness, and
      maintenance among 36 senior centers in 4 Oregon counties between 2012 and 2016.
      The primary outcome measure, as part of the effectiveness evaluation, was number
      of falls as ascertained by self-report. Trained TJQMBB instructors delivered the
      program to community-dwelling older adults for 48 weeks, with a 6-month
      postintervention follow-up. RESULTS: TJQMBB was adopted by 89% of the senior
      centers approached and reached 90% of the target population. The program resulted
      in a 49% reduction in the total number of falls and improved physical
      performance. Participation was well maintained after the program's completion.
      The average cost-effectiveness ratio for the 48-week program implementation was
      $917 per fall prevented and $676 per fall prevented for multiple falls.
      CONCLUSIONS: TJQMBB is an effective public health program that can be broadly
      implemented in community senior centers for primary prevention of falls among
      community-dwelling older adults.

PMID- 27631752
TI  - Lack of Cost-Effectiveness Analyses to Address Healthy People 2020 Priority
      Areas.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the extent to which recently published cost-utility
      analyses (cost-effectiveness analyses using quality-adjusted life-years to
      measure health benefits) have covered the leading health concerns in the US
      Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020 report. METHODS: We
      examined data in the Tufts Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry, a
      database containing 5000 published cost-utility analyses published in the MEDLINE
      literature through 2014. We focused on US-based cost-utility analyses published
      from 2011 through 2014 (n = 687). Two reviewers scanned abstracts and met for a
      consensus on categorization of cost-utility analyses that addressed the specific
      priorities listed in the 12 Healthy People 2020 areas (n = 120). RESULTS:
      Although 7.3% of recently published cost-utility analyses addressed key clinical
      preventive services, only about 2% of recently published cost-utility analyses
      covered each of the following Healthy People 2020 topics: reproductive and sexual
      health, nutrition/physical activity/obesity, maternal and infant health, and
      tobacco. Fewer than 1% addressed priorities such as injuries and violence, mental
      health or substance abuse, environmental quality, and oral health. CONCLUSIONS:
      Few cost-utility analyses have addressed Healthy People 2020 priority areas.

PMID- 27631753
TI  - Roles of Health Care Providers and Patients in Initiation of Unnecessary
      Papanicolaou Testing After Total Hysterectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess Papanicolaou (Pap) testing use among US adult women with a
      history of a total hysterectomy for a benign condition and the roles of health
      care providers and patients in the initiation of screening Pap tests. METHODS: We
      used 2000 to 2013 data from the National Health Interview Survey on women aged 20
      years or older who had undergone a hysterectomy (n = 11 616) to estimate
      unnecessary Pap test use. RESULTS: The percentage of self-reported Pap testing in
      the preceding 3 years among women who had undergone a hysterectomy decreased from
      72.2% in 2000 to 53.3% in 2013. In 2013, 42.4% of women who had undergone a
      hysterectomy reported receiving recommendations for screening from a health care
      provider in the past year (32% of which were unnecessary), and 32.1% reported
      undergoing Pap tests in the preceding year (22.1% of which were unnecessary).
      Although the majority of Pap tests were performed at a clinician's
      recommendation, approximately one fourth were initiated by patients without
      clinician recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Health care providers should advise women
      who have had a total hysterectomy for a benign condition on appropriate use of
      screening services.

PMID- 27631754
TI  - Continuing Versus New Prescriptions for Sedative-Hypnotic Medications: United
      States, 2005-2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess trends in continuing and new prescriptions for sedative
      hypnotic medications, including benzodiazepines (BZDs) and non-BZD receptor
      agonists (nBZRAs). METHODS: Data came from the National Ambulatory Medical Care
      Survey and comprised 287 288 randomly sampled patient visits. Physicians reported
      medications prescribed and whether they were "continuing" or "new" prescriptions.
      We assessed trends in continuing BZD, new BZD, continuing nBZRA, and new nBZRA
      prescriptions from 2005 to 2012. RESULTS: Proportions of visits with continuing
      prescriptions increased from 3.4% in 2005 to 4.7% in 2012 (P < .01) for BZDs, and
      from 1.0% to 1.7% (P < .01) for nBZRAs. We noted no changes in new prescriptions.
      We observed the same patterns across patient age and physician specialties,
      except psychiatry. Despite no growth over time, the prevalence of visits
      involving continuing and new BZD and nBZRA prescriptions was much higher in
      psychiatry than in primary care and other specialties. CONCLUSIONS: Increased
      sedative-hypnotic prescribing in recent years may be attributable to long-term
      growth in continuing prescriptions, rather than new prescriptions. Public Health
      Implications. Findings call for renewed efforts to limit continuing prescribing
      of sedative-hypnotics to reduce their use in the population.

PMID- 27631756
TI  - Quality of Care in a Safe-Abortion Hotline in Indonesia: Beyond Harm Reduction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine services offered by safe-abortion hotlines in contexts in
      which abortion is legally restricted and to document the experiences of women
      contacting a safe-abortion hotline in Indonesia. METHODS: We analyzed 1829 first
      time contacts to a safe-abortion hotline in Indonesia as a part of routine
      service provision between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014. RESULTS: Nearly
      one third (29.9%) of initial contacts reported their age as between 18 and 24
      years, and most (51.2%) reported being unmarried. When asked about their reason
      for calling the hotline, the majority of initial contacts stated that they were
      pregnant and not ready to have a child. More than one third reported gestational
      ages below 12 weeks, and nearly one fifth (18.3%) reported a gestation of 13
      weeks or greater. CONCLUSIONS: These unique data provide a window of
      understanding into who contacts safe-abortion hotlines and why, and enable
      exploration of future directions for research on the role of safe-abortion
      hotlines in women's access to safe abortion. Public Health Implications. Safe
      abortion hotlines should be evaluated not only for reducing harm but also for
      providing high-quality abortion care.

PMID- 27631755
TI  - State Medical Marijuana Laws and the Prevalence of Opioids Detected Among Fatally
      Injured Drivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between medical marijuana laws (MMLs) and
      the odds of a positive opioid test, an indicator for prior use. METHODS: We
      analyzed 1999-2013 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data from 18 states
      that tested for alcohol and other drugs in at least 80% of drivers who died
      within 1 hour of crashing (n = 68 394). Within-state and between-state
      comparisons assessed opioid positivity among drivers crashing in states with an
      operational MML (i.e., allowances for home cultivation or active dispensaries)
      versus drivers crashing in states before a future MML was operational. RESULTS:
      State-specific estimates indicated a reduction in opioid positivity for most
      states after implementation of an operational MML, although none of these
      estimates were significant. When we combined states, we observed no significant
      overall association (odds ratio [OR] = 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.61,
      1.03). However, age-stratified analyses indicated a significant reduction in
      opioid positivity for drivers aged 21 to 40 years (OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.37,
      0.67; interaction P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Operational MMLs are associated with
      reductions in opioid positivity among 21- to 40-year-old fatally injured drivers
      and may reduce opioid use and overdose.

PMID- 27631758
TI  - Tuberculosis in Jails and Prisons: United States, 2002-2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe cases and estimate the annual incidence of tuberculosis
      in correctional facilities. METHODS: We analyzed 2002 to 2013 National
      Tuberculosis Surveillance System case reports to characterize individuals who
      were employed or incarcerated in correctional facilities at time they were
      diagnosed with tuberculosis. Incidence was estimated with Bureau of Justice
      Statistics denominators. RESULTS: Among 299 correctional employees with
      tuberculosis, 171 (57%) were US-born and 82 (27%) were female. Among 5579 persons
      incarcerated at the time of their tuberculosis diagnosis, 2520 (45%) were US-born
      and 495 (9%) were female. Median estimated annual tuberculosis incidence rates
      were 29 cases per 100 000 local jail inmates, 8 per 100 000 state prisoners, and
      25 per 100 000 federal prisoners. The foreign-born proportion of incarcerated men
      18 to 64 years old increased steadily from 33% in 2002 to 56% in 2013. Between
      2009 and 2013, tuberculosis screenings were reported as leading to 10% of
      diagnoses among correctional employees, 47% among female inmates, and 42% among
      male inmates. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic screening and treatment of tuberculosis
      infection and disease among correctional employees and incarcerated individuals
      remain essential to tuberculosis prevention and control.

PMID- 27631757
TI  - Predicting the Population Health Impacts of Community Interventions: The Case of
      Alcohol Outlets and Binge Drinking.
AB  - A substitution estimator can be used to predict how shifts in population
      exposures might change health. We illustrated this method by estimating how an
      upper limit on alcohol outlet density might alter binge drinking in the New York
      Social Environment Study (n = 4000), and provided statistical code and sample
      data. The largest differences in binge drinking were for an upper limit of 70
      outlets per square mile; there was a -0.7% difference in binge drinking
      prevalence for New York City overall (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.2%, 
      1.3%) and a -2.4% difference in binge drinking prevalence for the subset of
      communities the intervention modified (95% CI = -0.5%, -4.0%). A substitution
      estimator is a flexible tool for estimating population intervention parameters
      and improving the translation of public health research results to practitioners.

PMID- 27631760
TI  - Stuck in Time: Negative Income Shock Constricts the Temporal Window of Valuation
      Spanning the Future and the Past.
AB  - Insufficient resources are associated with negative consequences including
      decreased valuation of future reinforcers. To determine if these effects result
      from scarcity, we examined the consequences of acute, abrupt changes in resource
      availability on delay discounting-the subjective devaluation of rewards as delay
      to receipt increases. In the current study, 599 individuals recruited from Amazon
      Mechanical Turk read a narrative of a sudden change (positive, neutral, or
      negative) to one's hypothetical future income and completed a delay discounting
      task examining future and past monetary gains and losses. The effects of the
      explicit zero procedure, a framing manipulation, was also examined. Negative
      income shock significantly increased discounting rates for gains and loses
      occurring both in the future and the past. Positive income windfalls
      significantly decreased discounting to a lesser extent. The framing procedure
      significantly reduced discounting under all conditions. Negative income shocks
      may result in short-term choices. 

PMID- 27631759
TI  - Clinical influence of anastomotic stricture caused by
      pancreatogastrointestinalstomy following pancreatoduodenectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pancreatic fistula after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is
      not uncommon, but few reports describe a stricture after
      pancreatogastrointestinalstomy. We investigated the clinical influence of
      anastomotic stricture caused by pancreatogastrointestinalstomy after PD. METHODS:
      The subjects of this prospective cohort study were 132 patients who underwent PD
      or pylorus-preserving PD. We reviewed the relationships between pancreatic duct
      dilatation of the remnant pancreas and several risk factors. We also compared
      pancreatic duct dilatation with pancreatic atrophy and analyzed nutrient
      parameters in the first postoperative year. RESULTS: Patients with a preoperative
      pancreatic duct diameter less than 3 mm had a significantly dilated postoperative
      pancreatic duct diameter (p = 0.0001). The average atrophy rate of the remnant
      pancreas was 26.3 %, with the lowest atrophy rate (7.3 %) seen in patients
      without pre- or postoperative pancreatic duct dilation. A normal pancreas in
      which pancreatic duct dilatation developed postoperatively had a high atrophy
      rate (34.9 %). Moreover, only patients without pre- or postoperative pancreatic
      dilatation gained body weight (3.9 %). CONCLUSION: This study shows a significant
      correlation between pancreatic atrophy rate and weight loss. Atrophy of the
      remnant pancreas caused by anastomotic stricture influences the exocrine function
      of patients after PD. The anastomotic method must be improved to prevent
      pancreatic duct dilatation and allow for early diagnosis and management of
      stenotic lesions.

PMID- 27631761
TI  - Haplotype identification and detection of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy in
      Varroa destructor mites using ARMS and PCR-RFLP methods.
AB  - In the present study, amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) and
      polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)
      methods were used for identification of recently described Serbia 1 (S1) and
      Peshter 1 (P1) mitochondrial haplotypes of Varroa destructor. Based on single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within cytochrome oxidase 1 (cox1) and cytochrome
      b (cytb) gene sequences, a total of 64 adult V. destructor females were analyzed
      from locations where the S1 and P1 haplotypes had been detected previously.
      Results of haplotype identification obtained by ARMS and PCR-RFLP methods were
      completely consistent with the sequencing data. Furthermore, in some analyzed
      samples the occurrence of site heteroplasmy at haplotype-defining sites was
      detected, as it was confirmed by double peaks in the sequence chromatograms.
      Neither mites with simultaneous nucleotide variability, nor those with combined
      SNP and heteroplasmy in cox1 and cytb were found. Given that this is the first
      occurrence of site heteroplasmy in V. destructor, the origin of this phenomenon
      and possible specific traits of heteroplasmic mites have yet to be determined.

PMID- 27631762
TI  - Repellent activity of desiccant dusts and conidia of the entomopathogenic fungus
      Beauveria bassiana when tested against poultry red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae)
      in laboratory experiments.
AB  - Desiccant dusts and entomopathogenic fungi have previously been found to hold
      potential against the poultry red mite, which is an important pest in egg
      production and notoriously difficult to control. Both control agents may cause
      repellence in other arthropods and potentially also influence control levels
      adversely when used against the poultry red mite. Five desiccant dust products
      with good efficacy against the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae caused
      avoidance behavior in mites when tested in bioassays. The repellent activity was
      correlated with efficacy, which was found to depend on both dose and relative
      humidity (RH). However, one desiccant dust was significantly less repellent
      compared to other dusts with similar levels of efficacy. Further, dry conidia of
      the fungus Beauveria bassiana were also shown to be repellent to poultry red
      mites, both when applied on its own and when admixed with a low dose of the
      desiccant dust Diamol. The pick-up of desiccant dust particles and fungus conidia
      from treated surfaces by mites did not differ depending on RH, whereas the
      overall efficacy of the two control agents were significantly higher at 75 than
      at 85 % RH. In addition, the combined effect of the two substances was
      synergistic when tested in a bioassay where mites could choose whether to cross a
      treated surface. This is the first time a member of Acari has been shown to be
      repelled by desiccant dusts and by conidia of an entomopathogenic fungus.

PMID- 27631763
TI  - Factitious food for mass production of predaceous phytoseiid mites (Acari:
      Phytoseiidae) commonly found in Brazil.
AB  - Phytoseiid mites are commonly used as biological control agents of mite and small
      insect pests. To facilitate the production of phytoseiids, alternative food
      sources have been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      suitability of different food sources for the rearing of the phytoseiids
      Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers, Euseius concordis (Chant) and Neoseiulus
      anonymus (Chant and Baker). This study evaluated the levels of oviposition of
      these predators when fed with 15 Astigmatina (Sarcoptiformes) mite species, one
      species of a bacteriophagous nematode, and pollen from five plant species. The
      highest oviposition rates of A. tamatavensis were obtained when fed on the mites
      Thyreophagus cracentiseta Barbosa, OConnor & Moraes and Aleuroglyphus ovatus
      (Troupeau) (2.6 and 2.1 eggs/female/day, respectively). The five highest
      oviposition levels of E. concordis occurred when the food source was pollen,
      especially of Ricinus communis L. (1.7 eggs/female/day). The evaluated
      oviposition levels of N. anonymus were at most 0.5 eggs/female/day on all food
      sources. The construction of life tables of A. tamatavensis and E. concordis with
      the two most favorable food sources showed that in both cases the values of rm
      were higher when the predator was fed with T. cracentiseta and R. communis,
      respectively. The possible use of pollen of Elaeis guineensis L. should be
      further evaluated, given the acceptance of this type of pollen by E. concordis
      and the ease of obtaining large amounts of this pollen in areas where this crop
      is grown.

PMID- 27631764
TI  - Long-term study of the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. infection in ticks
      (Ixodes ricinus) feeding on blackbirds (Turdus merula) in NE Poland.
AB  - Seeking evidence to confirm that blackbirds (Turdus merula) may be involved in
      environmental maintenance of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. (the causative agent of
      Lyme borreliosis), we conducted a long-term study over three separate 2-year
      periods, together embracing a span of almost 20 years, all in the same area in
      northeastern Poland. We examined a total of 78 blackbirds and collected 623
      Ixodes ricinus ticks feeding on them. The tick infestation prevalence was found
      to be very high (89.7 %). Among all ticks collected, 9.8 % individuals were
      infected with B. burgdorferi s.l. spirochetes. We found statistically significant
      growth in the prevalence of infected ticks as well as an increasing proportion of
      blackbirds hosting them in subsequent years of study. Ticks feeding on blackbirds
      were infected mainly with B. garinii (45.7 %), a genospecies commonly encountered
      in birds, and with B. afzelii (28.6 %), until recently considered rodent
      associated. We also identified B. turdi (22.9 %), frequently found in recent
      years in ticks feeding on birds, and B. spielmanii (2.8 %), which had previously
      not been found in infected ticks feeding on blackbirds. We also found that ticks
      infected with genospecies associated with avian reservoir groups (B. garinii and
      B. turdi) were not randomly distributed on blackbirds, but instead focused on
      certain bird specimens. We therefore conjecture that this is a result of ticks
      becoming infected either from the host blackbird itself, or from other infected
      ticks feeding on the same host blackbird. We did not find any similar dependency
      for the rodent specialist B. afzelii.

PMID- 27631765
TI  - Kampinos National Park: a risk area for spotted fever group rickettsioses,
      central Poland?
AB  - Ixodid ticks are important vectors of a variety of bacterial and protozoan
      pathogens which cause infections in humans. In this study, altogether 1041
      questing Ixodes ricinus (n = 305) and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (n = 736),
      sympatrically occurring in Kampinos National Park (KPN), central-east Poland,
      were analyzed by PCR for Rickettsia species. Overall, the pathogen prevalence in
      ticks was 27.5 % for I. ricinus and 42.8 % for D. reticulatus. Sequencing
      analysis showed that the first tick species was exclusively infected with R.
      helvetica, whereas the latter was infected with R. raoultii. These organism may
      pose a threat for populations exposed to ticks. Preliminary results of a
      serosurvey of 74 KPN employees, inhabitants and visitors from the same area
      showed a 31.1 % total seroprevalence against SFG rickettsiae compared to 13.3 %
      seropositive blood donors of the control group. Risk factors significantly
      associated with IgG seropositivity were: occupational exposure to ticks (p =
      0.002), frequency of tick bites (p = 0.02) and male gender (p = 0.005).
      Seropositive and seronegative individuals occupationally exposed to ticks did not
      differ significantly with respect to age and years of employment.

PMID- 27631766
TI  - Expression pattern of subA in different tissues and blood-feeding status in
      Haemaphysalis flava.
AB  - Tick-borne-diseases (TBD) pose a huge threat to the health of both humans and
      animals worldwide. Tick vaccines constitute an attractive alternative for tick
      control, due to their cost-efficiency and environmental-friendliness. Subolesin,
      a protective antigen against ticks, is reported to be a promising candidate for
      the development of broad-spectrum vaccines. However, the entire length of its
      gene, subA, and its gene expression pattern in different tissues and blood
      feeding status (or different levels of engorgement) have not been studied
      extensively. In our study, the full-length of subA in Haemaphysalis flava,
      Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, Rhipicephalus microplus, and Dermacentor sinicus
      was cloned by RACE-PCR. The subA expression pattern was analyzed further in H.
      flava in different tissues and blood-feeding status by RT-PCR. We found that the
      full-length of subA in H. flava, R. haemaphysaloides, R. microplus, and D.
      sinicus was 1318, 1498, 1316, and 1769 bp, respectively, with encoded proteins at
      180, 162, 162, and 166 aa in length, respectively. The primary structure of
      subolesin in H. flava included three conserved regions and two hypervariable
      regions, with no signal peptide. SubA expression in female H. flava of different
      blood-feeding status was in the order of the fasted < the 1/4-engorged < the half
      engorged < the fully-engorged (p < 0.01). Tissue expression of subA was in the
      order of salivary gland > midgut > integument (p < 0.01), but its expression in
      salivary glands was not statistically different from that in ovaries. We
      concluded that subolesin was a conserved antigen and that subA was expressed
      differentially in H. flava in different tissues and blood-feeding status. Those
      features made subolesin feasible as a potential target antigen for development of
      a universal vaccine for the control of tick infestations and a reduction in TBD.

PMID- 27631768
TI  - Liposomal C6 Ceramide Activates Protein Phosphatase 1 to Inhibit Melanoma Cells.
AB  - Melanoma is one common skin cancer. In the present study, the potential anti
      melanoma activity by a liposomal C6 ceramide was tested in vitro. We showed that
      the liposomal C6 (ceramide) was cytotoxic and anti-proliferative against a panel
      of human melanoma cell lines (SK-Mel2, WM-266.4 and A-375 and WM-115). In
      addition, liposomal C6 induced caspase-dependent apoptotic death in the melanoma
      cells. Reversely, its cytotoxicity was attenuated by several caspase inhibitors.
      Intriguingly, liposomal C6 was non-cytotoxic to B10BR mouse melanocytes and
      primary human melanocytes. Molecularly, liposomal C6 activated protein
      phosphatase 1 (PP1) to inactivate Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)
      signaling in melanoma cells. On the other hand, PP1 shRNA knockdown or exogenous
      expression of constitutively activate Akt1 (CA-Akt1) restored Akt-mTOR activation
      and significantly attenuated liposomal C6-mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis in
      melanoma cells. Our results suggest that liposomal C6 activates PP1 to inhibit
      melanoma cells. 

PMID- 27631767
TI  - The Role of the Oculomotor System in Updating Visual-Spatial Working Memory
      across Saccades.
AB  - Visual-spatial working memory (VSWM) helps us to maintain and manipulate visual
      information in the absence of sensory input. It has been proposed that VSWM is an
      emergent property of the oculomotor system. In the present study we investigated
      the role of the oculomotor system in updating of spatial working memory
      representations across saccades. Participants had to maintain a location in
      memory while making a saccade to a different location. During the saccade the
      target was displaced, which went unnoticed by the participants. After executing
      the saccade, participants had to indicate the memorized location. If memory
      updating fully relies on cancellation driven by extraretinal oculomotor signals,
      the displacement should have no effect on the perceived location of the memorized
      stimulus. However, if postsaccadic retinal information about the location of the
      saccade target is used, the perceived location will be shifted according to the
      target displacement. As it has been suggested that maintenance of accurate
      spatial representations across saccades is especially important for action
      control, we used different ways of reporting the location held in memory; a match
      to-sample task, a mouse click or by making another saccade. The results showed a
      small systematic target displacement bias in all response modalities. Parametric
      manipulation of the distance between the to-be-memorized stimulus and saccade
      target revealed that target displacement bias increased over time and changed its
      spatial profile from being initially centered on locations around the saccade
      target to becoming spatially global. Taken together results suggest that we
      neither rely exclusively on extraretinal nor on retinal information in updating
      working memory representations across saccades. The relative contribution of
      retinal signals is not fixed but depends on both the time available to integrate
      these signals as well as the distance between the saccade target and the
      remembered location. 

PMID- 27631770
TI  - Association Among Blood Transfusion, Sepsis, and Decreased Long-term Survival
      After Colon Cancer Resection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential additive effects of blood transfusion and
      sepsis on colon cancer disease-specific survival, cardiovascular disease-specific
      survival, and overall survival after colon cancer surgery. BACKGROUND:
      Perioperative blood transfusions are associated with infectious complications and
      increased risk of cancer recurrence through systemic inflammatory effects.
      Furthermore, recent studies have suggested an association among sepsis,
      subsequent systemic inflammation, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However,
      no study has investigated the association among transfusion, sepsis, and disease
      specific survival in postoperative patients. METHODS: The New York State Cancer
      Registry and Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System were queried for
      stage I to III colon cancer resections from 2004 to 2011. Propensity-adjusted
      survival analyses assessed the association of perioperative allogeneic blood
      transfusion, sepsis, and 5-year colon cancer disease-specific survival,
      cardiovascular disease-specific survival, and overall survival. RESULTS: Among
      24,230 patients, 29% received a transfusion and 4% developed sepsis. After risk
      adjustment, transfusion and sepsis were associated with worse colon cancer
      disease-specific survival [(+)transfusion: hazard ratio (HR) 1.19, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 1.09-1.30; (+)sepsis: HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.44-2.35;
      (+)transfusion/(+)sepsis: HR 2.27, 95% CI 1.87-2.76], cardiovascular disease
      specific survival [(+)transfusion: HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.04-1.33; (+)sepsis: HR 1.63,
      95% CI 1.14-2.31; (+)transfusion/(+)sepsis: HR 2.04, 95% CI 1.58-2.63], and
      overall survival [(+)transfusion: HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.14-1.29; (+)sepsis: HR 1.76,
      95% CI 1.48-2.09; (+)transfusion/(+)sepsis: HR 2.36, 95% CI 2.07-2.68] relative
      to (-)transfusion/(-)sepsis. Additional analyses suggested an additive effect
      with those who both received a blood transfusion and developed sepsis having even
      worse survival. CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative blood transfusions are associated with
      shorter survival, independent of sepsis, after colon cancer resection. However,
      receiving a transfusion and developing sepsis has an additive effect and is
      associated with even worse survival. Restrictive perioperative transfusion
      practices are a possible strategy to reduce sepsis rates and improve survival
      after colon cancer surgery.

PMID- 27631769
TI  - Algorithms for the Capture and Adjudication of Prevalent and Incident Diabetes in
      UK Biobank.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: UK Biobank is a UK-wide cohort of 502,655 people aged 40-69,
      recruited from National Health Service registrants between 2006-10, with
      healthcare data linkage. Type 2 diabetes is a key exposure and outcome. We
      developed algorithms to define prevalent and incident diabetes for UK Biobank.
      The algorithms will be implemented by UK Biobank and their results made available
      to researchers on request. METHODS: We used UK Biobank self-reported medical
      history and medication to assign prevalent diabetes and type, and tested this
      against linked primary and secondary care data in Welsh UK Biobank participants.
      Additionally, we derived and tested algorithms for incident diabetes using linked
      primary and secondary care data in the English Clinical Practice Research
      Datalink, and ran these on secondary care data in UK Biobank. RESULTS AND
      SIGNIFICANCE: For prevalent diabetes, 0.001% and 0.002% of people classified as
      "diabetes unlikely" in UK Biobank had evidence of diabetes in their primary or
      secondary care record respectively. Of those classified as "probable" type 2
      diabetes, 75% and 96% had specific type 2 diabetes codes in their primary and
      secondary care records. For incidence, 95% of people with the type 2 diabetes
      specific C10F Read code in primary care had corroborative evidence of diabetes
      from medications, blood testing or diabetes specific process of care codes. Only
      41% of people identified with type 2 diabetes in primary care had secondary care
      evidence of type 2 diabetes. In contrast, of incident cases using ICD-10 type 2
      diabetes specific codes in secondary care, 77% had corroborative evidence of
      diabetes in primary care. We suggest our definition of prevalent diabetes from UK
      Biobank baseline data has external validity, and recommend that specific primary
      care Read codes should be used for incident diabetes to ensure precision.
      Secondary care data should be used for incident diabetes with caution, as around
      half of all cases are missed, and a quarter have no corroborative evidence of
      diabetes in primary care.

PMID- 27631772
TI  - Laparoscopic Lavage in the Management of Hinchey Grade III Diverticulitis: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcomes of laparoscopic lavage and sigmoid resection
      in perforated diverticulitis with purulent peritonitis. BACKGROUND: Peritonitis
      secondary to perforated diverticulitis has conventionally been managed by
      resection and stoma formation. Case series have suggested that patients can be
      safely managed with laparoscopic lavage, resulting in reduced mortality and stoma
      formation. Recently, 3 randomized controlled trials have published contradictory
      conclusions. METHODS: MEDLINE from 1946 to present, Cochrane Database of
      Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane database of Registered clinical trials and
      EMBASE (all via OVID) were searched using the terms "laparoscopy" AND ("primary
      resection" OR "Hartmann procedure", OR "sigmoidectomy"), AND "Diverticulitis",
      AND "Peritonitis" AND "therapeutic irrigation" or "lavage" AND randomized
      controlled trial and any derivatives of those terms. We included all randomized
      controlled trials. Data were extracted from each study using a purpose-designed
      template. Statistical analysis was undertaken using Revman 5. RESULTS: Three
      randomized controlled trials were identified from 48 potential studies. The
      analysis included 307 patients of whom 159 underwent laparoscopic lavage.
      Overall, the rate of reintervention within 30 days postoperatively was 45/159
      (28.3%) in the lavage group and 13/148 (8.8%) in the resection group (relative
      risk 3.01, 95% confidence interval 1.15-7.90). There was no significant
      difference in Intensive Care Unit admissions, 30 and 90-day mortality, or stoma
      rates at 12 months. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic lavage used in the management of
      Hinchey grade III diverticulitis leads to more reinterventions within 30 days
      postoperatively, but does not increase the 30 or 90-day mortality rates compared
      with sigmoid resection.

PMID- 27631771
TI  - Wide Variation and Excessive Dosage of Opioid Prescriptions for Common General
      Surgical Procedures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine opioid prescribing patterns after general surgery
      procedures and to estimate an ideal number of pills to prescribe. BACKGROUND:
      Diversion of prescription opioids is a major contributor to the rising mortality
      from opioid overdoses. Data to inform surgeons on the optimal dose of opioids to
      prescribe after common general surgical procedures is lacking. METHODS: We
      evaluated 642 patients undergoing 5 outpatient procedures: partial mastectomy
      (PM), partial mastectomy with sentinel lymph node biopsy (PM SLNB), laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy (LC), laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIH), and open
      inguinal hernia repair (IH). Postoperative opioid prescriptions and refill data
      were tabulated. A phone survey was conducted to determine the number of opioid
      pills taken. RESULTS: There was a wide variation in the number of opioid pills
      prescribed to patients undergoing the same operation. The median number (and
      range) prescribed were: PM 20 (0-50), PM SLNB 20 (0-60), LC 30 (0-100), LIH 30
      (15-70), and IH 30 (15-120). Only 28% of the prescribed pills were taken. This
      percentage varied by operation: PM 15%, PM SLNB 25%, LC 33%, LIH 15%, and IH 31%.
      Less than 2% of patients obtained refills.We identified the number of pills that
      would fully supply the opioid needs of 80% of patients undergoing each operation:
      PM 5, PM SLNB 10, LC 15, LIH 15, and IH 15. If this number were prescribed, the
      number of opioid initially prescribed would be 43% of the actual number
      prescribed. CONCLUSIONS: There is wide variability in opioid prescriptions for
      common general surgery procedures. In many cases excess pills are prescribed.
      Using our ideal number, surgeons can adequately treat postoperative pain and
      markedly decrease the number of opioids prescribed.

PMID- 27631773
TI  - A Proposed Road Map for the Ethical Evaluation of Sham (Placebo) Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study proposes a possible roadmap for the ethical assessment of
      sham surgery clinical trials (CTs), focusing on methodological aspects, as a
      result of the lack of this type of practical tool in the literature/practice.
      BACKGROUND: Surgical procedures are frequently conducted without closely
      controlled studies. For this reason, these procedures are less rigorous than
      those for drug/device clinical trials. The aim of a sham (placebo) surgery CT is
      to carry out a surgical CT with a legitimate control group. The use of sham
      surgery is controversial from an ethical point of view. METHODS: This evaluation
      system is set up according to ICH/GCP, World Medical Association Declaration of
      Helsinki, CONSORT 2010 standards. The proposed roadmap is based on the following
      4 steps/levels: safety/clinical indications; adequacy of trial methodology/design
      adopted for a sham surgery CT; specific informed consent, and economic issues.
      RESULTS: A flowchart is proposed which can be used at two levels: as a basic
      guideline for the design of a surgical protocol representing a benchmark level of
      care; and a multiaxial assessment considering the first two sources of morality
      of human acts according to Aristotelian ethics: the object of the act (step 1)
      and some of its circumstances (steps 2-4). CONCLUSIONS: The use of a placebo and
      of double-blind control groups in surgery CTs would improves the quality of
      results, providing that an accurate ethical assessment procedure is in place,
      firstly to ensure patient safety and secondly to prevent abuses/procedural
      biases. Future testing of the proposed flowchart is outlined.

PMID- 27631774
TI  - Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio is a Predictive Marker for Invasive Malignancy in
      Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms of the Pancreas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio
      (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) values, and the presence of invasive
      carcinoma in patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN).
      BACKGROUND: NLR and (PLR) are inflammatory markers that have been associated with
      overall survival in patients with invasive malignancies, including pancreatic
      cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 272 patients who underwent surgical
      resection for histologically confirmed IPMN from January 1997 to July 2015. NLR
      and PLR were calculated and coevaluated with additional demographic, clinical,
      and imaging data for possible correlation with IPMN-associated carcinoma in the
      form of a predictive nomogram. RESULTS: NLR and PLR were significantly elevated
      in patients with IPMN-associated invasive carcinoma (P < 0.001). In the
      multivariate analysis, NLR value higher than 4 (P < 0.001), IPMN cyst of size
      more than 3 cm (P < 0.001), presence of enhanced solid component (P = 0.014),
      main pancreatic duct dilatation of more than 5 mm (P < 0.001), and jaundice (P <
      0.001) were statistically significant variables. The developed statistical model
      has a c-index of 0.895. Implementation of the statistically significant variables
      in a predictive nomogram provided a reliable point system for estimating the
      presence of IPMN-associated invasive carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: NLR is an
      independent predictive marker for the presence of IPMN-associated invasive
      carcinoma. Further prospective studies are needed to assess the predictive
      ability of NLR and how it can be applied in the clinical setting.

PMID- 27631775
TI  - Acute Adverse Events and Postoperative Complications in a Randomized Trial of
      Preoperative Short-course Radiotherapy Versus Long-course Chemoradiotherapy for
      T3 Adenocarcinoma of the Rectum: Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group Trial
      (TROG 01.04).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare acute adverse events (AE) and postoperative complication
      rates in a randomized trial of short-course (SC) versus long-course (LC)
      preoperative radiotherapy. BACKGROUND: Evidence demonstrates that adding
      neoadjuvant radiotherapy to surgery offers better local control in the management
      of rectal cancer. With both SC and LC therapy there is a potential for acute
      treatment-related toxicity and increased patient morbidity. METHODS: Eligible
      patients had clinical-stage T3 rectal adenocarcinoma within 12 cm of the anal
      verge with no evidence of metastasis. SC consisted of pelvic radiotherapy 5 * 5
      Gy in 1 week, early surgery and 6 courses of adjuvant chemotherapy. LC was 50.4
      Gy administered in 28 fractions during 5.5 weeks, with infusion 5-fluorouracil,
      surgery in 4 to 6 weeks, and 4 courses of chemotherapy. RESULTS: All SC patients
      and 93% of LC patients received preoperative planned radiotherapy. There was no
      30-day operative mortality. A statistically significant higher percentage of at
      least 1 AE occurred in the LC group (SC, 72.3%; LC, 99.4%; P < 0.001). There were
      significant differences in favor of SC for grade 3 AE: radiation dermatitis (0%
      vs 5.6%, P = 0.003), proctitis (0% vs 3.7% P = 0.016), nausea (0% vs 3.1%, P =
      0.029), fatigue (0% vs 3.7%, P = 0.016) and grade 3/4 diarrhea rates (1.3% vs
      14.2% P < 0.001). No statistically significant differences in surgical
      complication rates were seen (SC 53.2 vs 50.4% LC, p = 0.68), although permanent
      stoma (38.0% vs 29.8%, P = 0.13) and anastomotic breakdown (7.1% vs 3.5%, P =
      0.26) rates favored LC with perineal wound complications (38.3% vs 50.0%, P =
      0.26) in favor of SC. CONCLUSIONS: LC had significantly higher AEs compared with
      SC with no statistically significant differences in postoperative complications.
      There were clinical trends in permanent stoma rates and anastomotic leaks in
      favor of LC but with an increased perineal wound breakdown rate.

PMID- 27631777
TI  - Reply to Letter: "Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery is Associated with a Higher
      Intraoperative Complication Rate Than Open Surgery".

PMID- 27631778
TI  - CRP Predicts Safe Patient Discharge After Colorectal Surgery: Reply.

PMID- 27631776
TI  - To Drain or Not to Drain Infraperitoneal Anastomosis After Rectal Excision for
      Cancer: The GRECCAR 5 Randomized Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of pelvic drainage after rectal surgery for
      cancer. BACKGROUND: Pelvic sepsis is one of the major complications after rectal
      excision for rectal cancer. Although many studies have confirmed infectiveness of
      drainage after colectomy, there is still a controversy after rectal surgery.
      METHODS: This multicenter randomized trial with 2 parallel arms (drain vs no
      drain) was performed between 2011 and 2014. Primary endpoint was postoperative
      pelvic sepsis within 30 postoperative days, including anastomotic leakage, pelvic
      abscess, and peritonitis. Secondary endpoints were overall morbidity and
      mortality, rate of reoperation, length of hospital stay, and rate of stoma
      closure at 6 months. RESULTS: A total of 494 patients were randomized, 25 did not
      meet the criteria and 469 were analyzed: 236 with drain and 233 without. The
      anastomotic height was 3.5 +/- 1.9 cm from the anal verge. The rate of pelvic
      sepsis was 17.1% (80/469) and was similar between drain and no drain: 16.1%
      versus 18.0% (P = 0.58). There was no difference of surgical morbidity (18.7% vs
      25.3%; P = 0.83), rate of reoperation (16.6% vs 21.0%; P = 0.22), length of
      hospital stay (12.2 vs 12.2; P = 0.99) and rate of stoma closure (80.1% vs 77.3%;
      P = 0.53) between groups. Absence of colonic pouch was the only independent
      factor of pelvic sepsis (odds ratio = 1.757; 95% confidence interval 1.078-2.864;
      P = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: This randomized trial suggests that the use of a pelvic
      drain after rectal excision for rectal cancer did not confer any benefit to the
      patient.

PMID- 27631779
TI  - Effects of High-Order Interactions among IGFBP-3 Genetic Polymorphisms, Body Mass
      Index and Soy Isoflavone Intake on Breast Cancer Susceptibility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 and environmental factors may work
      together to influence insulin-like growth factor (IGF) levels and thus breast
      cancer (BC) risk. However, very few studies have investigated high-order
      interactions among these variables. METHODS: A total of 277 newly diagnosed BC
      cases and 277 controls were recruited between October 2010 and July 2012. We
      collected each participant's demographic characteristics, dietary intake, and
      blood sample. IGF-1 rs1520220 and IGFBP-3 rs2854744 were then genotyped. A multi
      analytic strategy combining unconditional logistic regression (ULR), generalized
      multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR), and classification and regression
      tree (CART) approaches was applied to systematically identify the interactions of
      the two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), body mass index (BMI), and daily
      intake of soy isoflavone (DISI) on BC susceptibility. RESULTS: In GMDR analyses,
      high-order interactions among BMI, DISI, and SNP rs2854744 were identified among
      overall and postmenopausal women. We also found significant dosage effects on BC
      risk with an increasing number of exposure factors, namely carrying the rs2854744
      AA genotype, DISI <9.85 mg/day, and BMI >=24 kg/m2 (P trend<0.05). Similarly, in
      CART analyses, compared with individuals having BMI<24kg/m2, DISI<9.85 mg/day,
      and the rs2854744 CC+CA genotype, BC risk increased significantly for those
      carrying the rs2854744 AA genotype, with BMI<24 kg/m2 and DISI<9.85 mg/day (OR =
      1.95, 95%CI: 1.03-3.69), and also for those with BMI>=24kg/m2 and DISI<9.85
      mg/day (OR = 2.13, 95%CI: 1.00-4.51). Similar interaction effects were observed
      among postmenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests high-order
      interactions of the IGFBP-3 rs2854744 AA genotype, BMI>=24kg/m2, and DISI<9.85
      mg/day on increased BC risk, particularly among postmenopausal women.

PMID- 27631780
TI  - XRN2 Autoregulation and Control of Polycistronic Gene Expresssion in
      Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - XRN2 is a conserved 5'->3' exoribonuclease that complexes with proteins that
      contain XRN2-binding domains (XTBDs). In Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), the
      XTBD-protein PAXT-1 stabilizes XRN2 to retain its activity. XRN2 activity is also
      promoted by 3'(2'),5'-bisphosphate nucleotidase 1 (BPNT1) through hydrolysis of
      an endogenous XRN inhibitor 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphate (PAP). Here, we find
      through unbiased screening that loss of bpnt-1 function suppresses lethality
      caused by paxt-1 deletion. This unexpected finding is explained by XRN2
      autoregulation, which occurs through repression of a cryptic promoter activity
      and destabilization of the xrn-2 transcript. De-repression appears to be
      triggered such that more robust XRN2 perturbation, by elimination of both PAXT-1
      and BPNT1, is less detrimental to worm viability than absence of PAXT-1 alone.
      Indeed, we find that two distinct XRN2 repression mechanisms are alleviated at
      different thresholds of XRN2 inactivation. Like more than 15% of C. elegans
      genes, xrn-2 occurs in an operon, and we identify additional operons under its
      control, consistent with a broader function of XRN2 in polycistronic gene
      regulation. Regulation occurs through intercistronic regions that link genes in
      an operon, but a part of the mechanisms may allow XRN2 to operate on
      monocistronic genes in organisms lacking operons.

PMID- 27631782
TI  - Salidroside as a Novel Protective Agent to Improve Red Blood Cell
      Cryopreservation.
AB  - Glycerol and trehalose have been widely examined as protective agents in the
      cryopreservation of red blood cells (RBCs). However, the effectiveness of these
      reagents alone on cell viability is moderate. Here, the addition of salidroside
      attenuated oxidative damage of sheep RBCs prior to and post cryostorage. The
      supplementation of salidroside to the cryopreservation media containing 10%
      glycerol improved RBC survival by approximately 61.1+/-4.8% vs 37.9+/-4.6%. A
      smaller effect was seen in RBCs cryopreserved in 300 mM trehalose where the
      addition of salidroside improved survival by 7.6+/-0.3%. Furthermore, the
      addition of salidroside to cold storage solution demonstrated a significant
      reduction of haemolysis after 4 days for RBCs loaded with either glycerol or
      trehalose, compared to cells incubated without salidroside. RBCs survival was 2
      fold greater following freezing in trehalose, compared with glycerol. After 10
      days, salidroside enabled a lower haemolysis of 16.7+/-1.3% compared to 29.0+/
      8.4% for cells incubated without salidroside. However, salidroside had no effect
      on RBCs which had been frozen in glycerol as the resulting haemolysis rate by day
      10 was approximately 60%. Salidroside increased glutathione reductase activity
      and decreased lactate dehydrogenase activity. Furthermore, it led to reduced
      carbonylation of proteins in both glycerol and trehalose loaded cells. Finally,
      no effect on lipid peroxidation was found in the glycerol loaded RBCs although
      this was reduced in RBCs loaded with trehalose and salidroside. The present
      findings confirm the potential use of salidroside as a novel protective agent in
      cryopreservation and refrigerated storage of sheep RBCs. 

PMID- 27631781
TI  - Suspensory Materials for Surgery of Blepharoptosis: A Systematic Review of
      Observational Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frontalis suspension surgery is considered the procedure of choice in
      cases of blepharoptosis. Among all the materials used in this type of surgery,
      ophthalmic and plastic surgeons prefer to use autologous Fascia Lata. However,
      during years, other autogenous and exogenous materials have been introduced.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was therefore that of systematically reviewing
      the functional results and the rate of complications of different synthetic
      materials, as compared to autogenous Fascia Lata. The primary objective was to
      determine the rates of Successful Surgeries (SSs) of these materials. The
      secondary objective was to assess the onset of complications. The following
      materials were investigated: Fascia Lata, Mersilene, polytetrafluoroethylene
      (PTFE) and Silicon. DATA SOURCE AND METHODS: Following the Prisma procedure, on
      January 30th, 2016 we used the following electronic databases to select the
      studies: MEDLINE and Scopus. RESULTS: The search strategy retrieved 48
      publications that met the eligibility criteria of the systematic review. All
      studies were non-comparative. PTFE (n = 5) showed the best rate of SSs among the
      materials compared (statistically significant). Surgeries performed with
      autogenous Fascia Lata (n = 19) had a 87% rate of success those performed with
      Mersilene (n = 12)had 92% and those performed with Silicon (n = 17)88%. PTFE had
      the best outcome, with 99% success rate. As for complications, surgeries
      performed with PTFE had a higher rate of suture infections (1.9%) as compared to
      Fascia Lata, but lower incidence for all other complications. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although most studies were good quality cohort studies, the overall quality of
      this evidence should be regarded as low due to their non-comparative design. Our
      data suggest that PTFE seems to be the most valid alternative material for
      frontalis suspension surgery, with low recurrence rates and good cosmetic and
      functional results.

PMID- 27631784
TI  - Monitoring clinical trials: a practical guide.
AB  - This article describes the processes and procedures involved in planning,
      conducting and reporting monitoring activities for large Clinical Trials of
      Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs), focusing on those conducted in
      resource-limited settings.

PMID- 27631783
TI  - KLHDC10 Deficiency Protects Mice against TNFalpha-Induced Systemic Inflammation.
AB  - Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a form of fatal acute
      inflammation for which there is no effective treatment. Here, we revealed that
      the ablation of Kelch domain containing 10 (KLHDC10), which we had originally
      identified as an activator of Apoptosis Signal-regulating Kinase 1 (ASK1),
      protects mice against TNFalpha-induced SIRS. The disease development of SIRS is
      mainly divided into two stages. The early stage is characterized by TNFalpha
      induced systemic necroptosis, a regulated form of necrosis mediated by Receptor
      interacting protein (RIP) 1/3 kinases. The later stage presents with an over
      production of inflammatory cytokines induced by damage-associated molecular
      patterns (DAMPs), which are immunogenic cellular contents released from cells
      that underwent necroptosis. Analysis of TNFalpha-challenged mice revealed that
      KLHDC10-deficient mice show a reduction in the inflammatory response, but not in
      early systemic necroptosis. In vitro analysis suggested that the reduced
      inflammatory response observed in KLHDC10-deficient mice might be caused, in
      part, by enhanced necroptosis of inflammatory cells encountering DAMPs.
      Interestingly, the enhancement of necroptosis induced by KLHDC10 deficiency was
      selectively observed in inflammatory cells. Our results suggest that KLHDC10 is a
      cell-type specific regulator of necroptosis that ultimately contributes to the
      development of TNFalpha-induced SIRS. 

PMID- 27631786
TI  - Geochemical and microbial community determinants of reductive dechlorination at a
      site biostimulated with glycerol.
AB  - Biostimulation is widely used to enhance reductive dechlorination of chlorinated
      ethenes in contaminated aquifers. However, the knowledge on corresponding
      biogeochemical responses is limited. In this study, glycerol was injected in an
      aquifer contaminated with cis-dichloroethene (cDCE), and geochemical and
      microbial shifts were followed for 265 days. Consistent with anoxic conditions
      and sulfate reduction after biostimulation, MiSeq 16S rRNA gene sequencing
      revealed temporarily increased relative abundance of Firmicutes, Bacteriodetes
      and sulfate reducing Deltaproteobacteria. In line with 13 C cDCE enrichment and
      increased Dehalococcoides mccartyi (Dcm) numbers, dechlorination was observed
      toward the end of the field experiment, albeit being incomplete with accumulation
      of vinyl chloride. This was concurrent with (i) decreased concentrations of
      dissolved organic carbon (DOC), reduced relative abundances of fermenting and
      sulfate reducing bacteria that have been suggested to promote Dcm growth by
      providing electron donor (H2 ) and essential corrinoid cofactors, (ii) increased
      sulfate concentration and increased relative abundance of Epsilonproteobacteria
      and Deferribacteres as putative oxidizers of reduced sulfur compounds. Strong
      correlations of DOC, relative abundance of fermenters and sulfate reducers, and
      dechlorination imply the importance of syntrophic interactions to sustain robust
      dechlorination. Tracking microbial and environmental parameters that
      promote/preclude enhanced reductive dechlorination should aid development of
      sustainable bioremediation strategies.

PMID- 27631785
TI  - Enterococcus Species in the Oral Cavity: Prevalence, Virulence Factors and
      Antimicrobial Susceptibility.
AB  - Enterococci are considered as transient constituent components of the oral
      microbiome that may cause a variety of oral and systemic infections. As there is
      sparse data on the oral enterococcal prevalence, we evaluated the Enterococcus
      spp. and their virulence attributes including antimicrobial resistance in a
      healthy Brazilian cohort. A total of 240 individuals in different age groups were
      studied (children 4-11 yrs, adolescents 12-17 yrs, young adults 18-29 yrs, adults
      30-59 yrs, elderly over 60 yrs). Oral rinses were collected and isolates were
      identified by API 20 Strep and confirmed by 16S rDNA sequencing. E. faecalis
      isolates, in particular, were evaluated for virulence attributes such as their
      biofilm formation potential, and susceptibility to antimicrobials and an
      antiseptic, chlorhexidine gluconate. A total of 40 individuals (16.6%) and 10%
      children, 4% adolescents, 14% young adults, 30% adults, and 25% elderly carried
      oral enterococci. The oral enterococcal burden in adolescents was significantly
      lower than in the adults (p = 0.000) and elderly (p = 0.004). The proportion of
      carriers was higher among females (p = 0.001). E. faecalis was the most frequent
      isolate in all the age groups (p = 0.000), followed by E. durans and E. faecium.
      Whilst all the clinical isolates were able to form biofilms, only a proportion of
      them were able to produce lipase (92%), hemolysin (38%), and gelatinase (39%). Of
      all the isolates 53.8% were resistant to tetracycline, 12.3% to amoxicillin,
      16.0% to ampicillin, 20.8% to chloramphenicol and 43.4% to erythromycin. None of
      the isolates were resistant to vancomycin. Our data suggest that in this
      Brazilian cohort the oral cavity may act as a significant reservoir of rather
      virulent and antibiotic resistant enterococci, with an increasing degree of
      carriage in the adults and elderly. Hence clinicians should be cognizant of this
      silent reservoir of virulent enterococci that may pose a particular threat of
      nosocomial infection. 

PMID- 27631787
TI  - Accumulation of Deleterious Passenger Mutations Is Associated with the
      Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), somatic genome-wide DNA mutations are
      numerous, universal and heterogeneous. Some of these somatic mutations are
      drivers of the malignant process but the vast majority are passenger mutations.
      These passenger mutations can be deleterious to individual protein function but
      are tolerated by the cell or are offset by a survival advantage conferred by
      driver mutations. It is unknown if these somatic deleterious passenger mutations
      (DPMs) develop in the precancerous state of cirrhosis or if it is confined to
      HCC. Therefore, we studied four whole-exome sequencing datasets, including
      patients with non-cirrhotic liver (n = 12), cirrhosis without HCC (n = 6) and
      paired HCC with surrounding non-HCC liver (n = 74 paired samples), to identify
      DPMs. After filtering out putative germline mutations, we identified 187+/-22
      DPMs per non-diseased tissue. DPMs number was associated with liver disease
      progressing to HCC, independent of the number of exonic mutations. Tumours
      contained significantly more DPMs compared to paired non-tumour tissue (258-293
      per HCC exome). Cirrhosis- and HCC-associated DPMs do not occur predominantly in
      specific genes, chromosomes or biological pathways and the effect on tumour
      biology is presently unknown. Importantly, for the first time we have shown a
      significant increase in DPMs with HCC. 

PMID- 27631788
TI  - Compromised Defenses: Exploitation of Epithelial Responses During Viral-Bacterial
      Co-Infection of the Respiratory Tract.

PMID- 27631789
TI  - A Fully Automated Trial Selection Method for Optimization of Motor Imagery Based
      Brain-Computer Interface.
AB  - Independent component analysis (ICA) as a promising spatial filtering method can
      separate motor-related independent components (MRICs) from the multichannel
      electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. However, the unpredictable burst
      interferences may significantly degrade the performance of ICA-based brain
      computer interface (BCI) system. In this study, we proposed a new algorithm frame
      to address this issue by combining the single-trial-based ICA filter with zero
      training classifier. We developed a two-round data selection method to identify
      automatically the badly corrupted EEG trials in the training set. The "high
      quality" training trials were utilized to optimize the ICA filter. In addition,
      we proposed an accuracy-matrix method to locate the artifact data segments within
      a single trial and investigated which types of artifacts can influence the
      performance of the ICA-based MIBCIs. Twenty-six EEG datasets of three-class motor
      imagery were used to validate the proposed methods, and the classification
      accuracies were compared with that obtained by frequently used common spatial
      pattern (CSP) spatial filtering algorithm. The experimental results demonstrated
      that the proposed optimizing strategy could effectively improve the stability,
      practicality and classification performance of ICA-based MIBCI. The study
      revealed that rational use of ICA method may be crucial in building a practical
      ICA-based MIBCI system. 

PMID- 27631790
TI  - Appropriate Use of Antiemetics to Prevent Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and
      Vomiting.

PMID- 27631791
TI  - Revisiting von Restorff's early isolation effect.
AB  - An item that is conceptually or physically different from other items in a series
      is often remembered well. This isolation effect has been found independent of the
      position of the isolated item in the list, suggesting that special attention to
      or processing of the isolated item is not a necessary precondition of the effect.
      Three experiments are reported that challenge this conclusion. In Experiment 1a,
      we compared memory for conceptually isolated items to memory for the same items
      in unrelated and homogeneous lists. Under moderately distracting conditions,
      isolation effects were observed with midlist but not with early isolates. In
      fact, early isolation impaired memory for the conceptually distinct items
      relative to the same items in homogeneous lists. Experiment 1b replicated this
      memory impairment for early conceptual isolates and extended it to nondistracting
      conditions. In Experiment 2, we focused on early isolation, manipulating the type
      of isolation and whether or not participants performed judgments of learning
      (JOLs). An early isolation effect was observed for numbers isolated in lists of
      words (and vice versa), but not for conceptual isolates. Performing the JOL task
      reduced the size of the early isolation effect. These results suggest that
      number/word stimulus contrasts are coded automatically and support an isolation
      effect independent of list position. However, conceptual contrasts require
      relational processing and will only support an early isolation effect when such
      processing occurs. The results of Experiments 1a, 1b, and 2 suggest that
      attentional resources during list presentation and a favorable retrieval
      environment combine to support good memory for distinctive events.

PMID- 27631792
TI  - Insecure Attachment Styles and Increased Borderline Personality Organization in
      Substance Use Disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous research has linked insecure attachment styles and
      borderline personality organization to substance use disorder (SUD). However, it
      still remains unclear whether those impairments apply to different kinds of SUDs
      to the same extent. Therefore, in this study we sought to investigate potential
      differences regarding attachment deficits and borderline personality organization
      in two different SUD inpatient groups and furthermore in comparison to healthy
      controls. SAMPLING AND METHODS: A total of 66 (24 female) inpatients diagnosed
      with alcohol use disorder (AUD), 57 (10 female) inpatients diagnosed with
      polydrug use disorder (PUD), and 114 (51 female) healthy controls completed the
      Borderline Personality Inventory and the Attachment Style Questionnaire. RESULTS:
      Compared to healthy controls, AUD and PUD inpatients showed significant deficits
      in all attachment parameters (p < 0.01) as well as a significantly increased
      amount of borderline personality organization (p < 0.01). No differences between
      AUD and PUD inpatients were observed (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      indicate that the drug(s) of choice cannot be regarded as an indicator for the
      extent of attachment deficits or personality pathology. These initial findings
      are mainly limited by the rather small sample size as well as just a single point
      of measurement. Future research might also consider further covariates such as
      comorbidity or psychotropic medication.

PMID- 27631794
TI  - Concepts and Methodologies to Study Protein SUMOylation: An Overview.
AB  - Protein modification by the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) was
      simultaneously discovered by several groups at the middle of the 1990s. Although
      distinct names were proposed including Sentrin, GMP1, PIC1, or SMT3, SUMO became
      the most popular. Early studies on the functions of SUMOylation focused on
      activities in the nucleus, including transcription activation, chromatin
      structure, and DNA repair. However, it is now recognized that SUMOylation affects
      a large diversity of cellular processes both in the nucleus and the cytoplasm and
      functions of SUMOylation appear to have undefined limits. SUMO-conjugating
      enzymes and specific proteases actively regulate the modification status of
      target proteins. The recent discoveries of ubiquitin-SUMO hybrid chains, multiple
      SUMO-interacting motifs, and macromolecular complexes regulated by SUMOylation
      underscore the high complexity of this dynamic reversible system. New conceptual
      frameworks suggested by these findings have motivated the development of new
      methodologies to study pre- and post-SUMOylation events in vitro and in vivo,
      using distinct model organisms. Here we summarize some of the new developments
      and methodologies in the field, particularly those that will be further
      elaborated on in the chapters integrating this book.

PMID- 27631795
TI  - The Regulation of Chromatin by Dynamic SUMO Modifications.
AB  - Protein modification by the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) protein
      regulates numerous cellular pathways and mounting evidence reveals a critical
      role for SUMO in modulating gene expression. Dynamic sumoylation of transcription
      factors, chromatin-modifying enzymes, histones, and other chromatin-associated
      factors significantly affects the transcriptional status of the eukaryotic
      genome. Recent studies have employed high-throughput ChIP-Seq analyses to gain
      clues regarding the role of the SUMO pathway in regulating chromatin-based
      transactions. Indeed, the global distribution of SUMO across chromatin reveals an
      important function for SUMO in controlling transcription, particularly of genes
      involved in protein synthesis. These newly appreciated patterns of genome-wide
      sumoylation will inform more directed studies aimed at analyzing how the dynamics
      of gene expression are controlled by posttranslational SUMO modification.

PMID- 27631793
TI  - Nuclear morphologies: their diversity and functional relevance.
AB  - Studies of chromosome and genome biology often focus on condensed chromatin in
      the form of chromosomes and neglect the non-dividing cells. Even when interphase
      nuclei are considered, they are often then treated as interchangeable round
      objects. However, different cell types can have very different nuclear shapes,
      and these shapes have impacts on cellular function; indeed, many pathologies are
      linked with alterations to nuclear shape. In this review, we describe some of the
      nuclear morphologies beyond the spherical and ovoid. Many of the leukocytes of
      the immune system have lobed nuclei, which aid their flexibility and migration;
      smooth muscle cells have a spindle shaped nucleus, which must deform during
      muscle contractions; spermatozoa have highly condensed nuclei which adopt varied
      shapes, potentially associated with swimming efficiency. Nuclei are not passive
      passengers within the cell. There are clear effects of nuclear shape on the
      transcriptional activity of the cell. Recent work has shown that regulation of
      gene expression can be influenced by nuclear morphology, and that cells can
      drastically remodel their chromatin during differentiation. The link between the
      nucleoskeleton and the cytoskeleton at the nuclear envelope provides a mechanism
      for transmission of mechanical forces into the nucleus, directly affecting
      chromatin compaction and organisation.

PMID- 27631796
TI  - Reconstitution of the Recombinant RanBP2 SUMO E3 Ligase Complex.
AB  - One of the few proteins that have SUMO E3 ligase activity is the 358 kDa
      nucleoporin RanBP2 (Nup358). While small fragments of RanBP2 can stimulate
      SUMOylation in vitro, the physiologically relevant E3 ligase is a stable multi
      subunit complex comprised of RanBP2, SUMOylated RanGAP1, and Ubc9. Here, we
      provide a detailed protocol to in vitro reconstitute the RanBP2 SUMO E3 ligase
      complex. With the exception of RanBP2, reconstitution involves untagged full
      length proteins. We describe the bacterial expression and purification of all
      complex components, namely an 86 kDa His-tagged RanBP2 fragment, the SUMO E2
      conjugating enzyme Ubc9, RanGAP1, and SUMO1, and we provide a protocol for
      quantitative SUMOylation of RanGAP1. Finally, we present details for the assembly
      and final purification of the catalytically active RanBP2/RanGAP1*SUMO1/Ubc9
      complex.

PMID- 27631798
TI  - A Fluorescent In Vitro Assay to Investigate Paralog-Specific SUMO Conjugation.
AB  - Protein modification with the small ubiquitin-related modifier SUMO is a potent
      regulatory mechanism implicated in a variety of biological pathways. In vitro
      sumoylation reactions have emerged as a versatile tool to identify and
      characterize novel SUMO enzymes as well as their substrates. Here, we present
      detailed protocols for the purification and fluorescent labeling of mammalian
      SUMO paralogs for their application in sumoylation assays. These assays provide a
      fast readout for in vitro SUMO chain formation activity of E3 ligases in a
      paralog-specific manner. Finally, we critically analyze the application of
      fluorescent SUMO proteins to study substrate modification in vitro revealing also
      the drawbacks of the system.

PMID- 27631799
TI  - Identification and Characterization of SUMO-SIM Interactions.
AB  - The covalent attachment of SUMO to lysine residues of cellular proteins serves as
      an important mechanism for the dynamic control of protein networks. SUMO
      conjugates typically mediate selected protein-protein interactions by binding to
      specific recognition modules. Identification of SUMO-binding proteins and the
      characterization of the binding motifs are key to understanding SUMO signaling.
      Here we describe two complementary approaches that are used to tackle these
      questions.

PMID- 27631797
TI  - Production and Purification of Recombinant SUMOylated Proteins Using Engineered
      Bacteria.
AB  - SUMO is a ubiquitin-like protein that is covalently conjugated to numerous
      cellular proteins to modify their function and fate. Although large progresses
      have been made in the identification of SUMOylated proteins, the molecular
      consequences of their SUMOylation are generally unknown. This is, most often, due
      to the low abundance of SUMOylated proteins in the cell, usually less than 1 % of
      a given protein being modified at steady state. To gain insights into the role of
      specific SUMOylation targets, SUMO conjugation can be reconstituted in vitro
      using purified proteins. However, for most substrates, the efficiency of in vitro
      SUMOylation is too low to obtain sufficient amounts of their SUMOylated forms for
      biochemical studies. Here, we describe a detailed protocol to purify large
      amounts of recombinant SUMOylated proteins using bacteria modified to express His
      tagged SUMO as well as the SUMO-activating and -conjugating enzymes.

PMID- 27631800
TI  - Real-Time Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) for the Analysis of Interactions
      Between SUMO Traps and Mono- or PolySUMO Moieties.
AB  - Isolating endogenous SUMOylated proteins is a challenging task due to the high
      reversibility of this posttranslational modification. We have shown that SUMO
      traps are useful tools for the enrichment and isolation of proteins modified by
      SUMO in vitro and in vivo. To characterize the affinity and specificity of
      different SUMO chains for these traps, that are based on SUMO-interacting motifs,
      we have used real-time surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which allows a label-free
      analysis of protein/protein interactions. Here, a protocol to determine the
      affinities of multivalent SUMO traps for polySUMO chains or mono-SUMO molecules
      by SPR is presented.

PMID- 27631802
TI  - In Vitro Characterization of Chain Depolymerization Activities of SUMO-Specific
      Proteases.
AB  - SUMO-specific proteases, known as Ulps in baker's yeast and SENPs in humans, have
      important roles in controlling the dynamics of SUMO-modified proteins. They
      display distinct modes of action and specificity, in that they may act on the
      SUMO precursor, mono-sumoylated, and/or polysumoylated proteins, and they might
      be specific for substrates with certain SUMO paralogs. SUMO chains may be
      dismantled either by endo or exo mechanisms. Biochemical characterization of a
      protease usually requires purification of the protein of interest. Developing a
      purification protocol, however, can be very difficult, and in some cases,
      isolation of a protease in its pure form may go along with a substantial loss of
      activity. To characterize the reaction mechanism of Ulps, we have developed an in
      vitro assay, which makes use of substrates endowed with artificial poly-SUMO
      chains of defined lengths, and S. cerevisiae Ulp enzymes in crude extract from E.
      coli. This fast and economic approach should be applicable to SUMO-specific
      proteases from other species as well.

PMID- 27631801
TI  - Using Biotinylated SUMO-Traps to Analyze SUMOylated Proteins.
AB  - SUMO-interacting motifs (SIMs) recognize SUMOylated proteins with high
      specificity allowing to connect SUMO-modified proteins. Multiple SIMs fused to
      distinct tags have been used to increase their affinity and generate more
      efficient purification tools. Enrichment of SUMOylated proteins using SIMs
      arranged in tandem (SUMO-traps) facilitates the identification and
      characterization of protein targets in vitro and in vivo. Here a protocol to
      produce biotinylated SUMO-traps (bioSUBEs) to capture SUMO chains and typical
      SUMOylated proteins such as p53 or IkBalpha is presented. Biotinylated SUMO-traps
      represent an alternative to reduce the background associated to bigger tags,
      e.g., during mass spectrometry analysis. Consequently, bioSUBEs are alternative
      tools to characterize endogenous SUMO targets.

PMID- 27631803
TI  - Detection of Protein SUMOylation In Situ by Proximity Ligation Assays.
AB  - Sumoylation is a posttranslational process essential for life and concerns a
      growing number of crucial proteins. Understanding the influence of this
      phenomenon on individual proteins or on cellular pathways in which they function
      has become an intense area of research. A critical step in studying protein
      sumoylation is to detect sumoylated forms of a particular protein. This has
      proven to be a challenging task for a number of reasons, especially in the case
      of endogenous proteins and in vivo studies or when studying rare cells such as
      stem cells. Proximity ligation assays that allow detection of closely interacting
      protein partners can be adapted for initial detection of endogenous sumoylation
      or ubiquitination in a rapid, ultrasensitive, and cheap manner. In addition,
      modified forms of a given protein can be detected in situ in various cellular
      compartments. Finally, the flexibility of this technique may allow rapid
      screening of drugs and stress signals that may modulate protein sumoylation.

PMID- 27631804
TI  - In Situ SUMOylation and DeSUMOylation Assays: Fluorescent Methods to Visualize
      SUMOylation and DeSUMOylation in Permeabilized Cells.
AB  - This chapter deals with the fluorescence detection of SUMOylation and
      deSUMOylation in semi-intact cultured human cells, the so-called "in situ
      SUMOylation assay" and the "in situ deSUMOylation assay," respectively. In the in
      situ SUMOylation assay, the recombinant green-fluorescence protein fused to the
      SUMO1 (GFP-SUMO1) protein is used to visualize the nuclear rim, nucleolus, and
      nuclear bodies. These GFP signals represent cellular regions where SUMOylation
      efficiently takes place. If the recombinant SUMO-specific protease SENP1
      catalytic domain is added after in situ SUMOylation, GFP signals can be erased.
      Therefore, the in situ SUMOylation assay can be used to assess deSUMOylation
      enzymatic activity.

PMID- 27631805
TI  - Analysis of SUMOylated Proteins in Cells and In Vivo Using the bioSUMO Strategy.
AB  - Posttranslational regulation of proteins by conjugation of ubiquitin- and
      ubiquitin-like molecules is a common theme in almost every known biological
      pathway. SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) is dynamically added and deleted
      from many cellular substrates to control activity, localization, and recruitment
      of other SUMO-recognizing protein complexes. The dynamic nature of this
      modification and its low abundance in resting cells make it challenging to study,
      with susceptibility to deSUMOylases further complicating its analysis. Here we
      describe bioSUMO, a general method to isolate and analyze SUMOylated proteins
      from cultured cells, using Drosophila as a highlighted example. The method also
      has been validated in transgenic flies, as well as human cells. SUMOylated
      substrates are labeled by in vivo biotinylation, which facilitates their
      subsequent purification using streptavidin-based affinity chromatography under
      stringent conditions and with very low background. The bioSUMO approach can be
      used to validate whether a specific protein is modified, or used to analyze an
      entire SUMO subproteome. If coupled to quantitative proteomics methods, it may
      reveal how the SUMO landscape changes with different stimuli, or in diverse cell
      or tissue types. This technique offers a complementary approach to study SUMO
      biology and we expect that the strategy can be extended to other ubiquitin-like
      proteins.

PMID- 27631806
TI  - Label-Free Identification and Quantification of SUMO Target Proteins.
AB  - Mass spectrometry-based approaches are utilized with increasing frequency to
      facilitate identification of novel SUMO target proteins and to elucidate the
      dynamics of SUMOylation in response to cellular stresses. Here, we describe a
      robust method for the identification of SUMO target proteins, and the relative
      quantification of SUMOylation dynamics, using a label-free approach. The method
      relies on a decahistidine (His10)-tagged SUMO, which is expressed at a low level
      in a mammalian cell line or model organism. The His10-tag allows for a single
      step, high-yield, and high-purity enrichment of SUMOylated proteins, which are
      then digested and analyzed by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Matching between
      runs and label-free quantification integrated in the freely available MaxQuant
      software allow for a high rate and accuracy of quantification, providing a strong
      alternative to laborious sample or cell labeling techniques. The method described
      here allows for identification of >1000 SUMO target proteins, and
      characterization of their SUMOylation dynamics, without requiring sample
      fractionation. The purification procedure, starting from total lysate, can be
      performed in ~4 days.

PMID- 27631807
TI  - The Use of Multimeric Protein Scaffolds for Identifying Multi-SUMO Binding
      Proteins.
AB  - The use of in vitro assays, such as glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-downs,
      enables the study of complex cellular processes in a simplified form. Pull-down
      assays facilitate the discovery and detailed study of protein-protein
      interactions, which can then be extrapolated to the cellular environment. Here,
      we describe the expression, purification and use of a multi-SUMO platform to
      identify SUMO-interacting proteins. This SUMO-platform can be easily expressed
      and purified from bacterial cells for use as baits in pull-down assays. This
      methodology facilitates the discovery of novel SUMO-binding proteins or further
      characterization of SUMO with known binding partners.

PMID- 27631808
TI  - Isolation of In Vivo SUMOylated Chromatin-Bound Proteins.
AB  - SUMO posttranslational modification directs gene transcription and epigenetic
      programming to support normal cell function. The dynamic nature of SUMO
      modification makes it difficult to identify endogenous protein substrates.
      Isolation of chromatin-bound SUMO targets is exceptionally challenging, as
      conventional immunoprecipitation assays are inefficient at concentrating this
      protein population. This chapter describes a protocol that effectively
      precipitates chromatin-associated fractions of SUMOylated heterochromatin protein
      1alpha in cultured cells. Techniques to enrich endogenous SUMO substrates at the
      chromatin are also demonstrated and discussed. This approach could be adapted to
      evaluate chromatin-bound SUMO targets in additional in vivo systems.

PMID- 27631809
TI  - Identification of Substrates of Protein-Group SUMOylation.
AB  - Protein modification by conjugation to the ubiquitin-related protein SUMO
      (SUMOylation) regulates numerous cellular functions and is reversible. However,
      unlike typical posttranslational modifications, SUMOylation often targets and
      regulates proteins of functionally and physically linked protein groups, rather
      than individual proteins. Functional studies of protein-group SUMOylation are
      thus particularly challenging, as they require the identification of ideally all
      members of a modified protein group. Here, we describe mass spectrometric
      approaches to detect SUMOylated protein groups in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yet
      the protocols can be readily adapted for studies of SUMOylation in mammalian
      cells.

PMID- 27631810
TI  - Tools to Study SUMO Conjugation in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - The cell biology of sumoylation has mostly been studied using transformed
      cultured cells and yeast. In recent years, genetic analysis has demonstrated
      important roles for sumoylation in the biology of C. elegans. Here, we expand the
      existing set of tools making it possible to address the role of sumoylation in
      the nematode C. elegans using a combination of genetics, imaging, and
      biochemistry. Most importantly, the dynamics of SUMO conjugation and
      deconjugation can be followed very precisely both in space and time within living
      worms. Additionally, the biochemistry of SUMO conjugation and deconjugation can
      be addressed using recombinant purified components of the C. elegans sumoylation
      machinery, including E3 ligases and SUMO proteases. These tools and reagents will
      be useful to gain insights into the biological role of SUMO in the context of a
      multicellular organism.

PMID- 27631811
TI  - Purification of SUMO Conjugates from Arabidopsis for Mass Spectrometry Analysis.
AB  - The posttranslational modification of proteins with small ubiquitin-related
      modifier (SUMO) is a rapid, robust, and reversible mechanism that impacts a host
      of eukaryotic processes important to both normal cellular functions and survival
      during various abiotic and biotic challenges. Essential to defining the breadth
      of events impacted by SUMOylation is the development of full catalogues of
      protein targets. Here, we describe a stringent affinity method to purify native
      SUMO conjugates from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana based on the expression
      of modified SUMOs bearing epitope tags. When combined with standard and
      quantitative mass spectrometric methods, deep datasets of SUMOylated proteins can
      be acquired. Functional analysis of these lists links SUMO to numerous regulatory
      events, with an emphasis on those associated with transcription, DNA replication
      and repair, and chromatin assembly/accessibility.

PMID- 27631812
TI  - Detection of SUMOylation in Plasmodium falciparum.
AB  - Reversible protein modification by small ubiquitin-related modifiers (SUMOs)
      regulates many cellular processes, including transcription, protein quality
      control, cell division, and oxidative stress. SUMOylation is therefore essential
      for normal cell function and represents a potentially valuable target for the
      development of inhibitors of pathogenic eukaryotic organisms, including the
      malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum (Pf). The specific and essential
      functions of SUMOylation in Pf, however, remain largely uncharacterized. The
      further development of antimalarial drugs targeting SUMOylation would benefit
      significantly from a more detailed understanding of its functions and regulation
      during the parasite life cycle. The recent development of antibodies specific for
      Pf SUMO provides a valuable tool to study the functions and regulation of
      SUMOylation. In preliminary studies, we have used immunoblot analysis to
      demonstrate that SUMOylation levels vary significantly in parasites during
      different stages of the red blood cell cycle and also in response to oxidative
      stress. Owing to the dynamic nature of SUMOylation and to the robust activity of
      SUMO isopeptidases, analysis of SUMOylation in cultured Pf parasites requires a
      number of precautions during parasite purification and lysis. Here, we outline
      methods for preserving SUMO conjugates during isolation of Pf parasites from
      human red blood cell cultures, and for their detection by immunoblot analysis
      using PfSUMO-specific antibodies.

PMID- 27631813
TI  - Systematic Localization and Identification of SUMOylation Substrates in Knock-In
      Mice Expressing Affinity-Tagged SUMO1.
AB  - Protein SUMOylation is a posttranslational protein modification that is emerging
      as a key regulatory process in neurobiology. To date, however, SUMOylation in
      vivo has only been studied cursorily. Knock-in mice expressing His6-HA-SUMO1 from
      the Sumo1 locus allow for the highly specific localization and identification of
      endogenous SUMO1 substrates under physiological and pathophysiological
      conditions. By making use of the HA-tag and using wild-type mice for highly
      stringent negative control samples, SUMO1 targets can be specifically localized
      in and purified from cultured mouse nerve cells and mouse tissues.

PMID- 27631814
TI  - The Effectiveness of a Portuguese Elementary School Social and Emotional Learning
      Program.
AB  - We examined the effects of a social and emotional learning program, Program
      Positive Attitude, on the social and emotional competencies and self-esteem of
      Portuguese elementary school students, from the twin perspectives of students and
      their teachers. Participants were 1237 fourth grade students from 37 schools in a
      Portuguese municipality, with a mean age of 9.2 years, of which 970 students (in
      86 classes) participated in the program and 267 students (in 21 classes) served
      as a comparison group. Students and their teachers completed questionnaires prior
      to and following the intervention. We used multilevel linear modeling with a
      repeated measures design to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Both
      students and their teachers reported significant intervention gains in self
      control and social awareness. Students' in the intervention group also identified
      reductions in social isolation and improvements in self-esteem, and their
      teachers reported decreases in their students' social anxiety. An analysis by
      gender revealed that only girls showed increases in self-esteem, and only boys
      reported reduced social isolation. These findings support the effectiveness of
      the program. 

PMID- 27631815
TI  - Frequency of germline PALB2 mutations among women with epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that mutations in the partner and localizer of BRCA2
      (PALB2) gene may predispose to ovarian cancer. It is of importance to clarify the
      prevalence and penetrance of PALB2 mutations in an unselected population so that
      clinical recommendations for prevention can be implemented. We evaluated the
      prevalence of germline mutations in PALB2 among 1421 epithelial ovarian cancer
      patients and 4300 European controls from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
      Institute's Exome Sequencing Project dataset. Clinical information was obtained
      from medical records and survival status was determined by linkage. PALB2 coding
      exons were sequenced using next generation sequencing technology. Of the 1421
      patients, three (0.21 %) had a germline PALB2 mutation compared to two of the
      4300 control subjects (0.05 %). The mean age at diagnosis was 59 years (range 55
      62) and all three women died within 2 years of diagnosis. A PALB2 mutation was
      associated with a four-fold, albeit not significant, increased risk of ovarian
      cancer (OR = 4.55; 95 % CI 0.76-27.24; P = 0.10). These results suggest that
      germline PALB2 mutations are rare. The true effect of such mutations on ovarian
      cancer risk require further study before the clinical relevance of inherited
      PALB2 mutations is established.

PMID- 27631816
TI  - Association of monoallelic MUTYH mutation among Egyptian patients with colorectal
      cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous triat that involves both environmental
      and genetic factors. Genetic mutations of MUTYH (p.Y179C and p.G396D) have been
      reported to be associated with increased risk of CRC among several ethnic
      populations. The aim of this work is to assess the association of the monoallelic
      MUTYH mutations (p.Y179C and p.G396D) with increased risk of CRC among Egyptian
      patients. This study included 120 unrelated CRC Egyptian patients who were
      compared with 100 healthy controls from the same locality. For all individuals,
      DNA was genotyped for MUTYH p.Y179C and MUTYH p.G396D mutations using the T-ARMS
      PCR technique. The frequencies of monoallelic MUTYH mutations showed a strong
      association with the increased risk of CRC among Egyptian patients compared with
      controls (12.5 vs. 4.0 %, OR = 3.49, 95 % CI = 1.12-10.90, P = 0.03). Moreover,
      the frequency of MUTYH p.Y179C mutation was noted to be significantly higher
      among CRC patients compared to controls rather than MUTYH p.G396D mutation.
      Interestingly, CRC patients with tumors in the right side colon showed an
      evidence for association with the MUTYH p.Y179C mutation compared with tumors in
      the left side colon (p = 0.01). MUTYH p.Y179C mutation was associated with an
      increased risk of CRC among Egyptian patients rather than MUTYH p.G396D mutation.

PMID- 27631817
TI  - [Pharmacological treatment of women with epilepsy before and during pregnancy].
AB  - In the vast majority of women with epilepsy, no complications occur during
      pregnancy. Important for that is early, preconceptional counseling and close
      surveillance during pregnancy. The aim should be to maintain the best possible
      seizure control without occurrence of generalized tonic-clonic seizures while
      using antiepileptic drugs and with the lowest possible risk of malformations. The
      warnings for the prescription of valproic acid in women of reproductive age were
      tightened because of the dose-dependent increase in the malformation rate and
      other risks, especially regarding adverse effects on childhood cognitive
      development. The pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy require
      monitoring of serum drug levels and an early dose adjustment. Breastfeeding
      should be encouraged in women with epilepsy taking antiepileptic drugs as long as
      infants are closely monitored with respect to possible sedation and poor
      drinking.

PMID- 27631818
TI  - Fusarium dimerum Species Complex (Fusarium penzigii) Keratitis After Corneal
      Trauma.
AB  - We report a case of a keratitis associated with a Fusarium penzigii-a Fusarium
      dimerum species complex (FDSC)-in a 81-year-old woman after a corneal trauma with
      a tree branch. At patient admittance, slit lamp biomicroscopy revealed an
      exuberant chemosis, an inferior corneal ulcer with an associated inflammatory
      infiltrate, a central corneal abscess, bullous keratopathy and posterior
      synechiae. Corneal scrapes were obtained for identification of bacteria and
      fungi, and the patient started antibiotic treatment on empirical basis. Few days
      later, the situation worsened with the development of hypopyon. By that time,
      Fusarium was identified in cultures obtained from corneal scrapes and the patient
      started topical amphotericin B 0.15 %. Upon the morphological identification of
      the Fusarium as a FDSC, and since there was no clinical improvement, the
      treatment with amphotericin B was suspended and the patient started voriconazole
      10 mg/ml, eye drops, hourly and voriconazole 200 mg iv, every 12 h for 1 month.
      The hypopyon resolved and the inflammatory infiltrate improved, but the abscess
      persisted at the last follow-up visit. The molecular identification revealed that
      the FDSC was a F. penzigii.

PMID- 27631820
TI  - Time trends in incidence and prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome over eight
      years according to multiple data sources: Pays de la Loire study.
AB  - Objective The aim of this study was to describe time trends of
      incidence/prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), one of the most common
      musculoskeletal disorders, in a French region over an 8-year period. Methods
      Three independent data sources were analyzed for the population of the Pays de la
      Loire region aged 20-59 between 2004 and 2011: hospital discharge records for
      "surgically treated CTS" (SURG-CTS), the social insurance data on "CTS
      compensated for as an occupational disease" (OD-CTS), and the regional
      surveillance program of "work-related diseases" (WRD-CTS). Case counts were
      analyzed using negative binomial regression models and cubic spline curves with
      year as the main covariate. Results The annual incidence rates of SURG-CTS
      decreased from 3.35 to 2.98 per 1000 person-years over the 8-year period, with an
      overall declining trend [-2.00%, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -3.07- -0.91%),
      P<0.001]. The annual incidence rate of OD-CTS per 1000 person-years decreased
      (from 1.52 to 1.01) between 2004 and 2007 and increased after 2007 (from 1.45 to
      2.34), with an overall gain of 54% during the study period. The prevalence rate
      of WRD-CTS decreased from 5.04 (95% CI 3.90-6.13) to 3.08 (95% CI 2.11-4.06) per
      1000 employed person-years, with a non-significant trend between 2004 and 2011.
      Conclusion The study showed declining rates of SURG-CTS and WRD-CTS in the
      population of working age between 2004 and 2011, contrasting with increasing rate
      of OD-CTS after 2007. More research and surveillance data are needed to assess
      whether and to what extent the declining rates of CTS are actually attributable
      to improvement in working conditions and/or to non-occupational factors.

PMID- 27631819
TI  - Characterization of the Specificity, Functionality, and Durability of Host T-Cell
      Responses Against the Full-Length Hepatitis E Virus.
AB  - : The interplay between host antiviral immunity and immunopathology during
      hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection determines important clinical outcomes. We
      characterized the specificity, functionality, and durability of host T-cell
      responses against the full-length HEV virus and assessed a novel "Quantiferon"
      assay for the rapid diagnosis of HEV infection. Eighty-nine volunteers were
      recruited from Oxford, Truro (UK), and Toulouse (France), including 44 immune
      competent patients with acute HEV infection, 18 HEV-exposed immunosuppressed
      organ-transplant recipients (8 with chronic HEV), and 27 healthy volunteers. A
      genotype 3a peptide library (616 overlapping peptides spanning open reading
      frames [ORFs] 1-3) was used in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) T-cell ELISpot
      assays. CD4+ /CD8+ T-cell subsets and polyfunctionality were defined using ICCS
      and SPICE analysis. Quantification of IFN-gamma used whole-blood stimulation with
      recombinant HEV-capsid protein in the QuantiFERON kit. HEV-specific T-cell
      responses were detected in 41/44 immune-competent HEV exposed volunteers (median
      magnitude: 397 spot-forming units/106 peripheral blood mononuclear cells), most
      frequently targeting ORF2. High-magnitude, polyfunctional CD4 and CD8+ T cells
      were detected during acute disease and maintained to 12 years, but these declined
      over time, with CD8+ responses becoming more monofunctional. Low-level responses
      were detectable in immunosuppressed patients. Twenty-three novel HEV CD4+ and
      CD8+ T-cell targets were mapped predominantly to conserved genomic regions.
      QuantiFERON testing demonstrated an inverse correlation between IFN-gamma
      production and the time from clinical presentation, providing 100% specificity,
      and 71% sensitivity (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of
      0.86) for HEV exposure at 0.3 IU/mL. CONCLUSION: Robust HEV-specific T-cell
      responses generated during acute disease predominantly target ORF2, but decline
      in magnitude and polyfunctionality over time. Defining HEV T-cell targets will be
      important for the investigation of HEV-associated autoimmune disease. (Hepatology
      2016;64:1934-1950).

PMID- 27631821
TI  - Clinical outcomes of dual antiplatelet therapy after implantation of drug-eluting
      stents in patients with different cardiovascular risk factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after drug
      eluting stent (DES) implantation has not been established yet. The objectives of
      this study were to evaluate the optimal duration of DAPT after the DES
      implantation. METHODS: From three randomized controlled trials investigating DAPT
      duration after coronary stent implantation, we evaluated the clinical outcomes of
      short-term (6 months or less) DAPT compared with prolonged DAPT (12 months or
      more) in 1661 DES-treated pairs matched by propensity scores. At follow-up of 1
      year, net adverse clinical event (NACE) was defined as cardiac death, myocardial
      infarction, target vessel revascularization, definite/probable stent thrombosis,
      or thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major bleeding. RESULTS: Short-term DAPT
      as compared with prolonged DAPT was not associated with 1-year NACEs after DES
      implantation [hazard ratio (HR) 1.068, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.787-1.450,
      p = 0.671]. Predictors for NACEs were old age (>75 years), hypertension, diabetes
      mellitus, renal dysfunction (serum creatinine >=2.0 mg/dL), and multi-vessel
      disease. The DAPT strategy differentially contributed to the occurrence of NACEs
      according to the risk burden (p for interaction <0.001). In patients with low
      risk for NACEs, bleeding events were less in short-term DAPT than in prolonged
      DAPT (HR 0.332, 95 % CI 0.130-0.849, p = 0.021) (p for interaction = 0.098).
      Meanwhile, short-term DAPT was associated with more ischemic events that included
      cardiac death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, or
      definite/probable stent thrombosis (HR 2.164, 95 % CI 1.340-3.494, p = 0.002) (p
      for interaction <0.001) in patients with high risk for NACEs. CONCLUSION: One
      year clinical outcomes of DAPT after DES implantation depended on the burden of
      cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 27631823
TI  - Predictors of length of stay after urogynecological surgery at a tertiary
      referral center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The primary objective of this study was to determine
      significant predictors of length of stay (LOS) beyond the first postoperative day
      after urogynecological surgery. METHODS: A single-center retrospective cohort
      study was conducted in 2015. Our study population included women who underwent
      inpatient pelvic reconstructive surgery. The primary outcome was LOS beyond the
      first postoperative day. A logistic regression analysis explored the relationship
      between 11 selected predictor variables [age, body mass index (BMI), American
      Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, distance from home to hospital, length
      of surgery, anesthesia during surgery, route of surgical approach, trial of void
      recordings, choice of bladder protocol, presence of concomitant sling, surgeon],
      and LOS. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty-three patients were included in this
      study. A logistic regression analysis identified route of surgery and trial of
      void recordings as the two statistically significant predictors of stay beyond
      the first postoperative day. The odds of LOS after laparoscopic or open surgery
      compared with vaginal surgery increased more than fivefold [laparoscopic vs.
      vaginal approach odds ratio (OR) 5.04, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.95-13.03;
      laparotomy vs. vaginal OR 15.56, 95 % CI 1.77-136.77] and more than threefold for
      a prolonged pass of the bladder protocol compared with an immediate pass (OR
      3.25, 95 % CI 1.54-6.87). CONCLUSION: Our study identified route of surgery and
      trial of void recordings as the two predictors with the greatest impact on LOS
      beyond the first postoperative day. Our results warrant a larger follow-up study.

PMID- 27631826
TI  - Efficacy of CDP and ENG in Detecting Balance Impairment Associated With Cerebral
      White Matter Changes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between white matter changes (WMCs) and
      abnormal balance test results on computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) and
      electronystagmography (ENG). Also, to compare the utility of CDP with ENG for
      this purpose. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case review. SETTING: Tertiary care
      referral center. PATIENTS: A retrospective review of 137 subjects was conducted.
      The CDP and ENG results were compared between patients with (80) and without (57)
      WMCs as detected byT2/fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CDP analysis consisted of both
      sensory organization test (SOT) and motor control test (MCT) results, and ENG
      analysis included positional, oculomotor, and bithermal caloric testing.
      Multivariate logistic regression was performed to control for age and hearing
      loss discrepancies between the two groups. RESULTS: Ninety three percent of
      patients with WMCs had an abnormal CDP result, as compared with 44% of patients
      lacking WMCs (p < 0.001). Eighty six percent of patients with WMCs had an
      abnormal ENG, as did 81% of patients without WMCs (p = 0.435). Multivariate
      regression analysis maintained that an abnormal CDP result was significantly
      associated with WMCs when controlling for age and hearing loss (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that patients with cerebral small-vessel
      ischemic changes are significantly more likely to have an abnormal balance result
      as detected by CDP, than by ENG. Hence, CDP may be a better study to identify and
      document patients who have balance dysfunction associated with this central
      finding. Such identification will permit additional evaluation and treatment
      based on objective confirmation of balance dysfunction, in this group of balance
      impaired subjects who may have normal ENG's.

PMID- 27631822
TI  - A unique case of suburethral sling mesh migration to the cervix.

PMID- 27631824
TI  - Effects of laser procedure for female urodynamic stress incontinence on pad
      weight, urodynamics, and sexual function.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The impact of the IncontiLaseTM procedure on lower
      urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) remains unclear. Our aim was to evaluate the
      effects of the IncontiLaseTM procedure for urodynamic stress incontinence (USI).
      METHODS: All consecutive women with USI prospectively underwent the IncontiLaseTM
      procedure. Urodynamic studies, pad testing, LUTS, and sexual function
      questionnaires were assessed before and after treatment. RESULTS: Thirty-five
      women underwent the IncontiLaseTM procedure. Among the 28 women with baseline pad
      weights >1 g, 11 (39.3 %) were objectively cured and 11 (39.3 %) improved. Among
      the 18 women with mild USI (i.e., baseline pad weight 1-10 g), nine (50 %) were
      cured and five (27.8 %) improved. Among ten women with baseline pad weight >10 g,
      two (20 %) were cured and six (60 %) improved. Among the 32 women with complete
      questionnaire data at 6 months, seven (21.9 %) were subjectively cured, and four
      (12.5 %) improved. Regarding LUTS, the majority of domains on the King's Health
      Questionnaire and female sexual desire and function exhibited significant
      improvements. Forty percent (12/30) of the partners of these patients felt their
      sexual function had improved at 6 months. Nonetheless, urodynamic values did not
      differ across the timeline. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of the IncontiLaseTM
      procedure for mild USI was moderate at 6-month follow-up but was not effective
      for pad weight >10 g. Moreover, it improved LUTS, quality of life, QoL, and
      sexual function of both partners. Further studies should be performed to assess
      long-term sustained efficacy.

PMID- 27631825
TI  - Applying Neurotrophins to the Round Window Rescues Auditory Function and Reduces
      Inner Hair Cell Synaptopathy After Noise-induced Hearing Loss.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Applying neurotrophins to the round window immediately after a single
      noise exposure will prevent noise-induced hidden hearing loss. BACKGROUND: Loud
      noise can eliminate neural connections between inner hair cells and their
      afferent neurons (thereby diminishing sound perception) without causing a
      detectable change on audiogram. This phenomenon is termed hidden hearing loss.
      METHODS: Guinea pigs were exposed for 2 hours to 4 to 8 kHz noise at either 95 or
      105 dB SPL. Immediately afterward a 4 MUl bolus of neurotrophins (brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor 1 MUg/MUl, and neurotrophin-3 1 MUg/MUl) was delivered to the
      round window of one ear, and saline to the other. Auditory brainstem responses to
      pure-tone pips were acquired preoperatively, and at 1 and 2 weeks' postexposure.
      Cochleae were removed and whole mounted for immunohistochemical analysis, with
      presynaptic ribbons of inner hair cells and associated postsynaptic glutamatergic
      AMPA receptors identified using CtBP2 and GluA2 antibodies respectively. RESULTS:
      After exposure to 105 dB noise, threshold did not change, but the amplitude
      growth of the auditory brainstem response was significantly reduced in control
      ears in response to 16 and 32 kHz tones. The amplitude growth was also reduced
      neurotrophin ears, but to a lesser degree and the reduction was not significant.
      Similar results were obtained from control ears exposed to 95 dB, but amplitude
      growth recovered in neurotrophin-treated ears, this reaching statistical
      significance in response to 16 kHz tones. There were significantly more
      presynaptic ribbons, postsynaptic glutamate receptors, and colocalized ribbons
      after neurotrophin treatment. CONCLUSION: A single dose of neurotrophins
      delivered to the round window reduced synaptopathy and recovered high-frequency
      hearing in ears exposed to 95 dB noise. These findings suggest that hidden
      hearing loss may be reduced by providing trophic support to the cochlea after
      injury.

PMID- 27631827
TI  - Clinical Implication of the Threshold Equalizing Noise Test in Patients With
      Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of the present study were to investigate the prevalence of
      cochlear dead regions (DRs) in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss
      (SSNHL) and compare the hearing outcome according to the presence of DRs. STUDY
      DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: The threshold-equalizing noise (HL) test was performed on a total of
      112 ears diagnosed with SSNHL. Ears were divided into two groups based on the
      presence of DRs. Eighty-two ears belonged to the group without DRs and 30 ears
      belonged to the group with DRs. There was no difference between the two groups
      with respect to age, sex, side of affected ear, presence of bilateral SSNHL,
      presence of vertigo, history of treatment, and initial pure-tone thresholds. Pure
      tone audiograms were gathered at the time of initial presentation and at 1, 3,
      and 6 months after onset of symptoms. RESULTS: The prevalence of DRs was observed
      to be 29% and was found to be prevalent at 1k and 1.5k Hz in patients with SSNHL.
      When the hearing thresholds over times were compared between the two groups,
      subjects with DRs showed significantly poorer hearing outcome compared with those
      without DRs. The improvements in word recognition scores over times were also
      less in subject with DRs than those without DRs. CONCLUSION: DRs are associated
      with worse hearing thresholds at follow-up audiogram and might be associated with
      unfavorable hearing outcome in patients with SSNHL.

PMID- 27631829
TI  - Correlation Between Aspirin Intake and Reduced Growth of Human Vestibular
      Schwannoma: Volumetric Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether people with sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS)
      who take aspirin for unrelated medical reasons exhibit less tumor growth than
      nonaspirin users. We previously demonstrated the efficacy of salicylates in
      inhibiting VS growth in vitro, corroborating the results of our retrospective
      clinical study, which found halted VS growth (based on linear tumor measurements)
      in aspirin users. The current study evaluates this association using more
      accurate tumor volumetric measurements, and quantifies the degree of frequency
      specific, VS-induced hearing loss. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING:
      Tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: Diagnosed with VS between 1980 and 2012,
      followed by serial magnetic resonance imaging for at least 1 year. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Patient history of aspirin intake; change in VS volume over time of
      observation; frequency-specific, VS-induced audiometric threshold shifts.
      RESULTS: Of the 347 patients followed by serial magnetic resonance imaging scans,
      86 had sequential scans available for 3D-segmented volumetric analysis for up to
      11 years of follow-up (median 53 mo). Twenty-five (29%) had documented history of
      aspirin intake; 8 (32%) of these demonstrated VS growth. Of the 61 (71%)
      nonusers, 36 (59%) demonstrated growth. A significant inverse association was
      found among aspirin users and VS growth: odds ratio 0.32, 95% confidence interval
      0.11 to 0.91. VS-induced audiometric thresholds shifts were larger above than
      below 2000 Hz. CONCLUSION: Our volumetric analysis of VS growth reaffirms the
      results of our linear analysis and suggests that aspirin may inhibit VS growth.
      The audiometric findings are consistent with the previously reported VS-induced
      predominantly high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss.

PMID- 27631828
TI  - Audiometric Comparison Between the First Patients With the Transcutaneous Bone
      Conduction Implant and Matched Percutaneous Bone Anchored Hearing Device Users.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: The transcutaneous bone conduction implant (BCI) is compared with
      bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) under the hypothesis that the BCI can give
      similar rehabilitation from an audiological as well as patient-related point of
      view. BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from conductive and mixed hearing losses can
      often benefit more from rehabilitation using bone conduction devices (BCDs)
      rather than conventional air conduction devices. The most widely used BCD is the
      percutaneous BAHA, with a permanent skin-penetrating abutment. To overcome issues
      related to percutaneous BCDs, the trend today is to develop transcutaneous
      devices, with intact skin. The BCI is an active transcutaneous device currently
      in a clinical trial phase. A potential limitation of active transcutaneous
      devices is the loss of power in the induction link over the skin. To address this
      issue, countermeasures are taken in the design of the BCI, which is therefore
      expected to be as effective as percutaneous BCDs. METHODS: An early observational
      study with a matched-pair design was performed to compare BCI and BAHA groups of
      patients over several audiometric measurements, including speech audiometry and
      warble tones thresholds with and without the device. Additionally, questionnaires
      were used to assess the general health condition, benefit, and satisfaction level
      of patients. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was detected in any
      of the audiological measurements. The outcome of patient-related measurements was
      slightly superior for BCI in all subscales. CONCLUSION: Results confirm the
      initial hypothesis of the study: the BCI seems to be capable of providing as good
      rehabilitation as percutaneous devices for indicated patients.

PMID- 27631830
TI  - Middle Cranial Fossa (MCF) Approach Without the Use of Lumbar Drain for the
      Management of Spontaneous Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) Leaks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy and morbidity of repairing spontaneous
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks with the middle cranial fossa (MCF) approach
      without the use of a lumbar drain (LD), as perioperative use of LD remains
      controversial. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review from 2003 to 2015. SETTING:
      University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Indiana University Health Center.
      PATIENTS: Those with a confirmed lateral skull base spontaneous CSF leaks and/or
      encephaloceles. INTERVENTION: MCF approach for repair of spontaneous CSF leak
      and/or encephalocele without the use of lumbar drain. Assessment of patient age,
      sex, body mass index (BMI), and medical comorbidities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Spontaneous CSF leak patient characteristics (age, sex, BMI, obstructive sleep
      apnea) were collected. Length of stay (LOS), hospital costs, postoperative
      complications, CSF leak rate, and need for LD were calculated. RESULTS: Sixty
      five operative MCF repairs were performed for spontaneous CSF leaks on 60
      patients (five had bilateral CSF leaks). CSF diversion with LD was used in 15 of
      60 patients, mostly before 2010. After 2010, only three of 44 patients (6.7%) had
      postoperative otorrhea requiring LD. The use of LD resulted in significantly
      longer LOS (3.6 +/- 1.6 versus 8.7 +/- 2.9 d) and hospital costs ($29,621). There
      were no postoperative complications in 77% (50 of 65) of cases. Three cases
      required return to the operating room for complications including frontal
      subdural hematoma (1), subdural CSF collection (1), and tension pneumocephalus
      (1). No patients experienced long-term neurologic sequelae or long-term CSF leak
      recurrence with an average length of follow-up of 19.5 months (range 3-137 mo).
      The average patient BMI was 37.5 +/- 8.6 kg/m. The average age was 57.5 +/- 11.4
      years and 68% were female. Obstructive sleep apnea was present in 43.3% (26 of
      60) of patients. CONCLUSION: The morbidity of the MCF craniotomy for repair of
      spontaneous CSF leaks is low and the long-term efficacy of repair is high.
      Universal use of perioperative lumbar drain is not indicated and significantly
      increases length of stay and hospital costs. Obesity and obstructive sleep apnea
      are highly associated with spontaneous CSF leaks.

PMID- 27631831
TI  - Is There a Right Ear Advantage in Congenital Aural Atresia?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare speech/language development and academic progress between
      children with right versus left congenital aural atresia (CAA). STUDY DESIGN:
      Case control survey and review of audiometric data. SETTING: Tertiary care
      academic practice. PATIENTS: Children with unilateral CAA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Demographic and audiometric data; rates of grade retention, use of any hearing or
      learning resource, and behavioral problems. RESULTS: No significant differences
      in grade retention rate, utilization of amplification, speech language therapy,
      use of an individualized education program, or frequency modulated system were
      found between children with right versus left CAA. Children with left CAA were
      significantly more likely to be enrolled in special education programs (p =
      0.026). Differences in reported communication problems approached significance
      with more difficulty noted in the right ear group (p = 0.059). Left CAA patients
      were also more likely to have reported behavioral problems (p = 0.0039).
      CONCLUSION: Contrary to the hypothesis that a normal hearing right ear confers a
      language advantage in patients with unilateral hearing loss, children with left
      CAA (normal right ear) were statistically more likely to be enrolled in a special
      education program and have behavioral problems. Reported communication problems
      were more common in right CAA patients, but this did not reach statistical
      significance. No differences were found in use of amplification, frequency
      modulated system, individualized education program, or grade retention. Further
      investigation of both the clinical implications and underlying psychoacoustics of
      unilateral hearing loss and the identification and habilitation of "at risk"
      unilateral hearing loss children is warranted.

PMID- 27631832
TI  - Clinical Implications of Word Recognition Differences in Earphone and Aided
      Conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare word recognition scores for adults with hearing loss
      measured using earphones and in the sound field without and with hearing aids
      (HA). STUDY DESIGN: Independent review of presurgical audiological data from an
      active middle ear implant (MEI) FDA clinical trial. SETTING: Multicenter
      prospective FDA clinical trial. PATIENTS: Ninety-four adult HA users.
      INTERVENTIONS/MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURED: Preoperative earphone, aided word
      recognition scores, and speech intelligibility index. RESULTS: We performed an
      independent review of presurgical audiological data from an MEI FDA trial and
      compared unaided and aided word recognition scores with participants' HAs fit
      according to the NAL-R algorithm. For 52 participants (55.3%), differences in
      scores between earphone and aided conditions were >10%; for 33 participants
      (35.1%), earphone scores were higher by 10% or more than aided scores. These
      participants had significantly higher pure-tone thresholds at 250, 500, and 1000
      Hz, higher pure-tone averages, higher speech recognition thresholds (and higher
      earphone speech levels [p = 0.002]). No significant correlation was observed
      between word recognition scores measured with earphones and with hearing aids (r
      = 0.14; p = 0.16), whereas a moderately high positive correlation was observed
      between unaided and aided word recognition (r = 0.68; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION:
      Results of these analyses do not support the common clinical practice of using
      word recognition scores measured with earphones to predict aided word recognition
      or hearing aid benefit. Rather, these results provide evidence supporting the
      measurement of aided word recognition in patients who are considering hearing
      aids.

PMID- 27631834
TI  - An Intracochlear Pressure Sensor as a Microphone for a Fully Implantable Cochlear
      Implant.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To validate an intracochlear piezoelectric sensor for its ability to
      detect intracochlear pressure and function as a microphone for a fully
      implantable cochlear implant. METHODS: A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
      piezoelectric pressure sensor was inserted into a human fresh cadaveric round
      window at varying depths. An external sound pressure stimulus was applied to the
      external auditory canal (EAC). EAC pressure, stapes velocity, and piezoelectric
      sensor voltage output were recorded. RESULTS: The PVDF sensor was able to detect
      the intracochlear sound pressure response to an acoustic input to the EAC. The
      frequency response of the pressure measured with the intracochlear sensor was
      similar to that of the pressure at the EAC, with the expected phase delay of the
      middle ear transmission. The magnitude of the response increased and smoothened
      with respect to frequency as the sensor was inserted more deeply into the scala
      tympani. Artifact measurements, made with the sensor in air near the round
      window, showed flat frequency response in both magnitude and phase, which were
      distinct from those measured when the sensor was inserted in the round window.
      CONCLUSION: This study describes a novel method of measuring intracochlear
      pressure for an otologic microphone composed of a piezoelectric polymer, and
      demonstrates feasibility. Our next goal is to improve device sensitivity and
      bandwidth. Our long-term objective is to imbed the piezoelectric sensor within a
      conventional cochlear implant electrode, to enable a device to both measure
      intracochlear sound pressure and deliver electrical stimulus to the cochlea, for
      a fully implantable cochlear implant.

PMID- 27631835
TI  - CDH23 Related Hearing Loss: A New Genetic Risk Factor for Semicircular Canal
      Dehiscence?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and relative risk of semicircular canal
      dehiscence (SCD) in pediatric patients with CDH23 pathogenic variants (Usher
      syndrome or non-syndromic deafness) compared with age-matched controls. STUDY
      DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Multi-institutional study. PATIENTS:
      Pediatric patients (ages 0-5 years) were compared based on the presence of
      biallelic pathogenic variants in CDH23 with pediatric controls who underwent
      computed tomography (CT) temporal bone scan for alternative purposes.
      INTERVENTIONS: Retrospective review of diagnostic high resolution CT temporal
      bone scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation of SCD. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Superior and posterior semicircular canals were evaluated by a
      neuroradiologist for presence of SCD or abnormal development. RESULTS: Forty-two
      CT scans were reviewed for SCD. Eighty-six percent of the CDH23 variant group had
      abnormalities in at least one canal compared with only 12% in age-matched
      controls. In the CDH23 variant group there were four patients with superior SCD
      (57%, RR = 10.0) and three patients with posterior canal abnormalities (43%, RR =
      7.5) compared with two, and two patients, respectively, in the control
      population. Four CDH23 variant children had bilateral abnormalities. One child
      had thinning or dehiscence in both the superior and posterior canals. Relative
      risk of SCD in children with CDH23 pathogenic variants is 7.5 (p < 0.001)
      compared with the pediatric control population. CONCLUSIONS: Children with a
      CDH23 pathogenic variants are at significantly increased risk of having SCD and
      this may be a contributing factor to the vestibular dysfunction in Usher syndrome
      type 1D patient population.

PMID- 27631836
TI  - The Human Vestibular Aqueduct: Anatomical Characteristics and Enlargement
      Criteria.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: The human vestibular aqueduct (VA) shows great anatomical variations,
      and imaging can be difficult, so we need more data on the normal anatomy of the
      VA for better radiologic evaluation of large vestibular aqueduct syndrome (LVAS).
      BACKGROUND: The normal anatomy of the human VA was analyzed in micro-dissected
      human temporal bones. METHODS: The study is based on two sets of human temporal
      bones. One set of 32 human temporal bones was selected from a collection of 50
      micro-dissected specimens. The outline of the intraosseous portion of the VA was
      drawn and digitized, and dimensions were assessed. The other set of 20 plastic
      molds were randomly selected from a collection of 324 specimens, and the VA
      dimensions were assessed. RESULTS: Measurements from this study are presented in
      means, standard deviations, and ranges. The results from these measurements are
      considered normal and compared with previously published data. The variations in
      the normal anatomy of the VA are presented and discussed. CONCLUSION: The VA
      courses sagittal in the human skull. Therefore, we recommend the lateral
      projection (reformatted) to demonstrate the VA in LVAS patients. We advocate
      assessing: 1) the width (or height) of the external aperture (EA), 2) the width
      at the half distance between the EA and the common crus (CC), and if possible 3)
      the width of the proximal portion of the VA. Based on the measurements, our
      criteria for enlargement are 2.0 mm or greater, 1.5 mm or greater, and more than
      1 mm at these sites.

PMID- 27631833
TI  - The Enigma of Poor Performance by Adults With Cochlear Implants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Considerable unexplained variability and large individual differences
      exist in speech recognition outcomes for postlingually deaf adults who use
      cochlear implants (CIs), and a sizeable fraction of CI users can be considered
      "poor performers." This article summarizes our current knowledge of poor CI
      performance, and provides suggestions to clinicians managing these patients.
      METHOD: Studies are reviewed pertaining to speech recognition variability in
      adults with hearing loss. Findings are augmented by recent studies in our
      laboratories examining outcomes in postlingually deaf adults with CIs. RESULTS:
      In addition to conventional clinical predictors of CI performance (e.g., amount
      of residual hearing, duration of deafness), factors pertaining to both "bottom
      up" auditory sensitivity to the spectro-temporal details of speech, and "top
      down" linguistic knowledge and neurocognitive functions contribute to CI
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The broad array of factors that contribute to speech
      recognition performance in adult CI users suggests the potential both for novel
      diagnostic assessment batteries to explain poor performance, and also new
      rehabilitation strategies for patients who exhibit poor outcomes. Moreover, this
      broad array of factors determining outcome performance suggests the need to treat
      individual CI patients using a personalized rehabilitation approach.

PMID- 27631838
TI  - Amide-Phosphonium Salt as Bifunctional Phase Transfer Catalyst for Asymmetric 1,6
      Addition of Malonate Esters to para-Quinone Methides.
AB  - Asymmetric 1,6-addition of malonates to para-quinone methides has been developed
      by using amide-phosphonium salts derived from easily available chiral alpha-amino
      acids as bifunctional phase transfer catalysts. Stabilized para-quinone methides
      with various substituents on the phenyl ring were reacted with diphenyl malonates
      to give functionalized diaryl methines in excellent yields and high to excellent
      ee's. Furthermore, to show the utility of this methodology, a gram scale
      synthesis of an 1,6-addition adduct and its further elaboration into the key
      intermediate for synthesis of GPR40 agonists were also described.

PMID- 27631837
TI  - NMR Structures and Dynamics in a Prohead RNA Loop that Binds Metal Ions.
AB  - Metal ions are critical for RNA structure and enzymatic activity. We present the
      structure of an asymmetric RNA loop that binds metal ions and has an essential
      function in a bacteriophage packaging motor. Prohead RNA is a noncoding RNA that
      is required for genome packaging activity in phi29-like bacteriophage. The loops
      in GA1 and phi29 bacteriophage share a conserved adenine that forms a base
      triple, although the structural context for the base triple differs. NMR
      relaxation studies and femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy reveal
      the dynamic behavior of the loop in the metal ion bound and unbound forms. The
      mechanism of metal ion binding appears to be an induced conformational change
      between two dynamic ensembles rather than a conformational capture mechanism.
      These results provide experimental benchmarks for computational models of RNA
      metal ion interactions.

PMID- 27631839
TI  - Improving Ocular Telehealth Outcomes.

PMID- 27631840
TI  - Visual Vignette.

PMID- 27631841
TI  - HYPERNATREMIA AND COPEPTIN LEVELS IN THE ELDERLY HOSPITALIZED PATIENT.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Elderly patients have a high prevalence of hypernatremia. The aim of
      this study was to determine demographic and clinical characteristics of the
      elderly hypernatremic patient hospitalized in the internal medicine ward and to
      enhance understanding of the role of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) secretion in the
      pathogenesis of hypernatremia. METHODS: Case-control study performed in an
      internal medicine ward in a university-affiliated hospital. Thirtythree elderly
      hypernatremic patients (admission sodium, >150 mEq/L; age, >70 years) were
      compared with 34 normonatremic patients. Demographic, functional (mental status
      and activities of daily living), clinical data (Acute Physiology and Chronic
      Health Evaluation [APACHE] II score), and serum copeptin levels as a marker of
      ADH secretion, were collected at admission. Mortality and change in the
      functional status were followed up to 30 days from discharge. RESULTS: Patients
      with hypernatremia presented with significantly lower baseline functional and
      cognitive states and higher APACHE II score (21.3 +/- 8.6 vs. 15.4 +/- 6.7;
      P<.01). Mortality within 30 days after discharge was higher in the hypernatremic
      group (58% vs. 32%; P<.05). Higher copeptin levels were found in the
      hypernatremic group compared to the normonatremic group (100.2 +/- 60.6 pmol/L
      vs. 66.5 +/- 57.2 pmol/L; P<.05). High levels of copeptin were associated with
      higher in-hospital (P<.05) and 30-day (P<.01) mortality. Sodium levels were found
      correlated with copeptin levels; yet, an even stronger correlation was found
      between copeptin levels and APACHE II score (r = 0.52; P<.001). CONCLUSION:
      Hypernatremia in the elderly at admission is associated with a high mortality
      rate. Copeptin level in the elderly seems to be a good single disease severity
      marker. ADH is strongly secreted in elderly hypernatremic patients.
      ABBREVIATIONS: ADH = antidiuretic hormone APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic
      Health Evaluation.

PMID- 27631843
TI  - TRANSITIONING PATIENTS WITH DIABETES OUT OF EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS: A PATH TOWARDS
      BETTER OUTCOMES AND LOWER COSTS?

PMID- 27631844
TI  - Visual Vignette.

PMID- 27631845
TI  - VISUAL VIGNETTE.

PMID- 27631846
TI  - Visual Vignette.

PMID- 27631847
TI  - Visual Vignette.

PMID- 27631848
TI  - DOES PRE-OPERATIVE VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY PREDICT POSTOPERATIVE HYPOCALCEMIA AFTER
      THYROIDECTOMY?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Postoperative hypocalcemia is frequent after total thyroidectomy. The
      role of pre-operative vitamin D levels in the pathogenesis of this condition has
      not been studied under the most current guidelines for evaluation of the role of
      vitamin D in calcium homeostasis. We hypothesized that patients who are vitamin D
      deficient (VDD) pre-operatively are more likely to suffer from postoperative
      hypocalcemia, thereby requiring prolonged hospitalization. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review of patients undergoing total thyroidectomy at the
      University of New Mexico Hospital between 2005 and 2014 was performed. Patients
      who underwent intentional parathyroidectomy were excluded. The study included 30
      patients who had a 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels obtained within 12 months before
      surgery. RESULTS: Twelve patients who were VDD (25-hydroxyvitamin D <=20 ng/mL)
      were compared to 18 patients who did not have VDD (non-VDD; 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      >20 ng/mL). The mean nadir postoperative ionized calcium concentration was lower
      in the VDD group (0.99 +/- 0.10 vs. 1.06 +/- 0.06 mmol/L, P = .04) (reference
      range = 1.15-1.27 mmol/L), as was the postoperative concentration of phosphorus
      (3.48 +/- 0.60 vs. 4.17 +/- 0.84 mg/dL, P = .03). VDD patients had a longer
      length of stay (4.3 +/- 4.4 vs. 1.7 +/- 1.5 days, P = .03). Three patients in the
      VDD group required intravenous calcium for treatment of symptomatic hypocalcemia,
      but none of the non-VDD patients required this intervention (P = .054).
      CONCLUSION: Pre-operative vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased
      risk of postoperative hypocalcemia and a prolonged length of stay in patients
      undergoing total thyroidectomy. Vitamin D replacement before thyroidectomy may
      improve postsurgical outcomes in VDD patients. ABBREVIATIONS: BMI = body mass
      index non-VDD = non-vitamin D deficient PTH = parathyroid hormone VDD = vitamin D
      deficient.

PMID- 27631849
TI  - HBA1C AND MEAN GLUCOSE DERIVED FROM SHORT-TERM CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITORING
      ASSESSMENT DO NOT CORRELATE IN PATIENTS WITH HBA1C >8.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Optimum therapy for patients with diabetes depends on both acute and
      long-term changes in plasma glucose, generally assessed by glycated hemoglobin
      (HbA1c) levels. However, the correlation between HbA1c and circulating glucose
      has not been fully determined. Therefore, we carefully examined this correlation
      when glucose levels were assessed by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).
      METHODS: Fifty-one patients (70% female, 30% male) were examined; among them were
      28 with type 1 diabetes and 23 with type 2 diabetes. Clinically determined HbA1c
      levels were compared with blood glucose determined by CGM during a short time
      period. RESULTS: Changes in HbA1c levels up to 8.0% showed a clear and
      statistically strong correlation (R = 0.6713; P<.0001) with mean blood glucose
      levels measured by CGM, similar to that observed in the A1c-derived Average
      Glucose study in which patients were monitored for a longer period. However, we
      found no statistical correlation (R = 0.0498; P = .83) between HbA1c and CGM
      assessed glucose levels in our patient population when HbA1c was >8.0%.
      CONCLUSION: Short-term CGM appears to be a good clinical indicator of long-term
      glucose control (HbA1c levels); however, cautions should be taken while
      interpreting CGM data from patients with HbA1c levels >8.0%. Over- or
      underestimation of the actual mean glucose from CGM data could potentially
      increase the risks of inappropriate treatment. As such, our results indicate that
      a more accurate analysis of CGM data might be useful to adequately tailor
      clinical treatments. ABBREVIATIONS: ADAG = A1c-Derived Average Glucose CGM =
      continuous glucose monitoring %CV = percent coefficient of variation HbA1c =
      glycated hemoglobin.

PMID- 27631850
TI  - DISCORDANCE BETWEEN GH AND IGF-1 LEVELS IN TURKISH ACROMEGALIC PATIENTS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Discordance between insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and growth
      hormone (GH) levels is an important problem in the follow-up of patients
      diagnosed with acromegaly. Our aims were to evaluate the discordance between IGF
      1 and GH levels and compare the performance of different cut-off levels for the
      nadir in GH (GHn) in acromegalic patients. METHODS: The study included 63
      acromegalic patients in a follow-up at a tertiary care university hospital
      facility. Levels of IGF-1, IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), and GH were
      investigated. The baseline GH and GHn levels were evaluated after an oral glucose
      tolerance test (cut-offs of 0.4 and 1 ng/mL, respectively). The discordance rates
      between GHn and IGF-1 levels, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratios were determined. RESULTS:
      We first adopted a GHn cut-off value of 1 ng/mL and found that 27 patients
      (42.9%) exhibited biochemical remission (BR) (IGF-1 <95th percentile, GH <1), and
      25 patients (39.7%) had no BR (NBR) (IGF-1 >=95th percentile, GH >1). Discordance
      in the presence of normal IGF-1 and nonsuppressed GH (DC1) occurred in 2 of 63
      (3.2%) patients; discordance in the presence of high IGF-1 and suppressed GH
      (DC2) occurred in 9 of 63 (14.3%) patients. If the GHn cut-off value adopted was
      0.4 ng/mL, the distributions were 17 of 63 (27.0%) patients in BR, 29 of 63
      (46.0%) patients in NBR, 12 of 63 (19.0%) in DC1, and 5 of 63 (7.9%) patients in
      DC2. If only the baseline GH values were considered, the distributions were very
      similar to those with a GHn cut-off value of 0.4 ng/mL. The IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio
      was lowest in the BR group. CONCLUSION: Adopting a GHn cut-off value of 0.4 ng/mL
      did not increase the test performance compared with baseline GH only. In
      contrast, in the follow-up of acromegalic patients, the IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio might
      be a useful measurement when discordance between IGF-1 and GH levels occurs. We
      propose that these values be considered in clinical practice. ABBREVIATIONS: BR =
      biochemical remission DC1 = discordance group 1 DC2 = discordance group 2 DM =
      diabetes mellitus GH = growth hormone GHn = nadir in GH IGF-1 = insulin-like
      growth factor-1 IGFBP-3 = IGF binding protein-3 LAR = long-acting release NBR =
      not in biochemical remission OGTT = oral glucose tolerance test.

PMID- 27631851
TI  - ETHNIC AND RACIAL DISPARITIES IN THE BEHAVIORAL, PHARMACOLOGIC, AND SURGICAL
      TREATMENT OF OBESITY.
AB  - Abbreviation: GLP-1 = glucagon-like peptide-1.

PMID- 27631852
TI  - To err is human: An introduction to the special issue on clinical errors.
AB  - This special issue was created to address a very clear gap in the literature on
      clinical errors in psychotherapy. This special issue is comprised of 20 articles
      which follow the same format as the "Clinical Processes" special issue and
      "Supervision Processes" special section, previously published in Psychotherapy.
      Specifically, authors were provided with instructions to describe the clinical
      error(s), along with recommendations to psychotherapists for preventing these
      errors, being prepared with alternative responses, or how to respond differently
      once an error has occurred. This special issue has been organized into five
      sections. The first section includes articles that focus on errors rooted in
      specific clinical and supervision processes. The second section includes articles
      that focus on errors within group psychotherapy. The third section includes
      articles that focus on errors related to specific treatment. The fourth section
      includes articles that focus on errors in diagnosing specific disorders. Finally,
      the fifth section focuses on errors that can occur with specific populations.

PMID- 27631853
TI  - Clinical errors as a lack of context responsiveness.
AB  - Although standardized treatments have the potential to decrease clinical errors,
      within-session responsiveness is complicated and complementary frameworks may be
      needed to foster enhanced responsiveness in the context of evidence-based
      treatments. Recent efforts have targeted the enhancement of flexibility and
      responsiveness in the delivery of manualized treatments, including the
      development of transdiagnostic treatments (i.e., protocols that are designed to
      be used across different diagnoses) intended to tailor intervention principles to
      the needs of individual patients. Context-Responsive Psychotherapy Integration
      (Constantino, Boswell, Bernecker, & Castonguay, 2013) offers an if-then framework
      that supports the utilization of evidence-based clinical strategies in response
      to the identification of specific process markers. Failure to identify or
      appropriately respond to such markers may result in negative therapeutic process
      as well as outcomes. This case study uses the context-response psychotherapy
      integration framework to understand critical moments of clinical decision-making
      through examining an individual treatment case that unilaterally terminated after
      seven sessions of transdiagnostic treatment. This illustrative empirical case
      analysis focuses on three potential clinical errors, as indicated by a lack of
      responsiveness to three candidate process markers: (a) low outcome expectations,
      (b) self-strivings, and (c) outcome monitoring. For each clinical error,
      alternative clinical strategies are discussed.

PMID- 27631854
TI  - Exceeding the therapeutic zone of proximal development as a clinical error.
AB  - The Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES) summarizes a
      developmental continuum along which psychological problems progress in successful
      psychotherapy. The therapeutic zone of proximal development (TZPD) is the segment
      of the APES continuum within which the clients can proceed from their current
      APES level to the next with the therapist's assistance. It is the therapeutic
      working zone for a particular problem. As the client makes progress on a problem,
      its TZPD shifts up the APES. Theoretically, so long as the therapist's
      interventions remain within the TZPD, the client feels safe enough to work.
      However, when an intervention aims beyond the upper limit, the client will find
      it too risky and will reject or avoid the proposal. In this sense, exceeding the
      TZPD can be considered as a clinical error. This article presents examples of
      exceeding the TZPD and ways the error can be repaired. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631855
TI  - Therapeutic self-disclosure in integrative psychotherapy: When is this a clinical
      error?
AB  - Ascending to prominence in virtually all forms of psychotherapy, therapist self
      disclosure (TSD) has recently been identified as a primarily integrative
      intervention (Ziv-Beiman, 2013). In the present article, we discuss various
      instances in which using TSD in integrative psychotherapy might constitute a
      clinical error. First, we briefly review extant theory and empirical research on
      TSD, followed by our preferred version of integrative psychotherapy (i.e., a
      version of Wachtel's Cyclical Psychodynamics [Wachtel, 1977, 1997, 2014]), which
      we title cognitive existential psychodynamics. Next, we provide and discuss three
      examples in which implementing TSD constitutes a clinical error. In essence, we
      submit that using TSD constitutes an error when patients, constrained by their
      representational structures (object relations), experience the subjectivity of
      the other as impinging, and thus propels them to "react" instead of "emerge."
      (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631856
TI  - Detecting information processing bias toward psychopathology: Interpreting Likert
      scales at intake assessment.
AB  - Since the programmatic Rosenhan study, there is a broad discussion of how to
      actively construct clinical realities on both "insane" and "sane" perspectives.
      To inform patients about the output of the psychometric questionnaires assessed
      at intake is a required task in many clinical routines. Information processing
      bias toward psychopathology may impact many clinical communications and thus lead
      to clinical errors. Based on an output of the commonly used Symptom Check List
      90, case examples demonstrate various grades of balanced and unbalanced
      alternatives of how to consider the psychopathological as well as the
      unproblematic poles of Likert scales in discussing psychometric questionnaires at
      Session 1. We provide one clinical error related to client information at intake
      assessments and offer four therapeutic tasks that can serve as observable quality
      indicators of how to facilitate a balanced picture of the patients' burdens and
      capabilities: (1) validate individual problems, (2) isolate individual problems,
      (3) validate individual strengths, and (4) break through black and white
      thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631857
TI  - Utilizing measure-based feedback in control-mastery theory: A clinical error.
AB  - Clinical errors and ruptures are an inevitable part of clinical practice. Often
      times, therapists are unaware that a clinical error or rupture has occurred,
      leaving no space for repair, and potentially leading to patient dropout and/or
      less effective treatment. One way to overcome our blind spots is by frequently
      and systematically collecting measure-based feedback from the patient. Patient
      feedback measures that focus on the process of psychotherapy such as the
      Patient's Experience of Attunement and Responsiveness scale (PEAR) can be used in
      conjunction with treatment outcome measures such as the Outcome Questionnaire
      45.2 (OQ-45.2) to monitor the patient's therapeutic experience and progress. The
      regular use of these types of measures can aid clinicians in the identification
      of clinical errors and the associated patient deterioration that might otherwise
      go unnoticed and unaddressed. The current case study describes an instance of
      clinical error that occurred during the 2-year treatment of a highly traumatized
      young woman. The clinical error was identified using measure-based feedback and
      subsequently understood and addressed from the theoretical standpoint of the
      control-mastery theory of psychotherapy. An alternative hypothetical response is
      also presented and explained using control-mastery theory. (PsycINFO Database
      Record 

PMID- 27631859
TI  - When countertransference reactions go unexamined due to predetermined clinical
      tasks: How fear of love can keep us from listening.
AB  - The psychotherapeutic work is characterized by processes that are involved in the
      development of the alliance, as well as processes that lead to the ruptures in
      the alliance (error) and its repair. The purpose of this article is to highlight
      the clinical error that occurs when a clinician fails to adequately respond to a
      patient's emotional signals due to countertransference reactions that results in
      an overemphasis on predetermined tasks the clinician "naturally" deems as
      necessary. A clinical vignette is presented to illustrate the error and 3
      alternative approaches to the error are discussed. These include-(a) shared
      decision-making, (b) addressing and repairing alliance rupture, and (c)
      management of countertransference. Brief theoretical and clinical context for
      each alternative approach is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631858
TI  - What is the right time for supportive versus expressive interventions in
      supervision? An illustration based on a clinical mistake.
AB  - Although supportive-expressive (SE) psychotherapy is one of the most studied
      psychodynamic therapies today, little is known empirically about effective
      strategies in SE supervision, or in psychodynamic supervision in general (Diener
      & Mesrie, 2015; Watkins, 2011). One of the important questions in SE
      psychotherapy is how to decide when to use supportive and when to use expressive
      interventions. As a parallel process, this type of decision is relevant also to
      SE supervision. The present case study focuses on the decision-making process in
      an SE supervision session: when should supervisors use supportive as opposed to
      expressive strategies with their supervisees? Our aim is to develop decision
      rules that reliably support supervisors' decisions. We analyze a clinical error
      made by supervisors in this type of decision making, and show how mistakes of
      this type can either be avoided or, when they occur, how to turn them into
      opportunities for learning and for the formation of new understanding and growth.
      Similarly to the finding that therapists with better skills in managing their
      countertransference feelings were shown to have better outcomes with their
      patients (Gelso, Latts, Gomez, & Fassinger, 2002; Hayes, Gelso, & Hummel, 2011),
      we suggest that the management of the supervisors' feelings, and working through
      their mistakes with the therapists, can contribute to the supervisory
      relationship and to the development of the psychodynamic therapists' skills.
      (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631860
TI  - When it is not a good fit: Clinical errors in patient selection and group
      composition in group psychotherapy.
AB  - Group psychotherapy provides unique opportunities for clinical errors in the
      selection of patients and composition of therapy groups. This article introduces
      some of the difficulties and complexities that can be associated with group
      composition and patient selection errors. Clinical vignettes from
      psychodynamic/interpersonal psychotherapy groups are used to illustrate three
      variations of group composition and selection errors. The first vignette depicts
      an error in selecting a disruptive patient into a fledgling group. The second
      vignette portrays an unsuccessful integration of a withdrawn, inhibited patient
      into an active, exploratory group. The third scenario illustrates challenges
      associated with poor quality of object relations in homogeneous group
      composition. Although research on group therapy composition and patient selection
      is limited, relevant empirical literature is integrated in our discussion of
      clinical implications and recommendations. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631861
TI  - Complex contexts and relationships affect clinical decisions in group therapy.
AB  - Clinical errors tend to be underreported even though examining them can provide
      important training and professional development opportunities. The group therapy
      context may be prone to clinician errors because of the added complexity within
      which therapists work and patients receive treatment. We discuss clinical errors
      that occurred within a group therapy in which a patient for whom group was not
      appropriate was admitted to the treatment and then was not removed by the
      clinicians. This was countertherapeutic for both patient and group. Two
      clinicians were involved: a clinical supervisor who initially assessed and
      admitted the patient to the group, and a group therapist. To complicate matters,
      the group therapy occurred within the context of a clinical research trial. The
      errors, possible solutions, and recommendations are discussed within Reason's
      Organizational Accident Model (Reason, 2000). In particular, we discuss clinician
      errors in the context of countertransference and clinician heuristics, group
      therapy as a local work condition that complicates clinical decision-making, and
      the impact of the research context as a latent organizational factor. We also
      present clinical vignettes from the pregroup preparation, group therapy, and
      supervision. Group therapists are more likely to avoid errors in clinical
      decisions if they engage in reflective practice about their internal experiences
      and about the impact of the context in which they work. Therapists must keep in
      mind the various levels of group functioning, especially related to the group-as
      a-whole (i.e., group composition, cohesion, group climate, and safety) when
      making complex clinical decisions in order to optimize patient outcomes.
      (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631862
TI  - Reducing inadvertent clinical errors: Guidelines from functional analytic
      psychotherapy.
AB  - Two common types of clinical errors, inadvertently reinforcing client problem
      behaviors or inadvertently punishing client improvements, are conceptualized from
      the viewpoint of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), a treatment that
      harnesses the power of the therapeutic relationship. Understanding the functions
      of client behaviors such as incessant talking and over compliance can lead to
      more compassionate and effective intervention, and a functional analysis of
      seemingly problematic behaviors such as silence and lack of cooperation indicate
      how they may be client improvements. Suggestions are provided for how to more
      accurately conceptualize whether client behaviors are problems or improvements,
      and to increase awareness of therapist vulnerabilities that can lead to errors.
      While FAP is rooted in a functional contextual philosophy, the goal of this
      article is to offer a framework that crosses theoretical boundaries to decrease
      the likelihood of clinical errors and to facilitate client growth. (PsycINFO
      Database Record 

PMID- 27631863
TI  - Psychological masquerade embedded in a cluster of related clinical errors: Real
      practice, real solutions, and their scientific underpinnings.
AB  - In this paper, we discuss the need for medical rule outs in over 50% of DSM-5
      diagnoses and the risk for mental health practitioners to engage in a clinical
      judgment error called psychological masquerade (Taylor, 2007). We use the
      specific example of thyroid dysfunction as a relevant rule out when a client
      presents with symptoms consistent with an affective disorder. A real clinical
      example is provided and discussed to illustrate how the first author invoked
      psychological masquerade resulting in clinical decision-making errors during the
      treatment of a mother participating in family therapy. Solutions for this
      specific case and more generally for psychological masquerade are provided and
      discussed in the context of theory and research on mental health clinical
      decision-making.

PMID- 27631864
TI  - Failing to diagnose and failing to treat an addicted client: Two potentially life
      threatening clinical errors.
AB  - Psychotherapists risk making 2 types of errors with clients who struggle with
      addictive behaviors: failure to diagnose addictive behaviors and failure to
      effectively treat addictive behaviors. Given the high prevalence of addictive
      behaviors in clinical populations, therapists are in a unique position to assist
      individuals with these problems. It is assumed that therapists possess general
      diagnostic and treatment skills and yet many do not diagnose or do not treat
      addictive behaviors. Reasons for making these errors include prohibitive beliefs
      and limited knowledge about addictive behaviors. We offer specific
      recommendations to reduce these psychotherapy errors. These include: (a) more
      deliberate screening and diagnosis of addictive behaviors, (b) increased
      application of empirically supported addiction treatments, (c) required education
      and training in addictive behaviors, (d) modification of prohibitive attitudes
      about addressing addictive behaviors, and (e) increased attention paid to the
      addictive behaviors by professional psychotherapy organizations.

PMID- 27631865
TI  - What clinicians miss about miscarriages: Clinical errors in the treatment of
      early term perinatal loss.
AB  - In this article, clinical errors in the treatment of perinatal grief after a
      miscarriage are discussed, including (a) minimizing or avoiding painful affects
      related to the miscarriage, (b) assuming grief is resolved upon a subsequent
      healthy pregnancy, and (c) neglecting early unresolved losses that are reawakened
      by the loss of the pregnancy. It is argued that these unintentional errors,
      frequently committed by significant others in the patient's life, are similarly
      made by well-intentioned clinicians due to a lack of knowledge about the
      psychological impact of miscarriage and, moreover, an unconscious avoidance of
      such a common yet distressing loss. Background information relevant to each
      clinical error is briefly reviewed, followed by recommendations for a better
      approach to the situation and verbatim clinical exchanges. The author suggests
      that, in general, a better approach to treatment is based on the assumptions
      that: (a) miscarriage is often a traumatic loss in a woman's life, and (b) the
      traumatic affect associated with the event should be approached, rather than
      avoided, within a safe affect regulating relationship with the therapist.
      (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631866
TI  - Clinical errors and therapist discomfort with client disclosure of troublesome
      pornography use: Implications for clinical practice and error reduction.
AB  - Mental health professionals are increasingly aware of the need for competence in
      the treatment of clients with pornography-related concerns. However, while
      researchers have recently sought to explore efficacious treatments for
      pornography-related concerns, few explorations of potential clinical judgment
      issues have occurred. Due to the sensitive, and at times uncomfortable, nature of
      client disclosures of sexual concerns within therapy, therapists are required to
      manage their own discomfort while retaining fidelity to treatment. The present
      paper explores clinician examples of judgment errors that may result from
      feelings of discomfort, and specifically from client use of pornography. Issues
      of potential bias, bias management techniques, and therapeutic implications are
      discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631867
TI  - Microaggressions: Clinical errors with sexual minority clients.
AB  - Sexual minority (SM) individuals live in a heterosexist society that denigrates
      their sexual orientation identity. The stigma and prejudice they regularly
      encounter is hypothesized to lead to their significantly increased risk for
      developing mental health disorders. Because of these factors, therapists should
      be diligent to create an affirming and supportive therapeutic environment but
      this is often not the case. SM clients frequently report experiencing sexual
      orientation microaggressions in therapy, such as heteronormative statements, a
      disregard for their sexual orientation identity, and an assumption that their
      presenting issues are rooted in their sexual orientation identity. These
      microaggressions should be viewed as bias manifested as clinical errors because
      of how they weaken therapeutic alliance, decrease the effectiveness of treatment,
      decrease utilization intent, and cultivate feelings of shame, anger, and
      misunderstanding. This article provides empirically supported findings regarding
      common SM clinical errors and microaggressions, a clinical example of such biases
      with corrective examples along with the author's personal reactions, and more
      general strategies for avoiding microaggressive errors with SM clients.
      Implications for practice, training, and research are discussed. (PsycINFO
      Database Record 

PMID- 27631868
TI  - Creating a climate for therapist improvement: A case study of an agency focused
      on outcomes and deliberate practice.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that psychotherapists may not increase in effectiveness
      over accrued experience in naturalistic settings, even settings that provide
      access to patients' outcomes. The current study examined changes in
      psychotherapists' effectiveness within an agency making a concerted effort to
      improve outcomes through the use of routine outcome monitoring coupled with
      ongoing consultation and the planful application of feedback including the use of
      deliberate practice. Data were available for 7 years of implementation from 5,128
      patients seen by 153 psychotherapists. Results indicate that outcomes indeed
      improved across time within the agency, with increases of d = 0.035 (p = .003)
      per year. In contrast with previous reports, psychotherapists in the current
      sample showed improvements within their own caseloads across time (d = 0.034, p =
      .042). It did not appear that the observed agency-level improvement was due to
      the agency simply hiring higher-performing psychotherapists or losing lower
      performing psychotherapists. Implications of these findings are discussed in
      relation to routine outcome monitoring, expertise in psychotherapy, and quality
      improvement within mental health care. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27631870
TI  - Fluorescence-tagged amphiphilic brush copolymer encapsulated Gd2O3 core-shell
      nanostructures for enhanced T 1 contrast effect and fluorescent imaging.
AB  - To obtain suitable T 1 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      application, aqueous Gd2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) with high longitudinal relativity
      (r 1) are demanded. High quality Gd2O3 NPs are usually synthesized through a non
      hydrolytic route which requires post-synthetic modification to render the NPs
      water soluble. The current challenge is to obtain aqueous Gd2O3 NPs with high
      colloidal stability and enhanced r 1 relaxivity. To overcome this challenge,
      fluorescence-tagged amphiphilic brush copolymer (AFCP) encapsulated Gd2O3 NPs
      were proposed as suitable T 1 contrast agents. Such a coating layer provided (i)
      superior aqueous stability, (ii) biocompatibility, as well as (iii) multi
      modality (conjugation with fluorescence dye). The polymeric coating layer
      thickness was simply adjusted by varying the phase-transfer parameters. By
      reducing the coating thickness, i.e. the distance between the paramagnetic centre
      and surrounding water protons, the r 1 relaxivity could be enhanced. In contrast,
      a thicker polymeric layer coating prevents Gd(3+) ions leakage, thus improving
      its biocompatibility. Therefore, it is important to strike a balance between the
      biocompatibility and the r 1 relaxivity behaviour. Lastly, by conjugating
      fluorescence moiety, an additional imaging modality was enabled, as demonstrated
      from the cell-labelling experiment. 

PMID- 27631869
TI  - Anthropological analysis of the Second World War skeletal remains from three
      karst sinkholes located in southern Croatia.
AB  - Although in the cases of war crimes the main effort goes to the identification of
      victims, it is crucial to consider the execution event as a whole. Thus, the goal
      of the research was to determine the trauma type and probable cause of death on
      skeletal remains of civilians executed by partisans from WWS found in the three
      karst sinkholes and to explain the context in which the injuries occurred. We
      determined biological profiles, pathological conditions, traumas, and assessed
      their lethality. Nineteen skeletons were found, 68.4% had, at least, one
      perimortem trauma, classified as lethal/lethal if untreated in 69.2% cases. The
      type of execution and administered violence showed to be age and health
      dependent: elderly and diseased were executed with the intention to kill, by the
      gunshot facing victims, whilst the more violent behavior expressed towards
      younger and healthy individuals was indicated by the higher frequency of blunt
      force trauma.

PMID- 27631872
TI  - Botulinum toxin A and/or soft tissue fillers for facial rehabilitation.
AB  - Botulinum toxin A and soft tissue fillers are cornerstones of facial rejuvenation
      procedures. They can also be of benefit in facial rehabilitation. We report on
      three female patients who were treated with botulinum toxin A and/or hyaluronic
      acid-based fillers, one after orthognathic surgery, two after Bell's palsy, to
      correct facial asymmetries and loss of volume to restore facial attractiveness
      and improve their self-esteem and quality of life. These minimally invasive
      procedures are safe and effective. However, they need to be repeated for the long
      term rehabilitation.

PMID- 27631871
TI  - Rare association of cystic squamous cell carcinoma and small lymphocytic B cell
      lymphoma: successful surgical approach.
AB  - Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common type of cutaneous neoplasm worldwide.
      While basal cell carcinoma is the most common tumor, squamous cell carcinoma
      (SCC) causes higher morbidity and has a risk of metastatic spread, depending on
      immune status, tumor size, and desmoplastic growth. We reported the case of a 77
      year old male patient with retroauricular tumor, which started growing 3 years
      ago and was excised, buth relapsed three times. The initial diagnosis was
      infundibular cyst. Delayed Mohs surgery was performed, as was an additional open
      lymph node biopsy of the patient's right groin, on the occasion of an indolent
      swelling of the same which developed within 3 months. The first histopathological
      report confirmed the diagnosis of a cystic squamous cell carcinoma. The
      histopathologic evaluation of the groin tumor revealed a small lymphocytic B cell
      lymphoma (BCL). The patient fulfilled the following criteria for high-risk SCC:
      tumor size >=2 cm (or 1 cm on the head and 6 mm on the genitals, hands, and
      feet), tumor thickness >=4 mm, recurrent tumor, rapid growth. Therefore, lymph
      node metastasis had to be considered. High-risk SCC has a propensity to
      metastasize. In cases of primary tumor, Mohs surgery is the most effective
      treatment, particularly in relapsing tumors. The combination of cystic SCC with a
      small-sized BCL is very rare. The differential diagnosis and treatment may be
      challenging. In high-risk SCC, lymph node enlargement warrants histologic
      evaluation. However, not all suspicious lymph node lesions corroborate as
      metastatic.

PMID- 27631873
TI  - Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma.
AB  - We report the case of a 55-year-old woman who developed a mass in the soft tissue
      of the anterior right proximal thigh. Microscopic findings in the biopsy specimen
      supported the diagnosis of sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF). This entity
      is part of a spectrum of lesions that includes low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma
      (LGFMS) and hyalinizing spindle cell tumor with giant rosettes (HSCTGR). It
      shares with LGFMS occasional overlapping histopathologic features and
      immunopositivity for MUC4. Although FUS and CREB3L2 gene rearrangements,
      characteristics of LGFMS, have been found in hybrid tumors (those with features
      of both SEF and LGFMS) and in examples of LGFMS with relapses showing SEF
      morphology, it appears that EWSR1 and CREB3L1 rearrangements predominate over FUS
      and CREB3L2 rearrangements among "pure" SEF tumors. Recent information about SEF
      is briefly reviewed.

PMID- 27631875
TI  - Extreme hypofractionation for early prostate cancer: Biology meets technology.
AB  - The aim of this review is to present the available radiobiological, technical and
      clinical data about extreme hypofractionation in primary prostate cancer
      radiotherapy. The interest in this technique is based on the favourable
      radiobiological characteristics of prostate cancer and supported by advantageous
      logistic aspects deriving from short overall treatment time. The clinical
      validity of short-term treatment schedule is proven by a body of non-randomised
      studies, using both isocentric (LINAC-based) or non-isocentric (CyberKnife(r)
      based) stereotactic body irradiation techniques. Twenty clinical studies, each
      enrolling more than 40 patients for a total of 1874 treated patients, were
      revised in terms of technological setting, toxicity, outcome and quality of life
      assessment. The implemented strategies for the tracking of the prostate and the
      sparing of the rectal wall have been investigated with particular attention. The
      urinary toxicity after prostate stereotactic body irradiation seems slightly more
      pronounced as compared to rectal adverse events, and this is more evident for
      late occurring events, but no worse as respect to conventional fractionation
      schemes. As far as the rate of severe acute toxicity is concerned, in all the
      available studies the treatment was globally well tolerated. While awaiting long
      term data on efficacy and toxicity, the analysed studies suggest that the outcome
      profile of this approach, alongside the patient convenience and reduced costs, is
      promising. Forty-eight ongoing clinical trials are also presented as a preview of
      the expectation from the near future.

PMID- 27631874
TI  - Preventing weight gain in African American breast cancer survivors using smart
      scales and activity trackers: a randomized controlled pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of two 6
      month, self-regulation interventions that focused on daily self-weighing (DSW)
      and used objective monitoring and tailored feedback about weight (+/-activity),
      to prevent weight gain among African American breast cancer survivors. METHODS:
      Participants (n = 35) were randomized to an intervention + activity monitoring
      (INT+), intervention (INT), or control (CON) group. Interventions included a
      wireless scale (+/-activity tracker) that transmitted objective data to a mobile
      app/website, emailed lessons, and tailored feedback based on objective weight (+/
      activity data). Participants completed in-person and online assessments at
      baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS: Ninety-four percent of participants
      completed assessments at 3 months, and 97 % at 6 months. Median (IQR) weight
      change after 6 months was -0.9 % (-4.4-0.1) in the INT+ (p = 0.075; p = 0.067 vs.
      CON) and -0.2 % (-4.2-1.3) in the INT groups (p = 0.463; p = 0.357 vs. CON),
      versus a 0.2 % (-0.7-1.7) gain in the CON group. The proportion of INT+, INT, and
      CON participants that were at or below baseline weight was 72.7, 53.8, and 45.5
      %, respectively (effect sizes d = 0.64, d = 0.18). Most INT+ participants weighed
      and wore trackers >=5 days/week (INT+, 81.9 % vs. INT, 38.5 % vs. CON, 0 %; p <
      0.0005; INT+, 72.7 %). Both intervention groups perceived DSW as positive, and
      100 % would recommend the program to other breast cancer survivors. CONCLUSION:
      An intervention focused on DSW as a self-monitoring strategy shows promise for
      preventing weight gain in breast cancer survivors. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER
      SURVIVORS: Daily self-monitoring of weight and activity may be a feasible and
      accessible approach to promote weight gain prevention in breast cancer survivors.
      CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02030353.

PMID- 27631876
TI  - High-Resolution Expression Profiling of Peripheral Blood CD8+ Cells in Patients
      with Multiple Sclerosis Displays Fingolimod-Induced Immune Cell Redistribution.
AB  - Fingolimod, a sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator, is an oral drug
      approved for the treatment of active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
      (RRMS). It selectively inhibits the egress of lymphocytes from lymph nodes. We
      studied the changes in the transcriptome of peripheral blood CD8+ cells to
      unravel the effects at the molecular level during fingolimod therapy. We
      separated CD8+ cells from the blood of RRMS patients before the first dose of
      fingolimod as well as 24 h and 3 months after the start of therapy. Changes in
      the expression of coding and non-coding genes were measured with high-density
      Affymetrix Human Transcriptome Array (HTA) 2.0 microarrays. Differentially
      expressed genes in response to therapy were identified by t test and fold change
      and analyzed for their functions and molecular interactions. No gene was
      expressed at significantly higher or lower levels 24 h after the first
      administration of fingolimod compared to baseline. However, after 3 months of
      therapy, 861 transcripts were found to be differentially expressed, including
      interleukin and chemokine receptors. Some of the genes are associated to the S1P
      pathway, such as the receptor S1P5 and the kinase MAPK1, which were significantly
      increased in expression. The fingolimod-induced transcriptome changes reflect a
      shift in the proportions of CD8+ T cell subsets, with CCR7- effector memory T
      cells being relatively increased in frequency in the blood of fingolimod-treated
      patients. In consequence, CCR7 mRNA levels were reduced by >80 % and genes
      involved in T cell activation and lymphocyte cytotoxicity were increased in
      expression. Gene regulatory programs caused by downstream S1P signaling had only
      minor effects.

PMID- 27631877
TI  - Vasopressin Impairment During Sepsis Is Associated with Hypothalamic Intrinsic
      Apoptotic Pathway and Microglial Activation.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that in the early phase of sepsis, the plasma
      concentration of arginine vasopressin (AVP) is increased, but in the late phase,
      its levels remain inadequately low, despite of persistent hypotension. One
      hypothesis suggested for this relative deficiency is apoptosis of
      vasopressinergic neurons. Here, we investigated apoptosis pathways in the
      hypothalamus during sepsis, as well as mechanisms underlying this process. Male
      Wistar rats were submitted to sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or
      nonmanipulated (naive) as control. After 6 and 24 h, the animals were decapitated
      and brain and blood were collected to assess hypothalamic apoptotic markers, IFN
      gamma plasma levels, and evidence for breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
      Sepsis caused a decrease in mitochondrial antiapoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL)
      in the hypothalamus, but had no effect on markers of cell death mediated by death
      receptors or immune cells. In the supraoptic nuclei of these animals, microglia
      morphology was consistent with activation, associated with an increase in plasma
      IFN-gamma. A transitory breakdown of BBB in the hypothalamus was seen at 6 h
      following CLP. The results indicate that the intrinsic but not extrinsic
      apoptosis pathway is involved in the cell death observed in vasopressinergic
      neurons, and that this condition is temporally associated with microglial
      activation and BBB leaking.

PMID- 27631878
TI  - Mitochondrial CHCHD-Containing Proteins: Physiologic Functions and Link with
      Neurodegenerative Diseases.
AB  - The coiled-coil-helix-coiled-coil-helix domain (CHCHD)-containing proteins are
      evolutionarily conserved nucleus-encoded small mitochondrial proteins with
      important functions. So far, nine members have been identified in this protein
      family. All CHCHD proteins have at least one functional coiled-coil-helix-coiled
      coil-helix (CHCH) domain, which is stabilized by two pairs of disulfide bonds
      between two helices. CHCHD proteins have various important pathophysiological
      roles in mitochondria and other key cellular processes. Mutations of CHCHD
      proteins have been associated with various human neurodegenerative diseases.
      Mutations of CHCHD10 are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
      and/or frontotemporal lobe dementia (FTD), motor neuron disease, and late-onset
      spinal muscular atrophy and autosomal dominant mitochondrial myopathy. CHCHD10
      stabilizes mitochondrial crista ultrastructure and maintains its integrity. In
      patients with CHCHD10 mutations, there are abnormal mitochondrial crista
      structure, deficiencies of respiratory chain complexes, impaired mitochondrial
      respiration, and multiple mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions. Recently, CHCHD2
      mutations are linked with autosomal dominant and sporadic Parkinson's disease
      (PD). The CHCHD2 is a multifunctional protein and plays roles in regulation of
      mitochondrial metabolism, synthesis of respiratory chain components, and
      modulation of cell apoptosis. With a better understanding of the pathophysiologic
      roles of CHCHD proteins, they may be potential novel therapeutic targets for
      human neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27631880
TI  - A Tol2 Gateway-Compatible Toolbox for the Study of the Nervous System and
      Neurodegenerative Disease.
AB  - Currently there is a lack in fundamental understanding of disease progression of
      most neurodegenerative diseases, and, therefore, treatments and preventative
      measures are limited. Consequently, there is a great need for adaptable, yet
      robust model systems to both investigate elementary disease mechanisms and
      discover effective therapeutics. We have generated a Tol2 Gateway-compatible
      toolbox to study neurodegenerative disorders in zebrafish, which includes
      promoters for astrocytes, microglia and motor neurons, multiple fluorophores, and
      compatibility for the introduction of genes of interest or disease-linked genes.
      This toolbox will advance the rapid and flexible generation of zebrafish models
      to discover the biology of the nervous system and the disease processes that lead
      to neurodegeneration.

PMID- 27631879
TI  - Plasma miR-34a-5p and miR-545-3p as Early Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease:
      Potential and Limitations.
AB  - Plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) have been proposed as potential biomarkers in
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we explored their use as early sensors of the
      preclinical phase of the disease, when brain pathology is being developed and no
      cognitive loss is detected. For this purpose, we analyzed a set of ten mature
      plasma miRNAs in symptomatic patients with AD from a cohort that also included
      healthy controls (HC) and patients with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (PAD)
      (cohort 1). Plasmas from subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) were used to
      control for disease specificity. We found that miR-15b-5p, miR-34a-5p, miR-142
      3p, and miR-545-3p levels significantly distinguished AD from PD and HC subjects.
      We next examined the expression of these four miRNAs in plasma from subjects with
      PAD. Among these, miR-34a-5p and miR-545-3p presented good diagnostic accuracy to
      distinguish both AD and PAD from HC subjects, according to the receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Both miRNAs also demonstrated a significant
      positive correlation with Abeta1-42 levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Taking
      into account the clinical potential of these findings, we decided to validate the
      diagnostic accuracy of miR-34a-5p and miR-545-3p in plasma samples from an
      independent cohort (cohort 2), in which we did not observe the alterations
      described by us and others in AD and PAD samples. Although miR-34a-5p and miR-545
      3p might be promising early biomarker candidates for AD, our study highlights
      possible sources of variability in miRNA analysis across hospitals, which
      currently prevents their use as reliable clinical tools.

PMID- 27631881
TI  - Anatomical recommendations for safe botulinum toxin injection into temporalis
      muscle: a simplified reproducible approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to simplify the anatomically safe and
      reproducible approach for BoNT injection and to generate a detailed topographic
      map of the important anatomical structures of the temporal region by dividing the
      temporalis into nine equally sized compartments. METHODS: Nineteen sides of
      temporalis muscle were used. The topographies of the superficial temporal artery,
      middle temporal vein, temporalis tendon, and the temporalis muscle were
      evaluated. Also evaluated was the postural relations among the foregoing
      anatomical structures in the temporalis muscle, pivoted upon a total of nine
      compartments. RESULTS: The temporalis above the zygomatic arch exhibited an
      oblique quadrangular shape with rounded upper right and left corners. The
      distance between the anterior and posterior margins of the temporalis muscle was
      equal to the width of the temporalis rectangle, and the distance between the
      reference line and the superior temporalis margin was equal to its height. The
      mean ratio of width to height was 5:4. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend compartments Am,
      Mu, and Pm (coordinates of the rectangular outline) as areas in the temporal
      region for BoNT injection, because using these sites will avoid large blood
      vessels and tendons, thus improving the safety and reproducibility of the
      injection.

PMID- 27631882
TI  - The retrospective analysis of the relationship between prescribed dose and risk
      factor for seed migration in iodine-125 prostate brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim was to determine the dose-specific incidence and predictors of
      seed loss/migration after permanent seed implantation (PI) for localized prostate
      cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 79 patients with T1c-T3a prostate
      cancer who underwent prostate brachytherapy with loose iodine-125 seeds were
      retrospectively reviewed. Of these patients, 33 with low or intermediate risk
      underwent PI with the prescribed dose of 160 Gy for the clinical target volume
      (CTV), and 46 with high risk underwent PI with 110 Gy for the CTV followed by
      external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with 45 Gy. Each CTV was defined as a contoured
      prostate. After PI, the incidence of seed loss/migration was assessed by a series
      of radiographs. RESULTS: Seed migration occurred in 22 (0.479 %) of 4589
      implanted seeds 1 month after implantation. In PI alone, the number of needles (P
      = 0.081) and the number of seeds (P = 0.071) showed a trend for a difference
      between those with and without seed loss. In PI + EBRT, there was a significant
      difference in the discrepancy between the seed numbers calculated by the nomogram
      and actually implanted (P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the
      discrepancy in seed numbers might be the predictor for seed migration in PI with
      110 Gy.

PMID- 27631883
TI  - Serial Echocardiographic Characteristics, Novel Biomarkers and Cachexia
      Development in Patients with Stable Chronic Heart Failure.
AB  - Little is known regarding objective predictors of cachexia affecting patients
      with heart failure (HF). We studied 108 stable chronic systolic HF patients with
      serial echocardiography and biomarker measurements over 10 months. Cachexia was
      defined as weight loss >=5 % from baseline or final BMI <20 kg/m2; 18.5 %
      developed cachexia. While there were no significant differences in baseline or
      serial echocardiographic measures in those developing cachexia, we found
      significant differences in baseline amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide
      (NT-proBNP), highly sensitive troponin I, sST2, and endothelin-1. Baseline log NT
      proBNP (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.57, p = 0.004) and edema (HR = 3.36, p = 0.04) were
      predictive of cachexia in an adjusted analysis. When serial measurement of
      biomarkers was considered, only percent time with NT-proBNP >=1000 pg/mL was
      predictive of cachexia. Thus, a close association exists between baseline and
      serial measurement of NT-proBNP and HF cachexia.

PMID- 27631885
TI  - Quantification of surface displacements and electromechanical phenomena via
      dynamic atomic force microscopy.
AB  - Detection of dynamic surface displacements associated with local changes in
      material strain provides access to a number of phenomena and material properties.
      Contact resonance-enhanced methods of atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been
      shown capable of detecting ~1-3 pm-level surface displacements, an approach used
      in techniques such as piezoresponse force microscopy, atomic force acoustic
      microscopy, and ultrasonic force microscopy. Here, based on an analytical model
      of AFM cantilever vibrations, we demonstrate a guideline to quantify surface
      displacements with high accuracy by taking into account the cantilever shape at
      the first resonant contact mode, depending on the tip-sample contact stiffness.
      The approach has been experimentally verified and further developed for
      piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) using well-defined ferroelectric materials.
      These results open up a way to accurate and precise measurements of surface
      displacement as well as piezoelectric constants at the pm-scale with nanometer
      spatial resolution and will allow avoiding erroneous data interpretations and
      measurement artifacts. This analysis is directly applicable to all cantilever
      resonance-based scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques. 

PMID- 27631884
TI  - A Natural Model of Mouse Cardiac Myocyte Senescence.
AB  - Many cardiac aging studies are performed on mice first and then, due to
      difficulty in mouse cardiomyocyte culture, applied the rat neonatal
      cardiomyocytes to further determine the mechanisms in vitro. Now, the
      technological challenge of mouse cardiomyocyte culture has been overcome and
      there is an increasing need for the senescence models of mouse cardiomyocytes. In
      this study, we have demonstrated that the senescence of mouse cardiomyocytes
      occurred with the extended culture time as shown by the increased beta
      galactosidase staining, increased p53 expression, decreased telomere activity,
      shorted telomere length, increased production of ROS, increased cell apoptosis,
      and impaired mitochondrial DeltaPsim. These senescent responses shared similar
      results in aged mouse heart tissues in vivo. In summary, we have established and
      characterized a novel senescence model of mouse cardiomyocytes induced by the
      extended culture time in vitro. The cell model could be useful for the increased
      cardiac aging studies worldwide.

PMID- 27631887
TI  - Fenton mediated ultrasonic disintegration of sludge biomass: Biodegradability
      studies, energetic assessment, and its economic viability.
AB  - Mechanical disintegration of sludge through ultrasonication demands high energy
      and cost. Therefore, in the present study, a comprehensive investigation was
      performed to analyze the potential of a novel method, fenton mediated sonic
      disintegration (FSD). In FSD process, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of
      sludge was first removed via fenton treatment. It was subsequently disintegrated
      via ultrasonication. Energetic assessment and economic analysis were then
      performed using net energy and cost gain (spent) as key factor to evaluate the
      practical viability of the FSD process. FSD was found to be superior over sonic
      disintegration based on its higher sludge solubilization (34.4% vs. 23.2%) and
      methane production potential (0.3gCOD/gCOD vs. 0.2gCOD/gCOD). Both energy
      analysis and cost assessment of the present study revealed that FSD could reduce
      the energy demand of ultrasonication considerably with a positive net profit of
      about 44.93USD/Ton of sludge.

PMID- 27631888
TI  - Cobalt-60 gamma-ray irradiation pretreatment and sludge protein for enhancing
      enzymatic saccharification of hybrid poplar sawdust.
AB  - In order to improve the enzymatic saccharification of hybrid poplar sawdust,
      gamma irradiation pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis in the presence of sludge
      protein were investigated. The cellulose crystallinity index were significantly
      decreased after irradiation pretreatment, and adding sludge protein improved
      enzyme activity and increased the reducing sugar yield. The conditions of
      irradiation pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis in the presence of sludge
      protein were systematically examined. The maximum reducing sugar yield was
      519mg/g under an irradiation dose of 300kGy, a sludge protein dosage of 2mg/mL,
      an enzymatic hydrolysis temperature of 45 degrees C, an enzymatic hydrolysis time
      of 84h, and a 90FPU/g enzyme loading. This work indicated that the combined
      method of gamma irradiation pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis in the presence
      of sludge protein was a promising potential for the saccharification of hybrid
      poplar sawdust.

PMID- 27631889
TI  - Short-term performance of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system
      exposed to erythromycin (ERY) and oxytetracycline (OTC).
AB  - The effects of Erythromycin (ERY) and oxytetracycline (OTC), including individual
      and combinative effect, on enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system
      within a short-term (24h) were evaluated in this study. Results showed that the P
      removal efficiency decreased to 34.6% and 0.0% under the effect of ERY (10mg/L)
      and OTC (10mg/L) for 24h. OTC concentration higher than 5mg/L was sufficient to
      cause serious adverse impact on the EBPR performance. While the performance of
      EBPR system will be impacted by ERY above 10mg/L. OTC, due to its special
      antibacterial action to the gram-negative bacteria which most PAOs belong to, has
      more serious negative effect on the EBPR performance than ERY does. Moreover, in
      the combined antibiotics test, neither synergistic nor antagonistic effect was
      detected between ERY and OTC. Finally, ERY (10mg/L) and OTC (10mg/L) could
      inhibit the microorganisms' activity, while couldn't induce serious
      microorganisms death within 24h.

PMID- 27631891
TI  - A Monte Carlo Study of Knots in Long Double-Stranded DNA Chains.
AB  - We determine knotting probabilities and typical sizes of knots in double-stranded
      DNA for chains of up to half a million base pairs with computer simulations of a
      coarse-grained bead-stick model: Single trefoil knots and composite knots which
      include at least one trefoil as a prime factor are shown to be common in DNA
      chains exceeding 250,000 base pairs, assuming physiologically relevant salt
      conditions. The analysis is motivated by the emergence of DNA nanopore sequencing
      technology, as knots are a potential cause of erroneous nucleotide reads in
      nanopore sequencing devices and may severely limit read lengths in the
      foreseeable future. Even though our coarse-grained model is only based on
      experimental knotting probabilities of short DNA strands, it reproduces the
      correct persistence length of DNA. This indicates that knots are not only a fine
      gauge for structural properties, but a promising tool for the design of polymer
      models.

PMID- 27631890
TI  - Microwave assisted alkaline pretreatment to enhance enzymatic saccharification of
      catalpa sawdust.
AB  - Catalpa sawdust, a promising biofuel production biomass, was pretreated by
      microwave-water, -NaOH, and -Ca(OH)2 to enhance enzymatic digestibility. After
      48h enzymatic hydrolysis, microwave-Ca(OH)2 pretreated sample showed the highest
      reducing sugar yield. The content of hemicellulose and lignin in catalpa sawdust
      decreased after microwave-alkali pretreatment. SEM observation showed that the
      catalpa sawdust surface with microwave-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment suffered the most
      serious erosion. Crystallinity index of catalpa sawdust increased after all three
      kinds of pretreatment. The optimum conditions of microwave-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment
      were particle size of 40mesh, Ca(OH)2 dosage of 2.25% (w/v), microwave power of
      400W, pretreatment time of 6min, enzyme loading of 175FPU/g, and hydrolysis time
      of 96h, and the reducing sugar yield of microwave-Ca(OH)2 pretreated catalpa
      sawdust reached 402.73mg/g, which increased by 682.15% compared with that of raw
      catalpa sawdust. The catalpa sawdust with microwave-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment is
      promising for biofuel production with great potential.

PMID- 27631893
TI  - Heterogeneity of Specific CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells Stimulated by CMV pp65 and IE1
      Antigens.
AB  - Characterization of human cytomegalovirus-specific T cells (CMV-T) is of critical
      importance for their potential use in adoptive immunotherapy after allogeneic
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Background frequencies of CMV-T in
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of CMV-seropositive healthy subjects
      are usually very low, hence the requirement for prolonged culture time and
      multiple stimulations to expand them. The evaluation of the end-culture
      specificity and composition has sometimes been neglected or difficult to assess
      in these settings. We explored the identity and the functionality of pp65
      specific and IE1-specific T cells, enriched in short-term cultures from PBMCs.
      Antigen-specific T cells were further isolated by IFN-gamma capture system and/or
      CD154 microbeads. Frequency of IE1-specific cytotoxic T cells in PBMCs secreting
      IFN-gamma was higher compared with the pp65-specific one, whereas the latter cell
      types showed a higher median CD107a degranulation. Cell viability, rate of CMV-T
      increase, and multicytokine secretion profile after epitope-specific short-term
      cultures were heterogenous. T cells were mainly of late effector stages but they
      significantly dropped off upon CMV rechallenge with peptide pools. In parallel,
      CMV-T expansion was accompanied by a significant increase of cytotoxic
      naive/memory stem cells (CTLs), whereas the CD4 counterpart significantly
      increased only upon stimulation with IE1. Outcome was variable and showed donor
      and epitope dependency. Differences in human leukocyte antigen and epitope
      dominance and variability in the relative number of CD3 effector cells and IFN
      gamma/CD154 expression among healthy donors could reflect the observed individual
      CMV-specific cellular immunity. This heterogeneity raises points to be considered
      when approaching adoptive immunotherapy.

PMID- 27631894
TI  - Preservation and rapid purification of DNA from decomposing human tissue samples.
AB  - One of the key features to be considered in a mass disaster is victim
      identification. However, the recovery and identification of human remains are
      sometimes complicated by harsh environmental conditions, limited facilities, loss
      of electricity and lack of refrigeration. If human remains cannot be collected,
      stored, or identified immediately, bodies decompose and DNA degrades making
      genotyping more difficult and ultimately decreasing DNA profiling success. In
      order to prevent further DNA damage and degradation after collection, tissue
      preservatives may be used. The goal of this study was to evaluate three
      customized (modified TENT, DESS, LST) and two commercial DNA preservatives
      (RNAlater and DNAgard(r)) on fresh and decomposed human skin and muscle samples
      stored in hot (35 degrees C) and humid (60-70% relative humidity) conditions for
      up to three months. Skin and muscle samples were harvested from the thigh of
      three human cadavers placed outdoors for up to two weeks. In addition, the
      possibility of purifying DNA directly from the preservative solutions ("free
      DNA") was investigated in order to eliminate lengthy tissue digestion processes
      and increase throughput. The efficiency of each preservative was evaluated based
      on the quantity of DNA recovered from both the "free DNA" in solution and the
      tissue sample itself in conjunction with the quality and completeness of
      downstream STR profiles. As expected, DNA quantity and STR success decreased with
      time of decomposition. However, a marked decrease in DNA quantity and STR quality
      was observed in all samples after the bodies entered the bloat stage
      (approximately six days of decomposition in this study). Similar amounts of DNA
      were retrieved from skin and muscle samples over time, but slightly more complete
      STR profiles were obtained from muscle tissue. Although higher amounts of DNA
      were recovered from tissue samples than from the surrounding preservative, the
      average number of reportable alleles from the "free DNA" was comparable. Overall,
      DNAgard(r) and the modified TENT buffer were the most successful tissue
      preservatives tested in this study based on STR profile success from "free DNA"
      in solution when decomposing tissues were stored for up to three months in hot,
      humid conditions.

PMID- 27631892
TI  - Long-term effects of a dyadic psycho-educational intervention on caregiver burden
      and morbidity in partners of patients with heart failure: a randomized controlled
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Partners of patients with heart failure provide both practical and
      emotional support. Many partners assume caregiving responsibilities without being
      aware of the burden related with this role. OBJECTIVE: Our work has established
      that a psycho-educational intervention has benefits at 3, but not at 12 months
      for patients with heart failure. Further we had not described the long-term
      effects in caregivers. This study aimed to determine the 24-months effects of a
      dyadic psycho-educational intervention on caregiver burden and morbidity in
      partners of patients with heart failure and study factors associated with a
      change in caregiver burden. DESIGN: A randomized controlled study design, with a
      follow-up assessment after 24 months. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Partners to
      patients with heart failure were recruited from two hospitals in the southeast of
      Sweden. INTERVENTION: A three session nurse-led psycho-educational program was
      tested and included psychosocial support to maintain the partners' physical and
      mental functions, and perceived control. Several instrument were used to measure
      caregiver burden, perceived control, physical and mental health, depression and
      morbidity. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-five partners were included. There were no
      significant differences in any index of caregiver burden or morbidity among the
      partners in the intervention and control groups after 24 months. Overall, the
      mean total caregiver burden was found to be significantly increased compared to
      baseline (36 +/- 12 vs 38 +/- 14, p < 0.05). A younger partner, less comorbidity,
      higher levels of perceived control, better physical health and less symptoms of
      depression in patients, and better mental health in the partners were factors
      associated with absence of increased caregiver burden over time. DISCUSSION AND
      CONCLUSION: Our intervention did not significantly decrease caregiver burden or
      morbidity. Over time, several aspects of burden increased in both groups. To
      improve outcomes, individualized and targeted interventions might be beneficial.
      REGISTERED ON CLINICALTRIALS. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT02398799.

PMID- 27631896
TI  - Transfer-Free Growth of Multilayer Graphene Using Self-Assembled Monolayers.
AB  - Large-area graphene needs to be directly synthesized on the desired substrates
      without using a transfer process so that it can easily be used in industrial
      applications. However, the development of a direct method for graphene growth on
      an arbitrary substrate remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate a bottom-up and
      transfer-free growth method for preparing multilayer graphene using a self
      assembled monolayer (trimethoxy phenylsilane) as the carbon source. Graphene was
      directly grown on various substrates such as SiO2/Si, quartz, GaN, and textured
      Si by a simple thermal annealing process employing catalytic metal encapsulation.
      To determine the optimal growth conditions, experimental parameters such as the
      choice of catalytic metal, growth temperatures, and gas flow rate were
      investigated. The optical transmittance at 550 nm and the sheet resistance of the
      prepared transfer-free graphene are 84.3% and 3500 Omega/?, respectively. The
      synthesized graphene samples were fabricated into chemical sensors. High and fast
      responses to both NO2 and NH3 gas molecules were observed. The transfer-free
      graphene growth method proposed in this study is highly compatible with
      previously established fabrication systems, thereby opening up new possibilities
      for using graphene in versatile applications.

PMID- 27631895
TI  - Use of the pause procedure in continuing medical education: A randomized
      controlled intervention study.
AB  - During lectures, a pause procedure (the presenter pauses so students can discuss
      content) can improve educational outcomes. We aimed to determine whether (1)
      continuing medical education (CME) presentations with a pause procedure were
      evaluated more favorably and (2) a pause procedure improved recall. In this
      randomized controlled intervention study of all participants (N = 214) at the
      Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Board Review course, 48 lectures were randomly
      assigned to an intervention (pause procedure) or control (traditional lecture)
      group. The pause procedure was a 1-min pause at the middle and end of the
      presentation. Study outcomes were (1) presentation evaluation instrument scores
      and (2) number of recalled items per lecture. A total of 214 participants
      returned 145 surveys (response rate, 68%). Mean presentation evaluation scores
      were significantly higher for pause procedure than for traditional presentations
      (70.9% vs 65.8%; 95%CI for the difference, 3.5-6.7; p < .0001). Mean number of
      rapid recall items was higher for pause procedure presentations (0.68 vs 0.59;
      95%CI for the difference, 0.02-0.14; p = .01). In a traditional CME course,
      presentations with a pause procedure had higher evaluation scores and more
      content was recalled. The pause procedure could arm CME presenters with an easy
      technique to improve educational content delivery.

PMID- 27631950
TI  - Two-Dimensional Frameworks Based on Ag(I)-N Bond Formation: Single Crystal to
      Single Molecular Sheet Transformation.
AB  - A series of new two-dimensional coordination framework materials, based on Ag(I)
      N bond formation, has been synthesized and structurally characterized by single
      crystal methods. Reactions between the poly-monodentate bridging ligand N,N'
      ((1r,4r)-cyclohexane-1,4-diyl)bis(1-(pyridin-3-yl)methanimine), L1, and silver
      salts yield compounds {[Ag(L1)(MeCN)](CF3SO3-)}n, 1, {[Ag(L1)(PF2O2-)].H2O}n, 2,
      and {Ag2(L1)(tosylate)2}n, 3. The frameworks of these materials exhibit two
      distinct net topologies: 36.46.53 (1 and 2) and 44.62 (3). In all cases, L1
      ligands are found to be fully saturated, in terms of metal ion binding, with both
      sets of pyridyl and imino N atoms involved, though in 1 and 2,
      crystallographically independent L1 moieties also display pyridyl-only binding.
      Either solvent (1) or the anion (2 and 3) acts as a terminal ligand to support
      interlayer interactions in the solid state. For 2 and 3 the molecular sheet
      orientation lies in the plane of the largest crystal face, indicating that
      crystal growth is preferentially driven by coordinate bond formation. Despite the
      relatively labile nature, typical of such Ag(I)-N bonds, solvent-based
      exfoliation of crystals of 3 was shown to provide dispersions of large, MUm2,
      flakes which readily deposit on oxide surfaces as single-molecule sheets, as
      revealed by atomic force microscopy.

PMID- 27631951
TI  - School District Crisis Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Plans - United
      States, 2012.
AB  - The unique characteristics of children dictate the need for school-based all
      hazards response plans during natural disasters, emerging infectious diseases,
      and terrorism (1-3). Schools are a critical community institution serving a
      vulnerable population that must be accounted for in public health preparedness
      plans; prepared schools are adopting policies and plans for crisis preparedness,
      response, and recovery (2-4). The importance of having such plans in place is
      underscored by the development of a new Healthy People 2020 objective (PREP-5) to
      "increase the percentage of school districts that require schools to include
      specific topics in their crisis preparedness, response, and recovery plans" (5).
      Because decisions about such plans are usually made at the school district level,
      it is important to examine district-level policies and practices. Although
      previous reports have provided national estimates of the percentage of districts
      with policies and practices in place (6), these estimates have not been analyzed
      by U.S. Census region* and urbanicity.(?) Using data from the 2012 School Health
      Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS), this report examines policies and practices
      related to school district preparedness, response, and recovery. In general,
      districts in the Midwest were less likely to require schools to include specific
      topics in their crisis preparedness plans than districts in the Northeast and
      South. Urban districts tended to be more likely than nonurban districts to
      require specific topics in school preparedness plans. Southern districts tended
      to be more likely than districts in other regions to engage with partners when
      developing plans. No differences in district collaboration (with the exception of
      local fire department engagement) were observed by level of urbanicity. School
      based preparedness planning needs to be coordinated with interdisciplinary
      community partners to achieve Healthy People 2020 PREP-5 objectives for this
      vulnerable population. 

PMID- 27631952
TI  - Robotic Resection of 3 cm and Larger Thymomas Is Associated With Low
      Perioperative Morbidity and Mortality.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The approach to thymoma resection has usually been determined by tumor
      size, although established guidelines do not exist. Minimally invasive approaches
      have been limited to tumors smaller than 5 cm, although 3 cm has been the
      suggested cutoff for performing an adequate oncologic procedure. No study has
      compared the perioperative outcomes of patients with 3 cm or larger tumors
      resected robotically versus sternotomy. METHODS: We reviewed patients who
      underwent resection of 3 cm or larger thymomas from 2004 to 2014. Patients were
      divided based on approach: robotic and open thymectomy/thymomectomy. RESULTS:
      Forty patients with tumors ranging from 3 to 13 cm were evaluated, 23 robotic and
      17 open. Patient and tumor characteristics were similar. An R0 resection was
      primarily achieved: robotic, 91% (21/23); and open, 88% (15/17); P = 0.832.
      Adjuvant radiation rates were statistically equivalent: robotic, 17% (4/23)
      versus open, 41% (7/17); P = 0.191. Major postoperative complications were
      comparable: robotic, 4% (1/23) versus open, 29% (4/17); P = 0.184. Median chest
      tube duration was shorter for robotic (1 day) versus open (3 days); P = 0.001.
      The robotic approach had a shorter median intensive care unit stay compared to
      open (0 days vs 1 day); P = 0.024. The median hospital stay was shorter for
      robotic (2 days) versus open (5 days); P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: In 3 cm or larger
      thymomas, robotic thymectomy is feasible based on the ability to achieve a
      complete resection with similar adjuvant radiation therapy rates.
      Perioperatively, robotic thymectomy is associated with lower morbidity; and
      shorter chest tube duration, intensive care unit stay, and hospital stay compared
      to open. However, oncologic outcomes are immature and require prolonged
      surveillance.

PMID- 27631953
TI  - New Small-Diameter Forceps for Thoracoscopic Surgery: Technical Adaptations and
      Initial Experiences.
AB  - In this report, we describe the use of new small-diameter forceps (Endo Relief
      forceps) for port-reduced thoracoscopic surgery. Forceps were designed with end
      that were the same size and shape as conventional 5-mm forceps, except that the
      diameter of the shaft was decreased to 2.4 mm. Endo Relief forceps were used for
      thoracoscopic surgery in 18 patients. We retrospectively compared the frequency
      of grasping error between conventional small-diameter forceps and Endo Relief
      group. The mean surgical time was 57.5 minutes (range, 45-75 minutes). There were
      no complications, no recurrences of pneumothorax and lung cancer, and no deaths
      after surgery. There were no intraoperative complications and no need for a
      second surgery to open additional ports. The frequency of grasping error was
      significantly lower in the Endo Relief group compared to the conventional small
      diameter forceps group (0.17 +/- 0.23 vs 1.33 +/- 0.22; P = 0.022). Our
      experience thus far indicates that this technique has cosmetic benefit and is as
      effective as the classic 3-port technique for experienced thoracoscopic surgeons.
      Endo Relief forceps has a safety comparing conventional small-diameter forceps.

PMID- 27631954
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27631955
TI  - [Urban Health (StadtGesundheit): The Wider Perspective Exemplified by the City
      State of Hamburg].
AB  - Public health and city planning have common roots, and in many places they are
      now reuniting under the heading of urban health. To organize this field
      adequately requires a broad, integrative view of medical care, health promotion,
      and health in all urban policies. Given current crises and developments including
      climate change and globalization, such a wider perspective should also be useful
      for Germany. Using the City State of Hamburg as an example and combining historic
      and systematic approaches, we explore the preconditions for in-depth analyses.
      Our results show that health is a significant topic of Hamburg urban policy,
      featuring a broad range of structures, processes and actors, both within the
      health sector and far beyond. Health promotion over the last 30 years evolved
      notably from a niche topic into an established field with remarkable cooperative
      structures. The tradition of comprehensive reporting on urban health in Hamburg
      that was initiated more than 200 years ago is no longer alive today. However,
      local health reporting keeps integrating a wide range of diverse topics.
      Communication among the Hamburg health actors - beyond straightforward medical
      quality assurance - does not seem to focus on critical evaluations, e. g.
      concerning social and ecologic sustainability. A prerequisite for in-depth
      analyses including external comparisons is to secure permanent access to relevant
      sources. Robust approaches to this end, however, seem to be lacking. 

PMID- 27631956
TI  - Erratum: Vol. 65, No. 33.
AB  - In the report, "Increases in Fentanyl-Related Overdose Deaths - Florida and Ohio,
      2013-2015," on page 845, in "FIGURE. Number of fentanyl-related law enforcement
      submissions* and overdose deaths, and rate of fentanyl prescriptions - Florida
      and Ohio, January 2013-June 2015," in the Florida line chart, the second and
      third labels in the legend should be reversed. The second label should read
      "Fentanyl-related overdose deaths," and the third label should read "Fentanyl
      related law enforcement submissions." 

PMID- 27631957
TI  - Diabetes Care: "Lagniappe" and "Seeing Is Believing"!

PMID- 27631959
TI  - Erratum to: Analysis of coenzyme A activated compounds in actinomycetes.

PMID- 27631958
TI  - Treatment moderators and effectiveness of Engagement and Counseling for Latinos
      intervention on worry reduction in a low-income primary care sample.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We conducted a secondary analysis of randomized controlled trial data
      to determine if the Engagement and Counseling for Latinos (ECLA) intervention, a
      brief, evidence-based, and culturally adapted cognitive-behavioral intervention
      specifically designed for and effective at treating depression, also reduced co
      occurring worry symptoms. We also explored whether delivery modality (telephone,
      face-to-face) and sociodemographic patient characteristics moderated treatment
      effectiveness. METHOD: Between May 2011 and September 2012, low-income Latino
      primary care patients (N = 257) with depression from Boston and San Juan were
      randomized to usual care (n = 86), face-to-face ECLA (n = 84), or telephone ECLA
      (n = 87) and completed a psychosocial assessment at baseline and 4 months after
      randomization. We used intention-to-treat analyses with linear regression models
      with change in worry (4 months from randomization) as the primary outcome and
      treatment condition as the primary predictor. RESULTS: Patients in ECLA
      experienced significant reductions in worry at 4 months from randomization than
      those in usual care (PSWQDelta = -3.28, p < .05). Among patients receiving ECLA,
      those in the telephone condition exhibited greater worry reductions than those in
      the face-to-face condition (telephone: M = -7.83, SD = 11.45; face-to-face: M = 
      6.73, SD = 12.23; p < .05). Employment status was the only significant treatment
      moderator. Unemployed patients did not exhibit any changes in worry irrespective
      of condition, whereas employed patients exhibited the greatest worry reductions
      across conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Although worry was not a treatment target in
      ECLA, it also reduced worry among low-income Latinos, which suggests ECLA may
      have transdiagnostic clinical implications. Telephone-delivered ECLA might hold
      promise for increasing the uptake of mental health care among employed low-income
      Latinos. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27631960
TI  - The pentose phosphate pathway leads to enhanced succinic acid flux in biofilms of
      wild-type Actinobacillus succinogenes.
AB  - Increased pentose phosphate pathway flux, relative to total substrate uptake
      flux, is shown to enhance succinic acid (SA) yields under continuous, non-growth
      conditions of Actinobacillus succinogenes biofilms. Separate fermentations of
      glucose and xylose were conducted in a custom, continuous biofilm reactor at four
      different dilution rates. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase assays were performed
      on cell extracts derived from in situ removal of biofilm at each steady state.
      The results of the assays were coupled to a kinetic model that revealed an
      increase in oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP) flux relative to total
      substrate flux with increasing SA titre, for both substrates. Furthermore,
      applying metabolite concentration data to metabolic flux models that include the
      OPPP revealed similar flux relationships to those observed in the experimental
      kinetic analysis. A relative increase in OPPP flux produces additional reduction
      power that enables increased flux through the reductive branch of the TCA cycle,
      leading to increased SA yields, reduced by-product formation and complete closure
      of the overall redox balance.

PMID- 27631961
TI  - Severe tophaceous gout and disability: changes in the past 15 years.
AB  - Epidemiologic data from recent decades show a significant increase in the
      prevalence and incidence of gout worldwide, in addition to changes in its
      clinical expression. Our objective was to compare the frequency of the severity
      of gout and disability in two patient groups at our clinic during different
      periods. We included and compared data of two groups: group A (1995-2000),
      patients from previous report, and group B (2010-2014), the baseline data of
      current patients participating in a cohort (GRESGO). This evaluation included
      data of socioeconomic and educational levels, demographics, associated diseases,
      previous treatment, clinical and biochemical data, and disability evaluated using
      the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). We included data of 564 gout patients.
      Participants were 35.7 +/- 12.7 years old at onset and had 12.0 +/- 9.2-years
      disease duration at their first evaluation in our department. Group B patients
      were younger, had higher educational and socioeconomic levels, and had more
      severe disease. However, this group had less frequency of some associated
      diseases and significantly higher HAQ scores. With increased HAQ score, a higher
      number of acute flares and tender, limited-to-motion, and swollen joints were
      seen. The spectrum of gout has changed over the past decade. A higher percentage
      of our patients had a severe form of disease, were younger, had earlier disease
      onset, and had more disability reflected in higher HAQ scores. In our current
      patient group, the variable most associated with disability was limited-to-motion
      joints; however, the number of acute flares and tender and swollen joints was
      also higher in patients with greater disability.

PMID- 27631962
TI  - Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The norepinephrine transporter has been suggested to play a crucial
      role in major depressive disorder. However, norepinephrine transporter
      availability in major depressive disorder and its role with clinical symptoms are
      not known. The authors tested norepinephrine transporter availability in patients
      with major depressive disorder with the aim to identify any associations between
      test results and clinical symptoms. METHOD: The present research was a cross
      sectional study in which 19 patients with major depressive disorder and 19 age-
      and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects underwent positron emission
      tomography scanning to evaluate the norepinephrine transporter availability
      measured by the radioligand (S,S)-[18F]FMeNER-D2. Norepinephrine transporter
      availability in the thalamus and its subregions was quantified in terms of
      nondisplaceable binding potential (BPND). The authors also analyzed the
      association between norepinephrine transporter availability and clinical
      symptoms. RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects, patients with major depressive
      disorder showed 29.0% higher BPND values in the thalamus and, in particular,
      28.2% higher values in the thalamic subregion anatomically connected to the
      prefrontal cortex. Elevated norepinephrine transporter availability in the
      thalamus in patients was positively correlated with attention, as measured by the
      Trail Making Test, part A. CONCLUSIONS: These findings revealed altered
      norepinephrine transmission in patients with major depressive disorder,
      suggesting that this alteration could be related to attention in this patient
      population.

PMID- 27631963
TI  - Prediction Error Representation in Individuals With Generalized Anxiety Disorder
      During Passive Avoidance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Deficits in reinforcement-based decision making have been reported in
      generalized anxiety disorder. However, the pathophysiology of these deficits is
      largely unknown; published studies have mainly examined adolescents, and the
      integrity of core functional processes underpinning decision making remains
      undetermined. In particular, it is unclear whether the representation of
      reinforcement prediction error (PE) (the difference between received and expected
      reinforcement) is disrupted in generalized anxiety disorder. This study addresses
      these issues in adults with the disorder. METHOD: Forty-six unmedicated
      individuals with generalized anxiety disorder and 32 healthy comparison subjects
      group-matched on IQ, gender, and age performed a passive avoidance task while
      undergoing functional MRI. Data analyses were performed using a computational
      modeling approach. RESULTS: Behaviorally, individuals with generalized anxiety
      disorder showed impaired reinforcement-based decision making. Imaging results
      revealed that during feedback, individuals with generalized anxiety disorder
      relative to healthy subjects showed a reduced correlation between PE and activity
      within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and other structures
      implicated in decision making. In addition, individuals with generalized anxiety
      disorder relative to healthy participants showed a reduced correlation between
      punishment PEs, but not reward PEs, and activity within the left and right
      lentiform nucleus/putamen. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to identify
      computational impairments during decision making in generalized anxiety disorder.
      PE signaling is significantly disrupted in individuals with the disorder and may
      lead to their decision-making deficits and excessive worry about everyday
      problems by disrupting the online updating ("reality check") of the current
      relationship between the expected values of current response options and the
      actual received rewards and punishments.

PMID- 27631964
TI  - Randomized Trial of an Integrated Behavioral Health Home: The Health Outcomes
      Management and Evaluation (HOME) Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Behavioral health homes provide primary care health services to
      patients with serious mental illness treated in community mental health settings.
      The objective of this study was to compare quality and outcomes of care between
      an integrated behavioral health home and usual care. METHOD: The study was a
      randomized trial of a behavioral health home developed as a partnership between a
      community mental health center and a Federally Qualified Health Center. A total
      of 447 patients with a serious mental illness and one or more cardiometabolic
      risk factors were randomly assigned to either the behavioral health home or usual
      care for 12 months. Participants in the behavioral health home received
      integrated medical care on-site from a nurse practitioner and a full-time nurse
      care manager subcontracted through the health center. RESULTS: Compared with
      usual care, the behavioral health home was associated with significant
      improvements in quality of cardiometabolic care, concordance of treatment with
      the chronic care model, and use of preventive services. For most cardiometabolic
      and general medical outcomes, both groups demonstrated improvement, although
      there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups over
      time. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that it is possible, even under
      challenging real-world conditions, to improve quality of care for patients with
      serious mental illness and cardiovascular risk factors. Improving quality of
      medical care may be necessary, but not sufficient, to improve the full range of
      medical outcomes in this vulnerable population.

PMID- 27631965
TI  - LINC00312 inhibits the migration and invasion of bladder cancer cells by
      targeting miR-197-3p.
AB  - To investigate the influence of the long non-coding RNA LINC00312 on bladder
      cancer (BC) cell invasion and metastasis by targeting miR-197-3p. BC and
      corresponding adjacent tissues were collected. LINC00312 and miR-197-3p were
      measured, and their correlation was detected through quantitative real-time PCR
      (qRT-PCR). BC cell line T24 was transfected and grouped (five groups) according
      to different transfection conditions. A scratch test was applied to analyze cell
      migration, and a Transwell assay was used to test cell invasion ability. Western
      blotting was to measure matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, and the tissue
      inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP2) protein levels. qRT-PCR indicated that
      LINC00312 expression was lower but miR-197-3p expression was higher in BC tissues
      compared with adjacent tissues; LINC00312 was negatively correlated with miR-197
      3p. The migration test revealed that the downregulation of miR-197-3p and
      overexpression of LINC00312 inhibited cell migration and invasion abilities,
      while the overexpression of miR-197-3p and the upregulation of LINC00312 promoted
      cell migration and invasion. BC cells with downregulated miR-197-3p or
      upregulated LINC00312 had low MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels but high TIMP2. LINC00312
      inhibited BC cell invasion and metastasis through mediating miR-197-3p.

PMID- 27631967
TI  - Genome-wide identification and analysis of JHBP-domain family members in the
      silkworm Bombyx mori.
AB  - Juvenile hormone (JH) regulates the insect growth and development. JH appears in
      the hemolymph bound by a specific glycoprotein, juvenile hormone-binding protein
      (JHBP), which serves as a carrier to release the hormone to target tissues and
      cells. However, JHBP family candidates, expression patterns, and functional
      implications are still unclear. In this study, we identified 41 genes-containing
      conserved JHBP domains distributed across eight chromosomes of the silkworm
      Bombyx mori. A phylogenetic tree showed that the silkworm JHBP (BmJHBP) genes
      could be classified into two major branches and four subfamilies. Microarray data
      revealed that BmJHBP genes exhibit various expression patterns and are expressed
      in different tissues, periods, and sexes. The expression of BmJHBP genes was
      generally higher in the head, integument, midgut, fat body, testis, and ovary
      than in the anterior of the silk gland (ASG), median of the silk gland (MSG),
      posterior of the silk gland (PSG), hemocyte, and Malpighian tubule. BmJHBPd2, in
      particular, was investigated by Western Blotting, and immunofluorescent assay and
      was found to be highly expressed in the PSG cytoplasm on day 3 of the fifth
      instar, coinciding with silk production. Taken together, our findings will be
      useful in improving understanding the complexity of the JHBP family, and will lay
      the foundation of explaining functional characterization for further research.

PMID- 27631969
TI  - Correction: Cutaneous Respirometry as Novel Technique to Monitor Mitochondrial
      Function: A Feasibility Study in Healthy Volunteers.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159544.].

PMID- 27631968
TI  - Association between Intimate Partner Violence during Pregnancy and Adverse
      Pregnancy Outcomes in Vietnam: A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Violence against pregnant women is an increasing public health
      concern particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this
      study was to measure the association between intimate partner violence (IPV)
      during pregnancy and the risk of adverse birth outcomes. METHODS: Prospective
      cohort study of 1276 pregnant women in Dong Anh district, Vietnam. Women with
      gestational age less than 24 weeks were enrolled and interviewed. Repeated
      interviews were performed at 30-34 weeks gestation to assess experience of IPV
      during pregnancy and again 48 hours post-delivery to assess the birth outcome
      including birth weight and gestational age at delivery. RESULTS: There was a
      statistically significant association between exposure to physical violence
      during pregnancy and preterm birth (PTB) or low birth weight (LBW). After
      adjustment for age, education, occupation, body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin
      level, previous adverse pregnancy outcomes, the pregnant women who were exposed
      to physical violence during pregnancy were five times more likely to have PTB
      (AOR = 5.5; 95%CI: 2.1-14.1) and were nearly six times more likely to give birth
      to a child of LBW (AOR = 5.7; 95%CI: 2.2-14.9) as compared to those who were not
      exposed to physical violence. CONCLUSION: Exposure to IPV during pregnancy
      increases the risk of PTB and LBW. Case-finding for violence in relation to
      antenatal care may help protect pregnant women and improve pregnancy outcomes.

PMID- 27631966
TI  - De novo transcriptomic analysis and development of EST-SSR markers in the
      Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica).
AB  - The Siberian tiger, Panthera tigris altaica, is an endangered species, and much
      more work is needed to protect this species, which is still vulnerable to
      extinction. Conservation efforts may be supported by the genetic assessment of
      wild populations, for which highly specific microsatellite markers are required.
      However, only a limited amount of genetic sequence data is available for this
      species. To identify the genes involved in the lung transcriptome and to develop
      additional simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for the Siberian tiger, we used
      high-throughput RNA-Seq to characterize the Siberian tiger transcriptome in lung
      tissue (designated 'PTA-lung') and a pooled tissue sample (designated 'PTA').
      Approximately 47.5 % (33,187/69,836) of the lung transcriptome was annotated in
      four public databases (Nr, Swiss-Prot, KEGG, and COG). The annotated genes formed
      a potential pool for gene identification in the tiger. An analysis of the genes
      differentially expressed in the PTA lung, and PTA samples revealed that the tiger
      may have suffered a series of diseases before death. In total, 1062 non-redundant
      SSRs were identified in the Siberian tiger transcriptome. Forty-three primer
      pairs were randomly selected for amplification reactions, and 26 of the 43 pairs
      were also used to evaluate the levels of genetic polymorphism. Fourteen primer
      pairs (32.56 %) amplified products that were polymorphic in size in P. tigris
      altaica. In conclusion, the transcriptome sequences will provide a valuable
      genomic resource for genetic research, and these new SSR markers comprise a
      reasonable number of loci for the genetic analysis of wild and captive
      populations of P. tigris altaica.

PMID- 27631970
TI  - Radiation Changes the Metabolic Profiling of Melanoma Cell Line B16.
AB  - Radiation therapy can be an effective way to kill cancer cells using ionizing
      radiation, but some tumors are resistant to radiation therapy and the underlying
      mechanism still remains elusive. It is therefore necessary to establish an
      appropriate working model to study and monitor radiation-mediated cancer therapy.
      In response to cellular stress, the metabolome is the integrated profiling of
      changes in all metabolites in cells, which can be used to investigate radiation
      tolerance mechanisms and identify targets for cancer radiation sensibilization.
      In this study, using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance for untargeted metabolic
      profiling in radiation-tolerant mouse melanoma cell line B16, we comprehensively
      investigated changes in metabolites and metabolic network in B16 cells in
      response to radiation. Principal component analysis and partial least squares
      discriminant analysis indicated the difference in cellular metabolites between
      the untreated cells and X-ray radiated cells. In radiated cells, the content of
      alanine, glutamate, glycine and choline was increased, while the content of
      leucine, lactate, creatine and creatine phosphate was decreased. Enrichment
      analysis of metabolic pathway showed that the changes in metabolites were related
      to multiple metabolic pathways including the metabolism of glycine, arginine,
      taurine, glycolysis, and gluconeogenesis. Taken together, with cellular
      metabolome study followed by bioinformatic analysis to profile specific metabolic
      pathways in response to radiation, we deepened our understanding of radiation
      resistant mechanisms and radiation sensibilization in cancer, which may further
      provide a theoretical and practical basis for personalized cancer therapy. 

PMID- 27631971
TI  - Phase-Amplitude Coupling in Spontaneous Mouse Behavior.
AB  - The level of activity of many animals including humans rises and falls with a
      period of ~ 24 hours. The intrinsic biological oscillator that gives rise to this
      circadian oscillation is driven by a molecular feedback loop with an
      approximately 24 hour cycle period and is influenced by the environment, most
      notably the light:dark cycle. In addition to the circadian oscillations, behavior
      of many animals is influenced by multiple oscillations occurring at faster
      ultradian-time scales. These ultradian oscillations are also thought to be driven
      by feedback loops. While many studies have focused on identifying such ultradian
      oscillations, less is known about how the ultradian behavioral oscillations
      interact with each other and with the circadian oscillation. Decoding the
      coupling among the various physiological oscillators may be important for
      understanding how they conspire together to regulate the normal activity levels,
      as well in disease states in which such rhythmic fluctuations in behavior may be
      disrupted. Here, we use a wavelet-based cross-frequency analysis to show that
      different oscillations identified in spontaneous mouse behavior are coupled such
      that the amplitude of oscillations occurring at higher frequencies are modulated
      by the phase of the slower oscillations. The patterns of these interactions are
      different among different individuals. Yet this variability is not random.
      Differences in the pattern of interactions are confined to a low dimensional
      subspace where different patterns of interactions form clusters. These clusters
      expose the differences among individuals-males and females are preferentially
      segregated into different clusters. These sex-specific features of spontaneous
      behavior were not apparent in the spectra. Thus, our methodology reveals novel
      aspects of the structure of spontaneous animal behavior that are not observable
      using conventional methodology. 

PMID- 27631972
TI  - Pseudoaneurysm formation caused by the withdrawal of a Trevo ProVue stent at a
      tortuous cerebral vessel: a case report.
AB  - This is the first report on the mechanism of pseudoaneurysm formation after
      withdrawal of a stent retriever. A 79-year-old woman developed cardiogenic
      embolization of the distal middle cerebral artery (M2). The deployed stent
      retriever bent because of vessel tortuosity. After withdrawal of the stent with
      strong resistance, complete revascularization was achieved, but an extravasation
      was detected at the site. Eight hours after disappearance of the extravasation,
      re-bleeding occurred with aneurysm-like pooling of contrast media. Direct
      surgical observation confirmed a pseudoaneurysm formation. The pseudoaneurysm was
      likely formed by avulsion of a fine vessel during withdrawal of the stent
      retriever at a tortuous vessel.

PMID- 27631973
TI  - Pathological changes of the hippocampus and cognitive dysfunction following
      frontal lobe surgery in a rat model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a known complication
      after intracranial surgery. Impaired hippocampal neurogenesis has been associated
      with cognitive dysfunction in animal models. METHODS: In order to assess
      hippocampal changes after brain surgery, a frontal lobe corticectomy was
      performed in ten adult Wistar rats (group 4). Three different control groups (n =
      10 each) included no treatment (G1), general anesthesia alone (G2), and
      craniectomy without dural opening (G3). Twenty-four hours after surgery, half of
      the animals were killed, and the mRNA levels for IL-6, TNF-alpha, and brain
      derived growth factor (BDNF) in the contralateral hippocampus were assessed by
      qPCR. Seven days later, the remaining animals underwent anxiety and memory
      testing. Afterwards, the number of immature neurons in the hippocampal cortex was
      measured by doublecortin (DCX) staining. RESULTS: Twenty-four hours after
      surgery, mRNA levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha increased and BDNF decreased in both
      surgical groups G3 and G4 (p = 0.012). Cognitive tests demonstrated an increase
      in anxiety levels and memory impairment in surgical groups compared with non
      surgical animals. These changes correlated with an inhibition of hippocampal
      neurogenesis evidenced by a decreased number of new neurons (mean +/- SD for G1
      4: 66.4 +/- 24; 57.6 +/- 22.2; 21.3 +/- 3.78; 5.7 +/- 1.05, p < 0.001, non
      parametric ANOVA). CONCLUSIONS: Intracranial surgery was demonstrated to induce
      an inflammatory reaction within the hippocampus that compromised neurogenesis and
      impaired normal cognitive processing. Corticectomy had a greater effect than
      craniotomy alone, indicating a central trigger for hippocampal inflammatory
      changes. POCD after craniotomy may originate from a central inflammatory response
      resulting from surgical trauma to the brain parenchyma.

PMID- 27631975
TI  - Bisexual Phenomena Among Gay-Identified Men.
AB  - A high proportion of self-identified gay men exhibit aspects of bisexuality
      during their lives. Some identify as bisexual before later identifying as gay;
      this has been called transitional bisexuality. Although many gay men report no
      attraction to women-or even sexual disgust toward them-others report some slight
      attraction to women. The latter have been studied as mostly homosexual men. We
      studied men with and without a history of transitional bisexuality, as well as
      mostly homosexual (i.e., those with Kinsey scores of 5) and completely homosexual
      (i.e., those with Kinsey scores of 6) men with respect to their sexual history
      with women, their current self-reported sexual arousal and disgust toward women
      and men, and their patterns of genital sexual arousal to female and male stimuli.
      Gay men with a history of transitional bisexuality generally lacked current
      sexual attraction and sexual arousal to women, compared with other gay men. Thus,
      transitional bisexuality among future gay men is mostly a matter of transitional
      bisexual identification. In contrast, mostly homosexual men showed statistically
      significant increases in genital arousal to female stimuli, compared with
      completely homosexual men.

PMID- 27631974
TI  - Development of Accelerated Coronary Atherosclerosis Model Using Low Density
      Lipoprotein Receptor Knock-Out Swine with Balloon Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several animal models have facilitated the evaluation and
      pathological understanding of atherosclerosis, but a definitive animal model of
      coronary atherosclerosis is not available. We therefore developed low density
      lipoprotein receptor knockout (LDLR-KO) pigs with hypercholesterolemia, a model
      which rapidly developed coronary atherosclerosis following balloon injury.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We deleted LDLR exon regions from cultured porcine fetal
      fibroblasts and cloned LDLR knockout (LDLR-KO) embryos microinjecting fetal
      fibroblast nuclei into enucleated oocytes. Twelve LDLR-KO pigs were fed a 2.0%
      cholesterol and 20% fat diet. Baseline serum LDL cholesterol level was 510.0+/
      86.1 mg/dL. Balloon injury was created in 46 coronary segments and necropsy were
      obtained 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks later. Coronary artery sections were reviewed to
      evaluate lesion progression. We found lipid accumulation with foam cells and
      inflammatory cells beginning four weeks after balloon injury. The mean ratio of
      macrophages to plaque area was significantly higher in the four- weeks and eight
      week animals compared with those at 2-weeks (8.79% +/- 5.98% and 17.00% +/-
      10.38% vs. 1.14% +/- 1.88%, P < 0.0001). At 12 weeks the ratio decreased toward
      the level at 2 week level (4.00% +/- 4.56%, P = 0.66 vs. baseline). Advanced
      coronary atherosclerotic lesions contained lipid pools at eight-weeks with
      fibrous components beginning at 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a model of
      rapid coronary atherosclerosis using LDLR KO pigs with balloon injury. This model
      may be useful for preclinical evaluation of medication or devices, and may also
      help investigate mechanisms of plaque progression.

PMID- 27631976
TI  - Predicting Hotspots of Human-Elephant Conflict to Inform Mitigation Strategies in
      Xishuangbanna, Southwest China.
AB  - Research on the spatial patterns of human-wildlife conflict is fundamental to
      understanding the mechanisms underlying it and to identifying opportunities for
      mitigation. In the state of Xishuangbanna, containing China's largest tropical
      forest, an imbalance between nature conservation and economic development has led
      to increasing conflicts between humans and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), as
      both elephant numbers and conversion of habitable land to rubber plantations have
      increased over the last several decades. We analyzed government data on the
      compensation costs of elephant-caused damage in Xishuangbanna between 2008 and
      2012 to understand the spatial and temporal patterns of conflict, in terms of
      their occurrence, frequency and distribution. More than 18,261 incidents were
      reported, including episodes involving damage to rubber trees (n = 10,999),
      damage to crops such as paddy, upland rice, corn, bananas and sugarcane (n =
      11,020), property loss (n = 689) and attacks on humans (n = 19). The conflict
      data reconfirmed the presence of elephants in areas which have lacked records
      since the late 1990s. Zero Altered Negative Binomial models revealed that the
      risk of damage to crops and plantations increased with proximity to protected
      areas, increasing distance from roads, and lower settlement density. The patterns
      were constant across seasons and types of crop damaged. Damage to rubber trees
      was essentially incidental as elephants searched for crops to eat. A predictive
      map of risks revealed hotspots of conflict within and around protected areas, the
      last refuges for elephants in the region, and along habitat corridors connecting
      them. Additionally, we analyzed how mitigation efforts can best diminish the risk
      of conflict while minimizing financial costs and adverse biological impacts. Our
      analytical approach can be adopted, adjusted and expanded to other areas with
      historical records of human-wildlife conflict. 

PMID- 27631977
TI  - Cytosolic and Calcium-Independent Phospholipases A2 Activation and Prostaglandins
      E2 Are Associated with Escherichia coli-Induced Reduction of Insulin Secretion in
      INS-1E Cells.
AB  - It is suspected that microbial infections take part in the pathogenesis of
      diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM). Glucose-induced insulin secretion is accompanied
      by the release of free arachidonic acid (AA) mainly by cytosolic- and calcium
      independent phospholipases A2 (cPLA2 and iPLA2). Insulinoma cell line (INS-1E)
      was infected with E. coli isolated from the blood culture of a patient with
      sepsis. Invasion assay, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron
      Microscopy demonstrated the capacity of E. coli to enter cells, which was reduced
      by PLA2 inhibitors. Glucose-induced insulin secretion was significantly increased
      after acute infection (8h) but significantly decreased after chronic infection
      (72h). PLA2 activities, cPLA2, iPLA2, phospho-cPLA2, and COX-2 expressions were
      increased after acute and, even more, after chronic E. coli infection. The
      silencing of the two isoforms of PLA2s, with specific cPLA2- or iPLA2-siRNAs,
      reduced insulin secretion after acute infection and determined a rise in insulin
      release after chronic infection. Prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) production was
      significantly elevated in INS-1E after long-term E. coli infection and the
      restored insulin secretion in presence of L798106, a specific EP3 antagonist, and
      NS-398, a COX-2 inhibitor, and the reduction of insulin secretion in presence of
      sulprostone, a specific EP3 agonist, revealed their involvement in the effects
      triggered by bacterial infection. The results obtained demonstrated that cPLA2
      and iPLA2 play a key role in insulin secretion process after E. coli infection.
      The high concentration of AA released is transformed into PGE2, which could be
      responsible for the reduced insulin secretion. 

PMID- 27631978
TI  - Analysis of Polymorphic Membrane Protein Expression in Cultured Cells Identifies
      PmpA and PmpH of Chlamydia psittaci as Candidate Factors in Pathogenesis and
      Immunity to Infection.
AB  - The polymorphic membrane protein (Pmp) paralogous families of Chlamydia
      trachomatis, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia abortus are putative targets for
      Chlamydia vaccine development. To determine whether this is also the case for Pmp
      family members of C. psittaci, we analyzed transcription levels, protein
      production and localization of several Pmps of C. psittaci. Pmp expression
      profiles were characterized using quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR),
      immunofluorescence (IF) and immuno-electron microscopy (IEM) under normal and
      stress conditions. We found that PmpA was highly produced in all inclusions as
      early as 12 hpi in all biological replicates. In addition, PmpA and PmpH appeared
      to be unusually accessible to antibody as determined by both immunofluorescence
      and immuno-electron microscopy. Our results suggest an important role for these
      Pmps in the pathogenesis of C. psittaci, and make them promising candidates in
      vaccine development. 

PMID- 27631979
TI  - Gender Difference in Bacteria Endotoxin-Induced Inflammatory and Anorexic
      Responses.
AB  - Inflammation-related anorexic response has been observed in systemic diseases as
      well as in localized infection and is an important issue in patient care. We
      tested the hypothesis that upon the same endotoxin exposure, males have more
      severe inflammatory responses and thus suffer from more negative effect on
      appetite. Ten-week old male and female mice were compared in their plasma levels
      of pro-inflammatory cytokines after a body weight-based i.p. injection of
      bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide. Male mice consistently showed
      significantly higher levels of IL6 and TNFalpha than female mice. The difference
      was observed starting at 3 hours after the systemic endotoxin exposure. It was
      independent of the level of endotoxin dosage and of the genotype of the anti
      inflammatory cytokine, IL10. Interestingly, endotoxin-injected male mice also had
      significantly higher plasma IL10 levels compared to the female mice. Pre-puberty
      young mice showed no gender differences in the plasma levels of IL6, TNFalpha and
      IL10. Their cytokine levels were mostly between that of the adult males and
      females. Consistent with the higher inflammatory response in male mice, the
      endotoxin exposure also led to significantly more appetite loss in male mice at a
      range of doses in two strains of mice. Saline injection in the absence of
      endotoxin affected neither the cytokine levels nor the appetite. Although a
      direct mechanistic link between inflammation parameters and appetite was not
      addressed here, the results support that male gender could be a risk factor for
      higher pro-inflammatory cytokines and anorexic response after the endotoxin
      exposure. 

PMID- 27631980
TI  - The Role of Nurses and Community Health Workers in Confronting Neglected Tropical
      Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neglected tropical diseases produce an enormous burden on many of
      the poorest and most disenfranchised populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Similar
      to other developing areas throughout the world, this region's dearth of skilled
      health providers renders Western-style primary care efforts to address such
      diseases unrealistic. Consequently, many countries rely on their corps of nurses
      and community health workers to engage with underserved and hard-to-reach
      populations in order provide interventions against these maladies. This article
      attempts to cull together recent literature on the impact that nurses and
      community health workers have had on neglected tropical diseases. METHODS: A
      review of the literature was conducted to assess the role nurses and community
      health workers play in the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of
      neglected tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Articles published between
      January 2005 and December 2015 were reviewed in order to capture the full scope
      of nurses' and community health workers' responsibilities for neglected tropical
      disease control within their respective countries' health systems. RESULTS: A
      total of 59 articles were identified that fit all inclusion criteria.
      CONCLUSIONS: Successful disease control requires deep and meaningful engagement
      with local communities. Expanding the role of nurses and community health workers
      will be required if sub-Saharan African countries are to meet neglected tropical
      disease treatment goals and eliminate the possibility future disease
      transmission. Horizontal or multidisease control programs can create
      complimentary interactions between their different control activities as well as
      reduce costs through improved program efficiencies-benefits that vertical
      programs are not able to attain.

PMID- 27631981
TI  - Association between the Presence of Autoantibodies Targeting Ficolin-3 and Active
      Nephritis in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized
      by the production of multiple autoantibodies. Antibodies against Ficolin-3 were
      previously identified in the sera of some SLE patients, but their prevalence and
      significance have not been yet investigated. The aims of this study were to
      determine the prevalence of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies among SLE patients and to
      investigate their potential as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers in SLE. In
      this retrospective study, sera from SLE patients (n = 165) were selected from a
      preexisting declared biological collection. Samples from healthy controls (n =
      48) were matched with SLE sera. Disease activity was determined according to the
      SLEDAI score. Anti-ficolin-3, anti-dsDNA and anti-C1q antibodies levels were
      measured in sera by ELISA. First, a highly significant difference was found in
      the anti-ficolin-3 levels between SLE patients and healthy subjects. Anti-ficolin
      3 antibodies were detected as positive in 56 of 165 (34%) SLE patients. The titer
      of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies was correlated with the SLEDAI score (r = 0.38,
      p<0.0001). The presence of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies was associated with anti-C1q
      and anti-dsDNA antibodies. Regarding associations with clinical manifestations,
      the presence of active lupus nephritis was significantly associated with the
      presence of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies (p<=0.001). This association with renal
      involvement was higher with anti-ficolin-3 or anti-C1q antibodies than with other
      auto-antibodies. Interestingly, the combination of anti-ficolin-3 and anti-C1q
      antibodies demonstrated higher specificity than any other serological biomarker.
      These results suggest that anti-ficolin-3 antibodies could be useful for the
      diagnosis of active nephritis in SLE patients. 

PMID- 27631983
TI  - Development and Application of the Chinese (Mainland) Version of Chronic Liver
      Disease Questionnaire to Assess the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in
      Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop the Chinese (Mainland) version of Chronic Liver Disease
      Questionnaire (CLDQ) and use it to assess the health-related quality of life
      (HRQoL) of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in China and identify the
      determinants of HRQoL. METHODS: The Chinese (Mainland) CLDQ was developed by
      expert consultation, focus group interviews with patients, and pilot study. The
      final version of questionnaire was adopted to assess the HRQoL of chronic
      hepatitis B outpatients enrolled from two largest infectious hospitals in
      Beijing. Cronbach' s alpha was used to measure the internal consistency
      reliability. The construct validity was measured by factor analysis. T-test, one
      way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multi-variable linear regression were used
      to analyze the data. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha of the overall CLDQ is 0.935,
      ranging from 0.628 to o.881 among six subscales. Six factors were identified via
      factor analysis, including a new factor sleeping(SL). A total of 519 patients
      with CHB were included in the investigation with the final version of
      questionnaire, 405 of them were only with CHB, 53 with compensated cirrhosis, and
      61 with decompensated cirrhosis. The CHB group scored the highest in the overall
      score of CLDQ (p<0.05). The score of worry (WO) domain was significantly lower in
      the compensated group than the CHB group (p<0.05). Decompensated cirrhosis
      patients scored lower than the CHB group in all CLDQ domains and the overall
      score (p<0.05). Stages of illness, gender, regular visits to specialized
      hospitals, and work status in last year were determinants of HRQoL. CONCLUSION:
      The psychometric properties of the Chinese(Mainland) CLDQ is acceptable. The
      HRQoL of CHB patients deteriorated with disease progression. Advanced stages of
      CHB, female, long time absence from work after illness, and no job or retirement
      were determinants of poor HRQoL. Regular visits to specialized hospitals was a
      positive determinant of HRQoL.

PMID- 27631982
TI  - The Contribution of Increased Gamma Band Connectivity to Visual Non-Verbal
      Reasoning in Autistic Children: A MEG Study.
AB  - Some individuals with autism spectrum (AS) perform better on visual reasoning
      tasks than would be predicted by their general cognitive performance. In
      individuals with AS, mechanisms in the brain's visual area that underlie visual
      processing play a more prominent role in visual reasoning tasks than they do in
      normal individuals. In addition, increased connectivity with the visual area is
      thought to be one of the neural bases of autistic visual cognitive abilities.
      However, the contribution of such brain connectivity to visual cognitive
      abilities is not well understood, particularly in children. In this study, we
      investigated how functional connectivity between the visual areas and higher
      order regions, which is reflected by alpha, beta and gamma band oscillations,
      contributes to the performance of visual reasoning tasks in typically developing
      (TD) (n = 18) children and AS children (n = 18). Brain activity was measured
      using a custom child-sized magneto-encephalograph. Imaginary coherence analysis
      was used as a proxy to estimate the functional connectivity between the occipital
      and other areas of the brain. Stronger connectivity from the occipital area, as
      evidenced by higher imaginary coherence in the gamma band, was associated with
      higher performance in the AS children only. We observed no significant
      correlation between the alpha or beta bands imaginary coherence and performance
      in the both groups. Alpha and beta bands reflect top-down pathways, while gamma
      band oscillations reflect a bottom-up influence. Therefore, our results suggest
      that visual reasoning in AS children is at least partially based on an enhanced
      reliance on visual perception and increased bottom-up connectivity from the
      visual areas. 

PMID- 27631984
TI  - Which System Variables Carry Robust Early Signs of Upcoming Phase Transition? An
      Ecological Example.
AB  - Growth of critical fluctuations prior to catastrophic state transition is
      generally regarded as a universal phenomenon, providing a valuable early warning
      signal in dynamical systems. Using an ecological fisheries model of three
      populations (juvenile prey J, adult prey A and predator P), a recent study has
      reported silent early warning signals obtained from P and A populations prior to
      saddle-node (SN) bifurcation, and thus concluded that early warning signals are
      not universal. By performing a full eigenvalue analysis of the same system we
      demonstrate that while J and P populations undergo SN bifurcation, A does not
      jump to a new state, so it is not expected to carry early warning signs. In
      contrast with the previous study, we capture a significant increase in the noise
      induced fluctuations in the P population, but only on close approach to the
      bifurcation point; it is not clear why the P variance initially shows a decaying
      trend. Here we resolve this puzzle using observability measures from control
      theory. By computing the observability coefficient for the system from the
      recordings of each population considered one at a time, we are able to quantify
      their ability to describe changing internal dynamics. We demonstrate that
      precursor fluctuations are best observed using only the J variable, and also P
      variable if close to transition. Using observability analysis we are able to
      describe why a poorly observable variable (P) has poor forecasting capabilities
      although a full eigenvalue analysis shows that this variable undergoes a
      bifurcation. We conclude that observability analysis provides complementary
      information to identify the variables carrying early-warning signs about
      impending state transition. 

PMID- 27631985
TI  - The Development and Characteristics of Ancient Harbours-Applying the PADM Chart
      to the Case Studies of Ostia and Portus.
AB  - Over the last 20 years, the geoarchaeology of ancient harbours has been a very
      active area of research around the Mediterranean basin, generating much
      palaeoenvironmental data from many sites, including estimations of sedimentation
      rates, the height of the ancient sea-level at different dates and palaeo
      geographical reconstructions. Combining this information has proved a major
      challenge. This article proposes a new chart called the Palaeoenvironmental Age
      Depth Model (PADM chart), that allows the researchers to combine all relevant
      indicators in order to estimate harbour potential of a given ancient port, and to
      generate comparable data between harbours in terms of degree of closure and water
      depth available against a synchronised chronology. This new approach, developed
      in the context of the ERC-funded RoMP Portuslimen project, takes into account
      estimations of water depths relating to differing Roman ship draughts at
      different periods. It is tested against the palaeoenvironmental evidence
      published over 10 years from two Roman harbours located at the mouth of the river
      Tiber: Ostia and Portus. This reveals that: (1) there has been an underestimate
      of the real sedimentation rates due to the margins of error of the radiocarbon
      dates; (2) there was effective control of the water column by dredging; (3) there
      were different periods of control of the sedimentation. We suggest that the
      navigability of the Ostia harbour by ships with shallower draughts was maintained
      until sometime between the 2nd c. BC and 1st c. AD, while at Portus it was
      retained until the 6th-7th c. AD. 

PMID- 27631988
TI  - On the comprehensibility and perceived privacy protection of indirect questioning
      techniques.
AB  - On surveys that assess sensitive personal attributes, indirect questioning aims
      at increasing respondents' willingness to answer truthfully by protecting
      confidentiality. However, the assumption that subjects understand questioning
      procedures fully and trust them to protect their privacy is rarely tested. In a
      scenario-based design, we compared four indirect questioning procedures in terms
      of their comprehensibility and perceived privacy protection. All indirect
      questioning techniques were found to be less comprehensible by respondents than a
      conventional direct question used for comparison. Less-educated respondents
      experienced more difficulties when confronted with any indirect questioning
      technique. Regardless of education, the crosswise model was found to be the most
      comprehensible among the four indirect methods. Indirect questioning in general
      was perceived to increase privacy protection in comparison to a direct question.
      Unexpectedly, comprehension and perceived privacy protection did not correlate.
      We recommend assessing these factors separately in future evaluations of indirect
      questioning.

PMID- 27631989
TI  - Eye tracking under dichoptic viewing conditions: a practical solution.
AB  - In several research contexts it is important to obtain eye-tracking measures
      while presenting visual stimuli independently to each of the two eyes (dichoptic
      stimulation). However, the hardware that allows dichoptic viewing, such as
      mirrors, often interferes with high-quality eye tracking, especially when using a
      video-based eye tracker. Here we detail an approach to combining mirror-based
      dichoptic stimulation with video-based eye tracking, centered on the fact that
      some mirrors, although they reflect visible light, are selectively transparent to
      the infrared wavelength range in which eye trackers record their signal. Although
      the method we propose is straightforward, affordable (on the order of US$1,000)
      and easy to implement, for many purposes it makes for an improvement over
      existing methods, which tend to require specialized equipment and often
      compromise on the quality of the visual stimulus and/or the eye tracking signal.
      The proposed method is compatible with standard display screens and eye trackers,
      and poses no additional limitations on the quality or nature of the stimulus
      presented or the data obtained. We include an evaluation of the quality of eye
      tracking data obtained using our method, and a practical guide to building a
      specific version of the setup used in our laboratories.

PMID- 27631987
TI  - Increasing Capacity for the Treatment of Common Musculoskeletal Problems: A Non
      Inferiority RCT and Economic Analysis of Corticosteroid Injection for Shoulder
      Pain Comparing a Physiotherapist and Orthopaedic Surgeon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Role substitution is a strategy employed to assist health services
      manage the growing demand for musculoskeletal care. Corticosteroid injection is a
      common treatment in this population but the efficacy of its prescription and
      delivery by physiotherapists has not been established against orthopaedic
      standards. This paper investigates whether corticosteroid injection given by a
      physiotherapist for shoulder pain is as clinically and cost effective as that
      from an orthopaedic surgeon. METHODS: A double blind non-inferiority randomized
      controlled trial was conducted in an Australian public hospital orthopaedic
      outpatient service, from January 2013 to June 2014. Adults with a General
      Practitioner referral to Orthopaedics for shoulder pain received subacromial
      corticosteroid and local anaesthetic injection prescribed and delivered
      independently by a physiotherapist or a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. The main
      outcome measure was total Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) score at
      baseline, six and 12 weeks, applying a non-inferiority margin of 15 points.
      Secondary outcomes tested for superiority included pain, shoulder movement,
      perceived improvement, adverse events, satisfaction, quality of life and costs.
      RESULTS: 278 participants were independently assessed by the physiotherapist and
      the orthopaedic surgeon, with 64 randomised (physiotherapist 33, orthopaedic
      surgeon 31). There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics
      between groups. Non-inferiority of injection by the physiotherapist was declared
      from total SPADI scores at 6 and 12 weeks (upper limit of the 95% one-sided
      confidence interval 13.34 and 7.17 at 6 and 12 weeks, respectively). There were
      no statistically significant differences between groups on any outcome measures
      at 6 or 12 weeks. From the perspective of the health funder, the physiotherapist
      was less expensive. CONCLUSIONS: Corticosteroid injection for shoulder pain,
      provided by a suitably qualified physiotherapist is at least as clinically
      effective, and less expensive, compared with similar care delivered by an
      orthopaedic surgeon. Policy makers and service providers should consider
      implementing this model of care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australia and New Zealand
      Clinical Trials Registry 12612000532808.

PMID- 27631986
TI  - Progesterone-Based Therapy Protects Against Influenza by Promoting Lung Repair
      and Recovery in Females.
AB  - Over 100 million women use progesterone therapies worldwide. Despite having
      immunomodulatory and repair properties, their effects on the outcome of viral
      diseases outside of the reproductive tract have not been evaluated.
      Administration of exogenous progesterone (at concentrations that mimic the luteal
      phase) to progesterone-depleted adult female mice conferred protection from both
      lethal and sublethal influenza A virus (IAV) infection. Progesterone treatment
      altered the inflammatory environment of the lungs, but had no effects on viral
      load. Progesterone treatment promoted faster recovery by increasing TGF-beta, IL
      6, IL-22, numbers of regulatory Th17 cells expressing CD39, and cellular
      proliferation, reducing protein leakage into the airway, improving pulmonary
      function, and upregulating the epidermal growth factor amphiregulin (AREG) in the
      lungs. Administration of rAREG to progesterone-depleted females promoted
      pulmonary repair and improved the outcome of IAV infection. Progesterone
      treatment of AREG-deficient females could not restore protection, indicating that
      progesterone-mediated induction of AREG caused repair in the lungs and
      accelerated recovery from IAV infection. Repair and production of AREG by damaged
      respiratory epithelial cell cultures in vitro was increased by progesterone. Our
      results illustrate that progesterone is a critical host factor mediating
      production of AREG by epithelial cells and pulmonary tissue repair following
      infection, which has important implications for women's health.

PMID- 27631990
TI  - Validation of sleep-2-Peak: A smartphone application that can detect fatigue
      related changes in reaction times during sleep deprivation.
AB  - Despite its high sensitivity and validity in the context of sleep loss, the
      Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) could be improved. The aim of the present study
      was to validate a new smartphone PVT-type application called sleep-2-Peak (s2P)
      by determining its ability to assess fatigue-related changes in alertness in a
      context of extended wakefulness. Short 3-min versions of s2P and of the classic
      PVT were administered at every even hour during a 35-h total sleep deprivation
      protocol. In addition, subjective measures of sleepiness were collected. The
      outcomes on these tests were then compared using Pearson product-moment
      correlations, t tests, and repeated measures within-groups analyses of variance.
      The results showed that both tests significantly correlated on all outcome
      variables, that both significantly distinguished between the alert and sleepy
      states in the same individual, and that both varied similarly through the sleep
      deprivation protocol as sleep loss accumulated. All outcome variables on both
      tests also correlated significantly with the subjective measures of sleepiness.
      These results suggest that a 3-min version of s2P is a valid tool for
      differentiating alert from sleepy states and is as sensitive as the PVT for
      tracking fatigue-related changes during extended wakefulness and sleep loss.
      Unlike the PVT, s2P does not provide feedback to subjects on each trial. We
      discuss how this feature of s2P raises the possibility that the performance
      results measured by s2P could be less impacted by motivational confounds, giving
      this tool added value in particular clinical and/or research settings.

PMID- 27631991
TI  - Holos: A collaborative environment for similarity-based holistic approaches.
AB  - Through this article, we aim to introduce Holos-a new collaborative environment
      that allows researchers to carry out experiments based on similarity assessments
      between stimuli, such as in projective-mapping and sorting tasks. An important
      feature of Holos is its capacity to assess real-time individual processes during
      the task. Within the Holos environment, researchers can design experiments on its
      platform, which can handle four kinds of stimuli: concepts, images, sounds, and
      videos. In addition, researchers can share their study resources within the
      scientific community, including stimuli, experimental protocols, and/or the data
      collected. With a dedicated Android application combined with a tactile human
      machine interface, subjects can perform experiments using a tablet to obtain
      similarity measures between stimuli. On the tablet, the stimuli are displayed as
      icons that can be dragged with one finger to position them, depending on the ways
      they are perceived. By recording the x,y coordinates of the stimuli while
      subjects move the icons, the obtained data can reveal the cognitive processes of
      the subjects during the experiment. Such data, named digit-tracking data, can be
      analyzed with the SensoMineR package. In this article, we describe how
      researchers can design an experiment, how subjects can perform the experiment,
      and how digit-tracking data can be statistically analyzed within the Holos
      environment. At the end of the article, a short exemplary experiment is
      presented.

PMID- 27631992
TI  - The Pioneering and Unknown Stereotactic Approach of Roeder and Orthner from
      Gottingen. Part I. Surgical Technique for Tailoring Individualized Stereotactic
      Lesions.
AB  - During the 1950s through the 1970s, Hans Orthner and Fritz Roeder, two German
      neurologists from Gottingen, developed a sophisticated technique to perform
      functional stereotactic surgery with outstanding accuracy. They introduced direct
      air ventriculography performed in the same surgical session as the ablative
      stereotactic procedure. For individualized surgical targeting, Orthner prepared a
      stereotactic atlas (>60 brains) with an ingenious brain-slicing device, the
      Gottinger macrotome. Brains were grouped based on similarity of six different
      head and ventricle measurements. A brain cluster representing the best match for
      a patient was selected for stereotactic targeting. Stereotactic lesions were
      tailored in an individual manner and shaped by stringing together multiple small
      coagulations following intraoperative test stimulation. This was achieved from a
      single probe trajectory by using well-engineered string electrodes with
      calibrated curving and involved laborious calculations. Only high-frequency
      thermocoagulation was regarded as appropriate for lesioning. With this meticulous
      technique, the most advanced stereotactic procedures were performed, including
      bilateral pallidotomy that ultimately could be restricted to the ansa
      lenticularis and ventromedial hypothalamotomy, the most delicate stereotactic
      operation performed to date. Outside Gottingen, this technique has only been used
      by Prof. Dieter Muller in Hamburg, Germany. This elaborate stereotactic approach
      is widely unknown and deserves to be discussed in a historical context.

PMID- 27631995
TI  - A Paradigm to Assess Implicit Attitudes towards God: The Positive/Negative God
      Associations Task.
AB  - Psychological research on the relationship between spirituality/religion and
      mental health has grown considerably over the past several decades and now
      constitutes a sizable body of scholarship. Among dimensions of S/R, positive
      beliefs about God have been significantly related to better mental health
      outcomes, and conversely negative beliefs about God are generally associated with
      more distress. However, prior research on this topic has relied heavily upon self
      report Likert-type scales, which are vulnerable to self-report biases and measure
      only explicit cognitive processes. In this study, we developed and validated an
      implicit social cognition task, the Positive/Negative God Go/No-go Association
      Task (PNG-GNAT), for use in psychological research on spirituality and religion
      (S/R). Preliminary evidence in a large sample (N = 381) suggests that the PNG
      GNAT demonstrates internal consistency, test-retest and split-half reliability,
      and concurrent evidence of validity. Further, our results suggest that PNG-GNAT
      scores represent different underlying dimensions of S/R than explicit self-report
      measures, and incrementally predict mental health above and beyond self-report
      assessment. The PNG-GNAT appears to be an effective tool for measuring implicit
      positive/negative beliefs about God.

PMID- 27631994
TI  - Optimising magnetic resonance imaging-based evaluation of the ossification of the
      medial clavicular epiphysis: a multi-centre study.
AB  - Evaluation of the ossification of the medial clavicular epiphysis plays a key
      role in forensic age estimation, particularly in determining whether the age of
      18 has been attained. A key research objective in the forensic age estimation
      field at present is to establish non-X-ray methods for investigating the
      clavicle. This paper looks at the use of magnetic resonance imaging for
      evaluating the developmental state of the medial clavicular epiphysis. Clavicle
      specimens obtained from autopsies of 125 female and 270 male subjects aged from
      10 to 30 were examined using a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner. One FFE-3D-T1
      gradient echo sequence and one 2D-T2 turbo spin echo sequence were acquired. In
      each case, two investigators undertook a consensual determination of the
      ossification stage of the medial clavicular epiphysis using recognised
      classification systems. To determine intra-observer and inter-observer agreement,
      80 clavicle specimens were subjected to repeat evaluation. We present statistics
      relating to the ossification stages. The inclusion of established sub-stages of
      clavicular ossification offers an additional option for determining whether a
      subject has attained the age of 18 which is applicable in both sexes. For both
      sexes, the minimum ages for ossification stages 4 and 5 allow conclusions to be
      drawn about a subject's age at a point in time lying several years in the past.
      Magnetic resonance imaging is a valid investigatory procedure for determining the
      ossification stage of the medial clavicular epiphysis. This paper makes a
      contribution to expanding the range of methods available for forensic age
      estimation.

PMID- 27631996
TI  - Barriers to Cancer Clinical Trial Participation Among Saudi Nationals: A Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - This study aims to determine the factors that act as barriers to Saudi cancer
      patients in participating in a clinical trial (CT). A total of 244 patients from
      two different tertiary level hospitals (King Khalid University Hospital and King
      Fahad Medical City Hospital) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, participated in this cross
      sectional study. The participants were interviewed by a trained researcher
      between September and November 2015. All respondents answered a three-part
      questionnaire which includes demographics, clinical information, and questions
      related to awareness of CTs, willingness to participate, and factors affecting
      participation in CTs. The mean age of the participants was 50.83, and 57 % of the
      participants were females. Most of the participants (63.5 %) were currently being
      treated for cancer, and 28 % were diagnosed with breast cancer followed by
      colorectal cancer. Health status or quality of life was self-reported as
      acceptable by 27.9 % of the participants, and 25 % of the participants at stage
      II of cancer. The factors that act as barriers to Saudi cancer patients in
      participating in a CT can be categorized into patient- and physician-related
      factors. Patient factors include lack of awareness, misconception and fear in
      participating in CTs; physician-related factors comprise of lack of encouragement
      from physician to patients in participating in a CT. The study identified few
      major barriers to participation in CTs. Increased patient awareness and
      recruitment strategies are required to increase accrual of patients including
      training for physicians and disseminating easy-to-read tools to the public.

PMID- 27631997
TI  - 4D Confocal Imaging of Yeast Organelles.
AB  - Yeast cells are well suited to visualizing organelles by 4D confocal microscopy.
      Typically, one or more cellular compartments are labeled with a fluorescent
      protein or dye, and a stack of confocal sections spanning the entire cell volume
      is captured every few seconds. Under appropriate conditions, organelle dynamics
      can be observed for many minutes with only limited photobleaching. Images are
      captured at a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio and are subsequently processed
      to generate movies that can be analyzed and quantified. Here, we describe methods
      for acquiring and processing 4D data using conventional scanning confocal
      microscopy.

PMID- 27631998
TI  - Imaging the Polarized Sorting of Proteins from the Golgi Complex in Live Neurons.
AB  - The study of polarized protein trafficking in live neurons is critical for
      understanding neuronal structure and function. Given the complex anatomy of
      neurons and the numerous trafficking pathways that are active in them, however,
      visualization of specific vesicle populations leaving the Golgi complex presents
      unique challenges. Indeed, several approaches used in non-polarized cells, and
      even in polarized epithelial cells, have been less successful in neurons. Here,
      we describe an adaptation of the recently developed Retention Using Selective
      Hooks (RUSH) system (Boncompain et al., Nat Methods 9:493-498, 2012), previously
      used in non-polarized cells, to analyze the polarized sorting of proteins from
      the Golgi complex to dendrites and axons in live neurons. The RUSH system
      involves the retention of a fluorescently tagged cargo protein fused to the
      streptavidin-binding peptide (SBP) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) through the
      expression of an ER-hook protein fused to streptavidin. Upon D-biotin addition,
      the cargo protein is released and its traffic to dendrites and axons can be
      analyzed in live neurons.

PMID- 27631999
TI  - Imaging Golgi Outposts in Fixed and Living Neurons.
AB  - Here we describe the use of confocal microscopy in combination with antibodies
      specific to Golgi proteins to visualize dendritic Golgi outposts (GOPs) in
      cultured hippocampal pyramidal neurons. We also describe the use of spinning disk
      confocal microscopy, in combination with ectopically expressed
      glycosyltransferases fused to GFP variants, to visualize GOPs in living neurons.

PMID- 27632000
TI  - Analysis of Arf1 GTPase-Dependent Membrane Binding and Remodeling Using the
      Exomer Secretory Vesicle Cargo Adaptor.
AB  - Protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions play a critical role in shaping
      biological membranes through direct physical contact with the membrane surface.
      This is particularly evident in many steps of membrane trafficking, in which
      proteins deform the membrane and induce fission to form transport carriers. The
      small GTPase Arf1 and related proteins have the ability to remodel membranes by
      insertion of an amphipathic helix into the membrane. Arf1 and the exomer cargo
      adaptor coordinate cargo sorting into subset of secretory vesicle carriers in the
      model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we detail the assays we used to
      explore the cooperative action of Arf1 and exomer to bind and remodel membranes.
      We expect these methods are broadly applicable to other small GTPase/effector
      systems where investigation of membrane binding and remodeling is of interest.

PMID- 27632001
TI  - STEM Tomography Imaging of Hypertrophied Golgi Stacks in Mucilage-Secreting
      Cells.
AB  - Because of the weak penetrating power of electrons, the signal-to-noise ratio of
      a transmission electron micrograph (TEM) worsens as section thickness increases.
      This problem is alleviated by the use of the scanning transmission electron
      microscopy (STEM). Tomography analyses using STEM of thick sections from yeast
      and mammalian cells are of higher quality than are bright-field (BF) images. In
      this study, we compared regular BF tomograms and STEM tomograms from 500-nm thick
      sections from hypertrophied Golgi stacks of alfalfa root cap cells. Due to their
      thickness and intense heavy metal staining, BF tomograms of the thick sections
      suffer from poor contrast and high noise levels. We were able to mitigate these
      drawbacks by using STEM tomography. When we performed STEM tomography of densely
      stained chloroplasts of Arabidopsis cotyledon, we observed similar improvements
      relative to BF tomograms. A longer time is required to collect a STEM tilt series
      than similar BF TEM images, and dynamic autofocusing required for STEM imaging
      often fails at high tilt angles. Despite these limitations, STEM tomography is a
      powerful method for analyzing structures of large or dense organelles of plant
      cells.

PMID- 27632002
TI  - Reconstitution of COPI Vesicle and Tubule Formation.
AB  - The Golgi complex plays a central role in the intracellular sorting of proteins.
      Transport through the Golgi in the anterograde direction has been explained by
      cisternal maturation, while transport in the retrograde direction is attributed
      to vesicles formed by the coat protein I (COPI) complex. A more detailed
      understanding of how COPI acts in Golgi transport is being achieved in recent
      years, due in large part to a COPI reconstitution system. Through this approach,
      the mechanistic complexities of COPI vesicle formation are being elucidated. This
      approach has also uncovered a new mode of anterograde transport through the
      Golgi, which involves COPI tubules connecting the Golgi cisternae. We describe in
      this chapter the reconstitution of COPI vesicle and tubule formation from Golgi
      membrane.

PMID- 27632003
TI  - Reconstitution of Phospholipase A2-Dependent Golgi Membrane Tubules.
AB  - The Golgi complex is the Grand Central Station of intracellular membrane
      trafficking in the secretory and endocytic pathways. Anterograde and retrograde
      export of cargo from the Golgi complex involves a complex interplay between the
      formation of coated vesicles and membrane tubules, although much less is known
      about tubule-mediated trafficking. Recent advances using in vitro assays have
      identified several cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes that are required
      for the biogenesis of membrane tubules and their roles in the functional
      organization of the Golgi complex. In this chapter we describe methods for the
      cell-free reconstitution of PLA2-dependent Golgi membrane tubule formation. These
      methods should facilitate the identification of other proteins that regulate this
      process.

PMID- 27632004
TI  - Proteomic Characterization of Golgi Membranes Enriched from Arabidopsis
      Suspension Cell Cultures.
AB  - The plant Golgi apparatus has a central role in the secretory pathway and is the
      principal site within the cell for the assembly and processing of macromolecules.
      The stacked membrane structure of the Golgi apparatus along with its interactions
      with the cytoskeleton and endoplasmic reticulum has historically made the
      isolation and purification of this organelle difficult. Density centrifugation
      has typically been used to enrich Golgi membranes from plant microsomal
      preparations, and aside from minor adaptations, the approach is still widely
      employed. Here we outline the enrichment of Golgi membranes from an Arabidopsis
      cell suspension culture that can be used to investigate the proteome of this
      organelle. We also provide a useful workflow for the examination of proteomic
      data as the result of multiple analyses. Finally, we highlight a simple technique
      to validate the subcellular localization of proteins by fluorescent tags after
      their identification by tandem mass spectrometry.

PMID- 27632005
TI  - High-Content Analysis of the Golgi Complex by Correlative Screening Microscopy.
AB  - The Golgi complex plays a central role in a number of diverse cellular processes,
      and numerous regulators that control these functions and/or morphology of the
      Golgi complex are known by now. Many of them were identified by large-scale
      experiments, such as RNAi-based screening. However, high-throughput experiments
      frequently provide only initial information that a particular protein might play
      a role in regulating structure and function of the Golgi complex. Multiple follow
      up experiments are necessary to functionally characterize the selected hits. In
      order to speed up the discovery, we have established a system for correlative
      screening microscopy that combines rapid data collection and high-resolution
      imaging in one experiment. We describe here a combination of wide-field
      microscopy and dual-color direct stochastical optical reconstruction microscopy
      (dSTORM). We apply the technique to simultaneously capture and differentiate
      alterations of the cis- and trans-Golgi network when depleting several proteins
      in a singular and combinatorial manner.

PMID- 27632006
TI  - Activity Detection of GalNAc Transferases by Protein-Based Fluorescence Sensors
      In Vivo.
AB  - Mucin-type O-glycosylation occurring in the Golgi apparatus is an important
      protein posttranslational modification initiated by up to 20 GalNAc-transferase
      isozymes with largely distinct substrate specificities. Regulation of this enzyme
      family affects a vast array of proteins transiting the secretory pathway and
      misregulation causes human diseases. Here we describe the use of protein-based
      fluorescence sensors that traffic in the secretory pathway to monitor GalNAc
      transferase activity in living cells. The sensors can either be "pan" or isozyme
      specific.

PMID- 27632007
TI  - In Situ Proximity Ligation Assay (PLA) Analysis of Protein Complexes Formed
      Between Golgi-Resident, Glycosylation-Related Transporters and Transferases in
      Adherent Mammalian Cell Cultures.
AB  - In situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) is a novel, revolutionary technique that
      can be employed to visualize protein complexes in fixed cells and tissues. This
      approach enables demonstration of close (i.e., up to 40 nm) proximity between any
      two proteins of interest that can be detected using a pair of specific antibodies
      that have been raised in distinct species. Primary antibodies bound to the target
      proteins are subsequently recognized by two PLA probes, i.e., secondary
      antibodies conjugated with oligonucleotides that anneal when brought into close
      proximity in the presence of two connector oligonucleotides and a DNA ligase
      forming a circular DNA molecule. In the next step, the resulting circular DNA is
      amplified by a rolling circle polymerase. Finally, fluorescent oligonucleotide
      probes hybridize to complementary fragments of the amplified DNA molecule,
      forming a typical, spot-like pattern of PLA signal that reflects subcellular
      localization of protein complexes. Here we describe the use of in situ PLA in
      adherent cultures of mammalian cells in order to visualize interactions between
      Golgi-resident, functionally related glycosyltransferases and nucleotide sugar
      transporters relevant to N-glycan biosynthesis.

PMID- 27632008
TI  - Creating Knockouts of Conserved Oligomeric Golgi Complex Subunits Using CRISPR
      Mediated Gene Editing Paired with a Selection Strategy Based on Glycosylation
      Defects Associated with Impaired COG Complex Function.
AB  - The conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex is a key evolutionally conserved
      multisubunit protein machinery that regulates tethering and fusion of intra-Golgi
      transport vesicles. The Golgi apparatus specifically promotes sorting and complex
      glycosylation of glycoconjugates. Without proper glycosylation and processing,
      proteins and lipids will be mislocalized and/or have impaired function. The Golgi
      glycosylation machinery is kept in homeostasis by a careful balance of
      anterograde and retrograde trafficking to ensure proper localization of the
      glycosylation enzymes and their substrates. This balance, like other steps of
      membrane trafficking, is maintained by vesicle trafficking machinery that
      includes COPI vesicular coat proteins, SNAREs, Rabs, and both coiled-coil and
      multi-subunit vesicular tethers. The COG complex interacts with other membrane
      trafficking components and is essential for proper localization of Golgi
      glycosylation machinery. Here we describe using CRISPR-mediated gene editing
      coupled with a phenotype-based selection strategy directly linked to the COG
      complex's role in glycosylation homeostasis to obtain COG complex subunit
      knockouts (KOs). This has resulted in clonal KOs for each COG subunit in HEK293T
      cells and gives the ability to further probe the role of the COG complex in Golgi
      homeostasis.

PMID- 27632010
TI  - Assays to Study the Fragmentation of the Golgi Complex During the G2-M Transition
      of the Cell Cycle.
AB  - The Golgi complex of mammalian cells is composed of stacks of flattened cisternae
      that are connected by tubules to form a continuous membrane system, also known as
      the Golgi ribbon. At the onset of mitosis, the Golgi ribbon is progressively
      fragmented into small tubular-vesicular clusters and it is reconstituted before
      completion of cytokinesis. The investigation of the mechanisms behind this
      reversible cycle of disassembly and reassembly has led to the identification of
      structural Golgi proteins and regulators. Moreover, these studies allowed to
      discover that disassembly of the ribbon is necessary for cell entry into mitosis.
      Here, we describe an in vitro assay that reproduces the mitotic Golgi
      fragmentation and that has been successfully employed to identify many important
      mechanisms and proteins involved in the mitotic Golgi reorganization.

PMID- 27632009
TI  - Reversible Controlled Aggregation of Golgi Resident Enzymes to Assess Their
      Transport/Dynamics Along the Secretory Pathway.
AB  - Golgi resident enzymes (GREs) are type II membrane proteins that are responsible
      for the processing of lipids and proteins within the Golgi stack, mostly by
      catalyzing the formation of long chains of different sugars bound to their
      substrates at specific positions. After synthesis and folding, GREs leave the ER
      to reach the Golgi complex where they are distributed along the Golgi stack in a
      fashion that reflects the sequential order of the sugar addition reactions they
      execute. Remarkably, the position of GREs within the stack is not stable; rather,
      the GREs appear to move rapidly across Golgi cisternae, perhaps to maintain the
      correct reaction order during the flux of traffic. It would thus be important to
      understand their dynamics, but methods to analyze their mobility within the stack
      are lacking. Here, we describe a tool to induce the reversible and controlled
      aggregation of GREs that can be used to study the ER-to-Golgi transport and intra
      Golgi dynamics of these enzymes (Rizzo et al., J Cell Biol 201:1027-1036, 2013;
      Tewari et al., Mol Biol Cell 26:4427-4437, 2015).

PMID- 27632011
TI  - The Role of Lysophospholipid Acyltransferases in the Golgi Complex.
AB  - Determining the abundance of phospholipids and neutral lipids in cellular
      membranes is paramount to understanding their biological functions. Many lipid
      modifying enzymes have yet to be characterized due to limitations in substrate
      product measurements and purification of membrane-bound enzymes. The method
      described here uses radiolabeled phospholipid substrates and cell-purified
      organelles to quantify phospholipid metabolism using thin-layer chromatography.
      This assay has the benefits of being specific and adaptable for numerous
      applications and systems.

PMID- 27632013
TI  - Erratum to: Effects of body chemical components on the allometric scaling of the
      resting metabolic rate in four species of cyprinids.

PMID- 27632012
TI  - Methods to Purify and Assay Secretory Pathway Kinases.
AB  - Members of the four-jointed and VLK families of secretory pathway kinases appear
      to be responsible for the phosphorylation of secreted proteins and proteoglycans.
      These enzymes have been implicated in many biological processes and mutations in
      several of these kinases cause human diseases. Here, we describe methods to
      purify and assay two members of the four-jointed family of secretory kinases: the
      Fam20C protein kinase and the Fam20B proteoglycan kinase.

PMID- 27632014
TI  - Gonadogenesis analysis and sex differentiation in cultured turbot (Scophthalmus
      maximus).
AB  - As a flatfish, the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) is one of the most important
      farmed fish species with great commercial value, which has a strong sexual
      dimorphism on growth rate and sexual maturity. In this study, using histology,
      the basic information on proliferation and migration of germ cells and early
      gonadal development during sex differentiation in turbot were described in
      detail. There were six to nine individual primordial germ cells (PGCs) with large
      nuclei until 15 days post-hatching (dph). The PGCs located under the mesonephric
      ducts undergo migration along the dorsal mesentery toward the region of the
      genital ridge from 0 to 15 dph. During migration, the number of PGCs was
      constant, and the expression of vasa had no significant changes. At 20 dph, the
      aggregation of somatic cells at genital ridge indicated the formation of primary
      gonad. Furthermore, the number of PGCs was increased to 60 and the expression of
      vasa was upregulated for the first time. The undifferentiated gonads with no
      morphological indications of sex differentiation grew larger with the increase in
      germ cells and somatic cells number/size from 20 to 35 dph. During 36-52 dph,
      cytological gonadal differentiation was observed. In presumptive testes of type I
      gonadal tissue (with a lance shape), the number of germ cells increased steadily
      and the germ cells had the same characteristics as before. Meanwhile, in
      presumptive ovaries of type II gonadal tissue (with a club-like shape), the germ
      cells proliferated and induced in two different populations of germ cells. One
      type had the morphological characteristics as undifferentiated germ cells, while
      the other type of germ cells underwent mitosis exhibiting smaller size and
      mottled nuclei. At 60 dph, ovarian cavity was present in the gonad of type II,
      which would develop into ovaries. However, spermatogonial cysts were not noticed
      in the gonad of type I until 90 dph, which indicated the formation of the testes.

PMID- 27632015
TI  - Effects of feeding, digestion and fasting on the respiration and swimming
      capability of juvenile sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus 1758).
AB  - The objective of this study is to provide information on changes in swimming
      capability and respiration of the sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus
      1758) caused by different levels of fasting. Before testing, the four groups of
      sturgeon (body length: 12.1-15.4 cm, body mass: 10.0-20.2 g) fasted for 6 h, 2
      days, 1 and 2 weeks, respectively. Swimming tests were then performed to measure
      critical swimming speed and oxygen consumption at 20 +/- 0.5  degrees C. Results
      show: (1) Fasting times shorter than 2 days has little effect on swimming
      capability, but it decreases significantly when the fasting time is longer than a
      week. (2) After 2 weeks of fasting, swimming efficiency is significantly reduced.
      (3) Anaerobic capacity increases when digestion nears completion.

PMID- 27632016
TI  - Dietary silymarin supplementation promotes growth performance and improves lipid
      metabolism and health status in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) fed diets
      with elevated lipid levels.
AB  - This study was carried out to evaluate whether silymarin supplementation
      influences growth, lipid metabolism, and health status in grass carp fed elevated
      dietary lipid levels. The juvenile fish (27.43 +/- 0.17 g/tail) were fed six
      isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets in a factorial design containing 0, 100, or
      200 mg kg-1 silymarin (SM0, SM100, SM200) associated with either 4 or 8 % lipid
      level (low lipid, LL, and high lipid, HL, respectively) for 82 days. The results
      showed that both dietary silymarin supplementation and high lipid level
      significantly enhanced growth performance (WG, SGR), protein efficiency ratio,
      and feed utilization. Silymarin supplementation significantly reduced the VSI,
      hepatic lipid content, and the total bilirubin concentration in the serum. The
      gallbladdersomatic index displayed higher in the SM100 groups than SM200 groups.
      Serum total cholesterol content exhibited lower in the SM100 groups than SM0
      groups. Meanwhile, significant interactions were shown for hepatic gene
      expression of HSL and CPT1 by two factors, and SM100 group had higher hepatic
      gene expression of HSL and CPT1 in fish fed with the HL diets. The SM100 groups
      up-regulated hepatic gene expressions of HMGCR and CYP7A1 compared with the SM0
      groups. Silymarin supplementation notably reduced the elevated serum MDA content
      induced by HL treatments. Thus, silymarin supplementation markedly promoted
      growth and protein efficiency, suppressed lipid accumulation, and improved health
      status in grass carp fed with high-lipid diets, which might be associated with
      its enhancement of lipolysis and beta-oxidation, antioxidant capacity.

PMID- 27632017
TI  - Generation of a mef2aa:EGFP transgenic zebrafish line that expresses EGFP in
      muscle cells.
AB  - Transgenesis is an important tool for exploring gene expression and function. The
      myocyte enhancer factor 2a (mef2a) gene encodes a member of the Mef2 protein
      family that is involved in vertebrate skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle
      development and differentiation during myogenesis. According to studies on human
      and animal models, mef2a is highly expressed in the heart and somites. To explore
      the potential of mef2a as a tool for selective labeling of muscle cells in living
      zebrafish embryos, we constructed a transgene mef2aa:EGFP to induce the
      expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of mef2a
      promoter. A ~2-kb DNA fragment, upstream of the translational start site of
      mef2aa, was identified to drive muscle-specific expression of EGFP in zebrafish
      embryos. Interestingly, the cranial muscles, abductor muscle, and adductor muscle
      were clearly labeled with EGFP in the established line Tg(mef2aa:EGFP) ntu803 .
      In addition, we showed that mef2aa mRNA was highly present in adult zebrafish
      heart, but not the skeleton muscle, whereas it was expressed in both embryonic
      heart and myotome, suggesting that mef2a is vital to the function of adult heart
      in vertebrates.

PMID- 27632018
TI  - Reevaluating stereotactic radiosurgery for glioblastoma: new potential for
      targeted dose-escalation.
AB  - Countless therapeutic strategies have been explored over many decades to prevent
      or slow the progression of glioblastoma. Despite radical changes in radiation
      management in other malignancies, there have been no major advances in the
      radiotherapeutic approach to glioblastoma in over 30 years. Past hopes to
      overcome inherent radioresistance with escalating doses have been met with
      frustration. However, prior clinical trials were performed before temozolomide, a
      radiosensitizer, altered the standard of care and this has renewed interest in
      dose escalation. Immunotherapy has led to further excitement, given the
      substantial responses that have been observed in other cancers when combined with
      high-dose radiation. In addition, advances in molecular profiling and
      neuroimaging have created new opportunities to improve patient selection for the
      most appropriate course of treatment. In this review, we outline past attempts to
      utilize radiosurgery in glioblastoma and focus on the potential to reintroduce
      this modality of dose escalation in the setting of modern and emerging systemic
      agents, molecular studies and imaging analyses.

PMID- 27632019
TI  - The amount and types of fatty acids acutely affect insulin, glycemic and
      gastrointestinal peptide responses but not satiety in metabolic syndrome
      subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: Limited clinical evidence is available on the effects of amount and
      types of dietary fats on postprandial insulinemic and gastrointestinal peptide
      responses in metabolic syndrome subjects. We hypothesized that meals enriched
      with designated: (1) amount of fats (50 vs 20 g), (2) fats with differing fatty
      acid composition (saturated, SFA; monounsaturated, MUFA or n-6 polyunsaturated
      fatty acids, PUFA) would affect insulinemic and gastrointestinal peptide releases
      in metabolic syndrome subjects. METHODS: Using a randomized, crossover and double
      blinded design, 15 men and 15 women with metabolic syndrome consumed high-fat
      meals enriched with SFA, MUFA or n-6 PUFA, or a low-fat/high-sucrose (SUCR) meal.
      C-peptide, insulin, glucose, gastrointestinal peptides and satiety were measured
      up to 6 h. RESULTS: As expected, SUCR meal induced higher C-peptide (45 %),
      insulin (45 %) and glucose (49 %) responses compared with high-fat meals
      regardless of types of fatty acids (P < 0.001). Interestingly, incremental area
      under the curve (AUC0-120min) for glucagon-like peptide-1 was higher after SUCR
      meal compared with MUFA (27 %) and n-6 PUFA meals (23 %) (P = 0.01). AUC0-120min
      for glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide was higher after SFA meal
      compared with MUFA (23 %) and n-6 PUFA meals (20 %) (P = 0.004). Significant meal
      x time interaction (P = 0.007) was observed for ghrelin, but not cholecystokinin
      and satiety. CONCLUSIONS: The amount of fat regardless of the types of fatty
      acids affects insulin and glycemic responses. Both the amount and types of fatty
      acids acutely affect the gastrointestinal peptide release in metabolic syndrome
      subjects, but not satiety.

PMID- 27632020
TI  - Breast cancer screening effect across breast density strata: A case-control
      study.
AB  - Breast cancer screening is known to reduce breast cancer mortality. A high breast
      density may affect this reduction. We assessed the effect of screening on breast
      cancer mortality in women with dense and fatty breasts separately. Analyses were
      performed within the Nijmegen (Dutch) screening programme (1975-2008), which
      invites women (aged 50-74 years) biennially. Performance measures were
      determined. Furthermore, a case-control study was performed for women having
      dense and women having fatty breasts. Breast density was assessed visually with a
      dichotomized Wolfe scale. Breast density data were available for cases. The
      prevalence of dense breasts among controls was estimated with age-specific rates
      from the general population. Sensitivity analyses were performed on these
      estimates. Screening performance was better in the fatty than in the dense group
      (sensitivity 75.7% vs 57.8%). The mortality reduction appeared to be smaller for
      women with dense breasts, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.87 (95% CI 0.52-1.45) in
      the dense and 0.59 (95% CI 0.44-0.79) in the fatty group. We can conclude that
      high density results in lower screening performance and appears to be associated
      with a smaller mortality reduction. Breast density is thus a likely candidate for
      risk-stratified screening. More research is needed on the association between
      density and screening harms.

PMID- 27632021
TI  - Monoclonal antibodies for human and porcine histamine N-methyltransferase (HMT)
      facilitate protein expression and localization studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The lack of suitable antibodies for the histamine inactivating enzyme
      histamine N-methyltransferase (HMT) has so far prevented the direct analysis of
      HMT proteins in man and other mammals. METHODS: A series of monoclonal antibodies
      was produced by immunizing mice with human and porcine HMT expressed in vitro.
      Antibodies were characterized by immunoblotting and immunohistochemical staining.
      RESULTS: Six different monoclonal antibodies specific for human HMT and four
      different monoclonal antibodies specific for porcine HMT were obtained that can
      detect HMT with up to tenfold greater sensitivity than the most sensitive
      enzymatic assays currently available. Using these antibodies allowed us to
      confirm the expression and cellular localization of HMT in various human and
      porcine tissues, where the presence of the enzyme had previously been deduced
      from activity measurement and HMT mRNA analysis. Immunohistochemical staining of
      human and porcine tissue sections clearly showed that HMT is a cytosolic protein,
      which is localized in specific cells of most mammalian tissues. CONCLUSIONS: The
      new monoclonal antibodies not only allow a comprehensive quantitative evaluation
      of the expression of HMT at the cellular level in man and other mammals but will
      also facilitate sensitive analyses of disease-associated alterations of this
      protein.

PMID- 27632022
TI  - Pretransplant prophylactic rituximab to prevent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viremia
      in EBV-seronegative kidney transplant recipients from EBV-seropositive donors:
      results of a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of the strikingly increased risk of post-transplant
      lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-seronegative
      kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) from EBV-seropositive donors-EBV(D+ R- ),
      special strategies need to be defined to prevent EBV transmission and EBV
      viremia. METHODS: We studied all KTRs at our center between 2008 and 2012.
      Seventeen of 402 KTRs (4.2%) were identified as EBV(D+ R- ), among which 5 KTRs
      received kidneys from living donors and 12 KTRs from deceased donors. KTRs
      undergoing living donation were treated with a single dose of rituximab 4 weeks
      prior to transplantation. Assessment of EBV seroconversion and EBV viremia was
      performed. RESULTS: Among 12 EBV-seronegative KTRs from deceased donors, all 12
      KTRs (100%) showed EBV seroconversion, 7 KTRs (58%) showed active EBV viremia,
      and 1 KTR (8%) developed PTLD. In comparison, 3 of 5 KTRs from living donors, who
      received pretransplant rituximab, remained EBV-seronegative post transplantation,
      and no KTR developed EBV viremia (P<.05). All KTRs who received pretransplant
      rituximab showed excellent allograft function, with no increase in infections or
      malignancies. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that rituximab-mediated elimination
      of B cells may prevent transmission of EBV to the recipient, as EBV persistence
      requires the establishment of a latent infection in recipient B cells.
      Pretransplant rituximab may prove useful to prevent primary EBV infection in EBV
      seronegative KTRs.

PMID- 27632023
TI  - Coulomb Oscillations in a Gate-Controlled Few-Layer Graphene Quantum Dot.
AB  - Graphene quantum dots could be an ideal host for spin qubits and thus have been
      extensively investigated based on graphene nanoribbons and etched nanostructures;
      however, edge and substrate-induced disorders severely limit device
      functionality. Here, we report the confinement of quantum dots in few-layer
      graphene with tunable barriers, defined by local strain and electrostatic gating.
      Transport measurements unambiguously reveal that confinement barriers are formed
      by inducing a band gap via the electrostatic gating together with local strain
      induced constriction. Numerical simulations according to the local top-gate
      geometry confirm the band gap opening by a perpendicular electric field. We
      investigate the magnetic field dependence of the energy-level spectra in these
      graphene quantum dots. Experimental results reveal a complex evolution of Coulomb
      oscillations with the magnetic field, featuring kinks at level crossings. The
      simulation of energy spectrum shows that the kink features and the magnetic field
      dependence are consistent with experimental observations, implying the hybridized
      nature of energy-level spectrum of these graphene quantum dots.

PMID- 27632024
TI  - Additive Manufacturing of Biomaterials, Tissues, and Organs.
AB  - The introduction of additive manufacturing (AM), often referred to as three
      dimensional (3D) printing, has initiated what some believe to be a manufacturing
      revolution, and has expedited the development of the field of biofabrication.
      Moreover, recent advances in AM have facilitated further development of patient
      specific healthcare solutions. Customization of many healthcare products and
      services, such as implants, drug delivery devices, medical instruments,
      prosthetics, and in vitro models, would have been extremely challenging-if not
      impossible-without AM technologies. The current special issue of the Annals of
      Biomedical Engineering presents the latest trends in application of AM techniques
      to healthcare-related areas of research. As a prelude to this special issue, we
      review here the most important areas of biomedical research and clinical practice
      that have benefited from recent developments in additive manufacturing
      techniques. This editorial, therefore, aims to sketch the research landscape
      within which the other contributions of the special issue can be better
      understood and positioned. In what follows, we briefly review the application of
      additive manufacturing techniques in studies addressing biomaterials,
      (re)generation of tissues and organs, disease models, drug delivery systems,
      implants, medical instruments, prosthetics, orthotics, and AM objects used for
      medical visualization and communication.

PMID- 27632025
TI  - Sudden Death during Palliative Radiotherapy for a Relapsed Osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27632026
TI  - Ultrafast Photodoping and Plasmon Dynamics in Fluorine-Indium Codoped Cadmium
      Oxide Nanocrystals for All-Optical Signal Manipulation at Optical Communication
      Wavelengths.
AB  - We show the ultrafast photodoping and plasmon dynamics of the near-infrared (NIR)
      localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of fluorine-indium codoped cadmium
      oxide (FICO) nanocrystals (NCs). The combination of high temporal resolution and
      broad spectral coverage allowed us to model the transient absorption (TA) spectra
      in terms of the Drude model, verifying the increase in carrier density upon
      ultrafast photodoping. Our analysis also suggests that a change in carrier
      effective mass takes place upon LSPR excitation as a result of the nonparabolic
      conduction band of the doped semiconductor with a consequently high signal
      response. Both findings are combined in this new type of plasmonic material. The
      combination of large transmission modulation with modest pump powers and
      ultrafast recombination times makes our results interesting for all-optical
      signal processing at optical communication wavelengths. At the same time, our
      results also give insights into the physical mechanisms of ultrafast photodoping
      and LSPR tuning of degenerately doped semiconductor NCs.

PMID- 27632027
TI  - The Role of Optical Coherence Tomography in Managing Diabetic Maculopathy and
      Retinopathy.

PMID- 27632028
TI  - Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Features and Classification Systems
      for Diabetic Macular Edema: A Review.
AB  - Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) is fast becoming the
      current standard of care for the detection and assessment of diabetic macular
      edema. With the application of SD-OCT for imaging of retinal microstructure and
      measurement of retinal thickness, new information regarding disease
      characteristics has been gathered, which was unrecognized previously. Retinal
      thickness measurements on SD-OCT have also been used for deciding the management
      and monitoring of the disease. Since its development, OCT has enhanced the
      understanding of retinal anatomical changes in diabetic retinopathy. Several
      authors have used SD-OCT to classify diabetic macular edema with the purpose of
      correlating the pathophysiology with disease severity. The classification systems
      have helped monitor the treatment efficacy and provide prognostic information on
      the treatment outcome. The following review article summarizes these
      classifications. 

PMID- 27632029
TI  - Update on Ophthalmic Oncology 2014: Retinoblastoma and Uveal Melanoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to review peer-reviewed articles on ophthalmic
      oncology (specifically retinoblastoma and uveal melanoma) published from January
      to December 2014. DESIGN: This study is a literature review. METHODS: The terms
      retinoblastoma and uveal melanoma were used in a MEDLINE literature search.
      Abstracts were studied, and the most relevant articles were selected for
      inclusion and further in-depth review. RESULTS: In retinoblastoma, more eyes are
      being salvaged due to intravitreal melphalan. The year 2014 marks a deepening in
      our understanding of the biological basis of the disease and the cell of origin.
      Knowledge on the genetic underpinnings of uveal melanoma has broadened to include
      other pathways, interactions, and potential therapeutic targets. CONCLUSIONS: In
      2014, there were valuable advancements in our knowledge of retinoblastoma and
      uveal melanoma. Some of these resulted in improved patient management.

PMID- 27632031
TI  - Frontlines: Up and Running, Safely.

PMID- 27632034
TI  - Ten Questions With ....

PMID- 27632030
TI  - The expression of many chemoreceptor genes depends on the cognate chemoeffector
      as well as on the growth medium and phase.
AB  - Chemoreceptor-based signaling is a major bacterial signal transduction mechanism.
      Escherichia coli, the traditional model, has five chemoreceptors. Recent genome
      analyses have shown that many bacteria have a much higher number of
      chemoreceptors. Pseudomonas putida KT2440 is an alternative model that has 27
      chemoreceptors and the cognate chemoeffector is known for many of them. Here, we
      address the question whether and which factors modulate chemoreceptor gene
      expression. We report reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR measurements of all
      KT2440 chemoreceptor genes. Transcript levels of individual chemoreceptors
      differed largely, namely up to 174-fold between the most and least abundant. The
      cognate chemoeffectors had three different effects on the expression of their
      chemoreceptor genes. In some cases, the respective chemoeffectors, shown
      previously to be C- and/or N-sources, induced the expression. In contrast, for
      the two inorganic phosphate sensing chemoreceptors, the chemoeffector caused
      dramatic reduction in expression. For four other receptors, including the three
      TCA cycle intermediate sensing receptors, the chemoeffector did not cause any
      significant alterations. In addition, a significant number of receptors were
      induced in minimal growth medium and in the stationary phase. We show here that
      environmental cues determine largely chemoreceptor expression. This work will
      serve as reference for analogous studies in other bacteria.

PMID- 27632036
TI  - Ask George.

PMID- 27632037
TI  - The Servicing of Medical Devices: In Need of Repair, Regulation, or Redemption?

PMID- 27632038
TI  - Research: Association of Low-Amplitude QRSs with False-Positive Asystole Alarms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although electrocardiographic monitoring is valuable for continuous
      surveillance of intensive care unit (ICU) patients, false alarms are common and
      have been cited as a cause of alarm fatigue. ANSI/AAMI EC12:2002 states that
      electrocardiograms (ECGs) should not detect a QRS if the waveform is less than
      0.15 mV (1.5 mm) for adult patients, in order to avoid mislabeling P waves or
      baseline noise as QRSs during complete heart block or asystole. However, ECG
      software algorithms often use more conservative QRS thresholds, which may result
      in false-positive asystole alarms in patients with low-amplitude QRS complexes.
      OBJECTIVES: To 1) assess the frequency of low QRS amplitude in a group of ICU
      patients with one or more false-positive asystole alarms and 2) determine whether
      low-amplitude QRSs are associated with false-positive asystole alarms during
      continuous ECG monitoring. METHODS: Hospital-acquired standard 12-lead ECGs were
      examined in a group of 82 ICU patients who had one or more false-positive
      asystole alarms. Low QRS amplitude was defined as a unidirectional (only positive
      or negative) QRS of less than 5 mm in two of four leads (I, II, III, and V1).
      RESULTS: Low-amplitude QRSs were present in 45 of 82 (55%) patients. The presence
      of low-amplitude QRSs did not differ according to age, sex, or race. Patients
      treated in the cardiac ICU had the highest proportion of low-amplitude QRSs. An
      equivalent proportion of patients had false-positive asystole alarms by group (no
      low-amplitude QRSs 95% vs. low-amplitude QRSs 87%; P = 0.229). Eight patients
      (10%) had both true- and false-positive asystole alarms (two [5%] with no low
      amplitude QRSs and six [13%] with low-amplitude QRSs; P = 0.229). CONCLUSION: Low
      amplitude QRS, as assessed from hospital 12-lead ECGs, occurs frequently and is
      more common in cardiac ICU patients. However, this ECG feature did not identify
      patients with false-positive asystole alarms during continuous ECG monitoring.

PMID- 27632039
TI  - Research: Testing of a Novel Portable Body Temperature Conditioner Using a
      Thermal Manikin.
AB  - A battery-operated active cooling/heating device was developed to maintain
      thermoregulation of trauma victims in austere environments while awaiting
      evacuation to a hospital for further treatment. The use of a thermal manikin was
      adopted for this study in order to simulate load testing and evaluate the
      performance of this novel portable active cooling/heating device for both
      continuous (external power source) and battery power. The performance of the
      portable body temperature conditioner (PBTC) was evaluated through
      cooling/heating fraction tests to analyze the heat transfer between a thermal
      manikin and circulating water blanket to show consistent performance while
      operating under battery power. For the cooling/heating fraction tests, the
      ambient temperature was set to 15 degrees C +/- 1 degrees C (heating) and 30
      degrees C +/- 1 degrees C (cooling). The PBTC water temperature was set to 37
      degrees C for the heating mode tests and 15 degrees C for the cooling mode tests.
      The results showed consistent performance of the PBTC in terms of cooling/heating
      capacity while operating under both continuous and battery power. The PBTC
      functioned as intended and shows promise as a portable warming/cooling device for
      operation in the field. 

PMID- 27632040
TI  - Case Study: Enhancing Use of Drug Libraries Across a Large Healthcare System.

PMID- 27632041
TI  - On the Job: How to Make Meetings Effective and Productive.

PMID- 27632042
TI  - A Roundtable Discussion: Exploring Major Trends in Dialysis Practice and
      Technology.

PMID- 27632043
TI  - Health Informaticians Drive Innovation from Bench to Bedside.

PMID- 27632044
TI  - To Be the Best, Department Starts 'Cert Now!'.

PMID- 27632045
TI  - The Importance of Cybersecurity Training for HTM Professionals.

PMID- 27632046
TI  - Testing Defibrillators for Safety and Effectiveness.

PMID- 27632048
TI  - Thorough Investigation Is Required When Buying Parts.

PMID- 27632049
TI  - Are HTM Leaders Executives in Their Organizations?

PMID- 27632051
TI  - Are the changes in observed functioning after multi-disciplinary rehabilitation
      of patients with fibromyalgia associated with changes in pain self-efficacy?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the hypothesis that change in pain self-efficacy is
      associated with observed and self-reported activity, pain intensity,
      catastrophizing, and quality of life after multi-disciplinary rehabilitation of
      fibromyalgia patients. DESIGN: In-depth analyses of secondary outcomes of a
      randomized-controlled trial. SUBJECTS: Women (N = 187) with fibromyalgia.
      METHODS: Outcomes were Pain Self-Efficacy, Assessment of Motor and Process Skills
      (AMPS), SF-36 Physical Function (SF-36-PF), pain intensity, and SF-36 Mental
      Composite Score (SF-36-MCS) to assess quality of life and pain catastrophizing.
      Individual and group associations between outcomes were examined. RESULTS:
      Individual changes in pain self-efficacy were not associated with changes in
      observed activity: AMPS motor (rs = 0.08, p = 0.27) and process (rs = 0.12, p =
      0.11), not even in those patients with a clinically relevant improvement in
      observed functioning (38.5%), and only weakly or moderatly with changes in SF-36
      PF; (rs = 0.31, p < 0.0001), SF-36-MSC; (rs = 0.41, p < 0.0001), and pain
      catastrophizing (rs = -0.31, p < 0.0001). No differences in pain self-efficacy
      were observed between the rehabilitated group and controls (difference: 1.61; 95%
      CI: -0.84 to 4.06; p = 0.24). However, a subgroup (34%) had a clinically relevant
      improvement in pain self-efficacy. This group was younger (mean age 41.4 vs.
      45.8, p = 0.01), more recently diagnosed (1.8 vs. 2.8 years, p = 0.003), but had
      an unresolved welfare situation (59% vs. 40%, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The main
      hypothesis was falsified, as there was no association between pain self-efficacy
      and actual performance of activity. The relation to functioning may be limited to
      perceived, cognitive-emotional aspects, as indicated by the weak to moderate
      correlations to the self-reported measures. Implications for Rehabilitation
      Improvement in observed activity post multi-disciplinary rehabilitation was not
      associated with change in pain self-efficacy. Patients performed better after
      rehabilitation, but did not perceive to have improved their capacity. The
      relationship between pain self-efficacy and functioning may be limited to
      cognitive-emotional aspects rather than actual activity. Both observational and
      self-reported measures should be included in evaluating outcomes of
      rehabilitation for patients with fibromyalgia.

PMID- 27632052
TI  - Minimal Residual Disease as a Potential Surrogate End Point-Lingering Questions.

PMID- 27632053
TI  - MET and epidermal growth factor signaling: The pillars of liver regeneration?

PMID- 27632054
TI  - Hypoxia-increased expression of genes involved in inflammation,
      dedifferentiation, pro-fibrosis, and extracellular matrix remodeling of human
      bladder smooth muscle cells.
AB  - Partial bladder outlet obstruction (pBOO) is characterized by exaggerated
      stretch, hydrodynamic pressure, and inflammation which cause significant damage
      and fibrosis to the bladder wall. Several studies have implicated hypoxia in its
      pathophysiology. However, the isolated progressive effects of hypoxia on bladder
      cells are not yet defined. Sub-confluent normal human bladder smooth muscle cells
      (hbSMC) were cultured in 3% O2 tension for 2, 24, 48, and 72 h. RNA, cellular
      proteins, and secreted proteins were used for gene expression analysis,
      immunoblotting, and ELISA, respectively. Transcription of hypoxia-inducible
      factor (HIF)1alpha and HIF2alpha were transiently induced after 2 h of hypoxia (p
      < 0.05), whereas HIF3 was upregulated after 72 h (p < 0.005). HIF1 and HIF3alpha
      proteins were significantly induced after 2 and 72 h, respectively. VEGF mRNA
      increased significantly after 24 and 72 h (p < 0.005). The inflammatory
      cytokines, TGFB (protein and mRNA), IL 1beta, 1L6, and TNFalpha (mRNA)
      demonstrated a time-dependent increased expression. Furthermore, the anti
      inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was downregulated after 72 h (p < 0.05). Evidence of
      smooth muscle cell dedifferentiation included increased alphaSMA, vimentin, and
      desmin. Evidence of pro-fibrotic changes included increased CTGF, SMAD 2, and
      SMAD 3 as well as collagens 1, 2, 3, and 4, fibronectin, aggrecan, and TIMP 1
      transcripts (p < 0.05). Total collagen proteins also increased time-dependently
      (p < 0.05). Together, these results show that exposure of hbSMC to low oxygen
      tension results in intense hypoxic cascade, including inflammation, de
      differentiation, pro-fibrotic changes, and increased extracellular matrix
      expression. This elucidates mechanisms of hypoxia-driven bladder deterioration in
      bladder cells, which is important in tailoring in vivo experiments and may
      ultimately translate into improved clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27632055
TI  - Presence of Zika Virus in Conjunctival Fluid.

PMID- 27632056
TI  - The impact of subcellular location on the near infrared-mediated thermal ablation
      of cells by targeted carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are used in the near infrared (NIR)
      mediated thermal ablation of tumor cells because they efficiently convert
      absorbed NIR light into heat. Despite the therapeutic potential of SWNTs, there
      have been no published studies that directly quantify how many SWNTs need be
      associated with a cell to achieve a desired efficiency of killing, or what is the
      most efficient subcellular location of SWNTs for killing cells. Herein we
      measured dose response curves for the efficiency of killing correlated to the
      measured amounts of folate-targeted SWNTs that were either on the surface or
      within the vacuolar compartment of normal rat kidney cells. Folate-targeted SWNTs
      on the cell surface were measured after different concentrations of SWNTs in
      medium were incubated with cells for 30 min at 4  degrees C. Folate-targeted
      SWNTs within the vacuolar compartments were measured after cells were incubated
      with different concentrations of SWNTs in medium for 6 h at 37  degrees C. It was
      observed that a SWNT load of ~13 pg/cell when internalized was sufficient to kill
      90% of the cells under standardized conditions of NIR light irradiation. When
      ~3.5 pg/cell of SWNTs were internalized within the endosomal/lysosomal
      compartments, ~50% of the cells were killed, but when ~3.5 pg/cell of SWNTs were
      confined to the cell surface only ~5% of the cells were killed under the same NIR
      irradiation conditions. The SWNT subcellular locations were verified using Raman
      imaging of SWNTs merged with fluorescence images of known subcellular markers. To
      our knowledge, this is the first time that SWNT amounts at known subcellular
      locations have been correlated with a dose-normalized efficacy of thermal
      ablation and the results support the idea that SWNTs confined to the plasma
      membrane are not as effective in NIR-mediated cell killing as an equivalent
      amount of SWNTs when internalized within the endosomal/lysosomal vesicles. 

PMID- 27632057
TI  - Noninvasive Estimation of Arterial CO2 From End-Tidal CO2 in Mechanically
      Ventilated Children: The GRAeDIENT Pilot Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of our pilot study was to develop a model to better predict
      Paco2 in mechanically ventilated children using noninvasive parameters including
      volumetric capnography. DESIGN: Prospective clinical pilot study. SETTING: Level
      III PICU. PATIENTS: Sixty-five mechanically ventilated children. INTERVENTIONS:
      None. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective clinical pilot study that
      included all children admitted to the PICU (< 18 yr; weight, > 3 kg; mechanically
      ventilated, > 6 hr; with an arterial line). A predictive model for PaCO2 was
      developed using linear multivariable regression. Among the data collected in PICU
      patients, candidate predictors of PaCO2 were defined by a panel of experts and
      included end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, ventilation parameters,
      and data resulting from the analysis of volumetric capnogram recorded 5 minutes
      before an arterial blood gas. Children with tidal volume less than 30 mL were
      excluded because of technical limits. RESULTS: A total of 65 children (43 boys,
      65%) (65 [21-150] mo old) were analyzed. By linear multivariable regression, the
      best model included the mean airway pressure, end-tidal partial pressure of
      carbon dioxide, FIO2, and the capnographic index with an R equal to 0.90, p value
      less than 0.001. After correction, 95% (n = 62) of children had an estimated
      PaCO2 at +/- 5 mm Hg. CONCLUSION: Our model developed provides an accurate
      estimation of the PaCO2 using end-tidal CO2 and noninvasive variables. Studies
      are needed to validate the equation in PICUs.

PMID- 27632058
TI  - Ultrasound Guidance and Other Determinants of Successful Peripheral Artery
      Catheterization in Critically Ill Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Peripheral arterial catheterization is a common invasive procedure
      performed in critically ill children. However, the benefits of using ultrasound
      guidance for this procedure in critically ill children, especially when used by
      inexperienced trainees, are unclear. Our aims were to evaluate whether the use of
      ultrasound guidance for the placement of radial arterial catheters reduced time
      and improved success when compared with the palpation method and also to
      determine patient and trainee variables that influence procedure outcomes.
      Finally, we evaluated whether adoption of ultrasound guidance among trainees
      comes at the expense of learning landmark-based methods. DESIGN: Prospective
      observational cohort. SETTING: University affiliated PICU. PATIENTS: A total of
      208 procedures performed by 45 trainees in 192 unique patients (1 mo to 20 yr
      old) were observed. INTERVENTION: Implementation of ultrasound curriculum.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The main outcome measures were time and number of
      attempts required for the procedure. Compared with palpation method, ultrasound
      guidance was associated with reduced procedure time (8.1 +/- 5.2 min compared
      with 16.5 +/- 8.8 min; p < 0.001), reduced number of attempts (3.1 +/- 2.6
      attempts compared with 6.9 +/- 4.2 attempts; p < 0.001), and improved first
      attempt success rate (28% compared with 11%; p = 0.001) even after adjusting for
      key confounders in multivariate random effects models. The factors most likely to
      interfere with peripheral arterial catheterization are patient age, patient
      systolic blood pressure, patient body mass index, degree of fluid overload, and
      trainee months in fellowship. The use of ultrasound guidance mitigates the
      influence of each of these factors. We found no evidence that the adoption of
      ultrasound guidance by trainees is associated with reduced proficiency in
      landmark-based methods. CONCLUSIONS: The use of ultrasound guidance by trainees
      for radial artery catheterization in critically ill children is associated with
      improved outcomes compared with the palpation method.

PMID- 27632059
TI  - Is Administration of Nitric Oxide During Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
      Associated With Improved Patient Survival?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcomes associated with the use of inhaled nitric
      oxide during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. DESIGN: Post hoc analysis of
      data from an existing administrative national database, Pediatric Health
      Information system (2004-2014). Multivariable logistic regression models were
      fitted to study the effect of inhaled nitric oxide during extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation on study outcomes. SETTING: Forty-two children's hospitals across the
      United States. PATIENTS: Patients in the age group from 1 day through 18 years
      admitted to an ICU who received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during their
      hospital stay were included. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      In total, 6,419 patients qualified for inclusion. Of these, inhaled nitric oxide
      was used among 3,629 patients during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation run.
      Approximately one half of the study patients received inhaled nitric oxide at
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation initiation. The proportion of patients
      receiving inhaled nitric oxide during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      decreased with increasing duration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. After
      adjusting for patient characteristics and center variables, use of inhaled nitric
      oxide was not associated with any survival benefit. However, higher proportion of
      patients receiving inhaled nitric oxide were associated with prolonged hospital
      length of stay and prolonged duration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. In
      adjusted models, the hospital charges were higher in the inhaled nitric oxide
      group. The median hospital costs among patients receiving inhaled nitric oxide
      were higher by $39,732 (95% CI, $31,074-48,390) as compared to the patients who
      did not receive inhaled nitric oxide, after adjusting for patient (including
      hospital length of stay) and center level variables. As the duration of inhaled
      nitric oxide therapy increased, proportion of patients with prolonged duration of
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and prolonged hospital length of stay
      increased. CONCLUSIONS: This large observational analysis of use of nitric oxide
      during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation calls into question the benefits of
      inhaled nitric oxide among patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      for pulmonary or cardiac failure. Given our inability to determine type of
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and control for severity of illness, these
      findings should be interpreted as exploratory.

PMID- 27632060
TI  - Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in Infants and Young Children With Traumatic
      Brain Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of intracranial pressure monitors and treatment for
      elevated intracranial pressure in children 24 months old or younger with
      traumatic brain injury in North Carolina between April 2009 and March 2012 and
      compare this with a similar cohort recruited 2000-2001. DESIGN: Prospective,
      observational cohort study. SETTING: Twelve PICUs in North Carolina. PATIENTS:
      All children 24 months old or younger with traumatic brain injury, admitted to an
      included PICU. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: The use of
      intracranial pressure monitors and treatments for elevated intracranial pressure
      were evaluated in 238 children with traumatic brain injury. Intracranial pressure
      monitoring (risk ratio, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.5-9.3) and intracranial pressure therapies
      were more common in children with Glasgow Coma Scale less than or equal to 8
      compared with Glasgow Coma Scale greater than 8. However, only 17% of children
      with Glasgow Coma Scale less than or equal to 8 received a monitoring device.
      Treatments for elevated intracranial pressure were more common in children with
      monitors; yet, some children without monitors received therapies traditionally
      used to lower intracranial pressure. Unadjusted predictors of monitoring were
      Glasgow Coma Scale less than or equal to 8, receipt of cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation, nonwhite race. Logistic regression showed no strong predictors of
      intracranial pressure monitor use. Compared with the 2000 cohort, children in the
      2010 cohort with Glasgow Coma Scale less than or equal to 8 were less likely to
      receive monitoring (risk ratio, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-1.0), although the estimate was
      not precise, or intracranial pressure management therapies. CONCLUSION: Children
      in the 2010 cohort with a Glasgow Coma Scale less than or equal to 8 were less
      likely to receive an intracranial pressure monitor or hyperosmolar therapy than
      children in the 2000 cohort; however, about 10% of children without monitors
      received therapies to decrease intracranial pressure. This suggests treatment
      heterogeneity in children 24 months old or younger with traumatic brain injury
      and a need for better evidence to support treatment recommendations for this
      group of children.

PMID- 27632061
TI  - Adaptive gait responses to awareness of an impending slip during treadmill
      walking.
AB  - The awareness of potential slip risk has been shown to cause protective changes
      to human gait during overground walking. It remains unknown if such adaptations
      to walking pattern also exist when ambulating on a treadmill. This study sought
      to determine whether and to what extent individuals, when being aware of a
      potential slip risk during treadmill walking, could adjust their gait pattern to
      improve their dynamic stability against backward balance loss in response to the
      impending slip hazard. Fifty-four healthy young subjects (age: 23.9+/-4.7years)
      participated in this study. Subjects' gait pattern was measured under two
      conditions: walking on a treadmill without (or normal walking) and with (or aware
      walking) the awareness of the potential slip perturbation. During both walking
      conditions, subjects' full body kinematics were gathered by using a motion
      capture system. Spatial gait parameters and the dynamic gait stability against
      backward balance were compared between the two walking conditions. The results
      revealed that subjects proactively adopted a "cautious gait" during aware walking
      compared with the normal walking. The cautious gait, which was achieved by taking
      a shorter step and a more flatfoot landing, positioned the body center of mass
      closer to the base of support, improving participants' dynamic stability and
      increasing their resistance against a possible slip-related fall. The finding
      from this study could provide insights into the dynamic stability control when
      individuals anticipate potential slip risk during treadmill walking.

PMID- 27632062
TI  - On the use of knee functional calibration to determine the medio-lateral axis of
      the femur in gait analysis: Comparison with EOS biplanar radiographs as
      reference.
AB  - Accurate calibration of the medio-lateral axis of the femur is crucial for
      clinical decision making based on gait analysis. This study proposes a protocol
      utilizing biplanar radiographs to provide a reference medio-lateral axis based on
      the anatomy of the femur. The biplanar radiographs allowed 3D modelling of the
      bones of the lower limbs and the markers used for motion capture, in the standing
      posture. A comprehensive analysis was performed and results from biplanar
      radiographs were reliable for 3D marker localization (+/-0.35mm) and for 3D
      localization of the anatomical landmarks (+/-1mm), leading to a precision of 1
      degrees  for the orientation of the condylar axis of the femur and a 95%
      confidence interval of +/-3 degrees  after registration with motion capture data.
      The anatomical condylar axis was compared to a conventional, marker-based, axis
      and three functional calibration techniques (axis transformation, geometric axis
      fit and DynaKAD). Results for the conventional method show an average difference
      with the condylar axis of 15 degrees  (SD: 6 degrees ). Results indicate DynaKAD
      functional axis was the closest to the anatomical condylar axis, mean: 1 degrees 
      (SD: 5 degrees ) when applied to passive knee flexion movement. However, the
      range of the results exceeded 15 degrees  for all methods. Hence, the use of
      biplanar radiographs, or an alternative imaging technique, may be required to
      locate the medio-lateral axis of the femur reliably prior to clinical decision
      making for femur derotational osteotomies.

PMID- 27632063
TI  - Tbx3 fosters pancreatic cancer growth by increased angiogenesis and activin/nodal
      dependent induction of stemness.
AB  - Cell fate decisions and pluripotency, but also malignancy depend on networks of
      key transcriptional regulators. The T-box transcription factor TBX3 has been
      implicated in the regulation of embryonic stem cell self-renewal and
      cardiogenesis. We have recently discovered that forced TBX3 expression in
      embryonic stem cells promotes mesendoderm specification directly by activating
      key lineage specification factors and indirectly by enhancing paracrine NODAL
      signalling. Interestingly, aberrant TBX3 expression is associated with breast
      cancer and melanoma formation. In other cancers, loss of TBX3 expression is
      associated with a more aggressive phenotype e.g. in gastric and cervical cancer.
      The precise function of TBX3 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma remains to be
      determined. In the current study we provide conclusive evidence for TBX3
      overexpression in pancreatic cancer samples as compared to healthy tissue. While
      proliferation remains unaltered, forced TBX3 expression strongly increases
      migration and invasion, but also angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we
      describe the TBX3-dependency of cancer stem cells that perpetuate themselves
      through an autocrine TBX3-ACTIVIN/NODAL signalling loop to sustain stemness.
      Thus, TBX3 is a new key player among pluripotency-related genes driving cancer
      formation.

PMID- 27632065
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Paracetamol Uptake and Clearance in Zebrafish Larvae:
      Expanding the Allometric Scale in Vertebrates with Five Orders of Magnitude.
AB  - Zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio) are increasingly used to translate findings
      regarding drug efficacy and safety from in vitro-based assays to vertebrate
      species, including humans. However, the limited understanding of drug exposure in
      this species hampers its implementation in translational research. Using
      paracetamol as a paradigm compound, we present a novel method to characterize
      pharmacokinetic processes in zebrafish larvae, by combining sensitive
      bioanalytical methods and nonlinear mixed effects modeling. The developed method
      allowed quantification of paracetamol and its two major metabolites, paracetamol
      sulfate and paracetamol-glucuronide in pooled samples of five lysed zebrafish
      larvae of 3 days post-fertilization. Paracetamol drug uptake was quantified to be
      0.289 pmole/min and paracetamol clearance was quantified to be 1.7% of the total
      value of the larvae. With an average volume determined to be 0.290 MUL, this
      yields an absolute clearance of 2.96 * 107 L/h, which scales reasonably well with
      clearance rates in higher vertebrates. The developed methodology will improve the
      success rate of drug screens in zebrafish larvae and the translation potential of
      findings, by allowing the establishment of accurate exposure profiles and thereby
      also the establishment of concentration-effect relationships.

PMID- 27632066
TI  - Gas-Tracer Experiment for Evaluating the Fate of Methane in a Coastal Plain
      Stream: Degassing versus in-Stream Oxidation.
AB  - Methane emissions from streams and rivers have recently been recognized as an
      important component of global greenhouse budgets. Stream methane is lost as
      evasion to the atmosphere or in-stream methane oxidation. Previous studies have
      quantified evasion and oxidation with point-scale measurements. In this study,
      dissolved gases (methane, krypton) were injected into a coastal plain stream in
      North Carolina to quantify stream CH4 losses at the watershed scale. Stream-reach
      modeling yielded gas transfer and oxidation rate constants of 3.2 +/- 0.5 and 0.5
      +/- 1.5 d-1, respectively, indicating a ratio of about 6:1. The resulting evasion
      and oxidation rates of 2.9 mmol m-2 d-1 and 1,140 nmol L-1 d-1, respectively, lie
      within ranges of published values. Similarly, the gas transfer velocity (K600) of
      2.1 m d-1 is consistent with other gas tracer studies. This study illustrates the
      utility of dissolved-gas tracers for evaluating stream methane fluxes. In
      contrast to point measurements, this approach provides a larger watershed-scale
      perspective. Further work is needed to quantify the magnitude of these fluxes
      under varying conditions (e.g., stream temperature, nutrient load, gradient, flow
      rate) at regional and global scales before reliable bottom-up estimates of
      methane evasion can be determined at global scales.

PMID- 27632067
TI  - Is Hyaluronic Acid or Corticosteroid Superior to Lactated Ringer Solution in the
      Short Term for Improving Function and Quality of Life After Arthrocentesis? Part
      2.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although arthrocentesis has been used for the management of patients
      with temporomandibular joint pain, the benefit of hyaluronic acid (HA) or
      corticosteroid (CS) remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to assess
      the efficacy of HA, CS, and lactated Ringer solution (LR; placebo) after
      arthrocentesis for changes in quality of life (QoL), jaw function (Jaw Function
      Limitation Scale [JFLS] score), and maximum incisal opening (MIO). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a prospective multicenter double-blinded randomized clinical
      trial. Consecutive patients presenting to the oral and maxillofacial departments
      at Emory University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California
      Los Angeles, the University of Cincinnati, and the Oregon Health Sciences
      University were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized to HA, CS, or LR.
      All patients underwent arthrocentesis and then instillation of HA, CS, or LR. All
      patients were evaluated clinically at 1 and 3 months. The outcome variables were
      QoL, JFLS score, and MIO. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics were
      computed, with a P value less than .05 considered significant. RESULTS: One
      hundred two patients were enrolled in the study. Four were lost to follow-up,
      leaving 98 patients for analysis of data at 1 month. An additional 51 were lost
      to follow-up at 3 months, leaving 51 patients for data analysis at this time
      point. There was no difference among groups for QoL Mental Health Composite score
      at 1 month (P = .70) or 3 months (P = .69). There was no difference among groups
      for JFLS score at 1 month (P = .71) or 3 months (P = .98). There was no
      difference among groups for MIO at 1 month (P = .47) or 3 months (P = .31). All
      groups showed within-group improvements in JFLS score and MIO at 1 and 3 months.
      CONCLUSION: Arthrocentesis alone is as efficacious as arthrocentesis with HA or
      CS in improving jaw function and MIO at 1 and 3 months. QoL is not improved with
      arthrocentesis alone or in combination with CS or HA.

PMID- 27632068
TI  - Age-Related Changes of the Orolabial Region in Caucasian Women: An Anthropometric
      Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Anthropometric data can provide valuable support for the attending
      physician in planning surgical and nonsurgical esthetic procedures with regard to
      a patient's age. The purpose of the present study was to identify age-related
      orolabial changes in younger and older Caucasian women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      the present cross-sectional study, anthropometric landmarks were identified using
      indirect anthropometry (2-dimensional photometry) in younger (<=35 yr) and older
      (>=50 yr) Caucasian women to analyze age-related parameters and proportions of
      the orolabial region, especially of the lower and upper lip vermilion areas. The
      Mann-Whitney U test was applied to compare the results between the younger and
      older populations. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 45 women. The
      cohort was divided into a younger population (24 participants; mean age, 27.4 yr)
      and an older population (21 participants; mean age, 58 yr) to evaluate age
      related differences. Increases of upper lip height, cutaneous height of the upper
      lip, and cutaneous height of the lower lip were observed in older women. In
      contrast, the vermilion height of the lower lip decreased significantly with
      increasing age. CONCLUSION: These results show changes of the orolabial region
      occur in Caucasian women with increasing age. The statistically relevant decrease
      of the vermilion height of the lower lip should be given particular attention for
      (age-appropriate) diagnostic, esthetic, and prosthetic treatment planning.

PMID- 27632064
TI  - Trauma and the psychosis spectrum: A review of symptom specificity and
      explanatory mechanisms.
AB  - Traumatic life events have been robustly associated with various psychosis
      outcomes, including increased risk of psychotic disorders, the prodrome of
      psychosis, and dimensional measures of psychotic symptoms, such as attenuated
      positive psychotic symptoms. However, trauma exposure has been linked to various
      mental disorders; therefore, the specificity of trauma exposure to psychosis
      remains unclear. This review focuses on two understudied areas of the trauma and
      psychosis literature: 1) the specificity between trauma and psychosis in relation
      to other disorders that often result post-trauma, and 2) proposed mechanisms that
      uniquely link trauma to psychosis. We begin by discussing the underlying
      connection between trauma exposure and the entire psychosis spectrum with a focus
      on the influence of trauma type and specific psychotic symptoms. We then consider
      how the principles of multifinality and equifinality can be useful in elucidating
      the trauma-psychosis relationship versus the trauma-other disorder relationship.
      Next, we discuss several cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms that might
      uniquely account for the association between trauma and psychosis, as well as the
      role of gender. Lastly, we review important methodological issues that complicate
      the research on trauma and psychosis, ending with clinical implications for the
      field.

PMID- 27632069
TI  - Is Hyaluronic Acid or Corticosteroid Superior to Lactated Ringer Solution in the
      Short-Term Reduction of Temporomandibular Joint Pain After Arthrocentesis? Part
      1.
AB  - PURPOSE: Arthrocentesis has been used for the management of patients with
      temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, with good success. The additional use of
      hyaluronic acid (HA) or corticosteroid (CS) remains controversial. The purpose of
      this study was to compare HA, CS, and lactated Ringer solution (LR; placebo)
      after arthrocentesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective multicenter
      double-blinded randomized clinical trial. Consecutive patients presenting to the
      oral and maxillofacial departments at Emory University, the University of
      Pennsylvania, the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of
      Cincinnati, and the Oregon Health Sciences University were enrolled in the study.
      Patients were randomized to HA, CS, or LR. All patients underwent arthrocentesis
      and then the instillation of HA, CS, or LR. Patients were evaluated clinically at
      1 and 3 months. The primary outcome variable was pain at 1 month (by visual
      analog scale). Secondary outcome variables were pain at 3 months and analgesic
      consumption. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics were computed,
      with a P value less than .05 considered significant. RESULTS: One hundred two
      patients were enrolled in the study. Four were lost to follow-up, leaving 98
      patients for the final analysis. The mean age of patients in the HA, CS, and LR
      groups was 39.6, 44.3, and 51.8 years, respectively (P = .02). There was no
      difference among groups in time to follow-up at 1 month (P = .11). The mean
      decrease in pain in the CS group was 19% for right-side procedures (P = .12) and
      36% for left-side procedures (P = .02). The mean decrease in pain in the HA group
      was 31% for right-side procedures (P = .01) and 34% for left-side procedures (P =
      .01). The mean decrease in pain in the LR group was 43% for right-side procedures
      (P < .01) and 37% for left-side procedures (P < .01). There was no difference in
      pain decrease among groups (P = .55). There was no difference in the use of
      narcotic (P = .52) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (P = .71) among
      groups. CONCLUSION: Arthrocentesis alone is as efficacious as arthrocentesis with
      HA or CS in decreasing TMJ pain.

PMID- 27632072
TI  - Preparation of porous carbon nanofibers derived from PBI/PLLA for supercapacitor
      electrodes.
AB  - Porous carbon nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning blend solutions of
      polybenzimidazole/poly-L-lactic acid (PBI/PLLA) and carbonization. During thermal
      treatment, PLLA was decomposed, resulting in the creation of pores in the carbon
      nanofibers. From SEM images, it is shown that carbon nanofibers had diameters in
      the range of 100-200 nm. The conversion of PBI to carbon was confirmed by Raman
      spectroscopy, and the surface area and pore volume of carbon nanofibers were
      determined using nitrogen adsorption/desorption analyses. To investigate
      electrochemical performances, coin-type cells were assembled using free-standing
      carbon nanofiber electrodes and ionic liquid electrolyte. cyclic voltammetry
      studies show that the PBI/PLLA-derived porous carbon nanofiber electrodes have
      higher capacitance due to lower electrochemical impedance compared to carbon
      nanofiber electrode from PBI only. These porous carbon nanofibers were activated
      using ammonia for further porosity improvement and annealed to remove the surface
      functional groups to better match the polarity of electrode and electrolyte.
      Ragone plots, correlating energy density with power density calculated from
      galvanostatic charge-discharge curves, reveal that activation/annealing further
      improves energy and power densities. 

PMID- 27632071
TI  - Topochemistry, optical anisotropy and FT-IR microspectroscopy of the cocoon of
      Lithurgus chrysurus (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae).
AB  - A previous study has not revealed the participation of a mucous component in the
      cocoon wall of the solitary bee, Lithurgus chrysurus, differing from the cocoon
      structure reported for many other bee species. However, uncertainty remains,
      because only the median and rear zones of this cocoon type have thus far been
      analyzed. Here, we studied the front zone of this cocoon, searching its
      components and their organization, to fill this knowledge gap. Topochemical
      assays, polarization microscopy and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR)
      microspectroscopy were used to study cross sections from L. chrysurus cocoon.
      Three main layers differing in structural organization were found to compose the
      cocoon wall. Silk fibroins were assumed to constitute the filamentous threads of
      the inner and outer layers and the laminar structure of the intermediate layer.
      Deduced from its topochemical properties and FT-IR spectral signature, a foamy
      material containing mucin glycoproteins and carboxylated acid glycosaminoglycans
      was found in the intermediate layer. FT-IR analysis using a Savitzky-Golay 2nd
      derivative and absence of linear dichroism and birefringence phenomena suggest
      that a random-coil secondary structure predominates in the foam component. Co
      existence of alpha-helical and beta-sheet conformations is also hypothesized for
      the fibroin component of this cocoon. It is thus concluded that in addition to
      fibroin elements, a mucous component, likely contributed by a Malpighian tubule
      secretion, integrates the composition of the front zone of the cocoon wall of L.
      chrysurus. In addition, the FT-IR analysis of the inner layer silk of this cocoon
      suggests significant differences in comparison to the silk fibroins of the
      silkworm, and some minor spectral differences in comparison to published data on
      the honeybee silk, with respect to protein secondary structure.

PMID- 27632074
TI  - Expressions for the evaporation of sessile liquid droplets incorporating the
      evaporative cooling effect.
AB  - The evaporation along the surface of pinned, sessile droplets is investigated
      numerically by using the combined field approach. In the present model, the
      evaporative cooling at the droplet surface which leads to a reduction in the
      evaporation is taken into account. Simple, yet accurate analytical expressions
      for the local evaporation flux and for the total evaporation rate of sessile
      droplets are obtained. The theoretical analyses indicate that the reduction in
      the evaporation becomes more pronounced as the evaporative cooling number Ec
      increases. The results also reveal that the variation of total evaporation rate
      with contact angle will change its trend as the intensity of the evaporative
      cooling changes. For small values of Ec, the total evaporation rate increases
      with the contact angle, the same as predicted by Deegan et al. and by Hu and
      Larson in their isothermal models in which the evaporative cooling is neglected.
      Contrarily, when the evaporative cooling effect is strong enough, the total
      evaporation rate will decrease as the contact angle increases. The present theory
      is corroborated experimentally, and found in good agreement with the expressions
      proposed by Hu and Larson in the limiting isothermal case.

PMID- 27632073
TI  - Mixed monolayers of alkane thiols with polar terminal group on gold:
      Investigation of structure dependent surface properties.
AB  - Adsorption of thiols with cationic or anionic terminal group on gold has been
      studied from mixed solutions of 11-Amino-1-undecanethiol (AUT) and 3
      Mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) using Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation
      (QCM-D), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM)
      and contact angles. The goal is to probe the nature of such layers, and the
      additivity or otherwise of the pH responsiveness, with a view to evaluate their
      suitability as smart materials. For each of the two pure (unmixed) cases, ordered
      molecular monolayers are formed with sulfur binding to gold and the alkane chain
      pointing out from the surface as expected. Adsorption from the thiol mixtures,
      however, leads to a more complex behaviour. The surface concentration of thiols
      from the mixtures, as determined by QCM-D, is considerably lower than for the
      pure cases and it reaches a minimum at a 3:1 MPA/AUT relative concentration in
      the solution. The XPS results confirm a reduction in adsorbed amount in mixtures
      with the lowest overall intensity for the 3:1 ratio. Monolayers formed from
      mixtures display a wettability which is much lower and less pH sensitive.
      Collectively these results confirm that for adsorption from mixed systems, the
      configuration is completely different. Complex formation in the mixed solutions
      leads to the adsorption of molecules parallel to the surface in an axially in
      plane configuration. This parallel layer of thiols is mechanically relatively
      robust to nano-shaving based on AFM measurements. These results will have a
      significant impact on the design of biomimetic surface coatings particularly when
      mixtures of oppositely charged molecules are present on the surface, as is
      commonly the case in biological, proteinaceous surfaces (e.g. hair and skin).

PMID- 27632076
TI  - Novel electroactive nanocomposite of POAP for highly efficient energy storage and
      electrocatalyst: Electrosynthesis and electrochemical performance.
AB  - In this work, we presented facile route for fabrication of poly ortho aminophenol
      (POAP) POAP and POAP/ZnO nanocomposite on the surface of the working electrode.
      The fractal dimension of nanocomposite films in the presence of counter ions was
      investigated. Surface morphology of the composite film was studied by surface
      microscopy techniques (SEM). The presence of ZnO in the films was confirmed by
      EDS analysis. The results indicate that a strong interaction exist at the
      interface of POAP and nano-ZnO. Different electrochemical methods including
      galvanostatic charge discharge experiments and cyclic voltammetry have been
      applied to study the system performance. This work introduces new nanocomposite
      materials for electrochemical redox capacitors with such advantages as the ease
      of synthesis, high active surface area and stability in an aqueous electrolyte.
      Furthermore, comparison with a Ni-POAP the Ni-POAP/ZnO electrode shows a better
      catalytic performance for the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol in alkaline
      solution. It is observed that the in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles current
      density of electro-oxidation of methanol is almost constant in 400 cycles due to
      the stability of electrocatalyst in this cycle number and indicating that
      methanol reacted with the surface and no poisoning effect on the surface was
      observed.

PMID- 27632075
TI  - Design and fabrication of fluorescence resonance energy transfer-mediated
      fluorescent polymer nanoparticles for ratiometric sensing of lysosomal pH.
AB  - The design of effective tools capable of sensing lysosome pH is highly desirable
      for better understanding its biological functions in cellular behaviors and
      various diseases. Herein, a lysosome-targetable ratiometric fluorescent polymer
      nanoparticle pH sensor (RFPNS) was synthesized via incorporation of miniemulsion
      polymerization and surface modification technique. In this system, the donor: 4
      ethoxy-9-allyl-1,8-naphthalimide (EANI) and the acceptor: fluorescein
      isothiocyanate (FITC) were covalently linked to the polymer nanoparticle to
      construct pH-responsive fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) system. The
      FITC moieties on the surface of RFPNS underwent structural and spectral
      transformation as the presence of pH changes, resulting in ratiometric
      fluorescent sensing of pH. The as-prepared RFPNS displayed favorable water
      dispersibility, good pH-induced spectral reversibility and so on. Following the
      living cell uptake, the as-prepared RFPNS with good cell-membrane permeability
      can mainly stain in the lysosomes; and it can facilitate visualization of the
      intracellular lysosomal pH changes. This nanosensor platform offers a novel
      method for future development of ratiometric fluorescent probes for targeting
      other analytes, like ions, metabolites,and other biomolecules in biosamples.

PMID- 27632077
TI  - Measuring What Matters.

PMID- 27632079
TI  - Clinical outcomes following ear reconstruction with adjuvant 3D template model.
AB  - CONCLUSIONS: The use of the 3D template model in microtia surgery leads to
      satisfactory results, for its contribution to the engraving and localization of
      the microtia auricle in auricle reconstruction. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study
      was to create an anatomical correct 3D rapid prototyping model for patients with
      microtia, to assist with the accurate fabrication and localization of a coastal
      cartilage framework for auricular reconstruction, and patients, who had undergone
      rib-cartilage reconstruction to treat a congenital auricular defect, were
      evaluated for aesthetic outcomes following ear reconstruction with a different
      template model. METHODS: Forty patients with unilateral congenital microtia were
      enrolled in this study during the last 2 years, they were divided into two groups
      randomly before surgery; 20 patients who had a 3D digital template made for
      clinical application and the other 20 who underwent ear reconstruction with a 2D
      template. RESULTS: The patients who had undergone ear reconstruction with the 3D
      template model had a better result of the appearance and location of the
      constructed auricle, and a higher level of satisfaction with their clinical
      outcomes (p < .05).

PMID- 27632078
TI  - Alterations in Aerobic Exercise Performance and Gait Economy Following High
      Intensity Dynamic Stepping Training in Persons With Subacute Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Impairments in metabolic capacity and economy (O2cost)
      are hallmark characteristics of locomotor dysfunction following stroke. High
      intensity (aerobic) training has been shown to improve peak oxygen consumption in
      this population, with fewer reports of changes in O2cost. However, particularly
      in persons with subacute stroke, inconsistent gains in walking function are
      observed with minimal associations with gains in metabolic parameters. The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in aerobic exercise performance in
      participants with subacute stroke following high-intensity variable stepping
      training as compared with conventional therapy. METHODS: A secondary analysis was
      performed on data from a randomized controlled trial comparing high-intensity
      training with conventional interventions, and from the pilot study that formed
      the basis for the randomized controlled trial. Participants 1 to 6 months
      poststroke received 40 or fewer sessions of high-intensity variable stepping
      training (n = 21) or conventional interventions (n = 12). Assessments were
      performed at baseline (BSL), posttraining, and 2- to 3-month follow-up and
      included changes in submaximal (Equation is included in full-text article.)O2
      ((Equation is included in full-text article.)O2submax) and O2cost at fastest
      possible treadmill speeds and peak speeds at BSL testing. RESULTS: Significant
      improvements were observed in (Equation is included in full-text
      article.)O2submax with less consistent improvements in O2cost, although
      individual responses varied substantially. Combined changes in both (Equation is
      included in full-text article.)O2submax and (Equation is included in full-text
      article.)O2 at matched peak BSL speeds revealed stronger correlations to
      improvements in walking function as compared with either measure alone.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: High-intensity stepping training may elicit
      significant improvements in (Equation is included in full-text article.)O2submax,
      whereas changes in both peak capacity and economy better reflect gains in walking
      function. Providing high-intensity training to improve locomotor and aerobic
      exercise performance may increase the efficiency of rehabilitation sessions.Video
      Abstract available for more insights from the authors (see Supplemental Digital
      Content, http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A142).

PMID- 27632080
TI  - Covalently Functionalized SWCNTs as Tailored p-Type Dopants for Perovskite Solar
      Cells.
AB  - The covalent functionalization of (7,6)-enriched single-walled carbon nanotubes
      (SWCNTs) with oligophenylenevinylene (OPV) moieties terminating with a
      dimethylamino group is proposed as an efficient way to enhance the affinity of
      CNTs with spiro-MeOTAD in perovskite-based solar cells. The evidence of SWCNTs
      functionalization and the degree of OPV substitution on SWCNTs are established
      from TGA, XPS, TEM, and Raman techniques. Our tailored doping materials afford
      photovoltaic performances in line with conventional Li-doped spiro-MeOTAD,
      showing at the same time a significantly improved chemical stability of the
      perovskite component over time. Furthermore, the comparison of the photovoltaic
      performances with those obtained with nonfunctionalized SWCNTs suggest that the
      presence of the organic appends ensures highly reproducible PV performances.
      These results demonstrate the suitability of this functionalized SWCNT material
      as a valid doping agent for spiro-MeOTAD, representing a viable alternative to
      the conventional Li salt.

PMID- 27632081
TI  - Chemical shift assignment of the intrinsically disordered N-terminus and the
      rubredoxin domain in the folded metal bound and unfolded oxidized state of
      mycobacterial protein kinase G.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein kinase G (PknG) is a 82 kDa multidomain
      eukaryotic-like serine/threonine kinase mediating the survival of pathogenic
      mycobacteria within host macrophages. The N-terminal sequence preceding the
      catalytic kinase domain contains an approximately 75 residues long tail, which
      was predicted to show no regulatory secondary structure (1-75 = NORS) but harbors
      the major in vivo phosphorylation site (T63), and a rubredoxin-like metal binding
      motif (74-147 = RD). In the reduced rubredoxin motif, four conserved cysteine
      residues that are present as two C-X-X-C-G motifs coordinate a metal ion. The
      cysteines are further involved in sensing the redox environment to regulate PknG
      catalytic activity. Here, we report the (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N resonance
      assignments of the highly dynamic unstructured N-terminal region NORS and the RD
      in the reduced, metal bound, presumably folded and the oxidized, presumably
      unfolded state. Chemical shifts have been deposited at the BioMagResBank under
      the BMRB accession numbers 26,028 for the His-PknG1-147 with the RD in reduced,
      metal bound state, 26,027 for His-PknG1-75, and 26,030 and 26,029 for PknG74-147
      either in the reduced, metal bound or oxidized state, respectively. The presented
      chemical shift assignments pave the route for the structural characterization of
      the regulation of PknG by redox changes and posttranslational modifications
      (phosphorylation).

PMID- 27632140
TI  - Direct oral anticoagulants in hypercoagulable states.
AB  - Direct oral anticoagulants have been shown safe and effective in the treatment of
      pulmonary emboli and deep vein thrombi. Their role in the treatment of patients
      with hypercoagulability is uncertain. We designed a retrospective exploratory
      analysis of all patients with definite heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and
      antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) that were treated with either apixaban or
      rivaroxaban from September 2011 through November 2015. Patients were reviewed for
      several clinico-pathologic features, including efficacy and safety. 23 patients
      were identified (12 patients with HIT and 11 patients with APS). Sixteen patients
      (70 %) were treated with apixaban and seven patients (30 %) were treated with
      rivaroxaban over a median follow up of 7 months (range 2-39). Zero patients
      developed recurrent thrombi. Two patients being treated for HIT developed major
      bleeding leading to discontinuation of all anticoagulation. Therefore, apixaban
      and rivaroxaban appear safe and effective for treatment of patients with HIT and
      APS in this small retrospective cohort and should be considered on an individual
      basis for patients who refuse, fail or are intolerant of warfarin. There were no
      sources of funding.

PMID- 27632141
TI  - Curios relationship revealed by looking at long term data sets-The geometry and
      allometric scaling of diel xylem sap flux in tropical trees.
AB  - Daily xylem sap flux values (daily Js) and maximum xylem sap flux values (max Js)
      from 125 tropical trees from different study sites in the Neotropics were
      compared. A cross species and study site relationship was found between daily and
      maximum values. The relationship can be expressed as daily Js=6.5x max Js. The
      geometrical relationship between the maximum xylem sap flux of a given day is
      thus defining the daily xylem sap flux rates. Assuming a bell-shaped diurnal sap
      flux course and a relatively constant day length the maximum xylem sap flux is
      the only possible changing variable to define daily fluxes. Further, this
      relationship is showing the inertia of the xylem sap flux as a physical object
      and highlights the delayed response to environmental changes and its subsequent
      inevitable susceptibility under environmental stress to hydraulic failure.

PMID- 27632142
TI  - Single-Ion Magnet Et4N[CoII(hfac)3] with Nonuniaxial Anisotropy: Synthesis,
      Experimental Characterization, and Theoretical Modeling.
AB  - In this article we report the synthesis and structure of the new Co(II) complex
      Et4N[CoII(hfac)3] (I) (hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate) exhibiting single-ion
      magnet (SIM) behavior. The performed analysis of the magnetic characteristics
      based on the complementary experimental techniques such as static and dynamic
      magnetic measurements, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy in
      conjunction with the theoretical modeling (parametric Hamiltonian and ab initio
      calculations) demonstrates that the SIM properties of I arise from the
      nonuniaxial magnetic anisotropy with strong positive axial and significant
      rhombic contributions.

PMID- 27632143
TI  - Physical Inactivity Among Adults Aged 50 Years and Older - United States, 2014.
AB  - Physical activity can help delay, prevent, or manage many of the chronic diseases
      for which adults aged >=50 years are at risk (1-3). These diseases can impact the
      length and quality of life, as well as the long-term ability to live
      independently.* All adults aged >=50 years, with or without chronic disease, gain
      health benefits by avoiding inactivity (2,3). To examine the prevalence of
      inactivity by selected demographic characteristics and chronic disease status in
      mid-life and older adults, CDC analyzed data on adults aged >=50 years from the
      2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Overall, 27.5% of adults
      aged >=50 years reported no physical activity outside of work during the past
      month. Inactivity prevalence significantly increased with increasing age and was
      25.4% among adults aged 50-64 years, 26.9% among those aged 65-74 years, and
      35.3% among those aged >=75 years. Inactivity prevalence was significantly higher
      among women than men, among Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks than among non
      Hispanic whites, and among adults who reported ever having one or more of seven
      selected chronic diseases than among those not reporting one. Inactivity
      prevalence significantly increased with decreasing levels of education and
      increasing body mass index. To help adults with and without chronic disease start
      or maintain an active lifestyle, communities can implement evidence-based
      strategies, such as creating or enhancing access to places for physical activity,
      designing communities and streets to encourage physical activity, and offering
      programs that address specific barriers to physical activity. 

PMID- 27632082
TI  - Systems Biology-Based Investigation of Cellular Antiviral Drug Targets Identified
      by Gene-Trap Insertional Mutagenesis.
AB  - Viruses require host cellular factors for successful replication. A comprehensive
      systems-level investigation of the virus-host interactome is critical for
      understanding the roles of host factors with the end goal of discovering new
      druggable antiviral targets. Gene-trap insertional mutagenesis is a high
      throughput forward genetics approach to randomly disrupt (trap) host genes and
      discover host genes that are essential for viral replication, but not for host
      cell survival. In this study, we used libraries of randomly mutagenized cells to
      discover cellular genes that are essential for the replication of 10 distinct
      cytotoxic mammalian viruses, 1 gram-negative bacterium, and 5 toxins. We herein
      reported 712 candidate cellular genes, characterizing distinct topological
      network and evolutionary signatures, and occupying central hubs in the human
      interactome. Cell cycle phase-specific network analysis showed that host cell
      cycle programs played critical roles during viral replication (e.g. MYC and TAF4
      regulating G0/1 phase). Moreover, the viral perturbation of host cellular
      networks reflected disease etiology in that host genes (e.g. CTCF, RHOA, and
      CDKN1B) identified were frequently essential and significantly associated with
      Mendelian and orphan diseases, or somatic mutations in cancer. Computational drug
      repositioning framework via incorporating drug-gene signatures from the
      Connectivity Map into the virus-host interactome identified 110 putative
      druggable antiviral targets and prioritized several existing drugs (e.g.
      ajmaline) that may be potential for antiviral indication (e.g. anti-Ebola). In
      summary, this work provides a powerful methodology with a tight integration of
      gene-trap insertional mutagenesis testing and systems biology to identify new
      antiviral targets and drugs for the development of broadly acting and targeted
      clinical antiviral therapeutics.

PMID- 27632144
TI  - Plasma IP-10 Is Increased in Immunological NonResponders and Associated With
      Activated Regulatory T Cells and Persisting Low CD4 Counts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore immune mechanisms and identify biomarkers associated with
      an inadequate immune recovery in patients with HIV with efficient antiretroviral
      therapy. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of 67 HIV-infected patients on
      antiretroviral therapy for >=24 months with HIV RNA <=20 copies per milliliter;
      41 were defined as immunological nonresponders (INR) (CD4 < 400 cells per
      microliter) and 26 as immunological responders (CD4 > 600 cells per microliter).
      CD4 counts were also registered 2 years after inclusion. METHODS: Cytokines,
      soluble markers of microbial translocation, and tryptophan catabolites were
      measured in plasma by multiplex assay, ELISA, or mass spectrometry. T-cell
      activation, differentiation, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) were analyzed by flow
      cytometry in 2 subgroups with comparable nadir CD4 counts. RESULTS: Plasma
      interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) levels were higher (P < 0.05), the T
      cells were more activated (CD38HLA-DR) (P < 0.05), the naive/effector memory T
      cell ratio was lower (P < 0.01) and the proportion of resting Tregs
      (CD4CD45RAFoxP3) was reduced (P < 0.001) in INR patients compared with
      immunological responders. INR patients with CD4 counts <=300 cells per microliter
      also demonstrated a higher fraction of activated Tregs (aTreg) (CD4CD147CD25) (P
      < 0.05). In the INR group, the aTreg percentages correlated with plasma IP-10
      levels and inversely with CD4 counts (both P < 0.01). IP-10 levels (P < 0.05) and
      kynurenine/tryptophan ratio (P < 0.01) were negatively associated with the CD4
      count 2 years after inclusion. CONCLUSION: Patients with HIV with inadequate CD4
      responses had higher levels of IP-10, more activated and differentiated T-cell
      phenotypes, as well as aTreg, compared with patients with satisfactory CD4 gain.
      High IP-10 levels were also associated with lower CD4 counts after 2 years.

PMID- 27632145
TI  - Sizanani: A Randomized Trial of Health System Navigators to Improve Linkage to
      HIV and TB Care in South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A fraction of HIV-diagnosed individuals promptly initiate
      antiretroviral therapy (ART). We evaluated the efficacy of health system
      navigators for improving linkage to HIV and tuberculosis (TB) care among newly
      diagnosed HIV-infected outpatients in Durban, South Africa. METHODS: We conducted
      a randomized controlled trial (Sizanani Trial, NCT01188941) among adults (>=18
      years) at 4 sites. Participants underwent TB screening and randomization into a
      health system navigator intervention or usual care. Intervention participants had
      an in-person interview at enrollment and received phone calls and text messages
      over 4 months. We assessed 9-month outcomes via medical records and the National
      Population Registry. Primary outcome was completion of at least 3 months of ART
      or 6 months of TB treatment for coinfected participants. RESULTS: Four thousand
      nine hundred three participants were enrolled and randomized; 1899 (39%) were HIV
      infected, with 1146 (60%) ART-eligible and 523 (28%) TB coinfected at baseline.
      In the intervention, 212 (39% of outcome-eligible) reached primary outcome
      compared to 197 (42%) in usual care (RR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.80 to 1.08). One hundred
      thirty-one (14%) HIV-infected intervention participants died compared to 119
      (13%) in usual care; death rates did not differ between arms (RR 1.06, 95% CI:
      0.84 to 1.34). In the as-treated analysis, participants reached for >=5 navigator
      calls were more likely to achieve study outcome. CONCLUSIONS: ~40% of ART
      eligible participants in both study arms reached the primary outcome 9 months
      after HIV diagnosis. Low rates of engagement in care, high death rates, and lack
      of navigator efficacy highlight the urgency of identifying more effective
      strategies for improving HIV and TB care outcomes.

PMID- 27632146
TI  - Social Capital is Associated With Late HIV Diagnosis: An Ecological Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Late HIV diagnosis is associated with higher medical costs, early
      mortality among individuals, and HIV transmission in the population. Even under
      optimal configurations of stable or declining HIV incidence and increase in HIV
      case findings, no change in proportion of late HIV diagnosis is projected after
      year 2019. We investigated the association among social capital, gender, and late
      HIV diagnosis. METHODS: We conduct ecological analyses (ZIP code, N = 166) using
      negative binomial regression of gender-specific rates of late HIV diagnoses (an
      AIDS defining illness or a CD4 count <=200 cell/MUL within 12 months of a new HIV
      diagnosis) in 2005 and 2006 obtained from the New York City HIV Surveillance
      Registry, and social capital indicators (civic engagement, political
      participation, social cohesion, and informal social control) from the New York
      Social Indicators Survey, 2004. RESULTS: Overall, low to high political
      participation and social cohesion corresponded with significant (P < 0.0001)
      decreasing trends in late HIV diagnosis rates. Among men [relative risk (RR) =
      0.66, 95% CI: (0.47 to 0.98)] and women [RR = 0.43, 95% CI: (0.28 to 0.67)],
      highest political participation was associated with lower relative odds of late
      HIV diagnosis, independent of income inequality. Highest informal social control
      [RR = 0.67, 95% CI: (0.48 to 0.93)] among men only and moderate social cohesion
      [RR = 0.71, 95% CI: (0.55 to 0.92)] among women only were associated with the
      outcome adjusting for social fragmentation, income inequality, and racial
      composition. DISCUSSION: The magnitude of association between social capital and
      late HIV diagnosis varies by gender and by social capital indicator.

PMID- 27632148
TI  - Sex Differences in Mortality and Loss Among 21,461 Older Adults on Antiretroviral
      Therapy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

PMID- 27632147
TI  - SMSaude: Evaluating Mobile Phone Text Reminders to Improve Retention in HIV Care
      for Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Mozambique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether regular mobile phone text reminders improved
      patients' retention in antiretroviral therapy (ART) care in Mozambique. DESIGN:
      SMSaude was a randomized control trial of HIV-infected patients on ART who
      received regular text message reminder vs. standard of care at 3 public health
      facilities in Maputo Province, Mozambique. The primary outcome was retention in
      HIV care. Between November 2011 and March 2012, 830 eligible HIV-infected
      patients on ART were randomized 1:1 to the text reminder intervention or standard
      of care. METHODS: We used Kaplan-Meier estimators and log-rank tests to compare
      proportions of patients who received SMS reminders who were retained in HIV care
      compared to the control group who received standard of care. Post hoc analyses
      were performed using Cox proportional hazards models stratified by urban/rural
      facility and when initiated ART (<=3 months vs. >3 months). Hazard ratios and
      confidence intervals (CIs) are reported. Analysis was with intention to treat.
      RESULTS: Patients who received text messages had lower attrition from HIV care at
      12 months, though the difference was nonsignificant (RR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.41 to
      1.13). Among urban patients, text messages improved retention in HIV care (RR:
      0.54, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.95). Intervention patients newly initiated on ART (<3
      months) had lower attrition than control patients (HR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.23 to
      0.91), especially urban newly initiated patients (HR: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.06 to
      0.64). Text messages had no effect on retention among rural patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Text messages did not improve retention in HIV care for all patients
      on ART but improved retention in care of urban patients and those who recently
      started ART and received text reminders compared with standard of care.

PMID- 27632149
TI  - Association of Circulating Irisin with Insulin Resistance and Oxidative Stress in
      Obese Women.
AB  - Irisin is a myokine/adipokine with potential role in obesity and diabetes. The
      purpose of the present study was to assess irisin levels and its association with
      insulin resistance and oxidative stress markers in premenopausal normal-weight
      and obese women. Ten obese (mean body mass index, 32.65+/-3.04 kg m-2) and 10
      normal-weight (23.00+/-2.23 kg m-2) premenopausal women were involved in the
      present study. Anthropometric, and body composition parameters, blood chemistry,
      oxidative stress markers, and irisin concentrations of different groups were
      measured. Correlation analyses were performed between irisin and other measured
      parameters. Plasma irisin levels were lower in the obese group than the normal
      weight group (p<0.05). Glucose, homeostasis model assessment index (HOMA-IR), and
      MDA levels in the obese group were higher than that in the normal-weight group
      (p<0.05). Plasma irisin was negatively correlated with insulin (r=-0.648,
      p<0.05), HOMA-IR (r=-0.664, p<0.05) and MDA (r=-0.690, p<0.05). These data
      suggest that irisin levels are decreased with obesity, and irisin may have an
      antidiabetic and antioxidant effects.

PMID- 27632150
TI  - Effect of Diabetes on Circulating Pancreatic Hormones in Pregnant Rats and Their
      Offspring.
AB  - The aim of the study was to investigate the role of diabetic intrauterine
      environment on circulating insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin levels in pregnant
      rats, fetuses, and offspring. Diabetes was induced in female Wistar rats by
      streptozotocin at birth or as adult and the animals were assigned into: control
      (C); mildly diabetic (MD); and severely diabetic (SD). The rats were mated and
      distributed into 2 subgroups: euthanasia at day 21 of pregnancy and at day 10
      postpartum. Both MD and SD dams showed impaired oral glucose tolerance. SD dams
      had lower body weight and insulin levels compared to C and MD dams. SD fetuses
      presented hyperglycemia and reduction of insulin and glucagon levels compared to
      C and MD fetuses. SD newborns had diminished total pancreatic insulin and plasma
      somatostatin compared to the other groups. MD dams and fetuses had lower glucagon
      and somatostatin levels compared to C dams. MD offspring had maintained lower
      somatostatin levels to neonatal period. Diabetes causes alterations in
      circulating levels of pancreatic hormones in the mother and offspring.

PMID- 27632151
TI  - Somatostatin Receptor Type 2 (SSTR2) Internalization and Intracellular
      Trafficking in Pituitary GH-Secreting Adenomas: Role of Scaffold Proteins and
      Implications for Pharmacological Resistance.

PMID- 27632152
TI  - QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Death Rates* for Top Five Causes of Cancer Death,(?) by
      Race/Hispanic Ethnicity - United States, 2014.
AB  - In 2014, the top five causes of cancer deaths for the total population were lung,
      colorectal, female breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer. The non-Hispanic
      black population had the highest age-adjusted death rates for each of these five
      cancers, followed by non-Hispanic white and Hispanic groups. The age-adjusted
      death rate for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in all groups, was
      42.1 per 100,000 standard population for the total population, 45.4 for non
      Hispanic white, 45.7 for non-Hispanic black, and 18.3 for Hispanic populations. 

PMID- 27632153
TI  - Cross-cultural similarities and differences in the experience of awe.
AB  - Current research on awe is limited to Western cultures. Thus, whether the
      measurement, frequency, and consequences of awe will replicate across non-Western
      cultures remains unanswered. To address this gap, we validated the dispositional
      awe scale (Shiota, Keltner, & John, 2006) in 4 countries (United States, Iran,
      Malaysia, and Poland; N = 1,173) with extensive variations in cultural values
      (i.e., power distance) and personality profiles (i.e., extraversion and
      openness). Multigroup factor analyses demonstrated that, across all cultures, a 3
      factor model that treats awe, amusement, and pride as 3 unique emotions is
      superior to a single-factor model that clusters all 3 emotions together.
      Structurally, the scales of awe, amusement and pride were invariant across all
      countries. Furthermore, we found significant country-level differences in
      dispositional awe, with the largest discrepancy between the United States and
      Iran (d = 0.79); these differences are not likely due to cultural response
      biases. Results are discussed in terms of possible explanations for country-level
      differences and suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632154
TI  - The Effect of Torque Application Technique on Screw Preload of Implant-Supported
      Prostheses.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the effect of different torque application techniques
      (torqued, retorqued once, and retorqued twice) on the removal torque of implant
      supported fixed complete dental prostheses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four Nobel
      Biocare implants (4.3 * 13 + 3; 13-mm thread height + 3-mm collar height) were
      stabilized temporarily inside four holes made in an acrylic mandibular master
      model. A metal framework was constructed, casted, and finished using a
      standardized technique. A passively fitting framework was achieved by removing
      the implants from the acrylic master model and hand-screwing them to the metal
      framework. Then, the whole assembly was restabilized in the acrylic master model.
      The torque experiment consisted of three protocols: (1) torquing screws to 35 Ncm
      a single time; (2) torquing the screws to 35 Ncm and then immediately retorquing
      the same screws to the same value; and (3) torquing the same screws to 35 Ncm
      three consecutive times. Removal torque was recorded for each implant using a
      digital torque meter. RESULTS: The highest torque value was recorded for the
      retorqued-once application technique (29.5 +/- 1.5 Ncm); next was the torqued
      technique (27.9 +/- 0.7 Ncm); and, last was the retorqued-twice technique (27.2
      +/- 1.6 Ncm). The Games-Howell post hoc test showed that the retorqued-once
      application technique resulted in significantly higher torque values than the
      torqued and retorqued-twice torque application techniques (P <= .05). CONCLUSION:
      Retightening abutment screws once after the initial torquing could enhance the
      removal torque of the screw. Care must be taken when retorquing the screws more
      than once, as this may inversely affect the removal torque.

PMID- 27632155
TI  - Retrospective Analysis of 129 Consecutive Zygomatic Implants Used to Rehabilitate
      Severely Resorbed Maxillae in a Two-Stage Protocol.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report on the clinical outcome of 129 zygomatic implants placed in 37
      patients with severely resorbed partially or completely edentulous maxillae.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who received zygomatic implants between 2007 and
      2014 were included in this retrospective analysis. All patients were treated
      using the same surgical protocol, the sinus slot technique. The following data
      were recorded: sex, age, race, medical history, etiology, addictions, degree of
      bone atrophy, type and size of zygomatic implants, number of implants placed,
      type of prosthesis, survival rate, and success of implants and complications.
      Follow-up included standardized clinical and tomography examinations. RESULTS:
      Thirty-seven consecutive patients (25 women, 12 men; mean age 55.64 years [range
      40 to 77 years]) were treated. All were in need of oral reconstruction and had
      maxillary atrophy that warranted zygomatic implant placement. One hundred twenty
      nine zygomatic implants were placed in these 37 patients. Two of the implants
      failed, resulting in a cumulative survival rate of 98.44%. Maxillary sinusitis
      was the most common complication found (21.62%); however, neither of the implant
      failures was related to sinusitis or smoking. CONCLUSION: The zygomatic implant
      is a reliable option for treatment of the severely resorbed maxilla.

PMID- 27632156
TI  - The Superiority of IFN-lambda as a Therapeutic Candidate to Control Acute
      Influenza Viral Lung Infection.
AB  - Here, we studied the IFN-regulated innate immune response against influenza A
      virus (IAV) infection in the mouse lung and the therapeutic effect of IFN
      lambda2/3 in acute IAV lung infection. For viral infections, IAV (WS/33, H1N1,
      PR8 H1N1, H5N1) were inoculated into wild-type mice by intranasal delivery, and
      IAV mRNA level and viral titer were measured. To compare the antiviral effect of
      IFNs in vivo in the lung, neutralizing antibodies and recombinant IFNs were used.
      After intranasal inoculation of IAV into mice, viral infection peaked at 7 days
      postinfection, and the IAV titer also reached its peak at this time. We found
      that IFN-beta and IFN-lambda2/3 were preferentially induced after IAV infection
      and the IFN-lambda2/3-mediated innate immune response was specifically required
      for the induction of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) transcription in the mouse
      respiratory tract. Neutralization of secreted IFN-lambda2/3 aggravated acute IAV
      lung infection in mice with intact IFN-beta induction; consistent with this
      finding, the transcription of ISGs was significantly reduced. Intranasal
      administration of IFN-lambda2/3 significantly suppressed various strains of IAV
      infection, including WS/33 (H1N1), PR (H1N1), and H5N1 in the mouse lung, and was
      accompanied by greater up-regulation of ISGs. Taken together, our data indicate
      that the IFN-lambda2/3-mediated innate immune response is necessary to protect
      the lungs from IAV infection, and intranasally delivered IFN-lambda2/3 has the
      potential to be a useful therapeutic strategy for treating acute IAV lung
      infection.

PMID- 27632157
TI  - I can time with a little help from my friends: effect of social enrichment on
      timing processes in Pigeons (Columba livia).
AB  - There is evidence that impulsive decision-making is associated with errors in
      timing. However, there has been little attempt to identify the putative mechanism
      responsible for impulsive animals' timing errors. One means of manipulating
      impulsivity in non-human animals is providing different levels of access to
      conspecifics. These preclinical models have revealed that social isolation
      increases impulsive responding across a wide range of tasks. The goal of the
      present study was to determine whether social isolation modulates time perception
      in pigeons by inducing more variability or a bias to underestimate the passage of
      time in temporal judgments. A temporal bisection task was used to characterize
      time perception. One group of pigeons performed the bisection following social
      enrichment, and the remaining half of the pigeons were tested following social
      isolation. Results revealed pigeons in the social isolation condition categorized
      a temporal stimulus sample as "long" at shorter durations than pigeons in the
      social enrichment condition. These data highlight the mechanism(s) thought to
      underlie timing-based interventions aimed at reducing impulsivity in humans.
      Future work should consider whether impulsivity is produced by misperceptions of
      time or a reduced threshold for a response.

PMID- 27632158
TI  - The gestural repertoire of the wild bonobo (Pan paniscus): a mutually understood
      communication system.
AB  - In animal communication, signallers and recipients are typically different: each
      signal is given by one subset of individuals (members of the same age, sex, or
      social rank) and directed towards another. However, there is scope for signaller
      recipient interchangeability in systems where most signals are potentially
      relevant to all age-sex groups, such as great ape gestural communication. In this
      study of wild bonobos (Pan paniscus), we aimed to discover whether their gestural
      communication is indeed a mutually understood communicative repertoire, in which
      all individuals can act as both signallers and recipients. While past studies
      have only examined the expressed repertoire, the set of gesture types that a
      signaller deploys, we also examined the understood repertoire, the set of
      gestures to which a recipient reacts in a way that satisfies the signaller. We
      found that most of the gestural repertoire was both expressed and understood by
      all age and sex groups, with few exceptions, suggesting that during their
      lifetimes all individuals may use and understand all gesture types. Indeed, as
      the number of overall gesture instances increased, so did the proportion of
      individuals estimated to both express and understand a gesture type. We compared
      the community repertoire of bonobos to that of chimpanzees, finding an 88 %
      overlap. Observed differences are consistent with sampling effects generated by
      the species' different social systems, and it is thus possible that the
      repertoire of gesture types available to Pan is determined biologically.

PMID- 27632160
TI  - Correction: Identification of QTL for Early Vigor and Stay-Green Conferring
      Tolerance to Drought in Two Connected Advanced Backcross Populations in Tropical
      Maize (Zea mays L.).
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149636.].

PMID- 27632159
TI  - Neuropsychiatric Symptom Clusters in Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack by
      Cognitive Status and Stroke Subtype: Frequency and Relationships with Vascular
      Lesions, Brain Atrophy and Amyloid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study are 1) to examine the frequencies of
      neuropsychiatric symptom clusters in patients with stroke or transient ischemic
      attack (TIA) by cognitive level and stroke subtype; and 2) to evaluate effect of
      demographic, clinical, and neuroimaging measures of chronic brain changes and
      amyloid upon neuropsychiatric symptom clusters. METHODS: Hospital-based, cross
      sectional study. 518 patients were administered the Neuropsychiatric Inventory
      (NPI) 3-6 months post index admission. NPI symptoms were classified into four
      symptom clusters (Behavioral Problems, Psychosis, Mood Disturbance & Euphoria)
      derived from a confirmatory factor analysis of the 12 NPI items. Multivariable
      logistic regression was used to determine independent associations between
      demographic, clinical and neuroimaging measures of chronic brain changes (white
      matter changes, old infarcts, whole brain atrophy, medial temporal lobe atrophy
      [MTLA] and frontal lobe atrophy [FLA]) with the presence of NPI symptoms and all
      symptom clusters except euphoria. 11C-Pittsburg Compound B Positron Emission
      Tomography (11C-PiB PET) was performed in 24 patients to measure amyloid
      retention for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology. RESULTS: 50.6% of the whole
      sample, including 28.7% cognitively normal and 66.7% of patients with mild
      cognitive symptoms, had >=1 NPI symptoms. Frequencies of symptom clusters were
      largely similar between stroke subtypes. Compared to patients with cardioembolic
      stroke and intracranial haemorrhage, those with TIA had less frequent mood
      disturbance. Stroke severity at admission and MTLA were the most robust
      correlates of symptoms. FLA was associated with behavioral problems cluster only.
      Frequency of symptom clusters did not differ between patients with and without
      significant amyloid retention. CONCLUSION: Frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms
      increased with level of cognitive impairment but was largely similar between
      stroke subtypes. Stroke severity and MTLA were associated with neuropsychiatric
      symptoms. AD pathology appeared to be unrelated to neuropsychiatric
      manifestations but further studies with larger sample size are required to
      substantiate this finding.

PMID- 27632161
TI  - GhMCS1, the Cotton Orthologue of Human GRIM-19, Is a Subunit of Mitochondrial
      Complex I and Associated with Cotton Fibre Growth.
AB  - GRIM-19 (Gene associated with Retinoid-Interferon-induced Mortality 19) is a
      subunit of mitochondrial respiratory complex I in mammalian systems, and it has
      been demonstrated to be a multifunctional protein involved in the cell cycle,
      cell motility and innate immunity. However, little is known about the molecular
      functions of its homologues in plants. Here, we characterised GhMCS1, an
      orthologue of human GRIM-19 from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), and found that
      it was essential for maintaining complex integrity and mitochondrial function in
      cotton. GhMCS1 was detected in various cotton tissues, with high levels expressed
      in developing fibres and flowers and lower levels in leaves, roots and ovules. In
      fibres at different developmental stages, GhMCS1 expression peaked at 5-15 days
      post anthesis (dpa) and then decreased at 20 dpa and diminished at 25 dpa. By
      Western blot analysis, GhMCS1 was observed to be localised to the mitochondria of
      cotton leaves and to colocalise with complex I. In Arabidopsis, GhMCS1
      overexpression enhanced the assembly of complex I and thus respiratory activity,
      whereas the GhMCS1 homologue (At1g04630) knockdown mutants showed significantly
      decreased respiratory activities. Furthermore, the mutants presented with some
      phenotypic changes, such as smaller whole-plant architecture, poorly developed
      seeds and fewer trichomes. More importantly, in the cotton fibres, both the
      GhMCS1 transcript and protein levels were correlated with respiratory activity
      and fibre developmental phase. Our results suggest that GhMCS1, a functional
      ortholog of the human GRIM-19, is an essential subunit of mitochondrial complex I
      and is involved in cotton fibre development. The present data may deepen our
      knowledge on the potential roles of mitochondria in fibre morphogenesis. 

PMID- 27632162
TI  - Perceived Nurse-Physician Communication in Patient Care and Associated Factors in
      Public Hospitals of Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia: Cross Sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nurse-physician communication has been shown to have a significant
      impact on the job satisfaction and retention of staff. In areas where it has been
      studied, communication failure between nurses and physicians was found to be one
      of the leading causes of preventable patient injuries, complications, death and
      medical malpractice claims. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to
      determine perception of nurses and physicians towards nurse-physician
      communication in patient care and associated factors in public hospitals of Jimma
      zone, southwest Ethiopia. METHODS: Institution based cross-sectional survey was
      conducted from March 10 to April 16, 2014 among 341 nurses and 168 physicians
      working in public hospitals in Jimma zone. Data was collected using a pre-tested
      self-administered questionnaire; entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to
      Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 for analysis. Factor
      analysis was carried out. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test,
      linear regression and one way analysis of variance were used. Variables with P
      value < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The response
      rate of the study was 91.55%. The mean perceived nurse-physician communication
      scores were 50.88+/-19.7% for perceived professional respect and satisfaction,
      and 48.52+/-19.7% for perceived openness and sharing of patient information on
      nurse-physician communication. Age, salary and organizational factors were
      statistically significant predictors for perceived respect and satisfaction.
      Whereas sex, working hospital, work attitude individual factors and
      organizational factors were significant predictors of perceived openness and
      sharing of patient information in nurse-physician communication during patient
      care. CONCLUSION: Perceived level of nurse-physician communication mean score was
      low among nurses than physicians and it is attention seeking gap. Hence, the
      finding of our study suggests the need for developing and implementing nurse
      physician communication improvement strategies to solve communication mishaps in
      patient care.

PMID- 27632164
TI  - Assembly of the Complete Sitka Spruce Chloroplast Genome Using 10X Genomics'
      GemCode Sequencing Data.
AB  - The linked read sequencing library preparation platform by 10X Genomics produces
      barcoded sequencing libraries, which are subsequently sequenced using the
      Illumina short read sequencing technology. In this new approach, long fragments
      of DNA are partitioned into separate micro-reactions, where the same index
      sequence is incorporated into each of the sequencing fragment inserts derived
      from a given long fragment. In this study, we exploited this property by using
      reads from index sequences associated with a large number of reads, to assemble
      the chloroplast genome of the Sitka spruce tree (Picea sitchensis). Here we
      report on the first Sitka spruce chloroplast genome assembled exclusively from P.
      sitchensis genomic libraries prepared using the 10X Genomics protocol. We show
      that the resulting 124,049 base pair long genome shares high sequence similarity
      with the related white spruce and Norway spruce chloroplast genomes, but diverges
      substantially from a previously published P. sitchensis- P. thunbergii chimeric
      genome. The use of reads from high-frequency indices enabled separation of the
      nuclear genome reads from that of the chloroplast, which resulted in the
      simplification of the de Bruijn graphs used at the various stages of assembly. 

PMID- 27632163
TI  - Oxidative protein biogenesis and redox regulation in the mitochondrial
      intermembrane space.
AB  - Mitochondria are organelles that play a central role in cellular metabolism, as
      they are responsible for processes such as iron/sulfur cluster biogenesis,
      respiration and apoptosis. Here, we describe briefly the various protein import
      pathways for sorting of mitochondrial proteins into the different
      subcompartments, with an emphasis on the targeting to the intermembrane space.
      The discovery of a dedicated redox-controlled pathway in the intermembrane space
      that links protein import to oxidative protein folding raises important questions
      on the redox regulation of this process. We discuss the salient features of redox
      regulation in the intermembrane space and how such mechanisms may be linked to
      the more general redox homeostasis balance that is crucial not only for normal
      cell physiology but also for cellular dysfunction.

PMID- 27632165
TI  - Performance of trichlorfon degradation by a novel Bacillus tequilensis strain PA
      F-3 and its proposed biodegradation pathway.
AB  - The novel trichlorfon (TCF)-degrading bacterium PA F-3, identified as Bacillus
      tequilensis, was isolated from pesticide-polluted soils by using an effective
      screening and domesticating procedure. The TCF biodegradation pathways of PA F-3
      were also systematically elucidated. As revealed by high-performance liquid
      chromatography, the TCF residues in the mineral salt medium demonstrated that PA
      F-3 can utilize TCF as its sole carbon source and reach the highest degradation
      of 71.1 % at an initial TCF concentration of 200 mg/L within 5 days. The TCF
      degradation conditions were optimized using response surface methodology as
      follows: temperature, 28  degrees C; inoculum amount, 4 %; and initial TCF
      concentration, 125 mg/L. Biodegradation treatments supplemented with exogenous
      carbon sources and yeast extract markedly increased the microbial dry weights and
      TCF-degrading performance of PA F-3, respectively. Meanwhile, five metabolic
      products of TCF were identified through gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and
      a biodegradation pathway was proposed. Results indicated that deoxidation and
      dehydration (including the cleavage of the P-C phosphonate bond and the C-O bond)
      were the preferred metabolic reactions of TCF in this TCF-degrading bacterium.

PMID- 27632167
TI  - Depressive Symptoms Correlate with Disability and Disease Course in Multiple
      Sclerosis Patients: An Italian Multi-Center Study Using the Beck Depression
      Inventory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression occurs in about 50% of patients with multiple sclerosis.
      The aims of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms
      in a multicenter MS population using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II)
      and to identify possible correlations between the BDI II score and demographic
      and clinical variables. METHODS: Data were collected in a multi-center, cross
      sectional study over a period of six months in six MS centers in Italy using BDI
      II. RESULTS: 1,011 MS patients participated in the study. 676 subjects were
      female, with a mean age of 34 years (SD 10.8), mean EDSS of 3.3 (0-8.5) and mean
      disease duration of 10.3 years (range 1-50 years). 668 (%) subjects scored lower
      than 14 on the BDI II and 343 (33.9%) scored greater than 14 (14 cut-off score).
      For patients with BDI>14 multivariate analysis showed a significant difference
      between EDSS and disease course. BDI II scores for subjects with secondary
      progressive (SP) MS were significantly different from primary progressive (PP)
      patients (p < 0.001) but similar to relapsing-remitting (RR) patients.
      Considering subjects with moderate to severe depressive symptoms (BDI II score
      from 20-63), in relation to disease course, 11.7% (83/710) had RR MS, 40.7%
      (96/236) SP and 13.6% (6/44) PP. CONCLUSIONS: Using the BDI II, 30% of the
      current sample had depressive symptoms. BDI II score correlates with disability
      and disease course, particularly in subjects with SP MS. The BDI II scale can be
      a useful tool in clinical practice to screen depressive symptoms in people with
      MS.

PMID- 27632166
TI  - Treatment Contact Coverage for Probable Depressive and Probable Alcohol Use
      Disorders in Four Low- and Middle-Income Country Districts: The PRIME Cross
      Sectional Community Surveys.
AB  - CONTEXT: A robust evidence base is now emerging that indicates that treatment for
      depression and alcohol use disorders (AUD) delivered in low and middle-income
      countries (LMIC) can be effective. However, the coverage of services for these
      conditions in most LMIC settings remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe the
      methods of a repeat cross-sectional survey to determine changes in treatment
      contact coverage for probable depression and for probable AUD in four LMIC
      districts, and to present the baseline findings regarding treatment contact
      coverage. METHODS: Population-based cross-sectional surveys with structured
      questionnaires, which included validated screening tools to identify probable
      cases. We defined contact coverage as being the proportion of cases who sought
      professional help in the past 12 months. SETTING: Sodo District, Ethiopia; Sehore
      District, India; Chitwan District, Nepal; and Kamuli District, Uganda.
      PARTICIPANTS: 8036 adults residing in these districts between May 2013 and May
      2014. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Treatment contact coverage was defined as having
      sought care from a specialist, generalist, or other health care provider for
      symptoms related to depression or AUD. RESULTS: The proportion of adults who
      screened positive for depression over the past 12 months ranged from 11.2% in
      Nepal to 29.7% in India and treatment contact coverage over the past 12 months
      ranged between 8.1% in Nepal to 23.5% in India. In Ethiopia, lifetime contact
      coverage for probable depression was 23.7%. The proportion of adults who screened
      positive for AUD over the past 12 months ranged from 1.7% in Uganda to 13.9% in
      Ethiopia and treatment contact coverage over the past 12 months ranged from 2.8%
      in India to 5.1% in Nepal. In Ethiopia, lifetime contact coverage for probable
      AUD was 13.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with and contribute to
      the limited evidence base which indicates low treatment contact coverage for
      depression and for AUD in LMIC. The planned follow up surveys will be used to
      estimate the change in contact coverage coinciding with the implementation of
      district-level mental health care plans.

PMID- 27632168
TI  - A Network-Based Data Integration Approach to Support Drug Repurposing and Multi
      Target Therapies in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.
AB  - The integration of data and knowledge from heterogeneous sources can be a key
      success factor in drug design, drug repurposing and multi-target therapies. In
      this context, biological networks provide a useful instrument to highlight the
      relationships and to model the phenomena underlying therapeutic action in cancer.
      In our work, we applied network-based modeling within a novel bioinformatics
      pipeline to identify promising multi-target drugs. Given a certain tumor
      type/subtype, we derive a disease-specific Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI)
      network by combining different data-bases and knowledge repositories. Next, the
      application of suitable graph-based algorithms allows selecting a set of
      potentially interesting combinations of drug targets. A list of drug candidates
      is then extracted by applying a recent data fusion approach based on matrix tri
      factorization. Available knowledge about selected drugs mechanisms of action is
      finally exploited to identify the most promising candidates for planning in vitro
      studies. We applied this approach to the case of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
      (TNBC), a subtype of breast cancer whose biology is poorly understood and that
      lacks of specific molecular targets. Our "in-silico" findings have been confirmed
      by a number of in vitro experiments, whose results demonstrated the ability of
      the method to select candidates for drug repurposing. 

PMID- 27632169
TI  - Characterising Wildlife Trade Market Supply-Demand Dynamics.
AB  - The trade in wildlife products can represent an important source of income for
      poor people, but also threaten wildlife locally, regionally and internationally.
      Bushmeat provides livelihoods for hunters, traders and sellers, protein to rural
      and urban consumers, and has depleted the populations of many tropical forest
      species. Management interventions can be targeted towards the consumers or
      suppliers of wildlife products. There has been a general assumption in the
      bushmeat literature that the urban trade is driven by consumer demand with
      hunters simply fulfilling this demand. Using the urban bushmeat trade in the city
      of Kumasi, Ghana, as a case study, we use a range of datasets to explore the
      processes driving the urban bushmeat trade. We characterise the nature of supply
      and demand by explicitly considering three market attributes: resource condition,
      hunter behaviour, and consumer behaviour. Our results suggest that bushmeat
      resources around Kumasi are becoming increasingly depleted and are unable to meet
      demand, that hunters move in and out of the trade independently of price signals
      generated by the market, and that, for the Kumasi bushmeat system, consumption
      levels are driven not by consumer choice but by shortfalls in supply and
      consequent price responses. Together, these results indicate that supply-side
      processes dominate the urban bushmeat trade in Kumasi. This suggests that future
      management interventions should focus on changing hunter behaviour, although
      complementary interventions targeting consumer demand are also likely to be
      necessary in the long term. Our approach represents a structured and repeatable
      method to assessing market dynamics in information-poor systems. The findings
      serve as a caution against assuming that wildlife markets are demand driven, and
      highlight the value of characterising market dynamics to inform appropriate
      management. 

PMID- 27632170
TI  - Aedes aegypti D7 Saliva Protein Inhibits Dengue Virus Infection.
AB  - Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of several medically relevant arboviruses
      including dengue virus (DENV) types 1-4. Ae. aegypti transmits DENV by
      inoculating virus-infected saliva into host skin during probing and feeding. Ae.
      aegypti saliva contains over one hundred unique proteins and these proteins have
      diverse functions, including facilitating blood feeding. Previously, we showed
      that Ae. aegypti salivary gland extracts (SGEs) enhanced dissemination of DENV to
      draining lymph nodes. In contrast, HPLC-fractionation revealed that some SGE
      components inhibited infection. Here, we show that D7 proteins are enriched in
      HPLC fractions that are inhibitory to DENV infection, and that recombinant D7
      protein can inhibit DENV infection in vitro and in vivo. Further, binding assays
      indicate that D7 protein can directly interact with DENV virions and recombinant
      DENV envelope protein. These data reveal a novel role for D7 proteins, which
      inhibits arbovirus transmission to vertebrates through a direct interaction with
      virions.

PMID- 27632171
TI  - Using Brain Potentials to Functionally Localise Stroop-Like Effects in Colour and
      Picture Naming: Perceptual Encoding versus Word Planning.
AB  - The colour-word Stroop task and the picture-word interference task (PWI) have
      been used extensively to study the functional processes underlying spoken word
      production. One of the consistent behavioural effects in both tasks is the Stroop
      like effect: The reaction time (RT) is longer on incongruent trials than on
      congruent trials. The effect in the Stroop task is usually linked to word
      planning, whereas the effect in the PWI task is associated with either word
      planning or perceptual encoding. To adjudicate between the word planning and
      perceptual encoding accounts of the effect in PWI, we conducted an EEG experiment
      consisting of three tasks: a standard colour-word Stroop task (three colours), a
      standard PWI task (39 pictures), and a Stroop-like version of the PWI task (three
      pictures). Participants overtly named the colours and pictures while their EEG
      was recorded. A Stroop-like effect in RTs was observed in all three tasks. ERPs
      at centro-parietal sensors started to deflect negatively for incongruent relative
      to congruent stimuli around 350 ms after stimulus onset for the Stroop, Stroop
      like PWI, and the Standard PWI tasks: an N400 effect. No early differences were
      found in the PWI tasks. The onset of the Stroop-like effect at about 350 ms in
      all three tasks links the effect to word planning rather than perceptual
      encoding, which has been estimated in the literature to be finished around 200
      250 ms after stimulus onset. We conclude that the Stroop-like effect arises
      during word planning in both Stroop and PWI. 

PMID- 27632172
TI  - Please Like Me: Facebook and Public Health Communication.
AB  - Facebook, the most widely used social media platform, has been adopted by public
      health organisations for health promotion and behaviour change campaigns and
      activities. However, limited information is available on the most effective and
      efficient use of Facebook for this purpose. This study sought to identify the
      features of Facebook posts that are associated with higher user engagement on
      Australian public health organisations' Facebook pages. We selected 20 eligible
      pages through a systematic search and coded 360-days of posts for each page.
      Posts were coded by: post type (e.g., photo, text only etc.), communication
      technique employed (e.g. testimonial, informative etc.) and use of marketing
      elements (e.g., branding, use of mascots). A series of negative binomial
      regressions were used to assess associations between post characteristics and
      user engagement as measured by the number of likes, shares and comments. Our
      results showed that video posts attracted the greatest amount of user engagement,
      although an analysis of a subset of the data suggested this may be a reflection
      of the Facebook algorithm, which governs what is and is not shown in user
      newsfeeds and appear to preference videos over other post types. Posts that
      featured a positive emotional appeal or provided factual information attracted
      higher levels of user engagement, while conventional marketing elements, such as
      sponsorships and the use of persons of authority, generally discouraged user
      engagement, with the exception of posts that included a celebrity or
      sportsperson. Our results give insight into post content that maximises user
      engagement and begins to fill the knowledge gap on effective use of Facebook by
      public health organisations. 

PMID- 27632174
TI  - New Insights into the Pro-Inflammatory Activities of Ang1 on Neutrophils:
      Induction of MIP-1beta Synthesis and Release.
AB  - We reported the expression of angiopoietin Tie2 receptor on human neutrophils and
      the capacity of angiopoietins (Ang1 and Ang2) to induce pro-inflammatory
      activities, such as platelet-activating factor synthesis, beta2-integrin
      activation and neutrophil migration. Recently, we observed differential effects
      between both angiopoietins, namely, the capacity of Ang1, but not Ang2, to
      promote rapid interleukin-8 synthesis and release, as well as neutrophil
      viability. Herein, we addressed whether Ang1 and/or Ang2 could modulate the
      synthesis and release of macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta (MIP-1beta) by
      neutrophils. Neutrophils were isolated from blood of healthy volunteers;
      intracellular and extracellular MIP-1beta protein concentrations were assessed by
      ELISA. After 24 hours, the basal intracellular and extracellular MIP-1beta
      protein concentrations were ~500 and 100 pg/106 neutrophils, respectively.
      Treatment with Ang1 (10 nM) increased neutrophil intracellular and extracellular
      MIP-1beta concentrations by 310 and 388% respectively. Pretreatment with PI3K
      (LY294002), p38 MAPK (SB203580) and MEK (U0126) inhibitors completely inhibited
      Ang1-mediated increase of MIP-1beta intracellular and extracellular protein
      levels. Pretreatment with NF-kappaB complex inhibitors, namely Bay11-7085 and IKK
      inhibitor VII or with a transcription inhibitor (actinomycin D) and protein
      synthesis inhibitor (cycloheximide), did also abrogate Ang1-mediated increase of
      MIP-1beta intracellular and extracellular protein levels. We validated by RT-qPCR
      analyses the effect of Ang1 on the induction of MIP-1beta mRNA levels. Our study
      is the first one to report Ang1 capacity to induce MIP-1beta gene expression,
      protein synthesis and release from neutrophils, and that these effects are
      mediated by PI3K, p38 MAPK and MEK activation and downstream NF-kappaB
      activation. 

PMID- 27632176
TI  - Remaining Useful Life Prediction for Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Gaussian
      Processes Mixture.
AB  - The remaining useful life (RUL) prediction of Lithium-ion batteries is closely
      related to the capacity degeneration trajectories. Due to the self-charging and
      the capacity regeneration, the trajectories have the property of multimodality.
      Traditional prediction models such as the support vector machines (SVM) or the
      Gaussian Process regression (GPR) cannot accurately characterize this
      multimodality. This paper proposes a novel RUL prediction method based on the
      Gaussian Process Mixture (GPM). It can process multimodality by fitting different
      segments of trajectories with different GPR models separately, such that the tiny
      differences among these segments can be revealed. The method is demonstrated to
      be effective for prediction by the excellent predictive result of the experiments
      on the two commercial and chargeable Type 1850 Lithium-ion batteries, provided by
      NASA. The performance comparison among the models illustrates that the GPM is
      more accurate than the SVM and the GPR. In addition, GPM can yield the predictive
      confidence interval, which makes the prediction more reliable than that of
      traditional models. 

PMID- 27632173
TI  - Staphylococcus aureus Exploits a Non-ribosomal Cyclic Dipeptide to Modulate
      Survival within Epithelial Cells and Phagocytes.
AB  - Community-acquired (CA) Staphylococcus aureus cause various diseases even in
      healthy individuals. Enhanced virulence of CA-strains is partly attributed to
      increased production of toxins such as phenol-soluble modulins (PSM). The
      pathogen is internalized efficiently by mammalian host cells and intracellular S.
      aureus has recently been shown to contribute to disease. Upon internalization,
      cytotoxic S. aureus strains can disrupt phagosomal membranes and kill host cells
      in a PSM-dependent manner. However, PSM are not sufficient for these processes.
      Here we screened for factors required for intracellular S. aureus virulence. We
      infected escape reporter host cells with strains from an established transposon
      mutant library and detected phagosomal escape rates using automated microscopy.
      We thereby, among other factors, identified a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase
      (NRPS) to be required for efficient phagosomal escape and intracellular survival
      of S. aureus as well as induction of host cell death. By genetic complementation
      as well as supplementation with the synthetic NRPS product, the cyclic dipeptide
      phevalin, wild-type phenotypes were restored. We further demonstrate that the
      NRPS is contributing to virulence in a mouse pneumonia model. Together, our data
      illustrate a hitherto unrecognized function of the S. aureus NRPS and its
      dipeptide product during S. aureus infection.

PMID- 27632175
TI  - Statins and Renin Angiotensin System Inhibitors Dose-Dependently Protect
      Hypertensive Patients against Dialysis Risk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Taiwan has the highest renal disease incidence and prevalence in the
      world. We evaluated the association of statin and renin-angiotensin system
      inhibitor (RASI) use with dialysis risk in hypertensive patients. METHODS: Of
      248,797 patients who received a hypertension diagnosis in Taiwan during 2001
      2012, our cohort contained 110,829 hypertensive patients: 44,764 who used RASIs
      alone; 7,606 who used statins alone; 27,836 who used both RASIs and statins; and
      33,716 who used neither RASIs or statins. We adjusted for the following factors
      to reduce selection bias by using propensity scores (PSs): age; sex;
      comorbidities; urbanization level; monthly income; and use of nonstatin lipid
      lowering drugs, metformin, aspirin, antihypertensives, diuretics, and beta and
      calcium channel blockers. The statin and RASI use index dates were considered the
      hypertension confirmation dates. To examine the dose-response relationship, we
      categorized only statin or RASI use into four groups in each cohort: <28
      (nonusers), 28-90, 91-365, and >365 cumulative defined daily doses (cDDDs).
      RESULTS: In the main model, PS-adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs; 95% confidence
      intervals [CIs]) for dialysis risk were 0.57 (0.50-0.65), 0.72 (0.53-0.98), and
      0.47 (0.41-0.54) in the only RASI, only statin, and RASI + statin users,
      respectively. RASIs dose-dependently reduced dialysis risk in most subgroups and
      in the main model. RASI use significantly reduced dialysis risk in most
      subgroups, regardless of comorbidities or other drug use (P < 0.001). Statins at
      >365 cDDDs protected hypertensive patients against dialysis risk in the main
      model (aHR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.54-0.71), regardless of whether a high cDDD of
      RASIs, metformin, or aspirin was used. CONCLUSION: Statins and RASIs
      independently have a significant dose-dependent protective effect against
      dialysis risk in hypertensive patients. The combination of statins and RASIs can
      additively protect hypertensive patients against dialysis risk.

PMID- 27632177
TI  - Age and Gender Differences in the Associations of Self-Compassion and Emotional
      Well-being in A Large Adolescent Sample.
AB  - Adolescence is a challenging developmental period marked with declines in
      emotional well-being; however, self-compassion has been suggested as a protective
      factor. This cross-sectional survey study (N = 765, grades 7th to 12th; 53 %
      female; 4 % Hispanic ethnicity; 64 % White and 21 % Black) examined whether
      adolescents' self-compassion differed by age and gender, and secondly, whether
      its associations with emotional well-being (perceived stress, life satisfaction,
      distress intolerance, depressive symptoms, and anxiety) also differed by age and
      gender. The findings indicated that older females had the lowest self-compassion
      levels compared to younger females or all-age males. Self-compassion was
      associated with all emotional well-being measures, and gender and/or age
      moderated the associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Among older
      adolescents, self-compassion had a greater protective effect on anxiety for boys
      than for girls. Additionally, older adolescents with low and average self
      compassion had greater levels of depressive symptoms than those with high self
      compassion. These results may inform for whom and at what age self-compassion
      interventions may be implemented to protect adolescents from further declines in
      emotional well-being.

PMID- 27632178
TI  - A longitudinal study of surgical outcome of pharmacoresistant epilepsy caused by
      focal cortical dysplasia.
AB  - This study aimed to determine the long-term surgical outcome of pharmacoresistant
      epilepsy caused by focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and to identify the important
      predictors of the favorable surgical outcome. The study retrospectively analyzed
      the data of pharmacoresistant epilepsy patients with histologically proven FCD in
      our epilepsy center from May 2010 to December 2014. It included 120 patients with
      a mean follow-up of 34.6 months. Survival analysis and multivariate regression
      with Cox proportional hazards model were used to evaluate the rate, stability,
      and predictors of seizure freedom. The estimated chance of seizure freedom was
      73.0 % [95 % confidence intervals (CI), 65.2-80.8 %] at 1 year after surgery,
      70.0 % (95 % CI, 62.2-77.8 %) at 2 years, and 65 % (95 % CI, 53.2-76.7 %) at 5
      years and beyond. Most seizure recurrences (85.7 %) happened within 12 months
      after surgery. The incomplete resection of FCD, presence of interictal
      epileptiform discharges (IEDs) on 3-6 months postoperative electroencephalography
      (EEG), and presence of habitual acute postoperative seizure (APOS) were
      independent predictors of seizure recurrence. However, other factors, such as the
      FCD type and sleep-related epilepsy, did not significantly influence the surgical
      outcome. Before becoming pharmacoresistant epilepsy, 30 (25 %) patients responded
      to antiepileptic drugs with a seizure-free duration of more than 1 year. The
      surgical outcome is favorable in patients with FCD, which is comparable to that
      reported in developed countries. The incomplete resection of FCD, presence of
      IEDs on 3-6 months postoperative EEG, and presence of habitual APOS are powerful
      predictive factors for seizure recurrence after surgery.

PMID- 27632179
TI  - Effects of ezetimibe and anticoagulant combined therapy on progressing stroke: a
      randomized, placebo-controlled study.
AB  - Despite the high prevalence of progressing stroke in patients with acute stroke,
      preventative treatments are still the unmet needs for those patients. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate, prospectively, the efficacy and safety of ezetimibe
      in the prevention of acute progressing stroke and thereby the improvement of
      patient outcome. A total of 423 patients (267 men and 156 women with a mean age
      of 65.2 years) were randomly assigned to receive ezetimibe (10 mg daily oral
      administration, n = 209) or placebo (n = 214) for 14 consecutive days. Analytical
      procedures performed at baseline (i.e., day 1) and 14 days after the treatments
      were completed. These included a real-time three-dimensional ultrasound (RT-3DU)
      examination for carotid plaque volume, clinical laboratory analyses of serum
      levels of IL-6 and MMP-9, as well as lipid parameters and liver dysfunction
      marker ALT and TBIL. Ezetimibe significantly reduced the average NIHSS score
      after 14 days of treatment and attenuated the stroke progression rate, which was
      associated with reduction in carotid plaque volume and attenuation of serum
      levels of IL-6, MMP-9, and LDL, without inducing liver dysfunction. Ezetimibe
      treatment may be a beneficial and effective strategy for preventing progressing
      stroke.

PMID- 27632180
TI  - Clinical characteristics and outcomes between children and adults with anti-N
      Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor encephalitis.
AB  - Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an acute neurological
      disorder affecting children and adults. We aimed to compare the clinical
      characteristics, treatments, and outcomes between children and adults with anti
      NMDAR encephalitis and to assess the probable risk factors. In this observational
      study, patients who tested positive for anti-NMDAR antibody in the cerebrospinal
      fluid were enrolled. The patients were divided into children and adults group on
      the basis of age (whether <16 or not). Clinical outcomes were assessed at onset,
      1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the patients received treatment and were scored
      based on whether they required hospitalization and intensive care. A total of 15
      children and 14 adults were examined. The adults more likely manifested status
      epilepticus, central hypoventilation, and pneumonia but less likely exhibited
      movement disorder than the children did. All of the patients were subjected to
      corticosteroid treatment, 11 children and 9 adults were treated with intravenous
      immunoglobulin, and only the adults received plasma exchange or cyclophosphamide.
      The children recovered faster than the adults, especially in the first 6 months.
      Risk factors included age, status epilepticus, changes in consciousness, central
      hypoventilation, and pneumonia. Adults exhibit worse outcomes than children
      mostly because of status epilepticus.

PMID- 27632182
TI  - Enrichment of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocyte-Like Cells by Ammonia
      Treatment.
AB  - Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are
      potential resources for the regeneration of defective organs, including the
      liver. However, some obstacles must be overcome before this becomes reality.
      Undifferentiated cells that remain following differentiation have teratoma
      forming potential. Additionally, practical applications require a large quantity
      of differentiated cells, so the differentiation process must be economical. Here
      we describe a DNA microarray-based global analysis of the gene expression
      profiles of differentiating human pluripotent stem cells. We identified
      differences and commonalities among six human pluripotent stem cell lines: the
      hESCs KhES1, KhES2, KhES3, and H1, and the iPSCs 201B7 and 243G1. Embryoid bodies
      (EBs) formed without requiring supplementation with inducing factors. EBs also
      expressed some liver-specific metabolic genes including the ammonia-metabolizing
      enzymes glutamine synthetase and carbamoyl-phosphate synthase 1. Real-time PCR
      analysis revealed hepatocyte-like differentiation of EBs treated with ammonia in
      Lanford medium. Analysis of DNA microarray data suggested that hepatocyte-like
      cells were the most abundant population in ammonia-treated cells. Furthermore,
      expression levels of undifferentiated pluripotent stem cell markers were
      drastically reduced, suggesting a reduced teratoma-forming capacity. These
      results indicate that treatment of EBs with ammonia in Lanford medium may be an
      effective inducer of hepatic differentiation in absence of expensive inducing
      factors. 

PMID- 27632185
TI  - Brief Report: Using Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Skateboarding Skills to a
      Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of behavioral skills training
      (BST) on the skateboarding skills of an 11-year-old male with autism spectrum
      disorder (ASD). BST was used in a multiple-probe across skills design to teach
      five target skateboarding skills. Imitation of an additional skill was also
      assessed outside of BST sessions. The overall percentage of correct skateboarding
      skills improved following BST. Performance gains were stable in probes across
      settings, and additional imitations increased across the study.

PMID- 27632184
TI  - MRI Conditionality in Patients with Spinal Cord Stimulation Devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of the commonality of diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI), MRI conditional technology has increased throughout the device industry.
      It is often difficult to be aware of MRI specifications for each device.
      OBJECTIVES: We provide a review of the clinical experience with MRI and spinal
      cord stimulation (SCS) devices and develop a general reference of current
      device/MRI specifications. METHODS: We reviewed the available literature on the
      clinical experience with SCS devices and examined its specifications. RESULTS: We
      developed a user-friendly table of the specific compatibility of SCS devices in
      the USA and the European Union, and examined the existing literature on the
      clinical experience with MRI and SCS devices. We share our experience with
      obtaining spine MRI with MRI conditional SCS leads. CONCLUSION: By describing SCS
      device specifications and reviewing the literature, we provide a guide to
      implanting and treating physicians on obtaining MRIs in patients who have SCS
      devices.

PMID- 27632181
TI  - Neuro-otology- some recent clinical advances.
AB  - Vestibular disorders manifesting as vertigo, chronic dizziness and imbalance are
      common problems in neurological practice. Here, we review some recent interesting
      and important advances in diagnosis of vestibular disorders using the video head
      impulse test and in the management of benign positional vertigo and migrainous
      vertigo.

PMID- 27632183
TI  - Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor RGFP109 Overcomes Temozolomide Resistance by
      Blocking NF-kappaB-Dependent Transcription in Glioblastoma Cell Lines.
AB  - Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent and aggressive tumour in the central
      nervous system. Many studies have demonstrated that upregulation of the NF-kappaB
      onco-pathway is accompanied by the acquisition of Temozolomide (TMZ) resistance
      in GBM cells. Here, we show that RGFP109, a selective histone deacetylase (HDAC1
      and HDAC3) inhibitor, overcomes TMZ resistance and downregulates the expression
      of NF-kappaB-regulated pro-survival genes in a TMZ-resistant (TR) GBM cell line.
      RGFP109 did not alter the phosphorylation levels of NF-kappaB/p65 or inhibitory
      kappaBalpha (IkappaBalpha). Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that RGFP109
      does not block the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB/p65. However, co
      immunoprecipitation assays revealed that RGFP109 induces the hyperacetylation of
      NF-kappaB/p65 and histones, and blocks interactions between NF-kappaB/p65 and its
      coactivators, p300 and p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF). These results indicate
      that RGFP109-mediated post-translational nuclear acetylation may be involved in
      the regulation of NF-kappaB. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that
      RGFP109 reduces NF-kappaB/p65 binding to kappaB-DNA and decreased the
      transcriptional level of kappaB-mediated genes, suggesting that RGFP109-induced
      hyperacetylation leads to attenuated transcription of the kappaB gene. In
      addition, RGFP109 elevates the expression of inhibitor of growth 4 (ING4), which
      is typically downregulated in GBM cells. Importantly, we found that RGFP109
      enhances ING4 recognition and binding to NF-kappaB/p65, which may be positively
      correlated with reduced interactions between NF-kappaB/p65 and p300/PCAF, thereby
      effecting transcription of the kappaB gene. Finally, we show that knockdown of
      ING4 with plasmids containing pcDNA3.1-ING4 shRNA abolished the effect of
      RGFP109. Therefore, ING4 may act as a corepressor and facilitate RGFP109
      triggered suppression of the NF-kappaB pathway. Taken together, our data show
      that RGFP109, an HDAC inhibitor, in combination with TMZ may be a therapeutic
      candidate for patients with temozolomide-resistant GBM.

PMID- 27632186
TI  - Dramatic secretion of recombinant protein expressed in tobacco cells with a
      designer glycopeptide tag is highly impacted by medium composition.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Cell growth medium composition has profound impacts on the O 
      glycosylation of a "designer" arabinogalactan protein-based module; full
      glycosylation is essential in directing efficient extracellular secretion of the
      tagged recombinant protein. Expression of recombinant proteins in plant cells as
      fusion with a de novo designed hydroxyproline (Hyp)-O-glycosylated peptide
      (HypGP) tag, termed HypGP engineering technology, resulted in dramatically
      increased secreted protein yields. This is due to the function of the HypGP tag
      as a molecular carrier in promoting efficient transport of conjoined proteins
      into culture media. To optimize the cell culture to achieve the best secreted
      protein yields, the medium effects on the cell growth and protein secretion were
      investigated using as a model system the tobacco BY-2 cell expressing enhanced
      green fluorescence protein (EGFP) fused with a (SP)32 tag (32 tandem repeats of
      "Ser-Pro" motif). The (SP)32 tag was found to undergo two-stage Hyp-O
      glycosylation in plant cells with the dramatic secretion of the conjoined EGFP
      correlating with the triggering of the second-stage glycosylation. The BY-2 cell
      culture in SH medium generated a high secreted protein yield (125 mg/L) with a
      low cell biomass accumulation (~7.5 gDW/L). In contrast, very low secreted
      protein yields (~1.5 mg/L) with a high cell biomass accumulation (13.5 gDW/L)
      were obtained in MS medium. The macronutrients, specifically, the nitrogen supply
      greatly impacted the glycosylation of the (SP)32 tag and subsequent protein
      secretion. Modified MS medium with reduced nitrogen levels boosted the secreted
      EGFP yields to 168 mg/L. This study demonstrates the profound impacts of medium
      composition on the secreted yields of a HypGP-tagged protein, and provides a
      basis for medium design to achieve the highest productivity of the HypGP
      engineering technology.

PMID- 27632187
TI  - Multicentric Squamous Odontogenic Tumor: A Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - Squamous odontogenic tumor (SOT) is a rare benign epithelial odontogenic neoplasm
      of the jaws. Both intraosseous and peripheral SOTs have been described in the
      English language literature. While most intraosseous SOTs occur as solitary
      lesions, a multicentric variant has also been previously described. Although the
      radiographic and microscopic features are identical for both solitary and
      multicentric clinical presentations, there are three significant differences
      between them. More specifically, multicentric SOT presents at an earlier age
      (third decade of life), has a slightly higher male to female ratio than the
      solitary type and has a marked predilection for African-Americans. Here we
      document the eighth reported case of multicentric SOT, which was diagnosed in a
      43-year-old African-American male. In addition, we feature focal sebaceous
      metaplasia, a heretofore unknown microscopic feature of SOT. Clinical,
      radiological, and histopathological findings are discussed. The differential
      diagnosis, biological behavior and management modalities for SOT are also
      addressed.

PMID- 27632188
TI  - Disseminated Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor of the Head and Neck.
AB  - Disseminated extrarenal malignant rhabdoid tumors of the head and neck are very
      rare, but aggressive tumors. Although the features on radiological imaging may be
      nonspecific, the imaging is useful for assessing the extent of tumor involvement.
      Key pathologic features are those of a cellular "blue cell tumor" with variable
      rhabdoid appearance. These cells express a combination of markers usually viewed
      as characteristic of diverse lines of differentiation, including EMA,
      cytokeratins, smooth muscle markers, and GFAP, and occasionally synaptophysin. At
      a molecular level, the entity is defined by mutations or alterations in the
      SMARB1/INI1 gene resulting in loss of INI1 expression. Diagnostic features
      include rhabdoid cells, expression of keratin with absence of desmin, S100
      protein and CD34, and loss of INI1 expression. These features are exemplified in
      this sine qua non radiology-pathology correlation article.

PMID- 27632190
TI  - The impact of directly acting antivirals on the enzymatic liver function of liver
      transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The new directly acting antivirals (DAAs) enable all-oral interferon
      free treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We here investigated
      the effect of DAAs on the enzymatic liver function of liver transplant recipients
      with recurrent hepatitis C. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with elevated liver
      enzymes or advanced fibrosis/compensated cirrhosis caused by recurrent HCV were
      treated with sofosbuvir either in combination with simeprevir, or in combination
      with ribavirin or daclatasvir with or without ribavirin for 12 weeks. Biochemical
      parameters, tacrolimus trough levels, and the maximal liver function capacity
      (LiMAx) were measured monthly during the treatment and 12 weeks after the end of
      treatment. RESULTS: All patients achieved sustained virological response 12 weeks
      after the end of the treatment. The transaminases and cholestasis parameters
      normalized until week 8 of treatment. The mean LiMAx (normal ranges >315
      MUg/kg/h) increased from 344+/-142 MUg/kg/h before treatment to 458+/-170
      MUg/kg/h (P<.0001) at the 12-week follow-up. In parallel, the tacrolimus trough
      level to dose ratio decreased from 4.68 down to 2.72 (P=.0004). CONCLUSION:
      Antiviral treatment with DAAs enabled sustained elimination of recurrent HCV in
      liver transplant recipients and was associated with a significant improvement of
      the enzymatic liver function.

PMID- 27632189
TI  - A Computational Model of Hepatic Energy Metabolism: Understanding Zonated Damage
      and Steatosis in NAFLD.
AB  - In non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), lipid build-up and the resulting
      damage is known to occur more severely in pericentral cells. Due to the
      complexity of studying individual regions of the sinusoid, the causes of this
      zone specificity and its implications on treatment are largely ignored. In this
      study, a computational model of liver glucose and lipid metabolism is presented
      which treats the sinusoid as the repeating unit of the liver rather than the
      single hepatocyte. This allows for inclusion of zonated enzyme expression by
      splitting the sinusoid into periportal to pericentral compartments. By simulating
      insulin resistance (IR) and high intake diets leading to the development of
      steatosis in the model, we identify key differences between periportal and
      pericentral cells accounting for higher susceptibility to pericentral steatosis.
      Secondly, variation between individuals is seen in both susceptibility to
      steatosis and in its development across the sinusoid. Around 25% of obese
      individuals do not show excess liver fat, whilst 16% of lean individuals develop
      NAFLD. Furthermore, whilst pericentral cells tend to show higher lipid levels,
      variation is seen in the predominant location of steatosis from pericentral to
      pan-sinusoidal or azonal. Sensitivity analysis was used to identify the processes
      which have the largest effect on both total hepatic triglyceride levels and on
      the sinusoidal location of steatosis. As is seen in vivo, steatosis occurs when
      simulating IR in the model, predominantly due to increased uptake, along with an
      increase in de novo lipogenesis. Additionally, concentrations of glucose
      intermediates including glycerol-3-phosphate increased when simulating IR due to
      inhibited glycogen synthesis. Several differences between zones contributed to a
      higher susceptibility to steatosis in pericentral cells in the model simulations.
      Firstly, the periportal zonation of both glycogen synthase and the oxidative
      phosphorylation enzymes meant that the build-up of glucose intermediates was less
      severe in the periportal hepatocyte compartments. Secondly, the periportal
      zonation of the enzymes mediating beta-oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation
      resulted in excess fats being metabolised more rapidly in the periportal
      hepatocyte compartments. Finally, the pericentral expression of de novo
      lipogenesis contributed to pericentral steatosis when additionally simulating the
      increase in sterol-regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) seen in NAFLD
      patients in vivo. The hepatic triglyceride concentration was predicted to be most
      sensitive to inter-individual variation in the activity of enzymes which, either
      directly or indirectly, determine the rate of free fatty acid (FFA) oxidation.
      The concentration was most strongly dependent on the rate constants for beta
      oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation. It also showed moderate sensitivity to
      the rate constants for processes which alter the allosteric inhibition of beta
      oxidation by acetyl-CoA. The predominant sinusoidal location of steatosis
      meanwhile was most sensitive variations in the zonation of proteins mediating FFA
      uptake or triglyceride release as very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). Neither
      the total hepatic concentration nor the location of steatosis showed strong
      sensitivity to variations in the lipogenic rate constants.

PMID- 27632191
TI  - Comparison of droplet digital PCR with quantitative real-time PCR for
      determination of zygosity in transgenic maize.
AB  - This study evaluated the applicability of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) as a tool
      for maize zygosity determination using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) as a
      reference technology. Quantitative real-time PCR is commonly used to determine
      transgene copy number or GMO zygosity characterization. However, its
      effectiveness is based on identical reaction efficiencies for the transgene and
      the endogenous reference gene. Additionally, a calibrator sample should be
      utilized for accuracy. Droplet digital PCR is a DNA molecule counting technique
      that directly counts the absolute number of target and reference DNA molecules in
      a sample, independent of assay efficiency or external calibrators. The zygosity
      of the transgene can be easily determined using the ratio of the quantity of the
      target gene to the reference single copy endogenous gene. In this study, both the
      qPCR and ddPCR methods were used to determine insect-resistant transgenic maize
      IE034 zygosity. Both methods performed well, but the ddPCR method was more
      convenient because of its absolute quantification property.

PMID- 27632193
TI  - Correction: Molecular Characterization of the Recently Emerged Poultry Pathogen
      Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale by Multilocus Sequence Typing.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148158.].

PMID- 27632192
TI  - KinCor, a national registry for paediatric patients with congenital and other
      types of heart disease in the Netherlands: aims, design and interim results.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Studies in children with heart disease have been hampered by a lack of
      easily identifiable patient groups. Currently, there are few prospective
      population-based registries covering the entire spectrum of heart disease in
      children. KinCor is a Dutch national registry for children with heart diseases.
      This paper presents the aims, design and interim results of the KinCor project.
      METHODS: All children presenting at a Dutch university medical centre with a
      diagnosis of heart disease from 2012 onwards were eligible for registration in
      the KinCor database. Data entry is through a web-based portal. Entry codes have
      been synchronised with the European Paediatric Cardiac Coding system, allowing
      coupling with similar databases for adults, such as CONCOR. RESULTS: Between June
      2012 and July 2015, 8421 patients were registered (76 % of those eligible).
      Median age of the patients was 9.8 years, 44.7 % were female; 6782 patients had
      morphological congenital heart disease. The most prevalent morphological
      congenital heart defects were ventricular septal defects (18 %), Tetralogy of
      Fallot (10 %) and transposition of great arteries (9 %). For 42 % of the patients
      additional diagnoses were registered. Sixty percent of patients had undergone at
      least one intervention (catheter intervention or surgery). CONCLUSION: The KinCor
      database has developed into a large registry of data of children with all types
      of heart disease and continues to grow. This database will provide the
      opportunity for epidemiological research projects on congenital and other types
      of heart disease in children. Entry codes are shared with the CONCOR database,
      which may provide a unique dataset.

PMID- 27632194
TI  - Functional composition drives ecosystem function through multiple mechanisms in a
      broadleaved subtropical forest.
AB  - Understanding the role of biodiversity (B) in maintaining ecosystem function (EF)
      is a foundational scientific goal with applications for resource management and
      conservation. Two main hypotheses have emerged that address B-EF relationships:
      niche complementarity (NC) and the mass-ratio (MR) effect. We tested the relative
      importance of these hypotheses in a subtropical old-growth forest on the island
      nation of Taiwan for two EFs: aboveground biomass (ABG) and coarse woody
      productivity (CWP). Functional dispersion (FDis) of eight plant functional traits
      was used to evaluate complementarity of resource use. Under the NC hypothesis, EF
      will be positively correlated with FDis. Under the MR hypothesis, EF will be
      negatively correlated with FDis and will be significantly influenced by community
      weighted mean (CWM) trait values. We used path analysis to assess how these two
      processes (NC and MR) directly influence EF and may contribute indirectly to EF
      via their influence on canopy packing (stem density). Our results indicate that
      decreasing functional diversity and a significant influence of CWM traits were
      linked to increasing AGB for all eight traits in this forest supporting the MR
      hypothesis. Interestingly, CWP was primarily influenced by NC and MR indirectly
      via their influence on canopy packing. Maximum height explained more of the
      variation in both AGB and CWP than any of the other plant functional traits.
      Together, our results suggest that multiple mechanisms operate simultaneously to
      influence EF, and understanding their relative importance will help to elucidate
      the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem function.

PMID- 27632195
TI  - Effect of Compression Socks Worn Between Repeated Maximal Running Bouts.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the effect of wearing compression socks between repeated
      running bouts on perceptual, physiological, and performance-based parameters.
      METHODS: Twelve well-trained male runners (mean +/- SD 5-km time 19:24 +/- 1:19
      [min:s]) recorded their perceptions of the efficacy of compression socks for
      recovery before completion of 2 experimental sessions. Each session consisted of
      two 5-km running time trials (TT1 and TT2) on a treadmill, with a 1-h recovery
      period between. In a randomized crossover design, 1 session required participants
      to wear compression socks during the recovery period, and no compression socks
      were worn between TTs in the other session (control). RESULTS: Running
      performance between TT1 and TT2 for runners wearing compression socks was similar
      between TTs (mean Delta 5.3 +/- 20.7 s, d = 0.07, P = .20), whereas for control
      runners, performance significantly decreased in the second TT (mean Delta 15.9 +/
      13.3 s, d = 0.19, P < .01). When grouped by perception of efficacy for
      compression socks, participants with strong beliefs (n = 7) experienced improved
      subsequent running performance with compression socks (mean Delta -3.6 +/- 19.2
      s, d = 0.05, P = .32) compared with those with neutral or negative perceptions (n
      = 5; mean Delta 17.9 +/- 17.0 s, d = 0.19, P = .04). Cross-sectional area of the
      calf and muscle soreness were significantly reduced during the recovery period
      with the use of compression socks (P < .01), whereas ratings of fatigue showed no
      difference between conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing compression socks between
      repeated running bouts can aid recovery and subsequent performance. Furthermore,
      subsequent exercise performance may be even further enhanced when athletes
      believe in the efficacy of compression socks to assist in recovery between
      exercise bouts.

PMID- 27632196
TI  - Systemic Inflammatory Response and Elevated Tumour Markers Predict Worse Survival
      in Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Estimation of the prognosis of resectable pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC) currently relies on tumour-related factors such as
      resection margins and on lymph-node ratio (LNR) both inconveniently available
      only postoperatively. Our aim was to assess the accuracy of preoperative
      laboratory data in predicting PDAC prognosis. METHODS: Collection of laboratory
      and clinical data was retrospective from 265 consecutive patients undergoing
      surgery for PDAC at Helsinki University Hospital. Cancer-specific survival
      assessment utilized Kaplan-Meier analysis, and independent associations between
      factors were by the Cox regression model. RESULTS: During follow-up, 76% of the
      patients died of PDAC, with a median survival time of 19.6 months. In univariate
      analysis, CRP, albumin, CEA, and CA19-9 were significantly associated with
      postoperative cancer-specific survival. In multivariate analysis, taking into
      account age, gender, LNR, resection margins, tumour status, and adjuvant
      chemotherapy, the preoperative biomarkers independently associated with adverse
      prognosis were hypoalbuminemia (< 36 g/L, hazard ratio (HR) 1.56, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 1.10-2.19, p = 0.011), elevated CRP (> 5 mg/L, HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.03
      2.02, p = 0.036), CEA (> 5 MUg/L, HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.07-2.53, p = 0.047), and CA19
      9 (>=555 kU/L, HR 1.91, 95% CI 1.18-3.08, p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: For patients
      with resectable PDAC, preoperative CRP, along with albumin and tumour markers, is
      useful for predicting prognosis.

PMID- 27632197
TI  - Alcohol Intake and Serum Glucose Levels from the Perspective of a Mendelian
      Randomization Design: The KCPS-II Biobank.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested that alcohol intake is associated
      with increased fasting serum glucose (FSG), but the nature of the relationship
      remains unknown. We used Mendelian randomization analysis to assess the causal
      effect of alcohol intake on FSG in a middle-aged Korean population. METHODS:
      Clinical data including FSG and alcohol intake were collected from 156,386
      Koreans aged 20 years or older who took part in the Korean Cancer Prevention
      Study-II (KCPS-II) Biobank Cohort. The single nucleotide polymorphism rs671 in
      ALDH2 was genotyped among 2,993 men and 1,374 women in 2016. This was a randomly
      selected subcohort of KCPS-II Biobank participants. RESULTS: Alcohol consumption
      was positively associated with FSG level in men, but not in women. The rs671
      major G allele was associated with increased alcohol intake (F-statistic =
      302.62) and an increase in FSG in men. Using Mendelian randomization analysis,
      alcohol intake increased FSG by 1.78 mg/dL per alcohol unit (10 g ethanol) per
      day (95% CI: 0.97-2.59) in men. The associations became stronger when we excluded
      heavy drinkers and the elderly. However, in women, no significant association
      between rs671 and alcohol or serum glucose was found. CONCLUSION: Using Mendelian
      randomization analysis, we suggest a causal relationship between alcohol intake
      and FSG among Korean men. Moreover, we found that the ALDH2 variant rs671 was not
      associated with FSG among Korean women.

PMID- 27632198
TI  - Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase 1 Is a Key Determinant of Membrane Lipid Composition in
      3T3-L1 Adipocytes.
AB  - Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) is a lipogenic enzyme important for the
      regulation of membrane lipid homeostasis; dysregulation likely contributes to
      obesity associated metabolic disturbances. SCD1 catalyses the Delta9 desaturation
      of 12-19 carbon saturated fatty acids to monounsaturated fatty acids. To
      understand its influence in cellular lipid composition we investigated the effect
      of genetic ablation of SCD1 in 3T3-L1 adipocytes on membrane microdomain lipid
      composition at the species-specific level. Using liquid
      chromatography/electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry, we quantified 70
      species of ceramide, mono-, di- and trihexosylceramide, phosphatidylcholine,
      phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate,
      phosphatidylinositol and cholesterol in 3T3-L1 adipocytes in which a 90%
      reduction in scd1 mRNA expression was achieved with siRNA. Cholesterol content
      was unchanged although decreases in other lipids resulted in cholesterol
      accounting for a higher proportion of lipid in the membranes. This was associated
      with decreased membrane lateral diffusion. An increased ratio of 24:0 to 24:1 in
      ceramide, mono- and dihexosylceramide, and sphingomyelin likely also contributed
      to this decrease in lateral diffusion. Of particular interest, we observed a
      decrease in phospholipids containing arachidonic acid. Given the high degree of
      structural flexibility of this acyl chain this will influence membrane lateral
      diffusion, and is likely responsible for the transcriptional activation of Lands'
      cycle enzymes lpcat3 and mboat7. Of relevance these profound changes in the
      lipidome were not accompanied by dramatic changes in gene expression in mature
      differentiated adipocytes, suggesting that adaptive homeostatic mechanisms to
      ensure partial maintenance of the biophysical properties of membranes likely
      occur at a post-transcriptional level. 

PMID- 27632199
TI  - A comparative analysis of the evolution, expression, and cis-regulatory element
      of polygalacturonase genes in grasses and dicots.
AB  - Cell walls are a distinguishing characteristic of plants essential to their
      survival. The pectin content of primary cell walls in grasses and dicots is
      distinctly different. Polygalacturonases (PGs) can degrade pectins and
      participate in multiple developmental processes of plants. This study
      comprehensively compared the evolution, expression, and cis-regulatory element of
      PGs in grasses and dicots. A total of 577 PGs identified from five grasses and
      five dicots fell into seven clades. Evolutionary analysis demonstrated the
      distinct differences between grasses and dicots in patterns of gene duplication
      and loss, and evolutionary rates. Grasses generally contained much fewer clade C
      and F members than dicots. We found that this disparity was the result of less
      duplication and more gene losses in grasses. More duplications occurred in clades
      D and E, and expression analysis showed that most of clade E members were
      expressed ubiquitously at a high overall level and clade D members were closely
      related to male reproduction in both grasses and dicots, suggesting their
      biological functions were highly conserved across species. In addition to the
      general role in reproductive development, PGs of clades C and F specifically
      played roles in root development in dicots, shedding light on organ
      differentiation between the two groups of plants. A regulatory element analysis
      of clade C and F members implied that possible functions of PGs in specific
      biological responses contributed to their expansion and preservation. This work
      can improve the knowledge of PGs in plants generally and in grasses specifically
      and is beneficial to functional studies.

PMID- 27632200
TI  - Paclitaxel suppresses Tau-mediated microtubule bundling in a concentration
      dependent manner.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microtubules (MTs) are protein nanotubes comprised of straight
      protofilaments (PFs), head to tail assemblies of alphabeta-tubulin heterodimers.
      Previously, it was shown that Tau, a microtubule-associated protein (MAP)
      localized to neuronal axons, regulates the average number of PFs in microtubules
      with increasing inner radius <RinMT> observed for increasing Tau/tubulin-dimer
      molar ratio PhiTau at paclitaxel/tubulin-dimer molar ratio LambdaPtxl=1/1.
      METHODS: We report a synchrotron SAXS and TEM study of the phase behavior of
      microtubules as a function of varying concentrations of paclitaxel
      (1/32<=LambdaPtxl<=1/4) and Tau (human isoform 3RS, 0<=Phi3RS<=1/2) at room
      temperature. RESULTS: Tau and paclitaxel have opposing regulatory effects on
      microtubule bundling architectures and microtubule diameter. Surprisingly and in
      contrast to previous results at LambdaPtxl=1/1 where microtubule bundles are
      absent, in the lower paclitaxel concentration regime (LambdaPtxl<=1/4), we
      observe both microtubule doublets and triplets with increasing Tau. Furthermore,
      increasing paclitaxel concentration (up to LambdaPtxl=1/1) slightly decreased the
      average microtubule diameter (by ~1 PF) while increasing Tau concentration (up to
      Phi3RS=1/2) significantly increased the diameter (by ~2-3 PFs). CONCLUSIONS: The
      suppression of Tau-mediated microtubule bundling with increasing paclitaxel is
      consistent with paclitaxel seeding more, but shorter, microtubules by rapidly
      exhausting tubulin available for polymerization. Microtubule bundles require the
      aggregate Tau-Tau attractions along the microtubule length to overcome individual
      microtubule thermal energies disrupting bundles. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE:
      Investigating MAP-mediated interactions between microtubules (as it relates to in
      vivo behavior) requires the elimination or minimization of paclitaxel.

PMID- 27632202
TI  - Improvement of the Outcome of Relapsed or Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
      in Children Using a Risk-Based Treatment Strategy.
AB  - Relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a leading cause of
      death by cancer in children. Our institution has switched relapse treatment
      strategy to improve survival. We reviewed records of first relapse/refractory
      childhood ALL between 1996 and 2012. Based on length of first remission, relapse
      site and immunophenotype, patients were classified into two groups: standard-risk
      relapse (SRR) and high-risk relapse and refractory (HRRR). Before 2007, all
      patients were uniformly treated with the same induction as at presentation,
      followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Since 2007, treatment
      was given according to risk of failure: SRR were mostly treated with
      chemotherapy; HRRR patients underwent HSCT after intensive chemotherapy, aiming
      reduction of pre-transplant disease burden. Sixty-four patients were included.
      Thirty (47%) were SRR and 34 (53%) HRRR, including 11 with refractory ALL. Five
      years overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were similar for SRR,
      but were significantly higher with new risk-based strategy for HRRR: 56% versus
      17% (P = 0.03) for OS, and 56% vs 11% for EFS (P = 0.008), respectively. In
      multivariate analysis, treatment strategy was significantly associated with
      survival. In conclusion, change for a risk-based strategy in our institution
      increased survival of high-risk patients to levels similar of those of standard
      risk patients. 

PMID- 27632203
TI  - Changes in Antiemetic Overuse in Response to Choosing Wisely Recommendations.
AB  - Importance: Antiemetics are used to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and
      vomiting in patients with cancer. Newer antiemetic agents (serotonin and
      neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists) have increased efficacy but are expensive. The
      American Society of Clinical Oncology's first guideline in the 2013 Choosing
      Wisely (CW) campaign discouraged overuse of expensive antiemetics in patients
      with low risk of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. However, little is
      known about patterns or trends in antiemetic overuse or whether any change has
      occurred with the publication of the CW recommendations. Objective: To estimate
      the baseline prevalence, trends, determinants, and costs of antiemetic overuse
      from January 1, 2008, through March 31, 2015. Design, Setting, and Participants:
      From January 1, 2008, through March 31, 2015, this observational study applied
      descriptive (univariate and bivariate) and multivariable logistic regression
      analyses to longitudinal health insurance enrollment and nationwide MarketScan
      insurance claims data for 678 220 privately insured patients receiving
      chemotherapy before and after the October 29, 2013, announcement of the CW
      guidelines. The baseline prevalence, trends, determinants, and costs of
      antiemetic overuse were estimated in cases stratified by risk for chemotherapy
      induced nausea and vomiting. Main Outcomes and Measures: Antiemetic use, overuse
      measure, and expenses before and after the publication of the CW recommendation,
      with adjustment for patient and health care professional characteristics.
      Results: The sample included 678 220 adults who started chemotherapy during the
      observation period. The average age of the sample was 59.5 years, with 58.2% (n =
      394 724) female. Antiemetic overuse occurred in 24.1% (n = 163 451) of patients,
      with highest rates among those receiving intravenous chemotherapy with high
      chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting risk (32.4% [n = 106 795]). Compared
      with baseline before the CW, patients had 7.0% lower odds of antiemetic overuse
      (95% CI, 4.4%-9.5%) during the 6 months after the CW, but this decrease was
      transitory: the odds of antiemetic overuse were 7.4% (95% CI, 4.6%-10.2%) higher
      than baseline at 6 months after the CW. Low-risk intravenous chemotherapy agents
      had overuse that continued to decrease 6 months after the CW. Antiemetic overuse
      was associated with higher costs. Reducing antiemetic overuse could have paid for
      6.1% (95% CI, 5.8%-6.4%) of the chemotherapy drug costs. Conclusions and
      Relevance: Antiemetic overuse is prevalent and results in unnecessary spending
      associated with systemic chemotherapy treatment. Short-term decreases in
      antiemetic overuse were associated with the CW recommendation, but sustained
      decreases occurred in only one risk group.

PMID- 27632201
TI  - Anethole potentiates dodecanol's fungicidal activity by reducing PDR5 expression
      in budding yeast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: trans-Anethole (anethole), a major component of anise oil, has a
      broad antimicrobial spectrum and a weaker antimicrobial potency than other
      available antibiotics. When combined with polygodial, nagilactone E, and n
      dodecanol, anethole has been shown to exhibit synergistic antifungal activity
      against a budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and a human opportunistic
      pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans. However, the mechanism underlying this
      synergistic effect of anethole has not been characterized. METHODS: We studied
      this mechanism using dodecanol-treated S. cerevisiae cells and focusing on genes
      related to multidrug efflux. RESULTS: Although dodecanol transiently reduced the
      number of colony forming units, this recovered to levels similar to those of
      untreated cells with continued incubation beyond 24h. Reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed overexpression of an ATP-binding
      cassette (ABC) transporter gene, PDR5, in addition to a slight increase in PDR11,
      PDR12, and PDR15 transcriptions in dodecanol-treated cells. In the presence of
      anethole, these effects were attenuated and the fungicidal activity of dodecanol
      was extended. Dodecanol showed longer lasting fungicidal activity against a
      Deltapdr5. In addition, Deltapdr3 and Deltalge1, lack transcription factors of
      PDR5 and PDR3, were partly and completely susceptible to dodecanol, respectively.
      Furthermore, combination of anethole with fluconazole was also found to exhibit
      synergy on C. albicans. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that although
      anethole reduced the transcription of several transporters, PDR5 expression was
      particularly relevant to dodecanol efflux. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Anethole is
      expected to be a promising candidate drug for the inhibition of efflux by
      reducing the transcription of several ABC transporters.

PMID- 27632205
TI  - Expanding the UniFrac Toolbox.
AB  - The UniFrac distance metric is often used to separate groups in microbiome
      analysis, but requires a constant sequencing depth to work properly. Here we
      demonstrate that unweighted UniFrac is highly sensitive to rarefaction instance
      and to sequencing depth in uniform data sets with no clear structure or
      separation between groups. We show that this arises because of subcompositional
      effects. We introduce information UniFrac and ratio UniFrac, two new weightings
      that are not as sensitive to rarefaction and allow greater separation of outliers
      than classic unweighted and weighted UniFrac. With this expansion of the UniFrac
      toolbox, we hope to empower researchers to extract more varied information from
      their data. 

PMID- 27632204
TI  - The Hygiene Hypothesis and Its Inconvenient Truths about Helminth Infections.
AB  - Current iterations of the hygiene hypothesis suggest an adaptive role for
      helminth parasites in shaping the proper maturation of the immune system.
      However, aspects of this hypothesis are based on assumptions that may not fully
      account for realities about human helminth infections. Such realities include
      evidence of causal associations between helminth infections and asthma or
      inflammatory bowel disease as well as the fact that helminth infections remain
      widespread in the United States, especially among populations at greatest risk
      for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 27632206
TI  - A Cross-Sectional Survey of Population-Wide Wait Times for Patients Seeking
      Medical vs. Cosmetic Dermatologic Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Though previous work has examined some aspects of the dermatology
      workforce shortage and access to dermatologic care, little research has addressed
      the effect of rising interest in cosmetic procedures on access to medical
      dermatologic care. Our objective was to determine the wait times for Urgent and
      Non-Urgent medical dermatologic care and Cosmetic dermatology services at a
      population level and to examine whether wait times for medical care are affected
      by offering cosmetic services. METHODS: A population-wide survey of dermatology
      practices using simulated calls asking for the earliest appointment for a Non
      Urgent, Urgent and Cosmetic service. RESULTS: Response rates were greater than
      89% for all types of care. Wait times across all types of care were significantly
      different from each other (all P < 0.05). Cosmetic care was associated with the
      shortest wait times (3.0 weeks; Interquartile Range (IQR) = 0.4-3.4), followed by
      Urgent care (9.0 weeks; IQR = 2.1-12.9), then Non-Urgent Care (12.7 weeks; IQR =
      4.4-16.4). Wait times for practices offering only Urgent care were not different
      from practices offering both Urgent and Cosmetic care (10.3 vs. 7.0 weeks).
      INTERPRETATION: Longer wait times and greater variation for Urgent and Non-Urgent
      dermatologic care and shorter wait times and less variation for Cosmetic care.
      Wait times were significantly longer in regions with lower dermatologist density.
      Provision of Cosmetic services did not increase wait times for Urgent care. These
      findings suggest an overall dermatology workforce shortage and a need for a more
      streamlined referral system for dermatologic care.

PMID- 27632210
TI  - Local Hotspots of Endemism or Artifacts of Incorrect Taxonomy? The Status of
      Microendemic Pill Millipede Species of the Genus Glomeris in Northern Italy
      (Diplopoda, Glomerida).
AB  - Local endemic species with their unique evolutionary history always stirred the
      interest of scientists. One such area especially rich in endemics is northern
      Italy. In case of pill millipedes of the genus Glomeris Latreille, 1803, only a
      single species is found in northern Europe, while 22 country-endemics alone are
      known from Italy. Many of these endemics, however, have not been studied in
      several decades; therefore we aimed to determine whether this diversity is the
      result of overlooked synonymies or natural processes. A focus was placed on the
      local endemics that are in some aspects morphologically similar to the widespread
      and variable G. klugii Brandt, 1833. The local endemics Glomeris larii Verhoeff,
      1921, G. primordialis Verhoeff, 1930, G. oblongoguttata Verhoeff, 1894, G.
      oropensis Verhoeff, 1936, G. transalpina Koch, 1836, G. romana Verhoeff, 1900, G.
      ligurica Latzel, 1884 and G. apuana Verhoeff, 1911 were included in a molecular
      analysis incorporating ribosomal nuclear (28S) and mitochondrial (COI) genes.
      Individuals were sequenced and compared to 31 specimens from 18 localities of G.
      klugii. The final dataset included 657 base pairs for 56 terminals in the COI,
      and 14 terminals with 1068 base pairs in the combined 28S and COI analysis. Our
      analysis shows intraspecific distances of up to 5% in the COI gene in G. klugii
      that are not strictly correlated to geography or color pattern. G. larii is
      discovered to be genetically and morphologically identical to G. klugii and is
      synonymised with the latter. Interspecific distances in our dataset vary between
      6.7 to 15.9%, with the lowest (6.7-9.0%) between G. primordialis and G. klugii.
      Our analysis confirms the species status of the local endemics G. primordialis,
      G. oblongoguttata, G. oropensis, G. transalpina, G. ligurica and G. apuana. We
      also confirm the synonymy of G. undulata Koch, 1844 under G. klugii. G. genuensis
      Latzel, 1886 is indistinguishable from G. ligurica. 

PMID- 27632208
TI  - Sevoflurane Inhalation Accelerates the Long-Term Memory Consolidation via Small
      GTPase Overexpression in the Hippocampus of Mice in Adolescence.
AB  - Sevoflurane exposure impairs the long-term memory in neonates. Whether the
      exposure to animals in adolescence affects the memory, however, has been unclear.
      A small hydrolase enzyme of guanosine triphosphate (GTPase) rac1 plays a role in
      the F-actin dynamics related to the synaptic plasticity, as well as superoxide
      production via reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)
      oxidase activation. The current study was designed to examine whether sevoflurane
      exposure to mice in early adolescence modifies the long-term learning ability
      concomitantly with the changes in F-actin constitution as well as superoxide
      production in the hippocampus according to the levels of rac1 protein expression.
      Four-week-old mice were subjected to the evaluation of long-term learning ability
      for three days. On day one, each mouse was allowed to enter a dark chamber for
      five min to acclimatization. On day two, the procedure was repeated with the
      addition of an electric shock as soon as a mouse entered the dark chamber. All
      mice subsequently inhaled 2 L/min air with (Sevoflurane group) and without
      (Control group) 2.5% sevoflurane for three hours. On day three, each mouse was
      placed on the platform and retention time, which is the latency to enter the dark
      chamber, was examined. The brain removed after the behavior test, was used for
      analyses of immunofluorescence, Western immunoblotting and intracellular levels
      of superoxide. Sevoflurane exposure significantly prolonged retention time,
      indicating the enhanced long-term memory. Sevoflurane inhalation augmented F
      actin constitution coexisting with the rac1 protein overexpression in the
      hippocampus whereas it did not alter the levels of superoxide. Sevoflurane
      exposure to 4-week-old mice accelerates the long-term memory concomitantly with
      the enhanced F-actin constitution coexisting with the small GTPase rac1
      overexpression in the hippocampus. These results suggest that sevoflurane
      inhalation may amplify long-term memory consolidation via the increased
      cytoskeleton constitution in the hippocampus of animals in early adolescence. 

PMID- 27632211
TI  - Implementation of a new model of clinical education for regional occupational
      therapy student clinical placements.
AB  - Expansion of occupational therapy education programs has resulted in increased
      student numbers and demand on clinicians to host clinical placements while also
      maintaining the delivery of high-quality, safe clinical services to patients.
      Much of the research about innovative placement models, including student
      contributions to service delivery, has been conducted in metropolitan areas.
      Therefore, there is a need to develop models that are suited to regional settings
      that face diversity of caseload, more generalised occupational therapy roles and
      variations in patient flow. The aim of the present study was to describe the
      initial application of the Calderdale Framework in student education in a
      regional context and look at lessons learnt. The Calderdale Framework provided a
      structured, clinically governed process whereby occupational therapists were able
      to determine which tasks could be allocated to students and provided a framework
      to support student training and competency development. The Calderdale Framework
      has been used successfully to implement allied health models involving
      professional skill sharing and delegation of tasks to allied health assistants,
      but it has not been used in clinical education. Pilot implementation of the
      Calderdale Framework showed that the model supports quality and safety of student
      provided occupational therapy services and that the teaching method provides a
      platform for student skill development. These results warrant further
      investigation and are potentially transferrable to student education in other
      health professions.

PMID- 27632207
TI  - MIF-Mediated Hemodilution Promotes Pathogenic Anemia in Experimental African
      Trypanosomosis.
AB  - Animal African trypanosomosis is a major threat to the economic development and
      human health in sub-Saharan Africa. Trypanosoma congolense infections represent
      the major constraint in livestock production, with anemia as the major pathogenic
      lethal feature. The mechanisms underlying anemia development are ill defined,
      which hampers the development of an effective therapy. Here, the contribution of
      the erythropoietic and erythrophagocytic potential as well as of hemodilution to
      the development of T. congolense-induced anemia were addressed in a mouse model
      of low virulence relevant for bovine trypanosomosis. We show that in infected
      mice, splenic extramedullary erythropoiesis could compensate for the chronic low
      grade type I inflammation-induced phagocytosis of senescent red blood cells
      (RBCs) in spleen and liver myeloid cells, as well as for the impaired maturation
      of RBCs occurring in the bone marrow and spleen. Rather, anemia resulted from
      hemodilution. Our data also suggest that the heme catabolism subsequent to
      sustained erythrophagocytosis resulted in iron accumulation in tissue and
      hyperbilirubinemia. Moreover, hypoalbuminemia, potentially resulting from
      hemodilution and liver injury in infected mice, impaired the elimination of toxic
      circulating molecules like bilirubin. Hemodilutional thrombocytopenia also
      coincided with impaired coagulation. Combined, these effects could elicit
      multiple organ failure and uncontrolled bleeding thus reduce the survival of
      infected mice. MIF (macrophage migrating inhibitory factor), a potential
      pathogenic molecule in African trypanosomosis, was found herein to promote
      erythrophagocytosis, to block extramedullary erythropoiesis and RBC maturation,
      and to trigger hemodilution. Hence, these data prompt considering MIF as a
      potential target for treatment of natural bovine trypanosomosis.

PMID- 27632209
TI  - Mutation Frequency of the Major Frontotemporal Dementia Genes, MAPT, GRN and
      C9ORF72 in a Turkish Cohort of Dementia Patients.
AB  - 'Microtubule-associated protein tau' (MAPT), 'granulin' (GRN) and 'chromosome 9
      open reading frame72' (C9ORF72) gene mutations are the major known genetic causes
      of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Recent studies suggest that mutations in these
      genes may also be associated with other forms of dementia. Therefore we
      investigated whether MAPT, GRN and C9ORF72 gene mutations are major contributors
      to dementia in a random, unselected Turkish cohort of dementia patients. A
      combination of whole-exome sequencing, Sanger sequencing and fragment
      analysis/Southern blot was performed in order to identify pathogenic mutations
      and novel variants in these genes as well as other FTD-related genes such as the
      'charged multivesicular body protein 2B' (CHMP2B), the 'FUS RNA binding protein'
      (FUS), the 'TAR DNA binding protein' (TARDBP), the 'sequestosome1' (SQSTM1), and
      the 'valosin containing protein' (VCP). We determined one pathogenic MAPT
      mutation (c.1906C>T, p.P636L) and one novel missense variant (c.38A>G, p.D13G).
      In GRN we identified a probably pathogenic TGAG deletion in the splice donor site
      of exon 6. Three patients were found to carry the GGGGCC expansions in the non
      coding region of the C9ORF72 gene. In summary, a complete screening for mutations
      in MAPT, GRN and C9ORF72 genes revealed a frequency of 5.4% of pathogenic
      mutations in a random cohort of 93 Turkish index patients with dementia. 

PMID- 27632212
TI  - Whisking mechanics and active sensing.
AB  - We describe recent advances in quantifying the three-dimensional (3D) geometry
      and mechanics of whisking. Careful delineation of relevant 3D reference frames
      reveals important geometric and mechanical distinctions between the localization
      problem ('where' is an object) and the feature extraction problem ('what' is an
      object). Head-centered and resting-whisker reference frames lend themselves to
      quantifying temporal and kinematic cues used for object localization. The
      whisking-centered reference frame lends itself to quantifying the contact
      mechanics likely associated with feature extraction. We offer the 'windowed
      sampling' hypothesis for active sensing: that rats can estimate an object's
      spatial features by integrating mechanical information across whiskers during
      brief (25-60ms) windows of 'haptic enclosure' with the whiskers, a motion that
      resembles a hand grasp.

PMID- 27632213
TI  - OSU53 Rescues Human OB-6 Osteoblastic Cells from Dexamethasone through Activating
      AMPK Signaling.
AB  - Excessive dexamethasone (Dex) application causes osteoblast cell death, which
      could lead to osteoporosis or osteonecrosis. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)
      activation is shown to protect osteoblasts/osteoblastic cells from Dex. In this
      report, we tested the potential effect of OSU53, a novel AMPK activator, in Dex
      treated osteoblastic cells. We show that OSU53 activated AMPK signaling in human
      OB-6 osteoblastic cells. Further, Dex-induced osteoblastic OB-6 cell death and
      apoptosis were largely attenuated with pre-treatment with OSU53. OSU53 was more
      efficient than other known AMPK activators (A-769662 and Compound 13) in
      protecting OB-6 cells against Dex. AMPK activation is required for OSU53-induced
      actions in OB-6 cells. AMPKalpha shRNA knockdown or dominant-negative mutation
      (dn-AMPKalpha T172A) almost completely blocked OSU53-induced AMPK activation and
      OB-6 cell protection against Dex. Further studies showed that OSU53 increased
      NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) activity and alleviated Dex
      induced oxidative stress in OB-6 cells. Such effects by OSU53 were again almost
      abolished with AMPKalpha shRNA or dn-AMPKalpha in OB-6 cells. Together, these
      results demonstrate that OSU53 protects osteoblastic cells from Dex possibly via
      activating AMPK-dependent signaling. 

PMID- 27632214
TI  - Predictive factors for functional improvement following intravitreal bevacizumab
      injections after central retinal vein occlusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: Vision loss in central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is mostly caused by
      macular edema (ME) and can be treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injections.
      The goal of this study was to identify predictive factors for improvement in
      visual acuity. METHODS: Three hundred and sixteen eyes of six centres having
      received intravitreal bevacizumab for ME due to CRVO were enrolled in this
      multicentre, retrospective, interventional case series. The follow-up time was 24
      to 48 weeks. Investigated patient characteristics were pretreatment, duration of
      CRVO prior to the first injection, initial best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA),
      baseline central retinal thickness as measured by optical coherence tomography,
      gender, eye, age, comorbidity with glaucoma, systemic hypertension, or diabetes
      mellitus. RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis confirmed the following baseline
      predictive factors for an increase in visual acuity: low BCVA (p < 0.001), high
      CRT (p < 0.02), and treatment naive patients (p = 0.03). None of the other
      investigated patient characteristics could be identified as prognostic factors
      for increase in visual acuity (p > 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: Intravitreal injections of
      bevacizumab in a routine clinical setting effectively improved and stabilized
      BCVA in CRVO. Our large multicenter study identified initial BCVA, baseline CRT,
      and pre-treatment as prognostic factors for visual improvement.

PMID- 27632215
TI  - A multicenter, 12-month randomized study comparing dexamethasone intravitreal
      implant with ranibizumab in patients with diabetic macular edema.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether treatment with dexamethasone intravitreal implant
      (DEX implant) 0.7 mg every 5 months provides a similar average change in best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from baseline as ranibizumab 0.5 mg administered
      as per its European Summary of Product Characteristics in patients with diabetic
      macular edema (DME). METHODS: This was a multicenter, open-label, 12-month,
      randomized, parallel-group, noninferiority study in patients with DME (one
      eye/patient). The primary efficacy measure was BCVA using the Early Treatment
      Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) method. Secondary efficacy measures included
      area of leakage on fluorescein angiography and central retinal thickness (CRT) on
      optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: Baseline patient characteristics were
      similar in the two treatment groups (DEX implant, n = 181; ranibizumab, n = 182);
      mean DME duration was ~33 months. The mean average BCVA change from baseline over
      12 months was 4.34 letters with DEX implant and 7.60 letters with ranibizumab.
      The lower limit of the 95 % confidence interval of the between-group difference
      was -4.74 letters, and therefore, DEX was demonstrated to be noninferior to
      ranibizumab based on the prespecified noninferiority margin of 5 letters. At
      monthly follow-up visits, the percentage of patients with >=15-letter BCVA gain
      from baseline ranged from 7.2 to 17.7 % with DEX implant and 4.4 to 26.9 % with
      ranibizumab. Both DEX implant and ranibizumab effectively reduced CRT and reduced
      the area of fluorescein leakage. Between-group differences in change from
      baseline CRT favored DEX implant at 1, 2, 6, and 7 months (p <= 0.007) and
      ranibizumab at 4, 5, 9, and 10 months (p < 0.001); the decrease in fluorescein
      leakage area was greater with DEX implant than ranibizumab at month 12 (p <
      0.001). Ocular adverse events in the study eye were more frequent in the DEX
      implant group because of the occurrence of intraocular pressure (IOP) increases
      and cataract. IOP increases were transient and generally managed with topical
      medication. CONCLUSIONS: Both DEX implant and ranibizumab were well tolerated and
      improved BCVA and anatomic outcomes in patients with DME. DEX implant met the a
      priori criterion for noninferiority to ranibizumab in average change from
      baseline BCVA over 12 months. Noninferiority was achieved with an average of 2.85
      DEX implant injections and 8.70 ranibizumab injections per patient.

PMID- 27632216
TI  - Association of serum lipid levels with retinal hard exudate area in African
      Americans with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous studies have yielded conflicting results regarding whether
      serum lipid levels are associated with retinal hard exudates in diabetic
      retinopathy. The majority of studies have assessed hard exudates only as a
      dichotomous trait (presence vs. absence) and included limited numbers of African
      Americans (AA). The purpose of this study was to determine if there are any
      associations between serum lipid levels and hard exudates in AA with type 2
      diabetes (T2D). METHODS: 890 AA participants with T2D were enrolled from 5 sites.
      Macular fundus photographs were graded by masked ophthalmologist investigators.
      Hard exudate areas were measured using a semi-automated algorithm and ImageJ
      software. Multivariate regression models were used to determine the association
      between serum lipid levels and (1) presence of hard exudate and (2) area of hard
      exudate. RESULTS: Presence of hard exudates was associated with higher total
      cholesterol [(odds ratio (OR) = 1.08, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.13, P
      = 0.001)] and higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (OR = 1.08, 95 %
      CI 1.03-1.14, P = 0.005) in models controlling for other risk factors. Hard
      exudate area was also associated with both higher total and LDL cholesterol
      levels (P = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively) in multivariate models controlling for
      other risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Higher total and LDL cholesterol were associated
      with the presence of hard exudates and a greater hard exudate area in AA with
      T2D. This information can be used to counsel diabetic patients regarding the
      importance of lipid control to decrease the risk of macular hard exudates.

PMID- 27632217
TI  - BOULE, a Deleted in Azoospermia Homolog, Is Recruited to Stress Granules in the
      Mouse Male Germ Cells.
AB  - High temperature adversely affects normal development of male germ cells in
      mammals. Acute heat stress induces the formation of stress granules (SGs) in a
      set of male germ cells, and the SGs have been proposed to protect those cells
      from heat-induced apoptosis. DAZL, one of DAZ (Deleted in Azoospermia) family
      proteins, was shown to be an essential component of SGs, which is required for SG
      formation in the mouse testis. In the present study, we asked whether BOULE, the
      founding member of DAZ family proteins, is a component of the SGs. We show that
      BOULE is recruited to the SGs upon heat stress, and that these SGs are
      developmental stage-specific. These results suggest that DAZ family proteins may
      have conserved roles in the SGs of male germ cells. 

PMID- 27632219
TI  - Fabrication of Graphene-Polymer Nanocomposites Through Ionic Polymerization.
AB  - The extraordinary properties of graphene nanosheets (GNS) and the high
      performance of polymer-based composites have stimulated extensive research in the
      realm of polymer nanocomposites. This work examines the mechanisms and approach
      for the production of GNS-polymer composites by first principle ab initio
      calculations. The results show that GNS functionalized with anionic/cationic
      moieties can initiate anionic/cationic polymerization reactions, leading to
      chemically bonded GNS-polymer composites via the established anionic/cationic
      polymerization schemes. These outcomes deliver a solid theoretical basis for
      fabricating strong polymer nanocomposites.

PMID- 27632218
TI  - Timing of HIV Seroreversion Among HIV-Exposed, Breastfed Infants in Malawi: Type
      of HIV Rapid Test Matters.
AB  - Introduction Rapid HIV serological tests are a cost-effective, point-of-care test
      among HIV exposed infants but cannot distinguish between maternal and infant
      antibodies. The lack of data on the timing of decay of maternal antibodies in
      young infants hinders the potential use of rapid tests in exposed infants. We
      aimed to determine the time to seroreversion for two commonly used rapid tests in
      a prospective cohort of HIV-exposed breastfeeding infants ages 3-18 months of
      life. Methods We collected data on the performance of two commonly used rapid
      tests (Determine and Unigold) in Malawi between 2008 and 2012 or at the
      University of North Carolina between 2014 and 2015. Time to seroreversion was
      estimated for both rapid tests using the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator
      which allows for interval censored data. Results At 3 months of age, 3 % of
      infants had seroreverted according to Determine and 7 % had seroreverted
      according to Unigold. About one in four infants had achieved seroreversion by 4
      months using Unigold, but only about one in twelve infants by 4 months when using
      Determine. More than 95 % of all infants had seroverted by 7 months according to
      Unigold and by 12 months according to the Determine assay. Discussion We show
      that the time of seroreversion depends greatly on the type of test used. Our
      results highlight the need for recommendations to specify the timing and type of
      test used in the context of infant HIV detection in resource-poor settings, and
      base the interpretation of test result on knowledge of time to seroreversion of
      the selected test.

PMID- 27632221
TI  - Lower subjective life expectancy in later life is a risk factor for posttraumatic
      stress symptoms among trauma survivors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: These studies examined whether exposure to traumatic events at
      different stages of life would predict posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in
      old age. Furthermore, the regulating role of perceptions that relate to one's
      future time horizons (subjective life expectancy, SLE) and age (subjective age)
      were also examined. METHOD AND RESULTS: It was hypothesized that exposure to
      trauma would predict more PTSS, and that this association would be moderated by
      SLE and subjective age, so that for those with higher SLE and a younger
      subjective age, exposure to trauma will have a weaker association with PTSS.
      Study 1 (N = 294) revealed that among Israeli war veterans (mean age 57), those
      who experienced the trauma of war captivity in the Yom Kippur War reported higher
      PTSS than comparable veterans, and that the relationship between captivity and
      PTSS was weaker for those with a higher SLE. Study 2 (N = 339), which was based
      on older adults who were currently exposed to ongoing rocket fire in the south of
      Israel (mean age 65), revealed the same pattern of findings: Exposure to rocket
      fire predicted more PTSS, but this relationship was weaker among those with a
      higher SLE. Subjective age did not reveal a moderation effect. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest that different traumatic experiences, whether belonging to one's
      past or whether currently ongoing, predict PTSS in later life. Moreover, it
      appears that subjective time horizons until death, but not subjective age since
      birth, can buffer against the negative effect of the trauma. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27632220
TI  - Estimating Copy Number and Allelic Variation at the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain
      Locus Using Short Reads.
AB  - The study of genomic regions that contain gene copies and structural variation is
      a major challenge in modern genomics. Unlike variation involving single
      nucleotide changes, data on the variation of copy number is difficult to collect
      and few tools exist for analyzing the variation between individuals. The
      immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV) locus, which plays an integral role in the
      adaptive immune response, is an example of a complex genomic region that varies
      in gene copy number. Lack of standard methods to genotype this region prevents it
      from being included in association studies and is holding back the growing field
      of antibody repertoire analysis. Here we develop a method that takes short reads
      from high-throughput sequencing and outputs a genetic profile of the IGHV locus
      with the read coverage depth and a putative nucleotide sequence for each
      operationally defined gene cluster. Our operationally defined gene clusters aim
      to address a major challenge in studying the IGHV locus: the high sequence
      similarity between gene segments in different genomic locations. Tests on
      simulated data demonstrate that our approach can accurately determine the
      presence or absence of a gene cluster from reads as short as 70 bp. More detailed
      resolution on the copy number of gene clusters can be obtained from read coverage
      depth using longer reads (e.g., >= 100 bp). Detail at the nucleotide resolution
      of single copy genes (genes present in one copy per haplotype) can be determined
      with 250 bp reads. For IGHV genes with more than one copy, accurate nucleotide
      resolution reconstruction is currently beyond the means of our approach. When
      applied to a family of European ancestry, our pipeline outputs genotypes that are
      consistent with the family pedigree, confirms existing multigene variants and
      suggests new copy number variants. This study paves the way for analyzing
      population-level patterns of variation in IGHV gene clusters in larger diverse
      datasets and for quantitatively handling regions of copy number variation in
      other structurally varying and complex loci.

PMID- 27632222
TI  - Ex vivo Skin Permeation of Betulin from Water-in-Oil Foams.
AB  - Triterpenes of the outer bark of birch are known to improve wound healing. An
      oleogel with these triterpenes as active principle is approved by the European
      Medicines Agency. As foams can be applied without touching the skin, they might
      be an advantageous application form. A comparable wound-healing effect can be
      expected when the permeation flux of the triterpenes from different types of
      formulations, namely oleogels, water-in-oil emulsions and water-in-oil foams, is
      similar. The tested formulations were based on three lipids (medium-chain
      trigylcerides, sunflower oil and paraffin) which differ in their polarity and
      solvent power for the triterpenes. Infinite dose permeation experiments were
      performed using porcine skin which was injured by either tape stripping or skin
      grafting. The results showed that steady-state permeation flux and lag time
      depend clearly on the depth of the skin lesion. Moreover, it was substantially
      affected by the lipid used as basis for the different formulations. In contrast,
      the different formulation types showed a comparable permeation behaviour leading
      to the conclusion that all formulation types can be used alike for the treatment
      of wounds, and the results that have already been obtained with oleogels can be
      directly translated to the foam with its superior use properties.

PMID- 27632223
TI  - Survival and dementia in GBA-associated Parkinson's disease: The mutation
      matters.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to investigate survival, dementia, and
      genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with
      and without mutations on the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA). METHODS: We included
      2,764 unrelated consecutive PD patients: 123 GBA carriers (67 mild-p.N370S and 56
      severe mainly p.L444P) and 2,641 noncarriers. Brain perfusion and dopamine
      transporter imaging was analyzed, including dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) as an
      additional control group. RESULTS: Multivariable analysis adjusted by sex, age at
      onset, and disease duration attributed to GBA carriers a greater risk for
      dementia (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.16; p < 0.001) and death (HR = 1.85; p = 0.002)
      than noncarriers. When dementia was introduced in the model as a time-dependent
      covariate, the mortality risk remained greater in carriers (HR = 1.65; p =
      0.016), suggesting that other clinical features are likely to contribute to
      reduced survival. At last examination, GBA carriers had worse motor symptoms,
      particularly nondopaminergic features. Carriers of severe mutations had greater
      risk for dementia compared to mild mutations (p < 0.001), but similar mortality
      risk. Consistent with clinical data, GBA carriers showed reduced posterior
      parietal and occipital cortical synaptic activity and nigrostriatal function than
      PD noncarriers. Neuroimaging features of carriers of mild mutations overlapped
      with PD noncarriers, whereas carriers of severe mutations were closer to DLB.
      INTERPRETATION: Survival is reduced in GBA carriers compared to noncarriers; this
      seems to be partially independent from the increased risk for early dementia. The
      risk for dementia is strongly modulated by type of mutation. In the clinical
      continuum between PD and DLB, patients with GBA mutations seem to localize
      midway, with carriers of severe mutations closer to DLB than to idiopathic PD.
      Ann Neurol 2016;80:662-673.

PMID- 27632224
TI  - Occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in conventional and organic milk offered for sale in
      Italy.
AB  - In the present study, 58 samples of milk were analyzed for the presence of
      aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). The samples were purchased during the period April-May 2013
      in a random manner from local stores (supermarkets, small retail shops, small
      groceries, and specialized suppliers) located in the surrounding of Bologna
      (Italy). The commercial samples of milk were either organic (n = 22) or
      conventional (n = 36); fresh milk samples and UHT milk samples, whole milk
      samples, and partially skim milk samples were present in both the two considered
      categories. For the quantification of AFM1 in milk, the extraction-purification
      technique based on the use of immunoaffinity columns was adopted and analyses
      were performed using HPLC-FD. AFM1 was detected in 35 samples, 11 from organic
      production and 24 from conventional production. No statistically (P > 0.05)
      significant differences were observed in the concentration of AFM1 in the two
      categories of product. The levels of contamination found in the positive samples
      ranged between 0.009 and 0.026 ng mL-1. No sample exceeded the limit defined at
      community level for AFM1 in milk (0.05 MUg kg-1). This demonstrates the
      effectiveness of the checks before the placing on the market of these food
      products. Thus, the "aflatoxins" problem that characterized the summer of 2012
      does not seem to have had effect on the contamination level of the considered
      milk samples.

PMID- 27632225
TI  - Correction: Inferring Protein Modulation from Gene Expression Data Using
      Conditional Mutual Information.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109569.].

PMID- 27632226
TI  - Structure-based approach for identification of novel phenylboronic acids as
      serine-beta-lactamase inhibitors.
AB  - beta-Lactamases are bacterial enzymes conferring resistance to beta-lactam
      antibiotics in clinically-relevant pathogens, and represent relevant drug
      targets. Recently, the identification of new boronic acids (i.e. RPX7009) paved
      the way to the clinical application of these molecules as potential drugs. Here,
      we screened in silico a library of ~1400 boronic acids as potential AmpC beta
      lactamase inhibitors. Six of the most promising candidates were evaluated in
      biochemical assays leading to the identification of potent inhibitors of
      clinically-relevant beta-lactamases like AmpC, KPC-2 and CTX-M-15. One of the
      selected compounds showed nanomolar K i value with the clinically-relevant KPC-2
      carbapenemase, while another one exhibited broad spectrum inhibition, being also
      active on Enterobacter AmpC and the OXA-48 class D carbapenemase.

PMID- 27632228
TI  - Shear Strength and Interfacial Toughness Characterization of Sapphire-Epoxy
      Interfaces for Nacre-Inspired Composites.
AB  - The common tensile lap-shear test for adhesive joints is inappropriate for
      brittle substrates such as glasses or ceramics where stress intensifications due
      to clamping and additional bending moments invalidate results. Nevertheless,
      bonding of glasses and ceramics is still important in display applications for
      electronics, in safety glass and ballistic armor, for dental braces and
      restoratives, or in recently developed bioinspired composites. To mechanically
      characterize adhesive bondings in these fields nonetheless, a novel approach
      based on the so-called Schwickerath test for dental sintered joints is used. This
      new method not only matches data from conventional analysis but also uniquely
      combines the accurate determination of interfacial shear strength and toughness
      in one simple test. The approach is verified for sapphire-epoxy joints that are
      of interest for bioinspired composites. For these, the procedure not only
      provides quantitative interfacial properties for the first time, it also
      exemplarily suggests annealing of sapphire at 1000  degrees C for 10 h for
      mechanically and economically effective improvements of the interfacial bond
      strength and toughness. With increases of strength and toughness from
      approximately 8 to 29 MPa and from 2.6 to 35 J/m2, respectively, this thermal
      modification drastically enhances the properties of unmodified sapphire-epoxy
      interfaces. At the same time, it is much more convenient than wet-chemical
      approaches such as silanization. Hence, besides the introduction of a new testing
      procedure for adhesive joints of brittle or expensive substrates, a new and
      facile annealing process for improvements of the adhesive properties of sapphire
      is suggested and quantitative data for the mechanical properties of sapphire
      epoxy interfaces that are common in synthetic nacre-inspired composites are
      provided for the first time.

PMID- 27632227
TI  - Adapting the semi-explicit assembly solvation model for estimating water
      cyclohexane partitioning with the SAMPL5 molecules.
AB  - We describe here some tests we made in the SAMPL5 communal event of 'Semi
      Explicit Assembly' (SEA), a recent method for computing solvation free energies.
      We combined the prospective tests of SAMPL5 with followup retrospective
      calculations, to improve two technical aspects of the field variant of SEA.
      First, SEA uses an approximate analytical surface around the solute on which a
      water potential is computed. We have improved and simplified the mathematical
      model of that surface. Second, some of the solutes in SAMPL5 were large enough to
      need a way to treat solvating waters interacting with 'buried atoms', i.e.
      interior atoms of the solute. We improved SEA with a buried-atom correction. We
      also compare SEA to Thermodynamic Integration molecular dynamics simulations, so
      that we can sort out force field errors.

PMID- 27632229
TI  - Genetic determinants of variability in warfarin response after the dose-titration
      phase.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Genetic factors contribute considerably toward variability in
      warfarin dose requirements and are important in the dose-titration phase; their
      effects on the stability of anticoagulation later in therapy are not known.
      METHODS: Using deidentified electronic medical records linked to a DNA-biobank,
      we studied 140 African-Americans and 943 European-Americans after the warfarin
      dose-titration phase. We genotyped 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes
      (CYP2C9, VKORC1, CYP4F2, GGCX, EPHX1, CALU) associated with altered warfarin dose
      requirements and tested their associations with international normalized ratio
      variability (INRVAR) and percent time in therapeutic range in European-Americans
      and African-Americans. RESULTS: One allele copy of rs2108622 in CYP4F2 was
      associated with a 15% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1-26, P=0.03] decrease in
      the median INRVAR in European-Americans. In African-Americans, GGCX variants
      rs11676382 and rs699664 were associated with 4.16-fold (95% CI: 1.45-11.97,
      P=0.009) and 1.50-fold (95% CI: 1.07-2.08, P=0.02) changes in the median INRVAR
      per variant allele copy, respectively; rs11676382 was also significantly
      associated with a 23.19% (95% CI: 5.89-40.48, P=0.01) decrease in time in
      therapeutic range. The total variation in INRVAR explained by both clinical
      factors and rs2108622 was 5.2% for European-Americans. In African-Americans, the
      inclusion of GGCX variants rs11676382 and rs699664, and the CYP2C9*8 variant
      rs7900194 explained ~29% of the variation in INRVAR. CONCLUSION: The stability of
      anticoagulation after the warfarin dose-titration phase is differentially
      affected by variants in CYP4F2 in European-Americans and GGCX loci in African
      Americans.

PMID- 27632230
TI  - Feasibility Testing of an Emergency Department Screening Tool To Identify Older
      Adults Appropriate for Palliative Care Consultation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seriously ill older adults in the emergency department (ED) may
      benefit from palliative care referral, yet little is known about how to identify
      these patients. OBJECTIVES: To assess the performance and determine the
      acceptability of a content-validated palliative care screening tool. DESIGN: We
      surveyed Emergency Medicine (EM) attending physicians at the end of their shifts
      using the screening tool and asked them to retrospectively apply it to all
      patients >=65 years whom they had cared for. We conducted the survey for three
      consecutive weeks in October 2015. SETTING/SUBJECTS: EM attending physicians at
      an urban, university-affiliated ED. MEASUREMENT: Patient characteristics,
      acceptability rating, and time per patient screened. RESULTS: We approached 38
      attending physicians to apply the screening tool for 69 eligible shifts.
      Physicians agreed to participate during 55 shifts (80%) and screened 207
      patients. On 14 shifts (20%), physicians declined to participate. Mean age of the
      screened patients was 75 years, 51% were male, and 45% had at least one life
      limiting illness. Overall, 67 patients (32%) screened positive for palliative
      care needs. Seventy percent of physicians (n = 33) found the screening tool
      acceptable to use and the average time of completion was 1.8 minutes per patient
      screened. CONCLUSION: A rapid screen of older adults for palliative care needs
      was acceptable to a majority of EM physicians and identified a significant number
      of patients who may benefit from palliative care referral. Further research is
      needed to improve acceptability and determine the appropriate care pathway for
      patients with palliative care needs.

PMID- 27632231
TI  - Patients' Adherence to Recommended Follow-up Eye Care After Diabetic Retinopathy
      Screening in a Publicly Funded County Clinic and Factors Associated With Follow
      up Eye Care Use.
AB  - Importance: The public health success of diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening
      programs depends on patients' adherence to the timetable of follow-up eye care
      recommended by the screening program. African Americans are among those at
      highest risk for DR and have one of the lowest rates of eye care use. Objectives:
      To assess the rate of adhering to recommended follow-up eye care in a DR
      screening program administered in a safety-net health care facility and to
      examine factors associated with follow-up eye care use. Design, Setting, and
      Participants: Prospective follow-up study of persons with type 1 or type 2
      diabetes. The setting was an internal medicine clinic of a publicly funded health
      system in Alabama, serving a population largely uninsured and African American,
      that had implemented a DR screening program using a nonmydriatic camera for
      ocular imaging and remote reading centers for evaluation of images. Patients with
      physician appointments between January 26 and July 24, 2012, were eligible for
      screening if they had a diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes and were 19 years
      or older. Data from the county health system's administrative database were
      obtained from January 26, 2012 (date of first enrollee), through May 1, 2015, to
      establish participants' eye care use in the ophthalmology clinic after screening.
      Main Outcomes and Measures: Adherence to the recommended interval of follow-up
      eye appointments in the facility's ophthalmology service as determined by
      administrative records, as well as factors associated with adherence. Results:
      Diabetic retinopathy screening was completed in 949 adults with diabetes, of whom
      84.5% (802 of 949) were African American, 64.5% (612 of 949) were women, and
      71.7% (680 of 949) lacked health insurance. Participants ranged in age from 21 to
      95 years, and their mean (SD) age was 53.9 (10.4) years. The mean (SD) age at
      diabetes diagnosis was 44.3 (12.5) years, and the mean (SD) duration of diabetes
      was 9.6 (9.4) years. Across interval recommendation types, 29.9% (284 of 949)
      adhered to obtaining comprehensive follow-up eye care within the recommended time
      frame. Two years after a participant's screening date, 50.9% (483 of 949) had no
      record of having received eye care. Factors associated with adhering to interval
      appointments were having an advanced age (odds ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04)
      and knowing one's glycated hemoglobin level (odds ratio, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.34
      2.97). Agreeing to assistance in making a follow-up eye care appointment was
      associated with nonadherence (odds ratio, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.45-0.99). Conclusions
      and Relevance: After a DR screening program in a public clinic largely serving an
      African American population, only one-third of participants adhered to interval
      recommendations for follow-up eye appointments, even though cost and
      accessibility were minimized as barriers to care. Our findings suggest that DR
      screening programs are not likely to meet their public health goals without
      incorporation of eye health education initiatives successfully promoting
      adherence to recommended comprehensive eye care for preventing vision loss.

PMID- 27632234
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27632232
TI  - Changes in Male Circumcision Prevalence and Risk Compensation in the Kisumu,
      Kenya Population, 2008-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Three randomized controlled trials showed that voluntary medical male
      circumcision (VMMC) reduces the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission by
      approximately 60%. However, data from communities where VMMC programs have been
      implemented are needed to assess changes in circumcision prevalence and whether
      men and women compensate for perceived reductions in risk by increasing their HIV
      risk behaviors. METHODS: Scale-up of free VMMC began in Kisumu, Kenya in 2008.
      Between 2009 and 2013, a sequence of 3 unlinked cross-sectional surveys were
      conducted. All individuals 15-49 years of age residing in randomly selected
      households were interviewed and offered HIV testing. Male circumcision status was
      confirmed by examination. Design-adjusted bivariate comparisons and multivariable
      analyses were used for statistical inference. RESULTS: The prevalence of male
      circumcision increased from 32% (95% CI: 26% to 38%) in 2009 to 60% (95% CI: 56%
      to 63%) in 2013. The adjusted prevalence ratio of HIV and genital ulcer disease
      in circumcised compared with uncircumcised men was 0.48 (95% CI: 0.36 to 0.66)
      and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.37 to 0.69), respectively. There was no association between
      circumcision status and sexual behaviors, HIV knowledge, or indicators of risk
      perception. CONCLUSIONS: The conditions necessary for the VMMC program to have a
      significant public health impact are present in Kisumu, Kenya. Between 2009 and
      2013, circumcision prevalence increased from 30% to 60%; HIV prevalence in
      circumcised men was half that of uncircumcised men, and there was no or minimal
      sexual risk compensation.

PMID- 27632233
TI  - An HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Demonstration Project and Safety Study for Young
      MSM.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are a key population for
      implementation of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) interventions. This open-label
      study examined adherence to PrEP and assessed sexual behavior among a diverse
      sample of YMSM in 12 US cities. METHODS: Eligible participants were 18- to 22
      year-old HIV-uninfected MSM who reported HIV transmission risk behavior in the
      previous 6 months. Participants were provided daily tenofovir disoproxil
      fumarate/emtricitabine (Truvada). Study visits occurred at baseline, monthly
      through week 12, and then quarterly through week 48. Dried blood spots were
      serially collected for the quantification of tenofovir diphosphate (TFV-DP).
      RESULTS: Between March and September 2013, 2186 individuals were approached and
      400 were found to be preliminarily eligible. Of those 400, 277 were scheduled for
      an in-person screening visit and 200 were enrolled (mean age = 20.2; 54.5% black,
      26.5% Latino). Diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections, including urethral
      and rectal chlamydial/gonococcal infection and syphilis, at baseline was 22% and
      remained high across visits. At week 4, 56% of participants had TFV-DP levels
      consistent with >=4 pills per week. By week 48, 34% of participants had TFV-DP
      levels consistent with >=4 pills per week, with a noticeable drop-off occurring
      at week 24. Four HIV seroconversions occurred on study (3.29/100 person-years).
      Condomless sex was reported by >80% of participants, and condomless anal sex with
      last partner was associated with higher TFV-DP levels. CONCLUSIONS: Acceptability
      of PrEP was high, and most participants achieved protective drug levels during
      monthly visits. As visit frequency decreased, so did adherence. YMSM in the
      United States may need PrEP access in youth-friendly settings with tailored
      adherence support and potentially augmented visit schedules.

PMID- 27632237
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27632236
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27632239
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27632238
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27632242
TI  - The involvement of ROS producing aldehyde oxidase in plant response to
      Tombusvirus infection.
AB  - The influence of Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) infection on the activity and
      isoformic composition of aldehyde oxidase and catalase in Nicotiana benthamiana
      plants was investigated. It was shown that the infection of plants with TBSV
      results in enhancement of leaf aldehyde oxidase (AO) isoforms AO2 and AO3.
      Significantly enhanced levels of superoxide radical producing activity of AO
      isoforms were also detected. This is the first demonstration of involvement of
      plant AO in defense mechanisms against viral infection. In addition, the
      infection caused an increased accumulation of hydrogen peroxide, compared to mock
      inoculated plants. The virus infection resulted in increased activity of catalase
      (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in roots and leaves of N. benthamiana.
      Moreover, activation of two additional CAT isoforms was observed in the leaves of
      plants after virus inoculation. Our findings indicate that the virus infection
      significantly affects enzymes responsible for the balance of ROS accumulation in
      plant tissue in response to pathogen attack.

PMID- 27632243
TI  - Comparison of quadrant-specific breast cancer incidence trends in the United
      States and England between 1975 and 2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: UK breast cancer incidence rates suggest that upper outer quadrant
      (UOQ) cancers have risen disproportionately compared with other areas over time.
      We aimed to provide a comparison of the trend in quadrant-specific breast cancer
      incidence between the United States (US) and England, and determine whether a
      disproportionate UOQ increase is present. METHODS: Surveillance Epidemiology and
      End Results (SEER) cancer registry data were obtained on 630,007 female breast
      cancers from 1975 to 2013. English cancer registry data were obtained on
      1,121,134 female breast cancers from 1979 to 2013. Temporal incidence changes
      were analysed using negative binomial regression. Interaction terms determined
      whether incidence changes were similar between sites. RESULTS: English breast
      cancer incidence in the UOQ rose significantly from 13% to 28% from 1979 to 2013
      whereas no significant increase was observed among SEER data. The significant
      interaction between quadrant and year of diagnosis (p<0.001) in both SEER and
      English data indicates that breast cancer incidence in each quadrant changed at a
      different rate. Incidence in the UOQ rose disproportionately compared to the
      nipple (SEER IRR=0.81, p<0.001; England IRR=0.78, p<0.001) and axillary tail
      (SEER IRR=0.87, p=0.018; England IRR=0.69, p<0.001) in both SEER and England. In
      addition, incidence rose disproportionately in the UOQ compared to non-site
      specific tumours in England (Overlapping lesions IRR=0.81, p=0.002; NOS IRR=0.78,
      p<0.001). The proportion of non-site-specific tumours was substantially higher in
      England than SEER throughout the study period (62% in England; 39% in SEER).
      CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer incidence in the UOQ increased disproportionately
      compared to non-site-specific tumours in England but not in SEER, likely due to
      the decrease in non-site-specific tumours observed in England over time. There
      may be real differences in incidence between the two countries, possibly due to
      differences in aetiology, but is much more likely to be an artefact of changing
      data collection methods and improvements in site coding in either country.

PMID- 27632246
TI  - Compound heterozygosity for dominant and recessive DSG1 mutations in a patient
      with atypical SAM syndrome (severe dermatitis, multiple allergies, metabolic
      wasting).

PMID- 27632245
TI  - Porphyrin-Cored Polymer Nanoparticles: Macromolecular Models for Heme Iron
      Coordination.
AB  - Porphyrin-cored polymer nanoparticles (PCPNs) were synthesized and characterized
      to investigate their utility as heme protein models. Created using collapsible
      heme-centered star polymers containing photodimerizable anthracene units, these
      systems afford model heme cofactors buried within hydrophobic, macromolecular
      environments. Spectroscopic interrogations demonstrate that PCPNs display redox
      and ligand-binding reactivity similar to that of native systems and thus are
      potential candidates for modeling biological heme iron coordination.

PMID- 27632244
TI  - Transplantation of Airway Epithelial Stem/Progenitor Cells: A Future for Cell
      Based Therapy.
AB  - Cell therapy has the potential to cure disease through replacement of
      malfunctioning cells. Although the tissue stem cell (TSC) is thought to be the
      optimal therapeutic cell, transplantation of TSC/progenitor cell mixtures has
      saved lives. We previously purified the mouse tracheobronchial epithelial TSCs
      and reported that in vitro amplification generated numerous TSCs. However, these
      cultures also contained TSC-derived progenitor cells and TSC repurification by
      flow cytometry compromised TSC self-renewal. These limitations prompted us to
      determine if a TSC/progenitor cell mixture would repopulate the injured airway
      epithelium. We developed a cell transplantation protocol and demonstrate that
      transplanted mouse and human tracheobronchial epithelial TSC/progenitor cell
      mixtures are 20-25% of airway epithelial cells, actively contribute to epithelial
      repair, and persist for at least 43 days. At 2 weeks after transplantation,
      TSCs/progenitor cells differentiated into the three major epithelial cell types:
      basal, secretory, and ciliated. We conclude that cell therapy that uses adult
      tracheobronchial TSCs/progenitor cells is an effective therapeutic option.

PMID- 27632247
TI  - Performance Relationships in Timed and Mass-Start Events for Elite Omnium
      Cyclists.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore the extent to which factors that determine performance
      transfer within and between time-trial and mass-start events in the track-cycling
      Omnium. METHODS: Official finish rank in the 3 time-trial events, in the 3 mass
      start events, and in the competition overall were collated in 20 international
      Omnium competitions between 2010 and 2014 for 196 male and 140 female cyclists.
      Linear mixed modeling of the log-transformed finish time for the time-trial
      events and of log-transformed finish rank for all events and final rank provided
      estimates of within-athlete race-to-race changes in performance and average
      betweenathletes differences across a season. These estimates were converted to
      various correlations representing relationships within and between the various
      events and final rank. RESULTS: Intraclass correlation coefficients, representing
      race-to-race reproducibility of performance, were similar whether derived from
      finish rank or finish time for the time-trial events. Log-transformed finish
      ranks are therefore a suitable measure to assess and compare performance in time
      trial and mass-start events. Omnium cyclists were more predictable in their
      performances from race to race in the timed events, whereas reduced
      predictability was observed in mass-start events. Interevent correlations
      indicated stronger links in performance between the timed disciplines, whereas
      performance in any of the mass-start events had only a slight positive
      relationship with performance in the other massstart events and little or no
      relationship with the timed events. CONCLUSIONS: Further investigation is
      warranted to determine whether factors related to performance in mass-start
      events can be identified to improve reproducibility or whether variability in
      performance results from random chance.

PMID- 27632249
TI  - Microstructure dependent filament forming kinetics in HfO2 programmable
      metallization cells.
AB  - Variability remains the principal concern for commercialization of HfO2 based
      resistance switching devices. Here, we investigate the role of thermal processing
      conditions on internal structure of atomic layer deposited HfO2 thin films, and
      the impact of that structure on filament forming kinetics of p+ Si/HfO2/Cu and
      TiN/HfO2/Cu devices. Regardless of bias polarity or electrode metal, filament
      formation times are at least one order of magnitude shorter in polycrystalline
      than in amorphous films, which we attribute to the presence of fast ion migration
      along grain boundaries. Within polycrystalline films, filament formation times
      are correlated with degree of crystalline orientation. Inter-device variability
      in forming time is roughly equivalent across HfO2 film processing conditions. The
      kinetics of filament forming are shown to be highly dependent on HfO2
      microstructure, with possible implications for the inter-device variability of
      subsequent switching cycles. 

PMID- 27632248
TI  - An emerging opportunistic infection: fatal astrovirus (VA1/HMO-C) encephalitis in
      a pediatric stem cell transplant recipient.
AB  - Neuroinvasive astrovirus (VA1-HMO-C) is an emerging life-threatening infection in
      immunocompromised hosts. We describe an 8-month-old child who died of VA1/HMO-C
      encephalitis following bone marrow transplantation. The diagnosis was only made
      post-mortem using RNA deep sequencing of the brain. Repeat analysis of the post
      mortem brain tissue using polymerase chain reaction specific primers for VA1/HMO
      C was positive. Astrovirus VA1/HMO-C should be included in the evaluation of
      patients with similar encephalitis.

PMID- 27632251
TI  - July 2016 (vol. 215, no. 1, page 119).

PMID- 27632250
TI  - Comparative Oral Bioavailability, Toxicokinetics, and Biotransformation of
      Enniatin B1 and Enniatin B in Broiler Chickens.
AB  - A toxicokinetic study of the Fusarium mycotoxins enniatin B1 (ENN B1) and
      enniatin B (ENN B) was performed in broiler chickens. Each animal received ENN B1
      or B orally via an intracrop bolus and intravenously at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg body
      weight. Both enniatins were poorly absorbed after oral administration, with
      absolute oral bioavailabilities of 0.05 and 0.11 for ENNs B1 and B, respectively.
      Both enniatins were readily distributed to the tissues, with mean volumes of
      distribution of 25.09 and 33.91 L/kg for ENNs B1 and B, respectively. The mean
      total body clearance was rather high, namely, 6.63 and 7.10 L/h/kg for ENNs B1
      and B, respectively. Finally, an UHPLC-HRMS targeted approach was used to
      investigate the phase I and II biotransformations of both mycotoxins. Oxygenation
      was the major phase I biotransformation pathway for both ENNs B1 and B. Neither
      glucuronide nor sulfate phase II metabolites were detected. 

PMID- 27632252
TI  - Kinetic Phase Evolution of Spinel Cobalt Oxide during Lithiation.
AB  - Spinel cobalt oxide has been proposed to undergo a multiple-step reaction during
      the electrochemical lithiation process. Understanding the kinetics of the
      lithiation process in this compound is crucial to optimize its performance and
      cyclability. In this work, we have utilized a low-angle annular dark-field
      scanning transmission electron microscopy method to visualize the dynamic
      reaction process in real time and study the reaction kinetics at different rates.
      We show that the particles undergo a two-step reaction at the single-particle
      level, which includes an initial intercalation reaction followed by a conversion
      reaction. At low rates, the conversion reaction starts after the intercalation
      reaction has fully finished, consistent with the prediction of density functional
      theoretical calculations. At high rates, the intercalation reaction is
      overwhelmed by the subsequently nucleated conversion reaction, and the reaction
      speeds of both the intercalation and conversion reactions are increased. Phase
      field simulations show the crucial role of surface diffusion rates of lithium
      ions in controlling this process. This work provides microscopic insights into
      the reaction dynamics in non-equilibrium conditions and highlights the effect of
      lithium diffusion rates on the overall reaction homogeneity as well as the
      performance.

PMID- 27632253
TI  - Effects of Different Implant Osteotomy Preparation Sizes on Implant Stability and
      Bone Response in the Minipig Mandible.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of implant
      and drill diameters on the stability of implant and bone response. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: An implant (GS II, Osstem Implant) with a 3.5-mm diameter and drills
      with three different diameters, differentiating the volume of bone compacted by
      the implant, were used in this study. Measurement of the insertion torque and
      observation of bone compression patterns were done during implant site
      preparation in minipigs. Also, analysis of resonance frequency, histomorphology,
      marginal bone resorption, and new bone formation were performed. RESULTS:
      Microstrains and microcracks occurred in cortical bone around the thread when a
      drill with a smaller diameter than that of the thread was used. Higher implant
      stability was shown and maintained when a small-diameter drill was used. When
      using a drill with a smaller diameter than the root diameter of the implant
      thread, the bone-to-implant contact/bone area (BIC/BA) was higher than the wider
      drill during the whole test period. However, the use of a wide drill was the most
      rapid in increasing the BIC/BA value by new bone formation. In the cancellous
      bone, the speed of new bone formation was not different in each test group.
      However, the formation of new bone was faster when a large-diameter drill was
      used in the cortical bone. There was no significant difference in marginal bone
      loss (MBL) according to drill diameters, but the speed of MBL was fast when using
      a drill that was smaller than the root diameter of the implant thread.
      CONCLUSION: Implant stability, BIC, and BA were high when using a final drill
      that was smaller than the root diameter of the implant thread compared with a
      wide final drill. However, the speed of new bone formation was relatively slow
      and the speed of MBL was relatively fast if the final drill was excessively
      smaller.

PMID- 27632254
TI  - First-Order Mathematical Correlation Between Damping and Resonance Frequency
      Evaluating the Bone-Implant Interface.
AB  - PURPOSE: Various advanced technologies have been designed to estimate dental
      implant stability, including insertion torque, implant damping using the
      Periotest, and resonance frequency analysis expressed in implant stability
      quotient units. This study aimed to establish the relationship between the
      estimates for these three techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bovine cortical bone
      blocks were trimmed to square shapes of precisely controlled thickness and
      density. Thereafter, 4-mm-diameter * 10-mm-long implants were placed in the bone
      blocks using 30-, 45-, and 60-Ncm insertion torques. Implant damping and
      resonance frequency analysis were conducted at four angles for each implant.
      Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationship
      between insertion torque, resonance frequency analysis, and implant damping
      measured values. RESULTS: Resonance frequency analysis and implant damping
      estimates exhibited a strong inverse correlation (r = -0.98, P < .001). A linear
      equation was formulated: Periotest value = 15.54 + (-0.26 * implant stability
      quotient). Implant damping and resonance frequency estimates revealed a weak
      correlation with insertion torque (P < .05). CONCLUSION: This study
      mathematically defined a linear correlation between implant damping and resonance
      frequency estimates, thereby providing a guide for clinicians when deciding the
      loading time for dental implants using the implant damping or resonance frequency
      estimates.

PMID- 27632255
TI  - Vertical Misfit of Single-Implant Abutments Made from Different Materials Under
      Cyclic Loading.
AB  - PURPOSE: Little information is available in the literature regarding the accuracy
      of marginal fit of abutments made from different materials. The aim of this study
      was to compare the level of vertical misfit in abutments made from different
      materials before and after cyclic loading. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty external
      hexagon implants, 3.75-mm diameter and 13-mm length, were embedded in epoxy resin
      and divided into three groups according to abutment type (n = 10): (1) machined
      titanium (Ti) abutments; (2) premachined gold-alloy (Au) abutments; and (3)
      machined zirconia (Zr) abutments. The abutments were attached to their respective
      implants by titanium alloy screws at the manufacturer's recommended torque. A
      cyclic loading (0.5 * 10(6) cycles; 15 Hz) between 11 and 211 N was applied at an
      angle of 30 degrees to the long axis of the implants. Implant-abutment vertical
      misfits (MUm) were measured at four predetermined points before and after loading
      with a stereomicroscope at 60* magnification. The group means were compared using
      a three-way repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test (alpha =
      .05). RESULTS: The results from the ANOVA identified significant effects of the
      abutment type (P < .001). However, there were no significant effects of cyclic
      loading (P = .978) or measured surfaces (P = .955). When the abutment groups were
      compared regardless of cyclic loading and measured surfaces, the Au group showed
      the highest value of vertical misfit (14.93 +/- 0.78), followed by the Ti group
      (8.53 +/- 0.44) and the Zr group (5.64 +/- 0.73), with statistically significant
      differences among them (P < .05). CONCLUSION: The abutment groups showed
      statistically significant differences in vertical misfit. Zr abutments showed the
      highest accuracy in terms of marginal fit, and Au abutments showed the lowest.
      Cyclic loading did not significantly change the level of vertical misfit. All
      experimental groups presented acceptable values of marginal misfit.

PMID- 27632256
TI  - Accuracy of Digital Versus Conventional Periapical Radiographs to Detect Misfit
      at the Implant-Abutment Interface.
AB  - PURPOSE: Misfit is a risk factor for rehabilitation with implants, and its
      detection is of fundamental importance to the success of treatment with implants.
      The use of appropriate radiographic imaging is key for a good prognosis. The aim
      of this study was to compare the efficacy of film and digital radiographs for the
      detection of misfit at the implant-abutment interface. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Digital and conventional (manual and automatic processing) radiography was
      performed in seven test specimens, each one with a different vertical misfit
      between the abutment and the platform of the implant. Scanning electron
      microscopy was used to confirm the misfit and to measure it. Five dental
      radiologists independently and blindly evaluated the images. Cohen's kappa with
      linear weighting was calculated to determine interexaminer and intraexaminer
      concordance. Statistical analyses were performed using the Cochran's Q test and
      the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). RESULTS: Interexaminer
      analysis showed that the kappa value was equal to 0.74, whereas the average kappa
      value in the intraexaminer evaluation was 0.90. Digital imaging showed the
      largest area on the ROC graph, and conventional images with manual processing
      showed the smallest area. The images obtained through conventional radiography
      with both manual and automatic processing showed statistically significant
      differences from the measurement of the gold standard (P < .05). CONCLUSION:
      Digital imaging can be used to evaluate misfit at the implant-abutment interface.
      Conventional systems of radiographic imaging do not provide sufficient
      information to evaluate misfit at the implant-abutment interface.

PMID- 27632257
TI  - The Survival of Morse Cone-Connection Implants with Platform Switch.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this prospective clinical study was to evaluate the survival
      up to 5 years of Morse cone-connection implants with platform switch considering
      the influence of biologically relevant, anatomical, and stress-related variables.
      STROBE guidelines were followed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven hundred forty-eight
      implants were inserted in 350 patients. Follow-up visits were scheduled at the
      time of stagetwo surgery (2 months later) and at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 60 months.
      All implants were initially loaded with a cemented provisional acrylic
      restoration. The definitive metal-ceramic restorations were cemented at the 6
      month follow-up. Implant cumulative survival rates (CSRs) were calculated using
      life table actuarial method. Survival data were also analyzed by the log-rank
      test and Cox regression. The statistical analysis was conducted at the patient
      level. P <= .05 was considered as an indicator of statistical significance.
      RESULTS: During the follow-up (mean: 40 months; SD: 20.27), 28 patients were
      considered failed (8%). The CSR and its standard error (SE) was 92% +/- 2.17%.
      Patients with implant-supported single crowns had a CSR of 90%, whereas those
      with implant-supported fixed dental prostheses had a CSR of 93%. The implant
      diameter (P = .0399) and implant length (P = .0441) were statistically
      significant. The probability of failure was almost 75% lower for patients with
      wide rather than standard implants, 91% lower for patients with long implants,
      and 69% lower for patients with standard implants compared with short implants.
      CONCLUSION: The use of Morse cone-connection implants with platform switch is a
      safe and reliable treatment method. Stress-related variables influence the risk
      of failure confirming the importance of biomechanical factors in the longevity of
      osseointegrated implants; thus, the clinician may obtain better results if
      attention is paid to these factors.

PMID- 27632258
TI  - Retention and Stability of Implant-Retained Mandibular Overdentures Using
      Different Types of Resilient Attachments: An In Vitro Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the retention and
      stability of mandibular implant overdentures using different types of resilient
      attachments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two implant analogs were inserted in the
      canine areas of an acrylic edentulous mandibular model. A metal-reinforced
      experimental overdenture was constructed and connected to the implant analogs (on
      two occasions) using either resilient telescopic or Locator attachments. Locators
      were divided into three subgroups according to the degree of retention of the
      male nylon insert: Locator extra-light retention (blue insert), Locator light
      retention (pink insert), and Locator medium retention (transparent insert).
      Vertical and oblique (anterior, posterior, and lateral) dislodging forces were
      measured at the beginning of the study (initial retention) and after 540 cycles
      of denture insertion and removal (final retention). RESULTS: For all dislodging
      forces, Locator medium recorded the highest initial and final retention.
      Telescopic attachments recorded the lowest retention during vertical and anterior
      dislodging, and Locator extra-light recorded the lowest retention during lateral
      and posterior dislodging. For all types of Locator attachments, anterior
      dislodging recorded the highest initial and final retention, and lateral
      dislodging recorded the lowest retention. For the telescopic attachment,
      posterior dislodgment recorded the highest initial and final retention, and
      anterior dislodging recorded the lowest retention. CONCLUSION: After repeated
      denture insertions and removals, the highest retention and stability were
      recorded with Locator medium followed by Locator light. The lowest retention was
      recorded with resilient telescopic attachment, and the lowest stability was
      recorded with Locator extra-light.

PMID- 27632259
TI  - An In Vivo Study on Load Distribution in Different Implant Configurations for
      Supporting Fixed Partial Dentures.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to develop a device for in vivo measurement
      of three-dimensional (3D) loads on implants and to investigate the effects of
      implant configuration on the load distribution under a three-unit fixed partial
      denture (FPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 67-year-old female patient with three
      implants (in the mandibular left second premolar, first molar, and second molar
      regions) was recruited. Four implant configurations for a three-unit FPD
      depending on the number and position of the implants were considered in this
      study. They included a three-implant prosthesis and three types of two-implant
      prosthesis: a central pontic, posterior cantilever, and anterior cantilever, with
      the same superstructure (splinted three crowns) for the same occlusal contact.
      Customized abutments and 3D piezoelectric force transducers were fixed to the
      implants of the four configurations with the superstructure. The loads on the
      implants were recorded during maximum voluntary clenching (MVC-test) and when
      chewing a piece of chewing gum (GUMtest). RESULTS: The occlusal forces on the
      dental arch during MVC-test with the four implant configurations did not exhibit
      significant differences. In the three-implant prosthesis, there were no
      significant differences in the mean maximum resultant load on each implant in
      both tests. In the central pontic, the load on the second premolar was
      significantly greater than that on the second molar in the MVC-test but there
      were no significant differences in the GUM-test. High loads were detected on the
      first molar in both the posterior cantilever and anterior cantilever. The highest
      load was detected on the first molar in the posterior cantilever during the
      GUMtest. CONCLUSION: The in vivo 3D load-measuring device using the piezoelectric
      force transducers enabled the measurement of the functional load on implants
      supporting a FPD. The results suggested, within the limitations of this study,
      that a three-implant prosthesis and central pontic provide biomechanically
      beneficial designs compared with the posterior cantilever and anterior cantilever
      in terms of the equal distribution of loads on supporting implants.

PMID- 27632260
TI  - Effect of the Coronal Wall Thickness of Dental Implants on the Screw Joint
      Stability in the Internal Implant-Abutment Connection.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of implant coronal wall thickness on load-bearing
      capacity and screw joint stability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental implants
      were customized after investigation of the thinnest coronal wall thickness of
      commercially available implant systems with a regular platform diameter. Implants
      with four coronal wall thicknesses (0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 mm) were fabricated.
      Three sets of tests were performed. The first set was a failure test to evaluate
      load-bearing capacity and elastic limit. The second and third sets were cyclic
      and static loading tests. After abutment screw tightening of each implant,
      vertical cyclic loading of 250 N or static loading from 250 to 800 N was applied.
      Coronal diameter expansion, axial displacement, and removal torque values of the
      implants were compared. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used
      for statistical analysis (alpha = .05). RESULTS: Implants with 0.2-mm coronal
      wall thickness demonstrated significantly low load-bearing capacity and elastic
      limit (both P < .05). These implants also showed significantly large coronal
      diameter expansion and axial displacement after screw tightening (both P < .05).
      Greater vertical load and thinner coronal wall thickness significantly increased
      coronal diameter expansion of the implant, axial displacement of the abutment,
      and removal torque loss of the abutment screw (all P < .05). CONCLUSION: Implant
      coronal wall thickness of 0.2 mm produces significantly inferior load-bearing
      capacity and screw joint stability.

PMID- 27632261
TI  - The Impact of Force Transmission on Narrow-Body Dental Implants Made of
      Commercially Pure Titanium and Titanium Zirconia Alloy with a Conical Implant
      Abutment Connection: An Experimental Pilot Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to visualize the mode and impact of force
      transmission in narrowdiameter implants with different implant-abutment designs
      and material properties and to quantify the displacement of the abutment.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Narrow-diameter implants from two manufacturers were
      examined: Astra 3.0-mm-diameter implants (Astra OsseoSpeed TX; n = 2) and
      Straumann Bone Level implants with a 3.3-mm diameter made of commercially pure
      titanium (cpTi) Gr. 4 (n = 2) and 3.3-mm TiZr-alloy (n = 2; Bone Level,
      Straumann) under incremental force application using synchrotron radiography
      (absorption and inline x-ray phase-contrast) and tomography. RESULTS: During
      loading (250 N), Astra 3.0 and Bone Level 3.3- mm implants showed a deformation
      of the outer implant shoulder of 61.75 to 95 MUm independent of the implant body
      material; the inner implant diameter showed a deformation of 71.25 to 109.25 MUm.
      A deformation of the implant shoulder persisted after the removal of the load
      (range, 42.75 to 104.5 MUm). An angulated intrusion of the abutment (maximum, 140
      MUm) into the implant body during load application was demonstrated; this spatial
      displacement persisted after removal of the load. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrated a deformation of the implant shoulder and displacement of the
      abutment during load application in narrow-diameter implants.

PMID- 27632262
TI  - Mini-Implant Screws for Bone-Borne Anchorage: A Biomechanical In Vitro Study
      Comparing Three Diameters.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the maximum strength and the maximum aperture supported by
      mini-implant screws of three different diameters in an in vitro rapid maxillary
      expander model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen appliances were mounted in
      artificial bone polyurethane blocks. In each appliance, a Hyrax expander anchored
      by four mini-implant screw sets of three different diameters were divided into:
      group 1 (n = 5), 1.8-mm-diameter screws; group 2 (n = 5), 2.0-mm-diameter screws;
      and group 3 (n = 5), 2.2-mm-diameter screws. All sets (bone blocks + expander +
      four mini-implants) were inserted into a customized and standardized device that
      simulated a mid-palate disjunction. The expanders were activated to mechanically
      test the insertion of the mini-implant into the devices until breakage or
      deflection of screws occurred. The number of activations, the maximum supported
      strength, and the maximum expander aperture values until failure were recorded
      for each group. Data were subjected to a Student t test at a significance level
      of 5%. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups
      regarding the number of activations up to the maximum supported strength. The
      expander achieved aperture values where differences were slightly significant
      just between groups 1 and 2 (P = .048). There was a significant difference
      between groups 1 and 3 regarding the maximum supported load (P = .039).
      CONCLUSION: Regardless of the mini-implant screw diameters, the expander device
      used in this anchorage system model withstood strengths and aperture rates beyond
      those that may be required during clinical rapid maxillary expansion.

PMID- 27632263
TI  - Survival of Implants Using the Osteotome Technique With or Without Grafting in
      the Posterior Maxilla: A Systematic Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this review was to systematically appraise survival rates of
      implants placed using the osteotome technique with and without grafting in the
      published literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was conducted
      to identify prospective and retrospective studies on osteotome sinus floor
      elevation published between January 1, 2000 and October 30, 2015. Studies were
      included that (1) involved use of the osteotome technique with or without
      grafting; (2) provided data regarding the implant survival rates, residual bone
      height (RBH), and grafting materials; and (3) reported mean follow-up of at least
      1 year after functional loading and included a minimum of 10 patients. The mean
      weighted cumulative implant survival rates were used to compare the two treatment
      strategies-grafted or nongrafted. The influence of RBH and implant length on
      weighted cumulative implant survival was also evaluated. RESULTS: After search
      and evaluation of the literature according to the inclusion criteria, 34 studies
      involving 1,977 patients and 3,119 implants were included. Eighty-four out of 102
      implant failures documented in the studies occurred within 1 year of functional
      loading. Statistically significant differences in the cumulative survival rates
      were found in the graft and nongraft groups (95.89% and 97.30%, respectively; P =
      .05). In the nongraft group, no statistically significant difference in the
      cumulative survival rate was found when implants were placed at RBH < 5 mm or >=
      5 mm (95.04% and 97.63%, respectively; P = .12). In the graft group, however, a
      statistically significant difference was found when implants were placed at RBH <
      5 mm or >= 5 mm (92.19% and 97.59%, respectively; P < .01). Significantly lower
      weighted mean cumulative implant survival rates were found in the shorter (< 8
      mm) implant group than in the longer (>= 8 mm) implant group (83.33% and 96.28%,
      respectively; P < .01). CONCLUSION: The cumulative survival rates were
      significantly higher in the nongraft group than in the graft group. Early
      failures (< 1 year functional loading) accounted for the vast majority of the
      implant failures. The cumulative survival rates in the graft group were
      significantly lower when the RBH was < 5 mm, while the cumulative survival rates
      in the nongraft group demonstrated no statistically significant difference based
      on RBH. Shorter (< 8 mm) implants demonstrated significantly lower cumulative
      survival rates than longer implants.

PMID- 27632264
TI  - Prevalence of Interproximal Open Contacts Between Single-Implant Restorations and
      Adjacent Teeth.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of interproximal
      open contacts between singleimplant prostheses and adjacent teeth, as well as to
      provide guidelines to prevent interproximal contact loss (ICL). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study. One hundred twenty
      eight patients (174 single-implant restorations) from Columbia University College
      of Dental Medicine and a private faculty clinic with a single-implant restoration
      in the posterior or anterior region were selected to participate in this study.
      Patients between the ages of 19 and 91, both male and female, were included in
      this pilot study. The period of evaluation after implant restoration insertion
      was between 3 months and 11 years. Participants were seen at random intervals to
      identify ICL. Interproximal contacts were evaluated with 0.07-mm-thickness dental
      floss and visual confirmation. Contact was considered open if floss passed
      without resistance from adjacent teeth. RESULTS: The results of this study
      revealed a significant percentage of ICL, 52.8%, between single-implant
      restorations and adjacent teeth; 78.2% were identified on the mesial surfaces and
      21.8% on the distal surfaces. ICL was noted in 57.9% of the maxillary implant
      restorations and 49% of the mandibular implant restorations. Eight implant
      restorations in women demonstrated mesial and distal openings. Among the patients
      with ICL, a significant percentage, 40%, were aware of the presence of ICL and
      food impaction. CONCLUSION: In this study, 52.8% of implant restorations
      demonstrated ICL. This result dictates that ICL should be included as a
      prosthetic implant complication. The high prevalence of ICL is justification for
      proper informed consent, and associated clinical problems need to be addressed.
      Possible causative factors were presented, but further research is necessary to
      identify the causative factors for ICL. The authors suggest the use of an Essix
      retainer to prevent ICL between single-implant restorations and adjacent teeth.
      Evaluation of interproximal contact between implant restorations and the adjacent
      teeth should be periodically monitored.

PMID- 27632265
TI  - Comparison of Preprosthetic Implant Complications and Failures Between Obese and
      Nonobese Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Obesity as a systemic risk factor associated with implant failure or
      other complications has not been studied. The aim of this study was to compare
      the frequency of implant failure and complications between obese and nonobese
      patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Charts from 220 partially edentulous patients
      with 321 implants were examined for demographic information, medical health
      history, diabetes, smoking, patient-reported height and weight, periodontal
      status (no, mild, moderate, or severe periodontitis), tooth number, date of the
      implant and prosthesis placement, and treatment notes pertinent to the
      complications or failure. Subjects were classified according to their body mass
      index (BMI) as normal (18.5 to 24.5 kg/m(2)), overweight (25 to 29.9 kg/m(2)), or
      obese (>= 30 kg/m(2)) based on self-reported height and weight. Variables
      including sex, smoking, diabetes, and periodontal condition were considered as
      confounders. Data were analyzed to examine differences in frequency of
      complications and occurrence of failures. RESULTS: Implant failure was low (2.1%)
      and did not differ by BMI category. Compared with normal BMI patients, obese
      patients had increased odds of experiencing an implant complication (OR = 4.9,
      95% CI [1.4, 17.6]) after adjustment for other variables. Diabetes was not
      associated with an increased risk of complications; obese patients with diabetes
      had decreased odds of an implant complication compared with obese patients
      without diabetes. CONCLUSION: No association was observed between obesity and
      implant failures. BMI category was associated with implant complications; obese
      patients have greater odds of experiencing implant complications postsurgically.
      Treating obese patients with the existing protocol for diabetic patients
      (antibiotic regimens, more frequent follow-up, and maintenance appointments) may
      improve clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27632266
TI  - The Possible Role of Dental Implants in the Etiology and Prognosis of
      Osteomyelitis: A Retrospective Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical outcome of
      osteomyelitis of the mandible or maxilla following dental implants. A detailed
      treatment protocol is also proposed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic data of
      all the patients who were treated between October 2009 and November 2014, in
      three maxillofacial surgical departments, were reviewed. Computed databases were
      searched for the diagnosis of osteomyelitis of the mandible or maxillas (ICD9
      code 526.2), and medical files were analyzed. Treatment outcome was considered
      successful if only primary treatment (debridement and antibiotic therapy) was
      applied. Statistical analysis was performed to compare treatment outcomes in the
      different etiologic groups. RESULTS: The cohort included 29 men and 25 women,
      with histologically and clinically proven osteomyelitis. The mean age was 59
      years (range, 24 to 70 years). Forty patients had complete remission, as opposed
      to 14 patients who failed the primary treatment and required a more aggressive
      surgical intervention (11 had segmental mandibulectomy, 2 patients had marginal
      mandibulectomy, and 1 patient had maxillectomy). Most failures were in the dental
      implantation group. A previous dental implant was an independent factor for
      primary treatment failure and the need for aggressive surgical intervention (P =
      .0001). CONCLUSION: The results of this retrospective study suggest that a
      previous dental implant is an independent predictive factor of failure in primary
      treatment in osteomyelitis of the mandible or maxilla. Also, dental implant
      induced osteomyelitis is a rare pathology, but it presents an aggressive subtype
      of osteomyelitis, and requires a broader and more comprehensive management.

PMID- 27632267
TI  - Immediate and Early Loading of Two-Implant-Supported Mandibular Overdentures:
      Three-Year Report of Loading Results of a Single-Center Prospective Randomized
      Controlled Clinical Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the clinical and radiographic outcomes of a 3-year follow-up
      of immediately and early loaded two-implant-supported mandibular overdentures.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty edentulous patients were randomly subdivided into
      two groups. In the immediate loading group, two Straumann implants were splinted
      with a Dolder bar and loaded with a mandibular overdenture within the first 48
      hours postoperative. In the early loading group, the two implants were loaded
      with an overdenture 6 weeks postoperative. Standardized intraoral radiographs
      using a film holder were obtained at 1 month and 3 years. Two independent
      observers assessed marginal bone loss twice, independently, and analysis of
      variance (ANOVA) was used to follow up marginal bone level changes. RESULTS: In
      total, there were 26 remaining patients available at the 3-year followup (15
      immediate and 11 early). One implant was lost in the early loading group, and no
      implants were lost in the immediate loading group. All superstructures and
      dentures were adequately functional at the 3-year control. Mean radiographic
      marginal bone loss between baseline and the 3-year follow-up was 0.35 +/- 0.63 mm
      for immediately loaded implants and 0.31 +/- 0.96 mm for early loaded implants.
      The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P =
      .26). CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this trial and the short follow-up
      period and high dropout rate, the immediate loading protocol was found to be
      comparable in its clinical and radiographic outcomes to the early loading
      protocol for the two-implant Dolder bar-supported mandibular overdentures.

PMID- 27632268
TI  - A Double-Blind Randomized Trial Comparing Implants with Laser-Microtextured and
      Machined Collar Surfaces: Microbiologic and Clinical Results.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of and
      determine the differences in periodonto-pathogenic microbiota around two types of
      implant collar surfaces: laser-microtextured (test) vs machined (control).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients (11 periodontally healthy, and 6
      periodontally compromised) were selected to receive the two different implants,
      placed randomly, in two edentulous sites. Six months following the surgical
      placement of the dental implants, subgingival plaque samples were collected using
      paper points from the peri-implant sulcus and from the sulcus of an adjacent
      tooth. The presence of five putative periodontal pathogens, namely,
      Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella
      intermedia, Treponema denticola, and Tannerella forsythensis, was assessed using
      real-time polymerized chain reaction (RT-PCR). Peri-implant parameters and
      intraoral radiographs were recorded up to 1 year after abutment connection.
      RESULTS: In the main population, and in the periodontally compromised subgroup,
      the total number of periodontal pathogens around test implant sites was lower
      than control implant sites and adjacent tooth sites, with a statistically
      significant difference (P < .05). In periodontally healthy patients, the mean
      probing pocket depth for the test implant was 1.31 +/- 0.51 mm, compared with
      2.66 +/- 0.83 mm for the control implant, while in periodontally compromised
      patients, it was 1.61 +/- 0.58 mm for the test implant, compared with a mean
      value of 2.84 +/- 1.0 mm for the control implant. CONCLUSION: Implants with a
      laser-microtextured collar surface are not more vulnerable to pathogenic
      microflora colonization than implants with a machined collar surface. In both of
      the subgroups of patients (periodontally healthy and periodontally compromised),
      implants with a laser-microtextured collar surface have a better clinical outcome
      at 1 year of loading, compared with implants with a machined collar surface.

PMID- 27632269
TI  - Relationship Between Primary Stability and Crestal Bone Loss of Implants Placed
      with High Insertion Torque: A 3-Year Prospective Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Concerns have been expressed about the possibility of high insertion
      torque (IT) causing necrosis, impaired osseointegration, and crestal bone loss
      over time. The present study investigated the relationship between primary
      stability and implant success, including early and late maintenance of crestal
      bone levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Implants were placed in patients at three
      study centers. Every effort was made to achieve the highest possible primary
      stability, which was measured with IT and implant stability quotient (ISQ). The
      IT and ISQ at insertion and reopening (3 to 4 months), as well as bone levels at
      several points in time, were recorded. The correlations between IT, ISQ, and
      immediate and 3-year crestal bone loss were investigated through linear
      regression analyses. RESULTS: Average IT was 76.1 +/- 20.8 Ncm, while the average
      ISQ score was 80.4 +/- 8.4. The implant success rate at 36 months was 98.6%. The
      crestal bone loss around most implants (41.0%) ranged from 0.05 to 0.5 mm. None
      of the osseointegrated implants had crestal bone loss greater than 2.5 mm. The
      linear regression analysis showed no correlation among early or 3-year crestal
      bone loss and IT, ISQ at surgery, and ISQ at reopening. CONCLUSION: The implants
      studied avoided any negative effects deriving from the high IT values (>= 50 Ncm)
      applied during 3 years of follow-up.

PMID- 27632271
TI  - Utilization of Ceramic Inlays for Sealing Implant Prostheses Screw Access Holes:
      A Case-Control Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate, in a case control study, the
      esthetic and functional clinical performance of ceramic inlays used for covering
      the screw access hole in single monolithic lithium disilicate full-contour crowns
      bonded on computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
      prefabricated titanium abutments in order to eliminate the drawbacks of
      alternative restorative methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight patients
      with missing teeth in the lateral areas (premolars and molars) received screw
      retained implant restorations. In half of the restorations (n = 14), composite
      fillings were used to seal the access hole (control group), while the other half
      was sealed with ceramic inlays (test group). To determine the restoration
      occlusal wear, impressions were obtained after the restorations were finalized,
      at 1 year, and at 2 years follow-up. The casts were scanned with a 3D Scanner
      Design System recording the anatomical surfaces of the white model replicates.
      Wear amounts (MUm) were calculated as the maximum loss in height of the occlusal
      surface. The clinical evaluation was carried out using a kit specifically
      designed for assessing the FDI criteria. Statistics were performed using analysis
      of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: A total of 58 restorations were delivered, and
      after 2 years of follow-up, the wear values were 228.20 +/- 54.68 MUm for the
      control group and 65.20 +/- 7.24 MUm for the ceramic inlay group. One-way ANOVA
      showed significant differences among the vertical loss between these two groups
      (P < .001). Clinical outcomes according to the FDI score for assessing dental
      restorations revealed substantial deterioration within 2 years of follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: The use of ceramic inlays appears to be a predictable, esthetic, and
      successful method of sealing the screw holes of the screw-retained implant
      restorations.

PMID- 27632270
TI  - Split-Mouth Comparison of Splinted and Nonsplinted Prostheses on Short Implants:
      3-Year Results.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare splinted and individual restorations supported by short
      implants featuring an internal connection utilizing a split-mouth design.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Splinted and nonsplinted implant crowns were prospectively
      compared in 18 patients. After verifying the need for at least two consecutive
      implants bilaterally, computed tomography scans were made, virtual planning was
      done, and qualifying patients were enrolled. Implants were placed using a two
      stage surgical approach. After 3 to 5 months, patients were randomly restored
      with splinted prostheses on their left or right side. Nonsplinted restorations
      were made for contralateral sides. Radiographs were taken at prostheses seating
      and yearly exams. Radiographic bone levels were analyzed and compared (SAS 9.4)
      to determine differences between splinted and nonsplinted implants. Complications
      such as screw loosening, screw breakage, or porcelain fracture were assessed at
      recalls. RESULTS: Eighteen patients (9 men and 9 women) with an age range from 49
      to 76 years (mean = 56 years), received >= 4 implants in symmetrical posterior
      locations. Implants (n = 82) ranged in length from 6 to 11 mm with 70 implants <=
      9 mm and 38 implants = 6 mm. At the time of this report, 3-year examinations and
      bone level comparisons were completed on 15 patients. One patient was lost to
      follow-up, one deviated from study protocol by smoking, and one was splinted on
      both sides due to repeated screw breakage. Screw loosening occurred in five
      patients on their nonsplinted side. These were 6-mm implants except for one
      patient. Porcelain chipping occurred for one patient on the splinted side. One 6
      mm-length nonsplinted implant was lost after loading; this implant was
      successfully replaced after grafting. This patient had a total of six implants
      placed; ongoing bone level measurements included two pairs of implants only. For
      all implants combined, there was no significant difference (P > .05) at 1, 2, or
      3 years for mean bone change around splinted and nonsplinted implants. However,
      length was identified as a significant factor (P = .0039). Further analysis
      revealed statistically significant differences between splinted and nonsplinted
      for 6-mm length implants at 24 (P = .0061) and 36 (P = .0144) months. A gain in
      mean bone level of 0.41 and 0.37 mm was observed for nonsplinted implants at 24
      and 36 months compared with baseline. Bone levels for the splinted 6-mm implants
      were not statistically different from baseline measurements (P > .05).
      CONCLUSION: Results of this prospective 3-year study of splinted ipsilateral and
      nonsplinted contralateral implants in 15 patients show: (1) peri-implant bone
      levels around splinted and nonsplinted implants were not statistically different
      for implants greater than 6 mm in length; (2) nonsplinted 6-mm implants revealed
      a gain in bone at 24 and 36 months compared with baseline; (3) all screw
      loosening only occurred on the nonsplinted side for 5 of 15 patients; and (4)
      implant loss after loading occurred for one 6-mm nonsplinted implant.

PMID- 27632272
TI  - Graftless Full-Arch Implant Rehabilitation with Interantral Implants and
      Immediate or Delayed Loading-Part II: Transition from the Failing Maxillary
      Dentition.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare long-term survival and marginal bone loss of immediate
      interantral implants in the nonaugmented maxilla subjected to immediate vs
      delayed loading. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Graftless maxillary cross-arch
      rehabilitation was performed in a total of 362 patients in the years 2004 to 2013
      (1,797 implants). Of the 240 patients with immediate implants replacing their
      failing maxillary dentition, 81% were subjected to immediate loading and 19% to
      delayed loading of their 4 to 6 interantral implants (980 and 235 implants,
      respectively). Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were computed and marginal bone
      loss was evaluated in a stratified random sample of 20 patients per group.
      RESULTS: Thirty-one of 1,215 implants failed within the mean observation period
      of 3.9 years, and no difference in 8-year survival estimates could be seen
      between immediate (97.6% [95% CI: 96.7 to 98.6]) and delayed (96.6% [95% CI: 94.3
      to 98.9]) loading protocols (P = .359). Mean marginal bone resorption following
      implant insertion did not differ significantly between the groups (1.5 +/- 1.7 mm
      vs 0.7 +/- 1.1 mm, P = .379); however, it was significantly associated with a
      reduced number of implants (P = .017) and patient history of periodontal disease
      (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Immediate loading of interantral implants yields
      satisfactory results in the transition of patients from a failing maxillary
      dentition to full-arch implant rehabilitation and thus may be favored over
      delayed loading concepts.

PMID- 27632273
TI  - The Influence of Crown-to-Implant Ratio on Short Implant Marginal Bone Loss.
AB  - PURPOSE: There is a need for more studies evaluating the marginal bone loss (MBL)
      of rehabilitations in the posterior regions of extremely resorbed maxillae and
      mandibles supported by short-length dental implants with a high crown/implant
      ratio (C/I-R). The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the C/I-R
      in implants on MBL considering dental implants with 4 mm of width and 7 mm of
      length. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 59
      patients (mean age of 52.8 years) rehabilitated with at least one implant 4 mm in
      width and 7 mm in length, with an anodically oxidized surface and external
      connection on the premolar or molar positions, supporting a fixed prosthesis, and
      in function for a period of 36 months. Periapical radiographs at 36 months were
      used to calculate the C/I-R and MBL. The Spearman correlation coefficient was
      used to test the correlation between C/I-R and MBL. The level of significance was
      set at 5%. RESULTS: One hundred eighteen implants from 59 patients were
      evaluated. The mean +/- SD MBL was 0.67 +/- 0.63 mm. The C/I-R mean +/- SD was
      2.53 +/- 0.79 mm. Thirty implants presented a C/I-R <= 2, while 88 implants had a
      C/I-R > 2. A weak nonsignificant inverse correlation (r = -0.081; P = .383,
      Spearman) was registered between C/I-R and MBL. CONCLUSION: Within the
      limitations of this study, it is possible to conclude that implant-supported
      fixed prostheses with C/I-R > 2 do not correlate positively with MBL.

PMID- 27632274
TI  - Immediate Loading of Implants in the Edentulous Maxilla with a Fixed Provisional
      Restoration without Bone Augmentation: A Report on 5-Year Outcomes Data Obtained
      from a Prospective Clinical Trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Successful immediate loading of implants in the edentulous maxilla has
      been previously reported. The purpose of this 5-year prospective study was to
      further assess long-term outcomes following immediate loading of implants in the
      edentulous maxilla with fixed provisional restorations without the use of bone
      augmentation procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects with edentulous
      maxillary arches each received six implants placed in native bone without
      augmentation. Where insufficient posterior bone volume existed, angled implant
      placement was employed. Fixed provisional restorations were delivered within 24
      hours of implant placement. Implant placement locations, insertion torque values,
      and implant dimensions were recorded. Definitive fixed prostheses were placed
      within 24 weeks following implantation. Baseline implant site marginal bone
      levels were measured using periapical radiographs. Baseline peri-implant plaque
      and bleeding scores were obtained. Subjects were examined 6 months after implant
      placement and then annually for 5 years with follow-up periapical radiographs and
      plaque/bleeding scores obtained. RESULTS: Fifty-one subjects received a total of
      306 implants. Forty subjects with 232 implants returned for the final follow-up
      appointment representing a 5-year implant survival proportion of 93% with a mean
      marginal bone loss of 0.44 +/- 1.25 mm for this group. Thirty-nine of these 40
      subjects continued to function with fixed restorations with the remaining subject
      functioning with a non-implant-retained removable prosthesis. CONCLUSION: Within
      the limitations of this study, predictable long-term implant rehabilitation
      outcomes were demonstrated for the edentulous maxilla using an immediate loading
      protocol without bone augmentation.

PMID- 27632275
TI  - A Pilot Study on Mandibular Overdentures Retained By Mini Dental Implants:
      Marginal Bone Level Changes and Patient-Based Ratings of Clinical Outcome.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of immediately
      loaded mini dental implants (MDIs) used to support mandibular overdentures on the
      peri-implant bone level as well as patients' related levels of satisfaction and
      quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four MDIs were placed in the
      interforaminal region of 10 completely edentulous patients, and the implants were
      loaded immediately (same day) with an overdenture. Radiographic assessment of the
      bone loss during a period of 18 months was performed by measuring the bone level
      changes at the mesial and distal aspects of each implant on panoramic
      radiographs. At the end of this period, patients' satisfaction level on the
      visual analog scale (VAS) and oral health-related quality of life was assessed by
      means of questionnaires. RESULTS: A mean bone loss of 1.04 mm on the mesial and
      distal sides was recorded during the 18-month period after loading of the
      implants. The score for general satisfaction level was 95.67 +/- 5.68. Similarly
      high VAS scores were given by the patients in all other specific items on patient
      satisfaction. The total score for the Oral Health Impact Profile-20 (OHIP-20) was
      34.07 +/- 13.90, which was comparable to that recorded in other studies.
      CONCLUSION: The short-term radiographic peri-implant bone level changes of MDIs
      immediately loaded with overdentures in the edentulous mandible were within the
      physiologic limits. The patients expressed a high level of satisfaction and oral
      health-related quality of life with this treatment modality.

PMID- 27632276
TI  - Rehabilitation of the Atrophic Posterior Maxilla Using Splinted Short Implants or
      Sinus Augmentation with Standard-Length Implants: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To retrospectively compare short implants (6 to 8 mm) (short group) to
      standard-length implants (>= 11 mm) inserted in combination with a lateral sinus
      elevation procedure (sinus group), supporting partial fixed prostheses in the
      atrophic posterior maxilla. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of 118 patients
      treated with fluoride-modified implants in the atrophic posterior maxilla between
      January 2009 and December 2011 were screened in two private practices. Two to
      four implants were placed in each patient and loaded after 5 to 6 months with
      partial fixed prostheses. Patients were followed for at least 3 years after
      implant placement. Patients were contacted and invited for clinical and
      radiologic follow-up examinations. Outcome measures were implant failures,
      complications, soft tissue parameters, and marginal bone levels. Fisher exact and
      unpaired t tests were used to compare proportions and means at the .05 level of
      significance. RESULTS: A total of 101 patients attended the examination: 53 (112
      implants) in the sinus group and 48 (109 implants) in the short group. The mean
      observation period was 47.03 +/- 7.46 months for the sinus group and 44.18 +/-
      6.42 months for the short group. Ten surgical complications occurred in nine
      patients of the sinus group versus only one complication in the short group; the
      difference was statistically significant (P = .01). Six implants failed in five
      patients of the sinus group versus two implants in two patients of the short
      group. At follow-up, mean marginal bone loss was 0.64 +/- 0.58 mm in the sinus
      group vs 0.48 +/- 0.5 mm in the short group. No significant difference was
      observed in terms of implant failures, prosthetic complications, soft tissue
      parameters, or marginal bone loss between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Within the
      limitations of this study, both techniques showed similar medium-term outcomes,
      but short implants provided advantages in terms of a reduced number of surgical
      complications.

PMID- 27632277
TI  - Effect of Nerve Growth Factor on Osseointegration of Titanium Implants in Type 2
      Diabetic Rats.
AB  - PURPOSE: Compared with the general population, a poorer quality of bone-implant
      osseointegration occurs and at a higher failure rate in patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of local
      injection of nerve growth factor at the bone-implant interface after implantation
      in type 2 diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats (n = 30)
      were used as a model of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and Wistar rats were used as a
      control (n = 15). GK rats were assigned randomly into two groups (n = 15/group):
      the diabetes mellitus group (saline only) and the nerve growth factor group
      (received nerve growth factor treatment). One titanium implant was placed in each
      rat's left tibia. Immediately postoperatively, nerve growth factor group rats
      were injected with nerve growth factor (0.4 MUg/day) intramuscularly around the
      implant, daily for 7 days. Diabetes mellitus and control group rats received
      normal saline in an identical manner. Rats were sacrificed at 2, 4, and 8 weeks
      following implant surgery. RESULTS: Traditional light and confocal laser scanning
      microscopy were used on nondecalcified sections to investigate fluorochrome
      labeling changes and histologic features of bone adjoining the implants. Bone-to
      implant contact and bone volume percentage in the diabetes mellitus group were
      significantly less than in the control and nerve growth factor groups, with no
      statistically significant differences between the control and nerve growth factor
      groups. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed a significant increase in
      marked bone around the nerve growth factor group implant at 4 weeks (P < .01) and
      8 weeks (P < .05) compared with the diabetes mellitus group. CONCLUSION: This
      study showed that local injection of nerve growth factor could improve implant
      bone osseointegration in diabetic rats and may have important clinical
      implications.

PMID- 27632278
TI  - Finite Element Analysis of Implant-Assisted Removable Partial Denture Attachment
      with Different Matrix Designs During Bilateral Loading.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different matrix
      designs on resilient attachment on an implant-assisted removable partial denture
      (IARPD) using finite element analysis (FEA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A laser
      scanner was used to extract the geometrical data of a human partially edentulous
      mandible. A 12-mm-long and 4.8-mm-diameter-wide implant was modeled, and two
      types of intradental attachment of snap fastener principle (elliptical) and
      resilient attachment (titanium) matrices were modeled along with tooth roots and
      periodontal ligaments. The modeling was performed with a combination of reverse
      engineering and solid modeling. The model incorporated a removable partial
      denture and was loaded with realistic bilateral forces. The FEA was used to
      analyze the stress and strain distributions in the IARPD and in the metal
      framework. RESULTS: Stresses and deformations in the metal framework and resin
      denture base surfaces were analyzed for the elliptical and titanium matrix
      designs. The maximum von Mises stresses were 605.85 and 614.96 MPa in the metal
      framework surface and 10.35 and 10.63 MPa in the resin denture base surface,
      respectively, for the elliptical and titanium matrix designs. The maximum
      deformations (displacements) were 418.5 and 428.3 MUm in the metal framework
      surface for the elliptical and titanium matrix designs, respectively. The
      corresponding values of displacements for the resin denture base surface were
      325.52 and 249.22 MUm for the elliptical and titanium matrix designs,
      respectively. The maximum displacements in the matrixes were, however, nearly the
      same (229.51 and 229.47 MUm) for both the elliptical and titanium matrixes.
      CONCLUSION: The titanium matrix design was a more favorable design compared with
      the elliptical design, because it had lower lateral deformation as indicated by
      the maximum displacement.

PMID- 27632279
TI  - Correlation Between Bone Density and Instantaneous Torque at Implant Site
      Preparation: A Validation on Polyurethane Foam Blocks of a Device Assessing
      Density of Jawbones.
AB  - PURPOSE: Bone density at implant placement sites is one of the key factors
      affecting implant primary stability, which is a determinant for implant
      osseointegration and rehabilitation success. Site-specific bone density
      assessment is, therefore, of paramount importance. Recently, an implant
      micromotor endowed with an instantaneous torque-measuring system has been
      introduced. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of this system.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five blocks with different densities (0.16, 0.26, 0.33,
      0.49, and 0.65 g/cm(3)) were used. A single trained operator measured the density
      of one of them (0.33 g/cm(3)), by means of five different devices (20
      measurements/device). The five resulting datasets were analyzed through the
      analysis of variance (ANOVA) model to investigate interdevice variability. As
      differences were not significant (P = .41), the five devices were each assigned
      to a different operator, who collected 20 density measurements for each block,
      both under irrigation (I) and without irrigation (NI). Measurements were pooled
      and averaged for each block, and their correlation with the actual block-density
      values was investigated using linear regression analysis. The possible effect of
      irrigation on density measurement was additionally assessed. RESULTS: Different
      devices provided reproducible, homogenous results. No significant interoperator
      variability was observed. Within the physiologic range of densities (> 0.30
      g/cm(3)), the linear regression analysis showed a significant linear correlation
      between the mean torque measurements and the actual bone densities under both
      drilling conditions (r = 0.990 [I], r = 0.999 [NI]). Calibration lines were drawn
      under both conditions. Values collected under irrigation were lower than those
      collected without irrigation at all densities. The NI/I mean torque ratio was
      shown to decrease linearly with density (r = 0.998). The mean error introduced by
      the device-operator system was less than 10% in the range of normal jawbone
      density. CONCLUSION: Measurements performed with the device were linearly
      correlated with the blocks' bone densities. The results validate the device as an
      objective intraoperative tool for bone-density assessment that may contribute to
      proper jawbone-density evaluation and implant-insertion planning.

PMID- 27632280
TI  - Influence of Palatal Coverage and Implant Distribution on Implant Strain in
      Maxillary Implant Overdentures.
AB  - PURPOSE: Maxillary implant overdentures are often used in clinical practice.
      However, there is no agreement or established guidelines regarding prosthetic
      design or optimal implant placement configuration. The purpose of this study was
      to examine the influence of palatal coverage and implant number and distribution
      in relation to impact strain under maxillary implant overdentures. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A maxillary edentulous model with implants and experimental overdentures
      with and without palatal coverage was fabricated. Four strain gauges were
      attached to each implant, and they were positioned in the anterior, premolar, and
      molar areas. A vertical occlusal load of 98 N was applied through a mandibular
      complete denture, and the implant strains were compared using one-way analysis of
      variance (P = .05). RESULTS: The palatolabial strain was much higher on anterior
      implants than on other implants in both denture types. Although there was no
      significant difference between the strain under dentures with and without palatal
      coverage, palateless dentures tended to result in higher implant strain than
      dentures with palatal coverage. Dentures supported by only two implants
      registered higher strain than those supported by four or six implants.
      CONCLUSION: Implants under palateless dentures registered higher strain than
      those under dentures with palatal coverage. Anterior implants exhibited higher
      palatolabial strain than other implants regardless of palatal coverage and
      implant configuration; it is therefore recommended that maxillary implant
      overdentures should be supported by six implants with support extending to the
      distal end of the arch.

PMID- 27632281
TI  - Optimized Multiplex Detection of 7 KRAS Mutations by Taqman Allele-Specific qPCR.
AB  - Establishing the KRAS mutational status of tumor samples is essential to manage
      patients with colorectal or lung cancer, since these mutations preclude treatment
      with monoclonal anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies. We
      report an inexpensive, rapid multiplex allele-specific qPCR method detecting the
      7 most clinically relevant KRAS somatic mutations with concomitant amplification
      of non-mutated KRAS in tumor cells and tissues from CRC patients. Positive
      samples evidenced in the multiplex assay were further subjected to individual
      allele-specific analysis, to define the specific mutation. Reference human cancer
      DNA harbouring either G12A, G12C, G12D, G12R, G12S, G12V and G13D confirmed assay
      specificity with <=1% sensitivity of mutant alleles. KRAS multiplex mutation
      analysis usefulness was also demonstrated with formalin-fixed paraffin embedded
      (FFPE) from CRC biopsies. CONCLUSION: Co-amplification of non-mutated DNA avoided
      false negatives from degraded samples. Moreover, this cost effective assay is
      compatible with mutation detection by DNA sequencing in FFPE tissues, but with a
      greater sensitivity when mutant DNA concentrations are limiting.

PMID- 27632282
TI  - Association of Minimal Residual Disease With Superior Survival Outcomes in
      Patients With Multiple Myeloma: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - Importance: Numerous studies have evaluated the prognostic value of minimal
      residual disease (MRD) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Most studies were
      small and varied in terms of patient population, treatment, and MRD assessment
      methods. Objective: To evaluate the utility of MRD detection in patients with
      newly diagnosed MM. Data Sources: A Medline search was conducted for articles
      published in English between January 1990 and January 2016. Study Selection:
      Eligible studies reported MRD status and progression-free survival (PFS) or
      overall survival (OS) in 20 or more patients following treatment. Among 405
      articles identified, 21 met the initial eligibility criteria and were included in
      the analysis. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Information on patient
      characteristics, treatment, MRD assessment, and outcomes were extracted using a
      standard form. Main Outcomes and Measures: The impact of MRD status on PFS and OS
      was assessed by pooling data from relevant trials. Data were adjusted to allow
      for different proportions of patients with MRD in different studies, and analyzed
      using the Peto method. Forest plots were created based on Cox model analysis.
      Other prespecified research questions were addressed qualitatively. Results:
      Fourteen studies (n = 1273) provided data on the impact of MRD on PFS, and 12
      studies (n = 1100) on OS. Results were reported specifically in patients who had
      achieved conventional complete response (CR) in 5 studies for PFS (n = 574) and 6
      studies for OS (n = 616). An MRD-negative status was associated with
      significantly better PFS overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.41; 95% CI, 0.36-0.48; P <
      .001) and in studies specifically looking at CR patients (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.34
      0.56; P < .001). Overall survival was also favorable in MRD-negative patients
      overall (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.46-0.71; P < .001) and in CR patients (HR, 0.47; 95%
      CI, 0.33-0.67; P < .001). Tests of heterogeneity found no significant differences
      among the studies for PFS and OS. Conclusions and Relevance: Minimal residual
      disease-negative status after treatment for newly diagnosed MM is associated with
      long-term survival. These findings provide quantitative evidence to support the
      integration of MRD assessment as an end point in clinical trials of MM.

PMID- 27632284
TI  - Synthesis of Clickable Coating Polymers by Postpolymerization Modification:
      Applications in Microarray Technology.
AB  - In this paper, we report on the postpolymerization modification (PPM) of a
      polymer to introduce new functionalities that enable click chemistry reactions
      for microarray applications. The parent polymer, named copoly(DMA-NAS-MAPS), is
      composed of N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA), a monomer that self-adsorbs onto
      different materials through weak interactions such as hydrogen bonding or van der
      Waals forces, 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MAPS) that strengthens the
      stability of the coating through the formation of covalent bonds with siloxane
      groups on the surface to be coated, and N-acryloyloxysuccinimide (NAS), an active
      ester group, highly reactive toward nucleophiles, which enables bioprobe
      immobilization. This copolymer has been widely exploited to coat surfaces for
      microarray applications but exhibits some limitations because of the potential
      hydrolysis of the active ester (NHS ester). The degradation of the NHS ester
      hampers the use of this coating in some situations, for example, when probe
      immobilization cannot be accomplished through a microspotting situation, but in
      large volumes, for example, in microchannel derivatization or micro-/nanoparticle
      functionalization. To overcome the limitations of NHS esters, we have developed a
      family of polymers that originate from the common copolymer precursor, by
      reacting the active ester contained in the polymer chain with a bifunctional
      amine. In particular, the functional groups introduced in the polymer using PPM
      enable click chemistry reactions such as azide/alkyne or thiol/maleimide "click"
      reactions, with suitably modified biomolecules. The advantages of such reactions
      are quantitative yields, orthogonality of functional groups, and insensitivity of
      the reaction to pH. The new click functionalities, inserted with quantitative
      yields, improve the stability of the coating, enabling the attachment of
      biomolecules directly from a solution and avoiding the spotting of reduced
      volumes (pL) of probes. Finally, we have demonstrated the applicability of the
      click surfaces in a highly effective solid-phase PCR for the genotyping of the
      G12D KRAS mutation.

PMID- 27632283
TI  - Iranian johnsongrass mosaic virus: the complete genome sequence, molecular and
      biological characterization, and comparison of coat protein gene sequences.
AB  - Iranian johnsongrass mosaic virus (IJMV) is one of the most prevalent viruses
      causing maize mosaic disease in Iran. An IJMV isolate, Maz-Bah, was obtained from
      the maize showing mosaic symptoms in Mazandaran, north of Iran. The complete
      genomic sequence of Maz-Bah is 9544 nucleotides, excluding the poly(A) tail. It
      contains one single open reading frame of 9165 nucleotides and encodes a large
      polyprotein of 3054 amino acids, flanked by a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of 143
      nucleotides and a 3'-UTR of 236 nucleotides. The entire genomic sequence of Maz
      Bah isolate shares identities of 84.9 and 94.2 % with the IJMV (Shz) isolate, the
      lone complete genome sequence available in the GenBank at the nucleotide (nt) and
      deduced amino acid (aa) levels, respectively. The whole genome sequences share
      identities of 51.5-69.8 and 44.9-74.3 % with those of other Sugarcane mosaic
      virus (SCMV) subgroup potyviruses at nt and aa levels, respectively. In
      phylogenetic trees based on the multiple alignments of the entire nt and aa
      sequences, IJMV isolates formed a separate sublineage of the tree with
      potyviruses infecting monocotyledons of cereals, indicating that IJMV is a member
      of SCMV subgroup of potyviruses. IJMV is most closely related to Sorghum mosaic
      virus and Maize dwarf mosaic virus and less closely related to the Johnsongrass
      mosaic virus and Cocksfoot streak virus. To further investigate the genetic
      relationship of IJMV, 9 other isolates from different hosts were cloned and
      sequenced. The identity of IJMV CP nt and aa sequences of 11 Iranian isolates
      ranged from 86.4 to 99.8 % and 90.5 to 99.7 %, respectively, indicating a high nt
      variability in CP gene. Furthermore, in the CP-based phylogenetic tree, IJMV
      isolates were clustered together with a maize potyvirus described as Zea mosaic
      virus from Israel (with 86-89 % nt identity), indicating that both isolates
      probably are the strains of the same virus.

PMID- 27632286
TI  - Characteristics Analysis of F1 Hybrids between Genetically Modified Brassica
      napus and B. rapa.
AB  - A number of studies have been conducted on hybridization between transgenic
      Brassica napus and B. rapa or backcross of F1 hybrid to their parents. However,
      trait changes must be analyzed to evaluate hybrid sustainability in nature. In
      the present study, B. rapa and transgenic (BrAGL20) B. napus were hybridized to
      verify the early flowering phenomenon of F1 hybrids, and F1 hybrid traits were
      analyzed to predict their impact on sustainability. Flowering of F1 hybrid has
      been induced slightly later than that of the transgenic B. napus, but flowering
      was available in the greenhouse without low temperature treatment to young plant,
      similar to the transgenic B. napus. It is because the BrAGL20 gene has been
      transferred from transgenic B. napus to F1 hybrid. The size of F1 hybrid seeds
      was intermediate between those of B. rapa and transgenic B. napus, and ~40% of F1
      pollen exhibited abnormal size and morphology. The form of the F1 stomata was
      also intermediate between that of B. rapa and transgenic B. napus, and the number
      of stomata was close to the parental mean. Among various fatty acids, the content
      of erucic acid exhibited the greatest change, owing to the polymorphism of
      parental FATTY ACID ELONGASE 1 alleles. Furthermore, F2 hybrids could not be
      obtained. However, BC1 progeny were obtained by hand pollination of B. rapa with
      F1 hybrid pollen, with an outcrossing rate of 50%. 

PMID- 27632287
TI  - Supporting Risk Assessment: Accounting for Indirect Risk to Ecosystem Components.
AB  - The multi-scalar complexity of social-ecological systems makes it challenging to
      quantify impacts from human activities on ecosystems, inspiring risk-based
      approaches to assessments of potential effects of human activities on valued
      ecosystem components. Risk assessments do not commonly include the risk from
      indirect effects as mediated via habitat and prey. In this case study from
      British Columbia, Canada, we illustrate how such "indirect risks" can be
      incorporated into risk assessments for seventeen ecosystem components. We ask
      whether (i) the addition of indirect risk changes the at-risk ranking of the
      seventeen ecosystem components and if (ii) risk scores correlate with trophic
      prey and habitat linkages in the food web. Even with conservative assumptions
      about the transfer of impacts or risks from prey species and habitats, the
      addition of indirect risks in the cumulative risk score changes the ranking of
      priorities for management. In particular, resident orca, Steller sea lion, and
      Pacific herring all increase in relative risk, more closely aligning these
      species with their "at-risk status" designations. Risk assessments are not a
      replacement for impact assessments, but-by considering the potential for indirect
      risks as we demonstrate here-they offer a crucial complementary perspective for
      the management of ecosystems and the organisms within. 

PMID- 27632285
TI  - Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Wheat Seeds during Artificial Ageing and
      Priming Using the Isobaric Tandem Mass Tag Labeling.
AB  - Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important crop worldwide. The physiological
      deterioration of seeds during storage and seed priming is closely associated with
      germination, and thus contributes to plant growth and subsequent grain yields. In
      this study, wheat seeds during different stages of artificial ageing (45 degrees
      C; 50% relative humidity; 98%, 50%, 20%, and 1% Germination rates) and priming
      (hydro-priming treatment) were subjected to proteomics analysis through a
      proteomic approach based on the isobaric tandem mass tag labeling. A total of 162
      differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) mainly involved in metabolism, energy
      supply, and defense/stress responses, were identified during artificial ageing
      and thus validated previous physiological and biochemical studies. These DEPs
      indicated that the inability to protect against ageing leads to the incremental
      decomposition of the stored substance, impairment of metabolism and energy
      supply, and ultimately resulted in seed deterioration. Kyoto Encyclopedia of
      Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that the up-regulated proteins
      involved in seed ageing were mainly enriched in ribosome, whereas the down
      regulated proteins were mainly accumulated in energy supply (starch and sucrose
      metabolism) and stress defense (ascorbate and aldarate metabolism). Proteins,
      including hemoglobin 1, oleosin, agglutinin, and non-specific lipid-transfer
      proteins, were first identified in aged seeds and might be regarded as new
      markers of seed deterioration. Of the identified proteins, 531 DEPs were
      recognized during seed priming compared with unprimed seeds. In contrast to the
      up-regulated DEPs in seed ageing, several up-regulated DEPs in priming were
      involved in energy supply (tricarboxylic acid cycle, glycolysis, and fatty acid
      oxidation), anabolism (amino acids, and fatty acid synthesis), and cell
      growth/division. KEGG and protein-protein interaction analysis indicated that the
      up-regulated proteins in seed priming were mainly enriched in amino acid
      synthesis, stress defense (plant-pathogen interactions, and ascorbate and
      aldarate metabolism), and energy supply (oxidative phosphorylation and carbon
      metabolism). Therefore, DEPs associated with seed ageing and priming can be used
      to characterize seed vigor and optimize germination enhancement treatments. This
      work reveals new proteomic insights into protein changes that occur during seed
      deterioration and priming. 

PMID- 27632288
TI  - The relationship between time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival
      in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is known that adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in women
      with breast cancer. It is not known whether the interval between surgery and the
      initiation of chemotherapy influences its effectiveness. PURPOSE: To determine
      the relationship between time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival
      in women with breast cancer, through a systematic review of the literature and
      meta-analysis. METHODS: Systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Database
      of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials, Google Scholar,
      and abstracts presented at major international oncology conferences. The primary
      meta-analysis included only high-validity studies which directly measured the
      time from surgery to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy and which controlled for
      major prognostic factors. Outcomes reported in the original studies were
      converted to a regression coefficient (beta) and standard error corresponding to
      a 4-week delay in the initiation of chemotherapy. These relative risks were
      combined in both fixed- and random-effects models. Homogeneity was assessed by
      the Cochran chi 2 statistic and the I 2 statistic. Potential publication bias was
      investigated using standard error-based funnel plots. RESULTS: Meta-analysis of 8
      high-validity studies demonstrated that a 4-week increase in TTAC was associated
      with a significant increase in the risk of death in both the fixed-effects model
      (RR 1.04; 95 % CI, 1.01-1.08) and random-effects model (RR 1.08; 95 % CI, 1.01
      1.15). The association remained significant when the most highly weighted studies
      were sequentially removed from this analysis, and also when additional, lower
      validity studies were included in this analysis. Funnel plots showed no
      significant asymmetry to suggest publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: Increased waiting
      time from surgery to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with a
      significant decrease in survival. Avoidance of unnecessary delays in the
      initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy has the potential to save the lives of many
      women with breast cancer.

PMID- 27632289
TI  - Use of a multiplexed immunoassay (PRO Onc assay) to detect HER2 abnormalities in
      circulating tumor cells of women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer:
      lack of response to HER2-targeted therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Determination of HER2 status by testing circulating tumor cells (CTCs),
      compared to sampling tumor biopsies, may improve patient management by allowing
      ongoing assessment of HER2 status during the disease course. The PRO Onc assay
      (Prometheus Laboratories; San Diego, CA) is a multiplexed immunoassay that
      measures the expression and activation of HER2 in CTCs. In this study, we
      screened patients with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer with the PRO Onc
      assay; patients with HER2 overexpression or activation received a trial of HER2
      targeted therapy. METHODS: In Part 1 of the trial, patients with HER2-negative
      breast cancer were screened with the PRO Onc assay to confirm the presence of a
      cohort that tested HER2-positive. After this finding was confirmed, patients in
      Part 2 of the study with HER2 abnormalities received a trial of treatment with
      trastuzumab/pertuzumab. RESULTS: In Part 1, 31 of 57 specimens contained CTCs; of
      these, 12 (38 %) showed HER2 abnormalities by PRO Onc assay. In Part 2, 129 of
      226 patients (57 %) had CTCs; 24 of these patients (19 %) had HER2 abnormalities
      detected. Fourteen patients were treated with HER2-targeted therapy. Twelve of 14
      patients progressed within 6 weeks, one patient had a brief (12 weeks) partial
      response, and one patient was stable for 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: HER2
      overexpression or activation was detected by the PRO Onc assay in 22 % of HER2
      negative patients with CTCs. However, HER2-targeted therapy was not effective in
      such patients. FISH and IHC staining remain the standards for HER2 determination.

PMID- 27632340
TI  - Early detection of hearing impairment in patients with diabetes mellitus with
      otoacoustic emission. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - CONCLUSIONS: The distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) amplitudes in
      diabetics were significantly lower than those in controls when pure tone
      audiometry (PTA) was within normal limits, implying cochlear function impairment
      in the early stage of diabetes mellitus. Retrocochlear damage was suggested by
      elongated wave latencies and the wave interval of auditory brainstem response
      (ABR) in diabetics. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to systematically analyze the
      application of DPOAE in evaluation of the hearing function of diabetics. DATA
      SOURCES AND REVIEW METHODS: Eligible articles were identified through searches of
      nine different electronic databases. Two investigators reviewed the original
      articles independently, with pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta
      analyses were conducted by using Metan module. RESULTS: There were seven articles
      eligible for the analysis. PTA thresholds were within normal limits in all
      diabetics at low-middle frequencies. The mean DPOAE amplitudes of diabetics were
      significantly lower than those of controls. The standardized mean difference
      (SMD) (95% CI) was -0.49 (-0.70, -0.27), -0.46 (-0.63, -0.30), and -0.60 (-0.77, 
      0.43) at 1, 2, and 4 kHz, respectively. The latencies of waves I, III, and V in
      diabetes were significantly longer than those of controls (0.43 (0.23, 0.64),
      0.54 (0.33, 0.75), and 0.56 (0.35, 0.77), respectively). The wave interval I-V
      was significantly longer in diabetics (p < .001, 0.47 [0.24, 0.70]).

PMID- 27632343
TI  - Identification of major factors in Australian primary care pharmacists' practice
      environment that have a bearing on the implementation of professional models of
      practice.
AB  - Objective The aim of the present study was to describe an environmental framework
      for pharmacists in primary care in Australia and determine the major factors
      within that environment that have the greatest bearing on their capacity to
      implement patient-focused models of professional practice. Methods A draft
      framework for pharmacists' practice was developed by allocating structures,
      systems and related factors known to the researchers or identified from the
      literature as existing within pharmacists' internal, operational and external
      environments to one of five domains: Social, Technological, Economic,
      Environmental or Political [STEEP]. Focus groups of pharmacists used an adapted
      nominal group technique to assess the draft and add factors where necessary.
      Where applicable, factors were consolidated into groups to establish a revised
      framework. The three major factors or groups in each domain were identified. The
      results were compared with the enabling factors described in the profession's
      vision statement. Results Seventy-eight individual factors were ultimately
      identified, with 86% able to be grouped. The three dominant groups in each of the
      five domains that had a bearing on the implementation of professional models of
      practice were as follows: (1) Social: the education of pharmacists, their beliefs
      and the capacity of the pharmacist workforce; (2) Technological: current and
      future practice models, technology and workplace structures; (3) Economic:
      funding of services, the viability of practice and operation of the
      Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; (4) Environmental: attitudes and expectations of
      stakeholders, including consumers, health system reform and external competition;
      and (5) Political: regulation of practice, representation of the profession and
      policies affecting practice. Conclusions The three dominant groups of factors in
      each of the five STEEP environmental domains, which have a bearing on
      pharmacists' capacity to implement patient-focused models of practice, correlate
      well with the enabling factors identified in the profession's vision statement,
      with the addition of three factors in the Environmental domain of stakeholder
      attitudes, health system reform and external competition. What is known about the
      topic? The extensive range of patient-focused professional programs developed for
      application by pharmacists in primary care in Australia has yet to be widely
      implemented. What does this paper add? Factors both within and beyond the
      pharmacists' immediate practice environment that have a bearing on the uptake of
      professional programs have been identified and prioritised using a structured
      thematic approach. What are the implications for practitioners? The results
      demonstrate the need for a multifactorial approach to the implementation of
      professional models of practice in this setting.

PMID- 27632341
TI  - Reduction of cardiac and coronary artery doses in irradiation of left-sided
      breast cancer during inspiration breath hold : A planning study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The radiation dose received by the heart during adjuvant
      left-sided breast irradiation plays a crucial role in development of late
      toxicity. Although the absolute risk of cardiotoxicity can be reduced with modern
      irradiation techniques, cardiotoxic chemotherapy increases the risk of late
      damage. Thus, the radiation dose to the heart should be minimized. This study
      evaluated the influence of different amplitudes of inspiration breath hold (IBH)
      during simulated left-sided breast irradiation on cardiac doses compared to free
      breathing (FB). PATIENTS AND METHODS: CT data of 11 lung cancer patients were
      retrospectively used as left-sided pseudo-breast cancer cases. Two CT scans were
      used, one during IBH and one during FB, and two treatment plans were generated.
      Relevant heart, lung, and left anterior descending artery (LAD) parameters were
      derived from dose-volume histograms. The normal tissue complication probabilities
      (NTCPs) for the heart were calculated based on the relative seriality model.
      Inspiration depth was quantified using chest volume and diameter, and correlated
      thereafter to a possible sparing of heart tissue. RESULTS: Mean reduction of
      heart dose for IBH compared to FB was 40 % (1.65 vs. 0.99 Gy; p = 0.007). Maximum
      dose to the heart and LAD could be decreased by 33 % (p = 0.011) and 43 % (p =
      0.024), respectively. The mean anteroposterior shift was 5 mm (range 0.9-9.5 mm).
      Significant negative correlations between the relative change in LAD mean dose
      and the mean thoracic diameter and volume change, as well as with the absolute
      change in thoracic diameter were seen. The NTCP for cardiac mortality could be
      decreased by about 78 % (p = 0.017). CONCLUSION: For left-sided breast cancer
      patients, cardiac doses can be significantly decreased with tangential
      irradiation and IBH.

PMID- 27632342
TI  - Hydrogel injection reduces rectal toxicity after radiotherapy for localized
      prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Injection of a hydrogel spacer before prostate cancer radiotherapy (RT)
      is known to reduce the dose to the rectal wall. Clinical results from the
      patient's perspective are needed to better assess a possible benefit. METHODS: A
      group of 167 consecutive patients who received prostate RT during the years 2010
      to 2013 with 2-Gy fractions up to 76 Gy (without hydrogel, n = 66) or 76-80 Gy
      (with hydrogel, n = 101) were included. The numbers of interventions resulting
      from bowel problems during the first 2 years after RT were compared. Patients
      were surveyed prospectively before RT, at the last day of RT, and at a median of
      2 and 17 months after RT using a validated questionnaire (Expanded Prostate
      Cancer Index Composite). RESULTS: Baseline patient characteristics were well
      balanced. Treatment for bowel symptoms (0 vs. 11 %; p < 0.01) and endoscopic
      examinations (3 vs. 19 %; p < 0.01) were performed less frequently with a spacer.
      Mean bowel function scores did not change for patients with a spacer in contrast
      to patients without a spacer (mean decrease of 5 points) >1 year after RT in
      comparison to baseline, with 0 vs. 12 % reporting a new moderate/big problem with
      passing stools (p < 0.01). Statistically significant differences were found for
      the items "loose stools", "bloody stools", "painful bowel movements" and
      "frequency of bowel movements". CONCLUSION: Spacer injection is associated with a
      significant benefit for patients after prostate cancer RT.

PMID- 27632345
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27632346
TI  - Vapor Pressures of Anesthetic Agents at Temperatures Below 0 degrees C and a
      Novel Anesthetic Delivery Device.
AB  - At room temperature, the vapor pressures of desflurane, isoflurane, and
      sevoflurane are well above the clinically useful range. We hypothesized that
      therapeutic concentrations of these agents could be achieved at temperatures
      below 0 degrees C, but the vapor pressure-temperature relationship is unknown
      below 0. Second, we hypothesized that this relationship could be exploited to
      deliver therapeutic-range concentrations of anesthetic vapor. We therefore set
      out to determine the low temperature-vapor pressure relationships of each
      anesthetic agent, thereby identifying the saturated vapor concentration of each
      agent at any temperature below 0 degrees C. To test our hypothesis, we measured
      the saturated vapor concentration at 1 atm of pressure for temperatures between 
      60 and 0 degrees C, thus developing an empiric relationship for each agent. There
      was consistency in repeated experiments for all 3 agents. To test the empiric
      data, we constructed a digitally controlled thermoelectric anesthetic vaporizer,
      characterized the device, and used it to deliver anesthetic vapor to laboratory
      mice. We report, for the first time, the temperature-vapor pressure relationship
      at temperatures below 0 degrees C for desflurane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane as
      well as the TMAC of these agents: the temperature at which the vapor pressure is
      equal to the minimum alveolar concentration. We describe the construction and
      limited validation of an anesthetic vaporizer prototype on the basis of this
      principle. We conclude that clinically relevant concentrations of volatile
      anesthetics may be achieved at low temperatures.

PMID- 27632344
TI  - Novel 99mTc(III)-azide complexes [99mTc(N3)(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R]
      (CDOH2=cyclohexanedione dioxime) as potential radiotracers for heart imaging.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this study, novel 99mTc(III)-azide complexes
      [99mTc(N3)(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R] (99mTc-ISboroxime-N3: R=IS; 99mTc-MPboroxime-N3: R=MP;
      99mTc-PAboroxime-N3: R=PA; 99mTc-PYboroxime-N3: R=PY; and 99mTc-Uboroxime-N3:
      R=5U) were evaluated as heart imaging agents. METHODS: Complexes
      [99mTc(N3)(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R] (R=IS, MP, PA, PY and 5U) were prepared by ligand
      exchange between NaN3 and [99mTcCl(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R]. Biodistribution and imaging
      studies were carried out in Sprague-Dawley rats. Image quantification was
      performed to compare their initial heart uptake and myocardial retention.
      RESULTS: 99mTc-ISboroxime-N3, 99mTc-PYboroxime-N3 and 99mTc-Uboroxime-N3 were
      prepared with high RCP (93-98%) while the RCP of 99mTc-MPboroxime-N3 and 99mTc
      PAboroxime-N3 was 80-85%. The myocardial retention curves of 99mTc-ISboroxime-N3,
      99mTc-PYboroxime-N3 and 99mTc-Uboroxime-N3 were best fitted to the bi-exponential
      decay function. The half-time of the fast component was 1.6+/-0.4min for 99mTc
      ISboroxime-N3, 0.7+/-0.1min for 99mTc-PYboroxime-N3 and 0.9+/-0.4min for 99mTc
      Uboroxime-N3. The 2-min heart uptake from biodistribution studies followed the
      ranking order of 99mTc-ISboroxime-N3 (3.60+/-0.68%ID/g)>99mTc-PYboroxime-N3
      (2.35+/-0.37%ID/g)?99mTc-Uboroxime-N3 (1.29+/-0.06%ID/g). 99mTc-ISboroxime-N3 had
      the highest 2-min heart uptake among 99mTc radiotracers revaluated in SD rats.
      High quality SPECT images were obtained with the right and left ventricular walls
      being clearly delineated. The best image acquisition window was 0-5min for 99mTc
      ISboroxime-N3. CONCLUSION: Both azide coligand and boronate caps had significant
      impact on the heart uptake and myocardial retention of complexes
      [99mTc(N3)(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R]. Among the radiotracers evaluated in SD rats, 99mTc
      ISboroxime-N3 has the highest initial heart uptake with the heart retention
      comparable to that of 99mTc-Teboroxime. 99mTc-ISboroxime-N3 is a promising
      alternative to 99mTc-Teboroxime for SPECT MPI.

PMID- 27632347
TI  - ADRB2 gly16gly Genotype, Cardiac Output, and Cerebral Oxygenation in Patients
      Undergoing Anesthesia for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gly16arg polymorphism of the adrenergic beta2-receptor is associated
      with the elevated cardiac output (Q) in healthy gly16-homozygotic subjects. We
      questioned whether this polymorphism also affects Q and regional cerebral oxygen
      saturation (SCO2) during anesthesia in vascular surgical patients. METHODS: One
      hundred sixty-eight patients (age 71 +/- 6 years) admitted for elective surgery
      were included. Cardiovascular variables were determined before and during
      anesthesia by intravascular pulse contour analysis (Nexfin) and SCO2 by cerebral
      oximetry (INVOS 5100C). Genotyping was performed with the TaqMan assay. RESULTS:
      Before anesthesia, Q and SCO2 were 4.7 +/- 1.2 L/min and 66% +/- 8%,
      respectively, and linearly correlated (r = 0.35, P < .0001). In patients with the
      gly16gly genotype baseline, Q was approximately 0.4 L/min greater than in arg16
      carriers (CI95: 0.0-0.8, Pt test = .03), but during anesthesia, the difference
      was 0.3 L/min (Pmixed-model = .07). Post hoc analysis revealed the change in SCO2
      from baseline to the induction of anesthesia to be on average 2% greater in
      gly16gly homozygotes than in arg16 patients when adjusted for the change in Q (P
      = .03; CI95: 0.2-4.0%). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the beta2
      adrenoceptor gly16gly genotype is associated with the elevated resting Q. An
      interesting trend to greater frontal lobe oxygenation at induction of anesthesia
      in patients with gly16gly genotype was found, but because of insufficient sample
      size and lack of PCO2 control throughout the measurements, the presented data may
      only serve as the hypothesis generating for future studies. The confidence limits
      indicate that the magnitude of the effects may range from clinically
      insignificant to potentially important.

PMID- 27632350
TI  - Early maternal depressive symptom trajectories: Associations with 7-year maternal
      depressive symptoms and child behavior.
AB  - This study examines potential mechanisms linking maternal depressive symptoms
      over 2 years postpartum with child behavior problems at school-age in a sample of
      adolescent mothers and their first-born child. Potential mechanisms include:
      mother-reported caregiving engagement at 6 months; observed parental nurturance
      and control, and child competence and affect at 24 months; and mother-reported
      resilience at 7 years based on achievement of adult developmental tasks. One
      hundred eighteen low-income African American adolescent mothers were recruited at
      delivery and followed through child age 7 years. Maternal depressive symptom
      trajectories over 24 months were estimated (low, medium, and high) based on
      mother-reported depressive symptoms. Direct and indirect associations between
      depressive symptom trajectories with 7-year maternal depressive symptoms and
      child behavior problems were examined. The high maternal depressive symptom
      trajectory was associated with 7-year maternal depressive symptoms (b = 5.52, SE
      = 1.65, p < .01) and child internalizing problems (b = 7.60, SE = 3.12, p = .02)
      and externalizing problems (b = 6.23, SE = 3.22, p = .05). Caregiving engagement
      among high depressive symptom trajectory mothers was significantly associated
      with observed child affect (b = -0.21, SE = 0.11, p = 0.05). Parental nurturance
      in toddlerhood mediated the association between high maternal depressive symptom
      trajectory and child internalizing problems at 7 years (indirect effect b = 2.33,
      95% CI: 0.32-5.88). Findings suggest that family based interventions to promote
      parenting and adolescent resiliency strengthening may be beneficial in this
      population. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632349
TI  - The Effects of Electroacupuncture on the Apelin/APJ System in the Spinal Cord of
      Rats With Inflammatory Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electroacupuncture (EA) is widely applied for pain management, but
      the analgesic effects of EA have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we
      investigated the effect of EA on inflammatory pain caused by intraplantar
      injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and apelin/APJ expression in the
      spinal cord of rats. METHODS: The study was conducted in 3 parts. In part 1,
      Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups (n = 10): sham, CFA, EA (CFA + 2
      Hz EA at acupoints), and NA-EA (CFA + acupuncture without electrical
      stimulation). The time courses of mechanical and thermal sensitivity were
      determined. The protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of apelin and APJ in the
      spinal cord were assayed by Western blotting and real-time polymerase chain
      reaction, respectively. In part 2, the rats were divided into 5 groups (n = 7-8):
      sham, CFA, EA, F13A (CFA + intrathecal injection of F13A), and EA-F13A (CFA + EA
      + intrathecal injection of F13A). In part 3, the rats were divided into 5 groups
      (n = 8): sham, CFA, EA, apelin-13 (CFA + intrathecal injection of apelin-13), and
      EA + apelin-13 (CFA + EA + intrathecal injection of apelin-13). RESULTS: EA
      treatment exhibited significant antinociceptive effects (mechanical sensitivity:
      mean difference [99% confidence interval {CI}]: 5.86 [4.96-6.77]; thermal
      sensitivity: mean difference [99% CI]: 2.45 [0.91-4.00]; EA versus CFA) and
      mitigated the CFA-induced reduction of apelin and APJ protein and mRNA expression
      in the spinal cord. Furthermore, intrathecal injection of the apelin/APJ system
      antagonist F13A blocked the analgesic effect of EA (mechanical sensitivity: mean
      difference [99% CI]: 8.99 [5.81-12.17]; thermal sensitivity: mean difference [99%
      CI]: 4.22 [1.33-7.12]; EA versus EA-F13A). When EA was combined with apelin-13
      through intrathecal administration, it was more potent in reducing mechanical
      allodynia (mean difference [99% CI]: 5.98 [2.38-9.57], EA + apelin-13 versus
      apelin-13; mean difference [99% CI]: 4.29 [0.72-7.87], EA + apelin-13 versus EA)
      and thermal hyperalgesia (mean difference [99% CI]: 5.23 [2.19-8.28], EA + apelin
      13 versus apelin-13; mean difference [99% CI]: 6.43 [3.38-9.48], EA + apelin-13
      versus EA). CONCLUSIONS: EA stimulation could alleviate inflammatory pain, at
      least in part, by restoring apelin and APJ mRNA and protein expression levels,
      which are downregulated in the CFA pain model.

PMID- 27632351
TI  - Parenting self-efficacy moderates linkage between partner relationship
      dissatisfaction and avoidant infant-mother attachment: A Dutch study.
AB  - The early infant-mother attachment relationship is part of a network of close
      relationships in which the relationship between parents is especially relevant.
      Evidence for linkages between maternal satisfaction with the partner relationship
      and infant-mother attachment is equivocal. The current study tested whether
      associations between partner relationship dissatisfaction and infant-mother
      attachment quality might be conditional on mothers' parenting self-efficacy. The
      bivariate effect of partner relationship dissatisfaction on infant-mother
      attachment as well as moderation of this effect by parenting self-efficacy was
      tested in a sample of 260 infant-mother dyads 1 year after birth. There was no
      direct effect of partner dissatisfaction on attachment. Unexpectedly, for high
      parenting self-efficacy, greater partner dissatisfaction increased the odds of an
      avoidant infant attachment (compared with a disorganized) whereas, for low
      parenting self-efficacy, greater partner dissatisfaction decreased the odds of an
      avoidant infant attachment (compared with secure and disorganized). Findings
      underline the importance of parenting cognitions for understanding contextual
      factors of infant-mother attachment quality. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632352
TI  - Plasmon-enhanced Kerr nonlinearity via subwavelength-confined anisotropic Purcell
      factors.
AB  - We theoretically investigate the enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity through
      anisotropic Purcell factors provided by plasmon nanostructures. In a three-level
      atomic system with crossing damping, larger anisotropism of Purcell factors leads
      to more enhanced Kerr nonlinearity in electromagnetically induced transparency
      windows. While for fixed anisotropic Purcell factors, Kerr nonlinearity with
      orthogonal dipole moments increases with the decrease of its crossing damping,
      and Kerr nonlinearity with nonorthogonal dipole moments is very sensitive to both
      the value of crossing damping and the orientation of the dipole moments. We
      design the non-resonant gold nanorods array, which only provides subwavelength
      confined anisotropic Purcell factors, and demonstrate that the Kerr nonlinearity
      of cesium atoms close to the nanorods array can be modulated at the nanoscale.
      These findings should have potential application in ultracompact quantum logic
      devices. 

PMID- 27632353
TI  - Prevalence and Identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Near-Neighbor
      Species in the Malabar Coastal Region of India.
AB  - Accurate identification of pathogens with biowarfare importance requires
      detection tools that specifically differentiate them from near-neighbor species.
      Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of a fatal disease melioidosis, is
      one such biothreat agent whose differentiation from its near-neighbor species is
      always a challenge. This is because of its phenotypic similarity with other
      Burkholderia species which have a wide spread geographical distribution with
      shared environmental niches. Melioidosis is a major public health concern in
      endemic regions including Southeast Asia and northern Australia. In India, the
      disease is still considered to be emerging. Prevalence surveys of this
      saprophytic bacterium in environment are under-reported in the country. A major
      challenge in this case is the specific identification and differentiation of B.
      pseudomallei from the growing list of species of Burkholderia genus. The
      objectives of this study included examining the prevalence of B. pseudomallei and
      near-neighbor species in coastal region of South India and development of a novel
      detection tool for specific identification and differentiation of Burkholderia
      species. Briefly, we analyzed soil and water samples collected from Malabar
      coastal region of Kerala, South India for prevalence of B. pseudomallei. The
      presumptive Burkholderia isolates were identified using recA PCR assay. The recA
      PCR assay identified 22 of the total 40 presumptive isolates as Burkholderia
      strains (22.72% and 77.27% B. pseudomallei and non-pseudomallei Burkholderia
      respectively). In order to identify each isolate screened, we performed recA and
      16S rDNA sequencing. This two genes sequencing revealed that the presumptive
      isolates included B. pseudomallei, non-pseudomallei Burkholderia as well as non
      Burkholderia strains. Furthermore, a gene termed D-beta hydroxybutyrate
      dehydrogenase (bdha) was studied both in silico and in vitro for accurate
      detection of Burkholderia genus. The optimized bdha based PCR assay when
      evaluated on the Burkholderia isolates of this study, it was found to be highly
      specific (100%) in its detection feature and a clear detection sensitivity of 10
      pg/MUl of purified gDNA was recorded. Nucleotide sequence variations of bdha
      among interspecies, as per in silico analysis, ranged from 8 to 29% within the
      target stretch of 730 bp highlighting the potential utility of bdha sequencing
      method in specific detection of Burkholderia species. Further, sequencing of the
      730 bp bdha PCR amplicon of each Burkholderia strain isolated could differentiate
      the species and the data was comparable with recA sequence data of the strains.
      All sequencing results obtained were submitted to NCBI database. Bayesian
      phylogenetic analysis of bdha in comparison with recA and 16S rDNA showed that
      the bdha gene provided comparable identification of Burkholderia species.

PMID- 27632356
TI  - Recent advances in targeting mTOR signaling pathway using small molecule
      inhibitors.
AB  - Targeted-based cancer therapy (TBCT) or personalized medicine is one of the main
      treatment modalities for cancer that has been developed to decrease the
      undesirable effects of chemotherapy. Targeted therapy inhibits the growth of
      tumor cells by interrupting with particular molecules required for tumorigenesis
      and proliferation of tumor cells rather than interfering with dividing normal
      cells. Therefore, targeted therapies are anticipated to be more efficient than
      former tumor treatment agents with minimal side effects on non-tumor cells. Small
      molecule inhibitors (SMIs) are currently one of the most investigated anti-tumor
      agents of TBCT. These small organic agents target several vital molecules
      involved in cell biological processes and induce target cells apoptosis and
      necrosis. Mechanistic (mammalian) target of rapamycin (mTOR) complexes (mTORC1/2)
      control different intracellular processes, including growth, proliferation,
      angiogenesis and metabolism. Signaling pathways, in which mTOR complexes are
      involved in are usually dysregulated in various tumors and have been shown to be
      ideal targets for SMIs. Currently, different mTOR-SMIs are in the clinic for the
      treatment of cancer patients, and several others are in preclinical or clinical
      settings. In this review, we summarize recent advances in developing different
      mTOR inhibitors, which are currently in preclinical and clinical investigations
      or have been approved for cancer treatment.

PMID- 27632355
TI  - Antibiotic Treatment for First Episode of Acute Otitis Media Is Not Associated
      with Future Recurrences.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) has been suggested to
      increase the risk of future AOM episodes by causing unfavorable shifts in
      microbial flora. Because current evidence on this topic is inconclusive and long
      term follow-up data are scarce, we wanted to estimate the effect of antibiotic
      treatment for a first AOM episode occurring during infancy on AOM recurrences and
      AOM-related health care utilization later in life. METHODS: We obtained
      demographic information and risk factors from data of the Wheezing Illnesses
      Study Leidsche Rijn, a prospective birth cohort study in which all healthy
      newborns born in Leidsche Rijn (between 2001 and 2012), The Netherlands, were
      enrolled. These data were linked to children's primary care electronic health
      records up to the age of four. Children with at least one family physician
      diagnosed AOM episode before the age of two were included in analyses. The
      exposure of interest was the prescription of oral antibiotics (yes vs no) for a
      child's first AOM episode before the age of two years. RESULTS: 848 children were
      included in analyses and 512 (60%) children were prescribed antibiotics for their
      first AOM episode. Antibiotic treatment was not associated with an increased risk
      of total AOM recurrences (adjusted rate ratio: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.78-1.13),
      recurrent AOM (>=3 episodes in 6 months or >=4 in one year; adjusted risk ratio:
      0.79, 95% CI: 0.57-1.11), or with increased AOM-related health care utilization
      during children's first four years of life. CONCLUSIONS: Oral antibiotic
      treatment of a first AOM episode occurring during infancy does not affect the
      number of AOM recurrences and AOM-related health care utilization later in life.
      This information can be used when weighing the pros and cons of various AOM
      treatment options.

PMID- 27632357
TI  - Association Between User-Generated Commuting Data and Population-Representative
      Active Commuting Surveillance Data - Four Cities, 2014-2015.
AB  - Creating environments that support all types of physical activity, including
      active transportation, is a public health priority (1). Public health
      surveillance that identifies the locations where community members walk and
      bicycle (i.e., engage in active transportation) can inform such efforts.
      Traditional population-representative active transportation surveillance incurs a
      considerable time lag between data collection and dissemination, and often lacks
      geographic specificity (2). Conversely, user-generated active transportation data
      from Global Positioning System (GPS)-based activity tracking devices and mobile
      applications can provide near real-time information, but might be subject to self
      selection bias among users. CDC analyzed the association between GPS-based
      commuting data from a company that allows tracking of activity with a mobile
      application (Strava, Inc., San Francisco, California) and population
      representative commuting data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community
      Survey (ACS) (3) for four U.S. cities. The level of analysis was the Census block
      group. The number of GPS-tracked commuters in Strava was associated with the
      number of ACS active commuters (Spearman's rho = 0.60), suggesting block groups
      were ranked similarly based on these distinct but related measurements. The
      correlation was higher in high population density areas. User-generated active
      transportation data might complement traditional surveillance systems by
      providing near real-time, location-specific information on where active
      transportation occurs. 

PMID- 27632358
TI  - Coupling of Coexisting Noncollinear Spin States in the Fe Monolayer on Re(0001).
AB  - Spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy is used to investigate the magnetic
      state of the Fe monolayer on Re(0001). Two coexisting atomic-scale noncollinear
      spin textures are observed with a sharp transition between them on the order of
      the atomic lattice spacing. A position correlation between the two spin states is
      observed both in experiments and in Monte Carlo simulations, demonstrating their
      coupling behavior.

PMID- 27632354
TI  - DNA methylation changes measured in pre-diagnostic peripheral blood samples are
      associated with smoking and lung cancer risk.
AB  - DNA methylation changes are associated with cigarette smoking. We used the
      Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 array to determine whether methylation in
      DNA from pre-diagnostic, peripheral blood samples is associated with lung cancer
      risk. We used a case-control study nested within the EPIC-Italy cohort and a
      study within the MCCS cohort as discovery sets (a total of 552 case-control
      pairs). We validated the top signals in 429 case-control pairs from another 3
      studies. We identified six CpGs for which hypomethylation was associated with
      lung cancer risk: cg05575921 in the AHRR gene (p-valuepooled  = 4 * 10-17 ),
      cg03636183 in the F2RL3 gene (p-valuepooled  = 2 * 10 - 13 ), cg21566642 and
      cg05951221 in 2q37.1 (p-valuepooled  = 7 * 10-16 and 1 * 10-11 respectively),
      cg06126421 in 6p21.33 (p-valuepooled  = 2 * 10-15 ) and cg23387569 in 12q14.1 (p
      valuepooled  = 5 * 10-7 ). For cg05951221 and cg23387569 the strength of
      association was virtually identical in never and current smokers. For all these
      CpGs except for cg23387569, the methylation levels were different across smoking
      categories in controls (p-valuesheterogeneity  <= 1.8 x10 - 7 ), were lowest for
      current smokers and increased with time since quitting for former smokers. We
      observed a gain in discrimination between cases and controls measured by the area
      under the ROC curve of at least 8% (p-values >= 0.003) in former smokers by
      adding methylation at the 6 CpGs into risk prediction models including smoking
      status and number of pack-years. Our findings provide convincing evidence that
      smoking and possibly other factors lead to DNA methylation changes measurable in
      peripheral blood that may improve prediction of lung cancer risk.

PMID- 27632359
TI  - Risky substance use and peer pressure in Swiss young men: Test of moderation
      effects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peer pressure (PP) toward misconduct is a well-known risk factor for
      substance use. However, the way it interacts with social factors and the
      associations of the aspects of PP other than PP toward misconduct have been
      understudied. This study examined the associations of three aspects of PP with
      risky substance use and tested whether the associations of PP toward misconduct
      were moderated by social factors. METHOD: A representative sample of 5,680 young
      Swiss males completed a questionnaire assessing risky alcohol, cigarette, and
      cannabis use, PP toward misconduct, toward peer involvement, and toward peer
      conformity, as well as social support (SS) and neighbourhood cohesion.
      Multinomial logistic regression models were used. RESULTS: PP toward misconduct
      was positively associated with all substance use outcomes. The PP toward
      misconduct-risky alcohol use association was stronger in individuals reporting
      high than in those reporting low levels of PP toward peer involvement, SS, and
      neighbourhood cohesion. The PP toward misconduct-risky cannabis use association
      was stronger in individuals reporting high than in those reporting low levels of
      SS and neighbourhood cohesion. The PP toward misconduct-smoking association was
      stronger in individuals reporting high than in those reporting low levels of PP
      toward peer involvement. CONCLUSIONS: The risk for substance use associated with
      PP toward misconduct varies as a function of social factors. Being well connected
      with others (high level of PP toward peer involvement and SS), and living in a
      cohesive neighbourhood may amplify the risk for risky substance use associated
      with PP toward misconduct.

PMID- 27632360
TI  - Effectiveness of Telephone-Based Health Coaching for Patients with Chronic
      Conditions: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases, like diabetes mellitus, heart disease and cancer
      are leading causes of death and disability. These conditions are at least
      partially preventable or modifiable, e.g. by enhancing patients' self-management.
      We aimed to examine the effectiveness of telephone-based health coaching (TBHC)
      in chronically ill patients. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This prospective, pragmatic
      randomized controlled trial compares an intervention group (IG) of participants
      in TBHC to a control group (CG) without TBHC. Endpoints were assessed two years
      after enrolment. Three different groups of insurees with 1) multiple conditions
      (chronic campaign), 2) heart failure (heart failure campaign), or 3) chronic
      mental illness conditions (mental health campaign) were targeted. The telephone
      coaching included evidence-based information and was based on the concepts of
      motivational interviewing, shared decision-making, and collaborative goal
      setting. Patients received an average of 12.9 calls. Primary outcome was time
      from enrolment until hospital readmission within a two-year follow-up period.
      Secondary outcomes comprised the probability of hospital readmission, number of
      daily defined medication doses (DDD), frequency and duration of inability to
      work, and mortality within two years. All outcomes were collected from routine
      data provided by the statutory health insurance. As informed consent was obtained
      after randomization, propensity score matching (PSM) was used to minimize
      selection bias introduced by decliners. For the analysis of hospital readmission
      and mortality, we calculated Kaplan-Meier curves and estimated hazard ratios
      (HR). Probability of hospital readmission and probability of death were analysed
      by calculating odds ratios (OR). Quantity of health service use and inability to
      work were analysed by linear random effects regression models. PSM resulted in
      patient samples of 5,309 (IG: 2,713; CG: 2,596) in the chronic campaign, of 660
      (IG: 338; CG: 322) in the heart failure campaign, and of 239 (IG: 101; KG: 138)
      in the mental health campaign. In none of the three campaigns, there were
      significant differences between IG and CG in time until hospital readmission. In
      the chronic campaign, the probability of hospital readmission was higher in the
      IG than in the CG (OR = 1.13; p = 0.045); no significant differences could be
      found for the other two campaigns. In the heart failure campaign, the IG showed a
      significantly reduced number of hospital admissions (-0.41; p = 0.012), although
      the corresponding reduction in the number of hospital days was not significant.
      In the chronic campaign, the IG showed significantly increased number of DDDs.
      Most striking, there were significant differences in mortality between IG and CG
      in the chronic campaign (OR = 0.64; p = 0.005) as well as in the heart failure
      campaign (OR = 0.44; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: While TBHC seems to reduce
      hospitalization only in specific patient groups, it may reduce mortality in
      patients with chronic somatic conditions. Further research should examine
      intervention effects in various subgroups of patients, for example for different
      diagnostic groups within the chronic campaign, or duration of coaching. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00000584.

PMID- 27632362
TI  - Empty rituals? A qualitative study of users' experience of monitoring &
      evaluation systems in HIV interventions in western India.
AB  - In global health initiatives, particularly in the context of private philanthropy
      and its 'business minded' approach, detailed programme data plays an increasing
      role in informing assessments, improvements, evaluations, and ultimately
      continuation or discontinuation of funds for individual programmes. The HIV/AIDS
      literature predominantly treats monitoring as unproblematic. However, the social
      science of audit and indicators emphasises the constitutive power of indicators,
      noting that their effects at a grassroots level are often at odds with the goals
      specified in policy. This paper investigates users' experiences of Monitoring and
      Evaluation (M&E) systems in the context of HIV interventions in western India.
      Six focus groups (totalling 51 participants) were held with employees of 6
      different NGOs working for government or philanthropy-funded HIV interventions
      for sex workers in western India. Ten donor employees were interviewed. Thematic
      analysis was conducted. NGO employees described a major gap between what they
      considered their "real work" and the indicators used to monitor it. They could
      explain the official purposes of M&E systems in terms of programme improvement
      and financial accountability. More cynically, they valued M&E experience on their
      CVs and the rhetorical role of data in demonstrating their achievements. They
      believed that inappropriate and unethical means were being used to meet targets,
      including incentives and coercion, and criticised indicators for being misleading
      and inflexible. Donor employees valued the role of M&E in programme improvement,
      financial accountability, and professionalising NGO-donor relationships. However,
      they were suspicious that NGOs might be falsifying data, criticised the
      insensitivity of indicators, and complained that data were under-used. For its
      users, M& E appears an 'empty ritual', enacted because donors require it, but not
      put to local use. In this context, monitoring is constituted as an instrument of
      performance management rather than as a means of rational programme improvement.

PMID- 27632361
TI  - Impact of Gluten-Friendly Bread on the Metabolism and Function of In Vitro Gut
      Microbiota in Healthy Human and Coeliac Subjects.
AB  - The main aim of this paper was to assess the in vitro response of healthy and
      coeliac human faecal microbiota to gluten-friendly bread (GFB). Thus, GFB and
      control bread (CB) were fermented with faecal microbiota in pH-controlled batch
      cultures. The effects on the major groups of microbiota were monitored over 48 h
      incubations by fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Short-chain fatty acids
      (SCFAs) were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
      Furthermore, the death kinetics of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium
      animalis subsp. lactis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella Typhimurium in a
      saline solution supplemented with GFB or CB were also assessed. The experiments
      in saline solution pinpointed that GFB prolonged the survival of L. acidophilus
      and exerted an antibacterial effect towards S. aureus and S. Typhimurium.
      Moreover, GFB modulated the intestinal microbiota in vitro, promoting changes in
      lactobacilli and bifidobacteria members in coeliac subjects. A final multivariate
      approach combining both viable counts and metabolites suggested that GFB could
      beneficially modulate the coeliac gut microbiome; however, human studies are
      needed to prove its efficacy. 

PMID- 27632363
TI  - Computational analysis of the glutamate receptor gene family of Arabidopsis
      thaliana.
AB  - Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) function as glutamate-activated ion
      channels in rapid synaptic transmission in animals. Arabidopsis thaliana possess
      20 glutamate receptor-like genes (AtGLRs) in its genome which are involved in
      many functions including light signal transduction and calcium homeostasis.
      However, little is known about the physico-chemical, functional and structural
      properties of AtGLRs. In this study, glutamate receptor-like genes of A. thaliana
      have been studied in silico. Exon-intron structures revealed common origin of
      majority of these genes. The presence of several phosphorylation and
      myristoilation sites indicate the involvement of AtGLRs in various signaling
      processes. Gene ontology analysis showed the participation of AtGLRs in various
      biological processes including different stress responses. In two genes namely
      AT2G17260 and AT4G35290, presence of RAV1-A binding site motif in the promoter
      coupled with results from gene ontology annotation indicate their role in
      stomatal movement through abscisic acid signaling. Expression analysis showed
      differential expression of several tandemly arranged genes which indicates neo or
      sub-functionalization. Two genes namely AT5G48400 and AT5G48410 showed
      significantly more expression in response to Botrytis cinerea infection. Five of
      these genes have shown G-protein-coupled gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor
      activity indicating a possible interaction between AtGLRs and GABA. Structurally,
      all of them were similar while differences were found regarding electrostatic
      surfaces as well as surface hydrophobicity. Results of this study provide a
      comprehensive reference regarding AtGLRs for further analysis regarding the
      structure, function, and evolution of the glutamate receptors in plants.

PMID- 27632365
TI  - Persistent Supercooling of Reproductive Shoots Is Enabled by Structural Ice
      Barriers Being Active Despite an Intact Xylem Connection.
AB  - Extracellular ice nucleation usually occurs at mild subzero temperatures in most
      plants. For persistent supercooling of certain plant parts ice barriers are
      necessary to prevent the entry of ice from already frozen tissues. The
      reproductive shoot of Calluna vulgaris is able to supercool down to below -22
      degrees C throughout all developmental stages (shoot elongation, flowering,
      fruiting) despite an established xylem conductivity. After localization of the
      persistent ice barrier between the reproductive and vegetative shoot at the base
      of the pedicel by infrared differential thermal analysis, the currently unknown
      structural features of the ice barrier tissue were anatomically analyzed on cross
      and longitudinal sections. The ice barrier tissue was recognized as a 250 MUm
      long constriction zone at the base of the pedicel that lacked pith tissue and
      intercellular spaces. Most cell walls in this region were thickened and contained
      hydrophobic substances (lignin, suberin, and cutin). A few cell walls had what
      appeared to be thicker cellulose inclusions. In the ice barrier tissue, the area
      of the xylem was as much as 5.7 times smaller than in vegetative shoots and
      consisted of tracheids only. The mean number of conducting units in the xylem per
      cross section was reduced to 3.5% of that in vegetative shoots. Diameter of
      conducting units and tracheid length were 70% and 60% (respectively) of that in
      vegetative shoots. From vegetative shoots water transport into the ice barrier
      must pass pit membranes that are likely impermeable to ice. Pit apertures were
      about 1.9 MUm x 0.7 MUm, which was significantly smaller than in the vegetative
      shoot. The peculiar anatomical features of the xylem at the base of the pedicel
      suggest that the diameter of pores in pit membranes could be the critical
      constriction for ice propagation into the persistently supercooled reproductive
      shoots of C. vulgaris. 

PMID- 27632366
TI  - Evaluation and Comparison of Vitamin D Responsive Gene Expression in Ovine,
      Canine and Equine Kidney.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the relative abundance and relationship of
      vitamin D responsive and calcium transporting transcripts (TRPV5, TRPV6, calD9k,
      calD28k, PMCA, NCX1, CYP27B1, CYP24A1, and VDR) in ovine, canine and, equine
      kidney using quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), and then perform a comparison
      between the three species. Renal tissue samples were harvested post-mortem from
      10 horses, 10 sheep, and five dogs. Primers were designed for each gene. For each
      sample total RNA was extracted, cDNA synthesised, and RT-qPCR was performed. RT
      qPCR data were normalised and statistical comparison was performed. Due to their
      consistent correlation with each other in each species, TRPV6, calD9k/calD28k,
      and PMCA appeared to be the main pathways involved in active transepithelial
      calcium transport in the kidney of sheep, dogs and horses. The results indicate
      that all of the studied genes were expressed in the renal tissue of studied
      species, although the expression levels and correlation of transcripts with each
      other were different from species to species. All vitamin D responsive and
      calcium transporting transcripts were highly correlated with VDR in equine
      kidney, but not in sheep and dogs. The CYP27B1 and CYP24A1 mRNAs showed a
      different renal expression pattern and correlation in horses compared with sheep
      and dogs. Given the high urinary calcium concentration and low serum 1,25(OH)2D
      concentration in horses, it could be expected that CYP27B1 expression would be
      lower than CYP24A1 in the horse, and this did not appear to be the case. The
      findings suggest that despite low serum vitamin D concentrations, vitamin D still
      plays a significant role in calcium metabolism in horses, especially given the
      strong correlations between VDR and vitamin D responsive transcripts in these
      animals. 

PMID- 27632364
TI  - Multi-dose Romidepsin Reactivates Replication Competent SIV in Post
      antiretroviral Rhesus Macaque Controllers.
AB  - Viruses that persist despite seemingly effective antiretroviral treatment (ART)
      and can reinitiate infection if treatment is stopped preclude definitive
      treatment of HIV-1 infected individuals, requiring lifelong ART. Among strategies
      proposed for targeting these viral reservoirs, the premise of the "shock and
      kill" strategy is to induce expression of latent proviruses [for example with
      histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis)] resulting in elimination of the affected
      cells through viral cytolysis or immune clearance mechanisms. Yet, ex vivo
      studies reported that HDACis have variable efficacy for reactivating latent
      proviruses, and hinder immune functions. We developed a nonhuman primate model of
      post-treatment control of SIV through early and prolonged administration of ART
      and performed in vivo reactivation experiments in controller RMs, evaluating the
      ability of the HDACi romidepsin (RMD) to reactivate SIV and the impact of RMD
      treatment on SIV-specific T cell responses. Ten RMs were IV-infected with a
      SIVsmmFTq transmitted-founder infectious molecular clone. Four RMs received
      conventional ART for >9 months, starting from 65 days post-infection. SIVsmmFTq
      plasma viremia was robustly controlled to <10 SIV RNA copies/mL with ART, without
      viral blips. At ART cessation, initial rebound viremia to ~106 copies/mL was
      followed by a decline to < 10 copies/mL, suggesting effective immune control.
      Three post-treatment controller RMs received three doses of RMD every 35-50 days,
      followed by in vivo experimental depletion of CD8+ cells using monoclonal
      antibody M-T807R1. RMD was well-tolerated and resulted in a rapid and massive
      surge in T cell activation, as well as significant virus rebounds (~104
      copies/ml) peaking at 5-12 days post-treatment. CD8+ cell depletion resulted in a
      more robust viral rebound (107 copies/ml) that was controlled upon CD8+ T cell
      recovery. Our results show that RMD can reactivate SIV in vivo in the setting of
      post-ART viral control. Comparison of the patterns of virus rebound after RMD
      administration and CD8+ cell depletion suggested that RMD impact on T cells is
      only transient and does not irreversibly alter the ability of SIV-specific T
      cells to control the reactivated virus.

PMID- 27632368
TI  - Can a Patient's In-Hospital Length of Stay and Mortality Be Explained by Early
      Risk Assessments?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a patient's in-hospital length of stay (LOS) and
      mortality can be explained by early objective and/or physicians' subjective-risk
      assessments. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Analysis of a detailed dataset of 1,021
      patients admitted to a large U.S. hospital between January and September 2014.
      STUDY DESIGN: We empirically test the explanatory power of objective and
      subjective early-risk assessments using various linear and logistic regression
      models. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The objective measures of early warning can only
      weakly explain LOS and mortality. When controlled for various vital signs and
      demographics, objective signs lose their explanatory power. LOS and death are
      more associated with physicians' early subjective risk assessments than the
      objective measures. CONCLUSIONS: Explaining LOS and mortality require variables
      beyond patients' initial medical risk measures. LOS and in-hospital mortality are
      more associated with the way in which the human element of healthcare service
      (e.g., physicians) perceives and reacts to the risks.

PMID- 27632367
TI  - Choice of Illumination System & Fluorophore for Multiplex Immunofluorescence on
      FFPE Tissue Sections.
AB  - The recent availability of novel dyes and alternative light sources to facilitate
      complex tissue immunofluorescence studies such as multiplex labelling has not
      been matched by reports critically evaluating the considerations and relative
      benefits of these new tools, particularly in combination. Product information is
      often limited to wavelengths used for older fluorophores (FITC, TRITC &
      corresponding Alexa dyes family). Consequently, novel agents such as Quantum dots
      are not widely appreciated or used, despite highly favourable properties
      including extremely bright emission, stability and potentially reduced tissue
      autofluorescence at the excitation wavelength. Using spectral analysis, we report
      here a detailed critical appraisal and comparative evaluation of different light
      sources and fluorophores in multiplex immunofluorescence of clinical biopsy
      sections. The comparison includes mercury light, metal halide and 3 different LED
      based systems, using 7 Qdots (525, 565, 585, 605, 625, 705), Cy3 and Cy5. We
      discuss the considerations relevant to achieving the best combination of light
      source and fluorophore for accurate multiplex fluorescence quantitation. We
      highlight practical limitations and confounders to quantitation with filter-based
      approaches. 

PMID- 27632369
TI  - Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease among Patients Developing Mild Renal Impairment
      during Tenofovir-Containing Antiretroviral Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tenofovir (TDF) can cause kidney injury through tubular dysfunction,
      with or without drop of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Whether mild
      eGFR reductions during treatment should be considered a reason for prompt TDF
      discontinuation, however, remains unclear. METHODS: Patients with normal pre-TDF
      eGFR levels, who had developed mild renal impairment (i.e., two consecutive eGFR
      results between 89-60 ml/min) on TDF, were observed until onset of chronic kidney
      disease (CKD), defined as two eGFR<60 ml/min 3 to 6 months apart. Multivariable
      Poisson regression analysis was used to investigate whether outcome was
      associated with current and cumulative use of TDF (modeled as time-varying
      covariates). RESULTS: 2023 (29%) out of 6984 patients developed mild renal
      impairment on TDF. Among them, 191 progressed to CKD. The incidence of CKD did
      not significantly differ during TDF treatment (2.6 per 100 PYFU; 95%CI 2.2-3.2)
      or after its discontinuation (2.2 per 100 PYFU; 95%CI 1.8-2.6). However, the rate
      of CKD was significantly higher among patients continuing with TDF treatment
      compared to those who had discontinued it within 6 months of occurrence of mild
      renal impairment (aIRR 4, 95%CI 2.4-6.8). In contrast, among patients who had
      maintained TDF >6 months despite mild renal impairment, current TDF use was not
      associated with a significantly higher rate of CKD. Other significant predictors
      of CKD were older age, intravenous drug use, diabetes, hypertension, lower pre
      TDF eGFR, higher eGFR drop since TDF introduction and longer exposure to TDF.
      CONCLUSIONS: Prompt discontinuation of TDF among patients developing mild renal
      impairment may prevent further progression of renal damage.

PMID- 27632370
TI  - Response to 'Comment on 'The potential contribution of tumour-related factors to
      the development of FOLFOX-induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome''.

PMID- 27632372
TI  - Comment on 'The potential contribution of tumour-related factors to the
      development of FOLFOX-induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome'.

PMID- 27632371
TI  - Dairy, calcium, vitamin D and ovarian cancer risk in African-American women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No previous study has evaluated the associations of dairy products,
      lactose, calcium and vitamin D with the risk of ovarian cancer in African
      American women, who are known to have high mortality from the disease, as well as
      to be at risk for calcium and vitamin D deficiency. METHODS: We evaluated these
      associations among 490 ovarian cancer cases and 656 age- and site-matched
      controls of African-American descent recruited into the African American Cancer
      Epidemiology Study, a population-based case-control study in 11 geographical
      areas in the US. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate
      odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: An increased
      ovarian cancer risk was observed for whole milk consumption and lactose intake
      (highest quartile vs lowest: OR=1.97, 95% CI: 1.25-3.10;P-trend: 0.008). Calcium
      intake was associated with a decreased risk of ovarian cancer (OR=0.51, 95 CI%:
      0.30-0.86; P-trend: 0.009), but vitamin D intake was not. Longer sun exposure in
      summer months was found to predict a lower risk (OR=0.71, 95% CI: 0.51-0.99; P
      trend: 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a high-calcium, low-lactose
      diet, and sun exposure in summer months may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in
      African-American women.

PMID- 27632373
TI  - Serum biomarkers of polyomavirus infection and risk of lung cancer in never
      smokers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer in never smokers is a significant contributor of cancer
      mortality worldwide. In this analysis, we explored the role of nine human
      polyomaviruses, including JC virus (JCV), BK virus (BKV) and Merkel cell virus
      (MCV), in lung cancer development in never smokers as there are data to support
      that polyomaviruses are potentially carcinogenic in the human lung. METHODS: We
      used multiplex serology to detect serum antibodies to polyomaviruses in a nested
      case-control design combining lung cancer cases and controls from four cohort
      studies - NYU Women's Health Study (NYU-WHS), Janus Serum Bank, Shanghai Women's
      Health Study and Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS). RESULTS: The final
      analyses included 511 cases and 508 controls. Seroprevalence for each
      polyomavirus showed significant heterogeneity by study, but overall there were no
      statistically significant differences between cases and controls. In total, 69.1%
      of the cases and 68.7% of the controls were seropositive for JCV VP1 antibody.
      Seropositivity for BKV was higher at 89.0% in cases and 89.8% in controls and
      lower for MCV at 59.3% in cases and 61.6% in controls. Similar results were
      obtained after adding an additional retrospective case-control study (Xuanwei
      study) to the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not support the hypothesis
      that seropositivity for polyomaviruses is associated with increased lung cancer
      risk in never smokers. Future research to evaluate relationship between
      polyomavirus infection and lung carcinogenesis should focus more on evaluating
      the presence of virus or viral nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) in lung tumour samples.

PMID- 27632374
TI  - Ovarian carcinoma diagnosis: the clinical impact of 15 years of change.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Until recently ovarian carcinoma was considered to be a single
      disease, and treatment decisions were based solely on grade and pre- and
      postoperative tumour burden. New insights into molecular features, treatment
      response, and patient demographics led the scientific community to conclude that
      ovarian carcinoma histotypes are different disease entities. METHODS: In 2002,
      the pathology specimens from patients in a clinical trial were reviewed by an
      experienced gynaecopathologist (pathologist A) for translational research
      purposes. All cases were typed according to what were then current criteria. The
      identical cohort was now reassessed by the same expert pathologist and
      independently reviewed by another gynaecopathologist (pathologist B) applying WHO
      2014 diagnostic criteria. Survival analyses were done based on the original as
      well as the new diagnoses, and historical biomarker study results were
      recalculated. RESULTS: Upon re-review, pathologist A rendered the same histotype
      diagnosis in only 54% of cases. In contrast, pathologists A and B independently
      rendered the same diagnosis in 98% of cases. Histotype was of prognostic
      significance when 2014 diagnoses were used, but was not prognostic using the
      original (2002) histotype diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates a marked
      shift in ovarian carcinoma histotype diagnosis over the past 15 years. The new
      criteria are associated with a very high degree of interobserver reproducibility,
      allowing for treatment decisions based on histotype. Finally, biomarkers of
      putative prognostic significance were revealed to be primarily histotype-specific
      markers, confirming the critical importance of obtaining up-to-date diagnoses
      rather than accepting archival histotype data in clinical research.

PMID- 27632375
TI  - Dietary exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and risk of breast, endometrial and
      ovarian cancer in a prospective cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Observational studies on polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure and
      hormone-related cancer risk are either inconsistent or lacking. We aimed to
      assess associations of dietary PCB exposure with breast, endometrial and ovarian
      cancer risk in middle-aged and elderly women. METHODS: We included 36 777 cancer
      free women at baseline in 1997 from the prospective population-based Swedish
      Mammography Cohort. Validated estimates of dietary PCB exposure were obtained via
      a food frequency questionnaire. Incident cancer cases were ascertained through
      register linkage. RESULTS: During 14 years of follow-up, we ascertained 1593, 437
      and 195 incident cases of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer. We found no
      overall association between dietary PCB exposure and any of these cancer forms.
      The multivariable-adjusted relative risks comparing women in the highest and
      lowest tertile of PCB exposure were 0.96 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75,
      1.24), 1.21 (95% CI: 0.73, 2.01) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.45, 1.79) for breast,
      endometrial and ovarian cancer. In analyses stratified by factors influencing
      oestrogen exposure, possibly masking associations with PCBs, indications of
      higher risks were observed for endometrial cancer. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      suggests that dietary exposure to PCBs play no critical role in the development
      of breast, endometrial or ovarian cancer during middle-age and old ages.

PMID- 27632377
TI  - Photochemistry of Dithiocarbamate Cu(S2CNEt2)2 Complex in CHCl3. Transient
      Species and TD-DFT Calculations.
AB  - Nanosecond laser flash photolysis was used to study the mechanism of
      photochemical transformations of the diethyldithiocarbamate Cu(II) complex
      (Cu(dtc)2, where dtc- = -S2CNEt2 anion) in chloroform solutions. The electron
      transfer from the excited Cu(dtc)2 complex to a solvent molecule leads to the
      appearance of the primary intermediate, the [ClCu(dtc)(dtcCHCl2)] complex, where
      a dtcCHCl2 molecule is coordinated with a copper ion via one sulfur atom. In the
      fast reaction (k = 2.1 * 109 M-1 s-1) with Cu(dtc)2, this complex forms a long
      lived dimer [ClCu(dtc)(dtcCHCl2)Cu(dtc)2]. This intermediate decays during
      several seconds (k = 5.6 * 10-2 s-1) into the final product, i.e., a diamagnetic
      dimer [ClCu(dtc)Cu(dtc)2]. To determine the structure of intermediate complexes
      the quantum chemical calculations were carried out using DFT, TD-DFT, and PCM
      (Polarizable Continuum Model) methods.

PMID- 27632376
TI  - Impact of cervical screening on cervical cancer mortality: estimation using stage
      specific results from a nested case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is well established that screening can prevent cervical cancer,
      but the magnitude of the impact of regular screening on cervical cancer mortality
      is unknown. METHODS: Population-based case-control study using prospectively
      recorded cervical screening data, England 1988-2013. Case women had cervical
      cancer diagnosed during April 2007-March 2013 aged 25-79 years (N=11 619). Two
      cancer-free controls were individually age matched to each case. We used
      conditional logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of developing
      stage-specific cancer for women regularly screened or irregularly screened
      compared with women not screened in the preceding 15 years. Mortality was
      estimated from excess deaths within 5 years of diagnosis using stage-specific 5
      year relative survival from England with adjustment for age within stage based on
      SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results, USA) data. RESULTS: In women
      aged 35-64 years, regular screening is associated with a 67% (95% confidence
      interval (CI): 62-73%) reduction in stage 1A cancer and a 95% (95% CI: 94-97%)
      reduction in stage 3 or worse cervical cancer: the estimated OR comparing regular
      (?5.5yearly) screening to no (or minimal) screening are 0.18 (95% CI: 0.16-0.19)
      for cancer incidence and 0.08 (95% CI: 0.07-0.09) for mortality. It is estimated
      that in England screening currently prevents 70% (95% CI: 66-73%) of cervical
      cancer deaths (all ages); however, if everyone attended screening regularly, 83%
      (95% CI: 82-84%) could be prevented. CONCLUSIONS: The association between
      cervical cancer screening and incidence is stronger in more advanced stage
      cancers, and screening is more effective at preventing death from cancer than
      preventing cancer itself.

PMID- 27632378
TI  - Impaired generalization of speaker identity in the perception of familiar and
      unfamiliar voices.
AB  - In 2 behavioral experiments, we explored how the extraction of identity-related
      information from familiar and unfamiliar voices is affected by naturally
      occurring vocal flexibility and variability, introduced by different types of
      vocalizations and levels of volitional control during production. In a first
      experiment, participants performed a speaker discrimination task on vowels,
      volitional (acted) laughter, and spontaneous (authentic) laughter from 5
      unfamiliar speakers. We found that performance was significantly impaired for
      spontaneous laughter, a vocalization produced under reduced volitional control.
      We additionally found that the detection of identity-related information fails to
      generalize across different types of nonverbal vocalizations (e.g., laughter vs.
      vowels) and across mismatches in volitional control within vocalization pairs
      (e.g., volitional laughter vs. spontaneous laughter), with performance levels
      indicating an inability to discriminate between speakers. In a second experiment,
      we explored whether personal familiarity with the speakers would afford greater
      accuracy and better generalization of identity perception. Using new stimuli, we
      largely replicated our previous findings: whereas familiarity afforded a
      consistent performance advantage for speaker discriminations, the experimental
      manipulations impaired performance to similar extents for familiar and unfamiliar
      listener groups. We discuss our findings with reference to prototype-based models
      of voice processing and suggest potential underlying mechanisms and
      representations of familiar and unfamiliar voice perception. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27632379
TI  - Reflexive intergroup bias in third-party punishment.
AB  - Humans show a rare tendency to punish norm-violators who have not harmed them
      directly-a behavior known as third-party punishment. Research has found that
      third-party punishment is subject to intergroup bias, whereby people punish
      members of the out-group more severely than the in-group. Although the prevalence
      of this behavior is well-documented, the psychological processes underlying it
      remain largely unexplored. Some work suggests that it stems from people's
      inherent predisposition to form alliances with in-group members and aggress
      against out-group members. This implies that people will show reflexive
      intergroup bias in third-party punishment, favoring in-group over out-group
      members especially when their capacity for deliberation is impaired. Here we test
      this hypothesis directly, examining whether intergroup bias in third-party
      punishment emerges from reflexive, as opposed to deliberative, components of
      moral cognition. In 3 experiments, utilizing a simulated economic game, we varied
      participants' group relationship to a transgressor, measured or manipulated the
      extent to which they relied on reflexive or deliberative judgment, and observed
      people's punishment decisions. Across group-membership manipulations (American
      football teams, nationalities, and baseball teams) and 2 assessments of reflexive
      judgment (response time and cognitive load), reflexive judgment heightened
      intergroup bias, suggesting that such bias in punishment is inherent to human
      moral cognition. We discuss the implications of these studies for theories of
      punishment, cooperation, social behavior, and legal practice. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27632380
TI  - The Ultrastructural Signature of Human Embryonic Stem Cells.
AB  - The epigenetics and molecular biology of human embryonic stem cells (hES cells)
      have received much more attention than their architecture. We present a more
      complete look at hES cells by electron microscopy, with a special emphasis on the
      architecture of the nucleus. We propose that there is an ultrastructural
      signature of pluripotent human cells. hES cell nuclei lack heterochromatin,
      including the peripheral heterochromatin, that is common in most somatic cell
      types. The absence of peripheral heterochromatin may be related to the absence of
      lamins A and C, proteins important for linking chromatin to the nuclear lamina
      and envelope. Lamins A and C expression and the development of peripheral
      heterochromatin were early steps in the development of embryoid bodies. While hES
      cell nuclei had abundant nuclear pores, they also had an abundance of nuclear
      pores in the cytoplasm in the form of annulate lamellae. These were not a residue
      of annulate lamellae from germ cells or the early embryos from which hES cells
      were derived. Subnuclear structures including nucleoli, interchromatin granule
      clusters, and Cajal bodies were observed in the nuclear interior. The
      architectural organization of human ES cell nuclei has important implications for
      cell structure-gene expression relationships and for the maintenance of
      pluripotency. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 764-774, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27632381
TI  - Acteoside Binds to Caspase-3 and Exerts Neuroprotection in the Rotenone Rat Model
      of Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the
      dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) region. Acteoside has displayed
      multiple biological functions. Its potential role against PD and the underlying
      signaling mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we showed that oral
      administration of acteoside significantly attenuated parkinsonism symptoms in
      rotenone-induced PD rats. Further, acteoside inhibited rotenone-induced alpha
      synuclein, caspase-3 upregulation and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2)
      downregulation in PD rats. The molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulation results indicated that acteoside may directly bind to and inhibit
      caspase-3. Acteoside formed hydrogen bonds with at least six residues of caspase
      3: ThrA177, SerA178, GlyA238, SerB339, ArgB341 and TrpB348. In addition, a pi-pi
      interaction was formed between acteoside and caspase-3's HisA237, which might
      further stabilize the complex. MD simulation results demonstrated that the
      binding affinity of the caspase-3-acteoside complex was higher than that of
      caspase-3 and its native ligand inhibitor. Together, we show that acteoside binds
      to caspase-3 and exerts neuroprotection in the rotenone rat model of PD. 

PMID- 27632383
TI  - Differences in post-exercise T2 relaxation time changes between eccentric and
      concentric contractions of the elbow flexors.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study compared maximal eccentric (ECC) and concentric (CON)
      contractions of the elbow flexors for changes in transverse relaxation time (T2)
      and indirect markers of muscle damage. METHODS: Twelve young men performed five
      sets of six maximal isokinetic (30 degrees /s) ECC with one arm followed by CON
      with the other arm. Magnetic resonance images to assess T2 and cross-sectional
      area (CSA) of biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis, and measurements
      of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC) torque, range of motion (ROM),
      and muscle soreness were taken before, immediately after, and 1, 3, and 5 days
      after each exercise. RESULTS: MVC torque and ROM decreased greater after ECC than
      CON (p < 0.05), and muscle soreness developed only after ECC. Biceps brachii and
      brachialis CSA increased immediately after CON, but delayed increases in
      brachialis CSA were found only after ECC (p < 0.05). T2 of the muscles increased
      greater after CON (27-34 %) than ECC (16-18 %) immediately post-exercise (p <
      0.05), but returned to baseline by 1 day after CON. The biceps brachii and
      brachialis T2 increased by 9-29 % at 1-5 days after ECC (p < 0.05). The post-ECC
      T2 changes showed no significant correlations with the changes in MVC torque,
      muscle soreness, and CSA, but the T2 increase immediately post-ECC was correlated
      with the peak T2 in 1-5-day post-ECC (r = 0.63, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These
      results suggest that muscle activity during exercise was lower in ECC than CON,
      and the T2 changes after ECC do not necessarily relate to the changes in other
      indirect markers of muscle damage.

PMID- 27632382
TI  - Effects of training and detraining on adiponectin plasma concentration and muscle
      sensitivity in lean and overweight men.
AB  - PURPOSE: To delineate the direct effect of physical activity on adiponectin
      metabolism, we investigated the impact of contrasted physical activity changes,
      independent of body mass changes, on adiponectin plasma concentration and muscle
      sensitivity in lean and overweight adult males. METHODS: Eleven physically active
      lean men (70.6 +/- 2.1 kg) were subjected to 1-month detraining; 9 sedentary lean
      men (73.1 +/- 3.3 kg); and 11 sedentary overweight men (97.5 +/- 3.0 kg)
      participated in a 2-month aerobic-exercise training program. Diet was controlled
      to maintain stable energy balance. Body composition, VO2peak, circulating
      adiponectin, adipose and muscle tissue adiponectin, muscle adiponectin receptors,
      and APPL1 mRNAs were measured before and after the interventions. RESULTS: At
      baseline, plasma high-molecular-weight adiponectin concentration was lower in
      both active lean (5.44 +/- 0.58 ug/mL) and sedentary overweight (5.30 +/- 1.06
      ug/mL) than in sedentary lean participants (7.44 +/- 1.06 ug/mL; both p < 0.05).
      Training reduced total and high-molecular-weight adiponectin concentrations by,
      respectively, -32 and -42 % in sedentary lean, and -26 and -35 % in sedentary
      overweight, while detraining increased them by +25 and +27 % in active lean
      participants. Total and high-molecular-weight adiponectin changes were inversely
      correlated with VO2peak changes (respectively, R 2 = 0.45, R 2 = 0.59; both p <
      0.001) and positively with changes in fasting plasma insulin (both p < 0.05).
      Muscle and adipose tissue adiponectin mRNA did not differ between groups and with
      interventions. Muscle AdipoR2 and APPL1 mRNAs were lower in sedentary groups
      compared with the active group; and were positively associated with VO2peak and
      inversely with fasting plasma insulin concentration. CONCLUSION: Plasma
      adiponectin concentration is inversely correlated with aerobic capacity. Future
      investigations will need to confirm the contribution of changes in muscle
      adiponectin sensitivity.

PMID- 27632384
TI  - Verbal Thinking and Inner Speech Use in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - The extent to which cognition is verbally mediated in neurotypical individuals is
      the subject of debate in cognitive neuropsychology, as well as philosophy and
      psychology. Studying "verbal thinking" in developmental/neuropsychological
      disorders provides a valuable opportunity to inform theory building, as well as
      clinical practice. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive, critical review of
      such studies among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD involves
      severe social-communication deficits and limitations in cognitive/behavioural
      flexibility. The prevailing view in the field is that neither cognition nor
      behaviour is mediated verbally in ASD, and that this contributes to diagnostic
      features. However, our review suggests that, on the contrary, most studies to
      date actually find that among people with ASD cognitive task performance is
      either a) mediated verbally in a typical fashion, or b) not mediated verbally,
      but at no obvious cost to overall task performance. Overall though, these studies
      have methodological limitations and thus clear-cut conclusions are not possible
      at this stage. The aim of the review is to take stock of existing empirical
      findings, as well as to help develop the directions for future research that will
      resolve the many outstanding issues in this field.

PMID- 27632385
TI  - Everyday Impact of Cognitive Interventions in Mild Cognitive Impairment: a
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Cognitive interventions in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) seek to ameliorate
      cognitive symptoms in the condition. Cognitive interventions may or may not
      generalize beyond cognitive outcomes to everyday life. This systematic review and
      meta-analysis sought to assess the effect of cognitive interventions compared to
      a control group in MCI on generalizability outcome measures [activities of daily
      living (ADLs), mood, quality of life (QOL), and metacognition] rather than
      cognitive outcomes alone. PRISMA guidelines were followed. MEDLINE and PsychInfo
      were utilized as data sources to locate references related to cognitive
      interventions in individuals with MCI. The cognitive intervention study was
      required to have a control or alternative treatment comparison group to be
      included. Thirty articles met criteria, including six computerized cognitive
      interventions, 14 therapist-based interventions, and 10 multimodal (i.e.,
      cognitive intervention plus an additional intervention) studies. Small, but
      significant overall median effects were seen for ADLs (d = 0.23), mood (d =
      0.16), and metacognitive outcomes (d = 0.30), but not for QOL (d = 0.10).
      Computerized studies appeared to benefit mood (depression, anxiety, and apathy)
      compared to controls, while therapist-based interventions and multimodal
      interventions had more impact on ADLs and metacognitive outcomes than control
      conditions. The results are encouraging that cognitive interventions in MCI may
      impact everyday life, but considerably more research is needed. The current
      review and meta-analysis is limited by our use of only PsychInfo and MEDLINE
      databases, our inability to read full text non-English articles, and our reliance
      on only published data to complete effect sizes.

PMID- 27632387
TI  - Japanese and Canadian Children's Beliefs about Child and Adult Knowledge: A Case
      for Developmental Equifinality?
AB  - Children do not know everything that adults know, nor do adults know everything
      that children know. The present research examined the universality of beliefs
      about child and adult knowledge and their development with 4- and 7-year-old
      Canadian and Japanese children (N = 96). In both countries, all children were
      able to identify adult-specific knowledge and only older children displayed
      beliefs about child-specific knowledge. However, Japanese and Canadian children
      differed in whether they used their own knowledge in deciding whether a person
      who knew an item was a child or an adult. In addition, parental and child beliefs
      were related in Japan but not in Canada. These findings indicate that children
      growing up in different cultures may take different paths in developing beliefs
      about age-related knowledge. Implications for theories of socio-cognitive
      development and learning are discussed. 

PMID- 27632386
TI  - Does Therapeutic Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Cause Cognitive
      Enhancing Effects in Patients with Neuropsychiatric Conditions? A Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.
AB  - Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is increasingly used as a
      therapeutic intervention for neuropsychiatric illnesses and has demonstrated
      efficacy for treatment of major depression. However, an unresolved question is
      whether a course of rTMS treatment results in effects on cognitive functioning.
      In this systematic review and meta-analysis we aimed to quantitatively determine
      whether a course of rTMS has cognitive enhancing effects. We examined cognitive
      outcomes from randomised, sham-controlled studies conducted in patients with
      neuropsychiatric conditions where rTMS was administered to the dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) across repeated sessions, searched from PubMed/MEDLINE
      and other databases up until October 2015. Thirty studies met our inclusion
      criteria. Cognitive outcomes were pooled and examined across the following
      domains: Global cognitive function, executive function, attention, working
      memory, processing speed, visual memory, verbal memory and visuospatial ability.
      Active rTMS treatment was unassociated with generalised gains across the majority
      of domains of cognitive functioning examined. Secondary analyses revealed a
      moderate sized positive effect for improved working memory in a small number of
      studies in patients with schizophrenia (k = 3, g = 0.507, 95 % CI = [0.183
      0.831], p < .01). Therapeutic rTMS when administered to the DLPFC in patients
      with neuropsychiatric conditions does not result in robust cognitive enhancing
      effects.

PMID- 27632388
TI  - Interplay of nuclear receptors (ER, PR, and GR) and their steroid hormones in MCF
      7 cells.
AB  - Steroid hormones and their nuclear receptors play a major role in the development
      and progression of breast cancer. MCF-7 cells are triple-positive breast cancer
      cells expressing estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and
      glucocorticoid receptor (GR). However, interaction and their role in expression
      pattern of activator protein (AP-1) transcription factors (TFs) are not
      completely understood. Hence, in our study, MCF-7 cells were used as an in vitro
      model system to study the interplay between the receptors and hormones. MCF-7
      cells were treated with estradiol-17beta (E2), progesterone (P4), and
      dexamethasone (Dex), alone or in combination, to study the proliferation of cells
      and expression of AP-1 genes. MTT assay results show that E2 or P4 induced the
      cell proliferation by more than 35 %, and Dex decreased the proliferation by 26
      %. E2 and P4 are found to increase ERalpha by more than twofold and c-Jun, c-Fos,
      and Fra-1 AP-1 TFs by more than 1.7-fold, while Dex shows opposite effect of E2-
      or P4-induced effect as well as effect on the expression of nuclear receptors and
      AP-1 factors. E2 antagonist Fulvestrant (ICI 182,780) found to reduce
      proliferation and E2-induced expression of AP1-TFs, while P4 or Dex antagonist
      Mifepristone (RU486) is found to block GR-mediated expression of NRs and AP-1
      mRNAs. Results suggest that E2 and P4 act synergistically, and Dex acts as an
      antagonist of E2 and P4.

PMID- 27632390
TI  - PEDOT:PSS "Wires" Printed on Textile for Wearable Electronics.
AB  - Herein, the fabrication of all-organic conductive wires is demonstrated by
      utilizing patterning techniques such as inkjet printing and sponge stencil to
      apply poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) onto
      nonwoven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric. The coating of the conducting
      polymer is only present on the surface of the substrate (penetration depth ~ 200
      MUm) to retain the functionality and wearability of the textile. The wires
      fabricated by different patterning techniques provide a wide range of resistance,
      i.e., tens of kOmega/? to less than 2 Omega/? that allows the resistance to be
      tailored to a specific application. The sheet resistance is measured to be as low
      as 1.6 Omega/?, and the breakdown current is as high as 0.37 A for a 1 mm wide
      line. The specific breakdown current exceeds the previously reported values of
      macroscopic carbon nanotube based materials. Simple circuits composed of the
      printed wires are demonstrated, and resistance of the circuit from the
      measurement agrees with the calculated value based on Kirchhoff's rules.
      Additionally, the printed PEDOT:PSS wires show less than 6.2% change in sheet
      resistance after three washing and drying cycles using detergent.

PMID- 27632389
TI  - Deregulation of vital mitotic kinase-phosphatase signaling in hematopoietic
      stem/progenitor compartment leads to cellular catastrophe in experimental
      aplastic anemia.
AB  - Aplastic anemia, the paradigm of bone marrow failure, is characterized by
      pancytopenic peripheral blood and hypoplastic bone marrow. Among various
      etiologies, inappropriate use of DNA alkylating drugs like cyclophosphamide and
      busulfan often causes the manifestation of the dreadful disease. Cell cycle
      impairment in marrow hematopoietic stem/progenitor compartment together with
      cellular apoptosis has been recognized as culpable factors behind aplastic
      pathophysiologies. However, the intricate molecular mechanisms remain unrevealed
      till date. In the present study, we have dealt with the mechanistic intervention
      of the disease by peripheral blood hemogram, bone marrow histopathology,
      cytopathology, hematopoietic kinetic study, scanning electron microscopy, DNA
      damage assessment and flowcytometric analysis of cellular proliferation and
      apoptosis in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) rich marrow compartment
      using busulfan and cyclophosphamidemediated mouse model. To unveil the molecular
      mechanisms behind aplastic pathophysiology, we further investigated the role of
      some crucial mitotic and apoptotic regulators like Protein kinase-B (PKB), Gsk
      3beta, Cyclin-D1, PP2A, Cdc25c, Plk-1, Aurora kinase-A, Chk-1 regarding the
      hematopoietic catastrophe. Our observations revealed that the alteration of PKB
      GSK-3beta axis, Plk-1, and Aurora kinase-A expressions in HSPC compartment due to
      DNA damage response was associated with the proliferative impairment and
      apoptosis during aplastic anemia. The study established the correlation between
      the accumulation of DNA damage and alteration of the mentioned molecules in
      aplastic HSPCs that lead to the hematopoietic catastrophe. We anticipate that our
      findings will be beneficial for developing better therapeutic strategies for the
      dreadful disease concerned.

PMID- 27632391
TI  - Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on the efficacy and safety of
      ondansetron in preventing postanesthesia shivering.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Considerable controversy exists regarding the efficacy of ondansetron
      in preventing postanesthesia shivering (PAS). We performed a meta-analysis of
      randomized controlled trials to examine the controversy. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of ondansetron on the
      prevention of PAS were identified from electronic databases (PubMed and EMBASE).
      The meta-analysis was performed with the fixed-effect model or random-effect
      model according to heterogeneity. RESULTS: Twelve trials randomized clinical
      trials met the inclusion criteria including 1205 subjects. Compared with placebo
      (saline), ondansetron was associated with a significant reduction of PAS
      (relative risk 0.33; 95% confidence interval, 0.21-0.51), Substantial
      heterogeneity was observed between trials (P = 0.0002; I2 = 71%). Trial
      sequential analysis showed that the cumulative Z-curve crossed the trial
      sequential monitoring boundary for benefit establishing sufficient and conclusive
      evidence. Meta-analysis with all five studies using a fixed-effects model
      suggested that ondansetron and meperidine have similar effects on the prevention
      of PAS (relative risk, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.66-1.11), the
      heterogeneity was not significant (P = 0.34; I2 = 11%). No significant
      association of ondansetron with bradycardia was found both comparison with
      placebo and meperidine. CONCLUSIONS: Treat with ondansetron is safe, and may
      reduce PAS. This finding encourages the use of ondansetron to prevent PAS, but,
      more high quality randomized clinical trials are still warranted to confirm the
      effects of different doses of ondansetron on PAS.

PMID- 27632393
TI  - Titanium Exposure Outcome in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

PMID- 27632394
TI  - The Perception and Costs of the Interview Process for Plastic Surgery Residency
      Programs: Can the Process Be Streamlined?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess applicant perceptions and
      costs associated with the interview process for plastic surgery residency
      positions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of applicants to the
      integrated- and independent-track residencies at the authors' institution. All
      applicants who were interviewed were invited to complete a Web-based survey on
      costs and perceptions of various components of the interview process. Descriptive
      and bivariate statistics were computed to compare applicants to the two program
      tracks. RESULTS: Fifty-three applicants were interviewed for residency positions;
      48 completed a survey (90.5 percent response rate). Thirty-four applicants were
      candidates for the integrated program; 16 applicants were candidates for the
      independent program. The program spent $2763 per applicant interviewed; 63
      percent of applicants spent more than $5000 on the interview process. More than
      70 percent of applicants missed more than 7 days of work to attend interviews.
      Independent applicants felt less strongly that interviews were critical to the
      selection process and placed less value on physically visiting the hospital and
      direct, in-person interaction. Applicants placed little value on program
      informational talks. Applicants who had experience with virtual interviews felt
      more positively about the format of a video interview relative to those who did
      not. CONCLUSIONS: The residency interview process is resource intensive for
      programs and applicants. Removing informational talks may improve the process.
      Making physical tours and in-person interviews optional are other alternatives
      that merit future study.

PMID- 27632392
TI  - The Contribution of Mosaic Variants to Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - De novo mutation is highly implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However,
      the contribution of post-zygotic mutation to ASD is poorly characterized. We
      performed both exome sequencing of paired samples and analysis of de novo
      variants from whole-exome sequencing of 2,388 families. While we find little
      evidence for tissue-specific mosaic mutation, multi-tissue post-zygotic mutation
      (i.e. mosaicism) is frequent, with detectable mosaic variation comprising 5.4% of
      all de novo mutations. We identify three mosaic missense and likely-gene
      disrupting mutations in genes previously implicated in ASD (KMT2C, NCKAP1, and
      MYH10) in probands but none in siblings. We find a strong ascertainment bias for
      mosaic mutations in probands relative to their unaffected siblings (p = 0.003).
      We build a model of de novo variation incorporating mosaic variants and errors in
      classification of mosaic status and from this model we estimate that 33% of
      mosaic mutations in probands contribute to 5.1% of simplex ASD diagnoses (95%
      credible interval 1.3% to 8.9%). Our results indicate a contributory role for
      multi-tissue mosaic mutation in some individuals with an ASD diagnosis.

PMID- 27632395
TI  - Facial Nerve Axonal Analysis and Anatomical Localization in Donor Nerve:
      Optimizing Axonal Load for Cross-Facial Nerve Grafting in Facial Reanimation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Donor nerve axonal count over 900 in two-stage reconstructions using
      cross-facial nerve grafts is possibly associated with improved outcomes in facial
      reanimation. Facial nerve axonal analysis was performed to determine the ideal
      location for optimizing axonal load. Correlation of axonal number, branch
      diameter, and age was also assessed. METHODS: Twenty-eight fresh unpreserved
      cadaveric hemifaces were dissected exposing the extracranial facial nerve
      branches. Axonal counts at 2-cm intervals from the pes anserinus along branches
      inserting into the zygomaticus major muscle were taken, noting position relative
      to the zygomatic arch, posterior ramus border, lateral border of the zygomaticus
      muscle, and anterior parotid gland border. Nerves were fixed, sectioned, and
      stained with SMI-31 antineurofilament stain for digital axonal analysis. RESULTS:
      All specimens had one or more intraparotid zygomatic branches with over 900
      axons, and 96 percent had an extraparotid branch with over 900 axons. The
      likelihood that a zygomatic branch would have over 900 axons at its last
      intraparotid point (mean, 6 mm posterior to the parotid border) was 92 percent
      (range, 67 to 100 percent) in contrast to 61 percent (range, 25 to 100 percent)
      when sampled at the first extraparotid point (mean, 14 mm anterior to the parotid
      border). Nerve cross-sectional area was positively correlated to its axonal count
      (R degrees  = 78 percent; p < 0.0001), with nerve diameter over 0.6 mm predicting
      over 900 axons. Age did not correlate with axonal counts. CONCLUSIONS: Branches
      with adequate axonal load were found in all specimens. The likelihood of adequate
      branch selection improved from 61 percent to 92 percent with short retrograde
      intraparotid dissection. Nerve diameter correlated with axonal load.

PMID- 27632396
TI  - External Volume Expansion in Irradiated Tissue: Effects on the Recipient Site.

PMID- 27632397
TI  - Superior Pedicle Mastopexy with the Three Fat-Glandular Flap Support.

PMID- 27632398
TI  - Effectiveness of Autologous Fat Grafting in Adherent Scars: Results Obtained by a
      Comprehensive Scar Evaluation Protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, patients normally survive severe traumas such as burn
      injuries and necrotizing fasciitis. Large skin defects can be closed but the
      scars remain. Scars may become adherent to underlying structures when the
      subcutical fat layer is damaged. Autologous fat grafting provides the possibility
      of reconstructing a functional sliding layer underneath the scar. Autologous fat
      grafting is becoming increasingly popular for scar treatment, although large
      studies using validated evaluation tools are lacking. The authors therefore
      objectified the effectiveness of single-treatment autologous fat grafting on scar
      pliability using validated scar measurement tools. METHODS: Forty patients with
      adherent scars receiving single-treatment autologous fat grafting were measured
      preoperatively and at 3-month follow-up. The primary outcome parameter was scar
      pliability, measured using the Cutometer. Scar quality was also evaluated by the
      Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale and the DSM II ColorMeter. To prevent
      selection bias, measurements were performed following a standardized algorithm.
      RESULTS: The Cutometer parameters elasticity and maximal extension improved 22.5
      percent (p < 0.001) and 15.6 percent (p = 0.001), respectively. Total Patient and
      Observer Scar Assessment Scale scores improved from 3.6 to 2.9 on the observer
      scale, and from 5.1 to 3.8 on the patient scale (both p < 0.001). Color
      differences between the scar and normal skin remained unaltered. CONCLUSIONS: For
      the first time, the effect of autologous fat grafting on functional scar
      parameters was ascertained using a comprehensive scar evaluation protocol. The
      improved scar pliability supports the authors' hypothesis that the function of
      the subcutis can be restored to a certain extent by single-treatment autologous
      fat grafting. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.

PMID- 27632399
TI  - Reply: Titanium Exposure Outcome in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

PMID- 27632400
TI  - So, What Do You Do When the Music Stops? You Keep Dancing.

PMID- 27632401
TI  - Early versus Delayed Excision and Grafting of Full-Thickness Burns in a Porcine
      Model: A Randomized Study.

PMID- 27632402
TI  - Preoperative Platelet Count Predicts Lower Extremity Free Flap Thrombosis: A
      Multi-Institutional Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thrombocytosis in patients undergoing lower extremity free tissue
      transfer may be associated with increased risk of microvascular complications.
      This study assessed whether preoperative platelet counts predict lower extremity
      free flap thrombosis. METHODS: All patients undergoing lower extremity free
      tissue transfer at Duke University from 1997 to 2013 and at the University of
      Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2013 were retrospectively identified. Logistic
      regression was used to assess whether preoperative platelet counts independently
      predict flap thrombosis, controlling for baseline and operative factors. RESULTS:
      A total of 565 patients underwent lower extremity free tissue transfer, with an
      overall flap thrombosis rate of 16 percent (n = 91). Elevated preoperative
      platelet counts were independently associated with both intraoperative thrombosis
      (500 +/- 120 versus 316 +/- 144 * 10/liter; p < 0.001) and postoperative
      thrombosis (410 +/- 183 versus 320 +/- 143 * 10/liter; p = 0.040) in 215 patients
      who sustained acute lower extremity trauma within 30 days before reconstruction.
      In acute trauma patients, preoperative platelet counts predicted a four-fold
      increased risk of intraoperative thrombosis (cutoff value, 403 * 10/liter; OR,
      4.08; p < 0.001) and a two-fold increased risk of postoperative thrombosis
      (cutoff value, 361 * 10/liter; OR, 2.16; p = 0.005). In patients who did not
      sustain acute trauma, preoperative platelet counts predicted a four-fold
      increased risk of intraoperative thrombosis (cutoff value, 352 * 10/liter; OR,
      3.82; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Acute trauma patients with elevated preoperative
      platelet counts are at increased risk for lower extremity free flap
      complications. Prospective evaluation is warranted for guiding risk
      stratification and targeted treatment strategies. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Risk, III.

PMID- 27632403
TI  - Reply: External Volume Expansion in Irradiated Tissue: Effects on the Recipient
      Site.

PMID- 27632404
TI  - Reply: Superior Pedicle Mastopexy with the Three Fat-Glandular Flap Support.

PMID- 27632405
TI  - Animal Welfare in Science Depends on Veterinarians.

PMID- 27632406
TI  - Risk for Exfoliation Syndrome in Women With Pelvic Organ Prolapse : A Utah
      Project on Exfoliation Syndrome (UPEXS) Study.
AB  - Importance: Exfoliation syndrome, an inherited systemic disorder of elastin and
      extracellular matrix (ECM), is associated with the LOXL1 gene locus. Pelvic organ
      prolapse is a common connective tissue disorder that affects women. The presence
      of an association between exfoliation syndrome (exfoliation of the lens capsule)
      and pelvic organ prolapse was investigated as part of the Utah Project on
      Exfoliation Syndrome (UPEXS). Objective: To examine the association between
      exfoliation syndrome and pelvic organ prolapse using the Utah Population
      Database, a comprehensive resource linked to medical records. Design, Setting,
      and Participants: A 2-pronged approach was used. In substudy A, a cross-sectional
      analysis was performed to determine the association between pelvic organ prolapse
      and exfoliation syndrome in women enrolled in Medicare in Utah from calendar year
      1992 to 2009 (n = 132 772). In substudy B, the risk of incident exfoliation
      syndrome from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2014, was estimated in a cohort of
      women aged 30 to 65 years at baseline with a diagnosis of pelvic organ prolapse
      (n = 5130) compared with birth year-matched women serving as controls who did not
      have pelvic organ prolapse (n = 15 338). Main Outcomes and Measures: Exfoliation
      syndrome outcome was defined by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth
      Revision, diagnosis codes for exfoliation syndrome or exfoliation glaucoma
      (366.11 or 365.52, respectively). In substudy A, odds ratios (ORs) from
      unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the exfoliation
      syndrome risk in women with pelvic organ prolapse compared with those without
      pelvic organ prolapse. In substudy B, hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox proportional
      hazards models were used to estimate incident exfoliation syndrome risk in
      patients with pelvic organ prolapse (without exfoliation syndrome history)
      compared with unaffected controls. Models were adjusted for age, years enrolled,
      parity, and race/ethnicity. Results: Of the 132 772 women enrolled in Utah
      Medicare from 1992 to 2009, the mean [SD] age at the last enrollment was 82.2
      [7.7] years. Pelvic organ prolapse was associated with a 1.56-fold increased risk
      of exfoliation syndrome in Medicare beneficiaries (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.42-1.72)
      in substudy A. We observed a 48% increased incident risk of exfoliation syndrome
      in women aged 30 to 65 years at baseline who had a pelvic organ prolapse
      diagnosis compared with controls during 20 years of follow-up (HR, 1.48; 95% CI,
      1.14-1.91). Conclusions and Relevance: The diagnosis of exfoliation syndrome was
      more frequent in women with pelvic organ prolapse in the Utah Population
      Database, a robust population-based resource, thus supporting an association of
      exfoliation syndrome with a nonocular systemic condition. Systemic conditions
      with altered ECM metabolism, such as pelvic organ prolapse, may share common
      biological pathways with exfoliation syndrome. LOXL1 dysregulation, thought to
      occur in exfoliation syndrome, may be a contributing factor.

PMID- 27632407
TI  - In vivo anti-Trichophyton Activities of Seed Oil Obtained from
      Caraganakorshinskii Kom.
AB  - AIM: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of seed oil of
      Caragana korshinskii Kom. against Trichophyton mentagrophytes on an in vivo
      guinea pig model of dermatophytosis. METHODS: The skin of albino guinea pigs was
      infected with T. mentagrophytes, and the animals were divided into five groups:
      negative control (NC group), positive control (PC group), vehicle control, CK50%
      group (received topical 50% seed oil of C.korshinskii), and CK100% group
      (received topical 100% seed oil of C.korshinskii). Evaluation of clinical
      efficacy was performed 72 h after the completion of a 10-day treatment regimen.
      Skin biopsy samples were processed for histopathological examination. RESULTS:
      The infected untreated control guinea pigs showed patches of hair loss and
      ulcerated or scaly skin. Lower clinical scores indicate improved efficacy
      compared with NC. The lesion scores significantly declined in the CK50%, CK100%,
      and PC groups in comparison with the NC group. The CK50% group (45.31%) and the
      CK100% group (75%) showed clinical efficacy compared with the PC group (78.13%).
      In addition, no fungal elements, inflammation, or tissue destruction was observed
      in any of the PAS-stained sections of the infected skin in the groups treated
      with CK100% or 1% terbinafine. CONCLUSION: Seed oil of C.korshinskii demonstrated
      high antifungal efficacy in experimental dermatophytosis.

PMID- 27632408
TI  - Correction: Meta-Analysis of Large-Scale Toxicogenomic Data Finds Neuronal
      Regeneration Related Protein and Cathepsin D to Be Novel Biomarkers of Drug
      Induced Toxicity.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136698.].

PMID- 27632409
TI  - Progressive Myoclonus Epilepsy in Congenital Generalized Lipodystrophy type 2:
      Report of 3 cases and literature review.
AB  - PURPOSE: A small case series with a neurodegenerative disorder involving central
      nervous system and related to Seipin mutations was recently reported. Herein we
      describe clinical and EEG features of three patients presenting with Progressive
      Myoclonus Epilepsy (PME) and Congenital Generalized Lipodystrophy type 2 (CGL2)
      related to novel Seipin mutations. METHODS: The EEG-clinical picture was
      evaluated at epilepsy onset and in the follow-up period. The molecular analysis
      of BSCL2, Laforin and Malin genes was performed to patients and/or their parents
      by Denaturing High Performance Liquid Chromatography and automated nucleotide
      sequencing. Skin specimens collected from a patient were processed for
      histochemical and ultrastructural analysis. RESULTS: The CGL2-PME syndrome co
      segregated with two different BSCL2 genotypes: the homozygosity for c.782_783dupG
      involving exon 8 (two cases), or the compound heterozygosity for
      c.782_783dupG/c.828_829delAA (one case). Periodic-Acid Schiff positive
      osmiophilic material in the cytoplasm of fibrocytes and eccrine-gland cells were
      found in skin specimens. The lack of Lafora's bodies in skin specimens and the
      molecular analysis excluding mutations in Laforin and Malin genes ruled out
      Lafora disease. CONCLUSION: The spectrum of CGL2 associated to BSCL2 gene
      mutations may include PMEs. Selected mutations in BSCL2 gene seem to be related
      to PMEs in patients with CGL2 phenotype.

PMID- 27632410
TI  - Hysteroscopic metroplasty for the septate uterus with diode laser: a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of office hysteroscopic
      metroplasty using a 980nm diode laser. STUDY DESIGN: 18 patients were treated for
      septate uterus between 2013 and 2016. The indications for hysteroscopic
      metroplasty were recurrent abortion in 11 of the women and primary infertility in
      the other seven. We used a 5mm-office hysteroscope with a diode laser fibre.
      After exploration of the cavity, the septum was divided with use of the laser
      fibre. RESULTS: Operating time was 13,16+/-1,33min. Intraoperative pain was
      3,05+/-0,72. No intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed.
      Follow-up performed 2 months after the hysteroscopic metroplasty confirmed the
      complete removal of the septum and no evidence of intrauterine synechiae.
      CONCLUSION: Office hysteroscopic metroplasty with use of a diode laser is safe
      and feasible; we believe that vaporization of the septum with a diode laser could
      reduce the formation of adhesions and consequently reduce the occurrence of
      septum persistence.

PMID- 27632411
TI  - Incidence of wound complications in cesarean deliveries following closure with
      absorbable subcuticular staples versus conventional skin closure techniques.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a significant difference in composite wound
      complications among traditional closure techniques versus absorbable subcuticular
      staple closure. STUDY DESIGN: This study is a retrospective cohort study of
      cesarean sections performed from January through September of 2014. Composite
      wound complications included surgical site infection, separation, and fluid
      collection. Medical records were reviewed and data including the patient
      demographics, comorbidities, closure type and wound complications were recorded.
      Patients with incomplete data were excluded. Data were analyzed with ANOVA or
      Fisher exact test, according to data type. RESULTS: Of the 186 patients
      identified, 176 patients were included in the data analysis (n=83 suture, n=49
      traditional staple, n=44 the absorbable subcuticular staple). The groups were
      similar in all demographic categories; labor prior to delivery, estimated blood
      loss, and medical and pregnancy related comorbidities. The overall incidence of
      wound complications at our institution during this study was 5.7%. The incidence
      of complications among the suture and subcuticular staple closure was not
      significantly different (3.6% versus 0%, p=0.3), however there were significantly
      less complications in the suture and subcuticular staple closure groups when
      compared to traditional staple closure (14.3%) (p=0.03 and p=0.01, respectively).
      CONCLUSION: Herein, we report a decreased incidence of composite wound
      complications with subcuticular staple closure versus traditional staple closure
      in patients undergoing cesarean section. Absorbable subcuticular staple closure
      represents a convenient, safe and cost-effective closure technique.

PMID- 27632414
TI  - Expression of inflammatory cytokines in psoriatic nails.

PMID- 27632413
TI  - Sorafenib potentiates ABT-737-induced apoptosis in human oral cancer cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The mimetic BH3 ABT-737, a potent inhibitor of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2
      family proteins, has potential as anti-cancer drug in many cancers. Recently,
      patients treated with ABT-737 have developed drug tolerance during cancer
      therapy. Therefore, we examined whether ABT-737 is effective in killing MC-3 and
      HSC-3 human oral cancer cells either alone or in combination with the oncogenic
      kinase inhibitor, sorafenib. DESIGN: The potentiating activities of sorafenib in
      ABT-737-induced apoptosis were determined using trypan blue exclusion assay, DAPI
      staining, cell viability assay and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Combined use
      of ABT-737 and sorafenib synergistically suppressed cell viability and induced
      apoptosis compared with either compound individually. The combination of ABT-737
      and sorafenib altered only Bax and Bak proteins and their activations, resulting
      in mitochondrial translocation of Bax from the cytosol. Additionally, combination
      treatment-mediated apoptosis may be correlated with ERK and STAT3 pathways.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that sorafenib may effectively overcome ABT
      737 resistance to apoptotic cell death, which can be a new potential
      chemotherapeutic strategy against human oral cancer.

PMID- 27632415
TI  - Quantification of Training Load During Return to Play After Upper- and Lower-Body
      Injury in Australian Rules Football.
AB  - CONTEXT: Training volume, intensity, and distribution are important factors
      during periods of return to play. PURPOSE: To quantify the effect of injury on
      training load (TL) before and after return to play (RTP) in professional
      Australian Rules football. METHODS: Perceived training load (RPE-TL) for 44
      players was obtained for all indoor and outdoor training sessions, while field
      based training was monitored via GPS (total distance, high-speed running, mean
      speed). When a player sustained a competition time-loss injury, weekly TL was
      quantified for 3 wk before and after RTP. General linear mixed models, with
      inference about magnitudes standardized by between-players SDs, were used to
      quantify effects of lower- and upper-body injury on TL compared with the team.
      RESULTS: While total RPE-TL was similar to the team 2 wk before RTP, training
      distribution was different, whereby skills RPE-TL was likely and most likely
      lower for upper- and lower-body injury, respectively, and most likely replaced
      with small to very large increases in running and other conditioning load. Weekly
      total distance and high-speed running were most likely moderately to largely
      reduced for lower- and upper-body injury until after RTP, at which point total
      RPE-TL, training distribution, total distance, and high-speed running were
      similar to the team. Mean speed of field-based training was similar before and
      after RTP compared with the team. CONCLUSIONS: Despite injured athletes'
      obtaining comparable TLs to uninjured players, training distribution is different
      until after RTP, indicating the importance of monitoring all types of training
      that athletes complete.

PMID- 27632416
TI  - Masks for prevention of respiratory viruses on the BMT unit: results of a quality
      initiative.
AB  - Respiratory viral infections (RVI) cause significant morbidity and mortality in
      hospitalized oncology patients. These viruses are easily spread from asymptomatic
      and/or symptomatic healthcare workers and visitors to immunocompromised patients,
      and literature review of facemasks for prevention of infection revealed mixed
      results. The Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Quality Assurance (QA) Committee at
      Mount Sinai began a surgical mask initiative on the BMT unit. The purpose of our
      initiative was to assess the impact of surgical mask implementation for
      healthcare workers and visitors on nosocomial RVI in all patients hospitalized on
      the BMT unit. We hypothesized that implementing surgical masks would reduce the
      number of hospital-acquired RVI. We performed a retrospective study involving all
      patients with malignancy hospitalized on the BMT unit for 4 years. During the
      latter 2 years, all healthcare workers and visitors were required to wear a
      surgical mask in every patient room on the BMT unit. Primary endpoint was
      incidence of RVI after implementation of surgical masks. The 2-year incidence of
      RVI in the pre-mask period was 14 out of a total of 15 001 patient days on the
      unit vs 2 out of 15 608 patient days after mask implementation. The difference in
      incidence of RVI within the two time intervals was noted to be statistically
      significant (P<.05, 2-proportion z-test). Our quality initiative demonstrated
      that surgical masks are an infection control modality that may provide benefit to
      oncology/BMT units by decreasing the risk for hospital-acquired RVI.

PMID- 27632417
TI  - Size dependence of phosphorus doping in silicon nanocrystals.
AB  - Doping of silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) is one of the major challenges for
      silicon nanoscale devices. In this work, phosphorus (P) doping in Si-NCs which
      are embedded within an amorphous silicon matrix is realized together with the
      growth of Si-NCs by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition under a tunable
      substrate direct current (DC) bias. The variation of phosphorus concentration
      with substrate bias can be explained by the competition of bonding processes of
      Si-Si and P-Si bonds. The formation of Si-Si and P-Si bonds is differently
      influenced by the ion bombardment controlled by the substrate bias, due to their
      bonding energy difference. We have studied the influences of grain size on P
      doping in Si-NCs. Free carrier concentration, which is provided by activated P
      atoms, decreases with decreasing grain size due to increasing formation energy
      and activation energy of P atoms incorporated in Si-NCs. Furthermore, we have
      studied the P locations inside Si-NCs and hydrogen passivation of P in the form
      of P-Si-H complexes using the first-principles method. Hydrogen passivation of P
      can also contribute to the reduced free carrier concentration in smaller Si-NCs.
      These results provide valuable understanding of P doping in Si-NCs. 

PMID- 27632412
TI  - Characterization of N-Acetylglucosamine Biosynthesis in Pneumocystis species. A
      New Potential Target for Therapy.
AB  - N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) serves as an essential structural sugar on the cell
      surface of organisms. For example, GlcNAc is a major component of bacterial
      peptidoglycan, it is an important building block of fungal cell walls, including
      a major constituent of chitin and mannoproteins, and it is also required for
      extracellular matrix generation by animal cells. Herein, we provide evidence for
      a uridine diphospho (UDP)-GlcNAc pathway in Pneumocystis species. Using an in
      silico search of the Pneumocystis jirovecii and P. murina (Pm) genomic databases,
      we determined the presence of at least four proteins implicated in the
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae UDP-GlcNAc biosynthetic pathway. These genes, termed
      GFA1, GNA1, AGM1, and UDP-GlcNAc pyrophosphorylase (UAP1), were either confirmed
      to be present in the Pneumocystis genomes by PCR, or, in the case of Pm uap1
      (Pmuap1), functionally confirmed by direct enzymatic activity assay. Expression
      analysis using quantitative PCR of Pneumocystis pneumonia in mice demonstrated
      abundant expression of the Pm uap1 transcript. A GlcNAc-binding recombinant
      protein and a novel GlcNAc-binding immune detection method both verified the
      presence of GlcNAc in P. carinii (Pc) lysates. Studies of Pc cell wall fractions
      using high-performance gas chromatography/mass spectrometry documented the
      presence of GlcNAc glycosyl residues. Pc was shown to synthesize GlcNAc in vitro.
      The competitive UDP-GlcNAc substrate synthetic inhibitor, nikkomycin Z,
      suppressed incorporation of GlcNAc by Pc preparations. Finally, treatment of rats
      with Pneumocystis pneumonia using nikkomycin Z significantly reduced organism
      burdens. Taken together, these data support an important role for GlcNAc
      generation in the cell surface of Pneumocystis organisms.

PMID- 27632418
TI  - Chemical-Space-Based de Novo Design Method To Generate Drug-Like Molecules.
AB  - To discover drug compounds in chemical space containing an enormous number of
      compounds, a structure generator is required to produce virtual drug-like
      chemical structures. The de novo design algorithm for exploring chemical space
      (DAECS) visualizes the activity distribution on a two-dimensional plane
      corresponding to chemical space and generates structures in a target area on a
      plane selected by the user. In this study, we modify the DAECS to enable the user
      to select a target area to consider properties other than activity and improve
      the diversity of the generated structures by visualizing the drug-likeness
      distribution and the activity distribution, generating structures by substructure
      based structural changes, including addition, deletion, and substitution of
      substructures, as well as the slight structural changes used in the DAECS.
      Through case studies using ligand data for the human adrenergic alpha2A receptor
      and the human histamine H1 receptor, the modified DAECS can generate high
      diversity drug-like structures, and the usefulness of the modification of the
      DAECS is verified.

PMID- 27632420
TI  - High Conversion Efficiency Carbon Nanotube-Based Barrier-Free Bipolar-Diode
      Photodetector.
AB  - Conversion efficiency (CE) is the most important figure of merit for
      photodetectors. For carbon nanotubes (CNT) based photodetectors, the CE is mainly
      determined by excitons dissociation and transport of free carriers toward
      contacts. While phonon-assisted exciton dissociation mechanism is effective in
      split-gate CNT p-n diodes, the CE is typically low in these devices,
      approximately 1-5%. Here, we evaluate the performance of a barrier-free bipolar
      diode (BFBD), which is basically a semiconducting CNT asymmetrically contacted by
      perfect n-type ohmic contact (Sc) and p-type ohmic contact (Pd) at the two ends
      of the diode. We show that the CE in short channel BFBD devices (e.g., 60 nm) is
      over 60%, and it reduces rapidly with increasing channel length. We find that the
      electric-field-assisted mechanism dominates the dissociation rate of excitons in
      BFBD devices at zero bias and thus the photocurrent generation process. By
      performing a time-resolved and spatial-resolved Monte Carlo simulation, we find
      that there exists an effective electron (hole)-rich region near the n-type (p
      type) electrode in the asymmetrically contacted BFBD device, where the electric
      field strength is larger than 17 V/MUm and exciton dissociation is extremely fast
      (<0.1 ps), leading to very high CE in the BFBD devices.

PMID- 27632421
TI  - When "Rocking the Boat" Saves a Life.

PMID- 27632419
TI  - Probing the proton channels in subunit N of Complex I from Escherichia coli
      through intra-subunit cross-linking.
AB  - Respiratory Complex I appears to have 4 sites for proton translocation, which are
      coupled to the oxidation of NADH and reduction of coenzyme Q. The proton pathways
      are thought to be made of offset half-channels that connect to the membrane
      surfaces, and are connected by a horizontal path through the center of the
      membrane. In this study of the enzyme from Escherichia coli, subunit N,
      containing one of the sites, was targeted. Pairs of cysteine residues were
      introduced into neighboring alpha-helices along the proposed proton pathways. In
      an effort to constrain conformational changes that might occur during proton
      translocation, we attempted to form disulfide bonds or methanethiosulfonate
      bridges between two engineered cysteine residues. Cysteine modification was
      inferred by the inability of PEG-maleimide to shift the electrophoretic mobility
      of subunit N, which will occur upon reaction with free sulfhydryl groups. After
      the cross-linking treatment, NADH oxidase and NADH-driven proton translocation
      were measured. Ten different pairs of cysteine residues showed evidence of cross
      linking. The most significant loss of enzyme activity was seen for residues near
      the essential Lys 395. This residue is positioned between the proposed proton
      half-channel to the periplasm and the horizontal connection through subunit N,
      and is also near the essential Glu 144 of subunit M. The results suggest
      important conformational changes in this region for the delivery of protons to
      the periplasm, or for coupling the actions of subunit N to subunit M.

PMID- 27632422
TI  - Social Involvement Modulates the Response to Novel and Adverse Life Events in
      Mice.
AB  - Epidemiological findings suggest that social involvement plays a major role in
      establishing resilience to adversity, however, the neurobiology by which social
      involvement confers protection is not well understood. Hypothesizing that social
      involvement confers resilience by changing the way adverse life events are
      encoded, we designed a series of behavioral tests in mice that utilize the
      presence or absence of conspecific cage mates in measuring response to novel and
      adverse events. We found that the presence of cage mates increased movement after
      exposure to a novel environment, increased time spent in the open arms of the
      elevated plus maze, and decreased freezing time after a foot shock as well as
      expedited fear extinction, therefore significantly changing the response to
      adversity. This is a first description of a mouse model for the effects of social
      involvement on adverse life events. Understanding how social involvement provides
      resilience to adversity may contribute to the future treatment and prevention of
      mental and physical illness. 

PMID- 27632423
TI  - Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Cyclic [99mTc]-HYNIC-CGPRPPC as a Fibrin
      Binding Peptide for Molecular Imaging of Thrombosis and Its Comparison with
      [99mTc]-HYNIC-GPRPP.
AB  - PURPOSE: Many patients worldwide suffer from cardiovascular diseases for which an
      underlying factor is thrombosis. Devising a molecular imaging technique for early
      detection of thrombosis in a clinical setting is highly recommended. Because
      fibrin is a major constituent of clots and is present in all types of thrombi but
      absent in circulation, it is a highly specific and sensitive target for molecular
      imaging of thrombi. It is assumed that cyclization of peptides will improve the
      receptor binding affinity and stability of the peptide. In the present study, we
      have developed linear and cyclic fibrin-binding peptides for thrombus imaging and
      compared their biological properties. PROCEDURES: Linear HYNIC-GPRPP and cyclic
      HYNIC-CGPRPPC peptides were synthesized using a standard Fmoc strategy and
      radiolabeled with Tc-99m. The stability of the radiolabeled peptides in human
      plasma and their affinity for fibrin and blood clots were determined. Blood
      clearance and biodistribution were evaluated in rats and mice, respectively. The
      peptide with the highest affinity was injected to a live rabbit femoral
      thrombosis model, and scintigraphic images were obtained. RESULTS: In vitro
      studies show that peptides are stable in human plasma and have a high affinity
      for human fibrin. They also demonstrated fast blood clearance in rats and high
      thrombus uptake in the Balb/c mice femoral thrombosis model. Femoral thrombosis
      was visualized 30 min postinjection of cyclic peptide in a live rabbit model
      using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/X-ray computed
      tomography. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the cyclic peptide is a
      promising agent for molecular imaging of fibrin using SPECT.

PMID- 27632424
TI  - Impact of Region-of-Interest Delineation Methods, Reconstruction Algorithms, and
      Intra- and Inter-Operator Variability on Internal Dosimetry Estimates Using PET.
AB  - PURPOSE: Human dosimetry studies play a central role in radioligand development
      for positron emission tomography (PET). Drawing regions of interest (ROIs) on the
      PET images is used to measure the dose in each organ. In the study aspects
      related to ROI delineation methods were evaluated for two radioligands of
      different biodistribution (intestinal vs urinary). PROCEDURES: PET images were
      simulated from a human voxel-based phantom. Several ROI delineation methods were
      tested: antero-posterior projections (AP), 3D sub-samples of the organs (S), and
      a 3D volume covering the whole-organ (W). Inter- and intra-operator variability
      ROI drawing was evaluated by using human data. RESULTS: The effective dose
      estimates using S and W methods were comparable to the true values. AP methods
      overestimated (49 %) the dose for the radioligand with intestinal
      biodistribution. Moreover, the AP method showed the highest inter-operator
      variability: 11 +/- 1 %. CONCLUSIONS: The sub-sampled organ method showed the
      best balance between quantitative accuracy and inter- and intra-operator
      variability.

PMID- 27632427
TI  - An Approach for Calculating Student-Centered Value in Education - A Link between
      Quality, Efficiency, and the Learning Experience in the Health Professions.
AB  - Health professional education is experiencing a cultural shift towards student
      centered education. Although we are now challenging our traditional training
      methods, our methods for evaluating the impact of the training on the learner
      remains largely unchanged. What is not typically measured is student-centered
      value; whether it was 'worth' what the learner paid. The primary aim of this
      study was to apply a method of calculating student-centered value, applied to the
      context of a change in teaching methods within a health professional program.
      This study took place over the first semester of the third year of the Bachelor
      of Physiotherapy at Monash University, Victoria, Australia, in 2014. The entire
      third year cohort (n = 78) was invited to participate. Survey based design was
      used to collect the appropriate data. A blended learning model was implemented;
      subsequently students were only required to attend campus three days per week,
      with the remaining two days comprising online learning. This was compared to the
      previous year's format, a campus-based face-to-face approach where students
      attended campus five days per week, with the primary outcome-Value to student.
      Value to student incorporates, user costs associated with transportation and
      equipment, the amount of time saved, the price paid and perceived gross benefit.
      Of the 78 students invited to participate, 76 completed the post-unit survey (non
      participation rate 2.6%). Based on Value to student the blended learning approach
      provided a $1,314.93 net benefit to students. Another significant finding was
      that the perceived gross benefit for the blended learning approach was $4014.84
      compared to the campus-based face-to-face approach of $3651.72, indicating that
      students would pay more for the blended learning approach. This paper
      successfully applied a novel method of calculating student-centered value. This
      is the first step in validating the value to student outcome. Measuring economic
      value to the student may be used as a way of evaluating effective change in a
      modern health professional curriculum. This could extend to calculate total
      value, which would incorporate the economic implications for the educational
      providers. Further research is required for validation of this outcome. 

PMID- 27632425
TI  - 3D Cell Culture in a Self-Assembled Nanofiber Environment.
AB  - The development and utilization of three-dimensional cell culture platforms has
      been gaining more traction. Three-dimensional culture platforms are capable of
      mimicking in vivo microenvironments, which provide greater physiological
      relevance in comparison to conventional two-dimensional cultures. The majority of
      three-dimensional culture platforms are challenged by the lack of cell
      attachment, long polymerization times, and inclusion of undefined xenobiotics,
      and cytotoxic cross-linkers. In this study, we review the use of a highly defined
      material composed of naturally occurring compounds, hyaluronic acid and chitosan,
      known as Cell-Mate3DTM. Moreover, we provide an original measurement of Young's
      modulus using a uniaxial unconfined compression method to elucidate the
      difference in microenvironment rigidity for acellular and cellular conditions.
      When hydrated into a tissue-like hybrid hydrocolloid/hydrogel, Cell-Mate3DTM is a
      highly versatile three-dimensional culture platform that enables downstream
      applications such as flow cytometry, immunostaining, histological staining, and
      functional studies to be applied with relative ease. 

PMID- 27632428
TI  - Destabilization of Oil-in-Water Emulsions Stabilized by Non-ionic Surfactants:
      Effect of Particle Hydrophilicity.
AB  - We investigate the use of particle hydrophilicity as a tool for emulsion
      destabilization in Triton-X-100-stabilized hexadecane-in-water emulsions. The
      hydrophilicity of the particles added to the aqueous phase was found to have a
      pronounced effect on the stability of the emulsion. Specifically, the addition of
      hydrophilic fumed silica particles to the aqueous phase resulted in coarsening of
      the emulsion droplets, with droplet flocculation observed at higher particle
      concentrations. On the other hand, when partially hydrophobic fumed silica
      particles were added to the aqueous phase, coarsening of the emulsion droplets
      was observed at low particle concentrations and phase separation of oil and water
      was observed at higher particle concentrations. Surface tension and interfacial
      tension measurements showed significant depletion of the surfactant from the
      aqueous phase in the presence of the partially hydrophobic particles. The
      observed changes in the stability of the emulsion and the depletion of the
      surfactant can be rationalized in terms of changes in the adsorption behavior of
      the surfactant molecules, from one dominated by hydrogen bonding on hydrophilic
      particles to one dominated by hydrophobic interactions on partially hydrophobic
      particles. Our findings also provide, for the first time, an in-depth
      understanding of antagonistic (destabilizing) effects in mixtures of partially
      hydrophobic particles and a non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100) in water.

PMID- 27632426
TI  - Coenzyme Q10 plus Multivitamin Treatment Prevents Cisplatin Ototoxicity in Rats.
AB  - Cisplatin (Cpt) is known to induce a high level of oxidative stress, resulting in
      an increase of reactive oxygen species damaging the inner ear and causing hearing
      loss at high frequencies. Studies on animal models show that antioxidants may
      lower Cpt-induced ototoxicity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ototoxic
      effects of two different protocols of Cpt administration in a Sprague-Dawley rat
      model, and to test in the same model the synergic protective effects of a
      solution of coenzyme Q10 terclatrate and Acuval 400(r), a multivitamin supplement
      containing antioxidant agents and minerals (Acu-Qter). The Cpt was administered
      intraperitoneally in a single dose (14 mg/kg) or in three daily doses (4.6
      mg/kg/day) to rats orally treated or untreated with Acu-Qter for 5 days. The
      auditory function was assessed by measuring auditory brainstem responses from 2
      to 32 kHz at day 0 and 5 days after treatment. Similar hearing threshold and body
      weight alterations were observed in both Cpt administration protocols, but
      mortality reduced to zero when Cpt was administered in three daily doses. The Acu
      Qter treatment was able to prevent and completely neutralize ototoxicity in rats
      treated with three daily Cpt doses, supporting the synergic protective effects of
      coenzyme Q terclatrate and Acuval 400(r) against Cpt-induced oxidative stress.
      The administration protocol involving three Cpt doses is more similar to common
      human chemotherapy protocols, therefore it appears more useful for long-term
      preclinical studies on ototoxicity prevention. 

PMID- 27632429
TI  - Development of a screening system for inteins active in protein splicing based on
      intein insertion into the LacZalpha-peptide.
AB  - Protein splicing by inteins has found diverse applications in biotechnology,
      protein chemistry and chemical biology. Inteins display a wide range of
      efficiencies and rates unpredictable from their amino acid sequences. Here, we
      identified positions T22S and S35 in the LacZalpha peptide as intein insertion
      sites that strictly require protein splicing, in contrast to cleavage side
      reactions, to allow for complementation of beta-galactosidase activity. Both the
      cis-variant of the M86 mutant of the Ssp DnaB intein and a split form undergoing
      protein trans-splicing gave rise to formation of blue colonies in the beta
      galactosidase read-out. Furthermore, we report the two novel, naturally split
      VidaL T4Lh-1 and VidaL UvsX-2 inteins whose N-terminal fragments consist of only
      15 and 16 amino acids, respectively. Initial biochemical characterization with
      the LacZalpha host system of these inteins further underlines its utility.
      Finally, we used the LacZalpha host system to rapidly identify amino acid
      substitutions from a small randomized library at the structurally conserved
      intein position 2 next to the catalytic center, that are tolerated for protein
      splicing activity of the M86 intein. These findings demonstrate the potential of
      the system for initial testing and directed evolution of inteins.

PMID- 27632430
TI  - Sedentary time and breast cancer incidence in African American women.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether time spent sitting
      at work or watching television was associated with breast cancer risk among
      African American women. METHODS: The Black Women's Health Study (analytic cohort
      = 46,734) is an ongoing prospective cohort study of African American women ages
      21-69 at baseline (1995). Questionnaire data were used to estimate sedentary
      time. Total time spent sitting at work and watching television (individually and
      combined) at baseline and updated through follow-up (1995-2001) and breast cancer
      incidence (n = 2,041 incident cases, 1995-2013) was evaluated using proportional
      hazards regression. RESULTS: Higher total time spent sitting at baseline (>=10
      vs. <5 h/day, HR 1.27, 95 % CI 1.06, 1.53) and updated through follow-up (>=10
      vs. <5 h/day, HR 1.38, 95 % CI 1.14, 1.66) was associated with an increased
      breast cancer risk. Associations were stronger for hormone receptor-negative
      tumors (>=10 vs. <5 h/day, HR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.12, 2.55) compared to hormone
      receptor-positive tumors (>=10 vs. <5 h/day, HR 1.16, 95 % CI 0.88, 1.52), but
      tests for heterogeneity were not statistically significant (p heterogeneity =
      0.31). Positive associations between total time spent sitting and breast cancer
      incidence did not differ by physical activity level or body composition
      measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that high sedentary time may
      increase risk for breast cancer among African American women.

PMID- 27632431
TI  - Intestinal Organoids: New Frontiers in the Study of Intestinal Disease and
      Physiology.
AB  - The development of sustainable intestinal organoid cell culture has emerged as a
      new modality for the study of intestinal function and cellular processes.
      Organoid culture is providing a new testbed for therapeutic research and
      development. Intestinal organoids, self-renewing 3-dimensional structures
      comprised intestinal stem cells and their differentiated epithelial progeny allow
      for more facile and robust exploration of cellular activity, cell organization
      and structure, genetic manipulation, and vastly more physiologic modeling of
      intestinal response to stimuli as compared to traditional 2-dimensional cell line
      cultures. Intestinal organoids are affecting a wide variety of research into
      gastrointestinal pathology. The purpose of this review is to discuss the current
      state-of-the-art and future effect of research using enteroids and colonoids
      (organoids grown from the small and large intestines, respectively).

PMID- 27632433
TI  - Epidemiology of pertussis in Denmark, 1995 to 2013.
AB  - We describe incidence and age distribution of laboratory-confirmed pertussis in
      Denmark from 1995 to 2013. Notification has been mandatory since 2007. Since
      1997, an acellular monocomponent vaccine has been used. The latest epidemic
      occurred in 2002 with an incidence of 36 per 100,000; since 1995, only six infant
      deaths have been recorded. The inter-epidemic incidence lies below 10 per
      100,000. In 1995, the mean age of confirmed cases was 9.2 years (95% confidence
      interval (CI): 7.9-10.5; median: 5.1), this gradually increased to 23.9 years in
      2013 (95% CI: 22.0-25.8; median: 15.7). In 1995, 14% of laboratory-confirmed
      cases were 20 years and older, 43% in 2013. In the study period, the highest
      incidence among children was among those younger than one year with incidences
      between 84 and 331 per 100,000 in inter-epidemic periods (mean: 161/100,000) and
      435 for the epidemic in 2002. After introduction of a preschool booster in 2003,
      the highest incidence among children one year and older changed gradually from
      three to five-year-olds in 2003 to 12 to 14-year-olds in 2013. In 2013, PCR was
      the primary method used for laboratory-diagnosis of pertussis in Denmark, while
      serology was the method with the highest percentage of positive results. 

PMID- 27632432
TI  - Stable Isotope Techniques for the Assessment of Host and Microbiota Response
      During Gastrointestinal Dysfunction.
AB  - The International Atomic Energy Agency convened a technical meeting on
      environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) in Vienna (October 28-30, 2015;
      https://nucleus.iaea.org/HHW/Nutrition/EED_Technical_Meeting/index.html) to bring
      together international experts in the fields of EED, nutrition, and stable
      isotope technologies. Advances in stable isotope-labeling techniques open up new
      possibilities to improve our understanding of gastrointestinal dysfunction and
      the role of the microbiota in host health. In the context of EED, little is known
      about the role gut dysfunction may play in macro- and micronutrient
      bioavailability and requirements and what the consequences may be for nutritional
      status and linear growth. Stable isotope labeling techniques have been used to
      assess intestinal mucosal injury and barrier function, carbohydrate digestion and
      fermentation, protein-derived amino acid bioavailability and requirements,
      micronutrient bioavailability and to track microbe-microbe and microbe-host
      interactions at the single cell level. The noninvasive nature of stable isotope
      technologies potentially allow for low-hazard, field-deployable tests of gut
      dysfunction that are applicable across all age groups. The purpose of this review
      is to assess the state-of-the-art use of stable isotope technologies and to
      provide a perspective on where these technologies can be exploited to further our
      understanding of gut dysfunction in EED.

PMID- 27632435
TI  - Pilonidal Sinus Disease: Persistent Quandaries.

PMID- 27632436
TI  - Dressings for Preventing Pressure Ulcers: A Meta-analysis by Huang et al.

PMID- 27632437
TI  - In response.

PMID- 27632441
TI  - FAQs: Certifying Patients for Medicare Home Health Benefit.

PMID- 27632434
TI  - The Relationship Among Breastfeeding, Postpartum Depression, and Postpartum
      Weight in Mexican American Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if symptoms of postpartum depression and postpartum
      weight varied according to the level of breastfeeding among women of Mexican
      origin at 1 month and 6 months postpartum. DESIGN: Secondary quantitative
      analysis to study the differences in postpartum weight and depression among the
      mothers in the study who breastfed and those who did not. SETTING: A heavily
      Hispanic community located in a major Southwestern U.S. city. PARTICIPANTS: Women
      of Mexican origin (N = 150) who enrolled during their third trimesters in a local
      Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children clinic
      and were followed for 6 months. METHODS: Weight was measured at 1 month and at 6
      months postpartum at home visits with validated digital scales. Breastfeeding was
      measured according to World Health Organization criteria and recorded after
      monthly phone calls. Depression was measured at home visits at 1 month and 6
      months with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. RESULTS: At 6 months
      postpartum, participants who did not breastfeed had the highest scores on the
      Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; participants who breastfed nonexclusively
      had the lowest scores (p = .067). At both time points, there was a significant
      difference in weight (p = .017) between women who were doing any breastfeeding
      and women who were not breastfeeding. CONCLUSION: Breastfeeding, even if not
      exclusive, contributed to lower depression scores and significantly lower
      postpartum weight among this sample of Mexican American women.

PMID- 27632442
TI  - Evaluation of the Healing Progress of Pressure Ulcers Treated with Cathodal High
      Voltage Monophasic Pulsed Current: Results of a Prospective, Double-blind,
      Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of high-voltage monophasic pulsed
      current (HVMPC) as an adjunct to a standard wound care for the treatment of Stage
      II and III pressure ulcers (PrUs). DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind,
      controlled clinical study. SETTING: Two nursing and care centers. PATIENTS:
      Patients with PrUs that did not respond to previous treatment for at least 4
      weeks were randomly assigned to the electrical stimulation (ES) group (25
      patients; mean age of 79.92 +/- 8.50 years; mean wound surface area [WSA] of
      10.58 +/- 10.57 cm) or to the control group (24 patients; mean age of 76.33 +/-
      12.74 years; mean WSA of 9.71 +/- 6.70 cm). INTERVENTIONS: Both the ES and
      control groups received standard wound care and respectively, cathodal HVMPC (154
      microseconds; 100 pulses per second; 0.24 A; 250 MU/s) applied continuously for
      50 minutes once a day, 5 times a week, or sham HVMPC. MAIN OUTCOME: Percentage
      area reduction over 6 weeks of intervention. MAIN RESULTS: In the ES group, there
      was a statistically significant decrease in WSA after 1 week of treatment (35% +/
      30.5%) compared with 17.07% +/- 34.13% in the control group (P = .032). After
      treatment, at week 6, percentage area reduction in the ES group was 80.31% +/-
      29.02% versus 54.65% +/- 42.65% in the control group (P = .046). CONCLUSIONS:
      Cathodal HVMPC reduces the WSA of Stage II and III PrUs. The results are
      consistent with the results of other researchers who used HVMPC to treat PrUs.

PMID- 27632443
TI  - Novel Multivalent Wound-Healing Ointment Provides Bioburden Control and Moisture
      Management: A Retrospective Registry Data Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this retrospective registry data analysis was to
      explore the effectiveness of a novel multivalent topical ointment (Terrasil
      Infection Control Wound Care Ointment; Aspiera Medical, Woonsocket, Rhode
      Island), containing a patented mineral complex and 0.2% benzethonium chloride in
      the treatment of nonhealing acute and chronic wounds. DESIGN: Aspiera Medical
      designed a registry to capture physician experiences and treatment results with
      Terrasil Infection Control Wound Care Ointment. Physicians were asked to enter
      deidentified patient data into an online registry. SETTING: Wound clinics in the
      United States were asked to participate in the registry. PATIENTS: Physicians at
      4 wound clinics treated 30 patients (26 of whom completed the treatment) with
      various chronic wounds that had persisted for an average of 6 months and entered
      treatment data into the registry. INTERVENTIONS: Patients applied the ointment
      according to physician orders. Concurrent treatments used by patients included
      offloading, compression wraps, and dressings, such as collagen and calcium
      alginate. Patients were treated until complete wound closure or lost to follow
      up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physicians calculated each patient's percentage wound
      reduction at each visit. MAIN RESULTS: Thirty patients were entered into the
      registry. Pretreatment and posttreatment measurements were available for 26 of
      them. Patients achieved an average surface area reduction of 84% in a mean of 23
      days' treatment. CONCLUSION: The antimicrobial and moisturizing ointment studied
      appears to be effective in promoting wound closure in a variety of acute and
      chronic wounds. Wounds studied included diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers,
      venous stasis ulcers, surgical infections, burns, and insect bites. The results
      of this registry data analysis will be used to inform planned clinical trials.

PMID- 27632445
TI  - Frequently Asked Questions: Physician Quality Reporting System.

PMID- 27632444
TI  - Pilonidal Sinus Disease: 10 Steps to Optimize Care.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present a 10-step approach to the assessment and treatment of
      pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) and related wounds based on the Harris protocol,
      expert opinion, and a current literature review. TARGET AUDIENCE: This continuing
      education activity is intended for physicians and nurses with an interest in skin
      and wound care. OBJECTIVES: After participating in this educational activity, the
      participant should be better able to: ABSTRACT: Pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) is
      a common problem in young adults and particularly in males with a deep natal or
      intergluteal cleft and coarse body hair. An approach to an individual with PSD
      includes the assessment of pain, activities of daily living, the pilonidal sinus,
      and natal cleft. Local wound care includes the management of infection (if
      present), along with appropriate debridement and moisture management. Treatment
      is optimized with patient empowerment to manage the wound and periwound
      environment (cleansing, dressing changes, decontamination, hair removal,
      minimizing friction). Self-care education includes the recognition of recurrences
      or infection. Early surgical intervention of these wounds is often necessary for
      successful outcomes. Pilonidal sinus healing by secondary intention often takes
      weeks to months; however, the use of the Harris protocol may decrease healing
      times. A number of new surgical approaches may accelerate healing. Surgical
      closure by primary intention is often associated with higher recurrence rates.
      Expert opinion in this article is combined with an evidence-based literature
      review. The authors have tabulated 10 key steps from the Harris protocol,
      including a review of the surgical techniques to improve PSD patient outcomes.

PMID- 27632446
TI  - Pilonidal Sinus Disease: 10 Steps to Optimize Care.

PMID- 27632447
TI  - Advances in the management of systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632448
TI  - Unnecessary x-rays: Occurrence, disadvantages and side effects.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632449
TI  - Guidelines for the prevention of migraine.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632450
TI  - Reappraisal of the anatomy of the anorectal musculature.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632451
TI  - Pediatric inguinal hernia: Outcome of repair.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632452
TI  - The role of nasendoscopy in selecting the surgical management of velopharyngeal
      incompetence in cleft palate patients.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632453
TI  - Tympanostomy tubes and prophylactic antibiotic ear drops.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632454
TI  - Serum cytokines in autoimmune and toxic multinodular thyroid diseases.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632455
TI  - Relationship between obesity, overweight and plasma lipids in Saudis.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632456
TI  - Incidence of bronchial asthma in a children hospital, Jeddah.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632457
TI  - Intrapartum rupture of the gravid uterus.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632458
TI  - Characteristics, nutritional and health status of addicts hospitalized for
      detoxification.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632459
TI  - Prenatal and postnatal counselling in hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632460
TI  - Datura induced delirium: A report of two cases.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632461
TI  - Healthy diphtheria carriers in two students in the Eastern Province.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632462
TI  - Evaluation of mail survey for the assessment of tobacco use among adults.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632463
TI  - Influenza viruses in children attending major referral center in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632464
TI  - The regressing role of surgery in the management of pancreatic pseudocysts in
      children.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632465
TI  - Amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenic purpura responded to methyl prednisilone.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632466
TI  - Analysis of delays in elective operating lists.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632467
TI  - International Symposium on Recent Advances in Surgery.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632468
TI  - Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension in relation to chemical
      composition of drinking water: Does magnesium protect against diabetes mellitus?
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632469
TI  - Sildenafil (Viagra) A breakthrough in the management of an old problem or a risky
      drug.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632470
TI  - Mobile phone use for a social strategy to improve antiretroviral refill
      experience at a low-resource HIV clinic: patient responses from Nigeria.
AB  - In sub-Saharan African areas where antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are not available
      through community pharmacies, clinic-based pharmacies are often the primary
      source of ARV drug refills. Social pressure is mounting on treatment providers to
      adjust ARV refill services towards user-friendly approaches which prioritize
      patients' convenience and engage their resourcefulness. By this demand, patients
      may be signalling dissatisfaction with the current provider-led model of monthly
      visits to facility-based pharmacies for ARV refill. Mobile phones are
      increasingly popular in sub-Saharan Africa, and have been used to support ARV
      treatment goals in this setting. A patient-centred response to on-going social
      pressure requires treatment providers to view ARV refill activities through the
      eyes of patients who are negotiating the challenges of day-to-day life while
      contemplating their next refill appointment. Using focus groups of five
      categories of adult patients receiving combination ARV therapy, we conducted this
      cross-sectional qualitative study to provide insight into modifiable gaps between
      patients' expectations and experiences of the use of mobile phones in facility
      based ARV refill service at a public HIV clinic in Nigeria. A notable finding was
      patients' preference for harnessing informal social support (through
      intermediaries with mobile phones) to maintain adherence to ARV refill
      appointments when they could not present in person. This evolving social support
      strategy also has the potential to enhance defaulter tracking. Our study findings
      may inform the development of ARV refill strategies and the design of future
      qualitative studies on client-provider communication by mobile phones in under
      resourced HIV treatment programmes.

PMID- 27632526
TI  - RelA-Mediated BECN1 Expression Is Required for Reactive Oxygen Species-Induced
      Autophagy in Oral Cancer Cells Exposed to Low-Power Laser Irradiation.
AB  - Low-power laser irradiation (LPLI) is a non-invasive and safe method for cancer
      treatment that alters a variety of physiological processes in the cells.
      Autophagy can play either a cytoprotective role or a detrimental role in cancer
      cells exposed to stress. The detailed mechanisms of autophagy and its role on
      cytotoxicity in oral cancer cells exposed to LPLI remain unclear. In this study,
      we showed that LPLI at 810 nm with energy density 60 J/cm2 increased the number
      of microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1LC3) puncta and increased
      autophagic flux in oral cancer cells. Moreover, reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production was induced, which increased RelA transcriptional activity and beclin
      1 (BECN1) expression in oral cancer cells irradiated with LPLI. Furthermore, ROS
      scavenger or knockdown of RelA diminished LPLI-induced BECN1 expression and
      MAP1LC3-II conversion. In addition, pharmacological and genetic ablation of
      autophagy significantly enhanced the effects of LPLI-induced apoptosis in oral
      cancer cells. These results suggest that autophagy may be a resistant mechanism
      for LPLI-induced apoptosis in oral cancer cells. 

PMID- 27632528
TI  - Increased Wildfire Risk Driven by Climate and Development Interactions in the
      Bolivian Chiquitania, Southern Amazonia.
AB  - Wildfires are becoming increasingly dominant in tropical landscapes due to
      reinforcing feedbacks between land cover change and more severe dry conditions.
      This study focused on the Bolivian Chiquitania, a region located at the southern
      edge of Amazonia. The extensive, unique and well-conserved tropical dry forest in
      this region is susceptible to wildfires due to a marked seasonality. We used a
      novel approach to assess fire risk at the regional level driven by different
      development trajectories interacting with changing climatic conditions. Possible
      future risk scenarios were simulated using maximum entropy modelling with
      presence-only data, combining land cover, anthropogenic and climatic variables.
      We found that important determinants of fire risk in the region are distance to
      roads, recent deforestation and density of human settlements. Severely dry
      conditions alone increased the area of high fire risk by 69%, affecting all
      categories of land use and land cover. Interactions between extreme dry
      conditions and rapid frontier expansion further increased fire risk, resulting in
      potential biomass loss of 2.44+/-0.8 Tg in high risk area, about 1.8 times higher
      than the estimates for the 2010 drought. These interactions showed particularly
      high fire risk in land used for 'extensive cattle ranching', 'agro-silvopastoral
      use' and 'intensive cattle ranching and agriculture'. These findings have serious
      implications for subsistence activities and the economy in the Chiquitania, which
      greatly depend on the forestry, agriculture and livestock sectors. Results are
      particularly concerning if considering the current development policies promoting
      frontier expansion. Departmental protected areas inhibited wildfires when
      strategically established in areas of high risk, even under drought conditions.
      However, further research is needed to assess their effectiveness accounting for
      more specific contextual factors. This novel and simple modelling approach can
      inform fire and land management decisions in the Chiquitania and other tropical
      forest landscapes to better anticipate and manage large wildfires in the future. 

PMID- 27632529
TI  - Second harmonic generation from an individual amorphous selenium nanosphere.
AB  - Among the numerous nonlinear optics effects, second harmonic generation (SHG) is
      always a hotspot and it is extensively used for optical frequency conversion,
      biomedical imaging, etc. However, SHG is forbidden in a medium with inversion
      symmetry under the electric-dipole approximation. Here, we demonstrated SHG from
      a single amorphous selenium (a-Se) nanosphere under near-infrared femtosecond
      pulse excitation. It was found that SH spectra are tunable with the size of a-Se
      nanospheres and the SHG efficiency of a single a-Se sphere with a diameter over
      300 nm is estimated at 10(-8). We also established two physical mechanisms of SHG
      from the amorphous nanospheres. There is an electric-dipole contribution to the
      second-order nonlinearity in view of the inevitable structural discontinuity at
      the surface. The discontinuity of the normal component of the electric field
      strength leads to the quadrupole-type contributions arising from the large
      electric field gradient. The SHG process can be enhanced by resonance near the
      fundamental wavelength, giving rise to the detectable second harmonic (SH)
      spectra of a single a-Se nanosphere (d > 300 nm) or two small a-Se nanospheres (d
      = 200 nm) aggregated into a dimer, while the single nanosphere with smaller size
      (d > 300 nm) is undetectable. As an essential trace element for animals, a-Se
      features unique biological compatibility and has specific properties of optical
      nonlinearity within the optical window in biological tissue. This discovery makes
      a-Se nanospheres promising both in nonlinear optics and biomedicine. 

PMID- 27632527
TI  - Field Evaluation of Two Different Treatment Approaches and Their Ability to
      Control Fleas and Prevent Canine Leishmaniosis in a Highly Endemic Area.
AB  - This study investigated the efficacy of two collars for the treatment and
      prevention of flea infestations. Additionally the effect of these collars on the
      incidence of Leishmania infantum infection as compared with a group of vaccinated
      dogs was evaluated. A total of 224 young dogs from private animal shelters were
      enrolled in April/May into four groups: G1, 55 dogs treated with 10% imidacloprid
      + 4.5% flumethrin collar (Seresto, Bayer Animal Health); G2, 60 dogs treated with
      4% deltamethrin collar (Scalibor protector band, MSD Animal Health); G3, 54 dogs
      vaccinated with CaniLeish (Virbac Animal Health); and G4, 55 dogs left non
      treated as controls. Dogs were followed up at days 120 (September), 210
      (December), and 360 (April-May). At those time points, clinical assessments,
      ectoparasite counts and blood, bone marrow and skin samples, to detect the
      presence of L. infantum, were performed. The efficacy of Seresto in protecting
      dogs from flea infestation was 100% (P < 0.01) on day 120 and 210, while animals
      treated with Scalibor showed a prevalence of the infestation ranging from 23.3%
      to 33.3% on day 120 and 210, respectively. At the end of the study, the incidence
      of L. infantum infection in collared dogs-based on animals being positive in any
      of the tests-was 5.5% in Seresto-treated dogs and 20% in Scalibor-treated dogs,
      resulting in overall efficacy of prevention of 88.3% for Seresto and 61.8% for
      Scalibor. No statistical difference was detected in L. infantum positive dogs for
      bone marrow PCR and/or cytology at day 360 between the CaniLeish (15.4%) and non
      treated control dogs (10.0%). Both collars proved to be effective (P < 0.01) in
      preventing L. infantum infection throughout one transmission season, whereas no
      significant difference was recorded in the frequency of active infections between
      dogs vaccinated with CaniLeish and control dogs, emphasizing the importance of
      using repellent/insecticide actives as a priority measure for protection against
      canine leishmaniosis.

PMID- 27632530
TI  - [Improvement in Phoneme Discrimination in Noise in Normal Hearing Adults].
AB  - Objective: The study's aim was to examine the possibility to train phoneme
      discrimination in noise with normal hearing adults, and its effectivity on speech
      recognition in noise. A specific computerised training program was used,
      consisting of special nonsense-syllables with background noise, to train
      participants' discrimination ability. Material and Methods: 46 normal hearing
      subjects took part in this study, 28 as training group participants, 18 as
      control group participants. Only the training group subjects were asked to train
      over a period of 3 weeks, twice a week for an hour with a computer-based training
      program. Speech recognition in noise were measured pre- to posttraining for the
      training group subjects with the Freiburger Einsilber Test. The control group
      subjects obtained test and restest measures within a 2-3 week break. For the
      training group follow-up speech recognition was measured 2-3 months after the end
      of the training. Results: The majority of training group subjects improved their
      phoneme discrimination significantly. Besides, their speech recognition in noise
      improved significantly during the training compared to the control group, and
      remained stable for a period of time. Conclusions: Phonem-Discrimination in noise
      can be trained by normal hearing adults. The improvements have got a positiv
      effect on speech recognition in noise, also for a longer period of time.

PMID- 27632531
TI  - Analysis of Serum microRNA Expression Profiles and Comparison with Small
      Intestinal microRNA Expression Profiles in Weaned Piglets.
AB  - Weaning stress induces tissue injuries and impairs health and growth in piglets,
      especially during the first week post-weaning. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play vital
      roles in regulating stresses and diseases. Our previous study found multiple
      differentially expressed miRNAs in small intestine of piglets at four days post
      weaning. To better understand the roles of miRNAs during weaning stress, we
      analyzed the serum miRNA expressional profile in weaned piglets (at four days
      post-weaning) and in suckling piglets (control) of the same age using miRNA
      microarray technology. We detected a total of 300 expressed miRNAs, 179 miRNAs of
      which were differentially expressed between the two groups. The miRNA microarray
      results were validated by RT-qPCR. The biological functions of these
      differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted by GO terms and KEGG pathway
      annotations. We identified 10 highly expressed miRNAs in weaned piglets including
      miR-31, miR-205, and miR-21 (upregulated) and miR-144, miR-30c-5p, miR-363, miR
      194a, miR-186, miR-150, and miR-194b-5p (downregulated). Additionally, miR-194b
      5p expression was significantly downregulated in serum and small intestine of
      weaned piglets. Our results suggest that weaning stress affects serum miRNA
      profiles in piglets. And serum miR-194b-5p levels can reflect its expressional
      changes in small intestine of piglets by weaning stress. 

PMID- 27632532
TI  - DCE-MRI-Derived Parameters in Evaluating Abraxane-Induced Early Vascular Response
      and the Effectiveness of Its Synergistic Interaction with Cisplatin.
AB  - Our previous studies revealed molecular alterations of tumor vessels, varying
      from immature to mature alterations, resulting from Abraxane, and demonstrated
      that the integrin-specific PET tracer 18F-FPPRGD2 can be used to noninvasively
      monitor such changes. However, changes in the tumor vasculature at functional
      levels such as perfusion and permeability are also important for monitoring
      Abraxane treatment outcomes in patients with cancer. The purpose of this study is
      to further investigate the vascular response during Abraxane therapy and the
      effectiveness of its synergistic interaction with cisplatin using Dynamic
      contrast enhanced-magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). Thirty MDA-MB-435 tumor
      mice were randomized into three groups: PBS control (C group), Abraxane only (A
      group), and sequential treatment with Abraxane followed by cisplatin (A-P group).
      Tumor volume was monitored based on caliper measurements. A DCE-MRI protocol was
      performed at baseline and day 3. The Ktrans, Kep and Ve were calculated and
      compared with CD31, alpha-SMA, and Ki67 histology data. Sequential treatment with
      Abraxane followed by cisplatin produced a significantly greater inhibition of
      tumor growth during the three weeks of the observation period. Decreases in
      Ktrans and Kep for the A and A-P groups were observed on day 3.
      Immunohistological staining suggested vascular remodeling during the Abraxane
      therapy. The changes in Ktrans and Kep values were correlated with alterations in
      the permeability of the tumor vasculature induced by the Abraxane treatment. In
      conclusion, Abraxane-mediated permeability variations in tumor vasculature can be
      quantitatively visualized by DCE-MRI, making this a useful method for studying
      the effects of early cancer treatment, especially the early vascular response.
      Vascular remodeling by Abraxane improves the efficiency of cisplatin delivery and
      thus results in a favorable treatment outcome. 

PMID- 27632533
TI  - Altered EMG patterns in diabetic neuropathic and not neuropathic patients during
      step ascending and descending.
AB  - Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) causes motor control alterations during
      daily life activities. Tripping during walking or stair climbing is the
      predominant cause of falls in the elderly subjects with DPN and without (NoDPN).
      Surface Electromyography (sEMG) has been shown to be a valid tool for detecting
      alterations of motor functions in subjects with DPN. This study aims at
      investigating the presence of functional alterations in diabetic subjects during
      stair climbing and at exploring the relationship between altered muscle
      activation and temporal parameter. Lower limb muscle activities, temporal
      parameters and speed were evaluated in 50 subjects (10 controls, 20 with DPN, 20
      without DPN), while climbing up and down a stair, using sEMG, three-dimentional
      motion capture and force plates. Magnitude and timing of sEMG linear envelopes
      peaks were extracted. Level walking was used as reference condition for the
      comparison with step negotiation. sEMG, speed and temporal parameters revealed
      significant differences among all groups of patients. Results showed an
      association between earlier activation of lower limb muscles and reduced speed in
      subjects with DPN. Speed and temporal parameters significantly correlated with
      sEMG (p<0.05). The findings of this study are encouraging and could be used to
      improve rehabilitation programs aiming at reducing falls risk in diabetic
      subjects.

PMID- 27632535
TI  - Molecular Phylogeny of Gueldenstaedtia and Tibetia (Fabaceae) and Their
      Biogeographic Differentiation within Eastern Asia.
AB  - Tibetia and Gueldenstaedtia are two morphologically similar and small genera in
      Fabaceae, with distributions largely corresponding to the Sino-Himalayan and Sino
      Japanese subkingdoms in eastern Asia, respectively. These two genera have
      confusing relationships based on morphology; therefore, we aimed to provide a
      clear understanding of their phylogenetic and biogeographic evolution within
      eastern Asia. In our investigations we included 88 samples representing five
      Gueldenstaedtia species, five Tibetia species, and outgroup species were
      sequenced using five markers (nuclear: ITS; chloroplast: matK, trnL-F, psbA-trnH
      and rbcL). Our phylogenetic results support (1) the monophyly of Tibetia and of
      Gueldenstaedtia, respectively; and (2) that Tibetia and Gueldenstaedtia are
      sister genera. Additionally, our data identified that Tibetia species had much
      higher sequence variation than Gueldenstaedtia species. Our results suggest that
      the two genera were separated from each other about 17.23 million years ago,
      which is congruent with the Himalayan orogeny and the uplift of the Tibetan
      Plateau in the mid Miocene. The divergence of Tibetia and Gueldenstaedtia is
      strongly supported by the separation of the Sino-Himalayan and Sino-Japanese
      region within eastern Asia. In addition, the habitat heterogeneity may accelerate
      the molecular divergence of Tibetia in the Sino-Himalayan region. 

PMID- 27632534
TI  - The Health Economic Value of Changes in Glycaemic Control, Weight and Rates of
      Hypoglycaemia in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - AIMS: Therapy-related consequences of treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus
      (T1DM), such as weight gain and hypoglycaemia, act as a barrier to attaining
      optimal glycaemic control, indirectly influencing the incidence of vascular
      complications and associated morbidity and mortality. This study quantifies the
      individual and combined contribution of changes in hypoglycaemia frequency,
      weight and HbA1c to predicted quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) within a T1DM
      population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We describe the Cardiff Type 1 Diabetes
      (CT1DM) Model, originally informed by the Diabetes Control and Complications
      Trial (DCCT) and updated with the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and
      Complications (EDIC) study and Swedish National Diabetes Registry for
      microvascular and cardiovascular complications respectively. We report model
      validation results and the QALY impact of HbA1c, weight and hypoglycaemia
      changes. RESULTS: Validation results demonstrated coefficients of determination
      for clinical endpoints of R2 = 0.863 (internal R2 = 0.999; external R2 = 0.823),
      costs R2 = 0.980 and QALYs R2 = 0.951. Achieving and maintaining a 1% HbA1c
      reduction was estimated to provide 0.61 additional discounted QALYs. Weight
      changes of +/-1kg, +/-2kg or +/-3kg led to discounted QALY changes of +/-0.03, +/
      0.07 and +/-0.10 respectively, while modifying hypoglycaemia frequency by -10%, 
      20% or -30% resulted in changes of -0.05, -0.11 and -0.17. The differences in
      discounted costs, life-years and QALYs associated with HbA1c 6% versus 10% were 
      L19,037, 2.49 and 2.35 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Using a model updated with
      contemporary epidemiological data, this study presents an outcome-focused
      perspective to assessing the health economic consequences of differing levels of
      glycaemic control in T1DM with and without weight and hypoglycaemia effects.

PMID- 27632536
TI  - IL-1 Coordinates the Neutrophil Response to C. albicans in the Oral Mucosa.
AB  - Mucosal infections with Candida albicans belong to the most frequent forms of
      fungal diseases. Host protection is conferred by cellular immunity; however, the
      induction of antifungal immunity is not well understood. Using a mouse model of
      oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) we show that interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R)
      signaling is critical for fungal control at the onset of infection through its
      impact on neutrophils at two levels. We demonstrate that both the recruitment of
      circulating neutrophils to the site of infection and the mobilization of newly
      generated neutrophils from the bone marrow depended on IL-1R. Consistently, IL-1R
      deficient mice displayed impaired chemokine production at the site of infection
      and defective secretion of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in the
      circulation in response to C. albicans. Strikingly, endothelial cells were
      identified as the primary cellular source of G-CSF during OPC, which responded to
      IL-1alpha that was released from keratinocytes in the infected tissue. The IL-1
      dependent crosstalk between two different cellular subsets of the
      nonhematopoietic compartment was confirmed in vitro using a novel murine tongue
      derived keratinocyte cell line and an established endothelial cell line. These
      data establish a new link between IL-1 and granulopoiesis in the context of
      fungal infection. Together, we identified two complementary mechanisms
      coordinating the neutrophil response in the oral mucosa, which is critical for
      preventing fungal growth and dissemination, and thus protects the host from
      disease.

PMID- 27632537
TI  - Chemokine-Releasing Microparticles Improve Bacterial Clearance and Survival of
      Anthrax Spore-Challenged Mice.
AB  - In this study the hydrogel microparticles (MPs) were used to enhance migration of
      neutrophils in order to improve outcome of anthrax infection in a mouse model.
      Two MP formulations were tested. In the first one the polyacrylamide gel MPs were
      chemically coupled with Cibacron Blue (CB) affinity bait. In the second one the
      bait molecules within the MPs were additionally loaded with neutrophil-attracting
      chemokines (CKs), human CXCL8 and mouse CCL3. A non-covalent interaction of the
      bait with the CKs provided their gradual release after administration of the MPs
      to the host. Mice were challenged into footpads with Bacillus anthracis Sterne
      spores and given a dose of MPs a few hours before and/or after the spores. Pre
      treatment with a single dose of CK-releasing MPs without any additional
      intervention was able to induce influx of neutrophils to the site of spore
      inoculation and regional lymph nodes correlating with reduced bacterial burden
      and decreased inflammatory response in footpads. On average, in two independent
      experiments, up to 53% of mice survived over 13 days. All control spore
      challenged but MP-untreated mice died. The CB-coupled particles were also found
      to improve survival likely due to the capacity to stimulate release of endogenous
      CKs, but were less potent at decreasing the inflammatory host response than the
      CK-releasing MPs. The CK post-treatment did not improve survival compared to the
      untreated mice which died within 4 to 6 days with a strong inflammation of
      footpads, indicating quick dissemination of spores though the lymphatics after
      challenge. This is the first report on the enhanced innate host resistance to
      anthrax in response to CKs delivered and/or endogenously induced by the MPs. 

PMID- 27632539
TI  - Families, Systems, & Health: The past and present help determine the Journal's
      future.
AB  - This editorial introduces the current special issue of Families, Systems, &
      Health. This special issue on "Integrated Care Strategies in the Real World,"
      guest edited by Jennifer Funderburk and Jodi Polaha, will offer rigorous studies
      and provide practical recommendations for others to apply scholarly knowledge in
      real practices.

PMID- 27632540
TI  - A decade review of publications in Families, Systems, & Health: 2005-2015.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this investigation was to review recent publication
      content and trends in Families, Systems, & Health (FSH). How do the journal's
      articles reflect current and emerging challenges in health care? We hope that our
      findings can guide special issues and content foci. METHOD: All work published in
      FSH between 2005 and 2015 was included (n = 452); each piece was coded for
      article type, general foci, and specific foci. RESULTS: The most common type of
      article published over the 10-year time frame was research reports (43%; n =
      195), followed by other types (e.g., tribute pieces, poems), commentaries,
      conceptual/theory papers, literature reviews, and case studies. The most common
      general focus included family health and/or functioning (28%; n = 128). The most
      common specific foci centered on children (15%; n = 55). Common themes found in
      FSH's most frequently cited publications included family relationships in care,
      chronic physical illnesses, and mental health. Marked trends in journal content
      included increases in articles targeting family health and/or functioning and
      primary care and decreased attention to theory. DISCUSSION: FSH's emphasis on
      research reports to inform current and evolving interventions that target
      contemporary health challenges suggests that the journal is keeping stride with
      the most pressing issues in health care today. Future special issues can continue
      to serve and meet these needs. FSH's robust inclusion of other article types
      sustains the journal's mission to advance multiple ways of understanding health
      care phenomena.

PMID- 27632538
TI  - An Evaluation of the Stemness, Paracrine, and Tumorigenic Characteristics of
      Highly Expanded, Minimally Passaged Adipose-Derived Stem Cells.
AB  - The use of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) in regenerative medicine is rising
      due to their plasticity, capacity of differentiation and paracrine and trophic
      effects. Despite the large number of cells obtained from adipose tissue, it is
      usually not enough for therapeutic purposes for many diseases or cosmetic
      procedures. Thus, there is the need for culturing and expanding cells in-vitro
      for several weeks remain. Our aim is to investigate if long- term proliferation
      with minimal passaging will affect the stemness, paracrine secretions and
      carcinogenesis markers of ADSC. The immunophenotypic properties and aldehyde
      dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity of the initial stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and
      serially passaged ADSC were observed by flow cytometry. In parallel, the
      telomerase activity and the relative expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressor
      genes were assessed by q-PCR. We also assessed the cytokine secretion profile of
      passaged ADSC by an ELISA. The expanded ADSC retain their morphological and
      phenotypical characteristics. These cells maintained in culture for up to 12
      weeks until P4, possessed stable telomerase and ALDH activity, without having a
      TP53 mutation. Furthermore, the relative expression levels of TP53, RB, and MDM2
      were not affected while the relative expression of c-Myc decreased significantly.
      Finally, the levels of the secretions of PGE2, STC1, and TIMP2 were not affected
      but the levels of IL-6, VEGF, and TIMP 1 significantly decreased at P2. Our
      results suggest that the expansion of passaged ADSC does not affect the
      differentiation capacity of stem cells and does not confer a cancerous state or
      capacity in vitro to the cells. 

PMID- 27632541
TI  - Responding to challenging interactions with families: A training module for
      inpatient oncology nurses.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sustaining the well-being of the caregiving family is a critical
      agenda in cancer care. In the multidisciplinary team, nurses often serve as a
      bridge between the family and oncology team. Evidence suggests that dealing with
      difficult family dynamics is a common source of stress for oncology nurses, yet
      nurses typically receive very little guidance on how to achieve an effective
      partnership with families under these circumstances. We report on the application
      and preliminary evaluation of a new training module for improving nurses' skills
      in responding collaborative to challenging family situations. METHOD: Training
      was delivered to 282 inpatient oncology nurses at a comprehensive cancer center
      over 2 years. Posttraining surveys measured perceived changes in confidence
      working with families, as well as the utility and relevance of this training. A 6
      month follow-up survey measured continued use of skills. RESULTS: Of the nurses,
      75%-90% reported that the skills learned were useful and relevant to their
      setting. Retrospective pre-post ratings suggested increased confidence in
      managing stressful encounters with families. DISCUSSION: Further investigation is
      needed to observe how nurses transport these skills into their practice settings
      and to understand the role of the nurse-as-family champion within the larger
      multidisciplinary team. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632542
TI  - Brief educational "curbside consultation": Impact on attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder referrals in an integrated healthcare setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: As behavioral health providers integrate into primary health care
      clinics, it is important to examine methods used to increase primary care
      providers' (PCPs) knowledge of behavioral health providers' areas of expertise
      and service provision. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been
      identified as one of the most common behavioral health disorders PCPs diagnose
      and treat in children. METHOD: This study examined whether 2 brief educational
      "curbside consults," during which a psychologist provided information regarding
      the assessment and treatment of ADHD, had an impact on PCPs' referral practices.
      Information was collected via medical records review for the same 6-month period
      prior to and following provider education. RESULTS: The results indicated that
      there was an increase in ADHD referrals to the behavioral health clinic (BHC)
      following educational consultation. In addition, there was some evidence to
      suggest that following PCP education, fewer children were diagnosed by the PCP
      with ADHD and fewer children were previously prescribed a psychotropic medication
      upon referral to the BHC. Treatment (e.g., behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy,
      combined approach) also differed between families previously diagnosed and
      prescribed psychotropic medication. DISCUSSION: The current study provides some
      preliminary evidence that brief educational consultation with PCPs may increase
      both referrals for ADHD concerns and may influence the way PCPs diagnose and
      address behavioral health concerns. Implications of these findings and
      suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632544
TI  - A response to "Responding to challenging interactions with families: A training
      module for inpatient oncology nurses".
AB  - Comments on the original article by Zaider and colleagues (see record 2016-43683
      003) about the training module they developed for inpatient oncology nurses. The
      training module, called "Responding to Challenging Interactions with Families"
      (RCIF), used a collaborative, strength-based, and family centered framework. The
      goal was to help nurses respond to stressful family situations.

PMID- 27632543
TI  - Urban caregiver empowerment: Caregiver nativity, child-asthma symptoms, and
      emergency-department use.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this study, we examined the associations between caregiver
      empowerment, child-asthma symptoms, and emergency-department (ED) use in a sample
      of school-age urban children with asthma. We examined differences in caregiver
      empowerment, and in the associations among caregiver empowerment, proportion of
      days with child-asthma symptoms, and ED use as a function of caregiver nativity.
      METHOD: Participants for this study were part of a larger longitudinal study and
      included Latino, African American and non-Latino White urban caregivers and their
      children with asthma (ages 7-9; N = 130). Caregiver empowerment was assessed
      within family, asthma services, and community domains. RESULTS: Children whose
      caregivers reported greater empowerment within the family (i.e., possessing
      sufficient knowledge and ability to care for their families) presented with fewer
      asthma symptoms. Children whose caregivers reported greater empowerment within
      asthma services (i.e., the ability to collaborate with asthma providers and the
      health-care system), presented with more asthma symptoms. Foreign-born caregivers
      endorsed greater empowerment within the family, whereas U.S.-born caregivers
      reported greater empowerment within asthma services. For foreign-born caregivers,
      higher levels of empowerment in the family were associated with fewer child
      asthma symptoms. For U.S.-born caregivers, higher levels of empowerment in asthma
      services were associated with more child-asthma symptoms. DISCUSSION: Results
      suggest that caregivers who feel more confident and better able to manage
      problems within their families may better manage their children's asthma
      symptoms. Foreign-born caregivers may benefit from increased support to more
      effectively navigate the asthma health-care system and manage their children's
      asthma. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632545
TI  - Occupational therapy in the primary health care clinic: Experiences of two
      clinicians.
AB  - This article provides personal experiences of two clinicians on the topic of
      occupational therapy in the primary health care clinic. Lydia Royeen is a full
      time clinician in acute care and psychiatry and Jeanne Eichler is Assistant
      Professor and founder of the OTonCampus program at Saint Louis University.
      (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27632546
TI  - Fostering self-awareness in collaborative reflective training: Commentary
      response.
AB  - Replies to comments by DeCaporale-Ryan, Dadiz, and Peyre (see record 2016-27364
      002) on the original article by Kim, Hernandez, Lavery, and Denmark (see record
      2016-18380-001). The current authors thank DeCaporale-Ryan, Dadiz, and Peyre for
      presenting a rich theoretical counterpoint to their article and respond to issues
      they raised regarding their collaborative reflecting team (CRT) model.

PMID- 27632547
TI  - Ways of knowing: Howard Stein's border-crossing use of poetry to interrogate
      clinical medicine, medical education, and health care organizations.
AB  - This article explores how medical anthropologist Howard Stein's poetry and his
      unique practice of sharing this poetry with the patients, physicians, and
      administrators who inspired it create ways of knowing that are at once revelatory
      and emancipatory. Stein's writing shows readers that poetry can be considered as
      a form of data and as a method of investigation into the processes of the human
      soul. Furthermore, it represents a kind of intervention that invites health
      professional readers toward connection, bridge building, and solidarity with
      their patients and with one another. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27632549
TI  - Ehr.
AB  - Presents the 55-word story "Ehr." (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27632548
TI  - The "in-between writer": Howard Stein, PhD, professor emeritus, psycho-analytic
      anthropologist, poet, educator, transdisciplinary scholar.
AB  - This commentary reflects the professional life story of a prolific and well
      published poet, Howard Stein. An anthropologist by training, Howard's poetry is
      well known and well respected by family physicians. It is within family medicine
      that Howard found his professional home, and in his 45-plus-year career he has
      shared the value of "patient story"; the value of the doctor-patient
      relationship; and the art of listening deeply to self, colleagues, and patients.
      This commentary offers a tribute to Howard's professional life and his
      contributions to family and narrative medicine. (PsycINFO Database Record 

PMID- 27632550
TI  - Where do we stand?
AB  - This president's column provides the current position of the Collaborative Family
      Healthcare Association (CFHA) in reference to the law passed in North Carolina on
      March 23, 2016, limiting the civil rights of LGBTQ people. This law troubles the
      CFHA deeply. This is an organization that promotes collaborative patient- and
      family-centered care. It currently celebrates diversity and rejects
      discrimination in any form. After considerable thought and review of alternative
      actions, the Board of CFHA determined that our best course is to proceed with
      plans for an annual conference in Charlotte, a city that has attempted to
      strengthen legal protection of the rights of its LGBTQ citizens. CFHA will use
      this opportunity to demonstrate our support for inclusion and cultural competence
      by convening a robust and timely conversation about the underlying issues raised
      by House Bill 2 and our role as collaborative care professionals. (PsycINFO
      Database Record 

PMID- 27632551
TI  - Proteomic Analyses Uncover the Mechanisms Underlying Antibiotic Resistance
      Differences among Three Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the
      antibiotic resistance difference among three Acinetobacter baumannii isolates.
      Fifty A. baumannii isolates were first subjected to an antimicrobial
      susceptibility test, then three isolates differing in antibiotic resistance were
      selected and subjected to iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute
      quantification)-based proteomics analysis. Differential proteins among the three
      A. baumannii isolates were further identified and subjected to gene ontology
      functional enrichment analysis. A resistant isolate (A1), a less resistant one
      (A8) and a susceptible one (A9) were selected. In total, there were 424
      differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between the A1 and A8 isolates, 1,992
      DEPs between the A9 and A1 isolates, and 1,956 DEPs between the A8 and A9
      isolates. The upregulation of I6TUC8 and Q0GA83 in the A1 and A8 isolates may be
      responsible for their higher resistance to ceftriaxone. The higher gentamicin
      resistance of A. baumannii isolates A1 and A8 when compared to A9 may be related
      to the higher expression levels of O05286 and D0CCK1, while the higher Q2FCY1
      expression level may contribute more to strong gentamicin resistance in A1. The
      higher levels of L9LWL7, L9MDB0, K9C9W3, E2IGU7, B6E129, G8HYR7, D2XTB0 and
      D2XTB0 may be responsible for the higher carbapenem resistance of isolate A1 as
      compared to A8.

PMID- 27632552
TI  - Implementation of a National Semen Testing and Counseling Program for Male Ebola
      Survivors - Liberia, 2015-2016.
AB  - According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, the Ebola virus disease
      (Ebola) outbreak that began in West Africa in 2014 has resulted in 28,603 cases
      and 11,301 deaths (1). In March 2015, epidemiologic investigation and genetic
      sequencing in Liberia implicated sexual transmission from a male Ebola survivor,
      with Ebola virus detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT
      PCR) 199 days after symptom onset (2,3), far exceeding the 101 days reported from
      an earlier Ebola outbreak (4). In response, WHO released interim guidelines
      recommending that all male survivors, in addition to receiving condoms and sexual
      risk reduction counseling at discharge from an Ebola treatment unit (ETU), be
      offered semen testing for Ebola virus RNA by RT-PCR 3 months after disease onset,
      and every month thereafter until two consecutive semen specimens collected at
      least 1 week apart test negative for Ebola virus RNA (5). Male Ebola survivors
      should also receive counseling to promote safe sexual practices until their semen
      twice tests negative. When these recommendations were released, testing of semen
      was not widely available in Liberia. Challenges in establishing and operating the
      first nationwide semen testing and counseling program for male Ebola survivors
      included securing sufficient resources for the program, managing a public health
      semen testing program in the context of ongoing research studies that were also
      collecting and screening semen, identification of adequate numbers of trained
      counselors and appropriate health communication messages for the program,
      overcoming Ebola survivor-associated stigma, identification and recruitment of
      male Ebola survivors, and operation of mobile teams. 

PMID- 27632553
TI  - Multiparametric Functional MRI: Non-Invasive Imaging of Inflammation and Edema
      Formation after Kidney Transplantation in Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation (ktx) in mice is used to learn about rejection
      and to develop new treatment strategies. Past studies have mainly been based on
      histological or molecular biological methods. Imaging techniques to monitor
      allograft pathology have rarely been used. METHODS: Here we investigated mice
      after isogenic and allogenic ktx over time with functional MRI with diffusion
      weighted imaging (DWI) and mapping of T2-relaxation time (T2-mapping) to assess
      graft inflammation and edema formation. To characterize graft pathology, we used
      PAS-staining, counted CD3-positive T-lymphocytes, analyzed leukocytes by means
      flow cytometry. RESULTS: DWI revealed progressive restriction of diffusion of
      water molecules in allogenic kidney grafts. This was paralleled by enhanced
      infiltration of the kidney by inflammatory cells. Changes in tissue diffusion
      were not seen following isogenic ktx. T2-times in renal cortex were increased
      after both isogenic and allogenic transplantation, consistent with tissue edema
      due to ischemic injury following prolonged cold ischemia time of 60 minutes. Lack
      of T2 increase in the inner stripe of the inner medulla in allogenic kidney
      grafts matched loss of tubular autofluorescence and may result from rejection
      driven reductions in tubular water content due to tubular dysfunction and renal
      functional impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Functional MRI is a valuable non-invasive
      technique for monitoring inflammation, tissue edema and tubular function. It
      permits on to differentiate between acute rejection and ischemic renal injury in
      a mouse model of ktx.

PMID- 27632554
TI  - The prognostic impact of COX-2 expression in breast cancer depends on oral
      contraceptive history, preoperative NSAID use, and tumor size.
AB  - The association between tumor cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression and breast
      cancer prognosis has been inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate
      the prognostic significance of COX-2 tumor expression according to adjuvant
      treatment, and potential effect modifications of non-steroid anti-inflammatory
      drug (NSAID) use, and other tumor and lifestyle factors. A prospective cohort of
      1,116 patients with primary breast cancer in Lund, Sweden, included 2002-2012 was
      followed until June 2014 (median 5 years). Tumor-specific COX-2 expression was
      evaluated on tissue microarrays using immunohistochemistry. Associations between
      COX-2 intensity (negative, weak-moderate, high) and patient and tumor
      characteristics as well as prognosis were analyzed. Tumor-specific COX-2
      expression was available for 911 patients and was significantly associated with
      higher age at diagnosis and less aggressive tumor characteristics. Higher COX-2
      expression was associated with lower risk for breast cancer events during the
      first five years of follow-up, adj HR 0.60 (95%CI: 0.37-0.97), per category. The
      association between COX-2 expression and prognosis was significantly modified by
      oral contraceptive (OC) use (Pinteraction  = 0.048), preoperative NSAID use
      (Pinteraction  = 0.009), and tumor size (Pinteraction  = 0.039). COX-2 negativity
      was associated with increased risk for events during the first five years in ever
      OC users, adj HR 1.94 (1.01-3.72) and during the 11-year follow-up in
      preoperative NSAID users, adj HR 4.51 (1.18-11.44) as well as in patients with
      large tumors, adj HR 2.57 (1.28-5.15). In conclusion, this study, one of the
      largest evaluating COX-2 expression in breast cancer, indicates that the
      prognostic impact of COX-2 expression depends on host factors and tumor
      characteristics.

PMID- 27632555
TI  - Cooperation in mind: Motor imagery of joint and single actions is represented in
      different brain areas.
AB  - In this study brain activity during motor imagery (MI) of joint actions, compared
      to single actions and rest conditions, was investigated using functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      neuroimaging study which directly investigated the neural correlates of joint
      action motor imagery. Twenty-one healthy participants imagined three different
      motor tasks (dancing, carrying a box, wiping). Each imagery task was performed at
      two kinds: alone (single action MI) or with a partner (joint action MI). We
      hypothesized that to imagine a cooperative task would lead to a stronger cortical
      activation in motor related areas due to a higher vividness and intensification
      of the imagery. This would be elicited by the integration of the action
      simulation of the virtual partner to one's own action. Comparing the joint action
      and the single action condition with the rest condition, we found significant
      activation in the precentral gyrus and precuneus respectively. Furthermore the
      joint action MI showed higher activation patterns in the premotor cortex
      (inferior and middle frontal gyrus) compared to the single action MI. The imagery
      of a more vivid and engaging task, like our joint action imagery, could improve
      rehabilitation processes since a more distributed brain activity is found.
      Furthermore, the joint action imagery compared to single action imagery might be
      an appropriate BCI task due to its clear spatial distinction of activation.

PMID- 27632556
TI  - Association of Prostate Blood Flow with Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the association of prostate blood flow (PBF) with lower
      urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in aged males using Doppler spectral waveform (DSW)
      analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a prospective analysis involving 133
      aged males with clinical diagnosis of LUTS. DSW parameters (peak-systolic
      velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV), and resistive index (RI)) were
      measured at bilateral neurovascular bundles (NVB), periurethral, and capsular
      branches by Doppler transrectal ultrasound with the patient in the right lateral
      decubitus position. The associations of PBF parameters and the International
      Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall, total IPSS scores
      were significantly correlated with the RI of bilateral NVB vessels (r2 = 0.03,
      0.04; p = 0.04, 0.02, respectively), and PSV of left NVB vessels. PSV of
      bilateral NVB vessels were associated with the storage score (p = 0.022 and p =
      0.016), but not with the voiding score. The sum of the frequency and urgency
      score was also associated with EDV of both capsular and urethral branches (p =
      0.043 and p = 0.009, respectively), and PSV of NVB vessels on both sides (p =
      0.045 and p = 0.019, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between
      PBF and LUTS, especially with storage symptoms. The findings may provide some
      insights in understanding the underlying pathophysiology of lower urinary tract
      dysfunction.

PMID- 27632557
TI  - Pharmacokinetics, Safety and Cognitive Function Profile of Rupatadine 10, 20 and
      40 mg in Healthy Japanese Subjects: A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rupatadine is a marketed second generation antihistamine, with anti
      PAF activity, indicated for symptomatic treatment of allergic rhinitis and
      urticaria. This study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK),
      pharmacodynamics (PD), safety and tolerability of rupatadine in healthy Japanese
      subjects after single and multiple oral doses. METHODS: In this randomised,
      double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 27 male and female healthy Japanese
      subjects were administered single and multiple escalating rupatadine dose of 10,
      20 and 40 mg or placebo. Blood samples were collected at different time points
      for PK measurements and subjects were assessed for safety and tolerability. The
      effect of rupatadine on cognitive functioning was evaluated by means of
      computerized cognitive tests: rapid visual information processing (RVP), reaction
      time (RT), spatial working memory (SWM) and visual analogue scales (VAS).
      RESULTS: Exposure to rupatadine as measured by Cmax and AUC was found to increase
      in a dose dependent manner over the dose range of 10-40 mg for both single and
      multiple dose administration. The safety assessments showed that all treatment
      related side effects were of mild intensity and there were no serious adverse
      events (SAEs) or withdrawals due to treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) in
      this study. The therapeutic dose of rupatadine did not show any CNS impairment in
      any of the cognitive tests. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that rupatadine
      is safe and well tolerated by Japanese healthy subjects. The PK-PD profile
      confirmed previous experience with rupatadine.

PMID- 27632558
TI  - Probing the conformational changes and peroxidase-like activity of cytochrome c
      upon interaction with iron nanoparticles.
AB  - Herein, the interaction of iron nanoparticle (Fe-NP) with cytochrome c (Cyt c)
      was investigated, and a range of techniques such as dynamic light scattering
      (DLS), zeta potential measurements, static and synchronous fluorescence
      spectroscopy, near and far circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, and ultraviolet
      visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy were used to analyze the interaction between Cyt c
      and Fe-NP. DLS and zeta potential measurements showed that the values of
      hydrodynamic radius and charge distribution of Fe-NP are 83.95 +/- 3.7 nm and 4.5
      +/- .8 mV, respectively. The fluorescence spectroscopy results demonstrated that
      the binding of Fe-NP with Cyt c is mediated by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals
      interactions. Also Fe-NP induced conformational changes in Cyt c and reduced the
      melting temperature value of Cyt c from 79.18 to 71.33 degrees C. CD experiments
      of interaction between Fe-NP and Cyt c revealed that the secondary structure of
      Cyt c with the dominant alpha-helix structures remained unchanged whereas the
      tertiary structure and heme position of Cyt c are subjected to remarkable
      changes. Absorption spectroscopy at 695 nm revealed that Fe-NP considerably
      disrupt the Fe...S(Met80) bond. In addition, the UV-vis experiment showed the
      peroxidase-like activity of Cyt c upon interaction with Fe-NP. Hence, the data
      indicate the Fe-NP results in unfolding of Cyt c and subsequent peroxidase-like
      activity of denatured species. It was concluded that a comprehensive study of the
      interaction of Fe-NP with biological system is a crucial step for their potential
      application as intracellular delivery carriers and medicinal agents.

PMID- 27632559
TI  - Biosynthesis of Shearinine: Diversification of a Tandem Prenyl Moiety of Fungal
      Indole Diterpenes.
AB  - The late-stage biosynthetic pathway of the indole diterpene shearinine involving
      four enzymatic reactions (JanQDOJ) was elucidated by an efficient heterologous
      expression system using Aspergillus oryzae. Key oxidative cyclization, forming a
      characteristic A/B bicyclic shearinine core by flavoprotein oxidase, was studied
      using a substrate analogue and a buffer containing H218O. These experimental data
      provided evidence that JanO catalyzes two-step oxidation via a hydroxylated
      product and that the JanO reaction involves the hydride-transfer mechanism.

PMID- 27632560
TI  - The memory state heuristic: A formal model based on repeated recognition
      judgments.
AB  - The recognition heuristic (RH) theory predicts that, in comparative judgment
      tasks, if one object is recognized and the other is not, the recognized one is
      chosen. The memory-state heuristic (MSH) extends the RH by assuming that choices
      are not affected by recognition judgments per se, but by the memory states
      underlying these judgments (i.e., recognition certainty, uncertainty, or
      rejection certainty). Specifically, the larger the discrepancy between memory
      states, the larger the probability of choosing the object in the higher state.
      The typical RH paradigm does not allow estimation of the underlying memory states
      because it is unknown whether the objects were previously experienced or not.
      Therefore, we extended the paradigm by repeating the recognition task twice. In
      line with high threshold models of recognition, we assumed that inconsistent
      recognition judgments result from uncertainty whereas consistent judgments most
      likely result from memory certainty. In Experiment 1, we fitted 2 nested
      multinomial models to the data: an MSH model that formalizes the relation between
      memory states and binary choices explicitly and an approximate model that ignores
      the (unlikely) possibility of consistent guesses. Both models provided converging
      results. As predicted, reliance on recognition increased with the discrepancy in
      the underlying memory states. In Experiment 2, we replicated these results and
      found support for choice consistency predictions of the MSH. Additionally,
      recognition and choice latencies were in agreement with the MSH in both
      experiments. Finally, we validated critical parameters of our MSH model through a
      cross-validation method and a third experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27632562
TI  - Influenza virus infection causes neutrophil dysfunction through reduced G-CSF
      production and an increased risk of secondary bacteria infection in the lung.
AB  - The immunological mechanisms of secondary bacterial infection followed by
      influenza virus infection were examined. When mice were intranasally infected
      with influenza virus A and then infected with P. aeruginosa at 4 days after viral
      infection, bacterial clearance in the lung significantly decreased compared to
      that of non-viral infected mice. Neutrophils from viral infected mice showed
      impaired digestion and/or killing of phagocytized bacteria due to reduced
      myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. G-CSF production in the lungs of viral infected
      mice was lower than that of non-viral infected mice after secondary bacterial
      infection. When viral infected mice were injected with G-CSF before secondary
      bacterial infection, the MPO activity of viral infected mice restored to the same
      level as that of non-infected mice. Bacteria clearance in viral infected mice was
      also recovered by G-CSF administration. Thus, neutrophil dysfunction caused by
      influenza virus is attributed to insufficient G-CSF production, which induces a
      secondary bacterial infection.

PMID- 27632564
TI  - Vesicle-like virion of Haloarcula hispanica pleomorphic virus 3 preserves high
      infectivity in saturated salt.
AB  - Hypersaline environments that are subject to salinity changes are particularly
      rich in viruses. Here we report a newly isolated archaeal halovirus, Haloarcula
      hispanica pleomorphic virus 3 (HHPV3). Its reproduction significantly retards
      host growth and decreases cell viability without causing lysis. HHPV3 particles
      require a minimum of 3M NaCl for stability and maintain high infectivity even in
      saturated salt. Notably, virions are irreversibly inactivated at ~1.5M NaCl in
      neutral pH, but tolerate this salinity at alkaline pH. The HHPV3 virion is a
      pleomorphic membrane vesicle containing two major protein species and lipids
      acquired nonselectively from the host membrane. The circular double-stranded DNA
      genome contains a conserved gene block characteristic of pleolipoviruses. We
      propose that HHPV3 is a member of the Betapleolipovirus genus (family
      Pleolipoviridae). Our findings add insights into the diversity observed among the
      pleolipoviruses found in hypersaline environments.

PMID- 27632561
TI  - Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in murine AIDS inhibit B-cell responses in part
      via soluble mediators including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and TGF
      beta.
AB  - Monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSCs) were increased during LP-BM5
      retroviral infection, and were capable of suppressing not only T-cell, but also B
      cell responses. In addition to previously demonstrating iNOS- and VISTA-dependent
      M-MDSC mechanisms, in this paper, we detail how M-MDSCs utilized soluble
      mediators, including the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species superoxide,
      peroxynitrite, and nitric oxide, and TGF-beta, to suppress B cells in a
      predominantly contact-independent manner. Suppression was independent of cysteine
      depletion and hydrogen peroxide production. When two major mechanisms of
      suppression (iNOS and VISTA) were eliminated in double knockout mice, M-MDSCs
      from LP-BM5-infected mice were able to compensate using other, soluble mechanisms
      in order to maintain suppression of B cells. The IL-10 producing regulatory B
      cell compartment was among the targets of M-MDSC-mediated suppression.

PMID- 27632563
TI  - Venezuelan and western equine encephalitis virus E1 liposome antigen nucleic acid
      complexes protect mice from lethal challenge with multiple alphaviruses.
AB  - Eastern, Venezuelan and western equine encephalitis viruses (EEEV, VEEV, and
      WEEV) are mosquito-borne viruses that cause substantial disease in humans and
      other vertebrates. Vaccines are limited and current treatment options have not
      proven successful. In this report, we vaccinated outbred mice with lipid-antigen
      nucleic acid-complexes (LANACs) containing VEEV E1+WEEV E1 antigen and
      characterized protective efficacy against lethal EEEV, VEEV, and WEEV challenge.
      Vaccination resulted in complete protection against EEEV, VEEV, and WEEV in CD-1
      mice. Measurements of bioluminescence and plaque reduction neutralization tests
      (PRNTs) indicate that LANAC VEEV E1+WEEV E1 vaccination is sterilizing against
      VEEV and WEEV challenge; whereas immunity to EEEV is not sterilizing. Passive
      transfer of rabbit VEEV E1+WEEV E1 immune serum to naive mice extended the mean
      time to death (MTD) of EEEV challenged mice and provided significant protection
      from lethal VEEV and WEEV challenge.

PMID- 27632565
TI  - Changes in adaptation of H5N2 highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 clade 2.3.4.4
      viruses in chickens and mallards.
AB  - H5N2 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses caused a severe poultry
      outbreak in the United States (U.S.) during 2015. In order to examine changes in
      adaptation of this viral lineage, the infectivity, pathogenicity and transmission
      of poultry H5N2 viruses were investigated in chickens and mallards in comparison
      to the wild duck 2014 U.S. index H5N2 virus. The four poultry isolates examined
      had a lower mean bird infectious dose than the index virus but still transmitted
      poorly to direct contacts. In mallards, two of the H5N2 poultry isolates had
      similar high infectivity and transmissibility as the index H5N2 virus, the H5N8
      U.S. index virus, and a 2005 H5N1 clade 2.2 virus. Mortality occurred with the
      H5N1 virus and, interestingly, with one of two poultry H5N2 isolates. Increased
      virus adaptation to chickens was observed with the poultry H5N2 viruses; however
      these viruses retained high adaptation to mallards but pathogenicity was
      differently affected.

PMID- 27632566
TI  - Dental Calculus Stimulates Interleukin-1beta Secretion by Activating NLRP3
      Inflammasome in Human and Mouse Phagocytes.
AB  - Dental calculus is a mineralized deposit associated with periodontitis. The
      bacterial components contained in dental calculus can be recognized by host
      immune sensors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and induce transcription of
      proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1beta. Studies have shown that cellular
      uptake of crystalline particles may trigger NLRP3 inflammasome activation,
      leading to the cleavage of the IL-1beta precursor to its mature form.
      Phagocytosis of dental calculus in the periodontal pocket may therefore lead to
      the secretion of IL-1beta, promoting inflammatory responses in periodontal
      tissues. However, the capacity of dental calculus to induce IL-1beta secretion in
      human phagocytes has not been explored. To study this, we stimulated human
      polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs) with dental calculus collected from periodontitis patients, and measured
      IL-1beta secretion by ELISA. We found that calculus induced IL-1beta secretion in
      both human PMNs and PBMCs. Calculus also induced IL-1beta in macrophages from
      wild-type mice, but not in macrophages from NLRP3- and ASC-deficient mice,
      indicating the involvement of NLRP3 and ASC. IL-1beta induction was inhibited by
      polymyxin B, suggesting that LPS is one of the components of calculus that
      induces pro-IL-1beta transcription. To analyze the effect of the inorganic
      structure, we baked calculus at 250 degrees C for 1 h. This baked calculus failed
      to induce pro-IL-1beta transcription. However, it did induce IL-1beta secretion
      in lipid A-primed cells, indicating that the crystalline structure of calculus
      induces inflammasome activation. Furthermore, hydroxyapatite crystals, a
      component of dental calculus, induced IL-1beta in mouse macrophages, and baked
      calculus induced IL-1beta in lipid A-primed human PMNs and PBMCs. These results
      indicate that dental calculus stimulates IL-1beta secretion via NLRP3
      inflammasome in human and mouse phagocytes, and that the crystalline structure
      has a partial role in the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome. 

PMID- 27632568
TI  - Cognitive behavioral and pharmacological treatments of OCD in children: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is ranked by the World Health Organization
      (WHO) among the 10 most debilitating disorders. The treatments which have been
      found effective are cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and serotonin reuptake
      inhibitors (SRI). This meta-analysis includes all RCTs of CBT (25) and SRI (9)
      for OCD in youth using the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (C
      YBOCS). CBT yielded significantly lower attrition (12.7%) than SRI (23.5%) and
      placebo (24.7%). The effect sizes for comparisons of CBT with waiting-list
      (1.53), placebo (0.93), and SRI with placebo (0.51) were significant, whereas CBT
      vs. SRI (0.22) and Combo (CBT+SRI) vs. CBT (0.14) were not. Regarding response
      rate CBT (70%) and Combo (66%) were significantly higher than SRI (49%), which
      was higher than placebo (29%) and WLC (13%). As for remission CBT (53%) and Combo
      (49%) were significantly higher than SRI (24%), placebo (15%), and WLC (10%),
      which did not differ from each other. Combo was not more effective than CBT alone
      irrespective of initial severity of the samples. The randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) have a number of methodological problems and recommendations for improving
      research methodology are discussed as well as clinical implications of the
      findings.

PMID- 27632567
TI  - Telomere Length Recovery: A Strong Predictor of Overall Survival in Acute
      Promyelocytic Leukemia.
AB  - Telomeres are the capping ends of chromosomes that protect the loss of genetic
      material and prevent chromosomal instability. In human tissue-specific
      stem/progenitor cells, telomere length (TL) is maintained by the telomerase
      complex, which consists of a reverse transcriptase catalytic subunit (TERT) and
      an RNA template (TERC). Very short telomeres and loss-of-function mutations in
      the TERT and TERC genes have been reported in acute myeloid leukemia, but the
      role of telomeres in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has not been well
      established. We report the results for a large cohort of 187 PML/RARalpha
      positive APL patients. No germline mutations in the TERT or TERC genes were
      identified. Codon 279 and 1062 TERT polymorphisms were present at a frequency
      similar to that in the general population. TL measured in blood or marrow
      mononuclear cells at diagnosis was significantly shorter in the APL patients than
      in healthy volunteers, and shorter telomeres at diagnosis were significantly
      associated with high-risk disease. For patients who achieved complete remission,
      the median increase in TL from diagnosis to remission (delta TL) was 2.0 kilobase
      (kb), and we found delta TL to be the most powerful predictor of overall survival
      when compared with well-established risk factors for poor outcomes in APL.

PMID- 27632569
TI  - Targeting therapy for homocysteic acid in the blood represents a potential
      recovery treatment for cognition in Alzheimer's disease patients.
AB  - At present, we have no reliable means of recovering cognitive impairment in
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. We hypothesized that homocysteic acid (HA) in
      the blood might represent one such pathogen that could be excreted into the
      urine. Since DHA is known to reduce circulating levels of homocysteine, and since
      exercise attenuates this effect, it follows that supplementation of the diet with
      DHA, along with increased levels of physical activity, may help to reduce
      cognitive impairment in AD patients. Our hypothesis was proven to be correct
      because memory problems in 3xTg- AD mice (a model for AD in which animals develop
      amyloid pathology), and in a mouse model of familial AD, were recovered following
      treatment with an anti-HA antibody and not by amyloid treatment. Interestingly,
      3xTg-AD mice with amyloid pathology showed increased levels of HA level. This
      could perhaps be explained by the fact that amyloid precursor protein and/or
      presenilin increases calcium influx, which could then increase levels of
      superoxide and consequently increase levels of HA from homocysteine or
      methionine. Our hypothesis is also partially supported by an open clinical trial
      of certain dietary supplements that has shown impressive results. Also there are
      other treatments hypothesis which would be possible for the effective therapies,
      such as ribonucleoprotein therapy, a beta-secretase inhibitor treatment and the
      metabolic enhancement treatment.

PMID- 27632570
TI  - Reproductive and Lifestyle Factors Associated with Endometriosis in a Large Cross
      Sectional Population Sample.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite the high prevalence of endometriosis among women of
      reproductive age, risk factors or markers for developing the condition remain
      largely unknown. Many of the published studies are based on small selected
      samples. We therefore investigated the relationships of reproductive and
      lifestyle factors with endometriosis in a large sample of Swedish female twins.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 28,822 women. Among
      these, endometriosis was reported by 1,228 women and the self-reported diagnosis
      was confirmed by medical records. Potential risk factors or markers for risk
      considered were age at menarche, level of education, body mass index (BMI),
      parity, oral contraceptive (OC) use, infertility, coffee consumption, smoking,
      and alcohol intake, which were investigated using logistic regression with crude
      and adjusted analyses. We performed within-pair analysis to examine the
      sensitivity of the results. RESULTS: Late age at menarche and higher parity
      showed an inverse association and infertility showed a strong association with
      endometriosis. We observed positive associations with coffee consumption and
      smoking and an inverse association with OC use in crude analysis but not in
      adjusted analysis. There were no significant associations between level of
      education, BMI, or alcohol intake and endometriosis. Within-pair analysis showed
      persistent inverse association of parity and association of infertility with
      endometriosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that late age at menarche and
      higher parity are inversely associated and infertility is strongly associated
      with endometriosis. Future studies are needed to explore the significance of
      these factors in the diagnosis of endometriosis and understanding of its
      etiology.

PMID- 27632571
TI  - FGF2 and EGF Are Required for Self-Renewal and Organoid Formation of Canine
      Normal and Tumor Breast Stem Cells.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that human tumors are generated from cancer cells with
      stem cell (SC) properties. Spontaneously occurring cancers in dogs contain a
      diversity of cells that like for human tumors suggest that certain canine tumors
      are also generated from cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs, like normal SCs, have the
      capacity for self-renewal as mammospheres in suspension cultures. To understand
      how cells with SC properties contribute to canine mammary gland tumor development
      and progression, comparative analysis between normal SCs and CSCs, obtained from
      the same individual, is essential. We have utilized the property of sphere
      formation to develop culture conditions for propagating stem/progenitor cells
      from canine normal and tumor tissue. We show that cells from dissociated
      mammospheres retain sphere reformation capacity for several serial passages and
      have the capacity to generate organoid structures ex situ. Utilizing various
      culture conditions for passaging SCs and CSCs, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2)
      and epidermal growth factor (EGF) were found to positively or negatively regulate
      mammosphere regeneration, organoid formation, and multi-lineage differentiation
      potential. The response of FGF2 and EGF on SCs and CSCs was different, with
      increased FGF2 and EGF self-renewal promoted in SCs and repressed in CSCs. Our
      protocol for propagating SCs from normal and tumor canine breast tissue will
      provide new opportunities in comparative mammary gland stem cell analysis between
      species and anticancer treatment and therapies for dogs. J. Cell. Biochem. 118:
      570-584, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27632572
TI  - Screening mixed depression and bipolarity in the postpartum period at a primary
      health care center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mixed depression is a clinical condition accompanied by the
      symptoms of (hypo)mania and is considered to be a predictor for bipolar disorder.
      Compared to pure major depression, mixed depression is worse in progress. There
      are limited data on the prevalence of mixed depression since it is a relatively
      new entity. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of
      mixed depression during the postpartum period which is risky for mood disorders.
      METHODS: The study included 63 postpartum women. The participants were
      administered Beck Depression Scale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS),
      Mood Disorders Questionnaire (MDQ), and Modified Hypomania Symptom Checklist-32
      (mHCL-32). RESULTS: The MDQ scores of the women with expected depression
      according to the EPDS cut-off scores, were significantly higher than the women
      with lower EPDS scores (t=-4.968; p<0.001). The modified hypomania scores were
      significantly higher in the women with higher depression scores compared to the
      women under EPDS cut-off scores (t=-4.713; p<0.001). According to the EPDS and
      BDS results, 27 (42.9%) and 14 (22.2%) women needed additional clinical
      examination for depression, respectively. In addition, 3 (4.8%) women require
      additional clinical examination for bipolar disorder. The scores for the first
      item of MDQ were above the cut-off value in 11 (17.5%) women. According to the
      mHCL-32 results, 50 (79.4%) women had at least 1 symptom, 45 (71.4%) women had at
      least 3 symptoms, and 43 (68.3%) women had at least 5 symptoms of mixed
      depression. CONCLUSION: Postpartum mixed depression should be promptly diagnosed
      by using appropriate diagnostic tools, particularly by primary health care
      physicians. Patients with mixed depression should be closely monitored to avoid
      manic switch.

PMID- 27632573
TI  - Sudden Onset of Dyspnea Preceded by Shoulder and Arm Pain.

PMID- 27632575
TI  - Protruding Glistening Mass on the Posterior Surface of the Auricle.

PMID- 27632574
TI  - Activation of oxytocin receptors, but not arginine-vasopressin V1a receptors, in
      the ventral tegmental area of male Syrian hamsters is essential for the reward
      like properties of social interactions.
AB  - Social reward plays a fundamental role in shaping human and animal behavior. The
      rewarding nature of many forms of social behavior including sexual behavior,
      parental behavior, and social play has been revealed using well-established
      procedures such as the conditioned place preference test. Many motivated social
      behaviors are regulated by the nonapeptides oxytocin (OT) and arginine
      vasopressin (AVP) through their actions in multiple brain structures.
      Interestingly, there are few data on whether OT or AVP might contribute to the
      rewarding properties of social interaction by their actions within brain
      structures that play a key role in reward mechanisms such as the ventral
      tegmental area (VTA). The goal of the present study was to investigate the role
      of OT and AVP in the VTA in regulating the reward-like properties of social
      interactions. Social interactions between two male hamsters reduced a spontaneous
      place avoidance in hamsters injected with saline control. Interestingly, however,
      OT and AVP injected into the VTA induced a significant two-fold reduction in
      place avoidance for the social interaction chamber when compared to control
      injections of vehicle. Finally, because OT and AVP can act on each other's
      receptors to influence social behavior, we also injected highly selective OTR and
      V1aR agonists and antagonists to determine whether OT or AVP V1a receptors were
      responsible for mediating the effects of these neuropeptides on social reward.
      Our results not only demonstrated that OT and AVP activate OTRs and not V1aRs to
      mediate social reward, they also demonstrated that the activation of OT receptors
      in the VTA is essential for the expression of the rewarding properties of social
      interactions.

PMID- 27632576
TI  - Mass cytometry panel optimization through the designed distribution of signal
      interference.
AB  - Mass cytometry is capable of measuring more than 40 distinct proteins on
      individual cells making it a promising technology for innovating biomarker
      discovery. However, in order for this potential to be fully realized, best
      practices in panel design need to be further defined in order to achieve
      consistency and reproducibility in data analysis. Of particular importance are
      controls that reveal, and panel design principles that mitigate the effects of
      signal interference or overlap. We observed a disparity between the staining
      profiles of two noncompeting anti- integrin beta7 mAbs and hypothesized that
      signal interference was responsible. A mass-minus-one (MMO) control was applied
      and demonstrated that signal overlap caused the perceived interclonal discrepancy
      in beta7 expression. Panel redesign in consideration of mass-cytometry specific
      interference dynamics dramatically improved concordance between both mAbs by
      redistributing background signals caused by overlap. These studies visualize how
      signal overlap can complicate mass cytometry data interpretation and demonstrate
      how the rational distribution of interference can greatly improve panel design
      and data quality. (c) 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

PMID- 27632577
TI  - The Neuromuscular Qualities of Higher- and Lower-Level Mixed-Martial-Arts
      Competitors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether the maximal strength, impulse, and power
      characteristics of competitive mixed-martial-arts (MMA) athletes differ according
      to competition level. METHODS: Twenty-nine male semiprofessional and amateur MMA
      competitors were stratified into either higher-level (HL) or lower-level (LL)
      performers on the basis of competition grade and success. The 1-repetition
      maximum (1RM) squat was used to assess lower-body dynamic strength, and a
      spectrum of impulse, power, force, and velocity variables were evaluated during
      an incremental-load jump squat. In addition, participants performed an isometric
      midthigh pull (IMTP) and 1RM bench press to determine whole-body isometric force
      and upper-body dynamic strength capabilities, respectively. All force and power
      variables were expressed relative to body mass (BM). RESULTS: The HL competitors
      produced significantly superior values across a multitude of measures. These
      included 1RM squat strength (1.84 +/- 0.23 vs 1.56 +/- 0.24 kg BM; P = .003), in
      addition to performance in the incremental-load jump squat that revealed greater
      peak power (P = .005-.002), force (P = .002-.004), and velocity (P = .002-.03) at
      each load. Higher measures of impulse (P = .01-.04) were noted in a number of
      conditions. Average power (P = .002-.02) and velocity (P = .01-.04) at all loads
      in addition to a series of rate-dependent measures were also superior in the HL
      group (P = .005-.02). The HL competitors' 1RM bench-press values approached
      significantly greater levels (P = .056) than the LL group's, but IMTP performance
      did not differ between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Maximal lower-body neuromuscular
      capabilities are key attributes distinguishing HL from LL MMA competitors. This
      information can be used to inform evidenced-based training and performance
      monitoring practices.

PMID- 27632578
TI  - Molecular Simulations of Hydrogen Bond Cluster Size and Reorientation Dynamics in
      Liquid and Glassy Azole Systems.
AB  - We simulated the dynamics of azole groups (pyrazole, imidazole, 1,2,3-triazole,
      1,2,4-triazole, and tetrazole) as neat liquids and tethered via linkers to
      aliphatic backbones to determine how tethering and varying functional groups
      affect hydrogen bond networks and reorientation dynamics, both factors which are
      thought to influence proton conduction. We used the DL_Poly_2 molecular dynamics
      code with the GAFF force field to simulate tethered systems over the temperature
      range 200-900 K and the corresponding neat liquids under liquid state
      temperatures at standard pressure. We computed hydrogen bond cluster sizes;
      orientational order parameters; orientational correlation functions associated
      with functional groups, linkers, and backbones; time scales; and activation
      energies associated with orientational randomization. All tethered systems
      exhibit a liquid to glassy-solid transition upon cooling from 600 to 500 K, as
      evidenced by orientational order parameters and correlation functions. Tethering
      the azoles was generally found to produce hydrogen bond cluster sizes similar to
      those in untethered liquids and hydrogen bond lifetimes longer than those in
      liquids. The simulated rates of functional group reorientation decreased
      dramatically upon tethering. The activation energies associated with
      orientational randomization agree well with NMR data for tethered imidazole
      systems at lower temperatures and for tethered 1,2,3-triazole systems at both low
      and high-temperature ranges. Overall, our simulations corroborate the notion
      that tethering functional groups dramatically slows the process of reorientation.
      We found a linear correlation between gas-phase hydrogen bond energies and
      tethered functional group reorientation barriers for all azoles except for
      imidazole, which acts as an outlier because of both atomic charges and molecular
      structure.

PMID- 27632580
TI  - Soccer helps in controlling the development of psoriasis in Italian second league
      players.

PMID- 27632579
TI  - MetaStorm: A Public Resource for Customizable Metagenomics Annotation.
AB  - Metagenomics is a trending research area, calling for the need to analyze large
      quantities of data generated from next generation DNA sequencing technologies.
      The need to store, retrieve, analyze, share, and visualize such data challenges
      current online computational systems. Interpretation and annotation of specific
      information is especially a challenge for metagenomic data sets derived from
      environmental samples, because current annotation systems only offer broad
      classification of microbial diversity and function. Moreover, existing resources
      are not configured to readily address common questions relevant to environmental
      systems. Here we developed a new online user-friendly metagenomic analysis server
      called MetaStorm (http://bench.cs.vt.edu/MetaStorm/), which facilitates
      customization of computational analysis for metagenomic data sets. Users can
      upload their own reference databases to tailor the metagenomics annotation to
      focus on various taxonomic and functional gene markers of interest. MetaStorm
      offers two major analysis pipelines: an assembly-based annotation pipeline and
      the standard read annotation pipeline used by existing web servers. These
      pipelines can be selected individually or together. Overall, MetaStorm provides
      enhanced interactive visualization to allow researchers to explore and manipulate
      taxonomy and functional annotation at various levels of resolution. 

PMID- 27632581
TI  - Automated Sperm Head Detection Using Intersecting Cortical Model Optimised by
      Particle Swarm Optimization.
AB  - In human sperm motility analysis, sperm segmentation plays an important role to
      determine the location of multiple sperms. To ensure an improved segmentation
      result, the Laplacian of Gaussian filter is implemented as a kernel in a pre
      processing step before applying the image segmentation process to automatically
      segment and detect human spermatozoa. This study proposes an intersecting
      cortical model (ICM), which was derived from several visual cortex models, to
      segment the sperm head region. However, the proposed method suffered from
      parameter selection; thus, the ICM network is optimised using particle swarm
      optimization where feature mutual information is introduced as the new fitness
      function. The final results showed that the proposed method is more accurate and
      robust than four state-of-the-art segmentation methods. The proposed method
      resulted in rates of 98.14%, 98.82%, 86.46% and 99.81% in accuracy, sensitivity,
      specificity and precision, respectively, after testing with 1200 sperms. The
      proposed algorithm is expected to be implemented in analysing sperm motility
      because of the robustness and capability of this algorithm. 

PMID- 27632582
TI  - Efficient Mini-Transporter for Cytosolic Protein Delivery.
AB  - An efficient method to deliver active proteins into cytosol is highly desirable
      to advance protein-based therapeutics. Arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides
      (RPPs) have been intensively studied for intracellular protein delivery, and
      their applications require further improvement on delivery efficiency, serum
      stability, and cytotoxicity. Designing synthetic analogs of RPPs provides an
      alternative way to achieve efficient cytosolic protein delivery. Herein we report
      the design and synthesis of a dendritic small molecule TG6, which is composed of
      one rigid planar core and four flexible arms with one guanidinium on each arm.
      Protein structure and function are well preserved in the TG6-protein conjugates,
      which are readily internalized into cytosol. Our study demonstrates that TG6 is a
      serum-stable and low-toxic molecular transporter delivering both small cargoes
      and large active proteins efficiently into cytosol.

PMID- 27632583
TI  - SAFETY AND FEASIBILITY OF A NOVEL 25-GAUGE BIODEGRADABLE IMPLANT OF DEXAMETHASONE
      FOR TREATMENT OF MACULAR EDEMA ASSOCIATED WITH RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION: A PHASE I
      CLINICAL TRIAL.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of a 25-gauge biodegradable
      implant containing 350 MUg of dexamethasone (DDS-25) for the treatment of
      decreased vision due to macular edema associated with central or branch retinal
      vein occlusion. METHODS: Prospective, nonrandomized, open-label, Phase I clinical
      trial, including 10 patients with decreased vision (best-corrected early
      treatment diabetic retinopathy study visual acuity of 20/40 or worse) due to
      macular edema associated with central retinal vein occlusion (n = 4) or branch
      retinal vein occlusion (n = 6) for more than 4 months. Comprehensive ophthalmic
      evaluation, including best-corrected visual acuity, spectral domain optical
      coherence tomography (Spectralis Heidelberg Engineering) for determination of
      central subfield thickness, full-field electroretinography (ISCEV standard ERG),
      and fluorescein angiography, was performed at baseline, and 1, 4, 12, and 24
      weeks after intravitreal DDS-25 insertion. RESULTS: Mean best-corrected visual
      acuity was 0.72 +/- 0.1 logMAR (20/100) at baseline and improved by 7 early
      treatment diabetic retinopathy study letters to 0.58 +/- 0.08 logMAR (20/80 + 1)
      at 24 weeks (P = 0.049), with 3 central retinal vein occlusion and 3 branch
      retinal vein occlusion patients improving between 1 and 4 early treatment
      diabetic retinopathy study lines. Significant central subfield thickness
      reduction was observed at 24 weeks compared with baseline (P = 0.011); mean +/-
      standard error (range) central subfield thickness (MUm) was 461.2 +/- 41.3 (288
      701) at baseline, and 439.6 +/- 40.4 (259-631), 442.5 +/- 44.6 (255-632), 354.6
      +/- 31.2 (228-537), and 316.5 +/- 26.4 (226-441) at 1, 4, 12, and 24 weeks,
      respectively. No significant changes in electroretinography responses or area of
      retinal nonperfusion were observed during 24 weeks of follow-up. There was no
      significant change in mean intraocular pressure at any of the study visits
      compared with baseline. One patient had mild anterior chamber inflammation (1-5
      cells) at one week after DDS-25 insertion. CONCLUSION: In this Phase I study
      demonstrating the feasibility of intravitreal DDS-25 insertion for the treatment
      of decreased vision due to macular edema associated with retinal vein occlusion,
      no safety concerns were observed. A larger prospective randomized study with
      longer follow-up is warranted to confirm these findings.

PMID- 27632584
TI  - A RESCUE THERAPY FOR PERSISTENT OPTIC DISK PIT MACULOPATHY IN PREVIOUSLY
      VITRECTOMIZED EYES.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the results of vitrectomy with platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
      application and gas tamponade as a rescue therapy in previously vitrectomized
      eyes with optic disk pit (ODP) maculopathy. METHODS: Three patients with visual
      loss due to persistent or recurrent ODP maculopathy who had undergone previous
      vitrectomy were offered application of PRP. Platelet-rich plasma was obtained by
      centrifugation of a blood sample from each patient. Surgery consisted of
      vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling if the membrane had not been
      already removed (in two eyes). After fluid/air exchange, three drops of PRP were
      applied on the ODP followed by 8% C3F8 tamponade. Immediately after surgery, the
      patient remained supine for 30 minutes and then kept a face-down position for 2
      weeks. RESULTS: Optic disk pit maculopathy improved as soon as two weeks after
      surgery and resolved in all eyes between six and eight months after PRP
      application. Patients were followed up for three years, with no recurrences.
      Visual acuity remained stable in one eye and improved in two eyes. CONCLUSION:
      Vitrectomy with PRP application may be useful as a rescue therapy in patients
      with refractory ODP maculopathy. Platelet-rich plasma may act by promoting the
      closure of the communication between the vitreous and the intraretinal/subretinal
      space at the pit. This treatment may avoid potentially harmful maneuvers that
      have been used to treat ODP maculopathy.

PMID- 27632585
TI  - RETINAL MANIFESTATIONS OF SPINOCEREBELLAR ATAXIA TYPE 7 IN TWO CONSECUTIVE
      GENERATIONS.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia Type 7 (SCA-7) first
      diagnosed in the daughter followed by the father, with proven genetic testing and
      display of progressive anticipation of disease penetrance. METHODS: A 5-year-old
      African American female admitted for failure to thrive underwent full ocular
      examination and fundus photography, with genetic confirmation of SCA-7. The
      father carried a previous diagnosis of possible solar retinopathy; however, with
      further genetic testing, he was also found to have SCA-7. RESULTS: The patient
      was admitted for failure to thrive with suspicion of ataxia neurodegenerative
      disorder. Visual acuity was hand motion. Fundus examination showed retinal
      pigment epithelium pigmentary changes in the macula and peripheral retina.
      Further genetic workup revealed 96 CAG repeat expansion compared with a normal of
      <20 repeats. Ocular examination of patient's father displayed a milder form of
      retinopathy with genetic testing showing 47 CAG repeat expansion. Diagnosis of
      SCA-7 was made displaying genetic anticipation. CONCLUSION: Spinocerebellar
      ataxia Type 7 is a disease of expanded CAG repeats showing genetic anticipation.
      Patients display progressive cerebellar ataxia, dysarthria dysphagia, slow
      saccadic eye movements, and cone photoreceptor loss leading to progressive vision
      loss. CAG repeat length tends to expand with transmission resulting in dramatic
      symptoms in offspring sometimes resulting in diagnosis before parents' diagnosis.
      Awareness of this condition may help in earlier diagnosis and unnecessary testing
      resulting in more effective counseling for the patient and their family.

PMID- 27632586
TI  - OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY OF A29 BIRDSHOT CHORIORETINOPATHY
      COMPLICATED BY RETINAL NEOVASCULARIZATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the quantitative optical coherence tomography angiography
      analysis of the superficial and deep retinal capillary plexus in a case of A29
      birdshot chorioretinopathy (BCR) complicated by retinal neovascularization.
      METHODS: Multimodal retinal imaging, including optical coherence tomography
      angiography with quantitated vessel density analysis of the superficial and deep
      retinal capillary plexus, was performed in a case of A29 BCR. Capillary density
      (mm) was defined as the total vessel length (mm) per area (mm). RESULTS: A 39
      year-old healthy white man presented with vitreous hemorrhage and retinal
      neovascularization at baseline. Clinical presentation was consistent with BCR and
      human leukocyte antigen testing confirmed A29 positivity. Optical coherence
      tomography angiography was performed 6 years after the diagnosis and revealed
      capillary density reduction in the superficial and especially in the deep retinal
      capillary plexus. Quantitative vessel density analysis was compared with the mean
      capillary density of 11 age-matched normal eyes and demonstrated 6% and 18%
      reduction of the superficial plexus in the right and left eyes of our patient,
      respectively. For the deep plexus, a reduction of 25% and 32% was found in the
      right and left eyes, respectively. CONCLUSION: In this patient with BCR,
      capillary density reduction was most marked at the deep retinal capillary plexus
      level and may explain the development of retinal neovascularization in this case.
      Quantitative optical coherence tomography angiography may be a useful tool to
      study and to monitor retinal microvascular changes in patients with BCR and
      should be further explored as a biomarker of therapeutic response.

PMID- 27632587
TI  - PANRETINAL DEGENERATION ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE USE AND
      HETEROZYGOUS USH2A MUTATION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of bilateral panretinal degeneration in a patient with
      long-term hydroxychloroquine exposure and positive for a heterozygous mutation in
      the USH2A gene. METHODS: Retrospective case report. Multimodal imaging including
      spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, fundus autofluorescence, and
      fluorescein angiography was performed and the results are presented.
      Electroretinography findings are also described. RESULTS: The authors report a 39
      year-old patient with a history of hydroxychloroquine therapy for 20 years
      (cumulative dose of 2,774 g). Multimodal retinal imaging demonstrated bilateral
      paracentral outer retinal atrophy with spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography and characteristic of hydroxychloroquine toxicity. Full-field
      electroretinography showed bilateral panretinal depression of the rod and cone
      responses. Mutational analysis revealed that the patient was a carrier for an
      autosomal recessive mutation in the USH2A gene. CONCLUSION: We report a case of
      panretinal degeneration but with features characteristic of hydroxychloroquine
      retinopathy in a patient who was found to be a heterozygous carrier of the USH2A
      gene, a cause of recessive retinitis pigmentosa without hearing loss. Carrier
      status for a retinal degenerative mutation may have rendered this patient more
      susceptible to the retinotoxic effects of long-term hydroxychloroquine therapy.

PMID- 27632588
TI  - Severe Necrotizing Tracheobronchitis From Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive
      MRSA Pneumonia Complicating Influenza A-H1N1-09.

PMID- 27632589
TI  - An overview of the biological metal uptake pathways in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - Biological metal ions, including Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni and Zn ions, are
      necessary for the survival and the growth of all microorganisms. Their biological
      functions are linked to their particular chemical properties: they play a role in
      structuring macromolecules and/or act as co-factors catalyzing diverse
      biochemical reactions. These metal ions are also essential for microbial
      pathogens during infection: they are involved in bacterial metabolism and various
      virulence factor functions. Therefore, during infection, bacteria need to acquire
      biological metal ions from the host such that there is competition for these ions
      between the bacterium and the host. Evidence is increasingly emerging of
      "nutritional immunity" against pathogens in the hosts; this includes strategies
      making access to metals difficult for infecting bacteria. It is clear that
      biological metals play key roles during infection and in the battle between the
      pathogens and the host. Here, we summarize current knowledge about the strategies
      used by Pseudomonas aeruginosa to access the various biological metals it
      requires. P. aeruginosa is a medically significant Gram-negative bacterial
      opportunistic pathogen that can cause severe chronic lung infections in cystic
      fibrosis patients and that is responsible for nosocomial infections worldwide.

PMID- 27632638
TI  - Beta-Binomial Model for the Detection of Rare Mutations in Pooled Next-Generation
      Sequencing Experiments.
AB  - Against diminishing costs, next-generation sequencing (NGS) still remains
      expensive for studies with a large number of individuals. As cost saving,
      sequencing genome of pools containing multiple samples might be used. Currently,
      there are many software available for the detection of single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs). Sensitivity and specificity depend on the model used and
      data analyzed, indicating that all software have space for improvement. We use
      beta-binomial model to detect rare mutations in untagged pooled NGS experiments.
      We propose a multireference framework for pooled data with ability being specific
      up to two patients affected by neuromuscular disorders (NMD). We assessed the
      results comparing with The Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK), CRISP, SNVer, and
      FreeBayes. Our results show that the multireference approach applying beta
      binomial model is accurate in predicting rare mutations at 0.01 fraction.
      Finally, we explored the concordance of mutations between the model and software,
      checking their involvement in any NMD-related gene. We detected seven novel SNPs,
      for which the functional analysis produced enriched terms related to locomotion
      and musculature.

PMID- 27632639
TI  - Plasma miR-122 and miR-200 family are prognostic markers in colorectal cancer.
AB  - Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been proposed as minimally invasive
      prognostic markers for various types of cancers, including colorectal cancer
      (CRC), the third most diagnosed cancer worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the levels
      of circulating miRNAs that might serve as markers for CRC prognosis and survival.
      We included plasma samples of 543 CRC patients with stage I-IV disease from a
      population-based study carried out in Germany. After comprehensive evaluation of
      current literature, 95 miRNAs were selected and measured with Custom TaqMan(r)
      Array MicroRNA Cards. Plasma samples of non-metastatic and metastatic colon
      cancer patients, each group consisting of ten patients with 'good' and ten
      patients with 'bad' prognosis were screened. Identified candidate miRNAs were
      further validated by RT-qPCR in the whole study cohort. The association of the
      miRNA levels with patients' survival and the prognostic subtypes was analyzed
      with uni- and multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards
      regression models. Increased miR-122 levels were associated with a 'bad'
      prognostic subtype in metastatic CRC (Odds ratio: 1.563, 95% confidence interval
      (CI): 1.038-2.347) and a shorter relapse-free survival and overall survival for
      non-metastatic (Hazard ratio (HR): 1.370, 95% CI: 1.028-1.825; HR: 1.353, 95% CI:
      1.002-1.828) and metastatic (HR: 1.264, 95% CI: 1.050-1.520; HR: 1.292, 95% CI:
      1.078-1.548) CRC patients. Additionally, several members of the miR-200 family
      showed associations with patients' prognosis and correlations to
      clinicopathological characteristics. The here identified miRNA markers, miR-122
      and the miR-200 family members, could be of use in the development of a multi
      marker blood test for CRC prognosis.

PMID- 27632640
TI  - Cardiovascular and Thrombotic Complications of Novel Multiple Myeloma Therapies:
      A Review.
AB  - Importance: Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological
      malignant abnormality. The introduction of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) and
      proteasome inhibitors (PIs) has greatly improved the overall survival of patients
      with MM. Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and thrombotic issues
      associated with novel MM therapies have emerged as important aspects of
      supportive care in patients with MM. Observations: We searched PubMed and the
      Cochrance database for studies published from March 2001 to January 2016.
      Emerging evidence suggests that both IMiDs and PIs can have cardiovascular (CV)
      sequelae, which include thromboembolic complications, cardiac, and vascular toxic
      effects. These complications occur against the backdrop of a high prevalence of
      CV disease in the MM population as well as the adverse cardiac and vascular
      effects of MM itself. Conclusions and Relevance: This review provides an overview
      of the incidences, clinical presentations, and mechanisms of CV complications in
      the MM population. We conclude that more research is needed for better screening
      and preventive strategies to abrogate these toxic effects and improve patient
      care.

PMID- 27632641
TI  - Design and descriptive data of the randomized Clubfoot Foot Abduction Brace
      Length of Treatment Study (FAB24).
AB  - The aim of this study was to describe the design and baseline characteristics of
      participants enrolled in the prospective randomized-controlled Clubfoot Foot
      Abduction Brace Length of Treatment Study (FAB24). Foot abduction bracing is
      currently the standard of care for preventing clubfoot relapse. Current
      recommendations include full-time bracing for the first 3 months and then 8-12 h
      a day for 4 years; however, the optimal length of bracing is not known. The FAB24
      trial is a clinical randomized study to determine the effectiveness of 2- versus
      4-year foot abduction bracing. Participant enrollment for FAB24 was conducted at
      eight sites in North America and included enrollment and randomization of 139
      participants with isolated clubfoot. This clinical trial will generate evidence
      based data that will inform and improve patient care.

PMID- 27632644
TI  - Diabetes care in the wake of the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632642
TI  - Antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in south-west Germany,
      2004 to 2015: increasing minimal inhibitory concentrations of tetracycline but no
      resistance to third-generation cephalosporins.
AB  - Increasing antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, particularly to
      third-generation cephalosporins, has been reported in many countries. We examined
      the susceptibility (determined by Etest and evaluated using the breakpoints of
      the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) of 434 N.
      gonorrhoeae isolates collected from 107 female and 327 male patients in
      Stuttgart, south-west Germany, between 2004 and 2015. During the study period,
      high proportions of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (70.3%),
      tetracycline (48.4%; increasing from 27.5% in 2004/2005 to 57.7% in 2014/2015; p
      = 0.0002) and penicillin (25.6%). The proportion of isolates resistant to
      azithromycin was low (5.5%) but tended to increase (p = 0.08). No resistance and
      stable minimum inhibitory concentrations were found for cefixime, ceftriaxone,
      and spectinomycin. High-level resistance was found for ciprofloxacin (39.6%) and
      tetracycline (20.0%) but not for azithromycin; 16.3% of the isolates produced
      betalactamase. Thus, cephalosporins can still be used for the treatment of
      gonorrhoea in the study area. To avoid further increasing resistance to
      azithromycin, its usage should be limited to patients allergic to cephalosporins,
      or (in combination with cephalosporins) to patients for whom no susceptibility
      testing could be performed or those co-infected with chlamydiae. 

PMID- 27632645
TI  - Hysterectomy - A female Gynecologists perspective.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632643
TI  - Modular Terpenoid Construction via Catalytic Enantioselective Formation of All
      Carbon Quaternary Centers: Total Synthesis of Oridamycin A, Triptoquinones B and
      C, and Isoiresin.
AB  - Total syntheses of oridamycin A, triptoquinones B and C, and isoiresin are
      accomplished from a common intermediate prepared via iridium-catalyzed alcohol C
      H tert-(hydroxy)prenylation - a byproduct-free process that forms an all-carbon
      quaternary stereocenter with excellent control of diastereo- and
      enantioselectivity.

PMID- 27632646
TI  - Evaluation of National Immunization Days in high risk area of Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632647
TI  - Seroepidemiological prevalence of Rubella IgG antibodies among different
      populations in Eastern Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632648
TI  - A study survey on intestinal and blood parasites among school children in Sana'a
      province, Yemen.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632649
TI  - Bacteremia and septicemia in Qatar.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632650
TI  - Neonatal septicemia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632651
TI  - Neonatal intestinal atresia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632653
TI  - Airway obstruction in heart disease.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632652
TI  - Chewing Qat leaves slows the whole gut transit time.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632654
TI  - Prevalence of asthma and asthma symptoms in children in urban Lebanon.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632655
TI  - Injuries due to motorcycle accidents amongst Saudi women. Are we waiting for a
      new epidemic?
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632656
TI  - Analysis of maxillofacial fractures in Jordan.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632657
TI  - Consideration for Radiology costs and cost-effectiveness by medical staff.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632658
TI  - Abha septuplets and total infant survival.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632659
TI  - Wernicke's encephalopathy in alcoholics.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632661
TI  - Prophylaxis for osteopenia of prematurity: Experience from Oman.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632660
TI  - Torsion of the greater omentum.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632662
TI  - Sildenafi (Viagra).
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632663
TI  - Munchausen syndrome by proxy: The emerging face of child abuse in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632664
TI  - Screening for gestational diabetes.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27632665
TI  - Treatment of leakage via metallic stents placements after endoscopic full
      thickness resection for esophageal and gastroesophageal junction submucosal
      tumors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and
      efficacy of endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR) and fully covered
      retrievable self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) placement for this kind of
      tumors. METHODS: A total of six consecutive patients, presenting with esophageal
      and GE junction SMTs, received EFTR and SEMSs placement at the our endoscopic
      center between January 2015 and June 2015. Their medical records were thoroughly
      investigated. RESULTS: EFTR was performed successfully in all cases. The en bloc
      resection rate was 100%. The final pathological diagnoses were leiomyomas in all
      six cases. No patients developed delayed bleeding. SEMSs were placed immediately
      after EFTR during the same endoscopic session except patient #1. Complete healing
      of esophageal leakage after stent placement was achieved for 6/6 patients (100%)
      without the need for surgical interventions. Stent migration occurred in one
      patient. No residual tumor or tumor recurrence was observed during the follow-up
      period. CONCLUSIONS: EFTR combined with fully covered retrievable self-expandable
      metallic stents placement is a feasible and effective new method for providing
      radical treatments for SMTs from the deep MP layer of esophagus and GE junction.
      Standardization of the procedure should be studied further.

PMID- 27632666
TI  - Binding of Telomestatin to a Telomeric G-Quadruplex DNA Probed by All-Atom
      Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Explicit Solvent.
AB  - Telomestatin, a natural product isolated from Streptomyces anulatus, stabilizes
      telomeric DNA G-quadruplexes. Treatment with this ligand induces apoptosis of
      various cancer cells with a relatively low effect on somatic cells because of its
      high selectivity toward G-quadruplex over duplex DNA. A high-resolution structure
      of a G-quadruplex in complex with telomestatin does not yet exist because of its
      low solubility, and the binding nature of this ligand remains elusive. In this
      study, we utilized molecular binding simulations and MMGBSA binding energy
      analysis to decipher the nature of the binding of telomestatin to a telomeric G
      quadruplex. We identified three major binding poses: bottom intercalation, top
      stacking, and groove binding. The top stacking mode resembles the pose observed
      in an NMR complex of the same G-quadruplex with the telomestatin analogue L2H.
      The bottom intercalation and groove binding poses were not observed in the
      previous studies of L2H. The bottom intercalation mode exhibited the most
      favorable binding energy among the three modes, while also partially
      intercalating into the telomeric quadruplex. The dynamic and energetic properties
      of these three binding modes are thoroughly examined. "Flip insertion" and "slide
      insertion" were observed in the bottom intercalation mode. Our findings also
      provide insight into the design of more selective DNA quadruplex ligands as
      anticancer agents in the future.

PMID- 27632667
TI  - [The Role of a Modular Universal Tumour and Revision System (MUTARS(r)) in Lower
      Limb Endoprosthetic Revision Surgery - Outcome Analysis of 25 Patients].
AB  - Introduction/Background: With extended life expectancy, the number of primary
      joint arthroplasties has also increased. Revision surgery is also more often
      necessary, due to aseptic or septic loosening of the prosthesis or periprosthetic
      fracture. Large bone defects often occur in these patients and several non
      modular, conventional implants are available to handle this difficult situation.
      Custom made implants offer an individually designed and defect-adapted shape with
      perfect covering of the lesion, but may delay the operation. The Modular
      Universal Tumor And Revision System (MUTARS(r)) offers the possibility to vary
      the length and angle of the femoral neck and the antetorsion angle. Thus, it
      permits intraoperative adaption to the individual patient's defect. The aim of
      our study is to present clinical, functional results and the rate of
      complications in a cohort of patients undergoing revision surgery for failed
      endoprosthetic replacement or failed trauma surgery, using the Modular Universal
      Tumor And Revision System with short-to midterm follow-up. Patients and Methods:
      Between August 2005 and September 2014, 25 patients (17 female, 8 male) with an
      average age of 72 years (min. 56, max. 92 years) were included in a retrospective
      study using the MUTARS(r) system. The patients underwent surgical revision of
      osseous defects that were not susceptible to conventional care. The mean follow
      up was 16 months (min. 12, max. 72 months). The indications which led to revision
      surgery were as follows: loosened metal-on-metal prosthesis with an acetabular
      defect caused by a metal-induced granuloma (n = 1), pseudoarthrosis after
      implantation of femur nail (n = 2), cut-out of a femur nail (n = 1), aseptic
      loosening of an implanted endoprosthesis (n = 4), septic loosening of an
      implanted endoprosthesis (n = 1), periprosthetic fracture (n = 6) and
      periprosthetic infection after two stage revision surgery (infection consolidated
      Girdlestone situation) (n = 10). All patients were followed up at regular
      intervals, both clinically and radiologically. Apart from comorbidities, clinical
      and functional parameters were measured, including the Harris Hip Score. An
      outcome analysis was also performed with respect to peri- and postoperative
      complications. Serial plain X-rays were followed-up. Results: In all patients,
      stable reconstruction without the use of an allograft was possible. In total, 23
      patients underwent surgery by using a proximal femur prosthesis; three patients
      also received a custom made acetabular component. One patient was treated by
      using a distal femur and one patient was treated by implantation of a total femur
      prosthesis. The average length of hospital stay was 25 days (min.11, max. 47
      days). The Harris Hip Score improved from 28 points preoperatively to 81 points
      after surgery.In total we recorded 24 % of complications after surgery. Two
      patients suffered recurrent periprosthetic infection and the prosthesis had to be
      revised in a further two stage exchange; one patient had a tractus gap and was
      revised by surgery. Two patients suffered periprosthetic fracture due to trauma
      and the patient with the total femur prosthesis suffered recurrent periprosthetic
      infection of the silver - coated mega-prosthesis and committed suicide triggered
      by an episode of major depression. Conclusion: Because of its modular nature, the
      Modular Tumor And Revision System (MUTARS(r)) can be used for highly variable
      intraoperative defect adaption. Good clinical and functional results were
      achieved in patients with excessive bone defects. However, the high rate of
      infection, even with silver coated mega-implants, is still a problem and should
      be studied further.

PMID- 27632668
TI  - [Changes in the Locomotor System as a Consequence of Amputation of a Lower Limb].
AB  - Background: It is often assumed that leg amputations result in a greater risk of
      degenerative changes to the locomotor system. This paper analysed the extent to
      which this assumption is supported by the scientific literature. In particular,
      the study analysed the level of risk of various degenerative diseases in
      amputees. Method: A systematic literature search was conducted in scientific
      databases on degenerative changes caused by amputations. All pertinent articles
      were qualitatively analysed; the available quantitative results were summarised
      and compared to data for the able bodied population. Results: The search yielded
      40 publications that met the inclusion criteria. A quantitative summary of the
      studies showed that 56 % of amputees suffered from back pain, radiographic signs
      of arthritis were found in the sound knee of 35 % of patients, compared with
      clinical signs in 33 %. Clinical symptoms of hip osteoarthritis were seen in 15 %
      of amputees on the prosthetic side and in 20 % on the sound side. 87 % of
      patients exhibited reduced bone density in the hip on the prosthetic side and all
      amputees exhibited muscular atrophy in the residual limb. Conclusions: Thanks to
      the development of prosthetic components it is possible to adjust the length of
      the prosthesis to the length of the sound limb, so that there are no longer
      discrepancies in leg length. This means that flexion deformities of the spine of
      amputees have become rarer and are therefore no longer discussed in the current
      literature. The risks of back pain, knee osteoarthritis in the sound side,
      reduced bone density on the prosthetic side hip and muscular atrophy are still
      significantly greater than in the able bodied population. The prevalence of back
      pain and knee osteoarthritis increases in more proximal amputations. It may be
      possible to reduce these risks with novel prosthetic components and by optimising
      prosthetic fitting. On the one hand, an optimised prosthesis will be used more
      often. On the other hand, it will be exposed to greater loads and therefore the
      load to the locomotor system could be distributed more evenly between the two
      legs. Both aspects would result in a more physiological loading of the locomotor
      system. There was not enough published evidence to determine to what extent the
      sound side foot shows degenerative changes.

PMID- 27632669
TI  - Vitamin D Deficiency in Human and Murine Sepsis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated as a pathogenic factor in
      sepsis and ICU mortality but causality of these associations has not been
      demonstrated. To determine whether sepsis and severe sepsis are associated with
      vitamin D deficiency and to determine whether vitamin D deficiency influences the
      severity of sepsis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Sixty-one patients with sepsis
      and severe sepsis from two large U.K. hospitals and 20 healthy controls were
      recruited. Murine models of cecal ligation and puncture and intratracheal
      lipopolysaccharide were undertaken in normal and vitamin D deficient mice to
      address the issue of causality. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients with
      severe sepsis had significantly lower concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 than
      patients with either mild sepsis or age-matched healthy controls (15.7 vs 49.5 vs
      66.5 nmol/L; p = 0.0001). 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 concentrations were significantly
      lower in patients who had positive microbiologic culture than those who were
      culture negative (p = 0.0023) as well as those who died within 30 days of
      hospital admission (p = 0.025). Vitamin D deficiency in murine sepsis was
      associated with increased peritoneal (p = 0.037), systemic (p = 0.019), and
      bronchoalveolar lavage (p = 0.011) quantitative bacterial culture. This was
      associated with reduced local expression of the cathelicidin-related
      antimicrobial peptide as well as evidence of defective macrophage phagocytosis (p
      = 0.029). In the intratracheal lipopolysaccharide model, 1,500 IU of
      intraperitoneal cholecalciferol treatment 6 hours postinjury reduced alveolar
      inflammation, cellular damage, and hypoxia. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency is
      common in severe sepsis. This appears to contribute to the development of the
      condition in clinically relevant murine models and approaches to correct vitamin
      D deficiency in patients with sepsis should be developed.

PMID- 27632670
TI  - Antagonism of the Neurokinin-1 Receptor Improves Survival in a Mouse Model of
      Sepsis by Decreasing Inflammation and Increasing Early Cardiovascular Function.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Sepsis remains a serious clinical problem despite intensive research
      efforts and numerous attempts to improve outcome by modifying the inflammatory
      response. Substance P, the principal ligand for the neurokinin-1 receptor, is a
      potent proinflammatory mediator that exacerbates inflammatory responses and
      cardiovascular variables in sepsis. DESIGN: The current study examined whether
      inhibition of the neurokinin-1 receptor with a specific antagonist (CJ-12,255)
      would improve survival in the cecal ligation and puncture model of sepsis in
      adult female outbred mice. SETTING: University basic science research laboratory.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Neurokinin-1 receptor treatment at the initiation
      of sepsis improved survival in cecal ligation and puncture sepsis (neurokinin-1
      receptor antagonist survival = 79% vs vehicle = 54%). Delaying therapy for as
      little as 8 hours postcecal ligation and puncture failed to provide a survival
      benefit. Neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist treatment did not prevent the sepsis
      induced decrease in circulating WBCs, augment the early (6 hr postcecal ligation
      and puncture) recruitment of inflammatory cells to the peritoneum, or improve
      phagocytic cell killing of pathogens. However, the neurokinin-1 receptor
      antagonist significantly reduced both circulating and peritoneal cytokine
      concentrations. In addition, the cardiovascular variable, pulse distension (a
      surrogate for stroke volume) was improved in the neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist
      group during the first 6 hours of sepsis, and there was a significant reduction
      in loss of fluid into the intestine. CONCLUSION: These data show that early
      activation of the neurokinin-1 receptor by substance P decreases sepsis survival
      through multiple mechanisms including depressing stroke volume, increasing fluid
      loss into the intestine, and increasing inflammatory cytokine production.

PMID- 27632671
TI  - Early Detection of Increased Intracranial Pressure Episodes in Traumatic Brain
      Injury: External Validation in an Adult and in a Pediatric Cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A model for early detection of episodes of increased intracranial
      pressure in traumatic brain injury patients has been previously developed and
      validated based on retrospective adult patient data from the multicenter Brain-IT
      database. The purpose of the present study is to validate this early detection
      model in different cohorts of recently treated adult and pediatric traumatic
      brain injury patients. DESIGN: Prognostic modeling. Noninterventional,
      observational, retrospective study. SETTING AND PATIENTS: The adult validation
      cohort comprised recent traumatic brain injury patients from San Gerardo Hospital
      in Monza (n = 50), Leuven University Hospital (n = 26), Antwerp University
      Hospital (n = 19), Tubingen University Hospital (n = 18), and Southern General
      Hospital in Glasgow (n = 8). The pediatric validation cohort comprised patients
      from neurosurgical and intensive care centers in Edinburgh and Newcastle (n =
      79). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The model's performance
      was evaluated with respect to discrimination, calibration, overall performance,
      and clinical usefulness. In the recent adult validation cohort, the model
      retained excellent performance as in the original study. In the pediatric
      validation cohort, the model retained good discrimination and a positive net
      benefit, albeit with a performance drop in the remaining criteria. CONCLUSIONS:
      The obtained external validation results confirm the robustness of the model to
      predict future increased intracranial pressure events 30 minutes in advance, in
      adult and pediatric traumatic brain injury patients. These results are a large
      step toward an early warning system for increased intracranial pressure that can
      be generally applied. Furthermore, the sparseness of this model that uses only
      two routinely monitored signals as inputs (intracranial pressure and mean
      arterial blood pressure) is an additional asset.

PMID- 27632672
TI  - Human Sepsis Eicosanoid and Proresolving Lipid Mediator Temporal Profiles:
      Correlations With Survival and Clinical Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify and measure recently described chemical mediators, termed
      specialized pro-resolving mediators that actively regulate the resolution of
      acute-inflammation, and correlate measurements with clinical outcomes. DESIGN:
      Herein, deidentified plasma was collected from sepsis patients (n = 22 subjects)
      within 48 hours of admission to the ICU and on days 3 and 7 thereafter and
      subjected to lipid mediator profiling. SETTING: Brigham and Women's Hospital
      Medical Intensive Care Unit. SUBJECTS: Patients in the medical ICU with sepsis.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In all patients, we identified more than 30
      bioactive mediators and pathway markers in peripheral blood using established
      criteria for arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid
      metabolomes. These included inflammation initiating mediators leukotriene B4 and
      prostaglandin E2 and pro-resolving mediators resolvin D1, resolvin D2, and
      protectin D1. In sepsis nonsurvivors, we found significantly higher inflammation
      initiating mediators including prostaglandin F2alpha and leukotriene B4 and pro
      resolving mediators, including resolvin E1, resolvin D5, and 17R-protectin D1
      than was observed in surviving sepsis subjects. This signature was present at ICU
      admission and persisted for 7 days. Further analysis revealed increased
      respiratory failure in nonsurvivors. Higher inflammation-initiating mediators
      (including prostaglandin F2alpha) and select proresolving pathways were
      associated with the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome, whereas
      other traditional clinical indices were not predictive of acute respiratory
      distress syndrome development. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide peripheral
      blood lipid mediator profiles in sepsis that correlate with survival and acute
      respiratory distress syndrome development, thus suggesting plausible novel
      biomarkers and biologic targets for critical illness.

PMID- 27632675
TI  - Opening the Door: The Experience of Chronic Critical Illness in a Long-Term Acute
      Care Hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chronically critically ill patients have recurrent infections, organ
      dysfunction, and at least half die within 1 year. They are frequently cared for
      in long-term acute care hospitals, yet little is known about their experience in
      this setting. Our objective was to explore the understanding and expectations and
      goals of these patients and surrogates. DESIGN: We conducted semi-structured
      interviews with chronically critically ill long-term acute care hospital patients
      or surrogates. Conversations were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. SETTING:
      One long-term acute care hospital. SUBJECTS: Chronically critically ill patients,
      defined by tracheotomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation, or surrogates.
      INTERVENTION: Semi-structured conversation about quality of life, expectations,
      and planning for setbacks. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 50 subjects
      (30 patients and 20 surrogates) were enrolled. Thematic analyses demonstrated: 1)
      poor quality of life for patients; 2) surrogate stress and anxiety; 3) optimistic
      health expectations; 4) poor planning for medical setbacks; and 5) disruptive
      care transitions. Nearly 80% of patient and their surrogate decision makers
      identified going home as a goal; 38% were at home at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study describes the experience of chronically critically ill patients and
      surrogates in an long-term acute care hospital and the feasibility of patient
      focused research in this setting. Our findings indicate overly optimistic
      expectations about return home and unmet palliative care needs, suggesting the
      need for integration of palliative care within the long-term acute care hospital.
      Further research is also needed to more fully understand the challenges of this
      growing population of ICU survivors.

PMID- 27632674
TI  - Sepsis Pathophysiology, Chronic Critical Illness, and Persistent Inflammation
      Immunosuppression and Catabolism Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To provide an appraisal of the evolving paradigms in the
      pathophysiology of sepsis and propose the evolution of a new phenotype of
      critically ill patients, its potential underlying mechanism, and its implications
      for the future of sepsis management and research. DESIGN: Literature search using
      PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      Sepsis remains one of the most debilitating and expensive illnesses, and its
      prevalence is not declining. What is changing is our definition(s), its clinical
      course, and how we manage the septic patient. Once thought to be predominantly a
      syndrome of over exuberant inflammation, sepsis is now recognized as a syndrome
      of aberrant host protective immunity. Earlier recognition and compliance with
      treatment bundles has fortunately led to a decline in multiple organ failure and
      in-hospital mortality. Unfortunately, more and more sepsis patients, especially
      the aged, are suffering chronic critical illness, rarely fully recover, and often
      experience an indolent death. Patients with chronic critical illness often
      exhibit "a persistent inflammation-immunosuppression and catabolism syndrome,"
      and it is proposed here that this state of persisting inflammation,
      immunosuppression and catabolism contributes to many of these adverse clinical
      outcomes. The underlying cause of inflammation-immunosuppression and catabolism
      syndrome is currently unknown, but there is increasing evidence that altered
      myelopoiesis, reduced effector T-cell function, and expansion of immature myeloid
      derived suppressor cells are all contributory. CONCLUSIONS: Although newer
      therapeutic interventions are targeting the inflammatory, the immunosuppressive,
      and the protein catabolic responses individually, successful treatment of the
      septic patient with chronic critical illness and persistent inflammation
      immunosuppression and catabolism syndrome may require a more complementary
      approach.

PMID- 27632673
TI  - Evaluation of RBC Transfusion Practice in Adult ICUs and the Effect of
      Restrictive Transfusion Protocols on Routine Care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Research supports the efficacy and safety of restrictive transfusion
      protocols to reduce avoidable RBC transfusions, but evidence of their
      effectiveness in practice is limited. This study assessed whether admission to an
      ICU with an restrictive transfusion protocol reduces the likelihood of
      transfusion for adult patients. DESIGN: Observational study using data from the
      multicenter, cohort Critical Illness Outcomes Study. Patient-level analyses were
      conducted with RBC transfusion on day of enrollment as the outcome and admission
      to an ICU with a restrictive transfusion protocol as the exposure of interest.
      Covariates included demographics, hospital course (e.g., lowest hematocrit, blood
      loss), severity of illness (e.g., Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score),
      interventions (e.g., sedation/analgesia), and ICU characteristics (e.g., size).
      Multivariable logistic regression modeling assessed the independent effects of
      restrictive transfusion protocols on transfusions. SETTING: Fifty-nine U.S. ICUs.
      PATIENTS: A total of 6,027 adult ICU patients. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS
      AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 59 study ICUs, 24 had an restrictive transfusion
      protocol; 2,510 patients (41.6%) were in an ICU with an restrictive transfusion
      protocol. The frequency of RBC transfusion among patients with severe
      (hematocrit, < 21%), moderate (hematocrit, 21-30%), and mild (hematocrit, > 30%)
      anemia in restrictive transfusion protocol ICUs was 67%, 19%, and 4%,
      respectively, compared with 60%, 14%, and 2% for those in ICUs without an
      restrictive transfusion protocol. Only 27% of transfusions were associated with a
      hematocrit less than 21%. Adjusting for confounding factors, restrictive
      transfusion protocols independently reduced the odds of transfusion in moderate
      anemia with an odds ratio of 0.59 (95% CI, 0.36-0.96) while demonstrating no
      effect in mild (p = 0.93) or severe (p = 0.52) anemia. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      sample of ICU patients, transfusions often occurred outside evidence-based
      guidelines, but admission to an ICU with an restrictive transfusion protocol did
      reduce the risk of transfusion in moderately anemic patients controlling for
      patient and ICU factors. This study supports the effectiveness of restrictive
      transfusion protocols for influencing transfusions in clinical practice.

PMID- 27632677
TI  - A Comparison of Usage and Outcomes Between Nurse Practitioner and Resident
      Staffed Medical ICUs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare usage patterns and outcomes of a nurse practitioner-staffed
      medical ICU and a resident-staffed physician medical ICU. DESIGN: Retrospective
      chart review of 1,157 medical ICU admissions from March 2012 to February 2013.
      SETTING: Large urban academic university hospital. SUBJECTS: One thousand one
      hundred fifty-seven consecutive medical ICU admissions including 221 nurse
      practitioner-staffed medical ICU admissions (19.1%) and 936 resident-staffed
      medical ICU admissions (80.9%). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: Data obtained included age, gender, race, medical ICU admitting
      diagnosis, location at time of ICU transfer, code status at ICU admission, and
      severity of illness using both Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II
      scores and a model for relative expected mortality. Primary outcomes compared
      included ICU mortality, in-hospital mortality, medical ICU length of stay, and
      post-ICU discharge hospital length of stay. Patients admitted to the nurse
      practitioner-staffed medical ICU were older (63 +/- 16.5 vs 59.2 +/- 16.9 yr for
      resident-staffed medical ICU; p = 0.019), more likely to be transferred from an
      inpatient unit (52.0% vs 40.0% for the resident-staffed medical ICU; p = 0.002),
      and had a higher severity of illness by relative expected mortality (21.3 % vs
      17.2 % for the resident-staffed medical ICU; p = 0.001). There were no
      differences among primary outcomes except for medical ICU length of stay (nurse
      practitioner-resident-staffed 7.9 +/- 7.5 d vs resident-staffed medical ICU 5.6
      +/- 6.5 d; p = 0.0001). Post-hospital discharge to nonhome location was also
      significantly higher in the nurse practitioner-ICU (31.7% in nurse practitioner
      staffed medical ICU vs 23.9% in resident-staffed medical ICU; p = 0.24).
      CONCLUSIONS: We found no difference in mortality between an nurse practitioner
      staffed medical ICU and a resident-staffed physician medical ICU. Our study adds
      further evidence that advanced practice providers can render safe and effective
      ICU care.

PMID- 27632676
TI  - Accuracy of an Extubation Readiness Test in Predicting Successful Extubation in
      Children With Acute Respiratory Failure From Lower Respiratory Tract Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Identifying children ready for extubation is desirable to minimize
      morbidity and mortality associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation and
      extubation failure. We determined the accuracy of an extubation readiness test
      (Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure extubation
      readiness test) in predicting successful extubation in children with acute
      respiratory failure from lower respiratory tract disease. DESIGN: Secondary
      analysis of data from the Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for
      Respiratory Failure clinical trial, a pediatric multicenter cluster randomized
      trial of sedation. SETTING: Seventeen PICUs in the intervention arm. PATIENTS:
      Children 2 weeks to 17 years receiving invasive mechanical ventilation for lower
      respiratory tract disease. INTERVENTION: Extubation readiness test in which
      spontaneously breathing children with oxygenation index less than or equal to 6
      were placed on FIO2 of 0.50, positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 cm H2O, and
      pressure support. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 1,042 children, 444 (43%)
      passed their first extubation readiness test. Of these, 295 (66%) were extubated
      within 10 hours of starting the extubation readiness test, including 272 who were
      successfully extubated, for a positive predictive value of 92%. Among 861
      children who were extubated for the first time within 10 hours of performing an
      extubation readiness test, 788 passed their extubation readiness test and 736
      were successfully extubated for a positive predictive value of 93%. The median
      time of day for extubation with an extubation readiness test was 12:15 hours
      compared with 14:54 hours for extubation without an extubation readiness test
      within 10 hours (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In children with acute respiratory
      failure from lower respiratory tract disease, an extubation readiness test, as
      described, should be considered at least daily if the oxygenation index is less
      than or equal to 6. If the child passes the extubation readiness test, there is a
      high likelihood of successful extubation.

PMID- 27632678
TI  - Cumulative Evidence of Randomized Controlled and Observational Studies on
      Catheter-Related Infection Risk of Central Venous Catheter Insertion Site in ICU
      Patients: A Pairwise and Network Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Selection of central venous catheter insertion site in ICU patients
      could help reduce catheter-related infections. Although subclavian was considered
      the most appropriate site, its preferential use in ICU patients is not
      generalized and questioned by contradicted meta-analysis results. In addition,
      conflicting data exist on alternative site selection whenever subclavian is
      contraindicated. OBJECTIVE: To compare catheter-related bloodstream infection and
      colonization risk between the three sites (subclavian, internal jugular, and
      femoral) in adult ICU patients. DATA SOURCE: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials, CINAHL, and ClinicalTrials.gov.
      STUDY SELECTION: Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials and
      observational ones. DATA EXTRACTION: Extracted data were analyzed by pairwise and
      network meta-analysis. DATA SYNTHESIS: Twenty studies were included; 11 were
      observational, seven were randomized controlled trials for other outcomes, and
      two were randomized controlled trials for sites. We evaluated 18,554 central
      venous catheters: 9,331 from observational studies, 5,482 from randomized
      controlled trials for other outcomes, and 3,741 from randomized controlled trials
      for sites. Colonization risk was higher for internal jugular (relative risk, 2.25
      [95% CI, 1.84-2.75]; I = 0%) and femoral (relative risk, 2.92 [95% CI, 2.11
      4.04]; I = 24%), compared with subclavian. Catheter-related bloodstream infection
      risk was comparable for internal jugular and subclavian, higher for femoral than
      subclavian (relative risk, 2.44 [95% CI, 1.25-4.75]; I = 61%), and lower for
      internal jugular than femoral (relative risk, 0.55 [95% CI, 0.34-0.89]; I = 61%).
      When observational studies that did not control for baseline characteristics were
      excluded, catheter-related bloodstream infection risk was comparable between the
      sites. CONCLUSIONS: In ICU patients, internal jugular and subclavian may,
      similarly, decrease catheter-related bloodstream infection risk, when compared
      with femoral. Subclavian could be suggested as the most appropriate site,
      whenever colonization risk is considered and not, otherwise, contraindicated.
      Current evidence on catheter-related bloodstream infection femoral risk, compared
      with the other sites, is inconclusive.

PMID- 27632679
TI  - Human Albumin Use in Adults in U.S. Academic Medical Centers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine rates and predictors of albumin administration, and
      estimated costs in hospitalized adults in the United States. DESIGN: Cohort study
      of adult patients from the University HealthSystem Consortium database from 2009
      to 2013. SETTING: One hundred twenty academic medical centers and 299 affiliated
      hospitals. PATIENTS: A total of 12,366,264 hospitalization records.
      INTERVENTIONS: Analysis of rates and predictors of albumin administration, and
      estimated costs. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Overall the proportion of
      admissions during which albumin was administered increased from 6.2% in 2009 to
      7.5% in 2013; absolute difference 1.3% (95% CI, 1.30-1.40%; p < 0.0001). The
      increase was greater in surgical patients from 11.7% in 2009 to 15.1% in 2013;
      absolute difference 3.4% (95% CI, 3.26-3.46%; p < 0.0001). Albumin use varied
      geographically being lowest with no increase in hospitals in the North Eastern
      United States (4.9% in 2009 and 5.3% in 2013) and was more common in bigger (>
      750 beds; 5.2% in 2009 and 7.3% in 2013) compared to smaller hospitals (< 250
      beds; 4.4% in 2009 to 6.2% in 2013). Factors independently associated with
      albumin use were appropriate indication for albumin use (odds ratio, 65.220; 95%
      CI, 62.459-68.103); surgical admission (odds ratio, 7.942; 95% CI, 7.889-7.995);
      and high severity of illness (odds ratio, 8.933; 95% CI, 8.825-9.042). Total
      estimated albumin cost significantly increased from $325 million in 2009 to $468
      million in 2013; (absolute increase of $233 million), p value less than 0.0001.
      CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of hospitalized adults in the United States receiving
      albumin has increased, with marked, and currently unexplained, geographic
      variability and variability by hospital size.

PMID- 27632681
TI  - Readmissions to Intensive Care: A Prospective Multicenter Study in Australia and
      New Zealand.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine factors independently associated with readmission to ICU
      and the independent association of readmission with subsequent mortality. DESIGN:
      Prospective multicenter observational study. SETTING: Forty ICUs in Australia and
      New Zealand. PATIENTS: Consecutive adult patients discharged alive from ICU to
      hospital wards between September 2009 and February 2010. INTERVENTIONS:
      Measurement of hospital mortality. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We studied
      10,210 patients and 674 readmissions. The median age was 63 years (interquartile
      range, 49-74), and 6,224 (61%) were male. The majority of readmissions were
      unplanned (84.1%) but only deemed preventable in a minority (8.9%) of cases. Time
      to first readmission was shorter for unplanned than planned readmission (3.2 vs
      6.9 d; p < 0.001). Primary diagnosis changed between admission and readmission in
      the majority of patients (60.2%) irrespective of planned (58.2%) or unplanned
      (60.6%) status. Using recurrent event analysis incorporating patient frailty, we
      found no association between readmissions and hospital survival (hazard ratios:
      first readmission 0.88, second readmission 0.90, third readmission 0.44; p >
      0.05). In contrast, age (hazard ratio, 1.03), a medical diagnosis (hazard ratio,
      1.43), inotrope use (hazard ratio, 3.47), and treatment limitation order (hazard
      ratio, 17.8) were all independently associated with outcome. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      large prospective study, readmission to ICU was not an independent risk factor
      for mortality.

PMID- 27632680
TI  - Cytokine Release Syndrome After Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy for
      Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Initial success with chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell therapy
      for relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia is leading to expanded use
      through multicenter trials. Cytokine release syndrome, the most severe toxicity,
      presents a novel critical illness syndrome with limited data regarding diagnosis,
      prognosis, and therapy. We sought to characterize the timing, severity, and
      intensive care management of cytokine release syndrome after chimeric antigen
      receptor-modified T cell therapy. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING:
      Academic children's hospital. PATIENTS: Thirty-nine subjects with
      relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with chimeric antigen
      receptor-modified T cell therapy on a phase I/IIa clinical trial
      (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01626495). INTERVENTIONS: All subjects received
      chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell therapy. Thirteen subjects with
      cardiovascular dysfunction were treated with the interleukin-6 receptor antibody
      tocilizumab. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Eighteen subjects (46%) developed
      grade 3-4 cytokine release syndrome, with prolonged fever (median, 6.5 d),
      hyperferritinemia (median peak ferritin, 60,214 ng/mL), and organ dysfunction.
      Fourteen (36%) developed cardiovascular dysfunction treated with vasoactive
      infusions a median of 5 days after T cell therapy. Six (15%) developed acute
      respiratory failure treated with invasive mechanical ventilation a median of 6
      days after T cell therapy; five met criteria for acute respiratory distress
      syndrome. Encephalopathy, hepatic, and renal dysfunction manifested later than
      cardiovascular and respiratory dysfunction. Subjects had a median of 15 organ
      dysfunction days (interquartile range, 8-20). Treatment with tocilizumab in 13
      subjects resulted in rapid defervescence (median, 4 hr) and clinical improvement.
      CONCLUSIONS: Grade 3-4 cytokine release syndrome occurred in 46% of patients
      following T cell therapy for relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
      Clinicians should be aware of expanding use of this breakthrough therapy and
      implications for critical care units in cancer centers.

PMID- 27632682
TI  - Single Intravenous Dose of Novel Flurbiprofen-Loaded Proniosome Formulations
      Provides Prolonged Systemic Exposure and Anti-inflammatory Effect.
AB  - Vesicular and colloidal delivery systems can be designed to control drug release
      spatially and temporally to improve drug efficacy and side effect profiles.
      Niosomes (vesicles prepared from nonionic surfactants in aqueous media) are
      gaining interest as an alternative vesicular delivery system as they offer
      advantages such as biocompatibility, chemical stability, low cost, high purity,
      and versatility. However, the physical stability of niosomes, like other
      vesicular systems, is limited by vesicle fusion, aggregation, and leakage.
      Proniosomes (dehydrated powder or gel formulations that spontaneously form
      niosomes on hydration with aqueous media) can overcome these physical stability
      problems and are more convenient for sterilization, storage, transport,
      distribution, and dosing. Proniosomes have mostly been explored for their
      potential to enhance transdermal and oral absorption. In this study we assess,
      for the first time, the potential for hydrated proniosomes to sustain systemic
      exposure and therapeutic effect after intravenous delivery. Proniosomes carrying
      the anti-inflammatory drug, flurbiprofen, were prepared by spraying different
      nonionic surfactants (span 20, span 40, and span 60 in varying ratios with span
      80) and cholesterol onto a sorbitol carrier. The proniosome powders were
      characterized for surface morphology and flow properties. Niosome formation was
      assessed at three different hydration temperatures (25, 37, and 45  degrees C),
      and the niosomes were assessed for vesicle size, entrapment efficiency, and
      sterility. OLP proniosomes prepared with a high ratio of span 80 to span 20 were
      found to spontaneously form vesicles of small size and high drug loading on
      hydration with aqueous media. The OLP derived niosomes successfully sustained in
      vitro drug release, in vivo pharmacokinetics, and the anti-inflammatory effect of
      flurbiprofen in an acute (rat paw edema) model of inflammation when compared to a
      control solution formulation. The study demonstrates that hydrated proniosomes
      can prolong systemic drug exposure over 3 days and provide a sustained
      therapeutic effect. The developed proniosomes represent a novel approach to treat
      acute pain and inflammation with the potential to be administered as a single
      intravenous dose by a clinician at the time of injury or surgery that provides
      adequate relief for several days and reduces fluctuations in therapy. Similar
      systems loaded with different drugs have potential for broader application in
      anesthesia, anti-infective, antiemetic, and cancer therapy.

PMID- 27632683
TI  - Mechanistic insights into class B radical-S-adenosylmethionine methylases:
      ubiquitous tailoring enzymes in natural product biosynthesis.
AB  - Class B radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) methylases are notable for their
      ability to catalyse methylation reactions in the biosynthesis of a wide variety
      of natural products, including polyketides, ribosomally biosynthesised and post
      translationally modified peptides (RiPPs), nonribosomal peptides (NRPs),
      aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, phosphonates, enediynes, aminocoumarins and
      terpenes. Here, we discuss the diversity of substrates and catalytic mechanism
      utilised by such enzymes, highlighting the stereochemical course of methylation
      reactions at un-activated carbon centres and the ability of some members of the
      family to catalyse multiple methylations.

PMID- 27632684
TI  - Nanometer scale fabrication and optical response of InGaN/GaN quantum disks.
AB  - In this work, we demonstrate homogeneously distributed In0.3Ga0.7N/GaN quantum
      disks (QDs), with an average diameter below 10 nm and a high density of 2.1 *
      10(11) cm(-2), embedded in 20 nm tall nanopillars. The scalable top-down
      fabrication process involves the use of self-assembled ferritin bio-templates as
      the etch mask, spin coated on top of a strained In0.3Ga0.7N/GaN single quantum
      well (SQW) structure, followed by a neutral beam etch (NBE) method. The small
      dimensions of the iron cores inside ferritin and nearly damage-free process
      enabled by the NBE jointly contribute to the observation of photoluminescence
      (PL) from strain-relaxed In0.3Ga0.7N/GaN QDs at 6 K. The large blueshift of the
      peak wavelength by over 70 nm manifests a strong reduction of the quantum
      confined Stark effect (QCSE) within the QD structure, which also agrees well with
      the theoretical prediction using a 3D Schrodinger equation solver. The current
      results hence pave the way towards the realization of large-scale III-N quantum
      structures using the combination of bio-templates and NBE, which is vital for the
      development of next-generation lighting and communication devices. 

PMID- 27632685
TI  - Imprinting: the Achilles heel of trio-based exome sequencing.

PMID- 27632687
TI  - Engaging Maori in biobanking and genomic research: a model for biobanks to guide
      culturally informed governance, operational, and community engagement activities.
AB  - PURPOSE: He Tangata Kei Tua, a relationship model for biobanks, was developed to
      facilitate best practice in addressing Maori ethical concerns by guiding
      culturally informed policy and practice for biobanks in relation to governance,
      operational, and community engagement activities. METHODS: The model is based on
      key issues of relevance to Maori that were identified as part of the Health
      Research Council of New Zealand-funded research project, Te Mata Ira (2012-2015).
      RESULTS: This project identified Maori perspectives on biobanking and genetic
      research, and along with tikanga Maori it developed cultural guidelines for
      ethical biobanking and genetic research involving biospecimens. The model draws
      on a foundation of matauranga (Indigenous knowledge) and tikanga Maori (Maori
      protocols and practices) and will be useful for biobanks, researchers, ethics
      committee members, and those who engage in consultation or advice about
      biobanking in local, regional, national, or international settings. CONCLUSION:
      This article describes the model and considers the policy and practice
      implications for biobanks seeking to address Maori ethical concerns. Although the
      model has focused on Maori aspirations in the New Zealand context, it provides a
      framework for considering cultural values in relation to other community or
      indigenous contexts.Genet Med 19 3, 345-351.

PMID- 27632688
TI  - Clinical relevance of small copy-number variants in chromosomal microarray
      clinical testing.
AB  - PURPOSE: The 2010 consensus statement on diagnostic chromosomal microarray (CMA)
      testing recommended an array resolution >=400 kb throughout the genome as a
      balance of analytical and clinical sensitivity. In spite of the clear evidence
      for pathogenicity of large copy-number variants (CNVs) in neurodevelopmental
      disorders and/or congenital anomalies, the significance of small, nonrecurrent
      CNVs (<500 kb) has not been well established in a clinical setting. METHODS: We
      investigated the clinical significance of all nonpolymorphic small, nonrecurrent
      CNVs (<500 kb) in patients referred for CMA clinical testing over a period of 6
      years, from 2009 to 2014 (a total of 4,417 patients). We excluded from our study
      patients with benign or likely benign CNVs and patients with only recurrent
      microdeletions/microduplications <500 kb. RESULTS: In total, 383 patients (8.67%)
      were found to carry at least one small, nonrecurrent CNV, of whom 176 patients
      (3.98%) had one small CNV classified as a variant of uncertain significance
      (VUS), 45 (1.02%) had two or more small VUS CNVs, 20 (0.45%) had one small VUS
      CNV and a recurrent CNV, 113 (2.56%) had one small pathogenic or likely
      pathogenic CNV, 17 (0.38%) had two or more small pathogenic or likely pathogenic
      CNVs, and 12 (0.27%) had one small pathogenic or likely pathogenic CNV and a
      recurrent CNV. Within the pathogenic group, 80 of 142 patients (56% of all small
      pathogenic CNV cases) were found to have a single whole-gene or exonic deletion.
      The themes that emerged from our study are presented in the Discussion section.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the diagnostic clinical relevance of small,
      nonrecurrent CNVs <500 kb during CMA clinical testing and underscores the need
      for careful clinical interpretation of these CNVs.Genet Med 19 4, 377-385.

PMID- 27632686
TI  - Loss-of-function mutations in the X-linked biglycan gene cause a severe syndromic
      form of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections.
AB  - PURPOSE: Thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) is typically inherited in
      an autosomal dominant manner, but rare X-linked families have been described. So
      far, the only known X-linked gene is FLNA, which is associated with the
      periventricular nodular heterotopia type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. However,
      mutations in this gene explain only a small number of X-linked TAAD families.
      METHODS: We performed targeted resequencing of 368 candidate genes in a cohort of
      11 molecularly unexplained Marfan probands. Subsequently, Sanger sequencing of
      BGN in 360 male and 155 female molecularly unexplained TAAD probands was
      performed. RESULTS: We found five individuals with loss-of-function mutations in
      BGN encoding the small leucine-rich proteoglycan biglycan. The clinical phenotype
      is characterized by early-onset aortic aneurysm and dissection. Other recurrent
      findings include hypertelorism, pectus deformity, joint hypermobility,
      contractures, and mild skeletal dysplasia. Fluorescent staining revealed an
      increase in TGF-beta signaling, evidenced by an increase in nuclear pSMAD2 in the
      aortic wall. Our results are in line with those of prior reports demonstrating
      that Bgn-deficient male BALB/cA mice die from aortic rupture. CONCLUSION: In
      conclusion, BGN gene defects in humans cause an X-linked syndromic form of severe
      TAAD that is associated with preservation of elastic fibers and increased TGF
      beta signaling.Genet Med 19 4, 386-395.

PMID- 27632689
TI  - My46: a Web-based tool for self-guided management of genomic test results in
      research and clinical settings.
AB  - A major challenge to implementing precision medicine is the need for an efficient
      and cost-effective strategy for returning individual genomic test results that is
      easily scalable and can be incorporated into multiple models of clinical
      practice. My46 is a Web-based tool for managing the return of genetic results
      that was designed and developed to support a wide range of approaches to
      disclosing results, ranging from traditional face-to-face disclosure to self
      guided models. My46 has five key functions: set and modify results-return
      preferences, return results, educate, manage the return of results, and assess
      the return of results. These key functions are supported by six distinct modules
      and a suite of features that enhance the user experience, ease site navigation,
      facilitate knowledge sharing, and enable results-return tracking. My46 is a
      potentially effective solution for returning results and supports current trends
      toward shared decision making between patients and providers and patient-driven
      health management.Genet Med 19 4, 467-475.

PMID- 27632691
TI  - Aryne-Mediated [2,3]-Sigmatropic Rearrangement of Tertiary Allylic Amines.
AB  - A new strategy has been established for the [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of
      quaternary allylic ammonium ylides via in situ activation of tertiary allylic
      amines with arynes under mild conditions. Using 2-(trimethylsilyl)aryl triflates
      as aryne precursors, a range of tertiary allylic amines bearing electron
      withdrawing groups underwent [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to furnish
      structurally diverse homoallylic amines in moderate to good yields. The reaction
      enabled construction of quaternary stereocenters with excellent enantiopurity and
      functionalized cyclopropanes with extremely high diastereoselectivity.

PMID- 27632692
TI  - Analysis and evaluation of magnetism of black toners on documents printed by
      electrophotographic systems.
AB  - This paper reports on a study to assess the potential of measurements of
      magnetism, using a proprietary magnetic analysis system, for the routine analysis
      of toners on documents printed by black and white electrophotographic systems.
      Magnetic properties of black toners on documents printed by a number of different
      devices were measured and compared. Our results indicate that the analysis of
      magnetism is complementary to traditional methods for analysing black toners,
      such as FTIR. Further, we find that the analysis of magnetism is realistically
      applicable in closed set cases, that is when the number of potential printing
      devices can be clearly defined.

PMID- 27632690
TI  - Genome-wide multilocus imprinting disturbance analysis in Temple syndrome and
      Kagami-Ogata syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recent studies have identified multilocus imprinting disturbances
      (MLIDs) in a subset of patients with imprinting diseases (IDs) caused by
      epimutations. We examined MLIDs in patients with Temple syndrome (TS14) and
      Kagami-Ogata syndrome (KOS14). METHODS: We studied four TS14 patients (patients 1
      4) and five KOS14 patients (patients 5-9) with epimutations. We performed
      HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (HM450k) analysis for 43 differentially methylated
      regions (DMRs) (753 CpG sites) and pyrosequencing for 12 DMRs (62 CpG sites)
      using leukocyte genomic DNA (Leu-gDNA) of patients 1-9, and performed HM450k
      analysis for 43 DMRs (a slightly different set of 753 CpG sites) using buccal
      cell gDNA (Buc-gDNA) of patients 1, 3, and 4. We also performed mutation analysis
      for six causative and candidate genes for MLIDs and quantitative expression
      analysis using immortalized lymphocytes in MLID-positive patients. RESULTS:
      Methylation analysis showed hypermethylated ZDBF2-DMR and ZNF597/NAA60-DMR,
      hypomethylated ZNF597-DMR in both Leu-gDNA and Buc-gDNA, and hypomethylated PPIEL
      DMR in Buc-gDNA of patient 1, and hypermethylated GNAS-A/B-DMR in Leu-gDNA of
      patient 3. No mutations were detected in the six genes for MLIDs. Expression
      patterns of ZDBF2, ZNF597, and GNAS-A/B were consistent with the identified
      MLIDs. CONCLUSION: This study indicates the presence of MLIDs in TS14 patients
      but not in KOS14 patients.Genet Med 19 4, 476-482.

PMID- 27632693
TI  - Vital Signs: Disparities in Antihypertensive Medication Nonadherence Among
      Medicare Part D Beneficiaries - United States, 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nonadherence to taking prescribed antihypertensive medication
      (antihypertensive) regimens has been identified as a leading cause of poor blood
      pressure control among persons with hypertension and an important risk factor for
      adverse cardiovascular disease outcomes. CDC and the Centers for Medicare and
      Medicaid Services analyzed geographic, racial-ethnic, and other disparities in
      nonadherence to antihypertensives among Medicare Part D beneficiaries in 2014.
      METHODS: Antihypertensive nonadherence, defined as a proportion of days a
      beneficiary was covered with antihypertensives of <80%, was assessed using
      prescription drug claims data among Medicare Advantage or Medicare fee-for
      service beneficiaries aged >=65 years with Medicare Part D coverage during 2014
      (N = 18.5 million). Analyses were stratified by antihypertensive class,
      beneficiaries' state and county of residence, type of prescription drug plan, and
      treatment and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Overall, 26.3% (4.9 million)
      of Medicare Part D beneficiaries using antihypertensives were nonadherent to
      their regimen. Nonadherence differed by multiple factors, including medication
      class (range: 16.9% for angiotensin II receptor blockers to 28.9% for diuretics);
      race-ethnicity (24.3% for non-Hispanic whites, 26.3% for Asian/Pacific Islanders,
      33.8% for Hispanics, 35.7% for blacks, and 38.8% for American Indians/Alaska
      Natives); and state of residence (range 18.7% for North Dakota to 33.7% for the
      District of Columbia). Considerable county-level variation in nonadherence was
      found; the highest nonadherence tended to occur in the southern United States
      (U.S. Census region nonadherence = 28.9% [South], 26.7% [West], 24.1%
      [Northeast], and 22.8% [Midwest]) CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
      PRACTICE: More than one in four Medicare Part D beneficiaries using
      antihypertensives were nonadherent to their regimen, and certain racial/ethnic
      groups, states, and geographic areas were at increased risk for nonadherence.
      These findings can help inform focused interventions among these groups, which
      might improve blood pressure control and cardiovascular disease outcomes.

PMID- 27632694
TI  - Development of Predictive Models for the Degradation of Halogenated Disinfection
      Byproducts during the UV/H2O2 Advanced Oxidation Process.
AB  - Previous research has demonstrated that the reverse osmosis and advanced
      oxidation processes (AOPs) used to purify municipal wastewater to potable quality
      have difficulty removing low molecular weight halogenated disinfection byproducts
      (DBPs) and industrial chemicals. Because of the wide range of chemical
      characteristics of these DBPs, this study developed methods to predict their
      degradation within the UV/H2O2 AOP via UV direct photolysis and hydroxyl radical
      (*OH) reaction, so that DBPs most likely to pass through the AOP could be
      predicted. Among 26 trihalomethanes, haloacetonitriles, haloacetaldehydes,
      halonitromethanes and haloacetamides, direct photolysis rate constants (254 nm)
      varied by ~3 orders of magnitude, with rate constants increasing with Br and I
      substitution. Quantum yields varied little (0.12-0.59 mol/Einstein), such that
      rate constants were driven by the orders of magnitude variation in molar
      extinction coefficients. Quantum chemical calculations indicated a strong
      correlation between molar extinction coefficients and decreasing energy gaps
      between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied orbitals (i.e., ELUMO-EHOMO).
      Rate constants for 37 trihalomethanes, haloacetonitriles, haloacetaldehydes,
      halonitromethanes, haloacetamides, and haloacetic acids with *OH measured by
      gamma radiolysis spanned 4 orders of magnitude. Based on these rate constants, a
      quantitative structure-reactivity relationship model (Group Contribution Method)
      was developed which predicted *OH rate constants for 5 additional halogenated
      compounds within a factor of 2. A kinetics model combining the molar extinction
      coefficients, quantum yields and *OH rate constants predicted experimental DBP
      loss in a lab-scale UV/H2O2 AOP well. Highlighting the difficulty associated with
      degrading these DBPs, at the 500-1000 mJ/cm2 UV fluence applied in potable reuse
      trains, 50% removal would be achieved generally only for compounds with several 
      Br or -I substituents, mostly due to higher molar extinction coefficients.

PMID- 27632695
TI  - The Relation of Obesity to Performance in Verbal Abilities, Processing Speed, and
      Cognitive Flexibility in Old Age: The Role of Cognitive Reserve.
AB  - AIMS: The present study set out to investigate the relation of obesity to
      performance in verbal abilities, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility and
      its interplay with key correlates of cognitive reserve in a large sample of older
      adults. METHODS: A total of 2,812 older adults served as a sample for the present
      study. Psychometric tests on verbal abilities, processing speed, and cognitive
      flexibility were administered. In addition, individuals were interviewed on their
      weight and height (to calculate body mass index; BMI), educational attainment,
      occupation, and engaging in different activities throughout adulthood. RESULTS:
      Obesity (BMI >=30) was significantly associated with a lower performance in
      verbal abilities, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility. Moderation
      analyses showed that obesity was related to lower processing speed and cognitive
      flexibility only in individuals with low engagement in activities and low
      education. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that obesity was not related
      to any of the three investigated cognitive performance measures when cognitive
      reserve in early and midlife was taken into account. CONCLUSION: Present data
      suggest that cognitive reserve accumulated during the life course may reduce the
      detrimental influences of obesity on cognitive functioning in old age.

PMID- 27632696
TI  - In vitro and in vivo evaluation of redox-responsive sorafenib carrier
      nanomicelles synthesized from poly (acryic acid) -cystamine hydrochloride-D-alpha
      tocopherol succinate.
AB  - In this study, a controlled drug release system based on redox-responsive
      nanomicelles for drug delivery was described. The system was constructed by
      linking poly (acryic acid) (PAA) with D-alpha-tocopherol succinate (VES) via a
      disulfide bond linker (ss). This amphiphilic polymer (PAAssVES) was synthesized
      by coupling reaction and its chemical structure was confirmed by FT-IR and 1HNMR
      analyses. PAAssVES was found to self-assemble into nanomicelles with diameter of
      about 130 nm, and a critical micelle concentration of about 6.3 MUg/mL. The
      Sorafenib-loaded nanomicelles (SFN-NM) were almost spherical as observed by
      transmission electron microscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis
      showed that Sorafenib (SFN) was entrapped in the micelles in an amorphous or
      molecular state. The safety of SFN-NM was confirmed by hemolysis study. The
      release of SFN from the nanomicelles was dependent on the concentration of
      glutathione (GSH), with 85% of the drug being released under the maximum
      concentration (40 mM) of GSH used. SFN-NM exhibited stronger cytotoxicity than
      free SFN against BGC-823 cells under the same SFN concentration. Furthermore,
      pharmacokinetics study showed that the bioavailability of SFN in rat obtained by
      injecting the animal with SFN-NM was about 2.8-fold the bioavailability of SFN
      obtained by injecting the animal with free SFN. Thus, the redox-responsive SFN
      delivery system described in the current study could be considered as a carrier
      for delivering SFN.

PMID- 27632697
TI  - Transferrin functionalized chitosan-PEG nanoparticles for targeted delivery of
      paclitaxel to cancer cells.
AB  - The present investigation was aimed to utilize the stealth property of
      polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) and active
      targeting function of transferrin (Tf) by transferrin receptor-mediated
      endocytosis to promote drug delivery to cancer cells. Paclitaxel (PTX) loaded
      nanoparticles (PTX-NP) were prepared by solvent evaporation method; PEGylation
      was carried out by coupling amine group present on the surface of NPs with
      hydroxyl group present on the PEG (NP-PEG). Tf conjugation was carried out by
      coupling carboxylic group present on the surface of ligand and hydroxyl group
      present on the PEG (NP-PEG-Tf). The uptake of NP-PEG-Tf into cancer cells was
      found to be higher as compared to non-targeted NPs. Compared with free PTX, PTX
      NPs and PTX-NPs-PEG, the PTX-NPs-PEG-Tf demonstrated higher cytotoxicity to human
      Non-Small Cell Lung cancer cell lines (HOP-62), higher intracellular uptake
      especially in nuclei and lower hemolytic toxicity. Tf conjugated NPs showed
      increased retention time in the lungs as well as in blood. These findings
      indicate that Tf conjugated PEGylated nanoparticles are promising nanoconstructs
      for the delivery of anti-cancer drugs to cancer cells.

PMID- 27632698
TI  - Chiral recognition of penicillamine enantiomers using hemoglobin and gold
      nanoparticles functionalized graphite-like carbon nitride nanosheets via
      electrochemiluminescence.
AB  - A new stable and stereo-selective electrochemiluminescence (ECL) interface has
      been designed for specific recognition of penicillamine (Pen) enantiomers by
      using hemoglobin (Hb) and gold nanoparticles functionalized graphite-like carbon
      nitride nanosheets composite (Au-g-C3N4 NHs) modified glassy carbon electrodes
      (Hb/Au-g-C3N4/GCE). The advantages of Hb as chiral selector and Au-g-C3N4 NHs as
      luminophore were perfectly displayed in this novel interface. The obviously
      different ECL intensity was exhibited after l-Pen and d-Pen adsorbed on Hb/Au-g
      C3N4/GCE, and a larger response was observed on d-Pen/Hb/Au-g-C3N4/GCE. Under the
      optimum conditions, the developed ECL chiral sensor showed excellent analytical
      property for detection of Pen enantiomers in a linear range of 1.0*10-4M to
      5.0*10-3M, and the detection limits of l-Pen and d-Pen were 3.1*10-5M and 3.3*10
      5M (S/N=3) respectively. This work with high selectivity, stability and
      reproducibility may open a new door based on ECL to discriminate Pen enantiomers.

PMID- 27632700
TI  - Induced and Spontaneous Abortion and Risk of Uterine Fibroids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between abortion and uterine fibroids has received
      little attention. The aim of the present study was to explore the association
      between number of induced and spontaneous abortions and the risk of uterine
      fibroids in middle-aged and older Chinese women. METHODS: A total of 14,595
      retired female employees from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study were included in
      our analysis. Information on induced and spontaneous abortions was collected by
      trained interviewers through face-to-face interviews. Diagnosis of uterine
      fibroids was based on ultrasound or self-reported physician diagnosis of uterine
      fibroids. Logistic regression models were used to explore the associations
      between number of induced and spontaneous abortions and the risk of uterine
      fibroids. RESULTS: The prevalence of uterine fibroids was 15.1% among all
      participants. Higher number of induced abortions was associated with an increased
      risk of uterine fibroids (1 induced abortion: odds ratios [ORs] = 1.32, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 1.18-1.48; 2 induced abortions: OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.28
      1.64; and >=3 induced abortions: OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.39-1.90). Compared with
      women without induced abortion, ORs for women with 1, 2, and >=3 were 1.17 (95%
      CI 1.03-1.32), 1.21 (95% CI 1.06-1.39), and 1.36 (95% CI 1.15-1.61),
      respectively, after adjustment for potential confounders. No association was
      observed between the number of spontaneous abortions and the risk of uterine
      fibroids. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that induced abortion may
      be an independent risk factor for uterine fibroids in middle-aged and older
      Chinese women.

PMID- 27632699
TI  - Dynamic interactions of amelogenin with hydroxyapatite surfaces are dependent on
      protein phosphorylation and solution pH.
AB  - Amelogenin, the predominant extracellular matrix protein secreted by ameloblasts,
      has been shown to be essential for proper tooth enamel formation. In this study,
      amelogenin adsorption to hydroxyapatite (HAP) surfaces, a prototype for enamel
      mineral, has been studied using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to
      interrogate effects of protein phosphorylation and solution pH. Dynamic flow
      based experiments were conducted at pH 7.4 and 8.0 using native phosphorylated
      porcine amelogenin (P173) and recombinant non-phosphorylated porcine amelogenin
      (rP172). Loading capacities (MUmol/m2) on HAP surfaces were calculated under all
      conditions and adsorption affinities (Kad) were calculated when Langmuir isotherm
      conditions appeared to be met. At pH 8.0, binding characteristics were remarkably
      similar for the two proteins. However, at pH 7.4 a higher affinity and lower
      surface loading for the phosphorylated P173 was found compared to any other set
      of conditions. This suggests that phosphorylated P173 adopts a more extended
      conformation than non-phosphorylated full-length amelogenin, occupying a larger
      footprint on the HAP surface. This surface-induced structural difference may help
      explain why P173 is a more effective inhibitor of spontaneous HAP formation in
      vitro than rP172. Differences in the viscoelastic properties of P173 and rP172 in
      the adsorbed state were also observed, consistent with noted differences in HAP
      binding. These collective findings provide new insight into the important role of
      amelogenin phosphorylation in the mechanism by which amelogenin regulates enamel
      crystal formation.

PMID- 27632701
TI  - The Role of EphA4 Signaling in Radiation-Induced EMT-Like Phenotype in Colorectal
      Cancer Cells.
AB  - Radiotherapy is widely used for advanced rectal tumors. However, refractory
      metastasis has become the major cause of therapy failure in rectal cancer
      patients. Understanding the molecular mechanism that controls the aggressive
      cellular response to this treatment is essential for developing new therapeutic
      applications and improving radiotherapy response in colorectal cancer patients.
      Using the progeny of cells that were submitted to irradiation, we have
      demonstrated that the PI3K/AKT, Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathways as well as
      ERK1/2 downstream of EPHA4 receptor activation, play an important role in the
      regulation of events related with the EMT development, which may be associated
      with the therapeutic failure in rectal cancer after radiotherapy. Here, we
      further discuss about EphA4 receptor as a potential therapeutic target for the
      treatment of this cancer type. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 442-445, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27632703
TI  - A bis-malonic acid fullerene derivative significantly suppressed IL-33-induced IL
      6 expression by inhibiting NF-kappaB activation.
AB  - IL-33 functions as a ligand for ST2L, which is mainly expressed in immune cells,
      including mast cells. IL-33 is a potent inducer of pro-inflammatory cytokines,
      such as IL-6, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of allergic
      inflammatory diseases. Therefore, IL-33 has recently been attracting attention as
      a new target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. In the present study, we
      demonstrated that a water-soluble bis-malonic acid fullerene derivative (C60
      dicyclopropane-1,1,1',1'-tetracarboxylic acid) markedly diminished the IL-33
      induced expression of IL-6 in bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC). The bis
      malonic acid fullerene derivative suppressed the canonical signaling steps
      required for NF-kappaB activation such as the degradation of IkappaBalpha and
      nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB by directly inhibiting the IL-33-induced IKK
      activation. Although p38 and JNK also contributed to IL-33-induced expression of
      IL-6, the bis-malonic acid fullerene derivative did not affect their activation.
      Furthermore, the bis-malonic acid fullerene derivative had no effect on the NF
      kappaB activation pathway induced by TNFalpha and IL-1. These results suggest
      that the bis-malonic fullerene derivative has potential as a specific drug for
      the treatment of IL-33-induced inflammatory diseases by specifically inhibiting
      the NF-kappaB activation pathway.

PMID- 27632702
TI  - SATB2-Nanog axis links age-related intrinsic changes of mesenchymal stem cells
      from craniofacial bone.
AB  - Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) senescence contributes to age-related bone
      loss. The alveolar bone in jaws originates from neural crest cells and possesses
      significant site- and age-related properties. However, such intrinsic
      characteristics of BMSCs from alveolar bone (AB-BMSCs) and the underlying
      regulatory mechanisms still remain unknown. Here, we found that the expression of
      special AT-rich binding protein 2 (SATB2) in human AB-BMSCs significantly
      decreased with aging. SATB2 knockdown on AB-BMSCs from young donors displayed
      these aging-related phenotypes in vitro. Meanwhile, enforced SATB2 overexpression
      could rejuvenate AB-BMSCs from older donors. Importantly, satb2 gene- modified
      BMSCs therapy could prevent the alveolar bone loss during the aging of rats.
      Mechanistically, the stemness regulator Nanog was identified as the direct
      transcriptional target of SATB2 in BMSCs and functioned as a downstream mediator
      of SATB2. Collectively, our data reveal that SATB2 in AB-BMSCs associates with
      their age-related properties, and prevents AB-BMSCs senescence via maintaining
      Nanog expression. These findings highlight the translational potential of
      transcriptional factor-based cellular reprogramming for anti-aging therapy.

PMID- 27632704
TI  - Selected azaphenothiazines inhibit delayed type hypersensitivity and carrageenan
      reaction in mice.
AB  - Several, previously selected azaphenothiazines, as strongly antiproliferative
      agents in in vitro models, were subjected to evaluation for their potential
      immunosuppressive effects in the model of delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) to
      ovalbumin (OVA) in BALB/c mice and in foot pad inflammation induced by
      carrageenan in CBA mice. In the DTH model the compounds were given to mice
      intraperitoneally (i.p.) in 50MUg or 250MUg doses, 1h before the elicitation of
      the response. In the carrageenan-induced foot pad inflammation the compounds were
      given i.p. in 50MUg or 250MUg doses, 24h and 2h before administration of
      carrageenan. Among the compounds, the significantly suppressive activities in
      both models were exhibited only by compound 5 (6
      chloroethylureidoethyldiquino[3,2-b;2',3'-e][1,4]thiazine) and compound 4 (6
      acetylaminobutyl-9-chloroquino[3,2-b]benzo[1,4]thiazine). Structure-activity
      relationship, plausible mechanism of action and potential application in therapy
      of the compounds are discussed.

PMID- 27632705
TI  - 13-Methylberberine reduces HMGB1 release in LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells and
      increases the survival of septic mice through AMPK/P38 MAPK activation.
AB  - High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a late phase cytokine of sepsis, is viewed as
      a potential target for the treatment of sepsis. The authors considered that 13
      methylberberine (13-MB) might reduce circulating HMGB1 levels and increase
      survival in a mouse model of sepsis by activating AMP-activated protein kinase
      (AMPK). Western blot analysis and vascular contraction testing were performed
      using RAW264.7 cells and rat thoracic aorta, respectively. The mechanisms
      responsible were investigated using various signal inhibitors and small
      interfering RNA techniques. 13-MB significantly reduced HMGB1 release by LPS
      activated RAW264.7 cells, and this was prevented by silencing AMPK or p38, or by
      pretreating cells with p38 MAPKinase inhibitor, suggesting that the activations
      of p38 and AMPK were responsible for the observed reduction in HMGB1 release. As
      was expected, 13-MB increased the phosphorylations of p38 and AMPK.
      Interestingly, phosphorylations of p38 by 13-MB were inhibited by AMPKsiRNA,
      indicating that AMPK lies upstream of p38. Furthermore, 13-MB concentration
      dependently inhibited IkappaB phosphorylation in LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells,
      and in aortic rings, co-treatment with 13-MB and LPS for 8h, in vitro,
      significantly restored the isometric contraction induced by phenylephrine.
      Importantly, 13-MB significantly increased the survival rate of LPS-induced
      endotoxemic mice. These results suggest 13-MB may be useful for treating diseases
      in which HMGB1 is viewed as a target.

PMID- 27632707
TI  - Increases in the Rate of Age-Related Hearing Loss in the Older Old.
AB  - Importance: There is a critical disparity in knowledge regarding the rate and
      nature of hearing loss in the older old (80 years and older). Objective: To
      determine if the rate of age-related hearing loss is constant in the older old.
      Design, Setting, and Participants: We performed a retrospective review that began
      on August 1, 2014, with audiometric evaluations at an academic medical center of
      647 patients aged between 80 and 106 years, of whom 141 had multiple audiograms.
      Main Outcomes and Measures: From a population perspective, the degree of hearing
      loss was compared across the following age brackets: 80 to 84 years, 85 to 89
      years, 90 to 94 years, and 95 years and older. From an individual perspective,
      the rate of hearing decrease between 2 audiograms was compared with age. Results:
      Changes in hearing among age brackets were higher during the 10th decade of life
      than the 9th decade at all frequencies (5.4-11.9 dB hearing level [dB HL]) for
      the 647 patients (mean [SD] age, 90 [5.5] years). Correspondingly, the annual
      rate of low-frequency hearing loss was faster during the 10th decade by the 3.8
      dB HL per year at 0.25 kHz, 3.8 dB HL per year at 0.5 kHz, and 3.2 dB HL per year
      at 1 kHz. Despite the universal presence of hearing loss in our sample, 382
      patients (59%) used hearing aids. Conclusions and Relevance: There is a
      significant increase in the rate of hearing loss in patients during the 10th
      decade of life compared with the 9th decade that represents a fundamental change
      in the mechanistic process of presbycusis. Despite the potential benefit of
      hearing aids, they remain underused in the older old. Use may be improved by
      changing the method of hearing rehabilitation counseling from a patient-initiated
      model to a chronic disease example.

PMID- 27632708
TI  - Evaluating the liquid path stability of a flow cytometer.
AB  - Precision in flow cytometry depends on many factors, the first of which is
      accurate and stable positioning of the hydrodynamically focused cells. However,
      no method exists to evaluate the stability of laminar flow and single-cell flow
      in the flow chamber of the flow cytometer directly because of the small size of
      the rectangular channel of the flow chamber. In this paper, a method of high
      speed particle image velocimetry is proposed to solve this problem. The velocity
      stability of the particles in the flow chamber is used to evaluate the flow
      stability of the fluid path of the flow cytometer. The side scattering images of
      particles are obtained by a high-speed camera. Upon exposure, cells were imaged
      at random positions in the flow cell, resulting in four different types of the
      images: blank, inadequate, normal, or overlapped. Normal images were identified
      utilizing a grey cluster analysis algorithm based on trapezoid whitenization
      weight functions. A mid-point method is applied to determine the length of the
      particle track at a fixed exposure time. The variation of the trajectory lengths
      of the normal images are used to evaluate the stability of the liquid path.
      Experiments are carried out to verify the feasibility of our method in which
      different diameter microspheres at different flow rates. The results indicate
      that the standard deviation and relative standard deviation of the trajectory
      lengths can be used as the evaluation indices of the liquid path stability of the
      flow cytometer. (c) 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

PMID- 27632706
TI  - Inhibition of lanthanide nanocrystal-induced inflammasome activation in
      macrophages by a surface coating peptide through abrogation of ROS production and
      TRPM2-mediated Ca(2+) influx.
AB  - Lanthanide-based nanoparticles (LNs) hold great promise in medicine. A variety of
      nanocrystals, including LNs, elicits potent inflammatory response through
      activation of NLRP3 inflammasome. We have previously identified an LNs-specific
      surface coating peptide RE-1, with the sequence of 'ACTARSPWICG', which reduced
      nanocrystal-cell interaction and abrogated LNs-induced autophagy and toxicity in
      both HeLa cells and liver hepatocytes. Here we show that RE-1 coating effectively
      inhibited LNs-induced inflammasome activation, mostly mediated by NLRP3, in mouse
      bone marrow derived macrophage (BMDM) cells, human THP-1 cells and mouse
      peritoneal macrophages and also reduced LNs-elicited inflammatory response in
      vivo. RE-1 coating had no effect on cellular internalization of LNs in BMDM
      cells, in contrast to the situation in HeLa cells where cell uptake of LNs was
      significantly inhibited by RE-1. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying
      the inflammasome-inhibiting effect of RE-1, we assessed several parameters known
      to influence nanocrystal-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation. RE-1 coating did
      not reduce potassium efflux, which occurred after LNs treatment in BMDM cells and
      was necessary but insufficient for LNs-induced inflammasome activation. RE-1 did
      decrease lysosomal damage induced by LNs, but the inhibitor of cathepsin B did
      not affect LNs-elicited caspase 1 activation and IL-1beta release, suggesting
      that lysosomal damage was not critically important for LNs-induced inflammasome
      activation. On the other hand, LNs-induced elevation of intracellular reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), critically important for inflammasome activation, was
      largely abolished by RE-1 coating, with the reduction on NADPH oxidase-generated
      ROS playing a more prominent role for RE-1's inflammasome-inhibiting effect than
      the reduction on mitochondria-generated ROS. ROS generation further triggered
      Ca(2+) influx, an event that was mediated by Transient Receptor Potential M2
      (TRPM2) and was necessary for inflammasome activation, and this event was
      completely inhibited by RE-1 coating. We conclude from these studies that
      inhibition of ROS production, and the subsequent abrogation of TRPM2-mediated
      Ca(2+) influx, is the primary mechanism underlying RE-1's inhibitory effect on
      LNs-induced inflammasome activation. The ability of regulating the inflammatory
      response of nanocrystals through peptide surface coating may be of great value
      for in vivo applications of LNs and other engineered nanomaterials.

PMID- 27632709
TI  - Electrostatic Interactions at N- and C-Termini Determine Fibril Polymorphism in
      Serum Amyloid A Fragments.
AB  - Amyloid polymorphism presents a challenge to physical theories of amyloid
      formation and stability. The amyloidogenic protein serum amyloid A (SAA) exhibits
      complex and unexplained structural polymorphism in its N-terminal fragments: the
      N-terminal 11-residue peptide (SAA1-11) forms left-handed helical fibrils, while
      extension by one residue (SAA1-12) produces a rare right-handed amyloid. In this
      study, we use a combination of vibrational spectroscopy and ultramicroscopy to
      examine fibrils of these peptides and their terminally acetylated and amidated
      variants, in an effort to uncover the physical basis for this effect. Raman
      spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy provide evidence that SAA1-12 forms a
      beta-helical fibril architecture, while SAA1-11 forms more typical stacked beta
      sheets. Importantly, N-terminal acetylation blocks fibril formation by SAA1-12
      with no effect on SAA1-11, while C-terminal amidation has nearly the opposite
      effect. Together, these data suggest distinct electrostatic interactions at the N
      and C-termini stabilize the two fibril structures; we propose model fibril
      structures in which C-terminal extension changes the favored intermolecular
      interaction between peptide monomers from an Arg1-C-terminus charge pair to an N
      terminus-C-terminus charge pair. This model suggests a general mechanism for
      charge-mediated amyloid polymorphism and may inform strategies for design of
      peptide-based nanomaterials stabilized by engineered intermolecular contacts.

PMID- 27632710
TI  - Characterization of secreted sphingosine-1-phosphate lyases required for
      virulence and intracellular survival of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
AB  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive sphingolipid metabolite, plays a
      critical role in the orchestration of immune responses. S1P levels within the
      mammalian host are tightly regulated, in part through the activity of S1P lyase
      (S1PL) which catalyses its irreversible degradation. Herein, we describe the
      identification and characterization of secreted S1PL orthologues encoded by the
      facultative intracellular bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia
      thailandensis. These bacterial orthologues exhibited S1PL enzymatic activity,
      functionally complemented an S1PL-deficient yeast strain and conferred resistance
      to the antimicrobial sphingolipid D-erythro-sphingosine. We report that secretion
      of these bacterial S1PLs is pH-dependent, and is observed during intracellular
      infection. S1PL-deficient mutants displayed impaired intracellular replication in
      murine macrophages (associated with an inability to evade the maturing phagosome)
      and were significantly attenuated in murine and larval infection models.
      Furthermore, treatment of Burkholderia-infected macrophages with either S1P or a
      selective agonist of S1P receptor 1 enhanced bacterial colocalisation with LAMP-1
      and reduced their intracellular survival. In summary, our studies confirm
      bacterial-encoded S1PL as a critical virulence determinant of B. pseudomallei and
      B. thailandensis, further highlighting the pivotal role of S1P in host-pathogen
      interactions. In addition, our data suggest that S1P pathway modulators have
      potential for the treatment of intracellular infection.

PMID- 27632711
TI  - A longitudinal exploration of advantageous and disadvantageous inequality
      aversion in children.
AB  - Unfairness in resource allocation situations can present itself in two ways, with
      one person receiving either less or more than another person. Research suggests
      that aversion to situations of disadvantageous inequality (DI), in which a child
      receives less than a peer, develops differently from aversion to advantageous
      inequality (AI), in which a child receives more than a partner. However, little
      is known about how AI aversion and DI aversion develop as well as how the
      relationship between the two may change over time. In this short-term
      longitudinal study, two forms of AI and DI (in which equality was either costly
      or not costly) were examined. Using a forced choice resource allocation task,
      children's decision making was compared across three time points: 4.5, 5.0, and
      5.5years of age. In both AI and DI situations, costly and no-cost trials were
      correlated at each time point, establishing construct validity within trial
      types. A positive relationship (indicating a preference for fairness) was
      observed between AI and DI at Time 1, whereas no relationships were observed
      later in development. Finally, correlations across all time points were observed
      in AI trials and grew stronger with age, whereas only one relationship was
      observed (between Time 1 and Time 2) in DI trials. Taken together, these results
      suggest that decision making in situations of AI and DI develops differently and
      that the relationship between them changes with age. Importantly, this research
      suggests that motivations for fairness and equality differ depending on context,
      and an undifferentiated aversion to inequality is not primarily guiding decision
      making throughout childhood.

PMID- 27632712
TI  - THE ASSOCIATION OF EPIRETINAL MEMBRANE WITH MACULAR HOLE FORMATION AFTER
      RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENT REPAIR.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the clinical and optical coherence tomography findings
      associated with the development of full-thickness macular holes after
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair. METHODS: Retrospective,
      interventional case series. All patients who developed full-thickness macular
      holes after successful RRD repair from 3 clinical practices were reviewed. All
      cases of combined/simultaneous full-thickness macular hole and RRD were excluded.
      The main outcome measure was the presence of an epiretinal membrane at time of
      diagnosis of macular hole. RESULTS: Twenty-five full-thickness macular holes were
      diagnosed after successful retinal detachment repair. Surgical approach to RRD
      repair included pneumatic retinopexy (6, 24%), scleral buckle alone (5, 20%),
      pars plana vitrectomy only (8, 32%), and combined scleral buckle and pars plana
      vitrectomy (6, 24%). The preceding RRD involved the macula in 19 patients (76%)
      before the formation of the macular hole. The median time to full-thickness
      macular hole diagnosis after RRD repair was 63 days (range, 4-4,080 days). An
      epiretinal membrane was present in all 25 (100%) macular holes. Two macular holes
      (8%) spontaneously closed, whereas the other 23 (92%) were successfully closed
      with a single surgical procedure. Mean visual acuity improved by approximately 5
      lines to 20/72 (range, 20/20 to counting fingers at 1 foot) from 20/240 (range,
      20/30 to hand motions) after macular hole repair (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Full
      thickness macular hole formation can occur after all types of RRD repair and is
      associated with an epiretinal membrane. The epiretinal membrane may play a role
      in the pathogenesis of secondary macular hole formation after RRD repair.

PMID- 27632713
TI  - PARS PLANA VITRECTOMY FOR DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA: A Systematic Review, Meta
      Analysis, and Synthesis of Safety Literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the risk and benefit of pars plana vitrectomy for diabetic
      macular edema. METHODS: The authors conducted a systematic literature review
      using PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Database of Controlled
      Trials until September 2014. The population was patients with diabetic macular
      edema, intervention vitrectomy, comparator macular laser or observation, and
      efficacy outcome visual acuity and central retinal thickness. Safety outcomes
      were intraoperative and postoperative surgical complications. The efficacy meta
      analysis included only randomized controlled trials. The safety analysis included
      prospective, retrospective, controlled, and uncontrolled studies. RESULTS: Five
      studies were eligible for the efficacy meta-analysis (n = 127 eyes) and 40 for
      the safety analysis (n = 1,562 eyes). Combining follow-up intervals from 6 to 12
      months, the meta-analysis found a nonsignificant 2 letter visual acuity
      difference favoring vitrectomy, and a significant 102 MUm greater reduction in
      central retinal thickness favoring vitrectomy, but a post hoc subgroup analysis
      found that a 6-month central retinal thickness benefit reversed by 12 months. The
      most frequent complications were retinal break (7.1%), elevated intraocular
      pressure (5.2%), epiretinal membrane (3.3%), and vitreous hemorrhage (2.4%).
      Cataract developed in 68.6% of 121 phakic eyes. CONCLUSION: Vitrectomy produces
      structural and functional improvements in select eyes with diabetic macular
      edema, but the visual gains are not significantly better than with laser or
      observation. No major safety concerns were identified.

PMID- 27632714
TI  - CHOROIDAL VASCULARITY INDEX: A Novel Optical Coherence Tomography Based Parameter
      in Patients With Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate choroidal structural changes in exudative age-related
      macular degeneration (AMD) using choroidal vascularity index computed from image
      binarization on spectral domain optical coherence tomography with enhanced depth
      imaging. METHODS: This prospective case series included 42 consecutive patients
      with unilateral exudative AMD. Choroidal images were segmented into luminal area
      and stromal area. Choroidal vascularity index was defined as the ratio of luminal
      area to total choroid area. Mean choroidal vascularity index and mean choroidal
      thickness between study and fellow eyes of the same patient with dry AMD were
      compared using Student's t-test. RESULTS: There was a significantly lower
      choroidal vascularity index in eyes with exudative AMD (60.14 +/- 4.55 vs. 62.75
      +/- 4.82, P < 0.01). Luminal area (P < 0.01) was decreased in eyes with exudative
      AMD but there was no significant difference in total choroid area (P = 0.05) and
      choroidal thickness (P = 0.93) between study and fellow eyes. CONCLUSION: Eyes
      with exudative AMD demonstrated reduced choroidal vascularity index but
      insignificant differences in choroidal thickness compared with their fellow eyes.
      Choroidal vascularity index may be a potential noninvasive tool for studying
      structural changes in choroid and monitoring choroidal disease in exudative AMD.

PMID- 27632715
TI  - A monotonically declining elevational pattern of bacterial diversity in
      freshwater lake sediments.
AB  - The distribution patterns of bacterial communities along elevational gradients
      remain unexplored in aquatic ecosystems. This study investigated the diversity
      and community composition of bacteria in the sediments of lakes along a
      mountainside elevational gradient from 525 to 4 490 m in western China. The
      bacterial alpha diversity (taxonomic richness and phylogenetic diversity) at
      different sediment depths decreased monotonically with the increasing elevation,
      and the beta diversity (dissimilarity between lakes) increased significantly with
      the increasing elevation distance. Both elevation and chemical variables
      including pH and carbon/nitrogen ratio were identified as major factors affecting
      the bacterial diversity. Especially, bacterial alpha/beta diversity was
      significantly related to both chemical and elevational gradients in the surface
      sediments, whereas elevation overwhelmed chemical factors in influencing the
      bacterial alpha/beta diversity in the subsurface sediments. Phylogenetic
      structure analysis demonstrated that environmental filtering was the most
      important process affecting the bacterial community assembly along the
      elevational gradient, and the strength of environmental filtering increased
      towards high elevations. In summary, we observed for the first time a
      monotonically decreasing elevational pattern in bacterial diversity of freshwater
      lake sediments, which is mainly driven by elevation associated environmental
      factors.

PMID- 27632716
TI  - A novel method for soft tissue retraction during periapical surgery using 3D
      technology: a case report.
AB  - AIM: This case report describes a new approach to isolation and soft tissue
      retraction during endodontic surgery using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT),
      computer-aided design (CAD) and three-dimensional (3D) printing. SUMMARY: A 53
      year-old patient presented for endodontic treatment of her maxillary left central
      incisor. It was decided to treat this tooth with a microsurgical approach. The
      data from the diagnostic CBCT scan were also used to make a physical model of the
      operative site, and CAD software was used to design a soft tissue retractor to be
      used during the patient's surgery. A custom retractor was then fabricated using a
      3D printer. The custom-made retractor enhanced visualization and soft tissue
      handling during the patient's surgery. The patient was asymptomatic at a 1-year
      review. No abnormalities were detected during her clinical examination, and
      radiographic examination revealed complete healing of the surgical site. KEY
      LEARNING POINTS: The significance of proper soft tissue retraction in periapical
      microsurgery is underemphasized. Geometric data from CBCT scans may be harvested
      for a variety of uses, adding value to the examination. 3D printing is a
      promising technology that may potentially have many uses in endodontic surgery.

PMID- 27632760
TI  - Survey of Parent Experiences in Prenatal Visits for Infants With Cleft Lip and
      Palate.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence
      the parent's choice of cleft team/surgeon. DESIGN: A 10-question survey was used
      to elucidate factors that influenced parents in choosing their cleft surgeon. No
      identifiers of the origin of the study were used to improve parent objectivity.
      SETTING: The setting for this study was an online survey. PARTICIPANTS:
      Participants in this study were the parents of children who were born with cleft
      lip and/or palate. INTERVENTIONS: Parents were contacted anonymously via
      national, established social media websites that were independently run by the
      parents themselves. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were
      information regarding choice of cleft team/surgeon, source of patient referrals,
      and use of online media in decision making. RESULTS: A total of 112 responses
      were received. Of the parents, 77% sought prenatal evaluation with at least one
      cleft surgeon. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists were the most frequent (42%)
      referral source, followed by primary obstetricians (14%) and pediatricians (12%).
      The surgeon/cleft team's experience level and overall personality were ranked as
      the most important, whereas the least important was distance traveled. Of the
      parents, 95% used the Internet or social media for research prior to their
      prenatal visit; 96% of the parents found the prenatal visit helpful, and the most
      useful topics discussed were treatments (surgical, nonsurgical) and feeding
      techniques. CONCLUSION: This study identifies factors used to choose a cleft
      team/surgeon. Parents are more concerned with the experience level, reputation,
      and environment of the cleft team/surgeon than the distance traveled to get to
      the center.

PMID- 27632761
TI  - Cleft Repair in Adults: A Report on a Case Series.
AB  - Speech defects and facial appearance due to untreated cleft lip and/or palate in
      the elderly population have associated life-long impacts on the quality of life
      for these patients. Treatment and rehabilitation in this patient group can be
      extensive and the problems not easily corrected. We report the outcomes of
      surgical repair of cleft in a series of elderly patients with unrepaired cleft
      lip and/or palate. Our results confirm an improvement in speech, quality of life
      and aesthetic outcomes after surgical repair in these patients. With this in
      mind, we advise cleft teams to consider surgical repair of untreated cleft lip
      and/or palate in the elderly population.

PMID- 27632762
TI  - Prevalence of Renal and Cervical Vertebral Anomalies in Patients With Isolated
      Microtia and/or Aural Atresia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether patients with
      isolated microtia or aural atresia have an increased prevalence of renal or
      cervical vertebral anomalies. DESIGN: The study design was a retrospective
      medical record review. SETTING: The setting was the following four distinct
      institutions: an urban tertiary care children's hospital, two urban academic
      medical centers, and a staff-model health maintenance organization. PARTICIPANTS:
      Patients diagnosed with microtia, aural atresia, or oculoauriculovertebral
      spectrum were identified. Patients with facial asymmetry, craniofacial
      microsomia, and other craniofacial abnormalities or syndromes were excluded. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Main outcome measures were the number of patients with isolated
      microtia or aural atresia who underwent a renal ultrasound or cervical spine X
      ray, the results of those studies, and further evaluation or treatment for any
      abnormalities found. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A binomial analysis using a one-sided
      95% confidence level was performed. RESULTS: A total of 514 patients with
      isolated microtia and/or aural atresia were identified. Of these patients, 145
      (28%) had undergone a renal ultrasound and 81 (16%) had undergone cervical spine
      X-rays. A total of 3 patients (2%) had minimal renal pelviectasis, all of which
      had resolved on repeat ultrasound and required no treatment. There were no
      structural renal abnormalities identified, and there were no cervical spine
      abnormalities identified. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that there is no
      increased prevalence of structural renal or cervical vertebral anomalies in
      patients with isolated microtia and/or aural atresia. Therefore, these patients
      do not require routine screening renal ultrasound or cervical spine X-rays.

PMID- 27632763
TI  - Stress in Parents of a Child with Hemifacial Microsomia: The Role of Child
      Characteristics and Parental Coping Strategies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Examine stress levels of parents of children with hemifacial
      microsomia (HFM) and the relationship of parental stress to child characteristics
      and cognitive coping strategies. DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional study.
      PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Parents with a child (age 3-19 years) with HFM (N = 31)
      were recruited through the Department of Orthodontics and the Craniofacial
      Center, Sophia-Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Intervention
      and Outcome Measures: The adapted and shortened Dutch version of the parental
      stress index (NOSI-K) was used to measure parental stress, and the cognitive
      emotion-regulation questionnaire was used to measure cognitive coping strategies.
      Pearson correlations and a multiple regression analysis were performed. RESULTS:
      The hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed associations between
      increased parental stress and learning difficulties and use of acceptance as a
      coping strategy. This suggests that problems other than the characteristic visual
      appearance of the child's face in HFM have a greater influence on parental
      stress. CONCLUSIONS: Learning difficulties of the child with HFM and parental
      acceptance affect stress in parents with a child with HFM the most and are
      important in the search for a targeted tailoring of intervention for parents with
      high levels of parental stress.

PMID- 27632764
TI  - Optimizing Safety of Iliac Bone Harvest Using an Acumed Drill: A Simulated
      Radiographic Study of 100 Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the potential risk of visceral injury during Acumed drill
      iliac crest cancellous bone graft harvest. DESIGN: Radiographic iliac crest
      anatomic analysis with simulated drill course to measure cancellous bone
      available for harvest and proximity of vulnerable pelvic structures. SETTING:
      Single institution, tertiary care university hospital. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS:
      One hundred pelvic computed tomography scans performed on children 8 to 12 years
      old without traumatic or neoplastic pathology. INTERVENTIONS: Radiographic
      simulation of Acumed drill course within iliac bone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1)
      Potential for pelvic visceral injury. (2) Volume of cancellous bone safely
      available for harvest. RESULTS: Superior and medial cortical thickness at the
      reference point remained stable across age groups; however, lateral cortical
      thickness increased with age (3.13 to 3.74 mm, P < .001). Cancellous bone width
      increased with age at all depths measured (P < .001). Through radiographic
      simulation, the drill could reach the bowel in 4% of cases and only through gross
      deviation (>30 degrees ) from the plane of the ilium. There were no cases of
      simulated bowel perforation within 3 cm of the reference point. The maximum
      cancellous volume safely harvested increased with age: 24 cc in 8-year-olds to 36
      cc in 12-year-olds (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Acumed assisted iliac crest bone
      graft harvest is a safe technique in which substantial amount of cancellous bone
      can be obtained. The low risk of bowel perforation can be further minimized by
      limiting the depth of drill bit penetration to less than 3 cm.

PMID- 27632765
TI  - Childhood cancer survival in Switzerland (1976-2013): Time-trends and predictors.
AB  - Population-based studies on childhood cancer survival are key to monitor progress
      against cancer and to detect potential differences between regions and other
      subgroups in the population. We investigated time trends and factors associated
      with childhood cancer survival on a national level in Switzerland, from 1976 to
      2013. We extracted data from the population-based Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry
      of 5,776 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer from 1985 to 2014 in
      Switzerland. We calculated age-adjusted 5-year survival, defined the annual
      reduction in risk of death (ARR), and explored associations of survival with
      clinical and demographic factors. Overall, 5-year survival improved
      significantly, from 64% in 1976-1983 to 88% in 2004-2013. ARR over the whole
      period was 4% for all diagnostic groups, greatest for Hodgkin lymphomas (8%),
      ependymomas (6%), Burkitt's lymphomas (6%) and germ cell tumours (6%). Children
      treated in hospitals without specialised paediatric cancer centre for leukaemia
      (HR 12.9), lymphoma (HR 5.0) and neuroblastoma (HR 3.7) were at higher risk of
      death. In French-speaking Switzerland, risk of death was lower for lymphoma (HR
      0.6), CNS tumours (HR 0.7) and neuroblastoma (HR 0.5). Children with migration
      background had a higher risk of death from all tumours except bone tumours.
      Childhood cancer survival significantly improved from 1976 to 2013, but there is
      room for further improvement. Survival rates varied by type of clinical
      treatment, language region and nationality. All paediatric cancer patients should
      be referred to a specialised paediatric cancer centre. Further research is needed
      to intervene and completely eliminate inequalities in survival.

PMID- 27632766
TI  - Is the Road to Mental Health Paved With Good Incentives? Estimating the
      Population Impact of Physician Incentives on Mental Health Care Using Linked
      Administrative Data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The use of physician incentives to improve health care, in general,
      has been extensively studied but its value in mental health care has rarely been
      demonstrated. In this study the population-level impact of physician incentives
      on mental health care was estimated using indicators for receipt of
      counseling/psychotherapy (CP); antidepressant therapy (AT); minimally adequate
      counseling/psychotherapy; and minimally adequate antidepressant therapy. The
      incentives' impacts on overall continuity of care and of mental health care were
      also examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Monthly cohorts of individuals diagnosed
      with major depression were identified between January 2005 and December 2012 and
      their use of mental health services tracked for 12 months following initial
      diagnosis. Linked health administrative data were used to ascertain cases and
      measure health service use. Pre-post changes associated with the introduction of
      physician incentives were estimated using segmented regression analyses, after
      adjusting for seasonal variation. RESULTS: Physician incentives reversed the
      downward and upward trends in CP and AT. Five years postintervention, the
      estimated impacts in percentage points for CP, AT, minimally adequate
      counseling/psychotherapy, and minimally adequate antidepressant therapy were
      +3.28 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.05-4.52], -4.47 (95% CI, -6.06 to -2.87),
      +1.77 (95% CI, 0.94-2.59), and -2.24 (95% CI, -4.04 to -0.45). Postintervention,
      the downward trends in continuity of care failed to reverse, but were disrupted,
      netting estimated impacts of +7.53 (95% CI, 4.54-10.53) and +4.37 (95% CI, 2.64
      6.09) for continuity of care and of mental health care. CONCLUSIONS: The impact
      of physician incentives on mental health care was modest at best. Other policy
      interventions are needed to close existing gaps in mental health care.

PMID- 27632767
TI  - A Novel Model for Predicting Rehospitalization Risk Incorporating Physical
      Function, Cognitive Status, and Psychosocial Support Using Natural Language
      Processing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the increasing focus on reducing hospital readmissions in the
      United States, numerous readmissions risk prediction models have been proposed,
      mostly developed through analyses of structured data fields in electronic medical
      records and administrative databases. Three areas that may have an impact on
      readmission but are poorly captured using structured data sources are patients'
      physical function, cognitive status, and psychosocial environment and support.
      OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The objective of the study was to build a discriminative
      model using information germane to these 3 areas to identify hospitalized
      patients' risk for 30-day all cause readmissions. RESEARCH DESIGN: We conducted
      clinician focus groups to identify language used in the clinical record regarding
      these 3 areas. We then created a dataset including 30,000 inpatients, 10,000 from
      each of 3 hospitals, and searched those records for the focus group-derived
      language using natural language processing. A 30-day readmission prediction model
      was developed on 75% of the dataset and validated on the other 25% and also on
      hospital specific subsets. RESULTS: Focus group language was aggregated into 35
      variables. The final model had 16 variables, a validated C-statistic of 0.74, and
      was well calibrated. Subset validation of the model by hospital yielded C
      statistics of 0.70-0.75. CONCLUSIONS: Deriving a 30-day readmission risk
      prediction model through identification of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial
      issues using natural language processing yielded a model that performs similarly
      to the better performing models previously published with the added advantage of
      being based on clinically relevant factors and also automated and scalable.
      Because of the clinical relevance of the variables in the model, future research
      may be able to test if targeting interventions to identified risks results in
      reductions in readmissions.

PMID- 27632768
TI  - Identifying Subgroups of Adult Superutilizers in an Urban Safety-Net System Using
      Latent Class Analysis: Implications for Clinical Practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with repeated hospitalizations represent a group with
      potentially avoidable utilization. Recent publications have begun to highlight
      the heterogeneity of this group. Latent class analysis provides a novel
      methodological approach to utilizing administrative data to identify clinically
      meaningful subgroups of patients to inform tailored intervention efforts.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify clinically distinct
      subgroups of adult superutilizers. RESEARCH DESIGN: Retrospective cohort
      analysis. SUBJECTS: Adult patients who had an admission at an urban safety-net
      hospital in 2014 and 2 or more admissions within the preceding 12 months.
      MEASURES: Patient-level medical, mental health (MH) and substance use diagnoses,
      social characteristics, demographics, utilization and charges were obtained from
      administrative data. Latent class analyses were used to determine the number and
      characteristics of latent subgroups that best represented these data. RESULTS: In
      this cohort (N=1515), a 5-class model was preferred based on model fit indices,
      clinical interpretability and class size: class 1 (16%) characterized by alcohol
      use disorder and homelessness; class 2 (14%) characterized by medical conditions,
      MH/substance use disorders and homelessness; class 3 (25%) characterized
      primarily by medical conditions; class 4 (13%) characterized by more serious MH
      disorders, drug use disorder and homelessness; and class 5 (32%) characterized by
      medical conditions with some MH and substance use. Patient demographics,
      utilization, charges and mortality also varied by class. CONCLUSIONS: The overall
      cohort had high rates of multiple chronic medical conditions, MH, substance use
      disorders, and homelessness. However, the patterns of these conditions were
      different between subgroups, providing important information for tailoring
      interventions.

PMID- 27632769
TI  - The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act Evaluation Study: Impact on
      Specialty Behavioral Health Care Utilization and Spending Among Carve-In
      Enrollees.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)
      sought to eliminate historical disparities between insurance coverage for
      behavioral health (BH) treatment and coverage for medical treatment. Our
      objective was to evaluate MHPAEA's impact on BH expenditures and utilization
      among "carve-in" enrollees. METHODS: We received specialty BH insurance claims
      and eligibility data from Optum, sampling 5,987,776 adults enrolled in self
      insured plans from large employers. An interrupted time series study design with
      segmented regression analysis estimated monthly time trends of per-member
      spending and use before (2008-2009), during (2010), and after (2011-2013) MHPAEA
      compliance (N=179,506,951 member-month observations). Outcomes included: total,
      plan, patient out-of-pocket spending; outpatient utilization
      (assessment/diagnostic evaluation visits, medication management, individual and
      family psychotherapy); intermediate care utilization (structured outpatient, day
      treatment, residential); and inpatient utilization. RESULTS: MHPAEA was
      associated with increases in monthly per-member total spending, plan spending,
      assessment/diagnostic evaluation visits [respective immediate increases of: $1.05
      (P=0.02); $0.88 (P=0.04); 0.00045 visits (P=0.00)], and individual psychotherapy
      visits [immediate increase of 0.00578 visits (P=0.00) and additional increases of
      0.00017 visits/mo (P=0.03)]. CONCLUSIONS: MHPAEA was associated with modest
      increases in total and plan spending and outpatient utilization; for example, in
      July 2012 predicted per-enrollee plan spending was $4.92 without MHPAEA and $6.14
      with MHPAEA. Efforts should focus on understanding how other barriers to BH care
      unaddressed by MHPAEA may affect access/utilization. Future research should
      evaluate effects produced by the Affordable Care Act's inclusion of BH care as an
      essential health benefit and expansion of MHPAEA protections to the individual
      and small group markets.

PMID- 27632771
TI  - Investor Outlook: Gene Therapy Picking up Steam; At a Crossroads.
AB  - The gene therapy field continues to pick up steam with recent successes in a
      number of different therapeutic indications that highlight the potential for the
      platform. As the field continues to make progress, a growing data set of long
      term safety and efficacy data will continue to define gene therapy's role,
      determining ultimately how widely it may be used beyond rare, serious diseases
      with high unmet needs. New technologies often take unanticipated twists and turns
      as patient exposure accumulates, and gene therapy may be no exception. That said,
      with many diseases that have no other treatment options beyond gene therapy and
      that present considerable morbidity and mortality, the field appears poised to
      withstand some minor and even major bumps in the road should they emerge.

PMID- 27632770
TI  - The ataxia related G1107D mutation of the plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase isoform 3
      affects its interplay with calmodulin and the autoinhibition process.
AB  - The plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPases (PMCA pumps) have a long, cytosolic C-terminal
      regulatory region where a calmodulin-binding domain (CaM-BD) is located. Under
      basal conditions (low Ca2+), the C-terminal tail of the pump interacts with
      autoinhibitory sites proximal to the active center of the enzyme. In activating
      conditions (i.e., high Ca2+), Ca2+-bound CaM displaces the C-terminal tail from
      the autoinhibitory sites, restoring activity. We have recently identified a
      G1107D replacement within the CaM-BD of isoform 3 of the PMCA pump in a family
      affected by X-linked congenital cerebellar ataxia. Here, we investigate the
      effects of the G1107D replacement on the interplay of the mutated CaM-BD with
      both CaM and the pump core, by combining computational, biochemical and
      functional approaches. We provide evidence that the affinity of the isolated
      mutated CaM-BD for CaM is significantly reduced with respect to the wild type
      (wt) counterpart, and that the ability of CaM to activate the pump in vitro is
      thus decreased. Multiscale simulations support the conclusions on the detrimental
      effect of the mutation, indicating reduced stability of the CaM binding. We
      further show that the G1107D replacement impairs the autoinhibition mechanism of
      the PMCA3 pump as well, as the introduction of a negative charge perturbs the
      contacts between the CaM-BD and the pump core. Thus, the mutation affects both
      the ability of the pump to optimally transport Ca2+ in the activated state, and
      the autoinhibition mechanism in its resting state.

PMID- 27632772
TI  - Gene Therapy Briefs.

PMID- 27632773
TI  - Clinical course of Crohn's disease during the first 5 years. Results from a
      population-based cohort in Sweden (ICURE) diagnosed 2005-2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to describe the medical treatment, change in
      phenotype, need for surgery and IBD-associated mortality during the first 5 years
      after diagnosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed with Crohn's disease
      including all age groups in the Uppsala healthcare region in the middle of Sweden
      2005-2009 were included in the study. Medical notes were scrutinised and patients
      contacted. Out of 269 patients, 260 (96.3%) could be followed for 5 full years or
      until death. RESULTS: The following drugs were used: 5-ASA 66.7%, systemic
      steroids 76.4%, antimetabolites 56.7% and anti-TNF 20.3%. Described with the
      Montreal classification, the proportion with inflammatory behaviour decreased
      from 78.1% to 74.0% from diagnosis to end of the observation, patients with
      stricturing behaviour increased from 13.0% to 15.4% and patients with penetrating
      behaviour increased from 8.9% to 10.6%. After the first year, 12.4% had been
      treated with intestinal resection or colectomy, a figure that increased to 14.8
      after 5 years. Two patients suffered an IBD-related death. CONCLUSIONS: Compared
      to similar patient cohorts, the present study demonstrates that although the
      course of Crohn's disease seems difficult to change during the first year after
      diagnosis, the following years up to 5 years shows a more benign course than has
      usually been described earlier.

PMID- 27632774
TI  - Complications Related to the Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 Use
      in Posterior Cervical Fusion.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To compare the
      complications between posterior cervical fusions with and without recombinant
      human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP2). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Use of
      rhBMP2 in anterior cervical spinal fusion procedures can lead to potential
      complications such as neck edema, resulting in airway complications or
      neurological compression. However, there are no data on the complications
      associated with the "off-label" use of rhBMP2 in upper and lower posterior
      cervical fusion approaches. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients from the PearlDiver
      database who had a posterior cervical fusion between 2005 and 2011 were
      identified. We evaluated complications within 90 days after fusion and data was
      divided in 2 groups: (1) posterior cervical fusion including upper cervical spine
      O-C2 (upper group) and (2) posterior cervical fusion including lower cervical
      spine C3-C7 (lower group). Complications were divided into: any complication,
      neck-related complications, wound-related complications, and other complications.
      RESULTS: Of the 352 patients in the upper group, 73 patients (20.7%) received
      rhBMP2, and 279 patients (79.3%) did not. Likewise, in the lower group of 2372
      patients, 378 patients (15.9%) had surgery with rhBMP2 and 1994 patients (84.1%)
      without. In the upper group, complications were observed in 7 patients (9.6%)
      with and 34 patients (12%) without rhBMP2. In the lower group, complications were
      observed in 42 patients (11%) with and 276 patients (14%) without rhBMP2.
      Furthermore, in the lower group the wound-related complications were
      significantly higher in the rhBMP2 group (23 patients, 6.1%) compared with the
      non-rhBMP2 group (75 patients, 3.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that the use
      of rhBMP2 does not increase the risk of complications in upper cervical spine
      fusion procedures. However, in the lower cervical spine, rhBMP2 may elevate the
      risk of wound-related complications. Overall, there were no major complications
      associated with the use of rhBMP2 for posterior cervical fusion approaches. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

PMID- 27632775
TI  - Antenatal steroid exposure and heart rate variability in adolescents born with
      very low birth weight.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reduced heart rate variability (HRV) suggests autonomic imbalance in
      the control of heart rate and is associated with unfavorable cardiometabolic
      outcomes. We examined whether antenatal corticosteroid (ANCS) exposure had long
      term programming effects on HRV in adolescents born with very low birth weight
      (VLBW). METHODS: Follow-up study of a cohort of VLBW 14-y olds born between 1992
      and 1996 with 50% exposed to ANCS. HRV in both the time and frequency domains
      using Nevrokard Software was determined from a 5-min electrocardiogram tracing.
      RESULTS: HRV data from 89 (35 male, 53 non-black) exposed (ANCS+) and 77 (28
      male, 29 non-black) unexposed (ANCS-) adolescents were analyzed. HRV did not
      differ between ANCS+ and ANCS- black participants. However, in non-black
      participants, a significant interaction between ANCS and sex was observed, with
      ANCS- females having significantly greater HRV than ANCS+ females and males, and
      ANCS- males for both time and frequency domain variables. CONCLUSION: Among non
      black adolescents born with VLBW, ANCS exposure is associated with reduced HRV
      with apparent sex-specificity. Reduced HRV has been associated with development
      of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, thus supporting the need to monitor these
      outcomes in VLBW adolescents as they mature.

PMID- 27632776
TI  - Maternal excess gestational weight gain and infant waist circumference: a 2-y
      observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gestational
      weight gain (GWG) and infant feeding practices on infant growth parameters in
      infants from 6 to 24 mo of age. METHODS: Forty mother-infant pairs were recruited
      after delivery and followed up to 24 mo postpartum. GWG was calculated as
      prepregnancy weight subtracted from weight at delivery. Infant weight velocity
      was calculated as the change in weight between consecutive visits divided by the
      intervening time. Infant feeding practices were measured by interview and infant
      growth and waist circumference by standard anthropometry. RESULTS: Infants born
      to mothers with excess GWG were heavier at birth (3,521 +/- 91 vs. 3,196 +/- 97
      g, P = 0.02) and had an average 2.16 +/- 1.1 cm (P = 0.03) larger waist
      circumference throughout the 24 mo compared with infants born to mothers with
      appropriate GWG. Waist circumference increased by 0.12 and 2.0 cm for every 1
      unit increase in GWG and infant birth weight. CONCLUSION: Infants born to women
      who exceeded the Institute of Medicine (IOM)-recommended guidelines for GWG were
      heavier at birth and had a significantly higher waist circumference up to 2 y of
      age. Strategies to control maternal excess GWG and thus the outcome on infant
      birth weight and waist circumference should be pursued.

PMID- 27632777
TI  - Ureaplasma infection-mediated release of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and PGP: a
      novel mechanism of preterm rupture of membranes and chorioamnionitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Premature rupture of membranes and preterm delivery are associated
      with Ureaplasma infection. We hypothesized that Ureaplasma induced extracellular
      collagen fragmentation results in production of the tripeptide PGP (proline
      glycine-proline), a neutrophil chemoattractant. PGP release from collagen
      requires matrix metalloproteases (MMP-8/MMP-9) along with a serine protease,
      prolyl endopeptidase (PE). METHODS: Ureaplasma culture negative amniotic fluid
      (indicated preterm birth, n = 8; spontaneous preterm birth, n = 8) and Ureaplasma
      positive amniotic fluid (spontaneous preterm birth, n = 8) were analyzed by
      electro-spray ionization-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for PGP,
      and for MMP-9 by zymography. PE was evaluated in lysates of U. parvum serovar 3
      (Up3) and U. urealyticum serovar 10 (Uu10) by western blotting and activity
      assay. RESULTS: PGP and MMP-9 were increased in amniotic fluid from spontaneous
      preterm birth with positive Ureaplasma cultures, but not with indicated preterm
      birth or spontaneous preterm birth with negative Ureaplasma cultures. Human
      neutrophils cocultured with Ureaplasma strains showed increased MMP-9 activity.
      PE presence and activity were noted with both Ureaplasma strains. CONCLUSION:
      Ureaplasma spp. carry the protease necessary for PGP release, and PGP and MMP-9
      are increased in amniotic fluid during Ureaplasma infection, suggesting
      Ureaplasma spp. induced collagen fragmentation contributes to preterm rupture of
      membranes and neutrophil influx causing chorioamnionitis.

PMID- 27632779
TI  - Delayed administration of neural stem cells after hypoxia-ischemia reduces
      sensorimotor deficits, cerebral lesion size, and neuroinflammation in neonatal
      mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoxic-ischemic (HI) encephalopathy causes mortality and severe
      morbidity in neonates. Treatments with a therapeutic window >6 h are currently
      not available. Here, we explored whether delayed transplantation of allogenic
      neural stem cells (NSCs) at 10 d after HI could be a tool to repair HI brain
      injury and improve behavioral impairments. METHODS: HI was induced in 9-d-old
      mice. Animals received NSCs or vehicle intracranially in the hippocampus at 10 d
      post-HI. Sensorimotor performance was assessed by cylinder rearing test. Lesion
      size, synaptic integrity, and fate of injected NSCs were determined by immuno
      stainings. Neuroinflammation was studied by immuno-stainings of brain sections,
      primary glial cultures, and TNFalpha ELISA. RESULTS: NSC transplantation at 10 d
      post-insult induced long-term improvement of motor performance and synaptic
      integrity, and reduced lesion size compared to vehicle-treatment. HI-induced
      neuroinflammation was reduced after NSC treatment, at least partially by factors
      secreted by NSCs. Injected NSCs migrated toward and localized at the damaged
      hippocampus. Transplanted NSCs differentiated toward the neuronal lineage and
      formed a niche with endogenous precursors. CONCLUSION: Our study provides
      evidence of the efficacy of NSC transplantation late after HI as a tool to reduce
      neonatal HI brain injury through regeneration of the lesion.

PMID- 27632780
TI  - Impact of consanguineous marriages and degrees of inbreeding on fertility, child
      mortality, secondary sex ratio, selection intensity, and genetic load: a cross
      sectional study from Northern India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to understand the relationship between
      consanguineous marriages and reproductive outcomes. METHODS: A total of 999
      families were recruited from five Muslim populations of Jammu region. Family
      pedigrees were drawn to access the family history and inbreeding status in terms
      of coefficient of inbreeding (F). Fertility, mortality, secondary sex ratio,
      selection intensity, and lethal equivalents were measured using standard methods.
      RESULTS: The significant differences for gross fertility was found to be higher
      among inbred groups as compared to the unrelated families (P < 0.05) and higher
      mortality rates were observed among consanguineous families of all populations in
      comparison with the non-consanguineous family groups. Moreover, the prenatal and
      postnatal child mortality rates (i.e., U5MR and U18MR) have presented a
      persuasive increase with an upsurge in the homozygosity level. The mortality rate
      was found to be maximum among families with the highest value of coefficient of
      inbreeding (F). The selection intensity (SI) also showed inflations among
      families with respect to their increasing inbreeding coefficients. The greater
      values of lethal equivalents per gamete (LEs/gamete) were observed for autosomal
      inheritance in comparison with sex-linked inheritance. CONCLUSION: Our conclusive
      assessment brings out the deleterious consequence of consanguineous marriages on
      reproductive outcomes.

PMID- 27632778
TI  - An in vivo study of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha signaling in ginsenoside Rg1
      mediated brain repair after hypoxia/ischemia brain injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoxia/ischemia (HI) brain injury is a common central nervous system
      insult in newborns. Studies have demonstrated bioactivity of ginsenoside Rg1 in
      increasing neural viability and promoting angiogenesis. However, there are few
      reports on roles of Rg1 in brain repair of neonatal HI, and the mechanisms
      involved are unclear. METHODS: a neonatal HI model was established by a modified
      Rice-Vannucci model (RVM) and pups received ginsenoside Rg1 or
      monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside (GM1) treatment. Neurological function and
      pathologic damage of rats were evaluated. Cellular apoptosis was detected with
      Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay.
      Immunohistochemistry for von willebrand factor (vwf) was used to label micro
      vessels. Expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha),
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and cleaved caspase 3 (CC3) were
      detected by western blot. RESULTS: Both Rg1 and GM1 reduced neurological
      impairment and pathologic damage after HI by enhancing neural survival. Rg1, but
      not GM1, could also facilitate angiogenesis after HI. These pharmacological
      effects of Rg1 may be attributed to regulation of expression level of VEGF and
      CC3 and HIF-1alpha signaling pathway was involved. CONCLUSION: Rg1 plays a
      neuroprotective role in brain repair following neonatal HI, and HIF-1alpha is a
      potential target for therapeutic intervention in neonates with HI brain injury.

PMID- 27632781
TI  - Combining Ru-Catalyzed C-H Functionalization with Pd-Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic
      Alkylation: Synthesis of 3-Allyl-3-aryl Oxindole Derivatives from Aryl alpha
      Diazoamides.
AB  - Ruthenium-catalyzed C-H functionalization was successfully combined with
      palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation in one pot. The novel dual
      metal-catalyzed reaction provides a variety of 3-allyl-3-aryl oxindoles from the
      corresponding alpha-diazoamides in up to 99% yield with up to 85% ee. The
      appropriate ligand choice is important to promote the sequential reaction,
      avoiding undesired metal interaction or ligand exchange.

PMID- 27632782
TI  - Application of an assay for 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL)
      in urine for the assessment of tobacco-related harm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The tobacco-specific nitrosamine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)
      1-butanone (NNK), is formed from nicotine and related compounds during tobacco
      curing and is classified as a human carcinogen. Its major metabolite, 4
      (methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), is thought to be useful in
      the assessment of cigarette smoking harm minimisation strategies. METHODOLOGY:
      Urine samples were collected from 24 current Caucasian smokers participating in a
      smoking cessation study; before and four weeks after a quit attempt. Samples were
      spiked with NNAL-d3 internal standard, extracted with ethyl acetate using liquid
      liquid extraction, reconstituted with deionised water and analysed using ultra
      performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS).
      Both free (unconjugated) and total NNAL was measured, with totals determined by
      cleavage of NNAL-glucuronide using standard enzymatic hydrolysis methods.
      RESULTS: Free NNAL levels (193.5+/-158.2pg/mL [mean+/-standard deviation])
      measured in urine samples obtained at baseline (during ad lib smoking) were
      indicative of biological exposure to NNK. Free NNAL levels were significantly
      reduced four weeks after the quit attempt (64.5+/-77.6pg/mL; p<0.002). Assay
      performance met acceptance criteria with mean recovery of 59+/-23%, intra-day
      accuracy was 3.7%, 3.7 and 3.6% and precision was 11.3%, 5.1% and 5.3% at 5pg/mL,
      20pg/mL and 100pg/mL levels respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysis of NNAL
      glucuronide proved unreliable with complete loss of NNAL aglycone in some subject
      samples following the hydrolysis procedure. CONCLUSION: Liquid-liquid extraction
      with UPLC-MS/MS is a convenient approach to measure low levels of NNAL in urine
      as a marker of biological NNK exposure, which can be used to assess the
      effectiveness of smoking reduction harm minimisation strategies. Enzymatic
      hydrolysis of NNAL-glucuronide and measuring the aglycone is not recommended.

PMID- 27632783
TI  - Development and validation of a liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric
      method for the multiplexed quantification of etravirine, maraviroc, raltegravir,
      and rilpivirine in human plasma and tissue.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Analytical methodologies for antiretroviral (ARV) quantification are
      important in determining both systemic and localized drug concentrations. The
      CCR5-antagonist maraviroc (MVC), the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase
      inhibitors (NNRTIs) etravirine (ETV) and rilpivirine (RPV), as well as the
      integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) raltegravir (RAL), have all been
      evaluated using both oral and non-oral dosing regimens, demonstrating a need for
      dynamic and sensitive bioanalytical tools for drug quantification in plasma and
      tissue. METHODS: K2EDTA plasma or blank luminal tissue lysate were spiked with
      ETV, MVC, RAL, and RPV. Following the addition of isotopically-labeled internal
      standards and sample extraction via protein precipitation or solid phase
      extraction, respectively, samples were subjected to liquid chromatographic-tandem
      mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) analysis. Chromatographic separation was performed
      using a Waters BEH C8, 50*2.1mm, 1.7MUm particle size column, and detected on an
      API 5000 mass analyzer operated in selective reaction monitoring mode. The method
      was validated according to FDA Bioanalytical Method Validation guidelines.
      RESULTS: Analytical methods were optimized for the multiplexed monitoring of ETV,
      MVC, RAL, and RPV in plasma and homogenized tissue lysate. The lower limits of
      quantification (LLOQs) for ETV, RAL, and RPV were 1ng/mL and the LLOQ for MVC was
      0.1ng/mL in plasma; the LLOQs for all ARVs in homogenized tissue lysate was
      0.05ng/sample. Standard curves were generated via weighted quadratic (plasma) or
      linear (tissue) regression of calibrators. Intra- and inter-assay precision and
      accuracy studies demonstrated %CVs<=15.93% and %DEVs <=+/-13.52%, respectively.
      Stability and matrix effects studies, as well as external proficiency testing
      assessment, were also performed. All results were acceptable and in accordance
      with the guidelines recommended by the FDA, Guidance for Industry: Bioanalytical
      Method Validation document. CONCLUSIONS: LC-MS/MS assays that are sensitive,
      specific, and dynamic have been developed and validated for the multiplexed
      quantification of ETV, MVC, RAL, and RPV in plasma and homogenized tissue lysate.
      The described methods meet sufficient throughput criteria to support large
      research trials.

PMID- 27632784
TI  - The pharmacokinetic screening of multiple components of the Nao Mai Tong formula
      in rat plasma by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry combined with
      pattern recognition method and its application to comparative pharmacokinetics.
AB  - The Nao Mai Tong formula (NMT) is composed of Rhubarb, Ginseng, Ligusticum
      wallichii and Pueraria in a ratio of 3:3:2:2 (w/w) and is a well-known
      traditional Chinese prescription that has been clinically employed for treating
      ischemia cerebrovascular disease. The goal of this study was to investigate the
      pharmacokinetics of multiple components (chryohol-8-O-beta-D-glucoyroide,
      physcion-8-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol,
      ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside Rb3, ginsenoside Rc, senkyunolide
      I, ligustilide puerarin, daidzein, 3'-methoxy puerarin) after the oral
      administration of the NMT formula in rats. A rapid and sensitive UHPLC-Quadrupole
      Orbitrap-MS with a sequential positive and negative ionization mode was developed
      to determine the 15 absorbed ingredients. After extraction from blood, the
      analytes and internal standards were subjected to ultra-high performance liquid
      chromatography with Agela Venusil MPC18 (2.1mm*100mm, 3MUm, Agela, USA). The
      mobile phase consisted of methanol and ammonium acetate (3mmolL-1) under gradient
      elution conditions. This validated method was successfully applied to a
      comparative pharmacokinetic study of fifteen components in rat plasma after oral
      administration of the NMT formula or single herb extracts to normal and stroke
      afflicted rats. A principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to evaluate the
      differences in the pharmacokinetic behavior (time-course) of the absorbed
      components of NMT, and the absorbed components were assigned to 3 separate
      clusters. A comparison of the body dynamics of each group indicated that cluster
      B (ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside Rb3, ginsenoside Rc) might be
      the most important constituents controlling the pharmacological effects of NMT.
      The comparative pharmacokinetic study showed that the different groups had
      different pharmacokinetic characteristics. The pharmacokinetics-based UHPLC
      Quadrupole-Orbitrap-MS using a full-scan mode combined with a pattern recognition
      approach can provide a reliable and suitable means of screening and identifying
      potentially bioactive components that contribute to the pharmacological effects
      of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

PMID- 27632785
TI  - Untangling the effects of multiple human stressors and their impacts on fish
      assemblages in European running waters.
AB  - This work addresses human stressors and their impacts on fish assemblages at pan
      European scale by analysing single and multiple stressors and their interactions.
      Based on an extensive dataset with 3105 fish sampling sites, patterns of
      stressors, their combination and nature of interactions, i.e. synergistic,
      antagonistic and additive were investigated. Geographical distribution and
      patterns of seven human stressor variables, belonging to four stressor groups
      (hydrological-, morphological-, water quality- and connectivity stressors), were
      examined, considering both single and multiple stressor combinations. To quantify
      the stressors' ecological impact, a set of 22 fish metrics for various fish
      assemblage types (headwaters, medium gradient rivers, lowland rivers and
      Mediterranean streams) was analysed by comparing their observed and expected
      response to different stressors, both acting individually and in combination.
      Overall, investigated fish sampling sites are affected by 15 different stressor
      combinations, including 4 stressors acting individually and 11 combinations of
      two or more stressors; up to 4 stressor groups per fish sampling site occur.
      Stressor-response analysis shows divergent results among different stressor
      categories, even though a general trend of decreasing ecological integrity with
      increasing stressor quantity can be observed. Fish metrics based on density of
      species 'intolerant to water quality degradation' and 'intolerant to oxygen
      depletion" responded best to single and multiple stressors and their
      interactions. Interactions of stressors were additive (40%), synergistic (30%) or
      antagonistic (30%), emphasizing the importance to consider interactions in multi
      stressor analyses. While antagonistic effects are only observed in headwaters and
      medium-gradient rivers, synergistic effects increase from headwaters over medium
      gradient rivers and Mediterranean streams to large lowland rivers. The knowledge
      gained in this work provides a basis for advanced investigations in European
      river basins and helps prioritizing further restoration and management actions.

PMID- 27632786
TI  - Role of TGF-beta and IL-6 in dendritic cells, Treg and Th17 mediated immune
      response during experimental cerebral malaria.
AB  - The role of cytokines in Plasmodium infection have been extensively investigated,
      but pro and anti inflammatory cytokines mediated imbalance during malaria immune
      pathogenesis is still unrevealed. Malaria is associated with the circulating
      levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta),
      but association between these two cytokines in immune response remains largely
      obscured. Using mouse model, we proposed that IL-6 and TGF-beta are involved in
      immune regulation of dendritic cells (DC), regulatory T cells (Treg), T-helper
      cells (Th17) during P. berghei ANKA (PbA) infection. Association between the
      cytokines and the severity of malaria was established with anti-TGF-beta
      treatment resulting in increased parasitemia and increased immunopathology,
      whereas; anti-IL-6 treatment delays immunopathology during PbA infection.
      Further, splenocytes revealed differential alteration of myeloid DC (mDC),
      plasmocytoid DC (pDC), Treg, Th17 cells following TGF-beta and IL-6
      neutralization. Interestingly anti-TGF-beta reduces CD11c+CD8+ DC expression,
      whereas anti-IL-6 administration causes a profound increase during PbA infection
      in Swiss mice. We observed down regulation of TGF-beta, IL-10, NFAT, Foxp3, STAT
      5 SMAD-3 and upregulation of IL-6, IL-23, IL-17 and STAT-3 in splenocytes during
      PbA infection. The STAT activity probably plays differential role in induction of
      Th17 and Treg cells. Interestingly we found increase in STAT-3 and decrease in
      STAT-5 expression during PbA infection. This pattern of STAT indicates that
      possibly TGF-beta and IL-6 play a crucial role in differentiation of DCs subsets
      and Treg/Th17 imbalance during experimental cerebral malaria (ECM).

PMID- 27632787
TI  - Sound localization in an anisotropic plate using electret microphones.
AB  - Acoustic source localization without knowing the velocity profile in anisotropic
      plates is still one of the most challenging areas in this field. The current time
      of-flight based approaches for localization in anisotropic media, are based on
      using six high sampling sensors. The number of sensors and the corresponding
      large amount of data, would make those methods inefficient in practical
      applications. Although there are many different non-time-of-flight based
      approaches such as machine learning, or soft computing based methods that can be
      used for localization with a less number of sensors, they are not as accurate as
      time-of-flight based techniques. In this article, a new approach which requires
      only four low sampling rate sensors to localize acoustic source in an anisotropic
      plate is proposed. In this technique, four electret low sampling rate sensors in
      two clusters are installed on the plate surface. The presented method uses
      attenuation analysis in a suitable frequency band to decrease the number of
      sensors. The approach is experimentally tested and verified on an airplane
      composite nose by applying artificially generated acoustic emissions (Hsu-Nielsen
      source). The results reveal that the accuracy of proposed technique depends on
      distinction of dominant frequency band. A stethoscope as a physical filter is
      employed to reduce the sensitivity of the technique and delineation of frequency
      band. The suggested technique improves the accuracy of localization prediction.

PMID- 27632788
TI  - Real-Time H2 O2 Measurements in Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) Show
      Increased Antioxidant Capacity in Cells From Osteoporotic Women.
AB  - Oxidative stress (OS) derived from an increase in intracellular reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) is a major determinant of aging and lifespan. It has also been
      associated with several age-related disorders, like postmenopausal osteoporosis
      of Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs are the common precursors for osteoblasts
      and adipocytes; appropriate commitment and differentiation of MSCs into a
      specific phenotype is modulated, among other factors, by ROS balance. MSCs have
      shown more resistance to ROS than differentiated cells, and their redox status
      depends on complex and abundant anti-oxidant mechanisms. The purpose of this work
      was to analyze in real time, H2 O2 signaling in individual h-MSCs, and to compare
      the kinetic parameters of H2 O2 management by cells derived from both control (c
      ) and osteoporotic (o-) women. For these purposes, cells were infected with a
      genetically encoded fluorescent biosensor named HyPer, which is specific for
      detecting H2 O2 inside living cells. Subsequently, cells were sequentially
      challenged with 50 and 500 MUM H2 O2 pulses, and the cellular response was
      recorded in real time. The results demonstrated adequate expression of the
      biosensor allowing registering fluorescence from HyPer at a single cell level.
      Comparison of the response of c- and o-MSCs to the oxidant challenges
      demonstrated improved antioxidant activity in o-MSCs. This was further
      corroborated by measuring the relative expression of mRNAs for catalase,
      superoxide dismutase-1, thioredoxine, and peroxiredoxine, as well as by cell
      surviving capacity under short-term H2 O2 treatment. We conclude that functional
      differences exist between healthy and osteoporotic human MSCs. The mechanism for
      these differences requires further study. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 585-593, 2017.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27632789
TI  - Comparison of the Abbott RealTime HCV and Roche COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS TaqMan HCV
      assays for the monitoring of sofosbuvir-based therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: On-treatment HCV kinetics play an invaluable role in evaluating the
      efficacy of interferon-based therapies. However, the importance of HCV RNA
      monitoring has not been well discussed concerning treatment with sofosbuvir (SOF)
      based regimens, especially for the utility of the Abbott RealTime HCV (ART)
      assay. METHODS: This study consisted of 151 patients infected with HCV genotype-1
      or -2, including patients with prior treatment-experience or cirrhosis. HCV
      genotype-1 patients were treated with SOF/ledipasvir and genotype-2 patients with
      SOF/ribavirin, both for 12 weeks. Serial measurements of HCV RNA were performed
      with both the ART and COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan v2.0 (CAP/CTM) assays
      simultaneously at weeks 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 of treatment. RESULTS: The
      rates of HCV RNA target not detected (TND) by ART were significantly lower than
      those by CAP/CTM between weeks 2 and 12 (end of treatment [EOT]), irrespective of
      prior treatment-experience or cirrhosis. 11 (11.6%) genotype-1 and 8 (14.3%)
      genotype-2 patients did not achieve HCV RNA TND by ART at EOT, in contrast to all
      having HCV RNA TND by CAP/CTM; however, all achieved sustained virological
      response. The time at which HCV RNA became TND or unquantifiable was not
      associated with treatment outcome by either the ART or CAP/CTM assay.
      CONCLUSIONS: Over 10% of the patients continued to have detectable HCV RNA by ART
      at EOT, irrespective of HCV genotype, prior treatment-experience and/or
      cirrhosis. However, prolonged residual HCV RNA was not associated with treatment
      failure.

PMID- 27632790
TI  - Modification of nickel accumulation in the tissues of the bank vole Myodes
      glareolus by chemical and environmental factors.
AB  - : In a full factorial laboratory experiment, the effects of temperature and two
      chemical stressors (nickel and chlorpyrifos) on the accumulation of nickel in the
      liver and kidney of bank voles were studied. The nine-week experiment consisted
      of three periods: acclimatisation (3 days), intoxication (6 weeks) and
      elimination (3 weeks). During the main intoxication phase the animals were orally
      exposed for 42 days to different doses of nickel (Ni) (0, 300 and 800mg/kg food)
      or chlorpyrifos (CPF) (0, 50 and 350mg/kg food) or a mixture of both chemicals.
      Additionally, animals from each chemical treatment were divided into subgroups
      assigned to three temperatures: 10, 20 or 30 degrees C. The highest
      concentrations of nickel were found in the testis, but there were no statistical
      effects of studied factors on this tissue. The nickel concentrations were higher
      in the kidney than in the liver of the bank voles. Nickel levels in the livers
      were influenced by Ni concentration in the food during intoxication time and
      additionally by interactions between Ni, temperature and day of exposure during
      elimination. The kidney concentrations of nickel depended on the level of nickel
      exposure but also on the interactions of the nickel with other factors:
      temperature, chlorpyrifos, day of exposure. This influence was observed only
      during the intoxication phase. The body mass and liver and kidney masses of the
      animals were affected both by the nickel concentration in the food and by the
      temperature. THE CAPSULE ABSTRACT: Ni in the tissues depended on the interactions
      between the factors: Ni, temperature and other. The body, liver and kidney masses
      were affected by both Ni in the food and by the temperature.

PMID- 27632791
TI  - When polychromatic flow cytometry meets mitochondrial reactive oxygen species.

PMID- 27632792
TI  - Sex Hormone Decline and Amyloid beta Synthesis, Transport and Clearance in the
      Brain.
AB  - Sex hormones (SH) are essential regulators of the central nervous system. The
      decline in SH levels along with ageing may contribute to compromised
      neuroprotection and set the grounds for neurodegeneration and cognitive
      impairments. In Alzheimer's disease, besides other pathological features, there
      is an imbalance between amyloid beta (Abeta) production and clearance, leading to
      its accumulation in the brain of older subjects. Abeta accumulation is a primary
      cause for brain inflammation and degeneration, as well as concomitant cognitive
      decline. There is mounting evidence that SH modulate Abeta production, transport
      and clearance. Importantly, SH regulate most of the molecules involved in the
      amyloidogenic pathway, their transport across brain barriers for elimination, and
      their degradation in the brain interstitial fluid. This review brings together
      data on the regulation of Abeta production, metabolism, degradation and clearance
      by SH.

PMID- 27632793
TI  - Health risk assessment of the intake of butyltin and phenyltin compounds from
      fish and seafood in Taiwanese population.
AB  - Organotin compounds have been applied as stabilizers for PVCs, fungicides, and
      pesticides, those can enter water systems through antifouling paints on ships as
      well as from diverse industrial and agricultural processes. This study aims to
      monitor the background levels of six organotins in 200 fishery products. In the
      current study, the high organotin levels are over tolerable average residue
      levels in Taiwan. Phenyltins (PTs) levels in fish and seafood are higher than
      butyltins (BTs). Risk assessment showed that 95% upper confidence limits of the
      hazard index (HI) of organotins were almost all over 1, indicating that there are
      probability of health impacts for organotin consumption in Taiwanese consumers.
      Those who consume higher amounts of seafood and fishery may be at a higher risk
      of health issues, but the data indicate that organotin levels have become
      controlled in recent years as compared with health risk data published in 2006.

PMID- 27632794
TI  - Nitrogen dynamics of the aquatic system is an important driving force for
      efficient sewage purification in single pond natural treatment wetlands at East
      Kolkata Wetland.
AB  - At East Kolkata Wetlands, though the domestic city sewage is purified very
      rapidly, the mechanisms of treatment remains inadequately explored. In this
      context, the present study investigated nitrogen dynamics of the single pond
      treatment systems during purification and explored its potential role in sewage
      treatment. For this purpose the concentrations of different forms of nitrogen
      present both in water and soil at different time points of purification were
      measured. The organic nitrogen content decreased sharply, in the early phase,
      with an increase in ammonium concentration. Notably the reduction in organic
      nitrogen was significantly higher than the increase in NH4+ which can be
      attributed to the volatilization of NH4+ under alkaline pH. This volatilization
      results in reduced oxygen demand. The nitrate-N concentration decreased sharply
      from soil with a concomitant increase in water column. However the reduction of
      nitrate in soil was significantly higher than the increase in water column. It
      indicated the occurrence of denitrification under anoxic condition wherein
      nitrate serves as terminal electron acceptor. Additionally a part of the nitrate
      supported planktonic growth. Thus it describes another mechanism of reducing
      oxygen demand. The initial NH4+-N concentration in the soil was very low and it
      increased gradually during purification due to increasing soil cation exchange
      capacity. Thus by trapping NH4+ ion soil contributes towards preventing
      contamination of water. Thus at EKW, the cumulative activities in water and soil
      involved in nitrogen dynamics lead to overall reduction of the oxygen demand and
      contribute towards efficient sewage purification.

PMID- 27632795
TI  - Adsorption of hydraulic fracturing fluid components 2-butoxyethanol and furfural
      onto granular activated carbon and shale rock.
AB  - The objective of this study was to understand the adsorption ability of a
      surfactant and a non-surfactant chemical additive used in hydraulic fracturing
      onto shale and GAC. Experiments were performed at varying temperatures and sodium
      chloride concentrations to establish these impacts on the adsorption of the
      furfural (a non-surfactant) and 2-Butoxyethanol (2-BE) (a surfactant).
      Experiments were carried out in continuously mixed batch experiments with
      Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm modeling. The results of the experiments showed
      that adsorption of these compounds onto shale does not occur, which may allow
      these compounds to return to the surface in flowback and produced waters. The
      adsorption potential for these chemicals onto GAC follows the assumptions of the
      Langmuir model more strongly than those of the Freundlich model. The results show
      uptake of furfural and 2-BE occurs within 23 h in the presence of DI water, 0.1
      mol L-1 sodium chloride, and in lab synthesized hydraulic fracturing brine. Based
      on the data, 83% of the furfural and 62% of the 2-BE was adsorbed using GAC.

PMID- 27632796
TI  - Clinical characteristics and viral load of respiratory syncytial virus and human
      metapneumovirus in children hospitaled for acute lower respiratory tract
      infection.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are two common
      viral pathogens in acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI). However, the
      association of viral load with clinical characteristics is not well-defined in
      ALRTI. To explore the correlation between viral load and clinical characteristics
      of RSV and HMPV in children hospitalized for ALRTI in Lanzhou, China. Three
      hundred and eighty-seven children hospitalized for ALRTI were enrolled.
      Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) were sampled from each children. Real-time PCR
      was used to screen RSV, HMPV, and twelve additional respiratory viruses.
      Bronchiolitis was the leading diagnoses both in RSV and HMPV positive patients. A
      significantly greater frequency of wheezing (52% vs. 33.52%, P = 0.000) was noted
      in RSV positive and negative patients. The RSV viral load was significant higher
      in children aged <1 year (P = 0.003), children without fever and wheezing (P =
      0.015 and P = 0.000), days of illness <14 days (P = 0.002), children with
      bronchiolitis (P = 0.012) and children with RSV single infections (P = 0.000). No
      difference was found in the clinical features of HMPV positive and negative
      patients. The HMPV viral load had no correlation with any clinical
      characteristics. The incidences of severe disease were similar between single
      infection and coinfection for the two viruses (RSV, P = 0.221; HMPV, P = 0.764)
      and there has no statistical significance between severity and viral load (P =
      0.166 and P = 0.721). Bronchiolitis is the most common disease caused by RSV and
      HMPV. High viral load or co-infection may be associated with some symptoms but
      neither has a significant impact on disease severity for the two viruses. J. Med.
      Virol. 89:589-597, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27632797
TI  - An update on applications of nanostructured drug delivery systems in cancer
      therapy: a review.
AB  - Cancer is a main public health problem that is known as a malignant tumor and out
      of-control cell growth, with the potential to assault or spread to other parts of
      the body. Recently, remarkable efforts have been devoted to develop
      nanotechnology to improve the delivery of anticancer drug to tumor tissue as
      minimizing its distribution and toxicity in healthy tissue. Nanotechnology has
      been extensively used in the advance of new strategies for drug delivery and
      cancer therapy. Compared to customary drug delivery systems, nano-based drug
      delivery method has greater potential in different areas, like multiple targeting
      functionalization, in vivo imaging, extended circulation time, systemic control
      release, and combined drug delivery. Nanofibers are used for different medical
      applications such as drug delivery systems.

PMID- 27632798
TI  - Raman monitoring of a catalytic system at work: Influence of the reactant on the
      sensitivity to laser-induced heating.
AB  - Characterizing catalysts under working conditions is crucial to understand and to
      optimize their behavior and performance. However, when Raman spectroscopy is
      used, attention has to be paid to laser-induced artefacts. While laser
      irradiation is often claimed to lead to a temperature gradient between the
      integral catalyst bed and the sampling point, neither the circumstances when such
      effect appears, nor if it systematically occurs or not, are really explored in
      details. The present paper shows that the sensitivity of a catalyst to laser
      induced heating largely depends on the gas composition under which the analysis
      is done, in particular that it depends whether the catalyst has adsorbed reactant
      molecules or not. These aspects are here addressed via the Raman in situ
      exploration of H3PW12O40. This heteropolyacid is a widely used acid catalyst due
      to its very high Bronsted acidity, approaching the superacid region. In
      particular, we have investigated the impact of laser irradiation in the Raman
      monitoring of solid H3PW12O40 at work under a flow of methanol in nitrogen at 50
      degrees C. When 1 single spectrum of H3PW12O40 was measured after 3h of exposure
      to methanol, the characteristic CH vibration bands of adsorbed methanol appeared.
      However, when spectra were measured continuously throughout the experiment, the
      same CH vibration bands were observed only during the first hour, then they
      disappeared and the characteristic bands of polyaromatic molecules appeared.
      Under continuous laser irradiation, adsorbed methanol was thus converted into
      polyaromatic coke as resulting from a laser-induced heating. However, the spectra
      collected under pure nitrogen show that the laser does not heat the catalyst in
      the absence of methanol. UV-Vis revealed the reason of the laser-induced heating
      in the presence of methanol, and the subsequent formation of coke. Actually the
      catalyst gets reduced by the adsorbed methanol, what darkens the catalyst bed.
      Such a darkening renders the catalyst sensitive to laser-induced heating, which
      in turn leads to the formation of coke. Under continuous laser irradiation,
      methanol thus auto-initiated its own catalytic conversion, finally leading to the
      deposition of coke. Such artefact must be avoided if one wants to study the true
      behavior of the catalyst at work. This paper shows that, for reducible samples
      analyzed in the presence of reductive molecules, this is only possible by shining
      the laser intermittently and not continuously. More generally, it actually shows
      that the adequate way to irradiate a catalyst (continuous vs intermittent) in an
      in situ/operando Raman analysis depends on the gas flow composition.

PMID- 27632799
TI  - Improved rule-out diagnostic gain with a combined aortic dissection detection
      risk score and D-dimer Bayesian decision support scheme.
AB  - : The objective of this study was to develop a Bayesian clinical decision support
      mathematical model that can assist in assessing a diagnostic utility integrating
      the aortic dissection detection risk score (ADD-RS) combined with the diagnostic
      quality of D-dimer testing. METHODS: Our method uses the Bayes nomogram. Pretest
      probability scoring for the ADD-RS was obtained using their derived precalculated
      effects models. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood
      ratios (LRs) for D-dimer testing were obtained by meta-analysis. Posttest
      probability was obtained from Bayesian statistical modeling integrating low,
      intermediate, and high pretest for the ADD-RS and LRs for D-dimer testing.
      Relative (RDG) and absolute (AADG) diagnostic gains were calculated. RESULTS:
      Pool meta-analysis of D-dimer data demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.97 (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 0.94-0.99), specificity of 0.56 (95% CI, 0.51-0.60),
      negative LR of 0.06 (95% CI, 0.03-0.12), and positive LR of 2.43 (95% CI, 1.89
      3.12). Bayesian modeling for negative LRs demonstrated posttest probabilities
      scores of 0.24% for low risk (AADG = 4.06% and RDG=94.42%), 3.4% for intermediate
      risk (AADG = 33.1% and RDG=90.68%), and 7.9% for high risk (AADG = 51.3% and
      RDG=86.65%). CONCLUSION: The integration of the ADD-RS and D-dimer testing in a
      decision support scheme suggested rule-out diagnostic value and gains, mostly
      evidenced in the AADD-RS low and intermediate pretest probability categories. We
      propose further evaluating the use of this decision support scheme in a
      prospective model and as a potential triage tool for aortic dissection.

PMID- 27632800
TI  - Injection of agitated saline to detect recirculation with transthoracic
      echocardiography during venovenous extracorporeal oxygenation: A pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: We assessed the security and efficiency of intravenously injected
      agitated saline in conjunction with transthoracic echocardiography to identify
      recirculation in patients supported with a venovenous extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation (VV ECMO) device. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We injected agitated saline
      4 consecutive times separated by an interval of 5 minutes in 2 patients supported
      by VV ECMO. In both patients, the drainage cannula was placed in the left femoral
      vein, and the return cannula was placed in the right internal jugular vein.
      Echocardiography was performed during the injection and until the bubbles
      disappeared. The security of the method was assessed by evaluating the mechanical
      function of the ECMO and the efficiency of the oxygenator. The value of this
      method was assessed by visualizing the increase of inferior vena cava's
      echogenicity as well as by measuring the time required for this change to occur
      after the injection of agitated saline at different ECMO output levels. RESULTS:
      We did not observe any change in ECMO, oxygenation function, or the hemodynamic
      status of patients after the 4 injections of agitated saline. The echogenicity of
      the inferior vena cava increased more rapidly as the ECMO's output increased. The
      recirculation phenomenon was noted even with low levels of ECMO output (<2
      L/min). CONCLUSIONS: Transthoracic echocardiography in conjunction with agitated
      saline administration may be a safe and easily applicable method to evaluate a
      recirculation phenomenon in patients supported with VV ECMO.

PMID- 27632801
TI  - Molecular mechanisms supporting a pathogenic role for human polyomavirus 6 small
      T antigen: Protein phosphatase 2A targeting and MAPK cascade activation.
AB  - BRAF inhibitors are highly effective therapies in treating a subset of melanomas
      but are associated with induction of secondary cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
      (cSCC). Recently, Human Polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6) was found to actively express
      viral proteins in BRAF inhibitor-induced cSCCs; however, the specific cellular
      mechanisms by which HPyV6 may facilitate neoplastic cell growth require further
      investigation. The current study describes a novel pathogenic mechanism of action
      for HPyV6 small tumor (sT) antigen which involves binding to protein phosphatase
      2A (PP2A) via its WFG motif and zinc binding sites. Our findings demonstrate an
      important role of HPyV6 sT for activation of PP2A's downstream oncogenic pathways
      (MEK/ERK/c-Jun), which may underlie the pathogenesis of BRAF inhibitor-induced
      neoplasms. J. Med. Virol. 89:742-747, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27632802
TI  - Safety and Effectiveness of Consumer Antiseptics; Topical   Antimicrobial Drug
      Products for Over-the-Counter Human Use. Final rule.
AB  - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, we, or the Agency) is issuing this final
      rule establishing that certain active ingredients used in over-the-counter (OTC)
      consumer antiseptic products intended for use with water (referred to throughout
      this document as consumer antiseptic washes) are not generally recognized as safe
      and effective (GRAS/GRAE) and are misbranded. FDA is issuing this final rule
      after considering the recommendations of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory
      Committee (NDAC); public comments on the Agency's notices of proposed rulemaking;
      and all data and information on OTC consumer antiseptic wash products that have
      come to the Agency's attention. This final rule amends the 1994 tentative final
      monograph (TFM) for OTC antiseptic drug products that published in the Federal
      Register of June 17, 1994 (the 1994 TFM). The final rule is part of the ongoing
      review of OTC drug products conducted by FDA.

PMID- 27632803
TI  - Schedules of Controlled Substances: Placement of PB-22, 5F-PB-22,   AB-FUBINACA
      and ADB-PINACA into Schedule I. Final rule.
AB  - With the issuance of this final rule, the Drug Enforcement Administration places
      quinolin-8-yl 1-pentyl-1H-indole-3-carboxylate (PB-22; QUPIC), quinolin-8-yl 1-(5
      fluoropentyl)-1H-indole-3-carboxylate (5-fluoro-PB-22; 5F-PB-22), N-(1-amino-3
      methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-(4-fluorobenzyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (AB
      FUBINACA) and N-(1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-pentyl-1H-indazole-3
      carboxamide (ADB-PINACA), including their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers
      whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible,
      into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. This scheduling action is
      pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act which requires that such actions be
      made on the record after opportunity for a hearing through formal rulemaking.
      This action imposes the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and
      criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who
      handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, import, export, engage in
      research, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis, or possess), or
      propose to handle PB-22, 5F-PB-22, AB-FUBINACA, or ADB-PINACA.

PMID- 27632804
TI  - Telephone Enrollment in the VA Healthcare System. Final rule.
AB  - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts as final, without change, an
      interim final rule amending its medical regulations. Specifically, this rule
      allows veterans to complete applications for health care enrollment by providing
      application information, agreeing to VA's provisions regarding copayment
      liability and assignment of third-party insurance benefits, and attesting to the
      accuracy and authenticity of the information provided to a VA employee over the
      phone. This action makes it easier for veterans to apply to enroll and speeds VA
      processing of applications.

PMID- 27632805
TI  - Possession, Use, and Transfer of Select Agents and Toxins--  Addition of Bacillus
      Cereus Biovar Anthracis to the HHS List of Select Agents and Toxins. Interim
      final rule and request  for comments.
AB  - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health
      and Human Services (HHS) is adding Bacillus cereus Biovar anthracis to the list
      of HHS select agents and toxins as a Tier 1 select agent. We are taking this
      action to regulate this agent that is similar to B. anthracis to prevent its
      misuse, which could cause a biological threat to public health and/or national
      security.

PMID- 27632806
TI  - How the ACA's Health Insurance Expansions Have Affected Out-of-Pocket Cost
      Sharing and Spending on Premiums.
AB  - One important benefit gained by the millions of Americans with health insurance
      through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is protection from high out-of-pocket
      health spending. While Medicaid unambiguously reduces out-of-pocket premium and
      medical costs for low-income people, it is less certain that marketplace coverage
      and other types of insurance purchased to comply with the law's individual
      mandate also protect from high health spending. Goal: To compare out-of-pocket
      spending in 2014 to spending in 2013; assess how this spending changed in states
      where many people enrolled in the marketplaces relative to states where few
      people enrolled; and project the decline in the percentage of people paying high
      amounts out-of-pocket. Methods: Linear regression models were used to estimate
      whether people under age 65 spent above certain thresholds. Key findings and
      conclusions: The probability of incurring high out-of-pocket costs and premium
      expenses declined as marketplace enrollment increased. The percentage reductions
      were greatest among those with incomes between 250 percent and 399 percent of
      poverty, those who were eligible for premium subsidies, and those who previously
      were uninsured or had very limited nongroup coverage. These effects appear
      largely attributable to marketplace enrollment rather than to other ACA
      provisions or to economic trends.

PMID- 27632808
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27632807
TI  - Children: Not for Sale.

PMID- 27632809
TI  - Cascading Boost Effect on the Capacity of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Sheets for Li-
      and Na-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Specific capacity and cyclic performance are critically important for the
      electrode materials of rechargeable batteries. Herein, a capacity boost effect of
      Li- and Na-ion batteries was presented and clarified by nitrogen-doped graphene
      sheets. The reversible capacities progressively increased from 637.4 to 1050.4
      mAh g-1 (164.8% increase) in Li-ion cell tests from 20 to 185 cycles, and from
      187.3 to 247.5 mAh g-1 (132.1% increase) in Na-ion cell tests from 50 to 500
      cycles. The mechanism of the capacity boost is proposed as an electrochemical
      induced cascading evolution of graphitic N to pyridinic and/or pyrrolic N, during
      which only these graphitic N adjacent pyridinic or pyrrolic structures can be
      taken precedence. The original and new generated pyridinic and pyrrolic N have
      strengthened binding energies to Li/Na atoms, thus increased the Li/Na coverage
      and delivered a progressive capacity boost with cycles until the entire favorable
      graphitic N transform into pyridinic and pyrrolic N.

PMID- 27632812
TI  - Effect of UV Irradiation on the Nutritional Quality and Cytotoxicity of Apple
      Juice.
AB  - UV-C irradiation operating at 254 nm wavelength on the polyphenolic and vitamin
      contents of apple juice including cytotoxicity analysis was studied. UV doses
      ranging from 0 to 150 mJ.cm-2 were selected for the treatments. Polyphenols
      (catechin, epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, and phloridzin) and vitamins
      (riboflavin, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxal hydrochloride, pyridoxine,
      pyridoxamine dihydrochloride, cyanocobalamin, choline chloride, biotin, niacin,
      and niacinamide) were chemically profiled. It was observed that UV treatment of
      apple juice at disinfection doses caused minor reductions (p < 0.05) in the
      concentrations of two main polyphenols (i.e., chlorogenic acid and epicatechin).
      In contrast, significant (p < 0.05) decreases in vitamin concentrations were
      observed (p < 0.05). The irradiated juice was evaluated for cytotoxic effects.
      The irradiated apple juice showed no cytotoxic effects on normal intestinal
      cells, and both irradiated and nonirradiated samples are significantly comparable
      in inhibiting the growth of human colon cancer cells. Overall, these results
      indicated that UV-C treatment of apple juice neither significantly degraded
      polyphenols nor generated cytotoxic compounds.

PMID- 27632813
TI  - "And Now I'm Just Different, but There's Nothing Actually Wrong With Me": Asexual
      Marginalization and Resistance.
AB  - This article explores the relationship between contemporary asexual lives and
      compulsory sexuality, or the privileging of sexuality and the marginalizing of
      nonsexuality. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews, I identify four ways the
      asexually identified individuals in this study saw themselves as affected by
      compulsory sexuality: pathologization, isolation, unwanted sex and relationship
      conflict, and the denial of epistemic authority. I also identify five ways these
      asexually identified individuals disrupted compulsory sexuality: adopting a
      language of difference and a capacity to describe asexuality; deemphasizing the
      importance of sexuality in human life; developing new types of nonsexual
      relationships; constituting asexuality as a sexual orientation or identity; and
      engaging in community building and outreach. I argue that some of these practices
      offer only a limited disruption of compulsory sexuality, but some of these
      practices pose a radical challenge to sexual norms by calling into question the
      widespread assumption that sexuality is a necessary part of human flourishing.

PMID- 27632814
TI  - 300 IR HDM tablet: a sublingual immunotherapy tablet for the treatment of house
      dust mite-associated allergic rhinitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The once-daily 300 index of reactivity (IR) house dust mite (HDM)
      tablet (Actair(r); Stallergenes Greer, Antony, France/Shionogi & Co. Ltd., Osaka,
      Japan) is the first sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) tablet to be approved for the
      treatment of HDM-induced allergic rhinitis. Areas covered: This drug profile
      reviews the current body of evidence on the efficacy, safety and tolerability of
      the 300 IR HDM tablet, its pharmacodynamics, and its role in clinical practice.
      Expert commentary: Data from its clinical development program demonstrate
      favorable efficacy and safety in adults and adolescents with HDM-induced allergic
      rhinitis, irrespective of mono- or polysensitization status, or the presence of
      comorbid mild asthma. The 300 IR HDM tablet is effective from as early as 2
      months after treatment initiation, providing allergic symptom control and a
      reduction in the need for symptomatic medication, while improving health-related
      quality of life. Clinical efficacy is maintained for 1 year after treatment is
      stopped.

PMID- 27632815
TI  - How do male sex workers on Craigslist differ from those on Rentboy? A comparison
      of two samples.
AB  - Much contemporary focus on male-for-male sex work has been with men who place
      advertisements on profile-based sex work websites. Less is known about men who
      sell sex via online bulletin boards. We compared two samples of men who were
      selling sex: a 2014-2015 survey of men on Craigslist.org (n = 95) and a 2013
      study of men on Rentboy.com (n = 418). In multivariable modelling, compared to
      Rentboy, Craigslist participants had a significantly higher odds of being non
      White (AOR = 5.32), gay identified (AOR = 2.32), making less than US$20,000 a
      year (AOR = 3.77), having used marijuana in the past 12 months (AOR = 3.41).
      Furthermore, compared to Rentboy, Craigslist participants had significantly lower
      odds of escorting full-time (AOR = .24), kissing (AOR = .23) or having anal
      insertive sex (AOR = .36) with their last male client, that their last paid
      encounter exceeded 1 hour in duration (AOR = .49) or having been paid over US$200
      for that encounter (AOR = .19), and fewer clients in the past 30 days (AOR =
      .95). Craigslist participants were at greater economic disadvantage compared to
      men from Rentboy; however, they were less likely to engage in HIV risk behaviours
      (anal sex and condomless anal sex). These samples may represent distinct
      populations along the continuum of sex work.

PMID- 27632817
TI  - Autologous Blood and Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections in the Treatment of Achilles
      Tendinopathy: A Critically Appraised Topic.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: Achilles tendinopathy is a painful condition commonly
      affecting the general and athletic population. It presents with localized pain,
      stiffness, and swelling in the midportion of the Achilles tendon. The physical
      stress placed on the tendon results in microtrauma, which leads to subsequent
      inflammation and degeneration. While it is not surprising that this condition
      affects the physically active, nearly one-third of Achilles tendinopathy cases
      occur in sedentary individuals. Etiology for this condition stems from a change
      in loading patterns and/or overuse of the tendon, resulting in microscopic
      tearing and degenerative changes. There are numerous causes contributing to the
      maladaptive response in these patients, such as mechanical, age-related, genetic,
      and vascular factors. The treatment for these patients is typically load
      management and eccentric strengthening of the gastrocnemius-soleus complex.
      Unfortunately, conservative treatment can lead to surgical intervention in up to
      45% of cases. A relatively new phenomenon in the treatment of this condition is
      the use of autologous blood injections (ABI) and platelet-rich plasma injections
      (PRPI). This need for a less invasive treatment fostered more investigation into
      ABI and PRPI to treat these nonresponsive patients. However, the evidence
      concerning the effectiveness of these treatments in patients with Achilles
      tendinopathy has not been synthesized. Focused Clinical Question: In patients
      with Achilles tendinopathy, how do variations of ABI and PRPI compared with a
      placebo and/or eccentric training affect pain and function?

PMID- 27632816
TI  - A cluster randomised trial of strategies to increase cervical screening uptake at
      first invitation (STRATEGIC).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Falling participation by young women in cervical screening has been
      observed at a time that has seen an increase in the incidence of cervical cancer
      in the UK in women aged < 35 years. Various barriers to screening have been
      documented, including fear, embarrassment and inconvenience. OBJECTIVES: To
      measure the feasibility, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a range
      of interventions to increase the uptake of cervical screening among young women.
      DESIGN: A cluster randomised trial based on general practices performed in two
      phases. SETTING: Primary care in Greater Manchester and the Grampian region in
      Scotland. PARTICIPANTS: Phase 1: 20,879 women receiving their first invitation
      for cervical screening. Phase 2: 10,126 women who had not attended by 6 months.
      INTERVENTIONS: Phase 1: pre-invitation leaflet or not, and access to online
      booking (Manchester only). Phase 2: (1) vaginal self-sampling kits (SSKs) sent
      unrequested (n = 1141); or (2) offered on request (n = 1290); (3) provided with a
      timed appointment (n = 1629); (4) offered access to a nurse navigator (NN) (n =
      1007); or (5) offered a choice between a NN or a SSK (n = 1277); and 3782 women
      in control practices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uplift in screening compared with
      control practices, cost-effectiveness of interventions, and the women's
      preferences explored in a discrete choice experiment. RESULTS: The pre-invitation
      leaflet and offer of online booking were ineffective when compared with control
      practices at 3 months, 18.8% versus 19.2% [odds ratio (OR) 0.96, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.88 to 1.06; p = 0.485] and 17.8% versus 17.2% (OR 1.02, 95% CI
      0.87 to 1.20; p = 0.802), respectively. The uptake of screening at 3 months was
      higher among previously human papillomavirus (HPV)-vaccinated women than
      unvaccinated women, 23.7% versus 11% (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.69 to 2.53; p < 0.001).
      Among non-attenders, the SSK sent intervention showed a statistically significant
      increase in uptake at 12 months post invitation, 21.3% versus 16.2% (OR 1.51, 95%
      CI 1.20 to 1.91; p = 0.001), as did timed appointments, 19.8% versus 16.2% (OR
      1.41, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.74; p = 0.001). The offer of a NN, a SSK on request, and a
      choice between timed appointments and NN were ineffective. Overall, there was a
      gradual rather than prompt response, as demonstrated by uptake among control
      practices. A discrete choice experiment indicated that women invited who had not
      yet attended valued the attributes inherent in self-sampling. The health economic
      analysis showed that both timed appointments and unsolicited SSK sent were likely
      to be cost-effective at a cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained of
      L7593 and L8434, respectively, if extended across the national 25-year-old cohort
      throughout the duration of screening. The certainty of these being cost-effective
      at a ceiling ratio of L20,000 per QALY gained was > 90%. CONCLUSION: Women
      receiving their initial screening invitation frequently delay taking up the offer
      and the net impact of interventions was small. Timed appointments and SSKs sent
      to non-attenders at 6 months are likely to be a cost-effective means of
      increasing uptake and should be considered further. HPV vaccination in the catch
      up programme was associated with an increased uptake of cervical screening.
      Future work should focus on optimising self-sampling in terms of age range,
      timing of offer for non-attenders and use of urine testing instead of vaginal
      samples. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN52303479. FUNDING:
      This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and
      will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 20, No. 68. See
      the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

PMID- 27632818
TI  - The Use of Breathing Exercises in the Treatment of Chronic, Nonspecific Low Back
      Pain.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: Research has shown a link between poor core stability and
      chronic, nonspecific low back pain, with data to suggest that alterations in core
      muscle activation patterns, breathing patterns, lung function, and diaphragm
      mechanics may occur. Traditional treatment approaches for chronic, nonspecific
      low back pain focus on exercise and manual therapy interventions, however it is
      not clear whether breathing exercises are effective in treating back pain.
      Focused Clinical Question: In adults with chronic, nonspecific low back pain, are
      breathing exercises effective in reducing pain, improving respiratory function,
      and/or health related quality of life? Summary of Key Findings: Following a
      literature search, 3 studies were identified for inclusion in the review. All
      reviewed studies were critically appraised at level 2 evidence and reported
      improvements in either low back pain or quality of life following breathing
      program intervention. Clinical Bottom Line: Exercise programs were shown to be
      effective in improving lung function, reducing back pain, and improving quality
      of life. Breathing program frequencies ranged from daily to 2-3 times per week,
      with durations ranging from 4 to 8 weeks. Based on these results, athletic
      trainers and physical therapists caring for patients with chronic, nonspecific
      low back pain should consider the inclusion of breathing exercises for the
      treatment of back pain when such treatments align with the clinician's own
      judgment and clinical expertise and the patient's preferences and values.
      Strength of Recommendation: Grade B evidence exists to support the use of
      breathing exercises in the treatment of chronic, nonspecific low back pain.

PMID- 27632819
TI  - The Diagnostic Accuracy of Screening Tools to Detect Eating Disorders in Female
      Athletes.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: Eating disorders in female athletes are a commonly
      underdiagnosed condition. Better screening tools for eating disorders in athletic
      females could help increase diagnosis and help athletes get the treatment they
      need. Focused Clinical Question: Should screening tools be used to detect eating
      disorders in female athletes? Summary of Key Findings: The literature was
      searched for studies that included information regarding the sensitivity and
      specificity of screening tools for eating disorders in female athletes. The
      search returned 5 possible articles related to the clinical question; 3 studies
      met the inclusion criteria (2 cross-sectional studies, 1 cohort study) and were
      included. All 3 studies reported sensitivity and specificity for the Athletic
      Milieu Direct Questionnaire version 2, the Brief Eating Disorder in Athletes
      Questionnaire version 2, and the Physiologic Screening Test to Detect Eating
      Disorders Among Female Athletes. All 3 studies found that the respective
      screening tool was able to accurately identify female athletes with eating
      disorders; however, the screening tools varied in sensitivity and specificity
      values. Clinical Bottom Line: There is strong evidence to support the use of
      screening tools to detect eating disorders in female athletes. Screening tools
      with higher sensitivity and specificity have demonstrated a successful outcome of
      determining athletes with eating disorders or at risk for developing an eating
      disorder. Strength of Recommendation: There is grade A evidence available to
      demonstrate that screening tools accurately detect female athletes at risk for
      eating disorders.

PMID- 27632820
TI  - Immediate Effects of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching
      Programs Compared With Passive Stretching Programs for Hamstring Flexibility: A
      Critically Appraised Topic.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Increasing hamstring flexibility through clinical stretching
      interventions may be an effective means to prevent hamstring injuries. However
      the most effective method to increase hamstring flexibility has yet to be
      determined. CLINICAL QUESTION: For a healthy individual, are proprioceptive
      neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching programs more effective in
      immediately improving hamstring flexibility when compared with static stretching
      programs? Summary of Key Findings: A thorough literature search returned 195
      possible studies; 5 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included. Current
      evidence supports the use of PNF stretching or static stretching programs for
      increasing hamstring flexibility. However, neither program demonstrated superior
      effectiveness when examining immediate increases in hamstring flexibility.
      Clinical Bottom Line: There were consistent findings from multiple low-quality
      studies that indicate there is no difference in the immediate improvements in
      hamstring flexibility when comparing PNF stretching programs to static stretching
      programs in physically active adults. Strength of Recommendation: Grade B
      evidence exists that PNF and static stretching programs equally increase
      hamstring flexibility immediately following the stretching program.

PMID- 27632821
TI  - The Effectiveness of Compression Socks for Athletic Performance and Recovery.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: The popularity of compression socks has increased
      substantially among athletes, particularly those participating in endurance
      events such as running and triathlon. Companies are increasingly marketing
      compression stockings to runners, triathletes, and other endurance athletes for
      the benefits of improved performance and/or decreased recovery time. Originally
      developed for the treatment of deep-vein thrombosis, compression socks are now
      marketed as a tool to improve venous return, thus believed to improve both
      performance and recovery in athletes. The use of compression socks during
      training aims to help the skeletal-muscle pump, increase deep venous velocity,
      and/or decrease blood pooling in the calf veins and alleviate delayed-onset
      muscle soreness. The scenario is a 28-y-old recreational triathlete seeking your
      advice while training for her first half-Ironman. She occasionally complains of
      tightness in the calves both during and after running. She wants your opinion on
      the effectiveness of using compression socks to help her performance and
      recovery. Focused Clinical Question: What is the effectiveness of using graduated
      compression socks for improving athletic performance and decreasing recovery time
      in healthy endurance athletes?

PMID- 27632822
TI  - Eccentric Exercises Reduce Hamstring Strains in Elite Adult Male Soccer Players:
      A Critically Appraised Topic.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Hamstring strains are a common sport-related injury, which
      may limit athletic performance for an extended period of time. These injuries are
      common in the soccer setting. As such, it is important to determine an
      appropriate prevention program to minimize the risk of such an injury for these
      athletes. Eccentric hamstring training may be an effective and practical
      hamstring strain prevention strategy. CLINICAL QUESTION: What is the effect of
      eccentric exercises on hamstring strain prevention in adult male soccer players?
      Summary of Key Findings: Current literature was searched for studies of level 2
      evidence or higher that investigated the effect of eccentric exercises in
      preventing hamstring strains in adult male soccer players. Three articles
      returned from the literature search met the inclusion criteria. A fourth article
      looked at differences in strength gains between eccentric and concentric
      hamstring strengthening exercises, but did not record hamstring strain incidence.
      A fifth article, a systematic review, met all the criteria except for the correct
      population. Of the 3 studies, 2 were randomized control trails and 1 was a cohort
      study. Clinical Bottom Line: There is robust supportive evidence that eccentric
      hamstring exercises can prevent a hamstring injury to an elite adult male soccer
      player. Therefore, it is recommended that athletic trainers and other sports
      medicine providers evaluate current practices relating to reducing hamstring
      strains and consider implementing eccentric exercise based prevention programs.
      Strength of Recommendation: All evidence was attained from articles with a level
      of evidence 2b or higher, based on the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM)
      criteria, stating that eccentric exercises can decrease hamstring strains.

PMID- 27632823
TI  - The Diagnostic Accuracy of Clinical Diagnostic Tests for Thoracic Outlet
      Syndrome.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Thoracic outlet syndrome is quite challenging to diagnose.
      Currently, there are myriad diagnostic procedures used in the diagnosis of all
      types of thoracic outlet syndrome. However, controversy exists over which
      diagnostic procedures produce accurate findings. CLINICAL QUESTION: Can clinical
      diagnostic tests accurately diagnose patients presenting with symptoms of
      thoracic outlet syndrome? Summary of Key Findings: A thorough literature search
      returned 6 possible studies; 3 studies met the inclusion criteria and were
      included. Two studies supported the use of clinical diagnostic tests for the
      diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome. One study reported high false-positive
      rates among clinical diagnostic tests for thoracic outlet syndrome. One study
      reported that clinical diagnostic test findings correlate to provocative
      positioned magnetic resonance imaging findings. Clinical Bottom Line: There is
      moderate evidence to support the use of the Halstead maneuver (also known as the
      costoclavicular maneuver or exaggerated military brace test), Wright's test,
      Cyriax Release test, and supraclavicular pressure test to have good diagnostic
      accuracy for the provocation of symptoms in patients presenting with upper
      extremity pathology. However, these clinical diagnostic tests do not appear to
      allow for the differential diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome exclusively. The
      use of the Adson's test and Roos test should be discontinued for the differential
      diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome. Strength of Recommendation: Grade B
      evidence exists to support the accuracy of the Halstead maneuver, Wright's test,
      Cyriax Release test, and supraclavicular pressure test for the diagnosis of upper
      extremity pathology in general. Grade C evidence exists for the use of these
      clinical diagnostic tests to exclusively diagnose thoracic outlet syndrome.

PMID- 27632824
TI  - The Effect of Cognitive Rest as Part of Postconcussion Management for Adolescent
      Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: It is hypothesized that cognitive activity following a
      concussion may potentially hinder patient recovery. While the recommendation of
      cognitive rest is often maintained and rationalized, a causal relationship
      between cognitive activity and symptom duration has yet to be established.
      CLINICAL QUESTION: Does the implementation of cognitive rest as part of the
      postconcussion management plan reduce the number of days until the concussed
      adolescent patient is symptom free compared to a postconcussion management plan
      that does not incorporate cognitive rest? Summary of Key Findings: A thorough
      literature search returned 7 possible studies; 5 studies met the inclusion
      criteria and were included. Three studies indicated that increased cognitive
      activity is associated with longer recovery from a concussion, and, therefore,
      supported the use of cognitive rest. One study indicated that the recommendation
      for cognitive rest was not significantly associated with time to concussion
      symptom resolution. One study indicated that strict rest, defined as 5 days of no
      school, work, or physical activity; might prolong symptom duration. Clinical
      Bottom Line: There is moderate evidence to support the prescription of moderate
      cognitive rest for concussed patients. Clinicians who intend on implementing
      cognitive rest in their concussion protocols should be aware of inconsistencies
      and be open-minded to alternative treatment progressions while taking into
      consideration each individual patient and maintaining adequate patient-centered
      care principles. Strength of Recommendation: Grade B evidence exists that
      prescription of moderate cognitive rest for concussed patients may be beneficial
      as a supplement to physical rest as treatment for symptom reduction in
      adolescents.

PMID- 27632825
TI  - Reliability and Validity of a Novel Approach to Measure Hip Rotation.
AB  - CONTEXT: Currently, hip-rotation range of motion (ROM) is clinically measured in
      an open kinetic chain in either seated or prone position using passive or active
      ROM. However, during activities of daily living and during sports participation
      the hip must be able to rotate in a loaded position, and there is no standard
      measurement for this. OBJECTIVE: To determine if a novel method for measuring hip
      rotation in weight bearing will result in good to very good reliability as
      demonstrated by an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of >.80 and to
      investigate if weight-bearing hip measurements will result in significantly
      reduced hip ROM compared with non-weight-bearing methods. DESIGN: Repeated
      measures. SETTING: Outpatient sports physical therapy clinic. PARTICIPANTS: 20
      healthy participants (10 men, 10 women) recruited for hip-rotation measurements.
      METHODS: Three trials of both internal and external rotation were measured in
      sitting, prone, and weight bearing. Two therapists independently measured each
      participant on the same day. The participants returned the following day to
      repeat the same measurements with the same 2 therapists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Degrees of hip internal and external rotation measured in prone, sitting, and
      loaded positions. RESULTS: In general, the measurement of hip ROM across the
      different conditions was reliable. The intrarater reliability was .67-.95, while
      interrater reliability was .59-.96. Interrater reliability was improved when
      values were averaged across the measures (.75-.97). ICCs for active loaded ROM
      were .67-.81, while interrater ICCs were .53-.87. In general, prone hip ROM was
      greater than supine and supine was greater than loaded. CONCLUSIONS: Loaded hip
      rotation can be measured in a clinical setting with moderate to good reliability.
      The rotation ROM of a loaded hip can be significantly decreased compared with
      unloaded motion.

PMID- 27632826
TI  - Self-Mobilization Using a Foam Roller Versus a Roller Massager: Which Is More
      Effective for Increasing Hamstrings Flexibility?
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Increasing the length of the muscle-tendon unit may prevent
      musculotendinous injury. Various methods have been proposed to increase muscle
      tendon flexibility, including self-mobilization using foam rollers or roller
      massagers, although the effectiveness of these devices is uncertain. This review
      was conducted to determine if the use of foam rollers or roller massagers to
      improve hamstrings flexibility is supported by moderate- to high-quality
      evidence. CLINICAL QUESTION: Are foam rollers or roller massagers effective for
      increasing hamstrings flexibility in asymptomatic physically active adults?
      Summary of Key Findings: The literature was searched for studies on the effects
      of using foam rollers or roller massagers to increase hamstrings flexibility in
      asymptomatic physically active adults. Four randomized controlled trials were
      included; 2 studies provided level 2 or 3 evidence regarding foam rollers and 2
      studies provided level 2 or 3 evidence regarding roller massagers. Both roller
      massager studies reported increases in hamstrings flexibility after treatment.
      Data from the foam-roller studies did not demonstrate a statistically significant
      increase in hamstrings flexibility, but 1 study did demonstrate a strong effect
      size. Clinical Bottom Line: The reviewed moderate-quality studies support the use
      of roller massagers but provide limited evidence on the effectiveness of foam
      rolling to increase hamstrings flexibility in asymptomatic physically active
      adults. Flexibility gains may be improved by a longer duration of treatment and
      administration by a trained therapist. Gains appear to decline rapidly
      postrolling. Neither device has been shown to confer a therapeutic benefit
      superior to static stretching, and the effectiveness of these devices for
      preventing injury is unknown. Strength of Recommendation: Grade B evidence
      supports the use of roller massagers to increase hamstrings flexibility in
      asymptomatic physically active adults.

PMID- 27632827
TI  - Exploring the Relationship Between Athletic Identity and Beliefs About
      Rehabilitation Overadherence in College Athletes.
AB  - CONTEXT: Athletic identity has been associated with rehabilitation overadherence
      in college athletes. OBJECTIVES: To explore which constructs of athletic identity
      predict rehabilitation overadherence, gauge athletes' views of the most salient
      aspect of their athletic participation, and understand their perceptions of the
      reasons they adhere to their rehabilitation program. DESIGN: Cross-sectional,
      mixed methods. SETTING: University athletic training clinics and online.
      PARTICIPANTS: Currently injured college athletes (N = 80; 51 male, 29 female).
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), Rehabilitation
      Overadherence Questionnaire (ROAQ), and 2 open-ended questions about athletic
      participation and rehabilitation adherence. RESULTS: Higher levels of athletic
      identity were associated with higher levels of rehabilitation overadherence (r =
      .29, P = .009). Hierarchical multiple regression used on AIMS subscales to
      predict ROAQ subscales did not reveal a significant model for the subscale
      "ignore practitioner recommendations." However, a significant model was revealed
      for the subscale "attempt an expedited rehabilitation," F5,73 = 2.56, P = .04, R2
      = .15. Negative affectivity was the only significant contribution to the equation
      (beta = 0.33, t = 2.64, P = .01). Content analysis revealed that bodily benefits,
      sport participation, personal achievement, social relationships, and athlete
      status were perceived to be the most important aspects of being an athlete. The
      themes of returning to competition, general health, and relationship beliefs were
      identified as the major factors for adhering to a rehabilitation program.
      CONCLUSIONS: Negative affectivity accounted for a significant but low amount of
      variance for rehabilitation overadherence, suggesting that athletic trainers
      should pay attention to personal variables such as athletic identity that might
      influence the rehabilitation process. Using the knowledge of why athletes adhere
      to their rehabilitation and what is most important to them about being an
      athlete, athletic trainers can use appropriate interventions to facilitate proper
      rehabilitation adherence.

PMID- 27632828
TI  - Effects of Experimental Anterior Knee Pain on Muscle Activation During Landing
      and Jumping Performed at Various Intensities.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although knee pain is common, some facets of this pain are unclear. The
      independent effects (ie, independent from other knee injury or pathology) of knee
      pain on neural activation of lower-extremity muscles during landing and jumping
      have not been observed. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the independent effects of knee
      pain on lower-extremity muscle (gastrocnemius, vastus medialis, medial
      hamstrings, gluteus medius, and gluteus maximus) activation amplitude during
      landing and jumping, performed at 2 different intensities. DESIGN: Laboratory
      based, pretest, posttest, repeated-measures design, where all subjects performed
      both data-collection sessions. METHODS: Thirteen able-bodied subjects performed 2
      different land and jump tasks (forward and lateral) under 2 different conditions
      (control and pain), at 2 different intensities (high and low). For the pain
      condition, experimental knee pain was induced via a hypertonic saline injection
      into the right infrapatellar fat pad. Functional linear models were used to
      evaluate the influence of experimental knee pain on muscle-activation amplitude
      throughout the 2 land and jump tasks. RESULTS: Experimental knee pain
      independently altered activation for all of the observed muscles during various
      parts of the 2 different land and jump tasks. These activation alterations were
      not consistently influenced by task intensity. CONCLUSION: Experimental knee pain
      alters activation amplitude of various lower-extremity muscles during landing and
      jumping. The nature of the alteration varies between muscles, intensities, and
      phases of the movement (ie, landing and jumping). Generally, experimental knee
      pain inhibits the gastrocnemius, medial hamstring, and gluteus medius during
      landing while independently increasing activation of the same muscles during
      jumping.

PMID- 27632829
TI  - The Effectiveness of Nonoperative Rehabilitation Programs for Athletes Diagnosed
      With Osteitis Pubis.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: The differential diagnosis of groin pain can be very
      challenging due to the many causative pathologies. Osteitis pubis is a pathology
      that is becoming more recognized in athletes who participate in sports such as
      soccer, ice hockey, rugby, and football. Conservative nonoperative treatment is
      often prescribed first before surgical intervention. Of particular interest are
      the outcomes of nonoperative rehabilitation programs and their effectiveness to
      return athletes to preinjury levels of participation. The most recent systematic
      review in 2011 examined the spectrum of treatments for osteitis pubis and found
      only level 4 (case report or case series) evidence with varying approaches to
      treatment. Due to the amount of time since the last published review, there is a
      need to critically appraise the recent literature to see if more high-quality
      research has been published that measured nonoperative interventions for athletes
      with osteitis pubis. Focused Clinical Question: Is there evidence to suggest that
      nonoperative rehabilitation programs for osteitis pubis are effective at
      returning athletes to their preinjury levels of participation? Summary of Key
      Findings: Four studies met the inclusion criteria. Only level 4 evidence was
      found. All studies reported using a structured nonoperative rehabilitation
      program with a successful return to preinjury participation between 4 and 14 wk,
      except for 1 study reporting a successful return at 30 wk. Successful long-term
      follow-up was reported at 6-48 mo for all patients. Clinical Bottom Line: There
      is weak evidence to support the efficacy of nonoperative rehabilitation programs
      at returning athletes to their preinjury levels of participation. Strength of
      Recommendation: There is grade D evidence that a nonoperative program for
      osteitis pubis is effective at helping athletes return to their preinjury level
      of participation. The Centre of Evidence Based Medicine recommends a grade D for
      level 4 evidence with consistent findings.

PMID- 27632830
TI  - Correlation Between Ankle-Dorsiflexion and Hip-Flexion Range of Motion and the
      Functional Movement Screen Hurdle-Step Score.
AB  - CONTEXT: Functional movement screening (FMS) has been gaining popularity in the
      fields of sports medicine and performance. Currently, limited research has
      examined whether FMS screening that identifies low FMS scores is attributed
      primarily to limits in range of motion (ROM). OBJECTIVE: To compare scores from
      the FMS hurdle-step movement with ROM measurements for ankle dorsiflexion and hip
      flexion (HF). DESIGN: Correlational research design. SETTING: Sports medicine
      research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 20 healthy active male (age 21.2 +/- 2.4 y,
      weight 77.8 +/- 10.2 kg, height 180.8 +/- 6.8 cm) and 20 healthy active female
      (21.3 +/- 2.0 y, 67.3 +/- 8.9 kg, 167.4 +/- 6.6 cm) volunteers. INTERVENTION: All
      40 participants completed 3 trials of the hurdle-step exercise bilaterally and
      goniometric ROM measurements for active ankle dorsiflexion and HF. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Correlations were determined between ROM and FMS scores for right and
      left legs. In addition, mean data were compared between FMS scores, gender, and
      dominant and nondominant limbs. RESULTS: There were no significant correlations
      present when all participants were grouped. However, when separated by gender
      significant correlations were identified. There was a weak correlation with HF
      and both hurdle-step (HS) and average hurdle-step (AHS) scores on both left (r =
      .536, P = .015 and r = .512, P = .012) and right (r = .445, P = .049 and r =
      .565, P = .009) legs for women. For men, there was a poor negative correlation of
      HF and both HS and AHS on the left leg (r = -.452, P = .045 and r = .451, P =
      .046). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that although hip and ankle ROMs do not
      have a strong relationship with FMS hurdle-step scores, they are a contributing
      factor. More research should be conducted to identify other biomechanical factors
      that contribute to individual FMS test scores.

PMID- 27632831
TI  - Biomechanical Analysis of the Closed Kinetic Chain Upper-Extremity Stability
      Test.
AB  - CONTEXT: The closed kinetic chain upper-extremity stability (CKCUES) test is a
      functional test for the upper extremity performed in the push-up position, where
      individuals support their body weight on 1 hand placed on the ground and swing
      the opposite hand until touching the hand on the ground, then switch hands and
      repeat the process as fast as possible for 15 s. OBJECTIVE: To study scapular
      kinematic and kinetic measures during the CKCUES test for 3 different distances
      between hands. DESIGN: Experimental. SETTING: Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 30
      healthy individuals (15 male, 15 female). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants
      performed 3 repetitions of the test at 3 distance conditions: original (36 in),
      interacromial, and 150% interacromial distance between hands. Participants
      completed a questionnaire on pain intensity and perceived exertion before and
      after the procedures. Scapular internal/external rotation, upward/downward
      rotation, and posterior/anterior tilting kinematics and kinetic data on maximum
      force and time to maximum force were measured bilaterally in all participants.
      Percentage of body weight on upper extremities was calculated. Data analyses were
      based on the total numbers of hand touches performed for each distance condition,
      and scapular kinematics and kinetic values were averaged over the 3 trials.
      Scapular kinematics, maximum force, and time to maximum force were compared for
      the 3 distance conditions within each gender. Significance level was set at alpha
      = .05. RESULTS: Scapular internal rotation, posterior tilting, and upward
      rotation were significantly greater in the dominant side for both genders.
      Scapular upward rotation was significantly greater in original distance than
      interacromial distance in swing phase. Time to maximum force in women was
      significantly greater in the dominant side. CONCLUSION: CKCUES test kinematic and
      kinetic measures were not different among 3 conditions based on distance between
      hands. However, the test might not be suitable for initial or mild-level
      rehabilitation due to its challenging requirements.

PMID- 27632832
TI  - Assessment of Body Composition and Sport Performance of Brazilian Paralympic Swim
      Team Athletes.
AB  - CONTEXT: Body-composition assessments of high-performance athletes are very
      important for identifying physical performance potential. Although the
      relationship between the kinanthropometric characteristics and performance
      abilities of Olympic swimmers is extremely important, this subject is not
      completely understood for Paralympic swimmers. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the
      relationship between body composition and sport performance in Brazilian
      Paralympic swimmers 6 mo after training. DESIGN: Experimental pre/posttest
      design. SETTING: Research laboratory and field evaluations of swimming were
      conducted to verify the 50-m freestyle time of each athlete. PARTICIPANTS: 17
      Brazilian Paralympic swim team athletes (12 men, 5 women). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Body-composition assessments were performed using a BOD POD, and swimming
      performance was assessed using the 50-m freestyle, which was performed twice:
      before and after 6 mo of training. RESULTS: Increased lean mass and significantly
      reduced relative fat mass and swimming time (P < .05) were observed 6 mo after
      training. Furthermore, a positive correlation between body-fat percentage and
      performance (r = .66, P < .05) was observed, but there was no significant
      correlation between body density and performance (r = -.14, P > .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: After a 6-mo training period, Paralympic swimmers presented reduced
      fat mass and increased lean body mass associated with performance, as measured by
      50-m freestyle time. These data suggest that reduced fat-mass percentage was
      significantly correlated with improved swimming performance in Paralympic
      athletes.

PMID- 27632833
TI  - Athletes' Expectations About Sport-Injury Rehabilitation: A Cross-Cultural Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Athletes enter injury rehabilitation with certain expectations about the
      recovery process, outcomes, and the professional providing treatment. Their
      expectations influence the effectiveness of the assistance received and affect
      the overall rehabilitation process. Expectations may vary depending on numerous
      factors such as sport experience, gender, sport type, and cultural background.
      Unfortunately, limited information is available on athletes' expectations about
      sport-injury rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE: To examine possible differences in
      athletes' expectations about sport-injury rehabilitation based on their country
      of residence and type of sport (contact vs noncontact). DESIGN: Cross-sectional.
      SETTING: Recreational, college, and professional athletes from the US, UK, and
      Finland were surveyed. PARTICIPANTS: Of the 1209 athletes ranging from 12 to 80 y
      of age (mean 23.46 +/- 7.91), 529 US [80%], 253 UK [86%], and 199 Finnish [82%]
      athletes provided details of their geographical location and were included in the
      final analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Expectations About Athletic Training
      (EAAT) questionnaire was used to determine athletes' expectations about personal
      commitment, facilitative conditions, and the expertise of the sports-medicine
      professional (SMP). RESULTS: A 3 * 2 MANCOVA revealed significant main effects
      for country (P = .0001, etap2 = .055) and sport type (P = .0001, etap2 = .023).
      Specifically, US athletes were found to have higher expectations of personal
      commitment and facilitative conditions than their UK and Finnish counterparts.
      Athletes participating in contact sports had higher expectations of facilitative
      conditions and the expertise of the SMP than did athletes participating in
      noncontact sports. CONCLUSIONS: SMPs, especially those in the US, should consider
      the sport and environment when providing services. In addition, SMPs need to
      highlight and demonstrate their expertise during the rehabilitation process,
      especially for those who compete in contact sports.

PMID- 27632834
TI  - Lumbar- and Cervicothoracic-Spine Loading During a Fast-Bowling Spell.
AB  - CONTEXT: Epidemiological studies highlight a prevalence of lumbar vertebrae
      injuries in cricket fast bowlers, with governing bodies implementing rules to
      reduce exposure. Analysis typically requires complex and laboratory-based
      biomechanical analyses, lacking ecological validity. Developments in GPS
      microtechnologies facilitate on-field measures of mechanical intensity,
      facilitating screening toward prevention and rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE: To
      examine the efficacy of using GPS-mounted triaxial accelerometers to quantify
      accumulated body load and to investigate the effect of GPS-unit placement in
      relation to epidemiological observations. DESIGN: Repeated measures, field-based.
      SETTING: Regulation cricket pitch. PARTICIPANTS: 10 male injury-free participants
      recruited from a cricket academy (18.1 +/- 0.6 y). INTERVENTION: Each participant
      was fitted with 2 GPS units placed at the cervicothoracic and lumbar spines to
      measure triaxial acceleration (100 Hz). Participants were instructed to deliver a
      7-over spell of fast bowling, as dictated by governing-body guidelines. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Triaxial total accumulated body and the relative uniaxial
      contributions were calculated for each over. RESULTS: There was no significant
      main effect for overs bowled, in either total load or the triaxial contributions
      to total load. This finding suggests no cumulative fatigue effect across the 10
      over spell. However, there was a significant main effect for GPS-unit location,
      with the lumbar unit exposed to significantly greater load than the
      cervicothoracic unit in each of the triaxial planes. CONCLUSIONS: There was no
      evidence to suggest that accumulated load significantly increased as a result of
      spell duration. In this respect the governing-body guidelines for this age group
      can be considered safe, or potentially even conservative. However, the
      observation of higher body load at the lumbar spine than at the cervicothoracic
      spine supports epidemiological observations of injury incidence. GPS
      microtechnologies might therefore be considered in screening and monitoring of
      players toward injury prevention and/or during rehabilitation.

PMID- 27632835
TI  - The Effect of 2 Forms of Talocrural Joint Traction on Dorsiflexion Range of
      Motion and Postural Control in Those With Chronic Ankle Instability.
AB  - CONTEXT: Talocrural joint mobilizations are commonly used to address deficits
      associated with chronic ankle instability (CAI). OBJECTIVE: Examine the immediate
      effects of talocrural joint traction in those with CAI. DESIGN: Blinded,
      crossover. SETTING: Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty adults (14 females; age =
      23.80 +/- 4.02 y; height = 169.55 +/- 12.38 cm; weight = 78.34 +/- 16.32 kg) with
      self-reported CAI participated. Inclusion criteria consisted of a history of >=1
      ankle sprain, >=2 episodes of giving way in the previous 3 mo, answering "yes" to
      >=4 questions on the Ankle Instability Instrument, and <=24 on the Cumberland
      Ankle Instability Tool. INTERVENTION: Subjects participated in 3 sessions in
      which they received a single treatment session of sustained traction (ST),
      oscillatory traction (OT), or a sham condition in a randomized order.
      Interventions consisted of four 30-s sets of traction with 1 min of rest between
      sets. During ST and OT, the talus was distracted distally from the ankle mortise
      to the end-range of accessory motion. ST consisted of continuous distraction and
      OT involved 1-s oscillations between the mid and end-range of accessory motion.
      The sham condition consisted of physical contact without force application.
      Preintervention and postintervention measurements of weight-bearing dorsiflexion,
      dynamic balance, and static single-limb balance were collected. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The independent variable was treatment (ST, OT, sham). The dependent
      variables included pre-to-posttreatment change scores for the WBLT (cm),
      normalized SEBTAR (%), and time-to-boundary (TTB) variables(s). Separate 1-way
      ANOVAs examined differences between treatments for each dependent variable. Alpha
      was set a priori at P < .05. RESULTS: No significant treatment effects were
      identified for any variables. CONCLUSION: A single intervention of ST or OT did
      not produce significant changes in weight-bearing dorsiflexion range of motion or
      postural control in individuals with CAI. Future research should investigate the
      effects of repeated talocrural traction treatments and the effects of this
      technique when combined with other manual therapies.

PMID- 27632836
TI  - Lack of Effect of Ankle Position During the Nordic Curl on Muscle Activity of the
      Biceps Femoris and Medial Gastrocnemius.
AB  - CONTEXT: Regular performance (~2*/wk) of Nordic curls has been shown to increase
      hamstring strength and reduce the risk of hamstring strain injury, although no
      consensus on ankle position has been provided. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects
      of performing Nordic curls, with the ankle in a dorsiflexed (DF) or plantar
      flexed (PF) position, on muscle activity of the biceps femoris (BF) and medial
      gastrocnemius (MG). PARTICIPANTS: 15 male college athletes (age 22.6 +/- 2.1 y,
      height 1.78 +/- 0.06 m, body mass 88.75 +/- 8.95 kg). DESIGN: A repeated-measures
      design was used, with participants performing 2 sets of 3 repetitions of both
      variations of Nordic curls, while muscle activity was assessed via surface
      electromyography (EMG) of the BF and MG. Comparisons of muscle activity were made
      by examining the normalized EMG data as the percentage of their maximum voluntary
      isometric contraction. RESULTS: Paired-samples t test revealed no significant
      difference in normalized muscle activity of the BF (124.5% +/- 6.2% vs 128.1 +/-
      5.0%, P > .05, Cohen d = 0.64, power = .996) or MG (82.1% +/- 3.9% vs 83.5 +/-
      4.8%, P > .05, Cohen d = 0.32, power = .947) during the Nordic curls in a PF or
      DF position, respectively. CONCLUSION: Ankle position does not influence muscle
      activity during the Nordic curl; however, performance of Nordic curls with the
      ankle in a DF position may be preferential, as this replicates the ankle position
      during terminal leg swing during running, which tends to be the point at which
      hamstring strains have been reported.

PMID- 27632837
TI  - Hip Rotations' Influence of Electromyographic Activity of Gluteus Medius Muscle
      During Pelvic-Drop Exercise.
AB  - CONTEXT: Pelvic-drop exercises are often used to strengthen the gluteus medius
      (GM) muscle with the aim of increasing or prioritizing its recruitment. However,
      the effect of hip rotation on the performance of the action of the GM is unknown.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of hip rotation on the recruitment of the GM,
      tensor fasciae latae (TFL), and quadratus lumborum (QL). METHOD: Seventeen
      healthy subjects performed 2 sets of 4 repetitions of pelvic-drop exercise in
      random order with pelvic-drop lateral, medial, and neutral rotation of the hip.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The electromyographic (EMG) activity of the GM, TFL, and
      QL was evaluated using surface electromyography. RESULTS: There were significant
      increases in the activation of the GM with medial and neutral rotation compared
      with lateral rotation (P = .03, P = .01, respectively), and there was no
      difference between medial and neutral rotation (P = 1.00). There was no
      difference in EMG activity of the TFL and QL in any of the positions. The GM:TFL
      ratio was the same in all analyzed positions. Regarding the GM:QL ratio, there
      was a significant increase with medial rotation compared with lateral rotation (P
      = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic-drop exercises are more efficient for activating the
      GM when the hip is in medial rotation and neutral position.

PMID- 27632838
TI  - Effects of Volitional Spine Stabilization and Lower-Extremity Fatigue on the Knee
      and Ankle During Landing Performance in a Population With Recurrent Low Back
      Pain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recurrent lower back pain (rLBP) and neuromuscular fatigue are
      independently thought to increase the risk of lower extremity (LE) injury.
      Volitional preemptive abdominal contraction (VPAC) is thought to improve lumbar
      spine and pelvis control in individuals with rLBP. The effects of VPAC on
      fatigued landing performance in individuals with rLBP are unknown. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine the effects of VPAC and LE fatigue on landing performance in a rLBP
      population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional pretest-posttest cohort control design.
      SETTING: A clinical biomechanics laboratory. SUBJECTS: 32 rLBP (age 21.2 +/- 2.7
      y) but without current symptoms and 33 healthy (age 20.9 +/- 2.3 y) subjects.
      INTERVENTION(S): (i) Volitional preemptive abdominal contraction using abdominal
      bracing and (ii) fatigue using submaximal free-weight squat protocol with 15%
      body weight until task failure was achieved. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Knee and
      ankle angles, moments, electromyographic measurements from semitendinosus and
      vastus medialis muscles, and ground reaction force (GRF) were collected during
      0.30 m drop-jump landings. RESULTS: The VPAC resulted in significantly earlier
      muscle onsets across all muscles with and without fatigue in both groups (mean +/
      SD, 0.063 +/- 0.016 s earlier; P <= .001). Fatigue significantly delayed
      semitendinosus muscle onsets (0.033 +/- 0.024 s later; P <= .001), decreased GRF
      (P <= .001), and altered landing kinematics in a variety of ways. The rLBP group
      exhibited delayed semitendinosus and vastus medialis muscle onsets (0.031 +/-
      0.028 s later; P <= .001) and 1.8 degrees  less knee flexion at initial contact
      (P <= .008). CONCLUSION: The VPAC decreases some of the detrimental effects of
      fatigue on landing biomechanics and thus may reduce LE injury risk in a rLBP
      population.

PMID- 27632839
TI  - Balance Training Versus Balance Training With STARS in Patients With Chronic
      Ankle Instability: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: Both balance training and selected interventions meant to target sensory
      structures (STARS) have been shown to be effective at restoring deficits
      associated with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Clinicians often use multiple
      treatment modalities in patients with CAI. However, evidence for combined
      intervention effectiveness in CAI patients remains limited. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine if augmenting a balance-training protocol with STARS (BTS) results in
      greater improvements than balance training (BT) alone in those with CAI. DESIGN:
      Randomized-controlled trial. SETTING: Research laboratory. PATIENTS: 24 CAI
      participants (age 21.3 +/- 2.0 y; height 169.8 +/- 12.9 cm; mass 72.5 +/- 22.2
      kg) were randomized into 2 groups: BT and BTS. INTERVENTIONS: Participants
      completed a 4-week progression-based balance-training protocol consisting of 3 20
      min sessions per week. The experimental group also received a 5-min set of STARS
      treatments consisting of calf stretching, plantar massage, ankle joint
      mobilizations, and ankle joint traction before each balance-training session.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcomes included self-assessed disability, Star Excursion
      Balance Test reach distance, and time-to-boundary calculated from static balance
      trials. All outcomes were assessed before, and 24-hours and 1-week after protocol
      completion. Self-assessed disability was also captured 1-month after the
      intervention. RESULTS: No significant group differences were identified (P >
      .10). Both groups demonstrated improvements in all outcome categories after the
      interventions (P < .10), many of which were retained at 1-week posttest (P <
      .10). Although 90% CIs include zero, effect sizes favor BTS. Similarly, only the
      BTS group exceeded the minimal detectable change for time-to-boundary outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: While statistically no more effective, exceeding minimal detectable
      change scores and favorable effect sizes suggest that a 4-week progressive BTS
      program may be more effective at improving self-assessed disability and postural
      control in CAI patients than balance training in isolation.

PMID- 27632840
TI  - Effect of Humeral-Elevation Angle on Electromyographic Activity in the Serratus
      Anterior During the Push-Up-Plus Exercise.
AB  - CONTEXT: The push-up-plus (PP) exercise has been recommended for strengthening of
      the serratus anterior (SA). Previous studies have investigated the effect of
      different stability properties of the base of support to adjust the difficulty
      level of SA muscle-strengthening exercises in the PP position. However, the
      optimal humeral-elevation angle (HEA) for selective activation and maximum
      contraction of the SA during PP has not been investigated. OBJECTIVES: To assess
      the effects of HEA during PP on electromyographic (EMG) activity in the SA, upper
      trapezius (UT), and pectoralis major (PM) and on the UT:SA and PM:SA activity
      ratios. DESIGN: Comparative, repeated-measures design. SETTING: University
      research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 29 healthy men. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      subjects performed PP at 3 different HEAs (60 degrees , 90 degrees , and 120
      degrees ); EMG activity in the SA, UT, and PM was measured, and the UT:SA and
      PM:SA activity ratios were calculated. Differences in muscle activity and ratios
      between the 60 degrees , 90 degrees , and 120 degrees  HEAs were assessed using 1
      way repeated-measures analysis of variance; the Bonferroni correction was
      applied. RESULTS: SA muscle activity was significantly increased, in order of
      magnitude, at the 120 degrees , 90 degrees , and 60 degrees  HEAs. UT:SA and
      PM:SA activity ratios were significantly greater during performance of the PP at
      an HEA of 60 degrees  than at HEAs of 120 degrees  and 90 degrees . CONCLUSION:
      The results suggest that an HEA of 120 degrees  should be used during performance
      of the PP because it produces greater SA activation than HEAs of 60 degrees  and
      90 degrees .

PMID- 27632841
TI  - Lasting Improvement of Patient-Reported Outcomes 6 Months After Patellofemoral
      Pain Rehabilitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Hip- and knee-muscle-strengthening programs are effective
      in improving short-term patient-reported and disease-oriented outcomes in
      individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP), but few to no data exist on moderate-
      to long-term postrehabilitative outcomes. The first purpose of the study was to
      assess differences in pain, function, strength, and core endurance in individuals
      with PFP before, after, and 6 mo after successful hip- or knee-muscle
      strengthening rehabilitation. The second purpose was to prospectively follow
      these subjects for PFP recurrence at 6, 12, and 24 mo postrehabilitation.
      METHODS: For 24 mo postrehabilitation, 157 physically active subjects with PFP
      who reported treatment success were followed. At 6 mo postrehabilitation, pain,
      function, hip and knee strength, and core endurance were measured. At 6, 12, 18,
      and 24 mo, PFP recurrence was measured via electronic surveys. RESULTS: Sixty
      eight subjects (43%) returned to the laboratory at 6 mo. Regardless of
      rehabilitation program, subjects experienced significant improvements in pain and
      function, strength, and core endurance pre- to postrehabilitation and maintained
      improvements in pain and function 6 mo postrehabilitation (Visual Analog
      Scale/Pain-pre 5.12 +/- 1.33, post 1.28 +/- 1.14, 6 mo 1.68 +/- 2.16 cm, P < .05;
      Anterior Knee Pain Scale/Function-pre 76.38 +/- 8.42, post 92.77 +/- 7.36, 6 mo
      90.27 +/- 9.46 points, P < .05). Over the 24 mo postrehabilitation, 5.10% of
      subjects who responded to the surveys reported PFP recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings support implementing a hip-or knee-muscle-strengthening program for the
      treatment of PFP. Both programs improve pain, function, strength, and core
      endurance in the short term with moderate- and long-term benefits of improved
      pain and function and low PFP recurrence.

PMID- 27632842
TI  - Rehabilitation After Hamstring-Strain Injury Emphasizing Eccentric Strengthening
      at Long Muscle Lengths: Results of Long-Term Follow-Up.
AB  - CONTEXT: Hamstring-strain injuries have a high recurrence rate. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine if a protocol emphasizing eccentric strength training with the
      hamstrings in a lengthened position resulted in a low recurrence rate. DESIGN:
      Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Sports-medicine physical therapy clinic.
      PARTICIPANTS: Fifty athletes with hamstring-strain injury (age 36 +/- 16 y; 30
      men, 20 women; 3 G1, 43 G2, 4 G3; 25 recurrent injuries) followed a 3-phase
      rehabilitation protocol emphasizing eccentric strengthening with the hamstrings
      in a lengthened position. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Injury recurrence; isometric
      hamstring strength at 80 degrees , 60 degrees , 40 degrees , and 20 degrees  knee
      flexion in sitting with the thigh flexed to 40 degrees  above the horizontal and
      the seat back at 90 degrees  to the horizontal (strength tested before return to
      sport). RESULTS: Four of the 50 athletes sustained reinjuries between 3 and 12 mo
      after return to sport (8% recurrence rate). The other 42 athletes had not
      sustained a reinjury at an average of 24 +/- 12 mo after return to sport. Eight
      noncompliant athletes did not complete the rehabilitation and returned to sport
      before initiating eccentric strengthening in the lengthened state. All 4
      reinjuries occurred in these noncompliant athletes. At time of return to sport,
      compliant athletes had full restoration of strength while noncompliant athletes
      had significant hamstring weakness, which was progressively worse at longer
      muscle lengths (compliance * side * angle P = .006; involved vs noninvolved at 20
      degrees , compliant 7% stronger, noncompliant 43% weaker). CONCLUSION: Compliance
      with rehabilitation emphasizing eccentric strengthening with the hamstrings in a
      lengthened position resulted in no reinjuries.

PMID- 27632843
TI  - The Effectiveness of Cervical Strengthening in Decreasing Neck-Injury Risk in
      Wrestling.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: In wrestling, athletes often support a large amount of weight
      on their heads or are forced into extreme ranges of motion. These suboptimal
      movement conditions lead to a high prevalence of neck injuries in wrestlers. A
      large portion of the work done by the cervical musculature in wrestling is
      theorized to be eccentric or isometric types of contractions. Strengthening of
      these cervical muscles is clinically considered to play a vital role in being
      competitive on the wrestling mat. The cervical stability provided by
      strengthening these muscles may also play a part in injury prevention among
      wrestlers. Focused Clinical Question: Does increased cervical strength lead to a
      decreased risk of injury in wrestling? Summary of Search, "Best Evidence"
      Appraised, and Key Findings: The literature was searched for studies of level 4
      evidence or higher using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine level of
      evidence system that investigated the relationship between cervical strength and
      injury risk in wrestling. No studies were found comparing cervical strength to
      injury risk in wrestling, but 2 related studies were found and have been included
      in this critically appraised topic. Clinical Bottom Line: There is poor evidence
      to support a relationship between cervical strength and injury risk in wrestling.
      Strength of Recommendation: There is grade C evidence to indicate that increased
      cervical strength decreases the risk of injury in wrestling.

PMID- 27632844
TI  - Changes in Hamstring Range of Motion After Neurodynamic Sciatic Sliders: A
      Critically Appraised Topic.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: Hamstring tightness is a common condition leading to
      dysfunctional or restricted movement that is often treated with stretching.
      Neurodynamics has been proposed as an alternative to stretching by targeting the
      neural system rather than muscle tissue. Focused Clinical Question: In an active
      population, what is the effect of using neurodynamic sliders compared with
      stretching on traditional measures of range of motion (ROM)? Summary of Key
      Findings: The authors of a well-designed study found that neurodynamic sliders
      were more effective than static stretching, while the authors of 2 less-well
      designed studies reported no difference with static stretching or that
      proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching was more effective than
      neurodynamic sliders. Clinical Bottom Line: Evidence exists to support the use of
      neurodynamic sliders to increase measures of hamstring ROM in patients who
      present with limited hamstring flexibility; however, the effectiveness of
      neurodynamic sliders compared with traditional stretching is inconclusive.
      Strength of Recommendation: Grade B evidence exists that neurodynamic sliders
      perform as well as traditional stretching techniques at increasing measures of
      hamstring ROM in patients with limited hamstring flexibility.

PMID- 27632845
TI  - The Effectiveness of Open Repair Versus Percutaneous Repair for an Acute Achilles
      Tendon Rupture.
AB  - Clinical Scenario: There are 2 approaches available for surgical repair of the
      Achilles tendon: open or percutaneous. However, there is controversy over which
      repair is superior. Focused Clinical Question: Which type of surgery is better in
      providing the best overall patient outcome, open or percutaneous repair, in
      physically active men and women with acute Achilles tendon ruptures? Summary of
      Search, "Best Evidence" Appraised, and Key Findings: The literature was searched
      for studies of level 3 evidence or higher that investigated the effectiveness of
      open repair versus percutaneous repair on acute Achilles tendon ruptures in
      physically active men and women. The literature search resulted in 3 studies for
      possible inclusion. All 3 good-quality studies were included. Clinical Bottom
      Line: There is supporting evidence to indicate that percutaneous repair is the
      best option for Achilles tendon surgery when it comes to the physically active
      population. Percutaneous repair has faster surgery times, less risk of
      complications, and faster recovery times over having an open repair, although it
      is acknowledged that every patient has a different situation and best individual
      option may vary patient to patient.

PMID- 27632846
TI  - Effects of a 4-Week Biomechanical Ankle Platform System Protocol on Balance in
      High School Athletes With Chronic Ankle Instability.
AB  - CONTEXT: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) describes the residual symptoms present
      after repetitive ankle sprains. Current rehabilitation programs in the high
      school population focus on a multistation approach or general lower-extremity
      injury-prevention program. Specific rehabilitation techniques for CAI have not
      been established. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a 4-wk
      biomechanical ankle platform system (BAPS) board protocol on the balance of high
      school athletes with CAI. DESIGN: Randomized control trial. SETTING: Athletic
      training facility. PATIENTS: Twenty-two high school athletes with "giving way"
      and a history of ankle sprains (ie, CAI) were randomized into a rehabilitation
      (REH) (166.23 +/- 0.93 cm, 67.0 +/- 9.47 kg, 16.45 +/- 0.93 y) or control (CON)
      (173.86 +/- 8.88 cm, 84.51 +/- 21.28 kg, 16.55 +/- 1.29 y) group. INTERVENTIONS:
      After baseline measures, the REH group completed a progressive BAPS
      rehabilitation program (3 times/wk for 4 wk), whereas the CON group had no
      intervention. Each session consisted of 5 trials of clockwise/counterclockwise
      rotations changing direction every 10 s during each 40-s trial. After 4 wk,
      baseline measurements were repeated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dependent measures
      included longest time (time-in-balance test), average number of errors (foot lift
      test), average reach distance (cm) normalized to leg length for each reach
      direction (Star Excursion Balance Test [SEBT]), and fastest time (side hop test
      [SHT]). RESULTS: Significant group-by-time interactions were found for TIB (F1,20
      = 9.89, P = .005), FLT (F1,20 = 41.18, P < .001), SEBT-anteromedial (F1,20 =
      5.34, P = .032), SEBT-medial (F1,20 = 7.51, P = .013), SEBT-posteromedial (F1,20
      = 12.84, P = .002), and SHT (F1,20 = 7.50, P = .013). Post hoc testing showed
      that the REH group improved performance on all measures at posttest, whereas the
      CON group did not. CONCLUSION: A 4-wk BAPS rehabilitation protocol improved
      balance in high school athletes suffering from CAI. These results can allow
      clinicians to rehabilitate in a focused manner by using 1 rehabilitation tool
      that allows benefits to be accomplished in a shorter time.

PMID- 27632847
TI  - The Effects of Local Vibration on Balance, Power, and Self-Reported Pain After
      Exercise.
AB  - CONTEXT: Muscle fatigue and acute muscle soreness occur after exercise.
      Application of a local vibration intervention may reduce the consequences of
      fatigue and soreness. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of a local vibration
      intervention after a bout of exercise on balance, power, and self-reported pain.
      DESIGN: Single-blind crossover study. SETTING: Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 19
      healthy, moderately active subjects. INTERVENTIONS: After a 30-min bout of full
      body exercise, subjects received either an active or a sham vibration
      intervention. The active vibration intervention was performed bilaterally over
      the muscle bellies of the triceps surae, quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteals. At
      least 1 wk later, subjects repeated the bout, receiving the other vibration
      intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Static balance, dynamic balance, power, and
      self-reported pain were measured at baseline, after the vibration intervention,
      and 24 h postexercise. RESULTS: After the bout of exercise, subjects had reduced
      static and dynamic balance and increased self-reported pain regardless of
      vibration intervention. There were no differences between outcome measures
      between the active and sham vibration conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The local
      vibration intervention did not affect balance, power, or self-reported pain.

PMID- 27632849
TI  - Should Cooling Vests Be Used to Treat Exertional Heatstroke? A Critically
      Appraised Topic.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Exercise performed in hot and humid environments increases
      core body temperature (TC). If TC exceeds 40.5 degrees C for prolonged periods of
      time, exertional heat stroke (EHS) may occur. EHS is a leading cause of sudden
      death in athletes. Mortality and morbidity increase the longer the patient's TC
      remains above 40.5 degrees C; thus, it is imperative to initiate cooling as
      quickly as possible. Acceptable cooling rates in EHS situations are 0.08-0.15
      degrees C/min, while ideal cooling rates are above 0.16 degrees C/min. Cooling
      vests are popular alternatives for cooling hyperthermic adults. Most vests cover
      the anterior and posterior torso and have varying numbers of pouches for phase
      change materials (eg, gel packs); some vests only use circulating water to cool.
      While cooling vests offer several advantages (eg, portability), studies
      demonstrating their effectiveness at rapidly reducing TC in EHS scenarios are
      limited. CLINICAL QUESTION: Are TC cooling rates acceptable (ie, >0.08 degrees
      C/min) when hyperthermic humans are treated with cooling vests postexercise?
      SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: No significant differences in TC cooling rates occurred
      between cooling vests and no cooling vests. Cooling rates across all studies were
      <=0.053 degrees C/min. Clinical Bottom Line: Cooling vests do not provide
      acceptable cooling rates of hyperthermic humans postexercise and should not be
      used to treat EHS. Instead, EHS patients should be treated with cold-water
      immersion within 30 min of collapse to avoid central nervous system dysfunction
      and organ failure. Strength of Recommendation: Strong evidence (eg, level 2
      studies with PEDro scores >=5) suggests that cooling vests do not reduce TC
      quickly and thus should not be used in EHS scenarios.

PMID- 27632848
TI  - The Effect of Shoulder Plyometric Training on Amortization Time and Upper
      Extremity Kinematics.
AB  - CONTEXT: Plyometric training is credited with providing benefits in performance
      and dynamic restraint. However, limited prospective data exist quantifying
      kinematic adaptations such as amortization time, glenohumeral rotation, and
      scapulothoracic position, which may underlie the efficacy of plyometric training
      for upper-extremity rehabilitation or performance enhancement. OBJECTIVE: To
      measure upper-extremity kinematics and plyometric phase times before and after an
      8-wk upper-extremity strength- and plyometric-training program. DESIGN:
      Randomized pretest-posttest design. SETTING: Research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS:
      40 recreationally active men (plyometric group, age 20.43 +/- 1.40 y, height
      180.00 +/- 8.80 cm, weight 73.07 +/- 7.21 kg; strength group, age 21.95 +/- 3.40
      y, height 173.98 +/- 11.91 cm, weight 74.79 +/- 13.55 kg). INTERVENTION:
      Participants were randomly assigned to either a strength-training group or a
      strength- and plyometric-training group. Each participant performed the assigned
      training for 8 wk. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dynamic and static glenohumeral and
      scapular-rotation measurements were taken before and after the training programs.
      Dynamic measurement of scapular rotation and time spent in each plyometric phase
      (concentric, eccentric, and amortization) during a ball-toss exercise were
      recorded while the subjects were fitted with an electromagnetic tracking system.
      Static measures included scapular upward rotation at 3 different glenohumeral
      abduction angles, glenohumeral internal rotation, and glenohumeral external
      rotation. RESULTS: Posttesting showed that both groups significantly decreased
      the time spent in the amortization, concentric, and eccentric phases of a ball
      toss exercise (P < .01). Both groups also exhibited significantly decreased
      static external rotation and increased dynamic scapular upward rotation after the
      training period (P < .01). The only difference between the training protocols was
      that the plyometric-training group exhibited an increase in internal rotation
      that was not present in the strength-training group (P < .01). CONCLUSION: These
      findings support the use of both upper-extremity plyometrics and strength
      training for reducing commonly identified upper-extremity-injury risk factors and
      improving upper-extremity performance.

PMID- 27632850
TI  - Modulation of Stretch-Shortening-Cycle Behavior With Eccentric Loading of Triceps
      Surae: A Possible Therapeutic Mechanism.
AB  - CONTEXT: Eccentric exercises are increasingly being used to treat lower-limb
      musculoskeletal conditions such as Achilles tendinopathy. Despite widespread
      clinical application and documented efficacy, mechanisms underpinning clinical
      benefit remain unclear. Positive adaptations in motor performance are a potential
      mechanism. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how an eccentric loading intervention
      influences measures of stretch-shortening-cycle (SSC) behavior during a hopping
      task. DESIGN: Within-subjects repeated-measures observational study. SETTING:
      University motion-analysis laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Healthy adults.
      INTERVENTIONS: A single intervention of 5 sets of 10 eccentric plantar-flexion
      contractions at 6 repetitions maximum using a commercial seated calf-raise
      machine. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lower-limb stiffness, sagittal-plane ankle
      kinematics, and temporal muscle activity of the agonist (soleus) and antagonist
      (tibialis anterior) muscles, measured during submaximal hopping on a custom-built
      sledge-jump system. RESULTS: Eccentric loading altered ankle kinematics during
      submaximal hopping; peak angle shifted to a less dorsiflexed position by 2.9
      degrees  and ankle angle precontact shifted by 4.4 degrees  (P < .001). Lower
      limb stiffness increased from 5.9 to 6.8 N/m (P < .001), while surface EMG
      measures of soleus occurred 14-44% earlier (P < .001) after the loading
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that eccentric loading alters
      SSC behavior in a manner reflective of improved motor performance. Decreased
      ankle excursion, increased lower-limb stiffness, and alterations in motor control
      may represent a positive adaptive response to eccentric loading. These findings
      support the theory that mechanisms underpinning eccentric loading for
      tendinopathy may in part be due to improved "buffering" of the tendon by the
      neuromuscular system.

PMID- 27632851
TI  - Pulse-Dose Radiofrequency in Athletic Pubalgia: Preliminary Results.
AB  - CONTEXT: Chronic pubalgia affects around 10% of athletes. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      the role of pulse-dose radiofrequency (PDRF) in athletes with chronic pubalgia
      and investigate the causes with imaging. DESIGN: Prospective nonrandomized single
      group study. PATIENTS: PDRF was performed on 32 patients with a chronic pain that
      had been refractory to conservative therapies during the last 3 mo. INTERVENTION:
      The genital branches of the genitofemoral, ilioinguinal, and iliohypogastric
      nerves and the obturator nerve were the goals of treatment. A 10-cm, 20-gauge
      cannula was inserted with a percutaneous access on the upper and lower edges of
      the iliopubic branch. After the spindle was removed, a radiofrequency needle with
      a 10-mm "active tip" was inserted. The radiofrequency technique was performed
      with 1200 pulses at 45 V and 20-ms duration, followed by a 480-ms silent phase.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The follow-up with a clinical examination was performed at
      1, 3, 6, and 9 mo after the procedure. During the follow-up visits, the patients
      were asked to rate their pain on a 0-10 VAS scale. RESULTS: All of the enrolled
      patients completed the study. Mean VAS score before the treatment was 8.4 +/-
      0.6. Twenty-four patients had a reduction of pain VAS scores more than 50% during
      all follow-up visits and started training and physiotherapy in the days after the
      radiofrequency procedure. Six patients, each treated 2 times, had a reduction
      more than 50% of VAS scores and could start training and physiotherapy only after
      the 2nd procedure. One patient had no pain relief with 2 treatments. Pain
      intensity decreased up to 9 mo in 31 patients (mean VAS scores 3.4 +/- 0.5 at 6
      mo and 3.8 +/- 0.9 at 9 mo). No complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: PDRF is
      an effective and safe technique in management of chronic pubalgia in athletes.

PMID- 27632852
TI  - The Relationship Between Joint Stiffness and Muscle Activity in Unstable Ankles
      and Copers.
AB  - CONTEXT: Rolling sensations at the ankle are common after injury and represent
      failure in neural regulation of joint stiffness. However, deficits after ankle
      injury are variable and strategies for optimizing stiffness may differ across
      patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine if ankle stiffness and muscle activation differ
      between patients with varying history of ankle injury. PATIENTS: Fifty-nine
      individuals were stratified into healthy (CON, n = 20), functionally unstable
      (UNS, n = 19), and coper (COP, n = 20) groups. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A 20
      degrees  supination perturbation was applied to the ankle as position and torque
      were synchronized with activity of tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and
      soleus. Subjects were tested with muscles relaxed, while maintaining 30% muscle
      activation, and while directed to react and resist the perturbation. RESULTS: No
      group differences existed for joint stiffness (F = 0.07, P = .993); however, the
      UNS group had higher soleus and less tibialis anterior activation than the CON
      group during passive trials (P < .05). In addition, greater early tibialis
      anterior activation generally predicted higher stiffness in the CON group (P <=
      .03), but greater soleus activity improved stiffness in the UNS group (P = .03).
      CONCLUSION: Although previous injury does not affect the ability to stiffen the
      joint under laboratory conditions, strategies appear to differ. Generally, the
      COP has decreased muscle activation, whereas the UNS uses greater plantar-flexor
      activity. The results of this study suggest that clinicians should emphasize
      correct preparatory muscle activation to improve joint stiffness in injury
      rehabilitation efforts.

PMID- 27632853
TI  - Validity and Reliability of 2 Goniometric Mobile Apps: Device, Application, and
      Examiner Factors.
AB  - CONTEXT: Smartphones are being used in a variety of practice settings to measure
      joint range of motion (ROM). A number of factors can affect the validity of the
      measurements generated. However, there are no studies examining smartphone-based
      goniometer applications focusing on measurement variability and error arising
      from the electromechanical properties of the device being used. OBJECTIVE: To
      examine the concurrent validity and interrater reliability of 2 goniometric
      mobile applications (Goniometer Records, Goniometer Pro), an inclinometer, and a
      universal goniometer (UG). DESIGN: Nonexperimental, descriptive validation study.
      SETTING: University laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 3 physical therapists having an
      average of 25 y of experience. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three standardized angles
      (acute, right, obtuse) were constructed to replicate the movement of a hinge
      joint in the human body. Angular changes were measured and compared across 3
      raters who used 3 different devices (UG, inclinometer, and 2 goniometric apps
      installed on 3 different smartphones: Apple iPhone 5, LG Android, and Samsung
      SIII Android). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots
      were used to examine interrater reliability and concurrent validity. RESULTS:
      Interrater reliability for each of the smartphone apps, inclinometer and UG were
      excellent (ICC = .995-1.000). Concurrent validity was also good (ICC = .998
      .999). Based on the Bland-Altman plots, the means of the differences between the
      devices were low (range = -0.4 degrees  to 1.2 degrees ). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      identifies the error inherent in measurement that is independent of patient
      factors and due to the smartphone, the installed apps, and examiner skill. Less
      than 2 degrees  of measurement variability was attributable to those factors
      alone. The data suggest that 3 smartphones with the 2 installed apps are a viable
      substitute for using a UG or an inclinometer when measuring angular changes that
      typically occur when examining ROM and demonstrate the capacity of multiple
      examiners to accurately use smartphone-based goniometers.

PMID- 27632854
TI  - Is the Acute and Short-Term Effect of Whole-Body Vibration the Same on the H
      Reflex Recruitment Curve and Agility?
AB  - CONTEXT: Despite the widespread use of whole-body vibration (WBV), especially in
      recent years, its neurophysiological mechanism is still unclear and it is yet to
      be determined whether acute and short-term WBV exposure produce neurogenic
      enhancement for agility. OBJECTIVE: To compare the acute and short-term effects
      of WBV on the H-reflex-recruitment curve and agility. DESIGN: Cross-over study.
      SETTING: Clinical electrophysiology laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 20 nonathlete male
      volunteers (mean age 24.85 +/- 3.03 y). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Subjects were
      randomly divided into 2 groups, H-reflex and agility. In the sham protocol,
      subjects stood on the turned-off vibration plate while maintaining the semisquat
      position, and then, after a 2-wk washout, vibration-training sessions were
      performed in the same position with a frequency of 30 Hz and an amplitude of 3
      mm. H-reflex-recruitment curve was recorded and the agility test of a shuttle run
      was performed before and after the first session and also 48 h after the 11th
      session in both sham and vibration-training protocols. RESULTS: Acute effects of
      WBV training caused a significant decrease of threshold amplitude and H-max/M-max
      (P = .01 and P = .04, respectively). Short-term WBV training significantly
      decreased the threshold intensity of the soleus H-reflex-recruitment curve (P =
      .01) and caused a decrease and increase respectively, in the threshold intensity
      and the area under the recruitment curve. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest an
      inhibitory effect of acute WBV training on the H-reflex response.

PMID- 27632856
TI  - Effect of Whole-Body-Vibration Training on Trunk-Muscle Strength and Physical
      Performance in Healthy Adults: Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled
      Trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: Whole-body-vibration (WBV) stimulus equipment has been used as a new
      training method for health promotion. Its use in the clinic has expanded to the
      field of sports and rehabilitation for disabled patients. WBV training is rapidly
      gaining popularity in health and fitness centers as an alternative method for
      improving muscle performance. Acute positive effects of WBV have been shown on
      lower-extremity muscle power and vertical-jump ability; however, there have not
      been any studies focusing on the long-term effects of WBV for trunk muscle and
      dynamic balance. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of an 8-wk program of WBV
      in combination with trunk-muscle training on muscle performance in healthy,
      untrained adults. DESIGN: Laboratory-based, repeated-measures study. SETTING:
      University laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 20 healthy university men. INTERVENTION:
      Participants were randomly assigned to a WBV or non-WBV group. The WBV group
      performed a trunk-muscle-training program in combination with WBV; the non-WBV
      group performed the same muscle-training program without WBV for 8 wk. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: In the pre- and posttraining period, the participants were
      evaluated using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Y Balance Test (Y-test)
      (anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral reach), trunk-muscle isometric
      strength (flexor, extensor, and flexor:extensor ratio), squat jump, and
      countermovement jump. RESULTS: The WBV group had greater improvement than the non
      WBV group in both trunk-flexor muscle strength (P = .02) and the Y-test (anterior
      reach) (P = .004) between pre- and posttraining. CONCLUSION: Adding WBV to a
      trunk-muscle-strengthening program may improve trunk-flexor isometric strength
      and anterior reach during the Y-test more than training without WBV. The WBV
      protocol used in this study had no significant impact on FMS scores, squat
      jumping, countermovement jumping, trunk-extensor isometric strength, or trunk
      flexor:extensor ratio.

PMID- 27632855
TI  - The Effects of Rigid Scapular Taping on Acromiohumeral Distance in Healthy
      Shoulders: An Observational Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Compromise to the acromiohumeral distance (AHD) has been reported in
      subjects with subacromial impingement syndrome when compared with healthy
      subjects. In clinical practice, patients are taped with the intention of altering
      scapular position and influencing the AHD. However, research to determine the
      effects of taping on AHD is exiguous. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of
      ridged taping techniques to increase posterior scapular tilt and upward scapular
      rotation on the AHD. DESIGN: 1-group pretest/posttest repeated-measures design.
      SETTING: Human performance laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 20 asymptomatic participants
      (10 male and 10 female) age 27 y (SD 8.0 y). INTERVENTION: Ridged tapping of the
      scapula into posterior tilt and upward scapular rotation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Ultrasound measurement of the AHD. RESULTS: AHD increased significantly after
      rigid tape application to the scapula (P < .003) in healthy shoulders in 60
      degrees  of passive arm abduction. CONCLUSION: Taping techniques applied to the
      scapula had an immediate effect of increasing the AHD in healthy shoulders in 60
      degrees  of passive arm abduction. Results suggest that taping for increasing
      posterior scapular tilt and increasing scapular upward rotation can influence the
      AHD and is a useful adjunct to rehabilitation in patients with subacromial
      impingement syndrome.

PMID- 27632857
TI  - Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in High School and College Athletes
      for Reducing Stress and Injury, and Improving Quality of Life.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Student athletes experience a variety of stressors from
      school and social activities, as well as the additional demands of sport
      participation. Mindfulness-based interventions can help increase mental awareness
      and acceptance, as well as mitigate negative thoughts and emotions. The use of
      mindfulness-based interventions may be beneficial for reducing thoughts of
      stress, injury reduction, and improving overall wellbeing. CLINICAL QUESTION:
      Does the use of mindfulness-based interventions for student-athletes aged 13-24
      years reduce stress and injury as well as improve overall quality of life?
      SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: The literature was searched for studies that investigated
      the use of mindfulness-based strategies for student-athletes specifically for
      reducing stress and injury and/or improving quality of life. The literature
      search returned 8 possible studies related to the clinical question and 3 studies
      met the inclusion criteria (1 randomized control trial, 2 nonrandomized control
      cohort studies). All 3 included studies demonstrated overall improved levels of
      mindfulness among student-athletes after the use of a mindfulness-based
      intervention. Mindfulness-based interventions had positive effects for reducing
      negative thoughts and levels of perceived stress. The number of injury
      occurrences were found to decrease following the integration of a mindfulness
      based intervention within an athletic population. Clinical Bottom Line: There is
      sufficient evidence supporting the use of mindfulness-based interventions with
      student-athletes for increasing mindfulness, managing negative emotions and
      perceived stress, as well as improving overall well-being. There is also current
      literature that advocates the use of mindfulness-based interventions for reducing
      injury, but further research is needed for support. Strength of Recommendation:
      Grade B evidence exists to support that the use of mindfulness-based
      interventions for student-athletes will reduce stress and improve overall well
      being as well as support the possibility that if a student-athlete is more
      mindful, it may help decrease risk of injury incurred if the student-athlete is
      under mental stress.

PMID- 27632858
TI  - Dual-Tasking Effects on Dynamic Postural Stability in Athletes With and Without
      Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the effect of dual tasking on postural stability between
      patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) and healthy
      controls. METHODS: Single-limb postural stability was assessed in 17 athletes
      with ACL-R and 17 healthy matched athletes while standing on a Biodex Balance
      System platform in 4 conditions: stability level of 8 (ie, more-stable support
      surface) with eyes open, stability level of 8 with eyes closed, stability level
      of 6 (ie, less-stable support surface) with eyes open, and stability level of 6
      with eyes closed. Postural-stability tasks were performed with and without
      auditory Stroop task. The anteroposterior stability index (APSI), mediolateral
      stability index (MLSI), and overall stability index (OSI) as measures of postural
      performance, as well as reaction time and error ratio as measures of cognitive
      performance, were recorded. RESULTS: Dual-tasking effect on postural stability
      was not significantly different between the groups in 3 postural conditions. Only
      in level 6 with eyes open, for APSI and OSI, patients with ACL-R showed lower
      postural stability under the dual-task condition. However, patients showed poorer
      performance on both reaction time and error ratio in all postural conditions.
      CONCLUSIONS: The patients with ACL-R appeared to sacrifice their cognitive
      performance to optimize their performance on postural stability. This posture
      first strategy was reflected by a more pronounced effect of dual tasking on the
      auditory Stroop task than the postural-stability task. In situations where
      maintenance of posture is challenging, giving priority to the postural task at
      the expense of cognitive performance can ensure safety from balance loss.

PMID- 27632859
TI  - Achilles Tendon Properties of Minimalist and Traditionally Shod Runners.
AB  - CONTEXT: Tendon adapts to load through alterations in its composition and
      mechanical properties. Mechanical adaptation to increased load often involves
      increases in cross-sectional area (CSA), stiffness, and modulus. Runners exhibit
      these adaptations. OBJECTIVE: To determine if runners wearing minimalist shoes
      had larger and stiffer Achilles tendons (AT) than traditionally shod runners.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of well-trained, traditionally and minimally shod
      runners. SETTING: Laboratory assessment of trained runners. PARTICIPANTS: 23 men
      (11 traditional, 12 minimalist) and 8 women (6 traditional, 2 minimalist).
      Runners wearing minimalist shoes had 4.2 +/- 1.6 y of training experience in
      minimalist shoes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The authors used diagnostic ultrasound
      and isokinetic dynamometry to generate a force-elongation curve and its
      derivatives. RESULTS: Minimalist runners had a greater CSA: mean difference (MD)
      = 9.2 mm2, stiffness (MD = 268.1 N/mm), and modulus (MD = 202.9 MPa). ATs of
      minimalist runners experienced greater stress (MD 8.6 N/mm2) during maximal
      voluntary isometric contraction of the plantar-flexor muscles due to greater
      force of contraction (MD 798.9 N). CONCLUSION: The AT in minimalist runners
      adapts by increasing size, stiffness, and modulus, which is consistent with our
      understanding of mechanical adaptation of tendon to increased loading. Increased
      stress to the AT likely requires a slow transition to minimalist running to allow
      the AT to adapt without evidence of injury.

PMID- 27632860
TI  - Strong Correlation of Upper-Extremity Blood-Flow Volume With Grip Strength While
      in a Provocative Shoulder Position in Baseball Pitchers.
AB  - CONTEXT: Baseball players, specifically pitchers, with symptomatic neurovascular
      occlusion often initially complain of arm fatigue and loss of ball control and
      velocity. As the compression continues complaints may manifest in dull pain,
      paresthesia, and decreased grip strength. OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation
      between upper-extremity blood-flow volume and grip strength among baseball
      pitchers. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Athletic training room. PARTICIPANTS:
      66 professional baseball pitchers (age 21.6 +/- 2.0 y, height 186.9 +/- 5.7 cm,
      mass 91.3 +/- 10.9 kg) before the start of spring training. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Diagnostic ultrasound was used to measure upper-extremity blood-flow
      volume with the throwing shoulder in a resting position and in a provocative
      position. Grip strength was measured with participants seated and their throwing
      arm elbow flexed to 90 degrees . Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients
      were used to determine the strength of the relationships between blood-flow
      volume in the 2 arm positions and grip strength (P < .05). RESULTS: No
      significant relationship was found between blood-flow volume in the resting
      position and grip strength (r = .03, P = .81); however, a strong positive
      correlation was found in the 2nd provocative position (r = .67, P = .001). This
      relationship indicates that as blood-flow volume tested in a provocative shoulder
      position decreases, so does grip strength. CONCLUSION: A strong positive
      relationship was found in pitchers, demonstrating that as upper-extremity blood
      flow volume while in the provocative shoulder position decreases, so does grip
      strength.

PMID- 27632861
TI  - Landing Technique Improvements After an Aquatic-Based Neuromuscular Training
      Program in Physically Active Women.
AB  - CONTEXT: Neuromuscular training programs (NTPs) improve landing technique and
      decrease vertical ground-reaction forces (VGRFs), resulting in injury-risk
      reduction. NTPs in an aquatic environment may elicit the same improvements as
      land-based programs with reduced joint stress. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects
      of an aquatic NTP on landing technique as measured by the Landing Error Scoring
      System (LESS) and VGRFs, immediately and 4 mo after the intervention. DESIGN AND
      SETTING: Repeated measures, pool and laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen healthy,
      recreationally active women (age 21 +/- 2 y, mass 62.02 +/- 8.18 kg, height
      164.74 +/- 5.97 cm) who demonstrated poor landing technique (LESS-Real Time > 4).
      INTERVENTIONS: All participants completed an aquatic NTP 3 times/wk for 6 wk.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants' landing technique was evaluated using a jump
      landing task immediately before (PRE), immediately after (POST), and 4 mo after
      (RET) the intervention period. A single rater, blinded to time point, graded all
      videos using the LESS, which is a valid and reliable movement-screening tool.
      Peak VGRFs were measured during the stance phase of the jump-landing test.
      Repeated-measure analyses of variance with planned comparisons were performed to
      explore differences between time points. RESULTS: LESS scores were lower at POST
      (4.46 +/- 1.69 errors) and at RET (4.2 +/- 1.72 errors) than at PRE (6.30 +/-
      1.78 errors) (P < .01). No significant differences were observed between POST and
      RET (P > .05). Participants also landed with significantly lower peak VGRFs (P <
      .01) from PRE (2.69 +/- .72 N) to POST (2.23 +/- .66 N). CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings introduce evidence that an aquatic NTP improves landing technique and
      suggest that improvements are retained over time. These results show promise of
      using an aquatic NTP when there is a desire to reduce joint loading, such as
      early stages of rehabilitation, to improve biomechanics and reduce injury risk.

PMID- 27632862
TI  - Comparison of Hip- and Back-Muscle Activity and Pelvic Compensation in Healthy
      Subjects During 3 Different Prone Table Hip-Extension Exercises.
AB  - CONTEXT: Prone hip extension has been recommended for strengthening the back and
      hip muscles. Previous studies have investigated prone hip extension conducted
      with subjects on the floor in the prone position. However, no study has compared
      3 different table hip-extension (THE) positions in terms of the activities of the
      back- and hip-joint muscles with lumbopelvic motion. OBJECTIVE: To identify more
      effective exercises for strengthening the gluteus maximus (GM) by comparing 3
      different exercises (THE alone, THE with the abdominal drawing-in maneuver
      [THEA], and THEA with chair support under the knee [THEAC]) based on
      electromyographic muscle activity and pelvic compensation. DESIGN: Repeated
      measure within-subject intervention. SETTING: University research laboratory.
      PARTICIPANTS: 16 healthy men. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Surface electromyography
      (EMG) was used to obtain data on the GM, erector spinae (ES), multifidus, biceps
      femoris (BF), and semitendinosus (ST). Pelvic compensation was monitored using an
      electromagnetic motion-tracking device. Exertion during each exercise was
      recorded. Any significant difference in electromyographic muscle activity and
      pelvic motion among the 3 conditions (THE vs THEA vs THEAC) was assessed using a
      1-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni post hoc
      test. RESULTS: The muscle activities recorded by EMG differed significantly among
      the 3 exercises (P < .01). GM activity was increased significantly during THEAC
      (P < .01). There was a significant difference in lumbopelvic kinematics in terms
      of anterior tilting (F = 19.49, P < .01) and rotation (F= 27.38, P < .01) among
      the 3 exercises. CONCLUSIONS: The THEAC exercise was the most effective for
      strengthening the GM without overactivity of the ES, BF, and ST muscles and
      lumbopelvic compensation compared with THE and THEA.

PMID- 27632863
TI  - Changes in Passive Properties of the Gastrocnemius Muscle-Tendon Unit During a 4
      Week Routine Static-Stretching Program.
AB  - CONTEXT: Static stretching (SS) is commonly performed in a warm-up routine to
      increase joint range of motion (ROM) and to decrease muscle stiffness. However,
      the time course of changes in ankle-dorsiflexion (DF) ROM and muscle stiffness
      during a routine SS program is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in
      ankle-DF ROM, passive torque at DF ROM, and muscle stiffness during a routine SS
      program performed 3 times weekly for 4 wk. DESIGN: A quasi-randomized controlled
      trial design. PARTICIPANTS: The subjects comprised 24 male volunteers (age 23.8
      +/- 2.3 y, height 172.0 +/- 4.3 cm, body mass 63.1 +/- 4.5 kg) randomly assigned
      to either a group performing a 4-wk stretching program (SS group) or a control
      group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: DF ROM, passive torque, and muscle stiffness were
      measured during passive ankle dorsiflexion in both groups using a dynamometer and
      ultrasonography once weekly during the 4-wk intervention period. RESULTS: In the
      SS group, DF ROM and passive torque at DF ROM significantly increased after 2, 3,
      and 4 wk compared with the initial measurements. Muscle stiffness also decreased
      significantly after 3 and 4 wk in the SS group. However, there were no
      significant changes in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results,
      the SS program effectively increased DF ROM and decreased muscle stiffness.
      Furthermore, an SS program of more than 2 wk duration effectively increased DF
      ROM and changed the stretch tolerance, and an SS program more than 3 wk in
      duration effectively decreased muscle stiffness.

PMID- 27632864
TI  - Is the Combination of COL1A1 Gene Polymorphisms a Marker of Injury Risk?
AB  - CONTEXT: The most commonly injured body part for skiing has been found to be the
      knee. The rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was the most frequent
      diagnosis. ACL ruptures are determined by several extrinsic and intrinsic risk
      factors including those that are hormonal, neuromuscular, anatomical, or genetic.
      OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of both COL1A1 rs1800012 (+1245G/T) and
      COL1A1 rs1107946 (-1997G/T) polymorphisms, individually and as haplotypes, with
      ACL ruptures in recreational Polish skiers. DESIGN: Genomic DNA was extracted
      from buccal cells donated by the subjects, and genotyping was carried out using
      real-time polymerase chain reaction. SETTINGS: University laboratory.
      PARTICIPANTS: 138 male recreational skiers with surgically diagnosed primary
      ruptures and 183 apparently healthy male recreational skiers not differing
      markedly in age or level of exposure to ACL injury. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: COL1A1
      rs1800012 and COL1A1 rs1107946 polymorphisms. RESULTS: There were significant
      differences in genotype distribution of the COL1A1 rs1800012 polymorphism between
      the ACL rupture group and the control group. The GG homozygotes were
      underrepresented in the ACL rupture group compared with the control group. There
      were no significant differences in genotype distribution or allele frequency of
      COL1A1 rs1107946 polymorphisms between the ACL rupture group and the control
      group. The G-G (COL1A1 rs1800012G and COL1A1 rs1107946G) haplotype was the most
      common. There were no significant differences in haplotype distribution between
      the ACL-rupture and control groups. CONCLUSION: The study showed that GG
      homozygotes were underrepresented in the ACL-rupture group compared with the
      control group, which suggests an association with reduced risk of ACL injury.

PMID- 27632865
TI  - The Role of Trunk Stabilization in Functional-Classification Levels in Wheelchair
      Basketball.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare classification levels and trunk stabilization of wheelchair
      basketball players and to identify their norm values of trunk balance.
      PARTICIPANTS: 113 wheelchair basketball players in the super and first Turkish
      leagues. INTERVENTIONS: A modified Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) (version 4.1) was
      used to evaluate trunk stabilization. Two skills were chosen that correspond to
      the stationary wheelie activity in WST, the 30-s stationary wheelie and
      stationary wheelie in 180 degrees . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: There are no
      statistical differences between WST rates and point means. RESULTS: The skills
      and success and safety rates of the players with 1.5 points (51.9%, 44.4%) were
      lower than those of the players with 1.0 point (70%, 66.7%). In players with 2.5
      and 2.0 points, the most successful and safest percentage values were 78.6%,
      78.6% and 82.1%, 75%. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is expected that trunk
      stabilization would be better in players with high points, in our study we
      encountered conflicting results between the points and sitting balance or trunk
      stabilization. Our study supports the studies in the literature suggesting
      modifications in the functional-classification system.

PMID- 27632866
TI  - Longitudinal Changes in Hip Strength and Range of Motion in Female Youth Soccer
      Players: Implications for ACL Injury, A Pilot Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in young female
      athletes increases with age, appearing to peak during maturation. Changes in hip
      muscle strength and range of motion (ROM) during this time may contribute to
      altered dynamic movement patterns that are known to increase risk of ACL
      injuries. Understanding the longitudinal changes in hip strength and ROM is
      needed to develop appropriate interventions to reduce the risk of ACL injuries.
      OBJECTIVE: To examine the longitudinal changes in hip strength and ROM in female
      youth soccer players. DESIGN: Longitudinal descriptive study. SETTING: Field
      setting. PARTICIPANTS: 14 female youth soccer athletes (14.1 +/- 1.1 y, 165.8 +/-
      5.3 cm, 57.5 +/- 9.9 kg) volunteered as part of a multiyear risk factor screening
      project. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical measures of hip strength and ROM were
      collected annually over 3 consecutive years. Passive hip internal rotation (IR),
      external rotation (ER), abduction (ABD), and adduction (ADD) ROM were measured
      with a digital inclinometer. Isometric hip ABD and extension (EXT) strength were
      evaluated using a hand-held dynamometer. Separate repeated-measures ANOVAs
      compared hip strength and ROM values across 3 consecutive years (P < .05).
      RESULTS: As youth female soccer players increased in age, there were no changes
      in normalized hip ABD (P = .830) or EXT strength (P = .062) across 3 consecutive
      years. Longitudinal changes in hip ROM were observed with increases in hip IR (P
      = .001) and ABD (P < .001), while hip ADD (P = .009) and ER (P < .001) decreased.
      CONCLUSIONS: Anatomical changes at the hip occur as youth female soccer players
      increase in age. While there are no changes in hip strength, there is an increase
      in hip IR and ABD ROM with a concomitant decrease in hip ER and ADD ROM. The
      resulting asymmetries in hip ROM may decrease the activation and force producing
      capabilities of the hip muscles during dynamic activities, contributing to
      altered lower extremity mechanics known to increase the risk of ACL injuries.

PMID- 27632867
TI  - Strength Training Using Elastic Bands: Improvement of Muscle Power and Throwing
      Performance in Young Female Handball Players.
AB  - CONTEXT: Imbalance in shoulder-rotator muscles has been considered a risk factor
      for injuries in handball. Strength training programs (STPs) may play an important
      preventive role. OBJECTIVE: To verify the effects of an STP using elastic bands
      on shoulder muscles and ball-throwing speed. DESIGN: Randomized and prospective
      controlled trial. SETTING: Exercise physiology laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty
      nine female handball players were randomly assigned to an experimental (EG, n =
      21, 15.3 +/- 1.1 y) or a control (CG, n = 18, 15.0 +/- 0.8 y) group.
      INTERVENTION: The EG performed the STP with elastic-band progressive exercises
      for 6 wk before regular handball training, and the CG underwent only their
      regular training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Before and after the STP, both groups
      underwent a ball-throwing-speed test and isokinetic test to assess shoulder
      internal- (IR) and external-rotator muscle performance. RESULTS: Average power
      values for IR muscles presented a significant group-vs-time interaction effect (F
      = 3.9, P = .05); EG presented significantly higher values after the STP (P =
      .03). Ball speed presented higher values in EG after the STP in standing (P =
      .04) and jumping (P = .03) throws. IR peak-torque values and balance in shoulder
      rotator muscles presented no group-vs-time interaction effect. CONCLUSIONS: STP
      using elastic bands performed for 6 wk was effective to improve muscle power and
      ball speed for young female handball players.

PMID- 27632868
TI  - Associations Between Functional and Isolated Performance Measures in College
      Women's Soccer Players.
AB  - CONTEXT: The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and Functional Movement Screen
      (FMS) are functional performance measures capable of predicting lower-extremity
      injury risk. While suboptimal SEBT and FMS performances are influenced by
      multiple factors, the contribution of hip strength and flexibility to these tests
      is mostly unknown. Examination of hip strength and flexibility influences on the
      SEBT and FMS may direct clinicians to better methods of correcting functional
      deficits. OBJECTIVE: Determine the relationships of isometric hip strength and
      hip passive range of motion (PROM) with functional performance measures. DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional. SETTING: Athletic training facility. PARTICIPANTS: 43 NCAA
      Division I women's soccer players (19.65 +/- 1.12 y; 166.93 +/- 3.84 cm; 60.99 +/
      4.31 kg) volunteered. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: All participants were tested
      bilaterally in the SEBT; the deep squat, in-line lunge, hurdle step, and straight
      leg raise, comprising a lower-extremity FMS (FMS-LE); hip internal and external
      rotation PROM; and isometric hip extension strength (HEXT). The mean of the 3
      averaged, normalized SEBT scores was used as a composite score. Pearson product
      moment correlations assessed relationships of SEBT and FMS-LE scores with PROM
      and HEXT. Significance was set a priori at P < .05. RESULTS: Pearson correlations
      revealed anterior (ANT) SEBT scores had a low negative association with HEXT (r =
      -0.33,P = .004) and a low positive association with hip internal rotation PROM
      (PROM-IR) (r = .43,P = .003). All other correlations were negligible.
      CONCLUSIONS: Flexibility training aimed at PROM-IR may contribute to improved ANT
      scores. Targeting HEXT and hip external rotation PROM are likely not preferred
      means of correcting deficits in SEBT and FMS-LE performance.

PMID- 27632869
TI  - Can Temperate-Water Immersion Effectively Reduce Rectal Temperature in Exertional
      Heat Stroke? A Critically Appraised Topic.
AB  - : Clinical Scenario: Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a medical emergency which,
      if left untreated, can result in death. The standard of care for EHS patients
      includes confirmation of hyperthermia via rectal temperature (Trec) and then
      immediate cold-water immersion (CWI). While CWI is the fastest way to reduce
      Trec, it may be difficult to lower and maintain water bath temperature in the
      recommended ranges (1.7 degrees C-15 degrees C [35 degrees F-59 degrees F])
      because of limited access to ice and/or the bath being exposed to high ambient
      temperatures for long periods of time. Determining if Trec cooling rates are
      acceptable (ie, >0.08 degrees C/min) when significantly hyperthermic humans are
      immersed in temperate water (ie, >=20 degrees C [68 degrees F]) has applications
      for how EHS patients are treated in the field. CLINICAL QUESTION: Are Trec
      cooling rates acceptable (>=0.08 degrees C/min) when significantly hyperthermic
      humans are immersed in temperate water? SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: Trec cooling rates
      of hyperthermic humans immersed in temperate water (>=20 degrees C [68 degrees
      F]) ranged from 0.06 degrees C/min to 0.19 degrees C/min. The average Trec
      cooling rate for all examined studies was 0.11+/-0.06 degrees C/min. Clinical
      Bottom Line: Temperature water immersion (TWI) provides acceptable (ie, >0.08
      degrees C/min) Trec cooling rates for hyperthermic humans post-exercise. However,
      CWI cooling rates are higher and should be used if feasible (eg, access to ice,
      shaded treatment areas). Strength of Recommendation: The majority of evidence
      (eg, Level 2 studies with PEDro scores >=5) suggests TWI provides acceptable,
      though not ideal, Trec cooling. If possible, CWI should be used instead of TWI in
      EHS scenarios.

PMID- 27632870
TI  - Shoulder Muscle Activation Levels During the Push-Up-Plus Exercise on Stable and
      Unstable Surfaces.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute effect of the use of stable and
      unstable surfaces on electromyography (EMG) activity and coactivation of the
      scapular and upper-limb muscles during the push-up plus (with full protraction of
      the scapula). Muscle activation of anterior deltoid (AD), posterior deltoid (PD),
      pectoralis major, biceps brachii (BB), triceps brachii (TB), upper trapezius
      (UT), middle trapezius (MT), lower trapezius (LT), and serratus anterior (SA)
      levels and coactivation index were determined by surface EMG in 20 young men
      during push-up plus performed on a stable and unstable condition (2 unstable
      devices applied to hands and feet). The paired t test and Cohen d were used for
      statistical analysis. The results showed that during the execution of the push-up
      plus on the unstable surface an increased EMG activity of the scapular
      stabilizing muscles (SA, MT, and LT) was observed, while AD and PD muscles showed
      a decrease. During exercise execution on the unstable surface there was a higher
      index of coactivation of the scapular muscles (SA-MT and UT-LT pairs). No
      significant differences were observed in TB-BB and AD-PD pairs. These results
      suggest that the push-up-plus exercise associated with unstable surfaces produced
      greater EMG activity levels and coactivation index of the scapular stabilizing
      muscle. On the other hand, the use of an unstable surface does not promote the
      same effect for the shoulder muscles.

PMID- 27632871
TI  - Assessment and Training of Visuomotor Reaction Time for Football Injury
      Prevention.
AB  - CONTEXT: Neurocognitive reaction time has been associated with musculoskeletal
      injury risk, but visuomotor reaction time (VMRT) derived from tests that present
      greater challenges to visual stimulus detection and motor response execution may
      have a stronger association. OBJECTIVE: To assess VMRT as a predictor of injury
      and the extent to which improvement may result from VMRT training. DESIGN: Cohort
      study. SETTING: University athletic performance center. PARTICIPANTS: 76 National
      Collegiate Athletic Association Division-I FCS football players (19.5 +/- 1.4 y,
      1.85 +/- 0.06 m, 102.98 +/- 19.06 kg). INTERVENTIONS: Preparticipation and
      postseason assessments. A subset of players who exhibited slowest VMRT in
      relation to the cohort's postseason median value participated in a 6-wk training
      program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Injury occurrence was related to preparticipation
      VMRT, which was represented by both number of target hits in 60 s and average
      elapsed time between hits (ms). Receiver operating characteristic analysis
      identified the optimum cut point for a binary injury risk classification. A
      nonparametric repeated-measures analysis of ranks procedure was used to compare
      posttraining VMRT values for slow players who completed at least half of the
      training sessions (n = 15) with those for untrained fast players (n = 27).
      RESULTS: A preparticipation cut point of <=85 hits (>=705 ms) discriminated
      injured from noninjured players with odds ratio = 2.30 (90% confidence interval,
      1.05-5.06). Slow players who completed the training exhibited significant
      improvement in visuomotor performance compared with baseline (standardized
      response mean = 2.53), whereas untrained players exhibited a small performance
      decrement (group * trial interaction effect, L2 = 28.74; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Slow VMRT appears to be an important and modifiable injury risk factor for
      college football players. More research is needed to refine visuomotor reaction
      time screening and training methods and to determine the extent to which improved
      performance values can reduce injury incidence.

PMID- 27632872
TI  - The Functional Movement Screen in the Prediction of Injury in Adolescent Cricket
      Pace Bowlers: An Observational Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) has been found to be a valid
      preparticipation screening tool in the prediction of injury among various
      athletes in different sports. The validity thereof in the prediction of injury
      among adolescent cricketers is yet to be established. OBJECTIVE: To determine if
      a preseason FMS total score is a valid predictor of in-season injury among
      adolescent pace bowlers. DESIGN: Prospective observational quantitative study.
      SETTING: Bowlers performed the FMS before the start of the season. Injury
      incidence was monitored monthly throughout the season. The student t test and
      Fisher's exact test were used to compare the FMS scores of the injured and
      noninjured bowlers as well as the injured and noninjured bowlers who scored <=
      14. PARTICIPANTS: 27 injury-free, male, adolescent pace bowlers. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The FMS (scoring criteria and score sheet) and standardized self
      administered injury questionnaire. RESULTS: There was no difference between the
      noninjured group (16.55 +/- 2.57) and the injured (16.1 +/- 2.07) group in terms
      of FMS scores. There was no significant difference between injured and noninjured
      bowlers who scored <= 14. A total FMS score of 14 does not provide the
      sensitivity needed to assess injury risk among adolescent pace bowlers and no
      other accurate cut-off score could be calculated. CONCLUSION: Preseason observed
      total FMS score is a poor predictor of in-season injury among adolescent pace
      bowlers. Further research should be conducted to determine if a specific FMS test
      will be a more valid predictor of injury.

PMID- 27632873
TI  - The Impact of Injury on Health-Related Quality of Life in College Athletes.
AB  - CONTEXT: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a broad term for the impact of
      injury or illness on physical, psychological, and social health dimensions.
      Injury has been associated with decreased HRQOL in athletes. However, the
      influence of injury history, participation status, time since last injury, and
      injury severity on HRQOL remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare HRQOL in
      collegiate athletes based on injury history, participation status, time since
      last injury, and injury severity and to examine relationships between HRQOL
      outcomes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: 3 National Collegiate Athletic
      Association (NCAA) institutions. PARTICIPANTS: 467 collegiate athletes (199
      males, 268 females; 19.5 +/- 1.3 y, 173.9 +/- 10.5 cm, 71.9 +/- 13.6 kg) were
      recruited from NCAA Division I (n = 299) and Division III (n = 168) institutions.
      Athletes were included regardless of participation status, which created a
      diverse sample of current and past injury histories. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      During a single session, participants completed an injury history form, the
      Disablement in the Physically Active Scale (DPA), and the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs
      Questionnaire (FABQ). Dependent variables included DPA-Physical Summary Component
      (DPA-PSC), DPA-Mental Summary Component (DPA-MSC), and FABQ Scores. RESULTS:
      HRQOL differences were detected between groups based on injury history,
      participation status, and time since last injury. No differences were detected
      for injury severity. A moderate correlation was identified between the DPA-PSC
      and FABQ (rs = 0.503, P < .001) and a weak relationship was identified between
      the DPA-MSC and FABQ (rs = 0.266, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Injury negatively
      influenced HRQOL in athletes with a current injury. While those individuals
      participating injured reported better HRQOL than the athletes sidelined due to
      injury, deficits were still present and should be monitored to ensure a complete
      recovery. Identifying the patient's perception of impairment will help facilitate
      evidencebased treatment and rehabilitation strategies that target the physical
      and psychosocial aspects of health.

PMID- 27632874
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Rehabilitation Efficacy in Chronic Ankle
      Instability.
AB  - CONTEXT: There is minimal patient-oriented evidence regarding the effectiveness
      of interventions targeted to reduce symptoms associated with chronic ankle
      instability (CAI). In addition, clinicians aiming to prioritize care by
      implementing only the most effective components of a rehabilitative program have
      very little evidence on comparative efficacy. OBJECTIVE: To assess the
      comparative efficacy of 2 common ankle rehabilitation techniques (wobble-board
      [WB] balance training and ankle strengthening using resistance tubing [RT]) using
      patient-oriented outcomes. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING:
      Laboratory. PATIENTS: 40 patients with CAI randomized into 2 treatment groups: RT
      and WB. CAI inclusion criteria included a history of an ankle sprain, recurrent
      "giving way," and a Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) score <=25.
      INTERVENTIONS: Participants completed 5 clinician-oriented tests (foot-lift test,
      time-in-balance, Star Excursion Balance Test, figure-of-8 hop, and side-hop) and
      5 patient-oriented questionnaires (CAIT, Foot and Ankle Ability Measure [FAAM],
      Activities of Daily Living [ADL] and FAAM Sport scale, Short-Form 36 [SF-36], and
      Global Rating of Function [GRF]). After baseline testing, participants completed
      12 sessions over 4 wk of graduated WB or RT exercise, then repeated baseline
      tests. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: For each patient- and clinician-oriented test,
      separate 2 * 2 RMANOVAs analyzed differences between groups over time (alpha set
      at P = .05). RESULTS: There was a significant interaction between group and time
      for the FAAM-ADL (P = .04). Specifically, the WB group improved postintervention
      (P < .001) whereas the RT group remained the same (P = .29). There were no other
      significant interactions or significant differences between groups (all P > .05).
      There were significant improvements postintervention for the CAIT, FAAM-Sport,
      GRF, SF-36, and all 5 clinician-oriented tests (all P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: A
      single-exercise 4-wk intervention can improve patient- and clinician-oriented
      outcomes in individuals with CAI. Limited evidence indicates that WB training was
      more effective than RT. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapy, level 1b.

PMID- 27632875
TI  - Effects of a 6-Week Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Program on Ankle-Evertor
      Strength and Postural Stability in Elite Women Field Hockey Players With Chronic
      Ankle Instability.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a neuromuscular rehabilitation program can
      improve postural stability and ankle-evertor strength and to examine the temporal
      changes and persistence of the rehabilitation effects in athletes with chronic
      ankle instability (CAI). DESIGN: A total of 21 national women field hockey
      players participated in this study (CAI, n = 12; control, n = 9). MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Isokinetic ankle-evertor strength (peak torque [PT], total work [TW])
      at 30 degrees /s, 60 degrees /s, 90 degrees /s, and 120 degrees /s, mediolateral
      stability index (MSI), and dynamic stability test (TCT). Data were recorded at
      baseline, 6 wk, and 24 wk. RESULTS: At baseline, isokinetic evertor strength was
      comparable between groups. At 6 wk, the CAI group demonstrated significantly
      increased eccentric PT and TW at 30 degrees /s and 60 degrees /s and increased
      concentric/eccentric TW at 90 degrees /s. The control group showed significantly
      increased concentric TW at 30 degrees /s and increased concentric PT and TW at 90
      degrees /s. At 24 wk, except for eccentric PT at 60 degrees /s and 120 degrees
      /s, concentric/eccentric PT and TW were significantly increased in the CAI group.
      The control group showed significantly increased TW at all angular velocities
      regardless of contraction mode. The CAI group exhibited significant increases in
      concentric/eccentric evertor PT and TW at 120 degrees /s in comparison with the
      control group. MSI and TCT decreased in both groups at 6 wk; however, the CAI
      group demonstrated significant increases in both measures at 24 wk, whereas the
      control group showed no significant change. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that
      the neuromuscular rehabilitation program had an immediate effect on gaining
      eccentric evertor strength and improving postural control and appeared to
      contribute to enhancing the evertor strength of unstable ankles in the longer
      term. On the other hand, improved postural stability did not seem to persist.

PMID- 27632876
TI  - Difference in Functional Performance on the Upper-Quarter Y-Balance Test Between
      High School Baseball Players and Wrestlers.
AB  - CONTEXT: The Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test (YBT-UQ) is a unique movement test
      where individuals perform at the limits of their stability, requiring the
      coordination of balance, proprioception, range of motion, and stabilization. It
      is not yet clear if performance on the YBT-UQ differs between sports with
      dissimilar emphasis on upper-extremity performance. OBJECTIVE: To compare
      performance on the YBT-UQ between wrestlers, whose sport requires some degree of
      closed-chain activity, and baseball players, whose sport is primarily open
      kinetic chain in nature. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: High school
      preparticipation physical assessment. PARTICIPANTS: 24 healthy high school male
      wrestlers (mean age 16.12 +/- 1.24 y) and 24 healthy high school male baseball
      players (mean age 15.79 +/- 1.25 y). INTERVENTIONS: All subjects performed the
      YBT-UQ, which requires reaching in 3 directions while maintaining a push-up
      position. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The variables of interest include the maximum
      reach in each direction, as well as the composite score. In addition, asymmetries
      between limbs for each reach direction were compared. RESULTS: Wrestlers
      performed significantly better than baseball players in the medial direction,
      inferolateral direction, and in composite scores. In the medial direction,
      wrestlers exhibited greater scores (P < .01) on both left and right limbs, 10.5
      +/- 10.2%LL and 9.95 +/- 10.2%LL, respectively. Significant differences (P < .01)
      were also observed in the inferolateral direction, with a difference of 11.3 +/-
      12.0%LL on the left and 8.7 +/- 11.0%LL on the right. Composite scores were
      higher (P < .01) for the wrestlers, with a difference of 7.0% on the left and
      7.1% on the right. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that wrestlers perform better
      on the YBT-UQ than baseball players. The findings may suggest sport-specific
      normative data for the YBT-UQ in high school athletes.

PMID- 27632877
TI  - Tibial Acceleration and Spatiotemporal Mechanics in Distance Runners During
      Reduced-Body-Weight Conditions.
AB  - CONTEXT: Treadmills that unload runners via a differential air-pressure (DAP)
      bladder (eg, AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill) are commonly used to reduce effective
      body weight (BW) in a clinical setting. However, the relationship between the
      level of unloading and tibial stress is currently unknown. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the relationship between tibial impact acceleration and level of BW
      unloading during running. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: University motion
      analysis laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 15 distance runners (9 male, 6 female; 20.4 +/
      2.4 y, 60.1 +/- 12.6 kg). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Peak tibial acceleration and
      peak-to-peak tibial acceleration were measured via a uniaxial accelerometer
      attached to the tibia during a 37-min continuous treadmill run that simulated
      reduced-BW conditions via a DAP bladder. The trial began with a 10-min run at
      100% BW followed by nine 3-min stages where BW was systematically reduced from
      95% to 60% in 5% increments. RESULTS: There was no significant relationship
      between level of BW and either peak tibial acceleration or peak-to-peak tibial
      acceleration (P > .05). Both heart rate and step rate were significantly reduced
      with each 5% reduction in BW level (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Although ground
      reaction forces are reduced when running in reduced-BW conditions on a DAP
      treadmill, tibial shock magnitudes are unchanged as an alteration in
      spatiotemporal running mechanics (eg, reduced step rate) and may nullify the
      unloading effect.

PMID- 27632879
TI  - Achilles Tendon Adaptation During Transition to a Minimalist Running Style.
AB  - CONTEXT: Achilles tendons (ATs) adapt to increased loading generated by long-term
      adoption of a minimalist shoe running style. There may be difference in the
      chronology and extent of adaptation between the sexes. OBJECTIVE: To learn the
      chronology of AT adaptations in female and male runners who transitioned to a
      minimalist running style through a planned, progressive 12-wk transition program.
      DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of well-trained, traditionally shod runners who
      transitioned to minimalist shoe running. SETTING: Repeated laboratory assessment
      at baseline and 3, 12, and 24 wk after initiating transition program.
      PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen women and 7 men (of 29 enrolled) completed the study. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: The authors used diagnostic ultrasound and isokinetic
      dynamometry to generate a force elongation curve and its derivatives at each time
      point. RESULTS: Greater adaptations were observed in men than in women, with men
      generating more force and having greater increases in CSA, stiffness, and Young's
      modulus and less elongation after 12 wk of training. CONCLUSION: Men demonstrated
      changes in AT properties that were consistent with increased loading of the
      triceps surae during exercise. The women demonstrated far smaller changes.
      Further investigation is warranted to understand when adaptations may occur in
      women and the implications of altered AT mechanical properties for performance
      and injury risk.

PMID- 27632878
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study to Investigate the Effect of Whole-Body
      Vibration on Lower-Extremity Fatigue.
AB  - CONTEXT: Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a type of weight-bearing exercise used in
      the field of sport and rehabilitation. There is no study on the effects of WBV on
      muscle recovery after a fatiguing activity. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects
      of a single WBV session on lower-extremity fatigue. DESIGN: Randomized controlled
      pilot study. SETTING: University Physiotherapy Clinic. SUBJECTS: A total of 13
      healthy young men volunteered to participate in this study. Subjects were
      randomly assigned into the WBV group (n = 7, mean age: 21 y) or control group
      (CG; n = 6, mean age: 20 y). INTERVENTION: Subjects in the WBV group participated
      in a single-session WBV (30 Hz, amplitude 4 mm, 2 min) after lower-extremity
      fatigue. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Peak force of quadriceps muscle, single leg hop
      test, and Y-test were measured before inducing muscle fatigue (T0), immediately
      after completing the fatigue protocol (T1), after WBV (T2), and 15 min following
      the application of WBV (T3). The same method was applied in the CG while the WBV
      machine was turned off. RESULTS: Repeated-measure ANOVA revealed no significant
      differences between groups in any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The findings
      indicated that WBV was not effective in the recovery of lower-extremity fatigue
      in healthy young men.

PMID- 27632880
TI  - Relationship of Knee Motions With Static Leg Alignments and Hip Motions in
      Frontal and Transverse Planes During Double-Leg Landing in Healthy Athletes.
AB  - CONTEXT: Excessive knee valgus and tibial external rotation relative to the femur
      during weight bearing motions, such as jump-landing, reportedly increases the
      risk of developing chronic knee pain, such as patellofemoral pain. Excessive
      deviations from normal ranges of several static lower extremity alignment
      measures and dynamic hip motions may also increase the risks for patellofemoral
      pain. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between lower extremity alignments
      and hip motions to frontal and transverse plane knee motions during double-leg
      landings. DESIGN: Correlational study. SETTING: Laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER
      PARTICIPANTS: 69 healthy, competitive athletes (27 men, 42 women; height, 166.5
      +/- 9.5 cm; weight, 61.3 +/- 9.9 kg; age, 20.7 +/- 1.0 y) participated in this
      study. INTERVENTIONS: Prone and supine hip version, quadriceps angle, and
      tibiofemoral angle were measured. Frontal and transverse knee and hip angles at
      peak knee extensor moment during landing were calculated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      2 separate stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict
      frontal and transverse plane knee motions using 4 static lower extremity
      alignment measures and hip motions. RESULTS: Greater hip adduction and prone hip
      anteversion, and lesser hip internal rotation and supine hip anteversion, were
      related to greater knee valgus motions (R2 = .475, P < .01). Greater hip
      adduction was related to greater knee external rotation (R2 = .205, P < .01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Some targeted static lower extremity alignments and hip motions are
      associated with frontal and transverse knee motions. However, stronger
      relationships of hip motions with knee motions than static lower extremity
      alignments provided evidence that improving hip movements may help improve
      patellofemoral pain in those with lower extremity malalignments.

PMID- 27632881
TI  - Atrophy and Depigmentation After Pretibial Corticosteroid Injection for Medial
      Tibial Stress Syndrome: Two Case Reports.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: No reports have been published on the results of corticosteroid
      injections for medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). CASE PRESENTATION: The
      authors present 2 cases of women with MTSS who showed atrophy and depigmentation
      of the skin after pretibial corticosteroid injections. Case 1 is an 18-y-old
      woman presenting with pain in her lower leg for 12 mo. No improvement was noticed
      after conservative treatment, so she received local injections with
      corticosteroids. Five months later physical examination showed tissue atrophy and
      depigmentation around the injection sites. Case 2 is a 22-y-old woman who
      presented with pain in both lower legs for 24 mo. Several conservative treatment
      options failed, so she received local injections with corticosteroids. Physical
      examination revealed tissue atrophy and depigmentation around the injection
      sites. CONCLUSION: No positive effect of injections with corticosteroids was
      found in 2 cases of MTSS. Furthermore, considerable tissue atrophy and
      hypopigmentation of the skin was observed.

PMID- 27632882
TI  - Bilateral Epidural Hematoma With Parietal Skull Fracture in A Division I College
      Athlete: A Case Report.
AB  - Bilateral epidural hematoma is a rare complication of blunt head trauma. Few
      cases of bilateral epidural hematomas have been described in the literature and
      there have been no cases that have been described in a college or professional
      athlete. This case report presents an unusual case of a Division I collegiate
      football athlete who sustained a bilateral epidural hematoma with parietal skull
      fracture after falling down a flight of stairs. It highlights the initial
      presentation to rehabilitation up until eventual return-to-play 4 months later.
      There were no setbacks or complications in rehabilitation process.

PMID- 27632883
TI  - Optimal Joint Positions for Manual Isometric Muscle Testing.
AB  - CONTEXT: Manual isometric muscle testing is a common clinical technique that is
      used to assess muscle strength. To provide the most accurate data for the test,
      the muscle being assessed should be at a length in which it produces maximum
      force. However there is tremendous variability in the recommended positions and
      joint angles used to conduct these tests, with little apparent objective data
      used to position the joint such that muscle force production is greatest.
      OBJECTIVE: To use validated anatomically and biomechanically-based
      musculoskeletal models to identify the optimal joint positions in which to
      perform manual isometric testing. DESIGN: In silico analysis. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: The joint position which produces maximum muscle force for 49 major limb
      and trunk muscles. RESULTS: The optimal joint position for performing a manual
      isometric test was determined. CONCLUSION: Using objective anatomical models that
      take into account the force-length properties of muscles, we identified joint
      positions in which net muscle force production was predicted to be maximal. This
      data can help health care providers to better assess muscle function when manual
      isometric strength tests are performed.

PMID- 27632884
TI  - No Alteration of the Neuromuscular Performance of Plantar-Flexor Muscles After
      Achilles Tendon Vibration
AB  - Context: Prolonged tendon vibration may induce muscle fatigue, as assessed by a
      decrease in maximal force production. It remains unknown, however, whether the
      decrease in muscle strength after prolonged Achilles tendon vibration is related
      to the vibration frequency. Objective: To assess the maximal capacity of plantar
      flexor (PF) neuromuscular function before and after prolonged Achilles tendon
      vibration at low and high frequencies generated using a portable device. Design:
      Pre- and posttest intervention with control. Setting: University laboratory.
      Participants: 10 healthy men age 22.6 +/- 4.0 y. Intervention: Each subject
      participated in 3 experimental sessions that were randomly distributed and
      separated by 1 wk. During each experimental session, 1 of the following vibration
      protocols was applied for 30 min: 40-Hz vibration, 100-Hz vibration, or no
      vibration (control protocol). Main Outcome Measures: Maximal-voluntary
      contraction torque, voluntary activation level, twitch torque, maximal
      electromyographic activity, and maximal M-wave of PF muscles (measured before and
      after each vibration or control protocol). Results: Statistical analysis
      exhibited no significant effect of vibration protocol on the measured variables.
      Conclusions: The current study demonstrates that 30 min of Achilles tendon
      vibration at a low or high frequency using a portable stimulator did not affect
      the neuromuscular performance of the PF muscles. These results emphasize the
      limits of tendon vibration, whatever the frequency applied, for inducing
      neuromuscular fatigue.

PMID- 27632885
TI  - Agreement Between Investigators Using Paired-Pulse Transcranial Magnetic
      Stimulation to Assess Quadriceps Intracortical Excitability.
AB  - CONTEXT: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may provide important
      information regarding the corticospinal mechanisms that may contribute to the
      neuromuscular activation impairments. Paired-pulse TMS testing is a reliable
      method for measuring intracortical facilitation and inhibition; however, little
      evidence exists regarding agreement of these measures in the quadriceps.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the between-session and inter-rater agreement of
      intracortical excitability (short and long interval intracortical inhibition
      [SICI; LICI] and intracortical facilitation [ICF]) in the dominant limb
      quadriceps. DESIGN: Reliability study. SETTING: Research laboratory.
      PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen healthy volunteers (n=6 female; age: 24.7+/-2.1 years;
      height: 1.7+/-0.1m; mass: 77.1+/-17.4kg). INTERVENTION: Participants completed 2
      TMS sessions separated by 1 week. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Two investigators
      measured quadriceps SICI, LICI, and ICF at rest and actively (5% of maximal
      voluntary isometric contraction). All participants were seated in a dynamometer
      with the knee flexed to 90 degrees . Intracortical excitability paradigm and
      investigator order were randomized. Bland-Altman analyses were used to establish
      agreement. RESULTS: Agreement was stronger between sessions within a single
      investigator than between investigators and for active compared to resting
      measures. Agreement was strongest for resting SICI and active ICF and LICI
      between sessions for each investigator. CONCLUSIONS: Quadriceps intracortical
      excitability may be measured longitudinally by a single investigator, though
      active muscle contraction should be elicited during testing.

PMID- 27632886
TI  - Comparison of Esophageal, Rectal, and Gastrointestinal Temperatures During
      Passive Rest After Exercise in The Heat: The Influence of Hydration.
AB  - Context: It is unknown how valid esophageal, rectal, and gastrointestinal
      temperatures (TES, TRE, and TGI) compare after exercise-induced hyperthermia
      under different hydration states. Objective: To examine the differences between
      TES, TRE, and TGI during passive rest following exercise-induced hyperthermia
      under 2 different hydration states: euhydrated (EU) and hypohydrated (HY).
      Design: Randomized crossover design. Setting: Controlled laboratory setting.
      Participants: 9 recreationally active male participants (mean +/- SD age 24 +/- 4
      y, height 177.3 +/- 9.9 cm, body mass 76.7 +/- 11.6 kg, body fat 14.7% +/- 5.8%).
      Intervention: Participants completed 2 trials (EU and HY) consisting of a bout of
      treadmill exercise (a 10-min walk at 4.8-7.2 km/h at a 5% grade followed by a 20
      min jog at 8.0-12.1 km/h at a 1% grade) in a hot environment (ambient temperature
      39.3 +/- 1.0 degrees C, relative humidity 37.6% +/- 6.0%, wet bulb globe
      temperature 31.3 +/- 1.5 degrees C) followed by passive rest. Main Outcome
      Measures: Root-mean-squared difference (RMSD) was used to compare the variance of
      temperature readings at corresponding time points for TRE vs TGI, TRE vs TES, and
      TGI vs TES in EU and HY. RMSD values were compared using 3-way repeated-measures
      ANOVA. Post hoc analysis of significant main effects was done using Tukey
      honestly significant difference with significance set at P < .05. Results: RMSD
      values ( degrees C) for all device comparisons were significantly different in EU
      (TRE-TGI, 0.11 +/- 0.12; TRE-TES, 1.58 +/- 1.01; TGI-TES, 2.04 +/- 1.19) than HY
      (TRE-TGI, 0.22 +/- 0.28; TRE-TES, 1.27 +/- 0.61; TGI-TES, 1.16 +/- 0.76) (P <
      .01). Across the 45-min bout of passive rest, there were no differences in TRE,
      TGI, and TES between EU and HY trials (P = .468). Conclusions: During passive
      rest after exercise in the heat, TRE and TGI were in good agreement when tracking
      body temperature, with a better agreement appearing in those maintaining a state
      of euhydration versus those who became hypohydrated during exercise; however,
      this small difference does not appear to be of clinical significance. The large
      differences were observed when comparing TGI and TRE with TES.

PMID- 27632887
TI  - Validity and Reliability of a Digital Inclinometer to Assess Knee Joint-Position
      Sense in a Closed Kinetic Chain.
AB  - CONTEXT: Knee joint position sense (JPS) is a key parameter for optimum
      performance in many sports but is frequently negatively affected by injuries
      and/or fatigue during training sessions. Although evaluation of JPS may provide
      key information to reduce the risk of injury, it often requires expensive and/or
      complex tools that make monitoring proprioceptive deterioration difficult.
      OBJECTIVE: To analyze the validity and reliability of a digital inclinometer to
      measure knee JPS in a closed kinetic chain (CKC). DESIGN: The validity and
      intertester and intratester reliability of a digital inclinometer for measuring
      knee JPS were assessed. SETTING: Biomechanics laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 10
      athletes (5 men and 5 women; 26.2 +/- 1.3 y, 71.7 +/- 12.4 kg; 1.75 +/- 0.09 m;
      23.5 +/- 3.9 kg/m2). INTERVENTION: Knee JPS was measured in a CKC. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Absolute angular error (AAE) of knee JPS in a CKC. RESULTS: Intraclass
      correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of the mean (SEM) were
      calculated to determine the validity and reliability of the inclinometer. Data
      showed that the inclinometer had a high level of validity compared with an
      isokinetic dynamometer (ICC = 1.0, SEM = 1.39, p < 0.001), and there was very
      good intra- and inter-tester reliability for reading the inclinometer (ICC = 1.0,
      SEM = 0.85, p < 0.001). Compared with AutoCAD video analysis, inclinometer
      validity was very high (ICC = 0.980, SEM = 3.46, p < 0.001) for measuring AAE
      during knee JPS in a CKC. In addition, the intertester reliability of the
      inclinometer for obtaining AAE was very high (ICC = .994, SEM = 1.67, p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: The inclinometer provides a valid and reliable method for assessing
      knee JPS in a CKC. Health and sports professionals could take advantage of this
      tool to monitor proprioceptive deterioration in athletes.

PMID- 27632888
TI  - A Systematic Review of Rehabilitation Exercises to Progressively Load the Gluteus
      Medius.
AB  - CONTEXT: Gluteus medius rehabilitation is of critical importance given its role
      in pelvic and lower limb stability, and the known link between gluteus medius
      weakness and many lower limb conditions. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the
      literature and present an evidence-based graduated series of exercises to
      progressively load gluteus medius. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic literature
      search was conducted in January 2016 to identify studies reporting gluteus medius
      muscle activity as a percentage of maximal volitional isometric contraction
      (MVIC), during rehabilitation exercises. Studies that investigated injury free
      participants were included. No restrictions were placed on the type or mode of
      exercise, though exercises that could not be accurately replicated or performed
      within an independent setting were excluded. Studies that did not normalize
      electromyographic activity to a side lying MVIC were excluded. Exercises were
      stratified based on exercise type and %MVIC: low (0% to 20%), moderate (21% to
      40%), high (41% to 60%), and very high (> 61%). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: 20 studies
      were included in this review, reporting outcomes in 33 exercises (and a range of
      variations of the same exercise). Prone, quadruped, and bilateral bridge
      exercises generally produced low or moderate load. Specific hip
      abduction/rotation exercises were reported as moderate, high, or very high load.
      Unilateral stance exercises in the presence of contralateral limb movement were
      often high or very high load activities, while high variability existed across a
      range of functional weight-bearing exercises. CONCLUSIONS: This review outlined a
      series of exercises commonly employed in a rehabilitation setting, stratified
      based on exercise type and the magnitude of gluteus medius muscular activation.
      This will assist clinicians in tailoring gluteus medius loading regimens to
      patients, from the early postoperative through to later stages of rehabilitation.

PMID- 27632889
TI  - Elastic Bandaging for Orthopedic- and Sports-Injury Prevention and
      Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review.
AB  - CONTEXT: Elastic bandages are commonly used in sports to treat and prevent sport
      injuries. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review assessing the effectiveness
      of elastic bandaging in orthopedic- and sports-injury prevention and
      rehabilitation. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The researchers searched the electronic
      databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, EMBASE, and Physiotherapy Evidence
      Database (PEDro) with keywords elastic bandaging in combination, respectively,
      with first aid, sports injuries, orthopedic injuries, and sports injuries
      prevention and rehabilitation. Research studies were selected based on the use of
      the term elastic bandaging in the abstract. Final selection was made by applying
      inclusion and exclusion criteria to the full text. Studies were included if they
      were peer-reviewed clinical trials written in English on the effects of elastic
      bandaging for orthopedic-injury prevention and rehabilitation. EVIDENCE
      SYNTHESIS: Twelve studies met the criteria and were included in the final
      analysis. Data collected included number of participants, condition being
      treated, treatment used, control group, outcome measures, and results. Studies
      were critically analyzed using the PEDro scale. CONCLUSIONS: The studies in this
      review fell into 2 categories: studies in athletes (n = 2) and nonathletes (n =
      10). All included trials had moderate to high quality, scoring >=5 on the PEDro
      scale. The PEDro scores for the studies in athletes and nonathletes ranged from 5
      to 6 out of 10 and from 5 to 8 out of 10, respectively. The quality of studies
      was mixed, ranging from higher- to moderate-quality methodological clinical
      trials. Overall, elastic bandaging can assist proprioceptive function of knee and
      ankle joint. Because of the moderate methodological quality and insufficient
      number of clinical trials, further effects of elastic bandaging could not be
      confirmed.

PMID- 27632890
TI  - Body-Cooling Paradigm in Sport: Maximizing Safety and Performance During
      Competition.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although body cooling has both performance and safety benefits,
      knowledge on optimizing cooling during specific sport competition is limited.
      OBJECTIVES: To identify when, during sport competition, it is optimal for body
      cooling and to identify optimal body-cooling modalities to enhance safety and
      maximize sport performance. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A comprehensive literature
      search was conducted to identify articles with specific context regarding body
      cooling, sport performance, and cooling modalities used during sport competition.
      A search of scientific peer-reviewed literature examining the effects of body
      cooling on exercise performance was done to examine the influence of body cooling
      on exercise performance. Subsequently, a literature search was done to identify
      effective cooling modalities that have been shown to improve exercise
      performance. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The cooling modalities that are most effective
      in cooling the body during sport competition depend on the sport, timing of
      cooling, and feasibility based on the constraints of the sports rules and
      regulations. Factoring in the length of breaks (halftime substitutions, etc), the
      equipment worn during competition, and the cooling modalities that offer the
      greatest potential to cool must be considered in each individual sport.
      CONCLUSIONS: Scientific evidence supports using body cooling as a method of
      improving performance during sport competition. Developing a strategy to use
      cooling modalities that are scientifically evidence-based to improve performance
      while maximizing athlete's safety warrants further investigation.

PMID- 27632891
TI  - Effectiveness of Stretching on Posterior Shoulder Tightness and Glenohumeral
      Internal-Rotation Deficit: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.
AB  - CONTEXT: Posterior shoulder tightness (PST) and glenohumeral internal-rotation
      deficit (GIRD) can contribute to shoulder pain suffered by athletes engaged in
      overhead sporting activities. Stretching is a common intervention to resolve PST
      and GIRD, but it has weak evidence of effectiveness to date. OBJECTIVE: This
      systematic review aimed to collect and synthesize effectiveness data from English
      and Japanese-language randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating
      stretching interventions for PST and GIRD. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: 7 English
      databases and 3 Japanese databases were searched from inception until December 5,
      2015. Only English- and Japanese-language RCTs were considered. Risk of bias in
      the included studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database
      scale. Data were synthesized qualitatively. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Eight English
      language and 2 Japanese-language papers of low to high quality were included.
      There was moderate evidence for positive immediate and short-term effects of
      cross-body stretch on PST and GIRD in asymptomatic young subjects. Moderate
      evidence was found to suggest that active sleeper stretch might not be more
      effective than no intervention to improve PST and GIRD in the short term.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cross-body stretch can be effective to improve PST and GIRD in
      asymptomatic young subjects immediately or in the short term. Further study with
      methodological rigor is necessary to investigate the long-term effectiveness of
      stretching interventions on PST and GIRD in symptomatic patients.

PMID- 27632892
TI  - Fabrication and wireless micromanipulation of magnetic-biocompatible microrobots
      using microencapsulation for microrobotics and microfluidics applications.
AB  - It is important to fabricate biocompatible and chemical-resistant microstructures
      that can be powered and controlled without a tether in fluid environment for
      applications when contamination must be avoided, like cell manipulation, and
      applications where connecting the power source to the actuator would be
      cumbersome, like targeted delivery of chemicals. In this work, a novel
      fabrication method was described to encapsulate magnetic composite into pure SU-8
      structures, enabling the truly microscale ferromagnetic microrobots biocompatible
      and chemical resistant. The microrobots were developed using the simple
      multilayer photolithography that allows us to mass produce and were actuated
      contact-free by external magnetic field to complete micromanipulations of micro
      objects. The microrobots were actuated moving along a preplanned path to
      transport a glass microsphere object at an approximately average speed of 1.1
      mm/sec and can be operated to rotate, aim at targets and collect objects.

PMID- 27632893
TI  - Adjunctive preladenant: A placebo-controlled, dose-finding study in Japanese
      patients with Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preladenant, an adenosine 2A antagonist, reduced daily OFF time when
      administered as adjunctive treatment in a previous phase 2 trial in non-Japanese
      Parkinson's disease (PD) patients on stable doses of levodopa. This study aimed
      to evaluate preladenant as adjunctive therapy in Japanese patients with PD.
      METHODS: In this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, 12-week, dose
      ranging, phase 2 study, Japanese patients with moderate to severe PD on a stable
      regimen of levodopa were randomly assigned 1:1:1:1 to preladenant 2 mg, 5 mg, or
      10 mg BID or placebo. The primary efficacy end point was change from baseline to
      week 12 in mean OFF time, recorded using a PD diary. Safety and tolerability were
      also assessed. RESULTS: In total, 111 patients were randomly assigned to receive
      preladenant 2 mg, and 113 each received preladenant 5 mg, 10 mg, or placebo. In
      contrast to previous data, preladenant in this study did not demonstrate
      statistically significant efficacy; the primary outcome was -0.7 h (P = 0.0564), 
      0.5 h (P = 0.1844), and -0.3 h (P = 0.3386), respectively, for preladenant 2 mg,
      5 mg, and 10 mg BID versus placebo. Overall, preladenant was well tolerated, and
      the frequency of adverse events appeared to be dose related. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      phase 2 study, preladenant used as adjunctive therapy in PD patients on stable
      doses of levodopa did not reduce mean OFF time; treatment was well tolerated at
      doses between 2 and 10 mg BID.

PMID- 27632894
TI  - Pattern, process, scale, and model's sensitivity: Comment on "Phase separation
      driven by density-dependent movement: A novel mechanism for ecological patterns"
      by Quan-Xing Liu et al.

PMID- 27632895
TI  - Early sub-exponential epidemic growth: Simple models, nonlinear incidence rates,
      and additional mechanisms: Reply to comments on "Mathematical models to
      characterize early epidemic growth: A review".

PMID- 27632896
TI  - Evolution of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) techniques for Lung cancer;
      Minimizing surgical injury and Expanding applications.

PMID- 27632897
TI  - Estrogen receptor activation by tobacco smoke condensate in hormonal therapy
      resistant breast cancer cells.
AB  - The relationship between tobacco smoke and breast cancer incidence has been
      studied for many years, but the effect of smoking on hormonal therapy has not
      been previously reported. We investigated the effect of smoking on hormonal
      therapy by performing in vitro experiments. We first prepared tobacco smoke
      condensate (TSC) and examined its effect on estrogen receptor (ER) activity. The
      ER activity was analyzed using MCF-7-E10 cells into which the estrogen-responsive
      element (ERE)-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene had been stably
      introduced (GFP assay) and performing an ERE-luciferase assay. TSC significantly
      activated ERs, and upregulated its endogenous target genes. This activation was
      inhibited by fulvestrant but more weakly by tamoxifen. These results suggest that
      the activation mechanism may be different from that for estrogen. Furthermore,
      using E10 estrogen depletion-resistant cells (EDR cells) established as a
      hormonal therapy-resistant model showing estrogen-independent ER activity, ER
      activation and induction of ER target genes were significantly higher following
      TSC treatment than by estradiol (E2). These responses were much higher than those
      of the parental E10 cells. In addition, the phosphorylation status of signaling
      factors (ERK1/2, Akt) and ER in the E10-EDR cells treated with TSC increased. The
      gene expression profile induced by estrogenic effects of TSC was characterized by
      microarray analysis. The findings suggested that TSC activates ER by both ligand
      dependent and -independent mechanisms. Although TSC constituents will be
      metabolized in vivo, breast cancer tissues might be exposed for a long period
      along with hormonal therapy. Tobacco smoke may have a possibility to interfere
      with hormonal therapy for breast cancer, which may have important implications
      for the management of therapy.

PMID- 27632898
TI  - PRAME is critical for breast cancer growth and metastasis.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in women and ranks second
      among cancer deaths. Metastasis is the main cause of death in breast cancer
      patients. However, the mechanisms underlying the invasion and metastasis of
      breast cancer cells remain largely elusive. Here we report that the protein
      PRAME, a tumor-associated antigen isolated from a melanoma, plays a role in
      preventing the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells. Knocking down
      of PRAME promotes breast cancer cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis. In
      addition, inhibition of PRAME promotes the invasion of breast cancer cells. To
      further examine the role of PRAME in vivo, we utilized mouse model and found the
      volume and the weight of tumors was markedly increased after PRAME was knocked
      down. This study demonstrates that PRAME functions as a tumor suppressor in
      breast cancer.

PMID- 27632899
TI  - Assessment of snake DNA barcodes based on mitochondrial COI and Cytb genes
      revealed multiple putative cryptic species in Thailand.
AB  - DNA barcodes of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI), cytochrome b (Cytb)
      genes, and their combined data sets were constructed from 35 snake species in
      Thailand. No barcoding gap was detected in either of the two genes from the
      observed intra- and interspecific sequence divergences. Intra- and interspecific
      sequence divergences of the COI gene differed 14 times, with barcode cut-off
      scores ranging over 2%-4% for threshold values differentiated among most of the
      different species; the Cytb gene differed 6 times with cut-off scores ranging
      over 2%-6%. Thirty-five specific nucleotide mutations were also found at
      interspecific level in the COI gene, identifying 18 snake species, but no
      specific nucleotide mutation was observed for Cytb in any single species. This
      suggests that COI barcoding was a better marker than Cytb. Phylogenetic
      clustering analysis indicated that most species were represented by monophyletic
      clusters, suggesting that these snake species could be clearly differentiated
      using COI barcodes. However, the two-marker combination of both COI and Cytb was
      more effective, differentiating snake species by over 2%-4%, and reducing species
      numbers in the overlap value between intra- and interspecific divergences. Three
      species delimitation algorithms (general mixed Yule-coalescent, automatic
      barcoding gap detection, and statistical parsimony network analysis) were
      extensively applied to a wide range of snakes based on both barcodes. This
      revealed cryptic diversity for eleven snake species in Thailand. In addition,
      eleven accessions from the database previously grouped under the same species
      were represented at different species level, suggesting either high genetic
      diversity, or the misidentification of these sequences in the database as a
      consequence of cryptic species.

PMID- 27632900
TI  - alpha-Synuclein pre-formed fibrils impair tight junction protein expression
      without affecting cerebral endothelial cell function.
AB  - Recently it has been shown that there is impaired cerebral endothelial function
      in many chronic neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's and
      Huntington's disease. Such problems have also been reported in Parkinson's
      disease, in which alpha-synuclein aggregation is the pathological hallmark.
      However, little is known about the relationship between misfolded alpha-synuclein
      and endothelial function. In the present study, we therefore examined whether
      alpha-synuclein preformed fibrils affect endothelial function in vitro. Using a
      well-established endothelial cell model, we found that the expression of tight
      junction proteins, in particular zona occludens-1 and occludin, was significantly
      perturbed in the presence of fibril-seeded neurotoxicity. Disrupted expression of
      these proteins was also found in the postmortem brains of patients dying with
      Parkinson's disease. There was though little evidence in vitro of functional
      impairments in endothelial cell function in terms of transendothelial electrical
      resistance and permeability. This study therefore shows for the first time that
      misfolded alpha-synuclein can interact and affect the cerebral endothelial
      system, although its relevance to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease remains
      to be elucidated.

PMID- 27632902
TI  - Epilepsy: Beyond seizures - the importance of comorbidities in epilepsy.

PMID- 27632901
TI  - Topical Simvastatin as Host-Directed Therapy against Severity of Cutaneous
      Leishmaniasis in Mice.
AB  - We recently demonstrated that statins mediate protection against intracellular
      pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes in mice. Here,
      we investigated the immunomodulatory potential of simvastatin as a topical or
      systemic host-directed drug therapy in controlling inflammatory responses in an
      experimental mouse model of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major
      (LV39). In an ear infection model, topical application of simvastatin directly on
      established lesions significantly reduced severity of the disease reflected by
      ear lesion size and ulceration. The host protective effect was further
      accompanied by decreased parasite burden in the ear and draining lymph nodes in
      both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Pre-treatment of these mice on a low-fat
      cholesterol diet and systemic simvastatin also reduced footpad swelling, as well
      as parasite burdens and ulceration/necrosis in the more robust footpad infection
      model, demonstrating the prophylactic potential of simvastatin for cutaneous
      leishmaniasis. Mechanistically, following L. major infection, simvastatin-treated
      primary macrophages responded with significantly reduced cholesterol levels and
      increased production of hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, simvastatin-treated
      macrophages displayed enhanced phagosome maturation, as revealed by increased
      LAMP-3 expression in fluorescent microscopy and Western blot analysis. These
      findings demonstrate that simvastatin treatment enhances host protection against
      L. major by increasing macrophage phagosome maturation and killing effector
      functions.

PMID- 27632904
TI  - Neurodegenerative disorders: Novel CSF assay for alpha-synucleinopathies.

PMID- 27632905
TI  - Alzheimer disease: Anti-Abeta antibody treatment shows promise in Alzheimer
      disease.

PMID- 27632906
TI  - Inviting end-of-life talk in initial CALM therapy sessions: A conversation
      analytic study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine how end-of-life talk is initiated in CALM therapy sessions
      with advanced cancer patients. METHODS: Conversation analysis was used to
      systematically examine the sequences where talk about death was raised in the
      first sessions of ten patients. RESULTS: Open questions about the patients'
      experiences, feelings or understanding in the context of talk about their
      troubles, were found to regularly elicit talk concerning end-of-life. These
      questions were designed in ways that invite patients to discuss troubling aspects
      of their cancer journey, without making discussion of this topic an interactional
      requirement. That is, the interactional work required to not engage in such talk
      is minimised. This choice is provided through the open question design, the
      degree to which negative feeling descriptors are specified, and the sequential
      context of the question. CONCLUSION: The analysis shows that therapists provide
      patients with the opportunity to talk about end-of-life in a way that is
      supportive of the therapeutic relationship. The readiness of patients to engage
      in end-of-life talk displays the salience of this topic, as well as the
      reflective space provided by CALM therapy. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The results
      provide important insight into the process of CALM therapy, which can be used to
      guide training.

PMID- 27632903
TI  - Fluid biomarkers for mild traumatic brain injury and related conditions.
AB  - Diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), also
      known as concussion, remain a major unmet clinical need. Moderate to severe TBI
      can be diagnosed definitively by clinical assessment and standard neuroimaging
      techniques that detect the gross damage to the brain parenchyma. Diagnostic tools
      for mild TBI are lacking and, currently, the diagnosis has to be made on clinical
      grounds alone, because most patients show no gross pathological changes on CT.
      Most patients with mild TBI recover quickly, but about 15% develop an ill-defined
      condition called postconcussive syndrome (PCS). Repeated concussions have been
      associated with a chronic neurodegenerative disorder called chronic traumatic
      encephalopathy (CTE), which can only currently be diagnosed post mortem. Fluid
      biomarkers are needed to better define and detect mild TBI and related
      conditions. Here, we review the literature on fluid biomarkers for neuronal,
      axonal, oligodendrocytic, astroglial and blood-brain barrier injury, as well as
      markers for neuroinflammation and metabolic dysregulation, in the context of mild
      TBI, PCS and CTE. We also discuss technical and standardization issues and
      potential pathways to advance the most promising biomarker candidates into
      clinical laboratory practice.

PMID- 27632907
TI  - Examining the continuum of psychosis: Frequency and characteristics of psychotic
      like symptoms in relatives and non-relatives of patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A key finding underlying the continuum of psychosis concept is the
      presence of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in healthy subjects. However, it
      remains uncertain to what extent these experiences are related to the genetic
      risk for schizophrenia and how far they actually resemble attenuated forms of
      psychotic symptoms. METHODS: Forty-nine adults with no history of mental illness
      in first-degree relatives and 59 siblings of patients with schizophrenia were
      rated on the psychosis section of the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule
      IV (C DIS-IV) and the Rust Inventory of Schizotypal Cognitions (RISC). Those who
      rated positive on the CDIS-IV were re-interviewed using the lifetime version of
      the Present State Examination 9th edition (PSE-9) and the Structured interview
      for Schizotypy (SIS). RESULTS: Seventeen (34.69%) of the non-relatives and 22
      (37.29%) of the relatives responded positively to one or more of the psychosis
      questions on the DIS. This difference was not significant. RISC scores were also
      similar between the groups. At follow-up interview with the PSE-9, 13/40 PLEs
      (32.50%) in the non-relatives were classified as possible or probable psychotic
      symptoms compared to 11/46 (23.91%) in the relatives. Using liberal symptom
      thresholds, 5 of those who attended the follow-up interview (2 non-relatives and
      3 relatives) met SIS criteria for schizotypal personality disorder. CONCLUSIONS:
      Rates of PLEs, however considered, do not differ substantially between relatives
      and non-relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Only a minority of PLEs picked
      up by screening interviews resemble attenuated forms of psychotic symptoms.

PMID- 27632908
TI  - Probiotic supplementation can positively affect anxiety and depressive symptoms:
      a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - Gastrointestinal microbiota, consisting of microbial communities in the
      gastrointestinal tract, play an important role in digestive, metabolic, and
      immune functioning. Preclinical studies on rodents have linked behavioral and
      neurochemical changes in the central nervous system with deficits or alterations
      in these bacterial communities. Moreover, probiotic supplementation in rodents
      has been shown to markedly change behavior, with correlated changes in central
      neurochemistry. While such studies have documented behavioral and mood-related
      supplementation effects, the significance of these effects in humans, especially
      in relation to anxiety and depression symptoms, are relatively unknown. Thus, the
      purpose of this paper was to systematically evaluate current literature on the
      impact of probiotic supplementation on anxiety and depression symptoms in humans.
      To this end, multiple databases, including Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and
      Web of Science were searched for randomized controlled trials published between
      January 1990 and January 2016. Search results led to a total of 10 randomized
      controlled trials (4 in clinically diagnosed and 6 in non-clinical samples) that
      provided limited support for the use of some probiotics in reducing human anxiety
      and depression. Despite methodological limitations of the included trials and the
      complex nature of gut-brain interactions, results suggest the detection of
      apparent psychological benefits from probiotic supplementation. Nevertheless a
      better understanding of developmental, modulatory, and metagenomic influences on
      the GI microbiota, specifically as they relate to mood and mental health,
      represent strong priorities for future research in this area.

PMID- 27632909
TI  - Twice weekly intake of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) positively influences
      lipoprotein concentration and particle size in overweight men and women.
AB  - The US Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend twice weekly fish intake.
      Farmed Atlantic salmon is a good source of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids which have
      positive lipid modifying effects; however, it is unknown whether these responses
      are dose-dependent. Our primary research objective was to determine the effect of
      dose-dependent intake of farmed Atlantic salmon on lipoprotein particle (P) size
      and concentration. We hypothesized that low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-P and high
      density lipoprotein (HDL)-P size and concentration would increase with salmon
      intake in a dose-dependent manner. Overweight, adult participants (n = 19) were
      enrolled in a cross-over designed clinical trial evaluating intake of farmed
      Atlantic salmon. In random order, participants were assigned to 90, 180, or 270 g
      of salmon twice weekly for 4-week dietary treatments. Following a 4- to 8-week
      washout, participants crossed over to another dose of fish intake until all
      treatments were completed. Plasma lipid concentrations were determined and serum
      lipoprotein concentrations and particle size were determined by nuclear magnetic
      resonance. Intake of salmon reduced plasma and serum triglyceride (TG)
      concentrations and increased plasma HDL-C concentrations. The concentrations of
      large very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-P and chylomicron (CM)-P were reduced.
      Large LDL-P concentrations were increased in a dose-dependent manner. The mean
      size of VLDL-P was reduced and that of LDL was increased. Total TG was reduced as
      was the TG content of VLDL-P and CM-P. Twice weekly intake of farmed Atlantic
      salmon portions influences lipoprotein particle size and concentration in a
      manner associated with cardiovascular disease risk reduction.

PMID- 27632910
TI  - Milk intake during pregnancy is inversely associated with the risk of postpartum
      depressive symptoms in Japan: the Kyushu Okinawa Maternal and Child Health Study.
AB  - Only one epidemiologic study has investigated the association between dairy
      product intake during pregnancy and postpartum depressive symptoms. Epidemiologic
      evidence on the relationships between calcium and vitamin D intake during
      pregnancy and postpartum depressive symptoms is also lacking. The present
      prospective study examined these issues in Japan. Study subjects were 1319 women.
      During pregnancy, dietary intake during the preceding month was assessed using a
      self-administered diet history questionnaire in the baseline survey. Postpartum
      depressive symptoms were defined as present when subjects had an Edinburgh
      Postnatal Depression Scale score of 9 or higher between 3 and 4 months
      postpartum. Adjustment was made for age, gestation at baseline, region of
      residence, number of children, family structure, history of depression, family
      history of depression, job type, education, body mass index, having smoked during
      pregnancy, cesarean delivery, baby's sex, baby's birth weight, and total energy
      intake. After adjustment for the confounding factors, compared with milk intake
      in the lowest quartile, intake levels in the second and fourth quartiles were
      independently associated with a reduced risk of postpartum depressive symptoms,
      although the inverse exposure-response relationship was not significant: the
      adjusted odds ratio between extreme quartiles was 0.51 (95% confidence interval,
      0.28-0.93; P for trend = .12). No material relationships were observed between
      intake of total dairy products, yogurt, cheese, calcium, or vitamin D and the
      risk of postpartum depressive symptoms. The present prospective cohort study in
      Japan suggests that higher milk intake during pregnancy is associated with a
      reduced risk of postpartum depressive symptoms.

PMID- 27632912
TI  - Apple ethanol extract promotes proliferation of human adult stem cells, which
      involves the regenerative potential of stem cells.
AB  - Tissue regeneration using adult stem cells (ASCs) has significant potential as a
      novel treatment for many degenerative diseases. Previous studies have established
      that age negatively affects the proliferation status and differentiation
      potential of ASCs, suggesting a possible limitation in their potential
      therapeutic use. Therefore, we hypothesized that apple extract might exert
      beneficial effects on ASCs. The specific objectives were to investigate the
      proliferative effect of apple ethanol extract on human adipose tissue-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) and human cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem
      cells (CB-MSCs), and identify the possible molecular mechanisms. Apple extract
      promoted proliferation of ADSCs and CB-MSCs as determined by 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and Click-iT 5-ethynyl-2'
      deoxyuridine flow cytometry assays. In addition, phosphorylation of p44/42 MAPK
      (ERK), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K), S6 ribosomal
      protein (S6RP), eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4B and eIF4E was induced
      stepwise in ADSCs. Furthermore, apple extract significantly induced the
      production of vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-6 in both ADSCs
      and CB-MSCs. Similarly, apple extract-induced phosphorylation of the
      mTOR/p70S6K/S6RP/eIF4B/eIF4E pathway was blocked by pretreatment with PD98059, a
      specific ERK inhibitor. These results indicate that apple extract-induced
      proliferation of ADSCs under serum-free conditions is mediated by ERK-dependent
      cytokine production. Moreover, the beneficial effect of apple extract on
      proliferation of ASCs may overcome the limitation in therapeutic use of stem
      cells in tissue regeneration and maintenance of stem cell homeostasis.

PMID- 27632911
TI  - Cynanchum wilfordii Radix attenuates liver fat accumulation and damage by
      suppressing hepatic cyclooxygenase-2 and mitogen-activated protein kinase in mice
      fed with a high-fat and high-fructose diet.
AB  - Excessive consumption of fat and fructose augments the pathological progression
      of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease through hepatic fibrosis, inflammation, and
      hepatic de novo lipogenesis. We hypothesized that supplementation with Cynanchum
      wilfordii extract (CWE) decreases fat accumulation in the liver by suppressing
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF
      kappaB), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). The beneficial effect
      of CWE was evaluated in a murine model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Mice
      were fed either a normal diet or an atherogenic diet with fructose (ATHFR) in the
      presence or absence of CWE (50, 100, or 200 mg/kg; n=6/group). Treatment with
      ATHFR induced a hepatosplenomegaly-like condition (increased liver and spleen
      weight); this pathological change was attenuated in the presence of CWE. The
      ATHFR group exhibited impaired liver function, as evidenced by increased blood
      levels of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic pyruvic transaminase,
      fat accumulation in the liver, and lipid profiles. Supplementation of CWE (100
      and 200 mg/kg, P<.05) ameliorated these impaired liver functions. Atherogenic
      diet with fructose increased the protein levels of COX-2 and p38 MAPK, as well as
      the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. These signaling pathways, which are
      associated with the inflammatory response, were markedly suppressed after CWE
      treatment (100 and 200 mg/kg). In summary, CWE supplementation reduced high-fat
      and high-fructose diet-induced fat accumulation and damage in the liver by
      suppressing COX-2, NF-kappaB, and p38 MAPK.

PMID- 27632913
TI  - Maternal high fructose and low protein consumption during pregnancy and lactation
      share some but not all effects on early-life growth and metabolic programming of
      rat offspring.
AB  - Maternal nutritional stress during pregnancy acts to program offspring
      metabolism. We hypothesized that the nutritional stress caused by maternal
      fructose or low protein intake during pregnancy would program the offspring to
      develop metabolic aberrations that would be exacerbated by a diet rich in
      fructose or fat during adult life. The objective of this study was to
      characterize and compare the fetal programming effects of maternal fructose with
      the established programming model of a low-protein diet on offspring. Male
      offspring from Sprague-Dawley dams fed a 60% starch control diet, a 60% fructose
      diet, or a low-protein diet throughout pregnancy and lactation were weaned onto
      either a 60% starch control diet, 60% fructose diet, or a 30% fat diet for 15
      weeks. Offspring from low-protein and fructose-fed dam showed retarded growth
      (P<.05) at weaning (50.3, 29.6 vs 59.1+/-0.8 g) and at 18 weeks of age (420, 369
      vs 464+/-10.9 g). At 18 weeks of age, offspring from fructose dams expressed
      greater quantities (P<.05) of intestinal Pgc1a messenger RNA compared with
      offspring from control or low-protein dams (1.31 vs 0.89, 0.85; confidence
      interval, 0.78-1.04). Similarly, maternal fructose (P=.09) and low-protein
      (P<.05) consumption increased expression of Pgc1a in offspring liver (7.24, 2.22
      vs 1.22; confidence interval, 2.11-3.45). These data indicate that maternal
      fructose feeding is a programming model that shares some features of maternal
      protein restriction such as retarded growth, but is unique in programming of
      selected hepatic and intestinal transcripts.

PMID- 27632914
TI  - Obesogenic diets have deleterious effects on fat deposits irrespective of the
      nature of dietary carbohydrates in a Yucatan minipig model.
AB  - The effects of digestible carbohydrates, fructose in particular, on the
      development of metabolic disturbances remain controversial. We explored the
      effects of prolonged consumption of high-fat diets differing in their
      carbohydrate source on fat deposits in the adult Yucatan minipig. Eighteen
      minipigs underwent computed tomographic imaging and blood sampling before and
      after 8 weeks of three isocaloric high-fat diets with different carbohydrate
      sources (20% by weight for starch in the control diet, glucose or fructose, n=6
      per diet). Body adiposity, liver volume, and fat content were estimated from
      computed tomographic images (n=18). Liver volume and lipid content were also
      measured post mortem (n=12). We hypothesized that the quantity and the spatial
      distribution of fat deposits in the adipose tissue or in the liver would be
      altered by the nature of the carbohydrate present in the obesogenic diet. After 8
      weeks of dietary exposure, body weight (from 26+/-4 to 58+/-3 kg), total body
      adiposity (from 38+/-1 to 47+/-1%; P<.0001), liver volume (from 1156+/-31 to
      1486+/-66 mL; P<.0001), plasma insulin (from 10+/-1 to 14+/-2 mIU/L; P=.001),
      triacylglycerol (from 318+/-37 to 466+/-33 mg/L; P=.005), and free-fatty acids
      (from 196+/-60 to 396+/-59 MUmol/L; P=.0001) increased irrespective of the
      carbohydrate type. Similarly, the carbohydrate type did not induce changes in the
      spatial repartition of the adipose tissue. Divergent results were obtained for
      fat deposits in the liver depending on the investigation method. In conclusion,
      obesogenic diets alter adipose tissue fat deposits and the metabolic profile
      independently of the nature of dietary carbohydrates.

PMID- 27632915
TI  - Lower hepatic iron storage associated with obesity in mice can be restored by
      decreasing body fat mass through feeding a low-fat diet.
AB  - High-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity has been reported to result in low hepatic
      iron storage. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that these obesity
      related changes in hepatic iron status could be reversed by decreasing adiposity
      by feeding a low-fat diet. Five-week-old C57BL/6 mice were assigned to 3 groups:
      the LL group was fed a control diet for 31 weeks, the HH group was fed a HFD for
      31 weeks, and the HL group was fed the HFD for 15 weeks and then switched to the
      control diet for 16 weeks. The fat mass of the HL group decreased by 3.2 g from
      the 14th to the 30th weeks. Fat mass was significantly different among the groups
      (11.4, 15.8, and 37.5 g in the LL, HH, and HL groups, respectively; P< .001). The
      liver iron concentration of the HL group was similar to that of the LL group,
      which was about 30% higher than that of the HH group (74.2, 72.7, and 55.7 MUg/g
      in the LL, HL, and HH groups, respectively; P< .05). Duodenal cytochrome b
      messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were higher in the HL group than in the HH group.
      Although bone morphogenetic protein 6 (Bmp6) mRNA levels showed no significant
      differences in the liver, duodenal Bmp6 mRNA levels were significantly lower in
      the HH group compared with the LL and HL groups. Liver Smad1/5 proteins were
      differentially activated: the HH group had significantly less phosphorylated
      Smads than did the LL and HL groups. Our data demonstrate that hepatic iron
      storage levels are closely related to body adiposity, and reducing body fat mass
      through feeding a lower-fat diet to HFD-induced obese mice restores liver iron
      storage.

PMID- 27632916
TI  - Medium-chain triglycerides promote macrophage reverse cholesterol transport and
      improve atherosclerosis in ApoE-deficient mice fed a high-fat diet.
AB  - We previously observed that medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) could reduce body
      fat mass and improve the metabolism of cholesterol. We hypothesized that MCTs can
      improve atherosclerosis by promoting the reverse cholesterol transport (RCT)
      process. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the roles of
      MCTs in macrophage RCT and the progression of atherosclerosis. To test this
      hypothesis, 30 4-week-old ApoE-deficient (ApoE(-/-)) mice were randomly divided
      into 2 groups and fed a diet of 2% MCTs or long-chain triglycerides (LCTs) for 16
      weeks. Ten age- and sex-matched C57BL/6J mice were fed a diet of 2% LCTs as the
      control. Macrophage-to-feces RCT was assessed in vivo by intraperitoneal
      injection of RAW 264.7 macrophages containing (3)H-labeled cholesterol, and
      atherosclerotic plaques were measured. The mRNA and protein expressions were
      determined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blot
      analyses, respectively. There was a greater decrease in body fat mass,
      atherosclerotic plaques, and an improvement in serum lipid profiles. In addition,
      the MCT mice group showed an increase in (3)H-tracer in the feces and a decrease
      in the liver. Significantly higher levels of mRNA and protein expression of
      hepatic ATP-binding cassette transporter A1, ATP-binding cassette transporter G5,
      cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase, and intestinal ATP-binding cassette transporter
      G8, as well as lower levels of expression of intestinal Niemann-Pick C1-like 1,
      were found in the MCT group. These results suggest that MCTs could obviously
      promote macrophage RCT and improve atherosclerosis in ApoE(-/-) mice, indicating
      that MCTs have the potential to prevent cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 27632917
TI  - Exercise raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in men after consumption of
      ground beef with a high but not low monounsaturated fatty acid-saturated fatty
      acid ratio.
AB  - Exercise and diets with higher monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA):saturated fatty
      acid (SFA) ratios are independently linked to improved blood lipid profiles, yet
      interactive effects in men have not been studied. We hypothesized that dietary
      ground beef with a high MUFA:SFA ratio (HR = 1.1) would augment the beneficial
      changes in the lipid profile induced by exercise compared to dietary ground beef
      with a lower MUFA:SFA ratio (LR = 0.71). Untrained men (n = 13, age = 35 +/- 12
      y, weight = 91.4 +/- 14.2 kg, body mass index = 27.8 +/- 3.3kg/m(2)) consumed 5
      HR or LR 114 g ground beef patties weekly for 5 weeks (random order) interspersed
      with a 4-week self-selected (SS) washout diet. One session of exercise (70%
      VO2max, 1675 kJ) was completed at the end of HR and LR diets, and again after a 5
      week SS diet. Diets and physical activity were otherwise not controlled. Fasting
      blood samples for lipid and lipoprotein analyses were obtained 30 min before and
      24 h after exercise. Subjects reported no other changes in diets or physical
      activity patterns, and body weight and body mass index did not change over the
      study duration. Diet (3) * Exercise Time (2) repeated measures analysis of
      variance (alpha = .05) and follow-up analyses revealed that blood concentrations
      (mmol/L +/- SD) of total cholesterol (5.07 +/- 1.16 to 5.73 +/- 1.36), high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (1.19 +/- 0.20 to 1.36 +/- 0.29), HDL2-C
      (0.24 +/- 0.08 to 0.28 +/- 0.11), HDL3-C (0.94 +/- 0.14 to 1.08 +/- 0.20), and
      non-HDL-C (3.88 +/- 1.24 to 4.37 +/- 1.38) were significantly elevated with
      exercise after the HR beef diet, but not after LR and SS diets. Thus, in healthy,
      untrained men the dietary beef MUFA:SFA ratio affects the blood lipid response to
      a single session of aerobic exercise.

PMID- 27632918
TI  - Dietary butyrylated high-amylose starch reduces azoxymethane-induced colonic O(6)
      methylguanine adducts in rats as measured by immunohistochemistry and high
      pressure liquid chromatography.
AB  - O(6)-methyl guanine (O(6)MeG) adducts are major toxic, promutagenic, and
      procarcinogenic adducts involved in colorectal carcinogenesis. Resistant starch
      and its colonic metabolite butyrate are known to protect against oncogenesis in
      the colon. In this study, we hypothesized that a dietary intervention that
      specifically delivers butyrate to the large bowel (notably butyrylated high
      amylose maize starch [HAMSB]) would reduce colonic levels of O(6)MeG in rats
      shortly after exposure to the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) alkylating agent
      azoxymethane (AOM) when compared with a low-amylose maize starch (LAMS). A
      further objective was to validate an immunohistochemistry (IHC) method for
      quantifying O(6)MeG against a high-performance liquid chromatography method using
      fluorescence and diode array detection. Rats were fed either LAMS or HAMSB diets
      for 4 weeks followed by a single injection of AOM or saline and killed 6 hours
      later. After AOM exposure, both IHC and high-performance liquid chromatography
      method using fluorescence and diode array detection measured a substantially
      increased quantity of DNA adducts in the colon (P<.001). Both techniques
      demonstrated equally that consumption of HAMSB provided a protective effect by
      reducing colonic adduct load compared with the LAMS diet (P<.05). In addition,
      IHC allowed visualization of the O(6)MeG distribution, where adduct load was
      reduced in the lower third of the crypt compartment in HAMSB-fed rats (P=.036).
      The apoptotic response to AOM was higher in the HAMSB-fed rats (P=.002). In
      conclusion, the reduction in O(6)MeG levels and enhancement of the apoptotic
      response to DNA damage in the colonic epithelium through consumption of HAMSB
      provide mechanistic insights into how HAMSB protects against colorectal
      tumorigenesis.

PMID- 27632919
TI  - Red blood cell oleic acid levels reflect olive oil intake while omega-3 levels
      reflect fish intake and the use of omega-3 acid ethyl esters: The Gruppo Italiano
      per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto Miocardico-Heart Failure trial.
AB  - The Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto Miocardico
      Heart Failure (GISSI-HF) study reported benefits of n-3 fatty acid (FA) treatment
      on cardiovascular (CV) events, but the effects of treatment on a putative CV
      disease risk factor, the red blood cell (RBC) n-3 FA level (the omega-3 index),
      have not been examined in this context. We hypothesized that treatment with
      prescription omega-3 acid ethyl esters (O3AEE) would increase the omega-3 index
      to the proposed cardioprotective value of 8%. RBCs were collected from a subset
      of patients participating in the GISSI-HF study (n=461 out of 6975 randomized),
      at baseline and after 3 months of treatment with either an olive oil placebo or
      O3AEE (1 g/d). RBC FA levels were expressed as a percentage of total FA. Patients
      also reported their typical olive oil and fish intakes. RBC oleic acid levels
      were directly correlated with reported frequency of olive oil consumption, and
      the omega-3 index was correlated with reported fish intake (P for trends <0.001
      for both). After treatment, the omega-3 index increased from 4.8+/-1.7% to 6.7+/
      1.9% but was unchanged in the placebo group (4.7+/-1.7 to 4.8+/-1.5%) (P<.0001
      for changes between groups). At 3 months, more patients reached the proposed
      target omega-3 index level of 8%-12% in the treated vs placebo group (22.6% vs.
      1.3%, P<.0001), however, what omega-3 index levels were ultimately achieved after
      four years in this trial are unknown.

PMID- 27632921
TI  - Dietary withdrawal of phytoestrogens resulted in higher gene expression of 3-beta
      HSD and ARO but lower 5-alpha-R-1 in male rats.
AB  - Removing dietary phytoestrogens causes obesity and diabetes in adult male rats.
      Based on the facts that hypothalamic food intake control is disrupted in
      phytoestrogen-deprived animals and that several steroids affect food intake, we
      hypothesized that phytoestrogen withdrawal alters the expression of hypothalamic
      steroidogenic enzymes. Male Wistar rats fed with a high-phytoestrogen diet from
      conception to adulthood were subjected to phytoestrogen withdrawal by feeding
      them a low-phytoestrogen diet or a high-phytoestrogen, high-fat diet. Withdrawal
      of dietary phytoestrogens increased 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and P450
      aromatase gene expression and decreased those of 5alpha-reductase-1. This is a
      direct effect of the lack of dietary phytoestrogens and not a consequence of
      obesity, as it was not observed in high-fat-fed rats. Phytoestrogen withdrawal
      and high-fat diet intake reduced hypothalamic expression of estrogen receptor
      (ER)alpha correlated with low levels of ERalpha-O, ERalpha-OS, and ERalpha-OT
      transcripts. Variations in gene expression of steroidogenic enzymes may affect
      the content of neurosteroids. As neurosteroids are related to food intake
      control, the changes observed may be a novel mechanism in the regulation of
      energy balance in obese phytoestrogen-deprived animals. In rats, steroidogenesis
      and ER signaling appear to be altered by phytoestrogen withdrawal in the rat. The
      ubiquity of phytoestrogens in the diet and changing intakes or withdrawal suggest
      that aspects of human health could be affected based on the rat and warrant
      further research.

PMID- 27632922
TI  - Maternal n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deprivation during pregnancy and
      lactation affects neurogenesis and apoptosis in adult offspring: associated with
      DNA methylation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor transcripts.
AB  - In this study, we hypothesized that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)
      deficiency during pregnancy and lactation will make a lasting impact on brain
      neurogenesis and apoptosis of the adult offspring and that these harmful effects
      cannot be reversed by n-3 PUFA supplementation after weaning. Moreover, the
      underlying mechanisms may be attributable to the epigenetic changes of brain
      derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). C57BL/6J female mice were fed with n-3 PUFA
      deficient diet (n-3 def) or n-3 PUFA-adequate diet (n-3 adq) throughout pregnancy
      and lactation. At postnatal 21 days, equal numbers of male pups from both groups
      were fed the opposite diet, and the remaining male pups were fed with the same
      diets as their mothers until 3 months of age. Feeding the n-3 adq diet to pups
      from the maternal n-3 def group significantly increased the n-3 PUFA
      concentration but did not change expressions of calretinin, Bcl2, and Bax in the
      hippocampus. Feeding the n-3 def diet to pups from the maternal n-3 adq group
      significantly reduced the n-3 PUFA concentration but did not reduce expressions
      of calretinin and Bcl2. Similarly, BDNF levels, especially mRNA expressions of
      BDNF transcripts IV and IX, were also reduced by maternal n-3 def and not
      reversed by n-3 PUFA supplementation after weaning. The decrease in BDNF
      expression by maternal n-3 def diet was associated with greater DNA methylation
      at special CpG sites. These results suggested that the maternal n-3 PUFA
      deficiency during pregnancy and lactation imprints long-term changes of brain
      development in adult offspring.

PMID- 27632920
TI  - Defatted safflower seed extract inhibits adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and
      improves lipid profiles in C57BL/6J ob/ob mice fed a high-fat diet.
AB  - In the present study, we hypothesized that defatted safflower seed which is known
      to be rich in polyphenols might influence adipogenesis and obesity-related
      disorders, and therefore the anti-adipogenic and hypolipidemic effects of ethanol
      extract from defatted safflower (Cathamus tinctorius L.) seeds (CSE) were
      investigated both in cultured 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and in C57BL/6J ob/ob mice fed
      a high-fat diet. CSE inhibited adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes
      and decreased expression of the adipogenic transcription factors, SREBP1c and
      PPARgamma, and their target genes. Six-week-old obese (ob/ob) mice were fed a
      high-fat diet and treated with CSE (50 or 100 mg/kg/day) by oral gavage for 6
      weeks. Body fat mass (epididymal and perirenal white adipose tissues) in the CSE
      treated groups was significantly lower than that in the high-fat diet control
      (HFD) group, whereas average daily food intake was not significantly different
      among the groups. Plasma and hepatic triglyceride levels and plasma low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol level were also significantly lower in the CSE groups
      compared to the HFD group. These results suggest that CSE which decreases body
      fat mass and improves lipid profiles in plasma and liver, represents a potential
      treatment option for obesity and associated metabolic disorders, including
      hyperlipidemia.

PMID- 27632923
TI  - Sesamin ameliorates hepatic steatosis and inflammation in rats on a high-fat diet
      via LXRalpha and PPARalpha.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined by a nonalcohol relevant
      pathological accumulation of fat in the liver. Previous studies have shown that
      sesamin exerts antioxidant effects and improves lipid metabolism of the fatty
      liver. In this study, we hypothesized that sesamin improves lipid homeostasis of
      Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD) by regulating the expression of
      genes related to de novo lipogenesis and beta-oxidation. We induced NAFLD in rats
      with HFD and examined the effect of sesamin in vivo. The results showed that HFD
      rats accumulated total cholesterol and triacylglycerols in the liver and
      developed inflammation, as evidenced by the elevation of interleukin-6 and tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha in the liver and serum. Sesamin attenuated the disease
      progression by improving the blood lipid profile in a dose-dependent manner.
      Sesamin reduced the serum levels of total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol, and free fatty acid, whereas it increased the
      level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Meanwhile, sesamin increased the
      activities of hepatic glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase while
      reducing the level of malonaldehyde and cytochrome P450 2E1. Furthermore, higher
      doses of sesamin reduced the expression of liver X receptor alpha and its
      downstream target genes, whereas it upregulated the peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor alpha-mediated signaling. These findings suggest that sesamin
      attenuates diet-induced dyslipidemia and inflammation of NAFLD in rats via
      mechanisms regulated by liver X receptor alpha and peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor alpha.

PMID- 27632924
TI  - The new total Western diet for rodents does not induce an overweight phenotype or
      alter parameters of metabolic syndrome in mice.
AB  - In this study, we determined the impact of the total Western diet (TWD) for
      rodents and its macro- and micronutrient components on weight gain and biomarkers
      of metabolic function in mice compared to a 45% fat diet-induced obesity (DIO)
      diet and the standard AIN93G diet. We hypothesized that mice fed the TWD would
      have increased body fat with indicators of metabolic syndrome similar to mice
      consuming the DIO diet. As expected, DIO-fed mice acquired a metabolic syndrome
      phenotype typified by increased energy intake, increased body weight gain,
      increased fat mass, higher fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, and
      higher plasma leptin relative to the AIN93G diet. Mice fed a macronutrient
      modified (MM) diet (with standard vitamin and mineral composition) had a similar
      response, albeit to a lesser degree than mice fed the DIO diet. Mice fed a
      vitamin- and mineral-modified diet (with standard macronutrient composition) were
      not different from mice fed the AIN93G diet. Surprisingly, the TWD (with modified
      macronutrients, vitamins and minerals) did not significantly affect any of these
      parameters, despite the fact that the TWD macronutrient profile was identical to
      the MM diet. These data suggest that, in the context of the TWD, vitamin and
      mineral intakes in mice that reflect a Western dietary pattern inhibit the
      hyperphagia and resulting increased weight gain associated with the higher fat
      content of the TWD. In conclusion, these observations underscore the need to
      consider the influence of micronutrient intakes in pre-clinical models of obesity
      and metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 27632925
TI  - The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on cardiac patients' blood
      pressure, perceived stress, and anger: a single-blind randomized controlled
      trial.
AB  - This study aimed at assessing the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction
      (MBSR) on cardiac patients' blood pressure (BP), perceived stress, and anger. In
      total, 60 cardiac patients were recruited between April and June 2015 from a
      specialized private cardiac clinic located in Kashan, Iran. Patients were
      allocated to the intervention and control groups. Patients in the experimental
      group received MBSR in eight 2.5-hour sessions, while patients in the control
      group received no psychological therapy. The main outcomes were BP, perceived
      stress, and anger. Analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference
      between the study groups regarding the posttest values of systolic BP, perceived
      stress, and anger (P < .001). However, the study groups did not differ
      significantly in terms of diastolic BP (P = .061; P = .17). This study reveals
      that MBSR is effective in reducing cardiac patients' systolic BP, perceived
      stress, and anger.

PMID- 27632926
TI  - Corrigendum: First Experience of Ultrasound-guided Percutaneous Ablation for
      Recurrent Hepatoblastoma after Liver Resection in Children.

PMID- 27632927
TI  - Genome-wide association analysis reveals variants on chromosome 19 that
      contribute to childhood risk of chronic otitis media with effusion.
AB  - To identify genetic risk factors of childhood otitis media (OM), a genome-wide
      association study was performed on Finnish subjects, 829 affected children, and
      2118 randomly selected controls. The most significant and validated finding was
      an association with an 80 kb region on chromosome 19. It includes the variants
      rs16974263 (P = 1.77 * 10(-7), OR = 1.59), rs268662 (P = 1.564 * 10(-6), OR =
      1.54), and rs4150992 (P = 3.37 * 10(-6), OR = 1.52), and harbors the genes PLD3,
      SERTAD1, SERTAD3, HIPK4, PRX, and BLVRB, all in strong linkage disequilibrium. In
      a sub-phenotype analysis of the 512 patients with chronic otitis media with
      effusion, one marker reached genome-wide significance (rs16974263, P = 2.92 * 10(
      8)). The association to this locus was confirmed but with an association signal
      in the opposite direction, in a UK family cohort of 4860 subjects (rs16974263, P
      = 3.21 * 10(-4), OR = 0.72; rs4150992, P = 1.62 * 10(-4), OR = 0.71). Thus we
      hypothesize that this region is important for COME risk in both the Finnish and
      UK populations, although the precise risk variants or haplotype background remain
      unclear. Our study suggests that the identified region on chromosome 19 includes
      a novel and previously uncharacterized risk locus for OM.

PMID- 27632928
TI  - Rare variants in BRCA2 and CHEK2 are associated with the risk of urinary tract
      cancers.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that two rare variants, rs11571833 in BRCA2 and
      rs17879961 in CHEK2 were associated with lung cancer. However, the associations
      between these two variants and urinary tract cancers risk remain largely
      unexplored. We applied imputation of three genome-wide association studies
      published in the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP). Unconditional
      logistic regression analysis and meta-analysis were performed to assess the
      association between these two variants and the risk of urinary tract cancers. Our
      results showed that rs11571833[T] had an effect on urinary tract cancers
      predisposition (ORmeta = 1.45, Pmeta = 0.013), especially associated with
      increased the risk of bladder cancer (ORmeta = 1.60, Pmeta = 0.010). Moreover,
      rs17879961[C] had a protective effect on the urinary tract cancers (ORmeta =
      0.67, Pmeta = 1.0 * 10(-3)) and was mostly associated with a lower incidence of
      renal cell carcinoma (ORmeta = 0.51, Pmeta = 2.0 * 10(-3)). Together, our study
      indicates that BRCA2 and CHEK2 play an important role in the genetic
      susceptibility to urinary tract cancers.

PMID- 27632929
TI  - Laparoscopic Management of Huge Cervical Myoma.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility of laparoscopic management of a
      huge cervical myoma. DESIGN: Step-by-step video demonstration of the surgical
      procedure (Canadian Task Force classification III-C). SETTING: Uterine myoma is
      the most common benign neoplasm of the female reproductive tract, with an
      estimated incidence of 25% to 30% at reproductive age [1,2]. Patients generally
      have no symptoms; however, those with such symptoms as severe pelvic pain, heavy
      uterine bleeding, or infertility may be candidates for surgery. The traditional
      management is surgery; however, uterine artery embolization or hormonal therapy
      using a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist or a selective estrogen receptor
      modulator should be preferred as the medical approach. Surgical management should
      be performed via laparoscopy or laparotomy; however, the use of laparoscopic
      myomectomy is being debated for patients with huge myomas. Difficulties in the
      excision, removal, and repair of myometrial defects, increased operative time,
      and blood loss are factors keeping physicians away from laparoscopic myomectomy
      [1,2]. INTERVENTIONS: A 40-year-old gravida 0, para 0 woman was admitted to our
      clinic with complaints of chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia, and infertility. Her
      health history was unremarkable. Ultrasonographic examination revealed a 14 * 10
      cm myoma in the cervical region. On bimanual examination, an immobile solid mass
      originating from the uterine cervix and filling the pouch of Douglas was
      palpated. The patient was informed of the findings, and laparoscopic myomectomy
      was recommended because of her desire to preserve her fertility. Abdominopelvic
      examination revealed a huge myoma filling and enlarging the cervix. Myomectomy
      was performed using standard technique as described elsewhere. A transverse
      incision was made using a harmonic scalpel. The myoma was fixed with a corkscrew
      manipulator and enucleated. Once bleeding was controlled, the myoma bed was
      filled with Spongostan to prevent possible bleeding from leakage. Owing to the
      anatomic structure of the cervical region, the incision was closed in a monolayer
      with 0 Vicryl. Total intraoperative blood loss was 300 mL, the total weight of
      the myoma was 670 g, and the operation lasted approximately 140 minutes. The
      patient experienced no intraoperative complications. She was discharged on
      postoperative day 1 and did not exhibit any problems at follow-up. The final
      histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of uterine leiomyoma.
      CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic management of huge myomas in difficult locations such as
      the cervical region seems to be a feasible and safe surgical option, especially
      in experienced hands.

PMID- 27632930
TI  - Laparoscopic Management of Huge Myoma Nascendi.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility of laparoscopic management of a
      huge myoma nascendi. DESIGN: Step-by-step video demonstration of the surgical
      procedure (Canadian Task Force classification III-C). SETTING: Uterine myoma is
      the most common benign neoplasm of the female reproductive tract, with an
      estimated incidence of 25% to 30% at reproductive age [1,2]. Patients generally
      have no symptoms; however, those with such symptoms as severe pelvic pain, heavy
      uterine bleeding, or infertility may be candidates for surgery. The traditional
      management is surgery; however, uterine artery embolization or hormonal therapy
      using a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist or a selective estrogen receptor
      modulator should be preferred as the medical approach. Surgical management should
      be performed via laparoscopy or laparotomy; however, the use of laparoscopic
      myomectomy is being debated for patients with huge myomas. Difficulties in the
      excision, removal, and repair of myometrial defects, increased operative time,
      and blood loss are factors keeping physicians away from laparoscopic myomectomy
      [1,2]. INTERVENTIONS: A 35-year-old woman was admitted to our clinic with
      complaints of chronic pelvic pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Her medical
      history included multiple hospitalizations for blood transfusions, along with a
      recently measured hemoglobin level of 9.5 g/dL and a hematocrit value of 29%. She
      had never been married and had no children. Pelvic ultrasonography revealed a 12
      * 10-cm uterine myoma located on the posterior side of the corpus uteri and
      protruding through to the cervical channel. This was a huge intramural submucous
      myoma in close proximity to the endometrial cavity and spreading through the
      myometrium. On vaginal examination, the myoma was found to extend into the vagina
      through the cervical channel. Laparoscopic myomectomy was planned because of the
      patient's desire for fertility preservation. Abdominopelvic exploration revealed
      a huge myoma filling the posterior side of the corpus uteri and extending to the
      isthmus uteri and cervical channel. A myomectomy was performed using standard
      technique as described elsewhere. A vertical incision was made using a harmonic
      scalpel. The myoma was fixed with a corkscrew manipulator and enucleated. During
      the procedure, the endometrial cavity was torn and was closed with 2-0 Vicryl
      separately. Total intraoperative blood loss was 250 mL, the total weight of the
      myoma was 245 g, and the operation lasted about 120 minutes. The patient
      experienced no intraoperative complications. She was discharged on postoperative
      day 1 and did not exhibit any problems at follow-up. The final histopathological
      examination confirmed the diagnosis of uterine leiomyoma. CONCLUSION:
      Laparoscopic management of huge myomas in difficult locations appears to be a
      feasible and safe surgical option, especially in experienced hands.

PMID- 27632932
TI  - Triiodothyronine regulates cell growth and survival in renal cell cancer.
AB  - Triiodothyronine plays an important role in the regulation of kidney cell growth,
      differentiation and metabolism. Patients with renal cell cancer who develop
      hypothyreosis during tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment have statistically
      longer survival. In this study, we developed cell based model of triiodothyronine
      (T3) analysis in RCC and we show the different effects of T3 on renal cell cancer
      (RCC) cell growth response and expression of the thyroid hormone receptor in
      human renal cell cancer cell lines from primary and metastatic tumors along with
      human kidney cancer stem cells. Wild-type thyroid hormone receptor is
      ubiquitously expressed in human renal cancer cell lines, but normalized against
      healthy renal proximal tube cell expression its level is upregulated in Caki-2,
      RCC6, SKRC-42, SKRC-45 cell lines. On the contrary the mRNA level in the 769-P,
      ACHN, HKCSC, and HEK293 cells is significantly decreased. The TRbeta protein was
      abundant in the cytoplasm of the 786-O, Caki-2, RCC6, and SKRC-45 cells and in
      the nucleus of SKRC-42, ACHN, 769-P and cancer stem cells. T3 has promoting
      effect on the cell proliferation of HKCSC, Caki-2, ASE, ACHN, SK-RC-42, SMKT-R2,
      Caki-1, 786-0, and SK-RC-45 cells. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor, sunitinib, directly
      inhibits proliferation of RCC cells, while thyroid hormone receptor antagonist 1
      850 (CAS 251310-57-3) has less significant inhibitory impact. T3 stimulation does
      not abrogate inhibitory effect of sunitinib. Renal cancer tumor cells
      hypostimulated with T3 may be more responsive to tyrosine kinase inhibition.
      Moreover, some tumors may be considered as T3-independent and present aggressive
      phenotype with thyroid hormone receptor activated independently from the ligand.
      On the contrary proliferation induced by deregulated VHL and or c-Met pathways
      may transgress normal T3 mediated regulation of the cell cycle. 

PMID- 27632931
TI  - Serological blind spots for variants of human IgG3 and IgG4 by a commonly used
      anti-immunoglobulin reagent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human immunoglobulin G (IgG) includes four different subtypes (IgG1,
      IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4), and it is also now appreciated that there are genetic
      variations within IgG subtypes (called isoallotypes). Twenty-nine different
      isoallotypes have been described, with 7, 4, 15, and 3 isoallotypes described for
      IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4, respectively. The reactivity of anti-IgG with
      different isoallotypes has not been characterized. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A
      novel monoclonal anti-K antibody (PugetSound Monoclonal Antibody 1 [PUMA1]) was
      isolated and sequenced, and a panel of PUMA1 variants was expressed, consisting
      of the 29 known IgG isoallotypes. The resulting panel of antibodies was
      preincubated with K-positive red blood cells (RBCs) and then subjected to testing
      with currently approved anti-IgG by flow cytometry, solid phase systems, gel
      cards, and tube testing. RESULTS: A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
      approved monoclonal anti-IgG (gamma-clone) failed to recognize 2 of 15 IgG3
      isoallotypes (IgG3-03 and IgG3-13) and 3 of 3 IgG4 isoallotypes (IgG4-01, IgG4
      02, and IgG4-03). In contrast, an FDA-approved rabbit polyclonal anti-IgG
      recognized each of the known human IgG isoallotypes. CONCLUSION: These findings
      demonstrate "blind spots" in isoalloantibody detection by a monoclonal anti-IgG.
      If a patient has anti-RBC antibodies predominantly of an IgG3 subtype (the IgG3
      03 and/or IgG3-13 variety), then it is possible that a clinically significant
      alloantibody would be missed. IgG-03 and IgG-13 have an estimated frequency of 1%
      to 3% in Caucasian populations and 20% to 30% in certain African populations.
      Nonreactivity with IgG4 is a known characteristic of this monoclonal anti-IgG,
      but IgG4 isoallotypes have not been previously reported.

PMID- 27632933
TI  - The PARP inhibitor ABT-888 potentiates dacarbazine-induced cell death in
      carcinoids.
AB  - Monoagent DNA-alkylating chemotherapies like dacarbazine are among a paucity of
      medical treatments for advanced carcinoid tumors, but are limited by host
      toxicity and intrinsic chemoresistance through the base excision repair (BER)
      pathway via poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Hence, inhibitors of PARP may
      potentiate DNA-damaging agents by blocking BER and DNA restoration. We show that
      the PARP inhibitor ABT-888 (Veliparib) enhances the cytotoxic effects of
      dacarbazine in carcinoids. Two human carcinoid cell lines (BON and H727) treated
      with a combination of ABT-888 and dacarbazine resulted in synergistic growth
      inhibition signified by combination indices <1 on the Chou-Talalay scale. ABT-888
      administered prior to varying dacarbazine doses promoted the suppression of
      neuroendocrine biomarkers of malignancy, ASCL1 and chromogranin A, as shown by
      western analysis. Ataxia telangiectasia mitogen factor phosphorylation and
      p21Waf1/Cip1 activation, indicative of DNA damage, were increased by ABT-888 when
      combined with dacarbazine treatment, suggesting BER pathway attenuation by ABT
      888. PE Annexin V/7-AAD staining and sorting revealed a profound induction of
      apoptosis following combination treatment, which was further confirmed by
      increased PARP cleavage. These results demonstrate that ABT-888 synergizes
      dacarbazine treatment in carcinoids. Therefore, ABT-888 may help treat carcinoids
      unresponsive or refractory to mainstay therapies.

PMID- 27632934
TI  - Gene therapy using plasmid DNA-encoded anti-HER2 antibody for cancers that
      overexpress HER2.
AB  - Plasmid DNA-encoded antibodies, or DNA-based monoclonal antibodies (dMAbs), are
      delivered by intramuscular injection and in vivo electroporation (EP) and are
      effective in virus neutralization, although they have not been evaluated for
      tumor gene therapy. Here we investigated whether a dMAb was appropriate for tumor
      gene therapy. We constructed the expression plasmids coding for the heavy or
      light chain of a parental murine antibody of Herceptin with the antibody genes
      codon- and RNA-optimized and fused to the Kozak-IgE leader sequence in pVax1.
      Transfection of the plasmids into human muscle RD cells resulted in functional
      expression of the antibody, and this exhibited the same in vitro
      antiproliferative activity as Herceptin. A single intramuscular injection and in
      vivo EP of the plasmids (100 MUg per head) resulted in high and sustained
      antibody expression in the sera of normal mice and in effective inhibition of
      tumor growth in nude mice bearing HER2-positive human breast carcinoma BT474
      xenografts. The antitumor efficacy of the anti-HER2 dMAb was similar to that of
      four doses of intravenously injected 10 mg kg-1 Herceptin. The results
      demonstrate that the dMAb is effective in the treatment of HER2-positive breast
      cancer, suggesting that this dMAb may be applicable for tumor gene therapy.

PMID- 27632936
TI  - Validation of an enantioselective LC-MS/MS method to quantify enantiomers of (+/
      )-OTX015 in mice plasma: Lack of in vivo inversion of (-)-OTX015 to its antipode.
AB  - A highly sensitive, specific and enantioselective assay has been validated for
      the quantitation of OTX015 enantiomers [(+)-OTX015 and (-)-OTX015] in mice plasma
      on LC-MS/MS-electrospray ionization as per regulatory guidelines. Protein
      precipitation was used to extract (+/-)-OTX015 enantiomers and internal standard
      (IS) from mice plasma. The active [(-)-OTX015] and inactive [(+)-OTX015]
      enantiomers were resolved on a Chiralpak-IA column using an isocratic mobile
      phase (0.2% ammonia/acetonitrile 20 : 80, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. The
      total run time was 6.0 min. (+)-OTX015, (-)-OTX015 and IS eluted at 3.34, 4.08
      and 4.77 min, respectively. The MS/MS ion transitions monitored were m/z 492 ->
      383 for OTX015 and m/z 457 -> 401 for IS. The standard curves for OTX015
      enantiomers were linear (r2  > 0.998) in the concentration range 1.03-1030 ng/mL.
      The inter- and intraday precisions were in the range 2.20-13.3 and 8.03-12.1% and
      3.80-14.4 and 8.97-13.6% for (+)-OTX015 and (-)-OTX015, respectively. Both the
      enantiomers were found to be stable in a battery of stability studies. This novel
      method has been applied to the study of stereoselective oral pharmacokinetics of
      (-)-OTX015 and unequivocally demonstrated that (-)-OTX015 does not undergo chiral
      inversion to its antipode in vivo in mice.

PMID- 27632935
TI  - THBS2 is a Potential Prognostic Biomarker in Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is one of the most common leading causes of death worldwide.
      Prognostic at an early stage is a useful way that decrease and avoid mortality.
      Although remarkable progress has been made to investigate the underlying
      mechanism, the understanding of the complicated carcinogenesis process was
      enormously hindered by large-scale tumor heterogeneity. Here we proposed that the
      prognosis-related gene THBS2, responsible for cooperativity disorientation,
      probably contain untapped prognostic resource of colorectal cancer. We originally
      established Spearman correlation transition, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and
      meta-analysis that combine public dataset and clinical samples to quantify the
      prognostic value of THBS2. THBS2 could be considered as a novel prognostic marker
      in colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27632937
TI  - Use of Oral Fluids for Detection of Virus and Antibodies in Pigs Infected with
      Swine Vesicular Disease Virus.
AB  - The use of swine oral fluid (OF) for the detection of nucleic acids and
      antibodies is gaining significant popularity. Assays have been developed for this
      purpose for endemic and foreign animal diseases of swine. Here, we report the use
      of OF for the detection of virus and antibodies in pigs experimentally infected
      with swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV), a virus that causes a disease
      clinically indistinguishable from the economically devastating foot-and-mouth
      disease. Viral genome was detected in OF by real-time reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) from 1 day post-infection (DPI) to 21 DPI.
      Virus isolation from OF was also successful at 1-5 DPI. An adapted competitive
      ELISA based on the monoclonal antibodies 5B7 detected antibodies to SVDV in OF
      starting at DPI 6. Additionally, using isotype-specific indirect ELISAs, SVDV
      specific IgM and IgA were evaluated in OF. IgM response started at DPI 6, peaking
      at DPI 7 or 14 and declining sharply at DPI 21, while IgA response started at DPI
      7, peaked at DPI 14 and remained high until the end of the experiment. These
      results confirm the potential use of OF for SVD surveillance using both
      established and partially validated assays in this study.

PMID- 27632938
TI  - TBX18 gene induces adipose-derived stem cells to differentiate into pacemaker
      like cells in the myocardial microenvironment.
AB  - T-box 18 (TBX18) plays a crucial role in the formation and development of the
      head of the sinoatrial node. The objective of this study was to induce adipose
      derived stem cells (ADSCs) to produce pacemaker-like cells by transfection with
      the TBX18 gene. A recombinant adenovirus vector carrying the human TBX18 gene was
      constructed to transfect ADSCs. The ADSCs transfected with TBX18 were considered
      the TBX18-ADSCs. The control group was the GFP-ADSCs. The transfected cells were
      co-cultured with neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs). The results
      showed that the mRNA expression of TBX18 in TBX18-ADSCs was significantly higher
      than in the control group after 48 h and 7 days. After 7 days of co-culturing
      with NRVMs, there was no significant difference in the expression of the
      myocardial marker cardiac troponin I (cTnI) between the two groups. RT-qPCR and
      western blot analysis showed that the expression of HCN4 was higher in the TBX18
      ADSCs than in the GFP-ADSCs. The If current was detected using the whole cell
      patch clamp technique and was blocked by the specific blocker CsCl. Human induced
      pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSCMs) showed approximately twice
      the current density compared with the ADSCs. Our study indicated that the TBX18
      gene induces ADSCs to differentiate into pacemaker-like cells in the cardiac
      microenvironment. Although further experiments are required in order to assess
      safety and efficacy prior to implementation in clinical practice, this technique
      may provide new avenues for the clinical therapy of bradycardia.

PMID- 27632939
TI  - How Does Solvation Affect the Binding of Hydrophilic Amino Saccharides to
      Cucurbit[7]uril with Exceptional Anomeric Selectivity?
AB  - Cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) is known to bind strongly to hydrophilic amino saccharide
      guests with exceptional alpha-anomer selectivities under aqueous conditions.
      Single-crystal X-ray crystallography and computational methods were used to
      elucidate the reason behind this interesting phenomenon. The crystal structures
      of protonated galactosamine (GalN) and glucosamine (GluN) complexes confirm the
      inclusion of alpha anomers inside CB[7] and disclose the details of the host
      guest binding. Whereas computed gas-phase structures agree with these crystal
      structures, gas-phase binding free energies show preferences for the beta-anomer
      complexes over their alpha counterparts, in striking contrast to the experimental
      results under aqueous conditions. However, when the solvation effect is
      considered, the binding structures drastically change and the preference for the
      alpha anomers is recovered. The alpha anomers also tend to bind more tightly and
      leave less space in the CB[7] cavity toward inclusion of only one water molecule,
      whereas loosely bound beta anomers leave more space toward accommodating two
      water molecules, with markedly different hydrogen-bonding natures. Surprisingly,
      entropy seems to contribute significantly to both anomeric discrimination and
      binding. This suggests that of all the driving factors for the strong
      complexation of the hydrophilic amino saccharide guests, water mediation plays a
      crucial role in the anomer discrimination.

PMID- 27632941
TI  - Stabilization of LSD1 by deubiquitinating enzyme USP7 promotes glioblastoma cell
      tumorigenesis and metastasis through suppression of the p53 signaling pathway.
AB  - The substrates and mechanisms of ubiquitin specific peptidase 7 (USP7) in glioma
      remain unclear. Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) may undergo proteasomal
      degradation; however, a reciprocal mechanism that stabilizes LSD1 in glioma has
      not been dertermined. Here co-immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays
      revealed that LSD1 is associated with USP7 in vivo and in vitro. USP7 inhibited
      LSD1 ubiquitination and stabilized LSD1 in A172 and T98G cells. MTT, EdU
      proliferation, flow cytometry and Transwell assays indicated that LSD1 played a
      critical role in the proliferation and invasion of glioblastoma (GBM) cells. We
      defined the mechanism of USP7 in GBM, through counterbalanced LSD1
      ubiquitylation. USP7 caused G0/G1 arrest, promoted tumorigenesis and invasion of
      A172 and T98G cells. We also uncovered the suppression of the p53 signaling
      pathway that mediated the activity of USP7 and LSD1. Furthermore, USP7 and LSD1
      expression levels were higher in the 150 glioma patients than these levels in
      normal brain tissues and were correlated with glioma progression. LSD1 was
      increased concurrently with USP7 during glioblastoma progression and both were
      predictors for worsened prognosis. Collectively, our study suggested that USP7
      LSD1 affects GBM cell proliferation and invasion and may be valuable as novel
      therapeutic targets and prognostic tools for GBM.

PMID- 27632942
TI  - Unstable B7-H4 cell surface expression and T-cell redirection as a means of
      cancer therapy.
AB  - Tumor immune regulation has been demonstrated in clinical studies using
      antibodies targeted to the B7/CD28 family. B7 homolog 4 (B7-H4) negatively
      regulates immune responses and is overexpressed in many types of human cancer,
      indicating that B7-H4 may be a potential target of cancer therapy. B7-H4
      expression is affected by the microenvironment, and its presence has been
      reported in cancer tissues and immune cells. We found an upregulation of B7-H4
      expression using comprehensive whole exome sequencing and gene expression
      profiling (project HOPE) launched by the Shizuoka Cancer Center based on tumor
      tissue samples from 1,058 cancer patients. We were successful in producing
      monoclonal antibodies for B7-H4 and demonstrated B7-H4 dimerization and rapid
      cell surface disappearance by antibody cross-linking in breast cancer cells, even
      under typical conditions. These observations may explain why antibody-dependent
      cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) did not function in vivo on the B7-H4-expressing
      tumor cells. Unstable cell surface antigens are not suitable as targets for ADCC,
      and we therefore performed an indirect ADCC-redirecting T-cell cytotoxicity assay
      to study B7-H4 using polyclonal anti-mouse IgG antibody-mediated linking. Our
      results showed the possibility of targeting the B7-H4 molecule as a means of
      treating cancer.

PMID- 27632940
TI  - The N-terminal domain plays a crucial role in the structure of a full-length
      human mitochondrial Lon protease.
AB  - Lon is an essential, multitasking AAA(+) protease regulating many cellular
      processes in species across all kingdoms of life. Altered expression levels of
      the human mitochondrial Lon protease (hLon) are linked to serious diseases
      including myopathies, paraplegia, and cancer. Here, we present the first 3D
      structure of full-length hLon using cryo-electron microscopy. hLon has a unique
      three-dimensional structure, in which the proteolytic and ATP-binding domains (AP
      domain) form a hexameric chamber, while the N-terminal domain is arranged as a
      trimer of dimers. These two domains are linked by a narrow trimeric channel
      composed likely of coiled-coil helices. In the presence of AMP-PNP, the AP-domain
      has a closed-ring conformation and its N-terminal entry gate appears closed, but
      in ADP binding, it switches to a lock-washer conformation and its N-terminal gate
      opens, which is accompanied by a rearrangement of the N-terminal domain. We have
      also found that both the enzymatic activities and the 3D structure of a hLon
      mutant lacking the first 156 amino acids are severely disturbed, showing that
      hLon's N-terminal domains are crucial for the overall structure of the hLon,
      maintaining a conformation allowing its proper functioning.

PMID- 27632943
TI  - Energy transfer rate and electron-phonon coupling properties in Eu3+ -doped
      nanophosphors.
AB  - A series of controllable emissions SrWO4 :Eu3+ and charge-compensated SrWO4 :
      Eum3+ (m = 0.01 or 0.20) phosphors was successfully prepared via a simple co
      precipitation method. The energy transfer mechanism was studied based on the
      Huang's theory. A low magnitude of Huang-Rhys factor (10-2 ) was calculated using
      phonon sideband spectra. The Judd-Ofelt parameters Omegalambda (lambda = 2, 4 and
      6) of Eu3+ -activated SrWO4 doped with charge compensation were obtained. The
      calculated Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage chromaticity coordinates were
      found to be about (0.67, 0.33) for SrWO4 : Eu0.203+ and charge-compensated SrWO4
      : Eu0.203+ phosphors, which coincided with the National Television Standard
      Committee system standard values for red. A white light emission was obtained
      under 362 nm excitation. The correlated color temperature was computed by a
      simple equation to characterize light sources. Thus, warm white light-emitting
      diodes with higher Ra can be constructed by combining as-prepared high
      efficiency, low correlated color temperature and high color purity phosphor.

PMID- 27632944
TI  - Community pharmacists as educators in Danish residential facilities: a
      qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore experiences with engaging community pharmacists in
      educational programmes on quality and safety in medication handling in
      residential facilities for the disabled. METHODS: A secondary analysis of data
      from two Danish intervention studies where community pharmacists were engaged in
      educational programmes. Data included 10 semi-structured interviews with staff,
      five semi-structured interviews and three open-ended questionnaires with
      residential facility managers, and five open-ended questionnaires to community
      pharmacists. Data were thematically coded to identify key points pertaining to
      the themes 'pharmacists as educators' and 'perceived effects of engaging
      pharmacists in competence development'. KEY FINDINGS: As educators, pharmacists
      were successful as medicines experts. Some pharmacists experienced pedagogical
      challenges. Previous teaching experience and obtained knowledge of the local
      residential facility before teaching often provided sufficient pedagogical skills
      and tailored teaching to local needs. Effects of engaging community pharmacists
      included in most instances improved cooperation between residential facilities
      and community pharmacies through a trustful relationship and improved dialogue
      about the residents' medication. Other effects included a perception of improved
      patient safety, teaching skills and branding of the pharmacy. CONCLUSIONS:
      Community pharmacists provide a resource to engage in educational programmes on
      medication handling in residential facilities, which may facilitate improved
      cooperation between community pharmacies and residential facilities. However,
      development of pedagogical competences and understandings of local settings are
      prerequisites for facilities and pharmacists to experience the programmes as
      successful.

PMID- 27632945
TI  - Cost-Effectiveness of Orthogeriatric and Fracture Liaison Service Models of Care
      for Hip Fracture Patients: A Population-Based Study.
AB  - Fracture liaison services are recommended as a model of best practice for
      organizing patient care and secondary fracture prevention for hip fracture
      patients, although variation exists in how such services are structured. There is
      considerable uncertainty as to which model is most cost-effective and should
      therefore be mandated. This study evaluated the cost- effectiveness of
      orthogeriatric (OG)- and nurse-led fracture liaison service (FLS) models of post
      hip fracture care compared with usual care. Analyses were conducted from a health
      care and personal social services payer perspective, using a Markov model to
      estimate the lifetime impact of the models of care. The base-case population
      consisted of men and women aged 83 years with a hip fracture. The risk and costs
      of hip and non-hip fractures were derived from large primary and hospital care
      data sets in the UK. Utilities were informed by a meta-regression of 32 studies.
      In the base-case analysis, the orthogeriatric-led service was the most effective
      and cost-effective model of care at a threshold of L30,000 per quality-adjusted
      life years gained (QALY). For women aged 83 years, the OG-led service was the
      most cost-effective at L22,709/QALY. If only health care costs are considered, OG
      led service was cost-effective at L12,860/QALY and L14,525/QALY for women and men
      aged 83 years, respectively. Irrespective of how patients were stratified in
      terms of their age, sex, and Charlson comorbidity score at index hip fracture,
      our results suggest that introducing an orthogeriatrician-led or a nurse-led FLS
      is cost-effective when compared with usual care. Although considerable
      uncertainty remains concerning which of the models of care should be preferred,
      introducing an orthogeriatrician-led service seems to be the most cost-effective
      service to pursue. (c) 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 27632946
TI  - Stereoselective Organocatalyzed Synthesis of alpha-Fluorinated beta-Amino
      Thioesters and Their Application in Peptide Synthesis.
AB  - alpha-Fluorinated beta-amino thioesters were obtained in high yields and
      stereoselectivities by organocatalyzed addition reactions of alpha-fluorinated
      monothiomalonates (F-MTMs) to N-Cbz- and N-Boc-protected imines. The
      transformation requires catalyst loadings of only 1 mol % and proceeds under mild
      reaction conditions. The obtained addition products were readily used for
      coupling-reagent-free peptide synthesis in solution and on solid phase. The alpha
      fluoro-beta-(carb)amido moiety showed distinct conformational preferences, as
      determined by crystal structure and NMR spectroscopic analysis.

PMID- 27632947
TI  - Characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage K5 genome and identification of
      its receptor related genes.
AB  - Phage genomic information and the nature of host-phage interactions are important
      for phage applications. In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage K5 is
      characterized as a linear double-stranded genomic DNA molecule of 93,754 bp with
      identical 1182-bp direct terminal repeats. Comparative genomic analysis reveals
      that phage K5 is highly homologous to the "PaP1-like" phages. Thirteen mutants
      resistant to phage K5 are screened in a transposon mutant library. The disrupted
      genetic loci are identified as gene Y880_RS05480 encoding a putative O-antigen
      polymerase Wzy and gene wapH encoding a glycosyltransferase. The mutants are
      confirmed by the complementation experiment. The production of biofilm and the
      profile of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) are further analyzed in the Y880_RS05480
      mutant. Our data indicate that LPS is the receptor of phage K5.

PMID- 27632948
TI  - Headache Literacy-A Definition and Theory to Help Improve Patient Outcomes of
      Diverse Populations and Ameliorate Headache and Headache Care Disparities.

PMID- 27632949
TI  - Mutational analysis and stability characterization of a novel esterase of
      lipolytic enzyme family VI from Shewanella sp.
AB  - Esterases are widely used in different industries. Here, a novel esterase, Esth,
      with low identity with previously reported esterases, was identified and
      characterized. The results showed that Esth was a cold-adapted esterase and
      retained 50% of its maximum activity at 0 degrees C. Besides, Esth showed great
      activity and stability in high concentrations of NaCl. When treated with some
      organic solvents, detergents and metal ions, Esth showed high activity as well.
      The kcat/Km value of Esth was 29.5s-1mM-1, suggesting that it has higher
      catalytic efficiency than all the previously reported esterases from the same
      family, lipolytic enzyme family VI. The structural modeling showed that changing
      Ala129 into Gly would form a new hydrogen bond between ser125 and Gly129 and make
      thealpha-helix longer, which might influence on the thermostability of enzymes
      (Kumar, 2000). To confirm this, the mutant EsthA129G was obtained by site
      directed mutagenesis. The result indicated that EsthA129G retained over 70% of
      the activity versus 12% for Esth after incubation at 55 degrees C for 120min,
      showed a nearly six fold increase when compared with wild type. Overall, Esth
      shows a potential application prospect in extreme conditions and the mutation
      research can provide some structural information about thermostable enzymes.

PMID- 27632950
TI  - Evaluation of chitosan hydrochloride-alginate as enteric micro-probiotic-carrier
      with dual protective barriers.
AB  - In this study, the cells-free and cells-loaded chitosan hydrochloride-alginate
      (CHC-Alg) microcapsules were firstly fabricated with polyelectrolyte complexes
      via an orifice-polymerization method. Scanning electron microscope images showed
      that the CHC-Alg microcapsules had a typical shell-core structure and the model
      probiotic cells (Bacillus licheniformis) were embedded in the core in cells
      loaded microcapsules. The microcapsules prepared had good thermal stability and
      moisture property (3.89%). Cells survival and release studies showed that the
      number of probiotic cells released from the cells-loaded microcapsules (approx.
      6.36logCFUml-1) was 6.19logCFUml-1 when they were performed in the simulated
      gastric fluid (SGF, pH 2.0) for 1h and subsequently in the simulated intestinal
      fluid (SIF, 0.3%) for 4h. The CHC-Alg microcapsules with favorable swelling
      performances were helpful to permeate the harsh acid to protect the cells in the
      SGF (pH 2.0). The CHC-Alg microcapsules effectively protected the model probiotic
      cells, which was attributed to the "dual protective barriers" of the shell-core
      structure, that is, the primary barrier of the Alg hydrogel layer formed with a
      compact polymer matrix and the secondary barrier of the PEC film formed on the
      surface. The microcapsules prepared could be used as an enteric micro-probiotic
      carrier for designing potential probiotic delivery systems.

PMID- 27632951
TI  - Unravelling the distinct crystallinity and thermal properties of suberin
      compounds from Quercus suber and Betula pendula outer barks.
AB  - The main purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of suberin (a
      naturally occurring aromatic-aliphatic polyester ubiquitous to the vegetable
      realm) as a renewable source of chemicals and, in particular, to assess their
      physical properties. A comparison between cork and birch suberin fragments
      obtained by conventional depolymerisation processes (hydrolysis or methanolysis)
      is provided, focusing essentially on their thermal and crystallinity properties.
      It was found that suberin fragments obtained by the hydrolysis depolymerisation
      of birch had a high degree of crystallinity, as indicated by their thermal
      analysis and corroborated by the corresponding XRD diffractions, as opposed to
      hydrolysis-depolymerised cork suberin counterparts, which were essentially
      amorphous.

PMID- 27632952
TI  - Sodium alginate stabilized silver nanoparticles-silica nanohybrid and their
      antibacterial characteristics.
AB  - Due to the problem of resistance of many infectious agents to the usual
      treatments, this study addresses the ways of obtaining and using new sodium
      alginate stabilized-silver/mesoporous silica (Na-Alg-s-AgNPs@SiO2) nanohybrid as
      antimicrobial agents. Capping AgNPs with a shell of mesoporous SiO2 is a system
      to build the increase biocompatibility of AgNPs. In this work, we report a simple
      and green way to deal with setting up a uniform sodium alginate-stabilized silver
      nanoparticles embedded mesoporous silica (Na-Alg-s-AgNPs@SiO2 nanohybrid). The
      synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and ultraviolet
      visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra, which exhibited that AgNPs with average of
      size of ~7nm were consistently and compactly deposited in the nanocomposite. The
      nanohybrid demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity against both Gram
      negative (-ve) and Gram positive (+ve) bacteria. Thus, the developed Na-Alg-s
      AgNPs@SiO2 nanohybrid has a potential to be used for various antibacterial
      applications in biotechnology and biomedical fields.

PMID- 27632953
TI  - Anterior approach to improve the long-term outcome in patients with large-size
      hepatocellular carcinoma having liver resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: A prospective study was conducted to investigate the
      effect of anterior approach for hepatectomy on long-term outcome of HCC patients
      with different tumor size. METHODS: Long-term outcomes were investigated between
      patients with different tumor size underwent liver resection by either anterior
      or conventional approach (i.e., AA or CA group). RESULTS: The recurrence rate in
      AA group was much lower than that in CA group (52.4% vs.73.1%, P = 0.001). The
      survival rate in AA group was much higher than that in CA group (60.0% vs. 38.0%,
      P < 0.001). Furthermore, the differences in recurrence and survival rates in
      patients with large-size tumor (>5 cm) between AA and CA groups were significant
      (80.0% vs. 54.7%, P = 0.002; 25.0% vs. 54.2%, P = 0.001, respectively), whereas
      the differences in tumor recurrence and survival rates in patients with small
      size tumor between the two groups (<=5 cm) were not significant (64.6% vs. 50.0%,
      P = 0.141; 56.3% vs. 65.4%, P = 0.349, respectively). Multivariate analysis found
      that convention approach for hepatectomy was one of the independent risk factors
      for HCC recurrence and poor survival. CONCLUSIONS: Prognosis of patients with
      large-size HCC tumor with the anterior approach was superior to that with the
      conventional approach. Large-size tumor (>5 cm) could be the clinical indicator
      for anterior approach for hepatectomy. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:872-878. (c) 2016
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27632956
TI  - Case reports in dermatology: loved by clinicians, loathed by editors, and
      occasionally important.

PMID- 27632954
TI  - Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein-1 up-regulates cytokines and
      correlates with older age and poorer prognosis in Hodgkin lymphoma.
AB  - AIMS: Previously, we reported an association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)
      positive Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), older age, and poorer prognosis. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying this association. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Transfection of HL cell lines with EBV latent membrane protein-1 (LMP1)
      resulted in up-regulation of many cytokine genes as assessed by the use of
      oligonucleotide microarrays. The up-regulation of cytokines was validated by
      using an inflammatory cytokine protein array: macrophage inflammatory protein
      (MIP)-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and interleukin (IL)-13. Immunostaining of HL samples (n
      = 104) showed that expression of MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta and IL-13 correlated with
      EBV infection and LMP1 expression. Combined expression of these cytokines was
      more common in patients aged >60 years (P < 0.001), and was associated with a
      poorer prognosis (P = 0.042). In another cohort, serum levels of MIP-1alpha, MIP
      1beta and IL-13 were increased in HL patients (n = 53) and highest in EBV
      positive HL patients as compared with healthy controls (n = 40). Xenograft mice
      injected with EBV-positive HL cells had higher serum levels of MIP-1alpha, MIP
      1beta and IL-13 than mice injected with EBV-negative HL cells, although there was
      no difference in growth. CONCLUSIONS: EBV infection appears to promote the
      release of cytokines in HL patients, and negatively impacts on patient survival.
      Physiological immunosenescence probably explains the association between EBV
      infection and older age. Cytokine modulation is a potential therapeutic target
      for EBV-positive HL patients.

PMID- 27632957
TI  - Physical activity and lifestyle improvement in the management of psoriasis.

PMID- 27632958
TI  - Heat urticaria - easy to diagnose but also to misdiagnose.

PMID- 27632959
TI  - Protein kinases and phophodiesterases in psoriasis: time to refocus on
      biochemistry.

PMID- 27632960
TI  - Suicide and psoriasis: no longer an association.

PMID- 27632961
TI  - Tyrosinase inhibitors from marine algae.

PMID- 27632962
TI  - Turning up the heat: mechanistic insights into thermal photodynamic therapy.

PMID- 27632963
TI  - Stem cell markers of skin appendages in human skin tumours.

PMID- 27632964
TI  - Another guardian against alopecia areata?

PMID- 27632965
TI  - Repigmentation patterns in vitiligo: where do we stand?

PMID- 27632966
TI  - Measuring the impact of alopecia areata.

PMID- 27632967
TI  - A changing treatment paradigm: the role of palliative care in metastatic
      melanoma.

PMID- 27632968
TI  - Worth more than their weight in gold?
AB  - The cost of many topical prescription medications has increased in recent years.
      We have calculated that the cost per unit now exceeds that of many ?valuable'
      consumer items. 

PMID- 27632970
TI  - Image Gallery: Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia, a rare tattoo reaction.

PMID- 27632971
TI  - Image Gallery: Eruptive disseminated lentiginous Spitz naevi.

PMID- 27632972
TI  - Image Gallery: Amyloidosis of the tongue associated with haemodialysis.

PMID- 27632976
TI  - Aryl Radical Geometry Determines Nanographene Formation on Au(111).
AB  - The Ullmann coupling has been used extensively as a synthetic tool for the
      formation of C-C bonds on surfaces. Thus far, most syntheses made use of aryl
      bromides or aryl iodides. We investigated the applicability of an aryl chloride
      in the bottom-up assembly of graphene nanoribbons. Specifically, the reactions of
      10,10'-dichloro-9,9'-bianthryl (DCBA) on Au(111) were studied. Using atomic
      resolution non-contact AFM, the structure of various coupling products and
      intermediates were resolved, allowing us to reveal the important role of the
      geometry of the intermediate aryl radicals in the formation mechanism. For the
      aryl chloride, cyclodehydrogenation occurs before dehalogenation and
      polymerization. Due to their geometry, the planar bisanthene radicals display a
      different coupling behavior compared to the staggered bianthryl radicals formed
      when aryl bromides are used. This results in oligo- and polybisanthenes with
      predominantly fluoranthene-type connections.

PMID- 27632975
TI  - The toxicology of heroin-related death: estimating survival times.

PMID- 27632977
TI  - Detection of Abeta plaque deposition in MR images based on pixel feature
      selection and class information in image level.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) plaque deposition is an important
      prevention and treatment target for Alzheimer's disease (AD). As a noninvasive,
      nonradioactive and highly cost-effective clinical imaging method, magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) is the perfect imaging technology for the clinical
      diagnosis of AD, but it cannot display the plaque deposition directly. This paper
      resolves this problem based on pixel feature selection algorithms at the image
      level. METHODS AND RESULTS: Firstly, the brain region was segmented from mouse
      model brain MR images. Secondly, the pixels in the segmented brain region were
      extracted as a feature vector (features). Thirdly, feature selection was
      conducted on the extracted features, and the optimal feature subset was obtained.
      Fourthly, the various optimal feature subsets were obtained by repeating the same
      processing above. Fifthly, based on the optimal feature subsets, the final
      optimal feature subset was obtained by voting mechanism. Finally, using the final
      optimal selected features, the corresponding pixels on the MR images could be
      found and marked to show the information about Abeta plaque deposition. The MR
      images and brain histological image slices of twenty-two model mice were used in
      the experiments. Four feature selection algorithms were used on the MR images and
      six kinds of classification experiments are conducted, thereby choosing a pixel
      feature selection algorithm for further study. The experimental results showed
      that by using the pixel features selected by the algorithms in this paper, the
      best classification accuracy between early AD and control slides could be as high
      as 80 %. The selected and marked MR pixels could show information of Abeta plaque
      deposition without missing most of the Abeta plaque deposition compared with
      brain histological slice images. The hit rate is over than 90 %. CONCLUSIONS:
      According to the experimental results, the proposed detection algorithm of the
      Abeta plaque deposition based on MR pixel feature selection algorithm is
      effective. The proposed algorithm can detect the information of the Abeta plaque
      deposition on MR images and the information can be useful for improving the
      classification accuracy as assistant MR biomarker. Besides, these findings
      firstly show the feasibility of detection of the Abeta plaque deposition on MR
      images and provide reference method for interested relevant researchers in
      public.

PMID- 27632978
TI  - Multiplexed automated digital quantification of fusion transcripts: comparative
      study with fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) technique in acute leukemia
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) classification system defines
      recurrent chromosomal translocations as the sole diagnostic and prognostic
      criteria for acute leukemia (AL). These fusion transcripts are pivotal in the
      pathogenesis of AL. Clinical laboratories universally employ conventional
      karyotype/FISH to detect these chromosomal translocations, which is complex,
      labour intensive and lacks multiplexing capacity. Hence, it is imperative to
      explore and evaluate some newer automated, cost-efficient multiplexed
      technologies to accommodate the expanding genetic landscape in AL. METHODS:
      "nCounter(r) Leukemia fusion gene expression assay" by NanoString was employed to
      detect various fusion transcripts in a large set samples (n = 94) utilizing RNA
      from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) diagnostic bone marrow biopsy
      specimens. This series included AL patients with various recurrent translocations
      (n = 49), normal karyotype (n = 19), or complex karyotype (n = 21), as well as
      normal bone marrow samples (n = 5). Fusion gene expression data were compared
      with results obtained by conventional karyotype and FISH technology to determine
      sensitivity/specificity, as well as positive /negative predictive values.
      RESULTS: Junction probes for PML/RARA; RUNX1-RUNX1T1; BCR/ABL1 showed 100 %
      sensitivity/specificity. A high degree of correlation was noted for MLL/AF4 (85
      sensitivity/100 specificity) and TCF3-PBX1 (75 % sensitivity/100 % specificity)
      probes. CBFB-MYH11 fusion probes showed moderate sensitivity (57 %) but high
      specificity (100 %). ETV6/RUNX1 displayed discordance between fusion transcript
      assay and FISH results as well as rare non-specific binding in AL samples with
      normal or complex cytogenetics. CONCLUSIONS: Our study presents preliminary data
      with high correlation between fusion transcript detection by a throughput
      automated multiplexed platform, compared to conventional karyotype/FISH technique
      for detection of chromosomal translocations in AL patients. Our preliminary
      observations, mandates further vast validation studies to explore automated
      molecular platforms in diagnostic pathology.

PMID- 27632979
TI  - Suicide attempts in Brazil, 1998-2014: an ecological study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attempted suicide is the main predictor of suicide constituting a
      major public health issue worldwide. It is estimated that for every completed
      suicide, 10 to 20 suicide attempts occur. Important part of the occurrences of
      suicide attempts in Brazil are registered in the hospital information system for
      coverage of more than 70 % allows to evaluate the extent of this problem in the
      country. The scope of this article is to analyse hospitalizations resulting from
      suicide attempts at public hospitals or services contracted out by the public
      health system (SUS) in Brazil from 1998 to 2014. METHODS: This is an ecological
      study of secondary morbidity data obtained from the Hospital Information System.
      The overall rate of suicide attempts per 100 000 (10(5)) individuals and rates
      stratified by age group and sex were calculated. To measure trends, simple linear
      regression coefficients were calculated. The hospital mortality rate was
      calculated per 100 individuals. RESULTS: The overall rate of hospitalization
      decreased from 1998 to 2014. The young and adult age groups had the highest
      hospitalization rates. Men were admitted more and the elderly had higher hospital
      mortality rates. The main cause of hospitalization was poisoning, accounting for
      70.4 % of hospitalizations. Among the people who used poisoning by non-medical
      drugs as the method of attempted suicide, 58 178 (69.6 %) were men and 49 585
      people who are poisoned by medical drugs (60.1 %) were women. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although hospitalization rates for attempted suicide have declined in Brazil, it
      remains a serious public health problem. Because a suicide attempt is the main
      predictor of suicide, studies to identify those most vulnerable to attempted
      suicide will help in the development of prevention strategies for mental health.

PMID- 27632980
TI  - Antimicrobial potential of two traditional herbometallic drugs against certain
      pathogenic microbial species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mineral based preparations are widely used for centuries as
      antimicrobial agents. However, the efficacy and the mode of action of mineral
      based preparations are uncertain due to the insufficient antimicrobial studies.
      Arogyawardhana Vati (AV) and Manikya Rasa (MR) are such two Rasashastra herbo
      minerallic drugs commonly in India and other countries in South Asia. Despite of
      their well known traditional use of skin diseases, reported antimicrobial and
      mineralogical studies are limited. Therefore, in this study antimicrobial
      activities of the drugs and their organic, inorganic fractions were evaluated
      against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherischia coli, Staphylococcus aureus,
      Methecilline Resistance Staphylococcus aureus - MRSA and Candida albicans.
      METHODS: Antimicrobial activity of the drugs, their inorganic residues and
      organic extracts were determined using four assay techniques viz agar well
      diffusion, modified well diffusion, Miles and Misra viable cell counting and
      broth turbidity measurements. Mineralogical constituents of the drugs were
      determined using X-ray diffraction, while total cation constituents and water
      soluble cation constituents were determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass
      spectrometer and the atomic absorption spectrophotometer respectively.
      Thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the weight percentages of
      organic and inorganic fraction of the drugs. Particle sizes of the drugs were
      determined using the particle size analyzer. RESULTS: AV and MR drugs showed
      antibacterial activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacterial
      species when analyzed separately. Inorganic residues of the drugs and organic
      extracts showed activity at least against two or more bacterial species tested.
      All tested components were inactive against C. albicans. Common mineral
      constituents of drugs are cinnabar, biotite and Fe-rich phases. Drugs were rich
      in essential elements such as Na, K, Ca, Mg and Fe and toxic elements such as Zn,
      Cu and As. However, the water soluble concentrations of the toxic elements were
      below the detection limits. Both drugs have significantly higher percentages of
      organic constituents and volatile minerals and particle sizes of drugs are in the
      nanometer range. CONCLUSIONS: AV and MR Rasashastra preparations could provide
      alternatives to synthetic antibiotics against human bacterial infections.
      Improved solubility and reduced particle sizes are influential physicochemical
      properties used to enhance the antimicrobial efficacy of the drugs. Therefore,
      traditional knowledge on the use of antimicrobial mineral sources could provide a
      novel path for the producing of effective antimicrobial drugs. However, further
      chemical and toxicological studies are urgently needed for a greater
      understanding of their toxicity to humans.

PMID- 27632981
TI  - Interaction of interferon alpha therapy with thyroid function tests in the
      management of hepatitis C: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interferon alpha is a widely used therapeutic agent in the treatment
      of hepatitis C virus infection. Clinical thyroid disease is seen in nearly 15 %
      of patients receiving interferon alpha for hepatitis C virus infection. The
      mechanism of thyroid dysfunction with interferon alpha is either autoimmune or
      inflammatory. We report a case of young woman who developed biphasic thyroid
      dysfunction posing a diagnostic challenge, while receiving interferon alpha
      treatment for hepatitis C virus infection. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old,
      Caucasian woman with type 1 diabetes and hepatitis C virus infection was referred
      with hyperthyroidism, while she was at 17 weeks of a planned 24-week course of
      interferon alpha therapy. A laboratory investigation revealed a thyroid
      stimulation hormone level of 0.005 mU/L (0.350-4.94), free thyroxine of 45.6
      pmol/L (9.0-19.0) and free tri-iodothyronine of 12.6 pmol/L (2.6-5.7). She had a
      mild neutropenia and alanine aminotransferase at double the reference value. Her
      thyroid peroxidase antibody level was 497 ku/L (<5.6) and thyroid inhibitory
      factor 7 IU/L (>1.8 iu/l is positive). Thyroid scintigraphy with technetium99
      scan confirmed a normal-sized thyroid gland with diffuse but normal overall
      uptake. A diagnosis of interferon alpha-triggered autoimmune hyperthyroidism as
      opposed to an inflammatory thyroiditis was made. She was offered radioactive
      iodine therapy, as thionamides were considered inappropriate in view of her liver
      disease and mild neutropenia. Due to our patient's personal circumstances,
      radioactive iodine therapy was delayed by 8 weeks and her thyrotoxic symptoms
      were controlled with beta-blockers alone. A repeat thyroid function test, 4 weeks
      post treatment with interferon alpha, indicated spontaneous conversion to
      hypothyroidism with a thyroid stimulation hormone level of 100 mU/L, free
      thyroxine of 5.2 pmol/L and free tri-iodothyronine of 1.7 pmol/L. She
      subsequently received levothyroxine for 4 months only and had remained euthyroid
      for the last 3 months without any treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Initial investigations
      favored the autoimmune nature of hyperthyroidism but follow-up of the case,
      interestingly, was more consistent with inflammatory thyroiditis. We propose that
      this can be explained either on the basis of autoimmune subacute thyroiditis or a
      change in the nature of thyroid stimulation hormone receptor antibody production
      from stimulating-type to blocking-type antibodies, with disappearance of the
      latter on discontinuation of interferon alpha.

PMID- 27632982
TI  - Prevalence of persistent pain after breast cancer treatment by detection mode
      among participants in population-based screening programs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, the study of the risks and benefits of breast cancer
      screening has not included the onset of persistent pain after breast cancer
      treatment within the context of population-based screening programs. Our purpose
      was to investigate the prevalence of persistent pain and associated factors in
      women diagnosed with breast cancer (screening or interval) in the context of a
      population-based breast cancer screening program in Spain. METHODS: A total of
      1,057 women participating in a population-based breast cancer screening program
      were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2000 and 2008. The women were treated
      surgically and followed-up to 2013. The risk of developing persistent pain was
      estimated through multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Breast
      cancer was detected during routine screening in 732 women (69.3 %) and emerged as
      an interval cancer between two screening rounds in 325 (30.7 %). Persistent pain
      was present in 118 women (11.3 %). Women diagnosed through routine screening
      reported a higher prevalence of persistent pain (12.9 %) than those with interval
      cancers (7.8 %)(P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified
      two other variables associated with persistent pain: having a Charlson index > =2
      (Odds Ratio [OR]: 4.5 95 % Confidence Interval [CI]: 2.1-9.5) versus no
      comorbidities, and having undergone an axillary lymph node dissection (OR: 2.0 95
      % CI: 1.0-4.0) versus sentinel lymph node biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of
      persistent pain was relatively low. The detection mode was not related to the
      onset of persistent pain. The factors associated with persistent pain were a
      Charlson index > =2 and the performance of axillary lymph node dissection. Women
      treated for breast cancer are at risk for developing persistent pain regardless
      of the detection mode, especially those with comorbidities and those who have
      undergone axillary lymph node dissection.

PMID- 27632984
TI  - Synovial Inflammation Drives Structural Damage in Hand Osteoarthritis: a
      Narrative Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasound is one of the most promising candidates for the detection
      of inflammation and structural damage in hand osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate new advances of US as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in hand
      osteoarthritis assessment. METHODS: We conducted a Medline on PubMed search for
      articles about "ultrasonography" and "hand OA" published between January 2012 and
      15th April 2016, limiting our search to articles on human adults in English,
      excluding those involving systemic inflammatory diseases, visualization of joints
      other than hands, ultrasound guided injections and surgical procedures. Reviews,
      case reports, letters, position statements and ex vivo studies were excluded.
      Concordance between ultrasound and conventional radiography and magnetic
      resonance imaging was evaluated. RESULTS: Total 46 records were identified, and
      16 articles were selected: four showed only ultrasound structural damage
      (osteophytes, cartilage pathology), six only ultrasound inflammatory variables
      (synovial thickness, effusion and power Doppler signal), six should considered
      both ultrasound structural and inflammatory features as well as erosions and two
      were epidemiological studies. Ultrasound synovitis and power Doppler signal were
      more frequent in erosive hand osteoarthritis. Followup studies found that
      ultrasound inflammatory features at baseline are independently associated with
      radiographic progression; power Doppler signal was the strongest predictor of
      structural damage. Ultrasound is a reliable tool for cartilage and osteophyte
      assessment (when performed with static images) and shows a good concordance with
      magnetic resonance imaging for osteophytes, erosions and synovitis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Ultrasound detected inflammation may predict radiographic progression and may be
      used in prospective clinical trials of hand osteoarthritis and in everyday
      clinical practice.

PMID- 27632985
TI  - The Relationship Between Focal and Generalized Bone Loss in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is an association between focal and systemic
      bone loss in patients with RA. METHODS: Bone loss is a hallmark finding in
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and manifests as localized, periarticular and systemic
      bone loss. RA patients were selected from the Consortium of Rheumatology
      Researchers of North America (CORRONA) database. Multiple logistic regression
      models were constructed to assess the association between the presence or absence
      of erosions and T-scores at the lumbar spine (LS) and total hips and adjusted for
      age, gender, body mass index (BMI), medications and disease activity indices.
      RESULTS: Data on erosions and T-scores were available in 3,898 and 5,099
      subjects, respectively. Patients with erosions had a significantly lower LS T
      scores (-0.9) compared to RA patients without erosions (p=0.0002). Similarly, the
      mean total hip T-scores were significantly lower in patients with (-1.4) compared
      to subjects without erosions (-1.0) (p<0.01). The odds of having no erosion
      increased by 21% for each 1-unit increase in LS T-score and 46% for each 1 unit
      increase in hip Tscore. Patients with erosions were significantly younger
      (p<0.01) had a lower BMI (p<0.01) and higher DAS28 scores than those without
      erosions. More patients with erosions were on anti-TNF therapy, disease modifying
      drugs and osteoporosis medications than patients without erosions (p<0.01, 0.003
      and 0.0003). CONCLUSION: RA patients with bone erosions have significantly lower
      T-scores at the LS and hips compared with RA patients without erosions. These
      data suggest a relationship between localized and generalized bone loss in RA.

PMID- 27632983
TI  - Recurrent evolution of host and vector association in bacteria of the Borrelia
      burgdorferi sensu lato species complex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) species complex consists
      of tick-transmitted bacteria and currently comprises approximately 20 named and
      proposed genospecies some of which are known to cause Lyme Borreliosis. Species
      have been defined via genetic distances and ecological niches they occupy.
      Understanding the evolutionary relationship of species of the complex is
      fundamental to explaining patterns of speciation. This in turn forms a crucial
      basis to frame testable hypotheses concerning the underlying processes including
      host and vector adaptations. RESULTS: Illumina Technology was used to obtain
      genome-wide sequence data for 93 strains of 14 named genospecies of the B.
      burgdorferi species complex and genomic data already published for 18 additional
      strain (including one new species) was added. Phylogenetic reconstruction based
      on 114 orthologous single copy genes shows that the genospecies represent clearly
      distinguishable taxa with recent and still ongoing speciation events apparent in
      Europe and Asia. The position of Borrelia species in the phylogeny is consistent
      with host associations constituting a major driver for speciation. Interestingly,
      the data also demonstrate that vector associations are an additional driver for
      diversification in this tick-borne species complex. This is particularly obvious
      in B. bavariensis, a rodent adapted species that has diverged from the bird
      associated B. garinii most likely in Asia. It now consists of two populations one
      of which most probably invaded Europe following adaptation to a new vector
      (Ixodes ricinus) and currently expands its distribution range. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results imply that genotypes/species with novel properties regarding host or
      vector associations have evolved recurrently during the history of the species
      complex and may emerge at any time. We suggest that the finding of vector
      associations as a driver for diversification may be a general pattern for tick
      borne pathogens. The core genome analysis presented here provides an important
      source for investigations of the underlying mechanisms of speciation in tick
      borne pathogens.

PMID- 27632986
TI  - Influence of hemodialysis on regadenoson clearance in an in vitro hemodialysis
      model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regadenoson is a novel pharmacological stress agent whose disposition
      during hemodialysis is not known. The purpose of this study was to determine the
      clearance of regadenoson under varying dialytic conditions using an in vitro
      hemodialysis model. METHODS AND RESULTS: Whole human blood was used to analyze
      the effect of hemodialysis on the clearance of regadenoson. Regadenoson
      transmembrane clearance (CLD) was assessed for both a standard permeability and a
      high permeability polysulfone hemodialyzer with blood/dialysate flow rates of
      300/600 and 400/800 mL/min. A two-tailed, paired Student's t test was used to
      compare regadenoson CLD between hemodialyzer types and flow rates. The mean +/-
      SD regadenoson CLD values ranged between 62.5 +/- 11.8 and 89.1 +/- 24.0 mL/min
      for all dialytic conditions. There was no significant difference in regadenoson
      CLD between hemodialyzer types and flow rates (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Hemodialysis enhances the clearance of regadenoson independent of hemodialyzer
      permeability and blood/dialysate flow rate. This clearance is modest relative to
      total body clearance and is unlikely to produce a clinically significant outcome.

PMID- 27632987
TI  - Molecular Modeling Investigation of Some New 2-mercaptoimidazoles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Docking study has become an important and interesting tool for the
      investigation of drug- receptor interaction. Computational methodologies have
      become a crucial component in the drug discovery programs which involves
      identification of target and lead along with their ADME and pharmacokinetic
      studies so as to obtain a potent lead. OBJECTIVE: Synthesis and Molecular
      modeling investigation of some new 2-mercaptoimidazoles. METHOD: New 2-
      mercaptoimidazoles were synthesized via solid phase synthesis and were
      characterized by spectral studies i.e IR, 1NMR, Mass spectra and LC-MS. Compounds
      were screened for their antimicrobial potency via agar well diffusion assay
      against three bacterial strains and two fungal strains. Compounds were subjected
      to molecular docking studies for rationalization of their mode of action.
      RESULTS: 18 new imidazole derivatives having mercapto group (4a-r) were
      synthesized via solid phase synthesis and were characterized by spectral studies
      i.e IR, 1NMR, Mass spectra and LC-MS. All the compounds were found to possess
      promising antimicrobial potency. However, compounds 4j and 4k were found to be
      the most potent compounds of the series against al the tested strains. The in
      silcio molecular modeling study results indicated that all the compounds
      exhibited good affinity towards the active site and thus may be considered as
      good inhibitors of enzyme 14alpha.-demethylase. CONCLUSION: Thus, it may be
      concluded that the compounds are good inhibitors of enzyme 14alpha.- demethylase
      and may be further investigated to obtain antimicrobial lead.

PMID- 27632988
TI  - Computational Analysis of Physicochemical Factors Driving CYP2D6 Ligand
      Interaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The metabolic action of CYP2D6 remains a crucial factor influencing
      the therapeutic outcomes for many drug molecules while others are either only
      slightly affected or not affected altogether. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to
      understand, atomistic resolution, the structural and physicochemical factors
      influencing CYP2D6 metabolic discrimination. METHOD: Explicit solvent molecular
      dynamics simulations in GROMACS were employed to probe the conformational
      dynamics of CYP2D6 following which the most populated structures were employed
      for ligand interaction docking studies with AutoDock Vina using selected CYP2D6
      drug substrates. RESULTS: Using atomistic treatment at the molecular mechanics
      level and multiple CYP2D6 conformations for docking, two primary ligand binding
      subsites (subsites A and B) were identified within an otherwise extensive ligand
      recognition site. The studied drug molecules were found to display distinct
      preference for either of the two subsites. Correlation and center-of-mass
      distribution analysis showed subsite binding preference to depend significantly
      on CYP2D6 conformation, as well as molecular properties such as molecular size
      and number of hydrogen bond donor present in the drug molecule. CONCLUSION:
      CYP2D6 binding subsite A was found to be relatively selective for small molecular
      weight with higher polarity compared with subsite B which tends to favor larger
      molecular weight and relatively hydrophobic molecules such as tamoxifen and
      imipramine. Our simulations further suggest that the ability of the CYP2D6
      binding site residues to sample different conformations may partly account for
      its ability to metabolize diverse drug classes.

PMID- 27632989
TI  - Erratum: Stability of symptom patterns in Australian Gulf War veterans: 10-year
      longitudinal study.

PMID- 27632990
TI  - The role of mobile devices in doctor-patient communication: A systematic review
      and meta-analysis.
AB  - Introduction In the last few years, the use of telecommunication and mobile
      technology has grown significantly. This has led to a notable increase in the
      utilization of this telecommunication in healthcare, namely phone calls and text
      messaging (SMS). However, evaluating its global impact on improving healthcare
      processes and outcomes demands a more comprehensive assessment. In this study, we
      focused on the role of mobile devices via phone calls and SMS in patient-doctor
      communication, and aimed to assess its impact on various health outcomes. Methods
      Major databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Global Health, and Cochrane
      CENTRAL, were searched for clinical trials that investigated mobile-device
      technology in any facet of doctor-patient communication published between 1990
      and April 2015. A meta-analysis was performed where appropriate. Results Sixty
      two articles met our inclusion criteria. Of those, 23 articles investigated
      mobile appointment reminder technologies, 19 investigated medication adherence,
      20 investigated disease-control interventions, and two investigated test-result
      reporting. Patients who received an appointment reminder were 10% less likely to
      miss an appointment (relative risk [RR] = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08
      1.15). Mobile interventions increased medication adherence by 22% (RR = 1.22, 95%
      CI 1.09-1.36). Ten of 20 studies examining disease control reported statistically
      significant reductions in clinically meaningful endpoints. The use of mobile
      device interventions improved forced expiratory volume in one second and
      hemoglobin A1c percentage in meta-analyses. Conclusion The use of mobile-device
      technologies exerted modest improvements in communication and health outcomes.
      Further research is needed to determine the true effect of these technologies on
      doctor-patient communication.

PMID- 27632994
TI  - Health effects of 9/11 terror attacks continue to grow.

PMID- 27632995
TI  - Life story work with persons with dementia in nursing homes: A Grounded Theory
      study of the perspectives of care staff.
AB  - In Germany, the use of life story work as an approach to care in nursing homes
      has not been implemented successfully. Using Grounded Theory, we explored care
      staff's understandings of life story work when caring for persons with dementia.
      Thirty-six staff from seven nursing homes participated in semi-structured
      interviews or group discussions. In this paper we discuss new aspects and
      theoretical connections between understandings and practices of life story work.
      For some participants, obtaining 'true facts' about a resident's course of life
      was considered the most important topic. Others highlighted the importance of
      narratives as well as embodied stories told by persons with dementia, as aspects
      that generated emotionally meaningful situations. Delivering sound life story
      work can be challenging for care staff working with persons with dementia. To
      enhance care in nursing homes, the importance of life story work needs to be
      further developed.

PMID- 27632993
TI  - Surrogate-assisted feature extraction for high-throughput phenotyping.
AB  - Objective: Phenotyping algorithms are capable of accurately identifying patients
      with specific phenotypes from within electronic medical records systems. However,
      developing phenotyping algorithms in a scalable way remains a challenge due to
      the extensive human resources required. This paper introduces a high-throughput
      unsupervised feature selection method, which improves the robustness and
      scalability of electronic medical record phenotyping without compromising its
      accuracy. Methods: The proposed Surrogate-Assisted Feature Extraction (SAFE)
      method selects candidate features from a pool of comprehensive medical concepts
      found in publicly available knowledge sources. The target phenotype's
      International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and natural language
      processing counts, acting as noisy surrogates to the gold-standard labels, are
      used to create silver-standard labels. Candidate features highly predictive of
      the silver-standard labels are selected as the final features. Results:
      Algorithms were trained to identify patients with coronary artery disease,
      rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis using various
      numbers of labels to compare the performance of features selected by SAFE, a
      previously published automated feature extraction for phenotyping procedure, and
      domain experts. The out-of-sample area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve and F -score from SAFE algorithms were remarkably higher
      than those from the other two, especially at small label sizes. Conclusion: SAFE
      advances high-throughput phenotyping methods by automatically selecting a
      succinct set of informative features for algorithm training, which in turn
      reduces overfitting and the needed number of gold-standard labels. SAFE also
      potentially identifies important features missed by automated feature extraction
      for phenotyping or experts.

PMID- 27632992
TI  - Transcription factor ANAC032 modulates JA/SA signalling in response to
      Pseudomonas syringae infection.
AB  - Responses to pathogens, including host transcriptional reprogramming, require
      partially antagonistic signalling pathways dependent on the phytohormones
      salicylic (SA) and jasmonic (JA) acids. However, upstream factors modulating the
      interplay of these pathways are not well characterized. Here, we identify the
      transcription factor ANAC032 from Arabidopsis thaliana as one such regulator in
      response to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst).
      ANAC032 directly represses MYC2 activation upon Pst attack, resulting in blockage
      of coronatine-mediated stomatal reopening which restricts entry of bacteria into
      plant tissue. Furthermore, ANAC032 activates SA signalling by repressing NIMIN1,
      a key negative regulator of SA-dependent defence. Finally, ANAC032 reduces
      expression of JA-responsive genes, including PDF1.2A Thus, ANAC032 enhances
      resistance to Pst by generating an orchestrated transcriptional output towards
      key SA- and JA-signalling genes coordinated through direct binding of ANAC032 to
      the MYC2, NIMIN1 and PDF1.2A promoters.

PMID- 27632996
TI  - High mobility group box 1 skews macrophage polarization and negatively influences
      phagocytosis of apoptotic cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Decreased phagocytosis of apoptotic cells plays an important role in
      the pathogenesis of SLE. This can lead to secondary necrosis and release of
      nuclear proteins, such as high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). We hypothesized that
      increased HMGB1 levels, as present in SLE, skew macrophage differentiation
      towards M1-like phenotypes and thereby diminish uptake of apoptotic cells. The
      aim of this study was to investigate the effect of HMGB1 on macrophage
      polarization and on phagocytic capacity of differentiated macrophages. METHODS:
      SLE patients with quiescent disease (SLEDAI ?4) and healthy controls (HCs) were
      included. Monocytes and differentiated M1 and M2 macrophages were assessed for
      expression of M1 and M2 markers and for phagocytic capacity. HMGB1 was added
      during differentiation and during phagocytosis. RESULTS: Expression of CD86 (M1)
      was not different, whereas CD163 (M2) was significantly lower on SLE monocytes.
      After differentiation, no differences regarding surface receptor expression and
      phagocytic capacity were observed between M1 and M2 macrophages from SLE patients
      and HCs. Addition of HMGB1 during M2 differentiation resulted in high IL-6 and
      TNF-alpha mRNA expression and reduced phagocytic capacity of apoptotic cells.
      Furthermore, adding HMGB1 to apoptotic Jurkat cells diminished phagocytosis of
      these cells. CONCLUSION: Circulating monocytes from SLE patients display an M1
      like phenotype compared with HCs, but in vitro differentiation abolishes this
      difference. HMGB1 skews differentiation of M2-like macrophages towards an M1-like
      phenotype and, subsequently, reduces phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. These data
      imply that the phenotype of monocytes or macrophages is determined by their
      environment, such as the presence of cytokines and HMGB1.

PMID- 27632997
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging-detected inflammation is associated with functional
      disability in early arthritis-results of a cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: MRI sensitively detects inflammation, but the clinical relevance of
      MRI-detected inflammation is undetermined in early arthritis. Therefore, the aim
      of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between MRI
      detected inflammation of hands and feet and functional disability in early
      arthritis. METHODS: Five hundred and fourteen early arthritis patients,
      consecutively included in the Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic, were studied. At
      baseline a unilateral 1.5 T MRI of the wrist, MCP and MTP joints was performed
      and functional disability was measured using the HAQ. MRIs were scored for
      tenosynovitis, synovitis and bone marrow oedema (BME) by two readers. The sum of
      these types of MRI-detected inflammation yielded the total MRI-inflammation
      score. Linear and nonlinear regression analyses were performed with HAQ as
      outcome. RESULTS: The total MRI-inflammation score was associated with the HAQ
      score (beta = 0.014, P < 0.001), as were tenosynovitis (beta = 0.046, P < 0.001),
      synovitis (beta = 0.039, P < 0.001) and bone marrow oedema scores (beta = 0.015,
      P < 0.001) separately. Analysing these three types of MRI-detected inflammation
      in one multivariable model revealed that only tenosynovitis was independently
      associated with the HAQ score (beta = 0.039, P < 0.001). Also after correction
      for age, gender, joint counts, CRP and auto-antibodies, this association remained
      significant (beta = 0.034, P < 0.001). MRI-detected inflammation at wrists or MCP
      joints associated significantly with impairments in hand functioning (e.g.
      difficulties with opening milk cartons or jars). Exploring the relation between
      MRI-detected inflammation and HAQ scores showed no evidence of a floor effect,
      suggesting that even low scores of MRI-detected inflammation are functionally
      relevant. CONCLUSION: MRI-detected inflammation, and tenosynovitis in particular,
      is associated with functional disability. This demonstrates the functional
      relevance of MRI-detected inflammation in early arthritis.

PMID- 27632999
TI  - Sortilin regulates sorting and secretion of Sonic hedgehog.
AB  - Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is a secreted morphogen that is an essential regulator of
      patterning and growth. The Shh full-length protein undergoes autocleavage in the
      endoplasmic reticulum to generate the biologically active N-terminal fragment
      (ShhN), which is destined for secretion. We identified sortilin (Sort1), a member
      of the VPS10P-domain receptor family, as a new Shh trafficking receptor. We
      demonstrate that Sort-Shh interact by performing coimmunoprecipitation and
      proximity ligation assays in transfected cells and that they colocalize at the
      Golgi. Sort1 overexpression causes re-distribution of ShhN and, to a lesser
      extent, of full-length Shh to the Golgi and reduces Shh secretion. We show loss
      of Sort1 can partially rescue Hedgehog-associated patterning defects in a mouse
      model that is deficient in Shh processing, and we show that Sort1 levels
      negatively regulate anterograde Shh transport in axons in vitro and Hedgehog
      dependent axon-glial interactions in vivo Taken together, we conclude that Shh
      and Sort1 can interact at the level of the Golgi and that Sort1 directs Shh away
      from the pathways that promote its secretion.

PMID- 27632998
TI  - Regulation of Hspb7 by MEF2 and AP-1: implications for Hspb7 in muscle atrophy.
AB  - Mycocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) and activator protein 1 (AP-1) transcription
      complexes have been individually implicated in myogenesis, but their genetic
      interaction has not previously been addressed. Using MEF2A, c-Jun and Fra-1
      chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) data and predicted AP-1
      consensus motifs, we identified putative common MEF2 and AP-1 target genes,
      several of which are implicated in regulating the actin cytoskeleton. Because
      muscle atrophy results in remodelling or degradation of the actin cytoskeleton,
      we characterized the expression of putative MEF2 and AP-1 target genes (Dstn,
      Flnc, Hspb7, Lmod3 and Plekhh2) under atrophic conditions using dexamethasone
      (Dex) treatment in skeletal myoblasts. Heat shock protein b7 (Hspb7) was induced
      by Dex treatment and further analyses revealed that loss of MEF2A using siRNA
      prevented Dex-regulated induction of Hspb7. Conversely, ectopic Fra-2 or c-Jun
      expression reduced Dex-mediated upregulation of Hspb7 whereas AP-1 depletion
      enhanced Hspb7 expression. In vivo, expression of Hspb7 and other autophagy
      related genes was upregulated in response to atrophic conditions in mice.
      Manipulation of Hspb7 levels in mice also impacted gross muscle mass.
      Collectively, these data indicate that MEF2 and AP-1 confer antagonistic
      regulation of Hspb7 gene expression in skeletal muscle, with implications for
      autophagy and muscle atrophy.

PMID- 27633001
TI  - Prolonged survival in hepatocarcinoma patients with increased regucalcin gene
      expression: HepG2 cell proliferation is suppressed by overexpression of
      regucalcin in vitro.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant cancers
      worldwide and ranks third in overall global cancer-related mortality rates.
      Importantly, in this study gene expression data demonstrate that prolonged
      survival in HCC patients is associated with increased regucalcin gene expression.
      Regucalcin has been shown to play a pivotal role as a transcription repressor and
      diminished expression or activity of regucalcin may play a key role in the
      development of human carcinogenesis. Indeed, overexpression of regucalcin
      suppressed the proliferation, cell death, and migration of human HCC HepG2 cells
      in vitro. Mechanistically, regucalcin induced G1 and G2/M phase cell cycle arrest
      of HepG2 cells through suppression of multiple signaling pathways including Ras,
      Akt, MAP kinase and SAPK/JNK and by increasing the tumor suppressors p53 and Rb.
      Furthermore, the oncogenes c-fos and c-myc were suppressed by overexpression of
      regucalcin, and overexpression of regucalcin caused an increase in p21 and a
      decrease in NF-kappaB p65 and beta-catenin. These findings suggest that
      regucalcin may play a potential role as a suppressor of human HCC, and that
      diminished expression of regucalcin may predispose patients to development of
      HCC. Overexpression of regucalcin may constitute a novel therapeutic approach to
      treating HCC. 

PMID- 27633000
TI  - A ternary complex comprising transportin1, Rab8 and the ciliary targeting signal
      directs proteins to ciliary membranes.
AB  - The sensory functions of cilia are dependent on the enrichment of cilium-resident
      proteins. Although it is known that ciliary targeting signals (CTSs) specifically
      target ciliary proteins to cilia, it is still unclear how CTSs facilitate the
      entry and retention of cilium-resident proteins at the molecular level. We found
      that non-ciliary membrane reporters can passively diffuse into cilia through the
      lateral transport pathway, and the translocation of membrane reporters through
      the ciliary diffusion barrier is facilitated by importin binding motifs and
      domains. Screening known CTSs of ciliary membrane residents uncovered that
      fibrocystin, photoreceptor retinol dehydrogenase, rhodopsin and retinitis
      pigmentosa 2 interact with transportin1 (TNPO1) through previously identified
      CTSs. We further discovered that a new ternary complex, comprising TNPO1, Rab8
      and a CTS, can assemble or disassemble under the guanine nucleotide exchange
      activity of Rab8. Our study suggests a new mechanism in which the TNPO1-Rab8-CTS
      complex mediates selective entry into and retention of cargos within cilia.

PMID- 27633002
TI  - Enalapril protects against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in a swine
      model of cardiac arrest and resuscitation.
AB  - There is strong evidence to suggest that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors
      (ACEIs) protect against local myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. This
      study was designed to explore whether ACEIs exert cardioprotective effects in a
      swine model of cardiac arrest (CA) and resuscitation. Male pigs were randomly
      assigned to three groups: sham-operated group, saline treatment group and
      enalapril treatment group. Thirty minutes after drug infusion, the animals in the
      saline and enalapril groups were subjected to ventricular fibrillation (8 min)
      followed by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (up to 30 min). Cardiac function was
      monitored, and myocardial tissue and blood were collected for analysis. Enalapril
      pre-treatment did not improve cardiac function or the 6-h survival rate after CA
      and resuscitation; however, this intervention ameliorated myocardial
      ultrastructural damage, reduced the level of plasma cardiac troponin I and
      decreased myocardial apoptosis. Plasma angiotensin (Ang) II and Ang-(1-7) levels
      were enhanced in the model of CA and resuscitation. Enalapril reduced the plasma
      Ang II level at 4 and 6 h after the return of spontaneous circulation whereas
      enalapril did not affect the plasma Ang-(1-7) level. Enalapril pre-treatment
      decreased the myocardial mRNA and protein expression of angiotensin-converting
      enzyme (ACE). Enalapril treatment also reduced the myocardial ACE/ACE2 ratio,
      both at the mRNA and the protein level. Enalapril pre-treatment did not affect
      the upregulation of ACE2, Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and MAS after CA and
      resuscitation. Taken together, these findings suggest that enalapril protects
      against ischemic injury through the attenuation of the ACE/Ang II/AT1R axis after
      CA and resuscitation in pigs. These results suggest the potential therapeutic
      value of ACEIs in patients with CA.

PMID- 27633003
TI  - MPS1 kinase as a potential therapeutic target in medulloblastoma.
AB  - Medulloblastoma is the most common type of malignant brain tumor that affects
      children. Although recent advances in chemotherapy and radiation have improved
      outcomes, high-risk patients perform poorly with significant morbidity. Gene
      expression profiling has revealed that monopolar spindle 1 (MPS1) (TTK1) is
      highly expressed in medulloblastoma patient samples compared to that noted in
      normal cerebellum. MPS1 is a key regulator of the spindle assembly checkpoint
      (SAC), a mitotic mechanism specifically required for proper chromosomal alignment
      and segregation. The SAC can be activated in aneuploid cancer cells and MPS1 is
      overexpressed in many types of cancers. A previous study has demonstrated the
      effectiveness of inhibiting MPS1 with small-molecule inhibitors, but the role of
      MPS1 in medulloblastoma is unknown. In the present study, we demonstrated that
      MPS1 inhibition by shRNA or with a small-molecule drug, NMS-P715, resulted in
      decreased cell growth, inhibition of clonogenic potential and induction of
      apoptosis in cells belonging to both the Shh and group 3 medulloblastoma genomic
      signature. These findings highlight MPS1 as a rational therapeutic target for
      medulloblastoma.

PMID- 27633004
TI  - Semiconductor/Piezoelectrics Hybrid Heterostructures with Highly Effective Gate
      Tunable Electrotransport and Magnetic Behaviors.
AB  - We report the epitaxial growth of oxygen deficient titanium dioxide thin films on
      0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) single crystals and realized highly
      effective in situ electrostatic manipulation of electrotransport and magnetism of
      TiO2-delta films via gate voltages. Upon the polarization switching in the PMN
      PT, the carrier density of the TiO2-delta film could be reversibly modified,
      resulting in a large nonvolatile resistivity modulation by ~51% at T = 300 K,
      approximately 4-12 times larger than that of other transition-metal oxide
      film/PMN-PT structures. By taking advantage of in situ manipulation of the
      carrier density via gate voltages, we found that competition between the trap of
      electrons by the Ti3+-VO pairs and that by the positive polarization charges at
      the interface results in a significant resistivity relaxation upon the
      polarization switching, and revealed that magnetization is inversely correlated
      with the carrier density of the TiO2-delta film. Such hybrid structures combining
      materials with dissimilar functionalities may have potential applications in
      multifunctional devices which can take advantage of the useful and unique
      properties of both materials.

PMID- 27633005
TI  - Improved Quantitation of Gluten in Wheat Starch for Celiac Disease Patients by
      Gel-Permeation High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection
      (GP-HPLC-FLD).
AB  - Purified wheat starch (WSt) is commonly used in gluten-free products for celiac
      disease (CD) patients. It is mostly well-tolerated, but doubts about its safety
      for CD patients persist. One reason may be that most ELISA kits primarily
      recognize the alcohol-soluble gliadin fraction of gluten, but insufficiently
      target the alcohol-insoluble glutenin fraction. To address this problem, a new
      sensitive method based on the sequential extraction of gliadins, glutenins, and
      gluten from WSt followed by gel-permeation high-performance liquid chromatography
      with fluorescence detection (GP-HPLC-FLD) was developed. It revealed that
      considerable amounts of glutenins were present in most WSt. The gluten contents
      quantitated by GP-HPLC-FLD as sum of gliadins and glutenins were higher than
      those by R5 ELISA (gluten as gliadin content multiplied by a factor of 2) in 19
      out of 26 WSt. Despite its limited selectivity, GP-HPLC-FLD may be applied as
      confirmatory method to ELISA to quantitate gluten in WSt.

PMID- 27633006
TI  - Locked-in syndrome in a patient with acute obstructive hydrocephalus, caused by
      large unruptured aneurysm of the basilar artery (BA).
AB  - We describe a case of acute obstructive hydrocephalus as a consequence of
      compression of the brainstem by a large aneurysm of the basilar artery (BA) in a
      62-year-old male. After the insertion of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS), we
      encountered the "locked-in syndrome" clinical condition. "Locked-in syndrome" is
      a clinical state characterized by quadriplegia and anarthria with preserved
      consciousness, most commonly caused by ischemia in the ventral part of pons.

PMID- 27633007
TI  - Mental Health Trainees' Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Toward Transracial
      Adoptive Families Headed by Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples.
AB  - We investigated 109 (79.8% female; 76% White, and 83.5% Heterosexual) mental
      health trainees' explicit and implicit attitudes toward heterosexual, lesbian,
      and gay White couples adopting and raising Black children. To determine explicit
      attitudes, we used a vignette depicting a Black child ready for adoption and
      three types of equally qualified White families who were headed by a heterosexual
      couple, gay couple, or lesbian couple. The trainees were asked to indicate which
      type of family they preferred to adopt the child. To determine implicit
      attitudes, we used the computer programed latency-based multifactor implicit
      association test (IAT) protocol. The IAT data were collected from each
      participant individually. Explicit data showed that over 80% of the participants
      indicated no strong preference in terms of which type of family should adopted
      the child. However, IAT data showed that the trainees implicitly preferred
      lesbian couples. Overall, the degree of congruence between explicit and implicit
      was very low. Implications for training were discussed.

PMID- 27633009
TI  - Rapamycin alleviates oxidative stress-induced damage in rat erythrocytes.
AB  - An imbalanced cellular redox system promotes the production of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) that may lead to oxidative stress-mediated cell death. Erythrocytes
      are the best-studied model of antioxidant defense mechanism. The present study
      was undertaken to investigate the effect of the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin,
      an inducer of autophagy, on redox balance of erythrocytes and blood plasma of
      oxidatively challenged rats. Male Wistar rats were oxidatively challenged with
      HgCl2 (5 mg/kg body mass (b.m.)). A significant (p < 0.05) induction in ROS
      production, plasma membrane redox system (PMRS), intracellular Ca2+ influx, lipid
      peroxidation (LPO), osmotic fragility, plasma protein carbonyl (PCO) content, and
      plasma advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and simultaneously significant
      reduction in glutathione (GSH) level and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP)
      were observed in rats exposed to HgCl2. Furthermore, rapamycin (0.5 mg/kg b.m.)
      provided significant protection against HgCl2-induced alterations in rat
      erythrocytes and plasma by reducing ROS production, PMRS activity, intracellular
      Ca2+ influx, LPO, osmotic fragility, PCO content, and AOPP and also restored the
      level of antioxidant GSH and FRAP. Our observations provide evidence that
      rapamycin improves redox status and attenuates oxidative stress in oxidatively
      challenged rats. Our data also demonstrate that rapamycin is a comparatively safe
      immunosuppressant drug.

PMID- 27633011
TI  - Why do hemangiopericytomas have such high recurrence rates?

PMID- 27633010
TI  - Differential Effects of Small Molecule WNT Agonists on the Multilineage
      Differentiation Capacity of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.
AB  - Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising candidates
      for cell-based therapies, but loss of expansion and differentiation potential in
      vitro limits their applicability. Recently we showed that WNT3A protein promoted
      MSC proliferation and enhanced their chondrogenic potential, while simultaneously
      suppressing the propensity of the cartilage to undergo hypertrophic maturation.
      Since WNT3A protein is costly and rapidly loses its activity in culture, we
      investigated the possibility of replacing it with cheaper commercially available
      WNT agonists, specifically lithium chloride (LiCl), CHIR99021 (CHIR), SKL2001,
      and AMBMP. Of these, we found that only CHIR and LiCl stimulated MSC
      proliferation. Moreover, CHIR enhanced the chondrogenic capacity of MSCs, whereas
      LiCl predominantly increased the osteo- and adipogenic capacity. The different
      WNT agonists also differentially impacted the surface marker profile of the MSCs,
      possibly explaining the observed differences. Moreover, CHIR suppressed the
      hypertrophic propensity of the MSC-derived cartilage after in vivo implantation
      to an extent approaching that of WNT3A protein. These results indicate that CHIR
      may be a promising alternative for WNT3A protein for certain applications of
      human bone marrow-derived MSCs.

PMID- 27633012
TI  - Polarized regulatory landscape and Wnt responsiveness underlie Hox activation in
      embryos.
AB  - Sequential 3'-to-5' activation of the Hox gene clusters in early embryos is a
      most fascinating issue in developmental biology. Neither the trigger nor the
      regulatory elements involved in the transcriptional initiation of the 3'-most Hox
      genes have been unraveled in any organism. We demonstrate that a series of
      enhancers, some of which are Wnt-dependent, is located within a HoxA 3'
      subtopologically associated domain (subTAD). This subTAD forms the structural
      basis for multiple layers of 3'-polarized features, including DNA accessibility
      and enhancer activation. Deletion of the cassette of Wnt-dependent enhancers
      proves its crucial role in initial transcription of HoxA at the 3' side of the
      cluster. 

PMID- 27633014
TI  - Condensin I-mediated mitotic chromosome assembly requires association with
      chromokinesin KIF4A.
AB  - The chromokinesin KIF4A has been implicated in shaping mitotic chromosomes, but
      its functional relationship to condensin complexes remains controversial. Here,
      we found that, in mitosis, KIF4A associates with condensin I but not with
      condensin II. Mutational analyses indicated that the enrichment of condensin I to
      chromosomal axes depends on its association with KIF4A in a way that likely
      involves its motor activity. Remarkably, this interaction is required for
      condensin I to confer physiological properties to chromosomes. These observations
      provide an insight into how condensin I is enriched at chromosomal axes and
      underscore the significance of axial structure in organizing mitotic chromosomes.

PMID- 27633016
TI  - The Validity of the Quick-FAAM in Patients Seeking Treatment for an Acute or
      Subacute Foot or Ankle Health Condition.
AB  - CONTEXT: Documented barriers to implementation of patient-reported outcome
      instruments (PROs) in practice include administration and scoring time. The Quick
      Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (Quick-FAAM) was developed to decrease these
      barriers; however, the clinometric properties in an acute population are unknown.
      PURPOSE: To determine the internal consistency, validity, and the floor and
      ceiling effects of the Quick-FAAM in patients seeking treatment for an acute or
      subacute ankle or foot health condition. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-Sectional. SETTING:
      Healthcare facilities. PATIENTS: 50 patients (20.3 +/- 2.2 y, 177.9 +/- 10.7 cm,
      80 +/- 19.4 kg) seeking treatment for an acute or subacute ankle or foot
      condition. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Each patient completed a demographic and health
      history questionnaire followed by 5 PROs: the Quick-FAAM, the FAAM-Activities of
      Daily Living (ADL), FAAM-Sport, the modified Disablement in the Physically Active
      Scale (mDPA), the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) and the PROMISv1.2 Physical Function
      (PROMIS-PF). Cronbach alpha was used to determine internal consistency and
      Spearman's rank correlations were performed to examine the relationship between
      the Quick-FAAM and all other outcomes. RESULTS: The Quick-FAAM was very strongly
      correlated with the FAAM-Total (r = .91, r2 = .83, P < .001), FAAM-ADL (r = .83,
      r2 = .69, P < .001), FAAM-Sport (r = .89, r2 = .79, P < .001), SF12-Physical
      Component Score (PCS, r = .74, r2 = .55, P < .001), mDPA-PCS (r = -.83, r2 = .69,
      P < .001) and PROMIS PF (r = .85, r2 = .72, P < .001). There was a weak or no
      relationship with the SF12-Mental Component Score (MCS, r = .04, r2 = .00, P <
      .001) and the mDPA-MCS (r = -.35, r2 = .12, P < .001). A total of 8% (n = 4) of
      the patients scored a 0, and 2% (n = 1) patients scored a 48. CONCLUSION: he
      Quick-FAAM demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity along with good
      internal consistency. There was no evidence of a floor or ceiling effect.
      Therefore, the Quick-FAAM should be considered for use in practice when
      determining treatment effectiveness for patients with acute or subacute ankle or
      foot health conditions. Future research should determine the test-retest
      reliability and the minimal detectable change of this instrument.

PMID- 27633017
TI  - Band gap engineering in penta-graphene by substitutional doping: first-principles
      calculations.
AB  - Using density functional theory, we study the structure, electronic properties
      and partial charges of a new carbon allotrope-penta-graphene (PG)
      substitutionally doped by Si, B and N. We found that the electronic bandgap of PG
      can be tuned down to 0.2 eV due to carbon substitutions. However, the value of
      the band gap depends on the type and location of the dopants. For example, the
      strongest reduction of the band gap is obtained for Si substitutions on the top
      (bottom) plane of PG, whereas the substitution in the middle plane of PG has a
      smaller effect on the band gap of the material. Surface termination with fluorine
      and hydroxyl groups results in an increase of the band gap together with
      considerable changes in electronic and atomic partial charge distribution in the
      system. Our findings, which are robust against the use of different exchange
      correlation functionals, indicate the possibility of tuning the bandgap of the
      material to make it suitable for optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications.

PMID- 27633015
TI  - Temperature regulates splicing efficiency of the cold-inducible RNA-binding
      protein gene Cirbp.
AB  - In mammals, body temperature fluctuates diurnally around a mean value of 36
      degrees C-37 degrees C. Despite the small differences between minimal and maximal
      values, body temperature rhythms can drive robust cycles in gene expression in
      cultured cells and, likely, animals. Here we studied the mechanisms responsible
      for the temperature-dependent expression of cold-inducible RNA-binding protein
      (CIRBP). In NIH3T3 fibroblasts exposed to simulated mouse body temperature
      cycles, Cirbp mRNA oscillates about threefold in abundance, as it does in mouse
      livers. This daily mRNA accumulation cycle is directly controlled by temperature
      oscillations and does not depend on the cells' circadian clocks. Here we show
      that the temperature-dependent accumulation of Cirbp mRNA is controlled primarily
      by the regulation of splicing efficiency, defined as the fraction of Cirbp pre
      mRNA processed into mature mRNA. As revealed by genome-wide "approach to steady
      state" kinetics, this post-transcriptional mechanism is widespread in the
      temperature-dependent control of gene expression.

PMID- 27633013
TI  - Genetic ablation of Smoothened in pancreatic fibroblasts increases acinar-ductal
      metaplasia.
AB  - The contribution of the microenvironment to pancreatic acinar-to-ductal
      metaplasia (ADM), a preneoplastic transition in oncogenic Kras-driven pancreatic
      cancer progression, is currently unclear. Here we show that disruption of
      paracrine Hedgehog signaling via genetic ablation of Smoothened (Smo) in stromal
      fibroblasts in a Kras(G12D) mouse model increased ADM. Smo-deleted fibroblasts
      had higher expression of transforming growth factor-alpha (Tgfa) mRNA and
      secreted higher levels of TGFalpha, leading to activation of EGFR signaling in
      acinar cells and increased ADM. The mechanism involved activation of AKT and
      noncanonical activation of the GLI family transcription factor GLI2. GLI2 was
      phosphorylated at Ser230 in an AKT-dependent fashion and directly regulated Tgfa
      expression in fibroblasts lacking Smo Additionally, Smo-deleted fibroblasts
      stimulated the growth of Kras(G12D)/Tp53(R172H) pancreatic tumor cells in vivo
      and in vitro. These results define a non-cell-autonomous mechanism modulating
      Kras(G12D)-driven ADM that is balanced by cross-talk between Hedgehog/SMO and
      AKT/GLI2 pathways in stromal fibroblasts.

PMID- 27633018
TI  - Finite Element Model and Validation of Nasal Tip Deformation.
AB  - Nasal tip mechanical stability is important for functional and cosmetic nasal
      airway surgery. Palpation of the nasal tip provides information on tip strength
      to the surgeon, though it is a purely subjective assessment. Providing a means to
      simulate nasal tip deformation with a validated model can offer a more objective
      approach in understanding the mechanics and nuances of the nasal tip support and
      eventual nasal mechanics as a whole. Herein we present validation of a finite
      element (FE) model of the nose using physical measurements recorded using an ABS
      plastic-silicone nasal phantom. Three-dimensional photogrammetry was used to
      capture the geometry of the phantom at rest and while under steady state load.
      The silicone used to make the phantom was mechanically tested and characterized
      using a linear elastic constitutive model. Surface point clouds of the silicone
      and FE model were compared for both the loaded and unloaded state. The average
      Hausdorff distance between actual measurements and FE simulations across the nose
      were 0.39 +/- 1.04 mm and deviated up to 2 mm at the outermost boundaries of the
      model. FE simulation and measurements were in near complete agreement in the
      immediate vicinity of the nasal tip with millimeter accuracy. We have
      demonstrated validation of a two-component nasal FE model, which could be used to
      model more complex modes of deformation where direct measurement may be
      challenging. This is the first step in developing a nasal model to simulate nasal
      mechanics and ultimately the interaction between geometry and airflow.

PMID- 27633020
TI  - White Matter Hyperintensity-Adjusted Critical Infarct Thresholds to Predict a
      Favorable 90-Day Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is increasing interest in defining stroke lesion
      volume thresholds to predict poststroke outcome. However, there is a paucity of
      data on factors that impact the association between critical infarct thresholds
      volume and outcome. We sought to determine whether lesion thresholds best
      predicting outcome depend on the degree of preexisting white matter
      hyperintensity (WMH) lesion burden. METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging infarct
      volumes were quantified in 414 consecutive patients with anterior circulation
      ischemic strokes evaluated between January 2014 and December 2014. The WMH lesion
      volume was graded according to the Fazekas scale and dichotomized to absent to
      mild versus moderate to severe. Receiver operator characteristics curves were
      calculated to determine the infarct volume threshold best predicting the 90-day
      outcome. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine whether the
      critical lesion thresholds independently predicted a favorable 90-day outcome
      after adjusting for pertinent confounders. RESULTS: The infarct volumes
      thresholds predicting the 90-day outcome for the entire cohort (standard
      thresholds) were <=29.5 mL (modified Rankin scale [mRS] 0-1), <=29.9 mL (mRS 0
      2), and <=34.1 mL (mRS 0-3). For patients with absent-to-mild WMH lesion burden,
      WMH-adjusted critical infarct thresholds were significantly greater than the
      standard infarct thresholds. In the fully adjusted multivariable regression
      models, the WMH-adjusted infarct thresholds correctly predicted the outcome to a
      similar degree as the standard thresholds. CONCLUSIONS: In this proof-of-concept
      study, the WMH lesion burden impacted the critical outcome-predicting infarct
      thresholds. If confirmed, using a WMH-adjusted infarct threshold could allow
      defining patients that have a favorable outcome despite having relatively large
      infarct volumes.

PMID- 27633019
TI  - Risk of Shunting After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Collaborative Study
      and Initiation of a Consortium.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Shunt dependent hydrocephalus after aneurysmal
      subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a common sequela that may lead to poor
      neurological outcome and predisposes to various interventions, admissions, and
      complications. We reviewed post-aSAH shunt dependency in a population-based
      sample and tested the feasibility of a clinical risk score to identify subgroups
      of aSAH patients with increasing risk of shunting for hydrocephalus. METHODS: A
      total of 1533 aSAH patients from the population-based Eastern Finland Saccular
      Intracranial Aneurysm Database (Kuopio, Finland) were used in a recursive
      partitioning analysis to identify risk factors for shunting after aSAH. The risk
      model was built and internally validated in random split cohorts. External
      validation was conducted on 946 aSAH patients from the Southwestern Tertiary
      Aneurysm Registry (Dallas, TX) and tested using receiver-operating characteristic
      curves. RESULTS: Of all patients alive >=14 days, 17.7% required permanent
      cerebrospinal fluid diversion. The recursive partitioning analysis defined 6
      groups with successively increased risk for shunting. These groups also
      successively risk stratified functional outcome at 12 months, shunt
      complications, and time-to-shunt rates. The area under the curve-receiver
      operating characteristic curve for the exploratory sample and internal validation
      sample was 0.82 and 0.78, respectively, with an external validation of 0.68.
      CONCLUSIONS: Shunt dependency after aSAH is associated with higher morbidity and
      mortality, and prediction modeling of shunt dependency is feasible with
      clinically useful yields. It is important to identify and understand the factors
      that increase risk for shunting and to eliminate or mitigate the reversible
      factors. The aSAH-PARAS Consortium (Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients'
      Risk Assessment for Shunting) has been initiated to pool the collective insights
      and resources to address key questions in post-aSAH shunt dependency to inform
      future aSAH treatment guidelines.

PMID- 27633022
TI  - Transient Cerebral Arteriopathy, Postvaricella Arteriopathy, and Focal Cerebral
      Arteriopathy or the Unique Susceptibility of the M1 Segment in Children With
      Stroke.

PMID- 27633021
TI  - Effects of Exercise Therapy on Balance Capacity in Chronic Stroke: Systematic
      Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis
      was to investigate the effects of exercise training on balance capacity in people
      in the chronic phase after stroke. Furthermore, we aimed to identify which
      training regimen was most effective. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched
      for randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of exercise therapy on
      balance capacity in the chronic phase after stroke. Studies were included if they
      were of moderate or high methodological quality (PEDro score >=4). Data were
      pooled if a specific outcome measure was reported in at least 3 randomized
      controlled trials. A sensitivity analysis and consequent subgroup analyses were
      performed for the different types of experimental training (balance and/or weight
      shifting training, gait training, multisensory training, high-intensity aerobic
      exercise training, and other training programs). RESULTS: Forty-three randomized
      controlled trials out of 369 unique hits were included. A meta-analysis could be
      conducted for the Berg Balance Scale (28 studies, n=985), Functional Reach Test
      (5 studies, n=153), Sensory Organization Test (4 studies, n=173), and mean
      postural sway velocity (3 studies, n=89). A significant overall difference in
      favor of the intervention group was found for the Berg Balance Scale (mean
      difference 2.22 points (+3.9%); 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26-3.17; P<0.01;
      I(2)=52%), Functional Reach Test (mean difference=3.12 cm; 95% CI, 0.90-5.35;
      P<0.01; I(2)=74%), and Sensory Organization Test (mean difference=6.77 (+7%)
      points; 95% CI, 0.83-12.7; P=0.03; I(2)=0%). Subgroup analyses of the studies
      that included Berg Balance Scale outcomes demonstrated a significant improvement
      after balance and/or weight-shifting training of 3.75 points (+6.7%; 95% CI, 1.71
      5.78; P<0.01; I(2)=52%) and after gait training of 2.26 points (+4.0%; 95% CI,
      0.94-3.58; P<0.01; I(2)=21, whereas no significant effects were found for other
      training regimens. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis showed
      that balance capacities can be improved by well-targeted exercise therapy
      programs in the chronic phase after stroke. Specifically, balance and/or weight
      shifting and gait training were identified as successful training regimens.

PMID- 27633023
TI  - Latest Skirmishes in the Long-Term Battle Between Carotid Endarterectomy and
      Stenting.

PMID- 27633025
TI  - Can ultrasound imaging predict the development of Achilles and patellar
      tendinopathy? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasound (US) imaging is commonly used to visualise tendon
      structure. It is not clear whether the presence of structural abnormalities in
      asymptomatic tendons predicts the development of future tendon symptoms in the
      Achilles or patellar tendon. AIM: To perform a systematic review and meta
      analysis investigating the ability of US imaging to predict future symptoms of
      patellar or Achilles tendinopathy. METHODS: Prospective studies that performed US
      imaging of Achilles OR patellar tendon structure among asymptomatic patients at
      baseline and a clinical measure of pain and/or function at follow-up were
      included. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills
      Programme tool by two independent reviewers, and predictive ability of US was
      assessed using meta-analyses. RESULTS: The majority of participants in the review
      were from sporting populations. Meta-analysis revealed that tendon abnormalities
      on US are associated with future symptoms of both patellar and Achilles
      tendinopathy (RR=4.97, 95% CI 3.20 to 7.73). Subgroup analysis indicated that
      tendon abnormalities at baseline were associated with an increased risk of both
      Achilles (RR=7.33, 95% CI 2.95 to 18.24) and patellar (RR=4.35, 95% CI 2.62 to
      7.23) tendinopathy. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis
      indicates that tendon abnormalities visualised using US in asymptomatic tendons
      are predictive of future tendinopathy and are associated with at least a fourfold
      increased risk. IMPLICATIONS: Identification of at-risk athletes using screening
      tools such as US may allow preventative programmes to be implemented. However, it
      is clear that other factors beyond tissue structure are involved in the
      development of lower limb tendinopathy.

PMID- 27633026
TI  - Return to play: the challenge of balancing research and practice.

PMID- 27633024
TI  - Inter-Rater Reliability of the CASCADE Criteria: Challenges in Classifying
      Arteriopathies.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There are limited data about the reliability of subtype
      classification in childhood arterial ischemic stroke, an issue that prompted the
      IPSS (International Pediatric Stroke Study) to develop the CASCADE criteria
      (Childhood AIS Standardized Classification and Diagnostic Evaluation). Our
      purpose was to determine the CASCADE criteria's reliability in a population of
      children with stroke. METHODS: Eight raters from the IPSS reviewed neuroimaging
      and clinical records of 64 cases (16 cases each) randomly selected from a
      prospectively collected cohort of 113 children with arterial ischemic stroke and
      classified them using the CASCADE criteria. Clinical data abstracted included
      history of present illness, risk factors, and acute imaging. Agreement among
      raters was measured by unweighted kappa statistic. RESULTS: The CASCADE criteria
      demonstrated a moderate inter-rater reliability, with an overall kappa statistic
      of 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.39-0.67). Cardioembolic and bilateral
      cerebral arteriopathy subtypes had much higher agreement (kappa=0.84; 95% CI=0.70
      0.99; and kappa=0.90; 95% CI=0.71-1.00, respectively) than cases of
      aortic/cervical arteriopathy (kappa=0.36; 95% CI=0.01-0.71), unilateral focal
      cerebral arteriopathy of childhood (FCA; kappa=0.49; 95% CI=0.23-0.76), and small
      vessel arteriopathy of childhood (kappa=-0.012; 95% CI=-0.04 to 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: The CASCADE criteria have moderate reliability when used by trained
      and experienced raters, which suggests that it can be used for classification in
      multicenter pediatric stroke studies. However, the moderate reliability of the
      arteriopathic subtypes suggests that further refinement is needed for defining
      subtypes. Such revisions may reduce the variability in the literature describing
      risk factors, recurrence, and outcomes associated with childhood arteriopathy.

PMID- 27633027
TI  - Utility of clinical tests to diagnose MRI-confirmed gluteal tendinopathy in
      patients presenting with lateral hip pain.
AB  - PURPOSE: Gluteal tendinopathy (GT) is a source of lateral hip pain, yet common
      clinical diagnostic tests have limited validity. Patients with GT are often
      misdiagnosed, resulting in inappropriate management, including surgery. This
      study determined the diagnostic utility of clinical tests for GT, using MRI as
      the reference standard. METHODS: 65 participants with lateral hip pain were
      examined to evaluate the ability of clinical tests to detect MRI-determined GT
      (an increase in intratendinous signal intensity on T2-weighted images). Palpation
      of the greater trochanter and several clinical pain provocation tests applying
      compressive and tensile loads on the gluteal tendons were investigated. MRI of
      the painful hip was examined by a radiologist, blind to clinical findings.
      RESULTS: Pain reported within 30 s of standing on the affected limb conclusively
      moves a (nominal) 50% pretest probability of GT presence on MRI to a post-test
      probability of 98% (specificity 100%, positive likelihood ratio ~12), whereas no
      pain on palpation (80% sensitivity) would rule out its presence. 20 participants
      (31%) had GT on MRI but clinically negative (ie, not positive on palpation and
      another test). CONCLUSIONS: Keeping in mind that the sample size was small (ie,
      possibly underpowered for indices of diagnostic utility with low precision), the
      results of this study indicate that a patient who reports lateral hip pain within
      30 s of single-leg-standing is very likely to have GT. Patients with lateral hip
      pain who are not palpably tender over the greater trochanter are unlikely to have
      MRI-detected GT.

PMID- 27633028
TI  - Cognitive rest following concussions: rethinking 'cognitive rest'.

PMID- 27633029
TI  - World Rugby's erroneous and misleading representation of Australian sports'
      injury statistics.

PMID- 27633030
TI  - Response to: World Rugby's erroneous and misleading representation of Australian
      sports' injury statistics.

PMID- 27633031
TI  - Low frequency of V617F mutation in JAK2 gene in Indian patients with hepatic
      venous outflow obstruction and extrahepatic portal venous obstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatic venous outflow tract obstruction (HVOTO) and extrahepatic
      portal venous obstruction (EHPVO) are important causes of portal hypertension and
      related complications in India. Both these conditions result from splanchnic
      venous thrombosis. In recent years, a V617F somatic mutation in Janus kinase 2
      (JAK2) gene which is highly specific for myeloproliferative disorders has been
      detected in 40 % to 50 % and 30 % to 35 % of Western patients with HVOTO and
      EHPVO, respectively. However, data on this mutation in these conditions from
      Asian countries are limited. METHODS: We looked for JAK2 V617F mutation in Indian
      patients with HVOTO (n = 40, median age 31 [range 17-51] years, 21 female) and
      EHPVO (n = 50, median age 23 [15-70] years, 25 female) by using two separate
      methods. Both the methods involved polymerase chain reaction using allele
      specific primers. Positive results on one or both of these techniques were
      confirmed using DNA sequencing. RESULTS: None of the 40 patients with HVOTO and
      only 1 of 50 patients with EHPVO was found to have JAK2 V617F mutation. In the
      one patient who was found to have this mutation, both the PCR methods and DNA
      sequencing showed positive results. CONCLUSION: Hypercoagulability associated
      with JAK2 V617F mutation and associated chronic myeloproliferative disorders was
      not a major cause of HVOTO and EHPVO in this population.

PMID- 27633033
TI  - Association of Helicobacter pylori with hepatobiliary stone disease, a
      prospective case control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatobiliary stone disease is one of the most common surgical
      conditions worldwide. There are multiple causative agents responsible for the
      formation of hepatobiliary stones, and bacterial infection is one of them. The
      presence of Helicobacter DNA species has been investigated in the biliary
      epithelium of patients with biliary diseases. However, conflicting results have
      been observed that may have been due to the small number of subjects studied,
      difficulty in obtaining a healthy control group, absence of controlling for
      confounding factors, or ethical and regional differences among populations.
      METHODS: We investigated the presence of Helicobacter pylori species by PCR of 26
      kDa surface antigen specific to H. pylori in bile samples from 50 cases with
      hepatobiliary stones and 25 controls without hepatobiliary stones. The control
      group comprised of 20 patients of hydatid cyst disease of liver and 5 patients of
      right colonic growth. RESULT: H. pylori was present in 20 bile samples among
      cases and was absent in 30 bile samples among cases. Among controls, H. pylori
      could not be detected. A significant association of the presence of H. pylori
      with hepatobiliary stone disease was seen (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There is an
      association between bile infection with H. pylori and hepatobiliary stone
      disease.

PMID- 27633032
TI  - Composition of gallbladder bile in healthy individuals and patients with
      gallstone disease from north and South India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gallstones (GS) in south India (SI) are predominantly pure pigment or
      mixed, while in North India (NI), these are either pure cholesterol or mixed.
      While cholesterol rich gallbladder (GB) bile predicts cholesterol GS, constituent
      of bile in primary pigment GS is not known. We compared the composition of GB
      bile from healthy liver donors and patients with GS from north and south India.
      METHODS: Gallbladder bile from healthy liver donors from north (10) and south
      India (8) served as controls. Cases were patients from north (21) and south India
      (17) who underwent cholecystectomy for GS disease. Gallbladder bile from both
      cases and controls was analyzed for cholesterol, lecithin (phospholipid), and
      bile salts. Gallstones were classified as cholesterol, mixed, and pigment based
      on morphology and biochemical analysis. RESULTS: The median cholesterol
      concentration in control bile from north was significantly high compared to south
      (p<0.001) with no difference in lecithin and bile salts (p NS). Except for one
      sample each from north and south, the cholesterol solubility of controls was
      within the critical micellar zone. Mixed GS were most frequent in north India
      (61.9 %) while pigment GS dominated in south (61.9 %). The median cholesterol
      concentration in bile samples of cholecystectomy patients from north India was
      significantly high GS (p < 0.00001) with significant lowering of bile salts and
      lecithin (p < 0.00001). In south India, patients with mixed GS had high
      cholesterol content in bile compared to controls and patients with pigment GS;
      bile in latter had significantly higher concentration of bile salt compared to
      controls and mixed GS. The ternary plot confirmed the composition of GB bile from
      north and south India. CONCLUSIONS: Gallbladder bile in controls and patients
      with GS from north India had significantly high cholesterol concentration. In
      south India, patients with mixed GS had cholesterol rich bile while pigment GS
      had higher concentrations of bile salts.

PMID- 27633034
TI  - Heat stress and inadequate sanitary facilities at workplaces - an occupational
      health concern for women?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health concerns unique to women are growing with the large number of
      women venturing into different trades that expose them to hot working
      environments and inadequate sanitation facilities, common in many Indian
      workplaces. OBJECTIVE: The study was carried out to investigate the health
      implications of exposures to hot work environments and inadequate sanitation
      facilities at their workplaces for women workers. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study
      was conducted with 312 women workers in three occupational sectors in 2014-2015.
      Quantitative data on heat exposures and physiological heat strain indicators such
      as core body temperature (CBT), sweat rate (SwR), and urine specific gravity
      (USG) were collected. A structured questionnaire captured workers perceptions
      about health impacts of heat stress and inadequate sanitary facilities at the
      workplace. RESULTS: Workplace heat exposures exceeded the threshold limit value
      for safe manual work for 71% women (Avg. wet bulb globe temperature=30 degrees
      C+/-2.3 degrees C) during the study period. Eighty-seven percent of the 200 women
      who had inadequate/no toilets at their workplaces reported experiencing
      genitourinary problems periodically. Above normal CBT, SwR, and USG in about 10%
      women workers indicated heat strain and moderate dehydration that corroborated
      well with their perceptions. Observed significant associations between high-heat
      exposures and SwR (t=-2.3879, p=0.0192), inadequate toilet facilities and self
      reported adverse heat-related health symptoms (chi (2)=4.03, p=0.0444), and
      prevalence of genitourinary issues (chi (2)=42.92, p=0.0005*10(-7)) reemphasize
      that heat is a risk and lack of sanitation facilities is a major health concern
      for women workers. CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary evidence suggests that health of
      women workers is at risk due to occupational heat exposures and inadequate
      sanitation facilities at many Indian workplaces. Intervention through strong
      labor policies with gender sensitivity is the need of the hour to empower women,
      avert further health risks, and also enhance productivity for the few million
      women workers who contribute largely to the country's economy.

PMID- 27633036
TI  - 'It is not expected for married couples': a qualitative study on challenges to
      safer sex communication among polygamous and monogamous partners in southeastern
      Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Behavioral change approaches for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      prevention in Tanzania encourage married partners to observe safe sex practices
      (condom use, avoidance of, or safe sex with multiple partners). To implement this
      advice, partners need to communicate with each other about safer sex, which is
      often challenging. Although social-structural factors are crucial in
      understanding sexual behavior, only a few studies focus on understanding safer
      sex dialogue in a broader social context. DESIGN: Drawing on the WHO-Commission
      on the Social Determinants of Health (WHO-CSDH) framework, this study explored
      key social-structural constructs for studying health in the context of improving
      safer sex dialogue between polygamous and monogamous partners. Twenty-four in
      depth interviews (IDIs) and six focus group discussions (FGDs) with 38 men and
      women aged 18-60 years were conducted in Ifakara town located in Kilombero
      district, Tanzania. The study was nested within the community health surveillance
      project MZIMA (Kiswahili: 'being healthy'). Partners' experiences of safer sex
      dialogue in polygamous and monogamous relations were investigated and the
      challenges to safer sex dialogue explored. RESULTS: The study revealed that open
      safer sex dialogue in marriage is limited and challenged by social norms about
      marriage (a view that safer sex dialogue imply that partners are 'not really'
      married); marital status (a belief that safer sex dialogue is not practical in
      polygamous marriages, the elder wife should be exempted from the dialogue since
      she is at lower risk of engaging in extramarital affairs); relationship quality
      (marital conflicts, extramarital affairs, trust, and sexual dissatisfaction); and
      gender power relations (the notion that females' initiative to discuss condom use
      and HIV couple counseling and testing may lead to conflict or divorce).
      CONCLUSIONS: Implementing safer sex practices requires interventions beyond
      promotion messages. HIV prevention interventions in Tanzania should be carefully
      adapted to the local context including respective social norms, gender systems,
      marital context and relationship uncertainties as aspects that facilitate or
      hinder safer sex dialogue between partners. The WHO-CSDH framework could be
      strengthened by explicitly integrating relationship quality, marital status, and
      social norms as additional determinants of health.

PMID- 27633037
TI  - The Therapeutic Potential of Differentiated Lung Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells
      in Lung Diseases.
AB  - Lung diseases cause great morbidity and mortality. The choice of effective
      medical treatment is limited and the number of lung diseases are difficult to
      treat with current treatments. The embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential
      to differentiate into cell types of all three germinal layers, including lung
      epithelial cells. So they can be a potential source for new cell therapies for
      hereditary or acquired diseases of the airways and lungs. One method for
      treatment of lung diseases is cell therapy and the use of ESCs that can replace
      the damaged epithelial and endothelial cells. Progress using ESCs has developed
      slowly for lung regeneration because differentiation of lung cells from ESCs is
      more difficult as compared to differentiation of other cells. The review studies
      the therapeutic effects of differentiated lung cells from embryonic stem cells in
      lung diseases. There are few studies of differentiation of ESCs into a lineage of
      respiratory and then investigation of this cell in experimental model of lung
      diseases.

PMID- 27633035
TI  - Impact of combined intermittent preventive treatment of malaria and helminths on
      anaemia, sustained attention, and recall in Northern Ghanaian schoolchildren.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The benefits of integrated control of malaria, schistosomiasis, and
      soil-transmitted helminth infections have not been fully explored in Ghanaian
      schoolchildren. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of co-administered artemether
      lumefantrine plus albendazole, and artemether-lumefantrine plus albendazole plus
      praziquantel compared to albendazole plus praziquantel on anaemia, sustained
      attention, and recall in schoolchildren. DESIGN: This three-arm, open-label
      intervention study was carried out in Ghana among class three schoolchildren.
      Artemether-lumefantrine and albendazole were co-administered to 131
      schoolchildren in Study Arm 1; artemether-lumefantrine, albendazole, and
      praziquantel to 90 children in Study Arm 2 versus albendazole and praziquantel to
      127 children in Control Arm 3. Medicines were administered to all children at
      least 30 min after a meal. A HemoCue((r)) photometer was used to measure
      haemoglobin (Hb), while the code transmission test (CTT), adapted from the Test
      of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), was used to measure sustained
      attention and recall before-and-after interventions in June 2011 and June 2012.
      RESULTS: We observed significant malaria parasite prevalence reductions of 62.8
      and 59.2% in Study Arm 1 from 24.2 to 9.0%, p<0.01, and 59.2% in Study Arm 2 from
      26.7 to 10.9%, p<0.01), respectively, compared to 8.93% in Control Arm 3 (from
      34.7 to 31.6%, p>0.05). Meanwhile, anaemia prevalence reduced significantly
      (p<0.01) in all three study arms after interventions by 38.4% (from 19.8 to
      12.2%), 20.7% (from 26.6 to 21.1%), and 36.0% (from 28.3 to 18.1%) in Study Arms
      1, 2, and 3, respectively. Although the interventions had no significant effects
      on Hb levels, anaemia prevalence reduced insignificantly by 38.4 and 20.7% in
      Study Arms 1 and 2, respectively, compared to 36.0% in Control Arm 3. Among
      schoolchildren in Study Arms 1 and 2, mean CTT score improved significantly after
      interventions by 10.4% (from 3.18 to 3.55, p=0.01) and 20.5% (from 2.83 to 3.56,
      p=0.01) respectively, compared to 5.75% in Control Arm 3 (from 2.95 to 3.13,
      p=0.09). Likewise, mean recall test score improvements after interventions were
      16.9% (from 2.07 to 2.49, p=0.01) and 27.9% (from 1.91 to 2.65, p=0.01) in Study
      Arms 1 and 2, respectively, compared to 18.3% (from 1.92 to 2.35, p=0.01) in
      Control Arm 3. CONCLUSION: Combined intermittent preventive treatment of malaria
      and deworming reduced prevalence of anaemia and improved sustained attention and
      recall in schoolchildren. Best results for sustained attention and recall were
      seen in Study Arm 2.

PMID- 27633038
TI  - Pharmacological Interactions of Paraoxonase 1 (PON1): A HDL-Bound Antiatherogenic
      Enzyme.
AB  - A growing interest exists in documenting the role of paraoxonase 1 (PON1) in
      different human diseases including, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes
      mellitus, cancers, aging, and several neurological disorders. Three aspects of
      PON1 have attracted the attention of researchers: (1) hydrolyzing and detoxifying
      of toxic organophosphorous compounds such as nerve gases; (2) antioxidative
      activity in hydrolyzing oxidized phospholipids in high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
      and low-density lipoprotein (LDL); (3) interaction with various drugs. Drugs and
      nutrients which can increase the activity of paraoxonases contribute to reduce
      atherosclerosis and other disorders. There were contradictory reports on the
      interactions of PON1 with various drugs. These findings may be a reflection of
      differences in the dosage and type of drug, length of treatment, genetic
      variations, particularly loss-of-function polymorphisms, and the model used
      (cultured cells, animal studies or human studies). In addition, it should be
      noted that the regulatory effects of a drug on the enzyme protein may be
      important because a drug may induce the PON1 gene while having inhibitory effects
      on its enzymatic activity. Due to the association of PON1 with various human
      diseases, this review is focused on the pharmacological aspects of PON1 and the
      study of interactions between the enzyme and various drugs that may potentially
      assist to better understand the role of PON1 in drug metabolism, as well as the
      effects of drugs on PON1 status (activity and gene expression). In general,
      increasing our knowledge about the antioxidant and antiatherogenic enzyme will
      assist in determining efficient preventive and therapeutic strategies in the
      management of human disorders, particularly vascular diseases and those which are
      associated with negative regulation of PON1.

PMID- 27633039
TI  - Relationships Between Metformin, Paraoxonase-1 and the Chemokine (C-C Motif)
      Ligand 2.
AB  - Metformin is a biguanide used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and
      obesity. The main mechanism of action is to decrease the intestinal glucose
      absorption and the hepatic glucose production, however, it does not influence
      insulin secretion. Metformin also increases the affinity of the insulin receptor,
      reduces high insulin levels and improves insulin resistance. Additionally, it
      promotes weight loss. Metformin is a pleiotropic compound but acts, largely, by
      activating 5 adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Data
      suggest that the therapeutic effects of this compound are mediated, at least in
      part, through an upregulation of paraoxonase-1 (PON1) synthesis. PON1 is a
      thiolactonase that degrades lipid peroxides, and downregulates the chemokine (C-C
      motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) which is a pro-inflammatory chemokine that stimulates the
      migration of monocytes to areas of inflammation where they differentiate into
      macrophages. However, the prescription of metformin in patients with liver
      disease is controversial since, in some cases, this drug causes worsening of
      liver function. Patients with chronic liver disease have decreased hepatic PON1
      activity. A study in mice deficient in PON1 showed that in this experimental
      model, metformin administration increased the severity of steatosis, increased
      CCL2 expression, did not activate AMPK, and increased the expression of the
      apoptosis marker caspase-9. These results suggest that PON1 is essential for the
      successful activation of AMPK in the liver, and for metformin to demonstrate its
      therapeutic function.

PMID- 27633040
TI  - Tetramethypyrazine inhibits renal cell carcinoma cells through inhibition of
      NKG2D signaling pathways.
AB  - Tetramethypyrazine (TMP), one of the active compounds extracted from the
      traditional Chinese medicinal herb (Chuanxiong), has been verified as an
      anticancer compound against several types of cancer. However, understanding of
      the molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In the present study,
      the anticancer efficacy of TMP was investigated in human clear cell renal cell
      carcinoma (ccRCC) cells. We showed that TMP significantly inhibited ccRCC cell
      viability, proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration through the methods
      of MTT, flow cytometry, wound healing and transwell assays. Furthermore, reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blotting and
      immunofluorescence results demonstrated TMP upregulation of the expression of
      NKG2D ligands (NKG2DLs) MHC class I chain-related molecules A and B (MICA/B) and
      epithelial cell expression marker of E-cadherin, and downregulation of
      mesenchymal cell expression markers of vimentin and fibronectin. Taken together,
      the inhibition of TMP on ccRCC cells might be mediated via inhibition of NKG2D
      related signaling pathway to further suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) progression. The binding of NKG2D to its ligands activates NK cells, giving
      the rationale for studies on the utilization of TMP as a potential cancer
      therapeutic compound to increase NK cells-mediated cytotoxicity against high
      MICA/B expression in cancer cells. 

PMID- 27633041
TI  - Lrrc75b is a novel negative regulator of C2C12 myogenic differentiation.
AB  - Many transcription factors and signaling molecules involved in the guidance of
      myogenic differentiation have been investigated in previous studies. However, the
      precise molecular mechanisms of myogenic differentiation remain largely unknown.
      In the present study, by performing a meta-analysis of C2C12 myogenic
      differentiation microarray data, we found that leucine-rich repeat-containing 75B
      (Lrrc75b), also known as AI646023, a molecule of unknown biological function, was
      downregulated during C2C12 myogenic differentiation. The knockdown of Lrrc75b
      using specific siRNA in C2C12 myoblasts markedly enhanced the expression of
      muscle-specific myogenin and increased myoblast fusion and the myotube diameter.
      By contrast, the adenovirus-mediated overexpression of Lrrc75b in C2C12 cells
      markedly inhibited myoblast differentiation accompanied by a decrease in myogenin
      expression. In addition, the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) was suppressed in the cells in which Lrrc75b was silenced.
      Taken together, our results demonstrate that Lrrc75b is a novel suppressor of
      C2C12 myogenic differentiation by modulating myogenin and Erk1/2 signaling.

PMID- 27633042
TI  - RUNX3 inhibits the metastasis and angiogenesis of colorectal cancer.
AB  - Recent studies have determined that inactivation of runt-related transcription
      factor 3 (RUNX3) expression is highly associated with lymph node metastasis and
      poor prognosis in various types of cancer. However, the mechanism of RUNX3
      mediated suppression of tumor metastasis remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to
      clarify the effect of RUNX3 on metastasis and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer
      (CRC). Firstly, we found that the reduction in expression of RUNX3 in CRC tissues
      when compared with tumor adjacent normal colon tissues, as indicated by reduced
      RUNX3 staining, was significantly correlated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM)
      stage. Secondly, we demonstrated that RUNX3 overexpression inhibited CRC cell
      migration and invasion resulting from the upregulation of matrix
      metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 expression. In contrast, the knockdown of
      RUNX3 reduced the inhibition of migration and invasion of CRC cells. Finally, we
      found that restoration of RUNX3 decreased vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) secretion and suppressed endothelial cell growth and tube formation in CRC
      cells. All in all, our findings may provide insight into the development of RUNX3
      for CRC metastasis diagnostics and therapeutics.

PMID- 27633043
TI  - Characterization of a Novel alpha-l-Arabinofuranosidase from Ruminococcus albus 7
      and Rational Design for Its Thermostability.
AB  - An alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase (Abf) encoding gene was obtained via genomic
      mining from a Ruminococcus albus strain. The specific activity of this GH 51 Abf
      was 73.3 U/mg at pH 6.0 and 50  degrees C. The modification of Abf, aimed at
      improving thermostability, was performed through different strategies. Structure
      based rational design using the PoPMuSiC and the Enzyme Thermal Stability System
      (ETSS) predicted thermal stability of Abf and enhanced the half-life of thermal
      inactivation (t1/2) at 50  degrees C for K208W more than 11.1 times versus the
      wild-type (WT). Sequence-based rational design was also conducted by substituting
      histidine with lysine at various sites. Among eight mutants, the t1/2 at 50 
      degrees C of H337K was prolonged by 5.0-fold, and the specific activity of this
      mutant was increased to 121.8 U/mg. In addition, the mutant H337K was utilized
      with some enzymes to extract pectin from apple pomace. The enzymatically produced
      pectin got less moisture and ash, milder pH, and higher viscosity than its acid
      extracted counterpart, indicating that Abf has an application prospect in pectin
      production.

PMID- 27633044
TI  - Direct Observation of Dopants Distribution and Diffusion in GaAs Planar Nanowires
      with Atom Probe Tomography.
AB  - Intentional and unintentional doping in semiconductor nanowires undoubtedly have
      significant impact on the device performance. However, spatially resolved precise
      determination of dopant concentration is challenging due to insufficient
      sensitivity and resolution of conventional techniques. In this paper,
      quantitative 3D distribution of Si and Zn dopants in planar GaAs nanowires and
      their interface with AlGaAs film underneath are obtained by using a unique atom
      probe tomography technique, providing critical insights for the growth and
      potential applications of these nanowires.

PMID- 27633045
TI  - Real-world evidence of stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial
      fibrillation in the United States: the REVISIT-US study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little data exists regarding the effectiveness and safety of
      rivaroxaban or apixaban versus warfarin in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF)
      patients treated outside of clinical trials. METHODS: This was a retrospective
      study using MarketScan claims from January 2012 to October 2014. We included
      adults, newly initiated on rivaroxaban, apixaban or warfarin, with a baseline
      CHA2DS2-VASc score >=2, >=2 diagnosis codes for NVAF and >=180 days of continuous
      medical and prescription benefits. Patients with a prior stroke, systemic
      embolism or intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) were excluded. Eligible rivaroxaban or
      apixaban users were 1:1 propensity-score matched individually to warfarin users.
      Cox regression was performed to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) for rivaroxaban and apixaban versus warfarin for the combined
      endpoint of ischemic stroke or ICH and each endpoint individually. RESULTS: Upon
      matching 11,411 rivaroxaban to 11,411 warfarin users, rivaroxaban was associated
      with a significant reduction of the combined endpoint of ischemic stroke or ICH
      versus warfarin (HR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.45-0.82). ICH was significantly (HR =
      0.53, 95% CI = 0.35-0.79) and ischemic stroke nonsignificantly reduced (HR =
      0.71, 95% CI = 0.47-1.07) by rivaroxaban versus warfarin. After matching 4083
      apixaban and 4083 warfarin users, apixaban was found to nonsignificantly reduce
      the combined endpoint of ischemic stroke or ICH versus warfarin (HR = 0.63, 95%
      CI = 0.35-1.12) and to reduce ICH risk (HR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.17-0.88). Ischemic
      stroke risk was nonsignificantly increased with apixaban (HR = 1.13, 95% CI =
      0.49-2.63) versus warfarin. LIMITATIONS: Sample size and number of combined
      events observed were relatively small. Residual confounding could not be ruled
      out. CONCLUSIONS: Rivaroxaban and apixaban were associated with less ICH than
      warfarin and both are likely associated with reductions in the combined endpoint.
      Further investigation to validate the numerically higher rate of ischemic stroke
      with apixaban versus warfarin is required.

PMID- 27633046
TI  - The Impact of Social Connectedness and Internalized Transphobic Stigma on Self
      Esteem Among Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Adults.
AB  - The transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community continues to represent
      a notably marginalized population exposed to pervasive discrimination,
      microaggressions, and victimization. Congruent with the minority stress model,
      TGNC individuals persistently experience barriers to wellbeing in contemporary
      society; however, research uncovering resilience-based pathways to health among
      this population is sparse. This study aimed to explore the impact and interaction
      between internalized transphobic stigma and a potential buffer against minority
      stress-social connectedness-on the self-esteem of TGNC identified adults. Data
      were collected from 65 TGNC identified adults during a national transgender
      conference. Multiple regression analysis reveals that self-esteem is negatively
      impacted by internalized transphobia and positively impacted by social
      connectedness. Social connectedness did not significantly moderate the
      relationship between internalized transphobia and self-esteem. Micro and macro
      interventions aimed at increasing social connectedness and decreasing
      internalized transphobic stigma may be paramount for enhancing resiliency and
      wellbeing in the TGNC community.

PMID- 27633047
TI  - The use of tacrolimus in refractory autoimmune hepatitis in children and adults:
      a single center experience.

PMID- 27633048
TI  - Are all EPAs really EPAs?

PMID- 27633050
TI  - Third-order terahertz response of gapped, nearly-metallic armchair graphene
      nanoribbons.
AB  - We use time dependent perturbation theory to study the terahertz nonlinear
      response of gapped intrinsic and extrinsic nearly-metallic armchair graphene
      nanoribbons of finite length under an applied electric field. Generally, the
      nonlinear conductances exhibit contributions due to single-photon, two-photon,
      and three-photon processes. The interference between each of these processes
      results in remarkably complex behavior for the third-order conductances,
      including quantum dot signatures that should be measurable with a relatively
      simple experimental configuration. Notably, we observe sharp resonances in the
      isotropic third-order response due to the Van Hove singularities in the density
      of states at one-, two-, and three-photon resonances. However, these resonances
      are absent in the anisotropic third-order response; a result of the overall
      symmetry of the system.

PMID- 27633051
TI  - Cortactin promotes cell migration and invasion through upregulation of the
      dedicator of cytokinesis 1 expression in human colorectal cancer.
AB  - Cortactin (CTTN), a major substrate of the Src tyrosine kinase, has been
      implicated in cell proliferation, motility and invasion in various types of
      cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of CTTN-driven malignant behavior
      remain unclear. In the current study, we determined the expression of CTTN in
      colorectal cancer and investigated its underlying mechanism in the metastasis of
      colorectal cancer. We confirmed increased CTTN expression in lymph node-positive
      CRC specimens and highly invasive CRC cell lines. Further study has shown that
      overexpression of CTTN promoted CRC cell migration and invasion, whereas CTTN
      silencing inhibited CRC cell migratory and invasive capacities in vitro.
      Mechanistically, CTTN increases expression of dedicator of cytokinesis 1 (DOCK1)
      and gene silencing of DOCK1 partially abolishes the migration and invasion
      capacity by CTTN. Our findings indicate that CTTN promotes metastasis of CRC
      cells by increasing DOCK1 expression and this could offer a promising therapeutic
      target for colorectal cancer treatment.

PMID- 27633049
TI  - Regenerative Potential of Tissue-Engineered Nasal Chondrocytes in Goat Articular
      Cartilage Defects.
AB  - Nasal chondrocytes (NC) were previously demonstrated to remain viable and to
      participate in the repair of articular cartilage defects in goats. Here, we
      investigated critical features of tissue-engineered grafts generated by NC in
      this large animal model, namely cell retention at the implantation site,
      architecture and integration with adjacent tissues, and effects on subchondral
      bone changes. In this study, isolated autologous goat NC (gNC) and goat articular
      chondrocytes (gAC, as control) were expanded, green fluorescent protein-labelled
      and seeded on a type I/III collagen membrane. After chondrogenic differentiation,
      tissue-engineered grafts were implanted into chondral defects (6 mm in diameter)
      in the stifle joint for 3 or 6 months. At the time of explantation, surrounding
      tissues showed no or very low (only in the infrapatellar fat pad <0.32%)
      migration of the grafted cells. In repair tissue, gNC formed typical structures
      of articular cartilage, such as flattened cells at the surface and column-like
      clusters in the middle layers. Semi-quantitative histological evaluation revealed
      efficient integration of the grafted tissues with the adjacent native cartilage
      and underlying subchondral bone. A significantly increased subchondral bone area,
      as a sign for the onset of osteoarthritis, was observed following treatment of
      cartilage defects with gAC-, but not with gNC-grafts. Our results reinforce the
      use of NC-based engineered tissue for articular cartilage repair and
      preliminarily indicate their potential for the treatment of early osteoarthritic
      defects.

PMID- 27633052
TI  - Upregulation of DAPK contributes to homocysteine-induced endothelial apoptosis
      via the modulation of Bcl2/Bax and activation of caspase 3.
AB  - Hyperhomocysteinemia is characterized by an abnormally high level of homocysteine
      (Hcy) in the blood and is associated with cardiovascular diseases such as
      atherosclerosis. Endothelial dysfunction may lead to the pro-atherogenic effects
      associated with hyperhomocysteinemia. Endothelial dysfunction induced by Hcy has
      been previously investigated; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains
      to be fully elucidated. The present study investigated whether death-associated
      protein kinase (DAPK) is involved in Hcy-induced apoptosis in human umbilical
      vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). It was determined that Hcy treatment upregulated
      the mRNA and protein expression levels of DAPK in HUVECs. Additionally, it was
      identified that the knockdown of DAPK using small interfering RNA may attenuate
      the Hcy-induced apoptosis and dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential.
      DAPK inhibition may also reverse the effect of Hcy by the upregulation of B cell
      leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) and poly ADP-ribose polymerase, and the downregulation
      of Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax) and of caspase 3. In conclusion, the present
      study demonstrated that DAPK contributed to the Hcy-induced endothelial apoptosis
      via modulation of Bcl2/Bax expression levels and activation of caspase 3.

PMID- 27633053
TI  - Percutaneous nephrolithotomy of bilateral staghorn renal calculi in pediatric
      patients: 12 years experience in a tertiary care centre.
AB  - To assess the outcomes of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in bilateral
      staghorn calculi in pediatric patients, we have performed a retrospective
      analysis. Staghorn calculus is defined as stone that fills a greater part of the
      pelvic-caliceal system. Still, in developing countries, patients may present with
      staghorn calculus. PCNL is the preferred treatment modality for staghorn calculus
      both in adult and children. Our study included fifty-one pediatric patients (<15
      years) of bilateral staghorn calculi from 2004 to 2015. Staged PCNL was done
      after 2-3 days if needed and opposite side PCNL was performed after 10-14 days.
      Fifty-one patients with bilateral staghorn renal calculi underwent PCNL. The mean
      age of the study group was 10.25 +/- 2.13 (range 3-15). Mean stone burden was
      778.3 + 613.4 (range 231-3850 mm2). Forty-five patients underwent single
      puncture, twenty-two patients underwent double punctures whereas six patients
      underwent triple punctures during first session PCNL procedure. Most common
      puncture location was through the superior calyx (58.82 %). The mean operating
      time was 77.25 + 30.21 (range 58-145). After the first session PCNL, the success
      rate was 76.47 %. Thirteen patients (17 renal units) underwent relook PCNL and
      seven patients underwent ESWL. Overall complication noted in twenty-four (47.05
      %) cases. Most of the complications were minor grade. Percutaneous
      nephrolithotomy for staghorn calculus in children needs expertise. PCNL in B/L
      staghorn renal calculus in children is safe and effective. B/L staghorn renal
      calculi with compromised renal function have higher chance of complications
      including bleeding.

PMID- 27633055
TI  - Encoded diffractive optics for full-spectrum computational imaging.
AB  - Diffractive optical elements can be realized as ultra-thin plates that offer
      significantly reduced footprint and weight compared to refractive elements.
      However, such elements introduce severe chromatic aberrations and are not
      variable, unless used in combination with other elements in a larger,
      reconfigurable optical system. We introduce numerically optimized encoded phase
      masks in which different optical parameters such as focus or zoom can be accessed
      through changes in the mechanical alignment of a ultra-thin stack of two or more
      masks. Our encoded diffractive designs are combined with a new computational
      approach for self-calibrating imaging (blind deconvolution) that can restore high
      quality images several orders of magnitude faster than the state of the art
      without pre-calibration of the optical system. This co-design of optics and
      computation enables tunable, full-spectrum imaging using thin diffractive optics.

PMID- 27633054
TI  - Molecular basis of a novel renal amyloidosis due to N184K gelsolin variant.
AB  - Mutations in gelsolin are responsible for a systemic amyloidosis first described
      in 1969. Until recently, the disease was associated with two substitutions of the
      same residue, leading to the loss of the calcium binding site. Novel interest
      arose in 2014 when the N184K variant of the protein was identified as the
      etiological agent of a novel kidney-localized amyloidosis. Here we provide a
      first rationale for N184K pathogenicity. We show that the mutation induces a
      destabilization of gelsolin second domain, without compromising its calcium
      binding capacity. X-ray data combined with molecular dynamics simulations
      demonstrates that the primary source of the destabilization is a loss of
      connectivity in proximity of the metal. Such rearrangement of the H-bond network
      does not have a major impact on the overall fold of the domain, nevertheless, it
      increases the flexibility of a stretch of the protein, which is consequently
      processed by furin protease. Overall our data suggest that the N184K variant is
      subjected to the same aberrant proteolytic events responsible for the formation
      of amyloidogenic fragments in the previously characterized mutants. At the same
      time our data suggest that a broader number of mutations, unrelated to the metal
      binding site, can lead to a pathogenic phenotype.

PMID- 27633057
TI  - Erratum: Histological response of soda-lime glass-ceramic bactericidal rods
      implanted in the jaws of beagle dogs.

PMID- 27633056
TI  - PAH contamination in Beijing's topsoil: A unique indicator of the megacity's
      evolving energy consumption and overall environmental quality.
AB  - To improve its air quality, Beijing, the capital of China, has implemented high
      cost pollution control measures mainly focused on shifting its energy mix.
      However, the effectiveness of these measures has long been questioned, especially
      given the recent problem of severe haze. The main study objectives are to achieve
      independent, although indirect, information on Beijing's air pollution by
      measuring the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in
      topsoil and to examine how soil contamination reflects energy consumption. Soil
      sampling data from two years, 2004 and 2013, were used. The key findings are as
      follows: 1) although the total PAH content in the topsoil did not significantly
      decrease from 2004 to 2013, the composition changed considerably; 2) as of 2013,
      vehicle emissions replaced coal combustion as the leading source of soil PAHs,
      which validates the existing policy measures regarding vehicle purchasing and
      traffic volume; 3) the regional transport of atmospheric pollutants, as indicated
      by the contribution of coking sources in 2013, is not negligible; and 4)
      appropriate policy measures are needed to control the growing practice of burning
      biomass. Overall, this study demonstrates that the PAH contamination in topsoil
      represents an informative indicator of Beijing's energy consumption and overall
      environmental quality.

PMID- 27633058
TI  - Silencing of CDC20 suppresses metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer
      growth and enhances chemosensitivity to docetaxel.
AB  - The role of cell division cycle 20 (CDC20) was investigated in chemoresistance to
      decetaxel and the underlying mechanisms in metastatic castration-resistant
      prostate cancer (mCRPC). MTT assays were performed to determine effects of siRNA
      mediated CDC20 knockdown on cell proliferation and anticancer activity of
      docetaxel. Western blot analyses were conducted to detect changes of Akt and Wnt
      signaling. Furthermore, in vivo growth of PCa was examined in nude mice treated
      with siCDC20 or docetaxel alone or in combination. CDC20 was overexpressed in
      mCRPC cells. Knockdown of CDC20 suppressed cell proliferation and enhanced
      anticancer effect of docetaxel with IC50 reducing from 0.358 to 0.188 ug/ml in
      PC3 cells and 0.307 to 0.162 ug/ml in DU145 cells (P<0.01). While no change of
      Akt signaling was observed, inhibition of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling was detected
      upon CDC20 silencing. Xenograft tumor growth was significantly reduced in nude
      mice by CDC20 inhibition. The additional treatment of siCDC20 achieved better
      anticancer effects than that of docetaxel alone. Silencing of CDC20 may be a new
      strategy to improve chemosensitization to docetaxel in mCRPC. 

PMID- 27633059
TI  - Phenotypic, histological and proteomic analyses reveal multiple differences
      associated with chloroplast development in yellow and variegated variants from
      Camellia sinensis.
AB  - Leaf colour variation is observed in several plants. We obtained two types of
      branches with yellow and variegated leaves from Camellia sinensis. To reveal the
      mechanisms that underlie the leaf colour variations, combined morphological,
      histological, ionomic and proteomic analyses were performed using leaves from
      abnormal branches (variants) and normal branches (CKs). The measurement of the
      CIE-Lab coordinates showed that the brightness and yellowness of the variants
      were more intense than the CKs. When chloroplast profiles were analysed, HY1
      (branch with yellow leaves) and HY2 (branch with variegated leaves) displayed
      abnormal chloroplast structures and a reduced number and size compared with the
      CKs, indicating that the abnormal chloroplast development might be tightly linked
      to the leaf colour variations. Moreover, the concentration of elemental minerals
      was different between the variants and the CKs. Furthermore, DEPs (differentially
      expressed proteins) were identified in the variants and the CKs by a quantitative
      proteomics analysis using the label-free approach. The DEPs were significantly
      involved in photosynthesis and included PSI, PSII, cytochrome b6/f complex,
      photosynthetic electron transport, LHC and F-type ATPase. Our results suggested
      that a decrease in the abundance of photosynthetic proteins might be associated
      with the changes of leaf colours in tea plants.

PMID- 27633060
TI  - Modification of Susceptible and Toxic Herbs on Grassland Disease.
AB  - Recent research shows that continuous overgrazing not only causes grassland
      biodiversity to decline, but also causes light fungal disease. Achnatherum
      inebrians is susceptible to fungal diseases and increases in prevalence during
      over grazing due its toxicity to livestock. This study aimed to examine the
      effects of A. inebrians on biological control organisms and levels of plant
      diseases in overgrazed grasslands in northwestern China. The results showed that
      A. inebrians plants were seriously infected by fungal diseases and that this led
      to a high incidence of the mycoparasitic species Ampelomyces quisqualis and
      Sphaerellopsis filum. In addition, the fungivore, Aleocharinae, was found only in
      the soil growing A. inebrians rather than in the overgrazed area without A.
      inebrians. Overall, in an overgrazed grassland fenced for one year, disease
      levels in blocks without A. inebrians were significantly higher than those in
      blocks with A. inebrians. Our findings indicated that the disease susceptible,
      toxic A. inebrians can help control plant disease levels in overgrazed
      grasslands.

PMID- 27633061
TI  - Artemisinin derivatives prevent obesity by inducing browning of WAT and enhancing
      BAT function.

PMID- 27633062
TI  - A new edge to immune surveillance by the neural system.
AB  - A recent paper published in Nature demonstrates a multifaceted relation between
      enteric glial cells (EGC), intestinal epithelia, and ILC3, via the EGC release of
      neurotrophic factors, a structurally related group of ligands within the TGF-beta
      superfamily of signaling molecules and IL-22 produced by ILC3.

PMID- 27633063
TI  - Relationship Factors Associated with Sexual Risk Behavior and High-Risk Alcohol
      Consumption Among Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men: Challenges and Opportunities
      to Intervene on HIV Risk.
AB  - The HIV epidemic continues to be a major public health concern, affecting
      communities with varying prevention and treatment needs. In the U.S., Latino men
      who have sex with men (MSM) bear a disproportionate burden of HIV incidence.
      While recent studies have highlighted the relevance of relationship factors for
      HIV transmission among MSM generally, the unique needs and experiences of Latino
      MSM have received relatively little attention. Consequently, associations between
      relationship factors and HIV risk among Latino MSM remain unknown. This mixed
      method study examined relationship status and dynamics and potential HIV-related
      risk behaviors among Latino MSM. Quantitative analyses with 240 Latino MSM
      investigated associations between relationship status and engagement in
      condomless anal intercourse (CAI). Focus groups with 20 Latino male couples and
      10 health service providers explored the impact of relationship dynamics on
      sexual behaviors, as well as opportunities to intervene on HIV risk. The majority
      of participants were predominantly Spanish speaking, most screened positive for
      high-risk alcohol consumption in the past month, more than half engaged in CAI in
      the past 3 months, and a majority reported multiple sexual partners in this
      period. Among participants in same-sex relationships (n = 175), approximately
      half reported multiple partners in the previous 3 months and more than two-thirds
      reported CAI in this time period. Being in a same-sex relationship was positively
      associated with high-risk alcohol consumption and being age 30 or older and
      negatively associated with having multiple partners. Moreover, being in a same
      sex relationship significantly increased the likelihood that participants would
      report engaging in CAI. Qualitative analyses identified themes related to
      relationship dynamics and sexual behavior, as well as opportunities to intervene
      on HIV risk. Despite the challenges encountered by Latino male couples, most
      participants expressed commitment to and support for their partners. As such,
      prevention efforts involving Latino male couples must address relationship
      dynamics and the role they play in sexual health, including safer sex practices.

PMID- 27633064
TI  - Reprofiled anthelmintics abate hypervirulent stationary-phase Clostridium
      difficile.
AB  - Prolonged use of broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupts the indigenous gut
      microbiota, which consequently enables toxigenic Clostridium difficile species to
      proliferate and cause infection. The burden of C. difficile infections was
      exacerbated with the outbreak of hypervirulent strains that produce copious
      amounts of enterotoxins and spores. In recent past, membrane-active agents have
      generated a surge of interest due to their bactericidal property with a low
      propensity for resistance. In this study, we capitalized on the antimicrobial
      property and low oral bioavailability of salicylanilide anthelmintics (closantel,
      rafoxanide, niclosamide, oxyclozanide) to target the gut pathogen. By broth
      microdilution techniques, we determined the MIC values of the anthelmintics
      against 16 C. difficile isolates of defined PCR-ribotype. The anthelmintics
      broadly inhibited C. difficile growth in vitro via a membrane depolarization
      mechanism. Interestingly, the salicylanilides were bactericidal against
      logarithmic- and stationary-phase cultures of the BI/NAP1/027 strain 4118. The
      salicylanilides were poorly active against select gut commensals (Bacteroides,
      Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species), and were non-hemolytic and non-toxic
      to mammalian cell lines HepG2 and HEK 293T/17 within the range of their in vitro
      MICs and MBCs. The salicylanilide anthelmintics exhibit desirable properties for
      repositioning as anti-C. difficile agents.

PMID- 27633065
TI  - FoxO3a mediates glioma cell invasion by regulating MMP9 expression.
AB  - The role of FoxO3a in glioma progression is poorly defined. Herein, we show that
      silencing FoxO3a in U251 cells leads to decreased invasive migration and
      proliferation, while ectopic expression of FoxO3a in U87 cells with weak
      endogenous FoxO3a protein levels enhances invasion and proliferation. To further
      investigate the mechanism by which FoxO3a promotes invasion, we detected key
      members of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that are associated with
      invasion. Our findings showed that, among these MMP members, only FoxO3a induced
      MMP9 expression, and MMP9 overexpression reversed the effect that silencing
      FoxO3a had on the attenuation of cell invasion. Taken together, these data link
      FoxO3a to the promotion of metastasis in glioma cells.

PMID- 27633067
TI  - Beware of Unreliable Q2! A Comparative Study of Regression Metrics for
      Predictivity Assessment of QSAR Models.
AB  - Validation is an essential step of QSAR modeling, and it can be performed by both
      internal validation techniques (e.g., cross-validation, bootstrap) or by an
      external set of test objects, that is, objects not used for model development
      and/or optimization. The evaluation of model predictive ability is then completed
      by comparing experimental and predicted values of test molecules. When dealing
      with quantitative QSAR models, validation results are generally expressed in
      terms of Q2 metrics. In this work, four fundamental mathematical principles,
      which should be respected by any Q2 metric, are introduced. Then, the behavior of
      five different metrics (QF12, QF22, QF32, QCCC2, and QRm2) is compared and
      critically discussed. The conclusions highlight that only the QF32 metric
      satisfies all the stated conditions, while the remaining metrics show different
      theoretical flaws.

PMID- 27633066
TI  - Reanalysis of microRNA expression profiles identifies novel biomarkers for
      hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis.
AB  - The aim of our study is to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) that have significance in
      the prognosis and pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The miRNAs
      differentially expressed in HCC were examined by using a human miRNA microarray
      dataset, and then the acquired candidates were screened by another microarray
      dataset. As a result, we got 25 miRNAs which were aberrantly expressed in cancer
      and meanwhile predicated distinct prognosis. Among them, miR-139-5p was down
      regulated in HCC and its low expression in cancer tissue meant poor prognosis.
      Additionally, we demonstrated that its low expression was also related to several
      clinicopathologic characteristics such as vein invasion, BCLC stage, p-AKT
      expression, and pIGFR1 expression. In vitro, it has been discovered that
      treatment of HCC cells with a miR-139-5p mimic lead to inhibition of cell growth
      and migration. Moreover, luciferase assay showed that KPNA4 was not the direct
      target of miR-139-5p. Ectopic expression of miR-139-5p has not repressed the
      expression of KPNA4, but inhibited the nuclear import of NF-kappaB and
      phosphorylation of Akt. In conclusion, for the first time, we identify 25
      deregulated miRNAs that are associated with prognosis and prove that miR-139-5p
      functions as a tumor suppressor in HCC and its low expression predicts poor
      prognosis.

PMID- 27633068
TI  - Impact of monopolar radiofrequency coagulation on intraoperative blood loss
      during liver resection: a prospective randomised controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of using monopolar thermal coagulation based on
      radiofrequency (RF) currents on intraoperative blood loss during liver resection.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective randomised controlled trial was planned.
      Patients undergoing hepatectomy were randomised into two groups. In the control
      group (n = 10), hemostasis was obtained with a combination of stitches, vessel
      sealing bipolar RF systems, sutures or clips. In the monopolar radiofrequency
      coagulation (MRFC) group (n = 18), hemostasis was mainly obtained using an
      internally cooled monopolar RF electrode. RESULTS: No differences in demographic
      or clinical characteristics were found between groups. Mean blood loss during
      liver resection in the control group was more than twice that of the MRFC group
      (556 +/- 471 ml vs. 225 +/- 313 ml, p = .02). The adjusted mean
      bleeding/transection area was also significantly higher in the control group (7.0
      +/- 3.3 ml/cm2 vs. 2.8 +/- 4.0 ml/cm2, p = .006). No significant differences were
      observed in the rate of complications between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings suggest that the monopolar electrocoagulation created with an internally
      cooled RF electrode considerably reduces intraoperative blood loss during liver
      resection.

PMID- 27633069
TI  - Cholesteric Polymer Scaffolds Filled with Azobenzene-Containing Nematic Mixture
      with Phototunable Optical Properties.
AB  - The past two decades witnessed tremendous progress in the field of creation of
      different types of responsive materials. Cholesteric polymer networks present a
      very promising class of smart materials due to the combination of the unique
      optical properties of cholesteric mesophase and high mechanical properties of
      polymer networks. In the present work we demonstrate the possibility of fast and
      reversible photocontrol of the optical properties of cholesteric polymer
      networks. Several cholesteric photopolymerizable mixtures are prepared, and
      porous cholesteric network films with different helix pitches are produced by
      polymerization of these mixtures. An effective and simple method of the
      introduction of photochromic azobenzene-containing nematic mixture capable of
      isothermal photoinducing the nematic-isotropic phase transition into the porous
      polymer matrix is developed. It is found that cross-linking density and degree of
      polymer network filling with a photochromic nematic mixture strongly influence
      the photo-optical behavior of the obtained composite films. In particular, the
      densely cross-linked films are characterized by a decrease in selective light
      reflection bandwidth, whereas weakly cross-linked systems display two processes:
      the shift of selective light reflection peak and decrease of its width. It is
      noteworthy that the obtained cholesteric materials are shown to be very promising
      for the variety applications in optoelectronics and photonics.

PMID- 27633070
TI  - Management of a Concealable Stigmatized Identity: A Qualitative Study of
      Concealment, Disclosure, and Role Flexing Among Young, Resilient Sexual and
      Gender Minority Individuals.
AB  - Disclosure of a sexual or gender minority status has been associated with both
      positive and negative effects on wellbeing. Few studies have explored the
      disclosure and concealment process in young people. Interviews were conducted
      with 10 sexual and/or gender minority individuals, aged 18-22 years, of male
      birth sex. Data were analyzed qualitatively, yielding determinants and effects of
      disclosure and concealment. Determinants of disclosure included holding positive
      attitudes about one's identity and an implicit devaluation of acceptance by
      society. Coming out was shown to have both positive and negative effects on
      communication and social support and was associated with both increases and
      decreases in experiences of stigma. Determinants of concealment included lack of
      comfort with one's identity and various motivations to avoid discrimination.
      Concealment was also related to hypervigilance and unique strategies of accessing
      social support. Results are discussed in light of their clinical implications.

PMID- 27633071
TI  - Multitasking simulation: Present application and future directions.
AB  - The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education lists multi-tasking as a
      core competency in several medical specialties due to increasing demands on
      providers to manage the care of multiple patients simultaneously. Trainees often
      learn multitasking on the job without any formal curriculum, leading to high
      error rates. Multitasking simulation training has demonstrated success in
      reducing error rates among trainees. Studies of multitasking simulation
      demonstrate that this type of simulation is feasible, does not hinder the
      acquisition of procedural skill, and leads to better performance during
      subsequent periods of multitasking. Although some healthcare agencies have
      discouraged multitasking due to higher error rates among multitasking providers,
      it cannot be eliminated entirely in settings such as the emergency department in
      which providers care for more than one patient simultaneously. Simulation can
      help trainees to identify situations in which multitasking is inappropriate,
      while preparing them for situations in which multitasking is inevitable.

PMID- 27633072
TI  - Direct measurement of chiral structure and transport in single- and multi-walled
      carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Electrical devices based on suspended multi-wall carbon nanotubes were
      constructed and studied. The chiral structure of each shell in a particular
      nanotube was determined using nanobeam electron diffraction in a transmission
      electron microscope. The transport properties of the carbon nanotube were also
      measured. The nanotube device length was short enough that the transport was
      nearly ballistic, and multiple subbands contributed to the conductance. Thermal
      excitation of carriers significantly affected nanotube resistance at room
      temperature.

PMID- 27633074
TI  - Suppression of CEP55 reduces cell viability and induces apoptosis in human lung
      cancer.
AB  - Centrosomal protein 55 (CEP55), identified as a centrosome-associated protein,
      has been reported to be involved in human malignancies. However, its biological
      function in human lung cancer remains largely unknown. In the present study, we
      firstly analyzed the expression of CEP55 in 20 pairs of lung cancer and matched
      non-tumor tissues using quantitative RT-PCR analysis and found that CEP55 mRNA
      was significantly increased in lung cancer tissues compared with that in matched
      tumor-adjacent tissues. Then we performed a loss-of-function assay using lung
      cancer cell lines A549 and 95D. Functionally, knockdown of CEP55 markedly
      inhibited cell viability and proliferation ability as determined by MTT and
      colony formation assays. Moreover, CEP55-silenced cells were obviously arrested
      in the G0/G1 phase and presented significant cell apoptosis as determined using
      flow cytometric analysis. Mechanistically, western blot analysis further revealed
      that knockdown of CEP55 decreased the expression of CDK4, p21 and Bcl-2, while it
      increased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein, Bad, caspase-3 and PARP in 95D
      cells. In conclusion, our data highlight the crucial role of CEP55 in promoting
      lung cancer cell proliferation in vitro and its inhibition may be a novel
      therapeutic strategy for lung cancer.

PMID- 27633073
TI  - Considerations in Understanding the Coronary Blood Flow- Left Ventricular Mass
      Relationship in Patients with Hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary blood flow (CBF) is essential for optimal cardiac
      performance and to maintain myocardial viability. There is considerable ambiguity
      concerning CBF in hypertension. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship
      between CBF and left ventricular (LV) mass in persons with hypertension. METHODS:
      OvidSP Medline was systematically searched. Eligible articles assessed CBF, and
      LV mass in adults with and without hypertension (HTN). RESULTS: Eleven studies
      met the entry criteria. All 8 studies reported an increase in CBF (ml/min) for
      persons with hypertension (N=212) compared to individuals without hypertension
      (N=150). Metaanalysis showed a significant and 2.88 fold higher CBP in
      hypertension. Six studies adjusted CBF for LV mass; of which 4 studies reported a
      reduction in CBF. Meta-analysis showed a significant decrease in CBF/g LV mass in
      hypertension. The two studies that did not show a decrease in CBF, used the argon
      chromatographic method to measure coronary sinus blood flow suggesting this
      methodology may have influenced the results. Using the mean CBF in normotensive
      group to construct the expected CBF according to LV mass, reported CBF in HTN was
      progressively less than expected In two studies, (N=142), there was a significant
      inverse correlation between LV mass and CBF/ g LV mass. Multivariate analysis
      (three studies) consistently found a highly significant independent relationship
      between LV mass and CBF after considering age, sex, heart rate and several other
      factors. CONCLUSION: Hypertension is associated with a reduction in CBF adjusted
      for LV mass with a highly significant inverse association between CBF and LV
      mass. Clinicians should be aware that patients with hypertension are at greater
      risk for myocardial ischemia should develop other factors that limit CBF or
      myocardial oxygen delivery.

PMID- 27633076
TI  - The Effect of Vestibular Stimulation on Motor Functions of Children With Cerebral
      Palsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy (CP) has been defined as a nonprogressive disease of
      movement and posture development. Physical therapy techniques use different forms
      of sensory stimulation to improve neuromotor development. AIM: The aim of this
      study was to assess the efficacy of a vestibular stimulation training in
      improving motor functions in cerebral palsy. POPULATION: Fourteen children with
      CP were randomly separated into two different groups in a cross-over trial.
      METHODS: Over a period of 10 weeks, each group performed 10 sessions of 50 min of
      neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) and 10 sessions of vestibular training (VR).
      Children were evaluated with the Gross Motor Function Measurement-88 scale, the
      Goal Attainment Scale and the root mean square of head accelerations. RESULTS: A
      significant improvement in the GAS-score (p = .003) was noted after NDT+VR.
      CONCLUSIONS: Vestibular stimulation integrated with NDT proved to be an effective
      complementary strategy for facilitating motor functioning.

PMID- 27633075
TI  - Vitamin D in relation to bone health and muscle function in young female soccer
      players.
AB  - The present work investigated serum vitamin D (25(OH)D) status in relation to
      bone and muscle qualities and functions in 19 female soccer players (13-16 years)
      resident at northern latitude with very low sun exposure (~32-36 h/month) during
      winter season (late January to early March). Serum 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone
      and bone turnover markers osteocalcin (OC) and beta carboxy-terminal collagen
      cross-links (beta-Ctx), as well as body composition and muscle performance were
      examined. Hormones were tested using routine laboratory methods. Fat mass, lean
      mass, and bone mineral density in whole body, as well as femur and lumbar spine
      were evaluated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle performance was
      assessed through isokinetic knee extension and flexion, countermovement jump, and
      sprint running. 25(OH)D was low (50.5 +/-   12.8 nmol l-1), whereas the values of
      bone turnover markers were markedly high (OC: 59.4 +/-   18.6 ug l-1; beta-Ctx:
      1075 +/-   408 ng l-1). All bone and muscle measurements were normal or above
      normal. 25(OH)D was not significantly correlated with most of the parameters of
      bone and muscle quality or function, except the knee extension time to peak
      torque (r   =   -0.50, p =   .03). In conclusion, the level of vitamin D is
      markedly low in adolescent female soccer players during the winter in Sweden.
      However, vitamin D levels did not significantly correlate with measures of bone
      and muscle except a moderate correlation in time to peak torque in the knee
      extensors. The practical implication of low vitamin D levels in young growing
      female athletes remains unclear.

PMID- 27633078
TI  - Variation of Linear and Nonlinear Parameters in the Swim Strokes According to the
      Level of Expertise.
AB  - The aim was to examine the variation of linear and nonlinear proprieties of the
      behavior in participants with different levels of swimming expertise among the
      four swim strokes. Seventy-five swimmers were split into three groups (highly
      qualified experts, experts and nonexperts) and performed a maximal 25m trial for
      each of the four competitive swim strokes. A speed-meter cable was attached to
      the swimmer's hip to measure hip speed; from which speed fluctuation (dv),
      approximate entropy (ApEn) and fractal dimension (D) variables were derived.
      Although simple main effects of expertise and swim stroke were obtained for dv
      and D, no significant interaction of expertise and stroke were found except in
      ApEn. The ApEn and D were prone to decrease with increasing expertise. As a
      conclusion, swimming does exhibit nonlinear properties but its magnitude differs
      according to the swim stroke and level of expertise of the performer.

PMID- 27633077
TI  - Biological Movement and Laws of Physics.
AB  - Living systems may be defined as systems able to organize new, biology-specific,
      laws of physics and modify their parameters for specific tasks. Examples include
      the force-length muscle dependence mediated by the stretch reflex, and the
      control of movements with modification of the spatial referent coordinates for
      salient performance variables. Low-dimensional sets of referent coordinates at a
      task level are transformed to higher-dimensional sets at lower hierarchical
      levels in a way that ensures stability of performance. Stability of actions can
      be controlled independently of the actions (e.g., anticipatory synergy
      adjustments). Unintentional actions reflect relaxation processes leading to
      drifts of corresponding referent coordinates in the absence of changes in
      external load. Implications of this general framework for movement disorders,
      motor development, motor skill acquisition, and even philosophy are discussed.

PMID- 27633079
TI  - The Influence of a Cognitive Task on the Postural Phase of Gait Initiation in
      Parkinson's Disease: An Electromyographic-Based Analysis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare postural control strategies during gait
      initiation in single- and dual-task conditions in individuals in early stages of
      Parkinson's Disease (PD). The activation timing of tibialis anterior occurred
      significantly later in the individuals with PD than in the controls (p = .05),
      and a significant interaction between the groups, conditions and limbs was found
      (p = .027). Differences between the single- and dual-task conditions were
      observed for the activation timing of the tibialis anterior (p = .042) and for
      the magnitude of soleus (p = .007), with lower values for the dual-task
      condition. Furthermore, not all the individuals followed the previously reported
      pattern of soleus inhibition followed by tibialis anterior activation. The
      duration of the mediolateral displacement of the center of pressure was longer in
      the individuals with PD than in the controls (p = .019). The anticipatory
      postural adjustments during gait initiation are impaired in PD and are expressed
      by an activation failure of tibialis anterior in both single- and dual-task
      conditions. Hence, it is important that during rehabilitation, intervention
      should concentrate on the tibialis anterior TA.

PMID- 27633080
TI  - Assessing clinical support and inter-professional interactions among front-line
      primary care providers in remote communities in northern Canada: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary care in remote communities in northern Canada is delivered
      primarily by nurses who receive clinical support from physicians in regional
      centres and the patient transportation system. To improve continuity, quality and
      access to care in remote northern communities, it is important to understand the
      perspectives of front-line providers and the complex challenges they face.
      OBJECTIVE: To design and implement a survey of primary care providers to identify
      issues relating to inter-professional communication, clinical support and patient
      evacuation. METHODS: In collaboration with the territorial government and
      regional health authority partners, we developed a 21-item self-administered
      questionnaire survey, which could be completed online. The survey was sent to 218
      physicians and nurses who were employed in the Northwest Territories (NWT) at the
      time of the survey and were involved in sending patients out of the community
      and/or receiving patients. The survey also contained an open-ended question at
      the end seeking comments regarding primary health care. RESULTS: The overall low
      response rate of 39% among nurses and 19% among physicians threatens the validity
      of the quantitative results. The majority of providers were satisfied with their
      ability to communicate with other providers in a timely manner, their freedom to
      make clinical decisions and their overall experience practicing in the NWT. The
      patient transfer system appears to work from both the sender and receiver
      perspectives. However, a common theme reported by nurses was that physicians
      providing clinical advice, especially short-term locums, were not familiar with
      the local situation, whilst physicians at the receiving end remarked that the
      clinical information provided to them often lacked clarity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Important lessons were learnt from the pilot study, especially in better
      engagement of providers in planning and dissemination. The questionnaire design
      and the online method of delivery were acceptable. Although important issues were
      identified, a larger definitive survey is needed to investigate them in the
      future.

PMID- 27633082
TI  - Effect of BMPs and Wnt3a co-expression on the osteogenetic capacity of
      osteoblasts.
AB  - In the present study, third-generation autologous-inactivated bone morphogenic
      protein 2 (BMP2), BMP4, BMP6, BMP7, BMP9 and Wnt3a lentiviral vectors were
      constructed and integrated into the genome of MC3T3-E1 murine mesenchymal stem
      cells (MMSCs) to produce osteoinductive factor gene-modified MMSCs. The
      transfection efficiency of each osteoinductive factor was then determined by
      detecting the expression levels of runt related transcription factor 2 (Runx2)
      mRNA. The cotransfection with combinations of two lentiviruses was performed, and
      the expression levels of bone gamma-carboxyglutamate protein and alkaline
      phosphatase in the MC3T3-E1 cell culture supernatant were detected. The
      expression level of Runx2 mRNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase
      chain reaction, and western blotting was performed to detect the protein
      expression levels of BMP2, BMP4, BMP6, BMP7, BMP9 and Wnt3a. The results
      demonstrated that the recombinant lentiviruses were successfully transfected into
      MC3T3-E1 cells. The relative expression levels of Runx2 mRNA were greatest in the
      BMP2 group, sequentially followed by the BMP4, BMP9, BMP7, Wnt3a and BMP6 groups.
      The results of cotransfection of MC3T3-E1 cells (a total of 8 groups)
      demonstrated that BMP-2 and BMP-7 exhibited the highest cotransfection
      efficiency. Western blot analysis demonstrated that following BMP2 and BMP7
      cotransfection of MC3T3-E1 cells, the protein expression levels of BMP2, BMP4,
      BMP6, BMP7, BMP9 and Wnt3a were increased compared with control cells. In
      conclusion, the third-generation lentiviral vectors effectively improved the
      osteogenic efficiencies of MC3T3-E1 cells, which provided an important
      theoretical basis and therapeutic strategy for bone reconstruction and tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 27633081
TI  - Structural modulation of the gut microbiota and the relationship with body
      weight: compared evaluation of liraglutide and saxagliptin treatment.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying the weight-loss effect of GLP-1 receptor agonists need
      further elucidation. The present study was performed to explore the effects of
      liraglutide and saxagliptin on the composition of the gut microbiota. Mice were
      randomly treated with saxagliptin or liraglutide for eight weeks. Their metabolic
      profiles were assessed, and 454 pyrosequencing of 16s rRNA of faeces was
      performed. Liraglutide induced a smaller body weight gain in mice. The
      pyrosequencing showed that liraglutide, but not saxagliptin, substantially
      changed the overall structure of the gut microbiota as well as the relative
      abundance of weight-relevant phylotypes. Subsequent ridge regression analyses
      indicated that, in addition to food intake (beta = -0.182, p = 0.043 in
      phylotypes inversely correlated with body weight) and blood glucose level (beta =
      -0.240, p = 0.039 in phylotypes positively correlated with body weight), the
      administration of liraglutide was another independent factor associated with the
      abundance of weight-relevant phylotypes (beta = 0.389, p = 6.24e-5 in inversely
      correlated ones; beta = -0.508, p = 2.25e-5 in positively correlated ones). These
      results evidenced that GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide could modulate the
      composition of the gut microbiota, leading to a more lean-related profile that
      was consistent with its weight-losing effect.

PMID- 27633084
TI  - Molecularly Engineered Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite with Multiple Quantum
      Well Structure for Multicolored Light-Emitting Diodes.
AB  - Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have the potential to be used as a new class
      of emitters with tunable emission, high color purity and good ease of
      fabrication. Recent studies have so far been focused on three-dimensional (3D)
      perovskites, such as CH3NH3PbBr3 and CH3NH3PbI3 for green and infrared emission.
      Here, we explore a new series of hybrid perovskite emitters with a general
      formula of (C4H9NH3)2(CH3NH3)n-1PbnI3n+1 (where n = 1, 2, 3), which possesses a
      multiple quantum well structure. The quantum well thickness of these materials is
      adjustable through simple molecular engineering which results in a continuously
      tunable bandgap and emission spectra. Deep saturated red emission was obtained
      with a peak external quantum efficiency of 2.29% and a maximum luminance of 214
      cd/m(2). Green and blue LEDs were also demonstrated through halogen substitutions
      in these hybrid perovskites. We expect these results to open up the way towards
      high performance perovskite LEDs through molecular-structure engineering of these
      perovskite emitters.

PMID- 27633085
TI  - Downregulation of RLIP76 is associated with vincristine resistance in human
      colorectal cancer HCT-8/VCR cells.
AB  - RLIP76 is an anti-apoptotic transporter, participating in the multi-specific drug
      transport and resistance. In the absence of chemotherapy drugs, the knockout or
      inhibition of RLIP76 leads to pronounced tumor regression. RLIP76 transports
      anthracycline and vinca alkaloid drugs and mediates the resistance to these
      drugs. However, functions of RLIP76 in drug resistance colorectal cancer remain
      unclear. HCT-8 and the vincristine (VCR)-resistant colorectal cancer cell line
      HCT-8/VCR (HCT-8/V) were used in the present study. The effects of RLIP76
      knockdown by the lentivirus were examined in cultured cells, including growth,
      apoptosis, invasion, and signaling pathways by qRT-PCR, western blot analysis and
      transwell assay. The relative level of RLIP76 in HCT-8 and HCT-8/V was assessed
      by western blot analysis, finding RLIP76 was overexpressed in HCT-8/V. Then, HCT
      8/V cancer cells were transfected with lentivirus encoding RLIP76-specific shRNA
      (KD) and the control (NC), and no significant difference of RLIP76 level between
      the NC cells and cells without transfection was found, but the relative mRNA
      level decreased to 0.277+/-0.016 and protein level also reduced in KD cells. Cell
      functions changed after RLIP76 knockdown in HCT-8/V. The IC50 of VCR decreased
      from 164.4+/-1.734 to 13.95+/-2.008 (ug/ml) (p<0.05) in cell culture. The cell
      number reduced from 329.67+/-20.23 to 176.33+/-2.52 (p<0.05) in migration assay
      and from 294.67+/-30.07 to 153+/-22.11 (p<0.05) in invasion assay. Moreover,
      apoptotic proteins, including cleaved-caspase-8, cleaved-caspase-9, cleaved-Parp
      and Bax increased. The phosphorylation level of Erk also reduced significantly.
      The present study showed that RLIP76 is a key effector of cancer cell survival,
      invasion, and migration and possibly an important target to improve drug
      resistance and tumor treatment.

PMID- 27633086
TI  - Corrigendum: Polymorphisms in the Mannose-Binding Lectin Gene are Associated with
      Defective Mannose-Binding Lectin Functional Activity in Crohn's Disease Patients.

PMID- 27633083
TI  - Protein malnutrition potentiates the amplifying pathway of insulin secretion in
      adult obese mice.
AB  - Pancreatic beta cell (beta) dysfunction is an outcome of malnutrition. We
      assessed the role of the amplifying pathway (AMP PATH) in beta cells in
      malnourished obese mice. C57Bl-6 mice were fed a control (C) or a low-protein
      diet (R). The groups were then fed a high-fat diet (CH and RH). AMP PATH
      contribution to insulin secretion was assessed upon incubating islets with
      diazoxide and KCl. CH and RH displayed increased glucose intolerance, insulin
      resistance and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Only RH showed a higher
      contribution of the AMP PATH. The mitochondrial membrane potential of RH was
      decreased, and ATP flux was unaltered. In RH islets, glutamate dehydrogenase
      (GDH) protein content and activity increased, and the AMP PATH contribution was
      reestablished when GDH was blunted. Thus, protein malnutrition induces
      mitochondrial dysfunction in beta cells, leading to an increased contribution of
      the AMP PATH to insulin secretion through the enhancement of GDH content and
      activity.

PMID- 27633088
TI  - Retraction: Development of Alendronate-conjugated Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)
      Dextran Nanoparticles for Active Targeting of Cisplatin in Osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27633087
TI  - Experimental Trapped-ion Quantum Simulation of the Kibble-Zurek dynamics in
      momentum space.
AB  - The Kibble-Zurek mechanism is the paradigm to account for the nonadiabatic
      dynamics of a system across a continuous phase transition. Its study in the
      quantum regime is hindered by the requisite of ground state cooling. We report
      the experimental quantum simulation of critical dynamics in the transverse-field
      Ising model by a set of Landau-Zener crossings in pseudo-momentum space, that can
      be probed with high accuracy using a single trapped ion. We test the Kibble-Zurek
      mechanism in the quantum regime in the momentum space and find the measured
      scaling of excitations is in accordance with the theoretical prediction.

PMID- 27633089
TI  - TGF-beta1 autocrine signalling and enamel matrix components.
AB  - Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is present in porcine enamel
      extracts and is critical for proper mineralization of tooth enamel. Here, we show
      that the mRNA of latent TGF-beta1 is expressed throughout amelogenesis. Latent
      TGF-beta1 is activated by matrix metalloproteinase 20 (MMP20), coinciding with
      amelogenin processing by the same proteinase. Activated TGF-beta1 binds to the
      major amelogenin cleavage products, particularly the neutral-soluble P103
      amelogenin, to maintain its activity. The P103 amelogenin-TGF-beta1 complex binds
      to TGFBR1 to induce TGF-beta1 signalling. The P103 amelogenin-TGF-beta1 complex
      is slowly cleaved by kallikrein 4 (KLK4), which is secreted into the transition-
      and maturation-stage enamel matrix, thereby reducing TGF-beta1 activity. To exert
      the multiple biological functions of TGF-beta1 for amelogenesis, we propose that
      TGF-beta1 is activated or inactivated by MMP20 or KLK4 and that the amelogenin
      cleavage product is necessary for the in-solution mobility of TGF-beta1, which is
      necessary for binding to its receptor on ameloblasts and retention of its
      activity.

PMID- 27633090
TI  - Radiofrequency radiation at Stockholm Central Railway Station in Sweden and some
      medical aspects on public exposure to RF fields.
AB  - The Stockholm Central Railway Station in Sweden was investigated for public
      radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure. The exposimeter EME Spy 200 was used to
      collect the RF exposure data across the railway station. The exposimeter covers
      20 different radiofrequency bands from 88 to 5,850 MHz. In total 1,669 data
      points were recorded. The median value for total exposure was 921 uW/m2 (or 0.092
      uW/cm2; 1 uW/m2=0.0001 uW/cm2) with some outliers over 95,544 uW/m2 (6 V/m, upper
      detection limit). The mean total RF radiation level varied between 2,817 to 4,891
      uW/m2 for each walking round. High mean measurements were obtained for GSM + UMTS
      900 downlink varying between 1,165 and 2,075 uW/m2. High levels were also
      obtained for UMTS 2100 downlink; 442 to 1,632 uW/m2. Also LTE 800 downlink, GSM
      1800 downlink, and LTE 2600 downlink were in the higher range of measurements.
      Hot spots were identified, for example close to a wall mounted base station
      yielding over 95,544 uW/m2 and thus exceeding the exposimeter's detection limit.
      Almost all of the total measured levels were above the precautionary target level
      of 3-6 uW/m2 as proposed by the BioInitiative Working Group in 2012. That target
      level was one-tenth of the scientific benchmark providing a safety margin either
      for children, or chronic exposure conditions. We compare the levels of RF
      radiation exposures identified in the present study to published scientific
      results reporting adverse biological effects and health harm at levels equivalent
      to, or below those measured in this Stockholm Central Railway Station project. It
      should be noted that these RF radiation levels give transient exposure, since
      people are generally passing through the areas tested, except for subsets of
      people who are there for hours each day of work.

PMID- 27633091
TI  - HER2-targeted recombinant protein immuno-caspase-6 effectively induces apoptosis
      in HER2-overexpressing GBM cells in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which is associated with a high rate of morbidity
      and mortality, is among the most malignant and treatment-refractory neoplasms in
      human adults. As GBM is highly resistant to conventional therapies,
      immunotherapies are a promising treatment candidate. HER2 is an attractive target
      for GBM immunotherapy, as its expression is highly associated with various types
      of GBM. We previously reported that a novel HER2-targeted recombinant protein
      e23sFv-Fdt-casp6 has an antitumor effect on HER2-positive gastric cancer cells.
      In this study, we established a genetically modified Chinese hamster ovary cell
      line, which produced and secreted e23sFv-Fdt-casp6 proteins. Following specific
      binding to and internalization into HER2-overexpressing tumor cells, the e23sFv
      Fdt-casp6 protein induced tumor cell apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation of
      HER2-overexpressing A172 and U251MG cells in vitro, but not in U87MG cells with
      undetectable HER2. The e23sFv-Fdt-casp6 gene was introduced into severe combined
      immunodeficient mice bearing human glioblastoma xenografts by using intramuscular
      injections of a liposome-encapsulated vector. The recombinant protein e23sFv-Fdt
      casp6 specifically targeted tumor cells and induced apoptosis, thereby leading to
      potent inhibition of tumor growth and prolonged the survival time of tumor
      bearing mice. We concluded that e23sFv-Fdt-casp6 represents a promising HER2
      targeted treatment option for human gliomas.

PMID- 27633093
TI  - miR-17-5p down-regulation contributes to erlotinib resistance in non-small cell
      lung cancer cells.
AB  - Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the major cause of lung cancer-related
      deaths. Erlotinib is an effective drug for NSCLC patients, but its effect in
      advanced NSCLC is compromised because of the drug resistance. The mechanism of
      erlotinib resistance in NSCLC is largely unknown. In the current study, we found
      that erlotinib treatment down-regulated miR-17-5p level in A549 cells and miR-17
      5p was lower in acquired erlotinib-resistant A549 cells (A549-ER) compared with
      erlotinib-sensitive A549 cells. Consistently, miR-17-5p was down-regulated in the
      tumor tissues and the plasma of erlotinib-resistant NSCLC patients in comparison
      to those who are sensitive to erlotinib. Moreover, miR-17-5p mimic increased the
      sensitivity of A549 and A549-ER to erlotinib. In contrast, miR-17-5p inhibitor
      decreased the cell death of A549 and A549-ER induced by erlotinib. In addition,
      we also demonstrated that miR-17-5p could inhibit the mRNA and protein levels of
      enhancer of zeste homolog (EZH) 1, a member of the EZH family that contributes to
      drug resistance in several types of cancer. The luciferase assay of 3'
      untranslated region (UTR) demonstrates that EZH1 is a direct target of miR-17-5p
      and EZH1 RNAi recapitulates the effect of miR-17-5p overexpression on erlotinib
      resistance. Further, mutation in seed sequence of miR-17-5p could totally abolish
      the sensitization of A549-ER to erlotinib induced by miR-17-5p overexpression.
      Our results indicate that miR-17-5p down-regulation contributes to erlotinib
      resistance of NSCLC by modulating its target genes such as EZH1 and plasma miR-17
      5p might be a potential biomarker of erlotinib response in NSCLC patients.

PMID- 27633092
TI  - Adenovirus-mediated Foxp3 expression in lung epithelial cells reduces airway
      inflammation in ovalbumin and cockroach-induced asthma model.
AB  - Foxp3 is a master regulator of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T-cell (Treg) function
      and is also a suppressor of SKP2 and HER2/ErbB2. There are an increasing number
      of reports describing the functions of Foxp3 in cell types other than Tregs. In
      this context, we evaluated the functions of Foxp3 in ovalbumin- and cockroach
      induced asthma models. Foxp3-EGFP-expressing adenovirus or EGFP control
      adenovirus was administered intratracheally (i.t.), followed by challenge with
      ovalbumin (OVA) or cockroach extract to induce asthma. Th2 cytokine and immune
      cell profiles of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), as well as serum IgE
      levels, were analyzed. Histological analyses were also conducted to demonstrate
      the effects of Foxp3 expression on airway remodeling, goblet cell hyperplasia and
      inflammatory responses in the lung. Adenoviral Foxp3 was expressed only in lung
      epithelial cells, and not in CD4(+) or CD8(+) cells. BALF from Foxp3 gene
      delivered mice showed significantly reduced numbers of total immune cells,
      eosinophils, neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes in response to cockroach
      allergen or OVA. In addition, Foxp3 expression in the lung reduced the levels of
      Th2 cytokines and IgE in BALF and serum, respectively. Moreover,
      histopathological analysis also showed that Foxp3 expression substantially
      inhibited eosinophil infiltration into the airways, goblet cell hyperplasia and
      smooth muscle cell hypertrophy. Furthermore, when Tregs were depleted by
      diphtheria toxin in Foxp3(DTR) mice, the anti-asthmatic functions of Foxp3 were
      not altered in OVA-challenged asthma models. In this study, our results suggest
      that Foxp3 expression in lung epithelial cells, and not in Tregs, inhibited OVA-
      and cockroach extract-induced asthma.

PMID- 27633094
TI  - Usefulness of thermographic analysis to control temperature homogeneity in the
      development and implementation of a closed recirculating CO2 chemohyperthermia
      model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the effectiveness of thermography to control the
      distribution of abdominal temperature in the development of a closed
      chemohyperthermia model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For thermographic analysis, we
      divided the abdominopelvic cavity into nine regions according to a modification
      of carcinomatosis peritoneal index. A difference of 2.5  degrees C between and
      within the quadrants, and thermographic colours, were used as asymmetric
      criteria. Preclinical study:. Rats Model: Six athymic nude rats, male, rnu/rnu.
      They were treated with closed technique and open technique. Porcine Model: 12
      female large white pigs. Four were treated with open technique and eight with
      closed recirculation CO2 technique. Clinical Pilot Study, EUDRACT 2011-006319-69:
      18 patients with ovarian cancer were treated with cytoreductive surgery and
      hyperthermia intraperitoneal chemotherapy, HIPEC, with a closed recirculating CO2
      system. Thermographic control and intra-abdominal temperature assessment was
      performed at the baseline, when outflow temperature reached 41  degrees C, and at
      30'. RESULTS: The thermographic images showed a higher homogeneity of the intra
      abdominal temperature in the closed model respect to the open technique. The
      thermogram showed a temperature distribution homogeneity when starting the
      circulation of chemotherapy. There was correlation between the temperature
      thermographic map in the closed porcine model and pilot study, and reached inflow
      and outflow temperatures, at half time of HIPEC, of 42/41.4  degrees C and 42 +/-
      0.2/41 +/- 0.8  degrees C, respectively. There was no significant impact to the
      core temperature of patients after reaching the homogeneous temperature
      distribution. CONCLUSIONS: To control homogeneity of temperature distribution is
      feasible using infra-red digital images in a closed HIPEC with CO2 recirculation.

PMID- 27633096
TI  - Competing Claims: Religious Affiliation and African Americans' Intolerance of
      Homosexuals.
AB  - Literature on religion and political intolerance indicates competing expectations
      about how Black Protestant church affiliation affects African Americans'
      attitudes about civil liberties. On the one hand, Black Protestant theology
      emphasizes personal freedom and social justice, factors generally linked to more
      tolerant attitudes. On the other hand, Black Protestants tend to be conservative
      on family and social issues, factors often linked to intolerance of gays and
      lesbians. Data from the General Social Survey are used to examine the influence
      of religious group identification, as well as other relevant aspects of
      religiosity, on political intolerance among African Americans. Results indicate
      that although other aspects of religion (beliefs and behaviors) help explain
      variation in political intolerance, Black Protestant church affiliation has no
      relationship with attitudes about the civil liberties of homosexuals. However,
      additional tests show that Black Protestant church affiliation significantly
      predicts intolerance of other target groups (atheists and racists).

PMID- 27633097
TI  - A Flexible and Robust Transparent Conducting Electrode Platform Using an
      Electroplated Silver Grid/Surface-Embedded Silver Nanowire Hybrid Structure.
AB  - In this paper, we report flexible transparent conducting electrode (TCE) film
      using a silver grid (Ag grid)/silver nanowire (AgNW) hybrid structure (AG/NW
      GFRHybrimer). The AG/NW-GFRHybrimer consists of an AgNW-embedded glass-fabric
      reinforced plastic film (AgNW-GFRHybrimer) and an electroplated Ag grid. The AgNW
      GFRHybrimer is used as a flexible transparent substrate and a seed layer for
      electroplating. The Ag grid is fabricated via an all-solution-process; the grid
      pattern is formed using conventional photolithography, and Ag is deposited
      through electroplating. The AG/NW-GFRHybrimer exhibits excellent opto-electrical
      properties (transparency = 87%, sheet resistance = 13 Omega/?), superior thermal
      stability (250  degrees C for 720 min and 85  degrees C/85% RH for 100 h), and
      outstanding mechanical flexibility (bending radius = 1 mm for 2000 cycles).
      Finally, a touch-screen panel (four-wire resistive type) was fabricated using the
      AG/NW-GFRHybrimer to demonstrate its potential for use in actual optoelectronic
      applications.

PMID- 27633095
TI  - Rapid ecotoxicological bioassay using delayed fluorescence in the marine
      cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp. (NIES-981).
AB  - The use of delayed fluorescence intensity as an endpoint for rapid estimation of
      the effective concentration (ECx) has been reported as an alternative to standard
      growth inhibition (at 72 h after exposure) in some algal species including
      Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. In marine algae, although an approach of
      bioassaying using delayed fluorescence measurements has not been performed yet,
      its development would provide many benefits for marine environmental risk
      assessment. In this study, we selected marine cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp. (NIES
      981) as our test algal species and demonstrated that this species is valid for
      the standard growth inhibition test based on criteria provide by Organization for
      Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines. Furthermore, standard
      inhibition tests and shorter period test using DF were performed in NIES-981
      using five chemicals (3,5-DCP, simazine, diflufenican, K2Cr2O7, and CuSO4), and
      their EC50 and low-toxic-effect values (EC10, EC5, and NOEC) were determined from
      two dose-response curves. Based on comparisons of the two dose-response curves
      and the EC50 values, we conclude that DF intensity is useful as an endpoint for
      rapid estimation of EC50 in NIES-981.

PMID- 27633098
TI  - Optical resonance problem in metamaterial arrays: a lattice dynamics approach.
AB  - A systematic dynamic theory is established to deal with the optical collective
      resonance in metamaterial arrays. As a reference model, we consider an infinite
      split ring resonator (SRR) array illuminated by a linearly polarized wave and
      introduce an N-degree-of-freedom forced oscillator equation to simplify the
      coupled-mode vibration problem. We derive a strict formula of resonance frequency
      (RF) and its adjustable range from the steady-state response. Unlike a single SRR
      possesses invariant RF, it successfully explains the mechanism of RF shift effect
      in the SRR array when the incident angle changes. Instead of full wave analysis,
      only one or two adjacent resonance modes can give an accurate response line
      shape. Our approach is applicable for metallic arrays with any N-particle cell at
      all incident angles and well matched with numerical results. It provides a
      versatile way to study the vibration dynamics in optical periodic many-body
      systems.

PMID- 27633099
TI  - Lapatinib-resistant cancer cells possessing epithelial cancer stem cell
      properties develop sensitivity during sphere formation by activation of the
      ErbB/AKT/cyclin D2 pathway.
AB  - Lapatinib, a dual inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/ErbB2, has
      antiproliferative effects and is used to treat patients with ErbB2-positive
      metastatic breast cancer. In the present study, we examined the effects of
      lapatinib on growth of oral and prostate cancer cells. Oral squamous cell
      carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines HSC3, HSC4 and Ca9-22 were sensitive to the
      antiproliferative effects of lapatinib in anchorage-dependent culture, but the
      OSCC cell lines KB and SAS and the prostate cancer cell line DU145 were resistant
      to lapatinib. Phosphorylation levels of EGFR in all cell lines decreased during
      lapatinib treatment in anchorage-dependent culture. Furthermore, the
      phosphorylation levels of ErbB2, ErbB3 and Akt and the protein levels of cyclin
      D1 were decreased by lapatinib treatment of HSC3, HSC4 and Ca9-22 cells. ErbB3
      was not expressed and cyclin D1 protein levels were not altered by lapatinib
      treatment in KB, DU145 and SAS cells. The phosphorylation of ErbB2 and AKT was
      not affected by lapatinib in SAS cells and was not detected in KB and DU145
      cells. Lapatinib-resistant cell lines exhibited sphere-forming ability, and SAS
      cells developed sensitivity to lapatinib during sphere formation. The
      phosphorylation levels of ErbB2 and AKT and protein levels of cyclin D2 increased
      during sphere formation of SAS cells and decreased with lapatinib treatment. In
      addition, sphere formation of SAS cells was inhibited by the AKT inhibitor
      MK2206. AKT phosphorylation and cyclin D2 levels in SAS spheres were decreased by
      MK2206 treatment. SAS cells expressed E-cadherin, but not vimentin and KB cells
      expressed vimentin, but not E-cadherin. DU145 cells expressed vimentin and E
      cadherin. These results suggested that phosphorylation of EGFR and ErbB2 by cell
      detachment from the substratum induces the AKT pathway/cyclin D2-dependent sphere
      growth in SAS epithelial cancer stem-like cells, thereby rendering SAS spheres
      sensitive to lapatinib treatment.

PMID- 27633100
TI  - Performance of the High Resolution, Multi-collector Helix MC Plus Noble Gas Mass
      Spectrometer at the Australian National University.
AB  - Performance of the Helix MC Plus noble gas mass spectrometer installed at the
      Australian National University (ANU) is reported. Results for sensitivity, mass
      discrimination and their linearity against partial pressure of noble gases, and
      mass resolution of the mass spectrometer are presented, and the results are
      compared with those of conventional noble gas mass spectrometers. The application
      of the five detectors on the Helix MC Plus in measuring various noble gas
      isotopes in multi-collector modes and the integration of the software drivers of
      peripheral hardware devices into the controlling program Qtegra of the mass
      spectrometer are discussed. High mass resolution (>1800) and mass resolving power
      (>8000) make this mass spectrometer unique in noble gas cosmo-geochemistry. It
      provides the capability to measure isobaric interference-free noble gas isotopes
      in multi-collector mode, significantly improves the accuracy to determine
      isotopic ratios, and greatly increases the efficiency of data acquisition.
      Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27633101
TI  - Development of putative probiotics as feed additives: validation in a porcine
      specific gastrointestinal tract model.
AB  - Enforced restrictions on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters (AGPs) in
      animal production have prompted investigations into alternative feed additives in
      recent decades. Probiotics are currently the main feed additive used in
      livestock. However, the selection of probiotic candidates relies on human-based
      methods and little is known about the verification criteria for host-specific
      selection. We investigated the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus salivarius
      strains isolated from fed pig feces for their use as porcine feed additives. Two
      methods were developed that simulated the pig gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the
      intestinal epithelium, and these were compared with human-based in vitro methods
      and used for selecting porcine probiotics. Lactobacillus salivarius strain LS6
      was identified as a promising probiotic strain for potential use as a porcine
      feed additive. This strain prevented disruption of the epithelial integrity of
      pig small intestine (PSI) cells by inhibiting the adherence of enterotoxigenic
      Escherichia coli K88. It also showed high survival rates in the in vitro pig GI
      tract model and good adhesion to PSI cells. We propose that host target-specific
      screening and validation methods are important tools in the development of
      effective probiotic feed additives, and this approach may support future-oriented
      agriculture.

PMID- 27633103
TI  - Snack Food, Satiety, and Weight.
AB  - In today's society, snacking contributes close to one-third of daily energy
      intake, with many snacks consisting of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods.
      Choices made with regard to snacking are affected by a multitude of factors on
      individual, social, and environmental levels. Social norms, for example, that
      emphasize healthful eating are likely to increase the intake of nutrient-rich
      snacks. In addition, satiety, the feeling of fullness that persists after eating,
      is an important factor in suppressing overconsumption, which can lead to
      overweight and obesity. Thus, eating snacks between meals has the potential to
      promote satiety and suppress overconsumption at the subsequent meal. Numerous
      studies have explored the relation between snack foods and satiety. These studies
      concluded that whole foods high in protein, fiber, and whole grains (e.g., nuts,
      yogurt, prunes, and popcorn) enhance satiety when consumed as snacks. Other foods
      that are processed to include protein, fiber, or complex carbohydrates might also
      facilitate satiety when consumed as snacks. However, studies that examined the
      effects of snack foods on obesity did not always account for satiety and the
      dietary quality and portion size of the snacks consumed. Thus, the evidence
      concerning the effects of snack foods on obesity has been mixed, with a number of
      interventional and observational studies not finding a link between snack foods
      and increased weight status. Although further prospective studies are warranted
      to conclusively determine the effects of snack foods on obesity risk, the
      consumption of healthful snacks likely affects satiety and promotes appetite
      control, which could reduce obesity.

PMID- 27633104
TI  - Vitamin B-12 and Cognition in Children.
AB  - Vitamin B-12 is essential for brain development, neural myelination, and
      cognitive function. Inadequate vitamin B-12 status during pregnancy and early
      childhood has been associated with adverse child health outcomes, including
      impaired cognitive development. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been
      elucidated. This review was conducted to examine the evidence that links vitamin
      B-12 and cognition in children. The search strategy resulted in 17 studies: 3
      cross-sectional, 1 case-control, and 12 cohort studies, and 1 randomized trial.
      Cognitive processes assessed included attention, memory, and perception.
      Developmental outcomes, academic performance, and intelligence quotient were also
      considered. Despite the high prevalence of vitamin B-12 insufficiency and
      associated risk of adverse cognitive outcomes in children, to our knowledge, no
      studies to date have been conducted to examine the effects of vitamin B-12
      supplementation on cognition in children. The role of vitamin B-12 in the
      etiology of child cognitive outcomes needs to be elucidated to inform public
      health interventions.

PMID- 27633102
TI  - Perspective: The Potential Role of Essential Amino Acids and the Mechanistic
      Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) Pathway in the Pathogenesis of Child
      Stunting.
AB  - Stunting is the best summary measure of chronic malnutrition in children.
      Approximately one-quarter of children under age 5 worldwide are stunted. Lipid
      based or micronutrient supplementation has little to no impact in reducing
      stunting, which suggests that other critical dietary nutrients are missing. A
      dietary pattern of poor-quality protein is associated with stunting. Stunted
      children have significantly lower circulating essential amino acids than do
      nonstunted children. Inadequate dietary intakes of essential amino acids could
      adversely affect growth, because amino acids are required for synthesis of
      proteins. The master growth regulation pathway, the mechanistic target of
      rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway, is exquisitely sensitive to amino acid
      availability. mTORC1 integrates cues such as nutrients, growth factors, oxygen,
      and energy to regulate growth of bone, skeletal muscle, nervous system,
      gastrointestinal tract, hematopoietic cells, immune effector cells, organ size,
      and whole-body energy balance. mTORC1 represses protein and lipid synthesis and
      cell and organismal growth when amino acids are deficient. Over the past 4
      decades, the main paradigm for child nutrition in developing countries has been
      micronutrient malnutrition, with relatively less attention paid to protein. In
      this Perspective, we present the view that essential amino acids and the mTORC1
      pathway play a key role in child growth. The current assumption that total
      dietary protein intake is adequate for growth among most children in developing
      countries needs re-evaluation.

PMID- 27633105
TI  - Mediterranean Diet, Cognitive Function, and Dementia: A Systematic Review of the
      Evidence.
AB  - A growing body of evidence suggests that adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD)
      may protect against cognitive decline and dementia. Many epidemiologic studies
      and several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have found positive effects of
      the MD on cognitive function, but findings remain inconsistent. The aim of this
      systematic review was to provide an update on the current knowledge of the
      effects of the MD on cognitive function, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease
      (AD), and all-type dementia. Five databases were searched-PubMed, Embase, CINAHL,
      CENTRAL, and PsycINFO (1806 to 25 May 2015)-with the use of prespecified
      criteria. Human studies that were published in English without any restriction on
      study type, population assessed, intervention period, follow-up time, or
      publication date, and that examined the association between adherence to the MD
      and cognitive function or dementia symptoms (as measured by cognitive function
      tests), were included. Only primary publication types were included. Thirty-two
      studies from 25 unique cohorts, including 5 RCTs and 27 observational studies,
      met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies showed that the MD was
      associated with improved cognitive function, a decreased risk of cognitive
      impairment or decreased risk of dementia, or AD. Three studies found no
      correlation between the MD and AD, 3 further studies found no association between
      the MD and cognitive impairment, and 5 studies found no association between the
      MD and cognitive function. There was large heterogeneity, and studies differed
      with regard to quality. Based on the findings and the limitations in study
      design, we conclude that adherence to the MD is associated with better cognitive
      performance. However, it should be noted that the majority of findings come from
      epidemiologic studies that provide evidence for a correlation between the MD and
      cognition but not for a cause-and-effect relation. More controlled trials are
      required to establish a causational relation.

PMID- 27633106
TI  - Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Oxylipins in Neuroinflammation and
      Management of Alzheimer Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer disease (AD) is becoming one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative
      conditions worldwide. Although the disease progression is becoming better
      understood, current medical interventions can only ameliorate some of the
      symptoms but cannot slow disease progression. Neuroinflammation plays an
      important role in the advancement of this disorder, and n-3 (omega-3)
      polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are involved in both the reduction in and
      resolution of inflammation. These effects may be mediated by the anti
      inflammatory and proresolving effects of bioactive lipid mediators (oxylipins)
      derived from n-3 PUFAs [eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid
      (DHA)] in fish oil. Although interventions have generally used fish oil
      containing both EPA and DHA, several studies that used either EPA or DHA alone or
      specific oxylipins derived from these fatty acids indicate that they have
      distinct effects. Both DHA and EPA can reduce neuroinflammation and cognitive
      decline, but EPA positively influences mood disorders, whereas DHA maintains
      normal brain structure. Fewer studies with a plant-derived n-3 PUFA, alpha
      linolenic acid, suggest that other n-3 PUFAs and their oxylipins also may
      positively affect AD. Further research identifying the unique anti-inflammatory
      and proresolving properties of oxylipins from individual n-3 PUFAs will enable
      the discovery of novel disease-management strategies in AD.

PMID- 27633107
TI  - Recent Findings in Alzheimer Disease and Nutrition Focusing on Epigenetics.
AB  - Alzheimer disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease with no effective
      cure so far. The current review focuses on the epigenetic mechanisms of AD and
      how nutrition can influence the course of this disease through regulation of gene
      expression, according to the latest scientific findings. The search strategy was
      the use of scientific databases such as PubMed and Scopus in order to find
      relative research or review articles published in the years 2012-2015. By showing
      the latest data of various nutritional compounds, this study aims to stimulate
      the scientific community to recognize the value of nutrition in this subject.
      Epigenetics is becoming a very attractive subject for researchers because it can
      shed light on unknown aspects of complex diseases like AD. DNA methylation,
      histone modifications, and microRNAs are the principal epigenetic mechanisms
      involved in AD pathophysiology. Nutrition is an environmental factor that is
      related to AD through epigenetic pathways. Vitamin B-12, for instance, can alter
      the one-carbon metabolism and thus interfere in the DNA methylation process. The
      research results might seem ambiguous about the clinical role of nutrition, but
      there is strengthening evidence that proper nutrition can not only change
      epigenetic biomarker levels but also prevent the development of late-onset AD and
      attenuate cognition deficit. Nutrition might grow to become a preventive and even
      therapeutic alternative against AD, especially if combined with other
      antidementia interventions, brain exercise, physical training, etc. Epigenetic
      biomarkers can be a very helpful tool to help researchers find the exact
      nutrients needed to create specific remedies, and perhaps the same biomarkers can
      be used even in patient screening in the future.

PMID- 27633109
TI  - Effects of Diet on Sleep Quality.
AB  - There is much emerging information surrounding the impact of sleep duration and
      quality on food choice and consumption in both children and adults. However, less
      attention has been paid to the effects of dietary patterns and specific foods on
      nighttime sleep. Early studies have shown that certain dietary patterns may
      affect not only daytime alertness but also nighttime sleep. In this review, we
      surveyed the literature to describe the role of food consumption on sleep.
      Research has focused on the effects of mixed meal patterns, such as high
      carbohydrate plus low-fat or low-carbohydrate diets, over the short term on
      sleep. Such studies highlight a potential effect of macronutrient intakes on
      sleep variables, particularly alterations in slow wave sleep and rapid eye
      movement sleep with changes in carbohydrate and fat intakes. Other studies
      instead examined the intake of specific foods, consumed at a fixed time relative
      to sleep, on sleep architecture and quality. Those foods, specifically milk,
      fatty fish, tart cherry juice, and kiwifruit, are reviewed here. Studies provide
      some evidence for a role of certain dietary patterns and foods in the promotion
      of high-quality sleep, but more studies are necessary to confirm those
      preliminary findings.

PMID- 27633108
TI  - Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics for the Prevention of Necrotizing
      Enterocolitis.
AB  - Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating intestinal disease in preterm
      infants characterized by barrier disruption, intestinal microbial dysbiosis, and
      persistent inflammation of the colon, which results in high mortality rates.
      Current strategies used to manage this disease are not sufficient, although the
      use of human breast milk reduces the risk of NEC. Mother's milk is regarded as a
      fundamental nutritional source for neonates, but pasteurization of donor breast
      milk affects the composition of bioactive compounds. Current research is
      evaluating the benefits and potential pitfalls of adding probiotics and
      prebiotics to pasteurized milk so as to improve the functionality of the milk and
      thereby reduce the burden of illness caused by NEC. Probiotics (live micro
      organisms that confer health to the host) and prebiotics (nondigestible
      oligosaccharides that stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria) are functional
      foods known to mediate immune responses and modulate microbial populations in the
      gut. Clinical research shows strain- and compound-specific responses when
      probiotics or prebiotics are administered in conjunction with donor breast milk
      for the prevention of NEC. Despite ongoing controversy surrounding optimal
      treatment strategies, randomized controlled studies are now investigating the use
      of synbiotics to reduce the incidence and severity of NEC. Synbiotics, a
      combination of probiotics and prebiotics, have been proposed to enhance
      beneficial health effects in the intestinal tract more than either agent
      administered alone. This review considers the implications of using probiotic-,
      prebiotic-, and synbiotic-supplemented breast milk as a strategy to prevent NEC
      and issues that could be encountered with the preparations.

PMID- 27633110
TI  - Energy Drinks and Their Impact on the Cardiovascular System: Potential
      Mechanisms.
AB  - Globally, the popularity of energy drinks is steadily increasing. Scientific
      interest in their effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems in humans
      is also expanding and with it comes a growing number of case reports of adverse
      events associated with energy drinks. The vast majority of studies carried out in
      the general population report effects on blood pressure and heart rate. However,
      inconsistencies in the current literature render it difficult to draw firm
      conclusions with regard to the effects of energy drinks on cardiovascular and
      cerebrovascular variables. These inconsistencies are due, in part, to differences
      in methodologies, volume of drink ingested, and duration of postconsumption
      measurements, as well as subject variables during the test. Recent well
      controlled, randomized crossover studies that used continuous beat-to-beat
      measurements provide evidence that cardiovascular responses to the ingestion of
      energy drinks are best explained by the actions of caffeine and sugar, with
      little influence from other ingredients. However, a role for other active
      constituents, such as taurine and glucuronolactone, cannot be ruled out. This
      article reviews the potentially adverse hemodynamic effects of energy drinks,
      particularly on blood pressure and heart rate, and discusses the mechanisms by
      which their active ingredients may interact to adversely affect the
      cardiovascular system. Research areas and gaps in the literature are discussed
      with particular reference to the use of energy drinks among high-risk
      individuals.

PMID- 27633112
TI  - Riboflavin.

PMID- 27633113
TI  - Consistency and reliability of judgements by assessors of case based discussions
      in general practice specialty training programmes in the United Kingdom.
AB  - Case based discussions (CbDs) are a mandatory workplace assessment used
      throughout general practitioner (GP) specialty training; they contribute to the
      annual review of competence progression (ARCP) for each trainee. This study
      examined the judgements arising from CbDs made by different groups of assessors
      and whether or not these assessments supported ARCP decisions. The trainees
      selected were at the end of their first year of GP training and had been
      identified during their ARCPs to need extra training time. CbDs were specifically
      chosen as they are completed by both hospital and GP supervisors, enabling
      comparison between these two groups. The results raise concern with regard to the
      consistency of judgements made by different groups of assessors, with significant
      variance between assessors of different status and seniority. Further work needs
      to be done on whether the CbD in its current format is fit for purpose as one of
      the mandatory WPBAs for GP trainees, particularly during their hospital
      placements. There is a need to increase the inter-rater reliability of CbDs to
      ensure a consistent contribution to subsequent decisions about a trainee's
      overall progress.

PMID- 27633111
TI  - Improvements in Metabolic Health with Consumption of Ellagic Acid and Subsequent
      Conversion into Urolithins: Evidence and Mechanisms.
AB  - Ellagic acid (EA) is a naturally occurring polyphenol found in some fruits and
      nuts, including berries, pomegranates, grapes, and walnuts. EA has been
      investigated extensively because of its antiproliferative action in some cancers,
      along with its anti-inflammatory effects. A growing body of evidence suggests
      that the intake of EA is effective in attenuating obesity and ameliorating
      obesity-mediated metabolic complications, such as insulin resistance, type 2
      diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and atherosclerosis. In this review,
      we summarize how intake of EA regulates lipid metabolism in vitro and in vivo,
      and delineate the potential mechanisms of action of EA on obesity-mediated
      metabolic complications. We also discuss EA as an epigenetic effector, as well as
      a modulator of the gut microbiome, suggesting that EA may exert a broader
      spectrum of health benefits than has been demonstrated to date. Therefore, this
      review aims to suggest the potential metabolic benefits of consumption of EA
      containing fruits and nuts against obesity-associated health conditions.

PMID- 27633114
TI  - Meta-analysis of associations between DLG5 R30Q and P1371Q polymorphisms and
      susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Growing evidence from recent studies has demonstrated an association between
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) susceptibility and two polymorphisms of DLG5
      R30Q (rs1248696) and P1371Q (rs2289310), but the results remain controversial. We
      conducted a meta-analysis including a total of 22 studies with 10,878 IBD
      patients and 7917 healthy controls for R30Q and 5277 IBD cases and 4367 controls
      for P1371Q in order to systematically assess their association with the disease.
      The results indicated that R30Q was significantly associated with reduced
      susceptibility to IBD in Europeans by allelic and dominant comparisons, but not
      in overall population. No significant association was found between R30Q and
      Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). P1371Q was associated with
      increased risk of IBD in Europeans and Americans. On the contrary, a decreased
      risk of IBD was observed in Asian population for P1371Q. In disease subgroup
      analysis, we found that P1371Q was also significantly associated with CD, but
      this relationship was not present for UC. In conclusion, our results strongly
      suggest that the both polymorphisms of DLG5 are correlated with IBD
      susceptibility in an ethnic-specific manner. Additional well-designed studies
      with large and diverse cohorts are needed to further strengthen our findings.

PMID- 27633115
TI  - Mechanism of tacrolimus-induced chronic renal fibrosis following transplantation
      is regulated by ox-LDL and its receptor, LOX-1.
AB  - Chronic renal allograft dysfunction (CRAD) is the most common cause of graft
      failure following renal transplantation. However, the underlying mechanisms
      remain to be fully elucidated. Immunosuppressants and hyperlipidemia are
      associated with renal fibrosis following long-term use. The present study aimed
      to determine the effects of tacrolimus (FK506) and lipid metabolism disorder on
      CRAD. In vitro and in vivo models were used for this investigation. Cells of the
      mouse proximal renal tubular epithelial cell strain, NRK-52E, were cultured
      either with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), FK506, ox-LDL combined
      with FK506, or vehicle, respectively. Changes in cell morphology and changes in
      the levels of lectin-like ox-LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1), reactive oxygen species
      (ROS), hydrogen peroxide and fibrosis-associated genes were evaluated at 24, 48
      and 72 h. In separate experiment, total of 60 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided
      randomly into four groups, which included a high-fat group, FK506 group, high-fat
      combined with FK506 group, and control group. After 2, 4 and 8 weeks, the serum
      lipid levels, the levels of ox-LDL, ROS, and the expression levels of
      transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and connective tissue growth factor were
      determined. The in vitro and in vivo models revealed that lipid metabolism
      disorder and FK506 caused oxidative stress and a fibrogenic response. In
      addition, decreased levels of LOX-1 markedly reduced the levels of TGF-beta1 in
      the in vitro model. Taken together, FK506 and dyslipidemia were found to be
      associated with CRAD following transplantation.

PMID- 27633116
TI  - Investigation of rare and low-frequency variants using high-throughput sequencing
      with pooled DNA samples.
AB  - High-throughput sequencing using pooled DNA samples can facilitate genome-wide
      studies on rare and low-frequency variants in a large population. Some major
      questions concerning the pooling sequencing strategy are whether rare and low
      frequency variants can be detected reliably, and whether estimated minor allele
      frequencies (MAFs) can represent the actual values obtained from individually
      genotyped samples. In this study, we evaluated MAF estimates using three variant
      detection tools with two sets of pooled whole exome sequencing (WES) and one set
      of pooled whole genome sequencing (WGS) data. Both GATK and Freebayes displayed
      high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy when detecting rare or low-frequency
      variants. For the WGS study, 56% of the low-frequency variants in Illumina array
      have identical MAFs and 26% have one allele difference between sequencing and
      individual genotyping data. The MAF estimates from WGS correlated well (r = 0.94)
      with those from Illumina arrays. The MAFs from the pooled WES data also showed
      high concordance (r = 0.88) with those from the individual genotyping data. In
      conclusion, the MAFs estimated from pooled DNA sequencing data reflect the MAFs
      in individually genotyped samples well. The pooling strategy can thus be a rapid
      and cost-effective approach for the initial screening in large-scale association
      studies.

PMID- 27633117
TI  - Application of RNA-seq for mitogenome reconstruction, and reconsideration of long
      branch artifacts in Hemiptera phylogeny.
AB  - Hemiptera make up the largest nonholometabolan insect assemblage. Despite
      previous efforts to elucidate phylogeny within this group, relationships among
      the major sub-lineages remain uncertain. In particular, mitochondrial genome
      (mitogenome) data are still sparse for many important hemipteran insect groups.
      Recent mitogenomic analyses of Hemiptera have usually included no more than 50
      species, with conflicting hypotheses presented. Here, we determined the nearly
      complete nucleotide sequence of the mitogenome for the aphid species of
      Rhopalosiphum padi using RNA-seq plus gap filling. The 15,205 bp mitogenome
      included all mitochondrial genes except for trnF. The mitogenome organization and
      size for R. padi are similar to previously reported aphid species. In addition,
      the phylogenetic relationships for Hemiptera were examined using a mitogenomic
      dataset which included sequences from 103 ingroup species and 19 outgroup
      species. Our results showed that the seven species representing the Aleyrodidae
      exhibit extremely long branches, and always cluster with long-branched outgroups.
      This lead to the failure of recovering a monophyletic Hemiptera in most analyses.
      The data treatment of Degen-coding for protein-coding genes and the site
      heterogeneous CAT model show improved suppression of the long-branch effect.
      Under these conditions, the Sternorrhyncha was often recovered as the most basal
      clade in Hemiptera.

PMID- 27633118
TI  - MicroRNAs serve as a bridge between oxidative stress and gastric cancer (Review).
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most prevalent tumors worldwide and
      affects human health due to its high morbidity and mortality. Mechanisms
      underlying occurrence and development of GC have been widely studied. Studies
      have revealed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by cells under oxidative
      stress (OS) are involved in gastric tumorigenesis, and modulate expression of
      microRNAs (miRs). As such, miRs have been shown to be associated with OS-related
      GC. Given the association of OS and miRs in development of GC, this review aims
      to summarize the relationship between miRs and OS and their role in GC
      development. Serving as a link between OS and GC, miRs may offer new approaches
      for gaining a more in-depth understanding of mechanisms of GC and may lead to the
      identification of new therapeutic approaches against GC.

PMID- 27633119
TI  - A novel polysaccharide derived from algae extract induces apoptosis and cell
      cycle arrest in human gastric carcinoma MKN45 cells via ROS/JNK signaling
      pathway.
AB  - In recent years, interest in biological activities of compounds from marine
      organisms has intensified. Cancer is the most principal enemy for human life and
      health. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we investigated a novel
      algae-derived polysaccharide for its role in inducing apoptosis and cell cycle
      arrest in human gastric carcinoma MKN45 cells. We found that the novel
      polysaccharide suppressed MKN45 cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis and
      arrested the cells at G2/M phase. Furthermore, we observed that the generation of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the phosphorylation of Jun N-terminal kinase
      (JNK), p53, caspase-9 and -3 were induced in the polysaccharide-treated MKN45
      cells. In addition, pretreatment with N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) and SP600125, the
      inhibitor of ROS and JNK, induced MKN45 cell proliferation, prevented the cell
      apoptosis and released the cells from cycle arrest. Finally, we found that
      pretreatment with NAC prevented the JNK, p53, caspase-9 and -3 protein
      phosphorylation induced by the polysaccharide, however, pretreatment with
      SP600125 did not affect the generation of ROS, suggesting that ROS is upstream of
      JNK. Taken together, the novel polysaccharide induced cancer cell apoptosis and
      arrested cell cycle via ROS/JNK signaling pathway.

PMID- 27633121
TI  - Epidemiological Study of Lumpy Skin Disease Outbreaks in North-western Iran.
AB  - Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a highly contagious transboundary disease of cattle
      with major economic losses. This study was undertaken to address the emergence
      and epidemiological features of LSD in four north-western provinces of Iran.
      These provinces have extensive borders with others country including Iraq,
      Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. A population of 683 cattle from 91 farms were
      examined during LSD outbreak in Iran during 2014-2016. The information of the
      farms including the population size, gender, age, vaccination status, clinical
      signs and the number of death because of LSD were recorded in the designed
      questionnaires. A number of 234 blood samples were collected randomly from
      animals with and without clinical signs of LSD. DNA was extracted from blood
      samples, and they were used for amplifying a fragment of 434 bp in size coupled
      with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for molecular detection of
      lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). The estimated prevalence, cumulative mortality
      and case fatality were 17.9%, 3.5% and 19.7%, respectively. There was no
      significant difference in occurrence of the disease between male and female
      cattle. LSD occurrence in age groups above 5 years old and below 6 months old
      showed highest and lowest relative frequencies, respectively. Vaccination was
      significantly decreased the occurrence of clinical disease. The developed PCR
      RFLP technique was able to differentiate between LSDV, sheep pox virus (ShPV) and
      goat pox virus (GPV). It was concluded that LSD was entered into Iran probably
      from Iraq via uncontrolled animal movements along common land borders between two
      countries. Developed PCR-RFLP could be used as a rapid and inexpensive method for
      differentiating Capripoxviruses (CaPVs).

PMID- 27633122
TI  - Healthy donor hematopoietic stem cell mobilization with biosimilar granulocyte
      colony-stimulating factor: safety, efficacy, and graft performance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biosimilar granulocyte-colony-stimulating factors (G-CSFs) have been
      available in the European Union since 2008, and Sandoz' biosimilar filgrastim was
      approved in the United States in March 2015 for all of the reference product's
      indications except acute radiation syndrome. Biosimilar G-CSFs have been largely
      embraced by the medical community, except for some reservations about healthy
      donor stem cell mobilization, for which use outside of clinical studies was
      cautioned against by some members of the scientific community. STUDY DESIGN AND
      METHODS: In a two-center safety surveillance study (National Clinical Trial
      NCT01766934), 245 healthy volunteer stem cell donors were enrolled. Of 244 donors
      who began mobilization with twice-daily Sandoz biosimilar filgrastim, 242
      received a full (n = 241) or partial (n = 1) course of G-CSF and underwent
      apheresis. Efficacy and safety were assessed and are reported here. RESULTS:
      Biosimilar filgrastim was accompanied by the typical G-CSF class-related adverse
      effects of expected frequency and severity. Median mobilization for CD34-positive
      stem cells was 97/uL (range, 20-347/uL); after one apheresis (91%) or two
      aphereses (9%) from all but three donors (1.2%), cell doses in excess of the
      typical 4 * 106 CD34-positive cells/kg of the recipient had been collected
      (range, 3-52 * 106 /kg). Biochemical and hematologic alterations were consistent
      with previous reports; all had normalized by the first follow-up 1 month after
      mobilization. Stem cell products engrafted with typical probability and kinetics
      for G-CSF-mobilized stem cell products. CONCLUSION: These data support the use of
      biosimilar filgrastim for healthy-donor stem cell mobilization as safe and
      effective.

PMID- 27633125
TI  - Abstracts From the ISTS Satellite Meeting June 20, 2016, Brisbane.

PMID- 27633123
TI  - Hypophyseal metastases: A report of three cases and literature review.
AB  - Metastatic tumours to the pituitary gland are rare. The most frequent are
      metastases from breast and lung. We describe three patients with metastatic
      tumours: (I) a 54-year-old patient with metastatic renal clear-cell carcinoma and
      consequent disturbances in visual acuity, cranial nerve paresis and
      panhypopituitarism, (II) a 60-year-old patient with a diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma with panhypopituitarism and diabetes insipidus and (III) a 57-year-old
      patient with metastasis of breast cancer and panhypopituitarism, visual
      impairment and cranial nerve paresis. A transnasal endoscopic biopsy and
      resection of the tumour was performed in all patients, followed by the
      oncological treatment. Despite the rarity of the disease, it is important to
      suspect a metastatic pituitary tumour especially in the case of diabetes
      insipidus, ophthalmoplegia, rapid course of the disease and headaches. In 20-30%
      of patients, a metastasis to the pituitary is the first manifestation of a tumour
      of unknown origin. Surgical and adjuvant therapy may improve the quality of life.
      The survival is not affected, however, and the prognosis of the disease is
      usually poor.

PMID- 27633124
TI  - Protective and Harmful Effects of Physical Activity for Low Back Pain: A Protocol
      for the AUstralian Twin BACK Pain (AUTBACK) Feasibility Study.
AB  - Low back pain (LBP) is a major health problem globally, but approaches to
      prevention are not yet clearly identified because modifiable risk factors are not
      well established. Although physical activity is one promising modifiable risk
      factor, it is still not known what types and doses of physical activity are
      protective or harmful for LBP. The aim of this study is to establish the
      feasibility of a definitive cohort study that will investigate the effects of
      different types and doses of physical activity on the risk of developing
      recurrent LBP while accounting for genetic factors. This will be a pilot
      longitudinal twin study and twins will be recruited from the Australian Twin
      Registry, and will be followed over 1 year. Thirty adult complete twin pairs with
      a history of LBP, but symptom free at recruitment, will be included. Data on
      physical activity (predictor) will be collected using four questionnaires and an
      objective measure (accelerometer) at baseline and at 6-month follow-up. Twins
      will also complete an additional physical activity questionnaire monthly. Data on
      LBP (outcome) will be collected at baseline and weekly. Data will be collected
      using short message service (SMS) and email. We will keep records of the
      recruitment rate, follow-up rate, and completeness of data. Barriers to
      completing the study will be investigated. The results of this study will inform
      the design and implementation of a future definitive study, which will help to
      clarify the effects of different types and doses of physical activity on the risk
      of developing recurrent LBP.

PMID- 27633120
TI  - Protein aggregation activates erratic stress response in dietary restricted yeast
      cells.
AB  - Chronic stress and prolonged activation of defence pathways have deleterious
      consequences for the cell. Dietary restriction is believed to be beneficial as it
      induces the cellular stress response machinery. We report here that although the
      phenomenon is beneficial in a wild-type cell, dietary restriction leads to an
      inconsistent response in a cell that is already under proteotoxicity-induced
      stress. Using a yeast model of Huntington's disease, we show that contrary to
      expectation, aggregation of mutant huntingtin is exacerbated and activation of
      the unfolded protein response pathway is dampened under dietary restriction.
      Global proteomic analysis shows that when exposed to a single stress, either
      protein aggregation or dietary restriction, the expression of foldases like
      peptidyl-prolyl isomerase, is strongly upregulated. However, under combinatorial
      stress, this lead is lost, which results in enhanced protein aggregation and
      reduced cell survival. Successful designing of aggregation-targeted therapeutics
      will need to take additional stressors into account.

PMID- 27633126
TI  - Abstracts From the 40th Human Genetics Society of Australasia Annual Scientific
      Meeting Hobart, Tasmania: August 6-9, 2016.

PMID- 27633129
TI  - Emerging Concepts Linking Obesity with the Hallmarks of Cancer.
AB  - There is compelling epidemiological evidence linking obesity to many tumours;
      however, the molecular mechanisms fuelling this association are not clearly
      understood. Emerging evidence links changes in the tumour microenvironment with
      the obese state, and murine and human studies highlight the relevance of adipose
      stromal cells (ASCs), including immune cells, both at remote fat depots, such as
      the omentum, as well as in peritumoural tissue. These obesity-associated changes
      have been implicated in several hallmarks of cancer, including the chronic
      inflammatory state and associated cell signalling, epithelial-to-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT), tumour-related fibrosis, angiogenesis, and genomic instability.
      Here, we present a summary of developments over the past 5 years, with particular
      focus on the tumour microenvironment in the obese state.

PMID- 27633130
TI  - Promoter engineering of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RIM15 gene for improvement
      of alcoholic fermentation rates under stress conditions.
AB  - A loss-of-function mutation in the RIM15 gene, which encodes a Greatwall-like
      protein kinase, is one of the major causes of the high alcoholic fermentation
      rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae sake strains closely related to Kyokai no. 7
      (K7). However, impairment of Rim15p may not be beneficial under more severe
      fermentation conditions, such as in the late fermentation stage, as it negatively
      affects stress responses. To balance stress tolerance and fermentation
      performance, we inserted the promoter of a gluconeogenic gene, PCK1, into the 5'
      untranslated region (5'-UTR) of the RIM15 gene in a laboratory strain to achieve
      repression of RIM15 gene expression in the glucose-rich early stage with its
      induction in the stressful late stage of alcoholic fermentation. The promoter
      engineered strain exhibited a fermentation rate comparable to that of the RIM15
      deleted strain with no decrease in cell viability. The engineered strain achieved
      better alcoholic fermentation performance than the RIM15-deleted strain under
      repetitive and high-glucose fermentation conditions. These data demonstrated the
      validity of promoter engineering of the RIM15 gene that governs inhibitory
      control of alcoholic fermentation.

PMID- 27633132
TI  - Combination of lentivirus-mediated silencing of PPM1D and temozolomide
      chemotherapy eradicates malignant glioma through cell apoptosis and cell cycle
      arrest.
AB  - Temozolomide (TMZ) is approved for use as first-line treatment for glioblastoma
      multiforme (GBM). However, GBM shows chemoresistance shortly after the initiation
      of treatment. In order to detect whether silencing of human protein phosphatase
      1D magnesium dependent (PPM1D) gene could increase the effects of TMZ in glioma
      cells, glioma cells U87-MG were infected with lentiviral shRNA vector targeting
      PPM1D silencing. After PPM1D silencing was established, cells were treated with
      TMZ. The multiple functions of human glioma cells after PPM1D silencing and TMZ
      chemotherapy were detected by flow cytometry and MTT assay. Significantly
      differentially expressed genes were distinguished by microarray-based gene
      expression profiling and analyzed by gene pathway enrichment analysis and
      ontology assessment. Western blotting was used to establish the protein
      expression of the core genes. PPM1D gene silencing improves TMZ induced cell
      proliferation and induces cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. When PPM1D gene
      silencing combined with TMZ was performed in glioma cells, 367 genes were
      upregulated and 444 genes were downregulated compared with negative control. The
      most significant differential expression pathway was pathway in cancer and
      IGFR1R, PIK3R1, MAPK8 and EP300 are core genes in the network. Western blotting
      showed that MAPK8 and PIK3R1 protein expression levels were upregulated and RB1
      protein expression was decreased. It was consistent with that detected in gene
      expression profiling. In conclusion, PPM1D gene silencing combined with TMZ
      eradicates glioma cells through cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. PIK3R1/AKT
      pathway plays a role in the multiple functions of glioma cells after PPM1D
      silencing and TMZ chemotherapy.

PMID- 27633133
TI  - An update on probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotics in clinical nutrition.
AB  - The concept of prebiotics, probiotics, and symbiotics and their use in different
      situations of daily clinical practice related to clinical nutrition is reviewed,
      as well as their role in the treatment/prevention of diarrhea (acute, induced by
      antibiotics, secondary to radiotherapy), inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative
      colitis and pouchitis), in colonic health (constipation, irritable bowel), in
      liver disease (steatosis and minimum encephalopathy), and in intensive care,
      surgical, and liver transplantation. While their effectiveness for preventing
      antibiotic-induced diarrhea and pouchitis in ulcerative colitis appears to be
      shown, additional studies are needed to establish recommendations in most
      clinical settings. The risk of infection associated to use of probiotics is
      relatively low; however, there are selected groups of patients in whom they
      should be used with caution (as jejunum infusion).

PMID- 27633131
TI  - Autophagy-related proteins are functionally active in human spermatozoa and may
      be involved in the regulation of cell survival and motility.
AB  - Macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) is an evolutionarily highly conserved
      cellular process that participates in the maintenance of intracellular
      homeostasis through the degradation of most long-lived proteins and entire
      organelles. Autophagy participates in some reproductive events; however, there
      are not reports regarding the role of autophagy in the regulation of sperm
      physiology. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate whether autophagy
      related proteins are present and functionally active in human spermatozoa.
      Proteins related to autophagy/mitophagy process (LC3, Atg5, Atg16, Beclin 1, p62,
      m-TOR, AMPKalpha 1/2, and PINK1) were present in human spermatozoa. LC3
      colocalized with p62 in the middle piece of the spermatozoa. Autophagy activation
      induced a significant increase in motility and a decrease in PINK1, TOM20
      expression and caspase 3/7 activation. In contrast, autophagy inhibition resulted
      in decreased motility, viability, ATP and intracellular calcium concentration
      whereas PINK1, TOM20 expression, AMPK phosphorylation and caspase 3/7 activation
      were significantly increased. In conclusion our results show that autophagy
      related proteins and upstream regulators are present and functional in human
      spermatozoa. Modification of mitochondrial proteins expression after autophagy
      activation/inhibition may be indicating that a specialized form of autophagy
      named mitophagy may be regulating sperm function such as motility and viability
      and may be cooperating with apoptosis.

PMID- 27633134
TI  - Gut microbiota and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - In recent years, many studies have related gut microbiome to development of
      highly prevalent diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. Obesity itself is
      associated to changes in the composition of gut microbiome, with a trend to an
      overgrowth of microorganisms more efficiently obtaining energy from diet. There
      are several mechanisms that relate microbiota to the onset of insulin resistance
      and diabetes, including changes in bowel permeability, endotoxemia, interaction
      with bile acids, changes in the proportion of brown adipose tissue, and effects
      associated to use of drugs like metformin. Currently, use of pro and prebiotics
      and other new techniques such as gut microbiota transplant, or even antibiotic
      therapy, has been postulated to be useful tools to modulate the development of
      obesity and insulin resistance through the diet.

PMID- 27633135
TI  - Effects of pomegranate juice consumption on oxidative stress in patients with
      type 2 diabetes: a single-blind, randomized clinical trial.
AB  - Increased free radicals production due to hyperglycemia produces oxidative stress
      in patients with diabetes. Pomegranate juice (PJ) has antioxidant properties.
      This study was conducted to determine the effects of PJ consumption in oxidative
      stress in type 2 diabetic patients. This study was a randomized clinical trial
      performed on 60, 40-65 years old diabetic patients. The patients were randomly
      allocated either to PJ consumption group or control. Patients in PJ group
      consumed 200 ml of PJ daily for six weeks. Sex distribution and the mean age were
      not different between two groups. After six weeks intervention, oxidized LDL and
      anti-oxidized LDL antibodies decreased and total serum antioxidant capacity and
      arylesterase activity of paraoxonase increased significantly in the PJ-treated
      group compared to the control group. Our data have shown that six weeks
      supplementation of PJ could have favorable effects on oxidative stress in
      patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

PMID- 27633136
TI  - Biochemical and structural characterization of the interface mediating
      interaction between the influenza A virus non-structural protein-1 and a
      monoclonal antibody.
AB  - We have previously shown that a non-structural protein 1 (NS1)-binding monoclonal
      antibody, termed as 2H6, can significantly reduce influenza A virus (IAV)
      replication when expressed intracellularly. In this study, we further showed that
      2H6 binds stronger to the NS1 of H5N1 than A/Puerto Rico/8/1934(H1N1) because of
      an amino acid difference at residue 48. A crystal structure of 2H6 fragment
      antigen-binding (Fab) has also been solved and docked onto the NS1 structure to
      reveal the contacts between specific residues at the interface of antibody
      antigen complex. In one of the models, the predicted molecular contacts between
      residues in NS1 and 2H6-Fab correlate well with biochemical results. Taken
      together, residues N48 and T49 in H5N1 NS1 act cooperatively to maintain a strong
      interaction with mAb 2H6 by forming hydrogen bonds with residues found in the
      heavy chain of the antibody. Interestingly, the pandemic H1N1-2009 and the
      majority of seasonal H3N2 circulating in humans since 1968 has N48 in NS1,
      suggesting that mAb 2H6 could bind to most of the currently circulating seasonal
      influenza A virus strains. Consistent with the involvement of residue T49, which
      is well-conserved, in RNA binding, mAb 2H6 was also found to inhibit the
      interaction between NS1 and double-stranded RNA.

PMID- 27633138
TI  - Dual emission of Ce3+ ,Mn2+ -coactivated Ca3 YNa(PO4 )3 F via energy transfer: a
      single component white/yellow-emitting phosphor.
AB  - A series of Ce3+ ,Mn2+ -coactivated Ca3 YNa(PO4 )3 F phosphors were synthesized
      via a traditional solid-state reaction under a reductive atmosphere. X-Ray powder
      diffraction was used to confirm that the crystal structure and diffraction peaks
      of Ce3+ /Mn2+ -doped samples matched well with the standard data. A spectral
      overlap between the emission band of Ce3+ and the excitation band of Mn2+
      suggested the occurrence of energy transfer from Ce3+ to Mn2+ . With increasing
      Mn2+ content, the emission intensities and lifetime values of the Ce3+ emission
      for Ca3 YNa(PO4 )3 F:Ce3+ ,Mn2+ phosphors linearly decrease, whereas the energy
      transfer efficiencies gradually increase to 89.35%. By adjusting the relative
      concentrations of Ce3+ and Mn2+ , the emission hues are tuned from blue to white
      and eventually to yellow. These results suggest that Ca3 YNa(PO4 )3 F:Ce3+ ,Mn2+
      phosphors have promising application as white-emitting phosphors for near
      ultraviolet light-emitting diodes.

PMID- 27633140
TI  - Never underestimate the value of innovative, not quite evidence based approaches
      to care.

PMID- 27633139
TI  - The use of natural language processing on narrative medication schedules to
      compute average weekly dose.
AB  - PURPOSE: Medications with non-standard dosing and unstandardized units of
      measurement make the estimation of prescribed dose difficult from pharmacy
      dispensing data. A natural language processing tool named the SIG extractor was
      developed to identify and extract elements from narrative medication instructions
      to compute average weekly doses (AWDs) for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
      The goal of this paper is to evaluate the performance of the SIG extractor.
      METHOD: This agreement study utilized Veterans Health Affairs pharmacy data from
      2008 to 2012. The SIG extractor was designed to extract key elements from
      narrative medication schedules (SIGs) for 17 select medications to calculate AWD,
      and these medications were categorized by generic name and route of
      administration. The SIG extractor was evaluated against an annotator-derived
      reference standard for accuracy, which is the fraction of AWDs accurately
      computed. RESULTS: The overall accuracy was 89% [95% confidence interval (CI)
      88%, 90%]. The accuracy was >=85% for all medications and route combinations,
      except for cyclophosphamide (oral) and cyclosporine (oral), which were 79% (95%CI
      72%, 85%) and 66% (95%CI 58%, 73%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The SIG extractor
      performed well on the majority of medications, indicating that AWD calculated by
      the SIG extractor can be used to improve estimation of AWD when dispensed
      quantity or days' supply is questionable or improbable. The working model for
      annotating SIGs and the SIG extractor are generalized and can easily be applied
      to other medications. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633137
TI  - Protein Folding Activity of the Ribosome is involved in Yeast Prion Propagation.
AB  - 6AP and GA are potent inhibitors of yeast and mammalian prions and also specific
      inhibitors of PFAR, the protein-folding activity borne by domain V of the large
      rRNA of the large subunit of the ribosome. We therefore explored the link between
      PFAR and yeast prion [PSI(+)] using both PFAR-enriched mutants and site-directed
      methylation. We demonstrate that PFAR is involved in propagation and de novo
      formation of [PSI(+)]. PFAR and the yeast heat-shock protein Hsp104 partially
      compensate each other for [PSI(+)] propagation. Our data also provide insight
      into new functions for the ribosome in basal thermotolerance and heat-shocked
      protein refolding. PFAR is thus an evolutionarily conserved cell component
      implicated in the prion life cycle, and we propose that it could be a potential
      therapeutic target for human protein misfolding diseases.

PMID- 27633141
TI  - The natural anthraquinones from Rheum palmatum induced the metabolic disorder of
      melatonin by inhibiting human CYP and SULT enzymes.
AB  - Melatonin (Mel) as an endogenous hormone, has been widely used in clinic for
      multiple therapeutic purposes. Further, the natural anthraquinones were
      widespread in various plants including herbs, foods, and some flavoring agents.
      The present work aims to evaluate the metabolic disorder of Mel caused by various
      common herbs and further identify their underlying mechanism. More importantly,
      the relationships between inhibitory activity and their structures were also
      investigated. Our results demonstrate that some herbs containing anthraquinone
      derivatives exhibited strong inhibition on Mel metabolism. Additionally, five
      anthraquinones from R. palmatum could inhibit phase I and II metabolism of Mel
      with a mixed inhibition kinetic model based on the mechanism of inhibiting human
      CYP1A1, 1A2, and SULT1A1. At last, the influence of R. palmatum and its five
      major components on the Mel metabolism were verified in human primary
      hepatocytes. In conclusion, our studies elucidated that herbs or foods containing
      abundant anthraquinones such as R. palmatum will cause a metabolic disorder of
      Mel, and should be avoided to combined application with Mel in clinic.

PMID- 27633142
TI  - Activation of Nrf2-ARE signaling mitigates cyclophosphamide-induced
      myelosuppression.
AB  - Myelosuppression is the most common dose-limiting adverse effect of
      chemotherapies. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of nuclear
      erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in cyclophosphamide-induced myelosuppression
      in mice, and evaluated the potential of activating Nrf2 signaling as a preventive
      strategy. The whole blood from Nrf2-/- mice exhibited decreased antioxidant
      capacities, while the bone marrow cells, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and
      granulocytes from Nrf2-/- mice were more susceptible to acrolein-induced
      cytotoxicity than those from wild type mice. Single dosage of cyclophosphamide
      induced significantly severer acute myelosuppression in Nrf2-/- mice than in wild
      type mice. Furthermore, Nrf2-/- mice exhibited greater loss of peripheral blood
      nucleated cells and recovered slower from myelosuppression nadir upon multiple
      consecutive dosages of cyclophosphamide than wild type mice did. This was
      accompanied with decreased antioxidant and detoxifying gene expressions and
      impaired colony formation ability of Nrf2-/- bone marrow cells. More importantly,
      activation of Nrf2 signaling by CDDO-Me significantly alleviated cyclophosphamide
      induced myelosuppression, while this alleviation was diminished in Nrf2-/- mice.
      In conclusion, the present study shows that Nrf2 plays a protective role in
      cyclophosphamide-induced myelosuppression and activation of Nrf2 is a promising
      strategy to prevent or treat chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression.

PMID- 27633143
TI  - Association between age and overall survival of patients with hepatocellular
      carcinoma after hepatic resection.
AB  - AIM: The suitability of hepatic resection for older patients remains
      controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether age influences overall
      survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after resection.
      METHODS: Records of 1,132 patients with HCC after hepatic resection were
      retrospectively reviewed. Overall survival (OS) was compared between younger and
      older patients based on five cut-off ages (30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 years).
      RESULTS: Across all patients, OS was 89.7% at 1 year, 67.7% at 3 years, and 47.7%
      at 5 years. OS was similar between younger and older patients at all cut-off ages
      (all P > 0.1), but OS was marginally lower among patients >70 years old than
      those <=70 (P = 0.090). Multivariate analyses identified several risk factors for
      lower OS: preoperative serum albumin <35 g/L, alanine aminotransferase >80 U/L,
      alpha-fetoprotein >=400 ng/ml, presence of esophagogastric varices or
      macrovascular invasion, incomplete/absent tumor capsule, tumor size >10 cm, tumor
      number >=3, and major hepatectomy. CONCLUSION: Age does not influence the
      prognosis of patients with HCC after hepatic resection. Older patients should be
      considered for curative resection if remnant liver volume and liver function are
      adequate. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:966-970. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633144
TI  - Novel cost effective full scale mussel shell bioreactors for metal removal and
      acid neutralization.
AB  - Acid mine drainage (AMD) impacted waters are a worldwide concern for the mining
      industry and countries dealing with this issue; both active and passive
      technologies are employed for the treatment of such waters. Mussel shell
      bioreactors (MSB) represent a passive technology that utilizes waste from the
      shellfish industry as a novel substrate. The aim of this study is to provide
      insight into the biogeochemical dynamics of a novel full scale MSB for AMD
      treatment. A combination of water quality data, targeted geochemical extractions,
      and metagenomic analyses were used to evaluate MSB performance. The MSB raised
      the effluent pH from 3.4 to 8.3 while removing up to ~99% of the dissolved Al,
      and Fe and >90% Ni, Tl, and Zn. A geochemical gradient was observed progressing
      from oxidized to reduced conditions with depth. The redox conditions helped
      define the microbial consortium that consists of a specialized niche of organisms
      that influence elemental cycling (i.e. complex Fe and S cycling). MSB technology
      represents an economic and effective means of full scale, passive AMD treatment
      that is an attractive alternative for developing economies due to its low cost
      and ease of implementation.

PMID- 27633145
TI  - GATA3 expression in primary vulvar Paget disease: a potential pitfall leading to
      misdiagnosis of pagetoid urothelial intraepithelial neoplasia.
AB  - AIMS: GATA3 has been reported as a specific urothelial marker among organs in the
      pelvic region, and has been classified as highly sensitive and specific for
      urothelial and breast carcinomas. Our aim was to verify GATA3 expression in
      extramammary Paget disease, and to determine whether it can be use to
      differentiate primary vulvar Paget disease from pagetoid urothelial
      intraepithelial neoplasia (PUIN). We also analysed HER2 protein expression and
      HER2 gene amplification and their roles as prognostic factors in extramammary
      Paget disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed GATA3 and HER2 expression in 11
      primary vulvar Paget disease cases and two PUIN cases. All cases showed nuclear
      expression of GATA3. Of 13 cases, five were equivocal for HER2 expression (score
      2+) and one was positive (3+). Fluorescence in-situ hybridization results showed
      amplification in two of these six cases. Both HER2-amplified cases were invasive.
      CONCLUSION: GATA3 was positive in all extramammary Paget disease cases tested (13
      cases), and it has no value for differentiating between primary and secondary
      vulvar Paget disease from the urological tract. HER2 amplification might confer
      an aggressive and invasive pattern in primary vulvar Paget disease, as both
      amplified cases showed an invasive pattern.

PMID- 27633146
TI  - Community Composition of Photosynthetic Picoeukaryotes in a Subtropical Coastal
      Ecosystem, with Particular Emphasis on Micromonas.
AB  - Photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPEs) are important constituents in picoplankton
      communities in many marine ecosystems. However, little is known about their
      community composition in the subtropical coastal waters of the Northwestern
      Pacific Ocean. In order to study their taxonomic composition, this study
      constructed 18S rRNA gene libraries using flow cytometric sorting during the warm
      season. The results show that, after diatoms, prasinophyte clones are numerically
      dominant. Within prasinophytes, Micromonas produced the most common sequences,
      and included clades II, III, IV, and VI. We are establishing the new Micromonas
      clade VI based on our phylogenetic analysis. Sequences of this clade have
      previously been retrieved from the South China Sea and Red Sea, indicating a
      worldwide distribution, but this is the first study to detect clade VI in the
      coastal waters of Taiwan. The TSA-FISH results indicated that Micromonas clade VI
      peaked in the summer (~4 * 102  cells/ml), accounting for one-fifth of Micromonas
      abundance on average. Overall, Micromonas contributed half of Mamiellophyceae
      abundance, while Mamiellophyceae contributed 40% of PPE abundance. This study
      demonstrates the importance of Micromonas within the Mamiellophyceae in a
      subtropical coastal ecosystem.

PMID- 27633148
TI  - Direct Synthesis of Functionalized High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene by
      Copolymerization of Ethylene with Polar Monomers.
AB  - The introduction of even a small amount of polar functional groups into
      polyolefins could excise great control over important material properties. As the
      most direct and economic strategy, the transition-metal-catalyzed
      copolymerization of olefins with polar, functionalized monomers represents one of
      the biggest challenges in this field. The presence of polar monomers usually
      dramatically reduces the catalytic activity and copolymer molecular weight (to
      the level of thousands or even hundreds Da), rendering the copolymerization
      process and the copolymer materials far from ideal for industrial applications.
      In this contribution, we demonstrate that these obstacles can be addressed
      through rational catalyst design. Copolymers with highly linear microstructures,
      high melting temperatures, and very high molecular weights (close to or above 1
      000 000 Da) were generated. The direct synthesis of polar functionalized high
      molecular-weight polyethylene was thus achieved.

PMID- 27633149
TI  - Computational Study of the Stability of Nanotube Fragments.
AB  - Extremely short (<1 nm) fragments of zig-zag carbon nanotubes are studied with ab
      initio techniques to determine their geometric and electronic structure as well
      as their magnetic susceptibility. It is found that for lengths of a few carbon
      carbon bonds, each fragment can be viewed as composed of crowns, that is, zig-zag
      rings of carbon atoms along the circumference of the tube. In this case, two
      kinds of electronic structures are found, depending on whether the number of
      carbon atoms in each crown is even or odd. Systems comprising three or more
      crowns either have a high spin ground state or involve a charge transfer across
      the length of the fragment. Conjugation changes qualitatively when the length of
      the fragment approaches and surpasses its girth. Indications regarding the
      predicted chemical stability and electronic response are provided and interpreted
      in terms of current densities induced within each crown by a magnetic field along
      the tube axis.

PMID- 27633147
TI  - Closed-loop gastric electrical stimulation versus laparoscopic adjustable gastric
      band for the treatment of obesity: a randomized 12-month multicenter study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the weight loss, change in quality of life (QOL) and safety
      of closed-loop gastric electrical stimulation (CLGES) versus adjustable gastric
      band (LAGB) in the treatment of obesity. METHODS: This multicenter, randomized,
      non-inferiority trial randomly assigned the patients in a 2:1 ratio to
      laparoscopic CLGES versus LAGB and followed them for 1 year. We enrolled 210
      patients, of whom 50 were withdrawn preoperatively. Among 160 remaining patients
      (mean age=39+/-11 years; 75% women; mean body mass index=43+/-6 kg m-2) 106
      received CLGES and 54 received LAGB. The first primary end point was non
      inferiority of CLGES versus LAGB, ascertained by the proportion of patients who,
      at 1 year, fulfilled: (a) a ?20% excess weight loss (EWL); (b) no major device-
      or procedure-related adverse event (AE); and (c) no major, adverse change in QOL.
      Furthermore, ?50% of patients had to reach ?25% EWL. The incidence and
      seriousness of all AE were analyzed and compared using Mann-Whitney's U-test.
      RESULTS: At 1 year, the proportions of patients who reached all components of the
      primary study end point were 66.7 and 73.0% for the LAGB and CLGES group,
      respectively, with a difference of -6.3% and an upper 95% CI of 7.2%, less than
      the predetermined 10% margin for confirming the non-inferiority of CLGES. The
      second primary end point was also met, as 61.3% of patients in the CLGES group
      reached ?25% EWL (lower 95% CI=52.0%; P<0.01). QOL improved significantly and
      similarly in both groups. AE were significantly fewer and less severe in the
      CLGES than in the LAGB group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This
      randomized study confirmed the non-inferiority of CLGES compared with LAGB based
      on the predetermined composite end point. CLGES was associated with significantly
      fewer major AE.

PMID- 27633150
TI  - Assessing Politicized Sexual Orientation Identity: Validating the Queer
      Consciousness Scale.
AB  - Building on psychological theories of motivation for collective action, we
      introduce a new individual difference measure of queer consciousness, defined as
      a politicized collective identity around sexual orientation. The Queer
      Consciousness Scale (QCS) consists of 12 items measuring five aspects of a
      politicized queer identity: sense of common fate, power discontent, system blame,
      collective orientation, and cognitive centrality. In four samples of adult women
      and men of varied sexual orientations, the QCS showed good test-retest and
      Cronbach's reliability and excellent known-groups and predictive validity.
      Specifically, the QCS was positively correlated with identification as a member
      of the LGBTQ community, political liberalism, personal political salience, and
      LGBTQ activism and negatively correlated with right-wing authoritarianism and
      social dominance orientation. QCS mediated relationships between several
      individual difference variables and gay rights activism and can be used with both
      LGBTQ people and allies.

PMID- 27633151
TI  - Management of hypertension in an Australian community pharmacy setting -
      patients' beliefs and perspectives.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore patients' perspectives and experiences following a trial of
      a pharmacist-led service in hypertension management. METHODS: A qualitative study
      comprising individual interviews was conducted. Patients of a community pharmacy,
      where a pharmacist-led hypertension management service had been trialled in
      selected metropolitan regions in Sydney (Australia), were recruited to the study.
      Emergent themes describing patients' experiences and perspectives on the service
      were elicited via thematic analysis (using manual inductive coding). KEY
      FINDINGS: Patients' (N = 18) experiences of the service were extremely positive,
      especially around pharmacists' monitoring of blood pressure and provision of
      advice about medication adherence. Patients' participation in the service was
      based on their trust in, and relationship with, their pharmacist. The perception
      of working in a 'team' was conveyed through the pharmacist's caring style of
      communication and the relaxed atmosphere of the community pharmacy. Patients felt
      that the community pharmacy was an obvious place for such a service because of
      their regular contact with the pharmacist, but was limited because the
      pharmacists were not able to prescribe medication. CONCLUSION: Patients were
      extremely positive about the role of, and their experience of, the pharmacy-based
      hypertension management service. Factors contributing to the patients' positive
      experiences provide important insights for community pharmacy practice. Good
      rapport with the pharmacist and a long-term relationship underpin patient
      engagement in such services. Restrictions on the pharmacists' scope of practice
      prevent their expertise, and the benefits of their accessibility as a primary
      point of contact, from being fully realised.

PMID- 27633152
TI  - Development of a multilocus sequence typing tool for high-resolution subtyping
      and genetic structure characterization of Cryptosporidium ubiquitum.
AB  - Cryptosporidium ubiquitum is an emerging zoonotic pathogen in humans. Recently, a
      subtyping tool targeting the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene was developed for C.
      ubiquitum, and identified six subtype families (XIIa-XIIf). In this study, we
      selected five genetic loci known to be polymorphic in C. hominis and C. parvum
      for the development of a multilocus subtyping tool for C. ubiquitum, including
      CP47 (cgd6_1590), MSC6-5 (cgd6_4290), cgd6_60, cgd2_3690, and cgd4_370. PCR
      primers for these targets were designed based on whole genome sequence data from
      C. ubiquitum. DNA sequence analyses of 24 C. ubiquitum specimens showed the
      presence of 18, 1, 5, 4, and 5 subtypes at the CP47, MSC6-5, cgd6_60, cgd2_3690,
      and cgd4_370 loci, respectively. Altogether, 18 multilocus sequence typing (MLST)
      subtypes were detected among the 19 specimens successfully sequenced at all
      polymorphic loci. Phylogenetic analyses of the MLST data indicated that the
      rodent subtype families of XIIe and XIIf were highly divergent from others, and
      the ruminant XIIa subtype family formed a monophyletic group genetically distant
      from other rodent subtype families XIIb, XIIc, and XIId. The latter showed no
      consistent grouping of specimens and formed one large cluster in phylogenetic
      analysis of concatenated multilocus sequences. This was supported by results of
      STRUCTURE and FST analyses, which further suggested that XIIa originated from one
      common ancestor whereas XIIb, XIIc, and XIId contained mixed ancestral types,
      reflecting a close relatedness of the three subtype families and the likely
      occurrence of genetic recombination among them. Thus, an MLST tool was developed
      for high-resolution subtyping of C. ubiquitum and results of preliminary
      characterizations of specimens from humans and animals supported the conclusion
      on the existence of ruminant and rodent-adapted C. ubiquitum groups.

PMID- 27633153
TI  - Language acquisition from a biolinguistic perspective.
AB  - This paper describes the biolinguistic approach to language acquisition. We
      contrast the biolinguistic approach with a usage-based approach. We argue that
      the biolinguistic approach is superior because it provides more accurate and more
      extensive generalizations about the properties of human languages, as well as a
      better account of how children acquire human languages. To distinguish between
      these accounts, we focus on how child and adult language differ both in sentence
      production and in sentence understanding. We argue that the observed differences
      resist explanation using the cognitive mechanisms that are invoked by the usage
      based approach. In contrast, the biolinguistic approach explains the qualitative
      parametric differences between child and adult language. Explaining how child and
      adult language differ and demonstrating that children perceive unity despite
      apparent diversity are two of the hallmarks of the biolinguistic approach to
      language acquisition.

PMID- 27633157
TI  - Comparison of the diagnostic performance of 2 core biopsy needles for EUS-guided
      tissue acquisition from solid pancreatic lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A new core biopsy needle with a novel tip, opposing bevel,
      and sheath design has recently been introduced for EUS-guided fine-needle biopsy
      (FNB). The diagnostic utility of this needle for differentiating solid pancreatic
      masses is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic
      performance and yield for tissue acquisition from solid pancreatic lesions of the
      opposing bevel needle with those of a reverse bevel EUS-FNB needle. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients with solid pancreatic masses undergoing EUS-FNB using the
      opposing bevel (n = 101) and the reverse bevel (n = 100) core biopsy needles were
      included in the study. Final diagnosis was based on positive histology or at
      least 12 months of follow-up in cases with a negative biopsy. The primary outcome
      was the diagnostic performance of the 2 needles for malignant pancreatic masses.
      A secondary outcome was the diagnostic yield. RESULTS: Compared with the reverse
      bevel needle, using strict criteria the opposing bevel needle provided
      significantly higher sensitivity (71.1% vs 90.1%; P = .0006) and overall accuracy
      (74% vs 92%; I = 0.0006) for discriminating malignant from benign solid
      pancreatic masses. The proportion of samples classified as adequate for
      histologic analysis was 87% for the reverse bevel needle versus 99% for the
      opposing bevel needle (p = 0.002) Multivariate analysis controlling the needle
      gauge and site did not show any significant difference in accuracy and
      sensitivity between the 2 groups. There were no adverse events in either group.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this first, large, single-center preliminary cohort study, an EUS
      core biopsy needle with a novel tip, opposing bevel, and sheath design afforded
      substantially superior tissue yield and diagnostic performance compared with a
      reverse-bevel needle. If replicated by randomized controlled trials, our findings
      suggest that similarly designed needles could become the standard of care for EUS
      guided tissue acquisition from solid pancreatic masses.

PMID- 27633158
TI  - Use of a lumen-apposing metal stent to treat GI strictures (with videos).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Benign GI strictures occur typically in the esophagus and
      pyloric channel but can occur anywhere in the GI tract and at anastomotic sites.
      Such strictures can be treated with dilation, incisional therapy, steroid
      injection, and stents. Our aim was to describe the use of a lumen-apposing metal
      stent (LAMS) to treat short, benign GI strictures. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Consecutive patients who underwent LAMS placement for various benign strictures
      at 2 tertiary care centers from August 2014 to November 2015 were reviewed
      retrospectively. The main outcome measures were technical success, clinical
      success, stent migration, and adverse events. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (7
      males, 18 females) with a median age of 54 years (33-85 years) underwent 28 LAMS
      placements to treat various benign strictures. The location of the strictures
      included esophagogastric anastomoses (n=4), gastrojejunal anastomoses (n=13),
      pylorus (n=6), vertical banded gastroplasty (n=1), and ileocolonic anastomosis
      (n=1). Twenty patients had been previously treated with dilation alone (9
      patients with >=3 dilations), 11 patients with dilation and steroid injection, 2
      patients with additional needle-knife therapy, and 1 patient with placement of a
      traditional fully covered self-expandable metal stent. A 15-mm internal diameter
      LAMS was placed in all patients; 3 patients had been treated previously with a 10
      mm LAMS. Technical success was achieved in all patients, whereas clinical success
      was achieved in 15 of 25 patients (60%) who completed a minimum of 6 months of
      follow-up after placement. Median stent dwell time was 92 days (range, 3-273
      days). Stent migration was seen in 2 of 28 stent placements (7%). Four of 25
      patients (16%) developed 5 moderate adverse events (pain requiring removal, 2;
      new stricture formation, 2; bleeding, 1). Median follow-up was 301 days after
      stent placement. Study limitations include the small, select group of patients,
      the retrospective study design, and short follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: LAMS placement
      for benign GI strictures is technically easy and safe with low migration rates
      and may be an option to treat selected patients with short-length strictures.

PMID- 27633159
TI  - Clinical and Pathologic Correlation of Increased MYC Gene Copy Number in Diffuse
      Large B-Cell Lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Only a few studies have investigated the presence of increased MYC
      gene copy number (ICN) as a prognostic indicator in patients with diffuse large B
      cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and the results have been variable. We compared overall
      survival in patients with ICN to MYC-negative patients and investigated the
      prognostic significance of increased MYC gene copy number. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Two groups, those with MYC ICN (n = 33) and those with no MYC aberrations (n =
      43), identified by fluorescence in-situ hybridization DNA probes for the MYC
      region at 8q24, were compared for survival (1-9 years), MYC immunohistochemical
      (IHC) protein expression, and treatment protocol. Comparison of cases of DLBCL
      with MYC ICN to those with no MYC aberration demonstrated no significant
      difference in survival (P = .58). Additionally, no difference in survival was
      found between patients with increased MYC protein expression (IHC MYC >= 40%)
      compared to those with IHC MYC < 40% (P = .5). RESULTS: Comparison of Ki-67
      proliferation rates, stratified into low and high groups, did not achieve
      statistical significance (P = .67). Patients with MYC ICN showed a slightly
      increased MYC protein expression (P > .05). Importantly, the majority of patients
      in both groups (79% of patients with ICN and 81% of patients with no MYC
      aberrations) were treated with rituximab-based therapies. CONCLUSION: No
      significant difference in survival was found between patients with DLBCL with MYC
      ICN and patients with no MYC aberrations (P = .58).

PMID- 27633160
TI  - A synthesis of the evidence on peer research with potentially vulnerable adults:
      how this relates to dementia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is limited literature around peer research in dementia. This
      study aims to identify the benefits, the risks and the practical challenges and
      to develop a model of good practice in peer research with people with dementia.
      METHODS: We searched on PsycInfo, PubMed and Google Scholar for empirical
      investigations or discussion papers on peer research. Given the limited
      literature in the field of dementia, we included studies with groups who share
      similar demographics (older people), experience of stigma (mental health service
      users) and exclusion from research (people with learning disabilities). We
      applied no restrictions on language and publication date. ANALYSIS: We identified
      three themes: the potential benefits, the potential risks and the practical
      challenges of peer research. We developed a model of good practice. The European
      Working Group of People with Dementia reviewed our paper and added to our
      findings. RESULTS: We included seven papers. Potential benefits of peer research
      included enriched data and empowering people with dementia. Potential risks
      included power differentials between researchers and issues of
      representativeness. The practical issues for good practice included the training
      of peer researchers, defining involvement and roles, working with cognitive
      impairment and considering resource implications. The European Working Group of
      People with Dementia emphasised the importance of equality issues. CONCLUSION:
      Involving people with dementia in peer research can generate several benefits,
      including empowerment and opportunities for inclusion for the peer researchers
      and the research participants living with dementia, challenging academics'
      traditional views on research processes and gathering enhanced research data.
      There remains a need for further research on the impact of peer research in
      dementia studies. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633161
TI  - Photophysical Properties of Benzoylgermane and para-Substituted Derivatives:
      Substituent Effects on Electronic Transitions.
AB  - In the present study, a selection of basic substitution patterns on
      benzoyl(trimethyl)germane was investigated using time-dependent density
      functional theory (TDDFT) to explore the influence on the stability and on the
      relative order of the lowest excited electronic states. The theoretical results
      are in agreement with absorption and fluorescence measurements. We show that
      electron-withdrawing groups decrease the energetic level of the lowest singlet
      and triplet state relative to the electron-pushing systems resulting in red
      shifted radiative transitions (fluorescence). In the first triplet state electron
      withdrawing groups lead to an increased dissociation barrier and a close approach
      with the singlet ground state before the transition state in the triplet state is
      reached, favoring radiationless ground-state recovery. The results are also in
      good agreement with empirical concepts of organic chemistry, therefore providing
      simple rules for synthetic strategies towards tuning the excited-state properties
      of benzoylgermanes.

PMID- 27633163
TI  - Discussion.

PMID- 27633162
TI  - Painful Rosacea as a Warning Sign of Intracranial Metastasis of Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma.

PMID- 27633165
TI  - Duplex ultrasound criteria for in-stent restenosis of mesenteric arteries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Duplex ultrasound (DUS) criteria are well defined for evaluating high
      grade stenosis (>=70%) of the native superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and celiac
      artery (CA). It has been shown that native vessel criteria overestimate the
      degree of in-stent restenosis (ISR) and that velocity criteria for SMA and CA ISR
      are not well established. The objective of this study was to define DUS velocity
      criteria for high-grade ISR of the SMA and CA. METHODS: A retrospective review of
      all patients who underwent SMA or CA stenting from a single institution was
      performed from 2004 to 2013. Patients were excluded if they did not have a DUS
      examination <4 months before angiography to assess stent patency or adequate
      angiographic visualization of the ISR. RESULTS: There were 103 paired DUS scans
      and angiograms analyzed: 66 SMA studies and 37 CA studies. The average peak
      systolic velocity (PSV) for SMAs was 367 cm/s with <70% ISR and 536 cm/s with
      >=70% ISR. The average PSV for CAs was 302 cm/s with <70% ISR and 434 cm/s with
      >=70% ISR. For an ISR >=70% in the SMA, a PSV >=445 cm/s produced the highest
      sensitivity (83%) and specificity (83%), with a positive predictive value of 81%
      and a negative predictive value of 86%. For an ISR >=70% in the CA, a PSV >=289
      cm/s produced the highest sensitivity (100%) and specificity (57%), with a
      positive predictive value of 79% and negative predictive value of 100%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increasing PSV correlates with an increasing degree of ISR for both
      the SMA and CA. Stented vessels have increased PSV, and therefore native PSV
      criteria are unreliable for the determination of ISR. The PSV criteria for >=70%
      stenosis are higher for ISR than for native visceral vessel stenosis. The
      proposed new velocity criteria define >=70% ISR as >=445 cm/s in stented SMAs and
      >=289 cm/s in stented CAs.

PMID- 27633164
TI  - A comparison between aortobifemoral bypass and aortoiliac kissing stents in
      patients with complex aortoiliac obstructive disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to retrospectively compare early and late
      results of aortobifemoral bypass and endovascular recanalization with the kissing
      stent technique in the management of TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus II
      (TASC II) C and D lesions in the aortoiliac district in a multicenter study.
      METHODS: From January 2006 to December 2013, 210 open and endovascular
      interventions for TASC II class C and D aortoiliac obstructive lesions were
      performed at three Italian teaching hospitals. In all the cases, the intervention
      was performed for aortic and bilateral iliac involvement. An aortobifemoral
      bypass was performed in 82 patients (group 1); in the remaining 128, an
      endovascular recanalization with the kissing stent technique was carried out
      (group 2). Early results in the two groups were compared with the chi2 test.
      Follow-up results were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier curves and compared with log
      rank test. Univariate and multivariate (forward Cox regression) analysis to
      identify potentially significant predictors of primary patency in the whole study
      group was performed. RESULTS: Patients in group 2 were more frequently female and
      more frequently had diabetes and arterial hypertension than patients in group 1.
      The indication for surgical intervention was the presence of critical limb
      ischemia in 29 cases in group 1 (35%) and in 31 cases in group 2 (24%; P = .07).
      Technical success in group 2 was 98.5%; two patients required immediate
      conversion to open surgery for iliac rupture. There was one perioperative death
      in group 1 (mortality rate, 1%; P = .2 in comparison with group 2). Four
      perioperative thromboses occurred, two in group 1 and two in group 2 (in one case
      requiring conversion to open surgical intervention), and no amputations at 30
      days were recorded. Cumulative postoperative local and systemic complications
      occurred in 17 patients in group 1 (20.5%) and in 9 patients in group 2 (7%; P <
      .001). Mean duration of follow-up was 38 months (range, 1-96 months). Survival
      rates at 6 years were 65.5% (standard error [SE], 0.08) in group 1 and 83.5% (SE,
      0.08) in group 2 (P = .08; log-rank, 2.2). At the same time interval, primary,
      assisted primary, and secondary patency rates were similar; reintervention rates
      were 6% in group 1 (SE, 0.05) and 11% in group 2 (SE, 0.04; P = .3; log-rank,
      0.8). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that only the presence of
      critical limb ischemia was independently associated with poorer primary patency
      during follow-up (hazard ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.9-6.4; P = .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: In this multicenter experience, endovascular repair of aortoiliac
      complex lesions with the kissing stent technique provided similar satisfactory
      early and late results to those obtained with open surgery.

PMID- 27633167
TI  - Decline of the atherogenic theory of the etiology of the abdominal aortic
      aneurysm and rise of the autoimmune hypothesis.

PMID- 27633166
TI  - Effect of adjunct femoral endarterectomy in lower extremity bypass on
      perioperative and 1-year outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Isolated common femoral endarterectomy was recently reported to have
      a 30-day mortality of 3.4%. The effect of adjunctive femoral endarterectomy at
      the time of lower extremity bypass is not well described, and therefore, the
      purpose of this study was to determine its associated perioperative and long-term
      risk. METHODS: Vascular Study Group of New England registry data were used to
      identify patients undergoing initial lower extremity bypass from 2003 to 2015.
      After univariate analysis, multivariable logistic regression was used to identify
      the independent association of endarterectomy with adverse perioperative events.
      Kaplan-Meier and Cox hazard models were used for the 1-year analysis. RESULTS:
      After exclusions, 4496 patients were identified as undergoing infrainguinal
      bypass (33% with endarterectomy). There was no difference in the proportion with
      chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLI; 68% vs 67%; P = .24) or tissue loss of
      those with CLI (65% vs 63%; P = .34) between the adjunctive endarterectomy group
      and bypass alone, respectively. Patients undergoing adjunctive endarterectomy
      were older (mean 68 years vs 67 years; P = .02), more likely white (95% vs 93%; P
      = .02), smokers (91% vs 87%; P = .001), and more often had prior coronary artery
      bypass grafting/percutaneous coronary intervention (34% vs 31%; P = .02). The
      endarterectomy cohort had similar 30-day mortality (CLI: 2.6% vs 2.9%; P = .60;
      claudication: 0.2% vs 0.4%; P = 1.0) despite a longer operative time (median, 268
      minutes vs 210 minutes; P < .001) and increased blood loss (median, 250 mL vs 180
      mL; P < .001). Patients with CLI undergoing adjunctive endarterectomy had more in
      hospital myocardial infarctions (MIs; 6.2% vs 3.8%; P = .003) and transfusions
      (11% vs 6.8%; P < .001). At 1-year, this group had a suggestion of improved
      freedom from major amputation (91% vs 87%; P = .049) and amputation-free survival
      (80% vs 76%; P = .03) that did not reach significance after adjustment. For
      patients with claudication and adjunctive endarterectomy, rates of MI (2.4% vs
      0.9%; P = .02), renal dysfunction (3.6% vs 1.4%; P = .01), surgical site
      infection (SSI; 5.0% vs 2.6%; P = .02), and transfusion (4.6% vs 1.8%; P = .002)
      were higher. After adjustment, all patients undergoing adjunctive endarterectomy
      were at increased risk of MI (odds ratio [OR], 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.1-2.2), SSI (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-2.0), and bleeding requiring transfusion (OR,
      1.8; 95% CI, 1.4-2.3). There were no differences in 1-year survival for CLI or
      claudication groups and no difference in all 1-year end points for patients with
      claudication. CONCLUSIONS: Adjunctive femoral endarterectomy with bypass is safe,
      with no difference in perioperative or 1-year mortality compared with bypass.
      However, surgeons should be aware that adjunctive endarterectomy is associated
      with an increased risk of bleeding, SSI, and MI, likely from these patients'
      disease burden and presumed more extensive atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27633168
TI  - The effect of supervised exercise therapy for intermittent claudication on lower
      limb lean mass.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Supervised exercise is currently recommended for the first-line
      treatment of intermittent claudication based on improvement in walking capacity.
      However, the promotion of skeletal muscle atrophy by repetitive ischemia
      reperfusion caused by treadmill-based programs remains a concern. Because
      preservation of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and lean mass (LM) is integral to
      functional capacity and longevity, this study measured the effect of standard
      treadmill-based supervised exercise on SMM and regional lower limb LM in patients
      with intermittent claudication. METHODS: Patients with calf claudication caused
      by infrainguinal peripheral artery disease underwent whole-body dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry scanning before and after completion of a 12-week supervised
      treadmill exercise program. Total body SMM and lower limb LM were measured
      according to anatomical regions of the lower limb (thigh vs calf) and side of
      symptoms. Walking performance was assessed using pain-free walking distance and 6
      minute walking distance tests. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients with calf
      claudication completed exercise training and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
      scanning, allowing analysis of 55 symptomatic and 17 asymptomatic lower limbs. No
      difference in total body SMM (P = .41) or LM of symptomatic (P = .53) or
      asymptomatic calves (P = .59) was detected after the program. In contrast, a
      significant decrease in LM was observed in symptomatic (P = .04) and asymptomatic
      thighs (P = .005). Pain-free walking distance (P = .001) and the 6-minute walking
      distance both improved significantly (P = .004) but were not associated with
      changes in LM. CONCLUSIONS: Twelve weeks of standard treadmill-training for
      intermittent calf claudication did not result in loss of calf LM; however, a
      significant decrease in bilateral thigh LM was observed, even in patients with
      unilateral symptoms. Further research on optimum exercise modalities and end
      points are required to determine the pathophysiology and effects of these changes
      on function and survival.

PMID- 27633170
TI  - Comment on 'Determination of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in breast milk of
      healthy women by digital PCR'.

PMID- 27633169
TI  - Microembolization is associated with transient cognitive decline in patients
      undergoing carotid interventions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Carotid interventions are important in helping to reduce the risk of
      stroke for patients with high-grade carotid artery stenosis; however, subclinical
      cerebral microemboli can occur during these procedures. Associations have been
      found between the incidence of microemboli and postoperative decline in memory.
      We therefore sought to determine whether this decline persisted long-term and to
      assess changes in other cognitive domains. METHODS: Patients were prospectively
      recruited under an Institutional Review Board-approved protocol at a single
      academic center. Neuropsychological testing was administered preoperatively and
      at 1-month and 6-month intervals postoperatively. Cognitive domains that were
      evaluated included verbal memory, visual memory, psychomotor speed, dexterity,
      and executive function. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequencing
      was performed preoperatively and <=48 hours postoperatively to identify procedure
      related microemboli. Univariate and multivariate regression models were used to
      identify relationships among microembolization, demographics, and cognition.
      RESULTS: Included were 80 male patients with an average age of 69 years. Forty
      patients underwent carotid artery stenting and 40 underwent carotid
      endarterectomy. Comorbidities included diabetes in 45%, coronary artery disease
      in 50%, and prior neurologic symptoms in 41%. New postoperative microemboli were
      found in 45 patients (56%). Microembolization was significantly more common in
      the carotid artery stenting cohort (P < .005). Univariate analysis demonstrated
      that patients with procedurally related embolization showed decline 1 month
      postoperatively in verbal memory and Trail Making A measures. Multivariate
      analysis demonstrated that procedurally related embolization (odds ratio [OR],
      2.8; P = .04) and preoperative symptomatic stenosis (OR, 3.2; P = .026) were
      independent predictors of decline for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Short
      Delay measure at 1 month. At 6 months, no significant relationship was found
      between emboli and decline on Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Short Delay, but
      age (OR, 1.1, P = .005) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR, 7.1, P =
      .018) were significantly associated with decline at 6 months after the
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Microembolization that is associated with carotid
      artery intervention predicts short-term cognitive decline. However, some of these
      cognitive deficits persist at 6 months after the intervention, and further
      investigation is warranted to determine individual patient risk factors that may
      affect recovery.

PMID- 27633171
TI  - Enterococcus faecium strain L-3 and glatiramer acetate ameliorate experimental
      allergic encephalomyelitis in rats by affecting different populations of immune
      cells.
AB  - The effect of probiotic Enterococcus faecium strain L-3 was studied in rats with
      experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Glatiramer acetate (GA) was used
      as control drug. E. faecium strain L-3 and GA both were able to reduce the
      severity of EAE in a similar fashion. Both approaches increased the proportion of
      EAE resistant rats and rats with mild disease, prolonged the inductive phase of
      EAE and reduced the disease duration. Study of the phenotypes of immune cells in
      blood revealed the differences in immunoregulatory pathways that mediate the
      protective action of probiotic or GA treatment of EAE. The presence of pronounced
      protective and immunomodulating effects of the probiotic E. faecium strain L-3
      opens an opportunity of its application for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27633172
TI  - Intestinal immune maturation is accompanied by temporal changes in the
      composition of the microbiota.
AB  - In animals establishment of the intestinal microbial ecosystem is influenced by
      mucosal immune functions. As mucosal immune functions dynamically change during
      development of juvenile layer chicken, this study focused on dynamics in the
      ileal microbiota composition in relation to intestinal immune development. In
      addition, the levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) in serum and amount of bacteria
      coated with IgA, a hallmark of intestinal immune maturation, were analysed. The
      composition of the intestinal microbiota transiently changed at the age of 14-42
      days compared to the microbiota composition before and after this period. This
      temporal deviation in microbiota composition was associated to a temporal
      increase in transcriptional activity of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes.
      Furthermore, before week two limited amounts of faecal bacteria were bound by IgM
      and from week two increasing amounts of bacteria were bound by IgA, reaching a
      maximal level of 70% of IgA-coated bacteria at 6 weeks of age. These data could
      indicate that prior to achievement of intestinal homeostasis at 6-10 weeks post
      hatch, activation of inflammatory pathways cause a temporal disturbance of the
      microbiota composition. This period of imbalance may be essential for adequate
      immune development and establishment of intestinal homeostasis.

PMID- 27633173
TI  - Citrus juice fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum YIT 0132 alleviates symptoms
      of perennial allergic rhinitis in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - This study aimed to examine whether citrus juice fermented with Lactobacillus
      plantarum YIT 0132 (LP0132), which was pasteurised after fermentation, could
      alleviate the symptoms of perennial allergic rhinitis in a double-blind, placebo
      controlled, parallel-group trial. Subjects with perennial allergic rhinitis
      consumed LP0132-fermented juice (n=17) or unfermented citrus juice (placebo;
      n=16) once a day for 8 weeks. During the pre-intervention and intervention
      periods, the subjects recorded nasal symptoms (number of sneezing attacks, number
      of nose-blowing incidents, and stuffy nose score). The primary endpoint, nasal
      symptoms score (NSS), was scored from 0 to 4 according to the 'Practical
      Guideline for the Management of Allergic Rhinitis in Japan 2009' using a
      combination of the three nasal symptom items. Blood samples were collected at pre
      intervention and at 8 weeks after commencing the intervention. There were several
      significant improvements not only in the LP0132 group but also in the placebo
      group because of potential anti-allergic effects of citrus. Compared with the
      placebo group, the LP0132 group showed a significant reduction in the NSS and
      stuffy nose score during the intervention period. Also, the LP0132 group, but not
      the placebo group, showed significant attenuation of type 2 helper T cells (Th2
      cells)/helper T cells, serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE), and eosinophil
      cationic protein (ECP), and showed significant augmentation of type 1 helper T
      cells (Th1 cells)/Th2 cells at 8 weeks of intervention compared with baseline. It
      is suggested that daily intake of fermented citrus juice containing heat-killed
      LP0132 has beneficial effects on symptoms of perennial allergic rhinitis, and
      these benefits may be associated with the attenuation of Th2 cells, total IgE,
      and ECP via the immunomodulating activities of LP0132.

PMID- 27633174
TI  - The effect of probiotic treatment on elderly patients with distal radius
      fracture: a prospective double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised clinical
      trial.
AB  - Probiotic treatment has been shown to improve bone formation, increase bone mass
      density and prevent bone loss. We aimed to assess the effect of probiotic
      treatment on functional recovery in elderly patients with a distal radius
      fracture. A total of 417 elderly patients with an acute distal radius fracture
      were enrolled in this double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. They were
      randomised to receive skimmed milk containing either a commercial probiotic
      (Lactobacillus casei Shirota) or placebo daily for a period of 6 months after the
      fracture. Treatment outcomes were the DASH (disabilities of the arm, shoulder and
      hand) score, pain, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) score, active range of
      motion and grip strength, all of which were measured on a monthly basis.
      Throughout the duration of the study, DASH score, pain, CRPS score, wrist flexion
      and grip strength of patients receiving probiotics exhibited a significantly
      faster pace of improvement than those on placebo, with treatment outcomes of
      patients receiving Lactobacillus casei Shirota at month 4 at comparable levels
      with those of patients receiving placebo at month 6. In elderly patients with a
      fracture of the distal radius, administration of the probiotic could greatly
      accelerating the healing process.

PMID- 27633175
TI  - The effect of a probiotic Escherichia coli strain on regulatory T-cells in six
      year-old children.
AB  - Probiotics are believed to prevent or reduce allergy development but the
      mechanism of their beneficial effect is still poorly understood. Immune
      characteristics of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of perinatally
      probiotic-supplemented children of allergic mothers (51 children), non
      supplemented children of allergic mothers (42 children), and non-supplemented
      children of healthy mothers (28 children) were compared at the age of 6-7 years.
      A first dose of a probiotic Escherichia coli strain (E. coli O83:K24:H31) was
      administered within 2 days after the birth and then 12 times during the first
      months of life and children were followed longitudinally. Proportion and
      functional properties of Tregs were estimated by flow cytometry in relation to
      the children's allergy status. Proportion of Tregs in the peripheral blood of
      children suffering from allergy tends to be higher whereas median of fluorescence
      intensity (MFI) of FoxP3 was significantly decreased in allergic group.
      Intracellular presence of regulatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 was also lower
      in allergic children. Immune functions of Tregs reflected by both MFI of FoxP3
      and IL-10 in the group of probiotic-supplemented children of allergic mothers
      were nearly comparable with children of healthy mothers while probiotic non
      supplemented children of allergic mothers have decreased immune function of
      Tregs. Supplementation by probiotic E. coli strain decreases allergy incidence in
      high-risk children. In contrast to our expectation, proportion of Tregs has not
      been increased in probiotic supplemented children. Beneficial effect of
      probiotics on newborn immature immune system could be, at least partially,
      explained by the modulating immune function of Tregs. In summary, we detected
      increased proportion of Tregs in peripheral blood of allergic children, their
      functional properties were decreased in comparison with the Tregs of healthy
      children. A unifying hypothesis for these findings is that Treg numbers in
      allergic children are increased in order to compensate for decreased function.

PMID- 27633176
TI  - Differential expression of CCN family members CYR611, CTGF and NOV in gastric
      cancer and their association with disease progression.
AB  - CCN is an acronym for cysteine-rich protein 61 (CYR61), connective tissue growth
      factor (CTGF) and nephroblastoma overexpressed (NOV). Aberrations of certain CCN
      members including CYR61, CTGF, Wnt1-inducible signalling pathway protein (WISP)-1
      and -3 have been reported in gastric cancer. The present study aimed to examine
      the clinical relevance of NOV along with CYR61 and CTGF in gastric cancer by
      analysing their transcript levels. CYR61, CTGF and NOV transcript expression in
      324 gastric cancer samples with paired adjacent normal gastric tissues were
      determined using real-time quantitative PCR and the results were statistically
      analysed against patient clinicopathological data using SPSS software. NOV mRNA
      levels in gastric cancer tissues were significantly elevated when compared with
      levels in their paired adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Local advanced tumours
      with invasive expansion (T3 and T4) expressed higher levels of NOV (p=0.013)
      compared with the less invasive tumours (T1 and T2). CYR61 transcript levels were
      also significantly increased in gastric cancers compared with levels in the
      adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that
      patients with CYR61-low transcript levels had longer overall survival (OS)
      (p=0.018) and disease-free survival (DFS) (p=0.015). NOV overexpression promoted
      the in vitro proliferation of AGS cells while the knockdown resulted in a reduced
      proliferation of HGC27 cells. A similar effect was observed for the invasion of
      these two gastric cancer cell lines. NOV expression was increased in gastric
      cancer which was associated with local invasion and distant metastases. Taken
      together, the expression of NOV and CYR61 was increased in gastric cancer. The
      elevated expression of CYR61 was associated with poorer survival. NOV promoted
      proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells. Further investigations may
      highlight their predictive and therapeutic potential in gastric cancer.

PMID- 27633177
TI  - The Tara Oceans voyage reveals global diversity and distribution patterns of
      marine planktonic ciliates.
AB  - Illumina reads of the SSU-rDNA-V9 region obtained from the circumglobal Tara
      Oceans expedition allow the investigation of protistan plankton diversity
      patterns on a global scale. We analyzed 6,137,350 V9-amplicons from ocean surface
      waters and the deep chlorophyll maximum, which were taxonomically assigned to the
      phylum Ciliophora. For open ocean samples global planktonic ciliate diversity is
      relatively low (ca. 1,300 observed and predicted ciliate OTUs). We found that 17%
      of all detected ciliate OTUs occurred in all oceanic regions under study. On
      average, local ciliate OTU richness represented 27% of the global ciliate OTU
      richness, indicating that a large proportion of ciliates is widely distributed.
      Yet, more than half of these OTUs shared <90% sequence similarity with reference
      sequences of described ciliates. While alpha-diversity measures (richness and
      exp(Shannon H)) are hardly affected by contemporary environmental conditions,
      species (OTU) turnover and community similarity (beta-diversity) across taxonomic
      groups showed strong correlation to environmental parameters. Logistic regression
      models predicted significant correlations between the occurrence of specific
      ciliate genera and individual nutrients, the oceanic carbonate system and
      temperature. Planktonic ciliates displayed distinct vertical distributions
      relative to chlorophyll a. In contrast, the Tara Oceans dataset did not reveal
      any evidence that latitude is structuring ciliate communities.

PMID- 27633178
TI  - Glucansucrases produced by fructophilic lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus
      kunkeei H3 and H25 isolated from honeybees.
AB  - Twenty fructophilic isolates from the stomachs of honeybee Apis mellifera
      ligustica from the region of Plovdiv, Bulgaria were obtained. Fructophilic
      isolates H3 and H25 showed formation of mucous colonies during cultivation on
      medium with sucrose, suggesting exopolysaccharide synthesis. The sequencing
      analysis of 16S rRNA identified isolates H3 and H25 as fructophilic lactic acid
      bacteria Lactobacillus kunkeei. The in situ analysis and periodic acid-Schiff's
      staining, showed that Lb. kunkeei H3 and H25 produce extracellular glucansucrases
      with molecular weight of about 300 kDa. In the cell-associated fractions,
      additional glucansucrase is detected with molecular weight of about 180 kDa. The
      content of alpha-(1 -> 6) linkages in the glucans synthesized with extracellular
      glucansucrases from H3 and H25 after dextranase hydrolysis was significantly
      lower than this one of the classical dextran - about 35 and 62%, respectively.
      These results suggest a more branched structure of the studied polymers.

PMID- 27633180
TI  - Response to Ruan and colleagues concerning 'The toxicology of heroin-related
      death: estimating survival times'.

PMID- 27633179
TI  - Fluxes of nutrients and trace metals across the sediment-water interface
      controlled by sediment-capping agents: bentonite and sand.
AB  - The effect of bentonite and sand, as natural capping agents, on the fluxes of
      nutrients and trace metals across the sediment-water interface was studied
      through sediment incubation, and the ecotoxicological impact was assessed by
      using Daphnia magna. Bentonite and sand were layered on the sediment at 15, 75,
      and 225 mg cm(-2), and the concentration of cations, nutrients, and trace metals
      was measured. Sediment incubation showed that bentonite reduced the N flux but
      increased the P flux as a result of dissolution of non-crystalline P from
      bentonite, while sand slightly decreased the N fluxes but not the P flux. The
      concentration of Na increased in the overlying water with increasing application
      rates of bentonite, while that of Ca decreased. However, regardless of the rate
      of sand application, concentrations of all cation species remained unchanged. The
      concentration of As and Cr increased with bentonite application rate but
      decreased with sand. Both capping materials suppressed fluxes of Cd, Cu, Ni, and
      Zn compared to control, and the extent of suppression was different depending on
      the trace metal species and capping agents used. During sediment incubation, the
      survival rate of D. magna significantly decreased in bentonite suspension but
      began to decrease at the end in sand suspension. Sediment capping of mildly
      polluted sediments by using bentonite and sand lowered the level of nutrients and
      trace metals. However, unexpected or undesirable side effects, such as influxes
      of P and As from bentonite to the overlying water and a possibility of toxic
      impacts to aquatic ecosystems, were observed, suggesting that capping agents with
      an adequate assessment of their side effects and toxicity should be predetermined
      for site-specific sediment management strategies. 

PMID- 27633181
TI  - Evidence of the pressure-induced conductivity switching of yttrium-doped SrTiO3.
AB  - The electrical transport properties of undoped and yttrium-doped strontium
      titanate (Sr(Ti1 - x Y x )O3 - delta , x  =  0, 0.02) under high pressure were
      investigated with in situ impedance spectroscopy measurements. A pressure-induced
      conductivity switching for undoped and 2 mole% Y-doped strontium titanate is
      observed at around ~10.0 and 7.0 GPa respectively, which are caused by a cubic to
      tetragonal I4/mcm phase transition. The decrease of the phase transition point of
      2 mole% Y-doped strontium titanate can be attributed to larger Y(3+) atoms
      occupying the B-site and the creation of more oxygen vacancies, which lead to
      octahedra tilting and symmetry breaking. The results of the voltage-bias
      dependence of grain-boundary impedance of undoped and 2 mole% Y-doped strontium
      titanate at different pressures revealed that Schottky-type potential barriers
      formed at grain boundaries are the key factor for the accumulation of oxygen
      vacancy at the interface under pressure.

PMID- 27633183
TI  - Limiting Perovskite Solar Cell Performance by Heterogeneous Carrier Extraction.
AB  - Although the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells has improved
      rapidly, a rational path for further improvement remains unclear. The effect of
      large morphological heterogeneity of polycrystalline perovskite films on their
      device performance by photoluminescence (PL) microscopy has now been studied.
      Contrary to the common belief on the deleterious effect of morphological
      heterogeneity on carrier lifetimes and diffusivities, in neat CH3 NH3 PbI3 (Cl)
      polycrystalline perovskite films, the local (intra-grain) carrier diffusivities
      in different grains are all surprisingly high (1.5 to 3.3 cm2  s-1 ; comparable
      to bulk single-crystals), and the local carrier lifetimes are long (ca. 200 ns)
      and surprisingly homogenous among grains, and uniform across grain boundary and
      interior. However, there is a large heterogeneity of carrier extraction
      efficiency at the perovskite grain-electrode interface. Improving homogeneity at
      perovskite grain-electrode contacts is thus a promising direction for improving
      the performance of perovskite thin-film solar cells.

PMID- 27633184
TI  - Corrigendum: Environmental chemicals impact dog semen quality in vitro and may be
      associated with a temporal decline in sperm motility and increased
      cryptorchidism.

PMID- 27633182
TI  - Role of a Conserved Tyrosine Residue in the FMN-Heme Interdomain Electron
      Transfer in Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase.
AB  - The interdomain electron transfer (IET) between the flavin mononucleotide (FMN)
      and heme domains is essential in the biosynthesis of nitric oxide (NO) by the NO
      synthase (NOS) enzymes. A conserved tyrosine residue in the FMN domain (Y631 in
      human inducible NOS) was proposed to be a key part of the electron transfer
      pathway in the FMN/heme docked complex model. In the present study, the FMN-heme
      IET kinetics in the Y631F mutant and wild type of a bidomain oxygenase/FMN
      construct of human inducible NOS were determined by laser flash photolysis. The
      rate constant of the Y631F mutant is significantly decreased by ~75% (compared to
      the wild type), showing that the tyrosine residue indeed facilitates the FMN-heme
      IET through the protein medium. The IET rate constant of the wild type protein
      decreases from 345 to 242 s-1 on going from H2O to 95% D2O, giving a solvent
      kinetic isotope effect of 1.4. In contrast, no deuterium isotope effect was
      observed for the Tyr-to-Phe mutant. Moreover, an appreciable change in the wild
      type iNOS IET rate constant value was observed upon changing pH. These results
      indicate that the FMN-heme IET is proton coupled, in which the conserved tyrosine
      residue may play an important role.

PMID- 27633185
TI  - Default mode network changes in multiple sclerosis: a link between depression and
      cognitive impairment?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In multiple sclerosis (MS), depression is a common
      disorder whose pathophysiology is still debated. To gain insights into the
      pathophysiology of depression in MS, resting-state (RS) functional connectivity
      (FC) changes of the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN) and
      executive control network (ECN) were assessed in a group of depressed MS (D-MS)
      patients and in appropriately matched control groups. METHODS: Sixteen D-MS
      patients, 17 non-depressed MS (ND-MS) patients, 17 non-depressed healthy controls
      and 15 depressed subjects (D-S), age, sex and education matched, cognitively
      preserved and non-fatigued, were enrolled. All participants underwent a
      neuropsychological evaluation and RS functional magnetic resonance imaging study.
      RESULTS: Comparing D-MS patients with D-S, within the DMN, a significant RS-FC
      suppression was found in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC); comparing D-MS
      with ND-MS, FC was significantly increased in the anterior cingulate cortex and
      significantly reduced in the PCC. Within the SN increased FC in the right
      supramarginal gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus was found in D-MS patients
      compared to D-S and to ND-MS; within the ECN increased FC in the right inferior
      parietal cortex was found in D-MS patients compared to ND-MS patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: In cognitively preserved D-MS patients, FC derangement occurs in the
      SN, ECN and DMN. In the latter, changes occurring both in the anterior cingulate
      cortex and PCC suggest that depression in MS may be linked to MS itself and, in
      particular, to a peculiar pattern of network abnormalities favored by MS
      pathology through disconnection mechanisms. Reduced FC in the PCC, similar to MS
      patients with cognitive impairment, suggests a functional link between depression
      and cognitive impairment in MS.

PMID- 27633189
TI  - Matrix metalloproteinase 9 may be involved in contraction of vascular smooth
      muscle cells in an in vitro rat model of subarachnoid hemorrhage.
AB  - Our previous study determined that prominent cerebral vasospasm (CVS) may occur
      in an in vivo model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in rats. Matrix
      metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) expression levels in basilar arteries were
      upregulated in a similar manner to the development of CVS following SAH. To
      identify the changes that occur in the contractility of cerebrovascular smooth
      muscle cells and the expression levels of MMP-9 in an in vitro model of SAH, rat
      cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells were isolated, cultured, and then stimulated
      with hemolysate. Additionally, 2-[(4-phenoxyphenylsulfonyl)methyl]thiirane (SB
      3CT), a selective MMP-9 inhibitor, was used to determine the effect of MMP-9 on
      the contractility of cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells. Cerebrovascular smooth
      muscle cells were successfully isolated and cultured in vitro, and hemolysate
      stimulation enhanced their contractility and increased MMP-9 expression levels.
      The present study also revealed that pretreatment with SB-3CT decreased MMP-9
      expression levels in cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells, and reduced their
      contractility upon hemolysate treatment. Therefore, the current study confirmed
      that MMP-9 is important for the enhancement of the contractility of
      cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells in an in vitro rat model of SAH.

PMID- 27633187
TI  - Older people readmitted to hospital for acute medical care - Implications for
      occupational therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare ADL, cognitive function, risk of pressure sores,
      malnutrition and falls in older people readmitted to hospital. METHODS: This was
      a comparative study. Persons >= 75 years, who were readmitted to hospital, were
      assessed using the ADL-taxonomy and the Mini Mental State Examination. Risks of
      pressure sores, malnutrition and falls were assessed using Risk Assessment
      Pressure Sores, Short-Form Mini Nutritional Assessment and Downton Fall Risk
      Index. Data for comparison for ADL were obtained from an earlier study and risk
      assessments from a national quality register. RESULTS: Sixty persons were
      included whose median age was 84 years. The patients had a median of four
      diagnoses. The mean hospital stay was five days. Most patients were independent
      in food intake. There was a high degree of dependency in other ADL activities.
      Nineteen out of 48 patients had 24 point or lower in MMSE. Compared to an age
      matched sample, these patients showed a higher risk of pressure sores, risk of
      falls and dependency in ADL. CONCLUSION: There is of importance to assess ADL,
      cognition, risk of falls and pressure sores to determine the needs of older
      people who are admitted to hospitals. Such assessments, and necessary
      interventions taken, may prevent unnecessary readmissions.

PMID- 27633188
TI  - Use of WONCA global standards to evaluate family medicine postgraduate education
      for curriculum development and review in Nepal and Myanmar.
AB  - Family medicine is an integral part of primary care within health systems.
      Globally, training programmes exhibit a great degree of variability in content
      and skill acquisition. While this may in part reflect the needs of a given
      setting, there exists standard criteria that all family medicine programmes
      should consider core activities. WONCA has provided an open-access list of
      standards that their expert community considers essential for family medicine
      (GP) post-graduate training. Evaluation of developing or existing training
      programmes using these standards can provide insight into the degree of
      variability, gaps within programmes and equally as important, gaps within
      recommendations. In collaboration with the host institution, two family medicine
      programmes in Nepal and Myanmar were evaluated based on WONCA global standards.
      The results of the evaluation demonstrated that such a process can allow for
      critical review of curriculum in various stages of development and evaluation.
      The implications of reviewing training programmes according to WONCA standards
      can lead to enhanced training world-wide and standardisation of training for post
      graduate family medicine.

PMID- 27633191
TI  - Determination of the optimal time for tamoxifen treatment in combination with
      radiotherapy.
AB  - Although radiotherapy and tamoxifen have been extensively used to treat estrogen
      receptor alpha (ERalpha)-positive breast cancers, it is still questionable when
      tamoxifen should be started to maximize clinical benefits in combination with
      radiotherapy. Generally, clinician's opinion and experience are major
      determinants in scheduling concurrent or sequential tamoxifen and radiotherapy.
      Thus, we attempted to determine an optimal time to start tamoxifen treatment by
      analyzing tamoxifen responses at different times after irradiating MCF-7 cells to
      cumulative doses of 10 or 20-30 Gy. MCF-7 cells were irradiated with 5 Gy a week,
      twice (a cumulative dose of 10 Gy) followed by a period of recovery. MTT
      viability assay for tamoxifen was done with MCF-7 cells harvested immediately
      after each 5 Gy (MCF-7-5 Gy) or 10 Gy (MCF-7-10 Gy) irradiation or after
      subsequent culture of surviving MCF-7-10 Gy cells for 40 days (MCF-7-R1). To
      establish the radioresistant cells, the above cycles of irradiation were repeated
      for a cumulative dose of 20 Gy (MCF-7-R2) or 30 Gy (MCF-7-R3). In addition,
      cytotoxic effects of tamoxifen were also measured. Attenuated tamoxifen response
      was observed in MCF-7-5 Gy and 10 Gy cells, whereas the efficacy of tamoxifen was
      restored in MCF-7-R1 cells. Furthermore, these responses to tamoxifen correlated
      with ERalpha expression. However, the radioresistant MCF-7 cells (MCF-7-R2/R3)
      exhibited resistance to tamoxifen without change in ER expression, but the
      phosphorylation of AKT was increased. Taken together, our data suggest that
      sequential tamoxifen treatment following radiotherapy is more effective than
      concurrent treatment. Furthermore, the reduced efficacy of tamoxifen on
      radioresistant cells indicates that an additional targeted therapy, such as AKT
      inhibitor treatment, is required to improve tamoxifen response in radioresistant
      breast cancer.

PMID- 27633190
TI  - Characterisation of a flavonoid ligand of the fungal protein Alt a 1.
AB  - Spores of pathogenic fungi are virtually ubiquitous and cause human disease and
      severe losses in crops. The endophytic fungi Alternaria species produce host
      selective phytotoxins. Alt a 1 is a strongly allergenic protein found in A.
      alternata that causes severe asthma. Despite the well-established pathogenicity
      of Alt a 1, the molecular mechanisms underlying its action and physiological
      function remain largely unknown. To gain insight into the role played by this
      protein in the pathogenicity of the fungus, we studied production of Alt a 1 and
      its activity in spores. We found that Alt a 1 accumulates inside spores and that
      its release with a ligand is pH-dependent, with optimum production in the 5.0-6.5
      interval. The Alt a 1 ligand was identified as a methylated flavonoid that
      inhibits plant root growth and detoxifies reactive oxygen species. We also found
      that Alt a 1 changes its oligomerization state depending on the pH of the
      surrounding medium and that these changes facilitate the release of the ligand.
      Based on these results, we propose that release of Alt a 1 should be a pathogenic
      target in approaches used to block plant defenses and consequently to favor
      fungal entry into the plant.

PMID- 27633192
TI  - Immersion factors affecting perception and behaviour in a virtual reality power
      wheelchair simulator.
AB  - Virtual Reality based driving simulators are increasingly used to train and
      assess users' abilities to operate vehicles in a controlled and safe way. For the
      development of those simulators it is important to identify and evaluate design
      factors affecting perception, behaviour, and driving performance. In an exemplary
      power wheelchair simulator setting we identified the three immersion factors
      display type (head-mounted display v monitor), ability to freely change the field
      of view (FOV), and the visualisation of the user's avatar as potentially
      affecting perception and behaviour. In a study with 72 participants we found all
      three factors affected the participants' sense of presence in the virtual
      environment. In particular the display type significantly affected both
      perceptual and behavioural measures whereas FOV only affected behavioural
      measures. Our findings could guide future Virtual Reality simulator designers to
      evoke targeted user behaviours and perceptions. 

PMID- 27633194
TI  - Time changes in the body dimensions of male Australian Army personnel between
      1977 and 2012.
AB  - The aim of this study was to quantify time changes in the body dimensions of male
      Australian Army personnel. Following a systematic review, two studies were
      identified and matched for occupation and age (n = 669) with time changes in 12
      absolute and 11 proportional body dimensions assessed between 1977 and 2010-12.
      Changes in means were expressed as absolute, percent and standardised changes,
      with changes in variability assessed visually and as the ratio of coefficients of
      variation (CVs). Time changes in absolute dimensions were typically positive
      (increases) and moderate in magnitude (median standardised change +/- 95%CI: 0.53
      +/- 0.23), and while changes in proportional dimensions were typically negligible
      (median standardised change +/- 95%CI: 0.16 +/- 0.33), substantial changes
      (standardised changes >=0.2 or <=-0.2) were observed in several dimensions.
      Variability in body dimensions has also typically increased (median ratio of CVs
      +/- 95%CI: 1.10 +/- 0.07) and become more right-skewed. These findings have
      important implications for the design and acquisition of new military vehicles,
      body equipment and clothing. 

PMID- 27633193
TI  - Mitigating Simulator Adaptation Syndrome by means of tactile stimulation.
AB  - Some drivers experience Simulator Adaptation Syndrome (SAS), a condition in which
      nausea, disorientation, dizziness, headache, and difficulty focusing, are
      exhibited when driving in a simulator. To reduce this syndrome, we investigated
      the efficacy of tactile stimulation (TS) on mitigating Simulator Adaptation
      Syndrome (SAS) in a driving simulation. Fifteen drivers (eight women; mean age =
      24.07 years) participated in this experiment. We compared the total scores of the
      Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) across two stimulation conditions (TS
      condition and no stimulation condition as a baseline measure). The experimental
      outcomes revealed that TS seemed to decrease SAS due to attentional distraction
      from the symptoms and not because of an improvement in balance ability. 

PMID- 27633195
TI  - Comparing the demands of destination entry using Google Glass and the Samsung
      Galaxy S4 during simulated driving.
AB  - The relative impact of using a Google Glass based voice interface to enter a
      destination address compared to voice and touch-entry methods using a handheld
      Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone was assessed in a driving simulator. Voice entry
      (Google Glass and Samsung) had lower subjective workload ratings, lower standard
      deviation of lateral lane position, shorter task durations, faster remote
      Detection Response Task (DRT) reaction times, lower DRT miss rates, and resulted
      in less time glancing off-road than the primary visual-manual interaction with
      the Samsung Touch interface. Comparing voice entry methods, using Google Glass
      took less time, while glance metrics and reaction time to DRT events responded to
      were similar. In contrast, DRT miss rate was higher for Google Glass, suggesting
      that drivers may be under increased distraction levels but for a shorter period
      of time; whether one or the other equates to an overall safer driving experience
      is an open question. 

PMID- 27633196
TI  - Constructing a Bayesian network model for improving safety behavior of employees
      at workplaces.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Unsafe behavior increases the risk of accident at workplaces and
      needs to be managed properly. The aim of the present study was to provide a model
      for managing and improving safety behavior of employees using the Bayesian
      networks approach. METHODS: The study was conducted in several power plant
      construction projects in Iran. The data were collected using a questionnaire
      composed of nine factors, including management commitment, supporting
      environment, safety management system, employees' participation, safety
      knowledge, safety attitude, motivation, resource allocation, and work pressure.
      In order for measuring the score of each factor assigned by a responder, a
      measurement model was constructed for each of them. The Bayesian network was
      constructed using experts' opinions and Dempster-Shafer theory. Using belief
      updating, the best intervention strategies for improving safety behavior also
      were selected. RESULTS: The result of the present study demonstrated that the
      majority of employees do not tend to consider safety rules, regulation,
      procedures and norms in their behavior at the workplace. Safety attitude, safety
      knowledge, and supporting environment were the best predictor of safety behavior.
      Moreover, it was determined that instantaneous improvement of supporting
      environment and employee participation is the best strategy to reach a high
      proportion of safety behavior at the workplace. CONCLUSION: The lack of a
      comprehensive model that can be used for explaining safety behavior was one of
      the most problematic issues of the study. Furthermore, it can be concluded that
      belief updating is a unique feature of Bayesian networks that is very useful in
      comparing various intervention strategies and selecting the best one form them.

PMID- 27633197
TI  - Design of instructions for evacuating disabled adults.
AB  - We investigated how the design of instructions can affect performance in
      preparing emergency stair travel devices for the evacuation of disable
      individuals. We had three hypotheses: 1) Design of instructions would account for
      a significant portion of explained performance variance, 2) Improvements in
      design of instructions would reduce time on task across device type and age
      group, and 3) There would be a performance decrement for older adults compared to
      younger adults based on the slowing of older adult information processing
      abilities. Results showed that design of instructions does indeed account for a
      large portion of explained variance in the operation of emergency stair travel
      devices, and that improvements in design of instructions can reduce time on task
      across device type and age group. However, encouragingly for real-world
      operations, results did not indicate any significant differences between older
      versus younger adults. We look to explore ways that individuals with disabilities
      can exploit these insights to enhance the performance of emergency stair travel
      devices for use. 

PMID- 27633198
TI  - Effect of a powered drive on pushing and pulling forces when transporting
      bariatric hospital beds.
AB  - Powered drives designed to assist with moving hospital beds are commercially
      available but no studies have evaluated whether they reduce the push and pull
      forces likely contributing to injury in caregivers. This study measured hand
      forces of 10 caregivers maneuvering a manual and powered bariatric bed through
      simulated hospital environments (hallway, elevator, and ramp). Peak push and pull
      forces exceeded previously established psychophysical limits for all activities
      with the manual bed. For the powered bed, peak forces were significantly (p <
      0.05) lower for all tasks, and below psychophysical limits. Powered drive reduced
      peak forces between 38% (maneuvering into elevator) and 94% (descending ramp).
      Powered drive also reduced stopping distance by 55%. When maneuvering, the
      integral of hand force was 34% lower with powered drive, but average forces
      during straight-line pushing did not differ between beds. Powered drive may
      reduce the risk of injury or the number of caregivers needed for transport. 

PMID- 27633199
TI  - A meta-analysis of human-system interfaces in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm
      management.
AB  - A meta-analysis was conducted to systematically evaluate the current state of
      research on human-system interfaces for users controlling semi-autonomous swarms
      composed of groups of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV swarms pose
      several human factors challenges, such as high cognitive demands, non-intuitive
      behavior, and serious consequences for errors. This article presents findings
      from a meta-analysis of 27 UAV swarm management papers focused on the human
      system interface and human factors concerns, providing an overview of the
      advantages, challenges, and limitations of current UAV management interfaces, as
      well as information on how these interfaces are currently evaluated. In general
      allowing user and mission-specific customization to user interfaces and raising
      the swarm's level of autonomy to reduce operator cognitive workload are
      beneficial and improve situation awareness (SA). It is clear more research is
      needed in this rapidly evolving field. 

PMID- 27633200
TI  - Identification of stair climbing ability levels in community-dwelling older
      adults based on the geometric mean of stair ascent and descent speed: The GeMSS
      classifier.
AB  - The aim was to develop a quantitative approach to identify three stair-climbing
      ability levels of older adults: no, somewhat and considerable difficulty. Timed
      up-and-go test, six-minute-walk test, and Berg balance scale were used for
      statistical comparison to a new stair climbing ability classifier based on the
      geometric mean of stair speeds (GeMSS) in ascent and descent on a flight of eight
      stairs with a 28 degrees  pitch in the housing unit where the participants, 28
      (16 women) urban older adults (62-94 years), lived. Ordinal logistic regression
      revealed the thresholds between the three ability levels for each functional test
      were more stringent than thresholds found in the literature to classify walking
      ability levels. Though a small study, the intermediate classifier shows promise
      of early identification of difficulties with stairs, in order to make timely
      preventative interventions. Further studies are necessary to obtain scaling
      factors for stairs with other pitches. 

PMID- 27633201
TI  - Work activity in food service: The significance of customer relations, tipping
      practices and gender for preventing musculoskeletal disorders.
AB  - Some evidence shows that food servers are exposed to an elevated risk of
      musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, and that their work activity varies by
      gender. Interviews of servers and observations of food service in Quebec, Canada,
      were carried out in three restaurants and a questionnaire was administered to 64
      workers from 44 other restaurants. The relationship with the customer has
      specific effects on work activity and transforms the physical, emotional and
      cognitive work. Strategies intended to speed service or otherwise related to the
      customer relationship can involve health risks. Women reported more direct food
      service (p < 0.01), a tendency to do more "housekeeping" tasks (p < 0.07) and
      fewer hours of work per week (p < 0.01). Women workers reported experiencing more
      sites of pain (p < 0.003). This exploratory study suggests that managing the
      server-customer relationship could be important in preventing musculoskeletal
      disorders in this population and that women are at particular risk. 

PMID- 27633202
TI  - Two sides to every story: The Dual Perspectives Method for examining
      interruptions in healthcare.
AB  - Interruptions are widely considered a problem in healthcare. Results from
      observation and experimental studies have guided extensive mitigation efforts,
      but the effectiveness of interventions remains mixed. We have built on current
      theories and methods for studying interruptions to develop a novel observational
      approach - the Dual Perspectives Method - for examining interruptions from the
      perspectives of the different work functions in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We
      detail the method and provide representative examples of the insights it offers,
      such as why interruptions happen, the role they play, and the consequences of
      preserving them or eliminating them. We anticipate that the Dual Perspectives
      Method will help us to arrive at a better basis on which to draw conclusions
      about interruptions, and will lead to the development of appropriate and
      sustainable interventions to ensure the effective and safe functioning of the
      work system under examination. 

PMID- 27633203
TI  - An industry case study of 'stand-up' and 'sleepover' night shifts in disability
      support: Residential support worker perspectives.
AB  - PURPOSE: Residential support workers (RSW) engage in overnight "sleepover" shifts
      as well as more traditional "standup" night shifts. While research has
      investigated the consequences of night and on-call work for sleep in other
      industries, the sleep of RSW has not been evaluated. METHOD: In a single-provider
      case study, six employees completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI),
      the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), a 2-week sleep diary, and a 30 min
      interview, and four also completed the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM).
      RESULTS: Participants reported sleep of poor quality, low-mild DASS scores, and
      evidence of SMBM scores that were elevated relative to norms. Sleep was
      significantly lower (p < 0.01) following "standup" shifts (mean = 4.1, SD = 1.8
      h) and during "sleepover" shifts (mean = 5.6, SD = 2.0 h) compared to non-shift
      nights (mean = 7.3, SD = 2.3 h). Interviews suggested that sleep fluctuates with
      level of patient care, colleague assistance, stress, and the quality of the
      sleeping environment (including bed comfort, light, noise and perceived safety).
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that this group have sleep that is insufficient and
      of poor quality and that they may be at risk of burnout. Consideration of ways to
      optimise sleeping conditions at work (e.g. through noise or stress reduction)
      would be beneficial. Research in this area has the potential to facilitate
      improvements in health and safety in this growing industry.

PMID- 27633204
TI  - Effect of long term driving on driver discomfort and its relationship with seat
      fidgets and movements (SFMs).
AB  - Discomfort in vehicle seats is a multifactorial problem with large increases in
      discomfort occurring during extended duration driving. Due to the nature of
      driver discomfort, previous research has found it difficult to accurately
      quantify long term driver discomfort via the use of objective measures. This
      paper reports a laboratory study that investigates a novel objective measure of
      long term driver discomfort and its correlation with subjective discomfort
      ratings. Analysis of driver's seat fidgets and movements was conducted over the
      duration of a 140 min drive on a driving simulator in addition to collecting
      subjective ratings of discomfort. It is shown that as subjects' subjective
      discomfort increases, the frequency of subjects' seat fidgets and movements
      increases congruently. A large correlation is observed between the subjective and
      objective measures of driver discomfort and provides the opportunity for long
      term discomfort evaluations to be made via remote monitoring; removing the need
      for subjective assessment. 

PMID- 27633205
TI  - Ergonomic design of an EEG headset using 3D anthropometry.
AB  - Although EEG experiments over the past decades have shown numerous applications
      for brain-computer interfacing (BCI), there is a need for user-friendly BCI
      devices that can be used in real-world situations. 3D anthropometry and
      statistical shape modeling have been shown to improve the fit of devices such as
      helmets and respirators, and thus they might also be suitable to design BCI
      headgear that better fits the size and shape variation of the human head. In this
      paper, a new design method for BCI devices is proposed and evaluated. A one-size
      fits-all BCI headset frame is designed on the basis of three digital mannequins
      derived from a shape model of the human head. To verify the design, the geometric
      fit, stability and repeatability of the prototype were compared to an EEG cap and
      a commercial BCI headset in a preliminary experiment. Most design specifications
      were met, and all the results were found to be similar to those of the commercial
      headset. Therefore, the suggested design method is a feasible alternative to
      traditional anthropometric design for BCI headsets and similar headgear. 

PMID- 27633206
TI  - Investigation of musculoskeletal discomfort, work postures, and muscle activation
      among practicing tattoo artists.
AB  - Tattoo artists are an understudied worker population with respect to
      investigation of work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) discomfort and associated
      risk factors. Results from one discomfort survey has been published; no analysis
      of worker biomechanics has been published. As such, a study was conducted to
      begin exposure assessment of tattoo artists to work factors that could result in
      MSK discomfort. Consistent with the prior survey, the current study showed an
      elevated prevalence of MSK discomfort. Twelve month discomfort prevalence
      exceeded 50% in the neck, shoulders, hands/wrists, and upper and lower back
      (range: 53-94%). Seventy-one percent of postures evaluated during 16 h of
      observation had total RULA scores of 5, 6, or 7 (investigation and changes are
      required soon or immediately). Static muscle activity levels in the left, right,
      or both upper trapezius muscles in each study participant exceeded the 2-5% MVE
      limit recommended in the literature. Intervention concepts are also discussed. 

PMID- 27633208
TI  - Reducing thumb extensor risk in laboratory rat gavage.
AB  - Gavage is a common technique for orally administering compounds to small
      laboratory animals using a syringe. It involves highly repetitive thumb extensor
      exertions for filling the syringe, a risk factor for DeQuervain's tenosynovitis.
      As an intervention, a series of bench tests were performed varying fluid
      viscosity, syringe size and needle size to determine the forces required for
      drawing fluid. Forces up to 28 N were observed for a viscosity of 0.29 Pa s. A
      guide is presented to minimize thumb forces for a particular combination of
      syringe (3 mL, 5 mL and 10 mL), fluid viscosity (0.001 Pa s, 0.065 Pa s, 0.21 and
      0.29 Pa s), and needle length (52 mm, 78 mm and 100 mm) based on maximum
      acceptable exertion levels. In general, a small syringe and large needle size had
      a greater number of acceptable rat gavages per day due to the lower forces
      experienced as compared to all other syringe and needle combinations. 

PMID- 27633207
TI  - Cognitive consequences of sleep deprivation, shiftwork, and heat exposure for
      underground miners.
AB  - Sleep deprivation, abnormal sleep patterns arising from working rotating shifts,
      and exposure to high ambient temperatures contribute to physical and cognitive
      dysfunction. We examined the effects of these on 19 (41.5 +/- 5.1 years) male
      underground miners. Data were collected for 28 to 30 consecutive days such that
      the participants experienced their full rotating shift schedule, including days
      off. Objective measures of sleep quality (actigraphy), attentional capacity
      (psychomotor vigilance task), core body temperature (visceral pill), executive
      function (BRIEF-A) and subjective measures of fatigue (Karolinska and Epworth
      Sleepiness scales) were obtained over the 28-30 day period. Non-parametric
      analyses (chi(2), Wilcoxen Signed ranks) were used to determine differences
      between shift types and days off. Z-tests were used to compare sample data to
      population norms. These revealed that the participants experienced poor quality
      of sleep relative to age-matched norms irrespective of the shift being worked or
      if the participant was on a scheduled day off [30-39 year olds: z = -14.62, p <
      0.001; 40-49 year olds: z = -4.44, p < 0.001]. Participants when working day
      shift experienced less sleep prior to beginning work compared to their days off
      or night shift; however, no differences in total sleep time between when
      participants worked day or night shifts were observed [chi(2) (2, n = 18) =
      13.44, p < 0.01]. When measured subjectively, the only time participants reported
      excessive sleepiness was after a night shift. Objective measures of attentional
      capacity showed best performance at the beginning of night shifts in contrast to
      any other time that the task was completed; however, performance degraded
      dramatically over the course of the night shift [chi(2) (2, n = 12) = 6.50, p <
      0.05]. We show that underground miners reported for work sleep deprived. The
      cognitive consequences of this poor sleep were most pronounced during night shift
      when their attentional capacity declined rapidly over the course of the night
      shift. 

PMID- 27633209
TI  - Safety signs on agricultural machinery: Pictorials do not always successfully
      convey their messages to target users.
AB  - This study investigated the extent to which a sample of Italian users
      comprehended safety pictorials used on agricultural machinery. A questionnaire
      with 12 safety pictorials was administered to 248 users of agricultural
      machinery. For each of the pictorials, the participants were asked to select the
      most appropriate description of four written choices. The investigated safety
      pictorials were, in general, not well comprehended. Two different classes of
      participants were identified, each with a different level of comprehension. The
      participants with better comprehension were characterized by the regular use of
      agricultural machinery and frequent previous exposure to pictorials. The need for
      training courses focusing on safety pictorials and their meanings, as well as the
      need for improvement to the pictorials themselves to make them more easily
      comprehended, is discussed. 

PMID- 27633210
TI  - Comprehension by older people of medication information with or without
      supplementary pharmaceutical pictograms.
AB  - This study examined the benefits of pharmaceutical pictograms for improving
      comprehension of medication information for older people. Fifty Hong Kong Chinese
      older people completed a medical information comprehension task for five drugs.
      Participants in the control group were presented with text labels while those in
      the experimental group were given the text labels plus supplementary
      pharmaceutical pictograms, and then all reported their understanding of the
      medication information conveyed. Lower educated older people had poorer
      understanding of medication information. The addition of pharmaceutical
      pictograms significantly improved the comprehension of medication information for
      older people. The majority of older people tested with pictograms favored adding
      pictograms to text and thought the pictograms were useful for conveying medical
      information rather than using written text alone. The findings suggested that
      pharmaceutical and health care professionals should include pharmaceutical
      pictograms on labels to better convey instructions on medication to older people.

PMID- 27633211
TI  - Index finger and thumb kinematics and performance measurements for common
      touchscreen gestures.
AB  - This study aimed to quantify differences in 7 touchscreen gestures. Eighteen
      participants performed index finger tapping, sliding in 4 orthogonal directions,
      and index finger and thumb pinch and stretch gestures on a touchscreen tablet
      computer. We hypothesized that two finger gestures would require longer task
      completion time and greater finger joint excursions than sliding gestures using
      only the index finger. We measured task completion times and finger joint
      kinematics. Tapping showed the fastest average (+/-SD) task completion time,
      567(190) ms, of all gestures (p < 0.001). Pinch had faster task completion time,
      765(277) ms, than all single-finger sliding gestures (p < 0.001). Stretch was
      faster to complete at 843(317) ms (p < 0.001) than all sliding gestures except
      slide right. Stretch demonstrated greater mean index finger metacarpophalangeal
      flexion/extension joint excursions, 63(16) degrees , compared to sliding
      gestures, 34(10) degrees , and tapping, 27(13) degrees  (p < 0.01). Overall, two
      finger gestures were faster to complete and showed greater joint excursions than
      single-finger sliding gestures. 

PMID- 27633212
TI  - Assessment of an active liquid cooling garment intended for use in a hot
      environment.
AB  - This paper discusses the construction of a designed active liquid cooling garment
      (LCG) that has been developed in order to reduce thermal discomfort of persons
      working in hot environments. It consists of clothing with a tube system
      distributing a cooling liquid, a sensor measuring the microclimate under the
      clothing, and a portable cooling unit with a module controlling the temperature
      of the cooling liquid depending on the microclimate temperature under the
      clothing. The LCG was validated through tests on volunteers in a climatic chamber
      at 30  degrees C, a relative humidity of 40%, and an air movement rate of 0.4
      m/s. The obtained test results confirmed the beneficial effects of the cooling
      system used on mean weighted skin temperature, the physical parameters of the
      microclimate under the clothing, and the participants' subjective assessments, as
      well as confirmed that the functioning of the control system regulating liquid
      temperature in the LCG was correct. 

PMID- 27633213
TI  - Muscle loading in exoskeletal orthotic use in an activity of daily living.
AB  - Strokes are the leading cause of major adult disability with up to 85% of U.S.
      survivors experiencing hemiparesis. Physical characteristics of upper-extremity
      exoskeletal orthotics, used in stroke rehabilitation, were evaluated in terms of
      performance of activities of daily living (ADL), perceived exertion, and muscle
      load. Simulated orthotic weight distributions, with total extremity loads of 0.81
      kg, 1.25 kg and 2.27 kg, were evaluated along with a 0 kg control condition.
      Response measures included average shoulder/elbow muscle surface electromyography
      (sEMG) signal amplitude, quality of task completion and total rest time during
      performance, and Borg CR-10 scale ratings. Device weight distribution, or imposed
      shoulder moment, was found to have a significant effect on biceps brachii and
      anterior deltoid activation levels, percent task completion, total rest time, and
      perceived exertion ratings. Results suggest that heavier upper-extremity
      orthotics could cause undesirable effects in terms of muscle loading, performance
      and exertion; such adverse effects could potentially lead to lack of use during
      patient's rehabilitation. 

PMID- 27633215
TI  - Texting on mobile phones and musculoskeletal disorders in young adults: A five
      year cohort study.
AB  - The aim was to examine whether texting on a mobile phone is a risk factor for
      musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and upper extremities in a population of
      young adults. In a longitudinal population-based cohort study with Swedish young
      adults (aged 20-24 years) data were collected via a web-based questionnaire at
      baseline (n = 7092) and after one and five years. Cross-sectional associations
      were found between text messaging and reported ongoing symptoms in neck and upper
      extremities (odds ratios, ORs 1.3-2.0). Among symptom-free at baseline
      prospective associations were only found between text messaging and new cases of
      reported symptoms in the hand/fingers (OR 2.0) at one year follow up. Among those
      with symptoms at baseline prospective associations were found between text
      messaging and maintained pain in neck/upper back (OR 1.6). The results imply
      mostly short-term effects, and to a lesser extent, long-term effects on
      musculoskeletal disorders in neck and upper extremities. 

PMID- 27633214
TI  - Vibrotactile perception assessment for a haptic interface on an antigravity suit.
AB  - Haptic technology is used in various fields to transmit information to the user
      with or without visual and auditory cues. This study aimed to provide preliminary
      data for use in developing a haptic interface for an antigravity (anti-G) suit.
      With the structural characteristics of the anti-G suit in mind, we determined
      five areas on the body (lower back, outer thighs, inner thighs, outer calves, and
      inner calves) on which to install ten bar-type eccentric rotating mass (ERM)
      motors as vibration actuators. To determine the design factors of the haptic anti
      G suit, we conducted three experiments to find the absolute threshold, moderate
      intensity, and subjective assessments of vibrotactile stimuli. Twenty-six fighter
      pilots participated in the experiments, which were conducted in a fixed-based
      flight simulator. From the results of our study, we recommend 1) absolute
      thresholds of ~11.98-15.84 Hz and 102.01-104.06 dB, 2) moderate intensities of
      74.36 Hz and 126.98 dB for the lower back and 58.65 Hz and 122.37 dB for either
      side of the thighs and calves, and 3) subjective assessments of vibrotactile
      stimuli (displeasure, easy to perceive, and level of comfort). The results of
      this study will be useful for the design of a haptic anti-G suit. 

PMID- 27633216
TI  - Cybersickness without the wobble: Experimental results speak against postural
      instability theory.
AB  - It has been suggested that postural instability is necessary for cybersickness to
      occur. Seated and standing subjects used a head-mounted display to view a virtual
      tunnel that rotated about their line of sight. We found that the offset direction
      of perceived vertical settings matched the direction of the tunnel's rotation, so
      replicating earlier findings. Increasing rotation speed caused cybersickness to
      increase, but had no significant impact on perceived vertical settings. Postural
      sway during rotation was similar to postural sway during rest. While a minority
      of subjects exhibited postural sway in response to the onset of tunnel rotation,
      the majority did not. Furthermore, cybersickness increased with rotation speed
      similarly for the seated and standing conditions. Finally, subjects with greater
      levels of cybersickness exhibited less variation in postural sway. These results
      lead us to conclude that the link between postural instability and cybersickness
      is a weak one in the present experiment. 

PMID- 27633217
TI  - See I told you I was taking it! - Attitudes of adolescents with asthma towards a
      device monitoring their inhaler use: Implications for future design.
AB  - Adherence to treatment in asthma is often poor, particularly in adolescents and
      children where the condition is most prevalent. Electronic monitoring devices
      have shown potential for improving inhaler use, yet little research has
      considered the attitudes of patients towards these devices. We gave seven
      adolescents with asthma an electronic monitoring device to use for one month and
      collected their views on important issues including monitoring and data sharing.
      Our results showed that participants felt positively about using the data to
      demonstrate responsibility for their condition to both their parents and medical
      professionals, but expressed concern for the attention the device's appearance
      could draw to them and their asthma. This paper considers the positive and
      negative perceptions of this novel device and provides new insight into the
      attitudes of adolescents towards inhaler monitoring, as well as future directions
      for design and development of monitoring devices for asthma and other chronic
      medical conditions. 

PMID- 27633218
TI  - Advanced driver assistance systems: Using multimodal redundant warnings to
      enhance road safety.
AB  - This study investigated whether multimodal redundant warnings presented by
      advanced assistance systems reduce brake response times. Warnings presented by
      assistance systems are designed to assist drivers by informing them that evasive
      driving maneuvers are needed in order to avoid a potential accident. If these
      warnings are poorly designed, they may distract drivers, slow their responses,
      and reduce road safety. In two experiments, participants drove a simulated
      vehicle equipped with a forward collision avoidance system. Auditory,
      vibrotactile, and multimodal warnings were presented when the time to collision
      was shorter than five seconds. The effects of these warnings were investigated
      with participants performing a concurrent cell phone conversation (Exp. 1) or
      driving in high-density traffic (Exp. 2). Braking times and subjective workload
      were measured. Multimodal redundant warnings elicited faster braking reaction
      times. These warnings were found to be effective even when talking on a cell
      phone (Exp. 1) or driving in dense traffic (Exp. 2). Multimodal warnings produced
      higher ratings of urgency, but ratings of frustration did not increase compared
      to other warnings. Findings obtained in these two experiments are important given
      that faster braking responses may reduce the potential for a collision. 

PMID- 27633219
TI  - Neck and upper extremity pain in sonographers - Associations with occupational
      factors.
AB  - Sonographers have a high risk of musculoskeletal disorders. This study explores
      the associations between working conditions and musculoskeletal pain based on the
      frequency and intensity of pain in the neck and upper extremities. A
      questionnaire was answered by 291 female sonographers. High prevalence of
      neck/shoulder pain was associated with eye complaints and headache related to
      work on the computer, dissatisfaction with the computer workstation, high
      mechanical exposure index (MEI) and high demands. The possibility to adjust the
      keyboard and chair, and adequately corrected eyesight were positive factors. High
      prevalence of elbow/hand pain was associated with performing echocardiography,
      computer-related eye complaints, high MEI and high job and sensory demands. In
      echocardiography, working with a straight wrist and holding the transducer with a
      two-handed grip or alternating hands was associated with a low prevalence of
      elbow/hand pain. Thus, further improvements in the working conditions are
      possible and are recommended. 

PMID- 27633220
TI  - A case for inclusive design: Analyzing the needs of those who frequent Taiwan's
      urban parks.
AB  - Taiwan's declining birthrate has resulted in an aging population, and the needs
      addressed by public facilities are changing along with the shifting population
      structure. Visitors to urban parks filled out 869 questionnaires on the topic of
      inclusive design. Structural equation modeling revealed that park patrons could
      be categorized as those with special needs, and the general public. The biggest
      difference between these two groups manifests in their disparate needs concerning
      outdoor primary service facilities, followed by facilities related to
      accessibility, automation and the functions performed in open areas. Difficulty
      with autonomous access was identified as the leading cause of exclusion. Based on
      the autonomous access principle, three inclusive needs levels were identified:
      safety (high priority), accessibility (moderately-high), and regular maintenance
      (average). Inclusive design in public parks aims to equalize usage by all sectors
      of society. 

PMID- 27633221
TI  - Variability in body size and shape of UK offshore workers: A cluster analysis
      approach.
AB  - Male UK offshore workers have enlarged dimensions compared with UK norms and
      knowledge of specific sizes and shapes typifying their physiques will assist a
      range of functions related to health and ergonomics. A representative sample of
      the UK offshore workforce (n = 588) underwent 3D photonic scanning, from which 19
      extracted dimensional measures were used in k-means cluster analysis to
      characterise physique groups. Of the 11 resulting clusters four somatotype groups
      were expressed: one cluster was muscular and lean, four had greater muscularity
      than adiposity, three had equal adiposity and muscularity and three had greater
      adiposity than muscularity. Some clusters appeared constitutionally similar to
      others, differing only in absolute size. These cluster centroids represent an
      evidence-base for future designs in apparel and other applications where body
      size and proportions affect functional performance. They also constitute
      phenotypic evidence providing insight into the 'offshore culture' which may
      underpin the enlarged dimensions of offshore workers. 

PMID- 27633222
TI  - The variability of the trunk forward bending in standing activities during work
      vs. leisure time.
AB  - High level of occupational physical activity (PA), contrary to leisure time
      activities, is generally associated with detrimental health outcomes. We
      hypothesized that this contrast may be associated with a different pattern of
      exposure variability in PA, e.g., forward bending of the trunk. The study was
      conducted on 657 blue-collar workers. Two accelerometers were used to identify
      the body posture and forward bending of the trunk during work and leisure time.
      The pattern of forward bending was analyzed using exposure variation analysis
      (EVA). The recordings comprised of 2.6 +/- 0.97 working days in average, with
      19.9 +/- 8.1 h work and 22.9 +/- 8.9 h leisure. The standard deviation and
      entropy of the EVA profile indicated 11% and 6% (for about 80% of subjects) less
      variable pattern during work compared with the leisure time, respectively. These
      new findings contribute to the understanding the paradoxical outcomes of PA
      during work and leisure. 

PMID- 27633223
TI  - The effect of standing interventions on acute low-back postures and muscle
      activation patterns.
AB  - Occupations requiring prolonged periods of constrained standing are associated
      with the development of low back pain (LBP). Many workplaces use improvised
      standing aids aimed to reduce LBP. Unfortunately, there is little scientific
      evidence to support the use of such standing interventions in effectively
      reducing LBP. To assess some commonly implemented standing interventions, thirty
      one participants stood in four different standing positions (Level Ground
      (control), Sloped, Elevated, and Staggered) for 5 min each. The use of an
      elevated surface changed the lumbar spine posture of participants such that
      participants stood in a more flexed lumbar spine posture. This change in lumbar
      spine posture may be an indication that the elevated standing aid intervention
      can positively impact lumbar spine posture in standing pain developers and
      potentially reduce LBP. 

PMID- 27633224
TI  - Sensitivity of the human back and buttocks: The missing link in comfort seat
      design.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in pressure
      sensitivity for areas of the human body in contact with the seat pan and backrest
      of a vehicle seat. These could provide a theoretical base for adapting the
      softness of the foam or the flexibility components used in seat design. METHODS:
      Sensitivity was recorded at 32 points touching the seat pan and backrest by
      pushing a cylinder with a diameter of 20 mm into the seat until the participant
      reported that they were no longer comfortable. The force at which discomfort was
      reported was recorded using an advanced force gauge. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The
      area of the body having contact with the front of the seat pan was more sensitive
      than the rest of those parts touching the seat pan. The area of the seat touching
      the shoulders was significantly more sensitive than the area in between the
      shoulders and lower down the back. Translating these findings directly into seat
      design should be done with care. Tests are still needed to confirm the assumed
      relationship between sensitivity and foam softness. Further information is also
      needed regarding the complete use of a seat, including analysis of vibrations
      while driving and comfort during ingress and egress.

PMID- 27633225
TI  - Determinants of sleepiness at work among railway control workers.
AB  - In the last two decades the control of the Portuguese railway network has become
      much more centralized in three centres, there integrating the functions of route
      flow management, electrical control and signalling. This study aimed to
      investigate the influence of work and individual determinants in sleepiness among
      railway control workers, namely socio-demographic factors, work ability,
      psychosocial factors, shiftwork characteristics, fatigue perception, and sleep.
      Sleepiness by shift was associated with quality of sleep, job satisfaction,
      fatigue perception, quantitative demands, and age. The results indicate a high
      prevalence of sleepiness during the night shift and show the relevance of the
      quality of sleep as a predictor in the three models of sleepiness for morning,
      afternoon and night shifts. This study, done at the major Portuguese railway
      control centre, alerted managers to the importance of schedule planning as well
      as sleepiness prevention plans and makes these results a reference for future
      research. 

PMID- 27633226
TI  - Providers' perceived facilitators and barriers to EHR screen sharing in
      outpatient settings.
AB  - As health care becomes more patient-centered, some scholars and policy makers
      propose shifting use of electronic health records (EHRs) to a tool to educate and
      engage patients. Physician-patient screen sharing may provide a way to achieve
      this. However, the barriers and facilitators that physicians experience with
      screen sharing are unknown. In this study, we explored providers' facilitators
      and barriers to using EHR as a primary care communication tool. We conducted an
      interview study with 14 primary care providers to discover their views on screen
      sharing. We used the work system model as a conceptual framework to classify
      emergent factors. Content analysis yielded 28 facilitators and 56 barriers to
      patient-centered screen sharing in primary care. We linked these to work system
      elements. We outline suggestions for more patient-centered EHR systems, and for
      provider communication training. Finally, we consider the role screen sharing
      might play in the development of physician-patient situation awareness. 

PMID- 27633228
TI  - A review of the design and development processes of simulation for training in
      healthcare - A technology-centered versus a human-centered perspective.
AB  - This article reviews literature about simulation systems for training in
      healthcare regarding the prevalence of human-centered approaches in the design
      and development of these systems, motivated by a tradition in this field of
      working technology-centered. The results show that the focus on human needs and
      context of use is limited. It is argued that a reduction of the focus on
      technical advancements in favor of the needs of the users and the healthcare
      community, underpinned by human factors and ergonomics theory, is favorable. Due
      to the low number of identified articles describing or discussing human-centered
      approaches it is furthermore concluded that the publication culture promotes
      technical descriptions and summative evaluations rather than descriptions and
      reflections regarding the design and development processes. Shifting the focus
      from a technology-centered approach to a human-centered one can aid in the
      process of creating simulation systems for training in healthcare that are: 1)
      relevant to the learning objectives, 2) adapted to the needs of users, context
      and task, and 3) not selected based on technical or fidelity criteria. 

PMID- 27633227
TI  - Evaluation of knee joint forces during kneeling work with different kneepads.
AB  - The main purpose of this study is to determine knee joint forces resulting from
      kneeling work with and without kneepads to quantify how different kneepads
      redistribute force. Eleven healthy males simulated a tile setting task to
      different locations during six kneepad states (five different kneepad types and
      without kneepad). Peak and average forces on the anatomical landmarks of both
      knees were obtained by custom force sensors. The results revealed that kneepad
      design can significantly modify the forces on the knee joint through
      redistribution. The Professional Gel design was preferred among the five tested
      kneepads which was confirmed with both force measurements and participants'
      responses. The extreme reaching locations induced significantly higher joint
      forces on left knee or right knee depending on task. The conclusion of this study
      is that a properly selected kneepad for specific tasks and a more neutral working
      posture can modify the force distribution on the knees and likely decrease the
      risk of knee disorders from kneeling work. 

PMID- 27633229
TI  - Flying solo: A review of the literature on wayfinding for older adults
      experiencing visual or cognitive decline.
AB  - Accessible tourism is a growing market within the travel industry, but little
      research has focused on travel barriers for older adults who may be experiencing
      visual and cognitive decline as part of the normal aging process, illness, or
      other disabling conditions. Travel barriers, such as difficulty finding one's way
      throughout an airport, may adversely affect older adults' travel experience,
      thereby reducing their desire to travel. This review of the literature
      investigates wayfinding strategies to ensure that older passengers who have
      planned to travel independently can do so with dignity. These include facility
      planning and design strategies (e.g., layout, signage) and technological
      solutions. Although technological approaches, such as smart phone apps, appear to
      offer the most promising new solutions for enhancing airport navigation, more
      traditional approaches, such as designing facilities with an intuitive building
      layout, are still heavily relied upon in the aviation industry. While there are
      many design guidelines for enhancing wayfinding for older adults, many are not
      based on scientific investigation. 

PMID- 27633230
TI  - The effect of human-mattress interface's temperature on perceived thermal
      comfort.
AB  - In recent years, methods that allow for an objective evaluation of perceived
      comfort, in terms of postural, physiological, cognitive and environmental
      comfort, have received a great deal of attention from researchers. This paper
      focuses on one of the factors that influences physiological comfort perception:
      the temperature difference between users and the objects with which they
      interact. The first aim is to create a measuring system that does not affect the
      perceived comfort during the temperatures' acquisition. The main aim is to
      evaluate how the temperature at the human-mattress interface can affect the level
      of perceived comfort. A foam mattress has been used for testing in order to take
      into account the entire back part of the human body. The temperature at the
      interface was registered by fourteen 100 Ohm Platinum RTDs (Resistance
      Temperature Detectors) placed on the mattress under the trunk, the shoulders, the
      buttocks, the legs, the thighs, the arms and the forearms of the test subject. 29
      subjects participated in a comfort test in a humidity controlled environment. The
      test protocol involved: dress-code, anthropometric-based positioning on mattress,
      environment temperature measuring and an acclimatization time before the test. At
      the end of each test, each of the test subject's thermal sensations and the level
      of comfort perception were evaluated using the ASHRAE (American Society of
      Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) scale. The data analyses
      concerned, in the first instance, correlations between the temperature at the
      interface and comfort levels of the different parts of the body. Then the same
      analyses were performed independently of the body parts being considered. The
      results demonstrated that there was no strong correlation among the studied
      variables and that the total increase of temperature at interface is associated
      with a reduction in comfort. 

PMID- 27633232
TI  - A cognitive prosthesis for complex decision-making.
AB  - While simple heuristics can be ecologically rational and effective in
      naturalistic decision making contexts, complex situations require analytical
      decision making strategies, hypothesis-testing and learning. Sub-optimal decision
      strategies - using simplified as opposed to analytic decision rules - have been
      reported in domains such as healthcare, military operational planning, and
      government policy making. We investigate the potential of a computational toolkit
      called "IMAGE" to improve decision-making by developing structural knowledge and
      increasing understanding of complex situations. IMAGE is tested within the
      context of a complex military convoy management task through (a) interactive
      simulations, and (b) visualization and knowledge representation capabilities. We
      assess the usefulness of two versions of IMAGE (desktop and immersive) compared
      to a baseline. Results suggest that the prosthesis helped analysts in making
      better decisions, but failed to increase their structural knowledge about the
      situation once the cognitive prosthesis is removed. 

PMID- 27633233
TI  - Coordinating the interruption of assembly workers in manufacturing.
AB  - This paper examines how interruptions from information and communications
      technology systems affect errors and the time to complete tasks for assembly
      workers. Interruptions have previously been examined in laboratory experiments
      and office environments, but not much work has been performed in other authentic
      environments. This paper contains the results of an experiment that was performed
      in a simulated manufacturing assembly environment, which tested the effects of
      interruptions on a manual assembly task. The experiment used existing
      interruption coordination methods as a basis, and the results showed a difference
      in the effect of interruptions and interruption coordination between cognitively
      complex laboratory tasks and manual assembly tasks in an authentic environment.
      Most notably, the negative effects of interruptions delivered without
      consideration were smaller in this experiment. Based on these findings,
      recommendations were developed for designing interruption systems for minimizing
      the costs (errors and time) imposed by interruptions during assembly tasks in
      manufacturing. 

PMID- 27633231
TI  - Distraction and task engagement: How interesting and boring information impact
      driving performance and subjective and physiological responses.
AB  - As more devices and services are integrated into vehicles, drivers face new
      opportunities to perform additional tasks while driving. While many studies have
      explored the detrimental effects of varying task demands on driving performance,
      there has been little attention devoted to tasks that vary in terms of personal
      interest or investment-a quality we liken to the concept of task engagement. The
      purpose of this study was to explore the impact of task engagement on driving
      performance, subjective appraisals of performance and workload, and various
      physiological measurements. In this study, 31 participants (M = 37 yrs) completed
      three driving conditions in a driving simulator: listening to boring auditory
      material; listening to interesting material; and driving with no auditory
      material. Drivers were simultaneously monitored using near-infrared spectroscopy,
      heart monitoring and eye tracking systems. Drivers exhibited less variability in
      lane keeping and headway maintenance for both auditory conditions; however,
      response times to critical braking events were longer in the interesting audio
      condition. Drivers also perceived the interesting material to be less demanding
      and less complex, although the material was objectively matched for difficulty.
      Drivers showed a reduced concentration of cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin when
      listening to interesting material, compared to baseline and boring conditions,
      yet they exhibited superior recognition for this material. The practical
      implications, from a safety standpoint, are discussed. 

PMID- 27633234
TI  - Proposal for a universal measurement system for school chairs and desks for
      children from 6 to 10 years old.
AB  - In a primary education classroom of any country, children of the same age have
      very different statures, reaching variations of 200 mm (Goncalves, 2012).
      However, the school furniture provided is not suitable or adaptable to these
      differences. Designing school furniture able to respond to these variations is,
      therefore, a challenge for ergonomics and design in a global market. It is
      clearly not viable for industries to adapt productions for each country. When
      competitiveness and limitation of resources are essential for the viability of
      any product it becomes essential to find a universal system adapted to the
      requisites of any country. Taking as prescription measure the popliteal height
      obtained from the data of different countries, a universal measurement system for
      the school chair and desk set is proposed, combining the ellipse methodology used
      by Molenbroek et al. (2003) and the (mis)match equations mentioned by Castellucci
      et al. (2014b). From the results obtained, it can be concluded that only 5 sizes
      are needed to implement this new measurement system of evolutionary school
      furniture for the primary education classroom. 

PMID- 27633235
TI  - Job rotation designed to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and control risk in
      manufacturing industries: A systematic review.
AB  - To better understand job rotation in the manufacturing industry, we completed a
      systematic review asking the following questions: 1) How do job-rotation programs
      impact work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and related risk control for
      these MSDs, as well as psychosocial factors? and 2) How best should the job
      rotation programs be designed? We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Business Source
      Premier, ISI Web of Knowledge, CINAHL, PsyINFO, Scopus, and SciELO databases for
      articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Eligible studies were examined by
      two independent reviewers for relevance (population of manufacturing workers,
      outcomes of musculoskeletal disorders, physical factors, psychosocial factors,
      and strategies used in job-rotation implantation) and methodological quality
      rating. From 10,809 potential articles, 71 were read for full text analysis. Of
      the 14 studies included for data extraction, two were non-randomized control
      trial studies, one was a case-control study, and 11 were cross-sectional
      comparisons. Only one, with a case-control design, was scored with good
      methodological quality. Currently, weak evidence exists supporting job rotation
      as a strategy for the prevention and control of musculoskeletal disorders. Job
      rotation did not appear to reduce the exposure of physical risk factors; yet,
      there are positive correlations between job rotation and higher job satisfaction.
      Worker training has been described as a crucial component of a successful job
      rotation program. The studies reported a range of parameters used to implement
      and measure job-rotation programs. More rigorous studies are needed to better
      understand the full impact of job rotation on production and health. PROSPERO
      REGISTER: CRD42014013319.

PMID- 27633236
TI  - An electromyographic and kinematic comparison between an extendable conveyor
      system and an articulating belt conveyor used for truck loading and unloading
      tasks.
AB  - Many retail distribution centers (DCs) manually load and unload boxes into or out
      of trailers and shipping containers. This study investigated whether an
      articulating belt conveyor with a height adjustable platform, positioned at the
      end of an extendable conveyor, significantly reduces shoulder and back muscle
      loading and the spine kinematics associated with these tasks. Electromyographic
      and kinematic data were collected from eight volunteer employees as trailers at a
      shoe DC were unloaded and from nine volunteer employees as trailers at an apparel
      DC were loaded. Participants in this repeated measures study handled boxes with a
      conventional powered extendable conveyor system and with the articulating belt
      conveyor positioned at the end of the extendable conveyor. Bilaterally the
      normalized activation levels of the erector spinae and anterior deltoid muscles
      were reduced when loading and unloading boxes with the articulating belt
      conveyor. Spine movement speeds were also reduced with the articulating conveyor.

PMID- 27633237
TI  - Development of a behaviour rating system for rural/remote pre-hospital settings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Remote and Rural pre-hospital care practitioners manage serious
      illness and injury on an unplanned basis, necessitating technical and non
      technical skills (NTS). However, no behaviour rating systems currently address
      NTS within these settings. Informed by health psychology theory, a NTS-specific
      behaviour rating system was developed for use within pre-hospital care training
      for remote and rural practitioners. METHOD: The Immediate Medical Care Behaviour
      Rating System (IMCBRS), was informed by literature, expert advice and review and
      observation of an Immediate Medical Care (IMC) course. Once developed, the
      usability and appropriateness of the rating system was tested through observation
      of candidates' behaviour at IMC courses during simulated scenarios and rating
      their use of NTS using the IMCBRS. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Observation of
      training confirmed rating system items were demonstrated in 28-62% of scenarios,
      depending on context. The IMCBRS may thus be a useful addition to training for
      rural and practitioners.

PMID- 27633238
TI  - Changes in glance behaviour when using a visual eco-driving system - A field
      study.
AB  - While in-vehicle eco-driving support systems have the potential to reduce
      greenhouse gas emissions and save fuel, they may also distract drivers,
      especially if the system makes use of a visual interface. The objective of this
      study is to investigate the visual behaviour of drivers interacting with such a
      system, implemented on a five-inch screen mounted above the middle console. Ten
      drivers participated in a real-world, on-road driving study where they drove a
      route nine times (2 pre-baseline drives, 5 treatment drives, 2 post-baseline
      drives). The route was 96 km long and consisted of rural roads, urban roads and a
      dual-lane motorway. The results show that drivers look at the system for 5-8% of
      the time, depending on road type, with a glance duration of about 0.6 s, and with
      0.05% long glances (>2s) per kilometre. These figures are comparable to what was
      found for glances to the speedometer in this study. Glance behaviour away from
      the windscreen is slightly increased in treatment as compared to pre- and post
      baseline, mirror glances decreased in treatment and post-baseline compared to pre
      baseline, and speedometer glances increased compared to pre-baseline. The eco
      driving support system provided continuous information interspersed with
      additional advice pop-ups (announced by a beep) and feedback pop-ups (no auditory
      cue). About 20% of sound initiated advice pop-ups were disregarded, and the
      remaining cases were usually looked at within the first two seconds. About 40% of
      the feedback pop-ups were disregarded. The amount of glances to the system
      immediately before the onset of a pop-up was clearly higher for feedback than for
      advice. All in all, the eco-driving support system under investigation is not
      likely to have a strong negative impact on glance behaviour. However, there is
      room for improvements. We recommend that eco-driving information is integrated
      with the speedometer, that optional activation of sound alerts for intermittent
      information is made available, and that the pop-up duration should be extended to
      facilitate self-regulation of information intake. 

PMID- 27633239
TI  - Lessons learned from the usability assessment of home-based telemedicine systems.
AB  - At-home telemedicine visits are quickly becoming an acceptable alternative for in
      person patient visits. However, little work has been done to understand the
      usability of these home-based telemedicine solutions. It is critical for user
      acceptance and real-world applicability to evaluate available telemedicine
      solutions within the context-specific needs of the users of this technology. To
      address this need, this study evaluated the usability of four home-based
      telemedicine software platforms: Doxy.me, Vidyo, VSee, and Polycom. Using a
      within-subjects experimental design, twenty participants were asked to complete a
      telemedicine session involving several tasks using the four platforms. Upon
      completion of these tasks for each platform, participants completed the IBM
      computer system usability questionnaire (CSUQ) and the NASA Task Load Index test.
      Upon completing the tasks on all four platforms, the participants completed a
      final post-test subjective questionnaire ranking the platforms based on their
      preference. Of the twenty participants, 19 completed the study. Statistically
      significant differences among the telemedicine software platforms were found for
      task completion time, total workload, mental demand, effort, frustration,
      preference ranking and computer system usability scores. Usability problems with
      installation and account creation led to high mental demand and task completion
      time, suggesting the participants preferred a system without such requirements.
      Majority of the usability issues were identified at the telemedicine initiation
      phase. The findings from this study can be used by software developers to develop
      user-friendly telemedicine systems. 

PMID- 27633240
TI  - Acoustic wayfinding: A method to measure the acoustic contrast of different
      paving materials for blind people.
AB  - Acoustic wayfinding involves using a variety of auditory cues to create a mental
      map of the surrounding environment. For blind people, these auditory cues become
      the primary substitute for visual information in order to understand the features
      of the spatial context and orient themselves. This can include creating sound
      waves, such as tapping a cane. This paper reports the results of a research about
      the "acoustic contrast" parameter between paving materials functioning as a cue
      and the surrounding or adjacent surface functioning as a background. A number of
      different materials was selected in order to create a test path and a procedure
      was defined for the verification of the ability of blind people to distinguish
      different acoustic contrasts. A method is proposed for measuring acoustic
      contrast generated by the impact of a cane tip on the ground to provide blind
      people with environmental information on spatial orientation and wayfinding in
      urban places. 

PMID- 27633241
TI  - Effect of color temperature on melatonin production for illumination of working
      environments.
AB  - We studied the influence of correlated color temperature (CCT) of 7 polychromatic
      white light illuminations (1600 K-14,000 K, 200 lx) in two experiments. Visual
      performance was tested in 17 students (8 men) during daytime. Visual acuity,
      contrast sensitivity and sleepiness did not vary with illuminations but
      polychromatic white light of <2000 K impaired color discrimination. Melatonin
      synthesis was tested with weekly intervals in 8 trials from 10pm to 2am (7
      polychromatic illuminations and a dim light reference (<0.1 lx)) in 16 students
      (9 men, semi-recumbent position). Melatonin suppression was almost negligible for
      CCT <2000 K but increased with increasing CCT. CONCLUSIONS: CCTs <2000 K are not
      suitable for work places. Polychromatic white light with higher CCTs and
      significant melatonin suppression is expected to shift the circadian rhythm and
      to accelerate the adaptation to night work. This effect should be enhanced with
      elevation of luminance.

PMID- 27633186
TI  - Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regulatory guidance specifies the need to establish cardiovascular
      safety of new diabetes therapies in patients with type 2 diabetes in order to
      rule out excess cardiovascular risk. The cardiovascular effects of semaglutide, a
      glucagon-like peptide 1 analogue with an extended half-life of approximately 1
      week, in type 2 diabetes are unknown. METHODS: We randomly assigned 3297 patients
      with type 2 diabetes who were on a standard-care regimen to receive once-weekly
      semaglutide (0.5 mg or 1.0 mg) or placebo for 104 weeks. The primary composite
      outcome was the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial
      infarction, or nonfatal stroke. We hypothesized that semaglutide would be
      noninferior to placebo for the primary outcome. The noninferiority margin was 1.8
      for the upper boundary of the 95% confidence interval of the hazard ratio.
      RESULTS: At baseline, 2735 of the patients (83.0%) had established cardiovascular
      disease, chronic kidney disease, or both. The primary outcome occurred in 108 of
      1648 patients (6.6%) in the semaglutide group and in 146 of 1649 patients (8.9%)
      in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58 to
      0.95; P<0.001 for noninferiority). Nonfatal myocardial infarction occurred in
      2.9% of the patients receiving semaglutide and in 3.9% of those receiving placebo
      (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.51 to 1.08; P=0.12); nonfatal stroke occurred in
      1.6% and 2.7%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.99; P=0.04).
      Rates of death from cardiovascular causes were similar in the two groups. Rates
      of new or worsening nephropathy were lower in the semaglutide group, but rates of
      retinopathy complications (vitreous hemorrhage, blindness, or conditions
      requiring treatment with an intravitreal agent or photocoagulation) were
      significantly higher (hazard ratio, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.11 to 2.78; P=0.02). Fewer
      serious adverse events occurred in the semaglutide group, although more patients
      discontinued treatment because of adverse events, mainly gastrointestinal.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with type 2 diabetes who were at high cardiovascular
      risk, the rate of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or
      nonfatal stroke was significantly lower among patients receiving semaglutide than
      among those receiving placebo, an outcome that confirmed the noninferiority of
      semaglutide. (Funded by Novo Nordisk; SUSTAIN-6 ClinicalTrials.gov number,
      NCT01720446 .).

PMID- 27633242
TI  - Emergency doctors' strategies to manage competing workload demands in an
      interruptive environment: An observational workflow time study.
AB  - An observational workflow time study was conducted involving doctors in the
      emergency department (ED) of a large Australian hospital. During 121.7 h across
      58 sessions, we observed interruptive events, conceptualised as prompts, and
      doctors' strategies to handle those prompts (task-switching, multitasking,
      acknowledgement, deferral and deflection) to assess the role of multiple work
      system factors influencing doctors' work in the ED. Prompt rates varied vastly
      between work scenarios, being highest during non-verbal solo tasks. The
      propensity to use certain strategies also differed with task type, prompt type
      and location within the department, although task-switching was by far the most
      frequent. Communicative prompts were important in patient treatment and workload
      management. Clinicians appear to adjust their communication strategies in
      response to contextual factors in order to deliver patient care. Risk due to the
      interruptive nature of ED communication is potentially outweighed by the positive
      effects of timely information transfer and advice provision. 

PMID- 27633243
TI  - An approach to vehicle design: In-depth audit to understand the needs of older
      drivers.
AB  - The population of older people continues to increase around the world, and this
      trend is expected to continue; the population of older drivers is increasing
      accordingly. January 2012 figures from the DVLA in the UK stated that there were
      more than 15 million drivers aged over 60; more than 1 million drivers were aged
      over 80. There is a need for specific research tools to understand and capture
      how all users interact with features in the vehicle cabin e.g. controls and
      tasks, including the specific needs of the increasingly older driving population.
      This paper describes an in-depth audit that was conducted to understand how
      design of the vehicle cabin impacts on comfort, posture, usability, health and
      wellbeing in older drivers. The sample involved 47 drivers (38% female, 62%
      male). The age distribution was: 50-64 (n = 12), 65-79 (n = 20), and those 80 and
      over (n = 15). The methodology included tools to capture user experience in the
      vehicle cabin and functional performance tests relevant to specific driving
      tasks. It is shown that drivers' physical capabilities reduce with age and that
      there are associated difficulties in setting up an optimal driving position such
      that some controls cannot be operated as intended, and many adapt their driving
      cabins. The cabin set-up process consistently began with setting up the seat and
      finished with operation of the seat belt. 

PMID- 27633244
TI  - The use of adaptable automation: Effects of extended skill lay-off and changes in
      system reliability.
AB  - This experiment aimed to examine how skill lay-off and system reliability would
      affect operator behaviour in a simulated work environment under wide-range and
      large-choice adaptable automation comprising six different levels. Twenty-four
      participants were tested twice during a 2-hr testing session, with the second
      session taking place 8 months after the first. In the middle of the second
      testing session, system reliability changed. The results showed that after the
      retention interval trust increased and self-confidence decreased. Complacency was
      unaffected by the lay-off period. Diagnostic speed slowed down after the
      retention interval but diagnostic accuracy was maintained. No difference between
      experimental conditions was found for automation management behaviour (i.e. level
      of automation chosen and frequency of switching between levels). There were few
      effects of system reliability. Overall, the findings showed that subjective
      measures were more sensitive to the impact of skill lay-off than objective
      behavioural measures. 

PMID- 27633245
TI  - Effects of milking unit design on upper extremity muscle activity during
      attachment among U.S. large-herd parlor workers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large-herd dairy parlor workers experience a high prevalence of
      musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the effect of milking unit design on upper extremity muscle activity
      during milking unit attachment. METHODS: Upper extremity muscle activity was
      recorded among U.S. large-herd parlor workers (n=11) using surface
      electromyography. Participants performed several milking unit attachment cycles
      with each of six milking unit designs. Muscle activity levels were then compared
      between unit designs. RESULTS: Mean muscle activity levels (in %MVE) across
      milking units ranged from 6.8 to 8.2 for the upper trapezius, 8.2 to 10.3 for the
      anterior deltoid, 13.8 to 17.2 for the forearm flexors, and 9.9 to 12.4 for the
      forearm extensors. Pairwise comparisons between milking units did not reveal
      statistically significant differences in muscle activity levels across milking
      unit designs. However, a general pattern of higher muscle activity was observed
      with specific milking units. Milking unit weight, milk tube spread, and teat cup
      shape may explain differences in muscle activity levels. CONCLUSIONS: Milking
      unit design may influence muscle activity levels among parlor workers. Small
      reductions in muscle activity associated with milking unit design have the
      potential to delay the onset of fatigue or development of musculoskeletal health
      outcomes among parlor workers.

PMID- 27633247
TI  - A formal approach to discovering simultaneous additive masking between auditory
      medical alarms.
AB  - The failure of humans to respond to auditory medical alarms has resulted in
      numerous patient injuries and deaths and is thus a major safety concern. A
      relatively understudied source of response failures has to do with simultaneous
      masking, a condition where concurrent sounds interact in ways that make one or
      more of them imperceptible due to physical limitations of human perception. This
      paper presents a method, which builds on a previous implementation, that uses a
      novel combination of psychophysical modeling and formal verification with model
      checking to detect masking in a modeled configuration of medical alarms.
      Specifically, the new method discussed here improves the original method by
      adding the ability to detect additive masking while concurrently improving method
      usability and scalability. This paper describes how these additions to our method
      were realized. It then demonstrates the scalability and detection improvements
      via three different case studies. Results and future research are discussed. 

PMID- 27633246
TI  - Processes, barriers and facilitators to implementation of a participatory
      ergonomics program among eldercare workers.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the processes of a participatory ergonomics
      program among 594 eldercare workers with emphasis on identified risk factors for
      low back pain and solutions, and reveal barriers and facilitators for
      implementation. Sixty-nine per cent of the identified risk factors were physical
      ergonomic, 24% were organisational and 7% were psychosocial risk factors. Most
      solutions were organisational (55%), followed by physical (43%) and psychosocial
      solutions (2%). Internal factors (e.g. team or management) constituted 47% of the
      barriers and 75% of the facilitators. External factors (e.g. time, financial
      resources, collaboration with resident or relatives) constituted 53% of the
      barriers and 25% of the facilitators. This study revealed the processes and
      implementation of a participatory ergonomics program among eldercare workers. The
      findings can be transferred to workers, workplaces, health and safety
      professionals, and researchers to improve future participatory ergonomics
      programs. 

PMID- 27633248
TI  - A candidate Chinese medicine preparation-Fructus Viticis Total Flavonoids
      inhibits stem-like characteristics of lung cancer stem-like cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered as the origin of tumor
      relapse. Here, we investigated the effects of Fructus Viticis total flavonoids
      (FVTF) on the characteristics of lung cancer stem-like cells (LCSLCs) derived
      from human small cell lung cancer NCI-H446 cell line and its potential mechanism.
      METHODS: Human small cell lung cancer NCI-H446 cell line was cultured in vitro.
      The CD133(+) cells were sorted from NCI-H446 cell line by magnetic separation.
      The suspended culture with stem cell-conditioned medium was used to amplify
      CD133(+) sphere-forming cells (SFCs). The stem cell characteristics of CD133(+)
      SFCs were evaluated using cell self-renewal capacity by tumor sphere formation
      assay, migration and invasion capacity by Transwell assay, tumorigenicity by
      xenograft model in nude mouse and cancer stem cell markers expression levels by
      western blot. The effects of FVTF on the properties of LCSLCs were examined by
      tumorsphere formation assay and transwell chamber assay. The expression level of
      p-Akt was determined by western blot analysis. RESULT: CD133(+) SFCs derived from
      human small cell lung cancer NCI-H446 cells exhibited stemness properties of
      tumorsphere formation and tumorigenesis capacity comparing to the parental cells.
      FVTF relative selectively inhibited the proliferation of LCSLCs, suppressed tumor
      sphere forming capacity and migration and invasion of LCSLCs, and down-regulated
      the protein expression of stem cell markers (CD133, CD44 and ALDH1), self-renewal
      associated transcription factors (Bmi1, Nanog and OCT4) and invasion associated
      transcription factors (Twist1 and Snail1) in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover,
      we found that FVTF treatment could significantly decrease the phosphorylation
      level of Akt in LCSLCs. Meanwhile, LY294002 and FVTF synergistically inhibited
      the characteristics of LCSLCs. CONCLUSION: FVTF inhibits the characteristics of
      LCSLCs through down-regulating expression of p-Akt.

PMID- 27633249
TI  - The person in the disabled body: a perspective on culture and personhood from the
      margins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persons with disabilities (PWD) are one of the most marginalized
      groups in Western societies. These inequalities are manifested through various
      disadvantages in the psychosocial, cultural, and economic domains. Inspired by
      the World Health Organization's holistic conceptualization of disability, the
      present study examines the relation between the body and personhood in Israeli
      culture, through cases of newly diagnosed adults with disability. METHOD:
      Participant observation at a rehabilitation daycare center was carried out for a
      period of two years. The analysis is based on field notes recorded during these
      observations, including interviews with individuals with disabilities, their
      family members, and service providers. RESULTS: The analysis reveals the
      agonizing experience of individuals who have become disabled in adulthood, who
      undergo symbolic diminution and social exclusion after their former acceptance as
      whole and normative persons. This ongoing multifaceted process includes
      infantilization, denial of their sexuality/sensuality, transgression of gender
      boundaries, and their construction as categorically different from the "healthy"
      people around them. At the same time, the analysis also demonstrates the ways in
      which daily routine at the daycare center also complicates the normative healthy
      disabled binary, indicating a continuum on which attendees may attempt to
      reposition themselves. CONCLUSIONS: This paper aims to make a dual contribution.
      We draw on anthropological understandings of"person" as a holistic category to
      resurrect the personhood of individuals with disabilities, as a correction tothe
      overwhelming tendency to reduce their humanity to their physical injury. We
      likewise reverse theanalytical gaze by using these individuals' experiences to
      understand the normative, culture-bound perception of "healthy" persons. We thus
      highlight Israeli culture's conditioning of normative personhood on having a
      perfect body, and its concomitant construction of individuals with physical
      disabilities as lesser persons. By opting to bring back the person into the
      disabled body, we aim to facilitate a less stigmatized outlook on disability and
      to create an opportunity for caregivers, researchers, and healthcare
      professionals to view disabled persons as whole and complex human beings.

PMID- 27633251
TI  - Ventricular fibrillation treated by cryotherapy to the right ventricular outflow
      tract: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arrhythmias originating from the right ventricular outflow tract are
      generally considered benign but cases of cardiac arrest have been described,
      usually associated with polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or extrasystoles with
      short coupling intervals. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 54-year-old
      Caucasian woman with symptomatic right ventricular outflow tract arrhythmias
      without structural heart disease who suffered a ventricular fibrillation arrest
      without prior malignant clinical features. Cryoablation was performed and an
      implantable cardioverter defibrillator was implanted. She has since been free of
      arrhythmia for 7 years and has asked that the implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator not be replaced when the battery becomes depleted. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although usually benign, right ventricular outflow tract tachycardia can be life
      threatening. Even the most malignant cases can be cured by ablation.

PMID- 27633250
TI  - Positron emission tomography measurement of brain MAO-B inhibition in patients
      with Alzheimer's disease and elderly controls after oral administration of
      sembragiline.
AB  - PURPOSE: In Alzheimer's disease (AD), increased metabolism of monoamines by
      monoamine oxidase type B (MAO-B) leads to the production of toxic reactive oxygen
      species (ROS), which are thought to contribute to disease pathogenesis.
      Inhibition of the MAO-B enzyme may restore brain levels of monoaminergic
      neurotransmitters, reduce the formation of toxic ROS and reduce neuroinflammation
      (reactive astrocytosis), potentially leading to neuroprotection. Sembragiline
      (also referred as RO4602522, RG1577 and EVT 302 in previous communications) is a
      potent, selective and reversible inhibitor of MAO-B developed as a potential
      treatment for AD. METHODS: This study assessed the relationship between plasma
      concentration of sembragiline and brain MAO-B inhibition in patients with AD and
      in healthy elderly control (EC) subjects. Positron emission tomography (PET)
      scans using [11C]-L-deprenyl-D2 radiotracer were performed in ten patients with
      AD and six EC subjects, who received sembragiline each day for 6-15 days.
      RESULTS: At steady state, the relationship between sembragiline plasma
      concentration and MAO-B inhibition resulted in an Emax of ~80-90 % across brain
      regions of interest and in an EC50 of 1-2 ng/mL. Data in patients with AD and EC
      subjects showed that near-maximal inhibition of brain MAO-B was achieved with 1
      mg sembragiline daily, regardless of the population, whereas lower doses resulted
      in lower and variable brain MAO-B inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: This PET study
      confirmed that daily treatment of at least 1 mg sembragiline resulted in near
      maximal inhibition of brain MAO-B enzyme in patients with AD.

PMID- 27633252
TI  - Generation of different sizes and classes of small RNAs in barley is locus,
      chromosome and/or cultivar-dependent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various small RNA (sRNA) sizes and varieties have been identified,
      but their relationship as well as relationship with their origins and allocations
      have not been well understood or investigated. RESULTS: By comparing sRNAs
      generated from two barley cultivars, Golden Promise (GP) and Pallas, we
      identified that the generation of different sizes and types of sRNAs in barley
      was locus-, chromosome- and/or cultivar-dependent. 20-nt sRNAs mainly comprising
      miRNAs and chloroplast-derived sRNAs were significantly over-expressed in Pallas
      vs. GP on chromosomes 3H and 6H. MiRNAs-enriched 21-nt sRNAs were significantly
      over-expressed in Pallas vs. GP only on chromosome 4H. On chromosome 5H this size
      of sRNAs was significantly under-expressed in Pallas, so were 22-nt sRNAs mainly
      comprising miRNAs and repeat-derived sRNAs. 24-nt sRNAs mostly derived from
      repeats were evenly distributed in all chromosomes and expressed similarly
      between GP and Pallas. Unlike other sizes of sRNAs, 24-nt sRNAs were little
      conserved in other plant species. Abundant sRNAs were mostly generated from 3'
      terminal regions of chromosome 1H and 5' terminal regions of chromosome 5H. Over
      expressed miRNAs in GP vs. Pallas primarily function in stress responses and iron
      binding. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that 23-24-nt sRNAs may be linked to
      repressive chromatin modifications and function in genome stability while 20-21
      nt sRNAs may be important for the cultivar specificity. This study provides a
      novel insight into the mechanism of sRNA expression and function in barley.

PMID- 27633253
TI  - Does cost sharing do more harm or more good? - a systematic literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are positive and negative consequences of the implementation of
      out of pocket (OOP) payments as a source of the healthcare financing. On the one
      hand, OOP burden increases awareness of treatment costs and limits unnecessary
      use of healthcare services. On the other hand, it may prevent the sick from
      accessing needed care. Consequently there are several aspects that ought to be
      taken into consideration while defining the optimal structure of OOP payments.
      The objective of this study was twofold. Firstly, it was to understand what
      actions are taken to decrease the OOP burden. Secondly, it was to address the
      question whether the implementation of any form of formal OOP payments may impact
      negatively upon fairness in financial contribution. METHODS: The literature
      search was conducted using the Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Center of
      Review and Dissemination databases. Only studies which measured the Kakwani index
      of progressivity in at least two time points were included. Articles written in
      English published between January 2004 and September 2015 were searched. No
      geographical restriction was imposed. An increment of more than 0.10 in the
      Kakwani index was considered as a significant health policy impact. RESULTS: In
      total 16 publications were included, of which nine studied attempts to decrease
      the OOP burden, four described the consequences of the introduction of formal
      fees, and three covered both topics. Overall, a significant health policy impact
      was noted in four cases. All of them related to a reduction in the OOP burden,
      with three and one noting a change towards the progressivity and regressivity of
      direct healthcare payments respectively. Among jurisdictions which introduced
      formal fees, none study noted a significant impact on the regressivity of OOP
      spendings. CONCLUSIONS: In the majority of cases, a health policy impact on the
      distribution of OOP health payments was insignificant. The reduction of OOP
      burden cannot be achieved successfully without adequate extension of healthcare
      coverage or engagement of other sources of healthcare financing. When formal fees
      are being introduced, protection against catastrophic healthcare payments is
      needed for the most vulnerable groups.

PMID- 27633255
TI  - miR-449 overexpression inhibits papillary thyroid carcinoma cell growth by
      targeting RET kinase-beta-catenin signaling pathway.
AB  - Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common thyroid cancer and represent
      approximately 80% of all thyroid cancers. The present study is aimed to
      investigate the role of microRNA (miR)-449 in the progression of PTC. Our results
      revealed that miR-449 was underexpressed in the collected PTC specimens compared
      with non-cancerous PTC tissues. Overexpression of miR-449 induced a cell cycle
      arrest at G0/G1 phase and inhibited PTC cell growth in vitro. Further studies
      revealed that RET proto-oncogene (RET) is a novel miR-449 target, due to miR-449
      bound directly to its 3'-untranslated region and miR-449 mimic reduced the
      protein expression of RET. Similar to the effects of miR-449 overexpression, RET
      downregulation inhibited cell growth, whereas RET overexpression reversed the
      inhibitive effect of miR-449 mimic. Furthermore, miR-449 overexpression inhibited
      the nuclear translocation of beta-catenin and reduced the expression of several
      downstream genes, including c-Myc, cyclin D1, T cell-specific transcription
      factor (TCF) and lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 (LEF-1), and inactivated the
      beta-catenin pathway in TPC-1 cells. Moreover, overexpression of beta-catenin
      prevented miR-449-reduced cell cycle arrest and cell viability. In xenograft
      animal experiments, miR-449 overexpression effectively suppressed the tumor
      growth of PTC. Taken together, our research indicated that miR-449 functions as
      an anti-oncogene by targeting RET, and that miR-449 overexpression inhibited the
      growth of PTC by inactivating the beta-catenin pathway. Thus, miR-449 may serve
      as a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PTC.

PMID- 27633254
TI  - Development of prognostic signatures for intermediate-risk papillary thyroid
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the most common
      type of thyroid malignancy, has risen rapidly worldwide. PTC usually has an
      excellent prognosis. However, the rising incidence of PTC, due at least partially
      to widespread use of neck imaging studies with increased detection of small
      cancers, has created a clinical issue of overdiagnosis, and consequential
      overtreatment. We investigated how molecular data can be used to develop a
      prognostics signature for PTC. METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) recently
      reported on the genomic landscape of a large cohort of PTC cases. In order to
      decrease unnecessary morbidity associated with over diagnosing PTC patient with
      good prognosis, we used TCGA data to develop a gene expression signature to
      distinguish between patients with good and poor prognosis. We selected a set of
      clinical phenotypes to define an 'extreme poor' prognosis group and an 'extreme
      good' prognosis group and developed a gene signature that characterized these.
      RESULTS: We discovered a gene expression signature that distinguished the extreme
      good from extreme poor prognosis patients. Next, we applied this signature to the
      remaining intermediate risk patients, and show that they can be classified in
      clinically meaningful risk groups, characterized by established prognostic
      disease phenotypes. Analysis of the genes in the signature shows many known and
      novel genes involved in PTC prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates that
      using a selection of clinical phenotypes and treatment variables, it is possible
      to develop a statistically useful and biologically meaningful gene signature of
      PTC prognosis, which may be developed as a biomarker to help prevent
      overdiagnosis.

PMID- 27633256
TI  - More Versus Less Blood Pressure Lowering: An Update.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article summarizes the results of a recent systematic review and
      meta-analysis of the safety and efficacy of intensive blood pressure (BP)
      lowering, including an update with the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure
      Intervention Trial) results. We discuss the consistency of results within this
      set of trials (eg, ACCORD [Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes] and
      SPRINT) and the results in the context of other BP-lowering trials, including the
      recently published HOPE3 (Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation-3) study. METHODS:
      This study was a narrative review with updated meta-analysis from systematic
      review of trials comparing more- versus less-intensive BP lowering. FINDINGS:
      With the addition of SPRINT, there are >20 trials comparing more- versus less
      intensive treatment with 54,350 participants overall. Over an average of 3.9
      years of follow-up, the average systolic BP was 133 mm Hg in the more-intensive
      treatment arms and 140 mm Hg in the less-intensive treatment arms. More-intensive
      BP lowering reduced the risk of major vascular events, with benefits seen across
      a range of groups defined according to baseline systolic BP (120-139 mm Hg, 140
      159 mm Hg, or >=160 mm Hg), age (<70 or >70 years), and main entry criterion
      (hypertension, diabetes, or renal disease). IMPLICATIONS: The evidence
      accumulated thus far provides clear evidence of the benefits of BP lowering in
      the 120- to 140-mm Hg range for various high-risk patient groups. Although
      intensive BP lowering has side effects, these trials indicate that the benefits
      will predominate for those at high risk of major vascular events.

PMID- 27633258
TI  - New Horizons in Pediatric Psychopharmacology.
AB  - Preclinical Research Recent advances in pediatric psychopharmacology have been
      rather uneven. Increased use of psychotropic drugs among the pediatric population
      has raised concerns regarding their inappropriate use and safety. While clinical
      trials have been conducted on various pediatric psychopharmacological drugs,
      there has been an insignificant amount of importance to innovation in holistic
      treatment. A rational approach toward elucidating the various challenges would be
      contingent on the convergence of the development of novel efficacious
      psychotropic drugs with concrete conceptual frameworks and guidelines fostering
      enhanced outcomes. A research infrastructure concerning the relevance of the
      clinician's perspective, combining drugs with alternative therapies, the need for
      pediatric specific formulations and relevance of these in developing countries
      provides a basis on which innovative treatment/development can be constructed.
      The current commentary highlights these comprehensive and targeted treatment
      guidelines as aspects necessary for building the future of the field. Drug Dev
      Res 77 : 474-478, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633257
TI  - A Serological Protein Microarray for Detection of Multiple Cross-Reactive
      Flavivirus Infections in Horses for Veterinary and Public Health Surveillance.
AB  - The genus Flavivirus in the family Flaviviridae includes some of the most
      important examples of emerging zoonotic arboviruses that are rapidly spreading
      across the globe. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), West Nile virus (WNV), St.
      Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are mosquito-borne members
      of the JEV serological group. Although most infections in humans are asymptomatic
      or present with mild flu-like symptoms, clinical manifestations of JEV, WNV,
      SLEV, USUV and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) can include severe
      neurological disease and death. In horses, infection with WNV and JEV can lead to
      severe neurological disease and death, while USUV, SLEV and TBEV infections are
      mainly asymptomatic, however, and induce antibody responses. Horses often serve
      as sentinels to monitor active virus circulation in serological surveillance
      programmes specifically for WNV, USUV and JEV. Here, we developed and validated a
      NS1-antigen protein microarray for the serological differential diagnosis of
      flavivirus infections in horses using sera of experimentally and naturally
      infected symptomatic as well as asymptomatic horses. Using samples from
      experimentally infected horses, an IgG and IgM specificity of 100% and a
      sensitivity of 95% for WNV and 100% for JEV was achieved with a cut-off titre of
      1 : 20 based on ROC calculation. In field settings, the microarray identified 93
      100% of IgG-positive horses with recent WNV infections and 87% of TBEV IgG
      positive horses. WNV IgM sensitivity was 80%. Differentiation between closely
      related flaviviruses by the NS1-antigen protein microarray is possible, even
      though we identified some instances of cross-reactivity among antibodies.
      However, the assay is not able to differentiate between naturally infected horses
      and animals vaccinated with an inactivated WNV whole-virus vaccine. We showed
      that the NS1-microarray can potentially be used for diagnosing and distinguishing
      flavivirus infections in horses and for public health purposes within a
      surveillance setting. This allows for fast, cheap, syndrome-based laboratory
      testing for multiple viruses simultaneously for veterinary and public health
      purposes.

PMID- 27633261
TI  - Formulation and Characterization of Anthocyanins-Loaded Nanoparticles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acai berry, from the Euterpe oleracea Mart. Palm, has been described
      as the most important fruit in the Brazilian Amazon. Several studies have
      reported that anthocyanins (ACNs), one of the components of the acai, have
      enormous potential for pharmaceuticals applications. However, the bioavailability
      of anthocyanins is relatively low compared to that of other flavonoids. Then, in
      the present work, anthocyanins-loaded nanoparticles have been developed to
      overcome their poor bioavailability. METHODS: A two-level factorial design with
      three factors was considered to evaluate the effect of EUDRAGIT (r) L100,
      polyethylene glycol 2000 (PEG 2000) and polysorbate 80 on encapsulation
      efficiency (EE) of anthocyanins. Also, major parameters of nanoparticles were
      assessed by using mainly SEM microscopy and Dynamic light scattering. RESULTS:
      PEG 2000 was the only individual factor that has statistical significance (95%
      confidence level). The process yields (PY) were found in between 67% and 92%; the
      particle size and morphology analysis showed two distribution size, one for NPs
      and another for the agglomerates. CONCLUSION: The pH-sensitive polymer together
      with the hydrophilic polymer showed to be suitable as ACNs delivery system. The
      delayed release profile of ACNs, observed for all formulations, can enhance their
      poor bioavailability. Nevertheless, ACNs bioavailability in vivo remains to be
      studied.

PMID- 27633259
TI  - Discovery and Optimization of N-Substituted 2-(4-pyridinyl)thiazole carboxamides
      against Tumor Growth through Regulating Angiogenesis Signaling Pathways.
AB  - Inhibition of angiogenesis is considered as one of the desirable pathways for the
      treatment of tumor growth and metastasis. Herein we demonstrated that a series of
      pyridinyl-thiazolyl carboxamide derivatives were designed, synthesized and
      examined against angiogenesis through a colony formation and migration assays of
      human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro. A structure-activity
      relationship (SAR) study was carried out and optimization toward this series of
      compounds resulted in the discovery of N-(3-methoxyphenyl)-4-methyl-2-(2-propyl-4
      pyridinyl)thiazole-5-carboxamide (3k). The results indicated that compound 3k
      showed similar or better effects compared to Vandetanib in suppressing HUVECs
      colony formation and migration as well as VEGF-induced angiogenesis in the aortic
      ring spreading model and chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model. More
      importantly, compound 3k also strongly blocked tumor growth with the dosage of 30
      mg/kg/day, and subsequent mechanism exploration suggested that this series of
      compounds took effect mainly through angiogenesis signaling pathways. Together,
      these results suggested compound 3k may serve as a lead for a novel class of
      angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer treatments.

PMID- 27633262
TI  - Allied health management of technology-related musculoskeletal complaints among
      children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Children and adolescents are prolific users of information and
      communication technologies (ICT) in learning, leisure, and social communication
      activities. High exposure to ICT is associated with musculoskeletal injuries in
      adults; however, the management of ICT physical complaints in children is not
      well-understood. METHODS: An online survey of allied health professionals
      (occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and chiropractors) was undertaken to
      determine (i) the number of children and adolescents in Perth, Western Australia
      who accessed treatment for musculoskeletal complaints related to use of
      technology; (ii) the typical frequency and duration of service provision; and
      (iii) the nature of treatment provided. Costs associated with service provision
      were estimated. RESULTS: Data from 101 identified the most commonly treated
      musculoskeletal complaints among children and adolescents included: non-specific
      neck pain; thoracic postural pain disorder; non-specific low back pain; and
      lumbar postural pain disorder. Approximately 1445 children were treated in the
      previous 12 months; with one-third of chiropractors each reported treating 31+
      children. Most common treatments were soft tissue release, mobilisation,
      flexibility and conditioning exercises, soft tissue massage and kinesio-taping.
      Verbal education about healthy use of technology was provided by most clinicians
      (88%), with some inconsistent recommendations. The estimated cost of treatment
      was AUD$1,057,715; of which AUD$544,886 was health system funded. CONCLUSIONS:
      Children and adolescents received allied health treatment for a range of
      musculoskeletal complaints associated with ICT use. The potential long-term
      impacts on their health and wellbeing, and the economic burden associated with
      this health issue warrant the development of systematic risk reduction
      strategies.

PMID- 27633263
TI  - Implementation science, genomic precision medicine, and improved health: A new
      path forward?
AB  - Implementation of genomic discoveries into health care optimally includes
      evaluation of outcomes for recipients of care, providers, payers, and health care
      systems. However, the influence of specific aspects of the implementation process
      on observed outcomes may be missed if assessment of implementation success is not
      built into the implementation design. The intersection of implementation science
      with genomics may provide new insights on how to maximize the benefits of
      emerging genomic technologies in health care. In this summary, members of the
      Roundtable on Genomics and Precision Health, formerly the Roundtable on
      Translating Genomic-Based Research for Health, of the National Academies of
      Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the American Academy of Nursing explore
      challenges and opportunities for nurses to participate in implementing genomic
      discoveries into their practice informed by the principles of implementation
      science. Implementation requires collaboration across disciplines. Nurses can
      take leadership roles in engaging key stakeholders in health care organizations,
      assuring that communications regarding implementation are consistent with genomic
      literacy for each group of stakeholders, and planning for evaluation of data to
      assess how each component of the implementation process affected the overall
      outcome for health care.

PMID- 27633260
TI  - Sports-related wrist and hand injuries: a review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hand and wrist injuries are common during athletics and can have a
      significant impact especially if initially disregarded. Due to their high level
      of physical demand, athletes represent a unique subset of the population. MAIN
      BODY: The following is an overview of hand and wrist injuries commonly seen in
      athletics. Information regarding evaluation, diagnosis, conservative measures,
      and surgical treatment are provided. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of these entities and
      special consideration for the athlete can help the team physician effectively
      treat these players and help them achieve their goals.

PMID- 27633265
TI  - Becoming 'ward smart' medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A small number of medical students elect to work as health care
      assistants (HCAs) during or prior to their undergraduate training. There is a
      significant body of evidence in the literature regarding the impact of HCA
      experience on student nurses; however, little research has examined the effects
      of such experience on medical students. METHODS: All fourth-year medical students
      with self-declared experience as HCAs from a single UK medical school were
      invited to participate in focus groups to explore their experiences and
      perceptions. Ten students from the year group took part. RESULTS: Participants
      felt that their experience as HCAs enhanced their learning in the workplace
      through becoming 'ward smart', helping them to become socialised into the world
      of health care, providing early meaningful and humanised patient interaction, and
      increasing their understanding of multidisciplinary team (MDT) members' roles.
      Little research has examined the effects of [HCA] experience on medical students
      DISCUSSION: Becoming 'ward smart' and developing a sense of belonging are central
      to maximising learning in, from and through work on the ward. Experience as a HCA
      provides a range of learning and social opportunities for medical students, and
      legitimises their participation within clinical communities. HCA experience also
      seems to benefit in the 'hard to reach' dimensions of medical training: empathy;
      humanisation of patient care; professional socialisation; and providing a sense
      of belonging within health care environments.

PMID- 27633264
TI  - The safety of afatinib for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer tumors present EGFR mutations associated with an
      increased response rate to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Afatinib acts as an
      irreversible pan-ErbB-TKI. Areas covered: This review summarizes the results of
      clinical trials in NSCLC regarding its safety and efficacy. Expert opinion:
      Afatinib in 40 mg doses is highly effective in patients with NSCLC and EGFR
      mutations, improving progression-free survival and disease-related symptoms
      compared to chemotherapy. Additionally, afatinib has a better response rate and
      shows a small benefit in progression free survival compared to first-generation
      TKIs, and patients with exon 19 deletion could represent a subgroup with better
      prognosis and overall survival. Diarrhea, mucositis and rash are frequent adverse
      events induced by afatinib, these can impair quality of life and sometimes
      afatinib discontinuation is necessary. Management of adverse events, including
      early antidiarrheal treatment and prophylactic or early antibiotic management can
      reduce the gastrointestinal and cutaneous adverse events, respectively. Different
      risk factors, including malnourishment, sarcopenia, and low body surface might be
      associated with a higher toxicity risk, and these groups of patients could begin
      treatment with a low dose of afatinib followed by a close evaluation on
      tolerability and toxicity in order to slowly increase the dosage of afatinib.

PMID- 27633266
TI  - Molecular probing of TNF: From identification of therapeutic target to guidance
      of therapy in inflammatory diseases.
AB  - Therapy by blocking tumor necrosis factor (TNF) activity is highly efficacious
      and profoundly changed the paradigm of several inflammatory diseases. However, a
      significant proportion of patients with inflammatory diseases do not respond to
      TNF inhibitors (TNFi). Prediction of therapeutic response is required for TNFi
      therapy. Isotope labeled anti-TNF antibodies or TNF receptor have been
      investigated to localize TNF production at inflammatory tissue in animal models
      and in patients with inflammatory diseases. The in vivo detection of TNF has been
      associated with treatment response. Recently, fluorophore labeled anti-TNF
      antibody in combination with confocal laser endomicroscopy in patients with
      Crohn's disease yielded more accurate and quantitative in vivo detection of TNF
      in the diseased mucosa. More importantly, this method demonstrated high
      therapeutic predication value. Fluorophore labeled TNF binding aptamers in
      combination with modern imaging technology offers additional tools for in vivo
      TNF probing.

PMID- 27633268
TI  - Human metabolism and excretion kinetics of the fragrance lysmeral after a single
      oral dosage.
AB  - 2-(4-tert-Butylbenzyl)propionaldehyde, also known as lysmeral, lilial or lily
      aldehyde (CAS No 80-54-6) is a synthetic fragrance used in a variety of consumer
      products like perfumes, after shave lotions, cosmetics and others. Due to its
      broad application, lysmeral was selected for the development of a biomonitoring
      method for the general population within the frame of the cooperation project of
      the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) and the German Chemical Industry
      Association (VCI). The project also comprises the identification of suitable
      biomarkers of exposure in human urine as well as basic toxicokinetic data after
      defined, experimental exposure. For this purpose, 5 healthy subjects were orally
      dosed once with 5.26mg lysmeral. Urine was collected immediately before and for
      48h after administration of the fragrance. The lysmeral metabolites lysmerol,
      lysmerylic acid, hydroxylated lysmerylic acid and 4-tert-butylbenzoic acid (TBBA)
      were determined in all urine samples by a newly developed UPLC-MS/MS (ultra-high
      pressure liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry) method.
      Peak excretion for all metabolites occurred between 2 and 5h after oral
      application, with the primary metabolites (lysmerol and lysmerylic acid) being
      excreted about 1h earlier than the secondary metabolites (hydroxylated lysmerylic
      acid and TBBA). More than 90% of all measured lysmeral metabolites were excreted
      after 12h, with the renal excretion being virtually complete after 48h. After
      this time period, TBBA, lysmerol, lysmerylic acid and hydroxyl-lysmerylic acid
      represent on average 14.3, 1.82, 0.20 and 0.16%, respectively, of the dose
      administered. In total, the 4 metabolites determined represent about 16.5% of the
      dose. With the conversion factors derived from the controlled human study, we
      estimated median exposure doses for lysmeral in a group of 40 human volunteers
      from the general population of approximately 140-220MUg per day. In conclusion,
      the lysmeral metabolites lysmerol, lysmerylic acid, hydroxyl-lysmerylic acid and
      TBBA in urine are suitable biomarkers of exposure and can be applied, either
      single or in any combination, for biomonitoring of the general population.

PMID- 27633267
TI  - Racial and Sociodemographic Disparities in Internet Access and eHealth
      Intervention Utilization Among Veteran Smokers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Access to the internet at home may be an important barrier to
      electronic health (eHealth) smoking cessation interventions. The current study
      explored possible sociodemographic disparities in access to the internet at home
      among veteran smokers. METHODS: Data from participants proactively recruited and
      enrolled in a randomized smoking cessation effectiveness trial (N = 408) that
      compared a web-based smoking cessation intervention to Veterans Affairs (VA)
      usual care were used to examine the demographic attributes of smokers with and
      without internet access at home. Multivariable logistic regression was used to
      examine associations between demographic factors and home internet access. Data
      from patients randomized to the internet arm of the study (N = 205) were used to
      ascertain correlates of utilization of the intervention website. RESULTS: While
      the majority of the sample (82 %) endorsed access to the internet at home,
      veterans who were African-American, older, and not married were significantly
      less likely to have home internet access. Veterans who were African-American,
      older, less educated, had longer travel times to the nearest VA facility, and
      increased nicotine dependence were less likely to access the internet on a daily
      basis. While several sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, race, education,
      employment) were related to utilization of a free membership to a commercial, web
      based smoking cessation intervention in bivariate analyses, only access to the
      internet at home was related to use of the smoking cessation site in adjusted
      results. CONCLUSION: These results highlight gaps in internet access and use
      among veterans and additionally underscore the importance of improving
      accessibility of eHealth interventions for low-income, minority, and socially
      disadvantaged veteran populations.

PMID- 27633269
TI  - Celiac disease and the risk of kidney diseases: A systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Previous epidemiologic studies attempting to demonstrate
      the risk of kidney diseases among patients with celiac disease (CD) have yielded
      inconsistent results. This meta-analysis was conducted with the aims to summarize
      all available evidence. METHODS: A literature search was performed using MEDLINE
      and EMBASE from inception to May 2016. Studies that provided relative risks, odd
      ratios, or hazard ratios examining the risk of kidney diseases among patients
      with CD versus individuals without CD were included. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and
      95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic
      inverse variance method. RESULTS: Eight studies met our eligibility criteria and
      were included in our analysis. A pooled RR of overall kidney diseases in patients
      with CD was 2.01 (95% CI, 1.44-2.81, I2=76%). The pooled RR of end-stage renal
      disease in patients with CD was 2.57 (95% CI, 2.03-3.24). Subgroup analyses
      showed that significant risks were increased for diabetic nephropathy (pooled RR
      of 1.49, 95% CI, 1.09-2.02) and IgA nephropathy (pooled RR of 2.62, 95% CI, 1.27
      5.42) in patients with CD. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates a significantly
      increased risk of kidney diseases among patients with CD. These findings may
      influence clinical management and primary prevention of kidney diseases in
      patients with CD.

PMID- 27633270
TI  - Long Sleep Duration and Risk of Ischemic Stroke and Hemorrhagic Stroke: the
      Kailuan Prospective Study.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between sleep
      duration and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in a community-based cohort. The
      current analysis included 95,023 Chinese participants who were free of stroke at
      the baseline survey (2006-2007). Cox proportional hazards models were used to
      calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and their confidence intervals (CIs) for stroke,
      according to sleep duration. After a mean follow-up period of 7.9 years, 3,135
      participants developed stroke (2,504 ischemic stroke and 631 hemorrhagic stroke).
      The full adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) of total stroke (with 6-8 hours of night
      sleep being considered for the reference group) for individuals reporting greater
      than 8 hours was 1.29 (1.01-1.64). More significant association between long
      sleep duration and total stroke was found in the elderly (HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.05
      2.07). Compared with participants getting 6-8 hours of sleep, only women who
      reported sleeping more than 8 hours per night were associated with hemorrhagic
      stroke (HR, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.28-10.06). This study suggested that long sleep
      duration might be a potential predictor/ marker for total stroke, especially in
      the elderly. And long sleep duration increased the risk of hemorrhagic stroke
      only in women.

PMID- 27633271
TI  - Establishment and characterization of an expanding-type gastric cancer cell line
      by Ming's classification.
AB  - According to Ming's classification, gastric cancer (GC) can be divided into two
      types: expanding and infiltrative. The two types are readily recognizable by
      histology: expanding carcinomas grow en masse and by expansion, resulting in the
      formation of discrete tumour nodules, whereas in infiltrative carcinoma, tumour
      cells invade individually. Both types show varying degrees of cell maturation.
      The two types of carcinomas have vastly different pathological and clinical
      features. However, little is known concerning the mechanisms underlying these
      differences since no GC cell line models are available. For comprehensive and
      insightful analyses of mechanisms and treatment methods, new cell lines derived
      from expanding- and infiltrative-type gastric tumours are urgently needed. In the
      present study, we established an expanding-type GC cell line from a 72-year-old
      male patient. Different in vitro and in vivo methods were used to characterize
      the phenotypes of this cell line. This GC cell line was named XGC-2 and had an
      ~60 h doubling time. The cell line displayed strong colony formation and
      tumourigenicity in nude mice and had complicated chromosomal abnormalities. XGC-2
      cells showed some markers of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), with
      decreased E-cadherin expression levels and increased vimentin expression levels.
      The XGC-2 cell line may be useful for future studies of GC development,
      progression, metastasis and therapy.

PMID- 27633272
TI  - The effects of Nrf2 deletion on placental morphology and exchange capacity in the
      mouse.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is defined as a pathological
      decreased fetal growth. Oxidative stress has been connected to the restriction in
      the fetal growth. The transcription factor nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related
      factor 2 (Nrf2) is a potent activator of the cellular antioxidant response. The
      effect Nrf2 on fetal-placental development has not yet been sufficiently
      investigated. Here, we evaluated the placental and fetal growth in Nrf2 knockout
      (Nrf2-KO) and Nrf2-wild type mice (Nrf2-WT) throughout pregnancy. METHODS:
      Heterozygote Nrf2 (Nrf2+/-) mice were paired to get Nrf2-KO and Nrf2-WT in the
      litters. Placentae and embryos from both genotypes were collected and weighed on
      days 13.5, 15.5 and 18.5 post coitum. The absolute volumes of the labyrinth zone
      and the total volume of the placenta were determined using the Cavalieri
      principle. RESULTS: On E 18.5 the fetal weight in Nrf2-KO was significantly
      reduced versus Nrf2-WT indicating a decrease in placental efficiency. A
      significant reduction in both total and labyrinth-volume in the placenta of Nrf2
      KO mice was observed. CONCLUSION: This data points out the necessity of
      functional Nrf2 for fetal and placental growth. A deficiency in Nrf2 signaling
      may negatively affect nutrient transfer capacity which is then no longer able to
      meet fetal growth demands.

PMID- 27633274
TI  - Association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with major adverse
      cardiovascular events: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Increasing evidence connects non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study is to assess whether and to
      what extent the excess risk of CVD is conferred by NAFLD in a meta-analysis. We
      systematically searched PubMed, EmBase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for
      reports published between 1965 and July 3, 2015. Studies that reported data on
      association between NAFLD and adverse cardiovascular events or mortality were
      included. Thirty-four studies (164,494 participants, 21 cross-sectional studies,
      and 13 cohort studies) were included. NAFLD was not associated with overall
      mortality (HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 0.99-1.32) and CVD mortality (HR = 1.10, 95% CI:
      0.86-1.41). However, NAFLD was associated with an increased risk of prevalent (OR
      = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.23-2.66) and incident (HR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.10-1.72) CVD. For
      some specific CVDs, NAFLD was associated with an increased risk of prevalent (OR
      = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.47-2.37) and incident (HR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.46-3.65) coronary
      artery disease (CAD), prevalent (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.14-1.36) and incident (HR =
      1.16, 95% CI: 1.06-1.27) hypertension, and prevalent (OR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.07
      1.62) atherosclerosis. In conclusion, the presence of NAFLD is associated with an
      increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, although it is not related
      to mortality from all causes or CVD.

PMID- 27633275
TI  - White- and blue-light-emitting dysprosium(III) and terbium(III)-doped gadolinium
      titanate phosphors.
AB  - Here we report the synthesis and structural, morphological, and photoluminescence
      analysis of white- and blue-light-emitting Dy3+ - and Tm3+ -doped Gd2 Ti2 O7
      nanophosphors. Single-phase cubic Gd2 Ti2 O7 nanopowders consist of compact,
      dense aggregates of nanoparticles with an average size of ~25 nm for Dy3+ -doped
      and ~50 nm for Tm3+ -doped samples. The photoluminescence results indicated that
      ultraviolet (UV) light excitation of the Dy3+ -doped sample resulted in direct
      generation of white light, while a dominant yellow emission was obtained under
      blue-light excitation. Intense blue light was obtained for Tm3+ -doped Gd2 Ti2 O7
      under UV excitation suggesting that this material could be used as a blue
      phosphor.

PMID- 27633273
TI  - ZikaVR: An Integrated Zika Virus Resource for Genomics, Proteomics, Phylogenetic
      and Therapeutic Analysis.
AB  - Current Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks that spread in several areas of Africa,
      Southeast Asia, and in pacific islands is declared as a global health emergency
      by World Health Organization (WHO). It causes Zika fever and illness ranging from
      severe autoimmune to neurological complications in humans. To facilitate research
      on this virus, we have developed an integrative multi-omics platform; ZikaVR
      (http://bioinfo.imtech.res.in/manojk/zikavr/), dedicated to the ZIKV genomic,
      proteomic and therapeutic knowledge. It comprises of whole genome sequences,
      their respective functional information regarding proteins, genes, and structural
      content. Additionally, it also delivers sophisticated analysis such as whole
      genome alignments, conservation and variation, CpG islands, codon context, usage
      bias and phylogenetic inferences at whole genome and proteome level with user
      friendly visual environment. Further, glycosylation sites and molecular
      diagnostic primers were also analyzed. Most importantly, we also proposed
      potential therapeutically imperative constituents namely vaccine epitopes,
      siRNAs, miRNAs, sgRNAs and repurposing drug candidates.

PMID- 27633276
TI  - Comparative evaluation of methods approximating drug prescription durations in
      claims data: modeling, simulation, and application to real data.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the predictive accuracy of
      different methods suggested for approximation of drug prescription durations in
      claims data. METHODS: We expanded a well-established modeling and simulation
      framework to compare approximated drug prescription durations with 'true' (i.e.,
      simulated) durations. Real claims data of persons aged >=65 years insured by the
      German nationwide 'Statutory Health Insurance Fund' AOK between 2010 and 2012
      provided empiric input parameters that were completed with missing information on
      actual dosing patterns from an observational cohort. The distinct approximation
      methods were based on crude measures (one tablet a day), population-averaged
      measures (defined daily doses), or individually-derived measures (longitudinal
      coverage approximation of the applied dose, COV). As a proof-of-principle, we
      assessed the methods' performance to predict the well-characterized bleeding
      risks of anticoagulant, antiplatelet, and/or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
      drugs. RESULTS: When applied to modeling and simulation data sets, the closest,
      least biased, and thus most accurate approximation was observed using the COV
      approximation. In a real-data example, rather similar results to an external
      reference were obtained for all methods. However, some of the differences between
      methods were meaningful, and the most reasonable and consistent results were
      obtained with the COV approach. CONCLUSION: Based on theoretically most accurate
      approximations and practically reasonable estimates, the individual COV approach
      was preferable over the population-averaged defined daily dose technique,
      although the latter might be justified in certain situations. Advantages of the
      COV approach are expected to be even bigger for drug therapies with particularly
      large dosing heterogeneity. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633277
TI  - Statistical analysis and comparison of a continuous high shear granulator with a
      twin screw granulator: Effect of process parameters on critical granule
      attributes and granulation mechanisms.
AB  - This study is concerned with identifying the design space of two different
      continuous granulators and their respective granulation mechanisms. Performance
      of a continuous high shear granulator and a twin screw granulator with
      paracetamol formulations were examined by face-centered cubic design, which
      focused on investigating key performance metrics, namely, granule size, porosity,
      flowability and particle morphology of granules as a function of essential input
      process parameters (liquid content, throughput and rotation speed). Liquid and
      residence time distribution tests were also performed to gain insights into the
      liquid-powder mixing and flow behavior. The results indicated that continuous
      high shear granulation was more sensitive to process variation and produced
      spherical granules with monomodal size distribution and distinct internal
      structure and strength variation. Twin screw granulation with such a particular
      screw configuration showed narrower design space and granules were featured with
      multimodal size distribution, irregular shape, less detectible porosity
      difference and tighter range of strength. Granulation mechanisms explored on the
      basis of nucleation and growth regime maps revealed that for most cases liquid
      binder was uniformly distributed with fast droplet penetration into the powder
      bed and that granule consolidation and coalescence mainly took place in the
      nucleation, steady growth and rapid growth regimes.

PMID- 27633278
TI  - Transdermal iontophoretic delivery of tacrine hydrochloride: Correlation between
      in vitro permeation and in vivo performance in rats.
AB  - The aim of present investigation is to evaluate the feasibility of transdermal
      iontophoretic delivery of tacrine hydrochloride in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats using
      anodal iontophoretic patches and to correlate plasma tacrine concentration
      profiles to in vitro tacrine permeation flux. In vitro skin permeation studies
      were carried out across artificial membrane CELGRAD(r) 2400, freshly excised SD
      rat abdominal skin, freshly excised hairless rat abdominal skin, and frozen pig
      skin to examine the role of permeation membranes. Furthermore, plasma profiles
      with an application of 0.1-0.3mA current strength and tacrine concentration
      loading of 5-20mg/ml were obtained in SD rats. The tacrine plasma profiles were
      fitted to one-compartmental model using WinNonlin and in vivo transdermal
      absorption rates were then correlated to in vitro permeation profiles using
      various approaches. Tacrine permeation across membranes revealed current
      dependent interspecies differences at lower current strength application which
      diminished at higher current strength application, whereas, no significant
      difference in tacrine permeation was observed across fresh and frozen SD rat skin
      under 0.2mA current application. In vivo studies confirmed current and
      concentration dependent tacrine plasma profiles with possible tacrine depot
      formation under the skin in-line with earlier in vitro results. Correlation of in
      vivo transdermal absorption rates to in vitro permeation profiles revealed higher
      in vitro permeation fluxes compare to in vivo transdermal absorption rates at
      varied combination of current strength and concentrations. Present in vivo
      studies support the earlier published in vitro findings and tacrine plasma
      profiles show a potential to reach therapeutic effective concentration of tacrine
      hydrochloride to provide a platform for pre-programmed tacrine delivery.

PMID- 27633279
TI  - Phytochemical-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles for nose-to-brain olfactory
      drug delivery.
AB  - Central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery is often hampered due to the insidious
      nature of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nose-to-brain delivery via olfactory
      pathways have become a target of attention for drug delivery due to bypassing of
      the BBB. The antioxidant properties of phytochemicals make them promising as CNS
      active agents but possess poor water solubility and limited BBB penetration. The
      primary aim of this study was the development of mesoporous silica nanoparticles
      (MSNs) loaded with the poorly water-soluble phytochemicals curcumin and chrysin
      which could be utilised for nose-to-brain delivery. We formulated spherical MSNP
      using a templating approach resulting in ~220nm particles with a high surface
      porosity. Curcumin and chrysin were successfully loaded into MSNP and confirmed
      through Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential
      scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and HPLC approaches
      with a loading of 11-14% for curcumin and chrysin. Release was pH dependant with
      curcumin demonstrating increased chemical stability at a lower pH (5.5) with a
      release of 53.2%+/-2.2% over 24h and 9.4+/-0.6% for chrysin. MSNP were
      demonstrated to be non-toxic to olfactory neuroblastoma cells OBGF400, with
      chrysin (100MUM) demonstrating a decrease in cell viability to 58.2+/-8.5% and
      curcumin an IC50 of 33+/-0.18MUM. Furthermore confocal microscopy demonstrated
      nanoparticles of <500nm were able to accumulate within cells with FITC-loaded
      MSNP showing membrane localised and cytoplasmic accumulation following a 2h
      incubation. MSNP are useful carriers for poorly soluble phytochemicals and
      provide a novel vehicle to target and deliver drugs into the CNS and bypass the
      BBB through olfactory drug delivery.

PMID- 27633280
TI  - Gelatin-based membrane containing usnic acid-loaded liposome improves dermal burn
      healing in a porcine model.
AB  - There are a range of products available which claim to accelerate the healing of
      burns; these include topical agents, interactive dressings and biomembranes. The
      aim of this study was to assess the effect of a gelatin-based membrane containing
      usnic acid/liposomes on the healing of burns in comparison to silver sulfadiazine
      ointment and duoDerme(r) dressing, as well as examining its quantification by
      high performance liquid chromatography. The quantification of the usnic
      acid/liposomes was examined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
      by performing separate in vitro studies of the efficiency of the biomembranes in
      terms of encapsulation, drug release and transdermal absorption. Then, second
      degree 5cm2 burn wounds were created on the dorsum of nine male pigs, assigned
      into three groups (n=3): SDZ - animals treated with silver sulfadiazine ointment;
      GDU - animals treated with duoDerme(r); UAL - animals treated with a gelatin
      based membrane containing usnic acid/liposomes. These groups were treated for 8,
      18 and 30days. In the average rate of contraction, there was no difference among
      the groups (p>0.05). The results of the quantification showed that biomembranes
      containing usnic acid/liposomes were controlled released systems capable of
      transdermal absorption by skin layers. A macroscopic assay did not observe any
      clinical signs of secondary infections. Microscopy after 8days showed hydropic
      degeneration of the epithelium, with intense neutrophilic infiltration in all
      three groups. At 18days, although epidermal neo-formation was only partial in all
      three groups, it was most incipient in the SDZ group. Granulation tissue was more
      exuberant and cellularized in the UAL and GDU groups. At 30days, observed
      restricted granulation tissue in the region below the epithelium in the GDU and
      UAL groups was observed. In the analysis of collagen though picrosirius, the UAL
      group showed greater collagen density. Therefore, the UAL group displayed
      development and maturation of granulation tissue and scar repair that was
      comparable to that produced by duoDerme(r), and better than that produced by
      treatment with sulfadiazine silver ointment In addition, the UAL group showed
      increased collagen deposition compared to the other two groups.

PMID- 27633281
TI  - Targeting prostate cancer cells with genetically engineered polypeptide-based
      micelles displaying gastrin-releasing peptide.
AB  - In recent years G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have emerged as crucial
      tumorigenic factors that drive aberrant cancer growth, metastasis and
      angiogenesis. Consequently, a number of GPCRs are strongly expressed in cancer
      derived cell lines and tissue samples. Therefore a rational anti-cancer strategy
      is the design of nano-medicines that specifically target GPCRs to bind and
      internalise cytotoxic drugs into cancer cells. Herein, we report the genetic
      engineering of a self-assembling nanoparticle based on elastin-like polypeptide
      (ELP), which has been fused with gastrin releasing peptide (GRP). These
      nanoparticles increased intracellular calcium concentrations when added to GRP
      receptor positive PC-3 prostate cancer cells, demonstrating specific receptor
      activation. Moreover, GRP-displaying fluorescent labelled nanoparticles showed
      specific cell-surface interaction with PC-3 prostate cancer cells and increased
      endocytic uptake. These nanoparticles therefore provide a targeted molecular
      carrier system for evaluating the delivery of cytotoxic drugs into cancer cells.

PMID- 27633283
TI  - Pulmonary fissure development is a prognostic factor for patients with resected
      stage I lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary fissure differs among patients, but the relationship
      between pulmonary fissure development and survival in patients with resected lung
      adenocarcinoma has not been evaluated. In this study, we analyzed the effect of
      fissure development on prognosis in patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma.
      METHODS: From January 2009 to December 2012, data, including pulmonary fissure
      development, were collected prospectively for all lung cancer, and this was a
      retrospective study of prospectively collected data. In total, 297 patients who
      had undergone a lobectomy and had pathologic stage I adenocarcinoma were
      analyzed. Patients were categorized into two groups based on fissure sum average
      (FSA) fissure development scores. Group A patients ranged from complete to 30%
      incomplete (0 <= FSA <= 1) while in Group B patients development was more than
      30% incomplete (1 < FSA <= 3). RESULTS: In univariate analysis, Group B had
      poorer overall 5 year survival than did Group A (83.1% vs. 96.5%, P = 0.015).
      Multivariate analysis revealed that the level of fissure development was a
      significant prognostic factor for overall survival (HR = 3.905, CI = 1.168
      13.057, P = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: The overall survival of patients with resected
      stage I adenocarcinoma was adversely affected by incomplete fissure development.
      J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:848-852. (c) 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633282
TI  - Pathogenesis of Borjeson-Forssman-Lehmann syndrome: Insights from PHF6 function.
AB  - Intellectual disability encompasses a large set of neurodevelopmental disorders
      of cognition that are more common in males than females. Although mutations in
      over 100 X-linked genes associated to intellectual disability have been
      identified, only a few X-linked intellectual disability proteins have been
      intensively studied. Hence, the molecular mechanisms underlying the majority of X
      linked intellectual disability disorders remain poorly understood. A substantial
      fraction of X-linked intellectual disability genes encode nuclear proteins,
      suggesting that elucidating their functions in the regulation of transcription
      may provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of intellectual disability.
      Recent studies have uncovered mechanisms by which mutations of the gene encoding
      plant homeodomain (PHD)-like finger protein 6 (PHF6) contribute to the
      pathogenesis of the X-linked intellectual disability disorder Borjeson-Forssman
      Lehmann syndrome (BFLS). PHF6 plays a critical role in the migration of neurons
      in the mouse cerebral cortex in vivo, and patient-specific mutations disrupt the
      ability of PHF6 to promote neuronal migration. Interestingly, PHF6 physically
      associates with the PAF1 transcriptional elongation complex and thereby drives
      neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex. PHF6 also interacts with the NuRD
      chromatin remodeling complex and with the nucleolar transcriptional regulator
      UBF, though the biological role of these interactions remains to be
      characterized. In other studies, PHF6 mRNA has been identified as the target of
      the microRNA miR-128 in the cerebral cortex, providing new insights into
      regulation of PHF6 function in neuronal migration. Importantly, deregulation of
      PHF6 function in neuronal migration triggers the formation of white matter
      heterotopias that harbor neuronal hyperexcitability, which may be relevant to the
      pathogenesis of intellectual disability and seizures in BFLS. Collectively, these
      studies are beginning to provide key insights into the molecular pathogenesis of
      BFLS.

PMID- 27633284
TI  - Visualizing the Vibration of Laryngeal Tissue during Phonation Using Ultrafast
      Plane Wave Ultrasonography.
AB  - Ultrafast plane wave ultrasonography is employed in this study to visualize the
      vibration of the larynx and quantify the vibration phase as well as the vibration
      amplitude of the laryngeal tissue. Ultrasonic images were obtained at 5000 to
      10,000 frames/s in the coronal plane at the level of the glottis. Although the
      image quality degraded when the imaging mode was switched from conventional
      ultrasonography to ultrafast plane wave ultrasonography, certain anatomic
      structures such as the vocal folds, as well as the sub- and supraglottic
      structures, including the false vocal folds, can be identified in the ultrafast
      plane wave ultrasonic image. The periodic vibration of the vocal fold edge could
      be visualized in the recorded image sequence during phonation. Furthermore, a
      motion estimation method was used to quantify the displacement of laryngeal
      tissue from hundreds of frames of ultrasonic data acquired. Vibratory
      displacement waveforms of the sub- and supraglottic structures were successfully
      obtained at a high level of ultrasonic signal correlation. Moreover,
      statistically significant differences in vibration pattern between the sub- and
      supraglottic structures were found. Variation of vibration amplitude along the
      subglottic mucosal surface is significantly smaller than that along the
      supraglottic mucosal surface. Phase delay of vibration along the subglottic
      mucosal surface is significantly smaller than that along the supraglottic mucosal
      surface.

PMID- 27633285
TI  - Reply: How do we stage acellular mucin in lymph nodes of colorectal cancer
      specimens without neoadjuvant therapy?

PMID- 27633286
TI  - A Lack of Clinical Effect of High-frequency rTMS to Dorsolateral Prefrontal
      Cortex on Bulimic Symptoms: A Randomised, Double-blind Trial.
AB  - Studies suggest that stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
      (DLPFC) reduces food craving in bulimic patients, but evidence supporting
      repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a therapeutic tool is
      lacking. We investigated the safety and therapeutic efficacy of an adjunct high
      frequency rTMS programme targeting the left DLPFC. Forty-seven women with bulimia
      nervosa were randomised to a real or sham stimulation group. The real group
      underwent 10 rTMS sessions, each consisting of 20 trains of 5 seconds with 55
      second intervals between trains, at a frequency of 10 Hz. The main outcome was
      the number of binge episodes in the 15 days following the end of stimulation.
      Overall, no significant improvement in bingeing and purging symptoms was noted
      after the programme. rTMS was well tolerated. This suggests that 10 sessions of
      high-frequency rTMS to the left DLPFC provide no greater benefit than placebo.
      Future studies should consider methodological issues as well as alternative
      targets. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders
      Association.

PMID- 27633288
TI  - Editorial: "Ah, Wherefore with Infection Should he Live?": Microbial Virulence
      Factors in Diabetic Foot Ulceration.

PMID- 27633289
TI  - Editorial: Can Glucagon Like Peptide 1 (GLP1) Agonists or Sodium-Glucose Co
      Transporter 2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors Ameliorate Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in
      People with or without Diabetes?

PMID- 27633290
TI  - Editorial: Do Some Glucagon-Like-Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RA) Reduce
      Macrovascular Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus A Commentary on the
      Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcome
      Results (LEADER) Trial.

PMID- 27633287
TI  - Editorial: Cocaine and Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion: What we Know to Date?

PMID- 27633291
TI  - Editorial: Time for Earlier and More Intensive Preventive Therapy.

PMID- 27633292
TI  - Editorial: Vascular Risk Estimation by Specialist Nurses.

PMID- 27633293
TI  - The research and development on the antioxidants in prevention of diabetic
      complications.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart. Microvascular
      and macrovascular disorders are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in
      diabetic patients. Hyperglycemia can increase the indicators of lipid
      peroxidation and oxidative stress in which free radicals have the main role in
      the pathogenesis of these complications. Therefore, antioxidants which combat
      oxidative stress should be able to prevent and repair free radicals induced
      damages. Although free radicals contribute to kidney damage, atherosclerosis,
      diabetes, heart disease, nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity; however, clinical
      trials do not uniquely confirm a substantial impact on diabetic damage. It seems
      that antioxidants in vegetables, fruits and grains help preventing diabetes
      complications; however, there is little evidence that taking single antioxidants
      such as vitamin E or vitamin C protect these complications. The findings about
      combination antioxidants are also complicated and not entirely clear. In this
      review paper we tried to present the role of oxidative stress on micro-vascular
      complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Other objective of this paper is to
      review the new findings about the role of various antioxidants on prevention and
      treatment of diabetes mellitus as well as its complications including
      retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy. 

PMID- 27633294
TI  - Mammalian cell cultures as models for Mycobacterium tuberculosis-human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) interaction studies: A review.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infections
      have remained a major public health concern worldwide, particularly in Southern
      Africa. Yet our understanding of the molecular interactions between the pathogens
      has remained poor due to lack of suitable preclinical models for such studies. We
      reviewed the use, this far, of mammalian cell culture models in HIV-MTB
      interaction studies. Studies have described the use of primary human cell
      cultures, including (1) monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) fractions of peripheral
      blood mononuclear cell (PBMC), alveolar macrophages (AM), (2) cell lines such as
      the monocyte-derived macrophage cell line (U937), T lymphocyte cell lines
      (CEMx174, ESAT-6-specific CD4(+) T-cells) and an alveolar epithelial cell line
      (A549) and (3) special models such as stem cells, three dimensional (3D) or
      organoid cell models (including a blood-brain barrier cell model) in HIV-MTB
      interaction studies. The use of cell cultures from other mammals, including:
      mouse cell lines [macrophage cell lines RAW 264.7 and J774.2, fibroblast cell
      lines (NIH 3T3, C3H clones), embryonic fibroblast cell lines and T-lymphoma cell
      lines (S1A.TB, TIMI.4 and R1.1)]; rat (T cells: Rat2, RGE, XC and HH16, and
      alveolar cells: NR8383) and primary guinea pigs derived AMs, in HIV-MTB studies
      is also described. Given the spectrum of the models available, cell cultures
      offer great potential for host-HIV-MTB interactions studies. 

PMID- 27633296
TI  - Prediction of promiscuous T-cell epitopes in the Zika virus polyprotein: An in
      silico approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To predict immunogenic promiscuous T cell epitopes from the
      polyprotein of the Zika virus using a range of bioinformatics tools. To date, no
      epitope data are available for the Zika virus in the IEDB database. METHODS: We
      retrieved nearly 54 full length polyprotein sequences of the Zika virus from the
      NCBI database belonging to different outbreaks. A consensus sequence was then
      used to predict the promiscuous T cell epitopes that bind MHC 1 and MHC II
      alleles using PorPred1 and ProPred immunoinformatic algorithms respectively. The
      antigenicity predicted score was also calculated for each predicted epitope using
      the VaxiJen 2.0 tool. RESULTS: By using ProPred1, 23 antigenic epitopes for HLA
      class I and 48 antigenic epitopes for HLA class II were predicted from the
      consensus polyprotein sequence of Zika virus. The greatest number of MHC class I
      binding epitopes were projected within the NS5 (21%), followed by Envelope (17%).
      For MHC class II, greatest number of predicted epitopes were in NS5 (19%)
      followed by the Envelope, NS1 and NS2 (17% each). A variety of epitopes with good
      binding affinity, promiscuity and antigenicity were predicted for both the HLA
      classes. CONCLUSION: The predicted conserved promiscuous T-cell epitopes examined
      in this study were reported for the first time and will contribute to the
      imminent design of Zika virus vaccine candidates, which will be able to induce a
      broad range of immune responses in a heterogeneous HLA population. However, our
      results can be verified and employed in future efficacious vaccine formulations
      only after successful experimental studies.

PMID- 27633295
TI  - Beeswax: A minireview of its antimicrobial activity and its application in
      medicine.
AB  - Beeswax is the substance that forms the structure of a honeycomb; the bees
      secrete wax to build the honeycombs where to store honey. Thanks to its rich
      hydrophobic protective properties, the beeswax is in fact present within
      cosmetics and body products. Also, beeswax is used in the food industry: as a
      film to wrap cheese for maturing or as a food additive (E901) to give shine to
      the products. Exactly as the honey which it contains, beeswax is also
      characterized by several therapeutic properties of great interest to us; it is
      thought to be particularly effective in healing bruises, inflammation and burns.
      Recently, the interest of researchers has moved even on antimicrobial properties
      of beeswax although there are still few studies in the literature focused only on
      the action of beeswax. The few studies showed an antimicrobic effectiveness of
      beeswax against overall Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Candida
      albicans and Aspergillus niger; these inhibitory effects are enhanced
      synergistically with other natural products such as honey or olive oil. This
      minireview aims to be a collection of major scientific works that have considered
      the antimicrobial activity of beeswax alone or in combination with other natural
      products in recent years. 

PMID- 27633297
TI  - Social network analysis and modeling of cellphone-based syndromic surveillance
      data for Ebola in Sierra Leone.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore and visualize the connectivity of suspected Ebola cases and
      surveillance callers who used cellphone technology in Moyamba District in Sierra
      Leone for Ebola surveillance, and to examine the demographic differences and
      characteristics of Ebola surveillance callers who make more calls as well as
      those callers who are more likely to make at least one positive Ebola call.
      METHODS: Surveillance data for 393 suspected Ebola cases (192 males, 201 females)
      were collected from October 23, 2014 to June 28, 2015 using cellphone technology.
      UCINET and NetDraw software were used to explore and visualize the social
      connectivity between callers and suspected Ebola cases. Poisson and logistic
      regression analyses were used to do multivariable analysis. RESULTS: The entire
      social network was comprised of 393 ties and 745 nodes. Women (AOR = 0.33, 95% CI
      [0.14, 0.81]) were associated with decreased odds of making at least one positive
      Ebola surveillance call compared to men. Women (IR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.49, 0.82])
      were also associated with making fewer Ebola surveillance calls compared to men.
      CONCLUSION: Social network visualization can analyze syndromic surveillance data
      for Ebola collected by cellphone technology with unique insights.

PMID- 27633299
TI  - Canova medication changes TNF-alpha and IL-10 serum levels in mice infected with
      Trypanosoma cruzi Y strain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify whether Canova medication changes TNF-alpha and IL-10
      serum levels in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi Y strain. METHODS: Animals
      were divided into five groups: non-treated infected animals (I); benznidazole
      treated infected animals (Bz; 100 mg/kg body weight, single daily dose by
      gavage); Canova medication (CM) treated infected animals (CM; 0.2 mL/animal,
      single daily dose by gavage); benznidazole- and Canova medication-treated
      infected animals with the above-mentioned dose (Bz+CM); and non-infected animals
      (C). TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels were determined in serum aliquots after 4, 7, 10,
      13, and 29 days of infection. An ELISA technique was employed with R&D System
      Inc. antibody pairs. RESULTS: A high increase in TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels
      occurred in the infected and CM-treated groups within the treatment employed on
      the 10th day after infection, coupled with a IL-10 decrease on the 13th day after
      infection when compared with the other experimental groups. CONCLUSIONS: CM may
      change the balance between plasma cytokine levels (TNF-alpha and IL-10) in mice
      infected with Y strain T. cruzi, with important consequences leading towards a
      more severe infection.

PMID- 27633298
TI  - Possible role of PGD2 in malaria infections.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To preliminarily investigate the possible role of prostaglandin D2
      (PGD2) in malaria infections. METHODS: Blood and urinary samples (n = 120 each)
      were collected from Thai patients with Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) with
      moderate (n = 26) and high (n = 4) parasitemia, patients with Plasmodium vivax
      (P. vivax) (n = 30), patients with fever associated with other infections (n =
      30), and healthy subjects (n = 30). PGD2 concentrations in plasma and urinary
      samples of healthy subjects, patients with fever associated with other infections
      and patients with malaria were determined using Prostaglandin D2-MOX express EIA
      kit (Cayman Chemical, USA). RESULTS: The possible association between PGD2 and
      malaria infections is clearly demonstrated with PGD2 concentration in urine. The
      urinary PGD2 concentrations were relatively high (about 5-fold) in patients with
      P. falciparum with moderate parasitemia and P. vivax infections compared with
      other groups. Furthermore, the concentration in patients with P. falciparum with
      moderate parasitemia and P. vivax infection were significantly higher than that
      in healthy subjects and patients with fever associated with other infections.
      CONCLUSIONS: Urinary PGD2 concentrations may offer a more dependable and useful
      tool for predicting malaria severity. Confirmation is this preliminary finding is
      required with a larger sample size.

PMID- 27633300
TI  - Anti-encystment and amoebicidal activity of Lonicera japonica Thunb. and its
      major constituent chlorogenic acid in vitro.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the acanthamoebicidal effects of ethyl acetate, aqueous and
      butanol fractions of dried flower buds of Lonicera japonica (L. japonica) Thunb.
      (Flos Lonicerae) in vitro. METHODS: Acanthamoeba triangularis isolates were
      obtained from environmental water samples and identified by PCR. They were
      exposed to ethyl acetate, water and butanol fractions of L. japonica Thunb. at
      concentrations ranging from 0.5 mg/mL to 1.5 mg/mL. The extracts were evaluated
      for growth inhibition at 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. Chlorogenic acid at a
      concentration of 1 mg/mL was examined for inhibition of encystment. RESULTS:
      Ethyl acetate fraction at a concentration of 1.5 mg/mL evoked a significant
      reduction of trophozoite viability by 48.9% after 24 h, 49.2% after 48 h and
      33.7% after 72 h chlorogenic acid, the major active constituent of L. japonica
      Thunb. at the concentration of 1 mg/mL reduced the cysts/trophozoite ratio by
      100% after 24 h, 84.0% after 48 h and 72.3% after 72 h. This phenolic compound at
      concentration of 1 mg/mL concurrent with 0.6% hydrogen peroxide inhibited
      hydrogen peroxide-induced encystment by 92.8% at 72 h. CONCLUSIONS: Results
      obtained from this study show that ethyl acetate fraction at 1.5 mg/mL is the
      most potent fraction of L. japonica Thunb. and its major constituent chlorogenic
      acid showed the remarkable inhibition of encystment at a concentration of 1
      mg/mL.

PMID- 27633301
TI  - CETP polymorphisms confer genetic contribution to centenarians of Hainan, south
      of China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we will discuss if the CETP polymorphism contributes to
      the centenarians in Hainan island. METHODS: We tested the TaqIB and I405V
      polymorphisms of CETP gene among 276 centenarians and 301 matched healthy
      individuals by AS-PCR and analyzed the data with SPSS software package (Version
      19.0). RESULTS: Our data indicated that allele B1 and V have the significant
      differences between centenarians and healthy control groups with P < 0.001.
      Further analysis implied that genotypes B1B1 (P < 0.001, OR = 0.148, 95% CI =
      0.095-0.230) and VV (P < 0.001 and OR = 0.353, 95% CI = 0.237-0.525) were
      significantly different between centenarians and matched controls. The
      combination of B and V, such as B1B1-II (P < 0.001, OR = 0.128, 95% CI = 0.049
      0.329), B1B1-IV (P < 0.001, OR = 0.115, 95% CI = 0.056-0.237), B1B2-VV (P < 0.05,
      OR = 0.534, 95% CI = 0.310-0.920), and B2B2-VV (P < 0.001, OR = 0.198, 95% CI =
      0.086-0.453) have significant differences between centenarians and matched
      healthy individuals from Hainan. CONCLUSION: Our results implied that allele B1B1
      and VV, as well as the combination B1B1-II, B1B1-IV, B1B2-VV and B2B2-VV may
      contribute to the longevity in centenarians of Hainan, south of China.

PMID- 27633302
TI  - Albiflorin Granule significantly decreased the cholesterol gallstone formation by
      the regulation of insulin transduction signal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the mechanism of insulin resistance in the cholesterol
      gallstone formation from insulin signal transduction pathway so as to reveal the
      possible mechanism and the effective role of Albiflorin Granule on preventing the
      cholesterol gallstones. METHODS: Serum triglycerides (TG), free fatty acid (FFA),
      and total cholesterol (TC) from different groups were measured and liver cells
      InsR, PKB, IKK-beta protein expression levels were detected by western blotting.
      RESULTS: Albiflorin significantly decreased the cholesterol gallstone formation
      rate, increased glucose infusion rate in gallstone guinea pigs and improved
      insulin resistance. Compared with the normal group, insulin receptor and PKB
      protein expression in GS group were significantly reduced. IKK-beta protein in
      the GS group increased significantly and Albiflorin could reduce IKK-beta protein
      expression in guinea pig liver cells. CONCLUSIONS: The model of insulin
      resistance in cholesterol gallstone guinea pig was successfully established,
      which plays an important role in the cholesterol gallstone formation. All aspects
      of insulin signaling pathway are involved in gallstone formation. Albiflorin can
      regulate various aspects of insulin signal transduction pathway to prevent the
      formation of gallbladder.

PMID- 27633303
TI  - Effect of Alpinia officinarum Hance alcohol extracts on primary dysmenorrheal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Alpinia officinarum Hance (A. officinarum) 80%
      alcohol extract on the primary dysmenorrhea. METHODS: A. officinarum 80% alcohol
      extract were enriched by macroporous adsorption resins. Female mice of primary
      dysmenorrhea model were established by oxytocin induction; the effects of A.
      officinarum 80% alcohol extract on primary dysmenorrhea were observed by body
      twist method; and the homogenate level of prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha),
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and Ca(2+) in the uterus were observed in oxytocin
      induced female mice. RESULTS: The writhing frequency of primary dysmenorrhea mice
      was significantly decreased after treatment of A. officinarum 80% alcohol extract
      and the level of PGF2alpha, PGE2 and Ca(2+) in mice uterus was significantly
      decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) in groups of mice treated with middle and high
      dosage of A. officinarum 80% alcohol extract compared with that of model group.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that A. Officinarum 80% alcohol extract can
      significantly relieve primary dysmenorrhea.

PMID- 27633304
TI  - Introducing nitazoxanide as a promising alternative treatment for symptomatic to
      metronidazole-resistant giardiasis in clinical isolates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the frequencies (F) of ferredoxin and nitroreductase
      mutations on Iranian clinical isolates of Giardia lamblia in order to predict
      whether the nitazoxanide can be prescribed as suitable drug for symptomatic to
      metronidazole-resistant giardiasis. METHODS: Forty Giardia lamblia isolates as of
      38 symptomatic and two metronidazole-resistant patients were collected from Iran.
      DNAs were extracted and amplified by targeting ferredoxin and GlNR genes. The
      amplicons were directly sequenced to determine gene mutations. RESULTS: The
      various amino acid substitutions (F: 20%, Haplotype diversity: 0.891, Tajima's D:
      -0.44013) were identified by analyzing ferredoxin gene in four symptomatic and
      two resistant isolates. Only two haplotypes (F: 5%, HD: 0.345; Tajima's D:
      0.77815) characterized in metronidazole-resistant isolates of GlNR, however, no
      point mutations was found in symptomatic isolates. CONCLUSIONS: Non-synonymous
      mutations of ferredoxin oxidoreductase gene reduce translational regulatory
      protein's binding affinity which concludes reduction of ferredoxin expression and
      its activity. This leads to decrease in metronidazole drug delivery into the
      cells. Mutations in these isolates may lead to their resistance to metronidazole.
      No to low synonymous mutations of GlNR demonstrates that nitazoxanide can be
      prescribed as promising alternative treatment for symptomatic to metronidazole
      resistant giardiasis in Iranian clinical isolates.

PMID- 27633305
TI  - Changes of adipocytokine expression after diabetic rats received sitagliptin and
      the molecular mechanism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of sitagliptin on adipocytokines expression in
      diabetic rats and its molecular mechanism. METHODS: Male SD rats were chosen and
      randomly divided into NC group, T2DM group, SP group and SP + LY group. NC group
      received conventional breeding, T2DM group, SP group and SP + LY group received
      intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin after 12 weeks of high-fat diet to
      establish diabetes animal model, SP group received sitagliptin intervention and
      SP + LY group received sitagliptin combined with PI3K inhibitor LY294002
      intervention. Six weeks after the intervention, serum was collected to determine
      the levels of biochemical indexes and adipocytokines, and visceral adipose tissue
      was collected to determine expression levels of adipocytokines. RESULTS: Serum
      TC, TG, LDL-C, FBG, FINS, Leptin and Chemerin levels as well as HOMA-IR of T2DM
      group were higher than those of NC group, and HDL-C, Adiponectin and Omentin-1
      levels were significantly lower than those of NC group; serum TC, TG, LDL-C, FBG,
      FINS, Leptin and Chemerin levels as well as HOMA-IR of SP group were lower than
      those of T2DM group, and HDL-C, Adiponectin and Omentin-1 levels were
      significantly higher than those of T2DM group; Leptin and Chemerin levels in
      serum and visceral adipose tissue of SP + LY group were higher than those of SP
      group while Adiponectin and Omentin-1 levels were significantly lower than those
      of SP group. CONCLUSION: Sitagliptin can regulate the expression of
      adipocytokines in adipose tissue of diabetic rats through PI3K-AKT pathway.

PMID- 27633306
TI  - Effect of co-transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR-132 on proliferation and
      apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of co-transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR
      132 on proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7. METHODS:
      Hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7 was cultured in vitro and lipidosome was used to
      transfect miR-520c-3p and miR-132, respectively or together. The effects of
      transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR-132 on proliferation and apoptosis of Huh7
      were detected by CCK8 and Annexin V staining and flow cytometry, and the
      expression level of the targeted gene of over-expressed miR-520c-3p and miR-132
      was determined by Western blot and realtime PCR. RESULTS: Compared with the
      control group, the proliferation ability of Huh7 of the single transfected and co
      transfected miR-520c-3p and miR-132 decreased significantly, and the apoptosis
      ratio increased distinctly (P < 0.05). Besides, the effect of the co-transfection
      group was better than that of the single transfection group. The protein levels
      of GPC3 (Glypican-3) and YAP (Yes-associated protein), the target genes
      transfected only by miR-520c-3p and miR-132, respectively, reduced obviously (P <
      0.05), which was similar with the co-infected cells, but cells transfected by miR
      132 only showed a decrease of YAP. CONCLUSIONS: The co-transfection of miR-520c
      3p and miR-132 can target-regulate the expression of GPC3 and YAP, enhance the
      exhibition effect on proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7 and induce
      cell apoptosis synergistically.

PMID- 27633307
TI  - Multidrug resistance Acinetobacter species at the intensive care unit, Aseer
      Central Hospital, Saudi Arabia: A one year analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of
      Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) clinical isolates from ICU at Aseer
      Central Hospital. METHODS: The study was conducted in the Intensive Care Unit,
      Aseer Central Hospital, Saudi Arabia over 13 months period (2014-2015).
      Acinetobacter species (n = 105) were isolated from various clinical samples.
      Isolates were identified using selected phenotypic criteria and confirmed using
      the Vitek 2 automated system. This system was used to determine the
      susceptibilities of 21 antimicrobial agents. Patients, isolates and drug data
      were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software package to determine some
      epidemiological and microbiological patterns. RESULTS: Of the 105 stains, A.
      baumannii accounted for 49 (46.67%), A. baumannii complex, 19 (18.09%), A.
      baumannii/haemolyticus 32 (30.47), Acinetobacter haemolyticus 4 (3.81%),
      Acinetobater lwoffii 1 (0.95%) and unidentified Acinetobater species 2 (1.3%). Of
      the 105 Acinetobacter strains, 103 (98.1%) were found multidrug resistant (MDR).
      A. baumannii strain were 100% sensitive to colistin and 74.5% to trimethoprim +
      sulfamethoxazole. The remaining 19 antimicrobial agents revealed low or no
      sensitivities: amikacin 16.3%; ampicillin 7.7%; ceftazidime, 7.3%. Distribution
      of similar sensitivities was shown by other Acinetobacter species. Mean number of
      isolates from males and females indicates no statistical variation (P = 0.867)
      whereas age groups showed significant differences (P = 0.008) as it is clear from
      the high percentage of infected individuals more than 60 years followed by those
      aged 20-29 years old (19.05%). Upper respiratory tract (30.48%), lower
      respiratory tract (47.65%) and subcutaneous tissue (9.5%) were the main sources
      of Acinetobacter spp. but mean numbers of isolates from these specimens indicate
      no discrepancy between specimens (P = 0.731). CONCLUSIONS: Acinetobacter species
      including A. baumannii were found MDR (98.1%) according to the current
      Acinetobacter spp. antimicrobial categorization. Approximately half of these
      strains were A. baumannii. All Acinetobacter species were 100% sensitive to
      colistin and to some extent to trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole (74.5%). ICU
      acquired pneumonia among patients over 60 years of age who spend prolong times at
      artificial ventilations made up the majority of the cases.

PMID- 27633308
TI  - Screening outcomes of household contacts of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
      patients in Peshawar, Pakistan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the profile of TB/multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) among
      household contacts of MDR-TB patients. METHODS: Close contacts of MDR-TB patients
      were traced in the cross-sectional study. Different clinical, radiological and
      bacteriological were performed to rule out the evidence of TB/MDR-TB. RESULTS:
      Between January 2012 and December 2012, a total of 200 index MDR-TB patients were
      initiated on MDR-TB treatment, out of which home visit and contacts screening
      were conducted for 154 index cases. Of 610 contacts who could be studied, 41
      (17.4%) were diagnosed with MDR-TB and 10 (4.2%) had TB. The most common symptoms
      observed were cough, chest pain and fever. CONCLUSIONS: The high incidence of MDR
      TB among close contacts emphasize the need for effective contact screening
      programme of index MDR-TB cases in order to cut the chain of transmission of this
      disease.

PMID- 27633309
TI  - Post-traumatic stress disorder after typhoon disaster and its correlation with
      platelet 5-HT concentrations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate residents' psychological stress factors and research
      the correlation between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and platelet 5-HT
      concentrations so as to provide scientific bases for diagnosis and treatment of
      PTSD and psychological intervention for people in the disaster area. METHODS: A
      questionnaire survey of 5500 residents who have accepted psychological help was
      conducted by the emphatic investigation method. While high performance liquid
      chromatography was used to detect the platelet serotonin concentration of 100
      PTSD patients and 100 healthy people. RESULTS: (1) Of the 5114 cases, 3167
      (61.93%) showed positive results in screening for psychological stress symptoms,
      and 399 (7.8%) were tested having apparent PTSD symptoms. Male and female
      prevalence showed no significant difference (chi(2) = -0.380, P = 0.704). The
      differences of prevalence between different age groups were statistically
      significant (chi(2) = 381.89, P = 0.000). (2) The differences in the level of
      platelet 5-HT between PTSD patients and normal control group were statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: The typhoon of Hainan Province caused relatively large
      psychological problems to the disaster victims. Compared with normal control
      group, the platelet 5-HT levels of PTSD patients in the disaster areas are lower.
      It may be related to incidents exposure levels, cultural background, religious
      ideas, social concerns and psychological rescue of the residents who live in the
      disaster areas of Hainan.

PMID- 27633310
TI  - Blastocystis in ulcerative colitis patients: Genetic diversity and analysis of
      laboratory findings.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine Blastocystis frequency and subtypes (ST) in ulcerative
      colitis (UC) patients and analyse some laboratory findings between Blastocystis
      positive and negative cases. METHODS: Faecal samples from 150 UC patients in
      Adnan Menderes University, Training and Research Hospital were examined by direct
      microscopy and cultivated in Jones medium. Blastocystis positive cultures were
      subjected to DNA isolation and subtypes were identified by sequencing of barcode
      region. A retrospective analysis was conducted on C reactive protein (CRP),
      leucocyte counts (WBC), neutrophil counts, and sedimentation rates. RESULTS: The
      overall positive rate of Blastocystis was 8% (12 patients) and the most abundant
      subtype was ST3 (eight isolates, 66.7%), followed by ST1, ST2 and ST7. Laboratory
      findings between Blastocystis infected and non-infected UC patients were not
      significantly different. Blastocystis frequency was 3.8% among the patients in
      active stage, while it was 11.8% among the patients in remission stage.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms previous findings that have indicated the
      predominance of Blastocystis ST3 in humans and contributes additional evidence
      that suggests the low colonisation of Blastocystis infection in ulcerative
      colitis patients during active stage.

PMID- 27633311
TI  - Study on effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine Jianpi Chushi decoction and
      ointment on chronic eczema.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine Jianpi Chushi
      decoction and ointment on chronic eczema. METHODS: DNCB acetone solution was used
      to sensitize the skin of back and ears of 36 rats in order to establish chronic
      eczema model. A total of 36 rats were divided into four groups of 9 randomly
      including oral medicine group, external inunctum group, combination therapy
      group, and model control group respectively. Besides, the blank group of 4
      healthy rats were set. The oral medicine group was given Traditional Chinese
      Medicine Jianpi Chushi decoction [(Poria cocos, Chinese yam, Cortex dictamni,
      Zaocys dhumnade, Rhizoma atractylodis, Pericarpium citri reticulatae, Scutellaria
      baicalensis, Radix Sophorae Flavescentis, Raw Radix Paeoniae Alba, Licorice roots
      (Northwest Origin)] by gastric infusion (1.6 g/mL.5 mL/d); the external inunctum
      group was given Qingpeng ointment on the skin, the combination therapy group was
      given Jianpi Chushi decoction by gastric infusion and Qingpeng ointment
      combination therapy. The model control group was given normal saline (NS) of the
      same volume by gastric infusion and vaseline on skin. Continuous administration
      15 d and stopped for 3 d. The thickness difference and weight difference of left
      and right ear of every group were measured and the degree of ear swelling were
      evaluated. The CD4+ and CD8+ content and the IL-2, IL-4 level of serum were
      detected, and the inflammatory cells counts of back skin were recorded. RESULTS:
      After treatment, the degree of ear swelling of oral medicine group, external
      inunctum group and combination therapy group significant decreased compared with
      model control group (P < 0.05). The CD4+, CD8+ cell content and IL-2 level of
      oral medicine group, external inunctum group, combination therapy group and model
      control group significant decreased compared with blank group, and IL-2 level and
      the inflammatory cells count increased. After 15 d of treatment, the CD4+, CD8+
      cell content and IL-2 level of serum of oral medicine group, external inunctum
      group and combination therapy group raised and the IL-4 level and the
      inflammatory cells count had significant decreased compared with model control
      group, and the effect of combination therapy group was more obvious (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Qral Jianpi Chushi decoction could treat chronic eczema effectively,
      and oral Chinese medicine combined with ointment could enhance and speed up the
      efficacy.

PMID- 27633312
TI  - RETRACTED: Effect of overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha induced by
      hyperoxia in vivo in LNCaP tumors on tumor growth rate [APJTM 8/10 (2015) 813
      820].

PMID- 27633313
TI  - The menopause specialist and breast cancer survivorship.
AB  - Due to improvement in survival rates, breast cancer is the most prevalent female
      malignancy in Europe and hence the management of breast cancer survivorship is
      garnering significant attention. Most of the health issues associated with
      treatment result from iatrogenic estrogen deficiency and recognition of this in
      the recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) menopause
      guidance has resulted in the recommendation for referral of breast cancer
      patients to menopause specialists for appropriate counselling about and
      management of early menopause, estrogen deficiency symptoms and lifestyle risk
      modification. The latter has significant implications for both all-cause and
      breast cancer-specific mortality. Extending the role of health professionals with
      an interest in menopause to provide such service for breast cancer patients is
      necessary as this is not within the remit or expertise of specialist breast
      cancer teams; however it will in turn, require menopause specialists to expand
      and regularly update their knowledge of breast cancer and its treatment.

PMID- 27633314
TI  - Tuning Excited-State Reactivity by Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer.
AB  - The reactivity, and even reaction pathway, of excited states can be tuned by
      proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). The triplet state of benzophenone
      functionalized with a Bronsted acid (3 *BP-COOH) showed a more powerful oxidation
      capability over the simple triplet state of benzophenone (3 *BP). 3 *BP-COOH
      could remove an electron from benzene at the rate of 8.0*105  m-1  s-1 , in
      contrast to the reactivity of 3 *BP which was inactive towards benzene oxidation.
      The origin of this great enhancement on the ability of the excited states to
      remove electrons from substrates is attributed to the intramolecular Bronsted
      acid, which enables the reductive quenching of 3 *BP by concerted electron-proton
      transfer.

PMID- 27633315
TI  - Factors Affecting the Performance of Champion Silyl-Anchor Carbazole Dye Revealed
      in the Femtosecond to Second Studies of Complete ADEKA-1 Sensitized Solar Cells.
AB  - Record laboratory efficiencies of dye-sensitized solar cells have been recently
      reported using an alkoxysilyl-anchor dye, ADEKA-1 (over 14 %). In this work we
      use time-resolved techniques to study the impact of key preparation factors (dye
      synthesis route, addition of co-adsorbent, use of cobalt-based electrolytes of
      different redox potential, creation of insulating Al2 O3 layers and molecule
      capping passivation of the electrode) on the partial charge separation
      efficiencies in ADEKA-1 solar cells. We have observed that unwanted fast
      recombination of electrons from titania to the dye, probably associated with the
      orientation of the dyes on the titania surface, plays a crucial role in the
      performance of the cells. This recombination, taking place on the sub-ns and ns
      time scales, is suppressed in the optimized dye synthesis methods and upon
      addition of the co-adsorbent. Capping treatment significantly reduces the charge
      recombination between titania and electrolyte, improving the electron lifetime
      from tens of ms to hundreds of ms, or even to single seconds. Similar increase in
      electron lifetime is observed for homogenous Al2 O3 over-layers on titania
      nanoparticles, however, in this case the total solar cells photocurrent is
      decreased due to smaller electron injection yield from the dye. Our studies
      should be important for a broader use of very promising silyl-anchor dyes and the
      further optimization and development of dye-sensitized solar cells.

PMID- 27633316
TI  - The LGB Mormon Paradox: Mental, Physical, and Self-Rated Health Among Mormon and
      Non-Mormon LGB Individuals in the Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
      System.
AB  - Much of the literature on mental and physical health among religious LGB
      individuals has relied on small-N convenience samples. This study takes advantage
      of a unique, large-N, population-based dataset to test the relationship between
      religious identity, religious activity, and health, with a specific emphasis on
      Utah Mormons. In a surprising finding, Mormon LGBs report better mental health
      than non-Mormon LGBs, while their self-rated and physical health is not
      significantly different. However, there is some evidence that Mormon LGBs derive
      fewer health benefits from church attendance than their non-LGB Mormon
      counterparts. These results may nuance the conventional wisdom regarding the
      health dynamics of LGB individuals who identify with a conservative,
      heteronormative religious tradition, and plausible explanations are discussed.

PMID- 27633317
TI  - A mixed methods study of the administration of flucloxacillin oral liquid;
      identifying strategies to overcome administration issues of medicines with poor
      palatability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The palatability of flucloxacillin oral liquid is poor.
      Parents/carers use strategies to aid the administration of poorly palatable
      medicines. AIM: To assess views on the palatability of flucloxacillin oral liquid
      and identify factors associated with successful administration. METHODS: A mixed
      methods study which included a structured review of online forums and a survey of
      parent/carers of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) to obtain parent/carer views
      on the administration of flucloxacillin oral liquid. RESULTS: A total of 18
      strategies to aid the administration of flucloxacillin suspension to children
      were identified on 10 different public online forums. A total of 255 responses to
      the open online survey were received with 47% of respondents reporting that
      administration of flucloxacillin was more problematic compared to other medicines
      and 38% reporting the need to improve the palatability. The brand of
      flucloxacillin oral liquid significantly influenced the degree of difficulty
      associated with administration to children. A significant relationship was found
      between the concentration of flucloxacillin and the reported number of doses
      successfully administered. The use of food and drink to aid administration was
      more commonly stated in online forums (44%) compared to the survey data of
      parents/carers of children with CF (15.9%). CONCLUSION: The administration of
      flucloxacillin oral liquid is perceived as a challenge by parent/carers because
      of palatability. For chronic use, a more concentrated oral liquid and certain
      brands are likely to improve acceptability.

PMID- 27633318
TI  - Evaluation of Blood Glucose Monitoring System in Screening for Neonatal
      Hypoglycemia: Tighter Accuracy Standard.
AB  - Neonatal hypoglycemia may cause severe neurological damages; therefore, tight
      glycemic control is crucial to identify neonate at risk. Previous blood glucose
      monitoring system (BGMS) failed to perform well in neonates; there are calls for
      the tightening of accuracy requirements. It remains a need for accurate BGMS for
      effective bedside diabetes management in neonatal care within a hospital
      population. A total of 300 neonates were recruited from local hospitals. Accuracy
      performance of a commercially available BGMS was evaluated against reference
      instrument in screening for neonatal hypoglycemia, and assessment was made based
      on the ISO15197:2013 and a tighter standard. At blood glucose level < 47 mg/dl,
      BGMS assessed met the minimal accuracy requirement of ISO 15197:2013 and tighter
      standard at 100% and 97.2%, respectively.

PMID- 27633319
TI  - Reconstruction of large mandibular defects using autologous tissues generated
      from in vivo bioreactors.
AB  - : Reconstruction of large mandibular defects is clinically challenging due to the
      need for donor tissue of appropriate shape and volume to facilitate high fidelity
      repair. In order to generate large vascularized tissues of custom geometry,
      bioreactors were implanted against the rib periosteum of 3-4year-old sheep for
      nine weeks. Bioreactors were filled with either morcellized autologous bone,
      synthetic ceramic particles, or a combination thereof. Tissues generated within
      synthetic graft-filled bioreactors were transferred into a large right-sided
      mandibular angle defect as either avascular grafts (n=3) or vascularized free
      flaps (n=3). After twelve additional weeks, reconstructed mandibular angles were
      harvested and compared to contralateral control angles. Per histologic and
      radiologic evaluation, a greater amount of mineralized tissue was generated in
      bioreactors filled with autologous graft although the quality of viable bone was
      not significantly different between groups. Genetic analyses of soft tissue
      surrounding bioreactor-generated tissues demonstrated similar early and late
      stage osteogenic biomarker expression (Runx2 and Osteocalcin) between the
      bioreactors and rib periosteum. Although no significant differences between the
      height of reconstructed and control mandibular angles were observed, the
      reconstructed mandibles had decreased bone volume. There were no differences
      between mandibles reconstructed with bioreactor-generated tissues transferred as
      flaps or grafts. Tissues used for mandibular reconstruction demonstrated
      integration with native bone as well as evidence of remodeling. In this study, we
      have demonstrated that synthetic scaffolds are sufficient to generate large
      volumes of mineralized tissue in an in vivo bioreactor for mandibular
      reconstruction. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A significant clinical challenge in
      craniofacial surgery is the reconstruction of large mandibular defects. In this
      work, we demonstrated that vascularized tissues of large volume and custom
      geometry can be generated from in vivo bioreactors implanted against the rib
      periosteum in an ovine model. The effects of different bioreactor scaffold
      material on tissue ingrowth were measured. To minimize donor site morbidity,
      tissues generated from bioreactors filled with synthetic graft were transferred
      as either vascularized free flaps or avascular grafts to a large mandibular
      defect. It was demonstrated that synthetic graft in an in vivo bioreactor is
      sufficient to produce free tissue bone flaps capable of integrating with native
      tissues when transferred to a large mandibular defect in an ovine model.

PMID- 27633322
TI  - Detection and Quantification of Single Engineered Nanoparticles in Complex
      Samples Using Template Matching in Wide-Field Surface Plasmon Microscopy.
AB  - An ultrasensitive analytical method for direct detection of single nanoparticles
      in complex environment is described. The method relies on the wide-field surface
      plasmon microscopy (SPM). The suppression of matrix effects is achieved by image
      analysis based on the template matching. First, characteristic SPM images of
      nanoparticles are collected in aqueous suspensions. Then the detection of
      nanoparticles in complex environment is performed using template matching.
      Quantification and characterization of nanoparticles size was demonstrated at
      subppb level (~100 pg/mL) in such complex media as wines, fruit juices, or
      cosmetic formulation. Visualization of the nanoparticles is performed in real
      time. The method does not require any sample pretreatment. If the minimally
      acceptable adsorption rate is defined as one nanoparticle to the whole sensor
      surface per few seconds, the working range of the method is ~106 to 1010
      nanoparticles per mL.

PMID- 27633321
TI  - Prenatal mercury exposure and offspring behaviour in childhood and adolescence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is considerable discussion over the possible harm caused by
      fetal exposure to mercury, but evidence of such harm is contradictory at levels
      commonly found in populations with moderate intakes of fish. Further information
      is needed to inform debate and clarify policy recommendations. MATERIAL: Data
      were collected prospectively for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and
      Children (ALSPAC). Whole blood taken in the first half of pregnancy was assayed
      for mercury. The outcomes were offspring behavioural assessments collected using
      the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at seven time points between ages 4
      and 16-17 years; five were completed by the mother and two by the teacher.
      Socioeconomic and biological confounders were first taken into account; further
      analyses added maternal blood selenium. Separate analyses compared the
      relationships between prenatal mercury levels and behaviour traits treated as
      continuous measures in women who ate fish with those who ate no fish in order to
      determine whether the relationships differed; the hypothesis was that fish
      consumption had benefits on the brain and masked any mercury effects. In order to
      prevent Type II errors, the P value for significance was set at 0.10. RESULTS:
      Prenatal mercury measurements and offspring behaviour results were available for
      between 2776 (at 47 months) to 1599 mother-child pairs (at 16-17 years). Even
      given a P value of 0.10, the number of significant results was no greater than
      expected apart from the relationships with peer problems at 4, 6 and 10-11 years
      where the relationships with prenatal mercury were negative (i.e. the greater the
      level of mercury the fewer the problems the child had with his/her peers). There
      were no significant differences between the associations with mercury found among
      the offspring of women who ate fish in pregnancy and those who did not, nor did
      adjustment for selenium make a difference. CONCLUSIONS: There were no adverse
      effects of maternal prenatal mercury levels on the behaviour of the offspring. A
      similar lack of relationship was found when the analyses were confined to those
      offspring whose mothers had eaten fish in pregnancy, and no consistent
      differences were found between the fish and non-fish eaters.

PMID- 27633320
TI  - Stiffness-dependent cellular internalization of matrix-bound BMP-2 and its
      relation to Smad and non-Smad signaling.
AB  - : Surface coatings delivering BMP are a promising approach to render biomaterials
      osteoinductive. In contrast to soluble BMPs which can interact with their
      receptors at the dorsal side of the cell, BMPs presented as an insoluble cue
      physically bound to a biomimetic matrix, called here matrix-bound (bBMP-2), are
      presented to cells by their ventral side. To date, BMP-2 internalization and
      signaling studies in cell biology have always been performed by adding soluble
      (sBMP-2) to cells adhered on cell culture plates or glass slides, which will be
      considered here as a "reference" condition. However, whether and how matrix-bound
      BMP-2 can be internalized by cells and its relation to canonical (SMAD) and non
      canonical signaling (ALP) remain open questions. In this study, we investigated
      the uptake and processing of BMP-2 by C2C12 myoblasts. This BMP-2 was presented
      either embedded in polyelectrolyte multilayer films (matrix-bound presentation)
      or as soluble form. Using fluorescently labeled BMP-2, we showed that the amount
      of matrix-bound BMP-2 internalized is dependent on the level of crosslinking of
      the polyelectrolyte films. Cav-1-mediated internalization is related to both SMAD
      and ALP signaling, while clathrin-mediated is only related to ALP signaling. BMP
      2 internalization was independent of the presentation mode (sBMP-2 versus bBMP-2)
      for low crosslinked films (soft, EDC10) in striking contrast with high
      crosslinked (stiff, EDC70) films where internalization was much lower and slower
      for bBMP-2. As anticipated, internalization of sBMP-2 barely depended on the
      underlying matrix. Taken together, these results indicate that BMP-2
      internalization can be tuned by the underlying matrix and activates downstream
      BMP-2 signaling, which is key for the effective formation of bone tissue.
      STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The presentation of growth factors from material
      surfaces currently presents significant challenges in academic research, clinics
      and industry. Being able to deliver efficiently these growth factors by a
      biomaterial will open new perspectives for regenerative medicine. However, to
      date, very little is known about how matrix-bound growth factors are delivered to
      cells, especially whether they are internalized and how they are signaling to
      drive key differentiation events. These initial steps are crucial as they will
      guide the subsequent processes leading to tissue regeneration. In this work, we
      investigate the uptake and processing by cells of BMP-2 ligands embedded in
      polyelectrolyte multilayer films in comparison to soluble BMP-2. We show that BMP
      2 responsive cells can internalize matrix-bound BMP-2 and that internalization is
      dependent on the cross-linking level of the polyelectrolyte films. In addition,
      we show that internalization is mediated by both clathrin- and caveolin-dependent
      pathways. While inhibiting clathrin-dependent endocytosis affects only non
      canonical signaling, blocking caveolin-1-dependent endocytosis reduces both
      canonical and non-canonical BMP signaling. The signaling pathways found for
      matrix-bound BMP-2 are similar to those found for soluble BMP-2. These results
      highlight that BMP-2 presented by a biomaterial at the ventral side of the cell
      can trigger major endocytic and associated signaling pathways leading to bone
      regeneration.

PMID- 27633325
TI  - Commentary: The Wright Ross Salk Award: Worker Bees and Benefits to the Hive:
      Service Contributions to the Profession and Society of Pediatric Psychology.
AB  - This article reflects on service contributions upon receiving the 2016 Society of
      Pediatric Psychology Wright Ross Salk Distinguished Service Award. As the title
      implies, worker bees make service contributions for the overall benefit of the
      hive and colony. So too, the scientific discipline, clinical profession, and the
      Society of Pediatric Psychology need the service contributions of multiple
      individuals to survive and thrive. Many people have made professional
      contributions to benefit the field and its organizational home; many more worker
      bees will volunteer in the future to fill important service roles and sustain the
      hive. The article discusses lessons learned about service.

PMID- 27633323
TI  - Binding of nuclear factor kappaB to noncanonical consensus sites reveals its
      multimodal role during the early inflammatory response.
AB  - Mammalian cells have developed intricate mechanisms to interpret, integrate, and
      respond to extracellular stimuli. For example, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      rapidly activates proinflammatory genes, but our understanding of how this occurs
      against the ongoing transcriptional program of the cell is far from complete.
      Here, we monitor the early phase of this cascade at high spatiotemporal
      resolution in TNF-stimulated human endothelial cells. NF-kappaB, the
      transcription factor complex driving the response, interferes with the regulatory
      machinery by binding active enhancers already in interaction with gene promoters.
      Notably, >50% of these enhancers do not encode canonical NF-kappaB binding
      motifs. Using a combination of genomics tools, we find that binding site
      selection plays a key role in NF-kappaBeta-mediated transcriptional activation
      and repression. We demonstrate the latter by describing the synergy between NF
      kappaBeta and the corepressor JDP2. Finally, detailed analysis of a 2.8-Mbp locus
      using sub-kbp-resolution targeted chromatin conformation capture and genome
      editing uncovers how NF-kappaBeta that has just entered the nucleus exploits pre
      existing chromatin looping to exert its multimodal role. This work highlights the
      involvement of topology in cis-regulatory element function during acute
      transcriptional responses, where primary DNA sequence and its higher-order
      structure constitute a regulatory context leading to either gene activation or
      repression.

PMID- 27633326
TI  - The Chromogranin A-derived sympathomimetic serpinin depresses myocardial
      performance in teleost and amphibian hearts.
AB  - Chromogranin A (CgA) is an acidic protein co-stored with catecholamines, hormones
      and neuropeptides in the secretory granules of endocrine, neuronal and other cell
      types (including cardiomyocytes). Proteolytic cleavage in the C terminus of CgA
      generates a 2.9kDa peptide named serpinin (Serp; Ala26Leu) that can be modified
      at its N terminus to form a pyroglutamate residue (pGlu-Serp). In the rat heart,
      both peptides increase contractility and relaxation through a beta-adrenergic
      like action mechanism. Accordingly, Serp and pGlu-Serp were proposed as novel
      myocardial sympatho-adrenergic modulators in mammals. On a comparative basis,
      here we report the actions of Serp and pGlu-Serp on myocardial contractility in
      three poikilotherm vertebrate species: the eel (Anguilla anguilla), the goldfish
      (Carassius auratus) and the frog (Rana esculenta). Using isolated working heart
      preparations, we show that pGlu-Serp reduces stroke volume in all species tested,
      while Serp reduces contractility in the frog heart, but is uneffective in eel and
      goldfish hearts. In the goldfish and frog hearts, pGlu-Serp activates the Nitric
      Oxide/cGMP pathway involving Endothelin-1 B receptors (frog) and beta3 adrenergic
      receptors (goldfish). pGlu-Serp-treated hearts from goldfish and frog show
      increased cGMP content. Moreover, the exposure of the frog heart to pGlu-Serp is
      accompanied by an increased expression of activated eNOS and Akt. In conclusion,
      this first report showing that pGlu-Serp inhibits mechanical cardiac performance
      in teleost and amphibians supports an evolutionary role of the CgA system, and
      particularly its serpinin component, in the sympatho-adrenergic control of the
      vertebrate heart.

PMID- 27633324
TI  - Maternal and Paternal Distress and Coping Over Time Following Pediatric Traumatic
      Brain Injury.
AB  - Objective: Examine differences in maternal and paternal coping and distress
      following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and orthopedic injuries (OI). Method:
      Concurrent cohort/prospective design with five assessments between 1 and an
      average of 7 years after injury of children aged 3-6 years hospitalized for TBI (
      n  = 87) or OI ( n  = 119). Mixed models analyses were used to examine
      hypotheses. Results: Overall, fathers reported greater depression and general
      distress than mothers 18 months after injury, but not at long-term follow-up.
      Active and acceptance coping were unrelated to parental sex, injury factors, or
      time since injury. A group * rater * time interaction was noted for Denial
      coping. Following severe TBI, fathers reported greater denial at 18 months,
      whereas mothers reported greater denial at the long-term follow-up. Denial coping
      did not differ between mothers and fathers following OI and moderate TBI.
      Conclusions: Parental response to early TBI is complex and may warrant clinical
      intervention even years after injury.

PMID- 27633327
TI  - Peer Review of Radiotherapy Planning: Quantifying Outcomes and a Proposal for
      Prospective Data Collection.
AB  - AIMS: The Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy quality assurance
      guidelines recommend that radiation oncologist peer review of curative
      radiotherapy plans takes place ideally before the first fraction of treatment is
      delivered. This study documented and evaluated the outcomes of weekly, disease
      site-specific, radiotherapy peer review, quality assurance rounds at the Tom
      Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary, Canada with a view to making recommendations
      about the optimal timing and documentation of peer review during the radiotherapy
      planning processes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Outcomes of each case reviewed at (i)
      breast, (ii) head and neck (including thyroid and cutaneous cases) and (iii) lung
      team quality assurance rounds from 6 January to 5 May 2015 were recorded
      prospectively. Each radiotherapy plan was assigned an outcome: A for plans with
      no suggested changes; B for satisfactory, but where issues were raised to
      consider for future patients; or C when a change was recommended before the first
      or next fraction. The B outcomes were further subdivided into B1 for a case
      specific concern and B2 for a policy gap. Plans were assessed after contour
      definition and before the plan was formulated (post-contouring reviews) and/or
      assessed when the plan was complete (post-planning reviews). RESULTS: 209
      radiotherapy plans prescribed by 20 radiation oncologists were peer reviewed at
      43 quality assurance meetings. 93% were curative-intent and 7% were palliative.
      83% of plans were reviewed before delivery of the first treatment fraction. There
      were a total of 257 case reviews: 60 at the post-contouring stage, 197 at the
      post-planning stage, including 46 patients reviewed at both time points. Overall
      rates of A, B1, B2 and C outcomes were 78%, 9%, 4% and 9%, respectively. The most
      common reason for a B or C outcome was related to target volume definition. Only
      56% of C outcomes at the post-planning stage would have been detected at the post
      contouring stage. Results varied between tumour site groups. CONCLUSIONS: 9% of
      radiotherapy plans reviewed had changes suggested before delivery to the patient.
      Review at the post-planning stage after plan completion was necessary to detect
      all suggested changes, but for head and neck cases, all C outcomes could have
      been detected at the post-contouring stage. More widespread implementation of
      radiotherapy peer review in the UK is recommended.

PMID- 27633328
TI  - Meta-analysis of associating liver partition with portal vein ligation and portal
      vein occlusion for two-stage hepatectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Discussion is ongoing regarding whether associating liver partition
      with portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) or portal vein occlusion
      is better in staged hepatectomy. The aim of this study was to compare available
      strategies using a two-stage approach in extended hepatectomy. METHODS: A
      literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Scopus, the Cochrane Library and
      Embase, and additional articles were identified by hand searching. Data from the
      international ALPPS registry were extracted. Clinical studies reporting
      volumetric changes, mortality, morbidity, feasibility of the second stage and
      tumour-free resection margins (R0) in two-stage hepatectomy were included.
      RESULTS: Ninety studies involving 4352 patients, including 320 from the ALPPS
      registry, met the inclusion criteria. Among these, nine studies (357 patients)
      reported on comparisons with other strategies. In the comparison of ALPPS versus
      portal vein embolization (PVE), ALPPS was associated with a greater increase in
      the future liver remnant (76 versus 37 per cent; P < 0.001) and more frequent
      completion of stage 2 (100 versus 77 per cent; P < 0.001). Compared with PVE,
      ALPPS had a trend towards higher morbidity (73 versus 59 per cent; P = 0.16) and
      mortality (14 versus 7 per cent; P = 0.19) after stage 2. In the non-comparative
      studies, complication rates were 39 per cent in the PVE group, 47 per cent in the
      portal vein ligation (PVL) group and 70 per cent in the ALPPS group. After stage
      2, mortality rates were 5, 7 and 12 per cent respectively. CONCLUSION: ALPPS is
      associated with greater future liver remnant hypertrophy and a higher rate of
      completion of stage 2, but this may be at the price of greater morbidity and
      mortality.

PMID- 27633329
TI  - The Geriatric Depression Scale: does it measure depressive mood, depressive
      affect, or both?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Self-report measures of depression are highly important tools used in
      research and in various healthcare settings for the diagnosis of different levels
      of depression. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is the first and the most
      popular scale used to screen for late-life depression. It is endorsed by the
      Royal College of Physicians and the British Geriatric Society (1992). The purpose
      of the present research was to investigate whether scores on the GDS15 capture
      depressive mood (i.e. trait depression), depressive affect (i.e. short-term
      depressive state), or both. METHODS: For this purpose, a trait-state model
      (stable trait, autoregressive trait, and state model) was applied to GDS15 scores
      obtained at four time points over a 6-year period among a sample of community
      dwelling older persons (N = 753). This model allows decomposing the GDS15 scores
      into three different variance components: stable trait variance, autoregressive
      trait variance, and state variance. RESULTS: Our findings revealed a general
      pattern of a major proportion of stable trait (69%) and autoregressive trait
      (22%) variance and a very smaller amount of state variance (9%) in the GDS scores
      across 6 years. Age and gender (i.e. being female) were shown to be positively
      linked to more stable trait variance. CONCLUSIONS: Depression, as assessed with
      the GDS15 , should be regarded as a relatively stable and enduring trait
      construct, reflecting a stable core of a person's depressivity. The negligible
      amount of state elements in the variation of the GDS15 scores provides evidence
      that changing the context will not be enough to cause significant changes in
      depressive symptoms. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633330
TI  - Structures of NS5 Methyltransferase from Zika Virus.
AB  - The Zika virus (ZIKV) poses a major public health emergency. To aid in the
      development of antivirals, we present two high-resolution crystal structures of
      the ZIKV NS5 methyltransferase: one bound to S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and the
      other bound to SAM and 7-methyl guanosine diphosphate (7-MeGpp). We identify
      features of ZIKV NS5 methyltransferase that lend to structure-based antiviral
      drug discovery. Specifically, SAM analogs with functionalities on the Cbeta atom
      of the methionine portion of the molecules that occupy the RNA binding tunnel may
      provide better specificity relative to human RNA methyltransferases.

PMID- 27633331
TI  - Serum interleukin-6: Association with circulating cytokine serum levels in
      patients with sinus arrhythmia and patients with coronary artery disease.
AB  - In this study, we were focused on the differences between certain circulating
      cytokine levels in patients with or without sinus arrhythmia, according to the
      median IL-6 level. All patients were stable with regards to symptoms and therapy
      for at least one month prior to the measurements conducted within this
      study.Exclusion criteria were: patients with sleep apnea, asthma, respiratory
      insufficiency of any genesis, active infection, allergy, inflammatory diseases,
      cancer, diabetes of any type and treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs. The
      study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. All recruited patients gave
      their verbal and written consent for participation in the study. The study group
      consisted of 74 patients divided into two groups: with (38) and without sinus
      arrhythmia but with diagnosed coronary artery disease (36). Sinus arrhythmia was
      confirmed by 24h Holter monitoring. From all test parameters only cytokines IL-2,
      IL-8, IL-10, IL-17 and IL-18, showed statistically significant increasing in
      patients with statistically higher IL-6 levels. It is possible that IL-6 may not
      be a marker for the selection of patients with sinus arrhythmia or coronary
      artery disease. The findings indicate that IL-6 represents a reliable indicator
      for increased expression of IL-2, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17 and IL-18 in patients with
      sinus arrhythmia or coronary artery disease. Further studies in a large number of
      patients would be necessary to confirm our observations.

PMID- 27633332
TI  - C-SATS: Assessing Surgical Skills Among Urology Residency Applicants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that surgical skills assessment could aid in the
      selection process of medical student applicants to a surgical program. Recently,
      crowdsourcing has been shown to provide an accurate assessment of surgical skills
      at all levels of training. We compared expert and crowd assessment of surgical
      tasks performed by resident applicants during their interview day at the urology
      program at the University of California, Irvine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty
      five resident interviewees performed four tasks: open square knot tying,
      laparoscopic peg transfer, robotic suturing, and skill task 8 on the LAP MentorTM
      (Simbionix Ltd., Lod, Israel). Faculty experts and crowd workers (Crowd-Sourced
      Assessment of Technical Skills [C-SATS], Seattle, WA) assessed recorded
      performances using the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills
      (OSATS), Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills (GEARS), and the Global
      Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) validated assessment tools.
      RESULTS: Overall, 3938 crowd assessments were obtained for the four tasks in less
      than 3.5 hours, whereas the average time to receive 150 expert assessments was 22
      days. Inter-rater agreement between expert and crowd assessment scores was 0.62
      for open knot tying, 0.92 for laparoscopic peg transfer, and 0.86 for robotic
      suturing. Agreement between applicant rank on skill task 8 on the LAP Mentor
      assessment and crowd assessment was 0.32. The crowd match rank based solely on
      skills performance did not compare well with the final faculty match rank list
      (0.46); however, none of the bottom five crowd-rated applicants appeared in the
      top five expert-rated applicants and none of the top five crowd-rated applicants
      appeared in the bottom five expert-rated applicants. CONCLUSIONS: Crowd-source
      assessment of resident applicant surgical skills has good inter-rater agreement
      with expert physician raters but not with a computer-based objective motion
      metrics software assessment. Overall applicant rank was affected to some degree
      by the crowd performance rating.

PMID- 27633334
TI  - Long non-coding RNA expression profile in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma and its
      clinical significance.
AB  - Researchers have recently demonstrated the key role of long non-coding RNAs
      (lncRNAs) in regulating embryogenesis and gene expression. However, the exact
      mechanism used by lncRNAs in carcinogenesis is still unclear. In particular,
      studies regarding the role of lncRNAs in vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (VSCCs)
      are limited. Using microarray analysis, the genome-wide expression profile of
      lncRNAs was investigated in four paired VSCCs and adjacent normal vulvar tissues.
      Accordingly, several novel lncRNA candidates (HOAIR, MALAT1, MEG3, NEAT1, MIR31HG
      and LINC00478) were chosen for further study and real-time reverse transcription
      PCR (RT-PCR) was used to confirm the expression levels among 35 tissue samples. A
      panel of dysregulated lncRNAs (MEG3 and MALAT1) were also identified as potential
      biomarkers as they also correlated with VSCC carcinogenesis. In summary, the
      results revealed that aberrantly expressed lncRNAs may be a factor in VSCC
      pathogenesis, potentially providing new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for
      VSCC.

PMID- 27633335
TI  - Chromatin decondensation is accompanied by a transient increase in
      transcriptional output.
AB  - BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The levels of chromatin condensation usually correlate
      inversely with the levels of transcription. The mechanistic links between
      chromatin condensation and RNA polymerase II activity remain to be elucidated. In
      the present work, we sought to experimentally determine whether manipulation of
      chromatin condensation levels can have a direct effect on transcriptional
      activity. RESULTS: We generated a U-2-OS cell line in which the nascent
      transcription of a reporter gene could be imaged alongside chromatin compaction
      levels in living cells. The transcripts were tagged at their 5' end with PP7 stem
      loops, which can be detected upon expression of a PP7 capsid protein fused to
      green fluorescent protein. Cycles of global chromatin hypercondensation and
      decondensation were performed by perfusing culture media of different
      osmolarities during imaging. We used the fluorescence recovery after
      photobleaching technique to analyse the transcriptional dynamics in both
      conditions. Surprisingly, we found that, despite a drop in signal intensity,
      nascent transcription appeared to continue at the same rate in hypercondensed
      chromatin. Furthermore, quantification of transcriptional profiles revealed that
      chromatin decondensation was accompanied by a brief and transient spike in
      transcriptional output. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a model whereby the initiation of
      transcription is not impaired in condensed chromatin, but inefficient elongation
      in these conditions leads to the accumulation of RNA polymerase II at the
      transcription site. Upon chromatin decondensation, release of the RNA polymerase
      II halt triggers a wave of transcription, which we detect as a transient spike in
      activity. SIGNIFICANCE: The results presented here shed light on the activity of
      RNA polymerase II during chromatin condensation and decondensation. As such, they
      point to a new level of transcriptional regulation.

PMID- 27633336
TI  - Competition between ferromagnetism and frustrated antiferromagnetism in quasi 2D
      Ce2.15(Pd1-x Ag x )1.95In0.9 alloys.
AB  - Low temperature thermal and magnetic measurements performed on ferro-magneticl
      (FM) alloys of composition Ce2.15(Pd1-x Ag x )1.95In0.9 are presented. Pd
      substitution by Ag depresses [Formula: see text] from 4.1 K down to 1.1 K for x 
      =  0.5, which is related to the increase of band electrons, with a critical
      concentration extrapolated to [Formula: see text]. The [Formula: see text]
      decrease is accompanied by a weakening of the magnetization of the FM phase. At
      high temperature (T  >  30 K) the inverse magnetic susceptibility reveals the
      presence of robust magnetic moments ([Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]),
      whereas the low value of the Curie-Weiss temperature [Formula: see text] K
      excludes any relevant effect from Kondo screening. The specific heat jump at
      [Formula: see text] decreases accordingly, while an anomaly emerges at a fixed
      temperature [Formula: see text] K. This unexpected anomaly does not show any
      associated sign of magnetism checked by AC-susceptibility measurements. Since the
      total magnetic entropy (evaluated around [Formula: see text]) practically does
      not change with Ag concentration, the transference of degrees of freedom from the
      FM component to the non-magnetic T (*) anomaly is deduced. The origin of this
      anomaly is attributed to an arising magnetic frustration of the ground state and
      the consequent entropy bottleneck produced by the divergent increasing of density
      of excitations at low temperature.

PMID- 27633333
TI  - The role of mucosal-associated invariant T cells in infectious diseases.
AB  - Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are donor-unrestricted lymphocytes
      that are surprisingly abundant in humans, representing 1-10% of circulating T
      cells and further enriched in mucosal tissues. MAIT cells recognize and are
      activated by small molecule ligands produced by microbes and presented by MR1, a
      highly conserved MHC-related antigen-presenting protein that is ubiquitously
      expressed in human cells. Increasing evidence suggests that MAIT cells play a
      protective role in anti-bacterial immunity at mucosal interfaces. Some fungi are
      known to produce MAIT-activating ligands, but the role of MAIT cells in fungal
      infections has not yet been investigated. In viral infections, specifically HIV,
      which has received the most study, MAIT cell biology is clearly altered, but the
      mechanisms explaining these alterations and their clinical significance are not
      yet understood. Many questions remain unanswered about the potential of MAIT
      cells for protection or pathogenesis in infectious diseases. Because they
      interact with the universal, donor-unrestricted ligand-presenting MR1 molecule,
      MAIT cells may be attractive immunotherapy or vaccine targets. New tools,
      including the development of MR1-ligand tetramers and next-generation T-cell
      receptor sequencing, have the potential to accelerate MAIT cell research and lead
      to new insights into the role of this unique set of lymphocytes in infectious
      diseases.

PMID- 27633337
TI  - External cavity-quantum cascade laser infrared spectroscopy for secondary
      structure analysis of proteins at low concentrations.
AB  - Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy are
      analytical techniques employed for the analysis of protein secondary structure.
      The use of CD spectroscopy is limited to low protein concentrations (<2 mg ml(
      1)), while FTIR spectroscopy is commonly used in a higher concentration range (>5
      mg ml(-1)). Here we introduce a quantum cascade laser (QCL)-based IR transmission
      setup for analysis of protein and polypeptide secondary structure at
      concentrations as low as 0.25 mg ml(-1) in deuterated buffer solution. We present
      dynamic QCL-IR spectra of the temperature-induced alpha-helix to beta-sheet
      transition of poly-L-lysine. The concentration dependence of the alpha-beta
      transition temperature between 0.25 and 10 mg ml(-1) was investigated by QCL-IR,
      FTIR and CD spectroscopy. By using QCL-IR spectroscopy it is possible to perform
      IR spectroscopic analysis in the same concentration range as CD spectroscopy,
      thus enabling a combined analysis of biomolecules secondary structure by CD and
      IR spectroscopy.

PMID- 27633338
TI  - Total Synthesis of Aspergillomarasmine A and Related Compounds: A Sulfamidate
      Approach Enables Exploration of Structure-Activity Relationships.
AB  - The fungal secondary metabolite aspergillomarasmine A (AMA) has recently been
      identified as an inhibitor of metallo-beta-lactamases NDM-1 and VIM-2. Described
      herein is an efficient and practical route to AMA and its related compounds by a
      sulfamidate approach. In addition, a series of derivatives has been prepared and
      tested for biological activity in an effort to explore preliminary structure
      activity relationships. While it was determined that natural LLL isomer of AMA
      remains the most effective inactivator of NDM-1 enzyme activity both in vitro and
      in cells, the structure is highly tolerant of the changes in the stereochemistry
      at positions 3, 6, and 9.

PMID- 27633340
TI  - Artificial Photosynthetic Reaction Center Exhibiting Acid-Responsive Regulation
      of Photoinduced Charge Separation.
AB  - Nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) is a photoprotective regulatory mechanism
      employed by many photosynthetic organisms to dynamically modulate energy flow
      within the photosynthetic apparatus in response to fluctuating light conditions.
      Activated by decreases in lumen pH produced during periods of high photon flux,
      NPQ induces rapid thermal dissipation of excess excitation energy. As a result,
      the rate of charge separation (CS) decreases, thereby limiting the accumulation
      of potentially deleterious reactive intermediates and byproducts. Herein, a
      molecular triad that functionally mimics the effects of NPQ associated with an
      artificial photosynthetic reaction center is described. Steady-state absorption
      and emission, time-resolved fluorescence, and transient absorption spectroscopies
      have been used to demonstrate a 1 order of magnitude reduction in the CS quantum
      yield via reversible protonation of an excited-state-quenching molecular switch
      moiety. As in the natural system, the populations of unquenched and quenched
      states and therefore the overall yields of CS were found to be dependent on acid
      concentration.

PMID- 27633339
TI  - Follow-up of colon cancer patients; causes of distress and need for supportive
      care: Results from the ICARE Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colon cancer survivors experience physical and psychosocial problems
      that are currently not adequately addressed. This study investigated distress in
      patients after curative surgery for colon cancer and studied how this corresponds
      with the need for supportive care. METHODS: Prospective cohort of patients with
      stage I-III colon carcinoma, treated with curative intent, currently in follow-up
      at 6 different hospitals. A survey recorded symptoms, experienced problems, and
      (un)expressed needs. Satisfaction with supportive care was recorded. RESULTS: Two
      hundred eighty four patients were included; 155 males and 129 females, with a
      mean age of 68 years (range 33-95), and a median follow-up of 7 months. 227
      patients completed the survey. Patients experienced a median of 23 symptoms in
      the week before the survey, consisting of a median of 10 physical, 8
      psychological and 4 social symptoms. About a third of these symptoms was felt to
      be a problem. Patients with physical problems seek supportive care in one in
      three cases, while patients with psychosocial problems only seek help in one in
      eight cases. Patients who recently finished treatment, finished adjuvant
      chemotherapy, or had a stoma, had more symptoms and needed more help in all
      domains. Patients most frequently consulted general practitioners (GPs) and
      surgeons, and were satisfied with the help they received. CONCLUSION: Colon
      cancer survivors experience many symptoms, but significantly fewer patients seek
      help for a psychosocial problem than for a physical problem. Consultations with
      supportive care are mainly with GPs or surgeons, and both healthcare providers
      are assessed as providing satisfying care.

PMID- 27633342
TI  - Choosing outcome assessment tools in haemophilia care and research: a
      multidisciplinary perspective.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The implementation of early long-term, regular clotting factor
      concentrate (CFC) replacement therapy ('prophylaxis') has made it possible to
      offer boys with haemophilia a near normal life. Many different regimens have
      reported favourable results, but the optimum treatment regimens have not been
      established and the cost of prophylaxis is very high. Both for optimizing
      treatment and reimbursement issues, there is a need to provide objective evidence
      of both short- and long-term results and benefits of prophylactic regimens. AIMS:
      This report presents a critical review of outcome measures for use in the
      assessment of musculoskeletal health in persons with haemophilia according to the
      International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). This
      framework considers structural and functional changes, activities and
      participation in a context of both personal and environmental factors. METHODS:
      Results were generated by a combination of a critical review of available
      literature plus expert opinion derived from a two day consensus conference
      between 48 health care experts from different disciplines involved in haemophilia
      assessment and care. Outcome tools used in haemophilia were reviewed for
      reliability and validity in different patient groups and for resources required.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Recommendations for choice of outcome tools were made
      according to the ICF domains, economic setting, and reason for use (clinical or
      research). The next step will be to identify a 'core' set of outcome measures for
      use in clinical care or studies evaluating treatment.

PMID- 27633341
TI  - What a difference a day makes: differences in initial abstinence response during
      a smoking cessation attempt.
AB  - AIMS: To (1) identify distinct classes of smokers based on quit day withdrawal
      symptoms and (2) explore the relations between withdrawal classes and
      demographics, tobacco dependence, treatment and smoking outcomes. DESIGN:
      Secondary data analysis of participants (n = 1504) in a randomized double-blind
      placebo-controlled multi-site smoking cessation trial who provided ecological
      momentary assessments of withdrawal symptoms on their quit day. Participants
      received smoking cessation counseling and were randomized to receive placebo or
      one of five active pharmacotherapies. SETTING: Research offices in Madison and
      Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Adult smokers (n = 1236; 58% female, 86%
      white), recruited from the community via advertisements, who abstained on their
      quit day. MEASUREMENTS: Demographics and tobacco dependence were assessed at
      baseline and participants carried palmtop computers to record withdrawal symptoms
      (craving, negative affect, difficulty concentrating, hunger and anhedonia) on
      their quit day. Point-prevalence abstinence and latency to relapse were assessed
      at 8 weeks and 6 months post-quit. FINDINGS: Latent class analysis identified
      four withdrawal classes [Akaike information criterion (AIC) = 70.09]: Moderate
      withdrawal (64% of sample), high craving-anhedonia (8% of sample), affective
      withdrawal (13% of sample) and hunger (15% of sample). The high craving-anhedonia
      class reported significantly higher dependence (P < 0.01), were less likely to
      have received combination nicotine replacement, reported lower week 8 abstinence
      rates and relapsed sooner than those in the moderate withdrawal class (P < 0.05).
      The affective withdrawal class reported higher levels of baseline negative affect
      and life-time psychopathology (P < 0.05) and relapsed more quickly than the
      moderate withdrawal class (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: While the majority of smokers
      report typical levels of withdrawal symptoms on their quit day, more than one
      third report extreme craving or extreme negative affective or extreme hunger
      responses to initial abstinence. These distinct quit-day withdrawal symptom
      patterns are related to baseline characteristics, treatment and cessation
      success.

PMID- 27633344
TI  - Obstacle course runs: review of acquired injuries and illnesses at a series of
      Canadian events (RACE).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The growing popularity of obstacle course runs (OCRs) has led to
      significant concerns regarding their safety. The influx of injuries and illnesses
      in rural areas where OCRs are often held can impose a large burden on emergency
      medical services (EMS) and local EDs. Literature concerning the safety of these
      events is minimal and mostly consists of media reports. We sought to characterise
      the injury and illness profile of OCRs and the level of medical care required.
      METHODS: This study analysed OCR events occurring in eight locations across
      Canada from May to August 2015 (total 45 285 participants). Data were extracted
      from event medical charts of patients presenting to the onsite medical team,
      including injury or illness type, onsite treatment and disposition. RESULTS:
      There were 557 race participants treated at eight OCR events (1.2% of all
      participants). There were 609 medical complaints in total. Three quarters of
      injuries were musculoskeletal in nature. Eighty-nine per cent returned to the
      event with no need for further medical care. The majority of treatments were
      completed with first aid and basic medical equipment. Eleven patients (2% of
      patients) required transfer to hospital by EMS for presentations including
      fracture, dislocation, head injury, chest pain, fall from height, and abdominal
      pain. CONCLUSIONS: We found that 1.2% of race participants presented to onsite
      medical services. The majority of complaints were minor and musculoskeletal in
      nature. Only 2% of those treated were transferred to hospital through EMS. This
      is consistent with other types of mass gathering events.

PMID- 27633343
TI  - Entinostat up-regulates the CAMP gene encoding LL-37 via activation of STAT3 and
      HIF-1alpha transcription factors.
AB  - Bacterial resistance against classical antibiotics is a growing problem and the
      development of new antibiotics is limited. Thus, novel alternatives to
      antibiotics are warranted. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are effector molecules
      of innate immunity that can be induced by several compounds, including vitamin D
      and phenyl-butyrate (PBA). Utilizing a luciferase based assay, we recently
      discovered that the histone deacetylase inhibitor Entinostat is a potent inducer
      of the CAMP gene encoding the human cathelicidin LL-37. Here we investigate a
      mechanism for the induction and also find that Entinostat up-regulates human beta
      defensin 1. Analysis of the CAMP promoter sequence revealed binding sites for the
      transcription factors STAT3 and HIF-1alpha. By using short hairpin RNA and
      selective inhibitors, we found that both transcription factors are involved in
      Entinostat-induced expression of LL-37. However, only HIF-1alpha was found to be
      recruited to the CAMP promoter, suggesting that Entinostat activates STAT3, which
      promotes transcription of CAMP by increasing the expression of HIF-1alpha.
      Finally, we provide in vivo relevance to our findings by showing that Entinostat
      elicited LL-37 expression was impaired in macrophages from a patient with a STAT3
      mutation. Combined, our findings support a role for STAT3 and HIF-1alpha in the
      regulation of LL-37 expression.

PMID- 27633345
TI  - An assessment of the accuracy of a novel weight estimation device for children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to validate the accuracy and assess the efficacy of a newly
      developed electronic weight estimation device (ie, the rolling tape) for
      paediatric weight estimation. METHODS: We enrolled a convenience sample of
      children aged <17 years presenting to our emergency department who volunteered to
      participate in the study. The children's heights and weights were measured, and
      three researchers estimated these values using the rolling tape and Broselow tape
      at 5 min intervals. The weight estimates of researcher 1, researcher 2 and the
      Broselow tape were compared with measured values, and mean percentage error
      (MPE), root mean square error (RMSE) and percentage of estimates within 10% of
      the actual measured values were calculated. For 30 randomly selected subjects, we
      compared the time interval from the start of the measurement to the time that
      orders for epinephrine, defibrillation dose and instrument size could be given in
      a simulated arrest scenario. RESULTS: We enrolled 906 children (median age 4.0
      years). For researcher 1, researcher 2 and the Broselow tape, MPE values were
      0.11% (RMSE 2.61 kg), 1.41% (RMSE, 2.61 kg) and 1.72% (RMSE 5.41 kg),
      respectively, and the percentages of children with predictions within 10% of
      their actual weight were 75.1%, 75.7% and 60.6%, respectively. In the 30
      simulated cases, the mean time for measurement to ordering was significantly
      shorter (25.8 s vs 35.5 s, p<0.001) for the rolling tape compared with the
      Broselow tape method. CONCLUSIONS: The rolling tape is a good weight estimation
      tool for children compared with other methods. The rolling tape method
      significantly decreased the time from weight estimation to orders for essential
      drug dose, instrument size and defibrillation dose for resuscitation.

PMID- 27633346
TI  - The effect of timing of antibiotic delivery on infection rates related to open
      limb fractures: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the timing of delivery of intravenous antibiotics
      following open limb fractures has an effect on deep infection rates and other
      outcomes. DESIGN: We published an a priori study protocol in PROSPERO. Our search
      strategy combined terms for antibiotics, timing of administration and fractures.
      Two independent reviewers screened, selected, assessed quality and extracted data
      from identified studies. DATA SOURCES: We searched five electronic databases with
      no limits and performed grey literature searches. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR
      SELECTING STUDIES: Randomised and non-randomised controlled studies, prospective
      and retrospective observational studies in which the effect of the timing of
      delivery of antibiotics on the outcome of deep infection in open fractures was
      considered were included. RESULTS: Eight studies were included according to the
      above criteria. There were no randomised or non-randomised controlled trials.
      None of the included studies provided data on patient reported or health-related
      quality of life. The overall deep infection rate ranged from 5% to 17.5%. All of
      the studies were at substantial risk of bias. One study reported a reduced
      infection rate with the delivery of antibiotics within 66 min of injury and seven
      studies reporting no effect. CONCLUSIONS: Sufficiently robust evidence is not
      available currently to determine whether the timing of delivery of intravenous
      antibiotics has an effect on the risk of deep infection or other outcomes
      following open limb fractures. There is therefore a need for a randomised
      controlled trial in this area before policy changes should be instigated. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO (CRD42015016729).

PMID- 27633347
TI  - The 4Rs of Aquatic Rescue: educating the public about safety and risks of
      bystander rescue.
AB  - From 1980 to 2014, 87 persons drowned in New Zealand while attempting to rescue
      others; all incidents occurred in open water and most (80%) fatalities were male.
      While bystander rescue has been promoted as a way of preventing drowning, little
      is known about the knowledge base that informs potential rescuers. This study
      utilized a family water safety programme to promote a resource entitled the 4Rs
      of Aquatic Rescue. Participants (n = 174) completed a pre-intervention survey and
      were then provided with information and access to electronic resources on safe
      bystander rescue techniques. Most respondents (71%) had never been taught rescue
      techniques, and males were more confident of their rescue ability. Upon
      completion of the programme, significant differences were evident in respondents'
      understanding of rescue safety, but this did not translate to greater confidence
      or disposition towards performing a rescue. Ways of promoting bystander safety
      around water are discussed and recommendations for future studies are made.

PMID- 27633348
TI  - Evaluating the Relationship Between Muscle Activation and Spine Kinematics
      Through Wavelet Coherence.
AB  - Advances in time-frequency analysis can provide new insights into the important,
      yet complex relationship between muscle activation (ie, electromyography [EMG])
      and motion during dynamic tasks. We use wavelet coherence to compare a
      fundamental cyclical movement (lumbar spine flexion and extension) to the surface
      EMG linear envelope of 2 trunk muscles (lumbar erector spinae and internal
      oblique). Both muscles cohere to the spine kinematics at the main cyclic
      frequency, but lumbar erector spinae exhibits significantly greater coherence
      than internal oblique to kinematics at 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 Hz. Coherence phase
      plots of the 2 muscles exhibit different characteristics. The lumbar erector
      spinae precedes trunk extension at 0.25 Hz, whereas internal oblique is in phase
      with spine kinematics. These differences may be due to their proposed contrasting
      functions as a primary spine mover (lumbar erector spinae) versus a spine
      stabilizer (internal oblique). We believe that this method will be useful in
      evaluating how a variety of factors (eg, pain, dysfunction, pathology, fatigue)
      affect the relationship between muscles' motor inputs (ie, activation measured
      using EMG) and outputs (ie, the resulting joint motion patterns). 

PMID- 27633349
TI  - Predicting passenger seat comfort and discomfort on the basis of human, context
      and seat characteristics: a literature review.
AB  - This literature review focused on passenger seat comfort and discomfort in a
      human-product-context interaction. The relationships between anthropometric
      variables (human level), activities (context level), seat characteristics
      (product level) and the perception of comfort and discomfort were studied through
      mediating variables, such as body posture, movement and interface pressure. It is
      concluded that there are correlations between anthropometric variables and
      interface pressure variables, and that this relationship is affected by body
      posture. The results of studies on the correlation between pressure variables and
      passenger comfort and discomfort are not in line with each other. Only
      associations were found between the other variables (e.g. activities and seat
      characteristics). A conceptual model illustrates the results of the review, but
      relationships could not be quantified due to a lack of statistical evidence and
      large differences in research set-ups between the reviewed papers. Practitioner
      Summary: This literature review set out to quantify the relationships between
      human, context and seat characteristics, and comfort and discomfort experience of
      passenger seats, in order to build a predictive model that can support seat
      designers and purchasers to make informed decisions. However, statistical
      evidence is lacking from existing literature.

PMID- 27633350
TI  - An outbreak of HCV genotype 6a and 2a infection in South China: Confirmation of
      iatrogenic transmission by phylogenetic analysis of the NS5B region.
AB  - An outbreak of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, for which the risk factor was
      unknown, was previously identified in North Guangdong, China. In the present
      study, a total of 736 local residents were surveyed regarding their lifetime risk
      factors for HCV infection. Serum anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA were examined to
      confirm infection. In the HCV-positive samples, the core and nonstructural
      protein 5B sequences were amplified, and phylogenetic analysis was performed to
      determine the association between HCV subtypes and transmission routes. A total
      of 374 individuals were positive for anti-HCV antibodies. Blood transfusion,
      blood product transfusion, people who inject drugs and intravenous injection at a
      local clinic were identified as independent risk factors for HCV infection.
      Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the two predominant subtypes of HCV, 2a and
      6a, were primarily focused in four homologous clusters. Patients with a history
      of intravenous injection at a local clinic were more likely to be found in the
      four clusters, compared with patients exposed to other risk factors. The present
      emergency retrospective survey showed a specific epidemiological feature of HCV
      infection in Zijin County and found genetic homology among individuals exposed to
      intravenous injection at a local clinic. Further evidence is required to confirm
      the causal association between the outbreak of HCV infection and intravenous
      injection.

PMID- 27633351
TI  - Viscoelastic properties and efficient acoustic damping in confined polymer nano
      layers at GHz frequencies.
AB  - We investigate the viscoelastic properties of confined molecular nano-layers by
      time resolved optical pump-probe measurements. Access to the elastic properties
      is provided by the damping time of acoustic eigenmodes of thin metal films
      deposited on the molecular nano-layers which show a strong dependence on the
      molecular layer thickness and on the acoustic eigen-mode frequencies. An
      analytical model including the viscoelastic properties of the molecular layer
      allows us to obtain the longitudinal sound velocity as well as the acoustic
      absorption coefficient of the layer. Our experiments and theoretical analysis
      indicate for the first time that the molecular nano-layers are much more viscous
      than elastic in the investigated frequency range from 50 to 120 GHz and thus show
      pronounced acoustic absorption. The longitudinal acoustic wavenumber has nearly
      equal real and imaginary parts, both increasing proportional to the square root
      of the frequency. Thus, both acoustic velocity and acoustic absorption are
      proportional to the square root of frequency and the propagation of
      compressional/dilatational acoustic waves in the investigated nano-layers is of
      the diffusional type, similar to the propagation of shear waves in viscous
      liquids and thermal waves in solids.

PMID- 27633352
TI  - Knockdown of RPL9 expression inhibits colorectal carcinoma growth via the
      inactivation of Id-1/NF-kappaB signaling axis.
AB  - Ribosomal protein L9 (RPL9), a component of the 60S subunit for protein
      synthesis, is upregulated in human colorectal cancer. In the present study, we
      investigated whether RPL9 gained extraribosomal function during tumorigenesis and
      whether targeting of RPL9 with small interfering (si) RNA could alter the course
      of colorectal cancer progression. Our results showed that siRNA knockdown of RPL9
      suppresses colorectal cancer (CRC) cell growth and long-term colony formation
      through an increase in sub-G1 cell population and a strong induction of apoptotic
      cell death. To obtain insights into the molecular changes in response to RPL9
      knockdown, global changes in gene expression were examined using RNA sequencing.
      It revealed that RPL9-specific knockdown led to dysregulation of 918 genes in
      HCT116 and 3178 genes in HT29 cells. Among these, 296 genes showed same
      directional regulation (128 upregulated and 168 downregulated genes) and were
      considered as a common RPL9 knockdown signature. Particularly, we found through a
      network analysis that Id-1, which is functionally associated with activation of
      NF-kappaB and cell survival, was commonly downregulated. Subsequent western blot
      analysis affirmed that RPL9 silencing induced the decrease in the levels of Id-1
      and phosphorylated IkappaBalpha in both HCT116 and HT29 cells. Also, the same
      condition decreased the levels of PARP-1 and pro-caspase-3, accelerating
      apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibition of RPL9 expression significantly suppressed
      the growth of human CRC xenografts in nude mice. These findings indicate that the
      function of RPL9 is correlated with Id-1/NF-kappaB signaling axis and suggest
      that targeting RPL9 could be an attractive option for molecular therapy of
      colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27633353
TI  - Phylogenetic Tree Estimation With and Without Alignment: New Distance Methods and
      Benchmarking.
AB  - Phylogenetic tree inference is a critical component of many systematic and
      evolutionary studies. The majority of these studies are based on the two-step
      process of multiple sequence alignment followed by tree inference, despite
      persistent evidence that the alignment step can lead to biased results. Here we
      present a two-part study that first presents PaHMM-Tree, a novel neighbor joining
      based method that estimates pairwise distances without assuming a single
      alignment. We then use simulations to benchmark its performance against a wide
      range of other phylogenetic tree inference methods, including the first
      comparison of alignment-free distance-based methods against more conventional
      tree estimation methods. Our new method for calculating pairwise distances based
      on statistical alignment provides distance estimates that are as accurate as
      those obtained using standard methods based on the true alignment. Pairwise
      distance estimates based on the two-step process tend to be substantially less
      accurate. This improved performance carries through to tree inference, where
      PaHMM-Tree provides more accurate tree estimates than all of the pairwise
      distance methods assessed. For close to moderately divergent sequence data we
      find that the two-step methods using statistical inference, where information
      from all sequences is included in the estimation procedure, tend to perform
      better than PaHMM-Tree, particularly full statistical alignment, which
      simultaneously estimates both the tree and the alignment. For deep divergences we
      find the alignment step becomes so prone to error that our distance-based PaHMM
      Tree outperforms all other methods of tree inference. Finally, we find that the
      accuracy of alignment-free methods tends to decline faster than standard two-step
      methods in the presence of alignment uncertainty, and identify no conditions
      where alignment-free methods are equal to or more accurate than standard
      phylogenetic methods even in the presence of substantial alignment error.
      [Alignment-free; distance-based phylogenetics; pair Hidden Markov Models;
      phylogenetic inference; statistical alignment.].

PMID- 27633354
TI  - Who Let the CAT Out of the Bag? Accurately Dealing with Substitutional
      Heterogeneity in Phylogenomic Analyses.
AB  - As phylogenetic datasets have increased in size, site-heterogeneous substitution
      models such as CAT-F81 and CAT-GTR have been advocated in favor of other models
      because they purportedly suppress long-branch attraction (LBA). These models are
      two of the most commonly used models in phylogenomics, and they have been applied
      to a variety of taxa, ranging from Drosophila to land plants. However, many
      arguments in favor of CAT models have been based on tenuous assumptions about the
      true phylogeny, rather than rigorous testing with known trees via simulation.
      Moreover, CAT models have not been compared to other approaches for handling
      substitutional heterogeneity such as data partitioning with site-homogeneous
      substitution models. We simulated amino acid sequence datasets with
      substitutional heterogeneity on a variety of tree shapes including those
      susceptible to LBA. Data were analyzed with both CAT models and partitioning to
      explore model performance; in total over 670,000 CPU hours were used, of which
      over 97% was spent running analyses with CAT models. In many cases, all models
      recovered branching patterns that were identical to the known tree. However, CAT
      F81 consistently performed worse than other models in inferring the correct
      branching patterns, and both CAT models often overestimated substitutional
      heterogeneity. Additionally, reanalysis of two empirical metazoan datasets
      supports the notion that CAT-F81 tends to recover less accurate trees than data
      partitioning and CAT-GTR. Given these results, we conclude that partitioning and
      CAT-GTR perform similarly in recovering accurate branching patterns. However,
      computation time can be orders of magnitude less for data partitioning, with
      commonly used implementations of CAT-GTR often failing to reach completion in a
      reasonable time frame (i.e., for Bayesian analyses to converge). Practices such
      as removing constant sites and parsimony uninformative characters, or using CAT
      F81 when CAT-GTR is deemed too computationally expensive, cannot be logically
      justified. Given clear problems with CAT-F81, phylogenies previously inferred
      with this model should be reassessed. [Data partitioning; phylogenomics,
      simulation, site-heterogeneity, substitution models.].

PMID- 27633355
TI  - This dog can hunt! Maybe?

PMID- 27633356
TI  - Prevention of strictures after endoscopic resection of esophageal neoplasia.

PMID- 27633357
TI  - Gastric intestinal metaplasia: An irreversible risk factor for gastric cancer?

PMID- 27633358
TI  - Same-day laparoscopic cholecystectomy and ERCP for choledocholithiasis.

PMID- 27633359
TI  - Digital single-operator cholangioscopy: fully disposable yet valuable.

PMID- 27633360
TI  - ERCP in developing countries: the way forward.

PMID- 27633361
TI  - Wanted: improved diagnostic accuracy or tissue for histology by EUS-FNA. Do side
      holes do the job?

PMID- 27633362
TI  - Management of duodenal polyps in the era of maximal interventional endoscopy and
      minimally invasive surgery: a surgical perspective.

PMID- 27633363
TI  - The way to calculate the heart rate.

PMID- 27633364
TI  - Peroral endoscopic myotomy for achalasia: myotomy site in the supine position.

PMID- 27633365
TI  - Response.

PMID- 27633366
TI  - Response.

PMID- 27633367
TI  - Yet another provocative maneuver to accentuate Schatzki rings.

PMID- 27633368
TI  - CA11-19: a promising marker for the detection of colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27633370
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27633369
TI  - Response.

PMID- 27633371
TI  - Metal Complexation Properties of Schiff Bases Containing 1,3,5-Triazine Derived
      from 2-Hydroxy-1-Naphthaldehyde in Solution. A Simple Spectrofluorimetric Method
      to Determine Mercury (II).
AB  - Four new Schiff base ligands carrying naphthalene groups were prepared from the
      reaction of 2,4-diamino-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazine and 2,4-diamino-6-undecyl-1,3,5
      triazine with 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde. The influence of a series of metal ions
      including Cu2+, Co2+, Hg2+, Al3+, Cr3+, Fe3+, Pb2+, Ni2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, Ag+,
      Ba2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ on the spectroscopic properties of the ligands was
      investigated by means of absorption and emission spectrometry. The results of
      spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric titrations disclosed the complexation
      stoichiometry and complex stability constant of the ligands with metal ions. A
      simple spectrofluorimetric method was developed using the Schiff base derived
      from 2,4-diamino-6-undecyl-1,3,5-triazine to determine Hg2+ ion. No cleanup or
      enrichment of the tap water sample was required. A modified standard addition
      method was used to eliminate matrix effect. The standard addition graph was
      linear between 0.2 and 2.6 mg/L in determination of Hg2+. Detection and
      quantification limits were 0.08 and 0.23 mg/L, respectively. The simple and cost
      effective method can be applied to water samples.

PMID- 27633372
TI  - Method for In-Vivo Fluorescence Imaging Contrast Enhancement through Light
      Modulation.
AB  - Early diagnosis is one of the most important factors that increase the
      therapeutic potential of the disease. Diagnoses conducted by conventional
      equipment are expensive, time-consuming, burdensome to patients, and do not have
      high success rates. Diagnostic methods have also been investigated using
      nanoparticles. However, there have been no significant improvements in the early
      diagnosis of disease. The diagnosis technique proposed in this paper consumes
      less time, is more cost-effective, and more accurate. It uses a new concept-a low
      intensity fluorescence molecular imaging system with a lock-in technique. This
      study applied the lock-in technique to basic research in contrast enhancement and
      optimization. This improved fluorescence distribution analysis, resulting in
      increased resolution of optical molecular imaging for early diagnosis of disease.
      An experimental lock-in fluorescence imaging system, which used a variety of
      fluorescent dyes, achieved signal amplification 100 times greater than that of a
      conventional fluorescence imaging system. The results of this study demonstrate
      that the lock-in technique could significantly improve optical molecular imaging
      technology, making it possible to achieve early diagnosis of disease.

PMID- 27633373
TI  - MicroRNA-7 inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of thyroid papillary
      cancer cells via targeting CKS2.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the expression levels of microRNA-7 (miR
      7) in human thyroid papillary cancer and its potential role in disease
      pathogenesis. The expression levels of different miRNAs were detected by miRNA
      microarray analysis in ten thyroid papillary cancer specimens and adjacent normal
      thyroid cancer tissues. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to determine the expression level of miR-7 in
      both thyroid papillary cancer tissues and cell lines. To characterize the
      function of miR-7, MTT assay, colony formation assay, cell migration assay, cell
      invasion assay, cell cycle assay and cell apoptosis assay were used. Luciferase
      reporter assays were performed to validate the regulation of a putative target of
      miR-7, in corroboration with western blot assays. Finally, MTT assay, cell
      migration assay, cell invasion assay and cell cycle assay were used to indicate
      the roles of endogenous cyclin-dependent kinase regulatory subunit 2 (CKS2) in
      thyroid papillary cancer cells. Our results reveal that miR-7 expression was
      relatively decreased in thyroid papillary cancer specimens and cell lines
      compared with adjacent normal tissues and normal thyroid cells. Overexpression of
      miR-7 inhibited cellular proliferation, suppressed cellular migration and
      invasion, caused a G0/G1 arrest in vitro. Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed
      that miR-7 binds the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of CKS2. Western blotting
      showed that miR-7 negatively regulated CKS2 protein expression. As its downstream
      genes, cyclin B1 (G2/mitotic-specific cyclin-B1) and cdk1 (cyclin-dependent
      kinase 1) were regulated by miR-7 and CKS2 axis. Knockdown of CKS2 expression by
      CKS2-siRNA in TPC1 and K1 cells also significantly suppressed cell proliferation,
      cell migration and invasion. Our results demonstrated for the first time that miR
      7 functions as a tumor suppressor and plays an important role in inhibiting the
      tumorigenesis through targeting CKS2 in thyroid papillary cancer cells.

PMID- 27633374
TI  - Influence of staff's emotional reactions on the escalation of patient aggression
      in mental health care.
AB  - Patient aggression is universally recognized as an important challenge in mental
      health care (MHC). Based upon a pragmatic exploration of the professional
      literature, we seek here to determine how negative emotional reactions of staff
      including those conveyed in terms of fear, anger, and insult-may serve to
      exacerbate this serious impediment to safe and effective MHC. This is done using
      biological and evolutionary paradigms. Studies of patient aggression have tended
      to focus more on patient characteristics and behavior than on those of their
      caregivers. The authors suggest that patient aggression may be viewed as a
      response to "normal" interaction processes. The results of this investigation
      imply that the emotional reactions of staff may escalate the aggressive
      interaction by increasing the patient's perception of threat, and also, increase
      the probability of new incidents by creating a patient-staff relationship
      characterized by unsafety and mistrust. Mindfulness-based interventions are
      suggested as useful strategies to expand the staff's emotional awareness and
      increase emotional control.

PMID- 27633375
TI  - Triglyceride glucose index, a marker of insulin resistance, is associated with
      coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic subjects with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance is one of the most important contributing factors
      to cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the association
      between coronary artery stenosis (CAS) and triglyceride glucose index (TyG
      index), a simple insulin resistance marker, in asymptomatic subjects with type 2
      diabetes. METHODS: We recruited asymptomatic adults with type 2 diabetes but
      without previous history of coronary heart disease (n = 888). Significant CAS was
      defined as maximum intraluminal stenosis >=70 % by coronary CT angiography. TyG
      index was calculated as log [fasting triglycerides (mg/dl) x fasting glucose
      (mg/dl)/2]. RESULTS: Mean age was 63.8 +/- 9.5 and 58.9 % of the subjects were
      men. We analyzed the participants according to the tertile of TyG index. The TyG
      index was correlated with HOMA-IR (r = 0.397, P < 0.001), and subjects with
      higher tertile of TyG index were younger but showed worse clinical and metabolic
      parameters. The prevalence of CAS was higher in subjects with higher tertile of
      TyG compared with those with lower tertile of TyG (14 % vs. 7.8 %, P = 0.022). On
      multiple regression analysis, the highest tertile of TyG index was an independent
      risk factor for CAS after adjustment for other confounders (odds ratio, 3.19 [95
      % CI, 1.371-7.424]). Subgroup analysis showed that TyG index showed more
      significant association with CAS in patients with risk factors such as old age,
      longer duration of diabetes, poor glycemic control, no statin use, and male
      gender. CONCLUSION: Higher TyG index is associated with increased risk of CAS in
      asymptomatic subjects with type 2 diabetes, particularly when they have risk
      factors for cardiovascular disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was
      retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials. gov with the registration number of
      NCT02070926 in Feb 23, 2014.

PMID- 27633376
TI  - Improving Current Treatments for Schizophrenia.
AB  - Preclinical Research After the identification of the schizophrenia as an illness
      over a century ago, treatment of affected individuals included unspecific, mostly
      very robust methods including deep insulin coma and lobectomy/leucotomy. The
      first relatively specific treatment of schizophrenia started about 60 years ago
      with the antipsychotic chlorpromazine. All currently approved antipsychotic drugs
      block dopamine receptors, indicating that manipulation of dopaminergic function
      is fundamental to a therapeutic response in psychosis. Despite refinements in
      their mechanism of action, the therapeutic effects of subsequent generations of
      antipsychotics are insufficient in claiming superiority over the first
      generation, with the possible exception of clozapine. Dopamine receptor blockade
      is necessary but not always sufficient for antipsychotic response and
      improvements have been reported with molecules acting on other receptors
      (glutamate, glycine, cannabidiol, estrogen), intracellular signaling proteins, or
      products of identified risk genes. Here, we review the current status of drugs
      under investigation. In addition, we emphasize that the development of the novel
      compounds to target the underlying cognitive dysfunction and negative symptom
      dimension of full blown schizophrenia, or attenuated psychosis syndrome and
      specific endophenotypes related to the increased risk of psychosis in the general
      population, alongside efforts to deconstruct the concept of schizophrenia(s),
      represent the best way to meet patient needs for better therapies and more
      favorable outcomes. Drug Dev Res 77 : 357-367, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27633377
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterisation of HOT regions in the human
      genome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HOT (high-occupancy target) regions, which are bound by a
      surprisingly large number of transcription factors, are considered to be among
      the most intriguing findings of recent years. An improved understanding of the
      roles that HOT regions play in biology would be afforded by knowing the
      constellation of factors that constitute these domains and by identifying HOT
      regions across the spectrum of human cell types. RESULTS: We characterised and
      validated HOT regions in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and produced a catalogue of
      HOT regions in a broad range of human cell types. We found that HOT regions are
      associated with genes that control and define the developmental processes of the
      respective cell and tissue types. We also showed evidence of the developmental
      persistence of HOT regions at primitive enhancers and demonstrate unique
      signatures of HOT regions that distinguish them from typical enhancers and super
      enhancers. Finally, we performed a dynamic analysis to reveal the dynamical
      regulation of HOT regions upon H1 differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together,
      our results provide a resource for the functional exploration of HOT regions and
      extend our understanding of the key roles of HOT regions in development and
      differentiation.

PMID- 27633379
TI  - Hirschsprung's disease associated with alopecia universalis congenita: a case
      report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hirschsprung's disease is one of the commonest causes of intestinal
      obstruction in neonates because of gut motility disorder. It is characterized as
      a complex genetic heterogenous disorder with variable inheritance. Hirschsprung's
      disease occurs as an isolated phenotype in majority (70 %) of cases. In other
      cases it may be associated with syndromes (such as Down's syndrome, Waardenburg
      syndrome, congenital central hypoventilation, or cartilage-hair hypoplasia) or
      with a spectrum of congenital anomalies involving neurological, cardiovascular,
      or urological systems or with sensorineural anomalies. In our patient,
      Hirschsprung's disease was associated with alopecia universalis. Alopecia
      universalis congenita is a rare disorder of skin characterized by generalized
      absence of hair at or shortly after birth. The inheritance patterns range from
      autosomal recessive, dominant or X-linked recessive forms. The autosomal
      recessive form is the most common and severe type in which patients present with
      complete absence of hair development, affecting the entire scalp and body.
      Alopecia universalis congenita occurs either in isolation or as a part of
      congenital syndromes. Here, we report the case of a neonate who presented with
      Hirschsprung's disease with alopecia universalis congenita, an association which
      has not been reported before. CASE PRESENTATION: A preterm (33 weeks' gestation)
      1.4 kg Indian baby girl was born to a gravida two mother by caesarean section. At
      birth, clinical examination revealed total absence of scalp and body hair. On day
      3, she had bilious vomiting and a barium study was suggestive of Hirschsprung's
      disease. An exploratory laparotomy and intestinal biopsy report revealed
      aganglionic muscularis propria; a skin biopsy from her scalp was suggestive of
      alopecia universalis. Postoperatively, she died due to multiorgan failure. Her
      family history revealed that her elder sibling also had alopecia universalis and
      esophageal atresia. This child died on day twelve. Our patient's clinical
      features and the biopsy reports confirmed our diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease
      with alopecia universalis congenita. CONCLUSIONS: A diagnosis of Hirschsprung's
      disease should make treating clinicians actively investigate for any associated
      syndromes and anomalies. Alopecia is an unusual association with Hirschsprung's
      disease. Alopecia universalis congenita is the most severe form of alopecia
      areata. Early diagnosis and classification is essential for appropriate and
      timely management of such cases.

PMID- 27633378
TI  - Chiral Antioxidant-based Gold Nanoclusters Reprogram DNA Epigenetic Patterns.
AB  - Epigenetic modifications sit 'on top of' the genome and influence DNA
      transcription, which can force a significant impact on cellular behavior and
      phenotype and, consequently human development and disease. Conventional methods
      for evaluating epigenetic modifications have inherent limitations and, hence, new
      methods based on nanoscale devices are needed. Here, we found that antioxidant
      (glutathione) chiral gold nanoclusters induce a decrease of 5
      hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), which is an important epigenetic marker that
      associates with gene transcription regulation. This epigenetic change was
      triggered partially through ROS activation and oxidation generated by the
      treatment with glutathione chiral gold nanoclusters, which may inhibit the
      activity of TET proteins catalyzing the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to
      5hmC. In addition, these chiral gold nanoclusters can downregulate TET1 and TET2
      mRNA expression. Alteration of TET-5hmC signaling will then affect several
      downstream targets and be involved in many aspects of cell behavior. We
      demonstrate for the first time that antioxidant-based chiral gold nanomaterials
      have a direct effect on epigenetic process of TET-5hmC pathways and reveal
      critical DNA demethylation patterns.

PMID- 27633381
TI  - Efficacy and safety of target combined chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer: a
      meta-analysis and system review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of our meta-analysis is to assess the efficacy and safety of
      the target combined chemotherapy for the patients with unresectable advanced or
      recurrent gastric cancer. METHODS: In accordance with the standard meta-analysis
      procedures, the patients included in our study were with unresectable advanced or
      recurrent gastric cancer and allocated randomly to receive target combined
      chemotherapy or the traditional chemotherapy. The search was applied to PubMed,
      EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, Cocran's library (from inception to
      February 2016). All analyses were performed by STATA 12.0, with the odds ratio,
      hazard ratio, and 95 % confidence interval as the effect measures. RESULTS:
      Fourteen studies were included in this meta-analysis. A total of 5067 patients
      with advanced gastric cancer were divided into two arms: traditional chemotherapy
      arm and target combined chemotherapy arm. A significant improvement for overall
      survival (hazard ratio was 0.89, 95 % confidence interval: 0.83-0.95) and overall
      response rate (odds ratio was 1.44, 95 % confidence interval: 1.15-1.81) was
      observed, but no significant difference was found for progression-free survival
      (hazard ratio was 0.89, 95 % confidence interval: 0.77-1.00) in the target
      combined chemotherapy arm. In subgroup analysis, increasing benefits regarding
      overall survival and progression-free survival were found in anti epidermal
      growth factor receptor target drugs for selected patients subgroup and anti
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor target drugs for unselected patients
      subgroup, but not in anti epidermal growth factor receptor target drugs for
      unselected patients subgroup. Besides, some adverse events were increased in the
      target combined chemotherapy arm. CONCLUSIONS: The target combined chemotherapy
      represented a better overall survival benefit and treatment efficiency and higher
      incidence of some grade 3-4 adverse events than the traditional chemotherapy for
      patients with unresectable advanced or recurrence gastric cancer. The anti
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor drugs can improve the efficacy in the
      whole patients with unresectable advanced or recurrence gastric cancer and the
      anti epidermal growth factor receptor target drugs can only improve the efficacy
      in the epidermal growth factor receptor positive patients.

PMID- 27633380
TI  - Associations between the neighbourhood food environment, neighbourhood
      socioeconomic status, and diet quality: An observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The neighbourhood environment may play an important role in diet
      quality. Most previous research has examined the associations between
      neighbourhood food environment and diet quality, and neighbourhood socioeconomic
      status and diet quality separately. This study investigated the independent and
      joint effects of neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood socioeconomic
      status in relation to diet quality in Canadian adults. METHODS: We undertook a
      cross-sectional study with n = 446 adults in Calgary, Alberta (Canada).
      Individual-level data on diet and socio-demographic and health-related
      characteristics were captured from two self-report internet-based questionnaires,
      the Canadian Diet History Questionnaire II (C-DHQ II) and the Past Year Physical
      Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). Neighbourhood environment data were derived from
      dissemination area level Canadian Census data, and Geographical Information
      Systems (GIS) databases. Neighbourhood was defined as a 400 m network-based
      'walkshed' around each participant's household. Using GIS we objectively-assessed
      the density, diversity, and presence of specific food destination types within
      the participant's walkshed. A seven variable socioeconomic deprivation index was
      derived from Canadian Census variables and estimated for each walkshed. The
      Canadian adapted Healthy Eating Index (C-HEI), used to assess diet quality was
      estimated from food intakes reported on C-DHQ II. Multivariable linear regression
      was used to test for associations between walkshed food environment variables,
      walkshed socioeconomic status, and diet quality (C-HEI), adjusting for individual
      level socio-demographic and health-related covariates. Interaction effects
      between walkshed socioeconomic status and walkshed food environment variables on
      diet quality (C-HEI) were also tested. RESULTS: After adjustment for covariates,
      food destination density was positively associated with the C-HEI (beta 0.06, 95
      % CI 0.01-0.12, p = 0.04) though the magnitude of the association was small.
      Walkshed socioeconomic status was not significantly associated with the C-HEI. We
      found no statistically significant interactions between walkshed food environment
      variables and socioeconomic status in relation to the C-HEI. Self-reported
      physical and mental health, time spent in neighbourhood, and dog ownership were
      also significantly (p < .05) associated with diet quality. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that larger density of local food destinations may is associated
      with better diet quality in adults.

PMID- 27633383
TI  - Workforce profile of Australian occupational therapists working with people who
      are terminally ill.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: The role played by Australian occupational therapists with
      clients living with terminal illness has recently been highlighted in the
      Occupational Therapy Australia () position paper on palliative care. To date,
      little evidence exists about the work profile of these therapists, the type of
      clients seen, their practice settings and how long therapists are planning to
      remain in this clinical role. This paper presents results from a national survey
      of Australian occupational therapists working with people who are terminally ill.
      METHODS: The largest ever sample (n = 171) of Australian occupational therapists
      working with clients who are terminally ill were purposively surveyed in this
      national mixed-method study, which was analysed using descriptive statistics and
      grounded theory. RESULTS: Results revealed a predominantly full-time, publicly
      employed (81%), female (93%) workforce, with an average six years of experience
      in this setting. Most therapists treated clients in the community (49%), with
      slightly fewer working in inpatient settings (40%). Many had dual caseloads,
      employed in palliative care clinical roles, aged care or oncology settings.
      Neoplasms of varying kinds represented the dominant clinical diagnostic category.
      The majority of respondents planned to remain in their current role on average
      seven more years, citing job satisfaction as the main reason for doing so.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study reveal important data for future workforce
      planning in this clinical area. The information gathered about client diagnoses
      and practice contexts will enable more targeted preparation of students for
      graduation.

PMID- 27633382
TI  - Barley HvPAPhy_a as transgene provides high and stable phytase activities in
      mature barley straw and in grains.
AB  - The phytase purple acid phosphatase (HvPAPhy_a) expressed during barley seed
      development was evaluated as transgene for overexpression in barley. The phytase
      was expressed constitutively driven by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S-promoter,
      and the phytase activity was measured in the mature grains, the green leaves and
      in the dry mature vegetative plant parts left after harvest of the grains. The T2
      -generation of HvPAPhy_a transformed barley showed phytase activity increases up
      to 19-fold (29 000 phytase units (FTU) per kg in mature grains). Moreover, also
      in green leaves and mature dry straw, phytase activities were increased
      significantly by 110-fold (52 000 FTU/kg) and 57-fold (51 000 FTU/kg),
      respectively. The HvPAPhy_a-transformed barley plants with high phytase
      activities possess triple potential utilities for the improvement of phosphate
      bioavailability. First of all, the utilization of the mature grains as feed to
      increase the release of bio-available phosphate and minerals bound to the phytate
      of the grains; secondly, the utilization of the powdered straw either directly or
      phytase extracted hereof as a supplement to high phytate feed or food; and
      finally, the use of the stubble to be ploughed into the soil for mobilizing
      phytate-bound phosphate for plant growth.

PMID- 27633384
TI  - Clinical protocol for the management of malignant hyperthermia.
AB  - Malignant hyperthermia is a hypermetabolic syndrome that appears in susceptible
      patients after exposure to certain anaesthetic drugs (succinylcholine, inhalation
      anaesthetics). Its incidence in Spain is 1 in 40,000 adults, with a 10% mortality
      rate. It is induced by an abnormal regulation of the ryanodine receptors,
      producing a massive release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the
      striate muscle. Clinical manifestations include: CO2 increase, tachycardia,
      haemodynamic instability, metabolic and respiratory acidosis, profuse sweating,
      hyperpyrexia, CPK increase, myoglobinuria, kidney failure, disseminated
      intravascular coagulation (DIC), and ending in cardiac arrest. Dantrolene sodium
      is a ryanodine receptor antagonist, and inhibits the release of intracellular
      calcium. Definitive diagnosis is achieved by the exposure of muscle fibres to
      caffeine and halothane. Protocols can help guarantee a reliable and secure
      management when this severe event occurs.

PMID- 27633385
TI  - Drugs in early clinical development for the treatment of osteosarcoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Osteosarcomas are the main malignant primary bone tumours found in
      children and young adults. Conventional treatment is based on diagnosis and
      resection surgery, combined with polychemotherapy. This is a protocol that was
      established in the 1970s. Unfortunately, this therapeutic approach has reached a
      plateau of efficacy and the patient survival rate has not improved in the last
      four decades. New therapeutic approaches are thus required to improve the
      prognosis for osteosarcoma patients. Areas covered: From the databases available
      and published scientific literature, the present review gives an overview of the
      drugs currently in early clinical development for the treatment of osteosarcoma.
      For each drug, a short description is given of the relevant scientific data
      supporting its development. Expert opinion: Multidrug targeted approaches are set
      to emerge, given the heterogeneity of osteosarcoma subtypes and the multitude of
      therapeutic responses. The key role played by the microenvironment in the disease
      increases the number of therapeutic targets (such as macrophages or osteoclasts),
      as well as the master proteins that control cell proliferation or cell death.
      Ongoing phase I/II trials are important steps, not only for identifying new
      therapies with greater safety and efficacy, but also for better defining the role
      played by the microenvironment in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27633387
TI  - Aldehyde Dehydrogenase-2 Roles in Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of mortality and
      morbidity, incurring a major burden of medical care. Even with increasing
      application of emergent recanalization (PCI and CABG) therapy, ischemia and
      ischemic reperfusion injury remain as the dominant pathological process that
      damages cardiomyocytes. Mitochondrial Aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) is a
      multifunctional enzyme catalyzing the oxidation of aldehydes. OBJECTIVE:
      Accumulating data have shown that ALDH2 can help restore mitochondria function by
      eliminating toxic aldehyde and participating in cellular signaling important for
      cell adaption and survival. This article reviews the biology and pathobiology
      roles of ALDH2 in the ischemic cardiovascular disease, focusing on the genetic
      evidence associated with the oriental patients. CONCLUSION: The ALDH2*2 mutant
      allele (deficiency genotype) is present in nearly half of the East Asian
      population. Development of a safe way to restore ALDH2 function in this
      population thus has unique clinical implication.

PMID- 27633386
TI  - Adverse reactions from consumption of oral rabies vaccine baits in dogs in
      Finland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral rabies vaccination of wildlife has effectively reduced the
      incidence of rabies in wildlife and has led to the elimination of rabies in large
      areas of Europe. The safety of oral rabies vaccines has been assessed in both
      target (red fox and raccoon dog) and several non-target species. CASE
      PRESENTATION: Since 2011, the competent authority in Finland has received a few
      reports of dogs experiencing adverse reactions that have been assumed to be
      caused by the consumption of baits containing oral rabies vaccine. The dogs
      usually exhibited gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, inappetence, constipation
      or diarrhoea) or behavioral symptoms (restlessness, listlessness and
      unwillingness to continue hunting). CONCLUSIONS: Nevertheless, these adverse
      reactions are transient and non-life threatening. Even though the adverse
      reactions are unpleasant to individual dogs and their owners, the benefits of
      oral rabies vaccination clearly outweigh the risks.

PMID- 27633388
TI  - Therapeutic Apheresis in Hematologic, Autoimmune and Dermatologic Diseases With
      Immunologic Origin.
AB  - The process of curing a patient by removing his illness by extracting blood is a
      very old one. Many years ago, phlebotomy was practiced to cure illness. Now, this
      old process, placed on a rational basis with therapeutic apheresis (TA), is being
      followed in clinical practice. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) with hollow
      fiber modules has been used in different severe diseases for more than 40 years.
      Based on many years of experience with the extracorporeal circulation in end
      stage renal disease, the authors herein give an overview of TA in immunological
      diseases, especially in hematologic, autoimmune and dermatologic diseases.
      Updated information on immunology and molecular biology of different
      immunological diseases is discussed in relation to the rationale for apheresis
      therapy and its place in combination with other modern therapies. With the
      introduction of novel and effective biologic agents, TA is indicated only in
      severe cases, such as in rapid progression despite immunosuppressive therapy
      and/or biologic agents. In mild forms of autoimmune disease, treatment with
      immunosuppressive therapies and/or biologic agents seems to be sufficient. The
      prognosis of autoimmune diseases with varying organ manifestations has improved
      in recent years, due in part to very aggressive therapy schemes. For the
      immunological diseases that can be treated with TA, the guidelines of the German
      Working Group of Clinical Nephrology and of the Apheresis Applications Committee
      of the American Society for Apheresis are cited. TA has been shown to effectively
      remove the autoantibodies from blood and lead to rapid clinical improvement.

PMID- 27633389
TI  - MKEY, a Peptide Inhibitor of CXCL4-CCL5 Heterodimer Formation, Protects Against
      Stroke in Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MKEY, a synthetic cyclic peptide inhibitor of CXCL4-CCL5 heterodimer
      formation, has been shown to protect against atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysm
      formation by mediating inflammation, but whether it modulates neuroinflammation
      and brain injury has not been studied. We therefore studied the role of MKEY in
      stroke-induced brain injury in mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: MKEY was injected into
      mice after stroke with 60 minutes of middle cerebral artery occlusion. Infarct
      volume and neurological deficit scores were measured. Protein levels of CCL5 and
      its receptor CCR5 were detected by Western blot and fluorescence-activated cell
      sorting (FACS), respectively. Numbers of microglia-derived macrophages (MiMPhis)
      and monocyte-derived MPhis (MoMPhis) in the brain, and their subsets, based on
      the surface markers CD45, CD11b, CCR2, CX3CR1, and Ly6C, were analyzed by FACS.
      MPhis and neutrophil infiltration in the ischemic brain were stained with CD68
      and myeloperoxidase (MPO), respectively, and assessed by immunofluorescent
      confocal microscopy. The results showed that expressions of CCL5 and its receptor
      CCR5, were increased in the ischemic brain after stroke. MKEY injection
      significantly reduced infarct sizes and improved neurological deficit scores
      measured 72 hours after stroke. In addition, MKEY injection inhibited the number
      of MoMPhis, but not MiMPhis, in the ischemic brain. Furthermore, MKEY inhibited
      protein expression levels of Ly6C,CCR2, and CX3CR1 on MoMPhis. Lastly, the
      confocal study also suggests that the number of CD68-positive MPhis and MPO
      positive neutrophils was inhibited by MKEY injection. CONCLUSIONS: MKEY injection
      protects against stroke-induced brain injury, probably by inhibiting MoMPhi
      mediated neuroinflammation.

PMID- 27633390
TI  - Coronary Artery Aneurysms in Kawasaki Disease: Risk Factors for Progressive
      Disease and Adverse Cardiac Events in the US Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The natural history of coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) after
      intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment in the United States is not well
      described. We describe the natural history of CAA in US Kawasaki disease (KD)
      patients and identify factors associated with major adverse cardiac events (MACE)
      and CAA regression. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated all KD patients with CAA at
      2 centers from 1979 to 2014. Factors associated with CAA regression, maximum CA z
      score over time (zMax), and MACE were analyzed. We performed a matched analysis
      of treatment effect on likelihood of CAA regression. Of 2860 KD patients, 500
      (17%) had CAA, including 90 with CAA z-score >10. Most (91%) received IVIG within
      10 days of illness, 32% received >1 IVIG, and 27% received adjunctive anti
      inflammatory medications. CAA regression occurred in 75%. Lack of CAA regression
      and higher CAA zMax were associated with earlier era, larger CAA z-score at
      diagnosis, and bilateral CAA in univariate and multivariable analyses. MACE
      occurred in 24 (5%) patients and was associated with higher CAA z-score at
      diagnosis and lack of IVIG treatment. In a subset of patients (n=132) matched by
      age at KD and baseline CAA z-score, those receiving IVIG plus adjunctive
      medication had a CAA regression rate of 91% compared with 68% for the 3 other
      groups (IVIG alone, IVIG >=2 doses, or IVIG >=2 doses plus adjunctive
      medication). CONCLUSIONS: CAA regression occurred in 75% of patients. CAA z-score
      at diagnosis was highly predictive of outcomes, which may be improved by early
      IVIG treatment and adjunctive therapies.

PMID- 27633392
TI  - Sex Differences in Survival From Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in the Era of
      Regionalized Systems and Advanced Post-Resuscitation Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate sex differences in out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) characteristics, interventions, and outcomes.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a retrospective analysis from a regionalized cardiac
      arrest system. Data on patients treated for OHCA are reported to a single
      registry, from which all adult patients were identified from 2011 through 2014.
      Characteristics, treatment, and outcomes were evaluated with stratification by
      sex. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for survival with good neurological outcome
      (cerebral performance category 1 or 2) was calculated for women compared to men.
      There were 5174 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs; 3080 males and 2094
      females). Women were older, median 71 (interquartile range [IQR], 59-82) versus
      66 years (IQR, 55-78). Despite similar frequency of witnessed arrest, women were
      less likely to present with a shockable rhythm (22% vs 35%; risk difference [RD],
      13%; 95% CI, 11-15), have ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (23% vs 32%;
      RD, 13%; 95% CI, 7-11), or receive coronary angiography (11% vs 25%; RD, 14%; 95%
      CI, 12-16), percutaneous coronary intervention (5% vs 14%; RD, 9%; 95% CI, 7-11),
      or targeted temperature management (33% vs 40%; RD, 7%; 95% CI, 4-10). Women had
      decreased survival to discharge (33% vs 40%; RD, 7%; 95% CI, 4-10) and a lower
      proportion of good neurological outcome (16% vs 24%; RD, 8%; 95% CI, 6-10). In
      multivariable modeling, female sex was not associated with decreased survival
      with good neurological outcome (OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.8-1.1). CONCLUSIONS: Sex
      related differences in OHCA characteristics and treatment are predictors of
      survival outcome disparities. With adjustment for these factors, sex was not
      associated with survival or neurological outcome after OHCA.

PMID- 27633391
TI  - Metabolites of Glutamate Metabolism Are Associated With Incident Cardiovascular
      Events in the PREDIMED PREvencion con DIeta MEDiterranea (PREDIMED) Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glutamate metabolism may play a role in the pathophysiology of
      cardiometabolic disorders. However, there is limited evidence of an association
      between glutamate-related metabolites and, moreover, changes in these
      metabolites, and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Plasma levels of glutamate and glutamine were measured at baseline and 1-year
      follow-up in a case-cohort study including 980 participants (mean age 68 years;
      46% male) from the PREvencion con DIeta MEDiterranea (PREDIMED) randomized trial,
      which assessed a Mediterranean diet intervention in the primary prevention of
      CVD. During median 4.8 years of follow-up, there were 229 incident CVD events
      (nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or CVD death). In fully
      adjusted models, per 1-SD, baseline glutamate was associated with 43% (95% CI:
      16% to 76%) and 81% (39% to 137%) increased risk of composite CVD and stroke
      alone, respectively, and baseline glutamine-to-glutamate ratio with 25% (6% to
      40%) and 44% (25% to 58%) decreased risk of composite CVD and stroke alone,
      respectively. Associations appeared linear for stroke (both Plinear
      trend<=0.005). Among participants with high baseline glutamate, the interventions
      lowered CVD risk by 37% compared to the control diet; the intervention effects
      were not significant when baseline glutamate was low (Pinteraction=0.02). No
      significant effect of the intervention on year-1 changes in metabolites was
      observed, and no effect of changes themselves on CVD risk was apparent.
      CONCLUSIONS: Baseline glutamate was associated with increased CVD risk,
      particularly stroke, and glutamine-to-glutamate ratio was associated with
      decreased risk. Participants with high glutamate levels may obtain greater
      benefits from the Mediterranean diet than those with low levels. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: URL: www.controlled-trials.com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN 35739639.

PMID- 27633393
TI  - Short-Term Influence of Radiofrequency Ablation on NT-proBNP, MR-proANP,
      Copeptin, and MR-proADM in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: Data From the
      Observational SMURF Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is limited knowledge on the short-term influence of
      radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) on 2 cardiac
      biomarkers; the N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and the
      midregional fragment of the N-terminal of pro-ANP (MR-proANP) and 2 extracardiac
      biomarkers; the c-terminal provasopressin (copeptin) and the midregional portion
      of proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM). There are also limited data concerning cardiac
      production of the latter two. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 192 consecutive
      patients eligible for RFA of AF referred to the University Hospital, Linkoping,
      Sweden. NT-proBNP, MR-proANP, copeptin, and MR-proADM levels were measured in
      peripheral blood, the coronary sinus (CS), and the left atrium before ablation,
      and in peripheral blood immediately and the day after RFA. The level of NT-proBNP
      decreased the day after RFA in participants in AF at the time of RFA, compared to
      the participants in sinus rhythm who showed a slight increase (P<0.001).
      Furthermore, regardless of the actual rhythm, the level of MR-proANP showed an
      increase immediately after RFA (P<0.001), followed by a decrease the day after
      ablation (P<0.001). Copeptin level showed a 6-fold increase immediately after RFA
      compared to baseline (P<0.001), whereas MR-proADM level increased the day after
      RFA (P<0.001). Levels of copeptin and MR-proADM were not higher in the CS
      compared to peripheral blood. CONCLUSIONS: RFA of AF is a strong stimulus with a
      significant and direct impact on different neurohormonal systems. We found no
      sign of a cardiac release of MR-proADM or copeptin. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT01553045.

PMID- 27633394
TI  - Ruminative brooding is associated with salience network coherence in early
      pubertal youth.
AB  - Rumination, and particularly ruminative brooding, perpetuates dysphoric mood
      states and contributes to the emergence of depression. Studies of adults and
      older adolescents have characterized the association between rumination and
      intrinsic functional connectivity within default mode (DMN), salience (SN) and
      executive control (ECN) networks; we know little, however, about the brain
      network basis of rumination during early puberty, a sensitive period for network
      reorganization. 112 early puberty boys and girls completed resting-state scans,
      the Ruminative Response Scale, and the Youth Self-Report questionnaire. Using
      independent components analysis and dual regression, we quantified coherence for
      each individual in networks of interest (SN, ECN, DMN) and in non-relevant
      networks (motor, visual) in which we predicted no correlations with behavioral
      measures. Boys and girls did not differ in levels of rumination or internalizing
      symptoms, or in coherence for any network. The relation between SN network
      coherence and rumination; however, and specifically ruminative brooding, was
      moderated by sex: greater SN coherence was associated with higher levels of
      brooding in girls but not in boys. Further, in girls, brooding mediated the
      relation between SN coherence and internalizing symptoms. These results point to
      coherence within the SN as a potential neurodevelopmental marker of risk for
      depression in early pubertal girls.

PMID- 27633395
TI  - The Neural Development of 'Us and Them'.
AB  - Social groups aid human beings in several ways, ranging from the fulfillment of
      complex social and personal needs to the promotion of survival. Despite the
      importance of group affiliation to humans, there remains considerable variation
      in group preferences across development. In the current study, children and
      adolescents completed an explicit evaluation task of in-group and out-group
      members during functional neuroimaging. We found that participants displayed age
      related increases in bilateral amygdala, fusiform gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex
      (OFC) activation when viewing in-group relative to out-group faces. Moreover, we
      found an indirect effect of age on in-group favoritism via brain activation in
      the amygdala, fusiform and OFC. Finally, with age, youth showed greater
      functional coupling between the amygdala and several neural regions when viewing
      in-group relative to out-group peers, suggesting a role of the amygdala in
      directing attention to motivationally relevant cues. Our findings suggest that
      the motivational significance and processing of group membership undergoes
      important changes across development.

PMID- 27633397
TI  - Intermittent walking, but not standing, improves postprandial insulin and glucose
      relative to sustained sitting: A randomised cross-over study in inactive middle
      aged men.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Interrupting prolonged periods of sitting may improve postprandial
      insulin and glucose although it is unclear whether interruptions need to involve
      physical activity or simply a change in posture (from sitting to standing) to
      benefit adults without metabolic impairment. This study examined effects of
      interrupting sitting with intermittent walking, and intermittent standing on
      dynamic insulin and glucose responses in men without known metabolic impairment.
      DESIGN: A randomised three-arm, cross-over experimental study comprising three
      seven-hour days of sustained sitting. METHODS: Twenty-five inactive men (aged
      40.2+/-12.2 years) took part. The three interventions were; SIT-ONLY
      (uninterrupted sitting), SIT-STAND (sitting interrupted with 2min standing bouts
      every 20min) and SIT-WALK (sitting interrupted with 2min light-intensity walking
      bouts every 20min). An oral glucose tolerance test was administered at baseline
      and a standardised mixed test meal at hour three. Comparisons of Matsuda Index,
      and area under the curve (AUC) for insulin and glucose were made between
      interventions using generalised estimating equation models. RESULTS: Matsuda
      index was 16% higher (mean difference 1.2 [95%CI 0.1, 2.2] p=0.02), AUC for
      glucose 9% lower (-2.5mmol/L*7h [-3.7, -1.3mmol/L*7h] p<0.001) and AUC for
      insulin 21% lower (-546.5pmol/L*7h [-723.6, -369.3pmol/L*7h] p<0.001) in SIT-WALK
      compared to SIT-ONLY. There were no significant differences between SIT-STAND and
      SIT-ONLY in any main outcome measure. CONCLUSIONS: Interrupting sustained sitting
      with brief repeated bouts of light-intensity walking but not standing reduced
      insulin demand and improved glucose uptake during a simulated sedentary working
      day. The benefits of such minor behavioural changes could inform future workplace
      health interventions.

PMID- 27633396
TI  - Silencing of Histone Deacetylase 9 Expression in Podocytes Attenuates Kidney
      Injury in Diabetic Nephropathy.
AB  - Podocyte dysfunction is important in the onset and development of diabetic
      nephropathy (DN). Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been recently proved to play
      critical roles in the pathogenesis of DN. As one subtype of the class IIa HDACs,
      HDAC9 is capable to repress/de-repress their target genes in tumor, inflammation,
      atherosclerosis and metabolic diseases. In the present study, we investigate
      whether HDAC9 is involved in the pathophysiologic process of DN, especially the
      podocyte injury. Firstly, we explored the expression patterns and localization of
      HDAC9 and found that HDAC9 expression was significantly up-regulated in high
      glucose (HG)-treated mouse podocytes, as well as kidney tissues from diabetic
      db/db mice and patients with DN. Secondly, knockdown of HDAC9 in mouse podocytes
      significantly suppressed HG-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation,
      cell apoptosis and inflammation through JAK2/STAT3 pathway and reduced the
      podocytes injury by decreasing the expression levels of Nephrin and Podocin.
      Moreover, in diabetic db/db mice, silencing of HDAC9 attenuated the
      glomerulosclerosis, inflammatory cytokine release, podocyte apoptosis and renal
      injury. Collectively, these data indicate that HDAC9 may be involved in the
      process of DN, especially podocyte injury. Our study suggest that inhibition of
      HDAC9 may have a therapeutic potential in DN treatment.

PMID- 27633398
TI  - WP1066 exhibits antitumor efficacy in nasal-type natural killer/T-cell lymphoma
      cells through downregulation of the STAT3 signaling pathway.
AB  - Nasal-type natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (nasal NKTCL) is an aggressive
      hematological neoplasm with poor prognosis, and its incidence is higher in Asia
      than in Western countries. Increasing evidence suggests that aberrant activation
      of signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) is related to
      numerous malignancies. However, the involvement of STAT3 in the pathogenesis of
      nasal NKTCL is poorly understood. In this study, immunohistochemistry (IHC)
      showed that 21/28 (75.0%) nasal NKTCL tissues harbored constitutively expression
      of phospho-STAT3 (p-STAT3) which was positively correlated with the Ki-67 levels
      (P<0.05). Immunofluorescence (IF) also detected p-STAT3 expression in SNK6 cells
      (NKTCL cell line). Furthermore, WP1066 (a novel selective STAT3 inhibitor) was
      able to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of SNK6 cells. Moreover,
      western blot analysis and RT-PCR demonstrated that WP1066 downregulated the
      protein and mRNA expressions of the pro-survival molecules (including c-Myc,
      cyclin D1, and Bcl-2) in SNK6 cells. These results suggested that STAT3
      activation represents a potential target in nasal NKTCL. WP1066 may be a
      promising agent in antitumor therapy against nasal NKTCL.

PMID- 27633399
TI  - Second dose of PGE2 vaginal insert versus Foley transcervical balloon for
      induction of labor after failure of cervical ripening with PGE2 vaginal insert.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the success rate of induction of labor (IOL) using Foley
      transcervical balloon (FTB) versus prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) vaginal insert,
      following failure of cervical ripening with PGE2 vaginal insert. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of all pregnant women admitted for IOL with
      either FTB or PGE2 vaginal insert. Either second dose of PGE2 vaginal insert or
      FTB was used as a second line treatment after failure (not giving birth in 24 h
      from insertion) of first PGE2 vaginal insert. RESULTS: During the study period,
      1162 women were admitted for IOL. Failure was reported in 322/852 (37.8%) in the
      FTB versus 162/310 (52.2%) in the PGE2 group (p < 0.001). Among 162 patients
      treated with PGE2 as first line who did not deliver after 24 h, 14 had
      spontaneous rupture of membranes, 15 underwent stripping and 42 were in still in
      active labor. The remainder were allocated to either second trial of PGE2
      treatment (n = 58) or FTB (n = 33) with failure rate higher in the PGE2 group,
      not statistically significant (p = 0.23). CONCLUSION: IOL with FTB was not
      superior to PGE2 vaginal insert for IOL following failure of cervical ripening
      with PGE2 vaginal insert.

PMID- 27633401
TI  - [WHO internship: a specialist's dream come true].

PMID- 27633400
TI  - Potential of in vivo real-time gastric gas profiling: a pilot evaluation of heat
      stress and modulating dietary cinnamon effect in an animal model.
AB  - Gastroenterologists are still unable to differentiate between some of the most
      ordinary disorders of the gut and consequently patients are misdiagnosed. We have
      developed a swallowable gas sensor capsule for addressing this. The gases of the
      gut are the by-product of the fermentation processes during digestion, affected
      by the gut state and can consequently provide the needed information regarding
      the health of the gut. Here we present the first study on gas sensor capsules for
      revealing the effect of a medical supplement in an animal (pig) model. We
      characterise the real-time alterations of gastric-gas in response to
      environmental heat-stress and dietary cinnamon and use the gas profiles for
      understanding the bio-physiological changes. Under no heat-stress, feeding
      increases gastric CO2 concentration, while dietary cinnamon reduces it due to
      decrease in gastric acid and pepsin secretion. Alternatively, heat-stress leads
      to hyperventilation in pigs, which reduces CO2 concentration and with the
      cinnamon treatment, CO2 diminishes even more, resulting in health improvement
      outcomes. Overall, a good repeatability in gas profiles is also observed. The
      model demonstrates the strong potential of real-time gas profiler in providing
      new physiological information that will impact understanding of therapeutics,
      presenting a highly reliable device for monitoring/diagnostics of
      gastrointestinal disorders.

PMID- 27633403
TI  - Immediate Loading of Fixed Complete Denture Prosthesis Supported by 4-8 Implants
      Placed Using Guided Surgery: A 5-Year Prospective Study on 66 Patients with 356
      Implants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High primary implant stability is considered one of the main factors
      necessary for achieving predictable treatment outcomes with immediately loaded
      implant-supported screw-retained fixed complete denture prosthesis (FCDP).
      PURPOSE: To evaluate the 5-year clinical and radiographic outcomes of immediately
      loaded implants placed in edentulous patients using computer-assisted template
      guided surgery to support a FCDP. MATERIALS & METHODS: Patients in need to be
      restored with a FCDP in the mandible or maxilla were included in this prospective
      study/ and treated using computer-assisted template-guided surgery. Implant sites
      were prepared in order to achieve an insertion torque ranging between 35-45 Ncm
      in the mandible and 45-55 Ncm in the maxilla. A prefabricated screw-retained
      provisional prosthesis was delivered the day of the surgery. Outcomes were:
      implant and prosthesis cumulative survival rate (CSR), any complications, and
      peri-implant marginal bone loss (MBL). RESULTS: Sixty-six patients received 356
      implants to support 68 FCDPs. Each patient received 4-8 implants. Seven implants
      failed in six patients, resulting in a CSR of 98.1%. Two definitive prostheses
      failed resulting in CSR of 97.1%. Mean MBL of 1.62 +/- 0.41 mm was reported at
      the 5-year follow-up. Five implants (1.4%) showed a mean mesio-distal peri
      implant bone loss greater than 3.0 mm and received nonsurgical therapy.
      CONCLUSIONS: immediately loaded implants placed in edentulous patients using
      computer-assisted template-guided surgery to support a FCDP is a valid treatment
      concept in the medium term follow-up, for edentulous patients.

PMID- 27633404
TI  - Gene-Environment Interaction in the Intergenerational Transmission of Asthma.
AB  - Researchers have found strong linkages between parent and child health, but the
      mechanisms underlying intergenerational health transmission are not well
      understood. This paper investigates how the importance of genetic health
      transmission mechanisms varies by environmental conditions in the case of
      pediatric asthma, the single most common chronic health condition among American
      children. Using a sample that includes approximately 2000 adoptees and a large
      number of similar biological families, I find that the relative importance of
      genetic transmission differs strongly by socioeconomic status (SES). In high SES
      families, parent-child asthma associations are approximately 75% weaker among
      adoptees than biological children, suggesting a dominant role for genetic
      transmission. In lower SES families, parent-child asthma associations are
      virtually identical across biological and adoptive children, suggesting a
      negligible role for genetic transmission. A potential interpretation of this
      difference is that as environmental conditions affecting asthma improve among
      higher SES children, an increasingly large share of asthma variation is due to
      genetics. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633402
TI  - Comparison of research methods for functional characterization of insect
      olfactory receptors.
AB  - Insect olfactory receptors (ORs) in the peripheral olfactory system play an
      important role detecting elements of information from the environment. At
      present, various approaches are used for deorphanizing of ORs in insect. In this
      study, we compared methods for functional analysis of ORs in vitro and in vivo
      taking the candidate pheromone receptor OR13 of Helicoverpa assulta (HassOR13) as
      the object of our experiments. We found that the natural system was more
      sensitive than those utilizing transgenic Drosophila. The two-electrode voltage
      clamp recording is more suitable for functional screening of large numbers of
      ORs, while the in vivo transgenic Drosophila system could prove more accurate to
      further validate the function of a specific OR. We also found that, among the
      different solvents used to dissolve pheromones and odorants, hexane offered good
      reproducibility and high sensitivity. Finally, the function of ORs was indirectly
      confirmed in transgenic Drosophila, showing that odor-activation of ORs
      expressing olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) can mediate behavioral choices. In
      summary, our results compare advantages and drawbacks of different approaches,
      thus helping in the choice of the method most suitable, in each specific
      situation, for deorphanizing insect ORs.

PMID- 27633405
TI  - Development of Ayurveda - Tradition to trend.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ayurveda entails a scientific tradition of
      harmonious living and its origin can be traced from ancient knowledge in Rigveda
      and Atharvaveda. Ayurveda is a traditional healthcare system of Indian medicine
      since ancient times. Several Ayurvedic medicines have been exploiting for
      treatment and management of various diseases in human beings. The several drugs
      have been developed and practiced from Ayurveda since ancient time to modern
      practice as 'tradition to trend'. The potential of Ayurvedic medicine needs to be
      explored further with modern scientific validation approaches for better
      therapeutic leads. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study was aimed to explore the
      various aspects of Ayurveda and inspired drug discovery approaches for its
      promotion and development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have reviewed all the
      literature related to the history and application of Ayurvedic herbs. Various
      aspects for the quality control, standardization, chemo-profiling, and metabolite
      fingerprinting for quality evaluation of Ayurvedic drugs. The development of
      Ayurvedic drugs is gaining momentum with the perspectives of safety, efficacy and
      quality for promotion and management of human health. Scientific documentation,
      process validation and several others significant parameters are key points,
      which can ensure the quality, safety and effectiveness of Ayurvedic drugs.
      RESULTS: The present review highlights on the major goal of Ayurveda and their
      significant role in healthcare system. Ayurveda deals with several classical
      formulations including arka, asavas, aristas, churna, taila, vati, gutika, bhasma
      etc. There are several lead molecules that have been developed from the Ayurvedic
      herbs, which have various significant therapeutic activities. Chemo-profiling of
      Ayurvedic drug is essential in order to assess the quality of products. It deals
      with bioactive compound quantification, spurious and allied drug determination,
      chromatographic fingerprinting, standardization, stability and quality
      consistency of Ayurvedic products. CONCLUSIONS: Scientific validation and the
      documentation of Ayurvedic drugs are very essential for its quality evaluation
      and global acceptance. Therapeutic efficacy of Ayurvedic herbs may be enhanced
      with high quality, which can be achieved by identity, purity, safety, drug
      content, physical and biological properties. Ayurvedic medicines need be explored
      with the modern scientific approaches for its validation. Therefore, an attempt
      has been made in the present review to highlight the crucial aspects that need to
      be considered for the promotion and development of Ayurvedic medicine.

PMID- 27633406
TI  - Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of standardized extract of
      polymethoxyflavones from Ageratum conyzoides.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ageratum conyzoides L. is a plant widely used in
      traditional medicine in tropical and subtropical regions of the world due to its
      anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antibacterial properties. AIM OF THE
      STUDY: To characterize the standardized extract of polymethoxyflavones (SEPAc)
      from the plant and evaluate its antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The SEPAc purified from the ethanol extract of the plant
      leaves was characterized by high resolution mass spectrometry and the
      methoxyflavones were quantified by a validated UPLC-PDA method. The
      antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the SEPAc were evaluated
      after oral administration on the acute nocifensive behavior of mice induced by
      formalin, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin
      1beta (IL-1beta)) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in mice. RESULTS:
      Qualitative analyses revealed the presence of seven methoxyflavones in the SEPAc,
      also a simple UPLC-PDA method was developed and validated for the quantification
      of 5,6,7,3',4',5'-hexametoxyflavone; nobiletin; 5'-methoxynobiletin and
      eupalestin, major compounds in the extract. The SEPAc exhibited antinociceptive
      and anti-inflammatory activities in both formalin phases, with significant
      inhibition of the paw edema formation and significant reduction of the
      nocifensive response induced by an intraplantar injection of PGE2 and intrathecal
      injection of interleukin-1beta. CONCLUSIONS: The SEPAc exhibited significant
      antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects. These results provided scientific
      suggestion of its potential as a source of new medicines to treat inflammatory
      diseases, such rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 27633408
TI  - Laura Esserman and Ian Thompson Discuss Strategies for Screening and Treatment of
      Early-Stage Cancers, and How Clinicians Can Learn From Each Other's Experiences.

PMID- 27633407
TI  - The endocannabinoid anandamide causes endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in
      human mesenteric arteries.
AB  - The endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) causes vasorelaxation in animal studies.
      Although circulating AEA levels are increased in many pathologies, little is
      known about its vascular effects in humans. The aim of this work was to
      characterise the effects of AEA in human arteries. Ethical approval was granted
      to obtain mesenteric arteries from patients (n=31) undergoing bowel resection.
      Wire myography was used to probe the effects and mechanisms of action of AEA. RT
      PCR was used to confirm the presence of receptor mRNA in human aortic endothelial
      cells (HAECs) and intracellular signalling proteins were measured using multiplex
      technology. AEA caused vasorelaxation of precontracted human mesenteric arteries
      with an Rmax of ~30%. A synthetic CB1 agonist (CP55940) caused greater
      vasorelaxation (Rmax ~60%) while a CB2 receptor agonist (HU308) had no effect on
      vascular tone. AEA-induced vasorelaxation was inhibited by removing the
      endothelium, inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, antagonising the CB1
      receptor and antagonising the proposed novel endothelial cannabinoid receptor
      (CBe). AEA-induced vasorelaxation was not affected by CB2 antagonism, by
      depleting sensory neurotransmitters, or inhibiting cyclooxygenase activity. RT
      PCR showed CB1 but not CB2 receptors were present in HAECs, and AEA and CP55940
      had similar profiles in HAECs (increased phosphorylation of JNK, NFkappaB, ERK,
      Akt, p70s6K, STAT3 and STAT5). Post hoc analysis of the data set showed that
      overweight patients and those taking paracetamol had reduced vasorelaxant
      responses to AEA. These data show that AEA causes moderate endothelium-dependent,
      NO-dependent vasorelaxation in human mesenteric arteries via activation of CB1
      receptors.

PMID- 27633409
TI  - What's New in Genetic Testing for Cancer Susceptibility?
AB  - The advent of next-generation sequencing, and its transition further into the
      clinic with the US Food and Drug Administration approval of a cystic fibrosis
      assay in 2013, have increased the speed and reduced the cost of DNA sequencing.
      Coupled with a historic ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that
      human genes are not patentable, these events have caused a seismic shift in
      genetic testing in clinical medicine. More labs are offering genetic testing
      services; more multigene panels are available for gene testing; more genes and
      gene mutations are being identified; and more variants of uncertain significance,
      which may or may not be clinically actionable, have been found. All these
      factors, taken together, are increasing the complexity of clinical management.
      While these developments have led to a greater interest in genetic testing, risk
      assessment, and large-scale population screening, they also present unique
      challenges. The dilemma for clinicians is how best to understand and manage this
      rapidly growing body of information to improve patient care. With millions of
      genetic variants of potential clinical significance and thousands of genes
      associated with rare but well-established genetic conditions, the complexities of
      genetic data management clearly will require improved computerized clinical
      decision support tools, as opposed to continued reliance on traditional rote,
      memory-based medicine.

PMID- 27633410
TI  - Ready, Fire, Aim: Addressing Issues Associated With Multigene Panel Testing for
      Cancer Susceptibility.

PMID- 27633411
TI  - Third-Line Treatment Options for Kidney Cancer.

PMID- 27633414
TI  - Data on Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Encumbered by Opinion.

PMID- 27633413
TI  - Current Trends in the Management of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.
AB  - Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), once a rare entity, now comprises up to 30% of
      newly diagnosed breast cancers detected on mammography. It is now appreciated as
      a widely heterogeneous disease, with indolent lesions of minimal clinical
      significance on one end of the spectrum, and aggressive lesions with malignant
      invasive potential on the other. Therefore, the traditional guideline-concordant
      approach to treatment with surgery, radiation, and endocrine therapy may lead to
      overtreatment of certain patients, and insufficient treatment of others. Risk
      assessment using clinical and molecular prognostic tools is being investigated,
      addressing the possibility of delineating subpopulations that may be treated with
      more tailored therapy. This review will summarize the current trends in the
      diagnosis and management of DCIS and will highlight ongoing trials that are
      shaping future management of this entity.

PMID- 27633412
TI  - ACR Appropriateness Criteria(r) Adjuvant Management of Early-Stage Endometrial
      Cancer.
AB  - These consensus guidelines on adjuvant radiotherapy for early-stage endometrial
      cancer were developed from an expert panel convened by the American College of
      Radiology. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria(r) are
      evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed
      annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and
      revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer
      reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies
      (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method; and Grading of Recommendations Assessment,
      Development, and Evaluation, or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and
      treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where
      evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available
      evidence to recommend imaging or treatment. After a review of the published
      literature, the panel voted on three variants to establish best practices for the
      utilization of imaging, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy after primary surgery for
      early-stage endometrial cancer.

PMID- 27633415
TI  - Rising PSA Level in an Anxious Postprostatectomy Patient.

PMID- 27633416
TI  - When to Use Prophylactic Antibiotics in Neutropenic Patients.

PMID- 27633417
TI  - Next Generation of Targeted Molecules for Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas: Small-Molecule
      Inhibitors of Intracellular Targets and Signaling Pathways.
AB  - Advances in our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of B-cell lymphoma
      have guided the development of targeted therapies that disrupt aberrant signaling
      pathways important for communication within lymphoma cells and for their
      interactions with the tumor microenvironment. This has led to unprecedented
      therapeutic progress, with biologic agents that have begun to transform the care
      of patients with lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This review discusses
      the mechanisms of action, clinical development, and emerging applications of
      small-molecule inhibitors that target B-cell receptor signaling pathways, B-cell
      lymphoma-2 inhibitors, selective inhibitors of nuclear export, and epigenetic
      modifiers.

PMID- 27633418
TI  - How Do Targeted Therapies Change the Management of Indolent Lymphomas?

PMID- 27633420
TI  - Financing for health: where there's a will....

PMID- 27633421
TI  - Antimicrobial resistance-a threat to neonate survival.

PMID- 27633419
TI  - Actual 10-year survivors following resection of adrenocortical carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy
      with limited therapeutic options beyond surgical resection. The characteristics
      of actual long-term survivors following surgical resection for ACC have not been
      previously reported. METHOD: Patients who underwent resection for ACC at one of
      13 academic institutions participating in the US Adrenocortical Carcinoma Group
      from 1993 to 2014 were analyzed. Patients were stratified into four groups: early
      mortality (died within 2 years), late mortality (died within 2-5 years), actual 5
      year survivor (survived at least 5 years), and actual 10-year survivor (survived
      at least 10 years). Patients with less than 5 years of follow-up were excluded.
      RESULTS: Among the 180 patients available for analysis, there were 49 actual 5
      year survivors (27%) and 12 actual 10-year survivors (7%). Patients who
      experienced early mortality had higher rates of cortisol-secreting tumors, nodal
      metastasis, synchronous distant metastasis, and R1 or R2 resections (all P <
      0.05). The need for multi-visceral resection, perioperative blood transfusion,
      and adjuvant therapy correlated with early mortality. However, nodal involvement,
      distant metastasis, and R1 resection did not preclude patients from becoming
      actual 10-year survivors. Ten of twelve actual 10-year survivors were women, and
      of the seven 10-year survivors who experienced disease recurrence, five had
      undergone repeat surgery to resect the recurrence. CONCLUSION: Surgery for ACC
      can offer a 1 in 4 chance of actual 5-year survival and a 1 in 15 chance of
      actual 10-year survival. Long-term survival was often achieved with repeat
      resection for local or distant recurrence, further underscoring the important
      role of surgery in managing patients with ACC. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:971-976.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633422
TI  - Pregnancy outcomes in Liberian women who conceived after recovery from Ebola
      virus disease.

PMID- 27633424
TI  - Progress in south Asia after the launch of the Global Every Newborn Action Plan.

PMID- 27633423
TI  - Avoiding catastrophes: seeking synergies among the public health, environmental
      protection, and human security sectors.

PMID- 27633425
TI  - Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights of young women at risk of
      HIV.

PMID- 27633426
TI  - Zika virus: ethics preparedness for old and new challenges.

PMID- 27633428
TI  - Aftershocks of scrub typhus in Nepal - Author's reply.

PMID- 27633427
TI  - Aftershocks of scrub typhus in Nepal.

PMID- 27633429
TI  - Responsible use of fixed-dose combination antibiotics in India.

PMID- 27633430
TI  - Effect of package insert language on health-care providers' perceptions of
      influenza vaccination safety during pregnancy.

PMID- 27633431
TI  - Will there be enough jobs for trained global health professionals?

PMID- 27633432
TI  - Mapping university global health partnerships.

PMID- 27633434
TI  - Disseminating Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment Innovations: Why Nurses Must Take
      Leadership.

PMID- 27633433
TI  - Characterisation and antimicrobial resistance of sepsis pathogens in neonates
      born in tertiary care centres in Delhi, India: a cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sepsis is one of the most common causes of neonatal deaths globally.
      Most sepsis-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries, where
      the epidemiology of neonatal sepsis remains poorly understood. Most of these
      countries lack proper surveillance networks, hampering accurate assessment of the
      burden of sepsis, implementation of preventive measures, and investment in
      research. We report results of neonates born in hospital from a multicentre
      collaboration on neonatal sepsis. METHODS: In this cohort study, dedicated
      research teams prospectively followed up neonates born in one of three tertiary
      care centres in Delhi, India (Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College, Maulana Azad
      Medical College, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences [coordinating
      centre]) and subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit. Neonates were
      followed up daily until discharge or death. On clinical suspicion, neonates
      underwent sepsis work-up including blood cultures. The isolated organisms were
      identified and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. We defined Gram-negative
      isolates resistant to any three of five antibiotic classes (extended-spectrum
      cephalosporins, carbapenems, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, and piperacillin
      tazobactam) as multidrug resistant. FINDINGS: 13 530 neonates of 88 636
      livebirths were enrolled between July 18, 2011, and Feb 28, 2014. The incidence
      of total sepsis was 14.3% (95% CI 13.8-14.9) and of culture-positive sepsis was
      6.2% (5.8-6.6). Nearly two-thirds of total episodes occurred at or before 72 h of
      life (defined as early onset; 1351 [83%] of 1980). Two-thirds (645 [64%]) of 1005
      isolates were Gram-negative including, Acinetobacter spp (22%), Klebsiella spp
      (17%), and Escherichia coli (14%). The pathogen mix in early-onset sepsis did not
      differ from that of late-onset sepsis (ie, after 72 h). High rates of multidrug
      resistance were observed in Acinetobacter spp (181/222, 82%), Klebsiella spp
      (91/169, 54%), and Escherichia coli (52/137, 38%) isolates. Meticillin resistance
      prevailed in 61% (85/140) of coagulase-negative staphylococci and 38% (43/114) of
      Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Nearly a quarter of the deaths were attributable
      to sepsis. The population-attributable risks of mortality were 8.6% in culture
      negative sepsis, 15.7% in culture-positive sepsis by multidrug-resistant
      organisms, and 12.0% in culture-positive sepsis by non-multidrug-resistant
      organisms. INTERPRETATION: The high incidence of sepsis and alarming degree of
      antimicrobial resistance among pathogens in neonates born in tertiary hospitals
      underscore the need to understand the pathogenesis of early-onset sepsis and to
      devise measures to prevent it in low-income and middle-income countries. FUNDING:
      Indian Council of Medical Research.

PMID- 27633435
TI  - Feelings Thermometer: An Early Intervention Scale for Seclusion/Restraint
      Reduction Among Children and Adolescents in Residential Psychiatric Care.
AB  - PROBLEM: Restraints and/or seclusions (R/S) are events that have the potential to
      cause patient injury, staff injury, re-traumatization, and even death. There is a
      gap in available data regarding alternative strategies for reducing R/S. METHOD:
      A 140-bed children and adolescent residential treatment hospital implemented a
      "Feelings Thermometer Scale" on each unit. The "Feelings Thermometer" allowed the
      resident to point to a face on the scale to rate how they were feeling from
      "Cool" to "On Fire!" Once the resident identified with a feeling and rating,
      options were offered for alternative cool down locations corresponding to each
      level of escalation. Data were analyzed 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after
      implementation of the "Feelings Thermometer." FINDINGS: There were 129 R/S during
      the 6-week period prior to the implementation of the "Feelings Thermometer."
      There were a total of 91 R/S during the 6-week period postimplementation of the
      "Feelings Thermometer." Overall, a 29.1% decrease in R/S was experienced
      throughout the hospital. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that
      further investigation may be warranted to promote alternative R/S reduction
      strategies.

PMID- 27633436
TI  - Identifying Genetic Variants in Adolescents With Oppositional Defiant Disorders
      and/or Conduct Disorders: A Brief Report.
AB  - PROBLEM: To add to diversity in our state biobank, we explored the feasibility of
      collecting genetic material from adolescents with oppositional defiant disorder
      (ODD) and/or conduct disorder (CD) and their family members. We also
      preliminarily explored genetic factors associated with ODD and/or CD by comparing
      participant data to 1000 Genome Project data on minor allele frequencies.
      METHODS: Adolescents with ODD and/or CD and family members provided saliva
      samples for genetic testing. We evaluated five single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs), respectively, in the dopamine receptor subtype D2, dopamine receptor
      subtype D3, dopamine beta-hydroxylase, dopamine transporter gene SLC6A3, and
      alpha-2-adrenergic receptor genes. Fisher's exact tests were used to examine
      differences in minor allele frequencies for each SNP. FINDINGS: Thirty-one viable
      samples were genotyped from 15 affected adolescents and 16 unaffected family
      members; the 60% consent rate reflected high feasibility. Compared with the 1000
      Genome Project frequencies, affected adolescents had higher frequencies of the
      genetic variant in the dopamine receptor subtype D2 (p = .05) and dopamine beta
      hydroxylase (p = 0.03), but not of the other three SNPs examined. CONCLUSIONS:
      Collecting genetic materials from an ethnically diverse sample of affected
      adolescents and their families is feasible. We offer practical suggestions to
      strengthen the integrity of future research studies.

PMID- 27633437
TI  - Attention to Detail by Single-cell Sequencing.

PMID- 27633438
TI  - A systematic examination of preoperative surgery warm-up routines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent evidence indicates that a preoperative warm-up is a
      potentially useful tool in facilitating performance. But what factors drive such
      improvements and how should a warm-up be implemented? METHODS: In order to
      address these issues, we adopted a two-pronged approach: (1) we conducted a
      systematic review of the literature to identify existing studies utilising
      preoperative simulation techniques; (2) we performed task analysis to identify
      the constituent parts of effective warm-ups. We identified five randomised
      control trials, four randomised cross-over trials and four case series. The
      majority of these studies reviewed surgical performance following preoperative
      simulation relative to performance without simulation. RESULTS: Four studies
      reported outcome measures in real patients and the remainder reported simulated
      outcome measures. All but one of the studies found that preoperative simulation
      improves operative outcomes-but this improvement was not found across all
      measured parameters. While the reviewed studies had a number of methodological
      issues, the global data indicate that preoperative simulation has substantial
      potential to improve surgical performance. Analysis of the task characteristics
      of successful interventions indicated that the majority of these studies employed
      warm-ups that focused on the visual motor elements of surgery. However, there was
      no theoretical or empirical basis to inform the design of the intervention in any
      of these studies. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need for a more rigorous
      approach to the development of "warm-up" routines if the potential value of
      preoperative simulation is to be understood and realised. We propose that such
      interventions need to be grounded in theory and empirical evidence on human motor
      performance.

PMID- 27633439
TI  - Outcome, comorbidity, hospitalization and 30-day mortality after closure of acute
      perforations and postoperative anastomotic leaks by the over-the-scope clip
      (OTSC) in an unselected cohort of patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute gastrointestinal (GI) wall defects contain a high risk of
      morbidity and mortality and may be closed endoscopically by a full-thickness over
      the-scope clip (OTSC). METHODS: Unselected consecutive patients presenting with
      acute non-surgical perforations or postoperative anastomotic leaks or
      perforations underwent attempted OTSC placement as primary closure method after
      interdisciplinary consensus in three tertiary referral centres. Their clinical
      data and intervention characteristics were evaluated in an intention to treat
      analysis during a 24-month period to assess closure rates, 30-day mortality,
      hospitalization and comorbidity. RESULTS: In total, 34 patients (16 females, 18
      males, 69.5 years) were included with 22 non-surgical perforations and 12
      postoperative anastomotic leaks or perforations. Definitive closure of the
      perforations and leaks was achieved in 26/34 patients (76.5 %). Successful
      closure of the GI wall defect resulted in a significantly shorter hospital stay
      (8 days, p = 0.03) and was significantly correlated with comorbidity (r = 0.56, p
      = 0.005). In the group with OTSC failure, hospitalization was 18 days and 6 of 8
      patients (75 %) required immediate surgery. Three deaths occurred in the group
      with successful OTSC closure due to comorbidity, while one death in the OTSC
      failure group was related to a refractory perforation. Favourable indications and
      locations for a successful OTSC procedure were identified as PEG complications,
      endoscopic or postoperative leaks of stomach, colon or rectum, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: In unselected patients, OTSC was effective for closure of acute GI
      wall defects in more than 75 % of all patients. Clinical success and short
      hospitalization were best achieved in patients without comorbidity, but closure
      of the perforation or the anastomotic leak was found to be not the only parameter
      relevant for patient outcome and mortality.

PMID- 27633440
TI  - Safety and efficacy of POEM for treatment of achalasia: a systematic review of
      the literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a novel intervention for the
      treatment of achalasia, which combines the advantages of endoscopic access and
      myotomy. The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review of the
      literature to evaluate the efficacy and safety of POEM. METHODS: The systematic
      review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Evidence-Based Medicine
      Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid MEDLINE (R)
      including in-process and non-indexed citations were searched for POEM studies
      using the keywords: esophageal achalasia, POEM, endoscopy, natural orifice
      surgery, laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM), and related terms. Eckardt score,
      lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, and reported complications were the
      main outcomes. Two authors reviewed the search result independently. A third
      reviewer resolved all disagreements. Data abstraction was pilot-tested and
      approved by all authors. Data were examined for clinical, methodological, and
      statistical heterogeneity with the aim of determining whether evidence synthesis
      using meta- analysis was possible. RESULTS: The search strategy retrieved 2894
      citations. After removing duplicates and applying the exclusion criteria, 54
      studies were selected for full-text review of which a total of 19 studies were
      considered eligible for further analysis. There were 10 retrospective and 9
      prospective studies, including 1299 POEM procedures. No randomized control trial
      (RCT) was identified. Overall, the pre- and post-POEM Eckardt scores and LES
      pressure were significantly different. The most frequently reported complications
      were mucosal perforation, subcutaneous emphysema, pneumoperitoneum, pneumothorax,
      pneumomediastinum, pleural effusion, and pneumonia. The median follow-up was 13
      months (range 3-24). CONCLUSION: POEM is a safe and effective alternative for the
      treatment of achalasia. However, only short-term follow-up data compared with LHM
      are available. RCTs and long-term follow-up studies are needed to establish the
      efficacy and safety of POEM in the management of patients with achalasia.

PMID- 27633442
TI  - The Niemann-Pick C1 Inhibitor NP3.47 Enhances Gene Silencing Potency of Lipid
      Nanoparticles Containing siRNA.
AB  - The therapeutic applications of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations of small
      interfering RNA (siRNA), are hampered by inefficient delivery of encapsulated
      siRNA to the cytoplasm following endocytosis. Recent work has shown that up to
      70% of endocytosed LNP-siRNA particles are recycled to the extracellular medium
      and thus cannot contribute to gene silencing. Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1) is a
      late endosomal/lysosomal membrane protein required for efficient extracellular
      recycling of endosomal contents. Here we assess the influence of NP3.47, a
      putative small molecule inhibitor of NPC1, on the gene silencing potency of LNP
      siRNA systems in vitro. Intracellular uptake and colocalization studies revealed
      that the presence of NP3.47 caused threefold or higher increases in accumulation
      of LNP-siRNA in late endosomes/lysosomes as compared with controls in a variety
      of cell lines. The gene silencing potency of LNP siRNA was enhanced up to
      fourfold in the presence of NP3.47. Mechanisms of action studies are consistent
      with the proposal that NP3.47 acts to inhibit NPC1. Our findings suggest that the
      pharmacological inhibition of NPC1 is an attractive strategy to enhance the
      therapeutic efficacy of LNP-siRNA by trapping LNP-siRNA in late endosomes,
      thereby increasing opportunities for endosomal escape.

PMID- 27633441
TI  - Intracellular Delivery of Anti-pPKCtheta (Thr538) via Protein Transduction Domain
      Mimics for Immunomodulation.
AB  - Targeting cellular proteins with antibodies, to better understand cellular
      signaling pathways in the context of disease modulation, is a fast-growing area
      of investigation. Humanized antibodies are increasingly gaining attention for
      their therapeutic potential, but the collection of cellular targets is limited to
      those secreted from cells or expressed on the cell surface. This approach leaves
      a wealth of intracellular proteins unexplored as putative targets for antibody
      binding. Protein kinase Ctheta (PKCtheta) is essential to T cell activation,
      proliferation, and differentiation, and its phosphorylation at specific residues
      is required for its activity. Here we report on the design, synthesis, and
      characterization of a protein transduction domain mimic capable of efficiently
      delivering an antibody against phosphorylated PKCtheta (Thr538) into human
      peripheral mononuclear blood cells and altering expression of downstream
      indicators of T cell activation and differentiation. We used a humanized,
      lymphocyte transfer model of graft-versus-host disease, to evaluate the
      durability of protein transduction domain mimic:Anti-pPKCtheta modulation, when
      delivered into human peripheral mononuclear blood cells ex vivo. We demonstrate
      that protein transduction domain mimic:Antibody complexes can be readily
      introduced with high efficacy into hard-to-transfect human peripheral mononuclear
      blood cells, eliciting a biological response sufficient to alter disease
      progression. Thus, protein transduction domain mimic:Antibody delivery may
      represent an efficient ex vivo approach to manipulating cellular responses by
      targeting intracellular proteins.

PMID- 27633443
TI  - Linc00152 Functions as a Competing Endogenous RNA to Confer Oxaliplatin
      Resistance and Holds Prognostic Values in Colon Cancer.
AB  - Long noncoding RNAs act as crucial regulators in plenty of human cancers, yet
      their potential roles and molecular mechanisms in chemoresistance are poorly
      understood. This study showed that a novel lncRNA, long intergenic noncoding RNA
      152 (Linc00152 ), promoted tumor progression and conferred resistance to
      oxaliplatin (L-OHP)-induced apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. It antagonized
      chemosensitivity through acting as a competing endogenous RNA to modulate the
      expression of miR-193a-3p, and then erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 4 (ERBB4).
      Knockdown of ERBB4 in colon cancer cells decreased AKT phosphorylation, which
      resulted in decreased L-OHP resistance. Consistent with above findings, the
      specific AKT signaling inhibitor and activator were used, respectively, which
      demonstrated that Linc00152 contributed to L-OHP resistance at least partly
      through activating AKT pathway. Further studies indicated that Linc00152 was
      increased and appeared to be an independent prognostic factor for decreased
      survival and increased disease recurrence in stage II and III colon cancer
      patients undergoing L-OHP-based chemotherapy after surgery. Collectively, our
      findings established Linc00152 as a candidate prognostic indicator of outcome and
      drug responsiveness in colon cancer patients, and the involvement of competing
      endogenous RNAs mechanism in Linc00152/miR-193a-3p/ERBB4/AKT signaling axis may
      provide a novel choice in the investigation of drug resistance.

PMID- 27633444
TI  - Remodeling of the Extracellular Matrix by Endothelial Cell-Targeting siRNA
      Improves the EPR-Based Delivery of 100 nm Particles.
AB  - A number of nano drug delivery systems have recently been developed for cancer
      treatment, most of which are based on the enhanced permeability and retention
      effect. The advantages of the enhanced permeability and retention effect can be
      attributed to immature vasculature. Herein we evaluated the intratumoral
      distribution of lipid nanoparticles when the VEGF receptor 2 on tumor endothelial
      cells was inhibited by liposomal siRNA. VEGF receptor 2 inhibition resulted in an
      increase in intratumoral distribution and therapeutic efficacy despite the
      maturation of the tumor vasculature. A small molecule inhibitor against matrix
      metalloproteinase and macrophage depletion cancelled the improvement in the
      distribution of the lipid nanoparticles, suggesting that remodeling of tumor
      microenvironment played a role in the facilitated intratumoral distribution via
      the down-regulation of VEGF receptor 2. Accordingly, our results suggest that the
      enhanced permeability and retention effect is dependent, not only on the
      structure of the tumor vasculature, but also on the dynamics of the tumor
      microenvironment including extracellular matrix remodeling. Regulating the tumor
      microenvironment and the extracellular matrix by delivering tumor endothelial
      cell-targeting siRNA could potentiate the enhanced permeability and retention
      effect-based strategy.

PMID- 27633445
TI  - A Study of Heterogeneous Catalysis by Nanoparticle-Embedded Paper-Spray
      Ionization Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - We have developed nanoparticle-embedded paper-spray mass spectrometry for
      studying three types of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions: 1) Palladium
      nanoparticle-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions, 2) palladium- or silver
      nanoparticle-catalyzed 4-nitrophenol reduction, and 3) gold-nanoparticle
      catalyzed glucose oxidation. These reactions were almost instantaneous on the
      nanocatalyst-embedded paper, which subsequently transferred the transient
      intermediates and products to a mass spectrometer for their detection. This in
      situ method of capturing transient intermediates and products from heterogeneous
      catalysis is highly promising for investigating the mechanism of catalysis and
      rapidly screening catalytic activity under ambient conditions.

PMID- 27633446
TI  - Brokenheartedness and accountability.
AB  - In this article, I reflect on relationship and movement building across power
      lines that I have experienced or witnessed in and outside of academia. I argue
      that the "anesthetic aesthetic" of whiteness, as illuminated by Mab Segrest,
      compels those like myself who are trained to be white to distance ourselves from
      the pain and suffering of others (as well as our own) in order to accept and
      assimilate into the hegemonic normative systems of power. I offer stories from my
      experience of feminist and queer organizing that demonstrate how this distancing
      looks and feels, and places of where it might be transformed. Then, I turn to
      healing justice as a praxis that creates communal spaces for naming, recognizing,
      and healing from violence, spaces to share our brokenheartedness, and to serve as
      a way of breaking up the gravitational pulls of white supremacist patriarchy.

PMID- 27633447
TI  - Expectations and responsibilities regarding the sale of complementary medicines
      in pharmacies: perspectives of consumers and pharmacy support staff.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most sales of complementary medicines within pharmacies are conducted
      by pharmacy support staff. The absence of rigorous evidence for the effectiveness
      of many complementary medicines raises a number of ethical questions regarding
      the sale of complementary medicines in pharmacies. AIM: Explore (1) what
      consumers expect from pharmacists/pharmacies with regard to the sale of
      complementary medicines, and (2) how pharmacy support staff perceive their
      responsibilities when selling complementary medicines. METHODS: One-on-one semi
      structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of pharmacy
      support staff and consumers in pharmacies in Brisbane. Consumers were asked to
      describe their expectations when purchasing complementary medicines. Pharmacy
      support staff were asked to describe their responsibilities when selling
      complementary medicines. Interviews were conducted and analysed using the
      techniques developed within Grounded Theory. KEY FINDINGS: Thirty-three consumers
      were recruited from three pharmacies. Consumers described complementary medicine
      use as a personal health choice. Consumer expectations on the pharmacist
      included: select the right product for the right person, expert product knowledge
      and maintaining a wide range of good quality stock. Twenty pharmacy support staff
      were recruited from four pharmacies. Pharmacy support staff employed processes to
      ensure consumers receive the right product for the right person. Pharmacy support
      staff expressed a commitment to aiding consumers, but few evaluated the
      reliability of effectiveness claims regarding complementary medicines.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists need to respect the personal health choices of consumers
      while also putting procedures in place to ensure safe and appropriate use of
      complementary medicines. This includes providing appropriate support to pharmacy
      support staff.

PMID- 27633448
TI  - Open versus endoscopic in situ decompression in cubital tunnel syndrome: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the
      clinical efficacy and safety between open and endoscopic in situ decompression
      surgery methods for cubital tunnel syndrome (CuTS). METHODS: PubMed, Medline,
      Embase, Cochrane Library and CNKI were searched for eligible studies. The data
      were extracted by two of the coauthors (WL, BYF) independently and were analyzed
      using RevMan statistical software, version 5.1. Relative risks (RRs) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias
      Tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale were used to assess the risk of bias.
      RESULTS: Seven studies were included for systematic review, and six studies were
      included for meta-analysis. The CuTS patients received open in situ decompression
      (OISD) or endoscopic in situ decompression (EISD). A pooled analysis of
      postoperative Bishop score showed that the difference was not statistically
      significant between the EISD group and the OISD group (RR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.88
      1.12, P = 0.88). The overall estimate of postoperative satisfaction between the
      EISD group and the OISD group was not found to be significant (RR = 0.98, 95% CI
      = 0.89-1.08, P = 0.70). The overall estimate of complications (RR = 0.88, 95% CI
      = 0.24-3.29, P = 0.85) suggested that the difference was not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: EISD and OISD for treating CuTS have equivalent
      efficacy for postoperative clinical improvement, whereas the incidences of
      complications of endoscopic surgical procedure were also same as those with the
      open surgical procedure. In situ decompression (especially EISD, with minor
      intraoperative trauma) could be treated as a valuable alternative to treat CuTS.

PMID- 27633449
TI  - Clinical audit system as a quality improvement tool in the management of breast
      cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Quality improvement is recognized as a major factor that can
      transform healthcare management. This study is a clinical audit that aims at
      analysing treatment time as a quality indicator and explores the role of setting
      a target treatment time on reducing treatment delays. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All
      newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer between September 2011 and August
      2013 were included in the study. Clinical care pathway for breast cancer patients
      was standardized and the timeliness of care at each step of the pathway was
      calculated. Data collection was spread over three phases, baseline, audit cycle
      I, and audit cycle II. Each cycle was preceded by a quality improvement
      intervention, and followed by analysis. RESULTS: A total of 334 patients with
      breast cancer were included in the audit. The overall time from first visit to
      initiation of treatment was 66.3 days during the baseline period. This improved
      to 40.4 and 28.5 days at the end of Audit cycle I and II, respectively. The
      idealized target time of 28 days for initiating treatment was achieved in 5,
      23.5, and 65.2% of patients in the baseline period, Audit cycle I, and Audit
      Cycle II, respectively. There was improvement noted across all steps of the
      clinical care pathway. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that audit is a powerful
      tool in quality improvement programs and helps achieve timely care. Gains
      achieved through an audit process may not be sustainable unless underlying
      patient factors and resource deficits are addressed.

PMID- 27633450
TI  - Application of a predictive model of axillary lymph node status in patients with
      sentinel node metastasis from breast cancer. A retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Axillary Lymph Node Dissection (ALND) is the
      standard treatment in patients with invasive breast cancer and sentinel node
      metastasis, but in 60% of the cases there is no further axillary neoplastic
      involvement, so this invasive intervention represents an overtreatment. The
      purpose of the study is to identify patients with low risk of additional nodal
      metastases, to omit ALND. METHODS: The MSKCC Additional nodal metastasis nomogram
      was applied on a sample of 175 patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent
      ALND after detection of macrometastasis with the extemporaneous examination of
      the sentinel lymph node. Patients were classified as "low risk" when the result
      of the nomogram was <=50%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative
      predictive values and AUC (Area Under Curve) of the ROC curve of the nomogram
      were then calculated. RESULTS: A cut-off by 50% yielded 92.3% sensitivity, 81,4%
      specificity, 80% positive predictive value and 92.9% negative predictive value.
      The ROC curve AUC in these patients was 0.885. CONCLUSIONS: The MSKCC nomogram
      has proven to be an effective tool in estimating the axillary lymph node status
      and it can potentially be used to better select the patients with sentinel node
      macrometastasis who can actually benefit from ALND.

PMID- 27633451
TI  - Total laparoscopic hysterectomy: Analysis of the surgical learning curve in
      benign conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the learning curve for total laparoscopic hysterectomy.
      METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of the learning curve for two
      surgeons during their first 257 consecutive cases of total laparoscopic
      hysterectomy at a teaching hospital. Patients were divided sequentially into
      groups comprising the first 75 patients, the next 75, and the final 107 patients.
      Age, body mass index, gestational parity, indications for laparoscopic
      hysterectomy, previous pelvic surgery, operating time, haemoglobin decline,
      complications, need for transfusion, and length of hospital stay were evaluated.
      RESULTS: The mean operating time for total laparoscopic hysterectomy reduced
      significantly from 76.2 min to 68.9 min (p = 0.001) between the first and second
      75-patient groups. Linear regression analysis showed a plateau was reached on the
      learning curve after 71-80 cases. The rate of all complications started at 8% in
      the first group of 75 patients, reduced to 6.7% in the next group, and decreased
      further in the final group to 4.7%. The decline was not statistically significant
      (p = 0.6). The difference in the need for transfusion was statistically
      significant between the first 75 patients and the second group of 75 (p = 0.04).
      Conversion from laparoscopy to laparotomy was required in five patients, four in
      the early group and one in the final group. Age, body mass index, parity,
      previous pelvic surgery, decline in haemoglobin, and length of hospital stay were
      similar among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: A plateau in the learning curve for
      TLH was reached after the first 75 cases. We can infer that there is a learning
      curve for TLH as confirmed by the decrease in operating time (accompanied by no
      change in complications) correlated to gain in experience. On the other hand, one
      should not disregard the fact that laparoscopy is not a complication-free surgery
      and achievement of the learning curve does not exclude complications.
      Gynaecological surgeons can perform TLH securely during the learning curve.

PMID- 27633453
TI  - Metal-Organic Framework@Microporous Organic Network as Adsorbent for Solid-Phase
      Microextraction.
AB  - The practical applications of moisture sensitive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
      in the extraction technique are faced with avoided challenges related to
      competitive adsorption and hydrostability. The target analytes cannot be
      effectively extracted under humid conditions because of the competitive moisture
      adsorption and/or framework structure collapse of MOFs. In this Letter, metal
      organic framework (MOF)@microporous organic network (MON) hybrid materials were
      explored for the first time as fiber coatings for solid-phase microextraction
      (SPME). Microporous materials with a hydrophobic surface was formed by coating
      the MOFs (MIL-101 and MOF-5) with MON through a sonogashira coupling reaction.
      MON acted as a hydrophobic "shield" to hinder the competitive moisture adsorption
      and improve moisture resistance and stability of the fiber. The sorbent exhibited
      higher enrichment factors (1215-3805) toward PAHs than other analytes in the
      water samples. An SPME method using MOF@MON-based fiber was developed to
      quantitatively determine PAHs. The proposed method was successfully applied to
      analyze PAHs in environmental water, particulate matter (PM2.5), and food
      samples. A successful technique is proposed to chemically control MOF for
      applications in solid-phase sorption-based extraction techniques.

PMID- 27633452
TI  - Targeting deoxyhypusine hydroxylase activity impairs cap-independent translation
      initiation driven by the 5'untranslated region of the HIV-1, HTLV-1, and MMTV
      mRNAs.
AB  - Replication of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is dependent on
      eIF5A hypusination. Hypusine is formed post-translationally on the eIF5A
      precursor by two consecutive enzymatic steps; a reversible reaction involving the
      enzyme deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and an irreversible step involving the enzyme
      deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH). In this study we explored the effect of
      inhibiting DOHH activity and therefore eIF5A hypusination, on HIV-1 gene
      expression. Results show that the expression of proteins from an HIV-1 molecular
      clone is reduced when DOHH activity is inhibited by Deferiprone (DFP) or
      Ciclopirox (CPX). Next we evaluated the requirement of DOHH activity for internal
      ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation initiation driven by the
      5'untranslated region (5'UTR) of the full length HIV-1 mRNA. Results show that
      HIV-1 IRES activity relies on DOHH protein concentration and enzymatic activity.
      Similar results were obtained for IRES-dependent translation initiation mediated
      by 5'UTR of the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and the mouse
      mammary tumor virus (MMTV) mRNAs. Interestingly, activity of the poliovirus IRES,
      was less sensitive to the targeting of DOHH suggesting that not all viral IRESs
      are equally dependent on the cellular concentration or the activity of DOHH. In
      summary we present evidence indicating that the cellular concentration of DOHH
      and its enzymatic activity play a role in HIV-1, HTLV-1 and MMTV IRES-mediated
      translation initiation.

PMID- 27633454
TI  - Heart Score Estimation by Specialized Nurses in a Greek Urban Population.
AB  - AIMS: Specialized nurses estimated the HeartScore in an urban Greek population by
      recognizing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in the setting of the
      Onassis Cardiovascular Prevention Program (OCPP). They also provided nursing
      consultation and assessed the clinical and biochemical characteristics of the
      studied population. METHODS AND RESULTS: Individuals were recruited through TV
      announcements and via the website of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre. All
      participants visited the Onassis Cardiac Centre from 20 September to 30 October
      2011. Overall, 2,145 individuals were included in the study. CVD risk was
      calculated by the HeartScore and serum total cholesterol was measured (mean:
      193+/-43 mg/dl). Although 33% of the participants reported dyslipidaemia, only
      17% were on hypolipidaemic treatment. Hypertension and dyslipidaemia frequency
      increased with age. CONCLUSION: In the present study, specialized nurses
      estimated the HeartScore in a Greek urban population. The majority of the studied
      population was undiagnosed and untreated. These results highlight the necessity
      for both primary and secondary prevention programs that can be carried out by
      specialized nurses. Such programs may improve the diagnosis and treatment of CVD
      risk factors; early initiation and optimization of therapy as well as management
      of drug intolerance (e.g. statins) can contribute to CVD risk reduction.

PMID- 27633455
TI  - Application of Dual-Source CT Coronary Angiography in Type 2 Diabetic Patients
      with Symptomatic Coronary Heart Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the epidemiological and morphological characteristics of
      coronary plaque in diabetic patients with symptomatic coronary heart disease
      (CHD) by dual-source computed tomography (DSCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June
      2013 to December 2014, 267 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
      were examined by DSCT. Plaque type, distribution, as well as extent and
      obstructive characteristics were determined for each segment. RESULTS: A total of
      225 patients were included in the final study. Among the 225 cases, patients with
      calcium score >10 accounted for 76.9%. With the increase in calcium score, the
      number of obstructive stenoses increased from 17 (22.7%) to 150 (66.4%) segments,
      and non-obstructive stenosis decreased from 58 (77.3%) to 76 (33.6%) segments. A
      total of 862 (3.8+/-3.0 per patient) plaques were detected, of which 448 (52%)
      were calcified plaque, 272 (32%) mixed plaques and 142 (16%) soft plaques.
      Regarding the stenosis type, there were significantly more mild (54%), followed
      by moderate (26%) and severe stenosis (20%); 152 (67.6%) patients had .2 vascular
      lesions, while 73 (32.4%) patients with single diseased vessel. 190 (84.40%)
      patients with atherosclerotic plaque were located in left anterior descending
      (LAD) coronary artery, 146 (64.9%) patients in right coronary artery (RCA), 114
      (50.7%) patients in left circumflex (LCX) coronary artery. The most common site
      of all detected plaques was the proximal segment of the LAD (18.7%). CONCLUSION:
      DSCT showed that coronary arteries of diabetic patients with symptomatic CHD were
      more prone to calcification. There was more non-obstructive than obstructive
      lumen narrowing; obstructive stenosis and calcification score was positively
      correlated; coronary plaques were widely distributed, and mainly located in
      multiple diseased vessels.

PMID- 27633457
TI  - Illusory-figure microgenesis: A reply to Dresp and Spillmann.
AB  - A proposed "bottom-up" explanation for the time-course of certain illusory
      figures is found wanting.

PMID- 27633456
TI  - The mir-221/222 Cluster is a Key Player in Vascular Biology via the Fine-Tuning
      of Endothelial Cell Physiology.
AB  - The discovery of small RNAs has shed new light on microRNA (mRNA) regulation and
      a range of biological processes. The recognition that miRNAs-221 and -222 are
      sensitive regulators in the endothelium may enable the identification of novel
      biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Given that endothelial dysfunction precedes
      the development of atherosclerosis and contributes to the development of
      cardiovascular damage, circulating miRNAs produced by Endothelial Cells (ECs) are
      putative biomarkers for a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, EC
      proliferation and migration have a critical role in the formation of new blood
      vessels (angiogenesis), an important component of physiological processes and
      tumour growth. Hence, the use of anti-angiogenic miRNAs might constitute a novel
      therapeutic strategy. Along with endothelial angiogenesis, several other
      processes involving ECs (such as neointimal lesion formation, vascular
      inflammation, lipoprotein metabolism and hypertension) are critical factors in
      atherogenesis and atherosclerosis. The fact that human blood-derived progenitor
      cells, endothelial progenitor cells, umbilical vein ECs and quiescent ECs express
      high levels of miR-221/222 suggests an important role for this miRNA cluster in
      endothelial (patho) physiology. The present article reviews current knowledge on
      miRNAs-221/222's regulation roles in endothelial function and disease in general
      and angiogenesis in particular.

PMID- 27633458
TI  - Chronic corticosterone treatment enhances extinction-induced depression in aged
      rats.
AB  - Withdrawal and avoidance behavior are common symptoms of depression and can
      appear as a consequence of absence of reward, i.e. extinction-induced depression
      (EID). This is particularly relevant for the aged organism subjected to
      pronounced loss of former rewards. Avoidance of the former site of reward and
      increased withdrawal into a distant compartment accompany extinction of food
      rewarded behavior in rodent models. During extinction, behavioral markers for re
      learning dissociate from indicators of extinction-induced depression. Here we
      examined the effect of a chronic treatment with corticosterone (CORT), a well
      known inducer of depression-related behavior, on EID in adult and aged rats.
      Adult (3-4months) and aged (18months) male rats were treated with CORT via
      drinking water for 3weeks prior to extinction of a cued food-reward task. CORT
      treatment increased the distance from the site of reward and decreased goal
      tracking behavior during extinction, especially in the aged rats. Plasma hormone
      levels measured before and after restraint stress showed a decline in basal ACTH-
      and CORT-levels after chronic CORT treatment in aged animals. The treatment
      significantly impaired the HPA-axis activation after acute stress in both, adult
      and aged animals, alike. Altogether, these findings show an enhancement of EID
      after chronic CORT treatment in the aged organism, which may be mediated by an
      impaired HPA-axis sensitivity. These findings may have special relevance for the
      investigation of human geriatric depression.

PMID- 27633460
TI  - Personality and innate immune defenses in a wild bird: Evidence for the pace-of
      life hypothesis.
AB  - We tested the two main evolutionary hypotheses for an association between
      immunity and personality. The risk-of-parasitism hypothesis predicts that more
      proactive (bold, exploratory, risk-taking) individuals have more vigorous immune
      defenses because of increased risk of parasite exposure. In contrast, the pace-of
      life hypothesis argues that proactive behavioral styles are associated with
      shorter lifespans and reduced investment in immune function. Mechanistically,
      associations between immunity and personality can arise because personality
      differences are often associated with differences in condition and stress
      responsiveness, both of which are intricately linked with immunity. Here we
      investigate the association between personality (measured as proactive
      exploration of a novel environment) and three indices of innate immune function
      (the non-specific first line of defense against parasites) in wild superb fairy
      wrens Malurus cyaneus. We also quantified body condition, hemoparasites (none
      detected), chronic stress (heterophil:lymphocyte ratio) and circulating
      corticosterone levels at the end of the behavioral test (CORT, in a subset of
      birds). We found that fast explorers had lower titers of natural antibodies. This
      result is consistent with the pace-of-life hypothesis, and with the previously
      documented higher mortality of fast explorers in this species. There was no
      interactive effect of exploration score and duration in captivity on immune
      indices. This suggests that personality-related differences in stress
      responsiveness did not underlie differences in immunity, even though behavioral
      style did modulate the effect of captivity on CORT. Taken together these results
      suggest reduced constitutive investment in innate immune function in more
      proactive individuals.

PMID- 27633461
TI  - Biomechanical study comparing 3 fixation methods for rotator cuff massive tear:
      Transosseous No. 2 suture, transosseous braided tape, and double-row.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Important rotator cuff repair failure rates have prompted this study
      of the techniques and materials used in order to optimize clinical results.
      QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: Is the reconstruction of the rotator cuff biomechanically
      stronger when using: 1) transosseous with 2 mm braided tape suture (TOT), 2)
      transosseous with multi-strand No. 2 sutures (TOS), or 3) double row suture
      bridge with suture anchors loaded with No. 2 braided sutures (DRSB)? METHODS:
      Twenty-four cadaveric pig shoulders were randomized in the three repair
      constructs. The infraspinatus muscle was detached to mimic a complete laceration,
      repaired with one of the three repair groups and tested with a traction machine.
      Cameras recorded tendon displacement during trials. The ultimate strength (US),
      failure mode, and tendon displacement, qualified by the bare footprint area
      (BFA), during cycling phases were compared. RESULTS: The US for DRSB was 175 +/-
      82 Newton (N), 91 +/- 51 N for TOS, and 147 +/- 63 N for TOT. The BFA after 200
      cycles was 81 +/- 34% for TOS, 57 +/- 41% for TOT, and 26 +/- 27% for DRSB
      repairs. No significant difference was observed between the DRSB and TOT results
      for US or BFA percentage of loss during all the cycling phases. TOS proved to be
      weaker than TOT and DRSB. CONCLUSION: All the ruptures occurred in the tendon,
      which seems to be the weakness of rotator cuff repairs. The use of braided tape
      suture with a transosseous technique seems to be a cost effective, equivalent
      alternative implant compared to anchor fixation.

PMID- 27633459
TI  - Contributions of testosterone and territory ownership to sexually-motivated
      behaviors and mRNA expression in the medial preoptic area of male European
      starlings.
AB  - Animals integrate social information with their internal endocrine state to
      control the timing of behavior, but how these signals are integrated in the brain
      is not understood. The medial preoptic area (mPOA) may play an integrative role
      in the control of courtship behavior, as it receives projections from multiple
      sensory systems, and is central to the hormonal control of courtship behavior
      across vertebrates. Additionally, data from many species implicate opioid and
      dopaminergic systems in the mPOA in the control of male courtship behavior. We
      used European starlings to test the hypothesis that testosterone (T) and social
      status (in the form of territory possession) interact to control the timing of
      courtship behavior by modulating steroid hormone-, opioid- and dopaminergic
      related gene expression in the mPOA. We found that only males given both T and a
      nesting territory produced high rates of courtship behavior in response to a
      female. T treatment altered patterns of gene expression in the mPOA by increasing
      androgen receptor, aromatase, mu-opioid receptor and preproenkephalin mRNA and
      decreasing tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA expression. Territory possession did not
      alter mRNA expression in the mPOA, despite the finding that only birds with both
      T and a nesting territory produced courtship behavior. We propose that T prepares
      the mPOA to respond to the presence of a female with high rates of courtship song
      by altering gene expression, but that activity in the mPOA is under a continuous
      (i.e. tonic) inhibition until a male starling obtains a nesting territory.

PMID- 27633462
TI  - Bilateral isolated symmetrical avulsion fractures of the superior scapular
      angles.

PMID- 27633464
TI  - [Interosseous electrostimulation in a model of lengthening with external
      fixation].
AB  - BACKGROUND: A fracture repair involves complex cellular processes. However,
      despite optimal treatment, some fractures heal slowly or do not repair. These
      complications support the need for innovative therapies. Electromagnetic
      stimulation is a non-invasive technology that could have a direct impact on many
      cellular pathways. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the effectiveness of electro
      stimulation by alternating current applied during bone elongation to accelerate
      the consolidation process for 30 days in an animal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A device with closed circuit and graduated voltage was designed and kept in
      contact with the external fixator. Group A was elongated without electro
      stimulation and group B was electro-stimulated since the beginning of the
      distraction. Radiographs were taken at 15 and 30 days post-surgical. Haematoxylin
      and eosin staining and Masson's trichrome stain were performed. RESULTS: No
      significant difference were observed in bone density of group A (4.05+/-3.24,
      P=0.163). In group B there was a significant difference (61.06+/-20.17, P=0.03)
      in bone density. Group A maintained a fibrous tissue repair, with areas of
      cartilage and bone matrix. Group B had more organised tissue in the stages of
      bone repair. CONCLUSION: Because there is a significant difference in the growth
      and callus formation at 15 and 30 days between groups, electro-stimulation could
      be considered as an adjuvant during bone elongation.

PMID- 27633466
TI  - Care with overseas purchased drugs: devil is in the detail.

PMID- 27633463
TI  - Co-receptor Binding Site Antibodies Enable CD4-Mimetics to Expose Conserved Anti
      cluster A ADCC Epitopes on HIV-1 Envelope Glycoproteins.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has evolved a sophisticated strategy
      to conceal conserved epitopes of its envelope glycoproteins (Env) recognized by
      antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC)-mediating antibodies. These
      antibodies, which are present in the sera of most HIV-1-infected individuals,
      preferentially recognize Env in its CD4-bound conformation. Accordingly, recent
      studies showed that small CD4-mimetics (CD4mc) able to "push" Env into this
      conformation sensitize HIV-1-infected cells to ADCC mediated by HIV+ sera. Here
      we test whether CD4mc also expose epitopes recognized by anti-cluster A
      monoclonal antibodies such as A32, thought to be responsible for the majority of
      ADCC activity present in HIV+ sera and linked to decreased HIV-1 transmission in
      the RV144 trial. We made the surprising observation that CD4mc are unable to
      enhance recognition of HIV-1-infected cells by this family of antibodies in the
      absence of antibodies such as 17b, which binds a highly conserved CD4-induced
      epitope overlapping the co-receptor binding site (CoRBS). Our results indicate
      that CD4mc initially open the trimeric Env enough to allow the binding of CoRBS
      antibodies but not anti-cluster A antibodies. CoRBS antibody binding further
      opens the trimeric Env, allowing anti-cluster A antibody interaction and
      sensitization of infected cells to ADCC. Therefore, ADCC responses mediated by
      cluster A antibodies in HIV-positive sera involve a sequential opening of the Env
      trimer on the surface of HIV-1-infected cells. The understanding of the
      conformational changes required to expose these vulnerable Env epitopes might be
      important in the design of new strategies aimed at fighting HIV-1.

PMID- 27633465
TI  - The CREST Simulation Development Process: Training the Next Generation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The challenges of training and assessing endourologic skill have
      driven the development of new training systems. The Center for Research in
      Education and Simulation Technologies (CREST) has developed a team and a
      methodology to facilitate this development process. METHODS: Backwards design
      principles were applied. A panel of experts first defined desired clinical and
      educational outcomes. Outcomes were subsequently linked to learning objectives.
      Gross task deconstruction was performed, and the primary domain was classified as
      primarily involving decision-making, psychomotor skill, or communication. A more
      detailed cognitive task analysis was performed to elicit and prioritize relevant
      anatomy/tissues, metrics, and errors. Reference anatomy was created using a
      digital anatomist and clinician working off of a clinical data set. Three
      dimensional printing can facilitate this process. When possible, synthetic or
      virtual tissue behavior and textures were recreated using data derived from human
      tissue. Embedded sensors/markers and/or computer-based systems were used to
      facilitate the collection of objective metrics. A learning Verification and
      validation occurred throughout the engineering development process. RESULTS: Nine
      endourology-relevant training systems were created by CREST with this approach.
      Systems include basic laparoscopic skills (BLUS), vesicourethral anastomosis,
      pyeloplasty, cystoscopic procedures, stent placement, rigid and flexible
      ureteroscopy, GreenLight PVP (GL Sim), Percutaneous access with C-arm (CAT),
      Nephrolithotomy (NLM), and a vascular injury model. Mixed modalities have been
      used, including "smart" physical models, virtual reality, augmented reality, and
      video. Substantial validity evidence for training and assessment has been
      collected on systems. An open source manikin-based modular platform is under
      development by CREST with the Department of Defense that will unify these and
      other commercial task trainers through the common physiology engine, learning
      management system, standard data connectors, and standards. CONCLUSION: Using the
      CREST process has and will ensure that the systems we create meet the needs of
      training and assessing endourologic skills.

PMID- 27633467
TI  - Pyrexia of unknown origin: causes, investigation and management.
AB  - Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) is a syndrome that has long tested the skills of
      physicians to achieve a diagnosis in affected patients. By definition, patients
      included in this syndrome will be more difficult to diagnose as they have already
      resisted classification during baseline investigations. Furthermore,
      investigation of PUO requires knowledge of many diseases across a range of
      clinical specialties, as well as knowledge of less commonly used investigative
      tools. As both society and medicine continue to change, the aetiology and
      epidemiology of the diseases that cause PUO also change. For these reasons, it is
      important for physicians to approach PUO in a logical manner, and for the causes
      and approach to PUO to be continuously reviewed. In this article, we review the
      aetiology of PUO and the diagnostic strategies that may be used to investigate
      it. 

PMID- 27633468
TI  - Gene editing advance re-ignites debate on the merits and risks of animal to human
      transplantation.
AB  - In Australia, and internationally, the shortage of organ and tissue donors
      significantly limits the number of patients with critical organ or tissue failure
      who are able to receive a transplant each year. The rationale for
      xenotransplantation - the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from
      one species to another - is to meet this shortfall in human donor material. While
      early clinical trials showed promise, particularly in patients with type I
      diabetes whose insulin dependence could be temporarily reversed by the
      transplantation of porcine islet cells, these benefits have been balanced with
      scientific, clinical and ethical concerns revolving around the risks of immune
      rejection and the potential transmission of porcine endogenous retroviruses or
      other infectious agents from porcine grafts to human recipients. However, the
      advent of CRISPR/Cas9, a revolutionary gene editing technology, has reignited
      interest in the field with the possibility of genetically engineering porcine
      organs and tissues that are less immunogenic and have virtually no risk of
      transmission of porcine endogenous retroviruses. At the same time, CRISPR/Cas9
      may also open up a myriad of possibilities for tissue engineering and stem cell
      research, which may complement xenotransplantation research by providing an
      additional source of donor cells, tissues and organs for transplantation into
      patients. The recent international symposium on gene editing, organised by the US
      National Academy of Sciences, highlights both the enormous therapeutic potential
      of CRISPR/Cas9 and the raft of ethical and regulatory challenges that may follow
      its utilisation in transplantation and in medicine more generally. 

PMID- 27633469
TI  - Cytomegalovirus-associated thrombocytopenia treated with thrombopoietin receptor
      agonist.
AB  - Symptomatic cytomegalovirus (CMV) in immunocompetent individuals is an uncommon,
      yet recognised, phenomenon. This report discusses a case of CMV-associated
      thrombocytopenia refractory to immunomodulation and antivirals. Ultimately, a
      clinicopathological response was attained with eltrombopag. This is the first
      report of the efficacy of thrombopoietin receptor agonists in this context. This
      experience provides insight into possible pathogenic mechanisms of CMV-associated
      thrombocytopenia and presents a therapeutic option. 

PMID- 27633470
TI  - Impact of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians' clinical examination
      preparation on basic physician trainee assessment of jugular venous pressure.
AB  - Australian internal medicine trainees undergo intensive training in preparation
      for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) clinical examination.
      Trainees preparing for the 2013 RACP clinical examination assessed the jugular
      venous pressure (JVP) of patients, with central venous pressure monitoring in the
      intensive care unit before and after the exam. RACP clinical examination
      preparation was associated with improvements of trainees' ability to identify JVP
      that were not elevated, although the JVP examination was performed marginally as
      a diagnostic test. Ongoing training might further improve this skill. 

PMID- 27633471
TI  - Eosinophilic myocarditis: characteristics, diagnostics and outcomes of a rare
      condition.
AB  - Eosinophilic myocarditis is a rare and potentially fatal condition characterised
      by eosinophilic inflammatory infiltration of myocardium. We report seven
      consecutive cases of eosinophilic myocarditis at our centre and discuss the
      important characteristics, investigation and management of this disease. 

PMID- 27633472
TI  - 'Finishing up' on country: challenges and compromises.
AB  - A core consideration in the care of Indigenous patients at the end of life is
      their place of death. Dying in community can be of paramount importance to
      Indigenous people. This paper reports the experiences of the Top End Palliative
      Care Service with respect to the barriers and solutions in the return of
      Indigenous patients to community for end-of-life care. These barriers include not
      only those associated with the significant distances and remoteness in the
      Northern Territory but, also, spiritual and cultural factors, which often
      influence healthcare delivery. 

PMID- 27633473
TI  - Testing of direct acting antiviral agents purchased overseas: a necessary
      precaution to protect patients?

PMID- 27633474
TI  - PET-CT confirmed complete remission and MRD negativity in mantle cell lymphoma
      patients treated with R-hyper-CVAD results in excellent outcome in the absence of
      autologous stem cell transplantation: a single-centre case for a transplant-free
      approach.

PMID- 27633475
TI  - A 42-year-old man presented with adrenal incidentaloma due to non-classic
      congenital adrenal hyperplasia with a novel CYP21A2 mutation.

PMID- 27633477
TI  - Legal systems' responses to medical malpractice.

PMID- 27633476
TI  - Vitamin T overdose?: examining the phenomenon of widespread use of the broad
      spectrum antimicrobial piperacillin/tazobactam.

PMID- 27633478
TI  - Author reply.

PMID- 27633479
TI  - But it's only a little bit of plagiarism....

PMID- 27633480
TI  - Silencing MARCH1 suppresses proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian
      cancer SKOV3 cells via downregulation of NF-kappaB and Wnt/beta-catenin pathways.
AB  - Membrane-associated RING-CH (MARCH) belongs to the family of RING-CH type E3
      ubiquitin ligases. MARCH1 ubiquitinates and downregulates MHC class II expression
      in APCs and targets major players of the immune system. However, the role of
      MARCH1 in ovarian cancer has not been elucidated. The present study investigated
      the function of MARCH1 in ovarian cancer and the potential mechanisms involved.
      MARCH1 expression was examined in human ovarian cancer tissue specimens by
      immunohistochemistry. The role of MARCH1 in ovarian cancer cells was assessed by
      cell proliferation, migration and invasion assays with MARCH1 gene silencing. To
      investigate the mechanism by which MARCH1 functions, correlation between MARCH1
      and the cell signaling pathways were analyzed using a luciferase reporter assay,
      real-time RT-PCR, western blot assay and immunofluorescence. MARCH1 was found to
      be overexpressed in ovarian cancer tissues when compared to adjacent non-tumor
      and normal ovarian tissues. Silencing MARCH1 inhibited SKOV3 cell proliferation,
      invasion and migration, as well as inhibiting the NF-kappaB and the Wnt/beta
      catenin pathways. MARCH1 functions as a tumor promoter by upregulating the NF
      kappaB and the Wnt/beta-catenin pathways, indicating that MARCH1 may be a
      therapeutic target for patients with ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27633482
TI  - Symmetry reduction and boundary modes for Fe chains on an s-wave superconductor.
AB  - We investigate the superconducting phases and boundary modes for a quasi-1D
      system formed by up to three Fe chains on an s-wave superconductor, motivated by
      a recent experiment. While the Rashba type spin-orbit coupling together with a
      magnetic ordering is necessary to drive the system to be of nontrivial topology,
      we show that the onsite [Formula: see text] spin-orbit term, inter-chain diagonal
      hopping couplings, and magnetic disorders in the Fe chains are crucial in
      determining the symmetry classes of superconducting phases, which can be
      topologically trivial or nontrivial in different parameter regimes. In general
      multiple low-energy Andreev bound states, as well as a single Majorana zero mode
      if the phase is topological, are obtained in the ends of Fe chains. The
      nontrivial symmetry reduction mechanism is uncovered to provide an understanding
      of the present results, and may explain the zero-bias peak observed in the
      experiment. The present study can be applied to generic multiple-chain system.

PMID- 27633481
TI  - Toxic effects of 4-methylthio-3-butenyl isothiocyanate (Raphasatin) in the rat
      urinary bladder without genotoxicity.
AB  - We recently reported that 4-methylthio-3-butenyl isothiocyanate (MTBITC) exerts
      chemopreventive effects on the rat esophageal carcinogenesis model at a low dose
      of 80 ppm in a diet. In contrast, some isothiocyanates (ITCs) have been reported
      to cause toxic effects, promotion activity, and/or carcinogenic potential in the
      urinary bladder of rats. In the present study, we investigated whether MTBITC had
      toxic effects in the urinary bladder similar to other ITCs, such as phenethyl ITC
      (PEITC). First, to examine the early toxicity of MTBITC, rats were fed a diet
      supplemented with 100, 300 or 1000 ppm MTBITC for 14 days. Treatment with 1000
      ppm MTBITC caused increased organ weights and histopathological changes in the
      urinary bladder, producing lesions similar to those of 1000 ppm PEITC. In
      contrast, rats treated with 100 or 300 ppm MTBITC showed no signs of toxicity.
      Additionally, we performed in vivo genotoxicity studies to clarify whether MTBITC
      may exhibit a carcinogenic potential through a genotoxic mechanism in rats. Rats
      were treated with MTBITC for 3 days at doses of 10, 30 or 90 mg kg-1 body weight
      by gavage, and comet assays in the urinary bladder and micronucleus assays in the
      bone marrow were performed. No genotoxic changes were observed after treatment
      with MTBITC at all doses. Overall, these results suggested that the effects of
      MTBITC in the rat urinary bladder are less than those of PEITC, but that MTBITC
      could have toxic effects through a nongenotoxic mechanism in the urinary bladder
      of rats at high doses. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633483
TI  - Memory-effect based deconvolution microscopy for super-resolution imaging through
      scattering media.
AB  - High-resolution imaging through turbid media is a fundamental challenge of
      optical sciences that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years for its
      wide range of potential applications. Here, we demonstrate that the resolution of
      imaging systems looking behind a highly scattering medium can be improved below
      the diffraction-limit. To achieve this, we demonstrate a novel microscopy
      technique enabled by the optical memory effect that uses a deconvolution image
      processing and thus it does not require iterative focusing, scanning or phase
      retrieval procedures. We show that this newly established ability of direct
      imaging through turbid media provides fundamental and practical advantages such
      as three-dimensional refocusing and unambiguous object reconstruction.

PMID- 27633484
TI  - Concise Total Synthesis of Nannocystin A.
AB  - Nannocystin A, a structurally unique 21-membered macrocyclic depsipeptide with
      low nanomolar inhibitory activity against elongation factor 1A, was synthesized
      according to a strategy involving the vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction,
      Sharpless epoxidation, olefin metathesis, the Mitsunobu reaction, and a palladium
      catalyzed intramolecular Suzuki coupling of a highly complex cyclization
      substrate. The overall synthesis is efficient and paves the way for preparation
      of analogues for drug development efforts.

PMID- 27633485
TI  - Adaptation of a Modified DASH Diet to a Rural African American Community Setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among African
      Americans in the U.S., with high blood pressure and obesity being two of the main
      determinants. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet is effective in
      changing behaviors associated with these health concerns, but has not been
      adapted to community settings. METHODS: Men on the Move: Growing Communities
      (MOTMGC) was evaluated using a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design. Surveys
      were conducted with rural African Americans aged >=18 years prior to the
      intervention (2008) and at the end of the project (2013), with the final analysis
      conducted in 2015. Using a community-based participatory research approach,
      MOTMGC provided culturally appropriate education and changes to the environment
      to improve access to fruits and vegetables, low-fat, and low-sodium foods.
      RESULTS: Declines in prevalence of overweight and obese respondents and
      hypertension were seen in the intervention but not the comparison county.
      Participants with high levels of participation reported eating five or more
      servings of fruits and vegetables a day, a greater variety of fruits and
      vegetables, less salt, and seasoning their vegetables with less fat more often
      than those who did not participate in educational activities. Participants
      reported that as a result of their access to MOTMGC gardens, they were more
      likely to eat more fruits, vegetables, and locally grown food, and less processed
      food and fast food. CONCLUSIONS: Adapting the Dietary Approaches to Stop
      Hypertension diet to community settings through culturally appropriate community
      based efforts can improve dietary behaviors, BMI, and blood pressure.

PMID- 27633486
TI  - Impact of Li2O2 Particle Size on Li-O2 Battery Charge Process: Insights from a
      Multiscale Modeling Perspective.
AB  - We report a comprehensive multiscale model describing charge processes of Li-O2
      batteries. On the basis of a continuum approach, the present model combines
      mathematical descriptions of mass transport of soluble species (O2, Li+, LiO2)
      and elementary reaction kinetics, which are assumed to be dependent on the
      morphology of the Li2O2 formed during discharge. The simulated charge curves are
      in agreement with previously reported experimental studies. The model along with
      the assumed reaction mechanisms provides physical explanations for the two-step
      charge profiles. Furthermore, it suggests that these charge profiles depend on
      the size of the Li2O2 particles, which are determined by the applied current
      density during discharge. Therefore, the model underlines the strong link between
      discharge and charge processes.

PMID- 27633487
TI  - The role of birth cohorts in long-term trends in liver cirrhosis mortality across
      eight European countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Understanding why inequalities in alcohol-related mortality
      trends by sex and country exist is essential for developing health policies.
      Birth cohort effects, indicative of differences by generation in drinking, have
      rarely been studied. This study estimated the relative contributions of birth
      cohorts to liver cirrhosis mortality trends and compared sex- and country
      specific cohort patterns across eight European countries. DESIGN: Time-series
      analysis of population-level mortality data. SETTING: Austria, Finland, Hungary,
      Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden; 1950-2011. PARTICIPANTS:
      National populations aged 15-94 years. MEASUREMENTS: We modelled country- and sex
      specific liver cirrhosis mortality (from national vital registers) adjusting for
      age, period and birth cohort. FINDINGS: Birth cohorts (adjusted for age and
      period) made statistically significant contributions to liver cirrhosis mortality
      in all countries and for both sexes (P < 0.001), and more so among women (average
      contribution to deviance reduction of 38.8%) than among men (17.4%). The observed
      cohort patterns were statistically different between all but two country pairs (P
      < 0.001). Sex differences existed overall (P < 0.001), but not in the majority of
      countries (P > 0.999). Visual inspection of birth cohort patterns reveals birth
      cohorts at higher risk of liver cirrhosis mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion
      of the birth cohort dimension improves the understanding of alcohol-attributable
      mortality trends in Europe. Birth cohorts at higher risk of liver cirrhosis
      mortality were born during 1935-49 in Sweden and Finland, around 1950 in Austria
      and the Netherlands and 1960 or later in Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain.

PMID- 27633488
TI  - Litter decay controlled by temperature, not soil properties, affecting future
      soil carbon.
AB  - Widespread global changes, including rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations,
      climate warming and loss of biodiversity, are predicted for this century; all of
      these will affect terrestrial ecosystem processes like plant litter
      decomposition. Conversely, increased plant litter decomposition can have
      potential carbon-cycle feedbacks on atmospheric CO2 levels, climate warming and
      biodiversity. But predicting litter decomposition is difficult because of many
      interacting factors related to the chemical, physical and biological properties
      of soil, as well as to climate and agricultural management practices. We applied
      13 C-labelled plant litter to soil at ten sites spanning a 3500-km transect
      across the agricultural regions of Canada and measured its decomposition over
      five years. Despite large differences in soil type and climatic conditions, we
      found that the kinetics of litter decomposition were similar once the effect of
      temperature had been removed, indicating no measurable effect of soil properties.
      A two-pool exponential decay model expressing undecomposed carbon simply as a
      function of thermal time accurately described kinetics of decomposition. (R2  =
      0.94; RMSE = 0.0508). Soil properties such as texture, cation exchange capacity,
      pH and moisture, although very different among sites, had minimal discernible
      influence on decomposition kinetics. Using this kinetic model under different
      climate change scenarios, we projected that the time required to decompose 50% of
      the litter (i.e. the labile fractions) would be reduced by 1-4 months, whereas
      time required to decompose 90% of the litter (including recalcitrant fractions)
      would be reduced by 1 year in cooler sites to as much as 2 years in warmer sites.
      These findings confirm quantitatively the sensitivity of litter decomposition to
      temperature increases and demonstrate how climate change may constrain future
      soil carbon storage, an effect apparently not influenced by soil properties.

PMID- 27633489
TI  - Nitroaromatic explosives detection using electrochemically exfoliated graphene.
AB  - Detection of nitroaromatic explosives is of paramount importance from security
      point of view. Graphene sheets obtained from the electrochemical anodic
      exfoliation of graphite foil in different electrolytes (LiClO4 and Na2SO4) were
      compared and tested as electrode material for the electrochemical detection of
      2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in seawater. Voltammetry
      analysis demonstrated the superior electrochemical performance of graphene
      produced in LiClO4, resulting in higher sensitivity and linearity for the
      explosives detection and lower limit of detection (LOD) compared to the graphene
      obtained in Na2SO4. We attribute this to the presence of oxygen functionalities
      onto the graphene material obtained in LiClO4 which enable charge electrostatic
      interactions with the -NO2 groups of the analyte, in addition to pi-pi stacking
      interactions with the aromatic moiety. Research findings obtained from this study
      would assist in the development of portable devices for the on-site detection of
      nitroaromatic explosives.

PMID- 27633490
TI  - Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase as a prognostic and follow-up marker in melanoma. A
      comparative study with LDH and S100B.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and S100B remain the most useful
      biomarkers for follow-up of melanoma patients. In recent years, indoleamine 2,3
      dioxygenase (IDO), an immunosuppressive enzyme, has been proposed as a new
      potential tumour biomarker for melanoma. However, further studies are needed to
      confirm the usefulness of IDO expression as an independent prognostic factor.
      OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential association between serum IDO levels and
      melanoma stage at diagnosis and recurrence, and to compare the results to those
      obtained with LDH and S100B. In addition, we also investigated a possible cut off
      for IDO level as a prognostic factor for overall survival. METHODS: IDO, LDH and
      S100B levels were measured in serum samples of 186 patients in all melanoma
      stages at diagnosis and twice a year thereafter. A cut-off point for IDO levels
      was calculated using receiver operating characteristic curves to explore the
      association between these levels and the likelihood of lymphatic spread. Survival
      curves were estimated for patient groups stratified by IDO level (higher or lower
      than the cut off), using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: At diagnosis, serum
      IDO levels were significantly higher in stages IB, II, III and IV, whereas S100B
      levels were significantly higher in stages III and IV, and LDH levels were only
      higher in stage IV. In relapsed patients, significant increases were found in
      levels of all three markers. Finally, overall survival was significantly longer
      in patients with IDO levels below a cut off of 1.65 MUM at diagnosis than in
      those with higher levels (91.3 vs. 71.0% at 36 months). CONCLUSION: In melanoma
      patients, serum IDO levels are significantly associated with disease stage,
      relapses and overall survival. These results indicate IDO could be a useful serum
      prognostic marker for melanoma.

PMID- 27633492
TI  - Knowledge of Repetition Range Does Not Affect Maximal Force Production Strategies
      of Adolescent Females.
AB  - PURPOSE: Contrary to adult force reserve strategies, it is not known whether
      adolescent females with less experience performing maximal voluntary contractions
      (MVC) have specific responses to a known or unknown fatigue endpoint. METHODS:
      Using a counterbalanced random crossover design, fourteen inexperienced female
      adolescents completed three elbow flexor (EF) fatiguing protocols. Participants
      were randomly assigned to a control (informed they would perform 12 MVCs),
      unknown (not informed of the number of MVCs to be completed, but stopped after
      12) or deception condition (instructed to complete 6 MVCs, however, after the
      sixth repetition performed another 6 MVCs). Before and during the interventions,
      EF impulse, force, and biceps brachii (BB) and triceps brachii (TB)
      electromyography (EMG) activity were recorded. RESULTS: Participants exhibited
      decreases in impulse (10.9%; p < .05), force (7.5%; p = .001), BB (16.2%; p <
      .05) and TB (12.9%; p < .05) EMG activity between the pretest and the first
      repetition of all protocols. Knowledge of endpoint, or lack of it, did not change
      measures with the repeated MVCs. When informed about the final repetition, force
      remained depressed suggesting no physiological reserve. CONCLUSION: Adolescent
      females exhibited an anticipatory response to the task of performing repeated
      MVCs. A lack of change with knowledge of endpoint indicates that those lacking in
      MVC experience do not employ the same pacing strategies as in previous studies of
      participants with MVC experience.

PMID- 27633491
TI  - The 1,500-m Rowing Performance is Highly Dependent on Modified Wingate Anaerobic
      Test Performance in National-Level Adolescent Rowers.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the current study was to determine whether the anaerobic
      performance assessed by a modified Wingate test could account for the 1,500-m
      rowing ergometer performance in young competitive rowers. METHODS: Fourteen
      national-level adolescent rowers performed on a rowing ergometer i) a 30-s allout
      exercise (i.e., modified Wingate test) and ii) a 1,500-m all-out exercise (i.e.,
      rowing performance). For each of these two exercises, the mean power output was
      considered as the main performance criterion (PWIN and P1500, respectively).
      RESULTS: PWIN was correlated to P1500 (r2 = .83, p < .0001, beta = 100%).
      Furthermore, the estimated total muscle mass was correlated to PWIN and P1500 (r2
      = .72 and r2 = .83, p < .0001, beta = 100%, respectively). The allometric scaling
      also indicated that total muscle mass accounts 62% for the relationship between
      PWIN and P1500. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the importance of considering
      the contribution of total muscle mass and anaerobic energy pathways to 1,500-m
      rowing performance in competitive adolescent rowers. Therefore, the modified
      Wingate test could be used by rowing coaches to potentially identify talented
      young rowers.

PMID- 27633493
TI  - The Revised Strain Index: an improved upper extremity exposure assessment model.
AB  - The Revised Strain Index (RSI) is a distal upper extremity (DUE) physical
      exposure assessment model based on: intensity of exertion, frequency of exertion,
      duration per exertion, hand/wrist posture and duration of task per day. The RSI
      improves upon the 1995 Strain Index (SI) by using continuous rather than
      categorical multipliers, and replacing duty cycle with duration per exertion. In
      a simulation of 13,944 tasks, the RSI and 1995 SI showed good agreement in risk
      predictions for 1995 SI scores <=3 (safe) and >13.5 (hazardous). For tasks with
      1995 SI scores of >3 and <=13.5, the two models showed marked disagreement, with
      the RSI providing much greater discriminations between 'safe' and 'hazardous'
      tasks for various combinations of force, repetition and duty cycle. We believe
      the RSI is a substantially improved model that will be useful for DUE task
      analysis, intervention and design. Practitioner Summary: RSI is a substantial
      improvement over the 1995 SI. It should be a valuable tool for designing and
      analysing tasks to determine risk of musculoskeletal injuries. RSI is applicable
      to a wide variety of tasks including very low force and very high repetition
      tasks such as keyboard use.

PMID- 27633495
TI  - Nonlethal predator effects on the turn-over of wild bird flocks.
AB  - Nonlethal predator effects arise when individuals of a prey species adjust their
      behaviour due to the presence of predators. Non-lethal predator effects have been
      shown to affect social group structure and social behaviour as well as individual
      fitness of the prey. In this experimental study, we used model sparrowhawks to
      launch attacks on flocks of wild great tits and blue tits whilst monitoring their
      social dynamics. We show that nonlethal attacks caused instantaneous turn-over
      and mixing of group composition within foraging flocks. A single experimental
      'attack' lasting on average less than three seconds, caused the amount of turn
      over expected over three hours (2.0-3.8 hours) of undisturbed foraging. This
      suggests that nonlethal predator effects can greatly alter group composition
      within populations, with potential implications for social behaviour by
      increasing the number of potential interaction partners, as well as longer-term
      consequences for pair formation and emergent effects determined by social
      structure such as information and disease transmission. We provide the first
      evidence, to our knowledge, based on in depth monitoring of a social network to
      comprehensively support the hypothesis that predators influence the social
      structure of groups, which offers new perspectives on the key drivers of social
      behaviour in wild populations.

PMID- 27633496
TI  - miR-378 inhibits cell growth and enhances apoptosis in human myelodysplastic
      syndromes.
AB  - miR-378 has been proven to inhibit cell growth, migration and invasion in
      different types of cancers. In this study, we found that miR-378 was commonly
      downregulated in the bone marrow cells obtained from myelodysplastic syndrome
      (MDS) patients. We further investigated the role of miR-378 in the proliferation
      and apoptosis of SKM-1 cells, an acute myeloid leukemia cell line established in
      the leukemic phase during the progression of MDS to AML (MDS/AML). Results
      indicated that overexpression of miR-378 in SKM-1 cells interfered with
      proliferation via inducing apoptosis and G0/G1-phase cell cycle arrest, and
      suppressive effect of miR-378 on MDS/AML cells may be mediated partly through Bcl
      w and CDC40. Moreover, apoptosis induced by miR-378 correlated with increased
      expression of Bax and activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9. Taken together, our
      data support a critical role for miR-378 in the pathogenesis of MDS and provide a
      novel therapeutic target in this complex disease.

PMID- 27633497
TI  - Abnormal expression of FOSB correlates with tumor progression and poor survival
      in patients with gastric cancer.
AB  - FOSB protein is encoded by the FOSB gene in humans, which shares structural
      similarities with the prototype of the Fos family. FOSB plays a role by AP-1
      complex which is composed of heterodimers of Jun and Fos members. Our experiment
      aimed to evaluate the effect of FOSB in gastric cancer (GC) patients and then
      probe its significance in prognosis. We detected the expression of FOSB in GC and
      adjacent non-cancerous tissues by western blot analysis and real-time
      quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). Moreover, we analyzed FOSB expression in patients who
      underwent resection procedures using immunohistochemistry. The relationship
      between the expression of FOSB, the clinicopathological characteristics and the
      patients survival were also investigated. Furthermore, in vitro, we evaluated the
      effects of FOSB gene on gastric cancer cell viability, proliferation and
      migration by MTT, clone formation and transwell assays. Finally, the Kaplan-Meier
      method and log-rank test were used to compare the overall survival between high
      FOSB expression group and low FOSB expression group. Immunohistochemical staining
      data showed that FOSB expression was significantly decreased in gastric cancer
      cases. In addition, we confirmed FOSB downregulation in both mRNA and protein
      levels in GC tissues compared with matched adjacent non-cancerous tissues.
      Downregulated expression of FOSB was correlated with poor differentiation, lymph
      node metastasis and advanced TNM stage. Moreover, we found that low FOSB
      expression exhibited a significant correlation with poor prognosis for GC
      patients by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Overexpression of FOSB significantly
      suppressed cell proliferation, clone formation and migration in GC cell lines. In
      contrast, silencing of FOSB expression in GC cells promoted proliferation, clone
      formation and migration. Our results showed that FOSB plays a crucial role in the
      suppression of GC, and that it may be a useful biomarker in diagnosis and
      prognosis for GC patients.

PMID- 27633494
TI  - Gap junction inhibition by heptanol increases ventricular arrhythmogenicity by
      reducing conduction velocity without affecting repolarization properties or
      myocardial refractoriness in Langendorff-perfused mouse hearts.
AB  - In the current study, arrhythmogenic effects of the gap junction inhibitor
      heptanol (0.05 mM) were examined in Langendorff-perfused mouse hearts. Monophasic
      action potential recordings were obtained from the left ventricular epicardium
      during right ventricular pacing. Regular activity was observed both prior and
      subsequent to application of heptanol in all of the 12 hearts studied during 8 Hz
      pacing. By contrast, induced ventricular tachycardia (VT) was observed after
      heptanol treatment in 6/12 hearts using a S1S2 protocol (Fisher's exact test;
      P<0.05). The arrhythmogenic effects of heptanol were associated with increased
      activation latencies from 13.2+/-0.6 to 19.4+/-1.3 msec (analysis of variance;
      P<0.001) and reduced conduction velocities (CVs) from 0.23+/-0.01 to 0.16+/-0.01
      msec (analysis of variance; P<0.001) in an absence of alterations in action
      potential durations (ADPs) at x=90% (38.0+/-1.0 vs. 38.3+/-1.8 msec), 70% (16.8+/
      1.0 vs. 19.5+/-0.9 msec), 50% (9.2+/-0.8 vs. 10.1+/-0.6 msec) or 30% (4.8+/-0.5
      vs. 6.3+/-0.6 msec) repolarization (APDx) or in effective refractory period
      (ERPs) (39.6+/-1.9 vs. 40.6+/-3.0 msec) (all P>0.05). Consequently, excitation
      wavelengths (lambda; CV x ERP) were reduced from 9.1+/-0.6 to 6.5+/-0.6 mm
      (P<0.01), however critical intervals for re-excitation (APD90 - ERP) were
      unaltered (-1.1+/-2.4 vs. -2.3+/-1.8 msec; P>0.05). Together, these observations
      demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that inhibition of
      gap junctions alone using a low heptanol concentration (0.05 mM) was able to
      reduce CV, which alone was sufficient to permit the induction of VT using
      premature stimulation by reducing lambda, which therefore appears central in the
      determination of arrhythmic tendency.

PMID- 27633498
TI  - Mortality and emergency hospitalizations associated with atmospheric particulate
      matter episodes across the UK in spring 2014.
AB  - Exposure to particulate air pollution is known to have negative impacts on human
      health. Long-term exposure to anthropogenic particulate matter is associated with
      the equivalent of around 29,000 deaths a year in the UK. However, short-lived air
      pollution episodes on the order of a few days are also associated with increased
      daily mortality and emergency hospital admissions for respiratory and
      cardiovascular conditions. The UK experienced widespread high levels of
      particulate air pollution in March-April 2014; observations of hourly mean PM2.5
      concentrations reached up to 83MUgm-3 at urban background sites. We performed an
      exposure and health impact assessment of the spring air pollution, focusing on
      two episodes with the highest concentrations of PM2.5 (12-14 March and 28 March-3
      April 2014). Across these two episodes of elevated air pollution, totalling
      10days, around 600 deaths were brought forward from short-term exposure to PM2.5,
      representing 3.9% of total all-cause (excluding external) mortality during these
      days. Using observed levels of PM2.5 from other years, we estimate that this is
      2.0 to 2.7 times the mortality burden associated with typical urban background
      levels of PM2.5 at this time of year. Our results highlight the potential public
      health impacts and may aid planning for health care resources when such an
      episode is forecast.

PMID- 27633499
TI  - Adipose stromal cells differentiation toward smooth muscle cell phenotype
      diminishes their vasculogenic activity due to induction of activin A secretion.
AB  - Adipose stromal cells (ASCs) support endothelial cell (EC) vasculogenesis through
      paracrine and cell-contact communications. In addition, ASCs differentiate
      towards the smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype under different stimuli, which
      prompted their use as a source of mural cells in fabricating small calibre
      vessels. How ASCs' SMC-lineage commitment affects their subsequent communication
      with ECs is unknown. The vasculogenic characteristics of human ASCs in progenitor
      stage and after differentiation towards SMC phenotype were analysed in the
      present study. Exposure to transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1 ) or
      activin A has induced expression of SMC markers in ASCs. Analysis performed after
      treatment withdrawal revealed that secretome of pre-differentiated ASCs had a
      reduced potency to support EC survival and these ASCs had diminished ability to
      support EC vasculogenesis in vitro. Vascularization of subcutaneous implants
      carrying a mixture of ECs and ASCs was 50% lower when, instead of control, pre
      differentiated ASCs were used. Pre-differentiated ASCs had an inferior mitogenic
      response to EC-produced factors. Differentiation of ASCs was accompanied by
      upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor and a decrease in hepatocyte
      growth factor (HGF) production; however, addition of HGF to the co-culture
      incubation media did not improve vasculogenesis. In parallel, ASC treatment with
      TGFbeta1 induced secretion of activin A. Augmenting co-culture incubation media
      with anti-activin A IgG restored the ability of pre-differentiated ASCs to
      support vasculogenesis to the same degree as control ASCs. The present study
      suggests that TGFbeta1 or activin A-induced ASC commitment to SMC phenotype
      negatively affects the ability of ASCs to support EC vasculogenesis in
      applications based on EC and ASC co-injection into target tissues. Copyright (c)
      2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633500
TI  - Lithium Pharmacogenetics: Where Do We Stand?
AB  - Preclinical Research Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a chronic and disabling
      psychiatric disorder with a prevalence of 0.8-1.2% in the general population.
      Although lithium is considered the first-line treatment, a large percentage of
      patients do not respond sufficiently. Moreover, lithium can induce severe side
      effects and has poor tolerance and a narrow therapeutic index. The genetics of
      lithium response has been largely investigated, but findings have so far failed
      to identify reliable biomarkers to predict clinical response. This has been
      largely determined by the highly complex phenotipic and genetic architecture of
      lithium response. To this regard, collaborative initiatives hold the promise to
      provide robust and standardized methods to disantenagle this complexity, as well
      as the capacity to collect large samples of patietnts, a crucial requirement to
      study the genetics of complex phenotypes. The International Consortium on Lithium
      Genetics (ConLiGen) has recently published the largest study so far on lithium
      response reporting significant associations for two long noncoding RNAs
      (lncRNAs). This result provides relevant insights into the pharmacogenetics of
      lithium supporting the involvement of the noncoding portion of the genome in
      modulating clinical response. Although a vast body of research is engaged in
      dissecting the genetic bases of response to lithium, the several drawbacks of
      lithium therapy have also stimulated multiple efforts to identify new safer
      treatments. A drug repurposing approach identified ebselen as a potential lithium
      mimetic, as it shares with lithium the ability to inhibit inositol
      monophosphatase. Ebselen, an antioxidant glutathione peroxidase mimetic,
      represents a valid and promising example of new potential therapeutic
      interventions for BD, but the paucity of data warrant further investigation to
      elucidate its potential efficacy and safety in the management of BPD.
      Nevertheless, findings provided by the growing field of pharmacogenomic research
      will ultimately lead to the identification of new molecular targets and safer
      treatments for BPD. Drug Dev Res 77 : 368-373, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27633501
TI  - A highly efficient sorbitol dehydrogenase from Gluconobacter oxydans G624 and
      improvement of its stability through immobilization.
AB  - A sorbitol dehydrogenase (GoSLDH) from Gluconobacter oxydans G624 (G. oxydans
      G624) was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)-CodonPlus RIL. The complete
      1455-bp codon-optimized gene was amplified, expressed, and thoroughly
      characterized for the first time. GoSLDH exhibited Km and kcat values of 38.9 mM
      and 3820 s(-1) toward L-sorbitol, respectively. The enzyme exhibited high
      preference for NADP(+) (vs. only 2.5% relative activity with NAD(+)). GoSLDH
      sequencing, structure analyses, and biochemical studies, suggested that it
      belongs to the NADP(+)-dependent polyol-specific long-chain sorbitol
      dehydrogenase family. GoSLDH is the first fully characterized SLDH to date, and
      it is distinguished from other L-sorbose-producing enzymes by its high activity
      and substrate specificity. Isothermal titration calorimetry showed that the
      protein binds more strongly to D-sorbitol than other L-sorbose-producing enzymes,
      and substrate docking analysis confirmed a higher turnover rate. The high
      oxidation potential of GoSLDH for D-sorbitol was confirmed by cyclovoltametric
      analysis. Further, stability of GoSLDH significantly improved (up to 13.6-fold)
      after cross-linking of immobilized enzyme on silica nanoparticles and retained
      62.8% residual activity after 10 cycles of reuse. Therefore, immobilized GoSLDH
      may be useful for L-sorbose production from D-sorbitol.

PMID- 27633502
TI  - The angiotensin-I converting enzyme gene I/D variation contributes to end-stage
      renal disease risk in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes receiving
      hemodialysis.
AB  - Whether the DD genotype of the angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) I/D
      variation contributes to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) risk in type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2DM) remains controversial. Differences in study design, case and
      control definition, sample size and ethnicity may contribute to the discrepancies
      reported in association studies. We performed a case-control study to evaluate
      the association of the ACE I/D variation with ESRD risk in Chinese patients with
      T2DM receiving hemodialysis and analyzed the genotype-phenotype interaction.
      Unrelated Chinese patients (n = 432) were classified into the non-diabetic
      nephropathy (DN) control group (n = 222, duration of diabetes >10 years, no signs
      of renal involvement) and the DN-ESRD group (n = 210; ESRD due to T2DM, receiving
      hemodialysis). Polymerase chain reaction was used to genotype ACE I/D for all 432
      subjects. The frequencies of the ID + DD genotypes were higher in the DN-ESRD
      group than non-DN control group (65.2 vs. 50.9 %; adjusted OR 1.98 (95 % CI, 1.31
      3.00; P = 0.001). In the DN-ESRD group, the DD genotypic subgroup had
      significantly elevated HbA1c and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) compared to the
      II subgroup (both P < 0.05). The DD genotype of the ACE I/D variation may be
      associated with more elevated blood pressure and HbA1c, and therefore may predict
      the development, progression and severity of DN-ESRD in Chinese patients with
      T2DM undergoing hemodialysis.

PMID- 27633503
TI  - 2-Ethoxybenzamide stimulates melanin synthesis in B16F1 melanoma cells via the
      CREB signaling pathway.
AB  - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are frequently used for the treatment of
      inflammation, pain, and fever. In this study, we found that 2-ethoxybenzamide
      (ETZ) significantly enhanced melanin synthesis in B16F1 melanoma cells, and also
      induced melanosome formation. Therefore, we investigated the mechanism by which
      ETZ up-regulated melanin synthesis. Western blot analysis demonstrated that ETZ
      increased melanogenic protein levels, except that for TRP-2. Moreover, semi
      quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real
      time RT-PCR analyses showed that ETZ enhanced the mRNA levels of melanogenic
      genes, including microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and melanocortin
      1 receptor. We also observed phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding
      protein (CREB) following ETZ treatment. However, ETZ did not affect intracellular
      cAMP levels. ERK was also activated by ETZ treatment, and melanin content was
      enhanced upon treatment with the specific ERK inhibitor PD98059. Together, our
      results indicate that ETZ induces melanin synthesis via CREB phosphorylation.

PMID- 27633504
TI  - Snapshot of cobalt, chromium and nickel exposure in dental technicians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is not fully understood where and how people are exposed to
      sensitizing metals. Much can be learnt from studying occupational settings where
      metals are handled. OBJECTIVES: To quantify cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr) and nickel
      (Ni) exposure on the skin and in the air, and urine levels, in dental technicians
      working with tools and alloys that may result in skin and respiratory exposure.
      METHODS: The metal skin dose was quantified with acid wipe sampling in dental
      technicians (n = 13). Air exposure was monitored by personal air sampling. Spot
      urine samples were collected for 24 h. Metals were analysed with inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Before work, Co was detected on the
      skin of 10 participants (0.00025-0.0039 ug/cm2 ), and Cr (0.00051-0.011 ug/cm2 )
      and Ni (0.0062-0.15 ug/cm2 ) on the skin of all participants. After a 2-h period
      without hand washing, CoCr-exposed participants had more Co on the skin (p =
      0.004) than non-CoCr-exposed participants. Co was found in 10 air samples (0.22
      155 ug/m3 ), Cr in nine (0.43-71 ug/m3 ), and Ni in four (0.48-3.7 ug/m3 ). Metal
      urine concentrations were considered to be normal. CONCLUSIONS: Dental
      technicians were exposed to Co, Cr and Ni on the skin and through the air, which
      was not reflected in the urine concentrations in this study. Cobalt skin doses
      may potentially elicit allergic contact dermatitis and cause sensitization.

PMID- 27633506
TI  - A meta-analysis of the effects of non-traditional teaching methods on the
      critical thinking abilities of nursing students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scientific framework is important in designing curricula and
      evaluating students in the field of education and clinical practice. The purpose
      of this study was to examine the effectiveness of non-traditional educational
      methods on critical thinking skills. METHODS: A systematic review approach was
      applied. Studies published in peer-reviewed journals from January 2001 to
      December 2014 were searched using electronic databases and major education
      journals. A meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.2. Reviewing the
      included studies, the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI)
      and California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) were used to assess the
      effectiveness of critical thinking in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The eight CCTDI
      datasets showed that non- traditional teaching methods (i.e., no lectures) were
      more effective compared to control groups (standardized mean difference [SMD]:
      0.42, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.26-0.57, p < .00001). And six CCTST
      datasets showed the teaching and learning methods in these studies were also had
      significantly more effects when compared to the control groups (SMD: 0.29, 95 %
      CI: 0.10-0.48, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This research showed that new teaching
      and learning methods designed to improve critical thinking were generally
      effective at enhancing critical thinking dispositions.

PMID- 27633505
TI  - The expression of heterologous Fe (III) phytosiderophore transporter HvYS1 in
      rice increases Fe uptake, translocation and seed loading and excludes heavy
      metals by selective Fe transport.
AB  - Many metal transporters in plants are promiscuous, accommodating multiple
      divalent cations including some which are toxic to humans. Previous attempts to
      increase the iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content of rice endosperm by overexpressing
      different metal transporters have therefore led unintentionally to the
      accumulation of copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and cadmium (Cd). Unlike other metal
      transporters, barley Yellow Stripe 1 (HvYS1) is specific for Fe. We investigated
      the mechanistic basis of this preference by constitutively expressing HvYS1 in
      rice under the control of the maize ubiquitin1 promoter and comparing the
      mobilization and loading of different metals. Plants expressing HvYS1 showed
      modest increases in Fe uptake, root-to-shoot translocation, seed accumulation and
      endosperm loading, but without any change in the uptake and root-to-shoot
      translocation of Zn, Mn or Cu, confirming the selective transport of Fe. The
      concentrations of Zn and Mn in the endosperm did not differ significantly between
      the wild-type and HvYS1 lines, but the transgenic endosperm contained
      significantly lower concentrations of Cu. Furthermore, the transgenic lines
      showed a significantly reduced Cd uptake, root-to-shoot translocation and
      accumulation in the seeds. The underlying mechanism of metal uptake and
      translocation reflects the down-regulation of promiscuous endogenous metal
      transporters revealing an internal feedback mechanism that limits seed loading
      with Fe. This promotes the preferential mobilization and loading of Fe, therefore
      displacing Cu and Cd in the seed.

PMID- 27633507
TI  - Cardiac arrhythmia and late-onset muscle weakness caused by a myofibrillar
      myopathy with unusual histopathological features due to a novel missense mutation
      in FLNC.
AB  - Myofibrillar myopathies (MFM) are mostly adult-onset diseases characterized by
      progressive morphological alterations of the muscle fibers beginning in the Z
      disk and the presence of protein aggregates in the sarcoplasm. They are mostly
      caused by mutations in different genes that encode Z-disk proteins, including
      DES, CRYAB, LDB3, MYOT, FLNC and BAG3. A large family of French origin,
      presenting an autosomal dominant pattern, characterized by cardiac arrhythmia
      associated to late-onset muscle weakness, was evaluated to clarify clinical,
      morphological and genetic diagnosis. Muscle weakness began during adult life
      (over 30 years of age), and had a proximal distribution. Histology showed clear
      signs of a myofibrillar myopathy, but with unusual, large inclusions.
      Subsequently, genetic testing was performed in MFM genes available for screening
      at the time of clinical/histological diagnosis, and desmin (DES), alphaB
      crystallin (CRYAB), myotilin (MYOT) and ZASP (LDB3), were excluded. LMNA gene
      screening found the p.R296C variant which did not co-segregate with the disease.
      Genome wide scan revealed linkage to 7q.32, containing the FLNC gene. FLNC direct
      sequencing revealed a heterozygous c.3646T>A p.Tyr1216Asn change, co-segregating
      with the disease, in a highly conserved amino acid of the protein. Normal filamin
      C levels were detected by Western-blot analysis in patient muscle biopsies and
      expression of the mutant protein in NIH3T3 showed filamin C aggregates. This is
      an original FLNC mutation in a MFM family with an atypical clinical and
      histopathological presentation, given the presence of significantly focal lesions
      and prominent sarcoplasmic masses in muscle biopsies and the constant heart
      involvement preceding significantly the onset of the myopathy. Though a rare
      etiology, FLNC gene should not be excluded in early-onset arrhythmia, even in the
      absence of myopathy, which occurs later in the disease course.

PMID- 27633508
TI  - Phyto-, endo- and synthetic cannabinoids: promising chemotherapeutic agents in
      the treatment of breast and prostate carcinomas.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The term 'cannabinoids' designates a family of compounds with
      activity upon cannabinoid receptors. Cannabinoids are classified in three groups:
      phytocannabinoids, endocannabinoids, and the synthetic analogues of both groups.
      They have become a promising tool in the treatment of cancer disease, not only as
      palliative agents, but also as antitumor drugs, due to their ability to inhibit
      the proliferation, adhesion, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis of tumour
      cells. Two of the cancers where they have shown high anticancer activity are
      breast and prostate tumours. Despite this potential clinical interest, several
      studies have also reported that cannabinoids can stimulate the proliferation of
      cancer cells at very low concentrations. Areas covered: The aim of this review is
      to evaluate the promising chemotherapeutic utility of phytocannabinoids,
      endocannabinoids, and synthetic cannabinoids in breast and prostate cancer.
      Expert opinion: Cannabinoids, in particular the non-psychoactive CBD, may be
      promising tools in combination therapy for breast and prostate cancer, due to
      their direct antitumor effects, their ability to improve the efficacy of
      conventional antitumor drugs and their usefulness as palliative treatment.
      Nevertheless, deeper studies to fully establish the mechanisms responsible for
      their antitumour and pro-tumour properties and their formulation in efficient
      delivery systems remain to be established.

PMID- 27633509
TI  - Did Lanthanum Carbonate Improve Prognosis in Patients Requiring Chronic
      Hemodialysis in the Kawashima Study?

PMID- 27633510
TI  - Effects of hyperlipidaemia on plasma apolipoprotein M levels in patients with
      type 2 diabetes mellitus: an independent case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is mainly enriched in high-density
      lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and is slightly present in low-density lipoprotein
      (LDL) cholesterol and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. apoM is involved
      in HDL formation and HDL-mediated reverse cholesterol transport. apoM is also
      associated with hyperlipidaemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
      Significantly high plasma apoM levels are detected in hyperlipidaemia mice with a
      defective LDL receptor. By contrast, low plasma apoM levels are observed in
      patients with T2DM, which is often accompanied with hyperlipidaemia. However, the
      underlying mechanism of this condition is poorly understood. This research aims
      to examine the changes in apoM levels in patients with hyperlipidaemia and to
      determine the effects of hyperlipidaemia on plasma apoM levels in patients with
      T2DM. METHODS: This study included patients with hyperlipidaemia (n = 79),
      patients with T2DM but without hyperlipidaemia (n = 125), patients with T2DM and
      hyperlipidaemia (n = 98), and healthy controls (n = 105). Their plasma apoM
      concentrations were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The
      average plasma apoM concentrations were 18 % higher in the hyperlipidaemia group
      (26.63 +/- 10.35 ng/MUL) than in the healthy controls (22.61 +/- 10.81 ng/MUL, P
      <0.01). The plasma apoM concentrations were lower in the T2DM without
      hyperlipidaemia group (18.54 +/- 10.33 ng/MUL, P <0.01) and the T2DM with
      hyperlipidaemia group (19.83 +/- 7.41 ng/MUL, P <0.05) than in the healthy
      controls. Similar to apoA-I (1.29 +/- 0.33 g/L vs. 1.28 +/- 0.31 g/L, P >0.05),
      the plasma apoM concentrations in the T2DM with hyperlipidaemia group did not
      significantly differ from those in the T2DM without hyperlipidaemia group (P
      >0.05). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that hyperlipidaemia (beta
      = 5.18, P = 0.007) is an independent promoting factor of plasma apoM levels and
      diabetes (beta = -3.09, P = 0.005) is an inhibiting factor of plasma apoM levels.
      CONCLUSION: Plasma apoM concentrations are higher in patients with
      hyperlipidaemia than in healthy controls. Low plasma apoM levels in patients with
      T2DM are likely caused by diabetes but are not induced by hyperlipidaemia.

PMID- 27633511
TI  - A novel high-throughput assay to quantify the vaccine-induced inhibition of
      Bordetella pertussis adhesion to airway epithelia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pertussis or whooping cough is an acute respiratory illness caused by
      the Gram-negative pathogen Bordetella pertussis. Despite high vaccination
      coverage whooping cough is currently re-emerging in many developed countries.
      Although the causes of pertussis resurgence are matter of debate, emerging
      evidences suggest that acellular vaccines efficiently protect against the
      hallmark symptoms of pertussis disease but fail to prevent colonization. This
      presumably impacts on increased risk of bacterial transmission and consequent
      spread throughout the population. These evidences suggest that improved vaccines
      may be required for efficient bacterial clearance in the upper respiratory tract.
      Consequently, there is a need for novel bioassays to evaluate at pre-clinical or
      clinical level the impact of different vaccines on B. pertussis colonization.
      RESULTS: We developed a high-throughput bacterial adhesion inhibition (BAI) assay
      based on human respiratory cell lines and on live bacteria chemically conjugated
      to a fluorescent dye. Employing A549 cells as model, we evaluated the impact of
      antibodies elicited by acellular (aP) and whole cell (wP) vaccines on B.
      pertussis adhesion in vitro. Moreover, we settled the method also on polarized
      Calu-3 cells grown at air-liquid interface (ALI), showing that this assay can be
      extended to more complex cell models mimicking the airway epithelium.
      CONCLUSIONS: We proved that this method is a sensitive, rapid and reproducible
      system to evaluate the anti-adhesive properties of vaccine-induced antibodies and
      can be employed to assess improved pertussis vaccines.

PMID- 27633512
TI  - Replantation of a displaced incisor in a boy with a cleft lip and alveolus: a
      case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tooth replantation after traumatic avulsion or transplantation is a
      challenge in oral surgery. A special method named auto-alloplastic replantation,
      in which a titanium post is used after extraoral endodontic treatment, combines
      several advantages. The treatment is performed in one step with no further
      endodontic intervention, no wide root canal instrumentation, no recontamination,
      and reduced endodontic infection. This is the first report on replantation of an
      ectopic tooth in a patient with a cleft lip and alveolus using this method. CASE
      PRESENTATION: This case report presents the treatment of a 13-year-old white boy
      with a cleft lip and alveolus who had an ectopic incisor in the cleft region. His
      rehabilitation was performed by a tooth transposition using the auto-alloplastic
      replantation technique. After preparation of the displaced incisor from the
      vestibule, extraoral endodontic treatment followed using a titanium post prior to
      replantation in a newly formed socket. In the follow-up, the tooth is still in
      place and functioning after 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: This method can be used to
      bridge the years while a patient is young and jaw growth is incomplete until bone
      augmentation and implantation can be performed. The tooth will preserve the
      remaining alveolar ridge and help the adolescent psychologically.

PMID- 27633513
TI  - Tolerability and efficacy of bimatoprost 0.01 % in patients with open-angle
      glaucoma or ocular hypertension evaluated in the Taiwanese clinical setting: the
      Asia Pacific Patterns from Early Access of Lumigan 0.01 % (APPEAL Taiwan) study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In randomized, controlled trials of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or
      ocular hypertension (OHT), bimatoprost 0.01 % improved tolerability while
      retaining the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering efficacy of bimatoprost 0.03 %.
      Given geographic/racial differences in glaucoma presentation, the APPEAL study
      assessed the occurrence and severity of hyperemia produced by bimatoprost 0.01 %,
      and its efficacy, in the Taiwanese clinical setting. METHODS: In this
      multicenter, open-label, observational study, treatment-naive and previously
      treated patients with OHT or OAG received once-daily bimatoprost 0.01 % for 12
      weeks. Hyperemia (primary endpoint) was graded at baseline, week 6, and week 12
      using a photonumeric scale (0, +0.5, +1, +2, +3), grouped (<= +1, none to mild;
      >= +2, moderate to severe), and reported as unchanged from baseline, improved, or
      worsened. IOP assessments followed the same schedule. Supplemental efficacy
      analyses were conducted based on previous therapies. RESULTS: The intent-to-treat
      population (N = 312) included treatment-naive (13.5 %) and previously treated
      (86.5 %) patients; mean age was 53.3 years. At baseline, 46.3 % of previously
      treated patients were receiving prostaglandin analog (PGA) monotherapy. At week
      12, 91.2 %, 5.9 %, and 2.9 % of treatment-naive patients exhibited unchanged,
      worsened, and improved hyperemia from baseline, respectively; 77.9 %, 12.9 %, and
      9.2 % of previously treated patients showed no change, worsening, and
      improvement, respectively. There were no statistically significant shifts in
      hyperemia severity in either group, or in subgroups based on previous use of any
      PGA, any non-PGA, latanoprost, or travoprost monotherapies. In treatment-naive
      patients, mean IOP reduction from baseline (18.0 +/- 3.8 mm Hg) was 3.6 mm Hg at
      week 12 (P < 0.0001); 83.3 % had baseline IOP <= 21 mm Hg. In previously treated
      patients, mean additional IOP reduction from baseline (17.8 +/- 3.9 mm Hg) was
      2.6 mm Hg (P < 0.0001); similar results were observed in patient subgroups based
      on previous therapies. CONCLUSIONS: In the Taiwanese clinical setting,
      bimatoprost 0.01 % provided significant IOP lowering in treatment-naive patients
      (regardless of baseline IOP) and previously treated patients (even those with
      relatively low IOP on other therapies), while causing no significant changes in
      hyperemia from baseline. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01814761 .
      Registered 18 March 2013.

PMID- 27633515
TI  - WOMEN IN CANCER PROFILE: From bedside to bench and back: my journey in thyroid
      disease.

PMID- 27633514
TI  - Navigating barriers: two-year follow up on recommendations to improve the use of
      maternal health guidelines in Kosovo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there are a growing number of initiatives aimed at
      supporting guideline implementation in resource-constrained settings, few studies
      assess progress on achieving next steps and goals after the initial activities
      are completed and the initial funding period has ended. The aim of the current
      study was to conduct a qualitative process evaluation of progress, barriers,
      facilitators, and proposed solutions to operationalize nine recommendations to
      prepare Kosovo to implement the 2012 World Health Organization (WHO) prevention
      and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage guideline. METHODS/DESIGN: In 2012, we co
      created nine recommendations designed to support implementing the WHO's guideline
      on the prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage in Kosovo. The current
      study uses a realist evaluation approach to assess activities and progress two
      years after the recommendations were developed. The study involved conducting
      qualitative focus groups and one-on-one interviews with participants from the
      first meeting to evaluate the activities and progress on the nine
      recommendations. RESULTS: Forty-three participants provided insights into the
      barriers and opportunities experienced to date and proposed future directions.
      Although progress has been made towards implementation of a number of the
      recommendations, scaling up has been limited by barriers, such as lack of
      awareness, limited resources, and evaluation challenges. Participants proposed
      addressing these barriers by building within- and between-country partnerships to
      facilitate guideline implementation. In addition, participants reported less
      progress on implementing recommendations related to broader cultural changes,
      which indicates a need for specific and actionable recommendations to
      operationalize implementation efforts. CONCLUSIONS: In the two years since the
      initial meeting, there has been mixed progress on the recommendations. Based on
      participant feedback, we refined the recommendations so that they can be
      operationalized by health care system stakeholders in Kosovo to further support
      implementation efforts. It is beneficial to share these lessons learned
      throughout the implementation process to inform next steps in Kosovo and offer
      ideas for use in other settings.

PMID- 27633516
TI  - WOMEN IN CANCER THEMATIC REVIEW: Thyroid-stimulating hormone in thyroid cancer:
      does it matter?
AB  - Differentiated thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy and the
      incidence is increasing rapidly worldwide. Appropriate diagnosis and post
      treatment monitoring of patients with thyroid tumours are critical. Fine needle
      aspiration cytology remains the gold standard for diagnosing thyroid cancer, and
      although there have been significant refinements to this technique, diagnostic
      surgery is often required for patients suspected to have malignancy. Serum
      thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is higher in patients with malignant thyroid
      nodules than in those with benign disease, and TSH is proportionally increased in
      more aggressive tumours. Importantly, we have shown that the pre-operative serum
      TSH concentration independently predicts the presence of malignancy in subjects
      presenting with thyroid nodules. Establishing the use of TSH measurements in
      algorithms identifying high-risk thyroid nodules in routine clinical practice
      represents an exciting, cost-efficient and non-invasive approach to optimise
      thyroid cancer diagnosis. Binding of TSH to receptors on thyrocytes stimulates a
      number of growth promoting pathways both in normal and malignant thyroid cells,
      and TSH suppression with high doses of levothyroxine is routinely used after
      thyroidectomy to prevent cancer recurrence, especially in high-risk tumours. This
      review examines the relationship between serum TSH and thyroid cancer and
      reflects on the clinical potential of TSH measurements in diagnosis and disease
      monitoring.

PMID- 27633518
TI  - MicroRNA-330-5p negatively regulates ITGA5 expression in human colorectal cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC), one of the most prevalent malignant cancers, has high
      rates pf incidence and is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths for
      both men and women worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in the
      development of various types of cancers. miRNA-330-5p has been implicated in the
      progression of prostate, neuronal and pancreatic cancers by regulating
      proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of
      cells. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the expression of miR
      330-5p in CRC and identify its target gene(s) that may act in CRC tumorigenesis.
      We found that miR-330-5p expression was significantly lower in CRC tissues than
      that in adjacent non-tumorous tissues. Furthermore, we identified integrin alpha5
      (ITGA5) as a new target of miR-330-5p and found that it inhibits ITGA5 expression
      by directly binding to the 3' untranslated region of ITGA5 mRNA. These results
      suggest that downregulation of miR-330-5p expression may affect CRC development
      via modulation of ITGA5 expression.

PMID- 27633517
TI  - Caveolin-1 Function in Liver Physiology and Disease.
AB  - Caveolin-1 (CAV1), the structural protein of caveolae in the plasma membrane, has
      emerged as a regulator of liver function. CAV1 modulates several molecular
      pathways leading to the regulation of hepatic lipid accumulation, lipid and
      glucose metabolism, mitochondrial biology, and hepatocyte proliferation. CAV1
      thus plays a crucial role in maintaining hepatic physiology during metabolic
      adaptation to fasting, liver steatosis, and hepatocyte proliferation associated
      with liver regeneration. With failure of such processes, CAV1 has been implicated
      in the modulation of cholestasis, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocarcinogenesis.
      This review discusses the latest research in CAV1 biology and related proteins,
      aiming to guide future endeavors that explore their role in liver physiology and
      disease.

PMID- 27633519
TI  - Bilirubin exposure is associated with neonatal sepsis in the eight days preceding
      symptoms: a retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare levels of bilirubin (using the area under the curve, AUC)
      in preterm infants before the onset of sepsis with healthy matched-controls.
      METHODS: Preterm infants born between January 2011 and December 2015 with late
      onset sepsis were enrolled in our retrospective study and were matched with
      healthy controls (sex, birth weight and gestational age). Levels of bilirubin
      were registered in the eight days preceding the onset of sepsis and the AUC was
      calculated for both groups. RESULTS: Eighty-eight neonates (44 cases) were
      studied. GA and BW did not differ between cases and controls. In cases, we found
      a higher value of AUC (30.7 versus 22.5; p = 0.021). CONCLUSION: In our
      retrospective cohort, we found that the levels of bilirubin and the AUC in the
      first eight days before the onset of sepsis in preterm infants were significantly
      higher than the healthy controls. These data suggest that the prolonged
      exposition to high levels of bilirubin could increase the infection
      susceptibility in preterm infants.

PMID- 27633520
TI  - A comprehensive validation of HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure models
      to assist decision-making in targeted therapeutics.
AB  - This research utilized an external longitudinal dataset of hepatitis B virus
      related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) to compare and validate various
      predictive models that support the current recommendations to select the most
      effective predictive risk models to estimate short- and long-term mortality and
      facilitate decision-making about preferable therapeutics for HBV-ACLF patients.
      Twelve ACLF prognostic models were developed after a systematic literature search
      using the longitudinal data of 232 HBV-ACLF patients on the waiting list for
      liver transplantation (LT). Four statistical measures, the constant (A) and slope
      (B) of the fitted line, the area under the curve (C) and the net benefit (D),
      were calculated to assess and compare the calibration, discrimination and
      clinical usefulness of the 12 predictive models. According to the model
      calibration and discrimination, the logistic regression models (LRM2) and the
      United Kingdom model of end-stage liver disease(UKELD) were selected as the best
      predictive models for both 3-month and 5-year outcomes. The decision curve
      summarizes the benefits of intervention relative to the costs of unnecessary
      treatment. After the comprehensive validation and comparison of the currently
      used models, LRM2 was confirmed as a markedly effective prognostic model for LT
      free HBV-ACLF patients for assisting targeted and standardized therapeutic
      decisions.

PMID- 27633521
TI  - Ostreopsis fattorussoi sp. nov. (Dinophyceae), a new benthic toxic Ostreopsis
      species from the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
AB  - The new benthic toxic dinoflagellate, Ostreopsis fattorussoi sp. nov., is
      described from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon and Cyprus coasts, and is
      supported by morphological and molecular data. The plate formula, Po, 3', 7", 6c,
      7s, 5''', 2'''', is typical for the Ostreopsis genus. It differs from all other
      Ostreopsis species in that (i) the curved suture between plates 1' and 3' makes
      them approximately hexagonal, (ii) the 1' plate lies in the left half of the
      epitheca and is obliquely orientated leading to a characteristic shape of plate
      6". The round thecal pores are bigger than the other two Mediterranean species
      (O. cf. ovata and O. cf. siamensis). O. fattorussoi is among the smallest species
      of the genus (DV: 60.07 +/- 5.63 MUm, AP: 25.66 +/- 2.97 MUm, W: 39.81 +/- 5.05
      MUm) along with O. ovata. Phylogenetic analyses based on the LSU and internal
      transcribed spacer rDNA shows that O. fattorussoi belongs to the
      Atlantic/Mediterranean Ostreopsis spp. clade separated from the other Ostreopsis
      species. Ostreopsis fattorussoi produces OVTX-a and structural isomers OVTX-d and
      -e, O. cf. ovata is the only other species of this genus known to produce these
      toxins. The Lebanese O. fattorussoi did not produce the new palytoxin-like
      compounds (ovatoxin-i, ovatoxin-j1 , ovatoxin-j2 , and ovatoxin-k) that were
      previously found in O. fattorussoi from Cyprus. The toxin content was in the
      range of 0.28-0.94 pg . cell-1 . On the Lebanon coast, O. fattorussoi was
      recorded throughout the year 2015 (temperature range 18 degrees C-31.5 degrees
      C), with peaks in June and August.

PMID- 27633523
TI  - [The real measurement of non-HDL-cholesterol: Atherogenic cholesterol].
AB  - Lowe density lipoproteins (LDL) are the causal agent of cardiovascular diseases.
      In practice, we identify LDL with cholesterol transported in LDL (cLDL). So, cLDL
      has become the major target for cardiovascular prevention. Howewer, we have
      progressive evidences about the role of triglycerides rich lipoproteins,
      particularly those very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) in promotion and
      progression of atherosclerosis, that leads cholesterol in VLDL and its remanents
      as a potential therapeutic target. This feature is particularly important and of
      a great magnitude, in patients with hypertiglyceridemia. We can to considere,
      that the non-HDL cholesterol -cLDL+cVLDL+c-remmants+Lp(a)- is the real
      measurement of atherogenic cholesterol. In addition, non-HDL-cholesterol do not
      show any variations between postprandial states. In fact, non-HDL-cholesterol
      should be an excellent marker of atherogenic cholesterol, and an major
      therapeutic target in patients with atherogenic dyslipidaemia. According with
      different clinical trials and with the epidemiological and mendelian studies, in
      patients with high cardiovascular risk, optimal level of cLDL will be under
      70mg/dl, and under 100 ng/dl for non-HDL-cholesterol; and in high risk patients,
      100mg/dl and 130mg/dl, respectively.

PMID- 27633524
TI  - Mitigation of soil N2O emission by inoculation with a mixed culture of indigenous
      Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens.
AB  - Agricultural soil is the largest source of nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas.
      Soybean is an important leguminous crop worldwide. Soybean hosts symbiotic
      nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria (rhizobia) in root nodules. In soybean ecosystems,
      N2O emissions often increase during decomposition of the root nodules. Our
      previous study showed that N2O reductase can be used to mitigate N2O emission
      from soybean fields during nodule decomposition by inoculation with nosZ++
      strains [mutants with increased N2O reductase (N2OR) activity] of Bradyrhizobium
      diazoefficiens. Here, we show that N2O emission can be reduced at the field scale
      by inoculation with a mixed culture of indigenous nosZ+ strains of B.
      diazoefficiens USDA110 group isolated from Japanese agricultural fields. Our
      results also suggested that nodule nitrogen is the main source of N2O production
      during nodule decomposition. Isolating nosZ+ strains from local soybean fields
      would be more applicable and feasible for many soybean-producing countries than
      generating mutants.

PMID- 27633522
TI  - Extensive next-generation sequencing analysis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia at
      diagnosis: clinical and biological correlations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), next-generation sequencing
      (NGS) analysis represents a sensitive, reproducible, and resource-efficient
      technique for routine screening of gene mutations. METHODS: We performed an
      extensive biologic characterization of newly diagnosed CLL, including NGS
      analysis of 20 genes frequently mutated in CLL and karyotype analysis to assess
      whether NGS and karyotype results could be of clinical relevance in the
      refinement of prognosis and assessment of risk of progression. The genomic DNA
      from peripheral blood samples of 200 consecutive CLL patients was analyzed using
      Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine, a NGS platform that uses semiconductor
      sequencing technology. Karyotype analysis was performed using efficient mitogens.
      RESULTS: Mutations were detected in 42.0 % of cases with 42.8 % of mutated
      patients presenting 2 or more mutations. The presence of mutations by NGS was
      associated with unmutated IGHV gene (p = 0.009), CD38 positivity (p = 0.010),
      risk stratification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (p < 0.001), and
      the complex karyotype (p = 0.003). A high risk as assessed by FISH analysis was
      associated with mutations affecting TP53 (p = 0.012), BIRC3 (p = 0.003), and
      FBXW7 (p = 0.003) while the complex karyotype was significantly associated with
      TP53, ATM, and MYD88 mutations (p = 0.003, 0.018, and 0.001, respectively). By
      multivariate analysis, the multi-hit profile (>=2 mutations by NGS) was
      independently associated with a shorter time to first treatment (p = 0.004) along
      with TP53 disruption (p = 0.040), IGHV unmutated status (p < 0.001), and advanced
      stage (p < 0.001). Advanced stage (p = 0.010), TP53 disruption (p < 0.001), IGHV
      unmutated status (p = 0.020), and the complex karyotype (p = 0.007) were
      independently associated with a shorter overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: At
      diagnosis, an extensive biologic characterization including NGS and karyotype
      analyses using novel mitogens may offer new perspectives for a better refinement
      of risk stratification that could be of help in the clinical management of CLL
      patients.

PMID- 27633525
TI  - Encapsulated social perception of emotional expressions.
AB  - In this paper I argue that the detection of emotional expressions is, in its
      early stages, informationally encapsulated. I clarify and defend such a view via
      the appeal to data from social perception on the visual processing of faces,
      bodies, facial and bodily expressions. Encapsulated social perception might exist
      alongside processes that are cognitively penetrated, and that have to do with
      recognition and categorization, and play a central evolutionary function in
      preparing early and rapid responses to the emotional stimuli.

PMID- 27633526
TI  - Sigmoid volvulus after caesarean section.

PMID- 27633527
TI  - Bone Remodeling around Implants Placed in Augmented Sinuses in Patients with and
      without History of Periodontitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Susceptible individuals may be more prone to bone loss after
      augmentation procedures. PURPOSE: Identify plausible clinical and biological
      factors influencing apical and marginal bone remodeling at implants placed in
      augmented sinuses, in patients with and without history of periodontitis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional clinical study analyzed
      implant bone levels in a group of 104 patients with and without history of
      periodontitis undergoing 139 sinus augmentation procedures. Marginal and apical
      bone loss (MBL/ABL) was measured post-loading using a standardized digital
      technique. Measurements were taken preoperatively, at second stage implant
      uncovery, one year after loading and at an average of 53-months follow-up. Odds
      ratios were calculated to evaluate risks factors of contributing variables, such
      as, smoking, history of periodontitis, membrane perforation, surgical approach,
      grafting material, use of PRP, and implant design/dimensions. RESULTS: Patients
      with history of periodontitis were 8.43 times more likely to present more than
      2mm of MBL than patients without it (p =.041; CI95%: 1.09-65.12). Smokers were
      4.97 times more likely to present over 2 mm of MBL than non-smokers (p =.003;
      CI95%: 1.70-14.54). Sinus membrane perforations were 11.4 times more likely to
      present ABL than those without perforation (p = 0.007; CI95%: 1.94-66.93). Mean
      MBL/ABL after 1-year post-loading and at last control were 0.49/0.56 mm and
      0.67/0.46 mm, respectively. The use of a collagen membrane to cover the
      antrostomy and only xenograft as grafting material decreased ABL by 0.9 mm. The
      combination of autologous/xenograft bone was 4.04 times more likely to present
      higher ABL than xenograft alone (p = 0.023; CI95%: 1.21-13.45). Overall implant
      survival/success rates were 94.39%/91.33%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking and
      previous history of periodontitis negatively affects implant MBL. Sinus membrane
      perforation was associated with higher ABL. Lack of association between bone
      remodeling at marginal and apical areas suggests that they are different and
      independent processes.

PMID- 27633529
TI  - Telomere correlations during early life in a long-lived seabird.
AB  - Telomere dynamics in blood cells have been linked to aging in a variety of
      organisms. However, whether blood telomeres are correlated with telomeres in
      other parts of the body is not well known, especially during early life when
      telomere loss is expected to be most rapid. We investigated this question in
      Franklin's gulls (Leucophaeus pipixcan) by measuring telomere lengths in blood
      and several other tissues including: heart, liver, and skeletal muscle at the end
      of embryonic (n=31) and post-natal development (n=20). In late-stage embryos,
      blood telomeres were significantly positively correlated with heart and skeletal
      muscle, but not liver telomeres. However, at the end of post-natal development,
      there were no significant correlations among blood telomeres and telomeres in any
      other tissues. In late-stage embryos, heart telomeres were significantly longer
      than blood, liver, and skeletal muscle telomeres, but at the end of post-natal
      development telomere lengths did not significantly differ among tissues. These
      results suggest that blood telomere length is not necessarily indicative of other
      tissues at all stages of development and highlights the importance of
      understanding any functional consequences of tissue specific telomere dynamics in
      early life.

PMID- 27633528
TI  - MAVS-dependent host species range and pathogenicity of human hepatitis A virus.
AB  - Hepatotropic viruses are important causes of human disease, but the intrahepatic
      immune response to hepatitis viruses is poorly understood because of a lack of
      tractable small- animal models. We describe a murine model of hepatitis A virus
      (HAV) infection that recapitulates critical features of type A hepatitis in
      humans. We demonstrate that the capacity of HAV to evade MAVS-mediated type I
      interferon responses defines its host species range. HAV-induced liver injury was
      associated with interferon-independent intrinsic hepatocellular apoptosis and
      hepatic inflammation that unexpectedly resulted from MAVS and IRF3/7 signaling.
      This murine model thus reveals a previously undefined link between innate immune
      responses to virus infection and acute liver injury, providing a new paradigm for
      viral pathogenesis in the liver.

PMID- 27633530
TI  - Biomarkers in sarcopenia: A multifactorial approach.
AB  - The slow and continuous loss of muscle mass that progresses with aging is defined
      as "sarcopenia". Sarcopenia represents an important public health problem, being
      closely linked to a condition of frailty and, therefore, of disability. According
      to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, the diagnosis of
      sarcopenia requires the presence of low muscle mass, along with either low grip
      strength or low physical performance. However, age-related changes in skeletal
      muscle can be largely attributed to the complex interactions among factors
      including alterations of the neuromuscular junction, endocrine system, growth
      factors, and muscle proteins turnover, behavior-related and disease-related
      factors. Accordingly, the identification of a single biomarker of sarcopenia is
      unreliable, due to its "multifactorial" pathogenesis with the involvement of a
      multitude of pathways. Thus, in order to characterize pathophysiological
      mechanisms and to make a correct assessment of elderly patient with sarcopenia, a
      panel of biomarkers of all pathways involved should be assessed.

PMID- 27633531
TI  - GADOXETATE DISODIUM (GD-EOB-DTPA) CONTRAST ENHANCED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
      CHARACTERISTICS OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN DOGS.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary hepatic tumor in dogs and is
      amenable to surgical resection in many cases. Unfortunately, overlap of
      sonographic findings between benign and malignant hepatic lesions typically
      requires more invasive diagnostic tests to be performed (e.g., biopsy for
      histopathology). The availability of a noninvasive diagnostic test to identify
      hepatocellular carcinoma would be beneficial. The use of a liver-specific
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent such as gadoxetate disodium (Gd
      EOB-DTPA; Eovist(r) or Primovist(r)) has improved lesion detection in human
      patients. In this descriptive study, gadoxetate disodium contrast-enhanced MRI
      characteristics in dogs were evaluated in seven dogs (total of eight lesions).
      The imaging characteristics were variable with the exception of all lesions being
      hypointense to surrounding normal hepatic parenchyma on 3D T1-weighted gradient
      recalled echo images at all postcontrast time points. All lesions displayed
      signal intensity ratios less than 1, consistent with retained but impaired
      hepatocyte function. Hepatic lesions not identified on previous imaging were
      found in 3/7 patients which may affect surgical planning. In two patients,
      several hepatic nodules were identified during surgery which had not been
      visualized on MRI and were found to be benign on histopathology. This descriptive
      study reports the MRI characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma in dogs using
      the liver-specific contrast agent gadoxetate disodium.

PMID- 27633533
TI  - The effect of hyaluronic acid addition on the properties of smoked homogenised
      sausages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This research studied the possibility of using hyaluronic acid (HA)
      as a food additive for meat emulsions to create a novel functional food with
      improved rheological and water binding properties. Sausages with 200 and 500 g kg
      1 water addition were supplemented with 0, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 g kg-1 of HA and
      stored for 14 days in vacuum. Rheology, texture, weight losses, proximate
      composition and microbiological analyses were performed together with the sensory
      evaluation of produced sausages. RESULTS: Surprisingly, the results show that the
      addition of 0.05 and 0.1 g kg-1 HA reduced yield and the stability of meat
      emulsion by causing water outflow from the product and decreased the sensory
      scores of the produced sausages. The sausage with 500 g kg-1 water and 0.01 g kg
      1 HA addition was the only economically viable option for introducing the product
      on the market. CONCLUSION: HA has a potential of being a perfect functional food
      additive for meat industry, although further research regarding processing
      conditions should be performed. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27633549
TI  - Trends in Post-Mastectomy Reconstruction in an Asian Population: A 12-Year
      Institutional Review.
AB  - Post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is an integral component of breast cancer
      treatment. It is often perceived that women in Asian countries have a lower rate
      of post-mastectomy reconstruction than Western populations. This study describes
      trends in timing and types of breast reconstruction performed in the largest
      healthcare provider in Singapore, over a period of 12 years. It also reports on
      the oncological outcomes and surgical safety. A retrospective review of all
      patients who underwent post-mastectomy reconstruction from January 2001 to
      December 2012 at the National Cancer Centre Singapore and Singapore General
      Hospital was performed. Six hundred and twenty post-mastectomy reconstructions
      were performed in 579 patients. The proportion of reconstructions increased from
      4% in 2001 to 18% in 2012. Younger patients (<50 years old) and those with early
      stage cancer were more likely to undergo reconstruction. Immediate breast
      reconstruction was favored by more than 90% of patients. Postoperatively, 9%
      developed acute surgical complications that were treated surgically; 6% had
      additional surgery for late complications. Only 4% had delay of adjuvant
      chemotherapy. At median follow-up of 63 months (range 3-166), loco-regional
      recurrence was 4%, and distant metastases 8%. Post-mastectomy reconstruction for
      breast cancer is increasingly performed in our institution. Both younger age and
      lower stage disease were associated with choice for reconstruction in our study.
      Low rates of delay to adjuvant therapy were noted, and it may safely be offered
      to suitable women undergoing mastectomy.

PMID- 27633532
TI  - Studying the role of cooperative hydration in stabilizing folded protein states.
AB  - Understanding and modelling protein folding remains a key scientific and
      engineering challenge. Two key questions in protein folding are (1) why many
      proteins adopt a folded state and (2) how these proteins transition from the
      random coil ensemble to a folded state. In this paper we employ molecular
      dynamics simulations to address the first of these questions. Computational
      methods are well-placed to address this issue due to their ability to analyze
      systems at atomic-level resolution. Traditionally, the stability of folded
      proteins has been ascribed to the balance of two types of intermolecular
      interactions: hydrogen-bonding interactions and hydrophobic contacts. In this
      study, we explore a third type of intermolecular interaction: cooperative
      hydration of protein surface residues. To achieve this, we consider multiple
      independent simulations of the villin headpiece domain to quantify the
      contributions of different interactions to the energy of the native and fully
      extended states. In addition, we consider whether these findings are robust with
      respect to the protein forcefield, the water model, and the presence of salt. In
      all cases, we identify many cooperatively hydrated interactions that are
      transient but energetically favor the native state. Whilst further work on
      additional protein structures, forcefields, and water models is necessary, these
      results suggest a role for cooperative hydration in protein folding that should
      be explored further. Rational design of cooperative hydration on the protein
      surface could be a viable strategy for increasing protein stability.

PMID- 27633550
TI  - Microvascular changes in relation to inflammation and epidermal hyperplasia in
      chronic cutaneous lesions of psoriasis vulgaris.
AB  - Epidermal proliferation, inflammatory changes and microvascular augmentation are
      prominent features of chronic cutaneous psoriatic lesions. The objective of this
      study was the investigation of blood and lymphatic microvascular changes in
      relation to epidermal changes and inflammatory infiltration in dermis.
      Immunohistochemical analysis with antibodies to CD34, podoplanin, vascular
      endothelial growth factors - A and C (VEGF-A and C) and morphometric software
      were used for quantification of the following parameters: blood and lymphatic
      vessel area (BVA and LVA), VEGF - A and VEGF-C positive area, inflammatory cell
      infiltration in dermis (CIA) and epidermal area (EA). In comparison to healthy
      skin psoriatic lesions showed remarkable elevation of all measured parameters
      with the following average increase: BVA (2.8-times increased), LVA (2.6-times
      increased), VEGF-A and VEGF-C area (in epidermis 29-times and 19- times
      increased, in dermis 25-times and 15- times increased, respectively ), and EA (3
      times increased). Statistical analysis revealed significant positive correlation
      between CIA and EA in psoriatic samples. Blood vessels area and VEGF - A
      expression in epidermis showed mild positive correlation with epidermal
      hyperplasia and weak positive correlation with dermal inflammatory infiltration.
      VEGF - A expression in epidermis also significantly correlated with blood vessels
      area. As for the lymphatic microcirculation we found a statistically significant
      positive correlation between lymphatic vessels area and the cellular infiltration
      in dermis but only weak correlation with epidermal hyperplasia. We hypothesize
      that angiogenesis in psoriasis is to a greater extent responding to epidermal
      hyperplasia and in a lesser way to inflammatory infiltration in dermis. However,
      lymphangiogenesis is significantly related to dermal inflammatory infiltration.

PMID- 27633551
TI  - One-Pot Three-Component Synthesis of Vicinal Diamines via In Situ Aminal
      Formation and Carboamination.
AB  - A synthesis of vicinal diamines via in situ aminal formation and carboamination
      of allyl amines is reported. Employing highly electron-poor trifluoromethyl
      aldimines in their stable hemiaminal form was key to enable both a fast and
      complete aminal formation as well as the palladium-catalyzed carboamination step.
      The conditions developed allow the introduction of a wide variety of alkynyl,
      vinyl, aryl, and hetereoaryl groups with complete regioselectivity and high
      diastereoselectivity. The reaction exhibits a high functional-group tolerance.
      Importantly, either nitrogen atom of the imidazolidine products can be
      selectively deprotected, while removal of the aminal tether can be achieved in a
      single step under mild conditions to reveal the free diamine. We expect that this
      work will promote the further use of mixed aminal tethers in organic synthesis.

PMID- 27633553
TI  - Brown queer compositionistas and the reflective practice of automythnography.
AB  - Autoethnographic self-reflection is a strategy for teachers to examine their
      pedagogies and academic workspaces at large. In the process of moving from
      teaching composition at an institution in the Midwest to one in Southeast Queens,
      this author describes significant shifts in how she perceived herself as a Brown
      queer pedagogue. In order to analyze these shifts in ways that advance her
      pedagogical praxis, the author evaluates the research tools available to her and
      offers a hybrid method for reflection, which she calls "vulnerable
      automythnography." Applying this reflective practice to a specific classroom
      occurrence, the author considers some ways in which vulnerable automythnography
      offers underrepresented teachers and students an opportunity to examine the
      aggressions Black, Brown, and queer bodies face in academic settings. She posits
      this method of reflection as a tool for savvy resistance and intervention.

PMID- 27633554
TI  - Lack of Association Between Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Carotid-Femoral Pulse
      Wave Velocity in a Cross-Sectional Analysis of the ELSA-Brasil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is little available data on carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity
      (cf-PWV) in subjects with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). We aimed to analyze
      the association between SCH and cf-PWV using baseline data from the Brazilian
      Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). METHODS: We included subjects
      with normal thyroid function (thyrotropin (TSH): 0.4-4.0 mIU/l, and normal free
      thyroxine (FT4: 0.8-1.9ng/dl) and SCH (TSH > 4.0 mIU/l and normal FT4) evaluated
      for cf-PWV in a cross-sectional analysis. We excluded individuals using
      medications that interfere in thyroid function, antihypertensives, or diuretics,
      and subjects with chronic kidney disease or previous cardiovascular disease.
      Generalized linear and logistic regression models evaluated cf-PWV as a dependent
      variable and SCH as an independent variable, adjusted for cardiovascular risk
      factors. RESULTS: Of 8,341 subjects (52.3% women), 7,878 (94.4%) were euthyroid
      and 463 (5.6%) showed SCH. The median age was 50 years (interquartile range: 44
      56). The groups differed by age, sex, body mass index, glomerular filtration
      rate, and C-reactive protein. SCH was not associated with cf-PWV in the full
      adjusted linear model (beta = -0.039; P = 0.562) and with cf-PWV >75th percentile
      in the full-adjusted logistic model (odds ratio = 0.94; 95% confidence interval =
      0.72-1.22). CONCLUSION: In a large sample, SCH was not associated with increased
      cf-PWV.

PMID- 27633555
TI  - Crucial Effect of Calibration Methods on the Association Between Central
      Pulsatile Indices and Coronary Atherosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported that central systolic blood pressure
      (SBP) estimation is affected by calibration methods. However, whether central
      pulsatile indices, namely pulse pressure (PP) and fractional PP (FPP) (defined as
      PP/mean arterial pressure (MAP)), also depend on calibration methods remains
      uninvestigated. This study assessed the accuracy and discriminatory ability of
      these indices for coronary atherosclerosis using 2 calibration methods. METHODS:
      Post-hoc analysis of a previous cross-sectional study (n = 139) that investigated
      the association between central pulsatile indices and coronary atherosclerosis. A
      validated-oscillometric device provided PP and FPP at the brachial artery (bPP
      and bFPP) and central artery using 2 calibration methods: brachial SBP/diastolic
      BP (DBP) (cPPsd and cFPPsd) and MAP/DBP (cPPmd and cFPPmd). Accuracy was assessed
      against invasive measurements (cPPinv and cFPPinv). Multivariate logistic and
      linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between
      pulsatile indices and the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and SYNTAX
      score, respectively. RESULTS: cPPmd and cFPPmd were closer to invasive values
      than cPPsd (cPPsd: 39.6+/-12.6; cPPmd: 60.2+/-20.1; cPPinv: 71.4+/-22.9). cFPP
      exhibited similar results (cFPPsd: 0.35+/-0.09; cFPPmd: 0.55+/-0.14; cFPPinv:
      0.70+/-0.19). In patients >=70 years, only cFPPmd was significantly associated
      with CAD risk (odds ratio: 1.66 (95% confidence interval: 1.05-2.64)). SYNTAX
      score was significantly correlated with cPPmd, cFPPmd, and bFPP (standardized
      beta: cPPmd 0.39, cFPPmd 0.50, bFPP 0.42, all P < 0.01). No significant
      association was observed in patients aged <70 years. CONCLUSIONS: Central
      pulsatile indices calibrated with brachial MAP/DBP were more accurate and
      discriminatory for coronary atherosclerosis than SBP/DBP calibration.

PMID- 27633557
TI  - Calcium homeostasis and protein kinase/phosphatase balance participate in
      nicotine-induced memory improvement in passive avoidance task in mice.
AB  - Long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) depend on specific
      postsynaptic Ca2+/calmodulin concentration. LTP results from Ca2+ influx through
      the activated NMDA receptors or voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) and is
      linked with activation of protein kinases including mitogen-activated protein
      kinase (MAPK). Weaker synaptic stimulation, as a result of low Ca2+ influx, leads
      to activation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent phosphatase (calcineurin - CaN) and
      triggers LTD. Interestingly, both memory formation and drug addiction share
      similar neuroplastic changes. Nicotine, which is one of the most common addictive
      drugs, manifests its memory effects through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
      (nAChRs). Because nAChRs may also gate Ca2+, it is suggested that calcium
      signaling pathways are involved in nicotine-induced memory effects. Within the
      scope of the study was to evaluate the importance of calcium homeostasis and
      protein kinase/phosphatase balance in nicotine-induced short- and long-term
      memory effects. To assess memory function in mice passive avoidance test was
      used. The presented results confirm that acute nicotine (0.1mg/kg) improves short
      and long-term memory. Pretreatment with L-type VGCC blockers (amlodipine,
      nicardipine verapamil) increased nicotine-induced memory improvement in the
      context of short- and long-term memory. Pretreatment with FK-506 (a potent CaN
      inhibitor) enhanced short- but not long-term memory effects of nicotine, while SL
      327 (a selective MAPK/ERK kinase inhibitor) attenuated both nicotine-induced
      short- and long-term memory improvement. Acute nicotine enhances both types of
      memory via L-type VGCC blockade and via ERK1/2 activation. Only short- but not
      long-term memory enhancement induced by nicotine is dependent on CaN inhibition.

PMID- 27633552
TI  - Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework.
AB  - We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal
      structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows
      players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To
      assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building
      competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit
      players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered
      residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure.
      Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family
      of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid
      toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize
      crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure
      solutions of the highest quality.

PMID- 27633556
TI  - A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC
      activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning
      social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat.
AB  - Post-weaning social isolation (PSI) has been shown to increase aggressive
      behavior and alter medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function in social species
      such as rats. Here we developed a novel escapable social interaction test (ESIT)
      allowing for the quantification of escape and social behaviors in addition to
      mPFC activation in response to an aggressive or nonaggressive stimulus rat. Male
      rats were exposed to 3 weeks of PSI (ISO) or group (GRP) housing, and exposed to
      3 trials, with either no trial, all trials, or the last trial only with a
      stimulus rat. Analysis of social behaviors indicated that ISO rats spent less
      time in the escape chamber and more time engaged in social interaction,
      aggressive grooming, and boxing than did GRP rats. Interestingly, during the
      third trial all rats engaged in more of the quantified social behaviors and spent
      less time escaping in response to aggressive but not nonaggressive stimulus rats.
      Rats exposed to nonaggressive stimulus rats on the third trial had greater c-fos
      and ARC immunoreactivity in the mPFC than those exposed to an aggressive stimulus
      rat. Conversely, a social encounter produced an increase in large PSD-95 punctae
      in the mPFC independently of trial number, but only in ISO rats exposed to an
      aggressive stimulus rat. The results presented here demonstrate that PSI
      increases interaction time and aggressive behaviors during escapable social
      interaction, and that the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat in a social
      encounter is an important component of behavioral and neural outcomes for both
      isolation and group-reared rats.

PMID- 27633559
TI  - Cerebral bases of emotion regulation toward odours: A first approach.
AB  - Emotion regulation is defined as an important mechanism for human adaptation.
      fMRI studies have recently highlighted its neural bases but most research uses
      visual stimulation to induce emotion, none of them using odorant stimulations.
      Nevertheless, olfaction is intimately linked to emotional processes, sharing some
      same neural bases and thus constitutes a valuable emotion-inducer in experimental
      conditions. The present study aims to determine the cerebral areas which might be
      involved in down-regulation, using pleasant and unpleasant odours as emotion
      inducers. Eighteen subjects were scanned during 2 sequences of 12 stimulations,
      each with either a pleasant or an unpleasant odour. For one sequence, subjects
      were instructed to naturally experience their emotion induced by odour inhalation
      and for the other one, to decrease the intensity of their emotion. Consistent
      with previous work using emotion-inducers, emotion regulation resulted in higher
      activations of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula, but in
      lower activation of the amygdala. However, some areas (the posterior cerebellum
      and the orbitofrontal cortex) are less activated during regulation compared to
      maintain and thus appear to be specific to odorant stimulations. Finally the
      hedonic valence of the odour determines activations in different brain areas such
      as the supplementary motor area and the posterior cingulum. Thus, this study
      suggests abilities to regulate emotion in response to odours, involving brain
      areas usually described in the literature for other emotional stimuli, but also
      specific areas depending partly of the hedonic valence of the odour.

PMID- 27633558
TI  - Consequences of constitutive deletion of melanin-concentrating hormone-1
      receptors for feeding and foraging behaviors of mice.
AB  - In order to decipher the functional involvement of melanin-concentrating hormone
      1 (MCH1) receptors in the control of feeding and foraging behaviors, mice with
      constitutive deletion of MCH1 receptors MCH1R -/- or knockout (KO) were studied
      and compared to age-matched littermate control mice (MCH1R +/+ or wildtype (WT)).
      Several challenges to food-motivated behaviors of food-restricted WT and KO mice
      were implemented. There were no differences between genotypes in the acquisition
      of a nose-poke response that produced food or in a discrimination between a
      response that produced food and one that did not. There were also no genotype
      differences in the rate of extinction of a food-motivated response. However,
      during the first day of extinction, foraging behaviors were increased
      significantly more in KO than in WT mice. Likewise, when the response requirement
      to obtain food was progressively increased, KO mice made significantly more food
      directed responses than WT mice. Although adulteration of food with quinine did
      not suppress food-directed behavior in either genotype when the mice were food
      restricted, manipulation of the degree of food-deprivation resulted in
      suppression of behavior of WT mice without suppressing the behavior of KO mice.
      Although response-produced foot shock suppressed food-maintained responding of
      both WT and KO mice, equipotent levels of shock (based upon psychophysical
      thresholds) suppressed behavior of WT mice without suppressing behavior of the KO
      mice. Finally, under a Vogel conflict procedure, KO mice had significantly higher
      levels of both punished and non-punished food maintained responding. Thus, the
      data from challenges with both appetitive and noxious stimulus challenges support
      the conclusion that mice with constitutive deletion of MCH1Rs have increased food
      seeking motivation that is coincident with their higher metabolism. The data also
      highlight important differences in the biological impact of MCH1 receptor KO and
      MCH1 receptor antagonism.

PMID- 27633560
TI  - Increased symptoms of illness following prenatal stress: Can it be prevented by
      fluoxetine?
AB  - Stress during pregnancy is associated with lifetime negative consequences for the
      offspring. The present study examined the effects of prenatal stress on symptoms
      of illness following an immune challenge in mice. Additionally, this study
      examined whether pretreatment with fluoxetine (FLX) could prevent the effects of
      maternal stress on illness symptoms. Mice prenatally exposed to stress, with or
      without FLX were administered with saline or endotoxin. In males, prenatal stress
      significantly augmented endotoxin-induced body-weight loss and reduced food
      consumption; prenatal FLX did not prevent these responses, and, in many cases,
      augmented them. In females, prenatal stress worsened endotoxin-induced
      suppression of sucrose intake, and prenatal FLX reversed this effect. These
      findings provide the first indication of altered response to an immune challenge
      following prenatal stress and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
      treatment. These results may have implications for health and well-being of
      offspring exposed to stress during pregnancy.

PMID- 27633562
TI  - First exposure to an alive conspecific activates septal and amygdaloid nuclei in
      visually-naive domestic chicks (Gallus gallus).
AB  - The septal nuclei are an evolutionarily well-conserved part of the limbic system,
      present in all vertebrate groups. Functionally, septal nuclei are involved in
      many important aspects of social behavior and lateral septum is considered a node
      of the social decision making network, together with amygdaloid nuclei. Given the
      importance of septal nuclei for social behaviors, it is somewhat surprising that
      it has never been investigated whether they are involved in early social
      responses of naive animals. In the present study we wanted to know if simple
      exposure of visually naive newly hatched chicks to a visual object (an alive,
      behaving conspecific), that also contains all features to which chicks are known
      to express early social predispositions, will selectively activate septal areas.
      We measured brain activity by visualizing the immediate early gene product c-Fos
      with a standard immunohistochemical procedure. Notably, after a brief visual
      exposure to an alive behaving conspecific septum showed higher activation in
      experimental subjects, compared to baseline animals that were exposed to the same
      environment in the absence of the conspecific. This is, to the best of our
      knowledge, the first demonstration of septal involvement in early social
      responses. We also found similar effects in the nucleus taeniae and arcopallium
      (amygdala homologues), but not in the medial striatum. This result indicates that
      at least some nuclei of the social decision making network may participate in
      early responses to social stimuli. Future studies could capitalize on these
      results, by identifying the specific visual cues eliciting this effect.

PMID- 27633561
TI  - The olfactory bulbectomized rat as a model of depression: The hippocampal
      pathway.
AB  - In rodents, the removal of the olfactory bulbs (OBs), i.e. olfactory bulbectomy
      (OBX), results in numerous alterations in neurotransmitter, endocrine and immune
      systems, as well as behavioral changes, similar to those observed in depressed
      patients. Because the behavioral deficits induced in OBX animals are reversed
      after repeated administration of antidepressants, this is a model often used to
      test the effectiveness of putative antidepressant agents. Recent evidence
      suggests that OBX results in the dysfunction of various cellular processes within
      the hippocampus, including decreases in dentate gyrus neurogenesis, disruption in
      long-term potentiation in CA1 and CA3 subregions and neuronal atrophy in the CA1
      subregion, along with downstream markers, all of which are consistent with
      abnormal neuronal activity in the hippocampus of clinically depressed
      populations. Moreover, repeated administration of novel natural and synthetic
      antidepressant compounds can improve certain aspects of depression-like behavior
      and hippocampal function. In an effort to bring together the existing literature,
      this review will focus on the mechanisms by which proposed pharmaceuticals impact
      hippocampal-dependent processes and behavior.

PMID- 27633563
TI  - Predicting the Poaceae pollen season: six month-ahead forecasting and
      identification of relevant features.
AB  - In this paper, we approach the problem of predicting the concentrations of
      Poaceae pollen which define the main pollination season in the city of Madrid. A
      classification-based approach, based on a computational intelligence model
      (random forests), is applied to forecast the dates in which risk concentration
      levels are to be observed. Unlike previous works, the proposal extends the range
      of forecasting horizons up to 6 months ahead. Furthermore, the proposed model
      allows to determine the most influential factors for each horizon, making no
      assumptions about the significance of the weather features. The performace of the
      proposed model proves it as a successful tool for allergy patients in preventing
      and minimizing the exposure to risky pollen concentrations and for researchers to
      gain a deeper insight on the factors driving the pollination season.

PMID- 27633564
TI  - Effect of fibrin sealant in positioning and stabilizing microvascular pedicle: A
      comparative study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fibrin sealants have had applications in hemostasis, cohesion, and
      promotion of healing in plastic surgery. In this article, we review cases where
      fibrin sealant was used to stabilize microvascular pedicles and compared with
      previous free flaps performed without fibrin sealant. METHODS: Between 2008 and
      2010, 62 consecutive patients underwent free tissue transfer for reconstruction;
      this involved 33 latissimus dorsi perforator flaps, 14 thoracodorsal artery
      perforator flaps, 9 latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps, 3 lateral thoracic
      artery perforator flaps, and 3 transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flaps,
      used in head and neck reconstruction, lower limb reconstructions, breast
      reconstructions, and facial palsy reconstruction. Following microvascular
      anastomosis, the microvascular pedicles were placed in the optimal position, and
      fibrin sealant was used to fix and stabilize them. The complications, such as
      venous thrombosis, arterial thrombosis, hematoma, and vascular pedicle kinking,
      were compared with that of 672 previous free flaps without fibrin sealant for
      stabilizing microvascular pedicles. RESULTS: Among the 62 free tissue transfers
      using fibrin sealant, there was only one complication involving flap failure
      (1.6%), in this case due to venous thrombosis. Analysis of 672 free flaps
      performed without application of fibrin sealant revealed 24 complications (3.6%),
      due to 3 venous thrombosis, 1 arterial thrombosis, 4 vascular pedicel compression
      due to hematoma, and 16 pedicle kinking. However, the comparison of complications
      between the free flap using fibrin sealant and the free flap without fibrin
      sealant were not statistically significant (P = 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: Fibrin
      sealant can be used to prevent vascular kinking and to position anastomosed
      vessels after successful micro-anastomosis and allow the reconstructive surgeon
      to overcome challenging situations of vascular pedicle related complications (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery 37:406-409, 2017.

PMID- 27633565
TI  - Determination of the Absolute Number Concentration of Nanoparticles and the
      Active Affinity Sites on Their Surfaces.
AB  - Number concentration of nanoparticles is a critical and challenging parameter to
      be identified. Recently, gravimetric strategy is a fundamental method for
      absolute quantification, which is widely accepted and used by researchers, yet
      limited by the inaccuracy in measuring related parameters (e.g, density). Hence,
      we introduced isopycnic gradient centrifugation to determine the nanopartices'
      density and improved the current gravimetric method for more accuracy. In this
      work, polymer nanospheres were used as a model to validate this method. Through
      isopycnic gradient centrifugation, nanospheres finally reached the zone of equal
      density as them. By measuring the density of the medium solution in this zone,
      the nanospheres' density was identified. Then, the density was multiplied by the
      volume of a single nanosphere characterized by transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM), and the average weight of a single nanosphere was obtained. Using total
      weight of the nanospheres divided by the unit weight, their number concentration
      was quantified. Directly using the real density of the nanoparticles achieved
      more accurate quantification than the current gravimetric method which used the
      density of the bulk material counterparts for calculation. Besides, compared with
      the viscosity/light scattering method and the high-sensitivity flow cytometry
      (HSFCM) method (another two kinds of typical methods respectively based on light
      measurements and single particle counting), the improved gravimetric method
      showed better reproducibility and more convenience. Further, we modified the
      nanospheres with streptavidin (SA) and antibody, and through biorecognition
      interaction, we determined the amount of the active affinity sites on each
      biofunctional nanosphere. Moreover, their bioactivity in different storage
      conditions was monitored, which showed good stability even in PBS at 4  degrees C
      over one year. Our work provided a promising method for more accurately
      determining the absolute number concentration of nanoparticles and the active
      affinity sites on their surfaces, which would greatly facilitate their downstream
      applications.

PMID- 27633567
TI  - Correction: Novel Antitumor Effect of Estradiol in Athymic Mice Injected with a
      T47D Breast Cancer Cell Line Overexpressing Protein Kinase C Alpha.

PMID- 27633568
TI  - Response of first line treatment with corticosteroids in a population-based
      cohort of adults with primary immune thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 27633570
TI  - 7p22.1 microdeletions involving ACTB associated with developmental delay, short
      stature, and microcephaly.
AB  - There are no published reports of patients harboring microdeletions involving the
      7p22.1 region. Although 7p22.1 microdeletions are rare, some reports have shown
      microduplications encompassing this region. In this study, we report five
      patients with overlapping deletions of the 7p22.1 region. The patients exhibited
      clinical similarities including non-specific developmental delay, short stature,
      microcephaly, and other distinctive features. The shortest region of overlap
      within the 7p22.1 region includes five genes, FBXL18, ACTB, FSCN1, RNF216, and
      ZNF815P. Of these genes, only ACTB is known to be associated with an autosomal
      dominant trait. Dominant negative mutations in ACTB are responsible for Baraitser
      Winter syndrome 1. We analyzed ACTB expression in immortalized lymphocytes
      derived from one of the patients and found that it was reduced to approximately
      half that observed in controls. This indicates that ACTB expression is linearly
      correlated with the gene copy number. We suggest that haploinsufficiency of ACTB
      may be responsible for the clinical features of patients with 7p22.1
      microdeletions. 

PMID- 27633569
TI  - 17p13.3 microduplication including CRK leads to overgrowth and elevated growth
      factors: A case report.
AB  - 17p13.3 microduplications classified as class I duplications involving YWHAE but
      not PAFAH1B1 (formerly LIS1) and class II duplications which extend to involve
      PAFAH1B1, are associated with diverse phenotypes including intellectual
      disability and structural brain malformations. We report a girl with an
      approximately 1.58 Mb apparently terminal gain of 17p13.3, which contains more
      than 20 genes including the YWHAE and CRK genes (OMIM: 164762). She had increased
      growth factors accompanied by pathologic tall stature. In addition to these, she
      developed central precocious puberty at 7 years old. In individuals with class I
      17p13.3 microduplications including CRK, we recommend biochemical evaluation of
      the growth hormone axis. Providers caring for these patients should be aware of
      their possible risk for the development of central precocious puberty. 

PMID- 27633571
TI  - Severe early onset retinitis pigmentosa in a Moroccan patient with Heimler
      syndrome due to novel homozygous mutation of PEX1 gene.
AB  - Heimler syndrome (HS) is a rare recessive disorder characterized by sensorineural
      hearing loss (SNHL), amelogenesis imperfecta, nail abnormalities, and occasional
      or late-onset retinal pigmentation. It is the mildest form known to date of
      peroxisome biogenesis disorder caused by hypomorphic mutations of PEX1 and PEX6
      genes. We report on a second Moroccan family with Heimler syndrome with early
      onset, severe visual impairment and important phenotypic overlap with Usher
      syndrome. The patient carried a novel homozygous missense variant c.3140T > C
      (p.Leu1047Pro) of PEX1 gene. As standard biochemical screening of blood for
      evidence of a peroxisomal disorder did not provide a diagnosis in the individuals
      with HS, patients with SNHL and retinal pigmentation should have mutation
      analysis of PEX1 and PEX6 genes. 

PMID- 27633572
TI  - Bilateral renal tumors in an adult man with Smith-Magenis syndrome: The role of
      the FLCN gene.
AB  - Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a contiguous-gene disorder most commonly caused
      by a deletion of chromosome 17p11.2. We report a 57 year-old man with SMS who
      presents bilateral renal tumors. This is most likely related to
      haploinsufficiency of FLCN gene, located in the deleted region, and a known tumor
      suppressor gene. Haploinsufficiency of FLCN causes Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome
      (BHDS), characterized by pulmonary cysts, renal and skin tumors. The present
      observation suggests that the follow-up of patients with SMS should also focus on
      possible manifestations of BHDS. 

PMID- 27633576
TI  - Flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy for the treatment of upper urinary tract
      calculi in infants.
AB  - We evaluated the clinical value of flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy for the
      treatment of upper urinary tract calculi in infants. Fifty-five infants with
      upper urinary tract calculi were included in this study: 41 males and 14 females.
      Retrograde intrarenal surgery was performed by an 8 Fr/30 cm flexible
      ureterorenoscope (POLY(r)) combined with a holmium laser. CT scanning or
      radiography of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder region was performed one month
      after the operation to confirm the clearance of calculi. All the 55 infants with
      calculi in 74 sides underwent 66 flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy procedures.
      The median operation time was 30 min. The median amount of flushing fluid was 500
      mL. The stone-free rate after a single session treatment was 94.6%, within which
      10 infants underwent simultaneous bilateral flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy.
      Catheters were retained in 45 infants for 24-48 h after the operation. Continuous
      high fever due to reflux was present in two cases. Flushing fluid extravasation
      was found in one infant. Some patients with minor complications, such as mild
      hematuria, irritation symptoms, and low fever, recovered without treatment. The
      duration of hospitalization time after the operation was approximately 1-5 days.
      Flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy is a safe, highly efficient, minimally
      invasive, and reproducible operation for removal of upper urinary tract calculi
      in infants. This technique is a convenient method for postoperative management of
      patients that enhances their rapid recovery. It is a promising option for therapy
      of infants ineffectively treated by extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy.

PMID- 27633574
TI  - Comparison of human lung cancer cell radiosensitivity after irradiations with
      therapeutic protons and carbon ions.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate effects of irradiations with the
      therapeutic proton and carbon ion beams in two non-small cell lung cancers,
      CRL5876 adenocarcinoma and HTB177 large cell lung carcinoma. The DNA damage
      response dynamics, cell cycle regulation, and cell death pathway activation were
      followed. Viability of both cell lines was lower after carbon ions compared to
      the therapeutic proton irradiations. HTB177 cells showed higher recovery than
      CRL5876 cells seven days following the treatments, but the survival rates of both
      cell lines were lower after exposure to carbon ions with respect to therapeutic
      protons. When analyzing cell cycle distribution of both CRL5876 and HTB177 cells,
      it was noticed that therapeutic protons predominantly induced G1 arrest, while
      the cells after carbon ions were arrested in G2/M phase. The results illustrated
      that differences in the levels of phosphorylated H2AX, a double-strand break
      marker, exist after therapeutic proton and carbon ion irradiations. We also
      observed dose- and time-dependent increase in the p53 and p21 levels after
      applied irradiations. Carbon ions caused larger increase in the quantity of p53
      and p21 compared to therapeutic protons. These results suggested that various
      repair mechanisms were induced in the treated cells. Considering the fact that we
      have not observed any distinct change in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio following
      irradiations, it seemed that different types of cell death were involved in the
      response to the two types of irradiations that were applied.

PMID- 27633573
TI  - Enteric immunity, the gut microbiome, and sepsis: Rethinking the germ theory of
      disease.
AB  - Sepsis is a poorly understood syndrome of systemic inflammation responsible for
      hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. The integrity of the gut epithelium
      and competence of adaptive immune responses are notoriously compromised during
      sepsis, and the prevalent assumption in the scientific and medical community is
      that intestinal commensals have a detrimental role in the systemic inflammation
      and susceptibility to nosocomial infections seen in critically ill, septic
      patients. However, breakthroughs in the last decade provide strong credence to
      the idea that our mucosal microbiome plays an essential role in adaptive
      immunity, where a human host and its prokaryotic colonists seem to exist in a
      carefully negotiated armistice with compromises and benefits that go both ways.
      In this review, we re-examine the notion that intestinal contents are the driving
      force of critical illness. An overview of the interaction between the microbiome
      and the immune system is provided, with a special focus on the impact of
      commensals in priming and the careful balance between normal intestinal flora and
      pathogenic organisms residing in the gut microbiome. Based on the data in hand,
      we hypothesize that sepsis induces imbalances in microbial populations residing
      in the gut, along with compromises in epithelial integrity. As a result, normal
      antigen sampling becomes impaired, and proliferative cues are intermixed with
      inhibitory signals. This situates the microbiome, the gut, and its complex immune
      network of cells and bacteria, at the center of aberrant immune responses during
      and after sepsis.

PMID- 27633577
TI  - Hemostatic mechanism underlying microbubble-enhanced non-focused ultrasound in
      the treatment of a rabbit liver trauma model.
AB  - The aim of our study was to investigate the hemostatic mechanism underlying
      microbubble-enhanced non-focused ultrasound treatment of liver trauma. Thirty
      rabbits with liver trauma were randomly divided into three groups-the microbubble
      enhanced ultrasound (MEUS; further subdivided based on exposure intensity into
      MEUS1 [0.11 W/cm2], MEUS2 [0.55 W/cm2], and MEUS3 [1.1 W/cm2]), ultrasound
      without microbubbles (US), and microbubbles without ultrasound (MB) groups. The
      pre- and post-treatment bleeding weight and visual bleeding scores were
      evaluated. The serum liver enzyme concentrations as well as the blood perfusion
      level represented by mean peak contrast intensity (PI) ratio in the treatment
      area were analyzed. The hemostatic mechanism was evaluated by histological and
      transmission electron microscopic examination of liver tissue samples. The MEUS
      subgroups 1-3 (grade 0-1, grade 0-2, and grade 1-2, respectively) exhibited
      significantly lower post-treatment visual bleeding scores than the US and MB
      groups (both, grade 3-4; all, P < 0.05). Subgroups MEUS1 (0.346 +/- 0.345 g) and
      MEUS2 (2.232 +/- 2.256 g) exhibited significantly lower post-treatment bleeding
      weight than the US and MB groups (5.698 +/- 1.938 and 5.688 +/- 2.317 g,
      respectively; all, P < 0.05). Additionally, MEUS subgroups 1-3 exhibited
      significantly lower post-treatment blood perfusion levels (PI ratios, 0.64 +/-
      0.085, 0.73 +/- 0.045, and 0.84 +/- 0.034, respectively) than the US and MB
      groups (PI ratios, 1.00 +/- 0.005 and 0.99 +/- 0.005, respectively; all, P <
      0.05). In the MEUS group, hepatic cells became edematous and compressed the
      hepatic sinus and associated blood vessels. However, the serum liver enzyme
      levels were not significantly altered. Microbubble-enhanced non-focused
      ultrasound does not significantly affect blood perfusion and liver function and
      can be used to induce rapid hemostasis in case of liver trauma.

PMID- 27633575
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of peroxiredoxins: Implications in the pathogenesis of
      cancer.
AB  - Peroxiredoxin I to VI (PRX I-VI), a family of highly conserved antioxidants, has
      been implicated in numerous diseases. There have been reports that PRXs are
      expressed aberrantly in a variety of tumors, implying that they could play an
      important role in carcinogenesis. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation,
      histone modifications, and microRNAs have been reported to modulate expression of
      PRXs. In addition, the use of epigenetic regulators, such as histone
      deacetylases, has been demonstrated to restore PRX to normal levels, indicating
      that the reversible nature of epigenetics can be exploited for future treatments.

PMID- 27633578
TI  - Long non-coding RNA H19 enhances cell proliferation and anchorage-independent
      growth of cervical cancer cell lines.
AB  - Long non-coding RNA H19 is aberrantly expressed in multiple malignancies and its
      expression levels correlate with recurrence, metastasis, and patient survival.
      Despite numerous reports documenting the role of H19 in carcinogenesis, its
      contribution to cervical cancer development is still largely unknown. In this
      study, I observed that H19 expression was elevated in cervical cancer cell lines
      and could be detected in extracellular vesicles in the culture medium. In
      addition, I demonstrated, by overexpression and knockdown experiments, that H19
      promoted cell proliferation and multicellular tumor spheroid formation without
      significantly affecting apoptosis and cell migration. Finally, treatment with
      transforming growth factor beta and hypoxia-mimetic CoCl2 could modulate H19
      levels in a cell line-specific manner. These findings indicate that H19 promotes
      both anchorage-specific and -independent growth of cervical cancer cell lines and
      may serve as a potential target for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

PMID- 27633579
TI  - Diversity of bats trypanosomes in hydroeletric area of Belo Monte in Brazilian
      Amazonia.
AB  - The Trypanosoma comprises flagellates able to infect many mammalian species and
      is transmitted by several groups of invertebrates. The order Chiroptera can be
      infected by the subgenera Herpetosoma, Schizotrypanum, Megatrypanum and
      Trypanozoon. In this study, we described the diversity of bats trypanosomes,
      inferring the phylogenetic relationships among the trypanosomes from bats caught
      Belo Monte Hydroeletric area (Brazilian Amazonia). Trypanosomes from bats were
      isolated by haemoculture, and the molecular phylogeny based on small subunit rDNA
      (SSU rDNA) and glycosomal-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene sequences.
      Morphological characterization included light and scanning electron microscopy. A
      total of 157 bats were caught in the area belonging 6 Families (Emballonuridae,
      Furipteridae, Mormoopidae, Natalidae, Phyllostomidae and Vespertilionidae) and 34
      species. The bat trypanosome prevalence, as evaluated through haemoculture, was
      5,7%. Phylogenetic trees grouped the isolates in T. cruzi branch (TCI and TCbat
      lineage), T. cruzi marinkellei and Trypanosoma wauwau from Pteronotus parnellii.
      This is the first isolate from T. wauwau in Para state. The occurrence of T.
      cruzi in the  Belo Monte Hydroeletric area (UHE Belo Monte) in Amazon/Brazil
      attentive to the risk of migration human population required for the works of the
      dam and new cities that grow in the vicinity of these businesses, but it is a
      zoonosis already known to the Amazon region, and the presence of unclassified
      Trypanosoma species, attend to the large parasitic biodiversity still unknown.

PMID- 27633580
TI  - The role of bacteriophages in periodontal health and disease.
AB  - The human periodontium health is commonly compromised by chronic inflammatory
      conditions and has become a major public health concern. Dental plaque, the
      precursor of periodontal disease, is a complex biofilm consisting mainly of
      bacteria, but also archaea, protozoa, fungi and viruses. Viruses that
      specifically infect bacteria - bacteriophages - are most common in the oral
      cavity. Despite this, their role in the progression of periodontal disease
      remains poorly explored. This review aims to summarize how bacteriophages
      interact with the oral microbiota, their ability to increase bacterial virulence
      and mediate the transfer of resistance genes and suggests how bacteriophages can
      be used as an alternative to the current periodontal disease therapies.

PMID- 27633581
TI  - Living on the edge: latitudinal variations in the reproductive biology of two
      coastal species of sharks.
AB  - Differences in the reproductive biology of both the Australian weasel shark
      Hemigaleus australiensis and the Australian sharpnose shark Rhizoprionodon
      taylori were apparent between individuals from the southern-most extent of their
      range in eastern Australia (Moreton Bay) and those from northern Australia. For
      H. australiensis from Moreton Bay the total length (LT ) at which 50% of
      individuals were mature (LT50 ) was 759 mm for females and 756 mm for males,
      values that were respectively 17-26% larger than reported for the species in
      northern Australia. The relatively low percentage (63%) of pregnant mature
      females and presence of small, similar-sized, embryos in utero in both May and
      November suggested a semi-synchronous, annual reproductive cycle in Moreton Bay,
      whereas a synchronous, biannual reproductive cycle occurred in northern
      Australia. It is likely that H. australiensis has a resting phase between
      gestation cycles at the southern-most extent of its range. For R. taylori from
      Moreton Bay the LT50 s were 588 and 579 mm for females and males, respectively,
      values 2-3% larger than for individuals from the mid-Queensland coast and 31-35%
      larger than for individuals from northern Australia. The length at which 50% of
      the females were maternal (611 mm LT ) in Moreton Bay was greater than the LT50 ,
      indicating that not all sharks mate immediately after maturing. Rhizoprionodon
      taylori in the south had an annual reproductive cycle incorporating a 7-8 month
      embryonic diapause, with pups probably born in February. A mean fecundity of 7.5
      was almost double that reported from northern Australia. Regional variations in
      the reproductive characteristics of H. australiensis and R. taylori may influence
      their resilience to fishing and other anthropogenic pressures. The substantial
      differences reported here highlight the importance of region-specific life
      history parameters to successful management and conservation.

PMID- 27633582
TI  - Association of cognition with functional trajectories in patients admitted to
      geriatric wards: A retrospective observational study.
AB  - AIM: Impaired cognition is common among older patients admitted to acute
      hospitals, but its association with functional trajectories has not been well
      studied. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was carried out in an
      English tertiary university hospital. We analyzed all first episodes of county
      residents aged >=75 years admitted to the Department of Medicine for the Elderly
      wards between December 2014 and May 2015. A history of dementia or a cognitive
      concern in the absence of a known diagnosis of dementia were recorded on
      admission. A cognitive concern included possible undiagnosed dementia or
      delirium. Function was retrospectively measured with the modified Rankin Scale at
      preadmission baseline, admission and discharge. RESULTS: There were 663 first
      hospital episodes over the period, of which 590 patients survived. Among the
      latter, 244 had no cognitive impairment, 134 a diagnosis of dementia, 66 a
      cognitive concern in the absence of a known dementia and 146 had missing
      cognitive data. When frailty, acuity, age and comorbidity were controlled for,
      people with known dementia had a similar functional recovery compared with those
      with no cognitive impairment. People with a cognitive concern, but no known
      dementia, had lesser functional recovery and greater disability at discharge than
      those with no cognitive impairment (mean discharge modified Rankin Scale 3.4
      compared with 3.1, P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Dementia per se might not be a marker
      of poor rehabilitation potential. Older people with acute cognitive concerns
      might be more vulnerable to poor functional recovery. Our cognitive variables are
      not gold standard, and further research is required to clarify this relationship.
      Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1438-1443.

PMID- 27633583
TI  - Discovery of Flexible Naphthyltriazolylmethane-based Thioacetic Acids as Highly
      Active Uric Acid Transporter 1 (URAT1) Inhibitors for the Treatment of
      Hyperuricemia of Gout.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis, which, if left
      untreated or inadequately treated, will lead to joint destruction, bone erosion
      and disability due to the crystal deposition. Uric acid transporter 1 (URAT1) was
      the promising therapeutic target for urate-lowering therapy. OBJECTIVE: The goal
      of this work is to understand the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of a
      potent lesinurad-based hit, sodium 2-((5-bromo-4-((4-cyclopropyl-naphth-1
      yl)methyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3- yl)thio)acetate (1c), and based on that discover a
      more potent URAT1 inhibitor. METHODS: The SAR of 1c was systematically explored
      and the in vitro URAT1 inhibitory activity of synthesized compounds 1a-1t was
      determined by the inhibition of URAT1-mediated [8-14C]uric acid uptake by human
      embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells stably expressing human URAT1. RESULTS:
      Twenty compounds 1a-1t were synthesized. SAR analysis was performed. Two highly
      active URAT1 inhibitors, sodium 2-((5-bromo-4-((4-n-propylnaphth-1-yl)methyl)-4H
      1,2,4-triazol-3- yl)thio)acetate (1j) and sodium 2-((5-bromo-4-((4-bromonaphth-1
      yl)methyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3- yl)thio)acetate (1m), were identified, which were
      78- and 76-fold more active than parent lesinurad in in vitro URAT1 inhibitory
      assay, respectively (IC50 values for 1j and 1m were 0.092 MUM and 0.094 MUM,
      respectively, against human URAT1 vs 7.18 MUM for lesinurad). CONCLUSION: Two
      highly active URAT1 inhibitors were discovered. The SAR exploration also
      identified more flexible naphthyltriazolylmethane as a novel molecular skeleton
      that will be valuable for the design of URAT1 inhibitors, as indicated by the
      observation that many of the synthesized naphthyltriazolylmethane- bearing
      derivatives (1b-1d, 1g, 1j and 1m) showed significantly improved UART1 inhibitory
      activity (sub-micromolar IC50 values) as compared with lesinurad which has the
      rigid naphthyltriazole skeleton.

PMID- 27633584
TI  - In vitro and in vivo activities of an antitumor peptide HM-3: A special dose
      efficacy relationship on an HCT-116 xenograft model in nude mice.
AB  - Anti-angiogenesis is an important therapy for cancer treatment. Peptide HM-3 is
      an integrin antagonist with anti-angiogenic and antitumor activity. Previous
      research found that HM-3 at an effective dose inhibited tumor growth whereas at
      higher doses, the inhibitory effect gradually decreased. In the present study,
      three human tumor cell lines, human colorectal cancer cell (HCT-116) and human
      hepatic cancer cell (Hep G-2 and SMMC-7721), were selected and their interactions
      with HM-3 were compared with western blot and flow cytometric assays. The effect
      of HM-3 on the migration of two tumor cell lines (HCT-116 and Hep G-2) was also
      evaluated and a bell-shaped dose-efficacy curve was found for both cell lines.
      Furthermore, in vivo imaging in BALB/c nude mice confirmed that HM-3 had a short
      half-life and targeted the tumor tissue. Moreover, on an HCT-116 xenograft model
      in BALB/c nude mice, HM-3 at 3 mg/kg inhibited tumor growth with an inhibition
      rate of 71.5% (by tumor mass) whereas at 12 and 48 mg/kg, the inhibition rates
      were 59.2 and 36.0%, respectively. Immunohistochemistry analyses found that both
      sunitinib (60 mg/kg) and HM-3 (3 and 48 mg/kg) decreased microvascular density
      and increased percent of HIF-1alpha and VEGF expressing cells. The present study
      investigated the effect of tumor microenvironments on the antitumor effect of HM
      3 and concluded that HM-3 inhibited angiogenesis and thereafter tumor growth by
      directly inhibiting HUVEC migration. The special dose-efficacy curves for
      antitumor effect and for cell migration inhibition were correlated. The present
      study also confirmed that the effective dose has to be strictly defined for
      better clinical applications of anti-angiogenic drugs such as HM-3.

PMID- 27633585
TI  - Corrigendum.
AB  - McClave SA, Taylor BE, Martindale RG, et al. Guidelines for the provision and
      assessment of nutrition support therapy in the adult critically ill patient:
      Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and American Society for Parenteral and
      Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.). J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2016;40(2):159-211.
      (Original DOI: 10.1177/0148607115621863).

PMID- 27633586
TI  - A Pseudomonas aeruginosa-secreted protease modulates host intrinsic immune
      responses, but how?
AB  - Recently, we found that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa type II secreted protease IV
      functions as a unique Arabidopsis innate immunity elicitor. The protease IV
      activated pathway involves G protein signaling and raises the question of how
      protease elicitation leads to the activation of G protein-mediated signaling,
      because plants do not appear to have metazoan-like G protein-coupled receptors.
      Importantly, our data suggest that Arabidopsis has evolved a mechanism to detect
      the proteolytic activity of a pathogen-encoded protease, supporting the host
      pathogen arms race model. In the case of opportunistic multi-host pathogens like
      P. aeruginosa, however, it is not plausible that P. aeruginosa is simultaneously
      co-evolving in a gene-for-gene manner with all of its potential hosts, which
      include plants, nematodes, insects, and mammals. This prompts us to ask what is
      the driving force for co-evolution of defense response in Arabidopsis and
      pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa, which might not have been subject to iterative
      cycles of evolutionary selections.

PMID- 27633587
TI  - Anomalous thickness-dependent optical energy gap of ALD-grown ultra-thin CuO
      films.
AB  - Usually an inverse square relation between the optical energy gap and the size of
      crystallites is observed for semiconducting materials due to the strong quantum
      localization effect. Coulomb attraction that may lead to a proportional
      dependence is often ignored or considered less important to the optical energy
      gap when the crystallite size or the thickness of a thin film changes. Here we
      report a proportional dependence between the optical energy gap and the thickness
      of ALD-grown CuO thin films due to a strong Coulomb attraction. The ultrathin
      films deposited in the thickness range of 9-81 nm show a p-type semiconducting
      behavior when analyzed by Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity
      measurements. The indirect optical energy gap nature of the films is verified
      from UV-vis spectrophotometric measurements. A progressive increase in the
      indirect optical energy gap from 1.06 to 1.24 eV is observed with the increase in
      the thickness of the films. The data are analyzed in the presence of Coulomb
      attractions using the Brus model. The optical energy gap when plotted against the
      cubic root of the thickness of the films shows a linear dependence.

PMID- 27633589
TI  - [Potentially inappropriate medications in geriatrics: Which tools to detect
      them?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Potentially inappropriate prescriptions include over-prescription,
      which refers to prescription of more drugs than clinically needed, mis
      prescription which refers to incorrect prescription of a drug that is needed (as
      per drug, dose, drug interactions, duration of therapy, duplication, follow-up,
      etc.) and under-prescription which stands for failure to prescribe drugs that are
      needed. They are associated with adverse drug events, increased use of health
      care services, morbimortality and health-care costs, and poorer quality of life.
      Due to polymorbidity and polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate prescription is
      common among the elderly. In the last 2 decades, explicit indicators to detect
      inappropriate prescriptions were developed in geriatrics. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this review is to summarize, compare and critically review existing explicit
      criteria. DOCUMENTARY SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: We conducted a systematic
      literature search in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar, from
      January 1991 to November 2015. The following keywords were used: "("inappropriate
      prescribing" [MeSH Terms] OR "medication errors" [MeSH Terms] AND "potentially
      inappropriate medications" [MeSH Terms] AND "elderly" [MeSH All field] AND
      "explicit criteria" [MeSH Terms])". Articles describing the development of new
      list of explicit indicators dedicated to geriatrics, in English and in French,
      were included in this review. Their characteristics, organization, content, and
      assessments of their validity and of the optimal tool for geriatrics are
      presented. RESULTS: Fourteen lists of explicit indicators were included in the
      review. An organization based on physiological systems and pathologies, as
      observed in ACOVE, 5th version of Beers criteria and STOPP/START enables quick
      application in general practice. A low overlap among criteria was observed
      between tools. This may be due to a lack of completeness for some tools. Mimica,
      ACOVE, PIEA, and STOPP/START are the most exhaustive ones, only the last three
      addressing the under-prescription issue. Finally, the ability to detect and
      reduce inappropriate prescriptions has only been evaluated for few tools;
      STOPP/START is the only one, which has demonstrated its ability to reduce them in
      a prospective study.

PMID- 27633588
TI  - Orange protein has a role in phytoene synthase stabilization in sweetpotato.
AB  - Carotenoids have essential roles in light-harvesting processes and protecting the
      photosynthetic machinery from photo-oxidative damage. Phytoene synthase (PSY) and
      Orange (Or) are key plant proteins for carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation.
      We previously isolated the sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) Or gene (IbOr), which is
      involved in carotenoid accumulation and salt stress tolerance. The molecular
      mechanism underlying IbOr regulation of carotenoid accumulation was unknown.
      Here, we show that IbOr has an essential role in regulating IbPSY stability via
      its holdase chaperone activity both in vitro and in vivo. This protection results
      in carotenoid accumulation and abiotic stress tolerance. IbOr transcript levels
      increase in sweetpotato stem, root, and calli after exposure to heat stress. IbOr
      is localized in the nucleus and chloroplasts, but interacts with IbPSY only in
      chloroplasts. After exposure to heat stress, IbOr predominantly localizes in
      chloroplasts. IbOr overexpression in transgenic sweetpotato and Arabidopsis
      conferred enhanced tolerance to heat and oxidative stress. These results indicate
      that IbOr holdase chaperone activity protects IbPSY stability, which leads to
      carotenoid accumulation, and confers enhanced heat and oxidative stress tolerance
      in plants. This study provides evidence that IbOr functions as a molecular
      chaperone, and suggests a novel mechanism regulating carotenoid accumulation and
      stress tolerance in plants.

PMID- 27633590
TI  - The First Endoscopy in Suspected Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - In a patient presenting with suspected inflammatory bowel disease, the initial
      endoscopic evaluation is a valuable tool for determining the correct disease
      diagnosis and the extent and severity of disease. A full colonoscopy and
      ileoscopy should be performed when possible, with systematic biopsies from each
      segment. When a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease is established, it is
      possible to distinguish between Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, and
      specific endoscopic features may assist in this categorization. Because patchy
      healing can occur with treatment, it is important to obtain a thorough and
      accurate assessment of disease characteristics and distribution before initiating
      therapy. 

PMID- 27633591
TI  - Capsule Endoscopy and Deep Enteroscopy in Irritable Bowel Disease.
AB  - In approximately one-third of Crohn's disease patients, the disease is confined
      to the small bowel, inaccessible to the reach of standard endoscopy. Thorough and
      complete evaluation of the small bowel is crucial in such patients for the
      initial diagnosis, prognostication, and disease monitoring. Video capsule
      endoscopy and device-assisted enteroscopy have revolutionized the ability to
      visualize the small-bowel mucosa. This article reviews the literature pertaining
      to the use of capsule endoscopy and deep enteroscopy in established Crohn's
      disease, including the major indications, applications, and safety issues. 

PMID- 27633592
TI  - Role of Histologic Inflammation in the Natural History of Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - The goals of therapy for ulcerative colitis have moved from symptom improvement
      to mucosal healing, and finally histologic resolution. The natural history of
      histologic inflammation in ulcerative colitis progresses from initial cellular
      infiltration to architectural disruption and recovery on medical therapy. Many
      studies have linked histologic changes to clinical outcomes, providing prognostic
      value to histologic abnormalities. This review covers all these components. 

PMID- 27633593
TI  - Noninvasive Testing for Mucosal Inflammation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Biomarkers have gained increasing attention for the diagnosis and follow-up of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Endoscopy remains the gold standard for
      assessing disease activity. Biomarkers are rapid, inexpensive, and noninvasive,
      and can be used in different stages of the disease with high sensitivity and
      specificity. Calprotectin and tests for C-reactive protein are used to assess the
      disease activity, predict relapse, and monitor treatment response. New
      noninvasive tests are being studied. This review discusses current evidence for
      these surrogate markers, their potential clinical applications, and limitations
      in disease management. We highlight recent advances in IBD biomarkers and future
      uses. 

PMID- 27633594
TI  - Endomicroscopy and Molecular Tools to Evaluate Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Endoscopy is an essential tool for effective care of patients with inflammatory
      bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis. The newest
      endoscopic small-field imaging technologies with confocal endomicroscopy have
      allowed real-time imaging of gastrointestinal mucosal during ongoing endoscopic
      evaluation and in vivo histology. Thus, endomicroscopy has a potential to further
      enhance the endoscopic evaluation of IBD. Advances in molecular in vivo imaging
      in IBD may be used not only to better understand the pathophysiology of IBD but
      also to guide optimized therapy and thus to allow a personalized, new approach to
      the IBD management. 

PMID- 27633595
TI  - The Evaluation of Postoperative Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.
AB  - Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis has become the
      standard surgical treatment modality for patients with ulcerative colitis or
      familial adenomatous polyposis who require colectomy. Normally staged pouch
      surgery is performed. Endoscopy plays an important role in postoperative
      monitoring of disease status and delivery of therapy, if necessary. Therefore,
      ileal pouch surgery significantly alters bowel anatomy, with new organ structures
      being created. Endoscopy of the altered bowel includes the evaluation of end
      ileostomy, Hartmann pouch or diverted rectum, loop ileostomy, diverted pouch, and
      pouchoscopy. Each segment of the bowel has unique landmarks. 

PMID- 27633596
TI  - Endoscopic Evaluation and Management of the Postoperative Crohn's Disease
      Patient.
AB  - Approximately 70% of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) undergo surgical
      resection for the treatment of medically refractory disease or its complications.
      The sickest cohort of CD patients experience rapid postoperative relapse at the
      anastomotic site. Over the past 2 decades, the types of surgical anastomoses used
      in CD reconstruction have changed; end-to-side and end-to-end anastomoses have
      been surpassed by the more rapidly created side-to-side anastomoses. This article
      provides a review of the timing and purpose of endoscopic evaluation in
      postoperative CD patients and pragmatic information regarding interpretation of
      endoscopic findings at the different types of surgical anastomoses after
      ileocecal resection. 

PMID- 27633598
TI  - Endoscopic Delivery of Fecal Biotherapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - The intestinal microbiome plays an important role in the pathogenesis of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We are able to use the microbiome as a
      therapeutic target with use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for cure of
      recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. Given our ability to target the
      dysbiotic state with FMT, its use as therapy in IBD has tremendous potential.
      This overview discusses the practical considerations of FMT therapy with respect
      to our current understanding of safety and efficacy in IBD, screening for donors
      and recipients, specimen handling and storage, methods of delivery, and
      regulatory considerations. 

PMID- 27633597
TI  - The Gastroenterologist's Role in Management of Perianal Fistula.
AB  - Perianal fistula occurs frequently in the Crohn disease population. Therapy for
      fistulas has changed through the years from primarily surgical management to
      multidisciplinary management among gastroenterologists, radiologists, and
      surgeons. Gastroenterologists play a role in assisting with diagnosis through
      endoscopic ultrasound and assessment of luminal disease activity, providing
      medical therapy including biologic therapy and antibiotics, and coordinating the
      multidisciplinary care with surgical and radiologic colleagues. 

PMID- 27633599
TI  - Motility Evaluation in the Patient with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) suffer frequently from functional
      bowel diseases (FBD) and motility disorders. Management of FBD and motility
      disorders in IBD combined with continued treatment of a patient's IBD symptoms
      will likely lead to better clinical outcomes and improve the patient's quality of
      life. The goals of this review were to summarize the most recent literature on
      motility disturbances in patients with IBD and to give a brief overview of the
      ranges of motility disturbances, from reflux disease to anorectal disorders, and
      discuss their diagnosis and specific management. 

PMID- 27633600
TI  - Dilation of Strictures in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Who, When and
      How.
AB  - Stricture formation occurs in up to 40% of patients with inflammatory bowel
      disease (IBD). Patients are often symptomatic, resulting in significant
      morbidity, hospitalizations, and loss of productivity. Strictures can be managed
      endoscopically in addition to traditional surgical management (sphincteroplasty
      or resection of the affected bowel segments). About 3% to 5% patients with IBD
      develop primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which results in stricture
      formation in the biliary tree, managed for the most part by endoscopic therapies.
      In this article, we discuss endoscopic management of strictures both in the
      alimentary tract and biliary tree in patients with IBD and/or PSC. 

PMID- 27633601
TI  - The Key Roles of Endoscopy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

PMID- 27633602
TI  - Endoscopy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

PMID- 27633603
TI  - Crystal Structure of AgBi2I7 Thin Films.
AB  - Synthesis of cubic-phase AgBi2I7 iodobismuthate thin films and fabrication of air
      stable Pb-free solar cells using the AgBi2I7 absorber have recently been
      reported. On the basis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and nominal
      composition, it was suggested that the synthesized films have a cubic ThZr2H7
      crystal structure with AgBi2I7 stoichiometry. Through careful examination of the
      proposed structure and computational evaluation of the phase stability and
      bandgap, we find that the reported "AgBi2I7" films cannot be forming with the
      ThZr2H7-type structure, but rather more likely adopt an Ag-deficient AgBiI4 type.
      Both the experimental X-ray diffraction pattern and bandgap can be better
      explained by the AgBiI4 structure. Additionally, the proposed AgBiI4 structure,
      with octahedral bismuth coordination, removes unphysically short Bi-I bonding
      within the [BiI8] hexahedra of the ThZr2I7 model. Our results provide critical
      insights for assessing the photovoltaic properties of AgBi2I7 iodobismuthate
      materials.

PMID- 27633604
TI  - McCuskey RS, McClugage SG Jr, Younker WJ. Microscopy of living bone marrow in
      situ. Blood. 1971;38(1):87-95.

PMID- 27633605
TI  - How do stem cells mobilize? Bridging the GAP.

PMID- 27633606
TI  - New mutations for nodal lymphomas of TFH origin.

PMID- 27633607
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms related to sclerotic GVHD.

PMID- 27633608
TI  - Nurses' perspectives on how operational leaders influence function-focused care
      for hospitalised older people.
AB  - AIMS: To explore nurses' perspectives on how leaders influence function-focused
      care, defined as care that preserves and restores older people's functional
      abilities. BACKGROUND: Hospitalised older people are at risk of functional
      decline. Although leaders have the potential to influence function-focused care,
      few studies have explored nurses' perspectives on how leaders influence function
      focused care. METHODS: Thirteen focus groups were held with 57 acute care nurses.
      Semi-structured questions prompted discussion on nurses' perspectives, needs and
      strategies to meet their needs. Data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Three
      themes were identified: (1) the emphasis in hospitals is on moving older people
      quickly through the system, not supporting their functioning; (2) leaders are
      generally seen as too disconnected from practice to design system efficiency
      initiatives that support older people's functioning and nurses' provisioning of
      function-focused care; and (3) leadership strategies to better support nurses in
      providing function-focused care to older people in the context of system
      efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Leaders should connect with practice to devise age
      sensitive efficiency initiatives that support function-focused care. Nurses need
      support from leaders in four areas to provide function-focused care to older
      people in the current hospital context. IMPLICATIONS: The findings provide
      direction on how leaders can facilitate function-focused care in the current
      health-care environment emphasising system efficiency.

PMID- 27633609
TI  - Atmospheric CO2 enrichment and drought stress modify root exudation of barley.
AB  - Rising CO2 concentrations associated with drought stress is likely to influence
      not only aboveground growth, but also belowground plant processes. Little is
      known about root exudation being influenced by elements of climate change.
      Therefore, this study wanted to clarify whether barley root exudation responds to
      drought and CO2 enrichment and whether this reaction differs between an old and a
      recently released malting barley cultivar. Barley plants were grown in pots
      filled with sand in controlled climate chambers at ambient (380 ppm) or elevated
      (550 ppm) atmospheric [CO2 ] and a normal or reduced water supply. Root exudation
      patterns were examined at the stem elongation growth stage and when the
      inflorescences emerged. At both dates, root exudates were analyzed for different
      compounds such as total free amino acids, proline, potassium, and some
      phytohormones. Elevated [CO2 ] decreased the concentrations in root exudates of
      some compounds such as total free amino acids, proline, and abscisic acid.
      Moreover, reduced water supply increased proline, potassium, electric
      conductivity, and hormone concentrations. In general, the modern cultivar showed
      higher concentrations of proline and abscisic acid than the old one, but the
      cultivars responded differentially under elevated CO2 . Plant developmental stage
      had also an impact on the root exudation patterns of barley. Generally, we
      observed significant effects of CO2 enrichment, watering levels, and, to a lesser
      extent, cultivar on root exudation. However, we did not find any mitigation of
      the adverse effects of drought by elevated CO2 . Understanding the multitude of
      relationships within the rhizosphere is an important aspect that has to be taken
      into consideration in the context of crop performance and carbon balance under
      conditions of climate change.

PMID- 27633611
TI  - Cold-associated perniosis of the thighs histopathologically mimicking lupus. Six
      observations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Equestrian cold panniculitis has been described since 1980 in horse
      riders or in stable employees. Histological aspect is underdescribed. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: We describe clinical and histological features of six horse riding
      or stable employees patients presenting with upper lateral thigh lesions during
      the winter months between 2014 and 2016 in our dermatological department.
      RESULTS: Six horse riding or stable employees ladies without any known disease
      presented with similar symptoms. They had urticarial or violaceous, slightly
      pruritic, sometimes necrotic lesions of the upper lateral thighs. Clinically,
      equestrian cold panniculitis, insect bite or a caustic dermatitis was suspected.
      Four of these patients had a cutaneous biopsy. They all showed a similar
      histological appearance resembling lupus erythematosus, combining dermo-epidermal
      lesions, with foci of interface dermatitis, an abundant dermal lymphocytic
      infiltrate and a dermal mucinosis. Hypodermal infiltration was present on samples
      including subcutis. Laboratory workup for systemic disease was unremarkable for
      two patients and not performed for the four others, having no other clinical sign
      of lupus. All patients improved rapidly with very high potent topical steroids.
      CONCLUSION: Cold-associated perniosis of the thighs should be considered whenever
      a histopathological appearance of lupus is associated with lesions of the upper
      lateral thighs in patients practicing horse riding. This disease belongs to the
      spectrum of miscellaneous cold-induced dermatoses in which histopathological
      lesions identical to lupus can be encountered.

PMID- 27633610
TI  - Micro-optical coherence tomography of the mammalian cochlea.
AB  - The mammalian cochlea has historically resisted attempts at high-resolution, non
      invasive imaging due to its small size, complex three-dimensional structure, and
      embedded location within the temporal bone. As a result, little is known about
      the relationship between an individual's cochlear pathology and hearing function,
      and otologists must rely on physiological testing and imaging methods that offer
      limited resolution to obtain information about the inner ear prior to performing
      surgery. Micro-optical coherence tomography (MUOCT) is a non-invasive, low
      coherence interferometric imaging technique capable of resolving cellular-level
      anatomic structures. To determine whether MUOCT is capable of resolving mammalian
      intracochlear anatomy, fixed guinea pig inner ears were imaged as whole temporal
      bones with cochlea in situ. Anatomical structures such as the tunnel of Corti,
      space of Nuel, modiolus, scalae, and cell groupings were visualized, in addition
      to individual cell types such as neuronal fibers, hair cells, and supporting
      cells. Visualization of these structures, via volumetrically-reconstructed image
      stacks and endoscopic perspective videos, represents an improvement over previous
      efforts using conventional OCT. These are the first MUOCT images of mammalian
      cochlear anatomy, and they demonstrate MUOCT's potential utility as an imaging
      tool in otology research.

PMID- 27633612
TI  - Age-Based Differences in Task Switching Are Moderated by Executive Control
      Demands.
AB  - Objectives: Recent work has identified different aspects of executive function
      that may underlie cognitive changes associated with age. The current study used a
      multifactorial design to investigate age sensitivity in the ability to shift
      between different task sets and the interaction of this ability with several
      specific aspects of executive control. Method: A large, well-characterized sample
      of younger (n = 40) and clinically healthy older (n = 51) adults completed a task
      switching paradigm in which 3 aspects of executive control were manipulated
      between subjects: a) sensorimotor demand (the number of distinct stimulus
      response options); b) stimulus-level interference (i.e., flanker effects); and c)
      updating/monitoring (the frequency of task switches). Results: Unique age-related
      deficits were observed for different aspects of local task switching performance
      costs and updating/monitoring, but not for interference. Sensorimotor demand was
      also an important additional factor that interacted with task switching
      performance. Discussion: Our findings suggest that task switching, coupled with
      infrequent and unexpected transitions from one task set to another, in the
      context of high motoric demands, is particularly difficult for older adults.

PMID- 27633614
TI  - Home and Neighborhood Environment Predictors of Adolescents' Screen Viewing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, the majority of adolescents exceed the AAP guidelines for
      screen use and this is likely to be a risk factor for obesity. The current study
      aims at investigating adolescent screen viewing in the context of home and
      neighborhood environment. METHODS: A sample of 1141 adolescents as well as their
      parents participated in this survey. Adolescents were asked to complete a
      questionnaire about time spent on screen viewing behaviors. Respectively, parents
      completed a questionnaire concerning environmental predictors. RESULTS: Almost
      two-thirds of the adolescents surveyed spend more than 2 hours per day on screen
      entertainment, with boys dealing with personal computers (PCs) and electronic
      games more than girls. The likelihood for an adolescent to exceed 2 hours of
      screen time is 3.87 times more when he has his meals in front of a TV screen on a
      daily basis, 1.69 times more when the TV is on, often as not on his return from
      school and 1.74 times more when there is a PC in the adolescent's bedroom.
      CONCLUSION: Certain environmental predictors influence adolescents' screen time,
      as a result, corrective intervention should aim at the family as a whole, as this
      whole shapes home environment.

PMID- 27633615
TI  - A Multimethod Investigation Into Physical Activity in Midlife Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity in midlife women is associated with increased
      intra-abdominal adipose tissue development. We describe an innovative multimethod
      study 1) to better understand barriers to physical activity (PA) and 2) to engage
      midlife women to product test physical activities and identify local community
      based providers and sustainable and fun PA experiences. METHODS: Formative
      research on PA barriers from the Chicago site Study of Women's Health Across the
      Nation (SWAN) ancillary study of midlife women was used to develop a pilot
      testing measure. Feasibility, acceptability and sustainability of the PA
      activities were determined using the measure. RESULTS: Desirable locations and/or
      instructors were identified. The first 2 groups identified, pilot tested, and
      then ranked activities for their ability to promote sustained PA. The 6 top
      ranked were: circuit training, total body fitness, kickboxing, Zumba, Pilates,
      and pedometer. The final group pilot tested highly ranked PA in 2-week blocks,
      and ranked pedometer and Zumba in their top 3. CONCLUSION: Consensus was reached
      regarding activities that could be valuable in promoting sustained PA in midlife
      women. Choosing convenient sites and popular instructors further facilitates
      sustainability. Building relationships with key community partners is essential
      for sustainability. Community-based participant involvement in study design is a
      critical element in developing a healthy living intervention.

PMID- 27633616
TI  - Examination of Accelerometer Reactivity Among a Population Sample of Children,
      Adolescents, and Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine whether accelerometer-measured physical activity-based
      reactivity was present in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children (6
      11 yrs), adolescents (12-17 yrs), and adults (>=20 yrs). METHODS: Data from the
      2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 674, 6-85 yrs)
      were used. Physical activity (PA) was assessed using the ActiGraph 7164
      accelerometer, with PA assessed over 7 days of monitoring. Two PA metrics were
      assessed, including activity counts per day (CPD) and time spent in moderate-to
      vigorous PA. Evidence of reactivity was defined as a statistically significantly
      change in either of these 2 PA metrics from day 1 of monitoring to days 2 or 3,
      with day 1 of monitoring being a Monday. RESULTS: Suggestion of reactivity was
      observed only for the adult population where CPD from days 2 and 3 (297,140.6 +/-
      7920.3 and 295,812.9 +/- 8364.9), respectively, differed significantly from day 1
      (309,611.5 +/- 9134.9) over the monitoring period (4.0% to 4.5% change). The
      analysis was conducted 2 additional times with differing start days (Tuesday and
      Wednesday), and this approach failed to demonstrated a reactive presence.
      CONCLUSION: In this national sample of U.S. children, adolescents and adults, we
      did not observe sufficient evidence of accelerometer reactivity.

PMID- 27633618
TI  - Validity and Reliability of Smartphone Applications for the Assessment of Walking
      and Running in Normal-weight and Overweight/Obese Young Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The suitability of smartphone applications (apps) currently used to
      track walking/running may differ depending on a person's weight condition. This
      study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of apps for both normal
      weight and overweight/obese young adults. METHODS: Thirty normal-weight (aged
      21.7 +/- 1.0 years, BMI 21.3 +/- 1.9 kg/m2) and 30 overweight/ obese young adults
      (aged 21.0 +/- 1.4 years, BMI 28.6 +/- 3.7 kg/m2) wore a smartphone and pedometer
      on their right hip while walking/running at 3 different intensities on
      treadmills. Apps was randomly assigned to each individual for measuring average
      velocity, step count, distance, and energy expenditure (EE), and these
      measurements were then analyzed. RESULTS: The apps were not accurate in counting
      most of the measured variables and data fell significantly lower in the
      parameters than those measured with standard-reference instruments in both light
      and moderate intensity activity among the normal-weight group. Among the
      overweight and obese group, the apps were not accurate in detecting velocity,
      distance, or EE during either light or vigorous intensities. The percentages of
      mean difference were 30.1% to 48.9%. CONCLUSION: Apps may not have sufficient
      accuracy to monitor important physical parameters of human body movement. Apps
      need to be developed that can, in particular, respond differently based on a
      person's weight status.

PMID- 27633613
TI  - Pharmacogenetic research activity in Central America and the Caribbean: a
      systematic review.
AB  - AIM: The present review was aimed at analyzing the pharmacogenetic scientific
      activity in Central America and the Caribbean. MATERIALS & METHODS: A literature
      search for pharmacogenetic studies in each country of the region was conducted on
      three databases using a list of the most relevant pharmacogenetic biomarkers
      including 'phenotyping probe drugs' for major drug metabolizing enzymes. The
      review included 132 papers involving 47 biomarkers and 35,079 subjects (11,129
      healthy volunteers and 23,950 patients). RESULTS: The country with the most
      intensive pharmacogenetic research was Costa Rica. The most studied medical
      therapeutic area was oncology, and the most investigated biomarkers were CYP2D6
      and HLA-A/B. Conclusion: Research activity on pharmacogenetics in Central
      American and the Caribbean populations is limited or absent. Therefore,
      strategies to promote effective collaborations, and foster interregional
      initiatives and research efforts among countries from the region could help for
      the rational clinical implementation of pharmacogenetics and personalized
      medicine.

PMID- 27633619
TI  - Exploring Factors Regarding Transit-related Walking and Walking Duration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transit-related walking provides a potential opportunity to promote
      general walking behavior, yet few studies have examined this issue. Since
      people's decisions tend to vary as they walk between home and transit and between
      transit and destination, this study separated trips made in each direction.
      PURPOSE: This study identified the associations between sociodemographics and the
      2-step process of transit-related walking: 1) whether transit users walked for
      home-transit trip or transitdestination trip, and 2) the walking duration for
      home-transit trip or transit-destination trip among those who walked. METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study used the 2009 National Household Travel Survey and
      used the Heckman 2-step selection model by including 4042 respondents (10,105
      trips) who walked all portions for home-transit trip and 3756 (8075 trips) for
      transitdestination trip. RESULTS: The mean walking duration for home-transit
      trips (7.60 minutes) was shorter than transit-destination trips (7.87 minutes).
      Hispanics were more likely to walk for both directions and had higher walking
      durations than did whites. Respondents living in low-income households were more
      likely to walk for home-transit trip, but not for transit-destination trips.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrated several implications regarding to transit
      related walking, such as creating short home-transit distances and targeting
      whites in promoting transit-related walking.

PMID- 27633617
TI  - Where are Children Active and Does it Matter for Physical Activity? A Latent
      Transition Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have focused on the role of environments in
      promoting physical activity, but few studies have examined the specific locations
      where children are active and whether being active in these locations is
      associated with physical activity levels over time. METHODS: Self-reported
      locations of where physical activity occurred and physical activity measured via
      accelerometry were obtained for a cohort of 520 children in 5th and 6th grades.
      Latent class analysis was used to generate classes of children defined by the
      variety of locations where they were active (ie, home, school grounds, gyms,
      recreational centers, parks or playgrounds, neighborhood, and church). Latent
      transition analyses were used to characterize how these latent classes change
      over time and to determine whether the latent transitions were associated with
      changes in physical activity levels. RESULTS: Two latent classes were identified
      at baseline with the majority of children in the class labeled as 'limited
      variety.' Most children maintained their latent status over time. Physical
      activity levels declined for all groups, but significantly less so for children
      who maintained their membership in the 'greater variety' latent status.
      CONCLUSIONS: Supporting and encouraging physical activity in a variety of
      locations may improve physical activity levels in children.

PMID- 27633620
TI  - Green Space and Physical Activity in Pregnant Women: Evidence From the Growing Up
      in New Zealand Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to green space has been associated with increased physical
      activity. However, it is not clear whether this association is because active
      people preferentially live in greener areas. Relationships between exposure to
      green space and physical activity during pregnancy are not well defined. Our
      objective was to determine whether exposure to green space was associated with
      physical activity in pregnant women. METHODS: The current study was completed
      within the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort study of 6772 pregnant women. The
      proportion of green space in each census area unit was determined and geocoded to
      residential address. The association between exposure to green space and physical
      activity was determined using logistic regression analyses after controlling for
      confounding variables. RESULTS: Exposure to green space was not associated with
      participation in physical activity during first trimester and the remainder of
      pregnancy once preference for living in greener neighborhoods was taken into
      account. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of association between green space and physical
      activity found in this study does not necessarily mean that living in green space
      will not translate into better pregnancy health. Preference for living in greener
      neighborhoods should be considered when investigating relationships between green
      space and physical activity.

PMID- 27633621
TI  - A Physical Activity Intervention for Brazilian Students From Low Human
      Development Index Areas: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Promoting physical activity (PA) in low- and middle-income countries
      is an important public health topic as well as a challenge for practice. This
      study aimed to assess the effect of a school-based intervention on different PA
      related variables among students. METHODS: This cluster-randomized-controlled
      trial included 548 students in the intervention group and 537 in the control
      group (11-18 years-old) from 6 schools in neighborhoods with low Human
      Development Index (0.170-0.491) in Fortaleza, Brazil. The intervention included
      strategies focused on training teachers, opportunities for PA in the school
      environment and health education. Variables measured at baseline and again at the
      4-months follow-up included the weekly time in different types of moderate-to
      vigorous PA (MVPA), preference for PA during leisure-time, PA behavioral change
      stage and active commuting to school. Generalized linear models and binary
      logistic regressions were used. RESULTS: An intervention effect was found by
      increasing the weekly time in MVPA (effect size = 0.17), popular games (effect
      size = 0.35), and the amount of PA per week (effect size = 0.27) among students
      (all P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The intervention was effective in promoting
      improvements in some PA outcomes, but the changes were not sufficient to increase
      the proportion of those meeting PA recommendations.

PMID- 27633623
TI  - Physical Activity-Related Obesity Risk Classification Model and All-Cause
      Mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluated a physical activity-related obesity model on
      mortality. METHODS: Data from the 1999-2006 NHANES were used (N = 16,077), with
      follow-up through 2011. Physical activity (PA) was subjectively assessed, with
      body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) objectively measured. From
      these, 12 mutually exclusive groups (G) were evaluated, including: G1: Normal
      BMI, Normal WC and Active; G2: Normal BMI, Normal WC and Inactive; G3: Normal
      BMI, High WC and Active; G4: Normal BMI, High WC and Inactive; G5: Overweight
      BMI, Normal WC and Active; G6: Overweight BMI, Normal WC and Inactive; G7:
      Overweight BMI, High WC and Active; G8: Overweight BMI, High WC and Inactive; G9:
      Obese BMI, Normal WC and Active; G10: Obese BMI, Normal WC and Inactive; G11:
      Obese BMI, High WC and Active; and G12: Obese BMI, High WC and Inactive. RESULTS:
      Compared with G2, the following had a reduced mortality risk: G1, G3, G5, G6, G7,
      G8, G9, and G11. Compared with G12, the following had a reduced mortality risk:
      G1, G3, G5, G7, G9, and G11. In each respective group for BMI and WC, the active
      group had a reduced mortality risk. CONCLUSIONS: Across all BMI and WC
      combinations, PA improved mortality risk identification.

PMID- 27633622
TI  - The Influence of Weather Conditions on Outdoor Physical Activity Among Older
      People With and Without Osteoarthritis in 6 European Countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older adults with osteoarthritis (OA) often report that their disease
      symptoms are exacerbated by weather conditions. This study examines the
      association between outdoor physical activity (PA) and weather conditions in
      older adults from 6 European countries and assesses whether outdoor PA and
      weather conditions are more strongly associated in older persons with OA than in
      those without the condition. METHODS: The American College of Rheumatology
      classification criteria were used to diagnose OA. Outdoor PA was assessed using
      the LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire. Data on weather parameters were
      obtained from weather stations. RESULTS: Of the 2439 participants (65-85 years),
      29.6% had OA in knee, hand and/or hip. Participants with OA spent fewer minutes
      in PA than participants without OA (Median = 42.9, IQR = 20.0 to 83.1 versus
      Median = 51.4, IQR = 23.6 to 98.6; P < .01). In the full sample, temperature (B =
      1.52; P < .001) and relative humidity (B = -0.77; P < .001) were associated with
      PA. Temperature was more strongly associated with PA in participants without OA
      (B = 1.98; P < .001) than in those with the condition (B = 0.48; P = .47).
      CONCLUSIONS: Weather conditions are associated with outdoor PA in older adults in
      the general population. Outdoor PA and weather conditions were more strongly
      associated in older adults without OA than in their counterparts with OA.

PMID- 27633624
TI  - The Individual, Social, and Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity and
      Screen Time in Irish Children: Growing Up in Ireland Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to use a social-ecological approach to
      examine the influence of individual, social, and environmental factors on
      moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and screen-time in a sample of 9
      year-old children in Ireland. METHODS: The sample was 1509 boys and girls from
      the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) national study. MVPA, screen time, and
      individual, social, and environmental variables were assessed via questionnaires
      completed by children, their parents, and their teachers. Multiple regression was
      used to identify factors that correlated with children's MVPA and screen-time
      levels. RESULTS: For boys, factors such as activity with friends (P < .0001) and
      popularity (P < .01) were associated with MVPA, while factors such as BMI (P <
      .01) and MVPA (P < .01) were associated with screen time. Similarly for girls,
      factors such as activity with friends (P < .0001) and sociability were associated
      with MVPA, however factors such as BMI (P < .05), and access to play space (P <
      .05) were more closely associated with screen time. CONCLUSION: Social factors
      were more closely associated with MVPA, while individual factors were
      significantly correlated with screen time for both boys and girls. Correlates
      differed for boys and girls, suggesting that interventions should consider both
      the target population as well as the activity behavior.

PMID- 27633625
TI  - Impact of Hot Yoga on Arterial Stiffness and Quality of Life in Normal and
      Overweight/Obese Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with arterial stiffening and diminished quality
      of life. Bikram yoga may be a feasible alternative to traditional exercise among
      obese individuals. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the
      impact of Bikram yoga, a heated style of hatha yoga, on arterial stiffness in
      normal and overweight/obese adults. METHODS: Forty-three (23 normal body mass
      index or BMI; 20 overweight/obese) apparently healthy participants completed an 8
      week Bikram yoga intervention. Body composition was estimated via dual energy x
      ray absorptiometry, arterial stiffness was measured via brachialankle pulse wave
      velocity, and health-related quality of life was assessed via RAND 36-Item Short
      Form survey at baseline and at the end of the 8-week intervention. RESULTS: After
      the intervention, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity decreased (P < .05) in
      overweight/obese participants while no such changes were observed in normal BMI
      participants. In the quality of life measures, emotional well-being improved (P <
      .05) in both groups, and general health improved (P < .05) only in the normal
      weight BMI group. CONCLUSION: Bikram yoga ameliorates arterial stiffness in
      overweight/obese adults and can positively impact quality of life regardless of
      BMI.

PMID- 27633626
TI  - Effectiveness of Social Marketing Interventions to Promote Physical Activity
      Among Adults: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social marketing managers promote desired behaviors to an audience by
      making them tangible in the form of environmental opportunities to enhance
      benefits and reduce barriers. This study proposed "benchmarks," modified from
      those found in the past literature, that would match important concepts of the
      social marketing framework and the inclusion of which would ensure behavior
      change effectiveness. In addition, we analyzed behavior change interventions on a
      "social marketing continuum" to assess whether the number of benchmarks and the
      role of specific benchmarks influence the effectiveness of physical activity
      promotion efforts. METHODS: A systematic review of social marketing interventions
      available in academic studies published between 1997 and 2013 revealed 173
      conditions in 92 interventions. RESULTS: Findings based on chi2, Mallows' Cp, and
      Logical Analysis of Data tests revealed that the presence of more benchmarks in
      interventions increased the likelihood of success in promoting physical activity.
      The presence of more than 3 benchmarks improved the success of the interventions;
      specifically, all interventions were successful when more than 7.5 benchmarks
      were present. Further, primary formative research, core product, actual product,
      augmented product, promotion, and behavioral competition all had a significant
      influence on the effectiveness of interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Social marketing is
      an effective approach in promoting physical activity among adults when a
      substantial number of benchmarks are used and when managers understand the
      audience, make the desired behavior tangible, and promote the desired behavior
      persuasively.

PMID- 27633627
TI  - Lumbar contribution to the trunk forward bending and backward return; age-related
      differences.
AB  - Age-related differences in lumbar contribution to the trunk motion in the
      sagittal plane were investigated. Sixty individuals between 20-70 years old in
      five gender-balanced age groups performed forward bending and backward return
      with slow and fast paces. Individuals older than 50 years old, irrespective of
      the gender or pace, had smaller lumbar contribution than those younger than this
      age. The lumbar contribution to trunk motion was also smaller in female
      participants than male participants, and under fast pace than under the slow
      pace. Age-related differences in lumbar contributions suggest the synergy between
      the active and passive lower back tissues is different between those above and
      under 50 years old, differences that are likely to affect the lower back
      mechanics. Therefore, detailed modelling should be conducted in future to find
      the age-related differences in the lower back mechanics for tasks involving large
      trunk motion. Practitioner Summary: Lumbar contribution to the sagittal trunk
      motion was observed to be smaller in individuals above 50 years old than those
      below this age. This could be an indication of a likely change in the synergy
      between the active and passive lower back tissues, which may disturb the lower
      back mechanics.

PMID- 27633628
TI  - Effect of Schiff base Cu(II) complexes on signaling pathways in HT-29 cells.
AB  - Schiff base copper (II) complexes are known for their anticancer, antifungal,
      antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of the current study was to
      investigate biological effects of Schiff base Cu (II) complexes (0.001-100
      umol/l)-[Cu2(sal-D, L-glu)2(isoquinoline)2].2C2H5OH (1), [Cu(sal-5-met-L
      glu)(H2O)].H2O (2), [Cu(ethanol)2(imidazole)4][Cu2(sal-D, L-glu)2(imidazole)2]
      (3), [Cu(sal-D,L-glu)(2-methylimidazole)] (4) on the human colon carcinoma cells
      HT-29, the mouse noncancerous cell line NIH-3T3 and the human noncancerous
      fibroblast cell line VH10. The results suggested that Cu (II) complexes exhibit
      cytotoxic effects against the HT-29 cell line, while complexes 3 and 4 were the
      most effective. Subsequent to 72 h of incubation, apoptosis was observed in the
      HT-29 cells induced by Cu (II) complexes 1 (0.1, 1, 10 and 50 umol/l), 2 (1, 10,
      50 and 100 umol/l), 3 (0.01, 1, 10 and 50 umol/l) and 4 (0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10
      umol/l). The apoptotic pathways activated by the Cu (II) complexes were
      identified. The results indicated that complexes 2, 3 and 4 were able to induce
      the mitochondria-dependent pathway of apoptosis in HT-29 cells, while complex 1
      was obsered to activate the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis. The levels of the
      anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 were reduced and those of the pro-apoptotic protein
      Bax increased following treatment with complexes 2, 3 and 4. Complex 1 had no
      effect on Bax protein expression. Complexes 2 and 3 induced elevation of
      cytochrome c (cyt c), while complex 4 induced a time-dependent elevation of cyt c
      levels. No cyt c was detected in HT-29 cells exposed to complex 1, suggesting
      that Cu (II) complexes activated the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis. The results
      from the current study in addition to previous studies suggest that Schiff base
      Cu (II) complexes have potential as novel anticancer drugs.

PMID- 27633629
TI  - A Novel Assay for Screening Inhibitors Targeting HIV Integrase LEDGF/p75
      Interaction Based on Ni(2+) Coated Magnetic Agarose Beads.
AB  - HIV-1 integrase (IN) plays an essential role in viral replication and thus serves
      as an important target for chemotherapeutic intervention against HIV-1 infection.
      However, the current three clinical IN inhibitors, raltegravir, elvitegravir and
      dolutegravir share the same inhibitory mechanism, resulting in a common clinical
      resistance profile which have emerged in infected patients receiving treatment.
      Therefore, it is important to develop small molecule inhibitors that impair IN
      function with distinct mechanisms of action. In this work, a magnetic-beads based
      biochemical assay targeting the protein-protein interaction (PPI) between HIV IN
      and the cellular cofactor LEDGF/p75 was developed for identification of HIV-1 IN
      inhibitors. Furthermore, a library containing 1000 US. Food and Drug
      Administration (FDA)-approved drugs currently used for human medication was
      screened to identify inhibitors targeting the PPI. The assay was proved to be
      quite robust and with the novel assay we successfully identified dexlansoprazole
      (IC50 of 4.8 MUM), a FDA-approved proton pump inhibitor, as a potential inhibitor
      for the PPI between IN and LEDGF/p75, which bound to the LEDGF/p75 partner with a
      kinetic dissociation (Kd) constant of 330 nM +/- 2.6 nM.

PMID- 27633631
TI  - Caudatin targets TNFAIP1/NF-kappaB and cytochrome c/caspase signaling to suppress
      tumor progression in human uterine cancer.
AB  - Caudatin, a C-21 steroidal glyco-side isolated from Chinese herbs, has a long
      history of use for the treatment of multiple diseases, including cancers.
      However, the precise mechanisms of actions of caudatin in human uterine cancer
      cells remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms by
      which caudatin inhibits cell growth in human cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa)
      and endometrial carcinoma cell line (HEC-1A). Treatment with caudatin promoted
      cell morphology change, inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, migration
      and spheroid formation, and induced cell apoptosis. Our results showed that the
      expression of tumor necrosis factor; alpha-induced protein 1 (TNFAIP1) was
      downregulated in uterine cancer cells and tissues compared to paired adjacent non
      tumor uterine tissues. Further molecular mechanism study showed that caudatin can
      directly regulate TNFAIP1 expression in a concentration-dependent manner and also
      associated with the downregulation of NF-kappaB and upregulation of BAX/BcL-2
      ratio and caspase-3. Moreover, we found that overexpression of TNFAIP1 inhibits
      the growth and invasion, and induces apoptosis in uterine cancer cells through
      inhibition of the NF-kappaB pathway, suggesting that TNFAIP1 may act as a
      potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer. We found that caudatin
      inhibited tumorigenicity and upregulated TNFAIP1 in vivo. Taken together,
      caudatin impacts on cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis of uterine cancer
      cells by regulating several carcinogenesis-related processes, including a novel
      mechanism involving the targeting of TNFAIP1/NF-kappaB signaling. Our findings
      provide new insights into understanding the anticancer mechanisms of caudatin in
      human uterine cancer therapy.

PMID- 27633630
TI  - Regulation of TPD52 by antitumor microRNA-218 suppresses cancer cell migration
      and invasion in lung squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - The development of targeted molecular therapies has greatly benefited patients
      with lung adenocarcinomas. In contrast, these treatments have had little benefit
      in the management of lung squamous cell carcinoma (lung SCC). Therefore, new
      treatment options based on current genomic approaches are needed for lung SCC.
      Aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression has been shown to promote lung cancer
      development and aggressiveness. Downregulation of microRNA-218 (miR-218) was
      frequently observed in our miRNA expression signatures of cancers, and previous
      studies have shown an antitumor function of miR-218 in several types of cancers.
      However, the impact of miR-218 on lung SCC is still ambiguous. The present study
      investigated the antitumor roles of miR-218 in lung SCC to identify the target
      genes regulated by this miRNA. Ectopic expression of miR-218 greatly inhibited
      cancer cell migration and invasion in the lung SCC cell lines EBC-1 and SK-MES-1.
      Through a combination of in silico analysis and gene expression data searching,
      tumor protein D52 (TPD52) was selected as a putative target of miR-218
      regulation. Moreover, direct binding of miR-218 to the 3'-UTR of TPD52 was
      observed by dual luciferase reporter assay. Overexpression of TPD52 was observed
      in lung SCC clinical specimens, and knockdown of TPD52 significantly suppressed
      cancer cell migration and invasion in lung SCC cell lines. Furthermore, the
      downstream pathways mediated by TPD52 involved critical regulators of genomic
      stability and mitotic checkpoint genes. Taken together, our data showed that
      downregulation of miR-218 enhances overexpression of TPD52 in lung SCC cells,
      promoting cancer cell aggressiveness. Identification of tumor-suppressive miRNA
      mediated RNA networks of lung SCC will provide new insights into the potential
      mechanisms of the molecular pathogenesis of the disease.

PMID- 27633632
TI  - Small-for-gestational age and its association with maternal blood glucose, body
      mass index and stature: a perinatal cohort study among Chinese women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether maternal low blood glucose (BG), low body mass
      index (BMI) and small stature have a joint effect on the risk of delivery of a
      small-for-gestational age (SGA) infant. DESIGN: Women from a perinatal cohort
      were followed up from receiving perinatal healthcare to giving birth. SETTING:
      Beichen District, Tianjin, China between June 2011 and October 2012.
      PARTICIPANTS: 1572 women aged 19-39 years with valid values of stature, BMI and
      BG level at gestational diabetes mellitus screening (gestational weeks 24-28),
      glucose challenge test <7.8 mmol/L and singleton birth (>=37 weeks' gestation).
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: SGA was defined as birth weight <10th centile for gender
      separated gestational age of Tianjin singletons. RESULTS: 164 neonates (10.4%)
      were identified as SGA. From multiple logistic regression models, the ORs (95%
      CI) of delivery of SGA were 0.84 (0.72 to 0.98), 0.61 (0.49 to 0.74) and 0.64
      (0.54 to 0.76) for every 1 SD increase in maternal BG, BMI and stature,
      respectively. When dichotomises, maternal BG (<6.0 vs >=6.0 mmol/L), BMI (<24 vs
      >=24 kg/m(2)) and stature (<160.0 vs >=160.0 cm), those with BG, BMI and stature
      all in the lower categories had ~8 times higher odds of delivering an SGA neonate
      (OR (95% CI) 8.01 (3.78 to 16.96)) relative to the reference that had BG, BMI and
      stature all in the high categories. The odds for an SGA delivery among women who
      had any 2 variables in the lower categories were ~2-4 times higher. CONCLUSIONS:
      Low maternal BG is associated with an increased risk of having an SGA infant. The
      risk of SGA is significantly increased when the mother is also short and has a
      low BMI. This may be a useful clinical tool to identify women at higher risk for
      having an SGA infant at delivery.

PMID- 27633633
TI  - Current and future perspectives on lumbar degenerative disc disease: a UK survey
      exploring specialist multidisciplinary clinical opinion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDDD) being significantly
      associated with non-specific low back pain and effective treatment remaining
      elusive, specialist multidisciplinary clinical stakeholder opinion remains
      unexplored. The present study examines the views of such experts. DESIGN: A
      reliable and valid electronic survey was designed to establish trends using
      theoretical constructs relating to current assessment and management practices.
      Clinicians from the Society of Back Pain Research (SBPR) UK were invited to take
      part. Quantitative data were collated and coded using Bristol Online Surveys
      (BOS) software, and content analysis was used to systematically code and
      categorise qualitative data. SETTING: Specialist multidisciplinary spinal
      interest group in the UK. PARTICIPANTS: 38/141 clinically active,
      multidisciplinary SBPR members with specialist spinal interest participated.
      Among them, 84% had >9 years postgraduate clinical experience. INTERVENTIONS:
      None. OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency distributions were used to establish general
      trends in quantitative data. Qualitative responses were coded and categorised in
      relation to each theme and percentage responses were calculated. RESULTS: LDDD
      symptom recurrence, in the absence of psychosocial influence, was associated with
      physical signs of joint stiffness (26%), weakness (17%) and joint hypermobility
      (6%), while physical factors (21%) and the ability to adapt (11%) were postulated
      as reasons why some experience pain and others do not. No one management strategy
      was supported exclusively or with consensus. Regarding effective modalities,
      there was no significant difference between allied health professional and medic
      responses (p=0.1-0.8). The future of LDDD care was expressed in terms of
      improvements in patient communication (35%), patient education (38%) and
      treatment stratification (24%). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that
      multidisciplinary expert spinal clinicians appear to follow UK-based assessment
      guidelines with regard to recurrent LDDD; there are, however, inconsistencies in
      the management approaches supported. This reflects the current literature and the
      lack of specific, formalised guidance. LDDD treatment stratification and further
      research are explicitly supported.

PMID- 27633634
TI  - Prognostic variables and scores identifying the last year of life in COPD: a
      systematic review protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: People living with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD) suffer from significant morbidity, reduced quality of life and high
      mortality, and are likely to benefit from many aspects of a palliative care
      approach. Prognostic estimates are a meaningful part of decision-making and
      better evidence for such estimates would facilitate advance care planning. We aim
      to provide quality evidence on known prognostic variables and scores which
      predict a prognosis in COPD of <12 months for use in the community. METHODS AND
      ANALYSIS: We will conduct a systematic review of randomised or quasi-randomised
      controlled trials, prospective and retrospective longitudinal cohort and case
      control studies on prognostic variables, multivariate scores or models for COPD.
      The search will cover the period up to April 2016. Study selection will follow
      the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
      guidelines, with data extraction using fields from the Critical Appraisal and
      Data Extraction for Systematic Reviews of Prediction Modelling Studies (CHARMS)
      checklist for multivariate models, and study quality will be assessed using a
      modified version of the Quality In Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed
      publications and national and international conference presentations. SYSTEMATIC
      REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016033866.

PMID- 27633635
TI  - Validity of peptic ulcer disease and upper gastrointestinal bleeding diagnoses in
      administrative databases: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Administrative healthcare databases are useful to investigate the
      epidemiology, health outcomes, quality indicators and healthcare utilisation
      concerning peptic ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding, but the databases need to
      be validated in order to be a reliable source for research. The aim of this
      protocol is to perform the first systematic review of studies reporting the
      validation of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision and 10th
      version (ICD-9 and ICD-10) codes for peptic ulcer and upper gastrointestinal
      bleeding diagnoses. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and the
      Cochrane Library databases will be searched, using appropriate search strategies.
      We will include validation studies that used administrative data to identify
      peptic ulcer disease and upper gastrointestinal bleeding diagnoses or studies
      that evaluated the validity of peptic ulcer and upper gastrointestinal bleeding
      codes in administrative data. The following inclusion criteria will be used: (a)
      the presence of a reference standard case definition for the diseases of
      interest; (b) the presence of at least one test measure (eg, sensitivity, etc)
      and (c) the use of an administrative database as a source of data. Pairs of
      reviewers will independently abstract data using standardised forms and will
      evaluate quality using the checklist of the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic
      Accuracy (STARD) criteria. This systematic review protocol has been produced in
      accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta
      Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics
      approval is not required given that this is a protocol for a systematic review.
      We will submit results of this study to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.
      The results will serve as a guide for researchers validating administrative
      healthcare databases to determine appropriate case definitions for peptic ulcer
      disease and upper gastrointestinal bleeding, as well as to perform outcome
      research using administrative healthcare databases of these conditions. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42015029216.

PMID- 27633636
TI  - Protocol for process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial of family-led
      rehabilitation post stroke (ATTEND) in India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We are undertaking a randomised controlled trial (fAmily led
      rehabiliTaTion aftEr stroke in INDia, ATTEND) evaluating training a family carer
      to enable maximal rehabilitation of patients with stroke-related disability; as a
      potentially affordable, culturally acceptable and effective intervention for use
      in India. A process evaluation is needed to understand how and why this complex
      intervention may be effective, and to capture important barriers and facilitators
      to its implementation. We describe the protocol for our process evaluation to
      encourage the development of in-process evaluation methodology and transparency
      in reporting. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The realist and RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness,
      Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) frameworks informed the design. Mixed
      methods include semistructured interviews with health providers, patients and
      their carers, analysis of quantitative process data describing fidelity and dose
      of intervention, observations of trial set up and implementation, and the
      analysis of the cost data from the patients and their families perspective and
      programme budgets. These qualitative and quantitative data will be analysed
      iteratively prior to knowing the quantitative outcomes of the trial, and then
      triangulated with the results from the primary outcome evaluation. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: The process evaluation has received ethical approval for all sites
      in India. In low-income and middle-income countries, the available human capital
      can form an approach to reducing the evidence practice gap, compared with the
      high cost alternatives available in established market economies. This process
      evaluation will provide insights into how such a programme can be implemented in
      practice and brought to scale. Through local stakeholder engagement and
      dissemination of findings globally we hope to build on patient-centred, cost
      effective and sustainable models of stroke rehabilitation. TRIAL REGISTRATION
      NUMBER: CTRI/2013/04/003557.

PMID- 27633637
TI  - Establishing cross-discipline consensus on contraception, pregnancy and breast
      feeding-related educational messages and clinical practices to support women with
      rheumatoid arthritis: an Australian Delphi study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recognising the need for a best-practice and consistent approach in
      providing care to women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in relation to (1) general
      health, (2) contraception, (3) conception and pregnancy, (4) breast feeding and
      (5) early parenting, we sought to achieve cross-discipline, clinical consensus on
      key messages and clinical practice behaviours in these 5 areas. DESIGN: 3-round
      eDelphi study. In round 1, panellists provided free-text responses to open-ended
      questions about care for women with RA across the 5 areas. Subsequently,
      panellists refined and scored the synthesised responses, presented as metathemes,
      themes and detailed elements. Where >=5% of panellists did not support a theme in
      a given round, it was removed. SETTING: Panel of practicing Australian
      rheumatologists (n=22), obstetricians/obstetric medicine physicians (n=9) and
      pharmacists (n=5). RESULTS: 34 (94.4%) panellists participated in all 3 rounds.
      The panel supported 18 themes across the 5 areas (support/strongly support: 88.2
      100%) underpinned by 5 metathemes. Metathemes focused on coordination in
      information delivery, the mode and timing of information delivery, evidence
      underpinning information, engagement of the right health professionals at the
      right time and a non-judgemental approach to infant feeding. Themes included
      practices for primary prevention of chronic disease and their sequelae, the
      importance of contraception and planning pregnancy and breast feeding, close
      monitoring of medications, supporting mental well-being, managing disease
      activity and providing practical support for early parenting. CONCLUSIONS: A
      cross-disciplinary clinical panel highly supported key information and clinical
      practices in the care for women with RA across the continuum of contraception to
      early parenting within a whole-person, chronic disease management approach.

PMID- 27633638
TI  - Epidemiology of lower respiratory infection and pneumonia in South Africa (1997
      2015): a systematic review protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lower respiratory infections (LRIs) and pneumonia are among the
      leading causes of death worldwide, especially in children aged under 5 years, and
      these patterns are reflected in the South African population. Local
      epidemiological data for LRIs and pneumonia are required to inform the Second
      National Burden of Disease Study underway in South Africa. The aim of this
      systematic review is to identify published studies reporting the prevalence,
      incidence, case fatality, duration or severity of LRI and pneumonia in adults and
      children in South Africa. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Electronic database searches will
      be conducted to obtain studies reporting on the prevalence, incidence, case
      fatality, duration and severity of LRI and pneumonia in South Africa between
      January 1997 and December 2015. Studies that are assessed to have moderate or low
      risk of bias will be included in a meta-analysis, if appropriate. Where meta
      analysis is not possible, the articles will be described narratively. Subgroup
      analysis (eg, age groups) will also be conducted where enough information is
      available. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review will only include
      published data with no linked patient-level information; thus, no ethics approval
      is required. The findings will be used to calculate the burden of disease
      attributed to LRI and pneumonia in South Africa and will highlight the type of
      epidemiological data available in the country. The article will be disseminated
      in a peer-reviewed publication. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016036520.

PMID- 27633639
TI  - Exploring effects of presurgical weight loss among women with stage 0-II breast
      cancer: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Obesity is a known risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer and
      is associated with poorer prognosis for premenopausal and postmenopausal
      patients; however, the aetiological mechanisms are unknown. Preclinical studies
      support weight loss via caloric restriction and increased physical activity as a
      possible cancer control strategy, though few clinical studies have been
      conducted. We undertook a feasibility trial among women recently diagnosed with
      stage 0-II breast cancer hypothesising that presurgical weight loss would be
      feasible, safe and result in favourable changes in tumour markers and circulating
      biomarkers. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A two-arm randomised controlled trial among 40
      overweight or obese women, newly diagnosed with stage 0-II breast cancer and
      scheduled for surgery was planned. The attention control arm received upper body
      progressive resistance training and diet counselling to correct deficiencies in
      nutrient intake; the experimental arm received the same plus counselling on
      caloric restriction and aerobic exercise to achieve a weight loss of 0.68-0.919
      kg/week. In addition to achieving feasibility benchmarks (accruing and retaining
      at least 80% of participants, and observing no serious adverse effects
      attributable to the intervention), we will explore the potential impact of an
      acute state of negative energy balance on tumour proliferation rates (Ki-67), as
      well as other tumour markers, serum biomarkers, gene expression, microbiome
      profiles and other clinical outcomes (eg, quality of life). Outcomes for the 2
      study arms are compared using mixed models repeated-measures analyses. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was received from the University of Alabama at
      Birmingham Institutional Review Board (Protocol number F130325009). Study
      findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications. Given that this
      is one of the first studies to investigate the impact of negative energy balance
      directly on tumour biology in humans, larger trials will be pursued if results
      are favourable. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02224807; Pre-results.

PMID- 27633640
TI  - Subarachnoid haemorrhage guidelines and clinical practice: a cross-sectional
      study of emergency department consultants' and neurospecialists' views and risk
      tolerances.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish if emergency medicine and neuroscience specialist
      consultants have different risk tolerances for investigation of suspected
      spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), and to establish if their risk
      benefit appraisals concur with current guidelines. SETTING: 4 major neuroscience
      centres in London. PARTICIPANTS: 58 consultants in emergency medicine and
      neuroscience specialities (neurology, neurosurgery and neuroradiology)
      participated in an anonymous survey. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      primary outcome measure was the highest stated acceptable risk of missing SAH in
      the neurologically intact patient presenting with sudden onset headache.
      Secondary outcome measures included agreement with guideline recommendations,
      risk/benefit appraisal and required performance of diagnostic tests, including
      lumbar puncture. RESULTS: Emergency department clinicians accepted almost 3 times
      the risk of a missed SAH diagnosis compared with the neuroscience specialists
      (2.8% vs 1.1%; p=0.02), were more likely to accept a higher risk of missed
      diagnosis for the benefit of a non-invasive test (p=0.04) and were more likely to
      disagree with current published guidelines stipulating the need for LP in all CT
      negative cases (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Divergence from recognised procedures for
      SAH investigation is often criticised and attributed to a lack of knowledge of
      guidelines. This study indicates that divergence from guidelines may be explained
      by alternative risk-benefit appraisals made by doctors with their patients.
      Guideline recommendations may gain wider acceptance if they accommodate the
      requirements of the doctors and patients using them. Further study of clinical
      risk tolerance may help explain patterns of diagnostic test use and other
      variations in healthcare delivery.

PMID- 27633641
TI  - Determinants and trends in health facility-based deliveries and caesarean
      sections among married adolescent girls in Bangladesh.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the determinants and measure the trends in health facility
      based deliveries and caesarean sections among married adolescent girls in
      Bangladesh. METHODS: In order to measure the trends in health facility-based
      deliveries and caesarean sections, Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS)
      data sets were analysed (BDHS; 1993-1994, 1996-1997, 1999-2000, 2004, 2007,
      2011). The BDHS 2011 data sets were analysed to identify the determinants of
      health facility-based deliveries and caesarean sections. A total of 2813
      adolescent girls (aged 10-19 years) were included for analysis. Bivariate and
      multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Health facility-based deliveries
      have continuously increased among adolescents in Bangladesh over the past two
      decades from 3% in 1993-1994 to 24.5% in 2011. Rates of population-based and
      facility-based caesarean sections have increased linearly among all age groups of
      women including adolescents. Although the country's overall (population-based)
      caesarean section rate among adolescents was within acceptable range (11.6%), a
      rate of nearly 50% health facility level caesarean sections among adolescent
      girls is alarming. Among adolescent girls, use of antenatal care (ANC) appeared
      to be the most important predictor of health facility-based delivery (OR: 4.04;
      95% CI 2.73 to 5.99), whereas the wealth index appeared as the most important
      predictor of caesarean sections (OR: 5.7; 95% CI 2.74 to 12.1). CONCLUSIONS:
      Maternal health-related interventions should be more targeted towards adolescent
      girls in order to encourage them to access ANC and promote health facility-based
      delivery. Rising trends of caesarean sections require further investigation on
      indication and provider-client-related determinants of these interventions among
      adolescent girls in Bangladesh.

PMID- 27633642
TI  - Do GPs know their patients with cancer? Assessing the quality of cancer
      registration in Dutch primary care: a cross-sectional validation study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the quality of cancer registry in primary care. DESIGN AND
      SETTING: A cross-sectional validation study using linked data from primary care
      electronic health records (EHRs) and the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR).
      POPULATION: 290 000 patients, registered with 120 general practitioners (GPs),
      from 50 practice centres in the Utrecht area, the Netherlands, in January 2013.
      INTERVENTION: Linking the EHRs of all patients in the Julius General
      Practitioners' Network database at an individual patient level to the full NCR
      (~1.7 million tumours between 1989 and 2011), to determine the proportion of
      matching cancer diagnoses. Full-text EHR extraction and manual analysis for non
      matching diagnoses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportions of matching and non
      matching breast, lung, colorectal and prostate cancer diagnoses between 2007 and
      2011, stratified by age category, cancer type and EHR system. Differences in year
      of diagnosis between the EHR and the NCR. Reasons for non-matching diagnoses.
      RESULTS: In the Primary Care EHR, 60.6% of cancer cases were registered and coded
      in accordance with the NCR. Of the EHR diagnoses, 48.9% were potentially false
      positive (not registered in the NCR). Results differed between EHR systems but
      not between age categories or cancer types. The year of diagnosis corresponded in
      80.6% of matching coded diagnoses. Adding full-text EHR analysis improved results
      substantially. A national disease registry (the NCR) proved incomplete.
      CONCLUSIONS: Even though GPs do know their patients with cancer, only 60.6% are
      coded in concordance with the NCR. Reusers of coded EHR data should be aware that
      40% of cases can be missed, and almost half can be false positive. The type of
      EHR system influences registration quality. If full-text manual EHR analysis is
      used, only 10% of cases will be missed and 20% of cases found will be wrong. EHR
      data should only be reused with care.

PMID- 27633644
TI  - Bioethics training programmes for Africa: evaluating professional and bioethics
      related achievements of African trainees after a decade of Fogarty NIH
      investment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our primary aim was to evaluate the impact of US National Institutes
      of Health (NIH)-funded bioethics training programmes (Fogarty bioethics training
      programmes, FBTPs) that trained individuals from Africa over the programme's
      first 10 years to examine changes between pretraining and post-training in
      individual achievement and to document any associations between individual,
      training programme and post-training accomplishments. DESIGN: We surveyed
      trainees from the 10 bioethics programmes funded by NIH Fogarty International
      Center from 2000 to 2011 that included African trainees. McNemar's and Wilcoxon
      signed rank-sum tests were used to analyse pre-post levels of general and
      bioethics-related professional achievement. Likelihood of specific post-training
      achievement outcomes was measured using logistic regression including
      demographic, pretraining and intratraining variables. SETTING: 10 different FBTPs
      that trained individuals from Africa from 2000 to 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Of 253
      eligible respondents, 171 completed the survey (response rate 67.6%). PRIMARY
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Pre-post comparisons of professional achievement indicators
      (eg, serving in leadership roles, teaching, publishing manuscripts); likelihood
      of specific post-training achievement outcomes. RESULTS: Post-training,
      respondents were significantly more likely to report serving in a leadership
      role, being an investigator on a research grant, serving on international
      committees, serving as a mentor, and publishing manuscripts than at pretraining.
      Post-training, significantly greater numbers of respondents reported bioethics
      related achievements including being a bioethics instructor, serving on an
      Institutional Review Board (IRB), being an investigator on a bioethics grant and
      publishing bioethics-related manuscripts than pretraining. Controlling for other
      factors, there were no significant differences by gender in the post-training
      success of these participants in terms of leadership roles, being instructors,
      investigators on grants and holding IRB roles. CONCLUSIONS: African trainees who
      participated in FBTPs reported significantly higher levels of professional
      achievement after training. There was no single factor-either demographic,
      related to a trainee's professional background, or in programme design-that
      consistently predicted greater levels of post-training achievement.

PMID- 27633643
TI  - Comparing group-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with enhanced usual
      care for adolescents with functional somatic syndromes: a study protocol for a
      randomised trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Functional somatic syndromes (FSS) are common in adolescents,
      characterised by severe disability and reduced quality of life. Behavioural
      treatments such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has shown promising
      results in children and adolescents with FSS, but has focused on specific
      syndromes such as functional pain. The current study will compare the efficacy of
      group-based ACT with that of enhanced usual care (EUC) in adolescents with a
      range of FSS operationalised by the unifying construct of multiorgan bodily
      distress syndrome (BDS). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A total of 120 adolescents aged 15
      19 and diagnosed with multiorgan BDS, of at least 12 months duration, will be
      assessed and randomised to either: (1) EUC: a manualised consultation with a
      child and adolescent psychiatrist and individualised treatment plan or (2)
      manualised ACT-based group therapy plus EUC. The ACT programme consists of 9
      modules (ie, 27 hours) and 1 follow-up meeting (3 hours). The primary outcome is
      physical health, assessed by an Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) aggregate score
      12 months after randomisation. Secondary outcomes include self-reported symptom
      severity, symptom interference, depression and anxiety, illness worry, perceived
      stress and global improvement; as well as objective physical activity and bodily
      stress response measured by heart rate variability, hair cortisol and
      inflammatory biomarkers. Process measures are illness perception, illness-related
      behaviour and psychological flexibility. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study is
      conducted in accordance with Helsinki Declaration II. Approval has been obtained
      from the Science Ethics Committee of the Central Denmark Region and the Danish
      Data Protection. The results will be sought to be published according to the
      CONSORT statement in peer-reviewed journals. DISCUSSION: This is one of the first
      larger randomised clinical trials evaluating the effect of a group-based
      intervention for adolescents with a range of severe FSS. TRIAL REGISTRATION
      NUMBER: NCT02346071; Pre-results.

PMID- 27633645
TI  - Rates and drivers of progression to pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus among HIV
      infected adults on antiretroviral therapy: a global systematic review and meta
      analysis protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: With the new 'test and treat' policy of the WHO, it is obvious that
      the number of HIV-infected patients taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) will grow
      exponentially, with consequential increase in the burden of diabetes mellitus
      (DM). Our aim is to summarise existing data on the incidence of pre-diabetes and
      DM, and associated risk factors among HIV-infected adults. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:
      This systematic review will include cohort studies reporting the incidence of pre
      diabetes and/or DM, and associated risk factors among HIV-infected adults on ART,
      with these patients being free of any impaired glucose metabolism at study
      baseline. We will perform electronic searches in PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database
      (EMBASE), Web of Science and WHO Global Health Library, supplemented with manual
      searches. Articles published from 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2016, in English or
      French languages, and without any geographical restriction will be eligible for
      inclusion. 3 authors will independently screen, select studies, extract data and
      assess the risk of bias with discrepancies resolved by consensus. We will assess
      clinical heterogeneity by examining the study design and setting, criteria and
      cut-offs used to define pre-diabetes or DM, process of calculation of incidence
      and outcomes in each study. We will also assess statistical heterogeneity using
      the chi(2) test of homogeneity and quantify it using the I(2) statistic. A random
      effects meta-analysis will be used to estimate the overall cumulative incidence
      of pre-diabetes/DM and risk factors. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic
      review will use data from published studies and does not require ethics approval.
      Its results are expected to help putting in place action plans and preventive
      measures to curb the growing burden of DM in the HIV population on ART. Findings
      will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at scientific
      conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016039651.

PMID- 27633646
TI  - Evaluating Access to Eye Care in the Contiguous United States by Calculated
      Driving Time in the United States Medicare Population.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify the proximity to eye care in the contiguous United States by
      calculating driving routes and driving time using a census-based approach.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study based on United States (US) census data, Medicare
      payment data, and OpenStreetMap. PARTICIPANTS: 2010 US census survey respondents
      older than 65 years. METHODS: For each state in the United States, the addresses
      of all practicing ophthalmologists and optometrists were obtained from the 2012
      Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data from the Centers for Medicare and
      Medicaid Services (CMS). The US census data from 2010 then were used to calculate
      the geolocation of the US population at the block group level and the number of
      people older than 65 years in each location. Geometries and driving speed limits
      of every road, street, and highway in the United States from the OpenStreetMap
      project were used to calculate the exact driving distance and driving time to the
      nearest eye care provider. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Driving time and driving
      distance to the nearest optometrist and ophthalmologist per state. RESULTS:
      Driving times for 3.79*107 persons were calculated using a total of 3.88*107
      available roads for the 25 508 optometrists and 17 071 ophthalmologists
      registered with the CMS. Nationally, the median driving times to the nearest
      optometrist and ophthalmologist were 2.91 and 4.52 minutes, respectively. Ninety
      percent of the population lives within a 13.66- and 25.21-minute drive,
      respectively, to the nearest optometrist and ophthalmologist. CONCLUSIONS: While
      there are regional variations, overall more than 90% of the US Medicare
      beneficiary population lives within a 30-minute drive of an ophthalmologist and
      within 15 minutes of an optometrist.

PMID- 27633648
TI  - Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Long-Term Memory in Healthy Humans: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - Preclinical Research The neuropeptide oxytocin (Oxt) is implicated in complex
      emotional and social behaviors and appears to play an important role in learning
      and memory. Animal studies have shown that the effects of exogenous Oxt on memory
      vary according to the timing of administration, context, gender, and dose and may
      improve the memory of social, but not nonsocial stimuli. Oxt is intimately
      involved in a broad array of neuropsychiatric functions and may therefore be a
      pharmacological target for several psychiatric disorders. This review summarizes
      the potential effects of Oxt on long-term memory processes in healthy humans
      based on a PubMed search over the period 1980-2016. The effects of intranasal Oxt
      on human memory are controversial and the studies included in this review have
      applied a variety of learning paradigms, in turn producing variable outcomes.
      Specifically, data on the long-term memory of nonemotional stimuli found no
      effect or even worsening in memory, while studies using emotional stimuli showed
      an improvement of long-term memory performance. In conclusion, this review
      identified a link between long-term memory performance and exogenous intranasal
      Oxt in humans, although these results still warrant further confirmation in
      large, multicenter randomized controlled trials. Drug Dev Res 77 : 479-488, 2016.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633647
TI  - Comparison of topical tacrolimus and clobetasol in the management of symptomatic
      oral lichen planus: A double-blinded, randomized clinical trial in Sri Lanka.
AB  - AIM: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common, chronic inflammatory disease of the
      oral mucosa. Although several studies have shown the efficacy of different
      treatment modalities, a definitive cure has not yet been established. The present
      trial compares the effectiveness of topically-applied clobetasol and tacrolimus
      in the symptomatic management of OLP. METHODS: A randomized, comparative, double
      blind study with 68 patients (43 females, 25 males; mean age: 46.76 years) was
      undertaken. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 34 patients each to
      receive topical tacrolimus 0.1% cream or clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream for 3
      weeks. RESULTS: After 3 weeks of treatment, the mean pain score dropped by 1.59
      (right) and 1.53 (left) in the tacrolimus group, while in clobetasol group these
      values were 0.94 and 0.85, respectively. The mean scores for clinical appearance
      reduced by 1.18 (right) and 1.0 (left) in the tacrolimus group compared with a
      reduction of 0.5 and 0.26, respectively, in the clobetasol group. These
      reductions were statistically significant (P < .05). CONCLUSION: The results
      suggest that tacrolimus 0.1% cream is an effective alternative to topical steroid
      and can be considered a first-line therapy in OLP. However, further studies are
      needed to confirm the effectiveness of this treatment before it is recommended
      for use in clinical practice.

PMID- 27633649
TI  - The hidden hyperbolic geometry of international trade: World Trade Atlas 1870
      2013.
AB  - Here, we present the World Trade Atlas 1870-2013, a collection of annual world
      trade maps in which distance combines economic size and the different dimensions
      that affect international trade beyond mere geography. Trade distances, based on
      a gravity model predicting the existence of significant trade channels, are such
      that the closer countries are in trade space, the greater their chance of
      becoming connected. The atlas provides us with information regarding the long
      term evolution of the international trade system and demonstrates that, in terms
      of trade, the world is not flat but hyperbolic, as a reflection of its complex
      architecture. The departure from flatness has been increasing since World War I,
      meaning that differences in trade distances are growing and trade networks are
      becoming more hierarchical. Smaller-scale economies are moving away from other
      countries except for the largest economies; meanwhile those large economies are
      increasing their chances of becoming connected worldwide. At the same time,
      Preferential Trade Agreements do not fit in perfectly with natural communities
      within the trade space and have not necessarily reduced internal trade barriers.
      We discuss an interpretation in terms of globalization, hierarchization, and
      localization; three simultaneous forces that shape the international trade
      system.

PMID- 27633650
TI  - Comparative sensitizing potencies of fragrances, preservatives, and hair dyes.
AB  - The local lymph node assay (LLNA) is used for assessing sensitizing potential in
      hazard identification and risk assessment for regulatory purposes. Sensitizing
      potency on the basis of the LLNA is categorized into extreme (EC3 value of
      <=0.2%), strong (>0.2% to <=2%), and moderate (>2%). To compare the sensitizing
      potencies of fragrance substances, preservatives, and hair dye substances, which
      are skin sensitizers that frequently come into contact with the skin of consumers
      and workers, LLNA results and EC3 values for 72 fragrance substances, 25
      preservatives and 107 hair dye substances were obtained from two published
      compilations of LLNA data and opinions by the Scientific Committee on Consumer
      Safety and its predecessors. The median EC3 values of fragrances (n = 61),
      preservatives (n = 19) and hair dyes (n = 59) were 5.9%, 0.9%, and 1.3%,
      respectively. The majority of sensitizing preservatives and hair dyes are thus
      strong or extreme sensitizers (EC3 value of <=2%), and fragrances are mostly
      moderate sensitizers. Although fragrances are typically moderate sensitizers,
      they are among the most frequent causes of contact allergy. This indicates that
      factors other than potency need to be addressed more rigorously in risk
      assessment and risk management.

PMID- 27633651
TI  - The effects of a multigrowth factor-containing cream on recovery after laser
      treatment: a double-blinded, randomized, split-face controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients who receive laser treatments may experience transient
      erythema, edema, and crusts for several days. Although a variety of growth factor
      containing creams for promoting recovery after laser treatment are available,
      evidence for their efficacy remains insufficient. AIMS: We performed a randomized
      controlled split-face study to assess the effects of a multigrowth factor (MGF)
      containing cream on patients recovering from laser treatment. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Twenty patients underwent treatment using an ablative fractional laser
      and were randomized with respect to the side of the face treated with an MGF
      containing cream or control cream. We measured post-treatment erythema and
      pigmentation using the erythema and melanin indices, respectively, and evaluated
      the total area of microcrusts with dermoscopy. Additionally, patient satisfaction
      levels and global improvement scores were assessed. RESULTS: We found that the
      area of microcrusts was significantly smaller in the MGF-treated regions. Global
      improvement scores for post-treatment edema and wrinkles were also significantly
      higher for MGF cream-treated sides than for the control sides. CONCLUSION: The
      MGF cream-treated regions showed a more rapid recovery from crusts and edema.
      Thus, the use of an MGF-containing cream after laser treatment can effectively
      reduce recovery time.

PMID- 27633652
TI  - Comparative transcriptome analysis in different tissues of a medicinal herb,
      Picrorhiza kurroa pinpoints transcription factors regulating picrosides
      biosynthesis.
AB  - Transcriptional regulation of picrosides biosynthesis, the iridoid glycosides of
      an endangered medicinal herb, Picrorhiza kurroa, is completely unknown. P. kurroa
      plants obtained from natural habitat accumulate higher picrosides than in-vitro
      cultured plants, which necessitates identification of transcription factors (TFs)
      regulating their differential biosynthesis. The current study investigates
      complete spectrum of different TF classes in P. kurroa transcriptomes and
      discerns their association with picrosides biosynthesis. Transcriptomes of
      differential picroside-I content shoots and picroside-II content roots were mined
      for seven classes of TFs implicated in secondary metabolism regulation in plants.
      Key TFs were identified through in silico transcript abundance and qPCR analysis
      was performed to confirm transcript levels of TFs under study in differential
      content tissues and genotypes. Promoter regions of key picrosides biosynthetic
      pathway genes were explored to hypothesize which TFs can possibly regulate target
      genes. A total of 131, 137, 107, 82 and 101 transcripts encoding different TFs
      families were identified in PKS-25, PKS-15, PKSS, PKR-25 and PKSR transcriptomes,
      respectively. ERF-18, bHLH-104, NAC-25, 32, 94 and SUF-4 showed elevated
      expression in roots (up to 37 folds) and shoots (up to 195 folds) of plants
      obtained from natural habitat, indicating their role as activators of picrosides
      biosynthesis whereas, elevated expression of WRKY-17, 40, 71 and MYB-4 in low
      picrosides content conditions suggested their down-regulatory role. In silico
      analysis of key picrosides biosynthetic pathway gene promoter regions revealed
      binding domains for ERF-18, NAC-25, WRKY-40 and MYB-4. Identification of
      candidate TFs contributing towards picrosides biosynthesis is a pre-requisite for
      designing appropriate metabolic engineering strategies aimed at enhancing
      picrosides content in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27633653
TI  - "It's a complex mesh"- how large-scale health system reorganisation affected the
      delivery of the immunisation programme in England: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The English health system experienced a large-scale reorganisation in
      April 2013. A national tri-partite delivery framework involving the Department of
      Health, NHS England and Public Health England was agreed and a new local
      operational model applied. Evidence about how health system re-organisations
      affect constituent public health programmes is sparse and focused on low and
      middle income countries. We conducted an in-depth analysis of how the English
      immunisation programme adapted to the April 2013 health system reorganisation,
      and what facilitated or hindered the delivery of immunisation services in this
      context. METHODS: A qualitative case study methodology involving interviews and
      observations at national and local level was applied. Three sites were selected
      to represent different localities, varying levels of immunisation coverage and a
      range of changes in governance. Study participants included 19 national decision
      makers and 56 local implementers. Two rounds of interviews and observations
      (immunisation board/committee meetings) occurred between December 2014 and June
      2015, and September and December 2015. Interviews were audio recorded and
      transcribed verbatim and written accounts of observed events compiled. Data was
      imported into NVIVO 10 and analysed thematically. RESULTS: The new immunisation
      programme in the new health system was described as fragmented, and significant
      effort was expended to regroup. National tripartite arrangements required joint
      working and accountability; a shift from the simpler hierarchical pre-reform
      structure, typical of many public health programmes. New local inter
      organisational arrangements resulted in ambiguity about organisational
      responsibilities and hindered data-sharing. Whilst making immunisation managers
      responsible for larger areas supported equitable resource distribution and
      strengthened service commissioning, it also reduced their ability to apply
      clinical expertise, support and evaluate immunisation providers' performance.
      Partnership working helped staff adapt, but the complexity of the health system
      hindered the development of consistent approaches for training and service
      evaluation. CONCLUSION: The April 2013 health system reorganisation in England
      resulted in significant fragmentation in the way the immunisation programme was
      delivered. Some of this was a temporary by-product of organisational change,
      other more persistent challenges were intrinsic to the complex architecture of
      the new health system. Partnership working helped immunisation leaders and
      implementers reconnect and now the challenge is to assess how inter-agency
      collaboration can be strengthened.

PMID- 27633654
TI  - Endocytosis in Giardia: Evidence of Absence.
AB  - Zumthor et al. recently reported a novel function for clathrin coatomer in
      Giardia lamblia endocytosis. On the basis of old and new data, we propose an
      updated model of the participation of clathrin function in this parasite.

PMID- 27633655
TI  - Association between frequency of fried food consumption and resilience to
      depression in Japanese company workers: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-chain n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3/n-6 PUFA)
      play important roles in emotional regulation. We previously reported an
      association between fish consumption, which is major source of LC n-3 PUFA, and
      resilience to depression, where resilience is the ability to cope with stress in
      the face of adversity. Although the traditional Japanese dietary pattern of high
      fish consumption is associated with low depressive symptoms, the current Japanese
      diet pattern has become westernized. Westernized diets contain excessive amounts
      of LC n-6 PUFA due to high intake of vegetable oils commonly used in fried food
      and are associated with risk of depression. The aim of this study was to examine
      the association between frequency of fried food consumption and resilience to
      depression. METHODS: Participants were 715 Japanese company workers. The Center
      for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure depressive
      symptoms, and the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14) was used to measure
      resilience. Frequency of fish and fried food consumption was assessed using a
      self-report questionnaire based on the Food Frequency Questionnaire. Regression
      analyses using Preacher and Hayes' bootstrap script were used to adjust for
      demographic factors, frequency of physical exercise, and fish consumption.
      RESULTS: Significant associations were identified between frequency of fried food
      consumption and total CES-D score (path c, B = 0.72; P < 0.01), between frequency
      of fried food consumption and total RS-14 score (path a, B = -1.73, P < 0.01),
      and between total RS-14 score and CES-D score (path b, B = -0.35; P < 0.01). The
      association between fried food consumption and total CES-D score was not
      significant when we controlled for RS-14 score. Bootstrapping results showed that
      there was a significant positive indirect association between frequency of fried
      food and CESD score through RS-14 (95 % bias-corrected and accelerated confidence
      interval = 0.34 to 0.92). CONCLUSION: Frequency of fried food consumption was
      associated with lower resilience to depression. Further nutritional
      interventional studies to increase resilience and prevent depression are
      warranted.

PMID- 27633656
TI  - 13-Methyl-palmatrubine induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in A549 cells in
      vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Corydalis yanhusuo, a well-known herbaceous plant, is commonly used in the
      treatment of inflammation, injury and pain. One natural agent isolated from
      Corydalis yanhusuo, 13-methyl-palmatrubine, was found to have a cytotoxic effect
      on cancer cells as reported in published studies. In the present study, we
      synthesized a potential anti-lung tumor agent, 13-methyl-palmatrubine and
      analyzed its activity. 13-Methyl-palmatrubine exhibited a cytotoxic effect on a
      panel of cancer cell lines in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Among
      all the tested cancer cell lines, lung cancer A549 cells were most sensitive to
      13-methyl-palmatrubine treatment. Meanwhile 13-methyl-palmatrubine showed less
      cytotoxicity in human normal cells. Our investigation revealed that 13-methyl
      palmatrubine induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in A549 cells in a dose
      dependent manner. Furthermore, 13-methyl-palmatrubine treatment caused activation
      of P38 and JNK pathways and blocked the EGFR pathway. In conclusion, our findings
      demonstrated that 13-methyl-palmatrubine inhibited the growth of A549 cells
      mediated by blocking of the EGFR signaling pathway and activation of the MAPK
      signaling pathway and provides a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms
      of 13-methyl-palmatrubine.

PMID- 27633657
TI  - Reserve and Reserve-building activities research: key challenges and future
      directions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The concept of Cognitive Reserve has great appeal and has led to an
      interesting and important body of research. We believe, however, that it is
      unnecessarily limited by 'habits' of measurement, nomenclature, and intra
      disciplinary thinking. MAIN BODY: A broader, more comprehensive way of
      conceptualizing Reserve is proposed that invokes a broader measurement approach,
      nomenclature that uses specific terms embedded in a theoretical model, and
      crosses disciplines. CONCLUSION: Building on this comprehensive
      conceptualization, we will discuss fruitful directions for future research.

PMID- 27633658
TI  - Abdominal intra-compartment syndrome - a non-hydraulic model of abdominal
      compartment syndrome due to post-hepatectomy hemorrhage in a man with a localized
      frozen abdomen due to extensive adhesions: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative hemorrhage is a significant cause of morbidity and
      mortality following liver resection. It typically presents early within the
      postoperative period, and conservative management is possible in the majority of
      cases. We present a case of late post-hepatectomy hemorrhage associated with
      overt abdominal compartment syndrome resulting from a localized functional
      compartment within the abdomen. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old white man was
      readmitted with sudden onset of upper abdominal pain, vomiting, and hemodynamic
      instability 8 days after an uneventful hepatic resection for metachronous colon
      cancer metastasis. A frozen abdomen with adhesions due to complicated previous
      abdominal surgeries was encountered at the first intervention, but the surgery
      itself and initial recovery were otherwise unremarkable. Prompt response to fluid
      resuscitation at admission was followed by a computed tomography of his abdomen
      that revealed active arterial hemorrhage in the liver resection site and
      hemoperitoneum (estimated volume <2 L). Selective arteriography successfully
      identified and embolized a small bleeding branch of his right hepatic artery. He
      remained hemodynamically stable, but eventually developed overt abdominal
      compartment syndrome. Surgical exploration confirmed a small volume of ascites
      and blood clots (1.2 L) under significant pressure in his supramesocolic region,
      restricted by his frozen lower abdomen, which we evacuated. Dramatic improvement
      in his ventilatory pressure was immediate. His abdomen was left open and a
      negative pressure device was placed for temporary abdominal closure. The fascia
      was formally closed after 48 hours. He was discharged home at postoperative day
      6. CONCLUSIONS: Intra-abdominal pressure and radiologic findings of intra
      abdominal hemorrhage should be carefully interpreted in patients with extensive
      intra-abdominal adhesions. A high index of suspicion and detailed understanding
      of abdominal compartment mechanics are paramount for the timely diagnosis of
      abdominal compartment syndrome in these patients. Clinicians should be aware that
      abnormal anatomy (such as adhesions) coupled with localized pathophysiology (such
      as hemorrhage) can create a so-named abdominal intra-compartment syndrome
      requiring extra vigilance to diagnose.

PMID- 27633659
TI  - Elevated homocysteine levels in mothers with neural tube defects: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To find the real relationship between maternal total homocysteine (tHcy)
      level and risk of neural tube defects (NTDs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic
      review and meta-analysis were conducted. The literature search was conducted with
      the use of PubMed and EMBASE databases and weighted mean difference (WMD) with
      95% confidence interval (CI) was applied to measure the difference in tHcy level
      between case and control group. Seventeen articles involving 3237 subjects were
      included according to the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Pooled result showed that
      mothers with NTDs offspring demonstrated significantly a higher mean log plasma
      tHcy level than mothers with normal offspring (log WMD: 0.06; 95%CI: 0.02-0.09, p
      = 0.001), corresponding to an increase of 6% (2-9%) in the geometric mean.
      Subgroup analyses also displayed this difference in subjects who were detected
      during pregnancy or without folate supplementation before sampling. However, in
      the mandatory folate fortification countries, we did not find this association.
      CONCLUSIONS: A slightly higher tHcy level in mothers with NTDs was indicated, but
      potential confounders could not be ruled out completely. Further larger or cohort
      studies are needed to confirm this association.

PMID- 27633660
TI  - Who is actually asked about their mental health in pregnancy and the postnatal
      period? Findings from a national survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnancy and the postnatal period is a period of potential
      vulnerability for women and families. It is UK policy that all women are asked
      about their mental health and wellbeing early in pregnancy and following the
      birth to help detect potential problems and prevent serious adverse outcome.
      However, identification of mental health problems in pregnancy may be less than
      50 %. The aim of the study was to find out which women are asked about their mood
      and mental health during pregnancy and postnatally, and about offer and uptake of
      treatment. METHODS: Secondary analysis of a national maternity survey carried out
      in 2014 which asked about sociodemographic factors, care in pregnancy,
      childbirth, and the postnatal period with specific questions on emotional and
      mental health. RESULTS: The usable response rate to the survey was 47 % (4571
      women). Most women recalled being asked about their mental health in pregnancy
      (82 %) and in the postnatal period (90 %). However, antenatally, Asian and older
      women were less likely to be asked and to be offered treatment. In the postnatal
      period, differences were more marked. Non-white women, those living in more
      deprived areas, and those who had received less education were less likely to be
      asked about their mental health, to be offered treatment, and to receive support.
      Women with a trusting relationship with their midwife were more likely to be
      asked about their mental health. CONCLUSION: The inequities described in this
      study suggest that the inverse care law is operating in relation to this aspect
      of maternity care. Those women most likely to be in need of support and treatment
      are least likely to be offered it and may be at risk of serious adverse outcomes.

PMID- 27633662
TI  - Commentary on 'Prescribing patterns of combined hormonal products containing
      cyproterone acetate, levonorgestrel and drospirenone in the UK'.

PMID- 27633661
TI  - Acceptability of financial incentives for health behaviour change to public
      health policymakers: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Providing financial incentives contingent on healthy behaviours is
      one way to encourage healthy behaviours. However, there remains substantial
      concerns with the acceptability of health promoting financial incentives (HPFI).
      Previous research has studied acceptability of HPFI to the public, recipients and
      practitioners. We are not aware of any previous work that has focused
      particularly on the views of public health policymakers. Our aim was to explore
      the views of public health policymakers on whether or not HPFI are acceptable;
      and what, if anything, could be done to maximise acceptability of HPFI. METHODS:
      We recruited 21 local, regional and national policymakers working in England via
      gatekeepers and snowballing. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews
      with participants exploring experiences of, and attitudes towards, HPFI. We
      analysed data using the Framework approach. RESULTS: Public health policymakers
      working in England acknowledged that HPFI could be a useful behaviour change
      tool, but were not overwhelmingly supportive of them. In particular, they raised
      concerns about effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, potential 'gaming', and
      whether or not HPFI address the underlying causes of unhealthy behaviours.
      Shopping voucher rewards, of smaller value, targeted at deprived groups were
      particularly acceptable to policymakers. Participants were particularly concerned
      about the response of other stakeholders to HPFI - including the public,
      potential recipients, politicians and the media. Overall, the interviews
      reflected three tensions. Firstly, a tension between wanting to trust individuals
      and promote responsibility; and distrust around the potential for 'gaming the
      system'. Secondly, a tension between participants' own views about HPFI; and
      their concerns about the possible views of other stakeholders. Thirdly, a tension
      between participants' personal distaste of HPFI; and their professional view that
      they could be a valuable behaviour change tool. CONCLUSIONS: There are aspects of
      design that influence acceptability of financial incentive interventions to
      public health policymakers. However, it is not clear that even interventions
      designed to maximise acceptability would be acceptable enough to be recommended
      for implementation. Further work may be required to help policymakers understand
      the potential responses of other stakeholder groups to financial incentive
      interventions.

PMID- 27633664
TI  - Mechanisms Responsible for the Large Piezoelectricity at the Tetragonal
      Orthorhombic Phase Boundary of (1-x)BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3-xBa0.7Ca0.3TiO3 System.
AB  - Recently it was found that in the lead-free (1-x)BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3-xBa0.7Ca0.3TiO3
      (BZT-xBCT) system, the highest piezoelectric d33 coefficient appears at the
      tetragonal (T) - orthorhombic (O) phase boundary rather than the O - rhombohedral
      (R) phase boundary, but the physical origin of it is still unclear. In this work
      we construct the phase diagram of the BZT-xBCT system using a generic sixth-order
      Landau free energy polynomial and calculate the energy barrier (EB) for direct
      domain switching between two variants of the stable low-symmetry ferroelectric
      phase. We find that the EB at the T-O phase boundary is lower than that at the O
      R phase boundary and EB may serve as a rigorous quantitative measure of the
      degree of polarization anisotropy through Landau potential. The calculations may
      shed some light on the physical origin of the highest piezoelectric coefficients
      as well as the softest elastic compliance at the T-O phase boundary observed in
      experiments.

PMID- 27633663
TI  - Impaired central respiratory chemoreflex in an experimental genetic model of
      epilepsy.
AB  - KEY POINTS: It is recognized that seizures commonly cause apnoea and oxygen
      desaturation, but there is still a lack in the literature about the respiratory
      impairments observed ictally and in the post-ictal period. Respiratory disorders
      may involve changes in serotonergic transmission at the level of the
      retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN). In this study, we evaluated breathing activity and
      the role of serotonergic transmission in the RTN with a rat model of tonic-clonic
      seizures, the Wistar audiogenic rat (WAR). We conclude that the respiratory
      impairment in the WAR could be correlated to an overall decrease in the number of
      neurons located in the respiratory column. ABSTRACT: Respiratory disorders may
      involve changes in serotonergic neurotransmission at the level of the
      chemosensitive neurons located in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN). Here, we
      investigated the central respiratory chemoreflex and the role of serotonergic
      neurotransmission in the RTN with a rat model of tonic-clonic seizures, the
      Wistar audiogenic rat (WAR). We found that naive or kindled WARs have reduced
      resting ventilation and ventilatory response to hypercapnia (7% CO2 ). The number
      of chemically coded (Phox2b+ /TH- ) RTN neurons, as well as the serotonergic
      innervation to the RTN, was reduced in WARs. We detected that the ventilatory
      response to serotonin (1 mm, 50 nl) within the RTN region was significantly
      reduced in WARs. Our results uniquely demonstrated a respiratory impairment in a
      genetic model of tonic-clonic seizures, the WAR strain. More importantly, we
      demonstrated an overall decrease in the number of neurons located in the ventral
      respiratory column (VRC), as well as a reduction in serotonergic neurons in the
      midline medulla. This is an important step forward to demonstrate marked changes
      in neuronal activity and breathing impairment in the WAR strain, a genetic model
      of epilepsy.

PMID- 27633666
TI  - Comparison between maternal and neonatal serum vitamin D levels in term jaundiced
      and nonjaundiced cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal jaundice is the result of an imbalance between the
      production and conjugation of bilirubin. Considering the multiple roles of
      vitamin D, lower levels of vitamin D in these cases may be associated with
      neonatal jaundice. The present study was undertaken for the purpose of comparing
      serum vitamin D levels in healthy term jaundiced and nonjaundiced newborns and
      their mothers. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted in 60 term newborns
      and their mothers from a teaching and referral children's hospital in the
      southwestern region of Iran, from December 22, 2013 through March 22, 2014.
      Neonatal and maternal blood samples were obtained and sent to the laboratory.
      RESULTS: The mean serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels of newborns and their mothers
      in both the case and the control groups were not significantly associated with
      their serum bilirubin levels. The mean of laboratory indices (calcium,
      phosphorus, alkaline phosphates, parathyroid hormone, and 25-hydroxy vitamin D)
      in mothers and newborns of the case group were nonsignificantly higher than that
      of the control group, but the mean vitamin D level was significantly lower among
      newborn cases compared with the controls (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Newborn vitamin D
      levels were significantly lower in jaundiced cases compared with those in the
      nonjaundiced healthy groups, which may reveal an association between indirect
      hyperbilirubinemia and serum vitamin D levels. We suggest that more studies
      should be conducted including follow-up after 15 days of age, when jaundice has
      typically been resolved, and before starting vitamin D supplementation.

PMID- 27633665
TI  - Effect of HIV-1 envelope cytoplasmic tail on adenovirus primed virus encoded
      virus-like particle immunizations.
AB  - The low number of envelope (Env) spikes presented on native HIV-1 particles is a
      major impediment for HIV-1 prophylactic vaccine development. We designed virus
      like particle encoding adenoviral vectors utilizing SIVmac239 Gag as an anchor
      for full length and truncated HIV-1 M consensus Env. Truncated Env overexpressed
      VRC01 and 17b binding antigen on the surface of transduced cells while the full
      length Env vaccine presented more and similar amounts of antigen binding to the
      trimer conformation sensitive antibodies PGT151 and PGT145, respectively. The
      adenoviral vectors were used to prime Balb/c mice followed by sequential boosting
      with chimpanzee type 63, and chimpanzee type 3 adenoviral vectors encoding
      SIVmac239 Gag and full length consensus Env. Both vaccine regimens induced
      increasing titers of binding antibody responses after each immunization, and
      significant differences in immune responses between the two groups were observed
      after the final immunization. Full length Env priming skewed antibody responses
      towards gp41, while truncated Env priming induced responses primarily targeting
      gp120 containing and derived antigens. Importantly, no differences in
      neutralizing antibody responses were found between the different priming regimens
      as both induced high titered tier 1 neutralizing antibodies, but no tier 2
      antibodies, possibly reflecting the similar presentation of trimer specific
      antibody epitopes. The described vaccine regimens provide insight into the
      effects of the HIV-1 Env cytoplasmic tail on epitope presentation and subsequent
      immune responses, which is relevant for the interpretation of current clinical
      trials that are using truncated Env as an immunogen. The regimens described here
      provide similar neutralization titers, and thus are useful for investigating the
      importance of specificity in non-neutralizing antibody mediated protection
      against viral challenge.

PMID- 27633669
TI  - Differential count and time-course analysis of the cellular composition of
      coelomocyte aggregate of the Japanese sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus.
AB  - Echinoderms have many types of coelomocytes, which have been known to form
      aggregates immediately after they are removed from the coelom. To assess the
      roles that each type of coelomocyte plays in aggregate formation, cellular
      components of coelomocyte aggregates of the Japanese sea cucumber, Apostichopus
      japonicus, were investigated. The coelomocytes were tentatively classified into
      12 types based on May-Grunwald/Giemsa staining. After the coelom was incubated
      for 30 min or 6 h, the aggregates were disaggregated completely with 200 mM EDTA.
      Differential counts of the dissociated cells indicated that the largest component
      of the aggregates was amoebocytes (67.8%) and the second-largest component of the
      aggregates incubated 30 min was a type of basophilic granulocyte. In the 6h
      incubated aggregates, the fraction of amoebocytes decreased to 59.0%, while that
      of lymphoid cells significantly increased, which suggests that lymphoid cells
      participate in late-stage aggregation. After 24-h incubation, only a portion of
      the aggregated cells could be disaggregated with EDTA. After 48 h, most of the
      cells could not be detached from the aggregates. Microscopy of frozen sections of
      the aggregates after 6-h incubation revealed that amoebocytes constructed a mesh
      like structure to which other types of cells adhered. After 48 h, the borders of
      the cells and the intracellular granules were not recognizable. In time-lapse
      microscopy, the aggregates were observed to move on a glass slide, which suggests
      that aggregates can "crawl" on the intraluminal surface of the coelom toward, for
      example, injured regions in the body of the sea cucumber.

PMID- 27633667
TI  - Influence of a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat (LBH589) on the
      growth of ovarian cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated that natural and synthetic
      histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors can impede the in vitro and in vivo growth
      of cell lines from a variety of gynecologic and other malignancies. We
      investigated the anti-tumor activity of panobinostat (LBH589) both in vitro and
      in vivo as either a single agent or in combination with conventional cytotoxic
      chemotherapy using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of primary serous
      ovarian tumors. METHODS: The ovarian cancer cell lines OVCAR8, SKOV3 and their
      paclitaxel-resistant derivatives OVCAR8-TR and SKOV3-TR were treated with
      increasing doses of LBH589. The effect of LBH589 on cell viability was assessed
      using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)
      assay. Serially transplanted primary human high-grade serous ovarian
      adenocarcinoma tissue was utilized to generate xenografts in 6-week old female
      NOD/SCID mice. The mice were then randomized into one of 4 treatment groups: (1)
      vehicle control; (2) paclitaxel and carboplatin (P/C); (3) LBH589; or (4) P/C +
      LBH589. Mice were treated for 21 days and tumor volumes and mouse weights were
      obtained every 3 days. These experiments were performed in triplicate with three
      different patient derived tumors. Wilcoxan rank-sum testing was utilized to
      assess tumor volume differences. RESULTS: In vitro treatment with LBH589
      significantly reduced the viability of both taxol-sensitive and taxol-resistant
      ovarian cancer cell lines (p < 0.01). In vivo treatment with LBH589 alone
      appeared tumorstatic and reduced tumor growth when compared to vehicle treatment
      (p < 0.007) after 21 days. This single agent activity was confirmed in two
      additional experiments with other PDX tumors (p < 0.03, p < 0.05). A potential
      additive effect of LBH589 and P/C, manifested as enhanced tumor regression with
      the addition of LBH589 compared to vehicle (p < 0.02), in one of the three
      analyzed serous PDX models. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that pan-HDAC
      inhibition with panobinostat precludes the growth of ovarian cancer cell lines in
      vitro and PDXs in vivo. Added benefit of LBH589 to standard P/C therapy was
      observed in one of three PDX models suggesting improved response in a subset of
      serous ovarian cancers.

PMID- 27633668
TI  - Integrated stress response of vertebrates is regulated by four eIF2alpha kinases.
AB  - The integrated stress response (ISR) is a cytoprotective pathway initiated upon
      phosphorylation of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2alpha)
      residue designated serine-51, which is critical for translational control in
      response to various stress conditions. Four eIF2alpha kinases, namely heme
      regulated inhibitor (HRI), protein kinase R (PKR), PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum
      kinase, (PERK) and general control non-depressible 2 (GCN2), have been identified
      thus far, and they are known to be activated by heme depletion, viral infection,
      endoplasmic reticulum stress, and amino acid starvation, respectively. Because
      eIF2alpha is phosphorylated under various stress conditions, the existence of an
      additional eIF2alpha kinase has been suggested. To validate the existence of the
      unidentified eIF2alpha kinase, we constructed an eIF2alpha kinase quadruple
      knockout cells (4KO cells) in which the four known eIF2alpha kinase genes were
      deleted using the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing. Phosphorylation of
      eIF2alpha was completely abolished in the 4KO cells by various stress
      stimulations. Our data suggests that the four known eIF2alpha kinases are
      sufficient for ISR and that there are no additional eIF2alpha kinases in
      vertebrates.

PMID- 27633672
TI  - The NF-kappaB pathway participates in the response to sulfide stress in Urechis
      unicinctus.
AB  - The NF-kappaB pathway is known to be involved in regulating apoptosis,
      inflammation and immunity in organisms. In this study, we first identified full
      length cDNA sequences of two key molecules in the NF-kappaB pathway, namely, NEMO
      and p65, and characterized their responses in the hindgut of Urechis unicinctus
      (Echiura, Urechidae) exposed to sulfide. The full-length of cDNA was 2491 bp for
      U. unicinctus NEMO (UuNEMO) and 1971 bp for U. unicinctus p65 (Uup65), and both
      polyclonal antibodies were prepared using UuNEMO or Uup65 expressed
      prokaryotically with the sequence of their whole open reading frame.
      Immunoprecipitation and Western blotting showed that the NF-kappaB pathway was
      activated in U. unicinctus exposed to sulfide, in which the content of UuNEMO
      ubiquitination and nuclear Uup65 increased significantly (p < 0.05) in hindgut
      tissue of U. unicinctus exposed to sulfide. Furthermore, the mRNA level of UuBcl
      xL, a downstream anti-apoptosis gene of the NF-kappaB pathway, increased
      significantly (p < 0.05) from 48 h to 72 h and the mRNA level of UuBax, a Bcl-xL
      antagonist gene, decreased significantly (p < 0.05) at 48 h in the hindgut of U.
      unicinctus exposed to 50 MUM sulfide. During the 150 MUM sulfide exposure, the
      level of UuBcl-xL showed no obvious change, whereas the UuBax mRNA level
      increased significantly (p < 0.05) at 72 h post-exposure to 150 MUM sulfide. We
      suggested that the activated NF-kappaB pathway up-regulates UuBcl-xL expression,
      and evokes an anti-apoptotic response to resist sulfide damage at 50 MUM in U.
      unicinctus. Meanwhile, a Bax-mediated pro-apoptotic response occurs when U.
      unicinctus is exposed to 150 MUM sulfide.

PMID- 27633670
TI  - Identification and expression analysis of toll-like receptor genes (TLR8 and
      TLR9) in mucosal tissues of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.) following bacterial
      challenge.
AB  - Mucosal immune system is one of the most important components in the innate
      immunity and constitutes the front line of host defense against infection,
      especially for teleost, which are living in the pathogen-rich aquatic
      environment. The pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs), which can recognize the
      conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) of bacteria, are
      considered as one of the most important component for pathogen recognition and
      immune signaling pathways activation in mucosal immunity. In this regard, we
      sought to identify TLR8 and TLR9 in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), as well as
      their mucosal expression patterns following different bacterial infection in
      mucosal tissues for the first time. The full-length TLR8 transcript consists of
      an open reading frame (ORF) of 3108 bp encoding the putative peptide of 1035
      amino acids. While the TLR9 was 6730 bp long, containing a 3168 bp ORF that
      encodes 1055 amino acids. The phylogenetic analysis revealed both TLR8 and TLR9
      showed the closest relationship to large yellow croaker. Moreover, both TLR8 and
      TLR9 could be detected in all examined healthy turbot tissues, with the lowest
      expression level in liver and a relatively moderate expression pattern in healthy
      mucosal tissues. Distinct expression patterns of TLR8 and TLR9 were comparatively
      observed in the mucosal tissues (intestine, gill and skin) following Vibrio
      anguillarum and Streptococcus iniae infection, suggesting their different roles
      for mucosal immunity. Further functional studies are needed to better
      characterize TLR8 and TLR9 and their family members, to better understand the
      ligand specificity and to identify their roles in different mucosal tissues in
      protecting fish from the pathogenically hostile environment.

PMID- 27633671
TI  - Insight into the heat resistance of fish via blood: Effects of heat stress on
      metabolism, oxidative stress and antioxidant response of olive flounder
      Paralichthys olivaceus and turbot Scophthalmus maximus.
AB  - High temperature has direct confinement on fish survival and growth, especially
      under the background of global warming. Selection of fish line with heat
      resistance is an important means to address this problem. In the present study,
      we analyzed the difference in heat resistance between families of olive flounder
      Paralichthys olivaceus and turbot Scophthalmus maximus, two flatfish species
      occupying slightly different thermal niches. Then the chosen families were tested
      to determine their differential response to heat stress (DeltaT = +8  degrees C
      and +12  degrees C) in blood, including anaerobic metabolism (lactate), oxidative
      stress (lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation) and antioxidant enzymes.
      Results showed a difference in heat resistance between families of the two
      species. Among the chosen parameters, growth traits had a significant effect on
      contents of lactate and malondialdehyd (MDA), and activities of catalase (CAT)
      and glutathione S-transferase in flounder (P < 0.05), and on MDA content and CAT
      activity in turbot (P < 0.05). In comparison with heat-sensitive family of each
      species, levels of all studied parameters were lower and more stable in heat
      resistant families after heat stress. What's more, heat resistance of fish
      significantly influenced contents of lactate and MDA and activity of CAT in
      flounder (P < 0.05), as well as contents of lactate, MDA and carbonyl and
      activity of superoxide dismutate (SOD) in turbot (P < 0.05). These results
      demonstrated that such physiological phenotypes as anaerobic metabolism,
      oxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes are good biomarkers of fish heat
      resistance, being potentially valuable in fish breeding. However, these markers
      should be applied with more caution when there is a growth discrepancy between
      fish families.

PMID- 27633673
TI  - Identification of a novel class B scavenger receptor homologue in Portunus
      trituberculatus: Molecular cloning and microbial ligand binding.
AB  - Class B scavenger receptors (SRBs), which are present in mammals and insects,
      have been implicated in a wide range of functions. Herein, a novel SRB homologue,
      PtSRB, was cloned from the swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus. PtSRB has 538
      amino acid residues, and it consists of two transmembrane regions, a large
      extracellular loop, and two intracellular tails. A phylogenetic analysis showed
      that PtSRB distinctly clustered with Marsupenaeus japonicas SRB-1 and most
      Drosophila SRB homologues, including Croquemort, Peste, NinaD, and Santa Maria,
      but was separate from the Drosophila sensory neuron membrane protein, MjSRB-2,
      and all vertebrate SRBs. Real-time quantitative PCR analyses showed that the
      PtSRB gene was constitutively expressed in all tissues tested. When PtSRB was
      overexpressed in human embryonic kidney 293T cells, it was distributed in the
      membrane and cytoplasm. Moreover, in vitro assays showed that rPtSRB bound
      microbial lipopolysaccharide with low affinity, and lipoteichoic acid and
      peptidoglycan with high affinity. PtSRB transcripts were down-regulated after
      challenge with Vibrio alginolyticus or white spot syndrome virus, but not after a
      Candida lusitaniae challenge. This study provides valuable data for understanding
      the role of SRBs in the host defense against microbial pathogens, which will
      facilitate future studies of host-pathogen interactions in crabs.

PMID- 27633675
TI  - Estrogen regulation of gene expression in the teleost fish immune system.
AB  - Elucidating the mechanisms of estrogens-induced immunomodulation in teleost fish
      is of great importance due to the observed worldwide continuing decrease in
      pristine environments. However, little is know about the immunotoxicological
      consequences of exposure to these chemicals in fish, or of the mechanisms through
      which these effects are mediated. In this review, we summarize the results
      showing estrogens (natural or synthetic) acting through estrogen receptors and
      regulating specific target genes, also through microRNAs (miRNAs), leading to
      modulation of the immune functioning. The identification and characterization of
      miRNAs will provide new opportunities for functional genome research on teleost
      immune system and can also be useful when screening for novel molecule biomarkers
      for environmental pollution.

PMID- 27633674
TI  - Antiviral function of Tachyplesin I against iridovirus and nodavirus.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are ubiquitously found in living organisms and are
      an important component in innate immune response. Tachyplesin I is a potent
      antimicrobial peptide isolated from the hemocytes of the horseshoe crab,
      Tachypleus tridentatus. Previous studies have shown that the 17-residue peptide
      exhibits a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram
      positive bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. However, the efficiencies and
      defense mechanisms of the Tachyplesin I against fish viruses are still unknown.
      In this study, Tachyplesin I showed a key role in inhibiting the infection and
      replication of two kinds of newly emerging marine fish viruses, an enveloped DNA
      virus of Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV), and a non-enveloped RNA virus of
      viral nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV). Synthetic peptides of Tachyplesin I
      incubated with virus or cells before infection reduced the viral infectivity.
      Synthetic peptides of Tachyplesin I drastically decreased SGIV and RGNNV titers
      and viral gene expression. Grouper spleen (GS) and brain (GB) cells over
      expressing Tachyplesin I (GS/pcDNA3.1-flag-Tac I and GB/pcDNA3.1-flag-Tac I)
      support the inhibition of viral infection. Tachyplesin I activated type I IFN and
      Interferon-sensitive response element (ISRE) in vitro. The promoter activity of
      IFN-beta and ISRE were significantly up-regulated in cells transfected with
      pcDNA3.1-flag-Tac I after infection with SGIV and VNNV. These results suggest
      that Tachyplesin I is importantly involved in host immune responses to invasion
      of viral pathogens.

PMID- 27633676
TI  - Hsp70 gene expansions in the scallop Patinopecten yessoensis and their expression
      regulation after exposure to the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella.
AB  - Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70s) family members are present in virtually all living
      organisms and perform a fundamental role against different types of environmental
      stressors and pathogenic organisms. Marine bivalves live in highly dynamic
      environments and may accumulate paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), a class of
      well-known neurotoxins closely associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs). Here,
      we provide a systematic analysis of Hsp70 genes (PyHsp70s) in the genome of Yesso
      scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis), an important aquaculture species in China,
      through in silico analysis using transcriptome and genome databases. Phylogenetic
      analyses indicated extensive expansion of Hsp70 genes from the Hspa12 sub-family
      in the Yesso scallop and also the bivalve lineages, with gene duplication events
      before or after the split between the Yesso scallop and the Pacific oyster. In
      addition, we determined the expression patterns of PyHsp70s after exposure to
      Alexandrium catenella, the dinoflagellate producing PSTs. Our results confirmed
      the inducible expression patterns of PyHsp70s under PSTs stress, and the
      responses to the toxic stress may have arisen through the adaptive recruitment of
      tandem duplication of Hsp70 genes. These findings provide a thorough overview of
      the evolution and modification of the Hsp70 family, which will gain insights into
      the functional characteristics of scallop Hsp70 genes in response to different
      stresses.

PMID- 27633677
TI  - Effects of local Polynesian plants and algae on growth and expression of two
      immune-related genes in orbicular batfish (Platax orbicularis).
AB  - The emerging orbicular batfish (Platax orbicularis) aquaculture is the most
      important fish aquaculture industry in French Polynesia. However, bacterial
      infections are causing severe mortality episodes. Therefore, there is an urgent
      need to find an effective management solution. Besides the supplying difficulty
      and high costs of veterinary drugs in French Polynesia, batfish aquaculture takes
      place close to the coral reef, where use of synthetic persistent drugs should be
      restricted. Medicinal plants and bioactive algae are emerging as a cheaper and
      more sustainable alternative to chemical drugs. We have studied the effect of
      local Polynesian plants and the local opportunistic algae Asparagopsis taxiformis
      on batfish when orally administered. Weight gain and expression of two immune
      related genes (lysozyme g - Lys G and transforming growth factor beta - TGF
      beta1) were studied to analyze immunostimulant activity of plants on P.
      orbicularis. Results showed that several plants increased Lys G and TGF-beta1
      expression on orbicular batfish after 2 and 3 weeks of oral administration. A.
      taxiformis was the plant displaying the most promising results, promoting a
      weight gain of 24% after 3 weeks of oral administration and significantly
      increasing the relative amount of both Lys G and TGF-beta1 transcripts in kidney
      and spleen of P. orbicularis.

PMID- 27633678
TI  - CgA1AR-1 acts as an alpha-1 adrenergic receptor in oyster Crassostrea gigas
      mediating both cellular and humoral immune response.
AB  - We have now cloned an alpha-1 adrenergic receptor (A1AR) from the cDNA library of
      oyster Crassostrea gigas, designating as CgA1AR-1. The full length of CgA1AR-1
      was 1149 bp and it encodes a protein of 382 amino acids containing a 7
      transmembrane domain, whose putative topology was similar to the A1ARs in higher
      organisms and shared similarity of 19% with mammalian A1ARs according to the
      phylogenic analysis. After cell transfection of CgA1AR-1 into HEK293T cells and
      the incubation with its specific agonist norepinephrine (NE), the concentration
      of second messenger Ca2+ increased significantly (p < 0.05). But, this increasing
      of Ca2+ could be inhibited by adding A1AR antagonist DOX. Tissue distribution
      assays using qRT-PCR suggested that CgA1AR-1 mRNA was ubiquitously expressed in
      all the major tissues of oyster. LPS stimulation could induce the up-regulation
      of CgA1AR-1 mRNA in haemocytes from 12 h to 24 h post stimulation. Moreover, the
      blocking of CgA1AR-1 by DOX before LPS stimulation affected the mRNA expression
      of oyster TNF (CGI_10005109 and CGI_10006440) in haemocytes, resulting in the
      rise of haemocyte phagocytic rate and apoptosis index. In addition to cellular
      immunity, CgA1AR-1 was also involved in humoral immunity of oyster. Inhibition of
      CgA1AR-1 with DOX could repress the up-regulation of LZY and SOD activities
      caused by LPS stimulation. These results suggested that CgA1AR-1 acted as an
      alpha-1 adrenergic receptor in cetacholaminergic neuroendocrine-immune network
      mediating both cellular and humoral immune response.

PMID- 27633679
TI  - Morphological and functional development of the interbranchial lymphoid tissue
      (ILT) in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L).
AB  - The interbranchial lymphoid tissue (ILT) of Atlantic salmon originates from an
      embryological location that in higher vertebrates gives rise to both primary and
      secondary lymphoid tissues. Still much is unknown about the morphological and
      functional development of the ILT. In the present work a standardized method of
      organ volume determination was established to study its development in relation
      to its containing gill and the thymus. Based on morphological findings and gene
      transcription data, the ILT shows no signs of primary lymphoid function. In
      contrast to the thymus, an ILT-complex first became discernible after the yolk
      sac period. After its appearance, the ILT-complex constitutes 3-7% of the total
      volume of the gill (excluding the gill arch) with the newly described distal ILT
      constituting a major part, and in adult fish it is approximately 13 times larger
      than the thymus. Confined regions of T-cell proliferation are present within the
      ILT. Communication with systemic circulation through the distal ILT is also
      highly plausible thus offering both internal and external recruitment of immune
      cells in the growing ILT.

PMID- 27633680
TI  - Polysaccharides from marine macroalga, Padina gymnospora improve the nonspecific
      and specific immune responses of Cyprinus carpio and protect it from different
      pathogens.
AB  - Immunostimulation by plant-derived compounds presents a fascinating alternative
      to vaccines and antibiotics in aquaculture. Fish farmers are longing for
      immunostimulants that activate both specific and nonspecific immune responses of
      fish and protect fishes from all possible infections. In this study, we observed
      that polysaccharide fraction from marine macroalga, Padina gymnospora stimulated
      the immune response of common carp Cyprinus carpio (Filed for patent, Indian
      patent no. 201641027311 dated:10-Aug-2016). Our results indicate that fish fed
      with polysaccharides as feed supplement improved all the immune parameters tested
      which include serum lysozyme, myeloperoxidase activities and antibody response.
      Further, polysaccharide fraction protected the fish from its common bacterial
      pathogens namely Aeromonas hydrophila and Edwardsiella tarda with relative
      percent survival (RPS) values of 80 and 60 respectively. Gene expression studies,
      indicate that the immunostimulation by P. gymnospora might be at least in part
      due to the upregulation of the cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and
      antimicrobial peptide lysozyme-C.

PMID- 27633681
TI  - Identification of a new calreticulin homolog from Yesso scallop (Patinopecten
      yessoensis) and its role in innate immunity.
AB  - Calreticulin (CRT) is a multifunctional and highly conserved Ca2+-binding protein
      shared among vertebrates and invertebrates. In this study, we cloned and
      characterized a CRT gene, PyCRT, from Yesso scallop, Patinopecten yessoensis. The
      full-length cDNA of PyCRT was 1830 bp, including a 1242 bp open reading frame
      (ORF), a 29 bp 5'-untranslated region and a 559 bp 3'-untranslated region. PyCRT
      was consisted of three distinct structural and functional domains (N-, P- and C
      domains), a signal peptide and an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retrieval signal
      sequence (HDEL). Tissue specific expression analysis showed that PyCRT was
      distributed widely in Yesso scallop, and was highly expressed in the mantle and
      hemocytes. After Vibrio anguillarum challenge, the expression of PyCRT in
      hemocytes had a significant increase and reached the maximum level at 12 h post
      infection. We also demonstrated for the first time in mollusc that the
      recombinant PyCRT (rPyCRT) could bind to the Gram-negative bacterium V.
      anguillarum, Escherichia coli and the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus
      aureus. Our results suggested that the CRT gene from Yesso scallop possessed
      immune-related regulatory functions in the innate immune system in scallops.

PMID- 27633682
TI  - Molecular characterization and evolution analysis of five interleukin-17 receptor
      genes in large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea.
AB  - Interleukin-17s (IL-17s) play critical roles in inflammatory response and host
      defense against extracellular pathogens. IL-17s induce the immune response
      signaling through the specific IL-17 receptors (IL-17Rs) that consist of five
      members (IL-17RA to E). In the present work, we have identified the five IL-17R
      orthologs (LycIL-17Rs) from large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea. The deduced
      protein of each LycIL-17R exhibits a typical IL-17R domain architecture,
      including a signal peptide, the extracellular FNIII domain (IL-17RA/RB/RD) or IL
      17_R_N domain (IL-17RC/RE), a transmembrane domain, and a SEFIR domain in
      cytoplasmic region. In particular, the extracellular regions of teleost IL-17RB
      are much shorter than those in mammals and lack an FNIII domain (FN2).
      Phylogenetic tree shows that IL-17Rs are classified into two main groups: IL
      17RA/RB/RD group and IL-17RC/RE group, which is distinct from previous proposal
      that grouped IL-17RB into IL-17RC/RE. The surrounding genes of IL-17Rs are
      conservatively aligned in genomes between teleosts and mammals. The five LycIL
      17Rs were constitutively expressed in all tissues examined, but with different
      expression patterns. Aeromonas hydrophila infection significantly upregulated
      LycIL-17RA, RC, RD and RE in both mucosal tissue (gills) and systemic immune
      tissues (head kidney and spleen), while the increase of LycIL-17RB expression
      could be detected in gills, indicating that LycIL-17Rs may be involved in host
      defense against bacterial infection. Thus, these results suggest that teleost IL
      17Rs may function in mediating immune response as their mammalian orthologs. To
      our knowledge, this is the first report of molecular characterization of the five
      IL-17Rs (IL-17RA/RB/RD and IL-17RC/RE) in teleost fish.

PMID- 27633683
TI  - Effect of high temperature on immune response of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon
      idellus) by transcriptome analysis.
AB  - Exposure to high temperature is an inherent feature of grass carp culture in
      southern China and juvenile grass carps are predisposed to infectious disease in
      this condition. To understand how high temperature impacts the immune response to
      pathogens in grass carp, the transcriptomic profiles of the spleens from immune
      injected grass carp groups undergoing heat stress and normal temperature were
      investigated. An average of 72 million clean reads per library was obtained, and
      approximate 80% of these genes were successfully mapped to the reference genome.
      A total of 2287 up-regulated and 1068 down-regulated genes were identified. 10
      immune-related categories involving 90 differently expressed genes were
      scrutinized. Expression patterns of 18 differentially expressed genes involving
      in immune response were validated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. These results
      provide further significant insights into the influence mechanism of high
      temperature to immune response in grass carp.

PMID- 27633684
TI  - Peptide Therapeutics and the Pharmaceutical Industry: Barriers Encountered
      Translating from the Laboratory to Patients.
AB  - Peptides are receiving increasing interest as clinical therapeutics. These highly
      tunable molecules can be tailored to achieve desirable biocompatibility and
      biodegradability with simultaneously selective and potent therapeutic effects.
      Despite challenges regarding up-scaling and licensing of peptide products, their
      vast clinical potential is reflected in the 60 plus peptide-based therapeutics
      already on the market, and the further 500 derivatives currently in developmental
      stages. Peptides are proving effective for a multitude of disease states
      including: type 2 diabetes (controlled using the licensed glucagon-like peptide-1
      receptor liraglutide); irritable bowel syndrome managed with linaclotide
      (currently at approval stages); acromegaly (treated with octapeptide somatostatin
      analogues lanreotide and octreotide); selective or broad spectrum microbicidal
      agents such as the Gram-positive selective PTP-7 and antifungal heliomicin;
      anticancer agents including goserelin used as either adjuvant or monotherapy for
      prostate and breast cancer, and the first marketed peptide derived vaccine
      against prostate cancer, sipuleucel-T. Research is also focusing on improving the
      biostability of peptides. This is achieved through a number of mechanisms ranging
      from replacement of naturally occurring L-amino acid enantiomers with D-amino
      acid forms, lipidation, peptidomimetics, N-methylation, cyclization and
      exploitation of carrier systems. The development of self-assembling peptides are
      paving the way for sustained release peptide formulations and already two such
      licensed examples exist, lanreotide and octreotide. The versatility and
      tunability of peptide-based products is resulting in increased translation of
      peptide therapies, however significant challenges remain with regard to their
      wider implementation. This review highlights some of the notable peptide
      therapeutics discovered to date and the difficulties encountered by the
      pharmaceutical industry in translating these molecules to the clinical setting
      for patient benefit, providing some possible solutions to the most challenging
      barriers.

PMID- 27633686
TI  - Removal of six pesticide residues in cowpea with alkaline electrolysed water.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reduction of six pesticide residues (isoprocarb, chlorpyrifos,
      bifenthrin, beta-cypermethrin, difenoconazole and azoxystrobin) in cowpea by
      alkaline electrolysed water (AlEW) solutions with different pH was investigated.
      The commonly used washing treatments in household processing were used for
      comparison. RESULTS: The residue magnitudes were determined by gas chromatography
      coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Results showed that the removal
      effect of AlEW solution on the six pesticides was superior to tap water, 5%
      sodium chloride, 5% sodium carbonate and 5% acetic acid solution. AlEW with pH
      12.2 had more potential to eliminate the six pesticides in cowpeas. Moreover, the
      reduction of pesticide residues gradually increased with the increase of washing
      time. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that AlEW solution with pH of 12.2
      could be used to reduce pesticide residues on fresh cowpea samples. (c) 2016
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27633685
TI  - The Antidiabetic Potential of Quercetin: Underlying Mechanisms.
AB  - The dramatic increase in modern lifestyle diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular
      diseases and diabetes has renewed researchers' interest to explore nature as a
      source of novel therapeutic agents. Flavonoids are a large group of polyphenols
      that are widely present in the human diet. They have shown promising therapeutic
      activities against a wide variety of ailments. One of the most widely distributed
      and most extensively studied flavonoid is the flavonol quercetin. Its powerful
      antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities are well documented and are thought
      to play a role in treating and protecting against diseases including diabetes,
      cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this review
      is to shed light on quercetin therapeutic potential as an antidiabetic agent.
      Quercetin was reported to interact with many molecular targets in small
      intestine, pancreas, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue and liver to control whole
      body glucose homeostasis. Mechanisms of action of quercetin are pleiotropic and
      involve the inhibition of intestinal glucose absorption, insulin secretory and
      insulin-sensitizing activities as well as improved glucose utilization in
      peripheral tissues. Initial studies suggested poor bioavailability of quercetin.
      However, recent reports have shown that quercetin was detected in the plasma
      after food or supplements consumption and has a long half-life in human body.
      Despite the wealth of in vitro and in vivo results supporting the antidiabetic
      potential of quercetin, its efficacy in diabetic human subjects is yet to be
      explored.

PMID- 27633687
TI  - An analysis of deep vein thrombosis in burn patients (part II): A randomized and
      controlled study of thrombo-prophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Morbidity and mortality from venous thrombo-embolism (VTE) remains
      a significant problem for trauma and medical patients and there are established
      guidelines for prophylaxis in these patients. However, the efficacy and safety of
      VTE prophylaxis in thermally injured patients continue to be elusive as it has
      never been studied in a prospective, randomized fashion. Selective use of VTE
      prophylaxis, for high risk patients, is practiced by some burn units even if
      objective evidence is lacking for majority of risk factors enunciated in burn
      patients. Differing demographics and wound management techniques are other
      confounding factors mandating more prospective studies to evaluate the need and
      role of chemoprophylaxis for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention in burn
      patients. Ours is the first prospective, randomized, controlled study which seeks
      to identify risk factors for DVT in our patients, and evaluate the role of
      routine chemoprophylaxis and its complications. METHODS: The study design (sample
      size, inclusion/exclusion criteria, randomization, methodology and statistical
      methods) is detailed in part-1 of this two part manuscript. RESULTS: Doppler
      ultrasound (DUS) identified DVT in four out of 50 patients (8% incidence) forming
      the control group. DVT was not detected in any of the patients on prophylaxis (0%
      incidence). This difference was found to be statistically significant (p value
      0.021). Patients with DVT had significantly higher %TBSA, prolonged immobility
      and a longer duration of stay as compared to patients without DVT in the control
      group. Only one patient on enoxaparin prophylaxis developed mild epistaxis which
      resolved spontaneously. Fifteen patients died during the study out of which two
      had DVT but none showed autopsy evidence of pulmonary embolism. CONCLUSION: With
      a moderate risk of developing DVT (8%) and a complication rate of only 2% with
      chemoprophylaxis, we feel that routine prophylaxis has the potential to decrease
      the incidence of VTE, without associated complications, in the moderate to high
      risk category.

PMID- 27633688
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633689
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633690
TI  - [An overview of osteoarthritis in 2016].
AB  - For the most part aged over 50, people affected with osteoarthritis frequently
      present associated comorbidities. Debilitating and detrimental in terms of
      quality of life and fitness to work, osteoarthritis is becoming a public health
      issue which must be considered in terms of prevention, management and research.

PMID- 27633691
TI  - [Towards real recognition of osteoarthritis].
AB  - Osteoarthritis suffers from a low profile among society and public authorities.
      However, the impact of this disease on the daily lives of those affected is
      considerable. Work remains to be done to ensure greater recognition of the
      disease and improve patient management. The osteoarthritis forum, which ran from
      September 2014 to June 2015, put forward proposals brought together in a white
      paper on osteoarthritis. Mobilisation is underway.

PMID- 27633692
TI  - [Osteoarthritis and fitness to work, a delicate balance to maintain].
AB  - Osteoarthritis, in most cases, is not caused by one's occupation. However, its
      presence and its consequences can limit the fitness to work of the people
      concerned. Nurses practising in occupational health support employees and help to
      develop occupational health policies to prevent the consequences of the risk of
      unfitness following the deterioration in an employee's health.

PMID- 27633693
TI  - [Therapeutic approaches to gonarthrosis].
AB  - Often linked to sequelae of a knee injury or knee deformities, gonarthrosis is
      the most frequent form of osteoarthritis of the limbs. A variety of methods and
      therapies can be used to treat it. For advanced conditions, treatment may involve
      partial or total replacement.

PMID- 27633695
TI  - [Spa therapies, therapeutic education and osteoarthritis].
AB  - For people with osteoarthritis, spa therapies can provide care, education and
      prevention resources. The therapeutic education programme Educ'arthrose,
      currently being examined by a French Regional Health Agency, mobilises nurses.

PMID- 27633694
TI  - [Osteoarthritis and patient therapeutic education, learning to move more].
AB  - As part of the prevention strategies offered to people with osteoarthritis,
      therapeutic education plays a key role. It seeks to help the patient become a
      player in their own care and focuses in particular on the factors influencing
      regular participation in suitable physical activity.

PMID- 27633696
TI  - ["The pain must not be taken lightly"].
AB  - Michele D. is aged 70 and has been suffering from osteoarthritis for many years.
      She describes her journey.

PMID- 27633697
TI  - [A nurse motivated by the pleasure of sharing].
AB  - Aurore Wonje began training as a nurse at the age of 40. A health manager for the
      last nine years, she works in psychiatry where she draws satisfaction from
      leading a team and passing on her knowledge through training.

PMID- 27633698
TI  - [A telemedicine consultation in the framework of a wound and wound healing
      network].
AB  - I: n Languedoc-Roussillon, the Domoplaies telemedicine project provides support
      to nurses experiencing difficulties with the treatment of a wound at home or in a
      health institute. Thanks to new communication and information technologies,
      doctors and nurses with expertise in wounds and wound healing can offer
      individualised care management.

PMID- 27633699
TI  - [The health of migrants at the Greece-Macedonia border].
AB  - At the border between Greece and Macedonia, a transit camp for refugees is
      turning into a permanent camp. The management of the health emergency is assured
      by international teams from several humanitarian organisations, including the
      French Red Cross. The organisation of the care team, the cultural differences and
      the lack of resources are just some of the factors to be considered.

PMID- 27633700
TI  - [Responsibility, compassion and ethics].
AB  - The concepts of responsibility and compassion are fundamental in ethics. These
      notions help to safeguard humaneness, especially in the field of health care and
      notably in palliative care. These concepts can be put into practice by caregivers
      and applied to daily practice.

PMID- 27633701
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633702
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633703
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633705
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633704
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27633706
TI  - Real-Time Intraoperative MRI Intracerebral Delivery of Induced Pluripotent Stem
      Cell-Derived Neurons.
AB  - Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons represent an opportunity for
      cell replacement strategies for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's
      disease (PD). Improvement in cell graft targeting, distribution, and density can
      be key for disease modification. We have previously developed a trajectory guide
      system for real-time intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (RT-IMRI) delivery
      of infusates, such as viral vector suspensions for gene therapy strategies.
      Intracerebral delivery of iPSC-derived neurons presents different challenges than
      viral vectors, including limited cell survival if cells are kept at room
      temperature for prolonged periods of time, precipitation and aggregation of cells
      in the cannula, and obstruction during injection, which must be solved for
      successful application of this delivery approach. To develop procedures suitable
      for RT-IMRI cell delivery, we first performed in vitro studies to tailor the
      delivery hardware (e.g., cannula) and defined a range of parameters to be applied
      (e.g., maximal time span allowable between cell loading in the system and
      intracerebral injection) to ensure cell survival. Then we performed an in vivo
      study to evaluate the feasibility of applying the system to nonhuman primates.
      Our results demonstrate that the RT-IMRI delivery system provides valuable
      guidance, monitoring, and visualization during intracerebral cell delivery that
      are compatible with cell survival.

PMID- 27633707
TI  - Human periodontal ligament stem cells cultured onto cortico-cancellous scaffold
      drive bone regenerative process.
AB  - The purpose of this work was to test, in vitro and in vivo, a new tissue
      engineered construct constituted by porcine cortico-cancellous scaffold
      (Osteobiol Dual Block) (DB) and xeno-free ex vivo culture of human Periodontal
      Ligament Stem Cells (hPDLSCs). hPDLSCs cultured in xeno-free media formulation
      preserved the stem cells' morphological features, the expression of stemness and
      pluripotency markers, and their ability to differentiate into mesenchymal
      lineage. Transmission electron microscopy analysis suggested that after one week
      of culture, both noninduced and osteogenic differentiation induced cells joined
      and grew on DB secreting extracellular matrix (ECM) that in osteogenic induced
      samples was hierarchically assembled in fibrils. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR)
      showed the upregulation of key genes involved in the bone differentiation pathway
      in both differentiated and undifferentiated hPDLSCs cultured with DB
      (hPDLSCs/DB). Functional studies revealed a significant increased response of
      calcium transients in the presence of DB, both in undifferentiated and
      differentiated cells stimulated with calcitonin and parathormone, suggesting that
      the biomaterial could drive the osteogenic differentiation process of hPDLSCs.
      These data were confirmed by the increase of gene expression of L-type voltage
      dependent Ca2+ (VDCCL), subunits alpha1C and alpha2D1 in undifferentiated cells
      in the presence of DB. In vivo implantation of the hPDLSCs/DB living construct in
      the mouse calvaria evidenced a precocious osteointegration and vascularisation
      process. Our results suggest consideration of DB as a biocompatible,
      osteoinductive and osteoconductive biomaterial, making it a promising tool to
      regulate cell activities in biological environments and for a potential use in
      the development of new custom-made tissue engineering.

PMID- 27633708
TI  - Necrotizing Fasciitis of the Breast Requiring Emergent Radical Mastectomy.
AB  - Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare, aggressive, soft-tissue infection that results
      in necrosis of skin, subcutaneous tissue, and fascia. It spreads rapidly and may
      progress to sepsis, multi-organ failure, and death. Predisposing conditions
      include diabetes, chronic alcoholism, advanced age, vascular disease, and
      immunosuppression and many cases are preceded by an injury or invasive procedure.
      Necrotizing soft-tissue infection of the breast is uncommon, with only a few
      reported cases in the literature. We present a 53-year-old diabetic woman who
      presented to the emergency room with several weeks of worsening breast and
      shoulder pain, swelling, and erythema. Upon formal evaluation by the surgical
      service, a necrotizing soft-tissue infection was suspected, and the patient was
      scheduled for emergent, surgical debridement. Because of the aggressive nature
      and high mortality of this disease, immediate surgical intervention, coupled with
      antibiotic therapy and physiologic support, is necessary to prevent complications
      and death.

PMID- 27633709
TI  - Ectopic implantation of an avulsed scalp with a tissue expander on a forearm for
      combined total scalp avulsion and spine injuries: A case report.
AB  - Total scalp avulsion with severe cervical spine injury is a contraindication for
      emergency replantation of the scalp to its anatomical site. We describe a case
      involving the ectopic implantation of an avulsed scalp on the forearm. A 41-year
      old woman presented with severe total scalp avulsion and tears in the
      intervertebral discs at the C4/5 and C5/6 levels. The avulsed scalp was
      ectopically implanted on the left forearm with a tissue expander to provide
      support. Two-stage replantation of the scalp at its anatomical site was performed
      19 and 40 days later. Replantation was successful, and the avulsed tissue
      exhibited excellent viability. In conclusion, this case shows that the ectopic
      implantation of the avulsed scalp on the forearm may be an option for total scalp
      avulsion with cervical spine injury.

PMID- 27633710
TI  - A genuine article: Intersectionality, Black lesbian gender expression, and the
      feminist pedagogical project.
AB  - This article examines gender expression as central to the pedagogical projects of
      Black lesbian feminist pedagogues teaching interdisciplinary material related to
      race, gender, and sexuality. Participants discuss the ways in which their own
      masculinity, femme identity, and gendered performances influence instructive
      practices in the classroom and collegiality on campus. Being a "genuine article"
      of intersectionality theory plays a role in creative applications of the body as
      text and the institutional impediments to education as the practice of freedom
      for pedagogues whose marginalized gender, racial, sexual, and political
      identities closely align with their subject matter and influence campus roles and
      relationships.

PMID- 27633711
TI  - Paper-Based Bipolar Electrode Electrochemiluminescence Switch for Label-Free and
      Sensitive Genetic Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria.
AB  - Genetic analysis is of great importance for the detection of pathogenic bacteria.
      Bacterial identification must become simpler, less expensive, and more rapid than
      the traditional methods. In this study, a low-cost, label-free, and wireless
      paper-based bipolar electrode electrochemiluminescence (pBPE-ECL) analysis system
      was constructed for the rapid and sensitive genetic detection of pathogenic
      bacteria. Wax-screen printing was used to form hydrophilic channels on filter
      paper, and a carbon ink-based bipolar electrode and driving electrodes were
      screen-printed into the channels. The "light-switch" molecule [Ru(phen)2dppz]2+
      (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; dppz = dipyridophenazine) was used to intercalate
      into the base pairs of the double-stranded DNA PCR amplification products, and
      the complexs were then applied to the paper-based bipolar electrode to perform
      the ECL assays; the ECL of [Ru(phen)2dppz]2+ is quenched in aqueous solution, but
      this molecule displays intense ECL when intercalated into double-stranded DNA.
      Under optimized experimental conditions, as little as 10 copies/MUL of the
      genomic DNA of Listeria monocytogenes could be detected. Additionally, the system
      could also specifically distinguish Listeria monocytogenes from Salmonella,
      Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Staphylococcus aureus. This label-free, simple, and
      rapid method has potential in point-of-care applications for pathogen detection.

PMID- 27633712
TI  - Efficient hydrogen evolution by ternary molybdenum sulfoselenide particles on
      self-standing porous nickel diselenide foam.
AB  - With the massive consumption of fossil fuels and its detrimental impact on the
      environment, methods of generating clean power are urgent. Hydrogen is an ideal
      carrier for renewable energy; however, hydrogen generation is inefficient because
      of the lack of robust catalysts that are substantially cheaper than platinum.
      Therefore, robust and durable earth-abundant and cost-effective catalysts are
      desirable for hydrogen generation from water splitting via hydrogen evolution
      reaction. Here we report an active and durable earth-abundant transition metal
      dichalcogenide-based hybrid catalyst that exhibits high hydrogen evolution
      activity approaching the state-of-the-art platinum catalysts, and superior to
      those of most transition metal dichalcogenides (molybdenum sulfide, cobalt
      diselenide and so on). Our material is fabricated by growing ternary molybdenum
      sulfoselenide particles on self-standing porous nickel diselenide foam. This
      advance provides a different pathway to design cheap, efficient and sizable
      hydrogen-evolving electrode by simultaneously tuning the number of catalytic edge
      sites, porosity, heteroatom doping and electrical conductivity.

PMID- 27633714
TI  - A Chemoenzymatic Strategy for Imaging Cellular Phosphatidic Acid Synthesis.
AB  - Phosphatidic acid (PA) is a potent lipid secondary messenger, the synthesis of
      which is tightly regulated in both space and time. Established tools for
      detecting PA involve ex vivo analysis and do not provide information on the
      subcellular locations where this lipid is synthesized. Here, a chemoenzymatic
      strategy for imaging sites of cellular PA synthesis by phospholipase D (PLD)
      enzymes is reported. PLDs were found to be able to catalyze phospholipid head
      group exchange with alkynols to generate alkyne-labeled PA analogues within
      cells. Subsequent fluorophore tagging through Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne
      cycloaddition enabled both visualization by fluorescence microscopy and
      quantification by HPLC. Our studies revealed several intracellular sites of PLD
      mediated PA synthesis. We envision applications of this approach to dissect PA
      dependent signaling pathways, image PLD activity in disease, and remodel
      intracellular membranes with new functionality.

PMID- 27633713
TI  - RYP1 gene as a target for molecular diagnosis of histoplasmosis.
AB  - This study analyzed the RYP1 gene as a target for the molecular diagnosis of
      histoplasmosis. This assay detected fungal DNA in 13/13 blood samples from
      HIV/AIDS-patients with histoplasmosis. Therefore, the detection of RYP1 gene in
      whole blood sample is a quick and sensitive test to diagnose histoplasmosis.

PMID- 27633715
TI  - An analysis of early-stage IL-2 capture times in populations of T cells
      diffusively interacting in a confined environment.
AB  - This numerical analysis examines early-stage Interlukin-2 (IL-2) capture in large
      populations of secreting T helper (Th) and absorbing T regulatory (Treg) cells in
      an attempt to provide rational guidelines for when diffusive interactions can
      affect the Th autocrine cycle, as reflected in capture times. Autocrine and
      paracrine capture is calculated over a wide range of conditions: the mix of cells
      in a population; cell size and spacing; antigen activated IL-2 secretion and Th
      receptor expression rates; receptor dissociation constant; and number of resting
      Treg receptors. Correlations for quickly estimating IL-2 capture over these
      conditions are provided. This study suggests that a typical Treg can scavenge a
      significant amount of IL-2 without affecting autocrine capture by the Th. As a
      result, Treg influence on autocrine capture is shorter-ranged than previously
      reported. It is conjectured that high early-stage paracrine relative to autocrine
      capture leads to faster receptor enhancement for a Treg than a Th. The resulting
      enhancement time gap is considerably longer and, thus, diffusive suppression more
      likely, for a weakly- as opposed to strongly-activated Th. The methodology can be
      extended to later-stage capture to confirm this conjecture and to diffusive
      interactions in other cell-type populations.

PMID- 27633716
TI  - Adjunct to Embolize the High-Flow Fistula Part of Arteriovenous Malformation
      Using a Double-Lumen Balloon Catheter.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to report our initial experience of Onyx
      embolization of the high-flow fistula part of arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
      using a double-lumen balloon catheter. METHODS: A Scepter C balloon catheter was
      used in 2 patients with AVMs associated with high-flow fistulas. The fistulas
      were located in the anterior cerebral artery and the middle cerebral artery.
      RESULTS: Onyx embolization was successful in 2 cases, resulting in elimination of
      the high-flow fistula part of the AVM. There were no treatment-related events.
      CONCLUSIONS: The double-lumen Scepter balloon appears to be a safe and convenient
      device for Onyx embolization of high-flow fistulas.

PMID- 27633717
TI  - Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension After Surgical Treatment of Cushing Disease:
      Case Report and Review of Management Strategies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) in patients with Cushing
      disease (CD), after treatment, is rarely described, in adults. The cause is
      believed to be multifactorial, potentially related to a relative decrease in
      cortisol after surgical resection or medical treatment of a corticotroph
      pituitary adenoma. We investigate our center's CD database (140 surgically and 60
      medically [primary or adjunct] treated patients) for cases of IIH, describe our
      center's experience with symptomatic IIH, and review treatment strategies in
      adults with CD after transsphenoidal resection. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present the
      case of a 22-year-old woman who presented with worsening headache, nausea,
      vomiting, blurry vision, diplopia, visual loss, and facial numbness 14 weeks
      after surgical resection of adrenocorticotropic hormone-positive pituitary
      adenoma. Her CD had been in remission since surgery, with subsequent adrenal
      insufficiency (AI), which was initially treated with supraphysiologic
      glucocorticoid replacement, tapered down to physiologic doses at the time the IIH
      symptoms developed. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic IIH is rare in adult patients but
      can be severe and result in permanent vision loss. A high index of suspicion
      should be maintained and a fundus examination is necessary to exclude
      papilledema, whenever there are suggestive symptoms that initially may overlap
      with AI. It is possible that some cases of mild IIH are misdiagnosed as GC
      withdrawal or AI; however, further studies are needed. Treatment consists of
      reinitiation of higher steroid doses together with acetazolamide with or without
      cerebrospinal fluid diversion and the priority is to preserve vision and reverse
      any visual loss.

PMID- 27633718
TI  - A de novo mutation in the NALCN gene in an adult patient with cerebellar ataxia
      associated with intellectual disability and arthrogryposis.

PMID- 27633719
TI  - Coupling ARB-based biological and photochemical (UV/TiO2 and UV/S2O82-)
      techniques to deal with sanitary landfill leachate.
AB  - The aim of this study was to provide an alternative way to remove bio-refractory
      organics and ammonical-nitrogen from mature municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill
      leachate by combining biological and photochemical processes. To achieve this
      objective, the effectiveness of anoxic aged refuse-based bioreactor (ARB) for
      biological leachate pretreatment followed by Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs)
      by heterogeneous photocatalysis (TiO2/UV) and persulfate (S2O82-) oxidation were
      tested. The results obtained after ARB based pre-treatment demonstrated a mean
      72%, 81% and 92% degradation of COD, NH4N and TN, respectively. However, this
      treated leachate cannot be discharged without another treatment; hence, it was
      further treated by UV-mediated TiO2 photocatalysis and S2O82- oxidation. An
      average 82% of COD was abated at optimum condition (1gL-1 TiO2; pH 5) whereas,
      using an optimum 1.5gL-1 persulfate at pH 5, 81% COD reduction occurred. Acidic
      and alkaline pH favored COD and NH4N removal respectively. The results of this
      study demonstrated that coupling ARB with AOPs is potentially applicable process
      to deal with bio-recalcitrant compounds present in mature landfill leachate.

PMID- 27633720
TI  - Molecular imaging of fibrosis using a novel collagen-binding peptide labelled
      with 99mTc on SPECT/CT.
AB  - Fibrosis, closely related to chronic various diseases, is a pathological process
      characterised by the accumulation of collagen (largely collagen type I). Non
      invasive methods are necessary for the diagnosis and follow-up of fibrosis. This
      study aimed to develop a collagen-targeted probe for the molecular imaging of
      fibrosis. We identified CPKESCNLFVLKD (CBP1495) as an original collagen-binding
      peptide using isothermal titration calorimetry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay. CBP1495 effectively bound to collagen type I (K d = 861 nM) and (GPO)9 (K
      d = 633 nM), a collagen mimetic peptide. Western blot and histochemistry
      validated CBP1495 targeting collagen in vitro and ex vivo. (Gly-(D)-Ala-Gly-Gly)
      was introduced to CBP1495 for coupling 99mTc. Labelling efficiency of 99mTc
      CBP1495 was 95.06 +/- 1.08 %. The physico-chemical properties, tracer kinetics
      and biodistribution of 99mTc-CBP1495 were carried out, and showed that the
      peptide stably chelated 99mTc in vitro and in vivo. SPECT/CT imaging with 99mTc
      CBP1495 was performed in rat fibrosis models, and revealed that 99mTc-CBP1495
      significantly accumulated in fibrotic lungs or livers of rats. Finally, 99mTc
      CBP1495 uptake and hydroxyproline (Hyp), a specific amino acid of collagen, were
      quantitatively analysed. The results demonstrated that 99mTc-CBP1495 uptake was
      positvely correlated with Hyp content in lungs (P < 0.0001, r 2 = 0.8266) or
      livers (P < 0.0001, r 2 = 0.7581). Therefore, CBP1495 is a novel collagen-binding
      peptide, and 99mTc-labelled CBP1495 may be a promising radiotracer for the
      molecular imaging of fibrosis.

PMID- 27633721
TI  - Transglutaminase type 2 affects cell migration through post-translational
      modification of platelet-derived growth factor-BB.
AB  - Migration is a key cellular function with important implications in cell
      physiology. Impairment of such function is observed in angiogenesis, cancer,
      central nervous system development, and many other physiological and pathological
      events. Serum is considered among the most potent physiological chemotactic
      stimuli. Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is involved in most of the mentioned processes,
      suggesting the hypothesis that TG2 may modulate cell movement and chemotaxis by
      acting on serum factors. Cell biology and biochemistry studies confirmed this
      hypothesis, showing that human serum contains potent chemotactic signals
      significantly impaired by activated TG2. Bioinformatics studies indicated that
      one potent serum factor potential substrate of TG2-dependent transamidation is
      platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB). Cell biology and immunometric
      experiments carried out with U87MG human glioma cell line showed that human
      recombinant PDGF-BB pre-incubated with calcium-activated TG2 lost about 70 % of
      its chemotactic activity and antigenicity. These data indicate that PDGF-BB is a
      substrate of TG2-transamidating activity, and such modification may play a key
      role in the modulation of PDGF's chemotactic features. Further, these findings
      suggest a novel point of view to study the extracellular functions of TG2 and to
      understand how protein signals, such as growth factors and cytokines, act in the
      extracellular space to reach their specific targets.

PMID- 27633722
TI  - Red Wine Prevents the Acute Negative Vascular Effects of Smoking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Moderate consumption of red wine is associated with fewer
      cardiovascular events. We investigated whether red wine consumption counteracts
      the adverse vascular effects of cigarette smoking. METHODS: Participants smoked 3
      cigarettes alone or after drinking a titrated volume of red wine. Clinical
      chemistry, blood counts, plasma cytokine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays,
      immunomagnetic separation of CD14+ monocytes for gene expression analysis,
      fluorescence-activated cell sorting for microparticles, and isolation of
      circulating mononuclear cells to measure telomerase activity were performed, and
      urine cotinine levels were quantified. RESULTS: Compared with baseline,
      leukocytosis (P = .019), neutrophilia (P <.001), lymphopenia (P <.001), and
      eosinopenia (P = .008) were observed after only smoking. Endothelial and platelet
      , monocyte-, and leukocyte-derived microparticles (P <.001 each) were elevated.
      In monocytes, messenger RNA expression of interleukin (IL)-6 (2.6- +/- 0.57
      fold), tumor necrosis factor alpha (2.2- +/- 0.62-fold), and IL-1b (2.3- +/- 0.44
      fold) were upregulated, as was IL-6 (1.2 +/- 0.12-fold) protein concentration in
      plasma. Smoking acutely inhibited mononuclear cell telomerase activity. Markers
      of endothelial damage, inflammation, and cellular aging were completely
      attenuated by red wine consumption. CONCLUSION: Cigarette smoke results in acute
      endothelial damage, vascular and systemic inflammation, and indicators of the
      cellular aging processes in otherwise healthy nonsmokers. Pretreatment with red
      wine was preventive. The findings underscore the magnitude of acute damage
      exerted by cigarette smoking in "occasional lifestyle smokers" and demonstrate
      the potential of red wine as a protective strategy to avert markers of vascular
      injury.

PMID- 27633724
TI  - Semi-quantitative assessment of the presence and Child-Pugh class of hepatitis B
      related cirrhosis by using liver lobe-based dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.
AB  - AIM: To determine whether liver lobe-based DCE-MRI can be used to detect the
      presence and Child-Pugh class of hepatitis B-related cirrhosis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Fifty-six cirrhotic patients with hepatitis B and 20 healthy
      participants underwent liver DCE-MRI, and the positive enhancement integral
      (PEI), time to peak (TTP), maximum slope of increase (MSI) and maximum slope of
      decrease (MSD) of the left lateral liver lobe (LLL), left medial liver lobe
      (LML), right liver lobe (RL), and caudate lobe (CL) were measured and analysed
      statistically to evaluate cirrhosis. RESULTS: TTP values of the LLL, LML, RL and
      CL were positively correlated with the Child-Pugh class of cirrhosis (r=0.452 to
      0.55, all p<0.05). PEI values of the LLL, LML, RL and CL, as well as the MSI of
      the CL and the MSD of the RL, were inversely correlated with the Child-Pugh class
      (r=-0.349 to -0.72, all p<0.05). PEI values of the LLL and CL, or TTP values of
      the RL had the most area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of
      0.99 for identifying the presence of liver cirrhosis. The PEI of the RL had the
      largest AUC of 0.975 and 0.78 for distinguishing the Child-Pugh class A of
      cirrhosis from class B-C and class A-B of cirrhosis from class C, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Liver lobe-based DCE-MRI parameters are associated with the presence
      and Child-Pugh class of hepatitis B-related cirrhosis.

PMID- 27633723
TI  - Pointing to the Diagnosis: Hemorrhagic Brain Metastasis.

PMID- 27633725
TI  - Respiratory-motion artefacts in liver MRI following injection of gadoxetate
      disodium and gadobenate dimeglumine: an intra-individual comparative study in
      cirrhotic patients.
AB  - AIM: To perform an intra-individual comparison of the frequency of respiratory
      motion artefacts on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cirrhotic patients
      following injection of gadoxetate disodium and gadobenate dimeglumine. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Ninety-five cirrhotic patients (61 men and 34 women, mean age 58
      years) underwent liver MRI with intravenous administration of gadoxetate disodium
      and gadobenate dimeglumine at different times (interval between studies, 189+/-83
      days). Three readers scored the severity of respiratory-motion artefacts on the
      three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo (GRE) images acquired before and after
      contrast medium injection. McNemar's test was used to assess the difference in
      frequency of new respiratory-motion artefacts and transient severe motion (TSM)
      artefacts between gadoxetate disodium and gadobenate dimeglumine MRI studies. The
      association between clinical and technical features and the occurrence of TSM on
      gadoxetate disodium MRI studies was investigated. RESULTS: On arterial phase
      images, new respiratory-motion artefacts were present in 32/95 (34%) cases after
      injection of gadoxetate disodium, while only seen in 2/95 (2%) cases after
      injection of gadobenate dimeglumine (p<0.0001). TSM was present in 6/95 (6%)
      cases after injection of gadoxetate disodium, and in 0/95 (0%) case after
      injection of gadobenate dimeglumine. No clinical or technical features were
      associated with the occurrence of TSM. CONCLUSIONS: In cirrhotic patients,
      respiratory-motion artefacts on arterial phase 3D GRE images are more frequently
      seen after injection of gadoxetate disodium than after injection of gadobenate
      dimeglumine.

PMID- 27633726
TI  - Evaluation of antibacterial and antibiofilm mechanisms by usnic acid against
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm mechanisms of usnic acid (USN)
      against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from cystic fibrosis
      patients. MATERIALS & METHODS: The effects exerted by USN at subinhibitory
      concentrations on S. aureus Sa3 strain was evaluated by proteomic, real-time PCR
      and electron microscopy analyses. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: Proteomic analysis showed
      that USN caused damage in peptidoglycan synthesis, as confirmed by microscopy.
      Real-time PCR analysis showed that antibiofilm activity of USN is mainly due to
      impaired adhesion to the host matrix binding proteins, and decreasing lipase and
      thermonuclease expression. Our data show that USN exerts anti-staphylococcal
      effects through multitarget inhibitory effects, thus confirming the rationale for
      considering it 'lead compound' for the treatment of cystic fibrosis infections.

PMID- 27633727
TI  - Development of a Multicenter Ward-Based AKI Prediction Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Identification of patients at risk for AKI on the
      general wards before increases in serum creatinine would enable preemptive
      evaluation and intervention to minimize risk and AKI severity. We developed an
      AKI risk prediction algorithm using electronic health record data on ward
      patients (Electronic Signal to Prevent AKI). DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, &
      MEASUREMENTS: All hospitalized ward patients from November of 2008 to January of
      2013 who had serum creatinine measured in five hospitals were included. Patients
      with an initial ward serum creatinine >3.0 mg/dl or who developed AKI before ward
      admission were excluded. Using a discrete time survival model, demographics,
      vital signs, and routine laboratory data were used to predict the development of
      serum creatinine-based Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes AKI. The final
      model, which contained all variables, was derived in 60% of the cohort and
      prospectively validated in the remaining 40%. Areas under the receiver operating
      characteristic curves were calculated for the prediction of AKI within 24 hours
      for each unique observation for all patients across their inpatient admission. We
      performed time to AKI analyses for specific predicted probability cutoffs from
      the developed score. RESULTS: Among 202,961 patients, 17,541 (8.6%) developed
      AKI, with 1242 (0.6%) progressing to stage 3. The areas under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve of the final model in the validation cohort were
      0.74 (95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.74) for stage 1 and 0.83 (95% confidence
      interval, 0.83 to 0.84) for stage 3. Patients who reached a cutoff of >=0.010 did
      so a median of 42 (interquartile range, 14-107) hours before developing stage 1
      AKI. This same cutoff provided sensitivity and specificity of 82% and 65%,
      respectively, for stage 3 and was reached a median of 35 (interquartile range, 14
      97) hours before AKI. CONCLUSIONS: Readily available electronic health record
      data can be used to improve AKI risk stratification with good to excellent
      accuracy. Real time use of Electronic Signal to Prevent AKI would allow early
      interventions before changes in serum creatinine and may improve costs and
      outcomes.

PMID- 27633729
TI  - Anti-hepatic fibrosis effects of a novel turtle shell decoction by inhibiting
      hepatic stellate cell proliferation and blocking TGF-beta1/Smad signaling pathway
      in rats.
AB  - Hepatic fibrosis (HF), a wound-healing response to a variety of chronic stimuli,
      is characterized by the excessive synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM)
      proteins by hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and eventually the development of
      hepatic cirrhosis. Turtle shell pill (TSP) is a common traditional Chinese
      medicine used for preventing and treating HF and early hepatic cirrhosis, but its
      side-effects and the shortage of ingredients limit its clinical application. In
      addition, its mechanism of action is not clear. In the present study, we first
      improved the original formula of TSP to produce a novel turtle shell decoction
      (NTSD) with less toxicity and easier accessible materials. In a carbon
      tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced HF rat model, we observed that NTSD and TSP had
      similar effects on the improvement of liver functions in rats, including a
      decrease in serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase
      (AST) serum concentrations and increased albumin content in addition to a marked
      attenuation of CCl4-induced liver damage and fibrosis. NTSD containing rat serum
      inhibited rat liver stellate cell line HSC-T6 cell proliferation and induced cell
      apoptosis in vitro. Moreover, the NTSD treatment significantly decreased the
      transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) and Smad3 gene expression and
      increased inhibitory Smad7 gene expression in liver tissues of HF rats,
      suggesting that NTSD inhibited the ECM expression of HSC by downregulating the
      TGF-beta1/Smad signaling pathway. The results of our rat model study revealed
      that NTSD showed good in vitro and in vivo anti-HF effects via proliferation
      inhibition and the induction of apoptosis of HSCs and blocked the TGF-beta1/Smad
      signaling pathway.

PMID- 27633730
TI  - Pioneer factors and ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors interact
      dynamically: A new perspective: Multiple transcription factors can effect
      chromatin pioneer functions through dynamic interactions with ATP-dependent
      chromatin remodeling factors.
AB  - Transcription factor (TF) signaling regulates gene transcription and requires a
      complex network of proteins. This network includes co-activators, co-repressors,
      multiple TFs, histone-modifying complexes, and the basal transcription machinery.
      It has been widely appreciated that pioneer factors, such as FoxA1 and GATA1,
      play an important role in opening closed chromatin regions, thereby allowing
      binding of a secondary factor. In this review we will focus on a newly proposed
      model wherein multiple TFs, such as steroid receptors (SRs), can function in a
      pioneering role. This model, termed dynamic assisted loading, integrates data
      from widely divergent methodologies, including genome wide ChIP-Seq, digital
      genomic footprinting, DHS-Seq, live cell protein dynamics, and biochemical
      studies of ATP-dependent remodeling complexes, to present a real time view of TF
      chromatin interactions. Under this view, many TFs can act as initiating factors
      for chromatin landscape programming. Furthermore, enhancer and promoter states
      are more accurately described as energy-dependent, non-equilibrium steady states.

PMID- 27633728
TI  - Objectively-measured outdoor time and physical and psychological function among
      older adults.
AB  - AIM: Objective measurements of outdoor time are essential to establishing
      evidence about the health benefits of going outdoors among older adults. To
      better understanding the health benefits of going outdoors, clarification of
      potential mediators to connect going outdoors with health benefits is necessary.
      The present study aimed to investigate associations of objectively-measured
      outdoor time with older adults' physical and psychological function, and examine
      the mediating role of physical activity on these associations. METHODS: Baseline
      data from a randomized control trial of physical activity among older adults with
      global cognitive impairment was used. Data from 192 participants were analyzed.
      Measures included steps-per-day, objectively-measured outdoor time per day using
      global positioning systems, physical function (cardiorespiratory fitness, lower
      extremity strength), psychological function (depression, well-being) and basic
      factors. RESULTS: Path analysis showed that outdoor time was significantly
      associated with steps-per-day (path coefficient = 0.23) and depression (path
      coefficient = -0.16). Outdoor time was not directly associated with
      cardiorespiratory fitness, lower-extremity strength and well-being. However,
      steps-per-day was associated with cardiorespiratory fitness (path coefficient =
      0.18), lower-extremity strength (path coefficient = -0.22) and well-being (path
      coefficient = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS: We found that objectively-measured outdoor time
      was indirectly associated with physical function, and both directly and
      indirectly with psychological function through physical activity among older
      adults. This finding indicates that going outdoors influences older adults'
      health outcomes, and is mainly mediated by physical activity. Geriatr Gerontol
      Int 2017; 17: 1455-1462.

PMID- 27633731
TI  - Hyperfine and crystal field interactions in multiferroic HoCrO3.
AB  - We report a comprehensive specific heat and inelastic neutron scattering study to
      explore the possible origin of multiferroicity in HoCrO3. We have performed
      specific heat measurements in the temperature range 100 mK-290 K and inelastic
      neutron scattering measurements were performed in the temperature range 1.5-200
      K. From the specific heat data we determined hyperfine splitting at 22.5(2) MUeV
      and crystal field transitions at 1.379(5) meV, 10.37(4) meV, 15.49(9) meV and
      23.44(9) meV, indicating the existence of strong hyperfine and crystal field
      interactions in HoCrO3. Further, an effective hyperfine field is determined to be
      600(3) T. The quasielastic scattering observed in the inelastic scattering data
      and a large linear term [Formula: see text] mJ mol(-1)  K(-2) in the specific
      heat is attributed to the presence of short range exchange interactions, which is
      understood to be contributing to the observed ferroelectricity. Further the
      nuclear and magnetic entropies were computed to be, ~17.2 Jmol(-1) K(-1) and  ~34
      Jmol(-1) K(-1), respectively. The entropy values are in excellent agreement with
      the limiting theoretical values. An anomaly is observed in the peak position of
      the temperature dependent crystal field spectra around 60 K, at the same
      temperature an anomaly in the pyroelectric current is reported. From this we
      could elucidate a direct correlation between the crystal electric field
      excitations of Ho(3+) and ferroelectricity in HoCrO3. Our present study, along
      with recent reports, confirm that HoCrO3, and RCrO3 (R  =  rare earth) in
      general, possess more than one driving force for the ferroelectricity and
      multiferroicity.

PMID- 27633732
TI  - Highly efficient removal of lead and cadmium during wastewater irrigation using a
      polyethylenimine-grafted gelatin sponge.
AB  - Wastewater irrigation is a very important resource for heavy metal pollution in
      soil and then accumulation in vegetable crops. In this study, a polyethylenimine
      (PEI)-grafted gelatin sponge was prepared to effectively adsorb heavy metals
      during wastewater irrigation. Based on the strong water adsorption ability,
      wastewater remained in the PEI-grafted gelatin sponge for a sufficient time for
      the heavy metals to interact with the sorbents. The binding capacities of Pb(II)
      ions and Cd(II) ions on the PEI-grafted gelatin sponge were 66 mg g(-1) and 65 mg
      g(-1), which were much more than those on the gelatin sponge (9.75 mg g(-1) and
      9.35 mg g(-1)). Subsequently, the PEI-grafted gelatin sponge was spread on the
      surface of soil planted with garlic and then sprayed with synthetic wastewater.
      The concentrations of cadmium and lead in the garlic leaves were 1.59 mg kg(-1)
      and 5.69 mg kg(-1), respectively, which were much lower than those (15.78 mg kg(
      1) and 27.98 mg kg(-1)) without the gelatin sponge, and the removal efficiencies
      were 89.9% and 79.7%. The PEI-grafting gelatin sponge could effectively remove
      heavy metals during wastewater irrigation, which improved the soil environment
      and reduced human exposure to heavy metals.

PMID- 27633733
TI  - Switching on Supramolecular Catalysis via Cavity Mediation and Electrostatic
      Regulation.
AB  - Synthetic supercontainers constructed from divalent metal ions, carboxylate
      linkers, and sulfonylcalix[4]arene-based container precursors exhibit great
      promise as enzyme mimics that function in organic solvents. The capacity of these
      artificial hosts to catalyze Knoevenagel condensation can be switched on when the
      aldehyde substrate possesses a molecular size and shape matching the nanocavity
      of the supercontainers. In contrast, little reactivity is observed for other
      aldehydes that do not match the binding pocket. This substrate-dependent
      catalytic selectivity is attributed to the Bronsted acidity of the metal-bound
      water molecules located inside the nanocavity, which is amplified when the
      size/shape of the aldehyde substrate fits the binding cavity. The electrostatic
      environment of the binding cavity and the Bronsted acidity of the supercontainer
      can be further modulated using tetraalkylammonium-based regulators, leading to
      higher reactivity for the otherwise unreactive aldehydes.

PMID- 27633734
TI  - Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia ablation and inferior vena cava
      agenesis.
AB  - Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava (IVC) are rare and very often
      diagnosed in asymptomatic patients during computed tomography performed for other
      purposes. These anomalies can have significant clinical implications, for example
      if electrophysiology procedures are needed. Diagnostic and ablation procedures
      are difficult since catheter manipulation and positioning are more complex. We
      present here a case of successful atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia
      ablation in a patient with unexpected IVC agenesis, using an azygos route. 

PMID- 27633735
TI  - A generalized method for controlling end-tidal respiratory gases during nonsteady
      physiological conditions.
AB  - While forcing of end-tidal gases by regulating inspired gas concentrations is a
      common technique for studying cardiorespiratory physiology, independently
      controlling end-tidal gases is technically challenging. Feedforward control
      methods are challenging because end-tidal values vary as a dynamic function of
      both inspired gases and other nonregulated physiological parameters. Conventional
      feedback control is limited by delays within the lungs and body tissues and
      within the end-tidal forcing system itself. Consequently, modern end-tidal
      forcing studies have generally restricted their analysis to simple time courses
      of end-tidal gases and to resting steady-state conditions. To overcome these
      limitations, we have designed and validated a more generalized end-tidal forcing
      system that removes the need for manual tuning and rule-of-thumb based control
      heuristics, while allowing for accurate control of gases along spontaneous and
      complicated time courses and under nonsteady physiological conditions. On average
      during resting, steady walking, and walking with time varying speed, our system
      achieved step changes in PetCO2 within 3.0 +/- 0.9 (mean +/- SD) breaths and
      PetO2 within 4.4 +/- 0.9 breaths, while also maintaining small steady-state
      errors of 0.1 +/- 0.2 mmHg for PetCO2 and 0.3 +/- 0.8 mmHg for PetO2 The system
      also accurately tracked more complicated changes in end-tidal values through a
      bandwidth of 1/10 the respiratory (sampling) frequency, a practical limit of
      feedback control systems. The primary mechanism enabling this controller
      performance is a generic mathematical model of the cardiopulmonary system that
      captures the breath-by-breath relationship between inspired and end-tidal gas
      concentrations, with secondary contributions from reduced delays in controlled
      air delivery.

PMID- 27633736
TI  - Adverse postresuscitation myocardial effects elicited by buffer-induced alkalemia
      ameliorated by NHE-1 inhibition in a rat model of ventricular fibrillation.
AB  - Major myocardial abnormalities occur during cardiac arrest and resuscitation
      including intracellular acidosis-partly caused by CO2 accumulation-and activation
      of the Na+-H+ exchanger isoform-1 (NHE-1). We hypothesized that a favorable
      interaction may result from NHE-1 inhibition during cardiac resuscitation
      followed by administration of a CO2-consuming buffer upon return of spontaneous
      circulation (ROSC). Ventricular fibrillation was electrically induced in 24 male
      rats and left untreated for 8 min followed by defibrillation after 8 min of
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Rats were randomized 1:1:1 to the NHE-1
      inhibitor zoniporide or vehicle during CPR and disodium carbonate/sodium
      bicarbonate buffer or normal saline (30 ml/kg) after ROSC. Survival at 240 min
      declined from 100% with Zoniporide/Saline to 50% with Zoniporide/Buffer and 25%
      with Vehicle/Buffer (P = 0.004), explained by worsening postresuscitation
      myocardial dysfunction. Marked alkalemia occurred after buffer administration
      along with lactatemia that was maximal after Vehicle/Buffer, attenuated by
      Zoniporide/Buffer, and minimal with Zoniporide/Saline [13.3 +/- 4.8 (SD), 9.2 +/-
      4.6, and 2.7 +/- 1.0 mmol/l; P <= 0.001]. We attributed the intense
      postresuscitation lactatemia to enhanced glycolysis consequent to severe buffer
      induced alkalemia transmitted intracellularly by an active NHE-1. We attributed
      the worsened postresuscitation myocardial dysfunction also to severe alkalemia
      intensifying Na+ entry via NHE-1 with consequent Ca2+ overload injuring
      mitochondria, evidenced by increased plasma cytochrome c Both buffer-induced
      effects were ameliorated by zoniporide. Accordingly, buffer-induced alkalemia
      after ROSC worsened myocardial function and survival, likely through enhancing
      NHE-1 activity. Zoniporide attenuated these effects and uncovered a complex
      postresuscitation acid-base physiology whereby blood pH drives NHE-1 activity and
      compromises mitochondrial function and integrity along with myocardial function
      and survival.

PMID- 27633737
TI  - Gut fermentation seems to promote decompression sickness in humans.
AB  - Massive bubble formation after diving can lead to decompression sickness (DCS)
      that can result in neurological disorders. In experimental dives using hydrogen
      as the diluent gas, decreasing the body's H2 burden by inoculating hydrogen
      metabolizing microbes into the gut reduces the risk of DCS. In contrast, we have
      shown that gut bacterial fermentation in rats on a standard diet promotes DCS
      through endogenous hydrogen production. Therefore, we set out to test these
      experimental results in humans. Thirty-nine divers admitted into our hyperbaric
      center with neurological DCS (Affected Divers) were compared with 39 healthy
      divers (Unaffected Divers). Their last meal time and composition were recorded.
      Gut fermentation rate was estimated by measuring breath hydrogen 1-4 h after the
      dive. Breath hydrogen concentrations were significantly higher in Affected Divers
      (15 ppm [6-23] vs. 7 ppm [3-12]; P = 0.0078). With the use of a threshold value
      of 16.5 ppm, specificity was 87% [95% confidence interval (CI) 73-95] for
      association with neurological DCS onset. We observed a strong association between
      hydrogen values above this threshold and an accident occurrence (odds ratio =
      5.3, 95% CI 1.8-15.7, P = 0.0025). However, high fermentation potential
      foodstuffs consumption was not different between Affected and Unaffected Divers.
      Gut fermentation rate at dive time seemed to be higher in Affected Divers.
      Hydrogen generated by fermentation diffuses throughout the body and could
      increase DCS risk. Prevention could be helped by excluding divers who are showing
      a high fermentation rate, by eliminating gas produced in gut, or even by
      modifying intestinal microbiota to reduce fermentation rate during a dive.

PMID- 27633738
TI  - Modeling the detailed kinetics of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase: Catalytic
      mechanism and nitric oxide inhibition.
AB  - Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) catalyzes the exothermic reduction of O2 to H2O by
      using electrons from cytochrome c, and hence plays a crucial role in ATP
      production. Although details on the enzyme structure and redox centers involved
      in O2 reduction have been known, there still remains a considerable ambiguity on
      its mechanism of action, e.g., the number of sequential electrons donated to O2
      in each catalytic step, the sites of protonation and proton pumping, and nitric
      oxide (NO) inhibition mechanism. In this work, we developed a thermodynamically
      constrained mechanistic mathematical model for the catalytic action of CcO based
      on available kinetic data. The model considers a minimal number of redox centers
      on CcO and couples electron transfer and proton pumping driven by proton motive
      force (PMF), and accounts for the inhibitory effects of NO on the reaction
      kinetics. The model is able to fit well all the available kinetic data under
      diverse experimental conditions with a physiologically realistic unique parameter
      set. The model predictions show that: 1) the apparent Km of O2 varies
      considerably and increases from fully reduced to fully oxidized cytochrome c
      depending on pH and the energy state of mitochondria, and 2) the intermediate
      enzyme states depend on pH and cytochrome c redox fraction and play a central
      role in coupling mitochondrial respiration to PMF. The developed CcO model can
      easily be integrated into existing mitochondrial bioenergetics models to
      understand the role of the enzyme in controlling oxidative phosphorylation in
      normal and disease conditions.

PMID- 27633739
TI  - Assessment of the interaction of hyperbaric N2, CO2, and O2 on psychomotor
      performance in divers.
AB  - Diving narcosis results from the complex interaction of gases, activities, and
      environmental conditions. We hypothesized that these interactions could be
      separated into their component parts. Where previous studies have tested single
      cognitive tasks sequentially, we varied inspired partial pressures of CO2, N2,
      and O2 in immersed, exercising subjects while assessing multitasking performance
      with the Multi-Attribute Task Battery II (MATB-II) flight simulator. Cognitive
      performance was tested under 20 conditions of gas partial pressure and exercise
      in 42 male subjects meeting U.S. Navy age and fitness profiles. Inspired nitrogen
      (N2) and oxygen (O2) partial pressures were 0, 4.5, and 5.6 ATA and 0.21, 1.0,
      and 1.22 ATA, respectively, at rest and during 100-W immersed exercise with and
      without 0.075-ATA CO2 Linear regression modeled the association of gas partial
      pressure with task performance while controlling for exercise, hypercapnic
      ventilatory response, dive training, video game frequency, and age. Subjects
      served as their own controls. Impairment of memory, attention, and planning, but
      not motor tasks, was associated with N2 partial pressures >4.5 ATA. Sea level O2
      at 0.925 ATA partially rescued motor and memory reaction time impaired by 0.075
      ATA CO2; however, at hyperbaric pressures an unexpectedly strong interaction
      between CO2, N2, and exercise caused incapacitating narcosis with amnesia, which
      was augmented by O2 Perception of narcosis was not correlated with actual scores.
      The relative contributions of factors associated with diving narcosis will be
      useful to predict the effects of gas mixtures and exercise conditions on the
      cognitive performance of divers. The O2 effects are consistent with O2 narcosis
      or enhanced O2 toxicity.

PMID- 27633740
TI  - Dissociation between short-term unloading and resistance training effects on
      skeletal muscle Na+,K+-ATPase, muscle function, and fatigue in humans.
AB  - Physical training increases skeletal muscle Na+,K+-ATPase content (NKA) and
      improves exercise performance, but the effects of inactivity per se on NKA
      content and isoform abundance in human muscle are unknown. We investigated the
      effects of 23-day unilateral lower limb suspension (ULLS) and subsequent 4-wk
      resistance training (RT) on muscle function and NKA in 6 healthy adults,
      measuring quadriceps muscle peak torque; fatigue and venous [K+] during intense
      one-legged cycling exercise; and skeletal muscle NKA content ([3H]ouabain
      binding) and NKA isoform abundances (immunoblotting) in muscle homogenates
      (alpha1-3, beta1-2) and in single fibers (alpha1-3, beta1). In the unloaded leg
      after ULLS, quadriceps peak torque and cycling time to fatigue declined by 22 and
      23%, respectively, which were restored with RT. Whole muscle NKA content and
      homogenate NKA alpha1-3 and beta1-2 isoform abundances were unchanged with ULLS
      or RT. However, in single muscle fibers, NKA alpha3 in type I (-66%, P = 0.006)
      and beta1 in type II fibers (-40%, P = 0.016) decreased after ULLS, with other
      NKA isoforms unchanged. After RT, NKA alpha1 (79%, P = 0.004) and beta1 (35%, P =
      0.01) increased in type II fibers, while alpha2 (76%, P = 0.028) and alpha3
      (142%, P = 0.004) increased in type I fibers compared with post-ULLS. Despite
      considerably impaired muscle function and earlier fatigue onset, muscle NKA
      content and homogenate alpha1 and alpha2 abundances were unchanged, thus being
      resilient to inactivity induced by ULLS. Nonetheless, fiber type-specific
      downregulation with inactivity and upregulation with RT of several NKA isoforms
      indicate complex regulation of muscle NKA expression in humans.

PMID- 27633741
TI  - Postinjury biomechanics of Achilles tendon vary by sex and hormone status.
AB  - Achilles tendon ruptures are common injuries. Sex differences are present in
      mechanical properties of uninjured Achilles tendon, but it remains unknown if
      these differences extend to tendon healing. We hypothesized that ovariectomized
      females (OVX) and males would exhibit inferior postinjury tendon properties
      compared with females. Male, female, and OVX Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 32/group)
      underwent acclimation and treadmill training before blunt transection of the
      Achilles tendon midsubstance. Injured hindlimbs were immobilized for 1 wk,
      followed by gradual return to activity and assessment of active and passive
      hindlimb function. Animals were euthanized at 3 or 6 wk postinjury to assess
      tendon structure, mechanics, and composition. Passive ankle stiffness and range
      of motion were superior in females at 3 wk; however, by 6 wk, passive and active
      function were similar in males and females but remained inferior in OVX. At 6 wk,
      female tendons had greater normalized secant modulus, viscoelastic behavior, and
      laxity compared with males. Normalized secant modulus, cross-sectional area and
      tendon glycosaminoglycan composition were inferior in OVX compared with females
      at 6 wk. Total fatigue cycles until tendon failure were similar among groups.
      Postinjury muscle fiber size was better preserved in females compared with males,
      and females had greater collagen III at the tendon injury site compared with
      males at 6 wk. Despite male and female Achilles tendons withstanding similar
      durations of fatigue loading, early passive hindlimb function and tendon
      mechanical properties, including secant modulus, suggest superior healing in
      females. Ovarian hormone loss was associated with inferior Achilles tendon
      healing.

PMID- 27633743
TI  - A time for exercise: the exercise window.

PMID- 27633744
TI  - Strain heterogeneity in the injured lung: cause or consequence?

PMID- 27633742
TI  - Effect of alterations in blood volume with bed rest on glucose tolerance.
AB  - Bed rest leads to rapid impairments in glucose tolerance. Plasma volume and thus
      dilution space for glucose are also reduced with bed rest, but the potential
      influence on glucose tolerance has not been investigated. Accordingly, the aim
      was to investigate whether bed rest-induced impairments in glucose tolerance are
      related to a concomitant reduction in plasma volume. This hypothesis was tested
      mechanistically by restoring plasma volume with albumin infusion after bed rest
      and parallel determination of glucose tolerance. Fifteen healthy volunteers (age
      24 +/- 3 yr, body mass index 23 +/- 2 kg/m2, maximal oxygen uptake 44 +/- 8
      ml.min-1.kg-1; means +/- SD) completed 4 days of strict bed rest. Glucose
      tolerance [oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)] and plasma and blood volumes
      (carbon monoxide rebreathing) were assessed before and after 3 days of bed rest.
      On the fourth day of bed rest, plasma volume was restored by means of an albumin
      infusion prior to an OGTT. Plasma volume was reduced by 9.9 +/- 3.0% on bed rest
      day 3 and area under the curve for OGTT was augmented by 55 +/- 67%. However, no
      association (R2 = 0.09, P = 0.33) between these simultaneously occurring
      responses was found. While normalization of plasma volume by matched albumin
      administration (408 +/- 104 ml) transiently decreased (P < 0.05) resting plasma
      glucose concentration (5.0 +/- 0.4 to 4.8 +/- 0.3 mmol/l), this did not restore
      glucose tolerance. Bed rest-induced alterations in dilution space may influence
      resting glucose values but do not affect area under the curve for OGTT.

PMID- 27633745
TI  - Transcranial electric stimulation (tES) and NeuroImaging: the state-of-the-art,
      new insights and prospects in basic and clinical neuroscience.
AB  - Transcranial electric stimulation (tES) of the brain has attracted an increased
      interest in recent years. Yet, despite remarkable research efforts to date, the
      underlying neurobiological mechanisms of tES' effects are still incompletely
      understood. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date
      overview of the state-of-the-art in studies combining tES and neuroimaging, while
      introducing most recent insights and outlining future prospects related to this
      new and rapidly growing field. The findings reported here combine methodological
      advancements with insights into the underlying mechanisms of tES itself. At the
      same time, they also point to the many caveats and specific challenges associated
      with such studies, which can arise from both technical and biological sources.
      Besides promising to advance basic neuroscience, combined tES and neuroimaging
      studies may also substantially change previous conceptions about the methods of
      action of electric or magnetic stimulation on the brain. 

PMID- 27633746
TI  - Enrichment of Metabolite-Binding Proteins by Affinity Elution in Tandem
      Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography (AETHIC) Reveals RKIP Regulating ERK
      Signaling in an ATP-Dependent Manner.
AB  - To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the action of bioactive
      compounds such as metabolites, identification of their binding targets is
      essential. However, available techniques for enriching metabolite-binding
      proteins are practically restrained by special equipment requirements and
      laborious efforts. Here we have developed a novel method, affinity elution in
      tandem hydrophobic interaction chromatography (AETHIC), which enables enrichment
      of metabolite-binding proteins from a crude tissue extract. AETHIC constitutes
      two major steps, protein fractionation and affinity elution. The basic strategy
      of AETHIC uses a series of HIC matrices encompassing aliphatic chains of
      different length and thus provides a wide range of hydrophobicity for
      interactions with most proteins. Thereafter, target proteins are eluted
      selectively by a given ligand. As our first proof-of-principle, we demonstrated
      that AETHIC was able to enrich ATP-binding proteins from porcine brain extract.
      In addition, we have demonstrated that raf kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP) is an
      ATP-binding protein and ATP attenuates the interaction between RKIP and Raf-1. In
      parallel, short-term ATP depletion in cultured HEK293 cells augments interaction
      between RKIP and Raf-1, resulting in decreased activation of the downstream ERK
      signaling. Therefore, the ATP-binding function renders RKIP's inhibition on Raf-1
      modulated by cellular ATP concentrations. These data shed light on how energy
      levels affect the propagation of cellular signaling. Taken together, the enclosed
      results advocate the potential of AETHIC in the study of metabolite-protein
      interactions.

PMID- 27633747
TI  - Secondary Metabolites from Acremonium Fungi: Diverse Structures and
      Bioactivities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acremonium fungi have been isolated from various sources, such as
      soil, plants, and marine organisms. METHOD: The species in Acremonium have been
      proved to be rich sources of novel and bioactive secondary metabolites. Up to
      now, 356 metabolites belonging to steroids (6 compounds), terpenoids (86),
      meroterpenoids (66), polyketides (89), alkaloids (28), peptides (75), and
      miscellaneous types (6) have been isolated from Acremonium fungi. These
      metabolites displayed a wide range of biological activities including
      antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antitumor, immunosuppressive, antioxidant,
      antiinflammatory, antimalarial, phytotoxic, tremorgenic, antiviral, neuritogenic,
      insecticidal and enzymesinhibiting activities. CONCLUSION: This review highlights
      the structures and bioactivities of the secondary metabolites from Acremonium
      fungi reported until July 2016.

PMID- 27633748
TI  - Phycobilins and Phycobiliproteins Used in Food Industry and Medicine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Open tetrapyrroles termed phycobilins represent the major
      photosynthetic accessory pigments of several cyanobacteria and some eukaryotic
      algae such as the Glaucophyta, Cryptophyta and Rhodophyta. These pigments are
      covalently bound to so-called phycobiliproteins which are in general organized
      into phycobilisomes on the thylakoid membranes. OBJECTIVE & METHODS: In this work
      we first briefly describe the physico-chemical properties, biosynthesis,
      occurrence, in vivo localization and roles of the phycobilin pigments and the
      phycobiliproteins. Then the potential applications and uses of these pigments,
      pigment-protein complexes and related products by the food industry (e.g., as
      LinaBlue(r) or the so-called spirulina extract used as coloring food), by the
      health industry or as fluorescent dyes are critically reviewed. CONCLUSION: In
      addition to the stability, bioavailability and safety issues of purified
      phycobilins and phycobiliproteins, literature data about their antioxidant,
      anticancer, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective,
      nephroprotective and neuroprotective effects, and their potential use in
      photodynamic therapy (PDT) are also discussed.

PMID- 27633750
TI  - Assessing reproductive isolation using a contact zone between parapatric lake
      stream stickleback ecotypes.
AB  - Ecological speciation occurs when populations evolve reproductive isolation as a
      result of divergent natural selection. This isolation can be influenced by many
      potential reproductive barriers, including selection against hybrids, selection
      against migrants and assortative mating. How and when these barriers act and
      interact in nature is understood for relatively few empirical systems. We used a
      mark-recapture experiment in a contact zone between lake and stream three-spined
      sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus, Linnaeus) to evaluate the occurrence of
      hybrids (allowing inferences about mating isolation), the interannual survival of
      hybrids (allowing inferences about selection against hybrids) and the shift in
      lake-like vs. stream-like characteristics (allowing inferences about selection
      against migrants). Genetic and morphological data suggest the occurrence of
      hybrids and no selection against hybrids in general, a result contradictory to a
      number of other studies of sticklebacks. However, we did find selection against
      more lake-like individuals, suggesting a barrier to gene flow from the lake into
      the stream. Combined with previous work on this system, our results suggest that
      multiple (most weakly and often asymmetric) barriers must be combining to yield
      substantial restrictions on gene flow. This work provides evidence of a
      reproductive barrier in lake-stream sticklebacks and highlights the value of
      assessing multiple reproductive barriers in natural contexts.

PMID- 27633751
TI  - Interviews With Patients Who Traveled From Macedonia/Kosovo, The Netherlands, and
      Sweden for Paid Kidney Transplantations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients travel worldwide for paid kidney transplants. Although
      transplantations abroad are not always illegal, they are commonly perceived to be
      illegal and unethical involving risks. AIM: We aimed to describe the motivations
      and experiences of patients who traveled abroad for paid kidney transplantations
      and to examine how these transplantations were facilitated. METHODS: We
      interviewed 22 patients who traveled from Macedonia/Kosovo, the Netherlands, and
      Sweden for paid kidney transplantations between years 2000 and 2009. RESULTS:
      Patients traveled because of inadequate transplant activity in their domestic
      countries and dialysis-related complaints. However, 6 patients underwent
      preemptive transplantations. Cultural factors such as patients' affinity with
      destination countries, feelings of being discriminated against by the health-care
      system, and family ties also help explain why patients travel abroad. Seven of
      the 22 patients went to their country of origin. They were able to organize their
      transplantations by arranging help from family and friends abroad who provided
      contacts of caregivers there and who helped cover the costs of their transplants.
      The costs varied from ?5000 to ?45 000 (US$6800-US$61 200). Seven patients paid
      the hospital, 5 paid their doctor, 4 paid a broker, and 6 paid their donors.
      CONCLUSION: Research should include interviews with brokers, transplant
      professionals, and other facilitators to achieve a full picture of illegally
      performed transplantations.

PMID- 27633752
TI  - Pushing precipitation to the extremes in distributed experiments: recommendations
      for simulating wet and dry years.
AB  - Intensification of the global hydrological cycle, ranging from larger individual
      precipitation events to more extreme multiyear droughts, has the potential to
      cause widespread alterations in ecosystem structure and function. With evidence
      that the incidence of extreme precipitation years (defined statistically from
      historical precipitation records) is increasing, there is a clear need to
      identify ecosystems that are most vulnerable to these changes and understand why
      some ecosystems are more sensitive to extremes than others. To date,
      opportunistic studies of naturally occurring extreme precipitation years,
      combined with results from a relatively small number of experiments, have
      provided limited mechanistic understanding of differences in ecosystem
      sensitivity, suggesting that new approaches are needed. Coordinated distributed
      experiments (CDEs) arrayed across multiple ecosystem types and focused on water
      can enhance our understanding of differential ecosystem sensitivity to
      precipitation extremes, but there are many design challenges to overcome (e.g.,
      cost, comparability, standardization). Here, we evaluate contemporary
      experimental approaches for manipulating precipitation under field conditions to
      inform the design of 'Drought-Net', a relatively low-cost CDE that simulates
      extreme precipitation years. A common method for imposing both dry and wet years
      is to alter each ambient precipitation event. We endorse this approach for
      imposing extreme precipitation years because it simultaneously alters other
      precipitation characteristics (i.e., event size) consistent with natural
      precipitation patterns. However, we do not advocate applying identical treatment
      levels at all sites - a common approach to standardization in CDEs. This is
      because precipitation variability varies >fivefold globally resulting in a wide
      range of ecosystem-specific thresholds for defining extreme precipitation years.
      For CDEs focused on precipitation extremes, treatments should be based on each
      site's past climatic characteristics. This approach, though not often used by
      ecologists, allows ecological responses to be directly compared across disparate
      ecosystems and climates, facilitating process-level understanding of ecosystem
      sensitivity to precipitation extremes.

PMID- 27633753
TI  - Amino-Fe3O4 Microspheres Directed Synthesis of a Series of Polyaniline
      Hierarchical Nanostructures with Different Wettability.
AB  - We demonstrated polyaniline (PANI) dimensional transformation by adding trace
      amino-Fe3O4 microspheres to aniline polymerization. Different PANI nanostructures
      (i.e., flowers, tentacles, and nanofibers) could be produced by controlling the
      nucleation position and number on the surface of Fe3O4 microspheres, where
      hydrogen bonding were spontaneously formed between amino groups of Fe3O4
      microspheres and aniline molecules. By additionally introducing an external
      magnetic field, PANI towers were obtained. These PANI nanostructures displayed
      distinctly different surface wettability in the range from hydrophobicity to
      hydrophilicity, which was ascribed to the synergistic effect of their dimension,
      hierarchy, and size. Therefore, the dimension and property of PANI nanostructures
      can be largely rationalized and predicted by adjusting the PANI nucleation and
      growth. Using PANI as a model system, the strategies presented here provide
      insight into the general scheme of dimension and structure control for other
      conducting polymers.

PMID- 27633754
TI  - The Bork-Baykal phenomenon: a revised eponymic designation for the sparing of
      nipple and areola in large melanocytic nevi involving the breast.

PMID- 27633755
TI  - Identification and clinical significance of an elevated level of serum
      aminoacylase-1 autoantibody in patients with hepatitis B virus-related liver
      cirrhosis.
AB  - Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is prevalent worldwide and can develop into liver
      cirrhosis and liver carcinoma. Early discrimination of liver cirrhosis from
      chronic hepatitis is critical for effective treatment and optimal prognosis. The
      aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic value of a panel of
      cellular proteins that can be recognized by autoantibodies in patient serum for
      hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver cirrhosis. Twenty-two candidate
      autoantigens screened using a serum proteomics assay in our previous study were
      assessed retrospectively in 443 participants, comprising 89 patients with HBV
      related liver cirrhosis, 89 patients with CHB, and 265 healthy controls. The
      levels of autoantibodies against the candidate autoantigens were measured by
      protein microarrays containing the candidate antigen proteins. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curves were used to calculate the diagnostic accuracy. The
      present study determined that seven of the 22 candidate autoantibodies differed
      significantly in serum level between HBV-related liver cirrhosis and CHB
      (P<0.0001), with area under curve (AUC) values >0.7. The seven autoantibodies
      recognized aminoacylase-1 (ACY1), histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 1,
      insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein 2, heat shock 70 kDa protein 6,
      peroxiredoxin 3, apoptosis-inducing factor and regucalcin. Among these, the ACY1
      autoantibody had the highest value for discriminating HBV-related liver cirrhosis
      from CHB, with an AUC value of 0.872 (95% confidence interval: 0.810-0.934,
      P<0.0001), sensitivity of 77.3% and specificity of 85.0%. In conclusion, with the
      elevated level in the disease progression of CHB, ACY1 autoantibody may be a
      valuable serum biomarker for discriminating HBV-related liver cirrhosis from CHB.

PMID- 27633756
TI  - Developmental Patterns of Cognitive Function and Associated Factors among the
      Elderly in Taiwan.
AB  - Previous research has discussed the factors associated with cognitive impairment,
      but the patterns of its development have been little described. Our aim was to
      examine long-term development of cognitive function and the related factors using
      longitudinal follow-up data. A group-based trajectory model and multinomial
      logistic regression were applied to identify trajectories and the associated
      baseline factors, and a mixed model was used to identify the time-varying factors
      associated with the trajectories. Three trajectories were identified: starting
      low and declining (30.8%), starting high and declining (51.8%), and high-stable
      (17.4%). These three trajectories were apparent at the beginning of the study and
      did not crossover during the study period. Smoking, diabetes, depression, and
      instrumental activities of daily living were significant variables for
      differentiating the starting high and declining group from the high-stable group.
      Similar patterns and emotional support as a contributing variable were observed
      in the starting low and declining group. Physical activity, self-rated health,
      cardiovascular diseases, depression score, physical function, and social support
      were related to the trajectories over time. Impaired physical function,
      cardiovascular diseases, depression symptom, and poor social support in late life
      may be potential risk factors affecting the decline of cognitive function.
      Preventive strategies should be designed accordingly.

PMID- 27633758
TI  - GPs need more support to help young people with mental health problems, review
      finds.

PMID- 27633759
TI  - Honokiol inhibits migration of renal cell carcinoma through activation of
      RhoA/ROCK/MLC signaling pathway.
AB  - Honokiol, a biologically active compound isolated from Magnolia bark, has been
      shown to possess promising anticancer effect through induction of apoptosis.
      However, there is a relative lack of information regarding its anti-metastatic
      activity. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common malignancy of the adult
      kidney and is known for high risk of metastasis. Clinically, therapeutic methods
      for metastatic RCC cases are limited and efforts to exploit new treatments are
      still ongoing. The results of our current investigation first revealed that
      honokiol suppressed the proliferation of different human RCCs without affecting
      cell viability. In addition, honokiol inhibited migration of highly metastatic
      RCC 786-0 cells and stimulated the activity of small GTPase, RhoA. Furthermore,
      phosphorylated myosin light chain (MLC) and excessive formation of actin stress
      fibers were identified in 786-0 cells treated with honokiol. Interestingly, the
      pharmacological Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632 attenuated
      contraction of actin stress fibers induced by honokiol and abrogated honokiol
      mediated inhibition of cell migration. Together these important findings suggest
      that honokiol suppresses the migration of highly metastatic RCC through
      activation of RhoA/ROCK/MLC signaling and warrants attention in the treatment of
      RCC metastasis as a novel therapeutic approach.

PMID- 27633757
TI  - Cancer stem cell marker CD90 inhibits ovarian cancer formation via beta3
      integrin.
AB  - Cancer stem cell (CSC) markers have been identified for CSC isolation and
      proposed as therapeutic targets in various types of cancers. CD90, one of the
      characterized markers in liver and gastric cancer, is shown to promote cancer
      formation. However, the underexpression level of CD90 in ovarian cancer cells and
      the evidence supporting the cellular mechanism have not been investigated. In the
      present study, we found that the DNA copy number of CD90 is correlated with mRNA
      expression in ovarian cancer tissue and the ovarian cancer patients with higher
      CD90 have good prognosis compared to the patients with lower CD90. Although the
      expression of CD90 in human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells enhances the cell
      proliferation by MTT and anchorage-dependent growth assay, CD90 inhibits the
      anchorage-independent growth ability in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. CD90
      overexpression suppresses the sphere-forming ability and ALDH activity and
      enhances the cell apoptosis, indicating that CD90 may reduce the cell growth by
      the properties of CSC and anoikis. Furthermore, CD90 reduces the expression of
      other CSC markers, including CD133 and CD24. The inhibition of CD133 is
      attenuated by the mutant CD90, which is replaced with RLE domain into RLD domain.
      Importantly, the CD90-regulated inhibition of CD133 expression, anchorage
      independent growth and signal transduction of mTOR and AMPK are restored by the
      beta3 integrin shRNA. Our results provide evidence that CD90 mediates the
      antitumor formation by interacting with beta3 integrin, which provides new
      insight that can potentially be applied in the development of therapeutic
      strategies in ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27633761
TI  - Five new HLA alleles with synonymous mutations: A*01:01:65, A*01:01:66,
      B*44:03:35, DRB1*15:01:30 and DQB1*02:01:24.
AB  - Immunogenetic information is provided on five novel alleles with synonymous
      mutations.

PMID- 27633760
TI  - The adipogenic potential of Cr(III). A molecular approach exemplifying metal
      induced enhancement of insulin mimesis in diabetes mellitus II.
AB  - Insulin resistance is identified through numerous pathophysiological conditions,
      such as Diabetes mellitus II, obesity, hypertension and other metabolic
      syndromes. Enhancement of insulin action and?or its complete replacement by
      insulin-enhancing or insulin-mimetic agents seems to improve treatment of
      metabolic diseases. Over the last decades, intensive research has targeted the
      investigation of such agents, with chromium emerging as an important inorganic
      cofactor involved in the requisite metabolic chemistry. Chromium in its trivalent
      state has been shown to play a central role in carbohydrate metabolism by
      enhancing insulin signaling, action, and thus the sensitivity of insulin
      sensitive tissues. A very likely link between diabetes and obesity is the adipose
      tissue, which stores energy in the form of triglycerides and releases free fatty
      acids. To date, there is paucity of information on the exact mechanism of the
      chromium effect concerning insulin-activated molecular paths, such as
      adipogenesis. The aim of the present study is to delve into such an effect by
      employing a well-defined form of chromium (Cr(III)-citrate) on the a) survival of
      pre- and mature adipocytes (3T3-L1), b) endogenous cell motility, and c) insulin
      enhancing adipogenic capacity. The emerging results suggest that Cr(III)-citrate
      a) is (a)toxic in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, b) has no influence
      on cell motility, c) can induce 3T3-L1 pre-adipocyte differentiation into mature
      adipocytes through elevation of tissue specific biomarker levels (PPAR-gamma,
      GLUT 4 and GCK), and d) exemplifies structurally-based metal-induced adipogenesis
      as a key process contributing to the development of future antidiabetic
      metallodrugs.

PMID- 27633762
TI  - Adolescents' interest in trying flavoured e-cigarettes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More US adolescents use e-cigarettes than smoke cigarettes. Research
      suggests flavoured e-cigarettes appeal to youth, but little is known about
      perceptions of and reasons for attraction to specific flavours. METHODS: A
      national sample of adolescents (n=1125) ages 13-17 participated in a phone survey
      from November 2014 to June 2015. We randomly assigned adolescents to respond to
      survey items about 1 of 5 e-cigarette flavours (tobacco, alcohol, menthol, candy
      or fruit) and used regression analysis to examine the impact of flavour on
      interest in trying e-cigarettes and harm beliefs. RESULTS: Adolescents were more
      likely to report interest in trying an e-cigarette offered by a friend if it were
      flavoured like menthol (OR=4.00, 95% CI 1.46 to 10.97), candy (OR=4.53, 95% CI
      1.67 to 12.31) or fruit (OR=6.49, 95% CI 2.48 to 17.01) compared with tobacco.
      Adolescents believed that fruit-flavoured e-cigarettes were less harmful to
      health than tobacco-flavoured e-cigarettes (p<0.05). Perceived harm mediated the
      relationship between some flavours and interest in trying e-cigarettes. A
      minority of adolescents believed that e-cigarettes did not have nicotine (14.6%)
      or did not know whether they had nicotine (3.6%); these beliefs did not vary by
      flavour. DISCUSSION: Candy-flavoured, fruit-flavoured and menthol-flavoured e
      cigarettes appeal to adolescents more than tobacco-flavoured or alcohol-flavoured
      e-cigarettes. This appeal is only partially explained by beliefs about reduced
      harm. Given adolescents' interest in trying e-cigarettes with certain flavours,
      policymakers should consider restricting advertisements promoting flavoured
      products in media that reach large numbers of young people. Future research
      should examine other reasons for the appeal of individual flavours, such as
      novelty and perceived luxury.

PMID- 27633765
TI  - Flavoured tobacco products and the public's health: lessons from the TPSAC
      menthol report.
AB  - The menthol report developed by the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory
      Committee (TPSAC) of the Center for Tobacco Products elaborated a methodology for
      considering the public health impact of menthol in cigarettes that has relevance
      to flavourings generally. The TPSAC report was based on a conceptual framework on
      how menthol in cigarettes has public health impact results of evidence from
      related systematic reviews, and an evidence-based statistical model. In extending
      this approach to flavourings generally, consideration will need to be given to
      the existence of multiple flavourings, a very dynamic market place and regulatory
      interventions and industry activities. Now is the time to begin to develop the
      research strategies and models needed to extend the TPSAC approach to flavoured
      tobacco products generally.

PMID- 27633763
TI  - Distribution, quantification and toxicity of cinnamaldehyde in electronic
      cigarette refill fluids and aerosols.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution, concentration
      and toxicity of cinnamaldehyde in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) refill
      fluids and aerosols. METHODS: The distribution and concentration of
      cinnamaldehyde were determined in 39 e-cigarette refill fluids plus 6 duplicates
      using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A cinnamaldehyde toxicity
      profile was established for embryonic and adult cells using a live cell imaging
      assay, immunocytochemistry, the comet assay and a recovery assay. RESULTS: Twenty
      of the 39 refill fluids contained cinnamaldehyde at concentrations that are
      cytotoxic to human embryonic and lung cells in the MTT assay. Cinnamon Ceylon
      aerosol produced in a cartomizer-style e-cigarette was cytotoxic. Cinnamon Ceylon
      aerosols and refill fluid aerosols (80% propylene glycol or
      cinnamaldehyde/propylene glycol) made using a tank/boxmod e-cigarette were more
      cytotoxic at 5 V than 3 V. Using GC/MS, aerosols produced at 5 V contained 10
      additional peaks not present in aerosol generated at 3 V. One of these, 2,3
      butandione (diacetyl), was confirmed with an authentic standard. Cinnamaldehyde
      depolymerised microtubules in human pulmonary fibroblasts. At concentrations that
      produced no effect in the MTT assay, cinnamaldehyde decreased growth, attachment
      and spreading; altered cell morphology and motility; increased DNA strand breaks;
      and increased cell death. At the MTT IC50 concentration, lung cells were unable
      to recover from cinnamaldehyde after 2 hours of treatment, whereas embryonic
      cells recovered after 8 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Cinnamaldehyde-containing refill
      fluids and aerosols are cytotoxic, genotoxic and low concentrations adversely
      affect cell processes and survival. These data indicate that cinnamaldehyde in e
      cigarette refill fluids/aerosols may impair homeostasis in the respiratory
      system.

PMID- 27633764
TI  - Flavour preferences in youth versus adults: a review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To understand the available evidence of how children and adults differ
      in their preferences for flavours that may be used in tobacco products. DATA
      SOURCES: A total of 474 articles published between 1931 and August 2015 were
      retrieved through searches conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and
      PsycINFO. STUDY SELECTION AND EXTRACTION: A 2-phase relevancy review process
      resulted in the identification of 59 articles and information was extracted by 2
      independent reviewers. DATA SYNTHESIS: Findings were grouped by taste and smell
      preferences, which are important components of overall flavour. For taste,
      evidence is summarised in the following categories: sweet, salty, sour, bitter,
      umami and fat; within each of them, findings are organised by age categories. For
      smell, evidence is summarised as follows: fruit/herbal/spices, tobacco and coffee
      and other odours. Major findings from this search indicated that sweet preference
      in children and adolescents was higher than in adults. Examples of preferred food
      related tastes and odours for young people included cherry, candy, strawberry,
      orange, apple and cinnamon. Currently, all these are used to flavour cigars,
      cartridges for electronic cigarettes, hookah (waterpipe) and smokeless tobacco
      products. CONCLUSIONS: Infants and children exhibited elevated sweet and salty
      preference relative to adults. Age-related changes in bitter, sour, umami and fat
      taste were not clear and more research would be useful. 'Sweet' food odours were
      highly preferred by children. Tobacco products in flavours preferred by young
      people may impact tobacco use and initiation, while flavours preferred by adults
      may impact product switching or dual use.

PMID- 27633766
TI  - Cigarette smoking and electronic cigarette vaping patterns as a function of e
      cigarette flavourings.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The present study examined the influence of flavouring on the
      smoking and vaping behaviour of cigarette smokers asked to adopt e-cigarettes for
      a period of 6 weeks. METHODS: Participants were 88 current male and female
      smokers with no intention to stop smoking, but who agreed to substitute e
      cigarettes for their current cigarettes. On intake, participants were
      administered tests of taste and smell for e-cigarettes flavoured with tobacco,
      menthol, cherry and chocolate, and were given a refillable e-cigarette of their
      preferred flavour or a control flavour. Participants completed daily logs of
      cigarette and e-cigarette use and were followed each week. RESULTS: Analyses over
      days indicated that, during the 6-week e-cigarette period, cigarette smoking
      rates dropped from an average of about 16 to about 7 cigarettes/day. e-Cigarette
      flavour had a significant effect such that the largest drop in cigarette smoking
      occurred among those assigned menthol e-cigarettes, and the smallest drop in
      smoking occurred among those assigned chocolate and cherry flavours. e-Cigarette
      vaping rates also differed significantly by flavour assigned, with the highest
      vaping rates for tobacco- and cherry-flavoured e-cigarettes, and the lowest rates
      for those assigned to chocolate. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that adoption
      of e-cigarettes in smokers may influence smoking rates and that e-cigarette
      flavourings can moderate this effect. e-Cigarette vaping rates are also
      influenced by flavourings. These findings may have implications for the utility
      of e-cigarettes as a nicotine replacement device and for the regulation of
      flavourings in e-cigarettes for harm reduction.

PMID- 27633767
TI  - Flavourings significantly affect inhalation toxicity of aerosol generated from
      electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: E-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are
      designed to deliver nicotine-containing aerosol via inhalation. Little is known
      about the health effects of flavoured ENDS aerosol when inhaled. METHODS: Aerosol
      from ENDS was generated using a smoking machine. Various types of ENDS devices or
      a tank system prefilled with liquids of different flavours, nicotine carrier,
      variable nicotine concentrations and with modified battery output voltage were
      tested. A convenience sample of commercial fluids with flavour names of tobacco,
      pina colada, menthol, coffee and strawberry were used. Flavouring chemicals were
      identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. H292 human bronchial
      epithelial cells were directly exposed to 55 puffs of freshly generated ENDS
      aerosol, tobacco smoke or air (controls) using an air-liquid interface system and
      the Health Canada intense smoking protocol. The following in vitro toxicological
      effects were assessed: (1) cell viability, (2) metabolic activity and (3) release
      of inflammatory mediators (cytokines). RESULTS: Exposure to ENDS aerosol resulted
      in decreased metabolic activity and cell viability and increased release of
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, CXCL1, CXCL2 and CXCL10 compared to air
      controls. Cell viability and metabolic activity were more adversely affected by
      conventional cigarettes than most tested ENDS products. Product type, battery
      output voltage and flavours significantly affected toxicity of ENDS aerosol, with
      a strawberry-flavoured product being the most cytotoxic. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      suggest that characteristics of ENDS products, including flavours, may induce
      inhalation toxicity. Therefore, ENDS users should use the products with caution
      until more comprehensive studies are performed.

PMID- 27633768
TI  - Nanomedicine in Psychiatry: New Therapeutic Opportunities from Research on Small
      RNAs.
AB  - Preclinical Research Alterations in small non-coding RNAs have been observed in
      many human disease states including cancer, cardiovascular, developmental,
      neurological, and psychiatric disorders. These molecules have recently raised the
      interest of the scientific community for novel therapeutic approaches.
      Nanotechnologies, including the development of sophisticated nanoparticles, offer
      new ways for the delivery of small RNA-based therapies. The nanoparticle delivery
      method appears attractive, but so far most of the work in this area has been
      conducted in the context of cancer. New therapeutic strategies are needed for
      psychiatric disorders, where treatment is often ineffective, leading to frequent
      patient hospitalizations and a growing economic burden. In this article, we
      discuss the role of small RNAs in psychiatric diseases and how this new
      knowledge, combined with innovations in nanotechnologies, could lead to the
      development of novel therapeutic approaches. Drug Dev Res 77 : 453-457, 2016. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633770
TI  - Patterns of simultaneous patch test reactions to thiurams and dithiocarbamates in
      164 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thiurams and dithiocarbamates are structurally related sensitizing
      rubber accelerators. OBJECTIVES: To study patterns of simultaneous patch test
      reactions to thiurams and dithiocarbamates at the Finnish Institute of
      Occupational Health in 1991-2015. METHODS: We searched the patch test files for
      patients with allergic reactions to thiuram mix, its four components, and three
      dithiocarbamates, and analysed patterns of simultaneous reactions to these test
      substances. RESULTS: We found 155 patients who reacted positively to at least one
      thiuram or dithiocarbamate in the rubber chemical series. Thirty-four (22%) of
      these patients reacted positively to some dithiocarbamate derivatives. Twenty-one
      reacted positively to zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate, 20 to zinc
      diethyldithiocarbamate, and 1 to zinc dibutyldithiocarbamate. All dithiocarbamate
      allergic patients reacted positively to some thiurams, and their thiuram
      reactions were often strong or extreme positive. Nine thiuram mix reactions
      turned out to be false-positive reactions, without reactions to the constituents,
      and 24 patients showed false-negative reactions to thiuram mix during the same
      time period. CONCLUSIONS: Dithiocarbamate contact allergy was always connected to
      thiuram allergy. Screening dithiocarbamate allergy with carba mix thus appears to
      be unnecessary, but ways to improve the present thiuram mix should be
      investigated. Meanwhile, individual thiurams are best for diagnosing contact
      allergy to these accelerators.

PMID- 27633769
TI  - Dynamics of genome change among Legionella species.
AB  - Legionella species inhabit freshwater and soil ecosystems where they parasitize
      protozoa. L. pneumonphila (LP) serogroup-1 (Lp1) is the major cause of
      Legionnaires' Disease (LD), a life-threatening pulmonary infection that can
      spread systemically. The increased global frequency of LD caused by Lp and non-Lp
      species underscores the need to expand our knowledge of evolutionary forces
      underlying disease pathogenesis. Whole genome analyses of 43 strains, including
      all known Lp serogroups 1-17 and 17 emergent LD-causing Legionella species (of
      which 33 were sequenced in this study) in addition to 10 publicly available
      genomes, resolved the strains into four phylogenetic clades along host virulence
      demarcations. Clade-specific genes were distinct for genetic exchange and signal
      transduction, indicating adaptation to specific cellular and/or environmental
      niches. CRISPR spacer comparisons hinted at larger pools of accessory DNA
      sequences in Lp than predicted by the pan-genome analyses. While recombination
      within Lp was frequent and has been reported previously, population structure
      analysis identified surprisingly few DNA admixture events between species. In
      summary, diverse Legionella LD-causing species share a conserved core-genome, are
      genetically isolated from each other, and selectively acquire genes with
      potential for enhanced virulence.

PMID- 27633771
TI  - Annexin A1 restores Abeta1-42 -induced blood-brain barrier disruption through the
      inhibition of RhoA-ROCK signaling pathway.
AB  - The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is composed of brain capillary endothelial cells
      and has an important role in maintaining homeostasis of the brain separating the
      blood from the parenchyma of the central nervous system (CNS). It is widely known
      that disruption of the BBB occurs in various neurodegenerative diseases,
      including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Annexin A1 (ANXA1), an anti-inflammatory
      messenger, is expressed in brain endothelial cells and regulates the BBB
      integrity. However, its role and mechanism for protecting BBB in AD have not been
      identified. We found that beta-Amyloid 1-42 (Abeta42)-induced BBB disruption was
      rescued by human recombinant ANXA1 (hrANXA1) in the murine brain endothelial cell
      line bEnd.3. Also, ANXA1 was decreased in the bEnd.3 cells, the capillaries of
      5XFAD mice, and the human serum of patients with AD. To find out the mechanism by
      which ANXA1 recovers the BBB integrity in AD, the RhoA-ROCK signaling pathway was
      examined in both Abeta42-treated bEnd.3 cells and the capillaries of 5XFAD mice
      as RhoA was activated in both cases. RhoA inhibitors alleviated Abeta42-induced
      BBB disruption and constitutively overexpressed RhoA-GTP (active form of RhoA)
      attenuated the protective effect of ANXA1. When pericytes were cocultured with
      bEnd.3 cells, Abeta42-induced RhoA activation of bEnd.3 cells was inhibited by
      the secretion of ANXA1 from pericytes. Taken together, our results suggest that
      ANXA1 restores Abeta42-induced BBB disruption through inhibition of RhoA-ROCK
      signaling pathway and we propose ANXA1 as a therapeutic reagent, protecting
      against the breakdown of the BBB in AD.

PMID- 27633772
TI  - The metabolomic signature of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy reveals
      endoplasmic reticulum stress.
AB  - Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (MIM#535000), the commonest mitochondrial DNA
      related disease, is caused by mutations affecting mitochondrial complex I. The
      clinical expression of the disorder, usually occurring in young adults, is
      typically characterized by subacute, usually sequential, bilateral visual loss,
      resulting from the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells. As the precise action
      of mitochondrial DNA mutations on the overall cell metabolism in Leber's
      hereditary optic neuropathy is unknown, we investigated the metabolomic profile
      of the disease. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass
      spectrometry was used to quantify 188 metabolites in fibroblasts from 16 patients
      with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy and eight healthy control subjects.
      Latent variable-based statistical methods were used to identify discriminating
      metabolites. One hundred and twenty-four of the metabolites were considered to be
      accurately quantified. A supervised orthogonal partial least squares discriminant
      analysis model separating patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy from
      control subjects showed good predictive capability (Q 2cumulated = 0.57). Thirty
      eight metabolites appeared to be the most significant variables, defining a
      Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy metabolic signature that revealed decreased
      concentrations of all proteinogenic amino acids, spermidine, putrescine,
      isovaleryl-carnitine, propionyl-carnitine and five sphingomyelin species,
      together with increased concentrations of 10 phosphatidylcholine species. This
      signature was not reproduced by the inhibition of complex I with rotenone or
      piericidin A in control fibroblasts. The importance of sphingomyelins and
      phosphatidylcholines in the Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy signature,
      together with the decreased amino acid pool, suggested an involvement of the
      endoplasmic reticulum. This was confirmed by the significantly increased
      phosphorylation of PERK and eIF2alpha, as well as the greater expression of C/EBP
      homologous protein and the increased XBP1 splicing, in fibroblasts from affected
      patients, all these changes being reversed by the endoplasmic reticulum stress
      inhibitor, TUDCA (tauroursodeoxycholic acid). Thus, our metabolomic analysis
      reveals a pharmacologically-reversible endoplasmic reticulum stress in complex I
      related Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy fibroblasts, a finding that may open
      up new therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of Leber's hereditary optic
      neuropathy with endoplasmic reticulum-targeting drugs.

PMID- 27633773
TI  - Human Abuse Potential of an Abuse-Deterrent (AD), Extended-Release (ER) Morphine
      Product Candidate (Morphine-ADER Injection-Molded Tablets) versus Extended
      Release Morphine Administered Orally in Nondependent Recreational Opioid Users.
AB  - Objective: To compare the relative human abuse potential of intact and
      manipulated morphine abuse-deterrent, extended-release injection-molded tablets
      (morphine-ADER-IMT) with that of marketed morphine sulfate ER tablets. Methods:
      This randomized, double-blind, triple-dummy, active- and placebo-controlled, 4
      way crossover, single-center study included adult volunteers who were
      experienced, nondependent, recreational opioid users. Participants were
      randomized 1:1:1:1 to placebo, morphine-ADER-IMT (60 mg, intact), morphine-ADER
      IMT (60 mg, manipulated), and morphine ER (60 mg, manipulated) and received 1
      dose of each oral agent in crossover fashion, separated by >=5 days.
      Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic endpoints were assessed, including the
      primary endpoint of peak effect of Drug Liking (E max ) via Drug Liking Visual
      Analog Scale (VAS) score and the secondary endpoints of time to E max (TE max )
      and mean abuse quotient (AQ; a pharmacokinetic parameter associated with drug
      liking). Results: Thirty-eight participants completed the study. Median Drug
      Liking VAS E max was significantly lower after treatment with manipulated
      morphine-ADER-IMT (67) compared with manipulated morphine ER (74; P  =   0.007).
      TE max was significantly shorter after treatment with manipulated morphine ER
      compared with intact ( P  <   0.0001) or manipulated ( P  =   0.004) morphine
      ADER-IMT. Mean AQ was lower after treatment with intact (5.7) or manipulated
      (16.4) morphine-ADER-IMT compared with manipulated morphine ER (45.9).
      Conclusions: Manipulated morphine-ADER-IMT demonstrated significantly lower Drug
      Liking E max compared with manipulated morphine ER when administered orally.
      Morphine-ADER-IMT would be an important new AD, ER morphine product with lower
      potential for unintentional misuse by chewing or intentional manipulation for
      oral abuse than currently available non-AD morphine ER products.

PMID- 27633775
TI  - Discrepant association of serum C-3 epimer of 25-hydroxyvitamin D versus non
      epimeric 25-hydroxyvitamin D with serum lipid levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low vitamin D status has been associated with a number of chronic
      diseases. For dyslipidemia, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with higher
      low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) in a number of studies, but with
      inconsistent results in clinical trials.  The purpose of the present study is to
      explore the relative importance of 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) as
      compared with the non-epimeric form in relation to serum lipid. METHOD: This
      study used data from 1068 randomly selected volunteers in the Thai 4(th) National
      Health Examination Survey (NHES IV). Serum 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3, 3-epi-25(OH)D2 and
      3-epi-25(OH)D3 were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
      RESULTS: There was no association between serum total 25(OH)D and serum LDL-C.
      However, circulating 3-epi-25(OH)D3 was negatively related to serum LDL-C (r = 
      0.077, P <0.05), while no such association was found for non-epimeric 25(OH)D3 (r
      =0.030, P = 0.33). On the other hand, both 3-epi-25(OH)D3 (r = 0.175, P <0.001)
      and non-epimeric 25(OH)D3 (r = 0.142, P <0.001) were positively related to serum
      triglyceride (TRIG) levels. In multiple linear regression models with age,
      gender, body mass index , urban residence, education, hypertension and education
      as covariates, it was found that 3-epi-25(OH)D3 was independently associated with
      serum LDL-C (beta = -0.12, P <0.01), while non-epimeric 25(OH)D3 was positively
      related to LDL-C (beta = 0.13, P = 0.002). For TRIG, there were positive
      association with 3-epi-25(OH)D3 (beta = 0.27, P <0.001) and negative association
      with non-epimeric 25(OH)D3 (beta = - 0.10, P = 0.011) independent of age, gender,
      urban resident and education. CONCLUSIONS: There is a discrepant association of
      25(OH)D levels with serum lipids according to 25(OH)D epimeric forms.

PMID- 27633774
TI  - Novel insights into vascularization patterns and angiogenic factors in
      glioblastoma subclasses.
AB  - Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly vascularized and aggressive type of primary brain
      tumor in adults with dismal survival. Molecular subtypes of GBM have been
      identified that are related to clinical outcome and response to therapy. Although
      the mesenchymal type has been ascribed higher angiogenic activity, extensive
      characterization of the vascular component in GBM subtypes has not been
      performed. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the differential vascular status
      and angiogenic signaling levels in molecular subtypes. GBM tissue samples
      representing proneural IDH1 mutant, classical-like and mesenchymal-like subtypes
      were analyzed by morphometry for the number of vessels, vessel size and vessel
      maturity. Also the expression levels of factors from multiple angiogenic
      signaling pathways were determined. We found that necrotic and hypoxic areas were
      relatively larger in mesenchymal-like tumors and these tumors also had larger
      vessels. However, the number of vessels, basement membrane deposition and
      pericyte coverage did not vary between the subtypes. Regarding signaling patterns
      the majority of factors were expressed at similar levels in the subtypes, and
      only ANGPT2, MMP2, TIMP1, VEGFA and MMP9/TIMP2 were higher expressed in GBMs of
      the classical-like subtype. In conclusion, although morphological differences
      were observed between the subtypes, the angiogenic signaling status of GBM
      subtypes seemed to be rather similar. These results challenge the concept of
      mesenchymal GBMs being more angiogenic than other subclasses.

PMID- 27633776
TI  - Identification of environmental stressors and validation of light preference as a
      measure of anxiety in larval zebrafish.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Larval zebrafish, with a simple and transparent vertebrate brain
      composed of ~100 K neurons, is well suited for deciphering entire neural circuit
      activity underlying behavior. Moreover, their small body size (~4-5 mm in length)
      is compatible with 96-well plates, making larval zebrafish amenable to high
      content screening. Despite these attractive features, there is a scarcity of
      behavioral characterizations in larval zebrafish compared to other model
      organisms as well as adult zebrafish. RESULTS: In this study, we have
      characterized the physiological and behavioral responses of larval zebrafish to
      several easily amenable stimuli, including heat, cold, UV, mechanical disturbance
      (MD), and social isolation (SI). These stimuli are selected based on their
      perceived aversive nature to larval zebrafish. Using a light/dark choice
      paradigm, in which larval zebrafish display an innate dark avoidance behavior
      (i.e. scotophobia), we find that heat, cold and UV stimuli significantly enhance
      their dark avoidance with heat having the most striking effect, whereas MD and SI
      have little influence on the behavior. Surprisingly, using the cortisol assay, a
      physiological measure of stress, we uncover that all stimuli but heat and SI
      significantly increase the whole body cortisol levels. CONCLUSION: These results
      identify a series of stressors that can be easily administered to larval
      zebrafish. Those stimuli that elicit differential responses at behavioral and
      physiological levels warrant further studies at circuit levels to understand the
      underlying mechanisms. The findings that various stressors enhance while
      anxiolytics attenuate dark avoidance further reinforce that the light/dark
      preference behavior in larval zebrafish is fear/anxiety-associated.

PMID- 27633777
TI  - Understanding the implementation and effectiveness of a group-based early
      parenting intervention: a process evaluation protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Group-based early parenting interventions delivered through community
      based services may be a potentially effective means of promoting infant and
      family health and wellbeing. Process evaluations of these complex interventions
      provide vital information on how they work, as well as the conditions which shape
      and influence outcomes. This information is critical to decision makers and
      service providers who wish to embed prevention and early interventions in usual
      care settings. In this paper, a process evaluation protocol for an early years
      parenting intervention, the Parent and Infant (PIN) program, is described. This
      program combines a range of developmentally-appropriate supports, delivered in a
      single intervention process, for parents and infants (0-2 years) and aimed at
      enhancing parental competence, strengthening parent-infant relationships and
      improving infant wellbeing and adjustment. METHODS: The process evaluation is
      embedded within a controlled trial and accompanying cost-effectiveness
      evaluation. Building from extant frameworks and evaluation methods, this paper
      presents a systematic approach to the process evaluation of the PIN program and
      its underlying change principles, the implementation of the program, the context
      of implementation and the change mechanisms which influence and shape parent and
      infant outcomes. We will use a multi-method strategy, including semi-structured
      interviews and group discussions with key stakeholders, documentary analysis and
      survey methodology. DISCUSSION: The integration of innovations into existing
      early years systems and services is a challenging multifaceted undertaking. This
      process evaluation will make an important contribution to knowledge about the
      implementation of such programs, while also providing an example of how theory
      based research can be embedded within the evaluation of community-based
      interventions. We discuss the strengths of the research, such as the adoption of
      a collaborative approach to data collection, while we also identify potential
      challenges, including capturing and assessing complex aspects of the
      intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN17488830 (Date of registration:
      27/11/15). This trial was retrospectively registered.

PMID- 27633778
TI  - Opportunities for recovery at work and excellent work ability - a cross-sectional
      population study among young workers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Better opportunities for recovery at work are thought to be
      associated with work ability in a young workforce but evidence is scarce to
      lacking. The aim of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations
      between opportunities for recovery at work and excellent work ability among young
      workers and specifically for young workers with high work demands. METHODS: A
      study group of 1295 women and 1056 men aged 18-29 years was selected from three
      biennial years of a population cohort. The subsample reporting high work demands
      consisted of 439 women and 349 men. The study group had completed a work
      environment questionnaire in a survey conducted by Statistics Sweden.
      Associations between opportunities for recovery at work and excellent work
      ability were assessed by multiple logistic regression models stratified for
      gender. RESULTS: Having varied work was associated with excellent work ability in
      all young men (p < 0.0006; prevalence ratio [PR] 1.3) and also specifically in
      men with high work demands (p = 0.019; PR 1.3). For the latter group the
      possibility of deciding when to perform a work task was also associated with
      excellent work ability (p = 0.049; PR 1.3). Among young women with high work
      demands, the possibility of deciding one's working hours was associated with
      excellent work ability (p = 0.046; PR 1.2). CONCLUSIONS: For young men, having
      varied work can contribute to excellent work ability. In addition, for men with
      high work demands, the possibility of deciding when to perform a work task may be
      favourable for excellent work ability. For young women with high work demands,
      the possibility of deciding one's working hours can contribute to excellent work
      ability. Employers could use these opportunities for recovery in promoting work
      ability among young workers.

PMID- 27633779
TI  - Unusual evolution of leiomyosarcoma of the rectum: a case report and review of
      the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leiomyosarcoma of the rectum is a rare entity that comprises less
      than 0.1 % of all rectal malignancies. Given the uncommon nature of this tumor
      and the controversy about its treatment we report one case and review the
      literature in an attempt to report a particular evolution and to discuss the most
      appropriate treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: This case report describes the
      presentation of leiomyosarcoma of the rectum. A 30-year-old man from the north of
      Morocco presented with rectorrhagia and constipation. On physical examination we
      found a mass in his rectum approximately 6 cm from his anal margin. Pelvic
      magnetic resonance imaging showed a rectal mass with a parietal attachment that
      invaded the fascia and his perirectal tissue. Before any treatment he defecated
      spontaneously the tumor. On histopathological examination a diagnosis of
      leiomyosarcoma was made. An anterior resection of his rectum was performed with
      adjuvant radiotherapy at a dose of 50 Gy. After 1 year of surveillance, he has
      not presented any clinical symptoms and pelvic magnetic resonance imaging was
      normal. Unfortunately, histological analysis of a superficial biopsy of a rectal
      leiomyosarcoma may not be reflective of the entire tumor mass, and a diagnosis is
      based essentially on postoperative pathological examination. The optimal
      treatment modality in patients with rectal leiomyosarcomas is controversial.
      Prognosis is also poor; tumor size, histological grade, mitotic index, and local
      staging are the most known prognosis factors. CONCLUSION: The prognosis of rectal
      leiomyosarcoma is poor; more investigations are necessary to understand the
      progression of these tumors and to define an optimal treatment modality.

PMID- 27633780
TI  - A randomized trial to identify accurate and cost-effective fidelity measurement
      methods for cognitive-behavioral therapy: project FACTS study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This randomized trial will compare three methods of assessing
      fidelity to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth to identify the most
      accurate and cost-effective method. The three methods include self-report (i.e.,
      therapist completes a self-report measure on the CBT interventions used in
      session while circumventing some of the typical barriers to self-report), chart
      stimulated recall (i.e., therapist reports on the CBT interventions used in
      session via an interview with a trained rater, and with the chart to assist
      him/her) and behavioral rehearsal (i.e., therapist demonstrates the CBT
      interventions used in session via a role-play with a trained rater). Direct
      observation will be used as the gold-standard comparison for each of the three
      methods. METHODS/DESIGN: This trial will recruit 135 therapists in approximately
      12 community agencies in the City of Philadelphia. Therapists will be randomized
      to one of the three conditions. Each therapist will provide data from three
      unique sessions, for a total of 405 sessions. All sessions will be audio-recorded
      and coded using the Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child
      Psychotherapy-Revised Strategies scale. This will enable comparison of each
      measurement approach to direct observation of therapist session behavior to
      determine which most accurately assesses fidelity. Cost data associated with each
      method will be gathered. To gather stakeholder perspectives of each measurement
      method, we will use purposive sampling to recruit 12 therapists from each
      condition (total of 36 therapists) and 12 supervisors to participate in semi
      structured qualitative interviews. DISCUSSION: Results will provide needed
      information on how to accurately and cost-effectively measure therapist fidelity
      to CBT for youth, as well as important information about stakeholder perspectives
      with regard to each measurement method. Findings will inform fidelity measurement
      practices in future implementation studies as well as in clinical practice. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: NCT02820623 , June 3rd, 2016.

PMID- 27633782
TI  - Therapeutic Antibodies for Spinal Cord Injury.
AB  - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a long-lasting damage in the spinal cord that leads
      to paraparesis, paraplegia, quadriplegia and other lifetime disabilities. The
      underlying mechanisms responsible for the failure of axonal regeneration after
      SCI remain only partially understood. Although a spectrum of medical treatments
      has been made available for this disease, the therapeutic effects remain
      disappointing. The emergence of antibody treatment has paved a new pathway for
      the management of SCI. In this current review, we summarized the application of
      antibodies in SCI in studies of myelin repair, neuroprotection, axon outgrowth,
      and anti-immune reaction. In the meantime, the combination treatment of the
      antibody with other reagents or stem cell transplant was also reviewed.

PMID- 27633783
TI  - Tight Junctions of the Blood-Brain Barrier - A Molecular Gatekeeper.
AB  - A tight regulation of the neuroparenchymal microenvironment is imperative for
      proper neurological function. The flux of blood-borne ions and solutes is
      restricted by specialized tissue barriers and of the three main central nervous
      system barriers, the brain endothelium constituting the blood-brain barrier
      represents the major interface between blood and brain. At the basis of the
      bloodbrain barrier are, next to an elaborate transporting machinery, tight
      junctions which create not only a paracellular diffusion constraint but also
      enable vectorial transport across the endothelial monolayer. Generally, tight
      junctions not only represent a cellcell adhesion structure, but integrate various
      signaling pathways via large multiprotein complexes, thereby impacting upon
      processes such as cell proliferation, cytoskeletal rearrangement, and
      transcriptional control. This review provides an overview of tight junction
      morphology and discusses our current understanding of the molecular composition
      of endothelial tight junctions at the blood-brain barrier.

PMID- 27633784
TI  - Merging Transport Data for Choroid Plexus with Blood-Brain Barrier to Model CNS
      Homeostasis and Disease More Effectively.
AB  - Robust modeling of CNS transport integrates molecular fluxes at the microvascular
      blood-brain barrier and epithelial choroid plexus blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
      barrier. Normal activity of solute transporters, channels and aquaporins, in the
      cerebral endothelium and choroidal epithelium, sets the microenvironment
      composition for neurons and glia. Conversely, perturbed transport/permeability at
      the barrier interfaces causes interstitial fluid dyshomeostasis (e.g. edema)
      arising in neural disorders. Critically-important transependymal solute/water
      distribution between brain and CSF needs more attention. This treatise encourages
      procuring transport data simultaneously for blood-brain barrier, blood-CSF
      barrier and CSF. In situ perfusion and multicompartmental analyses (tracers,
      microdialysis) provide dynamic assessments of molecular transfer among various
      CNS regions. Diffusion, active transport and convection are distorted by disease-
      and age-associated alterations in barrier permeability and CSF turnover (sink
      action). Clinical complications result from suboptimal conveyance of
      micronutrients (folate), catabolites (beta-amyloid) and therapeutic agents
      (antibiotics) within the CNS. Neurorestorative therapies for stroke, traumatic
      brain injury, multiple sclerosis and brain tumors are facilitated by insight on
      molecular and cellular trafficking through the choroid plexus-CSF nexus.
      Knowledge is needed about fluxes of growth factors, neurotrophins, hormones and
      leukocytes from ventricular CSF into the hippocampus, subventricular zone and
      hypothalamus. CSF and brain removal of potentially toxic catabolites and
      neuropeptides merits further investigation to manage the degeneration of
      Alzheimer's disease and normal pressure hydrocephalus. Novel therapies will rely
      on delineating peptide and drug distributions across the blood-brain barrier and
      choroid plexus-CSF, and how they modulate the intervening neural-glial networks
      and neurogenic sites. Multicompartmental transport modeling is key to devising
      specific pharmacologic targeting and thus impactful CSF translational research
      for CNS disorders.

PMID- 27633785
TI  - Neuroprotection by Methylene Blue in Cerebral Global Ischemic Injury Induced
      Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption and Brain Pathology: A Review.
AB  - Transient global ischemic cerebral injury is a consequence of cardiac arrest and
      accounts for approximately 450,000 annual deaths with a mortality of
      approximately 90%. Serious morbidity follows for many of the survivors and up to
      16% of patients achieving restoration of spontaneous circulation develop brain
      death. Other survivors are left with persistent cognitive impairment such as
      memory and sensimotor deficits, reducing quality of life and resulting in heavy
      costs on society. Many studies over the years have been devoted to improving
      outcome after cardiac arrest and have, to a certain degree succeeded, especially
      locally in areas where improvement of ambulance organizations have been
      effective. In spite of this serious problems remain and the chances of cerebral
      survival need to increase if over-all results, i.e. survival as well as cognitive
      function, are to improve. Methylene blue, a textile dye synthesized in the late
      19th century has also been used in medicine for different purposes. One of its
      effects is to increase systemic blood pressure, but other effects have been
      documented, among which are its neuroprotective effects well-noted during the
      last few years. In this review we have appraised these findings in relation to
      global ischemic injury.

PMID- 27633786
TI  - Potential Use of Nanomedicine for Drug Delivery Across the Blood-Brain Barrier in
      Healthy and Diseased Brain.
AB  - The research of efficacious non-invasive therapies for the treatment of brain
      diseases represents a huge challenge, as people affected by disorders of the
      central nervous system (CNS) will significantly increase. Moreover, the blood
      brain barrier is a key factor in hampering a number of effective drugs to reach
      the CNS. This review is therefore focusing on possible interventions of
      nanomedicine-based approaches in selected diseases affecting the CNS. A wide
      overview of the most outstanding results on preclinical evaluations of the
      potential of nanomedicine in brain diseases (i.e. brain tumor, Alzheimer,
      Parkinson, epilepsy and others) is given, with highlights on the data with
      relevant interest and real possibility in translation from bench-to-bedside.
      Moreover, a critical evaluation on the rationale in planning nanosystems to
      target specific brain pathologies is described, opening the path to a more
      structured and pathology-tailored design of nanocarriers.

PMID- 27633781
TI  - Accidental hypothermia-an update : The content of this review is endorsed by the
      International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR MEDCOM).
AB  - BACKGROUND: This paper provides an up-to-date review of the management and
      outcome of accidental hypothermia patients with and without cardiac arrest.
      METHODS: The authors reviewed the relevant literature in their specialist field.
      Summaries were merged, discussed and approved to produce this narrative review.
      RESULTS: The hospital use of minimally-invasive rewarming for non-arrested,
      otherwise healthy, patients with primary hypothermia and stable vital signs has
      the potential to substantially decrease morbidity and mortality for these
      patients. Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has revolutionised the management of
      hypothermic cardiac arrest, with survival rates approaching 100 % in some cases.
      Hypothermic patients with risk factors for imminent cardiac arrest (temperature
      <28  degrees C, ventricular arrhythmia, systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg), and
      those who have already arrested, should be transferred directly to an ECLS
      centre. Cardiac arrest patients should receive continuous cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation (CPR) during transfer. If prolonged transport is required or
      terrain is difficult, mechanical CPR can be helpful. Delayed or intermittent CPR
      may be appropriate in hypothermic arrest when continuous CPR is impossible.
      Modern post-resuscitation care should be implemented following hypothermic
      arrest. Structured protocols should be in place to optimise pre-hospital triage,
      transport and treatment as well as in-hospital management, including detailed
      criteria and protocols for the use of ECLS and post-resuscitation care.
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on new evidence, additional clinical experience and clearer
      management guidelines and documentation, the treatment of accidental hypothermia
      has been refined. ECLS has substantially improved survival and is the treatment
      of choice in the patient with unstable circulation or cardiac arrest.

PMID- 27633788
TI  - Aspirin inhibits the production of proangiogenic 15(S)-HETE by platelet
      cyclooxygenase-1.
AB  - Regular consumption of low-dose aspirin reduces the occurrence of colorectal,
      esophageal, stomach, and gastrointestinal cancers. The underlying mechanism is
      unknown but may be linked to inhibition of angiogenesis. Because the effective
      doses of aspirin are consistent with the inhibition of cyclooxygenase-1 in
      platelets, we used liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analyses
      and immunoassays of human platelet releasates coupled with angiogenesis assays to
      search for the mediators of these effects. Blood or platelet-rich plasma from
      healthy volunteers stimulated with platelet activators produced a broad range of
      eicosanoids. Notably, preincubation of platelets with aspirin, but not with a
      P2Y12 receptor antagonist, caused a marked reduction in the production of 11
      hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE) and 15(S)-HETE, in addition to prostanoids
      such as thromboxane A2 Releasates from activated platelets caused cell migration
      and tube formation in cultured human endothelial cells and stimulated the
      sprouting of rat aortic rings in culture. These proangiogenic effects were absent
      when platelets were treated with aspirin but returned by coincubation with
      exogenous 15(S)-HETE. These results reveal 15(S)-HETE as a major platelet
      cyclooxygenase-1 product with strong proangiogenic effects. Thus, 15(S)-HETE
      represents a potential target for the development of novel antiangiogenic
      therapeutics, and blockade of its production may provide a mechanism for the
      anticancer effects of aspirin.-Rauzi, F., Kirkby, N. S., Edin, M. L., Whiteford,
      J. Zeldin, D. C., Mitchell, J. A., Warner, T. D. Aspirin inhibits the production
      of proangiogenic 15(S)-HETE by platelet cyclooxygenase-1.

PMID- 27633787
TI  - Accumulation of K+ in the synaptic cleft modulates activity by influencing both
      vestibular hair cell and calyx afferent in the turtle.
AB  - KEY POINTS: In the synaptic cleft between type I hair cells and calyceal
      afferents, K+ ions accumulate as a function of activity, dynamically altering the
      driving force and permeation through ion channels facing the synaptic cleft. High
      fidelity synaptic transmission is possible due to large conductances that
      minimize hair cell and afferent time constants in the presence of significant
      membrane capacitance. Elevated potassium maintains hair cells near a potential
      where transduction currents are sufficient to depolarize them to voltages
      necessary for calcium influx and synaptic vesicle fusion. Elevated potassium
      depolarizes the postsynaptic afferent by altering ion permeation through
      hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, and
      contributes to depolarizing the afferent to potentials where a single EPSP
      (quantum) can generate an action potential. With increased stimulation, hair cell
      depolarization increases the frequency of quanta released, elevates [K+ ]cleft
      and depolarizes the afferent to potentials at which smaller and smaller EPSPs
      would be sufficient to trigger APs. ABSTRACT: Fast neurotransmitters act in
      conjunction with slower modulatory effectors that accumulate in restricted
      synaptic spaces found at giant synapses such as the calyceal endings in the
      auditory and vestibular systems. Here, we used dual patch-clamp recordings from
      turtle vestibular hair cells and their afferent neurons to show that potassium
      ions accumulating in the synaptic cleft modulated membrane potentials and
      extended the range of information transfer. High-fidelity synaptic transmission
      was possible due to large conductances that minimized hair cell and afferent time
      constants in the presence of significant membrane capacitance. Increased
      potassium concentration in the cleft maintained the hair cell near potentials
      that promoted the influx of calcium necessary for synaptic vesicle fusion. The
      elevated potassium concentration also depolarized the postsynaptic neuron by
      altering ion permeation through hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide
      gated (HCN) channels. This depolarization enabled the afferent to reliably
      generate action potentials evoked by single AMPA-dependent EPSPs. Depolarization
      of the postsynaptic afferent could also elevate potassium in the synaptic cleft,
      and would depolarize other hair cells enveloped by the same neuritic process
      increasing the fidelity of neurotransmission at those synapses as well.
      Collectively, these data demonstrate that neuronal activity gives rise to
      potassium accumulation, and suggest that potassium ion action on HCN channels can
      modulate neurotransmission, preserving the fidelity of high-speed synaptic
      transmission by dynamically shifting the resting potentials of both presynaptic
      and postsynaptic cells.

PMID- 27633789
TI  - Multiple Transcript Properties Related to Translation Affect mRNA Degradation
      Rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Degradation of mRNA contributes to variation in transcript abundance. Studies of
      individual mRNAs have shown that both cis and trans factors affect mRNA
      degradation rates. However, the factors underlying transcriptome-wide variation
      in mRNA degradation rates are poorly understood. We investigated the contribution
      of different transcript properties to transcriptome-wide degradation rate
      variation in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, using multiple
      regression analysis. We find that multiple transcript properties are
      significantly associated with variation in mRNA degradation rates, and that a
      model incorporating these properties explains ~50% of the genome-wide variance.
      Predictors of mRNA degradation rates include transcript length, ribosome density,
      biased codon usage, and GC content of the third position in codons. To
      experimentally validate these factors, we studied individual transcripts
      expressed from identical promoters. We find that decreasing ribosome density by
      mutating the first translational start site of a transcript increases its
      degradation rate. Using coding sequence variants of green fluorescent protein
      (GFP) that differ only at synonymous sites, we show that increased GC content of
      the third position of codons results in decreased rates of mRNA degradation.
      Thus, in steady-state conditions, a large fraction of genome-wide variation in
      mRNA degradation rates is determined by inherent properties of transcripts, many
      of which are related to translation, rather than specific regulatory mechanisms.

PMID- 27633790
TI  - Transcriptome Analysis Reveals that Vitamin A Metabolism in the Liver Affects
      Feed Efficiency in Pigs.
AB  - Feed efficiency (FE) is essential for pig production. In this study, 300
      significantly differentially expressed (DE) transcripts, including 232 annotated
      genes, 28 cis-natural antisense transcripts (cis-NATs), and 40 long noncoding
      RNAs (lncRNAs), were identified between the liver of Yorkshire pigs with
      extremely high and low FE. Among these transcripts, 25 DE lncRNAs were
      significantly correlated with 125 DE annotated genes at a transcriptional level.
      These DE genes were enriched primarily in vitamin A (VA), fatty acid, and steroid
      hormone metabolism. VA metabolism is regulated by energy status, and active
      derivatives of VA metabolism can regulate fatty acid and steroid hormones
      metabolism. The key genes of VA metabolism (CYP1A1, ALDH1A2, and RDH16), fatty
      acid biosynthesis (FASN, SCD, CYP2J2, and ANKRD23), and steroid hormone
      metabolism (CYP1A1, HSD17B2, and UGT2B4) were significantly upregulated in the
      liver of high-FE pigs. Previous study with the same samples indicated that the
      mitochondrial function and energy expenditure were reduced in the muscle tissue
      of high-FE pigs. In conclusion, VA metabolism in liver tissues plays important
      roles in the regulation of FE in pigs by affecting energy metabolism, which may
      mediate fatty acid biosynthesis and steroid hormone metabolism. Furthermore, our
      results identified novel transcripts, such as cis-NATs and lncRNAs, which are
      also involved in the regulation of FE in pigs.

PMID- 27633792
TI  - Mapping natural radioactivity of soils in the eastern Canary Islands.
AB  - The Canary Islands archipielago (Spain) comprises seven main volcanic islands and
      several islets that form a chain extending for around 500 km across the eastern
      Atlantic, between latitudes 27 degrees N and 30 degrees N, with its eastern edge
      only 100 km from the NW African coast. The administrative province of Las Palmas
      comprises the three eastern Canary Islands (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran
      Canaria). An extensive study of terrestrial gamma dose rates in surface soils has
      been carried out to cover the entire territory of the province (4093 km2). The
      average outdoor gamma dose rate in air at 1 m above ground is 73 nGyh-1 at Gran
      Canaria, 32 nGyh-1 at Fuerteventura, and 25 nGyh-1 at Lanzarote. To complete the
      radiological characterization of this volcanic area, 350 soil samples at 0-5 cm
      depth were collected to cover all the geologic typologies of the islands. These
      samples were measured using high resolution gamma spectrometry to determine the
      activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K. The average values obtained were
      25.2 Bq/kg, 28.9 Bq/kg, and 384.4 Bq/kg, respectively. Maps of terrestrial gamma
      activity, effective dose, and activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K for
      the region have been developed through the use of geostatistical interpolation
      techniques. These maps are in accord with the geology of the islands.

PMID- 27633791
TI  - Genomic, Transcriptomic, and Proteomic Analysis Provide Insights Into the Cold
      Adaptation Mechanism of the Obligate Psychrophilic Fungus Mrakia psychrophila.
AB  - Mrakia psychrophila is an obligate psychrophilic fungus. The cold adaptation
      mechanism of psychrophilic fungi remains unknown. Comparative genomics analysis
      indicated that M. psychrophila had a specific codon usage preference, especially
      for codons of Gly and Arg and its major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter
      gene family was expanded. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that genes involved in
      ribosome and energy metabolism were upregulated at 4 degrees , while genes
      involved in unfolded protein binding, protein processing in the endoplasmic
      reticulum, proteasome, spliceosome, and mRNA surveillance were upregulated at 20
      degrees . In addition, genes related to unfolded protein binding were
      alternatively spliced. Consistent with other psychrophiles, desaturase and
      glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, which are involved in biosynthesis of
      unsaturated fatty acid and glycerol respectively, were upregulated at 4 degrees .
      Cold adaptation of M. psychrophila is mediated by synthesizing unsaturated fatty
      acids to maintain membrane fluidity and accumulating glycerol as a
      cryoprotectant. The proteomic analysis indicated that the correlations between
      the dynamic patterns between transcript level changes and protein level changes
      for some pathways were positive at 4 degrees , but negative at 20 degrees . The
      death of M. psychrophila above 20 degrees  might be caused by an unfolded protein
      response.

PMID- 27633793
TI  - NLRP12 autoinflammatory disease: a Chinese case series and literature review.
AB  - As one of the systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs), the nucleotide-binding
      oligomerization domain-like receptor protein (NLRP)12 autoinflammatory disease
      (NLRP12-AD) is an autosomal dominant disorder associated with NLRP12 mutation.
      SAIDs have been hardly reported in the Chinese population, and NLRP12-AD has been
      reported only in Caucasians. We report the first case series of NLRP12-AD in the
      Chinese population coupled with literature review. Three Han Chinese adult
      patients with clinical phenotype suggestive of NLRP12-AD carrying NLRP12 variants
      were treated by the authors in 2015. Their phenotype and genotype were carefully
      studied. A PubMed search for SAIDs was conducted between January, 1990 and
      January, 2016, and we focused on NLRP12-AD. All three adult patients developed
      periodic disease in adulthood. They presented with recurrent fever (n = 3),
      polyarthralgia (n = 3), myalgia (n = 3), urticaria (n = 2), lymphadenopathy (n =
      2), and erythema nodosa (n = 1). All patients carry the NLRP12 mutation F402L.
      Based upon our analysis of a total of 26 patients with NLRP12-AD in the
      literature, both familial and sporadic cases were equally reported and late-onset
      cases accounted for 28 %. NLRP12-AD patients typically present with periodic
      fever, urticaria-like rash, arthralgia/arthritis, myalgia, and lymphadenopathy.
      Genotyping identifies the NLRP12 gene mutations, notably F402L (55 %). Relative
      to the literature reports, our patients had the similar phenotypic and genotypic
      features. Patients with NLRP12-AD usually respond to glucocorticoid therapy. Our
      report is the first to confirm the presence of NLRP12-AD in the Chinese
      population. It highlights the importance of screening NLRP12 in patients with
      unexplained periodic fever syndrome.

PMID- 27633794
TI  - Enterovirus 71 inhibits cellular type I interferon signaling by inhibiting host
      RIG-I ubiquitination.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a human pathogen that induces hand, foot, and mouth
      disease (HFMD) and fatal neurological diseases in young children and infants.
      Pathogenicity of EV71 is likely related to its ability to evade host innate
      immunity through inhibiting cellular type I interferon signaling. However, it is
      less well understood the molecular events governing this process. In this study,
      we found that EV71 infection suppressed the induction of antiviral immunity by
      inhibiting the expression levels of IFN-beta and IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs),
      such as ISG54 and ISG56, at the late stage of viral infection. At the same time,
      our results showed that EV71 infection significantly inhibited ubiquitination of
      RIG-I. In contrast, up-regulation of RIG-I ubiquitination promoted expression of
      IFN-beta and ISGs, suggesting that inhibition of cellular type I interferon
      signaling was caused by down-regulation of RIG-I ubiquitination during EV71
      infection. These results suggest that inhibition of RIG-I-mediated type I IFN
      responses by EV71 may contribute to the pathogenesis of viral infection.

PMID- 27633796
TI  - ORAL.

PMID- 27633795
TI  - AZT exerts its antitumoral effect by telomeric and non-telomeric effects in a
      mammary adenocarcinoma model.
AB  - Limitless replicative potential is one of the hallmarks of cancer that is mainly
      due to the activity of telomerase. This holoenzyme maintains telomere length,
      adding TTAGGG repetitions at the end of chromosomes in each cell division. In
      addition to this function, there are extratelomeric roles of telomerase that are
      involved in cancer promoting events. It has been demonstrated that TERT, the
      catalytic component of telomerase, acts as a transcriptional modulator in many
      signaling pathways. Taking into account this evidence and our experience on the
      study of azidothymidine (AZT) as an inhibitor of telomerase activity, the present
      study analyzes the effect of AZT on some telomeric and extratelomeric activities.
      To carry out the present study, we evaluated the transcription of genes that are
      modulated by the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, such as c-Myc and cyclin-D1 (Cyc-D1)
      and cell processes related with their expression, such as, proliferation,
      modifications of the actin cytoskeleton, cell migration and cell cycle in a
      mammary carcinoma cell line (F3II). Results obtained after treatment with AZT
      (600 uM) for 15 passages confirmed the inhibitory effect on telomerase. Regarding
      extratelomeric activities, our results showed a decrease of 64, 38 and 25% in the
      transcription of c-Myc, Cyc-D1 and TERT, respectively (p<0.05) after AZT
      treatment. Furthermore, we found an effect on cell migration, reaching an
      inhibition of 48% (p<0.05) and a significant passage-dependent increase on cell
      doubling time during treatment. Finally, we evaluated the effect on cell cycle,
      obtaining a decline in G0/G1 in AZT-treated cells. These results allow us to
      postulate that AZT is not only an inhibitor of telomerase activity, but also a
      potential modulator of extratelomeric processes involved in cancer promotion.

PMID- 27633797
TI  - BRCA Share: A Collection of Clinical BRCA Gene Variants.
AB  - As next-generation sequencing increases access to human genetic variation, the
      challenge of determining clinical significance of variants becomes ever more
      acute. Germline variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can confer substantial
      lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Assessment of variant pathogenicity
      is a vital part of clinical genetic testing for these genes. A database of
      clinical observations of BRCA variants is a critical resource in that process.
      This article describes BRCA ShareTM, a database created by a unique international
      alliance of academic centers and commercial testing laboratories. By integrating
      the content of the Universal Mutation Database generated by the French Unicancer
      Genetic Group with the testing results of two large commercial laboratories,
      Quest Diagnostics and Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), BRCA ShareTM
      has assembled one of the largest publicly accessible collections of BRCA variants
      currently available. Although access is available to academic researchers without
      charge, commercial participants in the project are required to pay a support fee
      and contribute their data. The fees fund the ongoing curation effort, as well as
      planned experiments to functionally characterize variants of uncertain
      significance. BRCA ShareTM databases can therefore be considered as models of
      successful data sharing between private companies and the academic world.

PMID- 27633799
TI  - Thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione-3,4-difluorothiophene Polymer Acceptors for
      Efficient All-Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells.
AB  - Branched-alkyl-substituted poly(thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione-alt-3,4
      difluorothiophene) (PTPD[2F]T) can be used as a polymer acceptor in bulk
      heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells with a low-band-gap polymer donor (PCE10)
      commonly used with fullerenes. The "all-polymer" BHJ devices made with PTPD[2F]T
      achieve efficiencies of up to 4.4 %. While, to date, most efficient polymer
      acceptors are based on perylenediimide or naphthalenediimide motifs, our study of
      PTPD[2F]T polymers shows that linear, all-thiophene systems with adequately
      substituted main chains can also be conducive to efficient BHJ solar cells with
      polymer donors.

PMID- 27633798
TI  - The diagnostic accuracy of pericardial and urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) assays
      in patients with suspected tuberculous pericarditis.
AB  - We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of urinary and pericardial fluid (PF)
      lipoarabinomannan (LAM) assays in tuberculous pericarditis (TBP). From October
      2009 through September 2012, 151 patients with TBP were enrolled. Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis culture and/or pericardial histology were the reference standard for
      definite TBP. 49% (74/151), 33.1% (50/151) and 17.9% (27/151) of patients had
      definite-, probable-, and non-TB respectively; 69.5% (105/151) were HIV positive.
      LAM ELISA had the following sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio,
      negative likelihood ratio, positive predictive value and negative predictive
      values (95% confidence interval): urinary - 17.4% (9.1-30.7), 93.8% (71.7-98.9),
      2.8 (0.1-63.3), 0.9 (0.8-0.9), 88.9% (56.5-98.0), and 28.3% (17.9-41.6); PF -
      11.6% (6.0-21.3), 88% (70.0-95.8), 0.9 (0.08-12.0), 1.0 (0.9-1.1), 72.7% (43.4
      90.1), and 26.6% (18.2-36.9). Sensitivity increased with a CD4 <= 100 cells/mm(3)
      from 3.5% to 50% (p < 0.001) for urinary LAM ELISA; for urinary LAM strip test,
      grade 1 and 2 cut-points performed similarly, irrespective of HIV status or CD4
      count. For PF LAM strip tests, switching cut-points from grade 1 to 2
      significantly reduced test sensitivity (54.5% versus 19.7%; p < 0.001). Urinary
      and PF LAM assays have low sensitivity but high specificity for diagnosis of TBP.
      The sensitivity of urinary LAM is increased in HIV-infected patients with a CD4
      <= 100 cells/mm(3).

PMID- 27633800
TI  - Variable density magnetization transfer (vdMT) imaging for 7T MR imaging.
AB  - As the use of ultra-high field (UHF; >=7T) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging
      expands, there is an increasing need to establish high-resolution MR imaging
      protocols for patients with neurological disease. Magnetization transfer (MT)
      imaging has been used to provide information about changes in the magnitude of
      the restricted protons that are caused by tissue damages. Several studies have
      found that MTR has a good sensitivity to measure changes in myelin concentration
      within the brain. Because of the much higher specific absorption rate (SAR) of
      tissue and longer acquisition time required for UHF, however, in-vivo studies
      using conventional pulsed MT sequences at UHF have not been well utilized. In
      this study, we introduce a new MT data acquisition approach using a 7T MR system,
      variable density magnetization transfer (vdMT) imaging, which can be reasonably
      included in a routine patient scan protocol with a much shorter scan time and
      reduced discomfort to the patient. To reduce SAR and scan time while maintaining
      at least similar MTR image quality to that obtained with the conventional method,
      a higher density of MT RF pulses was applied in the center of k-space, and
      sparsely applied MT RF pulses were used in the outer part of k-space. The
      fraction of k-space receiving 100% MT RF density and TR were optimized based on
      in-vivo ROI analysis, and results were confirmed with high-resolution MTR map
      using a vdMT approach from healthy controls and patients with multiple sclerosis
      (MS). The experimental results confirmed that vdMT imaging can cover a whole
      brain volume in an acceptable scan time for routine patient scans while providing
      MTR image quality at least similar to that obtained with conventional MT imaging
      (correlation coefficient=0.95 in an agar-gel phantom [MT offset frequency=1kH],
      0.90 in a postmortem MS brain, and 0.85 in the 4 healthy volunteers). MS lesions
      were associated with signal reductions in the postmortem MS brains and in the
      patients with MS. In this study, we have described a new approach for acquiring
      high-resolution MTR map of the whole brain volume using 7T MR imaging. This vdMT
      method provides similar image quality to that obtained with the conventional
      method, and shortens the scan time by reducing SAR. These results suggest that
      vdMT approach is a method that could be used for UHF scans of patients with
      neurological disease.

PMID- 27633801
TI  - A novel multisystem disease associated with recessive mutations in the tyrosyl
      tRNA synthetase (YARS) gene.
AB  - Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are a group of ubiquitously expressed enzymes
      that are best known for their function in the first step of protein translation
      but have been increasingly associated with secondary functions including
      transcription and translation control and extracellular signaling. Mutations in
      numerous ARSs have been linked to a growing number of both autosomal dominant and
      autosomal recessive human diseases. The tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (YARS) links the
      amino acid tyrosine to its cognate tRNA. We report two siblings who presented
      with failure to thrive (FTT), hypertriglyceridemia, developmental delay, liver
      dysfunction, lung cysts, and abnormal subcortical white matter. Using exome
      sequencing the siblings were found to harbor bi-allelic pathogenic-appearing
      variants within the YARS gene (NM_003680.3):c.638C>T p.(Pro213Leu) and c.1573G>A
      p.(Gly525Arg). These YARS variants occur in the catalytic domain and the C
      terminal domain, respectively. Mutations in YARS have been previously associated
      with an autosomal dominant form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT); our findings
      suggest the disease spectrum associated with YARS dysregulation is broader than
      peripheral neuropathy. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633802
TI  - Direct theoretical evidence for weaker correlations in electron-doped and Hg
      based hole-doped cuprates.
AB  - Many important questions for high-Tc cuprates are closely related to the
      insulating nature of parent compounds. While there has been intensive discussion
      on this issue, all arguments rely strongly on, or are closely related to, the
      correlation strength of the materials. Clear understanding has been seriously
      hampered by the absence of a direct measure of this interaction, traditionally
      denoted by U. Here, we report a first-principles estimation of U for several
      different types of cuprates. The U values clearly increase as a function of the
      inverse bond distance between apical oxygen and copper. Our results show that the
      electron-doped cuprates are less correlated than their hole-doped counterparts,
      which supports the Slater picture rather than the Mott picture. Further, the U
      values significantly vary even among the hole-doped families. The correlation
      strengths of the Hg-cuprates are noticeably weaker than that of La2CuO4. Our
      results suggest that the strong correlation enough to induce Mott gap may not be
      a prerequisite for the high-Tc superconductivity.

PMID- 27633803
TI  - [From stars and cold to the pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) virus: A permanent threat
      to humanity].

PMID- 27633804
TI  - Structural Brain Network Reorganization in Patients with Neuropsychiatric
      Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus
      erythematosus have worse outcomes compared with those with systemic lupus
      erythematosus. A better understanding of the mechanisms of neuropsychiatric
      systemic lupus erythematosus could potentially improve diagnosis and management.
      The goal of this study was to investigate the differences in the structural brain
      network of patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus compared
      with patients with systemic lupus erythematosus by using brain connectivity
      analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 20 subjects for each patient cohort
      and age-matched healthy controls. The topology and efficiency of the network and
      the characteristics of various brain hubs were investigated by using brain
      connectivity analysis of diffusion MR imaging data. RESULTS: There were more
      extensive reorganizations in the structural brain network of patients with
      neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus than in patients with systemic
      lupus erythematosus. For example, the network of the former had significantly
      decreased clustering coefficient and local efficiency. They also had
      significantly lower nodal efficiency in the superior temporal gyrus (P = .046)
      and middle temporal gyrus (P = .041). CONCLUSIONS: Our results hint at a
      plausible relationship between the neuropsychiatric symptoms and reorganization
      of the structural brain network of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
      Brain connectivity analysis may be a potential tool to subtype these patients.

PMID- 27633805
TI  - Diagnostic Value of Brain Calcifications in Adult-Onset Leukoencephalopathy with
      Axonal Spheroids and Pigmented Glia.
AB  - Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia is a
      rare neurodegenerative disease resulting from mutations in the colony stimulating
      factor 1 receptor gene. Accurate diagnosis can be difficult because the
      associated clinical and MR imaging findings are nonspecific. We present 9 cases
      with intracranial calcifications distributed in 2 brain regions: the frontal
      white matter adjacent to the anterior horns of the lateral ventricles and the
      parietal subcortical white matter. Thin-section (1-mm) CT scans are particularly
      helpful in detection due to the small size of the calcifications. These
      calcifications had a symmetric "stepping stone appearance" in the frontal
      pericallosal regions, which was clearly visible on reconstructed sagittal CT
      images. Intrafamilial variability was seen in 2 of the families, and
      calcifications were seen at birth in a single individual. These characteristic
      calcification patterns may assist in making a correct diagnosis and may
      contribute to understanding of the pathogenesis of leukoencephalopathy.

PMID- 27633806
TI  - Computer-Extracted Texture Features to Distinguish Cerebral Radionecrosis from
      Recurrent Brain Tumors on Multiparametric MRI: A Feasibility Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite availability of advanced imaging, distinguishing
      radiation necrosis from recurrent brain tumors noninvasively is a big challenge
      in neuro-oncology. Our aim was to determine the feasibility of radiomic (computer
      extracted texture) features in differentiating radiation necrosis from recurrent
      brain tumors on routine MR imaging (gadolinium T1WI, T2WI, FLAIR). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A retrospective study of brain tumor MR imaging performed 9 months (or
      later) post-radiochemotherapy was performed from 2 institutions. Fifty-eight
      patient studies were analyzed, consisting of a training (n = 43) cohort from one
      institution and an independent test (n = 15) cohort from another, with surgical
      histologic findings confirmed by an experienced neuropathologist at the
      respective institutions. Brain lesions on MR imaging were manually annotated by
      an expert neuroradiologist. A set of radiomic features was extracted for every
      lesion on each MR imaging sequence: gadolinium T1WI, T2WI, and FLAIR. Feature
      selection was used to identify the top 5 most discriminating features for every
      MR imaging sequence on the training cohort. These features were then evaluated on
      the test cohort by a support vector machine classifier. The classification
      performance was compared against diagnostic reads by 2 expert neuroradiologists
      who had access to the same MR imaging sequences (gadolinium T1WI, T2WI, and
      FLAIR) as the classifier. RESULTS: On the training cohort, the area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve was highest for FLAIR with 0.79; 95% CI,
      0.77-0.81 for primary (n = 22); and 0.79, 95% CI, 0.75-0.83 for metastatic
      subgroups (n = 21). Of the 15 studies in the holdout cohort, the support vector
      machine classifier identified 12 of 15 studies correctly, while neuroradiologist
      1 diagnosed 7 of 15 and neuroradiologist 2 diagnosed 8 of 15 studies correctly,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results suggest that radiomic features
      may provide complementary diagnostic information on routine MR imaging sequences
      that may improve the distinction of radiation necrosis from recurrence for both
      primary and metastatic brain tumors.

PMID- 27633807
TI  - Automated Processing of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI: Correlation of Advanced
      Pharmacokinetic Metrics with Tumor Grade in Pediatric Brain Tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pharmacokinetic parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced
      MR imaging have proved useful for differentiating brain tumor grades in adults.
      In this study, we retrospectively reviewed dynamic contrast-enhanced perfusion
      data from children with newly diagnosed brain tumors and analyzed the
      pharmacokinetic parameters correlating with tumor grade. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging data from 38 patients were analyzed by using
      commercially available software. Subjects were categorized into 2 groups based on
      pathologic analyses consisting of low-grade (World Health Organization I and II)
      and high-grade (World Health Organization III and IV) tumors. Pharmacokinetic
      parameters were compared between the 2 groups by using linear regression models.
      For parameters that were statistically distinct between the 2 groups, sensitivity
      and specificity were also estimated. RESULTS: Eighteen tumors were classified as
      low-grade, and 20, as high-grade. Transfer constant from the blood plasma into
      the extracellular extravascular space (Ktrans), rate constant from extracellular
      extravascular space back into blood plasma (Kep), and extracellular extravascular
      volume fraction (Ve) were all significantly correlated with tumor grade; high
      grade tumors showed higher Ktrans, higher Kep, and lower Ve. Although all 3
      parameters had high specificity (range, 82%-100%), Kep had the highest
      specificity for both grades. Optimal sensitivity was achieved for Ve, with a
      combined sensitivity of 76% (compared with 71% for Ktrans and Kep). CONCLUSIONS:
      Pharmacokinetic parameters derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging can
      effectively discriminate low- and high-grade pediatric brain tumors.

PMID- 27633808
TI  - Superficial Siderosis after Germinal Matrix Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Germinal matrix hemorrhage is a frequent complication of
      prematurity and can be associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome,
      depending on its severity. In addition to parenchymal damage, intraventricular
      residues of hemorrhage and hydrocephalus MR imaging findings include superficial
      siderosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and
      location of superficial siderosis in patients with a history of germinal matrix
      hemorrhage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified patients with a
      history of germinal matrix hemorrhage who underwent MR imaging in our institution
      between 2008 and 2016. Imaging was evaluated for the presence and location of
      superficial siderosis. The presence of subependymal siderosis and evidence of
      hydrocephalus were assessed. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients with a history of
      germinal matrix hemorrhage were included; 86.5% had preterm births. The mean age
      at the first MR imaging was 386 days (range 2-5140 days). The prevalence of
      superficial siderosis was 67.6%. Superficial siderosis was detected significantly
      more often when MR imaging was performed within the first year of life (82.8%
      versus 12.5%, P < .000). When present, superficial siderosis was located
      infratentorially in all cases, while additional supratentorial superficial
      siderosis was detectable in 27%. CONCLUSIONS: Here we report that superficial
      siderosis is a common MR imaging finding in the first year of life of patients
      with a history of germinal matrix hemorrhage, but it dissolves and has a low
      prevalence thereafter. A prospective analysis of its initial severity and speed
      of dissolution during this first year might add to our understanding of the
      pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental impairment after germinal matrix
      hemorrhages.

PMID- 27633809
TI  - Quantitative Evaluation of Medial Temporal Lobe Morphology in Children with
      Febrile Status Epilepticus: Results of the FEBSTAT Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The pathogenesis of febrile status epilepticus is poorly
      understood, but prior studies have suggested an association with temporal lobe
      abnormalities, including hippocampal malrotation. We used a quantitative
      morphometric method to assess the association between temporal lobe morphology
      and febrile status epilepticus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Brain MR imaging was
      performed in children presenting with febrile status epilepticus and control
      subjects as part of the Consequences of Prolonged Febrile Seizures in Childhood
      study. Medial temporal lobe morphologic parameters were measured manually,
      including the distance of the hippocampus from the midline, hippocampal
      height:width ratio, hippocampal angle, collateral sulcus angle, and width of the
      temporal horn. RESULTS: Temporal lobe morphologic parameters were correlated with
      the presence of visual hippocampal malrotation; the strongest association was
      with left temporal horn width (P < .001; adjusted OR, 10.59). Multiple
      morphologic parameters correlated with febrile status epilepticus, encompassing
      both the right and left sides. This association was statistically strongest in
      the right temporal lobe, whereas hippocampal malrotation was almost exclusively
      left-sided in this cohort. The association between temporal lobe measurements and
      febrile status epilepticus persisted when the analysis was restricted to cases
      with visually normal imaging findings without hippocampal malrotation or other
      visually apparent abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Several component morphologic
      features of hippocampal malrotation are independently associated with febrile
      status epilepticus, even when complete hippocampal malrotation is absent.
      Unexpectedly, this association predominantly involves the right temporal lobe.
      These findings suggest that a spectrum of bilateral temporal lobe anomalies are
      associated with febrile status epilepticus in children. Hippocampal malrotation
      may represent a visually apparent subset of this spectrum.

PMID- 27633810
TI  - Does Arterial Flow Rate Affect the Assessment of Flow-Diverter Stent Performance?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our aim was to assess the performance of flow-diverter
      stents. The pre- and end-of-treatment angiographies are commonly compared.
      However, the arterial flow rate may change between acquisitions; therefore, a
      better understanding of its influence on the local intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics
      before and after flow-diverter stent use is required. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty-five image-based aneurysm models extracted from 3D rotational angiograms
      were conditioned for computational fluid dynamics simulations. Pulsatile
      simulations were performed at different arterial flow rates, covering a wide
      possible range of physiologic flows among 1-5 mL/s. The effect of flow-diverter
      stents on intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics was numerically simulated with a porous
      medium model. Spatiotemporal-averaged intra-aneurysmal flow velocity and flow
      rate were calculated for each case to quantify the hemodynamics after treatment.
      The short-term flow-diverter stent performance was characterized by the relative
      velocity reduction inside the aneurysm. RESULTS: Spatiotemporal-averaged intra
      aneurysmal flow velocity before and after flow-diverter stent use is linearly
      proportional to the mean arterial flow rate (minimum R2 > 0.983 of the linear
      regression models for untreated and stented models). Relative velocity reduction
      asymptotically decreases with increasing mean arterial flow rate. When the most
      probable range of arterial flow rate was considered (3-5 mL/s), instead of the
      wide possible flow range, the mean SD of relative velocity reduction was reduced
      from 3.6% to 0.48%. CONCLUSIONS: Both intra-aneurysmal aneurysm velocity and flow
      diverter stent performance depend on the arterial flow rate. The performance
      could be considered independent of the arterial flow rates within the most
      probable range of physiologic flows.

PMID- 27633812
TI  - Response to Ruan et al., EJP 2016.

PMID- 27633811
TI  - Comment on Deckert et al.: A systematic review of the outcomes reported in
      multimodal pain therapy for chronic pain.

PMID- 27633814
TI  - Chemical disorder determines the deviation of the Slater-Pauling rule for Fe2MnSi
      based Heusler alloys: evidences from neutron diffraction and density functional
      theory.
AB  - Fe2MnSi fails to follow the Slater-Pauling rule. This phenomenon is thought to
      originate from either: (i) an antiferromagnetic arrangement of Mn ions at low
      temperature and/or (ii) chemical disorder. An important insight on this issue
      could be achieved by considering Fe2MnSi1-x Ga x compounds, thoroughly studied
      here by means of magnetization, neutron diffraction and density functional
      calculations (DFT). Our results indicate that chemical disorder (and not the
      antiferromagnetic arrangement) is responsible for the deviation of the Slater
      Pauling rule on Fe2MnSi-based Heusler alloys. Furthermore, evidences suggest that
      Ga substitution into Si site favors the Fe/Mn disorder, further enhancing the
      observed deviation.

PMID- 27633813
TI  - Three different turbinoplasty techniques combined with septoplasty: Prospective
      randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Septal deviation and hypertrophic inferior turbinates are
      a frequent cause of nasal breathing disorders. The goal of this study was to
      prove the effectiveness and safety of three current turbinoplasty techniques.
      STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective, three-arm, single-blinded, single-center,
      randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Sixty patients were randomly assigned to
      either anterior turbinoplasty (ATP) (n = 20), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (n =
      19; Celon Pro Breath), or novel submucous radial diode laser ablation (DLA) (n =
      21; ELVeS Radial PainLess, wavelength = 1,470 nm), each in combination with
      standard septoplasty. Acoustic rhinometry, rhinomanometry, subjective nose
      questionnaire, and saccharin test served as outcome parameters for preoperative
      and 3-month, 1-year, and 2-year postoperative examinations. RESULTS: After 3
      months 47/60 patients were evaluated, 28/60 patients were evaluated after 1 year,
      and 26/60 patients were evaluated in the 2-year follow-up visit. An improvement
      of nasal breathing was observed in all three groups in all follow-up visits. The
      increase of endonasal volume 2 (volume between the nasal valve and body of the
      inferior turbinate) was statistically significant in the ATP and RFA group after
      3 months and 2 years, and in the RFA group also after 1 year. The DLA group
      failed to reach significance level in all follow-up visits. Subjective evaluation
      of nasal breathing improved in all three groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this trial,
      three different current techniques of turbinate surgery in combination with
      standard septoplasty were effective for the improvement of nasal breathing. The
      ATP and RFA techniques were more effective in the long term than DLA. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 1b. Laryngoscope, 2016 127:303-308, 2017.

PMID- 27633815
TI  - Vascular territories of the medial upper arm-an anatomic study of the vascular
      basis for individualized flap design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fasciocutaneous flaps supplied by discrete perforator arteries can be
      raised in numerous parts of the human body and are routinely used in plastic
      surgery. The aim of this anatomical investigation was to provide a description of
      the vascular supply of the medial upper arm, to localize and measure the
      perforator arteries and to define potential perforator flap dimensions in
      pendency of individual anatomical conditions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 20
      upper limbs from 11 fresh cadavers were examined. The brachial arteries were
      exposed and the medial perforator arteries selectively injected with methylene
      blue and india ink in an alternating sequence. The size of the angiosomes, the
      diameter and length of the perforators' pedicles and distances between the
      arteries and the medial epicondyle and apex of the axilla respectively were
      measured. RESULTS: On average, 4.55 +/- 1.47 perforating arteries arose from the
      brachial artery and it's medial off branching arteries. Their mean diameter was
      0.68 +/- 0.27 mm and their pedicles had an average length of 3.62 +/- 1.61 cm
      measured from suprafascial until arborisation. In 80% the first proximal
      perforator was present in an area of 4 cm radius at centre coordinates of (20/2).
      A constant distal perforator was found within a circle of 3 cm radius, of which
      the centre had the coordinates (8/1). The average size of the angiosomes was
      121.1 +/- 58.5 cm2 . Direct branches of the brachial artery feed circular shaped
      vascular territories, whereas superior ulnar collateral arteries (SUCAs) feed
      oblong shaped territories. CONCLUSION: This anatomical study provides valuable
      data of the medial arm flap in order to be applied clinically. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633816
TI  - Brain Injury as the Result of Violence: A Systematic Scoping Review.
AB  - This scoping review investigated risk factors, impacts, outcomes, and service
      implications of violence-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) for individuals and
      their informal caregivers. A systematic search (Web of Science, PubMed, PsycInfo,
      ProQuest, Medline, Informit; 1990-2015) identified 17 studies meeting the
      inclusion and exclusion criteria. Violence was the cause of between 3% and 26% of
      all TBIs. Males, a non-White racial background, preinjury unemployment, and
      preinjury substance abuse problems all elevated the risk for sustaining a
      violence-related TBI compared to other-cause TBI. However, few differences were
      observed in 12 months postinjury outcomes. No studies investigated the impact of
      violence-related TBI on informal caregivers.

PMID- 27633817
TI  - Role of belly board device in the age of intensity modulated radiotherapy for
      pelvic irradiation.
AB  - Small bowel dose often represents a limiting factor for radiation treatment of
      pelvic malignancies. To reduce small bowel toxicity, a belly board device (BBD)
      with a prone position is often recommended. Intensity modulated radiotherapy
      (IMRT) could reduce dose to small bowel based on the desired dose-volume
      constraints. We investigated the efficacy of BBD in conjunction with IMRT. A
      total of 11 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of rectal cancer, who were
      candidates for definitive therapy, were selected. Patients were immobilized with
      BBD in prone position for simulation and treatment. Supine position computed
      tomography (CT) data were either acquired at the same time or during a diagnostic
      scan, and if existed was used. Target volumes (TV) as well as organs at risk
      (OAR) were delineated in both studies. Three-dimensional conformal treatment
      (3DCRT) and IMRT plans were made for both scans. Thus for each patient, 4 plans
      were generated. Statistical analysis was conducted for maximum, minimum, and mean
      dose to each structure. When comparing the normalized mean Gross TV dose for the
      different plans, there was no statistical difference found between the planning
      types. There was a significant difference in small bowel sparing when using prone
      position on BBD comparing 3DCRT and IMRT plans, favoring IMRT with a 29.6%
      reduction in dose (p = 0.007). There was also a statistically significant
      difference in small bowel sparing when comparing supine position IMRT to prone
      BBD IMRT favoring prone-BBD IMRT with a reduction of 30.3% (p = 0.002). For
      rectal cancer when small bowel could be a limiting factor, prone position using
      BBD along with IMRT provides the best sparing. We conclude that whenever a dose
      escalation in rectal cancer is desired where small bowel could be limiting
      factor, IMRT in conjunction with BBD should be selected.

PMID- 27633818
TI  - Inhibition of the integrin signal constitutes a mouse iPS cell niche.
AB  - Stem cells are regulated by their surrounding microenvironments, called niche,
      such as cell-cell interaction and extracellular matrix. Classically, feeder cells
      as a niche have been used in the culture of iPS cells from both the mouse and the
      human. However, the regulation mechanism of stem cells by feeder cells as a niche
      still have been partially unclear. In this study, we used three murine iPS cell
      lines, iPS-MEF-Ng-20D-17, iPS-MEF-Ng-178B-5 and iPS-MEF-Fb/Ng-440A-3, which were
      generated by different reprogramming methods. In general, these cell lines
      commonly need the feeder cells as a niche to culture. Recently, the effect of
      substrate stiffness is known in stem cell study. First, we focused on the
      mechanical properties of feeder cells, and then we speculated that feeder-less
      culture might be made possible by using molecules in place of the mechanical
      properties of the niche. Finally, we found that the combination of disintegrin
      (echistatin) and 2i (GSK3 inhibitor and MEK inhibitor) is a sufficient condition
      for three murine iPS culture. This novel method of mimicking the murine iPS cell
      niche may be useful to understand signaling pathways to maintain the pluripotency
      of stem cells. 

PMID- 27633819
TI  - Association between high levels of Notch3 expression and high invasion and poor
      overall survival rates in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a commonly fatal tumour. It is
      characterized by early metastasis and high mortality. Many patients die as a
      result of PDAC tumour progression. However, the underlying mechanism of invasion
      and metastasis in PDAC is still not fully understood. Previous studies showed
      that the Notch signalling pathway may play an important role in the progression
      of tumour invasion and metastasis. However, it is not yet known whether the Notch
      signalling pathway participates in the progression of invasion in PDAC. In the
      present study, immunohistochemistry showed that a high expression of Notch3 was
      correlated with tumour grade, metastasis, venous invasion and American Joint
      Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage. Kaplan-Meier curves
      suggested that a high expression of Notch3 was a significant risk factor for
      shortened survival time. We also showed that inhibition of Notch3 had an anti
      invasion role in PDAC cells. In vitro, the inhibition of Notch3 reduced the
      migration and invasion capabilities of PDAC cells by regulating the expressions
      of E-cadherin, CD44v6, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF and uPA via regulating the COX-2 and
      ERK1/2 pathways. These results indicated that downregulation of the Notch
      signalling pathway may be a novel and useful approach for preventing and treating
      PDAC invasion.

PMID- 27633820
TI  - Fibromyalgia in Spondyloarthritis: Effect on Disease Activity Assessment in
      Clinical Practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is the second most frequent inflammatory
      rheumatic disease, characterized by spinal involvement, peripheral arthritis, or
      enthesitis with marked pain, stiffness, and fatigue. Fibromyalgia (FM) may be
      associated with SpA, and shares some common symptoms. We aimed to determine how
      FM influences assessment of SpA disease activity, which is mainly dependent on
      patient-based outcome measures such as the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease
      Activity Index (BASDAI) or the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score
      (ASDAS). METHODS: This single-center cross-sectional study included consecutive
      patients with SpA according to the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International
      Society criteria. FM was diagnosed according to the 1990 American College of
      Rheumatology criteria. Patient characteristics, BASDAI, ASDAS/C-reactive protein
      (CRP), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis
      Metrology Index, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 questionnaire were
      recorded and compared. RESULTS: The study included 103 patients with SpA; 81 with
      axial and 22 with peripheral forms. Eighteen patients presented with concomitant
      FM, of whom 12 had axial SpA and 6 peripheral SpA. Demographic characteristics
      did not differ except for sex, with a female predominance in the FM group that
      was more marked in peripheral forms. BASDAI was higher in patients with FM
      [median (IQR): 4.2 (4.2) vs 2.2 (3.1); p = 0.0068], whereas ASDAS-CRP was not
      significantly different [median (IQR): 2.7 (2) vs 2 (1.3); p = 0.1264].
      Nevertheless, median ASDAS-CRP corresponded to high disease activity in patients
      with SpA or FM compared with moderate activity in non-FM patients. CONCLUSION: FM
      is a frequent comorbidity in patients with SpA, especially in peripheral forms.
      In patients with SpA-FM, disease activity may be overestimated when measured by
      BASDAI and to a lesser extent by ASDAS-CRP, and this overestimation could lead to
      inappropriate treatment escalation.

PMID- 27633821
TI  - Evidence for Tocilizumab as a Treatment Option in Refractory Uveitis Associated
      with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report on experience using the anti-interleukin 6 receptor antibody
      tocilizumab (TCZ) to treat severe and therapy-refractory uveitis associated with
      juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS: Retrospective data were gathered
      from patients with JIA receiving TCZ treatment for uveitis. JIA and related
      uveitis data (disease onset, activity, structural complications, and topical and
      systemic antiinflammatory treatment) were evaluated at the start of TCZ
      (baseline) and every 3 months during TCZ therapy. RESULTS: A total of 17 patients
      (14 women) with active uveitis were included (mean age 15.3 +/- 6.9 yrs, mean
      followup time 8.5 mos). In all patients, uveitis had been refractory to previous
      topical and systemic corticosteroids, methotrexate (MTX), and other synthetic and
      biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, including >= 1 tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitor. Uveitis inactivity was achieved in 10
      patients after a mean of 5.7 months of TCZ treatment (in 3 of them, it recurred
      during followup) and persisted in the remaining 7 patients. By using TCZ,
      systemic corticosteroids or immunosuppressives could be spared in 7 patients.
      Macular edema was present in 5 patients at baseline and improved in all of them
      under TCZ treatment. Arthritis was active in 11 patients at the initial and in 6
      at the final followup visit. CONCLUSION: TCZ appears to represent a therapeutic
      option for severe JIA-associated uveitis that has been refractory to MTX and TNF
      alpha inhibitors in selected patients. The present data indicate that
      inflammatory macular edema responds well to TCZ in patients with JIA-associated
      uveitis.

PMID- 27633822
TI  - Intratracheal Dilation-injection Technique in the Treatment of Granulomatosis
      with Polyangiitis Patients with Subglottic Stenosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An analysis of subglottic stenosis (SGS) occurrence frequency in
      patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) based on the time of
      appearance of clinical symptoms, and an assessment of treatment effectiveness, in
      particular with the intratracheal dilation-injection technique (IDIT). METHODS:
      Review and treatment with IDIT of 34 patients with SGS associated with GPA.
      RESULTS: SGS developed in 34 of 250 patients with GPA (13.6%) and was not
      reflective of disease activity in the organs in 15 of 34 patients (44%): 11 cases
      after and 4 cases during immunosuppressive therapy (IST) when patients did not
      have organ symptoms. All patients underwent IDIT and in total, the treatment
      resulted in immediate improvement. In addition, in 21 cases, IST was applied
      because of other organ involvement or of the lack of longterm efficacy of IDIT.
      The median time of response was 37 months and the median interval between
      sessions was 5 months. None of the patients required tracheostomy after beginning
      IDIT in our hospital. CONCLUSION: SGS often occurs independently of other
      features of active GPA. IDIT is a safe and effective technique in the treatment
      of GPA-related SGS. It should be performed in all patients with GPA who develop
      significant SGS and in those with multiorgan disease concomitantly with IST. In
      patients with isolated SGS, IDIT also makes IST and tracheostomy unnecessary.

PMID- 27633823
TI  - Toward Electronic Health Recording: Evaluation of Electronic Patient-reported
      Outcome Measures System for Remote Monitoring of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of electronic patient-reported outcome measures
      (ePROM) in standard clinical practice for early rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
      management, the ePROM ability to enhance clinical care, and how computing
      technology can improve the patients' adherence to therapy. METHODS: In a double
      blinded randomized-controlled study, 211 patients with early RA diagnosed
      according to American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism
      criteria completed a PROM in paper format at their first clinic visit. Patients
      were then randomized to Group 1, which completed an ePROM questionnaire monthly,
      or Group 2, which continued the standard paper PROM format. Over a 12-month
      period, Group 1 patients were assessed every 3 months in the clinic, whereas
      Group 2 patients were assessed in the clinic initially monthly for 6 months, then
      every 3 months. The primary endpoint was the equivalence of outcomes [Routine
      Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID-3) and 28-joint Disease Activity Score
      (DAS28)] in both groups. The secondary endpoint was the patients' adherence to
      their medications. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between disease
      activity measures as well as DAS28 and RAPID-3 scores at 3, 6, and 12 months of
      management, although there was a trend toward lower patient-reported tender joint
      count and functional disability score in the active group versus the control
      group. The patients' adherence to antirheumatic therapy was significantly higher
      (p < 0.01) in the ePROM group, whereas stopping disease-modifying antirheumatic
      drugs for intolerability was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in the control group
      at 12 months of treatment. CONCLUSION: We found ePROM equivalent to standard
      paper PROM format. Further, it enabled the patients to personally monitor how
      they are doing regarding their disease activity and helped to optimize their
      adherence to their treatment.

PMID- 27633824
TI  - Beta2-glycoprotein I Expression in Lupus Nephritis Patients with Antiphospholipid
      associated Nephropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Antiphospholipid-associated nephropathy (aPLN) is a severe condition
      in patients with lupus nephritis (LN). aPLN should be distinguished from other
      reasons for renal ischemia. The most important cofactor of antiphospholipid
      antibodies (aPL), beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2GPI), was shown in vitro to bind
      endothelial cells and to induce a procoagulant phenotype. The objectives of this
      study were to investigate whether beta2GPI expression was involved in patients
      with LN with aPLN and to determine its specificity. METHODS: We retrospectively
      investigated beta2GPI expression in 231 renal biopsy specimens of patients with
      LN. Data from biopsy reports and clinical information were collected.
      Immunohistochemical staining for beta2GPI expression was performed. RESULTS:
      Histological aPLN was detected in 88 patients with LN (38.1%). The LN with aPLN
      consisted of 43 patients (18.6%). Expression of beta2GPI was detected in
      endothelial cells in 14 (32.6%) in renal arteries or arterioles, 11 (25.6%) in
      glomerular or peritubular capillaries, and a total of 15 (34.9%) of the 43
      patients with LN with aPLN. It was mainly expressed in the endothelial cells in
      patients with LN with aPLN (p < 0.05). The specificity of beta2GPI expression in
      patients with LN with aPLN was 97.5%. CONCLUSION: Expression of beta2GPI may be
      involved in the formation of aPLN in patients with LN. This expression in
      endothelial cells in kidney tissue may be considered a useful marker for aPLN.

PMID- 27633825
TI  - Incidence of Malignancies in a Cohort of Psoriatic Arthritis Patients Taking
      Traditional Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drug and Tumor Necrosis Factor
      Inhibitor Therapy: An Observational Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthropathy, associated
      with skin and/or nail psoriasis. As suggested in 2012 by the Group for Research
      and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), studies devoted to
      assess cancer in the PsA population are still limited and need to be increased.
      Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the incidence of malignancies
      in patients with PsA who are taking conventional and biologic therapies. METHODS:
      A cohort of patients with PsA was followed prospectively. At first visit, as well
      as at each 3-4 month followup visit, according to standardized clinical practice,
      medical history, and physical and laboratory findings were recorded. Information
      on the presence of comorbidities, as well as malignancies, was collected. At each
      visit, data were recorded on radiography and pathology, confirming malignancy
      diagnosis, when present. RESULTS: A total of 618 patients with PsA were included
      in the study. In particular, 296 were taking anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (anti-TNF) agents and 322 were taking disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs
      (DMARD). During the observation period, in the total group, 44 patients (7.1%)
      had a diagnosis of malignancy. Of them, 14 (4.7%; 95% CI 2.8-7.8; 0.52/100
      patient-yrs) received anti-TNF therapy and 30 (9.3%; 95% CI 6.6-13.0; 1.03/100
      patient-yrs) received traditional DMARD (p = 0.019). However, after adjusting for
      major demographic and clinical characteristics, the difference between the 2
      treatments was no longer significant (p = 0.480), and the only predictor of
      malignancy occurrence was age (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.009-1.073, p = 0.012).
      CONCLUSION: Data from this study confirm that biological therapies do not lead to
      any increased risk for cancer development, when adequately administered and with
      proper followup.

PMID- 27633826
TI  - Comparable Efficacy of Abatacept Used as First-line or Second-line Biological
      Agent for Severe Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis-related Uveitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Abatacept (ABA) has recently been proposed as second-line treatment in
      patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis refractory
      to anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF) agents, but little is known about
      its efficacy as a first-line approach. The aim of the present study was to
      compare the safety and efficacy of ABA as a first-line biological agent (ABA-1)
      with that of ABA as a second-line treatment after 1 or more anti-TNF agents (ABA
      2), in patients with severe JIA-related uveitis. METHODS: In this multicenter
      study, we collected data on patients with severe JIA-related uveitis treated with
      ABA as a first-line or second-line biological agent. Changes in frequency of
      uveitis flares/year and ocular complications before and after ABA treatment,
      clinical remission, and side effects were recorded. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients
      with a mean age of 10.8 years were treated with ABA for a mean period of 19.6
      months. In 4 patients, ABA administration was discontinued, owing to inefficacy
      on arthritis in 3 cases and allergic reaction in 1. Thirty-one patients, 14 in
      the ABA-1 group and 17 in the ABA-2 group, completed the 12-month followup
      period; of these, 17 (54.8%) had clinical remission. The mean frequency of
      uveitis flares decreased from 4.1 to 1.2 in the ABA-1 group (p = 0.002) and from
      3.7 to 1.2 in the ABA-2 group (p = 0.004). Preexisting ocular complications
      improved or remained stable in all but 5 patients, all in the ABA-2 group. No
      significant difference was found between the efficacy of the 2 treatment
      modalities. ABA confirmed its good safety profile. CONCLUSION: ABA, used as first
      line biological treatment or after 1 or more anti-TNF agents, induces a
      comparable improvement in severe refractory JIA-related uveitis.

PMID- 27633830
TI  - The Fifth Annual Sc2.0 and Synthetic Genomes Conference: Synthetic Genomes in
      High Gear.
AB  - The Sc2.0 project is perhaps the largest synthetic biology project in the public
      domain, and ultimately aims to construct a new version of the humble brewer's
      yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Each year, the Sc2.0 consortium gather to
      discuss progress in this ambitious project and highlight new developments at the
      forefront of synthetic genome engineering. This viewpoint summarizes some of the
      key moments of the 2016 conference, including updates on the Sc2.0 project
      itself, mammalian synthetic biology, DNA assembly automation, HGP-Write and a
      panel discussion on the social and ethical perspectives of synthetic biology.

PMID- 27633827
TI  - Palliative care needs and symptoms of nursing home residents with and without
      dementia: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - AIM: The aims of the present study were: (i) to describe palliative care needs
      and symptoms of older adults anticipated to be in the last year of their life in
      Flemish nursing homes (Belgium); and (ii) to evaluate whether these needs differ
      between residents with and without dementia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was
      carried out in 2014. Nurses and nursing assistants in 15 Flemish nursing homes
      (Belgium) completed the Palliative care Outcome Scale for 109 residents with
      palliative care needs. RESULTS: Pain, as well as other physical symptoms, was
      present in more than half of the nursing home residents according to caregivers.
      The most prominent needs occurred on psychosocial and spiritual domains, such as
      patient anxiety, support, finding life worth living and self-worth. Caregivers
      reported that residents with dementia experienced fewer physical symptoms apart
      from pain than did residents without dementia (coeffficient -0.73, 95% CI -1.18
      0.84; P = 0.001. Furthermore, residents with dementia received higher scores on
      the items "support" (coefficient 0.75; 95% CI 0.15-1.34, P = 0.015), "life
      worthwhile" (coeffficient 0.58; 95% CI 0.090-1.07, P = 0.020) and "self-worth"
      (coefficient 0.58, 95% CI 0.13-1.03, P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: According to
      caregivers, residents with dementia experienced fewer other physical symptoms
      (e.g. nausea) than residents without dementia. This, however, might be a result
      of an underdetection of other symptoms in nursing home residents with dementia.
      Furthermore, most challenges in nursing homes lie within the spiritual and
      psychosocial domains of palliative care, particularly in people with dementia.
      These aspects should be integrated in the professional education of caregivers.
      Assessment tools might be of help to improve the identification of needs and
      symptoms. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1501-1507.

PMID- 27633831
TI  - Sequence element enrichment analysis to determine the genetic basis of bacterial
      phenotypes.
AB  - Bacterial genomes vary extensively in terms of both gene content and gene
      sequence. This plasticity hampers the use of traditional SNP-based methods for
      identifying all genetic associations with phenotypic variation. Here we introduce
      a computationally scalable and widely applicable statistical method (SEER) for
      the identification of sequence elements that are significantly enriched in a
      phenotype of interest. SEER is applicable to tens of thousands of genomes by
      counting variable-length k-mers using a distributed string-mining algorithm.
      Robust options are provided for association analysis that also correct for the
      clonal population structure of bacteria. Using large collections of genomes of
      the major human pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes,
      SEER identifies relevant previously characterized resistance determinants for
      several antibiotics and discovers potential novel factors related to the
      invasiveness of S. pyogenes. We thus demonstrate that our method can answer
      important biologically and medically relevant questions.

PMID- 27633832
TI  - Enzymatic Synthesis of Sequence-Defined Synthetic Nucleic Acid Polymers with
      Diverse Functional Groups.
AB  - The development and in-depth analysis of T4 DNA ligase-catalyzed DNA templated
      oligonucleotide polymerization toward the generation of diversely functionalized
      nucleic acid polymers is described. The NNNNT codon set enables low codon bias,
      high fidelity, and high efficiency for the polymerization of ANNNN libraries
      comprising various functional groups. The robustness of the method was
      highlighted in the copolymerization of a 256-membered ANNNN library comprising 16
      sub-libraries modified with different functional groups. This enabled the
      generation of diversely functionalized synthetic nucleic acid polymer libraries
      with 93.8 % fidelity. This process should find ready application in DNA
      nanotechnology, DNA computing, and in vitro evolution of functional nucleic acid
      polymers.

PMID- 27633833
TI  - A "plan B": When and how to develop your alternative research project.

PMID- 27633834
TI  - Population-level interventions in government jurisdictions for dietary sodium
      reduction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Excess dietary sodium consumption is a risk factor for high blood
      pressure, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Currently, dietary sodium
      consumption in almost every country is too high. Excess sodium intake is
      associated with high blood pressure, which is common and costly and accounts for
      significant burden of disease. A large number of jurisdictions worldwide have
      implemented population-level dietary sodium reduction initiatives. No systematic
      review has examined the impact of these initiatives. OBJECTIVES: * To assess the
      impact of population-level interventions for dietary sodium reduction in
      government jurisdictions worldwide.* To assess the differential impact of those
      initiatives by social and economic indicators. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the
      following electronic databases from their start date to 5 January 2015: the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); Cochrane Public Health
      Group Specialised Register; MEDLINE; MEDLINE In Process & Other Non-Indexed
      Citations; EMBASE; Effective Public Health Practice Project Database; Web of
      Science; Trials Register of Promoting Health Interventions (TRoPHI) databases;
      and Latin American Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS). We also
      searched grey literature, other national sources and references of included
      studies.This review was conducted in parallel with a comprehensive review of
      national sodium reduction efforts under way worldwide (Trieu 2015), through which
      we gained additional information directly from country contacts.We imposed no
      restrictions on language or publication status. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included
      population-level initiatives (i.e. interventions that target whole populations,
      in this case, government jurisdictions, worldwide) for dietary sodium reduction,
      with at least one pre-intervention data point and at least one post-intervention
      data point of comparable jurisdiction. We included populations of all ages and
      the following types of study designs: cluster-randomised, controlled pre-post,
      interrupted time series and uncontrolled pre-post. We contacted study authors at
      different points in the review to ask for missing information. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors extracted data, and two review authors assessed
      risk of bias for each included initiative.We analysed the impact of initiatives
      by using estimates of sodium consumption from dietary surveys or urine samples.
      All estimates were converted to a common metric: salt intake in grams per day. We
      analysed impact by computing the mean change in salt intake (grams per day) from
      pre-intervention to post-intervention. MAIN RESULTS: We reviewed a total of 881
      full-text documents. From these, we identified 15 national initiatives, including
      more than 260,000 people, that met the inclusion criteria. None of the
      initiatives were provided in lower-middle-income or low-income countries. All
      initiatives except one used an uncontrolled pre-post study design.Because of high
      levels of study heterogeneity (I2 > 90%), we focused on individual initiatives
      rather than on pooled results.Ten initiatives provided sufficient data for
      quantitative analysis of impact (64,798 participants). As required by the Grades
      of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method, we
      graded the evidence as very low due to the risk of bias of the included studies,
      as well as variation in the direction and size of effect across the studies. Five
      of these showed mean decreases in average daily salt intake per person from pre
      intervention to post-intervention, ranging from 1.15 grams/day less (Finland) to
      0.35 grams/day less (Ireland). Two initiatives showed mean increase in salt
      intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention: Canada (1.66) and Switzerland
      (0.80 grams/day more per person. The remaining initiatives did not show a
      statistically significant mean change.Seven of the 10 initiatives were multi
      component and incorporated intervention activities of a structural nature (e.g.
      food product reformulation, food procurement policy in specific settings). Of
      those seven initiatives, four showed a statistically significant mean decrease in
      salt intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention, ranging from Finland to
      Ireland (see above), and one showed a statistically significant mean increase in
      salt intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention (Switzerland; see
      above).Nine initiatives permitted quantitative analysis of differential impact by
      sex (men and women separately). For women, three initiatives (China, Finland,
      France) showed a statistically significant mean decrease, four (Austria,
      Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom) showed no significant change and two
      (Canada, United States) showed a statistically significant mean increase in salt
      intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention. For men, five initiatives
      (Austria, China, Finland, France, United Kingdom) showed a statistically
      significant mean decrease, three (Netherlands, Switzerland, United States) showed
      no significant change and one (Canada) showed a statistically significant mean
      increase in salt intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention.Information
      was insufficient to indicate whether a differential change in mean salt intake
      occurred from pre-intervention to post-intervention by other axes of equity
      included in the PROGRESS framework (e.g. education, place of residence).We
      identified no adverse effects of these initiatives.The number of initiatives was
      insufficient to permit other subgroup analyses, including stratification by
      intervention type, economic status of country and duration (or start year) of the
      initiative.Many studies had methodological strengths, including large, nationally
      representative samples of the population and rigorous measurement of dietary
      sodium intake. However, all studies were scored as having high risk of bias,
      reflecting the observational nature of the research and the use of an
      uncontrolled study design. The quality of evidence for the main outcome was low.
      We could perform a sensitivity analysis only for impact. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Population-level interventions in government jurisdictions for dietary sodium
      reduction have the potential to result in population-wide reductions in salt
      intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention, particularly if they are multi
      component (more than one intervention activity) and incorporate intervention
      activities of a structural nature (e.g. food product reformulation), and
      particularly amongst men. Heterogeneity across studies was significant,
      reflecting different contexts (population and setting) and initiative
      characteristics. Implementation of future initiatives should embed more effective
      means of evaluation to help us better understand the variation in the effects.

PMID- 27633835
TI  - Synapse pathology and translational applications for schizophrenia.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder, with an
      estimated lifetime prevalence of 0.7%. Despite its relatively low prevalence, the
      onset of schizophrenia usually occurs early in life, resulting in a severe
      lifelong disability for patients and increasing the economic and care burden on
      their families. This makes schizophrenia one of the most catastrophic mental
      illnesses. Although the etiology of schizophrenia remains poorly understood,
      clinical, genetic, and pharmacological studies have indicated that its
      pathophysiology involves synaptic disturbances. Here, I review the evidence
      suggesting synaptic disturbance as the causal pathophysiology of schizophrenia
      and discuss the possible application of synaptic intervention as a novel
      therapeutic strategy for schizophrenia.

PMID- 27633836
TI  - Functional dissection of inhibitory microcircuits in the visual cortex.
AB  - Cerebral cortex contains various types of GABAergic neurons exerting local
      inhibition. Although the number of GABAergic inhibitory neurons is much smaller
      than glutamatergic excitatory neurons, they show greater diversity in their
      morphological and physiological properties. Genetic markers for distinct sub
      classes of GABAergic neurons have been identified, and technical advances
      achieved in the past few decades have brought about a demonstration of a unique
      function of each sub-class of GABAergic neurons in the cortex. In particular,
      visual processing in the cortex requires inhibitory function of various GABAergic
      neurons. Here, we summarize current understandings on the function of inhibitory
      neurons in the cortex, especially focusing on their roles in visual processing.

PMID- 27633837
TI  - Stable isotope ratio method for the characterisation of the poultry house
      environment.
AB  - Stable isotope analysis was applied to describe the poultry house environment.
      The poultry house indoor environment was selected for this study due to the
      relevant health problems in animals and their caretakers. Air quality parameters
      including temperature, relative humidity, airflow rate, NH3, CO2 and total
      suspended particles, as well as mean levels of total airborne bacteria and fungi
      count, were measured. Carbon isotope ratios (13C/12C) were obtained in size
      segregated aerosol particles. The carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) isotope
      ratios were measured in feed, litter, scrapings from the ventilation system,
      feathers and eggs. Additionally, the distribution of delta13C and delta15N values
      in different tissues of the chicken was examined. The airborne bacteria and fungi
      extracted from the air filters collected from poultry farms were grown in the
      laboratory in media with known isotope values and measured for stable isotope
      ratios. Analysis of isotope fractionation between microorganisms and their media
      indicated the applicability of stable isotope analysis in bulk samples for the
      identification of source material. The analysed examples imply that stable
      isotope analysis can be used to examine the indoor environment along with its
      biology and ecology, and serve as an informative bioanalytical tool.

PMID- 27633838
TI  - Chemically defined serum-free conditions for cartilage regeneration from human
      embryonic stem cells.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to improve a method that induce cartilage
      differentiation of human embryoid stem cells (hESCs) in vitro, and test the
      effect of in vivo environments on the further maturation of hESCs derived cells.
      MAIN METHODS: Embryoid bodies (EBs) formed from hESCs, with serum-free KSR-based
      medium and mesodermal specification related factors, CHIR, and Noggin for first
      8days. Then cells were digested and cultured as micropellets in serum-free KSR
      based chondrogenic medium that was supplemented with PDGF-BB, TGF beta3, BMP4 in
      sequence for 24days. The morphology, FACS, histological staining as well as the
      expression of chondrogenic specific genes were detected in each stage, and
      further in vivo experiments, cell injections and tissue transplantations, further
      verified the formation of chondrocytes. KEY FINDINGS: We were able to obtain
      chondrocyte/cartilage from hESCs using serum-free KSR-based conditioned medium.
      qPCR analysis showed that expression of the chondroprogenitor genes and the
      chondrocyte/cartilage matrix genes. Morphology analysis demonstrated we got
      PG+COL2+COL1-particles. It indicated we obtained hyaline cartilage-like
      particles. 32-Day differential cells were injected subcutaneous. Staining results
      showed grafts developed further mature in vivo. But when transplanted in subrenal
      capsule, their effect was not good as in subcutaneous. Microenvironment might
      affect the cartilage formation. SIGNIFICANCE: The results of this study provide
      an absolute serum-free and efficient approach for generation of hESC-derived
      chondrocytes, and cells will become further maturation in vivo. It provides
      evidence and technology for the hypothesis that hESCs may be a promising therapy
      for the treatment of cartilage disease.

PMID- 27633839
TI  - MiRNA-30e mediated cardioprotection of ACE2 in rats with Doxorubicin-induced
      heart failure through inhibiting cardiomyocytes autophagy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: miRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that has been proved to be
      involved in cardioprotection. The present study was to detect role of miR-30e in
      cardiac-protective action of ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2). METHODS:
      Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups and received treatment for a total
      of 6weeks: group1, normal rats; group2, Doxorubicin-induced heart cardiomyopathy
      (DHC) rats; and group3, rhACE2 (recombinant human ACE2) treated DHC rats.
      Doxorubicin was discontinuously administered via intraperitoneal injection.
      Primary cardiomyocytes and H9C2 cell line were used for in vitro experiments. MiR
      30a, miR-30c and miR-30e expression were determined using qRT-PCR. Expression of
      autophagy associated gene expression including Beclin-1 and LC3 II/I were
      determined using western blot. Cell apoptosis was evaluated using TUNEL assay.
      RESULTS: Administration of ACE2 suppressed harmful action of Doxorubicin and
      caused a significant improvement of left ventricular contractility function,
      upregulation in miR-30 (a, c and e) expression, and inhibition in Beclin-1
      expression and LC3-II/I ratio. This was supported by results of Ad-ACE2-incubated
      primary cardiomyocytes. By manipulating miR-30e expression in H9C2 cells, we
      observed that miR-30e regulated Beclin-1 expression via inhibiting its 3'UTR
      activity. MiR-30e mimic treatment resulted in downregulation of Beclin-1 and
      protected primary cardiomyocytes against apoptosis. Moreover, silencing miR-30e
      induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis was abrogated by ACE2 overexpresssion. This was
      further confirmed by in vivo DHC rat experiments that showed that co-injected
      ACE2 and miR-30 inhibitor reduced cardiac function. CONCLUSION: In summary,
      administration of ACE2 attenuates Doxorubicin-induced cardiac dysfunction via
      preservation of cardiomyocytes autophagy in a miR-30e/beclin-1 signal pathway.

PMID- 27633840
TI  - Influence of Early Descemet Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty on Visual Outcomes
      in Pseudophakic Corneal Edema.
AB  - PURPOSE: Longstanding corneal edema can lead to anterior stromal scarring that
      may limit visual acuity following Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty
      (DSEK). The ideal time to perform DSEK to prevent permanent changes is unclear.
      Our aim is to determine whether earlier DSEK is associated with improved visual
      outcomes. DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: Setting: Institutional. STUDY
      POPULATION: Total of 120 eyes of patients who underwent DSEK for corneal edema
      following cataract surgery (CE); 87% of eyes had a diagnosis of Fuchs dystrophy.
      INTERVENTION: Post-DSEK visual acuity was compared in patients who underwent DSEK
      <=6 months vs >6 months after CE. Linear and logistic regression were performed
      to assess the relationships between DSEK timing and best spectacle-corrected
      visual acuity (BSCVA) while accounting for baseline preoperative patient
      characteristics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Postoperative best-corrected visual
      acuity 6 months after DSEK (POM6 BSCVA). RESULTS: Median CE-to-DSEK time was 8.62
      (interquartile range [IQR] 12.28) months (n = 120). Overall median preoperative
      VA and POM6 BSCVA were 0.54 (IQR 0.68) and 0.24 (IQR 0.16), respectively. Median
      POM6 BSCVA was better in patients with CE-to-DSEK time <=6 months (median 0.18,
      IQR 0.19) vs >6 months (median 0.30, IQR 0.21) (P = .014). A significant
      relationship was found between CE-to-DSEK time and POM6 BSCVA (coefficient =
      0.002, P = .033), accounting for preoperative vision and pachymetry. Patients who
      underwent DSEK <=6 months after CE were more likely to achieve POM6 BSCVA better
      than 20/40 (odds ratio = 3.73 P = .035). CONCLUSION: Performing earlier DSEK for
      pseudophakic corneal edema appears to be associated with improved vision. Further
      prospective study is warranted to determine the optimal time to perform DSEK in
      patients with pseudophakic corneal edema.

PMID- 27633841
TI  - Degradation of Contrast Sensitivity Function Following Posterior Vitreous
      Detachment.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) on
      contrast sensitivity function (CSF) in previously normal eyes, with the
      hypothesis that PVD reduces CSF. DESIGN: Prospective observational case series.
      METHODS: At a single clinical practice 28 eyes were evaluated: 8 eyes of 8 adults
      (mean age 54.4 +/- 10.1 years; range 39-68 years) with normal CSF documented by
      Freiburg Acuity Contrast Testing (Weber index: %W) who subsequently experienced
      PVD, as confirmed by ultrasonography and optical coherence tomography; 8 fellow
      eyes without PVD; and 12 control eyes: 9 eyes with PVD in patients who chose
      observation and 3 fellow eyes without PVD. RESULTS: At study entry there was no
      significant difference in CSF of fellow eye controls (mean 1.44 +/- 0.27 %W;
      range 1.06-2.00 %W) and eyes that subsequently developed PVD (1.81 +/- 0.61 %W; P
      = .146; range 1.01-2.69 %W). Following PVD there was a 52.5% reduction in CSF
      (2.76 +/- 0.30 %W; P = .001; range 2.25-3.14 %W). CSF in the patients who chose
      limited vitrectomy (2.51 +/- 0.46 %W; range 2.03-3.06 %W) was 41.8% worse than in
      the eyes with PVD of patients who chose observation (1.46 +/- 0.21 %W; P = .001;
      range 1.08-1.87 %W). After vitrectomy, CSF improved by an average of 43.2%,
      normalizing in each case at 1 month (CSF 1.51 +/- 0.28 %W; P = .001; range 1.14
      2.00 %W), 3 months (1.38 +/- 0.10 %W; P = .0002; range 1.28-1.51 %W), and 12
      months (1.34 +/- 0.34 %W; P = .0001; range 1.01-1.89 %W, n = 5) postoperatively,
      attaining the same CSF as the control fellow eyes (1.34 +/- 0.20 %W; range 1.06
      1.56 %W). CONCLUSION: PVD is associated with significant reduction in CSF of
      previously normal eyes. This quantifiable negative impact on visual function can
      distinguish patients who are not significantly bothered by vitreous floaters from
      those with clinically significant symptoms.

PMID- 27633842
TI  - Hierarchical Layer Engineering Using Supramolecular Double-Comb Diblock
      Copolymers.
AB  - The formation of unusual multilayered parallel lamellae-in-lamellae in symmetric
      supramolecular double-comb diblock copolymers is presented. While keeping the
      concentration of surfactant fixed, the number of internal layers was found to
      increase with molecular weight M up to 34 for the largest block copolymer. The
      number of internal structures n was established to scale as M0.67 and therefore
      enables easy design of such structures with great precision.

PMID- 27633843
TI  - Global Metabolic Stress of Isoeffort Continuous and High Intensity Interval
      Aerobic Exercise: A Comparative 1H NMR Metabonomic Study.
AB  - The overall metabolic/energetic stress that occurs during an acute bout of
      exercise is proposed to be the main driving force for long-term training
      adaptations. Continuous and high-intensity interval exercise protocols (HIIE) are
      currently prescribed to acquire the muscular and metabolic benefits of aerobic
      training. We applied 1H NMR-based metabonomics to compare the overall metabolic
      perturbation and activation of individual bioenergetic pathways of three popular
      aerobic exercises matched for effort/strain. Nine men performed continuous, long
      interval (3 min), and short-interval (30 s) bouts of exercise under isoeffort
      conditions. Blood was collected before and after exercise. The multivariate PCA
      and OPLS-DA models showed a distinct separation of pre- and postexercise samples
      in three protocols. The two models did not discriminate the postexercise overall
      metabolic profiles of the three exercise types. Analysis focused on muscle
      bioenergetic pathways revealed an extensive upregulation of carbohydrate-lipid
      metabolism and the TCA cycle in all three protocols; there were only a few
      differences among protocols in the postexercise abundance of molecules when long
      interval bouts were performed. In conclusion, continuous and HIIE exercise
      protocols, when performed with similar effort/strain, induce comparable global
      metabolic response/stress despite their marked differences in work-bout
      intensities. This study highlights the importance of NMR metabonomics in
      comprehensive monitoring of metabolic consequences of exercise training in the
      blood of athletes and exercising individuals.

PMID- 27633844
TI  - Slowly dispersing neotenic beetles can speciate on a penny coin and generate
      space-limited diversity in the tropical mountains.
AB  - We demonstrate the controversial origin of a biological species within an area of
      a few kilometres in the absence of physical barriers. We employed nuclear
      rRNA/mitochondrial and genome-wide SNP approaches to infer relationships of four
      species of net-winged beetles characterised by female neoteny. Three species are
      distributed at low elevations and a single population colonised a 40 km(2)
      highland plateau and established distinct biological species despite incomplete
      genetic isolation. The speciation process is extreme in the highly localised
      spatial scale, due to the low dispersal power of neotenics, and provides clear
      support for a microallopatric model based on ecological conditions. In contrast
      with neutral evolution in a homogenous environment, as demonstrated by the
      genetic divergence and morphological similarity of two widely distributed low
      mountain species, the environmental characteristics of the high-mountain plateau
      led to the origin of a species adapted to the local mimetic pattern and
      characterised by morphologically distinct genitalia. We conclude that the low
      dispersal propensity promotes neutral genetic differentiation in the first stage,
      but environmental characteristics play an important role the final phase of the
      speciation process. The unexpected speciation at such an extreme geographic scale
      points to the in situ origin and uniqueness of the mountain fauna.

PMID- 27633845
TI  - Predictive Factors for Inpatient Falls among Children with Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inpatient falls are of significant concern. The aim of this
      prospective study was to determine the predictors of inpatient falls among
      children with cerebral palsy in a rehabilitation hospital. DESIGN AND METHODS: A
      total of 93 patients with cerebral palsy were assessed based on history, physical
      findings, the Selective Motor Control Test, the Gross Motor Functional
      Classification System, the Berg Balance Scale and the Manual Ability
      Classification System. Previous history of falls/frequent falls, and any falls
      which occurred during hospitalization, were recorded. RESULTS: Of all 93
      patients, 25 (27%) fell and 68 (73%) did not fall. The mean age of the fallers
      (6.3+/-2.0 years) was lower than that of the non-fallers (8.1+/-3.9 years).
      Behavioral problems according to the mother's statement (OR 26.454), not being
      able to maintain a long sitting position (OR 10.807), ability to balance on knees
      without support (OR 9.810), a history of frequent falls (OR 4.893) and a negative
      Thomas test (OR 4.192 fold) were found to increase the risk of inpatient falls.
      CONCLUSIONS: In these children with cerebral palsy, behavioral problems according
      to the mother's statement, a history of frequent falls, not being able to
      maintain a long sitting position, a negative Thomas test, and able to balance on
      knees without support were associated with the risk of inpatient falls. Children
      with cerebral palsy may experience inpatient falls. Further studies are required
      in order to develop prevention programs. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: For patients
      diagnosed with cerebral palsy, these results may help identify possible inpatient
      fallers on hospital admission.

PMID- 27633846
TI  - Neuroproteomic tools for battling Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - With the life expectancy of individuals in the developed nations reaching
      historic highs, the incidence of dementia within the aging population is also
      increasing. Of the known causes of dementia, the major culprit is Alzheimer's
      disease (AD). The numbers of individuals suffering from AD is expected to nearly
      triple over the next 35 years unless medical science can identify better methods
      for diagnosing and treating AD. Fortunately, proteomics technologies have not
      only rapidly matured in the past few decades but also have been effectively
      applied so that the biomarkers of AD can be more effectively vetted and analyzed.
      The effectiveness of the technologies described in this paper enable the efficacy
      of drugs aimed at treating AD to be tested much faster than the previously
      possible and enable the more accurate selection of patients that are suitable for
      clinical trials.

PMID- 27633847
TI  - Extreme climatic events constrain space use and survival of a ground-nesting
      bird.
AB  - Two fundamental issues in ecology are understanding what influences the
      distribution and abundance of organisms through space and time. While it is well
      established that broad-scale patterns of abiotic and biotic conditions affect
      organisms' distributions and population fluctuations, discrete events may be
      important drivers of space use, survival, and persistence. These discrete extreme
      climatic events can constrain populations and space use at fine scales beyond
      that which is typically measured in ecological studies. Recently, a growing body
      of literature has identified thermal stress as a potential mechanism in
      determining space use and survival. We sought to determine how ambient
      temperature at fine temporal scales affected survival and space use for a ground
      nesting quail species (Colinus virginianus; northern bobwhite). We modeled space
      use across an ambient temperature gradient (ranging from -20 to 38  degrees C)
      through a maxent algorithm. We also used Andersen-Gill proportional hazard models
      to assess the influence of ambient temperature-related variables on survival
      through time. Estimated available useable space ranged from 18.6% to 57.1% of the
      landscape depending on ambient temperature. The lowest and highest ambient
      temperature categories (<-15  degrees C and >35  degrees C, respectively) were
      associated with the least amount of estimated useable space (18.6% and 24.6%,
      respectively). Range overlap analysis indicated dissimilarity in areas where
      Colinus virginianus were restricted during times of thermal extremes (range
      overlap = 0.38). This suggests that habitat under a given condition is not
      necessarily a habitat under alternative conditions. Further, we found survival
      was most influenced by weekly minimum ambient temperatures. Our results
      demonstrate that ecological constraints can occur along a thermal gradient and
      that understanding the effects of these discrete events and how they change over
      time may be more important to conservation of organisms than are average and
      broad-scale conditions as typically measured in ecological studies.

PMID- 27633848
TI  - Superfluidity enhanced by spin-flip tunnelling in the presence of a magnetic
      field.
AB  - It is well-known that when the magnetic field is stronger than a critical value,
      the spin imbalance can break the Cooper pairs of electrons and hence hinder the
      superconductivity in a spin-singlet channel. In a bilayer system of ultra-cold
      Fermi gases, however, we demonstrate that the critical value of the magnetic
      field at zero temperature can be significantly increased by including a spin-flip
      tunnelling, which opens a gap in the spin-triplet channel near the Fermi surface
      and hence reduces the influence of the effective magnetic field on the
      superfluidity. The phase transition also changes from first order to second order
      when the tunnelling exceeds a critical value. Considering a realistic experiment,
      this mechanism can be implemented by applying an intralayer Raman coupling
      between the spin states with a phase difference between the two layers.

PMID- 27633850
TI  - New perspectives on childhood memory.

PMID- 27633849
TI  - Molecular identification, antifungal resistance and virulence of Cryptococcus
      neoformans and Cryptococcus deneoformans isolated in Seville, Spain.
AB  - Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the leading causes of death in HIV/AIDS
      patients. Our aim was to in order to characterise the epidemiology, antifungal
      susceptibility pattern and virulence of 28 Cyptococcus sp. strains recovered from
      12 AIDS patients during two years in a Spanish single institution. Antifungal
      susceptibility testing was performed according to the CLSI protocols. Clinical
      strains were molecularly characterised by serotyping, mating type, PCR
      fingerprinting (M13 and GACA4 microsatellites) and analysis of two rDNA regions
      (IGS1 and ITS). Sequencing of the ERG11 gene was used to explore mechanisms of
      fluconazole resistance. Differences in virulence between species were studied in
      a Galleria mellonella infection model. Cryptococcus deneoformans and C.
      deneoformans x Cryptococcus neoformans hybrids were the most frequent variety
      (65%) followed by C. neoformans (35%). Strains were categorised according to 13
      microsatellite genotypes and mixed infections could be detected in three
      patients. Twenty-nine per cent of the strains were fluconazole resistant. In one
      of the patients, the fluconazole resistance phenotype was associated with a point
      mutation in the ERG11 gene responsible for the amino acid substitution G470R. C.
      neoformans strains were able to kill G. mellonella larvae more efficiently than
      C. deneoformans and hybrids between both species. Precisely molecular
      characterisation of C. neoformans species is important for an accurate patient's
      management.

PMID- 27633854
TI  - Study of Splicing Factor, Proline- and Glutamine-rich by Proteomic Techniques in
      Human Malignant and Nonmalignant Cell Lines.
AB  - Splicing factor, proline- and glutamine-rich protein (SFPQ), was identified in
      eight human cultivated cell lines by proteomic approaches. The cell proteins have
      been separated by means of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in two
      modifications and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass
      spectrometry with further tandem mass spectrometry. The analysis of proteins from
      three human sarcomas cell lines (RD, U-2 OS and SK-UT-1B), three human renal
      adenocarcinomas cell lines (A-498, 769-P and OKP-GS), and two prostate
      adenocarcinomas cell lines (DU-145 and PC-3) revealed several electrophoretic
      isoforms of SFPQ protein. Differences between theoretical and experimental
      molecular masses and isoelectric points of SFPQ protein have been observed.
      Detailed investigation of SFPQ peptides by tandem mass spectrometry has detected
      new phosphorylation state of threonine residue in 168 position of SFPQ isoform in
      rhabdomyosarcoma cell line. Furthermore, SFPQ has not been identified during
      proteomic study of several nonmalignant cell lines, including cultured human
      mesenchymal stromal cells and myoblasts. However, SFPQ has been found in all
      malignant cell lines in high quantity. In particular, its fractions are abundant
      in sarcomas cell lines as opposed to nonmalignant mesenchymal cells. It is
      assumed that high quantity of SFPQ in sarcomas cell lines may affect
      tumorigenesis.

PMID- 27633853
TI  - MicroRNA-181a promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis by suppressing CFIm25
      in osteosarcoma.
AB  - MicroRNA-181a (miR-181a) is upregulated in osteosarcoma, and its overexpression
      promotes the proliferation and inhibits the apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells.
      However, the mechanism of miR-181a as an oncogene remains to be fully elucidated
      in osteosarcoma. Cleavage factor (CF) Im25 links alternative polyadenylation to
      glioblastoma tumor suppression, however, its role in osteosarcoma has not been
      reported. In the present study, it was confirmed that the expression of miR-181a
      was upregulated in osteosarcoma, and that silencing miR-181a inhibited the
      proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells. miRNAs are short
      non-coding RNAs, which regulate target mRNAs by binding predominantly to the
      3'untranslated region (3'UTR), inducing either translational repression or
      degradation of the target. In the present study, target genes of miR-181a were
      screened using miRanda, which is a commonly used prediction algorithm. It was
      found that miR-181a targeted the 3'UTR of CFIm25 mRNA. Subsequent experiments
      confirmed that miR-181a downregulated the expression of CFIm25 in osteosarcoma
      cells. Finally, it was demonstrated that the CFIm25 protein was also
      downregulated in osteosarcoma tissues, and inhibited the proliferation and
      promoted the apoptosis of the cells. Elucidating the roles of miR-181a and CFIm25
      in osteosarcoma not only assists in further understanding the pathogenesis and
      progression of this disease, but also offers novel targets for effective
      therapies.

PMID- 27633855
TI  - Effect of Chaperones on Prion Protein PrP23-98 Aggregation In Vitro.
AB  - Recent studies have indicated that PrP23-98, an N-terminal portion of PrP,
      polymerizes into amyloid-like and proteinase K (PK)-resistant aggregates in the
      presence of NADPH with copper ions [19], and then that CRT suppressed aggregation
      of PrP23-98 and also promoted solubilization of the aggregates [18]. As it is
      interesting to find out whether other chaperones can inhibit aggregation of PrP23
      98 in vitro similar to CRT, this study was conducted to determine whether BiP,
      Grp94, PDI Grp58 and heat shock cognate protein70 (Hsc70) can inhibit aggregation
      of PrP23-98 in vitro. The present results indicated that Grp94 suppressed
      aggregation of PrP23-98, but that Grp94 could not mediate solubilization occurred
      in the aggregates in contrast to CRT. Other chaperons induced aggregation of
      PrP23-98 in the absence of NADPH.

PMID- 27633856
TI  - Grasping for Traits or Reasons? How People Grapple With Puzzling Social
      Behaviors.
AB  - Within social psychology, it is well accepted that trait inference is the
      dominant tool for understanding others' behavior. Outside of social psychology, a
      different consensus has emerged, namely, that people predominantly explain
      behavior in terms of mental states. Both positions are based on limited evidence.
      The trait literature focuses on trait ascriptions to persons, not explanations of
      behavior. The mental state literature focuses on explanations of ordinary
      behaviors (for which social scripts provide mental states), not of expectancy
      violating behaviors. We examined the critical test case for the two opposing
      positions: explanations of expectancy-violating behaviors. Participants provided
      open-ended explanations of puzzling actions, which were content-analyzed for use
      of mental states, traits, and other causal background factors. Across four
      studies, three stimulus sets, and two subpopulations, people overwhelmingly
      offered mental states when explaining puzzling actions (compared with ordinary
      actions), while they struggled to generate traits and other background factors.

PMID- 27633858
TI  - Effect of resveratrol on cancer progression through the REG III expression
      pathway in head and neck cancer cells.
AB  - Identification of reliable markers of chemo- and radiosensitivity and the key
      molecules that enhance the susceptibility of head and neck squamous cell
      carcinoma (HNSCC) to anticancer treatments is highly desirable. Previously, we
      have reported that regenerating gene (REG) III expression was such a marker
      associated with an improved survival rate for HNSCC patients. In the present
      study, we investigated the stimulators for induction of REG III expression using
      REG III promoter assay in HNSCC cells transfected with REG III promoter vector.
      We tested inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, polyphenols, PPARgamma
      activator of thiazolidinediones, and histone deacetylase inhibitors, and found
      that 3,4',5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene (resveratrol) significantly increased the
      REG III promoter activity and the mRNA levels of REG III in HNSCC cells.
      Moreover, we demonstrated the effect of resveratrol on cancer cell progression,
      such as cell proliferation, chemo- and radiosensitivity and cancer invasion of
      HNSCC cells. Resveratrol significantly inhibited cell growth, enhanced chemo- and
      radiosensitivity, and blocked cancer invasion of HNSCC cells. These data
      suggested that resveratrol could inhibit cancer progression through the REG III
      expression pathway in HNSCC cells.

PMID- 27633857
TI  - Regulation of osteoblast development by Bcl-2-associated athanogene-1 (BAG-1).
AB  - BCL-2-associated athanogene-1 (BAG-1) is expressed by osteoblast-lineage cells;
      early embryonic lethality in Bag-1 null mice, however, has limited the
      investigation of BAG-1 function in osteoblast development. In the present study,
      bone morphogenetic protein-2/BMP-2-directed osteogenic differentiation of bone
      marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) of Bag-1(+/-) (heterozygous) female mice was
      decreased significantly. Genes crucial for osteogenic differentiation, bone
      matrix formation and mineralisation were expressed at significantly lower levels
      in cultures of Bag-1(+/-) BMSCs supplemented with BMP-2, while genes with roles
      in inhibition of BMP-2-directed osteoblastogenesis were significantly
      upregulated. 17-beta-estradiol (E2) enhanced responsiveness of BMSCs of wild-type
      and Bag-1(+/-) mice to BMP-2, and promoted robust BMP-2-stimulated osteogenic
      differentiation of BMSCs. BAG-1 can modulate cellular responses to E2 by
      regulating the establishment of functional estrogen receptors (ERs), crucially,
      via its interaction with heat shock proteins (HSC70/HSP70). Inhibition of BAG-1
      binding to HSC70 by the small-molecule chemical inhibitor, Thioflavin-S, and a
      short peptide derived from the C-terminal BAG domain, which mediates binding with
      the ATPase domain of HSC70, resulted in significant downregulation of E2/ER
      facilitated BMP-2-directed osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. These studies
      demonstrate for the first time the significance of BAG-1-mediated protein-protein
      interactions, specifically, BAG-1-regulated activation of ER by HSC70, in
      modulation of E2-facilitated BMP-2-directed osteoblast development.

PMID- 27633862
TI  - Transient antenatal Bartter's Syndrome and X-linked polyhydramnios: insights from
      the genetics of a rare condition.
AB  - The discovery that mutations in MAGED2 cause a rare and transient form of
      antenatal Bartter's Syndrome may have implications beyond the very small number
      of affected families. Understanding the mechanism by which this severe form of
      Bartter's Syndrome resolves after birth could also provide new insights into the
      regulation of tubular transport and the response to tissue hypoxia.

PMID- 27633859
TI  - Extracellular vesicles shed by melanoma cells contain a modified form of H1.0
      linker histone and H1.0 mRNA-binding proteins.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are now recognized as a fundamental way for cell-to
      cell horizontal transfer of properties, in both physiological and pathological
      conditions. Most of EV-mediated cross-talk among cells depend on the exchange of
      proteins, and nucleic acids, among which mRNAs, and non-coding RNAs such as
      different species of miRNAs. Cancer cells, in particular, use EVs to discard
      molecules which could be dangerous to them (for example differentiation-inducing
      proteins such as histone H1.0, or antitumor drugs), to transfer molecules which,
      after entering the surrounding cells, are able to transform their phenotype, and
      even to secrete factors, which allow escaping from immune surveillance. Herein we
      report that melanoma cells not only secrete EVs which contain a modified form of
      H1.0 histone, but also transport the corresponding mRNA. Given the already known
      role in tumorigenesis of some RNA binding proteins (RBPs), we also searched for
      proteins of this class in EVs. This study revealed the presence in A375 melanoma
      cells of at least three RBPs, with apparent MW of about 65, 45 and 38 kDa, which
      are able to bind H1.0 mRNA. Moreover, we purified one of these proteins, which by
      MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was identified as the already known transcription
      factor MYEF2.

PMID- 27633860
TI  - Risk of dying from early prostate cancer is low regardless of treatment, study
      finds.

PMID- 27633863
TI  - Diving into the abyss of undiscovered kidney function-related factors.
AB  - Meta-analyses and reintroduction of biological knowledge are 2 classic strategies
      to increase genomewide association study statistical power and overcome the
      burden of multiple testing. These strategies have empowered the nephrology
      community to discover new signals associated with kidney function and
      nephropathies. Here we discuss the current genomewide association study
      limitations and strategies to dive further into the abyss of yet-to-be discovered
      kidney function-related factors.

PMID- 27633864
TI  - Complement contributes to the pathogenesis of Shiga toxin-associated hemolytic
      uremic syndrome.
AB  - Complement is activated during Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli-associated
      hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS). There is evidence of complement activation
      via the alternative pathway in STEC-HUS patients as well as from in vivo and in
      vitro models. Ozaki et al. demonstrate activation of the mannose-binding lectin
      (MBL) pathway in Shiga toxin-treated mice expressing human MBL2, but lacking
      murine Mbls. Treatment with anti-human MBL2 antibody was protective, suggesting
      that MBL pathway activation also contributes to Shiga toxin-mediated renal
      injury.

PMID- 27633865
TI  - Exploring the elusive link between subclinical fibrosis and clinical events in
      end-stage renal disease: does cardiac magnetic resonance imaging hold the key?
AB  - Extensive myocardial fibrosis is known to occur in patients undergoing dialysis
      due to a variety of mechanisms not necessarily restricted to coronary artery
      disease. Fibrosis may predispose to reentry arrhythmias and long-term myocardial
      dysfunction, and sudden death and congestive heart failure are the most frequent
      causes of death in patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. Despite the
      high accuracy of magnetic resonance for imaging of myocardial fibrosis, its use
      has been restricted by the risk of inducing nephrogenic systemic sclerosis with
      the injection of gadolinium. The development of new sequences that allow the
      detection and quantifying of the severity of extracellular myocardial fibrosis
      offers a chance to study the pathogenesis of this condition and identify
      potential interventions to retard or reverse it. Whether these will lead to an
      improved outcome needs to be prospectively tested.

PMID- 27633866
TI  - Toward quantitating the burden of glomerulonephritis in the United States.
AB  - Previous data attempting to quantitate the national burden of glomerulonephritis
      (GN) have been derived from regional biopsy series or end-stage renal disease
      registries. Wetmore et al. is the first to address this question based on claims
      data extracted from 2 large U.S. health care systems. Although there are
      limitations, it provides broad-based epidemiological data that demonstrate a
      significant underestimate of the extent of GN disease and provide an important
      first step in its quantitation.

PMID- 27633867
TI  - Mineral metabolism disturbances in kidney donors: smoke, no fire (yet).
AB  - Kasiske and colleagues studied mineral and bone metabolism after unilateral donor
      nephrectomy. Similar as to what is observed early in the course of chronic kidney
      disease, fibroblast growth factor 23 and parathyroid hormone concentrations were
      shown to be increased following kidney donation. High fibroblast growth factor 23
      and parathyroid hormone concentrations most probably are a compensatory mechanism
      to maintain normophosphatemia. Bone biomarker profiles in the study suggest
      increased bone turnover as trade-off. Limitations inherent to the assessed
      biomarkers, however, warrant a prudent interpretation.

PMID- 27633868
TI  - Estimating central blood pressure in the extreme vascular phenotype of advanced
      kidney disease.
AB  - Carlsen et al. demonstrated that the estimation of central blood pressure from
      peripheral tonometry does not work properly in patients with chronic kidney
      disease. We explore here the implications of this finding, first by considering
      the technical conditions for validating central BP monitors, then by discussing
      the possible causes for discrepancies between chronic kidney disease patients and
      usual study populations. Lastly, we review the merits and limits of the work by
      Carlsen et al.

PMID- 27633870
TI  - Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: it may no longer be all about podocytes.

PMID- 27633869
TI  - Novel cardiac nuclear magnetic resonance method for noninvasive assessment of
      myocardial fibrosis in hemodialysis patients.
AB  - Left ventricular hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis frequently occur in patients
      with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis therapy and are associated
      with poor prognosis. Native T1 mapping is a novel cardiac magnetic resonance
      imaging technique that measures native myocardial T1 relaxation, a surrogate of
      myocardial fibrosis. Here we compared global and segmental native myocardial T1
      time and global longitudinal, circumferential and segmental strain, and cardiac
      function of 35 hemodialysis patients and 22 control individuals. The median
      native global T1 time was significantly higher in the hemodialysis than the
      control group (1270 vs. 1085 ms), with the septal regions of hemodialysis
      patients having significantly higher median T1 times than nonseptal regions (1293
      vs. 1252 ms). The mean peak global circumferential strain and global longitudinal
      strain were both significantly reduced in hemodialysis patients compared with
      controls (-18.3 vs. -21.7 and -16.1 vs. -20.4, respectively). Systolic strain was
      also significantly reduced in the septum compared with the nonseptal myocardium
      in hemodialysis patients (-16.2 vs. -21.9) but not in control subjects. Global
      circumferential strain and longitudinal strain significantly correlated with
      global native T1 values (r = 0.41 and 0.55, respectively), and the septal native
      T1 significantly correlated with the septal systolic strain (r = 0.46). Thus,
      myocardial fibrosis may be assessed noninvasively with native T1 mapping; the
      interventricular septum appears to be particularly prone to the development of
      fibrosis in hemodialysis patients.

PMID- 27633872
TI  - APOL1 risk allele variants are absent in Indian patients with chronic kidney
      disease.

PMID- 27633871
TI  - Pre-pregnancy advice in chronic kidney disease: do not forget genetic counseling.

PMID- 27633873
TI  - Urinary phagocytic macrophages in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

PMID- 27633874
TI  - Gluteal rhabdomyolysis and renal failure due to simvastatin and amiodarone.

PMID- 27633875
TI  - The Case| A handful of hypertension.

PMID- 27633876
TI  - Atypical cells in a voided urine cytology specimen in a renal transplant
      recipient.
AB  - Voided urine is routinely collected from renal transplant patients to screen for
      polyomavirus. In rare cases, atypical lymphoid cells can be detected in voided
      urine and raise the suspicion of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder
      (PTLD). However, further immunohistochemistry of the cell block and flow
      cytometry is frequently limited by the low cellularity and poor preservation of
      voided urine. Therefore, PTLD of the renal allograft is usually diagnosed from
      tissue biopsy or nephrectomy specimens. Herein, we report a rare case of atypical
      cells in a voided urine cytology specimen from a kidney transplant recipient.
      Needle core biopsy of the renal allograft showed monomorphic PTLD. Diagn.
      Cytopathol. 2017;45:69-72. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633877
TI  - A Bayesian dose-finding design incorporating toxicity data from multiple
      treatment cycles.
AB  - Phase I oncology trials are designed to identify a safe dose with an acceptable
      toxicity profile. The dose is typically determined based on the probability of
      severe toxicity observed during the first treatment cycle, although patients
      continue to receive treatment for multiple cycles. In addition, the toxicity data
      from multiple types and grades are typically summarized into a single binary
      outcome of dose-limiting toxicity. A novel endpoint, the total toxicity profile,
      was previously developed to account for the multiple toxicity types and grades.
      In this work, we propose to account for longitudinal repeated measures of total
      toxicity profile over multiple treatment cycles, accounting for cumulative
      toxicity during dosing-finding. A linear mixed model was utilized in the Bayesian
      framework, with addition of Bayesian risk functions for decision-making in dose
      assignment. The performance of this design is evaluated using simulation studies
      and compared with the previously proposed quasi-likelihood continual reassessment
      method (QLCRM) design. Twelve clinical scenarios incorporating four different
      locations of maximum tolerated dose and three different time trends (decreasing,
      increasing, and no effect) were investigated. The proposed repeated measures
      design was comparable with the QLCRM when only cycle 1 data were utilized in dose
      finding; however, it demonstrated an improvement over the QLCRM when data from
      multiple cycles were used across all scenarios. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27633879
TI  - Copper(II) ions affect the gating dynamics of the 20S proteasome: a molecular and
      in cell study.
AB  - Due to their altered metabolism cancer cells are more sensitive to proteasome
      inhibition or changes of copper levels than normal cells. Thus, the development
      of copper complexes endowed with proteasome inhibition features has emerged as a
      promising anticancer strategy. However, limited information is available about
      the exact mechanism by which copper inhibits proteasome. Here we show that Cu(II)
      ions simultaneously inhibit the three peptidase activities of isolated 20S
      proteasomes with potencies (IC50) in the micromolar range. Cu(II) ions, in cell
      free conditions, neither catalyze red-ox reactions nor disrupt the assembly of
      the 20S proteasome but, rather, promote conformational changes associated to
      impaired channel gating. Notably, HeLa cells grown in a Cu(II)-supplemented
      medium exhibit decreased proteasome activity. This effect, however, was
      attenuated in the presence of an antioxidant. Our results suggest that if, on one
      hand, Cu(II)-inhibited 20S activities may be associated to conformational changes
      that favor the closed state of the core particle, on the other hand the complex
      effect induced by Cu(II) ions in cancer cells is the result of several concurring
      events including ROS-mediated proteasome flooding, and disassembly of the 26S
      proteasome into its 20S and 19S components.

PMID- 27633878
TI  - Chelation of hippocampal zinc enhances long-term potentiation and synaptic
      tagging/capture in CA1 pyramidal neurons of aged rats: implications to aging and
      memory.
AB  - Aging is associated with decline in cognitive functions, prominently in the
      memory consolidation and association capabilities. Hippocampus plays a crucial
      role in the formation and maintenance of long-term associative memories, and a
      significant body of evidence shows that impairments in hippocampal function
      correlate with aging-related memory loss. A number of studies have implicated
      alterations in hippocampal synaptic plasticity, such as long-term potentiation
      (LTP), in age-related cognitive decline although exact mechanisms underlying are
      not completely clear. Zinc deficiency and the resultant adverse effects on
      cognition have been well studied. However, the role of excess of zinc in synaptic
      plasticity, especially in aging, is not addressed well. Here, we have
      investigated the hippocampal zinc levels and the impairments in synaptic
      plasticity, such as LTP and synaptic tagging and capture (STC), in the CA1 region
      of acute hippocampal slices from 82- to 84-week-old male Wistar rats. We report
      increased zinc levels in the hippocampus of aged rats and also deficits in the
      tetani-induced and dopaminergic agonist-induced late-LTP and STC. The observed
      deficits in synaptic plasticity were restored upon chelation of zinc using a cell
      permeable chelator. These data suggest that functional plasticity and
      associativity can be successfully established in aged neural networks by
      chelating zinc with cell-permeable chelating agents.

PMID- 27633881
TI  - Viral encephalopathy and retinopathy in aquaculture: a review.
AB  - Viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER), otherwise known as viral nervous
      necrosis (VNN), is a major devastating threat for aquatic animals.
      Betanodaviruses have been isolated in at least 70 aquatic animal species in
      marine and in freshwater environments throughout the world, with the notable
      exception of South America. In this review, the main features of betanodavirus,
      including its diversity, its distribution and its transmission modes in fish, are
      firstly presented. Then, the existing diagnosis and detection methods, as well as
      the different control procedures of this disease, are reviewed. Finally, the
      potential of selective breeding, including both conventional and genomic
      selection, as an opportunity to obtain resistant commercial populations, is
      examined.

PMID- 27633880
TI  - Cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy with
      lobaplatin and docetaxel improves survival for patients with peritoneal
      carcinomatosis from abdominal and pelvic malignancies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This work was to evaluate the perioperative safety and efficacy of
      cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy
      (HIPEC) with lobaplatin and docetaxel in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis
      (PC) from gastrointestinal and gynecological cancers. METHODS: Patients were
      treated by CRS + HIPEC with lobaplatin 50 mg/m(2) and docetaxel 60 mg/m(2) in
      6000 mL of normal saline at 43 +/- 0.5  degrees C for 60 min. Vital signs were
      recorded for 6 days after CRS + HIPEC procedures. Perioperative serious adverse
      events (SAE), hematological, hepatic, renal, and electrolytes parameters, the
      changes in serum tumor markers (TM) before and after operation, patient recovery,
      and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. RESULTS: One hundred consecutive PC
      patients underwent 105 CRS + HIPEC procedures and postoperative chemotherapy. The
      median CRS + HIPEC duration was 463 (range, 245-820) min, and the highest
      temperature and heart rate during six postoperative days were 38.6  degrees C
      (median 37.5  degrees C) and 124 bpm (median 100 bpm), respectively. The 30-day
      perioperative SAE occurred in 16 (15.2 %) and mortality occurred in 2 (1.9 %)
      patients. Most routine blood laboratory tests at 1 week after surgery turned
      normal. Among 82 cases with increased preoperative TM CEA, CA125, and CA199, 71
      cases had TM levels reduced or turned normal. Median time to nasogastric tube
      removal was 5 (range, 3-23) days, to liquid food intake 6 (range, 4-24) days, and
      to abdominal suture removal 15 (range, 10-30) days. At the median follow-up of
      19.7 (range, 7.5-89.2) months, the median OS was 24.2 (95 % CI, 15.0-33.4)
      months, and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 77.5, 32.5, and 19.8 %,
      respectively. Univariate analysis identified five independent prognostic factors
      on OS: the origin of PC, peritoneal cancer index, completeness of CRS, cycles of
      adjuvant chemotherapy, and SAE. CONCLUSIONS: CRS + HIPEC with lobaplatin and
      docetaxel to treat PC is a feasible procedure with acceptable safety and can
      prolong the survival in selected patients with PC. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00454519.

PMID- 27633882
TI  - Combined models for pre- and post-treatment longitudinal biomarker data: an
      application to CD4 counts in HIV-patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been some debate in the literature as to whether baseline
      values of a measurement of interest at treatment initiation should be treated as
      an outcome variable as part of a model for longitudinal change or instead used as
      a predictive variable with respect to the response to treatment. We develop a new
      approach that involves a combined statistical model for all pre- and post
      treatment observations of the biomarker of interest, in which the characteristics
      of response to treatment are treated as a function of the 'true' value of the
      biomarker at treatment initiation. METHODS: The modelling strategy developed is
      applied to a dataset of CD4 counts from patients in the UK Register of HIV
      Seroconverters (UKR) cohort who initiated highly active antiretroviral therapy
      (HAART). The post-HAART recovery in CD4 counts for each individual is modelled as
      following an asymptotic curve in which the speed of response to treatment and
      long-term maximum are functions of the 'true' underlying CD4 count at initiation
      of HAART and the time elapsed since seroconversion. Following previous research
      in this field, the models developed incorporate non-stationary stochastic process
      components, and the possibility of between-patient differences in variability
      over time was also considered. RESULTS: A variety of novel models were
      successfully fitted to the UKR dataset. These provide reinforcing evidence for
      findings that have previously been reported in the literature, in particular that
      there is a strong positive relationship between CD4 count at initiation of HAART
      and the long-term maximum in each patient, but also reveal potentially important
      features of the data that would not have been easily identified by other methods
      of analysis. CONCLUSION: Our proposed methodology provides a unified framework
      for the analysis of pre- and post-treatment longitudinal biomarker data that will
      be useful for epidemiological investigations and simulations in this context. The
      approach developed allows use of all relevant data from observational cohorts in
      which many patients are missing pre-treatment measurements and in which the
      timing and number of observations vary widely between patients.

PMID- 27633883
TI  - The potential impact of BCG vaccine supply shortages on global paediatric
      tuberculosis mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is provided to over 100
      million neonates annually to protect against childhood tuberculosis (TB). Recent
      BCG manufacturing interruptions highlight global supply risks. We estimated the
      potential impact of BCG shortfalls on global paediatric (<15 years) TB mortality.
      METHODS: A static mathematical model was employed to estimate the number of
      paediatric TB deaths avoided by usual levels of BCG coverage, and potential
      additional TB deaths in the first 15 years of life due to 1-year BCG supply
      shortfalls of 6.3 % (as occurred in 2015) to 27.6 % (as anticipated without
      mitigating action in 2015) assuming no catch-up campaigns. RESULTS: BCG coverage
      without shortfalls, estimated at 90 % globally, was estimated to avoid 117,132
      (95 % uncertainty range (UR): 5049-306,911) TB deaths globally per birth cohort
      in the first 15 years of life. An estimated 11,713 (UR: 505-30,691) additional TB
      deaths would occur in the first 15 years of life per 10 % (26 million dose)
      annual supply shortfall. A 16.5 million dose (6.3 %) shortfall as reported at the
      close of 2015, reflecting 84 % global coverage, was estimated as associated with
      7433 (95 % UR: 320-19,477) excess TB deaths in the affected cohort in the first
      15 years. A possible 24,914 (UR: 1074-65,278) additional deaths were avoided due
      to prompt shortfall reduction measures in 2015. CONCLUSIONS: BCG shortages could
      greatly increase paediatric TB mortality. Although rapid action in 2015 minimised
      BCG shortfalls, avoiding a large number of potential additional deaths, the
      possible public health impact of even relatively small shortfalls highlights the
      critical importance of ensuring secure future manufacturing capacity and global
      BCG supply continuity.

PMID- 27633884
TI  - Mental health problems among individuals with persistent health challenges from
      adolescence to young adulthood: a population-based longitudinal study in Norway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persistent health challenges are increasing throughout the world. It
      has been shown that adolescents with persistent health challenges are at greater
      risk of having mental health problems than their healthy peers. However, these
      studies are mainly cross-sectional, and little is known about the transition to
      adulthood. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine how mental health problems
      in adolescents and young adults with persistent health challenges vary during
      adolescence and in the transition to young adulthood. METHODS: The study used
      longitudinal and time-series data from the "Young in Norway" study. A sample of
      adolescents was prospectively followed from adolescence to young adulthood with
      measures at four different time points (n = 3,087; T1-T4): 2921 adolescents (12
      19 years) participated at T1 and T2, while 2448 young adults participated at T3
      and T4. Persistent health challenges, age, gender, mental health problems and
      parental socio-economic status were measured in the longitudinal survey.
      Regression models were applied to estimate associations between persistent health
      challenges (understood as having a chronic health condition or disability) and
      mental health problems during adolescence and young adulthood. Different models
      were tested for chronic health conditions and disability. RESULTS: Adolescents
      with disability had higher scores for depressive and anxiety symptoms, loneliness
      and self-concept instability, and lower scores for self-worth, appearance
      satisfaction, scholastic competence and social acceptance compared with
      adolescents without disability. In young adulthood, there were also significant
      associations between disability and most mental health problems. The longitudinal
      associations between chronic health conditions and mental health problems during
      adolescence and young adulthood showed that significant associations between
      chronic health conditions and mental health problems were only found during
      adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: This longitudinal survey revealed that on average,
      adolescents with disability had more mental health problems than those with a
      chronic health condition. In addition, the problems followed into adulthood for
      adolescents with disability. Thus, disability seems to be a much higher risk
      factor for developing and maintaining mental health problems than having a
      chronic health condition. These findings need to be followed up in further
      studies.

PMID- 27633886
TI  - A LC-MS/MS Method for Quantifying Adenosine, Guanosine and Inosine Nucleotides in
      Human Cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop and validate a method for the simultaneous measurement of
      adenosine, guanosine, and inosine derived from mono (MP) and triphosphate (TP)
      forms in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), red blood cells (RBCs) and
      dried blood spots (DBS). METHODS: Solid phase extraction of cell lysates followed
      by dephosphorylation to molar equivalent nucleoside and LC-MS/MS quantification.
      RESULTS: The assay was linear for each of the three quantification ranges: 10
      2000, 1.0-200 and 0.25-50 pmol/sample for adenosine, guanosine, and inosine,
      respectively. Intraassay (n = 6) and interassay (n = 18) precision (%CV) were
      within 1.7 to 16% while accuracy (%deviation) was within -11.5 to 14.7% for all
      three analytes. Nucleotide monophosphates were less concentrated than
      triphosphates (except for inosine) and levels in PBMCs were higher than RBCs for
      all three nucleotides (10, 55, and 5.6 fold for ATP, GTP and ITP, respectively).
      DBS samples had an average (SD) of -26% (22.6%) lower TP and 184% (173%) higher
      MP levels compared to paired RBC lysates, suggesting hydrolysis of the TP in DBS.
      CONCLUSION: This method was accurate and precise for physiologically relevant
      concentrations of adenosine, guanosine and inosine nucleotides in mono- and
      triphosphate forms, providing a bioanalytical tool for quantitation of
      nucleotides for clinical studies.

PMID- 27633885
TI  - The Use of a Pressure-Indicating Sensor Film to Provide Feedback upon Hydrogel
      Forming Microneedle Array Self-Application In Vivo.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the combination of a pressure-indicating sensor film with
      hydrogel-forming microneedle arrays, as a method of feedback to confirm MN
      insertion in vivo. METHODS: Pilot in vitro insertion studies were conducted using
      a Texture Analyser to insert MN arrays, coupled with a pressure-indicating sensor
      film, at varying forces into excised neonatal porcine skin. In vivo studies
      involved twenty human volunteers, who self-applied two hydrogel-forming MN
      arrays, one with a pressure-indicating sensor film incorporated and one without.
      Optical coherence tomography was employed to measure the resulting penetration
      depth and colorimetric analysis to investigate the associated colour change of
      the pressure-indicating sensor film. RESULTS: Microneedle insertion was achieved
      in vitro at three different forces, demonstrating the colour change of the
      pressure-indicating sensor film upon application of increasing pressure. When
      self-applied in vivo, there was no significant difference in the microneedle
      penetration depth resulting from each type of array, with a mean depth of 237 MUm
      recorded. When the pressure-indicating sensor film was present, a colour change
      occurred upon each application, providing evidence of insertion. CONCLUSIONS: For
      the first time, this study shows how the incorporation of a simple, low-cost
      pressure-indicating sensor film can indicate microneedle insertion in vitro and
      in vivo, providing visual feedback to assure the user of correct application.
      Such a strategy may enhance usability of a microneedle device and, hence, assist
      in the future translation of the technology to widespread clinical use.

PMID- 27633888
TI  - Diagnosis, misdiagnosis, lucky guess, hearsay, and more: an ontological analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disease and diagnosis have been the subject of much ontological
      inquiry. However, the insights gained therein have not yet been well enough
      applied to the study, management, and improvement of data quality in electronic
      health records (EHR) and administrative systems. Data in these systems suffer
      from workarounds clinicians are forced to apply due to limitations in the current
      state-of-the art in system design which ignore the various types of entities that
      diagnoses as information content entities can be and are about. This leads to
      difficulties in distinguishing amongst diagnostic assertions misdiagnosis from
      correct diagnosis, and the former from coincidentally correct statements about
      disease. METHODS: We applied recent advances in the ontological understanding of
      the aboutness relation to the problem of diagnosis and disease as defined by the
      Ontology for General Medical Science. We created six scenarios that we analyzed
      using the method of Referent Tracking to identify all the entities and their
      relationships which must be present for each scenario to hold true. We discovered
      deficiencies in existing ontological definitions and proposed revisions of them
      to account for the improved understanding that resulted from our analysis.
      RESULTS: Our key result is that a diagnosis is an information content entity
      (ICE) whose concretization(s) are typically about a configuration in which there
      exists a disease that inheres in an organism and instantiates a certain type
      (e.g., hypertension). Misdiagnoses are ICEs whose concretizations succeed in
      aboutness on the level of reference for individual entities and types (the
      organism and the disease), but fail in aboutness on the level of compound
      expression (i.e., there is no configuration that corresponds in total with what
      is asserted). Provenance of diagnoses as concretizations is critical to
      distinguishing them from lucky guesses, hearsay, and justified layperson belief.
      CONCLUSIONS: Recent improvements in our understanding of aboutness significantly
      improved our understanding of the ontology of diagnosis and related information
      content entities, which in turn opens new perspectives for the implementation of
      data capture methods in EHR and other systems to allow diagnostic assertions to
      be captured with less ambiguity.

PMID- 27633889
TI  - Harnessing Bioinformatics for Designing a Novel Multiepitope Peptide Vaccine
      Against Breast Cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) remains as one of the important causes of cancer deaths among
      women globally. Therefore, finding an effective treatment for BC is really
      needed. Cancer immunotherapy, as an emerging field, has a notable role in BC
      therapy. Peptide vaccines possess an outstanding role among different strategies
      in cancer immunotherapy. In vaccine design for cancer, induction of cellular and
      humoral immune responses should be considered. In the current study, cytolytic T
      lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes were evoked from human epidermal growth factor
      receptor (HER2), mucin 1 protein (MUC1), and heparanase antigenic proteins; and
      helper T lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes were determined from survivin protein by
      various immunoinformatics servers. Furthermore, our vaccine peptide contains
      several linear and conformational B cell epitopes that can induce humoral
      immunity. In order to elicit broad cellular and humoral immune responses, Por B
      protein from Neisseria meningitides, which is one of the toll like receptor 2
      (TLR2) agonists, was utilized as an adjuvant in the vaccine construct. The
      designed peptide vaccine contains the extracellular domain of murine ULBP-like
      transcript 1 (MULT1), which binds to a natural killer group 2 member D (NKG2D)
      receptor with a high affinity and has a key role in triggering the innate immune
      response. All the mentioned segments were fused together by functional and
      structural amino acid linkers. Taken together, we project that our vaccine
      construct can potentially induce cellular, humoral, and innate immune responses
      in BC patients.

PMID- 27633887
TI  - The Properties of HPMC:PEO Extended Release Hydrophilic Matrices and their
      Response to Ionic Environments.
AB  - PURPOSE: Investigate the extended release behaviour of compacts containing
      mixtures of hydrophilic HPMC and PEO in hydrating media of differing ionic
      strengths. METHODS: The extended release behaviour of various HPMC:PEO compacts
      was investigated using dissolution testing, confocal microscopy and magnetic
      resonance imaging, with respect to polymer ratio and ionic strength of the
      hydrating media. RESULTS: Increasing HPMC content gave longer extended release
      times, but a greater sensitivity to high ionic dissolution environments.
      Increasing PEO content reduced this sensitivity. The addition of PEO to a
      predominantly HPMC matrix reduced release rate sensitivity to high ionic
      environments. Confocal microscopy of early gel layer development showed the two
      polymers appeared to contribute independently to gel layer structure whilst
      together forming a coherent and effective diffusion barrier. There was some
      evidence that poorly swollen HPMC particles added a tortuosity barrier to the gel
      layer in high ionic strength environments, resulting in prolonged extended
      release. MRI provides unique, non-invasive spatially resolved information from
      within the HPMC:PEO compacts that furthers our understanding of USP 1 and USP 4
      dissolution data. CONCLUSIONS: Confocal microscopy and MRI data show that
      combinations of HPMC and PEO have advantageous extended release properties, in
      comparison with matrices containing a single polymer.

PMID- 27633891
TI  - Computational Elucidation of Structural Basis for Ligand Binding with
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis Glucose-1-Phosphate Thymidylyltransferase (RmlA).
AB  - Glucose-1-Phosphate Thymidylyltransferase (RmlA) is one of the enzymes in
      rhamnose biosynthesis pathway, where rhamnose acts as linker of peptidoglycan and
      arabinogalacton in the cell wall, therefore RmlA is a potential enzyme for the
      survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). To go into the depth of the
      structure for exploring binding regions, homology model of RmlA was built in
      Prime, Schrodinger v9.2. The model with lowest Discrete Optimized Potential
      Energy (DOPE) score of -35524.17 kcal/mol and RMSD of 0.1 A with the template
      (1H5R_B) was subjected to Molecular Dynamics Simulation (MDS) for 5 ns to achieve
      its stable folding state. The tertiary structure of the proposed model is
      composed of alpha/beta/alpha sandwich type protein with quasi-Rossmann type
      folding pattern. The substrate, deoxy Thymidine tri phosphate (dTTP) comprises of
      triphosphate (R1) and methyl (R2) side chains where, R1 is highly essential for
      the survival of Mtb. Therefore, nineteen side chain analogues of dTTP were
      designed by substituting R1 and R2 chain of dTTP using Combi Glide, Schrodinger
      v9.2 and docked with the target RmlA protein. Out of which two analogues such as,
      6-[(2R,3S,5R)-5-[5-(2- aminoethyl)-2,4-dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidin-1-yl]-3
      hydroxyoxolan-2 yl] hexanoic acid (COMP- 11) and 4-(2-{1-[(1S,3S,4S)-3-(5
      carboxypentyl)-4-hydroxy-2-methylidenecyclopentyl]-2,4-dioxo- 1,2,3,4
      tetrahydropyrimidin-5-yl}ethyl)morpholin-4-ium (COMP-12) showed the highest GLIDE
      score (-12.55 Kcal/mol and -11.58 Kcal/mol respectively) than that of substrate (
      9.725 Kcal/mol). During simulations, hydrogen bonding profile between the two top
      hits and protein ranges up to 5 strong polar contacts which were much stronger
      than that of substrate. Similarly, the computational binding free energy of both
      the analogues was found to be less than -70 Kcal/mol which is much lower than
      that of substrate (-52.84 Kcal/mol). All these results suggest that these two
      compounds have more stable interaction than that of substrate inside the solvent
      condition and can be used as competitive inhibitors.

PMID- 27633890
TI  - Evaluation of Paclitaxel Effects in The Pattern of Expression of Survival and
      Apoptotic Genes Regulators in HeLa Cells.
AB  - We aim to determine the regulation of apoptosis by paclitaxel-induced and
      understand cancer dynamics to treatment targets for HeLa cells by identifying
      decrease/increase genes expression on HeLa cells. In this study, the anti-tumor
      effects of Paclitaxel (PAC) on HeLa cells have been studied in order to determine
      the cellular and molecular mechanisms of these effects. PAC has been applied to
      HeLa cells in 6 different doses (3, 7.5, 15, 30, 60, 120 nM) for 48 hours and the
      IC50 dose MTT method, has been determined with apoptic index (AI) DAPI.
      Morphological aspects have been demonstrated using light, phase contrast and
      fluorescent microscopes, additionally activation of Caspase 3,7 and 10 have been
      shown using florescent spectroscopy. RT-PCR and qRT-PCR have been used to
      evaluate pro/anti-apoptotic gene expression. According to the parameters being
      evaluated; PAC has reduced cell multiplication based on dosage and time (p<0.01).
      15 nM has been determined as the IC50 value. AI value has been determined as 42%.
      In the molecular level analyses in addition to the increase in Caspase3,7,10
      activation, RT-PCR results show that bax, bak, bcl-x, bik, mcl-1 genes are
      expressed in the control group as well as the experimental 15 nM group; whereas
      bak, bcl-x ve bik genes have a decrease in expression compared to the control
      group. qRT-PCR results show that Apaf1, Bad, Bax, Bcl2L11, Caspase1, Caspase10,
      Caspase4, Caspase7, Dffa, Fas, Htra2, Lrdd, NFKB1, NFKB2, PMAIP1, RELA, RELB,
      TNFRSF10A, TNFRSF10C, TNFRSF10D, TNFRSF1A, TNFRSF21, TNFRSF25 gene expressions
      have increased significantly. On the other hand, BAG1, BBC3, Bcl2L1, Bcl2L10,
      Bid, Caspase2, Caspase6, Caspase8, Caspase9, FADD, FAM96A, FasLG, HRK, SOCS3,
      TNF, TNFSF10, TRAF5, TRAF6 mRNA levels are significantly decreased.

PMID- 27633892
TI  - Sleep-wake cycle on amplitude-integrated EEG and neuroimage outcomes in newborns.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of sleep-wake cycle
      monitoring using amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) and neuroimaging in newborn
      infants with a possible perinatal hypoxic insult, investigate the correlation
      between the findings, and determine the relevance of the findings to reasonably
      predict neurological outcome. METHODS: aEEG was recorded among newborn infants
      suspected of perinatal asphyxia between November, 2014 and June, 2015 in one
      neonatal intensive care unit facility. Brain imaging with serial ultrasonography
      and MRI when available were performed, and the infants were divided into two
      groups according to findings and potential neurological outcome: Group I
      (favorable findings) and Group II (severe findings such as high grade
      intraventricular hemorrhage, cerebral infarction or white matter injury).
      Established sleep-wake cycle times after birth was compared between the two
      groups. RESULTS: Among 107 newborn infants, 85 subjects were classified as Group
      I and the remaining 22 subjects as Group II. The total number of aEEG sessions
      was 207 and recording time was 2,796 h with a mean of 14.43 +/- 13.40 h per
      study. Estimated times of cyclicity were earlier in Group I (113.34 h, 95 % CI
      82.31-144.37) as compared to Group II (504.39 h, 95 % CI 319.91-688.88; p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Delayed cyclicity on aEEG has a strong correlation with
      unfavorable brain neuroimages in newborns with possible perinatal asphyxia. If
      sleep-wake cycles do not appear during initial period after birth, follow-up aEEG
      studies are recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Retrospectively registered
      Registration number: BD 2015-148 Name of registry: amplitude integrated EEG in
      neonate Date of registration: September 9, 2015.

PMID- 27633895
TI  - Seizures Start without Common Signatures of Critical Transition.
AB  - Complex dynamical systems may exhibit sudden autonomous changes from one state to
      another. Such changes that occur rapidly in comparison to the regular dynamics
      have been termed critical transitions. Examples of such phenomena can be found in
      many complex systems: changes in climate and ocean circulation, changes in
      wildlife populations, financial crashes, as well as in medical conditions like
      asthma attacks and depression. It has been recognized that critical transitions,
      even if they arise in completely different contexts and situations, share several
      common attributes and also generic early-warning signals that indicate that a
      critical transition is approaching. In the present study, we review briefly the
      general characteristics that have been observed in systems prior to critical
      transitions and apply these general indicators to nearly 300 epileptic seizures
      collected from human subjects using invasive EEG. Only in about 8% of the
      patients was evidence of critical transitions found. In the remaining majority of
      cases no early warning signals that behaved consistently prior to seizures were
      observed. These results do not rule out the possibility of critical transitions
      to seizure but point to limited relevance of their early warning signals in the
      context of human epilepsy observed using intracranial EEG recordings.

PMID- 27633893
TI  - Central control of interlimb coordination and speed-dependent gait expression in
      quadrupeds.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Quadrupeds express different gaits depending on speed of locomotion.
      Central pattern generators (one per limb) within the spinal cord generate
      locomotor oscillations and control limb movements. Neural interactions between
      these generators define interlimb coordination and gait. We present a
      computational model of spinal circuits representing four rhythm generators with
      left-right excitatory and inhibitory commissural and fore-hind inhibitory
      interactions within the cord. Increasing brainstem drive to all rhythm generators
      and excitatory commissural interneurons induces an increasing frequency of
      locomotor oscillations accompanied by speed-dependent gait changes from walk to
      trot and to gallop and bound. The model closely reproduces and suggests
      explanations for multiple experimental data, including speed-dependent gait
      transitions in intact mice and changes in gait expression in mutants lacking
      certain types of commissural interneurons. The model suggests the possible
      circuit organization in the spinal cord and proposes predictions that can be
      tested experimentally. ABSTRACT: As speed of locomotion is increasing, most
      quadrupeds, including mice, demonstrate sequential gait transitions from walk to
      trot and to gallop and bound. The neural mechanisms underlying these transitions
      are poorly understood. We propose that the speed-dependent expression of
      different gaits results from speed-dependent changes in the interactions between
      spinal circuits controlling different limbs and interlimb coordination. As a
      result, the expression of each gait depends on (1) left-right interactions within
      the spinal cord mediated by different commissural interneurons (CINs), (2) fore
      hind interactions on each side of the spinal cord and (3) brainstem drives to
      rhythm-generating circuits and CIN pathways. We developed a computational model
      of spinal circuits consisting of four rhythm generators (RGs) with bilateral left
      right interactions mediated by V0 CINs (V0D and V0V sub-types) providing left
      right alternation, and conditional V3 CINs promoting left-right synchronization.
      Fore and hind RGs mutually inhibited each other. We demonstrate that linearly
      increasing excitatory drives to the RGs and V3 CINs can produce a progressive
      increase in the locomotor speed accompanied by sequential changes of gaits from
      walk to trot and to gallop and bound. The model closely reproduces and suggests
      explanations for the speed-dependent gait expression observed in vivo in intact
      mice and in mutants lacking V0V or all V0 CINs. Specifically, trot is not
      expressed after removal of V0V CINs, and only bound is expressed after removal of
      all V0 CINs. The model provides important insights into the organization of
      spinal circuits and neural control of locomotion.

PMID- 27633894
TI  - Personalised treatment targets in type 2 diabetes patients: The Dutch approach.
AB  - AIMS: To compare the proportion of cardiometabolic well-controlled type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients according to a clearly defined, simple
      personalised approach, versus the 'one-size-fits-all' approach. METHODS:
      Observational study using routine data of primary care type 2 diabetes patients
      in the Netherlands. The proportions of patients that reach the targets for HbA1c,
      systolic blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the two
      different approaches were compared. RESULTS: Of the 890 patients (54.7% men, mean
      age 62.7 years), 31.8% were well-controlled according to the individualised
      approach and 24.8% according to the 'one-size-fits-all' approach. For specific
      subgroups personalising the treatment led to a 5.2%, 27.3% and 45.6% increase of
      patients achieving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HbA1c and systolic blood
      pressure goals respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A clearly defined and relatively simple
      personalised approach leads to a higher proportion of T2DM patients considered as
      cardiometabolic well-controlled. This approach may especially be beneficial for
      patients aged >=70 years on more than metformin monotherapy (HbA1c) and for
      patients aged >=80 years (SBP). Precisely these patients are suggested not to
      benefit from stricter HbA1c or SBP targets, whereas they may experience more
      adverse effects (e.g. hypoglycaemia, postural hypotension) when a stricter target
      value is pursued.

PMID- 27633896
TI  - Periostin expression in cancer-associated fibroblasts of invasive ductal breast
      carcinoma.
AB  - Periostin (POSTN) is a secreted cell adhesion glycoprotein that plays an
      important role in proliferation, adhesion and migration processes, as well as in
      regulation of mechanisms related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). It
      also plays a key role in angio- and lymphangiogenesis and in formation of distant
      metastases. The aim of this work was to determine expression of POSTN in invasive
      ductal breast carcinoma (IDC) and in non-invasive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
      and to correlate its expression with clinicopathological parameters. Material for
      immunohistochemical studies (IHC) comprise of 70 IDC cases, 44 DCIS cases and 21
      cases of fibrocystic change (FC). Frozen (-80C) fragments of tumours taken from
      41 patients with IDC were used for molecular studies (real-time PCR), including
      11 cases of IDC subjected to laser capture microdissection (LCM). POSTN
      expression was shown mainly in tumour stromal cells, i.e. cancer-associated
      fibroblasts (CAFs). Statistically significant higher level of POSTN expression in
      CAFs in IDC as compared to FC (p<0.0001) was observed. Additionally,
      statistically elevated expression level of POSTN in CAFs in IDC relative to DCIS
      (p<0.0001) and significantly increased expression of POSTN in CAFs in DCIS in
      comparison to FC (p=0.0158) was also shown. High level of POSTN expression in
      CAFs in IDC (>8 IRS points) was significantly correlated with tumour malignancy
      grade (G) (p=0.0070). Moreover, higher POSTN expression by CAFs was associated
      with patient shorter overall survival. Significant increase of POSTN expression
      on mRNA and protein level in CAFs in IDC with the growing malignancy grade of the
      tumours (G) was shown. Furthermore, with the use of LCM method, statistically
      significant higher expression of mRNA POSTN in stromal cells relative to cancer
      cells (p<0.001) was noted. POSTN might be a factor playing an important role in
      the mechanism of IDC progression.

PMID- 27633898
TI  - The Three Cs of a Scientific Autobiography: Curiosity, Circumstance, and
      Colleagues.

PMID- 27633899
TI  - Rapid Photoactivated Generation of Nitroxyl (HNO) under Neutral pH Conditions.
AB  - Directly obtaining kinetic and mechanistic data for the reactions of nitroxyl
      (HNO) with biomolecules (k~103 -107  m-1  s-1 ) is not feasible for many systems
      because of slow HNO release from HNO donor molecules (t1/2 is typically minutes
      to hours). To address this limitation, we have developed a photoactivatable HNO
      donor incorporating the (3-hydroxy-2-naphthalenyl)methyl phototrigger, which
      rapidly releases HNO on demand. A "proof of concept" study is reported, which
      demonstrates that, upon continuous xenon light excitation, rapid decomposition of
      the HNO donor occurs within seconds. The amount of HNO generated is strongly
      dependent on solvent and the rate of the reaction is dependent on the light
      intensity.

PMID- 27633897
TI  - Emotion Reactivity and Cerebrovascular Burden in Late-Life GAD: A Neuroimaging
      Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in older adults is associated with
      persistent deficits in emotion reactivity (ER) and regulation, yet the neural
      basis of these deficits has not been explored. This study focuses on the neural
      basis of ER deficits in late-life GAD and the association with cerebrovascular
      burden. METHODS: Twenty elderly nonanxious participants and 17 late-life GAD
      participants were included. The faces-shapes functional magnetic resonance
      imaging task was used to assess ER; the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the
      Penn State Worry Questionnaire to measure global anxiety and worry, respectively;
      linear regression models to examine the association between ER and global anxiety
      severity and between ER and worry severity; and mediation analysis to explore the
      effect of ER on the relationship between global anxiety/worry severity and
      cerebrovascular burden. RESULTS: A positive association was found between ER and
      global anxiety in the left parahippocampus, left and right precuneus, and right
      superior occipital gyrus. A negative association was found between ER and worry
      severity in the left and right precuneus. The association between cerebrovascular
      burden and anxiety/worry severity was indirectly mediated by increased ER in
      limbic and paralimbic areas and by decreased ER in prefrontal regulatory regions.
      CONCLUSION: These results indicate that ER is associated with different neural
      activation patterns for worry and global anxiety and that ER-related functional
      connectivity indirectly mediates the relationship between cerebrovascular burden
      and late-life GAD. This latter result supports a yet-unexplored cerebrovascular
      pathway involved in the pathophysiology of late-life anxiety.

PMID- 27633900
TI  - The applicability of conventional cytotoxicity assays to predict safety/toxicity
      of mesoporous silica nanoparticles, silver and gold nanoparticles and multi
      walled carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Developing new, validated methods for screening of the effects of nanomaterials
      is a huge and expensive task. It is therefore necessary to try to employ already
      existing and validated methods, developed for chemicals. In the present study
      cytotoxicity of gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NP), two different
      mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNP), and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)
      were investigated in BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts, NR8383 macrophages, and U937
      monocytes using standard assays, namely WST-1 and NRU. In addition, preliminary
      attempts were made to investigate ENM-mediated effects on cell motility as a
      potential end point for NP toxicity. AgNPs were most toxic to BALB/c 3T3
      fibroblasts while other ENMs were insignificantly toxic. NR8383 macrophages were
      most sensitive cells, as in addition to AgNPs, also MWCNTs were toxic to NR8383
      cells. AgNP was toxic also to U937 cells, other ENMs had minor effect. Different
      media resulted in different-sized aggregates of the same ENMs. AgNP inhibited
      BALB/c motility most, whereas NR8383 motility was inhibited most by MWCNTs. In
      conclusion, conventional cytotoxicity assays are better suited to rank the order
      of toxicity of different nanoparticles instead of producing accurate IC50 data.
      Moreover, using immune cells, especially macrophages together with fibroblasts,
      would bring more relevant predictions of ENM cytotoxicity as immune cells may
      discover cytotoxicity that is not captured by BALB/c 3T3 cells alone.

PMID- 27633902
TI  - High speed e-beam writing for large area photonic nanostructures - a choice of
      parameters.
AB  - Photonic nanostructures are used for many optical systems and applications.
      However, some high-end applications require the use of electron-beam lithography
      (EBL) to generate such nanostructures. An important technological bottleneck is
      the exposure time of the EBL systems, which can exceed 24 hours per 1 cm(2).
      Here, we have developed a method based on a target function to systematically
      increase the writing speed of EBL. As an example, we use as the target function
      the fidelity of the Fourier Transform spectra of nanostructures that are designed
      for thin film light trapping applications, and optimize the full parameter space
      of the lithography process. Finally, we are able to reduce the exposure time by a
      factor of 5.5 without loss of photonic performance. We show that the performances
      of the fastest written structures are identical to the original ones within
      experimental error. As the target function can be varied according to different
      purposes, the method is also applicable to guided mode resonant grating and many
      other areas. These findings contribute to the advancement of EBL and point
      towards making the technology more attractive for commercial applications.

PMID- 27633901
TI  - Screening of endocrine activity of compounds migrating from plastic baby bottles
      using a multi-receptor panel of in vitro bioassays.
AB  - Endocrine activity of 65 compounds migrating from polycarbonate replacement
      plastic baby bottles was assessed using in vitro cell based assays (reporter gene
      assays) involving 7 nuclear receptors, i.e. human steroid hormones receptors
      (oestrogen, androgen, progesterone and glucocorticoid receptors), human thyroid
      beta and peroxisome proliferator-activated gamma receptors, and the mouse aryl
      hydrocarbon receptor. The chemicals were tested at 4 concentrations ranging from
      0.001mM to 1mM. Only twelve chemicals did not show any activity towards any of
      the nuclear receptors, while fifty three compounds showed a possible endocrine
      activity. Most of the agonistic activities were observed towards the oestrogen
      receptor while the PPARgamma was the target for most of the recorded antagonistic
      activities. Agonistic activities were recorded for several phthalates,
      benzophenones, aromatic hydrocarbons and phenols, while compounds such as
      benzaldehydes, ketones and esters of fatty acid showed antagonistic activities.
      Thirty five chemicals were able of agonistic activities on 1 to 4 receptors and
      antagonistic activities were recorded for 35 compounds as well, towards 1 to 7
      receptors. Sixteen compounds were able of both agonistic and antagonistic
      activities, but not on the same receptors, except in 2 cases for the oestrogen
      receptor and 4 cases for the PPARgamma.

PMID- 27633903
TI  - A boy with partial dup(18q)/del(18p) due to a maternal pericentric inversion:
      Genotype-phenotype correlation and risk of recombinant chromosomes based on
      systematic review of the literature.
AB  - We report a boy carrying a recombinant chromosome 18, with terminal deletion of
      10.8 Mb from 18p11.32 to 18p11.21 and a terminal duplication of 22.8 Mb from
      18q21.31 to 18q23, resulting from a maternal pericentric inversion of the
      chromosome 18. He presented with poor growth, developmental delay, facial
      dysmorphisms, surgically repaired left cleft lip and palate, a mild form of
      holoprosencephaly characterized by single central incisor and agenesis of the
      septum pellucidum, and body asymmetry. Based on the systematic review of the
      literature, we discuss genotype-phenotype correlation and the risk for the
      recombinants of pericentric inversions of chromosome 18. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633904
TI  - Correlation of radiographic analysis during initial planning and tactile
      perception during the placement of implants.
AB  - Most of the decisions made in planning treatment with implants rely on the
      clinician's assessment of the density of the jawbone. However, we know of only a
      few studies that have evaluated the clinicians' subjectivity and the objective
      quantitative methods. Our aim was to assess whether the characteristics of the
      bone seen on preoperative imaging are similar to the features faced during the
      operation. We collected data about 32 implant procedures done during the
      Specialisation Course for Implant Dentistry, Universidade de Ribeirao Preto, San
      Paulo. First, the clinicians evaluated the panoramic radiograph and computed
      tomographic scans preoperatively, classified the bone density according to the
      Lekholm and Zarb classification, and marked their subjective evaluation on a
      visual analogue scale. Postoperatively the surgeons filled out a questionnaire
      based on their subjective perceptions obtained during the insertion of the
      implants. Another examiner answered the same questionnaire after looking at the
      patient's images but without knowing the surgeon's results. There was a good
      correlation between the surgeons' preoperative classification of the type of bone
      and their tactile perception (p=0.000), and a good correlation between the
      surgeon's preoperative classification of the bone and the examiner's findings
      (p=0.000). We conclude that imaging is an important part of preoperative planning
      and can predict the quality of the bone when coupled with the opinion of a
      trained clinician, objective analysis, and standard classification of the bone.

PMID- 27633905
TI  - Evaluation of cyclic and linear mechanical resistance of prebent and manually
      bent plates used for maxillary advancement in orthognathic surgery.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to compare prebent and manually-bent plates used
      in maxillary advancement. The prebent plates were fixed in polyurethane blocks
      for the linear test and aluminium blocks for the cyclic test, and the manually
      bent plates were fixed in polyurethane and aluminium blocks. The linear load
      tests were done using an Instron(r) 4411 mechanical testing machine and the
      cyclic test with an Instron(r) E3000 testing machine. The linear mechanical test
      showed that there was no significant difference between the plates. In the cyclic
      test the prebent plates reached the limit of 500000 cycles without fracturing
      whereas the manually-bent plate group fractured before reaching the limit of
      cycles (p=0.008). The decision to use prebent or manually-bent plates during
      operations should be influenced by the production of the bends and their
      consequent brittleness.

PMID- 27633906
TI  - Mandibular osteomyelitis after group A streptococcal septicaemia in a child.

PMID- 27633907
TI  - Minimally invasive simple prostatectomy for a case of giant benign prostatic
      hyperplasia.

PMID- 27633908
TI  - Foreword to Sperm morphometrics today and tomorrow special issue in Asian Journal
      of Andrology.

PMID- 27633909
TI  - Another piece of the meiosis puzzle.

PMID- 27633911
TI  - Ossifying renal tumor of infancy (ORIT): The clinicopathological and cytogenetic
      feature of two cases and literature review.
AB  - Ossifying renal tumor of infancy (ORTI) is a rare benign pediatric renal tumor,
      which has typical clinical and pathological features. In this article, the
      histological features, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) assay of two cases of ORTI were performed and the
      literatures were reviewed. Both of the patients presented to hospital with
      painless gross hematuria without other symptoms. One is 6 months old male,
      another is 5-month-old. After several diagnostic procedures, they underwent
      surgery and the histological diagnosis of ORTI was finally made. Grossly, the
      tumor had a nodular or irregular appearance, often partially calcified and
      located in the renal pelvis and calyces. The cut surface of this mass was grey
      white, solid and firm. Histologically, the tumor was composed of three major
      histologic components: osteoblast-like cells, spindle cells, and an osteoid core.
      Immunohistochemistry staining revealed that osteoblast-like cells were positive
      for EMA, Vimentin and STAB2. Spindle cells were strongly immunoreactive for
      Vimentin, WT-1 and focally positive for SMA, but were negative for CK, PAX8 and
      PAX2. The FISH studies with CEP4 probe on interphase nuclei from the two ORTIs,
      revealed trisomy 4 were 8.97% (case 1) and 12.23% (case 2). Our study showed that
      clonal trisomy 4 may be considered as a cytogenetic feature of ORTI, which makes
      it distinct from other pediatric renal tumor.

PMID- 27633912
TI  - Ectopic pleural thymoma in a 49-year-old woman: A case report.
AB  - Ectopic pleural thymoma is an exceedingly uncommon clinical entity that has only
      been described sporadically. Because of their peculiar location and variety of
      histologic patterns manifested, pleural thymomas may be confused with other
      neoplasms and may cause diagnostic problems clinically, radiologically, and
      morphologically. We describe the case of a giant left-sided ectopic pleural
      thymoma, preoperatively suspected to be a solitary fibrous tumor. A complete
      surgical resection was achieved and a postoperative diagnosis of WHO Type AB,
      modified Masaoka stage I tumor was attained. Subsequent thymectomy demonstrated
      unremarkable thymic tissue. The possibility of ectopic thymoma should be
      considered when the morphology of the lesion reveals a dual population of
      epithelial cells without significant nuclear atypia and lymphoid cells.
      Immunohistochemical studies are helpful in supporting the morphologic impression,
      both by characterizing the epithelial component as thymic in origin and by
      demonstrating the immature T-cell phenotype of the admixed reactive lymphocytes.

PMID- 27633910
TI  - Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology for Newborn
      Infection (STROBE-NI): an extension of the STROBE statement for neonatal
      infection research.
AB  - Neonatal infections are estimated to account for a quarter of the 2.8 million
      annual neonatal deaths, as well as approximately 3% of all disability-adjusted
      life-years. Despite this burden, few data are available on incidence, aetiology,
      and outcomes, particularly regarding impairment. We aimed to develop guidelines
      for improved scientific reporting of observational neonatal infection studies, to
      increase comparability and to strengthen research in this area. This checklist,
      Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology for Newborn
      Infection (STROBE- NI), is an extension of the STROBE (Strengthening the
      Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) statement. STROBE-NI was
      developed following systematic reviews of published literature (1996-2015),
      compilation of more than 130 potential reporting recommendations, and circulation
      of a survey to relevant professionals worldwide, eliciting responses from 147
      professionals from 37 countries. An international consensus meeting of 18
      participants (with expertise in infectious diseases, neonatology, microbiology,
      epidemiology, and statistics) identified priority recommendations for reporting,
      additional to the STROBE statement. Implementation of these STROBE-NI
      recommendations, and linked checklist, aims to improve scientific reporting of
      neonatal infection studies, increasing data utility and allowing meta-analyses
      and pathogen-specific burden estimates to inform global policy and new
      interventions, including maternal vaccines. 

PMID- 27633914
TI  - Endogenous co-agonists of the NMDA receptor modulate contextual fear in trace
      conditioning.
AB  - We have used mutant mice to probe the roles of the endogenous co-agonists of the
      NMDA receptor (NMDAR), D-serine and glycine, in fear learning and memory. Serine
      racemase knockout (SR-/-) mice have less than 15% of wild type forebrain levels
      of D-serine, whereas glycine transporter 1 heterozygous knockout (GlyT1+/-) mice
      have elevated synaptic glycine. While cued fear was normal in both delay and
      trace conditioned mice of both mutant genotypes, contextual fear was affected in
      trace conditioned subjects: SR-/- mice showed decreased contextual freezing,
      whereas GlyT1+/- mice showed elevated contextual freezing. These results indicate
      that endogenous co-agonists of the NMDAR modulate the conditioning of contextual
      fear responses, particularly in trace conditioning. They further suggest that
      endogenous glycine can compensate for the D-serine deficiency in cued and
      contextual fear following delay conditioning.

PMID- 27633913
TI  - Enhanced T helper 1 and 2 cytokine responses at birth associate with lower risk
      of middle ear infections in infancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Respiratory tract infections and their symptoms are frequent during
      early childhood, but their risk factors, including the effect of early immune
      regulation, are less known. The aim of the study was to analyze whether
      stimulated cord blood cytokine production is associated with the frequency of
      respiratory tract infection symptoms or infections during the first year of life.
      METHODS: The study population consisted of children of mothers from farm or non
      farm rural environment from Austria, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland who
      participated in a prospective birth cohort study (PASTURE: Protection against
      Allergy-Study in Rural Environments) (N = 550). Cord blood samples were
      stimulated with the combination of phorbol ester and ionomycin (P/I) for 24 h,
      and the production of IL-5, IL-10, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma was determined using
      ELISA. Information about infectious morbidity was collected using weekly diaries.
      RESULTS: P/I-stimulated production of IL-5 (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) for
      <=median production, 0.37; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.25-0.55, aRR for
      >median production, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.27-0.61 vs. production <detection limit) and
      IFN-gamma (aRR for <=median production, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.40-0.95, aRR for >median
      production, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.25-0.62 vs. production <detection limit) in cord
      blood were associated with lower number of weeks with reported middle ear
      infection. There was a tendency toward positive association with P/I-stimulated
      TNF-alpha production and middle ear infections. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest
      that increased Th2- and Th1-associated cytokine responses at birth may provide
      protection from later middle ear infections.

PMID- 27633915
TI  - A novel form of capsaicin-modified amygdala LTD mediated by TRPM1.
AB  - Recently we have shown that capsaicin attenuates the strength of LTP in the
      lateral amygdala (LA) and demonstrated that this effect is mediated by the
      transient receptor potential (TRP) channel TRPV1. Here we further show that
      capsaicin, which is thought to act primarily through TRPV1, modifies long term
      depression (LTD) in the LA. Yet the application of various TRPV1 antagonists does
      not reverse this effect and it remains in TRPV1-deficient mice. In addition,
      voltage gated calcium channels, nitric oxide and CB1 receptors are not involved.
      Using pharmacology and TRPM1-/- mice, our electrophysiological data indicate that
      capsaicin-induced activation of TRPM1 channels contribute to the induction of LA
      LTD. Whereas LA-LTD in general depends on the acitvation of NMDA receptors- and
      group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR), the modifying effect of
      capsaicin on LA-LTD via TRPM1 appears to be specifically mediated by group I
      mGluRs and in interaction with another member of the TRP family, TRPC5.
      Additionally, intact GABAergic transmission is required for the capsaicin-effect
      to take place. This is the first documentation that beside their function in the
      retina TRPM1 proteins are expressed in the brain and have a functional relevance
      in modifying synaptic plasticity.

PMID- 27633916
TI  - An integrative and comparative study of pan-cancer transcriptomes reveals
      distinct cancer common and specific signatures.
AB  - To investigate the commonalities and specificities across tumor lineages, we
      perform a systematic pan-cancer transcriptomic study across 6744 specimens. We
      find six pan-cancer subnetwork signatures which relate to cell cycle, immune
      response, Sp1 regulation, collagen, muscle system and angiogenesis. Moreover,
      four pan-cancer subnetwork signatures demonstrate strong prognostic potential. We
      also characterize 16 cancer type-specific subnetwork signatures which show
      diverse implications to somatic mutations, somatic copy number aberrations, DNA
      methylation alterations and clinical outcomes. Furthermore, some of them are
      strongly correlated with histological or molecular subtypes, indicating their
      implications with tumor heterogeneity. In summary, we systematically explore the
      pan-cancer common and cancer type-specific gene subnetwork signatures across
      multiple cancers, and reveal distinct commonalities and specificities among
      cancers at transcriptomic level.

PMID- 27633917
TI  - Gender differences in onabotulinum toxin A dosing for adductor spasmodic
      dysphonia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to determine the influence
      of gender on onabotulinum toxin A dosing for the treatment of adductor spasmodic
      dysphonia symptoms. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review. METHODS: A chart review
      of the senior author's database of botulinum toxin injections was performed.
      Patients diagnosed with adductor spasmodic dysphonia who received onabotulinum
      toxin A (BoNTA) injections to the thyroarytenoid muscle for at least 5 years were
      included for study. Patients who received alternate formulations of botulinum
      toxin (Myobloc, Dysport, or Xeomin) and patients with alternate diagnoses, such
      as abductor spasmodic dysphonia, tremor, and oromandibular dystonia, were
      excluded. The average BoNTA dose was calculated for each patient and statistical
      analysis was performed comparing the male and female groups. RESULTS: A total of
      201 patients (52 males and 149 females) met inclusion criteria. The average
      follow-up times for the male and female groups were 10.2 +/- 3.6 and 11.1 +/- 4
      years, respectively. The average BoNTA doses for the male and female groups were
      0.6 +/- 0.42 U and 1.3 +/- 1.1 U, respectively. Statistical analysis was
      performed using an independent samples two-tailed t test yielding a P value of
      .0000000002. A large effect size was noted with Cohen's d = 0.85. CONCLUSIONS:
      The data from this retrospective chart review reveal a statistically and
      clinically significant correlation between female gender and higher average BoNTA
      dose for symptom control in adductor spasmodic dysphonia. Explanations for this
      observation are speculative and include a possible inverse relationship between
      optimal BoNTA dose and vocal fold mass and possibly greater neutralizing antibody
      formation among female patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 127:1131
      1134, 2017.

PMID- 27633918
TI  - An inhibitor of the acetyltransferases CBP/p300 exerts antineoplastic effects on
      gastrointestinal stromal tumor cells.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal neoplasm
      featured by activated mutations of KIT and PDGFRA. Although overall survival
      rates have greatly improved by the development of receptor tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors, most patients ultimately acquire resistance due to secondary
      mutations of KIT or PDGFRA. Inhibition of the histone acetyltransferases (HATs)
      CREB-binding protein (CBP) and p300 results in antineoplastic effects in various
      cancers. To determine whether CBP/p300 can serve as an antineoplastic target for
      GISTs, specific short interfering RNA sequences and the selective HAT inhibitor
      C646 were administered to GIST882 cells. Cell viability, apoptosis and the cell
      cycle were analysed using the Cell Counting Kit-8, a caspase-3/7 activity assay
      or Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide (PI) staining and PI
      staining. Gene and protein expression levels were measured by quantitative real
      time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively.
      Transcriptional blockage of CBP, rather than p300, resulted in suppression of
      cell proliferation. Interestingly, both CBP and p300 depletion enhanced caspase
      3/7 activity. A lack of CBP and p300 caused ETS translocation variant 1 (ETV1)
      downregulation and KIT inhibition in GIST cells. Nevertheless, the absence of
      CBP, not p300, leads to extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 inactivation
      and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase activation, suggesting a more crucial role for CBP
      than p300 in cell proliferation and survival. Furthermore, proliferation of GIST
      cells was reduced by administration of C646, a selective HAT inhibitor for
      CBP/p300. Apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest were detected after exposure
      to C646, indicating that its antitumor activities were supported by its
      antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects. Additionally, C646 treatment
      attenuated ETV1 protein expression and inactivated KIT-dependent pathways. Taken
      together, the present study suggests that CBP/p300 may serve as novel
      antineoplastic targets and that use of the selective HAT inhibitor C646 is a
      promising antitumor strategy for GISTs.

PMID- 27633920
TI  - Trends in Health Care Spending for Children in Medicaid With High Resource Use.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess characteristics associated with health care spending trends
      among child high resource users in Medicaid. METHODS: This retrospective analysis
      included 48 743 children ages 1 to 18 years continuously enrolled from 2009-2013
      in 10 state Medicaid programs (Truven MarketScan Medicaid Database) also in the
      top 5% of all health care spending in 2010. Using multivariable regression,
      associations were assessed between baseline demographic, clinical, and health
      services characteristics (using 2009-2010 data) with subsequent health care
      spending (ie, transiently, intermittently, persistently high) from 2011-2013.
      RESULTS: High spending from 2011-2013 was transient for 54.2%, persistent for
      32.9%, and intermittent for 12.9%. Regarding demographic characteristics, the
      highest likelihood of persistent versus transient spending occurred in children
      aged 13 to 18 years versus 1 to 2 years in 2010 (odds ratio [OR], 3.0 [95%
      confidence interval (CI), 2.7-3.4]). Regarding clinical characteristics, the
      highest likelihoods were in children with >=6 chronic conditions (OR, 4.8 [95%
      CI, 3.5-6.6]), a respiratory complex chronic condition (OR, 2.5 [95% CI, 2.2
      2.8]), or a neuromuscular complex chronic condition (OR, 2.3 [95% CI, 2.2-2.5]).
      Hospitalization and emergency department (ED) use in 2010 were associated with a
      decreased likelihood of persistent spending in 2011-2013 (hospitalization OR, 0.7
      [95% CI, 0.7-0.7]); ED OR, 0.8 [95% CI, 0.8-0.8]). CONCLUSIONS: Most children
      with high spending in Medicaid are without persistently high spending in
      subsequent years. Adolescent age, multiple chronic conditions, and certain
      complex chronic conditions increased the likelihood of persistently high
      spending; hospital and ED use decreased it. These data may help inform the
      development of new models of care and financing to optimize health and save
      resources in children with high resource use.

PMID- 27633919
TI  - Countdown to 2015 country case studies: what have we learned about processes and
      progress towards MDGs 4 and 5?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Countdown to 2015 was a multi-institution consortium tracking
      progress towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. Case studies to
      explore factors contributing to progress (or lack of progress) in reproductive,
      maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) were undertaken in: Afghanistan,
      Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, and Tanzania.
      This paper aims to identify cross-cutting themes on how and why these countries
      achieved or did not achieve MDG progress. METHODS: Applying a standard evaluation
      framework, analyses of impact, coverage and equity were undertaken, including a
      mixed methods analysis of how these were influenced by national context and
      coverage determinants (including health systems, policies and financing).
      RESULTS: The majority (7/10) of case study countries met MDG-4 with over two
      thirds reduction in child mortality, but none met MDG-5a for 75 % reduction in
      maternal mortality, although six countries achieved >75 % of this target. None
      achieved MDG-5b regarding reproductive health. Rates of reduction in neonatal
      mortality were half or less that for post-neonatal child mortality. Coverage
      increased most for interventions administered at lower levels of the health
      system (e.g., immunisation, insecticide treated nets), and these experienced
      substantial political and financial support. These interventions were associated
      with ~30-40 % of child lives saved in 2012 compared to 2000, in Ethiopia, Malawi,
      Peru and Tanzania. Intrapartum care for mothers and newborns -- which require
      higher-level health workers, more infrastructure, and increased community
      engagement -- showed variable increases in coverage, and persistent equity gaps.
      Countries have explored different approaches to address these problems, including
      shifting interventions to the community setting and tasks to lower-level health
      workers. CONCLUSIONS: These Countdown case studies underline the importance of
      consistent national investment and global attention for achieving improvements in
      RMNCH. Interventions with major global investments achieved higher levels of
      coverage, reduced equity gaps and improvements in associated health outcomes.
      Given many competing priorities for the Sustainable Development Goals era, it is
      essential to maintain attention to the unfinished RMNCH agenda, particularly
      health systems improvements for maternal and neonatal outcomes where progress has
      been slower, and to invest in data collection for monitoring progress and for
      rigorous analyses of how progress is achieved in different contexts.

PMID- 27633922
TI  - The Centrality of Complexity in Children's Longitudinal Health Care Spending.

PMID- 27633921
TI  - Use of Extracorporeal Support in Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Secondary to
      Ehrlichiosis.
AB  - Ehrlichiosis, caused by transmission of Ehrlichia chaffeensis to humans through
      the bite of an infected lone star tick, can lead to secondary hemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a life-threatening condition caused by uncontrolled
      activation of the cellular immune system. We describe a child with HLH secondary
      to ehrlichiosis who developed multiorgan failure and was successfully managed
      with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). A 9-year-old boy developed
      headaches, fever, and sore throat after suspected tick exposure. He presented
      with pancytopenia, elevated ferritin, and soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels,
      all consistent with HLH. Bone marrow biopsy revealed hemophagocytosis. Polymerase
      chain reaction was positive for E chaffeensis He developed acute kidney injury,
      coagulation failure, hepatic insufficiency, and progressive respiratory failure
      requiring intubation. Due to refractory hypoxemia, he was cannulated for veno
      venous ECMO. Continuous veno-venous hemofiltration was used to manage acute
      kidney injury and fluid overload. He received doxycycline and
      dexamethasone/etoposide for treatment of ehrlichiosis and HLH, respectively.
      Plasma exchange was used for thrombocytopenia-associated multiple organ failure.
      The patient was decannulated after 140 hours of ECMO and subsequently transferred
      for inpatient rehabilitation after extubation. Review of the Extracorporeal Life
      Support Organization Registry database identified 6 patients with tickborne
      diseases who received ECMO for organ support (survival in 3 of 6); ehrlichiosis
      was not reported in any of these cases. ECMO likely allowed a platform for
      stabilization and additional therapeutic interventions in this patient.

PMID- 27633924
TI  - Prognostic RNAs in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: small is beautiful.

PMID- 27633925
TI  - Identifying fibromyalgia subgroups using cluster analysis: Relationships with
      clinical variables.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) exhibit significant clinical
      heterogeneity, in terms of physical, social and psychological functions, as well
      as therapeutic responses. Here, we examined FM patients in terms of pain,
      physical, social and psychological variables to identify clinical subgroups that
      may be predictive of treatment patterns. METHODS: A total of 313 FM patients were
      interviewed using a structured questionnaire that included sociodemographic data,
      current or past FM symptoms and current use of relevant medications. A K-means
      cluster analysis was conducted using variables reflecting tender points, the
      Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety
      Inventor and Social Support Scale. RESULTS: Four distinct clusters were
      identified in these patients. Group 1 was characterized by high pain levels,
      severe physical and mental impairment and low social support. Group 2 had
      moderate pain and physical impairment, mild mental impairment and moderate social
      support. Group 3 had moderate pain, low physical and moderate mental impairment
      and low social support. Group 4 had low pain levels, nearly normal physical and
      mental function and high social support. Group 1 was more often a current or past
      smoker, more likely to have a variety of symptoms, including swelling, cognitive
      dysfunction, dizziness, syncope, oesophageal dysmotility, dyspepsia, irritable
      bladder, vulvodynia and restless leg syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: We identified four
      subgroups of FM patients based on pain, physical, social and psychological
      function. These subgroups had different clinical symptoms and medication
      profiles, suggesting that FM may be better managed using a more comprehensive
      assessment of an individual patient's symptoms. SIGNIFICANCE: FM patients can be
      clustered into four distinct subgroups based on clinically measurable variables -
      pain, physical involvement, psychological function and social support. These
      subgroups had different clinical symptoms and medication profiles.

PMID- 27633923
TI  - Human pluripotent stem cell-derived acinar/ductal organoids generate human
      pancreas upon orthotopic transplantation and allow disease modelling.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The generation of acinar and ductal cells from human pluripotent stem
      cells (PSCs) is a poorly studied process, although various diseases arise from
      this compartment. DESIGN: We designed a straightforward approach to direct human
      PSCs towards pancreatic organoids resembling acinar and ductal progeny. RESULTS:
      Extensive phenotyping of the organoids not only shows the appropriate marker
      profile but also ultrastructural, global gene expression and functional hallmarks
      of the human pancreas in the dish. Upon orthotopic transplantation into
      immunodeficient mice, these organoids form normal pancreatic ducts and acinar
      tissue resembling fetal human pancreas without evidence of tumour formation or
      transformation. Finally, we implemented this unique phenotyping tool as a model
      to study the pancreatic facets of cystic fibrosis (CF). For the first time, we
      provide evidence that in vitro, but also in our xenograft transplantation assay,
      pancreatic commitment occurs generally unhindered in CF. Importantly, cystic
      fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) activation in mutated
      pancreatic organoids not only mirrors the CF phenotype in functional assays but
      also at a global expression level. We also conducted a scalable proof-of-concept
      screen in CF pancreatic organoids using a set of CFTR correctors and activators,
      and established an mRNA-mediated gene therapy approach in CF organoids.
      CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our platform provides novel opportunities to model
      pancreatic disease and development, screen for disease-rescuing agents and to
      test therapeutic procedures.

PMID- 27633926
TI  - Shifting the balance of fermentation products between hydrogen and volatile fatty
      acids: microbial community structure and function.
AB  - Fermentation is a key process in many anaerobic environments. Varying the
      concentration of electron donor fed to a fermenting community is known to shift
      the distribution of products between hydrogen, fatty acids and alcohols. Work to
      date has focused mainly on the fermentation of glucose, and how the microbial
      community structure is affected has not been explored. We fed ethanol, lactate,
      glucose, sucrose or molasses at 100 me- eq. L-1, 200 me- eq. L-1 or 400 me- eq. L
      1 to batch-fed cultures with fermenting, methanogenic communities. In communities
      fed high concentrations of electron donor, the fraction of electrons channeled to
      methane decreased, from 34% to 6%, while the fraction of electrons channeled to
      short chain fatty acids increased, from 52% to 82%, averaged across all electron
      donors. Ethanol-fed cultures did not produce propionate, but did show an increase
      in electrons directed to acetate as initial ethanol concentration increased. In
      glucose, sucrose, molasses and lactate-fed cultures, propionate accumulation co
      occurred with known propionate producing organisms. Overall, microbial
      communities were determined by the substrate provided, rather than its initial
      concentration, indicating that a change in community function, rather than
      community structure, is responsible for shifts in the fermentation products
      produced.

PMID- 27633927
TI  - First deep screening of bacterial assemblages associated with corals of the
      Tropical Eastern Pacific.
AB  - Bacterial assemblages associated with the hermatypic corals Pocillopora
      damicornis and P. verrucosa, the surrounding seawater and the sediment at six
      coral reef sites in the north section of the Tropical Eastern Pacific were
      assessed using MiSeq Illumina sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rDNA. The
      bacterial microbiota in both coral species, seawater and sediment were stable to
      seasonal variations. Bacterial assemblages between the same substrates were not
      significantly different from each other in the six sites sampled. Interestingly,
      the bacterial composition between substrates within the same site was
      significantly different, or not, depending on the conservation status of the
      site. Moreover, we found species-specific bacterial OTUs in both coral species.
      Analyzing the relationship between bacterial composition and environmental
      variables revealed a positive correlation between bacterial assemblages and
      dissolved oxygen, ammonium and silicate.

PMID- 27633928
TI  - Linear viscoelasticity of complex coacervates.
AB  - Rheology is a powerful method for material characterization that can provide
      detailed information about the self-assembly, structure, and intermolecular
      interactions present in a material. Here, we review the use of linear
      viscoelastic measurements for the rheological characterization of complex
      coacervate-based materials. Complex coacervation is an electrostatically and
      entropically-driven associative liquid-liquid phase separation phenomenon that
      can result in the formation of bulk liquid phases, or the self-assembly of
      hierarchical, microphase separated materials. We discuss the need to link
      thermodynamic studies of coacervation phase behavior with characterization of
      material dynamics, and provide parallel examples of how parameters such as charge
      stoichiometry, ionic strength, and polymer chain length impact self-assembly and
      material dynamics. We conclude by highlighting key areas of need in the field,
      and specifically call for the development of a mechanistic understanding of how
      molecular-level interactions in complex coacervate-based materials affect both
      self-assembly and material dynamics.

PMID- 27633929
TI  - Factors associated with Taiwanese lesbians' breast health-care behavior and
      intentions: Qualitative interview findings.
AB  - This article presents the qualitative findings of a mixed-methods study that
      explored factors influencing lesbians' breast health-care behavior and
      intentions. A total of 37 semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted
      among women who self-identified as lesbians or women who partnered with the same
      gender who were aged 20 years or above in four areas of Taiwan (North, Central,
      South, and East Taiwan) between August 2012 and October 2012. Interviews were
      audio recorded with participants' consent. The interviews were analyzed using
      constant comparative analysis with Nvivo audio-coding support. Four themes were
      identified to be strongly associated with the lesbians' breast health-care
      behavior and their intentions, namely, gender identity, gender role expression,
      partners' support, and concerns about health-care providers' reactions. Important
      barriers to the women's breast health-care behavior and intentions were masculine
      identity ("T-identity" in Taiwan), masculine appearance, concerns about health
      care providers' lack of knowledge of multiple gender diversity, and their
      attitudes toward lesbians. Conversely, their partners' support was a factor
      facilitating the women's breast health-care behavior and intentions, particularly
      for the T-identity lesbians. These findings suggest the significance of and need
      for culturally competent care and are important for improving Taiwanese lesbians'
      breast health.

PMID- 27633930
TI  - Early impairment of somatosensory evoked potentials in very young children with
      achondroplasia with foramen magnum stenosis.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the contribution of somatosensory evoked potentials after median
      nerve (MN-SEPs) and posterior tibial nerve (PTN-SEPs) stimulation in functional
      assessment of cervical and lumbar spinal stenosis in children with
      achondroplasia. METHOD: We reviewed MN-SEPs, PTN-SEPs, and spinal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) examinations performed in 58 patients with achondroplasia
      (25 males, 33 females; age range 21d-16y 10mo; mean age 4y 3mo [SD 4y 1mo]).
      Patients were subdivided into four age categories: <2 years, between 2 to 4
      years, between 4 to 8 years, and >=8 years. The peak latency of P37 for PTN-SEPs,
      the peak latencies of N11, N13, P14, and N20, and the N13-N20 interpeak latency
      (IPL) for MN-SEPs were collected; the diagnostic accuracy measures of these
      parameters (analysis of receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curves) with
      respect to the presence of foramen magnum or lumbar spinal stenosis were analysed
      in each age category. RESULTS: The ROC curve analysis showed that the most
      sensitive parameter in detecting the presence of foramen magnum stenosis was P37
      latency in the first two age categories (<2y and >=2-4y; sensitivity 0.63,
      specificity 1.00, and sensitivity 1.00, specificity 0.75 respectively). In the
      third age category (>=4-8y), the most sensitive parameter in detecting the
      presence of foramen magnum stenosis was IPLs N13-N20 (sensitivity 0.73,
      specificity 0.87), whereas in the last age category (>=8y), the most important
      parameter was N20 latency (sensitivity 0.75, specificity 0.77). INTERPRETATION:
      In children with achondroplasia, the cortical component of PTN-SEPs is more
      sensitive than the cortical component and central conduction time of MN-SEPs in
      detection of cervical spinal cord compression at early ages.

PMID- 27633931
TI  - Combining a reduced field of excitation with SENSE-based parallel imaging for
      maximum imaging efficiency.
AB  - PURPOSE: To show that a combination of parallel imaging using sensitivity
      encoding (SENSE) and inner volume imaging (IVI) combines the known benefits of
      both techniques. SENSE with a reduced field of excitation (rFOX) is termed
      rSENSE. THEORY AND METHODS: The noise level in SENSE reconstructions is reduced
      by removing voxels from the unfolding process that are rendered silent by using
      rFOX. The silent voxels need to be identified beforehand, this is done by using
      rFOX in the coil sensitivity maps. In vivo experiments were performed at 7 Tesla
      using a 32-channel receive coil. RESULTS: Good image quality could be obtained in
      vivo with rSENSE at acceleration factors that are higher than could be obtained
      using SENSE or IVI alone. With rSENSE we were also able to accelerate scans using
      an rFOX that was purposely designed to be imperfect or incompatible at all with
      IVI. CONCLUSION: rSENSE has been demonstrated in vivo with two-dimensionally
      selective radiofrequency pulses. Besides allowing additional scan acceleration,
      it offers a greater robustness and flexibility than IVI. The proposed method can
      be used with other field strengths, anatomies and other rFOX techniques. Magn
      Reson Med 78:88-96, 2017. (c) 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
      published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for
      Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of
      the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits use,
      distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
      properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

PMID- 27633932
TI  - Positive psychotherapy for depression and self-efficacy in undergraduate nursing
      students: A randomized, controlled trial.
AB  - Nursing students across the globe experience depressive symptoms, and many
      interventions have been used to alleviate their depression. However, few
      interventions focus on students' personal strengths and advantages. The aim of
      the present study was to explore the effects of an 8-week group positive
      psychotherapy (PPT) programme on depression and self-efficacy in full-time
      undergraduate nursing students. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted for
      76 nursing students (34 in the experimental group, 42 in the control group). The
      Beck Depression Inventory-II and the General Self-Efficacy Scale were used to
      collect data prior to, immediately after PPT, 3 months', and 6 months' post-PPT.
      Repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that the intervention
      significantly alleviated depression and improved self-efficacy (each P < 0.05);
      the effect of time and time-group interaction was also significant (each P <
      0.05). The findings suggest that PPT could significantly relieve depressive
      symptoms and improve self-efficacy. We recommend that PPT is effective in
      alleviating depression and improving self-efficacy in undergraduate nursing
      students. Academic mental health nurses should appreciate the value of PPT and
      consider incorporating it in psychological support methods in order to facilitate
      nursing students' mental health.

PMID- 27633933
TI  - Oxygen-Tolerant Electrodes with Platinum-Loaded Covalent Triazine Frameworks for
      the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction.
AB  - Reducing the use of platinum (Pt) on polymer electrolyte fuel cell anodes is
      critical for the widespread dissemination of these energy conversion systems.
      Although Pt usage can be minimized by the even dispersion of isolated Pt atoms,
      no atomically dispersed Pt catalysts that promote hydrogen oxidation at a rate
      required for practical fuel cells have been reported to date. Covalent triazine
      frameworks with atomically dispersed Pt atoms (0.29 wt %) are described and it is
      demonstrated that the material has a high electrocatalytic hydrogen oxidation
      activity without an overpotential. Importantly, when the loading amount was
      increased to 2.8 wt %, the electrocatalytic hydrogen oxidation activity of the
      resulting electrode was comparable to that of commercial carbon supported 20 wt %
      Pt catalysts, and the catalytic activity for oxygen reduction was markedly
      reduced. Thus, Pt-modified covalent triazine frameworks selectively catalyze
      hydrogen oxidation, even in the presence of dissolved oxygen, which is critical
      for limiting cathode degradation during the start-stop cycles of fuel cells.

PMID- 27633934
TI  - Design of Polyamine-Grafted Starches for Nucleotide Analogue Delivery: In Vitro
      Evaluation of the Anticancer Activity.
AB  - Nucleotide analogues are a therapeutic class that is very promising and currently
      used in clinics, notably against viral infectious diseases and cancer. However,
      their therapeutic potential is often restricted by a poor stability in vivo, the
      induction of severe side effects, and limited passive intracellular diffusion due
      to their hydrophilicity. Polysaccharide-based polymers (e.g., starch) have
      considerable advantages, including a lack of toxicity and the absence of
      antigenicity. The aim of this study was to develop new cationic starches able to
      form complexes with nucleotide analogues, thus protecting them and increasing
      their cell uptake. At the same time, the material should demonstrate good
      biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. Different polyamines, (TREN, TEPA, and
      spermine) were grafted to starch to evaluate the impact of side-chain properties.
      The resulting cationic starch derivatives were characterized (e.g., degree of
      modification) and compared in their ability to form polyplexes with ATP as a
      model nucleotide. Among the tested candidates, the formulation of starch-TEPA and
      ATP with an N/P ratio of 2 led to nanoparticles with a size of 429 nm, a PdI of
      0.054, and a zeta potential of -9 mV. MTT and LDH assays on A549 cell line showed
      low toxicity for this polymer. Confocal microscopy study proved that the cell
      internalization was an incubation-time- and energy-dependent process. Most
      important, starch-TEPA complexed with ddGTP showed significant biological
      activity on A549 cancer cells compared to that of plain ddGTP at the same
      concentration.

PMID- 27633935
TI  - Gold nanocrystals with DNA-directed morphologies.
AB  - Precise control over the structure of metal nanomaterials is important for
      developing advanced nanobiotechnology. Assembly methods of nanoparticles into
      structured blocks have been widely demonstrated recently. However, synthesis of
      nanocrystals with controlled, three-dimensional structures remains challenging.
      Here we show a directed crystallization of gold by a single DNA molecular
      regulator in a sequence-independent manner and its applications in three
      dimensional topological controls of crystalline nanostructures. We anchor DNA
      onto gold nanoseed with various alignments to form gold nanocrystals with defined
      topologies. Some topologies are asymmetric including pushpin-, star- and
      biconcave disk-like structures, as well as more complex jellyfish- and flower
      like structures. The approach of employing DNA enables the solution-based
      synthesis of nanocrystals with controlled, three-dimensional structures in a
      desired direction, and expands the current tools available for designing and
      synthesizing feature-rich nanomaterials for future translational biotechnology.

PMID- 27633936
TI  - Long-term risk of endometrial cancer following postmenopausal bleeding and
      reassuring endometrial biopsy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Women with postmenopausal bleeding and endometrial thickness >4 mm
      undergo endometrial sampling to exclude endometrial cancer. The aim of this study
      is to investigate the relative risk of developing endometrial cancer in a
      prospective cohort after initial work-up for postmenopausal bleeding showing
      reassuring histology or insufficient sampling. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All women
      presenting with postmenopausal bleeding were prospectively included from January
      2009 to April 2011. Follow-up data were collected from patient charts and PALGA
      (Dutch Pathology Registry). Hazard ratios for endometrial cancer were determined
      by calculating standardized incidence ratios. RESULTS: A total of 668 women were
      included and 568 women were available for follow-up [median follow-up time 47
      (range 7-63) months]. Women who presented with postmenopausal bleeding,
      endometrial thickness >4 mm and hyperplasia without atypia on biopsy at the first
      presentation showed a significantly increased risk (standardized incidence ratio
      17.15, 95% confidence interval 1.96-61.93) of being diagnosed with endometrial
      cancer during the first four years of follow up compared with the age-specific
      population. All women that developed endometrial cancer after initial reassuring
      histology presented with recurrent postmenopausal bleeding. None of the women
      with endometrial thickness >4 mm and no or insufficient sample for histology at
      the first presentation developed endometrial cancer during the follow up.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although in general, women with endometrial hyperplasia without
      atypia are considered to have a low risk for cancer, we observed a significant
      long-term risk of endometrial cancer after postmenopausal bleeding. Whether
      additional diagnostics or a more stringent follow-up regimen would be cost
      effective, needs to be studied.

PMID- 27633938
TI  - Effects of a Self-Exercise Program on Activities of Daily Living in Patients
      After Acute Stroke: A Propensity Score Analysis Based on the Japan Association of
      Rehabilitation Database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether self-exercise programs for patients after
      stroke contribute to improved activities of daily living (ADL) at hospital
      discharge. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational, propensity score (PS)-matched
      case-control study. SETTING: General hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Participants
      included patients after stroke (N=1560) hospitalized between January 3, 2006, and
      December 26, 2012, satisfying the following criteria: (1) data on age, sex,
      duration from stroke to hospital admission, length of stay, FIM score, modified
      Rankin Scale (mRS) score, Glasgow Coma Scale score, Japan Stroke Scale score, and
      self-exercise program participation were available; and (2) admitted within 7
      days after stroke onset, length of stay was between 7 and 60 days, prestroke mRS
      score was <=2, and not discharged because of FIM or mRS exacerbation. A total of
      780 PS-matched pairs were selected for each of the self-exercise program and no
      self-exercise program groups. INTERVENTION: Self-exercise program participation.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At discharge, FIM motor score, FIM cognitive score, FIM
      motor score gain (discharge value - admission value), FIM motor score gain rate
      (gain/length of stay), a binary variable divided by the median FIM motor score
      gain rate (high efficiency or no-high efficiency), and mRS score. RESULTS:
      Patients were classified into a self-exercise program (n=780) or a no-self
      exercise program (n=780) group. After matching, there were no significant between
      group differences, except motor system variables. The receiver operating
      characteristic curve for PS had an area under the curve value of .71 with a 95%
      confidence interval of .68 to .73, and the model was believed to have a
      relatively favorable fit. A logistic regression analysis of PS-matched pairs
      suggested that the self-exercise program was effective, with an overall odds
      ratio for ADL (high efficiency or no-high efficiency) of 2.2 (95% confidence
      ratio, 1.75-2.70). CONCLUSIONS: SEPs may contribute to improving ADL.

PMID- 27633939
TI  - Older Age, Low Socioeconomic Status, and Multiple Comorbidities Lower the
      Probability of Receiving Inpatient Rehabilitation Half a Year After Stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the predictors of receiving inpatient rehabilitation
      during 7 to 12 months after stroke. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING:
      A nationally representative sample of 1 million National Health Insurance
      enrollees. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with new-onset stroke (N=13,828) were included.
      Studied participants were patients who received inpatient rehabilitation during 4
      to 6 months after stroke. Patients who died within 1 year of the stroke event
      were excluded (n=488). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      outcome variable of interest was the probability of receiving inpatient
      rehabilitation during 7 to 12 months after stroke. The characteristics of both
      patients and medical care providers were investigated to determine their effect
      on patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation. RESULTS: Older patients, patients
      of low socioeconomic status, patients with Charlson Comorbidity Index >=5, and
      patients who received outpatient rehabilitation during 4 to 6 months after stroke
      have a lower rate of receiving inpatient rehabilitation than do their
      counterparts. In addition, receiving inpatient rehabilitation during 7 to 9
      months after stroke is a strong positive predictor of receiving inpatient
      rehabilitation during 10 to 12 months after stroke (odds ratio, 38.556; P<.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that older age, lower socioeconomic status, and
      multiple comorbidities are negative predictive factors with a cumulative
      predictive power for the probability of receiving inpatient rehabilitation during
      7 to 12 months after stroke.

PMID- 27633940
TI  - Validity and Reliability of Skill-Related Fitness Tests for Wheelchair-Using
      Youth With Spina Bifida.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine content validity of the Muscle Power Sprint Test (MPST),
      and construct validity and reliability of the MPST, 10*5 Meter Sprint Test
      (10*5MST), slalom test, and One Stroke Push Test (1SPT) in wheelchair-using youth
      with spina bifida (SB). DESIGN: Clinimetric study. SETTING: Rehabilitation
      centers, SB outpatient services, and private practices. PARTICIPANTS: A
      convenience sample of children and adolescents (N=53; 32 boys, 21 girls; age
      range, 5-19y) with SB who use a manual wheelchair. Participants were recruited
      through rehabilitation centers, SB outpatient services, pediatric physical
      therapists, and the BOSK (Association of Physically Disabled Persons and their
      Parents). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Construct
      validity of the MPST was determined by comparing results with the arm-cranking
      Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) using paired t tests and Pearson correlation
      coefficients, while content validity was assessed using time-based criteria for
      anaerobic testing. Construct validity of the 10*5MST, slalom test, and 1SPT was
      analyzed by hypothesis testing using Pearson correlation coefficients and
      multiple regression. For reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs)
      and smallest detectable changes (SDCs) were calculated. RESULTS: For the MPST,
      the mean +/- SD exercise time of 4 sprints was 28.1+/-6.6 seconds. Correlations
      between the MPST and arm-cranking WAnT were high (r>.72, P<.01). Excellent
      correlations were found between the 10*5MST and slalom test (r=.93, P<.01), while
      correlations between the 10*5MST or slalom test and MPST and 1SPT were moderate
      (r=-.56 to -.70; r=.56, P<.01). The variation of the 1SPT was explained for 38%
      by wheelchair mass (beta=-.489) and total upper muscle strength (beta=.420). All
      ICCs were excellent (ICCs>.95), but the SDCs varied widely. CONCLUSIONS: The MPST
      is a valid and reliable test in wheelchair-using youth with SB for measuring
      anaerobic performance. The 10*5MST and slalom test are valid and reliable for
      measuring agility. For the 1SPT, both validity and reliability are questionable.

PMID- 27633942
TI  - Design, Modeling, and Fabrication of Chemical Vapor Deposition Grown MoS2
      Circuits with E-Mode FETs for Large-Area Electronics.
AB  - Two-dimensional electronics based on single-layer (SL) MoS2 offers significant
      advantages for realizing large-scale flexible systems owing to its ultrathin
      nature, good transport properties, and stable crystalline structure. In this
      work, we utilize a gate first process technology for the fabrication of highly
      uniform enhancement mode FETs with large mobility and excellent subthreshold
      swing. To enable large-scale MoS2 circuit, we also develop Verilog-A compact
      models that accurately predict the performance of the fabricated MoS2 FETs as
      well as a parametrized layout cell for the FET to facilitate the design and
      layout process using computer-aided design (CAD) tools. Using this CAD flow, we
      designed combinational logic gates and sequential circuits (AND, OR, NAND, NOR,
      XNOR, latch, edge-triggered register) as well as switched capacitor dc-dc
      converter, which were then fabricated using the proposed flow showing excellent
      performance. The fabricated integrated circuits constitute the basis of a
      standard cell digital library that is crucial for electronic circuit design using
      hardware description languages. The proposed design flow provides a platform for
      the co-optimization of the device fabrication technology and circuits design for
      future ubiquitous flexible and transparent electronics using two-dimensional
      materials.

PMID- 27633941
TI  - Frequency-Driven Self-Organized Helical Superstructures Loaded with Mesogen
      Grafted Silica Nanoparticles.
AB  - Adding colloidal nanoparticles into liquid-crystal media has become a promising
      pathway either to enhance or to introduce novel properties for improved device
      performance. Here we designed and synthesized new colloidal hybrid silica
      nanoparticles passivated with a mesogenic monolayer on the surface to facilitate
      their organo-solubility and compatibility in a liquid-crystal host. The resulting
      nanoparticles were identified by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, TEM, TGA, and UV/Vis
      techniques, and the hybrid nanoparticles were doped into a dual-frequency
      cholesteric liquid-crystal host to appraise both their compatibility with the
      host and the effect of the doping concentration on their electro-optical
      properties. Interestingly, the silica-nanoparticle-doped liquid-crystalline
      nanocomposites were found to be able to dynamically self-organize into a helical
      configuration and exhibit multi-stability, that is, homeotropic (transparent),
      focal conic (opaque), and planar states (partially transparent), depending on the
      frequency applied at sustained low voltage. Significantly, a higher contrast
      ratio between the transparent state and scattering state was accomplished in the
      nanoparticle-embedded liquid-crystal systems.

PMID- 27633943
TI  - A Behavioral-Educational Intervention to Promote Pediatric Sleep During
      Hospitalization: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Hospitalization can contribute to common sleep difficulties
      in children. Interventions aimed at hospitalized children need to be developed
      and piloted with rigorous evaluative methods. The primary purpose of this study
      was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a behavioral-educational
      intervention aimed at increasing nighttime sleep for hospitalized children.
      PARTICIPANTS: Hospitalized children aged 4-10 years and their caregivers.
      METHODS: A pilot randomized, controlled trial with concealed-group allocation was
      conducted. Forty-eight hospitalized children (ages 4-10) and their care-givers
      were randomized to either the Relax to Sleep (RTS) intervention group (n = 24) or
      the Usual Care (UC) comparison group (n = 24). The RTS intervention was comprised
      of a one-on-one educational session for the parent that was guided by a
      standardized booklet containing information on sleep and instructions for
      training the child in the use of a diaphragmatic breathing exercise. UC
      participants received no information about sleep or relaxation. Children wore
      actigraphs for 3 days and nights and completed sleep diaries. Outcome measures
      included feasibility, acceptability, and sleep outcomes. RESULTS: Parental
      reports indicated they enjoyed the discussion on sleep, found the information
      helpful, and their child found diaphragmatic breathing easy to use, and would use
      it again in the future. Children in the RTS group averaged 50 minutes more
      nighttime sleep, and had less wake after sleep onset time compared to children in
      the UC group. CONCLUSION: Sleep is critically important to children's health and
      well-being and should be given important consideration during hospitalization.
      Although the results of this pilot trial seem promising, more interventional
      studies are needed.

PMID- 27633944
TI  - Reversible Brain Abnormalities in People Without Signs of Mountain Sickness
      During High-Altitude Exposure.
AB  - A large proportion of lowlanders ascending to high-altitude (HA) show no signs of
      mountain sickness. Whether their brains have indeed suffered from HA environment
      and the persistent sequelae after return to lowland remain unknown. Thirty-one
      sea-level college students, who had a 30-day teaching on Qinghai-Tibet plateau
      underwent MRI scans before, during, and two months after HA exposure. Brain
      volume, cortical structures, and white matter microstructure were measured.
      Besides, serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), C-reactive protein, and interleukin
      6 and neuropsychiatric behaviors were tested. After 30-day HA exposure, the gray
      and white matter volumes and cortical surface areas significantly increased, with
      cortical thicknesses and curvatures changed in a wide spread regions; Anisotropy
      decreased with diffusivities increased in multiple sites of white matter tracts.
      Two months after HA exposure, cortical measurements returned to basal level.
      However, increased anisotropy with decreased diffusivities was observed.
      Behaviors and serum inflammatory factor did not significant changed during three
      time-point tests. NSE significantly decreased during HA but increased after HA
      exposure. Results suggest brain swelling occurred in people without neurological
      signs at HA, but no negative sequelae in cortical structures and neuropsychiatric
      functions were left after the return to lowlands. Reoxygenation changed white
      matter microstructure.

PMID- 27633945
TI  - Serum and Wound Vancomycin Levels After Intrawound Administration in Primary
      Total Joint Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periprosthetic joint infection is the most common cause of
      readmissions after total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Intrawound vancomycin powder
      (VP) has reduced infection rates in spine surgery; however, there are no data
      regarding VP in primary TJA. METHODS: Thirty-four TJA patients received 2 g of VP
      intraoperatively to investigate VP's pharmacokinetics. Serum and wound
      concentrations were measured at multiple intervals over 24 hours after closure.
      RESULTS: All serum concentrations were subtherapeutic (<15MUg/mL) and peaked 12
      hours after closure (4.7MUg/mL; standard deviation [SD], 3.2). Wound
      concentrations were 922 MUg/mL (SD, 523) 3 hours after closure and 207 MUg/mL
      (SD, 317) at 24 hours. VP had a half-life of 7.2 hours (95% confidence interval,
      7.0-9.3) in TJA wounds. CONCLUSIONS: VP produced highly therapeutic intrawound
      concentrations while yielding low systemic levels in TJA. VP may serve as a safe
      adjunct in the prevention of periprosthetic joint infection.

PMID- 27633946
TI  - Combined Administration of IV and Topical Tranexamic Acid is Not Superior to
      Either Individually in Primary Navigated TKA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we tried to assess if combined method (intravenous
      [IV] and topical) of tranexamic acid (TXA) administration, which has been shown
      to be superior in conventional arthroplasty, has similar effect in navigational
      arthroplasty compared to administration of drug either individually. METHODS: In
      present randomized control trial, 200 patients were randomly divided in one of
      the 4 groups using computer-generated tables-control, IV, intraarticular, and
      combined. We studied evident loss through drain, total loss based on Gross method
      and hemoglobin balance method, hidden losses, hemoglobin and hematocrit drop,
      functional scores, and all possible complications related to TXA. RESULTS:
      Evident loss in combined group was 535.55 mL, not significantly less than IV (585
      mL, P = .15) and intraarticular group (514 mL, P = .74). However, these were
      significantly less than control group (696 mL, P = .000). Functional scores and
      recovery rates were, however, comparable in all 4 groups. No patients in any
      group developed symptomatic deep vein thrombosis. CONCLUSION: Tranexamic use
      decreases blood loss in navigation-assisted arthroplasty, however, less than that
      observed for conventional arthroplasty in literature. Further, combined group has
      no added advantage over other methods of drug administration. We believe that
      additional amount of TXA administered in combined regimen may not be clinically
      useful. Further TXA group did not have any advantage in terms of functional
      recovery over control group.

PMID- 27633947
TI  - Acetabular Component Position and the Risk of Dislocation Following Primary and
      Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Matched Cohort Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, the importance of acetabular component positioning in the
      Lewinnek "safe zone" in preventing prosthetic dislocation following total hip
      arthroplasty (THA) has been questioned. The purpose of this study was to
      determine the proportion of acetabular components within the Lewinnek safe zone
      between primary and revision THAs that have sustained a dislocation vs matched
      controls without a dislocation event. METHODS: This was a retrospective,
      institutional review board-approved investigation of THAs performed at our
      institution or referred to our institution between 1997 and 2013. Ninety-six
      primary THAs and 60 revision THAs that sustained a dislocation were included and
      matched 1:1 based on age, gender, and body mass index with nondislocated
      controls. Acetabular component inclination and anteversion were performed using
      Martell Hip Analysis Suite and compared between the 2 cohorts for both primary
      and revision THAs. RESULTS: The proportion of acetabular components within the
      safe zone for both inclination and anteversion was 23 of 96 (24%) in primary THA
      dislocators vs 48 of 96 (50%, P < .001) in controls. The proportion of acetabular
      components within the safe zone for both inclination and anteversion was 28 of 60
      (47%) in revision THA dislocators vs 40 of 60 (66%, P = .03) in controls.
      CONCLUSION: Patients sustaining a dislocation following a primary or revision THA
      had acetabular components less frequently positioned within the safe zone
      compared to control patients. This study suggests acetabular component
      positioning remains an important variable in decreasing the risk of dislocation
      following primary and revision THA.

PMID- 27633948
TI  - A new mathematical modeling for pure parsimony haplotyping problem.
AB  - Pure parsimony haplotyping (PPH) problem is important in bioinformatics because
      rational haplotyping inference plays important roles in analysis of genetic data,
      mapping complex genetic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, heart disorders and
      etc. Haplotypes and genotypes are m-length sequences. Although several integer
      programing models have already been presented for PPH problem, its NP-hardness
      characteristic resulted in ineffectiveness of those models facing the real
      instances especially instances with many heterozygous sites. In this paper, we
      assign a corresponding number to each haplotype and genotype and based on those
      numbers, we set a mixed integer programing model. Using numbers, instead of
      sequences, would lead to less complexity of the new model in comparison with
      previous models in a way that there are neither constraints nor variables
      corresponding to heterozygous nucleotide sites in it. Experimental results
      approve the efficiency of the new model in producing better solution in
      comparison to two state-of-the art haplotyping approaches.

PMID- 27633949
TI  - Analysis of Theanine in Tea (Camellia sinensis) Dietary Ingredients and
      Supplements by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Postcolumn
      Derivatization: Single-Laboratory Validation, First Action 2016.10.
AB  - An HPLC method with postcolumn derivatization was developed and validated for the
      determination of theanine content in tea dietary ingredients and supplements. A
      variety of common commercially available supplement forms such as powders, liquid
      tinctures, tablets, softgels, and gelcaps, as well as three National Institute of
      Standards and Technology Camellia sinensis Standard Reference Materials were
      investigated in the study. A simple extraction procedure using citrate buffer at
      pH 2.2 allowed for the analysis of theanine without additional cleanup or
      concentration steps, even at low ppm levels. Theanine was separated from other
      naturally occurring amino acids using a cation-exchange column and detected using
      a UV-Vis detector after derivatization with ninhydrin reagent. A single
      laboratory validation demonstrated that specificity, accuracy, precision, and
      other method performance parameters have met the requirements set for theanine
      analysis by the AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Dietary Supplements.

PMID- 27633950
TI  - An Injectable Self-Healing Hydrogel Based on Chain-Extended PEO-PPO-PEO
      Multiblock Copolymer.
AB  - Injectable hydrogels have been commonly used as drug-delivery vehicles and tried
      in tissue engineering. Injectable self-healing hydrogels have great advantage
      over traditional injectable hydrogels because they can be injected as a liquid
      and then rapidly form bulk gels in situ at the target site under physiological
      conditions. This study develops an injectable thermosensitive self-healing
      hydrogel based on chain-extended F127 (PEO90 -PPO65 -PEO90 ) multi-block
      copolymer (m-F127). The rapid sol-gel transition ability under body temperature
      allows it to be used as injectable hydrogel and the self-healing property allows
      it to withstand repeated deformation and quickly recover its mechanical
      properties and structure through the dynamic covalent bonds. It is hoped that the
      novel strategy and the fascinating properties of the hydrogel as presented here
      will provide new opportunities with regard to the design and practical
      application of injectable self-healing hydrogels.

PMID- 27633951
TI  - Detergents: Friends not foes for high-performance membrane proteomics toward
      precision medicine.
AB  - Precision medicine, particularly therapeutics, emphasizes the atomic-precise,
      dynamic, and systems visualization of human membrane proteins and their
      endogenous modifiers. For years, bottom-up proteomics has grappled with removing
      and avoiding detergents, yet faltered at the therapeutic-pivotal membrane
      proteins, which have been tackled by classical approaches and are known for
      decades refractory to single-phase aqueous or organic denaturants. Hydrophobicity
      and aggregation commonly challenge tissue and cell lysates, biofluids, and
      enriched samples. Frequently, expected membrane proteins and peptides are not
      identified by shotgun bottom-up proteomics, let alone robust quantitation. This
      review argues the cause of this proteomic crisis is not detergents per se, but
      the choice of detergents. Recently, inclusion of compatible detergents for
      membrane protein extraction and digestion has revealed stark improvements in both
      quantitative and structural proteomics. This review analyzes detergent properties
      behind recent proteomic advances, and proposes that rational use of detergents
      may reconcile outstanding membrane proteomics dilemmas, enabling ultradeep
      coverage and minimal artifacts for robust protein and endogenous PTM
      measurements. The simplicity of detergent tools confers bottom-up membrane
      proteomics the sophistication toward precision medicine.

PMID- 27633954
TI  - Functional Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Nanoengineered Networks for Organic
      and Perovskite-Solar-Cell Applications.
AB  - Carbon nanotubes have a variety of remarkable electronic and mechanical
      properties that, in principle, lend them to promising optoelectronic
      applications. However, the field has been plagued by heterogeneity in the
      distributions of synthesized tubes and uncontrolled bundling, both of which have
      prevented nanotubes from reaching their full potential. Here, a variety of
      recently demonstrated solution-processing avenues is presented, which may combat
      these challenges through manipulation of nanoscale structures. Recent advances in
      polymer-wrapping of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are shown, along with
      how the resulting nanostructures can selectively disperse tubes while also
      exploiting the favorable properties of the polymer, such as light-harvesting
      ability. New methods to controllably form nanoengineered SWNT networks with
      controlled nanotube placement are discussed. These nanoengineered networks
      decrease bundling, lower the percolation threshold, and enable a strong
      enhancement in charge conductivity compared to random networks, making them
      potentially attractive for optoelectronic applications. Finally, SWNT
      applications, to date, in organic and perovskite photovoltaics are reviewed, and
      insights as to how the aforementioned recent advancements can lead to improved
      device performance provided.

PMID- 27633952
TI  - A diverse virome in kidney transplant patients contains multiple viral subtypes
      with distinct polymorphisms.
AB  - Recent studies have established that the human urine contains a complex
      microbiome, including a virome about which little is known. Following
      immunosuppression in kidney transplant patients, BK polyomavirus (BKV) has been
      shown to induce nephropathy (BKVN), decreasing graft survival. In this study we
      investigated the urine virome profile of BKV+ and BKV- kidney transplant
      recipients. Virus-like particles were stained to confirm the presence of VLP in
      the urine samples. Metagenomic DNA was purified, and the virome profile was
      analyzed using metagenomic shotgun sequencing. While the BK virus was predominant
      in the BKV+ group, it was also found in the BKV- group patients. Additional
      viruses were also detected in all patients, notably including JC virus (JCV) and
      Torque teno virus (TTV) and interestingly, we detected multiple subtypes of the
      BKV, JCV and TTV. Analysis of the BKV subtypes showed that nucleotide
      polymorphisms were detected in the VP1, VP2 and Large T Antigen proteins,
      suggesting potential functional effects for enhanced pathogenicity. Our results
      demonstrate a complex urinary virome in kidney transplant patients with multiple
      viruses with several distinct subtypes warranting further analysis of virus
      subtypes in immunosuppressed hosts.

PMID- 27633953
TI  - Disturbances catalyze the adaptation of forest ecosystems to changing climate
      conditions.
AB  - The rates of anthropogenic climate change substantially exceed those at which
      forest ecosystems - dominated by immobile, long-lived organisms - are able to
      adapt. The resulting maladaptation of forests has potentially detrimental effects
      on ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, as many forest-dwelling species are highly
      dependent on the prevailing tree species, a delayed response of the latter to a
      changing climate can contribute to an extinction debt and mask climate-induced
      biodiversity loss. However, climate change will likely also intensify forest
      disturbances. Here, we tested the hypothesis that disturbances foster the
      reorganization of ecosystems and catalyze the adaptation of forest composition to
      climate change. Our specific objectives were (i) to quantify the rate of
      autonomous forest adaptation to climate change, (ii) examine the role of
      disturbance in the adaptation process, and (iii) investigate spatial differences
      in climate-induced species turnover in an unmanaged mountain forest landscape
      (Kalkalpen National Park, Austria). Simulations with a process-based forest
      landscape model were performed for 36 unique combinations of climate and
      disturbance scenarios over 1000 years. We found that climate change strongly
      favored European beech and oak species (currently prevailing in mid- to low
      elevation areas), with novel species associations emerging on the landscape. Yet,
      it took between 357 and 706 years before the landscape attained a dynamic
      equilibrium with the climate system. Disturbances generally catalyzed adaptation
      and decreased the time needed to attain equilibrium by up to 211 years. However,
      while increasing disturbance frequency and severity accelerated adaptation,
      increasing disturbance size had the opposite effect. Spatial analyses suggest
      that particularly the lowest and highest elevation areas will be hotspots of
      future species change. We conclude that the growing maladaptation of forests to
      climate and the long lead times of autonomous adaptation need to be considered
      more explicitly in the ongoing efforts to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem
      services provisioning.

PMID- 27633955
TI  - Factors associated with remission of post-traumatic brain injury fatigue in the
      years following traumatic brain injury (TBI): a TBI model systems module study.
AB  - Post-traumatic brain injury fatigue (PTBIF) is a major problem in the years after
      traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet little is known about its persistence and
      resolution. The objective of the study was to identify factors related to PTBIF
      remission and resolution. TBI Model System registrants at five centres
      participated in interviews at either one and two years post-injury (Y1-2 Cohort),
      or two and five years post-injury (Y2-5 Cohort). Characteristics of participants
      with PTBIF remission were compared to those with PTBIF persistence. Variables
      studied included the presence of and changes in disability, sleep dysfunction,
      mood, and community participation. The Functional Independence Measure did not
      differ significantly between groups or over time. In the Y1-2 Cohort the Fatigue
      Resolved group scored significantly better on the Disability Rating Scale and
      Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In the Y2-5 Cohort the Fatigue Resolved group
      scored significantly higher on a measure of community participation. It was
      concluded that fewer than half of the sample in each cohort experienced a
      remission of PTBIF between time points. Persistence of PTBIF 1-2 years post
      injury is associated with disability, sleep disturbance, and depression while
      persistence of fatigue beyond 2 years post-injury appears to be related to
      participation level, underscoring the potential impact of effective surveillance,
      assessment, and treatment of this condition in optimising life after TBI.
      Differences in fatigue progression may point to the presence of different types
      of PTBIF.

PMID- 27633956
TI  - Quiet Eye and Performance in Sport: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Research linking the "quiet eye" (QE) period to subsequent performance has not
      been systematically synthesized. In this paper we review the literature on the
      link between the two through nonintervention (Synthesis 1) and intervention
      (Synthesis 2) studies. In the first synthesis, 27 studies with 38 effect sizes
      resulted in a large mean effect (d = 1.04) reflecting differences between
      experts' and novices' QE periods, and a moderate effect size (d = 0.58) comparing
      QE periods for successful and unsuccessful performances within individuals.
      Studies reporting QE duration as a percentage of the total time revealed a larger
      mean effect size than studies reporting an absolute duration (in milliseconds).
      The second synthesis of 9 articles revealed very large effect sizes for both the
      quiet-eye period (d = 1.53) and performance (d = 0.84). QE also showed some
      ability to predict performance effects across studies.

PMID- 27633957
TI  - Involvement of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma in the anti
      inflammatory effects of atorvastatin in oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion
      stimulated RAW264.7 murine macrophages.
AB  - Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is important in the pathogenesis and/or
      progression of various diseases, including stroke, cardiovascular disease and
      acute renal injury. Increasing evidence indicates that atorvastatin exerts
      protective effects in I/R injury-associated diseases; however, the underlying
      mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. In the present study, oxygen-glucose
      deprivation (OGD)/reperfusion-stimulated. RAW264.7 murine macrophages served as a
      model of I/R injury. The knockdown of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor
      gamma (PPARgamma) expression in these cells increased OGD/reperfusion-induced
      expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and enhanced OGD/reperfusion
      induced downregulation of the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) 206,
      at the mRNA and protein levels. Conversely, overexpression of PPARgamma
      significantly attenuated OGD/reperfusion-induced alterations in the expression of
      iNOS, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and CD206 at the mRNA and protein levels. Notably,
      atorvastatin inhibited OGD/reperfusion-induced iNOS expression and reversed
      OGD/reperfusion-induced downregulation of the expression of CD206 and PPARgamma
      at the mRNA and protein levels. The results of the present study indicate that
      atorvastatin exhibits significant anti-inflammatory effects in OGD/reperfusion
      stimulated RAW264.7 cells, possibly via PPARgamma regulation. The findings of the
      present study may reveal a novel mechanism underlying the protective effects of
      atorvastatin in I/R injury-associated diseases.

PMID- 27633958
TI  - Enhanced dielectric properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) composites filled
      with nano iron oxide-deposited barium titanate hybrid particles.
AB  - We report enhancement of the dielectric permittivity of poly(vinylidene fluoride)
      (PVDF) generated by depositing magnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles on the
      surface of barium titanate (BT) to fabricate BT-Fe3O4/PVDF composites. This
      process introduced an external magnetic field and the influences of external
      magnetic field on dielectric properties of composites were investigated
      systematically. The composites subjected to magnetic field treatment for 30 min
      at 60  degrees C exhibited the largest dielectric permittivity (385 at 100 Hz)
      when the BT-Fe3O4 concentration is approximately 33 vol.%. The BT-Fe3O4
      suppressed the formation of a conducting path in the composite and induced low
      dielectric loss (0.3) and low conductivity (4.12 * 10(-9) S/cm) in the composite.
      Series-parallel model suggested that the enhanced dielectric permittivity of BT
      Fe3O4/PVDF composites should arise from the ultrahigh permittivity of BT-Fe3O4
      hybrid particles. However, the experimental results of the BT-Fe3O4/PVDF
      composites treated by magnetic field agree with percolation theory, which
      indicates that the enhanced dielectric properties of the BT-Fe3O4/PVDF composites
      originate from the interfacial polarization induced by the external magnetic
      field. This work provides a simple and effective way for preparing nanocomposites
      with enhanced dielectric properties for use in the electronics industry.

PMID- 27633959
TI  - Synthesis of IR-780 dye-conjugated abiraterone for prostate cancer imaging and
      therapy.
AB  - Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging is a novel imaging modality that allows
      for detection and real-time monitoring of various pathophysiological states. IR
      780 iodide has been used as an ideal platform to construct theranostic agents for
      cancer imaging and therapy. Abiraterone is a 17alpha-hydroxylase/C17, 20-lyase
      (CYP17) inhibitor that has been approved for use in patients with prostate cancer
      after androgen deprivation therapy. We report the synthesis and characterization
      of IR-780 conjugated abiraterone for the dual purpose of prostate cancer imaging
      and therapy. The new compound Abi-780 retained the excellent photophysical
      characteristics and NIRF imaging property of IR-780 dye. Abi-780 preferentially
      accumulated in plasmonic organelles of prostate cancer cells but not in normal
      prostate epithelial cells. Dose-dependent inhibition of cultured prostate cancer
      cells by Abi-780 was found. Abi-780 at 20 uM significantly reduced the
      capabilities of colony formation and migration/invasion potential as well as
      increasing the apoptosis rate of prostate cancer cells. NIRF imaging using Abi
      780 selectively identified the tumors in mice bearing prostate cancer xenografts.
      Moreover, Abi-780 treatment significantly retarded the tumor growth. No severe
      systemic toxicity was observed in mice with daily injection of high-dose Abi-780
      for one month. In conclusion, biocompatible Abi-780 is highly effective both in
      prostate cancer imaging and therapy. Constructing theranostic agents using the
      NIRF dye platform holds great promise in accurate diagnosis and targeted
      treatment of cancer.

PMID- 27633960
TI  - Genome-wide profiling of long non-coding RNA expression patterns in anthracycline
      resistant breast cancer cells.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in cancer progression. In the present
      study, we analyzed the lncRNA profiles in adriamycin-resistant and -sensitive
      breast cancer cells and found a group of dysregulated lncRNAs in the adriamycin
      resistant cells. Expression of the dysregulated lncRNAs was correlated with
      dysregulated mRNAs, and these were enriched in GO and KEGG pathways associated
      with cancer progression and chemoresistance development. Among these lncRNA-mRNA
      interactions, some lncRNAs may cis-regulate neighboring protein-coding genes and
      be involved in chemoresistance. We then validated that the lncRNA NONHSAT028712
      regulated nearby CDK2 and interfered with the cell cycle and chemoresistance.
      Furthermore, we identified another group of lncRNAs that trans-regulated genes by
      interacting with different transcription factors. For example, NONHSAT057282 and
      NONHSAG023333 modulated chemoresistance and most likely interacted with the
      transcription factors ELF1 and E2F1, respectively. In conclusion, in the present
      study, we report for the first time the lncRNA expression patterns in adriamycin
      resistant breast cancer cells, and provide a group of novel lncRNA targets that
      mediate chemoresistance development in both cis- and trans-action modes.

PMID- 27633961
TI  - Mammary analog secretory carcinoma of thyroid: A case report.
AB  - Mammary analog secretory carcinoma (MASC) is a recently described rare neoplasm
      that was first reported in the salivary gland with an associated ETV6-NTRK3
      fusion. We present a case of MASC involving and presumably arising in the
      thyroid, which was originally diagnosed as papillary thyroid carcinoma on fine
      needle aspiration and surgical resection. The later correct diagnosis of MASC was
      confirmed by immunohistochemistry and molecular studies. The cytopathological
      features of MASC in the salivary gland are previously described; however, we
      present the first cytopathological description of MASC arising in the thyroid
      with the unique feature of prominent nuclear grooves. Differentiating MASC from
      overlapping features of cytopathologic mimics such as papillary thyroid carcinoma
      may carry crucial therapeutic implications. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:45-50. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27633963
TI  - Maternal Genetic Ancestry and Legacy of 10(th) Century AD Hungarians.
AB  - The ancient Hungarians originated from the Ural region in today's central Russia
      and migrated across the Eastern European steppe, according to historical sources.
      The Hungarians conquered the Carpathian Basin 895-907 AD, and admixed with the
      indigenous communities. Here we present mitochondrial DNA results from three
      datasets: one from the Avar period (7(th)-9(th) centuries) of the Carpathian
      Basin (n = 31); one from the Hungarian conquest-period (n = 76); and a completion
      of the published 10(th)-12(th) century Hungarian-Slavic contact zone dataset by
      four samples. We compare these mitochondrial DNA hypervariable segment sequences
      and haplogroup results with published ancient and modern Eurasian data. Whereas
      the analyzed Avars represents a certain group of the Avar society that shows East
      and South European genetic characteristics, the Hungarian conquerors' maternal
      gene pool is a mixture of West Eurasian and Central and North Eurasian elements.
      Comprehensively analyzing the results, both the linguistically recorded Finno
      Ugric roots and historically documented Turkic and Central Asian influxes had
      possible genetic imprints in the conquerors' genetic composition. Our data allows
      a complex series of historic and population genetic events before the formation
      of the medieval population of the Carpathian Basin, and the maternal genetic
      continuity between 10(th)-12(th) century and modern Hungarians.

PMID- 27633964
TI  - Use of Recursive Partitioning Analysis in Clinical Trials and Meta-Analysis of
      Randomized Clinical Trials, 1990-2016.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA) is a very flexible non
      parametric algorithm that allows classification of individuals according to
      certain criteria, particularly in clinical trials, the method is used to predict
      response to treatment or classify individuals according to prognostic factors.
      OBJECTIVES: In this paper we examine how often RPA is used in clinical trials and
      in meta-analysis. METHODS: We reviewed abstracts published between 1990 and 2016,
      and extracted data regarding clinical trial phase, year of publication, type of
      treatment, medical indication and main evaluated endpoints. RESULTS: One hundred
      and eighty three studies were identified; of these 43 were meta-analyses and 23
      were clinical trials. Most of the studies were published between 2011 and 2016,
      for both clinical trials and meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials. The
      prediction of overall survival and progression free survival were the outcomes
      most evaluated, at 43.5% and 51.2% respectively. Regarding the use of RPA in
      clinical trials, the brain was the most common site studied, while for meta
      analytic studies, other cancer sites were also studied. The combination of
      chemotherapy and radiation was seen frequently in clinical trials. CONCLUSION:
      Recursive partitioning analysis is a very easy technique to use, and it could be
      a very powerful tool to predict response in different subgroups of patients,
      although it is not widely used in clinical trials.

PMID- 27633962
TI  - A randomized trial comparing terlipressin and noradrenaline in patients with
      cirrhosis and septic shock.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The choice of vasopressor for treating cirrhosis with septic
      shock is unclear. While noradrenaline in general is the preferred vasopressor,
      terlipressin improves microcirculation in addition to vasopressor action in non
      cirrhotics. We compared the efficacy and safety of noradrenaline and terlipressin
      in cirrhotics with septic shock. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cirrhotics with septic
      shock underwent open label randomization to receive either terlipressin (n=42) or
      noradrenaline (n=42) infusion at a titrated dose. The primary outcome was mean
      arterial pressure (MAP) >65 mm Hg at 48 h. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were
      comparable between the terlipressin and noradrenaline groups.SBP and pneumonia
      were major sources of sepsis. A higher proportion of patients on terlipressin
      were able to achieve MAP >65 mm of Hg (92.9% vs 69.1% P=.005) at 48 h. Subsequent
      discontinuation of vasopressor after hemodynamic stability was better with
      terlipressin (33.3% vs 11.9%, P<.05). Terlipressin compared to noradrenaline
      prevented variceal bleed (0% vs 9.5%, P=.01) and improved survival at 48 h (95.2%
      vs 71.4%, P=.003). Percentage lactate clearance (LC) is an independent predictor
      of survival [P=.0001, HR=3.9 (95% CI: 1.85-8.22)] after achieving the target
      MAP.Therapy related adverse effect were comparable in both the arms (40.5% vs
      21.4%, P=.06), mostly minor (GradeII-88%) and reversible. CONCLUSIONS:
      Terlipressin is as effective as noradrenaline as a vasopressor in cirrhotics with
      septic shock and can serve as a useful drug. Terlipressin additionally provides
      early survival benefit and reduces the risk of variceal bleed. Lactate clearance
      is a better predictor of outcome even after achieving target MAP, suggesting the
      role of microcirculation in septic shock.

PMID- 27633965
TI  - Interaction of Treatment and Biomarker in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: There has been a long-standing interest in the investigation of
      interactions in science. The objective of the study is to evaluate interaction
      between Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) mutation and treatment from
      randomized, phase II study of chemotherapy versus chemotherapy plus erlotinib in
      patients with progressive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) following clinical
      benefit from erlotinib. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-six patients with advanced
      stage NSCLC and progression from erlotinib were randomized to receive
      chemotherapy (pemetrexed or docetaxel) or chemotherapy plus erlotinib between
      2008 and 2012. Patient characteristics at baseline including age, gender, tumor
      stage, race, smoking history and EGFR mutation status along with the clinical
      outcomes, namely response, Progression- Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival
      (OS) were obtained. The effects of treatment, EGFR mutation and interaction
      between the two on survival outcomes were evaluated using Cox proportional
      hazards model with first-order interaction. RESULTS: For PFS, there was a
      significant interaction between treatment (arm B) and EGFR mutation (mutant
      EGFR+) (p = 0.018), although the main effects of treatment (arm B vs. arm A) and
      EGFR mutation (mutant vs. wild-type EGFR) were statistically significant (with p
      = 0.03 and p = 0.088, respectively) favoring arm B and mutant EGFR+. Thus when
      taking the interaction between treatment and EGFR into account, the hazard ratio
      comparing arm B to arm A when EGFR is positive was 1.49 (95% CI: 0.72, 3.11); and
      the hazard ratio comparing arm B to arm A when EGFR is negative was 0.17 (95% CI:
      0.04 - 0.84). Similarly, for OS, there was a significant interaction between
      treatment and EGFR mutation (p = 0.02), with significant main effects of
      treatment and EGFR favoring arm B and mutant EFGR+. Taking together, the hazard
      ratio comparing arm B to arm A when EGFR is positive was 1.61 (95% CI: 0.68 -
      3.82); and the hazard ratio comparing arm B to arm A when EGFR is negative was
      0.16 (95% CI: 0.03 - 0.9). CONCLUSION: The interaction identified by Cox model
      shows there was an antagonistic effect between chemotherapy + erlotinib and EGFR
      mutation, a situation that the whole is less than the sum of the parts, despite
      the prolonging-survival main effect of each factor from Cox model. As a result,
      the continuing erlotinib beyond progression adds no benefit in survival outcomes
      but leads to an increase in adverse events.

PMID- 27633967
TI  - Co-creating health: more than a dream.

PMID- 27633966
TI  - QT Dispersion and Age; Independent Predictors of Restenosis after Percutaneous
      Coronary Intervention.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There are no reliable non-invasive markers of restenosis after
      Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCIs). The aim of our study was to measure
      changes incorrected QT interval (QTc), corrected QT dispersion (QTcd), corrected
      T wave peak to end interval (TPEc) and corrected TPE dispersion (TPEcd) after PCI
      and to determine whether restenosis subsequently affects these indices. METHODS:
      From 211 patients, who underwent successful PCI, 202 patients were referred for
      repeated coronary angiography in order to exclusion of coronary restenosis and
      included in this analysis. QTc, QTcd, TPEc and TPEcd indices were calculated just
      before PCI and 24 hours later. RESULTS: Comparing pre procedural with post
      procedural results, median QTc and median QTcd decreased significantly after PCI
      procedure (from 447 to 440 ms, p=0.017 and from 46 to 40 ms,p=0.005;
      respectively). Corresponding changes of TPEc and TPEcD were not statistically
      significant. Multivariate analysis showed higher amounts of QTcd changes [Exp(B):
      1.033, 95% CI: 1.018-1.051; P=0.025] and younger age[Exp(B): 1.074, 95% CI: 1.038
      1.112; P=0.023] as independent predictors of restenosis. Area under the ROC curve
      indicated good predictive performance of QTcd changes (.QTcd) [AUC: 0.71, 95% CI:
      0.51-0.86, P = 0.03] and age [AUC 0.68, 95% CI 0.62-0.74, p = 0.04] for
      restenosis after PCI. The best cut-off point for .QTcd was 6 msec, and for age
      was 52 years. The sensitivity and specificity of .QTcd.6 ms to detect coronary
      restenosis were 73.2% and 71.4% respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of age was
      also similar, the sensitivity and specificity of age. 52 years were 68.1% and
      74.3% respectively. CONCLUSION: The Higher differences between pre and post PCI
      QTcd may be an inexpensive and simple predictor of restenosis after a previously
      successful coronary angioplasty. It seems that these findings encourage us to re
      think about using QTcd as a simple ECG predictor for sustained coronary patency
      after angioplasty.

PMID- 27633968
TI  - Development of a novel lateral flow assay for detection of African swine fever in
      blood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African swine fever (ASF) is a viral infectious disease of domestic
      and wild suids of all breeds and ages, causing a wide range of hemorrhagic
      syndromes and frequently characterized by high mortality. The disease is endemic
      in Sub-Saharan Africa and Sardinia. Since 2007, it has also been present in
      different countries of Eastern Europe, where control measures have not been
      effective so far. The continued spread poses a serious threat to the swine
      industry worldwide. In the absence of vaccine, early detection of infected
      animals is of paramount importance for control of the outbreak, to prevent the
      transmission of the virus to healthy animals and subsequent spreading of the
      disease. Current laboratory diagnosis is mainly based on virological methods
      (antigen and genome detection) and serodiagnosis. RESULTS: In the present work, a
      Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) for antigen detection has been developed and evaluated.
      The test is based on the use of a MAb against VP72 protein of ASFV, the major
      viral capsid protein and highly immunogenic. First experiments using VP72 viral
      and recombinant protein or inactivated culture virus showed promising results
      with a sensitivity similar to that of a commercially available Antigen-ELISA.
      Moreover, these strips were tested with blood from experimentally infected pigs
      and field animals and the results compared with those of PCR and Antigen-ELISA.
      For the experimentally infected samples, there was an excellent correlation
      between the LFA and the ELISA, while the PCR always showed to be more sensitive
      (38 % positive samples by PCR versus 27 % by LFA). The LFA was demonstrated to be
      positive for animals with circulating virus levels exceeding 10(4) HAU. With the
      field samples, once again, the PCR detected more positives than either the
      Antigen-ELISA or LFA, although here the number of positive samples scored by the
      LFA exceeded the values obtained with the Antigen-ELISA, showing 60 % positivity
      vs 48 % for the ELISA. For the two groups of sera, the specificity was close to
      100 % indicating that hardly any false positive samples were found. CONCLUSIONS:
      The newly developed LFA allows rapid and reliable detection of ASFV, at field and
      laboratory level, providing a new useful tool for control programs and in
      situations where laboratory support and skilled personnel are limited.

PMID- 27633970
TI  - Epoxyeicosatrienoic Acid as Therapy for Diabetic and Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Among many
      potential targets for pharmacological intervention, a promising strategy involves
      epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (EET) and soluble epoxide hydroxylase (sEH) inhibition.
      sEH is the enzyme that converts EET to its less potent metabolite; therefore, EET
      is upregulated by its inhibitor. EET has pleotropic effects that collectively
      reduce inflammation, while increasing vasodilation and insulin sensitivity.
      Recent reports indicate that EET agonists and sEH inhibitors are capable of not
      only reversing endothelial dysfunction and hypertension, but also of reversing
      cardiac remodeling, which is a hallmark of cardiomyopathy and the metabolic
      syndrome. EET agonists and sEH inhibitors are in development as potential
      therapies, and at least one drug is already in clinical trials. This review
      examines the activity of EET in biological systems, proposes a series of pathways
      to explain its mechanism of action, and discusses how these might be exploited
      for potential therapeutic use.

PMID- 27633969
TI  - The efficacy of thymosin alpha1 as immunomodulatory treatment for sepsis: a
      systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thymosin alpha1 (Talpha1) as immunomodulatory treatment is supposed
      to be beneficial for the sepsis patients by regulating T cell subsets and
      inflammatory mediators. However, limited by the small sample size and the poor
      study design, the persuasive power of the single clinical studies is weak. This
      meta-analysis aimed to investigate the impact of Talpha1 on the sepsis patients.
      METHODS: We searched for the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, CBM, VIP, CNKI, WANFANG, Igaku Chuo Zasshi (ICHUSHI) and Korean
      literature databases reporting the effects of Talpha1 on outcomes in sepsis
      patients. RESULTS: Among 444 related articles, 19 randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) met our inclusion criteria. Mortality events were reported in 10 RCTs
      included 530 patients, and the meta-analysis showed significant decrease in
      Talpha1 group compared with control group (RR 0.59, 95 % CI 0.45 to 0.77, p =
      0.0001). The subgroup analysis showed no difference between the two dosages (RR
      0.59, 95 % CI 0.43 to 0.81; RR 0.59, 95 % CI 0.35 to 0.98, respectively). In 9
      RCTs, with a total of 489 patients, Talpha1 administered once per day decrease
      APACHE II score significantly (SMD -0.80, 95 % CI -1.14 to -0.47, p < 0.0001)
      while Talpha1 twice per day showed no effect (SMD 0.30, 95 % CI-0.10 to 0.70, p =
      0.14). However, the length of ICU stay, the incidence of multiple organ failure
      (MOF) and duration of mechanical ventilation were not significantly affected by
      Talpha1 treatment (SMD -0.52, 95 % CI -1.06 to 0.11, p = 0.06; SMD -0.49, 95 % CI
      -1.09 to 0.11, p = 0.11; SMD -0.37, 95 % CI -0.90 to 0.17, p = 0.17,
      respectively). As to the immunological indicators, the level of HLA-DR were
      increased by Talpha1 (SMD 1.23, 95 % CI 0.28 to 2.18, p = 0.01) according to the
      pooled analysis of 8 studies involving 721 patients. Lymphocyte subsets CD3, CD4
      and cytokines IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-alpha were also beneficially affected by
      Talpha1 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Talpha1 may be beneficial to sepsis patients in
      reducing mortality and modulating inflammation reactions. However, the quality of
      evidence supporting the effectiveness is low considering the small sample sizes
      and inadequate adherence to standardized reporting guidelines for RCTs among the
      included studies.

PMID- 27633971
TI  - Erratum: Biosimilar FSH preparations- are they identical twins or just siblings?

PMID- 27633972
TI  - Visual task performance in the blind with the BrainPort V100 Vision Aid.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The BrainPort(r) V100 Vision Aid is a non-invasive assistive device
      for the blind based on sensory substitution. The device translates camera images
      into electrotactile stimuli delivered to the tongue. The BrainPort has recently
      received the CE mark and FDA approval and it is currently marketed to augment,
      rather than replace, the traditional assistive technologies such as the white
      cane or guide dog. Areas covered: In this work, we will review the functional
      studies performed to date with the BrainPort and we will highlight the critical
      factors that determine device performance, including the technology behind the
      BrainPort, the impediments to assessing device performance, and the impact of
      device training and rehabilitation. Expert commentary: The BrainPort enables
      blind people to perceive light, identify simple objects, recognize short words,
      localize simple objects, and detect motion and orientation of objects. To achieve
      this, proper rehabilitation and training regimes are crucial.

PMID- 27633973
TI  - Editorial Comment.

PMID- 27633974
TI  - Editorial Comment.

PMID- 27633975
TI  - Validity and reliability of a brief self-reported questionnaire assessing fruit
      and vegetable consumption among pregnant women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Short instruments measuring frequency of specific foods, such as
      fruit and vegetable (FV), are increasingly used in interventions. The objective
      of the study was to verify the validity and test-retest reliability of such an
      instrument among pregnant women. METHODS: Pregnant women from the region of
      Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, were recruited through e-mails sent to female
      students and employees of the local university from October 2014 to April 2015.
      To assess the validity of the fruit and vegetable questionnaire (FVQ) developed
      by Godin et al. (Can J Public Health 99: 494-498, 2008), pregnant women were
      asked in a first mailing to complete the FVQ assessing FV intake over the past 7
      days and a 3-day estimated food record. A subsample (n = 33) also gave a fasting
      blood sample and completed a validated semi-quantitative FFQ administered by a
      trained registered dietitian during a visit at the research center. FV intakes
      for all instruments were calculated in terms of servings of FV based on Canada's
      Food Guide definition of a serving of fruit or vegetable. In order to assess its
      test-retest reliability, respondents were asked to complete the FVQ 14 days later
      in a second mailing. RESULTS: Forty-eight pregnant women from all three
      trimesters completed the questionnaires in the first mailing. FV intake assessed
      using the FVQ was correlated to FV consumption measured using the food record (r
      = 0.34, p = 0.0180) and the FFQ (r = 0.61, p = 0.0002). Results were similar when
      controlling for energy intake and the experience of nausea in the past month.
      Only beta-cryptoxanthin was significantly correlated to FV intake assessed by the
      FFQ when adjusted for the presence of nausea (r = 0.35, p = 0.0471). Data on the
      test-retest reliability was available for 44 women and the intra-class
      coefficient for the FVQ was 0.72 at a mean 28-day interval. CONCLUSIONS: The FVQ
      has acceptable validity and test-retest reliability values, but seems to
      underestimate FV servings in pregnant women. It represents an interesting
      alternative for researchers or clinicians interested in estimating quickly FV
      intake among pregnant women, such as in large trials or during prenatal visits.
      The FVQ should however be coupled with other self-reported measures, such as a
      food record, for assessing precise individual FV intake.

PMID- 27633976
TI  - Multidimensional patterns of metabolic response in abiotic stress-induced growth
      of Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Contextualization of specific transcriptional responses of
      Arabidopsis within the stress-tissue-time perspective provides a simplified
      representation of the cellular transcriptional response pathways to abiotic
      stress, while reducing the dimensions in gene-oriented response description.
      Crops resistant to abiotic stresses are a long-term goal of many research
      programs, thus understanding the progression of stress responses is of great
      interest. We reanalyzed the AtGenExpress transcription dataset to go beyond gene
      level characterization, and to contextualize the discrete information into (1) a
      process-level signature of stress-specific, time-specific, and tissue-specific
      responses and (2) identify patterns of response progression across a time axis.
      To gain a functional perspective, ~1000 pathways associated with the
      differentially-expressed genes were characterized across all experiments. We find
      that the global response of pathways to stress is multi-dimensional and does not
      obviously cluster according to stress, time or tissue. The early response to
      abiotic stress typically involves induction of genes involved in transcription,
      hormone synthesis and signaling modules; a later response typically involves
      metabolism of amino acids and secondary metabolites. By linking specific primary
      and secondary response pathways, we outline possible stress-associated routes of
      response progression. The contextualization of specific processes within stress
      tissue-time perspective provides a simplified representation of cellular response
      while reducing the dimensions in gene-oriented response description. Such
      simplified representation allows finding stress-specific markers based on process
      combinations pointing whether a stress-specific response was invoked as well as
      provide a reference point for the conductance of comparative inter-plant study of
      stress response, bypassing the need in detailed orthologous mapping.

PMID- 27633977
TI  - New perspectives on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the role of glial cells at the
      neuromuscular junction.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disease leading to the death of motor
      neurons (MNs). It is also recognized as a non-cell autonomous disease where glial
      cells in the CNS are involved in its pathogenesis and progression. However,
      although denervation of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) represents an early and
      major event in ALS, the importance of glial cells at this synapse receives little
      attention. An interesting possibility is that altered relationships between glial
      cells and MNs in the spinal cord in ALS may also take place at the NMJ.
      Perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs), which are glial cells at the NMJ, show great
      morphological and functional adaptability to ensure NMJ stability, maintenance
      and repair. More specifically, PSCs change their properties according to the
      state of innervation. Hence, abnormal changes or lack of changes can have
      detrimental effects on NMJs in ALS. This review will provide an overview of known
      and hypothesized interactions between MN nerve terminals and PSCs at NMJs during
      development, aging and ALS-induced denervation. These neuron-PSC interactions may
      be crucial to the understanding of how degenerative changes begin and progress at
      NMJs in ALS, and represent a novel therapeutic target.

PMID- 27633979
TI  - Is There a Critical Period for the Developmental Neurotoxicity of Low-Level
      Tobacco Smoke Exposure?
AB  - Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure in pregnancy increases the risk of
      neurodevelopmental disorders. We evaluated in rats whether there is a critical
      period during which tobacco smoke extract (TSE) affects the development of
      acetylcholine and serotonin systems, prominent targets for adverse effects of
      nicotine and tobacco smoke. We simulated secondhand smoke exposure by
      administering TSE so as to produce nicotine concentrations one-tenth those in
      active smoking, with 3 distinct, 10-day windows: premating, early gestation or
      late gestation. We conducted longitudinal evaluations in multiple brain regions,
      starting in early adolescence (postnatal day 30) and continued to full adulthood
      (day 150). TSE exposure in any of the 3 windows impaired presynaptic cholinergic
      activity, exacerbated by a decrement in nicotinic cholinergic receptor
      concentrations. Although the adverse effects were seen for all 3 treatment
      windows, there was a distinct progression, with lowest sensitivity for premating
      exposure and higher sensitivity for gestational exposures. Serotonin receptors
      were also reduced by TSE exposure with the same profile: little effect with
      premating exposure, intermediate effect with early gestational exposure and large
      effect with late gestational exposure. As serotonergic circuits can offset the
      neurobehavioral impact of cholinergic deficits, these receptor changes were
      maladaptive. Thus, there is no single 'critical period' for effects of low-level
      tobacco smoke but there is differential sensitivity dependent upon the
      developmental stage at the time of exposure. Our findings reinforce the need to
      avoid secondhand smoke exposure not only during pregnancy, but also in the period
      prior to conception, or generally for women of childbearing age.

PMID- 27633978
TI  - High-Content Analysis Provides Mechanistic Insights into the Testicular Toxicity
      of Bisphenol A and Selected Analogues in Mouse Spermatogonial Cells.
AB  - Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting compound, was found to be a testicular
      toxicant in animal models. Bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol AF (BPAF), and
      tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) were recently introduced to the market as
      alternatives to BPA. However, toxicological data of these compounds in the male
      reproductive system are still limited so far. This study developed and validated
      an automated multi-parametric high-content analysis (HCA) using the C18-4
      spermatogonial cell line as a model. We applied these validated HCA, including
      nuclear morphology, DNA content, cell cycle progression, DNA synthesis,
      cytoskeleton integrity, and DNA damage responses, to characterize and compare the
      testicular toxicities of BPA and 3 selected commercial available BPA analogues,
      BPS, BPAF, and TBBPA. HCA revealed BPAF and TBBPA exhibited higher spermatogonial
      toxicities as compared with BPA and BPS, including dose- and time-dependent
      alterations in nuclear morphology, cell cycle, DNA damage responses, and
      perturbation of the cytoskeleton. Our results demonstrated that this specific
      culture model together with HCA can be utilized for quantitative screening and
      discriminating of chemical-specific testicular toxicity in spermatogonial cells.
      It also provides a fast and cost-effective approach for the identification of
      environmental chemicals that could have detrimental effects on reproduction.

PMID- 27633980
TI  - Mechanistic Evaluation of Benzo[a]pyrene's Developmental Toxicities Mediated by
      Reduced Cyp19a1b Activity.
AB  - Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that is both an
      endocrine disruptor and a carcinogen. Aromatase (CYP19) is a key enzyme in
      steroidogenesis that is responsible for conversion of androgens to estrogens and
      thus plays a key role in steroid homeostasis. We hypothesized that some of the
      adverse outcomes of early developmental exposure to BaP are the result of reduced
      Cyp19a1b activity. Our goal was to investigate the role of estrogen homeostasis
      during early development and determine the role of aromatase inhibition as a
      relevant mechanism in BaP's developmental toxicities. One-cell zebrafish embryos
      were injected with a Cyp19a1b-morpholino (MO) or control-MO. Other non-injected
      embryos were exposed to waterborne BaP, fadrozole (a Cyp19 inhibitor), estradiol
      (E2), BaP + E2, Cyp19a1b MO + E2, or fadrozole + E2 for 96 hours post
      fertilization (hpf). Adverse outcomes were compared between treatments, and the
      ability of E2 co-exposure to rescue each observed dysmorphology was assessed. BaP
      significantly decreased cyp19a1b gene expression in 96 hpf zebrafish larvae
      homogenates. Concentrations of E2 in 48 hpf larvae were significantly decreased
      by BaP, fadrozole and Cyp19a1b-MO. Cumulative mortality of zebrafish larvae was
      significantly increased following BaP or fadrozole exposure or Cyp19a1b knockdown
      compared to controls. E2 co-treatment rescued mortality caused by 10 MUg/L BaP,
      10 MUg/L fadrozole, or Cyp19a1b-MO. In a treatment-blinded morphological
      assessment of larvae at 96 hpf, several phenotypes were negatively impacted by
      BaP, fadrozole, or Cyp19a1b knockdown and rescued by exogenous E2 co-treatment;
      these included body length, optic vesicle size, swim bladder inflation,
      pericardial and abdominal edema, and incidence of normal larval tail shape.
      Abnormal pectoral fins were caused by BaP exposure only. Uninflated swim bladders
      were caused by all treatments including E2 alone. Our results indicate that
      certain BaP-mediated adverse developmental outcomes were mechanistically in
      accordance with BaP-mediated Cyp19a1b inhibition.

PMID- 27633981
TI  - Gene fusions AHRR-NCOA2, NCOA2-ETV4, ETV4-AHRR, P4HA2-TBCK, and TBCK-P4HA2
      resulting from the translocations t(5;8;17)(p15;q13;q21) and t(4;5)(q24;q31) in a
      soft tissue angiofibroma.
AB  - We present an angiofibroma of soft tissue with the karyotype
      46,XY,t(4;5)(q24;q31),t(5;8;17)(p15;q13;q21)[8]/46,XY,t(1;14)(p31;q32)[2]/46,XY[3
      . RNA-sequencing showed that the t(4;5)(q24;q31) resulted in recombination of the
      genes TBCK on 4q24 and P4HA2 on 5q31.1 with generation of an in-frame TBCK-P4HA2
      and the reciprocal but out-of-frame P4HA2-TBCK fusion transcripts. The putative
      TBCK-P4HA2 protein would contain the kinase, the rhodanese-like domain, and the
      Tre-2/Bub2/Cdc16 (TBC) domains of TBCK together with the P4HA2 protein which is a
      component of the prolyl 4-hydroxylase. The t(5;8;17)(p15;q13;q21) three-way
      chromosomal translocation targeted AHRR (on 5p15), NCOA2 (on 8q13), and ETV4 (on
      17q21) generating the in-frame fusions AHRR-NCOA2 and NCOA2-ETV4 as well as an
      out-of-frame ETV4-AHRR transcript. In the AHRR-NCOA2 protein, the C-terminal part
      of AHRR is replaced by the C-terminal part of NCOA2 which contains two activation
      domains. The NCOA2-ETV4 protein would contain the helix-loop-helix, PAS_9 and
      PAS_11, CITED domains, the SRC-1 domain of NCOA2 and the ETS DNA-binding domain
      of ETV4. No fusion gene corresponding to t(1;14)(p31;q32) was found. Our findings
      indicate that, in spite of the recurrence of AHRR-NCOA2 in angiofibroma of soft
      tissue, additional genetic events (or fusion genes) might be required for the
      development of this tumor.

PMID- 27633983
TI  - Covalent Assembly and Characterization of Nonsymmetrical Single-Molecule Nodes.
AB  - The covalent linking of molecular building blocks on surfaces enables the
      construction of specific molecular nanostructures of well-defined shape.
      Molecular nodes linked to various entities play a key role in such networks, but
      represent a particular challenge because they require a well-defined arrangement
      of different building blocks. Herein, we describe the construction of a
      chemically and geometrically well defined covalent architecture made of one
      central node and three molecular wires arranged in a nonsymmetrical way and thus
      encoding different conjugation pathways. Very different architectures of either
      very limited or rather extended size were obtained depending on the building
      blocks used for the covalent linking process on the Au(111) surface. Electrical
      measurements were carried out by pulling individual molecular nodes with the tip
      of a scanning tunneling microscope. The results of this challenging procedure
      indicate subtle differences if the nodes are contacted at inequivalent termini.

PMID- 27633982
TI  - Multifaceted academic detailing program to increase pharmacotherapy for alcohol
      use disorder: interrupted time series evaluation of effectiveness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Active consideration of effective medications to treat alcohol use
      disorder (AUD) is a consensus standard of care, yet knowledge and use of these
      medications are very low across diverse settings. This study evaluated the
      overall effectiveness a multifaceted academic detailing program to address this
      persistent quality problem in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA), as
      well as the context and process factors that explained variation in effectiveness
      across sites. METHODS: An interrupted time series design, analyzed with mixed
      effects segmented logistic regression, was used to evaluate changes in level and
      rate of change in the monthly percent of patients with a clinically documented
      AUD who received naltrexone, acamprosate, disulfiram, or topiramate. Using data
      from a 20 month post-implementation period, intervention sites (n = 37) were
      compared to their own 16 month pre-implementation performance and separately to
      the rest of VHA. RESULTS: From immediately pre-intervention to the end of the
      observation period, the percent of patients in the intervention sites with AUD
      who received medication increased over 3.4 % in absolute terms and 68 % in
      relative terms (i.e., 4.9-8.3 %). This change was significant compared to the pre
      implementation period in the intervention sites and secular trends in control
      sites. Sites with lower pre-implementation adoption, more person hours of
      detailing, but fewer people detailed, had larger immediate increases in
      medication receipt after implementation. The average number of detailing
      encounters per person was associated with steeper increases in slope over time.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study found empirical support for a multifaceted quality
      improvement strategy aimed at increasing access to and utilization of
      pharmacotherapy for AUD. Future studies should focus on determining how to
      enhance the programs effects, especially in non-responsive locations.

PMID- 27633984
TI  - miR-144-3p as a novel plasma diagnostic biomarker for clear cell renal cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most frequent and
      lethal subtype of renal cell carcinoma, whose most effective measure of curing
      remains diagnosis and nephrectomy in its early phase. However, there is no
      feasible and recognized plasma biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of ccRCC. The
      objective of this study is to identify a novel plasma microRNA (miRNA) acting as
      an efficient diagnostic plasma biomarker in ccRCC. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The
      plasma miRNA expression profile was quantified by miRNA microarray. Validation of
      miRNA levels of plasmas and tissues were performed by quantitative reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction in 106 ccRCC, 28 renal angiomyolipomas
      (AML), and 123 healthy control plasmas and in 110 ccRCC tissues. RESULTS: We
      found that plasma miR-144-3p levels in 106 ccRCC plasmas were remarkably up
      regulated compared with that in healthy individuals and in patients with AML. miR
      144-3p served as a promising plasma biomarker for yielding an area under the
      receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.91 with 87.10% sensitivity and
      83.02% specificity in discriminating ccRCC from healthy individuals, and an area
      under the curve of 0.82 with 75.00% sensitivity and 71.70% specificity in
      discriminating ccRCC from patients with AML. In addition, plasma miR-144-3p
      levels were significantly decreased after surgery in 106 patients with ccRCC.
      Next, we examined miR-144-3p levels in 110 human ccRCC tissues, and found that
      miR-144-3p levels in ccRCC tissues were increased compared with adjacent normal
      tissues. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that miR-144-3p levels in tumor
      tissues were positively correlated with preoperative plasma miR-144-3p levels in
      the matched samples from patients with ccRCC. In addition, the miR-144-3p levels
      in ccRCC plasmas and tissues were increased in patients with advanced pT stage.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that miR-144-3p, which is significantly up
      regulated in ccRCC plasmas and tissues, particularly with advanced pT stage, is a
      novel and excellent plasma biomarker for the diagnosis of ccRCC.

PMID- 27633985
TI  - Systemic TNF-alpha produces acute cognitive dysfunction and exaggerated sickness
      behavior when superimposed upon progressive neurodegeneration.
AB  - Inflammation influences chronic neurodegeneration but its precise roles are not
      yet clear. Systemic inflammation caused by infection, trauma or co-morbidity can
      alter the brain's inflammatory status, produce acute cognitive impairments, such
      as delirium, and drive new pathology and accelerated decline. Consistent with
      this, elevated systemic TNF-alpha is associated with more rapid cognitive decline
      over 6months in Alzheimer's disease patients. In the current study we challenged
      normal animals and those with existing progressive neurodegeneration (ME7 prion
      disease) with TNF-alpha (i.p.) to test the hypothesis that this cytokine has
      differential effects on cognitive function, sickness behavior and features of
      underlying pathology contingent on the animals' baseline condition. TNF-alpha
      (50MUg/kg) had no impact on performance of normal animals (normal brain
      homogenate; NBH) on working memory (T-maze) but produced acute impairments in ME7
      animals similarly challenged. Plasma TNF-alpha and CCL2 levels were equivalent in
      NBH and ME7 TNF-challenged animals but hippocampal and hypothalamic transcription
      of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and CCL2 and translation of IL-1beta were higher in
      ME7+TNF-alpha than NBH+TNF-alpha animals. TNF-alpha produced an exaggerated
      sickness behavior response (hypothermia, weight loss, inactivity) in ME7 animals
      compared to that in NBH animals. However a single challenge with this dose was
      not sufficient to produce de novo neuronal death, synaptic loss or tau
      hyperphosphorylation that was distinguishable from that arising from ME7 alone.
      The data indicate that acutely elevated TNF-alpha has robust acute effects on
      brain function, selectively in the degenerating brain, but more sustained levels
      may be required to significantly impact on underlying neurodegeneration.

PMID- 27633986
TI  - The commensal microbiota exacerbate infectious colitis in stressor-exposed mice.
AB  - Exposure to a prolonged restraint stressor disrupts the colonic microbiota
      community composition, and is associated with an elevated inflammatory response
      to colonic pathogen challenge. Since the stability of the microbiota has been
      implicated in the development and modulation of mucosal immune responses, we
      hypothesized that the disruptive effect of the stressor upon the microbiota
      composition directly contributed to the stressor-induced exacerbation of pathogen
      induced colitis. In order to establish a causative role for stressor-induced
      changes in the microbiota, conventional mice were exposed to prolonged restraint
      to change the microbiota. Germfree mice were then colonized by microbiota from
      either stressor-exposed or non-stressed control mice. One day after colonization,
      mice were infected with the colonic pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium. At six days
      post-infection, mice that received microbiota from stressor-exposed animals had
      significant increases in colonic pathology and pro-inflammatory cytokine (e.g. IL
      1beta) and chemokine (e.g. CCL2) levels after C. rodentium infection in
      comparison with mice that received microbiota from non-stressed mice. 16S rRNA
      gene sequencing revealed that microbial communities from stressed mice did not
      have any detectable Bifidobacterium present, a stark contrast with the microbial
      communities from non-stressed mice, suggesting that stressor-induced alterations
      in commensal, immunomodulatory Bifidobacterium levels may predispose to an
      increased inflammatory response to pathogen challenge. This study demonstrates
      that the commensal microbiota directly contribute to excessive inflammatory
      responses to C. rodentium during stressor exposure, and may help to explain why
      gastrointestinal disorders are worsened during stressful experiences.

PMID- 27633987
TI  - Prevalence of ketosis, ketonuria, and ketoacidosis during liberal glycemic
      control in critically ill patients with diabetes: an observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is uncertain whether liberal glucose control in critically ill
      diabetic patients leads to increased ketone production and ketoacidosis.
      Therefore, we aimed to assess the prevalence of ketosis, ketonuria and
      ketoacidosis in critically ill diabetic patients treated in accordance with a
      liberal glycemic control protocol. METHODS: We performed a prospective
      observational cohort study of 60 critically ill diabetic patients with blood
      and/or urine ketone bodies tested in ICU. All patients were treated according to
      a liberal glucose protocol targeting a blood glucose level (BGL) between 10 and
      14 mmol/l in a single tertiary intensive care unit in Australia. We measured
      quantitative bedside blood 3-beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-OHB) and semi
      quantitative urine ketones on ICU admission and daily during ICU stay, for a
      maximum of 10 consecutive days. RESULTS: Median blood beta-OHB level on admission
      was 0.3 (0.1, 0.8) mmol/l. Ketoacidosis was rare (3 %), but some level of ketosis
      (beta-OHB >=0.6 mmol/l) was found in 38 patients (63 %) early during their ICU
      stay. However, there was no significant difference in prevalence or severity of
      ketonemia and ketonuria among patients with BGL above (permissive hyperglycemia)
      or below 10 mmol/l. On multivariable linear regression analysis there was no
      association between blood ketone levels and BGL, HbA1c, lactate levels,
      hematocrit, catecholamine infusion or APACHE III score. In contrast, blood ketone
      levels tended to be higher after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery (P = 0.06).
      CONCLUSIONS: Liberal glycemic control in critically ill diabetic patients does
      not appear to be associated with a high prevalence of ketoacidosis or ketonemia.
      Moreover, ketosis is typically present on admission and resolves rapidly.
      Finally, cardiopulmonary bypass surgery may be an important trigger of ketone
      body production. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials
      Registry ( ACTRN12615000216516 ; trial registration date 5 March 2015).

PMID- 27633988
TI  - Notch-Wnt-Bmp crosstalk regulates radial patterning in the mouse cochlea in a
      spatiotemporal manner.
AB  - The sensory cells of the mammalian organ of Corti assume a precise mosaic
      arrangement during embryonic development. Manipulation of Wnt signaling can
      modulate the proliferation of cochlear progenitors, but whether Wnts are
      responsible for patterning compartments, or specific hair cells within them, is
      unclear. To address how the precise timing of Wnt signaling impacts patterning
      across the radial axis, mouse cochlear cultures were initiated at embryonic day
      12.5 and subjected to pharmacological treatments at different stages. Early
      changes in major patterning genes were assessed to understand the mechanisms
      underlying alterations of compartments. Results show that Wnt activation can
      promote medial cell fates by regulating medially expressed Notch genes in a
      spatiotemporal manner. Wnts can also suppress lateral cell fates by antagonizing
      Bmp4 expression. Perturbation of the Notch and Bmp pathways revealed which
      secondary effects were linked to these pathways. Importantly, these effects on
      cochlear development are dependent on the timing of drug delivery. In conclusion,
      Wnt signaling in the cochlea influences patterning through complex crosstalk with
      the Notch and Bmp pathways at several stages of embryonic development.

PMID- 27633989
TI  - Somatic stem cell differentiation is regulated by PI3K/Tor signaling in response
      to local cues.
AB  - Stem cells reside in niches that provide signals to maintain self-renewal, and
      differentiation is viewed as a passive process that depends on loss of access to
      these signals. Here, we demonstrate that the differentiation of somatic cyst stem
      cells (CySCs) in the Drosophila testis is actively promoted by PI3K/Tor
      signaling, as CySCs lacking PI3K/Tor activity cannot differentiate properly. We
      find that an insulin peptide produced by somatic cells immediately outside of the
      stem cell niche acts locally to promote somatic differentiation through Insulin
      like receptor (InR) activation. These results indicate that there is a local
      'differentiation' niche that upregulates PI3K/Tor signaling in the early
      daughters of CySCs. Finally, we demonstrate that CySCs secrete the Dilp-binding
      protein ImpL2, the Drosophila homolog of IGFBP7, into the stem cell niche, which
      blocks InR activation in CySCs. Thus, we show that somatic cell differentiation
      is controlled by PI3K/Tor signaling downstream of InR and that the local
      production of positive and negative InR signals regulates the differentiation
      niche. These results support a model in which leaving the stem cell niche and
      initiating differentiation are actively induced by signaling.

PMID- 27633992
TI  - Emergence of dorsal-ventral polarity in ESC-derived retinal tissue.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC)-derived retinal
      epithelium self-forms an optic cup-like structure. In the developing retina, the
      dorsal and ventral sides differ in terms of local gene expression and
      morphological features. This aspect has not yet been shown in vitro Here, we
      demonstrate that mESC-derived retinal tissue spontaneously acquires polarity
      reminiscent of the dorsal-ventral (D-V) patterning of the embryonic retina. Tbx5
      and Vax2 were expressed in a mutually exclusive manner, as seen in vivo Three
      dimensional morphometric analysis showed that the in vitro-formed optic cup often
      contains cleft structures resembling the embryonic optic fissure. To elucidate
      the mechanisms underlying the spontaneous D-V polarization of mESC-derived
      retina, we examined the effects of patterning factors, and found that endogenous
      BMP signaling plays a predominant role in the dorsal specification. Further
      analysis revealed that canonical Wnt signaling, which was spontaneously activated
      at the proximal region, acts upstream of BMP signaling for dorsal specification.
      These observations suggest that D-V polarity could be established within the self
      formed retinal neuroepithelium by intrinsic mechanisms involving the
      spatiotemporal regulation of canonical Wnt and BMP signals.

PMID- 27633991
TI  - Members of the Rusc protein family interact with Sufu and inhibit vertebrate
      Hedgehog signaling.
AB  - Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is fundamentally important for development and adult
      tissue homeostasis. It is well established that in vertebrates Sufu directly
      binds and inhibits Gli proteins, the downstream mediators of Hh signaling.
      However, it is unclear how the inhibitory function of Sufu towards Gli is
      regulated. Here we report that the Rusc family of proteins, the biological
      functions of which are poorly understood, form a heterotrimeric complex with Sufu
      and Gli. Upon Hh signaling, Rusc is displaced from this complex, followed by
      dissociation of Gli from Sufu. In mammalian fibroblast cells, knockdown of Rusc2
      potentiates Hh signaling by accelerating signaling-induced dissociation of the
      Sufu-Gli protein complexes. In Xenopus embryos, knockdown of Rusc1 or
      overexpression of a dominant-negative Rusc enhances Hh signaling during eye
      development, leading to severe eye defects. Our study thus uncovers a novel
      regulatory mechanism controlling the response of cells to Hh signaling in
      vertebrates.

PMID- 27633990
TI  - Control of lens development by Lhx2-regulated neuroretinal FGFs.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling is an essential regulator of lens
      epithelial cell proliferation and survival, as well as lens fiber cell
      differentiation. However, the identities of these FGF factors, their source
      tissue and the genes that regulate their synthesis are unknown. We have found
      that Chx10-Cre;Lhx2lox/lox mice, which selectively lack Lhx2 expression in
      neuroretina from E10.5, showed an early arrest in lens fiber development along
      with severe microphthalmia. These mutant animals showed reduced expression of
      multiple neuroretina-expressed FGFs and canonical FGF-regulated genes in
      neuroretina. When FGF expression was genetically restored in Lhx2-deficient
      neuroretina of Chx10-Cre;Lhx2lox/lox mice, we observed a partial but nonetheless
      substantial rescue of the defects in lens cell proliferation, survival and fiber
      differentiation. These data demonstrate that neuroretinal expression of Lhx2 and
      neuroretina-derived FGF factors are crucial for lens fiber development in vivo.

PMID- 27633993
TI  - Notch signaling promotes nephrogenesis by downregulating Six2.
AB  - During nephrogenesis, multipotent mesenchymal nephron progenitors develop into
      distinct epithelial segments. Each nephron segment has distinct cell types and
      physiological function. In the current model of kidney development, Notch
      signaling promotes the formation of proximal tubules and represses the formation
      of distal tubules. Here, we present a novel role of Notch in nephrogenesis. We
      show in mice that differentiation of nephron progenitors requires downregulation
      of Six2, a transcription factor required for progenitor maintenance, and that
      Notch signaling is necessary and sufficient for Six2 downregulation. Furthermore,
      we find that nephron progenitors lacking Notch signaling fail to differentiate
      into any nephron segments, not just proximal tubules. Our results demonstrate how
      cell fates of progenitors are regulated by a transcription factor governing
      progenitor status and by a differentiation signal in nephrogenesis.

PMID- 27633995
TI  - Tissue-specific roles for sonic hedgehog signaling in establishing thymus and
      parathyroid organ fate.
AB  - The thymus and parathyroids develop from third pharyngeal pouch (3rd pp)
      endoderm. Our previous studies show that Shh null mice have smaller, aparathyroid
      primordia in which thymus fate specification extends into the pharynx. SHH
      signaling is active in both dorsal pouch endoderm and neighboring neural crest
      (NC) mesenchyme. It is unclear which target tissue of SHH signaling is required
      for the patterning defects in Shh mutants. Here, we used a genetic approach to
      ectopically activate or delete the SHH signal transducer Smo in either pp
      endoderm or NC mesenchyme. Although no manipulation recapitulated the Shh null
      phenotype, manipulation of SHH signaling in either the endoderm or NC mesenchyme
      had direct and indirect effects on both cell types during fate specification and
      organogenesis. SHH pathway activation throughout pouch endoderm activated ectopic
      Tbx1 expression and partially suppressed the thymus-specific transcription factor
      Foxn1, identifying Tbx1 as a key target of SHH signaling in the 3rd pp. However,
      ectopic SHH signaling was insufficient to expand the GCM2-positive parathyroid
      domain, indicating that multiple inputs, some of which might be independent of
      SHH signaling, are required for parathyroid fate specification. These data
      support a model in which SHH signaling plays both positive and negative roles in
      patterning and organogenesis of the thymus and parathyroids.

PMID- 27633994
TI  - Functional roles of MMP14 and MMP15 in early postnatal mammary gland development.
AB  - During late embryogenesis, mammary epithelial cells initiate migration programs
      that drive ductal invasion into the surrounding adipose-rich mesenchyme.
      Currently, branching morphogenesis is thought to depend on the mobilization of
      the membrane-anchored matrix metalloproteinases MMP14 (MT1-MMP) and MMP15 (MT2
      MMP), which drive epithelial cell invasion by remodeling the extracellular matrix
      and triggering associated signaling cascades. However, the roles that these
      proteinases play during mammary gland development in vivo remain undefined. Here,
      we characterize the impact of global Mmp14 and Mmp15 targeting on early postnatal
      mammary gland development in mice. Unexpectedly, both Mmp14-/- and Mmp15-/-
      mammary glands retain the ability to generate intact ductal networks. Although
      neither proteinase is required for branching morphogenesis, transcriptome
      profiling reveals a key role for MMP14 and MMP15 in regulating mammary gland
      adipocyte differentiation. Whereas MMP14 promotes the generation of white fat
      depots crucial for energy storage, MMP15 differentially controls the formation of
      thermogenic brown fat. Taken together, these data not only indicate that current
      paradigms relevant to proteinase-dependent morphogenesis need be revisited, but
      also identify new roles for the enzymes in regulating adipocyte fate
      determination in the developing mammary gland.

PMID- 27633998
TI  - Daily Distribution of Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat Intake in Elite Youth Academy
      Soccer Players Over a 7-Day Training Period.
AB  - While traditional approaches to dietary analysis in athletes have focused on
      total daily energy and macronutrient intake, it is now thought that daily
      distribution of these parameters can also influence training adaptations. Using 7
      day food diaries, we quantified the total daily macronutrient intake and
      distribution in elite youth soccer players from the English Premier League in U18
      (n = 13), U15/16 (n = 25) and U13/14 squads (n = 21). Total energy (43.1 +/-
      10.3, 32.6 +/- 7.9, 28.1 +/- 6.8 kcal.kg-1.day-1), CHO (6 +/- 1.2, 4.7 +/- 1.4,
      3.2 +/- 1.3 g.kg-1.day-1) and fat (1.3 +/- 0.5, 0.9 +/- 0.3, 0.9 +/- 0.3 g.kg
      1.day-1) intake exhibited hierarchical differences (p < .05) such that U13/14 >
      U15/16 > U18. In addition, CHO intake in U18s was lower (p < .05) at breakfast,
      dinner and snacks when compared with both squads but no differences were apparent
      at lunch. Furthermore, the U15/16s reported lower relative daily protein intake
      than the U13/14s and U18s (1.6 +/- 0.3 vs. 2.2 +/- 0.5, 2.0 +/- 0.3 g.kg-1). A
      skewed distribution (p < .05) of daily protein intake was observed in all squads,
      with a hierarchical order of dinner (~0.6 g.kg-1) > lunch (~0.5 g.kg-1) >
      breakfast (~0.3 g.kg-1). We conclude elite youth soccer players do not meet
      current CHO guidelines. Although daily protein targets are achieved, we report a
      skewed daily distribution in all ages such that dinner > lunch > breakfast. Our
      data suggest that dietary advice for elite youth players should focus on both
      total daily macronutrient intake and optimal daily distribution patterns.

PMID- 27633997
TI  - USP16 Downregulation by Carboxyl-terminal Truncated HBx Promotes the Growth of
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major factor that contributes to the
      development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HBV X protein (HBx) has been shown
      to accelerate HCC progression by promoting tumour growth and metastasis. In the
      clinic, carboxyl-terminal truncated HBx (Ct-HBx) proteins are frequently present
      in HCC tumour tissues, but not in non-tumorous tissues. In this study, we
      analysed deubiquitinase expression profiles in cells with or without ectopic
      expression of the Ct-HBx proteins and observed that the expression of ubiquitin
      specific peptidase 16 (USP16) was substantially inhibited by Ct-HBx proteins.
      Liver tumour cells with forced down-regulation of USP16 exhibited increased
      capabilities for colony formation and tumour growth in vivo. In addition, USP16
      inhibition promoted stem-like properties in tumour cells, as evidenced by their
      spheroid formation and chemo-responsiveness. Furthermore, ectopic expression of
      USP16 in tumour cells significantly abrogated the tumour promoting activities of
      the Ct-HBx proteins (HBxDelta35), leading to decreased tumour cell viability and
      tumour growth. In human HCCs, USP16 was frequently downregulated, and the
      decreased expression of USP16 was correlated with high tumour stages and poor
      differentiation status. Taken together, our study suggests that USP16
      downregulation is a critical event in Ct-HBx-mediated promotion of HCC
      tumorigenicity and malignancy.

PMID- 27633996
TI  - Tril targets Smad7 for degradation to allow hematopoietic specification in
      Xenopus embryos.
AB  - In Xenopus laevis, bone morphogenetic proteins (Bmps) induce expression of the
      transcription factor Gata2 during gastrulation, and Gata2 is required in both
      ectodermal and mesodermal cells to enable mesoderm to commit to a hematopoietic
      fate. Here, we identify tril as a Gata2 target gene that is required in both
      ectoderm and mesoderm for primitive hematopoiesis to occur. Tril is a
      transmembrane protein that functions as a co-receptor for Toll-like receptors to
      mediate innate immune responses in the adult brain, but developmental roles for
      this molecule have not been identified. We show that Tril function is required
      both upstream and downstream of Bmp receptor-mediated Smad1 phosphorylation for
      induction of Bmp target genes. Mechanistically, Tril triggers degradation of the
      Bmp inhibitor Smad7. Tril-dependent downregulation of Smad7 relieves repression
      of endogenous Bmp signaling during gastrulation and this enables mesodermal
      progenitors to commit to a blood fate. Thus, Tril is a novel component of a Bmp
      Gata2 positive-feedback loop that plays an essential role in hematopoietic
      specification.

PMID- 27633999
TI  - Enhanced pro-protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 expression by C-reactive
      protein through p38MAPK-HNF1alpha pathway in HepG2 cells.
AB  - Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration is associated positively with
      cardiovascular risk, including dyslipidemia. We suggested a regulating role of
      CRP on pro-protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), a key regulator of
      low-density lipoprotein (LDL) metabolism, and demonstrated the PCSK9 as a pathway
      linking CRP and LDL regulation. Firstly, experiments were carried out in the
      presence of human CRP on the protein and mRNA expression of PCSK9 and LDL
      receptor (LDLR) in human hepatoma cell line HepG2 cells. Treatment with CRP (10
      MUg/ml) enhanced significantly the mRNA and protein expression of PCSK9 and
      suppressed the expression of LDLR. Of note, a late return of LDLR mRNA levels
      occurred at 12 hrs, while the LDLR protein continued to decrease at 24 hrs,
      suggesting that the late decrease in LDLR protein levels was unlikely to be
      accounted for the decrease in LDL mRNA. Secondly, the role of PCSK9 in CRP
      induced LDLR decrease and the underlying pathways were investigated. As a result,
      the inhibition of PCSK9 expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) returned
      partly the level of LDLR protein and LDL uptake during CRP treatment; CRP-induced
      PCSK9 increase was inhibited by the p38MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, resulting in a
      significant rescue of LDLR protein expression and LDL uptake; the pathway was
      involved in hepatocyte nuclear factor 1alpha (HNF1alpha) but not sterol
      responsive element-binding proteins (SREBPs) preceded by the phosphorylation of
      p38MAPK. These findings indicated that CRP increased PCSK9 expression by
      activating p38MAPK-HNF1alpha pathway, with a certain downstream impairment in LDL
      metabolism in HepG2 cells.

PMID- 27634001
TI  - Removal of heavy metal Cu(II) in simulated aquaculture wastewater by modified
      palygorskite.
AB  - Palygorskite (PAL) is a good heavy metal adsorbent due to its high surface area,
      low cost, and environmentally compatibility. But the natural PAL has limited its
      adsorption capacity and selectivity. In this study, a cost-effective and readily
      generated absorbent, l-threonine-modified palygorskite (L-PAL), was used and its
      performance for Cu(II) removal in simulated aquaculture wastewater was evaluated.
      After preparation, L-PAL was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,
      X-ray diffractometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron
      microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The impacts of pH, adsorbent dosage,
      contact time, and initial Cu(II) concentration on the adsorption capacity of L
      PAL were examined. The Cu(II) adsorption capacity on L-PAL was enhanced almost 10
      times than that of raw PAL. The adsorption isotherms of Cu(II) fit the Langmuir
      isotherms, and the adsorption kinetics was dominated by the pseudo-second-order
      model. The thermodynamic parameters at four temperatures were calculated, which
      indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. The adsorption
      mechanism involves complexation, chelation, electrostatic attraction, and micro
      precipitation. Furthermore, L-PAL is shown to have a high regeneration capacity.
      These results indicate that L-PAL is a cheap and promising absorbent for Cu(II)
      removal and hold potential to be used for aquaculture wastewater treatment.

PMID- 27634000
TI  - Evaluation of the effectiveness of air pollution control measures in Hong Kong.
AB  - From 2005 to 2013, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other trace gases were
      continuously measured at a suburban site in Hong Kong. The measurement data
      showed that the concentrations of most air pollutants decreased during these
      years. However, ozone (O3) and total non-methane hydrocarbon levels increased
      with the rate of 0.23 +/- 0.03 and 0.34 +/- 0.02 ppbv/year, respectively,
      pointing to the increasing severity of photochemical pollution in Hong Kong. The
      Hong Kong government has ongoing programs to improve air quality in Hong Kong,
      including a solvent program implemented during 2007-2011, and a diesel commercial
      vehicle (DCV) program since 2007. From before to after the solvent program, the
      sum of toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene isomers decreased continuously with an
      average rate of -99.1 +/- 6.9 pptv/year, whereas the sum of ethene and propene
      increased by 48.2 +/- 2.0 pptv/year from before to during the DCV program.
      Despite this, source apportionment results showed that VOCs emitted from diesel
      exhaust decreased at a rate of -304.5 +/- 17.7 pptv/year, while solvent related
      VOCs decreased at a rate of -204.7 +/- 39.7 pptv/year. The gasoline and liquefied
      petroleum gas vehicle emissions elevated by 1086 +/- 34 pptv/year, and were
      responsible for the increases of ethene and propene. Overall, the simulated O3
      rate of increase was lowered from 0.39 +/- 0.03 to 0.16 +/- 0.05 ppbv/year by the
      solvent and DCV programs, because O3 produced by solvent usage and diesel exhaust
      related VOCs decreased (p < 0.05) by 0.16 +/- 0.01 and 0.05 +/- 0.01 ppbv/year
      between 2005 and 2013, respectively. However, enhanced VOC emissions from
      gasoline and LPG vehicles accounted for most of the O3 increment (0.09 +/- 0.01
      out of 0.16 +/- 0.05 ppbv/year) in these years. To maintain a zero O3 increment
      in 2020 relative to 2010, the lowest reduction ratio of VOCs/NOx was ~1.5 under
      the NOx reduction of 20-30% which was based on the emission reduction plan for
      Pearl River Delta region in 2020.

PMID- 27634002
TI  - Multigenerational effects of gold nanoparticles in Caenorhabditis elegans:
      Continuous versus intermittent exposures.
AB  - Nanomaterials can become disseminated directly or indirectly into the soil
      ecosystem through various exposure routes. Thus, it is important to study various
      deposition routes of nanomaterials into the soil, as well as their toxicities.
      Here, we investigated the multigenerational effects of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)
      on C. elegans after continuous or intermittent food intake. Following continuous
      exposure, significant differences were observed in the reproduction rate of C.
      elegans in the F2-F4 generations, which were associated with reproductive system
      abnormalities. However, following intermittent AuNP exposure in P0 and F3,
      reproductive system abnormalities and inhibited reproduction rates were observed
      in F2 and F3. While continuous AuNP exposure impaired reproduction from F2 to F4,
      intermittent exposure caused more pronounced effects on F3 worms, which may have
      resulted from damage during the convalescence period up through F2. These data
      showed the occurrence of multigenerational effects following different exposure
      patterns, exposure levels, and recovery periods. To our knowledge, this is the
      first study to demonstrate that multigenerational nano-toxicity is caused by
      different exposure patterns and provides insights into the unpredictable exposure
      scenarios of AuNPs and their adverse effects.

PMID- 27634003
TI  - Conscious Access to Suppressed Threatening Information Is Modulated by Working
      Memory.
AB  - Previous research has demonstrated that emotional information processing can be
      modulated by what is being held in working memory (WM). Here, we showed that such
      content-based WM effects can occur even when the emotional information is
      suppressed from conscious awareness. Using the delayed-match-to-sample paradigm
      in conjunction with continuous flash suppression, we found that suppressed
      threatening (fearful and angry) faces emerged from suppression faster when they
      matched the emotional valence of WM contents than when they did not. This effect
      cannot be explained by perceptual priming, as it disappeared when the faces were
      only passively viewed and not held in WM. Crucially, such an effect is highly
      specific to threatening faces but not to happy or neutral faces. Our findings
      together suggest that WM can modulate nonconscious emotion processing, which
      highlights the functional association between nonconsciously triggered emotional
      processes and conscious emotion representation.

PMID- 27634004
TI  - Young Children See a Single Action and Infer a Social Norm.
AB  - Human social life depends heavily on social norms that prescribe and proscribe
      specific actions. Typically, young children learn social norms from adult
      instruction. In the work reported here, we showed that this is not the whole
      story: Three-year-old children are promiscuous normativists. In other words, they
      spontaneously inferred the presence of social norms even when an adult had done
      nothing to indicate such a norm in either language or behavior. And children of
      this age even went so far as to enforce these self-inferred norms when third
      parties "broke" them. These results suggest that children do not just passively
      acquire social norms from adult behavior and instruction; rather, they have a
      natural and proactive tendency to go from "is" to "ought." That is, children go
      from observed actions to prescribed actions and do not perceive them simply as
      guidelines for their own behavior but rather as objective normative rules
      applying to everyone equally.

PMID- 27634006
TI  - The 56th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Teratology Society: New Developments and
      Future Perspectives of Teratology Study - Translational Study to Link Teratology
      to Nutrition - Overview.

PMID- 27634005
TI  - The Long Reach of Nurturing Family Environments: Links With Midlife Emotion
      Regulatory Styles and Late-Life Security in Intimate Relationships.
AB  - Does the warmth of children's family environments predict the quality of their
      intimate relationships at the other end of the life span? Using data collected
      prospectively on 81 men from adolescence through the eighth and ninth decades of
      life, this study tested the hypotheses that warmer relationships with parents in
      childhood predict greater security of attachment to intimate partners in late
      life, and that this link is mediated in part by the degree to which individuals
      in midlife rely on emotion-regulatory styles that facilitate or inhibit close
      relationship connections. Findings supported this mediational model, showing a
      positive link between more nurturing family environments in childhood and greater
      security of attachment to spouses more than 60 years later. This link was
      partially mediated by reliance on more engaging and less distorting styles of
      emotion regulation in midlife. The findings underscore the far-reaching influence
      of childhood environment on well-being in adulthood.

PMID- 27634007
TI  - [Clinical characteristics and management of infants less than 1-year-old
      suspected with allergy to cow's milk protein].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is highly prevalent in infants (2
      5%). It has a wide clinical spectrum, and confirmation through an oral food
      challenge (OFC) is relevant for its differential diagnosis. Information on this
      topic is scarce in Chile. OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic and clinical
      features of infants with suspected CMPA. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A retrospective
      study of patients<1 year-old, treated for suspected CMPA between 2009 and 2011.
      Demographic data, symptoms of atopy, nutrition at the time of diagnosis, CMPA
      symptoms, diagnostic studies, and response to treatment were recorded. Diet
      response at least 4 weeks after milk modification, and clinical behavior when
      suspected foods were added back to the diet were considered standard diagnostic
      criteria. Descriptive statistics were performed using Epiinfo TM software.
      RESULTS: The study included 106 infants, of whom, 51% male, 80% term newborns,
      74% with>=1 atopic parent, and 34% with >=1 parent/sibling with food allergy. The
      median age at onset of symptoms was 1.5 months (range 1.5-2m). Almost half (46%)
      were breast-feeding>=6m, with 15% receiving formula milk since the neonatal
      period, and 49% before the third month. Common symptoms were: vomiting (63%),
      colic (49%), and bleeding on passing stools (41%). No anaphylaxis was identified,
      and 61% had>=2 symptoms at debut. Only 34% were subjected to OFC. The most
      frequently requested tests were, test patch (43%), prick test (40%), and blood in
      stools (37%). TREATMENT: 43% breast feeding with exclusion diet, 24% extensively
      hydrolysed formula, 26% amino acid formula, and 7% others. CONCLUSION:
      Demographic characteristics and risk factors were similar to those previously
      described in international literature. Clinical presentation was early in life,
      and digestive symptoms predominated. OFC was underused for diagnosis, and most of
      the tests requested did not change management.

PMID- 27634008
TI  - Chronic Kappa opioid receptor activation modulates NR2B: Implication in treatment
      resistant depression.
AB  - Psychotomimetic and prodepressive effect by kappa opioid receptor (KOR)
      activation in rodents and human is widely known. Significantly, recent clinical
      investigations demonstrated the salutary effects of KOR antagonists in patients
      with treatment resistant depression, indicating essential role of KOR signaling
      in refractory depression. This study was undertaken to reveal the molecular
      determinant of KOR mediated depression and antidepressant response of KOR
      antagonist. We observed that chronic KOR activation by U50488, a selective KOR
      agonist, significantly increased depression like symptoms (behavioral despair,
      anhedonia and sociability) in C57BL/6J mice, which were blocked by KOR antagonist
      norBNI and antidepressant imipramine, but not by fluoxetine or citalopram.
      Further, chronic KOR activation increased phosphorylation of NR2B subunit of NMDA
      at tyrosine 1472 (pNR2B NMDA) in the hippocampus, but not in the cortex. Similar
      to behavioral effects norBNI and imipramine, but not SSRIs, blocked NR2B
      phosphorylation. Moreover, KOR induced depression like behaviors were reversed by
      NR2B selective inhibitor Ro 25-6981. Mechanistic studies in primary cultured
      neurons and brain tissues using genetic and pharmacological approaches revealed
      that stimulation of KOR modulates several molecular correlates of depression.
      Thus, these findings elucidate molecular mechanism of KOR signaling in treatment
      resistant depression like behaviors in mice.

PMID- 27634009
TI  - Convergence of inhibitory neural inputs regulate motor activity in the murine and
      monkey stomach.
AB  - Inhibitory motor neurons regulate several gastric motility patterns including
      receptive relaxation, gastric peristaltic motor patterns, and pyloric sphincter
      opening. Nitric oxide (NO) and purines have been identified as likely candidates
      that mediate inhibitory neural responses. However, the contribution from each
      neurotransmitter has received little attention in the distal stomach. The aims of
      this study were to identify the roles played by NO and purines in inhibitory
      motor responses in the antrums of mice and monkeys. By using wild-type mice and
      mutants with genetically deleted neural nitric oxide synthase (Nos1-/-) and P2Y1
      receptors (P2ry1-/-) we examined the roles of NO and purines in postjunctional
      inhibitory responses in the distal stomach and compared these responses to those
      in primate stomach. Activation of inhibitory motor nerves using electrical field
      stimulation (EFS) produced frequency-dependent inhibitory junction potentials
      (IJPs) that produced muscle relaxations in both species. Stimulation of
      inhibitory nerves during slow waves terminated pacemaker events and associated
      contractions. In Nos1-/- mice IJPs and relaxations persisted whereas in P2ry1-/-
      mice IJPs were absent but relaxations persisted. In the gastric antrum of the non
      human primate model Macaca fascicularis, similar NO and purine neural components
      contributed to inhibition of gastric motor activity. These data support a role of
      convergent inhibitory neural responses in the regulation of gastric motor
      activity across diverse species.

PMID- 27634010
TI  - Statins improve NASH via inhibition of RhoA and Ras.
AB  - Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), especially as part of the metabolic syndrome
      (MS), is an increasing burden in Western countries. Statins are already used in
      MS and seem to be beneficial in liver diseases. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying pleiotropic effects on small
      GTPases of statins in NASH. NASH within MS was induced in 12-wk-old apoE-/- mice
      after 7 wk of Western diet (NASH mice). Small GTPases were inhibited by activated
      simvastatin (SMV), NSC23766 (NSC), or Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin (LT) by
      using subcutaneous osmotic minipumps. Hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and
      fibrosis were assessed by histology, Western blot, and RT-PCR measurements of
      cholesterol and hydroxyproline content. SMV treatment significantly decreased
      hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, but had no significant effect on steatosis and
      hepatic cholesterol content in NASH. SMV blunted fibrosis due to inhibition of
      both RhoA/Rho kinase and Ras/ERK pathways. Interestingly, inhibition of RAC1 and
      Ras (by LT) failed to decrease fibrosis to the same extent. Inhibition of RAC1
      (by NSC) showed no significant effect at all. Inhibition of RhoA and Ras
      downstream signaling by statins is responsible for the beneficial hepatic effects
      in NASH.

PMID- 27634011
TI  - Lactobacillus acidophilus counteracts inhibition of NHE3 and DRA expression and
      alleviates diarrheal phenotype in mice infected with Citrobacter rodentium.
AB  - Impaired absorption of electrolytes is a hallmark of diarrhea associated with
      inflammation or enteric infections. Intestinal epithelial luminal membrane NHE3
      (Na+/H+ exchanger 3) and DRA (Down-Regulated in Adenoma; Cl-/HCO3- exchanger)
      play key roles in mediating electroneutral NaCl absorption. We have previously
      shown decreased NHE3 and DRA function in response to short-term infection with
      enteropathogenic E coli (EPEC), a diarrheal pathogen. Recent studies have also
      shown substantial downregulation of DRA expression in a diarrheal model of
      infection with Citrobacter rodentium, the mouse counterpart of EPEC. Since our
      previous studies showed that the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA)
      increased DRA and NHE3 function and expression and conferred protective effects
      in experimental colitis, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of LA in
      counteracting NHE3 and DRA inhibition and ameliorating diarrhea in a model of C
      rodentium infection. FVB/N mice challenged with C rodentium [1 * 109 colony
      forming units (CFU)] with or without administration of live LA (3 * 109 CFU) were
      assessed for NHE3 and DRA mRNA and protein expression, mRNA levels of carbonic
      anhydrase, diarrheal phenotype (assessed by colonic weight-to-length ratio),
      myeloperoxidase activity, and proinflammatory cytokines. LA counteracted C
      rodentium-induced inhibition of colonic DRA, NHE3, and carbonic anhydrase I and
      IV expression and attenuated diarrheal phenotype and MPO activity. Furthermore,
      LA completely blocked C rodentium induction of IL-1beta, IFN-gamma, and CXCL1
      mRNA and C rodentium-induced STAT3 phosphorylation. In conclusion, our data
      provide mechanistic insights into antidiarrheal effects of LA in a model of
      infectious diarrhea and colitis.

PMID- 27634012
TI  - Aging-associated changes in microRNA expression profile of internal anal
      sphincter smooth muscle: Role of microRNA-133a.
AB  - A comprehensive genomic and proteomic, computational, and physiological approach
      was employed to examine the (previously unexplored) role of microRNAs (miRNAs) as
      regulators of internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle contractile phenotype
      and basal tone. miRNA profiling, genome-wide expression, validation, and network
      analyses were employed to assess changes in mRNA and miRNA expression in IAS
      smooth muscles from young vs. aging rats. Multiple miRNAs, including rno-miR-1,
      rno-miR-340-5p, rno-miR-185, rno-miR-199a-3p, rno-miR-200c, rno-miR-200b, rno-miR
      31, rno-miR-133a, and rno-miR-206, were found to be upregulated in aging IAS.
      qPCR confirmed the upregulated expression of these miRNAs and downregulation of
      multiple, predicted targets (Eln, Col3a1, Col1a1, Zeb2, Myocd, Srf, Smad1, Smad2,
      Rhoa/Rock2, Fn1, Tagln v2, Klf4, and Acta2) involved in regulation of smooth
      muscle contractility. Subsequent studies demonstrated an aging-associated
      increase in the expression of miR-133a, corresponding decreases in RhoA, ROCK2,
      MYOCD, SRF, and SM22alpha protein expression, RhoA-signaling, and a decrease in
      basal and agonist [U-46619 (thromboxane A2 analog)]-induced increase in the IAS
      tone. Moreover, in vitro transfection of miR-133a caused a dose-dependent
      increase of IAS tone in strips, which was reversed by anti-miR-133a. Last, in
      vivo perianal injection of anti-miR-133a reversed the loss of IAS tone associated
      with age. This work establishes the important regulatory effect of miRNA-133a on
      basal and agonist-stimulated IAS tone. Moreover, reversal of age-associated loss
      of tone via anti-miR delivery strongly implicates miR dysregulation as a causal
      factor in the aging-associated decrease in IAS tone and suggests that miR-133a is
      a feasible therapeutic target in aging-associated rectoanal incontinence.

PMID- 27634013
TI  - Characterization and mechanisms of the pharyngeal swallow activated by
      stimulation of the esophagus.
AB  - Stimulation of the esophagus activates the pharyngeal swallow response (EPSR) in
      human infants and animals. The aims of this study were to characterize the
      stimulus and response of the EPSR and to determine the function and mechanisms
      generating the EPSR. Studies were conducted in 46 decerebrate cats in which
      pharyngeal, laryngeal, and esophageal motility was monitored using EMG, strain
      gauges, or manometry. The esophagus was stimulated by balloon distension or
      luminal fluid infusion. We found that esophageal distension increased the chance
      of occurrence of the EPSR, but the delay was variable. The chance of occurrence
      of the EPSR was related to the position, magnitude, and length of the stimulus in
      the esophagus. The most effective stimulus was long, strong, and situated in the
      cervical esophagus. Acidification of the esophagus activated pharyngeal swallows
      and sensitized the receptors that activate the EPSR. The EPSR was blocked by
      local anesthesia applied to the esophageal lumen, and electrical stimulation of
      the recurrent laryngeal nerve caudal to the cricoid cartilage (RLNc) activated
      the pharyngeal swallow response. We conclude that the EPSR is activated in a
      probabilistic manner. The receptors mediating the EPSR are probably mucosal
      slowly adapting tension receptors. The sensory neural pathway includes the RLNc
      and superior laryngeal nerve. We hypothesize that, because the EPSR is observed
      in human infants and animals, but not human adults, activation of EPSR is related
      to the elevated position of the larynx. In this situation, the EPSR occurs rather
      than secondary peristalsis to prevent supraesophageal reflux when the esophageal
      bolus is in the proximal esophagus.

PMID- 27634015
TI  - Genetic Confirmation Rate in Clinically Suspected Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the
      Young.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is the most common form
      of monogenic diabetes, reportedly accounting for 2% to 5% of all cases of
      diabetes. In samples from Canadian patients referred for molecular genetic
      confirmation of a clinically suspected MODY, we determined the prevalence of
      likely disease-causing DNA variants in known MODY genes. METHODS: Between 1999
      and 2015, our centre received requests from colleagues for DNA sequencing of 96
      samples from unrelated Canadian patients with clinically suspected MODY. Prior to
      2012, we used Sanger sequencing, and since 2012 we have used targeted next
      generation sequencing. RESULTS: Of 96 samples received, 39 (40.6%) had a likely
      rare causal variant in 1 of 8 known MODY genes. Of these, 20 (51.3%) and 19
      (48.7%) were diagnosed by Sanger and targeted next-generation sequencing,
      respectively. The 39 mutation-positive samples had 1 of 39 rare variants, of
      which the majority were in genes encoding either glucokinase (GCK, or MODY2) or
      hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-alpha (HNF1A, or MODY3). Furthermore, 12 (30.8%) of
      the detected rare variants had been unreported previously but were likely to have
      been clinically significant according to standard bioinformatic methods. An
      additional 6 samples had rare variants in MODY genes that were of uncertain
      clinical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that clinical suspicion
      for MODY has a diagnostic yield of ~40% at the molecular level. Confirmatory
      genetic testing in patients suspected to have MODY allows for definitive
      diagnoses which, in turn, may guide management and provide rationales for
      screening other family members presymptomatically.

PMID- 27634014
TI  - Inhibition of miR-21 rescues liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in
      ethanol-fed rats.
AB  - Liver regeneration is a clinically significant tissue repair process that is
      suppressed by chronic alcohol intake through poorly understood mechanisms.
      Recently, microRNA-21 (miR-21) has been suggested to serve as a crucial microRNA
      (miRNA) regulator driving hepatocyte proliferation after partial hepatectomy
      (PHx) in mice. However, we reported recently that miR-21 is significantly
      upregulated in ethanol-fed rats 24 h after PHx, despite inhibition of cell
      proliferation, suggesting a more complex role for this miRNA. Here, we
      investigate how inhibition of miR-21 in vivo affects the early phase of liver
      regeneration in ethanol-fed rats. Chronically ethanol-fed rats and pair-fed
      control animals were treated with AM21, a mixed locked nucleic acid-DNA analog
      antisense to miR-21 that inhibited miR-21 in vivo to undetectable levels. Liver
      regeneration after PHx was followed by cell proliferation marker and gene
      expression analysis, miRNA profiling, and cell signaling pathway analysis.
      Although liver regeneration was not significantly impaired by AM21 in chow-fed
      rats, AM21 treatment in ethanol-fed animals completely restored regeneration and
      enhanced PHx-induced hepatocyte proliferation to levels comparable to those of
      untreated or chow-fed animals. In addition, a marked deposition of alpha-smooth
      muscle actin, a marker of stellate cell activation, which was evident in ethanol
      treated animals after PHx, was effectively suppressed by AM21 treatment. Gene
      expression analysis further indicated that suppression of stellate cell-specific
      profibrogenic profiles and the Notch signaling contributed to AM21-mediated
      rescue from deficient hepatocyte proliferation in ethanol-fed animals. Our
      results indicate that the impact of miR-21 balances proproliferative effects with
      antiproliferative profibrogenic actions in regulating distinctive regenerative
      responses in normal vs. disease conditions.

PMID- 27634016
TI  - Outcomes Following Advanced Wound Care for Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Canadian
      Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Data concerning outcomes of Canadian patients with diabetic foot
      ulcers (DFUs) are limited. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the
      healing rates and identify the predictors of poor outcomes following advanced
      wound care in patients presenting with DFUs. METHODS: We conducted retrospective
      cohort study of adult patients who had DFUs and were referred to a single
      Canadian advanced diabetic foot and wound care centre between January 1, 2010,
      and December 31, 2010. The primary outcome was the healing rate at 52 weeks. The
      generalized estimating equation model was used to identify potential risk factors
      associated with delayed healing of DFUs. RESULTS: Of the 40 patients for whom
      there were complete follow ups, 35 (87.5%) had healing of all DFUs by 52 weeks.
      Predictors of poor healing were the presence of chronic ulcers, ulcer sizes >1
      cm2, peripheral vascular disease and multiple ulcers at first presentation. Of
      the patients, 7.1% required amputation, and 8.9% of patients receiving our
      treatment died before 52 weeks. At 52 weeks of follow up, 16 of 17 recurrent
      ulcers and 68 of 108 pre-existing ulcers had healed. Compared to the unadjusted
      healing rate of preexisting ulcers (63.0%), the unadjusted healing rate of
      recurrent ulcers (94.1%) was significantly higher (p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings demonstrate that patients with DFUs in Canada who receive early and
      continued care from specialized, outpatient, advanced wound care centres
      experience significantly improved rates of healing of recurrent DFUs compared to
      pre-existing DFUs.

PMID- 27634017
TI  - The Emerging Adulthood of Canadian Journal of Diabetes.

PMID- 27634018
TI  - Induction of Immune Response after Allogeneic Wilms' Tumor 1 Dendritic Cell
      Vaccination and Donor Lymphocyte Infusion in Patients with Hematologic
      Malignancies and Post-Transplantation Relapse.
AB  - Relapse of hematologic malignancies is the primary cause of treatment failure
      after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). Treatment for
      post-HCT relapse using donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) has limited utility,
      particularly in the setting of acute leukemia, and can result in the development
      of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) gene product is a
      tumor-associated antigen that is expressed in acute leukemia and other
      hematologic malignancies, with limited expression in normal tissues. In this
      pilot trial, we assessed safety and feasibility of a WT1 peptide-loaded donor
      derived dendritic cell (DC) vaccine given with DLI designed to enhance and direct
      the graft-versus-leukemia effect. Secondary objectives were to evaluate
      immunologic and clinical responses. A total of 5 subjects, median age 17 years
      (range, 9 to 19 years), with post-HCT relapse were enrolled. Disease subtypes
      included acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 3), acute myelogenous leukemia (n =
      1), and Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 1). Successful vaccine production was feasible from
      all donors. DC vaccination and DLI were well tolerated. One recipient developed
      grade 1 skin GVHD not requiring systemic therapy. The most common adverse events
      included grade 1 reversible pain and pruritus at the vaccine injection and
      delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin testing sites. There were no grade 3 or
      higher adverse events related to the research. Immune responses consisted of
      ELISpot response in 3 recipients and positive DTH tests to WT1 peptide cocktail
      in 2 subjects. Our study provides 1 of the first attempts to apply tumor-specific
      vaccine therapy to the allogeneic setting. Preliminary results show the DC-based
      vaccination is safe and feasible after allogeneic HCT, with a suggestion that
      this approach can be used to sensitize the repopulated allogeneic-donor immune
      system to WT1. Future directions may include testing of vaccination strategies in
      the early post-transplantation setting for relapse prevention.

PMID- 27634020
TI  - The Persistence of Minimal Residual Disease in Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive
      Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: We Know It's Bad, Now What?

PMID- 27634021
TI  - Oncologic outcomes of selective neck dissection in HPV-related oropharyngeal
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine outcomes of selective neck dissection (SND) in patients
      with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
      (OPSCC) who present with clinical neck disease. STUDY DESIGN: Multi-institutional
      retrospective review. METHODS: Two institutional databases of patients with HPV
      related OPSCC were reviewed to identify patients with clinical (c) N1-N3 neck
      disease who underwent SND +/- adjuvant therapy. RESULTS: Three hundred and twenty
      four patients were identified with a median follow-up of 49 months (range 3-199
      months). All patients underwent transoral resection of the primary tumor and SND,
      including levels II-IV and +/- levels I or V, with resection of additional
      nonlymphatic tissue (extended SND) as indicated by extent of disease, including
      the spinal accessory nerve (7%), the internal jugular vein (13%), and the
      sternocleidomastoid muscle (8%). Two hundred and seventy (83%) patients underwent
      adjuvant radiation. There were 13 (4%) regional recurrences and 19 (6%) distant
      recurrences. Regional control following salvage was 98%. On univariable analysis,
      absence of radiation was associated with regional recurrence (odds ratio [OR]
      9.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.9-29.4). On multivariable analysis, adjuvant
      radiation was associated with improved disease-free survival (DFS) (OR 0.27, 95%
      CI 0.14-0.53) but lost significance for overall (OS) and disease-specific
      survival (DSS) (P > 0.05). Five-year Kaplan-Meier estimates for OS, DSS, and DFS
      were 88% (95% CI 84%-92%), 93% (95% CI 89%-96%), and 83% (95% CI 78%-87%),
      respectively. CONCLUSION: In HPV-related OPSCC presenting with clinical neck
      disease, a SND +/- additional tissue resection and adjuvant therapy, when
      indicated, provides excellent long-term regional control. Omission of
      radiotherapy increases the risk of regional recurrence, although it may not
      significantly impact OS or DSS. It appears unnecessary to routinely perform a
      comprehensive neck dissection. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 127:623-630,
      2017.

PMID- 27634022
TI  - Effect of metastasis suppressor 1 on H1299 cells and its clinical significance in
      non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the effect of metastasis suppressor 1
      (MTSS1) on the proliferation, migration and invasion of human H1299 non-small
      cell lung cancer cells and its clinical significance in non-small cell lung
      cancer. The target gene MTSS1-overexpressing lentivirus (LV-MTSS1) was
      transfected into H1299 cells and expression of MTSS1 was detected at the mRNA and
      protein levels. Cell Counting Kit-8, wound healing and Transwell assays revealed
      that the migration and invasion activities were significantly suppressed by
      MTSS1, but that it had no effect on cell proliferation. In addition, MTSS1
      expression in tissue microarrays including samples from 223 cases of non-small
      cell lung cancer was tested by immunohistochemistry to explore the correlation
      between MTSS1 and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. MTSS1
      suppressed H1299 cell migration and invasion, and its expression level can be
      used as a new independent factor for determining the prognosis of non-small cell
      lung cancer.

PMID- 27634019
TI  - National Institutes of Health Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Late Effects
      Initiative: The Subsequent Neoplasms Working Group Report.
AB  - Subsequent neoplasms (SN) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) cause
      significant patient morbidity and mortality. Risks for specific SN types vary
      substantially, with particularly elevated risks for post-transplantation
      lymphoproliferative disorders, myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia,
      and squamous cell malignancies. This document provides an overview of the current
      state of knowledge regarding SN after HCT and recommends priorities and
      approaches to overcome challenges and gaps in understanding. Numerous factors
      have been suggested to affect risk, including patient-related (eg, age), primary
      disease-related (eg, disease type, pre-HCT therapies), and HCT-related
      characteristics (eg, type and intensity of conditioning regimen, stem cell
      source, development of graft-versus-host disease). However, gaps in understanding
      remain for each of these risk factors, particularly for patients receiving HCT in
      the current era because of substantial advances in clinical transplantation
      practices. Additionally, the influence of nontransplantation-related risk factors
      (eg, germline genetic susceptibility, oncogenic viruses, lifestyle factors) is
      poorly understood. Clarification of the magnitude of SN risks and identification
      of etiologic factors will require large-scale, long-term, systematic follow-up of
      HCT survivors with detailed clinical data. Most investigations of the mechanisms
      of SN pathogenesis after HCT have focused on immune drivers. Expansion of our
      understanding in this area will require interdisciplinary laboratory
      collaborations utilizing measures of immune function and availability of archival
      tissue from SN diagnoses. Consensus-based recommendations for optimal preventive,
      screening, and therapeutic approaches have been developed for certain SN after
      HCT, whereas for other SN, general population guidelines are recommended. Further
      evidence is needed to specifically tailor preventive, screening, and therapeutic
      guidelines for SN after HCT, particularly for unique patient populations.
      Accomplishment of this broad research agenda will require increased investment in
      systematic data collection with engagement from patients, clinicians, and
      interdisciplinary scientists to reduce the burden of SN in the rapidly growing
      population of HCT survivors.

PMID- 27634023
TI  - Dutch Dataset Pain Rehabilitation in daily practice: Content, patient
      characteristics and reference data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No core set of measurement tools exists to collect data within
      clinical practice. Such data could be useful as reference data to guide treatment
      decisions and to compare patient characteristics or treatment results within
      specific treatment settings. METHODS: The Dutch Dataset Pain Rehabilitation was
      developed which included the six domains of the IMMPACT core set and three new
      domains relevant in the field of rehabilitation (medical consumption, patient
      specific goals and activities/participation). Between 2010 and 2013 the core set
      was implemented in 32 rehabilitation facilities throughout the Netherlands.
      RESULTS: A total of 8200 adult patients with chronic pain completed the core set
      at first consultation with the rehabilitation physician. Adult patients (18-90
      years) suffering from a long history of pain (38% >5 years) were referred.
      Patients had high medical consumption and less than half were working. Although
      patients were referred with diagnosis of low back pain or neck or shoulder pain,
      a large group (85%) had multisite pain (39% 2-5 painful body regions; 46% >5
      painful body regions). Scores on psychosocial questionnaires were high,
      indicating high case complexity of referred patients. Reference data for
      subgroups based on gender, pain severity, pain locations and on pain duration are
      presented. CONCLUSIONS: The data from this clinical core set can be used to
      compare patient characteristics of patients of other treatment setting and/or
      scientific publications. As treatment success might depend on case complexity,
      which is high in the referred patients, the advantages of earlier referral to
      comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment were discussed. SIGNIFICANCE: A
      detailed description of case complexity of patients with chronic pain referred
      for pain rehabilitation. Insight in case complexity of patients within subgroups
      on the basis of gender, pain duration, pain severity and pain location. These
      descriptions can be used as reference data for daily practice in the field of
      pain rehabilitation and can be used to evaluate, monitor and improve
      rehabilitation care in care settings nationwide as well as internationally.

PMID- 27634025
TI  - Impact of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Examination on Triage of Patients With
      Suspected Cardiac Disease.
AB  - Complementing the physical examination with a point-of-care ultrasound study
      (POCUS) can improve patient triage. We aimed to study the impact of POCUS on the
      diagnosis and management of outpatients and hospitalized patients with suspected
      cardiac disease. In this multicenter study, a pocket-sized device was used to
      perform POCUS when the diagnosis or patient management was unclear based on
      anamnesis, physical examination, and basic diagnostic testing. Eighteen
      physicians (cardiac fellows 49%, cardiologists 30%, and echocardiographers 21%)
      performed physical examinations extended by POCUS on 207 patients (inpatients 83%
      and outpatients 17%). POCUS findings resulted in a change in the primary
      diagnosis in 14% of patients. In patients whose diagnosis remained unchanged,
      POCUS results reinforced the initial diagnosis in 48% of the cases. In 39% of the
      patients, the diagnostic plan was altered, including referral (16%) or deferral
      (23%) to other diagnostic techniques. Alteration in medical treatment (drug
      discontinuation or initiation) occurred in 11% of the patients, and in 7% POCUS
      results influenced the decision whether to perform a therapeutic procedure.
      Hospitalization or discharge was determined after POCUS in 11% of the patients.
      In conclusion, during patient triage, extension of the physical examination by
      POCUS can cause physicians to alter their initial diagnosis, resulting in an
      immediate change of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Based on POCUS
      results, physicians altered the diagnostic plan either by avoiding or referring
      patients to other diagnostic procedures in almost half of the studied population.

PMID- 27634024
TI  - Mild pressure induces rapid accumulation of neutral lipid (triacylglycerol) in
      Chlorella spp.
AB  - Effective enhancement of neutral lipid (especially triacylglycerol, TAG) content
      in microalgae is an important issue for commercialization of microalgal
      biorefineries. Pressure is a key physical factor affecting the morphological,
      physiological, and biochemical behaviors of organisms. In this paper, we report a
      new stress-based method for induction of TAG accumulation in microalgae
      (specifically, Chlorella sp. KR-1 and Ch. sp. AG20150) by very-short-duration
      application of mild pressure. Pressure treatments of 10-15bar for 2h resulted in
      a considerable, ~55% improvement of the 10-100g/Lcells' TAG contents compared
      with the untreated control. The post-pressure-treatment increase of cytoplasmic
      TAG granules was further confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
      Notwithstanding the increased TAG content, the total lipid content was not
      changed by pressurization, implying that pressure stress possibly induces rapid
      remodeling/transformation of algal lipids rather than de novo biosynthesis of
      TAG. 

PMID- 27634027
TI  - Meta-Analysis of the Usefulness of Change in QRS Width to Predict Response to
      Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.
AB  - The existing data regarding the role of QRS duration (QRSd) change on cardiac
      resynchronization therapy (CRT) response show some inconsistent results. We
      conducted a meta-analysis of data obtained from observational studies to examine
      the impact of QRS change after CRT device implantation on the clinical and/or
      echocardiographic response. We searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases for
      relevant studies published before January 2016. Twenty-seven studies were
      retrieved for detailed evaluation of which 12 studies with a total population of
      1,545 patients met our eligibility criteria. The analysis demonstrated that QRSd
      narrowing was a positive predictor of response to CRT (mean difference [MD] = 
      19.24 ms, 95% CI = -24.00 to -14.48 ms, p <0.00001). This effect was consistent
      in the studies using clinical criteria (MD = -19.91 ms, 95% CI = -27.20 to -12.62
      ms, p <0.00001) and in those that used echocardiographic criteria (MD = -19.51
      ms, 95% CI = -25.78 to -13.25 ms, p <0.00001). The heterogeneity test showed
      moderate differences among the individual studies (I2 = 42%). Subgroup analysis
      showed that QRSd change was more pronounced in studies having a follow-up <=6
      months. We did not find significant differences in studies measuring
      postimplantation QRSd after a certain follow-up period compared with studies
      measuring QRSd immediately after CRT device implantation. Further studies should
      clarify the exact timing of QRSd assessments during follow-up. In conclusion,
      QRSd shortening after CRT device implantation is associated with a favorable
      clinical and echocardiographic response.

PMID- 27634026
TI  - Lower Extremity Paralysis.
AB  - Severe hypokalemia in the absence of other electrolyte abnormalities, the result
      of diarrhea, caused striking electrocardiographic changes, generalized weakness,
      flaccid paralysis of the lower extremities, and biochemical evidence of mild
      skeletal and cardiac rhabdomyolysis in a 33-year-old man. Repletion of potassium
      reversed all abnormalities in 24 hours.

PMID- 27634028
TI  - Impact of Angiographic Result After Predilatation on Outcome After Drug-Coated
      Balloon Treatment of In-Stent Coronary Restenosis.
AB  - This study investigates clinical outcomes after drug-coated balloon (DCB)
      treatment for in-stent restenosis (ISR) based on the angiographic result achieved
      after predilatation and before DCB treatment. Among ISR lesions treated with
      DCBs, 166 lesions with angiography immediately after predilatation were analyzed.
      The lesions were divided into 2 groups according to angiographic results after
      predilatation: (1) "adequate" defined as the presence of Thrombolysis In
      Myocardial Infarction 3 flow, residual stenosis <=30%, and no major dissections
      (n = 98 lesions) or (2) "inadequate" (n = 68 lesions). The reference vessel
      diameters were larger (2.88 +/- 0.39 vs 2.64 +/- 0.52 mm, p = 0.001) and lesion
      lengths shorter in the adequate group (15.4 +/- 11.2 vs 19.7 +/- 13.9 mm, p =
      0.04). During a median follow-up of 808 days, the cumulative target lesion
      revascularization (TLR) rate was lower in the adequate group (20.3% vs 35.5% at 2
      years; p = 0.04). Multivariate analysis indicated that an angiographically
      inadequate result before DCB treatment was an independent predictor of TLR, even
      after adjusting for reference vessel diameter and lesion length (hazard ratio
      1.99, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 3.87, p = 0.04). In conclusion,
      angiographic results after lesion preparation appear to be a good predictor of
      TLR after DCB treatment for ISR.

PMID- 27634030
TI  - Does Coronary Angiography and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Affect Cognitive
      Function?
AB  - Cerebral microemboli are frequently observed during coronary angiography (CA) and
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and their numbers have been related to
      the vascular access site used. Although cerebral microemboli can cause silent
      cerebral lesions, their clinical impact is debated. To study this, 93 patients
      referred for CA or PCI underwent serial cognitive testing using the Montreal
      Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test to detect postprocedural cognitive impairment.
      Patients were randomized to radial or femoral access. In a subgroup of 35
      patients, the number of cerebral microemboli was monitored with transcranial
      Doppler technique. We found the median precatheterization result of the MoCA test
      to be 27, and it did not change significantly 4 and 31 days, respectively, after
      the procedure. There was no significant correlation between the number of
      cerebral microemboli and the difference between preprocedural and postprocedural
      MoCA tests. The test results did not differ between vascular access sites. One
      third of the patients had a precatheterization median MoCA test result <26
      corresponding to mild cognitive impairment. In conclusion, using the MoCA test,
      we could not detect any cognitive impairment after CA or PCI, and no significant
      correlations were found between the results of the MoCA test and cerebral
      microemboli or vascular access site, respectively. In patients with suspected
      coronary heart disease, mild cognitive impairment was common.

PMID- 27634029
TI  - Short-Term Costs and Hospitalization Rates in Patients With Adult Congenital
      Heart Disease After Pulmonic Valve Replacement.
AB  - In the adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) population, pulmonary valve
      replacement (PVR) is a common intervention, its benefit, however, has been
      incompletely investigated. This study investigates short- and intermediate-term
      outcomes after PVR in ACHD. Using State Inpatient Databases from the Healthcare
      Cost and Utilization Project, we investigated both hospitalization rate and
      financial burden accrued over the 12-month period after PVR compared with the 12
      months before. Among 202 patients who underwent PVR, per patient-year
      hospitalization rates doubled in the year after PVR compared with the year before
      (0.16 vs 0.36, p = 0.006). With the exception of postprocedural complications,
      the most common reasons for hospitalization were unchanged after surgery: 22% of
      patients were admitted with equal or greater frequency after PVR. These patients
      experienced higher inpatient costs both at index admission and in the year after
      PVR (p = 0.004 and p <0.001, respectively). Univariate predictors of increased
      hospitalizations after PVR were age >=50 years (p = 0.016), transposition of the
      great arteries, or conotruncal abnormalities (p <0.001), lipid disorders (p =
      0.025), hypertension (p = 0.033), and number of chronic conditions >=4 (p =
      0.004). Multivariate analysis identified transposition of the great arteries or
      conotruncal abnormalities as an independent risk factor for increased
      hospitalization and cost post-PVR (p <=0.001). In conclusion, short-term costs
      and hospitalization rates increase after PVR in a small group of patients with
      ACHD.

PMID- 27634031
TI  - Prognostic Significance of Nonsustained Ventricular Tachycardia Episodes
      Occurring Early After Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Implantation Among
      Patients With Left Ventricular Dysfunction.
AB  - Nonsustained ventricular tachycardias (NSVTs) are frequently observed in patients
      with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. The prognostic implications of such NSVTs
      are conflicting. Our objective was to determine the relation between the burden
      of NSVT occurring early (within the first 6 months after ICD implant) and
      prognosis among ICD patients with LV dysfunction. We followed 416 ICD patients
      (age: 65 +/- 11 years; LV ejection fraction: 30 +/- 8; ischemic origin: 62%;
      primary prevention: 63%) with LV dysfunction for 41 +/- 27 months. ICD
      programming was standardized. NSVT was defined as any VT of >=5 beats at >=150
      beats/min which did not meet the detection criteria occurring within the first 6
      months after ICD implant. A total of 250 patients (60%) presented at least one
      NSVT (median = 2; interquartile range 0 to 7). We classified the patients into 3
      groups according to the number of NSVTs: no NSVT (n = 166); 1 to 5 NSVTs (n =
      130); and >5 NSVTs (n = 120). The incidence of cardiac mortality (7.2% vs 17.7%
      vs 31.7%; p = 0.003), hospitalizations for heart failure (10.6% vs 24.4% vs
      44.7%; p <0.001), and appropriate shock (15.7% vs 24.8% vs 43.8%; p <0.001)
      increased significantly with the number of NSVTs. By multivariate analysis, >5
      NSVTs were found to be an independent predictor of cardiac mortality (hazard
      ratio [HR] 1.75; p = 0.03), hospitalization due to heart failure (HR 1.72; p =
      0.001), and appropriate shock (HR 1.89; p <0.001) but not of inappropriate
      therapy (HR 0.9; p = 0.6). In conclusion, among ICD patients with LV dysfunction,
      NSVT episodes occurring in the first 6 months after implant are independently
      associated with a poor prognosis. Subjects with >5 NSVTs are at the highest risk.

PMID- 27634032
TI  - Sustained Increase in the Incidence of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure After
      the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
AB  - This study investigated the long-term impact of the 2011 Japan earthquake and
      tsunami on the incidence of acute decompensated heart failure (HF) in the
      disaster area. This was a population-based study using comprehensive registration
      for all hospitals within the study area. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR)
      and 95% confidence interval (CI) for new onset of HF during the disaster year
      (2011) and postdisaster years (2012 to 2014) were determined. When SIR were
      compared between the low- and high-impact areas, as defined by the extent of
      tsunami inundation in residential areas, SIR showed a significant increase in
      high-impact areas in 2011 (1.67, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.88) and tended to return to
      baseline in 2012, the first postdisaster year (1.25, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.43). The
      rate again increased in 2013 (1.38, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.57) and 2014 (1.55, 95% CI
      1.35 to 1.75). In low-impact areas, no such increase was apparent during either
      the disaster year or the postdisaster years. Mean postdisaster period SIR for
      municipalities significantly correlated with the percentage of tsunami flooding
      in residential areas (r = 0.52, p <0.05) and with the percentage of refugees
      within the population (r = 0.74, p <0.01). There was no significant relation
      between maximum seismic intensity and mean SIR in these municipalities. In
      conclusion, these results suggest that the catastrophic tsunami but not the
      earthquake per se resulted in a prolonged increase in the incidence of HF among
      the general population living in tsunami-stricken areas.

PMID- 27634033
TI  - Pneumomediastinum and ST-Segment Elevation.
AB  - Although acute myocardial infarction is the most clinically significant cause of
      ST-segment elevation, other serious clinical conditions have been reported with
      this electrocardiographic abnormality. We report a patient with pneumomediastinum
      who presented with dyspnea and electrocardiographic changes mimicking ST-segment
      elevation myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography demonstrated no evidence of
      myocardial injury and the electrocardiographic abnormality promptly resolved with
      the resolution of the pneumomediastinum.

PMID- 27634034
TI  - Meta-Analysis of Perioperative Stroke and Mortality in Transcatheter Aortic Valve
      Implantation.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a rapidly evolving safe method
      with decreasing incidence of perioperative stroke. There is a void in literature
      concerning the impact of stroke after TAVI in predicting 30-day stroke-related
      mortality. The primary aim of this meta-analysis was to determine whether
      perioperative stroke increases risk of stroke-related mortality after TAVI.
      Online databases, using relevant keywords, and additional related records were
      searched to retrieve articles involving TAVI and stroke after TAVI. Data were
      extracted from the finalized studies and analyzed to generate a summary odds
      ratio (OR) of stroke-related mortality after TAVI. The stroke rate and stroke
      related mortality rate in the total patient population were 3.07% (893 of 29,043)
      and 12.27% (252 of 2,053), respectively. The all-cause mortality rate was 7.07%
      (2,053 of 29,043). Summary OR of stroke-related mortality after TAVI was
      estimated to be 6.45 (95% confidence interval 3.90 to 10.66, p <0.0001). Subgroup
      analyses were performed among age, approach, and valve type. Only 1 subgroup,
      transapical TAVI, was not significantly associated with stroke-related mortality
      (OR 1.97, 95% confidence interval, 0.43 to 7.43, p = 0.42). A metaregression was
      conducted among females, New York Heart Association class III/IV status, previous
      stroke, valve type, and implantation route. All failed to exhibit any significant
      associations with the OR. In conclusion, perioperative strokes after TAVI are
      associated with >6 times greater risk of 30-day stroke-related mortality.
      Transapical TAVI is not associated with increased stroke-related mortality in
      patients who suffer from perioperative stroke. Preventative measures need to be
      taken to alleviate the elevated rates of stroke after TAVI and subsequent direct
      mortality. 

PMID- 27634036
TI  - Integration of research and clinical practice: the future is now.

PMID- 27634035
TI  - Countdown to 2015 country case studies: systematic tools to address the "black
      box" of health systems and policy assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluating health systems and policy (HSP) change and implementation
      is critical in understanding reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health
      (RMNCH) progress within and across countries. Whilst data for health outcomes,
      coverage and equity have advanced in the last decade, comparable analyses of HSP
      changes are lacking. We present a set of novel tools developed by Countdown to
      2015 (Countdown) to systematically analyse and describe HSP change for RMNCH
      indicators, enabling multi-country comparisons. METHODS: International experts
      worked with eight country teams to develop HSP tools via mixed methods. These
      tools assess RMNCH change over time (e.g. 1990-2015) and include: (i) Policy and
      Programme Timeline Tool (depicting change according to level of policy); (ii)
      Health Policy Tracer Indicators Dashboard (showing 11 selected RMNCH policies
      over time); (iii) Health Systems Tracer Indicators Dashboard (showing four
      selected systems indicators over time); and (iv) Programme implementation
      assessment. To illustrate these tools, we present results from Tanzania and Peru,
      two of eight Countdown case studies. RESULTS: The Policy and Programme Timeline
      tool shows that Tanzania's RMNCH environment is complex, with increased funding
      and programmes for child survival, particularly primary-care implementation.
      Maternal health was prioritised since mid-1990s, yet with variable programme
      implementation, mainly targeting facilities. Newborn health only received
      attention since 2005, yet is rapidly scaling-up interventions at facility- and
      community-levels. Reproductive health lost momentum, with re-investment since
      2010. Contrastingly, Peru moved from standalone to integrated RMNCH programme
      implementation, combined with multi-sectoral, anti-poverty strategies. The HSP
      Tracer Indicators Dashboards show that Peru has adopted nine of 11 policy tracer
      indicators and Tanzania has adopted seven. Peru costed national RMNCH plans pre
      2000, whereas Tanzania developed a national RMNCH plan in 2006 but only costed
      the reproductive health component. Both countries included all lifesaving RMNCH
      commodities on their essential medicines lists. Peru has twice the health worker
      density of Tanzania (15.4 vs. 7.1/10,000 population, respectively), although both
      are below the 22.8 WHO minimum threshold. CONCLUSIONS: These are the first HSP
      tools using mixed methods to systematically analyse and describe RMNCH changes
      within and across countries, important in informing accelerated progress for
      ending preventable maternal, newborn and child mortality in the post-2015 era.

PMID- 27634037
TI  - The Tyrosine Sulfate Domain of Fibromodulin Binds Collagen and Enhances Fibril
      Formation.
AB  - Small leucine-rich proteoglycans interact with other extracellular matrix
      proteins and are important regulators of matrix assembly. Fibromodulin has a key
      role in connective tissues, binding collagen through two identified binding sites
      in its leucine-rich repeat domain and regulating collagen fibril formation in
      vitro and in vivo Some nine tyrosine residues in the fibromodulin N-terminal
      domain are O-sulfated, a posttranslational modification often involved in protein
      interactions. The N-terminal domain mimics heparin, binding proteins with
      clustered basic amino acid residues. Because heparin affects collagen fibril
      formation, we investigated whether tyrosine sulfate is involved in fibromodulin
      interactions with collagen. Using full-length fibromodulin and its N-terminal
      tyrosine-sulfated domain purified from tissue, as well as recombinant
      fibromodulin fragments, we found that the N-terminal domain binds collagen. The
      tyrosine-sulfated domain and the leucine-rich repeat domain both bound to three
      specific sites along the collagen type I molecule, at the N terminus and at 100
      and 220 nm from the N terminus. The N-terminal domain shortened the collagen
      fibril formation lag phase and tyrosine sulfation was required for this effect.
      The isolated leucine-rich repeat domain inhibited the fibril formation rate, and
      full-length fibromodulin showed a combination of these effects. The fibrils
      formed in the presence of fibromodulin or its fragments showed more organized
      structure. Fibromodulin and its tyrosine sulfate domain remained bound on the
      formed fiber. Taken together, this suggests a novel, regulatory function for
      tyrosine sulfation in collagen interaction and control of fibril formation.

PMID- 27634038
TI  - Isolation and Characterization of Reticuline N-Methyltransferase Involved in
      Biosynthesis of the Aporphine Alkaloid Magnoflorine in Opium Poppy.
AB  - Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids are a large group of plant-specialized metabolites
      displaying an array of biological and pharmacological properties associated with
      numerous structural scaffolds and diverse functional group modification. N
      Methylation is one of the most common tailoring reactions, yielding tertiary and
      quaternary pathway intermediates and products. Two N-methyltransferases accepting
      (i) early 1-benzylisoquinoline intermediates possessing a secondary amine and
      leading to the key branch-point intermediate (S)-reticuline and (ii) downstream
      protoberberines containing a tertiary amine and forming quaternary intermediates
      destined for phthalideisoquinolines and antimicrobial benzo[c]phenanthridines
      were previously characterized. We report the isolation and characterization of a
      phylogenetically related yet functionally distinct N-methyltransferase (NMT) from
      opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) that primarily accepts 1-benzylisoquinoline and
      aporphine substrates possessing a tertiary amine. The preferred substrates were
      the R and S conformers of reticuline and the aporphine (S)-corytuberine, which
      are proposed intermediates in the biosynthesis of magnoflorine, a quaternary
      aporphine alkaloid common in plants. Suppression of the gene encoding reticuline
      N-methyltransferase (RNMT) using virus-induced gene silencing in opium poppy
      resulted in a significant decrease in magnoflorine accumulation and a concomitant
      increase in corytuberine levels in roots. RNMT transcript levels were also most
      abundant in roots, in contrast to the distribution of transcripts encoding other
      NMTs, which occur predominantly in aerial plant organs. The characterization of a
      third functionally unique NMT involved in benzylisoquinoline alkaloid metabolism
      will facilitate the establishment of structure-function relationships among a
      large group of related enzymes.

PMID- 27634039
TI  - Histone Deacetylase SIRT1 Controls Proliferation, Circadian Rhythm, and Lipid
      Metabolism during Liver Regeneration in Mice.
AB  - Liver regeneration offers a distinctive opportunity to study cell proliferation
      in vivo Mammalian silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), a NAD+-dependent
      histone deacetylase, is an important regulator of various cellular processes,
      including proliferation, metabolism, and circadian rhythms. In the liver, SIRT1
      coordinates the circadian oscillation of clock-controlled genes, including genes
      that encode enzymes involved in metabolic pathways. We performed partial
      hepatectomy in WT and liver-specific Sirt1-deficient mice and analyzed the
      expression of cell cycle regulators in liver samples taken at different times
      during the regenerative process, by real time PCR, Western blotting analysis, and
      immunohistochemistry. Lipidomic analysis was performed in the same samples by
      MS/HPLC. We showed that G1/S progression was significantly affected by absence of
      SIRT1 in the liver, as well as circadian gene expression. This was associated to
      lipid accumulation due to defective fatty acid beta-oxidation. Our study revealed
      for the first time the importance of SIRT1 in the regulation of hepatocellular
      proliferation, circadian rhythms, and lipid metabolism during liver regeneration
      in mice. These results represent an additional step toward the characterization
      of SIRT1 function in the liver.

PMID- 27634040
TI  - Activity-dependent Regulation of Histone Lysine Demethylase KDM1A by a Putative
      Thiol/Disulfide Switch.
AB  - Lysine demethylation of proteins such as histones is catalyzed by several classes
      of enzymes, including the FAD-dependent amine oxidases KDM1A/B. The KDM1 family
      is homologous to the mitochondrial monoamine oxidases MAO-A/B and produces
      hydrogen peroxide in the nucleus as a byproduct of demethylation. Here, we show
      KDM1A is highly thiol-reactive in vitro and in cellular models. Enzyme activity
      is potently and reversibly inhibited by the drug disulfiram and by hydrogen
      peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide produced by KDM1A catalysis reduces thiol labeling
      and inactivates demethylase activity over time. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
      indicates that hydrogen peroxide blocks labeling of cysteine 600, which we
      propose forms an intramolecular disulfide with cysteine 618 to negatively
      regulate the catalytic activity of KDM1A. This activity-dependent regulation is
      unique among histone-modifying enzymes but consistent with redox sensitivity of
      epigenetic regulators.

PMID- 27634041
TI  - Structural Diversity in the Type IV Pili of Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter.
AB  - Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative coccobacillus found primarily in
      hospital settings that has recently emerged as a source of hospital-acquired
      infections. A. baumannii expresses a variety of virulence factors, including type
      IV pili, bacterial extracellular appendages often essential for attachment to
      host cells. Here, we report the high resolution structures of the major pilin
      subunit, PilA, from three Acinetobacter strains, demonstrating that A. baumannii
      subsets produce morphologically distinct type IV pilin glycoproteins. We examine
      the consequences of this heterogeneity for protein folding and assembly as well
      as host-cell adhesion by Acinetobacter Comparisons of genomic and structural data
      with pilin proteins from other species of soil gammaproteobacteria suggest that
      these structural differences stem from evolutionary pressure that has resulted in
      three distinct classes of type IVa pilins, each found in multiple species.

PMID- 27634043
TI  - The MicroRNA miR-191 Supports T Cell Survival Following Common gamma Chain
      Signaling.
AB  - To ensure lifelong immunocompetency, naive and memory T cells must be adequately
      maintained in the peripheral lymphoid tissues. Homeostatic maintenance of T cells
      is controlled by tonic signaling through T cell antigen receptors and common
      gamma chain cytokine receptors. In this study, we identify the highly expressed
      microRNA miR-191 as a key regulator of naive, memory, and regulatory T cell
      homeostasis. Conditional deletion of miR-191 using LckCre resulted in
      preferential loss of peripheral CD4+ regulatory T cells as well as naive and
      memory CD8+ T cells. This preferential loss stemmed from reduced survival
      following deficient cytokine signaling and STAT5 activation. Mechanistically,
      insulin receptor substrate 1 (Irs1) is a direct target of miR-191, and
      dysregulated IRS1 expression antagonizes STAT5 activation. Our study identifies a
      novel role for microRNAs in fine-tuning immune homeostasis and thereby
      maintaining the lymphocyte reservoir necessary to mount productive immune
      responses.

PMID- 27634042
TI  - Disruption of Macrodomain Protein SCO6735 Increases Antibiotic Production in
      Streptomyces coelicolor.
AB  - ADP-ribosylation is a post-translational modification that can alter the physical
      and chemical properties of target proteins and that controls many important
      cellular processes. Macrodomains are evolutionarily conserved structural domains
      that bind ADP-ribose derivatives and are found in proteins with diverse cellular
      functions. Some proteins from the macrodomain family can hydrolyze ADP
      ribosylated substrates and therefore reverse this post-translational
      modification. Bacteria and Streptomyces, in particular, are known to utilize
      protein ADP-ribosylation, yet very little is known about their enzymes that
      synthesize and remove this modification. We have determined the crystal structure
      and characterized, both biochemically and functionally, the macrodomain protein
      SCO6735 from Streptomyces coelicolor This protein is a member of an
      uncharacterized subfamily of macrodomain proteins. Its crystal structure revealed
      a highly conserved macrodomain fold. We showed that SCO6735 possesses the ability
      to hydrolyze PARP-dependent protein ADP-ribosylation. Furthermore, we showed that
      expression of this protein is induced upon DNA damage and that deletion of this
      protein in S. coelicolor increases antibiotic production. Our results provide the
      first insights into the molecular basis of its action and impact on Streptomyces
      metabolism.

PMID- 27634044
TI  - Structural Analysis and Inhibition of TraE from the pKM101 Type IV Secretion
      System.
AB  - Gram-negative bacteria use type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) for a variety of
      macromolecular transport processes that include the exchange of genetic material.
      The pKM101 plasmid encodes a T4SS similar to the well-studied model systems from
      Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Brucella suis Here, we studied the structure and
      function of TraE, a homolog of VirB8 that is an essential component of all T4SSs.
      Analysis by X-ray crystallography revealed a structure that is similar to other
      VirB8 homologs but displayed an altered dimerization interface. The dimerization
      interface observed in the X-ray structure was corroborated using the bacterial
      two-hybrid assay, biochemical characterization of the purified protein, and in
      vivo complementation, demonstrating that there are different modes of
      dimerization among VirB8 homologs. Analysis of interactions using the bacterial
      two-hybrid and cross-linking assays showed that TraE and its homologs from
      Agrobacterium, Brucella, and Helicobacter pylori form heterodimers. They also
      interact with heterologous VirB10 proteins, indicating a significant degree of
      plasticity in the protein-protein interactions of VirB8-like proteins. To further
      assess common features of VirB8-like proteins, we tested a series of small
      molecules derived from inhibitors of Brucella VirB8 dimerization. These molecules
      bound to TraE in vitro, docking predicted that they bind to a structurally
      conserved surface groove of the protein, and some of them inhibited pKM101
      plasmid transfer. VirB8-like proteins thus share functionally important sites,
      and these can be exploited for the design of specific inhibitors of T4SS
      function.

PMID- 27634047
TI  - Glial archaeology: Exploring the origins of glial knowledge and concepts.

PMID- 27634048
TI  - The "Big-Bang" for modern glial biology: Translation and comments on Pio del Rio
      Hortega 1919 series of papers on microglia.
AB  - The word "glia" was coined in the mid-19th century and defined as "the nerve
      glue". For decades, it was assumed to be a uniform matrix, until cell theorists
      raised the "neuron doctrine" which stipulated that nervous tissue was composed of
      individual cells. The term "astrocytes" was introduced in the late 19th century
      as a synonym for glial cells, but it was Santiago Ramon y Cajal who defined a
      "third element" distinct from glial cells (astrocytes) and neurons. It was not
      until 1919 when Pio del Rio-Hortega, an alumnus of the Cajal School, introduced
      the modern terms we use today, and thoroughly described both "oligodendrocytes"
      and "microglia" to clearly distinguish them from astrocytes. In a series of four
      papers published that year in Spanish, Rio-Hortega described the distribution and
      morphological phenotype of microglia. He also noted that these cells were the
      origin of the rod cells described earlier in pathologic tissue, and recognized
      that resting microglia transformed into an ameboid phenotype in different types
      of brain diseases and pathologies. He also noted the mesodermal origin of these
      cells and recognized their phagocytic capacity. We here provide the first English
      translation of these landmark series of papers, which paved the way for modern
      glial research. To heighten the value and accessibility of these classic papers
      and their original figures, an introduction to this critical period of
      neuroscience is provided, along with unpublished photographs. By adding comments
      to the translated text, we provide sufficient context so that contemporary
      scientists may fully appreciate it. GLIA 2016;64:1801-1840.

PMID- 27634046
TI  - Male Subfertility Induced by Heterozygous Expression of Catalytically Inactive
      Glutathione Peroxidase 4 Is Rescued in Vivo by Systemic Inactivation of the
      Alox15 Gene.
AB  - Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and arachidonic acid 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15) are
      antagonizing enzymes in the metabolism of hydroperoxy lipids. In spermatoid cells
      and/or in the male reproductive system both enzymes are apparently expressed, and
      GPX4 serves as anti-oxidative enzyme but also as a structural protein. In this
      study we explored whether germ line inactivation of the Alox15 gene might rescue
      male subfertility induced by heterozygous expression of catalytically silent
      Gpx4. To address this question we employed Gpx4 knock-in mice expressing the
      Sec46Ala-Gpx4 mutant, in which the catalytic selenocysteine was replaced by a
      redox inactive alanine. Because homozygous Gpx4 knock-in mice (Sec46Ala-Gpx4+/+)
      are not viable we created heterozygous animals (Sec46Ala-Gpx4+/-) and crossed
      them with Alox15 knock-out mice (Alox15-/-). Male Sec46Ala-Gpx4+/- mice, but not
      their female littermates, were subfertile. Sperm extracted from the epididymal
      cauda showed strongly impaired motility characteristics and severe structural
      midpiece alterations (swollen mitochondria, intramitochondrial vacuoles,
      disordered mitochondrial capsule). Despite these structural alterations, they
      exhibited similar respiration characteristics than wild-type sperm. When Sec46Ala
      Gpx4+/- mice were crossed with Alox15-deficient animals, the resulting males
      (Sec46Ala-Gpx4+/-+Alox15-/-) showed normalized fertility, and sperm motility was
      reimproved to wild-type levels. Taken together these data suggest that systemic
      inactivation of the Alox15 gene normalizes the reduced fertility of male Sec46Ala
      Gpx4+/- mice by improving the motility of their sperm. If these data can be
      confirmed in humans, ALOX15 inhibitors might counteract male infertility related
      to GPX4 deficiency.

PMID- 27634049
TI  - A harvest of weeds yields insight into a case of contemporary evolution.
AB  - When Charles Darwin was exploring the idea of evolution via natural selection, he
      looked to domesticated species, with the opening chapter of The Origin of Species
      titled 'Variation Under Domestication' (Darwin ). Domesticated species such as
      crops are a great example of artificial selection, which Darwin realized was
      analogous to natural selection. But growing among those carefully selected crop
      varieties are the unwelcome and unwanted plants we call weeds. Despite the
      importance of weeds and long-standing interest in their evolution (Baker ), we
      still know little about how agricultural weeds evolve, and we often fail to take
      evolution into account when attempting to manage them (Neve et al. ).
      Agricultural weeds are subjected to the unique conditions of farm fields, such as
      frequent soil disturbance and the addition of water and nutrients. They are also
      confronted with aggressive attempts at their removal via herbicides and
      mechanical means. As such, they are under intense demographic and selective
      pressure and can potentially rapidly evolve in response. In this issue of
      Molecular Ecology, Kuester and co-authors make a rare attempt to understand
      contemporary evolution in an agricultural weed (Kuester et al. ). They do so
      using the powerful resurrection approach of comparing ancestors and descendants
      under common conditions (Franks et al. ). They sampled multiple populations of
      the weedy plant Ipomoea purpurea at two points in time. A comparison of these
      greenhouse-grown ancestor and descendent populations showed that, over time,
      populations had lost significant levels of neutral genetic diversity, consistent
      with genetic bottlenecks. The authors also found a slight increase, on average,
      of resistance to the herbicide glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in
      Roundup((r)) . This work is one of a growing number of studies demonstrating
      rapid evolution in natural populations (Thompson ) and also reveals evidence of
      both selection and drift in populations of an agricultural weed. 

PMID- 27634045
TI  - Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-linked Mutations in Profilin 1 Exacerbate
      TDP-43-induced Degeneration in the Retina of Drosophila melanogaster through an
      Increase in the Cytoplasmic Localization of TDP-43.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease
      characterized by progressive and selective loss of motor neurons. Causative genes
      for familial ALS (fALS), e.g. TARDBP or FUS/TLS, have been found, among which
      mutations within the profilin 1 (PFN1) gene have recently been identified in
      ALS18. To elucidate the mechanism whereby PFN1 mutations lead to neuronal death,
      we generated transgenic Drosophila melanogaster overexpressing human PFN1 in the
      retinal photoreceptor neurons. Overexpression of wild-type or fALS mutant PFN1
      caused no degenerative phenotypes in the retina. Double overexpression of fALS
      mutant PFN1 and human TDP-43 markedly exacerbated the TDP-43-induced retinal
      degeneration, i.e. vacuolation and thinning of the retina, whereas co-expression
      of wild-type PFN1 did not aggravate the degenerative phenotype. Notably, co
      expression of TDP-43 with fALS mutant PFN1 increased the cytoplasmic localization
      of TDP-43, the latter remaining in nuclei upon co-expression with wild-type PFN1,
      whereas co-expression of TDP-43 lacking the nuclear localization signal with the
      fALS mutant PFN1 did not aggravate the retinal degeneration. Knockdown of
      endogenous Drosophila PFN1 did not alter the degenerative phenotypes of the
      retina in flies overexpressing wild-type TDP-43 These data suggest that ALS
      linked PFN1 mutations exacerbate TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration in a gain-of
      function manner, possibly by shifting the localization of TDP-43 from nuclei to
      cytoplasm.

PMID- 27634052
TI  - A systematic review of prenatal screening for congenital heart disease by fetal
      electrocardiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common severe congenital
      anomaly worldwide. Diagnosis early in pregnancy is important, but the detection
      rate by two-dimensional ultrasonography is only 65%-81%. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate
      existing data on CHD and noninvasive abdominal fetal electrocardiography (ECG).
      SEARCH STRATEGY: A systematic review was performed through a search of the
      Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase for studies published up to April 2016 using
      the terms "congenital heart disease," "fetal electrocardiogram," and other
      similar keywords. SELECTION CRITERIA: Primary articles that described changes in
      fetal ECG among fetuses with CHD published in English were included. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Outcomes of interest were changes in fetal ECG
      parameters observed for fetuses with congenital heart disease. Findings were
      reported descriptively. MAIN RESULTS: Only five studies described changes
      observed in the fetal electrocardiogram for fetuses with CHD, including heart
      rate, heart rate variability, and PR, QRS, and QT intervals. Fetal ECG reflects
      the intimate relationship between the cardiac nerve conduction system and the
      structural morphology of the heart. It seems particularly helpful in detecting
      the electrophysiological effects of cardiac anatomic defects (e.g. hypotrophy,
      hypertrophy, and conduction interruption). CONCLUSIONS: Fetal ECG might be a
      promising clinical tool to complement ultrasonography in the screening program
      for CHD.

PMID- 27634050
TI  - Black-blood native T1 mapping: Blood signal suppression for reduced partial
      voluming in the myocardium.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the feasibility of black-blood contrast in native T1 mapping
      for reduction of partial voluming at the blood-myocardium interface. METHODS: A
      saturation pulse prepared heart-rate-independent inversion recovery (SAPPHIRE) T1
      mapping sequence was combined with motion-sensitized driven-equilibrium (MSDE)
      blood suppression for black-blood T1 mapping at 3 Tesla. Phantom scans were
      performed to assess the T1 time accuracy. In vivo black-blood and conventional
      SAPPHIRE T1 mapping was performed in eight healthy subjects and analyzed for T1
      times, precision, and inter- and intraobserver variability. Furthermore, manually
      drawn regions of interest (ROIs) in all T1 maps were dilated and eroded to
      analyze the dependence of septal T1 times on the ROI thickness. RESULTS: Phantom
      results and in vivo myocardial T1 times show comparable accuracy with black-blood
      compared to conventional SAPPHIRE (in vivo: black-blood: 1562 +/- 56 ms vs.
      conventional: 1583 +/- 58 ms, P = 0.20); Using black-blood SAPPHIRE precision was
      significantly lower (standard deviation: 133.9 +/- 24.6 ms vs. 63.1 +/- 6.4 ms, P
      < .0001), and blood T1 time measurement was not possible. Significantly increased
      interobserver interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (0.996 vs. 0.967, P =
      0.011) and similar intraobserver ICC (0.979 vs. 0.939, P = 0.11) was obtained
      with the black-blood sequence. Conventional SAPPHIRE showed strong dependence on
      the ROI thickness (R2 = 0.99). No such trend was observed using the black-blood
      approach (R2 = 0.29). CONCLUSION: Black-blood SAPPHIRE successfully eliminates
      partial voluming at the blood pool in native myocardial T1 mapping while
      providing accurate T1 times, albeit at a reduced precision. Magn Reson Med 78:484
      493, 2017. (c) 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 27634051
TI  - Foraging success under uncertainty: search tradeoffs and optimal space use.
AB  - Understanding the structural complexity and the main drivers of animal search
      behaviour is pivotal to foraging ecology. Yet, the role of uncertainty as a
      generative mechanism of movement patterns is poorly understood. Novel insights
      from search theory suggest that organisms should collect and assess new
      information from the environment by producing complex exploratory strategies.
      Based on an extension of the first passage time theory, and using simple
      equations and simulations, we unveil the elementary heuristics behind search
      behaviour. In particular, we show that normal diffusion is not enough for
      determining optimal exploratory behaviour but anomalous diffusion is required.
      Searching organisms go through two critical sequential phases (approach and
      detection) and experience fundamental search tradeoffs that may limit their
      encounter rates. Using experimental data, we show that biological search includes
      elements not fully considered in contemporary physical search theory. In
      particular, the need to consider search movement as a non-stationary process that
      brings the organism from one informational state to another. For example, the
      transition from remaining in an area to departing from it may occur through an
      exploratory state where cognitive search is challenged. Therefore, a more
      comprehensive view of foraging ecology requires including current perspectives
      about movement under uncertainty.

PMID- 27634053
TI  - Direct puncture embolization of the internal iliac artery during cesarean
      delivery for pernicious placenta previa coexisting with placenta accreta.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate direct puncture embolization of the internal iliac artery
      with hemostatic gelatin sponge particles to treat pernicious placenta previa
      coexisting with placenta accreta during cesarean delivery. METHODS: A
      retrospective study was conducted of data from women with pernicious placenta
      previa and placenta accreta who underwent direct puncture embolization of the
      internal iliac artery during cesarean delivery at a center in China between
      September 1, 2013, and February 28, 2015. Information regarding surgical
      procedures, operative data, and outcomes during hospitalization were obtained
      from medical records. RESULTS: The procedure was successful in all 16 cases
      included. Mean operative time was 78 minutes (range 65-90) and mean estimated
      blood loss was 1550 mL (range 1000-2500). Complications such as fever, buttock
      pain, or acute limb ischemia were not observed. The procedure was performed after
      partial cystectomy for two patients with bladder invasion. Postoperative Doppler
      imaging indicated uterine recovery and normalized uterine blood flow in all
      patients. CONCLUSION: Direct puncture embolization of the internal iliac artery
      during cesarean delivery was a safe, effective, simple, and rapid method to
      control hemorrhage among women with pernicious placenta previa and placenta
      accreta.

PMID- 27634054
TI  - Randomized controlled trial of hysteroscopy or ultrasonography versus no guidance
      during D&C after uterine artery chemoembolization for cesarean scar pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the complication rates after uterine artery
      chemoembolization (UACE) followed by dilation and curettage (D&C) guided by
      different types of monitoring for treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP).
      METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was undertaken of women with CSP attending
      a hospital in Wuhan, China, between June 1, 2010, and June 30, 2014. Using sealed
      opaque envelopes containing random numbers, participants were randomly allocated
      to undergo D&C with hysteroscopy monitoring, ultrasonography monitoring, or no
      monitoring. Participants and investigators were masked to group assignment. The
      primary outcome was the number of participants with complications at 2 months of
      follow-up after D&C. Analyses were by intention to treat. RESULTS: Among 144
      participants, 48 were assigned to hysteroscopy monitoring, 44 to ultrasonography
      monitoring, and 52 to no monitoring. Complications were noted for 1 (2.1%)
      patient in the hysteroscopy group, 2 (4.5%) in the ultrasonography group, and 12
      (23.1%) in the no monitoring group (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: Hysteroscopy or
      ultrasonography monitoring of D&C after UACE for CSP treatment can decrease the
      complication rate. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02357095.

PMID- 27634055
TI  - Phosphine-Catalyzed Asymmetric Umpolung Addition of Trifluoromethyl Ketimines to
      Morita-Baylis-Hillman Carbonates.
AB  - A novel phosphine-catalyzed, highly enantioselective umpolung addition of
      trifluoromethyl ketimines to Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates was developed and
      it provides facile access to optically active trifluoromethyl amines with a
      chiral tertiary stereocenter under mild reaction conditions. The salient features
      of this reaction include general substrate scope, mild reaction conditions, good
      yields, high enantioselectivity, ease of scale-up to gram scale, and further
      transformations of the products.

PMID- 27634056
TI  - Nucleoside Analogue Triphosphates Allosterically Regulate Human Ribonucleotide
      Reductase and Identify Chemical Determinants That Drive Substrate Specificity.
AB  - Class I ribonucleotide reductase (RR) maintains balanced pools of
      deoxyribonucleotide substrates for DNA replication by converting ribonucleoside
      diphosphates (NDPs) to 2'-deoxyribonucleoside diphosphates (dNDPs). Binding of
      deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) effectors (ATP/dATP, dGTP, and dTTP)
      modulates the specificity of class I RR for CDP, UDP, ADP, and GDP substrates.
      Crystal structures of bacterial and eukaryotic RRs show that dNTP effectors and
      NDP substrates bind on either side of a flexible nine-amino acid loop (loop 2).
      Interactions with the effector nucleobase alter loop 2 geometry, resulting in
      changes in specificity among the four NDP substrates of RR. However, the
      functional groups proposed to drive specificity remain untested. Here, we use
      deoxynucleoside analogue triphosphates to determine the nucleobase functional
      groups that drive human RR (hRR) specificity. The results demonstrate that the 5
      methyl, O4, and N3 groups of dTTP contribute to specificity for GDP. The O6 and
      protonated N1 of dGTP direct specificity for ADP. In contrast, the unprotonated
      N1 of adenosine is the primary determinant of ATP/dATP-directed specificity for
      CDP. Structural models from X-ray crystallography of eukaryotic RR suggest that
      the side chain of D287 in loop 2 is involved in binding of dGTP and dTTP, but not
      dATP/ATP. This feature is consistent with experimental results showing that a
      D287A mutant of hRR is deficient in allosteric regulation by dGTP and dTTP, but
      not ATP/dATP. Together, these data define the effector functional groups that are
      the drivers of human RR specificity and provide constraints for evaluating models
      of allosteric regulation.

PMID- 27634058
TI  - Wear and its effects on dental topography measures in howling monkeys (Alouatta
      palliata).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Three dental topography measurements: Dirichlet Normal Energy (DNE),
      Relief Index (RFI), and Orientation Patch Count Rotated (OPCR) are examined for
      their interaction with measures of wear, within and between upper and lower
      molars in Alouatta palliata. Potential inferences of the "dental sculpting"
      phenomenon are explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen occluding pairs of
      howling monkey first molars (15 upper, 15 lower) opportunistically collected from
      La Pacifica, Costa Rica, were selected to sample wear stages ranging from unworn
      to heavily worn as measured by the Dentine Exposure Ratio (DER). DNE, RFI, and
      OPCR were measured from three-dimensional surface reconstructions (PLY files)
      derived from high-resolution CT scans. Relationships among the variables were
      tested with regression analyses. RESULTS: Upper molars have more cutting edges,
      exhibiting significantly higher DNE, but have significantly lower RFI values.
      However, the relationships among the measures are concordant across both sets of
      molars. DER and EDJL are curvilinearly related. DER is positively correlated with
      DNE, negatively correlated with RFI, and uncorrelated with OPCR. EDJL is not
      correlated with DNE, or RFI, but is positively correlated with OPCR among lower
      molars only. DISCUSSION: The relationships among these metrics suggest that
      howling monkey teeth adaptively engage macrowear. DNE increases with wear in this
      sample presumably improving food breakdown. RFI is initially high but declines
      with wear, suggesting that the initially high RFI safeguards against dental
      senescence. OPCR values in howling monkey teeth do not show a clear relationship
      with wear changes.

PMID- 27634059
TI  - Synthesis of Angularly Substituted trans-Fused Decalins through a Metallacycle
      Mediated Annulative Cross-Coupling Cascade.
AB  - A convergent coupling reaction is described that enables the stereoselective
      construction of angularly substituted trans-fused decalins from acyclic
      precursors. The process builds on our alkoxide-directed titanium-mediated alkyne
      alkyne coupling and employs a 1,7-enyne coupling partner. Overall, the reaction
      is thought to proceed through initial formation of a tetrasusbstituted
      metallacyclopentadiene, stereoselective intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition,
      elimination, isomerization, and regio- and stereoselective protonation. Distinct
      from our early studies directed at the synthesis of trans-fused hydrindanes, the
      current annulative coupling reveals an important effect of TMSCl in controlling
      the final protonation-the event that establishes the stereochemistry of the ring
      fusion.

PMID- 27634060
TI  - Sexual Behavior in Parked Cars Reported by Midwestern College Men and Women.
AB  - In an anonymous survey of 195 men and 511 women (Mage = 19.8) at a small
      Midwestern university, 119 men (61%) and 303 women (59.5%) reported that they had
      engaged in sex while parked. Of these 422, 14% lost their virginity in a parked
      car. Having sex in parked cars was more likely to involve relational dating
      partners than hookups. In most recent incidents, the majority of respondents were
      with a serious but noncohabiting romantic partner (56.9%) in the back seat
      (63.4%) of a standard car (56.4%) parked out in the country (56.0%). The most
      common sexual acts were penile-vaginal sex and genital touching, reported by
      84.6% and 57.5% of respondents, respectively. Condoms were used by 58.2% of
      respondents. Less than 1% of respondents reported sexually transmitted infections
      (STIs) or pregnancy outcomes. These data, including personal stories of memorable
      incidents, revealed that despite discomfort, body bumps, and risk of being
      caught, sex while parked was primarily a positive sexual and romantic experience
      for both men and women. A dark side of parked-car sex existed in that 2.5% of men
      and 4.3% of women reported being sexually coerced. The future study of sex in
      parked cars in urban environments is recommended.

PMID- 27634057
TI  - CDK1 phosphorylates WRN at collapsed replication forks.
AB  - Regulation of end-processing is critical for accurate repair and to switch
      between homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). End
      resection is a two-stage process but very little is known about regulation of the
      long-range resection, especially in humans. WRN participates in one of the two
      alternative long-range resection pathways mediated by DNA2 or EXO1. Here we
      demonstrate that phosphorylation of WRN by CDK1 is essential to perform DNA2
      dependent end resection at replication-related DSBs, promoting HR, replication
      recovery and chromosome stability. Mechanistically, S1133 phosphorylation of WRN
      is dispensable for relocalization in foci but is involved in the interaction with
      the MRE11 complex. Loss of WRN phosphorylation negatively affects MRE11 foci
      formation and acts in a dominant negative manner to prevent long-range resection
      altogether, thereby licensing NHEJ at collapsed forks. Collectively, we unveil a
      CDK1-dependent regulation of the WRN-DNA2-mediated resection and identify an
      undescribed function of WRN as a DSB repair pathway switch.

PMID- 27634061
TI  - Influence of cigarette circumference on smoke chemistry, biological activity, and
      smoking behaviour.
AB  - Cigarettes with reduced circumference are increasingly popular in some countries,
      hence it is important to understand the effects of circumference reduction on
      their burning behaviour, smoke chemistry and bioactivity. Reducing circumference
      reduces tobacco mass burn rate, puff count and static burn time, and increases
      draw resistance and rod length burned during puff and smoulder periods. Smoulder
      temperature increases with decreasing circumference, but with no discernible
      effect on cigarette ignition propensity during a standard test. At constant
      packing density, mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS) tar and nicotine yields
      decrease approximately linearly with decreasing circumference, as do the majority
      of smoke toxicants. However, volatile aldehydes, particularly formaldehyde, show
      a distinctly non-linear relationship with circumference and increases in the
      ratios of aldehydes to tar and nicotine have been observed as the circumference
      decreases. Mutagenic, cytotoxic and tumorigenic specific activities of smoke
      condensates (i.e. per unit weight of condensate) decrease as circumference
      decreases. Recent studies suggest that there is no statistical difference in
      mouth-level exposure to tar and nicotine among smokers of cigarettes with
      different circumferences. Commercially available slim cigarettes usually have
      changes in other cigarette design features compared with cigarettes with standard
      circumference, so it is difficult to isolate the effect of circumference on the
      properties of commercial products. However, available data shows that changes in
      cigarette circumference offer no discernible change to the harm associated with
      smoking.

PMID- 27634063
TI  - Allelic heterogeneity of albinism in the domestic cat.

PMID- 27634062
TI  - 4-Week repeated dose oral toxicity study of N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone in Sprague
      Dawley rats.
AB  - The solvent N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone (NEP) was evaluated in a 4-week repeated dose
      study in rats. NEP diluted in distilled water was orally administered by gavage
      to male and female Sprague-Dawley rats at doses of 0 (vehicle control), 5, 50,
      and 250 mg/kg/day for 28 consecutive days. Transient decreases in the body weight
      and in the body weight gain of the males was observed during the first days of
      treatment at the 50 and 250 mg/kg/day doses. There was a marked increase in urine
      volume at the beginning of treatment in males and female rats at doses of 50 and
      250 mg/kg/day. No biologically significant differences were observed in
      hematological and clinical chemistry values in males and females at necropsy.
      Histological examination revealed an increase in hyaline droplets in the renal
      tubules of the kidneys and hepatocellular centrilobular hypertrophy in the liver
      of males at 250 mg/kg/day. Cytochrome P450 concentration in liver microsomes was
      slightly increased at 250 mg/kg/day in males. The results of this study
      demonstrate that NEP has mild to no effects at doses up to 250 mg/kg/day when
      administered orally to rats for 28 days with males being more susceptible than
      females.

PMID- 27634064
TI  - Functional movement and breathing dysfunction.

PMID- 27634065
TI  - Angry posture.
AB  - Postural abnormalities can affect the emotions and vice-versa. The aim of the
      present study was to investigate the existence of a relationship between
      subjective anger and body posture in 28 women, aged between 20 and 39 years, with
      a normal body mass index (or underweight) and an absence of neurological,
      psychiatric or musculoskeletal disorders. The postural parameters photographed
      were the inclination of the shoulders, protrusion of the head, hyperextension of
      the knees and shoulder elevation. The degree of anger was rated by analogue
      scales representing current and usual anger. The results indicated that a
      relationship exists between current anger and the inclination of the shoulders (p
      = 0.03), protrusion of the head (p = 0.05) and hyperextension of the knees (p =
      0.05). Correlations were found between usual anger, shoulder elevation (p = 0.05)
      and hyperextension of the knees (p = 0.05). In conclusion, posture is associated
      with emotions, and usual anger can lead to shoulder protraction. 

PMID- 27634066
TI  - Repeat-measures longitudinal study evaluating behavioural and gastrointestinal
      symptoms in children with autism before, during and after visceral osteopathic
      technique (VOT).
AB  - This study investigated the influence of visceral osteopathic technique (VOT) on
      the behaviour and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms of children with autism using a
      validated questionnaire to measure outcome. METHODS: The 49 recruited autistic
      children suffered GI symptoms and impaired social interaction and communication,
      but were otherwise healthy. Thirty minute VOT sessions were applied to the
      abdomens of the children over a 6 week period whilst their GI and behavioural
      parameters were recorded. Outcomes were measured using a modified Autism Research
      Institute Secretin Outcomes Survey Form, the 'S.O.S Form'. Four questionnaires
      were completed by parents before treatment (control period), four completed
      during treatment (treatment period) and one completed six weeks after the last
      treatment (post treatment period). Subjects acted as their own controls. RESULTS:
      Results from repeat ANOVA demonstrated a positive, overall significant,
      symptomatic improvement (p < 0.05) in 'social behaviour and communication' and
      'digestive signs' subscales of the questionnaire comparing before and after VOT.
      Significant improvement in vomiting (p = 0.00029), poor appetite (p = 0.039) and
      eye contact (p = 0.035) was also demonstrated after VOT application. DISCUSSION
      AND CONCLUSION: The experimental hypothesis has been supported indicating a
      positive effect of VOT on some of the measured GI symptoms and behavioural
      patterns in this group of children with autism. This data indicates that the
      application of VOT may be of benefit to children with autism and GI disturbance.

PMID- 27634067
TI  - Quantification of dry needling on myofascial trigger points using a novel
      ultrasound method: A study protocol.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a neuromuscular dysfunction
      consisting of both motor and sensory abnormalities. Considering the high
      prevalence of MPS and its related disabilities and costs, this study was designed
      to determine the reliability of new ultrasonographic indexes of the upper
      trapezius muscle as well as the sensitivity and specificity of 2D ultrasound
      imaging for diagnostic purposes. Furthermore, we sought to evaluate the
      effectiveness of dry needling (DN) on studied ultrasonographic indexes. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: This study will be performed in two steps with two different
      designs. The first is a pilot study and was designed as a semi-experimental study
      to determine the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography for the diagnosis
      of MPS and the reliability of ultrasonographic measurements like muscle
      thickness, area of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) in longitudinal view,
      echogenicity of MTrPs in longitudinal view, echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in
      longitudinal and transverse views, and pennation angle of upper trapezius muscle.
      The second study is an interventional study which was designed to investigate the
      effectiveness of DN on ultrasonographic measurements, for which the reliability
      was determined in the first study. CONCLUSION: we will quantify the effectiveness
      of DN on MTrPs and muscle tissue by using novel ultrasonographic indexes. The
      results of the current study will provide baseline information to design more
      interventional studies to improve the evaluation of other treatments of MPS.

PMID- 27634068
TI  - Effect of cervical mobilization and ischemic compression therapy on contralateral
      cervical side flexion and pressure pain threshold in latent upper trapezius
      trigger points.
AB  - Studies have shown a clinical relationship between trigger points and joint
      impairments. However the cause-and effect relationship between muscle and joint
      dysfunctions in trigger points could not be established. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate effects of mobilization and ischemic compression therapy
      on cervical range of motion and pressure pain sensitivity in participants with
      latent trigger point in the upper trapezius muscle. Ninety asymptomatic
      participants with upper trapezius latent trigger point were randomized in to 3
      groups: mobilization, ischemic compression and a control. The outcomes were
      measured over a 2 week period. Repeated measures ANOVA showed statistically and
      clinically significant pre to post improvement in both the interventional groups
      compared to control (p < 0.05). However the effect sizes between the intervention
      groups were small (<0.3) revealing minimal clinical detectable difference. 

PMID- 27634069
TI  - Process for massage therapy practice and essential assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little evidence exists about processes in massage therapy practice.
      Investigating current frameworks is warranted. This qualitative study is a
      secondary data analysis using grounded theory to understand how massage therapy
      experts describe massage therapy practice. METHODS: 31 massage therapy experts
      were invited to a 2-day symposium to discuss best practices for the profession.
      Through qualitative analysis, memoing, and discussion, the data were summarized
      into themes. RESULTS: Three themes were identified around massage therapy
      practice: 1) client centered, 2) structure for practice, and 3) influencing
      factors. Each theme is clarified and expanded. DISCUSSION: Conceptual models were
      developed for research and clinical practice and a definition for massage therapy
      practice was identified. Challenges and limitations are discussed. CONCLUSION:
      The goal of providing these models is to give massage therapists tools to deliver
      the best possible care. The models need testing to see if they help advance the
      profession.

PMID- 27634071
TI  - Does an association exist between the hierarchical motor components of upper and
      lower limbs in stroke?
AB  - BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Abnormal synergisitic linkage exists between the upper
      and lower limbs. The relation may persist till the last stage of motor recovery.
      The objective of the present study was to analyze the relation between the motor
      components of the upper extremity and lower extremity in stroke subjects. DESIGN:
      A cross-sectional and correlational design. SETTING: Rehabilitation Institute.
      PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-nine poststroke chronic hemiparetic subjects (39 men; Mean
      age = 48.81 years; Mean poststroke duration = 11.22 months and 34 right-side
      paresis). INTERVENTIONS: Not-applicable. OUTCOME MEASURES: Fugl-Meyer Assessment
      (FMA): upper extremity (FMA-UE) and lower extremity (FMA-LE). RESULTS: A moderate
      positive correlation (r = .65, p < .001) was found between FMA-UE and FMA-LE. FMA
      UE (51%) was found to be significantly inferior (p < .001; 95% CI = 6 to 17) in
      comparison to FMA-LE (63%). CONCLUSION: In poststroke subjects, there is a
      moderate positive relation between the recovery components of affected upper limb
      and lower limb. Stroke rehabilitation should consider hierarchical motor
      components of the lower limb and upper limb simultaneously.

PMID- 27634070
TI  - Developing and testing an instrument to assess aquaticity in humans.
AB  - We developed and validated an aquaticity assessment test (AAT) for the evaluation
      of human physical adequacy in the water. Forty-six volunteers (25M/21F; 20 +/- 8
      years) participated and performed 10 easy-to-administer and practical aquatic
      tasks. Group A was formed by 36 elite athletes (M/F 20/16, 24.7 +/- 10yrs) from
      two sports categories depending on their affinity to the water environment:
      terrestrial (wrestling, cycling, dancing) and aquatic (swimming, synchronized
      swimming, free diving) sports. Group B was formed by 10 non-athlete participants
      (5M/5F, 14.4 +/- 1.4yrs) and was assessed by two independent evaluators.
      Participants in Group A performed the aquatic tasks once to develop the final AAT
      items and cutoffs. Participants in Group B performed the aquatic tasks twice on
      different days to assess repeatability. Factor analysis recommended all 10
      aquatic tasks to be included in the final AAT, resulting in scores ranging from
      9.5 to 49.5. The AAT scores were statistically different between the terrestrial
      and the aquatic sports' participants (p < 0.001). The duration of the test was 25
      min from the time of water entry. Receiver operating characteristics curve
      analyses demonstrated that the cutoffs for low and high aquaticity levels in this
      sample were <=23.7 and >=43.3, respectively. Reliability analyses demonstrated
      that the aquaticity scores obtained on different days and by different examiners
      highly correlated (p < 0.001) and were not significantly different (p > 0.05).
      The AAT appears to be a valid and reliable tool for the evaluation of human
      physical adequacy in the water. It is an easy and user-friendly test which can be
      performed in any swimming pool without a need for highly trained staff and
      specialized equipment, however more research needs to be done in order to be
      applied in other population group. 

PMID- 27634072
TI  - The Feldenkrais Method((r)) can enhance cognitive function in independent living
      older adults: A case-series.
AB  - Poor cognitive health a major concern of aging individuals, can compromise
      independent living. More than 16 million people in the United States are affected
      by cognitive impairment. We have studied the effects of the Feldenkrais
      Method((r)) on cognitive function. In this case series with three participants
      cognitive function was assessed with the Trail Making Test A and B at baseline
      and after the Feldenkrais intervention. All participants improved performance on
      Trail Making Test A and B after completing the Feldenkrais intervention
      indicating that Feldenkrais lessons may offset age-related decline in cognitive
      function. The results of this case series warrant larger scale studies on
      cognitive outcomes of Feldenkrais interventions in clinical and non-clinical
      populations. 

PMID- 27634073
TI  - Leg raise increases pressure in lower and upper esophageal sphincter among
      patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the relation between posturally
      increased intra-abdominal pressure and lower/upper esophageal sphincter pressure
      changes in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. We used high resolution
      manometry to measure pressure changes in lower and upper esophageal sphincter
      during bilateral leg rise. We also examined whether the rate of lower and upper
      esophageal sphincter pressure would increase during leg raise differentially in
      individuals with versus without normal resting pressure. Fifty eight patients
      with gastroesophageal reflux disease participated in the study. High resolution
      manometry was performed in relaxed supine position, then lower and upper
      esophageal sphincter pressure was measured. Finally, the subjects were instructed
      to keep their legs lifted while performing 90-degree flexion at the hips and
      knees and the pressure was measured again. Paired t-test and independent samples
      t-test were used. There was a significant increase in both lower (P < 0.001) and
      upper esophageal sphincter pressure (P = 0.034) during leg raise compared to the
      initial resting position. Individuals with initially higher pressure in lower
      esophageal sphincter (>10 mmHg) exhibited a greater pressure increase during leg
      raise than those with initially lower pressure (pressure <=10 mmHg; P = 0.002).
      Similarly individuals with higher resting upper esophageal sphincter pressure
      (>44 mmHg) showed a greater pressure increase during leg raise than those with
      lower resting pressure (<=44 mmHg; P < 0.001). The results illustrate the
      influence of postural leg activities on intraesophageal pressure in patients with
      gastroesophageal reflux disease, indicating by means of high resolution manometry
      that diaphragmatic postural and sphincter function are likely interrelated in
      this population. 

PMID- 27634075
TI  - Comparative analysis of head-tilt and forward head position during laptop use
      between females with postural induced headache and healthy controls.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare 1) maximum manually induced head-protraction, head-tilt
      and forward head position and 2) the evolution of head-tilt and forward head
      position during a laptop-task between a headache- and control-group. METHODS:
      Angles for maximum head-protraction, head-tilt and forward head position of 12
      female students with postural induced headache and 12 female healthy controls
      were calculated at baseline and while performing a laptop-task. RESULTS: The
      headache-group demonstrated an increased passive head-protraction of 22.30%
      compared to the control-group. The ratio of forward head position during habitual
      sitting to the maximum head-protraction differed significantly (p = 0.046)
      between headache-group (1.4 +/- 0.4) and the control-group (1.1 +/- 0.2). The
      headache-group showed a biphasic forward head position and head-tilt profile.
      These profiles differed significantly (p < 0.05) between groups and were
      negatively correlated (rE = -0.927). CONCLUSION: The headache-group showed a
      larger passive head-protraction with a habitual forward head-position further
      located from the end-range. During the laptop-task forward head position and head
      tilt behaved biphasically with a more static forward head position and a more
      dynamic head-tilt.

PMID- 27634074
TI  - Effects of scapular taping in young adults with shoulder pain and scapular
      dyskinesis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the immediate effects of scapular taping on pain, isometric
      force, and the level of activation of several scapular girdle muscles in
      individuals with shoulder pain and scapular dyskinesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Ten individuals with shoulder pain during arm elevation and scapular dyskinesis
      were included and evaluated by using a visual analogue scale (VAS), pressure
      algometry, dynamometry, and surface electromyography. All assessments were
      performed before and immediately after the application of scapular taping.
      RESULTS: Scapular taping did not change the electromyographic activity of the
      upper trapezius muscle (p = 0.041, IC95%: -0.8256 to 10.8752). The positive
      effects of taping application were related to pain reduction (p = 0.025) and
      improvement in pressure algometry in the middle deltoid muscle (p = 0.020, IC95%:
      1.8910 to -0.0490). Maximal isometric force did not change after the application
      of taping (flexo-abduction p = 0.4136, external rotation p = 0.4261). Significant
      correlations were noted between the VAS and pressure pain threshold (PPT) for the
      upper trapezius muscle (r = -0.6643, p = 0.0361) as well as for the PPT measures
      of the middle deltoid and infraspinatus muscles before (r = 0.9491, p = 0.0001)
      and after (r = 0.9006, p = 0.0004) the application of taping. CONCLUSION:
      Scapular taping was not effective for inducing changes in the electromyographic
      activity of the upper trapezius, lower trapezius, and serratus anterior muscles,
      nor in altering the isometric force of shoulder flexo-abduction and external
      rotation. However, taping was effective at improving the pressure algometry
      values of the middle deltoid. Significant correlations between the pressure
      algometry of the middle deltoid and infraspinatus muscles, both before and after
      the application of scapular taping, were noted.

PMID- 27634076
TI  - A guiding framework to understand relationships within the profession of massage
      therapy.
AB  - An element of professionalization is the development of a body of knowledge and
      the integration of that knowledge into practice, also known as evidence-informed
      practice (EIP). EIP was officially adopted in Ontario, Canada, by the massage
      therapy profession in 2002 when the professional competency document was updated
      to include competencies related to research literacy (College of Massage
      Therapists of Ontario, 2002). Despite efforts to increase EIP, there continues to
      be a research-practice gap in massage therapy. However, there also seems to be
      interest in finding ways to support the increase massage therapists' capacity to
      apply research. To support change, it is useful to describe the relationships in
      the profession that may have an effect on the use of evidence in practice and the
      development of a broader culture of inquiry. In order to better understand how
      these relationships may impact on EIP, an ecological model is proposed. 

PMID- 27634077
TI  - The effect of climatic conditions on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in 10
      12 year old students.
AB  - Exercise-induced asthma is seen following vigorous or prolonged exercise or
      physical exertion. It has been suggested that climatic conditions have an
      influence on exercise-induced asthma. Therefore, the aim of the present study was
      to examine the effect of two climatic conditions on exercise-induced
      deterioration of pulmonary function tests in 10-12 year old students. Two hundred
      and fifty six students were randomly chosen from two cities namely Kerman and
      Gorgan (128 subjects in each who were equally from both cities) including 62
      girls and 66 boys of 10-12 years old. A questionnaire was used to obtain
      demographic information and to identify the prevalence of asthma symptoms. Each
      subject performed a seven-minute free run exercise with maximum effort and
      sufficient motivation until they reached 70-75% heart rate. Pulmonary function
      tests (PFT) including, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in
      one second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and maximum expiratory flow at 50%
      of vital capacity (MEF50) were measured before, at the beginning, and 7 and 20
      min after physical activity. The prevalence of both asthma (28.12%) and exercise
      induced asthma (20.31%) in Kerman students was higher than those of Gorgan
      students (21.09% and 17%, respectively). All PFT values declined 7 and 20 min
      post-exercise in both groups. Although all baselines PFT in Kerman students were
      higher than those of Gorgan students, the decline in PFT values in Kerman
      students was greater than those of Gorgan students. At 20 min post exercise, the
      decline in FEV1, PEF and MEF50 in Kerman students was significantly higher than
      those of Gorgan students (p < 0.05 to p < 0.01). The results of the present study
      showed that prevalence of both asthma and exercise-induced asthma in a city with
      dry and cool climate such as Kerman was higher than in a city with humid climate
      such as Gorgan. In addition, the results showed that in a humid climate, post
      exercise decline in PFT values was less than in a dry climate. 

PMID- 27634078
TI  - Can physical therapy centred on cognitive and behavioural principles improve pain
      self-efficacy in symptomatic lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis? A case series.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pain-related self-efficacy is defined as "the beliefs held by people
      with chronic pain that were able to carry out certain activities, even when
      experiencing pain", and it is considered a relevant mediator in the relationship
      between pain and disability in chronic low back pain. This case series describes
      a treatment aiming to improve pain self-efficacy in patients with symptomatic
      lumbar spondylolisthesis. METHOD: Ten consecutive outpatients with lumbar
      spondylolisthesis and chronic LBP referred to a rehabilitative clinic
      participated in this study. Cognitive and behavioural principles were integrated
      with functional and graded approach in each individual physical therapy program.
      The outcome measures concerned clinical instability and endurance tests, pain,
      disability and self-efficacy. RESULTS: Pain self-efficacy and lumbar function
      improved in 7 out of 10 patients; clinical tests improved in 9 out of 10
      patients. CONCLUSION: A rehabilitation program carried out by a physical
      therapist, centred on cognitive and behavioural principles, appeared useful in
      improving pain self-efficacy and lumbar function. These results may be
      interesting for future controlled trials.

PMID- 27634079
TI  - Effect of core strength training on dynamic balance and agility in adolescent
      badminton players.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate effect of core strength training
      (CST) on core endurance, dynamic balance and agility in adolescent badminton
      players. Twenty adolescent (age = 10.8 +/- 0.3 years; height = 140.6 +/- 4.4 cm,
      weight = 33.9 +/- 5.8 kg) badminton players were randomly divided into two groups
      as training group (TG) and control (CG) group. All subjects were evaluated with
      Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), Illinois Agility Test, and the core endurance
      tests. The TG completed CST twice a week, for 6 weeks. There were significant
      increases in (p < 0.05) directions of SEBT and core endurance tests (p < 0.05).
      However, no significant change was observed for agility (p > 0.05). The CST
      resulted in significant gains in directions of the SEBT and core endurances in
      adolescent badminton players, but not in agility. 

PMID- 27634080
TI  - Exploration of clinical changes following a novel mobilisation technique for
      treatment of chronic low back pain: A single cohort design.
AB  - To explore clinical changes following a novel manual mobilisation technique, 24
      participants who experienced 'moderate' to 'severe' chronic low back pain were
      recruited from new patients attending a suburban osteopathy clinic. The
      intervention was a previously undescribed side-lying mobilisation technique
      targeting the lumbosacral spine (median of 6 treatment sessions). After 8 weeks
      reductions were shown in Oswestry Disability Index of 15 points (95% CI: 9.3,
      22.7; p < 0.0001 for overall ANOVA); Quadruple Visual Analogue Scale of 2.0
      points (95% CI: 1.0, 3.0; p < 0.0001); and Patient Specific Functional Scale of
      3.1 points (95% CI: 1.9, 4.3; p < 0.0001). The results indicate that pain
      intensity, disability and function improved in most participants following
      treatment. Further investigation is indicated using more robust research designs
      to compare this approach with other treatment approaches and usual care for the
      treatment of chronic low back pain. 

PMID- 27634081
TI  - Immediate effects of hamstring stretching alone or combined with ischemic
      compression of the masseter muscle on hamstrings extensibility, active mouth
      opening and pain in athletes with temporomandibular dysfunction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the immediate effects of hamstrings stretching alone or
      combined with ischemic compression of the masseter muscle on hamstrings
      extensibility, active mouth opening and pain in athletes with temporomandibular
      dysfunction and hamstrings shortening. METHODS: Forty-two participants were
      randomized to receive the stretching technique (n = 21) or the stretching plus
      the ischemic compression (n = 21). Outcome measures were: hamstrings
      extensibility, active mouth opening, pressure pain thresholds and pain intensity.
      RESULTS: Both interventions improved significantly active mouth opening (group 1:
      35.7 +/- 6.7 to 39.1 +/- 7.6 mm, p < 0.001; group 2: 34.0 +/- 6.2 to 37.6 +/- 5.6
      mm, p < 0.001), active knee extension (group 1: 33.1 +/- 8.5 to 40.8 +/- 8.2
      degrees , p < 0.001; group 2: 28.9 +/- 6.5 to 35.5 +/- 6.4 degrees , p < 0.001)
      and pain. No significant differences were found between interventions.
      CONCLUSION: Hamstrings stretching induced an acute improvement in hamstrings
      extensibility, active mouth opening and pain. Moreover, the addition of ischemic
      compression did not induce further improvements on the assessed parameters.

PMID- 27634082
TI  - Treatment of hip microinstability and gluteal tendinopathies involves movement
      control and exercise.

PMID- 27634083
TI  - A short consideration of exercise for gluteal tendinopathies.
AB  - Gluteal tendinopathies have become significantly better understood over the past
      few years, primarily due to the work of Alison Grimaldi and her research
      associates. This brief summary highlights some key points of their work and some
      exercise suggestions for treatment. 

PMID- 27634084
TI  - Mobilisation of the thoracic spine in the management of spondylolisthesis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Segmental instability due to lumbar spondylolisthesis is a
      potential cause of chronic low back pain. Hypomobility of the spine results in
      compensatory segmental hypermobility of the segment above or below restricted
      segments. Therefore, the aim of the study is to determine the effects of
      mobilisation of the hypomobile upper thoracic spine along with conventional
      flexion exercises and stretching of short hip flexors on the degree of slippage
      and the functions of the persons with lumbar spondylolisthesis. METHODOLOGY: All
      patients with spondylolisthesis were randomly assigned into two groups: Group I -
      Experimental group, treated with mobilisation of the thoracic spine along with
      the conventional physiotherapy and Group II - Conventional group, treated with
      conventional stretching, strengthening, and lumbar flexion exercise programme.
      RESULTS: The experimental group treated with mobilisation of the thoracic spine
      shows a significant reduction in the percentage of vertebral slip from pre
      treatment to post-treatment measurements. CONCLUSION: Low back pain due to
      spondylolisthesis may be benefited by mobilisation of the thoracic spine along
      with stretching of short hip flexors, piriformis, lumbar flexion range of motion
      exercises, core strengthening exercises, etc.

PMID- 27634085
TI  - Hip and groin pain in a cyclist resolved after performing a pelvic floor fascial
      mobilization.
AB  - Pelvic floor muscle assessment in situations of hip/groin pain in both male and
      female patients can be a key element in treatment success. We present herein, a
      32 year old male professional cyclist, exhibiting right hip and groin pain during
      cycling and prolonged sitting. The pain commenced after the patient suffered a
      right hip severe contusion in 2013 causing a tear in the tensor fascia lata and
      gluteus medius muscle. The patient did not complain of pelvic floor dysfunctions.
      After receiving several series of conventional physical therapy for the hip/groin
      pain, the patient experienced partial pain relief and slight improvement of hip
      range of motion. His pelvic floor muscles and fascial involvement were
      subsequently assessed. Two sessions of Pelvic Floor Fascial Mobilization (PFFM)
      were performed and the patient fully recovered. The authors suggest that PFFM, a
      novel fascial-oriented manual therapy of the pelvic floor approach, can be used
      for both hip/groin and pelvic floor pain or dysfunction. 

PMID- 27634086
TI  - Rest, resiliency, and retuning the body.

PMID- 27634087
TI  - Myofascial triggerpoint release (MTR) for treating chronic shoulder pain: A novel
      approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study comprehensively evaluated a myofascial triggerpoint
      release (MTR) technique for shoulder pain. METHODS: Twenty-three (from an initial
      sample of 25) patients experiencing shoulder pain received MTR, in four 10-min
      sessions over a period of 2 weeks, applied exclusively on the more painful
      shoulder, with assessments being recorded both before and after treatment (and
      for pain at 1 and 13 months). Measures of stiffness and elasticity were collected
      to monitor the process of therapy, while subjective measures of pain and
      objective measures of pressure pain thresholds tracked primary outcomes.
      Secondary outcomes focused on suffering, stress, and quality of life. RESULTS: A
      statistically significant decrease in stiffness and increase in elasticity was
      observed post intervention for the treated side only, while pressure pain
      thresholds improved on the untreated side as well. Reports of pain significantly
      decreased after treatment, with gains being maintained at 1 and 13 months
      following treatment. Levels of suffering, stress, and quality of life revealed
      statistically significant improvement as well. CONCLUSIONS: MTR resulted in
      clinically significant improvements in the primary measures of pain, objective
      mechanical tissue properties, and secondary measures in patients with chronic
      shoulder pain.

PMID- 27634088
TI  - Evidence for the existence of nociceptors in rat thoracolumbar fascia.
AB  - Recently, the existence of nociceptive fibers in fascia tissue has attracted much
      interest. Fascia can be a source of pain in several disorders such as fasciitis
      and non-specific low back pain. However, little is known about the properties of
      fascia nociceptors and possible changes of the fascia innervation by nociceptors
      under pathological circumstances. In this histologic study, the density of
      presumably nociceptive fibers and free nerve endings was determined in the three
      layers of the rat TLF: inner layer (IL, covering the multifidus muscle), middle
      layer (ML) and outer layer (OL). As markers for nociceptive fibers, antibodies to
      the neuropeptides CGRP and SP as well as to the transient receptor potential
      vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) were used. As a pathological state, inflammation of the TLF
      was induced with injection of complete Freund's adjuvant. The density of CGRP-
      and SP-positive fibers was significantly increased in the inner and outer layer
      of the inflamed fascia. In the thick middle layer, no inflammation-induced change
      occurred. In additional experiments, a neurogenic inflammation was induced in the
      fascia by electrical stimulation of dorsal roots. In these experiments, plasma
      extravasation was visible in the TLF, which is clear functional evidence for the
      existence of fascia nociceptors. The presence of nociceptors in the TLF and the
      increased density of presumably nociceptive fibers under chronic painful
      circumstances may explain the pain from a pathologically altered fascia. The
      fascia nociceptors probably contribute also to the pain in non-specific low back
      pain. 

PMID- 27634089
TI  - Fascial hierarchies and the relevance of crossed-helical arrangements of collagen
      to changes in shape; part II: The proposed effect of blood pressure (Traube
      Hering-Mayer) waves on the fascia.
AB  - Periodic changes in arterial pressure and volume have long been related to
      respiratory and sympathetic nerve activity (Traube-Hering-Mayer waves) but their
      origins and nomenclature have caused considerable confusion since they were first
      discovered in the eighteenth century. However, although they remain poorly
      understood and the underlying details of their control are complicated, these
      waves do provide valuable clinical information on the state of blood pressure
      regulation in both normal and pathological conditions; and a correlation with
      oscillatory motions observed by certain practitioners suggests that they may also
      have some physiological value that relates to changes in the volume of fascial
      'tubes'. Part I of this paper (Scarr, 2016) described a complex fascial network
      of collagen-reinforced tubular sheaths that are an integral part of muscle
      structure and function, and continuous with 'higher-level' fascial tubes
      surrounding groups of muscles, the limbs and entire body. The anisotropic
      arrangements of collagen fibres within the walls of these tubes reflect the most
      efficient distribution of mechanical stresses and have been considered to
      coordinate changes in shape, and a proposed link between cyclic variations in
      arterial pressure and volume, and the behaviour of these fascial compartments is
      now described. 

PMID- 27634090
TI  - Effects of Achilles tendon vibration, surface and visual conditions on lower leg
      electromyography in young adults with and without recurrent ankle sprains.
AB  - Functional ankle instability is associated with decreased ankle muscle function.
      Compliant surfaces and eyes-closed training are commonly used for rehabilitation
      and prevention of ankle sprains. Brief Achilles tendon vibration is commonly used
      in the study of postural control. To test the level of activation of tibialis
      anterior (TIB) and fibularis longus (FIB), bilateral Achilles tendon vibration
      was applied for the middle 20 s in a series of 60-s trials, when 10 healthy young
      adults and 10 adults with history of repeated ankle sprains were standing
      bipedal: on floor, on memory foam, or on a Both Sides Up (BOSU) ball, with eyes
      open, and on floor and foam with eyes closed. Differences in Integrated surface
      electromyography (IEMG) of TIB and FIB were significant for both groups pre,
      during, and post vibration (Friedman Tests, p < 0.001 for all). In both groups,
      the highest IEMG for TIB was obtained during vibration when standing on foam with
      eyes closed, whereas the highest IEMG for FIB was obtained during vibration when
      standing on the BOSU. Bipedal stance on BOSU and brief Achilles tendon vibration
      may be a useful intervention when a session's goal is to facilitate lower leg
      muscles activation. Future research should explore training effects as well as
      the effect of FIB tendon vibration. 

PMID- 27634091
TI  - Therapeutic effects of connective tissue manipulation on wound healing and
      bacterial colonization count among patients with diabetic foot ulcer.
AB  - This study investigated the therapeutic effects of connective tissue manipulation
      (CTM) in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). A total of 20 participants (10 in CTM group
      and 10 in conventional treatment group (CG)) with DFU underwent the conventional
      DFU treatment. In addition, the CTM group received CTM twice per week for 6
      weeks. The percentage wound area reduction (PWAR) and bacterial colonization
      count (BCC) in log10 colony-forming units (CFU) per ml wound fluid was evaluated
      at baseline and six weeks. Results showed a significant change in PWAR in CTM (p
      < 0.05, t = 3.82, Df = 9, CI L = 0.98 U = 3.81) and CG (p < 0.05, t = 2.97, Df =
      9,CI L = 0.26 U = 1.98). Mean reduction of BCC showed a significant reduction (p
      < 0.05), with percentage of BCC reduction higher in CTM group (6.45%) than CG
      (3.55%). The findings suggest CTM as an effective adjunct therapy for DFU to
      enhance conventional treatments. 

PMID- 27634092
TI  - A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - July 2016.
AB  - The overview of the myofascial pain literature includes a wide variety of basic
      and clinical studies, ranging from assessing muscle activation patterns to the
      impact of platelet-rich plasma injections. Contributions to the literature once
      again came from all corners of the world, such as Australia, Belgium, Brazil,
      Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
      Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, and the USA. A total of 30 papers are included in this
      overview. 

PMID- 27634093
TI  - Kinesio taping for chronic low back pain: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a prevalent issue that engenders
      enormous social and economic burdens. Recently, kinesio taping (KT) has become of
      interest in the management of chronic pain. Accordingly, this is the first
      systematic review to explicitly report the effects of KT on CLBP. OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of this review was to summarize the results of randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) investigating the effects of KT on CLBP. METHODS: A search was performed
      on the electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, SPORT Discus and Science Direct, up
      to June 17, 2015, using the following keywords: Kinesiology taping, kinesio
      taping, chronic low back pain. RESULTS: In total, five studies involving 306
      subjects met the inclusion criteria and corresponded to the aim of this review.
      The methodological quality of the included RCTs was good, with a mean score of
      6.6 on the 10-point PEDro Scale. Moderate evidence suggests KT, as a sole
      treatment or in conjunction with another treatment, is no more effective than
      conventional physical therapy and exercise with respect to improving pain and
      disability outcomes. There is insufficient evidence suggesting that KT is
      superior to sham taping in improving pain and disability. Limited evidence
      suggests that KT is more effective than sham taping in improving range of motion
      (ROM) and global perceived effect (GPE) in the short term. Very limited evidence
      indicates that KT is more effective than conventional physical therapy in
      improving anticipatory postural control of the transversus abdominus muscles and
      improved cerebral cortex potential. CONCLUSION: Kinesio taping is not a
      substitute for traditional physical therapy or exercise. Rather, KT may be most
      effective when used as an adjunctive therapy, perhaps by improving ROM, muscular
      endurance and motor control. More high quality studies that consider the multiple
      factors that mediate CLBP, in the short, intermediate and long term, are needed
      to strengthen the evidence of the effectiveness of KT on CLBP. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
      REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42015023837.

PMID- 27634094
TI  - Myofascial techniques: What are their effects on joint range of motion and pain? 
      A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This systematic review aimed to determine the evidence for the effect
      of a single manually applied myofascial technique (MFT) on joint range of motion
      (JROM) and pain in non-pathological symptomatic subjects. METHODS: Authors
      independently searched the following databases: PEDro; Cochrane Library; NLM
      PubMed; EMBASE; Academic Search Premier; MEDLINE; Psychology and Behavioural
      Sciences Collection; PsycINFO; SPORTSDiscus; CINAHL Plus from 2003 to 2015. All
      randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that used JROM as an outcome measure were
      identified. RCT quality was independently evaluated using PEDro and Cochrane Risk
      of Bias tools and all reported outcome data were independently abstracted and
      presented. If post-intervention central tendencies and variance were reported,
      these were assessed for heterogeneity with a view to performing a meta-analysis.
      RESULTS: Nine RCTs (n = 534) were systematically reviewed and outcome data
      presented; all trials concluded that MFT increased JROM and reduced pain levels
      in symptomatic patients. Two RCTs (n = 161) were judged 'moderately'
      heterogeneous (I(2) = 47.2%; Cochran's Q = 5.69; p = 0.128, df = 3) and meta
      analysis using a fixed effects model suggested a 'moderate' effect size of MFTs
      on jaw opening (ES = 0.578; 95%CI 0.302 to 0.853). CONCLUSION: Although results
      reported by each RCT indicate that MFT increases JROM and reduces pain scores,
      there are a number of threats that challenge the statistical inferences
      underpinning these findings. Only two trials could be meta-analysed, the results
      of which suggest that applying MFTs to symptomatic patients diagnosed with latent
      trigger-points in masseter muscle can increase jaw JROM.

PMID- 27634095
TI  - Enhanced mechanical performance of biocompatible hemicelluloses-based hydrogel
      via chain extension.
AB  - Hemicelluloses are widely used to prepare gel materials because of their
      renewability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Here, molecular chain
      extension of hemicelluloses was obtained in a two-step process. Composite
      hydrogels were prepared via free radical graft copolymerization of crosslinked
      quaternized hemicelluloses (CQH) and acrylic acid (AA) in the presence of
      crosslinking agent N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA). This chain extension
      strategy significantly improved the mechanical performance of the resulting
      hydrogels. The crosslinking density, compression modulus, and swelling capacities
      of hydrogels were tuned by changing the AA/CQH and MBA/CQH contents. Moreover,
      the biocompatibility test suggests that the hemicelluloses-based hydrogels
      exhibited no toxicity to cells and allowed cell growth. Taken together, these
      properties demonstrated that the composite hydrogels have potential applications
      in the fields of water absorbents, cell culture, and other functional
      biomaterials.

PMID- 27634097
TI  - Letter to the editor: Comparison of 1,3-beta-D-glucan with galactomannan in serum
      and bronchoalveolar fluid for the detection of Aspergillus species in
      immunosuppressed mechanical ventilated critically ill patients.

PMID- 27634096
TI  - Fast-acting antidepressants rapidly stimulate ERK signaling and BDNF release in
      primary neuronal cultures.
AB  - Recent preclinical and clinical studies demonstrate that three functionally
      different compounds, the NMDA receptor channel blocker ketamine, mGlu2/3 receptor
      antagonist LY341495, and NMDA receptor glycine site agent GLYX-13 produce rapid
      and long lasting antidepressant effects. Furthermore, these agents are reported
      to stimulate ERK and mTORC1 signaling in brain. Here we used rat primary cortical
      culture neurons to further examine the cellular actions of these agents. The
      results demonstrate that low concentrations of all three compounds rapidly
      increase levels of the phosphorylated and activated forms of ERK and a downstream
      target of mTORC1, p70S6 kinase, in a concentration and time dependent manner. In
      addition, each compound rapidly increases BDNF release into the culture media.
      Further studies demonstrate that induction of BDNF release, as well as
      stimulation of phospho-ERK is blocked by incubation with an AMPA receptor
      antagonist. The requirement for AMPA receptor stimulation suggests that the
      effects of these rapid agents are activity dependent. This possibility is
      supported by studies demonstrating that neuronal silencing, via incubation with
      the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol, completely blocks phospho-ERK and BDNF
      release by each agent. Finally, incubation with each drug for 24 h increases the
      number and length of neuronal branches. Together, the results demonstrate that
      these three different rapid acting antidepressant agents increase ERK signaling
      and BDNF release in an activity dependent manner that leads to increased neuronal
      complexity. Further studies will be required to determine the exact mechanisms
      underlying these effects in cultured neurons and in rodent models.

PMID- 27634098
TI  - Climate and Health Co-Benefits in Low-Income Countries: A Case Study of Carbon
      Financed Water Filters in Kenya and a Call for Independent Monitoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent global climate agreement in Paris aims to mitigate
      greenhouse gas emissions while fostering sustainable development and establishes
      an international trading mechanism to meet this goal. Currently, carbon offset
      program implementers are allowed to collect their own monitoring data to
      determine the number of carbon credits to be awarded. OBJECTIVES: We summarize
      reasons for mandating independent monitoring of greenhouse gas emission reduction
      projects. In support of our policy recommendations, we describe a case study of a
      program designed to earn carbon credits by distributing almost one million
      drinking water filters in rural Kenya to avert the use of fuel for boiling water.
      We compare results from an assessment conducted by our research team in the
      program area among households with pregnant women or caregivers in rural villages
      with low piped water access with the reported program monitoring data and discuss
      the implications. DISCUSSION: Our assessment in Kenya found lower levels of
      household water filter usage than the internal program monitoring reported
      estimates used to determine carbon credits; we found 19% (n = 4,041) of
      households reported filter usage 2-3 years after filter distribution compared to
      the program stated usage rate of 81% (n = 14,988) 2.7 years after filter
      distribution. Although carbon financing could be a financially sustainable
      approach to scale up water treatment and improve health in low-income settings,
      these results suggest program effectiveness will remain uncertain in the absence
      of requiring monitoring data be collected by third-party organizations.
      CONCLUSION: Independent monitoring should be a key requirement for carbon credit
      verification in future international carbon trading mechanisms to ensure programs
      achieve benefits in line with sustainable development goals. Citation: Pickering
      AJ, Arnold BF, Dentz HN, Colford JM Jr., Null C. 2017. Climate and health co
      benefits in low-income countries: a case study of carbon financed water filters
      in Kenya and a call for independent monitoring. Environ Health Perspect 125:278
      283; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP342.

PMID- 27634099
TI  - Development of Novel Photoinitiators as Substitutes of Camphorquinone for the LED
      Induced Polymerization of Methacrylates: A Bis-Silyl Ketone.
AB  - A new photoinitiator based on a bis-silylketone (BSK) structure is proposed as a
      novel compound leading to highly efficient initiating silyl radicals for the
      polymerization of methacrylates (e.g., a bisphenol A-glycidyl
      methacrylate/triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate blend (70%/30% w/w)) upon exposure
      to a blue light emitting diode and a green laser diode. The polymerization
      profiles are recorded by real time Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy.
      Absorption, fluorescence, electron spin resonance (ESR), and steady state
      experiments are used to investigate the involved chemical mechanisms. Molecular
      orbital calculations are also carried out. Remarkably, BSK efficiently works in
      the presence of an iodonium salt. The overall mechanism for the initiation step
      is clarified. This novel class of silyl radical generating photoinitiators is
      really promising for the photopolymerization of methacrylates, e.g., in dental
      materials.

PMID- 27634100
TI  - Selective and sensitive quantification of the cytochrome P450 3A4 protein in
      human liver homogenates through multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry.
AB  - This study aimed at establishing a sensitive multiple reaction monitoring-mass
      spectrometry (MRM-MS) method for the quantification of the drug metabolizing
      cytochrome P450 (CYP)3A4 enzyme in human liver homogenates. Liver samples were
      subjected to trypsin digestion. MRM-MS analyses were performed using three
      transitions optimized on one purified synthetic peptide unique to CYP3A4 and the
      standardizing protein, calnexin. Coefficient of variations for the precision and
      reproducibility of the MRM-MS measurement were also determined. The method was
      applied to liver samples from ten non-cholestatic donors and 34 cholestatic
      patients with primary biliary cholangitis (n = 12; PBC), primary sclerosing
      cholangitis (n = 10; PSC) or alcoholic liver disease (n = 12; ALD). The
      established method presented high sensitivity with limit of detection lower than
      5 fmol, and was successfully applied for the absolute and relative quantification
      of CYP3A4 in both whole liver homogenate and microsomal fractions. When all
      groups were analyzed together, a significant correlation was observed for the MRM
      based CYP3A4 protein quantification in homogenates and microsomes (r = 0.49, p <
      0.001). No statistically significant difference was detected between CYP3A4
      levels in PSC, PBC, ALD and control samples. Finally, the MRM-MS quantification
      of CYP3A4 in homogenates also correlated (r = 0.44; p < 0.05) with the level of
      enzyme activity in the same samples, as determined by measuring the
      chenodeoxycholic to hyocholic acid conversion. The established method provides a
      sensitive tool to evaluate the CYP3A4 protein in human liver homogenates from
      patients with normal or chronic/severe hepatic injury.

PMID- 27634101
TI  - Comparison of SPE/d-SPE and QuEChERS-Based Extraction Procedures in Terms of
      Fungicide Residue Analysis in Wine Samples by HPLC-DAD and LC-QqQ-MS.
AB  - Two different extraction and clean-up protocols, based on either the
      SPE/dispersive SPE (d-SPE) or the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe
      approach, were optimized and compared for determination of six selected
      fungicides (benalaxyl, metalaxyl, triadimenol, tebuconazole, diniconazole, and
      epoxiconazole) in wine samples. The pilot study was performed by applying HPLC
      with diode-array detection, and optimized procedures were easily transferred to
      the LC triple-quadrupole MS system. Both extraction procedures presented good
      performance for all the analytes, with recoveries in the range of 70-132% and SDs
      <=20%. The d-SPE clean-up step included in both procedures allows obtaining
      colorless extracts with the majority of coextracted matrix compounds removed. LC
      with electrospray ionization and tandem MS operating in the multiple reaction
      monitoring mode provide high sensitivity and selectivity for trace analysis. Both
      developed procedures were evaluated in terms of commercial wine sample analysis.
      In three wine samples, metalaxyl and tebuconazole residues were detected at
      concentrations from 0.14 to 30.7 ng/mL. Both approaches showed satisfactory
      feasibility for fungicide residue analysis in wine samples.

PMID- 27634102
TI  - Temporal variations of black carbon during haze and non-haze days in Beijing.
AB  - Black carbon (BC) aerosol has been identified as one of key factors responsible
      for air quality in Beijing. BC emissions abatement could help slow regional
      climate change while providing benefits for public health. In order to quantify
      its variations and contribution to air pollution, we systematically studied real
      time measurements of equivalent black carbon (eBC) in PM2.5 aerosols at an urban
      site in Beijing from 2010 to 2014. Equivalent black carbon (eBC) is used instead
      of black carbon (BC) for data derived from Aethalometer-31 measurement.
      Equivalent BC concentrations showed significant temporal variations with seasonal
      mean concentration varying between 2.13 and 5.97 MUg m(-3). The highest
      concentrations of eBC were found during autumn and winter, and the lowest
      concentrations occurred in spring. We assessed the temporal variations of eBC
      concentration during haze days versus non-haze days and found significantly lower
      eBC fractions in PM2.5 on haze days compared to those on non-haze days. Finally,
      we observed a clear inverse relationship between eBC and wind speed. Our results
      show that wind disperses PM2.5 more efficiently than eBC; so, secondary aerosols
      are not formed to the same degree as primary aerosols over the same transport
      distance during windy conditions.

PMID- 27634103
TI  - Image dependency in the recognition of newly learnt faces.
AB  - Research investigating the effect of lighting and viewpoint changes on unfamiliar
      and newly learnt faces has revealed that such recognition is highly image
      dependent and that changes in either of these leads to poor recognition accuracy.
      Three experiments are reported to extend these findings by examining the effect
      of apparent age on the recognition of newly learnt faces. Experiment 1
      investigated the ability to generalize to novel ages of a face after learning a
      single image. It was found that recognition was best for the learnt image with
      performance falling the greater the dissimilarity between the study and test
      images. Experiments 2 and 3 examined whether learning two images aids subsequent
      recognition of a novel image. The results indicated that interpolation between
      two studied images (Experiment 2) provided some additional benefit over learning
      a single view, but that this did not extend to extrapolation (Experiment 3). The
      results from all studies suggest that recognition was driven primarily by
      pictorial codes and that the recognition of faces learnt from a limited number of
      sources operates on stored images of faces as opposed to more abstract,
      structural, representations.

PMID- 27634104
TI  - Chlorogenic acid prevents isoproterenol-induced DNA damage in vascular smooth
      muscle cells.
AB  - Numerous clinical therapeutic agents have been identified as DNA damaging. The
      present study revealed that isoproterenol (Iso) resulted in DNA damage in
      vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and increased the levels of intracellular
      oxygen free radicals. Administration of chlorogenic acid (CGA) inhibited this
      effect. Pretreatment with CGA abrogated the increase in protein expression levels
      of gamma-H2A histone family member X, phosphorylated ataxia telangiectasia
      mutated, phosphorylated Rad3-related protein, breast cancer 1 and C-terminal Src
      homologous kinase induced by Iso. In addition, the increase in levels of
      intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by Iso was inhibited by CGA
      pretreatment in a dose-dependent manner. The results of the present study suggest
      that CGA may inhibit Iso-induced VSMC damage via the suppression of ROS
      generation. Therefore, CGA may be a novel agent for the treatment of vascular
      diseases.

PMID- 27634106
TI  - Scarred for the Rest of My Career? Career-Long Effects of Abusive Leadership on
      Professional Athlete Aggression and Task Performance.
AB  - Based on the contention that leadership has sustained effects on followers even
      after the leader-follower relationship has ended, we investigated the career-long
      effects of abusive coach leadership on athlete aggression and task performance.
      Abusive leadership scores were derived from ratings by two independent raters'
      evaluations of coaches' biographies, and athlete aggression and task performance
      data were derived from objective sources. Data were obtained from players (N =
      693) and coaches (N = 57) involved in the National Basketball Association (NBA)
      between the 2000-2001 and 2005-2006 seasons. Controlling for tenure, salary, team
      winning percentage, and absence due to injuries, multilevel modeling showed that
      exposure to abusive leadership influenced both the trajectory of psychological
      aggression and task performance over players' careers. These findings suggest
      that the effects of abusive leadership extend far longer than currently
      acknowledged, thus furthering our understanding of the nature and effects of
      abusive leadership.

PMID- 27634105
TI  - Entrapment of Polysulfides by a Black-Phosphorus-Modified Separator for Lithium
      Sulfur Batteries.
AB  - A bifunctional separator modified by black-phosphorus nanoflakes is prepared to
      overcome the challenges associated with the polysulfide diffusion in lithium
      sulfur batteries. It brings the benefits of the entrapment of various sulfur
      species via the strong binding energy and re-activation of the trapped sulfur
      species due to its high electron conductivity as well as Li-ion diffusivity.

PMID- 27634107
TI  - Improvement of fibroblast growth factor 21 resistance probably confers the
      beneficial effects of acute exercise.

PMID- 27634109
TI  - Reply to the letter from Dr. Miao et al.

PMID- 27634108
TI  - The effects of superimposed tilt and lower body negative pressure on anterior and
      posterior cerebral circulations.
AB  - Steady-state tilt has no effect on cerebrovascular reactivity to increases in the
      partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO2). However, the anterior and
      posterior cerebral circulations may respond differently to a variety of stimuli
      that alter central blood volume, including lower body negative pressure (LBNP).
      Little is known about the superimposed effects of head-up tilt (HUT; decreased
      central blood volume and intracranial pressure) and head-down tilt (HDT;
      increased central blood volume and intracranial pressure), and LBNP on cerebral
      blood flow (CBF) responses. We hypothesized that (a) cerebral blood velocity
      (CBV; an index of CBF) responses during LBNP would not change with HUT and HDT,
      and (b) CBV in the anterior cerebral circulation would decrease to a greater
      extent compared to posterior CBV during LBNP when controlling PETCO2 In 13 male
      participants, we measured CBV in the anterior (middle cerebral artery, MCAv) and
      posterior (posterior cerebral artery, PCAv) cerebral circulations using
      transcranial Doppler ultrasound during LBNP stress (-50 mmHg) in three body
      positions (45 degrees HUT, supine, 45 degrees HDT). PETCO2 was measured
      continuously and maintained at constant levels during LBNP through coached
      breathing. Our main findings were that (a) steady-state tilt had no effect on CBV
      responses during LBNP in both the MCA (P = 0.077) and PCA (P = 0.583), and (b)
      despite controlling for PETCO2, both the MCAv and PCAv decreased by the same
      magnitude during LBNP in HUT (P = 0.348), supine (P = 0.694), and HDT (P =
      0.407). Here, we demonstrate that there are no differences in anterior and
      posterior circulations in response to LBNP in different body positions.

PMID- 27634110
TI  - Lateral photovoltaic effect in flexible free-standing reduced graphene oxide film
      for self-powered position-sensitive detection.
AB  - Lightweight, simple and flexible self-powered photodetectors are urgently
      required for the development and application of advanced optical systems for the
      future of wearable electronic technology. Here, using a low-temperature reduction
      process, we report a chemical approach for producing freestanding monolithic
      reduced graphene oxide papers with different gradients of the carbon/oxygen
      concentration ratio. We also demonstrate a novel type of freestanding monolithic
      reduced graphene oxide self-powered photodetector based on a symmetrical metal
      semiconductor-metal structure. Upon illumination by a 633-nm continuous wave
      laser, the lateral photovoltage is observed to vary linfearly with the laser
      position between two electrodes on the reduced graphene oxide surface. This
      result may suggest that the lateral photovoltaic effect in the reduced graphene
      oxide film originates from the built-in electric field by the combination of both
      the photothermal electric effect and the gradient of the oxygen-to-carbon
      composition. These results represent substantial progress toward novel,
      chemically synthesized graphene-based photosensors and suggest one-step
      integration of graphene-based optoelectronics in the future.

PMID- 27634111
TI  - [Corrigendum] Distinct expression of C4.4A in colorectal cancer detected by
      different antibodies.
AB  - Following the publication of this article, an interested reader drew to our
      attention an anomaly associated with the presen-tation of the Fig. 2D;
      specifically, there appeared to have been a duplication of the same beta-actin
      control band for the G4.4A GPI-M and the Absorbed Ab (antibody) experiments.
      After having re-examined our original data, we realize that the same beta-actin
      control bands were inadvertently selected for the data shown in Fig. 2D, and this
      escaped out attention at the time. Our investigation of the data has also
      confirmed that the beta-actin bands in the lower panels were produced from
      simultaneously performed blots using different gels or lanes with the same HCT116
      cell lysates. A corrected version of Fig. 2, containing alternative data obtained
      from an experiment performed in duplicate, is showin below. The error with the
      selection of the control data did not affect the results in this study. We
      sincerely apologize for this mistake, and thank the reader of our article who
      drew this matter to our attention. Furthermore, we regret any inconvenience this
      mistake has caused. [the original article was published in the International
      Journal of Oncology 42: 197-201, 2013; DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2012.1714].

PMID- 27634112
TI  - Association and regulation of protein factors of field effect in prostate
      tissues.
AB  - Field effect or field cancerization denotes the presence of molecular aberrations
      in structurally intact cells residing in histologically normal tissues adjacent
      to solid tumors. Currently, the etiology of prostate field-effect formation is
      unknown and there is a prominent lack of knowledge of the underlying cellular and
      molecular pathways. We have previously identified an upregulated expression of
      several protein factors representative of prostate field effect, i.e., early
      growth response-1 (EGR-1), platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGF-A), macrophage
      inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1), and fatty acid synthase (FASN) in tissues at a
      distance of 1 cm from the visible margin of intracapsule prostate
      adenocarcinomas. We have hypothesized that the transcription factor EGR-1 could
      be a key regulator of prostate field-effect formation by controlling the
      expression of PDGF-A, MIC-1, and FASN. Taking advantage of our extensive
      quantitative immunofluorescence data specific for EGR-1, PDGF-A, MIC-1, and FASN
      generated in disease-free, tumor-adjacent, and cancerous human prostate tissues,
      we chose comprehensive correlation as our major approach to test this hypothesis.
      Despite the static nature and sample heterogeneity of association studies, we
      show here that sophisticated data generation, such as by spectral image
      acquisition, linear unmixing, and digital quantitative imaging, can provide
      meaningful indications of molecular regulations in a physiologically relevant in
      situ environment. Our data suggest that EGR-1 acts as a key regulator of prostate
      field effect through induction of pro-proliferative (PDGF-A and FASN), and
      suppression of pro-apoptotic (MIC-1) factors. These findings were corroborated by
      computational promoter analyses and cell transfection experiments in non
      cancerous prostate epithelial cells with ectopically induced and suppressed EGR-1
      expression. Among several clinical applications, a detailed knowledge of pathways
      of field effect may lead to the development of targeted intervention strategies
      preventing progression from pre-malignancy to cancer.

PMID- 27634114
TI  - Metastatic pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma in a younger male with marked AFP
      production: A potential pitfall on fine needle aspiration biopsy.
AB  - A 30-year-old male presented to his doctor with complaints of abdominal pain and
      was found to have retroperitoneal as well as multiple hepatic masses. A serum
      alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level was significantly elevated (17,373 ng mL-1 ),
      raising suspicions for a metastatic germ cell tumor. Fine needle aspiration
      biopsy of the pancreatic lesion revealed atypical epithelioid cells with round
      nuclei, large prominent nucleoli, and granular cytoplasm. The morphologic
      differential diagnosis included pancreatic neoplasm, metastatic germ cell tumor,
      other metastatic carcinoma, and melanoma. An extensive panel of
      immunohistochemical stains confirmed the diagnosis of acinar cell carcinoma. The
      diagnosis of acinar cell carcinoma could be confounded by the markedly increased
      AFP level, particularly in the setting of a retroperitoneal mass in a younger
      male. The increased AFP level in the setting of an acinar cell tumor is a
      potential pitfall to correct diagnosis by cytology. As the treatment for these
      two entities differs considerably, acute awareness of the phenomenon is
      important. We present a case of pancreatic ACC with an increased AFP level
      diagnosed on a cytology specimen. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:133-136. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634113
TI  - Systemic immune response and virus persistence after foot-and-mouth disease virus
      infection of naive cattle and cattle vaccinated with a homologous adenovirus
      vectored vaccine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to investigate host factors associated with the
      establishment of persistent foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) infection, the
      systemic response to vaccination and challenge was studied in 47 steers. Eighteen
      steers that had received a recombinant FMDV A vaccine 2 weeks earlier and 29 non
      vaccinated steers were challenged by intra-nasopharyngeal deposition of FMDV A24.
      For up to 35 days after challenge, host factors including complete blood counts
      with T lymphocyte subsets, type I/III interferon (IFN) activity, neutralizing and
      total FMDV-specific antibody titers in serum, as well as antibody-secreting cells
      (in 6 non-vaccinated animals) were characterized in the context of viral
      infection dynamics. RESULTS: Vaccination generally induced a strong antibody
      response. There was a transient peak of FMDV-specific serum IgM in non-vaccinated
      animals after challenge, while IgM levels in vaccinated animals did not increase
      further. Both groups had a lasting increase of specific IgG and neutralizing
      antibody after challenge. Substantial systemic IFN activity in non-vaccinated
      animals coincided with viremia, and no IFN or viremia was detected in vaccinated
      animals. After challenge, circulating lymphocytes decreased in non-vaccinated
      animals, coincident with viremia, IFN activity, and clinical disease, whereas
      lymphocyte and monocyte counts in vaccinated animals were unaffected by
      vaccination but transiently increased after challenge. The CD4(+)/CD8(+) T cell
      ratio in non-vaccinated animals increased during acute infection, driven by an
      absolute decrease of CD8(+) cells. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of FMDV persistence
      was 61.5 % in non-vaccinated and 54.5 % in vaccinated animals. Overall, the
      systemic factors examined were not associated with the FMDV carrier/non-carrier
      divergence; however, significant differences were identified between responses of
      non-vaccinated and vaccinated cattle.

PMID- 27634115
TI  - Clinical Inferences of Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Device Analysis at
      Autopsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) removal and
      interrogation are recommended at autopsy in suspected cases of sudden cardiac
      death, but data on the role of nonselective post-mortem CIED (pacemaker or
      defibrillator) analysis in this setting are lacking. OBJECTIVES: This study
      undertook an institutional registry analysis to determine the utility of
      systematic routine CIED removal, interrogation, and analysis at autopsy. METHODS:
      From May 19, 2009, to May 18, 2015, autopsy subjects with a CIED at a Johns
      Hopkins University medical institution (Baltimore, Maryland) underwent CIED
      removal and interrogation by an electrophysiologist for clinical alerts. The CIED
      was then submitted for technical analysis by the manufacturer. The CIED
      interrogation, the manufacturer's technical analysis, and the final autopsy
      report were all cataloged in the Johns Hopkins Post-mortem CIED Registry.
      RESULTS: A total of 2,025 autopsies were performed; 84 subjects had CIEDs removed
      and analyzed. These devices included 37 pacemakers and 47 defibrillators.
      Overall, 43 subjects had died suddenly, and 41 had not died suddenly. Significant
      clinical alerts (sustained tachyarrhythmias or an elevated fluid index value)
      were seen in 62.8% cases of sudden deaths. In the nonsudden death cohort, 19.5%
      displayed a significant clinical alert. Significant association of CIED alerts
      were noted when comparing sudden deaths versus nonsudden deaths (p < 0.001),
      defibrillators versus pacemakers (p < 0.005), and cardiac versus noncardiac
      causes of death (p < 0.001). Manufacturer analyses revealed a case of premature
      pacemaker battery depletion, as well as a hard reset in a defibrillator as a
      result of cold exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Post-mortem CIED analysis was clinically
      useful in assisting with determination of the timing, mechanism, and cause of
      death in the majority of sudden deaths and in almost 20% of nonsudden deaths. The
      authors advocate CIED removal with analysis as an important diagnostic tool in
      all autopsies and to assist manufacturers in identifying potentially fatal device
      failures.

PMID- 27634116
TI  - Post-Mortem Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Device Interrogation: Clinical
      Indications and Potential Benefits.

PMID- 27634117
TI  - Clinical Implications of Complete Left-Sided Reverse Remodeling With Cardiac
      Resynchronization Therapy: A MADIT-CRT Substudy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical implications of complete left-sided reverse remodeling due
      to cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRT-D), defined as
      reduction in both left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) and left atrial
      volume (LAV), are unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the rate and
      predictive value of complete left-sided reverse remodeling on heart failure (HF)
      and death events in CRT-D patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) enrolled
      in MADIT-CRT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac
      Resynchronization Therapy). METHODS: The study population comprised 533 CRT-D
      patients with LBBB, 212 (40%) with complete left-sided reverse remodeling (above
      median change in both LAV and LVESV), 115 (22%) with discordant reverse
      remodeling (above-median change in only LAV or LVESV), and 206 (38%) with lesser
      reverse remodeling (below-median LAV and LVESV change). The primary endpoint was
      HF or death; secondary endpoints included HF alone and death alone during long
      term follow-up. RESULTS: Patients with complete left-sided reverse remodeling had
      a significantly lower rate of HF or death than those with discordant reverse
      remodeling or lesser reverse remodeling (p < 0.001). Multivariate Cox
      proportional hazard models consistently showed a decreased risk for HF and death
      in patients with complete reverse remodeling compared with discordant reverse
      remodeling or lesser reverse remodeling (hazard ratio: 0.66 per each group; 95%
      CI: 0.50 to 0.85; p = 0.002). This finding was similar for HF alone and death
      alone. CONCLUSIONS: In MADIT-CRT, >20% of CRT-D patients exhibited discordant
      reverse remodeling in the left ventricle and the left atrium. CRT-D patients with
      LBBB and complete left-sided reverse remodeling had a significantly lower risk of
      HF and death, HF alone, and death alone during long-term follow-up than patients
      with discordant or lesser reverse remodeling. (MADIT-CRT: Multicenter Automatic
      Defibrillator Implantation With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy [MADIT-CRT];
      NCT00180271).

PMID- 27634118
TI  - Redefining Reverse Remodeling: Can Echocardiography Refine Our Ability to Assess
      Response to Heart Failure Treatments?

PMID- 27634119
TI  - Comprehensive Metabolomic Characterization of Coronary Artery Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathogenesis and diagnostic biomarkers for diseases can be discovered
      by metabolomic profiling of human fluids. If the various types of coronary artery
      disease (CAD) can be accurately characterized by metabolomics, effective
      treatment may be targeted without using unnecessary therapies and resources.
      OBJECTIVES: The authors studied disturbed metabolic pathways to assess the
      diagnostic value of metabolomics-based biomarkers in different types of CAD.
      METHODS: A cohort of 2,324 patients from 4 independent centers was studied.
      Patients underwent coronary angiography for suspected CAD. Groups were divided as
      follows: normal coronary artery (NCA), nonobstructive coronary atherosclerosis
      (NOCA), stable angina (SA), unstable angina (UA), and acute myocardial infarction
      (AMI). Plasma metabolomic profiles were determined by liquid chromatography
      quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and were analyzed by multivariate
      statistics. RESULTS: We made 12 cross-comparisons to and within CAD to
      characterize metabolic disturbances. We focused on comparisons of NOCA versus
      NCA, SA versus NOCA, UA versus SA, and AMI versus UA. Other comparisons were
      made, including SA versus NCA, UA versus NCA, AMI versus NCA, UA versus NOCA, AMI
      versus NOCA, AMI versus SA, significant CAD (SA/UA/AMI) versus nonsignificant CAD
      (NCA/NOCA), and acute coronary syndrome (UA/AMI) versus SA. A total of 89
      differential metabolites were identified. The altered metabolic pathways included
      reduced phospholipid catabolism, increased amino acid metabolism, increased short
      chain acylcarnitines, decrease in tricarboxylic acid cycle, and less biosynthesis
      of primary bile acid. For differential diagnosis, 12 panels of specific
      metabolomics-based biomarkers provided areas under the curve of 0.938 to 0.996 in
      the discovery phase (n = 1,086), predictive values of 89.2% to 96.0% in the test
      phase (n = 933), and 85.3% to 96.4% in the 3-center external sets (n = 305).
      CONCLUSIONS: Plasma metabolomics are powerful for characterizing metabolic
      disturbances. Differences in small-molecule metabolites may reflect underlying
      CAD and serve as biomarkers for CAD progression.

PMID- 27634120
TI  - Caveats of Untargeted Metabolomics for Biomarker Discovery.

PMID- 27634121
TI  - Association of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide With Survival in Patients With
      Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies suggesting that B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) may predict
      outcomes of mitral regurgitation (MR) are plagued by small size, inconsistent
      etiologies, and lack of accounting for shifting normal BNP ranges with age and
      sex. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effect of BNP activation on mortality in
      a large, multicenter cohort of patients with degenerative MR. METHODS: In 1,331
      patients with degenerative MR, BNP was prospectively measured at diagnosis and
      expressed as BNPratio (ratio to upper limit of normal for age, sex, and assay).
      Initial surgical management was performed within 3 months of diagnosis in 561
      patents. RESULTS: The cohort had a mean age of 64 +/- 15 years, was 66% male, and
      had a mean ejection fraction 64 +/- 9%, mean regurgitant volume 67 +/- 31 ml, and
      low mean Charlson comorbidity index of 1.09 +/- 1.76. Median BNPratio was 1.01
      (25th and 75th percentiles: 0.42 to 2.36). Overall, BNPratio was a powerful,
      independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio: 1.33 [95% confidence interval:
      1.15 to 1.54]; p < 0.0001), whereas absolute BNP was not (p = 0.43). In patients
      who were initially treated medically (n = 770; 58%), BNPratio was a powerful,
      independent, and incremental predictor of mortality after diagnosis (hazard
      ratio: 1.61 [95% confidence interval: 1.34 to 1.93]; p < 0.0001). Higher BNP
      activation was associated with higher mortality (p < 0.0001). All subgroups,
      particularly severe MR, incurred similar excess mortality with BNP activation.
      After initial surgical treatment (n = 561, 42%) BNP activation did not impose
      excess long-term mortality (p = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with degenerative
      MR, BNPratio is a powerful, independent, and incremental predictor of long-term
      mortality under medical management. BNPratio should be incorporated into the
      routine clinical assessment of patients with degenerative MR.

PMID- 27634122
TI  - The Challenge of Timing Surgery in Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation: Is B-Type
      Natriuretic Peptide the Solution?

PMID- 27634123
TI  - Thrombotic and Embolic Complications Associated With Atrial Arrhythmia After
      Fontan Operation: Role of Prophylactic Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are limited data about the risk of thrombotic and embolic
      complication (TEC) in adults with atrial arrhythmia after Fontan operation.
      OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine the risk of TEC in this population and
      the role of anticoagulation therapy in TEC prevention. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective review of adults with atrial arrhythmia after Fontan operation who
      were evaluated at the Mayo Clinic between 1994 to 2014. TEC was classified into 2
      groups: systemic TEC, defined as intracardiac thrombus, ischemic stroke, or
      systemic arterial embolus; and nonsystemic TEC, defined as Fontan conduit/right
      atrial thrombus or pulmonary embolus. Patients were divided into 3 groups:
      anticoagulation, antiplatelet, and no therapy cohorts. RESULTS: We followed 278
      patients, mean age 31 +/- 9 years, for 88 +/- 14 months (1,464 patient-years).
      Patient groups included antiplatelet (n = 181), anticoagulation (n = 91), and no
      therapy (n = 6). There were 97 TEC in 81 patients (29%); 32 were systemic,
      yielding an event rate of 2.1 systemic TEC per 100 patient-years, and 65 were
      nonsystemic TEC, yielding an event rate of 4.4 nonsystemic TEC per 100 patient
      years. Prevalence of TEC was 18% and 55% at 5 and 10 years, respectively.
      Atriopulmonary connection was a risk factor for TEC (hazard ratio: 2.31; 95%
      confidence interval: 1.61 to 4.64), and TEC were associated with higher risk of
      death and hospitalization (p < 0.0001). Anticoagulation was protective against
      TEC and resulted in a reduction of TEC risk by 2.5 TEC per 100 patient-years.
      Anticoagulation was also associated with lower risk of death and hospitalization
      (p = 0.02). Bleeding complications occurred in 21 (7%) patients and were similar
      in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Anticoagulation was associated with lower TEC rate
      and lower risk of death and hospitalization, without a significant increase in
      bleeding risk. Perhaps anticoagulation should be the preferred preventive
      strategy.

PMID- 27634124
TI  - Fontan Anticoagulation: A Never-Ending Debate?

PMID- 27634125
TI  - AL (Light-Chain) Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Review of Diagnosis and Therapy.
AB  - The amyloidoses are a group of protein-folding disorders in which >=1 organ is
      infiltrated by proteinaceous deposits known as amyloid. The deposits are derived
      from 1 of several amyloidogenic precursor proteins, and the prognosis of the
      disease is determined both by the organ(s) involved and the type of amyloid.
      Amyloid involvement of the heart (cardiac amyloidosis) carries the worst
      prognosis of any involved organ, and light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is the most
      serious form of the disease. The last decade has seen considerable progress in
      understanding the amyloidoses. In this review, current and novel approaches to
      the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac amyloidosis are discussed, with particular
      reference to AL amyloidosis in the heart.

PMID- 27634126
TI  - Defining, Achieving, and Maintaining Competence in Cardiovascular Training and
      Practice.
AB  - Patients, hospitals, insurers, and the public rely on competent physicians. The
      definition and documentation of competency in cardiovascular training and
      practice continues to evolve. New tools, such as the American College of
      Cardiology's in-training examination, restructured Core Cardiovascular Training
      Statement, curricular and lifelong learning competencies, and the Accreditation
      Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestones help define competent trainees
      and practitioners, and level the playing field. The American Board of Internal
      Medicine's Maintenance of Certification program is undergoing critical review,
      and a common vision of its future form and role are not yet clear. This paper
      explores present-day cardiovascular competency components, assessment tools, and
      strategies, and identifies challenges for the future.

PMID- 27634127
TI  - The Diverse Functions of Advocacy and the Implications for All ACC Members.

PMID- 27634128
TI  - Practice-Level Variation in Statin Use Among Patients With Diabetes: Insights
      From the PINNACLE Registry.

PMID- 27634129
TI  - Severe Hypoglycemia and Elevated High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T in Older
      Adults With Diabetes: The ARIC Study.

PMID- 27634130
TI  - Sex Versus Gender in Recurrent Events Following Acute Coronary Syndrome: A
      "Femininity Paradox?".

PMID- 27634131
TI  - Reply: Sex Versus Gender in Recurrent Events Following Acute Coronary Syndrome: A
      "Femininity Paradox?".

PMID- 27634132
TI  - Trading Lower HbA1c for Increased Adverse Events: A Zero Sum Game?

PMID- 27634133
TI  - Reply: Trading Lower HbA1c for Increased Adverse Events: A Zero Sum Game?

PMID- 27634135
TI  - Development of a prediction system for tail-anchored proteins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: "Tail-anchored (TA) proteins" is a collective term for transmembrane
      proteins with a C-terminal transmembrane domain (TMD) and without an N-terminal
      signal sequence. TA proteins account for approximately 3-5 % of all transmembrane
      proteins that mediate membrane fusion, regulation of apoptosis, and vesicular
      transport. The combined use of TMD and signal sequence prediction tools is
      typically required to predict TA proteins. RESULTS: Here we developed a
      prediction system named TAPPM that predicted TA proteins solely from target amino
      acid sequences according to the knowledge of the sequence features of TMDs and
      the peripheral regions of TA proteins. Manually curated TA proteins were
      collected from published literature. We constructed hidden markov models of TA
      proteins as well as three different types of transmembrane proteins with similar
      structures and compared their likelihoods as TA proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Using the
      HMM models, we achieved high prediction accuracy; area under the receiver
      operator curve values reaching 0.963. A command line tool written in Python is
      available at https://github.com/davecao/tappm_cli .

PMID- 27634136
TI  - Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy versus modified conventional fundus camera
      for fundus autofluorescence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) is a noninvasive imaging method to
      detect fundus endogenous fluorophores, mainly lipofuscin located in the retinal
      pigment epithelium (RPE). The FAF provides information about lipofuscin
      distribution and RPE health, and consequently an increased accumulation of
      lipofuscin has been correlated with ageing and development of certain retinal
      conditions. Areas covered: An exhaustive literature search in MEDLINE (via OVID)
      and PUBMED for articles related to ocular FAF in retinal diseases and different
      devices used for acquiring FAF imaging was conducted. Expert commentary: This
      review aims to show an overview about autofluorescence in the RPE and the main
      devices used for acquiring these FAF images. The knowledge of differences in the
      optical principles, acquisition images and the image post-processing between
      confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and modified conventional fundus camera
      will improve the FAF images interpretation when are used as a complementary
      diagnosis and monitoring tool of retinal diseases.

PMID- 27634134
TI  - Four-year entecavir therapy reduces hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhotic events
      and mortality in chronic hepatitis B patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Oral antiviral therapy may reduce the disease progression of
      chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We aimed to further investigate the efficacy
      of long-term entecavir therapy in reduction of the risk of hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC), cirrhotic events and mortality in a large group of CHB-related
      cirrhosis patients. METHODS: The C-TEAM (Cirrhosis-Taiwanese EntecAvir
      Multicenter) study was a nationwide, multicenter, retrospective-prospective
      cohort study in Taiwan. We enrolled treatment-naive patients with CHB-related
      cirrhosis and baseline HBV-DNA>=2000 IU/mL receiving long-term entecavir therapy
      and compared the development of HCC, cirrhotic events and mortality with that of
      a historical untreated cohort. RESULTS: In total, 1315 entecavir-treated and 503
      untreated patients with cirrhosis were enrolled, with median treatment and follow
      up durations of 4 and 6 years respectively. Compared with the untreated cohort,
      entecavir therapy was associated with a 60% HCC risk reduction [hazard ratio
      (HR): 0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28-0.57]. Additionally, an older age,
      the male gender, HBeAg positivity, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)>=7 ng/mL before
      therapy were independent predictors of HCC development. Further analysis showed
      that entecavir therapy significantly reduced risks of variceal bleeding,
      spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and liver-related and all-cause mortality.
      These findings were confirmed by propensity score-matched cohorts in sensitivity
      analysis. In patients under entecavir therapy, an older age, the male gender,
      HBeAg positivity, AFP level >=7 ng/mL before therapy, and 1-year virological
      response were predictive of HCC development. CONCLUSIONS: Four-year entecavir
      therapy significantly reduces the risk of HCC, cirrhotic events and mortality in
      patients with CHB-related cirrhosis.

PMID- 27634137
TI  - Long-term outcomes of biodegradable polymer biolimus-eluting stents versus
      durable polymer everolimus-eluting stents: A meta-analysis of randomized
      controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both biodegradable polymer biolimus-eluting stents (BP-BES) and
      biocompatible durable polymer everolimus-eluting stents (DP-EES) have been
      developed to decrease the risk of late adverse events. However, their efficacy
      and safety beyond 1year after stent deployment still remain controversial.
      METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis on randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
      comparing BP-BES with DP-EES in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary
      intervention in long-term follow up (beyond 1year), and compared the pooled
      estimates with those in mid-term follow up (within 1year). RESULTS: Eight RCTs
      were included in this meta-analysis. The risks in BP-BES versus DP-EES of death
      (odds ratio (OR): 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86-1.31, p=0.557 for long
      term; OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.76-1.56, p=0.645 for mid-term), myocardial infarction
      (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.84-1.35, p=0.628 for long-term; OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.81-1.33,
      p=0.778 for mid-term), and definite or probable stent thrombosis (OR: 0.89, 95%
      CI: 0.51-1.57, p=0.695 for long-term; OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 0.66-2.81, p=0.400 for
      mid-term) were comparable in each follow up, respectively. In contrast, the risk
      of target vessel revascularization (TVR) tended to be higher in BP-BES as
      compared to DP-EES in long-term follow up (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 0.97-1.37, p=0.098
      for long-term; OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.87-1.36, p=0.447 for mid-term). CONCLUSIONS:
      Although the overall clinical outcomes were similar between BP-BES and DP-EES, BP
      BES may be associated with higher risk of TVR up to 3years after stent deployment
      compared with DP-EES. Further studies are warranted in larger populations of
      patients during longer-term follow up.

PMID- 27634139
TI  - Feasibility of the Participatory Experience Survey and the Setting Affordances
      Survey for use in evaluation of programmes serving youth with intellectual and
      developmental disabilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Participation by youth with disabilities in recreational activities
      has been shown to promote the development of important skills needed for
      transition to adulthood. The Participatory Experience Survey (PES) and the
      Setting Affordances Survey (SAS) were developed for use by recreational
      programmes serving youth with significant intellectual and developmental
      disabilities (SIDD) to assess participant experiences and ensure that
      participants are afforded optimal opportunities to develop these skills. This
      paper presents a feasibility evaluation to determine the appropriateness of the
      PES and the SAS for use in a programme evaluation context. METHOD: The PES and
      the SAS were used to evaluate a programme serving youth with SIDD in the greater
      northwest region of the United States. Three recreational activities were
      evaluated: an art project, trip to a zoo and a track practice. Programme
      volunteers used the SAS to assess opportunities and affordances offered within
      each activity. The PES was then given to 10 young people in each activity to
      capture their experiences. It was hypothesized that each setting would afford
      different experiences and developmental opportunities because of the differing
      nature of the activities. RESULTS: The PES and SAS were found to be feasible for
      conducting a programme evaluation. All three settings offered varying types of
      experiences and affordances. Notably, as measured by the SAS, opportunity for
      skill development was greater in more structured activities; the zoo had the
      fewest opportunities for skill development and the art project had the most skill
      development opportunities. Youth answered 'no' most often to 'asking for help'
      and 'helping a kid', suggesting changes to offer more opportunities to develop
      these skills would be beneficial in all three activities. CONCLUSION: These new
      instruments offer programmes a means to more fully include young people with
      disabilities during programme evaluations, leading to better-structured, more
      supportive programmes.

PMID- 27634138
TI  - Towards Biocontained Cell Factories: An Evolutionarily Adapted Escherichia coli
      Strain Produces a New-to-nature Bioactive Lantibiotic Containing Thienopyrrole
      Alanine.
AB  - Genetic code engineering that enables reassignment of genetic codons to non
      canonical amino acids (ncAAs) is a powerful strategy for enhancing ribosomally
      synthesized peptides and proteins with functions not commonly found in Nature.
      Here we report the expression of a ribosomally synthesized and post
      translationally modified peptide (RiPP), the 32-mer lantibiotic lichenicidin with
      a canonical tryptophan (Trp) residue replaced by the ncAA L-beta-(thieno[3,2
      b]pyrrolyl)alanine ([3,2]Tpa) which does not sustain cell growth in the culture.
      We have demonstrated that cellular toxicity of [3,2]Tpa for the production of the
      new-to-nature bioactive congener of lichenicidin in the host Escherichia coli can
      be alleviated by using an evolutionarily adapted host strain MT21 which not only
      tolerates [3,2]Tpa but also uses it as a proteome-wide synthetic building block.
      This work underscores the feasibility of the biocontainment concept and
      establishes a general framework for design and large scale production of RiPPs
      with evolutionarily adapted host strains.

PMID- 27634140
TI  - Micafungin versus anidulafungin in critically ill patients with invasive
      candidiasis: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In critically ill patients the incidence of invasive fungal
      infections caused by Candida spp. has increased remarkably. Echinocandins are
      recommended as initial treatment for invasive fungal infections. The safety and
      efficacy of micafungin compared to caspofungin is similar, but no comparison is
      made between anidulafungin and micafungin concerning safety and efficacy. We
      therefore performed a retrospective study to assess these aspects in critically
      ill patients with invasive candidiasis. METHODS: All patients in the intensive
      care unit (ICU) with invasive candidiasis, who were only treated with
      anidulafungin or micafungin, between January 2012 and December 2014 were
      retrospectively included. Baseline demographic characteristics, infection
      characteristics and patient courses were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 63
      patients received either anidulafungin (n = 30) or micafungin (n = 33) at the
      discretion of the attending intensivist. Baseline characteristics were comparable
      between the two groups, suggesting similar risk for developing invasive
      candidiasis. Patients with invasive candidiasis and liver failure were more often
      treated with anidulafungin than micafungin. Response rates were similar for both
      groups. No difference was observed in 28-day mortality, but 90-day mortality was
      higher in patients on anidulafungin. Multivariable cox regression analysis showed
      that age and serum bilirubin were the best parameters for the prediction of 90
      day mortality, whereas APACHE II, Candida score and antifungal therapy did not
      contribute (P > 0.05). None of the patients developed impaired liver function
      related to antifungal use and no differences were seen in prothrombin time, serum
      transaminases and bilirubin levels between the groups, after exclusion of
      patients with liver injury or failure. CONCLUSION: Micafungin can be safely and
      effectively used in critically ill patients with invasive candidiasis. The
      observed increased 90-day mortality with anidulafungin can be explained by
      intensivists unnecessarily avoiding micafungin in patients with liver injury and
      failure.

PMID- 27634141
TI  - Dopamine receptor DOP-4 modulates habituation to repetitive photoactivation of a
      C. elegans polymodal nociceptor.
AB  - Habituation is a highly conserved phenomenon that remains poorly understood at
      the molecular level. Invertebrate model systems, like Caenorhabditis elegans, can
      be a powerful tool for investigating this fundamental process. Here we
      established a high-throughput learning assay that used real-time computer vision
      software for behavioral tracking and optogenetics for stimulation of the C.
      elegans polymodal nociceptor, ASH. Photoactivation of ASH with ChR2 elicited
      backward locomotion and repetitive stimulation altered aspects of the response in
      a manner consistent with habituation. Recording photocurrents in ASH, we observed
      no evidence for light adaptation of ChR2. Furthermore, we ruled out fatigue by
      demonstrating that sensory input from the touch cells could dishabituate the ASH
      avoidance circuit. Food and dopamine signaling slowed habituation downstream from
      ASH excitation via D1-like dopamine receptor, DOP-4. This assay allows for large
      scale genetic and drug screens investigating mechanisms of nociception
      modulation.

PMID- 27634142
TI  - Neural and behavioral mechanisms of proactive and reactive inhibition.
AB  - Response inhibition is an important component of adaptive behavior. Substantial
      prior research has focused on reactive inhibition, which refers to the cessation
      of a motor response that is already in progress. More recently, a growing number
      of studies have begun to examine mechanisms underlying proactive inhibition,
      whereby preparatory processes result in a response being withheld before it is
      initiated. It has become apparent that proactive inhibition is an essential
      component of the overall ability to regulate behavior and has implications for
      the success of reactive inhibition. Moreover, successful inhibition relies on
      learning the meaning of specific environmental cues that signal when a behavioral
      response should be withheld. Proactive inhibitory control is mediated by stopping
      goals, which reflect the desired outcome of inhibition and include information
      about how and when inhibition should be implemented. However, little is known
      about the circuits and cellular processes that encode and represent features in
      the environment that indicate the necessity for proactive inhibition or how these
      representations are implemented in response inhibition. In this article, we will
      review the brain circuits and systems involved in implementing inhibitory control
      through both reactive and proactive mechanisms. We also comment on possible
      cellular mechanisms that may contribute to inhibitory control processes, noting
      that substantial further research is necessary in this regard. Furthermore, we
      will outline a number of ways in which the temporal dynamics underlying the
      generation of the proactive inhibitory signal may be particularly important for
      parsing out the neurobiological correlates that contribute to the learning
      processes underlying various aspects of inhibitory control.

PMID- 27634144
TI  - Input-specific contributions to valence processing in the amygdala.
AB  - Reward and punishment are often thought of as opposing processes: rewards and the
      environmental cues that predict them elicit approach and consummatory behaviors,
      while punishments drive aversion and avoidance behaviors. This framework suggests
      that there may be segregated brain circuits for these valenced behaviors. The
      basolateral amygdala (BLA) is one brain region that contributes to both types of
      motivated behavior. Individual neurons in the BLA can favor positive over
      negative valence, or vice versa, but these neurons are intermingled, showing no
      anatomical segregation. The amygdala receives inputs from many brain areas and
      current theories posit that encoding of positive versus negative valence by BLA
      neurons is determined by the wiring of each neuron. Specifically, many
      projections from other brain areas that respond to positive and negative valence
      stimuli and predictive cues project strongly to the BLA and likely contribute to
      valence processing within the BLA. Here we review three of these areas, the basal
      forebrain, the dorsal raphe nucleus and the ventral tegmental area, and discuss
      how these may promote encoding of positive and negative valence within the BLA.

PMID- 27634145
TI  - The neural circuits of innate fear: detection, integration, action, and
      memorization.
AB  - How fear is represented in the brain has generated a lot of research attention,
      not only because fear increases the chances for survival when appropriately
      expressed but also because it can lead to anxiety and stress-related disorders
      when inadequately processed. In this review, we summarize recent progress in the
      understanding of the neural circuits processing innate fear in rodents. We
      propose that these circuits are contained within three main functional units in
      the brain: a detection unit, responsible for gathering sensory information
      signaling the presence of a threat; an integration unit, responsible for
      incorporating the various sensory information and recruiting downstream
      effectors; and an output unit, in charge of initiating appropriate bodily and
      behavioral responses to the threatful stimulus. In parallel, the experience of
      innate fear also instructs a learning process leading to the memorization of the
      fearful event. Interestingly, while the detection, integration, and output units
      processing acute fear responses to different threats tend to be harbored in
      distinct brain circuits, memory encoding of these threats seems to rely on a
      shared learning system.

PMID- 27634147
TI  - Post-retrieval extinction in adolescence prevents return of juvenile fear.
AB  - Traumatic experiences early in life can contribute to the development of mood and
      anxiety disorders that manifest during adolescence and young adulthood. In young
      rats exposed to acute fear or stress, alterations in neural development can lead
      to enduring behavioral abnormalities. Here, we used a modified extinction
      intervention (retrieval+extinction) during late adolescence (post-natal day 45
      [p45]), in rats, to target auditory Pavlovian fear associations acquired as
      juveniles (p17 and p25). The effects of adolescent intervention were examined by
      assessing freezing as adults during both fear reacquisition and social
      transmission of fear from a cagemate. Rats underwent testing or training at three
      time points across development: juvenile (p17 or p25), adolescent (p45), and
      adult (p100). Retrieval+extinction during late adolescence prevented social
      reinstatement and recovery over time of fears initially acquired as juveniles
      (p17 and p25, respectively). Adolescence was the only time point tested here
      where retrieval+extinction prevented fear recall of associations acquired 20+
      days earlier.

PMID- 27634146
TI  - Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat
      learning.
AB  - As altricial infants gradually transition to adults, their proximate environment
      changes. In three short weeks, pups transition from a small world with the
      caregiver and siblings to a complex milieu rich in dangers as their environment
      expands. Such contrasting environments require different learning abilities and
      lead to distinct responses throughout development. Here, we will review some of
      the learned fear conditioned responses to threats in rats during their ontogeny,
      including behavioral and physiological measures that permit the assessment of
      learning and its supporting neurobiology from infancy through adulthood. In
      adulthood, odor-shock conditioning produces robust fear learning to the odor that
      depends upon the amygdala and related circuitry. Paradoxically, this conditioning
      in young pups fails to support fear learning and supports approach learning to
      the odor previously paired with shock. This approach learning is mediated by the
      infant attachment network that does not include the amygdala. During the age
      range when pups transition from the infant to the adult circuit (10-15 d old),
      pups have access to both networks: odor-shock conditioning in maternal presence
      uses the attachment circuit but the adult amygdala-dependent circuit when alone.
      However, throughout development (as young as 5 d old) the attachment associated
      learning can be overridden and amygdala-dependent fear learning supported, if the
      mother expresses fear in the presence of the pup. This social modulation of the
      fear permits the expression of defense reactions in life threatening situations
      informed by the caregiver but prevents the learning of the caregiver itself as a
      threat.

PMID- 27634151
TI  - Vaccine skeptic pediatrician is charged with gross negligence.

PMID- 27634149
TI  - DNA methylation: a permissive mark in memory formation and maintenance.
AB  - DNA methylation was traditionally viewed as a static mechanism required during
      cell fate determination. This view has been challenged and it is now accepted
      that DNA methylation is involved in the regulation of genomic responses in mature
      neurons, particularly in cognitive functions. The evidence for a role of DNA
      methylation in memory formation and maintenance comes from the increasing number
      of studies that have assessed the effects of manipulation of DNA methylation
      modifiers in the ability to form and maintain memories. Moreover, insights from
      genome-wide analyses of the hippocampal DNA methylation status after neuronal
      activity show that DNA methylation is dynamically regulated. Despite all the
      experimental evidence, we are still far from having a clear picture of how DNA
      methylation regulates long-term adaptations. This review aims on one hand to
      describe the findings that led to the confirmation of DNA methylation as an
      important player in memory formation. On the other hand, it tries to integrate
      these discoveries into the current views of how memories are formed and
      maintained.

PMID- 27634152
TI  - Experiences and perspectives of community health workers from implementing
      treatment for schistosomiasis using the community directed intervention strategy
      in an informal settlement in Kisumu City, western Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Community Directed Intervention (CDI) strategy has been used to
      conduct various health interventions in Africa, including control of Neglected
      Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Although the CDI approach has shown good results in the
      control of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis with respect to treatment
      coverage using community drug distributors, its utility in the control of
      schistosomiasis among urban poor is yet to be established. Using a longitudinal
      qualitative study, we explored the experiences, opportunities, challenges as well
      as recommendations of Community Health Workers (CHWs) after participation in
      annual mass drug administration (MDA) activities for schistosomiasis using the
      CDI approach in an urban setting. METHODS: Unstructured open-ended group
      discussions were conducted with CHWs after completion of annual MDA activities.
      Narratives were obtained from CHWs using a digital audio recorder during the
      group discussions, transcribed verbatim and translated into English where
      applicable. Thematic decomposition of data was done using ATLAS.ti. software, and
      themes explored using the principle of interpretative phenomenological analysis
      (IPA). RESULTS: From the perspective of the CHWs, opportunities for implementing
      CDI in urban settings, included the presence of CHWs, their supervisory
      structures and their knowledge of intervention areas, and opportunity to
      integrate MDA with other health interventions. Several challenges were mentioned
      with regards to implementing MDA using the CDI strategy among them lack of
      incentives, fear of side effects, misconceptions regarding treatment and
      mistrust, difficulties working in unsanitary environmental conditions,
      insecurity, and insufficient time. A key recommendation in promoting more
      effective MDA using the CDI approach was allocation of more time to the exercise.
      CONCLUSION: Findings from this study support the feasibility of using CDI for
      implementing MDA for schistosomiasis in informal settlements of urban areas.
      Extensive community sensitization and provision of incentives may help address
      the aforementioned challenges associated with implementing MDA using the CDI
      strategy. Opportunities highlighted in this study may be of value to other
      programmes that may be considering the adoption of the CDI strategy for rolling
      out interventions in the urban setting.

PMID- 27634150
TI  - Update on Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase inhibition for ovarian cancer treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite standard treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), that
      involves cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy, and
      initial high response rates to these, up to 80 % of patients experience relapses
      with a median progression-free survival of 12-18 months. There remains an urgent
      need for novel targeted therapies to improve clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer.
      Of the many targeted therapies currently under evaluation, the most promising
      strategies developed thus far are antiangiogenic agents and Poly(ADP-ribose)
      polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Particularly, PARP inhibitors are active in cells
      that have impaired repair of DNA by the homologous recombination (HR) pathway.
      Cells with mutated breast related cancer antigens (BRCA) function have HR
      deficiency, which is also present in a significant proportion of non-BRCA-mutated
      ovarian cancer ("BRCAness" ovarian cancer). The prevalence of germline BRCA
      mutations in EOC has historically been estimated to be around 10-15 %. However,
      recent reports suggest that this may be a gross underestimate, especially in
      women with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). The emergence of the DNA
      repair pathway as a rational target in various cancers led to the development of
      the PARP inhibitors. The concept of tumor-selective synthetic lethality heralded
      the beginning of an eventful decade, culminating in the approval by regulatory
      authorities both in Europe as a maintenance therapy and in the United States
      treatment for advanced recurrent disease of the first oral PARP inhibitor,
      olaparib, for the treatment of BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer patients. Other PARP
      inhibitors are clearly effective in this disease and, within the next years, the
      results of ongoing randomized trials will clarify their respective roles.
      CONCLUSION: This review will discuss the different PARP inhibitors in development
      and the potential use of this class of agents in the future. Moreover,
      combination strategies involving PARP inhibitors are likely to receive increasing
      attention. The utility of PARP inhibitors combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy is
      of doubtful value, because of enhanced toxicity of this combination; while, more
      promising strategies include the combination with antiangiogenic agents, or with
      inhibitors of the P13K/AKT pathway and new generation of immunotherapy.

PMID- 27634148
TI  - The potential of epigenetics in stress-enhanced fear learning models of PTSD.
AB  - Prolonged distress and dysregulated memory processes are the core features of
      post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and represent the debilitating, persistent
      nature of the illness. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the
      expression of these symptoms are challenging to study in human patients. Stress
      enhanced fear learning (SEFL) paradigms, which encompass both stress and memory
      components in rodents, are emerging as valuable preclinical models of PTSD.
      Rodent models designed to study the long-term mechanisms of either stress or fear
      memory alone have identified a critical role for numerous epigenetic
      modifications to DNA and histone proteins. However, the epigenetic modifications
      underlying SEFL remain largely unknown. This review will provide a brief overview
      of the epigenetic modifications implicated in stress and fear memory
      independently, followed by a description of existing SEFL models and the few
      epigenetic mechanisms found to date to underlie SEFL. The results of the animal
      studies discussed here highlight neuroepigenetics as an essential area for future
      research in the context of PTSD through SEFL studies, because of its potential to
      identify novel candidates for neurotherapeutics targeting stress-induced
      pathogenic memories.

PMID- 27634153
TI  - The methylerythritol 4-phosphate pathway as a metabolic crossroad for microbial
      and plant volatile organic compounds.
AB  - This article comments on: Volatile compounds emitted by diverse phytopathogenic
      microorganisms promote plant growth and flowering through cytokinin action.

PMID- 27634143
TI  - Effects of drugs of abuse on hippocampal plasticity and hippocampus-dependent
      learning and memory: contributions to development and maintenance of addiction.
AB  - It has long been hypothesized that conditioning mechanisms play major roles in
      addiction. Specifically, the associations between rewarding properties of drugs
      of abuse and the drug context can contribute to future use and facilitate the
      transition from initial drug use into drug dependency. On the other hand, the
      self-medication hypothesis of drug abuse suggests that negative consequences of
      drug withdrawal result in relapse to drug use as an attempt to alleviate the
      negative symptoms. In this review, we explored these hypotheses and the
      involvement of the hippocampus in the development and maintenance of addiction to
      widely abused drugs such as cocaine, amphetamine, nicotine, alcohol, opiates, and
      cannabis. Studies suggest that initial exposure to stimulants (i.e., cocaine,
      nicotine, and amphetamine) and alcohol may enhance hippocampal function and,
      therefore, the formation of augmented drug-context associations that contribute
      to the development of addiction. In line with the self-medication hypothesis,
      withdrawal from stimulants, ethanol, and cannabis results in hippocampus
      dependent learning and memory deficits, which suggest that an attempt to
      alleviate these deficits may contribute to relapse to drug use and maintenance of
      addiction. Interestingly, opiate withdrawal leads to enhancement of hippocampus
      dependent learning and memory. Given that a conditioned aversion to drug context
      develops during opiate withdrawal, the cognitive enhancement in this case may
      result in the formation of an augmented association between withdrawal-induced
      aversion and withdrawal context. Therefore, individuals with opiate addiction may
      return to opiate use to avoid aversive symptoms triggered by the withdrawal
      context. Overall, the systematic examination of the role of the hippocampus in
      drug addiction may help to formulate a better understanding of addiction and
      underlying neural substrates.

PMID- 27634154
TI  - A nomogram predicting contralateral central neck lymph node metastasis for
      papillary thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Central compartment neck dissection (CCND) is
      recommended for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, whether
      to perform contralateral CCND remains unclear. An individualized estimation of
      the contralateral central neck metastasis (CNM) risk would assist in the
      tailoring of treatment for PTC patients. METHODS: Consecutive patients who
      underwent bilateral CCND for unilateral PTC between 2012 and 2014 in a tertiary
      center were identified. The clinicopathological data of 142 patients were
      analyzed retrospectively. The variables that had clinical significance in the
      final multivariate logistic regression model were built into a nomogram to assess
      the risk of metastasis of the contralateral central compartment. This model was
      internally validated using bootstrap resampling. RESULTS: This nomogram
      demonstrated good calibration and discrimination, with a concordance index of
      0.834 (bootstrap corrected, 0.824). The variables with the greatest influence on
      the risk of contralateral CNM in this model included tumor size, the number of
      positive lymph nodes, and extranodal extension in the ipsilateral central neck.
      CONCLUSIONS: This nomogram integrates three variables to estimate an
      individualized risk of contralateral CNM in unilateral PTC patients. This model
      may assist in individual decision-making regarding contralateral CCND and help
      avoid the over- and under-treatment of PTC. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:703-707. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634156
TI  - Glucose-regulated protein 78 contributes to the proliferation and tumorigenesis
      of human colorectal carcinoma via AKT and ERK pathways.
AB  - Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), a molecular chaperon in the endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER), is overexpressed in a variety of tumor types and plays a critical
      role in cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion and drug resistance.
      However, the mechanisms underlying the role of GRP78 in tumor carcinogenesis
      remain largely unknown. In the present study, we found that GRP78 knockdown in
      colorectal carcinoma (CRC) cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation,
      colony formation and tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. The proliferation
      inhibition of CRC cells by GRP78 knockdown was associated with an S phase arrest,
      a reduced G1/S transition, and a downregulation of phosphorylation of AKT and
      ERK1/2, key cell cycle regulatory proteins. In addition, GRP78 knockdown enhanced
      the apoptosis induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in CRC cells. Taken together, our
      results indicate that GRP78 plays an important role in the development and
      progression of CRC and may have therapeutic potential for CRC patients.

PMID- 27634157
TI  - Tardieu Scale.

PMID- 27634155
TI  - Removal of polybrominated diphenyl ethers by biomass carbon-supported nanoscale
      zerovalent iron particles: influencing factors, kinetics, and mechanism.
AB  - In this study, nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) immobilized on biomass carbon was
      used for the high efficient removal of BDE 209. NZVI supported on biomass carbon
      minimized the aggregation of NZVI particles resulting in the increased reaction
      performance. The proposed removal mechanism included the adsorption of BDE 209 on
      the surface or interior of the biomass carbon NZVI (BC-NZVI) particles and the
      subsequent debromination of BDE 209 by NZVI while biomass carbon served as an
      electron shuttle. BC-NZVI particles and the interaction between BC-NZVI particles
      and BDE 209 were characterized by TEM, XRD, and XPS. The removal reaction
      followed a pseudo-first-order rate expression under different reaction
      conditions, and the k obs was higher than that of other NZVI-supported materials.
      The debromination of BDE 209 by BC-NZVI was a stepwise process from nona-BDE to
      DE. A proposed pathway suggested that supporting NZVI on biomass carbon has
      potential as a promising technique for in situ organic-contaminated groundwater
      remediation.

PMID- 27634158
TI  - Neurodynamic treatment did not improve pain and disability at two weeks in
      patients with chronic nerve-related leg pain: a randomised trial.
AB  - QUESTION: In people with nerve-related leg pain, does adding neurodynamic
      treatment to advice to remain active improve leg pain, disability, low back pain,
      function, global perceived effect and location of symptoms? DESIGN: Randomised
      trial with concealed allocation and intention-to-treat analysis. PARTICIPANTS:
      Sixty participants with nerve-related leg pain recruited from the community.
      INTERVENTIONS: The experimental group received four sessions of neurodynamic
      treatment. Both groups received advice to remain active. OUTCOME MEASURES: Leg
      pain and low back pain (0, none, to 10, worst), Oswestry Disability Index (0,
      none, to 100, worst), Patient-Specific Functional Scale (0, unable to perform, to
      30, able to perform), global perceived effect (-5 to 5) and location of symptoms
      were measured at 2 and 4 weeks after randomisation. Continuous outcomes were
      analysed by linear mixed models. Location of symptoms was assessed by relative
      risk (95% CI). RESULTS: At 2 weeks, the experimental group did not have
      significantly greater improvement than the control group in leg pain (MD -1.1,
      95% CI -2.3 to 0.1) or disability (MD -3.3, 95% CI -9.6 to 2.9). At 4 weeks, the
      experimental group experienced a significantly greater reduction in leg pain (MD 
      2.4, 95% CI -3.6 to -1.2) and low back pain (MD -1.5, 95% CI -2.8 to -0.2). The
      experimental group also improved significantly more in function at 2 weeks (MD
      5.2, 95% CI 2.2 to 8.2) and 4 weeks (MD 4.7, 95% CI 1.7 to 7.8), as well as
      global perceived effect at 2 weeks (MD 2.5, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.5) and 4 weeks (MD
      2.9, 95% CI 1.9 to 3.9). No significant between-group differences occurred in
      disability at 4 weeks and location of symptoms. CONCLUSION: Adding neurodynamic
      treatment to advice to remain active did not improve leg pain and disability at 2
      weeks. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01954199. [Ferreira G, Stieven F, Araujo F,
      Wiebusch M, Rosa C, Plentz R, et al. (2016) Neurodynamic treatment did not
      improve pain and disability at two weeks in patients with chronic nerve-related
      leg pain: a randomised trial.Journal of Physiotherapy62: 197-202].

PMID- 27634159
TI  - Exercise has a positive effect on low-grade inflammation in women with breast
      cancer [synopsis].

PMID- 27634160
TI  - Physiotherapists report improved understanding of and attitude toward the
      cognitive, psychological and social dimensions of chronic low back pain after
      Cognitive Functional Therapy training: a qualitative study.
AB  - QUESTION: What are physiotherapists' perspectives on managing the cognitive,
      psychological and social dimensions of chronic low back pain after intensive
      biopsychosocial training? DESIGN: Qualitative study design using semi-structured
      interviews to explore physiotherapists' perceptions of their identification and
      treatment of the biopsychosocial dimensions of chronic low back pain after
      intensive Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) training. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen
      qualified physiotherapists from four countries who had received specific CFT
      training. The training involved supervised implementation of CFT in clinical
      practice with patients. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.
      An interpretive descriptive analysis was performed using a qualitative software
      package. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the data: self-reported changes
      in understanding and attitudes; self-reported changes in professional practice;
      altered scope of practice; and increased confidence and satisfaction.
      Participants described increased understanding of the nature of pain, the role of
      patient beliefs, and a new appreciation of the therapeutic alliance. Changes in
      practice included use of new assessments, changes in communication, and adoption
      of a functional approach. Since undertaking CFT training, participants described
      a greater awareness of their role and scope of practice as clinicians in
      identifying and addressing these factors. CONCLUSION: Physiotherapists expressed
      confidence in their capacity and skill set to manage the biopsychosocial
      dimensions of chronic low back pain after CFT training, and identified a clear
      role for including these skills within the physiotherapy profession. Despite
      this, further clinical trials are needed to justify the time and cost of
      training, so that intensive CFT training may be made more readily accessible to
      clinicians, which to date has not been the case. [Synnott A, O'Keeffe M, Bunzli
      S, Dankaerts W, O'Sullivan P, Robinson K, O'Sullivan K (2016) Physiotherapists
      report improved understanding of and attitude toward the cognitive, psychological
      and social dimensions of chronic low back pain after Cognitive Functional Therapy
      training: a qualitative study.Journal of Physiotherapy62: 215-221].

PMID- 27634161
TI  - Adding parent-delivered therapy does not improve upper limb function more than
      repeated practice alone in children with cerebral palsy [synopsis].

PMID- 27634162
TI  - Exercise has a positive effect on low-grade inflammation in women with breast
      cancer [commentary].

PMID- 27634163
TI  - Ankylosing spondylitis.

PMID- 27634164
TI  - Early goal-directed mobilisation in the intensive care unit is feasible and safe,
      and increases both the level and duration of activity [commentary].

PMID- 27634165
TI  - Carpal tunnel syndrome.

PMID- 27634167
TI  - Adding parent-delivered therapy does not improve upper limb function more than
      repeated practice alone in children with cerebral palsy [commentary].

PMID- 27634168
TI  - Don't underestimate the power of one arm: living independently after stroke.

PMID- 27634166
TI  - Motor trajectories from birth to 5 years of children born at less than 30 weeks'
      gestation: early predictors and functional implications. Protocol for a
      prospective cohort study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Motor impairments are one of the most frequently reported adverse
      neurodevelopmental consequences in children born < 30 weeks' gestation. Up to 15%
      of children born at < 30 weeks have cerebral palsy and an additional 50% have
      mild to severe motor impairment at school age. The first 5 years of life are
      critical for the development of fundamental motor skills. These skills form the
      basis for more complex skills that are required to competently and confidently
      participate in schooling, sporting and recreational activities. In children born
      at < 30 weeks' gestation, the trajectory of motor development from birth to 5
      years is not fully understood. The neural alterations that underpin motor
      impairments in these children are also unclear. It is essential to determine if
      early clinical evaluations and neuroimaging biomarkers can predict later motor
      impairment and associated functional problems at 5 years of age. This will help
      to identify children who will benefit the most from early intervention and
      improve functional outcomes at school age. RESEARCH AIMS: The primary aim of this
      study is to compare the prevalence of motor impairment from birth to 5 years of
      age between children born at < 30 weeks and term-born controls, and to determine
      whether persistent abnormal motor assessments in the newborn period in those born
      at < 30 weeks predict abnormal motor functioning at 5 years of age. Secondary
      aims for children born at < 30 weeks and term-born children are: 1) to determine
      whether novel early magnetic resonance imaging-based structural or functional
      biomarkers that can predict motor impairments at 5 years are detectable in the
      neonatal period; 2) to investigate the association between motor impairments and
      concurrent deficits in body structure and function at 5 years of age; and 3) to
      explore how motor impairments at 5 years (including abnormalities of gait,
      postural control and strength) are associated with concurrent functional
      outcomes, including physical activity, cognitive ability, learning ability, and
      behavioural and emotional problems. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal cohort
      study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 150 preterm children (born at < 30 weeks'
      gestation) and 151 term-born children (born at > 36 completed weeks' gestation
      and weighing > 2499g) admitted to the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, were
      recruited at birth and will be invited to participate in a 5-year follow-up
      study. PROCEDURE: This study will examine previously collected data (from birth
      to 2 years) that comprise detailed motor assessments, and structural and
      functional brain MRI images. At 5 years, preterm and term, children will be
      examined using comprehensive motor assessments, including: the Movement
      Assessment Battery for Children (2nd edition) and measures of gait function
      through spatiotemporal (assessed with the GAITRite(r) Walkway) and dynamic
      postural control (assessed with Microsoft Kinect) variables; and hand grip
      strength (assessed with a dynamometer); and measures of physical activity
      (assessed using accelerometry), cognitive development (assessed with Wechsler
      Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence), and emotional and behavioural
      status (assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the
      Developmental and Wellbeing Assessment). At the 5-year assessment,
      parents/caregivers will be asked to complete questionnaires on demographics,
      physical activity, activities of daily living, behaviour, additional therapy (eg,
      physiotherapy and occupational therapy), and motor function (assessed with
      Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory, Pediatric Quality of Life
      Questionnaire, the Little Developmental Co-ordination Questionnaire and an
      activity diary). ANALYSIS: For the primary aim, the prevalence of motor
      impairment from birth to 5 years will be compared between children born at < 30
      weeks and at term, using the proportion of children classified as abnormal at
      each of the time points (term age, 1, 2 and 5 years). Persistent motor
      impairments during the neonatal period will be assessed as a predictor of
      severity of motor impairment at 5 years of age in children born < 30 weeks using
      linear regression. Models will be fitted using generalised estimating equations
      to allow for the clustering of multiple births. Analysis will be repeated with
      adjustment for predictors of motor outcome, including additional therapy, sex,
      brain injury and chronic lung disease. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Understanding the
      developmental precursors of motor impairment in children born before 30 weeks is
      essential for limiting disruption to skill development, and potential secondary
      impacts on physical activity, participation, academic achievement, self-esteem
      and associated outcomes (such as obesity, poor physical fitness and social
      isolation). An improved understanding of motor skill development will enable
      targeting of interventions and streamlining of services to children at highest
      risk of motor impairments.

PMID- 27634169
TI  - Early goal-directed mobilisation in the intensive care unit is feasible and safe,
      and increases both the level and duration of activity [synopsis].

PMID- 27634170
TI  - Controlled Ring-Opening Polymerization of O-Carboxyanhydrides Using a beta
      Diiminate Zinc Catalyst.
AB  - Recently O-carboxyanhydrides (OCAs) have emerged as a class of viable monomers
      which can undergo ring-opening polymerization (ROP) to prepare poly(alpha
      hydroxyalkanoic acid) with functional groups that are typically difficult to
      achieve by ROP of lactones. Organocatalysts for the ROP of OCAs, such as
      dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), may induce undesired epimerization of the alpha
      carbon atom in polyesters resulting in the loss of isotacticity. Herein, we
      report the use of (BDI-IE)Zn(OCH(CH3 )COOCH3 ) ((BDI)Zn-1, (BDI-IE)=2-((2,6
      diethylphenyl)amino)-4-((2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imino)-2-pentene), for the
      controlled ROP of various OCAs without epimerization. Both homopolymers and block
      copolymers with controlled molecular weights, narrow molecular weight
      distributions, and isotactic backbones can be readily synthesized. (BDI)Zn-1 also
      enables controlled copolymerization of OCAs and lactide, facilitating the
      synthesis of block copolymers potentially useful for various biomedical
      applications. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that the monomer/dimer
      equilibrium of the zinc catalyst influences the ROP of OCAs, with the monomeric
      (BDI)Zn-1 possessing superior catalytic activity for the initiation of ROP in
      comparison to the dimeric (BDI)Zn complex.

PMID- 27634171
TI  - Natriuretic peptide receptor A inhibition suppresses gastric cancer development
      through reactive oxygen species-mediated G2/M cell cycle arrest and cell death.
AB  - Natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPRA), the major receptor for atrial natriuretic
      peptide (ANP), has been implicated in tumorigenesis; however, the role of ANP
      NPRA signaling in the development of gastric cancer remains unclear.
      Immunohistochemical analyses indicated that NPRA expression was positively
      associated with gastric tumor size and cancer stage. NPRA inhibition by shRNA
      induced G2/M cell cycle arrest, cell death, and autophagy in gastric cancer
      cells, due to accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Either genetic or
      pharmacologic inhibition of autophagy led to caspase-dependent cell death.
      Therefore, autophagy induced by NPRA silencing may represent a cytoprotective
      mechanism. ROS accumulation activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and AMP
      activated protein kinase (AMPK). ROS-mediated activation of JNK inhibited cell
      proliferation by disturbing cell cycle and decreased cell viability. In addition,
      AMPK activation promoted autophagy in NPRA-downregulated cancer cells. Overall,
      our results indicate that the inhibition of NPRA suppresses gastric cancer
      development and targeting NPRA may represent a promising strategy for the
      treatment of gastric cancer.

PMID- 27634172
TI  - An overview of chemical inhibitors of the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway and their
      potential applications in cancer therapy.
AB  - The Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a key transcription
      factor regulating a wide array of genes for antioxidant and detoxification
      enzymes in response to oxidative and xenobiotic stress. A large number of Nrf2
      antioxidant response element (ARE) activators have been screened for use as
      chemopreventive agents in oxidative stress-related diseases and even cancer.
      However, constitutive activation of Nrf2 occurs in a variety of cancers. Aberrant
      activation of Nrf2 is correlated with cancer progression, chemoresistance, and
      radioresistance. In this review, we examine recent studies of Nrf2-ARE inhibitors
      in the context of cancer therapy. We enumerate the possible Nrf2-inhibiting
      mechanisms of these compounds, their effects sensitizing cancer cells to
      chemotherapeutic agents, and the prospect of applying them in clinical cancer
      therapy.

PMID- 27634174
TI  - Unplanned readmissions in younger and older adult patients: the role of
      healthcare-related adverse events.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Readmissions are a burden for patients and increase healthcare costs.
      In Europe, factors associated with readmissions have not yet been extensively
      investigated. This study aimed to discover factors associated with readmissions
      in both young and older adult internal medicine patients. Furthermore, we
      explored the role of healthcare-related adverse events (AEs) in readmissions.
      METHODS: All patients admitted through the emergency department to the internal
      medicine department in the last 2 weeks of each month (2011) were included.
      Information on index admissions and readmissions, defined as an unplanned
      admission within 30 days after discharge, was obtained from the electronic
      patient record system. Demographic, clinical, and organizational factors were
      evaluated for their association with readmissions. RESULTS: Of all patients (n =
      940), 17.3 % were readmitted; 16.9 % of the younger (<65 years, n = 485), and
      17.8 % of the older patients (>=65 years, n = 455). Dependency in activities of
      daily living (ADL) was the only factor associated with readmissions in both all
      ages (OR 2.43) and in older patients (OR 3.19), while age was associated with
      readmissions in younger patients (OR 1.03 per year). AEs leading to 35.4 % of all
      index admissions were not associated with readmissions. CONCLUSIONS: Readmissions
      are common in medical patients, and, thus, remain a reason for concern in terms
      of patient safety and quality of care. AEs, responsible for to the index
      admission, were not associated with readmissions. ADL dependency was the only
      factor associated with readmission in patients of all ages and older patients,
      indicating that determining which patients are at risk for readmissions is not
      easy.

PMID- 27634173
TI  - Ezetimibe, an NPC1L1 inhibitor, is a potent Nrf2 activator that protects mice
      from diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
AB  - Oxidative stress is important for the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD), a chronic disease that ranges from hepatic steatosis to
      nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related
      factor 2-Kelch-like ECH associated protein 1 (Nrf2-Keap1) pathway is essential
      for cytoprotection against oxidative stress. In this study, we found that
      oxidative stress or inflammatory biomarkers and TUNEL positive cells were
      markedly increased in NASH patients compared to normal or simple steatosis. In
      addition, we identified that the hepatic mRNA levels of Nrf2 target genes such as
      Nqo-1 and GSTA-1 were significantly increased in NASH patients. Ezetimibe, a drug
      approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
      hypercholesterolemia, improves NAFLD and alleviates oxidative stress. However,
      the precise mechanism of its antioxidant function remains largely unknown. We now
      demonstrate that ezetimibe activates Nrf2-Keap1 pathway which was dependent of
      autophagy adaptor protein p62, without causing cytotoxicity. Ezetimibe activates
      AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which in turn phosphorylates p62 (p-S351)
      via their direct interaction. Correspondingly, Ezetimibe protected liver cells
      from saturated fatty acid-induced apoptotic cell death through p62-dependent Nrf2
      activation. Furthermore, its role as an Nrf2 activator was supported by methione-
      and choline- deficient (MCD) diet-induced NASH mouse model, showing that
      ezetimibe decreased the susceptibility of the liver to oxidative injury. These
      data demonstrate that the molecular mechanisms underlying ezetimibe's antioxidant
      role in the pathogenesis of NASH.

PMID- 27634175
TI  - Second-line HIV Treatment in Ugandan Children: Favorable Outcomes and No Protease
      Inhibitor Resistance.
AB  - Background: Data on pediatric second-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) outcomes
      are scarce, but essential to evaluate second-line and design third-line regimens.
      Methods: Children <=12 years switching to second-line ART containing a protease
      inhibitor (PI) in Uganda were followed for 24 months. Viral load (VL) was
      determined at switch to second-line and every 6 months thereafter; genotypic
      resistance testing was done if VL >= 1000 cps/ml. Results: 60 children were
      included in the analysis; all had >=1 drug resistance mutations at switch. Twelve
      children (20.0%) experienced treatment failure; no PI mutations were detected.
      Sub-optimal adherence and underweight were associated with treatment failure.
      Conclusions: No PI mutations occurred in children failing second-line ART, which
      is reassuring as pediatric third-line is not routinely available in these
      settings. Poor adherence rather than HIV drug resistance is likely to be the main
      mechanism for treatment failure and should receive close attention in children on
      second-line ART.

PMID- 27634176
TI  - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting with hypereosinophilia: Case report and
      review of the literature.

PMID- 27634177
TI  - Erratum: Comparison of Diagnostic Performance of Semi-Quantitative Knee
      Ultrasound and Knee Radiography with MRI: Oulu Knee Osteoarthritis Study.

PMID- 27634178
TI  - Abstracts From the Third Annual Medicine & Science in Ultra-Endurance Sports
      Conference, August 2016, Chamonix, France.

PMID- 27634180
TI  - Hirsute esophagus: An unusual cause of dysphagia.

PMID- 27634179
TI  - An alternative novel tool for DNA editing without target sequence limitation: the
      structure-guided nuclease.
AB  - Engineered endonucleases are a powerful tool for editing DNA. However, sequence
      preferences may limit their application. We engineer a structure-guided
      endonuclease (SGN) composed of flap endonuclease-1 (FEN-1), which recognizes the
      3' flap structure, and the cleavage domain of Fok I (Fn1), which cleaves DNA
      strands. The SGN recognizes the target DNA on the basis of the 3' flap structure
      formed between the target and the guide DNA (gDNA) and cut the target through its
      Fn1 dimerization. Our results show that the SGN, guided by a pair of gDNAs,
      cleaves transgenic reporter gene and endogenous genes in zebrafish embryonic
      genome.

PMID- 27634181
TI  - Long-term exposure to microgravity impairs vestibulo-cardiovascular reflex.
AB  - The vestibular system is known to have an important role in controlling blood
      pressure upon posture transition (vestibulo-cardiovascular reflex, VCR). However,
      under a different gravitational environment, the sensitivity of the vestibular
      system may be altered. Thus, the VCR may become less sensitive after spaceflight
      because of orthostatic intolerance potentially induced by long-term exposure to
      microgravity. To test this hypothesis in humans, we investigated the ability of
      the VCR to maintain blood pressure upon head-up tilt before and after a 4-6
      months stay on the International Space Station. To detect the functional state of
      the VCR, galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) was applied. As GVS transiently
      interrupts the vestibular-mediated pressor response, impaired VCR is detected
      when the head-up tilt-induced blood pressure response does not depend on GVS.
      During the first 20 s of head-up tilt, a transient blood pressure increase (11.9
      +/- 1.6 mmHg) was observed at pre-spaceflight but not at 1-4 days after return
      from spaceflight. The magnitude of VCR recovered to the pre-spaceflight levels
      within 2 months after return. These results indicate that long-term exposure to
      microgravity induces VCR impairment, which may be involved in a mechanism of
      spaceflight-induced orthostatic intolerance.

PMID- 27634183
TI  - An Updated Review of ISCOMSTM and ISCOMATRIXTM Vaccines.
AB  - The need for the improvement of vaccine potency as well as reducing toxicity in
      healthy recipients has motivated studies of the formulation of vaccines regarding
      control of how, when, and where antigens and adjuvants encounter immune cells and
      other cells/tissues following vaccine administration. Immunostimulatory complexes
      (ISCOMs) and ISCOMATRIXTM adjuvants are versatile and flexible systems with
      various phospholipids and saponin components. They are being used in novel
      vaccines for either infectious diseases or cancer. This article presents a brief
      review of the latest developments using such adjuvants and possible new
      applications.

PMID- 27634182
TI  - Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli isolates
      collected from diseased food-producing animals in the GERM-Vet monitoring program
      2008-2014.
AB  - The aim of this study was to identify extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)
      producing Escherichia coli collected from diseased food-producing animals in
      Germany. A total of 6849 E. coli isolates, collected from diseased cattle, pigs
      and poultry in the German national monitoring program GERM-Vet (2008-2014), were
      characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing and screened for the ESBL
      phenotype. ESBL genes were identified by PCR and sequencing. The isolates were
      further characterized by PCR-based phylotyping. The 419/6849 (6.1%) ESBL
      producers identified included 324/2896 (11.2%) isolates from cattle, 75/1562
      (4.8%) from pigs and 20/2391 (0.8%) from poultry. The ESBL genes detected were:
      blaCTX-M-1 (69.9%), blaCTX-M-15 (13.6%), blaCTX-M-14 (11.7%), blaTEM-52 (1.9%),
      blaSHV-12 (1.4%), blaCTX-M-3 (1.0%), and blaCTX-M-2 (0.5%). The phylogroup A was
      the dominant phylogroup (57.0%) followed by phylogroups D (23.4%), B1 (17.9%),
      and B2 (1.7%). Bovine isolates belonged predominantly to the phylogroups A and D,
      whereas the porcine and avian isolates mainly belonged to A and B1. The majority
      of the ESBL-producing isolates found in each phylogroup were from animals
      suffering from gastrointestinal infections. In 399/419 isolates (95.2%),
      additional resistance to non-beta-lactam antibiotics was seen. Multidrug
      resistance [resistance to aminoglycosides, fluoro(quinolones), sulphonamides,
      tetracyclines, and trimethoprim] was seen in 369/419 (88.1%) isolates, which may
      facilitate the co-selection of ESBL genes, when located on the same mobile
      genetic element as the others resistance genes, and may compromise the
      therapeutic options.

PMID- 27634184
TI  - Multiple Sclerosis, Gut Microbiota and Permeability: Role of Tryptophan
      Catabolites, Depression and the Driving Down of Local Melatonin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alterations in gut microbiota, coupled to increased gut permeability
      are now widely recognized as having a role in the etiology, course and treatment
      of many medical conditions, including autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders.
      METHODS: In this review, the role that such gut changes play over the course of
      multiple sclerosis (MS) is detailed. RESULTS: Given the wide array of biological
      factors and processes that have been shown to be altered in MS, including changes
      in the gut, this allows for a better integration of the diverse array of
      pathophysiological processes linked to MS. Such pathophysiological processes
      include increases in oxidative and nitrosative stress, pro-inflammatory immune
      responses, especially T helper (Th)17 cell proliferation and activation,
      tryptophan catabolites, pain, fatigue and increased levels of depression. By
      raising levels of immune activation, increased gut permeability and alterations
      in gut microbiota impact on all of these MS-associated processes. Alterations in
      the regulation of local melatonergic pathway activation is proposed to be an
      important hub for such pathophysiological processes in MS, allowing for the
      increased frequency of depression that may be prodromal in MS, both in the first
      episode as well as in relapses, to become more intimately associated with the
      etiology and course of MS. We propose this occurs by decreasing serotonin
      availability as a precursor for the melatoninergic pathways. CONCLUSION: Changes
      in the gut are evident in the early stages of MS, including in paediatric MS, and
      may interact with pro-inflammatory genetic susceptibility genes to drive the
      biological underpinnings of MS. Such a conceptualization of the biological
      underpinnings of MS also has treatment implications.

PMID- 27634186
TI  - The Role of Microbiota and Intestinal Permeability in the Pathophysiology of
      Autoimmune and Neuroimmune Processes with an Emphasis on Inflammatory Bowel
      Disease Type 1 Diabetes and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In steady state conditions intestinal immune homeostasis is
      maintained by a sophisticated bidirectional dialogue between the microbiota and
      the intestinal immune system. This "cross talk" is enabled by the presence of
      highly adapted secretory cells, sampling cells and pattern recognition receptors
      in the gastric epithelium. METHODS: Herein we discuss the mechanisms involved in
      the breakdown of intestinal homeostasis and the development of systemic immune
      activation and neuroinflammation with a view to discussing the importance of
      these processes, in tandem with genetic and environmental factors, in the
      pathophysiology of (auto)immune diseases.Data is presented explaining how immune
      tolerance is maintained and how it may breakdown. CONCLUSION: The breakdown of
      immune homeostasis following the development of gut inflammation, caused for
      example by gut dysbiosis, and the consequent increased intestinal permeability,
      is increasingly considered to be the ultimate source of the systemic immune
      activation and T helper 17/T regulatory cell imbalances, and maybe neurological
      disturbances, seen in autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and
      inflammatory bowel disease. Increased intestinal permeability and translocation
      of commensal antigens into the systemic circulation is also a likely cause of the
      severe fatigue and an almost bewildering range of neurocognitive, neuroimaging
      and overall symptom presentations seen in patients with a diagnosis of Chronic
      Fatigue Syndrome.

PMID- 27634187
TI  - Mitochondria-localized phospholipase A2, AoPlaA, in Aspergillus oryzae displays
      phosphatidylethanolamine-specific activity and is involved in the maintenance of
      mitochondrial phospholipid composition.
AB  - In mammals, cytosolic phospholipases A2 (cPLA2s) play important physiological
      roles by releasing arachidonic acid, a precursor for bioactive lipid mediators,
      from the biological membranes. In contrast, fungal cPLA2-like proteins are much
      less characterized and their roles have remained elusive. AoPlaA is a cPLA2-like
      protein in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae which, unlike mammalian
      cPLA2, localizes to mitochondria. In this study, we investigated the biochemical
      and physiological functions of AoPlaA. Recombinant AoPlaA produced in E. coli
      displayed Ca2+-independent lipolytic activity. Mass spectrometry analysis
      demonstrated that AoPlaA displayed PLA2 activity to phosphatidylethanolamine
      (PE), but not to other phospholipids, and generated 1-acylated lysoPE. Catalytic
      site mutants of AoPlaA displayed almost no or largely reduced activity to PE.
      Consistent with PE-specific activity of AoPlaA, AoplaA-overexpressing strain
      showed decreased PE content in the mitochondrial fraction. In contrast, AoplaA
      disruption strain displayed increased content of cardiolipin. AoplaA
      overexpressing strain, but not its counterparts overexpressing the catalytic site
      mutants, exhibited retarded growth at low temperature, possibly because of the
      impairment of the mitochondrial function caused by excess degradation of PE.
      These results suggest that AoPlaA is a novel PE-specific PLA2 that plays a
      regulatory role in the maintenance of mitochondrial phospholipid composition.

PMID- 27634188
TI  - Galpha and regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) protein pairs maintain
      functional compatibility and conserved interaction interfaces throughout
      evolution despite frequent loss of RGS proteins in plants.
AB  - Signaling pathways regulated by heterotrimeric G-proteins exist in all
      eukaryotes. The regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins are key
      interactors and critical modulators of the Galpha protein of the heterotrimer.
      However, while G-proteins are widespread in plants, RGS proteins have been
      reported to be missing from the entire monocot lineage, with two exceptions. A
      single amino acid substitution-based adaptive coevolution of the Galpha:RGS
      proteins was proposed to enable the loss of RGS in monocots. We used a
      combination of evolutionary and biochemical analyses and homology modeling of the
      Galpha and RGS proteins to address their expansion and its potential effects on
      the G-protein cycle in plants. Our results show that RGS proteins are widely
      distributed in the monocot lineage, despite their frequent loss. There is no
      support for the adaptive coevolution of the Galpha:RGS protein pair based on
      single amino acid substitutions. RGS proteins interact with, and affect the
      activity of, Galpha proteins from species with or without endogenous RGS. This
      cross-functional compatibility expands between the metazoan and plant kingdoms,
      illustrating striking conservation of their interaction interface. We propose
      that additional proteins or alternative mechanisms may exist which compensate for
      the loss of RGS in certain plant species.

PMID- 27634189
TI  - NMMHC-IIA-dependent nuclear location of CXCR4 promotes migration and invasion in
      renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - The chemokine receptor cysteine (C)-X-C receptor (CXCR4) is a G-protein-coupled
      receptor that exerts a vital role in distant metastasis of renal cell carcinoma
      (RCC). Emerging evidence demonstrates that CXCR4 as the cytomembrane receptor
      translocated into the nucleus to facilitate cell migration and, therefore,
      determine the prognosis of several types of malignancies. However, the biological
      mechanism of nuclear location of CXCR4 remains unclear. In the present study, we
      confirmed the significant implications of the putative nuclear localization
      sequence (NLS) '146RPRK149 on CXCR4 subcellular localization and metastatic
      potential by point-mutation assay in RCC cell lines. Importantly, mass spectrum
      followed by immunoprecipitation identified non-muscle myosin heavy chain-IIA
      (NMMHC-IIA) as the CXCR4-interacting protein. Furthermore, pharmaceutical
      inhibition of NMMHC-IIA by blebbistatin dampened the nuclear translocation of
      CXCR4 as well as the metastatic capacity of RCC cells. In conclusion, the present
      study may drive the comprehensive progress toward elucidating the mechanism
      responsible for CXCR4 nuclear function and metastasis in tumors.

PMID- 27634191
TI  - Microvascular Density in Glaucomatous Eyes With Hemifield Visual Field Defects:
      An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study.

PMID- 27634192
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27634190
TI  - Chronic pelvic pain in women of reproductive and post-reproductive age: a
      population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies on chronic pelvic pain (CPP) have focused on
      women of reproductive age. We aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic pelvic
      pain (CPP) in adult women and the differences in associated factors among women
      of reproductive age and older women. In addition, to determine whether distinct
      subgroups existed among CPP cases. METHODS: A cross-sectional postal survey was
      conducted among 5300 randomly selected women aged >=25 years resident in the
      Grampian region, UK. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine
      pregnancy-related and psychosocial factors associated with CPP. To identify
      subgroups of CPP cases, we performed cluster analysis using variables of pain
      severity, psychosocial factors and pain coping strategies. RESULTS: Of 2088
      participants, 309 (14.8%) reported CPP. CPP was significantly associated with
      being of reproductive age (odds ratios (OR) 2.43, 95% CI 1.69-3.48), multiple non
      pain somatic symptoms (OR 3.58 95% CI 2.23-5.75), having fatigue (OR mild 1.74
      95% CI 1.24-2.44, moderate/severe 1.82, 95% CI 1.25-2.63) and having depression
      (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.09-2.38). CPP was less associated with multiple non-pain
      somatic symptoms in women of reproductive age compared to older women
      (interaction OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.28-0.92). We identified two clusters of CPP cases;
      those having little/no psychosocial distress and those having high psychosocial
      distress. CONCLUSION: CPP is common in both age groups, though women of
      reproductive age are more likely to report it. Heightened somatic awareness may
      be more strongly associated with CPP in older women. There are distinct groups of
      CPP cases characterized by the absence/presence of psychosocial distress.
      SIGNIFICANCE: Heightened somatic awareness may be more strongly associated with
      CPP in women of post-reproductive years compared to women of reproductive years.
      Two subgroups of CPP cases can be differentiated by the absence/presence of
      psychosocial distress suggesting that stratified management approach may be more
      efficient.

PMID- 27634193
TI  - Preparations, characterization, and biological features of mononuclear Cu(II)
      complexes based on hydrazone ligands.
AB  - Three mononuclear Cu(II) complexes Cu(HL1)Cl2 (1), Cu(HL2)Cl2 (2), and Cu(L3)SCN
      (3) have been synthesized based on chelating hydrazone ligands HL1, HL2, and HL3,
      respectively. These new compounds gave satisfactory IR-spectroscopic data and
      were further characterized by elemental and X-ray diffraction analyses. Their
      urease inhibitory evaluation was tested in vitro against jack bean urease. The
      results showed that the inhibitory activities of the copper complexes are all
      superior to the positive reference. Enzyme kinetics studies were undertaken to
      estimate the inhibition mechanism of the copper complexes. Molecular docking
      simulations have been performed to rationalize their binding models. In addition,
      their interactions with serum albumin were also studied.

PMID- 27634185
TI  - The Gut Microbiota and the Emergence of Autoimmunity: Relevance to Major
      Psychiatric Disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autoimmune phenotypes are prevalent in major psychiatric disorders.
      Disequilibria of cellular processes occurring in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract
      likely contribute to immune dysfunction in psychiatric disorders. As the venue of
      a complex community of resident microbes, the gut in a homeostatic state equates
      with a functional digestive system, cellular barrier stability and properly
      regulated recognition of self and non-self antigens. When gut processes become
      disrupted as a result of environmental or genetic factors, autoimmunity may
      ensue. METHODS: Here, we review the issues pertinent to autoimmunity and the
      microbiome in psychiatric disorders and show that many of the reported immune
      risk factors for the development of these brain disorders are in fact related and
      consistent with dysfunctions occurring in the gut. We review the few human
      microbiome studies that have been done in people with psychiatric disorders and
      supplement this information with mechanistic data gleaned from experimental
      rodent studies. RESULTS: These investigations demonstrate changes in behavior and
      brain biochemistry directly attributable to alterations in the gut microbiome. We
      present a model by which autoantigens are produced by extrinsicallyderived food
      and microbial factors bound to intrinsic components of the gut including
      receptors present in the enteric nervous system. CONCLUSION: This new focus on
      examining activities outside of the CNS for relevance to the etiology and
      pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders may require new modalities or a re
      evaluation of pharmaceutical targets found in peripheral systems.

PMID- 27634194
TI  - Alternative core development around the tetracyclic indole class of HCV NS5A
      inhibitors.
AB  - Herein, we describe our research efforts to develop unique cores in molecules
      which function as HCV nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) inhibitors. In particular,
      various fused tetracyclic cores were identified which showed genotype and mutant
      activities comparable to the indole-based tetracyclic core.

PMID- 27634195
TI  - Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel benzo-alpha-pyrone
      containing piperazine derivatives as potential BRAFV600E inhibitors.
AB  - The increasingly acquired resistance to vemurafenib and side effects of known
      inhibitors motivate the search for new and more effective anti-melanoma drugs. In
      this Letter, virtual screening and scaffold growth were combined together to
      achieve new molecules as BRAFV600E inhibitors. Along with docking simulation, a
      primary screen in vitro was performed to filter the modifications for the lead
      compound, which was then substituted, synthesized and evaluated for their
      inhibitory activity against BRAFV600E and several melanoma cell lines. Out of the
      obtained compounds, derivative 3l was identified as a potent BRAFV600E inhibitor
      and exerted an anticancer effect through BRAFV600E inhibition. The following
      biological evaluation assays confirmed that 3l could induce cell apoptosis and
      marked DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, 3l could arrest the cell cycle at the
      G0/G1 phase in melanoma cells. The docking simulation displayed that 3l could
      tightly bind with the crystal structure of BRAFV600E at the active site. Overall,
      the biological profile of 3l suggests that this compound may be developed as a
      potential anticancer agent.

PMID- 27634196
TI  - Discovery of novel 2',4'-dimethyl-[4,5'-bithiazol]-2-yl amino derivatives as
      orally bioavailable TRPV4 antagonists for the treatment of pain: Part 2.
AB  - A series of 2',4'-dimethyl-[4,5'-bithiazol]-2-yl amino derivatives have been
      identified as selective TRPV4 antagonists that display inhibition potencies
      against 4alpha-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (4alphaPDD), well known as a TRPV4
      selective agonist and/or a hypotonicity. In particular, 9-(6-((2',4'-dimethyl
      [4,5'-bithiazol]-2-yl)amino)nicotinoyl)-3-oxa-9-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-7-one
      showed an analgesic effect in Freund's Complete Adjuvant (FCA) induced mechanical
      hyperalgesia model in guinea pig (reported in Part 1). However, there are some
      concerns such as species differences and the need for higher plasma exposure to
      achieve target efficacy for evaluation by an in vivo pain model. In this Letter,
      we report the resolution of some of the problems by further optimizing the
      chemical scaffold.

PMID- 27634197
TI  - Sesquiterpenes from the roots of Lindera strychnifolia with inhibitory effects on
      nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 cells.
AB  - Seven new sesquiterpenes, linderolides N-T (1-7), along with nine known
      compounds, were isolated from roots of Lindera strychnifolia (Lauraceae). Their
      structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analysis. The relative and
      absolute configurations were determined by NOESY and CD analysis, respectively.
      Among the isolated compounds, two new compounds, linderolide O (2) and
      linderolide P (3) inhibited lipopolysaccharide-stimulated nitric oxide production
      in murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, with IC50 values of 6.3 and 9.6MUM,
      respectively.

PMID- 27634198
TI  - Novel blood-brain barrier-permeable spin probe for in vivo electron paramagnetic
      resonance imaging.
AB  - A novel blood-brain barrier (BBB)-permeable compound 10 was discovered, wherein
      the nitroxide moiety was linked to a nicotine acetylcholine receptor ligand. It
      was applied as a probe for electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) imaging of the
      mouse brain. The results demonstrated that the newly synthesized compound 10
      exhibited BBB permeability. These findings provide an essential discovery for in
      vivo EPR imaging.

PMID- 27634199
TI  - The immunophenotypic fingerprint of patients with primary antibody deficiencies
      is partially present in their asymptomatic first-degree relatives.
AB  - The etiology of primary antibody deficiencies is largely unknown. Beside rare
      monogenic forms, the majority of cases seem to have a more complex genetic basis.
      Whereas common variable immunodeficiency has been investigated in depth, there
      are only a few reports on milder primary antibody deficiencies such as idiopathic
      primary hypogammaglobulinemia and IgG subclass deficiency. We performed flow
      cytometric immunophenotyping in 33 patients with common variable
      immunodeficiency, 23 with idiopathic primary hypogammaglobulinemia and 21 with
      IgG subclass deficiency, as well as in 47 asymptomatic first-degree family
      members of patients and 101 unrelated healthy controls. All three groups of
      patients showed decreased memory B- and naive T-cell subsets and decreased B-cell
      activating factor receptor expression. In contrast, circulating follicular helper
      T-cell frequency and expression of inducible T-cell co-stimulator and chemokine
      receptors were only significantly altered in patients with common variable
      immunodeficiency. Asymptomatic first-degree family members of patients
      demonstrated similar, albeit intermediate, alterations in naive and memory B- and
      T-cell subsets. About 13% of asymptomatic relatives had an abnormal peripheral B
      cell composition. Furthermore, asymptomatic relatives showed decreased levels of
      CD4+ recent thymic emigrants and increased central memory T cells. Serum IgG and
      IgM levels were also significantly lower in asymptomatic relatives than in
      healthy controls. We conclude that, in our cohort, the immunophenotypic landscape
      of primary antibody deficiencies comprises a spectrum, in which some alterations
      are shared between all primary antibody deficiencies whereas others are only
      associated with common variable immunodeficiency. Importantly, asymptomatic first
      degree family members of patients were found to have an intermediate phenotype
      for peripheral B- and T-cell subsets.

PMID- 27634200
TI  - Necroptosis in spontaneously-mutated hematopoietic cells induces autoimmune bone
      marrow failure in mice.
AB  - Acquired aplastic anemia is an autoimmune-mediated bone marrow failure syndrome.
      The mechanism by which such an autoimmune reaction is initiated is unknown.
      Whether and how the genetic lesions detected in patients cause autoimmune bone
      marrow failure have not yet been determined. We found that mice with spontaneous
      deletion of the TGFbeta-activated kinase-1 gene in a small subset of
      hematopoietic cells developed bone marrow failure which resembled the clinical
      manifestations of acquired aplastic anemia patients. Bone marrow failure in such
      mice could be reversed by depletion of CD4+ T lymphocytes or blocked by knockout
      of interferon-gamma, suggesting a Th1-cell-mediated autoimmune mechanism. The
      onset and progression of bone marrow failure in such mice were significantly
      accelerated by the inactivation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha signaling. Tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha restricts autoimmune bone marrow failure by inhibiting type
      1 T-cell responses and maintaining the function of myeloid-derived suppressor
      cells. Furthermore, we determined that necroptosis among a small subset of mutant
      hematopoietic cells is the cause of autoimmune bone marrow failure because such
      bone marrow failure can be prevented by deletion of receptor interacting protein
      kinase-3 Our study suggests a novel mechanism to explain the pathogenesis of
      autoimmune bone marrow failure.

PMID- 27634202
TI  - Renal insufficiency is an independent prognostic factor in patients with chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia.

PMID- 27634201
TI  - High-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with POEMS
      syndrome: a retrospective study of the Plasma Cell Disorder sub-committee of the
      Chronic Malignancy Working Party of the European Society for Blood & Marrow
      Transplantation.
AB  - POEMS syndrome is a rare para-neoplastic syndrome secondary to a plasma cell
      dyscrasia. Effective treatment can control the disease-related symptom complex.
      We describe the clinical outcome of autologous stem cell transplantation for
      patients with POEMS syndrome, determining the impact of patient- and disease
      specific factors on prognosis. One hundred and twenty-seven patients underwent an
      autologous stem cell transplantation between 1997-2010 with a median age of 50
      years (range 26-69 years). Median time from diagnosis to autologous stem cell
      transplantation was 7.5 months with 32% of patients receiving an autologous stem
      cell transplantation more than 12 months from diagnosis. Engraftment was seen in
      97% patients and engraftment syndrome was documented in 23% of autologous stem
      cell transplantation recipients. Hematologic response was characterized as
      complete response in 48.5%, partial response in 20.8%, less than partial repsonse
      in 30.7%. With a median follow up of 48 months (95%CI: 38.3, 58.6), 90% of
      patients are alive and 16.5% of patients have progressed. The 1-year non-relapse
      mortality was 3.3%. The 3-year probabilities of progression-free survival and
      overall survival are 84% and 94%, respectively, with 5-year probabilities of
      progression-free survival and overall survival of 74% and 89%. In a cohort of
      graft recipients, detailed organ-specific symptom response demonstrated clear
      symptom benefit after autologous stem cell transplantation especially in relation
      to neurological symptom control. The data analyzed in this study demonstrate the
      clinical utility of autologous stem cell transplantation for patients with POEMS
      syndrome.

PMID- 27634203
TI  - A phase 1/2, open-label study evaluating twice-daily administration of
      momelotinib in myelofibrosis.
AB  - Momelotinib, a small-molecule inhibitor of Janus kinase 1 and Janus kinase 2, has
      demonstrated efficacy in myelofibrosis patients with 300 mg, once-daily dosing.
      This open-label, non-randomized, phase 1/2 study evaluated the safety and
      therapeutic benefit of momelotinib with twice-daily dosing. A total of 61
      subjects with primary myelofibrosis or post-polycythemia vera/post-essential
      thrombocythemia myelofibrosis with intermediate- or high-risk disease received
      momelotinib. A phase 1 dose escalation identified 200 mg twice daily as the
      optimal dose to be expanded in phase 2. The most frequent adverse events were
      diarrhea (45.9%), peripheral neuropathy (44.3%), thrombocytopenia (39.3%), and
      dizziness (36.1%), the latter primarily due to a first-dose effect. The response
      assessment according to the 2006 International Working Group criteria (>=8 weeks
      duration at any time point) demonstrated spleen response by palpation of 72%
      (36/50) and anemia response of 45% (18/40). Spleen response by magnetic resonance
      imaging obtained at 24 weeks was 45.8% (27/59) for all subjects and 54.0% (27/50)
      for those with palpable splenomegaly at baseline. The symptoms of myelofibrosis
      were improved in most subjects. Cytokine analysis showed a rapid decline in
      interleukin-6 with momelotinib treatment, and a slower reduction in other
      inflammatory cytokines. In the subgroup of subjects with the JAK2V617F mutation
      at baseline (n=41), momelotinib significantly reduced the allele burden by 21.1%
      (median) at 24 weeks. These results provide evidence of tolerability and a
      potential therapeutic activity of momelotinib for subjects that support further
      evaluation in ongoing, phase 3 randomized trials. (clinicaltrials. gov
      identifier:01423058).

PMID- 27634204
TI  - Treatments for hematologic malignancies in contrast to those for solid cancers
      are associated with reduced red cell alloimmunization.
AB  - Red cell alloimmunization may induce severe hemolytic side effects.
      Identification of risk-modifying conditions will help tailor preventative
      strategies. This study aims to quantify the associations of hematologic
      malignancies and solid cancers with red cell alloimmunization in patients
      receiving red cell transfusions. We performed a nested multicenter case-control
      study in a source population of 24,063 patients receiving their first and
      subsequent red cell transfusions during an 8-year follow-up period. Cases
      (n=505), defined as patients developing a first transfusion-induced red cell
      alloantibody, were each compared with 2 non-alloimmunized controls (n=1010) who
      received a similar number of red cell units. Using multivariate logistic
      regression analyses, we evaluated the association of various malignancies and
      treatment regimens with alloimmunization during a delineated 5-week risk period.
      The incidence of alloimmunization among patients with acute (myeloid or lymphoid)
      leukemia and mature (B- or T-cell) lymphoma was significantly reduced compared to
      patients without these malignancies: adjusted relative risks (RR) with 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.36 (range 0.19-0.68) and 0.30 (range 0.12-0.81).
      Associations were primarily explained by immunosuppressive treatments [RR for
      (any type of) chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy 0.27 (95%CI: 0.09-0.83)].
      Alloimmunization risks were similarly diminished in allogeneic or autologous stem
      cell transplanted patients (RR 0.34, 95%CI: 0.16-0.74), at least during the six
      months post transplant. Alloimmunization risks of patients with other hematologic
      diseases or solid cancers, and their associated treatment regimens were similar
      to risks in the general transfused population. Our findings suggest that, in
      contrast to malignancies in general, hemato-oncological patients treated with
      dose-intensive regimens have strongly diminished risk of red cell
      alloimmunization.

PMID- 27634206
TI  - Transradial Versus Transfemoral Carotid Artery Stenting: A 16-Year Single-Center
      Experience.
AB  - AIMS: Limited data exist on radial access in carotid artery stenting (CAS). This
      single-center study was performed to compare the outcome and complication rates
      of transradial (TR) and transfemoral (TF) CAS. METHODS AND RESULTS: The clinical
      and angiographic data of 775 consecutive patients with high risk for carotid
      endarterectomy, treated between 1999 and 2016 by CAS with cerebral protection,
      were evaluated. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to vascular access:
      TR (n = 101; 13%) and TF (n = 674). Primary combined end-point: in-hospital major
      adverse cardiac and cerebral events. Secondary end-points: angiographic outcome
      of the procedure and crossover rate to another puncture site. Angiographic
      success was achieved in all 775 patients, the crossover rate was 4.9% in the TR
      and 0% in the TF group (P < 0.05). TR was performed at the right side in 97% of
      cases. The incidence of in-hospital major adverse cardiac and cerebral events was
      2% in the TR and 3.6% in the TF group (P = ns). CONCLUSIONS: The TR approach for
      CAS is safe and efficacious, with acceptable cross-over rate. In both groups,
      vascular complications rarely occurred.

PMID- 27634207
TI  - Anti-inflammatory Action of Green Tea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Green tea has been shown to have beneficial effects against a variety
      of diseases such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and
      neurodegenerative diseases. Through cellular, animal, and human experiments,
      green tea and its major component, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) have been
      demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory effects. Our previous findings have
      indicated that green tea and EGCG suppress the gene and/or protein expression of
      inflammatory cytokines and inflammation-related enzymes. METHODS: Using
      bibliographic databases, particularly PubMed (provided by the
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed, US National Library of Medicine, National
      Institutes of Health, United States), we examined the potential usefulness of
      green tea/EGCG for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases in human
      clinical and epidemiological studies. We also reviewed results from cellular and
      animal experiments and proposed action mechanisms. RESULTS: Most of the results
      from the human studies indicated the beneficial effects of green tea and tea
      catechins against inflammatory diseases. The cellular and animal studies also
      provided evidence for the favorable effects of green tea/EGCG. These results are
      compatible with our previous findings and can be largely explained by a mechanism
      wherein green tea/EGCG acts as an antioxidant to scavenge reactive oxygen
      species, leading to attenuation of nuclear factor-kappaB activity. CONCLUSION:
      Since green tea and EGCG have multiple targets and act in a pleiotropic manner,
      we may consider their usage to improve the quality of life in patients with
      inflammatory disease. Green tea and EGCG have beneficial health effects and no
      severe adverse effects; however, care should be taken to avoid overdosage, which
      may induce deleterious effects including hepatic injury.

PMID- 27634205
TI  - ZNF384-related fusion genes define a subgroup of childhood B-cell precursor acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia with a characteristic immunotype.
AB  - Fusion genes involving ZNF384 have recently been identified in B-cell precursor
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and 7 fusion partners have been reported. We
      further characterized this type of fusion gene by whole transcriptome sequencing
      and/or polymerase chain reaction. In addition to previously reported genes, we
      identified BMP2K as a novel fusion partner for ZNF384 Including the EP300-ZNF384
      that we reported recently, the total frequency of ZNF384-related fusion genes was
      4.1% in 291 B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients enrolled in a
      single clinical trial, and TCF3-ZNF384 was the most recurrent, with a frequency
      of 2.4%. The characteristic immunophenotype of weak CD10 and aberrant CD13 and/or
      CD33 expression was revealed to be a common feature of the leukemic cells
      harboring ZNF384-related fusion genes. The signature gene expression profile in
      TCF3-ZNF384-positive patients was enriched in hematopoietic stem cell features
      and related to that of EP300-ZNF384-positive patients, but was significantly
      distinct from that of TCF3-PBX1-positive and ZNF384-fusion-negative patients.
      However, clinical features of TCF3-ZNF384-positive patients are markedly
      different from those of EP300-ZNF384-positive patients, exhibiting higher cell
      counts and a younger age at presentation. TCF3-ZNF384-positive patients revealed
      a significantly poorer steroid response and a higher frequency of relapse, and
      the additional activating mutations in RAS signaling pathway genes were detected
      by whole exome analysis in some of the cases. Our observations indicate that
      ZNF384-related fusion genes consist of a distinct subgroup of B-cell precursor
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a characteristic immunophenotype, while the
      clinical features depend on the functional properties of individual fusion
      partners.

PMID- 27634208
TI  - Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Tetrazolobenzimidazoles as Novel Anti
      inflammatory Agents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently used anti-inflammatory drugs are associated with some
      severe side effects such as gastric irritation, which may range from simple
      discomfort to ulcer formation. Therefore, the development of potent anti
      inflammatory drugs with fewer side effects is important. Benzimidazole, tetrazole
      and its various derivatives have been used in the synthesis of numerous
      heterocyclic compounds. In the past few decades, these compounds received much
      attention due to their diverse array of biological activities. As these
      heterocycles are known to possess anti-inflammatory activity individually, we
      thought it worthwhile to link these heterocycles, synthesize them and evaluate
      for possible changes in this anti-inflammatory activity. METHODS: Novel
      benzimidazole linked tetrazole compound 2-{[2-(1H-tetrazole-5-yl)ethyl] sulfanyl}
      1,3-benzimidazole (3) was synthesized by cyclization of 3-(1,3-benzimidazol-2
      ylsulfanyl) propanenitrile in presence of sodium azide. A series of
      tetrazolobenzimidazole derivatives (3a-h) were synthesized by the reaction of
      compound (3) with acid chlorides. All the synthesized compounds were subjected to
      structural elucidation by IR, 1H-NMR spectroscopy, Mass spectrometry and
      elemental analyses. The newly synthesized compounds were screened for anti
      inflammatory activity by carrageenan-induced paw oedema method in albino rats.
      RESULTS: Compounds (3a, 3c, 3g) which contain acetyl, benzoyl and benzoyl
      moieties; respectively at N-1of tetrazole exhibited anti-inflammatory activities
      comparable with standard drug diclofenac. Other compounds exhibited anti
      inflammatory activity less than the standard. The differences between control and
      treatment group were tested using one way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test. A
      probability value less than 0.01 was considered to be statistically significant.
      The GraphPad Instat 3.0 version was used for statistical analysis. CONCLUSION:
      Synthesized compounds having anti-inflammatory activity better than standard were
      found to be 1-{5-[2-(benzimidazol-2-yl-sulfanyl)ethyl]-2H-tetrazol-2yl}methanone
      (3c) and 1-{5-[5-methoxy-2-(benzimidazol-2-yl-sulfanyl)ethyl]-2H-tetrazol
      2yl}methanone (3g) and the compounds (3a, 3e, 3f) were found to exhibit anti
      inflammatory activity comparable to that of standard. All the compounds were
      found to cause less gastric ulceration than the standard drug diclofenac.

PMID- 27634209
TI  - Countdown to 2015 country case studies: what can analysis of national health
      financing contribute to understanding MDG 4 and 5 progress?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Countdown to 2015 (Countdown) supported countries to produce case
      studies that examine how and why progress was made toward the Millennium
      Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. Analysing how health-financing data explains
      improvements in RMNCH outcomes was one of the components to the case studies.
      METHODS: This paper presents a descriptive analysis on health financing from six
      Countdown case studies (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Malawi, Pakistan, Peru, and
      Tanzania), supplemented by additional data from global databases and country
      reports on macroeconomic, health financing, demographic, and RMNCH outcome data
      as needed. It also examines the effect of other contextual factors presented in
      the case studies to help interpret health-financing data. RESULTS: Dramatic
      increases in health funding occurred since 2000, where the MDG agenda encouraged
      countries and donors to invest more resources on health. Most low-income
      countries relied on external support to increase health spending, with an average
      20-64 % of total health spending from 2000 onwards. Middle-income countries
      relied more on government and household spending. RMNCH funding also increased
      since 2000, with an average increase of 119 % (2005-2010) for RMNH expenditures
      (2005-2010) and 165 % for CH expenditures (2005-2011). Progress was made,
      especially achieving MDG 4, even with low per capita spending; ranging from US$16
      to US$44 per child under 5 years among low-income countries. Improvements in
      distal factors were noted during the time frame of the analysis, including rapid
      economic growth in Ethiopia, Peru, and Tanzania and improvements in female
      literacy as documented in Malawi, which are also likely to have contributed to
      MDG progress and achievements. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in health and RMNCH funding
      accompanied improvements in outcomes, though low-income countries are still very
      reliant on external financing, and out-of-pocket comprising a growing share of
      funds in middle-income settings. Enhancements in tracking RMNCH expenditures
      across countries are still needed to better understand whether domestic and
      global health financing initiatives lead to improved outcomes as RMNCH continues
      to be a priority under the Sustainable Development Goals.

PMID- 27634210
TI  - Multivariate analytical figures of merit as a metric for evaluation of
      quantitative measurements using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography
      mass spectrometry.
AB  - The present contribution is devoted to develop multivariate analytical figures of
      merit (AFOMs) as a new metric for evaluation of quantitative measurements using
      comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC*GC-MS). In
      this regard, new definition of sensitivity (SEN) is extended to GC*GC-MS data and
      then, other multivariate AFOMs including analytical SEN (gamma), selectivity
      (SEL) and limit of detection (LOD) are calculated. Also, two frequently used
      second- and third-order calibration algorithms of multivariate curve resolution
      alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) as representative of multi-set methods and
      parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) as representative of multi-way methods are
      discussed to exploit pure component profiles and to calculate multivariate AFOMs.
      Different GC*GC-MS data sets with different number of components along with
      various levels of artifacts are simulated and analyzed. Noise, elution time
      shifts in both chromatographic dimensions, peak overlap and interferences are
      considered as the main artifacts in this work. Additionally, a new strategy is
      developed to estimate the noise level using variance-covariance matrix of
      residuals which is very important to calculate multivariate AFOMs. Finally,
      determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in aromatic fraction of
      heavy fuel oil (HFO) analyzed by GC*GC-MS is considered as real case to confirm
      applicability of the proposed metric in real samples. It should be pointed out
      that the proposed strategy in this work can be used for other types of
      comprehensive two-dimensional chromatographic (CTDC) techniques like
      comprehensive two dimensional liquid chromatography (LC*LC). 

PMID- 27634211
TI  - A comprehensive strategy using chromatographic profiles combined with chemometric
      methods: Application to quality control of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc.
AB  - For the strict quality control of herbs, a comprehensive strategy based on
      chromatographic profiles and chemometric methods which could reliably select
      quantitative indices, robustly quantitate multi-markers and systematically
      compare different chemometric methods was proposed and successfully applied to
      the quality analysis of P. cuspidatum. Based on the construction of
      chromatographic profiles by an efficient accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and
      reliable high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) methods,
      different chemometric methods were employed, namely similarity analyses (SA),
      hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA).
      The differences in classification of herb samples were studied for the first
      time. To reasonably determine the quality of herbs and evaluate different
      chemometric methods, a comprehensive strategy containing three key steps was
      performed including selection of quantitative indices, development of a reliable
      quantification method and adoption of an easily calculated and visible parameter.
      The quantitative method which was acceptable with good linearity with correlation
      coefficients >0.9995 and satisfactory repeatability (RSD<1.5%), precision
      (RSD<2.84%), reproducibility (RSD<2.88%), stability (RSD<2.85%) and recoveries
      (91.5%-105.6%, RSD<2.83%) was applied to quality evaluation of fourteen batches
      of the P. cuspidatum samples through simultaneous quantitative determination of
      fifteen marker compounds. The limits of quantitation of fifteen compounds ranged
      from 1 to 60MUg/ml. From the results of the quality evaluation, it was found that
      the different calculation theories of the chemometric methods resulted in the
      variation of classifiers of samples: SA classified samples through the mean
      values and HCA & LDA classified similar objects. 

PMID- 27634212
TI  - Improving functional outcomes for children with unilateral cerebral palsy: the
      quest for the right intervention.

PMID- 27634213
TI  - Synthesis of Linear (Z)-alpha,beta-Unsaturated Esters by Catalytic Cross
      Metathesis. The Influence of Acetonitrile.
AB  - Kinetically controlled catalytic cross-metathesis reactions that generate (Z)
      alpha,beta-unsaturated esters selectively are disclosed. A key finding is that
      the presence of acetonitrile obviates the need for using excess amounts of a more
      valuable terminal alkene substrates. On the basis of X-ray structure and
      spectroscopic investigations a rationale for the positive impact of acetonitrile
      is provided. Transformations leading to various E,Z-dienoates are highly Z
      selective as well. Utility is highlighted by application to stereoselective
      synthesis of the C1-C12 fragment of biologically active natural product (-)
      laulimalide.

PMID- 27634214
TI  - Technical comment on Boersma et al. (2016) Temperature driven changes in the diet
      preference of omnivorous copepods: no more meat when it's hot? Ecology Letters,
      19, 45-53.
AB  - A recent study concluded that omnivorous plankton will shift from predatory to
      herbivorous feeding with climate warming, as consumers require increased
      carbon:phosphorous in their food. Although this is an appealing hypothesis, we
      suggest the conclusion is unfounded, based on the data presented, which seem in
      places questionable and poorly interpreted.

PMID- 27634215
TI  - In Situ Methods for Monitoring Silver Nanoparticle Sulfidation in Simulated
      Waters.
AB  - To probe the transformation pathways of metallic nanomaterials, measurement tools
      capable of detecting and characterizing the broad distribution of products with
      limited perturbation are required. Here, we demonstrate the detection of
      transformation products resulting from 40 kDa PVP-coated silver nanoparticles
      (AgNPs) reacted in aerated, sulfide-containing water and EPA moderately hard
      reconstituted water standard. Using single particle inductively coupled plasma
      mass spectrometry, silver mass preservation in primary AgNP populations during
      sulfidation was observed under all reaction conditions examined. Disparate
      sensitivities of Ag+ and AgNPs to different media were observed, limiting
      confidence in the measured dissolved fraction. Examination with hyphenated
      asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (A4F) methods supported similar mass
      preservation. Using flow-cell FTIR measurements, we provide direct evidence for
      the preservation of PVP-coatings in the presence of Na2S and fulvic acid, which
      we attributed to the observed, unprecedented Ag preservation. Using A4F and X-ray
      scattering, sub 10 nm AgNP populations, which have gone nearly unstudied in
      environmental systems, were detected and characterized in all the pristine and
      transformed product distributions examined. Furthermore, by distinguishing Ag+
      from individual AgNPs, quantification of each population becomes tractable, which
      is a critical measurement need for toxicity testing and predicting NP fate in
      engineered and natural systems.

PMID- 27634216
TI  - The Influence of Community Disadvantage and Masculinity Ideology on Number of
      Sexual Partners: A Prospective Analysis of Young Adult, Rural Black Men.
AB  - Young, rural Black men are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted
      infections (STIs), a consequence, in part, of multiple sexual partnerships. We
      conducted a prospective study that examined the influence of masculinity ideology
      on changes in numbers of sexual partners in this population. We focused on a set
      of high-risk attitudes termed reputational masculinity. Community disadvantage
      during young adulthood was examined as a risk factor for reputational masculinity
      ideology, and vocational commitment was examined as a potential protective
      factor. The sample included 505 African American men ages 19 to 22 from high
      poverty rural communities. Men reported their numbers of sexual partners during
      the past three months, masculinity ideology, community disadvantage, and
      vocational commitment. Follow-up data were collected 18 months after baseline
      assessment. Negative binomial modeling was used to test study hypotheses. Results
      indicated that community disadvantage was associated with increases in
      reputational masculinity during early adulthood, which in turn were linked to
      increases in numbers of sexual partners. Vocational commitment interacted with
      reputational masculinity to forecast numbers of sexual partners, attenuating the
      influence of reputational masculinity. Reputational masculinity and promotion of
      engagement with the workplace may be important targets for interventions designed
      to reduce sexual risk behavior.

PMID- 27634217
TI  - Capture of associated targets on chromatin links long-distance chromatin looping
      to transcriptional coordination.
AB  - Here we describe a sensitive and novel method of identifying endogenous DNA-DNA
      interactions. Capture of Associated Targets on CHromatin (CATCH) uses efficient
      capture and enrichment of specific genomic loci of interest through hybridization
      and subsequent purification via complementary biotinylated oligonucleotide. The
      CATCH assay requires no enzymatic digestion or ligation, requires little starting
      material, provides high-quality data, has excellent reproducibility and is
      completed in less than 24 h. Efficacy is demonstrated through capture of three
      disparate loci, which demonstrate unique subsets of long-distance chromatin
      interactions enriched for both enhancer marks and oestrogen receptor-binding
      sites. In each experiment, CATCH-seq peaks representing long-distance chromatin
      interactions were centred near the TSS of genes, and, critically, the genes
      identified as physically interacting are shown to be transcriptionally
      coexpressed. These interactions could potentially create transcriptional hubs for
      the regulation of gene expression programmes.

PMID- 27634219
TI  - Inhibition of Pin1 alleviates myocardial fibrosis and dysfunction in STZ-induced
      diabetic mice.
AB  - Therapeutic management of diabetic myocardial fibrosis remains an unsolved
      clinical problem. Pin1, a peptidyl-prolyl isomerase, impacts diverse cellular
      processes and plays a pivotal role in regulating cardiac pathophysiology. Here we
      investigate the potential mechanism of action of Pin1 and its role in diabetes
      induced myocardial fibrosis and dysfunction in mice. Cardiac Pin1, transforming
      growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and
      extracellular matrix deposits (collagen I and III) are found to be increased in
      diabetic mice, which are effectively prevented by Pin1 inhibition by juglone.
      Pin1 inhibition alleviates cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction. In vitro, high
      glucose increases Pin1 expression with an accompanying increase in phospho-Akt
      (Ser 473), p-Smad2, p-Smad3, TGF-beta1, and alpha-SMA in cardiac fibroblasts
      (CFs). These increases are effectively prevented by the inhibition of Pin1 by
      juglone. Furthermore, Pin1 inhibition inhibits HG-induced CF proliferation and
      migration. Our results indicate that Pin1 inhibition attenuates cardiac
      extracellular matrix deposition by regulating the phosphorylation of Akt, TGF
      beta1/Smads, MMP activities, and alpha-SMA expression in diabetic mice.

PMID- 27634218
TI  - DNA methylation profiling of esophageal adenocarcinoma using Methylation Ligation
      dependent Macroarray (MLM).
AB  - Most types of cancer cells are characterized by aberrant methylation of promoter
      genes. In this study, we described a rapid, reproducible, and relatively
      inexpensive approach allowing the detection of multiple human methylated promoter
      genes from many tissue samples, without the need of bisulfite conversion. The
      Methylation Ligation-dependent Macroarray (MLM), an array-based analysis, was
      designed in order to measure methylation levels of 58 genes previously described
      as putative biomarkers of cancer. The performance of the design was proven by
      screening the methylation profile of DNA from esophageal cell lines, as well as
      microdissected formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from
      esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Using the MLM approach, we identified 32 (55%)
      hypermethylated promoters in EAC, and not or rarely methylated in normal tissues.
      Among them, 21promoters were found aberrantly methylated in more than half of
      tumors. Moreover, seven of them (ADAMTS18, APC, DKK2, FOXL2, GPX3, TIMP3 and
      WIF1) were found aberrantly methylated in all or almost all the tumor samples,
      suggesting an important role for these genes in EAC. In addition, dysregulation
      of the Wnt pathway with hypermethylation of several Wnt antagonist genes was
      frequently observed. MLM revealed a homogeneous pattern of methylation for a
      majority of tumors which were associated with an advanced stage at presentation
      and a poor prognosis. Interestingly, the few tumors presenting less methylation
      changes had a lower pathological stage. In conclusion, this study demonstrated
      the feasibility and accuracy of MLM for DNA methylation profiling of FFPE tissue
      samples.

PMID- 27634220
TI  - A novel expression vector for the improved solubility of recombinant scorpion
      venom in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Recombinant scorpion anti-excitation peptide (rANEP) has previously been
      expressed using the pET32a system and purified via affinity chromatography.
      However, rANEP is expressed in BL21(DE3) cells as an inclusion body, and the
      affinity tag can not be removed. To overcome this problem, we used a variety of
      protein, DsbA, MBP, TrxA, intein, and affinity tags in fusion and co-expression
      to achieve soluble and functional rANEP without any affinity tag. In the pCIT
      ANEP expression vector, the highest soluble expression level was approximately
      90% of the total cellular proteins in E. coli, and the rANEP was cleaved by the
      intein protein and subsequently purified to obtain rANEP, which had the same
      activity as the natural ANEP. The purity of rANEP obtained using this method was
      over 95%, with a quantity of 5.1 mg from of purified rANEP from 1 L of culture.
      This method could expand the application of the soluble expression of disulfide
      rich peptides in E. coli.

PMID- 27634221
TI  - ZNF606 interacts with Sox9 to regulate chondrocyte differentiation.
AB  - SRY-related high-mobility-group box 9 (Sox9) gene is a transcription factor that
      plays an essential role in chondrocyte differentiation and cartilage formation.
      In this study, we identified the transcriptional factor ZNF606 as an interacting
      partner for Sox9 in cells. We further demonstrated that overexpression of ZNF606
      inhibited the transcriptional activity of Sox9, while knockdown of ZNF606
      increased Sox9-mediated transcription. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis
      revealed that ZNF606 prevents Sox9 binding to the enhancers of its target gene
      col2a1. Importantly, the interaction between ZNF606 and Sox9 was decreased during
      chondrocyte differentiation. Consistent with these findings, ZNF606 inhibited
      chondrocyte differentiation. Thus, our results demonstrate that ZNF606 acts as a
      novel Sox9 co-regulator that inhibits Sox9-mediated chondrocyte differentiation.

PMID- 27634222
TI  - Fusarithioamide A, a new antimicrobial and cytotoxic benzamide derivative from
      the endophytic fungus Fusarium chlamydosporium.
AB  - Four secondary metabolites (1-4), including a new benzamide derivative, namely
      fusarithioamide A (2-(2-aminopropanamido)-N-(1-hydroxy-3-mercaptopropyl)
      benzamide, 4) and three known compounds; 1-O-acetylglycerol (1), 8
      acetylneosolaniol (2), and ergosta-7,22-diene-3beta,5alpha,6beta-triol (3) were
      characterized from the EtOAc extract of Fusarium chlamydosporium isolated from
      the leaves of Anvillea garcinii (Burm.f.) DC. (Asteraceae). The structures of the
      isolated metabolites were verified by using 1D and 2D NMR experiments as well as
      HRESIMS spectral data. Compounds 1-3 were firstly separated from this fungus.
      Compound 4 has been tested for their antibacterial and antifungal activity
      against different microorganisms using disc diffusion assay. It showed
      antibacterial potential towards B. cereus, S. aureus, and E. coli with inhibition
      zone diameters (IZDs) of 19.0, 14.1, and 22.7 mm, respectively and MICs values of
      3.1, 4.4, and 6.9 MUg ml-1, respectively. Also, it exhibited the most potent
      antifungal activity towards C. albicans (IZD 16.2 mm) comparable to clotrimazole
      (IZD 18.5 mm, positive control). Furthermore, compounds 1-4 were evaluated for
      their in vitro cytotoxic effect against KB, BT-549, SK-MEL, and SKOV-3 cell
      lines. Compounds 4 possessed potent and selective activity towards BT-549 and
      SKOV-3 cell lines with IC50 values of 0.4 and 0.8 MUM, respectively compared to
      doxorubicin (IC50 0.046 and 0.313 MUM, respectively). Moreover, 3 exhibited
      significant activity towards all tested cell lines. Fusarithioamide A may provide
      new promising candidates for potential antimicrobial and cytotoxic agent.

PMID- 27634223
TI  - The vitamin D hypothesis: Dead or alive?: Response to Dr. William Grant's "The
      UVB-vitamin D3-pigment hypothesis is alive and well-AJPA-2016-00237".

PMID- 27634224
TI  - Renal and Systemic Effects of Calorie Restriction in Patients With Type 2
      Diabetes With Abdominal Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - In individuals with type 2 diabetes with abdominal obesity, hyperfiltration is a
      risk factor for accelerated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline and
      nephropathy. In this academic, single-center, parallel-group, prospective,
      randomized, open-label, blinded end point trial, consenting patients with type 2
      diabetes aged >18 years, with waist circumference >94 (males) or >80 (females)
      cm, serum creatinine <1.2 mg/dL, and normoalbuminuria were randomized (1:1) with
      permuted blocks to 6 months of a 25% calorie restricted (CR) or standard diet
      (SD). Primary outcome was measured GFR (iohexol plasma clearance). Analyses were
      by modified intention to treat. At 6 months, GFR significantly decreased in 34
      patients on CR and did not change appreciably in 36 on SD. Changes were
      significantly different between the groups. GFR and body weight reduction were
      correlated. GFR reduction was larger in hyperfiltering (GFR >120 mL/min) than
      nonhyperfiltering patients and was associated with BMI, waist circumference,
      blood pressure, heart rate, HbA1c, blood glucose, LDL-to-HDL cholesterol ratio, C
      reactive protein, angiotensin II, and albuminuria reduction and with increased
      glucose disposal rate (measured by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps). Protein
      and sodium intake and concomitant treatments were similar between the groups. CR
      was tolerated well. In patients with type 2 diabetes with abdominal obesity, CR
      ameliorates glomerular hyperfiltration, insulin sensitivity, and other
      cardiovascular risk factors, effects that might translate into long-term nephro-
      and cardioprotection.

PMID- 27634226
TI  - Reduction of Hypothalamic Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Activates Browning of
      White Fat and Ameliorates Obesity.
AB  - The chaperone GRP78/BiP (glucose-regulated protein 78 kDa/binding immunoglobulin
      protein) modulates protein folding in reply to cellular insults that lead to
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. This study investigated the role of
      hypothalamic GRP78 on energy balance, with particular interest in thermogenesis
      and browning of white adipose tissue (WAT). For this purpose, we used diet
      induced obese rats and rats administered thapsigargin, and by combining
      metabolic, histologic, physiologic, pharmacologic, thermographic, and molecular
      techniques, we studied the effect of genetic manipulation of hypothalamic GRP78.
      Our data showed that rats fed a high-fat diet or that were centrally administered
      thapsigargin displayed hypothalamic ER stress, whereas genetic overexpression of
      GRP78 specifically in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus was sufficient
      to alleviate ER stress and to revert the obese and metabolic phenotype. Those
      effects were independent of feeding and leptin but were related to increased
      thermogenic activation of brown adipose tissue and induction of browning in WAT
      and could be reversed by antagonism of beta3 adrenergic receptors. This evidence
      indicates that modulation of hypothalamic GRP78 activity may be a potential
      strategy against obesity and associated comorbidities.

PMID- 27634228
TI  - Editorial: challenging established perceptions of brain-gut interactions in
      functional gastrointestinal disorders - brain-gut, gut-brain, or both?

PMID- 27634227
TI  - Monoaminergic control of brain states and sensory processing: Existing knowledge
      and recent insights obtained with optogenetics.
AB  - Monoamines are key neuromodulators involved in a variety of physiological and
      pathological brain functions. Classical studies using physiological and
      pharmacological tools have revealed several essential aspects of monoaminergic
      involvement in regulating the sleep-wake cycle and influencing sensory responses
      but many features have remained elusive due to technical limitations. The
      application of optogenetic tools led to the ability of monitoring and controlling
      neuronal populations with unprecedented temporal precision and neurochemical
      specificity. Here, we focus on recent advances in revealing the roles of some
      monoamines in brain state control and sensory information processing. We
      summarize the central position of monoamines in integrating sensory processing
      across sleep-wake states with an emphasis on research conducted using optogenetic
      techniques. Finally, we discuss the limitations and perspectives of new
      integrated experimental approaches in understanding the modulatory mechanisms of
      monoaminergic systems in the mammalian brain.

PMID- 27634225
TI  - Inositol-Requiring Enzyme 1 Facilitates Diabetic Wound Healing Through Modulating
      MicroRNAs.
AB  - Diabetic skin ulcers represent a challenging clinical problem with mechanisms not
      fully understood. In this study, we investigated the role and mechanism for the
      primary unfolded protein response (UPR) transducer inositol-requiring enzyme 1
      (IRE1alpha) in diabetic wound healing. Bone marrow-derived progenitor cells
      (BMPCs) were isolated from adult male type 2 diabetic and their littermate
      control mice. In diabetic BMPCs, IRE1alpha protein expression and phosphorylation
      were repressed. The impaired diabetic BMPC angiogenic function was rescued by
      adenovirus-mediated expression of IRE1alpha but not by the RNase-inactive
      IRE1alpha or the activated X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1), the canonical
      IRE1alpha target. In fact, IRE1alpha RNase processes a subset of microRNAs
      (miRs), including miR-466 and miR-200 families, through which IRE1alpha plays an
      important role in maintaining BMPC function under the diabetic condition.
      IRE1alpha attenuated maturation of miR-466 and miR-200 family members at
      precursor miR levels through the regulated IRE1alpha-dependent decay (RIDD)
      independent of XBP1. IRE1alpha deficiency in diabetes resulted in a burst of
      functional miRs from miR-466 and miR-200 families, which directly target and
      repress the mRNA encoding the angiogenic factor angiopoietin 1 (ANGPT1), leading
      to decreased ANGPT1 expression and disrupted angiogenesis. Importantly, cell
      therapies using IRE1alpha-expressing BMPCs or direct IRE1alpha gene transfer
      significantly accelerated cutaneous wound healing in diabetic mice through
      facilitating angiogenesis. In conclusion, our studies revealed a novel
      mechanistic basis for rescuing angiogenesis and tissue repair in diabetic wound
      treatments.

PMID- 27634229
TI  - Editorial: challenging established perceptions of brain-gut interactions in
      functional gastrointestinal disorders - brain-gut, gut-brain, or both? Authors'
      reply.

PMID- 27634230
TI  - Editorial: gut-directed hypnotherapy or low FODMAP diet for the treatment of
      irritable bowel syndrome?

PMID- 27634231
TI  - Editorial: gut-directed hypnotherapy or low FODMAP diet for the treatment of
      irritable bowel syndrome? Authors' reply.

PMID- 27634232
TI  - Letter: dietary therapy in eosinophilic oesophagitis - do not test, just
      eliminate and reintroduce the most common food triggers.

PMID- 27634233
TI  - Letter: dietary therapy in eosinophilic oesophagitis - do not test, just
      eliminate and reintroduce the most common food triggers. Authors' reply.

PMID- 27634234
TI  - Letter: stepwise diagnosis in covert hepatic encephalopathy - do not forget
      ammonia.

PMID- 27634235
TI  - Letter: Stepwise diagnosis in covert hepatic encephalopathy-do not forget
      ammonia. Authors' reply.

PMID- 27634236
TI  - Letter: which patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma
      should receive nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy?

PMID- 27634237
TI  - Letter: which patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma
      should receive nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy? Authors' reply.

PMID- 27634238
TI  - Letter: proton pump inhibitor-responsive oesophageal eosinophilia - more than
      just gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

PMID- 27634239
TI  - Letter: proton pump inhibitor-responsive oesophageal eosinophilia - more than
      just gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Authors' reply.

PMID- 27634240
TI  - Water Entrapped inside Fullerene Cages: A Potential Probe for Evaluation of Bond
      Polarization.
AB  - The concept of the bond polarization is a useful tool to understand chemical
      reactions and fundamental properties of compounds. However, experimental
      considerations are limited owing to its difficulty of reliable description. We
      demonstrated that geometrically isolated H2 O inside the cage of fullerene C60 is
      a possible probe to evaluate the polarization degree of covalent bonds C(C60 )-X
      (X=heteroatom) on the C60 cage. The 1 H NMR relaxation times of entrapped H2 O
      have been systematically measured at variable temperatures for H2 O@C60 X (X=CR2
      , NR, O, and O2 ). The results followed in the order of electronegativities of C
      (2.55), N (3.04), and O (3.44), indicating that entrapped H2 O can sensitively
      respond to the degree of the bond polarization.

PMID- 27634241
TI  - Non-HDL-C is a Better Predictor for the Severity of Coronary Atherosclerosis
      Compared with LDL-C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent guidelines recommended both low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) are
      the primary target of lipid modulating therapy. However, which lipid measure is
      most closely related to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis has not yet been
      assessed. METHODS: We studied 1757 consecutive subjects undergoing coronary
      angiography who were not receiving any lipid-lowering therapy. Low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol was measured directly, and non-HDL-C was calculated. The
      severity of coronary stenosis was determined using the Gensini Score (GS) system.
      RESULTS: In the overall population, LDL-C and non-HDL-C were all dramatically
      increased according to the quartiles of GS (p<0.001, both). In patients with
      coronary atherosclerosis (n=1097), non-HDL-C (r=0.138, p<0.001) was more closely
      related to GS than LDL-C (r=0.113, p<0.001) tested by Spearman correlation
      analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that non-HDL-C
      (OR=1.326, 95% CI 1.165-1.508, p<0.001) was slightly superior to LDL-C (OR=1.286,
      95% CI 1.130-1.463, p<0.001) in predicting high GS after adjusting for potential
      confounders. Among patients with LDL-C less than the median, discordant non-HDL-C
      could not provide extra value in predicting high GS (OR=0.759, 95% CI 0.480
      1.201). However, among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median,
      the cardiovascular risk was overestimated for patients with discordant non-HDL-C
      (OR=0.458, 95% CI 0.285-0.736). CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the use of non-HDL
      C ahead of LDL-C in predicting the severity of coronary atherosclerosis,
      especially among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median.

PMID- 27634242
TI  - Corrigendum to 'Radiation Exposure During Cardiac Catheterisation is Similar for
      Both Femoral and Radial Approaches' Heart, Lung and Circulation (2015) 24, 264
      269.

PMID- 27634244
TI  - Communication: Uncovering correlated vibrational cooling and electron transfer
      dynamics with multidimensional spectroscopy.
AB  - Analogues of 2D photon echo methods in which two population times are sampled
      have recently been used to expose heterogeneity in chemical kinetics. In this
      work, the two population times sampled for a transition metal complex are
      transformed into a 2D rate spectrum using the maximum entropy method. The 2D rate
      spectrum suggests heterogeneity in the vibrational cooling (VC) rate within the
      ensemble. In addition, a cross peak associated with VC and back electron transfer
      (BET) dynamics reveals correlation between the two processes. We hypothesize that
      an increase in the strength of solute-solvent interactions, which accelerates VC,
      drives the system toward the activationless regime of BET. 

PMID- 27634245
TI  - Basis set convergence of CCSD(T) equilibrium geometries using a large and diverse
      set of molecular structures.
AB  - We examine the basis set convergence of the CCSD(T) method for obtaining the
      structures of the 108 neutral first- and second-row species in the W4-11 database
      (with up to five non-hydrogen atoms). This set includes a total of 181 unique
      bonds: 75 H-X, 49 X-Y, 43 X=Y, and 14 X=Y bonds (where X and Y are first- and
      second-row atoms). As reference values, geometries optimized at the CCSD(T)/aug'
      cc-pV(6+d)Z level of theory are used. We consider the basis set convergence of
      the CCSD(T) method with the correlation consistent basis sets cc-pV(n+d)Z and
      aug'-cc-pV(n+d)Z (n = D, T, Q, 5) and the Weigend-Ahlrichs def2-n ZVPP basis sets
      (n = T, Q). For each increase in the highest angular momentum present in the
      basis set, the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) over the bond distances is
      decreased by a factor of ~4. For example, the following RMSDs are obtained for
      the cc-pV(n+d)Z basis sets 0.0196 (D), 0.0050 (T), 0.0015 (Q), and 0.0004 (5) A.
      Similar results are obtained for the aug'-cc-pV(n+d)Z and def2-n ZVPP basis sets.
      The double-zeta and triple-zeta quality basis sets systematically and
      significantly overestimate the bond distances. A simple and cost-effective way to
      improve the performance of these basis sets is to scale the bond distances by an
      empirical scaling factor of 0.9865 (cc-pV(D+d)Z) and 0.9969 (cc-pV(T+d)Z). This
      results in RMSDs of 0.0080 (scaled cc-pV(D+d)Z) and 0.0029 (scaled cc-pV(T+d)Z)
      A. The basis set convergence of larger basis sets can be accelerated via standard
      basis-set extrapolations. In addition, the basis set convergence of explicitly
      correlated CCSD(T)-F12 calculations is investigated in conjunction with the cc
      pVnZ-F12 basis sets (n = D, T). Typically, one "gains" two angular momenta in the
      explicitly correlated calculations. That is, the CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVnZ-F12 level of
      theory shows similar performance to the CCSD(T)/cc-pV(n+2)Z level of theory. In
      particular, the following RMSDs are obtained for the cc-pVnZ-F12 basis sets
      0.0019 (D) and 0.0006 (T) A. Overall, the CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVDZ-F12 level of theory
      offers a stellar price-performance ratio and we recommend using it when highly
      accurate reference geometries are needed (e.g., in composite ab initio theories
      such as W4 and HEAT). 

PMID- 27634243
TI  - Perspective: On the importance of hydrodynamic interactions in the subcellular
      dynamics of macromolecules.
AB  - An outstanding challenge in computational biophysics is the simulation of a
      living cell at molecular detail. Over the past several years, using Stokesian
      dynamics, progress has been made in simulating coarse grained molecular models of
      the cytoplasm. Since macromolecules comprise 20%-40% of the volume of a cell, one
      would expect that steric interactions dominate macromolecular diffusion. However,
      the reduction in cellular diffusion rates relative to infinite dilution is due,
      roughly equally, to steric and hydrodynamic interactions, HI, with nonspecific
      attractive interactions likely playing rather a minor role. HI not only serve to
      slow down long time diffusion rates but also cause a considerable reduction in
      the magnitude of the short time diffusion coefficient relative to that at
      infinite dilution. More importantly, the long range contribution of the Rotne
      Prager-Yamakawa diffusion tensor results in temporal and spatial correlations
      that persist up to microseconds and for intermolecular distances on the order of
      protein radii. While HI slow down the bimolecular association rate in the early
      stages of lipid bilayer formation, they accelerate the rate of large scale
      assembly of lipid aggregates. This is suggestive of an important role for HI in
      the self-assembly kinetics of large macromolecular complexes such as tubulin.
      Since HI are important, questions as to whether continuum models of HI are
      adequate as well as improved simulation methodologies that will make simulations
      of more complex cellular processes practical need to be addressed. Nevertheless,
      the stage is set for the molecular simulations of ever more complex subcellular
      processes. 

PMID- 27634246
TI  - Embedding beyond electrostatics-The role of wave function confinement.
AB  - We study excited states of cholesterol in solution and show that, in this
      specific case, solute wave-function confinement is the main effect of the
      solvent. This is rationalized on the basis of the polarizable density embedding
      scheme, which in addition to polarizable embedding includes non-electrostatic
      repulsion that effectively confines the solute wave function to its cavity. We
      illustrate how the inclusion of non-electrostatic repulsion results in a
      successful identification of the intense pi -> pi(*) transition, which was not
      possible using an embedding method that only includes electrostatics. This
      underlines the importance of non-electrostatic repulsion in quantum-mechanical
      embedding-based methods. 

PMID- 27634247
TI  - Tensor decomposition in potential energy surface representations.
AB  - In order to reduce the operation count in vibration correlation methods, e.g.,
      vibrational configuration interaction (VCI) theory, a tensor decomposition
      approach has been applied to the analytical representations of multidimensional
      potential energy surfaces (PESs). It is shown that a decomposition of the
      coefficients within the individual n-mode coupling terms in a multimode expansion
      of the PES is feasible and allows for convenient contractions of one-dimensional
      integrals with these newly determined factor matrices. Deviations in the final
      VCI frequencies of a set of small molecules were found to be negligible once the
      rank of the factors matrices is chosen appropriately. Recommendations for
      meaningful ranks are provided and different algorithms are discussed. 

PMID- 27634248
TI  - Kriging atomic properties with a variable number of inputs.
AB  - A new force field called FFLUX uses the machine learning technique kriging to
      capture the link between the properties (energies and multipole moments) of
      topological atoms (i.e., output) and the coordinates of the surrounding atoms
      (i.e., input). Here we present a novel, general method of applying kriging to
      chemical systems that do not possess a fixed number of (geometrical) inputs.
      Unlike traditional kriging methods, which require an input system to be of fixed
      dimensionality, the method presented here can be readily applied to molecular
      simulation, where an interaction cutoff radius is commonly used and the number of
      atoms or molecules within the cutoff radius is not constant. The method described
      here is general and can be applied to any machine learning technique that
      normally operates under a fixed number of inputs. In particular, the method
      described here is also useful for interpolating methods other than kriging, which
      may suffer from difficulties stemming from identical sets of inputs corresponding
      to different outputs or input biasing. As a demonstration, the new method is used
      to predict 54 energetic and electrostatic properties of the central water
      molecule of a set of 5000, 4 A radius water clusters, with a variable number of
      water molecules. The results are validated against equivalent models from a set
      of clusters composed of a fixed number of water molecules (set to ten, i.e.,
      decamers) and against models created by using a naive method of treating the
      variable number of inputs problem presented. Results show that the 4 A water
      cluster models, utilising the method presented here, return similar or better
      kriging models than the decamer clusters for all properties considered and
      perform much better than the truncated models. 

PMID- 27634249
TI  - Improving the accuracy of ground-state correlation energies within a plane-wave
      basis set: The electron-hole exchange kernel.
AB  - A new formalism was recently proposed to improve random phase approximation (RPA)
      correlation energies by including approximate exchange effects [B. Mussard et
      al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 12, 2191 (2016)]. Within this framework, by keeping
      only the electron-hole contributions to the exchange kernel, two approximations
      can be obtained: An adiabatic connection analog of the second order screened
      exchange (AC-SOSEX) and an approximate electron-hole time-dependent Hartree-Fock
      (eh-TDHF). Here we show how this formalism is suitable for an efficient
      implementation within the plane-wave basis set. The response functions involved
      in the AC-SOSEX and eh-TDHF equations can indeed be compactly represented by an
      auxiliary basis set obtained from the diagonalization of an approximate
      dielectric matrix. Additionally, the explicit calculation of unoccupied states
      can be avoided by using density functional perturbation theory techniques and the
      matrix elements of dynamical response functions can be efficiently computed by
      applying the Lanczos algorithm. As shown by several applications to reaction
      energies and weakly bound dimers, the inclusion of the electron-hole kernel
      significantly improves the accuracy of ground-state correlation energies with
      respect to RPA and semi-local functionals. 

PMID- 27634250
TI  - Ionization potential optimized double-hybrid density functional approximations.
AB  - Double-hybrid density functional approximations (DH-DFAs) provide an accurate
      description of the electronic structure of molecules by semiempirically mixing
      density functional and wavefunction theory. In this paper, we investigate the
      properties of the potential used in such approximations. By using the optimized
      effective potential approach, the consistent Kohn-Sham (KS) potential for a
      double-hybrid functional (including the second-order perturbational contribution)
      can be generated. This potential is shown to provide an improved description of
      orbital energies as vertical ionization potentials (IPs), relative to the
      perturbation-free KS potential typically used. Based on this observation, we
      suggest that DH-DFAs should be constructed in such a way that the potential
      provides accurate orbital energies. As a proof of principle, the B2-PLYP
      functional is reparameterized to obtain the IP-optimized B2IP-PLYP functional,
      using a small set of vertical IPs and atomization energies as reference data.
      This functional is shown to outperform B2-PLYP in a wide range of benchmarks and
      is en par with the related B2GP-PLYP. In particular, it is shown to be the most
      reliable choice in electronically difficult and multireference cases. 

PMID- 27634251
TI  - Real time propagation of the exact two component time-dependent density
      functional theory.
AB  - We report the development of a real time propagation method for solving the time
      dependent relativistic exact two-component density functional theory equations
      (RT-X2C-TDDFT). The method is fundamentally non-perturbative and may be employed
      to study nonlinear responses for heavy elements which require a relativistic
      Hamiltonian. We apply the method to several group 12 atoms as well as heavy
      element hydrides, comparing with the extensive theoretical and experimental
      studies on this system, which demonstrates the correctness of our approach.
      Because the exact two-component Hamiltonian contains spin-orbit operators, the
      method is able to describe the non-zero transition moment of otherwise spin
      forbidden processes in non-relativistic theory. Furthermore, the two-component
      approach is more cost effective than the full four-component approach, with
      similar accuracy. The RT-X2C-TDDFT will be useful in future studies of systems
      containing heavy elements interacting with strong external fields. 

PMID- 27634252
TI  - Phonon-electron coupling and tunneling effect on charge transport in organic semi
      conductor crystals of Cn-BTBT.
AB  - Cn-[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]-benzothiophene (BTBT) crystals show very high hole
      mobilities in experiments. These high mobilities are beyond existing theory
      prediction. Here, we employed different quantum chemistry methods to investigate
      charge transfer in Cn-BTBT crystals and tried to find out the reasons for the
      underestimation in the theory. It was found that the hopping rate estimated by
      the Fermi Golden Rule is higher than that of the Marcus theory due to the high
      temperature approximation and failure at the classic limit. More importantly,
      molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the phonon induced fluctuation of
      electronic transfer integral is much larger than the average of the electronic
      transfer integral itself. Mobilities become higher if simulations implement the
      phonon-electron coupling. This conclusion indicates that the phonon-electron
      coupling promotes charge transfer in organic semi-conductors at room temperature.

PMID- 27634253
TI  - A loop-gap resonator for chirality-sensitive nuclear magneto-electric resonance
      (NMER).
AB  - Direct detection of molecular chirality is practically impossible by methods of
      standard nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that is based on interactions involving
      magnetic-dipole and magnetic-field operators. However, theoretical studies
      provide a possible direct probe of chirality by exploiting an enantiomer
      selective additional coupling involving magnetic-dipole, magnetic-field, and
      electric field operators. This offers a way for direct experimental detection of
      chirality by nuclear magneto-electric resonance (NMER). This method uses both
      resonant magnetic and electric radiofrequency (RF) fields. The weakness of the
      chiral interaction though requires a large electric RF field and a small
      transverse RF magnetic field over the sample volume, which is a non-trivial
      constraint. In this study, we present a detailed study of the NMER concept and a
      possible experimental realization based on a loop-gap resonator. For this
      original device, the basic principle and numerical studies as well as fabrication
      and measurements of the frequency dependence of the scattering parameter are
      reported. By simulating the NMER spin dynamics for our device and taking the
      (19)F NMER signal of enantiomer-pure 1,1,1-trifluoropropan-2-ol, we predict a
      chirality induced NMER signal that accounts for 1%-5% of the standard achiral NMR
      signal. 

PMID- 27634254
TI  - Double differential cross sections for proton induced electron emission from
      molecular analogues of DNA constituents for energies in the Bragg peak region.
AB  - For track structure simulations in the Bragg peak region, measured electron
      emission cross sections of DNA constituents are required as input for developing
      parameterized model functions representing the scattering probabilities. In the
      present work, double differential cross sections were measured for the electron
      emission from vapor-phase pyrimidine, tetrahydrofuran, and trimethyl phosphate
      that are structural analogues to the base, the sugar, and the phosphate residue
      of the DNA, respectively. The range of proton energies was from 75 keV to 135
      keV, the angles ranged from 15 degrees  to 135 degrees , and the electron
      energies were measured from 10 eV to 200 eV. Single differential and total
      electron emission cross sections are derived by integration over angle and
      electron energy and compared to the semi-empirical Hansen-Kocbach-Stolterfoht
      (HKS) model and a quantum mechanical calculation employing the first Born
      approximation with corrected boundary conditions (CB1). The CB1 provides the best
      prediction of double and single differential cross section, while total cross
      sections can be fitted with semi-empirical models. The cross sections of the
      three samples are proportional to their total number of valence electrons. 

PMID- 27634255
TI  - Experimental observation of structures with subtle balance between strong
      hydrogen bond and weak n -> pi(*) interaction: Gas phase laser spectroscopy of 7
      azaindole?fluorosubstituted pyridines.
AB  - In this study, interplay between a strong hydrogen bond and a very weak n ->
      pi(*) interaction has been probed through experiment for the first time. We have
      used resonant 2-photon ionization, Infrared-ultraviolet double resonance
      spectroscopy, and quantum chemistry calculation to determine the structures of 7
      azaindole?2,6-difluoropyridine and 7-azaindole?2,3,5,6-tetrafluororpyridine
      complexes, which are stabilized by both hydrogen bonding and n -> pi(*)
      interaction. The structures of the complexes studied in the present work have
      been compared with the double hydrogen bonded (N-H?N and C-H?N) planar structure
      of 7-azaindole?2-fluoropyridine. It has been found that the strength of the N-H?N
      hydrogen bond in the 7-azaindole?2,6-substituted fluoropyridines is affected due
      to several factors. The main reason for huge reduction in the strength of this N
      H?N hydrogen bond in these complexes is due to loss of the C-H?N hydrogen bond,
      through substitution of fluorine atoms in 2 and 6 positions, which induces major
      structural changes by bending the hydrogen bond and introducing the n -> pi(*)
      interaction. Effect of fluorination as well as presence of the n -> pi(*)
      interaction in these complexes also contributes to the reduction of the strength
      of the N-H?N interaction. Although it is difficult to quantify the role of the n 
      > pi(*) interaction to affect the strength of the hydrogen bond, observation of
      the structures, where a strong hydrogen bond and a weak n -> pi(*) interaction co
      exist, is confirmed. 

PMID- 27634256
TI  - Nile blue shows its true colors in gas-phase absorption and luminescence ion
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Nile blue is used extensively in biology as a histological stain and fluorescent
      probe. Its absorption and emission spectra are strongly solvent dependent, with
      variations larger than 100 nm. The molecule is charged due to an iminium group,
      and it is therefore an obvious target for gas-phase ion spectroscopy. Here we
      report the absorption and emission spectra of the mass-selected bare ions
      isolated in vacuo, and based on our results we revisit the interpretation of
      solution-phase spectra. An accelerator mass spectrometer was used for absorption
      spectroscopy where the absorption is represented by the yield of photofragment
      ions versus excitation wavelength (action spectroscopy). The luminescence
      experiments were done with a newly built ion trap setup equipped with an
      electrospray ion source, and some details on the mass selection technique will be
      given which have not been described before. In vacuo, the absorption and emission
      maxima are at 580 +/- 10 nm and 628 +/- 1 nm. These values are somewhat blue
      shifted relative to those obtained in most solvents; however, they are much
      further to the red than those in some of the most non-polar solvents.
      Furthermore, the Stokes shift in the gas phase (1300 cm(-1)) is much smaller than
      that in these non-polar solvents but similar to that in polar ones. An
      explanation based on charge localization by solvent dipoles, or by counterions in
      some non-polar solvents, can fully account for these findings. Hence in the case
      of ions, it is nontrivial to establish intrinsic electronic transition energies
      from solvatochromic shifts alone. 

PMID- 27634257
TI  - Water cluster fragmentation probed by pickup experiments.
AB  - Electron ionization is a common tool for the mass spectrometry of atomic and
      molecular clusters. Any cluster can be ionized efficiently by sufficiently
      energetic electrons, but concomitant fragmentation can seriously obstruct the
      goal of size-resolved detection. We present a new general method to assess the
      original neutral population of the cluster beam. Clusters undergo a sticking
      collision with a molecule from a crossed beam, and the velocities of neat and
      doped cluster ion peaks are measured and compared. By making use of longitudinal
      momentum conservation, one can reconstruct the sizes of the neutral precursors.
      Here this method is applied to H2O and D2O clusters in the detected ion size
      range of 3-10. It is found that water clusters do fragment significantly upon
      electron impact: the deduced neutral precursor size is ~3-5 times larger than the
      observed cluster ions. This conclusion agrees with beam size characterization by
      another experimental technique: photoionization after Na-doping. Abundant post
      ionization fragmentation of water clusters must therefore be an important factor
      in the interpretation of experimental data; interestingly, there is at present no
      detailed microscopic understanding of the underlying fragmentation dynamics. 

PMID- 27634258
TI  - A highly accurate ab initio potential energy surface for methane.
AB  - A new nine-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) for methane has been
      generated using state-of-the-art ab initio theory. The PES is based on explicitly
      correlated coupled cluster calculations with extrapolation to the complete basis
      set limit and incorporates a range of higher-level additive energy corrections.
      These include core-valence electron correlation, higher-order coupled cluster
      terms beyond perturbative triples, scalar relativistic effects, and the diagonal
      Born-Oppenheimer correction. Sub-wavenumber accuracy is achieved for the majority
      of experimentally known vibrational energy levels with the four fundamentals of
      (12)CH4 reproduced with a root-mean-square error of 0.70 cm(-1). The computed ab
      initio equilibrium C-H bond length is in excellent agreement with previous values
      despite pure rotational energies displaying minor systematic errors as J
      (rotational excitation) increases. It is shown that these errors can be
      significantly reduced by adjusting the equilibrium geometry. The PES represents
      the most accurate ab initio surface to date and will serve as a good starting
      point for empirical refinement. 

PMID- 27634259
TI  - Impact of metal ion's charge on the interatomic Coulombic decay widths in
      microsolvated clusters.
AB  - Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) is an efficient electronic decay mechanism of
      electronically excited atoms and molecules embedded in an environment. For the
      series of isoelectronic Na(+), Mg(2+), and Al(3+) ions in aqueous solution,
      ultrashort ICD lifetimes of 3.1 fs, 1.5 fs, and 0.9 fs, respectively, were
      observed experimentally. The magnitude of the ICD lifetimes and their variation
      within the series were qualitatively explained by shortening metal-oxygen
      equilibrium distances and the increasing polarization of the water molecules as
      the metal's charge grows. We carried out an extensive ab initio investigation of
      the variation of the ICD widths with the metal-oxygen distances and the number of
      water neighbors in Na(+)-(H2O)m (m = 1-4) and Mg(2+)-(H2O)n (n = 1-6) clusters
      including and excluding polarization effects in the decaying state. We
      demonstrated that the effect of the induced polarization of the water ligand and
      the equilibrium cation-oxygen distance are equally important in determining the
      ordering and ratios of the ICD lifetimes in the series. Moreover, we showed that
      the induced polarization of the water molecules leads to a slower than linear
      growth of ICD width with the number of equivalent water neighbors; the non
      linearity is stronger for Mg(2+). The ab initio ICD widths in microsolvated Na(+)
      (H2O)4 and Mg(2+)-(H2O)6 clusters are found to be in good agreement with the
      experimental values. 

PMID- 27634260
TI  - Velocity map imaging of OH radical products from IR activated (CH3)2COO Criegee
      intermediates.
AB  - The unimolecular dissociation dynamics of the dimethyl-substituted Criegee
      intermediate (CH3)2COO is examined experimentally using velocity map imaging to
      ascertain the translational and internal energy distributions of the OH and
      H2CC(CH3)O radical products. The energy profile of key features along the
      reaction coordinate is also evaluated theoretically. Unimolecular decay of
      (CH3)2COO is initiated by vibrational activation in the CH stretch overtone
      region and the resultant OH X(2)Pi3/2 (v = 0) products are state-selectively
      ionized and imaged. Analysis reveals an isotropic spatial distribution,
      indicative of a 3 ps lower limit for the timescale of dissociation, and a broad
      and unstructured total kinetic energy release distribution. The energy released
      to products is partitioned principally as internal excitation of the H2CC(CH3)O
      fragments with modest translational excitation of the fragments and a small
      degree of OH rotational excitation. The total kinetic energy release distribution
      observed for (CH3)2COO is compared with that predicted for statistical
      partitioning over product quantum states, and contrasted with recent experimental
      and quasi-classical trajectory results for syn-CH3CHOO [N. M. Kidwell et al.,
      Nat. Chem. 8, 509 (2016)]. 

PMID- 27634261
TI  - On the (N, Z) dependence of the second-order Moller-Plesset correlation energies
      for closed-shell atomic systems.
AB  - Accurate Moller-Plesset (MP2) correlation energies calculated by means of the
      variational-perturbation and the finite-element methods are presented for several
      members of the Cu(+) isoelectronic series (N = 28), which represent closed-shell
      systems containing for the first time the 3d(10)-electron configuration and,
      consequently, closed M-shell. Total MP2 energies as well as their inner- and
      inter-shell components are reported for Cu(+), Zn(2+), Ge(4+), Kr(8+), Sr(10+),
      and Cd(20+). We found that for these ions the Z-dependence of the total MP2
      energies is significantly weaker than for the members of the Ar-like series. The
      origin of this fact is rationalized by a detailed analysis performed at the
      levels of the shell- and inter-shell contributions to the MP2 energies. To get,
      for the first time, more general information about the (N, Z) characteristics of
      the MP2 energies for closed-shell atomic systems, we compare the Z-dependence of
      the Cu(+)-like systems with the MP2 energies calculated for other isoelectronic
      series. The weak Z-dependence is found for the He-, Ne-, and Cu(+)-like series,
      which consist of atoms having perfectly closed-shell K-, KL-, and KLM-electronic
      structures, respectively. In turn, for the Be-, Mg-, and Ar-series, the Z
      dependence is considerably stronger. 

PMID- 27634262
TI  - Far-infrared amide IV-VI spectroscopy of isolated 2- and 4-Methylacetanilide.
AB  - Delocalized molecular vibrations in the far-infrared and THz ranges are highly
      sensitive to the molecular structure, as well as to intra- and inter-molecular
      interactions. Thus, spectroscopic studies of biomolecular structures can greatly
      benefit from an extension of the conventional mid-infrared to the far-infrared
      wavelength range. In this work, the conformer-specific gas-phase far-infrared
      spectra of two aromatic molecules containing the peptide -CO-NH- link, namely, 2-
      and 4-Methylacetanilide, are investigated. The planar conformations with trans
      configuration of the peptide link have only been observed in the supersonic-jet
      expansion. The corresponding far-infrared signatures associated with the
      vibrations of the peptide -CO-NH- moiety, the so-called amide IV-VI bands, have
      been assigned and compared with the results of density functional theory
      frequency calculations based on the anharmonic vibrational second-order
      perturbation theory approach. The analysis of the experimental and theoretical
      data shows that the amide IV-VI bands are highly diagnostic for the geometry of
      the peptide moiety and the molecular backbone. They are also strongly blue
      shifted upon formation of the NH?O-C hydrogen bonding, which is, for example,
      responsible for the formation of secondary protein structures. Furthermore, the
      amide IV-VI bands are also diagnostic for the cis configuration of the peptide
      link, which can be present in cyclic peptides. The experimental gas-phase data
      presented in this work can assist the vibrational assignment of similar
      biologically important systems, either isolated or in natural environments. 

PMID- 27634264
TI  - On the state selection of linear triatomic molecules by electrostatic hexapole
      fields.
AB  - Electrostatic hexapole state-selector is a versatile tool in experimental
      stereodynamics. The requirement of appropriate models to correctly predict the
      behavior of molecules in the hexapole motivated us to realize a treatment that
      predicts the Stark effect of linear triatomic molecules with rotational doublet
      states. Various perturbative approximations are conventionally adopted to obtain
      analytic Stark energy derivatives of a truncated Hamiltonian matrix, without
      utilizing numerical diagonalization of the full Hamiltonian matrix. By including
      both the low and high field effects, which were alternatively ignored in the
      analytical formulae of such approximate approaches, herein we demonstrate that
      the performance of hexapole state selector to linear triatomic molecules can be
      appropriately predicted via Van Vleck transformation. This method can provide
      analytic Stark energy derivatives that are acceptably in consistent with the ones
      obtained via numerical diagonalization of the full Hamiltonian matrix.
      Particularly, this work is suitable for v2 = 1 level of linear triatomic
      molecules, due to the following reasons: (1) the Stark energy derivative and the
      molecular orientation as a function of the electric field are expressed in
      analytical formulae, hence it is suitable for implementation without involving
      numerical diagonalization of the full Hamiltonian matrix; (2) a better prediction
      of the focusing curves with respect to conventional analytical treatments is
      provided, allowing a reliable determination of the selected state compositions
      and molecular orientation. 

PMID- 27634263
TI  - Computational characterization of competing energy and electron transfer states
      in bimetallic donor-acceptor systems for photocatalytic conversion.
AB  - The rapidly growing interest in photocatalytic systems for direct solar fuel
      production such as hydrogen generation from water splitting is grounded in the
      unique opportunity to achieve charge separation in molecular systems provided by
      electron transfer processes. In general, both photoinduced and catalytic
      processes involve complicated dynamics that depend on both structural and
      electronic effects. Here the excited state landscape of metal centered light
      harvester-catalyst pairs is explored using density functional theory
      calculations. In weakly bound systems, the interplay between structural and
      electronic factors involved can be constructed from the various mononuclear
      relaxed excited states. For this study, supramolecular states of electron
      transfer and excitation energy transfer character have been constructed from
      constituent full optimizations of multiple charge/spin states for a set of three
      Ru-based light harvesters and nine transition metal catalysts (based on Ru, Rh,
      Re, Pd, and Co) in terms of energy, structure, and electronic properties. The
      complete set of combined charge-spin states for each donor-acceptor system
      provides information about the competition of excited state energy transfer
      states with the catalytically active electron transfer states, enabling the
      identification of the most promising candidates for photocatalytic applications
      from this perspective. 

PMID- 27634265
TI  - Molecular simulation of the thermodynamic, structural, and vapor-liquid
      equilibrium properties of neon.
AB  - The thermodynamic, structural, and vapor-liquid equilibrium properties of neon
      are comprehensively studied using ab initio, empirical, and semi-classical
      intermolecular potentials and classical Monte Carlo simulations. Path integral
      Monte Carlo simulations for isochoric heat capacity and structural properties are
      also reported for two empirical potentials and one ab initio potential. The
      isobaric and isochoric heat capacities, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal
      pressure coefficient, isothermal and adiabatic compressibilities, Joule-Thomson
      coefficient, and the speed of sound are reported and compared with experimental
      data for the entire range of liquid densities from the triple point to the
      critical point. Lustig's thermodynamic approach is formally extended for
      temperature-dependent intermolecular potentials. Quantum effects are incorporated
      using the Feynman-Hibbs quantum correction, which results in significant
      improvement in the accuracy of predicted thermodynamic properties. The new
      Feynman-Hibbs version of the Hellmann-Bich-Vogel potential predicts the isochoric
      heat capacity to an accuracy of 1.4% over the entire range of liquid densities.
      It also predicts other thermodynamic properties more accurately than alternative
      intermolecular potentials. 

PMID- 27634266
TI  - Isotope effects in liquid water probed by transmission mode x-ray absorption
      spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge.
AB  - The effects of isotope substitution in liquid water are probed by x-ray
      absorption spectroscopy at the O K-edge as measured in transmission mode.
      Confirming earlier x-ray Raman scattering experiments, the D2O spectrum is found
      to be blue shifted with respect to H2O, and the D2O spectrum to be less
      broadened. Following the earlier interpretations of UV and x-ray Raman spectra,
      the shift is related to the difference in ground-state zero-point energies
      between D2O and H2O, while the difference in broadening is related to the
      difference in ground-state vibrational zero-point distributions. We demonstrate
      that the transmission-mode measurements allow for determining the spectral shapes
      with unprecedented accuracy. Owing in addition to the increased spectral
      resolution and signal to noise ratio compared to the earlier measurements, the
      new data enable the stringent determination of blue shift and broadening in the O
      K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum of liquid water upon isotope substitution. The
      results are compared to UV absorption data, and it is discussed to which extent
      they reflect the differences in zero-point energies and vibrational zero-point
      distributions in the ground-states of the liquids. The influence of the shape of
      the final-state potential, inclusion of the Franck-Condon structure, and
      differences between liquid H2O and D2O resulting from different hydrogen-bond
      environments in the liquids are addressed. The differences between the O K-edge
      absorption spectra of water from our transmission-mode measurements and from the
      state-of-the-art x-ray Raman scattering experiments are discussed in addition.
      The experimentally extracted values of blue shift and broadening are proposed to
      serve as a test for calculations of ground-state zero-point energies and
      vibrational zero-point distributions in liquid H2O and D2O. This clearly
      motivates the need for new calculations of the O K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum
      of liquid water. 

PMID- 27634267
TI  - Thermodynamic scaling of glassy dynamics and dynamic heterogeneities in metallic
      glass-forming liquid.
AB  - A ternary metallic glass-forming liquid is found to be not strongly correlating
      thermodynamically, but its average dynamics, dynamic heterogeneities including
      the high order dynamic correlation length, and static structure are still well
      described by thermodynamic scaling with the same scaling exponent gamma. This may
      indicate that the metallic liquid could be treated as a single-parameter liquid.
      As an intrinsic material constant stemming from the fundamental interatomic
      interactions, gamma is theoretically predicted from the thermodynamic
      fluctuations of the potential energy and the virial. Although gamma is
      conventionally understood merely from the repulsive part of the inter-particle
      potentials, the strong correlation between gamma and the Gruneisen parameter up
      to the accuracy of the Dulong-Petit approximation demonstrates the important
      roles of anharmonicity and attractive force of the interatomic potential in
      governing glass transition of metallic glassformers. These findings may shed
      light on how to understand metallic glass formation from the fundamental
      interatomic interactions. 

PMID- 27634268
TI  - Equilibrium fluctuations of liquid state static properties in a subvolume by
      molecular dynamics.
AB  - System property fluctuations increasingly dominate a physical process as the
      sampling volume decreases. The purpose of this work is to explore how the
      fluctuation statistics of various thermodynamic properties depend on the sampling
      volume, using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. First an examination of
      various expressions for calculating the bulk pressure of a bulk liquid is made,
      which includes a decomposition of the virial expression into two terms, one of
      which is the Method of Planes (MOP) applied to the faces of the cubic simulation
      cell. Then an analysis is made of the fluctuations of local density, temperature,
      pressure, and shear stress as a function of sampling volume (SV). Cubic and
      spherical shaped SVs were used within a spatially homogeneous LJ liquid at a
      state point along the melting curve. It is shown that the MD-generated
      probability distribution functions (PDFs) of all of these properties are to a
      good approximation Gaussian even for SV containing only a few molecules (~10),
      with the variances being inversely proportional to the SV volume, Omega. For
      small subvolumes the shear stress PDF fits better to a Gaussian than the pressure
      PDF. A new stochastic sampling technique to implement the volume averaging
      definition of the pressure tensor is presented, which is employed for cubic,
      spherical, thin cubic, and spherical shell SV. This method is more efficient for
      less symmetric SV shapes. 

PMID- 27634269
TI  - Effect of van der Waals interactions on the chemisorption and physisorption of
      phenol and phenoxy on metal surfaces.
AB  - The adsorption of phenol and phenoxy on the (111) surface of Au and Pt has been
      investigated by density functional theory calculations with the conventional PBE
      functional and three different non-local van der Waals (vdW) exchange and
      correlation functionals. It is found that both phenol and phenoxy on Au(111) are
      physisorbed. In contrast, phenol on Pt(111) presents an adsorption energy profile
      with a stable chemisorption state and a weakly metastable physisorbed precursor.
      While the use of vdW functionals is essential to determine the correct binding
      energy of both chemisorption and physisorption states, the relative stability and
      existence of an energy barrier between them depend on the semi-local
      approximations in the functionals. The first dissociation mechanism of phenol,
      yielding phenoxy and atomic hydrogen, has been also investigated, and the
      reaction and activation energies of the resulting phenoxy on the flat surfaces of
      Au and Pt were discussed. 

PMID- 27634270
TI  - Electrolyte-gated charge transport in molecularly linked gold nanoparticle films:
      The transition from a Mott insulator to an exotic metal with strong electron
      electron interactions.
AB  - Strong electron-electron interactions experienced by electrons as they delocalize
      are widely believed to play a key role in a range of remarkable phenomena such as
      high Tc superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, and others. Strongly
      correlated electrons are often described by the Hubbard model, which is the
      simplest description of a correlated system and captures important gross features
      of phase diagrams of strongly correlated materials. However, open challenges in
      this field include experimentally mapping correlated electron phenomena beyond
      those captured by the Hubbard model, and extending the model accordingly. Here we
      use electrolyte gating to study a metal-insulator transition (MIT) in a new class
      of strongly correlated material, namely, nanostructured materials, using 1,4
      butanedithiol-linked Au nanoparticle films (NPFs) as an example. Electrolyte
      gating provides a means for tuning the chemical potential of the materials over a
      wide range, without significantly modifying film morphology. On the insulating
      side of the transition, we observe Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping and a
      soft Coulomb gap, evidencing the importance of Coulomb barriers. On the metallic
      side of the transition, we observe signatures of strong disorder mediated
      electron-electron correlations. Gating films near MIT also reveal a zero-bias
      conductance peak, which we attribute to a resonance at the Fermi level predicted
      by the Hubbard and Anderson impurity models when electrons delocalize and
      experience strong Coulomb electron-electron interactions. This study shows that
      by enabling large changes in carrier density, electrolyte gating of Au NPFs is a
      powerful means for tuning through the Hubbard MIT in NPFs. By revealing the range
      of behaviours that strongly correlated electrons can exhibit, this platform can
      guide the development of an improved understanding of correlated materials. 

PMID- 27634271
TI  - A molecular dynamics simulations study on ethylene glycol-water mixtures in
      mesoporous silica.
AB  - We perform molecular dynamics simulations to investigate structural and dynamical
      properties of ethylene glycol-water (EG-WA) mixtures in mesoporous silica. To
      obtain comprehensive insights into the dependence of liquid behaviors on the
      confinement features, we exploit that straightforward modification of the force
      field parameters allows us to vary the properties of the hydrogen-bond network of
      the confined liquid, we alter the polarity of the silica surface, and we consider
      amorphous as well as crystalline matrices. It is observed that the confinement
      induces a micro-phase separation in the liquid, which qualitatively depends on
      the properties of both liquid and matrix so that EG or WA molecules may be
      preferentially adsorbed at the silica surface. Furthermore, it is found that the
      confinement strongly affects the liquid dynamics. Largely independent of the
      polarity and structure of the matrix, structural relaxation is about a factor of
      10(4) slower at the pore wall than in the pore center. Moreover, the non
      Arrhenius temperature dependence of the bulk mixture turns into an Arrhenius
      behavior of the confined mixture so that the spatial restriction can slow down or
      speed up the structural relaxation, depending on temperature. 

PMID- 27634272
TI  - Ballistic effects on the copper precipitation and re-dissolution kinetics in an
      ion irradiated and thermally annealed Fe-Cu alloy.
AB  - Studies of solute precipitation and precipitate phase stability in nuclear
      structural materials under concurrent irradiation and heat often lead to
      contradictory results due to the complex nature of the phenomena which is far
      from well understood. Here, we present a comprehensive atomistically based
      continuum model for the copper precipitation and re-dissolution kinetics in an
      ion irradiated and thermally annealed Fe-0.78 at. % Cu alloy. Our model
      incorporates thermal and irradiation enhanced diffusion of atomic Cu, clustering
      of Cu into sub-nanometer and nanometer sized precipitates, thermal dissociation
      of the precipitates and, in particular, a cascade re-dissolution parameter that
      has been made available by recent molecular dynamics simulations. Our model
      suggests that the Cu precipitates may form, re-dissolve, or coarsen under
      different irradiation and thermal conditions depending on the competition between
      the thermal and the ballistic effects. The quantitative predictions of our model
      are compared with available experiments including limited atom probe tomography
      data acquired in this study. The work highlights the importance of combining
      thermal and ballistic effects in the understanding of phase stability in extreme
      nuclear environments. 

PMID- 27634273
TI  - Relaxation dynamics of multilayer triangular Husimi cacti.
AB  - We focus on the relaxation dynamics of multilayer polymer structures having, as
      underlying topology, the Husimi cactus. The relaxation dynamics of the multilayer
      structures is investigated in the framework of generalized Gaussian structures
      model using both Rouse and Zimm approaches. In the Rouse type-approach, we
      determine analytically the complete eigenvalues spectrum and based on it we
      calculate the mechanical relaxation moduli (storage and loss modulus) and the
      average monomer displacement. First, we monitor these physical quantities for
      structures with a fixed generation number and we increase the number of layers,
      such that the linear topology will smoothly come into play. Second, we keep
      constant the size of the structures, varying simultaneously two parameters: the
      generation number of the main layer, G, and the number of layers, c. This fact
      allows us to study in detail the crossover from a pure Husimi cactus behavior to
      a predominately linear chain behavior. The most interesting situation is found
      when the two limiting topologies cancel each other. For this case, we encounter
      in the intermediate frequency/time domain regions of constant slope for different
      values of the parameter set (G, c) and we show that the number of layers follows
      an exponential-law of G. In the Zimm-type approach, which includes the
      hydrodynamic interactions, the quantities that describe the mechanical relaxation
      dynamics do not show scaling behavior as in the Rouse model, except the limiting
      case, namely, a very high number of layers and low generation number. 

PMID- 27634274
TI  - Molecular ordering of PAH/MA-co-DR13 azopolymer layer-by-layer films probed by
      second-harmonic generation.
AB  - Molecular orientation within azopolymer thin films is important for their
      nonlinear optical properties and photonic applications. We have used optical
      second-harmonic generation (SHG) to study the molecular orientation of Layer-by
      Layer (LbL) films of a cationic polyelectrolyte (poly(allylamine hydrochloride))
      and an anionic polyelectrolyte containing azochromophore side groups (MA-co-DR13)
      on a glass substrate. The SHG measurements indicate that there is a preferential
      orientation of the azochromophores in the film, leading to a significant optical
      nonlinearity. However, both the signal strength and its anisotropy are not
      homogeneous throughout the sample, indicating the presence of large orientational
      domains. This is corroborated with Brewster angle microscopy. The average SHG
      signal does not increase with film thickness, in contrast to some reports in the
      literature, indicating an independent orientational order for successive
      bilayers. Analyzing the SHG signal as a function of the input and output
      polarizations, a few parameters of the azochromophore orientational distribution
      can be deduced. Fitting the SHG signal to a simple model distribution, we have
      concluded that the chromophores have an angular distribution with a slight in
      plane anisotropy and a mean polar angle ranging from 45 degrees  to 80 degrees 
      with respect to substrate normal direction, with a relatively large width of
      about 25 degrees . These results show that SHG is a powerful technique for a
      detailed investigation of the molecular orientation in azopolymer LbL films,
      allowing a deeper understanding of their self-assembling mechanism and nonlinear
      optical properties. The inhomogeneity and anisotropy of these films may have
      important consequences for their applications in nonlinear optical devices. 

PMID- 27634275
TI  - A pressure-transferable coarse-grained potential for modeling the shock Hugoniot
      of polyethylene.
AB  - We investigate the thermomechanical response of semi-crystalline polyethylene
      under shock compression by performing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using a
      new coarse-graining scheme inspired by the embedded atom method. The coarse
      graining scheme combines the iterative Boltzmann inversion method and least
      squares optimization to parameterize interactions between coarse-grained sites,
      including a many-body potential energy designed to improve the representability
      of the model across a wide range of thermodynamic states. We demonstrate that a
      coarse-grained model of polyethylene, calibrated to match target structural and
      thermodynamic data generated from isothermal MD simulations at different
      pressures, can also accurately predict the shock Hugoniot response. Analysis of
      the rise in temperature along the shock Hugoniot and comparison with analytical
      predictions from the Mie-Gruneisen equation of state are performed to thoroughly
      explore the thermodynamic consistency of the model. As the coarse-graining model
      affords nearly two orders of magnitude reduction in simulation time compared to
      all-atom MD simulations, the proposed model can help identify how nanoscale
      structure in semi-crystalline polymers, such as polyethylene, influences
      mechanical behavior under extreme loading. 

PMID- 27634276
TI  - Dynamic elastic moduli in magnetic gels: Normal modes and linear response.
AB  - In the perspective of developing smart hybrid materials with customized features,
      ferrogels and magnetorheological elastomers allow a synergy of elasticity and
      magnetism. The interplay between elastic and magnetic properties gives rise to a
      unique reversible control of the material behavior by applying an external
      magnetic field. Albeit few works have been performed on the time-dependent
      properties so far, understanding the dynamic behavior is the key to model many
      practical situations, e.g., applications as vibration absorbers. Here we present
      a way to calculate the frequency-dependent elastic moduli based on the
      decomposition of the linear response to an external stress in normal modes. We
      use a minimal three-dimensional dipole-spring model to theoretically describe the
      magnetic and elastic interactions on the mesoscopic level. Specifically, the
      magnetic particles carry permanent magnetic dipole moments and are spatially
      arranged in a prescribed way, before they are linked by elastic springs. An
      external magnetic field aligns the magnetic moments. On the one hand, we study
      regular lattice-like particle arrangements to compare with previous results in
      the literature. On the other hand, we calculate the dynamic elastic moduli for
      irregular, more realistic particle distributions. Our approach measures the
      tunability of the linear dynamic response as a function of the particle
      arrangement, the system orientation with respect to the external magnetic field,
      as well as the magnitude of the magnetic interaction between the particles. The
      strength of the present approach is that it explicitly connects the relaxational
      modes of the system with the rheological properties as well as with the internal
      rearrangement of the particles in the sample, providing new insight into the
      dynamics of these remarkable materials. 

PMID- 27634277
TI  - Assessment of the micro-structure and depletion potentials in two-dimensional
      binary mixtures of additive hard-disks.
AB  - Depletion forces are a particular class of effective interactions that have been
      mainly investigated in binary mixtures of hard-spheres in bulk. Although there
      are a few contributions that point toward the effects of confinement on the
      depletion potential, little is known about such entropic potentials in two
      dimensional colloidal systems. From theoretical point of view, the problem
      resides in the fact that there is no general formulation of depletion forces in
      arbitrary dimensions and, typically, any approach that works well in three
      dimensions has to be reformulated for lower dimensionality. However, we have
      proposed a theoretical framework, based on the formalism of contraction of the
      description within the integral equations theory of simple liquids, to account
      for effective interactions in colloidal liquids, whose main feature is that it
      does not need to be readapted to the problem under consideration. We have also
      shown that such an approach allows one to determine the depletion pair potential
      in three-dimensional colloidal mixtures even near to the demixing transition,
      provided the bridge functions are sufficiently accurate to correctly describe the
      spatial correlation between colloids [E. Lopez-Sanchez et al., J. Chem. Phys.
      139, 104908 (2013)]. We here report an extensive analysis of the structure and
      the entropic potentials in binary mixtures of additive hard-disks. In particular,
      we show that the same functional form of the modified-Verlet closure relation
      used in three dimensions can be straightforwardly employed to obtain an accurate
      solution for two-dimensional colloidal mixtures in a wide range of packing
      fractions, molar fractions, and size asymmetries. Our theoretical results are
      explicitly compared with the ones obtained by means of event-driven molecular
      dynamics simulations and recent experimental results. Furthermore, to assess the
      accuracy of our predictions, the depletion potentials are used in an effective
      one-component model to reproduce the structure of either the big or the small
      disks. This demonstrates the robustness of our theoretical scheme even in two
      dimensions. 

PMID- 27634278
TI  - Kinetics of fragmentation and dissociation of two-strand protein filaments:
      Coarse-grained simulations and experiments.
AB  - While a significant body of investigations have been focused on the process of
      protein self-assembly, much less is understood about the reverse process of a
      filament breaking due to thermal motion into smaller fragments, or
      depolymerization of subunits from the filament ends. Indirect evidence for actin
      and amyloid filament fragmentation has been reported, although the phenomenon has
      never been directly observed either experimentally or in simulations. Here we
      report the direct observation of filament depolymerization and breakup in a
      minimal, calibrated model of coarse-grained molecular simulation. We quantify the
      orders of magnitude by which the depolymerization rate from the filament ends
      koff is larger than fragmentation rate k- and establish the law koff/k- =
      exp[(epsilon|| - epsilon?)/kBT] = exp[0.5epsilon/kBT], which accounts for the
      topology and energy of bonds holding the filament together. This mechanism and
      the order-of-magnitude predictions are well supported by direct experimental
      measurements of depolymerization of insulin amyloid filaments. 

PMID- 27634279
TI  - Note: Chain length dependent nanoparticle diffusion in polymer melt: Effect of
      nanoparticle softness.

PMID- 27634281
TI  - Increased Expression of P-Glycoprotein Is Associated With Chlorpyrifos Resistance
      in the German Cockroach (Blattodea: Blattellidae).
AB  - A principal method for control of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.),
      is the broad-spectrum organophosphorus insecticide, chlorpyrifos (O,O-diethyl O
      3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl phosphorothioate); however, extensive and repeated
      application has resulted in the development of resistance to chlorpyrifos in this
      insect. Evidence suggests that ATP-binding cassette protein transporters,
      including P-glycoprotein, are involved in insecticide resistance. However, little
      is known of the role of P-glycoprotein in insecticide resistance in the German
      cockroach. Here, we developed a chlorpyrifos-resistant strain of German cockroach
      and investigated the relationship between P-glycoprotein and chlorpyrifos
      resistance using toxicity assays; inhibition studies with two P-glycoprotein
      inhibitors, verapamil and quinine; P-glycoprotein-ATPase activity assays; and
      western blotting analysis. After 23 generations of selection from susceptible
      strain cockroaches, we obtained animals with high resistance to chlorpyrifos.
      When P-glycoprotein-ATPase activity was inhibited by verapamil and quinine, we
      observed enhanced susceptibility to chlorpyrifos in both control and chlorpyrifos
      resistant cockroaches. No significant alterations of P-glycoprotein expression or
      ATPase activity were observed in cockroaches acutely exposed to LD50 doses of
      chlorpyrifos for 24 h, while P-glycoprotein expression and ATPase activity were
      clearly elevated in the chlorpyrifos-resistant cockroach strain. Thus, we
      conclude that P-glycoprotein is associated with chlorpyrifos resistance in the
      German cockroach and that elevated levels of P-glycoprotein expression and ATPase
      activity may be an important mechanism of chlorpyrifos resistance in the German
      cockroach.

PMID- 27634282
TI  - Sex-Dependent Effects of Cadmium Exposure in Early Life on Gut Microbiota and Fat
      Accumulation in Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Environmental cadmium, with a high average dietary intake, is a
      severe public health risk. However, the long-term health implications of
      environmental exposure to cadmium in different life stages remain unclear.
      OBJECTIVES: We investigated the effects of early exposure to cadmium, at an
      environmentally relevant dosage, on adult metabolism and the mechanism of action.
      METHODS: We established mouse models with low-dose cadmium (LDC) exposure in
      early life to examine the long-term metabolic consequences. Intestinal flora
      measurement by 16S rDNA sequencing, microbial ecological analyses, and fecal
      microbiota transplant was conducted to explore the potential underlying
      mechanisms. RESULTS: Early LDC exposure (100 nM) led to fat accumulation in adult
      male mice. Hepatic genes profiling revealed that fatty acid and lipid metabolic
      processes were elevated. Gut microbiota were perturbed by LDC to cause diversity
      reduction and compositional alteration. Time-series studies indicated that the
      gut flora at early-life stages, especially at 8 weeks, were vulnerable to LDC and
      that an alteration during this period could contribute to the adult adiposity,
      even if the microbiota recovered later. The importance of intestinal bacteria in
      LDC-induced fat accumulation was further confirmed through microbiota
      transplantation and removal experiments. Moreover, the metabolic effects of LDC
      were observed only in male, but not female, mice. CONCLUSIONS: An environmental
      dose of cadmium at early stages of life causes gut microbiota alterations,
      accelerates hepatic lipid metabolism, and leads to life-long metabolic
      consequences in a sex-dependent manner. These findings provide a better
      understanding of the health risk of cadmium in the environment. Citation: Ba Q,
      Li M, Chen P, Huang C, Duan X, Lu L, Li J, Chu R, Xie D, Song H, Wu Y, Ying H,
      Jia X, Wang H. 2017. Sex-dependent effects of cadmium exposure in early life on
      gut microbiota and fat accumulation in mice. Environ Health Perspect 125:437-446;
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP360.

PMID- 27634284
TI  - Prevalence of comorbidities in obese New Zealand children and adolescents at
      enrolment in a community-based obesity programme.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics at enrolment of
      children and adolescents referred to an obesity programme and to determine how
      the prevalence of comorbidities differed in Indigenous versus non-Indigenous
      children. METHODS: Participants were residents of a semi-rural region of New
      Zealand (NZ). Eligibility was defined by a body mass index (BMI) of >=98th
      percentile or >91st centile with weight-related comorbidities. Fasting blood,
      medical and physical assessments were obtained. RESULTS: During the recruitment
      period from January 2012 to August 2014, 239 participants, aged 4.8-16.8 years,
      undertook assessment. Average BMI standard deviation score was 3.09 (standard
      deviation (SD) = 0.60, range 1.52-5.34 SD). The majority of participants were of
      either Maori (NZ's indigenous people (45%)) or NZ European (45%) ethnicity; 29%
      of participants were from the most deprived quintile of household deprivation.
      Maori participants were more likely than NZ Europeans to have a mother who smoked
      during pregnancy (52% vs. 28%, P = 0.001), a family history of type 2 diabetes
      (66% vs. 53%, P = 0.04), acanthosis nigricans on examination (58% vs. 20%, P <
      0.0001), a low serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (27% vs. 14%, P = 0.03)
      or high serum triglyceride (38% vs. 24%, P = 0.03) concentration. CONCLUSION: The
      unique aspect of this study was the ability to recruit high levels of Maori
      participants and those from most deprived areas, indicating a high level of
      acceptability for these target groups. Comorbidities were prevalent in this
      cohort of overweight/obese school-aged children. While there were some
      differences in comorbidity prevalence between Maori and NZ Europeans, the overall
      clinical picture in our cohort, irrespective of ethnicity, was of concern.

PMID- 27634285
TI  - Excited State Modulation for Organic Afterglow: Materials and Applications.
AB  - Organic afterglow materials, developed recently by breaking through the
      difficulties in modulating ultrafast-decayed excited states, exhibit ultralong
      lived emission for persistent luminescence with lifetimes of several orders of
      magnitude longer than traditional fluorescent and phosphorescent emissions at
      room temperature. Their exceptional properties, namely ultralong luminescent
      lifetime, large Stokes shifts, facile excited state transformation, and
      environmentally sensitive emission, have led to a diverse range of advanced
      optoelectronic applications. Here, the organic afterglow is reviewed from the
      perspective of fundamental concepts on both phenomenon and mechanism, examining
      the technical challenges in relation to excited state tuning and lifetime
      elongation. In particular, the advances in material design strategies that afford
      a large variety of organic afterglow materials for a broad utility in
      optoelectronics including lighting and displays, anti-counterfeiting, optical
      recording, chemical sensors and bio-imaging are highlighted.

PMID- 27634283
TI  - Improved Transgenic Mouse Model for Studying HLA Class I Antigen Presentation.
AB  - HLA class I (HLA-I) transgenic mice have proven to be useful models for studying
      human MHC-related immune responses over the last two decades. However,
      differences in the processing and presentation machinery between humans and mice
      may have profound effects on HLA-I restricted antigen presentation. In this
      study, we generated a novel human TAP-LMP (hTAP-LMP) gene cluster transgenic
      mouse model carrying an intact human TAP complex and two human immunoproteasome
      LMP subunits, PSMB8/PSMB9. By crossing the hTAP-LMP strain with different HLA-I
      transgenic mice, we found that the expression levels of human HLA-I molecules,
      especially the A3 supertype members (e.g., A11 and A33), were remarkably enhanced
      in corresponding HLA-I/hTAP-LMP transgenic mice. Moreover, we found that
      humanized processing and presentation machinery increased antigen presentation of
      HLA-A11-restricted epitopes and promoted the rapid reduction of hepatitis B virus
      (HBV) infection in HLA-A11/hTAP-LMP mice. Together, our study highlights that HLA
      I/hTAP-LMP mice are an improved model for studying antigen presentation of HLA-I
      molecules and their related CTL responses.

PMID- 27634286
TI  - Genome-wide positioning of bivalent mononucleosomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bivalent chromatin refers to overlapping regions containing
      activating histone H3 Lys4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) and inactivating H3K27me3
      marks. Existence of such bivalent marks on the same nucleosome has only recently
      been suggested. Previous genome-wide efforts to characterize bivalent chromatin
      have focused primarily on individual marks to define overlapping zones of
      bivalency rather than mapping positions of truly bivalent mononucleosomes.
      RESULTS: Here, we developed an efficacious sequential ChIP technique for
      examining global positioning of individual bivalent nucleosomes. Using next
      generation sequencing approaches we show that although individual H3K4me3 and
      H3K27me3 marks overlap in broad zones, bivalent nucleosomes are focally enriched
      in the vicinity of the transcription start site (TSS). These seem to occupy the
      H2A.Z nucleosome positions previously described as salt-labile nucleosomes, and
      are correlated with low gene expression. Although the enrichment profiles of
      bivalent nucleosomes show a clear dependency on CpG island content, they
      demonstrate a stark anti-correlation with methylation status. CONCLUSIONS: We
      show that regional overlap of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 chromatin tend to be upstream
      to the TSS, while bivalent nucleosomes with both marks are mainly promoter
      proximal near the TSS of CpG island-containing genes with poised/low expression.
      We discuss the implications of the focal enrichment of bivalent nucleosomes
      around the TSS on the poised chromatin state of promoters in stem cells.

PMID- 27634287
TI  - Rotational thromboelastometry can detect factor XIII deficiency and bleeding
      diathesis in patients with cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with progressive liver disease exhibit complex
      coagulation disorders. Factor XIII plays a crucial role in the last steps of
      haemostasis, and its deficiency is associated with an increased incidence of
      bleeding diathesis. However, current conventional coagulation tests cannot detect
      factor XIII deficiency. In this study, we examined factor XIII activity and the
      ability of rotational thromboelastometry to detect factor XIII deficiency and
      bleeding diathesis in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: We retrospectively
      studied 74 patients with cirrhosis, comparing the results of conventional
      coagulation tests (international normalized ratio, activated partial
      thromboplastin time, platelet count, fibrinogen level), rotational
      thromboelastometry, factor XIII activity and clinical scores. RESULTS: Patients
      with cirrhosis exhibited reduced factor XIII activity. Factor XIII activity was
      positively correlated with conventional coagulation parameters and rotational
      thromboelastometry values, such as maximum clot formation (MCF)extem (r=.48,
      P<.0001) and MCFfibtem (r=.60, P<.0001). However, maximum lysis (ML)extem and
      MLaptem were not correlated with factor XIII activity. Three-month mortality
      rates (P=.0469) and bleeding complications (P<.0001) were significantly
      associated with lower factor XIII activity. Patients with haemorrhage exhibited
      significantly altered rotational thromboelastometry values. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced
      levels of MCFextem and MCFfibtem but not high levels of MLextem and MLaptem are
      associated with factor XIII deficiency in patients with liver disease. Therefore,
      substituting factor XIII should be considered for such patients to strengthen
      clot formation in patients experiencing haemorrhage or those who have undergone
      interventions.

PMID- 27634288
TI  - Within-Day Time-Varying Associations Between Behavioral Cognitions and Physical
      Activity in Adults.
AB  - This study used time-varying effect modeling to examine time-of-day differences
      in how behavioral cognitions predict subsequent physical activity (PA). Adults (N
      = 116) participated in three 4-day "bursts" of ecological momentary assessment
      (EMA). Participants were prompted with eight EMA questionnaires per day assessing
      behavioral cognitions (i.e., intentions, self-efficacy, outcome expectations) and
      wore an accelerometer during waking hours. Subsequent PA was operationalized as
      accelerometer-derived minutes of moderate- or vigorousintensity PA in the 2 hr
      following the EMA prompt. On weekdays, intentions positively predicted subsequent
      PA in the morning (9:25 a.m.-11:45 a.m.) and in the evening (8:15 p.m.-10:00
      p.m.). Self-efficacy positively predicted subsequent PA on weekday evenings (7:35
      p.m.-10:00 p.m.). Outcome expectations were unrelated to subsequent PA on
      weekdays. On weekend days, behavior cognitions and subsequent PA were unrelated
      regardless of time of day. This study identifies windows of opportunity and
      vulnerability for motivation-based PA interventions aiming to deliver
      intervention content within the context of adults' daily lives.

PMID- 27634289
TI  - 3D X-Ray Nanotomography of Cells Grown on Electrospun Scaffolds.
AB  - Here, it is demonstrated that X-ray nanotomography with Zernike phase contrast
      can be used for 3D imaging of cells grown on electrospun polymer scaffolds. The
      scaffold fibers and cells are simultaneously imaged, enabling the influence of
      scaffold architecture on cell location and morphology to be studied. The high
      resolution enables subcellular details to be revealed. The X-ray imaging
      conditions were optimized to reduce scan times, making it feasible to scan
      multiple regions of interest in relatively large samples. An image processing
      procedure is presented which enables scaffold characteristics and cell location
      to be quantified. The procedure is demonstrated by comparing the ingrowth of
      cells after culture for 3 and 6 days.

PMID- 27634291
TI  - Pathogen metadata platform: software for accessing and analyzing pathogen strain
      information.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathogen metadata includes information about where and when a
      pathogen was collected and the type of environment it came from. Along with
      genomic nucleotide sequence data, this metadata is growing rapidly and becoming a
      valuable resource not only for research but for biosurveillance and public
      health. However, current freely available tools for analyzing this data are
      geared towards bioinformaticians and/or do not provide summaries and
      visualizations needed to readily interpret results. RESULTS: We designed a
      platform to easily access and summarize data about pathogen samples. The software
      includes a PostgreSQL database that captures metadata useful for disease outbreak
      investigations, and scripts for downloading and parsing data from NCBI BioSample
      and BioProject into the database. The software provides a user interface to query
      metadata and obtain standardized results in an exportable, tab-delimited format.
      To visually summarize results, the user interface provides a 2D histogram for
      user-selected metadata types and mapping of geolocated entries. The software is
      built on the LabKey data platform, an open-source data management platform, which
      enables developers to add functionalities. We demonstrate the use of the software
      in querying for a pathogen serovar and for genome sequence identifiers.
      CONCLUSIONS: This software enables users to create a local database for pathogen
      metadata, populate it with data from NCBI, easily query the data, and obtain
      visual summaries. Some of the components, such as the database, are modular and
      can be incorporated into other data platforms. The source code is freely
      available for download at https://github.com/wchangmitre/bioattribution .

PMID- 27634290
TI  - Investigating the binding mechanism of novel 6-aminonicotinate-based antagonists
      with P2Y12 by 3D-QSAR, docking and molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - P2Y12 receptor is an attractive target for the anti-platelet therapies, treating
      various thrombotic diseases. In this work, a total of 107 6-aminonicotinate-based
      compounds as potent P2Y12 antagonists were studies by a molecular modeling study
      combining three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D
      QSAR), molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the
      decisive binding conformations of these antagonists with P2Y12 and the structural
      features for the activity. The optimum CoMFA and CoMSIA models identified
      satisfactory robustness and good predictive ability, with R2 = .983, q2 = .805,
      [Formula: see text] = .881 for CoMFA model, and R2 = .935, q2 = .762, [Formula:
      see text] = .690 for CoMSIA model, respectively. The probable binding modes of
      compounds and key amino acid residues were revealed by molecular docking. MD
      simulations and MM/GBSA free energy calculations were further performed to
      validate the rationality of docking results and to compare the binding modes of
      several compound pairs with different activities, and the key residues (Val102,
      Tyr105, Tyr109, His187, Val190, Asn191, Phe252, His253, Arg256, Tyr259, Thr260,
      Val279, and Lys280) for the higher activity were pointed out. The binding energy
      decomposition indicated that the hydrophobic and hydrogen bond interactions play
      important roles for the binding of compounds to P2Y12. We hope these results
      could be helpful in design of potent and selective P2Y12 antagonists.

PMID- 27634292
TI  - The Lived Experience of Providing Care and Support Services for Holocaust
      Survivors in Australia.
AB  - Lack of awareness among paid carers of the possible late-life consequences of
      early-life periods of extreme and prolonged traumatization may have negative
      impacts on the experiences of trauma survivors in receiving care. An interpretive
      phenomenological approach was used to investigate the lived experience of paid
      carers in providing care for Jewish Holocaust survivors. In total, 70 carers
      participated in 10 focus group discussions. Credibility of the findings was
      ensured by methodological triangulation and peer debriefing. Three major themes
      emerged: (a) knowing about survivors' past helps me make sense of who they are,
      (b) the trauma adds an extra dimension to caregiving, and (c) caring for
      survivors has an emotional impact. Specific knowledge, attitudes, and skills for
      building positive care relationships with Holocaust survivors were identified.
      The findings offer a starting point for advancing knowledge about the care of
      older survivors from other refugee backgrounds.

PMID- 27634293
TI  - The Docent Method: A Grounded Theory Approach for Researching Place and Health.
AB  - To understand health, research needs to move outside of controlled research
      settings into the environments where health activities occur-homes, streets, and
      neighborhoods. I offer the docent method as a qualitative place-based approach
      for exploring health in a participant-driven, structured, and flexible way. The
      docent method is a participant-led, audiotaped, and photographed walking
      interview through broad "sites of interest" (SOIs). It is rooted in grounded
      theory and influenced by community-based participatory research and walking
      interviews. The three stages of the docent method involve: (a) a warm-up
      interview focusing on positionality, participant background, and mapping/planning
      SOIs; (b) a participant-led, photographed walking interview to and around the
      SOI; and (c) a wind-down interview in the community. I describe the
      methodological influences, development, and procedures of the docent method
      drawing from my own experiences conducting it with formerly homeless women living
      in permenant supportive housing in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.

PMID- 27634294
TI  - Qualitative Methods in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.
AB  - The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), created to fund
      research guided by patients, caregivers, and the broader health care community,
      offers a new research venue. Many (41 of 50) first funded projects involved
      qualitative research methods. This study was completed to examine the current
      state of the science of qualitative methodologies used in PCORI-funded research.
      Principal investigators participated in phenomenological interviews to learn (a)
      how do researchers using qualitative methods experience seeking funding for,
      implementing and disseminating their work; and (b) how may qualitative methods
      advance the quality and relevance of evidence for patients? Results showed the
      experience of doing qualitative research in the current research climate as
      "Being a bona fide qualitative researcher: Staying true to research aims while
      negotiating challenges," with overlapping patterns: (a) researching the
      elemental, (b) expecting surprise, and (c) pushing boundaries. The nature of
      qualitative work today was explicitly described and is rendered in this article.

PMID- 27634295
TI  - The Challenges of Participant Photography: A Critical Reflection on Methodology
      and Ethics in Two Cultural Contexts.
AB  - Photovoice and photo-elicitation are two common methods of participant
      photography used in health research. Although participatory photography has many
      benefits, this critical reflection provides fellow researchers with insights into
      the methodological and ethical challenges faced when using such methods. In this
      article, we critically reflect on two studies that used participatory photography
      in different cultural contexts. The first study used photo-elicitation to
      investigate mothers' experiences of infant settling in central Vietnam. The
      second study used photovoice to explore pregnant embodiment in Australia.
      Following a discussion of the literature and a detailed overview of the two
      studies, we examine the methodological challenges in using participant
      photography before, during and after each study. This is followed by a discussion
      of ethical concerns that arose in relation to the burden of participation,
      confidentiality, consent, and the photographing of families and children. To
      conclude, we highlight implications for using participatory photography in other
      settings.

PMID- 27634296
TI  - Recovery From Heart Attack, Biomedicalization, and the Production of a Contingent
      Health Citizenship.
AB  - In this article, I explore the experience of recovery from a heart attack through
      an analytic autoethnography. I discuss the tensions inherent in biomedical
      subjectivities of health and ill-health during cardiac recovery through three key
      themes: (a) the transfer of responsibility and becoming a subject "at risk," (b)
      technologies of biomedicine and the disciplining of subjectivities, and (c) the
      transformation of a body toward a new pharmaceuticalized bodily normal. Through
      an analysis driven by the biomedicalization thesis of Clarke, alongside work on
      biopower and the governmentality of health by Foucault, Rose, and Rabinow, I seek
      to provide new insights into the process of cardiac recovery and the relationship
      between individual experience and broader socio-political processes. Key to this
      analysis is a focus on the contingent subjectivities brought into being through
      biomedicalization that constitute a new form of health citizenship that is
      otherwise not accounted for in narratives of recovery.

PMID- 27634297
TI  - No evidence of firstly acquired acute hepatitis C virus infection outbreak among
      HIV-infected patients from Southern Spain: a multicentric retrospective study
      from 2000-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (AHCVI) outbreaks have been
      described recently within defined areas worldwide among HIV-infected homosexual
      men. This study aims to describe the cumulative frequency and incidence of
      firstly acquired AHCVI in an HIV-infected population in Southern Spain. METHODS:
      This is a retrospective study conducted at the Infectious Diseases Units of eight
      hospitals in Andalusia, Southern Spain. Primary AHC was considered as HCV
      immunoglobulin G antibody seroconversion. The time of infection was considered
      the moment between the last negative and the first positive HCV antibody
      determination. RESULTS: A total of 23 cases of primary AHCVI have been detected
      from 2000 to 2014. Incidence rates [IR; 95 % confidence interval (CI)] were 0.036
      (2.272-0.054) per 100 person-years (py) in the overall population over a follow
      up period of 64170 py. Of the 22 (95.7 %) male subjects, 21 (95.5 %) had acquired
      AHCVI by homosexual contact, the IR (95 % CI) was 0.039 (0.024-0.06) per 100 py
      in this subpopulation. There was no evidence of an increase of AHCVI IR. The
      incidence of AHCVI was slightly lower between 2000 and 2004 as compared to 2005
      2009 [IR ratio (IRR) of 8.8 (95 % CI: 1.279-378.794; p = 0.01)] but reached a
      plateau afterwards [IRR between 2010 and 2014 versus 2005-2009: 0.727 (0.286
      1.848; p = 0.5)]. The median (Q1-Q3) time between the last negative anti-HCV and
      the first positive anti-HCV determination was 4.7 (1.9-11.2) months. Peak (Q1-Q3)
      ALT and total bilirubin values during AHCVI were 496 (291-656) IU/mL and 1.15
      (0.9-1.98) mg/dL, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to what has been
      reported from other areas, the incidence of primary AHCVI in the HIV-infected
      population is stable in Southern Spain and there is no evidence of an epidemic,
      in spite of the high prevalence of HIV/HCV-coinfection in this area.

PMID- 27634298
TI  - The health and wellbeing of Australian farmers: a longitudinal cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Isolation, long work days, climate change and globalization are just
      some of the many pressures that make farming a vulnerable occupation for
      incurring mental health issues. The objective of this study was to determine
      whether farming in Australia is associated with poorer wellbeing, physical and
      mental health, and less health service use. METHODS: The Australian Rural Mental
      Health Study, a longitudinal cohort study was analysed over four time points
      comparing farmers with non-farming workers (n = 1184 at baseline). Participants
      were recruited from rural NSW, Australia. A number of physical, mental health,
      wellbeing, service use outcomes were assessed using generalised estimating
      equations including all waves in each model. Barriers to seeking help were also
      assessed. RESULTS: Farmers who lived remotely reported worse mental health (beta 
      0.33, 95 % CI -0.53, -0.13) and wellbeing (beta -0.21(95 % CI -0.35, -0.06) than
      remote non-farm workers regardless of financial hardship, rural specific factors
      eg drought worry, or recent adverse events. All farmers were no different to non
      farming workers on physical health aspects except for chronic illnesses, where
      they reported fewer illnesses (OR 0.66, 95 % CI 0.44, 0.98). All farmers were
      half as likely to visit a general practitioner (GP) or a mental health
      professional in the last 12 months as compared to non-farm workers regardless of
      location (OR 0.59, 95 % CI 0.35, 0.97). Rural workers felt that they preferred to
      manage themselves rather than access help for physical health needs (50 %) or
      mental health needs (75 %) and there was little difference between farmers and
      non-farm workers in reasons for not seeking help. CONCLUSIONS: Remoteness is a
      significant factor in the mental health and wellbeing of farmers, more so than
      financial stress, rural factors and recent adverse events. Creative programs and
      policies that improve access for farmers to GPs and mental health professionals
      should be supported.

PMID- 27634299
TI  - Observation of re-entrant spin reorientation in TbFe1-xMnxO3.
AB  - We report a spin reorientation from Gamma4(Gx, Ay, Fz) to Gamma1(Ax, Gy, Cz)
      magnetic configuration near room temperature and a re-entrant transition from
      Gamma1(Ax, Gy, Cz) to Gamma4(Gx, Ay, Fz) at low temperature in TbFe1-xMnxO3
      single crystals by performing both magnetization and neutron diffraction
      measurements. The Gamma4 - Gamma1 spin reorientation temperature can be enhanced
      to room temperature when x is around 0.5 ~ 0.6. These new transitions are
      distinct from the well-known Gamma4 - Gamma2 transition observed in TbFeO3, and
      the sinusoidal antiferromagnetism to complex spiral magnetism transition observed
      in multiferroic TbMnO3. We further study the evolution of magnetic entropy change
      (-DeltaSM) versus Mn concentration to reveal the mechanism of the re-entrant spin
      reorientation behavior and the complex magnetic phase at low temperature. The
      variation of -DeltaSM between a and c axes indicates the significant change of
      magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy in the TbFe1-xMnxO3 system. Furthermore, as
      Jahn-Teller inactive Fe(3+) ions coexist with Jahn-Teller active Mn(3+) ions,
      various anisotropy interactions, compete with each other, giving rise to a rich
      magnetic phase diagram. The large magnetocaloric effect reveals that the studied
      material could be a potential magnetic refrigerant. These findings expand our
      knowledge of spin reorientation phenomena and offer the alternative realization
      of spin-switching devices at room temperature in the rare-earth orthoferrites.

PMID- 27634300
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of melatonin in the reversal of LPS-induced EMT in
      peritoneal mesothelial cells.
AB  - Peritoneal dialysis (PD)-associated peritoneal fibrosis is a serious complication
      in patients with chronic renal failure on dialysis maintenance. Studies have
      shown that patients on long-term PD have chronic inflammation. The epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by inflammation is a major cause of
      peritoneal fibrosis and dysfunction. As a potent antioxidant property, melatonin
      has an antifibrotic effect. The present study investigated the effects of
      melatonin on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced EMT and examined the molecular
      mechanisms in peritoneal mesothelial cells using western blotting, reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining. The
      results of the study found that melatonin inhibited LPS-induced morphological
      changes, decreased the expression of LPS-induced markers of EMT, including
      vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin, and increased the expression of E
      cadherin. In addition, it was found that the action of melatonin was mediated
      through the inactivation of the Toll-like receptor (TLR)4/c-Jun N-terminal kinase
      and TLR4/nuclear factor-kappaB-Snail signaling pathways. Thus, these data
      provided novel insight into the mechanisms underlying the function of melatonin
      in peritoneal mesothelial cells during the processes of EMT, and may provide a
      theoretical basis for the treatment of peritoneal fibrosis.

PMID- 27634301
TI  - Identification of Doxorubicin as an Inhibitor of the IRE1alpha-XBP1 Axis of the
      Unfolded Protein Response.
AB  - Activation of the IRE1alpha-XBP1 branch of the unfolded protein response (UPR)
      has been implicated in multiple types of human cancers, including multiple
      myeloma (MM). Through an in silico drug discovery approach based on protein
      compound virtual docking, we identified the anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin
      as an in vitro and in vivo inhibitor of XBP1 activation, a previously unknown
      activity for this widely utilized cancer chemotherapeutic drug. Through a series
      of mechanistic and phenotypic studies, we showed that this novel activity of
      doxorubicin was not due to inhibition of topoisomerase II (Topo II). Consistent
      with its inhibitory activity on the IRE1alpha-XBP1 branch of the UPR, doxorubicin
      displayed more potent cytotoxicity against MM cell lines than other cancer cell
      lines that have lower basal IRE1alpha-XBP1 activity. In addition, doxorubicin
      significantly inhibited XBP1 activation in CD138(+) tumor cells isolated from MM
      patients. Our findings suggest that the UPR-modulating activity of doxorubicin
      may be utilized clinically to target IRE1alpha-XBP1-dependent tumors such as MM.

PMID- 27634303
TI  - UN urges broader access to drugs.

PMID- 27634302
TI  - Dynamic Protein Interactions of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 during
      Differentiation of Pluripotent Cells.
AB  - Polycomb proteins assemble to form complexes with important roles in epigenetic
      regulation. The Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) modulates the di- and tri
      methylation of lysine 27 on histone H3, each of which are associated with gene
      repression. Although three subunits, EZH1/2, SUZ12, and EED, form the catalytic
      core of PRC2, a wider group of proteins associate with low stoichiometry. This
      raises the question of whether dynamic variation of the PRC2 interactome results
      in alternative forms of the complex during differentiation. Here we compared the
      physical interactions of PRC2 in undifferentiated and differentiated states of
      NTERA2 pluripotent embryonic carcinoma cells. Label-free quantitative proteomics
      was used to assess endogenous immunoprecipitation of the EZH2 and SUZ12 subunits
      of PRC2. A high stringency data set reflecting the endogenous state of PRC2 was
      produced that included all previously reported core and associated PRC2
      components, and several novel interacting proteins. Comparison of the
      interactomes obtained in undifferentiated and differentiated cells revealed
      candidate proteins that were enriched in complexes isolated from one of the two
      states. For example, SALL4 and ZNF281 associate with PRC2 in pluripotent cells,
      whereas PCL1 and SMAD3 preferentially associate with PRC2 in differentiating
      cells. Analysis of the mRNA and protein levels of these factors revealed that
      their association with PRC2 correlated with their cell state-specific expression.
      Taken together, we propose that dynamic changes to the PRC2 interactome during
      differentiation may contribute to directing its activity during cell fate
      transitions.

PMID- 27634304
TI  - [Corrigendum] Estrogen receptor beta inhibits estradiol-induced proliferation and
      migration of MCF-7 cells through regulation of mitofusin 2.
AB  - Following the publication of this article, an interested reader drew to our
      attention an anomaly associated with Fig. 2, which presented the results of a
      wound-healing assay performed to determine whether estradiol (E2) was able to
      exert an influence on MCF-7 cell migration. Specifically, in comparing the
      'Control' and the '10-8/mol/l' panels, the data for the 'Control' panel had
      erroneously been included as the '10-8/mol/l' panel, albeit the latter panel
      appeared in a slightly reorientated position and was stretched longitudinally.
      After having re-examined our original data, we realize that the inclusion of the
      identical data for the '10-8/mol/l' panel was incorrect. Subsequently, we have re
      captured the images, and a corrected version of Fig. 2 is presented here. The
      Figure now correctly demonstrates that E2 enhanced cell motility in a dose
      dependent manner in the concentration range of E2 from 10-9 mol/l to 10-6 mol/l.
      This error did not overall affect the conclusions reported in the study. We
      sincerely apologize for this mistake, and thank the reader of our article who
      drew this matter to our attention. Furthermore, we regret any inconvenience this
      mistake has caused. [the original article was published in the International
      Journal of Oncology 42: 1993-2000, 2013; DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2013.1903].

PMID- 27634305
TI  - Is Modern Medical Management Changing Ultimate Patient Outcomes in Inflammatory
      Bowel Disease?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of modern medical management of inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD) on surgical necessity and outcomes remains unclear. We hypothesized that
      surgery rates have decreased while outcomes have worsened due to operating on
      "sicker" patients since the introduction of biologic medications. METHODS: The
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample and ICD-9-CM codes were used to identify inpatient
      admissions for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Trends in IBD nutrition,
      surgeries, and postoperative complications were determined. RESULTS: There were
      191,743 admissions for IBD during the study period. Surgery rates were largely
      unchanged over the study period, ranging from 9 to 12 % of admissions in both
      Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The rate of poor nutrition increased by
      67 % in ulcerative colitis and by 83 % in Crohn's disease. Rates of postoperative
      anastomotic leak (10.2-13.9 %) were unchanged over the years. Postoperative
      infection rates decreased by 17 % in Crohn's disease (18 % in 2003 to 15 % in
      2012; P < 0.001) but did not show a trend in any direction in ulcerative colitis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Rates of IBD surgery have remained stable while postoperative
      infectious complications have remained stable or decreased since the
      implementation of biologic therapies. We identified an increase in poor nutrition
      in surgical patients.

PMID- 27634307
TI  - The endolysin from the Enterococcus faecalis bacteriophage VD13 and conditions
      stimulating its lytic activity.
AB  - Bacteriophage produce endolysins (peptidoglycan hydrolases) to lyse the host cell
      from within and release nascent bacteriophage particles. Recombinant endolysins
      can lyse Gram-positive bacteria when added exogenously. As a potential
      alternative antimicrobial, we cloned and expressed the enterococcal VD13
      bacteriophage endolysin. VD13 endolysin has a CHAP catalytic domain with 92%
      identity with the bacteriophage IME-EF1 endolysin. The predicted size of VD13
      endolysin is ~27 kDa as verified by SDS-PAGE. The VD13 endolysin lyses
      Enterococcus faecalis strains, but not Enterococcus faecium or other non
      enterococci. VD13 endolysin has activity from pH 4 to pH 8, with peak activity at
      pH 5, and exhibits greater activity in the presence of calcium. Optimum activity
      at pH 5 occurs in the absence of NaCl. VD13 endolysin, in ammonium acetate
      (C2H3O2NH4) calcium chloride (CaCl2) buffer pH 5, is stimulated to higher
      activity upon heating at temperatures up to 65 degrees C for 30 minutes, whereas
      activity is lost upon heating to 42 degrees C, in pH 7 buffer.

PMID- 27634308
TI  - Occurrence and biosynthesis of 3-mercaptopropionic acid in Methanocaldococcus
      jannaschii.
AB  - In a non-targeted analysis of thiol-containing compounds in the hyperthermophilic
      methanogen Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, we discovered three unexpected
      metabolites: 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), 2-hydroxy-4-mercaptobutyric acid
      (HMBA) and 4-mercapto-2-oxobutyric acid (MOB). HMBA and MOB have never been
      reported as natural products, while MPA is highly prevalent in aquatic
      environments as a result of biotic and abiotic processing of sulfur-containing
      compounds. This report provides evidence that HMBA and MOB are part of a
      biosynthetic pathway to generate MPA in M. jannaschii We show that HMBA can be
      biosynthesized from malate semialdehyde and hydrogen sulfide, likely using a
      mechanism similar to that proposed for coenzyme M, coenzyme B and homocysteine
      biosynthesis in methanogens, where an aldehyde is converted to a thiol. The L
      sulfolactate dehydrogenase, derived from the MJ1425 gene, is shown to catalyze
      the NAD-dependent oxidation of HMBA to MOB. Finally, we demonstrate that HMBA can
      be used as a biosynthetic precursor to MPA in M. jannaschii cell extracts. This
      proposed pathway may contribute to the wide occurrence of MPA in marine
      environments and indicates that MPA must serve some important function in M.
      jannaschii.

PMID- 27634306
TI  - Role of Fluorouracil, Doxorubicin, and Streptozocin Therapy in the Preoperative
      Treatment of Localized Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: 5-Fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and streptozocin (FAS) leads to a 39 %
      response rate in advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs). We sought to
      validate our hypothesis that preoperative FAS may facilitate resection of
      locoregionally advanced pNETs by reducing the anatomic extent of the primary
      tumor. PATIENTS: All patients who received FAS between 2000 and 2012 as initial
      therapy for a localized pNET were reviewed. Tumor size and vascular relationships
      were compared on pretreatment and posttreatment imaging studies to quantify
      treatment response. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients received a median 4 cycles of
      FAS (range 2-15). Rates of RECIST progressive disease (PD), stable disease (SD),
      and partial response (PR) were 3, 90, and 7 %, respectively. An interface was
      observed between the tumor and a major mesenteric artery and/or vein in 19 (66 %)
      and 24 (83 %) patients, respectively; after therapy with FAS, 17 (59 %) and 22
      (76 %) had persistent interface with artery and/or vein. Fourteen (48 %) patients
      underwent pancreatectomy, 7 (50 %) required vascular management, and 9 (64 %)
      operations were R0. The median overall survival of unresected and resected
      patients was 41 months (95 % CI, 16-66) and 112 months (95 % CI, 104-120) (P =
      0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Although patients receiving FAS for locoregionally advanced
      pNETs are unlikely to progress during systemic therapy, significant "downstaging"
      appears uncommon.

PMID- 27634309
TI  - Let-7g-5p inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition consistent with reduction of
      glioma stem cell phenotypes by targeting VSIG4 in glioblastoma.
AB  - Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stem-like glioma cells display
      hallmark therapeutic resistance. Understanding of the mechanisms underlying these
      properties will be vital for the development of effective therapies. In this
      study, we found that VSIG4 protein is upregulated in glioblastoma. Overexpressing
      VSIG4 induced EMT and significantly promoted invasion and migration in
      glioblastoma U-87MG cells. Moreover, we showed that its overexpression promoted
      formation of glioma stem cell phenotypes in U-87MG cells. P4HB, VAMP8 and
      Connexin 43 (CX43) can promote temozolomide (TMZ) resistance in human glioma
      cells. We showed that P4HB, VAMP8 and CX43 protein were upregulated by VSIG4 in U
      87MG cells, implying its upregulation might be a cause for temozolomide
      resistance. We found that let-7g-5p can inhibit VSIG4 protein expression, but it
      cannot degrade VSIG4 mRNA in U-87MG cells. Contrary to VSIG4, we demonstrated
      that overexpressing let-7g-5p promoted mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET)
      and significantly inhibited invasion and migration consistent with the reduction
      of glioblastoma stem cell phenotypes in U-87MG cells. Thus, we concluded that let
      7g-5p inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) consistent with reduction
      of glioma stem cell (GSC) phenotypes by targeting VSIG4 in glioblastoma.

PMID- 27634311
TI  - What are the dangers of biological therapy discontinuation or dose reduction
      strategies when treating rheumatoid arthritis?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Treatment with biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) has meant that remission
      or low disease activity (LDA) is now a realistic goal for patients with
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, as in the case of all long-term therapies,
      potential side-effects give rise to concern. The main reasons for withdrawing or
      tapering bDMARDs are safety and the sustainability of national healthcare
      systems. Given these data our review has been focused on important question:
      whether conventional, including steroids, or bDMARDs can be reduced or even
      stopped in patients with stable established RA or early RA. Areas covered: The
      studies included in the evaluation had to be RCTs, observational studies,
      systematic reviews evaluating the withdrawing or tapering bDMARDs in RA patients
      who have been on long-term treatment and have achieved remission or LDA. A search
      was made in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from 1980 to May 2016. Expert
      commentary: There is curently no standardised way of identifying the patients for
      whom reducing bDMARD therapy is appropriate. Clinical experience and data from de
      escalation studies suggest that patients with RA in sustained remission are the
      best target population for studying drug-tapering regimens, and that LDA should
      not be considered an adequate indication for bDMARD de-escalation because it
      could hide a persistent amount of inflammation.

PMID- 27634310
TI  - Life is 3D: Boosting Spheroid Function for Tissue Engineering.
AB  - Spheroids provide a 3D environment with intensive cell-cell contacts. As a result
      of their excellent regenerative properties and rapid progress in their high
      throughput production, spheroids are increasingly suggested as building blocks
      for tissue engineering. In this review, we focus on innovative biotechnological
      approaches that increase the quality of spheroids for this specific type of
      application. These include in particular the fabrication of coculture spheroids,
      mimicking the complex morphology and physiological tasks of natural tissues. In
      vitro preconditioning under different culture conditions and incorporation of
      biomaterials improve the function of spheroids and their directed fusion into
      macrotissues of desired shapes. The continuous development of these sophisticated
      approaches may markedly contribute to a broad implementation of spheroid-based
      tissue engineering in future regenerative medicine.

PMID- 27634312
TI  - Levofloxacin Induced Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis: Successful Therapy with
      Omalizumab (Anti-IgE) and Pulse Prednisolone.
AB  - BACKGROUND Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is characterized by widespread
      erythematous and bullous lesions on the skin. Nowadays, considerable progress has
      been made in the understanding of its pathogenesis. Immunologically it is similar
      to graft-versus-host disease. Therefore, we may propose that TEN is a disorder of
      cell-mediated immunity. CASE REPORT Our patient was a 74-year-old white female
      who had pneumonia and was positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV), and who had been
      on levofloxacin therapy. After the first levofloxacin dose, erythematous dusky
      red macules occurred on her extremities and trunk, and on the following day,
      confluent purpuric lesions tended to run together over 85% of her body. Her
      biopsy results indicated TEN. Laboratory testing for serum ECP (eosinophil
      cationic peptide) and serum immunoglobulin (Ig) levels were performed, and
      blister fluid was investigated. The patient responded positively to omalizumab
      treatment and after treatment laboratory tests revealed decreased high sensitive
      CRP, ECP, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgA, and IgM levels. CONCLUSIONS To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first case of a patient with HCV who developed
      cutaneous adverse drug reaction on levofloxacin medication and recovered with
      omalizumab treatment. This is the first documentation of omalizumab treatment of
      a TEN patient. 

PMID- 27634314
TI  - Swept Away: Protein Mobility in the Phloem.

PMID- 27634313
TI  - Sexually-dimorphic alterations in cannabinoid receptor density depend upon
      prenatal/early postnatal history.
AB  - Recent research has demonstrated that the endogenous cannabinoid system is
      central to the brain's response to stress. As part of an ongoing collaboration,
      we sought to examine the effects of prenatal and early postnatal rearing and
      housing conditions on developing endocannabinoid systems. We compare brain
      cannabinoid receptors (CBR) in offspring of either prenatal vehicle intubated or
      non-treated dams (Experiment 1) or in rats derived from a vendor and shipped at
      weaning to a collaborating lab (Experiment 2). From postnatal day (PND) 23, all
      rats were either housed in isolated conditions or enriched conditions with 3
      rats/cage and a variety of stimulus objects changed twice a week. All rats
      underwent 5days of handling as controls for a behavior study and all rats were
      sacrificed at approximately PND48-50 within 2hours of the last behavioral test.
      All brains were processed together for CB1 receptor binding using 3H CP55,940 in
      prefrontal cortex, striatum, amygdala and hippocampus. Conditions in the two labs
      were as similar as possible since the two studies were intentionally designed to
      be comparable and contemporary. Results show that 1) comparing offspring of non
      treated dams to offspring of dams receiving daily vehicle intubations, males show
      decreased CB1 binding in most brain regions while females only showed alterations
      in the hippocampus and these were increases in the offspring of the vehicle
      intubated dams. 2) When comparing offspring of non-treated dams in NY with those
      derived from a vendor, shipped and maintained in the collaborating lab, this
      latter group showed reduced CB1 binding in prefrontal cortex in males and
      increased binding in all four brain regions in females. Therefore, overall, both
      prenatal handling (intubations) and being vendor-derived, shipped and maintained
      in a collaborating facility reduced CB1 receptors in males and increased them in
      females in key limbic brain regions. Effects of environmental enrichment or
      isolation were minor with only the prefrontal cortex showing an increase in
      binding in the isolated animals that were offspring of the vehicle-intubated
      dams. These results support the ideas that prenatal/early postnatal conditions
      produce different effects in males and females and override the effects of
      enrichment/isolation on cannabinoid receptors. Behavioral responses to
      cannabinoid challenges would therefore be expected to vary depending on sex,
      prenatal/early postnatal history and postweaning conditions of the rats. Since
      exogenous cannabinoids act through the CBR, the present data may provide a
      molecular basis for discrepant behavioral effects reported across various labs in
      the literature as well as sex differences seen following stress and/or
      manipulation of the cannabinoid system.

PMID- 27634315
TI  - GAD1 Encodes a Secreted Peptide That Regulates Grain Number, Grain Length, and
      Awn Development in Rice Domestication.
AB  - Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) was domesticated from wild rice (Oryza rufipogon),
      which typically displays fewer grains per panicle and longer grains than
      cultivated rice. In addition, wild rice has long awns, whereas cultivated rice
      has short awns or lacks them altogether. These changes represent critical events
      in rice domestication. Here, we identified a major gene, GRAIN NUMBER, GRAIN
      LENGTH AND AWN DEVELOPMENT1 (GAD1), that regulates those critical changes during
      rice domestication. GAD1 is located on chromosome 8 and is predicted to encode a
      small secretary signal peptide belonging to the EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR-LIKE
      family. A frame-shift insertion in gad1 destroyed the conserved cysteine residues
      of the peptide, resulting in a loss of function, and causing the increased number
      of grains per panicle, shorter grains, and awnless phenotype characteristic of
      cultivated rice. Our findings provide a useful paradigm for revealing functions
      of peptide signal molecules in plant development and helps elucidate the
      molecular basis of rice domestication.

PMID- 27634317
TI  - Making Sense of the Unexpected.
AB  - The 2016 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award is being awarded to Gregg
      Semenza, William Kaelin, and Peter Ratcliffe for discovery of the pathway by
      which human and animal cells sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability-an
      essential requirement for survival. Bill and Peter joined Cell editor Joao
      Monteiro in an informal conversation about science, medicine, designing
      experiments, and training the next generation. 

PMID- 27634316
TI  - Mental practice in postgraduate training: a randomized controlled trial in
      mastoidectomy skills.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental practice, the cognitive rehearsal of a task in the absence of
      overt physical movement, has been successfully used in teaching complex
      psychomotor tasks including sports and music, and recently, surgical skills. The
      objectives of this study were, 1) To develop and evaluate a mental practice
      protocol for mastoidectomy 2) To assess the immediate impact of mental practice
      on a mastoidectomy surgical task among senior Otolaryngology?Head & Neck Surgery
      (OHNS) residents. METHOD: Three expert surgeons were interviewed using verbal
      protocol analysis to develop a mastoidectomy mental practice script. Twelve
      senior Residents from Canadian training programs were randomized into two groups.
      All Residents were video-recorded performing a baseline mastoidectomy in a
      temporal bone lab. The intervention group received mental practice training,
      while the control group undertook self-directed textbook study. All subjects were
      then video-recorded performing a second mastoidectomy. Changes in pre- and post
      test scores using validated expert ratings, the Task Specific Evaluation of
      Mastoidectomy and the Global Evaluation of Mastoidectomy, were statistically
      analyzed. RESULTS: A mental practice script was successfully developed based on
      interviews of three expert surgeon-educators. Task Specific Evaluation and Global
      Evaluation scores increased in both the mental practice and textbook study
      groups; there was no significant difference between the two groups in the change
      in scores post-intervention. There was a high and statistically signficant
      correlation between evaluators on the outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: We were not
      able to demonstrate a significant difference for the benefits of mental practice
      in mastoidectomy, possibly due to the sample size. However, mental practice is a
      surgical education tool which is portable, accessible, inexpensive and safe.

PMID- 27634319
TI  - Into Thin Air: How We Sense and Respond to Hypoxia.
AB  - This year's Lasker Basic Medical Research Award is shared by William Kaelin,
      Peter Ratcliffe, and Gregg Semenza for discovery of the pathway by which animal
      cells sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability, which plays an essential
      role in adaptation to a wide variety of physiologic and pathologic conditions. 

PMID- 27634318
TI  - Science as a Way of Knowing: From Protein Machines to Evidence-Based Decisions.
AB  - The 2016 Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award will be presented to Bruce
      Alberts for a lifetime career of outstanding scientific discovery and inspiring
      leadership and mentorship in promoting fundamental research, science education,
      and rational, evidence-based values worldwide. 

PMID- 27634320
TI  - The Rule of Three for Prizes in Science and the Bold Triptychs of Francis Bacon.
AB  - For many scientific awards, such as Nobels and Laskers, the maximum number of
      recipients is three. This Rule of Three forces selection committees to make
      difficult decisions that increase the likelihood of singling out those
      individuals who open a new field and continue to lead it. The Rule of Three is
      reminiscent of art's three-panel triptych, a form that the modern master Francis
      Bacon used to distill complex stories in a bold way. 

PMID- 27634321
TI  - Serendipity, Generosity, and Inspiration.

PMID- 27634322
TI  - Bringing the Hepatitis C Virus to Life.
AB  - Charles Rice and Ralf Bartenschlager, together with Michael Sofia, are the
      recipients of the 2016 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Award. Their discoveries led to
      the development of a system to study the replication of hepatitis C virus, which
      causes a chronic and lethal disease in humans, and the use of this system to
      develop drugs that cure the illness. Charlie and Ralf joined Cell editor Joao
      Monteiro in a conversation about their achievements, current challenges, and the
      future of HCV research. 

PMID- 27634323
TI  - Enter Sofosbuvir: The Path to Curing HCV.

PMID- 27634324
TI  - An Addiction to Education at All Levels.

PMID- 27634325
TI  - Pioneering a Global Cure for Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection.
AB  - This year's Lasker~Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors Ralf
      Bartenschlager, Charles Rice, and Michael Sofia, pioneers in the development of
      curative and safe therapies for the 170 million people with hepatitis C virus
      infection. 

PMID- 27634326
TI  - Health-related quality of life following treatment for extremity soft tissue
      sarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to estimate
      the change in health-related quality of life (HRQL) 1 year following treatment
      for extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS), measured by the EQ-5D. Secondary
      objectives included determining clinical variables associated with HRQL at 1
      year, estimating the proportion with a clinically important difference (CID) in
      HRQL, and evaluating variability within EQ-5D domains. METHODS: Patients over the
      age of 16 years, treated for a localized extremity STS, were included. The EQ-5D
      change score from pre-treatment to 1-year follow-up was determined. The
      association of clinical variables with EQ-5D scores was estimated using a linear
      regression model. The proportion of patients with a CID in HRQL score was
      determined. A vector analysis of the EQ-5D domains was undertaken. RESULTS: The
      mean EQ-5D change score was 0.02. Age, sex, disease status, and initial EQ-5D
      score were associated with EQ-5D score at 1 year. There was a CID improvement in
      32% and a deterioration in 24%. The anxiety and depression domain demonstrated
      the most change between baseline and 1 year after treatment. CONCLUSION: Most
      patients maintain a high level of HRQL following treatment for extremity STS. J.
      Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:821-827. (c) 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634327
TI  - Use of an Octapeptide-Guanidiniocarbonylpyrrole Conjugate for the Formation of a
      Supramolecular beta-Helix that Self-Assembles into pH-Responsive Fibers.
AB  - Peptides that adopt beta-helix structures are predominantly found in
      transmembrane protein domains or in the lipid bilayer of vesicles. Constructing a
      beta-helix structure in pure water has been considered difficult without the
      addition of membrane mimics. Herein, we report such an example; peptide 1 self
      assembles into a supramolecular beta-helix in pure water based on charge
      interactions between the individual peptides. Peptide 1 further showed intriguing
      transitions from small particles to helical fibers in a time-dependent process.
      The fibers can be switched to vesicles by changing the pH value.

PMID- 27634328
TI  - Validation of the ANSR(r) for Campylobacter Method for Detection of Thermophilic
      Campylobacter spp. in Chicken Carcass Rinse and Turkey Sponge Samples.
AB  - A performance validation of the ANSR(r) for Campylobacter method was conducted in
      selected matrixes. This assay used selective nicking enzyme amplification
      technology to amplify target genes. Samples were enriched for 20 to 24 h and then
      lysed. The assay was completed within 50 min using real-time detection in a
      combination incubator/fluorescence detector and software. When 50 distinct
      strains of Campylobacter jejuni, C. lari, or C. coli were tested for inclusivity,
      all 50 strains produced positive results. In exclusivity testing, 31 strains of
      related organisms, including seven nontarget Campylobacter strains and other
      common species, were evaluated. All 31 species generated negative ANSR assay
      results, including the nontarget Campylobacter strains. The ANSR for
      Campylobacter method was compared to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food
      Safety and Inspection Service Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook reference method
      using naturally contaminated chicken carcass rinse or turkey carcass sponge
      samples. ANSR method performance was not statistically different from the
      reference method using two different enrichment options. Equivalent results were
      observed at both time points (20 and 24 h) and in both atmospheres (microaerobic
      and aerobic) to reference methods. Method performance with chicken carcass rinse
      was confirmed in an independent laboratory study. Additionally, in robustness
      testing, small, deliberate changes to the assay parameters minimally affected
      ANSR method performance. Finally, accelerated stability results from three
      independently manufactured lots supported a shelf life of 6 months when stored at
      4 degrees C. The ANSR assay offered greater efficiency and flexibility when
      compared to the reference method with a 20-24 h single-step enrichment in a
      microaerobic or an aerobic atmosphere.

PMID- 27634330
TI  - Inhibitory effect of bufalin combined with Hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitors
      on proliferation and invasion and metastasis of liver cancer cells.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is difficult to diagnose early, resulting in only
      30% resection rate. HCC is a relatively chemo-resistant tumor, molecular targeted
      therapy can only benefit approximately 30% patients with liver cancer. Bufalin
      (Bu) is one of the topoisomerase II inhibitors, many studies have recently
      focused on the anticancer activities of bufalin. In the present study, we report
      that bufalin can inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of liver
      cancer cells via the Hh signaling pathway. The human high metastasis potential
      LM3 hepatoma cells (HCC-LM3) were cultured in vitro, bufalin and/or Hedgehog
      signaling pathway inhibitors (GANT61, cyclopamine) was added into cell culture
      fluid for 72 h to observe the antitumor effect of bufalin. The results showed
      that bufalin was able to inhibit epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and
      extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and angiogenesis of liver cancer cells by
      influencing the expression of Ptch1'Gli1'Gli3 proteins in Hh signaling pathway.
      Bufalin could downregulate the downstream target molecules of MMP-2, MMP-9, beta
      catenin and VEGF in liver cancer cells by influencing the Gli1 and Gli3
      expression of Hh signaling pathway, and upregulate the E-cadherin expression of
      liver cancer cells by influencing the Gli3 expression of Hh signaling pathway.
      Therefore, the present study shows that bufalin combined with Hedgehog signaling
      pathway inhibitors can significantly reduce the malignant biological behavior of
      the liver cancer cells.

PMID- 27634329
TI  - Eukaryotic pathways targeted by the type III secretion system effector protein,
      BipC, involved in the intracellular lifecycle of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
AB  - Burkholderia pseudomallei, the etiological agent for melioidosis, is known to
      secrete a type III secretion system (TTSS) protein into the host's internal
      milieu. One of the TTSS effector protein, BipC, has been shown to play an
      important role in the B. pseudomallei pathogenesis. To identify the host response
      profile that was directly or indirectly regulated by this protein, genome-wide
      transcriptome approach was used to examine the gene expression profiles of
      infected mice. The transcriptome analysis of the liver and spleen revealed that a
      total of approximately 1,000 genes were transcriptionally affected by BipC. Genes
      involved in bacterial invasion, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, and MAPK
      signalling pathway were over-expressed and may be specifically regulated by BipC
      in vivo. These results suggest that BipC mainly targets pathways related to the
      cellular processes which could modulate the cellular trafficking processes. The
      host transcriptional response exhibited remarkable differences with and without
      the presence of the BipC protein. Overall, the detailed picture of this study
      provides new insights that BipC may have evolved to efficiently manipulate host
      cell pathways which is crucial in the intracellular lifecycle of B. pseudomallei.

PMID- 27634331
TI  - Correlation of ankle-brachial index and peripheral artery disease with the status
      of body fat deposition and metabolic syndrome in asymptomatic premenopausal
      women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Asymptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) in symptom-free
      subjects, and people with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a significant
      correlate of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, little is known
      about their relationship and whether this is mediated through central obesity as
      one of the defining components of the MetS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a cross
      sectional setting, 150 asymptomatic healthy premenopausal women without
      previously diagnosed hypertension, diabetes or known history cardiovascular
      diseases were consecutively enrolled. Ankle-brachial index (ABI), various
      parameters of general and central body fat distribution, and MetS were assessed.
      RESULTS: The prevalence rates for asymptomatic PAD and MetS within the study
      population were calculated at 6% and 44%, respectively. Following the rigorous
      adjustment made by the components of MetS and clincial variables of age and serum
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterols (LDL-C), several indicators of general and
      central body fat distribution, including total, truncal and visceral body fats
      were found to have significantly positive correlations with log-ABI values.
      Moreover, log-ABI was significantly and negatively associated with the presence
      of MetS in both crude and multivariate models of logistic regression analysis, as
      adjusted by age, LDL-C and several indices of general and central fat deposition
      (OR [95% CI]: 0.016 [0.001 to 0.424], P value=0.013 in the multivariate adjusted
      model). CONCLUSION: ABI had positive and negative associations with central
      obesity and MetS, respectively. Our findings strongly suggest the inverse
      correlation between ABI and the MetS is likely not mediated through central
      obesity as one the key components of MetS.

PMID- 27634332
TI  - Identification and Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of Small-Molecule
      Inhibitors of the Methyllysine Reader Protein Spindlin1.
AB  - The methyllysine reader protein Spindlin1 has been implicated in the
      tumorigenesis of several types of cancer and may be an attractive novel
      therapeutic target. Small-molecule inhibitors of Spindlin1 should be valuable as
      chemical probes as well as potential new therapeutics. We applied an iterative
      virtual screening campaign, encompassing structure- and ligand-based approaches,
      to identify potential Spindlin1 inhibitors from databases of commercially
      available compounds. Our in silico studies coupled with in vitro testing were
      successful in identifying novel Spindlin1 inhibitors. Several 4-aminoquinazoline
      and quinazolinethione derivatives were among the active hit compounds, which
      indicated that these scaffolds represent promising lead structures for the
      development of Spindlin1 inhibitors. Subsequent lead optimization studies were
      hence carried out, and numerous derivatives of both lead scaffolds were
      synthesized. This resulted in the discovery of novel inhibitors of Spindlin1 and
      helped explore the structure-activity relationships of these inhibitor series.

PMID- 27634333
TI  - Extracellular cGMP Modulates Learning Biphasically by Modulating Glycine
      Receptors, CaMKII and Glutamate-Nitric Oxide-cGMP Pathway.
AB  - It has been proposed that extracellular cGMP modulates the ability to learn a Y
      maze task, but the underlying mechanisms remained unknown. Here we show that
      extracellular cGMP, at physiological concentrations, modulates learning in the Y
      maze in a biphasic way by modulating the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in
      cerebellum. Extracellular cGMP reduces glycine receptors activation inducing a
      voltage-dependent calcium-channels-mediated increase of calcium in Purkinje
      neurons. This calcium increase modulates CaMKII phosphorylation in a biphasic
      way. When basal calcium concentration is low extracellular cGMP reduces CaMKII
      phosphorylation, increasing nitric oxide synthase activity, the glutamate-NO-cGMP
      pathway function and learning ability. When basal calcium is normal extracellular
      cGMP increases CaMKII phosphorylation, reducing nitric oxide synthase activity,
      the pathway function and learning. These data unveil new mechanisms modulating
      learning in the Y maze and likely other learning types which may be therapeutic
      targets to improve learning in pathological situations associated with altered
      cGMP levels.

PMID- 27634336
TI  - Repeatability of Volume and Regional Body Composition Measurements of the Lower
      Limb Using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry.
AB  - Lower limb lymphedema is a dynamic condition in which tissue composition and
      volume measurements are affected. Various definitions of lower limb lymphedema
      exist but volume differences between the limbs are widely used. It is therefore
      necessary to have a readily available noninvasive measurement technique allowing
      multiple measurements of the lower limbs. This study investigated the
      repeatability of duplicate volume and regional body composition measurements of
      the lower limb using the GE Lunar Prodigy dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)
      scanner Prodigy (GE Medical Systems, Madison, WI). Twenty-seven participants (54
      limbs), 14 women and 13 men aged 33-71 years with body mass index ranging from 14
      to 32 kg/m2 were recruited. Duplicate whole-body DXA scans were performed with
      repositioning between examinations. Regions of interest were manually drawn for
      the thigh, lower leg, and foot, and total volume was calculated using the density
      of bone mineral content, fat, and lean mass. The repeatability of the volume of
      the lower limb and regional thigh and lower leg tissue composition (bone mineral
      content, fat, and lean mass) was good with intraclass correlation coefficient
      values of 0.97 to 0.99, and narrow limits of agreement on the Bland-Altman plots.
      These results confirm DXA to be a highly repeatable method for volume and tissue
      composition measurements of the lower limb. In a population at risk of
      lymphedema, DXA offers a clinically readily available noninvasive method allowing
      multiple measurements of volume and tissue composition on a routine basis,
      important for diagnosing, monitoring, managing, and researching lymphedema.

PMID- 27634334
TI  - DNA replication stress mediates APOBEC3 family mutagenesis in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The APOBEC3 family of cytidine deaminases mutate the cancer genome in
      a range of cancer types. Although many studies have documented the downstream
      effects of APOBEC3 activity through next-generation sequencing, less is known
      about their upstream regulation. In this study, we sought to identify a molecular
      basis for APOBEC3 expression and activation. RESULTS: HER2 amplification and PTEN
      loss promote DNA replication stress and APOBEC3B activity in vitro and correlate
      with APOBEC3 mutagenesis in vivo. HER2-enriched breast carcinomas display
      evidence of elevated levels of replication stress-associated DNA damage in vivo.
      Chemical and cytotoxic induction of replication stress, through aphidicolin,
      gemcitabine, camptothecin or hydroxyurea exposure, activates transcription of
      APOBEC3B via an ATR/Chk1-dependent pathway in vitro. APOBEC3B activation can be
      attenuated through repression of oncogenic signalling, small molecule inhibition
      of receptor tyrosine kinase signalling and alleviation of replication stress
      through nucleoside supplementation. CONCLUSION: These data link oncogene, loss of
      tumour suppressor gene and drug-induced replication stress with APOBEC3B
      activity, providing new insights into how cytidine deaminase-induced mutagenesis
      might be activated in tumourigenesis and limited therapeutically.

PMID- 27634335
TI  - Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling regulates transforming growth factor
      beta (TGFbeta)-dependent smooth muscle cell phenotype modulation.
AB  - Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in normal blood vessels exist in a highly
      differentiate state characterized by expression of SMC-specific contractile
      proteins ("contractile phenotype"). Following blood vessel injury in vivo or when
      cultured in vitro in the presence of multiple growth factors, SMC undergo a
      phenotype switch characterized by the loss of contractile markers and appearance
      of expression of non-muscle proteins ("proliferative phenotype"). While a number
      of factors have been reported to modulate this process, its regulation remains
      uncertain. Here we show that induction of SMC FGF signaling inhibits TGFbeta
      signaling and converts contractile SMCs to the proliferative phenotype.
      Conversely, inhibition of SMC FGF signaling induces TGFbeta signaling converting
      proliferating SMCs to the contractile phenotype, even in the presence of various
      growth factors in vitro or vascular injury in vivo. The importance of this
      signaling cross-talk is supported by in vivo data that show that an SMC deletion
      of a pan-FGF receptor adaptor Frs2alpha (fibroblast growth factor receptor
      substrate 2 alpha) in mice profoundly reduces neointima formation and vascular
      remodelling following carotid artery ligation. These results demonstrate that FGF
      TGFbeta signaling antagonism is the primary regulator of the SMC phenotype
      switch. Manipulation of this cross-talk may be an effective strategy for
      treatment of SMC-proliferation related diseases.

PMID- 27634337
TI  - The management of bilious vomiting in the neonate.
AB  - Bilious vomiting is synonymous with intestinal obstruction, be it functional or
      anatomical. In the neonate it may be due to congenital malformations of the
      gastrointestinal tract or develop due to acquired conditions, particularly
      intestinal complications associated with prematurity. This review considers the
      congenital malformations that may present with bilious vomiting and explores the
      diagnostic dilemmas faced in the preterm infant. The difficult issue of the need
      to exclude malrotation in term infants with bilious vomiting and the consequences
      of time-critical transfer is discussed.

PMID- 27634338
TI  - Residual contamination and bioburden after reprocessing of single-use endoscopic
      ultrasound needles: An ex vivo study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) aspiration needles are single-use
      devices. However, in many centers, because of cost-constraints, these devices are
      reused multiple times. We studied microbiological contamination and bioburden on
      reprocessed needles to evaluate whether these devices can be successfully
      sterilized. METHODS: We studied 10 EUS needles each of 19 G, 22 G, and 25 G in
      size, and five 22-G ProCore needles. After initial use, each needle was
      reprocessed by a standardized protocol. We used standard microbiological
      cultures, as well as ATP bioluminescence technique to quantify bioburden as
      relative light units (RLU). We defined significant soil contamination by RLU
      values >200. We also used extractant fluid to disrupt cell membranes in an
      attempt to enhance ATP detection. RESULTS: We found culture positivity in 3/34
      (8.8%), and detectable bioburden on the exposed surface of 33/35 (94.3%), and
      inside lumen of 29 (82.9%) reprocessed FNA needles. Significant bioburden was
      found in three (8.6%) and two (5.7%) needles on the surface and lumen,
      respectively. We found that use of extractant fluid enhanced detection of
      bioburden. Larger (19 G) needles had higher surface contamination (P = 0.016),
      but there was no relation of luminal contamination with needle diameter (P =
      0.138). Sheath design and presence of side bevel did not influence extent of
      contamination. There was significant correlation between the surface and
      intraluminal bioburden (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is significant bioburden
      in reprocessed EUS needles; standard microbiological cultures have low
      sensitivity for detection of needle contamination. We have provided objective
      evidence for the futility of reprocessing attempts, and practice of EUS needle
      reuse should be discontinued.

PMID- 27634340
TI  - Statin-associated myopathy and the quest for biomarkers: can we effectively
      predict statin-associated muscle symptoms?
AB  - Over the past three decades, statins have become the cornerstone of prevention
      and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Albeit
      generally well tolerated, these drugs can elicit a variety of muscle-associated
      symptoms that represent the most important reason for treatment discontinuation.
      Statin-associated myopathy has been systematically underestimated by randomized
      controlled trials as compared with the incidence observed in clinical practice
      and obtained from patient registries. There are several reasons for this
      discrepancy, among which the lack of reliable diagnostic tests and a validated
      questionnaire to assess muscle symptoms are recognized as unmet needs. Here, we
      review the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying statin-associated
      myopathy and discuss the experimental and clinical data on various biomarkers to
      diagnose and predict muscle-related complaints.

PMID- 27634339
TI  - Epoxy fatty acids mediate analgesia in murine diabetic neuropathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain is a debilitating condition with no adequate
      therapy. The health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are established, however, the
      role of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in limiting pain has only recently been
      described and the mechanisms of this action remain unknown. DHA is metabolized
      into epoxydocosapentanoic acids (EDPs) via cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes which
      are substrates for the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) enzyme. Here, we tested
      several hypotheses; first, that the antinociceptive action of DHA is mediated by
      the EDPs. Second, based on evidence that DHA and CYP450 metabolites elicit
      analgesia through opioid signalling, we investigated this as a possible mechanism
      of action. Third, we tested whether the analgesia mediated by epoxy fatty acids
      had similar rewarding effects as opioid analgesics. METHODS: We tested diabetic
      neuropathic wild-type and sEH null mice in a conditioned place preference assay
      for their response to EDPs, sEHI and antagonism of these treatments with
      naloxone, a mu-opioid receptor antagonist. RESULTS: The EDPs and sEH inhibitors
      were efficacious against chronic pain, and naloxone antagonized the action of
      both EDPs and sEH inhibitors. Despite this antagonism, the sEH inhibitors lacked
      reward side effects differing from opioids. CONCLUSIONS: The EpFA are analgesic
      against chronic pain differing from opioids which have limited efficacy in
      chronic conditions. SIGNIFICANCE: EDPs and sEHI mediate analgesia in modelled
      chronic pain and this analgesia is blocked by naloxone. However, unlike opioids,
      sEHI are highly effective in neuropathic pain models and importantly lack
      rewarding side effects.

PMID- 27634341
TI  - Electrophysiological approaches to unravel the neurobiological basis of appetite
      and satiety: use of the multielectrode array as a screening strategy.
AB  - Hypothalamic neural circuits are recognised as primary sites of the
      neuromodulator effect of homeostatic food intake, whereas changes in ventral
      tegmental area (VTA), hippocampus and amygdala have been implicated in the
      hedonic, cognitive and emotional aspects of eating. Here, we discuss synaptic
      transmission and plasticity within brain circuits governing appetite and food
      intake behaviour, focusing on the metabolic hormones ghrelin and leptin. We
      discuss functional changes within these circuitries and critically assess the
      applicability of electrophysiological measurements using in vitro multielectrode
      array (MEA) systems to identify novel appetite modulators. Stringent validation
      of functional assays to screen neuroactive substrates is of crucial importance
      for the discovery of novel food intake modulators, with major implications for
      the nutraceutical food industry and drug development.

PMID- 27634342
TI  - The publishing and patenting strategies of successful university spinoffs in the
      biopharmaceutical industry.
AB  - Firms in the biopharmaceutical industry send signals to investors about the value
      of their knowledge by disclosing it in the form of patents and publications. In
      this way, they can gain reputation even before having products on the market.
      This paper compares the patenting and publishing activities of university
      spinoffs with other biopharmaceutical firms. The findings suggest that successful
      university spinoffs and successful other firms (not university spinoffs) tend to
      follow different knowledge disclosure strategies. Whereas successful university
      spinoffs tend to emphasize the scientific value of their knowledge and gain
      reputation through their high-quality publications, other successful firms tend
      to emphasize the commercial value of their knowledge and gain reputation through
      high-quality patents.

PMID- 27634345
TI  - Editorial: Cardiovascular Prevention: Can We Do Any Better?

PMID- 27634343
TI  - Deficiency of X-Linked Protein Kinase Nrk during Pregnancy Triggers Breast Tumor
      in Mice.
AB  - The onset and/or growth of breast tumor are controlled, at least in part, by
      estrogen. Therefore, to prevent the development of breast tumor, estrogen
      dependent proliferation of mammary epithelial cells during pregnancy needs to be
      suppressed once the mammary gland is fully developed to enable lactation.
      However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Nrk is an X-linked
      protein serine/threonine kinase in the germinal center kinase family. Herein, we
      demonstrate a frequent occurrence of breast tumors in homozygous and heterozygous
      Nrk mutant mice that have experienced pregnancy/parturition. The tumors never
      developed in the mutant mice without a history of pregnancy/parturition. They
      exhibited histopathological features of noninvasive tubular adenocarcinoma, and
      expressed estrogen receptor alpha. At late gestation when estrogen receptor alpha
      expression was significantly reduced in the wild-type mammary gland, grossly
      normal mammary glands in the pregnant Nrk mutant mice occasionally contained
      hyperplastic foci continuously expressing the receptor. Consistently, Nrk
      expression was induced in the wild-type mammary gland at this period of
      pregnancy. On the other hand, the pregnant Nrk mutant mice also showed elevated
      blood estrogen levels at late gestation. We suggest that Nrk suppresses the
      excessive proliferation of mammary epithelial cells during pregnancy, and the
      impairment of this regulatory system leads to frequent occurrence of breast tumor
      in Nrk mutant mice.

PMID- 27634344
TI  - Phenotypic heterogeneity in two large Roma families with a congenital myasthenic
      syndrome due to CHRNE 1267delG mutation. A long-term follow-up.
AB  - Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) are a heterogeneous group of genetic
      disorders. Mutations in CHRNE are one of the most common cause of them and the
      E1267delG frameshifting mutation is described to be present on at least one
      allele of 60% of patients with CHRNE mutations. We present a comprehensive
      description of the heterogeneous clinical features of the CMS caused by the
      homozygous 1267delG mutation in the AChR E subunit in nine members of two large
      Gipsy kindreds. Our observations indicate that founder Roma mutation 1267delG
      leads to a phenotype further characterized by ophthalmoplegia, bilateral ptosis,
      and good response to pyridostigmine and 3,4-DAP; but also by facial weakness,
      bulbar symptoms, neck muscle weakness, and proximal limb weakness that sometimes
      entails the loss of ambulation. Interestingly, we found in our series a
      remarkable proportion of patients with a progressive or fluctuating course of the
      disease. This finding is in some contrast with previous idea that considered this
      form of CMS as benign, non progressive, and with a low impact on the capacity of
      ambulation.

PMID- 27634346
TI  - MicroRNA-187 is an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer and promotes lung
      cancer cell invasion via targeting of PTRF.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the progression of different types of cancers
      giving new hope for cancer treatment. The role and regulatory mechanism of
      microRNA-187 (miR-187) are largely unknown. In the present study, 74 patients
      with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were selected. Tumor tissues and matched
      normal tissues were collected for determining the expression level of miR-187.
      Cell research was performed to detect the function of miR-187. The expression
      level was measured and miR-187 was found to be overexpressed in the NSCLC cell
      lines and tissues. Overexpression of miR-187 promoted cell proliferation in the
      A549 and H1650 cell lines. Moreover, overexpression of miR-187 also promoted cell
      migration and invasion. Polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF) was
      identified as a target of miR-187. Overexpression of miR-187 suppressed the
      expression of PTRF. Knockdown of PTRF promoted lung cancer cell invasion, and
      overexpression of PTRF had a negative effect on lung cancer cell invasion. The
      PTRF messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in cancer tissues were significantly lower than
      those in their adjacent normal lung tissues as determined by real-time PCR (RT
      PCR). The expression of the PTRF protein was significantly weaker than that in
      the adjacent normal lung tissues using immunohistochemical staining. The findings
      revealed that miR-187 promotes cell growth and invasion by targeting PTRF and miR
      187 may be a new prognostic factor for NSCLC.

PMID- 27634347
TI  - Cardiac computed tomography of an asymptomatic 48-year-old woman with ALCAPA
      syndrome.
AB  - Untreated ALCAPA cases most often die in infancy. Adults with untreated ALCAPA
      commonly present with mitral regurgitation, severe left ventricular dysfunction,
      and sometimes myocardial infarction. Herein, we present an asymptomatic adult
      female with ALCAPA recognized through cardiac computed tomography (CT). In
      ALCAPA, like other coronary anomalies, cardiac CT is often instrumental in
      providing unique noninvasive and clinically relevant evaluation. Herein, we
      present an atypical presentation of an asymptomatic middle-aged adult female with
      ALCAPA.

PMID- 27634348
TI  - Prospective evaluation of a Holter-ECG derived severity index for screening of
      sleep disordered breathing.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To prospectively evaluate the applicability of a method
      to screen overnight Holter-ECGs for sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in an
      unselected clinical routine Holter sample. METHODS: Holter-ECG recordings in 50
      cardiologic inpatients were complemented with nocturnal respiratory polygraphy
      (PG). The respiratory event index (REI) and apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) from the
      PG served as a reference for an ECG-derived SDB severity estimate using a
      previously developed method. Agreement with the PG was investigated using Bland
      Altman plots color-coded by ectopy level, and screening accuracy for REI>=15/h
      and AHI>=15/h was assessed. RESULTS: Prevalence for REI>=15/h was 52%, and 32%
      for AHI>=15/h. We observed better agreement of the ECG-based estimate with the
      REI compared to the AHI. Ectopy did not limit the detection of SDB. Binary
      screening for REI>=15/h provided excellent specificity of 0.96 with a sensitivity
      of 0.77. Ternary screening for AHI>=15/h yielded 16% borderline classifications
      and specificity/sensitivity of 0.96/0.86 for the remaining data. CONCLUSIONS:
      Screening of routine Holter-ECGs for sleep disordered breathing is reasonable and
      promises earlier identification of a significant part of patients at no
      additional cost.

PMID- 27634350
TI  - Updated risk of H5N1 HPAI incursion to poultry in Great Britain via wild birds.

PMID- 27634349
TI  - Discrimination, domestic violence, abuse, and other adverse life events in people
      with epilepsy: Population-based study to assess the burden of these events and
      their contribution to psychopathology.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the experience of discrimination, domestic violence,
      abuse, and other stressful life events in people with epilepsy in comparison with
      the general population and people with other chronic conditions. To assess
      whether any excess relative burden of these adversities could explain the higher
      rates of depression in people with epilepsy. METHODS: The Adult Psychiatric
      Morbidity Survey 2007 used comprehensive interviews with 7,403 individuals living
      in private residences in England. Doctor-diagnosed epilepsy and other chronic
      conditions were established by self-report. Discrimination, domestic violence,
      physical and sexual abuse, and other stressful life events were assessed using
      computerized self-completion and a face-to-face interview, respectively. RESULTS:
      People with epilepsy were sevenfold more likely to have reported experiencing
      discrimination due to health problems (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 7.1; 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 3.1-16.3), than the general population without epilepsy.
      This estimate was substantially greater in people with epilepsy than for people
      with other chronic conditions. People with epilepsy also had greater odds of
      experiencing domestic violence and sexual abuse than the general population,
      although these associations were also found in people with other chronic
      conditions. There was less evidence of an association between epilepsy and a
      history of physical abuse or having a greater burden of other stressful life
      events. In exploratory analyses, assuming they lie on the causal pathway,
      discrimination, domestic violence, and sexual abuse explained 42.7% of the total
      effect of the relationship between epilepsy and depression or anxiety disorders.
      SIGNIFICANCE: People with epilepsy can face a range of psychosocial adversities
      and extensively report feeling discriminated against as compared to the general
      population. In addition, if confirmed in longitudinal studies, the results
      suggest that these psychosocial adversities may have a significant role in the
      development of psychiatric comorbidity and may be targets for future
      interventions.

PMID- 27634351
TI  - Is there a link between treatments with exogenous corticosteroids and dog
      behaviour problems?
AB  - Possible side effects of exogenous corticosteroids have been described in both
      humans and laboratory animals, with recent studies highlighting this issue in
      dogs. In this paper the behaviour of 345 dogs drawn from the caseload of a
      behaviour clinic based in the north of Italy between February 2012 and November
      2014 were analysed. Possible relationships between dogs that received treatment
      with corticosteroids versus dogs that received treatment with drugs other than
      corticosteroids and positive or negative affective states, aggression towards
      people, other behaviour problems apart from aggression, occurrence of severe
      bites, and prescription of psychoactive drugs were initially assessed using a
      Pearson's chi-squared test. Regression analysis was then performed in order to
      evaluate the best predictors of the investigated items. The goal of this
      retrospective survey was to investigate possible relationships between the
      affective states associated with the behavioural complaint of dogs and their
      previous history of treatment with corticosteroids. Results showed that a history
      of corticosteroid treatment was a significant predictor of a range of behaviour
      problems associated with negative affective state, but this result may be
      confounded by age-related effects.

PMID- 27634352
TI  - Highly Enantioselective Direct Synthesis of Endocyclic Vicinal Diamines through
      Chiral Ru(diamine)-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of 2,2'-Bisquinoline Derivatives.
AB  - An asymmetric hydrogenation of 2,2'-bisquinoline and bisquinoxaline derivatives,
      catalyzed by chiral cationic ruthenium diamine complexes, was developed. A broad
      range of chiral endocyclic vicinal diamines were obtained in high yields with
      excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity (up to 93:7 dl/meso and >99 % ee).
      These chiral diamines could be easily transformed into a new class of chiral N
      heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), which are important but difficult to access.

PMID- 27634354
TI  - Fungal Quorum Quenching: A Paradigm Shift for Energy Savings in Membrane
      Bioreactor (MBR) for Wastewater Treatment.
AB  - In the last 30 years, the use of membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for advanced
      wastewater treatment and reuse have been expanded continuously, but they still
      suffer from excessive energy consumption resulting from the intrinsic problem of
      membrane biofouling. One of the major causes of biofouling in MBRs is bacterial
      quorum sensing (QS) via N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) and/or autoinducer-2 (AI
      2), enabling intra- and interspecies communications, respectively. In this study,
      we demonstrate that farnesol can substantially mitigate membrane biofouling in a
      MBR due to its quorum quenching (QQ) activity. When Candida albicans (a farnesol
      producing fungus) entrapping polymer beads (AEBs) were placed in the MBR, the
      rate of transmembrane pressure (TMP) rise-up was substantially decreased, even
      for lower aeration intensities. This finding corresponds to a specific aeration
      energy savings of approximately 40% (25% through the physical washing effect and
      a further 15% through the biological QQ effect of AEBs) compared to conventional
      MBRs without AEBs. A real-time RT-qPCR analysis revealed that farnesol secreted
      from C. albicans mitigated the biofilm formation in MBRs via the suppression of
      AI-2 QS. Successful control of biofouling and energy savings through fungal-to
      bacterial QQ could be expanded to the plant scale for MBRs in wastewater
      treatment with economic feasibility.

PMID- 27634353
TI  - Subnational variation for care at birth in Tanzania: is this explained by place,
      people, money or drugs?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tanzania achieved the Millennium Development Goal for child survival,
      yet made insufficient progress for maternal and neonatal survival and
      stillbirths, due to low coverage and quality of services for care at birth, with
      rural women left behind. Our study aimed to evaluate Tanzania's subnational
      (regional-level) variations for rural care at birth outcomes, i.e., rural women
      giving birth in a facility and by Caesarean section (C-section), and associations
      with health systems inputs (financing, health workforce, facilities, and
      commodities), outputs (readiness and quality of care) and context (education and
      GDP). METHODS: We undertook correlation analyses of subnational-level
      associations between health system inputs, outputs, context, and rural care at
      birth outcomes; and constructed implementation readiness barometers using
      benchmarks for each health system input indicator. We used geographical
      information system (GIS) mapping to visualise subnational variations in care at
      birth for rural women, with a focus on service availability and readiness, and
      collected qualitative data to investigate financial flows from national to
      council level to understand variation in financing inputs. RESULTS: We found wide
      subnational variation for rural care at birth outcomes, health systems inputs,
      and contextual indicators. There was a positive association between rural women
      giving birth in a facility and by C-section; maternal education; workforce and
      facility density; and quality of care. There was a negative association between
      these outcomes and proportion of all births to rural women, total fertility rate,
      and availability of essential commodities at facilities. Per capita recurrent
      expenditure was positively associated with facility births (correlation
      coefficient = 0.43; p = 0.05) but not with C-section. Qualitative results showed
      that the health financing system is complex and insufficient for providing care
      at birth services. Bottlenecks for care at birth included low density of health
      workers, poor availability of essential commodities, and low health financing in
      Lake and Western Zones. CONCLUSIONS: No region meets the benchmarks for the four
      health systems building blocks including health finance, health workforce, health
      facilities, and commodities. Strategies for addressing health system inequities,
      including overall increases in health expenditure, are needed in rural
      populations and areas of highest unmet need for family planning to improve
      coverage of care at birth for rural women in Tanzania.

PMID- 27634355
TI  - GLYX-13 Produces Rapid Antidepressant Responses with Key Synaptic and Behavioral
      Effects Distinct from Ketamine.
AB  - GLYX-13 is a putative NMDA receptor modulator with glycine-site partial agonist
      properties that produces rapid antidepressant effects, but without the
      psychotomimetic side effects of ketamine. Studies were conducted to examine the
      molecular, cellular, and behavioral actions of GLYX-13 to further characterize
      the mechanisms underlying the antidepressant actions of this agent. The results
      demonstrate that a single dose of GLYX-13 rapidly activates the mTORC1 pathway in
      the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and that infusion of the selective mTORC1 inhibitor
      rapamycin into the medial PFC (mPFC) blocks the antidepressant behavioral actions
      of GLYX-13, indicating a requirement for mTORC1 similar to ketamine. The results
      also demonstrate that GLYX-13 rapidly increases the number and function of spine
      synapses in the apical dendritic tuft of layer V pyramidal neurons in the mPFC.
      Notably, GLYX-13 significantly increased the synaptic responses to hypocretin, a
      measure of thalamocortical synapses, compared with its effects on 5-HT responses,
      a measure of cortical-cortical responses mediated by the 5-HT2A receptor.
      Behavioral studies further demonstrate that GLYX-13 does not influence 5-HT2
      receptor induced head twitch response or impulsivity in a serial reaction time
      task (SRTT), whereas ketamine increased responses in both tests. In contrast,
      both GLYX-13 and ketamine increased attention in the SRTT task, which is linked
      to hypocretin-thalamocortical responses. The differences in the 5-HT2 receptor
      synaptic and behavioral responses may be related to the lack of psychotomimetic
      side effects of GLYX-13 compared with ketamine, whereas regulation of the
      hypocretin responses may contribute to the therapeutic benefits of both rapid
      acting antidepressants.

PMID- 27634358
TI  - Plant Volatile Genomics: Recent Developments and Putative Applications in
      Agriculture.
AB  - The review of patents reveals that investigation of plant volatiles and their
      biosynthetic pathways is a relatively new field in plant biochemistry. The
      diversity of structure and function of these volatiles is gradually being
      understood. However, the great diversity of volatile biochemicals plants emit
      through different parts plays numerous roles in stress resistance and other
      ecological interactions. From an agronomic point of view, regulation volatile
      production in crop plants may lead to desirable changes in plant defence,
      pollinator attraction and post-harvest qualities. In several crop species,
      genetic manipulation or metabolic channelling have led to altered emission I
      aroma profiles. This short review summarizes some recent cases of artificial
      manipulation of volatile profile in planta or in transformed microbial systems.

PMID- 27634356
TI  - GABAergic Synapses at the Axon Initial Segment of Basolateral Amygdala Projection
      Neurons Modulate Fear Extinction.
AB  - Inhibitory synaptic transmission in the amygdala has a pivotal role in fear
      learning and its extinction. However, the local circuits formed by GABAergic
      inhibitory interneurons within the amygdala and their detailed function in
      shaping these behaviors are not well understood. Here we used lentiviral-mediated
      knockdown of the cell adhesion molecule neurofascin in the basolateral amygdala
      (BLA) to specifically remove inhibitory synapses at the axon initial segment
      (AIS) of BLA projection neurons. Quantitative analysis of GABAergic synapse
      markers and measurement of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents in BLA
      projection neurons after neurofascin knockdown ex vivo confirmed the loss of
      GABAergic input. We then studied the impact of this manipulation on anxiety-like
      behavior and auditory cued fear conditioning and its extinction as BLA related
      behavioral paradigms, as well as on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the ventral
      subiculum-BLA pathway in vivo. BLA knockdown of neurofascin impaired ventral
      subiculum-BLA-LTP. While this manipulation did not affect anxiety-like behavior
      and fear memory acquisition and consolidation, it specifically impaired
      extinction. Our findings indicate that modification of inhibitory synapses at the
      AIS of BLA projection neurons is sufficient to selectively impair extinction
      behavior. A better understanding of the role of distinct GABAergic synapses may
      provide novel and more specific targets for therapeutic interventions in
      extinction-based therapies.

PMID- 27634359
TI  - Phytochemicals as Effective Quorum Quenchers Against Bacterial Communication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quorum sensing or the bacterial information flow in an orchestrated
      manner is an essential feature of many pathogenic bacteria. Quorum quenching
      molecules (QQ) can inhibit the growth of such bacteria. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of
      this study is to evaluate the potential of plant extracts as quorum quenchers and
      monitor the recent patents. METHODS: Many available reports and patents are on
      synthetic ligand molecules or even compounds isolated from cyanobacteria
      (Honaucin A) and other microorganisms inhibiting quorum sensing molecules.
      Molecules with Quorum quenching (QQ) ability isolated from plants could inhibit
      violacein and pyocyanin production in Chromobacterium violaceum and Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa respectively. RESULTS: Studies leading to patents are initiated in
      this comparatively new topic. Hydrolysable tannins such as vescalagin and
      castalagin isolated from Conocarpus erectus are reported to have anti- quorum
      sensing activity. The gene product of agr D in gram positive bacteria is modified
      by endopeptidase to thiolactone peptide which is equivalent to acyl homoserine
      lactone of gram negative bacteria. General pathways suggested for the quorum
      sensing inhibition by plant extracts focuses on such autoinducers. CONCLUSION:
      Medicinal plants and plant extracts are the leading sources of quorum sensing
      inhibitors. Patents related to quorum sensing inhibitors are taking new leaps in
      medicine, especially applications relating to the addition of quorum sensing
      inhibitors on to the surface of implantable or indwelling devices that are
      helpful in eradicating the trouble of infection in health care industry.

PMID- 27634357
TI  - TrkB Signaling in Dorsal Raphe Nucleus is Essential for Antidepressant Efficacy
      and Normal Aggression Behavior.
AB  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its high affinity receptor,
      tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), have important roles in neural plasticity
      and are required for antidepressant efficacy. Studies examining the role of BDNF
      TrkB signaling in depression and antidepressant efficacy have largely focused on
      the limbic system, leaving it unclear whether this signaling is important in
      other brain regions. BDNF and TrkB are both highly expressed in the dorsal raphe
      nucleus (DRN), a brain region that has been suggested to have a role in
      depression and antidepressant action, although it is unknown whether BDNF and
      TrkB in the dorsal raphe nucleus are involved in these processes. We combined the
      adeno-associated virus (AAV) with the Cre-loxP site-specific recombination system
      to selectively knock down either Bdnf or TrkB in the DRN. These mice were then
      characterized in several behavioral paradigms including measures of depression
      related behavior and antidepressant efficacy. We show that knockdown of TrkB, but
      not Bdnf, in the DRN results in loss of antidepressant efficacy and increased
      aggression-related behavior. We also show that knockdown of TrkB or Bdnf in this
      brain region does not have an impact on weight, activity levels, anxiety, or
      depression-related behaviors. These data reveal a critical role for TrkB
      signaling in the DRN in mediating antidepressant responses and normal aggression
      behavior. The results also suggest a non-cell autonomous role for BDNF in the DRN
      in mediating antidepressant efficacy.

PMID- 27634360
TI  - Contribution of reactive oxygen species to (+)-catechin-mediated bacterial
      lethality.
AB  - The contribution of reactive oxygen species to (+)-catechin-mediated bacterial
      lethality was investigated. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum
      bactericidal concentration (MBC) of (+)-catechin against E. coli, P. aeruginosa
      and S. aureus were investigated using 96-well microtitre plate. MIC and MBC of
      (+)-catechin against E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus are 600 and 700; 600
      and 800; 600 and 800 MUg/mL respectively. The optical densities and colony
      forming units of (+)-catechin-treated bacteria decreased. (+)-Catechin (4* MIC)
      significantly increased the superoxide anion content of E. coli, P. aeruginosa
      and S. aureus compared to DMSO. Superoxide dismutase and catalase in (+)-catechin
      treated E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus increased significantly. Conversely,
      level of reduced glutathione in (+)-catechin-treated E. coli, P. aeruginosa and
      S. aureus decreased significantly while glutathione disulfide increased
      significantly. Furthermore, malondialdehyde and fragmented DNA increased
      significantly following exposure to (+)-catechin. From the above findings, (+)
      catechin enhanced the generation of reactive oxygen species (superoxide anion
      radical and hydroxyl radical) in E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, possibly
      by autoxidation, Fenton chemistry and inhibiting electron transport chain
      resulting into lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation and consequentially
      bacterial cell death. 

PMID- 27634361
TI  - Construct validity of a novel assessment tool for ultrasound-guided axillary
      brachial plexus block.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity and reliability
      of a novel metrics-based assessment tool, previously developed for ultrasound
      guided axillary brachial plexus block. Five expert and eight novice anaesthetists
      performed a total of 18 ultrasound-guided axillary brachial plexus blocks on the
      same number of patients. A trained investigator video-taped procedures according
      to a pre-defined protocol. Two trained consultant anaesthetists independently
      scored the videos using the assessment tool. Compared with novices, experts
      completed more steps (mean 41.0 vs. 33.1, p = 0.001), had fewer procedural errors
      (2.8 vs. 7.9, p < 0.0001), had fewer critical errors (0.8 vs. 1.3, p = 0.030),
      and fewer total errors (3.5 vs. 9.1, p < 0.0001). The mean inter-rater
      reliability for scoring of experts' performance was 0.91, for novices'
      performance was 0.84, and for all performance combined (n = 18) was 0.88. This
      assessment tool is valid, and discriminates reliably between expert and novice
      performance for placement of ultrasound-guided axillary brachial plexus blocks.

PMID- 27634362
TI  - DNA-based cryptographic methods for data hiding in DNA media.
AB  - Information security can be achieved using cryptography, steganography or a
      combination of them, where data is firstly encrypted using any of the available
      cryptography techniques and then hid into any hiding medium. Recently, the famous
      genomic DNA has been introduced as a hiding medium, known as DNA steganography,
      due to its notable ability to hide huge data sets with a high level of randomness
      and hence security. Despite the numerous cryptography techniques, to our
      knowledge only the vigenere cipher and the DNA-based playfair cipher have been
      combined with the DNA steganography, which keeps space for investigation of other
      techniques and coming up with new improvements. This paper presents a
      comprehensive analysis between the DNA-based playfair, vigenere, RSA and the AES
      ciphers, each combined with a DNA hiding technique. The conducted analysis
      reports the performance diversity of each combined technique in terms of
      security, speed, hiding capacity in addition to both key size and data size.
      Moreover, this paper proposes a modification of the current combined DNA-based
      playfair cipher technique, which makes it not only simple and fast but also
      provides a significantly higher hiding capacity and security. The conducted
      extensive experimental studies confirm such outstanding performance in comparison
      with all the discussed combined techniques.

PMID- 27634363
TI  - Systematic review with meta-analysis: fundic gland polyps and proton pump
      inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A causal association between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and
      fundic gland polyps has been suggested, but the data are conflicting. AIM: To
      clarify the relationship through a meta-analysis of the existing data. METHODS: A
      systematic retrieval and selection of records was performed. The main inclusion
      criteria were original studies reporting the prevalence of fundic gland polyps in
      PPI users or the reverse, compared to controls. Key outcomes were the odds ratios
      (OR) for fundic gland polyp prevalence in association with PPI use, prevalence of
      PPI use amongst subjects with fundic gland polyps and fundic gland polyp
      prevalence among PPI users. Statistical analysis was performed using Mix 2.0 Pro.
      RESULTS: The initial search using electronic databases and manual searching
      retrieved 339 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts. Twenty articles met all
      inclusion and exclusion criteria, with a total of 40 218 subjects included. The
      meta-analysis of 12 studies revealed an increase in fundic gland polyps amongst
      PPI users compared to controls (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.42-4.27, P = 0.001),
      particularly among individuals taking PPIs for at least 6 months (OR: 4.71, 95%
      CI 2.22-9.99, P < 0.001) or 12 months (OR: 5.32, 95% CI 2.58-10.99, P < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Proton pump inhibitor usage is associated with a significantly
      increased prevalence of fundic gland polyps, and there is a trend for this to
      increase with longer length of PPI exposure. However, the meta-analysis is
      limited mainly to cohort studies.

PMID- 27634364
TI  - Giant Hysteretic Sorption of CO2 : In Situ Crystallographic Visualization of
      Guest Binding within a Breathing Framework at 298 K.
AB  - A dynamic ZnII -MOF has been shown to exhibit extreme breathing behavior under
      gas pressure. The very narrow pore form of the activated framework opens up in
      the presence of carbon dioxide, thus making it a suitable material for CO2
      capture. Sorption of CO2 at 298 K and relatively high pressure clearly shows a
      two-step isotherm with giant hysteresis for the second step. In-situ single
      crystal diffraction analysis was carried out under CO2 gas pressure at 298 K
      using an environmental gas cell in order to visualize the interaction between CO2
      and the host framework. The results are well supported by pressure-gradient
      differential scanning calorimetry (P-DSC) and variable-pressure powder X-ray
      analysis. Theoretical calculations have been carried out in order to further back
      up the crystallographic data.

PMID- 27634365
TI  - Corrigendum: Predictability of Precipitation Over the Conterminous U.S. Based on
      the CMIP5 Multi-Model Ensemble.

PMID- 27634366
TI  - Effective sizes and time to migration-drift equilibrium in geographically
      subdivided populations.
AB  - Many versions of the effective population size (Ne) exist, and they are important
      in population genetics in order to quantify rates of change of various
      characteristics, such as inbreeding, heterozygosity, or allele frequencies.
      Traditionally, Ne was defined for single, isolated populations, but we have
      recently presented a mathematical framework for subdivided populations. In this
      paper we focus on diploid populations with geographic subdivision, and present
      new theoretical results. We compare the haploid and diploid versions of the
      inbreeding effective size (NeI) with novel expression for the variance effective
      size (NeV), and conclude that for local populations NeV is often much smaller
      than both versions of NeI, whenever they exist. Global NeV of the metapopulation,
      on the other hand, is close to the haploid NeI and much larger than the diploid
      NeI. We introduce a new effective size, the additive genetic variance effective
      size NeAV, which is of particular interest for long term protection of species.
      It quantifies the rate at which additive genetic variance is lost and we show
      that this effective size is closely related to the haploid version of NeI.
      Finally, we introduce a new measure of a population's deviation from migration
      drift equilibrium, and apply it to quantify the time it takes to reach this
      equilibrium. Our findings are of importance for understanding the concept of
      effective population size in substructured populations and many of the results
      have applications in conservation biology.

PMID- 27634367
TI  - Hyperporous Carbons from Hypercrosslinked Polymers.
AB  - Porous carbons with extremely high surface areas are produced through the
      carbonization of hypercrosslinked benzene, pyrrole, and thiophene. Such carbons
      show largely microporous and mesoporous domains and exhibit Brunaeur-Emmett
      Teller surface areas up to 4300 m2 g-1 . The best performing material also
      displays exceptionally high CO2 and H2 uptakes.

PMID- 27634368
TI  - In vivo confirmation of hydration-induced changes in human-skin thickness,
      roughness and interaction with the environment.
AB  - The skin properties, structure, and performance can be influenced by many
      internal and external factors, such as age, gender, lifestyle, skin diseases, and
      a hydration level that can vary in relation to the environment. The aim of this
      work was to demonstrate the multifaceted influence of water on human skin through
      a combination of in vivo confocal Raman spectroscopy and images of volar-forearm
      skin captured with the laser scanning confocal microscopy. By means of this pilot
      study, the authors have both qualitatively and quantitatively studied the
      influence of changing the depth-dependent hydration level of the stratum corneum
      (SC) on the real contact area, surface roughness, and the dimensions of the
      primary lines and presented a new method for characterizing the contact area for
      different states of the skin. The hydration level of the skin and the thickness
      of the SC increased significantly due to uptake of moisture derived from liquid
      water or, to a much lesser extent, from humidity present in the environment.
      Hydrated skin was smoother and exhibited higher real contact area values. The
      highest rates of water uptake were observed for the upper few micrometers of skin
      and for short exposure times.

PMID- 27634369
TI  - Current challenges and future directions for liver transplantation.
AB  - Liver transplantation is an effective and widely used therapy for several
      patients with acute and chronic liver diseases. The discrepancy between the
      number of patients on the waiting list and available donors remains the key issue
      and is responsible for the high rate of waiting list mortality. The recent news
      is that the majority of patients with hepatitis C virus related liver disease
      will be cured by new antivirals therefore we should expect soon a reduction in
      the need of liver transplantation for these recipients. This review aims to
      highlight, in two different sections, the main open issues of liver
      transplantation concerning the current and future strategies to the best use of
      limited number of organs. The first section cover the strategies to increase the
      donor pool, discussing the use of older donors, split grafts, living donation and
      donation after cardiac death and mechanical perfusion systems to improve the
      preservation of organs before liver transplantation. Challenges in
      immunosuppressive therapy and operational tolerance induction will be evaluated
      as potential tools to increase the survival in liver transplant recipients and to
      reducing the need of re-transplantation. The second section is devoted to the
      evaluation of possible new indications to liver transplantation, where the
      availability of organs by implementing the strategies mentioned in the first
      section and the reduction in the number of waiting transplants for HCV disease is
      realized. Among these new potential indications for transplantation, the
      expansion of the Milan criteria for hepatocellular cancer is certainly the most
      open to question.

PMID- 27634371
TI  - Body Dissatisfaction, Peer Victimization, and Self-Worth and the Effects of Race
      and Gender.

PMID- 27634370
TI  - Differential Activation of a Mouse Estrogen Receptor beta Isoform (mERbeta2) with
      Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are suspected of altering
      estrogenic signaling through estrogen receptor (ER) alpha or beta (mERbeta1 in
      mice). Several EDC effects have been reported in animal studies and extrapolated
      to human studies. Unlike humans, rodents express a novel isoform of ERbeta
      (mERbeta2) with a modified ligand-binding domain sequence. EDC activity through
      this isoform remains uncharacterized. OBJECTIVES: We identified the expression
      pattern of mERbeta2 in mouse tissues and assessed the estrogenic activity of EDCs
      through mERbeta2. METHODS: mERbeta2 mRNA expression was measured in mouse
      tissues. HepG2 cells were used to assess the transactivation activity of mERbeta
      isoforms with EDCs and ER co-activators. 293A cells transiently transfected with
      mER isoforms were used to detect EDC-mediated changes in endogenous ER target
      gene expression. RESULTS: Expression of mERbeta2 mRNA was detected in mouse
      reproductive tissues (ovary, testis, and prostate) and lung and colon tissues
      from both female and male mice. Five (E2, DES, DPN, BPAF, Coum, 1-BP) of 16
      compounds tested by reporter assay had estrogenic activity through mERbeta2.
      mERbeta2 had a compound-specific negative effect on ERbeta/ligand-mediated
      activity and ER target genes when co-expressed with mERbeta1. mERbeta2 recruited
      coactivators SRC2 or SRC3 in the presence of EDCs, but showed less recruitment
      than mERbeta1. CONCLUSION: mERbeta2 showed weaker estrogenic activity than
      mERbeta1 in our in vitro system, and can dampen mERbeta1 activity. In vivo models
      of EDC activity and ER-mediated toxicity should consider the role of mERbeta2, as
      rodent tissue responses involving mERbeta2 may not be reproduced in human
      biology.

PMID- 27634372
TI  - Multistage Continuous Targeting with Quantitatively Controlled Peptides on
      Chitosan-Lipid Nanoparticles with Multicore-Shell Nanoarchitecture for Enhanced
      Orally Administrated Anticancer In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - A DOX-loaded polysaccharide-lecithin reverse micelles triglyceride-based oral
      delivery nanocarrier (D-PL/TG NPs) conjugated with (i) RGD peptide for targeting
      to beta1 integrin of M cells and (ii) Lyp-1 peptide for targeting to the p32
      receptor of MDA-MB-231 cells is used to investigate the multistage continuous
      targeting capabilities of these peptide-conjugated nanocarriers (GLD-PL/TG NPs)
      for tumor therapy. Variations in the targeting efficacy and pharmacokinetic
      properties are investigated by quantitatively controlling the surface density of
      different peptides on the nanoparticles. In vitro permeability in a human
      follicle-associated epithelium model and cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 cells
      indicate that the nanocarriers conjugated with high RGD peptide concentrations
      display a higher permeability due to the existence of M cells with higher
      transcytosis activity, but a higher concentration of conjugated Lyp-1 peptide
      exhibits the lowest cell viability. Being benefited from specific targeting of
      peptide conjugation, improved bioavailability and enhanced tumor accumulation are
      achieved by the GLD-PL/TG NPs, leading to better antitumor efficacy. The results
      of in vivo biodistribution and antitumor studies reveal that the effect of LyP-1
      peptide is more predominant than that of RGD peptide. This proof of multistage
      continuous targeting may open the door to a new generation of oral drug delivery
      systems in targeted cancer therapy.

PMID- 27634374
TI  - Erratum to: C-type natriuretic peptide ameliorates pulmonary fibrosis by acting
      on lung fibroblasts in mice.

PMID- 27634373
TI  - Stereocomplex micelle efficiently transports Doxorubicin for enhanced lymphoma
      suppression in vivo.
AB  - The application of Doxorubicin (DOX) in the chemotherapy for lymphoma is
      seriously hampered by the side effects of DOX, especially the cardiotoxicity and
      nephrotoxicity. Nanoscale micelle as a promising drug delivery system has gained
      more and more interest in malignancy chemotherapy. In this study, we successfully
      fabricated DOX-loaded stereocomplex micelle (SCM/DOX) from the equimolar mixture
      of the enantiomeric four-armed poly(ethylene glycol)-polylactide (PDM and PLM)
      copolymers. The SCM/DOX showed proper hydrodynamic size of ~90 nm and slow DOX
      release in phosphate-buffered saline at pH 7.4. The antitumor activities of DOX,
      PDM/DOX, PLM/DOX, and SCM/DOX toward lymphoma cells were tested in vitro and in
      vivo. Our data demonstrated that the SCM/DOX more effectively inhibited the cell
      proliferation than PDM/DOX, PLM/DOX, and free DOX in vitro. In the in vivo
      antitumor test, the SCM/DOX more effectively inhibited the growth of EL4
      lymphoma, too. In addition, the body weight loss caused by SCM/DOX was alleviated
      than DOX. More importantly, the cardiotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and
      hepatotoxicity caused by DOX in mice were obviously attenuated compared to the
      free DOX treatment group. Taken together, all the results indicated that the
      SCM/DOX could inhibit the growth of EL4 lymphoma cells and attenuate the toxicity
      of DOX more efficiently, which suggested SCM/DOX was promising for the prevention
      and treatment of lymphoma.

PMID- 27634376
TI  - Efficacy of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy for
      osteonecrosis of the femoral head: A three-year follow-up study.
AB  - This is a retrospective analysis of the clinical effects of transplant of
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hUC
      MSCs) for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). The
      biological characteristics of hUC-MSCs were assessed using flow cytometry. Nine
      eligible patients were enrolled in the study as they adhered to the Association
      Research Circulation Osseous (ARCO) classification of stage II-IIIa, and hUC-MSCs
      were grafted by intra-arterial infusion. Organize effective perfusion was
      assessed using the oxygen delivery index (ODI). The results showed that the ODI
      was increased at three days post-operation. The MRI results revealed that at 12
      and 24 months after treatment, the necrotic volume of the femoral heads was
      significantly reduced. No obvious abnormalities were observed. Taken together,
      these data indicate that intra-arterially infused hUC-MSCs migrate into the
      necrotic field of femoral heads and differentiate into osteoblasts, thus
      improving the necrosis of femoral heads. This finding suggested that intra
      arterial infusion of hUC-MSCs MSCs is a feasible and relatively safe method for
      the treatment of femoral head necrosis.

PMID- 27634377
TI  - EnsCat: clustering of categorical data via ensembling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clustering is a widely used collection of unsupervised learning
      techniques for identifying natural classes within a data set. It is often used in
      bioinformatics to infer population substructure. Genomic data are often
      categorical and high dimensional, e.g., long sequences of nucleotides. This makes
      inference challenging: The distance metric is often not well-defined on
      categorical data; running time for computations using high dimensional data can
      be considerable; and the Curse of Dimensionality often impedes the interpretation
      of the results. Up to the present, however, the literature and software
      addressing clustering for categorical data has not yet led to a standard
      approach. RESULTS: We present software for an ensemble method that performs well
      in comparison with other methods regardless of the dimensionality of the data. In
      an ensemble method a variety of instantiations of a statistical object are found
      and then combined into a consensus value. It has been known for decades that
      ensembling generally outperforms the components that comprise it in many
      settings. Here, we apply this ensembling principle to clustering. We begin by
      generating many hierarchical clusterings with different clustering sizes. When
      the dimension of the data is high, we also randomly select subspaces also of
      variable size, to generate clusterings. Then, we combine these clusterings into a
      single membership matrix and use this to obtain a new, ensembled dissimilarity
      matrix using Hamming distance. CONCLUSIONS: Ensemble clustering, as implemented
      in R and called EnsCat, gives more clearly separated clusters than other
      clustering techniques for categorical data. The latest version with manual and
      examples is available at https://github.com/jlp2duke/EnsCat .

PMID- 27634375
TI  - FXR agonist obeticholic acid reduces hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in a rat
      model of toxic cirrhosis.
AB  - Hepatic inflammation drives hepatic stellate cells (HSC), resulting in liver
      fibrosis. The Farnesoid-X receptor (FXR) antagonizes inflammation through NF
      kappaB inhibition. We investigated preventive and therapeutic effects of FXR
      agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) on hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in toxic
      cirrhotic rats. Cirrhosis was induced by thioacetamide (TAA) intoxication. OCA
      was given during or after intoxication with vehicle-treated rats as controls. At
      sacrifice, fibrosis, hemodynamic and biochemical parameters were assessed. HSC
      activation, cell turn-over, hepatic NF-kappaB activation, pro-inflammatory and
      pro-fibrotic cytokines were determined. The effect of OCA was further evaluated
      in isolated HSC, Kupffer cells, hepatocytes and liver sinusoidal endothelial
      cells (LSEC). OCA decreased hepatic inflammation and fibrogenesis during TAA
      administration and reversed fibrosis in established cirrhosis. Portal pressure
      decreased through reduced intrahepatic vascular resistance. This was paralleled
      by decreased expression of pro-fibrotic cytokines (transforming growth-factor
      beta, connective tissue growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor beta
      receptor) as well as markers of hepatic cell turn-over, by blunting effects of
      pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1). In vitro,
      OCA inhibited both LSEC and Kupffer cell activation; while HSC remained
      unaffected. This related to NF-kappaB inhibition via up-regulated IkappaBalpha.
      In conclusion, OCA inhibits hepatic inflammation in toxic cirrhotic rats
      resulting in decreased HSC activation and fibrosis.

PMID- 27634378
TI  - Ursolic acid-mediated apoptosis of K562 cells involves Stat5/Akt pathway
      inhibition through the induction of Gfi-1.
AB  - Ursolic acid (UA) is a promising natural compound for cancer prevention and
      therapy. We previously reported that UA induced apoptosis in CML-derived K562
      cells. Here we show that the apoptotic process is accompanied by down-regulation
      of Bcl-xL and Mcl-1 expression and dephosphorylation of Bad. These events are
      associated with Stat5 inhibition, which is partially mediated through elevated
      expression of transcriptional repressor Gfi-1. Gfi-1 knockdown using siRNA
      abrogates the ability of UA to decrease Stat5b expression and attenuates
      apoptosis induction by UA. We also demonstrate that UA suppresses the Akt kinase
      activity by inhibiting Akt1/2 expression, which correlates with Stat5 inhibition.
      Stat5 activity inhibited by a chemical inhibitor or siRNA, Akt1/2 mRNA expression
      is suppressed. Moreover, we show that UA exerts growth-inhibition in Imatinib
      resistant K562/G01. UA has synergistic effects when used in combination with
      Imatinib in both K562 and K562/G01. Altogether, the data provide evidence that
      UA's pro-apoptotic effect in K562 cells is associated with the Gfi-1/Stat5/Akt
      pathway. The findings indicate that UA could potentially be a useful agent in the
      treatment of CML.

PMID- 27634379
TI  - Segregation between SMCHD1 mutation, D4Z4 hypomethylation and Facio-Scapulo
      Humeral Dystrophy: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main form of Facio-Scapulo-Humeral muscular Dystrophy is linked
      to copy number reduction of the 4q D4Z4 macrosatellite (FSHD1). In 5 % of cases,
      FSHD phenotype appears in the absence of D4Z4 reduction (FSHD2). In 70-80 % of
      these patients, variants of the SMCHD1 gene segregate with 4qA haplotypes and
      D4Z4 hypomethylation. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a family presenting with
      neuromuscular symptoms reminiscent of FSHD but without D4Z4 copy reduction. We
      characterized the 4q35 region using molecular combing, searched for mutation in
      the SMCHD1 gene and determined D4Z4 methylation level by sodium bisulfite
      sequencing. We further investigated the impact of the SMCHD1 mutation at the
      protein level and on the NMD-dependent degradation of transcript. In muscle, we
      observe moderate but significant reduction in D4Z4 methylation, not correlated
      with DUX4-fl expression. Exome sequencing revealed a heterozygous insertion of 7
      bp in exon 37 of the SMCHD1 gene producing a loss of frame with premature stop
      codon 4 amino acids after the insertion (c.4614-4615insTATAATA). Both wild-type
      and mutated transcripts are detected. CONCLUSION: The truncated protein is absent
      and the full-length protein level is similar in patients and controls indicating
      that in this family, FSHD is not associated with SMCHD1 haploinsufficiency.

PMID- 27634381
TI  - Quercetin Decreases Insulin Resistance in a Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Rat Model
      by Improving Inflammatory Microenvironment.
AB  - Insulin resistance (IR) is a clinical feature of polycystic ovary syndrome
      (PCOS). Quercetin, derived from Chinese medicinal herbs such as hawthorn, has
      been proven practical in the management of IR in diabetes. However, whether
      quercetin could decrease IR in PCOS is unknown. This study aims to observe the
      therapeutic effect of quercetin on IR in a PCOS rat model and explore the
      underlying mechanism. An IR PCOS rat model was established by subcutaneous
      injection with dehydroepiandrosterone. The body weight, estrous cycle, and ovary
      morphology of the quercetin-treated rats were observed. Serum inflammatory
      cytokines were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In ovarian
      tissues, the expression of key genes involved in the inflammatory signaling
      pathway was detected through Western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction,
      or immunohistochemistry. The nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF
      kappaB) was also observed by immunofluorescence. The estrous cycle recovery rate
      of the insulin-resistant PCOS model after quercetin treatment was 58.33%.
      Quercetin significantly reduced the levels of blood insulin, interleukin 1beta,
      IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Quercetin also significantly decreased the
      granulosa cell nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB in the insulin-resistant PCOS
      rat model. The treatment inhibited the expression of inflammation-related genes,
      including the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase subunit
      p22phox, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and Toll-like receptor 4, in ovarian
      tissue. Quercetin improved IR and demonstrated a favorable therapeutic effect on
      the PCOS rats. The underlying mechanism of quercetin potentially involves the
      inhibition of the Toll-like receptor/NF-kappaB signaling pathway and the
      improvement in the inflammatory microenvironment of the ovarian tissue of the
      PCOS rat model.

PMID- 27634380
TI  - HIV-1 Tat-shortened neurite outgrowth through regulation of microRNA-132 and its
      target gene expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synaptodendritic damage is a pathological hallmark of HIV-associated
      neurocognitive disorders, and HIV-1 Tat protein is known to cause such injury in
      the central nervous system. In this study, we aimed to determine the molecular
      mechanisms of Tat-induced neurite shortening, specifically the roles of miR-132,
      an important regulator of neurite morphogenesis in this process. METHODS: The
      relationship between Tat expression and miR-132 expression was first determined
      using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) in Tat-transfected
      astrocytes and neurons, astrocytes from Tat-transgenic mice, and HIV-infected
      astrocytes. qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to determine Tat effects
      on expression of miR-132 target genes methyl CpG-binding protein 2, Rho GTPase
      activator p250GAP, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Exosomes were isolated
      from Tat-expressing astrocytes, and exosomal microRNA (miRNA) uptake into neurons
      was studied using miRNA labeling and flow cytometry. The lactate dehydrogenase
      release was used to determine the cytotoxicity, while immunostaining was used to
      determine neurite lengths and synapse formation. Tat basic domain deletion mutant
      and miR-132 mimic and inhibitor were used to determine the specificity of the
      relationship between Tat and miR-132 and its effects on astrocytes and neurons
      and the underlying mechanisms of Tat-induced miR-132 expression. RESULTS: Tat
      significantly induced miR-132 expression, ensuing down-regulation of miR-132
      target genes in astrocytes and neurons. miR-132 induction was associated with
      phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein and required the basic
      domain of Tat. miRNA-132 induction had no effects on astrocyte activation or
      survival but was involved in the direct neurotoxicity of Tat. miR-132 was present
      in astrocyte-derived exosomes and was taken up by neurons, causing neurite
      shortening. CONCLUSIONS: Tat-induced miR-132 expression contributes to both
      direct and astrocyte-mediated Tat neurotoxicity and supports the important roles
      of miR-132 in controlling neurite outgrowth.

PMID- 27634382
TI  - Community social capital on the timing of sexual debut and teen birth in
      Nicaragua: a multilevel approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Community attributes have been gradually recognized as critical
      determinants shaping sexual behaviors in young population; nevertheless, most of
      the published studies were conducted in high income countries. The study aims to
      examine the association between community social capital with the time to sexual
      onset and to first birth in Central America. METHODS: Building upon the 2011/12
      Demographic and Health Survey conducted in Nicaragua, we identified a sample of
      2766 community-dwelling female adolescents aged 15 to 19 years. Multilevel
      survival analyses were performed to estimate the risks linked with three domains
      of community social capital (i.e., norms, resource and social network). RESULTS:
      Higher prevalence of female sexual debut (norms) and higher proportion of
      secondary school or higher education (resource) in the community are associated
      with an earlier age of sexual debut by 47 % (p < 0.05) and 16 %, respectively (p
      < 0.001). Living in a community with a high proportion of females having a child
      increases the hazard of teen birth (p < 0.001) and resource is negatively
      associated with teen childbearing (p < 0.05). Residential stability and community
      religious composition (social network) were not linked with teen-onset sex and
      birth. CONCLUSIONS: The norm and resource aspects of social capital appeared
      differentially associated with adolescent sexual and reproductive behaviors.
      Interventions aiming to tackle unfavorable sexual and reproductive outcomes in
      young people should be devised and implemented with integration of social
      process.

PMID- 27634383
TI  - Mechanistic Evaluation of Hydration Effects on the Human Epidermal Permeation of
      Salicylate Esters.
AB  - We sought to understand when and how hydration enhances the percutaneous
      absorption of salicylate esters. Human epidermal membrane fluxes and stratum
      corneum solubilities of neat and diluted solutions of three esters were
      determined under hydrated and dehydrated conditions. Hydration doubled the human
      epidermal flux seen for methyl and ethyl salicylate under dehydrated conditions
      and increased the flux of neat glycol salicylate 10-fold. Mechanistic analyses
      showed that this hydration-induced enhancement arises mainly from an increase in
      the stratum corneum diffusivity of the three esters. Further, we showed that
      unlike methyl and ethyl salicylate, glycol salicylate is hygroscopic and the ~10
      fold hydration-induced flux enhancement seen with neat glycol salicylate may be
      due to its ability to hydrate the stratum corneum to a greater extent. The
      hydration-induced enhancements in in vitro epidermal flux seen here for glycol
      and ethyl salicylate were similar to those reported for their percutaneous
      absorption rates in a comparable in vivo study, whilst somewhat higher
      enhancement was seen for methyl salicylate in vivo. This may be explained by a
      physiologically induced self enhancement of neat methyl salicylate absorption in
      vivo which is not applicable in vitro.

PMID- 27634384
TI  - Application of Item Response Theory to Modeling of Expanded Disability Status
      Scale in Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - In this study, we report the development of the first item response theory (IRT)
      model within a pharmacometrics framework to characterize the disease progression
      in multiple sclerosis (MS), as measured by Expanded Disability Status Score
      (EDSS). Data were collected quarterly from a 96-week phase III clinical study by
      a blinder rater, involving 104,206 item-level observations from 1319 patients
      with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), treated with placebo or cladribine. Observed
      scores for each EDSS item were modeled describing the probability of a given
      score as a function of patients' (unobserved) disability using a logistic model.
      Longitudinal data from placebo arms were used to describe the disease progression
      over time, and the model was then extended to cladribine arms to characterize the
      drug effect. Sensitivity with respect to patient disability was calculated as
      Fisher information for each EDSS item, which were ranked according to the amount
      of information they contained. The IRT model was able to describe baseline and
      longitudinal EDSS data on item and total level. The final model suggested that
      cladribine treatment significantly slows disease-progression rate, with a 20%
      decrease in disease-progression rate compared to placebo, irrespective of
      exposure, and effects an additional exposure-dependent reduction in disability
      progression. Four out of eight items contained 80% of information for the given
      range of disabilities. This study has illustrated that IRT modeling is
      specifically suitable for accurate quantification of disease status and
      description and prediction of disease progression in phase 3 studies on RRMS, by
      integrating EDSS item-level data in a meaningful manner.

PMID- 27634385
TI  - Overexpression of Long Non-Coding RNA TUG1 Promotes Colon Cancer Progression.
AB  - BACKGROUND Colon cancer is one of the most prevalent and deadly cancers
      worldwide. It is still necessary to further define the mechanisms and explore
      therapeutic targets of colon cancer. Dysregulation of long noncoding RNAs
      (lncRNAs) has been shown to be correlated with diverse biological processes,
      including tumorigenesis. This study aimed to characterize the biological
      mechanism of taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) in colon cancer. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS qRT-PCR was used to analyze the expression level of TUG1 and p63 in 75
      colon cancer tissues and the matched adjacent non-tumor tissue. In vitro,
      cultured colon cancer cell lines HCT-116 and LoVo were used as cell models. TUG1
      and p63 were silenced via transferring siRNA into HCT-116 or LoVo. The effects of
      TUG1 were investigated by examining cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration.
      RESULTS Among the 75 colon cancer cases, the expression of TUG1 was significantly
      higher in colon cancer tissues compared with the matched adjacent non-tumor
      tissue, while p63 expression was lower in the tumor tissue. In HCT-116 and LoVo,
      the expression of TUG1 was significantly increased by p63 siRNA transfection.
      Furthermore, down-regulation of TUG1 by siRNA significantly inhibited the cell
      proliferation and promoted colon cancer cell apoptosis. In addition, inhibition
      of TUG1 expression significantly blocked the cell migration ability of colon
      cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS LncRNA TUG1 may serve as a potential oncogene for colon
      cancer. Overexpressed TUG1 may contribute to promoting cell proliferation and
      migration in colon cancer cells. 

PMID- 27634388
TI  - Positive language leads to positive wellbeing.

PMID- 27634389
TI  - Initiation.

PMID- 27634386
TI  - Sphingosylphosphorylcholine regulates the Hippo signaling pathway in a dual
      manner.
AB  - Sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC) is a bioactive sphingolipid which regulates
      many cancer-related processes, including cellular proliferation. The Hippo
      signaling pathway consists of a cascade of tumor suppressive kinases Mst1/2 and
      Lats1/2 and their downstream targets YAP and TAZ which are generally pro
      proliferative transcriptional regulators. Direct phosphorylation by Lats1/2
      causes inhibition or degradation of YAP/TAZ and down-regulation of their target
      genes. We found SPC treatment of MDA-MB-435S breast cancer cells to strongly
      inhibit their proliferation and to induce a sustained Lats2 protein expression (6
      24h). Therefore, we hypothesized that Hippo signaling might mediate the anti
      proliferative SPC response. We also saw a cell density-dependent increase in S127
      phosphorylated YAP (pS127-YAP) and a decrease in mRNA levels of YAP target genes
      (CTGF, Cyr61) in response to long (9h) SPC treatment. Knockdown of S1P receptor 2
      (S1P2) prevented the SPC-induced up-regulation of Lats2 and attenuated the anti
      proliferative effect of SPC. However, while knockdown of Lats2 alone or in
      combination with Lats1 expectedly increased basal proliferation it did not
      attenuate the SPC-induced inhibition of proliferation. Exogenous expression of
      wild-type or kinase-dead Lats2 and knockdown of YAP/TAZ also had no effect on the
      anti-proliferative SPC response. It has been previously shown that activation of
      S1P2-G12/13 by sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) leads to rapid de-phosphorylation
      and up-regulation of YAP. Similarly, we saw a decrease in pS127-YAP and an
      increase in total YAP levels with short (1h) SPC treatment as well as a
      subsequent transient increase in YAP target gene expression. Inhibition of S1P2
      prevented the SPC-induced YAP de-phosphorylation. The rapid YAP activation and
      subsequent up-regulation of Lats2 mRNA does not constitute a negative feedback
      loop as knockdown of YAP/TAZ did not inhibit SPC-induced Lats2 expression. In
      conclusion, in this study we show that SPC is able to regulate Hippo signaling in
      a dual and opposite manner, causing an initial activation of YAP followed by an
      inhibition. However, even the strong SPC-induced effects seen in Lats2 and YAP
      did not mediate the anti-proliferative SPC response.

PMID- 27634387
TI  - Involvement of S6K1 in mitochondria function and structure in HeLa cells.
AB  - The major biological function of mitochondria is to generate cellular energy
      through oxidative phosphorylation. Apart from cellular respiration, mitochondria
      also play a key role in signaling processes, including aging and cancer
      metabolism. It has been shown that S6K1-knockout mice are resistant to obesity
      due to enhanced beta-oxidation, with an increased number of large mitochondria.
      Therefore, in this report, the possible involvement of S6K1 in regulating
      mitochondria dynamics and function has been investigated in stable lenti-shS6K1
      HeLa cells. Interestingly, S6K1-stably depleted HeLa cells showed phenotypical
      changes in mitochondria morphology. This observation was further confirmed by
      detailed image analysis of mitochondria shape. Corresponding molecular changes
      were also observed in these cells, such as the induction of mitochondrial fission
      proteins (Drp1 and Fis1). Oxygen consumption is elevated in S6K1-depeleted HeLa
      cells and FL5.12 cells. In addition, S6K1 depletion leads to enhancement of ATP
      production in cytoplasm and mitochondria. However, the relative ratio of
      mitochondrial ATP to cytoplasmic ATP is actually decreased in lenti-shS6K1-HeLa
      cells compared to control cells. Lastly, induction of mitophagy was found in
      lenti-shS6K1-HeLa cells with corresponding changes of mitochondria shape on
      electron microscope analysis. Taken together, our results indicate that S6K1 is
      involved in the regulation of mitochondria morphology and function in HeLa cells.
      This study will provide novel insights into S6K1 function in mitochondria
      mediated cellular signaling.

PMID- 27634390
TI  - A pH-dependent computational approach to the effect of mutations on protein
      stability.
AB  - This article describes a novel software implementation for high-throughput
      scanning mutagenesis with a focus on protein stability. The approach combines
      molecular mechanics calculations with calculations of protein ionization and a
      Gaussian-chain model of electrostatic interactions in unfolded state.
      Comprehensive testing demonstrates a state-of-the-art accuracy for predicted free
      energy differences on single, double, and triple mutations with a correlation
      coefficient R above 0.7, which takes about 1.5 min per mutation on a single CPU.
      Unlike most of existing in silico methods for fast mutagenesis, the stability
      changes are reported as a continuous function of solution pH for wide pH
      intervals. We also propose a novel in silico strategy for searching stabilized
      protein variants that is based on combinatorial scanning mutagenesis using
      representative amino acid types. Our in silico predictions are in excellent
      agreement with the hyper-stabilized variants of mesophilic cold shock protein
      found using the Proside method of direct evolution. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27634391
TI  - Changes in Overall Diet Quality and Subsequent Type 2 Diabetes Risk: Three U.S.
      Prospective Cohorts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent public health recommendations emphasize adopting a healthful
      dietary pattern, but evidence is scarce on whether incremental diet quality
      changes have an impact on long-term diabetes prevention. We aim to evaluate diet
      quality changes during a 4-year period and subsequent 4-year type 2 diabetes
      incidence. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants of prospective cohorts, the
      Nurses' Health Study (NHS), NHS II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study,
      who were free of diabetes at baseline (n = 124,607), were observed for >=20
      years. Diet quality, reflected by the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)
      score, was assessed every 4 years to calculate changes. RESULTS: We documented
      9,361 cases of type 2 diabetes during 2,093,416 person-years of follow-up. A >10%
      decrease in AHEI score over 4 years was associated with a higher subsequent
      diabetes risk (pooled hazard ratio 1.34 [95% CI 1.23-1.46]) with multiple
      adjustment, whereas a >10% increase in AHEI score was associated with a lower
      risk (0.84 [0.78-0.90]). Greater improvement in diet quality was associated with
      lower diabetes risk across baseline diet quality status (P for trend <= 0.001 for
      low, medium, or high initial diet quality) and baseline BMI (P for trend <= 0.01
      for BMI <25, 25-29, or 30 kg/m2). Changes in body weight explained 32% (95% CI 24
      41) of the association between AHEI changes (per 10% increase) and diabetes risk.
      CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in overall diet quality is associated with a lower risk
      of type 2 diabetes, whereas deterioration in diet quality is associated with a
      higher risk. The association between diet quality changes and diabetes risk is
      only partly explained by body weight changes.

PMID- 27634392
TI  - Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity for Women Who Would Be Added to the Diagnosis of
      GDM Using IADPSG Criteria: A Secondary Analysis of the Hyperglycemia and Adverse
      Pregnancy Outcome Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of adverse outcomes for women who are
      diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) by the International
      Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) criteria using
      data from the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study. RESEARCH
      DESIGN AND METHODS: This is a secondary analysis from the North American HAPO
      study centers. Glucose measurements from a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test were
      used to group participants into three nonoverlapping categories: GDM based on
      Carpenter-Coustan (CC) criteria (also GDM based on IADPSG criteria), GDM
      diagnosed based on IADPSG criteria but not CC criteria, and no GDM. Newborn
      outcomes included birth weight, cord C-peptide, and newborn percentage fat above
      the 90th percentile; maternal outcomes included primary cesarean delivery and
      preeclampsia. Outcome frequencies were compared using multiple logistic
      regression, adjusting for predefined covariates. RESULTS: Among 25,505 HAPO study
      participants, 6,159 blinded participants from North American centers were
      included. Of these, 81% had normal glucose testing, 4.2% had GDM based on CC
      criteria, and 14.3% had GDM based on IADPSG criteria but not CC criteria.
      Compared with women with no GDM, those diagnosed with GDM based on IADPSG
      criteria had adjusted odds ratios (95% CIs) for birth weight, cord C-peptide, and
      newborn percentage fat above the 90th percentile, as well as primary cesarean
      delivery and preeclampsia, of 1.87 (1.50-2.34), 2.00 (1.54-2.58), 1.73 (1.35
      2.23), 1.31 (1.07-1.60), and 1.73 (1.32-2.27), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Women
      diagnosed with GDM based on IADPSG criteria had higher adverse outcome
      frequencies compared with women with no GDM. These data underscore the need for
      research to assess the effect of treatment to improve outcomes in such women.

PMID- 27634394
TI  - Alkaline phosphatase added to capacitating medium enhances horse sperm-zona
      pellucida binding.
AB  - Alkaline phosphatase (AP) is present in equine seminal plasma and spermatozoa,
      but its functional role is not fully understood yet. Being that, sperm-oocyte
      interaction in equine species has been reported to be enhanced at a slightly
      basic pH, this work aimed at verifying whether exogenous alkaline phosphatase
      exerts any role on stallion spermatozoa and sperm-oocyte interaction at different
      pHs (7.4; 8.0; 9.0). Stallion spermatozoa were capacitated in Tyrode's medium at
      pH 7.4, 8.0, and 9.0 for 4 hours at 38  degrees C, 5% CO2 with 2.5-IU AP (AP
      group) or without AP (capacitated spermatozoa group); viability with
      mitochondrial activity, motility, and acrosome integrity were measured. In
      addition, a homologous binding assay was carried out: stallion spermatozoa were
      capacitated 1 hour at 38  degrees C, 5% CO2 with 2.5-IU AP (AP group) or without
      AP (capacitated spermatozoa group). Oocytes were then added to sperm suspensions
      and coincubated for 1 hour. Our results indicate that AP at pH 9.0 significantly
      increases the percentage of living cells with active mitochondria, whereas it
      significantly reduces the percentage of acrosome-damaged cells at pH 8.0. No
      significant differences were registered in motility parameters. The homologous
      binding assay showed a strong effect of AP, that increased the number of sperm
      bound to the oocyte's zona pellucida at all pHs tested. In conclusion, AP can
      induce some modifications on sperm membranes thus enhancing their capacity to
      bind to the zona pellucida of equine oocytes.

PMID- 27634395
TI  - Cell apoptosis and lipid content of in vitro-produced, vitrified bovine embryos
      treated with forskolin.
AB  - The presence of fetal calf serum in culture medium influences embryo quality,
      causing a reduction in postcryopreservation survival. Forskolin has been used to
      induce lipolysis and increase cryotolerance, functioning as an activator of
      adenylate cyclase and elevating cAMP levels. In the present experiment, bovine
      zygotes were cultured in synthetic oviduct fluid with amino acid plus 2.5% fetal
      calf serum for 6 days, when forskolin was added in three concentrations: 2.5, 5,
      and 10 MUM. Treatment with forskolin lasted for 24 hours. Blastocyst formation
      rate, quantification of lipid granules, total cell numbers, and apoptosis rate
      were evaluated. In a second assessment, embryos were vitrified, and warming, re
      expansion rate, total cell numbers, and apoptosis rate were also evaluated. There
      was no difference due to forskolin in blastocyst formation or re-expansion rates
      after vitrification. However, lipid measurements were lower (control: 136.8 and F
      2.5 MUM: 128.5; P < 0.05), and number of cells per embryo higher (control: 140.1
      and F 2.5 MUM: 173.5; P < 0.05) than controls for 2.5 MUM forskolin but not for
      higher forskolin concentrations. The number of intact cells per embryo was
      higher, and the rate of apoptosis was lower in fresh than in vitrified embryos
      (number of cells of warmed embryos, control: 104.1, F 2.5 MUM: 101.3, F 5 MUM:
      115.4, F 10 MUM: 95.1; apoptotic of fresh cells, control: 12.1%, F 2.5 MUM:
      16.7%, F 5 MUM: 11.1%, F 10 MUM: 14.2%; and apoptotic warmed embryos, control:
      22.3%, F 2.5 MUM: 37.3%, F 5 MUM: 33.2%, F 10 MUM: 30.3%; P < 0.05). It was
      concluded that forskolin is an effective lipolytic agent even at low
      concentrations, leading to formation of blastocysts with a comparatively larger
      number of cells.

PMID- 27634393
TI  - Comparative Effectiveness of Diabetic Oral Medications Among HIV-Infected and HIV
      Uninfected Veterans.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes is increasingly common in HIV-infected individuals.
      The objective of this study was to compare the glycemic effectiveness of oral
      diabetic medications among patients with and without HIV infection. RESEARCH
      DESIGN AND METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted among HIV-infected
      and uninfected veterans with type 2 diabetes initiating diabetic medications
      between 1999 and 2010. Generalized estimating equations were used to compare
      changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) through the year after medication initiation,
      adjusting for baseline HbA1c level and clinical covariates. A subanalysis using
      propensity scores was conducted to account for confounding by indication.
      RESULTS: A total of 2,454 HIV-infected patients and 8,892 HIV-uninfected patients
      initiated diabetic medications during the study period. The most commonly
      prescribed medication was metformin (n = 5,647, 50%), followed by a sulfonylurea
      (n = 5,554, 49%) and a thiazolidinedione (n = 145, 1%). After adjustment for
      potential confounders, there was no significant difference in the change in HbA1c
      level among the three groups of new users. HIV infection was not significantly
      associated with glycemic response (P = 0.24). Black and Hispanic patients had a
      poorer response to therapy compared with white patients, with a relative increase
      in HbA1c level of 0.16% (95% CI 0.08, 0.24) [1.7 mmol/mol (0.9, 2.6)] (P < 0.001)
      and 0.25% (0.11, 0.39) [2.7 mmol/mol (1.2, 4.3)] (P = 0.001), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found that glycemic response was independent of the initial class
      of diabetic medication prescribed among HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected adults
      with type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms leading to poorer response among black and
      Hispanic patients, who make up a substantial proportion of those with HIV
      infection and type 2 diabetes, require further investigation.

PMID- 27634396
TI  - Prepubertal heifers versus cows-The differences in the follicular environment.
AB  - The oocyte quality is to a large extent influenced by the sexual maturity of the
      donor female. Although this phenomenon has already been broadly described in
      domestic animals, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Published data
      focus on oocyte ultrastructure, fertilization abnormalities, and blastocyst
      developmental rate. The goal of the present experiment was to characterize the
      follicular environment (oocyte, cumulus [CC] and granulosa (GC) cells as well as
      follicular fluid [FF]) in ovarian follicles of prepubertal heifers and cows. Each
      experimental replicate included the following set of traits within individual
      follicles: lipid droplets (LDs) number in oocytes, expression of seven genes
      involved in energy metabolism (fatty acids [FAs] metabolism-ELOVL2, ELOVL5, SCD,
      FADS2, glucose transport-GLUT1, GLUT3, GLUT8) in CC and GC as well as FA
      composition and glucose concentration in FF. According to our results, cow
      oocytes were larger in diameter and contained more LD than those from prepubertal
      heifers, both before and after IVM. The LD number was also higher in cow oocytes
      after IVM, when compared to immature oocytes. The FF from cow follicles had
      elevated glucose content similarly to the majority of the analyzed FA. Transcript
      analysis revealed differences for five out of seven analyzed genes (ELOVL, FADS2,
      SCD, GLUT3, GLUT8) in CC and GC cells. However after considering the female
      category, the only difference was noticed for the mRNA of SCD gene, which was
      more abundant in cow GC. This finding may indicate distinct roles of CC and GC in
      follicular energy metabolism. In conclusions, we suggest that distinct properties
      of follicular environment in prepubertal heifers and cows may be responsible for
      differences in the quality of oocytes from the two categories of donors. We
      hypothesize that suboptimal environment in heifer follicles (glucose and FA lower
      content in FF) determines reduced quality of their oocytes (lower diameter and LD
      number) and limited maturation potential. Besides, energy demands of heifer
      oocytes may be restricted due to a low LD number, exerting a negative effect on
      the development of the future embryo. The advantages of cow gametes (e.g., higher
      LD number and diameter) attributed to oocytes of superior quality may support the
      statement that cows donate oocytes of better quality than heifers.

PMID- 27634397
TI  - Vitrification of in vitro-produced and in vivo-recovered equine blastocysts in a
      clinical program.
AB  - There is a clinical demand for cryopreservation of both in vivo-recovered and in
      vitro-produced (IVP) equine embryos. We previously reported successful
      vitrification of expanded equine blastocysts in fine-diameter microloader pipette
      tips (MPTs) after blastocoel collapse, in a research setting. Here, we report the
      results of clinical application of the MPT vitrification technique for both in
      vivo-recovered and IVP blastocysts. In vivo-recovered blastocysts were obtained
      by referring veterinarians on Days 6 to 8 after ovulation, and shipped 1 to 10
      hours to the laboratory before vitrification. IVP blastocysts (<300 MUm in
      diameter) were produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection and in vitro embryo
      culture. All vitrified-warmed embryos were shipped (0.5-12 hours) for transfer to
      recipient mares. In experiment 1, 47 IVP embryos from our clinical
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection program were vitrified using the MPT and
      transferred. The rates of initial pregnancy (59%) and foaling (45%) were
      equivalent to those for 52 IVP embryos from the same mare aspiration sessions and
      shipped for the same duration but transferred fresh (75% and 45%, respectively).
      The pregnancy and foaling rates for in vivo-recovered embryos were 76 and 71%,
      respectively for 17 small blastocysts (<300 MUm in diameter), and 55 and 45%,
      respectively for 11 large blastocysts (303-608 MUm in diameter, collapsed before
      vitrification; P > 0.1). In experiment 2, the MPT was cut lengthwise to form an
      open vitrification device, designated "Sujo". Research IVP blastocysts were
      vitrified at 1, 2, or 3 embryos per Sujo (n = 34 embryos), or singly on a
      commercial open device (Cryolock; n = 11). After warming, 97% and 91% of embryos,
      respectively, grew in culture. Similarly, culture of two in vivo-recovered large
      blastocysts after collapse and vitrification on Sujos both resulted in embryo
      growth. However, transfer of four in vivo-recovered expanded blastocysts after
      collapse, vitrification on Sujos, and warming resulted in only one foal. These
      data indicate that vitrification of equine IVP embryos and small in vivo
      recovered embryos is efficient under clinical conditions. Collapse and
      vitrification of in vivo-recovered large blastocysts in MPT under our clinical
      conditions resulted in a 45% foaling rate. While numbers are low, use of an open
      vitrification system did not appear to improve results for these embryos.

PMID- 27634398
TI  - The impact of bowel preparation on the severity of anastomotic leak in colon
      cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The routine use of preoperative bowel preparation (BP)
      is heavily debated in the colorectal surgery literature. To date, no study has
      investigated the effect preoperative BP has on patients with an established
      anastomotic leak. We therefore seek to compare the severity of patient morbidity
      and mortality in patients with a known anastomotic leak based on type of
      preoperative BP using the Targeted Colectomy American College of Surgeons
      National Surgery Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP). METHODS: All elective
      colon cancer operations performed with primary anastomosis were identified within
      the targeted colectomy database from 2012 to 2013. Patients who experienced a
      postoperative anastomotic leak were identified and stratified based on
      preoperative BP. Variables that had an association with mechanical BP at P < 0.10
      were included in a multivariate logistic regression model to determine if BP was
      independently associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: A
      total of 6,297 patients underwent elective colon resection with primary
      anastomosis for colon cancer. Two hundred and nineteen (3.5%) patients
      experienced an anastomotic leak. Thirty-day wound morbidity and mortality was not
      worse in patients who underwent preoperative BP. CONCLUSIONS: BP is not
      associated with worse patients outcomes in those patients with an established
      anastomotic leak following elective colon research with primary anastomosis. J.
      Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:810-813. (c) 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634399
TI  - Self-Healing Molecular Crystals.
AB  - One of the most inevitable limitations of any material that is exposed to
      mechanical impact is that they are inexorably prone to mechanical damage, such as
      cracking, denting, gouging, or wearing. To confront this challenge, the field of
      polymers has developed materials that are capable of autonomous self-healing and
      recover their macroscopic integrity similar to biological organisms. However, the
      study of this phenomenon has mostly remained within the soft materials community
      and has not been explored by solid-state organic chemists. The first evidence of
      self-healing in a molecular crystal is now presented using crystals of
      dipyrazolethiuram disulfide. The crystals were mildly compressed and the degree
      of healing was found to be 6.7 %. These findings show that the self-healing
      properties can be extended beyond mesophasic materials and applied towards the
      realm of ordered solid-state compounds.

PMID- 27634400
TI  - Accuracy of mandibular force profiles for bite force estimation and feeding
      behavior reconstruction in extant and extinct carnivorans.
AB  - Mandibular force profiles apply the principles of beam theory to identify
      mandibular biomechanical properties that reflect the bite force and feeding
      strategies of extant and extinct predators. While this method uses the external
      dimensions of the mandibular corpus to determine its biomechanical properties,
      more accurate results could potentially be obtained by quantifying its internal
      cortical bone distribution. To test this possibility, mandibular force profiles
      were calculated using both external mandibular dimensions ('solid mandible
      model') and quantification of internal bone distribution of the mandibular corpus
      obtained from computed tomography scans ('hollow mandible model') for five
      carnivorans (Canis lupus, Crocuta crocuta, Panthera leo, Neofelis nebulosa and
      the extinct Canis dirus). Comparison reveals that the solid model slightly
      overestimates mandibular biomechanical properties, but the pattern of change in
      biomechanical properties along the mandible remains the same. As such, feeding
      behavior reconstructions are consistent between the two models and are not
      improved by computed tomography. Bite force estimates produced by the two models
      are similar, except in C. crocuta, where the solid model underestimates bite
      force by 10-14%. This discrepancy is due to the more solid nature of the C.
      crocuta mandible relative to other carnivorans. Therefore, computed tomography
      improves bite force estimation accuracy for taxa with thicker mandibular corpora,
      but not significantly so otherwise. Bite force estimates derived from mandibular
      force profiles are far closer to empirically measured bite force than those
      inferred from jaw musculature dimension. Consequently, bite force estimates
      derived from this method can be used to calibrate finite-element analysis models.

PMID- 27634401
TI  - The parasitic wasp Cotesia congregata uses multiple mechanisms to control host
      (Manduca sexta) behaviour.
AB  - Some parasites alter the behaviour of their hosts. The larvae of the parasitic
      wasp Cotesia congregata develop within the body of the caterpillar Manduca sexta
      During the initial phase of wasp development, the host's behaviour remains
      unchanged. However, once the wasps begin to scrape their way out of the
      caterpillar, the caterpillar host stops feeding and moving spontaneously. We
      found that the caterpillar also temporarily lost sensation around the exit hole
      created by each emerging wasp. However, the caterpillars regained responsiveness
      to nociception in those areas within 1 day. The temporary reduction in skin
      sensitivity is probably important for wasp survival because it prevents the
      caterpillar from attacking the emerging wasp larvae with a defensive strike. We
      also found that expression of plasmatocyte spreading peptide (PSP) and spatzle
      genes increased in the fat body of the host during wasp emergence. This result
      supports the hypothesis that the exiting wasps induce a cytokine storm in their
      host. Injections of PSP suppressed feeding, suggesting that an augmented immune
      response may play a role in the suppression of host feeding. Injection of wasp
      larvae culture media into non-parasitized caterpillars reduced feeding,
      suggesting that substances secreted by the wasp larvae may help alter host
      behaviour.

PMID- 27634402
TI  - Baroreflex regulation affects ventilation in the cururu toad Rhinella schneideri.
AB  - Anurans regulate short-term oscillations in blood pressure through changes in
      heart rate (fH), vascular resistance and lymphatic fH Lung ventilation in anurans
      is linked to blood volume homeostasis by facilitating lymph return to the
      cardiovascular system. We hypothesized that the arterial baroreflex modulates
      pulmonary ventilation in the cururu toad Rhinella schneideri, and that this
      relationship is temperature dependent. Pharmacologically induced hypotension
      (sodium nitroprusside) and hypertension (phenylephrine) increased ventilation (25
      degrees C: 248.7+/-25.7 ml kg-1 min-1; 35 degrees C: 351.5+/-50.2 ml kg-1 min-1)
      and decreased ventilation (25 degrees C: 9.0+/-6.6 ml kg-1 min-1; 35 degrees C:
      50.7+/-15.6 ml kg-1 min-1), respectively, relative to control values from Ringer
      solution injection (25 degrees C: 78.1+/-17.0 ml kg-1 min-1; 35 degrees C:
      137.7+/-15.5 ml kg-1 min-1). The sensitivity of the ventilatory response to blood
      pressure changes was higher during hypotension than during hypertension [25
      degrees C: -97.6+/-17.1 versus -23.6+/-6.0 breaths min-1 kPa-1; 35 degrees C: 
      141.0+/-29.5 versus -28.7+/-6.4 breaths min-1 kPa-1, respectively; negative
      values indicate an inverse relationship between blood pressure and ventilation
      (or breathing frequency), i.e. as blood pressure increases, ventilation
      decreases, and vice versa], while temperature had no effect on these
      sensitivities. Hyperoxia (30%; 25 degrees C) diminished ventilation, but did not
      abolish the ventilatory response to hypotension, indicating a response
      independent of peripheral chemoreceptors. Although there are previous data
      showing increased fH baroreflex sensitivity from 15 to 30 degrees C in this
      species, further increases in temperature (35 degrees C) diminished fH baroreflex
      gain (40.5+/-5.62 versus 21.6+/-4.64% kPa-1). Therefore, besides an involvement
      of pulmonary ventilation in matching O2 delivery to demand at higher temperatures
      in anurans, it also plays a role in blood pressure regulation, independent of
      temperature, possibly owing to an interaction between baroreflex and respiratory
      areas in the brain, as previously suggested for mammals.

PMID- 27634403
TI  - Redox-dependent Regulation of Gluconeogenesis by a Novel Mechanism Mediated by a
      Peroxidatic Cysteine of Peroxiredoxin.
AB  - Peroxiredoxin is an abundant peroxidase, but its non-peroxidase function is also
      important. In this study, we discovered that Tsa1, a major peroxiredoxin of
      budding yeast cells, is required for the efficient flux of gluconeogenesis. We
      found that the suppression of pyruvate kinase (Pyk1) via the interaction with
      Tsa1 contributes in part to gluconeogenic enhancement. The physical interactions
      between Pyk1 and Tsa1 were augmented during the shift from glycolysis to
      gluconeogenesis. Intriguingly, a peroxidatic cysteine in the catalytic center of
      Tsa1 played an important role in the physical Tsa1-Pyk1 interactions. These
      interactions are enhanced by exogenous H2O2 and by endogenous reactive oxygen
      species, which is increased during gluconeogenesis. Only the peroxidatic
      cysteine, but no other catalytic cysteine of Tsa1, is required for efficient
      growth during the metabolic shift to obtain maximum yeast growth (biomass). This
      Tsa1 function is separable from the peroxidase function as an antioxidant. This
      is the first report to demonstrate that peroxiredoxin has a novel nonperoxidase
      function as a redox-dependent target modulator and that pyruvate kinase is
      modulated via an alternative mechanism.

PMID- 27634404
TI  - A Triazinone Derivative Inhibits HIV-1 Replication by Interfering with Reverse
      Transcriptase Activity.
AB  - A novel HIV-1 inhibitor, 6-(tert-butyl)-4-phenyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)-1H,3H-1,3,5
      triazin-2-one (compound 1), was identified from a compound library screened for
      the ability to inhibit HIV-1 replication. EC50 values of compound 1 were found to
      range from 107.9 to 145.4 nm against primary HIV-1 clinical isolates. In in vitro
      assays, HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) activity was inhibited by compound 1
      with an EC50 of 4.3 MUm. An assay for resistance to compound 1 selected a variant
      of HIV-1 with a RT mutation (RTL100I ); this frequently identified mutation
      confers mild resistance to non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs). A recombinant
      HIV-1 bearing RTL100I exhibited a 41-fold greater resistance to compound 1 than
      the wild-type virus. Compound 1 was also effective against HIV-1 with RTK103N ,
      one of the major mutations that confers substantial resistance to NNRTIs.
      Computer-assisted docking simulations indicated that compound 1 binds to the RT
      NNRTI binding pocket in a manner similar to that of efavirenz; however, the
      putative compound 1 binding site is located further from RTK103 than that of
      efavirenz. Compound 1 is a novel NNRTI with a unique drug-resistance profile.

PMID- 27634405
TI  - Overuse of colorectal cancer screening services in the United States and its
      implications.
AB  - As a standard way for prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC),
      colonoscopy has been used for CRC screening in the United States for more than
      one decade. An article entitled "Assessing Colorectal Cancer Screening Adherence
      of Medicare Fee-For-Service Beneficiaries Age 76 to 95 Years" recently published
      at the Journal of Oncology Practice reports the trends in overuse of CRC
      screening services among average-risk elderly populations at the age of 76-95
      years. Several reasons for overusing colonoscopy have been postulated, and some
      strategies for reducing overuse of CRC screening services have also been
      proposed. 

PMID- 27634407
TI  - Genetic causes of dilated cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 27634406
TI  - Horizontal gene transfer drives adaptive colonization of apple trees by the
      fungal pathogen Valsa mali.
AB  - Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) often has strong benefits for fungi. In a study of
      samples from apple canker in Shaanxi Province, China, diverse microbes, along
      with the necrotrophic pathogen Valsa mali, were found to colonize the apple bark,
      thus providing ample opportunity for HGT to occur. In the present study, we
      identified 32 HGT events in V. mali by combining phyletic distribution-based
      methods with phylogenetic analyses. Most of these HGTs were from bacteria,
      whereas several others were from eukaryotes. Three HGTs putatively functioned in
      competition with actinomycetes, some of which showed a significant inhibitory
      effect on V. mali. Three HGTs that were probably involved in nitrogen uptake were
      also identified. Ten HGTs were thought to be involved in pathogenicity because
      they were related to known virulence factors, including cell wall-degrading
      enzymes and candidate effector proteins. HGT14, together with HGT32, was shown to
      contribute to bleomycin resistance of V. mali.These results suggest that HGT
      drives the adaptive evolution of V. mali. The HGTs identified here provide new
      clues for unveiling the adaptation mechanisms and virulence determinants of V.
      mali.

PMID- 27634408
TI  - The need for a continuing awareness of the quality of anticoagulant therapy in
      patients with mechanical prostheses.

PMID- 27634409
TI  - A 50-year-old man with incidental cardiac mass.
AB  - CLINICAL INTRODUCTION: A 50-year-old white male with a history of paroxysmal
      atrial fibrillation presented for transoesophageal echocardiogram prior to atrial
      fibrillation ablation. However, an echo lucent mass was noted (figure 1A). Colour
      Doppler and contrast administration showed no flow across the mass or the
      interatrial septum (see online supplementary videos 1 and 2). CT of the chest
      demonstrated a thin-walled, well-demarcated mass in the inferior border of the
      fossa ovalis protruding into the left atrium (figure 1B). QUESTION: Which of the
      following is the most likely diagnosis? Atrial myxomaBronchogenic cystCardiac
      angiosarcomaHydatid cyst.

PMID- 27634410
TI  - Postoperative dyspnoea.
AB  - CLINICAL INTRODUCTION: A man in his 50s presented with abscessed aortic valve
      methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis, received intravenous
      antibiotics and underwent bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement with removal of
      all infected tissues. He returned 18 days later with severe dyspnoea, subjective
      fever and bilateral lower extremity oedema. Physical examination revealed
      tachypnoea and tachycardia without fever, prominent neck CV waves visible at 90
      degrees , left parasternal heave, 3/6 holosystolic murmur across the precordium,
      lung rales and severe peripheral oedema. C reactive protein was 211 mg/L (normal
      <8 mg/L). Blood cultures were obtained. ECG showed sinus tachycardia and right
      axis deviation. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) parasternal zoomed short-axis
      systolic frame (figure 1A, B), apical four-chamber systolic frame (figure 1C) and
      subcostal continuous wave (CW) Doppler (figure 1D), are shown. QUESTION: Given
      the clinical presentation and TTE findings, what is the diagnosis?Severe
      tricuspid regurgitation due to extension of endocarditisAortic valve obstruction
      resulting in severe pulmonary hypertensionAcquired Gerbode defectAortic valve
      dehiscence with severe paraprosthetic regurgitation.

PMID- 27634411
TI  - A 33-year-old man with atypical chest pain.
AB  - CLINICAL INTRODUCTION: A 33-year-old man with no history of coronary artery
      disease presented to the rapid access cardiology clinic with an episode of
      atypical anginal chest pain. He had a 15 pack-year history of smoking and a
      family history of myocardial infarction under the age of 55. Physical examination
      and exercise ECG testing were unremarkable. On assessment in the cardiology
      clinic, blood sampling was notable for an elevated high-sensitivity troponin I of
      61 ng/L (99% upper reference level, 34 ng/L). A coronary CT angiogram was
      performed (figure 1). QUESTION: Which of the following best explains this
      presentation? MyocarditisMyocardial bridgingKawasaki's diseaseAtherosclerotic
      plaque ruptureEosinophilic coronary monoarteritis.

PMID- 27634412
TI  - Differential protein abundance of a basolateral MCT1 transporter in the human
      gastrointestinal tract.
AB  - Bacterially derived short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as butyrate, are vital
      in maintaining the symbiotic relationship that exists between humans and their
      gastrointestinal microbial populations. A key step in this process is the
      transport of SCFAs across colonic epithelial cells via MCT1 transporters. This
      study investigated MCT1 protein abundance in various human intestinal tissues.
      Initial RT-PCR analysis confirmed the expected MCT1 RNA expression pattern of
      colon > small intestine > stomach. Using surgical resection samples, immunoblot
      analysis detected higher abundance of a 45 kDa MCT1 protein in colonic tissue
      compared to ileum tissue (P < 0.001, N = 4, unpaired t-test). Importantly, MCT1
      abundance was found to be significantly lower in sigmoid colon compared to
      ascending colon (P < 0.01, N = 8-11, ANOVA). Finally, immunolocalization studies
      confirmed MCT1 to be abundant in the basolateral membranes of surface epithelial
      cells of the ascending, transverse, and descending colon, but significantly less
      prevalent in the sigmoid colon (P < 0.05, N = 5-21, ANOVA). In conclusion, these
      data confirm that basolateral MCT1 protein abundance is correlated to levels of
      bacterially derived SCFAs along the human gastrointestinal tract. These findings
      highlight the importance of precise tissue location in studies comparing colonic
      MCT1 abundance between normal and diseased states.

PMID- 27634413
TI  - Virus Matryoshka: A Bacteriophage Particle-Guided Molecular Assembly Approach to
      a Monodisperse Model of the Immature Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
AB  - Immature human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is approximately spherical,
      but is constructed from a hexagonal lattice of the Gag protein. As a hexagonal
      lattice is necessarily flat, the local symmetry cannot be maintained throughout
      the structure. This geometrical frustration presumably results in bending stress.
      In natural particles, the stress is relieved by incorporation of packing defects,
      but the magnitude of this stress and its significance for the particles is not
      known. In order to control this stress, we have now assembled the Gag protein on
      a quasi-spherical template derived from bacteriophage P22. This template is
      monodisperse in size and electron-transparent, enabling the use of cryo-electron
      microscopy in structural studies. These templated assemblies are far less
      polydisperse than any previously described virus-like particles (and, while
      constructed according to the same lattice as natural particles, contain almost no
      packing defects). This system gives us the ability to study the relationship
      between packing defects, curvature and elastic energy, and thermodynamic
      stability. As Gag is bound to the P22 template by single-stranded DNA, treatment
      of the particles with DNase enabled us to determine the intrinsic radius of
      curvature of a Gag lattice, unconstrained by DNA or a template. We found that
      this intrinsic radius is far larger than that of a virion or P22-templated
      particle. We conclude that Gag is under elastic strain in a particle; this has
      important implications for the kinetics of shell growth, the stability of the
      shell, and the type of defects it will assume as it grows.

PMID- 27634414
TI  - Chromatin remodeling during the in vivo glial differentiation in early Drosophila
      embryos.
AB  - Chromatin remodeling plays a critical role in gene regulation and impacts many
      biological processes. However, little is known about the relationship between
      chromatin remodeling dynamics and in vivo cell lineage commitment. Here, we
      reveal the patterns of histone modification change and nucleosome positioning
      dynamics and their epigenetic regulatory roles during the in vivo glial
      differentiation in early Drosophila embryos. The genome-wide average H3K9ac
      signals in promoter regions are decreased in the glial cells compared to the
      neural progenitor cells. However, H3K9ac signals are increased in a group of
      genes that are up-regulated in glial cells and involved in gliogenesis. There
      occurs extensive nucleosome remodeling including shift, loss, and gain.
      Nucleosome depletion regions (NDRs) form in both promoters and enhancers. As a
      result, the associated genes are up-regulated. Intriguingly, NDRs form in two
      fashions: nucleosome shift and eviction. Moreover, the mode of NDR formation is
      independent of the original chromatin state of enhancers in the neural progenitor
      cells.

PMID- 27634415
TI  - Delayed liver regeneration in C3H/HeJ mice: possible involvement of haemodynamic
      and structural changes in the hepatic microcirculation.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? The liver regenerative
      process is complex and involves a sequence of signalling events, but the possible
      involvement of structural and haemodynamic changes in vivo during this process
      has never been explored. What is the main finding and its importance? Normal
      sinusoidal blood flow and velocity are crucial for a normal regenerative
      response, and delays in these haemodynamic events resulted in impaired liver
      regeneration in lipopolysaccharide-insensitive, C3H/HeJ mice. Toll-like receptor
      4 signalling is required for restoration of normal liver architecture during the
      liver regenerative process. Liver regeneration is delayed in mice with a
      defective Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4; C3H/HeJ mice) but is normal in TLR4
      knockouts (TLR4-/- ). Here, we investigated the possible involvement of
      structural and haemodynamic changes in vivo in the underlying mechanism. In
      lipopolysaccharide-sensitive (C3H/HeN and C57BL/6) and lipopolysaccharide
      insensitive (C3H/HeJ and TLR4-/- ) mice, a 70% partial hepatectomy (PH) was
      performed under inhalational anaesthesia. At days 3 and 7 after PH, the hepatic
      microcirculation was interrogated using intravital microscopy. Delayed liver
      regeneration was confirmed in C3H/HeJ, but not in C3H/HeN, C57BL/6 (WT) or TLR4-/
      mice by liver weight-to-body-weight ratio, the percentage of proliferating cell
      nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells and mitotic index data. At day 3 after PH,
      sinusoidal red blood cell velocity increased by 100% in C3H/HeN mice, but by only
      40% in C3H/HeJ mice. Estimated sinusoidal blood flow was significantly higher at
      day 7 after PH in C3H/HeN than in C3H/HeJ mice. The hepatic cord width was
      significantly larger in C3H/HeN than in C3H/HeJ mice at day 3 and it was
      significantly larger in TLR4-/- than in C57BL/6 WT mice at day 7 after PH.
      Hepatocyte nucleus density and functional sinusoidal density was significantly
      reduced at days 3 and 7 after PH in all mouse strains compared with their zero
      time controls. Functional sinusoidal density was significantly lower in C3H/HeJ
      compared with C3H/HeN mice at day 7 after PH. The present study indicates that
      altered sinusoidal blood flow and velocity in C3H/HeJ mice may contribute to the
      observed delay in the regenerative response in these mice. In addition,
      restoration of normal liver architecture may be delayed in TLR4-/- mice.

PMID- 27634416
TI  - Quantitative analysis of plasma cell-free DNA and its DNA integrity in patients
      with metastatic prostate cancer using ALU sequence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common cancer affecting men, it
      accounts for 29% of all male cancer and 11% of all male cancer related death. DNA
      is normally released from an apoptotic source which generates small fragments of
      cell-free DNA, whereas cancer patients have cell-free circulating DNA that
      originated from necrosis, autophagy, or mitotic catastrophe, which produce large
      fragments. AIM OF WORK: Differentiate the cell free DNA levels (cfDNA) and its
      integrity in prostate cancer patients and control group composed of benign
      prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and healthy persons. METHODOLOGY: cf-DNA levels were
      quantified by real-time PCR amplification in prostate cancer patients (n= 50),
      (BPH) benign prostate hyperplasia (n= 25) and healthy controls (n= 30) using two
      sets of ALU gene (product size of 115bp and 247-bp) and its integrity was
      calculated as a ratio of qPCR results of 247bp ALU over 115bp ALU. RESULTS:
      Highly significant levels of cf-DNA and its integrity in PC patients compared to
      BPH. Twenty-eight (56%) patients with prostate cancer had bone metastasis. ALU115
      qpcr is superior to the other markers in discriminating metastatic patients with
      a sensitivity of 96.4% and a specificity of 86.4% and (AUC=0.981) CONCLUSION:
      ALU115 qpcr could be used as a valuable biomarker helping in identifying high
      risk patients, indicating early spread of tumor cells as a potential seed for
      future metastases.

PMID- 27634418
TI  - Patient with rapidly evolving neurological disease with neuropathological lesions
      of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Lewy body dementia, chronic subcortical vascular
      encephalopathy and meningothelial meningioma.
AB  - We report a case of rapidly evolving neurological disease in a patient with
      neuropathological lesions of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Lewy body dementia
      (LBD), chronic subcortical vascular encephalopathy and meningothelial meningioma.
      The coexistence of severe multiple pathologies in a single patient strengthens
      the need to perform accurate clinical differential diagnoses in rapidly
      progressive dementias.

PMID- 27634417
TI  - Population-based outreach versus care as usual to prevent suicide attempt: study
      protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suicide remains the 10th-ranked most frequent cause of death in the
      United States, accounting for over 40,000 deaths per year. Nonfatal suicide
      attempts lead to over 200,000 hospitalizations and 600,000 emergency department
      visits annually. Recent evidence indicates that responses to the commonly used
      Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) can identify outpatients who are at risk of
      suicide attempt and suicide death and that specific psychotherapy or Care
      Management programs can prevent suicide attempts in high-risk patients. Motivated
      by these developments, the NIMH-funded Mental Health Research Network has
      undertaken a multisite trial of two outreach programs to prevent suicide attempts
      among outpatients identified by routinely administered PHQ9 questionnaires.
      METHODS/DESIGN: Outpatients who are at risk of suicide attempt are automatically
      identified using data from electronic health records (EHRs). Following a modified
      Zelen design, all those identified are assigned to continued usual care (i.e., no
      contact) or to be offered one of two population-based outreach programs. A Care
      Management intervention includes systematic outreach to assess suicide risk, EHR
      based tools to implement risk-based care pathways, and care management to
      facilitate recommended follow-up. A Skills Training intervention includes
      interactive online training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, supported by
      reminder and reinforcement messages from a skills coach. Each intervention
      supplements, rather than replaces, usual care; participants may receive any other
      services normally available. Interventions are delivered primarily by secure
      messaging through EHR patient portals. Suicide attempts and deaths following
      randomization are identified using state vital statistics data and health system
      EHR and insurance claim data. Primary evaluation will compare risk of suicide
      attempt or death over 18 months according to the initial assignment, regardless
      of intervention participation. Recruitment is underway in three health systems
      (Group Health Cooperative, HealthPartners, and Kaiser Permanente Colorado). Over
      2500 participants have been randomized as of 1 March 2016, with enrollment
      averaging approximately 100 per week. DISCUSSION: Assessing the effectiveness of
      population-based suicide prevention requires adherence to the principles of
      pragmatic trials: population-based enrollment, accepting variable treatment
      participation, assessing outcomes using health record data, and analyses based on
      intent-to-treat. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov registration #
      NCT02326883 , registered on 23 December 2014.

PMID- 27634419
TI  - The interaction between NGF-induced hyperalgesia and acid-provoked pain in the
      infrapatellar fat pad and tibialis anterior muscle of healthy volunteers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue pH is lowered in inflamed tissues, and the increased proton
      concentration activates acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), contributing to pain
      and hyperalgesia. ASICs can be upregulated by nerve growth factor (NGF). The aim
      of this study was to investigate two new human experimental pain models combining
      NGF- and acid-induced pain in a randomized, controlled, double-blind study.
      METHODS: In experiment 1, volunteers (N = 16) received an injection of either NGF
      or isotonic saline in each infrapatellar fat pad (IFP). One day after 5 mL of
      phosphate-buffered acidic saline was infused into each IFP at a rate of 20 mL/h.
      In experiment 2, the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of additional volunteers (N =
      16) was examined, following the same procedure except that the volume and
      infusion rate of acid were different (10 mL, 30 mL/h). Continuous pain ratings
      were recorded during and after acid infusions. In addition, soreness scores on a
      Likert scale and pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were assessed. RESULTS: The PPT
      of the IFP was significantly decreased at the NGF injection site on day 1, but
      acid-provoked pain ratings and the change in PPT from pre- to postinfusion
      between the knees were similar. In the muscle pain model, local mechanical
      hyperalgesia developed 3 h after the NGF injection and a significant additional
      decrease in PPT was found after acid infusion compared to preinfusion.
      CONCLUSIONS: NGF sensitization in the IFP was not facilitated by acid, whereas an
      acid-provoked enhancement of muscle hyperalgesia was found. NGF sensitization of
      adipose tissue responds differently to acid provocation compared to muscle
      tissue. SIGNIFICANCE: Quantification of two novel pain models combining NGF and
      acid. Hyperalgesia developed after NGF injection in the infrapatellar fat pad,
      but it was not facilitated by acid provocation. Contrary, NGF-induced
      hyperalgesia in muscle tissue was enhanced by acid.

PMID- 27634420
TI  - Cryopreservation of Indian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus murghi) semen.
AB  - The population of red jungle fowl is declining and needs special attention for
      its conservation with suitable approaches. For ex situ in vitro conservation of
      Indian red jungle fowl, establishment of semen cryobank is an appropriate option,
      for which an extender with adequate retrieval capacity for functional spermatozoa
      is required. Therefore, studies were designed to evaluate a wide range of
      extenders for cryopreservation of Indian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus murghi)
      sperm to achieve maximal post-thawed semen quality and fertility. For this
      purpose, semen from eight mature cocks were collected, initially evaluated
      (percent sperm motility, volume and concentration), pooled, assessed for
      motility, plasma membrane integrity, viability and acrosome integrity, and
      divided into six aliquots for dilution (1:5; 37 degrees C) in Beltsville poultry,
      red fowl extender, Lake, EK, Tselutin poultry and chicken semen extenders.
      Diluted semen was cooled from 37 degrees C to 4 degrees C @ -0.275 degrees C/min.
      Glycerol (20%) was added to chilled semen, equilibrated for 10min, filled in
      0.5mL French straws, kept over LN2 vapours for 10min and plunged into LN2 and
      stored at -196 degrees C. Percentages of motility, plasma membrane integrity,
      viability and acrosome integrity were higher (P<0.05) in red fowl extender at 0,
      2 and 4h of incubation post-thaw. After cryopreservation and post-thawing at 37
      degrees C the highest (P<0.05) recovery rates and absolute livability index was
      also recorded in red fowl extender that was thus used for further artificial
      insemination of cooled-diluted (Liquid) and cryopreserved sperm. The no. of
      fertilized eggs (Liquid, 20.6+/-0.4; Cryopreserved, 12.6+/-0.5), percent
      fertility (86.7+/-2.2; 57.2+/-3.9), no. of hatched chicks (18.2+/-0.8; 10.0+/
      0.3), percent hatch (76.5+/-2.7; 45.3+/-2.2) and hatchability of fertilized eggs
      (88.3+/-3.4; 79.6+/-3.4) were higher with sperm respectively freshly cooled
      diluted or cryopreserved in red fowl extender. However, the rates obtained with
      frozen-thawed sperm were already successful for cryo-banking purpose and
      artificial insemination practice. In conclusion, we show the first fertility
      success obtained with cryopreserved Indian jungle fowl sperm. In addition, the
      red fowl extender is superior in maintaining the quality of Indian red jungle
      fowl cryopreserved sperm compared to Beltsville poultry, Lake, EK, Tselutin
      poultry and chicken semen extender.

PMID- 27634421
TI  - Evaluation of serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha,
      interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10, and nitric oxide (NO) during the estrous cycle, early
      pregnancy and abortion in goats.
AB  - The aim of this study was to establish the serum concentrations, ranges, and
      trends of Th1 type cytokine (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin
      (IL)-2), Th2 type cytokine (IL-10), and nitric oxide (NO) during the estrous
      cycle, early pregnancy and abortion in goats. Boer goats (n=25) having symptoms
      of normal estrous cycles were selected, 20 were mated and 15 conceived a
      pregnancy, and the remaining five were not mated and served as estrous controls.
      On the Day 60 of pregnancy, all 15 pregnant goats were induced to abort the
      pregnancy by intramuscular injection of prostaglandin (PG). Serum samples were
      collected on Days 1, 7, 14, and 19 of the estrous cycle, at Days 0, 10, 20, 30,
      40, 50, and 60 of pregnancy, and at Days 1, 3, 8, 10 over the period when
      abortion were occurring. Results of the present study indicated that during the
      estrous cycle the balance between Th1 and Th2 cytokines slightly shifted toward
      Th1 cytokine production (TNF-alpha and IL-2). The NO may have a direct positive
      role in inducing a Th1 response. During early pregnancy, TNF-alpha and IL-2 serum
      concentrations markedly increased from Days 0 to 10, and gradually decreased from
      Days 10 to 60, while IL-10 and NO serum concentrations remained elevated from
      Days 0 to 60. The increased concentrations of IL-10 and decreased concentrations
      of TNF-alpha and IL-2 are characteristic of a Th2-enhanced response, which may be
      related to increased concentrations of NO. These changes may be essential to
      maintain a normal pregnancy. In addition, the serum concentrations of TNF-alpha,
      IL-2 and NO at Days 1, 3, 8 and 10 of the period of induced abortion were
      markedly greater than that on Day 60 of pregnancy. Conversely, IL-10
      concentrations at these four time points of abortion were markedly less than that
      on Day 60 of pregnancy. After abortion, the Th2 response shifted to a Th1
      enhanced response. Thus, NO concentrations increase and the Th1-enhanced response
      may function synergistically to be involved in physiologic responses that lead to
      abortion of the pregnancy. It is concluded that the serum concentrations of the
      Th1/Th2 cytokine and NO changed temporally as the estrous cycle, pregnancy and
      abortion progressed advanced. A Th2-enhanced state promoted normal pregnancy,
      while increased concentrations of Th1 were observed during the period of fetal
      abortion. The concentrations of NO varied in regulation of the Th1/Th2 cytokine
      concentration balance during the three phases (estrous cycle, pregnancy, and
      fetal abortion) of goats.

PMID- 27634422
TI  - Effect of abdominopelvic abscess drain size on drainage time and probability of
      occlusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to determine whether larger
      abdominopelvic abscess drains reduce the time required for abscess resolution or
      the probability of tube occlusion. METHODS: 144 consecutive patients who
      underwent abscess drainage at a single institution were reviewed retrospectively.
      RESULTS: Larger initial drain size did not reduce drainage time, drain occlusion,
      or drain exchanges (P > .05). Subgroup analysis did not find any type of
      collection that benefitted from larger drains. A multivariate model predicting
      drainage time showed that large collections (>200 mL) required 16 days longer
      drainage time than small collections (<50 mL). Collections with a fistula to
      bowel required 17 days longer drainage time than collections without a fistula.
      Initial drain size and the viscosity of the fluid in the collection had no
      significant effect on drainage time in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: 8 F
      drains are adequate for initial drainage of most serous and serosanguineous
      collections. 10 F drains are adequate for initial drainage of most purulent or
      bloody collections.

PMID- 27634424
TI  - Acute care surgery: trauma, critical care, emergency general surgery ... and
      preventative health?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute care surgeons (ACS) often care for patients with limited access
      to health care. They may not participate in preventative screenings and
      interventions (PSIs) such as mammography, colonoscopy, or pneumococcal
      vaccinations (VAs). We sought to identify barriers to compliance and determine if
      ACS have an opportunity to facilitate PSI participation. METHODS: All patients
      evaluated by an ACS were considered for inclusion in the study. Patients meeting
      national PSI inclusion criteria were enrolled. Surveys were administered to
      assess compliance and identify barriers to participation. RESULTS: The overall
      compliance rate with PSIs was 57%. Patients without a primary care physician had
      a compliance rate of 23%. The most common barrier to participation was lack of
      knowledge of PSI recommendations (42%). Males were less compliant than females
      (47% vs 62%). CONCLUSIONS: ACS evaluate a large number of general surgery and
      trauma patients. The acute care surgeon-patient encounter represents a valuable
      opportunity for education and improved PSI compliance. Additional research should
      focus on developing interventional strategies and evaluating their impact on
      patient outcomes.

PMID- 27634423
TI  - Strategies for increasing the feasibility of performance assessments during
      competency-based education: Subjective and objective evaluations correlate in the
      operating room.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Competency-based education necessitates assessments that determine
      whether trainees have acquired specific competencies. The evidence on the ability
      of internal raters (staff surgeons) to provide accurate assessments is mixed;
      however, this has not yet been directly explored in the operating room. This
      study's objective is to compare the ratings given by internal raters vs an expert
      external rater (independent to the training process) in the operating room.
      METHODS: Raters assessed general surgery residents during a laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy for their technical and nontechnical performance. RESULTS:
      Fifteen cases were observed. There was a moderately positive correlation (rs =
      .618, P = .014) for technical performance and a strong positive correlation (rs =
      .731, P = .002) for nontechnical performance. The internal raters were less
      stringent for technical (mean rank 3.33 vs 8.64, P = .007) and nontechnical (mean
      rank 3.83 vs 8.50, P = .01) performances. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides
      evidence to help operationalize competency-based assessments.

PMID- 27634425
TI  - General surgery resident rotations in surgical critical care, trauma, and burns:
      what is optimal for residency training?
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are no specific Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
      Education General Surgery Residency Program Requirements for rotations in
      surgical critical care (SCC), trauma, and burn. We sought to determine the
      experience of general surgery residents in SCC, trauma, and burn rotations.
      METHODS: Data analysis of surgical rotations of American Board of Surgery general
      surgery resident applicants (n = 7,299) for the last 8 years (2006 to 2013,
      inclusive) was performed through electronic applications to the American Board of
      Surgery Qualifying Examination. Duration (months) spent in SCC, trauma, and burn
      rotations, and postgraduate year (PGY) level were examined. RESULTS: The total
      months in SCC, trauma and burn rotations was mean 10.2 and median 10.0 (SD 3.9
      months), representing approximately 16.7% (10 of 60 months) of a general surgery
      resident's training. However, there was great variability (range 0 to 29 months).
      SCC rotation duration was mean 3.1 and median 3.0 months (SD 2, min to max: 0 to
      15), trauma rotation duration was mean 6.3 and median 6.0 months (SD 3.5, min to
      max: 0 to 24), and burn rotation duration was mean 0.8 and median 1.0 months (SD
      1.0, min to max: 0 to 6). Of the total mean 10.2 months duration, the longest
      exposure was 2 months as PGY-1, 3.4 months as PGY-2, 1.9 months as PGY-3, 2.2
      months as PGY-4 and 1.1 months as PGY-5. PGY-5 residents spent a mean of 1 month
      in SCC, trauma, and burn rotations. PGY-4/5 residents spent the majority of this
      total time in trauma rotations, whereas junior residents (PGY-1 to 3) in SCC and
      trauma rotations. CONCLUSIONS: There is significant variability in total duration
      of SCC, trauma, and burn rotations and PGY level in US general surgery residency
      programs, which may result in significant variability in the fund of knowledge
      and clinical experience of the trainee completing general surgery residency
      training. As acute care surgery programs have begun to integrate emergency
      general surgery with SCC, trauma, and burn rotations, it is an ideal time to
      determine the optimal curriculum and duration of these important rotations for
      general surgery residency training.

PMID- 27634428
TI  - Detection of the Excised, Damage-containing Oligonucleotide Products of
      Nucleotide Excision Repair in Human Cells.
AB  - The human nucleotide excision repair system targets a wide variety of DNA adducts
      for removal from DNA, including photoproducts induced by UV wavelengths of
      sunlight. A key feature of nucleotide excision repair is its dual incision
      mechanism, which results in generation of a small, damage-containing
      oligonucleotide approximately 24 to 32 nt in length. Detection of these excised
      oligonucleotides using cell-free extracts and purified proteins with defined DNA
      substrates has provided a robust biochemical assay for excision repair activity
      in vitro. However, the relevance of a number of in vitro findings to excision
      repair in living cells in vivo has remained unresolved. Over the past few years,
      novel methods for detecting and isolating the excised oligonucleotide products of
      repair in vivo have therefore been developed. Here we provide a basic outline of
      a sensitive and versatile in vivo excision assay and discuss how the assay both
      confirms previous in vitro findings and offers a number of advantages over
      existing cell-based DNA repair assays. Thus, the in vivo excision assay offers a
      powerful tool for readily monitoring the repair of DNA lesions induced by a large
      number of environmental carcinogens and anticancer compounds.

PMID- 27634426
TI  - Ferredoxin:NADP(H) Oxidoreductase Abundance and Location Influences Redox Poise
      and Stress Tolerance.
AB  - In linear photosynthetic electron transport, ferredoxin:NADP(H) oxidoreductase
      (FNR) transfers electrons from ferredoxin (Fd) to NADP+ Both NADPH and reduced Fd
      (Fdred) are required for reductive assimilation and light/dark
      activation/deactivation of enzymes. FNR is therefore a hub, connecting
      photosynthetic electron transport to chloroplast redox metabolism. A correlation
      between FNR content and tolerance to oxidative stress is well established,
      although the precise mechanism remains unclear. We investigated the impact of
      altered FNR content and localization on electron transport and superoxide radical
      evolution in isolated thylakoids, and probed resulting changes in redox
      homeostasis, expression of oxidative stress markers, and tolerance to high light
      in planta. Our data indicate that the ratio of Fdred to FNR is critical, with
      either too much or too little FNR potentially leading to increased superoxide
      production, and perception of oxidative stress at the level of gene
      transcription. In FNR overexpressing plants, which show more NADP(H) and
      glutathione pools, improved tolerance to high-light stress indicates that
      disturbance of chloroplast redox poise and increased free radical generation may
      help "prime" the plant and induce protective mechanisms. In fnr1 knock-outs, the
      NADP(H) and glutathione pools are more oxidized relative to the wild type, and
      the photoprotective effect is absent despite perception of oxidative stress at
      the level of gene transcription.

PMID- 27634429
TI  - Identification of novel antigens contributing to autoimmunity in cardiovascular
      diseases.
AB  - In myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients the immune system may
      play an important role in disease progression. In this study, we aimed to
      identify new antigens as a target for autoimmune response that might play a
      crucial role in these diseases. Therefore, a peptide-array was used to
      investigate antibody binding profiles in patients with autoimmune myocarditis or
      DCM compared to healthy controls and thus to identify disease relevant antigens.
      To analyze the pathogenicity of the identified antigens, an experimental
      autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) model was used. Hereby, 3 peptide sequences, derived
      from myosin-binding-protein-C (MYBPC) fast-type, RNA-binding-protein 20 (RBM20),
      and dystrophin, showed pathogenic effects on the myocardium of mice. In summary,
      3 potentially cardiopathogenic peptides (MYBPC fast-type, RBM20, dystrophin) were
      identified. Thus, this study could serve as a basis for future investigations
      aimed at determining further antigens leading to pathogenic effects on the
      myocardium of DCM as well as myocarditis patients.

PMID- 27634427
TI  - Secretory COPII Protein SEC31B Is Required for Pollen Wall Development.
AB  - The pollen wall protects pollen grains from abiotic and biotic stresses. During
      pollen wall development, tapetal cells play a vital role by secreting proteins,
      signals, and pollen wall material to ensure microspore development. But the
      regulatory mechanism underlying the secretory pathway of the tapetum is largely
      unknown. Here, we characterize the essential role of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis
      thaliana) COPII protein SECRETORY31B (SEC31B) in pollen wall development and the
      secretory activity of tapetal cells. The sporophyte-controlled atsec31b mutant
      exhibits severe pollen and seed abortion. Transmission electron microscopy
      observation indicates that pollen exine formation in the atsec31b mutant is
      disrupted significantly. AtSEC31B is a functional COPII protein revealed by
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) exit site localization, interaction with AtSEC13A, and
      retarded ER-Golgi protein trafficking in the atsec31b mutant. A genetic tapetum
      specific rescue assay indicates that AtSEC31B functions primarily in the tapetum.
      Moreover, deletion of AtSEC31B interrupted the formation of the ER-derived
      tapetosome and altered the location of the ATP-BINDING CASSETTE TRANSPORTER9
      protein in the tapetum. Therefore, this work demonstrates that AtSEC31B plays a
      vital role in pollen wall development by regulating the secretory pathway of the
      tapetal cells.

PMID- 27634430
TI  - Cross-reactive multifunctional CD4+ T cell responses against Salmonella enterica
      serovars Typhi, Paratyphi A and Paratyphi B in humans following immunization with
      live oral typhoid vaccine Ty21a.
AB  - The live oral typhoid vaccine Ty21a elicits predominantly CD8+, as well as CD4+ T
      cells mediated immune responses. Clinical field studies showed that Ty21a is
      moderately effective against S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi B, but not S. Paratyphi A
      infections. In this study we describe the in depth characterization of S. Typhi,
      S. Paratyphi A and S. Paratyphi B cross-reactive CD4+ T cell responses elicited
      following immunization with Ty21a. PBMC samples were collected from 16 healthy
      volunteers before and 42/84days after Ty21a immunization and stimulated ex-vivo
      with Salmonella-infected targets. Multiparametric flow cytometry was used to
      detect the vaccine elicited Salmonella-specific responses in T effector/memory
      (TEM) and CD45RA+ T effector/memory (TEMRA) CD4+ cell subsets, by measuring CD4+
      multifunctional (MF) cells that concomitantly produced IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL
      2, MIP-1beta, IL-17A and/or expressed CD107a. Post-vaccination increases in S.
      Typhi-specific MF cells were observed in CD4+ TEM and TEMRA subsets which
      predominantly produced IFN-gamma and/or TNF-alpha, while IL-2 was produced by a
      smaller cell subset. A small proportion of those MF cells also produced MIP
      1beta, IL-17A and expressed CD107a (a marker associated with cytotoxicity).
      Approximately one third of these specific MF cells have the potential to migrate
      to the gut mucosa, as evidenced by co-expression of the gut-homing molecule
      integrin alpha4beta7. In contrast to our previous observations with CD8+ T cells,
      MF CD4+ T cell responses to the different Salmonella serovars evaluated were
      similar in magnitude and characteristics. We conclude that although induction of
      cross-reactive CD4+ MF effector T cells suggest a possible role in Salmonella
      immunity, these responses are unlikely to provide an immunological basis for the
      observed efficacy of Ty21a against S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi B, but not to S.
      Paratyphi A.

PMID- 27634433
TI  - Diabetes and childhood.

PMID- 27634434
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27634432
TI  - Divide or Conquer: Cell Cycle Regulation of Invasive Behavior.
AB  - Cell invasion through the basement membrane (BM) occurs during normal embryonic
      development and is a fundamental feature of cancer metastasis. The underlying
      cellular and genetic machinery required for invasion has been difficult to
      identify, due to a lack of adequate in vivo models to accurately examine invasion
      in single cells at subcellular resolution. Recent evidence has documented a
      functional link between cell cycle arrest and invasive activity. While cancer
      progression is traditionally thought of as a disease of uncontrolled cell
      proliferation, cancer cell dissemination, a critical aspect of metastasis, may
      require a switch from a proliferative to an invasive state. In this work, we
      review evidence that BM invasion requires cell cycle arrest and discuss the
      implications of this concept with regard to limiting the lethality associated
      with cancer metastasis.

PMID- 27634431
TI  - The Cilium: Cellular Antenna and Central Processing Unit.
AB  - Cilia mediate an astonishing diversity of processes. Recent advances provide
      unexpected insights into the regulatory mechanisms of cilium formation, and
      reveal diverse regulatory inputs that are related to the cell cycle,
      cytoskeleton, proteostasis, and cilia-mediated signaling itself. Ciliogenesis and
      cilia maintenance are regulated by reciprocal antagonistic or synergistic
      influences, often acting in parallel to each other. By receiving parallel inputs,
      cilia appear to integrate multiple signals into specific outputs and may have
      functions similar to logic gates of digital systems. Some combinations of input
      signals appear to impose higher hierarchical control related to the cell cycle.
      An integrated view of these regulatory inputs will be necessary to understand
      ciliogenesis and its wider relevance to human biology.

PMID- 27634435
TI  - No Relationship Between Patent Foramen Ovale and Migraine Frequency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathophysiology of migraine is not fully known. A link has been
      proposed between migraine and patent foramen ovale (PFO). However, there are
      conflicting data regarding the causal relationship between PFO and migraine.
      OBJECTIVE: To test a potential association between migraine frequency and PFO by
      way of an observational, single-center, case-controlled study. METHODS: We
      studied a total of 130 chronic migraine (CM) and 53 episodic migraine (EM)
      patients. Transcranial Doppler with agitated saline injection was used to
      evaluate the presence and degree of PFO. PFO was judged to be present if any
      signal was detected. The degree of PFO during rest and Valsalva was quantified as
      follows: small (1-10 microbubbles [MB]), medium (10-25 MB), or large (>25 MB with
      shower or curtain pattern). PFO detected at rest were considered permanent, while
      those detected during Valsalva maneuver were classified as latent. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of PFO was similar in CM and EM patients (53.1% [44.1-62.2] vs 54.7%
      [40.3-69.1], P = .871). PFO size was significantly larger in the EM group
      compared to the CM group (35.8% vs 20.3%, P = .037). The presence of permanent
      PFO was also significantly higher in EM compared to CM (37.7% vs 22.7%, P =
      .044). No differences were found according to the presence of aura. CONCLUSION:
      This study indicates that PFO is not more common or larger in CM than in EM
      patients. These findings do not support a relationship between PFO and migraine
      frequency.

PMID- 27634436
TI  - Probing Low-Copy-Number Proteins in a Single Living Cell.
AB  - Single-cell analysis techniques are essential for understanding the
      microheterogeneity and functions of cells. Low-copy-number proteins play
      important roles in cell functioning, but their measurement in single cells
      remains challenging. Herein, we report an approach, called plasmonic
      immunosandwich assay (PISA), for probing low-copy-number proteins in single
      cells. This approach combined in vivo immunoaffinity extraction and plasmon
      enhanced Raman scattering (PERS). Target proteins were specifically extracted
      from the cells by microprobes modified with monoclonal antibody or molecularly
      imprinted polymer (MIP), followed by labeling with Raman-active nanotags. The
      PERS detection, with Raman intensity enhanced by 9 orders of magnitude, provided
      ultrasensitive detection at the single-molecule level. Using this approach, we
      found that alkaline phosphatase and survivin were expressed in distinct levels in
      cancer and normal cells, and that extended culture passage resulted in reduced
      expression of survivin. We further developed acupuncture needle-based PISA for
      probing low-copy-number proteins in living bodies.

PMID- 27634437
TI  - EEG spectral analysis of NREM sleep in a large sample of patients with insomnia
      and good sleepers: effects of age, sex and part of the night.
AB  - Previous studies of the differences between patients with insomnia and good
      sleepers with regard to quantitative electroencephalographic measures have mostly
      utilized small samples and consequently had limited ability to account for
      potentially important confounding factors of age, sex and part of the night. We
      conducted a power spectral analysis using a large database of sleep
      electroencephalographic recordings to evaluate differences between patients with
      insomnia (N = 803) and good sleepers (N = 811), while simultaneously accounting
      for these factors and their interaction. Comparisons of power as a function of
      age and part of the night were made between cohorts (patients with insomnia
      versus good sleepers) by sex. Absolute power in the delta, theta and sigma bands
      declined with age for both females and males. Females had significantly greater
      power than males at all ages, and for each band, cohort and part of the night.
      These sex differences were much greater than differences between patients with
      insomnia and good sleepers. Compared with good sleepers, patients with insomnia
      under age 40-45 years had reduced delta band power during Part 1 of the night.
      Females with insomnia over age 45 years had increased delta and theta band power
      in Parts 2 and 3 of the night, and males with insomnia under age 40 years had
      reduced theta power in Part 1. Females with insomnia had increased beta2 power in
      all parts of the night, and males with insomnia had reduced alpha power during
      all parts of the night. Relative power (the proportion that an individual
      frequency band contributes to the total power) decreased in the delta band and
      increased in all other bands with age for both cohorts, sexes and all parts of
      the night. This analysis provides a unique resource for quantitative information
      on the differences in power spectra between patients with insomnia and good
      sleepers accounting for age, sex and part of the night.

PMID- 27634438
TI  - PUF Proteins: Cellular Functions and Potential Applications.
AB  - RNA-binding proteins play critical roles in the regulation of gene expression.
      Among several families of RNA-binding proteins, PUF (Pumilio and FBF) proteins
      have been the subject of extensive investigations, as they can bind RNA in a
      sequence-specific manner and they are evolutionarily conserved among a wide range
      of organisms. The outstanding feature of these proteins is a highly conserved RNA
      binding domain, which is known as the Pumilio-homology domain (PUM-HD) that
      mostly consists of eight tandem repeats. Each repeat recognizes an RNA base with
      a simple three-letter code that can be programmed in order to change the sequence
      specificity of the protein. Using this tailored architecture, researchers have
      been able to change the specificity of the PUM-HD and target desired transcripts
      in the cell, even in subcellular compartments. The potential applications of this
      versatile tool in molecular cell biology seem unbounded and the use of these
      factors in pharmaceutics might be an interesting field of study in near future.

PMID- 27634439
TI  - Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury: Current Progress and
      Clinical Prospects.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most common complications in critically
      ill patients, resulting in high morbidity and mortality. AKI usually occurs after
      major surgery, severe infection or drug-induced nephrotoxicity and is associated
      with prolonged hospital stays, increased costs and adverse clinical outcomes. The
      diagnosis of AKI is currently based on decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
      and urine output, and increased serum creatinine. Novel biomarkers are required
      for early identification of patients with AKI to allow timely therapy and improve
      patient outcomes. With the advent of proteomics and genomics techniques, a vast
      array of biomarkers are now available in clinical practice.

PMID- 27634440
TI  - Cell Cycle Arrest as a Therapeutic Target of Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - The current lack of complete understanding of the pathogenesis of acute kidney
      injury (AKI) is a significant barrier to its early diagnosis and treatment. Cell
      cycle arrest plays an important role in the protection of renal tubular
      epithelial cells and maladaptive repair following AKI. G1 phase cell arrest
      serves as a protective mechanism following AKI, avoiding replication of damaged
      DNA. Insulinlike growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) and tissue inhibitor of
      metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) are closely associated with G1 cell cycle arrest
      during the very early phase of cellular damage and can serve as an ideal
      biomarker to predict AKI. However, sustained cell cycle arrest after severe AKI
      may result in cell senescence and maladaptive repair, with typical
      characteristics of the development of cell cycle arrest in the gap 2 (G2) or
      mitotic (M) phase. Markers of cell cycle arrest signal and spread the "alarm"
      from the site of injury to adjacent cells in an autocrine or paracrine manner,
      giving rise to abnormal amplification and release of profibrogenic factors,
      activation of pericytes/perivascular fibroblasts, and eventually fibrosis.
      Therefore, cell cycle regulation has become a potentially new target for the
      prevention and treatment of AKI. In this review, we summarize the characteristics
      of the cell cycle following AKI and the markers of cell cycle arrest that enable
      the early detection of AKI. We also discuss how to prevent the progression of
      chronic kidney disease (CKD) by regulating cell cycle arrest.

PMID- 27634441
TI  - The Role of Natural Killer T Cells in Acute Kidney Injury: Angel or Evil?
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is manifested by inflammation, and an early feature in
      the pathogenesis is the accumulation of immune cells in the kidney. Natural
      killer T (NKT) cells, a peculiar T cells subtype, serve as a bridge between
      innate and adaptive immunity. Due to the difference between type I and type II
      subsets, NKT cells were supposed to play a dual role in IR-related tissue injury.
      Furthermore, membrane receptors and clinical immunosuppressive agents remain
      involved in the modulation of NKT cell function. Therefore, regulation of the
      amount and viability of NKT cells becomes a potential strategy in amelioration of
      AKI. This review will highlight the recent insights gained into the role and
      mechanisms of NKT cells in AKI.

PMID- 27634443
TI  - From Erythropoietin to Its Peptide Derivatives: Smaller but Stronger.
AB  - Erythropoietin (EPO), recognized early as a tissue protective agent, can trigger
      antiinflammatory and anti-apoptotic processes to delimit injury and promote
      repair by binding tissueprotective receptor (TPR). However, only at a high dosage
      can EPO exert tissue protective effect, which may elicit severe side-effects at
      the meantime. Helix B surface peptide (HBSP), a 11-amnio acid sequence derived
      from the non-erythropoietic helix B of EPO, not only shows higher affinity to TPR
      but also plays a more specific and powerful role in tissue protection without
      erythropoietic side-effects. While it has obvious merits, the 2-min plasma half
      life of HBSP restricts its application in vivo. Therefore, based on the amino
      acid sequence of HBSP, we originally designed and synthesized thioethercyclized
      helix B peptide (CHBP) for an increased resistance to proteolytic degradation as
      well as an improved tissue protective potency, implying a brighter prospective
      for translational application. In this review, we will mainly discuss the
      development from EPO to CHBP, the merits and limitation of CHBP and the probable
      mechanism mediating tissue protection.

PMID- 27634444
TI  - The Update of NGAL in Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most common complications of various
      serious conditions, and early diagnosis is therefore critical for the treatment
      of AKI. Increase of the classic AKI biochemical markers such as serum creatinine
      is not evident until renal function is irreversibly damaged, which adds to the
      difficulties of early identification of AKI and results in an increase of the
      mortality rate. In order to improve the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and
      prognosis prediction of AKI, novel early markers of AKI are required. Recent
      evidence demonstrates that neutrophil gelatinase- associated lipocalin (NGAL) is
      closely associated with AKI. Several experimental and clinical studies have shown
      that the expression of urine and serum NGAL increases significantly in AKI. In
      particular, the urine NGAL level is closely associated with the severity of
      kidney injury, and could be detected earlier than other AKI markers. Therefore,
      NGAL shows potential to be a new effective early biochemical marker of AKI.
      Further studies are needed to confirm the significant advantages of NGAL in the
      diagnosis of early AKI and its value in clinical applications.

PMID- 27634442
TI  - Renoprotection and Mechanisms of Erythropoietin and Its Derivatives Helix B
      Surface Peptide in Kidney Injuries.
AB  - The renoprotection of erythropoietin (EPO) and its derivatives such as helix B
      surface peptide (HBSP) have attracted a great deal of attention from scientists
      and clinicians alike. The evolutional achievement in the dissociation of tissue
      protection and erythropoiesis is obtained through HBSP characterisation and
      synthesis. We performed a series of studies using EPO, as well as HBSP, in a
      variety of biological models subjected to transplant-related renal injuries such
      as ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and/or immunosuppressant nephrotoxicity. In
      this short review, we would like to address the effects of EPO in different
      formats, and its underlying mechanisms with focuses on apoptosis and inflammation
      in in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo renal injury models, and to further explore
      potential applications and challenges in humans.

PMID- 27634445
TI  - Epidemiology and Management of Acute Kidney Injury in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
      Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization.
AB  - Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is an effective therapy for
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, acute kidney injury (AKI) may occur
      after TACE due to the contrast agent and cytotoxic anticancer drugs used in this
      procedure. Post-TACE AKI is not an unusual event, and may adversely affect
      patient outcome. Coexisting situations including cirrhosis, renal insufficiency,
      diabetes and hypertension play a role in the development of HCC, and may
      predispose patients to AKI after TACE. Most post-TACE are transient and
      reversible, while prolonged AKI may predict a decreased survival. The best
      strategy to manage post-TACE AKI is prevention. Patients, before undergoing TACE,
      should be carefully assessed. In this study, we reviewed the current literature
      published in English about the incidence rate, risk factors, management and
      prognosis of AKI in patients with HCC undergoing TACE for a better understanding
      of this complication.

PMID- 27634446
TI  - Stem Cell Mobilizers: Novel Therapeutics for Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - In the past decade, rapid developments in stem cell studies have occurred.
      Researchers have confirmed the plasticity of bone marrow stem cells and the
      repair and regeneration effects of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells on solid
      organs. These findings have suggested the possibility of using bone marrow stem
      cell mobilizers to repair and regenerate injured organs. Recent studies on the
      effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and Plerixafor (AMD3100)
      on mouse acute kidney injury models have confirmed that the use of bone marrow
      stem cell mobilizers may be an effective therapeutic measure. This paper
      summarizes studies describing the effects of G-CSF and AMD3100 on various acute
      kidney injury models over the past 10 years.

PMID- 27634447
TI  - Reprogramming glucose metabolism in cancer: can it be exploited for cancer
      therapy?
AB  - In recent years there has been a growing interest among cancer biologists in
      cancer metabolism. This Review summarizes past and recent advances in our
      understanding of the reprogramming of glucose metabolism in cancer cells, which
      is mediated by oncogenic drivers and by the undifferentiated character of cancer
      cells. The reprogrammed glucose metabolism in cancer cells is required to fulfil
      anabolic demands. This Review discusses the possibility of exploiting the
      reprogrammed glucose metabolism for therapeutic approaches that selectively
      target cancer cells.

PMID- 27634448
TI  - Serine and one-carbon metabolism in cancer.
AB  - The non-essential amino acid serine supports several metabolic processes that are
      crucial for the growth and survival of proliferating cells, including protein,
      amino acid and glutathione synthesis. As an important one-carbon donor to the
      folate cycle, serine contributes to nucleotide synthesis, methylation reactions
      and the generation of NADPH for antioxidant defence. Many cancer cells are highly
      dependent on serine, a trait that provides several novel therapeutic
      opportunities, either through the inhibition of de novo serine synthesis or by
      limiting the availability or uptake of exogenous serine.

PMID- 27634450
TI  - The availability of abortion at state hospitals in Turkey: A national study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Abortion in Turkey has been legal since 1983 and remains so today.
      Despite this, in 2012 the Prime Minister declared that, in his opinion, abortion
      was murder. Since then, there has been growing evidence that abortion access
      particularly in state hospitals is being restricted, although no new legislation
      has been offered. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine the number of state
      hospitals in Turkey that provide abortions. STUDY DESIGN: The study employed a
      telephone survey in 2015-2016 where 431 state hospitals were contacted and asked
      a set of questions by a mystery patient. If possible, information was obtained
      directly from the obstetrics/gynecology department. I removed specialist
      hospitals from the data set and the remaining data were analyzed for frequency
      and cross-tabulations were performed. RESULTS: Only 7.8% of state hospitals
      provide abortion services without regard to reason which is provided for by the
      current law, while 78% provide abortions when there is a medical necessity. Of
      the 58 teaching and research hospitals in Turkey, 9 (15.5%) provide abortion care
      without restriction to reason, 38 (65.5%) will do the procedure if there is a
      medical necessity and 11 (11.4%) of these hospitals refuse to provide abortion
      services under any circumstances. There are two regions, encompassing 1.5 million
      women of childbearing age, where no state hospital provides for abortion without
      restriction as to reason. CONCLUSION: The vast majority of state hospitals only
      provide abortions in the narrow context of a medical necessity, and thus are not
      implementing the law to its full extent. It is clear that although no new
      legislation restricting abortion has been enacted, state hospitals are reducing
      the provision of abortion services without restriction as to reason.
      IMPLICATIONS: This is the only nationwide study to focus on abortion provision at
      state hospitals.

PMID- 27634451
TI  - A randomised, controlled, double-blind trial of ultrasound-guided phrenic nerve
      block to prevent shoulder pain after thoracic surgery.
AB  - Moderate to severe ipsilateral shoulder pain is a common complaint following
      thoracic surgery. In this prospective, parallel-group study at Odense University
      Hospital, 76 patients (aged > 18 years) scheduled for lobectomy or pneumonectomy
      were randomised 1:1 using a computer-generated list to receive an ultrasound
      guided supraclavicular phrenic nerve block with 10 ml ropivacaine or 10 ml saline
      (placebo) immediately following surgery. A nerve catheter was subsequently
      inserted and treatment continued for 3 days. The study drug was pharmaceutically
      pre-packed in sequentially numbered identical vials assuring that all
      participants, healthcare providers and data collectors were blinded. The primary
      outcome was the incidence of unilateral shoulder pain within the first 6 h after
      surgery. Pain was evaluated using a numeric rating scale. Nine of 38 patients in
      the ropivacaine group and 26 of 38 patients in the placebo group experienced
      shoulder pain during the first 6 h after surgery (absolute risk reduction 44%
      (95% CI 22-67%), relative risk reduction 65% (95% CI 41-80%); p = 0.00009). No
      major complications, including respiratory compromise or nerve injury, were
      observed. We conclude that ultrasound-guided supraclavicular phrenic nerve block
      is an effective technique for reducing the incidence of ipsilateral shoulder pain
      after thoracic surgery.

PMID- 27634454
TI  - Block Copolymer Brushes for Completely Decoupled Control of Determinants of Cell
      Surface Interactions.
AB  - The known determinants for cell-surface interactions, comprising biochemical
      cues, patterns, passivating functionality, and control of tether mechanical
      properties, are fully decoupled in tailored block copolymer brushes synthesized
      by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Exploiting sequential
      polymerization of a passivating underlying polyacrylamide (PAAm) block with
      defined cross-linking followed by a second poly(acrylic acid) block, which can be
      conjugated with a selective adhesion peptide, hierarchically structured brushes
      that can be micro-patterned by soft lithography were obtained. The interaction of
      NIH 3T3 fibroblasts and PaTu 8988t pancreatic tumor cells with brushes that
      differed only in the stiffness of the hidden PAAm block or only in the peptide
      ligand, while keeping all other parameters constant, revealing profound
      differences in cell adhesion and morphology. In particular, cells could only
      attach well to stiff RGD presenting brushes.

PMID- 27634453
TI  - Examining national and district-level trends in neonatal health in Peru through
      an equity lens: a success story driven by political will and societal advocacy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peru has impressively reduced its neonatal mortality rate (NMR). We
      aimed, for the period 2000-2013, to: (a) describe national and district NMR
      variations over time; (b) assess NMR trends by wealth quintile and place of
      residence; (c) describe evolution of mortality causes; (d) assess completeness of
      registered mortality; (e) assess coverage and equity of NMR-related
      interventions; and (f) explore underlying driving factors. METHODS: We compared
      national NMR time trends from different sources. To describe NMR trends by wealth
      quintiles, place of residence and districts, we pooled data on births and deaths
      by calendar year for neonates born to women interviewed in multiple surveys. We
      disaggregated coverage of NMR-related interventions by wealth quintiles and place
      of residence. To identify success factors, we ran regression analyses and
      combined desk reviews with qualitative interviews and group discussions. RESULTS:
      NMR fell by 51 % from 2000 to 2013, second only to Brazil in Latin America.
      Reduction was higher in rural and poorest segments (52 and 58 %). District NMR
      change varied by source. Regarding cause-specific NMRs, prematurity decreased
      from 7.0 to 3.2 per 1,000 live births, intra-partum related events from 2.9 to
      1.2, congenital abnormalities from 2.4 to 1.8, sepsis from 1.9 to 0.8, pneumonia
      from 0.9 to 0.4, and other conditions from 1.2 to 0.7. Under-registration of
      neonatal deaths decreased recently, more in districts with higher development
      index and lower rural population. Coverage of family planning, antenatal care and
      skilled birth attendance increased more in rural areas and in the poorest
      quintile. Regressions did not show consistent associations between mortality and
      predictors. During the study period social determinants improved substantially,
      and dramatic out-of-health-sector and health-sector changes occurred. Rural areas
      and the poorest quintile experienced greater NMR reduction. This progress was
      driven, within a context of economic growth and poverty reduction, by a
      combination of strong societal advocacy and political will, which translated into
      pro-poor implementation of evidence-based interventions with a rights-based
      approach. CONCLUSIONS: Although progress in Peru for reducing NMR has been
      remarkable, future challenges include closing remaining gaps for urban and rural
      populations and improving newborn health with qualified staff and intermediate-
      and intensive-level health facilities.

PMID- 27634452
TI  - Cell-lineage specificity and role of AP-1 in the prostate fibroblast androgen
      receptor cistrome.
AB  - Androgen receptor (AR) signalling in fibroblasts is important in prostate
      development and carcinogenesis, and is inversely related to prostate cancer
      mortality. However, the molecular mechanisms of AR action in fibroblasts and
      other non-epithelial cell types are largely unknown. The genome-wide DNA binding
      profile of AR in human prostate fibroblasts was identified by chromatin
      immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq), and found to be common to other
      fibroblast lines but disparate from AR cistromes of prostate cancer cells and
      tissue. Although AR binding sites specific to fibroblasts were less well
      conserved evolutionarily than those shared with cancer epithelia, they were
      likewise correlated with androgen regulation of fibroblast gene expression.
      Whereas FOXA1 is the key pioneer factor of AR in cancer epithelia, our data
      indicated that AP-1 likely plays a more important role in the AR cistrome in
      fibroblasts. The specificity of AP-1 and FOXA1 to binding in these cells is
      demonstrated using immunoblot and immunohistochemistry. Importantly, we find the
      fibroblast cistrome is represented in whole tissue/in vivo ChIP-seq studies at
      both genomic and resulting protein levels, highlighting the importance of the
      stroma in whole tissue -omic studies. This is the first nuclear receptor ChIP-seq
      study in prostatic fibroblasts, and provides novel insight into the action of
      fibroblast AR in prostate cancer.

PMID- 27634455
TI  - Radioiodination and biological evaluation of candesartan as a tracer for
      cardiovascular disorder detection.
AB  - The goal of the study aims to evaluate newly radioiodinated candesartan (CAN) as
      a potential cardiovascular tracer. CAN was labeled using 125 I with chloramine-T
      (Ch-T) and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) with full characterization of cold Iodo
      candesartan. Factors such as pH, reaction temperature, reaction time, substrate,
      and oxidizing agent amounts were studied to optimize the radioiodination of CAN.
      The optimum radiochemical yield of 125 I-CAN was 98%. The labeled compound was
      separated and purified using high-pressure liquid chromatography. The biological
      distribution indicates the suitability of 125 I-CAN as a novel tracer to detect
      cardiovascular disorders.

PMID- 27634449
TI  - Metabolic control of epigenetics in cancer.
AB  - Alterations in the epigenome and metabolism both affect molecular rewiring in
      cancer cells and facilitate cancer development and progression. However, recent
      evidence suggests the existence of important bidirectional regulatory mechanisms
      between metabolic remodelling and the epigenome (specifically methylation and
      acetylation of histones) in cancer. Most chromatin-modifying enzymes require
      substrates or cofactors that are intermediates of cell metabolism. Such
      metabolites, and often the enzymes that produce them, can transfer into the
      nucleus, directly linking metabolism to nuclear transcription. We discuss how
      metabolic remodelling can contribute to tumour epigenetic alterations, thereby
      affecting cancer cell differentiation, proliferation and/or apoptosis, as well as
      therapeutic responses.

PMID- 27634457
TI  - Use of emergency department electronic medical records for automated
      epidemiological surveillance of suicide attempts: a French pilot study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether an expert system based on
      automated processing of electronic health records (EHRs) could provide a more
      accurate estimate of the annual rate of emergency department (ED) visits for
      suicide attempts in France, as compared to the current national surveillance
      system based on manual coding by emergency practitioners. A feasibility study was
      conducted at Lyon University Hospital, using data for all ED patient visits in
      2012. After automatic data extraction and pre-processing, including automatic
      coding of medical free-text through use of the Unified Medical Language System,
      seven different machine-learning methods were used to classify the reasons for ED
      visits into "suicide attempts" versus "other reasons". The performance of these
      different methods was compared by using the F-measure. In a test sample of 444
      patients admitted to the ED in 2012 (98 suicide attempts, 48 cases of suicidal
      ideation, and 292 controls with no recorded non-fatal suicidal behaviour), the F
      measure for automatic detection of suicide attempts ranged from 70.4% to 95.3%.
      The random forest and naive Bayes methods performed best. This study demonstrates
      that machine-learning methods can improve the quality of epidemiological
      indicators as compared to current national surveillance of suicide attempts.

PMID- 27634456
TI  - An Object-Independent ENZ Metamaterial-Based Wideband Electromagnetic Cloak.
AB  - A new, metamaterial-based electromagnetic cloaking operation is proposed in this
      study. The metamaterial exhibits a sharp transmittance in the C-band of the
      microwave spectrum with negative effective property of permittivity at that
      frequency. Two metal arms were placed on an FR-4 substrate to construct a double
      split-square shape structure. The size of the resonator was maintained to achieve
      the effective medium property of the metamaterial. Full wave numerical simulation
      was performed to extract the reflection and transmission coefficients for the
      unit cell. Later on, a single layer square-shaped cloak was designed using the
      proposed metamaterial unit cell. The cloak hides a metal cylinder
      electromagnetically, where the material exhibits epsilon-near-zero (ENZ)
      property. Cloaking operation was demonstrated adopting the scattering-reduction
      technique. The measured result was provided to validate the characteristics of
      the metamaterial and the cloak. Some object size- and shape-based analyses were
      performed with the cloak, and a common cloaking region was revealed over more
      than 900 MHz in the C-band for the different objects.

PMID- 27634458
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated neuronal apoptosis by acrylamide exposure.
AB  - Acrylamide (AA) is a well-known neurotoxic compound in humans and experimental
      animals. However, intracellular stress signaling pathways responsible for the
      neurotoxicity of AA are still not clear. In this study, we explored the
      involvement of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response in AA-induced
      neuronal damage in vitro and in vivo. Exposure of SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma
      cells to AA increased the levels of phosphorylated form of eukaryotic translation
      initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha) and its downstream effector, activating
      transcription factor 4 (ATF4), indicating the induction of the unfolded protein
      response (UPR) by AA exposure. Furthermore, AA exposure increased the mRNA level
      of c/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), the ER stress-dependent apoptotic factor, and
      caused the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in SH-SY5Y cells.
      Treatments of SH-SY5Y cells with the chemical chaperone, 4-phenylbutyric acid and
      the ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-cysteine reduced the AA-induced expression of ATF4
      protein and CHOP mRNA, and resulted in the suppression of apoptosis. In addition,
      AA-induced eIF2alpha phosphorylation was also suppressed by NAC treatment. In
      consistent with in vitro study, exposure of zebrafish larvae at 6-day post
      fertilization to AA induced the expression of chop mRNA and apoptotic cell death
      in the brain, and also caused the disruption of brain structure. These findings
      suggest that AA exposure induces apoptotic neuronal cell death through the ER
      stress and subsequent eIF2alpha-ATF4-CHOP signaling cascade. The accumulation of
      ROS by AA exposure appears to be responsible for this ER stress-mediated
      apoptotic pathway.

PMID- 27634459
TI  - Systematic network assessment of the carcinogenic activities of cadmium.
AB  - Cadmium has been defined as type I carcinogen for humans, but the underlying
      mechanisms of its carcinogenic activity and its influence on protein-protein
      interactions in cells are not fully elucidated. The aim of the current study was
      to evaluate, systematically, the carcinogenic activity of cadmium with systems
      biology approaches. From a literature search of 209 studies that performed with
      cellular models, 208 proteins influenced by cadmium exposure were identified. All
      of these were assessed by Western blotting and were recognized as key nodes in
      network analyses. The protein-protein functional interaction networks were
      constructed with NetBox software and visualized with Cytoscape software. These
      cadmium-rewired genes were used to construct a scale-free, highly connected
      biological protein interaction network with 850 nodes and 8770 edges. Of the
      network, nine key modules were identified and 60 key signaling pathways,
      including the estrogen, RAS, PI3K-Akt, NF-kappaB, HIF-1alpha, Jak-STAT, and TGF
      beta signaling pathways, were significantly enriched. With breast cancer,
      colorectal and prostate cancer cellular models, we validated the key node genes
      in the network that had been previously reported or inferred form the network by
      Western blotting methods, including STAT3, JNK, p38, SMAD2/3, P65, AKT1, and HIF
      1alpha. These results suggested the established network was robust and provided a
      systematic view of the carcinogenic activities of cadmium in human.

PMID- 27634460
TI  - Gallic acid-capped gold nanoparticles inhibit EGF-induced MMP-9 expression
      through suppression of p300 stabilization and NFkappaB/c-Jun activation in breast
      cancer MDA-MB-231 cells.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are highly invasive and have a higher rate
      of distant metastasis. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) plays a crucial role in
      EGF/EGFR-mediated malignant progression and metastasis of TNBCs. Various studies
      have revealed that treatment with gallic acid down-regulates MMP-9 expression in
      cancer cells, and that conjugation of phytochemical compounds with gold
      nanoparticles (AuNPs) increases the anti-tumor activity of the phytochemical
      compounds. Thus, the effect of gallic acid-capped AuNPs (GA-AuNPs) on MMP-9
      expression in EGF-treated TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells was analyzed in the present
      study. The so-called green synthesis of AuNPs by means of gallic acid was
      performed at pH10, and the resulting GA-AuNPs had spherical shape with an average
      diameter of approximately 50nm. GA-AuNPs notably suppressed migration and
      invasion of EGF-treated cells, and inhibited EGF-induced MMP-9 up-regulation. GA
      AuNPs abrogated EGF-induced Akt/p65 and ERK/c-Jun phosphorylation, leading to
      down-regulation of MMP-9 mRNA and protein expression in EGF-treated cells.
      Meanwhile, EGF-induced p300 stabilization was found to be involved in MMP-9
      expression, whereas GA-AuNPs inhibited the EGF-promoted stability of the p300
      protein. Although GA-AuNPs and gallic acid suppressed EGF-induced MMP-9 up
      regulation via the same signaling pathway, the effective concentration of gallic
      acid was approximately 100-fold higher than that of GA-AuNPs for inhibition of
      MMP-9 expression in EGF-treated cells to a similar extent. Collectively, our data
      indicate that, in comparison with gallic acid, GA-AuNPs have a superior ability
      to inhibit EGF/EGFR-mediated MMP-9 expression in TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells. Our
      findings also point to a way to improve the anti-tumor activity of gallic acid.

PMID- 27634461
TI  - Precisely Controlled 2D Free-Floating Nanosheets of Amphiphilic Molecules through
      Frame-Guided Assembly.
AB  - 2D assembly of amphiphilic molecules in aqueous solution is a challenging and
      intriguing topic as it is normally thermodynamically unfavorable. However,
      through frame-guided assembly strategy and using DNA origami as the frame,
      monodispersed and shape-defined nanosheets are prepared. As leading hydrophobic
      groups (LHGs) are anchored on the frames, amphiphilic molecules in aqueous
      solution are guided to assemble in the hydrophobic region. By adjusting the
      distribution of the LHGs, the size and shape of the assemblies can be controlled
      precisely.

PMID- 27634462
TI  - The NtrY-NtrX two-component system is involved in controlling nitrate
      assimilation in Herbaspirillum seropedicae strain SmR1.
AB  - Herbaspirillum seropedicae is a diazotrophic beta-Proteobacterium found
      endophytically associated with gramineae (Poaceae or graminaceous plants) such as
      rice, sorghum and sugar cane. In this work we show that nitrate-dependent growth
      in this organism is regulated by the master nitrogen regulatory two-component
      system NtrB-NtrC, and by NtrY-NtrX, which functions to specifically regulate
      nitrate metabolism. NtrY is a histidine kinase sensor protein predicted to be
      associated with the membrane and NtrX is the response regulator partner. The
      ntrYntrX genes are widely distributed in Proteobacteria. In alpha-Proteobacteria
      they are frequently located downstream from ntrBC, whereas in beta-Proteobacteria
      these genes are located downstream from genes encoding an RNA methyltransferase
      and a proline-rich protein with unknown function. The NtrX protein of alpha
      Proteobacteria has an AAA+ domain, absent in those from beta-Proteobacteria. An
      ntrY mutant of H. seropedicae showed the wild-type nitrogen fixation phenotype,
      but the nitrate-dependent growth was abolished. Gene fusion assays indicated that
      NtrY is involved in the expression of genes coding for the assimilatory nitrate
      reductase as well as the nitrate-responsive two-component system NarX-NarL (narK
      and narX promoters, respectively). The purified NtrX protein was capable of
      binding the narK and narX promoters, and the binding site at the narX promoter
      for the NtrX protein was determined by DNA footprinting. In silico analyses
      revealed similar sequences in other promoter regions of H. seropedicae that are
      related to nitrate assimilation, supporting the role of the NtrY-NtrX system in
      regulating nitrate metabolism in H. seropedicae.

PMID- 27634463
TI  - Pigmented lichenoid drug eruption: a new clinical presentation of interface
      dermatitis induced by anti-TNF alpha drugs.

PMID- 27634464
TI  - The gut-kidney axis in chronic renal failure: A new potential target for therapy.
AB  - Evidence is accumulating to consider the gut microbiome as a central player in
      the gut-kidney axis. Microbiome products, such as advanced glycation end
      products, phenols, and indoles, are absorbed into the circulation but are cleared
      by normal-functioning kidneys. These products then become toxic and contribute to
      the uremic load and to the progression of chronic kidney failure. In this review,
      we discuss the gut-kidney interaction under the state of chronic kidney failure
      as well as the potential mechanisms by which a change in the gut flora (termed
      gut dysbiosis) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) exacerbates uremia and leads to
      further progression of CKD and inflammation. Finally, the potential therapeutic
      interventions to target the gut microbiome in CKD are discussed.

PMID- 27634465
TI  - Superconducting ferecrystals: turbostratically disordered atomic-scale layered
      (PbSe)1.14(NbSe2)n thin films.
AB  - Hybrid electronic heterostructure films of semi- and superconducting layers
      possess very different properties from their bulk counterparts. Here, we
      demonstrate superconductivity in ferecrystals: turbostratically disordered atomic
      scale layered structures of single-, bi- and trilayers of NbSe2 separated by PbSe
      layers. The turbostratic (orientation) disorder between individual layers does
      not destroy superconductivity. Our method of fabricating artificial sequences of
      atomic-scale 2D layers, structurally independent of their neighbours in the
      growth direction, opens up new possibilities of stacking arbitrary numbers of
      hybrid layers which are not available otherwise, because epitaxial strain is
      avoided. The observation of superconductivity and systematic Tc changes with
      nanostructure make this synthesis approach of particular interest for realizing
      hybrid systems in the search of 2D superconductivity and the design of novel
      electronic heterostructures.

PMID- 27634467
TI  - Novel homologous lactate transporter improves L-lactic acid production from
      glycerol in recombinant strains of Pichia pastoris.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Crude glycerol is the main byproduct of the biodiesel industry.
      Although it can have different applications, its purification is costly.
      Therefore, in this study a biotechnological route has been proposed for further
      utilization of crude glycerol in the fermentative production of lactic acid. This
      acid is largely utilized in food, pharmaceutical, textile, and chemical
      industries, making it the hydroxycarboxylic acid with the highest market
      potential worldwide. Currently, industrial production of lactic acid is done
      mainly using sugar as the substrate. Thus here, for the first time, Pichia
      pastoris has been engineered for heterologous L-lactic acid production using
      glycerol as a single carbon source. For that, the Bos taurus lactate
      dehydrogenase gene was introduced into P. pastoris. Moreover, a heterologous and
      a novel homologous lactate transporter have been evaluated for L-lactic acid
      production. RESULTS: Batch fermentation of the P. pastoris X-33 strain producing
      LDHb allowed for lactic acid production in this yeast. Although P. pastoris is
      known for its respiratory metabolism, batch fermentations were performed with
      different oxygenation levels, indicating that lower oxygen availability increased
      lactic acid production by 20 %, pushing the yeast towards a fermentative
      metabolism. Furthermore, a newly putative lactate transporter from P. pastoris
      named PAS has been identified by search similarity with the lactate transporter
      from Saccharomyces cerevisiae Jen1p. Both heterologous and homologous
      transporters, Jen1p and PAS, were evaluated in one strain already containing LDH
      activity. Fed-batch experiments of P. pastoris strains carrying the lactate
      transporter were performed with the batch phase at aerobic conditions followed by
      an aerobic oxygen-limited phase where production of lactic acid was favored. The
      results showed that the strain containing PAS presented the highest lactic acid
      titer, reaching a yield of approximately 0.7 g/g. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that P.
      pastoris has a great potential as a fermentative organism for producing L-lactic
      acid using glycerol as the carbon source at limited oxygenation conditions (below
      0.05 % DO in the bioreactor). The best strain had both the LDHb and the
      homologous lactate transporter encoding genes expressed, and reached a titer 1.5
      times higher than the strain with the S. cerevisiae transporter. Finally, it was
      also shown that increased lactic acid production was concomitant to reduction of
      acetic acid formation by half.

PMID- 27634469
TI  - Sierra platinum: a fast and robust peak-caller for replicated ChIP-seq
      experiments with visual quality-control and -steering.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Histone modifications play an important role in gene regulation.
      Their genomic locations are of great interest. Usually, the location is measured
      by ChIP-seq and analyzed with a peak-caller. Replicated ChIP-seq experiments
      become more and more available. However, their analysis is based on single
      experiment peak-calling or on tools like PePr which allows peak-calling of
      replicates but whose underlying model might not be suitable for the conditions
      under which the experiments are performed. RESULTS: We propose a new peak-caller
      called 'Sierra Platinum' that allows peak-calling of replicated ChIP-seq
      experiments. Moreover, it provides a variety of quality measures together with
      integrated visualizations supporting the assessment of the replicates and the
      resulting peaks, as well as steering the peak-calling process. CONCLUSION: We
      show that Sierra Platinum outperforms currently available methods using a newly
      generated benchmark data set and using real data from the NIH Roadmap Epigenomics
      Project. It is robust against noisy replicates.

PMID- 27634468
TI  - The J-Shaped Bone Graft for Anatomic Glenoid Reconstruction: A 10-Year Clinical
      Follow-up and Computed Tomography-Osteoabsorptiometry Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The J-shaped bone graft procedure is one of the recommended methods
      to reconstruct significant glenoid rim defects. PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term
      (minimum 10-year) clinical outcomes and show further details of the remodeling
      effects on the articular cavity of the glenoid after J-shaped bone grafting.
      STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: A total of 14 patients
      treated with a J-shaped bone graft procedure were observed clinically.
      Additionally, bilateral preoperative and postoperative follow-up computed
      tomography (CT) scans were used for CT-osteoabsorptiometry (OAM) to evaluate the
      bony remodeling processes. RESULTS: The follow-up rate was 93% at a mean follow
      up time of 10.7 years (range, 10.08-11.75 years). Patients exhibited a mean
      Constant score of 92.5 (range, 80-100) on the clinical evaluation. All patients
      had free range of motion and were pain free without any recurrence of
      instability. Based on CT-OAM, comparable and almost anatomically reconstructed,
      bilaterally equal glenoid cavities were found postoperatively. The distribution
      patterns of glenoid subchondral mineralization were bilaterally equal in 85.7% of
      the patients. CONCLUSION: The surgical treatment of recurrent shoulder
      instability with a significant bony Bankart lesion using the J-shaped bone graft
      procedure provided excellent long-term results. This study lends evidence to
      support the capability of the J-shaped bone graft procedure to restore the normal
      glenoid shape due to physiological remodeling processes.

PMID- 27634466
TI  - Progressive muscle proteome changes in a clinically relevant pig model of
      Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
AB  - Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by genetic deficiency of dystrophin
      and characterized by massive structural and functional changes of skeletal muscle
      tissue, leading to terminal muscle failure. We recently generated a novel
      genetically engineered pig model reflecting pathological hallmarks of human DMD
      better than the widely used mdx mouse. To get insight into the hierarchy of
      molecular derangements during DMD progression, we performed a proteome analysis
      of biceps femoris muscle samples from 2-day-old and 3-month-old DMD and wild-type
      (WT) pigs. The extent of proteome changes in DMD vs. WT muscle increased markedly
      with age, reflecting progression of the pathological changes. In 3-month-old DMD
      muscle, proteins related to muscle repair such as vimentin, nestin, desmin and
      tenascin C were found to be increased, whereas a large number of respiratory
      chain proteins were decreased in abundance in DMD muscle, indicating serious
      disturbances in aerobic energy production and a reduction of functional muscle
      tissue. The combination of proteome data for fiber type specific myosin heavy
      chain proteins and immunohistochemistry showed preferential degeneration of fast
      twitch fiber types in DMD muscle. The stage-specific proteome changes detected in
      this large animal model of clinically severe muscular dystrophy provide novel
      molecular readouts for future treatment trials.

PMID- 27634470
TI  - De novo p.Arg756Cys mutation of ATP1A3 causes an atypical form of alternating
      hemiplegia of childhood with prolonged paralysis and choreoathetosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a rare neurological
      disorder that manifests recurrent attacks of hemiplegia, oculogyric, and
      choreoathetotic involuntary movements. De novo mutations in ATP1A3 cause three
      types of neurological diseases: AHC; rapid-onset dystonia-Parkinsonism (RDP); and
      cerebellar ataxia, areflexia, pes cavus, optic atrophy, and sensorineural hearing
      loss (CAPOS) syndromes. It remains to be determined whether or not a rare
      mutation in ATP1A3 may cause atypical phenotypes. CASE PRESENTATION: A 7-year-old
      boy presented with recurrent symptoms of generalized paralysis since 1 year and 5
      months of age. Hypotonia, dystonia, and choreoathetosis persisted with
      exacerbation under febrile conditions, but no cerebellar ataxia had ever evolved
      in 6 years. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed to determine his genetic
      background, and mutations were validated by the Sanger method. Crude protein
      extracts were prepared from the cultured cells, and expression of the wild-type
      or mutant ATP1A3 proteins were analyzed by Western blotting. WES identified a de
      novo pathogenic mutation in ATP1A3 (c.2266C > T:p.R756C) for this patient. A
      literature overview of two reported cases with p.R756C and p.R756H mutations
      showed both overlapping and distinct phenotypes when compared with those of the
      present case. The expression of the mutant form (R756C) of ATP1A3 did not differ
      markedly from that of the wild-type and D801N proteins. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      confirmed that p.R756C mutation of ATP1A3 cause atypical forms of AHC-associated
      disorders. The wide spectra of neurological phenotypes in AHC are linked to as
      yet-unknown deficits in the functions of mutant ATP1A3.

PMID- 27634472
TI  - [Unusual bilateral eyelid and orbital involvement in Rosai-Dorfman disease (a
      comprehensive literature review and case report)].

PMID- 27634473
TI  - [Pseudodiscs in chronic recurrent Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome].

PMID- 27634474
TI  - The patient voice in 'shared decision making' in clinical practice and research.

PMID- 27634471
TI  - Technology-assisted stroke rehabilitation in Mexico: a pilot randomized trial
      comparing traditional therapy to circuit training in a Robot/technology-assisted
      therapy gym.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke rehabilitation in low- and middle-income countries, such as
      Mexico, is often hampered by lack of clinical resources and funding. To provide a
      cost-effective solution for comprehensive post-stroke rehabilitation that can
      alleviate the need for one-on-one physical or occupational therapy, in lower and
      upper extremities, we proposed and implemented a technology-assisted
      rehabilitation gymnasium in Chihuahua, Mexico. The Gymnasium for Robotic
      Rehabilitation (Robot Gym) consisted of low- and high-tech systems for upper and
      lower limb rehabilitation. Our hypothesis is that the Robot Gym can provide a
      cost- and labor-efficient alternative for post-stroke rehabilitation, while being
      more or as effective as traditional physical and occupational therapy approaches.
      METHODS: A typical group of stroke patients was randomly allocated to an
      intervention (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). The intervention group
      received rehabilitation using the devices in the Robot Gym, whereas the control
      group (n = 10) received time-matched standard care. All of the study subjects
      were subjected to 24 two-hour therapy sessions over a period of 6 to 8 weeks.
      Several clinical assessments tests for upper and lower extremities were used to
      evaluate motor function pre- and post-intervention. A cost analysis was done to
      compare the cost effectiveness for both therapies. RESULTS: No significant
      differences were observed when comparing the results of the pre-intervention Mini
      mental, Brunnstrom Test, and Geriatric Depression Scale Test, showing that both
      groups were functionally similar prior to the intervention. Although, both
      training groups were functionally equivalent, they had a significant age
      difference. The results of all of the upper extremity tests showed an improvement
      in function in both groups with no statistically significant differences between
      the groups. The Fugl-Meyer and the 10 Meters Walk lower extremity tests showed
      greater improvement in the intervention group compared to the control group. On
      the Time Up and Go Test, no statistically significant differences were observed
      pre- and post-intervention when comparing the control and the intervention
      groups. For the 6 Minute Walk Test, both groups presented a statistically
      significant difference pre- and post-intervention, showing progress in their
      performance. The robot gym therapy was more cost-effective than the traditional
      one-to-one therapy used during this study in that it enabled therapist to train
      up to 1.5 to 6 times more patients for the approximately same cost in the long
      term. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that the patients that
      received therapy using the Robot Gym had enhanced functionality in the upper
      extremity tests similar to patients in the control group. In the lower extremity
      tests, the intervention patients showed more improvement than those subjected to
      traditional therapy. These results support that the Robot Gym can be as effective
      as traditional therapy for stroke patients, presenting a more cost- and labor
      efficient option for countries with scarce clinical resources and funding. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ISRCTN98578807 .

PMID- 27634475
TI  - Free-energy calculations of residue mutations in a tripeptide using various
      methods to overcome inefficient sampling.
AB  - Previous free-energy calculations have shown that the seemingly simple
      transformation of the tripeptide KXK to KGK in water holds some unobvious
      challenges concerning the convergence of the forward and backward thermodynamic
      integration processes (i.e., hysteresis). In the current study, the central
      residue X was either alanine, serine, glutamic acid, lysine, phenylalanine, or
      tyrosine. Interestingly, the transformation from alanine to glycine yielded the
      highest hysteresis in relation to the extent of the chemical change of the side
      chain. The reason for that could be attributed to poor sampling of phi2 /psi2
      dihedral angles along the transformation. Altering the nature of alanine's Cbeta
      atom drastically improved the sampling and at the same time led to the
      identification of high energy barriers as cause for it. Consequently, simple
      strategies to overcome these barriers are to increase simulation time
      (computationally expensive) or to use enhanced sampling techniques such as
      Hamiltonian replica exchange molecular dynamics and one-step perturbation. (c)
      2016 The Authors. Journal of Computational Chemistry Published by Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634476
TI  - Erratum to: Proceedings of a workshop, held in Constanta, Romania on 22 May 2014,
      on Oral Health of Children in the Central and Eastern European Countries in the
      context of the current economic crisis.

PMID- 27634477
TI  - A Carbon Nanoparticle Lymphatic Tracer Protected Parathyroid Glands During
      Radical Thyroidectomy for Papillary Thyroid Non-Microcarcinoma.
AB  - The study assessed the role of an activated carbon nanoparticle lymphatic tracer
      in reducing unintentional damage to the parathyroid glands during thyroidectomy
      for papillary thyroid non-microcarcinoma diagnosed intraoperatively by
      cryosections. A total of 103 patients with papillary thyroid non-microcarcinomas
      diagnosed by intraoperative cryosection were randomly assigned to receive routine
      radical thyroidectomy or radical thyroidectomy following administration of
      activated carbon nanoparticle lymphatic tracer to the contralateral thyroid, at
      the department of Thyroid Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital (Guangzhou,
      China), between January 2012 and May 2013. The success of level VI
      lymphadenectomy and postoperative parathyroid function were compared.
      Administration of the activated carbon nanoparticle lymphatic tracer did not
      affect the frequency of recovered lymph nodes containing metastases; however, it
      did significantly reduce the incidence of permanent and transient
      hypoparathyroidism from 2 to 0 and 18 to 6, and reduced the mean recovery time
      for transient hypoparathyroidism from 57.0 days to 22.3 days. Administration of
      activated carbon nanoparticles to the contralateral thyroid after intraoperative
      cryosections did not contribute to lymphadenectomy for papillary thyroid non
      microcarcinoma, but significantly protected parathyroid functions. This approach
      could decrease the morbidity of radical thyroidectomy and the occurrence of
      hypoparathyroidism.

PMID- 27634478
TI  - Preoperative radiation therapy combined with radical surgical resection is
      associated with a lower rate of local recurrence when treating unifocal, primary
      retroperitoneal liposarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Local recurrence (LR) is the primary cause of death in
      patients with retroperitoneal liposarcoma (RP-LPS). The purpose of this study was
      to evaluate if the addition of preoperative radiation therapy (XRT) to radical
      resection for RP-LPS at a single institution was associated with improved LR.
      METHODS: This retrospective analysis included patients with unifocal, primary RP
      LPS who underwent complete R0/R1 resection at a single institution between 1991
      and 2013. Multiple patient, tumor, and surgeon characteristics were tested to
      evaluate their association to LR (recurrence in the retroperitoneal space). We
      used competing risk hazards regression to evaluate the effect of preoperative XRT
      on the probability of LR. RESULTS: There were 41 patients with liposarcoma
      histology whose tumors included entirely well-differentiated (N = 13), de
      differentiated components (n = 26), myxoid (n = 1), and NOS (n = 1). Preoperative
      XRT was significantly associated with a lower probability of LR (HR 0.11, 95%CI
      0.01-0.91, P = 0.04) and a higher 5-year local recurrence-free survival (95.6%,
      95%CI 72.4-99.4%, vs. 75.0%, 95%CI 40.8-91.2%; P = 0.0213), but not with 5-year
      distant recurrence-free survival or disease-specific survival. CONCLUSIONS:
      Preoperative XRT combined with complete R0/R1 resection for unifocal, primary RP
      LPS was associated with improved LR and it should be considered in the
      multimodality treatment of RP-LPS. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:814-820. (c) 2016
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634479
TI  - Magnetic nanofiber scaffold-induced stimulation of odontogenesis and pro
      angiogenesis of human dental pulp cells through Wnt/MAPK/NF-kappaB pathways.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Magnetic biomaterials have recently gained great attention due to
      their some intriguing cell and tissue responses. However, little attention has
      been given to the fields of dental tissue regeneration. In this sense, we aim to
      investigate the effects of magnetic nanofiber scaffolds on the human dental pulp
      cell (HDPC) behaviors and to elucidate the underlying signaling mechanisms in the
      events. METHODS: Magnetic nanofiber scaffolds incorporating magnetic
      nanoparticles at varying contents were prepared into nanofibrous matrices to
      cultivate cells. Cell growth by MTS assay, odontoblastic differentiation by
      alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, mineralization, and the mRNA expression of
      differentiation-related genes of HDPCs, in vitro angiogenesis by migration and
      capillary tube formation in endothelial cells on the conditioned medium obtained
      from HDPSCs in the presence or absence of scaffolds. Western blot analysis and
      confocal immunofluorescene were used to asses signaling pathways. RESULTS: The
      growth of HDPCs was significantly enhanced on the magnetic scaffolds with respect
      to the non-magnetic counterpart. The odontogenic differentiation of cells was
      significantly up-regulated by the culture with magnetic scaffolds. Furthermore,
      the magnetic scaffolds promoted the HDPC-induced angiogenesis of endothelial
      cells. The expression of signaling molecules, Wnt3a, phosphorylated GSK-3beta and
      nuclear beta-catenin, was substantially stimulated by the magnetic scaffolds; in
      parallel, the MAPK and NF-kappaB were highly activated when cultured on the
      magnetic nanofiber scaffolds. SIGNIFICANCE: This study is the first to
      demonstrate that magnetic nanofiber scaffolds stimulate HDPCs in the events of
      growth, odontogenic differentiation, and pro-angiogenesis, and the findings imply
      the novel scaffolds can be potentially useful as dentin-pulp regenerative
      matrices.

PMID- 27634480
TI  - Overcoming the Crystallization Bottleneck: A Family of Gigantic Inorganic {Pdx
      }(L) (x=84, 72) Palladium Macrocycles Discovered using Solution Techniques.
AB  - The {Pd84 }(Ac) wheel, initially discovered serendipitously, is the only reported
      giant palladium macrocycle-a unique structure that spontaneously assembles from
      small building blocks. Analogues of this structure are elusive. A new modular
      route to {Pd84 }(Ac) is described, allowing incorporation of other ligands, and a
      new screening approach to cluster discovery. Structural assignments were made of
      new species from solution experiments, overcoming the need for crystallographic
      analysis. As a result, two new palladium macrocycles were discovered: a
      structural analogue of the existing {Pd84 }(Ac) wheel with glycolate ligands,
      {Pd84 }(Gly) , and the next in a magic number series for this cluster family-a
      new {Pd72 }(Prop) wheel decorated with propionate ligands. These findings confirm
      predictions of a magic number rule for the family of {Pdx } macrocycles.
      Furthermore, structures with variable fractions of functional ligands were
      obtained. Together these discoveries establish palladium clusters as a new class
      of tunable nanostructures. In facilitating the discovery of species that would
      not have been discovered by orthodox crystallization approaches, this work also
      demonstrates the value of solution-based screening and characterization in
      cluster chemistry, as a means to decouple cluster formation, discovery, and
      isolation.

PMID- 27634481
TI  - Cell Adhesion and Proliferation on Sulfonated and Non-Modified Chitosan Films.
AB  - Three types of chitosan-based films have been prepared and evaluated: a non
      modified chitosan film bearing cationizable aliphatic amines and two films made
      of N-sulfopropyl chitosan derivatives bearing both aliphatic amines and negative
      sulfonate groups at different ratios. Cell adhesion and proliferation on chitosan
      films of C2C12 pre-myoblastic cells and B16 cells as tumoral model have been
      tested. A differential cell behavior has been observed on chitosan films due to
      their different surface modification. B16 cells have shown lower vinculin
      expression when cultured on sulfonated chitosan films. This study shows how the
      interaction among cells and material surface can be modulated by physicochemical
      characteristics of the biomaterial surface, altering tumoral cell adhesion and
      proliferation processes.

PMID- 27634483
TI  - Mandatory publication in India: setting quotas for research output could
      encourage scientific fraud.

PMID- 27634482
TI  - Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Assisted in vitro Electroporation: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Electroporation is a phenomenon occurring due to exposure of cells to Pulsed
      Electric Fields (PEF) which leads to increase of membrane permeability.
      Electroporation is used in medicine, biotechnology, and food processing.
      Recently, as an alternative to electroporation by PEF, Pulsed ElectroMagnetic
      Fields (PEMF) application causing similar biological effects was suggested. Since
      induced electric field in PEMF however is 2-3 magnitudes lower than in PEF
      electroporation, the membrane permeabilization mechanism remains hypothetical. We
      have designed pilot experiments where Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida
      lusitaniae cells were subjected to single 100-250 MUs electrical pulse of 800 V
      with and without concomitant delivery of magnetic pulse (3, 6 and 9 T). As
      expected, after the PEF pulses only the number of Propidium Iodide (PI)
      fluorescent cells has increased, indicative of membrane permeabilization. We
      further show that single sub-millisecond magnetic field pulse did not cause
      detectable poration of yeast. Concomitant exposure of cells to pulsed electric
      (PEF) and magnetic field (PMF) however resulted in the increased number PI
      fluorescent cells and reduced viability. Our results show increased membrane
      permeability by PEF when combined with magnetic field pulse, which can explain
      electroporation at considerably lower electric field strengths induced by PEMF
      compared to classical electroporation.

PMID- 27634484
TI  - Climate, lactation, and treatment factors influence faecal shedding of
      Escherichia coli O157 pathotypes in dairy cows.
AB  - Among pathogens shed by cattle, Escherichia coli O157 ranks highest in those
      causing human illness. To date, prevalence and risk factors for O157 shedding
      have been assessed in feedlot, but not dairy cattle. The study aimed to determine
      prevalence levels and risk factors for O157 atypical enteropathogenic E. coli
      (aEPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) shedding in dairy cattle. Dairy
      cattle (n = 899) within the first 21 days of lactation were sampled monthly over
      the course of 1 year, on three dry lot dairies surrounding Fort Collins, CO.
      During visits multiple factors were measured (disease history, pharmaceutical
      use, climate measures, etc.), and cattle faeces were collected and assessed for
      presence of O157 and virulence genes. Logistic regression analysis was performed
      using O157 outcomes and measured factors. Prevalence of O157 aEPEC was 3.7%,
      while EHEC was 3.0%. Many potential risk factors were highly correlated, and used
      to build separate multivariable models. An increase in humidity was positively
      associated with aEPEC, while fluid faeces and history of disease showed a
      negative association. Meanwhile, an increase in temperature and antibiotic
      treatment was positively associated with EHEC, while more days in milk, higher
      hygiene score and cow contact were negatively associated. These results may guide
      mitigation strategies that reduce O157 shedding, and contamination of the human
      food chain.

PMID- 27634485
TI  - Determination by near infrared microscopy of the nitrogen and carbon content of
      tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) leaf powder.
AB  - Near infrared microscopy (NIRM) has been developed as a rapid technique to
      predict the chemical composition of foods, reduce analytical costs and time and
      ease sample preparation. In this study, NIRM has been evaluated as an alternative
      to classical chemical analysis to determine the nitrogen and carbon content of
      small samples of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) leaf powder. Near infrared
      spectra were obtained by NIRM for independent leaf samples collected on 216
      plants grown under six different levels of nitrogen. From these, 30 calibration
      and 30 validation samples covering the spectral range of the whole set were
      selected and their nitrogen and carbon contents were determined by a reference
      method. The calibration model obtained for nitrogen content proved to be
      excellent, with a coefficient of determination in calibration (R(2)c) higher than
      0.9 and a ratio of performance to deviation (RPDc) higher than 3. Statistical
      indicators of prediction using the validation set were also very high (R(2)p
      values > 0.90). However, the calibration model obtained for carbon content was
      much less satisfactory (R(2)c < 0.50). NIRM appears as a promising and suitable
      tool for a rapid, non-destructive and reliable determination of nitrogen content
      of tiny samples of tomato leaf powder.

PMID- 27634486
TI  - Nickel-Nitrogen-Modified Graphene: An Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Reduction
      of Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide.
AB  - Nickel-nitrogen-modified graphene (Ni-N-Gr) is fabricated and Ni-N coordination
      sites on Ni-N-Gr as active centers effectively reduce CO2 to CO. The faradaic
      efficiency for CO formation reaches 90% at -0.7 to -0.9 V versus RHE, and the
      turnover frequency for CO production comes up to ~2700 h-1 at -0.7 V versus RHE.

PMID- 27634487
TI  - The influence of sodium bicarbonate on maximal force and rates of force
      development in the triceps surae and brachii during fatiguing exercise.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? Does metabolic
      alkalosis in humans, induced by sodium bicarbonate, affect rates of skeletal
      muscle fatigue differentially in muscle groups composed predominately of slow-
      and fast-twitch fibres? What is the main finding and its importance? Sodium
      bicarbonate exhibited no effect on the fatigue profile observed between triceps
      surae and brachii muscle groups during and after 2 min of tetanic stimulation.
      For the first time in exercising humans, we have profiled the effect of sodium
      bicarbonate on the voluntary and involuntary contractile characteristics of
      muscle groups representative of predominately slow- and fast-twitch fibres. The
      effect of metabolic alkalosis on fibre-specific maximal force production and
      rates of force development (RFD) has been investigated previously in animal
      models, with evidence suggesting an improved capacity to develop force rapidly in
      fast- compared with slow-twitch muscle. We have attempted to model in vivo the
      fatigue profile of voluntary and involuntary maximal force and RFD in the triceps
      surae and brachii after sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3 ) ingestion. In a double
      blind, three-way repeated-measures design, participants (n = 10) ingested either
      0.3 g kg-1 NaHCO3 (ALK) or equivalent calcium carbonate (PLA) prior to 2 min of
      continuous (1 Hz) supramaximal stimulation (300 ms at 40 Hz) of the triceps surae
      or brachii, with maximal voluntary efforts (maximal voluntary torque) coupled
      with direct muscle stimulation also measured at baseline, 1 and 2 min. Metabolic
      alkalosis was achieved in both ALK trials but was not different between muscle
      groups. Regardless of the conditions, involuntary torque declined nearly 60% in
      the triceps brachii (P < 0.001) and ~30% in the triceps surae (P < 0.001). In all
      trials, there was a significant decline in normalized involuntary RFD (P < 0.05).
      Maximal voluntary torque declined nearly 28% but was not different between
      conditions (P < 0.01), and although declining nearly 21% in voluntary RFD (P <
      0.05) there was no difference between PLA and ALK in either muscle group (P =
      0.93). Sodium bicarbonate exhibited no effect on the fatigue observed between
      representative fibre-type muscle groups on maximal voluntary and involuntary
      torque or rates of torque development during and after 2 min of tetanic
      stimulation.

PMID- 27634488
TI  - Ultrasensitive and low-volume point-of-care diagnostics on flexible strips - a
      study with cardiac troponin biomarkers.
AB  - We demonstrate a flexible, mechanically stable, and disposable electrochemical
      sensor platform for monitoring cardiac troponins through the detection and
      quantification of cardiac Troponin-T (cTnT). We designed and fabricated
      nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) sensing electrodes on flexible porous polyimide
      substrates. We demonstrate ultrasensitive detection is capable at very low sample
      volumes due to the confinement phenomenon of target species within the ZnO
      nanostructures leading to enhancement of biomolecular binding on the sensor
      electrode surface. The performance of the ZnO nanostructured sensor electrode was
      evaluated against gold and nanotextured ZnO electrodes. The electrochemical
      sensor functions on affinity based immunoassay principles whereby monoclonal
      antibodies for cTnT were immobilized on the sensor electrodes using thiol based
      chemistry. Detection of cTnT in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and human serum
      (HS) buffers was achieved at low sample volumes of 20 MUL using non-faradaic
      electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Limit of detection (LOD) of 1E-4
      ng/mL (i.e. 1 pg/mL) at 7% CV (coefficient of variation) for cTnT in HS was
      demonstrated on nanostructured ZnO electrodes. The mechanical integrity of the
      flexible biosensor platform was demonstrated with cyclic bending tests. The
      sensor performed within 12% CV after 100 bending cycles demonstrating the
      robustness of the nanostructured ZnO electrochemical sensor platform.

PMID- 27634490
TI  - Change in women's eating habits during the menstrual cycle.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: During the menstrual cycle, the influence of hormonal variations on
      dietary habits in women has been suggested by several studies. In this context,
      our work aimed to assess the spontaneous food intake and the anthropometric
      parameters of women at different periods of their menstrual cycles. METHODS: This
      prospective study included 30 healthy women with regular periods (28 to 30 days),
      aged between 18 and 45. We assessed the spontaneous food intake and the
      anthropometric measurements (weight and waist circumference) of the participants,
      during the follicular, peri-ovulatory and luteal phases of their menstrual
      cycles. RESULTS: Our results showed a slight but significant increase in body
      weight during the luteal phase (P=0.022) and the follicular phase (P=0.017)
      compared with the peri-ovulatory phase, without any significant change in waist
      circumference. The caloric intake increased during the peri-ovulatory (P<0.001)
      and the luteal phases (P<0.001), compared with the follicular phase, with a
      significant increase in carbohydrate (P<0.001), lipid (P=0.008) and protein
      (P=0.008) intake. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a significant decrease in women's
      weight during the peri-ovulatory phase, with a significant increase in caloric
      intake during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Divergent results have
      been reported by other authors and the physiopathology of these changes is still
      poorly understood.

PMID- 27634489
TI  - Hughes Abdominal Repair Trial (HART) - Abdominal wall closure techniques to
      reduce the incidence of incisional hernias: study protocol for a randomised
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incisional hernias are common complications of midline closure
      following abdominal surgery and cause significant morbidity, impaired quality of
      life and increased health care costs. The 'Hughes Repair' combines a standard
      mass closure with a series of horizontal and two vertical mattress sutures within
      a single suture. This theoretically distributes the load along the incision
      length as well as across it. There is evidence to suggest that this technique is
      as effective as mesh repair for the operative management of incisional hernias;
      however, no trials have compared the Hughes Repair with standard mass closure for
      the prevention of incisional hernia formation following a midline incision.
      METHODS/DESIGN: This is a 1:1 randomised controlled trial comparing two suture
      techniques for the closure of the midline abdominal wound following surgery for
      colorectal cancer. Full ethical approval has been gained (Wales REC 3, MREC
      12/WA/0374). Eight hundred patients will be randomised from approximately 20
      general surgical units within the United Kingdom. Patients undergoing open or
      laparoscopic (more than a 5-cm midline incision) surgery for colorectal cancer,
      elective or emergency, are eligible. Patients under the age of 18 years, those
      having mesh inserted or undergoing musculofascial flap closure of the perineal
      defect in abdominoperineal wound closure, and those unable to give informed
      consent will be excluded. Patients will be randomised intraoperatively to either
      the Hughes Repair or standard mass closure. The primary outcome measure is the
      incidence of incisional hernias at 1 year as assessed by standardised clinical
      examination. The secondary outcomes include quality of life patient-reported
      outcome measures, cost-utility analysis, incidence of complete abdominal wound
      dehiscence and C-POSSUM scores. The incidence of incisional hernia at 1 year,
      assessed by computerised tomography, will form a tertiary outcome. DISCUSSION: A
      feasibility phase has been completed. The results of the study will be used to
      inform current and future practice and potentially reduce the risk of incisional
      hernia formation following midline incisions. TRIAL REGISTRATION:  TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN 25616490 . Registered on 1 January 2012.

PMID- 27634491
TI  - Gastroesophageal reflux and COPD exacerbations: Is cholinergic-mediated oesophago
      bronchial reflex a possible link?

PMID- 27634492
TI  - Localization of MMP-9 in multinuclear giant cells in keloids after treatment with
      5-fluorouracil with or without combination of cryotherapy and cryotherapy alone.

PMID- 27634494
TI  - Stacked ensemble combined with fuzzy matching for biomedical named entity
      recognition of diseases.
AB  - Biomedical Named Entity Recognition (Bio-NER) is the crucial initial step in the
      information extraction process and a majorly focused research area in biomedical
      text mining. In the past years, several models and methodologies have been
      proposed for the recognition of semantic types related to gene, protein,
      chemical, drug and other biological relevant named entities. In this paper, we
      implemented a stacked ensemble approach combined with fuzzy matching for
      biomedical named entity recognition of disease names. The underlying concept of
      stacked generalization is to combine the outputs of base-level classifiers using
      a second-level meta-classifier in an ensemble. We used Conditional Random Field
      (CRF) as the underlying classification method that makes use of a diverse set of
      features, mostly based on domain specific, and are orthographic and
      morphologically relevant. In addition, we used fuzzy string matching to tag rare
      disease names from our in-house disease dictionary. For fuzzy matching, we
      incorporated two best fuzzy search algorithms Rabin Karp and Tuned Boyer Moore.
      Our proposed approach shows promised result of 94.66%, 89.12%, 84.10%, and 76.71%
      of F-measure while on evaluating training and testing set of both NCBI disease
      and BioCreative V CDR Corpora.

PMID- 27634493
TI  - Serial optical coherence tomography assessment of malapposed struts after
      everolimus-eluting stent implantation. A subanalysis from the HEAL-EES study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incomplete stent apposition (ISA) is related to stent thrombosis,
      which is a serious adverse event. We aim to assess the time-course of ISA after
      2nd generation everolimus-eluting stent (EES) implantation. METHODS: In HEAL-EES
      study, we enrolled 36 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI) with EES. OCT imaging was performed at baseline and follow-up. Patients
      were randomized 1:1:1 into 3 groups according to the time in which follow-up was
      performed: group A (6-month), group B (9-month), and group C (12-month). In this
      subanalysis, patients who had ISA segments at baseline and/or follow-up OCT were
      analyzed. RESULT: At baseline, among 41 lesions in 36 patients, 20 lesions in 18
      patients had ISA segments and were analyzed. At baseline, there were 3.0% ISA
      struts in group A (n=8), 2.8% in group B (n=4), and 4.5% in group C (n=8). At
      follow-up, ISA struts were present in 0.09%, 0.16% and 0.64%; respectively in
      groups A, B, and C. At follow-up, there was a significant decrease in the
      frequency of ISA: group A 3.0% vs. 0.09% (p<0.001), group B 2.8% vs. 0.16%
      (p<0.001), and group C 4.5% vs. 0.64% (p<0.001). In group A, there was one late
      acquired ISA at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing 2nd generation EES
      implantation, area of acute ISA assessed by OCT, was almost resolved at 6-month
      follow-up.

PMID- 27634495
TI  - Schizophrenia and neurosurgery: A dark past with hope of a brighter future.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a chronic and progressive psychiatric disease that remains
      difficult to manage in the 21st century. Current medical therapies have been able
      to give reprieve and decrease incidence of psychotic episodes. However, as the
      disease progresses, patients can become ever more refractory to current
      pharmaceutical agents and the polypharmacy that is attempted in treatment.
      Additionally, many of these drugs have significant adverse effects, leaving the
      practitioner in a difficult predicament for treating these patients. The history
      of neurosurgery for schizophrenia, among other psychiatric diseases, has a very
      dark past. Therefore, this review examines peer-reviewed studies on the history
      of schizophrenia, its medical and surgical therapies, financial costs, and future
      directions for disease management. We highlight the historically poor
      relationship between neurosurgery and psychiatric disease and discuss current
      research in the understandings of schizophrenia. Guided by a strong code of
      ethics and new technology, including the use of stereotaxis and deep brain
      stimulation (DBS), the medical communities treating psychiatric disease are
      beginning to overcome the horrors of the past. DBS is currently being used with
      moderate success in the treatment of depression, obsessive compulsive disorder,
      Tourette's syndrome, and anorexia nervosa. With greater understanding of the
      neural circuitry of schizophrenia and the evolving role for DBS in psychiatric
      disease, the authors believe that schizophrenia, like other psychiatric diseases,
      can be treated with DBS.

PMID- 27634496
TI  - Emerging and established clinical, histopathological and molecular parametric
      prognostic factors for metastatic spine disease secondary to lung cancer: Helping
      surgeons make decisions.
AB  - Metastatic lung cancer to the spine occurs at high rates with patients usually
      given poor prognoses. Recent studies have observed that patients with certain
      genetic and molecular aberrations have better responses to adjuvant therapy. As
      such, current metastatic spine disease treatment algorithms grading all lung
      primaries' prognosis as poor may lead to inadequate treatment of spinal
      metastases. The aims of this study are to determine current survival patterns in
      ?metastatic spine disease secondary to lung cancer and identify relevant
      parameters that influence the prognostication of these patients. A systematic
      review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines was conducted for literature
      published between January 1, 1996 and September 31, 2015. The 27 studies
      identified were Level IV retrospective studies with an overall 'low' level of
      evidence. The overall median survival of patients with spine involved metastatic
      lung cancer was poor, ranging from 3.6 to 9months. Median survival of patients
      with non-small cell lung cancer being treated with epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR) inhibitors were observed to be better, with survival of up to
      18months. This review reports a subset of lung cancer patients with oncogenic
      molecular mutations that appear to confer a better overall survival. In these
      patients, individualized assessment rather than strict adherence to current
      metastatic scoring algorithms when determining management may be preferred.

PMID- 27634498
TI  - What a Summer!

PMID- 27634499
TI  - Management of Peroneal Tendon Issues.

PMID- 27634497
TI  - Decoding how a soil bacterium extracts building blocks and metabolic energy from
      ligninolysis provides road map for lignin valorization.
AB  - Sphingobium sp. SYK-6 is a soil bacterium boasting a well-studied ligninolytic
      pathway and the potential for development into a microbial chassis for lignin
      valorization. An improved understanding of its metabolism will help researchers
      in the engineering of SYK-6 for the production of value-added chemicals through
      lignin valorization. We used 13C-fingerprinting, 13C metabolic flux analysis (13C
      MFA), and RNA-sequencing differential expression analysis to uncover the
      following metabolic traits: (i) SYK-6 prefers alkaline conditions, making it an
      efficient host for the consolidated bioprocessing of lignin, and it also lacks
      the ability to metabolize sugars or organic acids; (ii) the CO2 release (i.e.,
      carbon loss) from the ligninolysis-based metabolism of SYK-6 is significantly
      greater than the CO2 release from the sugar-based metabolism of Escherichia coli;
      (iii) the vanillin catabolic pathway (which is the converging point of majority
      of the lignin catabolic pathways) is coupled with the tetrahydrofolate-dependent
      C1 pathway that is essential for the biosynthesis of serine, histidine, and
      methionine; (iv) catabolic end products of lignin (pyruvate and oxaloacetate)
      must enter the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle first and then use
      phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase to initiate gluconeogenesis; and (v) 13C-MFA
      together with RNA-sequencing differential expression analysis establishes the
      vanillin catabolic pathway as the major contributor of NAD(P)H synthesis.
      Therefore, the vanillin catabolic pathway is essential for SYK-6 to obtain
      sufficient reducing equivalents for its healthy growth; cosubstrate experiments
      support this finding. This unique energy feature of SYK-6 is particularly
      interesting because most heterotrophs rely on the transhydrogenase, the TCA
      cycle, and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway to obtain NADPH.

PMID- 27634500
TI  - GM crops-lessons from medicine.

PMID- 27634501
TI  - News at a glance.

PMID- 27634503
TI  - Turkey shakes up universities as coup fallout continues.

PMID- 27634502
TI  - Pyre experiments cast doubt on students' fate.

PMID- 27634504
TI  - Former star surgeon's disgrace rocks Swedish science.

PMID- 27634505
TI  - Cystic fibrosis foundation opens drug discovery lab.

PMID- 27634506
TI  - Study takes sharp tusk to effort to legalize ivory trade.

PMID- 27634507
TI  - In Iran, a shady market for papers flourishes.

PMID- 27634509
TI  - Plating up solutions.

PMID- 27634508
TI  - Whatever happened to ....

PMID- 27634510
TI  - Designer nanorod synthesis.

PMID- 27634511
TI  - Harnessing mutation: The best of two worlds.

PMID- 27634513
TI  - Will latest U.S. law lead to successful schools in STEM?

PMID- 27634512
TI  - Vaccine trust and the limits of information.

PMID- 27634514
TI  - A missed opportunity for U.S. biotechnology regulation.

PMID- 27634515
TI  - Passport power: Entrenching inequality.

PMID- 27634516
TI  - Precision medicine: Fantasy meets reality.

PMID- 27634517
TI  - Public feedback at risk in Brazil.

PMID- 27634518
TI  - The new harvest.

PMID- 27634520
TI  - When is a GM plant not a GM plant?

PMID- 27634519
TI  - The plant engineer.

PMID- 27634521
TI  - The nitrogen fix.

PMID- 27634522
TI  - The plant lipidome in human and environmental health.
AB  - Lipids and oils derived from plant and algal photosynthesis constitute much of
      human daily caloric intake and provide the basis for high-energy bioproducts,
      chemical feedstocks for countless applications, and even fossil fuels over
      geological time scales. Sustainable production of high-energy compounds from
      plants is essential to preserving fossil fuel sources and ensuring the well-being
      of future generations. As a result of progress in basic research on plant and
      algal lipid metabolism, in combination with advances in synthetic biology, we can
      now tailor plant lipids for desirable biological, physical, and chemical
      properties. We highlight recent advances in plant lipid translational biology and
      discuss untapped areas of research that might expand the application of plant
      lipids.

PMID- 27634523
TI  - Plant metabolism, the diverse chemistry set of the future.
AB  - New technologies are redefining how plant biology will meet societal challenges
      in health, nutrition, agriculture, and energy. Rapid and inexpensive genome and
      transcriptome sequencing is being exploited to discover biochemical pathways that
      provide tools needed for synthetic biology in both plant and microbial systems.
      Metabolite detection at the cellular and subcellular levels is complementing gene
      sequencing for pathway discovery and metabolic engineering. The crafting of plant
      and microbial metabolism for the synthetic biology platforms of tomorrow will
      require precise gene editing and delivery of entire complex pathways. Plants
      sustain life and are key to discovery and development of new medicines and
      agricultural resources; increased research and training in plant science will
      accelerate efforts to harness the chemical wealth of the plant kingdom.

PMID- 27634524
TI  - Plant-produced biopharmaceuticals: A case of technical developments driving
      clinical deployment.
AB  - The ability to express heterologous proteins in plants has led to the concept of
      using plants as "bioreactors" or "biofactories" for the production of
      pharmaceutical proteins. Although initial studies were promising, the pathway to
      commercialization and deployment in a clinical setting has proven to be a
      somewhat rocky road. This Review examines the technical developments that have
      led to the current increase in interest in the use of plants for the production
      of pharmaceutical proteins, particularly in the context of clinical trials.

PMID- 27634525
TI  - The next green movement: Plant biology for the environment and sustainability.
AB  - From domestication and breeding to the genetic engineering of crops, plants
      provide food, fuel, fibers, and feedstocks for our civilization. New research and
      discoveries aim to reduce the inputs needed to grow crops and to develop plants
      for environmental and sustainability applications. Faced with population growth
      and changing climate, the next wave of innovation in plant biology integrates
      technologies and approaches that span from molecular to ecosystem scales. Recent
      efforts to engineer plants for better nitrogen and phosphorus use, enhanced
      carbon fixation, and environmental remediation and to understand plant-microbiome
      interactions showcase exciting future directions for translational plant biology.
      These advances promise new strategies for the reduction of inputs to limit
      environmental impacts and improve agricultural sustainability.

PMID- 27634527
TI  - Site-resolved measurement of the spin-correlation function in the Fermi-Hubbard
      model.
AB  - Exotic phases of matter can emerge from strong correlations in quantum many-body
      systems. Quantum gas microscopy affords the opportunity to study these
      correlations with unprecedented detail. Here, we report site-resolved
      observations of antiferromagnetic correlations in a two-dimensional, Hubbard
      regime optical lattice and demonstrate the ability to measure the spin
      correlation function over any distance. We measure the in situ distributions of
      the particle density and magnetic correlations, extract thermodynamic quantities
      from comparisons to theory, and observe statistically significant correlations
      over three lattice sites. The temperatures that we reach approach the limits of
      available numerical simulations. The direct access to many-body physics at the
      single-particle level demonstrated by our results will further our understanding
      of how the interplay of motion and magnetism gives rise to new states of matter. 

PMID- 27634528
TI  - Spin- and density-resolved microscopy of antiferromagnetic correlations in Fermi
      Hubbard chains.
AB  - The repulsive Hubbard Hamiltonian is one of the foundational models describing
      strongly correlated electrons and is believed to capture essential aspects of
      high-temperature superconductivity. Ultracold fermions in optical lattices allow
      for the simulation of the Hubbard Hamiltonian with control over kinetic energy,
      interactions, and doping. A great challenge is to reach the required low entropy
      and to observe antiferromagnetic spin correlations beyond nearest neighbors, for
      which quantum gas microscopes are ideal. Here, we report on the direct, single
      site resolved detection of antiferromagnetic correlations extending up to three
      sites in spin-1/2 Hubbard chains, which requires entropies per particle well
      below s* = ln(2). The simultaneous detection of spin and density opens the route
      toward the study of the interplay between magnetic ordering and doping in various
      dimensions.

PMID- 27634529
TI  - Observation of spatial charge and spin correlations in the 2D Fermi-Hubbard
      model.
AB  - Strong electron correlations lie at the origin of high-temperature
      superconductivity. Its essence is believed to be captured by the Fermi-Hubbard
      model of repulsively interacting fermions on a lattice. Here we report on the
      site-resolved observation of charge and spin correlations in the two-dimensional
      (2D) Fermi-Hubbard model realized with ultracold atoms. Antiferromagnetic spin
      correlations are maximal at half-filling and weaken monotonically upon doping. At
      large doping, nearest-neighbor correlations between singly charged sites are
      negative, revealing the formation of a correlation hole, the suppressed
      probability of finding two fermions near each other. As the doping is reduced,
      the correlations become positive, signaling strong bunching of doublons and
      holes, in agreement with numerical calculations. The dynamics of the doublon-hole
      correlations should play an important role for transport in the Fermi-Hubbard
      model.

PMID- 27634530
TI  - Quantifying the impact of molecular defects on polymer network elasticity.
AB  - Elasticity, one of the most important properties of a soft material, is difficult
      to quantify in polymer networks because of the presence of topological molecular
      defects in these materials. Furthermore, the impact of these defects on bulk
      elasticity is unknown. We used rheology, disassembly spectrometry, and
      simulations to measure the shear elastic modulus and count the numbers of
      topological "loop" defects of various order in a series of polymer hydrogels, and
      then used these data to evaluate the classical phantom and affine network
      theories of elasticity. The results led to a real elastic network theory (RENT)
      that describes how loop defects affect bulk elasticity. Given knowledge of the
      loop fractions, RENT provides predictions of the shear elastic modulus that are
      consistent with experimental observations.

PMID- 27634526
TI  - Virulence factors enhance Citrobacter rodentium expansion through aerobic
      respiration.
AB  - Citrobacter rodentium uses a type III secretion system (T3SS) to induce colonic
      crypt hyperplasia in mice, thereby gaining an edge during its competition with
      the gut microbiota through an unknown mechanism. Here, we show that by triggering
      colonic crypt hyperplasia, the C. rodentium T3SS induced an excessive expansion
      of undifferentiated Ki67-positive epithelial cells, which increased oxygenation
      of the mucosal surface and drove an aerobic C. rodentium expansion in the colon.
      Treatment of mice with the gamma-secretase inhibitor dibenzazepine to diminish
      Notch-driven colonic crypt hyperplasia curtailed the fitness advantage conferred
      by aerobic respiration during C. rodentium infection. We conclude that C.
      rodentium uses its T3SS to induce histopathological lesions that generate an
      intestinal microenvironment in which growth of the pathogen is fueled by aerobic
      respiration.

PMID- 27634531
TI  - 1D nanocrystals with precisely controlled dimensions, compositions, and
      architectures.
AB  - The ability to synthesize a diverse spectrum of one-dimensional (1D) nanocrystals
      presents an enticing prospect for exploring nanoscale size- and shape-dependent
      properties. Here we report a general strategy to craft a variety of plain
      nanorods, core-shell nanorods, and nanotubes with precisely controlled dimensions
      and compositions by capitalizing on functional bottlebrush-like block copolymers
      with well-defined structures and narrow molecular weight distributions as
      nanoreactors. These cylindrical unimolecular nanoreactors enable a high degree of
      control over the size, shape, architecture, surface chemistry, and properties of
      1D nanocrystals. We demonstrate the synthesis of metallic, ferroelectric,
      upconversion, semiconducting, and thermoelectric 1D nanocrystals, among others,
      as well as combinations thereof.

PMID- 27634532
TI  - Decoupling function and taxonomy in the global ocean microbiome.
AB  - Microbial metabolism powers biogeochemical cycling in Earth's ecosystems. The
      taxonomic composition of microbial communities varies substantially between
      environments, but the ecological causes of this variation remain largely unknown.
      We analyzed taxonomic and functional community profiles to determine the factors
      that shape marine bacterial and archaeal communities across the global ocean. By
      classifying >30,000 marine microorganisms into metabolic functional groups, we
      were able to disentangle functional from taxonomic community variation. We find
      that environmental conditions strongly influence the distribution of functional
      groups in marine microbial communities by shaping metabolic niches, but only
      weakly influence taxonomic composition within individual functional groups.
      Hence, functional structure and composition within functional groups constitute
      complementary and roughly independent "axes of variation" shaped by markedly
      different processes.

PMID- 27634533
TI  - Bats perceptually weight prey cues across sensory systems when hunting in noise.
AB  - Anthropogenic noise can interfere with environmental information processing and
      thereby reduce survival and reproduction. Receivers of signals and cues in
      particular depend on perceptual strategies to adjust to noisy conditions. We
      found that predators that hunt using prey sounds can reduce the negative impact
      of noise by making use of prey cues conveyed through additional sensory systems.
      In the presence of masking noise, but not in its absence, frog-eating bats
      preferred and were faster in attacking a robotic frog emitting multiple sensory
      cues. The behavioral changes induced by masking noise were accompanied by an
      increase in active localization through echolocation. Our findings help to reveal
      how animals can adapt to anthropogenic noise and have implications for the role
      of sensory ecology in driving species interactions.

PMID- 27634535
TI  - Taking ownership of luck.

PMID- 27634534
TI  - Awake hippocampal reactivations project onto orthogonal neuronal assemblies.
AB  - The chained activation of neuronal assemblies is thought to support major
      cognitive processes, including memory. In the hippocampus, this is observed
      during population bursts often associated with sharp-wave ripples, in the form of
      an ordered reactivation of neurons. However, the organization and lifetime of
      these assemblies remain unknown. We used calcium imaging to map patterns of
      synchronous neuronal activation in the CA1 region of awake mice during runs on a
      treadmill. The patterns were composed of the recurring activation of anatomically
      intermingled, but functionally orthogonal, assemblies. These assemblies
      reactivated discrete temporal segments of neuronal sequences observed during runs
      and could be stable across consecutive days. A binding of these assemblies into
      longer chains revealed temporally ordered replay. These modules may represent the
      default building blocks for encoding or retrieving experience.

PMID- 27634536
TI  - Origin of Amniote Sex Chromosomes: An Ancestral Super-Sex Chromosome, or Common
      Requirements?
AB  - The diversity of sex chromosomes among amniotes is the product of independent
      evolution of different systems in different lineages, defined by novel sex
      determining genes. Convergent evolution is very common, suggesting that some
      genes are particularly adept at taking on a sex-determining role. Comparative
      gene mapping, and more recently whole genome sequencing, have now turned up other
      surprising relationships; different regions of the amniote genome that have
      become sex determining in some taxa seem to share synteny, or share sequence, in
      others. Is this, after all, evidence that these regions were once linked in a
      super-sex chromosome that underwent multiple fission in different ways in
      different amniote lineages? Or does it signify that special properties of sex
      chromosomes (paucity of active genes, low recombination, epigenetic regulation to
      achieve dosage compensation) predispose particular chromosomes to a sex
      determining role?

PMID- 27634537
TI  - Development of Nuclear Microsatellite Loci and Mitochondrial Single Nucleotide
      Polymorphisms for the Natterjack Toad, Bufo (Epidalea) calamita (Bufonidae),
      Using Next Generation Sequencing and Competitive Allele Specific PCR (KASPar).
AB  - Amphibians are undergoing a major decline worldwide and the steady increase in
      the number of threatened species in this particular taxa highlights the need for
      conservation genetics studies using high-quality molecular markers. The
      natterjack toad, Bufo (Epidalea) calamita, is a vulnerable pioneering species
      confined to specialized habitats in Western Europe. To provide efficient and cost
      effective genetic resources for conservation biologists, we developed and
      characterized 22 new nuclear microsatellite markers using next-generation
      sequencing. We also used sequence data acquired from Sanger sequencing to develop
      the first mitochondrial markers for KASPar assay genotyping. Genetic polymorphism
      was then analyzed for 95 toads sampled from 5 populations in France. For
      polymorphic microsatellite loci, number of alleles and expected heterozygosity
      ranged from 2 to 14 and from 0.035 to 0.720, respectively. No significant
      departures from panmixia were observed (mean multilocus F IS = -0.015) and
      population differentiation was substantial (mean multilocus F ST = 0.222, P <
      0.001). From a set of 18 mitochondrial SNPs located in the 16S and D-loop region,
      we further developed a fast and cost-effective SNP genotyping method based on
      competitive allele-specific PCR amplification (KASPar). The combination of
      allelic states for these mitochondrial DNA SNP markers yielded 10 different
      haplotypes, ranging from 2 to 5 within populations. Populations were highly
      differentiated (G ST = 0.407, P < 0.001). These new genetic resources will
      facilitate future parentage, population genetics and phylogeographical studies
      and will be useful for both evolutionary and conservation concerns, especially
      for the set-up of management strategies and the definition of distinct
      evolutionary significant units.

PMID- 27634538
TI  - Child Abuse and Neglect and its Psycho-Physical and Social Consequences: A Review
      of the Literature.
AB  - Child maltreatment is a complex life experience occurs when a parent or caregiver
      does an intentional or potential damage to a child, including acts of commission
      and omission. Child abuse is not an uncommon event, but it is not always
      recognized. Identifying the real number of maltreated children is a challenge
      because of the large variability in reported prevalence data across studies.
      Unfortunately, in the United States, it affects 1 in 8 children, by the age of 18
      years, annually. Paediatricians may encounter a variety of forms of maltreatment
      such as neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. These aspects should be
      recognised, examined and evaluated by employing a systematic approach and
      focusing on basic needs of children that may not be met. Child maltreatment is a
      global problem with serious life-long physical and psychological or psychiatric
      outcomes. It is associated with important economic and social costs (such as
      physical and mental health, productivity losses, child welfare, criminal justice
      and special education costs) due to its high prevalence and its long-term and
      short-term consequences. In the United States, the average cost of nonfatal
      maltreatment is $210,012 per children and the cost of fatal maltreatment is
      $1,272,900. General Practitioners are quite prepared to face the problem of child
      maltreatment: since they have the opportunity to meet several members of the same
      family, they can detect stressors that put children at risk of maltreatment. All
      health professionals have the responsibility to protect children from abuse and
      neglect.

PMID- 27634539
TI  - The use of formative research to inform the design of a seasonal malaria
      chemoprevention intervention in northern Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experience of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is growing in
      the Sahel sub-region of Africa, though there remains insufficient evidence to
      recommend a standard deployment strategy. In 2012, a project was initiated in
      Katsina state, northern Nigeria, to design an appropriate and effective community
      based delivery approach for SMC, in consultation with local stakeholders.
      Formative research (FR) was conducted locally to explore the potential
      feasibility and acceptability of SMC and to highlight information gaps and
      practical considerations to inform the intervention design. METHODS: The FR
      adopted qualitative methods; 36 in-depth interviews and 18 focus group
      discussions were conducted across 13 target groups active across the health
      system and within the community. Analysis followed the 'framework' approach. The
      process for incorporating the FR results into the project design was iterative
      which was initiated by a week-long 'intervention design' workshop with relevant
      stakeholders. RESULTS: The FR highlighted both supportive and hindering factors
      to be considered in the intervention design. Malaria control was identified as a
      community priority, the community health workers were a trusted resource and the
      local leadership exerted strong influence over household decisions. However,
      there were perceived challenges with quality of care at both community and health
      facility levels, referral linkage and supportive supervision were weak, literacy
      levels lower than anticipated and there was the potential for suspicion of
      'outside' interventions. There was broad consensus across target groups that
      community-based SMC drug delivery would better enable a high coverage of
      beneficiaries and potentially garner wider community support. A mixed approach
      was recommended, including both community fixed-point and household-to-household
      SMC delivery. The FR findings were used to inform the overall distribution
      strategy, mechanisms for integration into the health system, capacity building
      and training approaches, supportive interventions to strengthen the health
      system, and the social mobilization strategy. CONCLUSIONS: Formative research
      played a valuable role in exploring local socio-cultural contexts and health
      system realities. Both opportunities and challenges for the introduction of SMC
      delivery were highlighted, which were appropriately considered in the design of
      the project.

PMID- 27634540
TI  - Coverage and inequalities in maternal and child health interventions in
      Afghanistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Afghanistan has made considerable gains in improving maternal and
      child health and survival since 2001. However, socioeconomic and regional
      inequities may pose a threat to reaching universal coverage of health
      interventions and further health progress. We explored coverage and socioeconomic
      inequalities in key life-saving reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health
      (RMNCH) interventions at the national level and by region in Afghanistan. We also
      assessed gains in child survival through scaling up effective community-based
      interventions across wealth groups. METHODS: Using data from the Afghanistan
      Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2010/11, we explored 11 interventions
      that spanned all stages of the continuum of care, including indicators of
      composite coverage. Asset-based wealth quintiles were constructed using
      standardised methods, and absolute inequalities were explored using wealth
      quintile (Q) gaps (Q5-Q1) and the slope index of inequality (SII), while relative
      inequalities were assessed with ratios (Q5/Q1) and the concentration index (CIX).
      The lives saved tool (LiST) modeling used to estimate neonatal and post-neonatal
      deaths averted from scaling up essential community-based interventions by 90 %
      coverage by 2025. Analyses considered the survey design characteristics and were
      conducted via STATA version 12.0 and SAS version 9.4. RESULTS: Our results
      underscore significant pro-rich socioeconomic absolute and relative inequalities,
      and mass population deprivation across most all RMNCH interventions studied. The
      most inequitable are antenatal care with a skilled attendant (ANCS), skilled
      birth attendance (SBA), and 4 or more antenatal care visits (ANC4) where the
      richest have between 3.0 and 5.6 times higher coverage relative to the poor, and
      Q5-Q1 gaps range from 32 % - 65 %. Treatment of sick children and breastfeeding
      interventions are the most equitably distributed. Across regions, inequalities
      were highest in the more urbanised East, West and Central regions of the country,
      while they were lowest in the South and Southeast. About 7700 newborns and 26,000
      post-neonates could be saved by scaling up coverage of community outreach
      interventions to 90 %, with the most gains in the poorest quintiles. CONCLUSIONS:
      Afghanistan is a pervasively poor and conflict-prone nation that has only
      recently experienced a decade of relative stability. Though donor investments
      during this period have been plentiful and have contributed to rebuilding of
      health infrastructure in the country, glaring inequities remain. A resolution to
      scaling up health coverage in insecure and isolated regions, and improving
      accessibility for the poorest and marginalised populations, should be at the
      forefront of national policy and programming efforts.

PMID- 27634542
TI  - Assessment of a multiple biomarker panel for diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess a panel of promising biomarkers
      for their ability to improve diagnosis of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
      (ALS). METHODS: Forty patients with sporadic ALS and 40 controls with other
      neurological diseases were evaluated. Levels of phosphorylated neurofilament
      heavy chain (pNfH), S100-beta, cystatin C, and chitotriosidase (CHIT) in
      cerebrospinal fluid were assayed using two-site solid-phase sandwich ELISA.
      RESULTS: Patients with sporadic ALS showed higher levels of pNfH and CHIT than
      controls, but lower levels of cystatin C. Multivariate logistic regression that
      adjusted for patient age and sex identified significant associations between
      sporadic ALS and levels of pNfH, CHIT and cystatin C. Levels of pNfH correlated
      positively with rate of progression and decline based on the Amyotrophic Lateral
      Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale - Revised. Based on receiver operating curve
      analysis, a pNfH cut-off of 437 ng/L discriminated patients from controls with a
      sensitivity of 97.3 % and specificity of 83.8 %. A CHIT cut-off of 1593.779 ng/L
      discriminated patients from controls with a sensitivity of 83.8 % and specificity
      of 81.1 %. Combining the two biomarkers gave a sensitivity of 83.8 % and
      specificity of 91.9 %. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of pNfH in cerebrospinal fluid may be
      a reliable biomarker for diagnosing ALS, and combining this biomarker with levels
      of CHIT may improve diagnostic accuracy.

PMID- 27634543
TI  - Synthesis of ceramides NS and NP with perdeuterated and specifically omega
      deuterated N-acyl residues.
AB  - The synthesis of 12 deuterated ceramides with either a deuteration at the last
      carbon atom of the amide bound fatty acid or a perdeuterated fatty acid chain is
      described. The ceramides were prepared starting from sphingosine or
      phytosphingosine and omega deuterated or perdeuterated fatty acids with PyBOP(r)
      as activating agent in high yields. For the synthesis of the specifically
      deuterated fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids were transformed into omega deuterated
      alkyl bromide, which was chain elongated with blocked omega bromo alcohols by
      copper catalyzed Grignard coupling. Oxidation of regenerated alcohol function
      yields the omega deuterated fatty acids.

PMID- 27634544
TI  - Is the interval from surgery to ileostomy closure a risk factor for low anterior
      resection syndrome?
AB  - AIM: Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) comprises a collection of symptoms
      affecting patients after restorative surgery for rectal cancer. The aim of the
      present study was to analyse the incidence of LARS in patients undergoing rectal
      cancer surgery with and without subsequent ileostomy and to determine whether the
      interval to ileostomy closure is a factor associated with its occurrence. METHOD:
      All patients undergoing curative anterior resection for rectal cancer from 2008
      to 2012 in our institution were included in the study. They were divided into two
      groups according to whether or not a defunctioning ileostomy had been performed.
      Patients were assessed for LARS at a median interval of 23.60 +/- 16.73 (12-48)
      months from anterior resection in those who did not have an ileostomy and at an
      interval of 11.31 +/- 14.24 (12-60) months from closure of the ileostomy in those
      who did. They underwent a structured telephone interview based on a validated
      LARS score questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate analysis was carried out to
      assess possible associations between LARS and the variables studied. RESULTS:
      There were 150 patients (93 men) of whom 54.7% had no evidence of LARS, 17.3% had
      minor symptoms and 28% major symptoms of LARS. Univariate analysis showed that
      male gender, the presence of a temporary ileostomy and neoadjuvant therapy were
      predisposing factors for LARS. The interval from construction of the ileostomy to
      its closure did not appear to be a factor associated with LARS. In multivariate
      analysis, male gender and preoperative neoadjuvant therapy were significant
      predisposing factors for LARS. CONCLUSION: Male gender and preoperative
      neoadjuvant therapy are risk factors for LARS. The presence of ileostomy or time
      to ileostomy closure is not associated with the development of this syndrome.

PMID- 27634545
TI  - Recurrent otalgia in adults.

PMID- 27634541
TI  - Pangenome and immuno-proteomics analysis of Acinetobacter baumannii strains
      revealed the core peptide vaccine targets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a significant nosocomial
      pathogen during the last few years, exhibiting resistance to almost all major
      classes of antibiotics. Alternative treatment options such as vaccines tend to be
      most promising and cost effective approaches against this resistant pathogen. In
      the current study, we have explored the pan-genome of A. baumannii followed by
      immune-proteomics and reverse vaccinology approaches to identify potential core
      vaccine targets. RESULTS: The pan-genome of all available A. baumannii strains
      (30 complete genomes) is estimated to contain 7,606 gene families and the core
      genome consists of 2,445 gene families (~32 % of the pan-genome). Phylogenetic
      tree, comparative genomic and proteomic analysis revealed both intra- and inter
      genomic similarities and evolutionary relationships. Among the conserved core
      genome, thirteen proteins, including P pilus assembly protein, pili assembly
      chaperone, AdeK, PonA, OmpA, general secretion pathway protein D, FhuE receptor,
      Type VI secretion system OmpA/MotB, TonB dependent siderophore receptor, general
      secretion pathway protein D, outer membrane protein, peptidoglycan associated
      lipoprotein and peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase are identified as highly
      antigenic. Epitope mapping of the target proteins revealed the presence of
      antigenic surface exposed 9-mer T-cell epitopes. Protein-protein interaction and
      functional annotation have shown their involvement in significant biological and
      molecular processes. The pipeline is validated by predicting already known
      immunogenic targets against Gram negative pathogen Helicobacter pylori as a
      positive control. CONCLUSION: The study, based upon combinatorial approach of pan
      genomics, core genomics, proteomics and reverse vaccinology led us to find out
      potential vaccine candidates against A. baumannii. The comprehensive analysis of
      all the completely sequenced genomes revealed thirteen putative antigens which
      could elicit substantial immune response. The integration of computational
      vaccinology strategies would facilitate in tackling the rapid dissemination of
      resistant A.baumannii strains. The scarcity of effective antibiotics and the
      global expansion of sequencing data making this approach desirable in the
      development of effective vaccines against A. baumannii and other bacterial
      pathogens.

PMID- 27634546
TI  - Utilising daily diaries to examine oral health experiences associated with
      dentine hypersensitivity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current investigation examined the determinants of oral health
      experiences associated with dentine hypersensitivity using prospective diary
      methodology. METHODS: Staff and students from a large UK university who had self
      diagnosed dentine hypersensitivity completed an online daily diary and text
      survey for 2 weeks recording their mood, oral health-related coping behaviours,
      coping and pain appraisals, pain experiences and functional limitations. Cross
      sectional and lagged path analyses were employed to examine relationships.
      RESULTS: One hundred one participants took part in the diary study. Participants
      had a mean age of 26.3 years (range = 18-63) and most were female (N = 69).
      Individuals who used more oral health-related coping behaviours predicted and
      experienced greater levels of pain on subsequent days. Negative mood also
      predicted worse pain outcomes. The daily diary method provided a useful avenue
      for investigating variations in oral health experiences and relationships between
      variables that can fluctuate daily. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological variables such as
      coping and mood play an important role in the pain experiences of people with
      dentine hypersensitivity. The study highlights the benefits of using prospective
      methods to elucidate the experiences of people with oral conditions.

PMID- 27634547
TI  - Local characterization of neovascularization and identification of proliferative
      diabetic retinopathy in retinal fundus images.
AB  - Neovascularization (NV) is a characteristic of the onset of sight-threatening
      stage of DR, called proliferative DR (PDR). Identification of PDR requires
      modeling of these unregulated ill-formed vessels, and other associated signs of
      PDR. We present an approach that models the micro-pattern of local variations
      (using texture based analysis) and quantifies structural changes in vessel
      patterns in localized patches, to arrive at a score of neovascularity. The
      distribution of patch-level confidence scores is collated into an image-level
      decision of presence or absence of PDR. Evaluated on a dataset of 779 images
      combining public data and clinical data from local hospitals, the patch-level
      neovascularity prediction has a sensitivity of 92.4% at 92.6% specificity. For
      image-level PDR identification our method is shown to achieve sensitivity of
      83.3% at a high specificity operating point of 96.1% specificity, and specificity
      of 83% at high sensitivity operating point of 92.2% sensitivity. Our approach
      could have potential application in DR grading where it can localize NVE regions
      and identify PDR images for immediate intervention.

PMID- 27634548
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Automatic epileptic seizure detection in EEGs based on MF-DFA and SVM.
AB  - This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author(s) and/or editor.
      The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier
      Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at
      http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

PMID- 27634550
TI  - Does bipolar disorder have a benign course?
AB  - Written records have been describing extreme states of emotions since ancient
      Greece (Angst and Marneros, 2001), but Aretaeus of Cappadocia (which is
      geographically located in modern Turkey) was probably the first to outline the
      close relationship between depression and mania nearly 2000 years ago: "I think
      that melancholia is the beginning and a part of mania. . . The development of
      mania is really a worsening of the disease rather than a change into another
      disease. . . In most of them the sadness became better after various lengths of
      time and changed into happiness; the patients then developed a mania" (Angst and
      Marneros, 2001). Limited progress in our understanding of these extreme states of
      affect occurred until the mid-1800s, when both German and French physicians
      suggested that the change from melancholia to mania was not only "usual," but
      that the continuous cycle between depression, mania, and disease free intervals
      were the key features of a mental disorder. Jean Pierre Falret named the disorder
      "folie circulaire" (1851), while Jules Baillarger called it "folie a double-form"
      (1854).

PMID- 27634549
TI  - Cancer@Work - a nurse-led, stepped-care, e-health intervention to enhance the
      return to work of patients with cancer: study protocol for a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the importance of work for patients with cancer is nowadays
      more acknowledged both in the literature as well as in cancer survivorship care,
      effective interventions targeting the return to work of these patients are still
      scarce. Therefore, we developed a nurse-led, stepped-care, e-health intervention
      aimed at enhancing the return to work of patients with cancer. The objective of
      this study is to describe the content of the intervention and the study design
      used to evaluate the feasibility and (cost) effectiveness of the intervention.
      METHODS: We designed a multi-centre randomised controlled trial with a follow-up
      of 12 months. Patients who have paid employment at the time of diagnosis, are on
      sick leave and are between 18-62 years old will be eligible to participate. After
      patients have signed the informed consent form and filled in the baseline
      questionnaire, they are randomly allocated to either the nurse-led, stepped-care,
      e-health intervention called Cancer@Work, or care as usual. The primary outcome
      is sustainable return to work. Secondary outcomes are sick leave days, work
      ability, work functioning, quality of life, quality of working life and time from
      initial sick leave to full return to work without extensive need for recovery.
      The feasibility of the Cancer@Work intervention and direct and indirect costs
      will be determined. Outcomes will be assessed by questionnaires at 3, 6, 9 and 12
      months of follow-up. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide new
      insights into the feasibility and (cost) effectiveness of Cancer@Work, a nurse
      led, stepped-care, e-health intervention for cancer patients aimed at enhancing
      their return to work. If proven effective, the intention is to implement the
      Cancer@Work intervention in usual psycho-oncological care. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      NTR (Netherlands Trial Registry): NTR5190 . Registered on 18 June 2015.

PMID- 27634552
TI  - Effects of MC4R, FTO, and NMB gene variants to obesity, physical activity, and
      eating behavior phenotypes.
AB  - Obesity is a major contributory factor of morbidity and mortality. It has been
      suggested that biological systems may be involved in the tendency to be and to
      remain physically inactive also behaviors such as food and beverage preferences
      and nutrient intake may at least partially genetically determined. Consequently,
      besides environment, genetic factors may also contribute to the level of physical
      activity and eating behaviors thus effect obesity. Therefore the aim of this
      study is to investigate the effect of various gene mutations on obesity, physical
      activity levels and eating behavior phenotypes. One hundred patients and 100
      controls were enrolled to the study. Physical activity levels were measured with
      an actical acceloremeter device. Eating behaviors were evaluated using Three
      Factor Eating questionnaire (TFEQ). Associations between eating behavior scores
      and physical characteristics were also evaluated. The information about other
      obesity risk factors were also collected. Mutations were investigated with PCR,
      direct sequencing and Real-Time PCR. rs1051168, rs8050146 -2778C > T mutations
      were found statistically significant in patients, rs1121980 was found
      statistically significant in controls. 21 mutations were found in MC4R and near
      MC4R of which 18 of them are novel and 8 of them cause amino acid change. In
      addition, it was found that, some obesity related factors and questions of TFEQ
      are associated with various investigated gene mutations. Any relation between
      gene mutations and physical activity levels were not detected. It is thought
      that, due to the genotype data and eating behaviors, it may be possible to
      recommend patients for proper eating patterns to prevent obesity. (c) 2016 IUBMB
      Life, 68(10):806-816, 2016.

PMID- 27634553
TI  - Psychometric properties and a latent class analysis of the 12-item World Health
      Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) in a pooled dataset
      of community samples.
AB  - The 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS
      2.0) is a brief measurement tool used cross-culturally to capture the multi
      dimensional nature of disablement through six domains, including: understanding
      and interacting with the world; moving and getting around; self-care; getting on
      with people; life activities; and participation in society. Previous psychometric
      research supports that the WHODAS 2.0 functions as a general factor of
      disablement. In a pooled dataset from community samples of adults (N = 447) we
      used confirmatory factor analysis to confirm a one-factor structure. Latent class
      analysis was used to identify subgroups of individuals based on their patterns of
      responses. We identified four distinct classes, or patterns of disablement: (1)
      pervasive disability; (2) physical disability; (3) emotional, cognitive, or
      interpersonal disability; (4) no/low disability. Convergent validity of the
      latent class subgroups was found with respect to socio-demographic
      characteristics, number of days affected by disabilities, stress, mental health,
      and substance use. These classes offer a simple and meaningful way to classify
      people with disabilities based on the 12-item WHODAS 2.0. Focusing on individuals
      with a high probability of being in the first three classes may help guide
      interventions.

PMID- 27634551
TI  - Motion-related artifacts in structural brain images revealed with independent
      estimates of in-scanner head motion.
AB  - Motion-contaminated T1-weighted (T1w) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results in
      misestimates of brain structure. Because conventional T1w scans are not collected
      with direct measures of head motion, a practical alternative is needed to
      identify potential motion-induced bias in measures of brain anatomy. Head
      movements during functional MRI (fMRI) scanning of 266 healthy adults (20-89
      years) were analyzed to reveal stable features of in-scanner head motion. The
      magnitude of head motion increased with age and exhibited within-participant
      stability across different fMRI scans. fMRI head motion was then related to
      measurements of both quality control (QC) and brain anatomy derived from a T1w
      structural image from the same scan session. A procedure was adopted to "flag"
      individuals exhibiting excessive head movement during fMRI or poor T1w quality
      rating. The flagging procedure reliably reduced the influence of head motion on
      estimates of gray matter thickness across the cortical surface. Moreover, T1w
      images from flagged participants exhibited reduced estimates of gray matter
      thickness and volume in comparison to age- and gender-matched samples, resulting
      in inflated effect sizes in the relationships between regional anatomical
      measures and age. Gray matter thickness differences were noted in numerous
      regions previously reported to undergo prominent atrophy with age.
      Recommendations are provided for mitigating this potential confound, and
      highlight how the procedure may lead to more accurate measurement and comparison
      of anatomical features. Hum Brain Mapp 38:472-492, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634554
TI  - Chronic Migraine Is Associated With Sustained Elevation of Somatosensory Temporal
      Discrimination Thresholds.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Migraine headache attacks have been shown to be
      accompanied by significant prolongation of somatosensory temporal discrimination
      threshold values, supporting signs of disrupted sensorial processing in migraine.
      Chronic migraine is one of the most debilitating and challenging headache
      disorders with no available biomarker. We aimed to test the diagnostic value of
      somatosensory temporal discrimination for chronic migraine in this prospective,
      controlled study. METHODS: Fifteen chronic migraine patients and 15 healthy
      controls completed the study. Chronic migraine patients were evaluated twice,
      during a headache and headache-free period. Somatosensory temporal discrimination
      threshold values were evaluated in both hands. Duration of migraine and chronic
      migraine, headache intensity, clinical features accompanying headache such as
      nausea, photophobia, phonophobia and osmophobia, and pressure pain thresholds
      were also recorded. RESULTS: In the chronic migraine group, somatosensory
      temporal discrimination threshold values on the headache day (138.8 +/- 21.8 ms
      for the right hand and 141.2 +/- 17.4 ms for the left hand) were significantly
      higher than somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold values on the
      headache free day (121.5 +/- 13.8 ms for the right hand and 122.8 +/- 12.6 ms for
      the left hand, P = .003 and P < .0001, respectively) and somatosensory temporal
      discrimination thresholds of healthy volunteers (35.4 +/- 5.5 ms for the right
      hand and 36.4 +/- 5.4 ms for the left hand, P < .0001 and P < .0001,
      respectively). Somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold values of chronic
      migraine patients on the headache free day were significantly prolonged compared
      to somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold values of the control group
      (121.5 +/- 13.8 ms vs 35.4 +/- 5.5 ms for the right hand, P < .0001 and 122.8 +/-
      12.6 ms vs 36.4 +/- 5.4 ms for the left hand, P < .0001). Somatosensory temporal
      discrimination threshold values of the hand contralateral to the headache
      lateralization (153.3 +/- 13.7 ms) were significantly higher (P < .0001) than the
      ipsilateral hand (118.2 +/- 11.9 ms) in chronic migraine patients when headache
      was lateralized. The headache intensity of chronic migraine patients rated with
      visual analog score was positively correlated with the contralateral
      somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold values. CONCLUSION: Somatosensory
      temporal discrimination thresholds persist elevated during the headache-free
      intervals in patients with chronic migraine. By providing evidence for the first
      time for unremitting disruption of central sensory processing, somatosensory
      temporal discrimination test stands out as a promising neurophysiological
      biomarker for chronic migraine.

PMID- 27634556
TI  - Endothelial progenitor cells in ageing.

PMID- 27634557
TI  - Insufficient reduction in heart rate during hospitalization despite beta-blocker
      treatment in acute decompensated heart failure: insights from the ASCEND-HF
      trial.
AB  - AIMS: Heart failure (HF) can be associated with a higher resting heart rate (HR),
      and an elevated HR is associated with adverse long-term events. However, the
      mechanistic and causal role of HR in HF is unclear. This study aimed to
      investigate changes in HR during hospitalization, and the association between
      discharge HR and clinical outcomes as well as an interaction with beta-blocker
      therapy in patients with acute decompensated HF (ADHF). METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      studied 2906 patients with an LVEF <=35%, without AF, who were enrolled in the
      ASCEND-HF trial. A total of 2492 (85.8%) patients had a HR >=70 b.p.m. at
      baseline and 1580 (54.4%) patients were on beta-blocker treatment. Although HR
      was gradually reduced from baseline to discharge (85.5 +/- 15.9 b.p.m. at
      baseline, 81.7 +/- 14.1 b.p.m. at 24 h from treatment initiation, and 79.1 +/-
      12.2 b.p.m. at discharge), 80.2% of the patients still had a HR >=70 b.p.m. at
      discharge. Patients with a HR >=70 b.p.m. at discharge had significantly lower
      survival rates than those with a HR <70 b.p.m. (adjusted hazard ratio 1.02, 95%
      confidence interval 1.01-1.04, P = 0.002). Moreover, HR at discharge had a
      curvilinear association with mortality, and had no significant interaction effect
      with beta-blocker therapy at discharge (P = 0.82). CONCLUSIONS: Despite current
      beta-blocker therapy, many patients with hospitalized ADHF with reduced LVEF have
      relatively high discharge HR, and discharge HR is associated with higher
      mortality. Further studies are warranted to determine the optimal strategy for HR
      control to improve outcomes.

PMID- 27634558
TI  - Managing fecal incontinence in patients with myelomeningocele in Sub-Saharan
      Africa: Role of antegrade continence enema (ACE).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the major causes of sphincter
      dysfunctions. Fecal incontinence (FI) because of myelomeningocele (MMC) leads to
      problems with social acceptability and decreased quality of life (QOL), life
      satisfaction in addition to other morbidities. This is a report of experience
      with antegrade continence enema (ACE) in the management of FI in patients with
      MMC in an African set-up. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A retrospective review of 23
      children and young adults with FI because of MMC managed with ACE from October
      2008 to September 2015 from African Specialist Hospital. The clinical outcomes
      have been analyzed. RESULTS: From October 2008 to September 2015, a total of
      thirty-two n=32 patients underwent ACE procedure after repair of MMC associated
      with FI. Available data of 23 (71.87%) patients were reviewed retrospectively.
      Mean age at which ACE was created was 6.43+/-3.83years, range (3.5-17.8) years,
      median 5years. Follow-up after ACE creation was (0.5-6.9) years, median 2.6years.
      There were full continence in 13 (56.52%), partial continence in 8 (34.78%) and
      failure in 2 (8.69%). There were 16 (69.56%) complications and 4 (17.39%) minor
      post ACE surgery revisions. Mean PedQOL(TM) score before ACE and then 5, 10, and
      15months after ACE were 47.86+/-13.83, range (20.4-66.0) vs 88.34+/-7.11, range
      (77.9-98.6); p=0.000, 88.9+/-6.44 range (76.9-98.5); p=0.000, 89.01+/-6.50, range
      (76.9-98.88) p=0.000 respectively. Mean parental/caregiver satisfaction score for
      15 (65.21%) patients aged 6years and below using modified visual analogue scale
      (VAS) 1 to 10 before ACE and after were 3.06+/-0.79, range (2-4), median 3 vs
      8.0+/-1.30, range (5-10), median 8; (p=0.000) while 8 (34.78%) patients aged
      above 6years were able to assess their satisfactions score before and after ACE
      creation with mean of 1.75+/-0.70, range (1-3), median 2 vs 7.75+/-1.03, range (6
      9) median 8; (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: ACE has satisfactory outcomes in an African
      set-up in patients with MMC associated with FI. Multidisciplinary approach to
      neurogenic FI should be encouraged in such set-ups.

PMID- 27634555
TI  - The chicken or the egg: mitochondrial dysfunction as a cause or consequence of
      toxicity in Huntington's disease.
AB  - Mitochondrial dysfunction and ensuing oxidative damage is typically thought to be
      a primary cause of Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson
      disease. There is little doubt that mitochondria (MT) become defective as neurons
      die, yet whether MT defects are the primary cause or a detrimental consequence of
      toxicity remains unanswered. Oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and glycolysis provide
      sensitive and informative measures of the functional status MT and the cells
      metabolic regulation, yet these measures differ depending on the sample source;
      species, tissue type, age at measurement, and whether MT are measured in purified
      form or in a cell. The effects of these various parameters are difficult to
      quantify and not fully understood, but clearly have an impact on interpreting the
      bioenergetics of MT or their failure in disease states. A major goal of the
      review is to discuss issues and coalesce detailed information into a reference
      table to help in assessing mitochondrial dysfunction as a cause or consequence of
      Huntington's disease.

PMID- 27634560
TI  - Chemical Institute of Canada and Canadian Society for Chemistry Awards 2016.

PMID- 27634559
TI  - Outcomes of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for pediatric renovascular
      hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Up to 10% of hypertensive children will have renovascular disease.
      Where medical therapy fails to control the hypertension, endovascular techniques
      can improve renal perfusion. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy
      of angioplasty in controlling renovascular hypertension (RVH) in children.
      METHODS: This is a single-center, retrospective review of patients who underwent
      angioplasty for RVH between 1992 and 2009. All patients were selected from the
      Interventional Radiology database. The primary outcome measure was clinical
      success as reflected by a favorable, sustained response in blood pressure for at
      least 1year following the angioplasty. RESULTS: Two hundred sixteen patients
      underwent diagnostic angiography for suspected RVH, of these 28 required 42
      angioplasties. Ten (36%) were cured, 9 (32%) were improved and 9 (32%) failed to
      respond to treatment. Major complications occurred in three patients and minor
      complications occurred in 18 angioplasties. Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) was the
      most common diagnosis in this series and was associated with a 79% success rate.
      CONCLUSION: In our exclusively pediatric population angioplasty safely improved
      blood pressure control in 68% of patients, more than half of which are cured. FMD
      appeared to have the best clinical outcomes in our series.

PMID- 27634561
TI  - Effects of Visual Display on Joint Excursions Used to Play Virtual Dodgeball.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Virtual reality (VR) interventions hold great potential for
      rehabilitation as commercial systems are becoming more affordable and can be
      easily applied to both clinical and home settings. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we
      sought to determine how differences in the VR display type can influence motor
      behavior, cognitive load, and participant engagement. METHODS: Movement patterns
      of 17 healthy young adults (8 female, 9 male) were examined during games of
      Virtual Dodgeball presented on a three-dimensional television (3DTV) and a head
      mounted display (HMD). The participant's avatar was presented from a third-person
      perspective on a 3DTV and from a first-person perspective on an HMD. RESULTS:
      Examination of motor behavior revealed significantly greater excursions of the
      knee (P=.003), hip (P<.001), spine (P<.001), shoulder (P=.001), and elbow
      (P=.026) during HMD versus 3DTV gameplay, resulting in significant differences in
      forward (P=.003) and downward (P<.001) displacement of the whole-body center of
      mass. Analyses of cognitive load and engagement revealed that relative to 3DTV,
      participants indicated that HMD gameplay resulted in greater satisfaction with
      overall performance and was less frustrating (P<.001). There were no significant
      differences noted for mental demand. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in visual display
      type and participant perspective influence how participants perform in Virtual
      Dodgeball. Because VR use within rehabilitation settings is often designed to
      help restore movement following orthopedic or neurologic injury, these findings
      provide an important caveat regarding the need to consider the potential
      influence of presentation format and perspective on motor behavior.

PMID- 27634562
TI  - Sleep restriction in rats leads to changes in operant behaviour indicative of
      reduced prefrontal cortex function.
AB  - Sleep deprivation has profound effects on cognitive performance, and some of
      these effects may be mediated by impaired prefrontal cortex function. In search
      of an animal model to investigate this relationship we studied the influence of
      restricted sleep on operant conditioning in rats, particularly the performance in
      a differential reinforcement of low rate responding (DRL) task, which is highly
      dependent upon an intact prefrontal cortex. Animals were trained to withhold a
      lever press until an imposed delay of 30 s after the last press had passed in
      order to achieve a food reward. Once the animals had mastered the task, they were
      sleep-restricted for 7 days with 20 h of sleep deprivation per day. At the end of
      each daily sleep deprivation session, performance on the DRL task was assessed.
      The results show that sleep-restricted animals were less able to time their
      responses correctly, started pressing the lever more randomly and showed signs of
      behavioural disinhibition, the latter possibly reflecting enhanced impulsivity.
      Our data support the hypothesis that a sleep debt has disruptive consequences for
      the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. This model offers possibilities for
      future studies investigating the underlying biochemical and molecular mechanisms
      of this relationship.

PMID- 27634563
TI  - Impact of observing hand hygiene in practice and research: a methodological
      reconsideration.
AB  - The purpose of hand hygiene is to break the chain of healthcare-associated
      infection. In many countries hand hygiene is regularly audited as part of quality
      assurance based on recommendations from the World Health Organization. Direct
      observation is the recommended audit method but is associated with disadvantages,
      including potential for being observed to alter usual behaviour. The Hawthorne
      effect in relation to hand hygiene is analogous with productivity improvement by
      increasing the frequency with which hand hygiene is undertaken. Unobtrusive
      and/or frequent observation to accustom staff to the presence of observers is
      considered an acceptable way of reducing the Hawthorne effect, but few
      publications have discussed how to implement these techniques or examine their
      effectiveness. There is evidence that awareness of being watched can disrupt the
      usual behaviour of individuals in complex and unpredictable ways other than
      simple productivity effect. In the presence of auditors, health workers might
      defer or avoid activities that require hand hygiene, but these issues are not
      addressed in guidelines for practice or research studies. This oversight has
      implications for the validity of hand hygiene audit findings. Measuring hand
      hygiene product use overcomes avoidance tactics. It is cheaper and generates data
      continuously to assess the compliance of all clinicians without disrupting
      patient care. Disadvantages are the risk of overestimating uptake through
      spillage, wastage, or use by visitors and non-clinical staff entering patient
      care areas. Electronic devices may overcome the Hawthorne and avoidance effects
      but are costly and are not widely used outside research studies.

PMID- 27634564
TI  - Multidrug-resistant Candida auris: 'new kid on the block' in hospital-associated
      infections?
AB  - Since being first reported in an ear swab in 2009, and in blood cultures in 2011,
      invasive infections with Candida auris have been reported in many countries
      across several continents. We review current knowledge of the epidemiology of
      this emerging multidrug-resistant pathogen. The importance of species
      identification and the inadequacies of many widely used identification systems
      are considered. We recommend that hospitals develop their own policies for the
      prevention and control of infections with this pathogen. Elements of such
      policies and the limitations of the existing knowledge base are discussed.

PMID- 27634565
TI  - Re: Carbapenemase screening - the role of routinely screening urine samples?

PMID- 27634567
TI  - Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Scrotum After Brachytherapy and External Beam
      Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

PMID- 27634566
TI  - Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Pharmacodynamic
      Biomarker for Pazopanib in Metastatic Renal Carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Traditional imaging assessment criteria might not
      correlate well with clinical benefit from vascular endothelial growth factor
      pathway-directed therapy in metastatic renal cancer. Preclinical data suggest
      tumor growth is preceded by a rise in Ktrans level, a parameter derived from
      dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that reflects
      vascular permeability. We thus hypothesized that Ktrans might be a predictive
      biomarker for pazopanib. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with metastatic renal
      cancer were treated with pazopanib at 800 mg oral daily until disease
      progression. MRI of the abdomen and pelvis with a DCE-MRI sequence was obtained
      at baseline and every 8 weeks. RESULTS: Seventy-three DCE-MRI scans were
      completed and 66 were technically assessable. Of the 17 patients with at least 1
      DCE-MRI scan after the baseline scan, 16 (94%) had a decline in Ktrans level.
      Changes in Ktrans compared with baseline after 1, 8, 16, and 24 weeks were -49%, 
      65%, -63%, and -53%, respectively (P = .0052, repeated measures analysis of
      variance). The median Ktrans nadir occurred at 8 weeks. The median progression
      free survival (PFS) was 32.1 weeks. PFS was longer in patients with higher
      baseline Ktrans values (P = .036, log rank). Baseline Ktrans did not reach
      significance in a Cox proportional hazard model including clinical prognostic
      index and previous treatments (P = .083). CONCLUSION: We show that Ktrans is a
      pharmacodynamic biomarker for pazopanib therapy in metastatic renal cancer.
      Because of the small sample size, the predictive capacity of Ktrans recovery
      could not be assessed, but baseline Ktrans correlated with PFS.

PMID- 27634570
TI  - Septin7 regulates inner ear formation at an early developmental stage.
AB  - Septins are guanosine triphosphate-binding proteins that are evolutionally
      conserved in all eukaryotes other than plants. They function as multimeric
      complexes that interact with membrane lipids, actomyosin, and microtubules. Based
      on these interactions, septins play essential roles in the morphogenesis and
      physiological functions of many mammalian cell types including the regulation of
      microtubule stability, vesicle trafficking, cortical rigidity, planar cell
      polarity, and apoptosis. The inner ear, which perceives auditory and equilibrium
      sensation with highly differentiated hair cells, has a complicated gross
      morphology. Furthermore, its development including morphogenesis is dependent on
      various molecular mechanisms, such as apoptosis, convergent extension, and cell
      fate determination. To determine the roles of septins in the development of the
      inner ear, we specifically deleted Septin7 (Sept7), the non-redundant subunit in
      the canonical septin complex, in the inner ear at different times during
      development. Foxg1Cre-mediated deletion of Sept7, which achieved the complete
      knockout of Sept7 within the inner ear at E9.5, caused cystic malformation of
      inner ears and a reduced numbers of sensory epithelial cells despite the
      existence of mature hair cells. Excessive apoptosis was observed at E10.5,E11.5
      and E12.5 in all inner ear epithelial cells and at E10.5 and E11.5 in prosensory
      epithelial cells of the inner ears of Foxg1Cre;Septin7floxed/floxed mice. In
      contrast with apoptosis, cell proliferation in the inner ear did not
      significantly change between control and mutant mice. Deletion of Sept7 within
      the cochlea at a later stage (around E15.5) with Emx2Cre did not result in any
      apparent morphological anomalies observed in Foxg1Cre;Septin7floxed/floxed mice.
      These results suggest that SEPT7 regulates gross morphogenesis of the inner ear
      and maintains the size of the inner ear sensory epithelial area and exerts its
      effects at an early developmental stage of the inner ear.

PMID- 27634572
TI  - Cathode Surface-Induced, Solvation-Mediated, Micrometer-Sized Li2 O2 Cycling for
      Li-O2 Batteries.
AB  - The "nonsticky" surface of a highly stable RuO2 /carbon nanotube cathode enhances
      the formation and decomposition of cathode surface-induced, solvation-mediated,
      micrometer-sized discharge products Li2 O2 in Li-O2 batteries and thus
      significantly improves the specific capacity, overpotentials, and cycle life.
      These findings contribute to a new understanding how the cathode surface controls
      Li-O2 electrochemistry.

PMID- 27634573
TI  - Massively parallel algorithm and implementation of RI-MP2 energy calculation for
      peta-scale many-core supercomputers.
AB  - A new parallel algorithm and its implementation for the RI-MP2 energy calculation
      utilizing peta-flop-class many-core supercomputers are presented. Some
      improvements from the previous algorithm (J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 5373)
      have been performed: (1) a dual-level hierarchical parallelization scheme that
      enables the use of more than 10,000 Message Passing Interface (MPI) processes and
      (2) a new data communication scheme that reduces network communication overhead.
      A multi-node and multi-GPU implementation of the present algorithm is presented
      for calculations on a central processing unit (CPU)/graphics processing unit
      (GPU) hybrid supercomputer. Benchmark results of the new algorithm and its
      implementation using the K computer (CPU clustering system) and TSUBAME 2.5
      (CPU/GPU hybrid system) demonstrate high efficiency. The peak performance of 3.1
      PFLOPS is attained using 80,199 nodes of the K computer. The peak performance of
      the multi-node and multi-GPU implementation is 514 TFLOPS using 1349 nodes and
      4047 GPUs of TSUBAME 2.5. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634568
TI  - The hyaloid vasculature facilitates basement membrane breakdown during choroid
      fissure closure in the zebrafish eye.
AB  - A critical aspect of vertebrate eye development is closure of the choroid fissure
      (CF). Defects in CF closure result in colobomas, which are a significant cause of
      childhood blindness worldwide. Despite the growing number of mutated loci
      associated with colobomas, we have a limited understanding of the cell biological
      underpinnings of CF closure. Here, we utilize the zebrafish embryo to identify
      key phases of CF closure and regulators of the process. Utilizing Laminin-111 as
      a marker for the basement membrane (BM) lining the CF, we determine the spatial
      and temporal patterns of BM breakdown in the CF, a prerequisite for CF closure.
      Similarly, utilizing a combination of in vivo time-lapse imaging, beta-catenin
      immunohistochemistry and F-actin staining, we determine that tissue fusion, which
      serves to close the fissure, follows BM breakdown closely. Periocular mesenchyme
      (POM)-derived endothelial cells, which migrate through the CF to give rise to the
      hyaloid vasculature, possess distinct actin foci that correlate with regions of
      BM breakdown. Disruption of talin1, which encodes a regulator of the actin
      cytoskeleton, results in colobomas and these correlate with structural defects in
      the hyaloid vasculature and defects in BM breakdown. cloche mutants, which
      entirely lack a hyaloid vasculature, also possess defects in BM breakdown in the
      CF. Taken together, these data support a model in which the hyaloid vasculature
      and/or the POM-derived endothelial cells that give rise to the hyaloid
      vasculature contribute to BM breakdown during CF closure.

PMID- 27634569
TI  - Developmental inhibition of miR-iab8-3p disrupts mushroom body neuron structure
      and adult learning ability.
AB  - MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that inhibit protein expression post
      transcriptionally. They have been implicated in many different physiological
      processes, but little is known about their individual involvement in learning and
      memory. We recently identified several miRNAs that either increased or decreased
      intermediate-term memory when inhibited in the central nervous system, including
      miR-iab8-3p. We report here a new developmental role for this miRNA. Blocking the
      expression of miR-iab8-3p during the development of the organism leads to
      hypertrophy of individual mushroom body neuron soma, a reduction in the field
      size occupied by axonal projections, and adult intellectual disability. We
      further identified four potential mRNA targets of miR-iab8-3p whose inhibition
      modulates intermediate-term memory including ceramide phosphoethanolamine
      synthase, which may account for the behavioral effects produced by miR-iab8-3p
      inhibition. Our results offer important new information on a microRNA required
      for normal neurodevelopment and the capacity to learn and remember normally.

PMID- 27634571
TI  - Meis/UNC-62 isoform dependent regulation of CoupTF-II/UNC-55 and GABAergic motor
      neuron subtype differentiation.
AB  - Gene regulatory networks orchestrate the assembly of functionally related cells
      within a cellular network. Subtle differences often exist among functionally
      related cells within such networks. How differences are created among cells with
      similar functions has been difficult to determine due to the complexity of both
      the gene and the cellular networks. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the DD and VD
      motor neurons compose a cross-inhibitory, GABAergic network that coordinates
      dorsal and ventral muscle contractions during locomotion. The Pitx2 homologue,
      UNC-30, acts as a terminal selector gene to create similarities and the Coup-TFII
      homologue, UNC-55, is necessary for creating differences between the two motor
      neuron classes. What is the organizing gene regulatory network responsible for
      initiating the expression of UNC-55 and thus creating differences between the DD
      and VD motor neurons? We show that the unc-55 promoter has modules that contain
      Meis/UNC-62 binding sites. These sites can be subdivided into regions that are
      capable of activating or repressing UNC-55 expression in different motor neurons.
      Interestingly, different isoforms of UNC-62 are responsible for the activation
      and the stabilization of unc-55 transcription. Furthermore, specific isoforms of
      UNC-62 are required for proper synaptic patterning of the VD motor neurons.
      Isoform specific regulation of differentiating neurons is a relatively unexplored
      area of research and presents a mechanism for creating differences among
      functionally related cells within a network.

PMID- 27634574
TI  - Interactions of inbreeding and stress by poor host quality in a root
      hemiparasite.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Populations of many hemiparasitic plants are fragmented and
      threatened by inbreeding depression (ID). In addition, they may also be strongly
      affected by a lack of suitable host species. However, nothing is known about
      possible interactive effects of inbreeding and host quality for parasitic plants.
      Poor host quality represents a special type of biotic stress and the magnitude of
      ID is often expected to be higher in more stressful environments. METHODS: We
      studied the effects of inbreeding and the quality of host species for the
      declining root hemiparasite Rhinanthus alectorolophus Selfed and open-pollinated
      parasites from two natural populations were grown (1) with 13 potential host
      species and (2) with 15 four-species mixtures. KEY RESULTS: ID differed among
      host species and mixtures. In the first experiment, ID was highest in parasites
      grown with good hosts and declined with stress intensity. In the second
      experiment, ID was not influenced by stress intensity, but was highest in
      mixtures of hosts from only one functional group and lowest in mixtures
      containing three functional groups. Both parasite performance with individual
      host species and the damage to these host species differed between parasites from
      the two study populations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results contradict the common
      assumption that ID is generally higher in more stressful environments. In
      addition, they support the importance of diverse host communities for
      hemiparasitic plants. The differences in host quality between the two parasite
      populations indicate genetic variation in the adaptation to individual hosts and
      in host-specific virulence. However, inbreeding did not affect specific host
      parasite interactions.

PMID- 27634575
TI  - Branching patterns of root systems: comparison of monocotyledonous and
      dicotyledonous species.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acropetal root branching is a major process which increases
      the number of growing tips and distributes their growth potential within the
      whole root system. METHODS: Using a method presented in a recent paper, the
      defined branching traits were estimated in 140 different species, and the
      branching patterns of monocots (45 species) and dicots (95 species) were
      compared. KEY RESULTS: It was checked that the method also applied to monocots
      (not considered in the previous paper), and that all traits could be estimated in
      each species. Variations of most traits were even larger for monocots than for
      dicots. Systematic differences appeared between these two groups: monocots tended
      to have a larger range in apical diameters (stronger heterorhizy), with both
      finer and thicker roots; the diameters of their lateral roots were also more
      variable; their roots exerted a stronger dominance over lateral branches.
      Altogether, species exhibited two main dependencies among their traits that were
      illustrated using two axes: (1) the 'fineness-density' axis separated the species
      which develop very fine roots and branch densely, from species without fine roots
      which space out their branches; and (2) the 'dominance-heterorhizy' axis
      separated the species according to the range in their apical diameter which was
      positively correlated to the level of dominance of mother roots over their
      branches. Both axes and correlations were remarkably similar for monocots and
      dicots. CONCLUSIONS: Beyond the overall typology, this study went on to validate
      the phenotyping method in Natura, and showed its potential to characterize the
      differences in groups of species.

PMID- 27634576
TI  - A low-altitude mountain range as an important refugium for two narrow endemics in
      the Southwest Australian Floristic Region biodiversity hotspot.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Low-altitude mountains constitute important centres of
      diversity in landscapes with little topographic variation, such as the Southwest
      Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). They also provide unique climatic and
      edaphic conditions that may allow them to function as refugia. We investigate
      whether the Porongurups (altitude 655 m) in the SWAFR will provide a refugium for
      the endemic Ornduffia calthifolia and O. marchantii under forecast climate
      change. METHODS: We used species distribution modelling based on WorldClim
      climatic data, 30-m elevation data and a 2-m-resolution LiDAR-derived digital
      elevation model (DEM) to predict current and future distributions of the
      Ornduffia species at local and regional scales based on 605 field-based abundance
      estimates. Future distributions were forecast using RCP2.6 and RCP4.5
      projections. To determine whether local edaphic and biotic factors impact these
      forecasts, we tested whether soil depth and vegetation height were significant
      predictors of abundance using generalized additive models (GAMs). KEY RESULTS:
      Species distribution modelling revealed the importance of elevation and
      topographic variables at the local scale for determining distributions of both
      species, which also preferred shadier locations and higher slopes. However, O.
      calthifolia occurred at higher (cooler) elevations with rugged, concave
      topography, while O. marchantii occurred in disturbed sites at lower locations
      with less rugged, convex topography. Under future climates both species are
      likely to severely contract under the milder RCP2.6 projection (approx. 2 
      degrees C of global warming), but are unlikely to persist if warming is more
      severe (RCP4.5). GAMs showed that soil depth and vegetation height are important
      predictors of O. calthifolia and O. marchantii distributions, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Porongurups constitute an important refugium for O. calthifolia
      and O. marchantii, but limits to this capacity may be reached if global warming
      exceeds 2  degrees C. This capacity is moderated at local scales by biotic and
      edaphic factors.

PMID- 27634577
TI  - Selection of GP. Mur antigen-negative RBC for blood recipients with anti-'Mia '
      records decreases transfusion reaction rates in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical significance of GP. Mur antigen-negative
      blood selection for transfusion in patients with anti-'Mia ' records. BACKGROUND:
      The GP. Mur RBC phenotype is prevalent (7.3%) in Taiwan. Antibodies against GP.
      Mur (anti-'Mia ') are identified in 1.24% of our population, and anti-'Mia '
      screening using GP. Mur RBC has been routine for Taiwan's blood banks. However,
      due to the lack of commercial antibodies, only cross-matching was used to prevent
      transfusion of GP. Mur-positive blood to patients with anti-'Mia ' in most
      hospitals. There is still a risk of GP. Mur-positive RBC exposure and subsequent
      anti-'Mia '-related transfusion reactions. METHODS: Since February 2014, GP. Mur
      antigen-negative RBCs identified by reaction with anti-'Mia '-positive serum were
      selected for blood recipients with anti-'Mia ' records. The transfusion reactions
      between January 2013 and January 2014 were compared with those that occurred
      between February 2014 and July 2015. RESULTS: The transfusion reaction rate was
      significantly higher in anti-'Mia '-positive blood recipients compared to total
      subjects receiving an RBC transfusion before GP. Mur-negative donor RBC
      selection. After antigen-negative RBC selection, the transfusion reaction
      frequency in subjects with anti-'Mia ' became similar to total blood recipients.
      IgG form anti-'Mia ' antibodies were present in all cases of probable anti-'Mia '
      related transfusion reactions. The time required for anti-'Mia ' boosting after
      transfusion was around 4-21 days. CONCLUSION: Selection of GP. Mur-negative RBC
      for transfusion to patients with anti-'Mia ' records could decrease the rate of
      transfusion reaction and antibody boosting. This procedure should be incorporated
      into blood bank routines in areas where anti-'Mia ' is prevalent.

PMID- 27634579
TI  - Self-micellizing solid dispersion of cyclosporine A for pulmonary delivery:
      Physicochemical, pharmacokinetic and safety assessments.
AB  - The present study aimed to develop an inhalable self-micellizing solid dispersion
      of cyclosporine A (SMSD/CsA) for the direct delivery to the respiratory system
      with improved therapeutic efficacy and minimized systemic exposure. SMSD/CsA was
      obtained by wet-milling, and then jet-milled SMSD/CsA was blended with lactose
      carrier, producing a respirable powder of SMSD/CsA (SMSD/CsA-RP). The
      physicochemical, pharmacological, and pharmacokinetic properties of SMSD/CsA-RP
      were characterized, and the hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic potentials were
      investigated by biomarker analysis. Cascade impactor analysis demonstrated that
      SMSD/CsA-RP had high in vitro inhalation performance, with a fine particle
      fraction of 36%. In simulated lung fluid, the SMSD/CsA exhibited better
      dissolution behavior than amorphous CsA. Pretreatment with SMSD/CsA-RP resulted
      in significant suppression of antigen-evoked inflammatory events in rats. After
      intratracheal administration of SMSD/CsA-RP at a pharmacologically effective dose
      (100MUg-CsA/rat), the AUC0-24 value was <1% of that after oral administration of
      Neoral(r) at a toxic dose (10mg-CsA/kg). Compared with oral Neoral(r),
      insufflated SMSD/CsA-RP showed 99% reductions of CsA concentrations in both liver
      and kidney. No significant increases of biomarker levels in plasma were observed
      even after repeated intratracheal administration of SMSD/CsA-RP for 7days. From
      these findings, SMSD/CsA-RP might be a favorable dosage form for effective and
      safe inhalation therapy of CsA.

PMID- 27634578
TI  - Cell cycle proliferation decisions: the impact of single cell analyses.
AB  - Cell proliferation is a fundamental requirement for organismal development and
      homeostasis. The mammalian cell division cycle is tightly controlled to ensure
      complete and precise genome duplication and segregation of replicated chromosomes
      to daughter cells. The onset of DNA replication marks an irreversible commitment
      to cell division, and the accumulated efforts of many decades of molecular and
      cellular studies have probed this cellular decision, commonly called the
      restriction point. Despite a long-standing conceptual framework of the
      restriction point for progression through G1 phase into S phase or exit from G1
      phase to quiescence (G0), recent technical advances in quantitative single cell
      analysis of mammalian cells have provided new insights. Significant intercellular
      heterogeneity revealed by single cell studies and the discovery of discrete
      subpopulations in proliferating cultures suggests the need for an even more
      nuanced understanding of cell proliferation decisions. In this review, we
      describe some of the recent developments in the cell cycle field made possible by
      quantitative single cell experimental approaches.

PMID- 27634580
TI  - Fingolimod enhances myelin repair of hippocampus in pentylenetetrazol-induced
      kindling model.
AB  - Recent evidence indicates that demyelination occurs in epilepsy patients and
      kindling animal models. Regarding the well-known literature on anti-inflammatory
      and myelin protective effects of fingolimod (FTY720) in multiple sclerosis
      patients and animal models, we hypostatized whether FTY720 administration could
      exert myelin protective effects in pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced kindling
      model. To end this, animals received 0.3 or 1mg/kg dosage of FTY720, 1h before
      PTZ injections. In another approach, after achieving fully kindling stage, FTY720
      was administrated i.p. once daily for 7 consecutive days. Treatment with FTY720
      (especially lower dose) reduced the frequency of seizures and epileptiform
      discharges in both approaches. We found that FTY720 administration decreases cell
      death and glial activation in CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus. Myelin
      protection effect was shown by increasing myelin levels. Furthermore, post
      treatment of FTY720 enhanced endogenous remyelination and the number of
      oligodendrocyte precursor cells in fully kindled animals. Together, these results
      demonstrate that FTY720 behind the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotection effects
      has beneficial role in myelin protection and remyelination enhancement in PTZ
      kindling model of seizure and it may be provide a new therapeutic option for
      demyelination associated with epilepsy.

PMID- 27634581
TI  - Novel glucose-sensing technology and hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes: a
      multicentre, non-masked, randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tight control of blood glucose in type 1 diabetes delays onset of
      macrovascular and microvascular diabetic complications; however, glucose levels
      need to be closely monitored to prevent hypoglycaemia. We aimed to assess whether
      a factory-calibrated, sensor-based, flash glucose-monitoring system compared with
      self-monitored glucose testing reduced exposure to hypoglycaemia in patients with
      type 1 diabetes. METHOD: In this multicentre, prospective, non-masked, randomised
      controlled trial, we enrolled adult patients with well controlled type 1 diabetes
      (HbA1c <=58 mmol/mol [7.5%]) from 23 European diabetes centres. After 2 weeks of
      all participants wearing the blinded sensor, those with readings for at least 50%
      of the period were randomly assigned (1:1) to flash sensor-based glucose
      monitoring (intervention group) or to self-monitoring of blood glucose with
      capillary strips (control group). Randomisation was done centrally using the
      biased-coin minimisation method dependent on study centre and type of insulin
      administration. Participants, investigators, and study staff were not masked to
      group allocation. The primary outcome was change in time in hypoglycaemia (<3.9
      mmol/L [70 mg/dL]) between baseline and 6 months in the full analysis set (all
      participants randomised; excluding those who had a positive pregnancy test during
      the study). This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number
      NCT02232698. FINDINGS: Between Sept 4, 2014, and Feb 12, 2015, we enrolled 328
      participants. After the screening and baseline phase, 120 participants were
      randomly assigned to the intervention group and 121 to the control group, with
      outcomes being evaluated in 119 and 120, respectively. Mean time in hypoglycaemia
      changed from 3.38 h/day at baseline to 2.03 h/day at 6 months (baseline adjusted
      mean change -1.39) in the intervention group, and from 3.44 h/day to 3.27 h/day
      in the control group (-0.14); with the between-group difference of -1.24 (SE
      0.239; p<0.0001), equating to a 38% reduction in time in hypoglycaemia in the
      intervention group. No device-related hypoglycaemia or safety issues were
      reported. 13 adverse events were reported by ten participants related to the
      sensor-four of allergy events (one severe, three moderate); one itching (mild);
      one rash (mild); four insertion-site symptom (severe); two erythema (one severe,
      one mild); and one oedema (moderate). There were ten serious adverse events (five
      in each group) reported by nine participants; none were related to the device.
      INTERPRETATION: Novel flash glucose testing reduced the time adults with well
      controlled type 1 diabetes spent in hypoglycaemia. Future studies are needed to
      assess the effectiveness of this technology in patients with less well controlled
      diabetes and in younger age groups. FUNDING: Abbott Diabetes Care.

PMID- 27634582
TI  - Available at a flash: a new way to check glucose.

PMID- 27634584
TI  - A Three-Dimensional Origami Paper-Based Device for Potentiometric Biosensing.
AB  - Current paper-based potentiometric ion-sensing platforms are planar devices used
      for clinically relevant ions. These devices, however, have not been designed for
      the potentiometric biosensing of proteins or small molecule analytes. A three
      dimensional origami paper-based device, in which a solid-contact ion-selective
      electrode is integrated with an all-solid-state reference electrode, is described
      for the first time. The device is made by impregnation of paper with appropriate
      bioreceptors and reporting reagents on different zones. By folding and unfolding
      the paper structures, versatile potentiometric bioassays can be performed. A USB
      controlled miniaturized electrochemical detector can be used for simple and in
      situ measurements. Using butyrylcholinesterase as a model enzyme, the device has
      been successfully applied to the detection of enzyme activities and
      organophosphate pesticides involved in the enzymatic system as inhibitors. The
      proposed 3D origami paper device allows the potentiometric biosensing of proteins
      and small molecules in a simple, portable, and cost-effective way.

PMID- 27634583
TI  - Molecular Genetic Diagnosis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: An Increased
      Complexity.

PMID- 27634585
TI  - Promoting Difficult Carbon-Carbon Couplings: Which Ligand Does Best?
AB  - A Pd complex, cis-[Pd(C6 F5 )2 (THF)2 ] (1), is proposed as a useful touchstone
      for direct and simple experimental measurement of the relative ability of
      ancillary ligands to induce C-C coupling. Interestingly, 1 is also a good
      alternative to other precatalysts used to produce Pd0 L. Complex 1 ranks the
      coupling ability of some popular ligands in the order Pt Bu3 >o-TolPEWO
      F~tBuXPhos>P(C6 F5 )3 ~PhPEWO-F>P(o-Tol)3 ~THF~tBuBrettPhos?Xantphos~PhPEWO
      H?PPh3 according to their initial coupling rates, whereas their efficiency,
      depending on competitive hydrolysis, is ranked tBuXPhos~Pt Bu3 ~o-TolPEWO
      F>PhPEWO-F>P(C6 F5 )3 ?tBuBrettPhos>THF~P(o-Tol)3 >Xantphos>PhPEWO-H?PPh3 . This
      "meter" also detects some other possible virtues or complications of ligands such
      as tBuXPhos or tBuBrettPhos.

PMID- 27634586
TI  - Long-term stability of dexamethasone and alizapride or ondansetron in sodium
      chloride 0.9% polyolefin bag at 5+/-3 degrees C.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to investigate the long-term stability of
      dexamethasone 10mg associated with alizapride 100mg or ondansetron 8mg in 100mL
      of 0.9% sodium chloride solution stored at 5+/-3 degrees C. METHOD: Solutions of
      0.9% sodium chloride 100mL in polyolefin bags (n=5) containing approximately
      dexamethasone (DEX) 10mg associated with alizapride (ALI) 100mg or ondansetron
      (OND) 8mg were prepared under aseptic conditions and stored about 30 days at 5+/
      3 degrees C. ALI, DEX and OND concentrations were measured by high-performance
      liquid chromatography (HPLC). Optic density measurement at different wavelengths,
      pH measurement and optic microscope observations were performed periodically
      during the storage. A forced degradation test with HCL 5M and NaOH 5M before and
      after heating at 100 degrees C was also performed. Solutions were considered
      stable if the 95% one-sided lower confidence limit of the concentration remains
      superior to 90% of the initial concentration or 95% of the initial concentration
      when any signs of physical instability exist as recently recommend. RESULTS: The
      calibration was linear over the following range from 20 to 1.25mg/100mL for DEX,
      from 200 to 12.5mg/100mL for ALI and from 20 to 1.25mg/100mL for OND with a
      calculated correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.998, 0.999 and 0.999, respectively.
      The inter- and intra-assay precision was below 10% for both mixtures. All
      formulations were physically stable during the storage. The lower confidence
      limit of the concentration for these solutions remains superior to 90% of the
      initial concentration at this date as recommended by the Food and Drug
      Administration (FDA) until 30 days. CONCLUSION: The HPLC method is specific and
      reproducible and can easily be adopted for monitoring the quality control in the
      production of DEX-ALI and DEX-OND bags. Solutions of DEX-ALI and DEX-OND were
      physically and chemically stable for 30 days in polyolefin bags stored at 5+/-3
      degrees C and could therefore be prepared in advance.

PMID- 27634587
TI  - Frozen section analysis of SLNs in trunk and extremity melanoma has a high false
      negative rate but can spare some patients a second operation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of frozen
      section (FS) analysis of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in melanoma. METHODS: Five
      hundred seventy-one patients underwent FS analysis of SLN between 1/2000
      and12/2010. Surgical and pathological characteristics, recurrence, and survival
      were analyzed. Comparisons were made using chi2 and Fisher's exact t-test.
      RESULTS: One hundred thirty-three (23%) patients were SLN positive of which 63
      (47.4%) were identified on FS. 16/70 SLN metastases not identified on FS (23%)
      were seen only on immunohistochemistry. FS analysis detected 84% of SLN
      metastasis >2 mm. SLN FS false negative rate was 53%, positive predictive value
      100%, negative predictive value 88%, and overall accuracy 89%. Among patients
      with a FS positive SLN, 17/63 (27%) had additional positive nodes on CLND, versus
      1 of 70 (1.4%) with a positive SLN identified only on permanent section pathology
      (P < 0.0001). The nodal recurrence rate following a negative SLN biopsy was 5%.
      CONCLUSIONS: FS analysis for SLNs spared approximately half of patients a second
      operation. Patients with a positive SLN detected on FS were more likely to have
      further nodal involvement. In our experience intraoperative pathologic analysis
      of melanoma SLNs does not impair our ability to detect SLN metastasis or lead to
      a high rate of false positive results or nodal recurrences. J. Surg. Oncol.
      2016;114:879-883. (c) 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634588
TI  - Cipadesin A, a bioactive ingredient of Xylocarpus granatum, produces
      antidepressant-like effects in adult mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Xylocarpus granatum Koenig, widely used in folk medicine in southeast
      countries, has been reported to exert neuropharmacological activities as well as
      mood regulation. The neuroprotective activities of limonoids, riches in X.
      granatum, are poorly understood. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: To investigate the potential
      antidepressant-like effects and the underlying mechanisms of cipadesin A, one
      limonoid component, extracted from X. granatum, in acute stress-induced
      depression mouse models. STUDY DESIGN: Antidepressant-like effects of cipadesin A
      were investigated through behavioral tests, and potential mechanism was assessed
      by neuroendocrine system. METHODS: Antidepressant-like effects of cipadesin A (5,
      15, 50mg/kg/day for 7days, intragastrically) were estimated through forced
      swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) and open field test (OFT).
      Effects of cipadesin A on hypothalamus-pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis were
      evaluated by analysis of serum corticosterone (CORT) and adrenocorticotropic
      hormone (ACTH) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS:
      Cipadesin A administration significantly reduced the floating time in the FST and
      immobility time in the TST (15-50mg/kg). Cipadesin A dose-dependently increased
      the time in the central zone in the OFT (5-50mg/kg), without altering the
      locomotor activity. Moreover, repeated cipadesin A treatment significantly
      inhibited the increase levels of serum CORT (5-50mg/kg), ACTH (15-50mg/kg)
      following the forced swimming, but not in the absence of stress. CONCLUSIONS:
      Cipadesin A has antidepressant-like activities in acute stressed mice model of
      depression, which likely occurs by inhibiting the HPA axis activity response to
      stress. These data support further exploration for developing cipadesin A as a
      potential agent to treat depression and anxiety disorders.

PMID- 27634589
TI  - Epilepsy coexisting with depression.
AB  - Depression episodes in epilepsy is the most common commorbidity, affecting
      between 11% and 62% of patients with epilepsy. Although researchers have
      documented a strong association between epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidities,
      the nature of this relationship is poorly understood. The manifestation of
      depression in epilepsy is a complex issue having many interacting neurobiological
      and psychosocial determinants, including clinical features of epilepsy (seizure
      frequency, type, foci, or lateralization of foci) and neurochemical or iatrogenic
      mechanisms. Other risk factors are a family history of psychiatric illness,
      particularly depression, a lack of control over the seizures and iatrogenic
      causes (pharmacologic and surgical). In addition, treatment with antiepileptic
      drugs (AEDs) as well as social coping and adaptation skills have also been
      recognised as risk factors of depression associated with epilepsy. Epilepsy may
      foster the development of depression through being exposed to chronic stress. The
      uncertainty and unpredictability of seizures may instigate sadness, loneliness,
      despair, low self-esteem, and self-reproach in patients with epilepsy and lead to
      social isolation, stigmatization, or disability. Often, depression is viewed as a
      reaction to epilepsy's stigma and the associated poor quality of life. Moreover,
      patients with epilepsy display a 4-5 higher rate of depression and suicide
      compared with healthy population. 

PMID- 27634590
TI  - Proteomic analysis of acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity and identification of
      heme oxygenase 1 as a potential plasma biomarker of liver injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: Overdose of acetaminophen (APAP) is a major cause of acute liver
      failure. This study was aimed to identify pathways related to hepatotoxicity and
      potential biomarkers of liver injury. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Rats were treated with
      low (100 mg/kg) and high (1250 mg/kg) doses of APAP, and liver tissues at 6 and
      24 h post-treatment were analyzed using a proteomic approach of 16O/18O labeling
      and 2D-LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Molecular pathways evolved progressively from scattered
      and less significant perturbations to more focused and significant alterations in
      a dose- and time-dependent manner upon APAP treatment. Imbalanced expression of
      hemeoxygenase 1 (HMOX1) and biliverdin reductase A (BLVRA) was associated with
      hepatotoxicity. Protein abundance changes of a total of 31 proteins were uniquely
      correlated to liver damage, among which a dramatic increase of HMOX1 levels in
      plasma was observed. Liver injury-associated significant elevation of plasma
      HMOX1 was further validated in mice treated with APAP. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: This study unveiled molecular changes associated with APAP-induced
      liver toxicity at the pathway levels and identified HMOX1 as a potential plasma
      biomarker of liver injury.

PMID- 27634593
TI  - [Physicians' perception on taking care of Jehovah's witnesses].
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The goal of this study is to assess the physician's
      management of patients who refuse blood transfusion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      questionnaire to assess the experience, the acceptance or refusal and the
      operating methods in case of vital risk has been realized and circulated at a
      national scale. RESULTS: A total of 793 questionnaires were sent back and
      analysed according to 3 different categories: anesthesiologists, physicians and
      surgeons. Seventy-nine percent of total respondents and 90% of anesthesiologists
      had had to take care of a Jehovah's Witness. In 51% of all cases, it appears to
      be associated with mainly relational problems with the patient or his family.
      Nevertheless, 83% accept to take care a Jehovah witness, the most reluctant of
      them being anesthesiologists. A written confirmation of blood transfusion refusal
      even at vital risk and a piece of written evidence of belonging to Jehovah's
      Witnesses are not systematically required. For them, the impossibility to foresee
      with certainty the need for blood transfusion represents the main barrier to the
      medical care of a Jehovah's Witness. In case of imminent vital risk and if there
      are no available alternative procedures, 67% of respondents administer blood
      products (89% if the patient is unconscious). CONCLUSION: This situation has
      nothing exceptional but the medical community does not seem to know all the
      regulatory requirements. Generally speaking, they do not oppose the medical care
      of a Jehovah's Witness, but remain committed to their primary focus: to save the
      patient, as long as it is not an end-of-life situation.

PMID- 27634591
TI  - Arachidonic acid-evoked Ca2+ signals promote nitric oxide release and
      proliferation in human endothelial colony forming cells.
AB  - Arachidonic acid (AA) stimulates endothelial cell (EC) proliferation through an
      increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), that, in turn, promotes
      nitric oxide (NO) release. AA-evoked Ca2+ signals are mainly mediated by
      Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channels. Circulating
      endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) represent the only established
      precursors of ECs. In the present study, we, therefore, sought to elucidate
      whether AA promotes human ECFC (hECFC) proliferation through an increase in
      [Ca2+]i and the following activation of the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). AA
      induced a dose-dependent [Ca2+]i raise that was mimicked by its non-metabolizable
      analogue eicosatetraynoic acid. AA-evoked Ca2+ signals required both
      intracellular Ca2+ release and external Ca2+ inflow. AA-induced Ca2+ release was
      mediated by inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors from the endoplasmic reticulum
      and by two pore channel 1 from the acidic stores of the endolysosomal system. AA
      evoked Ca2+ entry was, in turn, mediated by TRPV4, while it did not involve store
      operated Ca2+ entry. Moreover, AA caused an increase in NO levels which was
      blocked by preventing the concomitant increase in [Ca2+]i and by inhibiting eNOS
      activity with NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME). Finally, AA per se did
      not stimulate hECFC growth, but potentiated growth factors-induced hECFC
      proliferation in a Ca2+- and NO-dependent manner. Therefore, AA-evoked Ca2+
      signals emerge as an additional target to prevent cancer vascularisation, which
      may be sustained by ECFC recruitment.

PMID- 27634594
TI  - Gastroesophageal reflux and COPD exacerbations: Is cholinergic-mediated oesophago
      bronchial reflex a possible link? - Reply.

PMID- 27634592
TI  - Differences in the Association of Physical Activity and Children's Overweight and
      Obesity Status Among the Major Racial and Ethnic Groups of U.S. Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of exercise with overweight and obesity
      among an ethnically diverse sample of U.S. children. METHOD: Data from the 2011
      2012 National Survey of Children's Health were analyzed to examine the
      relationship of daily exercise with children's weight status. Propensity score
      covariate adjustment and multivariate logistic regression with survey weights
      were used to control for child, home, and community characteristics. RESULTS:
      Approximately 22% of all children ages 10 to 17 years engaged in daily exercise
      for at least 20 minutes. In the adjusted model for the entire sample, daily
      exercise was associated with children having a lower likelihood of being
      overweight or obese (odds ratio = 0.79; 95% confidence interval = 0.68-0.91). In
      a stratified analysis of the major racial and ethnic groups, however, while White
      children who exercised daily were found to have a lower odds of being overweight
      or obese (odds ratio = 0.70; 95% confidence interval = 0.60-0.82), this
      relationship was not found for most minority children. CONCLUSIONS: Racial and
      ethnic minority children were not found to have the same weight status
      relationship with exercising daily. These findings suggest that some population
      average exercise recommendations may not be as applicable to minority children.

PMID- 27634595
TI  - Approaches to estimating inbreeding coefficients in clinical isolates of
      Plasmodium falciparum from genomic sequence data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The advent of whole-genome sequencing has generated increased
      interest in modelling the structure of strain mixture within clinical infections
      of Plasmodium falciparum The life cycle of the parasite implies that the mixture
      of multiple strains within an infected individual is related to the out-crossing
      rate across populations, making methods for measuring this process in situ
      central to understanding the genetic epidemiology of the disease. RESULTS: This
      paper derives a set of new estimators for inferring inbreeding coefficients using
      whole genome sequence read count data from P. falciparum clinical samples, which
      provides resources to assess within-sample mixture that connect to extensive
      literatures in population genetics and conservation ecology. Features of the P.
      falciparum genome mean that standard methods for inbreeding coefficients and
      related F-statistics cannot be used directly. After reviewing an initial effort
      to estimate the inbreeding coefficient within clinical isolates of P. falciparum,
      several generalizations using both frequentist and Bayesian approaches are
      provided. A simpler, more intuitive frequentist estimator is shown to have nearly
      identical properties to the initial estimator both in simulation and in real data
      sets. The Bayesian approach connects these estimates to the Balding-Nichols
      model, a mainstay within genetic epidemiology, and a possible framework for more
      complex modelling. A simulation study shows strong performance for all estimators
      with as few as ten variants. Application to samples from the PF3K data set
      indicate significant across-country variation in within-sample mixture. Finally,
      a comparison with results from a recent mixture model for within-sample strain
      mixture show that inbreeding coefficients provide a strong proxy for these more
      complex models. CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides a set of methods for estimating
      inbreeding coefficients within P. falciparum samples from whole-genome sequence
      data, supported by simulation studies and empirical examples. It includes a
      substantially simple estimator with similar statistical properties to the
      estimator in current use. These methods will also be applicable to other species
      with similar life-cycles. Implementations of the methods described are available
      in an open-source R package pfmix. Estimates for the PF3K public data release are
      provide as part of this resource.

PMID- 27634596
TI  - Early extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiovascular failure in a patient
      with massive chloroquine poisoning.

PMID- 27634597
TI  - Advanced disseminated tuberculosis in a patient perceived to be at low risk.

PMID- 27634599
TI  - TNF-alpha concentrations in pre-operative synovial fluid for predicting early
      post-operative function and pain after fast-track total knee arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) helps regulate
      neuroinflammation and anxiety and could conceivable predict early post-operative
      pain and function after fast-track total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: In
      patients with severe osteoarthritic knees undergoing TKA, we assessed: the
      correlations between pre-operative concentrations of TNF-alpha in synovial fluid;
      pre- and six-week post-operative knee function and pain; pre- and post-operative
      anxiety; pre- and post-operative synovial fluid concentrations of cartilage
      oligomeric matrix protein (COMP); age and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Of 100
      enrolled patients, 78 had evaluable TNF-alpha data, and 58 had evaluable COMP
      data. Pre-operative TNF-alpha concentrations were inversely correlated with post
      operative pain scores during walking (rS=-0.26, P=0.03) and with change of pain
      at rest during six weeks after TKA (rs=-0.28, P=0.03) and were directly
      correlated with a higher post-operative Knee Society score (KSS) (rS=0.43,
      P<0.001) and with greater increases in this score during six weeks after TKA
      (rS=0.33, P=0.001). Mean TNF-alpha concentrations were higher in the 39 patients
      reporting any pre-operative pain at rest than in 36 patients reporting no pre
      operative pain (P=0.015) and were the only independent predictor of pre-operative
      pain at rest (OR=13, P=0.02). Independent predictors of better post-operative
      knee function were higher log-transformed TNF-alpha concentrations (beta=0.38,
      P=0.002) and male sex (beta=0.28, P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: High levels of pre
      operative TNF-alpha concentrations could be used as an independent predictor of
      better knee function at six weeks of follow-up. In patients with lower pre
      operative TNF-alpha concentrations, post-operative pain management may improve
      the early outcome of the operated joint.

PMID- 27634601
TI  - How is AsMA Run?

PMID- 27634602
TI  - Brain Perfusion and Arterial Blood Flow Velocity During Prolonged Body Tilting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It remains unknown whether brain perfusion is preserved and mirrored
      by middle cerebral blood flow velocity (MCA BFV) during prolonged changes in body
      posture. Herein, we examined the impact of sustained (180 min) 30 degrees  head
      up (HUT) and head-down (HDT) tilt on brain perfusion, as determined by MCA BFV
      and blood flow in the extracranial arteries. METHODS: In 10 healthy male
      subjects, arterial diameters, BFVs, and blood flows were determined in the left
      internal carotid (ICA) and vertebral (VA) arteries using duplex Doppler
      ultrasound in supine rest, and 5, 20, 60, 120, and 180 min following 30 degrees 
      HUT and HDT. MCA BFV was recorded throughout with transcranial Doppler
      ultrasound. RESULTS: ICA as well as VA diameters and blood flows were unaltered
      during HUT. Likewise, brain blood flow and MCA BFV were preserved with HUT. In
      the HDT protocol, ICA and VA diameters were gradually increased, although ICA,
      VA, and brain blood flows were preserved. MCA BFV was progressively reduced
      during HDT. In addition, MCA BFV was positively associated with ICA BFV (beta =
      0.9) and negatively associated with ICA diameter (beta = -125.5). MCA BFV was
      positively associated with brain blood flow during HUT (beta = 0.2) but not HDT.
      CONCLUSIONS: Brain perfusion is preserved whereas MCA BFV is progressively
      decreased and associated with extracranial arterial BFV during sustained 30
      degrees  HDT. Therefore, MCA BFV may not be a surrogate of brain perfusion in
      conditions including prolonged HDT. Montero D, Rauber S. Brain perfusion and
      arterial blood flow velocity during prolonged body tilting. Aerosp Med Hum
      Perform. 2016; 87(8):682-687.

PMID- 27634603
TI  - Blood Flow Restricted Exercise Compared to High Load Resistance Exercise During
      Unloading.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bed rest studies have shown that high load (HL) resistance training
      can mitigate the loss of muscle size and strength during musculoskeletal
      unloading; however, not all individuals are able to perform HL resistance
      exercise. Blood flow restricted (BFR) resistance exercise may be a novel way to
      prevent maladaptation to unloading without requiring HL exercise equipment. This
      study evaluated the muscular training adaptations to HL and BFR resistance
      training during unilateral lower limb suspension (ULLS), a human limb unloading
      model. ULLS allows for evaluation of exercise training in both weight-bearing and
      nonweight-bearing legs within the same individual. METHODS: There were 13
      participants who completed 25 d of ULLS and were counterbalanced to: 1) HL, N =
      6; or 2) BFR, N = 7, training groups. During ULLS, HL and BFR performed
      unilateral leg press and heel raise exercise (3 d/wk). RESULTS: In weight-bearing
      legs, both HL and BFR increased knee extensor muscle cross-sectional area (CSA)
      and strength. In nonweight-bearing legs, knee extensor CSA and strength increased
      only in HL and decreased with BFR. CONCLUSION: HL and BFR resistance exercise
      were both effective exercise programs for the weight-bearing leg. However, BFR
      exercise was not as effective as HL resistance exercise in the nonweight-bearing
      leg. These data show that exercise that improved muscle CSA and strength in
      ambulatory weight-bearing conditions was not sufficient to maintain muscle
      function during unloading. For the preservation of muscle CSA and strength, BFR
      exercise should be considered an adjunct but not a primary exercise
      countermeasure for future space missions. Hackney KJ, Downs ME, Ploutz-Snyder L.
      Blood flow restricted exercise compared to high load resistance exercise during
      unloading. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):688-696.

PMID- 27634604
TI  - Local Pressure Application Effects on Discomfort, Temperature, and Limb
      Oxygenation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite significant investment into the development and improvement
      of military helicopter seat systems, military aviators continue to report seat
      system related pain and discomfort during prolonged missions. METHODS: Using a
      factorial repeated measures design, 15 healthy subjects completed the study, in
      which focal pressure was applied to two locations on the sitting surfaces of the
      body (ischial tuberosity and middle of the posterior thigh). Pressure was applied
      using a purpose-built pressure application system allowing subjects to sit in a
      position mimicking the sitting position in the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The
      researchers measured pain using the Category Partitioning Scale and McGill Pain
      Questionnaire and vascular function using dynamic infrared thermography in the
      lower leg and pulse oximetry at the great toe. Data were collected before and
      during a 10-min application of focal pressure applied to either the ischial
      tuberosity or middle of the posterior thigh and at two different pressure
      magnitudes (36 or 44 kPa). RESULTS: We found that during a 10-min pressure
      application, superficial skin temperature increased by 0.61 degrees C, suggesting
      a decreased venous return during pressure application. We found that lower
      extremity blood oxygenation remained unchanged during pressure application.
      Subjects' reported pain increased during pressure application and was greater
      with 44 kPa of application compared to 36 kPa. DISCUSSION: These results support
      the hypothesis that locally high pressure creates symptoms of discomfort and
      paresthesia. Research examining the effects of local pressure application on
      physiological and neurological function is needed. Games KE, Lakin JM, Quindry
      JC, Weimar WH, Sefton JM. Local pressure application effects on discomfort,
      temperature, and limb oxygenation. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):697-703.

PMID- 27634605
TI  - Respiratory Muscle Training and Exercise Endurance at Altitude.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Climbing and trekking at altitude are common recreational and
      military activities. Physiological effects of altitude are hypoxia and
      hyperventilation. The hyperventilatory response to altitude may cause respiratory
      muscle fatigue and reduce sustained submaximal exercise. Voluntary isocapnic
      hyperpnea respiratory muscle training (VIHT) improves exercise endurance at sea
      level and at depth. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that
      VIHT would improve exercise time at altitude [3600 m (11,811 ft)] compared to
      control and placebo groups. METHODS: Subjects pedaled an ergometer until
      exhaustion at simulated altitude in a hypobaric chamber while noninvasive
      arterial saturation (Sao2), ventilation (VE), and oxygen consumption (Vo2) were
      measured. RESULTS: As expected, Sao2 decreased to 88 +/- 4% saturation at rest
      and to 81 +/- 2% during exercise, and was not affected by VIHT. VIHT resulted in
      a 40% increase in maximal training VE compared to pre-VIHT. Exercise endurance
      significantly increased 44% after VIHT (P = <0.001). Vo2 (30 +/- 3 ml . kg(-1) .
      min(-1)) and heart rate (177 +/- 10 bpm) did not change during exercise and were
      not affected by VIHT (P = 0.531). Pre-VIHT VE increased 21-27% during the initial
      12 min of exercise, after which it decreased 17% at 17.7 +/- 6.0 min. VE at
      altitude post-VIHT increased more (49%) for longer (21 min) and decreased less
      (11% at 25.4 +/- 6.7 min). DISCUSSION: VIHT improved exercise time at altitude
      and sustained VE. This suggests that VIHT reduced respiratory muscle fatigue and
      would be useful to trekkers and military personnel working at altitude. Helfer S,
      Quackenbush J, Fletcher M, Pendergast DR. Respiratory muscle training and
      exercise endurance at altitutde. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):704-711.

PMID- 27634607
TI  - Sustained Military Operations and Cognitive Performance.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cognitive performance is crucial during military operations. It is
      suggested that impaired cognitive performance accounts for most of the accidents
      during training courses and actual battle. There is a need to define when
      soldiers' operational readiness becomes impaired. The objective of this
      systematic review was to investigate the effects of sustained military operations
      (SUSOPS) on vigilance, reaction time, working memory, and reasoning in order to
      select good indicators for performance impairment. METHODS: A systematic
      literature search was performed using publicly accessible databases
      (IngentaConnect, PubMed, Science Direct, and Defense Technical Information Center
      online) that were screened until July 2015. Keywords were military, sustained
      operations, (cognitive) performance, soldier, and training. RESULTS: Only 7 out
      of 589 studies met the inclusion criteria. Selected studies were difficult to
      compare due to different methodologies, cognitive tasks, and military courses.
      Vigilance, reaction time, and working memory were affected after only a few
      hours, showing severe impairment. They are linearly related to military stress up
      to 80 h of SUSOPS. These three indicators needed little recovery time to return
      to baseline levels. After more than 80 h of SUSOPS, no significant impairments of
      those indicators were observed. Reasoning becomes impaired after high stress
      levels of relatively short duration and can remain affected after more than 80 h
      of SUSOPS. DISCUSSION: Vigilance, reaction time, and working memory are affected
      after only a few hours while little recovery time is needed. For reasoning to
      return to baseline values, longer recovery is needed than the time available
      during SUSOPS. Vrijkotte S, Roelands B, Meeusen R, Pattyn N. Sustained military
      operations and cognitive performance. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):718
      727.

PMID- 27634606
TI  - Depression Prevalence and Exposure to Organophosphate Esters in Aircraft
      Maintenance Workers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previous studies found that aircraft maintenance workers may be
      exposed to organophosphates in hydraulic fluid and engine oil. Studies have also
      illustrated a link between long-term low-level organophosphate pesticide exposure
      and depression. METHODS: A questionnaire containing the Patient Health
      Questionnaire 8 depression screener was e-mailed to 52,080 aircraft maintenance
      workers (with N = 4801 complete responses) in a cross-sectional study to
      determine prevalence and severity of depression and descriptions of their
      occupational exposures. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between
      reported depression prevalence and severity in similar exposure groups in which
      aircraft maintenance workers were exposed or may have been exposed to
      organophosphate esters compared to similar exposure groups in which they were not
      exposed. However, a dichotomous measure of the prevalence of depression was
      significantly associated with self-reported exposure levels from low (OR: 1.21)
      to moderate (OR: 1.68) to high exposure (OR: 2.70) and with each exposure route
      including contact (OR: 1.68), inhalation (OR: 2.52), and ingestion (OR: 2.55). A
      self-reported four-level measure of depression severity was also associated with
      a self-reported four-level measure of exposure. DISCUSSION: Based on self
      reported exposures and outcomes, an association is observed between
      organophosphate exposure and depression; however, we cannot assume that the
      associations we observed are causal because some workers may have been more
      likely to report exposure to organophosphate esters and also more likely to
      report depression. Future studies should consider using a larger sample size,
      better methods for characterizing crew chief exposures, and bioassays to measure
      dose rather than exposure. Hardos JE, Whitehead LW, Han I, Ott DK, Waller DK.
      Depression prevalence and exposure to organophosphate esters in aircraft
      maintenance workers. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):712-717.

PMID- 27634609
TI  - Initial Severity Scoring and Residual Deficit in Scuba Divers with Inner Ear
      Decompression Sickness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inner ear decompression sickness (IEDCS) in scuba diving results in
      residual vestibulocochlear deficits with a potential impact on health-related
      quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive factors
      for poor clinical recovery and to try to establish a prognostic score on initial
      physical examination. METHODS: The medical records of injured divers with IEDCS
      treated in our facility between 2009 and 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The
      clinical severity of the deficit was evaluated on admission using a numerical
      scoring system taking into account the intensity of vestibular symptoms and the
      presence of cochlear signs. The clinical outcome was assessed at 3 mo by
      telephone interview. After multivariate analysis of potential risk factors for
      sequelae, the discriminating value of the score and these prognostic reliability
      indices were calculated. RESULTS: Among the 99 patients included in the study,
      24% still had residual symptoms. Statistical analysis revealed that only a high
      clinical score [OR = 1.39 (95% CI 1.13-1.71)] and a delay in hyperbaric
      recompression >6 h [OR = 1.001 (95% CI 1-1.003)] were independently associated
      with incomplete recovery. The advantage of the score lay in its highly specific
      nature (92%) rather than its sensitivity (48%) for a threshold of 10. CONCLUSION:
      Results suggest that the severity of IEDCS can be easily determined by a clinical
      score during the acute phase. Recompression treatment should not be delayed.
      Gempp E, Louge P, de Maistre S, Morvan J-B, Vallee N, Blatteau J-E. Initial
      severity scoring and residual deficit in scuba divers with inner ear
      decompression sickness. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):735-739.

PMID- 27634608
TI  - Army Air Ambulance Blood Product Program in the Combat Zone and Challenges to
      Best Practices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identify challenges and best practices in the development of an
      austere air ambulance transfusion program. METHODS: A search of PubMed using
      combinations of the key terms 'prehospital,' 'blood product,' 'red blood cells,'
      'damage control resuscitation,' 'transfusion,' 'air ambulance,' 'medical
      evacuation,' and 'medevac' yielded 196 articles for further analysis, with 14
      articles suitable for addressing the background of prehospital transfusion within
      a helicopter. Retrospective analysis of unclassified briefs, after action
      reports, and procedures was also undertaken along with interview of subject
      matter experts. The initial series of 15 transfusions were discussed
      telephonically among flight crew, trauma surgeons, and lab specialists. Review of
      Joint Theater System data was readily available for 84 U.S. Army air ambulance
      transfusions between May-December 2012, with December marking the redeployment of
      the 25(th) Combat Aviation Brigade. RESULTS: Standardized implementation enabled
      safe blood product administration for 84 causalities from May-December 2012
      without blood product shortage, expiration, or transfusion reaction. Challenges
      included developing transfusion competency, achieving high quality blood support,
      countering the potential for anti-U.S. sentiment, and diversity in coalition
      transfusion practices. DISCUSSION: Blood product administration aboard the air
      ambulance is logistically complex, requiring blood bank integration. Repetitive
      training enabled emergency medical technicians (EMTs) with basic medical training
      to safely perform transfusion in accordance with clinical operating guidelines.
      In the austere environment, logistic factors are significant challenges and
      political sensitivities are important considerations. Best practices may
      facilitate new en route transfusion programs. Powell-Dunford N, Quesada JF, Gross
      KR, Shackelford SA. Army air ambulance blood product program in the combat zone
      and challenges to best practices. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):728-734.

PMID- 27634610
TI  - Recurrence of Neurological Deficits in an F/A-18D Pilot Following Loss of Cabin
      Pressure at Altitude.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Supersonic, high altitude aviation places its pilots and aircrew in
      complex environments, which may lead to injury that is not easily diagnosed or
      simply treated. Decompression illness (either venous or arterial) and
      environmental conditions (e.g., abnormal gases and pressure) are the most likely
      adverse effects aircrew often face. Though symptomatic aircrew personnel may
      occasionally require hyperbaric oxygen treatment, it is rare to require more than
      one treatment before returning to baseline function. CASE REPORT: This
      challenging aviation case details the clinical course and discusses the salient
      physiological factors of an F/A-18D pilot who presented with neurological
      symptoms following loss of cabin pressure at altitude. DISCUSSION: Most crucial
      to this discussion was the requirement for multiple hyperbaric oxygen treatments
      over several days due to recurrence of symptoms. The likelihood of recurrence
      during and after future flights cannot be estimated with accuracy. This case
      illustrates a degree of recurrences for neurological symptoms in aviation
      (hypobaric exposure to hyperbaric baseline environment) that has not previously
      been described. Robinson T, Evangelista JS III, Latham E, Mukherjee ST, Pilmanis
      A. Recurrence of neurological deficits in an F/A-18D pilot following loss of
      cabin pressure at altitude. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):740-744.

PMID- 27634611
TI  - Technique for Performing Lumbar Puncture in Microgravity Using Portable
      Radiography.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure Syndrome (VIIP) has
      caused symptomatology during and after long duration missions on the
      International Space Station (ISS). Only indirect measurements of intracranial
      pressure (ICP), such as ultrasound, have been performed on ISS. Discussion and
      interest has happened at NASA about performing lumbar puncture (LP) in
      microgravity. Only the "blind" palpation approach and the ultrasound-assisted
      approach have been discussed. This article, as proof of concept, discusses the
      possibility of portable radiography to assist lumbar punctures in microgravity.
      METHOD: An anthropomorphic radiological phantom of an adult lumbar spine was made
      containing a fluid-filled space in the spinal canal with a latex membrane which
      simulated the dural sac and cerebrospinal fluid. A portable direct-digital
      radiography system with wireless transmitting image receptor and screen was used
      to perform image-guided lumbar puncture. Using the same equipment and technique,
      this procedure was then performed on a cadaver for final proof of concept.
      RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in all approaches on the first try
      without needle redirection. There was no difference between the cadaver model and
      the phantom model in terms of difficulty in reaching the fluid space or visually
      confirming needle location. DISCUSSION: Portable radiography via proof of concept
      has the potential to guide lumbar puncture while minimizing volume and mass of
      equipment. This could be ideal for assisting in performing lumbar puncture in
      microgravity, as this is the standard of care on Earth for difficult or failed
      "blind" lumbar punctures. Lerner DJ, Parmet AJ, Don S, Shimony JS, Goyal MS.
      Technique for performing lumbar puncture in microgravity using portable
      radiography. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):745-747.

PMID- 27634612
TI  - You're the Flight Surgeon.
AB  - Bozung TK. You're the flight surgeon: venous thoracic outlet syndrome. Aerosp Med
      Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):748-751. 

PMID- 27634613
TI  - This Month in Aerospace Medicine History.

PMID- 27634614
TI  - Highlighting in Early Childhood: Learning Biases Through Attentional Shifting.
AB  - The literature on human and animal learning suggests that individuals attend to
      and act on cues differently based on the order in which they were learned. Recent
      studies have proposed that one specific type of learning outcome, the
      highlighting effect, can serve as a framework for understanding a number of early
      cognitive milestones. However, little is known how this learning effect itself
      emerges among children, whose memory and attention are much more limited compared
      to adults. Two experiments were conducted using different versions of the general
      highlighting paradigm: Experiment 1 tested 3 to 6 year olds with a newly
      developed image-based version of the paradigm, which was designed specifically to
      test young children. Experiment 2 tested the validity of an image-based
      implementation of the highlighting paradigm with adult participants. The results
      from Experiment 1 provide evidence for the highlighting effect among children 3-6
      years old, and they suggest age-related differences in dividing attention among
      multiple cues during learning. Experiment 2 replicated results from previous
      studies by showing robust biases for both image-based and text-based versions of
      the highlighting task. This study suggests that sensitivity to learning order
      emerges early through the process of cued attention, and the role of the
      highlighting effect in early language learning is discussed.

PMID- 27634616
TI  - Constitutively active Stat5b signaling confers tolerogenic functions to dendritic
      cells of NOD mice and halts diabetes progression.
AB  - Defects in dendritic cells (DCs) development and function lead to autoimmune
      disorders. Autoimmune diabetes in humans and NOD mice results from a breakdown of
      self-tolerance, ending in T cell-mediated beta-cell destruction. DCs dysfunction
      in NOD mice results in part from a defect in the JAK-STAT5 signaling pathway
      associated with the idd4 susceptibility locus. The involvement of Stat5b in DCs
      tolerogenic functions remains unknown. We have generated transgenic mice
      (NOD.CD11cStat5b-CA) expressing a constitutively active form of the Stat5b gene
      (Stat5b-CA) under control of CD11c promoter. All NOD.CD11cStat5b-CA mice were
      protected against diabetes. Protection was associated with an increased in the
      pool and suppressive function of Tregs, a promotion of Th2 and Tc2 immune
      response and a decreased percentage of CD8+ T cells. Splenic DCs of
      NOD.CD11cStat5b-CA mice acquired a mature phenotype, promoted and induced better
      conversion of CD4+CD25-Foxp3- T cells into Tregs (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells) than
      DCs of NOD mice. Stat5b-CA.DC-educated CD4+CD25- T cells delayed diabetes onset
      whereas Stat5b-CA.DC-educated Tregs blocked ongoing diabetes in 8-10 weeks old
      NOD recipient mice. Importantly, injection of Stat5b.CA.DC to 8-10-week old NOD
      mice halted diabetes progression and educated their splenocytes to loose their
      diabetogenic potential when transferred to NOD.SCID mice. Our work is the first
      to report that an active form of Stat5b restored DCs tolerogenic functions that
      re-educated Tregs to re-establish and to sustain long-term protective immune
      response against diabetes in NOD mice.

PMID- 27634615
TI  - Classification systems for causes of stillbirth and neonatal death, 2009-2014: an
      assessment of alignment with characteristics for an effective global system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To reduce the burden of 5.3 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths
      annually, an understanding of causes of deaths is critical. A systematic review
      identified 81 systems for classification of causes of stillbirth (SB) and
      neonatal death (NND) between 2009 and 2014. The large number of systems hampers
      efforts to understand and prevent these deaths. This study aimed to assess the
      alignment of current classification systems with expert-identified
      characteristics for a globally effective classification system. METHODS: Eighty
      one classification systems were assessed for alignment with 17 characteristics
      previously identified through expert consensus as necessary for an effective
      global system. Data were extracted independently by two authors. Systems were
      assessed against each characteristic and weighted and unweighted scores assigned
      to each. Subgroup analyses were undertaken by system use, setting, type of death
      included and type of characteristic. RESULTS: None of the 81 systems were aligned
      with more than 9 of the 17 characteristics; most (82 %) were aligned with four or
      fewer. On average, systems were aligned with 19 % of characteristics. The most
      aligned system (Froen 2009-Codac) still had an unweighted score of only 9/17.
      Alignment with individual characteristics ranged from 0 to 49 %. Alignment was
      somewhat higher for widely used as compared to less used systems (22 % v 17 %),
      systems used only in high income countries as compared to only in low and middle
      income countries (20 % vs 16 %), and systems including both SB and NND (23 %) as
      compared to NND-only (15 %) and SB-only systems (13 %). Alignment was higher with
      characteristics assessing structure (23 %) than function (15 %). CONCLUSIONS:
      There is an unmet need for a system exhibiting all the characteristics of a
      globally effective system as defined by experts in the use of systems, as none of
      the 81 contemporary classification systems assessed was highly aligned with these
      characteristics. A particular concern in terms of global effectiveness is the
      lack of alignment with "ease of use" among all systems, including even the most
      aligned. A system which meets the needs of users would have the potential to
      become the first truly globally effective classification system.

PMID- 27634618
TI  - Progress in BPSD research: analyzing individual BPSD might hold the key to better
      support caregivers.
AB  - Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) or neuropsychiatric
      symptoms occur in more or less every person with dementia at some stage during
      the illness. They often have a significant impact on caregiver well-being and
      vice versa - caregivers response to BPSD can impact on the well-being of the care
      recipient with dementia (Feast et al., 2016A). The relationship between caregiver
      and care-recipient factors when it comes to BPSD is complex and more detailed
      research is needed to be able to progress to more effective interventions and
      support.

PMID- 27634617
TI  - Membrane skeleton orchestrates the platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX complex
      clustering and signaling.
AB  - Platelet glycoprotein Ib-IX complex is affixed to the membrane skeleton through
      interaction with actin binding protein 280 (ABP-280). We find that removal of the
      ABP-280 binding sites in GP Ibalpha cytoplasmic tail has little impact on the
      complex clustering induced by antibody crosslinking. However, large truncation of
      the GP Ibalpha cytoplasmic tail allows the formation of larger patches of the
      complex, suggesting that an ABP-280 independent force may exist. Besides, we
      observe that the signaling upon GP Ib-IX clustering is elicited in both membrane
      lipid domain dependent and independent manner, a choice that relies on how the
      membrane skeleton interacts with the complex. Our findings suggest a more complex
      mechanism for how the membrane skeleton regulates the GP Ib-IX function. (c) 2016
      IUBMB Life, 68(10):823-829, 2016.

PMID- 27634620
TI  - Differential Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Cortical and Deep Gray Matter
      Structures in African Americans and Caucasian Americans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: African Americans with multiple sclerosis (AAwMS) have different
      disease phenotypes when compared to Caucasians Americans with MS (CAwMS). The
      pathologic basis of this difference in disease presentation is unknown. METHODS:
      Fifty-Four AAwMS and 54 CAwMS were appropriately matched for age, gender,
      treatment duration, and disease duration. FreeSurfer was used to segment brain
      white matter and gray matter from T1 images and compute thalamic volume. Regional
      cortical thickness was calculated using QDEC. RESULTS: The 2 matched cohorts
      differed in disability, with AAwMS demonstrating significantly higher EDSS scores
      (2.3+/-2.2 vs. 1.3+/-1.5, P < .009), yet the 2 populations had similar T2
      hyperintense lesion volumes (P = .35). AAwMS had a significantly lower total
      global cortical thickness when compared to CAwMS (P = .03). Controlling for EDSS,
      AAwMS showed multiple cortical regions to be significantly thinner than CAwMS;
      these included areas within the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, as well
      as the precentral and postcentral gyrus. Middletemporal cortex was most affected
      in AAwMS in the left hemisphere (P = .009), while the superiortemporal cortex was
      most affected in the right hemisphere (P = .0001). In contrast, thalamic volume
      was significantly reduced in CAwMS when compared to AAwMS (P = .01). In both
      groups, worse disability was associated with lower total thalamic volume
      percentage. CONCLUSION: AAwMS and CAwMS patients differ with regard to global and
      regional cortical thickness and thalamic volume. This diverging pattern of gray
      matter volumetrics among otherwise matched patients suggests that racial-specific
      disease differences may exist.

PMID- 27634619
TI  - TRPM8 and Migraine.
AB  - Migraine is among the most common diseases on earth and one of the most
      disabling, the latter due in large part to poor treatment efficacy. Development
      of new therapeutics is dependent on the identification of mechanisms contributing
      to migraine and discovery of targets for new drugs. Numerous genome-wide
      association studies (GWAS) have implicated the transient receptor-potential M8
      (TRPM8) channel in migraine. This channel is predominantly expressed on
      peripheral sensory neurons and is known as the sensor for cold temperature in
      cutaneous tissue but is also expressed on deep visceral afferents where cold is
      not likely a stimulus. Consequently, a number of alternative endogenous agonists
      have been proposed. Apart from its role in cold sensation, TRPM8 also contributes
      to cold allodynia after nerve injury or inflammation, and it is necessary for
      cooling/menthol-based analgesia. How it might contribute to migraine is less
      clear. The purpose of this review is to discuss the anatomical and physiological
      mechanisms by which meningeal TRPM8 may play a role in migraine as well as the
      potential of TRPM8 as a therapeutic target. TRPM8 is expressed on sensory
      afferents innervating the meninges, and these neurons are subject to
      developmental changes that may influence their contribution to migraine. As in
      viscera, meningeal TRPM8 channels are unlikely to be activated by temperature
      fluctuations and their endogenous ligands remain unknown. Preclinical migraine
      studies show that activation of meningeal TRPM8 by exogenous agonists can both
      cause and alleviate headache behaviors, depending on whether other meningeal
      afferents concurrently receive noxious stimuli. This is reminiscent of the fact
      that cold can trigger migraine in humans but menthol can also alleviate headache.
      We propose that both TRPM8 agonists and antagonists may be potential
      therapeutics, depending on how migraine is triggered in individual patients. In
      this regard, TRPM8 may be a novel target for personalized medicine in migraine
      treatment.

PMID- 27634622
TI  - Where have the organizers gone? - The growth control system as a foundation of
      physiology.
AB  - A model of growth control system suggests that the organizers in embryogenesis
      continue to exist and partially retain their function after embryogenesis. The
      organizers are the macroscopic singular points of the morphogen gradient and
      bioelectric fields. They have higher metabolic rate, higher density of gap
      junctions and stem cells than the surrounding tissue. The growth control model
      predicts that the organizers are likely to exist at the extreme points of surface
      or interface curvature of the body. Changes in bioelectric field at organizers
      precede the morphological and anatomical changes in morphogenesis and
      pathogenesis. Subtle perturbations at organizers can cause long lasting systemic
      effects. These features of organizers can be used for diagnostic and therapeutic
      purposes such as regenerative medicine. There is increasing evidence that
      acupuncture points are likely to have originated from organizers in
      embryogenesis. Many corollaries and predictions of the growth control model have
      been independently confirmed in developmental biology, physiology, as well as
      basic and clinical acupuncture research. This model set the first example of a
      truly integrative biological basis of acupuncture and conventional biomedical
      sciences which has met the gold standard of science with multiple confirmed
      predictions in both fields. The growth control system is embedded in various
      physiological systems and is part of the foundation of physiology and
      pathophysiology.

PMID- 27634623
TI  - Patient threatens legal action over lack of compensation for hepatitis C
      contaminated blood.

PMID- 27634621
TI  - Patient-Reported oral health outcome measurement for children and adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral health is an important component of daily functioning and well
      being. A comprehensive patient-reported oral health measure is needed to gauge
      the impact of oral health status on children and adolescents. This study aims to
      develop oral health item banks and associated short-form surveys for children and
      adolescents 2-17 year olds. METHODS: Using children and adolescents, ages 2-17
      years, selected from diverse dental sites in Greater Los Angeles Area, we propose
      to develop state-of-the-science methods to create oral health item banks to
      effectively measure oral health outcomes for children and adolescents. Methods
      include a literature review of existing measures, focus groups, cognitive
      interviews, drafting and field testing of survey items, and evaluation of the
      psychometric properties of the measures. RESULTS: Based on the systematic
      literature search and focus groups, we identified core (physical health, mental
      health, and social function domains) and peripheral (e.g., need and access) oral
      health domains. We then drafted survey items and revised them based on 66
      cognitive interviews (27 children/adolescents and 39 parents) with 39 families.
      The revised items will be administered in a field test of 500 children and
      adolescents ages 2-17, and their parents. CONCLUSIONS: The qualitative methods
      used in the initial phases of the project (focus group and cognitive interviews)
      are the initial steps in the development of oral health item banks and associated
      short-form surveys for children and adolescents. The oral health items can
      potentially be used to create effective computerized adaptive test and/or create
      ad hoc short forms targeting specific areas of oral health to survey large
      populations of children with much less cost compared with traditional clinical
      oral health examination.

PMID- 27634624
TI  - Central sleep apnoea: to treat or not to treat?

PMID- 27634625
TI  - Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis: The Foothold in Undervaccination.
AB  - Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a fatal complication of measles
      infection. We present a case of a fully vaccinated 3-year-old boy who was
      diagnosed with and treated for autoimmune encephalitis before arriving at a
      diagnosis of SSPE. We discuss the challenges of diagnosing SSPE in developed
      countries.

PMID- 27634627
TI  - Inpatient Pediatric Migraine Treatment: Does Choice of Abortive Therapy Affect
      Length of Stay?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the inpatient management of pediatric migraine and the
      association between specific medications and hospital length of stay (LOS). STUDY
      DESIGN: Historical cohort study review of patients age <19 years of age admitted
      to a single tertiary care children's hospital between 2010 and 2015 for treatment
      of migraine headache. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 58 encounters with an
      average patient age of 14.3 years (SD 3.2 years) with a female predominance
      (62%). The mean number of inpatient medications received by patients was 3 (range
      1-7), with dopamine antagonists and dihydroergotamine used most commonly (67% and
      59% of encounters, respectively). The average LOS was 56 hours (95% CI 48.2-63.2)
      and did not vary by medication received, although patients who received an opioid
      had a significantly longer LOS (79.2 vs 47.9 hours respectively; P < .001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Children admitted to the hospital for treatment of migraine headache
      frequently require a large number of medications over an average hospital LOS of
      more than 2 days without apparent differences based on medication received other
      than prolonged stays for subjects who received opioids.

PMID- 27634628
TI  - Considerations When Implementing a Pediatric Telemedicine Program.

PMID- 27634629
TI  - Longitudinal Regional Brain Development and Clinical Risk Factors in Extremely
      Preterm Infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate third-trimester extrauterine brain growth and
      correlate this with clinical risk factors in the neonatal period, using serially
      acquired brain tissue volumes in a large, unselected cohort of extremely preterm
      born infants. STUDY DESIGN: Preterm infants (gestational age <28 weeks) underwent
      brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at around 30 weeks postmenstrual age and
      again around term equivalent age. MRIs were segmented in 50 different regions
      covering the entire brain. Multivariable regression analysis was used to
      determine the influence of clinical variables on volumes at both scans, as well
      as on volumetric growth. RESULTS: MRIs at term equivalent age were available for
      210 infants and serial data were available for 131 infants. Growth over these 10
      weeks was greatest for the cerebellum, with an increase of 258%. Sex, birth
      weight z-score, and prolonged mechanical ventilation showed global effects on
      brain volumes on both scans. The effect of brain injury on ventricular size was
      already visible at 30 weeks, whereas growth data and volumes at term-equivalent
      age revealed the effect of brain injury on the cerebellum. CONCLUSION: This study
      provides data about third-trimester extrauterine volumetric brain growth in
      preterm infants. Both global and local effects of several common clinical risk
      factors were found to influence serial volumetric measurements, highlighting the
      vulnerability of the human brain, especially in the presence of brain injury,
      during this period.

PMID- 27634626
TI  - Transitioning From Descriptive to Mechanistic Understanding of the Microbiome:
      The Need for a Prospective Longitudinal Approach to Predicting Disease.

PMID- 27634630
TI  - Variation in floral morphology and plant reproductive success in four Ipomoea
      species (Convolvulaceae) with contrasting breeding systems.
AB  - This study tested the hypothesis that self-compatibility would be associated with
      floral traits that facilitate autonomous self-pollination to ensure reproduction
      under low pollinator visitation. In a comparison of two pairs of Ipomoea species
      with contrasting breeding systems, we predicted that self-compatible (SC) species
      would have smaller, less variable flowers, reduced herkogamy, lower pollinator
      visitation and higher reproductive success than their self-incompatible (SI)
      congeners. We studied sympatric species pairs, I. hederacea (SC)- I. mitchellae
      (SI) and I. purpurea (SC)-I. indica (SI), in Mexico, over two years. We
      quantified variation in floral traits and nectar production, documented
      pollinator visitation, and determined natural fruit and seed set. Hand
      pollination and bagging experiments were conducted to determine potential for
      autonomous self-pollination and apomixis. Self-compatible Ipomoea species had
      smaller flowers and lower nectar production than SI species; however, floral
      variation and integration did not vary according to breeding system. Bees were
      primary pollinators of all species, but visitation rates were seven times lower
      in SC than SI species. SC species had a high capacity for autonomous self
      pollination due to reduced herkogamy at the highest anther levels. Self
      compatible species had two to six times higher fruit set than SI species. Results
      generally support the hypothesis that self-compatibility and autonomous self
      pollination ensure reproduction under low pollinator visitation. However, high
      variation in morphological traits of SC Ipomoea species suggests they maintain
      variation through outcrossing. Furthermore, reduced herkogamy was associated with
      high potential for autonomous self-pollination, providing a reproductive
      advantage that possibly underlies transitions to self-compatibility in Ipomoea.

PMID- 27634632
TI  - Sleep-dependent memory consolidation is related to perceived value of learned
      material.
AB  - Although many types of newly encoded information can be consolidated during
      sleep, an enhanced effect has been found for memories tagged as relevant to the
      future, such as through knowledge of future testing or payment for successful
      recall. In the current study, participants (n = 80) learned Welsh and Breton
      translations of English words, and intrinsic relevance of learned material was
      operationalized as perceived value of the Welsh and Breton languages.
      Participants were non-Welsh native English speakers who had recently arrived in
      Wales. Memory for the words was tested immediately and 12 h later, after either a
      period of wake or a period of sleep. An increase in recall for both languages was
      found after sleep, but not after wake. Importantly, for the sleep condition,
      overnight improvement in Welsh word recall was associated with participants'
      level of valuing the Welsh language. This association was not found for the wake
      period condition. These findings support previous indications of an active role
      of sleep in the consolidation of memories relevant for the future, and
      demonstrate that this effect may be modulated by individual differences in
      perceived value of the learned material. It remains to be established whether
      this association is mediated by an emotional attachment to the language or a
      cognitive facility with it, or both.

PMID- 27634634
TI  - Clindamycin-induced necrotising oesophagitis.

PMID- 27634635
TI  - Valsalva retinopathy.

PMID- 27634631
TI  - Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma associated with silicone breast implant, HLA
      DRB1*11:01, and HLA-DQB1*03:01 manifesting as macrophage activation syndrome and
      with severe neurological symptoms: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Silicone implants have been successfully used for breast augmentation
      and reconstruction in millions of women worldwide. The reaction to the silicone
      implant is highly variable; it can lead to local inflammatory symptoms, and
      sometimes to systemic symptoms and disease. Over 80 cases of anaplastic lymphoma
      kinase-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma have been reported in patients
      with silicone breast implants and have been accepted as a new clinical entity. To
      the best of our knowledge, an intravascular large B-cell lymphoma associated with
      a silicone breast implant has not been reported previously. CASE PRESENTATION: A
      48-year-old Caucasian woman who presented with high fever was found to have
      splenomegaly on physical examination. A laboratory diagnosis revealed
      pancytopenia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperferritinemia. She developed signs of
      altered sensorium, hemiparesis, aphasia, and cauda equina syndrome. On further
      evaluation, she fulfilled the necessary five out of eight criteria for diagnosis
      of macrophage activation syndrome/hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.
      Dexamethasone administration was followed by prompt improvement; however, 3 days
      later she again manifested high fever, which persisted despite administration of
      immunoglobulin and cyclosporine A. Her silicone breast implant was considered a
      possible contributor to her macrophage activation syndrome and was therefore
      removed. A histological examination of the capsule tissue showed an extensive
      lymphohistiocytic/giant cell foreign body reaction suggestive of
      autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants. However, the histological
      examination unexpectedly also revealed an intravascular large B-cell lymphoma.
      CONCLUSIONS: The genetic background of our patient with silicone breast implants
      might have predisposed her to three rare and difficult to diagnose
      syndromes/diseases: macrophage activation syndrome/hemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis, autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants, and
      intravascular large B-cell lymphoma. The simultaneous manifestation of all three
      syndromes suggests causal interrelationships. Human leukocyte antigen testing in
      all women who undergo silicon breast implantation could in the future enable us
      to better evaluate the risk of potential side effects.

PMID- 27634636
TI  - Implementing evidence-based practices improves neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 27634633
TI  - A Comparison of Recruitment Methods for an mHealth Intervention Targeting
      Mothers: Lessons from the Growing Healthy Program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mobile health (mHealth) programs hold great promise for increasing
      the reach of public health interventions. However, mHealth is a relatively new
      field of research, presenting unique challenges for researchers. A key challenge
      is understanding the relative effectiveness and cost of various methods of
      recruitment to mHealth programs. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to
      (1) compare the effectiveness of various methods of recruitment to an mHealth
      intervention targeting healthy infant feeding practices, and (2) explore factors
      influencing practitioner referral to the intervention. METHODS: The Growing
      healthy study used a quasi-experimental design with an mHealth intervention group
      and a concurrent nonrandomized comparison group. Eligibility criteria included:
      expectant parents (>30 weeks of gestation) or parents with an infant <3 months
      old, ability to read and understand English, own a mobile phone, >=18 years old,
      and living in Australia. Recruitment to the mHealth program consisted of: (1)
      practitioner-led recruitment through Maternal and Child Health nurses, midwives,
      and nurses in general practice; (2) face-to-face recruitment by researchers; and
      (3) online recruitment. Participants' baseline surveys provided information
      regarding how participants heard about the study, and their sociodemographic
      details. Costs per participant recruited were calculated by taking into account
      direct advertising costs and researcher time/travel costs. Practitioner feedback
      relating to the recruitment process was obtained through a follow-up survey and
      qualitative interviews. RESULTS: A total of 300 participants were recruited to
      the mHealth intervention. The cost per participant recruited was lowest for
      online recruitment (AUD $14) and highest for practice nurse recruitment (AUD
      $586). Just over half of the intervention group (50.3%, 151/300) were recruited
      online over a 22-week period compared to practitioner recruitment (29.3%, 88/300
      over 46 weeks) and face-to-face recruitment by researchers (7.3%, 22/300 over 18
      weeks). No significant differences were observed in participant sociodemographic
      characteristics between recruitment methods, with the exception that
      practitioner/face-to-face recruitment resulted in a higher proportion of first
      time parents (68% versus 48%, P=.002). Less than half of the practitioners
      surveyed reported referring to the program often or most of the time. Key
      barriers to practitioner referral included lack of time, difficulty remembering
      to refer, staff changes, lack of parental engagement, and practitioner difficulty
      in accessing the app. CONCLUSIONS: Online recruitment using parenting-related
      Facebook pages was the most cost effective and timely method of recruitment to an
      mHealth intervention targeting parents of young infants. Consideration needs to
      be given to addressing practitioner barriers to referral, to further explore if
      this can be a viable method of recruitment.

PMID- 27634637
TI  - LABA/LAMA combinations instead of LABA/ICS combinations may prevent or delay
      exacerbations of COPD in some patients.

PMID- 27634638
TI  - Effect of modifying the information and training structure on the occupational
      safety of health care workers in exposure to blood and body fluids: A quasi
      experimental study.
AB  - This study was a quasi-experimental design to assess the effect of a Web-based
      information system on the occupational exposure to blood and body fluids (BBFs)
      among health care workers (HCWs). The outcome was the number of exposure
      incidents with BBFs among HCWs in both hospital A (intervention) and hospital B
      (control). The findings showed that the implementation of the Web-based
      information system about infection prevention and control in hospital A decreased
      exposure incidents with BBFs among the HCWs (P < .001).

PMID- 27634639
TI  - The roles of miRNAs as potential biomarkers in lung diseases.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs which can act as master regulators
      of gene expression, modulate almost all biological process and are essential for
      maintaining cellular homeostasis. Dysregulation of miRNA expression has been
      associated with aberrant gene expression and may lead to pathological conditions.
      Evidence suggests that miRNA expression profiles are altered between health and
      disease and as such may be considered as biomarkers of disease. Evidence is
      increasing that miRNAs are particularly important in lung homeostasis and
      development and have been demonstrated to be the involved in many pulmonary
      diseases such as asthma, COPD, sarcoidosis, lung cancer and other smoking related
      diseases. Better understanding of the function of miRNA and the mechanisms
      underlying their action in the lung, would help to improve current diagnosis and
      therapeutics strategies in pulmonary diseases. Recently, some miRNA-based drugs
      have been introduced as possible therapeutic agents. In this review we aim to
      summarize the recent findings regarding the role of miRNAs in the airways and
      lung and emphasise their potential therapeutic roles in pulmonary diseases.

PMID- 27634640
TI  - Nonfullerene Tandem Organic Solar Cells with High Open-Circuit Voltage of 1.97 V.
AB  - Small-molecule nonfullerene-based tandem organic solar cells (OSCs) are
      fabricated for the first time by utilizing P3HT:SF(DPPB)4 and PTB7-Th:IEIC bulk
      heterojunctions as the front and back subcells, respectively. A power conversion
      efficiency of 8.48% is achieved with an ultrahigh open-circuit voltage of 1.97 V,
      which is the highest voltage value reported to date among efficient tandem OSCs.

PMID- 27634641
TI  - Prenatal diagnosis of 17q12 deletion syndrome: from fetal hyperechogenic kidneys
      to high risk for autism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The linkage between 17q12 microdeletions, renal anomalies, and higher
      risk for neurodevelopmental disorders is well described in the literature. The
      current study presents prenatal diagnosis of normal-sized fetal hyperechogenic
      kidneys leading to the diagnosis of 17q12 deletion syndrome and autism spectrum
      disorder. METHODS: Over a period of 9 years in a single referral center, seven
      fetuses were diagnosed with hyperechogenic renal parenchyma and were followed up
      prospectively. Amniocentesis for molecular diagnosis was performed in all cases,
      and subsequently, five fetuses were found to harbor a 17q12 deletion by
      chromosomal microarray analysis. Postnatal evaluation was carried out by a
      developmental neurologist. RESULTS: Five of the seven fetuses had molecular
      diagnosis of 17q12 deletion. One patient elected termination of pregnancy. On
      long-term follow-up, all of the four children showed symptoms consistent with
      neurodevelopmental disorders. The two fetuses with no deletion have a normal
      follow-up with regression of the renal hyperechogenicity. CONCLUSIONS: We report
      a strikingly high correlation between prenatal hyperechogenic kidneys, 17q12
      microdeletion, and autism spectrum disorder with the advantage of optimal
      prenatal counseling as well as early diagnosis and intervention. (c) 2016 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27634643
TI  - Executive functioning in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
AB  - Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is a
      disorder characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis leading to excessive
      production of adrenal androgens. Prenatal and postnatal exposure to excess
      androgens may increase neural vulnerability to insult and affect cognitive
      functions, particularly dopamine-dependent neural circuits responsible for
      executive functioning (EF). Our study aimed to investigate relationship between
      more pronounced androgen exposure and EF-related behaviors in children with CAH,
      as well as sex differences in these associations. Parents of patients with CAH
      (n=41, boys=17, girls=24; age: M=8.41, SD=4.43) completed the Behavior Rating
      Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a measure assessing behavioral
      manifestations of EF. Assessments of bone age advancement, a proxy of cumulative
      androgen exposure, were analyzed. Advanced bone age predicted more inhibition
      difficulties in boys but not in girls, and more difficulties in all other BRIEF
      domains in the total sample. Excessive androgen production affected EF such that
      more advanced bone age led to more EF-related difficulties. Sex differences in
      inhibition may result from estrogen exposure moderating the impact of androgens
      in girls but not in boys. Future interventions may include targeting EF in
      patients with CAH to enhance quality of life and reduce cognitive consequences
      associated with this disease.

PMID- 27634642
TI  - Association between serum cotinine level and prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty
      liver disease: a cross-sectional study from the Third National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey.
AB  - The data on the effect of smoking on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
      has been controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate if an
      association exists between serum cotinine level (a tobacco biomarker) and NAFLD
      prevalence in the general US population. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis
      of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES
      III). We included 11,003 adults aged 20-74 years who underwent ultrasonography.
      Of those, 4036 were identified as having NAFLD and 6967 were recognized as
      controls. The percentage of current smokers was significantly lower in subjects
      with NAFLD compared with those in controls (21.5% vs 26.0%, p<0.01). After
      adjustment for potential confounders, there was no association between current or
      former smokers with NAFLD. Additionally, no associations were observed between
      the levels of serum cotinine and NAFLD. No association between serum cotinine
      levels at each quartile level and NAFLD was observed regardless of smoking
      status. In this large US population-based study, we did not find an association
      between NAFLD and self-reported smoking status or measured serum cotinine level.

PMID- 27634644
TI  - Proposal of a Dukes-MAC-like staging system for gastric cancer.
AB  - The aim of this study was to present an epidemiological update regarding the
      classical prognostic parameters of gastric cancer (GC) in 3 countries from
      Eastern Europe and to suggest a modification of the pTNM staging system. In 333
      consecutive cases which were diagnosed between 2003 and 2012 in 3 departments of
      pathology from Romania, Hungary, and Poland, the following parameters were
      analyzed: age and gender of patients, tumor localization, macroscopic and
      microscopic aspects including the degree of discohesivity, depth of tumor
      infiltration, and pTNM stage. From all of the studied parameters, the following
      proved to have independent prognostic value, indicating a lower survival rate:
      presence of distant metastases (p=0.001), lymph node positivity (p=0.0009), depth
      of tumor infiltration (p=0.04), age over 50 (p=0.02), proximally located tumors
      (p=0.03), and ulceroinfiltrative or diffusely infiltrative macroscopic aspect
      (p=0.0002). The pT2N1-3 staged cases showed a worse prognosis compared with the
      pT3N0 ones (p=0.02). Regardless of depth of invasion, the lymph node status
      remains the strongest indicator of the survival rate in GC. The pTN staging
      system should be adapted and a Dukes-MAC-like staging system should include the
      following groups: stage A1-T1N0, stage A2-T1N1-3, stage B1-T2N0, stage B2-T2N1-3,
      stage C1-T3N0, stage C2-T3N1-3, and stage D-T4N0-3. The grade of
      discohesivity/budding is not a prognostic factor in GC.

PMID- 27634645
TI  - Enhanced acute anti-inflammatory effects of CORM-2-loaded nanoparticles via
      sustained carbon monoxide delivery.
AB  - The aim of this study was to enhance the anti-inflammatory effects of carbon
      monoxide (CO) via sustained release of CO from carbon monoxide-releasing molecule
      2-loaded lipid nanoparticles (CORM-2-NPs). CORM-2-NPs were prepared by hot high
      pressure homogenization method using trilaurin as a solid lipid core and Tween
      20/Span 20/Myrj S40 as surfactant mixture. The physicochemical properties of CORM
      2-NPs were characterized and CO release from CORM-2-NPs was assessed by myoglobin
      assay. In vitro anti-inflammatory effects were evaluated by nitric oxide assay in
      lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. In vivo anti-inflammatory
      activity was investigated by measuring paw volumes and histological examination
      in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. Spherical CORM-2-NPs were around 100nm with
      narrow particle size distribution. The sustained CO release from CORM-2-NPs was
      observed and the half-life of CO release increased up to 10 times compared with
      CORM-2 solution. CORM-2-NPs showed enhanced in vitro anti-inflammatory effects by
      inhibition of nitric oxide production. Edema volume in rat paw was significantly
      reduced after treatment with CORM-2-NPs. Taken together, CORM-2-NPs have a great
      potential for CO therapeutics against inflammation via sustained release of CO.

PMID- 27634646
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of pH-responsive nanoscale hydrogels for oral
      delivery of hydrophobic therapeutics.
AB  - pH-responsive, polyanionic nanoscale hydrogels were developed for the oral
      delivery of hydrophobic therapeutics, such as common chemotherapeutic agents.
      Nanoscale hydrogels were designed to overcome physicochemical and biological
      barriers associated with oral delivery of hydrophobic therapeutics such as low
      solubility and poor permeability due to P-glycoprotein related drug efflux.
      Synthesis of these nanoscale materials was achieved by a robust photoemulsion
      polymerization method. By varying hydrophobic monomer components, four
      formulations were synthesized and screened for optimal physicochemical properties
      and in vitro biocompatibility. All of the responsive nanoscale hydrogels were
      capable of undergoing a pH-dependent transition in size. Depending on the
      selection of the hydrophobic monomer, the sizes of the nanoparticles vary widely
      from 120nm to about 500nm at pH 7.4. Polymer composition was verified using
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy. Polymer biocompatibility was assessed in vitro with an intestinal
      epithelial cell model. All formulations were found to have no appreciable
      cytotoxicity, defined as greater than 80% viability after polymer incubation. We
      demonstrate that these nanoscale hydrogels possess desirable physicochemical
      properties and exhibit agreeable in vitro biocompatibility for oral delivery
      applications.

PMID- 27634653
TI  - Analysis of results of soft tissue sarcoma margins revision surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients from other centres where they have had an unplanned
      surgical resection of a soft tissue sarcoma are often referred to hospitals
      specialised in sarcomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A study was conducted on 35
      patients who required this type of surgery were referred to our center between
      November 2001 and July 2013. RESULTS: Surgery had been performed on 29% of the
      patients without any complementary tests being done. In 75% of cases, the sarcoma
      diagnosis was discovered in the post-surgical histological study. Synovial
      sarcoma was the most common, affecting 38% of the patients. A surgical revision
      of the margins was performed on all of them, and adjuvant treatment was performed
      on 86% of them. The histopathology study found that 69% of the patients had
      residual disease. At the end of follow-up, 12% had a local recurrence, another
      12% distant metastases, and 3% had died. CONCLUSION: Given the results, it is
      concluded that any tumour of the soft tissues in which malignancy is suspected
      has to be resected in a reference centre. If an unplanned esection was performed
      in another centre, it should be referred immediately in order to perform an
      imaging study, revision surgery, and if required, adjuvant treatment.

PMID- 27634652
TI  - Revascularisation pattern of ruptured flexor tendon grafts in anterior cruciate
      ligament reconstruction: A histological study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: For successful anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction,
      revascularisation and histological maturation are necessary, as their failure can
      cause graft rupture. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe
      differences in the histological maturation of early failed plasty (less than 12
      months after surgery) and late failed plasty (more than 12 months after surgery)
      in patients with re-rupture after ACL reconstruction with hamstring tendons.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A descriptive observational study was conducted on a
      consecutive series of 20 patients whose ACL reconstruction had failed. Graft
      biopsy samples were obtained during the revision surgery from the proximal,
      medial, and distal graft remnants. The samples were evaluated by light
      microscopy, and the vascularity and maturation of the samples were established by
      histological scoring. RESULTS: The most common aetiology of reconstruction
      failure (86.6%) was a specific event with non-contact mechanism. The patients
      with re-rupture of their ACL plasty less than 12 months after surgery had
      substance vessels that were less deep. The distal segment of the graft in those
      patients showed a delay in histological maturation with fewer collagen fibres.
      CONCLUSION: In patients whose ACL grafts failed less than 12 months after
      surgery, a lower distribution of blood vessels and collagen fibres was found that
      were less ordered in the distal graft. These results indicate a delay in
      maturation, which leads to a higher risk of graft failure.

PMID- 27634654
TI  - Advantages of day-before lymphoscintigraphy and undiluted methylene blue dye
      injections for sentinel lymph node biopsies for melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Lymphatic mapping (LM) and blue dye injections are
      essential to identification of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) for melanoma. LM is
      performed the day before (DB) or the same day (SD) of surgery, but the optimal
      timing is unknown. Similarly, methylene blue (MB), used during SLN biopsy (SLNB),
      is administered diluted (dMB) or undiluted (uMB), but the relative efficacies are
      unknown. METHODS: Patients who underwent SLNB for melanoma from 2009 to 2013 at
      our institution were evaluated. Outcomes included operative correlation with LM,
      SLN identification, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: One hundred seventy
      one patients underwent SLNB. Sixty-seven (39%) had DB LM. Sixty-seven (39%)
      received uMB. Operative findings correlated with both LM groups, though the DB
      patients had lower background count (P = 0.018) and lower highest SLN radioactive
      signal count (P = 0.046). More uMB patients had blue SLNs (90% vs. 68%, P =
      0.001). There was no difference in the total number of SLNs or complication rates
      in the LM and MB groups. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to compare the use
      of DB LM with SD LM and the efficacy of uMB versus dMB. DB LM and uMB offer
      advantageous alternatives for patients and their surgeons without loss of
      accuracy or increased morbidity. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:947-950. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27634655
TI  - Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards blood donation in Barbados.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To obtain information to devise strategies for a voluntary blood donor
      mobilisation campaign in Barbados. BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization
      (WHO) recommends that 100% blood should be collected from voluntary non
      remunerated donors (VNRD), yet the majority of blood donations (75%) in Barbados
      are family/replacement donations. Increasing VNRD is paramount to achieving a
      safe, reliable blood supply, and understanding the population is a strategy
      suggested by the WHO to inform donor recruitment and education. METHODS:
      Participants in Barbados (n = 429) completed a self-administered questionnaire in
      2014. The questionnaire comprised 31 questions, including demographics (age,
      gender, highest educational attainment) and blood donation-related knowledge,
      attitudes and practices. Analysis of variance, t-test and linear regression were
      used to analyse data. RESULTS: A total of 53% (n = 219) of participants had
      previously donated blood; almost half were family/replacement donors, and over
      one-third (36.2%) were lapsed donors and had not donated within the past 2 years.
      Knowledge deficits included blood donation requirements, deferral factors and
      maximum yearly donations. Most participants (79%) were willing to donate with
      more information. Participants with higher educational attainment and previous
      donors had higher total knowledge and attitude scores (P < 0.01). Single, female
      and younger participants were less likely to donate blood (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Barbados can likely increase voluntary blood donation rates by
      addressing knowledge deficits through education campaigns and increasing
      awareness of the need for donation.

PMID- 27634656
TI  - Mutational landscape of combined hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma,
      and its clinicopathological significance.
AB  - AIMS: Combined hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma (cHC-CC), which
      generally has a poor prognosis, comprises hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),
      cholangiocarcinoma (CC), and diverse components with intermediate features
      between HCC and CC. Histological subtypes with stem cell (SC) features (the SC
      subtype) have different clinicopathological significance in cHC-CC. The
      mutational status may reflect the clinicopathological subgroup of cHC-CC together
      with the histological subtype. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined the mutational
      statuses of KRAS, IDH1 or IDH2 (IDH1/2), ARID1A, the TERT promoter, and TP53, and
      their relationships with clinicopathological features in 53 patients with cHC-CC.
      Background liver diseases were hepatitis B (n = 9), hepatitis C (n = 22),
      alcoholic liver disease (n = 5), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (n =
      8), and unknown (n = 9). Mutations in KRAS, IDH1/2, ARID1A, the TERT promoter and
      TP53 were detected in four (7.5%), six (11.8%) seven (13.2%), 16 (31.3%), and 24
      patients (45.3%), respectively. KRAS mutations correlated with higher
      histological diversity scores and a higher M-factor (P < 0.05). ARID1A mutations
      correlated with alcoholic liver disease, smaller tumour size, a lower grade of
      coexistent HCC, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) positivity, and were associated with
      cholangiolocellular carcinoma subtype predominance (P < 0.05). TERT promoter
      mutations correlated with hepatitis B, an intermediate subtype-predominant
      histology, higher clinical stage, and a higher N-factor (P < 0.05), and were
      associated with gender (female-predominant) and previous therapy. TP53 mutations
      correlated with AFP positivity (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the
      mutational analysis revealed that cHC-CC has diverse types of mutations, and also
      that mutations in the TERT promoter and ARID1A may reflect aetiological impact,
      different histological subtypes, histogenesis, and tumour aggressiveness. These
      results suggest the potential efficacy of molecular-based subclassification of
      cHC-CC.

PMID- 27634657
TI  - Estimating financial resources for universal access to sexual reproductive health
      care: Evidence from two states in India.
AB  - India has made insignificant progress towards achieving universal access to
      sexual and reproductive health (SRH). One of the key inputs for achieving
      universal access to SRH is financial resources. Given this, many international
      agencies including the UN are emphasising on monitoring the financial progress
      towards achieving SRH. OBJECTIVE: To generate evidence on spending on SRH from
      various sources - (government, household, international donors and NGOs) to
      improve the accountability of the government towards SRH goal. METHODOLOGY:
      Adapting a sub account framework of the NHA, this paper investigated the SRH
      expenditure of the two divergent states of India. The data were collected from
      government, households (NSSO), and foreign donors and were classified as per the
      International Classification of Health Accounts (ICHA). RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:
      Total SRH expenditure is less than one percent of SGDP from all sources in each
      state. Among the sources, government's spending on SRH is more than household. A
      large part of household spending is on curative care which has implications for
      accessing services by the poor. In spite of data constraints, this paper presents
      a comprehensive analysis on SRH spending, which is critical for monitoring the
      commitment towards universal access to SRH. This evidence can be used for further
      improving data quality for RCH account in LMICs.

PMID- 27634658
TI  - Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and the association with symptoms of
      depression and posttraumatic stress in a multi-ethnic pregnant population in
      southern Sweden.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to describe the prevalence of emotional, physical,
      and sexual abuse and analyze associations with symptoms of depression and
      posttraumatic stress (PTS) in pregnancy, by ethnic background. STUDY DESIGN: This
      is a cross-sectional study of the Swedish data from the Bidens cohort study.
      Ethnicity was categorized as native and non-native Swedish-speakers. Women
      completed a questionnaire while attending routine antenatal care. The NorVold
      Abuse Questionnaire (NorAQ) assessed a history of emotional, physical or sexual
      abuse. The Edinburgh Depression Scale-5 measured symptoms of depression. Symptoms
      of Posttraumatic Stress (PTS) included intrusion, avoidance and numbness.
      RESULTS: Of 1003 women, 78.6% were native and 21.4% were non-native Swedish
      speakers. Native and non-native Swedish-speakers experienced a similar proportion
      of lifetime abuse. Moderate emotional and physical abuse in childhood was
      significantly more common among non-native Swedish-speakers. Sexual abuse in
      adulthood was significantly more prevalent among native Swedish-speakers.
      Emotional and sexual abuse were significantly associated with symptoms of
      depression for both natives and non-natives. Physical abuse was significantly
      associated with symptoms of depression for non-natives only. All types of abuse
      were significantly associated with symptoms of PTS for both native and non-native
      Swedish-speakers. Adding ethnicity to the multiple binary regression analyses did
      not really alter the association between the different types of abuse and
      symptoms of depression and PTS. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of lifetime abuse did
      not differ significantly for native and non-native Swedish-speakers but there
      were significant differences on a more detailed level. Abuse was associated with
      symptoms of depression and PTS. Being a non-native Swedish-speaker did not
      influence the association much.

PMID- 27634659
TI  - Leisure time physical activity among pregnant women and its associations with
      maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity during pregnancy is generally considered safe and
      beneficial for both the pregnant woman and her fetus. The overall aim was to
      investigate pregnant women's pre-pregnancy and early pregnancy physical activity
      and its associations with maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes.
      METHODS: This cross-sectional study combined data from the Maternal Health Care
      Register in Vasterbotten (MHCR-VB) and the Salut Programme Register (Salut-R).
      Data were collected from 3,868 pregnant women living in northern Sweden between
      2011 and 2012. RESULTS: Almost half of the participants (47.1%) achieved the
      recommended level of physical activity. Compared to the women who did not achieve
      the recommended level of exercise, these women had lower BMI, very good or good
      self-rated health, and a higher educational level. No significant associations
      could be established between physical activity levels and GDM, birth weight, or
      mode of delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Positively, a considerably high proportion of
      Swedish pregnant women achieved the recommended level of physical activity.
      Factors associated with recommended physical activity level were BMI <=30
      kg/m(2), very good or good self-rated health, and higher educational level. Our
      findings emphasize the need for health care professionals to early detect and
      promote fertile and pregnant women towards health-enhancing physical activity,
      especially those with low levels of physical activity and overweight/obesity, to
      improve overall health in this population.

PMID- 27634660
TI  - Effects of a sexual health care nursing record on the attitudes and practice of
      oncology nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A nursing record focused on sexual health care for patients with
      cancer could encourage oncology nurses to provide sexual health care for oncology
      patients in a simple and effective manner. However, existing electronic
      information systems focus on professional use and not sexual health care, which
      could lead to inefficiencies in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To examine the
      effects of a sexual health care nursing record on the attitudes and practice of
      oncology nurses. METHODS: Twenty-four full-time registered nurses caring for
      oncology patients were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups
      in Korea. The researchers developed a sexual health care record and applied it to
      the intervention group for one month. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test
      and chi-square test. Content analysis was used to analyze interviews. RESULTS:
      Oncology nurses using the sexual health care record had significantly higher
      levels of sexual health care practice at 4 weeks post-intervention as compared to
      those who provided usual care to patients with cancer. CONCLUSION: A sexual
      health care record may have the potential to facilitate oncology nurses' practice
      of sexual health care. This study highlighted the importance of using SHC records
      with oncology patients to improve nursing practice related to sexuality issues. A
      nursing record focused on SHC for patients with cancer could make it easier and
      more effective for oncology nurses to provide such care to their patients.

PMID- 27634661
TI  - What do expectant fathers expect of antenatal care in Sweden? A cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Sweden expectant fathers are now assumed to be active participants
      in pregnancy and birth, but few studies have focused on fathers' expectations of
      antenatal care. Knowledge of expectant fathers' views about what is important in
      antenatal care will enable the design of care that is more inclusive and meets
      the expectant fathers' needs. OBJECTIVES: To identify expectant fathers'
      expectations regarding the content of antenatal care during pregnancy and to
      examine associations between expectations and social factors. METHODS: The
      current study uses data from a quasi-experimental trial that took place from 2009
      to 2010, in which 627 expectant fathers were recruited from different parts of
      Sweden. RESULTS: Checking the health of the baby (85.3%) and the mother (80.8%)
      were rated highest in importance by expectant fathers, whereas attending parent
      classes (14.9%), becoming acquainted with other expectant parents (7.0%) and
      paying attention to their own emotional well-being (6.9%) were rated lowest.
      Furthermore, less than half of the expectant fathers had a very high expectation
      of being treated in a way that made them feel involved (38.5%).First-time
      fathers, young fathers and fathers with very good emotional health had higher
      expectations about most aspects of antenatal care. CONCLUSION: Expectant fathers
      had low expectations of receiving support or of meeting other parents as they
      thought that antenatal care should have a medical focus. First-time fathers,
      young fathers and fathers with very good emotional health had higher expectations
      of antenatal care in most areas.

PMID- 27634662
TI  - Titration of intravenous synthetic oxytocin post vaginal birth following
      induction or augmentation.
AB  - Evidence exists for titration of intravenous oxytocin during induction and
      augmentation, whereas no evidence was identified for titration of intravenous
      oxytocin following vaginal birth, where management excluded oxytocin for
      postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). This retrospective cohort study explored this issue
      through patient case notes and computerised perinatal data. Analysis included 335
      women comparing induction (n = 226, 67%) to augmentation (n = 109, 33%). The two
      groups differed in terms of: parity; oxytocin dosage; length of time on
      intravenous oxytocin; and the length of first and second stage labour. They had
      similar rates of PPH and titration of intravenous oxytocin following birth was
      rarely recorded. 

PMID- 27634663
TI  - The association between smartphone dating applications and college students'
      casual sex encounters and condom use.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the association between using smartphone
      dating applications (apps) and having unprotected sex with a casual sex partner.
      STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study. Students were recruited from four
      university campuses in Hong Kong by convenience sampling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Subjects completed a structured questionnaire asking about the use of dating
      apps, sexual history and socio-demographic information. Multiple logistic
      regressions were used to explore the association between using dating apps and
      having unprotected sex with a casual sex partner. RESULTS: Six hundred and sixty
      six subjects were included in the analysis. Users of dating apps were more likely
      to have had unprotected sex with a casual sex partner the last time they engaged
      in sexual intercourse (aOR: 10.06). Using dating apps for more than 12 months was
      associated with having a casual sex partner in the last sexual intercourse (aOR:
      3.21), as well as having unprotected sex with that casual partner (aOR: 13.56).
      CONCLUSION: We found a robust association between using dating apps and having
      unprotected sex with a casual sex partner, implying that using dating apps is an
      emerging sexual risk factor. We recommend that interventions promoting the safe
      use of dating apps should be implemented.

PMID- 27634664
TI  - Burnout among Norwegian midwives and the contribution of personal and work
      related factors: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Burnout can be the result of long-term exposure to personal and/or
      work-related stressors and affect midwives performance of care. AIM: To assess
      burnout levels among Norwegian midwives and identify personal and work-related
      factors associated with burnout. METHODS: A cross-sectional study. A total of
      1500 Norwegian midwives were sent a questionnaire which included the Copenhagen
      Burnout Inventory (CBI) that measured personal, work- and client-related burnout.
      Of 1458 eligible midwives, 598 completed the CBI. Descriptive and comparative
      analyses were done in addition to logistic regression modelling. RESULTS:
      Approximately 20% reported personal or work-related burnout. Less than 5%
      reported client-related burnout. Midwives with sick leave within the last three
      months reported higher levels of burnout. The prevalence of work-related burnout
      was higher among younger and single midwives. Working in outpatient care and
      experience of a recent reorganisation increased the likelihood of reporting
      personal and work-related burnout. CONCLUSION: One in five midwives had high
      levels of personal and work-related burnout in this study and the different sub
      groups of burnout were all associated with absence from work within the last
      three months. Work-related factors such as shift work and number of working hours
      did not seem to influence burnout in this population.

PMID- 27634665
TI  - Women's experiences of having an early medical abortion at home.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess women's experiences of having an
      early medical abortion at home and to investigate their perceptions of the
      information provided before the abortion. The study also aimed to investigate
      possible differences between groups of women. STUDY DESIGN: The study is cross
      sectional with a descriptive and comparative design. Semi-structured telephone
      interviews were conducted with 119 women who had undergone a medical abortion at
      home. RESULTS: Almost half of the women (43%, n = 51) experienced the bleeding as
      more than expected and one-fourth (26%, n = 31) bled for more than four weeks.
      One-third (34%, n = 41) stated a lack of information, especially about the
      bleeding and pain. The experience of pain differed between groups. Women who had
      undergone an earlier abortion and women who had previously given birth
      experienced the abortion as being less painful than that experienced by first
      time gravidae (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The finding that women experience
      information about the pain and bleeding to be insufficient suggests that
      information in those areas can be improved. The result that women without
      previous experience of abortion or childbirth stated the pain as being worse than
      other groups investigated suggests that special attention should be paid to those
      women.

PMID- 27634666
TI  - Migration - A global challenge with implications for sexual and reproductive
      health and care.

PMID- 27634667
TI  - Screening of carnitine and biotin deficiencies on tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is important to assess pediatric patients for nutritional
      deficiency when they are receiving specific interventions, such as enteral
      feeding. We focused on measurement of C0 and 3-hydroxyisovalerylcarnitine (C5-OH)
      with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), which is performed as part of the newborn
      mass screening. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of
      MS/MS for screening carnitine and biotin deficiencies. METHODS: Forty-two
      children (24 boys, 18 girls) were enrolled between December 2013 and December
      2015. Blood tests, including measurement of serum free carnitine via the enzyme
      cycling method, and acylcarnitine analysis on MS/MS of dried blood spot (DBS),
      were performed for the evaluation of nutrition status. RESULTS: Median patient
      age was 2 years (range, 2 months-14 years). Mean serum free carnitine was 41.8 +/
      19.2 MUmol/L. In six of the 42 patients, serum free carnitine was <20 MUmol/L
      (range, 4.0-18.7 MUmol/L). C0 and C5-OH measured on MS/MS of DBS were 33.8 +/-
      20.2 nmol/mL and 0.48 +/- 0.22 nmol/mL, respectively. There was a strong positive
      correlation (r = 0.89, P < 0.001) between serum free carnitine and C0 measured on
      the same day. In one patient on hydrolyzed formula, C5-OH was >1.00 nmol/L.
      Therapy-resistant eczema was improved by treatment with additional biotin and a
      non-hydrolyzed formula. CONCLUSION: C0 and C5-OH, measured on MS/MS of DBS, were
      useful for screening carnitine and biotin deficiencies.

PMID- 27634668
TI  - Assessment of severity and burden of pruritus.
AB  - Chronic pruritus is a complex multifactorial symptom associated with many
      different diseases that represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for
      physicians. In order to better manage chronic pruritus, a detailed medical
      history, individualized diagnostic procedures and treatment approaches are
      necessary. Treatment should not only take itch into consideration, but also
      scratching-induced skin lesions and accompanying disorders such as anxiety,
      depression and insomnia. Various standardized questionnaires and scales have been
      developed to assist in the characterization and assessment of these parameters.
      Monodimensional scales (e.g. the visual analogue scale) represent a simple method
      for assessing pruritus intensity and are frequently used; however, they can
      easily be confounded and may indicate the level of satisfaction regarding the
      medical care provided rather than the itch course. The Dynamic Pruritus Score and
      Itch-Free Days questionnaire enable a closer assessment of patient responses to
      treatment. Because chronic pruritus has the potential to greatly impact the
      quality of life, it is important that physicians recognize it as a major issue.
      The Dermatology Quality of Life Index is an instrument that is used in a variety
      of dermatological conditions, but may be unsuitable for measuring pruritus of
      extracutaneous origin. The ItchyQol is a tool designed specifically for those
      suffering from pruritus. Additional tools, such as the Hospital Anxiety and
      Depression Scale, take psychiatric comorbidities into consideration.
      Recommendations from European (EADV-based Task Force Pruritus) and international
      (International Forum for the Study of Itch) expert groups focusing on assessment
      instruments for chronic pruritus are also provided in this article.

PMID- 27634669
TI  - Rationale and study design of a patient-centered intervention to improve health
      status in chronic heart failure: The Collaborative Care to Alleviate Symptoms and
      Adjust to Illness (CASA) randomized trial.
AB  - While contemporary heart failure management has led to some improvements in
      morbidity and mortality, patients continue to report poor health status (i.e.,
      burdensome symptoms, impaired function, and poor quality of life). The
      Collaborative Care to Alleviate Symptoms and Adjust to Illness (CASA) trial is a
      NIH-funded, three-site, randomized clinical trial that examines the effect of the
      CASA intervention compared to usual care on the primary outcome of patient
      reported health status at 6months in patients with heart failure and poor health
      status. The CASA intervention involves a nurse who works with patients to treat
      symptoms (e.g., shortness of breath, fatigue, pain) using disease-specific and
      palliative approaches, and a social worker who provides psychosocial care
      targeting depression and adjustment to illness. The intervention uses a
      collaborative care team model of health care delivery and is structured and
      primarily phone-based to enhance reproducibility and scalability. This article
      describes the rationale and design of the CASA trial, including several decision
      points: (1) how to design a patient-centered intervention to improve health
      status; (2) how to structure the intervention so that it is reproducible and
      scalable; and (3) how to systematically identify outpatients with heart failure
      most likely to need and benefit from the intervention. The results should provide
      valuable information to providers and health systems about the use of team care
      to manage symptoms and provide psychosocial care in chronic illness.

PMID- 27634670
TI  - The Prospecting Shortcut to an Old Molecule: Formaldehyde Synthesis at Low
      Temperature in Solution.
AB  - Over 30 megatons of formaldehyde are required per year and industrially produced
      through three high-temperature gas-phase processes: i) natural gas reforming to
      syngas, ii) methanol synthesis, and iii) partial oxidation to formaldehyde with
      limited selectivity. In vast contrast to these energy-intensive oxidative and
      dehydrogenative methods, a reductive "top-down" methodology using CO2 and CO as
      carbon source would be desirable and is not very well present in the literature
      for more than 100 years. The key to success is the reaction performance in liquid
      solution in water or methanol at low temperature.

PMID- 27634672
TI  - Pictet-Spengler Synthesis of Quinoline-Fused Porphyrins and Phenanthroline-Fused
      Diporphyrins.
AB  - Doubly and quadruply quinoline-fused porphyrins were effectively synthesized
      through a reaction sequence consisting of Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of beta
      borylated porphyrins with 2-iodoaniline and subsequent Pictet-Spengler
      cyclization. These quinoline-fused porphyrins display red-shifted absorption
      bands and higher electron-accepting abilities. This synthetic protocol also
      allowed the synthesis of phenanthroline-fused porphyrin dimers, which bound
      either a NiII or ZnII cation. The resultant metal complexes displayed further red
      shifted absorption spectra and molecular twists to effect an almost perpendicular
      arrangement of the two porphyrins.

PMID- 27634673
TI  - Hydrogen Peroxide Solvates of 2,4,6,8,10,12-Hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12
      hexaazaisowurtzitane.
AB  - Two polymorphic hydrogen peroxide solvates of 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro
      2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20; wurtzitane is an alternative name to
      iceane) were obtained using hydrated alpha-CL-20 as a guide. These novel H2 O2
      solvates have high crystallographic densities (1.96 and 2.03 g cm-3 ,
      respectively), high predicted detonation velocities/pressures (with one solvate
      performing better than epsilon-CL-20), and a sensitivity similar to that of
      epsilon-CL-20. The use of hydrated materials as a guide will be important in the
      development of other energetic materials with hydrogen peroxide. These solvates
      represent an area of energetic materials that has yet to be explored.

PMID- 27634671
TI  - Pharmacological inhibition of NOX4 ameliorates alcohol-induced liver injury in
      mice through improving oxidative stress and mitochondrial function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the development of alcoholic
      liver disease (ALD), however effective pharmacological treatment for oxidative
      injury is still lacking. The objective of this study was to determine whether
      inhibition of NADPH oxidase activity could reverse alcohol-induced liver injury
      via protecting mitochondrial functions. METHODS: C57BL/6J mice were pair-fed with
      Lieber-DeCarli control or ethanol diet for four week with or without
      administration with 30mg/kg/d GKT137831, a NOX4 inhibitor for the last two weeks.
      H4IIEC3 cells were transfected with scrambled or NOX4 shRNA. Cells were then
      treated with 200mM ethanol for 48h. RESULTS: Alcohol exposure induced NOX4
      expression in the liver and mitochondrial fraction. GKT137831 partially reversed
      alcohol-induced liver injury and elevation of serum H2O2. The levels of
      mitochondrial ROS, mitochondrial DNA, respiratory chain complex IV, and hepatic
      ATP were partially reversed by GKT137831 after alcohol exposure. Furthermore
      GKT137831 ameliorated alcohol-induced lipid accumulation and increased HNF-4alpha
      and beta-oxidation enzymes. GKT137831 also decreased alcohol-induced apoptosis
      coupled with decreased insertion of Bax into mitochondria and decreased
      activation of cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved PARP. Mechanistic study shows that
      ethanol induced expression of NOX4 in H4IIEC3 cells. Knockdown of NOX4 caused an
      increased mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased mitochondrial superoxide
      levels, reduced number of apoptotic cells, decreased lipid accumulation, and
      improved ATP levels and NAD+/NADH ratio after ethanol treatment. CONCLUSION:
      Pharmacological inhibition of NOX4 activity protects against alcohol-induced fat
      accumulation and activation of intrinsic apoptosis via improving mitochondrial
      function. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Pharmacological inhibition of NOX4 could be a
      promising treatment for ALD.

PMID- 27634675
TI  - Myofascial Pain Syndrome.

PMID- 27634674
TI  - Cervical Artery Dissections: A Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical artery dissection (CeAD) is an infrequent, yet potentially
      devastating, cause of stroke. While uncommon, CeAD is important for emergency
      physicians to quickly diagnose and treat because of the potential for cerebral
      ischemia, stroke, blindness, or death. To our knowledge, no review articles in
      the emergency medicine literature have been published on CeAD. A literature
      search of MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, and other major abstracts in the English
      language was performed for the following terms: cervical artery, vertebral
      artery, and carotid artery dissection. The search included all titles from
      January 1, 2010 to February 28, 2015 and other relevant articles. OBJECTIVES: We
      sought to review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, and clinical
      presentation for extracranial CeAD in the adult population, explore recent
      research on diagnosing this disorder, evaluate the most current research on
      treatment options, and summarize the prognosis of CeAD. DISCUSSION: CeAD is an
      uncommon but important cause of stroke in the young that is likely caused by
      multifactorial processes. The diagnosis should be considered in those with
      underlying risk factors, a remote history of minor trauma, and concerning signs
      and symptoms. The condition should be pursued via magnetic resonance imaging or
      computed tomography angiography. Treatment should be aimed at preventing
      additional complications, including recurrent stroke or transient ischemic
      attack, with antiplatelets, anticoagulants, or even endovascular or surgical
      therapy. CONCLUSION: Overall, the prognosis of patients with CeAD is good, with
      relatively low death rates. However, the diagnosis should not be missed, because
      treatment may help prevent worsening or persistent ischemia, recurrent
      dissection, and death.

PMID- 27634678
TI  - What's new in childhood obesity and what do we still need to establish?

PMID- 27634676
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of azole-diphenylpyrimidine derivatives
      (AzDPPYs) as potent T790M mutant form of epidermal growth factor receptor
      inhibitors.
AB  - A series of novel azole-diphenylpyrimidine derivatives (AzDPPYs) were synthesized
      and biologically evaluated as potent EGFRT790M inhibitors. Among these analogues,
      the most active inhibitor 6e not only displayed high activity against
      EGFRT790M/L858R kinase (IC50=3.3nM), but also was able to repress the replication
      of H1975 cells harboring EGFRT790M mutation at a concentration of 0.118MUmol/L.
      In contrast to the lead compound rociletinib, 6e slightly reduces the key
      EGFRT790M-minduced drug resistance. Significantly, inhibitor 6e demonstrates high
      selectivity (SI=299.3) for T790M-containing EGFR mutants over wild type EGFR,
      hinting that it will cause less side effects.

PMID- 27634679
TI  - Growing evidence supports the positive impact of music on child health.

PMID- 27634680
TI  - What is the evidence on how to feed preterm infants?

PMID- 27634681
TI  - Fewer feeding problems indicate improving neurobehavioral outcome in ex-preemies.

PMID- 27634683
TI  - Physical activity, bone mass and muscle strength in children.

PMID- 27634684
TI  - Obese children experience more extremity fractures than nonobese children and are
      significantly more likely to die from traumatic injuries.
AB  - Two of the most prevalent problems children facing worldwide are injuries and
      obesity. We conducted a systematic review of published studies that evaluated the
      effects of obesity on children with traumatic injuries. Six studies published
      between 2006 and 2014 were identified, comprising a total of 4594 children: 867
      were obese and 3727 were not. Obese children were 25% more likely to have
      extremity fractures than nonobese children (p = 0.003), and their mortality rate
      was significantly higher at 4.7% versus 2.8% (p = 0.026). CONCLUSION: Our review
      showed that obese children were more likely to have extremity fractures and die
      of traumatic injuries than nonobese children.

PMID- 27634682
TI  - Should neonates with perinatal asphyxia receive a single dose of IV theophylline
      to prevent acute kidney injury?

PMID- 27634685
TI  - Update on "What" and "Where" in Spatial Language: A New Division of Labor for
      Spatial Terms.
AB  - In this article, I revisit Landau and Jackendoff's () paper, "What and where in
      spatial language and spatial cognition," proposing a friendly amendment and
      reformulation. The original paper emphasized the distinct geometries that are
      engaged when objects are represented as members of object kinds (named by count
      nouns), versus when they are represented as figure and ground in spatial
      expressions (i.e., play the role of arguments of spatial prepositions). We
      provided empirical and theoretical arguments for the link between these distinct
      representations in spatial language and their accompanying nonlinguistic neural
      representations, emphasizing the "what" and "where" systems of the visual system.
      In the present paper, I propose a second division of labor between two classes of
      spatial prepositions in English that appear to be quite distinct. One class
      includes prepositions such as in and on, whose core meanings engage force
      dynamic, functional relationships between objects, with geometry only a marginal
      player. The second class includes prepositions such as above/below and
      right/left, whose core meanings engage geometry, with force-dynamic relationships
      a passing or irrelevant variable. The insight that objects' force-dynamic
      relationships matter to spatial terms' uses is not new; but thinking of these
      terms as a distinct set within spatial language has theoretical and empirical
      consequences that are new. I propose three such consequences, rooted in the fact
      that geometric knowledge is highly constrained and early-emerging in life, while
      force-dynamic knowledge of objects and their interactions is relatively
      unconstrained and needs to be learned piecemeal over a lengthy timeline. First,
      the two classes will engage different learning problems, with different
      developmental trajectories for both first and second language learners; second,
      the classes will naturally lead to different degrees of cross-linguistic
      variation; and third, they may be rooted in different neural representations.

PMID- 27634687
TI  - Cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome: A
      narrative review on efficacy and informed consent.
AB  - Cognitive behavioural therapy is increasingly promoted as a treatment for chronic
      fatigue syndrome. There is limited research on informed consent using cognitive
      behavioural therapy in chronic fatigue syndrome. We undertook a narrative review
      to explore efficacy and to identify the salient information that should be
      disclosed to patients. We found a complex theoretical model underlying the
      rationale for psychotherapy in chronic fatigue syndrome. Cognitive behavioural
      therapy may bring about changes in self-reported fatigue for some patients in the
      short term, however there is a lack of evidence for long-term benefit or for
      improving physical function and cognitive behavioural therapy may cause distress
      if inappropriately prescribed. Therapist effects and placebo effects are
      important outcome factors.

PMID- 27634686
TI  - Probucol dramatically enhances dihydroartemisinin effect in murine malaria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) has been adopted as
      national policy for the first-line treatment in large number of malaria-endemic
      regions. However, artemisinin-resistant parasites have emerged and are spreading,
      with slow-cleaning parasites being reported in patients treated with ACT. It
      means that more parasites are exposed to the partner drug alone and the risk of
      developing resistant parasites against the partner drug is increasing. Therefore,
      the development of a new method to enhance the effect of artemisinin is required.
      In this study, the potential effect of probucol as a combination drug of
      dihydroartemisinin (DHA), an artemisinin derivative, was examined. METHODS:
      C57BL/6 J mice infected with Plasmodium yoelii XL-17 were treated with probucol
      and/or DHA. The mice were fed with a probucol mixed diet from 2 weeks before
      infection and through infection period. DHA was injected to mice three to 5 days
      post infection once a day. In addition, 0.5 % (w/w) probucol was mixed with
      vitamin E supplemented diet (800 mg/kg) and fed to mice infected with P. yoelii
      XL-17 to examine the mechanisms of probucol on murine malaria. Furthermore, 8
      OHdG, a biomarker of oxidized DNA, was detected in infected red blood cells
      (iRBC) taken from infected mice by immunofluorescent staining. RESULTS: With dose
      dependent manner, both probucol and DHA decreased parasitaemia and increased
      survival rate of mice infected with P. yoelii XL-17. A significantly larger
      amount of 8-OHdG was detected in iRBC taking from probucol-treated mice than
      control mice. In addition, a large amount of vitamin E supplementation eliminated
      the effect of probucol against P. yoelii XL-17 infection and lowered the effect
      of probucol on host plasma vitamin E concentration. The effective doses for
      probucol and DHA were 0.5 % and 30 mg/kg, respectively, in each single treatment.
      While the combination treatment of 0.25 % probucol and 7.5 mg/kg DHA was
      effective in all mice from P. yoelii XL-17 infection. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrated that probucol has some impact on malaria by oxidative stress through
      the induction of host plasma vitamin E deficiency. Moreover, the effective dose
      of DHA on malaria was decreased by prophylactic treatment of probucol. This
      finding indicates that probucol might be a candidate for a prophylactic treatment
      drug to enhance the effect of DHA.

PMID- 27634688
TI  - Lymphoepithelial infiltrate of palatal minor salivary glands: implications for
      diagnostic work-up.
AB  - Benign lymphoepithelial lesions (BLLs) usually affect the parotid glands,
      resulting in their asymmetrical enlargement. The condition can be associated with
      Sjogren's syndrome (SS), which in turn may predispose the affected patient to the
      development of malignant lymphoma. BLLs arising in the intraoral minor salivary
      glands are rare; such a lesion should prompt the work-up for SS. In some
      instances, a BLL of a minor salivary gland could represent the initial stage of a
      mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. A case of BLL arising in the
      palatal minor salivary glands is reported here. The importance of an appropriate
      diagnostic work-up is emphasized and the relationship of BLL with SS is
      reinforced.

PMID- 27634689
TI  - Reduction in maximum pain after surgery in temporomandibular joint patients is
      associated with decreased beta-endorphin levels - a pilot study.
AB  - The mechanisms of relief from persistent pain after temporomandibular joint (TMJ)
      surgery are not well studied. It was hypothesized that if persistent pain is
      relieved by TMJ surgery, up-regulated parts of the central nervous system will be
      desensitized and the neuroendocrine opioid release will decrease back to normal
      levels. Eleven female patients with a mean age of 47.4+/-19.4 years and with TMJ
      pain due to chronic closed lock were examined before and 6-24 months after TMJ
      discectomy. The effects on plasma beta-endorphin levels, pain intensity, and pain
      thresholds were analyzed. Plasma beta-endorphin levels (P=0.032), pain at rest
      (P=0.003), and movement-evoked pain (P=0.008) were all significantly reduced at
      follow-up. The reduction in plasma beta-endorphin levels correlated with a
      reduction in maximum pain intensity (P=0.024) and with a longer time after
      surgery (P=0.041). Seven out of eight patients who reported a substantial
      reduction in maximum pain intensity presented a decrease in beta-endorphin levels
      in the plasma. In conclusion, this pilot study showed a significant reduction in
      plasma beta-endorphin levels and pain intensity at 6-24 months after TMJ surgery;
      plasma beta-endorphin levels were correlated with time after surgery. However,
      the results must be interpreted with caution since this was a single-centre
      observational study with a small sample size. If replicated in larger sample
      sets, the measurement of beta-endorphin levels may be of prognostic value for the
      treatment outcome.

PMID- 27634690
TI  - Comparison of the computed tomography values of the bone fragment gap after
      sagittal split ramus osteotomy in mandibular prognathism with and without
      asymmetry.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare computed tomography (CT) Hounsfield unit
      values of bone fragment gaps after sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) in
      patients with and without asymmetry, and to evaluate differences between the
      deviated and non-deviated sides in asymmetric patients. Thirty-two patients who
      underwent a bilateral SSRO were included in this retrospective study. Patients
      were divided into symmetric and asymmetric groups by cephalometric analysis. CT
      values of the bone fragment gap were measured at 1 week and at 1 year after
      surgery. There were significant differences between CT values obtained at 1 week
      and at 1 year after surgery for all measurement points. However, there were no
      significant differences in CT values between symmetric and asymmetric patients at
      either 1 week or 1 year after surgery. Among asymmetric patients, there were no
      significant differences between the deviated and non-deviated sides at 1 week or
      1 year after surgery. This study showed ossification of the bone fragments and
      adaptation to change the mandible form in patients with and without asymmetry
      following SSRO.

PMID- 27634694
TI  - Time to Plan, Time to Engage, Time to Promote.

PMID- 27634692
TI  - Final analysis of the prospective WSG-AGO EC-Doc versus FEC phase III trial in
      intermediate-risk (pN1) early breast cancer: efficacy and predictive value of
      Ki67 expression.

PMID- 27634691
TI  - Statistical controversies in clinical research: prognostic gene signatures are
      not (yet) useful in clinical practice.
AB  - With the genomic revolution and the era of targeted therapy, prognostic and
      predictive gene signatures are becoming increasingly important in clinical
      research. They are expected to assist prognosis assessment and therapeutic
      decision making. Notwithstanding, an evidence-based approach is needed to bring
      gene signatures from the laboratory to clinical practice. In early breast cancer,
      multiple prognostic gene signatures are commercially available without having
      formally reached the highest levels of evidence-based criteria. We discuss
      specific concepts for developing and validating a prognostic signature and
      illustrate them with contemporary examples in breast cancer. When a prognostic
      signature has not been developed for predicting the magnitude of relative
      treatment benefit through an interaction effect, it may be wishful thinking to
      test its predictive value. We propose that new gene signatures be built
      specifically for predicting treatment effects for future patients and outline an
      approach for this using a cross-validation scheme in a standard phase III trial.
      Replication in an independent trial remains essential.

PMID- 27634695
TI  - Compilation of Cognitive and Personality Norms for Military Aviators.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The assessment of individuals on abilities or other characteristics
      is based on comparison to a representative sample. General population norms
      provide an appropriate reference group when the distribution of scores in the
      sample can be expected to be similar to those for the general population (e.g.,
      comparing high school students at a particular school to national high school
      norms on a college entrance test). Specialized norms are needed, however, when
      subsets of the population differ from the population at large. Military pilot
      trainees represent a special population; they are highly screened on cognitive
      ability and other characteristics thought to be related to job performance. Other
      characteristics (e.g., personality) are thought to be "self-selected," resulting
      in distinctive profiles. Normative tables were developed for U.S. Air Force pilot
      trainees for two widely used tests, the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery-II (MAB
      II) and NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R). METHODS: The MAB-II and NEO
      PI-R were administered to large samples of USAF cadets, ROTC students, and
      officers selected for pilot training. RESULTS: The mean MAB-II full-scale IQ was
      about 1.5 SD above the adult population norm and was much less variable,
      supporting the need for specialized norms. Tables showing the percentile
      equivalents are provided for use by clinicians. DISCUSSION: Use of these tables,
      in addition to, or in lieu of, commercially published norms, will prove helpful
      when clinical psychologists perform assessments on pilots; in particular when
      evaluating them for return-to-duty status following a disqualifying condition
      that may have affected cognitive functioning or emotional stability. Carretta TR,
      King RE, Ree MJ, Teachout MS, Barto E. Compilation of cognitive and personality
      norms for military aviators. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):764-771.

PMID- 27634696
TI  - Association of Individual Characteristics with Teleoperation Performance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of space activities (e.g., extravehicular astronaut rescue,
      cooperation in satellite services, space station supplies, and assembly) are
      implemented directly or assisted by remote robotic arms. Our study aimed to
      reveal those individual characteristics which could positively influence or even
      predict teleoperation performance of such a space robotic arm. METHODS: There
      were 64 male volunteers without robot operation experience recruited for the
      study. Their individual characteristics were assessed, including spatial
      cognitive ability, cognitive style, and personality traits. The experimental
      tasks were three abstracted teleoperation tasks of a simulated space robotic arm:
      point aiming, line alignment, and obstacle avoidance. Teleoperation performance
      was measured from two aspects: task performance (completion time, extra distance
      moved, operation slips) and safety performance (collisions, joint limitations
      reached). The Pearson coefficients between individual characteristics and
      teleoperation performance were examined along with performance prediction models.
      RESULTS: It was found that the subjects with relatively high mental rotation
      ability or low neuroticism had both better task and safety performance (|r| =
      0.212 ~ 0.381). Subjects with relatively high perspective taking ability or high
      agreeableness had better task performance (r = -0.253; r = -0.249). Imagery
      subjects performed better than verbal subjects regarding both task and safety
      performance (|r| = 0.236 ~ 0.290). Compared with analytic subjects, wholist
      subjects had better safety performance (r = 0.300). Additionally, extraverted
      subjects had better task performance (r = -0.259), but worse safety performance
      (r = 0.230). CONCLUSIONS: Those with high spatial cognitive ability, imagery and
      wholist cognitive style, low neuroticism, and high agreeableness were seen to
      have more advantages in working with the remote robotic arm. These results could
      be helpful to astronaut selection and training for space station missions. Pan D,
      Zhang Y, Li Z, Tian Z. Association of individual characteristics with
      teleoperation performance. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):772-780.

PMID- 27634697
TI  - Social, Occupational, and Cultural Adaptation During a 12-Month Wintering in
      Antarctica.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Life in isolated and confined environments (ICEs) is
      subject to important constraints which can generate psychosociologically impaired
      outcomes. This study investigated psychological, social, occupational, and
      cultural variables which are among the most important determinants in adaptation
      to a one-year wintering in Antarctica for 13 international subjects. RESULTS: Our
      findings confirm and give further insight into the role of social (Cohesiveness,
      Social Support) and occupational (Implementation/Preparedness, Counterproductive
      Activity, Decision Latitude, and Psychological Job Demands) dimensions of
      adaptation to ICEs. Relationships between various social and occupational
      dimensions studies reflected detrimental effects ranging from decrements in
      cohesiveness (ICE 1, M = 4.44; ICE 7, M = 3.33), social support (ICE 2, M = 4.93;
      ICE 7, M = 4.28), and work performance (ICE 1, M = 4.33; ICE 6, M = 3.5), which
      differed across professional status and multicultural factors. DISCUSSION: These
      psychosocial issues have important implications for pre-mission selection and
      training, monitoring and support of crews during the mission, and post-mission
      readaptation. Operational recommendations are suggested to improve adaptation,
      success, and well-being for long-duration ICE missions, e.g., to Mars and beyond.
      Nicolas M, Bishop SL, Weiss K, Gaudino M. Social, occupational, and cultural
      adaptation during a 12-month wintering in Antarctica. Aerosp Med Hum Perform.
      2016; 87(9):781-789.

PMID- 27634698
TI  - Metabolic Syndrome in Military Aircrew Using a Candidate Definition.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Indian population
      varies from 31.6 to 41.1%. Indians, without being conventionally obese, but
      inherently insulin resistant, have higher risk of developing cardiovascular
      diseases and diabetes. Since military aircrew, belonging to the same ethnic pool,
      may reflect similar prevalence of MetS as the general Indian populace, this study
      was undertaken to find the prevalence of MetS among Indian military aircrew using
      one candidate definition. METHODS: In this cross sectional descriptive study, 210
      military aircrew voluntarily participated. Besides demographic and lifestyle
      related details, their anthropometric measurements, including height, weight,
      waist circumference, hip circumference, and skin fold thickness were recorded.
      Body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were deduced from the recorded
      measurements. Resting heart rate and blood pressure were recorded and appropriate
      laboratory investigations were undertaken. RESULTS: Prevalence of MetS, as per
      chosen definition, was 33.3% (N = 70), which had moderate, fair, and slight
      agreement with NCEP ATP III (k = 0.43), IDF (k = 0.27), and WHO (k = 0.15)
      definitions, respectively. Decadal prevalence of MetS was found to be highest in
      the fourth decade (46.8%), followed by the third decade (41.3%). CONCLUSION:
      Reported prevalence of MetS highlights an urgent need to define preventive
      strategies to minimize loss of trained manpower among military aircrew. Flight
      surgeons have an important role to play to educate aircrew about modifying their
      lifestyle to reduce morbidity and mortality among themselves in the future.
      Sharma S, Chandrashekar AM, Singh V. Metabolic syndrome in military aircrew using
      a candidate definition. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):790-794.

PMID- 27634699
TI  - Characterization of Low Back Pain in Pilots and Maintenance Technicians on a
      Commercial Airline.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lower back pain (LBP) is the most common complaint worldwide and
      the leading cause of disability in the workplace. In Colombia there are no
      epidemiological data on low back pain in aviation. This study aimed to
      characterize lower back pain in pilots and maintenance technicians in a Colombian
      commercial airline. METHODS: Information was collected from the total population
      in a Colombian commercial airline in Bogota during the period from 2011 to 2013
      using a voluntary survey which requested demographics, occupational (LEST survey)
      factors, back pain, and chronic pain (chronic pain grade scale). RESULTS: The
      prevalence rate of LBP in pilot respondents was 71% and the factors associated
      previously have belonged to the military forces: occupational exposure to
      physical load and work time. Chronic low back pain was at a prevalence of 49%.
      The prevalence of LBP in maintenance technicians was 65%. Associated factors were
      again similar to military forces and included mental workload. Chronic pain had a
      prevalence of 65%. Factors associated with chronic low back pain were the
      technicians' time in office and physical load. DISCUSSION: The prevalence of
      lower back pain in pilots is similar to that presented in the airline world
      population. In the case of maintenance technicians, the prevalence was higher
      than those found in other similar groups, but very similar to prevalences
      presented in different business industries, including the transport sector.
      Fajardo Rodriguez HA, Ortiz Mayorga VA. Characterization of low back pain in
      pilots and maintenance technicians on a commercial airline. Aerosp Med Hum
      Perform. 2016; 87(9):795-799.

PMID- 27634700
TI  - Assessment of a Prototype Apache Flight Eyewear.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apache pilots needing refractive correction are issued modified HGU
      4/P aviator spectacles. However, a recently published survey found field of view
      (FOV) dissatisfaction with the current spectacles when sighting in with a Helmet
      Display Unit (HDU). A current Air Force flight frame was modified in-lab and the
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the FOV with the current Apache flight
      frame vs. the modified flight frame. METHODS: Recruited were 21 Apache pilots to
      assess FOV under three conditions: 1) wearing the current Apache frame; 2)
      wearing the modified Apache frame; and 3) wearing no frame. The main outcome
      measure was total FOV of four quadrants tested: superior left (45 degrees );
      superior right (135 degrees ); inferior right (225 degrees ); and inferior left
      (315 degrees ). RESULTS: No significant differences in FOV were seen between the
      two frames tested while wearing the current Apache helmet (P = 0.33) and the new
      Apache helmet (P = 0.64). However, there were significant differences in FOV
      between the no frame condition and the two frame conditions tested with both
      helmets (P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: No significant differences in FOV were seen
      between the two frames tested while wearing either Apache helmet. However, with
      both helmets there were significant differences in FOV between the no frame
      condition and the two frame conditions tested. This suggests that wearing no
      eyewear is still optimal in integrating the HDU device. With advances in contact
      lens technology, future research can study the viability of the latest generation
      of multifocal contact lenses with Apache aviators. Walsh DV, Jurek GM, McLean WE,
      Statz JK, Allen RL, Riggs DW. Assessment of a prototype Apache flight eyewear.
      Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):800-805.

PMID- 27634701
TI  - 3D Printed Surgical Instruments Evaluated by a Simulated Crew of a Mars Mission.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The first space-based fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer
      became operational in 2014. This study evaluated whether Mars simulation
      crewmembers of the Hawai'i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) II
      mission with no prior surgical experience could utilize acrylonitrile butadiene
      styrene (ABS) thermoplastic surgical instruments FDM 3D printed on Earth to
      complete simulated surgical tasks. METHODS: This study sought to examine the
      feasibility of using 3D printed surgical tools when the primary crew medical
      officer is incapacitated and the back-up crew medical officer must conduct a
      surgical procedure during a simulated extended space mission. During a 4 mo
      duration ground-based analog mission, five simulation crewmembers with no prior
      surgical experience completed 16 timed sets of simulated prepping, draping,
      incising, and suturing tasks to evaluate the relative speed of using four ABS
      thermoplastic instruments printed on Earth compared to conventional instruments.
      RESULTS: All four simulated surgical tasks were successfully performed using 3D
      printed instruments by Mars simulation crewmembers with no prior surgical
      experience. There was no substantial difference in time to completion of
      simulated tasks with control vs. 3D printed sponge stick, towel clamp, scalpel
      handle, and toothed forceps. DISCUSSION: These limited findings support further
      investigation into the creation of an onboard digital catalog of validated 3D
      printable surgical instrument design files to support autonomous, crew
      administered healthcare on Mars missions. Future work could include addressing
      sterility, biocompatibility, and having astronaut crew medical officers test a
      wider range of surgical instruments printed in microgravity during actual
      surgical procedures. Wong JY, Pfahnl AC. 3D printed surgical instruments
      evaluated by a simulated crew of a Mars mission. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016;
      87(9):806-810.

PMID- 27634702
TI  - Sleep and Fatigue Differences in the Two Most Common Types of Commercial Flight
      Operations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep and fatigue management is one of the main challenges in airline
      operations scheduling. Our aim was to compare the differences regarding fatigue,
      sleep, and labor specificities between the two most common types of flight,
      short/medium haul (SM-H) and long haul (L-H), in a large sample of airline
      pilots. METHODS: A self-report questionnaire was developed, composed of socio
      economic and labor questions, and psychological assessment scales for fatigue and
      sleep. Associations of these variables and type of flight were tested. RESULTS:
      Of the total sample of Portuguese airline pilots (N = 435), 313 (72%) were from
      SM-H and 122 (28%) were from L-H. For SM-H, the values obtained for sleep
      complaints were 34.2%, daytime sleepiness 61.6%, and fatigue 93.0%. For L-H,
      36.9%, 53.3%, and 84.4%, respectively. Looking at labor variables, the
      differences between the two types of flights were evident, with SM-H pilots'
      having statistically significant higher mean values of duty and flight hours,
      numbers of sectors, and early mornings. Only the mean number of night periods was
      higher in L-H pilots. All values were reported for 28 consecutive scheduling
      days. CONCLUSION: Night periods and time-zone crossing may explain higher
      prevalence levels of sleep disturbances in L-H pilots. However, the values for
      daytime sleepiness were higher in SM-H pilots, which may be attributed to
      diminished sleep caused by a combination of frequent early starts and long duty
      periods. Taking into account the large differences between the two types of
      flights, different regulatory limits should be considered by aviation
      authorities. Reis C, Mestre C, Canhao H, Gradwell D, Paiva T. Sleep and fatigue
      differences in the two most common types of commercial flight operations. Aerosp
      Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):811-815.

PMID- 27634703
TI  - Flying After Conducting an Aircraft Excessive Cabin Leakage Test.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aviation medical specialists should be aware that commercial
      airline aircraft engineers may undertake a 'dive equivalent' operation while
      conducting maintenance activities on the ground. We present a worked example of
      an occupational risk assessment to determine a minimum safe preflight surface
      interval (PFSI) for an engineer before flying home to base after conducting an
      Excessive Cabin Leakage Test (ECLT) on an unserviceable aircraft overseas.
      METHOD: We use published dive tables to determine the minimum safe PFSI. RESULTS:
      The estimated maximum depth acquired during the procedure varies between 10 and
      20 fsw and the typical estimated bottom time varies between 26 and 53 min for the
      aircraft types operated by the airline. Published dive tables suggest that no
      minimum PFSI is required for such a dive profile. DISCUSSION: Diving tables
      suggest that no minimum PFSI is required for the typical ECLT dive profile within
      the airline; however, having conducted a risk assessment, which considered peak
      altitude exposure during commercial flight, the worst-case scenario test dive
      profile, the variability of interindividual inert gas retention, and our existing
      policy among other occupational groups within the airline, we advised that, in
      the absence of a bespoke assessment of the particular circumstances on the day,
      the minimum PFSI after conducting ECLT should be 24 h. Houston S, Wilkinson E.
      Flying after conducting an aircraft excessive cabin leakage test. Aerosp Med Hum
      Perform. 2016; 87(9):816-820.

PMID- 27634704
TI  - Loss of Consciousness During Single Sling Helicopter Hoist Rescue Resulting in a
      Fatal Fall.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although harness suspension trauma has been documented since the
      1960s, especially in the mountaineering setting, there is little robust medical
      research into the area. Helicopter hoist rescue shares similar risks and is
      reserved for those cases that cannot be accessed safely by other routes, where
      extrication may be hazardous or will take an unreasonable amount of time. The
      single sling or chest harness used for hoist rescue is a single harness around
      the upper torso and is easier and quicker to apply than a stretcher. However, the
      risks of a chest harness need to be balanced against the patient's condition, the
      environment, aircraft performance, and the urgency of the rescue. CASE REPORT: We
      report an adult male falling 80 ft to his death while being hoisted into a rescue
      helicopter for a likely fractured ankle. A single rescue sling harness technique
      was used, but the patient became unconscious, slipped out of the harness, and
      fell. He had significant comorbidities, including cardiomyopathy, obstructive
      sleep apnea, morbid obesity, and diabetes. DISCUSSION: A decrease in cardiac
      output secondary to thoracic compression was the presumed cause for his loss of
      consciousness and the potential physiological mechanisms and modifying factors
      are discussed. Further research into harness suspension trauma is required.
      Stretcher, double point harnesses, or rescue baskets are likely safer methods of
      hoisting, especially in a medically compromised patient. Biles J, Garner AA. Loss
      of consciousness during single sling helicopter hoist rescue resulting in a fatal
      fall. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):821-824.

PMID- 27634705
TI  - Endovascular Treatment of a Severe Stroke Occurring in a Commercial Airplane Over
      the Sahara.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The occurrence of an acute stroke syndrome during a long-distance
      flight demands critical decisions from the crew and attendant physicians. One in
      particular is whether the flight should be continued or be detoured to a nearby
      airport. CASE REPORT: We describe a 42-yr-old woman who suffered from a severe
      stroke in a commercial airplane over the Sahara. The captain, together with a
      physician aboard and the next of kin, decided not to detour to north African or
      south European airports, but to continue flying to Frankfurt, Germany (final
      destination; remaining flight time 4 h), where an efficient transfer
      infrastructure and an advanced medical standard were presumed. At the hospital,
      the patient was successfully treated by means of catheter-based mechanical
      thrombus extraction. The patient was free of neurological deficits at discharge.
      DISCUSSION: The geographically unbalanced availability of complex but highly
      effective therapies such as mechanical recanalization in acute stroke challenges
      decision making in aviation medicine. In selected cases it might be beneficial to
      continue flying to cities with advanced medical standards instead of deviating to
      nearby airports. Foerch C, Mayer CA, Berkefeld J, You S-J. Endovascular treatment
      of a severe stroke occurring in a commercial airplane over the Sahara. Aerosp Med
      Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):825-829.

PMID- 27634706
TI  - Potential Utility of a Cost-Effective Virtual Reality System for Treatment of
      Fear of Flying.

PMID- 27634707
TI  - You're the Flight Surgeon.
AB  - Carnes BG, Pavelites JJ, Grigley DT. You're the flight surgeon: shortness of
      breath. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):833-835. 

PMID- 27634708
TI  - This Month in Aerospace Medicine History.

PMID- 27634709
TI  - From the Editors.

PMID- 27634710
TI  - The Accidental Professor.

PMID- 27634711
TI  - Giving Voice to Consciousness.
AB  - In the 2015 David Kopf Lecture on Neuroethics of the Society for Neuroscience,
      Dr. Joseph Fins presents his work on neuroethics and disorders of consciousness
      through the experience of Maggie and Nancy Worthen, a young woman who sustained a
      severe brain injury and her mother who cared for her. The central protagonists in
      his book, Rights Come to Mind: Brain Injury, Ethics and the Struggle for
      Consciousness (Cambridge University Press, 2015), their experience is emblematic
      of the challenges faced by families touched by severe brain injury and the
      possibility for improved diagnosis and treatment offered by progress in
      neuroscience. By telling their story, and those of other families interviewed as
      part of the research for Rights Come to Mind, Fins calls for improved care for
      this population arguing that this is both an access to care issue and a civil and
      disability rights issue worthy of greater societal attention. 

PMID- 27634712
TI  - The Value and Disvalue of Consciousness.
AB  - Consciousness defines us as persons. It allows us to have both pleasurable and
      painful experiences. I present four neurological conditions in the clinical
      setting to explore how consciousness can be beneficial or harmful to patients:
      intraoperative awareness, prolonged disorders of consciousness, locked-in
      syndrome, and the effects of narcotics and sedation on terminally ill patients.
      The ethical significance of consciousness for patients in these conditions
      depends on two factors: the content of one's experience and whether one can
      report this content to others. I argue that the value or disvalue of phenomenal
      consciousness, what it is like to be aware, may depend on its relation to access
      consciousness, the ability to report or communicate the content of awareness.
      Phenomenal consciousness can have disvalue when one wants or expects to be
      unconscious. It can also have disvalue in the absence of access consciousness
      because it can allow the patient to experience pain and suffer. Technology that
      enabled neurologically compromised patients to reliably communicate their
      experience and wishes could benefit and prevent harm to them. More generally, the
      neurological conditions I discuss raise the question of when and in what respects
      consciousness is preferable to unconsciousness. 

PMID- 27634713
TI  - Ethical and Clinical Considerations at the Intersection of Functional
      Neuroimaging and Disorders of Consciousness.
AB  - Recent neuroimaging research on disorders of consciousness provides direct
      evidence of covert consciousness otherwise not detected clinically in a subset of
      severely brain-injured patients. These findings have motivated strategic
      development of binary communication paradigms, from which researchers interpret
      voluntary modulations in brain activity to glean information about patients'
      residual cognitive functions and emotions. The discovery of such responsiveness
      raises ethical and legal issues concerning the exercise of autonomy and capacity
      for decisionmaking on matters such as healthcare, involvement in research, and
      end of life. These advances have generated demands for access to the technology
      against a complex background of continued scientific advancement, questions about
      just allocation of healthcare resources, and unresolved legal issues. Interviews
      with professionals whose work is relevant to patients with disorders of
      consciousness reveal priorities concerning further basic research, legal and
      policy issues, and clinical considerations. 

PMID- 27634714
TI  - The Effects of Closed-Loop Medical Devices on the Autonomy and Accountability of
      Persons and Systems.
AB  - Closed-loop medical devices such as brain-computer interfaces are an emerging and
      rapidly advancing neurotechnology. The target patients for brain-computer
      interfaces (BCIs) are often severely paralyzed, and thus particularly vulnerable
      in terms of personal autonomy, decisionmaking capacity, and agency. Here we
      analyze the effects of closed-loop medical devices on the autonomy and
      accountability of both persons (as patients or research participants) and
      neurotechnological closed-loop medical systems. We show that although BCIs can
      strengthen patient autonomy by preserving or restoring communicative abilities
      and/or motor control, closed-loop devices may also create challenges for moral
      and legal accountability. We advocate the development of a comprehensive ethical
      and legal framework to address the challenges of emerging closed-loop
      neurotechnologies like BCIs and stress the centrality of informed consent and
      refusal as a means to foster accountability. We propose the creation of an
      international neuroethics task force with members from medical neuroscience,
      neuroengineering, computer science, medical law, and medical ethics, as well as
      representatives of patient advocacy groups and the public.

PMID- 27634715
TI  - Culture, the Crack'd Mirror, and the Neuroethics of Disease.
AB  - Human beings are sensorimotor coupled to the actual world and also attuned to the
      symbolic world of culture and the techniques of adaptation that culture provides.
      The self-image and self-shaping mediated by that mirror directly affects the
      neurocognitive structures that integrate human neural activity and reshape its
      processing capacities through top-down or autopoietic effects. Thus a crack'd
      mirror, which disrupts the processes of enactive self-configuration, can be
      disabling for an individual. That is exactly what happens in postcolonial or
      immigration contexts in which individuals' cultural adaptations are marginalized
      and disconnected in diverse and often painful and disorienting ways. The crack'd
      mirror is therefore a powerful trope for neuroethics and helps us understand the
      social and moral pathologies of many indigenous and immigrant communities. 

PMID- 27634716
TI  - Deep Brain Stimulation, Continuity over Time, and the True Self.
AB  - One of the topics that often comes up in ethical discussions of deep brain
      stimulation (DBS) is the question of what impact DBS has, or might have, on the
      patient's self. This is often understood as a question of whether DBS poses a
      threat to personal identity, which is typically understood as having to do with
      psychological and/or narrative continuity over time. In this article, we argue
      that the discussion of whether DBS is a threat to continuity over time is too
      narrow. There are other questions concerning DBS and the self that are overlooked
      in discussions exclusively focusing on psychological and/or narrative continuity.
      For example, it is also important to investigate whether DBS might sometimes have
      a positive (e.g., a rehabilitating) effect on the patient's self. To widen the
      discussion of DBS, so as to make it encompass a broader range of considerations
      that bear on DBS's impact on the self, we identify six features of the commonly
      used concept of a person's "true self." We apply these six features to the
      relation between DBS and the self. And we end with a brief discussion of the role
      DBS might play in treating otherwise treatment-refractory anorexia nervosa. This
      further highlights the importance of discussing both continuity over time and the
      notion of the true self. 

PMID- 27634717
TI  - Teens and Research.
AB  - On seeing promising results in a small number of patients, some researchers are
      conducting trials to determine whether deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an
      effective treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN). This article asks whether we
      should open enrollment in trials of DBS for AN to adolescents. Despite concerns
      about informed consent, parental consent, and unforeseeable psychological
      sequelae, the article concludes that the risks to anorexic adolescents associated
      with participation in trials of DBS are reasonable considering the substantial
      risks of not enrolling teens with AN in research on DBS. The seriousness of AN,
      its high incidence in teens, and serious shortfalls in the AN treatment
      literature point to the need for improved, evidence-based treatments for teens
      with AN. This unmet need generates an obligation on the part of researchers and
      physicians to promote and conduct research on AN in adolescents. 

PMID- 27634718
TI  - Dementia, Advance Directives, and Discontinuity of Personality.
AB  - We argue that an advance directive (AD) is not invalidated by personality changes
      in dementia, as is claimed by Rebecca Dresser. The claim is that a new person
      results under such personality changes, and that the former person cannot write
      an AD for the new person. After stating the argument against ADs in cases of
      dementia, we provide a detailed examination of empirical studies of personality
      changes in dementia. This evidence, though not strong due mainly to low sample
      sizes and different notions of personal identity, does not support Dresser's
      position. Given the weakness in the empirical evidence, we turn to a
      philosophical defense of ADs based on a social contract view supporting the
      current interests of those writing ADs. Additionally, we argue that personality
      change is not equivalent to change in personal identity, as would be required by
      the argument against ADs in cases of dementia. 

PMID- 27634719
TI  - Patient Requests for Off-Label Bioprediction of Dementia.
AB  - In 2012, the FDA approved for the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease a
      brain-imaging technology, Amyvid-PET (aka florbetapir-PET), capable of non
      invasively estimating the burden of amyloid plaques; this approval for one
      indication renders the technology a candidate for off-label use for another
      indication according to a physician's judgment. What should a physician do if an
      educated, pro-active, and concerned patient requests off-label use of Amyvid-PET
      to help her estimate the likelihood that her mild memory complaints are "just
      normal aging" or are likely to profoundly worsen? I consider reasons that a
      physician might justify denial of such a request, including concerns of safety,
      uncertain benefit, and fair resource allocation, but cautiously conclude that
      there may be certain cases where off-label bioprediction would be permissible. 

PMID- 27634720
TI  - Assessing Decision-Making Capacity in Patients with Communication Impairments.
AB  - The ethical principle of autonomy requires physicians to respect patient autonomy
      when present, and to protect the patient who lacks autonomy. Fulfilling this
      ethical obligation when a patient has a communication impairment presents
      considerable challenges. Standard methods for evaluating decision-making capacity
      require a semistructured interview. Some patients with communication impairments
      are unable to engage in a semistructured interview and are at risk of the
      wrongful loss of autonomy. In this article, we present a general strategy for
      assessing decision-making capacity in patients with communication impairments. We
      derive this strategy by reflecting on a particular case. The strategy involves
      three steps: (1) determining the reliability of communication, (2) widening the
      bandwidth of communication, and (3) using compensatory measures of decision
      making capacity. We argue that this strategy may be useful for assessing decision
      making capacity and preserving autonomy in some patients with communication
      impairments. 

PMID- 27634721
TI  - Naturalizing Responsibility.
AB  - In the contemporary debate on the use of the neurosciences in ethics and law,
      numerous arguments have been bandied about among scientists and philosophers
      looking to uphold or reject the reliability and validity of scientific findings
      obtained by brain imaging technologies. Among the most vexing questions is, Can
      we trust that technology? One point of disagreement is whether brain scans offer
      a window through which to observe the functioning of the mind, in such a way as
      to enable lawyers, judges, physicians, and lawmakers to detect anomalies in brain
      function that may account for criminal unconscious behavior. Those who stand
      behind brain imaging believe that this can indeed be achieved, whereas those in
      opposition stress that brain scans are highly open to interpretation and that the
      data they provide is insufficient to establish causal connections. The question
      essentially comes down to whether technology can reliably be used to determine
      the intentions of the individual, thus establishing mens rea, for example, and
      hence responsibility. This article focuses on the latter notion and explores
      whether we can rely on the neurosciences to shed light on a complex form of moral
      and legal reasoning, as well as the role of the neurosciences in reawakening a
      philosophical and legal interest in trying to set responsibility on an empirical
      basis. 

PMID- 27634722
TI  - Don't Ask a Neuroscientist about Phases of the Moon.
AB  - Ongoing developments in neuroscientific techniques and technologies-such as
      neuroimaging-offer potential for greater insight into human behavior and have
      fostered temptation to use these approaches in legal contexts. Neuroscientists
      are increasingly called on to provide expert testimony, interpret brain images,
      and thereby inform judges and juries who are tasked with determining the guilt or
      innocence of an individual. In this essay, we draw attention to the actual
      capabilities and limitations of currently available assessment neurotechnologies
      and examine whether neuroscientific evidence presents unique challenges to
      existing frameworks of evidence law. In particular, we focus on (1) fundamental
      questions of relevance and admissibility that can and should be posed before the
      tests afforded in Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals or Frye v. U.S. are
      applied and (2) how these considerations fit into the broader contexts of
      criminal law. We contend that neuroscientific evidence must first be scrutinized
      more heavily for its relevance, within Daubert and Federal Rule of Evidence 702,
      to ensure that the right questions are asked of neuroscientists, so as to enable
      expert interpretation of neuroscientific evidence within the limits of their
      knowledge and discipline that allows the judge or jury to determine the facts at
      issue in the case. We use the analogy provided by the Daubert court of an expert
      on the phases of the moon testifying to an individual's behavior on a particular
      night to ensure that we are, in fact, asking the neuroscientific expert the
      appropriate question. 

PMID- 27634723
TI  - Ethical Challenges in Contemporary FASD Research and Practice.
AB  - Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is increasingly recognized as a growing
      public health issue worldwide. Although more research is needed on both the
      diagnosis and treatment of FASD, and a broader and more culturally diverse range
      of services are needed to support those who suffer from FASD and their families,
      both research and practice for FASD raise significant ethical issues. In
      response, from the point of view of both research and clinical neuroethics, we
      provide a framework that emphasizes the need to maximize benefits and minimize
      harm, promote justice, and foster respect for persons within a global context. 

PMID- 27634724
TI  - The Case.
AB  - Ms. L. is a 31-year-old female who presents to Dr. Impf, a neurosurgeon. Ms. L.
      has a more than 25-year history of iteratively worsening Tourette syndrome,
      characterized by severe motoric and postural tics and respiratory expression
      (grunting). Ms. L. is a rather shy, somewhat introverted woman who spends her
      time with her husband and a small group of friends, mostly watching cooking
      shows. Although she has been, and is generally, a good student, she describes her
      academic performance as "not stellar." Following years of unsuccessful attempts
      at pharmacological therapy, Ms. L. was evaluated and accepted into an
      investigator-initiated research protocol (with provision for humanitarian care
      exemption) that Dr. Impf and her team were running for deep brain stimulation
      (DBS). During the neurosurgical procedure, electrodes were satisfactorily placed
      at bilateral subcortical targets (within the basal ganglia/striatum), and Ms. L.
      reported a reduced "urge to tic" and decreased frequency and severity of tics
      intraoperatively, immediately following surgery, during her recovery, and for 15
      weeks following surgery. Then, however, the tics began to return and increased in
      frequency and progression, although not to the full preoperative extent. Attempts
      at altering DBS current parameters were not successful in reducing the severity
      and frequency of tics. Decreasing or terminating DBS current resulted in full
      rebound tics and respiratory expression, and Ms. L. finds this to be even more
      problematic than before (stating: "It's like I've felt a new way and don't want
      to go back to the other way"). Per definition, DBS did not achieve the desired
      medical/therapeutic outcomes. 

PMID- 27634725
TI  - Commentary: Dealing with the Aftermath.
AB  - In 2006, our team reported our experience in the use of bilateral high-frequency
      stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in patients with severe levodopa
      responsive forms of Parkinson's disease (PD). 1 The aim was to better understand
      and manage the difficulties experienced by patients who undergo neurosurgery, and
      by their families. 

PMID- 27634726
TI  - Commentary: Old Self vs. New Self.
AB  - Implantation of deep brain stimulator (DBS) leads for Gilles de Tourette syndrome
      was first described by Visser-Vanderwalle et al., with a reported 70%-90%
      decrease in tic frequency. 1 Since that time, several targets, including the
      basal/ganglia and striatum, have been described. The target remains experimental,
      and in this case, leads were implanted under an investigator-initiated research
      protocol. Ms. L. reported an excellent intraoperative reduction in the "urge to
      tic" that persisted for 15 weeks postoperatively, indicating that the leads were
      well placed. Furthermore, although her tic frequency has increased, it remains
      improved from baseline and returns to baseline when stimulation is discontinued.
      Although her response does not represent what her treatment team would consider
      the "desired medical/therapeutic outcomes," there is no question that the patient
      recognizes benefit from her stimulation. In fact, she clearly states that "it's
      like I've felt a new way and don't want to go back to the old way." 

PMID- 27634727
TI  - Commentary: Unexpected Benefits that Challenge the Orthodoxy of DBS Outcomes.
AB  - The case of Ms. L. provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight the underlying
      value commitments that often deeply influence decisionmaking in medicine and more
      specifically in innovative neurosurgical procedures. In order to give a fair
      opinion on how Dr. Impf, as clinician and researcher, should act, a much richer
      and thicker understanding of the actual perspectives of the stakeholders would be
      necessary. Because this is not available, I highlight three important elements:
      the terms under which the deep brain stimulation (DBS) is implanted, the proper
      goals of a healthcare team, and the fallacy of a "natural" or immutable self.
      These elements are brought together in this case by a set of unexpected effects
      on the patient that were not intended and that are judged and categorized
      differently by various stakeholders within the case. In the end, I hope that
      there was full transparency and agreement about obligations, responsibilities,
      and outcomes prior to the implantation of the DBS between the physician and
      patient. Further, it is important to remember that just because a result is
      serendipitous does not mean that it should be discounted as a proper benefit.
      Finally, each person authors variations on their own self that are molded by
      environment and social networks. If Ms. L. continues to demonstrate an ability to
      author a desired self, the DBS is no more inappropriate a tool than many other
      artifacts that are used regularly by others to mold themselves. 

PMID- 27634728
TI  - Commentary: The Value of Patient Benefit: Consideration of Framing Contingencies
      to Guide the Ethical Use of DBS-a Case Analysis.
AB  - Here we have a case in which (1) the outcome(s) for the patient do not comport
      with the projected-or initially defined-outcomes of the research study, and (2)
      these outcomes represent cognitive and behavioral effects that are positively
      interpreted by the patient, but not by the patient's immediate family. The 6Cs
      approach, which frames the technique or technology-and its effects-within defined
      considerations of domains and dimensions, can be used as part of a multistep
      approach to addressing issues arising from the use of neurotechnology. 1 The
      approach recommends that the medical team consider the following domains and
      dimensions when engaging neuroethical analyses: * The capacities and limitations
      of current neuroscience and technology (neuroS/T), and the capacity of the
      patient * The consequences incurred by neuroS/T on recipients, families, and
      society in the short, intermediate, and long term * The character of the
      recipient (e.g., patterns of cognition, emotion, and behavior) affected by
      neuroS/T * The continuity of research and clinical care * The contexts of need
      and value that influence the use or nonuse of neuroS/T * Consent through
      provision of the most information possible 2. 

PMID- 27634729
TI  - The Medicalization of Love.
AB  - In 2015, we published an article entitled "The Medicalization of Love," in which
      we argued that both good and bad consequences could be expected to follow from
      love's medicalization, depending on how the process unfolded. A flurry of
      commentaries followed; here we offer some preliminary thoughts in reply to the
      more substantial of the criticisms that were raised. We focus in particular on
      the nature of love itself as well as the role it plays (or should play) in our
      lives; we also touch on a number of practical issues concerning the likely
      effects of any plausible "real-life" love drugs and conclude with a call for
      careful regulation. 

PMID- 27634730
TI  - Don't lick the gonorrhoea swab.

PMID- 27634731
TI  - No Change in Interictal PACAP Levels in Peripheral Blood in Women With Chronic
      Migraine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine total pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide
      (PACAP) in peripheral blood as a potential marker of the activation of the
      parasympathetic arm of the trigemino-vascular system in chronic migraine (CM) in
      a case-control study. METHODS: Women older than 17 and diagnosed as CM were
      recruited. Healthy women with no headache history and women with episodic
      migraine (EM) served as control groups. Total PACAP and vasoactive intestinal
      peptide (VIP) levels were determined in blood samples obtained from the right
      antecubital vein by ELISA outside a migraine attack and having taken no
      symptomatic medication the day before. RESULTS: We assessed serum samples from 86
      women with CM, 32 healthy women, and 35 women with EM. There were no differences
      in PACAP levels in CM patients (109.8 +/- 43.8, 97.4 [32.5-253.1] pg/mL),
      controls (108.7 +/- 43.0, 98.7 [50.7-197.3] pg/mL), or EM patients (98.8 +/-
      34.3, 94.2 [52.0-190.7] pg/mL). VIP levels were significantly increased (P =
      .027) in CM as compared to control healthy women (136.0 +/- 111.5 pg/mL; 103.1
      [20.5-534.0] pg/mL vs 88.6 +/- 61.0 pg/mL; 66.0 [21.1-256.1]) and EM patients
      (103.0 +/- 56.7 pg/mL; 103.5 [15.2-263.0] pg/mL). In the range of this study
      variables such as age, CM duration, the presence of aura, analgesic overuse,
      depression, fibromyalgia, vascular risk factors, history of triptan consumption
      or kind of preventative treatment did not significantly influence PACAP or VIP
      levels. CONCLUSION: In contrast to VIP, interictal PACAP level measured in
      peripheral blood does not seem to be a biomarker reflecting parasympathetic
      activation in CM.

PMID- 27634732
TI  - Cortical Thickness and Episodic Memory Impairment in Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate differences
      in brain cortical thickness of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with
      and without episodic memory impairment and healthy controls. METHODS: We studied
      51 patients divided in 2 groups (SLE with episodic memory deficit, n = 17; SLE
      without episodic memory deficit, n = 34) by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test
      and 34 healthy controls. Groups were paired based on sex, age, education, Mini
      Mental State Examination score, and accumulation of disease burden. Cortical
      thickness from magnetic resonance imaging scans was determined using the
      FreeSurfer software package. RESULTS: SLE patients with episodic memory deficits
      presented reduced cortical thickness in the left supramarginal cortex and
      superior temporal gyrus when compared to the control group and in the right
      superior frontal, caudal, and rostral middle frontal and precentral gyri when
      compared to the SLE group without episodic memory impairment considering time
      since diagnosis of SLE as covaried. There were no significant differences in the
      cortical thickness between the SLE without episodic memory and control groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Different memory-related cortical regions thinning were found in the
      episodic memory deficit group when individually compared to the groups of
      patients without memory impairment and healthy controls.

PMID- 27634734
TI  - Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease in Brushite Stone Formers Compared With Idiopathic
      Calcium Oxalate Stone Formers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study brushite stone formers (BSFs) change in renal function and
      overall risk of progression to chronic kidney disease (CKD) over time. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients with urolithiasis on stone
      analysis was performed from 1995 to 2003. Stones were classified as brushite if
      they had at least 10% brushite composition on analysis. Patients with a minimum
      of 6 years of clinical follow-up were included in the study. BSFs were matched
      1:3 to idiopathic calcium oxalate stone formers (CaOx SF) over the same time
      period. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the
      Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation. CKD was classified according to
      the National Kidney Foundation definition, with grade 3 defined as <60
      mL/min/1.73 m2. RESULTS: We identified 20 BSFs who met the inclusion criteria and
      matched to 60 CaOx SFs. Pure brushite stones were identified in 13 (65%) patients
      and 17 (85%) had >50% brushite composition. The median patient age (48 vs 47
      years, P = .82) and baseline eGFR were not different between BSF and CaOx SF (74
      vs 69 mL/min/1.73 m2, P = .68). No patients had stage IV or higher CKD in either
      group. At median follow-up of 13.6 years, both eGFR (78 vs 74 mL/min/1.73 m2, P =
      .61) and change in eGFR (0.31 vs 3.2 mL/min/1.73 m2, P = .92) were similar
      between groups despite the BSF having a higher stone recurrence rate (80% vs 42%,
      P = .003). No brushite patients experienced a change in CKD stage. CONCLUSION:
      BSFs were not shown to be at increased clinical risk of CKD compared with CaOx
      SFs at long-term follow-up despite more frequent stone recurrence.

PMID- 27634733
TI  - Contemporary Use of Partial Nephrectomy: Are Older Patients With Impaired Kidney
      Function Being Left Behind?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether patient factors, such as age and preoperative kidney
      function, were associated with receipt of partial nephrectomy in a national
      integrated healthcare system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified patients
      treated with a radical or partial nephrectomy from 2002 to 2014 in the Veterans
      Health Administration. We examined associations among patient age, sex, race or
      ethnicity, multimorbidity, baseline kidney function, tumor characteristics, and
      receipt of partial nephrectomy. We estimated the odds of receiving a partial
      nephrectomy and assessed interactions between covariates and the year of surgery
      to explore whether patient factors associated with partial nephrectomy changed
      over time. RESULTS: In our cohort of 14,186 patients, 4508 (31.2%) received a
      partial nephrectomy. Use of partial nephrectomy increased from 17% in 2002 to 32%
      in 2008 and to 38% in 2014. Patient race or ethnicity, age, tumor stage, and year
      of surgery were independently associated with receipt of partial nephrectomy.
      Black veterans had significantly increased odds of receipt of partial
      nephrectomy, whereas older patients had significantly reduced odds. Partial
      nephrectomy utilization increased for all groups over time, but older patients
      and patients with worse baseline kidney function showed the least increase in
      odds of partial nephrectomy. CONCLUSION: Although the utilization of partial
      nephrectomy increased for all groups, the greatest increase occurred in the
      youngest patients and those with the highest baseline kidney function. These
      trends warrant further investigation to ensure that patients at the highest risk
      of impaired kidney function are considered for partial nephrectomy whenever
      possible.

PMID- 27634736
TI  - Remote haemodynamic-guided care for patients with chronic heart failure: a meta
      analysis of completed trials.
AB  - AIMS: Haemodynamic-guided heart failure (HF) management using directly measured
      cardiac filling pressures in symptomatic patients is now recommended in the
      European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Heart Failure Guidelines [Class IIb(B)].
      This meta-analysis evaluates all data from completed clinical trials evaluating
      this approach in patients with HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: All trials evaluating the
      impact of HF management based on haemodynamic monitoring using implantable
      devices were reviewed using standard search engine methods. PRISMA methods were
      used to evaluate and screen publications that included an evaluation of an effect
      on HF hospitalizations. All publications meeting the inclusion criteria were
      included, and the outcomes data were evaluated using standard meta-analysis
      methodology. Of 317 publications initially identified, five trials involving 1296
      patients with chronic HF met the criteria used in this meta-analysis. Studies
      included prospective controlled designs, as well as observational studies with
      historical control. Heterogeneity testing failed to demonstrate instability of
      analysis due to differences between trials. When compiled, outcomes from these
      trials favoured remote haemodynamic monitoring with a significant 38% reduction
      in HF hospitalizations (hazard ratio 0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.50-0.78, P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Haemodynamic-guided HF management using permanently
      implanted sensors and frequent filling pressure evaluation is superior to
      traditional clinical management strategies in reducing long-term HF
      hospitalization risk in symptomatic patients.

PMID- 27634735
TI  - Prognosis of breast cancer molecular subtypes in routine clinical care: A large
      prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Germany, most breast cancer patients are treated in specialized
      breast cancer units (BCU), which are certified, and routinely monitored. Herein,
      we evaluate up-to-date oncological outcome of breast cancer (BC) molecular
      subtypes in routine clinical care of a specialized BCU. METHODS: The study was a
      prospectively single-center cohort study of 4102 female cases with primary,
      unilateral, non-metastatic breast cancer treated between 01 January 2003 and 31
      December 2012. The five routinely used molecular subtypes (Luminal A-like,
      Luminal B/HER2 negative-like, Luminal B/HER2 positive-like, HER2-type, Triple
      negative) were analyzed. The median follow-up time of the whole cohort was 55
      months. We calculated estimates for local control rate (LCR), disease-free
      survival (DFS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS), overall survival (OS), and
      relative overall survival (ROS). RESULTS: Luminal A-like tumors were the most
      frequent (44.7 %) and showed the best outcome with LCR of 99.1 % (95 % CI 98.5;
      99.7), OS of 95.1 % (95 % CI 93.7; 96.5), and ROS of 100.0 % (95 % CI 98.5;
      101.5). Triple negative tumors (12.3 %) presented the poorest outcome with LCR of
      89.6 % (95 % CI 85.8; 93.4), OS of 78.5 % (95 % CI 73.8; 83.3), and ROS of 80.1 %
      (95 % CI 73.8; 83.2). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a favorable subtype can expect
      an OS above 95 % and an LCR of almost 100 % over 5 years. On the other hand the
      outcome of patients with HER2 and Triple negative subtypes remains poor, thus
      necessitating more intensified research and care.

PMID- 27634737
TI  - Uptake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their cellular effects in the
      mangrove Bruguiera gymnorrhiza.
AB  - The uptake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their cellular effects were
      investigated in the mangrove Bruguiera gymnorrhiza. Seedlings were subjected to
      sediment oiling for three weeks. In the oiled treatment, the ?PAHs was higher in
      roots (99%) than in leaves (1%). In roots, PAHs included phenanthrene (55%),
      acenaphthene (13%), fluorine (12%) and anthracene (8%). In leaves, PAHs possessed
      two to three rings and included acenaphthene (35%), naphthalene (33%), fluorine
      (18%) and phenanthrene (14%). In the roots, oil caused disorganization of cells
      in the root cap, meristem and conducting tissue. Oil contaminated cells were
      distorted and possessed large and irregularly shaped vacuoles. Ultrastructural
      changes included loss of cell contents and fragmentation of the nucleus and
      mitochondrion. In the leaves, oil caused dilation and distortion of chloroplasts
      and disintegration of grana and lamellae. Oil targets critical organelles such as
      nuclei, chloroplasts and mitochondria which are responsible for cell vitality and
      energy transformation.

PMID- 27634739
TI  - Plastic litter in sediments from the Croatian marine protected area of the
      natural park of Telascica bay (Adriatic Sea).
AB  - This paper reports baseline levels of litter (macro, meso and microplastics) in
      sediments collected from different areas of the Croatian MPA of the Natural Park
      of Telascica bay (Adriatic Sea, GSA n. 17). The distribution of total abundance
      according to size, for all analysed locations evidences that microplastics are
      the dominant fraction concerning item's numbers. In all analysed samples no
      macroplastics were found, while microplastics are 88.71% and mesoplastics are
      11.29% of the total.

PMID- 27634738
TI  - Combined effects of land reclamation, channel dredging upon the bioavailable
      concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Victoria Harbour
      sediment, Hong Kong.
AB  - The up-to-date concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in
      sediment materials of Victoria Harbour was investigated so as to evaluate the
      pollution potential associated with the reclamation projects in Hong Kong. A
      total of 100 sediment samples were collected at 20 locations. Except the control
      point in reservoir, the PAHs concentrations were detectable levels all sites (131
      628.3ng/g, dw) and such values were higher than Dutch Target and Intervention
      Values (the New Dutch standard in 2016). The PAHs concentration indicating that
      construction waste and wastewater discharges were the main pollutant sources.
      Results of correlation in single cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay)
      studies also revealed that the PAHs concentration was highly correlated (<0.01)
      with DNA migration (i.e. the length of tail moment of fish cells) in 5mg/ml of
      PAHs. The above observation indicates that the PAHs present in the sediment may
      substantially effect the marine ecosystem. Although the dredged sediment can be a
      useful sea-filling material for land reclamation; however, the continuing
      leaching of PAHs and its impact on the aquatic environment need to be studied
      further.

PMID- 27634740
TI  - Bioavailability and risk assessment of arsenic in surface sediments of the
      Yangtze River estuary.
AB  - The bioavailability and risk assessment of As were studied in sediments of the
      Yangtze River estuary (YRE). Results showed that residual fractions dominated the
      As partition (>85%), which attenuated overall bioavailability. After the residual
      fraction, As mainly partitioned into the Fe-Mn oxides fraction (3.16-4.22%).
      Arsenic bound to Fe-Mn oxides was higher in wet seasons. The carbonate fraction
      was minimal, which may result from the negative state presence of As in
      sediments. According to the risk assessment code, the YRE was classified as low
      risk. Additionally, the reduction of As(V) to As(III) may occur due to the
      reducing condition in wet seasons. Considering As(III) is more toxic and mobile,
      As bound to the exchangeable and Fe-Mn oxides fractions may have more potential
      ecological risk. Thus, the speciation and fraction should be both considered on
      the ecological risk of As in sediments of the YRE.

PMID- 27634741
TI  - Erratum to: Community-based pediatric palliative care for health related quality
      of life, hospital utilization and costs lessons learned from a pilot study.

PMID- 27634742
TI  - Setting the bar for cell biology best practices.

PMID- 27634743
TI  - TOR and paradigm change: cell growth is controlled.
AB  - This year marks the 25th anniversary of the discovery of target of rapamycin
      (TOR), a highly conserved kinase and central controller of cell growth. In this
      Retrospective, I briefly describe the discovery of TOR and the subsequent
      elucidation of its cellular role. I place particular emphasis on an article by
      Barbet et al. from 1996, the first suggesting that TOR controls cell growth in
      response to nutrients.

PMID- 27634745
TI  - Editorial: Special edition on Williams Syndrome.

PMID- 27634744
TI  - Discovery of keratin function and role in genetic diseases: the year that 1991
      was.
AB  - In 1991, a set of transgenic mouse studies took the fields of cell biology and
      dermatology by storm in providing the first credible evidence that keratin
      intermediate filaments play a unique and essential role in the structural and
      mechanical support in keratinocytes of the epidermis. Moreover, these studies
      intimated that mutations altering the primary structure and function of keratin
      filaments underlie genetic diseases typified by cellular fragility. This
      Retrospective on how these studies came to be is offered as a means to highlight
      the 25th anniversary of these discoveries.

PMID- 27634746
TI  - Route-learning strategies in typical and atypical development; eye tracking
      reveals atypical landmark selection in Williams syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Successful navigation is crucial to everyday life. Individuals with
      Williams syndrome (WS) have impaired spatial abilities. This includes a deficit
      in spatial navigation abilities such as learning the route from A to B. To-date,
      to determine whether participants attend to landmarks when learning a route,
      landmark recall tasks have been employed after the route learning experience.
      Here, we combined virtual reality and eye tracking technologies, for the first
      time, to measure landmark use in typically developing (TD) children and
      participants with WS during route-learning. METHOD: Nineteen individuals with WS
      were asked to learn a route in a sparse environment (few landmarks) and in a rich
      environment (many landmarks) whilst their eye movements were recorded. Looking
      times towards landmarks were compared to TD children aged 6, 8 and 10 years.
      Changes in attention to landmarks during the learning process were also recorded.
      RESULTS: The WS group made fewer looks to landmarks overall, but all participants
      looked for longer at landmarks that were at junctions and along the paths of the
      maze than landmarks that were in the distance. Few differences were observed in
      route learning between the sparse and rich environments. In contrast to the TD
      groups, those in the WS group were as likely to look at non-unique landmarks as
      landmarks at junctions and on paths. DISCUSSION: The current results demonstrate
      that attention to landmarks during route learning reflects the types of landmarks
      remembered in memory tasks, that individuals with WS can learn a route if given
      sufficient exposure, but that this is accomplished within the context of an
      impaired ability to select appropriate landmarks.

PMID- 27634748
TI  - British woman will be allowed to use dead daughter's eggs to conceive her own
      grandchild.

PMID- 27634747
TI  - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Daily Life Training: A Feasibility Study of
      an mHealth Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the development of mHealth, it is possible to treat patients in
      their natural environment. Mobile technology helps to bridge the gap between the
      therapist's office and the "real world." The ACT in Daily Life training (ACT-DL)
      was designed as an add-on intervention to help patients practice with acceptance
      and commitment therapy in their daily lives. The ACT-DL consists of two main
      components: daily monitoring using experience sampling and ACT training in daily
      life. OBJECTIVES: To assess the acceptability and feasibility of the ACT-DL in a
      general outpatient population. A secondary objective was to conduct a preliminary
      examination of the effectiveness of the ACT-DL. METHODS: An observational
      comparative study was conducted. The experimental group consisted of 49 patients
      who volunteered for ACT-DL, and the control group consisted of 112 patients who
      did not volunteer. As part of an inpatient treatment program, both groups
      received a 6-week ACT training. Participants went home to continue their
      treatment on an outpatient basis, during which time the experimental group
      received the 4-week add-on ACT-DL. Acceptability and feasibility of the ACT-DL
      was assessed weekly by telephone survey. Effectiveness of the ACT-DL was
      evaluated with several self-report questionnaires ( Flexibility Index Test (FIT
      60): psychological flexibility, Brief Symptom Inventory: symptoms, Utrechtse
      Coping List: coping, and Quality of life visual analog scale (QoL-VAS): quality
      of life). RESULTS: More than three-quarters of the participants (76%) completed
      the full 4-week training. User evaluations showed that ACT-DL stimulated the use
      of ACT in daily life: participants practiced over an hour a week (mean 78.8
      minutes, standard deviation 54.4), doing 10.4 exercises (standard deviation 6.0)
      on average. Both ACT exercises and metaphors were experienced as useful
      components of the training (rated 5 out of 7). Repeated measures ANCOVA did not
      show significant effects of the ACT-DL on psychological flexibility (P=.88),
      symptoms (P=.39), avoidant coping (P=.28), or quality of life (P=.15).
      CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study that uses experience sampling to foster
      awareness in daily life in combination with acceptance and commitment therapy to
      foster skill building. Adherence to the ACT-DL was high for an intensive mHealth
      intervention. ACT-DL appears to be an acceptable and feasible mHealth
      intervention, suitable for a broad range of mental health problems. However,
      short-term effectiveness could not be demonstrated. Additional clinical trials
      are needed to examine both short-term and long-term effects.

PMID- 27634749
TI  - Elucidation of the therapeutic role of mitochondrial biogenesis transducers NRF-1
      in the regulation of renal fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial dysfunction is a newly established risk factor for the
      development of renal fibrosis. Cell survival and injury repair is facilitated by
      mitochondrial biogenesis. Nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1) is a
      transcriptional regulation factor that plays a central role in the regulation of
      mitochondrial biogenesis. However, the transcription factor of this process in
      renal fibrosis is unknown. Thus, we hereby discussed the correlations of NRF-1
      and renal interstitial fibrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vitro fibrosis model
      was established by treatment with transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in
      NRK-49F (Normal Rat kidney fibroblast). We investigated the ROS production,
      mitochondrial biogenesis and fibrogenic marker (e.q. fibronectin) during the
      progression of renal fibrosis by kit and Western blotting assay. Here, we used
      that two distinct mechanisms regulate NRF-1 activation and degradation of NRF-1.
      NRF-1 was transfect by pcDNA-NRF-1 overexpression gene to evaluate the NRF-1
      activity of the therapeutic effect in renal fibrosis. In addition, NRF-1 was
      silenced by shRNA-NRF-1 to evaluate the significance of NRF-1. ELISA was used to
      evaluate the secreted fibronectin. Immunofluorescence staining was used to assay
      the in situ expression of proteins (e.g. fibronectin, NRF-1). RESULTS: Under
      renal fibrosis conditions, TGF-beta1 (5ng/ml) increased ROS. Simultaneously, TGF
      beta1-induced extracellular fibronectin by ELISA assay. In addition, TGF-beta1
      decreased expression of mitochondrial biogenesis. This is the first time to
      demonstrate that expression of NRF-1 is significantly decreased in renal
      fibrosis. However, NRK49F was a transfection with pcDNA-NRF-1 (2MUg/ml)
      expression vector dramatically reverse TGF-beta1-induced cellular fibrosis
      concomitantly with the suppression of fibronectin (both intracellular and
      extracellular fibronectin). More importantly, transfection with shRNA-NRF-1
      (2MUg/ml) significantly increased the expression of fibronectin of both
      intercellular and extracellular origins in NRK-49F cells. DISCUSSION: These
      finding suggest that NRF-1 plays a pivotal role on renal cellular fibrosis.
      Moreover, NRF-1 might act as a novel renal fibrosis antagonist by down-regulating
      fibrosis signaling in renal fibroblast cells.

PMID- 27634750
TI  - Bis(cyclopropenium)phosphines: Synthesis, Reactivity, and Applications.
AB  - A straightforward route for the preparation of a set of bis(cyclopropenium)
      substituted phosphines is reported. Due to their dicationic nature, these ligands
      depict an excellent pi-acceptor character. The effect of the ligand substituent
      pattern on the catalytic activity of the metal complexes thereof derived is also
      studied. Whereas sterically demanding biaryl groups directly attached to the
      phosphorus atom seem to facilitate elementary steps such as the product release
      from the catalyst, long chain dialkylamino groups on the cyclopropenium units
      maximize the catalysts solubility and, thus, allow the use of typical apolar
      solvents such as toluene. Importantly, all new ligands prepared can be easily
      handled in air. Finally, the impact of the newly prepared dicationic phosphines
      in hydroarylation reactions is demonstrated. In particular, their use in the
      synthesis of several naphtho[1,2-b]furanes and naturally occurring naphthalene
      derivatives such as Calanquinone C is reported.

PMID- 27634751
TI  - Individualised approach to health promotion is needed for individuals with mild
      to-moderate intellectual disability.

PMID- 27634752
TI  - Wild-type p53 binds to MYC promoter G-quadruplex.
AB  - G-quadruplexes are four-stranded nucleic acid structures that are implicated in
      the regulation of transcription, translation and replication. Genome regions
      enriched in putative G-quadruplex motifs include telomeres and gene promoters.
      Tumour suppressor p53 plays a critical role in regulatory pathways leading to
      cell cycle arrest, DNA repair and apoptosis. In addition to transcriptional
      regulation mediated via sequence-specific DNA binding, p53 can selectively bind
      various non-B DNA structures. In the present study, wild-type p53 (wtp53) binding
      to G-quadruplex formed by MYC promoter nuclease hypersensitive element (NHE) III1
      region was investigated. Wtp53 binding to MYC G-quadruplex is comparable to
      interaction with specific p53 consensus sequence (p53CON). Apart from the full
      length wtp53, its isolated C-terminal region (aa 320-393) as well, is capable of
      high-affinity MYC G-quadruplex binding, suggesting its critical role in this type
      of interaction. Moreover, wtp53 binds to MYC promoter region containing putative
      G-quadruplex motif in two wtp53-expressing cell lines. The results suggest that
      wtp53 binding to G-quadruplexes can take part in transcriptional regulation of
      its target genes.

PMID- 27634753
TI  - Adoptive Transfer of Tumor-Specific Th2 Cells Eradicates Tumors by Triggering an
      In Situ Inflammatory Immune Response.
AB  - Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) trials to date have focused on transfer of autologous
      tumor-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells; however, the potential of CD4+ T helper
      (Th) cells for ACT is gaining interest. While encouraging results have been
      reported with IFNgamma-producing Th1 cells, tumor-specific Th2 cells have been
      largely neglected for ACT due to their reported tumor-promoting properties. In
      this study, we tested the efficacy of idiotype-specific Th2 cells for the
      treatment of mice with MHC class II-negative myeloma. Th2 ACT efficiently
      eradicated subcutaneous myeloma in an antigen-specific fashion. Transferred Th2
      cells persisted in vivo and conferred long-lasting immunity. Cancer eradication
      mediated by tumor-specific Th2 cells did not require B cells, natural killer T
      cells, CD8+ T cells, or IFNgamma. Th2 ACT was also curative against B-cell
      lymphoma. Upon transfer, Th2 cells induced a type II inflammation at the tumor
      site with massive infiltration of M2-type macrophages producing arginase. In vivo
      blockade of arginase strongly inhibited Th2 ACT, consistent with a key role of
      arginase and M2 macrophages in myeloma elimination by Th2 cells. These results
      illustrate that cancer eradication may be achieved by induction of a tumor
      specific Th2 inflammatory immune response at the tumor site. Thus, ACT with tumor
      specific Th2 cells may represent a highly efficient immunotherapy protocol
      against cancer. Cancer Res; 76(23); 6864-76. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634755
TI  - Integrative Genomic Analysis Identifies the Core Transcriptional Hallmarks of
      Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Integrative genomics helped characterize molecular heterogeneity in
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), leading to targeted drug candidates for specific
      HCC subtypes. However, no consensus was achieved for genes and pathways commonly
      altered in HCC. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of 15 independent datasets (n
      = 784 human HCC) and identified a comprehensive signature consisting of 935 genes
      commonly deregulated in HCC as compared with the surrounding nontumor tissue. In
      the HCC signature, upregulated genes were linked to early genomic alterations in
      hepatocarcinogenesis, particularly gains of 1q and 8q. The HCC signature covered
      well-established cancer hallmarks, such as proliferation, metabolic
      reprogramming, and microenvironment remodeling, together with specific hallmarks
      associated with protein turnover and epigenetics. Subsequently, the HCC signature
      enabled us to assess the efficacy of signature-relevant drug candidates,
      including histone deacetylase inhibitors that specifically reduced the viability
      of six human HCC cell lines. Overall, this integrative genomics approach
      identified cancer hallmarks recurrently altered in human HCC that may be targeted
      by specific drugs. Combined therapies targeting common and subtype-specific
      cancer networks may represent a relevant therapeutic strategy in liver cancer.
      Cancer Res; 76(21); 6374-81. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634754
TI  - Ccl22 Diverts T Regulatory Cells and Controls the Growth of Melanoma.
AB  - T regulatory cells (Treg) avert autoimmunity, but their increased levels in
      melanoma confer a poor prognosis. To explore the basis for Treg accumulation in
      melanoma, we evaluated chemokine expression in patients. A 5-fold increase was
      documented in the Treg chemoattractants CCL22 and CCL1 in melanoma-affected skin
      versus unaffected skin, as accompanied by infiltrating FoxP3+ T cells. In
      parallel, there was an approximately two-fold enhancement in expression of CCR4
      in circulating Treg but not T effector cells. We hypothesized that redirecting
      Treg away from tumors might suppress autoimmune side effects caused by immune
      checkpoint therapeutics now used widely in the clinic. In assessing this
      hypothesis, we observed a marked increase in skin Treg in mice vaccinated with
      Ccl22, with repetitive vaccination sufficient to limit Treg accumulation and
      melanoma growth in the lungs of animals challenged by tumor cell injection,
      whether using a prevention or treatment protocol design. The observed change in
      Treg accumulation in this setting could not be explained by Treg conversion.
      Overall, our findings offered a preclinical proof of concept for the potential
      use of CCL22 delivered by local injection as a strategy to enhance the
      efficacious response to immune checkpoint therapy while suppressing its
      autoimmune side effects. Cancer Res; 76(21); 6230-40. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634758
TI  - NRBP2 Overexpression Increases the Chemosensitivity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
      Cells via Akt Signaling.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma is highly resistant to chemotherapy. Research data
      supported that cancer stem cells (CSC) may be responsible for the chemoresistance
      and strategies that suppress CSCs stemness could also inhibit the drug
      resistance. In this study, we found that nuclear receptor binding protein 2
      (NRBP2) expression was downregulated in the CD133+ hepatocellular carcinoma CSCs.
      Most adjacent noncancerous liver tissue analyzed expressed higher level of NRBP2
      compared with cancerous tissue in hepatocellular carcinoma patients, and high
      NRBP2 expression indicated a better prognosis. Real-time PCR results showed that
      NRBP2 negatively correlated with stemness-related genes, including Oct3/4, Nanog,
      Notch1, Ep300, and CD133 mRNA expression. High NRBP2 expression in hepatocellular
      carcinoma cells downregulated CK19 protein expression, inhibited tumorsphere
      formation, and tumorigenesis ability, indicating that high NRBP2 expression
      restrains the hepatocellular carcinoma cell stemness. Overexpression of NRBP2
      reduced the IC50 of sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and NRBP2
      expression was negatively correlated with hepatocellular carcinoma cell
      resistance to the chemotherapy agents, including cisplatin and the Akt signaling
      inhibitor perifosine. Coimmunoprecipitation results showed that NRBP2 could bind
      with Annexin A2 (ANXA2) and inhibit ANXA2 expression. Coexpression of ANXA2
      restored the chemoresistant ability in NRBP2-overexpressing hepatocellular
      carcinoma cells. Further analysis showed that NRBP2 downregulated Akt and its
      downstream signaling target Bad phosphorylation level. ANXA2 coexpression
      partially restored the Akt phosphorylation. Analysis of the expression of Bcl2
      family proteins showed that NRBP2 may increase hepatocellular carcinoma cell
      chemosensitivity by regulating expression of survival proteins involved in the
      Akt and Bcl2 pathway. These results suggest that NRBP2 plays an important role in
      the tumor progression and chemotherapeutic resistance of hepatocellular
      carcinoma. Cancer Res; 76(23); 7059-71. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634756
TI  - RK-33 Radiosensitizes Prostate Cancer Cells by Blocking the RNA Helicase DDX3.
AB  - Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, prostate cancer is the most
      prevalent cancer in males and the second highest cause of cancer-related
      mortality. We identified an RNA helicase gene, DDX3 (DDX3X), which is
      overexpressed in prostate cancers, and whose expression is directly correlated
      with high Gleason scores. Knockdown of DDX3 in the aggressive prostate cancer
      cell lines DU145 and 22Rv1 resulted in significantly reduced clonogenicity. To
      target DDX3, we rationally designed a small molecule, RK-33, which docks into the
      ATP-binding domain of DDX3. Functional studies indicated that RK-33
      preferentially bound to DDX3 and perturbed its activity. RK-33 treatment of
      prostate cancer cell lines DU145, 22Rv1, and LNCaP (which have high DDX3 levels)
      decreased proliferation and induced a G1 phase cell-cycle arrest. Conversely, the
      low DDX3-expressing cell line, PC3, exhibited few changes following RK-33
      treatment. Importantly, combination studies using RK-33 and radiation exhibited
      synergistic effects both in vitro and in a xenograft model of prostate cancer
      demonstrating the role of RK-33 as a radiosensitizer. Taken together, these
      results indicate that blocking DDX3 by RK-33 in combination with radiation
      treatment is a viable option for treating locally advanced prostate cancer.
      Cancer Res; 76(21); 6340-50. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634757
TI  - Cell Adhesion Molecule CD166 Drives Malignant Progression and Osteolytic Disease
      in Multiple Myeloma.
AB  - Multiple myeloma is incurable once osteolytic lesions have seeded at skeletal
      sites, but factors mediating this deadly pathogenic advance remain poorly
      understood. Here, we report evidence of a major role for the cell adhesion
      molecule CD166, which we discovered to be highly expressed in multiple myeloma
      cell lines and primary bone marrow cells from patients. CD166+ multiple myeloma
      cells homed more efficiently than CD166- cells to the bone marrow of engrafted
      immunodeficient NSG mice. CD166 silencing in multiple myeloma cells enabled
      longer survival, a smaller tumor burden, and less osteolytic lesions, as compared
      with mice bearing control cells. CD166 deficiency in multiple myeloma cell lines
      or CD138+ bone marrow cells from multiple myeloma patients compromised their
      ability to induce bone resorption in an ex vivo organ culture system.
      Furthermore, CD166 deficiency in multiple myeloma cells also reduced the
      formation of osteolytic disease in vivo after intratibial engraftment.
      Mechanistic investigation revealed that CD166 expression in multiple myeloma
      cells inhibited osteoblastogenesis of bone marrow-derived osteoblast progenitors
      by suppressing Runx2 gene expression. Conversely, CD166 expression in multiple
      myeloma cells promoted osteoclastogenesis by activating TRAF6-dependent signaling
      pathways in osteoclast progenitors. Overall, our results define CD166 as a
      pivotal director in multiple myeloma cell homing to the bone marrow and multiple
      myeloma progression, rationalizing its further study as a candidate therapeutic
      target for multiple myeloma treatment. Cancer Res; 76(23); 6901-10. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634759
TI  - Posttranscriptional Upregulation of p53 by Reactive Oxygen Species in Chronic
      Lymphocytic Leukemia.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells multiply and become more resistant to
      immunochemotherapy in "proliferation centers" within tissues, whereas apoptosis
      occurs in the periphery. Various models recapitulate these microenvironments in
      vitro, such as stimulation with CD154 and IL4. Using this system, we observed a
      30- to 40-fold induction of wild-type p53 protein in 50 distinct human CLL
      specimens tested, without the induction of either cell-cycle arrest or apoptosis.
      In contrast, the mRNA levels for p53 did not increase, indicating that its
      elevation occurred posttranscriptionally. Mechanistic investigations revealed
      that under the conditions studied, p53 was phosphorylated on residues associated
      with p53 activation and increased half-life. However, p53 protein induced in this
      manner could transcriptionally activate only a subset of target genes. The
      addition of a DNA-damaging agent further upregulated p53 protein levels, which
      led to apoptosis. p53 induction relied on the increase in intracellular reactive
      oxygen species observed after CD154 and IL4 stimulation. We propose that chronic
      oxidative stress is a characteristic of the microenvironment in B-cell
      "proliferation centers" in CLL that are capable of elevating the basal expression
      of p53, but to levels below the threshold needed to induce arrest or apoptosis.
      Our findings suggest that reactivation of the full transcriptional activities of
      p53 in proliferating CLL cells may offer a possible therapeutic strategy. Cancer
      Res; 76(21); 6311-9. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634760
TI  - Pharmacological Inhibition of Centrosome Clustering by Slingshot-Mediated Cofilin
      Activation and Actin Cortex Destabilization.
AB  - Centrosome amplification is a hallmark of virtually all types of cancers,
      including solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Cancer cells with extra
      centrosomes use centrosome clustering (CC) to allow for successful division.
      Because normal cells do not rely on this mechanism, CC is regarded as a promising
      target to selectively eradicate cells harboring supernumerary centrosomes. To
      identify novel inhibitors of CC, we developed a cell-based high-throughput screen
      that reports differential drug cytotoxicity for isogenic cell populations with
      different centrosome contents. We identified CP-673451 and crenolanib, two
      chemically related compounds originally developed for the inhibition of platelet
      derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFR-beta), as robust inhibitors of CC with
      selective cytotoxicity for cells with extra centrosomes. We demonstrate that
      these compounds induce mitotic spindle multipolarity by activation of the actin
      severing protein cofilin, leading to destabilization of the cortical actin
      network, and provide evidence that this activation is dependent on slingshot
      phosphatases 1 and 2 but unrelated to PDGFR-beta inhibition. More specifically,
      we found that although both compounds attenuated PDGF-BB-induced signaling, they
      significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of PDGFR-beta downstream effectors,
      Akt and MEK, in almost all tested cancer cell lines under physiologic conditions.
      In summary, our data reveal a novel mechanism of CC inhibition depending on
      cofilin-mediated cortical actin destabilization and identify two clinically
      relevant compounds interfering with this tumor cell-specific target. Cancer Res;
      76(22); 6690-700. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634761
TI  - Molecular Evolution Patterns in Metastatic Lymph Nodes Reflect the Differential
      Treatment Response of Advanced Primary Lung Cancer.
AB  - Tumor heterogeneity influences the clinical outcome of patients with cancer, and
      the diagnostic method to measure the tumor heterogeneity needs to be developed.
      We analyzed genomic features on pairs of primary and multiple metastatic lymph
      nodes from six patients with lung cancer using whole-exome sequencing and RNA
      sequencing. Although somatic single-nucleotide variants were shared in primary
      lung cancer and metastases, tumor evolution predicted by the pattern of genomic
      alterations was matched to anatomic location of the tumors. Four of six cases
      exhibited a branched clonal evolution pattern. Lymph nodes with acquired somatic
      variants demonstrated resistance to the cancer treatment. In this study, we
      demonstrated that multiple biopsies and sequencing strategies for different tumor
      regions are required for a comprehensive understanding of the landscape of
      genetic alteration and for guiding targeted therapy in advanced primary lung
      cancer. Cancer Res; 76(22); 6568-76. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634762
TI  - Agonistic CD40 mAb-Driven IL12 Reverses Resistance to Anti-PD1 in a T-cell-Rich
      Tumor.
AB  - The durability and efficacy of anti-human PD1 monoclonal antibodies (PD1 mAb)
      vary across different malignancies. Although an absence of tumor-infiltrating
      cytotoxic T lymphocytes has been identified as a cause for resistance to PD1 mAb,
      the presence of intratumor exhausted PD1hi T cells also contributes to
      insensitivity to this immune checkpoint therapy. In this study, we used mouse
      tumor models of PD1 mAb resistance that harbored PD1hi T cells and flow cytometry
      analysis of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes immediately post-therapy as a screening
      platform to identify agents that could resensitize T cells to PD1 blockade. We
      showed that an agonistic anti-CD40 mAb converted PD1hi T cells into PD1lo T
      cells, reversing phenotypic T-cell exhaustion and allowing the anti-PD1
      refractory tumors to respond to anti-PD1 therapy. PD1 downmodulation by anti-CD40
      mAb relied upon IL12 but not IL23, CD80/CD86/CD28, or CD70/CD27. Consistent with
      a role for regulatory T cells (Treg) in promoting T-cell exhaustion, we also
      showed that intratumor Treg presented with a less activated and attenuated
      suppressive phenotype, marked by reductions in CTLA4 and PD1. Similar to anti
      CD40 mAb, anti-CTLA4 mAb also lowered intratumor T-cell PD1 expression. Our study
      provides a proof-of-principle framework to systematically identify immune
      conditioning agents able to convert PD1hi T cells to PD1lo T cells, with clinical
      implications in the management of anti-PD1 refractory patients. Cancer Res;
      76(21); 6266-77. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634763
TI  - Protective Role for TWEAK/Fn14 in Regulating Acute Intestinal Inflammation and
      Colitis-Associated Tumorigenesis.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease causes chronic, relapsing intestinal inflammation that
      can lead to the development of colorectal cancer. Members of the TNF superfamily
      are key regulators of intestinal inflammation. In particular, TNF-like weak
      inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) and its receptor, Fn14, are involved in normal and
      pathologic intestinal tissue remodeling. In this study, we show that the
      TWEAK/Fn14 signaling complex plays a protective role during the acute stage of
      intestinal inflammation and contributes to the prevention of colitis-associated
      cancer during chronic inflammation through its proapoptotic effects. Colitis was
      induced in Fn14-/- and Fn14+/+ wild-type littermates by administering 3% dextran
      sodium sulfate (DSS) for 7 days followed by 2-week recovery; azoxymethane (AOM)
      administration followed by two cycles of DSS/recovery was used to induce tumors.
      Reciprocal bone marrow chimeric mice were generated to compare hematopoietic and
      nonhematopoietic-specific effector tissues. Fn14-/- mice had enhanced
      susceptibility to colitis compared with Fn14+/+ controls as assessed by
      endoscopic and histologic inflammatory scores, daily weight loss, and mortality
      rates during recovery after DSS administration. Bone marrow transfer experiments
      showed that both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic components are involved in
      protection against colitis. Tumor lesions were found in the colons of most Fn14-/
      mice, but not Fn14+/+ controls. AOM/DSS administration enhanced susceptibility
      to tumorigenesis in Fn14-/- mice. Overall, these findings show that Fn14 plays a
      protective role during the acute stages of intestinal inflammation, and its
      absence promotes the development of colitis-associated cancer. Cancer Res;
      76(22); 6533-42. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634765
TI  - The Emerging Role of B Cells in Tumor Immunity.
AB  - There is increasing evidence supporting a role for B cells in tumor immunology.
      Paraneoplastic syndromes occurring before a cancer diagnosis have pointed to the
      potential for harnessing the humoral immune response for early cancer detection.
      The presence of tumor-infiltrating B lymphocytes has been linked to a favorable
      clinical outcome in many types of cancers. However, B cells represent a
      heterogeneous population with functionally distinct subsets, and the balance
      among subtypes impacts tumor development. Here, we review recent findings related
      to B cells and to the humoral immune response in cancer and their translational
      significance. Cancer Res; 76(19); 5597-601. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634766
TI  - Visualizing Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Using the Chromobody Technology.
AB  - The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a complex cellular program
      involved in the progression of epithelial cancers to a metastatic stage. Along
      this process, epithelial traits are repressed in favor of a motile mesenchymal
      phenotype. A detailed characterization and monitoring of EMT-related processes is
      required for the design of screening strategies needed to develop novel
      antimetastatic therapies. Overexpression of the canonical EMT biomarker vimentin
      correlates with increased tumor growth and invasiveness, as well as with reduced
      patient survival across various epithelial cancers. Moreover, recent findings
      have demonstrated an active role of vimentin in regulating and reorganizing the
      cellular architecture toward a migratory and invasive phenotype. However, current
      studies suffer from a lack of appropriate methods to trace the induction and
      dynamics of vimentin in cell-based assays. Recently, we have reported a novel
      intrabody (chromobody)-based approach to study the spatiotemporal organization of
      endogenous vimentin upon induction of EMT by high-content imaging. In this
      review, we discuss the relevance of the chromobody technology with regard to the
      visualization of EMT-related processes in living systems. Cancer Res; 76(19);
      5592-6. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634764
TI  - Dual Roles for CXCL4 Chemokines and CXCR3 in Angiogenesis and Invasion of
      Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - The CXCL4 paralog CXCL4L1 is a less studied chemokine that has been suggested to
      exert an antiangiogenic function. However, CXCL4L1 is also expressed in patient
      tumors, tumor cell lines, and murine xenografts, prompting a more detailed
      analysis of its role in cancer pathogenesis. We used genetic and antibody-based
      approaches to attenuate CXCL4L1 in models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
      (PDAC). Mechanisms of expression were assessed in cell coculture experiments,
      murine, and avian xenotransplants, including through an evaluation of CpG
      methylation and mutation of critical CpG residues. CXCL4L1 gene expression was
      increased greatly in primary and metastatic PDAC. We found that myofibroblasts
      triggered cues in the tumor microenvironment, which led to induction of CXCL4L1
      in tumor cells. CXCL4L1 expression was also controlled by epigenetic
      modifications at critical CpG islands, which were mapped. CXCL4L1 inhibited
      angiogenesis but also affected tumor development more directly, depending on the
      tumor cell type. In vivo administration of an mAb against CXCL4L1 demonstrated a
      blockade in the growth of tumors positive for CXCR3, a critical receptor for
      CXCL4 ligands. Our findings define a protumorigenic role in PDAC development for
      endogenous CXCL4L1, which is independent of its antiangiogenic function. Cancer
      Res; 76(22); 6507-19. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634767
TI  - The Challenge of Developing Autophagy Inhibition as a Therapeutic Strategy.
AB  - The finding that cancer chemotherapeutic drugs and ionizing radiation often
      promote autophagy has provided the foundation for clinical trials combining
      autophagy-blocking agents with antitumor drugs and radiation. The premise driving
      these trials is that therapy-induced autophagy is cytoprotective; consequently,
      inhibition of autophagy is anticipated to sensitize malignancies to therapy.
      However, it is well-established that autophagy may also mediate the toxicity of
      antitumor drugs while evidence also exists for a nonprotective function of
      autophagy. Consequently, given that it cannot be predicted what form autophagy
      will take upon treatment with chemotherapy or radiation, the current ongoing
      clinical trials are likely to generate contradictory or inconsistent results,
      with the potential consequence that autophagy inhibition could be dismissed as
      therapeutic strategy based on what are essentially false-negative outcomes.
      Appropriate interpretation of the outcomes of these trials would require
      knowledge as to whether the drugs or radiation used promote the cytoprotective
      form of autophagy in the tumor cells as well as whether the chloroquine or
      hydroxychloroquine actually inhibit the autophagy. Ultimately, it will be
      necessary to identify those patients for whom the strategy of autophagy
      inhibition would be anticipated to improve the response to therapy. However, this
      is currently not feasible in the absence of appropriate bioassays or predictive
      markers for characterization of the autophagy or the effectiveness of
      pharmacologic approaches for autophagy inhibition in the clinic. Cancer Res;
      76(19); 5610-4. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634769
TI  - Thymic Stromal Chemokine TSLP Acts through Th2 Cytokine Production to Induce
      Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma.
AB  - Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) activates dendritic cells to induce Th2
      mediated inflammation. Periostin, an extracellular matrix protein produced by
      fibroblasts, induces chronic inflammation by stimulating TSLP production.
      Recently, a reinforcing cycle linking Th2-type immune responses with periostin
      induced keratinocyte activation has been proposed in atopic dermatitis
      pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the role of TSLP and periostin in
      the development of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), where Th2 cytokines and
      chemokines are also dominant. TSLP and periostin mRNA expression levels were
      elevated in CTCL lesional skin, both of which correlated with IL4 expression
      levels. In vitro and ex vivo, IL4 or IL13 stimulated periostin expression by
      dermal fibroblasts, and fibroblasts from CTCL lesional skin expressed higher
      levels of periostin than those from control skin. Serum periostin levels of CTCL
      patients were also significantly higher than those of healthy individuals. Hut78
      and MJ, CTCL cell lines, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from leukemic
      CTCL patients expressed the TSLP receptor. TSLP induced production of IL4 and
      IL13 by Hut78 and MJ cells through the activation of STAT5. Moreover, TSLP
      induced proliferation of CTCL cells both in vitro and in vivo These data suggest
      that periostin-mediated TSLP production by keratinocytes directly stimulates CTCL
      tumor cell growth in addition to inducing a Th2-dominant tumor environment in
      CTCL. Cancer Res; 76(21); 6241-52. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634770
TI  - Factors Associated With Potentially Preventable Pediatric Admissions Vary by
      Diagnosis: Findings From a Large State.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine characteristics
      associated with potentially preventable pediatric admissions as defined by the
      Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. METHODS: The Texas Inpatient Public
      Use Data File, an administrative database of hospital admissions, identified 747
      040 pediatric admissions ages 0 to 17 years to acute care facilities between 2005
      and 2008. Potentially preventable admissions included 5 diagnoses: asthma,
      perforated appendicitis, diabetes, gastroenteritis, and urinary tract infection.
      A hierarchical multivariable logistic regression model clustered by admitting
      hospital and adjusted for admission date estimated the patient and hospital
      factors associated with potentially preventable admission. RESULTS: An average of
      71 444 hospital days per year and 14.1% (N = 105 055) of all admissions were
      potentially preventable, generating $304 million in hospital charges per year in
      1 state. Younger age (odds ratio [OR]: 2.88 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.80
      2.96]), black race (OR: 1.48 [95% CI: 1.45-1.52]) or Hispanic ethnicity (OR: 1.06
      [95% CI: 1.04-1.08]), lower income (OR: 1.11 [95% CI: 1.02-1.20]), comorbid
      substance abuse disorder (OR: 2.03 [95% CI: 1.75-2.34]), and admission on a
      weekend (OR: 1.05 [95% CI: 1.03-1.06]) or to a critical access hospital (OR: 1.61
      [95% CI: 1.20-2.14]) were high-risk factors for potentially preventable
      admission, whereas Native American race (OR: 0.91 [95% CI: 0.85-0.98]),
      government insurance (OR: 0.83 [95% CI: 0.89-0.96]) or no insurance (OR: 0.93
      [95% CI: 0.89-0.96]), and living in a rural county (OR: 0.70 [95% CI: 0.68-0.73])
      were associated factors. However, most factors varied from high to low odds
      depending on which of the 5 potentially preventable diagnoses was examined.
      CONCLUSIONS: Potentially preventable admissions represent a high burden of time
      and costs for the pediatric population, but strategies to reduce them should be
      tailored to each diagnosis because the associated factors are not uniform across
      all potentially preventable admissions.

PMID- 27634768
TI  - v-Src Oncogene Induces Trop2 Proteolytic Activation via Cyclin D1.
AB  - Proteomic analysis of castration-resistant prostate cancer demonstrated the
      enrichment of Src tyrosine kinase activity in approximately 90% of patients. Src
      is known to induce cyclin D1, and a cyclin D1-regulated gene expression module
      predicts poor outcome in human prostate cancer. The tumor-associated calcium
      signal transducer 2 (TACSTD2/Trop2/M1S1) is enriched in the prostate, promoting
      prostate stem cell self-renewal upon proteolytic activation via a gamma-secretase
      cleavage complex (PS1, PS2) and TACE (ADAM17), which releases the Trop2
      intracellular domain (Trop2 ICD). Herein, v-Src transformation of primary murine
      prostate epithelial cells increased the proportion of prostate cancer stem cells
      as characterized by gene expression, epitope characteristics, and prostatosphere
      formation. Cyclin D1 was induced by v-Src, and Src kinase induction of Trop2 ICD
      nuclear accumulation required cyclin D1. Cyclin D1 induced abundance of the Trop2
      proteolytic cleavage activation components (PS2, TACE) and restrained expression
      of the inhibitory component of the Trop2 proteolytic complex (Numb). Patients
      with prostate cancer with increased nuclear Trop2 ICD and cyclin D1, and reduced
      Numb, had reduced recurrence-free survival probability (HR = 4.35). Cyclin D1,
      therefore, serves as a transducer of v-Src-mediated induction of Trop2 ICD by
      enhancing abundance of the Trop2 proteolytic activation complex. Cancer Res;
      76(22); 6723-34. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27634771
TI  - Abolished perineuronal nets and altered parvalbumin-immunoreactivity in the
      nucleus reticularis thalami of wildtype and 3xTg mice after experimental stroke.
AB  - Treatment strategies for ischemic stroke are still limited, since numerous
      attempts were successful only in preclinical research but failed under clinical
      condition. To overcome this translational roadblock, clinical relevant stroke
      models should consider co-morbidities, age-related effects and the complex
      neurovascular unit (NVU) concept. The NVU includes neurons, vessels and glial
      cells with astrocytic endfeet in close relation to the extracellular matrix
      (ECM). However, the role of the ECM after stroke-related tissue damage is poorly
      understood and mostly neglected for treatment strategies. This study is focused
      on alterations of perineuronal nets (PNs) as ECM constituents and parvalbumin
      containing GABAergic neurons in mice with emphasis on the nucleus reticularis
      thalami (NRT) in close proximity to the ischemic lesion as induced by a filament
      based stroke model. One day after ischemia onset, immunofluorescence-based
      quantitative analyses revealed drastically declined PNs in the ischemia-affected
      NRT from 3- and 12-month-old wildtype and co-morbid triple-transgenic (3xTg) mice
      with Alzheimer-like alterations. Parvalbumin-positive cells decreased numerically
      in the ischemia-affected NRT, while staining intensity did not differ between the
      affected and non-affected hemisphere. Additional qualitative analyses
      demonstrated ischemia-induced loss of PNs and allocated neuropil ECM
      immunoreactive for aggrecan and neurocan, and impaired immunoreactivity for
      calbindin, the potassium channel subunit Kv3.1b and the glutamate decarboxylase
      isoforms GAD65 and GAD67 in the NRT. In conclusion, these data confirm PNs as
      highly sensitive constituents of the ECM along with impaired neuronal integrity
      of GABAergic neurons. Therefore, specific targeting of ECM components might
      appear as a promising strategy for future treatment strategies in stroke.

PMID- 27634772
TI  - Inner ear lesion and the differential roles of hypoxia and hypercarbia in
      triggering active movements: Potential implication for the Sudden Infant Death
      Syndrome.
AB  - Infants that succumb to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) have been identified
      with inner ear dysfunction (IED) at birth and on autopsy. We previously
      investigated whether IED could play a mechanistic role in SIDS. We discovered
      that animals with IED displayed significant suppression of movement arousal to a
      hypoxic-hypercarbic gas mixture under light anesthesia. In the current study we
      investigated the role of each gas in triggering movements and the response to
      hypercarbia during natural sleep without anesthesia. Seventeen-day-old CD-1 mice
      received intra-tympanic gentamicin (IT-Gent) injections to precipitate IED. The
      movement response to hypercarbia, hypoxia and hypoxia-hypercarbia was compared to
      controls under light anesthesia. Hypercarbia did not stimulate vigorous movements
      in any animals under either sleep condition. Hypoxia triggered vigorous movements
      in controls (p<0.05) and a decreased response in IT-Gent animals under light
      anesthesia. This contrasted with combined hypoxia-hypercarbia, in which IT-Gent
      animals displaced significantly suppressed movements compared to controls
      (p<0.05). Our findings portray that a degree of intact inner ear function is
      necessary for instigating the movement response. Additionally, hypoxia is the
      trigger for the movement response while carbon dioxide (CO2) suppresses it. The
      finding that carbon dioxide did not stimulate movement during natural sleep is an
      important finding. This contrasts with other studies that have identified
      hypercarbia as an arousal stimulus with EEG. Further studies are warranted to
      evaluate the precise role of the inner ear in the movement response and potential
      association with SIDS. The early detection of IED in SIDS predisposed cases could
      be invaluable.

PMID- 27634773
TI  - Static and Dynamic Nanosheets from Selective Assembly of Geometric Macrocycle
      Isomers.
AB  - In contrast to the significant advances that have been made in the construction
      of two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures, the rational modification from static to
      dynamic 2D sheets remains a great challenge. Static and dynamic sheets formed
      from selective self-assembly of geometric macrocycle isomers based on anthracene
      units are presented. The self-assembly of the cis isomer generates static planar
      sheets, whereas the trans isomer forms dynamic rolled sheets which are reversibly
      unrolled upon stimulation by a thermal signal. Furthermore, the mixed solution of
      the two isomers exhibits self-sorting behavior, generating the coexistence of the
      two independent self-assembled structures, the planar sheets and the folded
      scrolls. The self-sorted supramolecular objects with considerable shape and size
      differences are able to be readily separated, one isomer from the other.

PMID- 27634774
TI  - Identification and characterisation of elongation factor Tu, a novel protein
      involved in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis-host interaction.
AB  - Paracoccidioides spp., which are temperature-dependent dimorphic fungi, are
      responsible for the most prevalent human systemic mycosis in Latin America, the
      paracoccidioidomycosis. The aim of this study was to characterise the involvement
      of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis-host
      interaction. Adhesive properties were examined using recombinant PbEF-Tu proteins
      and the respective polyclonal anti-rPbEF-Tu antibody. Immunogold analysis
      demonstrated the surface location of EF-Tu in P. brasiliensis. Moreover, PbEF-Tu
      was found to bind to fibronectin and plasminogen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay, and it was determined that the binding to plasminogen is at least partly
      dependent on lysine residues and ionic interactions. To verify the participation
      of EF-Tu in the interaction of P. brasiliensis with pneumocytes, we blocked the
      respective protein with an anti-rPbEF-Tu antibody and evaluated the consequences
      on the interaction index by flow cytometry. During the interaction, we observed a
      decrease of 2- and 3-fold at 8 and 24 h, respectively, suggesting the
      contribution of EF-Tu in fungal adhesion/invasion.

PMID- 27634776
TI  - Erratum, Vol. 13, August 4 Release.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.5888/pcd13.160262.].

PMID- 27634777
TI  - Erratum, Vol. 13, June 16 Release.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.5888/pcd13.160056.].

PMID- 27634775
TI  - Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolism in ecological context.
AB  - The architecture and regulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolic network are
      among the best studied owing to its widespread use in both basic research and
      industry. Yet, several recent studies have revealed notable limitations in
      explaining genotype-metabolic phenotype relations in this yeast, especially when
      concerning multiple genetic/environmental perturbations. Apparently unexpected
      genotype-phenotype relations may originate in the evolutionarily shaped cellular
      operating principles being hidden in common laboratory conditions. Predecessors
      of laboratory S. cerevisiae strains, the wild and the domesticated yeasts, have
      been evolutionarily shaped by highly variable environments, very distinct from
      laboratory conditions, and most interestingly by social life within microbial
      communities. Here we present a brief review of the genotypic and phenotypic
      peculiarities of S. cerevisiae in the context of its social lifestyle beyond
      laboratory environments. Accounting for this ecological context and the origin of
      the laboratory strains in experimental design and data analysis would be
      essential in improving the understanding of genotype-environment-phenotype
      relationships.

PMID- 27634778
TI  - Integrating Social Determinants of Health With Treatment and Prevention: A New
      Tool to Assess Local Area Deprivation.
AB  - We assessed the appropriate geographic scale to apply an area deprivation index
      (ADI), which reflects a geographic area's level of socioeconomic deprivation and
      is associated with health outcomes, to identify and screen patients for social
      determinants of health. We estimated the relative strength of the association
      between the ADI at various geographic levels and a range of hospitalization rates
      by using age-adjusted odds ratios in an 8-county region of New York State. The 10
      km local ADI estimates had the strongest associations with all hospitalization
      rates (higher odds ratios) followed by estimates at 20 km, 30 km, and the
      regional scale. A locally sensitive ADI is an ideal measure to identify and
      screen for the health care and social services needs and to advance the
      integration of social determinants of health with clinical treatment and disease
      prevention.

PMID- 27634779
TI  - Developing High-Resolution Descriptions of Urban Heat Islands: A Public Health
      Imperative.

PMID- 27634780
TI  - Casting a Wider Net: Engaging Community Health Worker Clients and Their Families
      in Cancer Prevention.
AB  - Engaging family members in an intervention to prevent breast and cervical cancer
      can be a way to reach underserved women; however, little is known about whether
      family member recruitment reaches at-risk women. This study reports the kin
      relationship and risk characteristics of family members who chose to participate
      in the Kin Keeper(SM) cancer prevention intervention, delivered by community
      health workers (CHWs) via existing community programs. African American, Latina,
      and Arab family members reported risk factors for inadequate screening, including
      comorbid health conditions and inadequate breast or cervical cancer literacy. CHW
      programs can be leveraged to reach underserved families with cancer preventive
      interventions.

PMID- 27634781
TI  - Physical Activity, Screen-Based Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep Duration in
      Adolescents: Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2011-2013.
AB  - This study examined the concurrent associations of physical activity and screen
      based sedentary behavior with sleep duration among adolescents by using data from
      the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2011-2013. Using latent class analysis,
      we identified 4 latent subgroups of adolescents with various levels of physical
      activity and screen-based sedentary behavior. The subgroup with high levels of
      physical activity and low levels of sedentary behavior generally showed greater
      odds of having sufficient sleep (>=8 hours/night) than the other subgroups.
      Findings imply that concurrent achievement of a high level of physical activity
      and low level of screen-based sedentary behavior is necessary to promote
      sufficient sleep among adolescents.

PMID- 27634782
TI  - Body Image and Body Contouring Procedures.
AB  - Dissatisfaction with physical appearance and body image is a common psychological
      phenomena in Western society. Body image dissatisfaction is frequently reported
      by those who have excess body weight, but also is seen in those of normal body
      weight. For both groups of individuals, this dissatisfaction impacts self-esteem
      and quality of life. Furthermore, it is believed to be the motivational catalyst
      to a range of appearance-enhancing behaviors, including weight loss efforts and
      physical activity. Body image dissatisfaction is also believed to play a role in
      the decision to seek the wide range of body contouring procedures offered by
      aesthetic physicians. Individuals who seek these procedures typically report
      increased body image dissatisfaction, focus on the feature they wish to alter
      with treatment, and often experience improvement in body image following
      treatment. At the same time, extreme body image dissatisfaction is a symptom of a
      number of recognized psychiatric disorders. These include anorexia nervosa,
      bulimia nervosa, and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), all of which can
      contraindicate aesthetic treatment. This special topic review paper provides an
      overview of the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and aesthetic
      procedures designed to improve body contouring. The review specifically focuses
      on the relationship of body image and body weight, as well as the presentation of
      body image psychopathology that would contraindicate aesthetic surgery. The
      overall goal of the paper is to highlight the clinical implications of the
      existing research and provide suggestions for future research on the
      psychological aspects of body contouring procedures. 

PMID- 27634786
TI  - Sleep and Behavior in Cross-Fostering Rats: Developmental and Sex Aspects.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Adverse early-life events induce behavioral psychopathologies
      and sleep changes in adulthood. In order to understand the molecular level
      mechanisms by which the maltreatment modifies sleep, valid animal models are
      needed. Changing pups between mothers at early age (cross-fostering) may
      satisfyingly model adverse events in human childhood. METHODS: Cross-fostering
      (CF) was used to model mild early-life stress in male and female Wistar rats.
      Behavior and BDNF gene expression in the basal forebrain (BF), cortex, and
      hypothalamus were assessed during adolescence and adulthood. Spontaneous sleep,
      sleep homeostasis, and BF extracellular adenosine levels were assessed in
      adulthood. RESULTS: CF rats demonstrated increased number of REM sleep onsets in
      light and dark periods of the day. Total REM and NREM sleep duration was also
      increased during the light period. While sleep homeostasis was not severely
      affected, basal level of adenosine in the BF of both male and female CF rats was
      lower than in controls. CF did not lead to considerable changes in behavior.
      CONCLUSIONS: Even when the consequences of adverse early-life events are not
      observed in tests for anxiety and depression, they leave a molecular mark in the
      brain, which can act as a vulnerability factor for psychopathologies in later
      life. Sleep is a sensitive indicator for even mild early-life stress.

PMID- 27634787
TI  - I Keep a Close Watch on This Heart of Mine: Increased Interoception in Insomnia.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVES: Whereas both insomnia and altered interoception are core
      symptoms in affective disorders, their neural mechanisms remain insufficiently
      understood and have not previously been linked. Insomnia Disorder (ID) is
      characterized by sensory hypersensitivity during wakefulness and sleep. Previous
      studies on sensory processing in ID addressed external stimuli only, but not
      interoception. Interoceptive sensitivity can be studied quantitatively by
      measuring the cerebral cortical response to one's heartbeat (heartbeat-evoked
      potential, HEP). We here investigated whether insomnia is associated with
      increased interoceptive sensitivity as indexed by the HEP amplitude. METHODS:
      Sixty-four participants aged 21-70 years were recruited through
      www.sleepregistry.nl including 32 people suffering from ID and 32 age- and sex
      matched controls without sleep complaints. HEPs were obtained from resting-state
      high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) recorded during evening wakeful rest
      in eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions of 5-minute duration each.
      Significance of group differences in HEP amplitude and their topographical
      distribution over the scalp were assessed by means of cluster-based permutation
      tests. RESULTS: In particular during EC, and to a lesser extent during EO, people
      with ID had a larger amplitude late HEP component than controls at frontal
      electrodes 376-500 ms after the R-wave peak. Source localization suggested
      increased neural activity time-locked to heartbeats in people with ID mainly in
      anterior cingulate/medial frontal cortices. CONCLUSIONS: People with insomnia
      show insufficient adaptation of their brain responses to the ever-present
      heartbeats. Abnormalities in the neural circuits involved in interoceptive
      awareness including the salience network may be of key importance to the
      pathophysiology of insomnia.

PMID- 27634790
TI  - The Combination of Supplemental Oxygen and a Hypnotic Markedly Improves
      Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with a Mild to Moderate Upper Airway
      Collapsibility.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVES: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) results from the interaction of
      several physiological traits; specifically a compromised upper airway anatomy and
      muscle function, and two key non-anatomical deficits: elevated loop gain and a
      low arousal threshold. Although continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is an
      efficacious treatment, it is often poorly tolerated. An alternative approach
      could involve administering therapies targeting the non-anatomic causes. However,
      therapies (oxygen or hypnotics) targeting these traits in isolation typically
      improve, but rarely resolve OSA. Therefore, our aim was to determine how the
      combination of oxygen and eszopiclone alters the phenotypic traits and OSA
      severity and to assess the baseline phenotypic characteristics of
      responders/nonresponders to combination therapy. METHODS: In a single-blinded
      randomized crossover study, 20 OSA patients received combination therapy (3 mg
      eszopiclone and 40% oxygen) versus placebo/sham air, with 1 w between conditions.
      Under each condition, we assessed the effects on OSA severity (clinical
      polysomnography) and the phenotypic traits causing OSA using CPAP manipulations
      (research polysomnography). RESULTS: Combination therapy reduced the apnea
      hypopnea index (51.9 +/- 6.2 vs. 29.5 +/- 5.3 events/h; P < 0.001), lowered both
      the ventilation associated with arousal (5.7 +/- 0.3 vs. 5.2 +/- 0.3 L/min; P =
      0.05) and loop gain (3.3 +/- 0.5 vs. 2.2 +/- 0.3; P = 0.025). Responders to
      therapy (apnea-hypopnea index reduced by > 50% to below 15 events/h; n = 9/20)
      had less severe OSA (P = 0.001), a less collapsible upper airway (P = 0.01) and
      greater upper airway muscle effectiveness (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The
      combination of lowering loop gain and raising the arousal threshold is an
      effective therapy in patients whose anatomy is not severely compromised. Our work
      demonstrates that combining therapies that target multiple traits can resolve OSA
      in selected individuals. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID:
      NCT01633827.

PMID- 27634792
TI  - Effect on Intermittent Hypoxia on Plasma Exosomal Micro RNA Signature and
      Endothelial Function in Healthy Adults.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Intermittent hypoxia (IH) is associated with increased risk of
      cardiovascular disease. Exosomes are secreted by most cell types and released in
      biological fluids, including plasma, and play a role in modifying the functional
      phenotype of target cells. Using an experimental human model of IH, we
      investigated potential exosome-derived biomarkers of IH-induced vascular
      dysfunction. METHODS: Ten male volunteers were exposed to room air (D0), IH (6
      h/day) for 4 days (D4) and allowed to recover for 4 days (D8). Circulating plasma
      exosomes were isolated and incubated with human endothelial monolayer cultures
      for impedance measurements and RNA extracted and processed with messenger RNA
      (mRNA) arrays to identify gene targets. In addition, immunofluorescent
      assessments of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA expression, ICAM-1
      cellular distribution were conducted. RESULTS: Plasma exosomal micro RNAs
      (miRNAs) were profiled. D4 exosomes, primarily from endothelial sources,
      disrupted impedance levels compared to D0 and D8. ICAM-1 expression was markedly
      upregulated in endothelial cells exposed to D4 exosomes along with significant
      reductions in eNOS expression. Microarray approaches identified a restricted and
      further validated signature of exosomal miRNAs in D4 exosomes, and mRNA arrays
      revealed putative endothelial gene target pathways. CONCLUSIONS: In humans,
      intermittent hypoxia alters exosome cargo in the circulation which promotes
      increased permeability and dysfunction of endothelial cells in vitro. A select
      number of circulating exosomal miRNAs may play important roles in the
      cardiovascular dysfunction associated with OSA by targeting specific effector
      pathways.

PMID- 27634793
TI  - Polysomnography in Bolivian Children Native to High Altitude Compared to Children
      Native to Low Altitude.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVES: To compare polysomnographic parameters in high altitude (HA)
      native Andean children with low altitude (LA) native peers in order to explain
      the nocturnal oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO2) instability reported in HA native
      children and to study the effect on sleep quality. METHODS: Ninety-eight healthy
      children aged 7-10 y and 13-16 y were recruited at LA (500 m) or HA (3,650 m)
      above sea level. Physical examination was undertaken and genetic ancestry
      determined from salivary DNA to determine proportion of European ancestry, a risk
      factor for poor HA adaptation. Attended polysomnography was carried out over 1
      night for 58 children at their resident location. RESULTS: Of 98 children
      recruited, 85 met inclusion criteria, 58 of 85 (68.2%) completed polysomnography,
      of which 56 were adequate for analysis: 30 at LA (17 male) and 26 at HA (16
      male). There were no altitude differences in genetic ancestry, but a high
      proportion of European admixture (median 50.6% LA; 44.0% HA). SpO2 was less
      stable at HA with mean 3% and 4% oxygen desaturation indices greater (both P <
      0.001) than at LA. This was not explained by periodic breathing. However, more
      obstructive hypopnea was observed at HA (P < 0.001), along with a trend toward
      more central apnea (P = 0.053); neither was explained by clinical findings. There
      was no difference in sleep quality between altitudes. CONCLUSIONS: HA native
      Andean children have more respiratory events when scoring relies on SpO2
      desaturation due to inherent SpO2 instability. Use of American Academy of Sleep
      Medicine scoring criteria may yield false-positive results for obstructive sleep
      disordered breathing at HA.

PMID- 27634801
TI  - 2B-Alert Web: An Open-Access Tool for Predicting the Effects of Sleep/Wake
      Schedules and Caffeine Consumption on Neurobehavioral Performance.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVES: Computational tools that predict the effects of daily
      sleep/wake amounts on neurobehavioral performance are critical components of
      fatigue management systems, allowing for the identification of periods during
      which individuals are at increased risk for performance errors. However, none of
      the existing computational tools is publicly available, and the commercially
      available tools do not account for the beneficial effects of caffeine on
      performance, limiting their practical utility. Here, we introduce 2B-Alert Web,
      an open-access tool for predicting neurobehavioral performance, which accounts
      for the effects of sleep/wake schedules, time of day, and caffeine consumption,
      while incorporating the latest scientific findings in sleep restriction, sleep
      extension, and recovery sleep. METHODS: We combined our validated Unified Model
      of Performance and our validated caffeine model to form a single, integrated
      modeling framework instantiated as a Web-enabled tool. 2B-Alert Web allows users
      to input daily sleep/wake schedules and caffeine consumption (dosage and time) to
      obtain group-average predictions of neurobehavioral performance based on
      psychomotor vigilance tasks. 2B-Alert Web is accessible at: https://2b-alert
      web.bhsai.org. RESULTS: The 2B-Alert Web tool allows users to obtain predictions
      for mean response time, mean reciprocal response time, and number of lapses. The
      graphing tool allows for simultaneous display of up to seven different sleep/wake
      and caffeine schedules. The schedules and corresponding predicted outputs can be
      saved as a Microsoft Excel file; the corresponding plots can be saved as an image
      file. The schedules and predictions are erased when the user logs off, thereby
      maintaining privacy and confidentiality. CONCLUSIONS: The publicly accessible 2B
      Alert Web tool is available for operators, schedulers, and neurobehavioral
      scientists as well as the general public to determine the impact of any given
      sleep/wake schedule, caffeine consumption, and time of day on performance of a
      group of individuals. This evidence-based tool can be used as a decision aid to
      design effective work schedules, guide the design of future sleep restriction and
      caffeine studies, and increase public awareness of the effects of sleep amounts,
      time of day, and caffeine on alertness.

PMID- 27634808
TI  - Value-Based Sleep in the Workplace.

PMID- 27634805
TI  - DSM-5 Insomnia and Short Sleep: Comorbidity Landscape and Racial Disparities.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVES: We estimated rates of cardiometabolic disease, pain conditions,
      and psychiatric illness associated with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
      Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) insomnia disorder (current and in
      remission) and habitual short sleep (fewer than 6 h), and examined the roles of
      insomnia and short sleep in racial disparities in disease burden between black
      and non-Hispanic white Americans. METHODS: This epidemiological survey study was
      cross-sectional. The community-based sample consisted of 3,911 subjects (46.0 y
      +/- 13.3; 65.4% female; 25.0% black) across six sleep groups based on DSM-5
      insomnia classification (never vs. remitted vs. current) and self-reported
      habitual sleep duration (normal vs. short). Vascular events, cardiometabolic
      disease, pain conditions, and psychiatric symptoms were self-reported. RESULTS:
      Short sleeping insomniacs were at elevated risk for myocardial infarction,
      stroke, treated hypertension, diabetes, chronic pain, back pain, depression, and
      anxiety, independent of sex, age, and obesity. Morbidity profiles for insomniacs
      with normal sleep duration and former insomniacs, irrespective of sleep duration,
      were similar with elevations in treated hypertension, chronic pain, depression,
      and anxiety. Regarding racial disparities, cardiometabolic and psychiatric
      illness burden was greater for blacks, who were more likely to have short sleep
      and the short sleep insomnia phenotype. Evidence suggested that health
      disparities may be attributable in part to race-related differences in sleep.
      CONCLUSIONS: Insomnia disorder with short sleep is the most severe phenotype of
      insomnia and comorbid with many cardiometabolic and psychiatric illnesses,
      whereas morbidity profiles are highly similar between insomniacs with normal
      sleep duration and former insomniacs. Short sleep endemic to black Americans
      increases risk for the short sleep insomnia phenotype and likely contributes to
      racial disparities in cardiometabolic disease and psychiatric illness.

PMID- 27634814
TI  - Psychiatrist admits making sexual advances to medical students he tutored.

PMID- 27634812
TI  - A Longitudinal Twin and Sibling Study of Associations between Insomnia and
      Depression Symptoms in Young Adults.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVES: To estimate genetic and environmental influences on the
      associations between insomnia and depression symptoms concurrently and
      longitudinally. METHODS: Behavioral genetic analyses were conducted on data from
      the British longitudinal G1219 twin/sibling study. One thousand five hundred
      fiftysix twins and siblings participated at Time 1 (mean age = 20.3 years, SD =
      1.76). Eight hundred sixty-two participated at Time 2 (mean age = 25.2 years, SD
      = 1.73 years). Participants completed the Insomnia Symptoms Questionnaire and the
      Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire to assess symptoms of insomnia and
      depression respectively. RESULTS: Genetic effects accounted for 33% to 41% of the
      variance of the phenotypes. The phenotypic correlations were moderate (r = 0.34
      to r = 0.52). The genetic correlations between the variables were high (0.73
      1.00). Genetic effects accounted for a substantial proportion of the associations
      between variables (50% to 90%). Non-shared environmental effects explained the
      rest of the variance and covariance of the traits. CONCLUSIONS: While genetic
      effects play a modest role in insomnia and depression symptoms separately, they
      appear to play a more central role in concurrent and longitudinal associations
      between these phenotypes. This should be acknowledged in theories explaining
      these common associations.

PMID- 27634815
TI  - Revisiting Parole Decision Making: Testing for the Punitive Hypothesis in a Large
      U.S. Jurisdiction.
AB  - The decision to grant conditional release from prison (aka the parole decision)
      has been largely neglected in the contemporary criminological literature, despite
      its critical implications. The current study, conducted in Pennsylvania, United
      States, tests for punitive themes in parole decision making by examining the
      impact of several measures reflective of punishment satisfaction on the decision
      to grant release to eligible parole candidates. The results indicate that the
      amount of time served in relation to the original punishment does not predict
      parole decisions but the nature of the original offense does. Moreover, inmates
      eligible for parole have to experience at least one parole denial to increase
      their chances of release, suggesting that parole decision makers use the parole
      process as a punitive means. The implications of the findings are discussed.

PMID- 27634816
TI  - Collateral Consequences and Effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and
      Notification: Law Enforcement Perspectives.
AB  - A growing body of research has examined the collateral effects of sex offender
      registration and notification (SORN), particularly those related to offenders'
      social and economic reintegration into society. Although studies have examined
      public, offender, treatment provider, and other criminal justice perspectives on
      SORN's collateral impacts, few have elicited the views of law enforcement (LE)
      professionals who have contact with registered offenders. This study presents
      results from a mixed method study examining LE perspectives on collateral
      consequences and effectiveness of SORN. Results indicate that, although overall
      LE concern regarding collateral impacts is limited, those who are most engaged in
      SORN-related duties are significantly more likely to indicate such concern, and
      also more likely to believe that SORN was an effective public safety tool.
      Importantly, respondents in states with larger registries expressed greater
      concern over collateral consequences, and less belief in SORN's public safety
      efficacy. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

PMID- 27634817
TI  - Desistance From Crime Without Reintegration: A Longitudinal Study of the Social
      Context and Life Course Path to Desistance in a Sample of Adults Convicted of a
      Sex Crime.
AB  - Criminological theories suggest that desistance from crime cannot be considered
      outside its social context. Few studies, however, have examined the social
      context and its importance for individuals convicted of a sex offense. Their
      unique experience during community reentry warrants specific attention to this
      group. Using prospective longitudinal data, the current study examined desistance
      from general offending in a sample of 500 adult males convicted of at least one
      sex offense. Cox proportional hazards models showed that, although desistance is
      associated with the presence of prosocial social influences, these differences
      disappeared after controlling for prior involvement in crime and delinquency.
      Employment and marital status, commonly described as key turning points, were not
      found to be significant factors associated with desistance. Of importance, aging
      and the absence of recent substance abuse issues were key factors associated with
      desistance. Although these findings warrant further investigation, the study
      suggests that, for some men, desistance may occur in spite of the absence of
      community reintegration.

PMID- 27634818
TI  - "While This Does Not in Any Way Excuse My Conduct . . . ": The Role of Treatment
      and Neutralizations in Desistance From Sexual Offending.
AB  - This article explores the role of neutralizations in desistance from sexual
      offending. The project involved interviews with 15 men convicted of a sexual
      offence against a child and living in the community for between 1 and 15 years
      following a period of incarceration. The majority had undertaken sex offender
      treatment and highlighted its utility. Participants less than 9 years post
      release tended to neutralize their offending via the technique of "denial of
      responsibility," while those 9 years plus post-release displayed less evidence of
      neutralizations. Treatment programmes may exclude those with high levels of
      denial and minimization, which I argue to be misguided and potentially dangerous.
      Findings indicate that neutralizations assist desistance from sexual offending by
      allowing for the negotiation of stigma and rejection of the "sex offender" label,
      thus providing for the development of a non-offending, prosocial identity.

PMID- 27634819
TI  - US hospitals mark up prices more than 20-fold to maximize revenue, study
      suggests.

PMID- 27634820
TI  - Development and preclinical testing of an adaptive algorithm for automated
      control of inspired oxygen in the preterm infant.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the performance of a novel algorithm for automated oxygen
      control using a simulation of oxygenation founded on in vivo data from preterm
      infants. METHODS: A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm was
      enhanced by (i) compensation for the non-linear SpO2-PaO2 relationship, (ii)
      adaptation to the severity of lung dysfunction and (iii) error attenuation within
      the target range. Algorithm function with and without enhancements was evaluated
      by iterative linking with a computerised simulation of oxygenation. Data for this
      simulation (FiO2 and SpO2 at 1 Hz) were sourced from extant recordings from
      preterm infants (n=16), and converted to a datastream of values for
      ventilation:perfusion ratio and shunt. Combination of this datastream second by
      second with the FiO2 values from the algorithm under test produced a sequence of
      novel SpO2 values, allowing time in the SpO2 target range (91%-95%) and in
      various degrees of hypoxaemia and hyperoxaemia to be determined. A PID algorithm
      with 30 s lockout after each FiO2 adjustment, and a proportional-derivative (PD)
      algorithm were also evaluated. RESULTS: Separate addition of each enhancing
      feature to the PID algorithm showed a benefit, but not with uniformly positive
      effects. The fully enhanced algorithm was optimal for the combination of
      targeting the desired SpO2 range and avoiding time in, and episodes of,
      hypoxaemia and hyperoxaemia. This algorithm performed better than one with a 30 s
      lockout, and considerably better than PD control. CONCLUSIONS: An enhanced PID
      algorithm was very effective for automated oxygen control in a simulation of
      oxygenation, and deserves clinical evaluation.

PMID- 27634821
TI  - IL-17A attracts inflammatory cells in murine lung infection with P. aeruginosa.
AB  - IL-17A-dependent immunity is of importance in the protection against
      extracellular bacterial pathogens. However, IL-17A is also suggested to mediate
      the pathogenesis of lung diseases, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome.
      Here, we studied the role of IL-17A in a mouse model of acute pneumonia. IL-17A
      mediated the expression of keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC) and the
      recruitment of inflammatory cells in mice infected with a sub-lethal dose of
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa. IL-17A deficiency protected mice from lethal P.
      aeruginosa lung infection. A sub-lethal infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae
      resulted in increased bacterial burden associated with increased pulmonary
      inflammation. Thus, the type of infectious bacteria seemed to influence the way
      in which IL-17A functions during pulmonary infection. Reducing pulmonary
      inflammation by targeting IL-17A may be a therapeutic option in acute P.
      aeruginosa pneumonia.

PMID- 27634822
TI  - Incidence of late atrial fibrillation in bilateral lung versus heart transplants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We compared the incidence of late-onset atrial fibrillation in
      orthotopic heart transplant recipients and bilateral orthotopic lung transplant
      recipients. METHODS: We reviewed the records of all heart and lung transplant
      operations carried out in our institution between 1995 and 2015. We performed 1:1
      propensity-matching based on patient age, sex, body mass index, and hypertension.
      Our primary outcome, late-onset atrial fibrillation, was defined as atrial
      fibrillation occurring after discharge following hospitalization for
      transplantation. RESULTS: Over the study period, 397 orthotopic heart transplants
      and 240 bilateral orthotopic lung transplants were performed. Propensity matching
      resulted in 173 pairs who were matched with respect to age, sex, body mass index,
      and preoperative hypertension. The median follow-up was 5.3 years for heart
      transplant patients and 3.1 years for lung transplant patients. Late-onset atrial
      fibrillation occurred in 11 heart transplant patients (5 of whom had biopsy
      proven evidence of rejection) and 19 lung transplant patients (2 of whom had
      biopsy-proven evidence of rejection). On Kaplan-Meier analysis, the probability
      of late-onset atrial fibrillation at 5 years was 4.3% for heart transplant
      patients vs. 13.9% for lung transplant patients (log-rank p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      We documented an increased probability of late-onset atrial fibrillation among
      bilateral orthotopic lung transplant patients compared to orthotopic heart
      transplant patients. This was a hypothesis-generating study that suggests a
      potential role for cardiac autonomic innervation in the genesis of atrial
      fibrillation.

PMID- 27634823
TI  - Endovascular repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm followed by type B dissection.
AB  - An 86-year-old man with an abdominal aortic aneurysm was diagnosed with type B
      aortic dissection accompanied by a patent false lumen that started at the distal
      arch of the thoracic aorta and terminated at the left common iliac artery.
      Meticulous preoperative assessment detected 3 large intimal tears in the
      descending aorta, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and left common iliac artery. We
      performed single-stage thoracic and abdominal endovascular aneurysm repair and
      concomitant axillary-axillary bypass. The abdominal aortic aneurysm with type B
      aortic dissection was successfully treated using a single-stage endovascular
      stent graft, without any complications due to the careful preoperative
      examinations.

PMID- 27634824
TI  - Impacted thoracic foreign bodies after penetrating chest trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retained foreign bodies in the chest may include shell fragments,
      bullets, shrapnel, pieces of clothing, bones, and rib fragments. The risks of
      removal of foreign bodies must be weighed against the complications of leaving
      them inside the chest. METHODS: We treated 90 cases of retained intrathoracic
      foreign bodies in patients admitted to 3 tertiary centers in Saudi Arabia between
      March 2015 and March 2016. Sixty patients were injured by shrapnel, 26 had one or
      more bullets, 3 had broken rib fragments, and one had a metal screw. The chest
      wall was site of impaction in 48 cases, the lungs in 24, pleura in 14, and
      mediastinum in 4. RESULTS: Removal of the retained foreign body was carried out
      in 12 patients only: bullets in 9 cases, bone fragments in 2, and a metal screw
      in one. The predictors for removal were bullets, female sex, and mediastinal
      position with bilateral chest injury, especially with fracture ribs. CONCLUSION:
      Retained intrathoracic foreign bodies due to penetrating chest trauma are treated
      mainly conservatively unless there is another indication for chest exploration.

PMID- 27634825
TI  - Late atrial fibrillation in bilateral lung and heart transplants: Apples and
      oranges?

PMID- 27634827
TI  - 'Pericarditis intestinalis': a rare complication of esophageal resection.

PMID- 27634826
TI  - Aortopulmonary ectopic parathyroid gland and concurrent thymolipoma.
AB  - Ectopic parathyroid adenomas are considered the main cause of primary
      hyperparathyroidism. However, concurrent parathyroid and thymic pathologies are
      rarely diagnosed in the same patient. A 47-year-old man with history of diabetes
      mellitus, hypertension, and myasthenia gravis presented with persistent
      hypercalcemia. Laboratory investigations, computed tomography, and technetium-99
      m sestamibi scintigraphy revealed ectopic parathyroid glands, a mediastinal mass,
      and an enlarged thymus. The patient underwent thymectomy and mass excision via a
      median sternotomy. Histopathology was consistent with ectopic parathyroid adenoma
      and thymolipoma. The serum calcium and parathormone concentrations normalized
      within 48 hours after surgery.

PMID- 27634828
TI  - Prospective randomized comparison of clinical and angiographic outcomes between
      everolimus-eluting vs. zotarolimus-eluting stents for treatment of coronary
      restenosis in drug-eluting stents: intravascular ultrasound volumetric analysis
      (RESTENT-ISR trial).
AB  - AIMS: At present no proven standard treatment for drug-eluting stent (DES)
      restenosis is available, and the efficacy and safety of everolimus-eluting stent
      (EES) and zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) for DES restenosis are limited. The
      purpose of this prospective, randomized 9-month intracoronary ultrasound (IVUS)
      and 3-year clinical follow-up study was to compare the effects of EESs and ZESs
      on neointima volume and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) such as
      death, myocardial infarction (MI), target lesion revascularization (TLR) and
      stent thrombosis in DES restenosis patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients were
      eligible for this study if they were between 40 and 75 years old with in-stent
      restenosis >50% by quantitative coronary angiographic analysis in DES or within 5
      mm of the stent edges with signs of ischaemia. Eligible patients (n = 304, 146
      women and 158 men) were randomly assigned to receive either EES (158 patients) or
      ZES (146 patients). The primary endpoint of the study was to compare neointima
      volume between the EES and ZES groups at the 9-month follow-up IVUS. MACEs,
      including death, non-fatal MI, stent thrombosis and the need for repeated TLR
      within 3 years, were noted. The 9-month angiographic and IVUS follow-up showed no
      significant differences in late lumen loss (0.40 +/- 0.56 vs. 0.45 +/- 0.61 mm, P
      = 0.57, respectively) and neointima volume (0.51 +/- 0.48 vs. 0.56 +/- 0.54 mm3/1
      mm, P = 0.47, respectively) in the EES and the ZES groups. Composite MACEs such
      as death, MI, stent thrombosis and TLR during 3-year follow-up were comparable
      between the two groups [15.8% (n = 25) in the EES group and 22.6% (n = 33) in the
      ZES group, P = 0.276], independent of de novo DES type, sex, age, body mass
      index, presence of diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with first- and second-generation DES restenosis, both EES and ZES
      implantation were effective and safe in reducing neointima volume and late loss
      with a comparable rate of MACEs independent of cardiovascular risk factors.

PMID- 27634829
TI  - Transfemoral TAVI is superior to SAVR in elderly high-risk patients with
      symptomatic severe aortic stenosis!

PMID- 27634830
TI  - Cigarette Use and Striatal Dopamine D2/3 Receptors: Possible Role in the Link
      between Smoking and Nicotine Dependence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking induces dopamine release in the striatum, and
      smoking- or nicotine-induced ventral striatal dopamine release is correlated with
      nicotine dependence. Smokers also exhibit lower dopamine D2/3 receptor
      availability in the dorsal striatum than nonsmokers. Negative correlations of
      striatal dopamine D2/3 receptor availability with smoking exposure and nicotine
      dependence, therefore, might be expected but have not been tested. METHODS:
      Twenty smokers had positron emission tomography scans with [18F]fallypride to
      measure dopamine D2/3 receptor availability in ventral and dorsal regions of the
      striatum and provided self-report measures of recent and lifetime smoking and of
      nicotine dependence. RESULTS: As reported before, lifetime smoking was correlated
      with nicotine dependence. New findings were that ventral striatal dopamine D2/3
      receptor availability was negatively correlated with recent and lifetime smoking
      and also with nicotine dependence. CONCLUSION: The results suggest an effect of
      smoking on ventral striatal D2/3 dopamine receptors that may contribute to
      nicotine dependence.

PMID- 27634831
TI  - Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health
      Action.
AB  - Approximately 3.5 million Nepalese are working as migrant workers in the Gulf
      countries, Malaysia, and India. Every year there are more than 1000 deaths and
      many hundreds cases of injuries among Nepalese workers in these countries
      excluding India. A postmortem examination of migrant workers is not carried out
      in most of these countries, and those with work-related injuries are often sent
      back to home. Uninsured migrant workers also do not have easy access to health
      care services in host countries due to the high medical and hospital fees.
      Greater efforts are needed to protect the health and well-being, labor rights,
      and human rights of migrant workers from Nepal and other South-Asian nations.
      There is a need to enforce universal labor laws in these countries and to develop
      accurate records of mortality and morbidity and their causes.

PMID- 27634832
TI  - TMEM16F-Mediated Platelet Membrane Phospholipid Scrambling Is Critical for
      Hemostasis and Thrombosis but not Thromboinflammation in Mice-Brief Report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: It is known that both platelets and coagulation strongly influence
      infarct progression after ischemic stroke, but the mechanisms and their interplay
      are unknown. Our aim was to assess the contribution of the procoagulant platelet
      surface, and thus platelet-driven thrombin generation, to the progression of
      thromboinflammation in the ischemic brain. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We present the
      characterization of a novel platelet and megakaryocyte-specific TMEM16F
      (anoctamin 6) knockout mouse. Reflecting Scott syndrome, platelets from the
      knockout mouse had a significant reduction in procoagulant characteristics that
      altered thrombin and fibrin generation kinetics. In addition, knockout mice
      showed significant defects in hemostasis and arterial thrombus formation.
      However, infarct volumes in a model of ischemic stroke were comparable with wild
      type mice. CONCLUSIONS: Platelet TMEM16F activity contributes significantly to
      hemostasis and thrombosis but not cerebral thromboinflammation. These results
      highlight another key difference between the roles of platelets and coagulation
      in these processes.

PMID- 27634834
TI  - Prevalence and Predictors of Multiple Coronary Plaque Ruptures: In Vivo 3-Vessel
      Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Plaque rupture may be the local expression of a widespread coronary
      instability. This study aimed to investigate: (1) the prevalence and
      characteristics of nonculprit plaque rupture; (2) the pancoronary atherosclerotic
      phenotype in patients with and without nonculprit plaque rupture; and (3) the
      prevalence and predictors of multiple plaque ruptures. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Six
      hundred and seventy-five nonculprit plaques from 261 patients (34 acute
      myocardial infarction, 73 unstable angina pectoris, and 154 stable angina
      pectoris) were analyzed by 3-vessel optical coherence tomography. Nonculprit
      plaque ruptures were identified in 51 patients (20%). Patients with nonculprit
      plaque ruptures had higher prevalence of thin-cap fibroatheroma (51% versus 13%;
      P<0.001) in the 3 major epicardial coronary vessels. Multiple plaque ruptures
      were observed in 20% of patients (38% acute myocardial infarction versus 10%
      unstable angina pectoris versus 19% stable angina pectoris; P=0.042). Thin-cap
      fibroatheroma, intimal vasculature, and macrophages were independent
      morphological predictors of multiple plaque ruptures, whereas acute myocardial
      infarction and chronic kidney disease were independent clinical predictors.
      Patients with nonculprit plaque ruptures showed higher 1-year rates of nontarget
      lesion revascularization (11.8% versus 4.4%; P=0.039). CONCLUSIONS: Nonculprit
      plaque ruptures were observed in 20% of patients with coronary artery disease and
      were associated with pancoronary vulnerability and higher 1-year
      revascularization rate.

PMID- 27634833
TI  - Perivascular Macrophages Limit Permeability.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Perivascular cells, including pericytes, macrophages, smooth muscle
      cells, and other specialized cell types, like podocytes, participate in various
      aspects of vascular function. However, aside from the well-established roles of
      smooth muscle cells and pericytes, the contributions of other vascular-associated
      cells are poorly understood. Our goal was to ascertain the function of
      perivascular macrophages in adult tissues under nonpathological conditions.
      APPROACH AND RESULTS: We combined confocal microscopy, in vivo cell depletion,
      and in vitro assays to investigate the contribution of perivascular macrophages
      to vascular function. We found that resident perivascular macrophages are
      associated with capillaries at a frequency similar to that of pericytes.
      Macrophage depletion using either clodronate liposomes or antibodies unexpectedly
      resulted in hyperpermeability. This effect could be rescued when M2-like
      macrophages, but not M1-like macrophages or dendritic cells, were reconstituted
      in vivo, suggesting subtype-specific roles for macrophages in the regulation of
      vascular permeability. Furthermore, we found that permeability-promoting agents
      elicit motility and eventual dissociation of macrophages from the vasculature.
      Finally, in vitro assays showed that M2-like macrophages attenuate the
      phosphorylation of VE-cadherin upon exposure to permeability-promoting agents.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study points to a direct contribution of macrophages to vessel
      barrier integrity and provides evidence that heterotypic cell interactions with
      the endothelium, in addition to those of pericytes, control vascular
      permeability.

PMID- 27634837
TI  - Individual and Neighborhood Factors Associated With Functional Mobility and Falls
      in Elderly Residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil: A Multilevel Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify socioeconomic and contextual factors associated with
      functional mobility and falls in elderly residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil. METHOD:
      We used data from the Health, Well-Being, and Aging ( Saude, Bem-estare
      Envelhecimento [SABE]) Study. The dependent variables were falling in the last
      year and functional mobility impairment. Individual (marital status, race,
      education, and perception of income sufficiency) and contextual (green area and
      violence) factors were analyzed by multilevel logistic models. RESULTS: Having 8
      or more years of schooling was a protective factor for mobility impairment.
      Neighborhoods with moderate homicide rate were associated with higher odds of
      falling. Moderate green spaces were associated with higher odds of falling and
      lower odds to have mobility impairment for individuals 80 years and older.
      DISCUSSION: Our findings support the concern that neighborhood characteristics
      are associated with falls and mobility impairment. Strategies to prevent these
      outcomes should consider contextual aspects.

PMID- 27634835
TI  - Intermedin1-53 Attenuates Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm by Inhibiting Oxidative
      Stress.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Oxidative stress plays a critical role in the development of abdominal
      aortic aneurysm (AAA). Intermedin (IMD) is a regulator of oxidative stress. Here,
      we investigated whether IMD reduces AAA by inhibiting oxidative stress. APPROACH
      AND RESULTS: In angiotensin II-induced ApoE-/- mouse and CaCl2-induced C57BL/6J
      mouse model of AAA, IMD1-53 significantly reduced the incidence of AAA and
      maximal aortic diameter. Ultrasonography, hematoxylin, and eosin staining and
      Verhoeff-van Gieson staining showed that IMD1-53 significantly decreased the
      enlarged aortas and elastic lamina degradation induced by angiotensin II or
      CaCl2. Mechanistically, IMD1-53 attenuated oxidative stress, inflammation,
      vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis, and matrix metalloproteinase activation.
      IMD1-53 inhibited the activation of redox-sensitive signaling pathways, decreased
      the mRNA and protein expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate
      oxidase subunits, and reduced the activity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
      phosphate oxidase in AAA mice. Expression of Nox4 was upregulated in human AAA
      segments and in angiotensin II-treated mouse aortas and was markedly decreased by
      IMD1-53. In vitro, vascular smooth muscle cells with small-interfering RNA
      knockdown of IMD showed significantly increased angiotensin II-induced reactive
      oxygen species, and small-interfering RNA knockdown of Nox4 markedly inhibited
      the reactive oxygen species. IMD knockdown further increased the apoptosis of
      vascular smooth muscle cells and inflammation, which was reversed by Nox4
      knockdown. Preincubation with IMD17-47 and protein kinase A inhibitor H89
      inhibited the effect of IMD1-53, reducing Nox4 protein levels. CONCLUSIONS: IMD1
      53 could have a protective effect on AAA by inhibiting oxidative stress.

PMID- 27634838
TI  - Effects of a Group-Based Behavioral Intervention on Dietary Behaviors in Older
      Adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the effects of a 12-week,
      behavioral nutrition intervention on dietary behaviors. METHOD: Inactive older
      adults ( N = 50) were randomized to a 12-week, behavioral nutrition or physical
      activity intervention, delivered in a group-based format. Questionnaires assessed
      fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, and fat- and fiber-related behaviors at
      baseline and postintervention. Height and weight were measured. Repeated-measures
      ANOVAs examined changes in dietary behaviors over time between groups,
      controlling for age, gender, and education. RESULTS: Participants averaged 64.1
      +/- 8.4 years of age and had a body mass index (BMI) of 33.3 +/- 7.5 kg/m2. Group
      * Time interactions were significant for FV consumption ( p = .003), and fat- ( p
      = .02) and fiber-related ( p = .008) behaviors at 12 weeks. At 12 weeks, dietary
      behaviors improved significantly in the nutrition but not in the physical
      activity group. Effect sizes were medium to large. DISCUSSION: A 12-week,
      behavioral nutrition intervention improved dietary behaviors. Behavioral
      interventions may be a low-cost way to improve dietary behaviors among older
      adults, potentially affecting population health significantly.

PMID- 27634836
TI  - B-Cell Depletion Promotes Aortic Infiltration of Immunosuppressive Cells and Is
      Protective of Experimental Aortic Aneurysm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: B-cell depletion therapy is widely used for treatment of cancers and
      autoimmune diseases. B cells are abundant in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA);
      however, it is unknown whether B-cell depletion therapy affects AAA growth. Using
      experimental models of murine AAA, we aim to examine the effect of B-cell
      depletion on AAA formation. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Wild-type or apolipoprotein E
      knockout mice were treated with mouse monoclonal anti-CD20 or control antibodies
      and subjected to an elastase perfusion or angiotensin II infusion model to induce
      AAA, respectively. Anti-CD20 antibody treatment significantly depleted B1 and B2
      cells, and strikingly suppressed AAA growth in both models. B-cell depletion
      resulted in lower circulating IgM levels, but did not affect the levels of IgG or
      cytokine/chemokine levels. Although the total number of leukocyte remained
      unchanged in elastase-perfused aortas after anti-CD20 antibody treatment, the
      number of B-cell subtypes was significantly lower. Interestingly, plasmacytoid
      dendritic cells expressing the immunomodulatory enzyme indole 2,3-dioxygenase
      were detected in the aortas of B-cell-depleted mice. In accordance with an
      increase in indole 2,3-dioxygenase+ plasmacytoid dendritic cells, the number of
      regulatory T cells was higher, whereas the expression of proinflammatory genes
      was lower in aortas of B-cell-depleted mice. In a coculture model, the presence
      of B cells significantly lowered the number of indole 2,3-dioxygenase+
      plasmacytoid dendritic cells without affecting total plasmacytoid dendritic cell
      number. CONCLUSIONS: The present results demonstrate that B-cell depletion
      protects mice from experimental AAA formation and promotes emergence of an
      immunosuppressive environment in aorta.

PMID- 27634840
TI  - Rising Indigenous suicide rates in Kimberley and implications for suicide
      prevention.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This audit examined the demographics of Indigenous Australians dying
      by suicide in the Kimberley region of Western Australia during the period 2005
      2014. METHODS: This is a de-identified retrospective audit of reported suicide
      deaths provided to Kimberley Mental Health and Drug Service during the period
      2005-2014. Variables such as age, sex, method of suicide, previous engagement
      with mental health services, locality and ethnicity were assessed. RESULTS:
      Indigenous suicide rates in the Kimberley region have dramatically increased in
      the last decade. There is also an overall trend upwards in Indigenous youth
      suicide and Indigenous female suicides. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the
      need for culturally informed, and youth focussed, suicide prevention
      interventions within the Kimberley region.

PMID- 27634841
TI  - Treating arrhythmias with adjunctive magnesium: identifying future research
      directions.
AB  - Magnesium is the fourth most abundant cation in the human body and is the second
      most prevalent cation in intracellular tissues. Myocardial cell action potentials
      are mediated by voltage-dependent Na+, K+, and Ca2+ channels which, when their
      function is altered, can lead to the genesis of cardiac dysrythmias. Magnesium
      regulates the movement of ions through these channels within myocardial tissues.
      The potential ability of magnesium supplementation to prevent and/or treat
      arrhythmias has been recognized in clinical medicine for years. This includes
      termination of torsade de pointes, prevention of post-operative atrial
      fibrillation, acute treatment of atrial fibrillation, and improving the efficacy
      and safety of antiarrhythmic drugs. Despite what is currently known about
      magnesium's therapeutic potential, a number of limitations and gaps to the
      literature exist. This includes an unclear link between correction of
      intracellular magnesium concentrations and both mechanistic and clinical
      outcomes, small sample sizes, varying routes of administration and doses, as well
      as short follow-up periods. This review highlights these gaps and recommends
      areas of need for future research.

PMID- 27634839
TI  - "I wasn't texting; I was just reading an email ...": a qualitative study of
      distracted driving enforcement in Washington State.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In response to the rise of distracted driving, many countries and
      most US states have adopted laws to restrict the use of handheld phones for
      drivers. Specific provisions of each law and the overall social mores of
      distracted driving influence enforceability and impact. OBJECTIVES: Identify
      multilevel interdependent factors that influence distracted driving enforcement
      through the perspective of police officers. DESIGN/METHODS: We conducted focus
      group discussions with active duty law enforcement officers from three large
      Washington State counties. Our thematic analysis used descriptive and pattern
      coding that placed our findings within a social ecological framework to
      facilitate targeted intervention development. RESULTS: Participants reported that
      the distracted driving law posed challenges for consistent and effective
      enforcement. They emphasised the need to change social norms around distracted
      driving, similar to the shifts seen around impaired driving. Many participants
      were themselves distracted drivers, and their individual knowledge, attitude and
      beliefs influenced enforcement. Participants suggested that law enforcement
      leaders and policymakers should develop and implement policies and strategies to
      prioritise and motivate increased distracted driving enforcement. CONCLUSIONS:
      Individual, interpersonal, organisational and societal factors influence
      enforcement of distracted driving laws. Targeted interventions should be
      developed to address distracted driving and sustain effective enforcement.

PMID- 27634844
TI  - Retraction: Hyperbaric oxygen activates discoidin domain receptor 2 via tumour
      necrosis factor-alpha and the p38 MAPK pathway to increase vascular smooth muscle
      cell migration through matrix metalloproteinase 2.

PMID- 27634843
TI  - Vascular smooth muscle cell dysfunction in diabetes: nuclear receptors channel to
      relaxation.
AB  - Endothelial dysfunction and impaired vascular relaxation represent a common cause
      of microvascular disease in patients with diabetes. Although multiple mechanisms
      underlying altered endothelial cell function in diabetes have been described,
      there is currently no specific and approved pharmacological treatment. In this
      edition of Clinical Science, Morales-Cano et al. characterize voltage-dependent
      K(+) (Kv) channels as genes regulated by pharmacological activation of peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-b/d (PPARb/d). Diabetes altered Kv channel
      function leading to impaired coronary artery relaxation, which was prevented by
      pharmacological activation of PPARb/d. These studies highlight an important
      mechanism of vascular dysfunction in diabetes and point to a potential approach
      for therapy, particularly considering that PPARb/d ligands have been developed
      and tested in small clinical trials.

PMID- 27634845
TI  - Retraction: Resistin contributes to neointimal formation via oxidative stress
      after vascular injury.

PMID- 27634846
TI  - Retraction: Mechanism of the inhibitory effect of atorvastatin on leptin
      expression induced by angiotensin II in cultured human coronary artery smooth
      muscle cells.

PMID- 27634842
TI  - Cerebrovascular complications of diabetes: focus on cognitive dysfunction.
AB  - The incidence of diabetes has more than doubled in the United States in the last
      30 years and the global disease rate is projected to double by 2030. Cognitive
      impairment has been associated with diabetes, worsening quality of life in
      patients. The structural and functional interaction of neurons with the
      surrounding vasculature is critical for proper function of the central nervous
      system including domains involved in learning and memory. Thus, in this review we
      explore cognitive impairment in patients and experimental models, focusing on
      links to vascular dysfunction and structural changes. Lastly, we propose a role
      for the innate immunity-mediated inflammation in neurovascular changes in
      diabetes.

PMID- 27634858
TI  - 'Standing on the shoulders of giants' at the ISAE international congress.
AB  - The 50th anniversary of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) was
      celebrated in July, with the return of its annual international congress to
      Edinburgh, the city where the society was founded in 1966. Scientific legacy was
      a prevalent topic at the meeting, in line with the congress theme: standing on
      the shoulders of giants. The event was the biggest in the ISAE's history,
      spanning five days, from July 12 to 16, and comprising almost 200 talks. Rachel
      Orritt reflects on proceedings. 

PMID- 27634848
TI  - Monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meat.

PMID- 27634859
TI  - What is causing limber tail syndrome in labrador retrievers?

PMID- 27634860
TI  - Treatment of T cell lymphoma in dogs.
AB  - Overall, canine lymphoma remains one of the most chemotherapy-responsive cancers
      in the dog. In addition to the stage and the substage of disease, T cell
      phenotype is the most consistently important prognostic factor. T cell lymphoma
      (TCL) in dogs is a heterogeneous disease; dogs with a separate entity of indolent
      TCL can have a considerably better prognosis than dogs with other forms of
      lymphoma, and indolent TCL may not always require immediate treatment. In
      contrast, high-grade TCL is an aggressive disease, and when treated with CHOP
      based protocols, dogs with this high-grade TCL have a complete remission rate as
      low as 40 per cent, relapse earlier and have shorter survival time than dogs with
      a comparable stage, high-grade B cell lymphoma. This review describes the
      different disease entities that comprise canine TCL, discusses prognosis for each
      and treatment options that appear to give the best outcomes. 

PMID- 27634861
TI  - Does inclusion of glutamine in oral rehydration solutions improve recovery from
      mild to moderate diarrhoea in preweaned calves?
AB  - Critically Appraised Topics (CATs) are a standardised, succinct summary of
      research evidence organised around a clinical question, and a form of evidence
      synthesis used in the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and evidence
      based veterinary medicine (EBVM). Access to CATs enables clinicians to
      incorporate evidence from the scientific literature into clinical practice and
      they have been used to teach EBVM at the University of Bristol's School of
      Veterinary Sciences since 2011. Veterinary Record is including CATs from Bristol
      university in its Clinical Decision Making section. The first of these, along
      with an explanation of how they can be used, was published in VR, January 30,
      2016, vol 178, pp 118-119. 

PMID- 27634863
TI  - BVA position on bovine TB and badger culls.

PMID- 27634862
TI  - Secondary nutritional hyperparathyroidism in Bengal cats.

PMID- 27634864
TI  - BVA position on bovine TB and badger culls.

PMID- 27634865
TI  - Pet imports.

PMID- 27634866
TI  - Making public health exciting.
AB  - As a resident in veterinary public health at Bristol, Pia Gjertsen Prestmo helps
      introduce final-year students to ante- and postmortem inspection in the abattoir.

PMID- 27634867
TI  - Ten-minute chat.
AB  - Alma Piotrowicz was one of nine veterinary students attending this year's
      Veterinary Public Health Association masterclass. Here, she describes their
      experiences. 

PMID- 27634868
TI  - Shifts in Lachnospira and Clostridium sp. in the 3-month stool microbiome are
      associated with preschool age asthma.
AB  - Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways affecting one in ten children in
      Westernized countries. Recently, our group showed that specific bacterial genera
      in early life are associated with atopy and wheezing in 1-year-old children.
      However, little is known about the link between the early life gut microbiome and
      the diagnosis of asthma in preschool age children. To determine the role of the
      gut microbiota in preschool age asthma, children up to 4 years of age enrolled in
      the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study were
      classified as asthmatic (n=39) or matched healthy controls (n=37). 16S rRNA
      sequencing and quantitative PCR (qPCR) were used to analyse the composition of
      the 3-month and 1-year gut microbiome of these children. At 3 months the
      abundance of the genus, Lachnospira (L), was decreased (P=0.008), whereas the
      abundance of the species, Clostridium neonatale (C), was increased (P=0.07) in
      asthmatics. Quartile analysis of stool composition at 3-months revealed a
      negative association between the ratio of these two bacteria (L/C) and asthma
      risk by 4 years of age [quartile 1: odds ratio (OR)=15, P=0.02, CI (confidence
      interval)= 1.8-124.7; quartile 2: OR=1.0, ns; quartile 3: OR=0.37, ns]. We
      conclude that opposing shifts in the relative abundances of Lachnospira and C.
      neonatale in the first 3 months of life are associated with preschool age asthma,
      and that the L/C ratio may serve as a potential early life biomarker to predict
      asthma development.

PMID- 27634869
TI  - TreeScaper: Visualizing and Extracting Phylogenetic Signal from Sets of Trees.
AB  - Modern phylogenomic analyses often result in large collections of phylogenetic
      trees representing uncertainty in individual gene trees, variation across genes,
      or both. Extracting phylogenetic signal from these tree sets can be challenging,
      as they are difficult to visualize, explore, and quantify. To overcome some of
      these challenges, we have developed TreeScaper, an application for tree set
      visualization as well as the identification of distinct phylogenetic signals. GUI
      and command-line versions of TreeScaper and a manual with tutorials can be
      downloaded from https://github.com/whuang08/TreeScaper/releases TreeScaper is
      distributed under the GNU General Public License.

PMID- 27634870
TI  - Gene Tree Discordance Can Generate Patterns of Diminishing Convergence over Time.
AB  - Phenotypic convergence is an exciting outcome of adaptive evolution, occurring
      when different species find similar solutions to the same problem. Unraveling the
      molecular basis of convergence provides a way to link genotype to adaptive
      phenotypes, but can also shed light on the extent to which molecular evolution is
      repeatable and predictable. Many recent genome-wide studies have uncovered a
      striking pattern of diminishing convergence over time, ascribing this pattern to
      the presence of intramolecular epistatic interactions. Here, we consider gene
      tree discordance as an alternative cause of changes in convergence levels over
      time in a primate dataset. We demonstrate that gene tree discordance can produce
      patterns of diminishing convergence by itself, and that controlling for
      discordance as a cause of apparent convergence makes the pattern disappear. We
      also show that synonymous substitutions, where neither selection nor epistasis
      should be prevalent, have the same diminishing pattern of molecular convergence
      in primates. Finally, we demonstrate that even in situations where biological
      discordance is not possible, discordance due to errors in species tree inference
      can drive similar patterns. Though intramolecular epistasis could in principle
      create a pattern of declining convergence over time, our results suggest a
      possible alternative explanation for this widespread pattern. These results
      contribute to a growing appreciation not just of the presence of gene tree
      discordance, but of the unpredictable effects this discordance can have on
      analyses of molecular evolution.

PMID- 27634871
TI  - Cis-Regulatory Evolution of Forkhead Box O1 (FOXO1), a Terminal Selector Gene for
      Decidual Stromal Cell Identity.
AB  - Studies in human and mouse have shown that decidual stromal cells (DSC), which
      develop in the innermost lining of uterus, mediate placentation by regulating
      maternal immune response against the fetus and the extent of fetal invasion.
      Investigating when and how DSC evolved is thus a key step to reconstructing the
      evolutionary history of mammalian pregnancy. We present molecular evidence
      placing the origin of DSC in the stem lineage of eutherians (extant placental
      mammals). The transcription factor forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) is a part of the core
      regulatory transcription factor complex (CoRC) that establishes the cell type
      identity of DSC. Decidualization, the process through which DSC differentiate
      from endometrial stromal fibroblasts, requires transcriptional upregulation of
      FOXO1 Contrary to other examples in mammals where gene recruitment is caused by
      the origin of an alternative promoter, FOXO1 is transcribed from the same
      promoter in DSC as in endometrial stromal fibroblasts. Comparing the activities
      of FOXO1 promoters from human, mouse, manatee (Afrotheria), and opossum
      (marsupial) revealed that FOXO1 promoter evolved responsiveness to
      decidualization signals in the stem lineage of eutherians. This eutherian vs.
      marsupial pattern of promoter activity was not observed in some other cell types
      expressing FOXO1, suggesting that this cis-regulatory evolution occurred
      specifically in the context of the origin of DSC. Sequence comparison revealed
      eutherian-specifically conserved nucleotides that contribute to the eutherian
      promoter activity. We conclude that the cis-regulatory activity of a terminal
      selector gene for decidual stromal cell identity evolved in the stem lineage of
      eutherians supporting a model where decidual cells are a eutherian innovation.

PMID- 27634872
TI  - Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase obliterates insulin resistance-induced
      cardiac dysfunction through deacetylation of PGC-1alpha.
AB  - Insulin resistance contributes to the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus, leading to cardiac anomalies. Emerging evidence depicts a pivotal role
      for mitochondrial injury in oxidative metabolism and insulin resistance.
      Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) is one of metabolic enzymes
      detoxifying aldehydes although its role in insulin resistance remains elusive.
      This study was designed to evaluate the impact of ALDH2 overexpression on insulin
      resistance-induced myocardial damage and mechanisms involved with a focus on
      autophagy. Wild-type (WT) and transgenic mice overexpressing ALDH2 were fed
      sucrose or starch diet for 8 weeks and cardiac function and intracellular Ca2+
      handling were assessed using echocardiographic and IonOptix systems. Western blot
      analysis was used to evaluate Akt, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), PGC-1alpha and Sirt
      3. Our data revealed that sucrose intake provoked insulin resistance and
      compromised fractional shortening, cardiomyocyte function and intracellular Ca2+
      handling (p < 0.05) along with unaltered cardiomyocyte size (p > 0.05),
      mitochondrial injury (elevated ROS generation, suppressed NAD+ and aconitase
      activity, p < 0.05 for all), the effect of which was ablated by ALDH2. In vitro
      incubation of the ALDH2 activator Alda-1, the Sirt3 activator oroxylin A and the
      histone acetyltransferase inhibitor CPTH2 rescued insulin resistance-induced
      changes in aconitase activity and cardiomyocyte function (p < 0.05). Inhibiting
      Sirt3 deacetylase using 5-amino-2-(4-aminophenyl) benzoxazole negated Alda-1
      induced cardioprotective effects. Taken together, our data suggest that ALDH2
      serves as an indispensable cardioprotective factor against insulin resistance
      induced cardiomyopathy with a mechanism possibly associated with facilitation of
      the Sirt3-dependent PGC-1alpha deacetylation.

PMID- 27634873
TI  - Piperlongumine induces apoptosis and reduces bortezomib resistance by inhibiting
      STAT3 in multiple myeloma cells.
AB  - Effective new therapies are urgently needed for the treatment of multiple myeloma
      (MM), an incurable hematological malignancy. In this study, we evaluated the
      effects of piperlongumine on MM cell proliferation both in vivo and in vitro.
      Piperlongumine inhibited the proliferation of MM cells by inducing cell apoptosis
      and blocking osteoclastogenesis. Notably, piperlongumine also reduced bortezomib
      resistance in MM cells. In a disseminated MM mouse model, piperlongumine
      prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice without causing any obvious
      toxicity. Mechanistically, piperlongumine inhibited the STAT3 signal pathway in
      MM cells by binding directly to the STAT3 Cys712 residue. These findings suggest
      that the clinical use of piperlongumine to overcome bortezomib resistance in MM
      should be evaluated.

PMID- 27634874
TI  - Integrating microRNA and mRNA expression profiles of acute promyelocytic leukemia
      cells to explore the occurrence mechanisms of differentiation syndrome.
AB  - The pathogenesis of therapy-induced differentiation syndrome (DS) in patients
      with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) remains unclear. In this study, mRNA and
      microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling of peripheral blood APL cells from patients
      complicated with vs. without DS were integratively analyzed to explore the
      mechanisms underlying arsenic trioxide treatment-associated DS. By integrating
      the differentially expressed data with the data of differentially expressed
      microRNAs and their computationally predicted target genes, as well as the data
      of transcription factors and differentially expressed target microRNAs obtained
      from a literature search, a DS-related genetic regulatory network was
      constructed. Then using an EAGLE algorithm in clusterViz, the network was
      subdivided into 10 modules. Using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
      (KEGG) database the modules were annotated functionally, and three functionally
      active modules were recognized. The further in-depth analyses on the annotated
      functions of the three modules and the expression and roles of the related genes
      revealed that proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and infiltration
      capability of APL cells might play important roles in the DS pathogenesis. The
      results could improve our understanding of DS pathogenesis from a more overall
      perspective, and could provide new clues for future research.

PMID- 27634875
TI  - FOXC2 augments tumor propagation and metastasis in osteosarcoma.
AB  - Osteosarcoma is a highly malignant tumor that contains a small subpopulation of
      tumor-propagating cells (also known as tumor-initiating cells) characterized by
      drug resistance and high metastatic potential. The molecular mechanism by which
      tumor-propagating cells promote tumor growth is poorly understood. Here, we
      report that the transcription factor forkhead box C2 (FOXC2) is frequently
      expressed in human osteosarcomas and is important in maintaining osteosarcoma
      cells in a stem-like state. In osteosarcoma cell lines, we show that anoikis
      conditions stimulate FOXC2 expression. Downregulation of FOXC2 decreases
      anchorage-independent growth and invasion in vitro and lung metastasis in vivo,
      while overexpression of FOXC2 increases tumor propagation in vivo. In
      osteosarcoma cell lines, we demonstrate that high levels of FOXC2 are associated
      with and required for the expression of osteosarcoma tumor-propagating cell
      markers. In FOXC2 knockdown cell lines, we show that CXCR4, a downstream target
      of FOXC2, can restore osteosarcoma cell invasiveness and metastasis to the lung.

PMID- 27634877
TI  - A simple selection-free method for detecting disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in
      murine bone marrow.
AB  - Bone metastasis is a lethal and incurable disease. It is the result of the
      dissemination of cancer cells to the bone marrow. Due to the difficulty in
      sampling and detection, few techniques exist to efficiently and consistently
      detect and quantify disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow of cancer
      patients. Because mouse models represent a crucial tool with which to study
      cancer metastasis, we developed a novel method for the simple selection-free
      detection and quantification of bone marrow DTCs in mice. We have used this
      protocol to detect human and murine DTCs in xenograft, syngeneic, and genetically
      engineered mouse models. We are able to detect and quantify bone marrow DTCs in
      mice that do not have overt bone metastasis. This protocol is amenable not only
      for detection and quantification purposes but also to study the expression of
      markers of numerous biological processes or tissue-specificity.

PMID- 27634876
TI  - A microRNA/Runx1/Runx2 network regulates prostate tumor progression from onset to
      adenocarcinoma in TRAMP mice.
AB  - While decades of research have identified molecular pathways inducing and
      promoting stages of prostate cancer malignancy, studies addressing dynamic
      changes of cancer-related regulatory factors in a prostate tumor progression
      model are limited. Using the TRAMP mouse model of human prostate cancer, we
      address mechanisms of deregulation for the cancer-associated transcription
      factors, Runx1 and Runx2 by identifying microRNAs with reciprocal expression
      changes at six time points during 33 weeks of tumorigenesis. We molecularly
      define transition stages from PIN lesions to hyperplasia/neoplasia and
      progression to adenocarcinoma by temporal changes in expression of human prostate
      cancer markers, including the androgen receptor and tumor suppressors, Nkx3.1 and
      PTEN. Concomitant activation of PTEN, AR, and Runx factors occurs at early
      stages. At late stages, PTEN and AR are downregulated, while Runx1 and Runx2
      remain elevated. Loss of Runx-targeting microRNAs, miR-23b-5p, miR-139-5p, miR
      205-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-375-3p, miR-382-5p, and miR-384-5p, contribute to
      aberrant Runx expression in prostate tumors. Our studies reveal a Runx/miRNA
      interaction axis centered on PTEN-PI3K-AKT signaling. This regulatory network
      translates to mechanistic understanding of prostate tumorigenesis that can be
      developed for diagnosis and directed therapy.

PMID- 27634878
TI  - Blocking downstream signaling pathways in the context of HDAC inhibition promotes
      apoptosis preferentially in cells harboring mutant Ras.
AB  - We previously demonstrated activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase
      (MAPK) pathway in a series of romidepsin-selected T-cell lymphoma cell lines as a
      mechanism of resistance to the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDI), romidepsin.
      As Ras mutation leads to activation of both the MAPK and the phosphoinositide 3
      kinase (PI3K) pathway, we examined whether combining romidepsin with small
      molecule pathway inhibitors would lead to increased apoptosis in cancers
      harboring Ras mutations. We treated 18 Ras mutant or wild-type cell lines with
      romidepsin in the presence of a MEK inhibitor (PD-0325901) and/or an AKT
      inhibitor (MK-2206) and examined apoptosis by flow cytometry. A short-term
      treatment schedule of romidepsin (25 ng/ml for 6 h) was used to more closely
      model clinical administration. Romidepsin in combination with a MEK and an AKT
      inhibitor induced apoptosis preferentially in cells harboring mutant versus wild
      type Ras (69.1% vs. 21.1%, p < 0.0001). Similar results were found in a subset of
      cell lines when belinostat was combined with the MEK and AKT inhibitors and when
      romidepsin was combined with the dual extracellular signaling-related kinase
      (ERK)/PI3K inhibitor, D-87503, which inhibited both the MAPK and PI3K pathways at
      5-10 MUM. The observed apoptosis was caspase-dependent and required Bak and Bax
      expression. Cells with wild-type or mutant Ras treated with romidepsin alone or
      in combination with the MEK inhibitor displayed increased expression of
      proapoptotic Bim. We thus conclude that cancers bearing Ras mutations, such as
      pancreatic cancer, can be targeted by the combination of an HDI and a dual
      inhibitor of the MAPK and PI3K pathways.

PMID- 27634879
TI  - Large variety in a panel of human colon cancer organoids in response to EZH2
      inhibition.
AB  - EZH2 inhibitors have gained great interest for their use as anti-cancer
      therapeutics. However, most research has focused on EZH2 mutant cancers and
      recently adverse effects of EZH2 inactivation have come to light. To determine
      whether colorectal cancer cells respond to EZH2 inhibition and to explore which
      factors influence the degree of response, we treated a panel of 20 organoid lines
      derived from human colon tumors with different concentrations of the EZH2
      inhibitor GSK126. The resulting responses were associated with mutation status,
      gene expression and responses to other drugs. We found that the response to
      GSK126 treatment greatly varied between organoid lines. Response associated with
      the mutation status of ATRX and PAX2, and correlated with BIK expression. It also
      correlated well with response to Nutlin-3a which inhibits MDM2-p53 interaction
      thereby activating p53 signaling. Sensitivity to EZH2 ablation depended on the
      presence of wild type p53, as tumor organoids became resistant when p53 was
      mutated or knocked down. Our exploratory study provides insight into which
      genetic factors predict sensitivity to EZH2 inhibition. In addition, we show that
      the response to EZH2 inhibition requires wild type p53. We conclude that a subset
      of colorectal cancer patients may benefit from EZH2-targeting therapies.

PMID- 27634880
TI  - Evidence that vitronectin is a potent migration-enhancing factor for cancer cells
      chaperoned by fibrinogen: a novel view of the metastasis of cancer cells to low
      fibrinogen lymphatics and body cavities.
AB  - Diluted (1%) plasma induces migration of malignant cell lines much more strongly
      than potent pro-metastatic factors. To characterize the factor(s) present in
      diluted plasma responsible for this phenomenon we performed i) heat inactivation,
      ii) dialysis, iii) proteinase K treatment, and iv) molecular size filtration
      studies. We found that this remarkable pro-migratory activity of diluted normal
      plasma is associated with a ~50-100-kD protein that interacts with GalphaI
      protein-coupled receptors and activates p42/44 MAPK and AKT signaling in target
      cells. Since this pro-migratory activity of 1% plasma decreases at higher plasma
      concentrations (> 20%), but is retained in serum, we hypothesized that fibrinogen
      may be involved as a chaperone of the protein(s). To identify the pro-migratory
      protein(s) present in diluted plasma and fibrinogen-depleted serum, we performed
      gel filtration and hydrophobic interaction chromatography followed by mass
      spectrometry analysis. We identified several putative protein candidates that
      were further tested in in vitro experiments. We found that this pro-migratory
      factor chaperoned by fibrinogen is vitronectin, which activates uPAR, and that
      this effect can be inhibited by fibrinogen. These results provide a novel
      mechanism for the metastasis of cancer cells to lymphatics and body cavities, in
      which the concentration of fibrinogen is low, and thus suggests that free
      vitronectin stimulates migration of tumor cells.

PMID- 27634881
TI  - Tissue and imaging biomarkers for hypoxia predict poor outcome in endometrial
      cancer.
AB  - Hypoxia is frequent in solid tumors and linked to aggressive phenotypes and
      therapy resistance. We explored expression patterns of the proposed hypoxia
      marker HIF-1alpha in endometrial cancer (EC) and investigate whether preoperative
      functional imaging parameters are associated with tumor hypoxia. Expression of
      HIF-1alpha was explored both in the epithelial and the stromal tumor component.
      We found that low epithelial HIF-1alpha and high stromal HIF-1alpha expression
      were significantly associated with reduced disease specific survival in EC. Only
      stromal HIF-1alpha had independent prognostic value in Cox regression analysis.
      High stromal HIF-1alpha protein expression was rare in the premalignant lesions
      of complex atypical hyperplasia but increased significantly to invasive cancer.
      High stromal HIF-1alpha expression was correlated with overexpression of
      important genes downstream from HIF-1alpha, i.e. VEGFA and SLC2A1 (GLUT1).
      Detecting hypoxic tumors with preoperative functional imaging might have
      therapeutic benefits. We found that high stromal HIF-1alpha expression associated
      with high total lesion glycolysis (TLG) at PET/CT. High expression of a gene
      signature linked to hypoxia also correlated with low tumor blood flow at DCE-MRI
      and increased metabolism measured by FDG-PET. PI3K pathway inhibitors were
      identified as potential therapeutic compounds in patients with lesions
      overexpressing this gene signature. In conclusion, we show that high stromal HIF
      1alpha expression predicts reduced survival in EC and is associated with
      increased tumor metabolism at FDG-PET/CT. Importantly; we demonstrate a
      correlation between tissue and imaging biomarkers reflecting hypoxia, and also
      possible treatment targets for selected patients.

PMID- 27634882
TI  - Subpathway-LNCE: Identify dysfunctional subpathways competitively regulated by
      lncRNAs through integrating lncRNA-mRNA expression profile and pathway
      topologies.
AB  - Recently, studies have reported that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) can act as
      modulators of mRNAs through competitively binding to microRNAs (miRNAs) and have
      relevance to tumorigenesis as well as other diseases. Identify lncRNA
      competitively regulated subpathway not only can gain insight into the initiation
      and progression of disease, but also help for understanding the functional roles
      of lncRNAs in the disease context. Here, we present an effective method,
      Subpathway-LNCE, which was specifically designed to identify lncRNAs
      competitively regulated functions and the functional roles of these competitive
      regulation lncRNAs have not be well characterized in diseases. Moreover, the
      method integrated lncRNA-mRNA expression profile and pathway topologies. Using
      prostate cancer datasets and LUAD data sets, we confirmed the effectiveness of
      our method in identifying disease associated dysfunctional subpathway that
      regulated by lncRNAs. By analyzing kidney renal clear cell carcinoma related
      lncRNA competitively regulated subpathway network, we show that Subpathway-LNCE
      can help uncover disease key lncRNAs. Furthermore, we demonstrated that our
      method is reproducible and robust. Subpathway-LNCE provide a flexible tool to
      identify lncRNA competitively regulated signal subpathways underlying certain
      condition, and help to expound the functional roles of lncRNAs in various status.
      Subpathway-LNCE has been developed as an R package freely available at
      https://cran.rstudio.com/web/packages/SubpathwayLNCE/.

PMID- 27634885
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 27634883
TI  - RNPC1 enhances progesterone receptor functions by regulating its mRNA stability
      in breast cancer.
AB  - Progesterone receptor (PR) could activate transcriptional process involved in
      normal mammary gland proliferation and breast cancer development. Moreover, PR
      expression is an important marker of luminal breast cancer, which is associated
      with good prognosis and indicates better responding to endocrine therapies. The
      regulation of PR expression was studied mainly on its post-translational levels.
      In this study, we found PR was positively regulated by RNA-binding region
      containing protein 1 (RNPC1), a RNA-binding protein, in PR positive breast
      cancer. Overexpression of RNPC1 increased, whereas knockdown of RNPC1 decreased,
      the level of PR protein and transcripts. Additionally, we demonstrated that RNPC1
      could bind to PR mRNA via AU-rich elements (AREs) within PR 3'-untranslated
      region (3'-UTR) and then enhance PR mRNA stability. Moreover, we proved that
      progesterone-dependent PR functions which could induce breast cancer
      proliferation were enhanced by RNPC1, both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusively, we
      revealed a novel mechanism by which PR could be regulated by RNPC1 via
      stabilizing its mRNA.

PMID- 27634886
TI  - Clear and simple: no association between the Great Recession and period life
      expectancy at birth in the USA.

PMID- 27634884
TI  - Flavan-3-ols consumption and cancer risk: A meta-analysis of epidemiologic
      studies.
AB  - Although numerous in vitro studies and animal model data have suggested that
      flavan-3-ols, the most common subclass of flavonoids in the diet, may exert
      protective effects against cancer, epidemiologic studies have reported
      inconclusive results for the association between flavan-3-ols intake and cancer
      risk. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies to
      investigate the preventive effects of flavan-3-ols on various types of cancers. A
      total of 43 epidemiologic studies, consisting of 25 case-control and 18
      prospective cohort studies, were included. A significant inverse association was
      shown between flavan-3-ols intake and the risk of overall cancer (relative risk
      (RR) 0.935, 95%CI: 0.891-0.981). When cancer types were separately analyzed, a
      statistically significant protective effect of flavan-3-ols consumption was
      observed in rectal cancer (RR 0.838, 95%CI: 0.733-0.958), oropharyngeal and
      laryngeal cancer (RR 0.759, 95%CI: 0.581-0.993), breast (RR 0.885, 95%CI: 0.790
      0.991) in case-control studies and stomach cancer in women (RR 0.633, 95%CI:
      0.468-0.858). Our analysis indicates the potential benefits of flavan-3-ols in
      cancer prevention.

PMID- 27634887
TI  - Statistical evidence shows that mortality tends to fall during recessions: a
      rebuttal to Catalano and Bruckner.

PMID- 27634888
TI  - Optical Screening of Female Breast Cancer from Whole Blood Using Raman
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - This study is intended to develop a screening method for female breast cancer
      (BRC) from whole blood using Raman spectroscopy. A multivariate partial least
      squares (PLS) regression model is developed which is based upon Raman spectra of
      BRC-positive and healthy participants. It yields coefficients of regression at
      the corresponding Raman shifts. These coefficients represent the changes in
      molecular structures which are associated with the progress of disease. The
      present study pointed out some specific molecules which differentiated BRC
      positive and healthy groups. In the BRC-positive group, a rising trend of calcium
      oxalate, calcium hydroxyapatite, phosphatidylserine and qunoid ring, and a
      lowering trend of tryptophan, tyrosine, and proline were observed in PLS-based
      coefficients of regression. The R-square value of the model was found to be
      0.987, which is accepted clinically. The model was tested for the prediction of
      50 randomly collected samples at a cutoff value of 0.5 with the gray region
      defined in the range of 0.4-0.6. Goodness of fit was estimated using accuracy,
      sensitivity, specificity, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and area
      under ROC curve. All of these parameters were found to be very promising.

PMID- 27634889
TI  - Broadband Infrared Spectroscopy for Non-Contact Measurement of Neurological
      Disease Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid.
AB  - Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear and colorless biological fluid which
      circulates within brain ventricles (cavities), the spinal cord's central canal,
      the space between the brain and the spinal cord, as well as their protective
      coverings, the meninges. Cerebrospinal fluid contains different constituents,
      such as albumin and lactate, whose levels are used clinically as biomarkers of
      neurodegenerative disorders. In current clinical practice, analysis of CSF
      content for the diagnosis of central nervous system disorders requires an
      invasive procedure known as lumbar puncture or spinal tap. With the aim of
      developing a noninvasive alternative, we report here the spectral behavior of
      albumin and lactate over a broad wavelength range of 600-2000 nm, after each was
      added separately at varying normal and abnormal concentration levels to
      artificial CSF ( aCSF). Spectral measurements were conducted simultaneously by
      two different spectrometers working at different spectral ranges in transmittance
      mode. Spectral analysis revealed that albumin and lactate each possesses its own
      first and second derivative absorbance spectra fingerprint between 1660 and 1810
      nm. Distinguishing albumin from lactate by their spectral data enabled the
      differentiation between aCSF conditions modeling different neurological
      disorders. Spectral changes of each compound strongly correlated ( R2 > 0.9) with
      absorbance derivative spectra peaks at specific wavelengths, when analyzed by
      linear regression with variations in their concentration. These findings suggest
      the feasibility of CSF biomarker assessment by broadband infrared spectroscopy.

PMID- 27634890
TI  - Epigenetic therapy potential of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid on invasive human
      non-small cell lung cancer cells.
AB  - Metastasis is the reason for most cancer death, and a crucial primary step for
      cancer metastasis is invasion of the surrounding tissue, which may be initiated
      by some rare tumor cells that escape the heterogeneous primary tumor. In this
      study, we isolated invasive subpopulations of cancer cells from human non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) H460 and H1299 cell lines, and determined the gene
      expression profiles and the responses of these invasive cancer cells to
      treatments of ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic agents. The subpopulation
      of highly invasive NSCLC cells showed epigenetic signatures of epithelial
      mesenchymal transition, cancer cell stemness, increased DNA damage repair and
      cell survival signaling. We also investigated the epigenetic therapy potential of
      suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) on invasive cancer cells, and found that
      SAHA suppresses cancer cell invasiveness and sensitizes cancer cells to
      treatments of IR and chemotherapeutic agents. Our results provide guidelines for
      identification of metastatic predictors and for clinical management of NSCLC.
      This study also suggests a beneficial clinical potential of SAHA as a
      chemotherapeutic agent for NSCLC patients.

PMID- 27634891
TI  - CB2 cannabinoid receptor activation promotes colon cancer progression via
      AKT/GSK3beta signaling pathway.
AB  - The pharmacological activation of the cannabinoid receptor type 2, CB2, has been
      shown to elicit anti-tumoral mechanisms in different cancer types. However,
      little is known about its endogenous role in tumor pathophysiology, and different
      studies have attributed pro-tumorigenic properties to this receptor. In a
      previous work, we showed that CB2 expression is a poor prognostic factor in colon
      cancer patients. Here we report that activation of CB2 with low doses of specific
      agonists induce cell proliferation and favor the acquisition of aggressive
      molecular features in colon cancer cells. We show that sub-micromolar
      concentrations of CB2-specific agonists, JWH-133 and HU-308, promote an increase
      in cell proliferation rate through the activation of AKT/PKB pathway in colon
      cancer in vitro and in vivo. AKT activation promotes GSK3beta inhibition and
      thus, a more aggressive cell phenotype with the subsequent elevation of SNAIL
      levels, E-cadherin degradation and beta-catenin delocalization from cell
      membrane. Taken together, our data show that CB2 activation with sub-micromolar
      doses of agonists, which could be more similar to endogenous levels of
      cannabinoids, promote colon cancer progression, implicating that CB2 could have a
      pro-tumorigenic endogenous role in colon cancer.

PMID- 27634892
TI  - Comparison of the efficacy between concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without
      adjuvant chemotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy alone for stage II
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore whether concurrent chemoradiotherapy
      (CCRT) with or without Adjuvant Chemotherapy (AC) could improved the survival in
      stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: Patients with stage II NPC
      treated with CCRT (n=80) or CCRT+AC (n=40) or IMRT alone (n=42) between January
      2007 and September 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The three patient groups
      were matched based on prognostic factors. All patients were treated with IMRT.
      The endpoints were overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival
      (DMFS), locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS), and failure-free survival
      (FFS). The treatment-related acute toxicity reactions between the three groups
      were compared also. RESULTS: The three groups indicated similar outcomes:
      survival of the CCRT group, CCRT+AC group and RT alone group were (93.9%, 95.0%,
      95.2%, P=0.937) for OS, (96.8%, 94.9%, 93.0%, P=0.756) for LRRFS, (91.1%, 97.5%,
      100%, P=0.185) for DMFS and (84.9%, 92.5%, 93.0%, P=0.597) for FFS. Both the
      univariate and multivariate analysis indicated that older age predicted lower
      LRRFS and FFS. The CCRT and CCRT+AC groups showed more acute toxicity reactions,
      especially in bone marrow suppression, Liver dysfunction, gastrointestinal
      reactions (nausea/vomiting) and weight loss. CONCLUSION: CCRT with/without AC
      could not improve the survival conditions of patients with stage II NPC, but
      remarkably increased treatment-associated acute toxic reactions when compared
      with IMRT alone.

PMID- 27634893
TI  - Suppression of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infection by the innate sensing gene
      CEACAM1.
AB  - The innate sensing system is equipped with PRRs specialized in recognizing
      molecular structures (PAMPs) of various pathogens. This leads to the induction of
      anti-viral genes and inhibition of virus growth. Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is
      a major respiratory virus that causes an upper and lower respiratory tract
      infection in children. In this study we show that upon HMPV infection, the innate
      sensing system detects the viral RNA through the RIG-I sensor leading to
      induction of CEACAM1 expression. We further show that CEACAM1 is induced via
      binding of IRF3 to the CEACAM1 promoter. We demonstrate that induction of CEACAM1
      suppresses the viral loads via inhibition of the translation machinery in the
      infected cells in an SHP2-dependent manner. In summary, we show here that HMPV
      infected cells upregulates CEACAM1 to restrict HMPV infection.

PMID- 27634896
TI  - Prevalence of actionable mutations and copy number alterations and the price of a
      genomic testing panel.
AB  - Interest in genomic testing for the selection of cancer therapy is growing.
      However, the cost of genomic testing has not been well studied. We sought to
      determine the price of identifying mutations and copy number alterations (CNAs)
      in theoretically actionable genes across multiple tumor types. We reviewed data
      from The Cancer Genome Atlas to determine the frequency of alterations in nine
      tumor types. We used price information from a commonly used commercial genomic
      testing platform (FoundationOne) to determine the price of detecting mutations
      and CNAs in different types of tumors. Although there are large variations in the
      prevalence by tumor type, when the detection of both mutations and CNAs was
      considered overall, most patients had at least one alteration in a potentially
      actionable gene (84% overall, range 51%- 98% among tumor types assessed). The
      corresponding average price of identifying at least one alteration per patient
      ranges from $5,897 to $11,572. Although the frequency of mutations and CNAs in
      actionable genes differs by tumor type, most patients have an actionable genomic
      alteration detectable by a commercially available panel. Determining CNAs as well
      as mutations improves actionability and reduces the price of detecting an
      alteration.

PMID- 27634895
TI  - Altered expression of A20 gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is
      associated with the progression of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
AB  - A20 is an important negative immune regulator but its role in chronic hepatitis B
      virus (HBV) infection is still unknown. This present study was to investigate the
      potential role of A20 gene in the progression of chronic HBV infection. A total
      of 236 chronic HBV patients were included and consisted of 63 hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC), 87 liver cirrhosis (LC) and 86 chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The
      mRNA level of A20 gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was determined using
      quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Receptor operating
      characteristic curve (ROC) was performed to determine the diagnostic value of A20
      mRNA in different stages of chronic HBV infection. A20 mRNA levels in all HBV
      patients were significantly higher than healthy controls (n=30), of whom HCC and
      LC patients showed higher A20 mRNA level than CHB patients. In CHB patients, A20
      mRNA was closely associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin. In LC patients, A20 mRNA was
      significantly associated with ALT, AST, albumin, haemoglobin and platelet. In HCC
      patients, elevated A20mRNA was also observed in patients with vascular invasion,
      liver cirrhosis and ascites, compared with those without. ROC analysis revealed
      that A20 mRNA could effectively discriminate LC from CHB, decompensated LC from
      compensated LC, and HCC from CHB. In conclusion, A20 mRNA expression in
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells was associated with dynamic progression of
      chronic HBV infection. A20 gene might be a potential biomarker to determine the
      different stages of chronic HBV infection.

PMID- 27634894
TI  - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus nucleoprotein contributes to HMGB1 transcription
      and release by interacting with C/EBP-beta.
AB  - Porcine epidemic diarrhea is a devastating swine enteric disease, which is caused
      by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infection. Our studies demonstrated
      that PEDV infection resulted in the up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines.
      Meanwhile, PEDV infection and overexpression of viral nucleoprotein resulted in
      the acetylation and release of high mobility group box 1 proteins in vitro, an
      important proinflammatory response mediator, which contributes to the
      pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases. Our studies also showed that
      SIRT1, histone acetyltransferase, and NF-kappaB regulated the acetylation and
      release of HMGB1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase reporter gene
      assay, and co-immunoprecipitation experiments illustrated that PEDV-N could
      induce HMGB1 transcription by interacting with C/EBP-beta, which could bind to
      C/EBP motif in HMGB1 promotor region. Collectively, our data indicate PEDV-N
      contributes to HMGB1 transcription and the subsequent release/acetylation of
      HMGB1 during PEDV infection.

PMID- 27634897
TI  - Heterozygous mutation of cysteine528 in XPO1 is sufficient for resistance to
      selective inhibitors of nuclear export.
AB  - Exportin-1 (CRM1/XPO1) is a crucial nuclear export protein that transports a wide
      variety of proteins from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. These cargo proteins
      include tumor suppressors and growth-regulatory factors and as such XPO1 is
      considered a potential anti-cancer target. From this perspective, inhibition of
      the XPO1-mediated nuclear export by selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE)
      compounds has shown broad-spectrum anti-cancer activity. Furthermore, the
      clinical candidate SINE, selinexor, is currently in multiple phase I/II/IIb
      trials for treatment of cancer. Resistance against selinexor has not yet been
      observed in the clinic, but in vitro selection of resistance did not reveal any
      mutations in the target protein, XPO1. However, introduction of a homozygous
      mutation at the drug's target site, the cysteine 528 residue inside the XPO1
      cargo-binding pocket, by genetic engineering, confers resistance to selinexor.
      Here we investigated whether this resistance to selinexor is recessive or
      dominant. For this purpose we have engineered multiple leukemia cell lines
      containing heterozygous or homozygous C528S substitutions using CRISPR/Cas9
      mediated genome editing. Our findings show that heterozygous mutation confers
      similar resistance against selinexor as homozygous substitution, demonstrating
      that SINE resistance can be obtained by a single and dominant mutation of the
      cysteine528 residue in XPO1.

PMID- 27634898
TI  - Differential expression analysis for individual cancer samples based on robust
      within-sample relative gene expression orderings across multiple profiling
      platforms.
AB  - The highly stable within-sample relative expression orderings (REOs) of gene
      pairs in a particular type of human normal tissue are widely reversed in the
      cancer condition. Based on this finding, we have recently proposed an algorithm
      named RankComp to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for individual
      disease samples measured by a particular platform. In this paper, with 461 normal
      lung tissue samples separately measured by four commonly used platforms, we
      demonstrated that tens of millions of gene pairs with significantly stable REOs
      in normal lung tissue can be consistently detected in samples measured by
      different platforms. However, about 20% of stable REOs commonly detected by two
      different platforms (e.g., Affymetrix and Illumina platforms) showed inconsistent
      REO patterns due to the differences in probe design principles. Based on the
      significantly stable REOs (FDR<0.01) for normal lung tissue consistently detected
      by the four platforms, which tended to have large rank differences, RankComp
      detected averagely 1184, 1335 and 1116 DEGs per sample with averagely 96.51%,
      95.95% and 94.78% precisions in three evaluation datasets with 25, 57 and 58
      paired lung cancer and normal samples, respectively. Individualized pathway
      analysis revealed some common and subtype-specific functional mechanisms of lung
      cancer. Similar results were observed for colorectal cancer. In conclusion, based
      on the cross-platform significantly stable REOs for a particular normal tissue,
      differentially expressed genes and pathways in any disease sample measured by any
      of the platforms can be readily and accurately detected, which could be further
      exploited for dissecting the heterogeneity of cancer.

PMID- 27634899
TI  - Bladder neck preservation improves time to continence after radical
      prostatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Bladder neck preservation (BNP) during radical prostatectomy (RP) may improve
      postoperative urinary continence, although its overall effectiveness remains
      controversial. We systematically searched PubMed, Ovid Medline, Embase, CBM and
      the Cochrane Library to identify studies published before February 2016 that
      assessed associations between BNP and post-RP urinary continence. Thirteen trials
      (1130 cases and 1154 controls) assessing BNP versus noBNP (or with bladder neck
      reconstruction, BNR) were considered suitable for meta-analysis, including two
      randomized controlled trials (RCT), six prospective and five retrospective
      studies. Meta-analysis demonstrated that BNP improved early urinary continence
      rates (6 mo, OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.21-2.27; P = 0.001) and long-term urinary
      continence outcomes (>12 mo, OR = 3.99; 95% CI, 1.94-8.21; P = 0.0002). Patients
      with BNP also had lower bladder neck stricture frequencies (OR = 0.49; 95% CI,
      0.29-0.81; P = 0.006). Anastomotic leak rates, positive surgical margins and
      biochemical failure rates were comparable between the two groups (P>0.05). There
      were no differences in baseline characteristics except for a smaller average
      prostate volume (WMD = -2.24 ml; 95% CI, -4.27 to -0.22; P = 0.03) in BNP
      patients. Our analyses indicated that BNP during RP improved early recovery and
      overall long-term (1 year) urinary continence and decreased bladder neck
      stricture rates without compromising oncologic control.

PMID- 27634900
TI  - Comprehensive landscape of subtype-specific coding and non-coding RNA transcripts
      in breast cancer.
AB  - Molecular classification of breast cancer into clinically relevant subtypes helps
      improve prognosis and adjuvant-treatment decisions. The aim of this study is to
      provide a better characterization of the molecular subtypes by providing a
      comprehensive landscape of subtype-specific isoforms including coding, long non
      coding RNA and microRNA transcripts. Isoform-level expression of all coding and
      non-coding RNAs is estimated from RNA-sequence data of 1168 breast samples
      obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. We then search the whole
      transcriptome systematically for subtype-specific isoforms using a novel
      algorithm based on a robust quasi-Poisson model. We discover 5451 isoforms
      specific to single subtypes. A total of 27% of the subtype-specific isoforms have
      better accuracy in classifying the intrinsic subtypes than that of their
      corresponding genes. We find three subtype-specific miRNA and 707 subtype
      specific long non-coding RNAs. The isoforms from long non-coding RNAs also show
      high performance for separation between Luminal A and Luminal B subtypes with an
      AUC of 0.97 in the discovery set and 0.90 in the validation set. In addition, we
      discover 1500 isoforms preferentially co-expressed in two subtypes, including 369
      isoforms co-expressed in both Normal-like and Basal subtypes, which are commonly
      considered to have distinct ER-receptor status. Finally, analyses at protein
      level reveal four subtype-specific proteins and two subtype co-expression
      proteins that successfully validate results from the isoform level.

PMID- 27634901
TI  - Identification of long non-coding RNAs biomarkers for early diagnosis of
      myocardial infarction from the dysregulated coding-non-coding co-expression
      network.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been shown as novel promising
      diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for various cancers. However, lncRNA
      expression patterns and their predictive value in early diagnosis of myocardial
      infarction (MI) have not been systematically investigated. In our study, we
      performed a comprehensive analysis of lncRNA expression profiles in MI and found
      altered lncRNA expression pattern in MI compared to healthy samples. We then
      constructed a lncRNA-mRNA dysregulation network (DLMCEN) by integrating aberrant
      lncRNAs, mRNAs and their co-dysregulation relationships, and found that some of
      mRNAs were previously reported to be involved in cardiovascular disease,
      suggesting the functional roles of dysregulated lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of
      MI. Therefore, using support vector machine (SVM) and leave one out cross
      validation (LOOCV), we developed a 9-lncRNA signature (termed 9LncSigAMI) from
      the discovery cohort which could distinguish MI patients from healthy samples
      with accuracy of 95.96%, sensitivity of 93.88% and specificity of 98%, and
      validated its predictive power in early diagnosis of MI in another completely
      independent cohort. Functional analysis demonstrated that these nine lncRNA
      biomarkers in the 9LncSigAMI may be involved in myocardial innate immune and
      inflammatory response, and their deregulation may lead to the dysfunction of the
      inflammatory and immune system contributing to MI recurrence. With prospective
      validation, the 9LncSigAMI identified by our work will provide additional
      diagnostic information beyond other known clinical parameters, and increase the
      understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of MI.

PMID- 27634902
TI  - miR-208a-3p suppresses cell apoptosis by targeting PDCD4 in gastric cancer.
AB  - Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) is a novel tumor suppressor gene and a promising
      target for anticancer therapies. PDCD4 is frequently downregulated in various
      human cancers; however, the molecular mechanism accounting for the loss
      expression of PDCD4 in cancers is not fully understood. In this study, we
      identified specific targeting sites for miR-208a-3p in the 3'-untranslated region
      (3'-UTR) of the PDCD4 gene which regulated PDCD4 expression. We demonstrated that
      miR-208a-3p suppressed apoptosis in gastric cancer cells by targeting PDCD4. We
      also showed that miR-208a-3p promoted the development of tumor growth in
      xenograft mice by negatively regulating PDCD4. Taken together, this study
      revealed a critical role for miR-208a-3p as an oncogenic miRNA in gastric
      carcinogenesis and it may provide a potential novel target for gastric cancer
      diagnosis and therapy.

PMID- 27634903
TI  - Early tumor shrinkage as a predictor of favorable outcomes in patients with
      advanced pancreatic cancer treated with FOLFIRINOX.
AB  - There are several reports on the correlation between early tumor shrinkage (ETS)
      or depth of response (DpR) and survival in chemotherapies for colorectal cancer;
      however, few studies have investigated it in pancreatic cancer. We therefore
      investigated whether the ETS will predict outcomes in 59 patients with advanced
      pancreatic cancer treated with FOLFIRINOX therapy. The association of ETS with
      progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated but also
      we addressed to the correlation between outcomes and DpR. ETS was defined as a
      reduction >= 20% of target lesions' diameters measured at 6 to 8 weeks from
      treatment start. DpR was percentage of maximal tumor shrinkage observed at the
      nadir diameter compared with baseline. Among 47 evaluable patients for the ETS,
      12 (25.5%) patients experienced ETS. The ETS was significantly associated with
      better PFS (9.0 vs. 4.2 months) as well as OS (24.0 vs. 9.1 months); moreover,
      the association had a statistically significance for PFS but a strong trend for
      OS in multivariate analysis. The DpR was statistically significantly but weakly
      associated with OS. In conclusion, this is the first report that the early
      response to chemotherapy may predict favorable outcomes in patients with advanced
      pancreatic cancer treated with FOLFIRINOX therapy.

PMID- 27634905
TI  - Association between 8q24 (rs13281615 and rs6983267) polymorphism and breast
      cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis involving 117,355 subjects.
AB  - Published data on the association between 8q24 polymorphism and breast cancer
      (BC) risk are inconclusive. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the
      relationship between 8q24 (rs13281615 and rs6983267) polymorphism and BC risk. We
      searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science and the Cochrane Library up to August 13,
      2015 for relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
      were used to estimate the strength of associations. Twenty-six studies published
      from 2008 to 2014, with a total of 52,683 cases and 64,672 controls, were
      included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that there was
      significant association between 8q24 rs13281615 polymorphism and BC risk in any
      genetic model. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, the effects remained in
      Asians and Caucasians. However, no genetic models reached statistical association
      in Africans. There was no association in any genetic model in rs6983267. This
      meta-analysis suggests that 8q24 rs13281615 polymorphism is a risk factor for
      susceptibility to BC in Asians, Caucasians and in overall population, While,
      there was no association in Africans. The rs6983267 polymorphism has no
      association with BC risk in any genetic model. Further large scale multicenter
      epidemiological studies are warranted to confirm this finding.

PMID- 27634904
TI  - GOLPH3 overexpression correlates with poor response to neoadjuvant therapy and
      prognosis in locally advanced rectal cancer.
AB  - Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) combined with surgery is a standard therapy
      for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The aim of this study was to assess
      the expression of GOLPH3 (Golgi phosphoprotein 3), a newly found oncogene, in
      LARC as well as its relationship with nCRT sensitivity and prognosis. We
      retrospectively analyzed 148 LARC cases receiving nCRT and total mesorectal
      excision (TME). Immunohistochemistry was used to assess GOLPH3 and mTOR
      (mammalian target of rapamycin) in tumor tissues. Then, the associations of
      GOLPH3 with pathological characteristics and prognosis of rectal cancer were
      assessed. The 148 cases included 77 with high GOLPH3 expression (52.03%), which
      was associated with tumor invasive depth and lymphatic metastasis. Cases with
      high GOLPH3 expression had 2.58 and 2.71 fold higher local relapse and distant
      metastasis rates compared with the low expression group. Correlation analyses
      showed that GOLPH3 was an independent indicator for judging tumor down-staging
      and postoperative TRG (tumor regression grade), indicating it could predict nCRT
      sensitivity. In addition, GOLPH3 expression was associated with mTOR levels.
      Multiple-factor analysis indicated that GOLPH3 was an independent prognosis
      indicator for 5 year-DFS (disease free survival) and OS (overall survival) in
      LARC. These results reveal that GOLPH3 is an independent predictive factor for
      nCRT sensitivity and prognosis in LARC, with a mechanism related to mTOR.

PMID- 27634907
TI  - Prognostic and clinicopathological value of Gli-1 expression in gastric cancer: A
      meta-analysis.
AB  - Glioma associated oncogene-1 (Gli-1) is considered as a strong positive activator
      of downstream target genes of hedgehog signal pathway in mammalians. However, its
      diagnostic and prognostic value in gastric cancer remains unclear and
      controversial. Therefore, a quantitative meta-analysis was conducted to determine
      the clinical value of Gli-1 in gastric cancer patients. Twelve eligible articles
      with 886 gastric cancer patients were included in this meta-analysis. The
      relationship between Gli-1 expression in gastric cancer patients and
      clinicopathological features and 5-year overall survival (OS) was evaluated using
      pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals
      (CIs). The meta-analysis showed that the upregulated Gli-1 was associated with
      sample type (gastric cancer tissues) (OR 10.31, 95%CI 7.14-14.88; P = 0.000),
      differentiation type (OR 3.76, 95%CI 2.55-5.53; P = 0.000), depth of invasion (OR
      8.17, 95%CI 3.60-18.55; P = 0.000), lymph node metastasis (OR 3.97, 95%CI 2.73
      5.78; P = 0.000) and high TNM stage (OR 3.65, 95%CI 1.89-7.04; P = 0.000). Three
      studies including 316 patients were assessed for the correlation between Gli-1
      and 5-year OS, which indicated that positive Gli-1 expression was associated with
      poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients (HR 2.14, 95%CI 1.35-3.40; P = 0.001).
      Little publication bias was identified by funnel plots and Egger's tests. The
      sensitivity analysis indicated that no study substantially influenced pooled
      OR/HR. Taken together, Gli-1 is a credible indicator for highly aggressive tumor
      with poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients.

PMID- 27634906
TI  - A gene expression signature of retinoblastoma loss-of-function is a predictive
      biomarker of resistance to palbociclib in breast cancer cell lines and is
      prognostic in patients with ER positive early breast cancer.
AB  - Palbociclib is a CDK4/6 inhibitor that received FDA approval for treatment of
      hormone receptor positive (HR+) HER2 negative (HER2neg) advanced breast cancer.
      To better personalize patients treatment it is critical to identify subgroups
      that would mostly benefit from it. We hypothesize that complex alterations of the
      Retinoblastoma (Rb) pathway might be implicated in resistance to CDK4/6
      inhibitors and aim to investigate whether signatures of Rb loss-of-function would
      identify breast cancer cell lines resistant to palbociclib. We established a gene
      expression signature of Rb loss-of-function (RBsig) by identifying genes
      correlated with E2F1 and E2F2 expression in breast cancers within The Cancer
      Genome Atlas. We assessed the RBsig prognostic role in the METABRIC and in a
      comprehensive breast cancer meta-dataset. Finally, we analyzed whether RBsig
      would discriminate palbociclib-sensitive and -resistant breast cancer cells in a
      large RNA sequencing-based dataset. The RBsig was associated with RB1 genetic
      status in all tumors (p <7e-32) and in luminal or basal subtypes (p < 7e-11 and p
      < 0.002, respectively). The RBsig was prognostic in the METABRIC dataset
      (discovery: HR = 1.93 [1.5-2.4] p = 1.4e-08; validation: HR = 2.01 [1.6-2.5] p =
      1.3e-09). Untreated and endocrine treated patients with estrogen receptor
      positive breast cancer expressing high RBsig had significantly worse recurrence
      free survival compared to those with low RBsig (HR = 2.37 [1.8 - 3.2] p = 1.87e
      08 and HR = 2.62 [1.9- 3.5] p = 8.6e-11, respectively). The RBsig was able to
      identify palbociclib resistant and sensitive breast cancer cells (ROC AUC =
      0,7778). Signatures of RB loss might be helpful in personalizing treatment of
      patients with HR+/HER2neg breast cancer. Further validation in patients receiving
      palbociclib is warranted.

PMID- 27634908
TI  - Sex-specific autophagy modulation in osteoblastic lineage: a critical function to
      counteract bone loss in female.
AB  - Age-related bone loss is associated with an increased oxidative stress which is
      worsened by estrogen fall during menauposis. This observation has drawn attention
      to autophagy, a major cellular catabolic process, able to alleviate oxidative
      stress in osteoblasts (OB) and osteocytes (OST), two key bone cell types.
      Moreover, an autophagy decline can be associated with aging, suggesting that an
      age-related autophagy deficiency in OB and/or OST could contribute to skeletal
      aging and osteoporosis onset.In the present work, autophagy activity was analyzed
      in OST and OB in male and female mice according to their age and hormonal status.
      In OST, autophagy decreases with aging in both sexes. In OB, although a 95%
      decrease in autophagy is observed in OB derived from old females, this activity
      remains unchanged in males. In addition, while ovariectomy has no effect on OB
      autophagy levels, orchidectomy appears to stimulate this process. An inverse
      correlation between autophagy and the oxidative stress level was observed in OB
      derived from males or females. Finally, using OB-specific autophagy-deficient
      mice, we showed that autophagy deficiency aggravates the bone loss associated
      with aging and estrogen deprivation.Taken together, our data indicate that
      autophagic modulation in bone cells differs according to sex and cell type. The
      lowering of autophagy in female OB, which is associated with an increased
      oxidative stress, could play a role in osteoporosis pathophysiology and suggests
      that autophagy could be a new therapeutic target for osteoporosis in women.

PMID- 27634910
TI  - Recurrent mutations of MAPK pathway genes in multiple myeloma but not in amyloid
      light-chain amyloidosis.
AB  - Clinically applicable platforms revealing actionable genomic alterations may
      improve the treatment efficacy of myeloma patients. In this pilot study, we used
      a high depth targeted sequencing panel containing 83 anti-cancer drug target
      genes to sequence genomic DNAs extracted from bone marrow aspirates of 23
      patients with myeloma and 12 patients with amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis.
      Mutation analysis revealed NRAS as the most commonly mutated gene (30%, 7/23) in
      myeloma patients followed by KRAS (26%, 6/23) and BRAF (22%, 5/23). However, no
      significant mutations were found in the 12 patients with AL amyloidosis. Notably,
      6 of the 23 myeloma patients showed multi-site and/or multi-gene mutations in
      NRAS, KRAS, or BRAF, indicating compound aberrations in the Mitogen activated
      protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Gene panel sequencing also revealed cytogenetic
      abnormalities associated with prognosis in myeloma patients. In conclusion, our
      pilot study suggests that targeted gene sequencing may have an important
      prognostic value for myeloma patients for the identification of actionable
      genomic alterations and cytogenetic aberrations.

PMID- 27634909
TI  - Biomarkers to detect membranous nephropathy in Chinese patients.
AB  - Anti-M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) is a widely accepted biomarker
      for clinical idiopathic membranous neurophathy (IMN). However, its ability to
      differentiate between IMN and secondary MN (SMN) is controversial. The objective
      of this study was to assess clinical MN biomarkers in blood, tissue and urine
      samples from Chinese patients. In total, 195 MN patients and 70 patients with
      other glomerular diseases were prospectively enrolled in the study. Participants
      were followed up for average of 17 months (range 3-39 months). Anti-PLA2R and
      anti-THSD7A (thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A) were detected only in MN
      patient sera and not in controls. Serum anti-THSD7A and THSD7A-positive biopsies
      were detected in 1/18 and 2/18 PLA2R-negative MN cases, respectively. PLA2R and
      THSD7A were detected in 72.27% and 40% of SMN cases, respectively. While serum
      positivity for both anti-PLA2R and anti-THSD7A at the time of renal biopsy was
      specific to MN patients, neither antigen could discriminate between primary and
      secondary MN. We also found that high urinary levels of retinol binding protein
      (RBP) predicted poor proteinuria outcomes in study participants. Patients with
      low or medium urinary RBP levels achieved remission more frequently than those
      with high RBP.

PMID- 27634911
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE32 promotes cytokines production and host cell
      apoptosis through caspase cascade accompanying with enhanced ER stress response.
AB  - Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection, remains a
      grave global public health burden which claims the lives around two to three
      million annually. PE and PPE proteins, featured by the Pro-Glu (PE) or Pro-Pro
      Glu (PPE) motifs at the conserved N-terminal domain, are abundant in the MTB
      genome. PPE32 can increase intracellular survival of mycobacteria through
      abnormally increase in cytokines production. PPE32 might subvert the macrophage
      immune response and thwart its bactericidal effect. THP-1 macrophages treated
      with PPE32 or infected with Mycobacterium smegmatis (MS) expression PPE32 showed
      increase of cytokines production and multiple hallmarks of apoptosis. We found
      that PPE32 significantly increases the expression of IL-12p40 and IL-32 through
      ERK1/2 signaling pathway. In addition, the cell viability of macrophage was
      inhibited after PPE32 stimulation. We noted that PPE32 induces cleavage of
      caspase-3 and caspase-9, while inhibition of caspase activity significantly
      abrogates the PPE32-induced cell apoptosis. Moreover, PPE32 treatment promotes
      endoplasmic reticulum stress related gene expression, suggesting ER stress might
      be responsible for PPE32-induced cell apoptosis.

PMID- 27634914
TI  - Drug release behavior of electrospun twisted yarns as implantable medical
      devices.
AB  - In this study, twisted drug-loaded poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and hybrid poly(L
      lactide)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PLLA/PVA) yarns were produced using an
      electrospinning technique based on two oppositely charged nozzles. Cefazolin, an
      antibiotic drug was incorporated in the yarn fibers by addition to the PLLA
      electrospinning solution. Morphological studies showed that independent of the
      twist rate, uniform and smooth fibers were formed. The diameter of the
      electrospun fibers in the yarns decreased at higher twist rates but produced
      yarns with larger diameters. At increasing twist rates the crystallinity of the
      fibers in the yarns increased. In the presence of cefazolin the fiber diameter,
      yarn diameter and crystallinity were always lower than in the non-drug loaded
      yarns. In addition the yarn mechanical properties revealed a slightly lower
      strength, modulus and elongation at break upon drug loading. The effect of the
      twist rate on the cefazolin in vitro release behavior from both PLLA and hybrid
      yarns revealed similar profiles for both types of drug-loaded yarns. However, the
      total amount of drug released from the hybrid PLLA/PVA yarns was significantly
      higher. The release kinetics over a period of 30 d were fitted to different
      mathematical models. Cefazolin release from electrospun PLLA yarns was governed
      by a diffusion mechanism and could best be fitted by Peppas and Higuchi models.
      The models that were found best to describe the drug release mechanism from the
      hybrid PLLA/PVA yarns were a first-order model and the Higuchi model.

PMID- 27634913
TI  - Adenosine A3 receptor elicits chemoresistance mediated by multiple resistance
      associated protein-1 in human glioblastoma stem-like cells.
AB  - MRP1 transporter correlates positively with glioma malignancy and the Multiple
      Drug Resistance (MDR) phenotype in Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). Evidence shows
      that the MRP1 transporter is controlled by the adenosine signalling axis. The aim
      of this study was to identify the role of adenosine on the MDR phenotype in
      Glioblastoma Stem-like Cells (GSCs), the cell population responsible for the
      tumorigenic and chemoresistance capabilities of this tumour. We found that GSCs
      have increased intrinsic capacity to generate extracellular adenosine, thus
      controlling MRP1 transporter expression and activity via activation of the
      adenosine A3 receptor (A3AR). We showed PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK1/2 signaling
      pathways downstream A3AR to control MRP1 in GSCs. In vitro pharmacological
      blockade of A3AR had a chemosensitizing effect, enhancing the actions of
      antitumour drugs and decreasing cell viability and proliferation of GSCs. In
      addition, we produced an in vivo xenograft model by subcutaneous inoculation of
      human GSCs in NOD/SCID-IL2Rg null mice. Pharmacological blockade of A3AR
      generated a chemosensitizing effect, enhancing the effectiveness of the MRP1
      transporter substrate, vincristine, reducing tumour size and the levels of CD44
      and Nestin stem cell markers as well as the Ki-67 proliferation indicator. In
      conclusion, we demonstrated the chemosensitizing effect of A3AR blockade on GSCs.

PMID- 27634912
TI  - Oncogenic microRNA-4534 regulates PTEN pathway in prostate cancer.
AB  - Prostate carcinogenesis involves alterations in several signaling pathways, the
      most prominent being the PI3K/AKT pathway. This pathway is constitutively active
      and drives prostate cancer (PCa) progression to advanced metastatic disease.
      PTEN, a critical tumor and metastasis suppressor gene negatively regulates cell
      survival, proliferation, migration and angiogenesis via the PI3K/Akt pathway.
      PTEN is mutated, downregulated/dysfunctional in many cancers and its
      dysregulation correlates with poor prognosis in PCa. Here, we demonstrate that
      microRNA-4534 (miR-4534) is overexpressed in PCa and show that miR-4534 is
      hypermethylated in normal tissues and cell lines compared to PCa tissues/cells.
      miR-4534 exerts its oncogenic effects partly by downregulating the tumor
      suppressor PTEN gene. Knockdown of miR-4534 impaired cell proliferation,
      migration/invasion and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in PCa.
      Suppression of miR-4534 and its effects on tumor growth was confirmed in a
      xenograft mouse model. We performed parallel experiments in non-cancer RWPE1
      cells by overexpessing miR-4534 followed by functional assays. Overexpression of
      miR-4534 induced pro-cancerous characteristics in this non-cancer cell line.
      Statistical analyses revealed that miR-4534 has potential to independently
      distinguish malignant from normal tissues and positively correlated with poor
      overall and PSA recurrence free survival. Taken together, our results show that
      depletion of miR-4534 in PCa induces a tumor suppressor phenotype partly through
      induction of PTEN. These results have important implications for identifying and
      defining the role of new PTEN regulators such as microRNAs in prostate
      tumorigenesis. Understanding aberrantly overexpressed miR-4534 and its
      downregulation of PTEN will provide mechanistic insight and therapeutic targets
      for PCa therapy.

PMID- 27634915
TI  - Effect of bioink properties on printability and cell viability for 3D bioplotting
      of embryonic stem cells.
AB  - 3D cell printing is an emerging technology for fabricating complex cell-laden
      constructs with precise and pre-designed geometry, structure and composition to
      overcome the limitations of 2D cell culture and conventional tissue engineering
      scaffold technology. This technology enables spatial manipulation of cells and
      biomaterials, also referred to as 'bioink', and thus allows study of cellular
      interactions in a 3D microenvironment and/or in the formation of functional
      tissues and organs. Recently, many efforts have been made to develop new bioinks
      and to apply more cell sources for better biocompatibility and biofunctionality.
      However, the influences of printing parameters on the shape fidelity of 3D
      constructs as well as on cell viability after the cell printing process have been
      poorly characterized. Furthermore, parameter optimization based on a specific
      cell type might not be suitable for other types of cells, especially cells with
      high sensibility. In this study, we systematically studied the influence of
      bioink properties and printing parameters on bioink printability and embryonic
      stem cell (ESC) viability in the process of extrusion-based cell printing, also
      known as bioplotting. A novel method was established to determine suitable
      conditions for bioplotting ESCs to achieve both good printability and high cell
      viability. The rheological properties of gelatin/alginate bioinks were evaluated
      to determine the gelation properties under different bioink compositions,
      printing temperatures and holding times. The bioink printability was
      characterized by a newly developed semi-quantitative method. The results
      demonstrated that bioinks with longer gelation times would result in poorer
      printability. The live/dead assay showed that ESC viability increased with higher
      printing temperatures and lower gelatin concentrations. Furthermore, an
      exponential relationship was obtained between ESC viability and induced shear
      stress. By defining the proper printability and acceptable viability ranges, a
      combined parameters region was obtained. This study provides guidance for
      parameter optimization and the fine-tuning of 3D cell printing processes
      regarding both bioink printability and cell viability after bioplotting,
      especially for easily damaged cells, like ESCs.

PMID- 27634917
TI  - In vitro activity of ceftaroline against clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates
      collected during a national survey conducted in Belgian hospitals.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate the in vitro activity of
      ceftaroline against clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates collected during
      national surveillance in Belgian acute-care hospitals. Ceftaroline-resistant
      isolates were further investigated for their resistance mechanisms. METHODS: From
      October 2013 to March 2014, 155 laboratories of Belgian acute-care hospitals were
      invited to send to the National Reference Centre-Staphylococcus aureus (Belgium)
      up to five non-duplicate S. aureus including three MRSA and two MSSA from
      hospitalized patients. Isolates were analysed by spa typing, SCCmec typing (for
      MRSA) and PCR for detection of 16S-mecA-nuc and 16S-mecC. MICs of oxacillin,
      cefoxitin and ceftaroline were determined by the broth microdilution method. The
      nucleotide sequences of mecA, native pbp and gdpP genes of isolates with reduced
      susceptibility to ceftaroline were analysed for the presence of mutations
      responsible for amino acid substitutions. RESULTS: Ninety-nine percent of
      isolates, including MRSA (n = 284) and MSSA (n = 131), were susceptible to
      ceftaroline. Only four MRSA isolates showed resistance to ceftaroline (MIC = 2
      mg/L). These four isolates belonged to lineages CC5 (n = 1), CC22 (n = 2) and CC8
      (n = 1). Two isolates (CC22 and CC8) carried mutations in mecA, as well as in
      other pbp genes. The remaining isolates carried mutations in native pbp genes or
      in gdpP. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Belgian in vitro survey on ceftaroline
      activity against S. aureus. This antibiotic showed excellent activity against
      MRSA and MSSA, and only a few MRSA isolates with resistance were found. Reduced
      susceptibility to ceftaroline seems a complex phenomenon due to the accumulation
      of mutations in genes involved in beta-lactam tolerance.

PMID- 27634919
TI  - Effectiveness of Tai Chi for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: Updated
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Background: Tai chi is recommended for musculoskeletal conditions; however, the
      evidence for its clinical effectiveness is uncertain. Purpose: The aim of this
      study was to determine whether tai chi is beneficial for clinical outcomes in
      people with musculoskeletal pain. Data Sources: Seven databases were searched:
      Embase, PEDro, AMED, MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials. Study Selection: Randomized controlled trials of
      tai chi for people with a chronic musculoskeletal condition were included. Data
      Extraction: Two reviewers extracted data and rated risk of bias. Standardized
      mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for
      individual trials and pooled effect sizes were calculated using a random-effects
      model. Data Synthesis: Fifteen studies were identified; these studies included
      people with osteoarthritis (80%), back pain (13%), and headache (7%). Using the
      GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation)
      approach, moderate-quality evidence was found that tai chi was more effective
      than no treatment or usual care at short term on pain (SMD=-0.66 [95% CI=-0.85, 
      0.48]) and disability (SMD=-0.66 [95% CI=-0.85, -0.46]). The evidence for other
      outcomes was of low or very low quality and there was little information
      regarding long-term effects. Thus, although the number of publications in this
      area has increased, the rigor has not, hindering physical therapists' ability to
      provide reliable recommendations for clinical practice. Limitations: The evidence
      provided in this review is limited by trials with small sample sizes, low
      methodological quality, and lack of long-term assessment. Conclusions: In order
      for tai chi to be recommended as an effective intervention, more high-quality
      trials with large sample sizes assessing tai chi versus other evidence-based
      treatments at short term and at long term are needed.

PMID- 27634916
TI  - High-intensity meropenem combinations with polymyxin B: new strategies to
      overcome carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The pharmacodynamics of polymyxin/carbapenem combinations against
      carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) are largely unknown. Our
      objective was to determine whether intensified meropenem regimens in combination
      with polymyxin B enhance killing and resistance suppression of CRAB. METHODS:
      Time-kill experiments for meropenem and polymyxin B combinations were conducted
      against three polymyxin B-susceptible (MIC of polymyxin B = 0.5 mg/L) CRAB
      strains with varying meropenem MICs (ATCC 19606, N16870 and 03-149-1; MIC of
      meropenem = 4, 16 and 64 mg/L, respectively) at 108 cfu/mL. A hollow-fibre
      infection model was then used to simulate humanized regimens of polymyxin B and
      meropenem (2, 4, 6 and 8 g prolonged infusions every 8 h) versus N16870 at 108
      cfu/mL over 14 days. New mathematical mechanism-based models were developed using
      S-ADAPT. RESULTS: Time-kill experiments were well described by the mathematical
      mechanism-based models, with the presence of polymyxin B drastically decreasing
      the meropenem concentration needed for half-maximal activity against meropenem
      resistant populations from 438 to 82.1 (ATCC 19606), 158 to 93.6 (N16870) and 433
      to 76.0 mg/L (03-149-1). The maximum killing effect of combination treatment was
      similar among all three strains despite divergent meropenem MIC values (Emax =
      2.13, 2.08 and 2.15; MIC of meropenem = 4, 16 and 64 mg/L, respectively).
      Escalating the dose of meropenem in hollow-fibre combination regimens from 2 g
      every 8 h to 8 g every 8 h resulted in killing that progressed from a >2.5 log10
      cfu/mL reduction with regrowth by 72 h (2 g every 8 h) to complete eradication by
      336 h (8 g every 8 h). CONCLUSION: Intensified meropenem dosing in combination
      with polymyxin B may offer a unique strategy to kill CRAB irrespective of the
      meropenem MIC.

PMID- 27634920
TI  - Perspective on Physical Therapist Management of Functional Constipation.
AB  - Functional constipation is a common bowel disorder leading to activity
      restrictions and reduced health-related quality of life. Typically, this
      condition is initially managed with prescription of laxatives or fiber
      supplementation, or both. However, these interventions are often ineffective and
      fail to address the underlying pathophysiology and impairments contributing to
      this condition. Physical therapists possess the knowledge and skills to diagnose
      and manage a wide range of musculoskeletal and motor coordination impairments
      that may contribute to functional constipation. Relevant anatomic, physiologic,
      and behavioral contributors to functional constipation are discussed with regard
      to specific constipation diagnoses. A framework for physical therapist
      examination of impairments that can affect gastrointestinal function, including
      postural, respiratory, musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, and behavioral
      impairments, is offered. Within the context of diagnosis-specific patient cases,
      multifaceted interventions are described as they relate to impairments underlying
      functional constipation type. The current state of evidence to support these
      interventions and patient recommendations is summarized. This perspective article
      aims not only to heighten physical therapists' awareness and management of this
      condition, but also to stimulate clinical questioning that will open avenues for
      future research to improve patient care.

PMID- 27634918
TI  - Combining a micro/nano-hierarchical scaffold with cell-printing of myoblasts
      induces cell alignment and differentiation favorable to skeletal muscle tissue
      regeneration.
AB  - Biomedical scaffolds must be used in tissue engineering to provide physical
      stability and topological/biochemical properties that directly affect tissue
      regeneration. In this study, a new cell-laden scaffold was developed that
      supplies micro/nano-topological cues and promotes efficient release of cells. The
      hierarchical structure consisted of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) macrosized struts
      for sustaining a three-dimensional structural shape, aligned nanofibers obtained
      with optimized electrospinning, and cell-printed myoblasts. Importantly, the
      printed myoblasts were fully safe and were efficiently released from the cell
      laden struts to neighboring nanofiber networks. The incorporation of
      micro/nanofibers in the hierarchical scaffold significantly affected myoblast
      proliferation, alignment, and even facilitated the formation of myotubes. We
      observed that myosin heavy chain expression and the expression levels of various
      myogenic genes (MyoD, myogenin, and troponin T) were significantly affected by
      the fiber alignment achieved in our hierarchical cell-laden structure. We believe
      that the combination of cell-printing and a hierarchical scaffold that encourages
      fiber alignment is a highly promising technique for skeletal muscle tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 27634921
TI  - Altered Sagittal- and Frontal-Plane Kinematics Following High-Intensity Stepping
      Training Versus Conventional Interventions in Subacute Stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Common locomotor deficits observed in people poststroke include
      decreased speeds and abnormal kinematics, characterized by altered symmetry,
      reduced sagittal-plane joint excursions, and use of compensatory frontal-plane
      behaviors during the swing phase of gait. Conventional interventions utilized to
      mitigate these deficits often incorporate low-intensity, impairment-based or
      functional exercises focused on normalizing kinematics, although the efficacy of
      these strategies is unclear. Conversely, higher-intensity training protocols that
      provide only stepping practice and do not focus on kinematics have demonstrated
      gains in walking function, although minimal attention toward gait quality may be
      concerning and has not been assessed. OBJECTIVE: The present study evaluated
      changes in spatiotemporal and joint kinematics following experimental, high
      intensity stepping training compared with conventional interventions. DESIGN:
      Kinematic data were combined from a randomized controlled trial comparing
      experimental and conventional training and from a pilot experimental training
      study. METHODS: Individuals with gait deficits 1 to 6 months poststroke received
      up to 40 sessions of either high-intensity stepping training in variable contexts
      or conventional lower-intensity interventions. Analyses focused on kinematic
      changes during graded treadmill testing before and following training. RESULTS:
      Significant improvements in speed, symmetry, and selected sagittal-plane
      kinematics favored experimental training over conventional training, although
      increases in compensatory strategies also were observed. Changes in many
      kinematic patterns were correlated with speed changes, and increased compensatory
      behaviors were associated with both stride length gains and baseline impairments.
      LIMITATIONS: Limitations include a small sample size and use of multiple
      statistical comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Improved speeds and selected kinematics
      were observed following high-intensity training, although such training also
      resulted in increased use of compensatory strategies. Future studies should
      explore the consequences of utilizing these compensatory strategies despite the
      observed functional gains.

PMID- 27634922
TI  - Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Interventions and Outcomes for a Person With
      Quadrilateral Amputation.
AB  - Introduction: Functional outcome reports for people with quadrilateral amputation
      are not common in the rehabilitation medicine literature. The literature
      describing functional outcomes that does exist focuses primarily on people with a
      single or bilateral lower limb amputation. This case report chronicles the
      interventions and outcomes in a single person with amputation of all 4 limbs
      during an inpatient rehabilitation admission. Case Description: The patient was a
      59-year-old woman who had a quadrilateral amputation after developing
      disseminated intravascular coagulation. Her medical history and initial physical
      therapist examination, along with preambulation interventions, gait training, and
      scores from the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), are described. The results
      of the 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) and the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) illustrate
      her progress from novice ambulator to community ambulator over the course of 1
      year. Outcomes: The patient achieved her goal of community ambulation with her
      prosthetic limbs. Her 10MWT and 6MWT results revealed significant improvement at
      the 1-year postdischarge follow-up. Discussion: Despite the high energy levels
      necessary to ambulate with bilateral prosthetic limbs, the patient achieved 86%
      of the predicted distance for her age and sex in the 6MWT. In addition, she more
      than doubled her FIM motor score from inpatient acute rehabilitation admission to
      discharge. Closed-chain exercise and a focused approach to this patient's
      preprosthetic training were part of her success in becoming a community
      ambulator.

PMID- 27634924
TI  - Computational fluid dynamics of the ascending aorta before the onset of type A
      aortic dissection.
AB  - We performed a pre-dissection computational fluid analysis of an ascending aortic
      aneurysm associated with unicuspid aortic valve. The analysis showed an abnormal
      helical flow pattern inside the aneurysm and an increased wall stress on the
      right postero-lateral wall of the ascending aorta. These values were largely
      higher than the theoretical cut-off for aortic wall dissection, their topographic
      distribution followed the intimal tear site as subsequently diagnosed by computed
      tomography scan and confirmed during the operation for dissection repair.

PMID- 27634926
TI  - Fibrillin 2 is upregulated in the ascending aorta of patients with bicuspid
      aortic valve.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most prevalent congenital cardiac
      malformation, frequently associated with aortic dilatation (AD). The molecular
      mechanisms involved in AD and its aetiological link with BAV formation are poorly
      understood. Altered fibrillin-1 (FBN1) and metalloprotease-2, -9 (MMP2,9) protein
      activities have been suggested to be involved in BAV aortopathy. In addition,
      FBN2 participates in embryonic valve formation, but its possible involvement in
      BAV-associated AD has never been explored. In this report, we evaluate the
      expression levels of MMP2,9 and FBN1,2 in the ascending aorta of patients with
      normal or dilated aortas and with tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) or BAV, using
      appropriate tissue-specific reference genes. METHODS: Gene expression was
      quantified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 52 patients,
      using one or three reference genes previously validated in the same patient
      population. RESULTS: FBN2 expression was significantly increased in the aortas of
      patients with BAV compared with individuals with TAV (0.178 +/- 0.042 vs 0.096 +/
      0.021, P = 0.015), whereas differences in FBN1 did not reach statistical
      significance (1.946 +/- 0.228 vs 1.430 +/- 0.114, P = 0.090). When four groups of
      samples were considered, FBN2 expression was significantly higher in patients
      with BAV and AD compared with patients with TAV and AD (0.164 +/- 0.035 vs 0.074
      +/- 0.027, P = 0.040). No significant differences were found when FBN1/FBN2
      ratio, and MMP2 and MMP9 expression levels were analysed. No linear relationship
      between aortic diameter and gene expression levels were found. CONCLUSIONS: BAV
      patients have an increased FBN (especially FBN2) gene expression level in the
      ascending aorta, irrespective of dilatation, whereas MMP expression does not
      change significantly. These results add a new piece of information to the
      pathophysiology of BAV disease and point to FBN2 as a new molecular player.

PMID- 27634928
TI  - Behavioral Timing without Clockwork: Photoperiod-Dependent Trade-Off between
      Predation Hazard and Energy Balance in an Arctic Ungulate.
AB  - Occurrence of 24-h rhythms in species apparently lacking functional molecular
      clockwork indicates that strong circadian mechanisms are not essential
      prerequisites of robust timing, and that rhythmical patterns may arise instead as
      passive responses to periodically changing environmental stimuli. Thus, in a new
      synthesis of grazing in a ruminant (MINDY), crepuscular peaks of activity emerge
      from interactions between internal and external stimuli that influence motivation
      to feed, and the influence of the light/dark cycle is mediated through the effect
      of low nocturnal levels of food intake on gastric function. Drawing on risk
      allocation theory, we hypothesized that the timing of behavior in ruminants is
      influenced by the independent effects of light on motivation to feed and
      perceived risk of predation. We predicted that the antithetical relationship
      between these 2 drivers would vary with photoperiod, resulting in a systematic
      shift in the phase of activity relative to the solar cycle across the year. This
      prediction was formalized in a model in which phase of activity emerges from a
      photoperiod-dependent trade-off between food and safety. We tested this model
      using data on the temporal pattern of activity in reindeer/caribou Rangifer
      tarandus free-living at natural mountain pasture in sub-Arctic Norway. The
      resulting nonlinear relationship between the phasing of crepuscular activity and
      photoperiod, consistent with the model, suggests a mechanism for behavioral
      timing that is independent of the core circadian system. We anticipate that such
      timing depends on integration of metabolic feedback from the digestive system and
      the activity of the glucocorticoid axis which modulates the behavioral responses
      of the animal to environmental hazard. The hypothalamus is the obvious neural
      substrate to achieve this integration.

PMID- 27634929
TI  - Topology independent comparison of RNA 3D structures using the CLICK algorithm.
AB  - RNA molecules are attractive therapeutic targets because non-coding RNA molecules
      have increasingly been found to play key regulatory roles in the cell. Comparing
      and classifying RNA 3D structures yields unique insights into RNA evolution and
      function. With the rapid increase in the number of atomic-resolution RNA
      structures, it is crucial to have effective tools to classify RNA structures and
      to investigate them for structural similarities at different resolutions. We
      previously developed the algorithm CLICK to superimpose a pair of protein 3D
      structures by clique matching and 3D least squares fitting. In this study, we
      extend and optimize the CLICK algorithm to superimpose pairs of RNA 3D structures
      and RNA-protein complexes, independent of the associated topologies. Benchmarking
      Rclick on four different datasets showed that it is either comparable to or
      better than other structural alignment methods in terms of the extent of
      structural overlaps. Rclick also recognizes conformational changes between RNA
      structures and produces complementary alignments to maximize the extent of
      detectable similarity. Applying Rclick to study Ribonuclease III protein
      correctly aligned the RNA binding sites of RNAse III with its substrate. Rclick
      can be further extended to identify ligand-binding pockets in RNA. A web server
      is developed at http://mspc.bii.a-star.edu.sg/minhn/rclick.html.

PMID- 27634930
TI  - Methods to increase reproducibility in differential gene expression via meta
      analysis.
AB  - Findings from clinical and biological studies are often not reproducible when
      tested in independent cohorts. Due to the testing of a large number of hypotheses
      and relatively small sample sizes, results from whole-genome expression studies
      in particular are often not reproducible. Compared to single-study analysis, gene
      expression meta-analysis can improve reproducibility by integrating data from
      multiple studies. However, there are multiple choices in designing and carrying
      out a meta-analysis. Yet, clear guidelines on best practices are scarce. Here, we
      hypothesized that studying subsets of very large meta-analyses would allow for
      systematic identification of best practices to improve reproducibility. We
      therefore constructed three very large gene expression meta-analyses from
      clinical samples, and then examined meta-analyses of subsets of the datasets (all
      combinations of datasets with up to N/2 samples and K/2 datasets) compared to a
      'silver standard' of differentially expressed genes found in the entire cohort.
      We tested three random-effects meta-analysis models using this procedure. We
      showed relatively greater reproducibility with more-stringent effect size
      thresholds with relaxed significance thresholds; relatively lower reproducibility
      when imposing extraneous constraints on residual heterogeneity; and an
      underestimation of actual false positive rate by Benjamini-Hochberg correction.
      In addition, multivariate regression showed that the accuracy of a meta-analysis
      increased significantly with more included datasets even when controlling for
      sample size.

PMID- 27634932
TI  - Co-regulation of paralog genes in the three-dimensional chromatin architecture.
AB  - Paralog genes arise from gene duplication events during evolution, which often
      lead to similar proteins that cooperate in common pathways and in protein
      complexes. Consequently, paralogs show correlation in gene expression whereby the
      mechanisms of co-regulation remain unclear. In eukaryotes, genes are regulated in
      part by distal enhancer elements through looping interactions with gene
      promoters. These looping interactions can be measured by genome-wide chromatin
      conformation capture (Hi-C) experiments, which revealed self-interacting regions
      called topologically associating domains (TADs). We hypothesize that paralogs
      share common regulatory mechanisms to enable coordinated expression according to
      TADs. To test this hypothesis, we integrated paralogy annotations with human gene
      expression data in diverse tissues, genome-wide enhancer-promoter associations
      and Hi-C experiments in human, mouse and dog genomes. We show that paralog gene
      pairs are enriched for co-localization in the same TAD, share more often common
      enhancer elements than expected and have increased contact frequencies over large
      genomic distances. Combined, our results indicate that paralogs share common
      regulatory mechanisms and cluster not only in the linear genome but also in the
      three-dimensional chromatin architecture. This enables concerted expression of
      paralogs over diverse cell-types and indicate evolutionary constraints in
      functional genome organization.

PMID- 27634931
TI  - The lncRNA HOTAIR impacts on mesenchymal stem cells via triple helix formation.
AB  - There is a growing perception that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) modulate
      cellular function. In this study, we analyzed the role of the lncRNA HOTAIR in
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with particular focus on senescence-associated
      changes in gene expression and DNA-methylation (DNAm). HOTAIR binding sites were
      enriched at genomic regions that become hypermethylated with increasing cell
      culture passage. Overexpression and knockdown of HOTAIR inhibited or stimulated
      adipogenic differentiation of MSCs, respectively. Modification of HOTAIR
      expression evoked only very moderate effects on gene expression, particularly of
      polycomb group target genes. Furthermore, overexpression and knockdown of HOTAIR
      resulted in DNAm changes at HOTAIR binding sites. Five potential triple helix
      forming domains were predicted within the HOTAIR sequence based on reverse
      Hoogsteen hydrogen bonds. Notably, the predicted triple helix target sites for
      these HOTAIR domains were also enriched in differentially expressed genes and
      close to DNAm changes upon modulation of HOTAIR Electrophoretic mobility shift
      assays provided further evidence that HOTAIR domains form RNA-DNA-DNA triplexes
      with predicted target sites. Our results demonstrate that HOTAIR impacts on
      differentiation of MSCs and that it is associated with senescence-associated
      DNAm. Targeting of epigenetic modifiers to relevant loci in the genome may
      involve triple helix formation with HOTAIR.

PMID- 27634933
TI  - Radiation injury versus malignancy after stereotactic radiosurgery for brain
      metastases: impact of time-dependent changes in lesion morphology on MRI.
AB  - Background: We sought to determine whether radiation-induced injuries could be
      distinguished from malignancy after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) by analyzing
      time-dependent changes in lesion morphology on sequential MRI for up to 55min.
      Methods: In 31 consecutive patients treated with SRS for brain metastases, the
      time-dependent changes in lesion morphology were analyzed on MRI 2min, 15min, and
      55min after contrast administration and on subtraction images. A simultaneous,
      matched-pairs approach was used for quantitative region of interest analysis of
      the area of the lesion. Qualitative analysis comprised the shape of the border,
      the structure of the interior area, the presence of leptomeningeal enhancement,
      and feeding vessels. The signal intensity changes of the border and the interior
      area of the lesions over time were assessed visually. The time-dependent changes
      in the 2 entities were compared. Results: Twenty radiation-induced injuries and
      21 malignancies were analyzed. A significant interaction effect between time
      point and diagnosis (P<.001) was found for the time-dependent changes of the
      margin of the lesion for 2min to 15min and in signal intensity differences of the
      rim and interior area as well as of the size of the interior area for up to
      55min. All radiation-induced injuries showed a black interior area on the
      subtraction images for 15min minus 55min, whereas all malignant lesions had white
      components (P<.001). Conclusions: Analysis of time-dependent changes in lesion
      morphology on sequential MRI for up to 55min is a reliable tool to distinguish
      radiation-induced injuries from malignancy after SRS.

PMID- 27634938
TI  - Systematic and Integrative Reviews of Literature: Core Component of AADE's 2016
      2018 Strategic Plan.

PMID- 27634935
TI  - Identification of two phosphorylation sites essential for annexin A1 in blood
      brain barrier protection after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage in rats.
AB  - Annexin A1 has been reported to exert a blood-brain barrier protection. This
      study was designed to examine the role of annexin A1 in intracerebral hemorrhage
      induced blood-brain barrier dysfunction. A collagenase intracerebral hemorrhage
      model was performed in adult male Sprague Dawley rats. First, a possible
      relationship between annexin A1 and intracerebral hemorrhage pathology was
      confirmed by a loss of annexin A1 in the cerebrovascular endothelium and serum of
      intracerebral hemorrhage rats, and the rescue effects of i.v. administration of
      human recombinant annexin A1 in vivo and annexin A1 overexpression in vitro on
      the barrier function of brain microvascular endothelial cells exposed to
      intracerebral hemorrhage stimulus. Second, we found that intracerebral hemorrhage
      significantly increased the phosphorylation ratio of annexin A1 at the
      serine/threonine residues. Finally, based on site-specific mutagenesis, we
      identified two phosphorylation sites (a) annexin A1 phosphorylation at threonine
      24 is required for its interaction with actin cytoskeleton, and (b)
      phosphorylation at serine27 is essential for annexin A1 secretion, both of which
      were essential for maintaining cytoskeleton integrity and paracellular
      permeability. In conclusion, annexin A1 prevents intracerebral hemorrhage-induced
      blood-brain barrier dysfunction in threonine 24 and serine27 phosphorylation
      dependent manners. Annexin A1 phosphorylation may be a self-help strategy in
      brain microvascular endothelial cells after intracerebral hemorrhage; however,
      that was almost completely abolished by the intracerebral hemorrhage-induced loss
      of annexin A1.

PMID- 27634936
TI  - Epidermal growth factor prevents oligomeric amyloid-beta induced angiogenesis
      deficits in vitro.
AB  - Cerebrovascular dysfunction is a critical component of Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      pathogenesis. Oligomeric amyloid-beta42 (oAbeta42) is considered a major
      contributor to AD progression. However, data are limited on the role of oAbeta42
      in brain endothelial cell vessel degeneration/angiogenesis, including the
      interaction with angiogenic mediators. Thus, the current study determined the
      effect of oAbeta42 on angiogenesis in vitro, utilizing single brain endothelial
      cell cultures and triple cultures mimicking the microvascular unit (MVU: brain
      endothelial cells, astrocytes, and pericytes). oAbeta42 dose-dependently reduced
      angiogenesis and induced vessel disruption. Critically, epidermal growth factor
      prevented oAbeta42-induced deficits, implicating angiogenic pathways as potential
      therapeutics for AD.

PMID- 27634934
TI  - Regulation of Head and Neck Squamous Cancer Stem Cells by PI3K and SOX2.
AB  - Background: We have an incomplete understanding of the differences between cancer
      stem cells (CSCs) in human papillomavirus-positive (HPV-positive) and -negative
      (HPV-negative) head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). The PI3K pathway has
      the most frequent activating genetic events in HNSCC (especially HPV-positive
      driven), but the differential signaling between CSCs and non-CSCs is also
      unknown. Methods: We addressed these unresolved questions using CSCs identified
      from 10 HNSCC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). Sored populations were serially
      passaged in nude mice to evaluate tumorigenicity and tumor recapitulation. The
      transcription profile of HNSCC CSCs was characterized by mRNA sequencing, and the
      susceptibility of CSCs to therapy was investigated using an in vivo model. SOX2
      transcriptional activity was used to follow the asymmetric division of PDX
      derived CSCs. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: CSCs were enriched
      by high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity and CD44 expression and were
      similar between HPV-positive and HPV-negative cases (percent tumor formation
      injecting <= 1x10(3) cells: ALDH(+)CD44(high) = 65.8%, ALDH(-)CD44(high) = 33.1%,
      ALDH(+)CD44(high) = 20.0%; and injecting 1x10(5) cells: ALDH(-)CD44(low) = 4.4%).
      CSCs were resistant to conventional therapy and had PI3K/mTOR pathway
      overexpression (GSEA pathway enrichment, P < .001), and PI3K inhibition in vivo
      decreased their tumorigenicity (40.0%-100.0% across cases). PI3K/mTOR directly
      regulated SOX2 protein levels, and SOX2 in turn activated ALDH1A1 (P < .001 013C
      and 067C) expression and ALDH activity (ALDH(+) [%] empty-control vs SOX2, 0.4%
      +/- 0.4% vs 14.5% +/- 9.8%, P = .03 for 013C and 1.7% +/- 1.3% vs 3.6% +/- 3.4%,
      P = .04 for 067C) in 013C and 067 cells. SOX2 enhanced sphere and tumor growth
      (spheres/well, 013C P < .001 and 067C P = .04) and therapy resistance. SOX2
      expression prompted mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) by inducing CDH1
      (013C P = .002, 067C P = .01), followed by asymmetric division and proliferation,
      which contributed to tumor formation. Conclusions: The molecular link between
      PI3K activation and CSC properties found in this study provides insights into
      therapeutic strategies for HNSCC. Constitutive expression of SOX2 in HNSCC cells
      generates a CSC-like population that enables CSC studies.

PMID- 27634939
TI  - Cost-utility analysis comparing radioactive iodine, anti-thyroid drugs and total
      thyroidectomy for primary treatment of Graves' disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Little data is in existence about the most cost-effective primary
      treatment for Graves' disease. We performed a cost-utility analysis comparing
      radioactive iodine (RAI), anti-thyroid drugs (ATD) and total thyroidectomy (TT)
      as first-line therapy for Graves' disease in England and Australia. METHODS: We
      used a Markov model to compare lifetime costs and benefits (quality-adjusted life
      years (QALYs)). The model included efficacy, rates of relapse and major
      complications associated with each treatment, and alternative second-line
      therapies. Model parameters were obtained from published literature. One-way
      sensitivity analyses were conducted. Costs were presented in 2015L or Australian
      Dollars (AUD). RESULTS: RAI was the least expensive therapy in both England
      (L5425; QALYs 34.73) and Australia (AUD5601; 30.97 QALYs). In base case results,
      in both countries, ATD was a cost-effective alternative to RAI (L16 866; 35.17
      QALYs; incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) L26 279 per QALY gained
      England; AUD8924; 31.37 QALYs; ICER AUD9687 per QALY gained Australia), while RAI
      dominated TT (L7115; QALYs 33.93 England; AUD15 668; 30.25 QALYs Australia). In
      sensitivity analysis, base case results were stable to changes in most cost,
      transition probabilities and health-relative quality-of-life (HRQoL) weights;
      however, in England, the results were sensitive to changes in the HRQoL weights
      of hypothyroidism and euthyroidism on ATD. CONCLUSIONS: In this analysis, RAI is
      the least expensive choice for first-line treatment strategy for Graves' disease.
      In England and Australia, ATD is likely to be a cost-effective alternative, while
      TT is unlikely to be cost-effective. Further research into HRQoL in Graves'
      disease could improve the quality of future studies.

PMID- 27634940
TI  - Lipid accumulation product as a marker of cardiometabolic susceptibility in women
      with different phenotypes of polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are limited data on cardiometabolic risk factors and the
      prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) across the different PCOS phenotypes in
      Caucasian population. Lipid accumulation product (LAP) is a clinical surrogate
      marker that could be used for evaluation of MetS in clinical practice. The aim of
      the study was to analyze metabolic characteristics and the ability of LAP to
      predict MetS in different PCOS phenotypes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional clinical study
      analyzing 365 women with PCOS divided into four phenotypes according to the
      ESHRE/ASRM criteria, and 125 healthy BMI-matched controls. METHODS: In all
      subjects, LAP was determined and MetS was diagnosed according to the National
      Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III), the
      International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the Joint Interim Statement (JIS)
      criteria. Logistic regression and ROC curve analyses were used to determine
      predictors of MetS in each PCOS phenotype. All analyses were performed with age
      and BMI adjustment. RESULTS: All PCOS phenotypes in comparison to controls had
      higher prevalence of MetS assessed by NCEP-ATP III criteria, and only classic
      phenotypes when IDF and JIS criteria were used. All phenotypes had the same
      prevalence of MetS irrespective of used definition. LAP and exhibited the highest
      diagnostic accuracy and was an independent predictor of MetS in all phenotypes.
      CONCLUSION: LAP is an independent and accurate clinical determinant of MetS in
      all PCOS phenotypes in our Caucasian population. All PCOS phenotypes, including
      non-classic ones, are metabolically challenged and with cardiovascular risk,
      particularly phenotype B.

PMID- 27634942
TI  - Rapid-sequence MRI for long-term surveillance for paraganglioma and
      phaeochromocytoma in patients with succinate dehydrogenase mutations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with SDHx mutations need long-term radiological surveillance
      for the development of paragangliomas and phaeochromocytomas, but no longitudinal
      data exist. The aim of the study was to assess the performance of rapid-sequence
      non-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the long-term monitoring of
      patients with SDHx mutations. METHODS: Retrospective study between 2005 and 2015
      at a University Hospital and regional endocrine genetics referral centre.
      Clinical and imaging data of 47 patients with SDHx mutations (SDHB (36), SDHC (6)
      and SDHD (5)) who had surveillance for detection of paragangliomas by rapid
      sequence non-contrast MRI (base of skull to pubic symphysis) were collected.
      RESULTS: Twelve index cases (nine SDHB, one SDHC and two SDHD) and 35 mutation
      positive relatives were monitored for a mean of 6.4 years (range 3.1-10.0 years).
      Mean age at the end of the study: SDHB 46.9 +/- 17.6 years; SDHC 42.3 +/- 24.4
      years; SDHD 54.9 +/- 10.6 years. On excluding imaging at initial diagnosis of
      index cases, 42 patients underwent 116 rapid-sequence MRI scans: 83 scans were
      negative and 31 scans were positive for sPGL/HNPGL in 13 patients. Most patients
      had multiple scans (n = number of patients (number of rapid-sequence MRI scans
      during screening)): n = 9 (2), n = 20 (3), n = 6 (4), n = 1 (6). Nine patients
      (three index) were diagnosed with new paragangliomas during surveillance and non
      operated tumour size was monitored in nine patients. There were two false
      positive scans (1.6%). Scans were repeated every 27 +/- 9 months. CONCLUSIONS:
      Biannual rapid-sequence non-contrast MRI is effective to monitor patients with
      SDHx mutations for detection of new tumours and monitoring of known tumours.

PMID- 27634941
TI  - Glucocorticoid receptor haplotype and metabolic syndrome: the Lifelines cohort
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An excess of glucocorticoids (Cushing's syndrome) is associated with
      metabolic syndrome (MetS) features. Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene influence sensitivity to
      glucocorticoids and have been associated with aspects of MetS. However, results
      are inconsistent, perhaps due to the heterogeneity of the studied populations and
      limited samples. Furthermore, the possible association between functional GR SNPs
      and prevalence of MetS remains unexplored. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population
      based cohort study. METHODS: MetS presence and carriage of functional GR SNPs
      (BclI, N363S, ER22/23EK, GR-9beta) were determined in 12 552 adult participants
      from Lifelines, a population-based cohort study in the Netherlands. GR SNPs were
      used to construct GR haplotypes. RESULTS: Five haplotypes accounted for 99.9% of
      all GR haplotypes found. No main effects of functional GR haplotypes on MetS were
      found, but the association of GR haplotype 4 (containing N363S) with MetS was
      influenced by interaction with age, sex and education status (P < 0.05).
      Stratified analysis revealed that haplotype 4 increased MetS presence in younger
      men (at or below the median age of 47; odds ratio 1.77, P = 0.005) and in people
      of low education status (odds ratio 1.48, P = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: A
      glucocorticoid receptor haplotype that confers increased sensitivity to
      glucocorticoids appears to increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, but only
      among younger men and less educated individuals, suggesting gene-environment
      interactions.

PMID- 27634943
TI  - Bone mineral density is increased after a 16-week resistance training
      intervention in elderly women with decreased muscle strength.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Non-pharmacological interventions are important in reducing risk for
      osteoporotic fractures. We investigated the effects of a 16-week individualized
      resistance training intervention on bone mineral density (BMD), bone turnover
      markers and 10-year relative risk (RR) for osteoporotic fracture. DESIGN:
      Interventional study with a follow-up. METHODS: In total, 37 elderly women (mean
      age 71.9 +/- 3.1 years) with decreased muscle strength participated in the
      resistance training intervention three times per week with 60 min per session for
      16 weeks under the supervision of a licensed physiotherapist. Total hip BMD with
      quantitative CT, bone markers (sclerostin, osteocalcin, CTX, PINP, IGF-1, 25(OH)
      D) and 10-year RR for osteoporotic fracture were measured at baseline, post
      intervention and at 1-year follow-up after the end of the intervention. Eleven
      age- and sex-matched controls did not participate in the intervention but were
      studied at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Resistance training seemed
      to increase total hip BMD by 6% (P = 0.005). Sclerostin (P < 0.001) and total
      osteocalcin (P = 0.04) increased while other bone markers remained unchanged. A
      10-year RR for major osteoporotic and hip fracture remained unchanged. At follow
      up total hip BMD (P < 0.001) decreased back to the baseline level with a
      simultaneous decrease in serum sclerostin (P = 0.045), CTX (P < 0.001) and an
      increase in 25(OH)-D (P < 0.001), 10-year RR for major osteoporotic (P = 0.002)
      and hip fracture (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest an important role
      of continuous supervised resistance training for the prevention of osteoporotic
      fractures in elderly women with decreased muscle strength.

PMID- 27634944
TI  - The androgen receptor gene CAG repeat ?in relation to 4-year changes in ?androgen
      sensitive endpoints in ?community-dwelling older European men.
AB  - CONTEXT: The androgen receptor (AR) gene exon 1 CAG repeat length has been
      proposed to be a determinant of between-individual variations in androgen action
      in target tissues, which might regulate phenotypic differences of human ageing.
      However, findings on its phenotypic effects are inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess whether the AR CAG repeat length is associated with longitudinal changes
      in endpoints that are influenced by testosterone (T) levels in middle-aged and
      elderly European men. DESIGN: Multinational European observational prospective
      cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1887 men (mean +/- s.d. age: 63 +/- 11
      years; median follow up: 4.3 years) from centres of eight European countries
      comprised the analysis sample after exclusion of those with diagnosed diseases of
      the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Longitudinal associations between the AR CAG repeat and changes in androgen
      sensitive endpoints (ASEs) and medical conditions were assessed using regression
      analysis adjusting for age and centre. The AR CAG repeat length was treated as
      both a continuous and a categorical (6-20; 21-23; 24-39 repeats) predictor.
      Additional analysis investigated whether results were independent of baseline T
      or oestradiol (E2) levels. RESULTS: The AR CAG repeat, when used as a continuous
      or a categorical predictor, was not associated with longitudinal changes in ASEs
      or medical conditions after adjustments. These results were independent of T and
      E2 levels. CONCLUSION: Within a 4-year time frame, variations in the AR CAG
      repeat do not contribute to the rate of phenotypic ageing, over and above, which
      might be associated with the age-related decline in T levels.

PMID- 27634945
TI  - Reference point insensitive molecular data analysis.
AB  - MOTIVATION: In biomedicine, every molecular measurement is relative to a
      reference point, like a fixed aliquot of RNA extracted from a tissue, a defined
      number of blood cells, or a defined volume of biofluid. Reference points are
      often chosen for practical reasons. For example, we might want to assess the
      metabolome of a diseased organ but can only measure metabolites in blood or
      urine. In this case, the observable data only indirectly reflects the disease
      state. The statistical implications of these discrepancies in reference points
      have not yet been discussed. RESULTS: Here, we show that reference point
      discrepancies compromise the performance of regression models like the LASSO. As
      an alternative, we suggest zero-sum regression for a reference point insensitive
      analysis. We show that zero-sum regression is superior to the LASSO in case of a
      poor choice of reference point both in simulations and in an application that
      integrates intestinal microbiome analysis with metabolomics. Moreover, we
      describe a novel coordinate descent based algorithm to fit zero-sum elastic nets.
      AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The R-package "zeroSum" can be downloaded at
      https://github.com/rehbergT/zeroSum Moreover, we provide all R-scripts and data
      used to produce the results of this manuscript as Supplementary Material CONTACT:
      Michael.Altenbuchinger@ukr.de, Thorsten.Rehberg@ukr.de and
      Rainer.Spang@ukr.deSupplementary information: Supplementary material is available
      at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634946
TI  - AKT: ancestry and kinship toolkit.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Ancestry and Kinship Toolkit (AKT) is a statistical genetics tool for
      analysing large cohorts of whole-genome sequenced samples. It can rapidly detect
      related samples, characterize sample ancestry, calculate correlation between
      variants, check Mendel consistency and perform data clustering. AKT brings
      together the functionality of many state-of-the-art methods, with a focus on
      speed and a unified interface. We believe it will be an invaluable tool for the
      curation of large WGS datasets. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code
      is available at https://illumina.github.io/akt CONTACTS: joconnell@illumina.com
      or rudy.d.arthur@gmail.comSupplementary information: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634947
TI  - IsotopicLabelling: an R package for the analysis of MS isotopic patterns of
      labelled analytes.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Labelling experiments in biology usually make use of isotopically
      enriched substrates, with the two most commonly employed isotopes for metabolism
      being 2H and 13C. At the end of the experiment some metabolites will have
      incorporated the labelling isotope, to a degree that depends on the metabolic
      turnover. In order to propose a meaningful biological interpretation, it is
      necessary to estimate the amount of labelling, and one possible route is to
      exploit the fact that MS isotopic patterns reflect the isotopic distributions.
      RESULTS: We developed the IsotopicLabelling R package, a tool able to extract and
      analyze isotopic patterns from liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
      and gas chromatography-MS (GC-MS) data relative to labelling experiments. This
      package estimates the isotopic abundance of the employed stable isotope (either
      2H or 13C) within a specified list of analytes. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION:
      The IsotopicLabelling R package is freely available at
      https://github.com/RuggeroFerrazza/IsotopicLabelling CONTACTS:
      r.ferrazza@unitn.itSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at
      Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634948
TI  - Seeksv: an accurate tool for somatic structural variation and virus integration
      detection.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Many forms of variations exist in the human genome including single
      nucleotide polymorphism, small insert/deletion (DEL) (indel) and structural
      variation (SV). Somatically acquired SV may regulate the expression of tumor
      related genes and result in cell proliferation and uncontrolled growth,
      eventually inducing tumor formation. Virus integration with host genome sequence
      is a type of SV that causes the related gene instability and normal cells to
      transform into tumor cells. Cancer SVs and viral integration sites must be
      discovered in a genome-wide scale for clarifying the mechanism of tumor
      occurrence and development. RESULTS: In this paper, we propose a new tool called
      seeksv to detect somatic SVs and viral integration events. Seeksv simultaneously
      uses split read signal, discordant paired-end read signal, read depth signal and
      the fragment with two ends unmapped. Seeksv can detect DEL, insertion, inversion
      and inter-chromosome transfer at single-nucleotide resolution. Different types of
      sequencing data, such as single-end sequencing data or paired-end sequencing data
      can accommodate to detect SV. Seeksv develops a rescue model for SV with
      breakpoints located in sequence homology regions. Results on simulated and real
      data from the 1000 Genomes Project and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples
      show that seeksv has higher efficiency and precision compared with other similar
      software in detecting SVs. For the discovery of hepatitis B virus integration
      sites from probe capture data, the verified experiments show that more than 90%
      viral integration sequences detected by seeksv are true. AVAILABILITY AND
      IMPLEMENTATION: seeksv is implemented in C ++ and can be downloaded from
      https://github.com/qkl871118/seeksv CONTACT: : dragonbw@163.comSupplementary
      information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634949
TI  - Verdant: automated annotation, alignment and phylogenetic analysis of whole
      chloroplast genomes.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Chloroplast genomes are now produced in the hundreds for angiosperm
      phylogenetics projects, but current methods for annotation, alignment and tree
      estimation still require some manual intervention reducing throughput and
      increasing analysis time for large chloroplast systematics projects. RESULTS:
      Verdant is a web-based software suite and database built to take advantage a
      novel annotation program, annoBTD. Using annoBTD, Verdant provides accurate
      annotation of chloroplast genomes without manual intervention. Subsequent
      alignment and tree estimation can incorporate newly annotated and publically
      available plastomes and can accommodate a large number of taxa. Verdant sharply
      reduces the time required for analysis of assembled chloroplast genomes and
      removes the need for pipelines and software on personal hardware. AVAILABILITY
      AND IMPLEMENTATION: Verdant is available at:
      http://verdant.iplantcollaborative.org/plastidDB/ It is implemented in PHP, Perl,
      MySQL, Javascript, HTML and CSS with all major browsers supported. CONTACT:
      mrmckain@gmail.comSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at
      Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634951
TI  - BOSS: a novel scaffolding algorithm based on an optimized scaffold graph.
AB  - MOTIVATION: While aiming to determine orientations and orders of fragmented
      contigs, scaffolding is an essential step of assembly pipelines and can make
      assembly results more complete. Most existing scaffolding tools adopt scaffold
      graph approaches. However, due to repetitive regions in genome, sequencing errors
      and uneven sequencing depth, constructing an accurate scaffold graph is still a
      challenge task. RESULTS: In this paper, we present a novel algorithm (called
      BOSS), which employs paired reads for scaffolding. To construct a scaffold graph,
      BOSS utilizes the distribution of insert size to decide whether an edge between
      two vertices (contigs) should be added and how an edge should be weighed.
      Moreover, BOSS adopts an iterative strategy to detect spurious edges whose
      removal can guarantee no contradictions in the scaffold graph. Based on the
      scaffold graph constructed, BOSS employs a heuristic algorithm to sort vertices
      (contigs) and then generates scaffolds. The experimental results demonstrate that
      BOSS produces more satisfactory scaffolds, compared with other popular
      scaffolding tools on real sequencing data of four genomes. AVAILABILITY AND
      IMPLEMENTATION: BOSS is publicly available for download at
      https://github.com/bioinfomaticsCSU/BOSS CONTACT:
      jxwang@mail.csu.edu.cnSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available
      at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634950
TI  - RiboDiff: detecting changes of mRNA translation efficiency from ribosome
      footprints.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Deep sequencing based ribosome footprint profiling can provide novel
      insights into the regulatory mechanisms of protein translation. However, the
      observed ribosome profile is fundamentally confounded by transcriptional
      activity. In order to decipher principles of translation regulation, tools that
      can reliably detect changes in translation efficiency in case-control studies are
      needed. RESULTS: We present a statistical framework and an analysis tool,
      RiboDiff, to detect genes with changes in translation efficiency across
      experimental treatments. RiboDiff uses generalized linear models to estimate the
      over-dispersion of RNA-Seq and ribosome profiling measurements separately, and
      performs a statistical test for differential translation efficiency using both
      mRNA abundance and ribosome occupancy. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: RiboDiff
      webpage http://bioweb.me/ribodiff Source code including scripts for preprocessing
      the FASTQ data are available at http://github.com/ratschlab/ribodiff CONTACTS:
      zhongy@cbio.mskcc.org or raetsch@inf.ethz.chSupplementary information:
      Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27634952
TI  - Association of clot burden score with radiographic and clinical outcomes
      following Solitaire stent retriever thrombectomy: analysis of the SWIFT PRIME
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clot burden score (CBS) was developed as a tool to evaluate the
      extent of intracranial thrombus burden in patients with anterior circulation
      acute ischemic stroke. CBS is based on the presence or absence of contrast
      opacification on CT angiography (CTA). Its value in predicting radiographic and
      clinical outcomes in patients given endovascular stroke therapy remains unknown.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between CBS and outcomes after stent
      retriever thrombectomy in the interventional arm of the SWIFT PRIME trial.
      METHODS: CBS was calculated for the endovascular arm (IV tissue plasminogen
      activator plus Solitaire stent retriever) of SWIFT PRIME using baseline CTA. The
      cohort of 69 patients was divided into three groups according to their CBS
      values: CBS 0-5 (n=14), CBS 6-7 (n=23), and CBS 8-9 (n=32). RESULTS: The mean age
      of the 69 patients who formed the study cohort was 63.2+/-13.1 years, mean
      National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 16.8+/-4.5, and 55% of the
      patients were male. There was no difference in clinical characteristics among the
      three groups, except for the baseline Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score
      (p=0.049). The site of proximal occlusion varied significantly among the three
      groups (p<0.001). Rates of successful recanalization (TICI 2b/3), complete
      recanalization (TICI 3 only) and of good clinical outcome at 3 months were
      similar among the three groups (p=0.24, p=0.35, and p=0.52, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: The combination of IV thrombolysis and stent retriever thrombectomy
      with the Solitaire device is highly effective in achieving successful
      recanalization and a good clinical outcome throughout the entire range of CBS
      values.

PMID- 27634953
TI  - Influence of CYP2C19 genetic polymorphisms on clinical outcomes of intracranial
      aneurysms treated with stent-assisted coiling.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of CYP2C19 genetic polymorphisms on
      clinical outcomes of intracranial aneurysms treated with stent-assisted coiling.
      METHODS: Between September 2014 and October 2015, we prospectively recruited 215
      patients with intracranial aneurysms who were treated with stent-assisted
      coiling. CYP2C19 genotypes were determined and clopidogrel response was tested.
      The primary endpoints included symptomatic or silent ischemic events, and
      bleeding events. The secondary endpoint was clinical outcome at 3 months.
      RESULTS: Of the 215 patients, 108 (50.2%) were classified as intermediate
      metabolizers (IMs, CYP2C19*1/*2, *1/*3), 76 (35.3%) as extensive metabolizers
      (EMs, CYP2C19*1/*1) and 31 (14.4%) as poor metabolizers (PMs, CYP2C19*2/*2,
      *2/*3, *3/*3). Carriers of CYP2C19 loss-of-function (LOF) alleles (*2 or *3,
      p=0.001), especially PMs (p=0.004), had an increased risk for clopidogrel
      resistance. After the procedures, cerebral ischemic events occurred in 69
      patients (32.1%) and bleeding was seen in 20 patients (9.3%). In comparison with
      IMs and PMs, EMs had a lower risk for ischemic events (21.1% vs 37.0% and 41.9%,
      p=0.02 and 0.027, respectively) and a relatively higher risk for bleeding events
      (18.4% vs 5.6% and 0%, p=0.006 and 0.01, respectively). Based on multivariate
      analysis, the carriage of CYP2C19 LOF alleles (p=0.032) and clopidogrel
      resistance (p=0.047) were considered as predictors of cerebral ischemic events,
      and EMs were significantly associated with bleeding (p=0.002). Posterior
      circulation aneurysms (p=0.038), hemorrhagic history (p=0.001) and poor metabolic
      genotypes (p=0.001) could result in poor clinical outcomes (modified Rankin Scale
      >2). CONCLUSIONS: CYP2C19 genetic polymorphisms had significant influence on the
      antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel, and could be considered as risk factors of
      ischemic or bleeding events and even clinical outcomes of patients with
      intracranial aneurysms treated with stent-assisted coiling.

PMID- 27634954
TI  - Comparison of venous sinus manometry gradients obtained while awake and under
      general anesthesia before venous sinus stenting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Venous sinus stenting is a popular treatment strategy for patients
      with high venous sinus pressure gradients across a site of outflow obstruction.
      Little is known about the effect of anesthesia on venous sinus pressure
      measurements. OBJECTIVE: To compare venous manometry performed in patients under
      general anesthesia and while awake. METHODS: A prospective database was accessed
      to retrospectively identify patients who had undergone venous sinus stenting.
      Pressure gradients were compared between those patients who underwent manometry
      while awake and before stenting under general anesthesia. RESULTS: Thirty
      patients with both general anesthesia and awake pressure recordings were
      identified. Pressure measurements were highly variable but overall were higher
      under general anesthesia by an average of 5.8 mm Hg (1.7; p=0.002). A significant
      difference between awake and general anesthesia pressure measurements was
      detected in the sigmoid sinus (5.8 mm Hg (2.0); p=0.005) and the jugular vein
      (8.1 mm Hg (3.9); p=0.040). Only 11/30 (36.7%) pressure gradients remained within
      5 mm Hg of the original awake gradient when repeated under general anesthesia;
      9/30 (30%) patients had gradients that were at least 10 mm Hg different across
      procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Calculated pressure gradients were markedly affected by
      anesthesia. These findings suggest that candidacy for stenting should be
      determined with venous manometry while patients are awake owing to the
      unpredictable and highly variable effect of general anesthesia on pressure
      measurements and an apparent tendency to underestimate the degree of venous
      outflow obstruction.

PMID- 27634955
TI  - Impact of thrombus length on recanalization and clinical outcome following
      mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke.
AB  - PURPOSE: The impact of thrombus length on recanalization in IV thrombolysis for
      acute intracranial artery occlusion has been well studied. Here we analyzed the
      influence of thrombus length on the number of thrombectomy maneuvers needed for
      recanalization, intraprocedural complications, recanalization success, and
      clinical outcome after mechanical thrombectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed angiographic and clinical data from 72 consecutive patients with acute
      occlusion of the M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery who were treated with
      mechanical thrombectomy using stent retrievers. Successful recanalization was
      defined as a Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score of 2b or 3. Good
      neurological outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of <=2 at 90
      days after stroke onset. RESULTS: Mean thrombus length was 13.4+/-5.2 mm.
      Univariate binary logistic regression did not show an association of thrombus
      length with the probability of a good clinical outcome (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.84 to
      1.03, p=0.176) or successful recanalization (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.05,
      p=0.225). There was no significant correlation between thrombus length and the
      number of thrombectomy maneuvers needed for recanalization (p=0.112).
      Furthermore, thrombus length was not correlated with the probability of
      intraprocedural complications (p=0.813), including embolization in a new
      territory (n=3). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, thrombus length had no relevant
      impact on recanalization, neurological outcome, or intraprocedural complications
      following mechanical thrombectomy of middle cerebral artery occlusions.
      Therefore, mechanical thrombectomy with stent retrievers can be attempted with
      large clots.

PMID- 27634956
TI  - Has Smoking Cessation Increased? An Examination of the US Adult Smoking Cessation
      Rate 1990-2014.
AB  - Introduction: We examine the trajectory of adult smoking prevalence in the United
      States over the period 1990-2014 to investigate whether the smoking cessation
      rate has changed during this period. Methods: We employ a dynamic model of
      smoking prevalence, and data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and
      the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), to estimate the adult
      cessation rate in 6-year intervals. We use weighted nonlinear least squares to
      perform the estimation. We then employ a meta-regression model to test whether
      the cessation rate has increased. Results: The annual cessation rate has
      increased from 2.4% in 1990 to 4.5% in 2014 according to the NHIS data, and from
      3.2% in 2002 to 4.2% in 2014 according to the NSDUH data. The increasing trend is
      statistically significant (p value = 1.57*10-6) and the two independent surveys
      produced nearly identical results, which makes it unlikely that our findings are
      a product of chance. Conclusions: Our analysis finds that the smoking cessation
      rate in the United States has almost doubled since 1990. This increase is
      responsible for at least 2 million fewer smokers in 2014. If current conditions
      persist, by the year 2020 the increase in cessation rates will be responsible for
      3.5 million fewer smokers. Our findings can assist in predicting the future path
      of the smoking epidemic and determining the correct allocation of resources to
      eradicate it. Implications: We show that the adult smoking cessation rate has
      greatly increased since 1990. We demonstrate this by studying prevalence
      trajectories from two independent population surveys, which yielded nearly
      identical results. Different from other studies, we focus on permanent quit rates
      (net of relapses) which we estimate from a dynamic model of prevalence. Our
      results do not stem from self-reported quitting behavior, but from the analysis
      of observed prevalence and its inherent variability. Our findings can contribute
      to predicting the future path of the smoking epidemic and to determining the
      optimal allocation of resources to eradicate it.

PMID- 27634957
TI  - Alterations in gait parameters with peripheral artery disease: The importance of
      pre-frailty as a confounding variable.
AB  - Although poor walking is the most common symptom of peripheral artery disease
      (PAD), reported results are inconsistent when comparing gait parameters between
      PAD patients and healthy controls. This inconsistency may be due to frailty,
      which is highly prevalent among PAD patients. To address this hypothesis, 41
      participants, 17 PAD (74+/-8 years) and 24 aged-matched controls (76+/-7 years),
      were recruited. Gait was objectively assessed using validated wearable sensors.
      Analysis of covariate (ANCOVA) tests were used to compare gait parameters between
      PAD and non-PAD groups, considering age, gender, and body mass index as
      covariates, while stratified based on frailty status. According to the Fried
      frailty index, 47% of PAD and 50% of control participants were non-frail and the
      rest were classified as pre-frail. Within non-frail participants, gait speed,
      body sway during walking, stride length, gait cycle time, double-support, knee
      range of motion, speed variability, mid-swing speed, and gait initiation were
      significantly different between PAD and control groups (effect size d = 0.75+/
      0.43). In the pre-frail group, however, most of the gait differences were
      diminished except for gait initiation and gait variability. Results suggest that
      gait initiation is the most sensitive parameter for detecting gait impairment in
      PAD participants when compared to controls, regardless of frailty status (d =
      1.30-1.41; p<0.050). The observed interaction effect between frailty and PAD on
      gait parameters confirms the importance of assessing functionality in addition to
      age to provide more consistency in detecting motor performance impairments due to
      PAD.

PMID- 27634958
TI  - Vertebral erosion due to chronic contained rupture of the abdominal aorta.

PMID- 27634960
TI  - Histopathologic Analysis of Cerebral Autosomal Recessive Arteriopathy with
      Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL): A Report of a New
      Genetically Confirmed Case and Comparison to 2 Previous Cases.
AB  - Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and
      leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL) is a nonhypertensive hereditary cerebral small
      vessel disease that is caused by mutations in a single gene, HTRA1 The HTRA1
      protein normally represses transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling
      and its mutations result in vascular changes. Ten homozygous, 1 compound
      heterozygous, and 1 homozygous frameshift mutation have been identified in the
      HTRA1 gene of patients with genetically confirmed CARASIL. However, few studies
      have compared neuropathologic findings in patients with the same or different
      mutations in HTRA1 We analyzed histopathologic alterations in 3 autopsied
      patients with genetically confirmed CARASIL: 2 of them had the HTRA1 p.R302X
      mutation and 1 had the HTRA1 p.A252T mutation. All 3 had similar cerebral
      arteriopathy showing myointimal proliferation, multi-layering and splitting of
      elastic laminae, and marked loss of medial smooth muscle cells. One CARASIL
      patient with the p.R302X mutation had atherosclerosis-like intimal thickening and
      arteriolosclerosis in the arteries of visceral organs, indicating that
      atherosclerotic changes are not confined to the intracranial vasculature but can
      occur throughout the body. CARASIL is a unique hereditary disease that shows
      similar neuropathology, systemic vascular pathology, and other TGF-beta1-related
      pathology associated with HTRA1 mutation.

PMID- 27634959
TI  - Molecular requirements of the B-cell antigen receptor for sensing monovalent
      antigens.
AB  - How the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) is activated upon interaction with its
      cognate antigen or with anti-BCR antibodies is not fully understood. We have
      recently shown that B-cell activation is accompanied by the opening of the pre
      organized BCR oligomers, an observation that strengthens the role of receptor
      reorganization in signalling. We have now analysed the BCR oligomer opening and
      signalling upon treatment with different monovalent stimuli. Our results indicate
      that monovalent antigens are able to disturb and open the BCR oligomer, but that
      this requires the presence and activity of the Src family kinase (SFK) Lyn. We
      have also shown that monovalent Fab fragments of anti-BCR antibodies can open the
      BCR oligomers as long as they directly interact with the antigen-binding site. We
      found that monovalent antigen binding opens both the IgM-BCR and IgD-BCR, but
      calcium signalling is only seen in cells expressing IgM-BCR; this provides a
      molecular basis for IgM- and IgD-BCR functional segregation.

PMID- 27634961
TI  - Molecular and Cellular Responses to Interleukin-4 Treatment in a Rat Model of
      Transient Ischemia.
AB  - Within hours after stroke, potentially cytotoxic pro-inflammatory mediators are
      elevated within the brain; thus, one potential therapeutic strategy is to reduce
      them and skew the brain toward an anti-inflammatory state. Because interleukin-4
      (IL-4) treatment induces an anti-inflammatory, "alternative-activation" state in
      microglia and macrophages in vitro, we tested the hypothesis that early
      supplementation of the brain with IL-4 can shift it toward an anti-inflammatory
      state and reduce damage after transient focal ischemia. Adult male rat striata
      were injected with endothelin-1, with or without co-injection of IL-4.
      Inflammation, glial responses and damage to neurons and white matter were
      quantified from 1 to 7 days later. At 1 day, IL-4 treatment increased striatal
      expression of several anti-inflammatory markers (ARG1, CCL22, CD163, PPARgamma),
      increased phagocytic (Iba1-positive, CD68-positive) microglia/macrophages, and
      increased VEGF-A-positive infiltrating neutrophils in the infarcts. At 7 days,
      there was evidence of sustained, propagating responses. IL-4 increased CD206,
      CD200R1, IL-4Ralpha, STAT6, PPARgamma, CD11b, and TLR2 expression and increased
      microglia/macrophages in the infarct and astrogliosis outside the infarct.
      Neurodegeneration and myelin damage were not reduced, however. The sustained
      immune and glial responses when resolution and repair processes have begun
      warrant further studies of IL-4 treatment regimens and long-term outcomes.

PMID- 27634963
TI  - Pediatric Neuropathology in Africa: Local Experience in Nigeria and Challenges
      and Prospects for the Continent.
AB  - The present state of pediatric neuropathology practice is in rudimentary
      developmental stages in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. We sought to determine
      the pattern of neurosurgical lesions in children diagnosed in southwestern
      Nigeria and briefly address issues surrounding the practice of this aspect of
      pathology in Africa. We performed a retrospective review of histopathologic
      results of biopsies obtained from pediatric patients with neurosurgical lesions
      at the Department of Pathology, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals
      Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, between January 2001 and December 2011. Demographic
      and clinical data were extracted from the Ife-Ijesha cancer registry and
      histopathological diagnoses were confirmed. A total of 111 biopsies were reviewed
      with a maximum of 17 in 2001 and minimum of 3 in 2005. Patient ages ranged
      between 1 day and 16 years with a male:female ratio of 1.02:1. There were 53
      spinal lesions, 15 intracranial lesions, 36 scalp masses, 6 skull lesions and 1
      muscle biopsy. Most of the specimens were from myelomeningoceles. This
      documentation of the major types of pediatric neurological conditions encountered
      in clinical practice in this relatively resource-limited setting indicate the
      need for collaboration with better developed centers to improve training in
      neurosurgery and neuropathology to enhance the quality of clinical care for young
      patients in Africa.

PMID- 27634962
TI  - Serotonin Receptors in the Medulla Oblongata of the Human Fetus and Infant: The
      Analytic Approach of the International Safe Passage Study.
AB  - The Safe Passage Study is an international, prospective study of approximately 12
      000 pregnancies to determine the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) upon
      stillbirth and the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A key objective of the
      study is to elucidate adverse effects of PAE upon binding to serotonin (5-HT) 1A
      receptors in brainstem homeostatic networks postulated to be abnormal in
      unexplained stillbirth and/or SIDS. We undertook a feasibility assessment of 5
      HT1A receptor binding using autoradiography in the medulla oblongata (6 nuclei in
      27 cases). 5-HT1A binding was compared to a reference dataset from the San Diego
      medical examiner's system. There was no adverse effect of postmortem interval
      <=100 h. The distribution and quantitated values of 5-HT1A binding in Safe
      Passage Study cases were essentially identical to those in the reference dataset,
      and virtually identical between stillbirths and live born fetal cases in grossly
      non-macerated tissues. The pattern of binding was present at mid-gestation with
      dramatic changes in binding levels in the medullary 5-HT nuclei over the second
      half of gestation; there was a plateau at lower levels in the neonatal period and
      into infancy. This study demonstrates feasibility of 5-HT1A binding analysis in
      the medulla in the Safe Passage Study.

PMID- 27634964
TI  - Effect of Inhibition or Deletion of Neutral Endopeptidase on Neuropathic
      Endpoints in High Fat Fed/Low Dose Streptozotocin-Treated Mice.
AB  - Previously we demonstrated that a vasopeptidase inhibitor of angiotensin
      converting enzyme and neutral endopeptidase (NEP), a protease that degrades vaso-
      and neuro-active peptides, improves neural function in diabetic rodent models.
      The purpose of this study was to determine whether inhibition or deletion of NEP
      provides protection from neuropathy caused by diabetes with an emphasis on
      morphology of corneal nerves as a primary endpoint. Diabetes, modeling type 2,
      was induced in C57Bl/6J and NEP deficient mice through a combination of a high
      fat diet and streptozotocin. To inhibit NEP activity, diabetic C57Bl/6J mice were
      treated with candoxatril using a prevention or intervention protocol. Twelve
      weeks after the induction of diabetes in C57Bl/6J mice, the existence of diabetic
      neuropathy was determined through multiple endpoints including decrease in
      corneal nerves in the epithelium and sub-epithelium layer. Treatment of diabetic
      C57Bl/6J mice with candoxatril improved diabetic peripheral neuropathy and
      protected corneal nerve morphology with the prevention protocol being more
      efficacious than intervention. Unlike C57Bl/6J, mice deficient in NEP were
      protected from the development of neuropathologic alterations and loss of corneal
      nerves upon induction of diabetes. These studies suggest that NEP contributes to
      the development of diabetic neuropathy and may be a treatable target.

PMID- 27634965
TI  - C-Terminal-Deleted Prion Protein Fragment Is a Major Accumulated Component of
      Systemic PrP Deposits in Hereditary Prion Disease With a 2-Bp (CT) Deletion in
      PRNP Codon 178.
AB  - Prion protein (PrP) has 2 glycosylated sites and a glycosylphosphatidylinositol
      (GPI) anchor on the C-terminal. Reports on genetic prion disease with GPI
      anchorless PrP are very limited. In this study, we characterized the molecular
      alterations of mutated PrP in a 37-year-old female autopsy case with a recently
      identified PRNP mutation involving a 2-bp deletion in codon 178 that results in a
      premature stop codon mutation in codon 203. Postmortem examination revealed
      numerous irregularly shaped coarse PrP deposits and multicentric plaques in the
      brain that were mainly comprised of C-terminal deleted abnormal PrP primarily
      derived from the mutant allele. Additionally, abnormal PrP deposits were detected
      in almost all other examined organs. PrP was mainly deposited in peripheral
      nerves, smooth muscles, and blood vessels in non-CNS tissues. Western blot
      analysis after proteinase K treatment showed protease-resistant PrP (PrPres)
      signals with a molecular weight of 9 kDa; weak PrPres smear signals of 9 to ~80
      kDa were also noted. Gel filtration revealed that PrPres oligomers were mainly
      composed of the PrP fragments. In conclusion, the mutated PrP lacking that GPI
      anchor was truncated shortly and deposited in almost every examined organ.

PMID- 27634966
TI  - Acute sphenoiditis involving the second branch of the trigeminal nerve.

PMID- 27634967
TI  - Hereditary haemochromatosis presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis.

PMID- 27634968
TI  - Onychophagia and a missed opportunity.

PMID- 27634969
TI  - Lipoma arborescens in a patient with pseudogout on hemodialysis.

PMID- 27634971
TI  - Venous thrombotic events in patients admitted to a tuberculosis centre.
AB  - Background: Considering the relationship between inflammation and thrombosis,
      patients with tuberculosis (TB) patients might be at high risk of venous
      thrombosis. Aim: To evaluate the risk of venous thromboembolism in patients
      admitted to the Beatrixoord Tuberculosis Centre (BTBC), a tertiary centre for TB.
      We specifically explored which cofactors elevate the risk of venous thrombosis
      (VTE), and whether the timing of venous thrombotic events would justify extended
      primary prophylaxis. Design: retrospective cohort study. Methods: We performed a
      retrospective chart review of all patients with TB discharged from BTBC between
      2000 and 2010. We excluded patients who were already on therapeutic
      anticoagulation before their TB episode, below the age of 18 years and patients
      in which TB diagnosis was withdrawn. For evaluating the timing of venous
      thrombosis, we calculated the time between commencement of anti TB therapy and
      the VTE. Results: Of 750 included in the final analysis, 18 (2.4%) suffered a
      venous thrombotic event. 3 of these events were not related to classic risk
      factors or hospitalization. Most (13/18) VTE's occurred in the time window of two
      weeks before starting TB medication. : In the multivariate analysis, only Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection was strongly associated with risk of VTE
      (adjusted Odds ratio 8.2 (95% confidence interval: 2.9-22.7)). Conclusions: This
      high risk in HIV co-infected TB patients suggests that standard thrombo
      prophylaxis should be routinely considered in this group. However, our findings
      might not be generalizable due to referral bias. Further prospective studies in
      unselected HIV co-infected TB patients are needed to corroborate our findings.

PMID- 27634972
TI  - Radiofrequency ablation of ventricular fibrillation: correlation between
      electroanatomical mapping and gross pathology.

PMID- 27634970
TI  - Comparing clinical presentations, treatments and outcomes of hepatocellular
      carcinoma due to hepatitis C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing in incidence in the UK
      and globally. Liver cirrhosis is the common cause for developing HCC. The common
      reasons for liver cirrhosis are viral hepatitis C (HCV), viral hepatitis B and
      alcohol. However, HCC caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
      cirrhosis is now increasingly as a result of rising worldwide obesity. Aim: : To
      compare the clinical presentation, treatment options and outcomes of HCC due to
      HCV and NAFLD patients. Methods: Data were collected from two liver transplant
      centres in the UK (Birmingham and Newcastle upon Tyne) between 2000 and 2014. We
      compared 275 patients with HCV-related HCC against 212 patients with NAFLD-
      related HCC. Results: Patients in the NAFLD group were found to be significantly
      older ( P < 0.001) and more likely to be Caucasian ( P < 0.001). They had lower
      rates of cirrhosis ( P < 0.001) than those in HCV-HCC group. The NAFLD group
      presented with significantly larger tumours ( P = 0.009), whilst HCV patients had
      a higher alpha fetoprotein ( P = 0.018). NAFLD patients were more commonly
      treated with TACE ( P = 0.005) than the HCV patients, whilst the HCV group were
      significantly more likely to be transplanted ( P < 0.001). In patients selected
      for liver transplantation, 5-year survival rates in NAFLD were not significantly
      different from HCV-HCC (44 and 56% respectively, P = 0.102). Conclusion: In this
      study, NAFLD patients presented with larger tumours that were less likely to be
      amenable to curative therapy, as compared with HCV patients. Despite this
      disadvantage, patients with NAFLD had similar overall survival compared to
      patients with HCV.

PMID- 27634973
TI  - Coxsackievirus associated hand, foot and mouth disease in an adult.

PMID- 27634974
TI  - Oral warning signs of elastic pseudoxanthoma.
AB  - The pseudoxanthoma elasticum is a multisystemic heritable disease that primarily
      affects the connective tissue. It has been characterized by fragmentation and
      calcification of elastic fibers that can lead to complications of skin and
      cardiovascular system and changes in retina. Involvement of the oral mucosa has
      been described like white patches striated especially in the mucosa of both upper
      and lower lips. These oral signs are potentially useful to diagnose the disease,
      since it is an often undiagnosed disease due to the variability in phenotypic
      expressions. This study reports a case of pseudoxanthoma elasticum affecting a
      woman who developed lesions in the oral mucosa during the disease progression.
      Intraoral clinical assessment revealed the presence of changes mainly in lower
      labial mucosa and also slightly changes in the mouth floor and the upper labial
      mucosa. Therefore, the acknowledgment of oral pseudoxanthoma elasticum lesions
      helps dental practitioners to establish an early and appropriate diagnosis of
      this disease. This is very important because pseudoxanthoma elasticum is a
      multisystem disease with morbidity and mortality, and its early diagnosis and
      also the establishment of a follow-up protocol for these patients could prevent
      systemic and oral complications.

PMID- 27634975
TI  - Self-reported short sleep duration and insomnia symptoms as predictors of post
      pregnancy weight change: Results from a cohort study.
AB  - This study aims to investigate whether change in sleep duration and insomnia
      symptoms in the postpartum period is related to change in body mass index from
      before to 2 years after pregnancy. This study is based on self-report data from a
      Norwegian cohort, the AHUS Birth Cohort Study. Data were collected at 8 weeks
      (T1) and 2 years (T2) postpartum. Data from 812 women were analyzed. The results
      showed that only women with symptoms of insomnia at both T1 and T2 (persistent
      symptoms) had a greater increase in body mass index compared to women with no
      insomnia symptoms at T1 or T2.The results indicate that persistent insomnia
      symptoms are related to a greater increase in body mass index.

PMID- 27634977
TI  - Role of gut microbiota and nutrients in amyloid formation and pathogenesis of
      Alzheimer disease.
AB  - It has been hypothesized that alterations in the composition of the gut
      microbiota might be associated with the onset of certain human pathologies, such
      as Alzheimer disease, a neurodegenerative syndrome associated with cerebral
      accumulation of amyloid-beta fibrils. It has been shown that bacteria populating
      the gut microbiota can release significant amounts of amyloids and
      lipopolysaccharides, which might play a role in the modulation of signaling
      pathways and the production of proinflammatory cytokines related to the
      pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Additionally, nutrients have been shown to
      affect the composition of the gut microbiota as well as the formation and
      aggregation of cerebral amyloid-beta. This suggests that modulating the gut
      microbiome and amyloidogenesis through specific nutritional interventions might
      prove to be an effective strategy to prevent or reduce the risk of Alzheimer
      disease. This review examines the possible role of the gut in the dissemination
      of amyloids, the role of the gut microbiota in the regulation of the gut-brain
      axis, the potential amyloidogenic properties of gut bacteria, and the possible
      impact of nutrients on modulation of microbiota composition and amyloid formation
      in relation to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease.

PMID- 27634976
TI  - ASPREE-NEURO study protocol: A randomized controlled trial to determine the
      effect of low-dose aspirin on cerebral microbleeds, white matter
      hyperintensities, cognition, and stroke in the healthy elderly.
AB  - Rationale Cerebral microbleeds seen on brain magnetic resonance imaging are
      markers of small vessel disease, linked to cognitive dysfunction and increased
      ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke risk. Observational studies suggest that aspirin
      use may induce cerebral microbleeds, and associated overt intracranial
      hemorrhage, but this has not been definitively resolved. Aims ASPREE-NEURO will
      determine the effect of aspirin on cerebral microbleed development over three
      years in healthy adults aged 70 years and over, participating in the larger
      'ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE)' primary prevention study of
      aspirin. Sample size Five hundred and fifty-nine participants provide 75% power
      (two-sided p value of 0.05) to determine an average difference of 0.5 cerebral
      microbleed per person after three years. Methods and design A multi-center,
      randomized placebo-controlled trial of 100 mg daily aspirin in participants who
      have brain magnetic resonance imaging at study entry, one and three years after
      randomization and who undergo cognitive testing at the same time points. Study
      outcomes The primary outcome is the number of new cerebral microbleeds on
      magnetic resonance imaging after three years. Secondary outcomes are the number
      of new cerebral microbleeds after one year, change in volume of white matter
      hyperintensity, cognitive function, and stroke. Discussion ASPREE-NEURO will
      resolve whether aspirin affects the presence and number of cerebral microbleeds,
      their relationship with cognitive performance, and indicate whether consideration
      of cerebral microbleeds alters the risk-benefit profile of aspirin in primary
      prevention for older people. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical
      Trials Registry ACTRN12613001313729.

PMID- 27634978
TI  - Overcoming the limited availability of human milk oligosaccharides: challenges
      and opportunities for research and application.
AB  - Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are complex sugars highly abundant in human
      milk but currently not present in infant formula. Rapidly accumulating evidence
      from in vitro and in vivo studies, combined with epidemiological associations and
      correlations, suggests that HMOs benefit infants through multiple mechanisms and
      in a variety of clinical contexts. Until recently, however, research on HMOs has
      been limited by an insufficient availability of HMOs. Most HMOs are found
      uniquely in human milk, and thus far it has been prohibitively tedious and
      expensive to isolate and synthesize them. This article reviews new strategies to
      overcome this lack of availability by generating HMOs through chemoenzymatic
      synthesis, microbial metabolic engineering, and isolation from human donor milk
      or dairy streams. Each approach has its advantages and comes with its own
      challenges, but combining the different methods and acknowledging their
      limitations creates new opportunities for research and application with the goal
      of improving maternal and infant health.

PMID- 27634979
TI  - Recommendations for Nuclear Medicine Technologists Drawn from an Analysis of
      Errors Reported in Australian Radiation Incident Registers.
AB  - : When a radiation incident occurs in nuclear medicine in Australia, the incident
      is reported to the relevant state or territory authority, which performs an
      investigation and sends its findings to the Australian Radiation Protection and
      Nuclear Safety Agency. The agency then includes these data in its Australian
      Radiation Incident Register and makes them available to the public as an annual
      summary report on its website. The aim of this study was to analyze the radiation
      incidents included in these annual reports and in the publically available state
      and territory registers, identify any recurring themes, and make recommendations
      to minimize future incidents. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team comprising a
      nuclear medicine technologist, a radiation therapist, and a diagnostic
      radiographer analyzed all nuclear medicine technology-, radiation therapy-, and
      diagnostic radiography-related incidents recorded in the Australian Radiation
      Incident Register and in the registers of New South Wales, Western Australia,
      Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania between 2003 and 2015. Each incident was
      placed into 1 of 18 categories, and each category was examined to determine any
      recurring causes of the incidents. RESULTS: We analyzed 209 nuclear medicine
      incidents. Their primary cause was failure to comply with time-out protocols
      (85.6%). By analyzing both the causes and the rates of radiation incidents, we
      were able to recommend ways to help prevent them from being repeated. CONCLUSION:
      Information drawn from the Australian Radiation Incident Register and 5 state
      registers has revealed steps that can be taken by any nuclear medicine department
      to prevent repetition of the incidents that have already occurred.

PMID- 27634980
TI  - Use of Video Goggles to Distract Patients During PET/CT Studies of School-Aged
      Children.
AB  - : This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of video goggles in
      distracting children undergoing PET/CT and to determine whether the goggles
      create CT and PET artifacts. METHODS: Video goggles with small amounts of
      internal radioopaque material were used. During whole-body PET/CT imaging, 30
      nonsedated patients aged 4-13 y watched videos of their choice using the goggles.
      Fifteen of the PET/CT studies were performed on a scanner installed in 2006, and
      the other 15 were performed on a scanner installed in 2013. The fused scans were
      reviewed for evidence of head movement, and the individual PET and CT scans of
      the head were reviewed for the presence and severity of streak artifact. The CT
      exposure settings were recorded for each scan at the anatomic level at which the
      goggles were worn. RESULTS: Only one of the 30 scans had evidence of significant
      head motion. Two of the 30 had minor coregistration problems due to motion, and
      27 of the 30 had very good to excellent coregistration. For the 2006 scanner, 2
      of the 14 evaluable localization CT scans of the head demonstrated no streak
      artifact in brain tissue, 6 of the 14 had mild streak artifact in brain tissue,
      and 6 of the 14 had moderate streak artifact in brain tissue. Mild streak
      artifact in bone was noted in 2 of the 14 studies. For the 2013 scanner, 7 of 15
      studies had mild streak artifact in brain tissue and 8 of 15 had no streak
      artifact in brain tissue, whereas none of the 15 had streak artifact in bone.
      There were no artifacts attributable to the goggles on the 18F-FDG PET brain
      images of any of the 29 evaluable studies. The average CT exposure parameters at
      the level of the orbits were 36% lower on the 2013 scanner than on the 2006
      scanner. CONCLUSION: Video goggles may be used successfully to distract children
      undergoing PET with localization CT. The goggles cause no significant degradation
      of the PET brain images or the CT skull images. The degree of artifact on brain
      tissue images varies from none to moderate and depends on the CT equipment used.

PMID- 27634981
TI  - The Role of 18F-Sodium Fluoride PET/CT Bone Scans in the Diagnosis of Metastatic
      Bone Disease from Breast and Prostate Cancer.
AB  - We describe the role of 18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) PET/CT bone scanning in the
      staging of breast and prostate cancer. 18F-NaF PET was initially utilized as a
      bone scanning agent in the 1960s and early 1970s, however, its use was restricted
      by the then-available gamma-cameras. The advent of hybrid PET/CT cameras in the
      late 1990s has shown a resurgence of interest in its use and role. After a brief
      introduction, this paper describes the radiopharmaceutical properties, dosimetry,
      pharmacokinetics, and mechanism of uptake of 18F-NaF. The performance of 18F-NaF
      PET/CT is then compared with that of conventional bone scintigraphy using current
      evidence from the literature. Strengths and weaknesses of 18F-NaF PET/CT imaging
      are highlighted. Clinical examples of improved accuracy of diagnosis and impact
      on patient management are illustrated. Limitations of 18F-NaF PET/CT imaging are
      outlined.

PMID- 27634982
TI  - 177Lu-DOTATATE PRRT in Recurrent Skull-Base Phosphaturic Mesenchymal Tumor
      Causing Osteomalacia: A Potential Application of PRRT Beyond Neuroendocrine
      Tumors.
AB  - The potential of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is described in a
      case of recurrent inoperable phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor causing osteomalacia
      in the left basiocciput, for which the patient had undergone surgery twice
      previously. After one cycle of PRRT, there was good symptomatic improvement, with
      a modest reduction in uptake on both 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT
      suggesting a favorable response. Hence, treatment with a second cycle was
      considered. Being somatostatin receptor-avid, this rare group of tumors when
      inoperable or recurrent may potentially be targeted with PRRT. Well-tolerated and
      noninvasive, PRRT could evolve as a promising targeted treatment approach in this
      clinical setting. In summary, tumor-induced osteomalacia with 68Ga-DOTATATE-avid
      inoperable or recurrent tumor can be considered a potential clinical application
      for PRRT beyond neuroendocrine tumors.

PMID- 27634983
TI  - The Necessity of Using Heparin in the UltraTag RBC Kit When Tagging Blood for a
      Nuclear Medicine Study.
AB  - : The purpose of this research was to evaluate the need to use heparin when
      preparing an UltraTag red blood cell (RBC) kit for a nuclear medicine study.
      METHODS: Nonheparinized blood samples (n = 15) and heparinized blood samples (n =
      15) were added to UltraTag RBC kits. The samples were examined for macroscopic
      blood clotting and microscopic platelet clumping. As a control, samples with
      heparin (n = 15) and without heparin (n = 15) were used to help evaluate the
      effectiveness of the anticoagulant properties within the UltraTag RBC kit (sodium
      citrate) and whether those properties played a role in preventing clots or
      clumps. To detect clotting, the wooden applicator stick method was used. To
      detect clumping, blood smears were evaluated using a light microscope. The two
      samples were compared for presence of clots and clumps. Fisher exact testing was
      used to evaluate the significance of the data. RESULTS: For the UltraTag RBC
      group, 2 of the 15 nonheparinized samples clotted and none of the 15 heparinized
      samples clotted; for the control group, 2 of the 15 nonheparinized samples
      clotted and none of the 15 heparinized samples clotted. For the Ultra-Tag RBC
      group, 3 of the 15 nonheparinized samples clumped and 3 of the 15 heparinized
      samples clumped; for the control group, 15 of the 15 nonheparinized samples
      clumped and 10 of the 15 heparinized samples clumped. CONCLUSION: When heparin is
      not used, the Ultra-Tag RBC kit is more likely to form clots. Heparin should
      always be used when preparing an Ultra-Tag RBC kit for a nuclear medicine study.

PMID- 27634984
TI  - Sialorrhoea and reversals in ALS functional rating scale.

PMID- 27634985
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis A12, a Strain
      Isolated from Wheat Sourdough.
AB  - We report here the complete genome sequence of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis
      strain A12, a strain isolated from sourdough. The circular chromosome and the
      four plasmids reveal genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism that are
      potentially required for the persistence of this strain in such a complex
      ecosystem. 

PMID- 27634986
TI  - First Draft Genome Sequence of a UK Strain (UK99) of Fusarium culmorum.
AB  - Fusarium culmorum is a soilborne fungal plant pathogen that causes foot and root
      rot and Fusarium head blight on small-grain cereals, in particular on wheat and
      barley. We report herein the draft genome sequence of a 1998 field strain called
      FcUK99 adapted to the temperate climate found in England. 

PMID- 27634987
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of a New Enterococcus faecalis Bacteriophage,
      vB_EfaS_IME197.
AB  - We report here the whole-genome sequence of a new Enterococcus faecalis phage,
      vB_EfaS_IME197, which has a linear double-stranded DNA genome of 41,307 bp with
      34% G+C content. We describe the main features of the genome of vB_EfaS_IME197. 

PMID- 27634988
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of a Potential Probiotic, Lactobacillus pentosus MP-10,
      Isolated from Fermented Alorena Table Olives.
AB  - We report here a 3,698,214-bp complete genome sequence of a potential probiotic
      Lactobacillus pentosus strain, MP-10, isolated from brines of naturally fermented
      Alorena green table olives; it is considered the largest sequenced genome among
      lactobacilli to date. The annotated genome sequence revealed the presence of
      3,558 open reading frames (ORFs) and 87 structural RNAs. 

PMID- 27634989
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Streptomyces sp. Strain PTY087I2, Isolated from Styela
      canopus, a Panamanian Tunicate.
AB  - Streptomyces sp. PTY087I2 is a marine bacterium isolated from Styela canopus, a
      tunicate collected in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Here, we report a draft genome
      sequence for this bacterium, found to have 94.7% average nucleotide identity
      (ANI) with Streptomyces roseosporus NRRL 11379, and containing a diverse suite of
      secondary metabolite gene clusters. 

PMID- 27634990
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of the Bactrocera oleae Symbiont "Candidatus Erwinia
      dacicola".
AB  - "Candidatus Erwinia dacicola" is a Gammaproteobacterium that forms a symbiotic
      association with the agricultural pest Bactrocera oleae Here, we present a 2.1-Mb
      draft hybrid genome assembly for "Ca. Erwinia dacicola" generated from single
      cell and metagenomic data. 

PMID- 27634991
TI  - Genome Sequence of the Listeria monocytogenes Food Isolate HPB913, Collected in
      Canada in 1993.
AB  - Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogenic bacterium of importance to public health
      and food safety agencies. We present the genome sequence of the serotype 1/2a L.
      monocytogenes food isolate HPB913, which was collected in Canada in 1993 as part
      of an investigation into a sporadic case of foodborne illness. 

PMID- 27634992
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Two Monosporidial Lines of the Karnal Bunt Fungus
      Tilletia indica Mitra (PSWKBGH-1 and PSWKBGH-2).
AB  - Karnal bunt disease caused by the fungus Tilletia indica Mitra is a serious
      concern due to strict quarantines affecting international trade of wheat. We
      announce here the first draft assembly of two monosporidial lines, PSWKBGH-1 and 
      2, of this fungus, having approximate sizes of 37.46 and 37.21 Mbp, respectively.

PMID- 27634993
TI  - First Directly Sequenced Genome of Hepatitis E Virus from the Serum of a Patient
      from the United Kingdom.
AB  - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 is endemic in the United Kingdom but the
      complete sequence of HEV, generated directly from a clinical sample, is lacking.
      We report a near full-length genome sequence of genotype 3 HEV from the serum of
      a patient with acute hepatitis. 

PMID- 27634994
TI  - Complete Genome Sequences of 12 Species of Stable Defined Moderately Diverse
      Mouse Microbiota 2.
AB  - We report here the complete genome sequences of 12 bacterial species of stable
      defined moderately diverse mouse microbiota 2 (sDMDMm2) used to colonize germ
      free mice with defined microbes. Whole-genome sequencing of these species was
      performed using the PacBio sequencing platform yielding circularized genome
      sequences of all 12 species. 

PMID- 27634996
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus oris J-1, a Potential Probiotic
      Isolated from the Human Oral Microbiome.
AB  - Lactobacilli can exert health-promoting effects in the human oral microbiome
      through many mechanisms, including pathogen inhibition, maintenance of microbial
      balance, immunomodulation, and enhancement of the epithelial barrier function.
      Here, we present the complete genome sequence of a potential probiotic,
      Lactobacillus oris J-1, that was isolated from the oral cavity of a health child.

PMID- 27634995
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Serovar Bardo Strain
      CRJJGF_00099 (Phylum Gammaproteobacteria).
AB  - Here, we report a 4.87-Mbp draft genome sequence of the multidrug-resistant (MDR)
      Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Bardo strain CRJJGF_00099, isolated
      from dairy cattle in 2005. 

PMID- 27634997
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of Bordetella pertussis Strain VA-190 Isolated from a
      Vaccinated 10-Year-Old Patient with Whooping Cough.
AB  - The number of cases of pertussis has increased in the United States despite
      vaccination. We present the genome of an isolate of Bordetella pertussis from a
      vaccinated patient from Virginia. The genome was sequenced by long-read
      methodology and compared to that of a clinical isolate used for laboratory
      studies, D420. 

PMID- 27634998
TI  - Genome Sequence of the Facultative Anaerobe Oerskovia enterophila DFA-19 (DSM
      43852T).
AB  - Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Oerskovia enterophila DFA-19 (DSM
      43852(T)), a facultative anaerobe soil bacterium, which was originally isolated
      from millipede feces and first described as Promicromonospora enterophila The
      genome consists of a circular chromosome comprising approximately 4.65 Mb and
      4,044 predicted protein-encoding genes. 

PMID- 27634999
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of the White-Rot Fungus Obba rivulosa 3A-2.
AB  - We report here the first genome sequence of the white-rot fungus Obba rivulosa
      (Polyporales, Basidiomycota), a polypore known for its lignin-decomposing
      ability. The genome is based on the homokaryon 3A-2 originating in Finland. The
      genome is typical in size and carbohydrate active enzyme (CAZy) content for wood
      decomposing basidiomycetes. 

PMID- 27635001
TI  - Complete Genome Sequences of Bordetella pertussis Vaccine Reference Strains 134
      and 10536.
AB  - Vaccine formulations and vaccination programs against whooping cough (pertussis)
      vary worldwide. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of two divergent
      Bordetella pertussis reference strains used in the production of pertussis
      vaccines. 

PMID- 27635000
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Shewanella sp. Strain UCD-FRSP16_17 and Nine Vibrio
      Strains Isolated from Abalone Feces.
AB  - We present here the draft genome sequences for nine strains of Vibrio (V.
      cyclitrophicus, V. splendidus, V. tasmaniensis, and three unidentified) and one
      Shewanella strain. Strains were isolated from red (Haliotis rufescens) and white
      (Haliotis sorenseni) abalone, with and without exposure to "Candidatus
      Xenohaliotis californiensis," the causative agent of abalone withering syndrome. 

PMID- 27635003
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus westerdijkiae
      Reveals the Putative Biosynthetic Gene Cluster of Ochratoxin A.
AB  - Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a common mycotoxin that contaminates food and agricultural
      products. Sequencing of the complete genome of Aspergillus westerdijkiae, a major
      producer of OTA, reveals more than 50 biosynthetic gene clusters, including a
      putative OTA biosynthetic gene cluster that encodes a dozen of enzymes,
      transporters, and regulatory proteins. 

PMID- 27635002
TI  - Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).
AB  - This is the first complete mitochondrial genome sequence for sunflower and the
      first complete mitochondrial genome for any member of Asteraceae, the largest
      plant family, which includes over 23,000 named species. The master circle is
      300,945-bp long and includes 27 protein-coding sequences, 18 tRNAs, and the 26S,
      5S, and 18S rRNAs. 

PMID- 27635004
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of the Heavy-Metal-Tolerant Marine Yeast Debaryomyces
      hansenii J6.
AB  - Debaryomyces hansenii J6 is a heavy-metal-tolerant, flavinogenic yeast isolated
      from a Swedish estuary. We present here the 11.63-Mb genome of this organism
      containing 5,717 open reading frames. Comparison with available Debaryomyces
      genomes demonstrated that J6 is closer to D. hansenii MTCC234 than D. fabry
      CBS789 and D. hansenii CBS767. 

PMID- 27635005
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Leptolyngbya sp. KIOST-1, a Filamentous Cyanobacterium
      with Biotechnological Potential for Alimentary Purposes.
AB  - Here, we report the draft genome of cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya sp. KIOST-1
      isolated from a microalgal culture pond in South Korea. The genome consists of 13
      contigs containing 6,320,172 bp, and a total of 5,327 coding sequences were
      predicted. This genomic information will allow further exploitation of its
      biotechnological potential for alimentary purposes. 

PMID- 27635006
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Four Novel Thermal- and Alkaline-Tolerant Egyptian
      Rhizobium Strains Nodulating Berseem Clover.
AB  - Four Rhizobium strains were isolated from berseem clover in Egypt. The
      symbiotically effective, salt-tolerant, strain Rhiz950 was identified as new
      species, Rhizobium aegypticaum sv. trifolii (USDA 7124(T)). The other three
      thermal- and pH-tolerant strains were identified as Rhizobium bangladeshense sv.
      trifolii, the type strain is USDA 7125(T). 

PMID- 27635007
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Microbacterium hominis LCDC-84-0209T Isolated from a
      Human Lung Aspirate and Microbacterium laevaniformans LCDC 91-0039 Isolated from
      a Human Blood Culture.
AB  - Draft genomes for Microbacterium hominis 84-0209(T) and M. laevaniformans 91-0039
      were studied. Genome sizes (bps, [G+C contents]) were 3,506,522 (70.96%) and
      2,999,965 (69.51%), respectively. Annotation revealed: (M. hominis) three rRNA
      sequences, 45 tRNA genes, and 3,218 coding sequences; (M. laevaniformans) three
      rRNA sequences, 49 tRNA genes, and 2,874 coding sequences. 

PMID- 27635008
TI  - Complete Genome Sequences of 17 Canadian Isolates of Salmonella enterica subsp.
      enterica Serovar Heidelberg from Human, Animal, and Food Sources.
AB  - Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Heidelberg is a highly clonal serovar
      frequently associated with foodborne illness. To facilitate subtyping efforts, we
      report fully assembled genome sequences of 17 Canadian S Heidelberg isolates
      including six pairs of epidemiologically related strains. The plasmid sequences
      of eight isolates contain several drug resistance genes. 

PMID- 27635009
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808, Isolated from Dahi, a
      Fermented Milk Product.
AB  - Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808 has been isolated from dahi, an indigenous
      fermented milk product of Pakistan. Here, we report the draft genome sequence for
      this strain, which consists of 160 contigs corresponding to 2,957,514 bp and a
      G+C content of 38.5%. 

PMID- 27635010
TI  - Permanent Draft Genome Sequence of Frankia sp. Strain BR, a Nitrogen-Fixing
      Actinobacterium Isolated from the Root Nodules of Casuarina equisetifolia.
AB  - Frankia sp. strain BR is a member of Frankia lineage Ic and is able to reinfect
      plants of the Casuarinaceae family. Here, we report a 5.2-Mbp draft genome
      sequence with a G+C content of 70.0% and 4,777 candidate protein-encoding genes. 

PMID- 27635011
TI  - Draft Genome Sequences of Histamine-Producing Morganella psychrotolerans Strains.
AB  - Histamine-producing bacteria are responsible for scombrotoxin (histamine) fish
      poisoning, a leading cause of fish poisoning in the United States. We report here
      the first draft genomes of three histamine-producing Morganella psychrotolerans
      strains, isolated from tuna and mahi-mahi. 

PMID- 27635012
TI  - Complete Genome Sequences of the Plasmid-Bearing Campylobacter coli Strains HC2
      48, CF2-75, and CO2-160 Isolated from Retail Beef Liver.
AB  - The complete genome sequences of Campylobacter coli strains HC2-48, CF2-75, and
      CO2-160, isolated from retail beef liver, showed the presence of 1,663,782-,
      1,711,393-, and 1,683,224-bp circular chromosomes and 44,064-, 44,233-, and
      44,228-bp circular plasmids, respectively. This is the first reported
      Campylobacter coli genome sequence isolated from retail beef liver. 

PMID- 27635013
TI  - Draft Genome Sequence of Legionella jamestowniensis Isolated from a Patient with
      Chronic Respiratory Disease.
AB  - Legionella jamestowniensis can be found in the environment in various water
      samples, in wet soil, and in compost facilities, but evidence of its human
      pathogenicity has not yet been demonstrated. Here, we report the first draft
      genome sequence of an L. jamestowniensis isolate, derived from a patient
      suffering from a chronic respiratory disease. 

PMID- 27635014
TI  - Erratum for Dalmasso et al., Complete Genome Sequence of the Hyperthermophilic
      and Piezophilic Archaeon Thermococcus piezophilus CDGST, Able To Grow under
      Extreme Hydrostatic Pressures.

PMID- 27635015
TI  - Factors Associated with Returning At-Home Specimen Collection Kits for HIV
      Testing among Internet-Using Men Who Have Sex with Men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the United States, men who have sex with men (MSM) are known to
      disproportionately have HIV. The authors sought to describe the acceptability of
      providing at-home dried blood spot specimen collection kits for HIV testing among
      MSM. METHODS: Between August 2010 and December 2010, the authors recruited
      Internet-using, HIV-negative or -unknown MSM to participate in a 12-month study
      of behavioral risks. Eligible participants were mailed an at-home HIV test.
      RESULTS: Of the 896 men who were sent a test kit, 735 (82%) returned the kit.
      Returning a test kit was significantly associated with race (P = .002), highest
      level of education (P = .012), and annual income (P = .026). The adjusted odds of
      black, non-Hispanic men returning a test kit were about half of the odds of
      white, non-Hispanic men returning a test kit (adjusted odds ratios: 0.49; 95%
      confidence intervals: 0.31-0.78). CONCLUSIONS: Men who have sex with men are
      willing to provide biological specimens as part of an Internet-based HIV
      prevention study.

PMID- 27635022
TI  - Using Separable Nonnegative Matrix Factorization Techniques for the Analysis of
      Time-Resolved Raman Spectra.
AB  - The key challenge of time-resolved Raman spectroscopy is the identification of
      the constituent species and the analysis of the kinetics of the underlying
      reaction network. In this work we present an integral approach that allows for
      determining both the component spectra and the rate constants simultaneously from
      a series of vibrational spectra. It is based on an algorithm for nonnegative
      matrix factorization that is applied to the experimental data set following a few
      pre-processing steps. As a prerequisite for physically unambiguous solutions,
      each component spectrum must include one vibrational band that does not
      significantly interfere with the vibrational bands of other species. The approach
      is applied to synthetic "experimental" spectra derived from model systems
      comprising a set of species with component spectra differing with respect to
      their degree of spectral interferences and signal-to-noise ratios. In each case,
      the species involved are connected via monomolecular reaction pathways. The
      potential and limitations of the approach for recovering the respective rate
      constants and component spectra are discussed. 

PMID- 27635023
TI  - Diabetes Mellitus and Its Effects on All-Cause Mortality After Radiopeptide
      Therapy for Neuroendocrine Tumors.
AB  - : We aimed to assess the risk of developing diabetes mellitus and its effects on
      all-cause mortality after radiopeptide therapy for neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).
      METHODS: NET patients received somatostatin radiopeptide therapy with 90Y-DOTATOC
      or 177Lu-DOTATOC. The incidence of diabetes mellitus and its mortality were
      assessed using univariate and multivariate regression. RESULTS: Overall, 1,535
      NET patients were enrolled and received 3,807 treatment cycles. After treatment,
      72 patients developed diabetes mellitus, including 47 cases after 90Y-DOTATOC and
      25 cases after combined treatment. The diabetes mellitus risk was higher before
      than after DOTATOC (estimate, 0.0032; P < 0.001), and overall survival was
      similar in patients with and without diabetes mellitus (hazard ratio, 1.13; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.91-1.39; n = 1,535; P = 0.27). CONCLUSION: Radiopeptide
      therapy does not appear to increase the risk of developing diabetes mellitus in
      NET patients, whereas diabetes mellitus does not appear to increase the mortality
      of NET patients undergoing receptor-targeted radiopeptide therapy.

PMID- 27635024
TI  - Preclinical Evaluation and First Patient Application of 99mTc-PSMA-I&S for SPECT
      Imaging and Radioguided Surgery in Prostate Cancer.
AB  - : Initial studies in patients have demonstrated the suitability of 111In-PSMA-I&T
      (111In-DOTAGA-(3-iodo-y)-f-k-Sub(KuE)) (PSMA is prostate-specific membrane
      antigen and I&T is imaging and therapy) for radioguided surgery (RGS) of small
      metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) soft-tissue lesions. To meet the clinical need
      for a more cost-effective alternative, the PSMA-I&T-based tracer concept was
      adapted to 99mTc-labeling chemistry. Two PSMA-I&T-derived inhibitors with all-L
      serine- (MAS3) and all-D-serine- (mas3) chelating moieties were evaluated in
      parallel, and a kit procedure for routine 99mTc labeling was developed. METHODS:
      PSMA affinities (IC50) and internalization kinetics of 99mTc-MAS3-y-nal-k(Sub
      KuE) and 99mTc-mas3-y-nal-k(Sub-KuE) (99mTc-PSMA-I&S for imaging and surgery)
      were determined using LNCaP cells and (125I-BA)KuE as a radioligand and reference
      standard. In vivo metabolite analyses and biodistribution studies were performed
      using CD-1 nu/nu and LNCaP tumor-bearing CB-17 severe combined immunodeficiency
      mice. The pharmacokinetics of 99mTc-PSMA-I&S in humans were investigated in a
      patient with advanced metastatic PCa via sequential planar whole-body SPECT
      imaging at 1, 3, 5, and 21 h after injection. Additionally, preoperative SPECT/CT
      (12 h after injection) and 99mTc-PSMA-I&S-supported RGS (16 h after injection)
      were performed in 1 PCa patient with proven iliac and inguinal lymph node
      metastases. RESULTS: A robust and reliable kit-labeling procedure was
      established, allowing the preparation of 99mTc-MAS3-y-nal-k(Sub-KuE) and 99mTc
      PSMA-I&S in consistently high radiochemical yield and purity (>=98%, n > 50
      preparations). Because of its improved internalization efficiency and superior in
      vivo stability, 99mTc-PSMA-I&S was selected for further in vivo evaluation.
      Compared with 111In-PSMA-I&T, 99mTc-PSMA-I&S showed delayed clearance kinetics
      but identical uptake in PSMA-positive tissues in the LNCaP xenograft model (1 h
      after injection). In exemplary PCa patients, a relatively slow whole-body
      clearance of 99mTc-PSMA-I&S was observed due to high plasma protein binding (94%)
      of the tracer. This, however, promoted efficient tracer uptake in PCa lesions
      over time and led to steadily increasing lesion-to-background ratios up to 21 h
      after injection. Preoperative SPECT/CT showed a high 99mTc-PSMA-I&S uptake in all
      suspect lesions identified in previous 68Ga-HBED-CC-Ahx-KuE (68Ga-HBED-CC-PSMA)
      PET/CT, allowing for their successful intraoperative detection and resection
      during first-in-human RGS. CONCLUSION: Because of a straightforward and reliable
      kit production, 99mTc-PSMA-I&S represents a cost-effective, readily available
      alternative to 111In-PSMA-I&T. Initial patient data indicate its comparable or
      even superior performance as a probe for PSMA-targeted RGS and also hint toward
      the unexpected potential of 99mTc-PSMA-I&S as a SPECT imaging agent.

PMID- 27635026
TI  - Enhancing Expression of Functional Human Sodium Iodide Symporter and Somatostatin
      Receptor in Recombinant Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus for In Vivo Imaging of Tumors.
AB  - : Oncolytic virus (OV) therapy has emerged as a novel tool in our therapeutic
      arsenals for fighting cancer. As a live biologic agent, OV has the ability to
      target and selectively amplify at the tumor sites. We have reported that a
      vaccinia-based OV (Pexa-Vec) has shown good efficacy in preclinical models and in
      clinical trials. To give an additional tool to clinicians to allow both treatment
      of the tumor and improved visualization of tumor margins, we developed new viral
      based platforms with 2 specific gene reporters. METHODS: We incorporated the
      human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS) and the human somatostatin receptor 2
      (hSSR2) in the vaccinia-based OV and tested viral constructs for their abilities
      to track and treat tumor development in vivo. RESULTS: Early and high-level
      expression of hNIS is detrimental to the recombinant virus, leading to the
      aggregation of hNIS protein and early cell death. Putting hNIS under a late
      synthetic promoter allowed a higher functional expression of the protein and much
      stronger 123I or 99Tc uptake. In vivo, the hNIS-containing virus infected and
      amplified in the tumor site, showing a better efficacy than the parental virus.
      The hNIS expression at the tumor site allowed for the imaging of viral infection
      and tumor regression. Similarly, hSSR2-containing OV vaccinia infected and lysed
      cancer cells. CONCLUSION: When tumor-bearing mice were given hNIS- and hSSR2
      containing OV, 99Tc and 111In signals coalesced at the tumor, highlighting the
      power of using these viruses for tumor diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 27635027
TI  - Predicting Pathologic Response of Esophageal Cancer to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy:
      The Implications of Metabolic Nodal Response for Personalized Therapy.
AB  - : Only a minority of esophageal cancers demonstrates a pathologic tumor response
      (pTR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). 18F-FDG PET/CT is often used for
      restaging after NAC and to assess response. Increasingly, it is used during
      therapy to identify unresponsive tumors and predict pTR, using avidity of the
      primary tumor alone. However, definitions of such metabolic tumor response (mTR)
      vary. We aimed to comprehensively reevaluate metabolic response assessment using
      accepted parameters, as well as novel concepts of metabolic nodal stage (mN) and
      metabolic nodal response (mNR). METHODS: This was a single-center retrospective
      U.K. cohort study. All patients with esophageal cancer staged before NAC with
      PET/CT and after with CT or PET/CT and undergoing resection from 2006 to 2014
      were identified. pTR was defined as Mandard tumor regression grade 1-3; imaging
      parameters included metrics of tumor avidity (SUVmax/mean/peak), composites of
      avidity and volume (including metabolic tumor volume), nodal SUVmax, and our new
      concepts of mN stage and mNR. RESULTS: Eighty-two (27.2%) of 301 patients
      demonstrated pTR. No pre-NAC PET parameters predicted pTR. In 220 patients
      restaged by PET/CT, the optimal tumor DeltaSUVmax threshold was a 77.8%
      reduction. This was as sensitive as the current PERCIST 30% reduction, but more
      specific with a higher negative predictive value (P < 0.001). DeltaSUVmax and
      Deltalength independently predicted pTR, and composite avidity/spatial metrics
      outperformed avidity alone. Although both mTR and mNR were associated with pTR,
      in 82 patients with 18F-FDG-avid nodes before NAC we observed mNR in 10 (12.2%)
      not demonstrating mTR. CONCLUSION: Current definitions of metabolic response are
      suboptimal and too simplistic. Composite avidity/volume measures improve
      prediction. mNR may further improve response assessment, by specifically
      assessing metastatic tumor subpopulations, likely responsible for disease
      relapse, and should be urgently assessed when considering aborting therapy on the
      basis of mTR alone.

PMID- 27635025
TI  - A Systematic Approach for Developing Bacteria-Specific Imaging Tracers.
AB  - : The modern patient is increasingly susceptible to bacterial infections
      including those due to multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Noninvasive whole
      body analysis with pathogen-specific imaging technologies can significantly
      improve patient outcomes by rapidly identifying a source of infection and
      monitoring the response to treatment, but no such technology exists clinically.
      METHODS: We systematically screened 961 random radiolabeled molecules in silico
      as substrates for essential metabolic pathways in bacteria, followed by in vitro
      uptake in representative bacteria-Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli,
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and mycobacteria. Fluorine-labeled analogs, that could be
      developed as PET-based imaging tracers, were evaluated in a murine myositis
      model. RESULTS: We identified 3 novel, nontoxic molecules demonstrating selective
      bacterial uptake: para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), with uptake in all
      representative bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis; mannitol, with
      selective uptake in S. aureus and E. coli; and sorbitol, accumulating only in E.
      coli None accumulated in mammalian cells or heat-killed bacteria, suggesting
      metabolism-derived specificity. In addition to an extended bacterial panel of
      laboratory strains, all 3 molecules rapidly accumulated in respective clinical
      isolates of interest including MDROs such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus,
      extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing, and carbapenem-resistant
      Enterobacteriaceae. In a murine myositis model, fluorine-labeled analogs of all 3
      molecules could rapidly detect and differentiate infection sites from sterile
      inflammation in mice (P = 0.03). Finally, 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-d-sorbitol (18F
      FDS) can be easily synthesized from 18F-FDG. PET, with 18F-FDS synthesized using
      current good manufacturing practice, could rapidly differentiate true infection
      from sterile inflammation to selectively localize E. coli infection in mice.
      CONCLUSION: We have developed a systematic approach that exploits unique
      biochemical pathways in bacteria to develop novel pathogen-specific imaging
      tracers. These tracers have significant potential for clinical translation to
      specifically detect and localize a broad range of bacteria, including MDROs.

PMID- 27635029
TI  - Tribute to Prof David Lloyd Quinton, 8 February 1939-7 June 2016.

PMID- 27635028
TI  - Child attachment and sensory regulation in psychiatric clinic-referred
      preschoolers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with sensory regulation disorders present with many
      difficulties in terms of managing emotions, behavior, and motor control. Children
      with such difficulties are often referred to psychiatric clinics for assessment
      of their behavioral and emotional problems. Few studies have investigated the
      role of environmental factors on sensory dysfunctions, and none have specifically
      studied its association with child attachment in a clinical sample. OBJECTIVE: In
      this cross-sectional study, we examined the association between sensory
      regulation and child attachment among preschoolers referred to a psychiatric
      clinic. METHOD: A sample of 60 preschoolers and their mothers were recruited
      through a child psychiatric clinic. Child attachment was assessed with the gold
      standard separation-reunion procedure for preschoolers. Parents completed the
      sensory profile, which assesses the presence of child hypersensitivity
      (sensitivity and avoidant scale) and hyposensitivity (sensory seeking and
      registration scale). RESULTS: Data showed that 57% of the children were presented
      with clinical symptoms of sensory regulation. In addition, 53% of the children
      were classified insecure behaviorally disorganized or insecure disorganized
      controlling. In particular, results revealed that children classified as insecure
      disorganized controlling were significantly more likely to show hypersensitivity
      avoidance and sensory-seeking behaviors. CONCLUSION: This study underscores the
      importance of the parent-child relationship for children with sensory regulation
      difficulties.

PMID- 27635030
TI  - Ahmed Hilmi Pasha (1839-1905): A remarkable Ottoman physician and medical
      translator.
AB  - Besides being a founding member of the Ottoman Medical Society (est. 1867) and
      general director of the Imperial Military and Civil medical schools in Istanbul,
      Dr Ahmed Hilmi Pasha offered a pathology course for the first time in the Ottoman
      Empire. He also translated various medical textbooks from French, and he paved
      the way for using Turkish in Ottoman medical education.

PMID- 27635031
TI  - Charles Darwin's (1809-1882) illness - the role of post-traumatic stress
      disorder.
AB  - During most of his adult life, in counterpoint to his fame in describing the
      theory of evolution, Charles Darwin was chronically ill. He consulted many
      doctors with only limited and temporary success. His symptoms were many and
      varied. His doctors favoured dyspepsia or suppressed gout as the diagnosis. The
      Water Cure was only effective initially. Many diagnoses have been proposed by
      physicians since then. Perhaps he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder
      (PTSD), not instead of but as well as other physical problems. His symptoms match
      with criteria for PTSD. Traumatic episodes from his life are considered in this
      paper: his mother's painful, sudden death from an acute abdominal event when he
      was eight; his reaction to seeing operations without anaesthetic; the deaths of
      three of his children, including his beloved daughter, Annie, aged ten; and being
      overwhelmed by his chronic, unrelenting symptoms. Trauma had not been
      conceptualised as a diagnosis in Darwin's time. Rather, hysteria and, in war,
      irritable heart were names given to what is now called PTSD.

PMID- 27635032
TI  - Cotton Mather's medicine, with particular reference to measles.
AB  - While the vocation of Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was his ministry in Boston, he
      made important contributions to medicine, most famously in helping to introduce
      variolation to New England in 1721-22 and in writing The Angel of Bethesda
      (1724), the first medical treatise produced in Colonial North America. This
      article, however, focuses on an earlier initiative, Mather's efforts to quell the
      epidemic of measles that struck Boston in 1713, killing among many others his
      wife and three children. Historians have devoted little attention to this episode
      or to measles in general, even though the disease was highly mortal during the
      colonial period. To help victims, Mather published a 'letter' on treating
      measles. Such a specific discussion of treatment would have been rare in Europe
      and it was unprecedented in America. The therapy that Mather proposed not only
      reflected popular medicine but also incorporated newer practices, notably those
      associated with Thomas Sydenham. In contrast to heroic therapies for measles,
      which were often dangerous but became more popular across the eighteenth century,
      Mather's recommendations were moderate.

PMID- 27635034
TI  - Quality of Transition From Hospital to Home: The Influence of Nurse- and Patient
      Reported Readiness.
AB  - Identifying those at risk of poor outcomes after hospital discharge is a central
      focus of health care systems. Our purpose was to better understand whether and
      how patient- and nurse-assessed readiness for discharge (Pt- and RN-RHDS) is
      related to patient experiences after discharge. We conducted a prospective survey
      of 70 Veterans and their assigned nurses on the day of, and again with Veterans 2
      weeks after, hospital discharge. The predictive model for post-discharge coping
      difficulty included educational level ( p = .05) and an interaction between Pt
      RHDS ratings and Pt-RN RHDS discordance ( p = .01). The predictive model for
      patient-reported quality of hospital to home transition experience included Pt-RN
      RHDS discordance and an interaction between Pt-RHDS and the number of people
      living with the patient ( p = .05). Our findings demonstrate that agreement
      between Pt- and RN-RHDS may be an important measure in work aiming to improve
      patient outcomes post-hospitalization.

PMID- 27635033
TI  - Review of Systemic Treatment Options for Adult Atopic Dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, pruritic inflammatory skin
      disease resulting from defects in skin barrier and aberrant immune responses. AD
      significantly affects the quality of life. Not all patients respond to topical
      therapies, and often systemic therapy is required to control the disease.
      OBJECTIVE: To review the treatment options for adult AD patients including those
      options for patients who do not respond adequately or have contraindications to
      oral systemic therapy. METHODS: A working group of clinicians with experience
      managing AD was convened to review the current literature on treatment options
      for adult AD patients. This review is based on the best available evidence from a
      published systematic review and an additional literature search. RESULTS: Current
      treatments for AD are reviewed, including options for adult AD patients who do
      not respond or have contraindications to current systemic therapies. A new
      approach with targeted therapies is reviewed based on best available evidence.
      CONCLUSION: Many AD patients respond satisfactorily to topical or systemic
      treatments, but for those patients who do not respond or have contraindications,
      new biologic agents appear to be promising therapies.

PMID- 27635035
TI  - How great white sharks nourish their embryos to a large size: evidence of lipid
      histotrophy in lamnoid shark reproduction.
AB  - The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) exhibits viviparous and oophagous
      reproduction. A 4950 mm total length (TL) gravid female accidentally caught by
      fishermen in the Okinawa Prefecture, Southern Japan carried six embryos (543-624
      mm TL, three in each uterus). Both uteri contained copious amounts of yellowish
      viscous uterine fluid (over 79.2 litres in the left uterus), nutrient eggs and
      broken egg cases. The embryos had yolk stomachs that had ruptured, the mean
      volume of which was approximately 197.9 ml. Embryos had about 20 rows of
      potentially functional teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Periodic acid Schiff
      (PAS)-positive substances were observed on the surface and in the cytoplasm of
      the epithelial cells, and large, secretory, OsO4-oxidized lipid droplets of
      various sizes were distributed on the surface of the villous string epithelium on
      the uterine wall. Histological examination of the uterine wall showed it to
      consist of villi, similar to the trophonemata of Dasyatidae rays, suggesting that
      the large amount of fluid found in the uterus of the white shark was likely
      required for embryo nutrition. We conclude that: (1) the lipid-rich fluid is
      secreted from the uterine epithelium only in early gestation before the onset of
      oophagy, (2) the embryos probably use the abundant uterine fluid and encased
      nutrient eggs for nutrition at this stage of their development, and (3) the
      uterine fluid is the major source of embryonic nutrition before oophagy onset.
      This is the first record of the lipid histotrophy of reproduction among all shark
      species. 

PMID- 27635036
TI  - Caenorhabditis elegans glutamylating enzymes function redundantly in male mating.
AB  - Microtubule glutamylation is an important modulator of microtubule function and
      has been implicated in the regulation of centriole stability, neuronal outgrowth
      and cilia motility. Glutamylation of the microtubules is catalyzed by a family of
      tubulin tyrosine ligase-like (TTLL) enzymes. Analysis of individual TTLL enzymes
      has led to an understanding of their specific functions, but how activities of
      the TTLL enzymes are coordinated to spatially and temporally regulate
      glutamylation remains relatively unexplored. We have undertaken an analysis of
      the glutamylating TTLL enzymes in C. elegans We find that although all five TTLL
      enzymes are expressed in the embryo and adult worm, loss of individual enzymes
      does not perturb microtubule function in embryonic cell divisions. Moreover,
      normal dye-filling, osmotic avoidance and male mating behavior indicate the
      presence of functional amphid cilia and male-specific neurons. A ttll-4(tm3310);
      ttll-11(tm4059); ttll-5(tm3360) triple mutant, however, shows reduced male mating
      efficiency due to a defect in the response step, suggesting that these three
      enzymes function redundantly, and that glutamylation is required for proper
      function of the male-specific neurons. 

PMID- 27635037
TI  - Rabbit Achilles tendon full transection model - wound healing, adhesion formation
      and biomechanics at 3, 6 and 12 weeks post-surgery.
AB  - After tendon rupture repair, two main problems may occur: re-rupture and adhesion
      formation. Suitable non-murine animal models are needed to study the healing
      tendon in terms of biomechanical properties and extent of adhesion formation. In
      this study 24 New Zealand White rabbits received a full transection of the
      Achilles tendon 2 cm above the calcaneus, sutured with a 4-strand Becker suture.
      Post-surgical analysis was performed at 3, 6 and 12 weeks. In the 6-week group,
      animals received a cast either in a 180 deg stretched position during 6 weeks
      (adhesion provoking immobilization), or were re-casted with a 150 deg position
      after 3 weeks (adhesion inhibiting immobilization), while in the other groups (3
      and 12 weeks) a 180 deg position cast was applied for 3 weeks. Adhesion extent
      was analyzed by histology and ultrasound. Histopathological scoring was performed
      according to a method by Stoll et al. (2011), and the main biomechanical
      properties were assessed. Histopathological scores increased as a function of
      time, but did not reach values of healthy tendons after 12 weeks (only around 15
      out of 20 points). Adhesion provoking immobilization led to an adhesion extent of
      82.7+/-9.7%, while adhesion inhibiting immobilization led to 31.9+/-9.8% after 6
      weeks. Biomechanical properties increased over time, however, they did not reach
      full strength nor elastic modulus at 12 weeks post-operation. Furthermore, the
      rabbit Achilles tendon model can be modulated in terms of adhesion formation to
      the surrounding tissue. It clearly shows the different healing stages in terms of
      histopathology and offers a suitable model regarding biomechanics because it
      exhibits similar biomechanics as the human flexor tendons of the hand. 

PMID- 27635038
TI  - The Role of MicroRNA and LncRNA-MicroRNA Interactions in Regulating Ischemic
      Heart Disease.
AB  - Approximately 2% of the human genome consists of protein-coding regions.
      Therefore, the majority of transcripts are noncoding RNAs, such as microRNA
      (miRNA) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). In ischemic heart disease, the
      majority of miRNAs are repressors or destabilizers of target messenger RNAs. The
      lncRNAs are a second class of noncoding RNAs that have recently gained attention
      for their roles in heart disease and in regulating the functions of miRNA. In
      this review, we summarize the role of miRNA in pathological cardiac hypertrophy
      and myocardial infarction. In addition, we discuss the functional interactions of
      miRNA and lncRNA and its impact on these ischemic heart diseases.

PMID- 27635040
TI  - p21(WAF1) Mediates Cell-Cycle Inhibition, Relevant to Cancer Suppression and
      Therapy.
AB  - p21 (WAF1/CIP1; CDKN1a) is a universal cell-cycle inhibitor directly controlled
      by p53 and p53-independent pathways. Knowledge of the regulation and function of
      p21 in normal and cancer cells has opened up several areas of investigation and
      has led to novel therapeutic strategies. The discovery in 1993 and subsequent
      work on p21 has illuminated basic cellular growth control, stem cell phenotypes,
      the physiology of differentiation, as well as how cells respond to stress. There
      remain open questions in the signaling networks, the ultimate role of p21 in the
      p53-deficiency phenotype in the context of other p53 target defects, and
      therapeutic strategies continue to be a work in progress. Cancer Res; 76(18);
      5189-91. (c)2016 AACRSee related article by El-Deiry et al., Cancer Res
      1994;54:1169-74Visit the Cancer Research 75(th) Anniversary timeline.

PMID- 27635041
TI  - Commentary on "Recombinant Humanized Anti-HER2 Antibody (Herceptin) Enhances the
      Antitumor Activity of Paclitaxel and Doxorubicin against HER2/neu Overexpressing
      Human Breast Cancer Xenografts" (A Follow Up).

PMID- 27635042
TI  - Molecular or Metabolic Reprograming: What Triggers Tumor Subtypes?
AB  - Tumor heterogeneity is reflected and influenced by genetic, epigenetic, and
      metabolic differences in cancer cells and their interactions with a complex
      microenvironment. This heterogeneity has resulted in the stratification of tumors
      into subtypes, mainly based on cancer-specific genomic or transcriptomic
      profiles. Subtyping can lead to biomarker identification for personalized
      diagnosis and therapy, but stratification alone does not explain the origins of
      tumor heterogeneity. Heterogeneity has traditionally been thought to arise from
      distinct mutations/aberrations in "driver" oncogenes. However, certain subtypes
      appear to be the result of adaptation to the disrupted microenvironment caused by
      abnormal tumor vasculature triggering metabolic switches. Moreover, heterogeneity
      persists despite the predominance of single oncogenic driver mutations, perhaps
      due to second metabolic or genetic "hits." In certain cancer types, existing
      subtypes have metabolic and transcriptomic phenotypes that are reminiscent of
      normal differentiated cells, whereas others reflect the phenotypes of stem or
      mesenchymal cells. The cell-of-origin may, therefore, play a role in tumor
      heterogeneity. In this review, we focus on how cancer cell-specific heterogeneity
      is driven by different genetic or metabolic factors alone or in combination using
      specific cancers to illustrate these concepts. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5195-200.
      (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635043
TI  - Enhanced Survival with Implantable Scaffolds That Capture Metastatic Breast
      Cancer Cells In Vivo.
AB  - The onset of distant organ metastasis from primary breast cancer marks the
      transition to a stage IV diagnosis. Standard imaging modalities often detect
      distant metastasis when the burden of disease is high, underscoring the need for
      improved methods of detection to allow for interventions that would impede
      disease progression. Here, microporous poly(epsilon-caprolactone) scaffolds were
      developed that capture early metastatic cells and thus serve as a sentinel for
      early detection. These scaffolds were used to characterize the dynamic immune
      response to the implant spanning the acute and chronic foreign body response. The
      immune cell composition had stabilized at the scaffold after approximately 1
      month and changed dramatically within days to weeks after tumor inoculation, with
      CD11b(+)Gr1(hi)Ly6C(-) cells having the greatest increase in abundance. Implanted
      scaffolds recruited metastatic cancer cells that were inoculated into the mammary
      fat pad in vivo, which also significantly reduced tumor burden in the liver and
      brain. Additionally, cancer cells could be detected using a label-free imaging
      modality termed inverse spectroscopic optical coherence tomography, and we tested
      the hypothesis that subsequent removal of the primary tumor after early detection
      would enhance survival. Surgical removal of the primary tumor following cancer
      cell detection in the scaffold significantly improved disease-specific survival.
      The enhanced disease-specific survival was associated with a systemic reduction
      in the CD11b(+)Gr1(hi)Ly6C(-) cells as a consequence of the implant, which was
      further supported by Gr-1 depletion studies. Implementation of the scaffold may
      provide diagnostic and therapeutic options for cancer patients in both the high
      risk and adjuvant treatment settings. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5209-18. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635044
TI  - Endosialin-Expressing Pericytes Promote Metastatic Dissemination.
AB  - Metastasis is a multistep process that is critically dependent on the interaction
      of metastasizing tumor cells with cells in the local microenvironment. Within
      this tumor stroma, vessel-associated pericytes and myofibroblasts share a number
      of traits, including the upregulated expression of the transmembrane receptor
      endosialin (CD248). Comparative experiments in wild-type and endosialin-deficient
      mice revealed that stromal endosialin does not affect primary tumor growth but
      strongly promotes spontaneous metastasis. Mechanistically, endosialin-expressing
      pericytes in the primary tumor facilitate distant site metastasis by promoting
      tumor cell intravasation in a cell contact-dependent manner, resulting in
      elevated numbers of circulating tumor cells. Corresponding to these preclinical
      experiments, in independent cohorts of primary human breast cancers, upregulated
      endosialin expression significantly correlates with increased metastasis and
      poorer patient survival. Together, the data demonstrate a critical role for
      endosialin-expressing primary tumor pericytes in mediating metastatic
      dissemination and identify endosialin as a promising therapeutic target in breast
      cancer. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5313-25. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635047
TI  - Correction: An IkappaB alpha Inhibitor Causes Leukemia Cell Death through a p38
      MAP Kinase-dependent, NF-kappaB-independent Mechanism.

PMID- 27635045
TI  - A Small-Molecule Antagonist of HIF2alpha Is Efficacious in Preclinical Models of
      Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - More than 90% of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) exhibit inactivation of
      the von Hippel-Lindau (pVHL) tumor suppressor, establishing it as the major
      underlying cause of this malignancy. pVHL inactivation results in stabilization
      of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factors, HIF1alpha and HIF2alpha, leading
      to expression of a genetic program essential for the initiation and progression
      of ccRCC. Herein, we describe the potent, selective, and orally active small
      molecule inhibitor PT2385 as a specific antagonist of HIF2alpha that
      allosterically blocks its dimerization with the HIF1alpha/2alpha transcriptional
      dimerization partner ARNT/HIF1beta. PT2385 inhibited the expression of HIF2alpha
      dependent genes, including VEGF-A, PAI-1, and cyclin D1 in ccRCC cell lines and
      tumor xenografts. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with PT2385 caused dramatic
      tumor regressions, validating HIF2alpha as a pivotal oncogenic driver in ccRCC.
      Notably, unlike other anticancer agents that inhibit VEGF receptor signaling,
      PT2385 exhibited no adverse effect on cardiovascular performance. Thus, PT2385
      represents a novel class of therapeutics for the treatment of RCC with potent
      preclincal efficacy as well as improved tolerability relative to current agents
      that target the VEGF pathway. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5491-500. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635046
TI  - Integrative Genome-Scale Analysis Identifies Epigenetic Mechanisms of
      Transcriptional Deregulation in Unfavorable Neuroblastomas.
AB  - The broad clinical spectrum of neuroblastoma ranges from spontaneous regression
      to rapid progression despite intensive multimodal therapy. This diversity is not
      fully explained by known genetic aberrations, suggesting the possibility of
      epigenetic involvement in pathogenesis. In pursuit of this hypothesis, we took an
      integrative approach to analyze the methylomes, transcriptomes, and copy number
      variations in 105 cases of neuroblastoma, complemented by primary tumor- and cell
      line-derived global histone modification analyses and epigenetic drug treatment
      in vitro We found that DNA methylation patterns identify divergent patient
      subgroups with respect to survival and clinicobiologic variables, including
      amplified MYCN Transcriptome integration and histone modification-based
      definition of enhancer elements revealed intragenic enhancer methylation as a
      mechanism for high-risk-associated transcriptional deregulation. Furthermore, in
      high-risk neuroblastomas, we obtained evidence for cooperation between PRC2
      activity and DNA methylation in blocking tumor-suppressive differentiation
      programs. Notably, these programs could be re-activated by combination
      treatments, which targeted both PRC2 and DNA methylation. Overall, our results
      illuminate how epigenetic deregulation contributes to neuroblastoma pathogenesis,
      with novel implications for its diagnosis and therapy. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5523
      37. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635048
TI  - Whole-Genome Sequencing and In Silico Analysis of Two Strains of Sporothrix
      globosa.
AB  - Sporothrix globosa is a thermo-dimorphic fungus belonging to a pathogenic clade
      that also includes Sporothrix schenckii, which causes human and animal
      sporotrichosis. Here, we present the first genome assemblies of two S. globosa
      strains providing data for future comparative genomic studies in pathogenic
      Sporothrix species.

PMID- 27635049
TI  - The Flow of the Gibbon LAVA Element Is Facilitated by the LINE-1
      Retrotransposition Machinery.
AB  - LINE-Alu-VNTR-Alu-like (LAVA) elements comprise a family of non-autonomous,
      composite, non-LTR retrotransposons specific to gibbons and may have played a
      role in the evolution of this lineage. A full-length LAVA element consists of
      portions of repeats found in most primate genomes: CT-rich, Alu-like, and VNTR
      regions from the SVA retrotransposon, and portions of the AluSz and L1ME5
      elements. To evaluate whether the gibbon genome currently harbors functional LAVA
      elements capable of mobilization by the endogenous LINE-1 (L1) protein machinery
      and which LAVA components are important for retrotransposition, we established a
      trans-mobilization assay in HeLa cells. Specifically, we tested if a full-length
      member of the older LAVA subfamily C that was isolated from the gibbon genome and
      named LAVAC, or its components, can be mobilized in the presence of the human L1
      protein machinery. We show that L1 proteins mobilize the LAVAC element at
      frequencies exceeding processed pseudogene formation and human SVAE
      retrotransposition by > 100-fold and >=3-fold, respectively. We find that only
      the SVA-derived portions confer activity, and truncation of the 3' L1ME5 portion
      increases retrotransposition rates by at least 100%. Tagged de novo insertions
      integrated into intronic regions in cell culture, recapitulating findings in the
      gibbon genome. Finally, we present alternative models for the rise of the LAVA
      retrotransposon in the gibbon lineage.

PMID- 27635050
TI  - Comparison of Intracellular "Ca. Endomicrobium Trichonymphae" Genomovars
      Illuminates the Requirement and Decay of Defense Systems against Foreign DNA.
AB  - "Candidatus Endomicrobium trichonymphae" (Bacteria; Elusimicrobia) is an obligate
      intracellular symbiont of the cellulolytic protist genus Trichonympha in the
      termite gut. A previous genome analysis of "Ca Endomicrobium trichonymphae"
      phylotype Rs-D17 (genomovar Ri2008), obtained from a Trichonympha agilis cell in
      the gut of the termite Reticulitermes speratus, revealed that its genome is small
      (1.1 Mb) and contains many pseudogenes; it is in the course of reductive genome
      evolution. Here we report the complete genome sequence of another Rs-D17
      genomovar, Ti2015, obtained from a different T. agilis cell present in an R.
      speratus gut. These two genomovars share most intact protein-coding genes and
      pseudogenes, showing 98.6% chromosome sequence similarity. However,
      characteristic differences were found in their defense systems, which comprised
      restriction-modification and CRISPR/Cas systems. The repertoire of intact
      restriction-modification systems differed between the genomovars, and two of the
      three CRISPR/Cas loci in genomovar Ri2008 are pseudogenized or missing in
      genomovar Ti2015. These results suggest relaxed selection pressure for
      maintaining these defense systems. Nevertheless, the remaining CRISPR/Cas system
      in each genomovar appears to be active; none of the "spacer" sequences (112 in
      Ri2008 and 128 in Ti2015) were shared whereas the "repeat" sequences were
      identical. Furthermore, we obtained draft genomes of three additional
      endosymbiotic Endomicrobium phylotypes from different host protist species, and
      discovered multiple, intact CRISPR/Cas systems in each genome. Collectively,
      unlike bacteriome endosymbionts in insects, the Endomicrobium endosymbionts of
      termite-gut protists appear to require defense against foreign DNA, although the
      required level of defense has likely been reduced during their intracellular
      lives.

PMID- 27635051
TI  - Geographic Population Structure in Epstein-Barr Virus Revealed by Comparative
      Genomics.
AB  - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latently infects the majority of the human population
      and is implicated as a causal or contributory factor in numerous diseases. We
      sequenced 27 complete EBV genomes from a cohort of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
      patients and healthy controls from Italy, although no variants showed a
      statistically significant association with MS. Taking advantage of the
      availability of ~130 EBV genomes with known geographical origins, we reveal a
      striking geographic distribution of EBV sub-populations with distinct allele
      frequency distributions. We discuss mechanisms that potentially explain these
      observations, and their implications for understanding the association of EBV
      with human disease.

PMID- 27635052
TI  - Complex Patterns of Association between Pleiotropy and Transcription Factor
      Evolution.
AB  - Pleiotropy has been claimed to constrain gene evolution but specific mechanisms
      and extent of these constraints have been difficult to demonstrate. The expansion
      of molecular data makes it possible to investigate these pleiotropic effects. Few
      classes of genes have been characterized as intensely as human transcription
      factors (TFs). We therefore analyzed the evolutionary rates of full TF proteins,
      along with their DNA binding domains and protein-protein interacting domains
      (PID) in light of the degree of pleiotropy, measured by the number of TF-TF
      interactions, or the number of DNA-binding targets. Data were extracted from the
      ENCODE Chip-Seq dataset, the String v 9.2 database, and the NHGRI GWAS catalog.
      Evolutionary rates of proteins and domains were calculated using the PAML CodeML
      package. Our analysis shows that the numbers of TF-TF interactions and DNA
      binding targets associated with constrained gene evolution; however, the
      constraint caused by the number of DNA binding targets was restricted to the DNA
      binding domains, whereas the number of TF-TF interactions constrained the full
      protein and did so more strongly. Additionally, we found a positive correlation
      between the number of protein-PIDs and the evolutionary rates of the protein
      PIDs. These findings show that not only does pleiotropy associate with
      constrained protein evolution but the constraint differs by domain function.
      Finally, we show that GWAS associated TF genes are more highly pleiotropic : The
      GWAS data illustrates that mutations in highly pleiotropic genes are more likely
      to be associated with disease phenotypes.

PMID- 27635053
TI  - Reptile Pregnancy Is Underpinned by Complex Changes in Uterine Gene Expression: A
      Comparative Analysis of the Uterine Transcriptome in Viviparous and Oviparous
      Lizards.
AB  - The evolution of new organs is difficult to study because most vertebrate organs
      evolved only once, more than 500 million years ago. An ideal model for
      understanding complex organ evolution is the placenta, a structure that is
      present in live bearing reptiles and mammals (amniotes), which has evolved
      independently more than 115 times. Using transcriptomics, we characterized the
      uterine gene expression patterns through the reproductive cycle of a viviparous
      skink lizard, Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii Then we compare these patterns with the
      patterns of gene expression from two oviparous skinks Lampropholis guichenoti and
      Lerista bougainvillii While thousands of genes are differentially expressed
      between pregnant and non-pregnant uterine tissue in the viviparous skink, few
      differentially expressed genes were identified between gravid and non-gravid
      oviparous skinks. This finding suggests that in P. entrecasteauxii, a pregnant
      specific gene expression profile has evolved, allowing for the evolution of
      pregnancy-specific innovations in the uterus. We find substantial gene expression
      differences between the uterus of the chorioallantoic and the yolk sac placenta
      in P. entrecasteauxii, suggesting these placental regions are specialized for
      different placental functions. In particular, the chorioallantoic placenta is
      likely a major site of nutrient transport by membrane-bound transport proteins,
      while the yolk sac placenta also likely transports nutrients but via apocrine
      secretions. We discuss how the evolution of transcription factor networks is
      likely to underpin the evolution of the new transcriptional states in the uterine
      tissue of viviparous reptiles.

PMID- 27635056
TI  - Rules of attraction: endothelial Notch signalling controls leucocyte homing in
      atherosclerosis via VCAM1.

PMID- 27635055
TI  - Complete Genome Sequence of the MRSA Isolate HC1335 from ST239 Lineage Displaying
      a Truncated AgrC Histidine Kinase Receptor.
AB  - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is still one of the most
      important hospital pathogen globally. The multiresistant isolates of the ST239
      SCCmecIII lineage are spread over large geographic regions, colonizing and
      infecting hospital patients in virtually all continents. The balance between
      fitness (adaptability) and virulence potential is likely to represent an
      important issue in the clonal shift dynamics leading the success of some specific
      MRSA clones over another. The accessory gene regulator (agr) is the master quorum
      sensing system of staphylococci playing a role in the global regulation of key
      virulence factors. Consequently, agr inactivation in S. aureus may represent a
      significant mechanism of genetic variability in the adaptation of this healthcare
      associated pathogen. We report here the complete genome sequence of the
      methicillin-resistant S. aureus, isolate HC1335, a variant of the ST239 lineage,
      which presents a natural insertion of an IS256 transposase element in the agrC
      gene encoding AgrC histidine kinase receptor.

PMID- 27635057
TI  - MiR-153/Kv7.4: a novel molecular axis in the regulation of hypertension.

PMID- 27635054
TI  - Low Base-Substitution Mutation Rate in the Germline Genome of the Ciliate
      Tetrahymena thermophil.
AB  - Mutation is the ultimate source of all genetic variation and is, therefore,
      central to evolutionary change. Previous work on Paramecium tetraurelia found an
      unusually low germline base-substitution mutation rate in this ciliate. Here, we
      tested the generality of this result among ciliates using Tetrahymena
      thermophila. We sequenced the genomes of 10 lines of T. thermophila that had each
      undergone approximately 1,000 generations of mutation accumulation (MA). We
      applied an existing mutation-calling pipeline and developed a new probabilistic
      mutation detection approach that directly models the design of an MA experiment
      and accommodates the noise introduced by mismapped reads. Our probabilistic
      mutation-calling method provides a straightforward way of estimating the number
      of sites at which a mutation could have been called if one was present, providing
      the denominator for our mutation rate calculations. From these methods, we find
      that T. thermophila has a germline base-substitution mutation rate of 7.61 * 10 -
      12 per-site, per cell division, which is consistent with the low base
      substitution mutation rate in P. tetraurelia. Over the course of the evolution
      experiment, genomic exclusion lines derived from the MA lines experienced a
      fitness decline that cannot be accounted for by germline base-substitution
      mutations alone, suggesting that other genetic or epigenetic factors must be
      involved. Because selection can only operate to reduce mutation rates based upon
      the "visible" mutational load, asexual reproduction with a transcriptionally
      silent germline may allow ciliates to evolve extremely low germline mutation
      rates.

PMID- 27635059
TI  - Paired suicide in a young refugee couple on the Thai-Myanmar border.
AB  - A young refugee woman attended antenatal clinic on the Thai-Myanmar border at 9
      weeks' gestation. As part of an ongoing study of perinatal mental health, she
      underwent a structured psychiatric interview during which she described
      occasional depressed mood, anhedonia and passive suicidal ideation. Her husband
      was a young refugee known to use alcohol and drugs. 2 days later, the couple
      committed suicide together by herbicide ingestion. Refugee populations are at
      risk of developing mental disorders as a result of their marginalised status,
      socioeconomic disadvantage and exposures to trauma. Pregnancy may have
      exacerbated feelings of hopelessness in this couple. The prevalence of mental
      disorders such as depression is increased in the perinatal period and suicide is
      the second leading cause of death in young women globally. Prevention programmes
      and early recognition of mental disorders may improve detection and lead to
      better support for vulnerable individuals. 

PMID- 27635060
TI  - From Primordial Germ to Mewling Pup: Advancing Oogenesis In Vitro.

PMID- 27635061
TI  - Copper deficiency as a cause of neutropenia in a case of coeliac disease.
AB  - We report a 17 year-old male patient, who presented with chronic diarrhoea,
      progressive pallor, short stature, anaemia (haemoglobin of 4.9 g/dL) and
      neutropenia and was diagnosed as coeliac disease. His neutropenia did not respond
      to 8 months of gluten-free diet, iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 therapy. So we
      suspected copper deficiency and his serum copper levels were tested, which was
      low. His neutrophil counts normalised after 2 months of copper supplementation.
      Hence we concluded that the cause of neutropenia in our case was copper
      deficiency. 

PMID- 27635058
TI  - Systems biology-opportunities and challenges: the application of proteomics to
      study the cardiovascular extracellular matrix.
AB  - Systems biology approaches including proteomics are becoming more widely used in
      cardiovascular research. In this review article, we focus on the application of
      proteomics to the cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM). ECM remodelling is a
      hallmark of many cardiovascular diseases. Proteomic techniques using mass
      spectrometry (MS) provide a platform for the comprehensive analysis of ECM
      proteins without a priori assumptions. Proteomics overcomes various constraints
      inherent to conventional antibody detection. On the other hand, studies that use
      whole tissue lysates for proteomic analysis mask the identification of the less
      abundant ECM constituents. In this review, we first discuss decellularization
      based methods that enrich for ECM proteins in cardiac tissue, and how targeted MS
      allows for accurate protein quantification. The second part of the review will
      focus on post-translational modifications including hydroxylation and
      glycosylation and on the release of matrix fragments with biological activity
      (matrikines), all of which can be interrogated by proteomic techniques.

PMID- 27635062
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of metamorphopsia after successful rhegmatogenous
      retinal detachment surgery: a cross-sectional, comparative study.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the prevalence of metamorphopsia after successful
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery and determine the independent
      predictors of metamorphopsia. METHODS: A cross-sectional, comparative study. The
      study included 380 eyes of 357 patients who underwent a successful RRD surgery
      between 2009 and 2015. The presence of metamorphopsia was tested with an Amsler
      grid and the foveal microstructure was scanned with high-resolution spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) at a follow-up visit. Medical records
      were reviewed for preoperative and intraoperative factors associated with
      postoperative visual recovery. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 35.1+/-19.6
      months. The prevalence of metamorphopsia in our study was 46.58% (177/380),
      whereas in macula-off cases this number increased to 56.69% (144/254). Stepwise
      logistic regression analysis indicated that younger age at the diagnosis
      (OR=0.97, p<0.01), preoperative macula-off status (OR=3.34, p<0.01),
      postoperative presence of subretinal fluid (SRF) (OR=3.58, p=0.01) and disrupted
      external limiting membrane (ELM) junction (OR=1.79, p=0.02) were the independent
      predictors for metamorphopsia after surgery. The abnormal foveal microstructures
      after successful surgeries mainly included six types: disrupted inner
      segment/outer segment (133 eyes, 35.00%), disrupted ELM (131 eyes, 34.47%),
      epiretinal membrane (44 eyes, 11.58%), SRF (26 eyes, 6.84%), macular hole (9
      eyes, 2.37%) and cystoid macular oedema (6 eyes, 1.58%). CONCLUSIONS: Considering
      metamorphopsia, special attention should be paid to young patients and/or the
      cases with involvement of macula. High-resolution OCT is informative in detecting
      anatomic abnormalities after RRD surgery. The postoperative presence of SRF and
      disrupted ELM line are independent predictors of metamorphopsia.

PMID- 27635063
TI  - New Zealand trends in corneal transplantation over the 25 years 1991-2015.
AB  - AIMS: To report the 25-year longitudinal trends in indications and corneal
      transplantation techniques in New Zealand. METHODS: Statistical analysis of
      prospectively acquired New Zealand National Eye Bank (NZNEB) electronic database
      from 1991 to 2015 inclusive. Subjects were recipients of corneal transplants in
      62 centres supplied by the NZNEB. Main outcome measures were indications,
      recipient age and transplantation techniques. RESULTS: From January 1991 to
      December 2015, NZNEB supplied tissue for 5574 corneal transplants, increasing
      annually from 89 (1991) to 290 (2015). Penetrating keratoplasty remained the most
      commonly performed technique throughout the 25-year period, although it decreased
      from 98.9% of all transplants in 1991 to 60.3% in 2015. There was a corresponding
      increase in deep anterior lamellar and endothelial keratoplasty over the most
      recent decade from 2.5% to 7.2% and 4.9% to 31.4%, respectively. Keratoconus
      remained the leading indication for keratoplasty through to 2015 (34.5%).
      Regrafts (23.1%) and Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (17.0%) have become more
      common indications, while bullous keratopathy has become less common (10.8%).
      There was a bimodal distribution in age with peaks at 20-29 and 60-79 years.
      There was a reduction in recipients under age 40 and corresponding increase in
      the percentage of recipients aged 40-69. CONCLUSION: Changing indications and
      increasing uptake of lamellar keratoplasty have been significant international
      trends over the last 25 years. However, New Zealand's corneal disease and
      population characteristics create unique longitudinal trends, with keratoconus
      remaining the leading indication and penetrating keratoplasty the leading
      technique from 1991 to 2015.

PMID- 27635064
TI  - Long-term functional results following vitrectomy for advanced retinopathy of
      prematurity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess long-term functional results after vitrectomy for stages 4 and
      5 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data from
      eyes that underwent lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) or combined lensectomy and
      vitrectomy (LV) and had a follow-up of at least 5 years. RESULTS: Eighty-eight
      eyes of 65 infants who underwent LSV or LV for stage 4 or 5 ROP were included in
      the study. The mean follow-up was 6.9 years. The anatomic success rate was 89%
      (17/19) for stage 4A, 63% (24/38) for stage 4B, and 42% (13/31) for stage 5.
      Forty-five eyes (51%) had measurable visual acuity (VA). The approximate Snellen
      VA equivalent was 20/550 for stage 4A, 20/1600 for stage 4B, and 20/4000 for
      stage 5. The remaining 39% (34/88) had light perception or no light perception.
      Owing to neurological conditions, VA in nine eyes (10%) could not be measured.
      Anatomic and visual outcomes were not associated with surgical technique.
      CONCLUSIONS: Surgery for stage 4A ROP has better visual success. Acceptable
      vision for stage 4B and poor for stage 5 ROP, despite retinal reattachment, is
      thought to be secondary to irreversible injury to either the retina or visual
      nervous pathways, or both.

PMID- 27635066
TI  - Cancer metabolism at a glance.
AB  - A defining hallmark of cancer is uncontrolled cell proliferation. This is
      initiated once cells have accumulated alterations in signaling pathways that
      control metabolism and proliferation, wherein the metabolic alterations provide
      the energetic and anabolic demands of enhanced cell proliferation. How these
      metabolic requirements are satisfied depends, in part, on the tumor
      microenvironment, which determines the availability of nutrients and oxygen. In
      this Cell Science at a Glance paper and the accompanying poster, we summarize our
      current understanding of cancer metabolism, emphasizing pathways of nutrient
      utilization and metabolism that either appear or have been proven essential for
      cancer cells. We also review how this knowledge has contributed to the
      development of anticancer therapies that target cancer metabolism.

PMID- 27635067
TI  - Retraction: ER stress is associated with dedifferentiation and an epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition-like phenotype in PC Cl3 thyroid cells.

PMID- 27635065
TI  - The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer (PLCO) Screening Trial
      Pathology Tissue Resource.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathology tissue specimens with associated epidemiologic and clinical
      data are valuable for cancer research. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian
      (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial undertook a large-scale effort to create a public
      resource of pathology tissues from PLCO participants who developed a cancer
      during the trial. METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were
      obtained from pathology laboratories on a loan basis for central processing of
      tissue microarrays, with additional free-standing tissue cores collected for
      nucleic acid extraction. RESULTS: Pathology tissue specimens were obtained for
      prostate cancer (n = 1,052), lung cancer (n = 434), colorectal cancer (n = 675)
      and adenoma (n = 658), ovarian cancer and borderline tumors (n = 212), breast
      cancer (n = 870), and bladder cancer (n = 204). The process of creating this
      resource was complex, involving multidisciplinary teams with expertise in
      pathology, epidemiology, information technology, project management, and
      specialized laboratories. CONCLUSIONS: Creating the PLCO tissue resource required
      a multistep process, including obtaining medical records and contacting pathology
      departments where pathology materials were stored after obtaining necessary
      patient consent and authorization. The potential to link tissue biomarkers to
      prospectively collected epidemiologic information, screening and clinical data,
      and matched blood or buccal samples offers valuable opportunities to study
      etiologic heterogeneity, mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and biomarkers for early
      detection and prognosis. IMPACT: The methods and protocols developed for this
      effort, and the detailed description of this resource provided here, will be
      useful for those seeking to use PLCO pathology tissue specimens for their
      research and may also inform future tissue collection efforts in other settings.
      Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(12); 1635-42. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635068
TI  - Signal-Averaged Electrocardiography as a Noninvasive Tool for Evaluating the
      Outcomes After Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia in
      Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease: Reassessment of an Old Tool.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inducibility of ventricular tachycardia (VT) has limited ability to
      predict recurrent VT after catheter ablation (CA). We sought to correlate the
      signal-averaged ECG (SAECG) with the endocardial scar characteristics in patients
      with ischemic VTs. We suggest that successful CA can result in normalization of
      the SAECG. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty patients (42 male; aged 67+/-10 years,
      ejection fraction 34+/-12%) with ischemic VTs were prospectively enrolled. SAECG
      was performed before and after CA. Patients with at least 2 abnormal criteria
      (filtered QRS >=114 ms; root mean square 40 <20 MUV, and low-amplitude potentials
      40 >38 ms) were defined as having positive SAECG. There was a linear correlation
      between endocardial scar area (<1.5 mV) and filtered QRS (r=0.414; P=0.003). CA
      resulted in normalization of the SAECG in 6 patients. In patients with filtered
      QRS <=120 ms, 13 (40.6%) patients had normal SAECG after CA compared with 7
      (21.9%) before ablation (P=0.034). Patients with normal or normalized SAECG after
      CA had better VT-free survival compared with those whose SAECG remained abnormal.
      Abnormal SAECG after CA was a predictor for VT recurrence: hazard ratio=3.64;
      P=0.039 for the overall population, and hazard ratio=5.80; P=0.022 for patients
      having QRS <=120 ms. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant correlation between the
      surface SAECG and endocardial scar size in patients with ischemic VTs. A
      successful CA can result in normalization of SAECG that is associated with more
      favorable long-term outcomes. SAECG can be useful to assess the procedural
      success of VT ablation.

PMID- 27635069
TI  - Outcomes of Transvenous Lead Extraction for Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic
      Device Infections in Patients With Prosthetic Heart Valves.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lead-related or valve-related endocarditis can complicate
      cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) infection in patients with
      both CIED and prosthetic valves. The objective of this study was to determine the
      outcomes of transvenous lead extraction for CIED infection in patients with
      prosthetic valves. METHODS AND RESULTS: We retrospectively screened 794
      transvenous lead extraction procedures, between September 1, 2001 and August 31,
      2012, at Mayo Clinic to identify patients with prosthetic valves who underwent
      lead extraction for infection. Demographic, clinical, and follow-up
      characteristics were analyzed. In total, 51 patients (6%) met the study inclusion
      criteria, of whom 20 had pocket infection and 31 had lead-related or valve
      related, or both, endocarditis or bloodstream infection (mean age, 67 [18]
      years). Staphylococcal species were the most common pathogens, including
      Staphylococcus aureus in 20 cases (39%) and coagulase-negative staphylococci in
      19 cases (37%). Overall, 127 transvenous leads (median lead age, 52 months) were
      extracted. Of these leads, 123 (97%) were removed completely. The in-hospital
      mortality rate was 9.8%; no deaths were attributable to the extraction procedure.
      Ninety-five percent of patients who survived had no evidence of recurrent device
      related or valve-related infection. CONCLUSIONS: Transvenous lead extraction
      seems safe and curative in patients with CIED infection and prosthetic valves.
      Cure of infection can be achieved in the majority of patients with complete CIED
      removal and antimicrobial therapy and without valve surgery.

PMID- 27635070
TI  - Conversion to Purkinje-Related Monomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia After Ablation
      of Ventricular Fibrillation in Ischemic Heart Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation is an effective therapy for ventricular
      fibrillation (VF) arising from the Purkinje system in ischemic heart disease.
      However, some patients experience newly emergent monomorphic ventricular
      tachycardia (VT) after the ablation of VF. We evaluated the prevalence and
      mechanism of monomorphic VT after VF ablation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-one
      consecutive patients with primary VF because of ischemic heart disease who
      underwent catheter ablation were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty of 21 patients
      were in electrical storm. Ventricular premature contractions triggering VF arose
      from the left Purkinje system and were targeted for ablation. Before the
      ablation, 14 of 21 patients had only VF, and the other 7 had VF and concomitant
      monomorphic VT. Four of the 14 patients with only VF (29%) exhibited newly
      emergent monomorphic VT after VF ablation. Three of these patients had Purkinje
      related VTs, which were successfully eliminated by the ablation of a Purkinje
      network located in the same low-voltage area as the site of prior successful VF
      ablation. During a median follow-up of 28 months (interquartile range, 16-68
      months), VF recurred in 6 of 21 patients (29%); however, there were neither
      electrical storms nor monomorphic VT, and all recurring arrhythmias were
      controlled by medical therapy alone. CONCLUSIONS: Over one fifth of patients with
      primary ischemic VF experienced newly emergent Purkinje-related monomorphic VT
      after VF ablation. The circuit of the monomorphic VT associated with the Purkinje
      network was located in the same low-voltage area as the Purkinje tissue that
      triggered VF and could be suppressed by additional ablation.

PMID- 27635071
TI  - Macroreentrant Loop in Ventricular Tachycardia From the Left Posterior Fascicle:
      New Implications for Mapping and Ablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The underlying mechanisms of reentry during left posterior fascicular
      ventricular tachycardia (LPF-VT) remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to
      describe the components of LPF-VT reentry circuit and their electrophysiological
      properties. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fourteen consecutive patients with LPF-VT
      underwent electrophysiology study and radiofrequency ablation. Via a multipolar
      electrode catheter placed from a retrograde aortic approach, a sharp inflection,
      high-frequency potential (P1) was detected in 9 patients (64%). The ranges of
      length and velocity of recorded P1 were 9 to 30 mm and 0.5 to 1.2 mm/ms,
      respectively. Macroreentry involving the ventricular myocardium was confirmed to
      be the mechanism in all patients by premature ventricular stimuli delivery or
      entrainment of LPF-VT with progressive fusion, or both. During LPF-VT, the
      earliest left posterior fascicle (LPF, P2) was considered to be the site of
      connection between P1 and P2, and the site of the earliest P2 along the left
      posterior ventricular septum correlated well with the His-ventricular interval
      during tachycardia. Radiofrequency ablation focused on the P1 potentials (9
      patients with a recorded P1) or earliest P2 (5 patients without a recorded P1)
      was successful in all 14 patients. After 4.5+/-3.0 months of follow-up, no
      patients had recurrence of LPF-VT. CONCLUSIONS: The LPF-VT macroreentrant loop
      involves the ventricular myocardium, a part of the LPF, a slow conduction zone,
      and in certain cases, a specially conducting P1 fiber. The His-ventricular
      interval during LPF-VT correlates with multiple electrophysiological measures and
      is a useful marker for identification of the optimal ablation site.

PMID- 27635072
TI  - Cardiac Abnormalities in First-Degree Relatives of Unexplained Cardiac Arrest
      Victims: A Report From the Cardiac Arrest Survivors With Preserved Ejection
      Fraction Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unexplained cardiac arrest (UCA) may be explained by inherited
      arrhythmia syndromes. The Cardiac Arrest Survivors With Preserved Ejection
      Fraction Registry prospectively assessed first-degree relatives of UCA or sudden
      unexplained death victims to screen for cardiac abnormalities. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Around 398 first-degree family members (186 UCA, 212 sudden unexplained
      death victims' relatives; mean age, 44+/-17 years) underwent extensive cardiac
      workup, including ECG, signal averaged ECG, exercise testing, cardiac imaging,
      Holter-monitoring, and selective provocative drug testing with epinephrine or
      procainamide. Genetic testing was performed when a mutation was identified in the
      UCA survivor or when the diagnostic workup revealed a phenotype suggestive of a
      specific inherited arrhythmia syndrome. The diagnostic strength was classified as
      definite, probable, or possible based on previously published definitions.
      Cardiac abnormalities were detected in 120 of 398 patients (30.2%) with 67 of 398
      having a definite or probable diagnosis (17%), including Long-QT syndrome (13%),
      catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (4%), arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular cardiomyopathy (4%), and Brugada syndrome (3%). The detection yield
      was similar for family members of UCA and sudden unexplained death victims (31%
      versus 27%; P=0.59). Genetic testing was performed more often in family members
      of UCA patients (29% versus 20%; P=0.03). Disease-causing mutations were
      identified in 20 of 398 relatives (5%). The most common pathogenic mutations were
      RyR2 (2%), SCN5A (1%), and KNCQ1 (0.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac screening revealed
      abnormalities in 30% of first-degree relatives of UCA or sudden unexplained death
      victims, with a clear working diagnosis in 17%. Long-QT, arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular cardiomyopathy, and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular
      tachycardia were the most common diagnoses. Systematic cascade screening and
      genetic testing in asymptomatic individuals will lead to preventive lifestyle and
      medical interventions with potential to prevent sudden cardiac death. CLINICAL
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier:
      NCT00292032.

PMID- 27635073
TI  - Clinical Experience With the Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator
      in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sudden cardiac death is a major contributor to mortality for adults
      with congenital heart disease. The subcutaneous implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator (ICD) has emerged as a novel tool for prevention of sudden cardiac
      death, but clinical performance data for adults with congenital heart disease are
      limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: A retrospective study involving 7 centers over a 5
      year period beginning in 2011 was performed. Twenty-one patients (median 33.9
      years) were identified. The most common diagnosis was single ventricle physiology
      (52%), 9 palliated by Fontan operation and 2 by aortopulmonary shunts: d
      transposition of the great arteries after Mustard/Senning (n=2), tetralogy of
      Fallot (n=2), aortic valve disease (n=2), and other biventricular surgery (n=4).
      A prior cardiac device had been implanted in 7 (33%). The ICD indication was
      primary prevention in 67% and secondary in 33% patients. The most common reason
      for subcutaneous ICD placement was limited transvenous access for ventricular
      lead placement (n=10) followed by intracardiac right-to-left shunt (n=5).
      Ventricular arrhythmia was induced in 17 (81%) and was converted with <=80 Joules
      in all. There was one implant complication related to infection, not requiring
      device removal. Over a median follow-up of 14 months, 4 patients (21%) received
      inappropriate and 1 (5%) patient received appropriate shocks. There was one
      arrhythmic death related to asystole in a single ventricle patient. CONCLUSIONS:
      Subcutaneous ICD implantation is feasible for adults with congenital heart
      disease patients. Most candidates have single ventricle heart disease and limited
      transvenous options for ICD placement. Despite variable anatomy, this study
      demonstrates successful conversion of induced ventricular arrhythmia and
      reasonable rhythm discrimination during follow-up.

PMID- 27635074
TI  - Letter From Briceno et al Regarding Article, "An Unexpectedly High Incidence of
      Stroke and Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus Formation After Electrical Isolation of
      the Left Atrial Appendage for the Treatment of Atrial Tachyarrhythmias".

PMID- 27635075
TI  - What Is the Real Identity of the Mysterious Potential P1, and What Is the Most
      Important Segment of the Fascicular Ventricular Tachycardia Circuit?

PMID- 27635076
TI  - Response by Rillig et al to Letter Regarding Article, "An Unexpectedly High
      Incidence of Stroke and Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus Formation After Electrical
      Isolation of the Left Atrial Appendage for the Treatment of Atrial
      Tachyarrhythmias".

PMID- 27635077
TI  - New Definition of Aging? Measuring Regenerative Capacity in Patients.

PMID- 27635079
TI  - Is Stimulation of Cardiomyocyte Renewal a Facette of Reversible Catecholamine
      Toxicity?

PMID- 27635080
TI  - Taking NO for an Answer: Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Nitrite in HFpEF.

PMID- 27635078
TI  - Macrophages in the Remodeling Failing Heart.

PMID- 27635081
TI  - The CNIC: A Successful Vision in Cardiovascular Research.

PMID- 27635082
TI  - Matthias Nahrendorf: Healing Insights.

PMID- 27635083
TI  - RNA Therapeutics for Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases: Promises and
      Challenges.

PMID- 27635084
TI  - Equipoise in Clinical Trials: Angst and Progress.

PMID- 27635085
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27635086
TI  - Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic MRI of the Human Heart: Initial Experience.
AB  - RATIONALE: Altered cardiac energetics is known to play an important role in the
      progression toward heart failure. A noninvasive method for imaging metabolic
      markers that could be used in longitudinal studies would be useful for
      understanding therapeutic approaches that target metabolism. OBJECTIVE: To
      demonstrate the first hyperpolarized 13C metabolic magnetic resonance imaging of
      the human heart. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four healthy subjects underwent
      conventional proton cardiac magnetic resonance imaging followed by 13C imaging
      and spectroscopic acquisition immediately after intravenous administration of a
      0.1 mmol/kg dose of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate. All subjects tolerated the
      procedure well with no adverse effects reported <=1 month post procedure. The [1
      13C]pyruvate signal appeared within the chambers but not within the muscle.
      Imaging of the downstream metabolites showed 13C-bicarbonate signal mainly
      confined to the left ventricular myocardium, whereas the [1-13C]lactate signal
      appeared both within the chambers and in the myocardium. The mean 13C image
      signal:noise ratio was 115 for [1-13C]pyruvate, 56 for 13C-bicarbonate, and 53
      for [1-13C]lactate. CONCLUSIONS: These results represent the first 13C images of
      the human heart. The appearance of 13C-bicarbonate signal after administration of
      hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate was readily detected in this healthy cohort (n=4).
      This shows that assessment of pyruvate metabolism in vivo in humans is feasible
      using current technology. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02648009.

PMID- 27635087
TI  - Atherosclerosis-Driven Treg Plasticity Results in Formation of a Dysfunctional
      Subset of Plastic IFNgamma+ Th1/Tregs.
AB  - RATIONALE: Forkhead box P3+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) are key players in
      maintaining immune homeostasis. Evidence suggests that Tregs respond to
      environmental cues to permit or suppress inflammation. In atherosclerosis, Th1
      driven inflammation affects Treg homeostasis, but the mechanisms governing this
      phenomenon are unclear. OBJECTIVE: Here, we address whether atherosclerosis
      impacts Treg plasticity and functionality in Apoe-/- mice, and what effect Treg
      plasticity might have on the pathology of atherosclerosis. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      We demonstrate that atherosclerosis promotes Treg plasticity, resulting in the
      reduction of CXCR3+ Tregs and the accumulation of an intermediate Th1-like
      interferon (IFN)-gamma+CCR5+ Treg subset (Th1/Tregs) within the aorta.
      Importantly, Th1/Tregs arise in atherosclerosis from bona fide Tregs, rather than
      from T-effector cells. We show that Th1/Tregs recovered from atherosclerotic mice
      are dysfunctional in suppression assays. Using an adoptive transfer system and
      plasticity-prone Mir146a-/- Tregs, we demonstrate that elevated IFNgamma+ Mir146a
      /- Th1/Tregs are unable to adequately reduce atherosclerosis, arterial Th1, or
      macrophage content within Apoe-/- mice, in comparison to Mir146a+/+ Tregs.
      Finally, via single-cell RNA-sequencing and real-time -polymerase chain reaction,
      we show that Th1/Tregs possess a unique transcriptional phenotype characterized
      by coexpression of Treg and Th1 lineage genes and a downregulation of Treg
      related genes, including Ikzf2, Ikzf4, Tigit, Lilrb4, and Il10. In addition, an
      ingenuity pathway analysis further implicates IFNgamma, IFNalpha, interleukin-2,
      interleukin-7, CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4), T-cell
      receptor, and Csnk2b-related pathways in regulating Treg plasticity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Atherosclerosis drives Treg plasticity, resulting in the accumulation of
      dysfunctional IFNgamma+ Th1/Tregs that may permit further arterial inflammation
      and atherogenesis.

PMID- 27635088
TI  - Administration of Non-Torsadogenic human Ether-a-go-go-Related Gene Inhibitors Is
      Associated with Better Survival for High hERG-Expressing Glioblastoma Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Glioblastoma is the most malignant primary brain tumor, with a median
      survival of less than 2 years. More effective therapeutic approaches are needed
      to improve clinical outcomes. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Glioblastoma patient-derived
      cells (GPDC) were isolated from patient glioblastomas and implanted in mice to
      form xenografts. IHC was performed for human Ether-a-go-go-Related Gene (hERG)
      expression and tumor proliferation. Sphere-forming assays with the hERG blocker E
      4031 were performed on a high and low hERG-expressing lines. A glioblastoma
      tissue microarray (TMA; 115 patients) was used to correlate hERG expression with
      patient survival. Clinical data were analyzed to determine whether patient
      survival was affected by incidental administration of hERG inhibitory drugs and
      the correlative effect of patient glioblastoma hERG expression levels. RESULTS:
      hERG expression was upregulated in glioblastoma xenografts with higher
      proliferative indices. High hERG-expressing GPDCs showed a reduction in sphere
      formation when treated with hERG inhibitors compared with low hERG-expressing
      GPDCs. Glioblastoma TMA analysis showed worse survival for glioblastoma patients
      with high hERG expression versus low expression-43.5 weeks versus 60.9 weeks,
      respectively (P = 0.022). Furthermore, patients who received at least one hERG
      blocker had a better survival rate compared with patients who did not (P =
      0.0015). Subgroup analysis showed that glioblastoma patients with high hERG
      expression who received hERG blockers had improved survival (P = 0.0458). There
      was no difference in survival for low hERG-expressing glioblastoma patients who
      received hERG blockers (P = 0.4136). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that hERG
      is a potential glioblastoma survival marker, and that already approved drugs with
      non-torsadogenic hERG inhibitory activity may potentially be repurposed as
      adjuvant glioblastoma therapy in high hERG-expressing glioblastoma patients. Clin
      Cancer Res; 23(1); 73-80. (c)2016 AACRSee related commentary by Arcangeli and
      Becchetti, p. 3.

PMID- 27635090
TI  - Prevalence of Levator Ani Defects in Urogynecological Patients.
AB  - Introduction: Defects of the levator ani muscle complex could represent a
      pathophysiological link between vaginal birth trauma and urogynecological
      symptoms many years later. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence
      of levator ani muscle defects using 3D or 4D ultrasound and palpation in
      urogynecological patients. Material and Methods: Urogynecological patients were
      retrospectively investigated using 3D or 4D ultrasound. Clinical examination
      consisted of palpation and 3D or 4D imaging of the levator ani muscle. Results: A
      total of 319 women were included in the analysis. Mean age was 64.9 years,
      average parity was 2.1. Stress incontinence was present in 50.8 %, overactive
      bladder symptoms in 69.3 % and pelvic organ prolapse in 42.3 % of patients. A
      levator ani defect was found on ultrasound in 76 patients (23.8 %) and on
      palpation in 64 women (20.0 %). In the group of patients with pelvic organ
      prolapse, levator ani defects were found in 32.6 % of patients using ultrasound
      and in 26.7 % of patients using palpation. The odds ratio (OR) for levator ani
      defects in women with pelvic organ prolapse was 2.3 (95 % CI [CI: confidence
      interval]: 1.36-3.88], p = 0.002). Conclusion: In a cohort of urogynecological
      patients seen at a tertiary urogynecological unit, the prevalence of levator ani
      defects was significantly higher in women with pelvic organ prolapse compared to
      women with stress incontinence or urge symptoms.

PMID- 27635091
TI  - Pain services and prescription of opioid drugs in Ghana.

PMID- 27635089
TI  - Efficacy of Anti-mesothelin Immunotoxin RG7787 plus Nab-Paclitaxel against
      Mesothelioma Patient-Derived Xenografts and Mesothelin as a Biomarker of Tumor
      Response.
AB  - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antitumor efficacy of the
      reduced immunogenicity anti-mesothelin immunotoxin RG7787 plus nab-paclitaxel
      against primary mesothelioma cell lines and tumor xenografts and the utility of
      mesothelin as a biomarker of tumor response.Experimental Design: Early-passage
      human malignant mesothelioma cell lines NCI-Meso16, NCI-Meso19, NCI-Meso21, and
      NCI-Meso29 were evaluated for sensitivity to RG7787 or nab-paclitaxel alone or in
      combination. In addition, the antitumor activity of RG7787 plus nab-paclitaxel
      was evaluated using NCI-Meso16, NCI-Meso21, and NCI-Meso29 tumor xenografts in
      immunodeficient mice. Serum mesothelin was measured at different time points to
      determine whether its levels correlated with tumor response.Results: All four
      primary mesothelioma cell lines highly expressed mesothelin with 41 * 103 to 346
      * 103 mesothelin sites per cell and were sensitive to RG7787, with IC50 ranging
      from 0.3 to 10 ng/mL. Except for NCI-Meso19, these cells were also sensitive to
      nab-paclitaxel, with IC50 of 10 to 25 ng/mL. In vitro, RG7787 plus nab-paclitaxel
      led to decreased cell viability compared with either agent alone. In NCI-Meso16
      tumor xenografts, treatment with RG7787 plus nab-paclitaxel led to sustained
      complete tumor regressions. Similar antitumor efficacy was observed against NCI
      Meso21 and NCI-Meso29 tumor xenografts. In all three tumor xenograft models,
      changes in human serum mesothelin correlated with response to therapy and were
      undetectable in mice with complete tumor regression with RG7787 and nab
      paclitaxel.Conclusions: RG7787 plus nab-paclitaxel is very active against primary
      human mesothelioma cells in vitro as well as in vivo, with serum mesothelin
      levels correlating with tumor response. These results indicate that this
      combination could be useful for treating patients with mesothelioma. Clin Cancer
      Res; 23(6); 1564-74. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27635092
TI  - Opioid prescribing habits of physicians in Kwara State, Nigeria.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although opioid analgesics are effective in the treatment of moderate
      to severe acute, cancer and chronic non-malignant pains, they are under
      prescribed in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to assess the prescription
      pattern of opioids among physicians in a north central State, Nigeria.. DESIGN:
      This was a descriptive cross sectional study. SETTING: The study was conducted at
      the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)-sponsored workshops on
      pain and palliative care at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin,
      Nigeria. PARTICIPANTS: These were physicians at the monthly workshops organized
      by the Pain and Palliative Care Unit of the hospital between August 2011 and
      July, 2012. INTERVENTIONS: Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires were used to
      obtain responses to questions on pain management including opioids utilization in
      the various hospitals of the 114 participants. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main
      outcome measure was opioid prescription by the participants. RESULTS: Out of the
      114 questionnaires distributed, 113 were returned with complete information
      giving a response rate of 99.1%. The mean age of the respondents was 42.0+/-10.8
      years. Although 97.3% of the respondents reported that pain was a frequent
      complaint in their practice, 69.5% of those who reported seeing patients with
      moderate to severe pain on a daily basis rarely or never prescribed opioid
      analgesics. The reasons given for poor opioid prescription were fear of
      respiratory depression (86.8%), fear of addiction (85.1%) and non-availability
      (28.9%). CONCLUSION: Opioid prescription rate for patients with moderate-severe
      pain is low possibly due to myths and misconceptions about their adverse effects.
      FUNDING: International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Initiative for
      Improving Pain Education Grant awarded to Dr. K.W. Wahab in 2011.

PMID- 27635093
TI  - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Zimbabwe.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) in Africa is sparsely documented. In Zimbabwe there is no routine patient
      or specimen screening for MRSA. The aim of this study was to document the
      presence and epidemiology of MRSA in Zimbabwe. METHOD: The study was done in one
      private sector laboratory with a national network that serves both public and
      private hospitals. The sample population included in-patients and outpatients,
      all ages, both genders, all races and only one positive specimen per patient was
      counted. Specimens testing positive for Staphylococcus aureus in this laboratory
      were further tested for MRSA using cefoxitin, by standard laboratory procedures.
      Data was collected from 1(st) June 2013 to 31(st) May 2014. RESULTS: MRSA was
      positive in 30 of 407 [7.0%] cases of Stapylococcus aureus reported from the
      laboratory. All age groups were affected from neonates to geriatrics. All
      specimens had similar antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Resistance was high for
      most widely used drugs in Zimbabwe with high sensitivity to vancomycin, linezolid
      and teicoplanin. CONCLUSION: Although there are no recent reports in the
      literature of the presence of MRSA in Zimbabwe, this study documented a 7.0%
      prevalence. Resistance to common antibiotics is high and antibiotic oversight is
      required to control the emergence of resistance to these few expensive drugs.
      FUNDING: Study was supported by Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care
      funds.

PMID- 27635094
TI  - Outcome of pregnancy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosis at Korle-bu
      Teaching Hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study maternal and fetal outcomes in Ghanaian women with systemic
      lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: Retrospective study of pregnancies in women
      with SLE in a single centre in Ghana. RESULTS: The mean age was 30.1 years and
      all were nulliparous. Two out of the seven pregnancies were in disease remission
      at the time of booking. Nephritis without renal impairment was present in 7
      pregnancies (6 women). One woman developed intrapartum eclampsia. Two women had
      secondary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Two suffered early fetal losses and
      one late fetal loss at 32 weeks. All three who lost their fetus had uncontrolled
      hypertension. Six had mild flares mainly joint pains during pregnancy. There was
      no maternal mortality. The median gestational age at delivery was 38 weeks
      (range, 16 to 40 weeks) and the mean birth weight was 3017 g; the median Apgar
      scores were 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes of life, respectively. There were no cases
      of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). There were no cases of congenital
      heart block or neonatal lupus. CONCLUSION: Good pregnancy outcomes are possible
      in women with SLE even in resource poor settings. . All pregnancies should still
      be considered high risk and be managed jointly between the obstetricians, the
      perinatologists and the rheumatologists, in particular, those with renal
      involvement and hypertension. Long term follow up of a larger cohort is needed.
      FUNDING: None declared.

PMID- 27635095
TI  - Relationship between serum total magnesium and serum potassium in emergency
      surgical patients in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Potassium and magnesium are the two most abundant intra-cellular
      cations. They play pivotal roles in many essential biological processes.
      Deficiencies of these electrolytes are of clinical importance in hospitalised
      patients. AIM: To determine the relationship between serum total magnesium and
      potassium levels in adult patients requiring an emergency intra-abdominal surgery
      and the clinical utility of this relationship in the care of patients. METHODS: A
      cross sectional study was conducted over a five month period at the Korle-Bu
      Teaching Hospital. All 101 adult patients admitted for emergency intra-abdominal
      surgery, who met the inclusion criteria and gave informed consent, were
      consecutively recruited and enrolled into the study. Patients' characteristics
      preoperative total serum magnesium, serum potassium and albumin levels were
      determined. Regression analysis and correlation coefficients were used to
      determine the relation between serum magnesium and potassium. Analysis was done
      using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Mean serum total magnesium and serum potassium
      were 0.66+/-0.20mmol/L and 3.79+/-0.65mmol/L respectively. There was a
      significant but weak positive correlation between serum hypokalaemia and serum
      magnesium levels. Pearson's correlation coefficient (2 tailed) was 0.21, R(2)=
      0.04, p = value 0.038. Analysis generated a regression model: [Mg] = 0.06[K] +
      0.42mmol/L, with a p-value = 0.038. CONCLUSION: A mathematical relationship was
      found between serum total magnesium and serum potassium among adult patients who
      require emergency intra-abdominal surgery. However, it had limited clinical
      utility. FUNDING: None declared.

PMID- 27635096
TI  - Perception and risk factors for cervical cancer among women in northern Ghana.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the perception of risk of cervical cancer and
      existence of risk factors for cervical cancer based on five known risk factors
      among women attending the Tamale Teaching Hospital in Tamale, Ghana. METHODS: A
      consecutive sample of 300 women was interviewed using a semi-structured
      questionnaire to inquire about risk factors and perception of risk of cervical
      cancer. Specific risk factors that were explored included early coitarche,
      multiple sexual partners, polygamous relationships, history of smoking, and
      having a current partner who had multiple sexual partners. RESULTS: Sixty-one per
      cent of women reported that they had no personal risk for cervical cancer. 27% of
      respondents were in polygamous relationships, and of those, more than half didn't
      think they were at an increased risk of cervical cancer. 2 women had a total of
      >= 5 sexual partners in their lifetime and neither believed they were at any risk
      for cervical cancer. 23% said their current partner had had at least 2 sexual
      partners in his lifetime, and of those, (61%) thought they were at no risk for
      cervical cancer. 46% of respondents reported not having any of the risk factors
      listed in the study. 23% of respondents reported having one risk factor while 21%
      had two risk factors and 11% had three or more risk factors. CONCLUSION: Women's
      perception of personal risk for cervical cancer is lower than their actual risk
      based on the five behavioural risk factors assessed and a lack of knowledge of
      the personal factors for the disease. FUNDING: This project was supported by NIH
      Research Training Grant #R25 TW009345 funded by the Fogarty International Centre,
      in partnership with several NIH Institutes (NIMH, NIGMS, NHLBI, OAR and OWH).

PMID- 27635098
TI  - Secondary analysis of snake bite data in the Western Region of Ghana: 2006-2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A snake bite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often
      resulting in puncture wounds, amputations and sometimes envenomation. Envenoming
      resulting from snake bite is a particularly important public health problem in
      rural areas of tropical and sub-tropical countries in Africa. This paper reports
      the incidence of snake bites and its associated mortality in the Western Region
      of Ghana. METHOD: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional review of 2006 -
      2010 snake bite secondary data generated by the Western Regional Health
      Information Office in Ghana. Data was extracted from the District Health
      Information Management System (DHIMS) database. Data was managed and analyzed
      using SPSS Version 16.0. Univariate analyses were expressed as percentages and
      graphs. RESULTS: The year 2009 recorded the highest incidence of Snake bites in
      the Western Region with Juabeso district recording the highest incidence of snake
      bites over the study period. Over the period about 55% of the incidence was
      between 50 - 100 per 100,000 population. The total number of snake bites recorded
      in the region for the period was 7,275, of which 52% (3,776) were males. About
      60% of the patients were of the age group 15-49 years. A total of 12 reported
      snake bite deaths were recorded, of which 67% were men. This study recommends to
      the Districts Health Directorates in the Western Region to regularly organize
      community education on snake bite and the use of protective clothing by the
      farmers. FUNDING: None declared.

PMID- 27635097
TI  - Do diabetes-specialty clinics differ in management approach and outcome? A cross
      sectional assessment of ambulatory type 2 diabetes patients in two teaching
      hospitals in Nigeria.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate management approach and outcome in two endocrinologist
      managed clinics using data on treatment adherence, diabetes-specific parameters,
      prescribed medications and self-management practices among ambulatory type 2
      diabetes patients. Opinion on cause(s) and perceived fear about diabetes were
      also explored. DESIGN: A cross-sectional prospective study using semi-structured
      interview among consented patients for eightweek, and a review of participants'
      case notes at 3-month post-interactive contact for details of diabetes-specific
      parameters and antidiabetes medications. SETTINGS: The University College
      Hospital (UCH) and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC)
      in southwestern Nigeria. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients with type 2 diabetes, on
      therapies for >3-month and who had average fasting blood glucose (FBG)>6.0mmol/L
      were enrolled. All patients with type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes who decline
      participation were excluded. Out of 185 participants who were approached,
      176(95.1%) consented and completed the study including 113(64.2%) from UCH and
      63(35.8%) in OAUTHC. RESULTS: Mean FBG for patients were 9.6mmol/L in UCH and
      11.0mmol/L in OAUTHC (p=0.03). Medication adherence among patients was 47(46.5%)
      in UCH and 31(52.5%) in OAUTHC (p=0.46). Prescribed antidiabetes medications
      between the clinics significantly differ. Practice of self-monitoring of blood
      glucose among participants was 26(23.0%) in UCH and 13(20.6%) in OAUTHC (p=0.72).
      Thirty-two participants (29.4%) in UCH and 33(43.4%) from OAUTHC (p=0.02)
      mentioned complications as perceived fear about type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSION:
      There are differences and similarities between the diabetes-specialty clinics
      with respect to diabetes management and outcome. This underscores the necessity
      for a protocol-driven treatment approach in ensuring improved diabetes care and
      outcome. FUNDING: None declared.

PMID- 27635099
TI  - Irrational use of antibiotics and the risk of diabetes in Ghana.
AB  - Epidemiological studies show clearly that Caesarean birth, perinatal or neonatal
      irrational antibiotic use is strongly associated with increased risk of obesity
      and diabetes in later life. Irrational use of antibiotics is a great global
      public health concern especially in developing economies like Ghana due to poor
      regulation on medicines. Unfortunately, this concern has been reduced to the fear
      of development of resistant organisms and the destruction of the world's limited
      range of antibiotics therapy at the expense of other insidious risks including
      the development of metabolic and atopic diseases. These risks however appear to
      have greater implications on public health systems of developing economies. Here,
      we review the ignored role of antibiotics in the global obesity pandemic and
      project the risk that it poses to the health system of a developing economy like
      Ghana. FUNDING: Department of Pharmacology, College of Health Sciences, Kwame
      Nkrumah university of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

PMID- 27635100
TI  - Burst abdomen in pregnancy: A proposed management algorithm.
AB  - Management of the burst abdomen is complex due to the co-morbidities associated
      with it. When coupled with intraabdominal sepsis and pregnancy, it becomes even
      more difficult due to the ethical issues that have to be considered when managing
      both mother and child. Due to the paucity of literature on this subject, a
      management algorithm has been proposed which aims at tackling this delicate
      issue. However, the major consideration in the management of these cases is that
      decisions are to be made based on optimization of the condition of the mother. 

PMID- 27635103
TI  - INCENTIVES TO IDENTIFY: RACIAL IDENTITY IN THE AGE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
AB  - We link data on racial self-identification with changes in state-level
      affirmative action policies to ask whether racial self-identification responds to
      economic incentives. We find that after a state bans affirmative action,
      multiracial individuals who face an incentive to identify under affirmative
      action are about 30 percent less likely to identify with their minority groups.
      In contrast, multiracial individuals who face a disincentive to identify under
      affirmative action are roughly 20 percent more likely to identify with their
      minority groups once affirmative action policies are banned.

PMID- 27635101
TI  - Mechanistic Enzymology of the Radical SAM Enzyme DesII.
AB  - DesII is a member of the radical SAM family of enzymes that catalyzes radical
      mediated transformations of TDP-4-amino-4,6-didexoy-D-glucose as well as other
      sugar nucleotide diphosphates. Like nearly all radical SAM enzymes, the reactions
      begin with the reductive homolysis of SAM to produce a 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical
      which is followed by regiospecific hydrogen atom abstraction from the substrate.
      What happens next, however, depends on the nature of the substrate radical so
      produced. In the case of the biosynthetically relevant substrate, a radical
      mediated deamination ensues; however, when this amino group is replaced with a
      hydroxyl, one instead observes dehydrogenation. The factors that govern the fate
      of the initially generated substrate radical as well as the mechanistic details
      underlying these transformations have been a key focus of research into the
      chemistry of DesII. This review will discuss recent discoveries pertaining to the
      enzymology of DesII, how it may relate to understanding other radical-mediated
      lyases and dehydrogenases and the working hypotheses currently being investigated
      regarding the mechanism of DesII catalysis.

PMID- 27635102
TI  - Old and Unemployable? How Age-Based Stereotypes Affect Willingness to Hire Job
      Candidates.
AB  - Across the world, people are required, or want, to work until an increasingly old
      age. But how might prospective employers view job applicants who have skills and
      qualities that they associate with older adults? This article draws on social
      role theory, age stereotypes and research on hiring biases, and reports three
      studies using age-diverse North American participants. These studies reveal that:
      (1) positive older age stereotype characteristics are viewed less favorably as
      criteria for job hire, (2) even when the job role is low-status, a younger
      stereotype profile tends to be preferred, and (3) an older stereotype profile is
      only considered hirable when the role is explicitly cast as subordinate to that
      of a candidate with a younger age profile. Implications for age-positive
      selection procedures and ways to reduce the impact of implicit age biases are
      discussed.

PMID- 27635104
TI  - Vertical variation of mixing within porous sediment beds below turbulent flows.
AB  - River ecosystems are influenced by contaminants in the water column, in the pore
      water and adsorbed to sediment particles. When exchange across the sediment-water
      interface (hyporheic exchange) is included in modeling, the mixing coefficient is
      often assumed to be constant with depth below the interface. Novel fiber-optic
      fluorometers have been developed and combined with a modified EROSIMESS system to
      quantify the vertical variation in mixing coefficient with depth below the
      sediment-water interface. The study considered a range of particle diameters and
      bed shear velocities, with the permeability Peclet number, PeK between 1000 and
      77,000 and the shear Reynolds number, Re*, between 5 and 600. Different
      parameterization of both an interface exchange coefficient and a spatially
      variable in-sediment mixing coefficient are explored. The variation of in
      sediment mixing is described by an exponential function applicable over the full
      range of parameter combinations tested. The empirical relationship enables
      estimates of the depth to which concentrations of pollutants will penetrate into
      the bed sediment, allowing the region where exchange will occur faster than
      molecular diffusion to be determined.

PMID- 27635106
TI  - The Challenge of Measuring UK Wealth Inequality in the 2000s.
AB  - The concentration of personal wealth is now receiving a great deal of attention -
      after having been neglected for many years. One reason is the growing recognition
      that, in seeking explanations for rising income inequality, we need to look not
      only at wages and earned income but also at income from capital, particularly at
      the top of the distribution. In this paper, we use evidence from existing data
      sources to attempt to answer three questions: (i) What is the share of total
      personal wealth that is owned by the top 1 per cent, or the top 0.1 per cent?
      (ii) Is wealth much more unequally distributed than income? (iii) Is the
      concentration of wealth at the top increasing over time? The main conclusion of
      the paper is that the evidence about the UK concentration of wealth post-2000 is
      seriously incomplete and significant investment in a variety of sources is
      necessary if we are to provide satisfactory answers to the three questions.

PMID- 27635105
TI  - Ion-scale secondary flux ropes generated by magnetopause reconnection as resolved
      by MMS.
AB  - New Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations of small-scale (~7 ion inertial
      length radius) flux transfer events (FTEs) at the dayside magnetopause are
      reported. The 10 km MMS tetrahedron size enables their structure and properties
      to be calculated using a variety of multispacecraft techniques, allowing them to
      be identified as flux ropes, whose flux content is small (~22 kWb). The current
      density, calculated using plasma and magnetic field measurements independently,
      is found to be filamentary. Intercomparison of the plasma moments with electric
      and magnetic field measurements reveals structured non-frozen-in ion behavior.
      The data are further compared with a particle-in-cell simulation. It is concluded
      that these small-scale flux ropes, which are not seen to be growing, represent a
      distinct class of FTE which is generated on the magnetopause by secondary
      reconnection.

PMID- 27635107
TI  - Potential process 'hurdles' in the use of macroalgae as feedstock for biofuel
      production in the British Isles.
AB  - This review examines the potential technical and energy balance hurdles in the
      production of seaweed biofuel, and in particular for the MacroBioCrude processing
      pipeline for the sustainable manufacture of liquid hydrocarbon fuels from seaweed
      in the UK. The production of biofuel from seaweed is economically, energetically
      and technically challenging at scale. Any successful process appears to require
      both a method of preserving the seaweed for continuous feedstock availability and
      a method exploiting the entire biomass. Ensiling and gasification offer a
      potential solution to these two requirements. However there is need for more data
      particularly at a commercial scale. (c) 2016 The Authors. Journal of Chemical
      Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27635111
TI  - Multidimensional Poverty in Indonesia: Trend Over the Last Decade (2003-2013).
AB  - The notion of poverty as an experience of multiple deprivation has been widely
      acknowledged. In Indonesia, however, poverty assessment has almost exclusively
      been conducted within the monetary space; even when multidimensionality is
      admitted, it has always been computed using variants of marginal method that are
      indifferent to joint deprivation. Applying a novel measurement method that is
      sensitive to both the incidence and the intensity of multiple deprivation to data
      from the National Socio-economic Survey (Susenas), this paper investigates the
      extent and the patterns of multidimensional poverty in Indonesia from 2003 to
      2013 ([Formula: see text]). An Indonesian version of the multidimensional poverty
      index is constructed by augmenting the existing consumption poverty measure with
      information on health and education. Results suggest that there was an
      unambiguous poverty reduction over the last decade at both national and sub
      national levels. The data also reveal that progress has been inclusive across
      population subgroups, although spatial variation remains notable. The new poverty
      measurement method proves to be easily adaptable to the Indonesian context and
      could complement the methods currently employed by the Indonesian Statistical
      Bureau.

PMID- 27635110
TI  - miR-155 Inhibits Nucleus Pulposus Cells' Degeneration through Targeting ERK 1/2.
AB  - We first investigated the difference in microRNA expression between normal NP
      cells and degenerative NP cells using gene chip. We have found that the
      expression of ERK1/2 was decreased with overexpression of miR-155 in normal
      nucleus pulposus cell. Expression of ERK1/2 was increased with inhibition of miR
      155. Overexpression or inhibition of miR-155 had no effects on the expression
      level of mRNA ERK1/2 in nucleus pulposus cell, which showed that miR-155 affected
      the expression of pERK1/2 after transcription of ERK1/2 mRNA indicating that
      ERK1/2 was a new target protein regulated by miR-155. In the degeneration of
      intervertebral disc, inhibited miR-155 decreased the expressions of extracellular
      main matrix collagen II and glycosaminoglycan and increased expression of ERK1/2.
      Taken together, our data suggested that miR-155 was the identified miRNA which
      regulated NP cells degenerated through directly targeting ERK1/2. 

PMID- 27635108
TI  - Expression of Cancer Testis Antigens in Colorectal Cancer: New Prognostic and
      Therapeutic Implications.
AB  - Background. While cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) are restricted in postnatal
      tissues to testes and germ line-derived cells, their role in cancer development
      and the clinical significance of their expression still remain to be better
      defined. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of CTA
      expression in colon samples from patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) in
      relation to patient clinical status. Methods. Forty-five patients with newly
      diagnosed colorectal cancer were included in the study. We selected a panel of 18
      CTAs that were previously detected in CRC as well as some new gene candidates,
      and their expression was detected at the mRNA level by employing RQ-PCR.
      Additionally, we evaluated CTA expression in three colon cancer cell lines (CL
      188, HTB-39, and HTB-37) after exposure to the DNA methylation-modifying drug 5
      azacytidine. Results. We report that 6 out of 18 (33%) CTAs tested (MAGEA3, OIP5,
      TTK, PLU1, DKKL1, and FBXO39) were significantly (p < 0.05) overexpressed in
      tumor tissue compared with healthy colon samples isolated from the same patients.
      Conclusions. Moreover, we found that MAGEA3, PLU-1, and DKKL expression
      positively correlated with disease progression, evaluated according to the Dukes
      staging system. Finally, 5-azacytidine exposure significantly upregulated
      expression of CTAs on CRC cells, which indicates that this demethylation agent
      could be employed therapeutically to enhance the immune response against tumor
      cells. 

PMID- 27635109
TI  - Detection of Soluble ED-A(+) Fibronectin and Evaluation as Novel Serum Biomarker
      for Cardiac Tissue Remodeling.
AB  - Background and Aims. Fibronectin containing the extra domain A (ED-A(+) Fn) was
      proven to serve as a valuable biomarker for cardiac remodeling. The study was
      aimed at establishing an ELISA to determine ED-A(+) Fn in serum of heart failure
      patients. Methods. ED-A(+) Fn was quantified in serum samples from 114 heart
      failure patients due to ischemic (ICM, n = 44) and dilated (DCM, n = 39)
      cardiomyopathy as well as hypertensive heart disease (HHD, n = 31) compared to
      healthy controls (n = 12). Results. In comparison to healthy volunteers, heart
      failure patients showed significantly increased levels of ED-A(+) Fn (p < 0.001).
      In particular in ICM patients there were significant associations between ED-A(+)
      Fn serum levels and clinical parameters, for example, increased levels with
      rising NYHA class (p = 0.013), a negative correlation with left ventricular
      ejection fraction (p = 0.026, r: -0.353), a positive correlation with left atrial
      diameter (p = 0.008, r: 0.431), and a strong positive correlation with systolic
      pulmonary artery pressure (p = 0.002, r: 0.485). In multivariate analysis, ED
      A(+) Fn was identified as an independent predictor of an ischemic heart failure
      etiology. Conclusions. The current study could clearly show that ED-A(+) Fn is a
      promising biomarker in cardiovascular diseases, especially in heart failure
      patients due to an ICM. We presented a valid ELISA method, which could be applied
      for further studies investigating the value of ED-A(+) Fn. 

PMID- 27635112
TI  - Determinants of Intergenerational Downward Mobility in the Netherlands.
AB  - Several studies have shown that Dutch society has become more open in the last
      few decades as a result of increasing opportunities for upward social mobility.
      However, recently it has been observed that the likelihood of downward social
      mobility has increased for the youngest (male) birth cohorts in the Netherlands.
      Despite this recent finding, social stratification research has paid little
      attention to test explanations of downward mobility. This article tries to fill
      in this knowledge gap by testing three theoretical perspectives that aim to
      explain intergenerational downward occupational mobility of individuals. In
      addition, we examine historical developments to study whether the role of these
      explanations have changed over time. To test the predictive validity of these
      perspectives, we use data from the Family Survey Dutch Population 2009 (N =
      1423). The empirical results, first of all, indicate that individuals who were
      born in younger birth cohorts are more likely to experience downward occupational
      mobility than individuals, who were born in older cohorts. We thus replicate
      earlier findings for the Netherlands. Secondly, we find that cognitive skills
      and, especially, educational attainment provide individuals significant
      protection against downward mobility. These findings are mainly in line with the
      meritocratic perspective. Thirdly, the results reveal that the role of the
      presumed explanations of downward mobility has not changed over time.

PMID- 27635113
TI  - Interactions Between Policy Effects, Population Characteristics and the Tax
      Benefit System: An Illustration Using Child Poverty and Child Related Policies in
      Romania and the Czech Republic.
AB  - We investigate the impact of the Romanian and Czech family policy systems on the
      poverty risk of families with children. We focus on separating out the effects of
      policy design itself and size of benefits from the interaction between policies
      and population characteristics. We find that interactions between population
      characteristics, the wider tax benefit system and child related policies are
      pervasive and large. Both population characteristics and the wider tax-benefit
      environment can dramatically alter the antipoverty effect of a given set of
      policies.

PMID- 27635114
TI  - Are "Theory of Mind" Skills in People with Epilepsy Related to How Stigmatised
      They Feel? An Exploratory Study.
AB  - Feelings of stigma are one of the main burdens reported by people with epilepsy
      (PWE). Adults with temporal or frontal lobe epilepsy and children with idiopathic
      generalised epilepsy are at risk of Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits. ToM refers to
      social cognitive skills, including the ability to understand the thoughts,
      intentions, beliefs, and emotions of others. It has been proffered that ToM
      deficits may contribute to the feelings of stigma experienced by PWE. In this
      study we tested this for the first time. We also determined the association
      between clinical and demographic factors and ToM performance. Five hundred and
      three PWE were recruited via epilepsy organisations and completed measures
      online. Feelings of stigma were measured using Jacoby's Stigma Scale, whilst the
      Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Faux Pas Test measured ToM. The median
      age of participants was 37 years, their median years living with epilepsy were
      15, and 70% had experienced seizures in the prior 12 months. Feelings of stigma
      held a negligible, negative, and nonsignificant association with ToM performance
      (r s   -0.02 and -0.05). Our results indicate that the ToM model for
      understanding epilepsy stigma has limited utility and alternative approaches to
      understanding and addressing epilepsy-related stigma are required. 

PMID- 27635115
TI  - Kidney Expression of Toll Like Receptors in Lupus Nephritis: Quantification and
      Clinicopathological Correlations.
AB  - Objective. The study aimed at locating and quantifying Toll Like Receptor (TLR)
      3, 7, 8, and 9 expression in kidney of patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and
      correlating them with clinicopathological features. Methods. Kidney sections from
      26 LN patients and 4 controls were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using anti
      human TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9 polyclonal antibodies; the number of TLR
      positive nuclei/mm(2) was evaluated on digitalized images. Results. Compared to
      controls, LN showed a significantly higher amount of glomerular and
      tubulointerstitial TLR9 (p = 0.003 and p = 0.007), whole and tubulointerstitial
      TLR3 (p = 0.026 and p = 0.031), and a higher tubulointerstitial TLR7 (p = 0.022).
      TLR9 positively correlated with activity index (p = 0.0063) and tubular TLR7 with
      chronicity index (p = 0.026). TLR9 positively correlated with Renal-SLEDAI (p =
      0.01). Conclusions. This is the first study quantifying kidney expressions of
      TLRs in LN patients; the results show an overexpression of TLR3, TLR7, and TLR9
      and demonstrate a correlation with clinicopathological indices supporting a role
      of these mediators in the pathogenesis of LN. 

PMID- 27635117
TI  - A New Scale to Assess the Severity and Prognosis of Pulmonary Alveolar
      Proteinosis.
AB  - Background. Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP) is a syndrome characterized by
      pulmonary surfactant accumulation. Small proportion of PAP patients experienced
      spontaneous remission. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the
      severity and prognosis of PAP using various indexes. Methods. Characteristics,
      PaO2, lung function parameters, and HRCT score of 101 patients with PAP were
      retrospectively analyzed. Many indexes were explored and integrated into a scale.
      Results. PaO2 was lower among smokers than among never-smokers. PaO2 differed
      between each pair of patient groups stratified according to HRCT score or DLCO, %
      predicted, which differed between any two groups stratified according to PaO2.
      The PAP patients who died presented with more symptoms, a higher HRCT score, and
      lower DLCO, % predicted, than survivors. Smoking status, symptoms, PaO2, HRCT
      score, and DLCO, % predicted, were integrated into a scale (severity and
      prognosis score of PAP (SPSP)). SPSP correlated positively with PaO2, FVC, %
      predicted, FEV1, % predicted, and DLCO, % predicted, and negatively with HRCT
      score. The patients who died displayed a higher SPSP than survivors. Conclusion.
      Smoking status, symptoms, PaO2, HRCT score, and DLCO, % predicted, were
      integrated into a scale (SPSP) that can be used to assess the severity and
      prognosis of PAP to some degree. 

PMID- 27635118
TI  - Water-soluble ginseng oligosaccharides protect against scopolamine-induced
      cognitive impairment by functioning as an antineuroinflammatory agent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Panax ginseng root is used in traditional oriental medicine for human
      health. Its main active components such as saponins and polysaccharides have been
      widely evaluated for treating diseases, but secondary active components such as
      oligosaccharides have been rarely studied. This study aimed to assess the impact
      of water-soluble ginseng oligosaccharides (WGOS), which were isolated from the
      warm-water extract of Panax ginseng root, on scopolamine-induced cognitive
      impairment in mice and its antineuroinflammatory mechanisms. METHODS: We
      investigated the impact of WGOS on scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in
      mice by using Morris water maze and novel object recognition task. We also
      analyzed the impact of WGOS on scopolamine-induced inflammatory response (e.g.,
      the hyperexpression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-6 and astrocyte
      activation) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and glial
      fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: WGOS
      pretreatment protected against scopolamine-induced learning and memory deficits
      in the Morris water maze and in the novel object recognition task. Furthermore,
      WGOS pretreatment downregulated scopolamine-induced hyperexpression of
      proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-6 mRNA and astrocyte
      activation in the hippocampus. These results indicate that WGOS can protect
      against scopolamine-induced alterations in learning and memory and inflammatory
      response. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that WGOS may be beneficial as a medicine
      or functional food supplement to treat disorders with cognitive deficits and
      increased inflammation.

PMID- 27635119
TI  - Self-reported health and sickness benefits among parents of children with a
      disability.
AB  - This article investigates the possible consequences in self-reported health and
      receipt of sickness benefits when parenting a child with a disability This study
      uses data from the population health study, The Nord-Trondelag Health Study (HUNT
      2), and the historical event database, FD-Trygd, which contains Social Security
      and national insurance data for the Norwegian population. In the analysis, we
      compare 1587 parents of a child with a disability to other parents. Results
      indicate that parenting a disabled child impacts on self-reported health,
      particularly among mothers; however, being a parent to a disabled child has a
      much stronger effect in explaining the variance in received sickness benefits,
      and also length of time and frequency of having received sickness benefits.
      Parents with disabled children report just slightly lower self-reported health
      but are on sickness benefits more often than other parents which may be
      attributed to their extended care responsibilities.

PMID- 27635116
TI  - Protective Effect of Amphipterygium adstringens Extract on Dextran Sulphate
      Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Mice.
AB  - Amphipterygium adstringens is an endemic species in Mexico commonly known as
      "cuachalalate." Healers to treat gastritis, gastric ulcers, and gastrointestinal
      cancer have traditionally used the bark. We investigated the effects of alcoholic
      extract of A. adstringens (AaEE) in DSS-induced colitis in mice. The protective
      effect of AaEE was determined at 200 mg/kg by oral gavage for 10 days. We
      determine the effect of AaEE on clinical features (disease activity index),
      antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities in relation to
      the activity of SOD, CAT, and GPx, levels of proinflammatory cytokines, and
      changes both macroscopic and microscopic of the colonic mucosa. AaEE
      significantly reduced the inflammation of colon and significantly increased SOD
      and GPx activities. AaEE also significantly decreased TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, and
      IL-1beta cytokine levels compared to DSS-treated mice and reduced both
      infiltration of inflammatory cells and the mucosal damage in colon. The results
      suggested the protective potential of AaEE in DSS-induced colitis and this might
      be attributed to its phytochemicals compounds that have been found to induce a
      wide spectrum of activities such as reduction in oxidative stress, suppression of
      inflammation, modulating numerous signal transduction pathways, and induction of
      apoptosis. The findings of this study suggest that AaEE has substantial potential
      for the treatment of inflammatory colitis. 

PMID- 27635120
TI  - Convex Regression with Interpretable Sharp Partitions.
AB  - We consider the problem of predicting an outcome variable on the basis of a small
      number of covariates, using an interpretable yet non-additive model. We propose
      convex regression with interpretable sharp partitions (CRISP) for this task.
      CRISP partitions the covariate space into blocks in a data-adaptive way, and fits
      a mean model within each block. Unlike other partitioning methods, CRISP is fit
      using a non-greedy approach by solving a convex optimization problem, resulting
      in low-variance fits. We explore the properties of CRISP, and evaluate its
      performance in a simulation study and on a housing price data set.

PMID- 27635122
TI  - Cognitive Fatigue Influences Time-On-Task during Bodyweight Resistance Training
      Exercise.
AB  - Prior investigations have shown measurable performance impairments on continuous
      physical performance tasks when preceded by a cognitively fatiguing task.
      However, the effect of cognitive fatigue on bodyweight resistance training
      exercise task performance is unknown. In the current investigation 18 amateur
      athletes completed a full body exercise task preceded by either a cognitive
      fatiguing or control intervention. In a randomized repeated measure design, each
      participant completed the same exercise task preceded by a 52 min cognitively
      fatiguing intervention (vigilance) or control intervention (video). Data
      collection sessions were separated by 1 week. Participants rated the fatigue
      intervention with a significantly higher workload compared to the control
      intervention (p < 0.001). Additionally, participants self-reported significantly
      greater energetic arousal for cognitively fatiguing task (p = 0.02). Cognitive
      fatigue did not significantly impact number of repetitions completed during the
      exercise task (p = 0.77); however, when cognitively fatigued, participants had
      decreased percent time-on-task (57%) relative to the no fatigue condition (60%; p
      = 0.04). RPE significantly changed over time (p < 0.001), but failed to show
      significant differences between the cognitive fatigue intervention and control
      intervention (p > 0.05). There was no statistical difference for heart rate or
      metabolic expenditure as a function of fatigue intervention during exercise.
      Cognitively fatigued athletes have decreased time-on-task in bodyweight
      resistance training exercise tasks. 

PMID- 27635121
TI  - Using Individualized Brain Network for Analyzing Structural Covariance of the
      Cerebral Cortex in Alzheimer's Patients.
AB  - 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. 

PMID- 27635125
TI  - How Does Host Carbon Concentration Modulate the Lifestyle of Postharvest
      Pathogens during Colonization?
AB  - Postharvest pathogens can penetrate fruit by breaching the cuticle or directly
      through wounds, and they show disease symptoms only long after infection. During
      ripening and senescence, the fruit undergo physiological processes accompanied by
      a decline in antifungal compounds, which allows the pathogen to activate a
      mechanism of secretion of small effector molecules that modulate host
      environmental pH. These result in the activation of genes under their optimal pH
      conditions, enabling the fungus to use a specific group of pathogenicity factors
      at each particular pH. New research suggests that carbon availability in the
      environment is a key factor triggering the production and secretion of small pH
      modulating molecules: ammonia and organic acids. Ammonia is secreted under
      limited carbon and gluconic acid under excess carbon. This mini review describes
      our most recent knowledge of the mechanism of activation of pH-secreted molecules
      and their contribution to colonization by postharvest pathogens to facilitate the
      transition from quiescence to necrotrophic lifestyle. 

PMID- 27635124
TI  - beta-Nitrostyrenes as Potential Anti-leishmanial Agents.
AB  - Development of new therapeutic approach to treat leishmaniasis has become a
      priority. In the present study, the antileishmanial effect of beta-nitrostyrenes
      was investigated against in vitro promastigotes and amastigotes. A series of beta
      nitrostyrenes have been synthesized by using Henry reaction and were evaluated
      for their antimicrobial activities by broth microdilution assay and in vitro
      antileishmanial activities against Leishmania donovani promastigotes by following
      standard guidelines. The most active compounds were futher evaluated for their in
      vitro antileishmanial activities against intracellular amastigotes. Among the
      tested beta-nitrostyrenes, compounds 7, 8, 9, 12, and 17 exhibited potential
      activities (MICs range, 0.25-8 MUg/mL) against clinically significant human
      pathogenic fungi. However, the microbactericidal concentrations (MBCs) and the
      microfungicidal concentrations (MFCs) were found to be either similar or only two
      fold greater than the MICs. Anti-leishmanial results demonstrated that compounds
      9, 12, 14, and 18 were found to be most active among the tested samples and
      exhibited 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) by 23.40 +/- 0.71, 37.83 +/- 3.74,
      40.50 +/- 1.47, 55.66 +/- 2.84 nM against L. donovani promastigotes and 30.5 +/-
      3.42, 21.46 +/- 0.96, 26.43 +/- 2.71, and 61.63 +/- 8.02 nM respectively against
      intracellular L. donovani promastigotes amastigotes respectively which are
      comparable with standard AmB (19.60 +/- 1.71 nM against promastigotes and 27.83
      +/- 3.26 nM against amastigotes). Compounds 9, 12, 14, and 18 were found to have
      potent in vitro leishmanicidal activity against L. donovani and found to be non
      toxic against mammalian macrophages even at a concentration of 25 MUM. Nitric
      oxide (NO) estimation studies reveals that these compounds are moderately
      inducing NO levels. 

PMID- 27635126
TI  - Editorial: Wound Recognition across the Tree of Life.

PMID- 27635123
TI  - Cue Reactivity in Nicotine and Alcohol Addiction: A Cross-Cultural View.
AB  - A wealth of research indicates that cue reactivity is critical to understanding
      the neurobiology of nicotine and alcohol addiction and developing treatments.
      Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalograph (EEG)
      studies have shown abnormal cue reactivity in various conditions between nicotine
      or alcohol addicts and the healthy. Although the causes of these abnormalities
      are still unclear, cultural effect can not be ignored. We conduct an review of
      fMRI and EEG studies about the cue reactivity in nicotine and alcohol addiction
      and highlight the cultural perspective. We suggest that cultural cue reactivity
      is a field worth of exploring which may has an effect on addictive behavior
      through emotion and attention. The cultural role of nicotine and alcohol
      addiction would provide new insight into understanding the mechanisms of nicotine
      and alcohol addiction and developing culture-specific therapies. We consider that
      culture as a context may be a factor that causes confusing outcomes in exploring
      nicotine and alcohol addiction which makes it possible to control the cultural
      influences and further contribute to the more consistent results. 

PMID- 27635127
TI  - Light Quality Dependent Changes in Morphology, Antioxidant Capacity, and Volatile
      Production in Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum).
AB  - Narrow-bandwidth light treatments may be used to manipulate plant growth,
      development and metabolism. In this report LED-based light treatments were used
      to affect yield and metabolic content of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L. cv
      "Ceasar") grown in controlled environments. This culinary herb produces an aroma
      highly appreciated by consumers, primarily composed of terpenes/terpenoids,
      phenylpropanoids, and fatty-acid- derived volatile molecules. Basil plants were
      grown under narrow-bandwidth light conditions, and leaf area, height, mass,
      antioxidant capacity and volatile emissions were measured at various time points.
      The results indicate reproducible significant differences in specific volatiles,
      and in biochemical classes of volatiles, compared to greenhouse grown plants. For
      example, basil plants grown under blue/red/yellow or blue/red/green wavelengths
      emit higher levels of a subset of monoterpenoid volatiles, while a blue/red/far
      red treatment leads to higher levels of most sesquiterpenoid volatile molecules.
      Specific light treatments increase volatile content, mass, and antioxidant
      capacity. The results show that narrow-bandwidth illumination can induce discrete
      suites of volatile classes that affect sensory quality in commercial herbs, and
      may be a useful tool in improving commercial production. 

PMID- 27635128
TI  - A Primary Sequence Analysis of the ARGONAUTE Protein Family in Plants.
AB  - Small RNA (sRNA)-mediated gene silencing represents a conserved regulatory
      mechanism controlling a wide diversity of developmental processes through
      interactions of sRNAs with proteins of the ARGONAUTE (AGO) family. On the basis
      of a large phylogenetic analysis that includes 206 AGO genes belonging to 23
      plant species, AGO genes group into four clades corresponding to the phylogenetic
      distribution proposed for the ten family members of Arabidopsis thaliana. A
      primary analysis of the corresponding protein sequences resulted in 50 sequences
      of amino acids (blocks) conserved across their linear length. Protein members of
      the AGO4/6/8/9 and AGO1/10 clades are more conserved than members of the AGO5 and
      AGO2/3/7 clades. In addition to blocks containing components of the PIWI, PAZ,
      and DUF1785 domains, members of the AGO2/3/7 and AGO4/6/8/9 clades possess other
      consensus block sequences that are exclusive of members within these clades,
      suggesting unforeseen functional specialization revealed by their primary
      sequence. We also show that AGO proteins of animal and plant kingdoms share
      linear sequences of blocks that include motifs involved in posttranslational
      modifications such as those regulating AGO2 in humans and the PIWI protein
      AUBERGINE in Drosophila. Our results open possibilities for exploring new
      structural and functional aspects related to the evolution of AGO proteins within
      the plant kingdom, and their convergence with analogous proteins in mammals and
      invertebrates. 

PMID- 27635129
TI  - EEG-Based BCI System Using Adaptive Features Extraction and Classification
      Procedures.
AB  - Motor imagery is a common control strategy in EEG-based brain-computer interfaces
      (BCIs). However, voluntary control of sensorimotor (SMR) rhythms by imagining a
      movement can be skilful and unintuitive and usually requires a varying amount of
      user training. To boost the training process, a whole class of BCI systems have
      been proposed, providing feedback as early as possible while continuously
      adapting the underlying classifier model. The present work describes a cue-paced,
      EEG-based BCI system using motor imagery that falls within the category of the
      previously mentioned ones. Specifically, our adaptive strategy includes a simple
      scheme based on a common spatial pattern (CSP) method and support vector machine
      (SVM) classification. The system's efficacy was proved by online testing on 10
      healthy participants. In addition, we suggest some features we implemented to
      improve a system's "flexibility" and "customizability," namely, (i) a flexible
      training session, (ii) an unbalancing in the training conditions, and (iii) the
      use of adaptive thresholds when giving feedback. 

PMID- 27635130
TI  - Elevated Circulating hsa-miR-106b, hsa-miR-26a, and hsa-miR-29b in Type 2
      Diabetes Mellitus with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
AB  - Background and Aims. Although the differential expression of microRNA (miRNA)
      genes has been identified in many diseases, little information exists concerning
      the miRNA expression profile in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with diarrhea
      predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS). Therefore, the specific expression
      of miRNAs in diabetes with D-IBS is identified in the study. Materials and
      Methods. 201 patients with IBS and 220 matched healthy controls were included in
      the study. Microarray technology and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase
      chain reaction analysis (RT-PCR) were taken to examine the miRNA expression
      profiles of T2DM patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D
      IBS) compared with patients with T2DM, patients with D-IBS, and control subjects.
      Results. We have found that 35 miRNAs were differentially expressed in T2DM with
      D-IBS, in which three representative miRNAs, hsa-miR-106b, hsa-miR-26a, and hsa
      miR-29b, were found to be significantly elevated in T2DM with D-IBS by RT-PCR.
      Conclusions. Our study has indicated that hsa-miR-106b, hsa-miR-26a, and hsa-miR
      29b were elevated in T2DM with D-IBS, which may be the potential biomarkers of
      T2DM with D-IBS. To obtain a better understanding of the biological functions of
      these miRNAs in T2DM with D-IBS, functional annotation analysis suggested that
      the MAPK pathway may be responsible for T2DM with D-IBS. 

PMID- 27635131
TI  - Thrombus Degradation by Fibrinolytic Enzyme of Stenotrophomonas sp. Originated
      from Indonesian Soybean-Based Fermented Food on Wistar Rats.
AB  - Objective. To evaluate thrombus degrading effect of a fibrinolytic enzyme from
      food origin Stenotrophomonas sp. of Indonesia. Methods. Prior to animal study,
      the enzyme safety was tested using cell culture. The effect on expression of
      tissue plasminogen activator was also analysed in the cell culture. For in vivo
      studies, 25 Wistar rats were used: normal control, negative control, treatment
      groups with crude and semipurified enzyme given orally at 25 mg/kg, and positive
      control group which received Lumbrokinase at 25 mg/kg. Blood clot in the tail was
      induced by kappa carrageenan injection at 1 mg/kg BW. Results. Experiment with
      cell culture confirmed the enzyme safety at the concentration used and increased
      expression of tPA. Decreasing of thrombus was observed in the positive group down
      to 70.35 +/- 23.11% of the negative control animals (100%). The thrombus observed
      in the crude enzyme treatment was down to 56.99 +/- 15.95% and 71.5 +/- 15.7% for
      semipurified enzyme. Scanning electron microscopy showed clearly that bood clots
      were found in the animals injected with kappa carrageenan; however, in the
      treatment and positive groups, the clot was much reduced. Conclusions. Oral
      treatment of enzyme from Stenotrophomonas sp. of Indonesian fermented food was
      capable of degrading thrombus induced in Wistar rats. 

PMID- 27635133
TI  - A 90-Day Oral Toxicological Evaluation of the Methylurate Purine Alkaloid
      Theacrine.
AB  - A 90-day repeated-dose oral toxicological evaluation was conducted according to
      GLP and OECD guidelines on the methylurate purine alkaloid theacrine, which is
      found naturally in certain plants. Four groups of Hsd.Brl.Han Wistar rats
      (ten/sex/group) were administered theacrine by gavage doses of 0 (vehicle only),
      180, 300, and 375 mg/kg bw/day. Two females and one male in the 300 and 375 mg/kg
      bw/day groups, respectively, died during the study. Histological examination
      revealed centrilobular hepatocellular necrosis as the probable cause of death. In
      375 mg/kg bw/day males, slight reductions in body weight development, food
      consumption, and feed efficiency, decreased weight of the testes and epididymides
      and decreased intensity of spermatogenesis in the testes, lack or decreased
      amount of mature spermatozoa in the epididymides, and decreased amount of
      prostatic secretions were detected at the end of the three months. At 300 mg/kg
      bw/day, slight decreases in the weights of the testes and epididymides, along
      with decreased intensity of spermatogenesis in the testes, and lack or decreased
      amount of mature spermatozoa in the epididymides were detected in male animals.
      The NOAEL was considered to be 180 mg/kg bw/day, as at this dose there were no
      toxicologically relevant treatment-related findings in male or female animals. 

PMID- 27635132
TI  - Hypnosis in the Perioperative Management of Breast Cancer Surgery: Clinical
      Benefits and Potential Implications.
AB  - The aim of this review is to summarize data published on the use of perioperative
      hypnosis in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery (BCS). Indeed, the majority
      of BCS patients experience stress, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, and pain. Correct
      management of the perioperative period and surgical removal of the primary tumor
      are clearly essential but can affect patients on different levels and hence have
      a negative impact on oncological outcomes. This review examines the effect of
      clinical hypnosis performed during the perioperative period. Thanks to its
      specific properties and techniques allowing it to be used as complementary
      treatment preoperatively, hypnosis has an impact most notably on distress and
      postoperative pain. During surgery, hypnosis may be applied to limit
      immunosuppression, while, in the postoperative period, it can reduce pain,
      anxiety, and fatigue and improve wound healing. Moreover, hypnosis is
      inexpensive, an important consideration given current financial concerns in
      healthcare. Of course, large randomized prospective studies are now needed to
      confirm the observed advantages of hypnosis in the field of oncology. 

PMID- 27635135
TI  - Estimation of the Relative Contribution of Postprandial Glucose Exposure to
      Average Total Glucose Exposure in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - We hypothesized that the relative contribution of fasting plasma glucose (FPG)
      versus postprandial plasma glucose (PPG) to glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) could be
      calculated using an algorithm developed by the A1c-Derived Average Glucose (ADAG)
      study group to make HbA1c values more clinically relevant to patients. The
      algorithm estimates average glucose (eAG) exposure, which can be used to
      calculate apparent PPG (aPPG) by subtracting FPG. The hypothesis was tested in a
      large dataset (comprising 17 studies) from the vildagliptin clinical trial
      programme. We found that 24 weeks of treatment with vildagliptin monotherapy (n =
      2523) reduced the relative contribution of aPPG to eAG from 8.12% to 2.95% (by
      64%, p < 0.001). In contrast, when vildagliptin was added to metformin (n =
      2752), the relative contribution of aPPG to eAG insignificantly increased from
      1.59% to 2.56%. In conclusion, glucose peaks, which are often prominent in
      patients with type 2 diabetes, provide a small contribution to the total glucose
      exposure assessed by HbA1c, and the ADAG algorithm is not robust enough to assess
      this small relative contribution in patients receiving combination therapy. 

PMID- 27635134
TI  - Myo-Inositol in the Treatment of Teenagers Affected by PCOS.
AB  - Objective. To compare the effectiveness of myo-inositol (MI) and oral
      contraceptive pills (OCPs) in monotherapy and MI in combination with OCPs in the
      treatment of teenagers affected by polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods. 61
      adolescent girls aged 13-19 years, with PCOS, were involved in the prospective,
      open-label study. Patients were randomized into three groups: I group, 20
      patients receiving drospirenone 3 mg/ethinyl estradiol 30 MUg; II group, 20
      patients receiving 4 g myo-inositol plus 400 mg folic acid; III group, 21
      patients receiving both medications. Results. After receiving MI significant
      reduction in weight, BMI, glucose, C-peptide, insulin, HOMA-IR, FT, and LH was
      detected. The levels of SHBG, TT, FAI, DHEA-S, and AMH did not change
      statistically significantly. After receiving OCPs weight and BMI slightly
      increased, but metabolic parameters did not change. Combination of MI and OCPs
      did not change weight and BMI, but reduction in C-peptide, insulin, and HOMA-IR
      was detected. TT, FT, FAI, DHEA-S, LH, and AMH levels decreased and SHBG
      increased. Conclusions. Administration of MI is a safe and effective method to
      prevent and correct metabolic disorders in teenagers affected by PCOS. With
      combination of MI and OCPs antiandrogenic effects are enhanced, negative impact
      of OCPs on weight gain is balanced, and metabolic profile is improved. 

PMID- 27635136
TI  - Prospective Randomized Study on the Influence of Myoinositol in PCOS Women
      Undergoing IVF in the Improvement of Oocyte Quality, Fertilization Rate, and
      Embryo Quality.
AB  - Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the pathological factors involved in
      the failure of in vitro fertilization (IvF). The aim of the present study was to
      investigate if the combination of myoinositol + folic acid was able to improve
      the oocyte quality, the ratio between follicles and retrieved oocytes, the
      fertilization rate, and the embryo quality in PCOS patients undergoing IvF
      treatments. 29 patients with PCOS underwent IvF protocols for infertility
      treatment and were randomized prospectively into two groups. Group A (placebo)
      with 15 patients and group B (4000 mg myoinositol + 400 MUg folic acid per day)
      with 14 patients. The patients of group B used for two months myoinositol + folic
      acid before starting the IvF protocol and data were obtained concerning number of
      follicles, number of oocytes, quality of oocytes, fertilization rates, and embryo
      quality in both groups. The ratio follicle/retrieved oocyte was better in the
      myoinositol group (= group B). Out of the 233 oocytes collected in the
      myoinositol group 136 were fertilized, whereas only 128 out of 300 oocytes in the
      placebo group were fertilized. More metaphase II and I oocytes were retrieved in
      relation to the total amount of oocytes in the myoinositol. More embryos of grade
      I quality were obtained in the myoinositol. The duration of stimulation was 9,7
      days (+/-3,3) in the myoinositol group and 11,2 (+/-1,8) days in the placebo
      group and the number of used FSH units was lower in the myoinositol group: 1750
      FSH units (mean) versus 1850 units (mean). Our evidence suggests that myoinositol
      therapy in women with PCOS results in better fertilization rates and a clear
      trend to a better embryo quality. As the number of retrieved oocytes was smaller
      in the myoinositol group, the risk of hyper stimulation syndrome can be reduced
      in these patients. 

PMID- 27635137
TI  - Incidental Parathyroidectomy during Total Thyroidectomy: Risk Factors and
      Consequences.
AB  - Objective. To evaluate the incidence of accidental parathyroidectomy in our
      series of total thyroidectomies, to investigate its clinical and biochemical
      consequences, and to identify potential risk factors. Methods. Patients who
      underwent total thyroidectomy between January 2006 and December 2015 were
      retrospectively analyzed. Pathology reports were reviewed to identify those cases
      who had an incidental parathyroidectomy and these were compared to patients with
      no parathyroidectomy, in terms of clinical (age, sex, and symptoms of
      hypocalcemia), pathological (thyroid specimen weight, Hashimoto thyroiditis, and
      malignancy), and biochemical (serum calcium and phosphate levels) factors.
      Results. 281 patients underwent total thyroidectomy during the study period.
      Incidental parathyroidectomy was noticed in 24.9% of cases, with 44.3% of
      parathyroid glands found in an intrathyroidal location. Evidence of postoperative
      biochemical hypocalcemia was noticed in 28.6% of patients with parathyroidectomy,
      compared with 13.3% in the no-parathyroidectomy group (p = 0.003). Symptomatic
      hypocalcemia was observed in 5.7% and 3.8%, respectively (p = 0.49). Age, sex,
      thyroid specimen weight, Hashimoto thyroiditis, and malignancy did not differ
      significantly between the two groups. Conclusions. Our study found an association
      of incidental parathyroidectomy with transient postoperative biochemical
      hypocalcemia, but not with clinically symptomatic disease. Age, sex, thyroid
      gland weight, Hashimoto thyroiditis, and malignancy were not identified as risk
      factors. 

PMID- 27635138
TI  - Prognostic Value of Invasion, Markers of Proliferation, and Classification of
      Giant Pituitary Tumors, in a Georeferred Cohort in Brazil of 50 Patients, with a
      Long-Term Postoperative Follow-Up.
AB  - Although some pituitary adenomas may have an aggressive behavior, the vast
      majority are benign. There are still controversies about predictive factors
      regarding the biological behavior of these particular tumors. This study
      evaluated potential markers of invasion and proliferation compared to current
      classification patterns and epidemiogeographical parameters. The study included
      50 patients, operated on for tumors greater than 30 mm, with a mean postoperative
      follow-up of 15.2 +/- 4.8 years. Pituitary magnetic resonance was used to
      evaluate regrowth, invasion, and extension to adjacent tissue. Three tissue
      biomarkers were analyzed: p53, Ki-67, and c-erbB2. Tumors were classified
      according to a combination of histological and radiological features, ranging
      from noninvasive and nonproliferative (grade 1A) to invasive-proliferative (grade
      2B). Tumors grades 2A and 2B represented 42% and 52%, respectively. Ki-67 (p =
      0.23) and c-erbB2 (p = 0.71) had no significant relation to tumor progression
      status. P53 (p = 0.003), parasellar invasion (p = 0.03), and classification,
      grade 2B (p = 0.01), were associated with worse clinical outcome. Parasellar
      invasion prevails as strong predictive factor of tumor recurrence. Severe
      suprasellar extension should be considered as invasion parameter and could impact
      prognosis. No environmental factors or geographical cluster were associated with
      tumor behavior. 

PMID- 27635139
TI  - Study of the Effects of Betaine and/or C-Phycocyanin on the Growth of Lung Cancer
      A549 Cells In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - We investigated the effects of betaine, C-phycocyanin (C-PC), and their combined
      use on the growth of A549 lung cancer both in vitro and in vivo. When cells were
      coincubated with betaine and C-PC, an up to 60% decrease in viability was
      observed which is significant compared to betaine (50%) or C-PC treatment alone
      (no decrease). Combined treatment reduced the stimulation of NF-kappaB expression
      by TNF-alpha and increased the amount of the proapoptotic p38 MAPK.
      Interestingly, combined treatment induced a cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase for
      ~60% of cells. In vivo studies were performed in pathogen-free male nude rats
      injected with A549 cells in their right flank. Their daily food was supplemented
      with either betaine, C-PC, both, or neither. Compared to the control group,
      tumour weights and volumes were significantly reduced in either betaine- or C-PC
      treated groups and no additional decrease was obtained with the combined
      treatment. This data indicates that C-PC and betaine alone may efficiently
      inhibit tumour growth in rats. The synergistic activity of betaine and C-PC on
      A549 cells growth observed in vitro remains to be further confirmed in vivo. The
      reason behind the nature of their interaction is yet to be sought. 

PMID- 27635140
TI  - "Digitally Oriented Materials": Focus on Lithium Disilicate Ceramics.
AB  - The present paper was aimed at reporting the state of the art about lithium
      disilicate ceramics. The physical, mechanical, and optical properties of this
      material were reviewed as well as the manufacturing processes, the results of in
      vitro and in vivo investigations related to survival and success rates over time,
      and hints for the clinical indications in the light of the latest literature
      data. Due to excellent optical properties, high mechanical resistance,
      restorative versatility, and different manufacturing techniques, lithium
      disilicate can be considered to date one of the most promising dental materials
      in Digital Dentistry. 

PMID- 27635141
TI  - Erythritol Is More Effective Than Xylitol and Sorbitol in Managing Oral Health
      Endpoints.
AB  - Objective. To provide a comprehensive overview of published evidence on the
      impact of erythritol, a noncaloric polyol bulk sweetener, on oral health.
      Methods. A literature review was conducted regarding the potential effects of
      erythritol on dental plaque (biofilm), dental caries, and periodontal therapy.
      The efficacy of erythritol on oral health was compared with xylitol and sorbitol.
      Results. Erythritol effectively decreased weight of dental plaque and adherence
      of common streptococcal oral bacteria to tooth surfaces, inhibited growth and
      activity of associated bacteria like S. mutans, decreased expression of bacterial
      genes involved in sucrose metabolism, reduced the overall number of dental
      caries, and served as a suitable matrix for subgingival air-polishing to replace
      traditional root scaling. Conclusions. Important differences were reported in the
      effect of individual polyols on oral health. The current review provides evidence
      demonstrating better efficacy of erythritol compared to sorbitol and xylitol to
      maintain and improve oral health. 

PMID- 27635142
TI  - The Development of DNA Based Methods for the Reliable and Efficient
      Identification of Nicotiana tabacum in Tobacco and Its Derived Products.
AB  - Reliable methods are needed to detect the presence of tobacco components in
      tobacco products to effectively control smuggling and classify tariff and excise
      in tobacco industry to control illegal tobacco trade. In this study, two
      sensitive and specific DNA based methods, one quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR)
      assay and the other loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, were
      developed for the reliable and efficient detection of the presence of tobacco
      (Nicotiana tabacum) in various tobacco samples and commodities. Both assays
      targeted the same sequence of the uridine 5'-monophosphate synthase (UMPS), and
      their specificities and sensitivities were determined with various plant
      materials. Both qPCR and LAMP methods were reliable and accurate in the rapid
      detection of tobacco components in various practical samples, including customs
      samples, reconstituted tobacco samples, and locally purchased cigarettes, showing
      high potential for their application in tobacco identification, particularly in
      the special cases where the morphology or chemical compositions of tobacco have
      been disrupted. Therefore, combining both methods would facilitate not only the
      detection of tobacco smuggling control, but also the detection of tariff
      classification and of excise. 

PMID- 27635143
TI  - Autologous Graft-versus-Tumor Effect: Reality or Fiction?
AB  - In contrast to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the current
      dogma is not an evidence of graft-versus-tumor effect in autologous hematopoietic
      stem cell transplantation; thus, it is assumed that autologous hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation only relies on the high-dose chemotherapy to improve
      clinical outcomes. However, recent studies argue in favor of the existence of an
      autologous graft-versus-tumor without the detrimental complications of graft
      versus-host disease due to the nonspecific immune response from the infused donor
      alloreactive immune effector cells in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation. Herein, this paper reviews the clinical evidence of an
      autologous graft-versus-tumor effect based on the autograft collected and infused
      host immune effector cells and host immunity recovery after autologous
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation affecting clinical outcomes in cancer
      patients. 

PMID- 27635144
TI  - Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Effect of Low Viscosity Chitosan against
      Staphylococcus epidermidis.
AB  - Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial and antibiofilm
      properties of low viscosity chitosan on S. epidermidis growth and biofilm
      formation. Methods and Results. The antibacterial and antibiofilm properties were
      investigated, during both planktonic growth and biofilm formation. This was
      performed using different concentrations in media and by coating on polystyrene
      surfaces. In addition, the bactericidal effect was investigated using a modified
      direct contact test. The results showed that low viscosity chitosan in media had
      both a bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect on planktonic growth and biofilm
      formation of S. epidermidis in a concentration dependent manner. Polystyrene
      discs coated with chitosan reduced both early biofilm formation (6 h) and late
      biofilm formation (18 h), as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The
      modified direct contact test showed a bactericidal effect. Conclusion. This study
      demonstrated that low viscosity chitosan has a bacteriostatic and bactericidal
      activity against S. epidermidis and that the activity is dependent on the amount
      of chitosan added. In addition, low viscosity chitosan reduced biofilm formation
      both when added to media and when coated on polystyrene surfaces. Significance
      and Impact of Study. Low viscosity chitosan could be a contribution to new
      treatment approaches of biofilm-related infections of S. epidermidis. 

PMID- 27635145
TI  - An Unexpected Interaction between Sofosbuvir/Ledipasvir and Atorvastatin and
      Colchicine Causing Rhabdomyolysis in a Patient with Impaired Renal Function.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects roughly 170 million people worldwide.
      Sofosbuvir/Ledipasvir (Sof/Led) is a new once daily direct acting antiviral
      combination pill that was approved in October 2014 for use in patients with HCV
      genotype 1 infection. Coadministration of Sof/Led is studied only with
      rosuvastatin which shows significantly increased level of drug and is associated
      with increased risk of myopathy, including rhabdomyolysis. There is no mention of
      such HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor interaction as a class, as pravastatin did not
      have any clinically significant interaction with Sof/Led. Other myotoxic drugs,
      including colchicine are not studied. We present a case of a serious drug
      interaction between Sof/Led and atorvastatin, in the background of CKD and
      colchicine use. 

PMID- 27635146
TI  - Detection of Urinary Tract Pathology in Some Schistosoma haematobium Infected
      Nigerian Adults.
AB  - Screening for Schistosoma haematobium infection and its possible morbidity was
      carried out in 257 adult participants in Eggua community, Ogun State, Nigeria.
      Parasitological assessment for the presence of ova of S. haematobium in urine and
      abdominopelvic ultrasonographic examination for bladder and secondary kidney
      pathology were carried out. S. haematobium prevalence of 25.68% (66/257) was
      recorded among the participants. There was a significantly higher prevalence of
      69.2% of urinary schistosomiasis in the females than the prevalence of 31.8% in
      males (P = 0.902). The intensity of infections was mostly light (55) (21.8%)
      compared to heavy (10) (3.9%) with the mean intensity of 16.7 eggs/10 mL urine.
      Structural bladder pathology prevalence among participants was 33.9%. The bladder
      and kidney pathologies observed by ultrasound in subjects with S. haematobium
      infections included abnormal bladder wall thickness (59%), abnormal bladder shape
      (15.2%), bladder wall irregularities (15.2%), bladder masses (1.5%), bladder
      calcification (1.5%), and hydronephrosis (3%). Infection with S. haematobium was
      associated with bladder pathology. Higher frequencies of bladder abnormalities
      were observed more in the participants with light intensity of S. haematobium
      infection than in those with heavy infection. More bladder pathology was also
      seen in women than in men, although this was not statistically significant. In
      conclusion, there is evidence that the development of bladder pathology may be
      associated with S. haematobium infection. 

PMID- 27635147
TI  - Septic Arthritis of the Pediatric Shoulder: From Infancy to Adolescence.
AB  - Background. Septic arthritis of the glenohumeral joint in the pediatric
      population (<18 yo) is not commonly described in the literature. There is a
      corresponding paucity of information regarding its presentation and treatment.
      Methods. An IRB approved review of patients treated with irrigation and
      debridement by the Orthopaedic Department was completed. This retrospective study
      includes four patients, presenting from 2005 to 2015, with septic arthritis of
      the shoulder. Results. The mean age (M age) at presentation was 5 years, with a
      range of 1 month to 15 years. Patients presented on average after 7 days with
      pain and a mean temperature of 39 degrees C, erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 66
      mm/hr, a C-reactive protein level of 11.17 g/dL, and a white blood cell count of
      20.2 * 10(3)/mcL. Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa were cultured from the wounds. All cases were treated operatively with
      irrigation and debridement and with antimicrobial therapy. Patients received
      antibiotics for an average of 6 weeks. Conclusion. Septic arthritis of the
      shoulder occurs in all pediatric ages. Successful treatment of septic arthritis
      of the shoulder was accomplished in four cases without division of the biceps
      sheath, with an average follow-up of 8 months. 

PMID- 27635148
TI  - The Effects of Tai Chi Chuan on Improving Mind-Body Health for Knee
      Osteoarthritis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Purpose. To conduct a meta-analysis and systematic review examining whether Tai
      Chi Chuan could have mental and physical benefits for patients with knee
      osteoarthritis. Methods. MEDLINE, PUBMED, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases were
      searched for relevant studies. Data of the studies were collected, and outcomes
      were classified using the International Classification of Functioning,
      Disability, and Health model. Effect sizes of the mental and physical components
      were determined, along with the recommendation grades of Philadelphia Panel
      Classification System for Tai Chi Chuan on knee osteoarthritis. Results. Eleven
      studies were selected and retrieved from the databases. The results of meta
      analysis revealed that the effects of Tai Chi Chuan were observed for physical
      components in the body functions and structures domain. The effects favoring Tai
      Chi Chuan were observed in the physical component in the activities and
      participation domain. Insufficient data was included in the meta-analysis of the
      mental component. Conclusions. The review revealed that Tai Chi Chuan had
      beneficial outcomes for patients with knee osteoarthritis. The evidence-based
      results represented that it had small-to-moderate effects on body functions and
      structures, activities, and participation of physical component. However, there
      was insufficient evidence to support that Tai Chi Chuan had beneficial mental
      effect. 

PMID- 27635149
TI  - Discovery of Potential Orthosteric and Allosteric Antagonists of P2Y1R from
      Chinese Herbs by Molecular Simulation Methods.
AB  - P2Y1 receptor (P2Y1R), which belongs to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), is
      an important target in ADP-induced platelet aggregation. The crystal structure of
      P2Y1R has been solved recently, which revealed orthosteric and allosteric ligand
      binding sites with the details of ligand-protein binding modes. And it suggests
      that P2Y1R antagonists, which recognize two distinct sites, could potentially
      provide an efficacious and safe antithrombotic profile. In present paper, 2D
      similarity search, pharmacophore based screening, and molecular docking were used
      to explore the potential natural P2Y1R antagonists. 2D similarity search was used
      to classify orthosteric and allosteric antagonists of P2Y1R. Based on the result,
      pharmacophore models were constructed and validated by the test set. Optimal
      models were selected to discover potential P2Y1R antagonists of orthosteric and
      allosteric sites from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). And the hits were
      filtered by Lipinski's rule. Then molecular docking was used to refine the
      results of pharmacophore based screening and analyze the binding mode of the hits
      and P2Y1R. Finally, two orthosteric and one allosteric potential compounds were
      obtained, which might be used in future P2Y1R antagonists design. This work
      provides a reliable guide for discovering natural P2Y1R antagonists acting on two
      distinct sites from TCM. 

PMID- 27635150
TI  - Diffusion-Weighted Images Superresolution Using High-Order SVD.
AB  - The spatial resolution of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is limited by several
      physical and clinical considerations, such as practical scanning times.
      Interpolation methods, which are widely used to enhance resolution, often result
      in blurred edges. Advanced superresolution scanning acquires images with specific
      protocols and long acquisition times. In this paper, we propose a novel single
      image superresolution (SR) method which introduces high-order SVD (HOSVD) to
      regularize the patch-based SR framework on DWI datasets. The proposed method was
      implemented on an adaptive basis which ensured a more accurate reconstruction of
      high-resolution DWI datasets. Meanwhile, the intrinsic dimensional decreasing
      property of HOSVD is also beneficial for reducing the computational burden.
      Experimental results from both synthetic and real DWI datasets demonstrate that
      the proposed method enhances the details in reconstructed high-resolution DWI
      datasets and outperforms conventional techniques such as interpolation methods
      and nonlocal upsampling. 

PMID- 27635151
TI  - Improved CEEMDAN and PSO-SVR Modeling for Near-Infrared Noninvasive Glucose
      Detection.
AB  - Diabetes is a serious threat to human health. Thus, research on noninvasive blood
      glucose detection has become crucial locally and abroad. Near-infrared
      transmission spectroscopy has important applications in noninvasive glucose
      detection. Extracting useful information and selecting appropriate modeling
      methods can improve the robustness and accuracy of models for predicting blood
      glucose concentrations. Therefore, an improved signal reconstruction and
      calibration modeling method is proposed in this study. On the basis of improved
      complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) and
      correlative coefficient, the sensitive intrinsic mode functions are selected to
      reconstruct spectroscopy signals for developing the calibration model using the
      support vector regression (SVR) method. The radial basis function kernel is
      selected for SVR, and three parameters, namely, insensitive loss coefficient
      epsilon, penalty parameter C, and width coefficient gamma, are identified
      beforehand for the corresponding model. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is
      employed to optimize the simultaneous selection of the three parameters. Results
      of the comparison experiments using PSO-SVR and partial least squares show that
      the proposed signal reconstitution method is feasible and can eliminate noise in
      spectroscopy signals. The prediction accuracy of model using PSO-SVR method is
      also found to be better than that of other methods for near-infrared noninvasive
      glucose detection. 

PMID- 27635152
TI  - Comparison of national level biomass maps for conterminous US: understanding
      pattern and causes of differences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As Earth observation satellite data proliferate, so too do maps
      derived from them. Even when two co-located maps are produced with low overall
      error, the spatial distribution of error may not be the same. Increasingly,
      methods will be needed to understand differences among purportedly similar
      products. For this study, we have used the four aboveground biomass (AGB) maps
      for conterminous US generated under NASA's Carbon Monitoring System. We have
      developed systematic approach to (1) assess both the absolute accuracy of
      individual maps and assess the spatial patterns of agreement among maps, and (2)
      investigate potential causes of the spatial structure of agreement among maps to
      gain insight into reliability of methodological choices in map making. RESULTS:
      The comparison of the four biomass maps with FIA based total biomass estimates at
      national scale suggest that all the maps have higher biomass estimate compared to
      FIA. When the four maps were compared among each other, the result shows that the
      maps S and K have more similar spatial structure whereas the maps K and W have
      more similar absolute values. Although the maps K and W were generated using
      completely different methodological workflow, they agree remarkably. All the maps
      did well in the dominant forest type with maximum agreement between them. The
      comparison of difference between maps S and K with regional maps suggests that
      these maps were able to capture the disturbance and not so much regrowth pattern.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study provides a comprehensive systematic approach to compare
      and evaluate different real data products using examples of four AGB maps.
      Although ostensibly the four maps map the same variable, they have different
      spatial distribution at different scale. Except the 2003 map, one can use other
      maps at the coarser spatial resolution. Finally, the disparate information
      available through different maps indicates a need for a temporal framework for
      consistent monitoring of carbon stock at national scale.

PMID- 27635153
TI  - Modelling forest carbon stock changes as affected by harvest and natural
      disturbances. II. EU-level analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Forests and the forest sector may play an important role in
      mitigating climate change. The Paris Agreement and the recent legislative
      proposal to include the land use sector in the EU 2030 climate targets reflect
      this expectation. However, greater confidence on estimates from national
      greenhouse gas inventories (GHGI) and more comprehensive analyses of mitigation
      options are needed to seize this mitigation potential. The aim of this paper is
      to provide a tool at EU level for verifying the EU GHGI and for simulating
      specific policy and forest management scenarios. Therefore, the Carbon Budget
      Model (CBM) was applied for an integrated assessment of the EU forest carbon (C)
      balance from 2000 to 2012, including: (i) estimates of the C stock and net CO2
      emissions for forest management (FM), afforestation/reforestation (AR) and
      deforestation (D), covering carbon in both the forest and the harvest wood
      product (HWP) pools; (ii) an overall analysis of the C dynamics associated with
      harvest and natural disturbances (mainly storms and fires); (iii) a comparison of
      our estimates with the data reported in the EU GHGI. RESULTS: Overall, the
      average annual FM sink (-365 Mt CO2 year-1) estimated by the CBM in the period
      2000-2012 corresponds to about 7 % of total GHG emissions at the EU level for the
      same period (excluding land use, land-use change and forestry). The HWP pool sink
      (-44 Mt CO2 year-1) contributes an additional 1 %. Emissions from D (about 33 Mt
      CO2 year-1) are more than compensated by the sink in AR (about 43 Mt CO2 year-1
      over the period). For FM, the estimates from the CBM were about 8 % lower than
      the EU GHGI, a value well within the typical uncertainty range of the EU forest
      sink estimates. For AR and D the match with the EU GHGI was nearly perfect
      (difference <+/-2 % in the period 2008-2012). Our analysis on harvest and natural
      disturbances shows that: (i) the impact of harvest is much greater than natural
      disturbances but, because of salvage logging (often very relevant), the impact of
      natural disturbances is often not easily distinguishable from the impact of
      harvest, and (ii) the impact of storms on the biomass C stock is 5-10 times
      greater than fires, but while storms cause only indirect emissions (i.e., a
      transfer of C from living biomass to dead organic matter), fires cause both
      direct and indirect emissions. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents the application
      of a consistent methodological approach, based on an inventory-based model,
      adapted to the forest management conditions of EU countries. The approach
      captures, with satisfactory detail, the C sink reported in the EU GHGI and the
      country-specific variability due to harvest, natural disturbances and land-use
      changes. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive study of its kind at EU
      level, i.e., including all the forest pools, HWP and natural disturbances, and a
      comparison with the EU GHGI. The results provide the basis for possible future
      policy-relevant applications of this model, e.g., as a tool to support GHGIs
      (e.g., on accounting for natural disturbances) and to verify the EU GHGI, and for
      the simulation of specific scenarios at EU level.

PMID- 27635154
TI  - Reduced projection angles for binary tomography with particle aggregation.
AB  - This paper extends particle aggregate reconstruction technique (PART), a
      reconstruction algorithm for binary tomography based on the movement of
      particles. PART supposes that pixel values are particles, and that particles
      diffuse through the image, staying together in regions of uniform pixel value
      known as aggregates. In this work, a variation of this algorithm is proposed and
      a focus is placed on reducing the number of projections and whether this impacts
      the reconstruction of images. The algorithm is tested on three phantoms of
      varying sizes and numbers of forward projections and compared to filtered back
      projection, a random search algorithm and to SART, a standard algebraic
      reconstruction method. It is shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms the
      aforementioned algorithms on small numbers of projections. This potentially makes
      the algorithm attractive in scenarios where collecting less projection data are
      inevitable.

PMID- 27635155
TI  - Intraoperative cerebral ultrasound for third ventricle colloid cyst removal: case
      report.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the usefulness of intraoperative Ultrasound (ioUS) and Echo
      Color-Doppler (ECD) for the surgical removal of a specific deep-sited lesion.
      METHODS: Case report of a woman underwent surgery of a third ventricle colloid
      cyst removal. RESULTS: The ioUS technique depicted the deep intraventricular
      lesion and all the anatomical structures surrounding the lesion; helping us
      defining the best trajectory for the safest surgical removal. CONCLUSION: In our
      experience ioUS and ECD have demonstrated to be a reliable and useful
      intraoperative tool in neurosurgery, not only for superficial tumors but for deep
      intraventicular lesions as well.

PMID- 27635156
TI  - Atypical presentation of sacrococcygeal yolk sac tumor in infant: beware of the
      injuries of the gluteal region.
AB  - Malignant sacrococcygeal yolk sac tumor is a rare extra-gonadal germ cell tumor
      of infancy and childhood. We report the case of a 14-month-old white female
      infant with a rapidly growing supra-gluteal mass at first misdiagnosed as
      hemangioma after a clinical assessment. The lesion was then classified as extra
      gonadal yolk sac tumor due to alarming ultrasound features, later confirmed at
      MRI and pathology. This report remarks the need of a rigorous methodology in the
      ultrasound exploration of the gluteal region. 

PMID- 27635157
TI  - Case report: role of bedside ultrasonography in early diagnosis of myonecrosis
      rapidly developed in deep soft tissue infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myonecrosis can rapidly develop in soft tissue necrotizing
      infections, often with initial sparing of the skin. Despite the improvements in
      management of necrotizing soft tissue infections, mortality remains high,
      according to the location, microbial agents and comorbidities, ranging between 17
      and 46 %. A prompt diagnosis represents the greatest challenge for the emergency
      physician. CASE REPORT: We describe the case of a patient with a history of
      hypertension and arrhythmia who developed nonclostridial necrotizing fasciitis
      with extensive myonecrosis, after articular infiltration procedure. A bedside
      focused ultrasonography (US) revealed disappearance of the regular fibrillar
      architecture of the long head of biceps muscle, with diffuse abnormal
      hyperechogenicity assembled in a "clod pattern". Computed tomography (CT) of the
      right arm did not depict muscle involvement, but showed a small gas collection
      around the shoulder, spreading to the subclavian region behind the major pectoral
      muscle. Necrotizing fasciitis with wide myonecrosis was confirmed by surgical
      debridement. Microbiological results showed a Staphylococcus aureus infection,
      managed by a selected antibiotic therapy. The patient was discharged after a
      small period of mechanical ventilation. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of a
      previously healthy patient developing a nonclostridial necrotizing fasciitis with
      extensive myonecrosis attributable to infiltrative procedure and detected early
      by bedside US in emergency department. The role of bedside US in the emergency
      setting may save time for the prompt management of life-threatening necrotizing
      infections.

PMID- 27635158
TI  - A non-occlusive bezoar of caecum in a 7-year-old child: ultrasound detection and
      multimodality imaging management.
AB  - Bezoars represent the most frequent foreign bodies of gastro-intestinal system,
      involving first of all the stomach and small intestine; instead the cecum tract
      is a very uncommon site for bezoars associated with a poor abdominal
      symptomatology. We report a case of a very rare localization of bezoar in the
      caecum tract of the ascending colon in a child affected by undefined abdominal
      pain. In this case, the abdominal Ultrasound examination showed characteristic
      imaging findings of bezoar completely comparable to that of Computed Tomography,
      allowing an early diagnosis of bezoar and the possibility of a conservative
      treatment for the young patient. 

PMID- 27635159
TI  - Journal of ultrasound indexed in MEDLINE.

PMID- 27635160
TI  - The role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis and management of penile trauma.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this prospective study, we studied the role of ultrasonography (US)
      in the diagnosis and management of penile trauma. METHODS: Between 2007 and 2014,
      14 patients (mean age 39 years) with suspected penile fracture underwent US
      examinations. Almost all patients had a history of injury during sexual
      intercourse or manipulation of the penis. US examinations were performed in
      transversal and longitudinal planes starting at the level of the glans and moving
      down to the base of the penis. Color-Doppler was used to identify the vascular
      pattern or to see any abnormal vascularity. RESULTS: The most common blunt injury
      to the penis that occurred in nine patients was penile fracture due to rupture of
      the corpus cavernosum. A tear occurred in only one of the corpora cavernosa. US
      showed an irregular hypoechoic or hyperechoic defect at the cavernosal rupture
      site. Four patients presented an injury to the subtunical venous plexus in the
      absence of complete tunical disruption. One patient had urethral rupture with
      inability to urinate and apparent urethrorrhagia. Ten patients underwent surgical
      operation, while four patients were observed and discharged after 2 days. Mean
      follow-up was 32 months (range 3-58). After 8 to 12 weeks, all of them were able
      to be sexually active as before. Angulations of penis persisted in one patient.
      CONCLUSION: US may be the preferred imaging technique for evaluation of penile
      fracture before surgery. It is easy to perform, non-invasive, widely available,
      and inexpensive, although it requires an experienced team.

PMID- 27635161
TI  - Study of cellular response induced by low intensity ultrasound frequency sweep
      pattern on myelomonocytic lymphoma U937 cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study will analyze the mechanical effects (immediate lysis) and
      biological effects (cell survival, apoptosis, cell cycle) on U937 cells subjected
      to different sonication conditions with increasing and decreasing frequencies and
      burst rate (number of burst of a repeating signal in a specific time unit), in
      order to determine the best conditions of sonication to produce high mortality,
      apoptosis and inhibition of hyperproliferation. METHOD: Cells are been stressed
      by pulse wave ultrasounds with increasing and decreasing frequencies between 400
      and 620 kHz, at burst rates of 0.5, 10, 50 Hz and 50 % duty cycle (percentage of
      one period in which a signal is active), ultrasound intensities (spatial average
      temporal peak) 0.045 and 0.09 W/cm(2). The sonication durations were 90 and 180
      s. RESULTS: The decreasing mode was found to be better than the increasing mode
      for 10 and 50 Hz burst rates, while at 0.5 Hz the increasing mode gave better
      results for the time of 180 s. For 10 Hz burst rate, decreasing frequency, 180 s,
      0.09 W/cm(2), 20 % survival rate was found; after 6-h incubation, cells showed 13
      % of early apoptosis and 11 % of late apoptosis. For these conditions of
      sonication, the hyperproliferation of cells was inhibited. CONCLUSION: Survival
      rate decreases for increasing intensity and duration with each burst rate. The
      best performance is decreasing mode in a range between 620 and 400 kHz, duty
      cycle 50 %, burst rate 10 Hz. In these conditions after 180 s duration, the
      average survival rate is 20 %, the survived cells manifest apoptosis after 6-h
      incubation and hyperproliferation is prevented. The results seem to lead toward a
      non-invasive and effective purging of leukemic cells.

PMID- 27635162
TI  - Intramuscular migration of calcific tendinopathy in the rotator cuff: ultrasound
      appearance and a review of the literature.
AB  - Calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder is a common condition caused by calcium
      hydroxyapatite crystals, affecting the tendons of the rotator cuff. Among
      uncommon complication, one is the migration of the calcium in the subacromion
      subdeltoid bursa. More rare is the intraosseous migration. We present four cases
      of an even more rare condition, not well described in literature yet, the
      intramuscular migration of calcium. 

PMID- 27635163
TI  - Hepatic artery resistive index (HARI) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
      (NAFLD) fibrosis score in NAFLD patients: cut-off suggestive of non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH) evolution.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Conventional ultrasound (US) is reliable to reveal the
      presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but it is neither
      sensitive nor specific to reveal fibrosis clues, except in advanced stages where
      signs of cirrhosis are evident. NALFD fibrosis score is a non-invasive parameter
      that predicts well the presence of significant fibrosis, but correlations with US
      parameters are lacking. The aim of this study was, therefore, to compare
      resistive index of hepatic artery (HARI) of NAFLD patients with different
      severity degrees of diffuse fatty liver disease vs HARI of controls, and to
      compare HARI of NAFLD patients with different NAFLD fibrosis scores vs HARI of
      controls. METHODS: This was a spontaneous, no-profit observational study
      conducted in our US department between December 2013 and July 2014. Patients with
      NAFLD with different severity of disease and healthy controls were included.
      Echogenicity and size of liver and spleen, maximum portal vein velocity, RI, peak
      systolic velocity (PSV), and end diastolic velocity (EDV) of splenic artery, PSV,
      EDV, and RI of hepatic artery, and NAFLD fibrosis score were acquired and
      compared between groups. RESULTS: HARI was significantly lower in NAFLD patients
      than controls (p < 0.0001). A significant difference was also found between the
      groups of NAFLD severity (p < 0.0001). There was also a difference between HARI
      of NAFLD patients with different NAFLD fibrosis scores vs HARI of controls (p <
      0.0001) with a positive correlation between HARI and NAFLD fibrosis score.
      CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: Conventional Doppler US can be helpful to detect NAFLD
      patients with the risk of fibrous tissue accumulation. HARI tends to exceed the
      range of controls for patients with NAFLD fibrosis score greater than 0.675. The
      detection of HARI greater than 0.9 in NAFLD patients, regardless of the US degree
      of severity of steatosis, might suggest the execution of biopsy to predict the
      risk of progression to steatohepatitis and fibrous tissue accumulation. Low
      values of HARI may be expression of lower risk, which does not necessitate any
      biopsy.

PMID- 27635164
TI  - Chronic peritoneal dialysis in children: the role of ultrasound in the diagnosis
      of peritoneal catheter obstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: Over the past two decades, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis has
      emerged as the first-choice dialysis modality in children awaiting for
      transplantation. Despite the improvements observed in catheter survival over the
      past several years, the obstruction is one of the reasons for immediate catheter
      non-function. This study assessed usefulness of ultrasound (US) in visualizing
      the obstruction of chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD) catheter and identifying the
      etiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2000 and November 2012, 38
      patients (20 M, 18 F) were treated with CPD and examined with US. The type of
      catheter in all subjects was the straight two-cuff Tenckhoff catheter. We
      evaluated the typical sonographic signs of the most common CPD catheter
      complications. RESULTS: We had 12/38 cases with catheter malfunction due to its
      obstruction. In eight patients, US showed the presence of echogenic material
      fragmented into the lumen and around the distal tip of the catheter. In the other
      four patients, US demonstrated the displacement of catheter in bowel loops and an
      amorphous material as homogeneous echoic area around the distal tip. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results confirm the effectiveness of US in the assessment of the
      complications related to intraperitoneal catheters. US is able to identify the
      catheter obstruction and recognize the etiology (endoluminal strands of fibrin,
      other materials or the omental wrapping), facilitating a correct therapeutic
      approach.

PMID- 27635165
TI  - Superficial temporal artery pseudoaneurysm: what is the role of ultrasound?
AB  - PURPOSE: The superficial temporal artery (STA) is one of the terminal branches of
      the external carotid artery; STA pseudoaneurysms are uncommon vascular lesion,
      generally subsequent to blunt or penetrating trauma that could represent a trick
      for radiologist, especially when the only anamnestic information is "palpable
      superficial swelling". In this article, we describe our ultrasonographic
      experience about STA pseudoaneurysm reporting several cases with different
      etiopatogenesis. METHODS: Between January 2004 and March 2015 six patients (4F
      and 2M; aged 15-55 years, mean 36 year) presented at our department with
      superficial palpable swelling in temporal region (four with trauma history, two
      with iatrogenic cause) underwent to ultrasonographic study to assess the presence
      of STA pseudoaneurysm. Ultrasonographic findings suggestive of pseudoaneurysm was
      a well-defined, pulsatile, anechoic mass in B-mode, a swirling or disorganized
      pattern of blood flow in the lesion with demonstration of direct communication
      between arterial lumen and pseudoaneurysm at colour-Doppler and a typical to-and
      fro waveform on pseudoaneurysm neck at pulsed-Doppler. RESULTS: B-mode proves the
      presence of anechoic mass in five on six patients. Colour-Doppler demonstrates
      the presence of flow inside the lesion in five patients and a direct
      communication in all patients. To-and-fro typical waveform has been demonstrated
      in five patients. Ultrasound made diagnosis in all patients with a sensibility
      and specificity of 100 %. CONCLUSION: US is the imaging modality of choice, since
      it can provide detailed information about vascular anatomy without incurring the
      risks of invasive methods like angiography or radiation.

PMID- 27635166
TI  - Accuracy of the caval index and the expiratory diameter of the inferior vena cava
      for the diagnosis of dehydration in elderly.
AB  - PURPOSE: Dehydration is a very common condition among elderly people. Till date
      there is not yet a fast and easy method to determine a state of dehydration in
      the emergency department. In the literature there are some exploratory studies
      that have tried to establish the relationship between some widely used laboratory
      values and ultrasound for the purpose of diagnosing dehydration. The primary aim
      of this study is to verify the correlation between two measures derived by
      ultrasound (caval index and expiratory diameter of inferior vena cava) and blood
      urea nitrogen (BUN)/creatinine ratio. The relationship between vital signs and
      BUN/creatinine ratio has also been explored. METHODS: An observational cohort
      study of patients aged 70 years or more, all examined in our ED. The population
      was divided on the basis of the BUN/creatinine ratio greater or lower than 20.
      RESULTS: A total of 270 patients have been considered. No vital sign correlated
      with an increased BUN/creatinine ratio. Both the diameter of the inferior vena
      cava in expiratory and the percentage of its collapsibility in inspiratory (caval
      index) have revealed a correlation with a BUN/creatinine ratio greater than 20.
      Areas under the curve are, respectively, 76 % (95 % CI 70-82) and 80 % (95 % CI
      75-86). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative
      predictive value are, respectively, 85.5 % (95 % CI 79.4-90.4); 100 % (95 % CI 97
      100); 100 % (95 % CI 97.5-100); 82.9 % (95 % CI 75.9-88.7) and 99.3 % (95 % CI
      96.3-99.9); 100 % (95 % CI 97-100); 100 % (95 % CI 97.5-100); 99.2 % (95 % CI
      95.6-99.9). CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound has proved to be useful to diagnose
      dehydration in elderly people while in the emergency department. Vice versa the
      vital signs have shown to be unrelated to the hydration state of elderly
      patients.

PMID- 27635167
TI  - Feasibility of CEUS and strain elastography in one case of ileum Crohn stricture
      and literature review.
AB  - Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and strain elastography (SE) are
      diagnostic imaging methods, which are still not routinely used in the clinical
      management of inflammatory bowel diseases. However, there are studies in the
      literature reporting on the use of both CEUS and SE in patients with bowel
      obstruction due to Crohn's disease, documenting the usefulness of these two
      methods in the differentiation between inflammation and fibrosis affecting the
      bowel wall. The aim of this case report is to evaluate the usefulness of CEUS and
      SE performed in a patient with Crohn's disease, who was admitted to hospital with
      bowel obstruction due to terminal ileal stricture and submitted to ileocecal
      resection. CEUS and SE identified and to some extent also characterized the
      inflammatory and fibrotic processes affecting the bowel wall. Macroscopic and
      microscopic examinations of the surgical specimen confirmed the presence of
      inflammatory phenomena (exudates, ulcers, and fistulas) and fibrosis as suggested
      by ultrasound (US) imaging methods. 

PMID- 27635168
TI  - Case report: pseudotail with dermal sinus tract and tethered cord.
AB  - A pseudotail is a very rare, dermal appendage arising from the lumbosacral region
      with an association with spinal dysraphism. We report a case of a pseudotail in a
      healthy newborn female with sonographic imaging of a tethered cord and dermal
      sinus tract with MRI and surgical correlation. 

PMID- 27635170
TI  - CT and MRI Findings in a Rare Case of Renal Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary renal primitive neuroectodermal tumor/extraskeletal Ewing's
      sarcoma (PNET/EES) is a very rare renal tumor. CASE REPORT: We report a case of
      primary renal PNET/EES of the kidney in an adult patient and describe its
      computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings, including diffusion
      weighted images along with a review of the current medical literature.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although very rare, a relatively large renal mass which shows very
      infiltrative growth pattern on CT and MR imaging and striking diffusion
      restriction should raise the suspicion of a renal primitive neuroectodermal
      tumor, in a young adult.

PMID- 27635169
TI  - Retinoic Acid-mediated Nuclear Receptor Activation and Hepatocyte Proliferation.
AB  - Due to their well-known differentiation and apoptosis-inducing abilities,
      retinoic acid (RA) and its analogs have strong anti-cancer efficacy in human
      cancers. However, in vivo RA is a liver mitogen. While speculation has persisted
      that RA-mediated signaling is likely involved in hepatocyte proliferation during
      liver regeneration, direct evidence is still required. Findings in support of
      this proposition include observations that a release of retinyl palmitate (the
      precursor of RA) occurs in liver stellate cells following liver injury.
      Nevertheless, the biological action of this released vitamin A is virtually
      unknown. More likely is that the released vitamin A is converted to RA, the
      biological form, and then bound to a specific receptor (retinoid x receptor;
      RXRalpha), which is most abundantly expressed in the liver. Considering the
      mitogenic effects of RA, the RA-activated RXRalpha would likely then influence
      hepatocyte proliferation and liver tissue repair. At present, the mechanism by
      which RA stimulates hepatocyte proliferation is largely unknown. This review
      summarizes the activation of nuclear receptors (peroxisome proliferator activated
      receptor-alpha, pregnane x receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and
      farnesoid x receptor) in an RXRalpha dependent manner to induce hepatocyte
      proliferation, providing a link between RA and its proliferative role.

PMID- 27635171
TI  - Whole-Body MRI Screening in Asymptomatic Subjects; Preliminary Experience and
      Long-Term Follow-Up Findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to describe the technique and to evaluate
      the results of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging in an asymptomatic
      population. MATERIAL/METHODS: Between March 2009 and December 2011, 118
      consecutive subjects undergoing thorough medical check-up were prospectively
      included in the study. MRI was performed with a 205-cm moving table, parallel
      imaging and automatic image composing software. RESULTS: In 83 subjects (70%),
      103 benign lesions were detected. Two malignant (adrenal and renal carcinoma)
      lesions and one precancerous (pancreatic mucinous carcinoma) lesion were
      detected. The most common lesions were renal cysts, liver hemangiomas, liver
      cysts, thyroid nodules, and uterine leiomyomas. CONCLUSIONS: WB-MRI is able to
      cover area from head to toes in one diagnostic work-up, and besides the anatomic
      regions evaluated by conventional radiological modalities, i.e. brain parenchyma,
      bones and extremities, can be evaluated in one examination.

PMID- 27635173
TI  - Astaxanthin as a Potential Protector of Liver Function: A Review.
AB  - Protecting against liver damage, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is
      currently considered to be important for the prevention of adverse conditions,
      such as cardiovascular and cancerous diseases. Liver damage often occurs in
      relation to oxidative stress with metabolic disorders, including cellular lipid
      accumulation. Astaxanthin (3,3'-dihydroxy-beta,beta-carotene-4,4'dione), a
      xanthophyll carotenoid, is a candidate for liver protection. Here, we briefly
      review astaxanthin as a potential protector against liver damage. In particular,
      studies have reported antioxidative effects of astaxanthin in liver tissues.
      Astaxanthin treatment is also reported to improve hyperlipidemia, which
      indirectly induces the antioxidative effects of astaxanthin on liver pathologies.
      Furthermore, astaxanthin may alleviate liver damage independent of its
      antioxidative effects. Of note, there are still insufficient human data to
      observe the effect of astaxanthin treatment on liver function in clinical
      conditions. More studies investigating the relevance of astaxanthin on liver
      protection are necessary. 

PMID- 27635174
TI  - Budesonide Use and Hospitalization Rate in Crohn's Disease: Results From a Cohort
      at a Tertiary Care IBD Referral Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Budesonide is generally not used for periods > 90 days in Crohn's
      disease (CD). We sought to study the association between cumulative outpatient
      budesonide use in days and hospitalization rate in CD patients seen at our
      institution. METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort study design, we selected CD
      patients > 19 years old and followed for at least 1 year. Days of outpatient
      budesonide use were calculated by reviewing outpatient clinic notes. Treatment
      groups included patients who were not given budesonide, received budesonide from
      1 to 90 days, and received budesonide > 90 days. We performed univariate analyses
      and developed generalized Poisson regression models for rate data to estimate
      incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for CD
      related hospitalization. RESULTS: Of 767 CD patients, 664 did not receive
      budesonide, 45 received budesonide from 1 to 90 days, and 58 received budesonide
      for > 90 days. Incidence rates of hospitalization in patients who received no
      budesonide vs. 1 - 90 days of budesonide vs. > 90 days of budesonide were 31, 26,
      and 19 per 100 person-years, respectively. Adjusted models demonstrated that
      receiving outpatient budesonide from 1 to 90 days and for > 90 days was
      associated with a lower likelihood of being admitted for a CD exacerbation (1 -
      90 days: IRR 0.85; 95% CI 0.65 - 1.10; > 90 days: IRR 0.71; 95% CI 0.56 - 0.91).
      CONCLUSIONS: Outpatient budesonide use appears to be associated with a lower
      likelihood of a CD-related hospitalization, notably when used for > 90 days. This
      association needs to be further assessed before recommending this agent for
      routine use for > 90 days.

PMID- 27635175
TI  - Secular Trends in the Clinical Characteristics of Type 2 Diabetic Patients With
      Severe Hypoglycemia Between 2008 and 2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the trends in the clinical characteristics and
      prescriptions of type 2 diabetic patients with severe hypoglycemia because the
      prescription rate of antidiabetic agents has significantly changed recently.
      METHODS: A total of 193 patients with type 2 diabetes with severe hypoglycemia
      induced by antidiabetic agents between 2008 and 2013 were divided into three
      groups based on the period of visit: 2008 - 2009, 2010 - 2011 and 2012 - 2013.
      RESULTS: While the proportion of patients with severe hypoglycemia using insulin
      (from 55% to 74%), biguanides (from 6% to 20%), glinides, and dipeptidyl
      peptidase-4 inhibitors significantly increased, those using sulfonylureas (from
      45% to 20%) significantly decreased. Errors of drug use significantly increased
      as a trigger of hypoglycemia in recent years. The number of antidiabetic agents
      (from 1.9 +/- 0.6 to 2.3 +/- 0.7), non-diabetic agents (from 2.3 +/- 2.4 to 4.3
      +/- 3.3), and total drugs prescribed were significantly higher in recent years
      among patients receiving insulin therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Polypharmacy especially in
      patients receiving insulin therapy and errors of drug use have increased in type
      2 diabetic patients with severe hypoglycemia in recent years. Intensive education
      in the usage rule of drugs is considered to be important in order to prevent
      severe hypoglycemia.

PMID- 27635176
TI  - Computerized Functional Reach Test to Measure Balance Stability in Elderly
      Patients With Neurological Disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ability to maintain static and dynamic balance is a prerequisite
      for safe walking and for obtaining functional mobility. For this reason, a
      reliable and valid means of screening for risk of falls is needed. The functional
      reach test (FRT) is used in many countries, yet it does not provide some
      kinematic parameters such as shoulder or pelvic girdles translation. The purpose
      was to analyze video records measuring of distance, velocity, time length, arm
      direction and girdles translation while doing FRT. METHODS: A cross-sectional,
      descriptive study was conducted where the above variables were correlated to the
      mini-mental state examination (MMSE) for mental status and the Tinetti balance
      assessment test, which have been validated, in order to computerize the FRT
      (cFRT) for elderly patients with neurological disorders. Eighty patients were
      tested and 54 were eligible to serve as experimental group. The patients
      underwent the MMSE, the Tinetti test and the FRT. LAB view software was used to
      record the FRT performances and to process the videos. The control group
      consisted of 51 healthy subjects who had been previously tested. RESULTS: The
      experimental group was not able to perform the tests as well as the healthy
      control subjects. The video camera provided valuable kinematic results such as
      bending down while performing the forward reach test. CONCLUSIONS: Instead of
      manual measurement, we proposed to use a cheap with fair resolution web camera to
      accurately estimate the FRT. The kinematic parameters were correlated with
      Tinetti and MMSE scores. The performance values established in this study
      indicate that the cFRT is a reliable and valid assessment, which provides more
      accurate data than "manual" test about functional reach.

PMID- 27635172
TI  - Metabolic Functions of the Lung, Disorders and Associated Pathologies.
AB  - The primary function of the lungs is gas exchange. Approximately 400 million
      years ago, the Earth's atmosphere gained enough oxygen in the gas phase for the
      animals that emerged from the sea to breathe air. The first lungs were merely
      primitive air sacs with a few vessels in the walls that served as accessory
      organs of gas exchange to supplement the gills. Eons later, as animals grew
      accustomed to a solely terrestrial life, the lungs became highly
      compartmentalized to provide the vast air-blood surface necessary for O2 uptake
      and CO2 elimination, and a respiratory control system was developed to regulate
      breathing in accordance with metabolic demands and other needs. With the
      evolution and phylogenetic development, lungs were taking a variety of other
      specialized functions to maintain homeostasis, which we will call the non
      respiratory functions of the lung and that often, and by mistake, are believed to
      have little or no connection with the replacement gas. In this review, we focus
      on the metabolic functions of the lung, perhaps the least known, and mainly, in
      the lipid metabolism and blood-adult lung vascular endothelium interaction. When
      these functions are altered, respiratory disorders or diseases appear, which are
      discussed concisely, emphasizing how they impact the most important function of
      the lungs: external respiration. 

PMID- 27635177
TI  - Risk Factors for Oral Human Papillomavirus Infection in Healthy Individuals: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with oral
      cancer development. However, few epidemiologic investigations have focused on
      oral HPV prevalence in healthy individuals. The objective of this study was to
      provide updated information regarding oral HPV prevalence in patients without
      oral cancer worldwide. METHODS: We systematically reviewed 29 studies reporting
      the prevalence of oral HPV infection that included 22,756 subjects (10,124 males,
      12,623 females, and nine unknown gender; age range 2 - 89 years) and were
      published from January 2012 to June 2015. RESULTS: The prevalence of overall HPV,
      low-risk type HPV, high-risk type HPV, and HPV16 in the reported cases was 5.5%,
      2.2%, 2.7%, and 1.0%, respectively. The prevalence of overall HPV was
      considerably higher in males who had sex with males (12.2%) as compared to
      heterosexual males (4.7%) and females (2.9%). A meta-analysis was performed to
      elucidate significant risk factors for oral HPV infection, which revealed a
      significant statistical association for oral sex and smoking with oral HPV
      infection (odds ratio (OR): 1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.51 - 2.39, P <
      0.0001; OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.32 - 3.43, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      suggest that sexual behavior and smoking are importantly related to oral HPV
      infection in healthy individuals.

PMID- 27635179
TI  - Change of Serum BNP Between Admission and Discharge After Acute Decompensated
      Heart Failure Is a Better Predictor of 6-Month All-Cause Mortality Than the
      Single BNP Value Determined at Admission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is regarded as a reliable predictor
      of outcome in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). However,
      according to some scholars, a single isolated measurement of serum BNP at the
      time of hospital admission would not be sufficient to provide reliable prognostic
      information. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out on patients
      hospitalized for ADHF, who had then undergone follow-up of at least 6 months, in
      order to see if there was any difference in midterm mortality among patients with
      rising BNP at discharge as compared to those with decreasing BNP at discharge.
      Medical records had to be carefully examined to divide the case records into two
      groups, the former characterized by an increase in BNP during hospitalization,
      and the latter showing a decrease in BNP from the time of admission to the time
      of discharge. RESULTS: Ultimately, 177 patients were enrolled in a retrospective
      study. Among them, 53 patients (29.94%) had increased BNPs at the time of
      discharge relative to admission, whereas 124 (70.06%) exhibited decreases in
      serum BNP during their hospital stay. The group with patients who exhibited BNP
      increases at the time of discharge had higher degree of congestion evident in the
      higher frequency of persistent jugular venous distention (odds ratio: 3.72; P =
      0.0001) and persistent orthopnea at discharge (odds ratio: 2.93; P = 0.0016).
      Moreover, patients with increased BNP at the time of discharge had a lower
      reduction in inferior vena cava maximum diameter (1.58 +/- 2.2 mm vs. 6.32 +/-
      1.82 mm; P = 0.001 (one-way ANOVA)). In contrast, there was no significant
      difference in weight loss when patients with increased BNP at discharge were
      compared to those with no such increase. A total of 14 patients (7.9%) died
      during the 6-month follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed
      that BNP increase at the time of discharge was an independent predictor of 6
      month all-cause mortality after adjustment for age, sodium at discharge,
      creatinine at discharge and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class at discharge
      (hazard ratio 34.49; 95% confidence intervals: 4.55 - 261.06; P = 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with recent ADHF, increased BNP at the time of
      discharge from the hospital entailed a higher grade of congestion and higher 6
      month mortality.

PMID- 27635178
TI  - Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: A Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a severe form of premenstrual
      syndrome. The influence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection on clinical
      features in women with this disorder has not been studied. Therefore, we
      determined the association of T. gondii infection with symptoms and signs in
      women suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder. METHODS: We performed a
      cross-sectional study of 151 women suffering from premenstrual dysphoric
      disorder. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies were detected in sera of the
      participants using enzyme-linked immunoassays (EIAs). In addition, T. gondii DNA
      was detected in whole blood of IgG seropositive participants using polymerase
      chain reaction. We obtained the clinical data of women with the aid of a
      questionnaire. The association of T. gondii infection with clinical
      characteristics of women was assessed by bivariate and multivariate analyses.
      RESULTS: Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 10 (6.6%) of the 151 women
      studied. Of the 10 IgG seropositive women, four (40.0%) were positive for anti-T.
      gondii IgM antibodies, and one (10.0%) for T. gondii DNA. Mean number (25.8 +/-
      7.58) of premenstrual clinical characteristics in seropositive women was similar
      to that (29.22 +/- 9.13) found in seronegative women (P = 0.25). Logistic
      regression showed that seropositivity to T. gondii was negatively associated with
      difficulty concentrating (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.03 - 0.91; P = 0.03), and
      positively associated with out of control feeling or overwhelmed (OR: 9.00; 95%
      CI: 1.32 - 62.00; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Results of this first study on the
      association of T. gondii infection and clinical characteristics of premenstrual
      dysphoric disorder suggest that this infection might be linked to some symptoms
      of this disorder. We report for the first time the association of T. gondii
      infection and out of control feeling or overwhelmed. Results warrant for further
      research on the role of T. gondii in premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

PMID- 27635180
TI  - Depressor and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers in
      Metabolic and/or Hypertensive Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: A
      Randomized, Prospective Study (DIAMOND Study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: We compared the efficacy and safety of azilsartan to those of
      olmesartan in a prospective, randomized clinical trial. METHODS: Forty-four
      hypertensive patients who had coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled. We
      randomly assigned patients to changeover from their prior angiotensin II receptor
      blockers (ARBs) to either azilsartan or olmesartan, and followed the patients for
      12 weeks. RESULTS: Office systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the azilsartan group
      was significantly decreased after 12 weeks. SBP and diastolic blood pressure
      (DBP) after 12 weeks in the azilsartan group were significantly lower than those
      in the olmesartan group. The percentage of patients who reached the target BP at
      12 weeks (78%) in the azilsartan group was significantly higher than that at 12
      weeks (45%) in the olmesartan group. There were no significant changes in
      pentraxin-3, high-sensitively C-reactive protein or adiponectin in blood after 12
      weeks in either group. Although serum levels of creatinine (Cr) in the azilsartan
      group significantly increased, these changes were within the respective normal
      range. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the ability of azilsartan to reduce BP may be
      superior to that of prior ARBs with equivalent safety in hypertensive patients
      with CAD.

PMID- 27635181
TI  - Comparison of Plasma Glucose and Gut Hormone Levels Between Drinking Enteral
      Formula Over a Period of 5 and 20 Minutes in Japanese Patients With Type 2
      Diabetes: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A fast eating speed is reportedly associated with obesity, fatty
      liver, and metabolic syndrome. As a comparison of postprandial glucose levels
      after eating quickly or slowly has not been previously reported for Japanese
      patients with type 2 diabetes, we evaluated the impact of the fast or slow
      ingestion of an enteral formula (liquid meal) on glucose metabolism. METHODS: Ten
      Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes who had been hospitalized at our hospital
      were enrolled. All the subjects received an enteral formula for breakfast. The
      study was performed over a 2-day period in each subject (day 1: enteral formula
      was consumed over a 5-minute period; day 2: enteral formula was consumed over a
      20-minute period). The subjects were requested to fast for at least 12 hours
      before eating breakfast, and blood samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, and 120
      min after the start of breakfast. RESULTS: The areas under the curve (AUCs) of
      the plasma glucose, serum insulin, plasma active ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide-1
      (GLP-1), plasma total glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and
      serum total peptide YY (PYY) levels were not significantly changed by intake over
      a 5-minute or 20-minute period. CONCLUSIONS: Eating quickly per se probably does
      not affect postprandial glucose excursions, but the increased energy intake
      resulting from eating quickly may increase the body weight and increase insulin
      resistance. Eating quickly may increase energy intake and worsen long-term
      metabolic parameters.

PMID- 27635182
TI  - Lactic Acidosis Induced by Linezolid Mimics Symptoms of an Acute Intracranial
      Bleed: A Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - Lactic acidosis is common and most often associated with disturbed acid-base
      balance. Rarely, it can be a life-threatening medication side effect. Hence,
      determining the etiology of lactic acidosis early in patients is paramount in
      choosing the correct therapeutic intervention. Although lactic acidosis as an
      adverse drug reaction of linezolid is a well-recognized and documented clinical
      entity, the occurrence of such mimicking an acute intracranial bleed has not been
      reported to our knowledge. The following case is presented as an example of such
      an occurrence. A 67-year-old woman presented to the emergency department for
      lethargy, nausea and syncope. The head CT did not demonstrate any bleeding or
      mass effect, but lab results were significant for elevated lactic acid. The
      patient recently underwent left total hip replacement surgery, which was
      complicated by a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection.
      She received 6 weeks of oral linezolid therapy. And upon learning that key part
      of her history, the linezolid was discontinued. Her lactic acid rapidly
      normalized and she was discharged home. Several publications demonstrate that
      linezolid induces lactic acidosis by disrupting crucial mitochondrial functions.
      It is essential that clinicians are aware that linezolid can cause lactic
      acidosis. And, the important reminder is that adverse drug reactions can often
      mimic common diseases. If it is not recognized early, ominous clinical
      consequences may occur. In conclusion, linezolid should be suspected and included
      in the differential diagnosis if lactic acidosis exists with an uncommon clinical
      picture. 

PMID- 27635183
TI  - Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Diagnostic Conundrum.
AB  - A 70-year-old man presented with complaints of rapid cognitive decline and new
      onset leukopenia. The patient had a 17-year history of refractory seizures.
      Detailed review of symptoms and investigations revealed the patient met American
      College of Rheumatology (ACR) diagnostic criteria for systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE). The patient had high titer ANA with a strongly positive
      dsDNA. Immunosuppressive therapy with hydroxychloroquine and mycophenolate
      mofetil led to significant improvement in cognition and seizures.
      Neuropsychiatric SLE should be considered a potential differential diagnosis for
      patients presenting with seizures or cognitive decline. Moreover,
      neuropsychiatric manifestations especially seizures are an early event in the
      disease course of SLE. Hence, we believe that early diagnosis of SLE by
      neuropsychiatric manifestations will not only lead to better control of CNS
      symptoms but early immunosuppressive therapy could control the progression of the
      underlying autoimmune disease. 

PMID- 27635184
TI  - Unusual Survival of Anomalous Left Coronary Artery From the Pulmonary Artery With
      Severe Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis in Septuagenarian Women: Foes Becoming Friends?
AB  - ALCAPA syndrome (anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary
      artery) is a rare disease but lethal with clinical expression from myocardial
      infarction, congestive heart failure to death during early infancy and unusual
      survival to adulthood. We report a 73-year-old woman with ALCAPA who presented
      with exertional dyspnea (NYHA functional class II) over past 2 years. Physical
      examination revealed soft S, long mid diastolic rumbling murmur and apical pan
      systolic murmur. Electrocardiography displayed biatrial enlargement and poor R
      progression and normal sinus rhythm. Echocardiography established calcified
      severe mitral stenosis (MS), presence of continuous flow entering the pulmonary
      trunk, turbulent continuous flow in inter-ventricular septum with left to right
      shunt in contrast echocardiography and normal systolic function. Coronary
      angiogram showed absence of left coronary artery (LCA) originating from aorta,
      dilated and tortuous right coronary artery (RCA) and abundant Rentrop grade 3
      intercoronary collateral communicating with LCA originating from pulmonary trunk
      which was also confirmed on coronary CT angiogram thus establishing diagnosis of
      ALCAPA. It is exceedingly rare to be associated with severe MS. However, such a
      long survival in our patient can be explained by the severe pulmonary arterial
      hypertension which may be contributing to lesser coronary steal. 

PMID- 27635185
TI  - An Overlapping Case of Alport Syndrome and Thin Basement Membrane Disease.
AB  - We report a case of a 48-year-old male who presented with hematuria of at least
      10 years, and has a daughter with hematuria as well. The patient has a history of
      degenerative hearing loss, decreased vision and cataract formation, but no
      diabetes, hypertension or proteinuria. A full serology and urology workup was
      negative for any abnormality. A kidney biopsy for the patient revealed a
      diagnosis of Alport syndrome but was unable to rule out thin basement membrane
      disease. The biopsy was inconclusive in making the diagnosis but the patient's
      clinical presentation led to the diagnosis of Alport syndrome. The patient's 10
      year-old daughter also has hematuria with no clear etiology but now can
      subsequently be anticipatorily managed for Alport syndrome progression. Due to
      the rarity of the disease, diagnosis is often missed or delayed by primary care
      providers especially when no associated proteinuria has yet developed. This can
      lead to confusion and misdiagnosis with thin basement membrane disease, a
      generally benign hematuria without kidney failure progression. Additionally,
      biopsy can be inconclusive in these patients, relying on the physician's history
      and physical examination findings to diagnose. It is important to appropriately
      diagnose Alport syndrome not only to manage the patient's rate of kidney failure
      progression but also allow for a higher degree of suspicion, screening and
      intervention in the patient's family members. Both the inconclusive nature of
      kidney biopsies and the usefulness of diagnosis for family member screening are
      often overlooked in medical literature but are explored in this case. 

PMID- 27635186
TI  - Galvanic Exchange in Colloidal Metal/Metal-Oxide Core/Shell Nanocrystals.
AB  - While galvanic exchange is commonly applied to metallic nanoparticles, recently
      its applicability was expanded to metal-oxides. Here the galvanic exchange is
      studied in metal/metal-oxide core/shell nanocrystals. In particular Sn/SnO2 is
      treated by Ag+, Pt2+, Pt4+, and Pd2+. The conversion dynamics is monitored by in
      situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The Ag+ treatment converts the Sn cores to
      the intermetallic Ag x Sn (x ~ 4) phase, by changing the core's crystal
      structure. For the analogous treatment by Pt2+, Pt4+, and Pd2+, such a galvanic
      exchange is not observed. This different behavior is caused by the
      semipermeability of the naturally formed SnO2 shell, which allows diffusion of
      Ag+ but protects the nanocrystal cores from oxidation by Pt and Pd ions.

PMID- 27635187
TI  - AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Attenuates High Salt-Induced Activation of
      Epithelial Sodium Channels (ENaC) in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is expressed in
      the endothelial cells. To test whether high salt affects the NO production via
      regulation of endothelial ENaC, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)
      were incubated in solutions containing either normal or high sodium (additional
      20 mM NaCl). Our data showed that high sodium treatment significantly increased
      alpha-, beta-, and gamma-ENaC expression levels in HUVECs. Using the cell
      attached patch-clamp technique, we demonstrated that high sodium treatment
      significantly increased ENaC open probability (P O ). Moreover, nitric oxide
      synthase (eNOS) phosphorylation (Ser 1177) levels and NO production were
      significantly decreased by high sodium in HUVECs; the effects of high sodium on
      eNOS phosphorylation and NO production were inhibited by a specific ENaC blocker,
      amiloride. Our results showed that high sodium decreased AMP-activated kinase
      (AMPK) phosphorylation in endothelial cells. On the other hand, metformin, an
      AMPK activator, prevented high sodium-induced upregulation of ENaC expression and
      P O . Moreover, metformin prevented high salt-induced decrease in NO production
      and eNOS phosphorylation. These results suggest that high sodium stimulates ENaC
      activation by negatively modulating AMPK activity, thereby leading to reduction
      in eNOS activity and NO production in endothelial cells. 

PMID- 27635188
TI  - A Case-Control Study on the Oxidative Balance of 50% Autologous Serum Eye Drops.
AB  - Importance. Autologous serum (AS) eye drops are recommended for severe dry eye in
      patients with ocular surface disease. No description of the antioxidant balance
      of AS eye drops has been reported in the literature. Objective. This study sought
      to evaluate the total reactive antioxidant potential (TRAP) and concentration of
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) in samples of 50% AS eye drops and their
      correlations with the demographic characteristics and lifestyle habits of
      patients with ocular surface disease and healthy controls. Design. This was a
      case-control study with a 3-month follow-up period. Participants. 16 patients
      with severe dry eye disease of different etiologies and 17 healthy controls
      matched by age, gender, and race were included. Results. TRAP and ROS were
      detected at all evaluated times. There were no differences in the mean ROS (p =
      0.429) or TRAP (p = 0.475) levels between cases and controls. No statistically
      significant differences in the concentrations of ROS or TRAPs were found at 0,
      15, or 30 days (p for ROS = 0.087 and p for TRAP = 0.93). Neither the demographic
      characteristics nor the lifestyle habits were correlated with the oxidative
      balance of the 50% AS eye drops. Conclusions and Relevance. Both fresh and frozen
      50% AS eye drops present antioxidant capacities and ROS in an apparently stable
      balance. Moreover, patients with ocular surface disease and normal controls
      produce equivalent AS eye drops in terms of oxidative properties. 

PMID- 27635190
TI  - Functionalized Fullerene Increases NF-kappaB Activity and Blocks Genotoxic Effect
      of Oxidative Stress in Serum-Starving Human Embryo Lung Diploid Fibroblasts.
AB  - The influence of a water-soluble [60] fullerene derivative containing five
      residues of 3-phenylpropionic acid and a chlorine addend appended to the carbon
      cage (F-828) on serum-starving human embryo lung diploid fibroblasts (HELFs) was
      studied. Serum deprivation evokes oxidative stress in HELFs. Cultivation of serum
      starving HELFs in the presence of 0.1-1 uM F-828 significantly decreases the
      level of free radicals, inhibits autophagy, and represses expression of NOX4 and
      NRF2 proteins. The activity of NF-kappaB substantially grows up in contrast to
      the suppressed NRF2 activity. In the presence of 0.2-0.25 uM F-828, the DSB rate
      and apoptosis level dramatically decrease. The maximum increase of proliferative
      activity of the HELFs and maximum activity of NF-kappaB are observed at these
      concentration values. Conclusion. Under the conditions of oxidative stress evoked
      by serum deprivation the water-soluble fullerene derivative F-828 used in
      concentrations of 0.1 to 1 uM strongly stimulates the NF-kappaB activity and
      represses the NRF2 activity in HELFs. 

PMID- 27635191
TI  - MbT-Tool: An open-access tool based on Thermodynamic Electron Equivalents Model
      to obtain microbial-metabolic reactions to be used in biotechnological process.
AB  - Modelling cellular metabolism is a strategic factor in investigating microbial
      behaviour and interactions, especially for bio-technological processes. A key
      factor for modelling microbial activity is the calculation of nutrient amounts
      and products generated as a result of the microbial metabolism. Representing
      metabolic pathways through balanced reactions is a complex and time-consuming
      task for biologists, ecologists, modellers and engineers. A new computational
      tool to represent microbial pathways through microbial metabolic reactions (MMRs)
      using the approach of the Thermodynamic Electron Equivalents Model has been
      designed and implemented in the open-access framework NetLogo. This computational
      tool, called MbT-Tool (Metabolism based on Thermodynamics) can write MMRs for
      different microbial functional groups, such as aerobic heterotrophs, nitrifiers,
      denitrifiers, methanogens, sulphate reducers, sulphide oxidizers and fermenters.
      The MbT-Tool's code contains eighteen organic and twenty inorganic reduction-half
      reactions, four N-sources (NH4 (+), NO3 (-), NO2 (-), N2) to biomass synthesis
      and twenty-four microbial empirical formulas, one of which can be determined by
      the user (CnHaObNc). MbT-Tool is an open-source program capable of writing MMRs
      based on thermodynamic concepts, which are applicable in a wide range of academic
      research interested in designing, optimizing and modelling microbial activity
      without any extensive chemical, microbiological and programing experience. 

PMID- 27635189
TI  - Liver Cholesterol Overload Aggravates Obstructive Cholestasis by Inducing
      Oxidative Stress and Premature Death in Mice.
AB  - Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is one of the leading causes of liver disease.
      Dietary factors determine the clinical presentation of steatohepatitis and can
      influence the progression of related diseases. Cholesterol has emerged as a
      critical player in the disease and hence consumption of cholesterol-enriched
      diets can lead to a progressive form of the disease. The aim was to investigate
      the impact of liver cholesterol overload on the progression of the obstructive
      cholestasis in mice subjected to bile duct ligation surgery. Mice were fed with a
      high cholesterol diet for two days and then were subjected to surgery procedure;
      histological, biochemical, and molecular analyses were conducted to address the
      effect of cholesterol in liver damage. Mice under the diet were more susceptible
      to damage. Results show that cholesterol fed mice exhibited increased apoptosis
      and oxidative stress as well as reduction in cell proliferation. Mortality
      following surgery was higher in HC fed mice. Liver cholesterol impairs the repair
      of liver during obstructive cholestasis and aggravates the disease with early
      fatal consequences; these effects were strongly associated with oxidative stress.

PMID- 27635193
TI  - Chloride channel protein 2 prevents glutamate-induced apoptosis in retinal
      ganglion cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of chloride
      channel protein 2 (ClC-2) in glutamate-induced apoptosis in the retinal ganglion
      cell line (RGC-5). MATERIALS AND METHODS: RGC-5 cells were treated with 1 mM
      glutamate for 24 hr. The expression of ClC-2, Bax, and Bcl-2 was detected by
      western blot analysis. Cell survival and apoptosis were measured by 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and flow cytometry
      assays, respectively. Caspase-3 and -9 activities were determined by a
      colorimetric assay. The roles of ClC-2 in glutamate-induced apoptosis were
      examined by using ClC-2 complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) and small
      inference ribonucleic acid (RNA) transfection technology. RESULTS: Overexpression
      of ClC-2 in RGC-5 cells significantly decreased glutamate-induced apoptosis and
      increased cell viability, whereas silencing of ClC-2 with short hairpin (sh) RNA
      produced opposite effects. ClC-2 overexpression increased the expression of Bcl
      2, decreased the expression of Bax, and decreased caspase-3 and -9 activation in
      RGC-5 cells treated with glutamate, but silencing of ClC-2 produced opposite
      effects. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that ClC-2 chloride channels might play a
      protective role in glutamate-induced apoptosis in retinal ganglion cells via the
      mitochondria-dependent apoptosis pathway.

PMID- 27635194
TI  - Toxicological evaluation of subchronic use of pioglitazone in mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pioglitazone (Actos) is one of the most controversial recent oral
      antidiabetic drugs. It was originally authorized in the European Union in 2000,
      and approved as an oral monotherapy for overweight second type of diabetic
      patients in 2002. It belongs to the thiazolidinedione group which some of its
      members have been withdrawn from the market due to the hepatotoxicity or
      cardiotoxicity effects. This study investigates sub-chronic use of pioglitazone
      induced toxicity in mice by the assessment of renal and liver function tests,
      cardiac enzymes, and some hematological indices with histological changes of
      liver, kidney, heart, and bladder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 120 albino mice were
      divided into four groups; 30 in each. The first group (control) received water,
      second (diabetic) group received alloxan only, while the third and the fourth
      groups received alloxan with 200 and 400 mg/kg/day of pioglitazone, respectively
      for 90 days. RESULTS: Prolonged use of pioglitazone induced significant
      abnormalities of hepatic, renal, and cardiac biomarkers and some hematological
      indices associated with histopathological changes in the liver, kidney, heart,
      and bladder that increased based on administered dose. CONCLUSION: Subchronic use
      of pioglitazone leads to hepatic, renal, cardiac, hematological, and bladder
      affection depending on the applied dose.

PMID- 27635192
TI  - Current progress in the development of therapeutic vaccines for chronic hepatitis
      B virus infection.
AB  - Chronic hepatitis B is still a major public health issue despite the successful
      prophylactic vaccination attempts. Chronicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is
      mainly due to its ability to debilitate host's immune system. Therefore, major
      measures have been taken to stop this process and help patients with chronic
      hepatitis B infection recover from their illness. While satisfactory results have
      been achieved using preventive HBV vaccines, a reliable and effective therapeutic
      treatment is still in need of extensive studies. Current treatments for chronic
      hepatitis B include direct antiviral agents and nucleoside/nucleotide analogs,
      which are not always effective and are also costly. In addition, due to the fact
      that chronic HBV is responsible for debilitation of the immune system, studies
      have focused on developing therapeutic vaccines to help host's immune system
      recover and limit the infection. Several approaches including but not restricted
      to recombinant peptide-based, DNA-based, viral vector-based, and cell-based
      approaches are currently in use to develop therapeutic vaccines against the
      chronic form of HBV infection. In the current review, the authors will first
      discuss the role of the immune system in chronic hepatitis B infection and will
      then focus on latest advancements in therapeutic vaccination of HBV especially
      the clinical trials that have been carried out so far. 

PMID- 27635195
TI  - C-Kit expression in the gallbladder of guinea pig with chronic calculous
      cholecystitis and the effect of Artemisia capillaris Thunb on interstitial cells
      of Cajal.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the c-Kit expression in the gallbladder of cholesterol
      lithogenic guinea pig model and the effect of Artemisia capillaris Thunb on
      interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 45 guinea
      pigs were randomly assigned into three groups: the control group (guinea pigs fed
      a standard diet, normal group); the model group (guinea pigs fed a cholesterol
      gallstone-inducing diet); and the Chinese medicine group (guinea pigs fed the
      cholesterol gallstone-inducing diet and treated with A. capillaris through
      intragastric administration, therapy group). Each group had 15 guinea pigs. The
      gallbladders of the guinea pigs were harvested after 8 weeks. C-Kit expression
      was detected using an immunohistochemistry staining, real-time PCR, and Western
      blot analyses. The effect of A. capillaris on ICCs was evaluated by muscle strip
      contraction experiments. RESULTS: C-Kit expression significantly decreased in the
      gallbladder of model group, but increased in the Chinese medicine group. The
      Contractility of guinea pig gallbladder muscle strip significantly improved in
      the Chinese medicine group. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that A. capillaris
      improves gallbladder impairment by up-regulating c-Kit expression, and it also
      can improve the contractile response of in vitro guinea pig gallbladder muscle
      strips.

PMID- 27635197
TI  - Repairing effects of interleukin 11 (IL-11) towards high dose methotrexate
      induced rat small intestinal mucositis and its impacts on T-lymphoblastic
      leukemia cell line.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of interleukin 11 (IL-11) towards the
      high dose methotrexate (HDMTX)-concurrent rat small intestinal mucositis and its
      impacts on the proliferation of the human T-lymphoblastic leukemia (CEM) cell
      line. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 95 Wistar rats were randomly divided into five
      groups, the normal control group (A), the methotrexate (MTX) control group (B),
      the IL-11-pre-treated high-dose group (C), the post-IL-11-treatment high-dose
      group (D) and the post-IL-11-treatment low-dose group (E). After the
      intraperitoneal injection of MTX in the groups B-E, the rats were sacrificed at
      1, 3, 5 and 7 days. The mortality, morphological and ultrastructural changes of
      small intestine of each group were observed. The cells were then cultured in
      vitro, and the MTT method was used to investigate the effects of different
      concentration of IL-11 on CEM proliferation and also on HDMTX-induced mucositis.
      RESULTS: IL-11 could reduce the intestinal histopathological score, increase the
      height of small intestinal villi, promote the proliferation of intestinal lacunar
      cells and reduce the mortality rate of rats. The IL-11 pre-treatment group
      exhibited the best efficacies, demonstrating significant difference with the
      control group (P<0.01). In addition, the proliferation of CEM was not promoted,
      indicating that IL-11 could not inhibit HDMTX. CONCLUSION: IL-11 could reduce the
      severity of HDMTX-induced intestinal mucositis, and improve the survival rate of
      experimental rats, and could be safely used as the adjuvant treatment of HDMTX in
      childhood leukemia[PARANDCO1].

PMID- 27635196
TI  - Loss of heterozygosity and microsatellite instability as predictive markers among
      Iranian esophageal cancer patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Variation in microsatellite sequences that are dispersed in the
      genome has been linked to a deficiency in cellular mismatch repair system and
      defects in several genes of this system are involved in carcinogenesis. Our aim
      in this study was to illustrate microsatellite DNA alteration in esophageal
      cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DNA was extracted from formalin fixed paraffin
      embedded (FFPE) tissues from surgical and matched margin-normal samples.
      Microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) were studied in
      50 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by amplifying six
      microsatellite markers: D13S260 (13q12.3), D13S267 (13q12.3), D9S171 (9p21),
      D2S123 (2p), D5S2501 (5q21) and TP53 (17p13.1) analyzed on 6% denaturing
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: Statistical analysis indicated a
      near significant reverse correlation between grade and LOH (P= 0.068, correlation
      coefficient= -0.272). Specifically, increased LOH in tumor DNA has a significant
      correlation with increased differentiation from poorly differentiated to well
      differentiated tumors (P= 0.002 and P= 0.016 respectively). In addition, higher
      number of chromosomal loci with LOH showed a reverse correlation with lymph node
      metastasis (P= 0.026, correlation coefficient= -0.485). Furthermore, there was a
      positive correlation between addiction and MSI (P= 0.026, correlation
      coefficient= 0.465). CONCLUSION: Microsatellite DNA alterations may be a
      prognostic tool for detection and the evolution of prognosis in patients with SCC
      of esophagus. It can be concluded that regional lymph node metastasis would be
      less likely with increased heterozygote loci and addiction with any of opium,
      cigarette, water pipe or alcohol can be a susceptibility factor(s) for MSI.

PMID- 27635198
TI  - Mesenchymal stem cells that located in the electromagnetic fields improves rat
      model of Parkinson's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The main characteristic of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is their
      ability to produce other cell types. Electromagnetic field (EMF) stimulates
      differentiation of MSCs into other cells. In this study, we investigated whether
      EMF can effect on the differentiation of MSCs into dopaminergic (DA) neurons.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: An EMF with a frequency of 50 Hz and two intensities of 40
      and 400 uT 1hr/day was generated around the cells for a week. Afterwards, these
      cells were injected into the left ventricle of Parkinsonian rats. The rats
      survived for 2 weeks, and then sampling was performed. RESULTS: The injected
      cells differentiated into DA neurons and sporadically settled in the substantia
      nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Transplanted rats exhibited significant partial
      correction apomorphine-induced rotational behavior compared to Parkinsonian rats
      (5.0+/-0.1 vs 7.57+/-0.08). Results demonstrated that endogenous serum and brain
      derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were altered in all experimental groups. The
      greatest increase was in group of 400 uT EMF in comparison with Parkinsonian rats
      (398+/-15 vs. 312+/-11.79 pg / mg). Current study have shown that 6
      Hydroxydopamine can cause severe loss of dopaminergic neurons (68+/-6.58), but
      injected MSCs that exposed to 40 and 400 uT EMF increased dopaminergic neurons in
      SNpc (108+/-2.33 & 126+/-3.89) (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Electromagnetic fields with
      particular frequencies stimulate MSCs. So, these cells had anti-Parkinsonian
      properties in our studies.

PMID- 27635199
TI  - Antioxidant properties of repaglinide and its protections against cyclosporine A
      induced renal tubular injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Repaglinide (RG) is an antihyperglycemic agent used for the treatment
      of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. It has a good safety and efficacy
      profile in diabetic patients with complications in renal impairment and is an
      appropriate treatment choice, even for individuals with more severe degrees of
      renal malfunctions. The aim of the present study was to examine the protective
      effect of RG on cyclosporine A (CsA)-induced rat renal impairment and to evaluate
      the antioxidant mechanisms by which RG exerts its protective actions. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250-300 g were randomly
      divided into five groups: administrations of olive oil (control, PO), RG (0.4
      mg/kg, PO), CsA (30 mg/kg in olive oil, SC), RG (0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg, PO) plus CsA
      (30 mg/kg in olive oil SC) every day for 15 days. RESULTS: SC administration of
      CsA (30 mg/kg) to rats produced marked elevations in the levels of renal
      impairment parameters such as urinary protein, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase
      (NAG), serum creatinine (SCr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). It also caused
      histologic injury to the kidneys. Oral administration of RG (0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg)
      markedly decreased all the aforementioned changes. In addition, CsA caused
      increases in the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreases in superoxide
      dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GSR),
      glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and glutathione in kidney homogenate, which were
      reversed significantly by both doses of RG. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study
      indicate that RG may play an important role in protecting the kidney from
      oxidative insult.

PMID- 27635200
TI  - Methylation and mRNA expression levels of P15, death-associated protein kinase,
      and suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 genes in multiple myeloma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the methylation status and
      mRNA expression levels of P15, death-associated protein kinase (DAPK), and
      suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 (SOCS1) genes in multiple myeloma (MM).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bone marrow samples of 54 MM patients were collected
      and the methylation status of the P15, DAPK, and SOCS1 gene promoter regions was
      determined by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. Automated
      sequencing technology was used to sequence the amplified products in order to
      analyze the base methylation sites. mRNA expression levels were determined using
      real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Among the
      54 MM patients, the positive methylation rates of the P15, DAPK, and SOCS1 genes
      were 27.78%, 18.52%, and 16.67%, respectively. The methylation results were
      confirmed by sequencing. The positive methylation rates of the P15, DAPK, and
      SOCS1 genes showed no correlation with patient gender, age, typing, staging, and
      grouping (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the mRNA expression
      levels of the P15, DAPK, and SOCS1 genes between the MM patient group and the
      control group (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant methylation of the P15, DAPK, and
      SOCS1 genes exists in MM, and these genes may play certain roles in pathogenesis
      of MM. There was no significant difference in mRNA expression levels between the
      methylated group and the non-methylated group, suggesting that these genes are
      regulated by other mechanisms during their transcription.

PMID- 27635202
TI  - Screening of DFNB3 in Iranian families with autosomal recessive non-syndromic
      hearing loss reveals a novel pathogenic mutation in the MyTh4 domain of the
      MYO15A gene in a linked family.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss (NSHL) is a common disorder
      affecting approximately 1 in 500 newborns. This type of hearing loss is extremely
      heterogeneous and includes over 100 loci. Mutations in the GJB2 gene have been
      implicated in about half of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss
      (ARNSHL) cases, making this the most common cause of ARNSHL. For the latter form
      of deafness, most frequent genes proposed include GJB2, SLC26A4, MYO15A, OTOF,
      and CDH23 worldwide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of the present study was to
      define the role and frequency of MYO15A gene mutation in Iranian families. In
      this study 30 Iranian families were enrolled with over three deaf children and
      negative for GJB2. Then linkage analysis was performed by six DFNB3 short tandem
      repeat markers. Following that, mutation detection accomplished using DNA
      sequencing. RESULTS: One family (3.33%) showed linkage to DFNB3 and a novel
      mutation was identified in the MYO15A gene (c.6442T>A): as the disease-causing
      mutation. Mutation co-segregated with hearing loss in the family but was not
      present in the 100 ethnicity-matched controls. CONCLUSION: Our results confirmed
      that the hearing loss of the linked Iranian family was caused by a novel missense
      mutation in the MYO15A gene. This mutation is the first to be reported in the
      world and affects the first MyTH4 domain of the protein.

PMID- 27635201
TI  - Acute stress does not affect the impairing effect of chronic stress on memory
      retrieval.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Due to the prevalence and pervasiveness of stress in modern life and
      exposure to both chronic and acute stresses, it is not clear whether prior
      exposure to chronic stress can influence the impairing effects of acute stress on
      memory retrieval. This issue was tested in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: control,
      acute, chronic, and chronic + acute stress groups. The rats were trained with six
      trials per day for 6 consecutive days in the water maze. Following training, the
      rats were either kept in control conditions or exposed to chronic stress in a
      restrainer 6 hr/day for 21 days. On day 22, a probe test was done to measure
      memory retention. Time spent in target and opposite areas, platform location
      latency, and proximity were used as indices of memory retention. To induce acute
      stress, 30 min before the probe test, animals received a mild footshock. RESULTS:
      Stressed animals spent significantly less time in the target quadrant and more
      time in the opposite quadrant than control animals. Moreover, the stressed
      animals showed significantly increased platform location latency and proximity as
      compared with control animals. No significant differences were found in these
      measures among stress exposure groups. Finally, both chronic and acute stress
      significantly increased corticosterone levels. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate
      that both chronic and acute stress impair memory retrieval similarly.
      Additionally, the impairing effects of chronic stress on memory retrieval were
      not influenced by acute stress.

PMID- 27635203
TI  - Effects of valproic acid and pioglitazone on cell cycle progression and
      proliferation of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia Jurkat cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive
      hematologic malignant tumor. Administration of chemical compounds influencing
      apoptosis and T cell development has been discussed as promising novel
      therapeutic strategies. Valproic acid (VPA) as a recently emerged anti-neoplastic
      histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor and pioglitazone (PGZ) as a high-affinity
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) agonist have been
      shown to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in different studies. Here, we
      aimed to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in anti
      proliferative effects of these compounds on human Jurkat cells. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Treated cells were evaluated for cell cycle progression and apoptosis
      using flowcytometry and MTT viability assay. Real-time RT-PCR was carried out to
      measure the alterations in key genes associated with cell death and cell cycle
      arrest. RESULTS: Our findings illustrated that both VPA and PGZ can inhibit
      Jurkat E6.1 cells in vitro after 24 hr; however, PGZ 400 MUM presents the most
      anti-proliferative effect. Interestingly, treated cells have been arrested in
      G2/M with deregulated cell division cycle 25A (Cdc25A) phosphatase and cyclin
      dependent kinase inhibitor 1B (CDKN1B or p27) expression. Expression of cyclin D1
      gene was inhibited when DNA synthesis entry was declined. Cell cycle deregulation
      in PGZ and VPA-exposed cells generated an increase in the proportion of aneuploid
      cell population, which has not reported before. CONCLUSION: These findings define
      that anti-proliferative effects of PGZ and VPA on Jurkat cell line are mediated
      by cell cycle deregulation. Thus, we suggest PGZ and VPA may relieve potential
      therapeutic application against apoptosis-resistant malignancies.

PMID- 27635204
TI  - Inhibition of microRNA-21 decreases the invasiveness of fibroblast-like
      synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis via TGFbeta/Smads signaling pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: MicroRNA-21 (miR21) is aberrantly elevated in rheumatoid arthritis
      (RA) patients, the significance of this microRNA in RA pathogenesis and
      treatment, however, has not been investigated. In this study, by using RA-derived
      fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) cells as a model, we investigated the effect
      and corresponding mechanism of miR21 inhibition on FLSs invasion. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: miR21 expression in synovial tissue and FLSs in RA patients and non-RA
      controls were determined by stem-loop RT-PCR. The effect of miR21 on FLSs
      viability and invasiveness were evaluated using miR21 inhibition. Cell viability
      was evaluated by MTT assay and the expression of genes at mRNA and protein levels
      was determined by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: Our results
      showed that miR21 expression was highly increased in synovial tissue and FLSs in
      RA patients. Also, we reported that miR21 inhibitor treatment could significantly
      suppress the invasiveness of FLSs without affecting cell viability. The decreased
      FLSs invasion by miR21 inhibition was associated with down-regulated expression
      of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP3, and MMP13. Further analysis revealed
      that miR21 inhibition could suppress the expression of TGFbeta1 and Smad4, but
      promote that of Smad7. Moreover, suppression of FLS invasion and MMPs expression
      by miR21 treatment could be counteracted by additional TGFbeta1 treatment.
      CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that miR21 inhibition can down-regulate the
      expression of MMP1, MMP3, and MMP13 and consequently suppress the invasiveness of
      FLS, which is achieved through TGFbeta1/Smad4/7 signaling pathway. The findings
      of this study could offer a novel approach for RA treatment.

PMID- 27635206
TI  - Effect of mobile phone radiation on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure threshold
      in mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Scientific interest in potential mobile phone impact on human brain
      and performance has significantly increased in recent years. The present study
      was designed to evaluate the effects of mobile phone radiation on seizure
      threshold in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BALB/c male mice were randomly divided
      into three groups: control, acute, and chronic mobile phone radiation for 30, 60,
      and 90 min with frequency 900 to 950 MHz and pulse of 217 Hz. The chronic group
      received 30 days of radiation, while the acute group received only once. The
      intravenous infusion of pentylenetetrazole (5 mg/ml) was used to induce seizure
      signs. RESULTS: Although acute mobile radiation did not change seizure threshold,
      chronic radiation decreased the clonic and tonic seizure thresholds
      significantly. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that the continued and prolonged
      contact with the mobile phone radiation might increase the risk of seizure
      attacks and should be limited.

PMID- 27635205
TI  - Immune cell distribution and immunoglobulin levels change following sciatic nerve
      injury in a rat model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the systemic and local immune status of two surgical
      rat models of sciatic nerve injury, a crushed sciatic nerve, and a sciatic nerve
      transection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats
      were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operation (control group), sciatic
      nerve crush, and sciatic nerve transaction. Sciatic nerve surgery was performed.
      The percentage of CD4(+) cells and the CD4(+)/CD8+ratio were determined by flow
      cytometry. Serum IgM and IgG levels were analyzed by ELISA. T-cells (CD3) and
      macrophages (CD68) in sciatic nerve tissue sections were identified through
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared to sham-operated controls, in rats that
      underwent nerve injury, the percentage of CD4(+) cells and the CD4(+)/CD8(+)
      ratio in the peripheral blood were significantly decreased 7 days after surgery,
      serum IgM levels were increased 14 days after surgery, and serum IgG levels were
      increased 21 days after surgery. There were a large number of CD3(+) cells and a
      small number of CD68(+) cells in sciatic nerve tissue sections 21 days after
      surgery, indicating T-cell and macrophage activation and infiltration. Local IgG
      deposition was also detected at the nerve injury site 21 days after surgery.
      CONCLUSION: Rat humoral and cellular immune status changed following sciatic
      nerve injury, particularly with regard to the cellular immune response at the
      nerve injury site.

PMID- 27635207
TI  - A New Medium for Improving Spinosad Production by Saccharopolyspora spinosa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinosad (a mixture of spinosyns A and D) is a unique natural
      pesticide produced by Saccharopolyspora spinosa. With regard to attempts to
      improve S. spinosa by classical mutagenesis, we propose that the bottleneck of
      screening out high-spinosad-production strains is probably caused by the
      fermentation media. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to identify a new medium
      to extensively investigate the potential of S. spinosa strains to produce
      spinosad. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Statistical and regressive modeling methods were
      used to investigate the effects of the carbon source and to optimize the
      production media. RESULTS: The spinosad production of S. spinosa Co121 increased
      77.13%, from 310.44 +/- 21.84 MUg/mL in the initial fermentation medium (with
      glucose as the main carbon source) to 549.89 +/- 38.59 MUg/mL in a new optimized
      fermentation medium (98.0 g of mannitol, 43.0 g of cottonseed flour, 12.9 g of
      corn steep liquor, 0.5 g of KH2PO4, and 3.0 g of CaCO3 in 1 L of H2O; pH was
      adjusted to 7.0 before autoclaving). After screening 4,000 strains, an overall
      3.33-fold increase was observed in spinosad titers, starting from the parental
      strain Co121 in the original fermentation medium and ending with the mutant
      strain J78 (1035 +/- 34 MUg/mL) in the optimized medium. CONCLUSIONS: The
      optimized fermentation medium developed in this study can probably be used to
      improve spinosad production in screening industrial strains of S. spinosa.

PMID- 27635208
TI  - Biological Evaluation of Endophytic Fungus Chaetomium sp. NF15 of Justicia
      adhatoda L.: A Potential Candidate for Drug Discovery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The endophytes of medicinal plants, such as Justicia adhatoda L.,
      represent a promising and largely underexplored domain that is considered as a
      repository of biologically active compounds. OBJECTIVES: The aim of present study
      was isolation, identification, and biological evaluation of endophytic fungi
      associated with the J. adhatoda L. plant for the production of antimicrobial,
      antioxidant, and cytotoxic compounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Endophytic fungi
      associated with the J. adhatoda L. plant were isolated from healthy plant parts
      and taxonomically characterized through morphological, microscopic, and 18S rDNA
      sequencing methods. The screening for bioactive metabolite production was
      achieved using ethyl acetate extracts, followed by the optimization of different
      parameters for maximum production of bioactive metabolites. Crude and partially
      purified extracts were used to determine the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and
      cytotoxic potential. RESULTS: Out of six endophytic fungal isolates, Chaetomium
      sp. NF15 showed the most promising biological activity and was selected for
      detailed study. The crude ethyl acetate extract of NF15 isolate after cultivation
      under optimized culture conditions showed promising antimicrobial activity, with
      significant inhibition of the clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (87%,
      n=42), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (> 85%, n = 41), and Candida albicans (62%, n =
      24). CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms the notion of selecting endophytic
      fungi of medicinal plant Justicia for the bioassay-guided isolation of its
      bioactive compounds, and demonstrates that endophytic fungus Chaetomium sp. NF15
      could be a potential source of bioactive metabolites.

PMID- 27635209
TI  - Role of Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis in Children Less Than 5 Years of Age
      With Diarrhea in Tabriz, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is the most frequent health problem among children in
      developing countries. Defining the etiology of acute diarrhea is critical to
      disease therapy and prevention. Some anaerobic bacteria such as Enterotoxigenic
      Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) strains cause diarrheal disease by production of
      enterotoxin in children less than 5 years old. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to
      evaluate the prevalence of ETBF among common bacteria and viruses causing
      diarrhea in children aged less than five years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One
      hundred diarrheal stools were cultured for detection of aerobic and anaerobic
      pathogen bacteria by direct plating on selective media and antibiotic
      susceptibility tests were performed according to clinical and laboratory
      standards institute (CLSI) guidelines on isolates of ETBF. The enterotoxigenic
      gene among B. fragilis isolates was also investigated using the polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) method. Detection of viral pathogens was carried out using the
      latex agglutination test. RESULTS: Ten B. fragilis were isolated from 100
      diarrheal fecal specimens. All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole, while
      10% were susceptible to clindamycin. Four (40%) ETBF were isolated. Rotaviruses
      (57.2%) and adenoviruses (18.6%) were the most frequently detected etiological
      agents. CONCLUSIONS: ETBF is one of the etiological agents that may cause
      diarrhea in children but it is not the commonest of them. Metronidazole is still
      an effective antibiotic against B. fragilis. Viruses are the most important
      etiological agents of diarrhea in children less than 5 years of age.

PMID- 27635211
TI  - Study of Genetic Variation of Leishmania major Based on Internal Transcribed
      Spacer 1 (ITS1) in Chabahar, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is polymorphic disease that
      may show various clinical manifestations. OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the
      determination of genetic variation within the species of Leishmania major
      isolates from new cases in Chabahar, a port city in Southeast Iran (situated at
      the Iran-Pakistan border). Migration in this region indicates that leishmaniasis
      is spreading gradually, and a new micro-habitat focus appears each year.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A variety of nucleic acid detection methods that target
      both DNA and RNA have been developed. The restriction fragment length
      polymorphism analysis of amplified internal transcribed spacer 1 with polymerase
      chain reaction (ITS1-RFLP PCR) assay is a multipurpose tool for the diagnosis of
      Leishmania from clinical samples and for enabling the determination of the
      infecting Leishmania species. The goal of this study was the identification of
      species based on ITS1-RFLP in the ribosomal operon of L. major from clinically
      different forms of ZCL amplified by PCR, followed by the digestion of the PCR
      product with restriction enzymes. The profiles were observed and visualized in
      agarose gel under UV light. We used direct smears to identify the parasites.
      While taking the smear, samples were collected for culture or direct PCR. We used
      the PCR-RFLP assay of the ITS1 genes for direct identification of Leishmania
      species in 24 out of 33 suspected patients. PCR-ITS1 amplification was done on
      the 24 samples confirmed by culture via growth and parasitological methods.
      RESULTS: Of the 24 isolates, 21 had 350 bp bands (87.5%) and three had 450 bp
      bands (12.5%). After using the restriction enzyme, banding patterns including
      fragments of 210 and 140 bp for L. major were detected in 19 cases. CONCLUSIONS:
      The L. major species causing ZCL in Chabahar have limited genetic variation.
      There seems to be little manifestation of diversity between these lesions as a
      new focus of disease, and new micro-habitats for the disease are appearing in
      parts of this region.

PMID- 27635210
TI  - Effects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESAT6-CFP10 Protein on Cell Viability and
      Production of Nitric Oxide in Alveolar Macrophages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the major pathogen of tuberculosis,
      which affects approximately one-third of the world's population. The 6 kDa early
      secreted antigenic target (ESAT6) and the 10 kDa culture filtrate protein
      (CFP10), which are secreted by the ESX-1 system in M. tuberculosis, can
      contribute to mycobacterial virulence. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to
      research the effects of M. tuberculosis ESAT6-CFP10 protein on macrophages during
      a host's was first and second exposures to M. tuberculosis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In this study, the ESAT6 and CFP10 genes were amplified to create a
      fusion gene (ESAT6-CFP10) and cloned into the pET-32a(+) and pEGFP-N1 expression
      vectors, respectively. The recombinant pET-32a(+)-ESAT6-CFP10 plasmid was
      transformed into the Escherichia coli Origami strain, and the fusion protein was
      expressed and confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. The recombinant
      pEGFP-N1-ESAT6-CFP10 plasmid was transfected into rat alveolar macrophage cells
      (NR8383). The cell line expressing the ESAT6-CFP10 protein was selected with RT
      PCR and designated as NR8383-EC. Finally, the effects of the ESAT6-CFP10 fusion
      protein on the NR8383 cell line, as well as on the newly constructed NR8383-EC
      cells, were further assessed. RESULTS: The recombinant ESAT6-CFP10 protein was
      expressed in E. coli and in NR8383 rat alveolar macrophages. This protein
      affected the proliferation and nitric oxide (NO) generation of the NR8383 and
      NR8383-EC cells. Although NO generation was inhibited in both cell lines,
      proliferation was inhibited in NR8383 while it was increased NR8383-EC.
      CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that ESAT6-CFP10 could support the survival of M.
      tuberculosis in the host through altering the host immune response. It also
      indicates that the host may gain some level of protection from a second exposure
      to M. tuberculosis, as evidenced by increased proliferation of NR8383-EC.

PMID- 27635212
TI  - Virulence Gene Profile and Multilocus Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat Analysis
      (MLVA) of Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) Isolates From Patients With
      Diarrhea in Kerman, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) isolates cause dysentery in
      humans. Several virulence factors associated with EIEC pathogenesis have been
      characterized. Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) is a PCR
      based method that has been used for genotyping bacterial pathogens. OBJECTIVES:
      The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of virulence factor
      genes in EIEC isolates from patients with diarrhea in Kerman, Iran, as well as
      the genetic relationships between these isolates. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total
      of 620 diarrheic stool samples were collected from patients attending two
      hospitals in Kerman from June 2013 to August 2014. All isolates were confirmed as
      EIEC by PCR for the ipaH gene. The EIEC isolates were evaluated by PCR for the
      presence of nine virulence genes (ial, set1A, sen, virF, invE, sat, sigA, pic,
      and sepA). MLVA was performed for all EIEC isolates. RESULTS: A total of 11 EIEC
      isolates were identified, and all were positive for the ial gene. The invE and
      virF genes were observed in 81.8% of the isolates, while sen, sigA, and pic were
      detected in 72.7%, 63.6%, and 27.3% of the isolates, respectively. None of the
      isolates were positive for the sat, set, and sepA genes. Using MLVA, the 11 total
      isolates were divided into five types. CONCLUSIONS: By studying the profiles of
      virulence genes and MLVA, it can be concluded that EIEC isolates do not have high
      heterogeneity and are derived from a limited number of clones.

PMID- 27635213
TI  - Inhibitory effect of BMAP-28 on Leptospiral Lipopolysaccharide-Induced TLR2
      Dependent Immune Response in Bovine Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bovine leptospirosis is a widespread zoonotic disease, leading to
      serious economic losses in animal production and causing potential hazards to
      human health. Leptospiral lipopolysaccharide (L-LPS) plays an important role in
      leptospirosis pathogenicity. OBJECTIVES: With respect to L-LPS endotoxin-like
      activity, we examined bovine immune response to L-LPS and the inhibitory ability
      of bovine myeloid antimicrobial peptide-28 (BMAP-28) against L-LPS-induced immune
      activation in bovine cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, L-LPS-induced
      proinflammatory cytokine production in bovine cells was quantitatively measured
      with real-time PCR and ELISA, and we determined which cell membrane receptors
      (toll-like receptor [TLR]2 and TLR4) played a major role. In addition, the
      ability of BMAP-28 to inhibit L-LPS-induced endotoxin-like immune activation in
      bovine cells was determined by the decrease in cytokine secretion. RESULTS: L-LPS
      showed the ability to induce cytokine production in bovine cells, and its
      induction was TLR2-dependent. BMAP-28 was used to inhibit L-LPS-induced endotoxin
      like activity. The function of BMAP-28 was to inhibit LPS-induced TLR2 expression
      and cytokine production. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the L-LPS immune response of
      bovine cells was significant, indicating that TLR2 is the predominant receptor
      for L-LPS. Due to L-LPS endotoxin-like activity, we found a strategy through
      using BMAP-28 to prevent L-LPS-induced TLR2-dependent immune activation in bovine
      cells.

PMID- 27635215
TI  - The Prevalence of Rotavirus and Adenovirus in the Childhood Gastroenteritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute gastroenteritis stemming from viral causes is very common
      during the childhood period. Rotavirus and enteric adenovirus are the most common
      factors of acute gastroenteritis encountered in infants and children. However,
      the epidemiology of rotavirus and enteric adenovirus gastroenteritis in the east
      Anatolia region is not well-known. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the
      relationship between the distribution of antigen positivity in rotavirus and
      enteric adenovirus antigen tests required cases and demographic data
      retrospectively in pediatric patients admitted to our hospital. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: The records of stool sample analyses for 1154 patients admitted to our
      hospital from June 2011 to December 2011 with complaints of diarrhea were
      retrospectively examined. The presence of rotavirus and enteric adenovirus
      antigens in stool specimens was investigated by means of an immunochromatographic
      test. RESULTS: Viral antigens were detected in 327 (28.3%) stool specimens out of
      1154. Among the positive results, the frequency was 73.7% for rotavirus and 26.2%
      for adenovirus. While the detected rotavirus antigen rate was high for all age
      groups, it was highest for children under the age of 2, with a rate of 57.1%.
      Moreover, the rotavirus infections were observed at a rate of 44.3% in winter and
      of 24.6% in autumn. CONCLUSIONS: The most important factor in childhood acute
      gastroenteritis in east Anatolia is the rotavirus. Rotavirus and adenovirus
      antigens should be routinely investigated as a factor in fresh stool samples for
      the accurate diagnosis and treatment of gastroenteritis in children in the winter
      and autumn months.

PMID- 27635214
TI  - Antibacterial Activity of Euphorbia hebecarpa Alcoholic Extracts Against Six
      Human Pathogenic Bacteria in Planktonic and Biofilm Forms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biofilm formation is a primary cause of considerable bacterial
      destruction. OBJECTIVES: In an effort to combat these industrial and medical
      bacterial biofilm problems, our study aims to determine the antimicrobial effect
      of Euphorbia hebecarpa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The inhibition efficiency of
      alcoholic extracts on the planktonic form of six pathogenic bacteria was
      evaluated using a disk diffusion technique. The minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were determined by
      means of a macrobroth dilution method. The effects of the extracts on biofilms
      were calculated using a microtiter plate method. RESULTS: The results of the disk
      diffusion assay (MBC and MIC) confirmed that E. hebecarpa ethanolic extracts were
      more efficient than methanolic extracts in the inhibition of planktonic forms of
      bacteria. Also, the inhibitory effect of the extracts in a broth medium was
      greater than in a solid medium. Extracts of E. hebecarpa were found to inhibit
      biofilm formation better than demolish of biofilm and preventing metabolic
      activity of bacteria in biofilm structures. The greatest inhibitory effects of E.
      hebecarpa extracts were observed for the biofilm formation of B. cereus (92.81%).
      In addition, the greatest demolition was observed for the S. aureus biofilm
      (74.49%), and the metabolic activity decrement of this bacteria was highest
      (78.21%) of all the tested bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study
      suggest that E. hebecarpa extracts can be used to inhibit the planktonic and
      biofilm forms of these selected bacteria.

PMID- 27635216
TI  - Shark fisheries in the Southeast Pacific: A 61-year analysis from Peru.
AB  - Peruvian waters exhibit high conservation value for sharks. This contrasts with a
      lag in initiatives for their management and a lack of studies about their
      biology, ecology and fishery. We investigated the dynamics of Peruvian shark
      fishery and its legal framework identifying information gaps for recommending
      actions to improve management. Further, we investigated the importance of the
      Peruvian shark fishery from a regional perspective. From 1950 to 2010, 372,015
      tons of sharks were landed in Peru. From 1950 to 1969, we detected a significant
      increase in landings; but from 2000 to 2011 there was a significant decrease in
      landings, estimated at 3.5% per year. Six species represented 94% of landings:
      blue shark ( Prionace glauca), shortfin mako ( Isurus oxyrinchus), smooth
      hammerhead ( Sphyrna zygaena), common thresher ( Alopias vulpinus), smooth-hound
      ( Mustelus whitneyi) and angel shark ( Squatina californica). Of these, the angel
      shark exhibits a strong and significant decrease in landings: 18.9% per year from
      2000 to 2010. Peru reports the highest accumulated historical landings in the
      Pacific Ocean; but its contribution to annual landings has decreased since 1968.
      Still, Peru is among the top 12 countries exporting shark fins to the Hong Kong
      market. Although the government collects total weight by species, the number of
      specimens landed as well as population parameters (e.g. sex, size and weight) are
      not reported. Further, for some genera, species-level identification is deficient
      and so overestimates the biomass landed by species and underestimates the species
      diversity. Recently, regional efforts to regulate shark fishery have been
      implemented to support the conservation of sharks but in Peru work remains to be
      done. 

PMID- 27635219
TI  - Are scientific abstracts written in poetic verse an effective representation of
      the underlying research?
AB  - The central purpose of science is to explain. However, who is that explanation
      for, and how is this explanation communicated once it has been deduced?
      Scientific research is typically communicated via papers in journals, with an
      abstract presented as a summary of that explanation. However, in many instances
      they may be written in a manner which is non-communicatory to a lay reader. This
      study begins to investigate if poetry could be used as an alternative form of
      communication, by first assessing if poetic verse is an effective form of
      communication to other scientists. In order to assess this suitability, a survey
      was conducted in which two different groups of participants were asked questions
      based on a scientific abstract. One group of participants was given the original
      scientific abstract, whilst the second group was instead given a poem written
      about the scientific study. Quantitative analysis found that whilst a scientific
      audience found a poetic interpretation of a scientific abstract to be no less
      interesting or inspiring than the original prose, they did find it to be less
      accessible. However, further qualitative analysis suggested that the poem did a
      good job in conveying a similar meaning to that presented in the original
      abstract. The results of this study indicate that whilst for a scientific
      audience poetry should not replace the prose abstract, it could be used alongside
      the original format to inspire the reader to find out more about the topic.
      Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of this approach for
      a general audience. 

PMID- 27635218
TI  - Case Report: Traumatic anterior cerebral artery aneurysm in a 4-year old child.
AB  - Traumatic intracranial aneurysm in the proximal part of the anterior cerebral
      artery in the pediatric population has not been documented so far. Here we report
      the case of a 4 year-old child who developed a pseudo-aneurysm after minor head
      trauma and was managed successfully with trapping of the aneurysm. A ventriculo
      peritoneal shunt was placed as the child became dependent on extraventricular
      drain during the post-operative period. The patient made excellent recovery in
      neurological status within 1 month of post-operative clinical follow up. 

PMID- 27635217
TI  - The developmental transcriptome of contrasting Arctic charr ( Salvelinus alpinus)
      morphs.
AB  - Species and populations with parallel evolution of specific traits can help
      illuminate how predictable adaptations and divergence are at the molecular and
      developmental level. Following the last glacial period, dwarfism and specialized
      bottom feeding morphology evolved rapidly in several landlocked Arctic charr
      Salvelinus alpinus populations in Iceland.   To study the genetic divergence
      between small benthic morphs and limnetic morphs, we conducted RNA-sequencing
      charr embryos at four stages in early development. We studied two stocks with
      contrasting morphologies: the small benthic (SB) charr from Lake Thingvallavatn
      and Holar aquaculture (AC) charr. The data reveal significant differences in
      expression of several biological pathways during charr development. There was
      also an expression difference between SB- and AC-charr in genes involved in
      energy metabolism and blood coagulation genes. We confirmed differing expression
      of five genes in whole embryos with qPCR, including lysozyme and natterin-like
      which was previously identified as a fish-toxin of a lectin family that may be a
      putative immunopeptide. We also verified differential expression of 7 genes in
      the developing head that associated consistently with benthic v.s.limnetic
      morphology (studied in 4 morphs). Comparison of single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) frequencies reveals extensive genetic differentiation between the SB and AC
      charr (~1300 with more than 50% frequency difference). Curiously, three derived
      alleles in the otherwise conserved 12s and 16s mitochondrial ribosomal RNA genes
      are found in benthic charr. The data implicate multiple genes and molecular
      pathways in divergence of small benthic charr and/or the response of aquaculture
      charr to domestication. Functional, genetic and population genetic studies on
      more freshwater and anadromous populations are needed to confirm the specific
      loci and mutations relating to specific ecological traits in Arctic charr. 

PMID- 27635220
TI  - Case Report: Frontalis sign for early bedside diagnosis of impending uncal
      herniation.
AB  - It is prudent to have early diagnosis and timely management of uncal herniation
      for better management of neurosurgical patients. There are several clinical and
      radiological armamentarium that aid in early recognition of the condition.
      Through this case report, we try to highlight a simple bedside clinical sign that
      can help in early recognition of the impending uncal herniation. The improvement
      in the sign also confirms the resolution of the mass effect in the postoperative
      period. This is especially helpful for doctors working in the periphery or in
      resource restrained areas, for a timely referral of the patient to tertiary
      centre. 

PMID- 27635221
TI  - Respondent driven sampling of wheelchair users: A lack of traction?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internationally wheelchair users are an emerging demographic
      phenomenon due to their rapidly increasing life-span coupled with accelerated
      general population ageing. While having significant healthcare and social
      implications, basic robust epidemiological information of wheelchair users is
      often lacking due in part to this population's "hidden" nature. Increasingly
      popular in epidemiological research, Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) provides a
      mechanism for generating unbiased population-based estimates for hard-to-reach
      populations, overcoming biases inherent within other sampling methods. This paper
      reports the first published study to employ RDS amongst wheelchair users.
      METHODS: Between October 2015 and January 2016, a short, successfully piloted,
      internet-based national survey was initiated. Twenty seeds from diverse
      organisations were invited to complete the survey then circulate it to peers
      within their networks following a well-defined protocol. A predetermined reminder
      protocol was triggered when seeds or their peers failed to respond. All
      participants were entered into a draw for an iPad. RESULTS: Overall, 19 people
      participated (9 women); 12 initial seeds, followed by seven second-wave
      participants arising from four seeds . Completion time for the survey ranged
      between 7 and 36 minutes. Despite repeated reminders, no further people were
      recruited. DISCUSSION: While New Zealand wheelchair user numbers are unknown, an
      estimated 14% of people have physical impairments that limited mobility. The 19
      respondents generated from adopting the RDS methodology here thus represents a
      negligible fraction of wheelchair users in New Zealand, and an insufficient
      number to ensure equilibrium. While successful in other hard-to-reach
      populations, applying RDS methodology to wheelchairs users requires further
      consideration. Formative research exploring areas of network characteristics,
      acceptability of RDS, appropriate incentive options, and seed selection amongst
      wheelchair users is needed.

PMID- 27635222
TI  - Assessing change in patient-reported quality of life after elective surgery:
      protocol for an observational comparison study.
AB  - Despite their widespread use, the two main methods of assessing quality of life
      after surgery have never been directly compared. To support patient decision
      making and study design, we aim to compare these two methods. The first of these
      methods is to assess quality of life before surgery and again after surgery using
      the same validated scale. The second is simply to ask patients whether or not
      they think their post-operative quality of life is better, worse, or the same.
      Our primary objective is to assess agreement between the two measures. Secondary
      objectives are to calculate the minimum clinically important difference (MCID)
      and to describe the variation across surgical specialties. To accomplish these
      aims, we will administer surveys to patients undergoing elective surgery, both
      before surgery and again 30 days after surgery. This protocol follows detailed
      guidelines for observational study protocols. 

PMID- 27635223
TI  - Evaluation of unique identifiers used for citation linking.
AB  - Unique identifiers (UID) are seen as an effective tool to create links between
      identical publications in databases or identify duplicates in a database. The
      purpose of the present study is to investigate how well UIDs work for citation
      linking. We have two objectives: Explore the coverage, precision, and
      characteristics of publications matched versus not matched with UIDs as the match
      key.Illustrate how publication sets formed by using UIDs as the match key may
      affect the bibliometric indicators: Number of publications, number of citations
      and the average number of citations per publication.   The objectives are
      addressed in a literature review and a case study. The literature review shows
      that only a few studies evaluate how well UIDs work as a match key. From the
      literature we identify four error types: Duplicate digital object identifiers
      (DOI), incorrect DOIs in reference lists and databases, DOIs not registered by
      the database where a bibliometric analysis is performed, and erroneous optical or
      special character recognition. The case study explores the use of UIDs in the
      integration between the databases Pure and SciVal. Specifically journal
      publications in English are matched between the two databases. We find all error
      types except erroneous optical or special character recognition in our
      publication sets. In particular the duplicate DOIs constitute a problem for the
      calculation of bibliometric indicators as both keeping the duplicates to improve
      the reliability of citation counts and deleting them to improve the reliability
      of publication counts will distort the calculation of average number of citations
      per publication. The use of UIDs as a match key in citation linking is
      implemented in many settings, and the availability of UIDs may become critical
      for the inclusion of a publication or a database in a bibliometric analysis. 

PMID- 27635224
TI  - Automated quality control for genome wide association studies.
AB  - This paper provides details on the necessary steps to assess and control data in
      genome wide association studies (GWAS) using genotype information on a large
      number of genetic markers for large number of individuals. Due to varied study
      designs and genotyping platforms between multiple sites/projects as well as
      potential genotyping errors, it is important to ensure high quality data. Scripts
      and directions are provided to facilitate others in this process. 

PMID- 27635225
TI  - Unit testing, model validation, and biological simulation.
AB  - The growth of the software industry has gone hand in hand with the development of
      tools and cultural practices for ensuring the reliability of complex pieces of
      software. These tools and practices are now acknowledged to be essential to the
      management of modern software. As computational models and methods have become
      increasingly common in the biological sciences, it is important to examine how
      these practices can accelerate biological software development and improve
      research quality. In this article, we give a focused case study of our experience
      with the practices of unit testing and test-driven development in OpenWorm, an
      open-science project aimed at modeling Caenorhabditis elegans. We identify and
      discuss the challenges of incorporating test-driven development into a
      heterogeneous, data-driven project, as well as the role of model validation
      tests, a category of tests unique to software which expresses scientific models. 

PMID- 27635226
TI  - Multi-site tumor sampling (MSTS) improves the performance of histological
      detection of intratumor heterogeneity in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC).
AB  - Current standard-of-care tumor sampling protocols for CCRCC (and other cancers)
      are not efficient at detecting intratumoural heterogeneity (ITH). We have
      demonstrated in silico that an alternative protocol, multi-site tumor sampling
      (MSTS) based upon the divide and conquer (DAC) algorithm, can significantly
      increase the efficiency of ITH detection without extra costs. Now we test this
      protocol on routine hematoxylin-eosin (HE) sections in a series of 38 CCRCC
      cases. MSTS was found to outperform traditional sampling when detecting either
      high grade (p=0.0136) or granular/eosinophilic cells (p=0.0114). We therefore
      propose that MSTS should be used in routine clinical practice. 

PMID- 27635227
TI  - Animal social learning: associations and adaptations.
AB  - Social learning, learning from others, is a powerful process known to impact the
      success and survival of humans and non-human animals alike. Yet we understand
      little about the neurocognitive and other processes that underpin social
      learning. Social learning has often been assumed to involve specialized, derived
      cognitive processes that evolve and develop independently from other processes.
      However, this assumption is increasingly questioned, and evidence from a variety
      of organisms demonstrates that current, recent, and early life experience all
      predict the reliance on social information and thus can potentially explain
      variation in social learning as a result of experiential effects rather than
      evolved differences. General associative learning processes, rather than adaptive
      specializations, may underpin much social learning, as well as social learning
      strategies. Uncovering these distinctions is important to a variety of fields,
      for example by widening current views of the possible breadth and adaptive
      flexibility of social learning. Nonetheless, just like adaptationist evolutionary
      explanations, associationist explanations for social learning cannot be assumed,
      and empirical work is required to uncover the mechanisms involved and their
      impact on the efficacy of social learning. This work is being done, but more is
      needed. Current evidence suggests that much social learning may be based on
      'ordinary' processes but with extraordinary consequences. 

PMID- 27635229
TI  - Cardio-renal syndrome.
AB  - Cardio-renal syndrome is a commonly encountered problem in clinical practice. Its
      pathogenesis is not fully understood. The purpose of this article is to highlight
      the interaction between the cardiovascular system and the renal system and how
      their interaction results in the complex syndrome of cardio-renal dysfunction.
      Additionally, we outline the available therapeutic strategies to manage this
      complex syndrome. 

PMID- 27635228
TI  - Pathophysiological links between traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic
      headaches.
AB  - This article reviews possible ways that traumatic brain injury (TBI) can induce
      migraine-type post-traumatic headaches (PTHs) in children, adults, civilians, and
      military personnel. Several cerebral alterations resulting from TBI can foster
      the development of PTH, including neuroinflammation that can activate neural
      systems associated with migraine. TBI can also compromise the intrinsic pain
      modulation system and this would increase the level of perceived pain associated
      with PTH. Depression and anxiety disorders, especially post-traumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD), are associated with TBI and these psychological conditions can
      directly intensify PTH. Additionally, depression and PTSD alter sleep and this
      will increase headache severity and foster the genesis of PTH. This article also
      reviews the anatomic loci of injury associated with TBI and notes the overlap
      between areas of injury associated with TBI and PTSD. 

PMID- 27635230
TI  - New insights into cochlear sound encoding.
AB  - The inner ear uses specialized synapses to indefatigably transmit sound
      information from hair cells to spiral ganglion neurons at high rates with
      submillisecond precision. The emerging view is that hair cell synapses achieve
      their demanding function by employing an unconventional presynaptic molecular
      composition. Hair cell active zones hold the synaptic ribbon, an electron-dense
      projection made primarily of RIBEYE, which tethers a halo of synaptic vesicles
      and is thought to enable a large readily releasable pool of vesicles and to
      contribute to its rapid replenishment. Another important presynaptic player is
      otoferlin, coded by a deafness gene, which assumes a multi-faceted role in
      vesicular exocytosis and, when disrupted, causes auditory synaptopathy. A
      functional peculiarity of hair cell synapses is the massive heterogeneity in the
      sizes and shapes of excitatory postsynaptic currents. Currently, there is
      controversy as to whether this reflects multiquantal release with a variable
      extent of synchronization or uniquantal release through a dynamic fusion pore.
      Another important question in the field has been the precise mechanisms of
      coupling presynaptic Ca (2+) channels and vesicular Ca (2+) sensors. This
      commentary provides an update on the current understanding of sound encoding in
      the cochlea with a focus on presynaptic mechanisms. 

PMID- 27635232
TI  - Top 10 metrics for life science software good practices.
AB  - Metrics for assessing adoption of good development practices are a useful way to
      ensure that software is sustainable, reusable and functional. Sustainability
      means that the software used today will be available - and continue to be
      improved and supported - in the future. We report here an initial set of metrics
      that measure good practices in software development. This initiative differs from
      previously developed efforts in being a community-driven grassroots approach
      where experts from different organisations propose good software practices that
      have reasonable potential to be adopted by the communities they represent. We not
      only focus our efforts on understanding and prioritising good practices, we
      assess their feasibility for implementation and publish them here. 

PMID- 27635231
TI  - Recent advances in targeted therapy for Ewing sarcoma.
AB  - Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive, poorly differentiated neoplasm of solid bone that
      disproportionally afflicts the young. Despite intensive multi-modal therapy and
      valiant efforts, 70% of patients with relapsed and metastatic Ewing sarcoma will
      succumb to their disease. The persistent failure to improve overall survival for
      this subset of patients highlights the urgent need for rapid translation of novel
      therapeutic strategies. As Ewing sarcoma is associated with a paucity of
      mutations in readily targetable signal transduction pathways, targeting the key
      genetic aberration and master regulator of Ewing sarcoma, the EWS/ETS fusion,
      remains an important goal. 

PMID- 27635233
TI  - Circadian influences on dopamine circuits of the brain: regulation of striatal
      rhythms of clock gene expression and implications for psychopathology and
      disease.
AB  - Circadian clock proteins form an autoregulatory feedback loop that is central to
      the endogenous generation and transmission of daily rhythms in behavior and
      physiology. Increasingly, circadian rhythms in clock gene expression are being
      reported in diverse tissues and brain regions that lie outside of the
      suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the master circadian clock in mammals. For many of
      these extra-SCN rhythms, however, the region-specific implications are still
      emerging. In order to gain important insights into the potential behavioral,
      physiological, and psychological relevance of these daily oscillations,
      researchers have begun to focus on describing the neurochemical, hormonal,
      metabolic, and epigenetic contributions to the regulation of these rhythms. This
      review will highlight important sites and sources of circadian control within
      dopaminergic and striatal circuitries of the brain and will discuss potential
      implications for psychopathology and disease . For example, rhythms in clock gene
      expression in the dorsal striatum are sensitive to changes in dopamine release,
      which has potential implications for Parkinson's disease and drug addiction.
      Rhythms in the ventral striatum and limbic forebrain are sensitive to
      psychological and physical stressors, which may have implications for major
      depressive disorder. Collectively, a rich circadian tapestry has emerged that
      forces us to expand traditional views and to reconsider the psychopathological,
      behavioral, and physiological importance of these region-specific rhythms in
      brain areas that are not immediately linked with the regulation of circadian
      rhythms. 

PMID- 27635235
TI  - Recent advances in synthetic biosafety.
AB  - Synthetically engineered organisms hold promise for a broad range of medical,
      environmental, and industrial applications. Organisms can potentially be
      designed, for example, for the inexpensive and environmentally benign synthesis
      of pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals, for the cleanup of environmental
      pollutants, and potentially even for biomedical applications such as the
      targeting of specific diseases or tissues. However, the use of synthetically
      engineered organisms comes with several reasonable safety concerns, one of which
      is that the organisms or their genes could escape their intended habitats and
      cause environmental disruption. Here we review key recent developments in this
      emerging field of synthetic biocontainment and discuss further developments that
      might be necessary for the widespread use of synthetic organisms. Specifically,
      we discuss the history and modern development of three strategies for the
      containment of synthetic microbes: addiction to an exogenously supplied ligand;
      self-killing outside of a designated environment; and self-destroying encoded DNA
      circuitry outside of a designated environment. 

PMID- 27635236
TI  - mTOR inhibitors in cancer therapy.
AB  - The mammalian target of rapamycin, mTOR, plays key roles in cell growth and
      proliferation, acting at the catalytic subunit of two protein kinase complexes:
      mTOR complexes 1 and 2 (mTORC1/2). mTORC1 signaling is switched on by several
      oncogenic signaling pathways and is accordingly hyperactive in the majority of
      cancers. Inhibiting mTORC1 signaling has therefore attracted great attention as
      an anti-cancer therapy. However, progress in using inhibitors of mTOR signaling
      as therapeutic agents in oncology has been limited by a number of factors,
      including the fact that the classic mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, inhibits only some
      of the effects of mTOR; the existence of several feedback loops; and the crucial
      importance of mTOR in normal physiology. 

PMID- 27635234
TI  - Virotherapy: cancer gene therapy at last?
AB  - For decades, effective cancer gene therapy has been a tantalising prospect; for a
      therapeutic modality potentially able to elicit highly effective and selective
      responses, definitive efficacy outcomes have often seemed out of reach. However,
      steady progress in vector development and accumulated experience from previous
      clinical studies has finally led the field to its first licensed therapy.
      Following a pivotal phase III trial, Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec/T-Vec)
      received US approval as a treatment for cutaneous and subcutaneous melanoma in
      October 2015, followed several weeks later by its European authorisation. These
      represent the first approvals for an oncolytic virotherapy. Imlygic is an
      advanced-generation herpesvirus-based vector optimised for oncolytic and
      immunomodulatory activities. Many other oncolytic agents currently remain in
      development, providing hope that current success will be followed by other
      diverse vectors that may ultimately come to constitute a new class of clinical
      anti-cancer agents. In this review, we discuss some of the key oncolytic viral
      agents developed in the adenovirus and herpesvirus classes, and the prospects for
      further enhancing their efficacy by combining them with novel immunotherapeutic
      approaches. 

PMID- 27635237
TI  - How MCM loading and spreading specify eukaryotic DNA replication initiation
      sites.
AB  - DNA replication origins strikingly differ between eukaryotic species and cell
      types. Origins are localized and can be highly efficient in budding yeast, are
      randomly located in early fly and frog embryos, which do not transcribe their
      genomes, and are clustered in broad (10-100 kb) non-transcribed zones, frequently
      abutting transcribed genes, in mammalian cells. Nonetheless, in all cases,
      origins are established during the G1-phase of the cell cycle by the loading of
      double hexamers of the Mcm 2-7 proteins (MCM DHs), the core of the replicative
      helicase. MCM DH activation in S-phase leads to origin unwinding, polymerase
      recruitment, and initiation of bidirectional DNA synthesis. Although MCM DHs are
      initially loaded at sites defined by the binding of the origin recognition
      complex (ORC), they ultimately bind chromatin in much greater numbers than ORC
      and only a fraction are activated in any one S-phase. Data suggest that the
      multiplicity and functional redundancy of MCM DHs provide robustness to the
      replication process and affect replication time and that MCM DHs can slide along
      the DNA and spread over large distances around the ORC. Recent studies further
      show that MCM DHs are displaced along the DNA by collision with transcription
      complexes but remain functional for initiation after displacement. Therefore,
      eukaryotic DNA replication relies on intrinsically mobile and flexible origins, a
      strategy fundamentally different from bacteria but conserved from yeast to human.
      These properties of MCM DHs likely contribute to the establishment of broad,
      intergenic replication initiation zones in higher eukaryotes. 

PMID- 27635238
TI  - EGF receptor ligands: recent advances.
AB  - Seven ligands bind to and activate the mammalian epidermal growth factor (EGF)
      receptor (EGFR/ERBB1/HER1): EGF, transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFA), heparin
      binding EGF-like growth factor (HBEGF), betacellulin (BTC), amphiregulin (AREG),
      epiregulin (EREG), and epigen (EPGN). Of these, EGF, TGFA, HBEGF, and BTC are
      thought to be high-affinity ligands, whereas AREG, EREG, and EPGN constitute low
      affinity ligands. This focused review is meant to highlight recent studies
      related to actions of the individual EGFR ligands, the interesting biology that
      has been uncovered, and relevant advances related to ligand interactions with the
      EGFR. 

PMID- 27635240
TI  - Recent advances in cardiac magnetic resonance.
AB  - Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a non-invasive imaging modality that has
      rapidly emerged during the last few years and has become a valuable, well
      established clinical tool. Beside the evaluation of anatomy and function, CMR has
      its strengths in providing detailed non-invasive myocardial tissue
      characterization, for which it is considered the current diagnostic gold
      standard. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), with its capability to detect
      necrosis and to separate ischemic from non-ischemic cardiomyopathies by distinct
      LGE patterns, offers unique clinical possibilities. The presence of LGE has also
      proven to be a good predictor of an adverse outcome in various studies. T2
      weighted (T2w) images, which are supposed to identify areas of edema and
      inflammation, are another CMR approach to tissue characterization. However, T2w
      images have not held their promise owing to several technical limitations and
      potential physiological concerns. Newer mapping techniques may overcome some of
      these limitations: they assess quantitatively myocardial tissue properties in
      absolute terms and show promising results in studies for characterization of
      diffuse fibrosis (T1 mapping) and/or inflammatory processes (T2 mapping).
      However, these techniques are still research tools and are not part of the
      clinical routine yet. T2* CMR has had significant impact in the management of
      thalassemia because it is possible to image the amount of iron in the heart and
      the liver, improving both diagnostic imaging and the management of patients with
      thalassemia. CMR findings frequently have clinical impact on further patient
      management, and CMR seems to be cost effective in the clinical routine. 

PMID- 27635239
TI  - Recent advances in understanding vitiligo.
AB  - Vitiligo, an acquired depigmentation disorder, manifests as white macules on the
      skin and can cause significant psychological stress and stigmatization. Recent
      advances have shed light on key components that drive disease onset and
      progression as well as therapeutic approaches. Vitiligo can be triggered by
      stress to the melanin pigment-producing cells of the skin, the melanocytes. The
      triggers, which range from sunburn to mechanical trauma and chemical exposures,
      ultimately cause an autoimmune response that targets melanocytes, driving
      progressive skin depigmentation. The most significant progress in our
      understanding of disease etiology has been made on three fronts: (1) identifying
      cellular responses to stress, including antioxidant pathways and the unfolded
      protein response (UPR), as key players in disease onset, (2) characterizing
      immune responses that target melanocytes and drive disease progression, and (3)
      identifying major susceptibility genes. The current model for vitiligo
      pathogenesis postulates that oxidative stress causes cellular disruptions,
      including interruption of protein maturation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER),
      leading to the activation of the UPR and expression of UPR-regulated chemokines
      such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and IL-8. These chemokines recruit immune components
      to the skin, causing melanocytes to be targeted for destruction. Oxidative stress
      can further increase melanocyte targeting by promoting antigen presentation. Two
      key components of the autoimmune response that promote disease progression are
      the interferon (IFN)-gamma/CXCL10 axis and IL-17-mediated responses. Several
      genome-wide association studies support a role for these pathways, with the
      antioxidant gene NRF2, UPR gene XBP1, and numerous immune-related genes including
      class I and class II major histocompatibility genes associated with a risk for
      developing vitiligo. Novel approaches to promote repigmentation in vitiligo are
      being investigated and may yield effective, long-lasting therapies. 

PMID- 27635241
TI  - Salutary effects of high-intensity interval training in persons with elevated
      cardiovascular risk.
AB  - Although moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) has been the traditional
      model for aerobic exercise training for over four decades, a growing body of
      literature has demonstrated equal if not greater improvement in aerobic capacity
      and similar beneficial effects on body composition, glucose metabolism, blood
      pressure, and quality of life from high-intensity interval training (HIIT). An
      advantage of HIIT over MICT is the shorter time required to perform the same
      amount of energy expenditure. The current brief review summarizes the effects of
      HIIT on peak aerobic capacity and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy adults
      and those with various cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery
      disease, chronic heart failure, and post heart transplantation. 

PMID- 27635244
TI  - Vertical farming increases lettuce yield per unit area compared to conventional
      horizontal hydroponics.
AB  - Vertical farming systems (VFS) have been proposed as an engineering solution to
      increase productivity per unit area of cultivated land by extending crop
      production into the vertical dimension. To test whether this approach presents a
      viable alternative to horizontal crop production systems, a VFS (where plants
      were grown in upright cylindrical columns) was compared against a conventional
      horizontal hydroponic system (HHS) using lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. "Little
      Gem") as a model crop. Both systems had similar root zone volume and planting
      density. Half-strength Hoagland's solution was applied to plants grown in perlite
      in an indoor controlled environment room, with metal halide lamps providing
      artificial lighting. Light distribution (photosynthetic photon flux density,
      PPFD) and yield (shoot fresh weight) within each system were assessed. Although
      PPFD and shoot fresh weight decreased significantly in the VFS from top to base,
      the VFS produced more crop per unit of growing floor area when compared with the
      HHS. Our results clearly demonstrate that VFS presents an attractive alternative
      to horizontal hydroponic growth systems and suggest that further increases in
      yield could be achieved by incorporating artificial lighting in the VFS.

PMID- 27635243
TI  - Recent advances in understanding and diagnosing hepatitis B virus infection.
AB  - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infects approximately 240 million individuals worldwide.
      Recent advances in the virology, immunopathogenesis, and diagnosis of HBV
      infection are summarized in this review article. The identification of a
      hepatocyte-specific cellular receptor for HBV, the sodium taurocholate co
      transporting polypeptide (NTCP), made it possible to develop reliable cell
      culture systems and better understand the early steps of the viral lifecycle.
      Viral and host factors involved in covalently closed circular DNA synthesis,
      stability, and transcriptional regulation have also been identified and provide
      potential targets for new drugs. Based on recent evidence showing trained
      immunity in immune-tolerant patients, the immune tolerance and immune clearance
      phases have been renamed the non-inflammatory and inflammatory phases,
      respectively. New diagnostic and monitoring tools are now available, including
      rapid diagnostic tests for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) detection, HBsAg
      quantification assays, anti-HBc antibody quantification assays, an HBV core
      related antigen (HBcrAg) quantification test, new HBV DNA detection and
      quantification assays, and an HBV RNA quantification test. Their clinical utility
      is under study. Finally, new antiviral and immune modulation approaches are in
      the preclinical or early clinical developmental stages, with the goal to achieve
      functional cure or ideally (if possible) eradication of HBV infection. 

PMID- 27635242
TI  - Actomyosin stress fiber mechanosensing in 2D and 3D.
AB  - Mechanotransduction is the process through which cells survey the mechanical
      properties of their environment, convert these mechanical inputs into biochemical
      signals, and modulate their phenotype in response. These mechanical inputs, which
      may be encoded in the form of extracellular matrix stiffness, dimensionality, and
      adhesion, all strongly influence cell morphology, migration, and fate decisions.
      One mechanism through which cells on planar or pseudo-planar matrices exert
      tensile forces and interrogate microenvironmental mechanics is through stress
      fibers, which are bundles composed of actin filaments and, in most cases, non
      muscle myosin II filaments. Stress fibers form a continuous structural network
      that is mechanically coupled to the extracellular matrix through focal adhesions.
      Furthermore, myosin-driven contractility plays a central role in the ability of
      stress fibers to sense matrix mechanics and generate tension. Here, we review the
      distinct roles that non-muscle myosin II plays in driving mechanosensing and
      focus specifically on motility. In a closely related discussion, we also describe
      stress fiber classification schemes and the differing roles of various myosin
      isoforms in each category. Finally, we briefly highlight recent studies exploring
      mechanosensing in three-dimensional environments, in which matrix content,
      structure, and mechanics are often tightly interrelated. Stress fibers and the
      myosin motors therein represent an intriguing and functionally important
      biological system in which mechanics, biochemistry, and architecture all
      converge. 

PMID- 27635245
TI  - Trust in healthcare settings: Scale development, methods, and preliminary
      determinants.
AB  - The literature contains research regarding how trust is formed in healthcare
      settings but rarely discusses trust formation in an emergent care population. A
      literature review was conducted to determine which of the trust determinants are
      important for this process as well as how to develop a scale to measure trust. A
      search generated a total of 155 articles, 65 of which met eligibility criteria.
      Determinants that were important included the following: honesty,
      confidentiality, dependability, communication, competency, fiduciary
      responsibility, fidelity, and agency. The process of developing a scale includes
      the following: a literature review, qualitative analysis, piloting, and survey
      validation. Results suggest that physician behaviors are important in influencing
      trust in patients and should be included in scales measuring trust. Next steps
      consist of interviewing emergent care patients to commence the process of
      developing a scale. 

PMID- 27635247
TI  - A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer
      clinicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Improvements in cancer detection and treatment create a need for care
      that prioritizes acute treatment and ongoing needs. There have been calls to
      include health promotion in cancer care, but little empirical consideration of
      the work involved in such an expansion of services. In this article, we adopt a
      constructionist position to explore clinicians' perspectives on capacity for
      health promotion, specifically dietary counseling. METHODS: Our data result from
      33 semi-structured qualitative interviews with members of cancer care teams. All
      interviewees were affiliated with one of two contrasting medical systems located
      in Baltimore, MD, USA. Interviews focused on professional roles and
      responsibilities around health promotion for cancer survivors. We employed both
      purposive and snowball sampling. We conducted a thematic analysis informed by the
      sociology of professions literature of discussions of dietary change by provider
      type. RESULTS: We discuss four emergent themes that relate to the work of
      providing dietary counseling: (1) prioritization of behavior change in
      survivorship care, (2) evidence base for dietary messaging, (3) available time
      and clinical priorities and (4) clinical expertise. Interviewees generally
      expressed support for the importance of diet for healthy cancer survivorship.
      However, while there was broad support for dietary change and health promotion,
      we found little evidence of an emerging consensus on how this work should be
      accomplished, nor an indication of any occupational group expanding their
      professional remit to prioritize health promotion tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Health
      promotion is the key to any efficient and effective model of cancer care. Careful
      attention to the impact of the task on key patient outcomes as well as system
      capacity for the provision of dietary counseling and its fit with a specific
      professional remit will be critical for successful integration of health
      promotion into routine cancer care.

PMID- 27635246
TI  - Effectiveness of light paths coupled with personal emergency response systems in
      preventing functional decline among the elderly.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The elderly population is at high risk of functional decline, which
      will induce significant costs due to long-term care. Dependency could be delayed
      by preventing one of its major determinants: falls. Light paths coupled with
      personal emergency response systems could prevent the functional decline through
      fall prevention. METHODS: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of light
      paths coupled with personal emergency response systems on the functional decline
      in an elderly population living at home. It is a secondary analysis on data from
      a previous cohort. In all, 190 older adults (aged 65 years or more) living at
      home participated. Participants in the exposed group were equipped with home
      based technologies: light paths coupled with personal emergency response systems.
      The participants' functional status was assessed using the Functional Autonomy
      Measurement System scale at baseline (T0) and at the end of the study (T12
      month). Baseline characteristics were evaluated by a comprehensive geriatric
      assessment. RESULTS: After 1 year, 43% of the unexposed group had functional
      decline versus 16% of the exposed group. Light paths coupled with personal
      emergency response systems were significantly associated with a decrease in the
      functional decline (Delta Functional Autonomy Measurement System ? 5) at home
      (odds ratio = 0.24, 95% confidence interval (0.11-0.54), p = 0.002). DISCUSSION:
      This study suggests that light paths coupled with personal emergency response
      systems prevent the functional decline over 12 months. This result may encourage
      the prescription and use of home-based technologies to postpone dependency and
      institutionalization, but they need a larger cost-effectiveness study to
      demonstrate the efficiency of these technologies.

PMID- 27635249
TI  - A systematic review of the association between fish oil supplementation and the
      development of asthma exacerbations.
AB  - A systematic review was conducted to examine the association between fish oil
      supplementation and the development of asthma exacerbations. Comprehensive
      literature reviews of recent fish oil studies were performed to evaluate
      alterations in asthma surrogate markers. Additionally, the relative compositions
      of the fish oils used in each study were analyzed. The results of the review were
      inconclusive, but provide a basis for future research methods. 

PMID- 27635248
TI  - Challenges of implementation and implementation research: Learning from an
      intervention study designed to improve tumor registry reporting.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Implementation of interventions designed to improve the quality of
      medical care often proceeds differently from what is planned. Improving existing
      conceptual models to better understand the sources of these differences can help
      future projects avoid these pitfalls and achieve desired effectiveness. To inform
      an adaptation of an existing theoretical model, we examined unanticipated changes
      that occurred in an intervention designed to improve reporting of adjuvant
      therapies for breast cancer patients at a large, urban academic medical center.
      METHODS: Guided by the complex innovation implementation conceptual framework,
      our study team observed and evaluated the implementation of an intervention
      designed to improve reporting to a tumor registry. Findings were assessed against
      the conceptual framework to identify boundary conditions and modifications that
      could improve implementation effectiveness. RESULTS: The intervention
      successfully increased identification of the managing medical oncologist and
      treatment reporting. During implementation, however, unexpected external
      challenges including hospital acquisitions of community practices and practices'
      responses to government incentives to purchase electronic medical record systems
      led to unanticipated changes and associated threats to implementation. We present
      a revised conceptual model that incorporates the sources of these unanticipated
      challenges. CONCLUSION: This report of our experience highlights the importance
      of monitoring implementation over time and accounting for changes that affect
      both implementation and measurement of intervention impact. In this article, we
      use our study to examine the challenges of implementation research in health
      care, and our experience can help future implementation efforts.

PMID- 27635250
TI  - The resource utilisation of medically unexplained physical symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: As patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms may present
      frequently to hospital settings and receive potentially unnecessary
      investigations and treatments, we aimed to assess the frequency and type of
      medically unexplained physical symptoms presentations to clinical services and
      estimate the associated direct healthcare costs. METHODS: This study was
      undertaken at the largest district health board in New Zealand. All patients with
      a diagnosed presentation of medically unexplained physical symptoms in 2013 were
      identified using the district health board's clinical coding system. The clinical
      records (medical and psychiatric) of 49 patients were examined in detail to
      extricate all medically unexplained physical symptoms-related secondary care
      activity within 6 months before or after their medically unexplained physical
      symptoms presentation. Standardised national costing methodology was used to
      calculate the associated healthcare costs. RESULTS: In all, 49% of patients
      attended hospital settings at least twice during 2013. The majority of
      presentations were for neurological or respiratory concerns. The total cost for
      the sample was GBP89,636 (median: GBP1,221). Costs were most significant in the
      areas of inpatient admissions and emergency care. CONCLUSION: Medically
      unexplained physical symptoms result in frequent presentations to hospital
      settings. The costs incurred are substantial and comparable to the costs of
      chronic medical conditions with identifiable pathology. Improving recognition and
      management of medically unexplained physical symptoms has potential to offer more
      appropriate and cost-effective healthcare outcomes.

PMID- 27635251
TI  - Quantitative analysis of benzodiazepines in vitreous humor by high-performance
      liquid chromatography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Benzodiazepines are frequently screened drugs in emergency toxicology,
      drugs of abuse testing, and in forensic cases. As the variations of
      benzodiazepines concentrations in biological samples during bleeding, postmortem
      changes, and redistribution could be biasing forensic medicine examinations,
      hence selecting a suitable sample and a validated accurate method is essential
      for the quantitative analysis of these main drug categories. The aim of this
      study was to develop a valid method for the determination of four benzodiazepines
      (flurazepam, lorazepam, alprazolam, and diazepam) in vitreous humor using liquid
      liquid extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography. METHODS: Sample
      preparation was carried out using liquid-liquid extraction with n-hexane: ethyl
      acetate and subsequent detection by high-performance liquid chromatography method
      coupled to diode array detector. This method was applied to quantify
      benzodiazepines in 21 authentic vitreous humor samples. Linear curve for each
      drug was obtained within the range of 30-3000 ng/mL with coefficient of
      correlation higher than 0.99. RESULTS: The limit of detection and quantitation
      were 30 and 100 ng/mL respectively for four drugs. The method showed an
      appropriate intra- and inter-day precision (coefficient of variation < 10%).
      Benzodiazepines recoveries were estimated to be over 80%. The method showed high
      selectivity; no additional peak due to interfering substances in samples was
      observed. CONCLUSION: The present method was selective, sensitive, accurate, and
      precise for the quantitative analysis of benzodiazepines in vitreous humor
      samples in forensic toxicology laboratory.

PMID- 27635252
TI  - Reliability and validity of daily physical activity measures during inpatient
      spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of
      daily physical activity measures during inpatient spinal cord injury
      rehabilitation. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Two inpatient spinal cord
      injury rehabilitation centres. SUBJECTS: Participants (n = 106) were recruited
      from consecutive admissions to rehabilitation. METHODS: Physical activity during
      inpatient spinal cord injury rehabilitation stay was recorded on two days via (1)
      wrist accelerometer, (2) hip accelerometer if ambulatory, and (3) self-report
      (Physical Activity Recall Assessment for People with Spinal Cord Injury
      questionnaire). Spearman's correlations and Bland-Altman plots were utilized for
      test-retest reliability. Correlations between physical activity measures and
      clinical measures (functional independence, hand function, and ambulation) were
      performed. RESULTS: Correlations for physical activity measures between Day 1 and
      Day 2 were moderate to high (rho = 0.53-0.89). Bland-Altman plots showed minimal
      bias and more within-subject differences in more active individuals and wide
      limits of agreement. None of these three physical activity measures correlated
      with one another. A moderate correlation was found between wrist accelerometry
      counts and grip strength (rho = 0.58) and between step counts and measures of
      ambulation (rho = 0.62). Functional independence was related to wrist
      accelerometry (rho = 0.70) and step counts (rho = 0.56), but not with self
      report. CONCLUSION: The test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the
      instrumented measures suggest that wrist and hip accelerometers are appropriate
      tools for use in research studies of daily physical activity in the spinal cord
      injury rehabilitation setting but are too variable for individual use.

PMID- 27635253
TI  - Influence of model based iterative reconstruction algorithm on image quality of
      multiplanar reformations in reduced dose chest CT.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) reduces image noise and
      improves image quality (IQ) but its influence on post-processing tools including
      maximal intensity projection (MIP) and minimal intensity projection (mIP) remains
      unknown. PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence on IQ of MBIR on native, mIP, MIP
      axial and coronal reformats of reduced dose computed tomography (RD-CT) chest
      acquisition. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Raw data of 50 patients, who underwent a
      standard dose CT (SD-CT) and a follow-up RD-CT with a CT dose index (CTDI) of 2-3
      mGy, were reconstructed by MBIR and FBP. Native slices, 4-mm-thick MIP, and 3-mm
      thick mIP axial and coronal reformats were generated. The relative IQ, subjective
      IQ, image noise, and number of artifacts were determined in order to compare
      different reconstructions of RD-CT with reference SD-CT. RESULTS: The lowest
      noise was observed with MBIR. RD-CT reconstructed by MBIR exhibited the best
      relative and subjective IQ on coronal view regardless of the post-processing
      tool. MBIR generated the lowest rate of artefacts on coronal mIP/MIP reformats
      and the highest one on axial reformats, mainly represented by distortions and
      stairsteps artifacts. CONCLUSION: The MBIR algorithm reduces image noise but
      generates more artifacts than FBP on axial mIP and MIP reformats of RD-CT.
      Conversely, it significantly improves IQ on coronal views, without increasing
      artifacts, regardless of the post-processing technique.

PMID- 27635254
TI  - Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy caused by prostate carcinoma.
AB  - Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a fatal malignancy-related
      condition that involves rapidly progressing hypoxia and pulmonary hypertension.
      We report a case of PTTM caused by prostate carcinoma, which was diagnosed before
      autopsy in an 81-year-old man. Computed tomography showed diffuse ground-glass
      opacities, consolidation, and small nodules in the peripheral regions of the
      lung. Autopsy showed adenocarcinoma cells embolizing small pulmonary arteries
      with fibrocellular intimal proliferation, which was consistent with PTTM caused
      by prostate carcinoma. 

PMID- 27635255
TI  - Visual Rehabilitation in Combined Surgical Procedures: Bridging Two Eye Poles for
      Better Vision.

PMID- 27635256
TI  - Effects of Target Size and Test Distance on Stereoacuity.
AB  - Target size and test distance effects on stereoacuity were investigated in 24
      subjects using a three-dimensional monitor. Examination 1: Target Size Effects.
      The test distance was 2.5 m for 0.1 degrees , 0.2 degrees , 0.5 degrees , and 0.9
      degrees  target sizes; crossed parallax was presented in 22-second units. Average
      stereoacuity values for 0.1 degrees , 0.2 degrees , 0.5 degrees , and 0.9 degrees
      target sizes were 59.58 +/- 14.86, 47.66 +/- 13.71, 41.25 +/- 15.95, and 39.41
      +/- 15.52 seconds, respectively. Stereoacuity was significantly worse with a 0.1
      degrees  target than with 0.2 degrees , 0.5 degrees , and 0.9 degrees  target
      sizes (P = 0.03, P < 0.0001, and P < 0.0001, resp.). Examination 2: Test Distance
      Effects. Test distances of 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 m were investigated for a 0.5
      degrees  target size; crossed parallax was presented in 22-second units. Average
      stereoacuity values at 2.5 m, 5.0 m, and 7.5 m test distances were 44.91 +/-
      16.16, 34.83 +/- 10.84, and 24.75 +/- 7.27 seconds, respectively. Stereoacuity at
      a 7.5 m distance was significantly better than at distances of 2.5 m and 5.0 m (P
      < 0.0001 and P = 0.02, resp.). Stereoacuity at a 5.0 m distance was significantly
      better than at 2.5 m (P = 0.04). Stereoacuity should be estimated by both
      parallax and other elements, including test distance and target size. 

PMID- 27635258
TI  - Prevalence of Antenatal Depression and Associated Risk Factors among Pregnant
      Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Abeokuta North Local Government Area,
      Nigeria.
AB  - Objective. The prevalence of antenatal depression (AD) and associated risk
      factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Abeokuta North Local
      Government Area, Nigeria, was determined. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional
      survey was conducted, interviewing 314 pregnant women selected by multistage
      sampling technique from among those attending antenatal clinics. Information was
      collected using structured questionnaire and a screening tool, Edinburgh
      Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), to assess probable depression. Results. The
      prevalence of antenatal depression was 24.5%. There were significant associations
      between antenatal depression and attending public health facility (P = 0.000),
      young maternal age (P = 0.012), single marital status (P = 0.010), not having
      formal education (P = 0.022), large family size (P = 0.029), planned pregnancy (P
      = 0.014), coexisting medical conditions (P = 0.034), history of previous
      caesarian section (P = 0.032), drinking alcohol during pregnancy (P = 0.004), and
      gender based abuse (P = 0.001). On health seeking behaviour for antenatal
      depression among depressed pregnant women, most, 68.9%, consulted their husbands
      about their symptoms; 57.3% took the decision to get treatment from doctors, and
      52% sought prayer in the church. Conclusion. Antenatal depression is prevalent in
      this study population. Interventions to address its risk factors should be
      carried out and physicians should suspect depression in pregnant women reporting
      alcohol use and gender abuse. 

PMID- 27635257
TI  - Design of a Digital-Based, Multicomponent Nutrition Guidance System for
      Prevention of Early Childhood Obesity.
AB  - Interventions targeting parenting focused modifiable factors to prevent obesity
      and promote healthy growth in the first 1000 days of life are needed. Scale-up of
      interventions to global populations is necessary to reverse trends in weight
      status among infants and toddlers, and large scale dissemination will require
      understanding of effective strategies. Utilizing nutrition education theories,
      this paper describes the design of a digital-based nutrition guidance system
      targeted to first-time mothers to prevent obesity during the first two years. The
      multicomponent system consists of scientifically substantiated content, tools,
      and telephone-based professional support delivered in an anticipatory and
      sequential manner via the internet, email, and text messages, focusing on
      educational modules addressing the modifiable factors associated with childhood
      obesity. Digital delivery formats leverage consumer media trends and provide the
      opportunity for scale-up, unavailable to previous interventions reliant on
      resource heavy clinic and home-based counseling. Designed initially for use in
      the United States, this system's core features are applicable to all contexts and
      constitute an approach fostering healthy growth, not just obesity prevention. The
      multicomponent features, combined with a global concern for optimal growth and
      positive trends in mobile internet use, represent this system's future potential
      to affect change in nutrition practice in developing countries.

PMID- 27635259
TI  - Risk Factors Linked to Psychological Distress, Productivity Losses, and Sick
      Leave in Low-Back-Pain Employees: A Three-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study.
AB  - Background. Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common health problems
      worldwide. Purpose. To investigate the link between baseline demographic and
      occupational, medical, and lifestyle data with following psychological and
      occupational outcomes in a large sample of employees with LBP over a 3-year
      period. Study Design. Three-year prospective cohort study. Methods. Italian
      speaking employees (N = 4492) with a diagnosis of LBP were included. Screening at
      Time 1 was done in order to collect information about severity and classification
      of LBP, demographic, lifestyle, and occupational status data. Psychological
      distress (PGWBI) and occupational burden were assessed after 3 years. Results.
      After 3 years, employees with LBP not due to organic causes had an increased risk
      of psychological distress. Gender appears to be an important variable for
      following occupational burden. Indeed, being a white-collar man with a LBP
      without organic causes seems to be a protective factor for following work
      outcomes, while being a white-collar woman with a LBP not due to organic causes
      appears to be a risk factor for subsequent sick leave. Moreover, LBP severity
      affects psychological and occupational outcomes. Conclusion. Our findings have
      several implications that could be considered in preventive and supportive
      programs for LBP employees. 

PMID- 27635260
TI  - S-Nitrosylation Proteome Profile of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Human
      Heart Failure.
AB  - Nitric oxide (NO) protects the heart against ischemic injury; however, NO- and
      superoxide-dependent S-nitrosylation (S-NO) of cysteines can affect function of
      target proteins and play a role in disease outcome. We employed 2D-GE with thiol
      labeling FL-maleimide dye and MALDI-TOF MS/MS to capture the quantitative changes
      in abundance and S-NO proteome of HF patients (versus healthy controls, n =
      30/group). We identified 93 differentially abundant (59-increased/34-decreased)
      and 111 S-NO-modified (63-increased/48-decreased) protein spots, respectively, in
      HF subjects (versus controls, fold-change | >=1.5|, p <= 0.05). Ingenuity pathway
      analysis of proteome datasets suggested that the pathways involved in phagocytes'
      migration, free radical production, and cell death were activated and fatty acid
      metabolism was decreased in HF subjects. Multivariate adaptive regression splines
      modeling of datasets identified a panel of proteins that will provide >90%
      prediction success in classifying HF subjects. Proteomic profiling identified ATP
      synthase, thrombospondin-1 (THBS1), and vinculin (VCL) as top differentially
      abundant and S-NO-modified proteins, and these proteins were verified by Western
      blotting and ELISA in different set of HF subjects. We conclude that differential
      abundance and S-NO modification of proteins serve as a mechanism in regulating
      cell viability and free radical production, and THBS1 and VCL evaluation will
      potentially be useful in the prediction of heart failure. 

PMID- 27635261
TI  - Presynaptic Proteins as Markers of the Neurotoxic Activity of BmjeTX-I and BmjeTX
      II Toxins from Bothrops marajoensis (Marajo Lancehead) Snake Venom.
AB  - Neuromuscular preparations exposed to B. marajoensis venom show increases in the
      frequency of miniature end-plate potentials and twitch tension facilitation
      followed by presynaptic neuromuscular paralysis, without evidences of muscle
      damage. Considering that presynaptic toxins interfere into the machinery involved
      in neurotransmitter release (synaptophysin, synaptobrevin, and SNAP25 proteins),
      the main objective of this communication is to analyze, by immunofluorescence and
      western blotting, the expression of the synaptic proteins, synaptophysin,
      synaptobrevin, and SNAP25 and by myography, light, and transmission electron
      microscopy the pathology of motor nerve terminals and skeletal muscle fibres of
      chick biventer cervicis preparations (CBC) exposed in vitro to BmjeTX-I and
      BmjeTX-II toxins from B. marajoensis venom. CBC incubated with toxins showed
      irreversible twitch tension blockade and unaffected KCl- and ACh-evoked
      contractures, and the positive colabelling of acetylcholine receptors confirmed
      that their action was primarily at the motor nerve terminal. Hypercontraction and
      loose myofilaments and synaptic vesicle depletion and motor nerve damage
      indicated that the toxins displayed both myotoxic and neurotoxic effect. The
      blockade resulted from interference on synaptophysin, synaptobrevin, and SNAP25
      proteins leading to the conclusion that BmjeTX-I and BmjeTX-II affected
      neurotransmitter release machinery by preventing the docking of synaptic vesicles
      to the axolemma of the nerve terminal. 

PMID- 27635262
TI  - Effects of Seated Postural Stability and Trunk and Upper Extremity Strength on
      Performance during Manual Wheelchair Propulsion Tests in Individuals with Spinal
      Cord Injury: An Exploratory Study.
AB  - Objectives. To quantify the association between performance-based manual
      wheelchair propulsion tests (20 m propulsion test, slalom test, and 6 min
      propulsion test), trunk and upper extremity (U/E) strength, and seated reaching
      capability and to establish which ones of these variables best predict
      performance at these tests. Methods. 15 individuals with a spinal cord injury
      (SCI) performed the three wheelchair propulsion tests prior to discharge from
      inpatient SCI rehabilitation. Trunk and U/E strength and seated reaching
      capability with unilateral hand support were also measured. Bivariate correlation
      and multiple linear regression analyses allowed determining the best determinants
      and predictors, respectively. Results. The performance at the three tests was
      moderately or strongly correlated with anterior and lateral flexion trunk
      strength, anterior seated reaching distance, and the shoulder, elbow, and
      handgrip strength measures. Shoulder adductor strength-weakest side explained 53%
      of the variance on the 20-meter propulsion test-maximum velocity. Shoulder
      adductor strength-strongest side and forward seated reaching distance explained
      71% of the variance on the slalom test. Handgrip strength explained 52% of the
      variance on the 6-minute propulsion test. Conclusion. Performance at the manual
      wheelchair propulsion tests is explained by a combination of factors that should
      be considered in rehabilitation. 

PMID- 27635263
TI  - Pattern of Breast Cancer Distribution in Ghana: A Survey to Enhance Early
      Detection, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
AB  - Background. Nearly 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Ghana are in
      advanced stages of the disease due especially to low awareness, resulting in
      limited treatment success and high death rate. With limited epidemiological
      studies on breast cancer in Ghana, the aim of this study is to assess and
      understand the pattern of breast cancer distribution for enhancing early
      detection and treatment. Methods. We randomly selected and screened 3000 women
      for clinical palpable breast lumps and used univariate and bivariate analysis for
      description and exploration of variables, respectively, in relation to incidence
      of breast cancer. Results. We diagnosed 23 (0.76%) breast cancer cases out of 194
      (6.46%) participants with clinically palpable breast lumps. Seventeen out of
      these 23 (0.56%) were premenopausal (<46.6 years) with 7 (0.23%) being below 35
      years. With an overall breast cancer incidence of 0.76% in this study, our
      observation that about 30% of these cancer cases were below 35 years may indicate
      a relative possible shift of cancer burden to women in their early thirties in
      Ghana, compared to Western countries. Conclusion. These results suggest an age
      adjustment for breast cancer screening to early twenties for Ghanaian women and
      the need for a nationwide breast cancer screening to understand completely the
      pattern of breast cancer distribution in Ghana. 

PMID- 27635265
TI  - A Patient with a Right Atrium Mass and Congenital Heart Disease: A Challenging
      Diagnosis of a Stubborn Disease.
AB  - Cardiac lymphoma is extremely rare. An intracardiac mass has rarely been reported
      to be the cardiac involvement of extranodal lymphoma. It is difficult to
      establish a final diagnosis via routine examinations. The ability of an
      echocardiogram to characterize tissue is limited; systemic (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans
      provide important information for both staging and response assessment in
      patients with lymphoma. A 68-year-old Chinese male with a second patent foramen
      ovale (PFO) and an interventricular septal defect presented at our institute with
      persistent fever, shortness of breath, repeated paroxysmal supraventricular
      tachycardia (PSVT) attack, and rapidly progressing superior vena cava syndrome.
      The patient also presented with a mass located in the upper right atrium and
      superior vena cava which was detected by echocardiogram. (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan
      revealed a pathological increase of (18)F-FDG uptake in the atrial mass and
      several other extracardiac lymph nodes. Lymph node biopsy was positive for large
      B-cell lymphoma. Immunohistochemistry revealed intense and diffuse expression of
      CD20, CD10, BCL-6, and Ki-67. The patient died without any chemotherapy 18 days
      after hospital discharge. 

PMID- 27635266
TI  - Fatal Cerebral Air Embolism: A Case Series and Literature Review.
AB  - Cerebral air embolism (CAE) is an infrequently reported complication of routine
      medical procedures. We present two cases of CAE. The first patient was a 55-year
      old male presenting with vomiting and loss of consciousness one day after his
      hemodialysis session. Physical exam was significant for hypotension and hypoxia
      with no focal neurologic deficits. Computed tomography (CT) scan of head showed
      gas in cerebral venous circulation. The patient did not undergo any procedures
      prior to presentation, and his last hemodialysis session was uneventful.
      Retrograde rise of venous air to the cerebral circulation was the likely
      mechanism for venous CAE. The second patient was a 46-year-old female presenting
      with fever, shortness of breath, and hematemesis. She was febrile, tachypneic,
      and tachycardic and required intubation and mechanical ventilation. An orogastric
      tube inserted drained 2500 mL of bright red blood. Flexible laryngoscopy and
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy were performed. She also underwent central venous
      catheter placement. CT scan of head performed the next day due to absent brain
      stem reflexes revealed intravascular air within cerebral arteries. A
      transthoracic echocardiogram with bubble study ruled out patent foramen ovale.
      The patient had a paradoxical CAE in the absence of a patent foramen ovale. 

PMID- 27635267
TI  - Lyme Disease Presenting with Multiple Cranial Nerve Deficits: Report of a Case.
AB  - Lyme disease is a tick-transmitted multisystem inflammatory disease caused by the
      spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. With more than 25,000 CDC reported cases
      annually, it has become the most common vector-borne disease in the United
      States. We report a case of 38-year-old man with Lyme disease presenting with
      simultaneous palsy of 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th cranial nerves. 

PMID- 27635264
TI  - Stepping in Place While Voluntarily Turning Around Produces a Long-Lasting
      Posteffect Consisting in Inadvertent Turning While Stepping Eyes Closed.
AB  - Training subjects to step in place on a rotating platform while maintaining a
      fixed body orientation in space produces a posteffect consisting in inadvertent
      turning around while stepping in place eyes closed (podokinetic after-rotation,
      PKAR). We tested the hypothesis that voluntary turning around while stepping in
      place also produces a posteffect similar to PKAR. Sixteen subjects performed 12
      min of voluntary turning while stepping around their vertical axis eyes closed
      and 12 min of stepping in place eyes open on the center of a platform rotating at
      60 degrees /s (pretests). Then, subjects continued stepping in place eyes closed
      for at least 10 min (posteffect). We recorded the positions of markers fixed to
      head, shoulder, and feet. The posteffect of voluntary turning shared all features
      of PKAR. Time decay of angular velocity, stepping cadence, head acceleration, and
      ratio of angular velocity after to angular velocity before were similar between
      both protocols. Both postrotations took place inadvertently. The posteffects are
      possibly dependent on the repeated voluntary contraction of leg and foot
      intrarotating pelvic muscles that rotate the trunk over the stance foot, a
      synergy common to both protocols. We propose that stepping in place and voluntary
      turning can be a scheme ancillary to the rotating platform for training body
      segment coordination in patients with impairment of turning synergies of various
      origin.

PMID- 27635269
TI  - SIADH Induced by Pharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Case Report and Literature
      Review.
AB  - Background. The Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH) is
      considered to be the most common cause of euvolemic hyponatremia. The most common
      malignancy associated with SIADH is small cell lung cancer. We present a rare
      case of a patient with SIADH secondary to well differentiated squamous cell
      carcinoma of the naso-oropharynx. Case. A 46-year-old Caucasian woman presented
      to emergency department with four-week history of progressive dysphagia. On
      examination, she was found to have a pharyngeal mass. CT scan and MRI of neck
      confirmed a mass highly suspicious of carcinoma. Patient's serum sodium level
      decreased to 118 mEq/L and other labs including serum and urine osmolality
      confirmed SIADH. She was started on fluid restriction and oral sodium tablets
      which gradually improved her serum sodium levels. Biopsy confirmed diagnosis of
      squamous cell carcinoma of pharynx. Conclusion. SIADH can be caused by squamous
      cell carcinoma. Appropriate management includes fluid restriction. 

PMID- 27635268
TI  - Bacteremia due to Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides in a Patient with Acute
      Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Leuconostoc species are vancomycin-resistant Gram-positive cocci. Infections due
      to Leuconostoc species have been reported in various immunocompromised patients,
      but little is known about such infection in patients with hematologic
      malignancies. We report a case of Leuconostoc infection in a 44-year-old woman
      with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The patient developed a high fever despite
      antimicrobial therapy with doripenem after induction chemotherapy. After an
      isolate from blood cultures was identified as L. pseudomesenteroides, we changed
      the antibiotics to piperacillin-tazobactam and gentamicin, after which the
      patient recovered from the infection. Physicians should be aware of Leuconostoc
      species as causative pathogen if they encounter Gram-positive cocci bacteremia
      resistant to standard antibiotics such as vancomycin and teicoplanin, especially
      in patients with hematologic malignancies. 

PMID- 27635270
TI  - Sister Mary Joseph Nodule as a First Manifestation of a Metastatic Ovarian
      Cancer.
AB  - A 76-year-old female presented to our hospital with a 2 cm firm, nontender,
      protuberant umbilical nodule. She received treatment with antibiotics for
      suspected granuloma, with no improvement after two months. High levels of CA125
      as well as an ovarian cyst and intrathoracic and intra-abdominal lesions on
      imaging studies made us suspect an ovarian cancer with a Sister Mary Joseph
      nodule (SMJN) and other metastases. A bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and
      umbilical and omentum tumor resections were performed and a metastatic ovarian
      serous adenocarcinoma was diagnosed by histopathology. After surgery, the patient
      received chemotherapy with paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab; however
      paclitaxel allergy was observed. As a result, chemotherapy continued with
      carboplatin and bevacizumab every three weeks for a total of 6 courses.
      Currently, she is still undergoing treatment with bevacizumab and CA125 levels
      have been progressively decreasing. SMJN is a rare umbilical metastasis which
      needs to be considered as a differential diagnosis in the presence of an
      umbilical tumor for prompt treatment initiation. 

PMID- 27635271
TI  - Medical and Surgical Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage in a Woman with Factor
      XIII Deficiency.
AB  - Factor XIII deficiency is a rare inherited coagulopathy. Factor XIII is the last
      clotting factor in the coagulation cascade to insure strength and stability to
      fibrin clots. Without this enzyme, the fibrous clot is unstable and nonresistant
      to fibrinolysis. Gravid women with this congenital disease are especially at risk
      for complications including miscarriages and hemorrhage without appropriate
      interventions. We present a case of a woman in her 20s with Factor XIII
      deficiency who was treated with cryoprecipitate and had a successful normal
      spontaneous vaginal delivery; subsequently, patient suffered from postpartum
      hemorrhage and consumptive coagulopathy due to consumption of Factor XIII,
      requiring emergency surgical intervention. Intraoperative management was
      challenged by an ethical dilemma involving the patient's religious beliefs about
      not receiving blood. This paper will discuss the mechanism of Factor XIII and the
      medical and surgical management involved with this patient. 

PMID- 27635272
TI  - Congenital Chloride Diarrhea: Diagnosis by Easy-Accessible Chloride Measurement
      in Feces.
AB  - Background. Congenital chloride diarrhea (CCD) is an autosomal recessive disorder
      caused by mutations in the genes encoding the intestinal Cl(-)/HCO3 (-) exchanger
      and is clinically characterized by watery, profound diarrhea, electrolyte
      disturbances, and metabolic alkalosis. The CCD diagnosis is based on the clinical
      symptoms and measurement of high chloride concentration in feces (>90 mmol/L) and
      is confirmed by DNA testing. Untreated CCD is lethal, while long-term clinical
      outcome improves when treated correctly. Case Presentation. A 27-year-old woman
      had an emergency caesarian due to pain and discomfort in gestational week 36 + 4.
      The newborn boy had abdominal distension and yellow fluid per rectum. Therapy
      with intravenous glucose and sodium chloride decreased his stool frequency and
      improved his clinical condition. A suspicion of congenital chloride diarrhea was
      strongly supported using blood gas analyzer to measure an increased chloride
      concentration in the feces; the diagnosis was confirmed by DNA testing.
      Discussion. Measurement of chloride in feces using an ordinary blood gas analyzer
      can serve as a preliminary analysis when congenital chloride diarrhea is
      suspected. This measurement can be easily performed with a watery feces
      composition. An easy-accessible chloride measurement available will facilitate
      the diagnostics and support the initial treatment if CCD is suspected. 

PMID- 27635273
TI  - Reversible Severe Pulmonary Hypertension after Adenotonsillectomy: A Case Report
      of a Child Treated at Bugando Medical Centre, Northwestern Tanzania.
AB  - Upper airway obstruction (UAO) due to adenotonsillar hypertrophy represents one
      of the rare causes of pulmonary hypertension in children. We report a case of
      adenotonsillar hypertrophy, managed at pediatric and otorhinolaryngology
      departments in Bugando Medical Centre (BMC), northwestern Tanzania, with complete
      remission of symptoms of pulmonary hypertension following adenotonsillectomy. A
      17-month-old boy presented with difficulty breathing, dry cough, and noisy
      breathing since 1 year. He had facial and lower limb oedema with a pan systolic
      murmur at the tricuspid area, fine crepitations, and tender hepatomegaly. A grade
      II tonsillar hypertrophy and hypertrophied adenoids were seen on nasal and throat
      evaluation. A 2D-echocardiography showed grossly distended right atrium and
      ventricle, dilated pulmonary artery, and grade III tricuspid regurgitation. His
      final diagnosis was severe pulmonary hypertension with right-sided heart failure
      due to adenotonsillar hypertrophy. He had complete remission of cardiopulmonary
      symptoms after adenotonsillectomy and had normal control echocardiography six and
      twelve months after surgery. Children with symptoms of upper airway obstruction
      and cardiopulmonary involvement could benefit from routine screening for
      pulmonary hypertension. Adenotonsillectomy should be considered for possible
      complete remission of both UAO and cardiopulmonary symptoms. 

PMID- 27635274
TI  - Laparoscopic Management of a Very Rare Case: Cystic Artery Pseudoaneurysm
      Secondary to Acute Cholecystitis.
AB  - Pseudoaneurysm of a cystic artery is a rare entity that commonly occurs secondary
      to biliary procedures. Most of the cases in literature are consisted of ruptured
      aneurysms and to our knowledge, except our case, there were only 3 cases with
      unruptured aneurysms, which incidentally were detected by radiological methods.
      When cystic artery pseudoaneurysm is present with acute cholecystitis, most of
      the reports in literature suggested open cholecystectomy with the ligation of the
      cystic artery as a main treatment option. In this paper we present a case of
      acute cholecystitis with unruptured cystic artery pseudoaneurysm that
      incidentally was detected by computed tomography (CT). Cystic artery
      pseudoaneurysm was handled laparoscopically with simultaneous cholecystectomy.
      Due to high risk of rupture, surgeons have evaded laparoscopic approach to acute
      cholecystitis, which accompanied cystic artery pseudoaneurysm. However herein, we
      proved that laparoscopic management of cystic artery pseudoaneurysm with
      simultaneous cholecystectomy is feasible and reliable method. 

PMID- 27635275
TI  - Management and Reconstruction of a Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma
      Patient Three Years after Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A Surgical Puzzle.
AB  - Introduction. With the improving survival of cancer patients, the development of
      a secondary primary cancer is an increasingly common phenomenon. Extensive
      surgery during initial treatment may pose significant challenges to surgeons
      managing the second primary cancer. Case Presentation. A 69-year-old male, who
      had a pancreaticoduodenectomy three years ago for pancreatic head adenocarcinoma,
      underwent an uneventful extended total gastrectomy for gastroesophageal
      junctional adenocarcinoma. The reconstruction controversies and considerations
      are highlighted. Discussion. Genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors are
      common for several gastrointestinal malignancies. However, the occurrence of a
      second unfavorable cancer such as gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma after
      pancreatic head cancer treatment is extremely uncommon. This clinical scenario
      possesses numerous difficulties for the surgeon, since surgical resection is the
      mainstay of treatment for both malignancies. Gastrointestinal reconstruction
      becomes challenging and requires careful planning and meticulous surgical
      technique along with sound intraoperative judgement. 

PMID- 27635276
TI  - Diagnostic Dilemma in Appendiceal Mucormycosis: A Rare Case Report.
AB  - Appendiceal mucormycosis is a rare life-threatening infection seen in
      immunocompromised patients. It is usually seen in chemotherapy induced
      neutropenia in patients with hematological malignancies. Clinically, the symptoms
      and signs may be masked due to ongoing corticosteroids. The condition may mimic
      bacterial appendicitis and the less serious condition, typhlitis. The disease
      demands prompt surgical debulking and aggressive antifungal treatment. However,
      surgery is delayed due to the poor performance status and severe neutropenia.
      This may lead to perforative peritonitis and further dissemination. The survival
      rates of such disease are dismal. Unfortunately, the diagnosis may be confirmed
      only on histological examination of the surgically excised tissue. Very few cases
      have been reported so far. We present here once such a fatal case of appendiceal
      mucormycosis in a 14-year-old boy who was immunosuppressed due to intensive
      induction therapy for Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia. 

PMID- 27635277
TI  - Minimally Invasive Approach of a Retrocaval Ureter.
AB  - The retrocaval ureter is a rare congenital entity, classically managed with open
      pyeloplasty techniques. The experience obtained with the laparoscopic approach of
      other more frequent causes of ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction has opened
      the method for the minimally invasive approach of the retrocaval ureter. In our
      paper, we describe a clinical case of a right retrocaval ureter managed
      successfully with laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty. The main standpoints of
      the procedure are described. Our results were similar to others published by
      other urologic centers, which demonstrates the safety and feasibility of the
      procedure for this condition. 

PMID- 27635278
TI  - Mid-Adolescent Predictors of Adult Drinking Levels in Early Adulthood and Gender
      Differences: Longitudinal Analyses Based on the South Australian School Leavers
      Study.
AB  - There is considerable public health interest in understanding what factors during
      adolescence predict longer-term drinking patterns in adulthood. The aim of this
      study was to examine gender differences in the age 15 social and psychological
      predictors of less healthy drinking patterns in early adulthood. The study
      investigates the relative importance of internalising problems, other risky
      health behaviours, and peer relationships after controlling for family background
      characteristics. A sample of 812 young people who provided complete alcohol
      consumption data from the age of 15 to 20 years (5 measurement points) were drawn
      from South Australian secondary schools and given a detailed survey concerning
      their psychological and social wellbeing. Respondents were classified into two
      groups based upon a percentile division: those who drank at levels consistently
      below NHMRC guidelines and those who consistently drank at higher levels. The
      results showed that poorer age 15 scores on measures of psychological wellbeing
      including scores on the GHQ-12, self-esteem, and life-satisfaction as well as
      engagement in health-related behaviours such as smoking or drug-taking were
      associated with higher drinking levels in early adulthood. The pattern of results
      was generally similar for both genders. Higher drinking levels were most strongly
      associated with smoking and marijuana use and poorer psychological wellbeing
      during adolescence. 

PMID- 27635279
TI  - Determination of Very Low Level of Free Formaldehyde in Liquid Detergents and
      Cosmetic Products Using Photoluminescence Method.
AB  - Formaldehyde is commonly used in detergents and cosmetic products as
      antibacterial agent and preservative. This substance is unfavorable for human
      health because it is known to be toxic for humans and causes irritation of eyes
      and skins. The toxicology studies of this compound indicate risk of detergents
      and cosmetic formulations with a minimum content of 0.05% free formaldehyde.
      Therefore, determination of formaldehyde as quality control parameter is very
      important. In this study, a photoluminescence method was achieved by using 2
      methyl acetoacetanilide. Also, the Box-Behnken design was applied for
      optimization of Hantzsch reaction for formaldehyde derivatization. The
      investigated factors (variables) were temperature, % v/v ethanol, reaction time,
      ammonium acetate, and 2-methyl acetoacetanilide concentration. The linear range
      was obtained from 0.33-20 * 10(-7) M (1-60 MUg.kg(-1)) and the limit of detection
      (LOD) was 0.12 MUg.kg(-1). The proposed method was applied for the analysis of
      Iranian brands of liquid detergents and cosmetic products. The formaldehyde
      content of these products was found to be in the range of 0.03-3.88%. Some brands
      of these products had higher concentration than the maximum allowed concentration
      of 0.2%. High recoveries (96.15%-104.82%) for the spiked dishwashing liquid and
      hair shampoo indicate the proposed method is proper for the assessment of
      formaldehyde in detergents and cosmetic products. The proposed methodology has
      some advantages compared with the previous methods such as being rapid, without
      the necessity of applying separation, low cost, and the fact that the
      derivatization reaction is carried out at room temperature without any heating
      system. 

PMID- 27635280
TI  - Regulation of Dopamine Uptake by Vasoactive Peptides in the Kidney.
AB  - Considering the key role of renal dopamine in tubular sodium handling, we
      hypothesized that c-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and Ang-(1-7) may regulate
      renal dopamine availability in tubular cells, contributing to Na(+), K(+)-ATPase
      inhibition. Present results show that CNP did not affect either (3)H-dopamine
      uptake in renal tissue or Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity; meanwhile, Ang-(1-7) was
      able to increase (3)H-dopamine uptake and decreased Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity
      in renal cortex. Ang-(1-7) and dopamine together decreased further Na(+), K(+)
      ATPase activity showing an additive effect on the sodium pump. In addition,
      hydrocortisone reversed Ang-(1-7)-dopamine overinhibition on the enzyme,
      suggesting that this inhibition is closely related to Ang-(1-7) stimulation on
      renal dopamine uptake. Both anantin and cANP (4-23-amide) did not modify CNP
      effects on (3)H-dopamine uptake by tubular cells. The Mas receptor antagonist, A
      779, blocked the increase elicited by Ang-(1-7) on (3)H-dopamine uptake. The
      stimulatory uptake induced by Ang-(1-7) was even more pronounced in the presence
      of losartan, suggesting an inhibitory effect of Ang-(1-7) on AT1 receptors on
      (3)H-dopamine uptake. By increasing dopamine bioavailability in tubular cells,
      Ang-(1-7) enhances Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity inhibition, contributing to its
      natriuretic and diuretic effects. 

PMID- 27635282
TI  - Solid oxide fuel cell interconnect design optimization considering the thermal
      stresses.
AB  - The mechanical failure of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) components may cause
      cracks with consequences such as gas leakage, structure instability and reduction
      of cell lifetime. A comprehensive 3D model of the thermal stresses of an anode
      supported planar SOFC is presented in this work. The main objective of this paper
      is to get an interconnect optimized design by evaluating the thermal stresses of
      an anode-supported SOFC for different designs, which would be a new criterion for
      interconnect design. The model incorporates the momentum, mass, heat, ion and
      electron transport, as well as steady-state mechanics. Heat from methane steam
      reforming and water-gas shift reaction were considered in our model. The results
      examine the relationship between the interconnect structures and thermal stresses
      in SOFC at certain mechanical properties. A wider interconnect of the anode side
      lowers the stress obviously. The simulation results also indicate that thermal
      stress of coflow design is smaller than that of counterflow, corresponding to the
      temperature distribution. This study shows that it is possible to design
      interconnects for an optimum thermal stress performance of the cell.

PMID- 27635281
TI  - Mice with a heterozygous Lrp6 deletion have impaired fracture healing.
AB  - Bone fracture non-unions, the failure of a fracture to heal, occur in 10%-20% of
      fractures and are a costly and debilitating clinical problem. The Wnt/beta
      catenin pathway is critical in bone development and fracture healing.
      Polymorphisms of linking low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6
      (LRP6), a Wnt-binding receptor, have been associated with decreased bone mineral
      density and fragility fractures, although this remains controversial. Mice with a
      homozygous deletion of Lrp6 have severe skeletal abnormalities and are not
      viable, whereas mice with a heterozygous deletion have a combinatory effect with
      Lrp5 to decrease bone mineral density. As fracture healing closely models
      embryonic skeletal development, we investigated the process of fracture healing
      in mice heterozygous for Lrp6 (Lrp6 (+/-)) and hypothesized that the heterozygous
      deletion of Lrp6 would impair fracture healing. Mid-diaphyseal femur fractures
      were induced in Lrp6 (+/-) mice and wild-type controls (Lrp6 (+/+)). Fractures
      were analyzed using micro-computed tomography (MUCT) scans, biomechanical
      testing, and histological analysis. Lrp6 (+/-) mice had significantly decreased
      stiffness and strength at 28 days post fracture (PF) and significantly decreased
      BV/TV, total density, immature bone density, and mature area within the callus on
      day-14 and -21 PF; they had significantly increased empty callus area at days 14
      and 21 PF. Our results demonstrate that the heterozygous deletion of Lrp6 impairs
      fracture healing, which suggests that Lrp6 has a role in fracture healing. 

PMID- 27635283
TI  - A Urologist's Personal View of Prostate Cancer.
AB  - A urologist's personal experience with multiple surgical, hormonal, and
      radio/immunotherapeutic options for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer and
      thoughts on the role of old and new therapies. 

PMID- 27635284
TI  - Is robotic partial nephrectomy convenient for solitary kidney?
AB  - Nephron sparing surgery (NSS) is the gold standard treatment option for patients
      with a solitary kidney in order to preserve renal function. Open partial
      nephrectomy (OPN) has been long considered the standard care for NSS. Robotic
      partial nephrectomy (RPN) is being gradually used more commonly even for solitary
      kidney and complex tumors. There was no difference between RPN and OPN regarding
      the rate of intraoperative-postoperative complications and positive surgical
      margin (PSM) (RPN: 7.5%, OPN: 8%) for patients with solitary kidney who underwent
      partial nephrectomy for small renal masses. Warm ischemia time (WIT) in all of
      our studies was within the safe range of <25 minutes which is acceptable ischemia
      time for robotic approaches. More studies are needed in order to evaluate kidney
      function. In conclusion with increasing experience, solitary kidney tumors can be
      managed safely with robotic approach. For patients having complex tumors with a
      potential of WIT >25 minutes, administration of intracorporeal ice slush during
      surgery may be considered. 

PMID- 27635285
TI  - Does length of prostate biopsy cores have an impact on diagnosis of prostate
      cancer?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether core length is a significant biopsy parameter
      in the detection of prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed pathology reports of the specimens of 188 patients diagnosed with
      prostate cancer who had undergone initial transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided
      prostate biopsy, and compared biopsy core lengths of the patients with, and
      without prostate cancer. The biopsy specimens of prostate cancer patients were
      divided into 3 groups according to core length, and the data obtained were
      compared (Group 1; total core length <10 mm, Group 2; total core length 10 mm-19
      mm, and Group 3; total core length >20 mm). Biopsy core lengths of the patients
      diagnosed as prostate cancer, and benign prostatic hyperplasia were compared, and
      a certain cut-off value for core length with optimal diagnostic sensitivity and
      specificity for prostate cancer was calculated. RESULTS: Mean age, PSA and total
      length of cores were 65.08+/-7.41 years, 9.82+/-6.34 ng/mL and 11.2+/-0.2 mm,
      respectively. Assessment of biopsy core lengths showed that cores with cancer
      (n=993, median length 12.5 mm) were significantly longer than benign cores
      (n=1185, median length=11.3 mm) (p<0.001). Core length analysis yielded 12 mm
      cores have an optimal sensitivity (41.9%) and specificity (62%) for detection of
      cancer (odds ratio: 1.08). CONCLUSION: Biopsy core length is one of the most
      important parameter that determines the quality of biopsy and detection of
      prostate cancer. A median sample length of 12 mm is ideal lower limit for cancer
      detection, and biopsy procedures which yield shorter biopsy cores should be
      repeated.

PMID- 27635286
TI  - The level of knowledge and awareness about prostate cancer in the Turkish male
      and the relevant effective factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the general knowledge and awareness levels,
      information sources, and the state of medical check-up for prostate cancer (PCa)
      and relevant effective factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The participants were asked
      to answer to 14 questions of a questionnaire about age, education, economic and
      social condition, knowledge about PCa, state of being examined and their related
      factors. According to demographic characteristics of the participants, levels of
      awareness about PCa, sources of information, affecting factors and their
      interrelationships were examined. Two groups were formed according to age (<60
      years, >60 years) and variations according to ages were investigated. RESULTS:
      Two hundred and ninety-three men with an average age of 57 years (range 40-85)
      were included in the study. Our findings showed that 68.3% of the participants
      were thinking that PCa is a frequently seen disease, 88.4% were thinking that it
      can be treated and 62.8% of men specified that their information sources are
      doctors. We also found that 60.8% of the participants had not undergone prostate
      examination and prostate specific antigen (PSA) control. The most reason for not
      having annual examinations was (44.4%) "negligence". Significantly greater number
      of men with higher education (high school/university) were highly informed about
      PCa (p=0.037). Check-up rates were statistically significantly higher among men
      with intermediate income (p=0.041). Curability of PCa diagnosed at an early stage
      was acknowledged by statistically higher number of individuals under the age 60
      (p<0.05). Health control, prostate examination and/or PSA control rates were
      higher in men with a family history of PCa and in the group of >60 years.
      CONCLUSION: Although PCa has a high prevalence and mortality rates, personal and
      social information and sensitivity levels must be increased as it can be treated
      if diagnosed at an early stage. We think that social and medical impact of the
      disease can be decreased with the planning of effective methods based on
      sociocultural and economic factors.

PMID- 27635287
TI  - The importance of active surveillance, and immediate re-biopsy in low-risk
      prostate cancer: The largest series from Turkey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate long-term outcomes of active surveillance (AS) applied in
      low-risk prostate cancer patients, and the impact of re-biopsy results on the
      prediction of progression. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In our clinic, patients who had
      undergone AS for low-risk localized prostate cancer between the years 2005-2013
      were included in the study. Our AS criteria are Gleason score <=6, prostate
      specific antigen (PSA) level <10 ng/mL, number of positive cores <3, maximum
      cancer involvement ratio <50% each core. Immediate re-biopsy (within 3 months)
      was performed to 65 patients who accepted AS. Finally, 43 patients who met re
      biopsy criteria were included in the study. Prostate biopsy specimens were
      harvested from 12 cores under the guidance of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS). Re
      biopsy was performed within 3 months (1-12 weeks). In re-biopsy, a total of 20
      core biopsies were performed including the far lateral (6 cores) and transition
      zone (2 cores) in addition to standard 12 core biopsy. Our follow-up protocol is
      PSA measurement and digital rectal examination (DRE) every 3 months within the
      first 2 years, than every 6 months. Control biopsies was performed one year later
      and once upon every 3 years to patients whose PSA levels and DREs were normal at
      follow-up visits. More than 2 tumor invaded cores or 50% tumor in one core, and
      Gleason score exceeding 6 points were accepted as indications for definitive
      treatment. Patients were divided into two groups by re-biopsy results and
      compared according to the time to progression. We have done multivariate
      regression analysis to predict prognosis by using data on age, PSA level, and
      detection of tumor in re-biopsy specimens. RESULTS: Patients' median age was 61
      years and PSA level was 5 (2.7-9) ng/mL. Tumor was detected in 22 (34%) patients
      at re-biopsy and they underwent definitive treatment. Additionally tumor was
      detected in 9 patients, but active surveillance was maintained because their
      pathologic results met active surveillance criteria. Median follow time was 42
      (24-117) months. Definitive treatment was performed in 9 (21%) patients. PSA
      recurrence was not detected in none of 9 patients during 38 months of follow up.
      Only the presence of tumor in re-biopsy specimens was found predictor of disease
      progression in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: We think that AS is safe method
      for low-risk localized prostate cancer patients, if it is performed in compliance
      with certain criteria and regular follow up, and early re-biopsy can be useful
      either during early period or long term follow-up.

PMID- 27635289
TI  - Combined micro-and standard percutaneous nephrolithotomy for complex renal
      calculi.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to present the technique of combination of standard
      percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) with microperc for achieving higher success
      rates without increasing complication rates in the management of complex renal
      calculi. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients who underwent microperc procedure as
      a complementary procedure to standard PNL for complex kidney stones in two
      reference hospitals between 2013 and 2015, were evaluated retrospectively.
      RESULTS: All patients underwent a total of two accesses one for standard PNL and
      one for microperc. The mean stone size was measured as 54.3 mm. The procedures
      were completed after an average operative time of 88.2 minutes and fluoroscopy
      time of 5.3 minutes. Stone free status was achieved in 18 cases (78.2%) and small
      residual fragments (<=4 mm) were detected in 3 cases (13.1%). Complications were
      seen in three patients (13%) as hemorrhage in one and postoperative fever in two
      patients. CONCLUSION: Despite the limitations of this study, the combination of
      standard PNL and microperc might reduce the complication rates and increase the
      success rates when treating complex kidney stones. Future prospective and
      comparative studies are needed.

PMID- 27635288
TI  - Comparison of two different doses of lidocaine on the pain sensation during
      transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare two different doses of lidocaine used for periprostatic
      nerve block on pain perception during transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided
      prostate biopsy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 288 patients with elevated
      prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and/or abnormal digital rectal examination
      who underwent TRUS-guided prostate biopsy were included in the study. The
      patients were divided into 3 groups: Group 1 (n=103) prostate biopsy were
      performed after administering perianal intrarectal application of 10 mL 2%
      lidocaine gel, Group 2 (n=98) 2 mL of 2% lidocaine injection on each side
      following rectal installation of lidocaine gel and Group 3 (n=87) 4 mL of 2%
      lidocaine injection on each side after rectal instillation of lidocaine gel.
      Patients' pain scores during biopsy procedure were reported using visual analogue
      score (VAS). Independent sample t test, ANOVA test and Tukey test were used for
      statistical evaluation. RESULTS: The mean age, prostate volume and PSA level were
      65.6+/-8.4 years, 58.2+/-34.8 mL, and 11.8+/-3.4 ng/mL respectively. There were
      no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between the
      groups. The mean VAS scores were 2.4+/-1.8 in Group 1, 2.5+/-1.9 in Group 2 and
      1.6+/-1.6 in Group 3. Patients in Group 3, reported significant pain reduction
      compared with patients in Groups 1 and 2 (p=0.002, and 0.001, respectively).
      However, there was no statistically significant difference in VAS scores between
      Groups 1 and 2 (p=0.815). CONCLUSION: According to our results we recommend the
      use of perianal intrarectal lidocain gel application, and periprostatic nerve
      block with injection of 4 ml 2% lidocaine per side combination in TRUS-guided
      prostate biopsies. Further large-scale randomized control studies are needed to
      validate these finding.

PMID- 27635290
TI  - Evaluation of ureteroscopy outcome in a teaching hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate factors affecting semi-rigid ureteroscopy (URS) results
      highlighting the influence of teaching on its outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      reviewed the files of 891 adult patients who had undergone 1182 ureteroscopies at
      our institute during the period from July 2008 to June 2011. The outcomes of all
      URSs were evaluated. Outcomes were measured by stone- free rate and presence of
      complications, which were assessed using the Clavien-Dindo system. Patients were
      divided into 2 groups; Group 1 (favorable outcome) became stone- free after the
      first URS and had no documented complications, while Group 2 (unfavorable
      outcome) had residual stones and/or complications. Group 2 was subdivided
      according to the skill level of the operating surgeon into two subgroups.
      Patients belonging to subgroup A had their procedures performed by urology
      trainees under direct supervision of expert urologists, while those in subgroup B
      had their procedures performed by the expert urologists themselves. All groups
      were compared using univariate (chi-square and t tests) and multivariate
      (logistic regression) statistical tests to identify significant risk factors. All
      data was analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: A total of 1182 URSs were evaluated. 958
      patients had a favorable outcome (Group 1) while 224 patients had an unfavorable
      outcome (Group 2). Factors associated with an unfavorable outcome include
      location of the presenting stone (p<0.001) and presence of stone impaction
      (p<0.001). No statistically significant differences were detected in the overall
      complication rate between trainees and expert urologists. Trainees stone- free
      rate was comparable to that of experts; 90.3% vs. 91.1%, respectively, p=0.6.
      CONCLUSION: Factors such as stone impaction and proximal location are associated
      with an unfavorable surgical outcome. In a high- volume teaching hospital, semi
      rigid URS done by trainees under direct supervision is safe and their outcome is
      comparable to literature findings.

PMID- 27635291
TI  - Comparison of intraoperative and postoperative complications based on ASA risks
      in patients who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study we aimed to evaluate intraoperative and postoperative
      complications which developed according to pre-operative American Society of
      Anesthesiologists (ASA) risk criteria in patients who had undergone percutaneous
      nephrolithotomy (PNL). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five hundred and sixty patients who
      had undergone PNL between 2002 and 2014 were included in the study. Patients
      operated on the ipsilateral kidney, those with solitary kidney or the cases who
      had previously undergone more than one access were excluded from this study.
      Preoperative anesthesia risks were determined according to preoperative
      classification developed by ASA. Postoperative complications were evaluated using
      Clavien Complication Grading Scale. RESULTS: The mean age of the cases was 47+/
      14 years. The 57% (n=319) of the cases were male, 241 (43%) of them were female.
      The average indwell time of nephrostomy catheter was 2.88+/-1.00 (1-8), and
      length of hospital stay was 4.91+/-1.54 (2-17) days. When the cases were assessed
      according to ASA risk groups, intraoperative complications were observed in 9
      (5.5%) ASA I, 27 (8.6%) ASA II, and 18 (22%) ASA III patients and and
      distribution of the patients was statistically significant (p<0.001). When
      intraoperative complications were evaluated one by one, intraoperative
      hypotension developed in ASA I (n=3; 1.8%), ASA II (n=20; 6.4%) and ASA III
      (n=11; 13.4%) risk groups and this distribution (p=0.002) of patients was
      statistically significant. When assessed according to Clavien Postoperative
      Scale, postoperative complications developed (p=0.053) in ASAI (n=24; 14.7%), ASA
      II (n=27, 8.6%) and ASA III (n=13; 15.9%) risk groups, and this distribution of
      the patients was not statistically significant. In postoperative complications,
      Grade 3a complications developed in ASA I (n=12; 7.4%), ASA II (n=19; 6%) and ASA
      III (n=8; 9.8%) risk groups and this distribution was not seen to be
      statistically significant (p=0.485). CONCLUSION: A statistically significant
      difference observed regarding intraoperative complications in the groups formed
      according to ASA risk criteria, on Clavien Grading scale no statistically
      significant difference was observed as for postoperative complications. In this
      context, we considered that ASA risks are major risk factors for PNL operations
      in terms of intraoperative complications.

PMID- 27635292
TI  - Effects of clinical, laboratuary and pathological features on successful sperm
      retrieval in non-obstructive azoospermia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study aims to evaluate the correlation of testicular sperm
      extraction (TESE) and histopathology with various features of non-obstructive
      azoospermia (NOA) cases who consulted to our university-based infertility clinic,
      and the probability of prompting couples about TESE success and to investigate
      the cost reduction chance through cost-beneficial aspects. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      One hundred and twenty-five patients were enrolled in this study. Age,
      unprotected intercourse period, age of puberty, and concomittant diseases were
      noted. Testicular volumes were measured. The correlations between genetic test
      results and serum levels of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing
      Hormone (LH), free testosterone, prolactine were investigated. RESULTS: The
      incidence of NOA among infertile men was found to be 15.1%. Median age of the
      cases was 33.1 years. Decrease in TESE success rate was seen in the group aged
      >30, and those who practiced unprotected intercourse for more than 10 years. TESE
      success rate was 40 percent. The required negative correlation between FSH
      levels, and testicular volume was not observed when the patient had additional
      diseases and/or genitourinary surgery. FSH and LH levels were significantly
      different between TESE- positive and negative groups (p=0.006, and p=0.001
      respectively). Success rate in bilateral TESE group was 14.2%, and 96% of TESE-
      negative patients had bilateral TESE. Fifteen of 118 patients had Y chromosome
      microdeletions. These results were similar in both TESE- positive and negative
      group. CONCLUSION: None of the parameters investigated herein predicted succesful
      TESE outcomes. However, in cases with increased FSH and AZFa/AZFb deletion before
      application of bilateral TESE, in cases of increased FSH and AZFa/AZFb deletion,
      detailed information should be given to these patients about low success rates
      and risk of disease inheritance which may reduce procedural costs. Knowing groups
      with poor prognosis, may help rearrangement of the appropriation of infertility
      in health policies.

PMID- 27635293
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of female sexual dysfunction among Turkish pregnant
      women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and
      associated factors of female sexual dysfunction together with the concerns of
      women about sexuality during pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 207
      healthy, sexually active pregnant women were enrolled in the study. Demographic
      data of all participants were noted and sexual functions were evaluated by Female
      Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Each FSFI domain score was calculated and mean
      scores were noted. Concerns of women about sexuality were also investigated.
      RESULTS: Mean age of participant women was 27.0+/-5.9 (range 15-44) years.
      Prevalence of sexual dysfunction was found to be 87% in study population. Mean
      FSFI score was 18.6+/-1.21. The rate of sexual dysfunction was higher in the
      first (87%) and third (92.6%) trimesters when compared to the second (80.6%)
      trimester (p=0.243). Among demographic variables, education levels of partners
      and preconceptional sexual dysfunction were found to be significantly related to
      FSD. The most common concerns of women about sexual relationship have been
      reported as the fear of having pain (35%), risk of abortion (21.3%) and religious
      factors (10%). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of sexual dysfunction is relatively high
      among pregnant women. Educational levels and preconceptional sexual functions
      were found to have an impact on this high rate. Accurate counseling of partners
      about sexuality during pregnancy may help to reduce misbeliefs, concerns and,
      thereby, decrease this high rate of female sexual dysfunction.

PMID- 27635294
TI  - Catheter dwell time and diameter affect the recurrence rates after internal
      urethrotomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cold-knife direct vision internal urethrotomy (DVIU) is frequently
      used as the first-line treatment for urethral stricture disease. Although the
      steps of the procedure are defined in detail, the duration of catheterization and
      the diameter of the catheter to be used after the operation are not clearly
      defined. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of catheter dwell time
      and diameter on recurrence rates of urethral stricture disease after DVIU.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data of 193 consecutive treatment naive bulbar urethral
      stricture patients who underwent DVIU between January 2009 and June 2013 were
      retrospectively analyzed. Patient demographics and stricture characteristics were
      noted. Catheter dwell times were grouped as <5 and >=5 days. The diameters of
      catheters used were 16, 18 and 22 Fr. The association between recurrence rates,
      catheter dwell times, and diameter were evaluated with Tukey's test and Pearson's
      correlation test, respectively. RESULTS: Overall 193 patients with a mean age of
      64.51+/-12.99 (range: 17 to 85) years were enrolled in the study. Urethral
      stricture disease recurred in 45 (23.31%) patients within the first year after
      DVIU. Mean duration of catheterization was 7.47+/-4.03 and 4.79+/-1.94 days in
      patients with and without recurrences, respectively (p=0.0001). Catheter dwell
      times for >=5 days were also associated with increased recurrence (p=0.0001). Of
      the patients with recurrent strictures, 16, 18 and 22Fr catheters were placed in
      22.22%, 20% and 57.78% of the patients, respectively. Increased catheter diameter
      was also associated with higher recurrence rates (p=0.004). CONCLUSION:
      Shortening the postoperative duration of catheterization and decreasing the
      catheter size may result in improved recurrence rates after DVIU. Further
      prospective randomized trials are necessary to confirm these findings.

PMID- 27635296
TI  - Intravesical silver nitrate for refractory hemorrhagic cystitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hemorrhagic cystitis is a challenging clinical entity with limited
      evidence available to guide treatment. The use of intravesical silver nitrate has
      been reported, though supporting literature is sparse. Here, we sought to assess
      outcomes of patients treated with intravesical silver nitrate for refractory
      hemorrhagic cystitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We identified nine patients with
      refractory hemorrhagic cystitis treated at our institution with intravesical
      silver nitrate between 2000-2015. All patients had failed previous continuous
      bladder irrigation with normal saline and clot evacuation. Treatment success was
      defined as requiring no additional therapy beyond normal saline irrigation after
      silver nitrate instillation prior to hospital discharge. RESULTS: Median patient
      age was 80 years (IQR 73, 82). Radiation was the most common etiology for
      hemorrhagic cystitis 89% (8/9). Two patients underwent high dose (0.1%-0.4%)
      silver nitrate under anesthesia, while the remaining seven were treated with
      doses from 0.01% to 0.1% via continuous bladder irrigation for a median of 3 days
      (range 2-4). All nine patients (100%) had persistent hematuria despite
      intravesical silver nitrate therapy, requiring additional interventions and red
      blood cell transfusion during the hospitalization. There were no identified
      complications related to intravesical silver nitrate instillation. CONCLUSION:
      Although well tolerated, we found that intravesical silver nitrate was
      ineffective for bleeding control, suggesting a limited role for this agent in the
      management of patients with hemorrhagic cystitis.

PMID- 27635297
TI  - The first recurrent intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (Masson's
      tumor) of the kidney.
AB  - Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (IPEH, Masson's Tumor) of the
      kidney is an unusual, benign vascular lesion. A rare case of recurrent IPEH in
      the kidney was presented in this article. A 50-year-old male with a diagnosis of
      a suspicious mass in the left kidney was referred to our center for robotic
      partial nephrectomy. Robotic zero ischemia partial nephrectomy was performed due
      to the suspicion of a renal malignancy. On the basis of the histopathological
      results, the patient was diagnosed as IPEH. A urinary ultrasound was performed on
      the 3(rd) postoperative month and a hyper echoic solid lesion, which was in the
      same localization, was detected. Due to the previous atypical pathological
      result, computed tomography (CT) guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy from the
      left renal mass was performed but malignant cytology was not confirmed with this
      biopsy. On follow-up CT done 6 months later, a persistent suspicious left renal
      mass, measuring 40 * 30 cm in size was detected with no change in its dimensions
      and appearance. Additionally, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan revealed a
      bone lesion of 15 * 10 mm in the left hip, which was not present on previous
      MRI/CT scans. In view of the solid masses in the left kidney, and left hip on CT
      and MRI scan suspicious for a probably metastatic renal neoplasm, left radical
      nephrectomy via a left subcostal transperitoneal incision was performed. The
      ultimate pathological report of the patient was also supported the diagnosis of
      Masson's tumor and any renal malignancy was not encountered The patient was
      discharged on the 4(th) postoperative day and has been followed up for 4 months
      without any problems. In this case, we discuss the clinical features,
      histopathological characteristics, and the management of Masson's tumor of the
      kidney in the light of the current literature. 

PMID- 27635295
TI  - Overview of different scoring systems in Fournier's Gangrene and assessment of
      prognostic factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study we aimed to evaluate prognostic factors for the survival
      of patients with Fournier's gangrene (FG), and overview different validated
      scoring systems for outcome prediction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed the data of 39 patients treated for FG in our clinic. Data were
      collected on medical history, symptoms, physical examination findings, vital
      signs, laboratory parameters at admission and at the end of treatment, timing and
      extent of surgical debridement, and the antibiotic treatment used. The Fournier's
      Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) were used to
      predict outcome. The data were analyzed in relation with the survival of the
      patients. Mann-Whitney U test, chi -square test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and
      Cox regression analysis were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of 39
      patients analyzed, 8 (20.5%) died and 31 (79.5%) survived. The median FGSI score
      on admission was 2 (0-9) for the survivors and 6 (2-14) for the non-survivors
      (p=0.004). The median CCI scores of the survivors and non-survivors were 2 (0-10)
      and 6.5 (5-11), respectively (p=0.001). Except for urea, albumin and hematocrit
      levels, no significant differences were found between survivors and non-survivors
      for other laboratory parameters on admission. Lower albumin levels and advanced
      age were found to be associated with mortality. CONCLUSION: High blood urea, low
      albumin, and low hematocrit levels were associated with poor prognosis. High CCI
      and FGSI scores could be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with FG.

PMID- 27635298
TI  - Pseudotumor presentation of renal tuberculosis mimicking renal cell carcinoma: A
      rare entity.
AB  - Tuberculosis can involve any part of the body. Urogenital tuberculosis is a
      fairly common extra-pulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis and renal
      tuberculosis is the most common form of urogenital tuberculosis. Renal
      tuberculosis seldom presents as a mass, usually due to hydronephrosis of the
      involved kidney. However in extremely rare cases it may present as an
      inflammatory pseudotumor which may mimic renal cell carcinoma. We present a case
      of a 65- year- old male who was provisionally diagnosed as renal cell carcinoma
      based on clinical and radiological findings and managed accordingly but was
      finally diagnosed as renal tuberculosis based on histopathological examination of
      surgical specimen. 

PMID- 27635299
TI  - Cholesteatoma in ectopic kidney.
AB  - Cholesteatoma in the urinary system is a rarely seen benign condition. Rosina
      firstly defined this condition in the year 1953. Histopathologically it is
      characterized with keratinization, and squamous metaplasia of urothelial
      epithelium associated with desquamation of keratinized layers. Flank pain is the
      most common symptom that is caused by elimination of keratinous material. In our
      case we will discuss cholesteatoma developed in an ectopic kidney which has not
      been described in the literature before. 

PMID- 27635300
TI  - Urothelial carcinoma of the allograft kidney developed in a renal transplant
      patient.
AB  - Renal transplantation is the best option in the treatment of end-stage renal
      disease However these patients are under the risk of developing malignancies
      particularly due to effects of immune supression. These malignancies tend to be
      more agressive compared to the general population. Here, we present a case of
      urothelial carcinoma develoing in the ureter of allograft kidney. 

PMID- 27635301
TI  - Meetings & Congresses.

PMID- 27635302
TI  - Letter from the Editor.

PMID- 27635304
TI  - Erratum: Congenital Chikungunya Virus Infection after an Outbreak in Salvador,
      Bahia, Brazil.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1587323.]. 

PMID- 27635303
TI  - Does cell polarity matter during spermatogenesis?
AB  - Cell polarity is crucial to development since apico-basal polarity conferred by
      the 3 polarity protein modules (or complexes) is essential during embryogenesis,
      namely the Par (partition defective)-, the CRB (Crumbs)-, and the Scribble-based
      polarity protein modules. While these protein complexes and their component
      proteins have been extensively studied in Drosophila and C. elegans and also
      other mammalian tissues and/or cells, their presence and physiological
      significance in the testis remain unexplored until the first paper on the Par
      based protein published in 2008. Since then, the Par-, the Scribble- and the CRB
      based protein complexes and their component proteins in the testis have been
      studied. These proteins are known to confer Sertoli and spermatid polarity in the
      seminiferous epithelium, and they are also integrated components of the tight
      junction (TJ) and the basal ectoplasmic specialization (ES) at the Sertoli cell
      cell interface near the basement membrane, which in turn constitute the blood
      testis barrier (BTB). These proteins are also found at the apical ES at the
      Sertoli-spermatid interface. Thus, these polarity proteins also play a
      significant role in regulating Sertoli and spermatid adhesion in the testis
      through their actions on actin-based cytoskeletal function. Recent studies have
      shown that these polarity proteins are having antagonistic effects on the BTB
      integrity in which the Par6- and CRB3-based polarity complexes promotes the
      integrity of the Sertoli cell TJ-permeability barrier, whereas the Scribble-based
      complex promotes restructuring/remodeling of the Sertoli TJ-barrier function.
      Herein, we carefully evaluate these findings and provide a hypothetic model
      regarding their role in the testis in the context of the functions of these
      polarity proteins in other epithelia, so that better experiments can be designed
      in future studies to explore their significance in spermatogenesis. 

PMID- 27635305
TI  - Contraception for Adolescents: Focusing on Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives
      (LARC) to Improve Reproductive Health Outcomes.
AB  - Adolescent pregnancy rates in the U.S. have reached an all-time low from their
      peak in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the U.S. maintains the highest rate of
      teenage pregnancy among developed nations. Adolescents experience higher typical
      use failure rates for user-dependent contraceptives compared to their adult
      counterparts. Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), IUDs and implants,
      have failure rates that are both very low and independent of user age. In
      settings where the most effective methods are prioritized and access barriers are
      removed, the majority of adolescents initiate LARC. Use of LARC by adolescents
      significantly reduces rates of overall and repeat teen pregnancy. All methods of
      contraception are safe for use in teens, including IUDs and DMPA. Dual use of
      LARC and barrier methods to reduce risk of sexually transmitted infection, is the
      optimal contraceptive strategy for most adolescents. Adolescent access to
      evidence-based and confidential contraceptive services, provided in a manner that
      respects autonomy, is a vital public health goal.

PMID- 27635306
TI  - Microsatellite loci in the tiger shark and cross-species amplification using
      pyrosequencing technology.
AB  - The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) has a global distribution in tropical and
      warm temperate seas, and it is caught in numerous fisheries worldwide, mainly as
      bycatch. It is currently assessed as near threatened by the International Union
      for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. In this study, we identified nine
      microsatellite loci through next generation sequencing (454 pyrosequencing) using
      29 samples from the western Atlantic. The genetic diversity of these loci were
      assessed and revealed a total of 48 alleles ranging from 3 to 7 alleles per locus
      (average of 5.3 alleles). Cross-species amplification was successful at most loci
      for other species such as Carcharhinus longimanus, C. acronotus and Alopias
      superciliosus. Given the potential applicability of genetic markers for
      biological conservation, these data may contribute to the population assessment
      of this and other species of sharks worldwide. 

PMID- 27635307
TI  - In vitro evaluation of osteoprotegerin in chitosan for potential bone defect
      applications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (RANK)/RANK
      ligand/osteoprotegerin (OPG) system plays a critical role in bone remodelling by
      regulating osteoclast formation and activity. OPG has been used systemically in
      the treatment of bone diseases. In searching for more effective and safer
      treatment for bone diseases, we investigated newly formulated OPG-chitosan
      complexes, which is prepared as a local application for its osteogenic potential
      to remediate bone defects. METHODS: We examined high, medium and low molecular
      weights of chitosan combined with OPG. The cytotoxicity of OPG in chitosan and
      its proliferation in vitro was evaluated using normal, human periodontal ligament
      (NHPL) fibroblasts in 2D and 3D cell culture. The cytotoxicity of these
      combinations was compared by measuring cell survival with a tetrazolium salt
      reduction (MTT) assay and AlamarBlue assay. The cellular morphological changes
      were observed under an inverted microscope. A propidium iodide and acridine
      orange double-staining assay was used to evaluate the morphology and quantify the
      viable and nonviable cells. The expression level of osteopontin and osteocalcin
      protein in treated normal human osteoblast cells was evaluated by using Western
      blot. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that OPG in combination with chitosan was
      non-toxic, and OPG combined with low molecular weight chitosan has the most
      significant effect on NHPL fibroblasts and stimulates proliferation of cells over
      the period of treatment.

PMID- 27635308
TI  - Specific carotenoid pigments in the diet and a bit of oxidative stress in the
      recipe for producing red carotenoid-based signals.
AB  - Colorful ornaments have been the focus of sexual selection studies since the work
      of Darwin. Yellow to red coloration is often produced by carotenoid pigments.
      Different hypotheses have been formulated to explain the evolution of these
      traits as signals of individual quality. Many of these hypotheses involve the
      existence of a signal production cost. The carotenoids necessary for signaling
      can only be obtained from food. In this line, carotenoid-based signals could
      reveal an individual's capacity to find sufficient dietary pigments. However, the
      ingested carotenoids are often yellow and became transformed by the organism to
      produce pigments of more intense color (red ketocarotenoids). Biotransformation
      should involve oxidation reactions, although the exact mechanism is poorly known.
      We tested the hypothesis that carotenoid biotransformation could be costly
      because a certain level of oxidative stress is required to correctly perform the
      conversion. The carotenoid-based signals could thus reveal the efficiency of the
      owner in successfully managing this challenge. In a bird with ketocarotenoid
      based ornaments (the red-legged partridge; Alectoris rufa), the availability of
      different carotenoids in the diet (i.e. astaxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein) and
      oxidative stress were manipulated. The carotenoid composition was analyzed and
      quantified in the ornaments, blood, liver and fat. A number of oxidative stress
      biomarkers were also measured in the same tissues. First, we found that color and
      pigment levels in the ornaments depended on food levels of those carotenoids used
      as substrates in biotransformation. Second, we found that birds exposed to mild
      levels of a free radical generator (diquat) developed redder bills and deposited
      higher amounts of ketocarotenoids (astaxanthin) in ornaments. Moreover, the same
      diquat-exposed birds also showed a weaker resistance to hemolysis when their
      erythrocytes were exposed to free radicals, with females also enduring higher
      oxidative damage in plasma lipids. Thus, higher color production would be linked
      to higher oxidative stress, supporting the biotransformation hypothesis. The
      recent discovery of an avian oxygenase enzyme involved in converting yellow to
      red carotenoids may support our results. Nonetheless, the effect could also
      depend on the abundance of specific substrate carotenoids in the diet. Birds fed
      with proportionally higher levels of zeaxanthin showed the reddest ornaments with
      the highest astaxanthin concentrations. Moreover, these birds tended to show the
      strongest diquat-mediated effect. Therefore, in the evolution of carotenoid-based
      sexual signals, a biotransformation cost derived from maintaining a well-adjusted
      redox machinery could coexist with a cost linked to carotenoid acquisition and
      allocation (i.e. a resource allocation trade-off). 

PMID- 27635310
TI  - Sedimentology and ichnology of the Mafube dinosaur track site (Lower Jurassic,
      eastern Free State, South Africa): a report on footprint preservation and
      palaeoenvironment.
AB  - Footprint morphology (e.g., outline shape, depth of impression) is one of the key
      diagnostic features used in the interpretation of ancient vertebrate tracks. Over
      80 tridactyl tracks, confined to the same bedding surface in the Lower Jurassic
      Elliot Formation at Mafube (eastern Free State, South Africa), show large shape
      variability over the length of the study site. These morphological differences
      are considered here to be mainly due to variations in the substrate rheology as
      opposed to differences in the trackmaker's foot anatomy, foot kinematics or
      recent weathering of the bedding surface. The sedimentary structures (e.g.,
      desiccation cracks, ripple marks) preserved in association with and within some
      of the Mafube tracks suggest that the imprints were produced essentially
      contemporaneous and are true dinosaur tracks rather than undertracks or erosional
      remnants. They are therefore valuable not only for the interpretation of the
      ancient environment (i.e., seasonally dry river channels) but also for taxonomic
      assessments as some of them closely resemble the original anatomy of the
      trackmaker's foot. The tracks are grouped, based on size, into two morphotypes
      that can be identified as Eubrontes-like and Grallator-like ichnogenera. The
      Mafube morphotypes are tentatively attributable to large and small tridactyl
      theropod trackmakers, possibly to Dracovenator and Coelophysis based on the
      following criteria: (a) lack of manus impressions indicative of obligate bipeds;
      (b) long, slender-digits that are asymmetrical and taper; (c) often end in a claw
      impression or point; and (d) the tracks that are longer than broad. To enable
      high-resolution preservation, curation and subsequent remote studying of the
      morphological variations of and the secondary features in the tracks, low
      viscosity silicone rubber was used to generate casts of the Mafube tracks. 

PMID- 27635309
TI  - Developmental toxicity from exposure to various forms of mercury compounds in
      medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) embryos.
AB  - This study examined developmental toxicity of different mercury compounds,
      including some used in traditional medicines. Medaka (Oryzias latipes) embryos
      were exposed to 0.001-10 uM concentrations of MeHg, HgCl2, alpha-HgS (Zhu Sha),
      and beta-HgS (Zuotai) from stage 10 (6-7 hpf) to 10 days post fertilization
      (dpf). Of the forms of mercury in this study, the organic form (MeHg) proved the
      most toxic followed by inorganic mercury (HgCl2), both producing embryo
      developmental toxicity. Altered phenotypes included pericardial edema with
      elongated or tube heart, reduction of eye pigmentation, and failure of swim
      bladder inflation. Both alpha-HgS and beta-HgS were less toxic than MeHg and
      HgCl2. Total RNA was extracted from survivors three days after exposure to MeHg
      (0.1 uM), HgCl2 (1 uM), alpha-HgS (10 uM), or beta-HgS (10 uM) to examine
      toxicity-related gene expression. MeHg and HgCl2 markedly induced metallothionein
      (MT) and heme oxygenase-1 (Ho-1), while alpha-HgS and beta-HgS failed to induce
      either gene. Chemical forms of mercury compounds proved to be a major determinant
      in their developmental toxicity. 

PMID- 27635312
TI  - You can hide but you can't run: apparent competition, predator responses and the
      decline of Arctic ground squirrels in boreal forests of the southwest Yukon.
AB  - Throughout much of North America's boreal forest, the cyclical fluctuations of
      snowshoe hare populations (Lepus americanus) may cause other herbivores to become
      entrained in similar cycles. Alternating apparent competition via prey switching
      followed by positive indirect effects are the mechanisms behind this interaction.
      Our purpose is to document a change in the role of indirect interactions between
      sympatric populations of hares and arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii
      plesius), and to emphasize the influence of predation for controlling ground
      squirrel numbers. We used mark-recapture to estimate the population densities of
      both species over a 25-year period that covered two snowshoe hare cycles. We
      analysed the strength of association between snowshoe hare and ground squirrel
      numbers, and the changes to the seasonal and annual population growth rates of
      ground squirrels over time. A hyperbolic curve best describes the per capita rate
      of increase of ground squirrels relative to their population size, with a single
      stable equilibrium and a lower critical threshold below which populations drift
      to extinction. The crossing of this unstable boundary resulted in the subsequent
      uncoupling of ground squirrel and hare populations following the decline phase of
      their cycles in 1998. The implications are that this sustained Type II predator
      response led to the local extinction of ground squirrels. When few individuals
      are left in a colony, arctic ground squirrels may also have exhibited an Allee
      effect caused by the disruption of social signalling of approaching predators. 

PMID- 27635311
TI  - Minimum information about tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells (MITAP): a first
      step towards reproducibility and standardisation of cellular therapies.
AB  - Cellular therapies with tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells (tolAPC) show great
      promise for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for the prevention of
      destructive immune responses after transplantation. The methodologies for
      generating tolAPC vary greatly between different laboratories, making it
      difficult to compare data from different studies; thus constituting a major
      hurdle for the development of standardised tolAPC therapeutic products. Here we
      describe an initiative by members of the tolAPC field to generate a minimum
      information model for tolAPC (MITAP), providing a reporting framework that will
      make differences and similarities between tolAPC products transparent. In this
      way, MITAP constitutes a first but important step towards the production of
      standardised and reproducible tolAPC for clinical application. 

PMID- 27635314
TI  - Joint estimation of crown of thorns (Acanthaster planci) densities on the Great
      Barrier Reef.
AB  - Crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster spp.) are an outbreaking pest among
      many Indo-Pacific coral reefs that cause substantial ecological and economic
      damage. Despite ongoing CoTS research, there remain critical gaps in observing
      CoTS populations and accurately estimating their numbers, greatly limiting
      understanding of the causes and sources of CoTS outbreaks. Here we address two of
      these gaps by (1) estimating the detectability of adult CoTS on typical
      underwater visual count (UVC) surveys using covariates and (2) inter-calibrating
      multiple data sources to estimate CoTS densities within the Cairns sector of the
      Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We find that, on average, CoTS detectability is high at
      0.82 [0.77, 0.87] (median highest posterior density (HPD) and [95% uncertainty
      intervals]), with CoTS disc width having the greatest influence on detection.
      Integrating this information with coincident surveys from alternative sampling
      programs, we estimate CoTS densities in the Cairns sector of the GBR averaged 44
      [41, 48] adults per hectare in 2014. 

PMID- 27635313
TI  - Investigation of the mechanisms of action behind Electromotive Drug
      Administration (EMDA).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bladder cancer is a cause of considerable morbidity worldwide.
      Electromotive Drug Administration is a method that combines intravesical
      chemotherapy with local electric field application. Electroporation has been
      suggested among other mechanisms as having a possible role in the therapy, so the
      goal of the present study was to investigate the electric fields present in the
      bladder wall during the treatment to determine which mechanisms might be
      involved. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Electromotive Drug Administration involves
      applying intravesical mitomycin C with direct current of 20 mA delivered through
      a catheter electrode for 30 min. For numerical electric field computation we
      built a 3-D nonhomogeneous patient specific model based on CT images and used
      finite element method simulations to determine the electric fields in the whole
      body. RESULTS: Results indicate that highest electric field in the bladder wall
      was 37.7 V/m. The mean electric field magnitude in the bladder wall was 3.03 V/m.
      The mean magnitude of the current density in the bladder wall was 0.61 A/m(2).
      CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that electroporation is not the mechanism of
      action in EMDA. A more likely explanation of the mechanism of action is
      iontophoretic forces increasing the mitomycin C concentration in the bladder
      wall.

PMID- 27635315
TI  - A Jurassic pterosaur from Patagonia and the origin of the pterodactyloid
      neurocranium.
AB  - Pterosaurs are an extinct group of highly modified flying reptiles that thrived
      during the Mesozoic. This group has unique and remarkable skeletal adaptations to
      powered flight, including pneumatic bones and an elongate digit IV supporting a
      wing-membrane. Two major body plans have traditionally been recognized: the
      primitive, primarily long-tailed paraphyletic "rhamphorhynchoids" (preferably
      currently recognized as non-pterodactyloids) and the derived short-tailed
      pterodactyloids. These two groups differ considerably in their general anatomy
      and also exhibit a remarkably different neuroanatomy and inferred head posture,
      which has been linked to different lifestyles and behaviours and improved flying
      capabilities in these reptiles. Pterosaur neuroanatomy, is known from just a few
      three-dimensionally preserved braincases of non-pterodactyloids (as
      Rhamphorhynchidae) and pterodactyloids, between which there is a large
      morphological gap. Here we report on a new Jurassic pterosaur from Argentina,
      Allkaruen koi gen. et sp. nov., remains of which include a superbly preserved,
      uncrushed braincase that sheds light on the origins of the highly derived
      neuroanatomy of pterodactyloids and their close relatives. A uCT ray-generated
      virtual endocast shows that the new pterosaur exhibits a mosaic of plesiomorphic
      and derived traits of the inner ear and neuroanatomy that fills an important gap
      between those of non-monofenestratan breviquartossans (Rhamphorhynchidae) and
      derived pterodactyloids. These results suggest that, while modularity may play an
      important role at one anatomical level, at a finer level the evolution of
      structures within a module may follow a mosaic pattern. 

PMID- 27635316
TI  - Analysis of genotype diversity and evolution of Dengue virus serotype 2 using
      complete genomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dengue is one of the most common arboviral diseases prevalent
      worldwide and is caused by Dengue viruses (genus Flavivirus, family
      Flaviviridae). There are four serotypes of Dengue Virus (DENV-1 to DENV-4), each
      of which is further subdivided into distinct genotypes. DENV-2 is frequently
      associated with severe dengue infections and epidemics. DENV-2 consists of six
      genotypes such as Asian/American, Asian I, Asian II, Cosmopolitan, American and
      sylvatic. Comparative genomic study was carried out to infer population structure
      of DENV-2 and to analyze the role of evolutionary and spatiotemporal factors in
      emergence of diversifying lineages. METHODS: Complete genome sequences of 990
      strains of DENV-2 were analyzed using Bayesian-based population genetics and
      phylogenetic approaches to infer genetically distinct lineages. The role of
      spatiotemporal factors, genetic recombination and selection pressure in the
      evolution of DENV-2 is examined using the sequence-based bioinformatics
      approaches. RESULTS: DENV-2 genetic structure is complex and consists of fifteen
      subpopulations/lineages. The Asian/American genotype is observed to be
      diversified into seven lineages. The Asian I, Cosmopolitan and sylvatic genotypes
      were found to be subdivided into two lineages, each. The populations of American
      and Asian II genotypes were observed to be homogeneous. Significant evidence of
      episodic positive selection was observed in all the genes, except NS4A. Positive
      selection operational on a few codons in envelope gene confers antigenic and
      lineage diversity in the American strains of Asian/American genotype. Selection
      on codons of non-structural genes was observed to impact diversification of
      lineages in Asian I, cosmopolitan and sylvatic genotypes. Evidence of intra/inter
      genotype recombination was obtained and the uncertainty in classification of
      recombinant strains was resolved using the population genetics approach.
      DISCUSSION: Complete genome-based analysis revealed that the worldwide population
      of DENV-2 strains is subdivided into fifteen lineages. The population structure
      of DENV-2 is spatiotemporal and is shaped by episodic positive selection and
      recombination. Intra-genotype diversity was observed in four genotypes
      (Asian/American, Asian I, cosmopolitan and sylvatic). Episodic positive selection
      on envelope and non-structural genes translates into antigenic diversity and
      appears to be responsible for emergence of strains/lineages in DENV-2 genotypes.
      Understanding of the genotype diversity and emerging lineages will be useful to
      design strategies for epidemiological surveillance and vaccine design.

PMID- 27635317
TI  - Identification of biomarkers for periodontal disease using the immunoproteomics
      approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periodontitis is one of the most common oral diseases associated with
      the host's immune response against periodontopathogenic infection. Failure to
      accurately diagnose the stage of periodontitis has limited the ability to predict
      disease status. Therefore, we aimed to look for reliable diagnostic markers for
      detection or differentiation of early stage periodontitis using the
      immunoprotemic approach. METHOD: In the present study, patient serum samples from
      four distinct stages of periodontitis (i.e., mild chronic, moderate chronic,
      severe chronic, and aggressive) and healthy controls were subjected to two
      dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), followed by silver staining. Notably, we
      consistently identified 14 protein clusters in the sera of patients and normal
      controls. RESULTS: Overall, we found that protein levels were comparable between
      patients and controls, with the exception of the clusters corresponding to A1AT,
      HP, IGKC and KNG1 (p < 0.05). In addition, the immunogenicity of these proteins
      was analysed via immunoblotting, which revealed differential profiles for
      periodontal disease and controls. For this reason, IgM obtained from severe
      chronic periodontitis (CP) sera could be employed as a suitable autoantibody for
      the detection of periodontitis. DISCUSSION: Taken together, the present study
      suggests that differentially expressed host immune response proteins could be
      used as potential biomarkers for screening periodontitis. Future studies
      exploring the diagnostic potential of such factors are warranted.

PMID- 27635319
TI  - The larvae of Epigomphus jannyae Belle, 1993 and E. tumefactus Calvert, 1903
      (Insecta: Odonata: Gomphidae).
AB  - The taxonomic knowledge about immature stages of the insect order Odonata
      (dragonflies and damselflies) is rather limited in tropical America. Here, the
      larvae of Epigomphus jannyae Belle, 1993 and E. tumefactus Calvert, 1903 are
      described, figured, and compared with other described congeners. E. jannyae larva
      is characterized by 3rd antennomere 1.6 times longer than its widest part; ligula
      very poorly developed, with ten short, truncate teeth on middle; apical lobe of
      labial palp rounded and smooth. Lateral margins on abdominal segments (S5-9)
      serrated, lateral spines on S6-9 small and divergent; male epiproct with a pair
      of dorsal tubercles at basal 0.66; tips of cerci and paraprocts strongly
      divergent. The larva of E. tumefactus is characterized by 3rd antennomere 2.3
      times longer than its widest part, ligula with 6-7 truncate teeth, apical lobe of
      labial palp acute and finely serrate. Lateral margins of S6-9 serrate, lateral
      spines on S7-9; male epiproct with a pair of dorsal tubercles at basal 0.50.
      Differences with other species were found in 3rd antennomere, lateral spines of
      S7-9, and the caudal appendages. Epigomphus larvae inhabit small, shallow creeks
      (1st order streams) where they live in fine benthic sediments. When mature, the
      larva leaves the water in shady places, climbing small rocks at the water's edge
      and metamorphosing horizontally on flat rocks. These new descriptions bring the
      total number of Epigomphus species with known larval stages to eight; only 28% of
      the species in this genus are known as larva. 

PMID- 27635318
TI  - Genome sequencing-assisted identification and the first functional validation of
      N-acyl-homoserine-lactone synthases from the Sphingomonadaceae family.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Members of the genus Novosphingobium have been isolated from a
      variety of environmental niches. Although genomics analyses have suggested the
      presence of genes associated with quorum sensing signal production e.g., the N
      acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) synthase (luxI) homologs in various Novosphingobium
      species, to date, no luxI homologs have been experimentally validated. METHODS:
      In this study, we report the draft genome of the N-(AHL)-producing bacterium
      Novosphingobium subterraneum DSM 12447 and validate the functions of predicted
      luxI homologs from the bacterium through inducible heterologous expression in
      Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain NTL4. We developed a two-dimensional thin layer
      chromatography bioassay and used LC-ESI MS/MS analyses to separate, detect and
      identify the AHL signals produced by the N. subterraneum DSM 12447 strain.
      RESULTS: Three predicted luxI homologs were annotated to the locus tags NJ75_2841
      (NovINsub1), NJ75_2498 (NovINsub2), and NJ75_4146 (NovINsub3). Inducible
      heterologous expression of each luxI homologs followed by LC-ESI MS/MS and two
      dimensional reverse phase thin layer chromatography bioassays followed by
      bioluminescent ccd camera imaging indicate that the three LuxI homologs are able
      to produce a variety of medium-length AHL compounds. New insights into the LuxI
      phylogeny was also gleemed as inferred by Bayesian inference. DISCUSSION: This
      study significantly adds to our current understanding of quorum sensing in the
      genus Novosphingobium and provide the framework for future characterization of
      the phylogenetically interesting LuxI homologs from members of the genus
      Novosphingobium and more generally the family Sphingomonadaceae.

PMID- 27635320
TI  - CardioTF, a database of deconstructing transcriptional circuits in the heart
      system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information on cardiovascular gene transcription is fragmented and
      far behind the present requirements of the systems biology field. To create a
      comprehensive source of data for cardiovascular gene regulation and to facilitate
      a deeper understanding of genomic data, the CardioTF database was constructed.
      The purpose of this database is to collate information on cardiovascular
      transcription factors (TFs), position weight matrices (PWMs), and enhancer
      sequences discovered using the ChIP-seq method. METHODS: The Naive-Bayes
      algorithm was used to classify literature and identify all PubMed abstracts on
      cardiovascular development. The natural language learning tool GNAT was then used
      to identify corresponding gene names embedded within these abstracts. Local Perl
      scripts were used to integrate and dump data from public databases into the
      MariaDB management system (MySQL). In-house R scripts were written to analyze and
      visualize the results. RESULTS: Known cardiovascular TFs from humans and human
      homologs from fly, Ciona, zebrafish, frog, chicken, and mouse were identified and
      deposited in the database. PWMs from Jaspar, hPDI, and UniPROBE databases were
      deposited in the database and can be retrieved using their corresponding TF
      names. Gene enhancer regions from various sources of ChIP-seq data were deposited
      into the database and were able to be visualized by graphical output. Besides
      biocuration, mouse homologs of the 81 core cardiac TFs were selected using a
      Naive-Bayes approach and then by intersecting four independent data sources: RNA
      profiling, expert annotation, PubMed abstracts and phenotype. DISCUSSION: The
      CardioTF database can be used as a portal to construct transcriptional network of
      cardiac development. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Database URL:
      http://www.cardiosignal.org/database/cardiotf.html.

PMID- 27635321
TI  - A heritability-based comparison of methods used to cluster 16S rRNA gene
      sequences into operational taxonomic units.
AB  - A variety of methods are available to collapse 16S rRNA gene sequencing reads to
      the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) used in microbiome analyses. A number of
      studies have aimed to compare the quality of the resulting OTUs. However, in the
      absence of a standard method to define and enumerate the different taxa within a
      microbial community, existing comparisons have been unable to compare the ability
      of clustering methods to generate units that accurately represent functional
      taxonomic segregation. We have previously demonstrated heritability of the
      microbiome and we propose this as a measure of each methods' ability to generate
      OTUs representing biologically relevant units. Our approach assumes that OTUs
      that best represent the functional units interacting with the hosts' properties
      will produce the highest heritability estimates. Using 1,750 unselected
      individuals from the TwinsUK cohort, we compared 11 approaches to OTU clustering
      in heritability analyses. We find that de novo clustering methods produce more
      heritable OTUs than reference based approaches, with VSEARCH and SUMACLUST
      performing well. We also show that differences resulting from each clustering
      method are minimal once reads are collapsed by taxonomic assignment, although
      sample diversity estimates are clearly influenced by OTU clustering approach.
      These results should help the selection of sequence clustering methods in future
      microbiome studies, particularly for studies of human host-microbiome
      interactions. 

PMID- 27635323
TI  - Effects of cattle grazing on small mammal communities in the Hulunber meadow
      steppe.
AB  - Small mammals play important roles in many ecosystems, and understanding their
      response to disturbances such as cattle grazing is fundamental for developing
      sustainable land use strategies. However, how small mammals respond to cattle
      grazing remains controversial. A potential cause is that most of previous studies
      adopt rather simple experimental designs based solely on the presence/absence of
      grazing, and are thus unable to detect any complex relationships between
      diversity and grazing intensity. In this study, we conducted manipulated
      experiments in the Hulunber meadow steppe to survey small mammal community
      structures under four levels of grazing intensities. We found dramatic changes in
      species composition in native small mammal communities when grazing intensity
      reached intermediate levels (0.46 animal unit/ha). As grazing intensity
      increased, Spermophilus dauricus gradually became the single dominant species.
      Species richness and diversity of small mammals in ungrazed and lightly grazed
      (0.23 animal unit/ha) area were much higher than in intermediately and heavily
      grazed area. We did not detect a humped relationship between small mammal
      diversity and disturbance levels predicted by the intermediate disturbance
      hypothesis (IDH). Our study highlighted the necessity of conducting manipulated
      experiments under multiple grazing intensities. 

PMID- 27635322
TI  - Rapid induction of GFP expression by the nitrate reductase promoter in the diatom
      Phaeodactylum tricornutum.
AB  - An essential prerequisite for a controlled transgene expression is the choice of
      a suitable promoter. In the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, the most
      commonly used promoters for trans-gene expression are the light dependent lhcf1
      promoters (derived from two endogenous genes encoding fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c
      binding proteins) and the nitrate dependent nr promoter (derived from the
      endogenous nitrate reductase gene). In this study, we investigated the time
      dependent expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter under
      control of the nitrate reductase promoter in independently genetically
      transformed P. tricornutum cell lines following induction of expression by change
      of the nitrogen source in the medium via flow cytometry, microscopy and western
      blotting. In all investigated cell lines, GFP fluorescence started to increase 1
      h after change of the medium, the fastest increase rates were observed between 2
      and 3 h. Fluorescence continued to increase slightly for up to 7 h even after
      transfer of the cells to ammonium medium. The subsequent decrease of GFP
      fluorescence was much slower than the increase, probably due to the stability of
      GFP. The investigation of several cell lines transformed with nr based constructs
      revealed that, also in the absence of nitrate, the promoter may show residual
      activity. Furthermore, we observed a strong variation of gene expression between
      independent cell lines, emphasising the importance of a thorough characterisation
      of genetically modified cell lines and their individual expression patterns. 

PMID- 27635324
TI  - I-HEDGE: determining the optimum complementary sets of taxa for conservation
      using evolutionary isolation.
AB  - In the midst of the current biodiversity crisis, conservation efforts might
      profitably be directed towards ensuring that extinctions do not result in
      inordinate losses of evolutionary history. Numerous methods have been developed
      to evaluate the importance of species based on their contribution to total
      phylogenetic diversity on trees and networks, but existing methods fail to take
      complementarity into account, and thus cannot identify the best order or subset
      of taxa to protect. Here, we develop a novel iterative calculation of the
      heightened evolutionary distinctiveness and globally endangered metric (I-HEDGE)
      that produces the optimal ranked list for conservation prioritization, taking
      into account complementarity and based on both phylogenetic diversity and
      extinction probability. We applied this metric to a phylogenetic network based on
      mitochondrial control region data from extant and recently extinct giant
      Galapagos tortoises, a highly endangered group of closely related species. We
      found that the restoration of two extinct species (a project currently underway)
      will contribute the greatest gain in phylogenetic diversity, and present an
      ordered list of rankings that is the optimum complementarity set for conservation
      prioritization. 

PMID- 27635325
TI  - Anxiolytic effects of fluoxetine and nicotine exposure on exploratory behavior in
      zebrafish.
AB  - Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have emerged as a popular model for studying the
      pharmacology and behavior of anxiety. While there have been numerous studies
      documenting the anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects of common drugs in zebrafish,
      many do not report or test for behavioral differences between the sexes. Previous
      studies have indicated that males and females differ in their baseline level of
      anxiety. In this study, we test for a sex interaction with fluoxetine and
      nicotine. We exposed fish to system water (control), 10 mg/L fluoxetine, or 1
      mg/L nicotine for three minutes prior to being subjected to four minutes in an
      open-field drop test. Video recordings were tracked using ProAnalyst. Fish from
      both drug treatments reduced swimming speed, increased vertical position, and
      increased use of the top half of the open field when compared with the control,
      though fluoxetine had a larger effect on depth related behaviors while nicotine
      mostly affected swimming speed. A significant sex effect was observed where
      females swam at a slower and more constant speed than males, however neither drug
      produced a sex-dependent response. 

PMID- 27635326
TI  - Psychological distress of residents in Kawauchi village, Fukushima Prefecture
      after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: the Fukushima
      Health Management Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To shed light on the mental health of evacuees after the accident at
      Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), we evaluate the results of the
      Fukushima Health Management Survey (FHMS) of the residents at Kawauchi village in
      Fukushima, which is located less than 30 km from the FDNPS. METHODS: We conducted
      the cross-sectional study within the framework of the FHMS. Exposure values were
      "anorexia," "subjective feelings about health," "feelings about sleep
      satisfaction," and "bereavement caused by the disaster," confounding variables
      were "age" and "sex," and outcome variables were "K6 points." We collected data
      from the FHMS, and employed the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) and the
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist Stressor-Specific Version (PCL-S)
      to carry out the research. A total of 13 or greater was the cut-off for
      identifying serious mental illness using the K6 scale. The study subjects
      included residents (n = 542) of over 30 years of age from Kawauchi village, and
      data were used from the period of January 1, 2012 to October 31, 2012. RESULTS: A
      total of 474 residents (87.5%) scored less than 13 points in the K6 and 68
      (12.6%) scored 13 points or more. The proportion of elderly residents (over 65
      years old) among people with K6 score above the cut-off was higher than that
      among people with K6 score below the cut-off (44.1 vs 31.0%, p < 0.05). In
      addition, the proportion of residents with anorexia and mental illness among
      people with K6 score above the cut-off was higher than among people with K6 score
      below the cut-off (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). The amount of residents
      who scored 44 points or more in the PCL-S among people with K6 score above the
      cut-off was also considerably higher than among people with K6 score below the
      cut-off (79.4 vs 12.9%, p < 0.001). Interestingly, the proportion of residents
      who scored more than among people with K6 score above the cut-off and the among
      people with PCL-S score above the cut-off in Kawauchi was higher than in previous
      studies in other locations. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that there are
      severe mental health problems, such as depression and PTSD, among adults as a
      consequence of the accident at the FDNPS. Our study showed that residents who
      lived in the evacuation zone before the disaster are at high risk psychological
      distress. To facilitate local residents' recovery from Fukushima, there is a need
      to continue providing them with physical and mental support, as well as
      communication regarding the health risks of radiation.

PMID- 27635327
TI  - Continent-wide survey reveals massive decline in African savannah elephants.
AB  - African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are imperiled by poaching and habitat
      loss. Despite global attention to the plight of elephants, their population sizes
      and trends are uncertain or unknown over much of Africa. To conserve this iconic
      species, conservationists need timely, accurate data on elephant populations.
      Here, we report the results of the Great Elephant Census (GEC), the first
      continent-wide, standardized survey of African savannah elephants. We also
      provide the first quantitative model of elephant population trends across Africa.
      We estimated a population of 352,271 savannah elephants on study sites in 18
      countries, representing approximately 93% of all savannah elephants in those
      countries. Elephant populations in survey areas with historical data decreased by
      an estimated 144,000 from 2007 to 2014, and populations are currently shrinking
      by 8% per year continent-wide, primarily due to poaching. Though 84% of elephants
      occurred in protected areas, many protected areas had carcass ratios that
      indicated high levels of elephant mortality. Results of the GEC show the
      necessity of action to end the African elephants' downward trajectory by
      preventing poaching and protecting habitat. 

PMID- 27635328
TI  - Reliability and validity of an iPhone((r)) application for the measurement of
      lumbar spine flexion and extension range of motion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measurement of lumbar spine range of motion (ROM) is often considered
      to be an essential component of lumbar spine physiotherapy and orthopedic
      assessment. The measurement can be carried out through various instruments such
      as inclinometers, goniometers, and etc. Recent smartphones have been equipped
      with accelerometers and magnetometers, which, through specific software
      applications (apps) can be used for inclinometric functions. PURPOSE: The main
      purpose was to investigate the reliability and validity of an iPhone((r)) app
      (TiltMeter((c)) -advanced level and inclinometer) for measuring standing lumbar
      spine flexion-extension ROM in asymptomatic subjects. DESIGN: A cross-sectional
      study was carried out. SETTING: This study was conducted in a physiotherapy
      clinic located at School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical
      Science and Health Services, Tehran, Iran. SUBJECTS: A convenience sample of 30
      asymptomatic adults (15 males; 15 females; age range = 18-55 years) was recruited
      between August 2015 and December 2015. METHODS: Following a 2-minute warm-up, the
      subjects were asked to stand in a relaxed position and their skin was marked at
      the T12-L1 and S1-S2 spinal levels. From this position, they were asked to
      perform maximum lumbar flexion followed by maximum lumbar extension with their
      knees straight. Two blinded raters each used an inclinometer and the iPhone ((r))
      app to measure lumbar spine flexion-extension ROM. A third rater read the
      measured angles. To calculate total lumbar spine flexion-extension ROM, the
      measurement from S1-S2 was subtracted from T12-L1. The second (2 hours later) and
      third (48 hours later) sessions were carried out in the same manner as the first
      session. All of the measurements were conducted 3 times and the mean value of 3
      repetitions for each measurement was used for analysis. Intraclass correlation
      coefficient (ICC) models (3, k) and (2, k) were used to determine the intra-rater
      and inter-rater reliability, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficients
      were used to establish concurrent validity of the iPhone((r)) app. Furthermore,
      minimum detectable change at the 95% confidence level (MDC95) was computed as
      1.96 * standard error of measurement * [Formula: see text]. RESULTS: Good to
      excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were demonstrated for both the
      gravity-based inclinometer with ICC values of >=0.84 and >=0.77 and the
      iPhone((r)) app with ICC values of >=0.85 and >=0.85, respectively. The MDC95
      ranged from 5.82 degrees to 8.18 degrees for the intra-rater analysis and from
      7.38 degrees to 8.66 degrees  for the inter-rater analysis. The concurrent
      validity for flexion and extension between the 2 instruments was 0.85 and 0.91,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The iPhone((r))app possesses good to excellent intra
      rater and inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity. It seems that the
      iPhone((r)) app can be used for the measurement of lumbar spine flexion-extension
      ROM. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IIb.

PMID- 27635329
TI  - Taxonomic revision of Eoalligator (Crocodylia, Brevirostres) and the
      paleogeographic origins of the Chinese alligatoroids.
AB  - Background. The primarily Neotropical distribution of living alligatoroids raises
      questions as to when and how the ancestors of Alligator sinensis migrated to
      China. As phylogeny provides a necessary framework for historical biogeographic
      issues, determining the phylogenetic positions of the Chinese alligatoroids is a
      crucial step towards understanding global alligatoroid paleobiogeography. Besides
      the unnamed alligatoroids from the Eocene of Guangdong Province, three Chinese
      fossil taxa have been referred to Alligatoroidea: Alligator luicus, Eoalligator
      chunyii and Eoalligator huiningensis. However, none of these fossil taxa has been
      included in a phylogenetic analysis. The genus Eoalligator was established to
      accommodate E. chunyii from Guangdong Province. E. huiningensis from Anhui
      Province was later erected as a second species, despite no distinctive
      similarities with E. chunyii. By contrast, the putative crocodyline Asiatosuchus
      nanlingensis was established based on material from Guangdong Province, close to
      the E. chunyii specimens geographically and stratigraphically. Furthermore,
      specimens of A. nanlingensis and E. chunyii share four distinctive characters,
      but display no evident differences. As a result, the taxonomic relationships of
      these three species require restudy. Methods. In this paper, all specimens of E.
      chunyii and E. huiningensis are reassessed in detail, and compared to specimens
      of A. nanlingensis. Detailed re-descriptions and revised diagnoses are provided,
      and a cladistic analysis is carried out to assess the phylogenetic positions of
      E. chunyii, E. huiningensis and A. nanlingensis. Results. The analysis recovers
      E. chunyii and A. nanlingensis as sister taxa among basal Crocodylidae, while P.
      huiningensis is posited as an alligatoroid. Two key characters support the
      monophyly E. chunyii + A. nanlingensis: sulcus within surangular, and
      anteroposteriorly oriented surangular-articular suture. The former character is
      unique to E. chunyii and A. nanlingensis among crocodyloids, although a smaller
      and more posteriorly positioned surangular fossa is known in Diplocynodon.
      Detailed comparisons show the two species to be synonymous, with E. chunyii as
      the junior synonym of A. nanlingensis based on page priority. Because E. chunyii
      was erected as the type species of Eoalligator, the genus is now invalid. We
      establish the new genus Protoalligator to accommodate "Eoalligator" huiningensis,
      an alligatoroid whose exact phylogenetic position is uncertain. In particular, P.
      huiningensis retains primitive characters such as a lacrimal that extends further
      anteriorly than the prefrontal, and a notch at the premaxilla-maxilla suture.
      However, P. huiningensis also appears to share one important derived character, a
      complete nasal bar, with alligators. Our taxonomic revisions imply that four
      alligatoroids are currently known from China, and these species must have
      dispersed from North America to Asia in more than one event. 

PMID- 27635330
TI  - Transmission of a heterologous clade C Symbiodinium in a model anemone infection
      system via asexual reproduction.
AB  - Anemones of genus Exaiptasia are used as model organisms for the study of
      cnidarian-dinoflagellate (genus Symbiodinium) endosymbiosis. However, while most
      reef-building corals harbor Symbiodinium of clade C, Exaiptasia spp. anemones
      mainly harbor clade B Symbiodinium (ITS2 type B1) populations. In this study, we
      reveal for the first time that bleached Exaiptasia pallida anemones can establish
      a symbiotic relationship with a clade C Symbiodinium (ITS2 type C1). We further
      found that anemones can transmit the exogenously supplied clade C Symbiodinium
      cells to their offspring by asexual reproduction (pedal laceration). In order to
      corroborate the establishment of stable symbiosis, we used microscopic techniques
      and genetic analyses to examine several generations of anemones, and the results
      of these endeavors confirmed the sustainability of the system. These findings
      provide a framework for understanding the differences in infection dynamics
      between homologous and heterologous dinoflagellate types using a model anemone
      infection system. 

PMID- 27635331
TI  - SICLE: a high-throughput tool for extracting evolutionary relationships from
      phylogenetic trees.
AB  - We present the phylogeny analysis software SICLE (Sister Clade Extractor), an
      easy-to-use, high-throughput tool to describe the nearest neighbors to a node of
      interest in a phylogenetic tree as well as the support value for the
      relationship. The application is a command line utility that can be embedded into
      a phylogenetic analysis pipeline or can be used as a subroutine within another
      C++ program. As a test case, we applied this new tool to the published phylome of
      Salinibacter ruber, a species of halophilic Bacteriodetes, identifying 13 unique
      sister relationships to S. ruber across the 4,589 gene phylogenies. S. ruber
      grouped with bacteria, most often other Bacteriodetes, in the majority of
      phylogenies, but 91 phylogenies showed a branch-supported sister association
      between S. ruber and Archaea, an evolutionarily intriguing relationship
      indicative of horizontal gene transfer. This test case demonstrates how SICLE
      makes it possible to summarize the phylogenetic information produced by automated
      phylogenetic pipelines to rapidly identify and quantify the possible evolutionary
      relationships that merit further investigation. SICLE is available for free for
      noncommercial use at http://eebweb.arizona.edu/sicle/. 

PMID- 27635332
TI  - Knowledge of blood loss at delivery among postpartum patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of obstetric
      morbidity. There is limited understanding of patients' knowledge about blood loss
      at delivery, PPH, and PPH-related morbidities, including transfusion and anemia.
      METHODS: We surveyed 100 healthy postpartum patients who underwent vaginal or
      cesarean delivery about blood loss, and whether they received information about
      transfusion and peripartum hemoglobin (Hb) testing. Responses were compared
      between women undergoing vaginal delivery vs. cesarean delivery; P < 0.05
      considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: In our cohort, 49 women
      underwent vaginal delivery and 51 women underwent cesarean delivery. Only 29
      (29%) of women provided blood loss estimates for their delivery. Women who
      underwent cesarean delivery were more likely to receive clear information about
      transfusion therapy than those undergoing vaginal delivery (43.1% vs. 20.4%
      respectively; P = 0.04). Women who underwent vaginal delivery were more likely to
      receive results of postpartum Hb tests compared to those undergoing cesarean
      delivery (49% vs. 29.4%; P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that women
      are poorly informed about the magnitude of blood loss at delivery. Hematologic
      information given to patients varies according to mode of delivery. Further
      research is needed to better understand the clinical implications of patients'
      knowledge gaps about PPH, transfusion and postpartum anemia.

PMID- 27635333
TI  - Fine structure of the spermatozoon in three species of Cambaridae (Arthropoda:
      Crustacea: Decapoda) Cambarus robustus, Orconectes propinquus and Orconectes
      rusticus: a comparative biometrical study.
AB  - The ultrastructure of spermatozoa in three species of cambarid crayfish, Cambarus
      robustus, Orconectes propinquus, and Orconectes rusticus, were studied and
      compared with eight previously studied species from different crayfish families
      using morphological features and biometrical data. The ultrastructure of
      spermatozoa show a generally conserved pattern including an acrosome and nucleus
      in the anterior and posterior parts of the cell, respectively, radial arms that
      wrap around the nucleus, and the whole cell is enclosed by an extracellular
      capsule. The most outstanding morphological feature in spermatozoa of three
      studied cambarid crayfish is the crest-like protrusions in the anterior part of
      the acrosome that can be used as one of the features for distinguishing the
      members of this family. Results of biometrical data reveal that acrosome size in
      the representatives of Parastacidae are the smallest, while representatives of
      Astacidae show the biggest acrosome. The acrosome size in species belonging to
      Cambaridae occupy an intermediate position between the two other families of
      freshwater crayfish. In conclusion, a combination of morphological features and
      biometrical data of spermatozoa can help distinguishing different species of the
      freshwater crayfish. 

PMID- 27635334
TI  - Investigation of population structure in Gulf of Mexico Seepiophila jonesi
      (Polychaeta, Siboglinidae) using cross-amplified microsatellite loci.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vestimentiferan tubeworms are some of the most recognizable fauna
      found at deep-sea cold seeps, isolated environments where hydrocarbon rich fluids
      fuel biological communities. Several studies have investigated tubeworm
      population structure; however, much is still unknown about larval dispersal
      patterns at Gulf of Mexico (GoM) seeps. As such, researchers have applied
      microsatellite markers as a measure for documenting the transport of
      vestimentiferan individuals. In the present study, we investigate the utility of
      microsatellites to be cross-amplified within the escarpiid clade of seep
      vestimentiferans, by determining if loci originally developed for Escarpia spp.
      could be amplified in the GoM seep tubeworm, Seepiophila jonesi. Additionally, we
      determine if cross-amplified loci can reliably uncover the same signatures of
      high gene flow seen in a previous investigation of S. jonesi. METHODS: Seventy
      seven S. jonesi individuals were collected from eight seep sites across the upper
      Louisiana slope (<1,000 m) in the GoM. Forty-eight microsatellite loci that were
      originally developed for Escarpia laminata (18 loci) and Escarpia southwardae (30
      loci) were tested to determine if they were homologous and polymorphic in S.
      jonesi. Loci found to be both polymorphic and of high quality were used to test
      for significant population structuring in S. jonesi. RESULTS: Microsatellite pre
      screening identified 13 (27%) of the Escarpia loci were homologous and
      polymorphic in S. jonesi, revealing that microsatellites can be amplified within
      the escarpiid clade of vestimentiferans. Our findings uncovered low levels of
      heterozygosity and a lack of genetic differentiation amongst S. jonesi from
      various sites and regions, in line with previous investigations that employed
      species-specific polymorphic loci on S. jonesi individuals retrieved from both
      the same and different seep sites. The lack of genetic structure identified from
      these populations supports the presence of significant gene flow via larval
      dispersal in mixed oceanic currents. DISCUSSION: The ability to develop
      "universal" microsatellites reduces the costs associated with these analyses and
      allows researchers to track and investigate a wider array of taxa, which is
      particularly useful for organisms living at inaccessible locations such as the
      deep sea. Our study highlights that non-species specific microsatellites can be
      amplified across large evolutionary distances and still yield similar findings as
      species-specific loci. Further, these results show that S. jonesi collected from
      various localities in the GoM represents a single panmictic population,
      suggesting that dispersal of lecithotrophic larvae by deep sea currents is
      sufficient to homogenize populations. These data are consistent with the high
      levels of gene flow seen in Escarpia spp., which advocates that differences in
      microhabitats of seep localities lead to variation in biogeography of separate
      species.

PMID- 27635335
TI  - Tree phyllosphere bacterial communities: exploring the magnitude of intra- and
      inter-individual variation among host species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diversity and composition of the microbial community of tree
      leaves (the phyllosphere) varies among trees and host species and along spatial,
      temporal, and environmental gradients. Phyllosphere community variation within
      the canopy of an individual tree exists but the importance of this variation
      relative to among-tree and among-species variation is poorly understood. Sampling
      techniques employed for phyllosphere studies include picking leaves from one
      canopy location to mixing randomly selected leaves from throughout the canopy. In
      this context, our goal was to characterize the relative importance of intra
      individual variation in phyllosphere communities across multiple species, and
      compare this variation to inter-individual and interspecific variation of
      phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in a natural temperate forest in
      Quebec, Canada. METHODS: We targeted five dominant temperate forest tree species
      including angiosperms and gymnosperms: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula
      papyrifera, Abies balsamea and Picea glauca. For one randomly selected tree of
      each species, we sampled microbial communities at six distinct canopy locations:
      bottom-canopy (1-2 m height), the four cardinal points of mid-canopy (2-4 m
      height), and the top-canopy (4-6 m height). We also collected bottom-canopy
      leaves from five additional trees from each species. RESULTS: Based on an
      analysis of bacterial community structure measured via Illumina sequencing of the
      bacterial 16S gene, we demonstrate that 65% of the intra-individual variation in
      leaf bacterial community structure could be attributed to the effect of inter
      individual and inter-specific differences while the effect of canopy location was
      not significant. In comparison, host species identity explains 47% of inter
      individual and inter-specific variation in leaf bacterial community structure
      followed by individual identity (32%) and canopy location (6%). DISCUSSION: Our
      results suggest that individual samples from consistent positions within the tree
      canopy from multiple individuals per species can be used to accurately quantify
      variation in phyllosphere bacterial community structure. However, the
      considerable amount of intra-individual variation within a tree canopy ask for a
      better understanding of how changes in leaf characteristics and local abiotic
      conditions drive spatial variation in the phyllosphere microbiome.

PMID- 27635337
TI  - Effects of yearling, juvenile and adult survival on reef manta ray (Manta
      alfredi) demography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The trade in manta ray gill plates has considerably increased over
      the last two decades. The resulting increases in ray mortality, in addition to
      mortality caused by by-catch, has caused many ray populations to decrease in
      size. The aim of this study was to ascertain how yearling and juvenile growth and
      survival, and adult survival and reproduction affect reef manta ray (Manta
      alfredi) population change, to increase our understanding of manta ray demography
      and thereby improve conservation research and measures for these fish. METHODS:
      We developed a population projection model for reef manta rays, and used
      published life history data on yearling and juvenile growth and adult
      reproduction to parameterise the model. Because little is known about reef manta
      ray yearling and juvenile survival, we conducted our analyses using a range of
      plausible survival rate values for yearlings, juveniles and adults. RESULTS: The
      model accurately captured observed variation in population growth rate, lifetime
      reproductive success and cohort generation time in different reef manta ray
      populations. Our demographic analyses revealed a range of population consequences
      in response to variation in demographic rates. For example, an increase in
      yearling or adult survival rates always elicited greater responses in population
      growth rate, lifetime reproductive success and cohort generation time than the
      same increase in juvenile survival rate. The population growth rate increased
      linearly, but lifetime reproductive success and cohort generation time increased
      at an accelerating rate with increasing yearling or adult survival rates. Hence,
      even a small increase in survival rate could increase lifetime reproductive
      success by one pup, and cohort generation time by several years. Elasticity
      analyses revealed that, depending on survival rate values of all life stages, the
      population growth rate is either most sensitive to changes in the rate with which
      juveniles survive but stay juveniles (i.e., do not mature into adults) or to
      changes in adult survival rate. However, when assessing these results against
      estimates on population growth and adult survival rates for populations off the
      coasts of Mozambique and Japan, we found that the population growth rate is
      predicted to be always most sensitive to changes in the adult survival rate.
      DISCUSSION: It is important to gain an in-depth understanding of reef manta ray
      life histories, particularly of yearling and adult survival rates, as these can
      influence reef manta ray population dynamics in a variety of ways. For declining
      populations in particular, it is crucial to know which life stage should be
      targeted for their conservation. For one such declining population off the coast
      of Mozambique, adult annual survival rate has the greatest effect on population
      growth, and by increasing adult survival by protecting adult aggregation sites,
      this population's decline could be halted or even reversed.

PMID- 27635336
TI  - Identification of a R2R3-MYB gene regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis and
      relationships between its variation and flower color difference in lotus (Nelumbo
      Adans.).
AB  - The lotus (Nelumbonaceae: Nelumbo Adans.) is a highly desired ornamental plant,
      comprising only two extant species, the sacred lotus (N. nucifera Gaerten.) with
      red flowers and the American lotus (N. lutea Willd.) with yellow flowers. Flower
      color is the most obvious difference of two species. To better understand the
      mechanism of flower color differentiation, the content of anthocyanins and the
      expression levels of four key structural genes (e.g., DFR, ANS, UFGT and GST)
      were analyzed in two species. Our results revealed that anthocyanins were
      detected in red flowers, not yellow flowers. Expression analysis showed that no
      transcripts of GST gene and low expression level of three UFGT genes were
      detected in yellow flowers. In addition, three regulatory genes (NnMYB5, NnbHLH1
      and NnTTG1) were isolated from red flowers and showed a high similarity to
      corresponding regulatory genes of other species. Sequence analysis of MYB5, bHLH1
      and TTG1 in two species revealed striking differences in coding region and
      promoter region of MYB5 gene. Population analysis identified three MYB5 variants
      in Nelumbo: a functional allele existed in red flowers and two inactive forms
      existed in yellow flowers. This result revealed that there was an association
      between allelic variation in MYB5 gene and flower color difference. Yeast two
      hybrid experiments showed that NnMYB5 interacts with NnbHLH1, NlbHLH1 and NnTTG1,
      and NnTTG1 also interacts with NnbHLH1 and NlbHLH1. The over-expression of NnMYB5
      led to anthocyanin accumulation in immature seeds and flower stalks and up
      regulation of expression of TT19 in Arabidopsis. Therefore, NnMYB5 is a
      transcription activator of anthocyanin synthesis. This study helps to elucidate
      the function of NnMYB5 and will contribute to clarify the mechanism of flower
      coloration and genetic engineering of flower color in lotus. 

PMID- 27635338
TI  - Stable isotope analysis (delta (13)C and delta (15)N) of soil nematodes from four
      feeding groups.
AB  - Soil nematode feeding groups are a long-established trophic categorisation
      largely based on morphology and are used in ecological indices to monitor and
      analyse the biological state of soils. Stable isotope ratio analysis ((13)C/(12)C
      and (15)N/(14)N, expressed as delta (13)C and delta (15)N) has provided
      verification of, and novel insights into, the feeding ecology of soil animals
      such as earthworms and mites. However, isotopic studies of soil nematodes have
      been limited to date as conventional stable isotope ratio analysis needs
      impractically large numbers of nematodes (up to 1,000) to achieve required
      minimum sample weights (typically >100 ug C and N). Here, micro-sample near
      conventional elemental analysis-isotopic ratio mass spectrometry (MUEA-IRMS) of C
      and N using microgram samples (typically 20 ug dry weight), was employed to
      compare the trophic position of selected soil nematode taxa from four feeding
      groups: predators (Anatonchus and Mononchus), bacterial feeders (Plectus and
      Rhabditis), omnivores (Aporcelaimidae and Qudsianematidae) and plant feeder
      (Rotylenchus). Free-living nematodes were collected from conventionally and
      organically managed arable soils. As few as 15 nematodes, for omnivores and
      predators, were sufficient to reach the 20 ug dry weight target. There was no
      significant difference in delta (15)N (p = 0.290) or delta (13)C (p = 0.706)
      between conventional and organic agronomic treatments but, within treatments,
      there was a significant difference in N and C stable isotope ratios between the
      plant feeder, Rotylenchus (delta (15)N = 1.08 to 3.22 mUr0/00, delta (13)C = 
      29.58 to -27.87 mUr) and all other groups. There was an average difference of
      9.62 mUr in delta (15)N between the plant feeder and the predator group (delta
      (15)N = 9.89 to 12.79 mUr, delta (13)C = -27.04 to -25.51 mUr). Isotopic niche
      widths were calculated as Bayesian derived standard ellipse areas and were
      smallest for the plant feeder (1.37 mUr(2)) and the predators (1.73 mUr(2)), but
      largest for omnivores (3.83 mUr(2)). These data may reflect more preferential
      feeding by the plant feeder and predators, as assumed by classical morphology
      based feeding groups, and indicate that omnivory may be more widespread across
      detritivore groups i.e. bacterial feeders (3.81 mUr(2)). Trophic information for
      soil nematodes derived from stable isotope analysis, scaled as finely as species
      level in some cases, will complement existing indices for soil biological
      assessment and monitoring, and can potentially be used to identify new trophic
      interactions in soils. The isotopic technique used here, to compare nematode
      feeding group members largely confirm their trophic relations based on
      morphological studies. 

PMID- 27635339
TI  - Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and
      military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms.
AB  - Partners of Australian combat veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing
      mental health problems. The present study provides a comparative analysis of the
      mental health of partners of veterans with that of the Australian normative data.
      To compare different types of groups of partners, the study samples comprised:
      (a) partners of Australian combat veterans (Sample 1: n = 282, age M = 60.79, SD
      = 5.05), (b) a sub-sample of partners of Australian combat veterans from the
      previous sample (Sample 2: n = 50; M = 60.06, SD = 4.80), (c) partners of Special
      Air Services Regiment (SASR) personnel (Sample 3: n = 40, age M = 34.39SD =
      7.01), and (d) partners of current serving military (non-SASR) personnel (Sample
      4: n = 38, age M = 32.37, SD = 6.20). Respondents completed measures assessing
      their reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Samples 1 and 2
      comprised partners of Australian military veterans who reported significantly
      greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than the comparative
      population norms. The sample of SASR personnel partners (Sample 3) reported
      significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety, whereas the sample with non
      SASR personnel partners (Sample 4) reported a significantly greater stress
      symptomatology than the comparative norms. Number of deployments was found to be
      associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of non-SASR veterans
      (Sample 4). Lessons and protective factors can be learnt from groups within the
      current military as to what may assist partners and families to maintain a better
      level of psychosocial health. 

PMID- 27635340
TI  - The incidence rates of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer: a four
      year population-based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence rates of
      endometrial hyperplasia (EH) and endometrial cancer (EC) in the Republic of Korea
      using national insurance claim data generated from 2009 to 2012. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Data that were generated from 2009 to 2012 were sourced from the Korean
      Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Inpatients Sample
      database. The data from women who were assigned diagnosis codes representing EH
      or EC within 1 month of being assigned codes that corresponded to procedures that
      included endometrial biopsies and several types of gynecologic surgeries to
      obtain endometrial pathology samples, were selected for analysis. RESULTS: Data
      from 2,477,424 women were entered into the database between 2009 and 2012, and
      the data from 1,868 women with EH and 868 women with EC were extracted for
      analysis. The mean ages of the patients were 44.1 +/- 0.4 years for those with EH
      and 52.7 +/- 0.6 years for those with EC. The EH and EC incidence rates were 37
      per 100,000 woman-years and 8 per 100,000 woman-years, respectively. The EH and
      EC incidence rates peaked when the women were in their late forties and fifties,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The EH and EC incidence rates determined in this study
      were somewhat lower than those determined from previous studies. Further studies
      are required that adjust the data for race, menopausal hormone therapy, and
      obesity.

PMID- 27635341
TI  - Morpho-histological characterisation of the alimentary canal of an important food
      fish, Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer).
AB  - Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is a food fish of increasing aquaculture
      importance. In order to improve our understanding on the digestive system and
      feeding of this species, morphological and histological features of the gut were
      studied. Morphologically, the Asian seabass gut is defined by a short and
      muscular esophagus, well-developed stomach and comparatively short intestine.
      Mucous secreting goblet cells reactive to PAS (Periodic Acid Schiff) and AB
      (Alcian Blue) stain were present throughout the esophagus. The stomach was sac
      like and could be distinguished into the cardiac, fundic and pyloric regions.
      Gastric glands and mucus cells were predominately present in the cardiac and
      fundic regions. Five finger-like pyloric caeca were present between the stomach
      and intestine. The intestine was a short, tubular structure with no morphological
      differences between the various regions. Histologically, the intestinal regions
      were similar, the main difference being in the number of goblet cells that
      increased from anterior to posterior intestine, with 114 +/- 9, 153 +/- 7 and 317
      +/- 21 goblet cells in the anterior, mid and posterior regions, respectively. The
      intestinal epithelium stained positively for PAS, but the staining was stronger
      for acidic glycoproteins. The rectum was similar to intestine, except for
      increased goblet cell numbers (anterior rectum: 529 +/- 26; posterior rectum: 745
      +/- 29). Gut morpho-histology did not respond to salinity changes, however, there
      was a significant reduction of mucosal height, goblet cell numbers and muscularis
      thickness upon food deprivation. 

PMID- 27635342
TI  - Transcriptome analysis of colored calla lily (Zantedeschia rehmannii Engl.) by
      Illumina sequencing: de novo assembly, annotation and EST-SSR marker development.
AB  - Colored calla lily is the short name for the species or hybrids in section
      Aestivae of genus Zantedeschia. It is currently one of the most popular flower
      plants in the world due to its beautiful flower spathe and long postharvest life.
      However, little genomic information and few molecular markers are available for
      its genetic improvement. Here, de novo transcriptome sequencing was performed to
      produce large transcript sequences for Z. rehmannii cv. 'Rehmannii' using an
      Illumina HiSeq 2000 instrument. More than 59.9 million cDNA sequence reads were
      obtained and assembled into 39,298 unigenes with an average length of 1,038 bp.
      Among these, 21,077 unigenes showed significant similarity to protein sequences
      in the non-redundant protein database (Nr) and in the Swiss-Prot, Gene Ontology
      (GO), Cluster of Orthologous Group (COG) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and
      Genomes (KEGG) databases. Moreover, a total of 117 unique transcripts were then
      defined that might regulate the flower spathe development of colored calla lily.
      Additionally, 9,933 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 7,162 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified as putative molecular markers. High-quality
      primers for 200 SSR loci were designed and selected, of which 58 amplified
      reproducible amplicons were polymorphic among 21 accessions of colored calla
      lily. The sequence information and molecular markers in the present study will
      provide valuable resources for genetic diversity analysis, germplasm
      characterization and marker-assisted selection in the genus Zantedeschia. 

PMID- 27635344
TI  - The inheritance of female colour polymorphism in Ischnura genei (Zygoptera:
      Coenagrionidae), with observations on melanism under laboratory conditions.
AB  - Current research on female colour polymorphism in Ischnura damselflies suggests
      that a balanced fitness trade-off between morphotypes contributes to the
      maintenance of polymorphism inside populations. The genetic inheritance system
      constitutes a key factor to understand morph fluctuation and fitness. Ischnura
      genei, an endemic species of some Mediterranean islands, has three female colour
      morphs, including one androchrome (male-coloured) and two gynochromes. In this
      study, we reared two generations of I. genei under laboratory conditions and
      tested male behavioural responses to female colour morphs in the field. We
      recorded ontogenetic colour changes and studied morph frequency in three
      populations from Sardinia (Italy). Morph frequencies of laboratory crosses can be
      explained by a model based on an autosomal locus with three alleles and sex
      restricted expression, except for one crossing of 42 families with unexpected
      offspring. The allelic dominance relationship was androchrome > infuscans >
      aurantiaca. Old individuals reared in the laboratory exhibited different levels
      of melanism in variable extent depending on sex and morph. Results of model
      presentations indicate a male preference for gynochrome females and the lack of
      recognition of androchromes as potential mates. Aurantiaca females were the most
      frequent morph in the field (63-87%). Further studies in other populations and
      islands are needed to understand the maintenance of this polymorphism. 

PMID- 27635345
TI  - An examination of species limits in the Aulacorhynchus "prasinus" toucanet
      complex (Aves: Ramphastidae).
AB  - The number of species recognized in Aulacorhynchus toucanets has varied
      tremendously over the past century. Revisors seem to disagree on whether head and
      bill coloration are useful indicators of species limits, especially in the A.
      "prasinus" complex. Using morphometrics, I tested the hypothesis that the major
      color-based subspecific groups of A. "prasinus" sensu lato are simply "cookie
      cutter" (i.e., morphologically nearly identical) toucanets with different head
      and bill colorations. Univariate and multivariate analyses show that they are not
      simply morphological replicates of different colors: a complex array of
      morphometric similarities and dissimilarities occur between the major subspecific
      groups, and these variations differ between the sexes. Latitude and longitude had
      a small but significant association with female (but not male) PC1 and PC2.
      Hybridization and intergradation were also considered using plumage and bill
      characters as a surrogate to infer gene flow. Hybridization as indicated by
      phenotype appears to be substantial between A. "p." cyanolaemus and A. "p."
      atrogularis and nonexistent between other major groups, although from genetic
      evidence it is likely rare between A. "p." albivitta and A. "p." cyanolaemus. The
      congruence and complexities of the morphological and color changes occurring
      among these groups suggest that ecological adaptation (through natural selection)
      and social selection have co-occurred among these groups and that species limits
      are involved. Further, hybridization is not evident at key places, despite in
      many cases (hypothetical) opportunity for gene flow. Consequently, I recommend
      that this complex be recognized as comprising five biological species: A.
      wagleri, prasinus, caeruleogularis, albivitta, and atrogularis. Four of these
      also have valid subspecies within them, and additional work may eventually
      support elevation of some of these subspecies to full species. Species limits in
      South America especially need more study. 

PMID- 27635343
TI  - Antioxidant-rich leaf extract of Barringtonia racemosa significantly alters the
      in vitro expression of genes encoding enzymes that are involved in methylglyoxal
      degradation III.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Barringtonia racemosa is a medicinal plant belonging to the
      Lecythidaceae family. The water extract of B. racemosa leaf (BLE) has been shown
      to be rich in polyphenols. Despite the diverse medicinal properties of B.
      racemosa, information on its major biological effects and the underlying
      molecular mechanisms are still lacking. METHODS: In this study, the effect of the
      antioxidant-rich BLE on gene expression in HepG2 cells was investigated using
      microarray analysis in order to shed more light on the molecular mechanism
      associated with the medicinal properties of the plant. RESULTS: Microarray
      analysis showed that a total of 138 genes were significantly altered in response
      to BLE treatment (p < 0.05) with a fold change difference of at least 1.5.
      SERPINE1 was the most significantly up-regulated gene at 2.8-fold while HAMP was
      the most significantly down-regulated gene at 6.5-fold. Ingenuity Pathways
      Analysis (IPA) revealed that "Cancer, cell death and survival, cellular movement"
      was the top network affected by the BLE with a score of 44. The top five
      canonical pathways associated with BLE were Methylglyoxal Degradation III
      followed by VDR/RXR activation, TR/RXR activation, PXR/RXR activation and
      gluconeogenesis. The expression of genes that encode for enzymes involved in
      methylglyoxal degradation (ADH4, AKR1B10 and AKR1C2) and glycolytic process
      (ENO3, ALDOC and SLC2A1) was significantly regulated. Owing to the Warburg
      effect, aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells may increase the level of
      methylglyoxal, a cytotoxic compound. CONCLUSIONS: BLE has the potential to be
      developed into a novel chemopreventive agent provided that the cytotoxic effects
      related to methylglyoxal accumulation are minimized in normal cells that rely on
      aerobic glycolysis for energy supply.

PMID- 27635346
TI  - Aquatic insects dealing with dehydration: do desiccation resistance traits differ
      in species with contrasting habitat preferences?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Desiccation resistance shapes the distribution of terrestrial insects
      at multiple spatial scales. However, responses to drying stress have been poorly
      studied in aquatic groups, despite their potential role in constraining their
      distribution and diversification, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions.
      METHODS: We examined desiccation resistance in adults of four congeneric water
      beetle species (Enochrus, family Hydrophilidae) with contrasting habitat
      specificity (lentic vs. lotic systems and different salinity optima from fresh-
      to hypersaline waters). We measured survival, recovery capacity and key traits
      related to desiccation resistance (fresh mass, % water content, % cuticle content
      and water loss rate) under controlled exposure to desiccation, and explored their
      variability within and between species. RESULTS: Meso- and hypersaline species
      were more resistant to desiccation than freshwater and hyposaline ones, showing
      significantly lower water loss rates and higher water content. No clear patterns
      in desiccation resistance traits were observed between lotic and lentic species.
      Intraspecifically, water loss rate was positively related to specimens' initial %
      water content, but not to fresh mass or % cuticle content, suggesting that the
      dynamic mechanism controlling water loss is mainly regulated by the amount of
      body water available. DISCUSSION: Our results support previous hypotheses
      suggesting that the evolution of desiccation resistance is associated with the
      colonization of saline habitats by aquatic beetles. The interespecific patterns
      observed in Enochrus also suggest that freshwater species may be more vulnerable
      than saline ones to drought intensification expected under climate change in semi
      arid regions such as the Mediterranean Basin.

PMID- 27635347
TI  - Electrophysiological assessment of auditory processing disorder in children with
      non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cleft lip and/or palate is a common congenital craniofacial
      malformation found worldwide. A frequently associated disorder is conductive
      hearing loss, and this disorder has been thoroughly investigated in children with
      non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P). However, analysis of auditory
      processing function is rarely reported for this population, although this issue
      should not be ignored since abnormal auditory cortical structures have been found
      in populations with cleft disorders. The present study utilized
      electrophysiological tests to assess the auditory status of a large group of
      children with NSCL/P, and investigated whether this group had less robust central
      auditory processing abilities compared to craniofacially normal children.
      METHODS: 146 children with NSCL/P who had normal peripheral hearing thresholds,
      and 60 craniofacially normal children aged from 6 to 15 years, were recruited.
      Electrophysiological tests, including auditory brainstem response (ABR), P1-N1-P2
      complex, and P300 component recording, were conducted. RESULTS: ABR and N1 wave
      latencies were significantly prolonged in children with NSCL/P. An atypical
      developmental trend was found for long latency potentials in children with cleft
      compared to control group children. Children with unilateral cleft lip and palate
      showed a greater level of abnormal results compared with other cleft subgroups,
      whereas the cleft lip subgroup had the most robust responses for all tests.
      CONCLUSION: Children with NSCL/P may have slower than normal neural transmission
      times between the peripheral auditory nerve and brainstem. Possible delayed
      development of myelination and synaptogenesis may also influence auditory
      processing function in this population. Present research outcomes were consistent
      with previous, smaller sample size, electrophysiological studies on infants and
      children with cleft lip/palate disorders. In view of the these findings, and
      reports of educational disadvantage associated with cleft disorders, further
      research that focuses on the auditory processing abilities of children with cleft
      lip/palate disorder is warranted.

PMID- 27635348
TI  - Evolution of the climatic tolerance and postglacial range changes of the most
      primitive orchids (Apostasioideae) within Sundaland, Wallacea and Sahul.
AB  - The location of possible glacial refugia of six Apostasioideae representatives is
      estimated based on ecological niche modeling analysis. The distribution of their
      suitable niches during the last glacial maximum (LGM) is compared with their
      current potential and documented geographical ranges. The climatic factors
      limiting the studied species occurrences are evaluated and the niche overlap
      between the studied orchids is assessed and discussed. The predicted niche
      occupancy profiles and reconstruction of ancestral climatic tolerances suggest
      high level of phylogenetic niche conservatism within Apostasioideae. 

PMID- 27635349
TI  - Thermal treatment and leaching of biochar alleviates plant growth inhibition from
      mobile organic compounds.
AB  - Recent meta-analyses of plant responses to biochar boast positive average effects
      of between 10 and 40%. Plant responses, however, vary greatly across systems, and
      null or negative biochar effects are increasingly reported. The mechanisms
      responsible for such responses remain unclear. In a glasshouse experiment we
      tested the effects of three forestry residue wood biochars, applied at five
      dosages (0, 5, 10, 20, and 50 t/ha) to a temperate forest drystic cambisol as
      direct surface applications and as complete soil mixes on the herbaceous pioneers
      Lolium multiflorum and Trifolium repens. Null and negative effects of biochar on
      growth were found in most cases. One potential cause for null and negative plant
      responses to biochar is plant exposure to mobile compounds produced during
      pyrolysis that leach or evolve following additions of biochars to soil. In a
      second glasshouse experiment we examined the effects of simple leaching and
      heating techniques to ameliorate potentially phytotoxic effects of volatile and
      leachable compounds released from biochar. We used Solid Phase Microextraction
      (SPME)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to qualitatively describe
      organic compounds in both biochar (through headspace extraction), and in the
      water leachates (through direct injection). Convection heating and water leaching
      of biochar prior to application alleviated growth inhibition. Additionally,
      growth was inhibited when filtrate from water-leached biochar was applied
      following germination. SPME-GC-MS detected primarily short-chained carboxylic
      acids and phenolics in both the leachates and solid chars, with relatively high
      concentrations of several known phytotoxic compounds including acetic acid,
      butyric acid, 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol and benzoic acid. We speculate that
      variable plant responses to phytotoxic organic compounds leached from biochars
      may largely explain negative plant growth responses and also account for strongly
      species-specific patterns of plant responses to biochar amendments in short-term
      experiments. 

PMID- 27635350
TI  - Epidemiology of Salmonella sp. in California cull dairy cattle: prevalence of
      fecal shedding and diagnostic accuracy of pooled enriched broth culture of fecal
      samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to estimate
      the crude, seasonal and cull-reason stratified prevalence of Salmonella fecal
      shedding in cull dairy cattle on seven California dairies. A secondary objective
      was to estimate and compare the relative sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp)
      for pools of 5 and 10 enriched broth cultures of fecal samples for Salmonella sp.
      detection. METHODS: Seven dairy farms located in the San Joaquin Valley of
      California were identified and enrolled in the study as a convenience sample.
      Cull cows were identified for fecal sampling once during each season between 2014
      and 2015, specifically during spring, summer, fall, and winter, and 10 cows were
      randomly selected for fecal sampling at the day of their sale. In addition, study
      personnel completed a survey based on responses of the herd manager to questions
      related to the previous four month's herd management. Fecal samples were frozen
      until testing for Salmonella. After overnight enrichment in liquid broth, pools
      of enrichment broth (EBP) were created for 5 and 10 samples. All individual and
      pooled broths were cultured on selective media with putative Salmonella colonies
      confirmed by biochemical testing before being serogrouped and serotyped. RESULTS:
      A total of 249 cull cows were enrolled into the study and their fecal samples
      tested for Salmonella. The survey-weighted period prevalence of fecal shedding of
      all Salmonella sp. in the cull cow samples across all study herds and the entire
      study period was 3.42% (N = 249; SE 1.07). The within herd prevalence of
      Salmonella shed in feces did not differ over the four study seasons (P = 0.074).
      The Se of culture of EBP of five samples was 62.5% (SE = 17.12), which was not
      statistically different from the Se of culture of EBP of 10 (37.5%, SE = 17.12, P
      = 0.48). The Sp of culture of EBP of five samples was 95.24% (SE = 3.29) and for
      pools of 10 samples was 100.00% (SE = 0). There was no statistical difference
      between the culture relative specificities of EBP of 5 and 10 (P > 0.99).
      DISCUSSION: Our study showed a numerically higher prevalence of Salmonella
      shedding in the summer, although the results were not significant, most likely
      due to a lack of power from the small sample size. A higher prevalence in summer
      months may be related to heat stress. To detect Salmonella, investigators may
      expect a 62.5% sensitivity for culture of EBP of five, relative to individual
      fecal sample enrichment and culture. In contrast, culture of EBP of 10 samples
      resulted in a numerically lower Se. Culture of EBP of size 5 or 10 samples, given
      similar prevalence and limit of detection, can be expected to yield specificities
      of 95 and 100%, respectively.

PMID- 27635351
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterization of GRAS transcription factors in
      sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera).
AB  - The GRAS gene family is one of the most important plant-specific gene families,
      which encodes transcriptional regulators and plays an essential role in plant
      development and physiological processes. The GRAS gene family has been well
      characterized in many higher plants such as Arabidopsis, rice, Chinese cabbage,
      tomato and tobacco. In this study, we identified 38 GRAS genes in sacred lotus
      (Nelumbo nucifera), analyzed their physical and chemical characteristics and
      performed phylogenetic analysis using the GRAS genes from eight representative
      plant species to show the evolution of GRAS genes in Planta. In addition, the
      gene structures and motifs of the sacred lotus GRAS proteins were characterized
      in detail. Comparative analysis identified 42 orthologous and 9 co-orthologous
      gene pairs between sacred lotus and Arabidopsis, and 35 orthologous and 22 co
      orthologous gene pairs between sacred lotus and rice. Based on publically
      available RNA-seq data generated from leaf, petiole, rhizome and root, we found
      that most of the sacred lotus GRAS genes exhibited a tissue-specific expression
      pattern. Eight of the ten PAT1-clade GRAS genes, particularly NnuGRAS-05, NnuGRAS
      10 and NnuGRAS-25, were preferentially expressed in rhizome and root. In summary,
      this is the first in silico analysis of the GRAS gene family in sacred lotus,
      which will provide valuable information for further molecular and biological
      analyses of this important gene family. 

PMID- 27635352
TI  - Effect of 8-hydroxyquinoline and derivatives on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells
      under high glucose.
AB  - 8-Hydroxyquinoline and derivatives exhibit multifunctional properties, including
      antioxidant, antineurodegenerative, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and
      antidiabetic activities. In biological systems, elevation of intracellular
      calcium can cause calpain activation, leading to cell death. Here, the effect of
      8-hydroxyquinoline and derivatives (5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline or
      clioquinol and 8-hydroxy-5-nitroquinoline or nitroxoline) on calpain-dependent
      (calpain-calpastatin) pathways in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells was
      investigated. 8-Hydroxyquinoline and derivatives ameliorated high glucose
      toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. The investigated compounds, particularly clioquinol,
      attenuated the increased expression of calpain, even under high-glucose
      conditions. 8-Hydroxyquinoline and derivatives thus adversely affected the
      promotion of neuronal cell death by high glucose via the calpain-calpastatin
      signaling pathways. These findings support the beneficial effects of 8
      hydroxyquinolines for further therapeutic development. 

PMID- 27635353
TI  - Screening microalgae isolated from urban storm- and wastewater systems as
      feedstock for biofuel.
AB  - Exploiting microalgae as feedstock for biofuel production is a growing field of
      research and application, but there remain challenges related to industrial
      viability and economic sustainability. A solution to the water requirements of
      industrial-scale production is the use of wastewater as a growth medium.
      Considering the variable quality and contaminant loads of wastewater, algal
      feedstock would need to have broad tolerance and resilience to fluctuating
      wastewater conditions during growth. As a first step in targeting strains for
      growth in wastewater, our study isolated microalgae from wastewater habitats,
      including urban stormwater-ponds and a municipal wastewater-treatment system, to
      assess growth, fatty acids and metal tolerance under standardized conditions.
      Stormwater ponds in particular have widely fluctuating conditions and metal
      loads, so microalgae from this type of environment may have desirable traits for
      growth in wastewater. Forty-three algal strains were isolated in total, including
      several strains from natural habitats. All strains, with the exception of one
      cyanobacterial strain, are members of the Chlorophyta, including several taxa
      commonly targeted for biofuel production. Isolates were identified using
      taxonomic and 18S rRNA sequence methods, and the fastest growing strains with
      ideal fatty acid profiles for biodiesel production included Scenedesmus and
      Desmodesmus species (Growth rate (d(-1)) > 1). All isolates in a small, but
      diverse taxonomic group of test-strains were tolerant of copper at wastewater
      relevant concentrations. Overall, more than half of the isolated strains,
      particularly those from stormwater ponds, show promise as candidates for biofuel
      feedstock. 

PMID- 27635354
TI  - Effect of pillow height on the biomechanics of the head-neck complex:
      investigation of the cranio-cervical pressure and cervical spine alignment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While appropriate pillow height is crucial to maintaining the quality
      of sleep and overall health, there are no universal, evidence-based guidelines
      for pillow design or selection. We aimed to evaluate the effect of pillow height
      on cranio-cervical pressure and cervical spine alignment. METHODS: Ten healthy
      subjects (five males) aged 26 +/- 3.6 years were recruited. The average height,
      weight, and neck length were 167 +/- 9.3 cm, 59.6 +/- 11.9 kg, and 12.9 +/- 1.2
      cm respectively. The subjects lay on pillows of four different heights (H0, 110
      mm; H1, 130 mm; H2, 150 mm; and H3, 170 mm). The cranio-cervical pressure
      distribution over the pillow was recorded; the peak and average pressures for
      each pillow height were compared by one-way ANOVA with repeated measures.
      Cervical spine alignment was studied using a finite element model constructed
      based on data from the Visible Human Project. The coordinate of the center of
      each cervical vertebra were predicted for each pillow height. Three spine
      alignment parameters (cervical angle, lordosis distance and kyphosis distance)
      were identified. RESULTS: The average cranial pressure at pillow height H3 was
      approximately 30% higher than that at H0, and significantly different from those
      at H1 and H2 (p < 0.05). The average cervical pressure at pillow height H0 was
      65% lower than that at H3, and significantly different from those at H1 and H2 (p
      < 0.05). The peak cervical pressures at pillow heights H2 and H3 were
      significantly different from that at H0 (p < 0.05). With respect to cervical
      spine alignment, raising pillow height from H0 to H3 caused an increase of 66.4%
      and 25.1% in cervical angle and lordosis distance, respectively, and a reduction
      of 43.4% in kyphosis distance. DISCUSSION: Pillow height elevation significantly
      increased the average and peak pressures of the cranial and cervical regions, and
      increased the extension and lordosis of the cervical spine. The cranio-cervical
      pressures and cervical spine alignment were height-specific, and they were
      believed to reflect quality of sleep. Our results provide a quantitative and
      objective evaluation of the effect of pillow height on the biomechanics of the
      head-neck complex, and have application in pillow design and selection.

PMID- 27635355
TI  - Short and long term representation of an unfamiliar tone distribution.
AB  - We report on a study conducted to extend our knowledge about the process of
      gaining a mental representation of music. Several studies, inspired by research
      on the statistical learning of language, have investigated statistical learning
      of sequential rules underlying tone sequences. Given that the mental
      representation of music correlates with distributional properties of music, we
      tested whether participants are able to abstract distributional information
      contained in tone sequences to form a mental representation. For this purpose, we
      created an unfamiliar music genre defined by an underlying tone distribution, to
      which 40 participants were exposed. Our stimuli allowed us to differentiate
      between sensitivity to the distributional properties contained in test stimuli
      and long term representation of the distributional properties of the music genre
      overall. Using a probe tone paradigm and a two-alternative forced choice
      discrimination task, we show that listeners are able to abstract distributional
      properties of music through mere exposure into a long term representation of
      music. This lends support to the idea that statistical learning is involved in
      the process of gaining musical knowledge. 

PMID- 27635356
TI  - Influence of droplet coverage on the electrochemical response of planar
      microelectrodes and potential solving strategies based on nesting concept.
AB  - Recently, biosensors have been widely used for the detection of bacteria, viruses
      and other toxins. Electrodes, as commonly used transducers, are a vital part of
      electrochemical biosensors. The coverage of the droplets can change significantly
      based on the hydrophobicity of the microelectrode surface materials. In the
      present research, screen-printed interdigitated microelectrodes (SPIMs), as one
      type of planar microelectrode, were applied to investigate the influence of
      droplet coverage on electrochemical response. Furthermore, three dimensional (3D)
      printing technology was employed to print smart devices with different diameters
      based on the nesting concept. Theoretical explanations were proposed to elucidate
      the influence of the droplet coverage on the electrochemical response. 3D-printed
      ring devices were used to incubate the SPIMs and the analytical performances of
      the SPIMs were tested. According to the results obtained, our device successfully
      improved the stability of the signal responses and eliminated irregular signal
      changes to a large extent. Our proposed method based on the nesting concept
      provides a promising method for the fabrication of stable electrochemical
      biosensors. We also introduced two types of electrode bases to improve the signal
      stability. 

PMID- 27635357
TI  - Do beaver dams reduce habitat connectivity and salmon productivity in expansive
      river floodplains?
AB  - Beaver have expanded in their native habitats throughout the northern hemisphere
      in recent decades following reductions in trapping and reintroduction efforts.
      Beaver have the potential to strongly influence salmon populations in the side
      channels of large alluvial rivers by building dams that create pond complexes.
      Pond habitat may improve salmon productivity or the presence of dams may reduce
      productivity if dams limit habitat connectivity and inhibit fish passage. Our
      intent in this paper is to contrast the habitat use and production of juvenile
      salmon on expansive floodplains of two geomorphically similar salmon rivers: the
      Kol River in Kamchatka, Russia (no beavers) and the Kwethluk River in Alaska
      (abundant beavers), and thereby provide a case study on how beavers may influence
      salmonids in large floodplain rivers. We examined important rearing habitats in
      each floodplain, including springbrooks, beaver ponds, beaver-influenced
      springbrooks, and shallow shorelines of the river channel. Juvenile coho salmon
      dominated fish assemblages in all habitats in both rivers but other species were
      present. Salmon density was similar in all habitat types in the Kol, but in the
      Kwethluk coho and Chinook densities were 3-12* lower in mid- and late
      successional beaver ponds than in springbrook and main channel habitats. In the
      Kol, coho condition (length: weight ratios) was similar among habitats, but
      Chinook condition was highest in orthofluvial springbrooks. In the Kwethluk,
      Chinook condition was similar among habitats, but coho condition was lowest in
      main channel versus other habitats (0.89 vs. 0.99-1.10). Densities of juvenile
      salmon were extremely low in beaver ponds located behind numerous dams in the
      orthofluvial zone of the Kwethluk River floodplain, whereas juvenile salmon were
      abundant in habitats throughout the entire floodplain in the Kol River. If
      beavers were not present on the Kwethluk, floodplain habitats would be fully
      interconnected and theoretically could produce 2* the biomass (between June
      August, 1,174 vs. 667 kg) and rear 3* the number of salmon (370,000 vs. 140,000)
      compared to the existing condition with dams present. The highly productive Kol
      river produces an order of magnitude more salmon biomass and rears 40* the
      individuals compared to the Kwethluk. If beavers were introduced to the Kol
      River, we estimate that off-channel habitats would produce half as much biomass
      (2,705 vs. 5,404 kg) and 3* fewer individuals (1,482,346 vs. 4,856,956) owing to
      conversion of inter-connected, productive springbrooks into inaccessible pond
      complexes. We concluded that beaver dams may limit the total amount of floodplain
      habitat available for salmon rearing in the Kwethluk river and that the
      introduction of beavers to the Kol river could be detrimental to salmon
      populations. The introduction of beavers to other large alluvial rivers like
      those found in Kamchatka could have negative consequences for salmon production. 

PMID- 27635358
TI  - Male foraging efficiency, but not male problem-solving performance, influences
      female mating preferences in zebra finches.
AB  - Experimental evidence suggests that females would prefer males with better
      cognitive abilities as mates. However, little is known about the traits
      reflecting enhanced cognitive skills on which females might base their mate
      choice decisions. In particular, it has been suggested that male foraging
      performance could be used as an indicator of cognitive capacity, but convincing
      evidence for this hypothesis is still lacking. In the present study, we
      investigated whether female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) modify their
      mating preferences after having observed the performance of males on a problem
      solving task. Specifically, we measured the females' preferences between two
      males once before and once after an observation period, during which their
      initially preferred male was incapable of solving the task contrary to their
      initially less-preferred male. We also conducted a control treatment to test
      whether the shift in female preferences was attributable to differences between
      the two stimulus males in their foraging efficiency. Finally, we assessed each
      bird's performance in a color associative task to check whether females can
      discriminate among males based on their learning speed. We found that females
      significantly increased their preference toward the most efficient male in both
      treatments. Yet, there was no difference between the two treatments and we found
      no evidence that females assess male cognitive ability indirectly via
      morphological traits. Thus, our results suggest that females would not use the
      males' problem-solving performance as an indicator of general cognitive ability
      to gain indirect fitness benefits (i.e., good genes) but rather to assess their
      foraging efficiency and gain direct benefits. 

PMID- 27635359
TI  - Osteology of the Late Triassic aetosaur Scutarx deltatylus (Archosauria:
      Pseudosuchia).
AB  - Aetosaurians are some of the most common fossils collected from the Upper
      Triassic Chinle Formation of Arizona, especially at the Petrified Forest National
      Park (PEFO). Aetosaurians collected from lower levels of the park include
      Desmatosuchus spurensis, Paratypothorax, Adamanasuchus eisenhardtae,
      Calyptosuchus wellesi, and Scutarx deltatylus. Four partial skeletons collected
      from the park between 2002 and 2009 represent the holotype and referred specimens
      of Scutarx deltatylus. These specimens include much of the carapace, as well as
      the vertebral column, and shoulder and pelvic girdles, and a new naming
      convention proposed for osteoderms descriptions better differentiates portions of
      the carapace and ventral armor. A partial skull from the holotype specimen
      represents the first aetosaur skull recovered and described from Arizona since
      the 1930s. The key morphological feature distinguishing Scutarx deltatylus is the
      presence of a prominent, triangular boss located in the posteromedial corner of
      the dorsal surface of the dorsal paramedian osteoderms. Scutarx deltatylus can be
      distinguished from closely related forms Calyptosuchus wellesi and Adamanasuchus
      eisenhardtae not only morphologically, but also stratigraphically. Thus, Scutarx
      deltatylus is potentially an index taxon for the upper part of the Adamanian
      biozone. 

PMID- 27635360
TI  - Whole gut microbiome composition of damselfish and cardinalfish before and after
      reef settlement.
AB  - The Pomacentridae (damselfish) and Apogonidae (cardinalfish) are among the most
      common fish families on coral reefs and in the aquarium trade. Members of both
      families undergo a pelagic larvae phase prior to settlement on the reef, where
      adults play key roles in benthic habitat structuring and trophic interactions.
      Fish-associated microbial communities (microbiomes) significantly influence fish
      health and ecology, yet little is known of how microbiomes change with life
      stage. We quantified the taxonomic (16S rRNA gene) composition of whole gut
      microbiomes from ten species of damselfish and two species of cardinalfish from
      Lizard Island, Australia, focusing specifically on comparisons between pelagic
      larvae prior to settlement on the reef versus post-settlement juvenile and adult
      individuals. On average, microbiome phylogenetic diversity increased from pre- to
      post-settlement, and was unrelated to the microbial composition in the
      surrounding water column. However, this trend varied among species, suggesting
      stochasticity in fish microbiome assembly. Pre-settlement fish were enriched with
      bacteria of the Endozoicomonaceae, Shewanellaceae, and Fusobacteriaceae, whereas
      settled fish harbored higher abundances of Vibrionaceae and Pasteurellaceae.
      Several individual operational taxonomic units, including ones related to Vibrio
      harveyi, Shewanella sp., and uncultured Endozoicomonas bacteria, were shared
      between both pre and post-settlement stages and may be of central importance in
      the intestinal niche across development. Richness of the core microbiome shared
      among pre-settlement fish was comparable to that of settled individuals,
      suggesting that changes in diversity with adulthood are due to the acquisition or
      loss of host-specific microbes. These results identify a key transition in
      microbiome structure across host life stage, suggesting changes in the functional
      contribution of microbiomes over development in two ecologically dominant reef
      fish families. 

PMID- 27635361
TI  - Cross-sectional study of expression of divalent metal transporter-1, transferrin,
      and hepcidin in blood of smelters who are occupationally exposed to manganese.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Manganese (Mn) is widely used in industries including the manufacture
      of Mn-iron (Fe) alloy. Occupational Mn overexposure causes manganism. Mn is known
      to affect Fe metabolism; this study was designed to test the hypothesis that
      workers exposed to Mn may have an altered expression of mRNAs encoding proteins
      in Fe metabolism. METHODS: Workers occupationally exposed to Mn (n = 71) from a
      Mn-Fe alloy factory and control workers without Mn-exposure (n = 48) from a pig
      iron plant from Zunyi, China, were recruited for this study. Blood samples were
      collected into Trizol-containing tubes. Total RNA was isolated, purified, and
      subjected to real-time RT-PCR analysis. Metal concentrations were quantified by
      atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Working environment and genetic
      background of both groups were similar except for marked differences in airborne
      Mn concentrations (0.18 mg/m(3) in Mn-Fe alloy factory vs. 0.0022 mg/m(3) in pig
      Fe plant), and in blood Mn levels (34.3 ug/L vs. 10.4 ug/L). Mn exposure caused a
      significant decrease in the expression of divalent metal transporter-1 (DMT1),
      transferrin (Tf) and hepcidin by 58.2%, 68.5% and 61.5%, respectively, as
      compared to controls, while the expression of transferrin receptor (TfR) was
      unaltered. Linear regression analysis revealed that expressions of DMT1, Tf and
      hepcidin were inversely correlated with the accumulative Mn exposure; the
      correlation coefficients (r) are -0.47, -0.54, and -0.49, respectively (p <
      0.01). CONCLUSION: The data suggest that occupational Mn exposure causes
      decreased expressions of DMT1, Tf and hepcidin in blood cells; the finding will
      help understand the mechanism underlying Mn exposure-associated alteration in Fe
      homeostasis among workers.

PMID- 27635362
TI  - Characterization, development and multiplexing of microsatellite markers in three
      commercially exploited reef fish and their application for stock identification.
AB  - Thirty-four microsatellite loci were isolated from three reef fish species;
      golden snapper Lutjanus johnii, blackspotted croaker Protonibea diacanthus and
      grass emperor Lethrinus laticaudis using a next generation sequencing approach.
      Both IonTorrent single reads and Illumina MiSeq paired-end reads were used, with
      the latter demonstrating a higher quality of reads than the IonTorrent. From the
      1-1.5 million raw reads per species, we successfully obtained 10-13 polymorphic
      loci for each species, which satisfied stringent design criteria. We developed
      multiplex panels for the amplification of the golden snapper and the blackspotted
      croaker loci, as well as post-amplification pooling panels for the grass emperor
      loci. The microsatellites characterized in this work were tested across three
      locations of northern Australia. The microsatellites we developed can detect
      population differentiation across northern Australia and may be used for genetic
      structure studies and stock identification. 

PMID- 27635363
TI  - Development and characterization of 24 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the
      freshwater fish Ichthyoelephas longirostris (Characiformes: Prochilodontidae).
AB  - The Neotropical freshwater fish Ichthyoelephas longirostris (Characiformes:
      prochilodontidae) is a short-distance migratory species endemic to Colombia. This
      study developed for the first time a set of 24 polymorphic microsatellite loci by
      using next-generation sequencing to explore the population genetics of this
      commercially exploited species. Nineteen of these loci were used to assess the
      genetic diversity and structure of 193 I. longirostris in three Colombian rivers
      of the Magdalena basin. Results showed that a single genetic stock circulates in
      the Cauca River, whereas other single different genetic stock is present in the
      rivers Samana Norte and San Bartolome-Magdalena. Additionally, I. longirostris
      was genetically different among and across rivers. This first insight about the
      population genetic structure of I. longirostris is crucial for monitoring the
      genetic diversity, the management and conservation of its populations, and
      complement the genetic studies in Prochilodontidae. 

PMID- 27635364
TI  - Parrotfish grazing ability: interspecific differences in relation to jaw-lever
      mechanics and relative weight of adductor mandibulae on an Okinawan coral reef.
AB  - Parrotfishes (family Labridae: Scarini) are regarded to have important roles for
      maintaining the ecosystem balance in coral reefs due to their removal of organic
      matter and calcic substrates by grazing. The purpose of the present study was to
      clarify the interspecific differences in grazing ability of five parrotfish
      species (Chlorurus sordidus, C. bowersi, Scarus rivulatus, S. niger and S.
      forsteni) in relation to interspecific differences in jaw-lever mechanics and the
      relative weight of the adductor mandibulae (muscles operating jaw closing). The
      grazing ability was calculated by using stomach contents (CaCO3 weight/organic
      matter weight) defined as the grazing ability index (GAI). There were significant
      interspecific differences in GAI (C. sordidus = C. bowersi > S. rivulatus > S.
      niger = S. forsteni). Teeth of C. sordidus and C. bowersi were protrusive-shape
      whereas teeth of S. rivulatus, S. niger and S. forsteni were flat-shape. C.
      sordidus and C. bowersihave jaw-lever mechanics producing a greater biting force
      and have a larger weight of adductor mandibulae. S. rivulatus has jaw-lever
      mechanics producing a greater biting force but a smaller weight of adductor
      mandibulae that produce an intermediate biting force. In contrast, S. niger and
      S. forsteni have jaw-lever mechanics producing a lesser biting force and have a
      smaller weight of adductor mandibulae. Feeding rates and foray size of S.
      rivulatus, S. niger and S. forsteni were greater than C. sordidus and C. bowersi.
      The degree in bioerosion (GAI * feeding rate) was the largest for S. rivulatusand
      the smallest for S. forsteni. The degree in bioerosion for C. sordidus was larger
      than S. niger whereas relatively equal between C. bowersi and S. niger. These
      results suggest that interspecific difference in GAI was explained by
      interspecific differences in teeth shape, jaw-lever mechanics and relative weight
      of adductor mandibulae. The interspecific difference in the degree of bioerosion
      suggests the importance of various size of parrotfishes with diverse feeding
      modes to maintain healthy coral reef ecosystems. 

PMID- 27635365
TI  - Inferring extinction in North American and Hawaiian birds in the presence of
      sighting uncertainty.
AB  - For most species the timing of extinction events is uncertain, occurring sometime
      after the last sighting. However, the sightings themselves may also be uncertain.
      Recently a number of methods have been developed that incorporate sighting
      uncertainty in the inference of extinction based on a series of sightings. Here
      we estimate the timing of extinction for 41 of 52 North American and Hawaiian
      bird taxa and populations, the results of which suggest all became extinct before
      2009. By acknowledging sighting uncertainty it results in two opposite effects,
      one pushing the timing of extinction away from the last sighting and the other
      drawing the timing of extinction nearer to it. However, for 14 assessed taxa and
      populations the upper 95% bounds lie beyond the end of the observation period and
      therefore suggest the possibility of continued persistence. This has important
      implications for conservation decision-makers and potentially reduces the
      likelihood of Romeo's Error. 

PMID- 27635366
TI  - Food safety in Thailand 4: comparison of pesticide residues found in three
      commonly consumed vegetables purchased from local markets and supermarkets in
      Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The wide use of pesticides raises concerns on the health risks
      associated with pesticide exposure. For developing countries, like Thailand,
      pesticide monitoring program (in vegetables and fruits) and also the maximum
      residue limits (MRL) regulation have not been entirely implemented. The MRL is a
      product limit, not a safety limit. The MRL is the maximum concentration of a
      pesticide residue (expressed as mg/kg) recommended by the Codex Alimentarius
      Commission to be legally permitted in or on food commodities and animal feeds
      (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2015; European Commission, 2015). MRLs are based
      on supervised residue trial data where the pesticide has been applied in
      accordance with GAP (Good Agricultural Practice). This study aims at providing
      comparison data on pesticide residues found in three commonly consumed vegetables
      (Chinese kale, pakchoi and morning glory) purchased from some local markets and
      supermarkets in Thailand. METHODS: These vegetables were randomly bought from
      local markets and supermarkets. Then they were analyzed for the content of 28
      pesticides by using GC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Types of pesticides detected in the
      samples either from local markets or supermarkets were similar. The incidence of
      detected pesticides was 100% (local markets) and 99% (supermarkets) for the
      Chinese kale; 98% (local markets) and 100% (supermarkets) for the pakchoi; and
      99% (local markets) and 97% (supermarkets) for the morning glory samples. The
      pesticides were detected exceeding their MRL at a rate of 48% (local markets) and
      35% (supermarkets) for the Chinese kale; 71% (local markets) and 55%
      (supermarkets) for the pakchoi, and 42% (local markets) and 49% (supermarkets)
      for the morning glory. DISCUSSION: These rates are much higher than those seen in
      developed countries. It should be noted that these findings were assessed on
      basis of using criteria (such as MRL) obtained from developed countries. Our
      findings were also confined to these vegetables sold in a few central provinces
      of Thailand and did not reflect for the whole country as sample sizes were small.
      Risk assessment due to consuming these pesticide contaminated vegetables, still
      remains to be evaluated. However, remarkably high incidence rates of detected
      pesticides give warning to the Thai authorities to implement proper regulations
      on pesticide monitoring program. Similar incidence of pesticide contamination
      found in the vegetables bought from local markets and supermarkets raises
      question regarding the quality of organic vegetables domestically sold in
      Thailand. This conclusion excludes Thai export quality vegetables and fruits
      routinely monitored for pesticide contamination before exporting.

PMID- 27635367
TI  - Role of smartphone addiction in gambling passion and schoolwork engagement: a
      Dualistic Model of Passion approach.
AB  - There are growing concerns that seem to suggest that students no longer engage in
      school-related activities as they ought to. Recent observation has revealed that
      students now spend excessive time participating in Internet gambling with their
      smartphone during school period. This trend could have far-reaching consequences
      on their schoolwork engagement and by extension, academic performance. Drawing on
      the Dualistic Model of Passion, this study therefore, examined the mediatory role
      of smartphone addiction in the gambling passion-schoolwork engagement relation. A
      cross-sectional design was adopted. Male undergraduates (N = 278) of a large
      public university in Nigeria who engage in Internet gambling participated in the
      study. They completed self-report measures of gambling passion, smartphone
      addiction, and schoolwork engagement. Results showed that harmonious gambling
      passion was not related to smartphone addiction whereas it was positively related
      to schoolwork engagement. Obsessive gambling passion had positive and negative
      relations with smartphone addiction and schoolwork engagement, respectively.
      Smartphone addiction was negatively related to schoolwork engagement and mediated
      only the obsessive gambling passion-schoolwork engagement relation but not that
      between harmonious gambling passion and schoolwork engagement. The theoretical
      and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

PMID- 27635369
TI  - A moment of truth.

PMID- 27635370
TI  - Distribution of Antibodies Specific to the 19-kDa and 33-kDa Fragments of
      Plasmodium vivax Merozoite Surface Protein 1 in Two Pathogenic Strains Infecting
      Korean Vivax Malaria Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein 1 (PvMSP1) is the most
      intensively studied malaria vaccine candidate. Although high antibody response
      inducing two C-terminal fragments of PvMSP1 (PvMSP1-19 and PvMSP1-42) are
      currently being developed as candidate malaria vaccine antigens, their high
      genetic diversity in various isolates is a major hurdle. The sequence
      polymorphism of PvMSP1 has been investigated; however, the humoral immune
      responses induced by different portions of this protein have not been evaluated
      in Korea. METHODS: Two fragments of PvMSP1 were selected for this study: (1)
      PvMSP1-19, which is genetically conserved; and (2) PvMSP1-33, which corresponds
      to a variable portion. For the latter, two representative strains, Sal 1 and
      Belem, were included. Thus, three recombinant proteins, PvMSP1-19, PvMSP1-33 Sal
      1, and PvMSP1-33 Belem, were produced in Escherichia coli and then tested by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using sera from 221 patients with vivax
      malaria. RESULTS: Of the 221 samples, 198, 142, and 106 samples were seropositive
      for PvMSP1-19, PvMSP1-33 Sal 1, and PvMSP1-33 Belem, respectively. Although 100
      samples were simultaneously seropositive for antibodies specific to all the
      recombinant proteins, 39 and six samples were respectively seropositive for
      antibodies specific to MSP1-33 Sal 1 and MSP1-33 Belem. Antibodies specific to
      PvMSP1-19 were the most prevalent. CONCLUSION: Monitoring seroprevalence is
      essential for the selection of promising vaccine candidates as most of the
      antigenic proteins in P. vivax are highly polymorphic.

PMID- 27635368
TI  - Anatomical site-specific contributions of pneumococcal virulence determinants.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen globally associated with
      significant morbidity and mortality. It is capable of causing a wide range of
      diseases including sinusitis, conjunctivitis, otitis media, pneumonia,
      bacteraemia, sepsis, and meningitis. While its capsular polysaccharide is
      indispensible for invasive disease, and opsonising antibodies against the capsule
      are the basis for the current vaccines, a long history of biomedical research
      indicates that other components of this Gram-positive bacterium are also critical
      for virulence. Herein we review the contribution of pneumococcal virulence
      determinants to survival and persistence in the context of distinct anatomical
      sites. We discuss how these determinants allow the pneumococcus to evade
      mucociliary clearance during colonisation, establish lower respiratory tract
      infection, resist complement deposition and opsonophagocytosis in the
      bloodstream, and invade secondary tissues such as the central nervous system
      leading to meningitis. We do so in a manner that highlights both the critical
      role of the capsular polysaccharide and the accompanying and necessary protein
      determinants. Understanding the complex interplay between host and pathogen is
      necessary to find new ways to prevent pneumococcal infection. This review is an
      attempt to do so with consideration for the latest research findings.

PMID- 27635371
TI  - Does Skipping Breakfast and Being Overweight Influence Academic Achievement Among
      Korean Adolescents?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Health status and health behaviors are associated with academic
      achievement in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate whether skipping breakfast and being overweight are related to
      academic achievement of Korean adolescents. METHODS: Cross-sectional data on a
      sample of 1,652 high-school seniors (942 males and 710 females) drawn from the
      2004 Korea Education Employment Panel were analyzed. RESULTS: A higher proportion
      of males (15.3%) than females (6.1%) was overweight (p < 0.001); 37% of males and
      41% of females reported skipping breakfast. Overall test scores were
      significantly higher for females than males (p < 0.05), and in language and
      foreign language subjects. However, both males and females who reported skipping
      breakfast had significantly lower scores in language, mathematics, and foreign
      language than those who did not report skipping breakfast. Overweight males had a
      lower probability than normal-weight males of having the highest language scores
      (OR = 0.52, p < 0.05), but there was no difference among females. Females who
      skipped breakfast had a lower probability of having the highest scores in
      language (OR = 0.41, p < 0.05), mathematics (OR = 0.24, p < 0.01), or foreign
      language (OR = 0.18, p < 0.01), while males had a lower probability of having the
      highest scores in language only (OR = 0.46, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Skipping
      breakfast and being overweight are associated with poor academic achievement in
      Korean adolescents. Eating breakfast and weight control is being discussed as the
      overlooked factors that may influence better academic achievement.

PMID- 27635372
TI  - High Tobacco Use among Presumptive Tuberculosis Patients, South India: Time to
      Integrate Control of Two Epidemics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Tobacco is an important risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) infection
      and TB disease. Identifying tobacco users and providing tobacco cessation
      services is expected to reduce the burden of TB. We assessed tobacco use among
      presumptive TB patients attending a tertiary hospital and their willingness to
      attend tobacco cessation services. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted
      among presumptive TB patients attending a designated microscopy center of a
      tertiary hospital in South India. All presumptive TB patients aged >= 18 years
      attending the designated microscopy center were interviewed using a
      semistructured interview schedule. Data on presumptive TB patient's age, sex,
      tobacco use and forms of tobacco, attempts to quit tobacco since 1 year, and
      willingness to attend a smoking cessation clinic in tertiary hospital were
      captured. History of use of tobacco in the past 1 month was considered as
      "tobacco use.". RESULTS: A total of 424 presumptive TB patients aged >= 18 years
      were interviewed. Tobacco use in the past 1 month was reported by 176 (41.5%, 95%
      confidence interval: 36.9-46.3%) presumptive TB patients. In total, 78 (18%)
      presumptive TB patients were eventually diagnosed with smear-positive pulmonary
      TB, of them 63 (80%) were tobacco users. Presumptive TB patients aged >= 30
      years, male sex, and < 10 years of education were significantly associated with
      tobacco use. Of 176, a majority of 132 (75%) used some form of smoking. Of a
      total of 132 smokers, 70 (53%) were willing to avail of tobacco cessation
      services. CONCLUSION: Tobacco use among presumptive TB patients was high.
      Considering the high willingness to quit among smokers, proven brief
      interventions to help quit smoking can be tried.

PMID- 27635373
TI  - Evaluating Service Quality from Patients' Perceptions: Application of Importance
      performance Analysis Method.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Providing high service quality is one of the main functions of health
      systems. Measuring service quality is the basic prerequisite for improving
      quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of service in teaching
      hospitals using importance-performance analysis matrix. METHODS: A descriptive
      analytic study was conducted through a cross-sectional method in six academic
      hospitals of Qazvin, Iran, in 2012. A total of 360 patients contributed to the
      study. The sampling technique was stratified random sampling. Required data were
      collected based on a standard questionnaire (SERVQUAL). Data analysis was done
      through SPSS version 18 statistical software and importance-performance analysis
      matrix. RESULTS: The results showed a significant gap between importance and
      performance in all five dimensions of service quality (p < 0.05). In reviewing
      the gap, "reliability" (2.36) and "assurance" (2.24) dimensions had the highest
      quality gap and "responsiveness" had the lowest gap (1.97). Also, according to
      findings, reliability and assurance were in Quadrant (I), empathy was in Quadrant
      (II), and tangibles and responsiveness were in Quadrant (IV) of the importance
      performance matrix. CONCLUSION: The negative gap in all dimensions of quality
      shows that quality improvement is necessary in all dimensions. Using quality and
      diagnosis measurement instruments such as importance-performance analysis will
      help hospital managers with planning of service quality improvement and achieving
      long-term goals.

PMID- 27635374
TI  - Assessment of Service Quality in Teaching Hospitals of Yazd University of Medical
      Sciences: Using Multi-criteria Decision Making Techniques.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Hospitals as integrated parts of the wide-ranging health care systems
      have dominant focus on health care provision to meet, maintain and promote
      people's health needs of a community. This study aimed to assess the service
      quality of teaching hospitals of Yazd University of Medical Sciences using Fuzzy
      Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Technique for Order Preference by
      Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). METHODS: A literature review and a
      qualitative method were used to obtain experts' viewpoints about the quality
      dimensions of hospital services to design a questionnaire. Then, using a self
      made questionnaire, perceptions of 300 patients about the quality of delivered
      services were gathered. Finally, FAHP was applied to weigh each quality dimension
      and TOPSIS method to rank hospital wards. RESULTS: Six dimensions including
      responsiveness, assurance, security, tangibles, health communication and Patient
      orientation were identified as affecting aspects of hospital services quality
      among which, security and tangibles got the highest and lowest importance
      respectively (0.25406, 0.06883). Findings also revealed that in hospital A,
      orthopedics and ophthalmology wards obtained the highest score in terms of
      quality while cardiology department got the lowest ranking (0.954, 0.323). In
      hospital B, the highest and the lowest ranking was belonged to cardiology and
      surgical wards (0.895, 0.00) while in hospital C, surgical units were rated
      higher than internal wards (0.959, 0.851). CONCLUSION: Findings emphasized that
      the security dimension got the lowest ranking among SERVQUAL facets in studied
      hospitals. This requires hospital executives to pay special attention to the
      issue of patients' security and plan effectively for its promotion.

PMID- 27635375
TI  - Development of a Food Safety and Nutrition Education Program for Adolescents by
      Applying Social Cognitive Theory.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop an educational model
      regarding food safety and nutrition. In particular, we aimed to develop
      educational materials, such as middle- and high-school textbooks, a teacher's
      guidebook, and school posters, by applying social cognitive theory. METHODS: To
      develop a food safety and nutrition education program, we took into account
      diverse factors influencing an individual's behavior, such as personal,
      behavioral, and environmental factors, based on social cognitive theory. We also
      conducted a pilot study of the educational materials targeting middle-school
      students (n = 26), high-school students (n = 24), and dietitians (n = 13)
      regarding comprehension level, content, design, and quality by employing the 5
      point Likert scale in May 2016. RESULTS: The food safety and nutrition education
      program covered six themes: (1) caffeine; (2) food additives; (3) foodborne
      illness; (4) nutrition and meal planning; (5) obesity and eating disorders; and
      (6) nutrition labeling. Each class activity was created to improve self-efficacy
      by setting one's own goal and to increase self-control by monitoring one's
      dietary intake. We also considered environmental factors by creating school
      posters and leaflets to educate teachers and parents. The overall evaluation
      score for the textbook was 4.0 points among middle- and high-school students, and
      4.5 points among dietitians. CONCLUSION: This study provides a useful program
      model that could serve as a guide to develop educational materials for nutrition
      related subjects in the curriculum. This program model was created to increase
      awareness of nutrition problems and self-efficacy. This program also helped to
      improve nutrition management skills and to promote a healthy eating environment
      in middle- and high-school students.

PMID- 27635376
TI  - Diversity of Emotional Intelligence among Nursing and Medical Students.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to identify the types of perception of
      emotional intelligence among nursing and medical students and their
      characteristics using Q methodology, and to build the basic data for the
      development of a program for the would-be medical professionals to effectively
      adapt to various clinical settings in which their emotions are involved. METHODS:
      Data were collected from 35 nursing and medical students by allowing them to
      classify 40 Q statements related to emotional intelligence and processed using
      the PC QUANL program. RESULTS: The perceptions of emotional intelligence by
      nursing and medical students were categorized into three types: "sensitivity
      control type", "sympathy-motivation type", and "concern-sympathy type".
      CONCLUSION: The perceptions of emotional intelligence by nursing and medical
      students can represent an effective coping strategy in a situation where emotion
      is involved. In the medical profession, an occupation with a high level of
      emotional labor, it is important to identify the types of emotional intelligence
      for an effective coping strategy, which may have a positive effect on the
      performance of an organization. Based on the findings of this study, it is
      necessary to plan an education program for vocational adaptability for nursing
      and medical students by their types.

PMID- 27635377
TI  - Timing of Spermarche and Menarche are Associated with Physical Activity and
      Sedentary Behavior Among Korean Adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examined the timing of menarche and spermarche and their
      associations with physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) after
      controlling for body mass index (BMI). METHODS: Multiple logistic regression
      analyses were conducted to determine whether the timing of menarche in girls and
      spermarche in boys is associated with PA and SB independent of BMI in a
      nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents (13-18 years; N = 74,186).
      RESULTS: After controlling for age, family economic status, and BMI, early timing
      of spermarche among boys was associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in
      PA and a lower likelihood of engaging in SB for < 2 hours during weekdays. By
      contrast, boys with late timing of spermarche were less likely to engage in PA
      and more likely to engage in SB for < 2 hours. Among girls, early or late timing
      of menarche was associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in PA and a lower
      likelihood of engaging in SB. CONCLUSION: Timing of menarche in girls and
      spermarche in boys could be a marker for PA and SB among Korean adolescents. To
      promote PA and discourage SB among Korean adolescents, school-based, grade
      specific interventions can be tailored by the absence or presence of
      menarche/spermarche.

PMID- 27635378
TI  - Factors Influencing Animal Bites in Iran: A Descriptive Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Animal bite is a significant health economic challenge worldwide. In
      Iran, there has been an increase in the number of animal bites in recent years.
      This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of animal bites and
      their influencing factors in Semirom, Iran, from 2008 to 2012. METHODS: This was
      a descriptive study conducted for 5 years. The data were based on the information
      sheets presented in health-care centers concerning how to combat against rabies
      caused by animal bites. The data obtained were classified and analyzed
      statistically. RESULTS: During the 5-year study period, 1,246 animal bite cases
      were reported; 60% of the victims belonged to rural areas and the remaining 40%
      to urban areas. Among various aggressive animals, dogs had the highest rate of
      attacks (63.4%). The highest rate of animal bite (23.19%) was reported in the age
      group of 10-19 years and the lowest one (2.32%) was reported in the age group of
      0-4 years. The animal bite rates among men and women were 76% and 24%;
      respectively. The highest and lowest rates were found among students (23.5%) and
      employees (5.5%), respectively. Regarding the commonly injured organ, the highest
      (67%) and lowest rates (23%) were for lower extremities and head and face,
      respectively. Regarding the nationality of the victims, 98% were Iranians and the
      rest were Afghan. CONCLUSION: Given the increasing number of animal bites
      reported, there is a need to implement strategies to prevent bite-related
      complications, which may have health and financial burden on the country. It is
      also necessary to increase awareness among target groups and to formulate
      preventive strategies with the help of various authorities to control animal
      bites.

PMID- 27635379
TI  - Assessing mediation of behavioral and stress pathways in the association between
      neighborhood environments and obesity outcomes.
AB  - Although many studies have reported associations between characteristics of the
      neighborhood environment and obesity, little is understood about the pathways or
      mechanisms through which these associations operate. The purpose of this study
      was to examine possible behavioral and stress pathways hypothesized to mediate
      the association between neighborhood environments and obesity and whether
      pathways contribute to different obesity outcomes. Cross-sectional data were used
      from the 2012-2014 Women and Their Children's Health Study (WaTCH) in Louisiana
      (N = 909). Participants' neighborhoods, body mass index (BMI) and waist
      circumference (WC) were objectively measured. The causal inference approach to
      mediation analysis was used to obtain indirect estimates for self-reported
      measures of physical activity, low access to food, and depression. The mean BMI
      was 32.0 kg/m(2) and the mean WC was 98.6 cm. The (adverse) neighborhood
      environment was significantly associated BMI (beta = 0.17 kg/m(2); 95% Confidence
      Interval (CI): 0.03, 0.31) and WC (beta = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.95, after
      adjusting for covariates. Neither depression, physical activity, nor low food
      access mediated those associations. Further research that investigates and uses
      better measures of the behavioral and stress pathways through which the
      neighborhood environment influences obesity is warranted. 

PMID- 27635380
TI  - A voluntary nutrition labeling program in restaurants: Consumer awareness, use of
      nutrition information, and food selection.
AB  - Health Check (HC) was a voluntary nutrition labeling program developed by the
      Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada as a guide to help consumers choose healthy
      foods. Items meeting nutrient criteria were identified with a HC symbol. This
      study examined the impact of the program on differences in consumer awareness and
      use of nutritional information in restaurants. Exit surveys were conducted with
      1126 patrons outside four HC and four comparison restaurants in Ontario, Canada
      (2013). Surveys assessed participant noticing of nutrition information, influence
      of nutrition information on menu selection, and nutrient intake. Significantly
      more patrons at HC restaurants noticed nutrition information than at comparison
      restaurants (34.2% vs. 28.1%; OR = 1.39; p = 0.019); however, only 5% of HC
      restaurant patrons recalled seeing the HC symbol. HC restaurant patrons were more
      likely to say that their order was influenced by nutrition information (10.9% vs.
      4.5%; OR = 2.96, p < 0.001); and consumed less saturated fat and carbohydrates,
      and more protein and fibre (p < 0.05). Approximately 15% of HC restaurant patrons
      ordered HC approved items; however, only 1% ordered a HC item and mentioned
      seeing the symbol in the restaurant in an unprompted recall task, and only 4%
      ordered a HC item and reported seeing the symbol on the item when asked directly.
      The HC program was associated with greater levels of noticing and influence of
      nutrition information, and more favourable nutrient intake; however, awareness of
      the HC program was very low and differences most likely reflect the type of
      restaurants that "self-selected" into the program. 

PMID- 27635381
TI  - Perceptions of emerging tobacco products and nicotine replacement therapy among
      pregnant women and women planning a pregnancy.
AB  - The increasing availability of emerging non-combusted tobacco products (snus,
      dissolvables, and electronic nicotine delivery systems or ENDS) may have
      implications for pregnant women and women of reproductive age. We conducted 15
      focus groups to explore how women perceive emerging non-combusted tobacco
      products and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in general, and during pregnancy.
      Sessions were held in 2013 in four U.S. cities. Participants were 18-40 years old
      and were pregnant smokers, pregnant quitters, or smokers planning a pregnancy.
      Responses were coded and analyzed to identify key themes using NVivo 10.0
      qualitative software (QSR). Several themes emerged from focus groups.
      Participants generally found snus unappealing, but viewed dissolvables as a
      discreet and stigma-free way to use tobacco during pregnancy. Participants
      perceived NRT as ineffective and having undesired side effects. ENDS were thought
      to offer advantages over cigarettes, including use in smoke-free areas, lower
      cost, appealing flavors, and fewer health effects, and were seen by some as a
      potential quit aid. Some participants, however, worried that the lack of natural
      stopping point could lead to excessive use. Many participants felt that the use
      of any tobacco or NRT product is harmful during pregnancy. Women seeking to
      reduce health risks or stigma related to smoking during pregnancy may perceive
      advantages of using some emerging products over cigarettes. These findings can
      inform future public health efforts to reduce risks associated with tobacco
      product use among women of reproductive age. 

PMID- 27635382
TI  - Pasteurella multocida pleural effusion: A case report and review of literature.
AB  - We describe a man who developed pleural effusion with Pasteurella multocida, and
      review the reported literature concerning this entity. We identified 21 such
      cases, including our own. Most patients with P. multocida pleural effusions are
      immunocompromised and/or have significant co-morbidities. These effusions are
      typically complicated parapneumonic effusions that are grossly purulent (87%)
      with a low pleural fluid pH (mean 6.8), high protein (mean 4.8 g/dl) and high LDH
      (mean 1911 U/L) and low glucose (28.6 mg/dl). Pleural fluid drainage with tube
      thoracostomy was required in the majority (62%) of cases. 

PMID- 27635383
TI  - Necrotizing retinitis due to syphilis in a patient with AIDS.
AB  - The ocular manifestations of syphilis are varied. Ocular syphilis can occur
      during any stage of infection and involve virtually any part of the eye. In
      immunocompetent individuals, the most common etiologies include syphilitic
      uveitis. Although the clinical presentation of ocular syphilis in HIV-infected
      patients is also widespread, posterior segment involvement has been more commonly
      described particularly in patients with AIDS. The diagnosis of syphilitic
      retinitis is challenging since its clinical presentation mimics retinitis caused
      by other viral etiologies. In addition, HIV-infected individuals with syphilis
      are more likely to develop aberrant serologic responses. Recognition of
      syphilitic retinitis and prompt initiation of penicillin therapy is of critical
      importance since syphilitic retinitis generally responds well to treatment and
      loss of vision is reversible. In this report, we describe a 39-year-old female
      with advanced stages of AIDS who developed necrotizing retinitis due to syphilis.
      Prompt initiation of intravenous penicillin led to excellent visual outcome for
      this patient despite significantly decreased visual acuity on presentation. 

PMID- 27635384
TI  - Splenic tuberculosis in a patient with newly diagnosed advanced HIV infection.
AB  - The extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) constitutes to about 20% of all TB cases.
      Among extra-pulmonary form, splenic TB is very rare clinical condition especially
      as initial manifestation in a developed country. Diagnosis of splenic TB is
      challenging because it presents no specific symptoms or typical imaging findings
      and microbiological confirmation is not straight forward. We describe the case of
      a 55 year old Italian female with advanced HIV infection whose first AIDS
      clinical manifestation was a TB splenic abscess.On CT, the lesion was
      multilocular, hypovascular, 34 mm large, and presented contrast enhancement and a
      spoke wheel pattern; it was initially considered a cystic formation of parasitic
      nature. In this patient clinical manifestations were nonspecific (nightly fever,
      weight loss, and fatigue); as diagnostic imaging could not pinpoint the
      underlying etiology, microbiological and molecular examinations of spleen abscess
      drainage proved pivotal for the diagnosis. The patient improved clinically with
      antitubercular therapy. The rarityof splenic tuberculosis in an European patient
      coupled with the involvement of the spleen in isolation and outside the "miliary"
      setting prompted us to report this case. 

PMID- 27635385
TI  - Vaginal Approach to Excise a Rare Paraurethral Leiomyoma.
AB  - Leiomyomas are benign tumors of smooth muscle origin occurring throughout the
      genitourinary system. While leiomyomas in the uterus are frequently seen,
      urethral and paraurethral leiomyomas are extremely rare with a hand full of cases
      in the literature. Typically, periurethral leiomyomas can present with a mass
      protruding from the urethra originating from the proximal and posterior portion
      of the urethra. Herein, we present a new case of a paraurethral leiomyoma causing
      mass effect on the bladder leading to lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) with no
      gross involvement of the urethra. 

PMID- 27635386
TI  - ST-elevation myocardial infarction risk in the very elderly.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the high incidence and mortality of ST-segment elevation
      myocardial infarction (STEMI) among the very elderly, risk markers for this
      condition remain poorly defined. This study was designed to identify independent
      markers of STEMI among individuals carefully selected for being healthy or
      manifesting STEMI in < 24 h. METHODS: We enrolled participants aged 80 years or
      older of whom 50 were STEMI patients and 207 had never manifested cardiovascular
      diseases. Blood tests, medical and psychological evaluations were obtained at
      study admission. Odds Ratio (OR) and attributed risk (AR) were obtained by
      multivariate regression models using STEMI as dependent variable. RESULTS: Low
      glomerular filtration rate (GFR) [OR:4.41 (1.78-10.95); p = 0.001], reduced
      levels of HDL-C [OR:10.70 (3.88-29.46); p = 0.001], male gender [OR:12.08 (5.82
      25.08); p = 0.001], moderate to severe depressive symptoms [OR:10.00 (2.82
      35.50); p = 0.001], prior smoking [OR:2.00 (1.05-3.80); p = 0.034] and current
      smoking [OR:6.58 (1.99-21.70); p = 0.002] were significantly associated with
      STEMI. No association was found between STEMI and age, diabetes, hypertension,
      mild depressive symptoms, triglyceride or LDL-C. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first
      case-control study carried out with very elderlies to assess STEMI risk. Our
      findings indicate that reduced HDL-C, GFR, male gender, smoking habits and
      moderate to severe depressive symptoms are markers of STEMI in this age group.
      GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: In Individuals aged 80 or more years, a greater attention
      must be paid to low HDL-C and GFR at the expense of conventional STEMI risk
      factors for younger adults such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and high LDL-C
      or triglyceride.

PMID- 27635387
TI  - Simple Arm Tourniquet as an Adjunct to Double-Cuff Tourniquet in Intravenous
      Regional Anesthesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intravenous Regional Anesthesia (IVRA) is a well-known technique for
      producing analgesia during surgical procedures in the extremities. However, the
      rapid onset of pain following the deflation of a double-cuff tourniquet during
      IVRA is a serious disadvantage, leading patient suffering. OBJECTIVES: The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a pneumatic arm
      tourniquet applied 2 cm above the double-cuff tourniquet in controlling the pain
      that occurs after its deflation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients undergoing
      outpatient hand surgery were operated on under IVRA, using 40 - 50 mL of a
      solution containing 3 mg/kg of lignocaine. A simple pneumatic tourniquet was
      applied proximal to the double-cuff tourniquet, 3 min before its deflation, while
      the procedure was being conducted. The severity of pain on the basis of the
      Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) was assessed throughout the operation, and continued
      until an hour after the double-cuff tourniquet was removed. RESULTS: The mean
      operation time after the deflation of the double-cuff tourniquet was 20.12 +/-
      6.1 minutes. Moreover, the mean NRS for the post-deflation time was insignificant
      (NRS = 2), and only one patient during first 20 minutes received opioids.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that a pneumatic arm tourniquet as an adjunct to
      IVRA provides acceptable analgesia following the deflation of the double- cuff
      tourniquet for relieving surgical pain.

PMID- 27635388
TI  - Emergency Corrective Surgery of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia With Pulmonary
      Hypertension: Prolonged Use of Dexmedetomidine as a Pharmacologic Adjunct.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Underdevelopment of the lung parenchyma associated with abnormal
      growth of pulmonary vasculature in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia
      results in pulmonary hypertension which mandates smooth elective mechanical
      ventilation in postoperative period, for proper alveolar recruitment and
      oxygenation, allowing lungs to mature enough for its functional anatomy and
      physiology. Dexmedetomidine is sympatholytic, reduces pulmonary vascular
      resistance and exerts sedative and analgesic property to achieve stable
      hemodynamics during elective ventilation. Neonatal experience with
      dexmedetomidine has been predominately in the form of short term or procedural
      use as a sedative. CASE PRESENTATION: The preliminary clinical experience with
      pre-induction to 48 hours postoperative use of dexmedetomidine infusion as a
      pharmacologic adjunct in the emergency corrective surgery of three such neonates
      are presented. CONCLUSIONS: Hemodynamics remained virtually stable during the
      whole procedure and post-operative pain relief and recovery profile were
      satisfactory. The prolonged infusion was well tolerated with a gradual trend
      towards improved oxygen saturation. Careful planning of the anesthetic management
      and the ability to titrate the adjunct utilized for smooth postoperative
      ventilation are the keys to ameliorate the complications encountered and
      favorable outcomes achieved in such patients.

PMID- 27635389
TI  - The Preventive Role of Low-Dose Intravenous Ketamine on Postoperative Shivering
      in Children: A Placebo Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative shivering is a major problem in children undergoing
      general anesthesia. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate
      the role of low-dose intravenous ketamine for prevention of shivering after
      induction of general anesthesia in children who had undergone tonsillectomy.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled
      trial including 80 children, of American society of anesthesiologists (ASA)
      physical status I or II, scheduled for tonsillectomy under general anesthesia who
      were randomly assigned to an intravenous ketamine (0.5 mg/kg, n = 40; group K)
      group or matched dose placebo (n = 40; group N) group. Surgical and demographic
      data, unexpected side effects, and the occurrence of shivering for each child
      were assessed by a blinded observer at the following time points: T0, in the
      recovery room; T10, at 10 minutes; T20, at 20 minutes; T30, and at 30 minutes.
      RESULTS: With regards to the demographic and surgical data, no significant
      differences between the two study groups were observed (P >= 0.05). Shivering
      intensity in children who had received ketamine was significantly lower than
      children who had not received ketamine, at T0, T10, T20, and T30 after arrival (P
      < 0.05). There were no significant differences in hallucination, nausea,
      vomiting, hemodynamic dysfunction, blurred vision, and seizure in the K group
      compared with the N group (P >= 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Administration of intravenous
      ketamine at a dosage of 0.5 mg/kg immediately after anesthesia induction had a
      preventive effect on shivering intensity without hemodynamic alterations in
      children undergoing general anesthesia for tonsillectomy.

PMID- 27635390
TI  - Relationship Between Perineural Invasion in Prostate Needle Biopsy Specimens and
      Pathologic Staging After Radical Prostatectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy among men
      worldwide and the sixth cause of cancer-related death. Some authors have reported
      a relationship between perineural invasion (PNI), Gleason score, and the invasion
      of peripheral organs during prostatectomy. However, it is not yet clear whether
      pathological evidence of PNI is necessary for risk stratification in selecting
      treatment type. OBJECTIVES: The clinical and pathological stages of prostate
      cancer are compared in patients under radical prostatectomy and in patients
      without perineural invasion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was
      conducted using a sample of 109 patients who attended a tertiary health care
      center from 2008 to 2013. The selection criteria were PNI in prostate biopsy with
      Gleason scores less than six, seven, and eight to ten. The participants were
      enrolled in a census manner, and they underwent clinical staging. After radical
      prostatectomy, the rates of pathological staging were compared. The under-staging
      and over-staging rates among those with and without perineural invasion in biopsy
      samples were compared. RESULTS: The concordance between Gleason scores according
      to biopsy and pathology was 36.7% (40 subjects). The concordance rate was 46.4%
      and 33.3% among those with and without PNI, respectively. The concordance rates
      were significantly varied in different subclasses of Gleason scores in patients
      without PNI (P = 0.003); the highest concordance rate was a Gleason score of 7
      (63.6%) and the lowest was a Gleason score of eight to ten (25%). However, there
      were no significant differences in patients with PNI (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Although the presence of PNI in prostate biopsy is accompanied by higher surgical
      stages, PNI is not an appropriate independent factor in risk stratification.

PMID- 27635391
TI  - S100 and p65 expression are increased in the masseter muscle after botulinum
      toxin-A injection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the expression levels of p65
      and S100 in the rat masseter muscle after the injection of different
      concentrations of botulinum toxin-A (BTX-A). METHODS: We injected either 5 or 10
      U of BTX-A into both masseter muscle of rats. As a control group, the same volume
      of saline was injected. After 14 days, the animals were sacrificed. Subsequently,
      a biopsy and immunohistochemical staining of the samples were performed using a
      p65 or S100 antibody. RESULTS: The cross-sectional area of each myofibril was
      significantly reduced by BTX-A injection (P < 0.001). The expression of p65 and
      S100 increased significantly with increasing concentrations of BTX-A (P < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The injection of BTX-A into the masseter muscle induced muscle
      atrophy. Subsequently, p65 and S100 expression in myoblasts were increased for
      the protection of muscle cells.

PMID- 27635392
TI  - An Outcome Study of Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion among Iranian
      Population.
AB  - Background and Aim. First-line treatment strategy for managing cervical disc
      herniation is conservative measures. In some cases, surgery is indicated either
      due to signs/symptoms of severe/progressive neurological deficits, or because of
      persistence of radicular pain despite 12 weeks of conservative treatment. Success
      for treatment of cervical disc herniation using ACDF has been successfully
      reported in the literature. We aim to determine the outcome of ACDF in treatment
      of cervical disc herniation among Iranians. Methods and Materials/Patients. In a
      retrospective cohort study, we evaluated 68 patients who had undergone ACDF for
      cervical disc herniation from March 2006 to March 2011. Outcome tools were as
      follows: (1) study-designed questionnaire that addressed residual and/or new
      complaints and subjective satisfaction with the operation; (2) recent (one week
      prior to the interview) postoperative VAS for neck and upper extremity radicular
      pain; (3) Japanese Orthopaedic Association Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire
      (JOACMEQ) (standard Persian version); and (4) follow-up cervical Magnetic
      Resonance Imaging (MRI) and lateral X-ray. Results. With mean follow-up time of
      52.93 (months) +/- 31.89 SD (range: 13-131 months), we had success rates with
      regard to DeltaVAS for neck and radicular pain of 88.2% and 89.7%, respectively.
      Except QOL functional score of JOAMEQ, 100% success rate for the other 4
      functional scores of JOAMEQ was achieved. Conclusion. ACDF is a successful
      surgical technique for the management of cervical disc herniation among Iranian
      population. 

PMID- 27635393
TI  - IPS Interest in the EEG of Patients after a Single Epileptic Seizure.
AB  - Objective. This study aims to evaluate the incidence of pathological cerebral
      activity responses to intermittent rhythmic photic stimulation (IPS) after a
      single epileptic seizure. Patients and Methods. One hundred and thirty-seven EEGs
      were performed at the Neurophysiology Department of Mohamed V Teaching Military
      Hospital in Rabat. Clinical and EEG data was collected. Results. 9.5% of our
      patients had photoparoxysmal discharges (PPD). Incidence was higher in males than
      in females, but p value was not significant (p = 0.34), and it was higher in
      children compared to adults with significant p value (p = 0.08). The most
      epileptogenic frequencies were within the range 15-20 Hz. 63 patients had an EEG
      after 72 hours; among them 11 were photosensitive (p = 0.001). The frequency of
      the PPR was significantly higher in patients with generalized abnormalities than
      in focal abnormalities (p = 0.001). EEG confirmed a genetic generalized epilepsy
      in 8 cases among 13 photosensitive patients. Conclusion. PPR is age related. The
      frequencies within the range 15-20 Hz should inevitably be included in EEG
      protocols. The presence of PPR after a first seizure is probably more in favor of
      generalized seizure rather than the other type of seizure. PPR seems independent
      from the delay Seizure-EEG. Our study did not show an association between sex and
      photosensitivity. 

PMID- 27635394
TI  - Genome-Wide Analysis of Genes Encoding Methionine-Rich Proteins in Arabidopsis
      and Soybean Suggesting Their Roles in the Adaptation of Plants to Abiotic Stress.
AB  - Oxidation and reduction of methionine (Met) play important roles in scavenging
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and signaling in living organisms. To understand
      the impacts of Met oxidation and reduction in plants during stress, we surveyed
      the genomes of Arabidopsis and soybean (Glycine max L.) for genes encoding Met
      rich proteins (MRPs). We found 121 and 213 genes encoding MRPs in Arabidopsis and
      soybean, respectively. Gene annotation indicated that those with known function
      are involved in vital cellular processes such as transcriptional control, calcium
      signaling, protein modification, and metal transport. Next, we analyzed the
      transcript levels of MRP-coding genes under normal and stress conditions. We
      found that 57 AtMRPs were responsive either to drought or to high salinity stress
      in Arabidopsis; 35 GmMRPs were responsive to drought in the leaf of late
      vegetative or early reproductive stages of soybean. Among the MRP genes with a
      known function, the majority of the abiotic stress-responsive genes are involved
      in transcription control and calcium signaling. Finally, Arabidopsis plant which
      overexpressed an MRP-coding gene, whose transcripts were downregulated by abiotic
      stress, was more sensitive to paraquat than the control. Taken together, our
      report indicates that MRPs participate in various vital processes of plants under
      normal and stress conditions. 

PMID- 27635395
TI  - Many Is Better Than One: An Integration of Multiple Simple Strategies for
      Accurate Lung Segmentation in CT Images.
AB  - Accurate lung segmentation is an essential step in developing a computer-aided
      lung disease diagnosis system. However, because of the high variability of
      computerized tomography (CT) images, it remains a difficult task to accurately
      segment lung tissue in CT slices using a simple strategy. Motived by the
      aforementioned, a novel CT lung segmentation method based on the integration of
      multiple strategies was proposed in this paper. Firstly, in order to avoid noise,
      the input CT slice was smoothed using the guided filter. Then, the smoothed slice
      was transformed into a binary image using an optimized threshold. Next, a region
      growing strategy was employed to extract thorax regions. Then, lung regions were
      segmented from the thorax regions using a seed-based random walk algorithm. The
      segmented lung contour was then smoothed and corrected with a curvature-based
      correction method on each axis slice. Finally, with the lung masks, the lung
      region was automatically segmented from a CT slice. The proposed method was
      validated on a CT database consisting of 23 scans, including a number of 883 2D
      slices (the number of slices per scan is 38 slices), by comparing it to the
      commonly used lung segmentation method. Experimental results show that the
      proposed method accurately segmented lung regions in CT slices. 

PMID- 27635396
TI  - Different Vancomycin Immunoassays Contribute to the Variability in Vancomycin
      Trough Measurements in Neonates.
AB  - Substantial interassay variability (up to 20%) has been described for vancomycin
      immunoassays in adults, but the impact of neonatal matrix is difficult to
      quantify because of blood volume constraints in neonates. However, we provide
      circumstantial evidence for a similar extent of variability. Using the same
      vancomycin dosing regimens and confirming similarity in clinical characteristics,
      vancomycin trough concentrations measured by PETINIA (2011-2012, n = 400) were
      20% lower and the mean difference was 1.93 mg/L compared to COBAS (2012-2014, n =
      352) measurements. The impact of vancomycin immunoassays in neonatal matrix was
      hereby suggested, supporting a switch to more advanced techniques (LC-MS/MS). 

PMID- 27635397
TI  - Oral Biology, Oral Pathology, and Oral Treatments.

PMID- 27635398
TI  - Annotating the Function of the Human Genome with Gene Ontology and Disease
      Ontology.
AB  - Increasing evidences indicated that function annotation of human genome in
      molecular level and phenotype level is very important for systematic analysis of
      genes. In this study, we presented a framework named Gene2Function to annotate
      Gene Reference into Functions (GeneRIFs), in which each functional description of
      GeneRIFs could be annotated by a text mining tool Open Biomedical Annotator
      (OBA), and each Entrez gene could be mapped to Human Genome Organisation Gene
      Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) gene symbol. After annotating all the records about
      human genes of GeneRIFs, 288,869 associations between 13,148 mRNAs and 7,182
      terms, 9,496 associations between 948 microRNAs and 533 terms, and 901
      associations between 139 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and 297 terms were
      obtained as a comprehensive annotation resource of human genome. High consistency
      of term frequency of individual gene (Pearson correlation = 0.6401, p = 2.2e -
      16) and gene frequency of individual term (Pearson correlation = 0.1298, p =
      3.686e - 14) in GeneRIFs and GOA shows our annotation resource is very reliable. 

PMID- 27635399
TI  - Skin-Derived Precursors against UVB-Induced Apoptosis via Bcl-2 and Nrf2
      Upregulation.
AB  - Bcl-2 and Nrf2 are critical factors in protecting cells against UVB-induced
      apoptosis. Hair-follicle-bulge stem cells could resist ionization through Bcl-2
      upregulation. Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) dwelling on the bulge may be against
      UVB irradiation. Initially, SKPs were isolated and identified. Then, SKPs were
      exposed to UVB and grew in medium for 24 hours. CCK-8 assay, TUNEL, and Ki67
      staining evaluated cells apoptosis/proliferation, while SA-betagal staining
      evaluated cells senescence and pH2AX immunostaining evaluated DNA damage.
      Meanwhile, Bcl-2, Nrf2, HO-1, Bax, and Bak expressions were assessed by qRT-PCR
      and western blot. Two weeks later, floating spheres appeared and were identified
      as SKPs. After UVB radiation, SKPs maintained spherical colonies and outnumbered
      unirradiated ones, showing high Ki67 expression and low TUNEL, SA-betagal, and
      pH2AX expression. Fibroblasts (FBs), however, displayed deformation, senescence,
      and reduction, with increased TUNEL, SA-betagal, and pH2AX expression. Moreover,
      Bcl-2 and Nrf2 mRNA expression were significantly higher than Bak and Bax in
      irradiated SKPs. Conversely, Bcl-2 and Nrf2 mRNA levels greatly decreased
      compared with Bax and Bak in irradiated FBs. Interestingly, SKPs showed higher
      protein levels of Bcl-2, Nrf2, and HO-1 than FBs. SKPs exert a beneficial effect
      on resisting UVB-induced apoptosis, which may be associated with Bcl-2 and Nrf2
      upregulation. 

PMID- 27635401
TI  - BP Neural Network Could Help Improve Pre-miRNA Identification in Various Species.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a set of short (21-24 nt) noncoding RNAs that play
      significant regulatory roles in cells. In the past few years, research on miRNA
      related problems has become a hot field of bioinformatics because of miRNAs'
      essential biological function. miRNA-related bioinformatics analysis is
      beneficial in several aspects, including the functions of miRNAs and other genes,
      the regulatory network between miRNAs and their target mRNAs, and even biological
      evolution. Distinguishing miRNA precursors from other hairpin-like sequences is
      important and is an essential procedure in detecting novel microRNAs. In this
      study, we employed backpropagation (BP) neural network together with 98
      dimensional novel features for microRNA precursor identification. Results show
      that the precision and recall of our method are 95.53% and 96.67%, respectively.
      Results further demonstrate that the total prediction accuracy of our method is
      nearly 13.17% greater than the state-of-the-art microRNA precursor prediction
      software tools. 

PMID- 27635400
TI  - Candidate SNP Markers of Chronopathologies Are Predicted by a Significant Change
      in the Affinity of TATA-Binding Protein for Human Gene Promoters.
AB  - Variations in human genome (e.g., single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) may be
      associated with hereditary diseases, their complications, comorbidities, and drug
      responses. Using Web service SNP_TATA_Comparator presented in our previous paper,
      here we analyzed immediate surroundings of known SNP markers of diseases and
      identified several candidate SNP markers that can significantly change the
      affinity of TATA-binding protein for human gene promoters, with circadian
      consequences. For example, rs572527200 may be related to asthma, where symptoms
      are circadian (worse at night), and rs367732974 may be associated with heart
      attacks that are characterized by a circadian preference (early morning). By the
      same method, we analyzed the 90 bp proximal promoter region of each protein
      coding transcript of each human gene of the circadian clock core. This analysis
      yielded 53 candidate SNP markers, such as rs181985043 (susceptibility to acute Q
      fever in male patients), rs192518038 (higher risk of a heart attack in patients
      with diabetes), and rs374778785 (emphysema and lung cancer in smokers). If they
      are properly validated according to clinical standards, these candidate SNP
      markers may turn out to be useful for physicians (to select optimal treatment for
      each patient) and for the general population (to choose a lifestyle preventing
      possible circadian complications of diseases). 

PMID- 27635402
TI  - High Glucose-Induced Oxidative Stress Mediates Apoptosis and Extracellular Matrix
      Metabolic Imbalances Possibly via p38 MAPK Activation in Rat Nucleus Pulposus
      Cells.
AB  - Objectives. To investigate whether high glucose-induced oxidative stress is
      implicated in apoptosis of rat nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) and abnormal
      expression of critical genes involved in the metabolic balance of extracellular
      matrix (ECM). Methods. NPCs were cultured with various concentrations of glucose
      to detect cell viability and apoptosis. Cells cultured with high glucose (25 mM)
      were untreated or pretreated with N-acetylcysteine or a p38 MAPK inhibitor SB
      202190. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was evaluated. Activation of p38
      MAPK was measured by Western blot. The expression of ECM metabolism-related
      genes, including type II collagen, aggrecan, SRY-related high-mobility-group box
      9 (Sox-9), matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3), and tissue inhibitor of
      metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1), was analyzed by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Results.
      High glucose reduced viability of NPCs and induced apoptosis. High glucose
      resulted in increased ROS generation and p38 MAPK activation. In addition, it
      negatively regulated the expression of type II collagen, aggrecan, Sox-9, and
      TIMP-1 and positively regulated MMP-3 expression. These results were changed by
      pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine or SB 202190. Conclusions. High glucose might
      promote apoptosis of NPCs, trigger ECM catabolic pathways, and inhibit its
      anabolic activities, possibly through a p38 MAPK-dependent oxidative stress
      mechanism. 

PMID- 27635403
TI  - Advanced Glycation End Products Impair Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion of a
      Pancreatic beta-Cell Line INS-1-3 by Disturbance of Microtubule Cytoskeleton via
      p38/MAPK Activation.
AB  - Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are believed to be involved in diverse
      complications of diabetes mellitus. Overexposure to AGEs of pancreatic beta-cells
      leads to decreased insulin secretion and cell apoptosis. Here, to understand the
      cytotoxicity of AGEs to pancreatic beta-cells, we used INS-1-3 cells as a beta
      cell model to address this question, which was a subclone of INS-1 cells and
      exhibited high level of insulin expression and high sensitivity to glucose
      stimulation. Exposed to large dose of AGEs, even though more insulin was
      synthesized, its secretion was significantly reduced from INS-1-3 cells. Further,
      AGEs treatment led to a time-dependent increase of depolymerized microtubules,
      which was accompanied by an increase of activated p38/MAPK in INS-1-3 cells.
      Pharmacological inhibition of p38/MAPK by SB202190 reversed microtubule
      depolymerization to a stabilized polymerization status but could not rescue the
      reduction of insulin release caused by AGEs. Taken together, these results
      suggest a novel role of AGEs-induced impairment of insulin secretion, which is
      partially due to a disturbance of microtubule dynamics that resulted from an
      activation of the p38/MAPK pathway. 

PMID- 27635404
TI  - Prophylactic Chronic Zinc Administration Increases Neuroinflammation in a Hypoxia
      Ischemia Model.
AB  - Acute and subacute administration of zinc exert neuroprotective effects in
      hypoxia-ischemia animal models; yet the effect of chronic administration of zinc
      still remains unknown. We addressed this issue by injecting zinc at a tolerable
      dose (0.5 mg/kg weight, i.p.) for 14 days before common carotid artery occlusion
      (CCAO) in a rat. After CCAO, the level of zinc was measured by atomic absorption
      spectrophotometry, nitrites were determined by Griess method, lipoperoxidation
      was measured by Gerard-Monnier assay, and mRNA expression of 84 genes coding for
      cytokines, chemokines, and their receptors was measured by qRT-PCR, whereas
      nitrotyrosine, chemokines, and their receptors were assessed by ELISA and
      histopathological changes in the temporoparietal cortex-hippocampus at different
      time points. Long-term memory was evaluated using Morris water maze. Following
      CCAO, a significant increase in nitrosative stress, inflammatory
      chemokines/receptors, and cell death was observed after 8 h, and a 2.5-fold
      increase in zinc levels was detected after 7 days. Although CXCL12 and FGF2
      protein levels were significantly increased, the long-term memory was impaired 12
      days after reperfusion in the Zn+CCAO group. Our data suggest that the chronic
      administration of zinc at tolerable doses causes nitrosative stress, toxic zinc
      accumulation, and neuroinflammation, which might account for the neuronal death
      and cerebral dysfunction after CCAO. 

PMID- 27635405
TI  - Schistosome-Derived Molecules as Modulating Actors of the Immune System and
      Promising Candidates to Treat Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases.
AB  - It is long known that some parasite infections are able to modulate specific
      pathways of host's metabolism and immune responses. This modulation is not only
      important in order to understand the host-pathogen interactions and to develop
      treatments against the parasites themselves but also important in the development
      of treatments against autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Throughout the life
      cycle of schistosomes the mammalian hosts are exposed to several biomolecules
      that are excreted/secreted from the parasite infective stage, named cercariae,
      from their tegument, present in adult and larval stages, and finally from their
      eggs. These molecules can induce the activation and modulation of innate and
      adaptive responses as well as enabling the evasion of the parasite from host
      defense mechanisms. Immunomodulatory effects of helminth infections and egg
      molecules are clear, as well as their ability to downregulate proinflammatory
      cytokines, upregulate anti-inflammatory cytokines, and drive a Th2 type of immune
      response. We believe that schistosomes can be used as a model to understand the
      potential applications of helminths and helminth-derived molecules against
      autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. 

PMID- 27635406
TI  - Nerve Growth Factor Regulation by TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in Synovial Macrophages
      and Fibroblasts in Osteoarthritic Mice.
AB  - To investigate the role of macrophages as a regulator and producer of nerve
      growth factor (NGF) in the synovial tissue (ST) of osteoarthritis (OA) joints,
      the gene expression profiles of several inflammatory cytokines in the ST,
      including synovial macrophages and fibroblasts, of OA mice (STR/Ort) were
      characterized. Specifically, real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was
      used to evaluate the expression of tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) alpha,
      interleukin- (IL-) 1beta, IL-6, and NGF in CD11b+ and CD11b- cells isolated from
      the ST of a murine OA model. The effects of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 on the
      expression of NGF in cultured synovial cells were also examined. The expression
      of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and NGF in the ST of STR/Ort was higher than that
      in C57/BL6J mice. Compared to the CD11b- cell fraction, higher expression levels
      of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 were detected in the CD11b+ cell fraction,
      whereas no differences in the expression of NGF were detected between the two
      cell fractions. Notably, TNF-alpha upregulated NGF expression in synovial
      fibroblasts and macrophages and IL-1beta upregulated NGF expression in synovial
      fibroblasts. IL-1beta and TNF-alpha may regulate NGF signaling in OA joints and
      be suitable therapeutic targets for treating OA pain. 

PMID- 27635408
TI  - Two Cases of Rhabdomyolysis (Haff Disease) After Eating Carp Fish.
AB  - Unexplained rhabdomyolysis after eating fish is a rare condition caused by an
      unidentified toxin. Most of the incidences in the United States have been linked
      to consuming buffalo fish or crawfish. We present 2 cases of Haff disease in
      which the patients consumed grass carp as opposed to the usual suspects of
      buffalo fish or crawfish. 

PMID- 27635409
TI  - Canagliflozin-Induced Diabetic Ketoacidosis: Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors are relatively
      new antihyperglycemic agents that lower renal glucose reabsorption. They are used
      as adjunctive therapy to standard diabetes treatment. CASE REPORT: We present the
      case of a 62-year-old woman with a past medical history of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus and sudden-onset diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Use of canagliflozin, a
      SGLT-2 inhibitor, was determined to be the cause of the DKA. The patient
      ultimately recovered after 5 days in the intensive care unit. She was changed to
      long- and short-acting insulins and instructed to avoid canagliflozin.
      CONCLUSION: Although SGLT-2 inhibitors are effective at lowering a patient's
      hemoglobin A1C, physicians must be aware of the rare but dangerous potential
      adverse effect of inducing DKA. This article reports an illustrative case and
      presents a review of the literature.

PMID- 27635407
TI  - Follicular Helper T Cells in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Why Should They Be
      Considered as Interesting Therapeutic Targets?
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized
      by B cell hyperactivity leading to the production of autoantibodies, some of
      which having a deleterious effect. Reducing autoantibody production thus
      represents a way of controlling lupus pathogenesis, and a better understanding of
      the molecular and cellular factors involved in the differentiation of B cells
      into plasma cells could allow identifying new therapeutic targets. Follicular
      helper T cells (TFH) represent a distinct subset of CD4(+) T cells specialized in
      providing help to B cells. They are required for the formation of germinal
      centers and the generation of long-lived serological memory and, as such, are
      suspected to play a central role in SLE. Recent advances in the field of TFH
      biology have allowed the identification of important molecular factors involved
      in TFH differentiation, regulation, and function. Interestingly, some of these
      TFH-related molecules have been described to be dysregulated in lupus patients.
      In the present review, we give an overview of the aberrant expression and/or
      function of such key players in lupus, and we highlight their potential as
      therapeutic targets. 

PMID- 27635410
TI  - Klebsiella oxytoca Endocarditis With Complete Heart Block.
AB  - Gram-negative bacterial endocarditis causes 5% of all bacterial endocarditis.
      Among gram-negative bacteria, Klebsiella species are rare causes of native valve
      endocarditis. Klebsiella oxytoca is an extremely rare subspecies that can
      infrequently cause endocarditis and is associated with poor outcome. We report a
      case of Klebsiella oxytoca endocarditis in an elderly man who initially presented
      with stroke but later developed sepsis and heart block secondary to endocarditis.

PMID- 27635411
TI  - Spontaneous Subdural Empyema Following a High-Parasitemia Falciparum Infection in
      a 58-Year-Old Female From a Malaria-Endemic Region: A Case Report.
AB  - Malaria remains a significant public health problem of the tropical world.
      Falciparum malaria is most prevalent in the sub-Saharan African region, which
      harbors about 90% of all malaria cases and fatalities globally. Infection by the
      falciparum species often manifests with a spectrum of multi-organ complications
      (eg, cerebral malaria), some of which are life-threatening. Spontaneous subdural
      empyema is a very rare complication of cerebral malaria that portends a very poor
      prognosis unless diagnosed and treated promptly. We report a case of spontaneous
      subdural empyema in a 58-year-old woman from Tanzania who presented with high
      grade fever, decreased urine output, and altered sensorium. 

PMID- 27635412
TI  - Epidemiology of Football Injuries in the National Collegiate Athletic
      Association, 2004-2005 to 2008-2009.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research has found that injury rates in football are higher in
      competition than during practice. However, there is little research on the
      association between injury rates and type of football practices and how these
      specific rates compare with those in competitions. PURPOSE: This study utilized
      data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System
      (NCAA ISS) to describe men's collegiate football practice injuries (academic
      years 2004-2005 to 2008-2009) in 4 event types: competitions, scrimmages, regular
      practices, and walkthroughs. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study.
      METHODS: Football data during the 2004-2005 to 2008-2009 academic years were
      analyzed. Annually, an average of 60 men's football programs provided data (9.7%
      of all universities sponsoring football). Injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures
      (AEs), injury rate ratios (RRs), 95% CIs, and injury proportions were reported.
      RESULTS: The NCAA ISS captured 18,075 football injuries. Most injuries were
      reported in regular practices (55.9%), followed by competitions (38.8%),
      scrimmages (4.4%), and walkthroughs (0.8%). Most AEs were reported in regular
      practices (77.6%), followed by walkthroughs (11.5%), competitions (8.6%), and
      scrimmages (2.3%). The highest injury rate was found in competitions (36.94/1000
      AEs), followed by scrimmages (15.7/1000 AEs), regular practices (5.9/1000 AEs),
      and walkthroughs (0.6/1000 AEs). These rates were all significantly different
      from one another. Distributions of injury location and diagnoses were similar
      across all 4 event types, with most injuries occurring at the lower extremity
      (56.0%) and consisting of sprains and strains (50.6%). However, injury mechanisms
      varied. The proportion of injuries due to player contact was greatest in
      scrimmages (66.8%), followed by regular practices (48.5%) and walkthroughs
      (34.9%); in contrast, the proportion of injuries due to noncontact/overuse was
      greatest in walkthroughs (41.7%), followed by regular practices (35.6%) and
      scrimmages (21.9%). CONCLUSION: Injury rates were the highest in competitions but
      then varied by the type of practice event, with higher practice injury rates
      reported in scrimmage. In addition, greater proportions of injuries were reported
      in regular practices, and greater proportions of exposures were reported in
      regular practices and walkthroughs. Efforts to minimize injury in all types of
      practice events are essential to mitigating injury incidence related to both
      contact and noncontact.

PMID- 27635413
TI  - New Complication Associated With All-Inside Meniscal Repair Device: Ultrasound
      Aided Diagnosis and Operative Localization of Foreign Body Reaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The importance of meniscal preservation has become widely accepted,
      and meniscal repair techniques have evolved over recent years. With new
      techniques come new complications, which are critical to recognize. PURPOSE: To
      describe a new complication of foreign body reaction from a nonabsorbable suture
      anchor associated with improper placement of the all-inside meniscal device.
      STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: This study was a
      retrospective review of 3 patients who developed pain associated with a foreign
      body reaction from a misplaced all-inside meniscal device. RESULTS: All patients
      had a delayed diagnosis (6 months to 8 years) and negative magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI). Diagnostic ultrasound identified the misplaced suture with foreign
      body reaction and was used to guide a diagnostic injection of local anesthetic
      prior to surgical intervention. Intraoperative ultrasound guidance was utilized
      to precisely localize and excise the suture material and associated reactive
      tissue. CONCLUSION: Foreign body reaction from a misplaced all-inside meniscal
      device is a previously unreported complication. Diagnosis is challenging as MRI
      and arthroscopy can be unrevealing. Diagnostic ultrasound was able to identify
      the foreign body reaction, confirm the diagnosis by facilitating diagnostic local
      anesthetic injection, and guide surgical excision. Sonographic evaluation should
      be considered in patients presenting with ongoing knee pain after all-inside
      meniscus repair.

PMID- 27635414
TI  - Laparoscopic Transabdominal Preperitoneal Inguinal Hernia Repair Using Memory
      Ring Mesh: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Purpose. To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of laparoscopic
      transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair using a memory-ring
      patch (PolysoftTM mesh). Patients and Methods. Between April 2010 and March 2013,
      a total of 76 inguinal hernias underwent TAPP repair using Polysoft mesh in 67
      adults under general anesthesia. Three different senior resident surgeons
      performed TAPP repair under the instruction of a specialist surgeon. Nine
      patients had bilateral hernias. The 76 hernias included 37 indirect inguinal
      hernias, 29 direct hernias, 1 femoral hernia, 1 pantaloon hernia (combined
      direct/indirect inguinal hernia), and 8 recurrent hernias after open anterior
      hernia repair. The immediate postoperative outcomes as well as the short-term
      outcomes (mainly recurrence and incidence of chronic pain) were studied. Results.
      There was no conversion from TAPP repair to anterior open repair. The mean
      operation time was 109 minutes (range, 40-132) for unilateral hernia repair.
      Scrotal seroma was diagnosed at the operation site in 5 patients. No patient had
      operation-related orchitis, testicle edema, trocar site infection, or chronic
      pain during follow-up. Conclusions. The use of Polysoft mesh for TAPP inguinal
      hernia repair does not seem to adversely affect the quality of repair. The use of
      this mesh is therefore feasible and safe and may reduce postoperative pain. 

PMID- 27635415
TI  - Hedging Medical Spending Growth: An Adaptive Expectations Approach.
AB  - Long-term health insurance provides consumers with protection against persistent,
      negative health shocks. While the stochastic rise in medical spending growth may
      make some health risks harder to insure, financial assets could act as a hedge
      for medical spending growth risk. The purpose of this research was to determine
      whether such hedges exist. The results of this study were two-fold. First, the
      asset classes with the strongest statistical evidence as hedges were bonds, not
      stocks. Second, any strategy to hedge medical spending growth involved shorting
      assets i.e. betting against the bond or stock market. Health insurers writing
      long-term contracts should combine the use of hedges in the bond market with of
      portfolio diversification, and may benefit from health policies to moderate the
      uncertainty of medical spending growth.

PMID- 27635416
TI  - The paradoxical relationship between ligamentum flavum hypertrophy and
      developmental lumbar spinal stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ligamentum flavum (LF) hypertrophy is a common cause of lumbar spinal
      stenosis and is thought to be degeneration-driven. Developmental spinal stenosis
      (DSS) is characterized by pre-existing narrowed spinal canals and is likely a
      developmental problem that occurs in childhood. In these cases, the LF may
      demonstrate different characteristics as compared to degeneration-driven
      stenosis. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between
      histological changes of LF and canal size. METHODS: Patients who had surgical
      decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis were prospectively recruited and divided
      into three groups (critical DSS, relative DSS and non-DSS) based on previously
      defined anteroposterior bony spinal canal diameter measurements on MRI. The
      degree of disc degeneration and LF thickness were also measured from L1 to S1.
      Surgical LF specimens were retrieved for histological assessment of fibrotic
      grade and area of fibrosis. RESULTS: A total of 19 females and 15 males (110 LF
      specimens) with an overall mean age of 65.9 years (SD +/- 9.8 years) were
      recruited. DSS was found to have a significant negative correlation (p < 0.001)
      with LF thickness, its fibrotic grade and area of fibrosis (%). Non-DSS exhibited
      a significant positive relationship with the degree of LF fibrosis. Disc
      degeneration and LF thickness had no correlation with LF histology. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our study is the first to definitively note that degeneration is the cause of LF
      fibrosis in non-DSS patients; however, in contrast, an inverse relationship
      exists between canal size and LF fibrosis in DSS patients, suggesting a different
      pathomechanism. Hence, despite a similar degree of LF thickness, DSS patients
      have LF with less fibrosis compared with non-DSS patients. Further investigation
      of the cause of LF changes in DSS is necessary to understand this relationship.

PMID- 27635418
TI  - Trends in Relative Earnings and Marital Dissolution: Are Wives Who Outearn Their
      Husbands Still More Likely to Divorce?
AB  - As women's labor-force participation and earnings have grown, so has the
      likelihood that wives outearn their husbands. A common concern is that these
      couples may be at heightened risk of divorce. Yet with the rise of egalitarian
      marriage, wives' relative earnings may be more weakly associated with divorce
      than in the past. We examine trends in the association between wives' relative
      earnings and marital dissolution using data from the 1968-2009 Panel Study of
      Income Dynamics. We find that wives' relative earnings were positively associated
      with the risk of divorce among couples married in the late 1960s and 1970s, and
      that this was especially true for wives who outearned their husbands, but this
      was no longer the case for couples married in the 1990s. Change was concentrated
      among middle-earning husbands and those without college degrees, a finding
      consistent with the economic squeeze of the middle class over this period.

PMID- 27635417
TI  - Natural Killer Cell Diversity in Viral Infection: Why and How Much?
AB  - Natural killer cells are a diverse group of innate lymphocytes that are
      specialized to rapidly respond to cancerous or virus-infected cells. NK cell
      function is controlled by the integration of signals from activating and
      inhibitory receptors expressed at the cell surface. Variegated expression
      patterns of these activating and inhibitory receptors at the single cell level
      leads to a highly diverse NK cell repertoire. Here I review the factors that
      influence NK cell repertoire diversity and its functional consequences for our
      ability to fight viruses.

PMID- 27635428
TI  - Expression of the SOCS family in human chronic wound tissues: Potential
      implications for SOCS in chronic wound healing.
AB  - Cytokines play important roles in the wound healing process through various
      signalling pathways. The JAK-STAT pathway is utilised by most cytokines for
      signal transduction and is regulated by a variety of molecules, including
      suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) proteins. SOCS are associated with
      inflammatory diseases and have an impact on cytokines, growth factors and key
      cell types involved in the wound-healing process. SOCS, a negative regulator of
      cytokine signalling, may hold the potential to regulate cytokine-induced
      signalling in the chronic wound-healing process. Wound edge tissues were
      collected from chronic venous leg ulcer patients and classified as non-healing
      and healing wounds. The expression pattern of seven SOCSs members, at the
      transcript and protein level, were examined in these tissues using qPCR and
      immunohistochemistry. Significantly higher levels of SOCS3 (P=0.0284) and SOCS4
      (P=0.0376) in non-healing chronic wounds compared to the healing/healed chronic
      wounds were observed at the transcript level. Relocalisation of SOCS3 protein in
      the non-healing wound environment was evident in the investigated chronic
      biopsies. Thus, the results show that the expression of SOCS transcript indicated
      that SOCS members may act as a prognostic biomarker of chronic wounds.

PMID- 27635429
TI  - Inhibitor of DNA-binding 1 promotes endothelial progenitor cell proliferation and
      migration by suppressing E2-2 through the helix-loop-helix domain.
AB  - Vascular endothelial damage is the major contributing factor to cardiovascular
      diseases. Recently, the therapeutic significance of endothelial progenitor cells
      (EPCs) has drawn increasing attention due to their roles in re-endothelialization
      following injury. The inhibitor of DNA-binding 1 (ID1) has been proven to promote
      EPC proliferation and migration, suggesting a critical function of ID1 in re
      endothelialization. However, the underlying mechanisms remain undefined. In this
      study, ID1 was found to interact with E2-2 using immunoprecipitation analysis.
      Moreover, ID1 overexpression suppressed E2-2 expression and luciferase reporter
      activity; however, these effects were not observed in cells transfected with ID1
      lacking the helix-loop-helix (HLH) domain (ID1DeltaHLH). Further functional
      analysis corroborated that the upregulation of E2-2 markedly attenuated the ID1
      mediated increase in EPC proliferation and migration. Furthermore, the HLH domain
      plays an important role in ID1-induced EPC proliferation and migration, as its
      deletion suppressed the positive regulatory effects of ID1 on EPC proliferation
      and migration. Taken together, the findings of our study confirm that ID1
      promotes EPC proliferation and migration by suppressing E2-2 through the HLH
      domain in ID1. Therefore, ID1 may represent a potential therapeutic target for
      EPC-mediated re-endothelialization following vascular injury.

PMID- 27635431
TI  - Errata.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1258/om.2009.090007.]. 

PMID- 27635430
TI  - miR-29b overexpression induces cochlear hair cell apoptosis through the
      regulation of SIRT1/PGC-1alpha signaling: Implications for age-related hearing
      loss.
AB  - It has been reported that the degeneration of cochlear hair cells is the typical
      cause of presbycusis (or age-related hearing loss). However, the molecular
      mechanisms that mediate cochlear hair cell apoptosis are not yet fully understood
      and there is no effective treatment for this disorder. MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs)
      have been increasingly shown to be associated with age-related diseases and are
      emerging as promising therapeutic targets. In this study, we investigated whether
      miR-29b is involved in the degeneration of cochlear hair cells. To examine our
      hypothesis, nuclear staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick
      end labeling (TUNEL) were used to quantify the hair cell counts. RT-qPCR and
      western blot analysis were used to examine miR-29b/sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)/proliferator
      activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1alpha (PGC-1alpha) signaling in cochlear
      hair cells. We found that there was a significant degeneration of cochlear hair
      cells and a higher expression of miR-29b in aged C57BL/6 mice compared with young
      mice. There was also an age-related decrease in the expression of SIRT1 and PGC
      1alpha. In the inner ear cell line, HEI-OC1, miR-29b overexpression (by
      transfection with miR-29b mimic) inhibited SIRT1 and PGC-1alpha expression,
      leading to an increase in mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis. Moreover, the
      inhibition of miR-29b (by transfection with miR-29b inhibitor) increased SIRT1
      and PGC-1alpha expression, while it decreased apoptosis. Taken together, our
      findings support a link between age-related cochlear hair cell apoptosis and miR
      29b/SIRT1/PGC-1alpha signaling, which may present an attractive pharmacological
      target for the development of novel drugs for the treatment of age-related
      hearing loss.

PMID- 27635432
TI  - Errata.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1258/om.2009.080053.]. 

PMID- 27635433
TI  - Corrections.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 523 in vol. 41, PMID: 27504069.]. 

PMID- 27635434
TI  - Tetra- and Hexavalent Uranium Forms Bidentate-Mononuclear Complexes with
      Particulate Organic Matter in a Naturally Uranium-Enriched Peatland.
AB  - Peatlands frequently serve as efficient biogeochemical traps for U. Mechanisms of
      U immobilization in these organic matter-dominated environments may encompass the
      precipitation of U-bearing mineral(oid)s and the complexation of U by a vast
      range of (in)organic surfaces. The objective of this work was to investigate the
      spatial distribution and molecular binding mechanisms of U in soils of an alpine
      minerotrophic peatland (pH 4.7-6.6, Eh = -127 to 463 mV) using microfocused X-ray
      fluorescence spectrometry and bulk and microfocused U L3-edge X-ray absorption
      spectroscopy. The soils contained 2.3-47.4 wt % organic C, 4.1-58.6 g/kg Fe, and
      up to 335 mg/kg geogenic U. Uranium was found to be heterogeneously distributed
      at the micrometer scale and enriched as both U(IV) and U(VI) on fibrous and woody
      plant debris (48 +/- 10% U(IV), x +/- sigma, n = 22). Bulk U X-ray absorption
      near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy revealed that in all samples U(IV)
      comprised 35-68% of total U (x = 50%, n = 15). Shell-fit analyses of bulk U L3
      edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra showed that U was
      coordinated to 1.3 +/- 0.2 C atoms at a distance of 2.91 +/- 0.01 A (x +/-
      sigma), which implies the formation of bidentate-mononuclear U(IV/VI) complexes
      with carboxyl groups. We neither found evidence for U shells at ~3.9 A,
      indicative of mineral-associated U or multinuclear U(IV) species, nor for a
      substantial P/Fe coordination of U. Our data indicates that U(IV/VI) complexation
      by natural organic matter prevents the precipitation of U minerals as well as U
      complexation by Fe/Mn phases at our field site, and suggests that organically
      complexed U(IV) is formed via reduction of organic matter-bound U(VI).

PMID- 27635435
TI  - Esophagus-like Bronchus in an Adult with Common Variable Immunodeficiency
      Disease.

PMID- 27635436
TI  - Optimizing Blue Persistent Luminescence in (Sr1-deltaBadelta)2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+
      via Solid Solution for Use in Point-of-Care Diagnostics.
AB  - Inorganic persistent luminescent phosphors are an excellent class of optical
      reporters for enabling sensitive point-of-care diagnostics, particularly with
      smartphone-based biosensing devices in testing formats such as the lateral flow
      assay (LFA). Here, the development of persistent phosphors for this application
      is focused on the solid solution (Sr1-deltaBadelta)2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+ (delta = 0,
      0.125, 0.25, 0.375), which is prepared using a high-temperature solid-state
      reaction as confirmed by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. The substitution
      of barium for strontium enables control over the Eu2+ 5d-orbital crystal field
      splitting (CFS) as a tool for tuning the emission wavelength while maintaining
      luminescence lifetimes >9 min across the composition range. Thermoluminescence
      measurements of the solid solution provide evidence that trap states contribute
      to the persistent lifetimes with the trap depths also remaining constant as a
      function of composition. Time-gated luminescence images of these compounds are
      captured on a smartphone arranged in a layout to mimic a point-of-care test and
      demonstrate the viability of using these materials as optical reporters.
      Moreover, comparing the blue-emitting (Sr0.625Ba0.375)2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+ and the
      green-emitting SrAl2O4:Eu2+,Dy3+ in a single LFA-type format shows these two
      compounds can be detected and resolved simultaneously, thereby permitting the
      development of a multiplexed LFA.

PMID- 27635437
TI  - Precaecal phosphorus digestibility of inorganic phosphate sources in male
      broilers.
AB  - The aim of this study, comprising two experiments, was (1) to determine in
      Experiment 1 the relationship of incremental dietary P (phosphorus) content on
      precaecal digestible P in male broilers and (2) to determine in Experiment 2 the
      precaecal P digestibility of various inorganic P sources at marginal levels of P
      supply. In Experiment 1, a total of 260 male Ross 308 broilers were divided into
      groups of 10 birds per pen resulting in 8 replicates for treatment 1 and 6
      replicates for treatments 2-4. Experimental diets were formulated to contain 4
      incremental concentrations of digestible P by means of increasing concentrations
      of monocalcium phosphate (MCP). In the second experiment, 480-d-old male Ross 308
      broilers were divided in groups of 12 birds per pen resulting in 16 replicates
      for the basal diet and 6 replicates for each test diet. A total of 4 inorganic P
      sources, MCP, monodicalcium phosphate (MDCP), dicalcium phosphate (DCP) and
      defluorinated phosphate (DFP) were added to the basal diet to determine the
      precaecal P digestibility. Three of the 4 inorganic P sources (MCP, MDCP and DCP)
      represented a mix of batches from different producers. At the end of both
      experiments, the chyme of the posterior part of the small intestine was
      collected. Digestibility of P and Ca was determined using titanium dioxide as
      indigestible marker. In Experiment 1, a reduction in precaecal digestibility of P
      was observed above an estimated precaecal digestible dietary P concentration of
      4.8 g/kg. The precaecal P digestibility of the tested inorganic P sources in
      Experiment 2 was 78.3% for MCP, 59.0% for DCP, 70.7% for MDCP and 31.5% for DFP.

PMID- 27635438
TI  - 2-Methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine Hydrochloride Modulates Metabotropic Glutamate
      5 Receptors Endogenously Expressed in Zebrafish Brain.
AB  - Due to phylogenetic proximity to the human, zebrafish has been recognized as a
      reliable model to study Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other central nervous system
      disorders. Furthermore, metabotropic glutamate receptors have been previously
      reported to be impaired in brain from AD patients. Metabotropic glutamate 5
      (mGlu5) receptors are G-protein coupled receptors proposed as potential targets
      for therapy of different neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, MPEP (2-methyl-6
      (phenylethynyl)pyridine hydrochloride), a selective noncompetitive mGlu5 receptor
      antagonist, has been suggested for pharmacological treatment of AD. The aim of
      the present work was to quantify mGlu5 receptors in brain from zebrafish and to
      study the possible modulation of these receptors by MPEP treatment. To this end,
      radioligand binding assay and open field test were used. Results showed a
      slightly higher presence of mGlu5 receptors in brain from male than in that from
      female zebrafish. However, a significant increase of mGlu5 receptor in male
      without variation in female was observed after MPEP treatment. This gender
      specific response was also observed in locomotor behavior, being significantly
      decreased only in male zebrafish. These results confirm the presence of mGlu5
      receptors in brain from zebrafish and their gender specific modulation by
      selective antagonist treatment and suggest a role of these receptors on locomotor
      activity, which is affected in many disorders. In addition, our data point to
      zebrafish as a useful model to study mGlu receptor function in both healthy and
      pathological conditions.

PMID- 27635440
TI  - How Can Health Professionals Help Prevent Cyberbullying?

PMID- 27635439
TI  - Amidine Production by the Addition of NH3 to Nitrile(s) Bound to and Activated by
      the Lewis Acidic [Re6(MU3-Se)8]2+ Cluster Core.
AB  - Acetonitrile bound to and activated by the Lewis acidic [Re6(MU3-Se)8]2+ cluster
      core was transformed into acetamidine in quantitative yield using NH3 as the
      nucleophile at room temperature. The amidine ligand was removed by treating the
      cluster-acetamidine complexes with trifluoroacetic acid in CH3CN, affording
      amidinium trifluoroacetate and the starting acetonitrile complexes.

PMID- 27635441
TI  - Deception Detection: The Relationship of Levels of Trust and Perspective Taking
      in Real-Time Online and Offline Communication Environments.
AB  - Where humans have been found to detect lies or deception only at the rate of
      chance in offline face-to-face communication (F2F), computer-mediated
      communication (CMC) online can elicit higher rates of trust and sharing of
      personal information than F2F. How do levels of trust and empathetic personality
      traits like perspective taking (PT) relate to deception detection in real-time
      CMC compared to F2F? A between groups correlational design (N = 40) demonstrated
      that, through a paired deceptive conversation task with confederates, levels of
      participant trust could predict accurate detection online but not offline.
      Second, participant PT abilities could not predict accurate detection in either
      conversation medium. Finally, this study found that conversation medium also had
      no effect on deception detection. This study finds support for the effects of the
      Truth Bias and online disinhibition in deception, and further implications in law
      enforcement are discussed. 

PMID- 27635442
TI  - Association Between Smoking and Problematic Internet Use Among Japanese
      Adolescents: Large-Scale Nationwide Epidemiological Study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to clarify the association between smoking and
      problematic Internet use (PIU), such as Internet addiction (IA) and excessive
      Internet use (EIU), among Japanese adolescents. A self-administered questionnaire
      was administered to students enrolled in randomly selected junior and senior high
      schools throughout Japan. Responses were obtained from 100,050 students (0.94:1
      ratio of boys to girls). The prevalence of IA (as indicated by a Young Diagnostic
      Questionnaire for Internet Addiction score >=5) in all participants, boys, and
      girls was 8.1%, 6.4%, and 9.9%, respectively. The prevalence of EIU (>=5
      hours/day) in all participants, boys, and girls was 12.6%, 12.3%, and 13.0%,
      respectively. The results of multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that
      the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for IA and EIU were significantly higher among
      students who smoked (including those who previously smoked) than among those who
      never smoked (p < 0.01 for all comparisons). In addition, the AORs were the
      highest for students who smoked >=21 cigarettes per day. The prevalence and AORs
      of IA and EIU tended to increase with smoking frequency and number of cigarettes
      smoked per day, indicating a dose-dependent relationship. Thus, IA and EIU have
      strong associations with smoking. This study revealed that adolescents who
      routinely smoked or those who smoked more cigarettes per day had a higher risk of
      PIU than adolescents who did not. These findings suggest that there is a close
      association between smoking and PIU among Japanese adolescents. 

PMID- 27635443
TI  - How Affective Is a "Like"?: The Effect of Paralinguistic Digital Affordances on
      Perceived Social Support.
AB  - A national survey asked 323 U.S. adults about paralinguistic digital affordances
      (PDAs) and how these forms of lightweight feedback within social media were
      associated with their perceived social support. People perceived PDAs (e.g.,
      Likes, Favorites, and Upvotes) as socially supportive both quantitatively and
      qualitatively, even without implicit meaning associated with them. People who are
      highly sensitive about what others think of them and have high self-esteem are
      more likely to perceive higher social support from PDAs. 

PMID- 27635444
TI  - Internet Addiction Among College Students in China: Prevalence and Psychosocial
      Correlates.
AB  - This study examined the prevalence of Internet addiction among college students
      in China and explored the correlations between Internet addiction and
      psychosocial factors. A total of 1,173 Chinese college students (62.1 percent
      males, Mage = 19.65 years) were invited to complete a questionnaire containing
      measures of demographic characteristics, psychosocial correlates, including the
      quality of the parent-child relationship, propensity for depression, and
      psychosocial competence, and Internet addictive behaviors. Among the
      participating students, 15.2 percent were classified as having Internet
      addiction. Furthermore, students who reported poorer parent-child relationships,
      higher levels of depression, and lower levels of psychosocial competence were
      more likely to report behaviors indicative of Internet addiction. Internet
      addiction was prevalent among college students in China. The significant
      predictors of Internet addiction were found to include the quality of the family
      environment (i.e., the quality of the parent-child relationship), personal mental
      health status (i.e., the existence of depression), and the level of developmental
      assets (i.e., psychosocial competence). These findings suggest that improving the
      quality of family life and promoting psychosocial competence among youth can be
      promising approaches for preventing or/and reducing Internet addiction among
      college students in China. 

PMID- 27635461
TI  - Insights into Vapor-Mediated Interactions in a Nanocolloidal Droplet System:
      Evaporation Dynamics and Affects on Self-Assembly Topologies on Macro- to
      Microscales.
AB  - Particle-laden droplet-based systems ranging from micro- to nanoscale have become
      increasingly popular in applications such as inkjet printing, pharmaceutics,
      nanoelectronics, and surface patterning. All such applications involve
      multidroplet arrays in which vapor-mediated interactions can significantly affect
      the evaporation dynamics and morphological topology of precipitates. A
      fundamental study was conducted on nanocolloidal paired droplets (droplets kept
      adjacent to each other as in an array) to understand the physics related to the
      evaporation dynamics, internal flow pattern, particle transport, and nanoparticle
      self-assembly, primarily using optical diagnostic techniques [such as micro
      particle image velocimetry (MUPIV)]. Paired droplets exhibit contact angle
      asymmetry, inhomogeneous contact line slip, and unique single-toroid microscale
      flow, which are unobserved in single droplets. Furthermore, nanoparticles self
      assemble (at the nanoscale) to form a unique variable-thickness (microscale)
      tilted dome-shaped structure that eventually ruptures at an angle because of
      evaporation at a nanopore scale to form cavities (miniscale). The geometry and
      morphology of the dome can be further fine-tuned at a macro- to microscale by
      varying the initial particle concentration and substrate properties. This concept
      has been extended to a linear array of droplets to showcase how to custom design
      two-dimensional drop arrangements to create controlled surface patterns at
      multiple length scales.

PMID- 27635463
TI  - Broadband Deep UV Spectra of Interfacial Aqueous Iodide.
AB  - The behavior of ions at aqueous interfaces influences vital processes in many
      fields but has long remained a subject of controversy. Over the past decade,
      counterintuitive surface concentration enhancement of several ions in aqueous
      solution has been demonstrated via nonlinear laser spectroscopy and mass
      spectrometry. While the evidence for significant ion enhancement at the air-water
      interface is convincing, the mechanism remains incompletely understood. Toward
      this end, we present the full broadband DUV-SFG spectrum of the charge-transfer
      to-solvent (CTTS) band of interfacial aqueous iodide measured in a single laser
      shot with a newly developed broadband deep UV-SFG technique, clearly revealing a
      ~8 nm redshift and a significant linewidth narrowing relative to bulk solution
      spectra. KI and NaI solutions yield indistinguishable results. Additionally, we
      observe a dramatic change in the relative intensities of the J = 3/2 and 1/2 CTTS
      transitions.

PMID- 27635462
TI  - Cross-cultural comparison of long-term care in the United States and Finland:
      Research done through a short-term study-abroad experience.
AB  - In May 2014, a short-term study-abroad experience was conducted in Finland
      through a course offered at Indiana State University (ISU). Students and faculty
      from ISU and Eastern Illinois University participated in the experience, which
      was created to facilitate a cross-cultural comparison of long-term-care settings
      in the United States and Finland. With its outstanding system of caring for the
      health and social needs of its aging populace, Finland is a logical model to
      examine when considering ways to improve the quality of life for older adults who
      require care in the United States . Those participating in the course visited a
      series of long-term-care facilities in the region surrounding Terre Haute,
      Indiana, then travelled to Lappeenranta, Finland to visit parallel sites. Through
      limited-participation observation and semistructured interviews, similarities and
      differences in experiences, educations, and policies affecting long-term care
      workers in the United States and Finland were identified and are described here.

PMID- 27635464
TI  - Knowledge, behaviors, attitudes and beliefs of physiotherapists towards the use
      of psychological interventions in physiotherapy practice: a systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To systematically review and analyze the literature exploring the
      knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of physiotherapists towards the use
      of psychological interventions in their practice. METHODS: A systematic search
      was conducted, of articles published between January 1996 and February 2016,
      using selected electronic databases followed by crosschecking of reference and
      citation lists. Articles were selected on the basis of the research reported
      relating to knowledge, behaviors, attitudes or beliefs of physiotherapists
      towards using a number of different psychological interventions. Quality
      assessment was conducted by three reviewers independently, and thematic analysis
      of the included studies was performed. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in
      the analysis. Results indicate that physiotherapists are aware of psychological
      interventions, are using a variety within practice, and have positive attitudes
      and beliefs towards their use. However, there are barriers to the incorporation
      of psychological interventions into their practice, including lack of knowledge,
      time constraints, and role clarity. The desire for further training was also
      evident. CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding the reported awareness and use of
      psychological interventions in physiotherapy practice, barriers to implementation
      exist indicating that further research is necessary to address how to effectively
      equip physiotherapists, to employ such techniques within their scope of practice.
      Implications for rehabilitation Physiotherapists use and have positive attitudes
      and beliefs towards a variety of psychological interventions including goal
      setting, positive, and motivational talk, cognitive behavioral therapy strategies
      and offering social support. Barriers preventing the incorporation of
      psychological interventions in practice include, lack of knowledge, time
      constraints, and role clarity. Despite the use of such interventions,
      physiotherapists identify the need for further training, to be better equipped to
      confidently utilize these in practice. These results justify the incorporation of
      training in psychological interventions in physiotherapist qualifying studies,
      but also as continued professional development opportunities for physiotherapists
      currently working in the field.

PMID- 27635465
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in a
      scleroderma cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) is more common in
      systemic sclerosis (SSc) compared to the general population. Focal myocardial
      ischaemia and fibrosis may be important in its pathogenesis. LVDD is associated
      with increased mortality and little is known about the risk factors. Advanced SSc
      lung complications may accompany LVDD. METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional
      study of 300 SSc outpatients with and without LVDD, seen between May 2012 and May
      2014, and performed univariate and multivariate regression analyses to determine
      clinical factors associated with LVDD. LVDD was confirmed by the latest
      echocardiogram (tissue Doppler imaging) reports. Interstitial lung disease (ILD)
      was confirmed by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and pulmonary
      hypertension (PH) was diagnosed by right heart catheterization (RHC). RESULTS: Of
      the 300 SSc patients, there were 133 (44%) with LVDD. In the univariate analysis,
      advanced age, disease duration (from the onset of Raynaud's phenomenon), anti
      centromere antibody, the presence of SSc lung complications, systemic
      hypertension, smoking, valvular heart disease, chronic kidney and thyroid
      diseases were all significantly associated with LVDD. However, in the
      multivariate regression analysis, advanced age was the most significant factor
      associated with LVDD, followed by systemic hypertension and SSc lung
      complications. There were significantly more deaths in the LVDD group (p <
      0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: LVDD was more prevalent in the SSc population, especially
      in those with advanced age, systemic hypertension, or SSc-pulmonary
      complications. SSc patients with pulmonary fibrosis or pulmonary hypertension had
      more advanced LVDD and higher mortality. More effective therapy is needed to
      improve the outcome in this population.

PMID- 27635466
TI  - Review of electronic cigarettes as tobacco cigarette substitutes: Their potential
      human health impact.
AB  - Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are devised to deliver nicotine in a vapor rather
      than in smoke without tar. ECs are hence advertised as being safer than tobacco
      cigarette products as the chemical compounds inhaled in the former are believed
      to be fewer and less toxic than those of the latter. Hazardous chemicals (e.g.,
      formaldehyde) are nonetheless found to be generated incidentally by contacting
      the heated wire (i.e., the oxidation of glycerol/glycol in e-liquid). Although
      the extent of their release varies by several variables (e.g., the type of e
      liquid, puffing rate, and the battery voltage), their exposure may also
      contribute to negative health effects. As the use of ECs may be much safer than
      that of common tobacco products, the former can be used as an aid to cut down or
      quit the latter. However, relatively little is yet known about the health effects
      of the EC on a long-term basis. Moreover, the use of EC cannot be clearly
      substantiated for renormalizing smoking behavior by current evidence. Behavior
      studies of the EC consumer suggest that the sufficient data for aerosol
      generation and chemical analysis should be acquired to establish reliable guides
      for its composition and consumption. In light of the urgent demand for such
      guidelines, this review examines the basic aspects of EC-related pollutants and
      their health effects.

PMID- 27635467
TI  - Characterization of spinal cord white matter by suppressing signal from hindered
      space. A Monte Carlo simulation and an ex vivo ultrahigh-b diffusion-weighted
      imaging study.
AB  - Signal measured from white matter in diffusion-weighted imaging is difficult to
      interpret because of the heterogeneous structure of white matter.
      Characterization of the white matter will be straightforward if the signal
      contributed from the hindered space is suppressed and purely restricted signal is
      analyzed. In this study, a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) of water diffusion in
      white matter was performed to understand the behavior of the diffusion-weighted
      signal in white matter. The signal originating from the hindered space of an
      excised pig cervical spinal cord white matter was suppressed using the ultrahigh
      b radial diffusion-weighted imaging. A light microscopy image of a section of
      white matter was obtained from the excised pig cervical spinal cord for the MCS.
      The radial diffusion-weighted signals originating from each of the intra-axonal,
      extra-axonal, and total spaces were studied using the MCS. The MCS predicted that
      the radial diffusion-weighted signal remains almost constant in the intra-axonal
      space and decreases gradually to about 2% of its initial value in the extra
      axonal space when the b-value is increased to 30,000s/mm2. The MCS also revealed
      that the diffusion-weighted signal for a b-value greater than 20,000s/mm2 is
      mostly from the intra-axonal space. The decaying behavior of the signal-b curve
      obtained from ultrahigh-b diffusion-weighted imaging (bmax~30,000s/mm2) of the
      excised pig cord was very similar to the decaying behavior of the total signal-b
      curve synthesized in the MCS. A mono-exponential plus constant fitting of the
      signal-b curve obtained from a white matter pixel estimated the values of
      constant fraction and apparent diffusion coefficient of decaying fraction as
      0.32+/-0.05 and (0.16+/-0.01)*10-3mm2/s, respectively, which agreed well with the
      results of the MCS. The signal measured in the ultrahigh-b region (b>20,000s/mm2)
      is mostly from the restricted (intra-axonal) space. Integrity and intactness of
      the axons can be evaluated by assessing the remaining signal in the ultrahigh-b
      region.

PMID- 27635468
TI  - Rapid Induction of Therapeutic Hypothermia Using Transnasal High Flow Dry Air.
AB  - Early induction of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is recommended in out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest (CA); however, currently no reliable methods exist to initiate
      cooling. We investigated the effect of high flow transnasal dry air on brain and
      body temperatures in adult porcine animals. Adult porcine animals (n = 23) under
      general anesthesia were subject to high flow of transnasal dry air. Mouth was
      kept open to create a unidirectional airflow, in through the nostrils and out
      through the mouth. Brain, internal jugular, and aortic temperatures were
      recorded. The effect of varying airflow rate and the air humidity (0% or 100%) on
      the temperature profiles were recorded. The degree of brain cooling was measured
      as the differential temperature from baseline. A 10-minute exposure of high flow
      dry air caused rapid cooling of brain and gradual cooling of the jugular and the
      aortic temperatures in all animals. The degree of brain cooling was flow
      dependent and significantly higher at higher airflow rates (0.8 degrees C +/- 0.3
      degrees C, 1.03 degrees C +/- 0.6 degrees C, and 1.3 degrees C +/- 0.7 degrees C
      for 20, 40, and 80 L, respectively, p < 0.05 for all comparisons). Air
      temperature had minimal effect on the brain cooling over 10 minutes with similar
      decrease in temperature at 4 degrees C and 30 degrees C. At a constant flow rate
      (40 LPM) and temperature, the degree of cooling over 10 minutes during dry air
      exposure was significantly higher compared to humid air (100% saturation) (1.22
      degrees C +/- 0.35 degrees C vs. 0.21 degrees C +/- 0.12 degrees C, p < 0.001).
      High flow transnasal dry air causes flow dependent cooling of the brain and the
      core temperatures in intubated porcine animals. The mechanism of cooling appears
      to be evaporation of nasal mucus as cooling is mitigated by humidifying the air.
      This mechanism may be exploited to initiate TH in CA.

PMID- 27635470
TI  - Surgical Infection Society Curriculum Development Symposium: An Overview.
AB  - Hospital-acquired infections, sepsis, and critically ill patients cost the
      healthcare system billions of dollars every year. Many factors contribute to
      these problems, and the remedies are multifactorial. Education is an important
      component in resolving many of the issues related to better combating the
      economic, social, and personal costs associated with surgical infections. The
      Surgical Infection Society (SIS) convened a symposium to begin a dialogue on how
      the SIS can facilitate a better understanding of how to educate the surgical
      infection professionals and trainees. The following report summarizes the
      presentations and commentary presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting.

PMID- 27635469
TI  - Salvage Chemotherapy with R-DHAP in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Non
      Hodgkin Lymphoma.
AB  - This analysis reports on 72 patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin
      lymphoma who were treated with R-DHAP salvage chemotherapy regimen followed by
      high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. The overall remission rate
      was 58.3%. Median time of follow-up was 28.7 months. Median progression-free
      survival was 29 months, estimated median overall survival was 37 months. Within a
      matched pair analysis these results were compared to a group that received DHAP
      salvage therapy without rituximab showing similar overall response rates and
      better estimated five-year overall survival of 59.2% versus 43.5%. R-DHAP therapy
      was shown to be effective and feasible with acceptable toxicity. 

PMID- 27635471
TI  - Trial Reporting in ClinicalTrials.gov - The Final Rule.

PMID- 27635473
TI  - Molecular basis of aromatase inhibitor associated arthralgia: known and potential
      candidate genes and associated biomarkers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are routinely used for the adjuvant
      treatment of women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer. AIs are
      widely prescribed in the postmenopausal setting, as they are effective at
      preventing recurrence. However, their use is complicated by significant adverse
      effects, particularly arthralgia, noted in up to 50% of treated patients, and
      thereby affects quality of life and AI compliance. The mechanism by which AIs
      cause arthralgia is largely unknown, although there is a growing body of
      literature which suggests that there may be multiple intersecting mechanisms.
      Areas covered: This review describes the evidence for the mechanistic basis of AI
      arthralgia as well as potential pathways that could contribute to the development
      of AI associated arthralgia. Expert opinion: Interplay of multiple factors, such
      as interpatient variability in AI metabolism, possibly related to pharmacogenetic
      factors, the sudden decline of estrogen synthesis, vitamin D status, as well as
      upregulation of cytokines and inflammation pathways may precipitate or exacerbate
      muscle and joint pain are linked during AI therapy. However, much more research
      is needed in this area given the frequency and severity of AI-associated
      arthralgia.

PMID- 27635474
TI  - Transaortic Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation and Concomitant Off Pump
      Revascularization.
AB  - An increasing number of patients with severe aortic stenosis and concomitant
      critical coronary artery disease were referred to our hospital. Some of those
      patients were classified as high-risk patients qualifying for a transcatheter
      therapy with the additional need for coronary revascularization. As a consequence
      of their comorbidities, the established transapical as well as transfemoral
      approach were either not possible or not favored owing to the indispensable need
      for coronary revascularization. We present 4 successfully combined off-pump
      procedures consisting of a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (Edwards
      SAPIEN XT) via the transaortic approach and an off-pump coronary artery bypass
      grafting. All patients were discharged free from stroke, myocardial infarction,
      or access site complications either to rehabilitation facility or to the
      referring hospital with none or trace aortic regurgitation and patent grafts.
      These cases confirm the feasibility of those combined operations and should be
      considered as realistic alternative for surgical treatment in high-risk patients
      who are clearly identified to benefit from transcatheter approach to treat aortic
      stenosis and who have severe concomitant coronary artery disease.

PMID- 27635475
TI  - Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery: Moving Toward Consensus and
      Standardization.

PMID- 27635472
TI  - The mitochondrial translation machinery as a therapeutic target in Myc-driven
      lymphomas.
AB  - The oncogenic transcription factor Myc is required for the progression and
      maintenance of diverse tumors. This has led to the concept that Myc itself, Myc
      activated gene products, or associated biological processes might constitute
      prime targets for cancer therapy. Here, we present an in vivo reverse-genetic
      screen targeting a set of 241 Myc-activated mRNAs in mouse B-cell lymphomas,
      unraveling a critical role for the mitochondrial ribosomal protein (MRP) Ptcd3 in
      tumor maintenance. Other MRP-coding genes were also up regulated in Myc-induced
      lymphoma, pointing to a coordinate activation of the mitochondrial translation
      machinery. Inhibition of mitochondrial translation with the antibiotic
      Tigecycline was synthetic-lethal with Myc activation, impaired respiratory
      activity and tumor cell survival in vitro, and significantly extended lifespan in
      lymphoma-bearing mice. We have thus identified a novel Myc-induced metabolic
      dependency that can be targeted by common antibiotics, opening new therapeutic
      perspectives in Myc-overexpressing tumors.

PMID- 27635477
TI  - Bifid cardiac apex and high take off: an unusual association in a case of sudden
      death.
AB  - Bifid cardiac apex is a very rare finding in human and its presence is generally
      associated with other heart defects. We present the case of an 11-year old boy,
      with a positive family history for sudden cardiac death, who died while he was
      playing with his friends. An autopsy was performed, and on gross examination,
      bifid cardiac apex and high take off of right coronary artery were found.
      Furthermore, on histological examination, signs of myo-pericarditis were
      observed. This is, at our knowledge, the first case in literature in which bifid
      cardiac apex is associated with a high take off of right coronary artery.

PMID- 27635476
TI  - Seed Oil of Brucea javanicaInduces Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis via Reactive
      Oxygen Species-Mediated Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Human Lung Cancer Cells.
AB  - Brucea javanica oil (BJO), a traditional herbal medicine extracted from the seeds
      of B. javanica, has been clinically used to treat non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in combination with chemotherapy or
      radiotherapy in China. However, how BJO exerts this antitumor effect is still
      largely unknown. Here, effects of BJO on the growth of NSCLC and SCLC cell lines
      were investigated by the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenytetrazolium
      Bromide (MTT) assay, and the results showed that BJO inhibited the proliferation
      of A549 cells (NSCLC) and H446 cells (SCLC). Further studies revealed that BJO
      induced G0/G1 arrest partly via regulating p53 and cyclin D1 in these two cell
      lines. BJO also has pro-apoptotic effect on H446 and A549 cells through
      mitochondria/caspase-mediated pathway, which was initiated by the accumulation of
      intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). These findings thus revealed the
      molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor effect of BJO on SCLC and NSCLC,
      which may benefit the further clinical application of BJO.

PMID- 27635478
TI  - Neuroinflammatory genes associated with post-traumatic stress disorder:
      implications for comorbidity.
AB  - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that only
      occurs in the aftermath of traumatic event exposure and is characterized by an
      impaired stress response and chronic, low-grade inflammation. Dysregulation of
      the immune system may contribute towards central nervous system tissue damage and
      exacerbation of fear memories following trauma. Patients with PTSD often have
      comorbid psychiatric and somatic disorders that are of themselves associated with
      heightened inflammation. Several immune-related genes have been associated with
      PTSD and other co-occurring disorders. In this review, we propose that chronic
      inflammation, particularly neuroinflammation, is an important contributory factor
      towards PTSD comorbidity. Thus, novel treatments that target dysregulated
      inflammatory processes could provide symptomatic relief from PTSD and its
      comorbid disorders. This review investigates the intricate links between chronic
      stress, anxiety and neuroinflammation and the potential impact of increased
      neuroinflammation on PTSD pathology and comorbidity.

PMID- 27635479
TI  - ERKing Trypanosoma: PCNA phosphorylation as novel target.

PMID- 27635480
TI  - Intended and Unintended Consequences of Constraining Clinician Prescribing: The
      Case of Antipsychotics.

PMID- 27635481
TI  - Pantoprazole or Placebo for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis (POP-UP): Randomized Double
      Blind Exploratory Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pantoprazole is frequently administered to critically ill patients
      for prophylaxis against gastrointestinal bleeding. However, comparison to placebo
      has been inadequately evaluated, and pantoprazole has the potential to cause
      harm. Our objective was to evaluate benefit or harm associated with pantoprazole
      administration. DESIGN: Prospective randomized double-blind parallel-group study.
      SETTING: University-affiliated mixed medical-surgical ICU. PATIENTS: Mechanically
      ventilated critically ill patients suitable for enteral nutrition. INTERVENTIONS:
      We randomly assigned patients to receive either daily IV placebo or pantoprazole.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Major outcomes were clinically significant
      gastrointestinal bleeding, infective ventilator-associated complication or
      pneumonia, and Clostridium difficile infection; minor outcomes included overt
      bleeding, hemoglobin concentration profiles, and mortality. None of the 214
      patients randomized had an episode of clinically significant gastrointestinal
      bleeding, three patients met the criteria for either an infective ventilator
      associated complication or pneumonia (placebo: 1 vs pantoprazole: 2), and one
      patient was diagnosed with Clostridium difficile infection (0 vs 1).
      Administration of pantoprazole was not associated with any difference in rates of
      overt bleeding (6 vs 3; p = 0.50) or daily hemoglobin concentrations when
      adjusted for transfusion rates of packed red cells (p = 0.66). Mortality was
      similar between groups (log-rank p = 0.33: adjusted hazard ratio for
      pantoprazole: 1.68 [95% CI, 0.97-2.90]; p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: We found no
      evidence of benefit or harm with the prophylactic administration of pantoprazole
      to mechanically ventilated critically ill patients anticipated to receive enteral
      nutrition. The practice of routine administration of acid-suppressive drugs to
      critically ill patients for stress ulcer prophylaxis warrants further evaluation.

PMID- 27635483
TI  - Long-Term Mental Health After ICU, Let's Go Through the Looking Glass.

PMID- 27635482
TI  - Treatment of Coagulopathy Related to Hepatic Insufficiency.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To provide a concise review of the medical management of coagulopathy
      related to hepatic insufficiency. This review will focus on prevention and
      management of bleeding episodes in patients with hepatic insufficiency. The
      treatment and prevention of thromboembolic complications will also be addressed.
      DATA SOURCES: Electronic search of PubMed database using relevant search terms,
      including hepatic coagulopathy, hemorrhage, liver diseases, blood coagulation
      disorders, blood transfusion, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and liver
      failure. Subsequent searches were done on specific issues. STUDY SELECTION:
      Articles considered include original articles, review articles, guidelines,
      consensus statements, and conference proceedings. DATA EXTRACTION: A detailed
      review of scientific, peer-reviewed data was performed. Relevant publications
      were included and summarized. DATA SYNTHESIS: Available evidence is used to
      describe and summarize currently available tests of hemostasis, utilization of
      prohemostatic agents, transfusion strategies, use of prophylactic anticoagulation
      and treatment of thromboembolic events in patients with hepatic insufficiency.
      CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic changes to hemostasis occur in patients with hepatic
      insufficiency. Routine laboratory tests of hemostasis are unable to reflect these
      changes and should not be used exclusively to evaluate coagulopathy. Newer
      testing methods are available to provide data on the entire spectrum of clotting
      but are not validated in acute bleeding. Prohemostatic agents utilized to prevent
      bleeding should only be considered when the risk of bleeding outweighs the risk
      of thrombotic complications. Restrictive transfusion strategies may avoid
      exacerbation of acute bleeding. Prophylaxis against and treatment of
      thromboembolic events are necessary and should consider patient specific factors.

PMID- 27635484
TI  - Using ICU Congestion as a Natural Experiment.

PMID- 27635486
TI  - Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis Deadoption: What is the Barrier?

PMID- 27635485
TI  - The Building Case for Chlorhexidine Decolonization in the Prevention of
      Healthcare-Associated Infections.

PMID- 27635487
TI  - An H1N1 Update: Deja Flu?

PMID- 27635488
TI  - Should Checklists for Central Venous Catheter Insertion Be Used in Training,
      Credentialing, or Routine Clinical Care?

PMID- 27635489
TI  - Cumulative Fluid Balance: The Dark Side of the Fluid.

PMID- 27635490
TI  - Acting on Imperfect Information: When to Rely on Observational Data.

PMID- 27635491
TI  - Pediatric Fulminant Hepatic Failure: Are We Improving Outcome?

PMID- 27635492
TI  - Unusual Relationship: Do Organs Talk to Each Other?

PMID- 27635493
TI  - Defining ICU Structure and Process: Working Toward a Worldwide Agenda.

PMID- 27635494
TI  - A Tale of Two Ticking Clocks: Time to Administration of Appropriate Antibiotics
      and Time to Acquisition of Antimicrobial Resistant Pathogens.

PMID- 27635495
TI  - Modelling Cardiac Arrest-Are We There?

PMID- 27635496
TI  - Clinical Decision Support for Cerebral Perfusion Optimization After Traumatic
      Brain Injury.

PMID- 27635497
TI  - The Treatment of Severe Sepsis in the Pediatric Age: Long-Awaited Prospects and
      New Challenges Are Looming.

PMID- 27635498
TI  - Timing of Antibiotic Administration in Sepsis and Septic Shock: The Impact That a
      Meta-Analysis Does Not Depict.

PMID- 27635499
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635500
TI  - Gut Feeling?

PMID- 27635501
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635502
TI  - Nutritional Status Assessment in Critically Ill Children.

PMID- 27635503
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635504
TI  - Argon and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

PMID- 27635505
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635506
TI  - Iron Parameters Determine the Prognosis of Critically Ill Patients: Facts and
      Fiction.

PMID- 27635507
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635508
TI  - Iron Availability and Outcomes in Critical Illness.

PMID- 27635509
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635510
TI  - Do Earplugs Reduce Delirium in the ICU?

PMID- 27635511
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635512
TI  - Accidental Intra-Arterial Infusion of Amiodarone in a Pediatric Patient With
      Atrial Ectopic Tachycardia.

PMID- 27635513
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635514
TI  - Oxygen as an Essential Medicine: Under- and Over-Treatment of Hypoxemia in Low-
      and High-Income Nations.

PMID- 27635515
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635516
TI  - Time Matters: Antibiotic Timing in Sepsis and Septic Shock.

PMID- 27635517
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635518
TI  - Ventilator Strategy in Hematological Patients: When and How First Step Influences
      on Outcome.

PMID- 27635519
TI  - The authors reply.

PMID- 27635520
TI  - Mechanistically, How Does Postoperative Delirium Differ From Critical Illness
      Delirium?

PMID- 27635522
TI  - Latest Advances Towards Ras Inhibition: A Medicinal Chemistry Perspective.
AB  - Owing to their high occurrence rate across many human cancers and their lack of
      druggability so far, mutant forms of the signaling protein Ras are currently
      among the most attractive (and elusive) oncology targets. This strong appeal
      explains the sustained effort in the field, and the ensuing progress has
      rekindled optimism regarding the discovery of Ras inhibitors. In this Minireview,
      we discuss the most recent advances towards irreversible inhibitors, and
      highlight approaches to inhibitors of Ras-effector interactions that have been
      overshadowed by the current focus on direct Ras inhibition. At the same time, we
      provide a critical assessment from a medicinal chemistry perspective.

PMID- 27635521
TI  - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance.

PMID- 27635524
TI  - Inflammatory Events and Oxidant Production in the Diaphragm, Gastrocnemius, and
      Blood of Rats Exposed to Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia: Therapeutic Strategies.
AB  - We hypothesized that inflammatory events and reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production may be differentially expressed in respiratory and limb muscles, and
      blood of a chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) experimental model and that
      antioxidants and TNF-alpha blockade may influence those events. In blood,
      diaphragm, and gastrocnemius of rats non-invasively exposed to CIH (10% hypoxia,
      2 h/day, 14 consecutive days) with/without concomitant treatment with either anti
      TNF-alpha antibody (infliximab) or N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), inflammatory
      cytokines, superoxide anion production, muscle structural abnormalities, and
      fiber-type composition were assessed. Compared to non-exposed controls, in CIH
      exposed rats, body weight gain was reduced, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and
      interferon-gamma levels were increased in diaphragm, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 beta
      plasma levels were greater, systemic and muscle superoxide anion production was
      higher, diaphragm and gastrocnemius inflammatory cells and internal nuclei were
      higher, and muscle fiber-type and morphometry remained unmodified. CIH rats
      treated with infliximab further increased TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and
      interferon-gamma diaphragm levels, whereas NAC induced a reduction only in TNF
      alpha and IL-1beta levels in diaphragm and plasma. Infliximab and NAC elicited a
      significant decline in superoxide anion production in diaphragm, gastrocnemius,
      and plasma, while inducing a further increase in inflammatory cells and internal
      nuclei in both muscles. Proinflammatory cytokines are differentially expressed in
      respiratory and limb muscles and plasma of CIH-exposed rats, while superoxide
      anion production increased in both muscle types and blood. Infliximab and NAC
      exerted different effects. These findings may help understand the biology
      underlying CIH in skeletal muscles and blood of patients with chronic respiratory
      diseases. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1165-1175, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27635523
TI  - Suppression of Sclerostin Alleviates Radiation-Induced Bone Loss by Protecting
      Bone-Forming Cells and Their Progenitors Through Distinct Mechanisms.
AB  - Focal radiotherapy is frequently associated with skeletal damage within the
      radiation field. Our previous in vitro study showed that activation of Wnt/beta
      catenin pathway can overcome radiation-induced DNA damage and apoptosis of
      osteoblastic cells. Neutralization of circulating sclerostin with a monoclonal
      antibody (Scl-Ab) is an innovative approach for treating osteoporosis by
      enhancing Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in bone. Together with the fact that focal
      radiation increases sclerostin amount in bone, we sought to determine whether
      weekly treatment with Scl-Ab would prevent focal radiotherapy-induced
      osteoporosis in mice. Micro-CT and histomorphometric analyses demonstrated that
      Scl-Ab blocked trabecular bone structural deterioration after radiation by
      partially preserving osteoblast number and activity. Consistently, trabecular
      bone in sclerostin null mice was resistant to radiation via the same mechanism.
      Scl-Ab accelerated DNA repair in osteoblasts after radiation by reducing the
      number of gamma-H2AX foci, a DNA double-strand break marker, and increasing the
      amount of Ku70, a DNA repair protein, thus protecting osteoblasts from radiation
      induced apoptosis. In osteocytes, apart from using similar DNA repair mechanism
      to rescue osteocyte apoptosis, Scl-Ab restored the osteocyte canaliculi structure
      that was otherwise damaged by radiation. Using a lineage tracing approach that
      labels all mesenchymal lineage cells in the endosteal bone marrow, we
      demonstrated that radiation damage to mesenchymal progenitors mainly involves
      shifting their fate to adipocytes and arresting their proliferation ability but
      not inducing apoptosis, which are different mechanisms from radiation damage to
      mature bone forming cells. Scl-Ab treatment partially blocked the lineage shift
      but had no effect on the loss of proliferation potential. Taken together, our
      studies provide proof-of-principle evidence for a novel use of Scl-Ab as a
      therapeutic treatment for radiation-induced osteoporosis and establish molecular
      and cellular mechanisms that support such treatment. (c) 2016 American Society
      for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 27635526
TI  - High-SNR multiple T2 (*)-contrast magnetic resonance imaging using a robust
      denoising method based on tissue characteristics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop an effective method that can suppress noise in successive
      multiecho T2 (*)-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) brain images while preventing
      filtering artifacts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the simulation experiments, we
      used multiple T2 -weighted images of an anatomical brain phantom. For in vivo
      experiments, successive multiecho MR brain images were acquired from five healthy
      subjects using a multiecho gradient-recalled-echo (MGRE) sequence with a 3T MRI
      system. Our denoising method is a nonlinear filter whose filtering weights are
      determined by tissue characteristics among pixels. The similarity of the tissue
      characteristics is measured based on the l2 -difference between two temporal
      decay signals. Both numerical and subjective evaluations were performed in order
      to compare the effectiveness of our denoising method with those of conventional
      filters, including Gaussian low-pass filter (LPF), anisotropic diffusion filter
      (ADF), and bilateral filter. Root-mean-square error (RMSE), signal-to-noise ratio
      (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were used in the numerical evaluation.
      Five observers, including one radiologist, assessed the image quality and rated
      subjective scores in the subjective evaluation. RESULTS: Our denoising method
      significantly improves RMSE, SNR, and CNR of numerical phantom images, and CNR of
      in vivo brain images in comparison with conventional filters (P < 0.005). It also
      receives the highest scores for structure conspicuity (8.2 to 9.4 out of 10) and
      naturalness (9.2 to 9.8 out of 10) among the conventional filters in the
      subjective evaluation. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that high-SNR multiple
      T2 (*)-contrast MR images can be obtained using our denoising method based on
      tissue characteristics without noticeable artifacts. Evidence level: 2 J. MAGN.
      RESON. IMAGING 2017;45:1835-1845.

PMID- 27635527
TI  - Absence of aryl hydrocarbon receptor alters CDC42 expression and prevents actin
      polymerization during capacitation.
AB  - The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor
      that regulates the toxicity of a variety of environmental chemicals. The absence
      of this receptor causes serious reproductive complications. Ahr-knockout (Ahr-KO)
      male mice, for example, are considerably less fertile: Half of the few
      spermatozoa they produce exhibit morphological alterations, and those with
      typical morphology may have pathologic modifications. We therefore investigated
      the consequences of AHR loss on capacitation and the acrosome reaction, and asked
      if these effects are a consequence of changes to actin polymerization and the
      expression of Cdc42, which encodes Cell division control protein 42 (CDC42), a
      RHO protein that controls assembly of the actin cytoskeleton in somatic cells as
      well as during spermatogenesis. Nearly 50% of spermatozoa produced by Ahr-KO mice
      had alterations in the flagellum. Ahr-KO spermatozoa were frequently capacitated,
      but showed reduced spontaneous and progesterone-induced acrosome reaction-which
      is related to low CDC42 abundance and very limited actin polymerization during
      capacitation. Thus, the expression of CDC42 might be regulated by AHR, and both
      proteins are fundamental to the development of normal spermatozoa and the
      acrosome reaction. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 83: 1015-1026, 2016 (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27635525
TI  - Effects of Accelerated Storage on the Quality of Kenaf Seed Oil in Chitosan
      Coated High Methoxyl Pectin-Alginate Microcapsules.
AB  - The objective of this research was to study the oxidative stability and
      antioxidant properties of microencapsulated kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) seed
      oil (MKSO) produced by co-extrusion technology upon accelerated storage. The
      combination of sodium alginate, high methoxyl pectin, and chitosan were used as
      shell materials. The oxidative stability of the kenaf seed oil was determined by
      iodine value, peroxide value, p-Anisidine value, total oxidation (TOTOX),
      thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay, and free fatty acid content. Total
      phenolic content, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) cation
      radical-scavenging assay and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging
      assay were used to examine the antioxidant properties of oils. Oxidative
      stability tests showed that bulk kenaf seed oil (BKSO) was oxidized significantly
      higher (P < 0.05) than MKSO. The total increment of TOTOX value of BKSO was
      165.93% significantly higher (P < 0.05) than MKSO. Co-extrusion technology has
      shown to be able to protect kenaf seed oil against lipid oxidation and delay the
      degradation of natural antioxidants that present in oil during storage.

PMID- 27635595
TI  - Editorial: Cam Deformity and Acetabular Dysplasia as Risk Factors for Hip
      Osteoarthritis.

PMID- 27635596
TI  - Ultrasound Features of the First Metatarsophalangeal Joint in Gout and
      Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia: Comparison With Normouricemic Individuals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The first metatarsophalangeal (MTP1) joint is frequently affected in
      gout. The aim of this study was to identify ultrasound features of the MTP1 joint
      in people with gout and people with asymptomatic hyperuricemia compared with
      normouricemic controls. METHODS: Participants with gout (n = 23) and asymptomatic
      hyperuricemia (n = 29), and age- and sex-matched normouricemic control
      participants (n = 34), underwent a gray-scale and power Doppler ultrasound
      assessment of bilateral MTP1 joints by a single musculoskeletal radiologist. No
      participants had clinical evidence of joint inflammation at the time of scanning.
      The static images were later read by 2 musculoskeletal radiologists for the
      presence of the double contour sign, tophus, erosion, effusion, synovial
      hypertrophy, synovitis, and cartilage thickness. RESULTS: Compared to
      normouricemic control participants, participants with gout and participants with
      asymptomatic hyperuricemia had more frequent double contour sign (odds ratio [OR]
      3.91, P = 0.011 and OR 3.81, P = 0.009, respectively). Participants with gout
      also had more erosion (OR 10.13, P = 0.001) and synovitis (OR 9.00, P < 0.001)
      and had greater tophus and erosion diameters (P = 0.035 and P < 0.001,
      respectively). More severe erosion and synovitis grades and a less severe
      effusion grade were independently associated with gout compared with asymptomatic
      hyperuricemia (R2  = 0.65, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Urate deposition, synovitis,
      and bone erosion are common at the MTP1 joint in people with gout, even in the
      absence of flare. Although individuals with asymptomatic hyperuricemia lack
      ultrasound features of inflammation or structural joint changes, they demonstrate
      a similar frequency of urate deposition.

PMID- 27635597
TI  - Who and Where Are Kentucky's Remaining Uninsured?
AB  - BACKGROUND: While most research has focused on insurance uptake and describing
      the makeup of the newly insured, less is known about the characteristics among
      the remaining uninsured in expansion states. OBJECTIVES: Using Kentucky as a case
      study, we evaluate individual and contextual characteristics to learn more about
      groups who-despite expanded access to coverage options through US health care
      reform-reported being uninsured at the end of 2014. RESEARCH DESIGN: Cross
      sectional data from Kentucky's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was
      linked to county data from the Area Health Resource File, and we used logistic
      regression models to assess relationships between both person-level and county
      level characteristics with uninsured status. SUBJECTS: The study sample included
      nonelderly adults aged 18-64 residing in Kentucky during the time of the survey.
      RESULTS: Before the implementation of the Medicaid expansion and rollout of the
      state-based health insurance marketplace, adults who were younger (aged 18-47),
      unmarried, had lower levels of educational attainment, and considered to be low
      income were more likely to be uninsured. However, many but not all of these
      differences faded away by the end of 2014 when only unemployment, low-income
      status, and Hispanic ethnicity were positively correlated with being uninsured.
      CONCLUSIONS: At the end of 2014, Kentucky's adult uninsured rate was below 5% and
      few statistically meaningful coverage gaps remain, suggesting Kentucky's
      experience under health reform may contribute to long-run closures in disparities
      in health care access and outcomes.

PMID- 27635598
TI  - A Race to the Top? Competitive Pressure and Magnet Adoption Among US Hospitals
      1997-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Care quality continues to be a focal point within US health care. One
      quality innovation is the Magnet recognition program for hospitals, which is a
      nurse-driven initiative emphasizing care and patient-safety improvements. To
      date, Magnet hospitals have been associated with better outcomes, but their
      distribution is highly uneven. Relatedly, little research has characterized what
      factors drive Magnet adoption (eg, competitive pressure from other hospitals).
      OBJECTIVE: To examine if hospitals respond to more competing hospitals becoming
      Magnets by also becoming Magnet institutions. RESEARCH DESIGN: We use
      longitudinal data from the American Hospital Association, 1997-2012, and estimate
      hospital-level fixed-effect regressions to capture the association between Magnet
      adoption among competitors and a hospital's own likelihood of becoming a Magnet.
      We also explore heterogeneity in the relationships according to a hospital's
      standing within its market. RESULTS: Having more competitors become Magnets
      strongly predicts that a given hospital seeks Magnet recognition; yet, a
      hospital's market position and prevailing competition levels are moderating
      influences. CONCLUSIONS: A large literature links Magnet hospitals with better
      outcomes for patients and nurses, and more recent evidence suggests a business
      case for becoming a Magnet. We find evidence that hospitals seem motivated by
      competitive pressure, which suggests economic considerations in the decision to
      invest in costly care improvements.

PMID- 27635600
TI  - Longitudinal Patterns of Spending Enhance the Ability to Predict Costly Patients:
      A Novel Approach to Identify Patients for Cost Containment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With rising health spending, predicting costs is essential to
      identify patients for interventions. Many of the existing approaches have
      moderate predictive ability, which may result, in part, from not considering
      potentially meaningful changes in spending over time. Group-based trajectory
      modeling could be used to classify patients into dynamic long-term spending
      patterns. OBJECTIVES: To classify patients by their spending patterns over a 1
      year period and to assess the ability of models to predict patients in the
      highest spending trajectory and the top 5% of annual spending using prior-year
      predictors. SUBJECTS: We identified all fully insured adult members enrolled in a
      large US nationwide insurer and used medical and prescription data from 2009 to
      2011. RESEARCH DESIGN: Group-based trajectory modeling was used to classify
      patients by their spending patterns over a 1-year period. We assessed the
      predictive ability of models that categorized patients in the top fifth
      percentile of annual spending and in the highest spending trajectory, using
      logistic regression and split-sample validation. Models were estimated using
      investigator-specified variables and a proprietary risk-adjustment method.
      RESULTS: Among 998,651 patients, in the best-performing model, prediction was
      strong for patients in the highest trajectory group (C-statistic: 0.86; R: 0.47).
      The C-statistic of being in the top fifth percentile of spending in the best
      performing model was 0.82 (R: 0.26). Approaches using nonproprietary investigator
      specified methods performed almost as well as other risk-adjustment methods (C
      statistic: 0.81 vs. 0.82). CONCLUSIONS: Trajectory modeling may be a useful way
      to predict costly patients that could be implementable by payers to improve cost
      containment efforts.

PMID- 27635599
TI  - Deriving ICD-10 Codes for Patient Safety Indicators for Large-scale Surveillance
      Using Administrative Hospital Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Existing administrative data patient safety indicators (PSIs) have
      been limited by uncertainty around the timing of onset of included diagnoses.
      OBJECTIVE: We undertook de novo PSI development through a data-driven approach
      that drew upon "diagnosis timing" information available in some countries'
      administrative hospital data. RESEARCH DESIGN: Administrative database analysis
      and modified Delphi rating process. SUBJECTS: All hospitalized adults in Canada
      in 2009. MEASURES: We queried all hospitalizations for ICD-10-CA diagnosis codes
      arising during hospital stay. We then undertook a modified Delphi panel process
      to rate the extent to which each of the identified diagnoses has a potential link
      to suboptimal quality of care. We grouped the identified quality/safety-related
      diagnoses into relevant clinical categories. Lastly, we queried Alberta hospital
      discharge data to assess the frequency of the newly defined PSI events. RESULTS:
      Among 2,416,413 national hospitalizations, we found 2590 unique ICD-10-CA codes
      flagged as having arisen after admission. Seven panelists evaluated these in a 2
      round review process, and identified a listing of 640 ICD-10-CA diagnosis codes
      judged to be linked to suboptimal quality of care and thus appropriate for
      inclusion in PSIs. These were then grouped by patient safety experts into 18
      clinically relevant PSI categories. We then analyzed data on 2,381,652 Alberta
      hospital discharges from 2005 through 2012, and found that 134,299 (5.2%)
      hospitalizations had at least 1 PSI diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The resulting work
      creates a foundation for a new set of PSIs for routine large-scale surveillance
      of hospital and health system performance.

PMID- 27635601
TI  - Linkages Between Patient-centered Medical Homes and Addiction Treatment
      Organizations: Results From a National Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To meet their aims of providing comprehensive and coordinated care,
      patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) need to coordinate services for
      individuals with substance use disorders. Yet, the 14,000 addiction treatment
      (AT) organizations across the United States that provide services for more than 1
      million individuals daily are generally ill-prepared to work with PCMHs (eg, AT
      organizations often lack electronic health records). OBJECTIVES: To examine the
      extent to which AT organizations have formal linkages through contracts with
      PCMHs; to identify key dimensions of linkages between PCMHs and AT organizations
      (eg, shared use of electronic health records); to identify characteristics of AT
      organizations and their environments associated with these linkages. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: We draw on data from a 2014 nationally representative survey of
      directors and clinical supervisors from 695 AT organizations (n=1390 survey
      respondents). RESULTS: Thirty-eight percent of patients across the nation are
      receiving treatment in AT organizations linked by contracts to PCMHs. This number
      increases to 51% in states that expanded Medicaid (vs. only 6.2% of patients in
      non-Medicaid expansion states). Yet, the great majority of linkages are
      relatively weak; they do not include the exchange of patient information. Results
      from multivariable analyses show that larger, nonprofit and publicly owned AT
      organizations, as well as those located in the northeast and in states that
      expanded Medicaid coverage, are more likely to have contracts with PCMHs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Without stronger linkages between AT organizations and PCMHs or the
      development of other models that integrate services, individuals with substance
      abuse disorders may continue to receive uncoordinated care.

PMID- 27635602
TI  - Effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on quality of life and stress for breast
      cancer survivors: a meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective
      in mitigating various psychosocial impacts from breast cancer. Long-term studies
      have yielded mixed findings on the outcome of CBT in breast cancer settings,
      especially with respect to quality of life (QOL) and the quantified degree of
      stress (QDS). EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Medline, Cochrane, Embase, and Google Scholar
      databases were searched and randomized controlled trials relevant to the use of
      CBT and its variants in breast cancer patients were selected, and their pooled
      results meta-analyzed. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Six studies qualified for inclusion in
      the meta-analysis. Results from the six pooled studies did not demonstrate that
      CBT improves QOL (standardized mean difference =-0.016, 95% CI=-0.898 to 0.866,
      P=0.972) or reduces QDS (standardized mean difference =-0.125, 95% CI=-0.268 to
      0.017, P=0.084) for breast cancer survivors. However, interpretation of these
      results requires caution, given the small number of eligible studies, comprising
      a total of only 430 patients. Since the literature also includes trials of CBT
      combined with various other therapies, including hypnosis, exercise treatment,
      and stress management, with promising results in breast cancer settings, expanded
      clinical research is likely to demonstrate an overall benefit of CBT.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite the meta-analysis fails to support the use of CBT to improve
      QOL or reduce stress for breast cancer survivors, CBT appears to be promising as
      a therapeutic intervention against many of the psychosocial impacts of breast
      cancer.

PMID- 27635603
TI  - Rehabilitation procedures in the management of postural orientation deficits in
      patients with poststroke pusher behavior: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pusher behavior (PB) is a little-known postural control disorder
      characterized by alterations in the perception of body orientation in the coronal
      (roll) plane. Poststroke PB poses many short- and long-term concerns in clinical
      practice leading to the longer length of hospital stay and slower functional
      recovery. The literature on specific rehabilitation training in PB is scant. The
      aim of this pilot study was to compare the outcomes after postural orientation
      training using visual and somatosensory cues versus conventional physiotherapy in
      patients with poststroke PB. METHODS: Sixteen patients with PB were enrolled.
      Eight patients received postural orientation training employing visual and
      somatosensory cues. Seven patients received conventional physiotherapy. Each
      patient underwent 20 (50 min/d) individual treatment sessions (5 d/week for 4
      weeks). Primary outcome measure was the Scale for Contraversive Pushing (SCP).
      Secondary outcome measures were the European Stroke Scale (ESS), and the Postural
      Assessment Scale for Stroke (PASS). Outcomes were assessed at admission, after 1
      week, post-treatment, and at 1-month follow-up. RESULTS: No significant between
      group differences were measured on primary and secondary outcome measures.
      Significant within-group changes in performance were noted in both groups. The
      magnitude of the differences between the postural orientation training and the
      conventional physiotherapy effects, as measured on the SCP and the PASS, suggests
      the value of the former approach. CONCLUSIONS: Training employing visual and
      somatosensory cues might reduce pusher behavior severity and improve postural
      control in poststroke pusher behaviour.

PMID- 27635604
TI  - [Predictors of epilepsy in children after ischemic stroke].
AB  - AIM: To determine clinical/instrumental predictors of symptomatic epilepsy after
      ischemic stroke in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and thirty-six
      patients, aged 0-15 years, with the diagnosis of ischemic stroke (ICD-10 I63.0
      I63.9) were examined. The duration of the study was 18 months - 12 years.
      Patients were stratified into post-stroke (n=22) and control (n=114) groups, the
      latter included patients without epilepsy regardless of the presence of
      convulsive seizures in the acute stage of stroke. Predictors were determined
      based on EEG and characteristics of convulsive syndrome in the acute stage of
      stroke. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The following prognostic criteria were found:
      generalized type of seizures, focal type of seizures with secondary
      generalization, epileptiform (peak and/or peak-wave) activity, focal character of
      epileptiform activity, generalized type of seizures in the combination with slow
      wave background activity on EEG, generalized type of seizures in the combination
      with slow wave activity and disorganized activity on EEG.

PMID- 27635605
TI  - [Cognitive insight and dynamics of indicators of ultra-high risk for
      schizophrenia in young patients with non-psychotic forms of mental disorders].
AB  - AIM: To determine characteristics of cognitive insight and its relationship with
      the severity and dynamics of symptoms in patients with ultra-high risk for
      schizophrenia during treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 76 young
      patients with subpsychotic symptoms corresponding to criteria of ultra-high risk
      for psychosis and 55 healthy subjects. Patients were examined using
      psychopathological analysis and a battery of psychological tests. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSION: Cognitive insight, although not linked to objective indicators of
      ultra-high risk for schizophrenia, predicts a decline in both total score of
      SOPS, and in the Positive symptoms subscale during the treatment of patients with
      personality disorders. In the groups with mood disorders and schizotypal
      disorder, cognitive insight reflects more anxiety and uncertainty related to
      patients' experience rather than the true conscious criticism. In the group with
      schizotypal disorder, it is also closely related to the severity of subjective
      psychopathological symptoms.

PMID- 27635606
TI  - [Clinical features of exogenous organic mental disorders in patients with HIV
      infection].
AB  - AIM: To specify clinical/dynamic features of organic mental disorders in patients
      with HIV and to characterize the formation and course of psychoorganic syndrome.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 250 HIV-infected patients with mental
      disorders and 50 injection drug users (166 men and 84 women, mean age 30.6+/-6.3
      years). Clinical, psychological methods and laboratory instrumental examinations
      were performed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Course of the infection process and
      premorbid personality play an important role in the development of exogenous
      organic mental disorders in patients with HIV infection.

PMID- 27635607
TI  - [Possibilities of non-drug treatment for Parkinson's disease].
AB  - In this article, non-drug methods of treatment of Parkinson's disease are
      reviewed. Particular attention is given to the motor symptoms of disease,
      specifically to gait disorders. Information about objective methods of gait
      impairment is presented. Own results that confirm the effect of a method of tempo
      rhythmical correction of walk in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and
      vascular parkinsonism as well as a device for assessment of gait parameters
      developed by the authors are analyzed. The efficacy of other methods of gait
      correction using external cues, study design and level of evidence are analyzed
      as well. Information about possibilities of physical therapy and ergotherapy for
      correction of different symptoms of Parkinson's disease is presented. Positive
      and negative results of transcranial magnetic stimulation, light therapy and
      transcranial micropolarization in PD are analyzed. Basis non-drug methods of PD
      treatment, which currently have insufficient level of evidence (methods of mental
      relaxation and auditory training, methods of whole body vibration (vibromassage),
      laser therapy (photoacoustic therapy), acupuncture), are described in brief.
      Perspectives of the method of gait recovery in PD using tempo-rhythmic correction
      are emphasized. 

PMID- 27635608
TI  - [The efficacy of botulinum toxin therapy in patients with upper limb spasticity
      due to traumatic brain injury].
AB  - Spasticity is a type of muscle hyperactivity that occurs in patients after focal
      lesions of the Central nervous system due to various diseases: stroke, traumatic
      brain injury or spinal cord injury, neurosurgical intervention, as well as
      multiple sclerosis and other diseases of the Central nervous system and is the
      most disability manifestation of the syndrome of upper motor neuron (UMNS). Focal
      spasticity of the upper limb requires a complex treatment. Botulinum toxin
      therapy is an effective treatment for focal/multifocal spasticity in reducing
      muscle tone and improving function with the highest level of evidence according
      to the latest American and European guidelines for treatment of spasticity. There
      are many publications devoted to BTA use in post-stroke patients. This article
      provides a review of the BTA use in patients with the upper limb spasticity due
      to severe traumatic brain injury. Some local data on the BTA efficacy in the
      cohort of patients with traumatic brain injury are also presented. 

PMID- 27635609
TI  - [Effect of antioxidant therapy on neurotrophins and processes of rehabilitation
      after stroke].
AB  - The aim of the research was to study the effect of the inclusion in the scheme
      cytoflavin patient care during the recovery period of ischemic stroke in the
      neuropsychological changes in the status and content of neurotrophins in serum.
      For this purpose we surveyed 52 patients who underwent a first ischemic stroke
      (29 women and 23 men) aged 52-74 years. Patients were divided into 2 groups:
      primary (25 patients) received in addition to basic therapy cytoflavin:
      intravenously at 20 ml per 400 ml of 5% glucose solution, 1 time a day for 10
      days, then into 2 tablets 2 times a day for half an hour before food for a month,
      and the comparison group (27 patients) who received standard treatment. The
      control group consisted of 12 healthy people. In addition to standard clinical
      and laboratory tests were carried out a comprehensive neuropsychological study
      and evaluation of the data on the scale NIHSS, Bartell, Beck, Spielberger-Hanin,
      test "frontal dysfunction of the battery" and the Mini-Mental State Examination.
      Furthermore, determination carried neurotrophic factors: nerve growth factor
      (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor brain (BDNF). The study was conducted
      in the dynamics: before treatment and 2 months after treatment. Patients in the
      recovery period of the first ischemic stroke revealed moderate manifestations of
      neuropsychological disorders status and reduction of neurotrophic factors.
      Inclusion in cytoflavin scheme increased the efficiency of the treatment, which
      was manifested in a more pronounced when compared with the results of basic
      therapy, positive dynamics of neurological symptoms and improved cognitive
      function, accompanied by an increase in BDNF levels. The data on the efficacy and
      safety allow us to recommend its inclusion in the scheme of treatment of patients
      in the recovery period after the first carotid ischemic stroke. 

PMID- 27635610
TI  - [Effectiveness and safety of rufinamide at treatment of epilepsy with
      complications and drug-resistant epilepsy (according to meta-analysis data)].
AB  - AIM: Meta-analysis was undertaken to evaluate rufinamide safety and effectiveness
      in numerous heterogeneous groups of patients with severe and drug resistant
      epileptic disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: There were 164 relevant articles
      available via medico-clinical periodic databases, but only 15 have been chosen
      suitable for meta-analysis. All together 1847 participants were included into
      common massive, with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and similar encephalopathy
      syndromes, and with drug-resistant partial epileptic forms. 1169 were
      administered rufinamide additionally to typical anti-epileptic medications
      (experimental group). 686 received treatment with common practice drugs without
      rufinamide (control group). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Patient with more than 50%
      seizures reduction were more numerous in rufinamide group (chi2=89.7 with
      r=0.000...; OR=2.9 with 95% CI 2.3-3.7). Most frequent and statistically reliable
      complications of rufinamide use were headache/dizziness and nausea/vomiting.
      Rufinamide is safe and effective for treatment of different epilepsies including
      LGS and drug-resistant partial seizures. Rufinamide may be used as second-line
      adjuvant for routine neurologic practice.

PMID- 27635611
TI  - [Clinical significance of the cardio-ankle vascular index in patients with
      stroke].
AB  - AIM: To study the clinical significance of the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI)
      in patients with stroke. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 374 post-stroke
      patients. The state of peripheral arteries was assessed using CAVI and the ankle
      shoulder index (ASI). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The pathological CAVI (>9.0) was
      identified in 45.4% patients, the reduced ASI (<0.9) in 19.8% patients. Stressful
      factors of daily life, hypodynamia, lack of work, low education were
      characteristic of the patients with pathological CAVI and ASI compared to those
      with normal CAVI. The frequency of diabetes mellitus, clinical signs of
      peripheral atherosclerosis, chronic heart failure and atrial fibrillation was
      higher in these patients as well. Ischemic stroke was more frequent in patients
      with peripheral atherosclerosis and higher vascular wall rigidity. Assessments of
      CAVI and ASI are necessary in patients with ischemic stroke to identify those
      with higher vascular wall rigidity and peripheral atherosclerosis and to
      undertake targeted preventive measures.

PMID- 27635613
TI  - [Methodological aspects of a study of medical service satisfaction in patients
      with borderline mental disorders].
AB  - The authors discussed a methodology of the study of medical service satisfaction
      and it's factors: moment of assessment, methodology of data collection, format of
      data, bench-marking, principles of inclusion of questions into a questionnaire,
      organizing and frequency of conducting studies. 

PMID- 27635612
TI  - [Mutation del 1,02kb in the CLN3 gene and extrapyramidal syndrome].
AB  - Mutations in the GBA and SMPD1 genes, which lead to the development of lysosomal
      storage diseases, are high risk factors for Parkinson's disease and dementia with
      Lewy bodies. We screened the mutations in the GALC and CLN3 genes in patients
      with Parkinson's disease and control subjects. A heterozygous CLN3 mutation (del
      1.02 kb) carrier with clinical features of the unusual extrapyramidal syndrome
      was identified. A role of CLN3 mutations in the development of neurodegenerative
      disorders is discussed. 

PMID- 27635614
TI  - [Awareness on sleep hygiene rules in Russian population].
AB  - AIM: To estimate public awareness on sleep hygiene in general Russian population.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A sample consisted of 398 people (173 men, 225 women), aged
      from 18 to 82 years (mean age - 36.3+/-13.2 years), who were interviewed with the
      Sleep Beliefs Scale (SBS). Sociodemographic variables (gender, age, residence,
      education), sleep habits and disorders were recorded as well. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSION: The low public awareness on sleep hygiene rules was demonstrated.
      Mean number of correct answers out of 20 in SBS was 8.1+/-3.6. Most informed were
      women and more educated persons, worst results were demonstrated in smoking and
      habitual alcohol consuming respondents. The connection between disordered sleep
      and awareness on sleep hygiene rules was revealed.

PMID- 27635615
TI  - [Understanding of psychopathological constitutions and mental defect in the
      concept of Th. Ziehen].
AB  - The author analyzed a symptom concept of Th. Ziehen that had competed with the
      Kraepelin nosological concept of mental disorders. The classification of
      psychopathological constitutions and defective states in mental diseases used by
      Th. Ziehen is discussed. The particular significance given by Th. Ziehen to
      overvalues in the formation of psychopathological phenomena and sexual
      perversions as major characteristics of the general type of inherited
      psychopathic constitution is emphasized. The Th. Ziehen's definition of
      psychopathic constitution is compared to Kraepelin's conception of psychopathic
      personality. 

PMID- 27635616
TI  - [A possible relationship between disturbed interhemispheric asymmetry and a
      decrease in perineuronal oligodendrocytes in schizophrenia].
AB  - AIM: To specify a possible role of oligodendrocyte deficit in the development of
      interhemispheric asymmetry. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Perineuronal oligodendrocytes
      were counted in layer III, Broadmann area 39, in Nissl-stained sections in both
      hemispheres of post-mortem brain samples of patients with schizophrenia and
      controls (healthy people). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The left-hemispheric asymmetry
      of perineuronal oligodendrocytes was found in the control group. A decrease of
      this parameter by 22% and the absence of the interhemispheric asymmetry were
      noted in patients with schizophrenia. It has been concluded that perineuronal
      oligodendrocyte deficit in the inferior parietal cortex in schizophrenia can
      contribute significantly to disturbed interhemispheric asymmetry of this brain
      structure.

PMID- 27635617
TI  - [The use of Pantogam syrup in treating small children's breath holding spells].
AB  - AIM: To study the efficacy of pantogam syrup 10% (hopantenic acid) in the
      treatment of breath-holding spells (BHS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty children,
      aged from 2 to 4 years, with BHS were studied. The evaluation of clinical
      manifestations and anxiety level was performed. Results of neurophysiological
      examination (long-term video-EEG-monitoring) were analyzed. Children were divided
      into 2 groups: main, in which the patients received pantogam syrup, and control
      group, in which only psychological methods were used. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The
      results of the clinical and neurophysiological studies performed after the
      treatment, showed the clinical improvement in 73.3% of patients of the main group
      compared with similar data from the children in the control group (16.7%). The
      anxiety level significantly decreased after the neuroprotective therapy. A
      comparative analysis of electroencephalographic indicators demonstrated a
      significant (r<0.05) reduction in the power range of slow rhythms and
      manifestations of functional immaturity of the brain in patients of the main
      group. These results give evidence for the high efficacy of pantogam syrup in the
      treatment of children with BHS.

PMID- 27635618
TI  - "Nullius in Verba".

PMID- 27635619
TI  - Knowledge of Clinical Trial Availability and Reasons for Nonparticipation Among
      Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients: A Population-based Study.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients are
      underrepresented in clinical trials, but the reasons for this phenomenon are
      unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Questionnaire and medical record data from 515 AYA
      cancer patients (21 acute lymphocytic leukemia [ALL], 201 germ cell tumor, 141
      Hodgkin lymphoma, 128 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 24 sarcoma) from a population-based
      study were analyzed. We used multivariable models to determine characteristics
      associated with patient knowledge of the availability of clinical trials for
      their cancer. Reasons for not participating in a trial were tabulated. RESULTS:
      In total, 63% of patients reported not knowing whether a relevant clinical trial
      was available, 20% reported knowing that a clinical trial was not available, and
      17% reported that a trial was available. Among patients reporting an available
      trial, 67% were recommended for enrollment. Knowing about the availability of
      clinical trials was associated with having ALL (odds ratio=2.9, 95% confidence
      interval=1.1, 7.8). Reporting that a clinical trial was available was positively
      associated with having ALL, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and sarcoma
      (relative to germ cell tumor) and working full-time or in school full-time (odds
      ratio=2.6, 95% confidence interval=1.0, 6.7). Concerns about involvement in
      research (57%) and problems accessing trials (21%) were the primary reasons cited
      for not enrolling among patients who knew that a trial was available.
      CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in AYA cancer patient clinical trial enrollment will
      require enhancing knowledge about trial availability and addressing this
      population's concerns about participating in medical research.

PMID- 27635621
TI  - Concurrent Radiotherapy and Triweekly Carboplatin for the Definitive Treatment of
      Locally Advanced Laryngeal Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: In 2003, our institution adopted triweekly carboplatin
      (tCb) area under the curve (AUC) 5 as an alternative to high-dose cisplatin (100
      mg/m) for select patients receiving definitive concurrent chemoradiation for
      locally advanced laryngeal carcinoma (LALC). Here, we present our experience and
      outcomes with this definitive concurrent chemoradiation regimen. METHODS: From
      January 2003 through December 2013, 53 patients with stage III (60%) or IVA (40%)
      LALC were treated with tCb AUC 5 and concurrent radiotherapy to 70 Gy without
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Reasons for using carboplatin instead of cisplatin in
      these patients were: age 70 and older (21%), poor renal function (6%), presence
      of 1 or more major comorbid condition(s) (36%), and per discretion of the
      treating medical oncologist (38%). Primary disease site was glottis in 22 (42%)
      patients and supraglottis in 31 (58%) patients. RESULTS: Median follow-up time
      was 63 months for surviving patients. Out of the 53 patients, 43 (81%) received
      all 3 cycles of carboplatin and all patients received their intended dose of
      radiotherapy. Although 17 (32%) patients required a feeding tube during
      treatment, only 2 (4%) required it long term. There were no acute treatment
      related grade 4 or 5 hematologic toxicities. On last follow-up, 14 (26%) patients
      had died of intercurrent disease. For the subgroup of "RTOG 9111 eligible"
      patients in our cohort (n=46), 5-year estimates of overall survival, disease-free
      survival, laryngectomy-free survival, larynx preservation, and locoregional
      control were: 49%, 42%, 39%, 80%, and 63%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In patients
      with LALC who are suboptimal candidates for high-dose cisplatin, our experience
      suggests that tCb AUC 5 with concurrent radiotherapy provides acceptable outcomes
      with tolerable toxicity.

PMID- 27635622
TI  - Evaluating Candidacy for Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy, Accelerated Partial
      Breast Irradiation, and Endocrine Therapy After Breast Conserving Surgery: A
      Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): After breast conserving surgery, adjuvant radiation therapy
      represents the standard of care for most patients. However, multiple options
      exist beyond standard fractionated whole breast irradiation including
      hypofractionated whole breast irradiation (HFRT), accelerated partial breast
      irradiation (APBI), and endocrine therapy (ET) alone, which can limit treatment
      duration, and potentially reduce morbidity and cost. Limited data are available
      on the percentage of patients eligible for these alternatives; therefore, a
      Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) analysis was performed to assess
      candidacy for these alternative options in women with early stage breast cancer.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women treated for breast cancer between the years of 2010
      and 2012 were identified in the SEER database. Patients with unknown staging,
      metastatic disease, T3/T4 disease, and >=N1 disease were excluded. Patients were
      defined as eligible for HFRT based on the American Society for Radiation Oncology
      (ASTRO) consensus guidelines and randomised trial testing intensity modulated and
      partial organ radiotherapy following breast conservation surgery for early breast
      cancer (IMPORT LOW) trial criteria, APBI based on the ASTRO, American
      Brachytherapy Society and the Groupe Europeen de Curietherapie of European
      Society for Therapeutic Radiotherapy and Oncology (GEC-ESTRO) consensus
      guidelines, and GEC-ESTRO APBI and IMPORT LOW trial criteria, and ET alone based
      on the Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9343 and Post-operative Radiotherapy in
      Minimum Risk Elderly II inclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 108,484 women
      with early stage breast cancer who met the aforementioned inclusion criteria were
      identified. Of these patients, 86,896 (80.1%) were eligible for HFRT based on
      ASTRO consensus guidelines and 81,459 (75.0%) based on IMPORT LOW trial criteria.
      Regarding APBI, 44,797 (41.2%), 81,020 (74.6%), 81,020 (74.6%) were eligible
      according to ASTRO, ABS, GEC-ESTRO consensus guidelines, respectively, 97,301
      (89.7%) patients according to the GEC-ESTRO trial criteria, and 81,459 (75.0%)
      patients according to the IMPORT LOW trial criteria. For ET alone, 23,006 (21.2%)
      were eligible according to Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9343 criteria and 42,104
      (38.8%) according to Post-operative Radiotherapy in Minimum Risk Elderly II
      criteria. CONCLUSIONS: This SEER analysis demonstrates that a substantial
      proportion of women with early stage breast cancer are eligible for HFRT, APBI,
      or ET alone after breast conserving surgery according to consensus guidelines and
      prospective trial criteria. With incorporation of additional pathologic,
      dosimetric, and chemotherapy data, quality assurance pathways may use such data
      to help ensure patients are receiving appropriate risk stratified treatment
      recommendations.

PMID- 27635620
TI  - Preradiation Chemotherapy for Adult High-risk Medulloblastoma: A Trial of the
      ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (E4397).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the long-term outcomes and objective response (OR) to
      preradiation chemotherapy and radiation in adult high-risk medulloblastoma.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective phase II trial, adults with high-risk
      medulloblastoma were treated with 3 cycles of preradiation cisplatin, etoposide,
      cyclophosphamide, and vincristine followed by craniospinal radiation (CSI). OR,
      progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities were
      assessed. RESULTS: Eleven patients were enrolled over a 6-year period. Six (55%)
      had subarachnoid metastases. Two (18%) had an OR to preradiation chemotherapy.
      Two (18%) progressed while on chemotherapy. Completion of CSI was not
      compromised. The OR rate after chemotherapy and radiation was 45% (5/11).
      Nonevaluable patients at both time-points weakened the response data conclusions.
      Median PFS was 43.8 months. Five-year PFS was 27%. Five-year OS was 55%.
      Nonmetastatic (M0) and metastatic (M+) patients had similar outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: The OR to this preradiation chemotherapy regimen is lower than
      anticipated from the adult and pediatric literature raising a question about
      comparative efficacy of chemotherapy in different age groups. The OS achieved is
      similar to retrospective adult series, but worse than pediatric outcomes.
      Although this regimen can be administered without compromising delivery of CSI,
      our results do not provide support for the use of this neoadjuvant chemotherapy
      for adult medulloblastoma.

PMID- 27635623
TI  - Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) for Large Renal Tumors: A Retrospective
      Case Series Evaluating Clinical Outcomes, Toxicity, and Technical Considerations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Metastatic renal cell carcinoma represents a clinical scenario where
      aggressive treatment to the primary tumor (ie, cytoreductive nephrectomy) is
      associated with a survival benefit. We hypothesized that stereotactic ablative
      radiotherapy (SABR) could be a safe alternative local modality for inoperable
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients. Our study objectives were to report on
      technical considerations, toxicity, and clinical outcomes of our institutional
      experience with renal SABR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent renal
      SABR at our institution between January 2008 and June 2015 were reviewed.
      Toxicity was quantified using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events
      version 4.0. Radiographic response was evaluated using the Response Evaluation
      Criteria in Solid Tumors classification. Median overall survival and follow-up
      were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier and reverse Kaplan-Meier methods,
      respectively. RESULTS: We identified 11 patients that met study criteria. SABR
      was directed to the tumor or whole kidney in 5 fractions to a dose of 25 to 40
      Gy. Median tumor diameter and planning target volume were 9.5 cm (range, 7.5 to
      24.4) and 819.3 cm (range, 313.4 to 5704.3), respectively. Median follow-up was
      3.9 years (95% confidence interval, 0.6-4.9). Five cases of grade 1 toxicity were
      reported. In the patient with the largest target, grade 2 diarrhea and probable
      grade 3 nausea were observed. In patients with available follow-up imaging
      (7/11), stable disease (n=5), partial response (n=1), and progressive disease
      (n=1) were observed. Median overall survival was 20.4 months (95% confidence
      interval, 2.30-N/A). CONCLUSIONS: In this small cohort, renal SABR was delivered
      with minimal toxicity. A prospective study is underway at our institution to
      determine maximum tolerable and optimal dosing (NCT02264548).

PMID- 27635624
TI  - Patient-reported Urinary, Bowel, and Sexual Function After Hypofractionated
      Intensity-modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Results From a
      Randomized Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Hypofractionated prostate radiotherapy may increase biologically
      effective dose delivered while shortening treatment duration, but information on
      patient-reported urinary, bowel, and sexual function after dose-escalated
      hypofractionated radiotherapy is limited. We report patient-reported outcomes
      (PROs) from a randomized trial comparing hypofractionated and conventional
      prostate radiotherapy. METHODS: Men with localized prostate cancer were enrolled
      in a trial that randomized men to either conventionally fractionated intensity
      modulated radiation therapy (CIMRT, 75.6 Gy in 1.8 Gy fractions) or to dose
      escalated hypofractionated IMRT (HIMRT, 72 Gy in 2.4 Gy fractions).
      Questionnaires assessing urinary, bowel, and sexual function were completed
      pretreatment and at 2, 3, 4, and 5 years after treatment. RESULTS: Of 203
      eligible patients, 185 were evaluable for PROs. A total of 173 completed the
      pretreatment questionnaire (82 CIMRT, 91 HIMRT) and 102 completed the 2-year
      questionnaire (46 CIMRT, 56 HIMRT). Patients who completed PROs were similar to
      those who did not complete PROs (all P>0.05). Patient characteristics, clinical
      characteristics, and baseline symptoms were well balanced between the treatment
      arms (all P>0.05). There was no difference in patient-reported bowel (urgency,
      control, frequency, or blood per rectum), urinary (dysuria, hematuria, nocturia,
      leakage), or sexual symptoms (erections firm enough for intercourse) between
      treatment arms at 2, 3, 4, and 5 years after treatment (all P>0.01). Concordance
      between physician-assessed toxicity and PROs varied across urinary and bowel
      domains. DISCUSSION: We did not detect an increase in patient-reported urinary,
      bowel, and sexual symptom burden after dose-escalated intensity-modulated
      prostate radiation therapy using a moderate hypofractionation regimen (72 Gy in
      2.4 Gy fractions) compared with conventionally fractionated radiation.

PMID- 27635625
TI  - Do anthropometric measures accurately reflect body composition in preterm
      infants?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent literature suggests that neonatal adiposity is predictive of
      later metabolic health, while neonatal lean mass is predictive of later cognitive
      function amongst preterm infants. Anthropometric indices that accurately reflect
      neonatal body composition could improve clinical care and aid future research,
      but their validity has not been systematically tested in preterm infants.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the weight/length indices that best reflect neonatal body
      composition in preterm infants. METHODS: Weight and length were measured, and
      body composition (fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM) and percent body fat (%BF))
      was assessed using air-displacement plethysmography within 72 h of birth in 218
      preterm infants. The best weight/length proxy for FFM, FM and %BF were those with
      the highest proportion variance explained (R2 ) and lowest root mean square error
      (RMSE) in linear regression models. RESULTS: Among all of the weight/length
      indices tested, weight/length2 was the best proxy for %BF, but nonetheless
      exhibited very low variance explained (R2  = 0.27) and high prediction error
      (RMSE = 3.5% fat). Body weight unadjusted for length was strongly associated with
      FFM (R2  = 0.97). CONCLUSIONS: No weight/length index accurately reflected %BF.
      Weight/length indices are not appropriate for assessment of relative adiposity in
      preterm infants near birth. What's known on this subject: Compared with term
      infants, preterm infants have increased fat mass and diminished fat-free mass
      upon hospital discharge. Early adiposity predicts later metabolic health, while
      early lean mass is predictive of later neurodevelopmental outcomes. Optimal
      anthropometric proxies for preterm body composition at birth are not established.
      WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Weight is an adequate surrogate for lean mass at birth in
      preterm infants. There are no weight/length indices that accurately reflect
      neonatal adiposity at birth.

PMID- 27635626
TI  - Eye disorders associated with obstructive sleep apnoea.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is increasing in prevalence due
      to rising obesity. Public awareness is also growing. Although OSA is a disorder
      primarily of the upper airway during sleep, its physiological impact on other
      parts of the body is now well recognized. There is increasing interest in the
      association of OSA with various eye disorders. Work in this field has been
      directed predominantly to OSA prevalence and association studies, but some
      authors have tried to elucidate the effect of OSA therapies on eye diseases,
      including continuous positive airway pressure, upper airway surgery or bariatric
      surgery. This review discusses the publications in this area from the past year.
      RECENT FINDINGS: The key ocular disorders featured in the studies and meta
      analayses include glaucoma, floppy eyelid syndrome, nonarteritic ischaemic optic
      neuropathy, keratoconus, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic
      retinopathy. Associations with OSA were found with all these conditions, but
      aspects of the studies still leave gaps in our knowledge. SUMMARY: This review
      highlights the need for ophthalmologists to consider OSA in their patients and
      also makes recommendations for future research studies, especially whether
      therapies for OSA can be effective for ocular disorders also.

PMID- 27635627
TI  - Intestinal organoids and personalized medicine in cystic fibrosis: a successful
      patient-oriented research collaboration.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: New therapeutics have been introduced for cystic fibrosis that
      modulate cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) function in a
      mutation-specific fashion. Despite CFTR genotype-based stratification of
      treatments, treatment efficacy is variable between study participants suggesting
      that individual factors further contribute to drug efficacy. Moreover, these
      treatments are licensed for a limited amount of CFTR mutations, and study
      participants with rare mutations that can potentially benefit from available
      treatments may be missed. New approaches that better support the identification
      of responders to CFTR modulators are, therefore, needed. RECENT FINDINGS: We,
      here, review how a patient-oriented research collaboration between basic and
      clinical scientists and a national cystic fibrosis patient organization led to
      the development of a CFTR-dependent assay using primary stem cell cultures termed
      intestinal organoids that can measure the individual efficacy of CFTR modulators
      in a preclinical laboratory setting. Early observations suggest that drug
      responses in organoids reflect drug responses in vivo. SUMMARY: We particularly
      focus on the importance of patient-oriented research collaborations, and how such
      a collaboration helped to develop a personalized medicine approach for CFTR
      modulators. Intestinal organoids and biobanks thereof may be used to select
      optimal, individually tailored treatments for current and future (combinations
      of) CFTR modulators with only limited patient discomfort.

PMID- 27635628
TI  - Intracranial EEG seizure onset-patterns correlate with high-frequency
      oscillations in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: High-frequency oscillations (80-500Hz; HFOs) have been shown to be a
      specific biomarker of the seizure-onset zone. The relationship of HFOs with
      seizures having different intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG)
      morphological onsets, however, has shown significant relationships in
      experimental animals but has not been studied in humans. We investigated how
      interictal and ictal HFOs relate to different seizure-onset morphological
      patterns. METHODS: We analyzed the most representative seizure type of 37
      patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy who underwent iEEG for diagnostic
      evaluation. According to the morphology, 211 seizure-onset zone channels were
      classified in six patterns (low-voltage fast activity; sharp activity at <=13Hz;
      low-frequency high-amplitude periodic spikes; burst of high-amplitude polyspikes;
      spike-and-wave activity; and delta brush). Interictal and ictal HFOs were
      compared between the six seizure-onset patterns. RESULTS: Interictal ripple and
      fast ripple rates differed significantly across seizure-onset patterns (p<0.001).
      Significant differences were also found for ictal HFOs density across the
      different seizure-onset patterns (p<0.001). Sharp activity at <=13Hz was
      associated with the lowest interictal HFO rate suggesting either that the
      mechanism that generates this type of EEG morphology do not generate HFOs or
      possibly that this pattern is more likely to be generated in a region of seizure
      spread. Regarding the difference in HFO density between pre-ictal baseline and
      seizure-onset section across the six patterns, burst of high-amplitude polyspikes
      and delta brushes had the highest densities of both ripples and fast ripples
      (p<0.001). SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrated that distinct seizure-onset patterns
      correlate specific interictal and ictal HFO profiles confirming that seizures
      with different morphological patterns likely have different mechanisms of
      generation. This study emphazises that, in clinical practice, seizure-onset
      patterns should be distinguished and specified when analyzing HFOs, particularly
      if they are used in presurgical evaluation to better localize the seizure-onset
      zone.

PMID- 27635629
TI  - Pre-ictal BOLD alterations: Two cases of patients with focal epilepsy.
AB  - The pre-ictal state is of interest for better understanding pathophysiological
      processes leading up to seizures and for identifying potential biomarkers for the
      prediction of these events. We present two cases of patients with focal epilepsy
      (occipital, insular) who had seizures during functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) scans. Interictal (>30min pre-seizure) control data was available
      for one participant. The location and timing of pre-ictal blood oxygenation-level
      dependent (BOLD) signal alterations were examined along with changes in pre-ictal
      functional connectivity. BOLD signal increases were seen at/close to the seizure
      onset zone and in/near a contralateral homologous region for both patients. In
      one patient, BOLD signal decreases were also observed distant from the seizure
      onset zone. The BOLD signal changes began 11 to 3min prior to seizure onset.
      These findings add to a growing number of cases of pre-ictal hemodynamic
      alterations. The significant BOLD signal increases seen in/near the homologous
      region contralateral to the seizure onset zone in both patients suggests that
      this area may play a critical role in the pre-ictal state, perhaps functioning to
      inhibit the seizure onset zone, or alternatively, to be directly involved in
      seizure generation. Pre-ictal functional connectivity, using a seed at the
      presumed seizure onset zone, demonstrated increases in connectivity with regions
      near the contralateral homologous region prior to seizures. Alterations in
      connectivity were also observed and characterized in interictal data,
      highlighting the importance of future research in determining if the observed pre
      ictal changes are specific indicators for impending seizures.

PMID- 27635630
TI  - White matter abnormalities in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and amygdala
      enlargement: Comparison with hippocampal sclerosis and healthy subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cases of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with ipsilateral amygdala
      enlargement (AE) have increasingly been reported. However, the white matter (WM)
      abnormalities of TLE patients with AE remain poorly investigated. Here we
      explored macrostructural and microstructural WM abnormalities in TLE patients
      with AE compared to normal controls and TLE patients with hippocampal sclerosis
      (HS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We selected 17 patients with unilateral TLE with AE
      (TLE-AE) based on automated amygdala volumetry using FreeSurfer software, and 34
      healthy controls and 35 patients with unilateral TLE with HS (TLE-HS) were also
      recruited. Subsequently, differences in gray matter (GM) and WM volumes and
      fractional anisotropy (FA) among the three groups were analyzed using SPM8
      software. RESULTS: The volume analysis of GM obtained results that are consistent
      with the structural characteristics of TLE with AE and with HS (i.e. amygdala
      increase in the TLE-AE, and mesial temporal atrophy in the TLE-HS). In the volume
      of WM, only the TLE-HS patients had WM reductions mainly in the ipsilateral
      temporal lobe. Compared to the controls, the TLE-AE group showed a significant FA
      decrease in the ipsilateral anterior cingulum and the corpus callosum, whereas an
      extended FA decrease in the whole cerebrum was observed in the TLE-HS group.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings regarding the WM of TLE patients with AE may reflect
      characteristic pathophysiology such as the anatomical and functional connection
      between the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex, and our results may thus
      provide insights into TLE with AE.

PMID- 27635631
TI  - Subtle Motor Findings During Recovery from Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A
      Preliminary Report.
AB  - Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a heterogeneous condition, varying in
      both severity and sequelae. The long-term motor deficits following severe TBI
      requiring inpatient rehabilitation are better established than those following
      milder forms of TBI. The authors examined motor performance 2 and 12 months
      postinjury in children without overt motor impairment using standard measures of
      upper limb function and the Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle
      Signs (PANESS). The PANESS was sensitive to differences between children with TBI
      and uninjured children as well as to changes in children with TBI over time.
      These data suggest that subtle motor deficits are present after milder forms of
      TBI and, particularly those related to balance and gait, may persist even 12
      months postinjury.

PMID- 27635632
TI  - Emerging complexities with hepatitis C virus direct-acting antiviral regimens:
      Less is still Way more.

PMID- 27635633
TI  - A Novel Inhibitor of 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LOX) Prevents Oxidative Stress-Induced
      Cell Death of Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) Cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LOX) oxygenates arachidonic acid to form 5
      hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid, which is further converted into biologically
      detrimental leukotrienes, such as leukotriene B4 (LTB4). The RPE and retina
      express the PNPLA2 gene for pigment epithelium-derived factor receptor (PEDF-R),
      a lipase involved in cell survival. The purpose here was to investigate the role
      of PEDF-R on the 5-LOX pathway in oxidative stress of RPE. METHODS: Lipoxygenase
      activity assays were performed with soybean and potato lipoxygenase. Binding was
      evaluated by peptide-affinity chromatography and pull-down assays with PEDF-R
      derived synthetic peptides or recombinant protein. Oxidative stress was induced
      in human ARPE-19 and primary pig RPE cells with indicated concentrations of
      H2O2/TNF-alpha. Reverse transcription-PCR of ALOX5 and PNPLA2 genes was
      performed. Cell viability and death rates were determined using respective
      biomarkers. Leukotriene B4 levels were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Among five
      peptides spanning between positions Leu159 and Met325 of human PEDF-R
      polypeptide, only two overlapping peptides, E5b and P1, bound and inhibited
      lipoxygenase activity. Human recombinant 5-LOX bound specifically to peptide P1
      and to His6/Xpress-tagged PEDF-R via ionic interactions. The two inhibitor
      peptides E5b and P1 promoted cell viability and decreased cell death of RPE cells
      undergoing oxidative stress. Oxidative stress decreased the levels of PNPLA2
      transcripts with no effect on ALOX5 expression. Exogenous additions of P1 peptide
      or overexpression of the PNPLA2 gene decreased both LTB4 levels and death of RPE
      cells undergoing oxidative stress. CONCLUSIONS: A novel peptide region of PEDF-R
      inhibits 5-LOX, which intersects with RPE cell death pathways induced by
      oxidative stress.

PMID- 27635634
TI  - Photobiomodulation reduces abdominal adipose tissue inflammatory infiltrate of
      diet-induced obese and hyperglycemic mice.
AB  - Systemic inflammation is closely related to the development of insulin resistance
      and type-2 diabetes, since the activation of pro-inflammatory pathways leads to
      inhibition of insulin signaling. Although photobiomodulation (PBM) has proven
      beneficial effects on the treatment of inflammatory disorders, the
      phototherapeutic approach to manage the chronic inflammatory component of obesity
      and hyperglycemia had never been explored. In this work, obese and hyperglycemic
      mice are treated with PBM, and their body mass, glycemia and inflammatory
      infiltrate of abdominal adipose tissue are evaluated. During four weeks,
      irradiated animals are exposed to six irradiation sessions using an 843 nm LED
      (5.7 J cm-2 at 19 mW cm-2 per session). Non-irradiated control animals display
      inflammatory areas almost five times greater than the treated group (p < 0.001).
      This result on inflammatory infiltrate may have caused impacts on the significant
      lower blood glucose level from irradiated animals (p = 0.04), twenty-four hours
      after the last irradiation session. PBM on obese and hyperglycemic mice reduced
      five times the areas of inflammatory infiltrate within abdominal adipose tissue
      (a, b), whereas dense inflammatory regions were a common finding amidst non
      irradiated animals (c). The asterisks on (c) correspond to the inflammatory
      infiltrate permeating adipocytes.

PMID- 27635637
TI  - Determination of Lutein and Zeaxanthin Esters and Their Geometric Isomers in
      Carotenoid Ester Concentrates Used as Ingredients in Nutritional Supplements:
      Validation of a Combined Spectrophotometric-HPLC Method.
AB  - A combined spectrophotometric-LC method is described for the determination of
      total lutein and zeaxanthin ester content in carotenoid ester concentrates,
      including their main geometrical isomers. The concept of composite-specific
      absorbance is introduced for this purpose. The method is applicable to carotenoid
      ester concentrates used as ingredients in oil suspensions and dosage forms. The
      sample is dissolved in a hexane-2-propanol mixture (95 + 5, v/v) for
      spectrophotometric measurement at a maximum absorption of ~445 nm. Subsequently,
      in parallel, a sample is saponified and chromatographed on a normal-phase HPLC
      column to determine the relative percentage profile of the main geometrical
      isomers of both carotenoid esters. This, in turn, is used to calculate the
      composite-specific absorbance of the sample for the final calculation of results.
      The method, which solely uses reference standards to validate chromatographic
      conditions, avoids the common error of applying the specific absorbance of only
      the trans isomer for the calculation of total carotenoid content when cis isomers
      are present.

PMID- 27635636
TI  - Spatiotemporal interplay between multisensory excitation and recruited inhibition
      in the lamprey optic tectum.
AB  - Animals integrate the different senses to facilitate event-detection for
      navigation in their environment. In vertebrates, the optic tectum (superior
      colliculus) commands gaze shifts by synaptic integration of different sensory
      modalities. Recent works suggest that tectum can elaborate gaze reorientation
      commands on its own, rather than merely acting as a relay from upstream/forebrain
      circuits to downstream premotor centers. We show that tectal circuits can perform
      multisensory computations independently and, hence, configure final motor
      commands. Single tectal neurons receive converging visual and electrosensory
      inputs, as investigated in the lamprey - a phylogenetically conserved vertebrate.
      When these two sensory inputs overlap in space and time, response enhancement of
      output neurons occurs locally in the tectum, whereas surrounding areas and
      temporally misaligned inputs are inhibited. Retinal and electrosensory afferents
      elicit local monosynaptic excitation, quickly followed by inhibition via
      recruitment of GABAergic interneurons. Multisensory inputs can thus regulate
      event-detection within tectum through local inhibition without forebrain control.

PMID- 27635638
TI  - Pokemon GO-A New Distraction for Drivers and Pedestrians.

PMID- 27635635
TI  - An alternative splicing program promotes adipose tissue thermogenesis.
AB  - Alternative pre-mRNA splicing expands the complexity of the transcriptome and
      controls isoform-specific gene expression. Whether alternative splicing
      contributes to metabolic regulation is largely unknown. Here we investigated the
      contribution of alternative splicing to the development of diet-induced obesity.
      We found that obesity-induced changes in adipocyte gene expression include
      alternative pre-mRNA splicing. Bioinformatics analysis associated part of this
      alternative splicing program with sequence specific NOVA splicing factors. This
      conclusion was confirmed by studies of mice with NOVA deficiency in adipocytes.
      Phenotypic analysis of the NOVA-deficient mice demonstrated increased adipose
      tissue thermogenesis and improved glycemia. We show that NOVA proteins mediate a
      splicing program that suppresses adipose tissue thermogenesis. Together, these
      data provide quantitative analysis of gene expression at exon-level resolution in
      obesity and identify a novel mechanism that contributes to the regulation of
      adipose tissue function and the maintenance of normal glycemia.

PMID- 27635639
TI  - Clinicopathological characteristics and survival of ALK, ROS1 and RET
      rearrangements in non-adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: ALK, ROS1 and RET rearrangements represent 3 most frequent fusion
      genes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Rearrangements of these 3 genes
      exist predominantly in lung adenocarcinoma while rarely in non-adenocarcinoma.
      Our objective was to explore the frequency, clinicopathological characteristics
      and survival of ALK, ROS1 and RET rearrangements in non-adenocarcinoma NSCLC
      patients. METHODS: ALK, ROS1 and RET rearrangements were screened by reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in patients with completely
      resected non-adenocarcinoma NSCLC. All positive samples were confirmed with
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Survival analysis was performed with
      Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank for comparison. RESULTS: A total of 385 patients
      underwent complete resection, including squamous cell carcinoma (n = 245),
      adenosquamous carcinoma (n = 85) and large cell carcinoma (n = 55). Twelve of
      them were identified as harboring fusion genes, including ALK (n = 7), ROS1 (n =
      3) and RET (n = 2) rearrangements. The fusion frequencies of adenosquamous,
      squamous cell and large cell carcinomas were 8.2%, 1.6% and 1.8% respectively.
      Their median age was 49.5 y and 3 of them had a smoking history. No survival
      difference existed between fusion gene positive and negative patients (36.7
      vs.50.2 months, P = 0.21). CONCLUSION: The frequencies of ALK, ROS1 and RET
      rearrangements are low in non-adenocarcinoma NSCLC patients. And their clinical
      characteristics are similar to those in lung adenocarcinoma. Fusions of the above
      3 genes are not prognostic factor for non-adnocarcinoma NSCLC patients.

PMID- 27635640
TI  - Lymphocytic esophagitis: a histologic pattern with emerging clinical
      ramifications.
AB  - The clinical significance of lymphocytic esophagitis (LyE), which is
      characterized by the prominence of peripapillary intraepithelial lymphocytes
      (IELs) without significant granulocytosis, remains poorly understood. During the
      last few years, plausible clinical correlates and novel approaches for
      stratification of LyE have started to emerge. Association with Crohn's disease
      has been established in children, but is not observed in adults. In adults, the
      form of LyE showing CD4+ -predominant IELs has been recently found to be
      associated with non-achalasia primary motility abnormalities. GERD is another
      possible association. The most common clinical manifestations of adult LyE are
      dysphagia and normal endoscopic appearance of the esophagus. LyE should be
      reported by pathologists in order to distinguish it from its mimics, such as
      eosinophilic esophagitis, and to assist in directing the next steps in evaluation
      for known associated diseases, such as Crohn's disease or motility disorders.

PMID- 27635641
TI  - The C57BL/6J mice offspring originated from a parental generation exposed to
      tannery effluents shows object recognition deficits.
AB  - The main aim of the present paper is to assess whether the parental generation
      exposure to such discharges could cause object recognition deficits in their
      offspring. Male and female C57Bl/6J mice were put to mate after they were exposed
      to 7.5% and 15% tannery effluents or water (control group), for 60 days. The male
      mice were withdrawn from the boxes after 15 days and the female mice remained
      exposed to the treatment during the gestation and lactation periods. The
      offspring were subjected to the object recognition test after weaning in order to
      assess possible cognition losses. The results of the analysis of the novel object
      recognition index found in the testing session (performed 1 h after the training
      session) applied to offspring from different experimental groups appeared to be
      statistically different. The novel object recognition index of the offspring from
      female mice exposed to tannery effluents (7.5% and 15% groups) was lower than
      that of the control group, and it demonstrated object recognition deficit in the
      studied offspring. The present study is the first to report evidences that
      parental exposure to effluent of tannery (father and mother) can cause object
      recognition deficit in the offspring, which is related to problems in the central
      nervous system.

PMID- 27635642
TI  - Spatial and temporal trends in perfluorooctanoic and perfluorohexanoic acid in
      well, surface, and tap water around a fluoropolymer plant in Osaka, Japan.
AB  - This study was conducted to clarify the spatial distributions of
      perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) in well, surface
      and tap water around a fluoropolymer plant in Osaka between 2003 and 2016 and to
      predict the fate of those chemicals in these aquatic environments. We analyzed 44
      well, six surface and six tap water samples collected within a 5 km radius of the
      plant. The PFOA concentrations in well water ranged from 45.2 to 7440 ng/L
      (median = 240 ng/L), while PFHxA concentrations ranged from 9.68 to 970 (median =
      45.4 ng/L) in 2015-2016. The concentration of other perfluoroalkyl carboxylic
      acids were lower than PFOA and PFHxA in well water. Fixed-point observation
      showed that the levels of PFOA decreased greatly over the last few decades,
      whereas those of PFHxA increased in both well and surface water. Further
      monitoring and investigation are suggested to understand PFOA and PFHxA
      contamination and fate in the environment, as well as their potential for human
      exposure in this region.

PMID- 27635643
TI  - Uptake, accumulation and elimination of polystyrene microspheres in tadpoles of
      Xenopus tropicalis.
AB  - Microplastic is an emerging contaminant affecting freshwater and marine ecosystem
      across the globe. In the present study, the filter feeding tadpoles of Xenopus
      tropicalis were exposed to polystyrene microspheres (1 and 10 MUm) for 48 h.
      Microspheres were observed in gills and digestive tract of tadpoles within 1 h
      after exposure as well as in feces 6 h after exposure. The accumulation of
      microspheres in the tadpoles were concentration dependent (Univariate ANOVA, p <
      0.001), but no time dependent accumulation of microspheres was observed in
      tadpoles 48 h after exposure (Univariate ANOVA, p > 0.05). After the exposed
      tadpoles were transferred to clean water, the number of microspheres in the
      tadpoles decreased dramatically after 1 d and continued to decrease gradually
      afterwards. The absorbed polystyrene particles in unfed tadpoles was
      significantly higher than those in the fed tadpoles at 12 and 24 h after
      exposure. After transfer to clean water, the fed tadpoles showed a significant
      decrease in the amount of absorbed polystyrene particles, while the unfed
      tadpoles showed no significant change in the amount of absorbed polystyrene
      particles. Our results suggested that microspheres were likely to be ingested and
      egested relatively fast by tadpoles. Our results indicated that aquatic
      vertebrate organisms might ingest more microplastics if the abundance of
      microplastics continues to increase while the available food becomes less.

PMID- 27635644
TI  - Stereoselective induction of developmental toxicity and immunotoxicity by
      acetochlor in the early life stage of zebrafish.
AB  - Acetochlor (ACT) has been frequently detected in the aquatic environment and
      implicated in disruption of the immune system in fish, the mechanisms of which,
      especially at enantiomeric levels, remains unclear. In the present study,
      embryonic zebrafish were exposed to ACT and its enantiomers at concentrations of
      0, 2, 8, 15, 30 and 60 MUM from 2 h post-fertilization (hpf) to 72 hpf. We
      demonstrated that ACT and its enantiomers could cause time- and concentration
      dependent mortality (72 h LC50 ranged from 48.4 to 53.1 MUM) and developmental
      malformations (e.g., 48 h EC50 for yolk sac edema ranged from 36.7 to 54.1 MUM),
      as well as increase transcription of the key genes involved in the innate immune
      system. A consistent enantioselectivity in these endpoints was observed with (-)
      R-ACT showed stronger effects than (+)-S-ACT, and the transcription levels of il
      1beta exhibited significant enantioselectivity at concentrations as low as 8 MUM.
      Further Western blot analysis revealed that significant elevations of Il-1beta
      protein expression in all (-)-R-ACT treatment groups. According to the molecular
      docking and molecular dynamics simulations, the enantioselectivity between ACT
      enantiomers was attributed to the distinct binding affinity to Il-1beta. Overall,
      our in vivo and in silico studies uniquely disclosed the enantioselective
      immunotoxicity of ACT and its underlying mechanisms and highlighted the need to
      evaluate the environmental risk of chiral chloroacetamide herbicide in aquatic
      organisms at enantiomeric levels.

PMID- 27635645
TI  - Identification of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from a municipal
      wastewater treatment plant.
AB  - The emergence and diffusion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been a major
      public health problem for many years now. In this study, antibiotic-resistance of
      coliforms and Escherichia coli were investigated after their isolation from
      samples collected in a municipal wastewater treatment plant in the Milan area
      (Italy) along different points of the treatment sequence: inflow to biological
      treatment; outflow from biological treatment following rapid sand filtration; and
      outflow from peracetic acid disinfection. The presence of E. coli that showed
      resistance to ampicillin (AMP) and chloramphenicol (CAF), used as representative
      antibiotics for the efficacy against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria,
      was evaluated. After determining E. coli survival using increasing AMP and CAF
      concentrations, specific single-resistant (AMPR or CAFR) and double-resistant
      (AMPR/CAFR) strains were identified among E. coli colonies, through amplification
      of the beta-lactamase Tem-1 (bla) and acetyl-transferase catA1 (cat) gene
      sequences. While a limited number of CAFR bacteria was observed, most AMPR
      colonies showed the specific resistance genes to both antibiotics, which was
      mainly due to the presence of the bla gene sequence. The peracetic acid, used as
      disinfection agent, showed to be very effective in reducing bacteria at the
      negligible levels of less than 10 CFU/100 mL, compatible with those admitted for
      the irrigation use of treated waters.

PMID- 27635646
TI  - Predicting solvent-water partitioning of charged organic species using quantum
      chemically estimated Abraham pp-LFER solute parameters.
AB  - Methods for obtaining accurate predictions of solvent-water partitioning for
      neutral organic chemicals (e.g., Kow) are well-established. However, methods that
      provide comparable accuracy are not available for predicting the solvent-water
      partitioning of ionic species. Previous methods for addressing charge
      contributions to solvent-water partitioning rely on charged solute descriptors
      which are obtained from regressions to neutral species descriptors as well as
      charged descriptors which are specific to unique charge-functionalities and
      structural moieties. This paper presents a method for obtaining Abraham poly
      parameter linear free energy relationship (pp-LFER) descriptors using quantum
      chemical calculations and molecular structure, only. The method utilizes a large
      number of solvent-water systems to overcome large errors in individual quantum
      chemical computations of ionic solvent-water partition coefficients. The result
      is a single set of quantum-chemically estimated Abraham solute parameters (QCAP)
      which are solvent-independent, and can be used to predict the solvent-water
      partitioning of ionic species. Predictions of solvent-water partition
      coefficients for ionic species using quantum-chemically estimated Abraham
      parameters (QCAPs) are shown to provide improved accuracy compared over both
      existing Absolv-estimated Abraham solute parameters (AAP) as well as direct a
      priori quantum chemical (QC) calculations for partitioning of anionic solutes in
      4 organic solvent-water systems (RMS = 0.740, 2.48 and 0.426 for the Absolv, QC
      and QCAP methods, respectively). For quaternary amine cations in the octanol
      water system the RMS errors of the solvent-water partition coefficients were
      larger and similar between the two Abraham models (RMSE = 0.997 and 1.16, for the
      AAP and QCAP methods, respectively). Both methods showed significant improvement
      over direct QC calculations (RMSE = 2.82).

PMID- 27635647
TI  - Organochlorine pesticide residues in human milk and estimated daily intake (EDI)
      for the infants from eastern region of Saudi Arabia.
AB  - This study presents the level of organochlorine pesticide (OC) residues in human
      milk samples collected from donor mothers aged from 18 to 30 years old, from four
      cities in Eastern district of Saudi Arabia (Al-Hassa, Al- Khobar, Al-Jubail, and
      Al-Dammam). Pesticides residues were extracted from the samples and analyzed
      using GC-MS. The results showed that, only pp'DDE and p,pDDD, were found in 82.5%
      and 70% of analyzed samples respectively, the total DDT were at level of 0.37,
      0.32, 0.30 and 0.46 MUg/L in the four cities respectively and were far below the
      MRL of 50 MUg/L (FAO/WHO). The estimated daily intake (EDI) of DDT ingested by
      infant weight 3.5 kg ranged between 0.06 and 0.10 MUg/kg, which is less than the
      ADI issued by (EFSA, 2014). Lindane (gamma-HCH) found in 91.25% of the analyzed
      samples at level of 0.37, 0.35, 0.35 and 0.29 MUg/L. The EDIs of Lindane by
      infant were far below the ADI of 5 MUg/kg bw/day. Dieldrin and Enderin were found
      in 27.5% and 58.8% of samples respectively and were lower than MRL issued by
      FAO/WHO, but the (EDI) was higher than the ADI issued by EFSA. The isomer A
      heptachlor was detected in 51% of the samples, at levels were 15 times lower than
      the MRL issued by FAO/WHO, but EDIs by infants were 2-4 times higher than the ADI
      issued by EFSA. However, the results of the four studied areas in Saudi Arabia
      showed no statistically different among locations (p > 0.05).

PMID- 27635648
TI  - Disinfection by-products of chlorine dioxide (chlorite, chlorate, and
      trihalomethanes): Occurrence in drinking water in Qatar.
AB  - The occurrence of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) disinfection by-products (DBPs) in
      drinking water, namely, chlorite, chlorate, and trihalomethanes (THMs), was
      investigated. Two-hundred-ninety-four drinking water samples were collected from
      seven desalination plants (DPs), four reservoirs (R), and eight mosques (M)
      distributed within various locations in southern and northern Qatar. The ClO2
      concentration levels ranged from 0.38 to <0.02 mg L-1, with mean values of 0.17,
      0.12, and 0.04 mg L-1 for the DPs, Rs, and Ms, respectively. The chlorite levels
      varied from 13 MUg L-1 to 440 MUg L-1, with median values varying from 13 to 230
      MUg L-1, 77-320 MUg L-1, and 85-440 MUg L-1 for the DPs, Rs, and Ms,
      respectively. The chlorate levels varied from 11 MUg L-1 to 280 MUg L-1, with
      mean values varying from 36 to 280 MUg L-1, 11-200 MUg L-1, and 11-150 MUg L-1 in
      the DPs, Rs, and Ms, respectively. The average concentration of THMs was 5 MUg L
      1, and the maximum value reached 77 MUg L-1 However, all of the DBP
      concentrations fell within the range of the regulatory limits set by GSO
      149/2009, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Kahramaa (KM).

PMID- 27635649
TI  - Coupling fractionation and batch desorption to understand arsenic and fluoride co
      contamination in the aquifer system.
AB  - The present work is an attempt to study As and F+ coevality using laboratory
      based assays which couples fractionation and batch dissolution experiments.
      Sequential extraction procedure (SEP) resulting into five "operationally defined
      phases", was performed on sediment and soil samples collected from the
      Brahmaputra flood plains, Assam, India. High correlation between the Fe
      (hydr)oxide fraction and total As content of the soil/sediment sample indicates
      the involvement of Fe (hydr)oxides as the principal source of As. F- being an
      anion has high potential to be sorbed onto positively charged surfaces. Findings
      of the SEP were used to design the batch desorption experiments by controlling
      the Fe (hydr)oxide content of the soil/sediment. Desorption of As and F- was
      observed under acidic, neutral and alkaline pH from untreated and Fe (hydr)oxide
      removed samples. Highest amount of As and F- were found to be released from
      untreated samples under alkaline pH, while the amount leached from samples with
      no Fe (hydr)oxide was low. The study showed that the Fe (hydr)oxide fraction
      commonly found in the soils and sediments, had high affinity for negatively
      charged species like F- oxyanions of As, AsO43- (arsenate) and AsO33- (arsenite).
      Fe (hydr)oxide fraction was found to play the major role in co-evolution of As
      and F-. Two sorption coefficients were proposed based on easily leachable
      fraction and As present in the groundwater of sampling location for understanding
      of contamination vulnerability from the leaching.

PMID- 27635650
TI  - Geostatistical discrimination between different sources of soil pollutants using
      a magneto-geochemical data set.
AB  - The primary goal of this work was to distinguish between soil pollution from long
      range and local transport of atmospheric pollutants using soil magnetometry
      supported by geochemical analyses. The study area was located in the Izery region
      of Poland (within the "Black Triangle" region, which is the nickname for one of
      Europe's most polluted areas, where Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic meet).
      One site of the study area was situated in the Forest Glade and was exposed to
      anthropogenic pollution from a former glasswork. The second site of the study
      area was located on a neighboring hill (Granicznik) of which the western,
      northwestern and southwestern parts of the slope were exposed to the long-range
      transport of atmospheric pollutants from the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland.
      Magnetic susceptibility was measured on the soil surface and in the soil samples
      using a MS2 Bartington meter equipped with MS2D and MS2C sensors, respectively.
      Using soil magnetometry, it was possible to discriminate between long-range
      transport of atmospheric pollutants and anthropogenic pollution related to the
      former glasswork located in the Forest Glade. Additionally, using MS2C
      measurements and geochemical analyses of sixteen trace elements, it was possible
      to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic origins of a soil magnetic
      susceptibility signal. Our results indicate that the Forest Glade site is
      characterized by relatively significant anthropogenic translocation of topsoil
      horizons, presence of artefacts, more hot spots, very high spatial variability,
      and higher nugget effect than on the Granicznik Hill.

PMID- 27635651
TI  - Research and medical students in Chile.

PMID- 27635652
TI  - Physicochemical Properties Influencing Presence of Burkholderia pseudomallei in
      Soil from Small Ruminant Farms in Peninsular Malaysia.
AB  - Soil is considered to be a major reservoir of Burkholderia pseudomallei in the
      environment. This paper investigates soil physicochemical properties that may
      influence presence of B. pseudomallei in soil samples from small ruminant farms
      in Peninsular Malaysia. Soil samples were collected from the farms and cultured
      for B. pseudomallei. The texture, organic matter and water contents, pH,
      elemental contents, cation exchange capacities, carbon, sulfur and nitrogen
      contents were determined. Analysis of soil samples that were positive and
      negative for B. pseudomallei using multivariable logistic regression found that
      the odds of bacterial isolation from soil was significantly higher for samples
      with higher contents of iron (OR = 1.01, 95%CI = 1.00-1.02, p = 0.03), water (OR
      = 1.28, 95%CI = 1.05-1.55, p = 0.01) and clay (OR = 1.54, 95%CI = 1.15-2.06, p =
      0.004) compared to the odds of isolation in samples with lower contents of the
      above variables. These three factors may have favored the survival of B.
      pseudomallei because iron regulates expression of respiratory enzymes, while
      water is essential for soil ecology and agent's biological processes and clay
      retains water and nutrients. 

PMID- 27635654
TI  - A Novel Maximum Entropy Markov Model for Human Facial Expression Recognition.
AB  - Research in video based FER systems has exploded in the past decade. However,
      most of the previous methods work well when they are trained and tested on the
      same dataset. Illumination settings, image resolution, camera angle, and physical
      characteristics of the people differ from one dataset to another. Considering a
      single dataset keeps the variance, which results from differences, to a minimum.
      Having a robust FER system, which can work across several datasets, is thus
      highly desirable. The aim of this work is to design, implement, and validate such
      a system using different datasets. In this regard, the major contribution is made
      at the recognition module which uses the maximum entropy Markov model (MEMM) for
      expression recognition. In this model, the states of the human expressions are
      modeled as the states of an MEMM, by considering the video-sensor observations as
      the observations of MEMM. A modified Viterbi is utilized to generate the most
      probable expression state sequence based on such observations. Lastly, an
      algorithm is designed which predicts the expression state from the generated
      state sequence. Performance is compared against several existing state-of-the-art
      FER systems on six publicly available datasets. A weighted average accuracy of
      97% is achieved across all datasets. 

PMID- 27635653
TI  - Sam68 Is Required for DNA Damage Responses via Regulating Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation.
AB  - The rapid and robust synthesis of polymers of adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose
      (PAR) chains, primarily catalyzed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1), is
      crucial for cellular responses to DNA damage. However, the precise mechanisms
      through which PARP1 is activated and PAR is robustly synthesized are not fully
      understood. Here, we identified Src-associated substrate during mitosis of 68 kDa
      (Sam68) as a novel signaling molecule in DNA damage responses (DDRs). In the
      absence of Sam68, DNA damage-triggered PAR production and PAR-dependent DNA
      repair signaling were dramatically diminished. With serial cellular and
      biochemical assays, we demonstrated that Sam68 is recruited to and significantly
      overlaps with PARP1 at DNA lesions and that the interaction between Sam68 and
      PARP1 is crucial for DNA damage-initiated and PARP1-conferred PAR production.
      Utilizing cell lines and knockout mice, we illustrated that Sam68-deleted cells
      and animals are hypersensitive to genotoxicity caused by DNA-damaging agents.
      Together, our findings suggest that Sam68 plays a crucial role in DDR via
      regulating DNA damage-initiated PAR production.

PMID- 27635655
TI  - Atherosclerotic Risk Factors and Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Venous
      Thromboembolism; Time-Fixed versus Time-Varying Analyses. The Tromso Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single measurements of modifiable risk factors may underestimate
      associations with outcomes in cohorts. We aimed to compare risk estimates of
      myocardial infarction (MI) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) by atherosclerotic
      risk factors during long follow-up using time-fixed analyses without and with
      correction for regression dilution and time-varying analyses. METHODS: The study
      included 5970 subjects enrolled in the fourth survey of the Tromso Study
      (1994/95). Blood pressure, lipid levels, body mass index (BMI), diabetes and
      smoking status were measured at baseline, and subjects still alive at the fifth
      (2001/02, n = 5179) and sixth (2007/08, n = 4391) survey were re-measured.
      Incident events of MI (n = 714) and VTE (n = 214) were recorded until December
      2010. Time-fixed and time-varying Cox regression models were used to estimate
      hazard ratios (HR) for MI and VTE adjusted for age and sex. RESULTS: Variations
      in BMI, blood pressure and lipid levels were small, and did not alter the risk
      estimates when time-varying analyses were compared to time-fixed analyses. For
      MI, variables that changed considerably over time yielded the greatest changes in
      risk estimates (HR for smoking changed from 1.80 (95% CI 1.55-2.10) to 2.08 (95%
      CI 1.78-2.42)). For VTE, only BMI was associated with increased risk in both time
      fixed and time-varying analysis, but the risk estimates weakened in the time
      varying analysis. Correction of time-fixed HRs with Rosner's method tended to
      overestimate risk estimates compared to time-varying analysis. COMMENT: For MI
      and VTE, risk estimates based on baseline and repeated measures corresponded
      well, whereas correction for regression dilution tended to overestimate risks.

PMID- 27635656
TI  - Short Exon Detection via Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima.
AB  - The detection of short exons is a challenging open problem in the field of
      bioinformatics. Due to the fact that the weakness of existing model-independent
      methods lies in their inability to reliably detect small exons, a model
      independent method based on the singularity detection with wavelet transform
      modulus maxima has been developed for detecting short coding sequences (exons) in
      eukaryotic DNA sequences. In the analysis of our method, the local maxima can
      capture and characterize singularities of short exons, which helps to yield
      significant patterns that are rarely observed with the traditional methods. In
      order to get some information about singularities on the differences between the
      exon signal and the background noise, the noise level is estimated by filtering
      the genomic sequence through a notch filter. Meanwhile, a fast method based on a
      piecewise cubic Hermite interpolating polynomial is applied to reconstruct the
      wavelet coefficients for improving the computational efficiency. In addition, the
      output measure of a paired-numerical representation calculated in both forward
      and reverse directions is used to incorporate a useful DNA structural property.
      The performances of our approach and other techniques are evaluated on two
      benchmark data sets. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method
      outperforms all assessed model-independent methods for detecting short exons in
      terms of evaluation metrics. 

PMID- 27635658
TI  - Attenuation of Microbial Stress Due to Nano-Ag and Nano-TiO2 Interactions under
      Dark Conditions.
AB  - Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are incorporated into thousands of commercial
      products, and their release into environmental systems creates complex mixtures
      with unknown toxicological outcomes. To explore this scenario, we probe the
      chemical and toxicological interactions of nanosilver (n-Ag) and nanotitania (n
      TiO2) in Lake Michigan water, a natural aqueous medium, under dark conditions. We
      find that the presence of n-Ag induces a stress response in Escherichia coli, as
      indicated by a decrease in ATP production observed at low concentrations (in the
      MUg L-1 range), with levels that are environmentally relevant. However, when n-Ag
      and n-TiO2 are present together in a mixture, n-TiO2 attenuates the toxicity of n
      Ag at and below 20 MUg L-1 by adsorbing Ag+(aq). We observe, however, that toxic
      stress cannot be explained by dissolved silver concentrations alone and,
      therefore, must also depend on silver associated with the nanoscale fraction.
      Although the attenuating effect of n-TiO2 on n-Ag's toxicity is limited, this
      study emphasizes the importance of probing the toxicity of ENM mixtures under
      environmental conditions to assess how chemical interactions between
      nanoparticles change the toxicological effects of single ENMs in unexpected ways.

PMID- 27635657
TI  - Experimental Cancer Cachexia Changes Neuron Numbers and Peptide Levels in the
      Intestine: Partial Protective Effects after Dietary Supplementation with L
      Glutamine.
AB  - Gastrointestinal dysmotility frequently occurs in cancer cachexia and may result
      from damage to enteric innervation caused by oxidative stress, especially due to
      glutathione depletion. We assessed the effect of dietary supplementation with 20
      g/kg l-glutamine (a glutathione precursor) on the intrinsic innervation of the
      enteric nervous system in healthy and Walker 256 tumor-bearing Wistar rats during
      the development of experimental cachexia (14 days), in comparison with non
      supplemented rats, by using immunohistochemical methods and Western blotting. The
      total neural population and cholinergic subpopulation densities in the myenteric
      plexus, as well as the total population and VIPergic subpopulation in the
      submucosal plexus of the jejunum and ileum, were reduced in cachectic rats,
      resulting in adaptive morphometric alterations and an increase in vasoactive
      intestinal peptide (VIP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) expression,
      suggesting a neuroplastic response. l-glutamine supplementation prevented
      decrease in myenteric neuronal density in the ileum, morphometric alterations in
      the neurons and nerve fibers (in both the plexuses of the jejunum and ileum), and
      the overexpression of VIP and CGRP. Cancer cachexia severely affected the
      intrinsic innervation of the jejunum and ileum to various degrees and this injury
      seems to be associated with adaptive neural plasticity. l-glutamine
      supplementation presented partial protective effects on the enteric innervation
      against cancer cachexia, possibly by attenuating oxidative stress. 

PMID- 27635659
TI  - Enhanced Performance of Si MIS Photocathodes Containing Oxide-Coated Nanoparticle
      Electrocatalysts.
AB  - Electrodepositing low loadings of metallic nanoparticle catalysts onto the
      surface of semiconducting photoelectrodes is a highly attractive approach for
      decreasing catalyst costs and minimizing optical losses. However, securely
      anchoring nanoparticles to the photoelectrode surface can be challenging
      especially if the surface is covered by a thin insulating overlayer. Herein, we
      report on Si-based photocathodes for the hydrogen evolution reaction that
      overcome this problem through the use of a 2-10 nm thick layer of silicon oxide
      (SiOx) that is deposited on top of Pt nanoparticle catalysts that were first
      electrodeposited on a 1.5 nm SiO2|p-Si(100) absorber layer. Such insulator-metal
      insulator-semiconductor (IMIS) photoelectrodes exhibit superior durability and
      charge transfer properties compared to metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS)
      control samples that lacked the secondary SiOx overlayer. Systematic
      investigation of the influence of particle loading, SiOx layer thickness, and
      illumination intensity suggests that the SiOx layer possesses moderate
      conductivity, thereby reducing charge transfer resistance associated with high
      local tunneling current densities between the p-Si and Pt nanoparticles.
      Importantly, the IMIS architecture is proven to be a highly effective approach
      for stabilizing electrocatalytic nanoparticles deposited on insulating overlayers
      without adversely affecting mass transport of reactant and product species
      associated with the hydrogen evolution reaction.

PMID- 27635660
TI  - Assembly of Triblock Amphiphilic Peptides into One-Dimensional Aggregates and
      Network Formation.
AB  - Peptide assembly plays a key role in both neurological diseases and development
      of novel biomaterials with well-defined nanostructures. Synthetic model peptides
      provide a unique platform to explore the role of intermolecular interactions in
      the assembly process. A triblock peptide architecture designed by the Hartgerink
      group is a versatile system which relies on Coulomb interactions, hydrogen
      bonding, and hydrophobicity to guide these peptides' assembly at three different
      length scales: beta-sheets, double-wall ribbon-like aggregates, and finally a
      highly porous network structure which can support gels with <=1% by weight
      peptide concentration. In this study, by using molecular dynamics simulations of
      a structure based implicit solvent coarse grained model, we analyzed this
      hierarchical assembly process. Parametrization of our CG model is based on
      multiple-state points from atomistic simulations, which enables this model to
      represent the conformational adaptability of the triblock peptide molecule based
      on the surrounding medium. Our results indicate that emergence of the double-wall
      beta-sheet packing mechanism, proposed in light of the experimental evidence,
      strongly depends on the subtle balance of the intermolecular forces. We
      demonstrate that, even though backbone hydrogen bonding dominates the early
      nucleation stages, depending on the strength of the hydrophobic and Coulomb
      forces, alternative structures such as zero-dimensional aggregates with two beta
      sheets oriented orthogonally (which we refer to as a cross-packed structure) and
      beta-sheets with misoriented hydrophobic side chains are also feasible. We
      discuss the implications of these competing structures for the three different
      length scales of assembly by systematically investigating the influence of
      density, counterion valency, and hydrophobicity.

PMID- 27635661
TI  - C 20 - T carbon: a novel superhard sp (3) carbon allotrope with large cavities.
AB  - Through first-principles calculations, we predict a new superhard carbon
      allotrope named C 20  -  T, which possesses a cubic T symmetry with space group
      No.198(P213). This new carbon allotrope has an all-sp (3) hybridized bonding
      network with 20 atoms in its primitive unit cell. The dynamic, mechanical, and
      thermal stabilities of this new carbon phase at zero pressure are confirmed by
      using a variety of state-of-the-art theoretical calculations. Interestingly,
      despite the fact that C 20  -  T carbon has a porous structure with large
      cavities, our calculations identify its superhard properties with the Vickers
      hardness of 72.76 Gpa. The ideal tensile and shear strength of C 20  -  T carbon
      are calculated to be 71.1 and 55.2 GPa respectively, comparable to that of c-BN.
      Electronic band calculations reveal that this new carbon allotrope is a
      transparent insulator with an indirect band gap of 5.44 eV. These results broaden
      our understanding of superhard carbon allotropes.

PMID- 27635662
TI  - Sequential Photochemistry of Dibenzo[a,e]dicyclopropa[c,g][8]annulene-1,6-dione:
      Selective Formation of Didehydrodibenzo[a,e][8]annulenes with Ultrafast SPAAC
      Reactivity.
AB  - An order of magnitude difference in photoreactivity between bis- (photo-DIBOD, 1)
      and mono-cyclopropenone-caged dibenzocyclooctadiynes (MC-DIBOD, 5) allows for
      selective monodecarbonylation of 1. Alternatively, 5 is prepared by selective
      mono-cyclopropanation of dibenzo[a,e]cyclooctadiyne (DIBOD). MC-DIBOD (5) permits
      efficient sequential SPAAC cross-linking of azide-derivatized substrates.
      Cycloaddition to 5 converts an azide moiety into a photocaged form of triazole
      fused dibenzo[a,e]cyclooctyne (3). While the azide reactivity of MC-DIBOD (5) and
      DIBOD is similar to that of other dibenzocyclooctynes, fusion of triazole to the
      dibenzocyclooctyne system in 3 results in a 3 orders of magnitude enhancement in
      SPAAC rates. In methanol, 3 reacts with butyl azide at an astonishing rate of 34
      M-1 s-1, thus representing the most reactive cyclooctyne analogue reported so
      far. MC-DIBOD (5) was utilized in the preparation of mixed bis-triazoles and
      derivatization of the protein BSA with fluorescent dye and polyethylene glycol.

PMID- 27635663
TI  - Polarizability-Induced Vibrational Shifts for Infrared Spectroscopy of Molecular
      Surfaces: Xe as a Surface Probe of Hexadecanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers and
      Hexane Films on Au(111).
AB  - Adsorption of atomic and molecular species on several model film surfaces is
      shown to lead to systematic and reproducible spectral shifts for infrared
      absorption peaks associated with vibrations at the film/adsorbate interface.
      These shifts to lower frequencies are demonstrated to be versatile spectral
      signatures of this exposed interface. While this is found to occur for a wide
      variety of adsorbates, this work focuses on the adsorption of Xe onto molecular
      surfaces. By using the pre-Xe film reflectivity as a reference in calculating the
      spectra, the changes induced by Xe adsorption due to van der Waals forces are
      isolated from the conventional film spectrum which contains both surface and
      subsurface spectral contributions. A model-free algorithm containing two user
      defined fitting parameters is described to reconstruct the spectrum of the
      surface from which these shifted features originate. The high surface sensitivity
      of the technique is exhibited for the case of a hexadecanethiol self-assembled
      monolayer (SAM), where the reconstruction algorithm successfully reproduces all
      peaks attributed to the methyl tail groups with minimal spectral contributions
      from the methylene groups composing the subsurface chain backbone; such methylene
      spectral features dominate the conventional surface infrared spectra. The
      algorithm is applied to films of hexane to demonstrate its application to
      disordered multilayer films as well. The technique and reconstruction algorithm
      are shown to extract spectroscopic information from the uppermost ~0.3 nm of the
      film, representing the fundamental limit of vibrational surface sensitivity.
      Rudimentary modeling of a CO-Xe3 system using Morse/Lennard-Jones interactions
      demonstrates the expected distance dependence of the van der Waals interaction
      which gives rise to the observed vibrational spectral shifts.

PMID- 27635664
TI  - An 11-mer Amyloid Beta Peptide Fragment Provokes Chemical Mutations and
      Parkinsonian Biomarker Aggregation in Dopaminergic Cells: A Novel Road Map for
      "Transfected" Parkinson's.
AB  - Amyloid beta (Abeta) aggregation is generally associated with Alzheimer's onset.
      Here, we demonstrate that incubation of dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cells with an Abeta
      peptide fragment (an 11-mer composed of residues 25-35; Abeta (25-35)) results in
      elevated intracellular nitrosative stress and induces chemical mutation of
      protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), an endoplasmic reticulum-resident
      oxidoreductase chaperone. Furthermore, Abeta (25-35) provokes aggregation of both
      the minor and major biomarkers of Parkinson's disease, namely, synphilin-1 and
      alpha-synuclein, respectively. Importantly, fluorescence studies demonstrate that
      Abeta (25-35) triggers colocalization of these Parkinsonian biomarkers to form
      Lewy-body-like aggregates, a key and irreversible milestone in the neurometabolic
      cascade leading to Parkinson's disease. In addition, fluorescence assays also
      reveal direct, aggregation-seeding interactions between Abeta (25-35), PDI and
      alpha-synuclein, suggesting neuronal pathogenesis occurs via prion-type cross
      transfectivity. These data indicate that the introduction of an Alzheimer's
      associated biomarker in dopaminergic cells is proliferative, with the percolative
      effect exercised via dual, independent, Parkinson-pathogenic pathways, one stress
      derived and the other prion-like. The results define a novel molecular roadmap
      for Parkinsonian transfectivity via an Alzheimeric burden and reveal the
      involvement of PDI in amyloid beta induced Parkinson's.

PMID- 27635665
TI  - CoSe2 Embedded in C3N4: An Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Water
      Splitting.
AB  - An efficient H2 evolution catalyst is developed by grafting CoSe2 nanorods into
      C3N4 nanosheets. The as-obtained C3N4-CoSe2 heterostructure can show excellent
      performance in H2 evolution with outstanding durability. To generate phatocathode
      for photoelectrochemical water splitting CoSe2 grafted in C3N4 was decorated on
      the top of p-Si microwires (MWs). p-Si/C3N4-CoSe2 heterostructure can work as an
      efficient photocathode material for solar H2 production in PEC water splitting.
      In 0.5 M H2SO4, p-Si/C3N4-CoSe2 can afford photocurrent density -4.89 mA/cm2 at
      "0" V vs RHE and it can efficiently work for 3.5 h under visible light. Superior
      activity of C3N4-CoSe2 compared to CoSe2 toward H2 evolution is explained with
      the help of impedance spectroscopy.

PMID- 27635666
TI  - Gene expression and silencing of activin receptor type 2A (ACVR2A) in myoblast
      cells of chicken.
AB  - Activin receptor type 2A (ACVR2A) acts as receptor for myostatin (MSTN) protein
      involved in inhibiting satellite cell proliferation and differentiation. The
      importance of the ACVR2A gene during embryonic and post-hatch periods in broiler
      and layer chicken was studied in an in vitro cell culture system. The expression
      pattern of the ACVR2A gene during embryonic stages was similar in broiler and
      layer lines. Post-hatch expression of the ACVR2A gene varied significantly
      between broiler and layer lines. Five shRNA molecules were designed to knockdown
      expression of the ACVR2A gene in chicken myoblast cells. The silencing of the
      ACVR2A gene in a cell culture system varied from 60% to 82%. It is concluded that
      between broiler and layer lines, there were no significant changes in expression
      of the ACVR2A gene during embryonic stages but it varied significantly during the
      post-hatch period. The shRNA showed silencing of the ACVR2A gene under an in
      vitro cell culture system.

PMID- 27635667
TI  - Metastases to the parotid nodes: CT and MR imaging findings.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To present and characterize CT and MR imaging findings of metastases
      to the parotid nodes. METHODS: CT (n = 10) and MR (n = 11) images from 14
      patients with metastases to the parotid nodes were reviewed. The primary tumour
      sites were the ocular adnexa in five patients, facial skin in four patients,
      upper aerodigestive tract in four patients and thyroid gland in one patient. CT
      and MR images were evaluated with emphasis on the size and number of parotid
      tumours, their location in the parotid gland, the presence of associated
      clinically pathological cervical nodes or previous history of cervical node
      metastasis, margin characteristics and the presence of central necrosis. RESULTS:
      A total of 18 tumours were identified in 14 patients, with an average maximal
      cross-sectional diameter of 19 mm (7-44 mm). 12 patients had a single parotid
      tumour and 2 patients had unilateral multiple tumours; 12 tumours in 10 patients
      were located in the parotid tail, 6 tumours in 4 patients were located in the
      superficial lobe and no tumour was noted in the deep lobe. In the superficial
      lobe, four of six tumours were located in the pretragal area. Three of nine
      patients whose primary sites were the ocular adnexa or skin had associated
      clinically pathological cervical nodes. None of these patients had a previous
      history of cervical node metastasis. All five patients with other primary sites
      had associated pathological cervical nodes or a history of such. 11 tumours had
      well-defined margins and 7 tumours had ill-defined margins. Post-contrast images
      showed central necrosis in 2 of 11 tumours. CONCLUSIONS: Metastases to the
      parotid nodes tend to present as solitary parotid masses with two preferential
      sites.

PMID- 27635670
TI  - Integrating gerontological competencies in Canadian health and social service
      education: An overview of trends, enablers, and challenges.
AB  - As the number of older adults increases, it is imperative that gerontological
      competencies are imbedded in health and social service education reviews of
      Canadian published and grey literature presents trends, barriers, and enablers of
      sustained movement toward graduating professionals with gerontology competencies.
      Overall, gerontological education remains insufficient. Main barriers include
      resources for faculty and teaching. This review also identified discipline
      specific competency frameworks that could inform curriculum enhancement and
      education accreditations; however, most educators were unaware of these. Further
      limiting workforce development is the lack of gerontology competency statements
      within regulatory documents. This review concludes with recommendations for
      federal and provincial policies to establish educational accreditation programs
      in geriatrics, develop core competencies, and integrate these into regulatory
      frameworks. Failure to do so will continue the trend of insufficient preparation
      of health and social service professionals to care for older adults.

PMID- 27635668
TI  - Recovery after Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - RATIONALE: Little is known about how acute kidney injury (AKI) resolves, and
      whether patterns of reversal of renal dysfunction differ among patients with
      respect to ultimate recovery. OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine different patterns
      for AKI reversal that are found in patients and assess how they relate to
      postdischarge outcomes. METHODS: We studied 16,968 critically ill patients with
      Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes stage 2 or 3 AKI, using an electronic
      database. Reversal of AKI was defined as alive and no longer meeting criteria for
      even stage 1. Recovery was defined as reversal at hospital discharge.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We observed five patterns. The most common (4,508;
      26.6%) was early reversal that was sustained through discharge, but almost as
      many patients (4,496; 26.5%) had no reversal at all. The remaining patients had
      late reversal after Day 7 (9.7%); early reversal with one or more relapses, but
      with ultimate recovery (22.5%); and relapsing without recovery (14.7%). Outcomes
      for patients with these phenotypes were quite different, with age-adjusted 1-year
      survival varying from more than 90% for early reversal to less than 40% for
      patients never reversing. Relapses are common (37.3%), especially in the first 72
      hours after reversal, and are associated with a fivefold increased risk for death
      by 1 year compared with early sustained reversal. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified
      five distinct recovery phenotypes on the basis of the clinical course over the
      first week after AKI manifestation. These phenotypes may identify patients
      amenable to therapeutic intervention. Long-term outcomes are associated with
      recovery status at hospital discharge.

PMID- 27635671
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 27635669
TI  - Multiplatform serum metabolic phenotyping combined with pathway mapping to
      identify biochemical differences in smokers.
AB  - AIM: Determining perturbed biochemical functions associated with tobacco smoking
      should be helpful for establishing causal relationships between exposure and
      adverse events. RESULTS: A multiplatform comparison of serum of smokers (n = 55)
      and never-smokers (n = 57) using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, UPLC-MS
      and statistical modeling revealed clustering of the classes, distinguished by
      metabolic biomarkers. The identified metabolites were subjected to metabolic
      pathway enrichment, modeling adverse biological events using available databases.
      Perturbation of metabolites involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
      cardiovascular diseases and cancer were identified and discussed. CONCLUSION:
      Combining multiplatform metabolic phenotyping with knowledge-based mapping gives
      mechanistic insights into disease development, which can be applied to next
      generation tobacco and nicotine products for comparative risk assessment.

PMID- 27635673
TI  - Eye movements when reading sentences with handwritten words.
AB  - The examination of how we read handwritten words (i.e., the original form of
      writing) has typically been disregarded in the literature on reading. Previous
      research using word recognition tasks has shown that lexical effects (e.g., the
      word-frequency effect) are magnified when reading difficult handwritten words. To
      examine this issue in a more ecological scenario, we registered the participants'
      eye movements when reading handwritten sentences that varied in the degree of
      legibility (i.e., sentences composed of words in easy vs. difficult handwritten
      style). For comparison purposes, we included a condition with printed sentences.
      Results showed a larger reading cost for sentences with difficult handwritten
      words than for sentences with easy handwritten words, which in turn showed a
      reading cost relative to the sentences with printed words. Critically, the effect
      of word frequency was greater for difficult handwritten words than for easy
      handwritten words or printed words in the total times on a target word, but not
      on first-fixation durations or gaze durations. We examine the implications of
      these findings for models of eye movement control in reading.

PMID- 27635675
TI  - Daily emotional stress reactivity in emerging adulthood: temporal stability and
      its predictors.
AB  - BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Emotional reactivity to stress is associated with both
      mental and physical health and has been assumed to be a stable feature of the
      person. However, recent evidence suggests that the within-person association
      between stress and negative affect (i.e., affective stress-reactivity) may
      increase over time and in times of high stress, at least in older adult
      populations. The objective of the current study was to examine the across-time
      stability of stress-reactivity in a younger sample - emerging adulthood - and
      examine neuroticism, overall stress, social support and life events as potential
      moderators of stability. DESIGN & METHODS: Undergraduate students (N = 540, mean
      age = 18.76 years) participated in a measurement burst design, completing a 30
      day daily diary annually for four years. Moderators were assessed once at every
      burst, while negative affect and stress were assessed daily via a secure website.
      RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest a relatively high degree of rank-order
      and mean-level stability in stress-reactivity across the four years, and within
      person changes in neuroticism and overall stress predicted concurrent shifts in
      stress-reactivity. Unlike older samples, there was no evidence of an overall
      linear change in stability over time, though there was significant variability in
      linear change trajectories.

PMID- 27635691
TI  - Azo dyes and human health: A review.
AB  - Synthetic azo dyes are widely used in industries. Gerhardt Domagk discovered that
      the antimicrobial effect of red azo dye Prontosil was caused by the reductively
      cleaved (azo reduction) product sulfanilamide. The significance of azo reduction
      is thus revealed. Azo reduction can be accomplished by human intestinal
      microflora, skin microflora, environmental microorganisms, to a lesser extent by
      human liver azoreductase, and by nonbiological means. Some azo dyes can be
      carcinogenic without being cleaved into aromatic amines. However, the
      carcinogenicity of many azo dyes is due to their cleaved product such as
      benzidine. Benzidine induces various human and animal tumors. Another azo dye
      component, p-phenylenediamine, is a contact allergen. Many azo dyes and their
      reductively cleaved products as well as chemically related aromatic amines are
      reported to affect human health, causing allergies and other human maladies.

PMID- 27635674
TI  - Dihydroceramide accumulation mediates cytotoxic autophagy of cancer cells via
      autolysosome destabilization.
AB  - Autophagy is considered primarily a cell survival process, although it can also
      lead to cell death. However, the factors that dictate the shift between these 2
      opposite outcomes remain largely unknown. In this work, we used Delta9
      tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the main active component of marijuana, a compound
      that triggers autophagy-mediated cancer cell death) and nutrient deprivation (an
      autophagic stimulus that triggers cytoprotective autophagy) to investigate the
      precise molecular mechanisms responsible for the activation of cytotoxic
      autophagy in cancer cells. By using a wide array of experimental approaches we
      show that THC (but not nutrient deprivation) increases the
      dihydroceramide:ceramide ratio in the endoplasmic reticulum of glioma cells, and
      this alteration is directed to autophagosomes and autolysosomes to promote
      lysosomal membrane permeabilization, cathepsin release and the subsequent
      activation of apoptotic cell death. These findings pave the way to clarify the
      regulatory mechanisms that determine the selective activation of autophagy
      mediated cancer cell death.

PMID- 27635672
TI  - Treatment of symptomatic neuroendocrine tumor syndromes: recent advances and
      controversies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neuroendocrine tumors(NETs), once thought rare, are increasing in
      frequency in most countries and receiving increasing-attention. NETs present two
      treatment problems. A proportion is aggressive and a proportion has a functional,
      hormone-excess-state(F-NET), each of which must be treated. Recently, there have
      been many advances, well-covered in reviews/consensus papers on imaging-NETs;
      new, novel anti-tumor treatments and understanding their pathogenesis. However,
      little attention has been paid to advances in the treatment of the hormone-excess
      state. These advances are usually reported in case-series, and case-reports with
      few large studies. In this paper these advances are reviewed. Areas covered:
      Advances in the last 5-years are concentrated on, but a review of literature from
      the last 10-years was performed. PubMed and other databases (Cochrane, etc.) were
      searched for F-NET-syndromes including carcinoid-syndrome, as well as meeting
      abstracts on NETs. All advances that controlled hormone-excess-states or
      facilitated-control were covered. These include new medical-therapies [serotonin
      synthesis inhibitors(telotristat), Pasireotide, new agents for treating
      ACTHomas], increased dosing with conventional therapies (octreotide-LAR,
      Lanreotide-Autogel), mTor inhibitors(everolimus), Tyrosine-kinase
      inhibitors(sunitinib),cytoreductive surgery, liver-directed therapies
      (embolization, chemoembolization, radioembolization, RFA), peptide radio-receptor
      therapy(PRRT) and 131I-MIBG, ablation of primary F-NETs. Expert opinion: Although
      many of the newer therapies controlling the hormone-excess-states in F-NETs are
      reported in relatively few patients, all the approaches show promise. Their
      description also generates some controversies/unresolved areas,such as the order
      of these new treatments, their longterm-efficacy, and effectiveness of
      combinations which may require large,controlled studies.

PMID- 27635676
TI  - Diet Quality of Breast Cancer Survivors after a Six-Month Weight Management
      Intervention: Improvements and Association with Weight Loss.
AB  - PURPOSE: Obesity and diet quality are two distinct lifestyle factors associated
      with morbidity and mortality among breast cancer survivors. The purposes of this
      study were to examine diet quality changes during a weight loss intervention
      among breast cancer survivors and to examine whether diet quality change was an
      important factor related to weight loss. METHODS: Participants were
      overweight/obese breast cancer survivors (n = 180) participating in a weight loss
      intervention. Diet quality scores were calculated using the Healthy Eating Index
      (HEI)-2010. Paired sample t-tests were run to examine change in diet quality, and
      a latent difference model was constructed to examine whether change in diet
      quality was associated with weight change. RESULTS: Participants significantly
      improved diet quality (P = 0.001) and lost 13.2 +/- 5.8% (mean +/- SD) of their
      weight (P = 0.001). Six-month HEI score was significantly associated with weight
      loss, controlling for baseline BMI (P = 0.003). Improvement in diet quality was
      also significantly associated with weight loss (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our
      findings indicate that a weight loss intervention can result in both clinically
      significant weight loss and improvement in diet quality, and that improved diet
      quality is predictive of weight loss. Both weight loss and diet quality are
      implicated in longevity and quality of life for breast cancer survivors.

PMID- 27635694
TI  - Poisoning due to MDMB-CHMICA, a synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist.

PMID- 27635693
TI  - Intubated Trauma Patients Receiving Prolonged Antibiotics for Pneumonia despite
      Negative Cultures: Predictors and Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the excellent negative predictive value of sterile
      respiratory cultures, antibiotics often are continued after negative endotracheal
      aspirate (ETA) or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for critically ill trauma
      patients. We hypothesized that persistent elevation of the Clinical Pulmonary
      Infection Score (CPIS) would predict continued antibiotic therapy after a
      negative respiratory culture for intubated trauma patients, and that prolonged
      antibiotics would provide no benefit. METHODS: We performed a four-year
      retrospective cohort analysis (May 1, 2011-September 30, 2015), including
      patients from our trauma database with ETA or BAL, excluding patients with any
      infection other than pneumonia or bacteremia. Cultures with <2+ organisms on gram
      stain and <2+ or 104 organisms on culture were considered negative. The CPIS was
      assessed at the time of culture and five days later, when all cultures were
      final. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify predictors of long-term
      antibiotic therapy. RESULTS: A series of 106 patients with negative cultures were
      included, of whom 61 had <=5 d of antibiotics and 45 had >5 d of antibiotics.
      There were no differences in injury severity, head or chest trauma, initial CPIS,
      or subsequent culture results between the groups. Long-term antibiotic therapy
      did not affect intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), ventilator days,
      hospital LOS, or death. Factors predicting long-term antibiotic therapy included
      development of a localized chest radiograph infiltrate (odds ratio [OR] 6.8; 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 1.7-28), CPIS >5 five days after culture (OR 6.1; 95% CI
      1.2-32), and a colonized culture (OR 3.3; 95% CI 1.3-8.3). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term
      antibiotic therapy for intubated trauma patients with negative respiratory
      cultures provided no benefit and was predicted by development of a localized
      chest radiograph infiltrate, persistently elevated CPIS, and a
      contaminated/colonized culture. Although long-term antibiotic use did not worsen
      outcomes, better strategies are needed to diagnose pneumonia accurately and
      ensure timely discontinuation of antibiotics when appropriate.

PMID- 27635695
TI  - SPATA2: New insights into the assembly of the TNFR signaling complex.

PMID- 27635734
TI  - Dose-dense and less dose-intense total therapy 5 for gene expression profiling
      defined high-risk multiple myeloma.

PMID- 27635733
TI  - MATE1 regulates cellular uptake and sensitivity to imatinib in CML patients.
AB  - Although imatinib is highly effective in the treatment of chronic myeloid
      leukemia (CML), 25-30% patients do not respond or relapse after initial response.
      Imatinib uptake into targeted cells is crucial for its molecular response and
      clinical effectiveness. The organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1) has been proposed
      to be responsible for this process, but its relevance has been discussed
      controversially in recent times. Here we found that the multidrug and toxin
      extrusion protein 1 (MATE1) transports imatinib with a manifold higher affinity.
      MATE1 mainly mediates the cellular uptake of imatinib into targeted cells and
      thereby controls the intracellular effectiveness of imatinib. Importantly, MATE1
      but not OCT1 expression is reduced in total bone marrow cells of imatinib-non
      responding CML patients compared with imatinib-responding patients, indicating
      that MATE1 but not OCT1 determines the therapeutic success of imatinib. We thus
      propose that imatinib non-responders could be identified early before starting
      therapy by measuring MATE1 expression levels.

PMID- 27635736
TI  - I get so lonely, baby: The effects of loneliness and social isolation on romantic
      dependency.
AB  - Individuals lacking fulfilling interpersonal interactions may experience feelings
      of loneliness. Consequently, these individuals may over-rely on their romantic
      partners to fulfill the need to belong. This study examined the effects of
      loneliness and social isolation on dependency on a romantic partner in a sample
      of college students (N = 104). Participants who were in a romantic relationship
      completed measures of loneliness, social isolation, and romantic dependency near
      the beginning of the semester (Time 1) and approximately 6 weeks later toward the
      end of the semester (Time 2). Toward the beginning of the semester, there were no
      significant predictors of dependency. Toward the end of the semester, individuals
      who reported higher social isolation reported higher levels of dependency. Time 1
      dependency also predicted Time 2 dependency. Future methodological directions and
      suggestions regarding the examination of perceptions of loneliness and
      relationship expectations are discussed.

PMID- 27635735
TI  - Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection: A 40 years' Experience Analysis.
AB  - Background Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a rare cardiac
      malformation associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. We report
      a large surgical series study to evaluate mid-term and long-term results of
      conventional surgical techniques. Methods and Results We performed a
      retrospective analytic study of all patients operated on for simple total
      anomalous pulmonary venous connection in the University Hospital of Lyon, France,
      between January 1973 and June 2014. A total of 180 patients were included (43%
      supracardiac, 27% intracardiac, 19% infracardiac, and 11% mixed types). Mean
      cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross clamp times were respectively 66 and 39
      minutes. Overall mortality was 27.1%, including 38 early deaths (21.1%) and 12
      late deaths (6.1%). The percentage of early death greatly decreased over the
      eras, from 42.1% in the seventies to 7.4% after 2010. Besides the earlier era of
      intervention (p < 0.0001), significant risk factors for death in multivariate
      analysis were preoperative pulmonary hypertension, acidosis, and cardiopulmonary
      bypass time. There were 24 reoperations, including 7 for pulmonary venous
      obstruction; 6 died. Factors directly and independently associated with late
      complications were the anatomic type (mixed forms, p = 0.0023), and length of
      aortic cross clamp time (p = 0.01). Long-term results for survivals are
      excellent. We report 84.7% of asymptomatic patients with a mean follow-up of 10.8
      years. Conclusions The overall prognosis of total anomalous pulmonary venous
      connection repair with conventional procedures has greatly improved over the
      years with excellent long-term results. A thorough evaluation of all preoperative
      characteristics is imperative to achieve the best outcome.

PMID- 27635738
TI  - What's the evidence for this evidence?

PMID- 27635737
TI  - Mechanical ventilation in neurocritical care patients: a systematic literature
      review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neurocritical care (NCC) patients often require prolonged
      mechanical ventilation, and they are at high risk of respiratory complications.
      Therefore, the potential benefit role of protective lung ventilation (PLV), which
      demonstrated to reduce postoperative complications in patients with acute
      distress respiratory syndrome, has been suggested even on NCC patients. However,
      PLV can increase intracranial pressure as result of permissive hypercapnia and of
      high airway pressures during recruitment maneuvers. The aim of this review
      (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42015027011) is to describe the ventilatory
      strategies, and in particular PLV, commonly used in NCC patients. AREAS COVERED:
      We selected a total of 16 clinical studies, searching on PubMed and EMBASE
      databases, reporting original information on the MV on patients receiving NCC
      after acute brain injury, published in the last 10 years, in English language.
      Some of the included studies report data on a limited sample size. Expert
      commentary: The use of PLV techniques (PEEP, recruitment maneuvers, etc) in NCC
      patients is controversial. There is a wide variability among different centers in
      the treatment strategies and respiratory management of NCC patients, and there is
      the need for shared diagnostics and therapeutic studies, in order to improve the
      patients' outcome.

PMID- 27635739
TI  - Effectiveness of topical lidocaine as an adjuvant to propofol for procedural
      sedation in patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy procedures: a
      systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The quantitative objective is to identify the
      effectiveness of topical lidocaine as an adjuvant to propofol versus propofol
      alone for procedural sedation in adult patients undergoing
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy procedures.

PMID- 27635740
TI  - Parent experiences of communication with healthcare professionals in neonatal
      intensive care units: a qualitative systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this review are to explore parents'
      experiences of communication with healthcare professionals and to identify the
      meaningfulness of communication to parents in the neonatal intensive care unit
      (NICU).More specifically, the objectives are to identify.

PMID- 27635741
TI  - Effectiveness of breast massage in the treatment of women with breastfeeding
      problems: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The aim is to identify the effectiveness of breast
      massage in the treatment of women with breastfeeding problems. The objectives are
      to identify if breast massage has been shown to.

PMID- 27635742
TI  - Effectiveness of vasodilatory medications on radial artery spasm in patients
      undergoing transradial coronary artery procedures: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The quantitative objective is to identify the
      effectiveness of vasodilatory medications on radial artery spasm in patients
      undergoing transradial coronary artery procedures.

PMID- 27635743
TI  - The effect of low-dose ketamine via patient-controlled analgesic pump on morphine
      consumption in the postoperative period in thoracotomies: a systematic review
      protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to
      determine if adding low-dose ketamine to a morphine patient-controlled analgesic
      pump will have an impact on the total consumption of morphine during the first 72
      hours postoperative in patients over the age of 15 undergoing surgery involving
      thoracotomy. In addition, secondary outcomes assessing the impact on pain, nausea
      and vomiting will be evaluated for any alteration with ketamine co
      administration.

PMID- 27635744
TI  - Fixation methods for acute injuries of the ankle syndesmosis: a systematic review
      protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to compare the
      effectiveness of three fixation methods for acute injuries of the ankle
      syndesmosis - metal screw fixation, bioabsorbable screw fixation and suture
      button fixation.The reviewers seek to critically evaluate the available evidence
      to provide an evidence-based appraisal of the comparative safety and efficacy of
      the treatment strategies.

PMID- 27635745
TI  - Supervising nursing students in a technology-driven medication administration
      process in a hospital setting: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to identify, describe
      and synthesize the experiences of nurse supervisors and the factors that
      influence the supervision of pre-graduate nursing students in undertaking
      technology-driven medication administration in hospital settings.The current
      review seeks to answer the following questions.

PMID- 27635746
TI  - Experiences of nurses and/or midwives in research production in low- and middle
      income countries: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to identify, appraise and
      synthesize qualitative evidence about midwives' and nurses' experiences of
      involvement in research production in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
      Involvement in research production refers to their participation in research
      activities and processes such as the design, planning, decision making and
      implementation, collaboration, dissemination and knowledge uptake.The review will
      be guided by the following question: what are the experiences of midwives' and
      nurses' involvement in health research production in LMICs?

PMID- 27635747
TI  - Effectiveness of preoperative intranasal dexmedetomidine compared with oral
      midazolam for the prevention of emergence delirium in pediatric patients
      undergoing general anesthesia: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: This review aims to identify the effectiveness of
      preoperative intranasal dexmedetomidine compared with oral midazolam for the
      prevention of emergence delirium in pediatric patients undergoing general
      anesthesia.

PMID- 27635748
TI  - Pre-simulation preparation and briefing practices for healthcare professionals
      and students: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to systematically
      examine the use and effectiveness of pre-simulation preparation and briefing
      practices for healthcare professionals and students. More specifically, the
      objectives are to identify characteristics/activities of pre-simulation
      preparation and briefing and their effects on knowledge, attitudes, self
      confidence, self-efficacy, anxiety and skill performance in healthcare
      professionals and students.The review question is: What are the
      characteristics/activities of effective pre-simulation preparation and briefing?

PMID- 27635749
TI  - Oncological and survival outcomes following transoral robotic surgery versus
      transoral laser microsurgery for the treatment of oropharyngeal squamous cell
      carcinoma: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/REVIEW QUESTIONS: The objective of this systematic review is to
      synthesize the best available evidence regarding the oncological and survival
      outcomes (as measured by disease control, disease-free survival, disease-specific
      survival and overall survival) of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) versus
      transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) in the treatment of oropharyngeal squamous
      cell carcinoma in adults (aged 18 years or older). Specifically the review
      questions are:1 Is there a difference in oncological outcomes between a
      traditional "Halstedian" en bloc tumor resection technique used in TORS versus a
      modern segmental tumor dissection technique used in TLM?2 Does one surgical
      approach confer better oncological outcomes with respect to a particular patient
      subgroup, such as patients with a positive human papilloma virus status or
      patient's with different tumor T-stages?

PMID- 27635750
TI  - Factors determining quality of care in family planning services in Africa: a
      systematic review protocol.
AB  - REVIEW OBJECTIVE AND QUESTIONS: The objective of this systematic review is to
      identify and synthesize the best available quantitative and qualitative evidence
      to understand the factors determining quality of care in family planning services
      in Africa.The review question for the quantitative component of the review
      is:What factors, including facility, provider and client characteristics, are
      associated with quality of care in family planning services in Africa?The review
      question for the qualitative component of the review is:What are client and
      provider experiences and/or perceptions of factors that affect quality of care in
      family planning services in Africa?

PMID- 27635751
TI  - Psychometric viability of measures of functional performance commonly used for
      people with dementia: a systematic review of measurement properties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Confidence in findings can only be drawn from measurement tools that
      have sound psychometric properties for the population with which they are used.
      Within a dementia specific population, measures of physical function have been
      poorly justified in exercise intervention studies, with justification of measures
      based on validity or reliability studies from dissimilar clinical populations,
      such as people with bronchitis or healthy older adults without dementia.
      OBJECTIVES: To review the reliability and validity of quantitative measures of
      pre-identified physical function, as commonly used within exercise intervention
      literature for adults with dementia. INCLUSION CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS:
      Participants were adults, aged 65 years and older, with a confirmed medical
      diagnosis of dementia. TYPES OF INTERVENTION(S)/PHENOMENA OF INTEREST: n/a TYPES
      OF STUDIES: Desired studies were observational and cross-sectional and that
      assessed measures from a pre-identified list of measures of physical function.
      OUTCOMES: Studies that assessed the psychometric constructs of reliability and
      validity were targeted. COSMIN taxology was used to define reliability and
      validity. This included, but were not limited to, Intra-Class Correlations,
      Kappa, Cronbach's Alpha, Chi Squared, Standard Error of Measurement, Minimal
      Detectable Change and Limits of Agreement. SEARCH STRATEGY: Published material
      was sourced from the following four databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and ISI
      Web of Science. Grey literature was searched for using ALOIS, Google Scholar and
      ProQuest. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: The COSMIN checklist was used to assess
      methodological quality of included studies. Assessment was completed by two
      reviewers independently. DATA EXTRACTION: Reliability and validity data was
      extracted from included studies using standardized Joanna Briggs Institute data
      collection forms. Extraction was completed by two reviewers. DATA SYNTHESIS: A
      narrative synthesis of measurement properties of the tools used to measure
      physical function was performed. Quantitative meta-analysis was conducted for
      Intra-Class Correlation Coefficients only. RESULTS: With respect to relative
      reliability, studies reporting assessed measures had intraclass correlation
      coefficients greater than 0.71, indicating their suitability for use at a group
      level. However, a consistent finding among studies that included assessment of
      absolute reliability was that intra individual variation was too large for
      meaningful measurement of individuals. This was indicated by large Minimal
      Detectable Change (MDC) scores. Walk Speed has the smallest reported Mimimal
      Detectable Change score at 0.11m/s. This represented a change of 35% before
      statistical variation could be eliminated as the cause for this change. All
      measures had large MDC values. Walk Speed had the smallest MDC values at 0.11m/s,
      which represented a necessary change of 35%. Only a limited number of studies
      assessed the validity of measures. This supports the use of these measures in a
      very narrow selection of circumstances (see Summary of Findings). CONCLUSIONS: In
      summary, measures have shown appropriate levels of relative reliability. This
      supports their use at the group level. However, large levels of intra-individual
      variation undermine their applicability at the individual level. Limited studies
      of validity were available to this review, which limits a conclusion on whether
      measures are valid for people with dementia.

PMID- 27635752
TI  - Effectiveness of a patient navigator on patient satisfaction in adult patients in
      an ambulatory care setting: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One approach to overcoming healthcare system barriers and
      facilitating timely access to quality care and patient satisfaction is with a
      patient navigator. A patient navigator is a trained person who individually
      assists patients, families and caregivers navigate the healthcare system barriers
      efficiently and effectively at any point along the care continuum, improving
      patient care at all levels of an organization. OBJECTIVES: To synthesize the best
      available evidence on the effectiveness of a patient navigator on patient
      satisfaction in adult patients 18 years and older in ambulatory care settings.
      INCLUSION CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS: This review considered studies that
      involved adults of any ethnicity, race or gender, aged 18 years or older,
      regardless of diagnoses, stage of illness, whether the illness is acute or
      chronic or previous treatment, who had been receiving care in an ambulatory care
      setting. TYPES OF INTERVENTION(S)/PHENOMENA OF INTEREST: This review considered
      studies on the use of a patient navigator as an additional intervention to usual
      care for promoting patient satisfaction for adult patients in an ambulatory care
      setting. Usual care without a patient navigator was considered as a comparator.
      TYPES OF STUDIES: This review considered experimental and observational studies.
      OUTCOMES: The outcome considered was patient satisfaction. SEARCH STRATEGY: The
      literature search included published and unpublished studies in the English
      Language from 1990 through July 2015. A search of PubMed, CINAHL, Excerpta Medica
      Database (EMBASE), Academic Search Premier, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and Health
      Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Social Work Abstracts and Web of Science was
      conducted. A search for gray literature and electronic hand searching of relevant
      journals was also performed. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Two reviewers independently
      evaluated the included studies for methodological quality utilizing standardized
      critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. DATA EXTRACTION:
      Standardized data extraction tools from Joanna Briggs Institute were used by two
      independent reviewers for data extraction. DATA SYNTHESIS: A statistical meta
      analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity between the included studies.
      Results are presented in a narrative form. RESULTS: Four studies were included in
      this review, two were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), one was a quasi
      experimental pre-post-test design study and one was a cohort study. The four
      studies showed that a patient navigator had clinical benefit for patient
      satisfaction, care coordination and patient access to timely healthcare services.
      One RCT reported a mean satisfaction score of 4.3 for navigated patients and 2.9
      for non-navigated patients; P < 0.001. A second RCT showed an odds ratio 1.29;
      95% confidence interval 0.92-1.82 for navigated versus non-navigated patients.
      The quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test study showed navigated patient
      satisfaction with a mean = 11.45 (standard deviation [SD], 3.69) in comparison
      with the non-navigated patient (mean, 14.95; SD, 1.69) (F = 11.85; P = 0.000).
      The cohort study demonstrated a mean satisfaction score of 90.7 for navigated
      patients and 85.5 for non-navigated patients; P = 0.03. The four studies showed
      no clinically significant results; however, the patient navigator role may
      promote relationships among the healthcare team, reducing barriers for patient
      centered care and enhanced patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION: There is a paucity
      of evidence on the effectiveness of a patient navigator on patient satisfaction.
      In the four studies selected for inclusion, a patient navigator had a positive
      effect on patient satisfaction, although none of the studies demonstrated
      statistical significance with a patient navigator on patient satisfaction. The
      effect of a patient navigator remains questionable with differences in
      perceptions on the best individual for the role and the expected role perception
      and performance. A standardized approach to the role of the patient navigator may
      maximize health outcomes and positively affect the quality of life for all
      patients.

PMID- 27635753
TI  - Effectiveness of culturally focused interventions in increasing the satisfaction
      of hospitalized Asian patients: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction is a driving force for healthcare organizations
      to enhance patient services. As the Asian population in the United States is
      increasing at a significant rate, it is important to understand the needs of this
      population to implement culturally focused services that will lead to increased
      Asian in-patient satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the systematic review
      was to identify the best available evidence on the effectiveness of culturally
      focused interventions in increasing satisfaction of hospitalized adult Asian
      patients. INCLUSION CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS: This review considered
      studies that included Asian adults, 18 years of age and older, who were admitted
      to acute-care hospitals in countries where Asians are a minority culture. TYPES
      OF INTERVENTIONS: This review considered studies that included any intervention
      or sets of interventions implemented by hospitals for the purpose of making the
      hospital experience consistent with the cultural preferences of adult Asian in
      patients. OUTCOME MEASURES: Satisfaction of adult Asian hospitalized patients as
      measured by self-report satisfaction scales or tools considered by accrediting
      and/or governing bodies to be acceptable sources of evidence of patients'
      perceptions of their care. TYPES OF STUDIES: This review first considered
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-RCTs and quasi-experimental studies. As
      no RCTs or quasi-experimental studies were found, the reviewers also considered
      before and after studies, cohort studies and case-control studies for inclusion.
      This review also considered for inclusion descriptive study designs including
      case series, individual case reports and descriptive cross-sectional studies
      related to the adult Asian population in acute-care hospital settings. Three
      descriptive studies were selected in the review. SEARCH STRATEGY: The search
      strategy aimed to find both published and unpublished studies in English and
      Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) languages. A search of MEDLINE, Cumulative Index
      to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, Educational Research
      Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), the Cochrane Library, the Joanna Briggs
      Institute Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, Scopus,
      Excerpta Medical Databases (Embase) and Academic Search Premier was conducted,
      followed by a reference search of relevant studies and a gray literature search
      of the Virginia Henderson Library, Google Scholar, Mednar, conference proceedings
      and websites. The initial key words searched were patient satisfaction,
      culturally focused, hospitals, Asian-American and adult. DATA EXTRACTION: Data
      were extracted using a standardized critical appraisal checklist and data
      extraction instrument from the Joanna Briggs Institute. DATA SYNTHESIS: Due to
      the statistical and methodological heterogeneity between included studies,
      statistical meta-analysis was not possible. Results are presented in a narrative
      summary. RESULTS: Three descriptive studies were reviewed with sample sizes
      ranging from 107 to 19,583 and a total of 386 Asian participants. Two of the
      studies reported on nine measures of patient satisfaction, whereas the third
      provided data on four measures. The interventions identified were: communication
      between physician/registered nurse and patient, cultural services, Asian social
      workers, interpreters, and cultural food. The first study included intervention
      groups that were exposed to inpatient information on hospitalized Chinese
      cultural services compared to the "usual care" control. The percentage of
      patients' satisfaction in the group who knew about the services (95%) was
      significantly higher (p < 0.01). In the same study, patients' satisfaction with
      nurses was higher (95%) in patients with nurses who were aware of Chinese
      cultural services, compared to patients with nurses who were unaware (83%) (p <
      0.01). The second study developed a survey measuring 'Level of Top Box'
      satisfaction of Chinese patients in Chinese unit ('Informed of Chinese Culture
      Service') and non-Chinese unit ('Usual Care') with the outcome measure for
      patient satisfaction without p value. The two studies showed an increase in Asian
      inpatient satisfaction with communication between the physician/registered nurse
      and patient, as well as with pain control and quietness of the room. Also, two
      studies used the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems
      (HCAHPS) questions as patient satisfaction surveys. The third study was a
      descriptive/comparative secondary analysis of HCAHPS and Cultural Competency
      Assessment Tool for Hospitals (CCATH) surveys. There was also no p value for
      patient satisfaction measurement. The design and analysis of this study was more
      complex, using hospital wide-cultural competency and addressing factors such as
      race and language ability (English and non-English speakers). The surveys
      completed in Chinese were less than 0.1% of the sample size and the Asian data
      were eliminated. This study also showed that a greater degree of cultural
      competence in hospitals was positively associated with patient satisfaction with
      doctors' communication (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Evidence was insufficient to
      demonstrate cause and effect. Results suggest that culturally competent
      communication with patients by physicians and registered nurses, quietness of the
      room, information about treatments and procedures, and cultural foods are
      associated with increased satisfaction among hospitalized adult Asian patients.

PMID- 27635754
TI  - Nutritional interventions for optimizing healthy body composition in older adults
      in the community: an umbrella review of systematic reviews.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optimizing body composition for healthy aging in the community is a
      significant challenge. There are a number of potential interventions available
      for older people to support both weight gain (for those who are underweight) and
      weight loss (for overweight or obese people). While the benefits of weight gain
      for underweight people are generally clearly defined, the value of weight loss in
      overweight or obese people is less clear, particularly for older people.
      OBJECTIVES: This umbrella review aimed to measure the effectiveness of
      nutritional interventions for optimizing healthy body composition in older adults
      living in the community and to explore theirqualitative perceptions. INCLUSION
      CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS: The participants were older adults, 60 years of
      age or older, living in the community. TYPES OF INTERVENTIONS: The review
      examinedsix types of nutritional interventions: (i) dietary programs, (ii)
      nutritional supplements, (iii) meal replacements, (iv) food groups, (v) food
      delivery support and eating behavior, and (vi) nutritional counselling or
      education. TYPES OF STUDIES: This umbrella review considered any quantitative
      systematic reviews and meta-analyses of effectiveness, or qualitative systematic
      reviews, or a combination (i.e. comprehensive reviews). TYPES OF OUTCOMES: The
      quantitative outcome measures of body composition were: (i) nutritional status
      (e.g. proportion of overweight or underweight patients); (ii) fat mass (kg),
      (iii) lean mass or muscle mass (kg), (iv) weight (kg) or BMI (kg/m), (v) bone
      mass (kg) or bone measures such as bone mineral density, and (vi) hydration
      status. PHENOMENA OF INTEREST: The phenomena of interestwere the qualitative
      perceptions and experiences of participants. SEARCH STRATEGY: We developed an
      iterative search strategy for nine bibliometric databases and gray literature.
      METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Critical appraisal of 13 studies was conducted
      independently in pairs using standard Joanna Briggs Institute tools. Six medium
      quality and seven high quality studies were identified. DATA EXTRACTION: Data was
      extracted independently in pairs from all 13 included studies using the standard
      Joanna Briggs Institute data extraction tool. DATA SUMMARY: Only quantitative
      studies of effectiveness were included. The strength of evidence assessing the
      effectiveness of interventionswas graded using a traffic light system (green,
      amber, red). An overall assessment of the quality of the evidence for each
      comparison was undertaken. RESULTS: More systematic reviews investigating weight
      gain than those investigating weight loss were included. Studies onweight gain
      showed improved body composition for oral nutritional supplements on its own, for
      oral nutritional supplements in combination with resistance exercise training,
      and for oral nutritional supplements in combination with nutrition counselling.
      Studies on weight loss showed that diet in combination with exercise, diet in
      combination with exercise and nutrition counselling, and nutrition counselling on
      its own all can lead to reduced weight in older people. The outcomes of lean mass
      and weight/BMI were responsive to nutritional interventions, but fat mass did not
      vary. There were no qualitative reviews identified. CONCLUSIONS: Although
      effective interventions for weight gain and weight loss to optimize body
      composition of older people in the community were identified,making long term,
      clinically relevant changes in body composition is difficult. Multiple
      interventions are more effective than single interventions.

PMID- 27635755
TI  - Management of non-adherence to fluid intake restrictions in hemodialysis patients
      in a tertiary hospital: a best practice implementation project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-adherence to fluid-intake restrictions is one of the most common
      problems for hemodialysis (HD) patients. A combined approach that involves
      patients, healthcare professionals and caregiver inputs based on best practice is
      important for enhancing adherence within a busy health system. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of this project was to promote evidence-based practice in the management of
      fluid-intake restrictions among HD patients in a HD center. METHODS: Six evidence
      based criteria developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute were used as a basis for
      audits undertaken in the Hemodialysis Center of Huashan Hospital, Shanghai,
      mainly focusing on nurse education, fluid-intake management by patients and the
      role of caregivers in assisting with fluid-intake management by patients. The
      project included three phases and was conducted over 5 months. The Joanna Briggs
      Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System and Getting Research
      into Practice audit tools for promoting change in health practice were used to
      examine compliance with the criteria before and after the implementation of best
      practice. RESULTS: Results from pre- and post implementation audits indicated
      that the compliance rates of four criteria reached 100% after the implementation
      of various strategies. One criterion (patients' self-monitoring) resulted in a
      compliance rate of 73.33%. One other criterion (patients' medical documentation)
      was maintained at 100% compliance. Patients' adherence to fluid intake, knowledge
      and attitude to self-management also improved significantly in the post
      implementation audit. CONCLUSION: This project achieved a significant improvement
      in evidence-based practice for the management of non-adherence to fluid-intake
      restrictions in HD patients. An increase in the number of HD patients found to be
      adherent to fluid-intake restrictions was reported during this process.

PMID- 27635756
TI  - Restraining the Divider: A Drp1-Phospholipid Interaction Inhibits Drp1 Activity
      and Shifts the Balance from Mitochondrial Fission to Fusion.
AB  - In this issue of Molecular Cell, Adachi et al. (2016) describe a novel
      interaction between the mitochondrial fission GTPase Drp1 and phosphatidic acid
      that restrains Drp1 activity and shifts the balance toward mitochondrial fusion,
      adding another layer of complexity to the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics.

PMID- 27635757
TI  - Decoding the Protein Destruction Code: A Panoramic View.
AB  - Proteasome degradation is essential, but the intrinsic features of a protein that
      signals its destruction remain incompletely understood. In this issue of
      Molecular Cell, Geffen et al. (2016) report an unbiased and proteome-wide method
      that provided insights into the protein destruction signals and pathways.

PMID- 27635758
TI  - Eyes on Translation.
AB  - Translation is a fundamental biological process by which ribosomes decode genetic
      information into proteins. The regulation of this process plays a key role in
      tuning protein levels, allowing cells to respond rapidly to changes in the
      environment and to synthesize proteins with precise timing and at specific
      subcellular locations. Despite detailed biochemical and structural insight into
      the mechanism of protein synthesis, translational dynamics and localization in a
      cellular context are less well understood. Here, we summarize recent efforts to
      quantify and visualize translation, focusing on four publications (Morisaki et
      al., 2016; Wang et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2016; Yan et al., 2016) describing novel
      approaches to imaging in real time the synthesis of nascent peptides from
      individual mRNAs in living cells.

PMID- 27635759
TI  - Acetylation-Dependent Control of Global Poly(A) RNA Degradation by CBP/p300 and
      HDAC1/2.
AB  - Acetylation of histones and transcription-related factors is known to exert
      epigenetic and transcriptional control of gene expression. Here we report that
      histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) also regulate
      gene expression at the posttranscriptional level by controlling poly(A) RNA
      stability. Inhibition of HDAC1 and HDAC2 induces massive and widespread
      degradation of normally stable poly(A) RNA in mammalian and Drosophila cells.
      Acetylation-induced RNA decay depends on the HATs p300 and CBP, which acetylate
      the exoribonuclease CAF1a, a catalytic subunit of the CCR4-CAF1-NOT deadenlyase
      complex and thereby contribute to accelerating poly(A) RNA degradation. Taking
      adipocyte differentiation as a model, we observe global stabilization of poly(A)
      RNA during differentiation, concomitant with loss of CBP/p300 expression. Our
      study uncovers reversible acetylation as a fundamental switch by which HATs and
      HDACs control the overall turnover of poly(A) RNA.

PMID- 27635760
TI  - PHD3 Loss in Cancer Enables Metabolic Reliance on Fatty Acid Oxidation via
      Deactivation of ACC2.
AB  - While much research has examined the use of glucose and glutamine by tumor cells,
      many cancers instead prefer to metabolize fats. Despite the pervasiveness of this
      phenotype, knowledge of pathways that drive fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in cancer
      is limited. Prolyl hydroxylase domain proteins hydroxylate substrate proline
      residues and have been linked to fuel switching. Here, we reveal that PHD3
      rapidly triggers repression of FAO in response to nutrient abundance via
      hydroxylation of acetyl-coA carboxylase 2 (ACC2). We find that PHD3 expression is
      strongly decreased in subsets of cancer including acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
      and is linked to a reliance on fat catabolism regardless of external nutrient
      cues. Overexpressing PHD3 limits FAO via regulation of ACC2 and consequently
      impedes leukemia cell proliferation. Thus, loss of PHD3 enables greater
      utilization of fatty acids but may also serve as a metabolic and therapeutic
      liability by indicating cancer cell susceptibility to FAO inhibition.

PMID- 27635761
TI  - Coincident Phosphatidic Acid Interaction Restrains Drp1 in Mitochondrial
      Division.
AB  - Mitochondria divide to control their size, distribution, turnover, and function.
      Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) is a critical mechanochemical GTPase that drives
      constriction during mitochondrial division. It is generally believed that
      mitochondrial division is regulated during recruitment of Drp1 to mitochondria
      and its oligomerization into a division apparatus. Here, we report an unforeseen
      mechanism that regulates mitochondrial division by coincident interactions of
      Drp1 with the head group and acyl chains of phospholipids. Drp1 recognizes the
      head group of phosphatidic acid (PA) and two saturated acyl chains of another
      phospholipid by penetrating into the hydrophobic core of the membrane. The dual
      phospholipid interactions restrain Drp1 via inhibition of oligomerization
      stimulated GTP hydrolysis that promotes membrane constriction. Moreover, a PA
      producing phospholipase, MitoPLD, binds Drp1, creating a PA-rich microenvironment
      in the vicinity of a division apparatus. Thus, PA controls the activation of Drp1
      after the formation of the division apparatus.

PMID- 27635762
TI  - Resetting Epigenetic Memory by Reprogramming of Histone Modifications in Mammals.
AB  - Polycomb group proteins and the related histone modification H3K27me3 can
      maintain the silencing of key developmental regulators and provide cellular
      memory. However, how such an epigenetic state is reprogrammed and inherited
      between generations is poorly understood. Using an ultra-sensitive approach, STAR
      ChIP-seq, we investigated H3K27me3 across 14 developmental stages along mouse
      gametogenesis and early development. Interestingly, highly pervasive H3K27me3 is
      found in regions depleted of transcription and DNA methylation in oocytes.
      Unexpectedly, we observed extensive loss of promoter H3K27me3 at Hox and other
      developmental genes upon fertilization. This is accompanied by global erasure of
      sperm H3K27me3 but inheritance of distal H3K27me3 from oocytes. The resulting
      allele-specific H3K27me3 patterns persist to blastocysts before being converted
      to canonical forms in postimplantation embryos, where both H3K4me3/H3K27me3
      bivalent promoter marks are restored at developmental genes. Together, these data
      revealed widespread resetting of epigenetic memory and striking plasticity of
      epigenome during gametogenesis and early development.

PMID- 27635764
TI  - Caregivers burden in palliative care patients: a problem to tackle.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To revise the family caregiver's burden concept and to
      understand the implications for the patient, family and healthcare system. We
      analyzed recent literature in three main areas: the role of family caregiver at
      the end of life, the family caregiver's burden and the involvement of social care
      networks. RECENT FINDINGS: The family caregiver often accepts the caring as a
      natural action, presumably imposed by the society. A recent review described
      seven main roles of care which, according to family system and society, consist
      of different tasks and activities. To assume this role is not stress free. It is
      likely to develop a 'burden' by the assumed task. SUMMARY: Family members who are
      close to the patient may play the role of caregiver, well-being enhancer,
      diversity of tasks fulfiller, minimizer and managing suffering, palliative care
      facilitator and responsible for the continuity of care, apprentice and
      participant of health teams. The family caregiver often gives priority to the
      problems of his dependent family member, becoming almost 'invisible' to the
      health system. It should also be consider the relevance of this issue into future
      bereavement process. Considering all these aspects, the family caregiver is often
      considered by the healthcare teams as 'overall tasks' performers'.

PMID- 27635763
TI  - Expression of steroid hormone receptors and its prognostic significance in
      urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract.
AB  - To assess the expression status of steroid hormone receptors in upper urinary
      tract urothelial carcinoma (UUTUC), we immunohistochemically stained for androgen
      receptor (AR), estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha), ERbeta, glucocorticoid receptor
      (GR), and progesterone receptor (PR) in 99 UUTUC specimens and paired non
      neoplastic urothelial tissues. AR/ERalpha/ERbeta/GR/PR was positive in
      20%/18%/62%/63%/16% of tumors, which was significantly lower (except PR) than in
      benign urothelial tissues [57% (P < 0.001)/40% (P = 0.001)/85% (P = 0.001)/84% (P
      = 0.002)/13% (P = 0.489)]. There were no significant associations between each
      receptor expression pattern and histopathological characteristic of the tumors
      including tumor grade/stage. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests revealed no
      significant prognostic value of each receptor expression in these 99 patients.
      However, patients with UUTUC positive for either ERalpha or PR had a
      significantly higher risk of disease-specific mortality (P = 0.025), compared
      with those with UUTUC negative for both. PR positivity alone in pT3 or pT4 tumors
      was also strongly associated with the risk of disease-specific mortality (P =
      0.040). Multivariate analysis further identified the expression of ERalpha and/or
      PR as a strong predictor for disease-specific mortality in the entire cohort of
      the patients (hazard ratio, 2.434; P = 0.037). Thus, in accordance with previous
      observations in bladder specimens, significant decreases in the expression of
      AR/ERalpha/ERbeta/GR in UUTUC, compared with that in non-neoplastic urothelium,
      were observed. Meanwhile, the negativity of both ERalpha and PR in UUTUC as well
      as the negativity of PR alone in deeply invasive tumor was suggested to serve as
      a prognosticator.

PMID- 27635766
TI  - The impact of early palliative care on the quality of care during the last days
      of life: what does the evidence say?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this review is to critically appraise the existing
      evidence on 'early palliative care' (EPC), discuss its relationship with advance
      care planning, and to reflect on the impact of EPC on the quality of care
      provided during the last days of life. RECENT FINDINGS: There are indicators that
      EPC may help to avoid aggressive treatment, shorten hospital stay, improve
      overall quality of life, and to see more frequently dying and death at the
      preferred place of care. SUMMARY: The evidence from randomized controlled trials
      supports the integration of palliative care early in the disease trajectory.
      However, in terms of outcomes and quality indicators for care in the last days of
      life, evidence is still lacking. Predominantly, when it comes to the outcomes
      which may be more difficult to assess, such as spiritual aspects, or the social
      network, for which more comprehensive information is needed. These outcomes
      should not be neglected in palliative care studies, particularly when they can
      provide meaningful information about patient and family adjustment, and focus on
      psychosocial aspects rather than physical symptom control.

PMID- 27635767
TI  - Effect of RBC Transfusion on Sublingual Microcirculation in Hemorrhagic Shock
      Patients: A Pilot Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The effects of RBC transfusion on microvascular perfusion are not
      well documented. We investigated the effect of RBC transfusion on sublingual
      microcirculation in hemorrhagic shock patients. DESIGN: Prospective, preliminary
      observational study. SETTINGS: A 28-bed, surgical ICU in a university hospital.
      PATIENTS: Fifteen hemorrhagic shock patients requiring RBC transfusion.
      INTERVENTION: Transfusion of one unit of RBCs. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The
      sublingual microcirculation was assessed with a Sidestream Dark Field imaging
      device before and after RBC transfusion. After transfusion of one unit of RBC,
      hemoglobin concentration increased from 8.5 g/dL (7.6-9.5 g/dL) to 9.6 g/dL (9.1
      10.3 g/dL) g/dL (p = 0.02) but no effect on macrocirculatory parameters (arterial
      pressure, cardiac index, heart rate, and pulse pressure variations) was observed.
      Transfusion of RBC significantly increased microcirculatory flow index (from 2.3
      [1.6-2.5] to 2.7 [2.6-2.9]; p < 0.003), the proportion of perfused vessels (from
      79% [57-88%] to 92% [88-97%]; p < 0.004), and the functional capillary density
      (from 21 [19-22] to 24 [22-26] mm/mm; p = 0.003). Transfusion of RBC
      significantly decreased the flow heterogeneity index (from 0.51 [0.34-0.62] to
      0.16 [0.04-0.29]; p < 0.001). No correlations were observed between other
      macrovascular parameters and microvascular changes after transfusion. The change
      in microvascular perfusion after transfusion correlated negatively with baseline
      microvascular perfusion. CONCLUSIONS: RBC transfusion improves sublingual
      microcirculation independently of macrocirculation and the hemoglobin level in
      hemorrhagic shock patients. The change in microvascular perfusion after
      transfusion correlated negatively with baseline microvascular perfusion.
      Evaluation of microcirculation perfusion is critical for optimization of
      microvascular perfusion and to define which patients can benefit from RBC
      transfusion during cardiovascular resuscitation.

PMID- 27635765
TI  - Practical multimodal care for cancer cachexia.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cancer cachexia is common and reduces function, treatment
      tolerability and quality of life. Given its multifaceted pathophysiology a
      multimodal approach to cachexia management is advocated for, but can be difficult
      to realise in practice. We use a case-based approach to highlight practical
      approaches to the multimodal management of cachexia for patients across the
      cancer trajectory. RECENT FINDINGS: Four cases with lung cancer spanning surgical
      resection, radical chemoradiotherapy, palliative chemotherapy and no anticancer
      treatment are presented. We propose multimodal care approaches that incorporate
      nutritional support, exercise, and anti-inflammatory agents, on a background of
      personalized oncology care and family-centred education. Collectively, the cases
      reveal that multimodal care is part of everyone's remit, often focuses on
      supported self-management, and demands buy-in from the patient and their family.
      Once operationalized, multimodal care approaches can be tested pragmatically,
      including alongside emerging pharmacological cachexia treatments. SUMMARY: We
      demonstrate that multimodal care for cancer cachexia can be achieved using simple
      treatments and without a dedicated team of specialists. The sharing of advice
      between health professionals can help build collective confidence and expertise,
      moving towards a position in which every team member feels they can contribute
      towards multimodal care.

PMID- 27635768
TI  - Dose-Dependent Protective Effect of Inhalational Anesthetics Against
      Postoperative Respiratory Complications: A Prospective Analysis of Data on File
      From Three Hospitals in New England.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Inhalational anesthetics are bronchodilators with immunomodulatory
      effects. We sought to determine the effect of inhalational anesthetic dose on
      risk of severe postoperative respiratory complications. DESIGN: Prospective
      analysis of data on file in surgical cases between January 2007 and December
      2015. SETTING: Massachusetts General Hospital (tertiary referral center) and two
      affiliated community hospitals. PATIENTS: A total of 124,497 adult patients
      (105,267 in the study cohort and 19,230 in the validation cohort) undergoing
      noncardiac surgical procedures and requiring general anesthesia with endotracheal
      intubation. INTERVENTIONS: Median effective dose equivalent of inhalational
      anesthetics during surgery (derived from mean end-tidal inhalational anesthetic
      concentrations). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Postoperative respiratory
      complications occurred in 6,979 of 124,497 cases (5.61%). High inhalational
      anesthetic dose of 1.20 (1.13-1.30) (median [interquartile range])-fold median
      effective dose equivalent versus 0.57 (0.45-0.64)-fold median effective dose
      equivalent was associated with lower odds of postoperative respiratory
      complications (odds ratio, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.53-0.65; p < 0.001). Additionally,
      high inhalational anesthetic dose was associated with lower 30-day mortality and
      lower cost. Inhalational anesthetic dose increase and reduced risk of
      postoperative respiratory complications remained significant in sensitivity
      analyses stratified by preoperative and intraoperative risk factors. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intraoperative use of higher inhalational anesthetic doses is strongly associated
      with lower odds of postoperative respiratory complications, lower 30-day
      mortality, and lower cost of hospital care. The authors speculate based on these
      data that sedation with inhalational anesthetics outside of the operating room
      may likewise have protective effects that decrease the risk of respiratory
      complications in vulnerable patients.

PMID- 27635769
TI  - Healthcare Provider Perceptions of Causes and Consequences of ICU Capacity Strain
      in a Large Publicly Funded Integrated Health Region: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Discrepancy in the supply-demand relationship for critical care
      services precipitates a strain on ICU capacity. Strain can lead to suboptimal
      quality of care and burnout among providers and contribute to inefficient health
      resource utilization. We engaged interprofessional healthcare providers to
      explore their perceptions of the sources, impact, and strategies to manage
      capacity strain. DESIGN: Qualitative study using a conventional thematic
      analysis. SETTING: Nine ICUs across Alberta, Canada. SUBJECTS: Nineteen focus
      groups (n = 122 participants). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: Participants' perspectives on strain on ICU capacity and its perceived
      impact on providers, families, and patient care were explored. Participants
      defined "capacity strain" as a discrepancy between the availability of ICU beds,
      providers, and ICU resources (supply) and the need to admit and provide care for
      critically ill patients (demand). Four interrelated themes of contributors to
      strain were characterized (each with subthemes): patient/family related, provider
      related, resource related, and health system related. Patient/family-related
      subthemes were "increasing patient complexity/acuity," along with patient
      provider communication issues ("paucity of advance care planning and goals-of
      care designation," "mismatches between patient/family and provider expectations,"
      and "timeliness of end-of-life care planning"). Provider-related factor subthemes
      were nursing workforce related ("nurse attrition," "inexperienced workforce,"
      "limited mentoring opportunities," and "high patient-to-nurse ratios") and
      physician related ("frequent turnover/handover" and "variations in care plan").
      Resource-related subthemes were "reduced service capability after hours" and
      "physical bed shortages." Health system-related subthemes were "variable ICU
      utilization," "preferential "bed" priority for other services," and "high ward
      bed occupancy." Participants perceived that strain had negative implications for
      patients ("reduced quality and safety of care" and "disrupted opportunities for
      patient- and family-centered care"), providers ("increased workload," "moral
      distress," and "burnout"), and the health system ("unnecessary, excessive, and
      inefficient resource utilization"). CONCLUSIONS: Engagement with frontline
      critical care providers is essential for understanding their experiences and
      perspectives regarding strained capacity and for the development of sustainable
      strategies for improvement.

PMID- 27635770
TI  - Chloride Content of Fluids Used for Large-Volume Resuscitation Is Associated With
      Reduced Survival.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate if the chloride content of fluids used in
      resuscitation was associated with short- and long-term outcomes. DESIGN: We
      identified patients who received large-volume fluid resuscitation, defined as
      greater than 60 mL/kg over a 24-hour period. Chloride load was determined for
      each patient based on the chloride ion concentration of the fluids they received
      during large-volume fluid resuscitation multiplied by the volume of fluids. We
      compared the development of hyperchloremic acidosis, acute kidney injury, and
      survival among those with higher and lower chloride loads. SETTING: University
      Medical Center. PATIENTS: Patients admitted to ICUs from 2000 to 2008.
      INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among 4,710 patients
      receiving large-volume fluid resuscitation, hyperchloremic acidosis was
      documented in 523 (11%). Crude rates of hyperchloremic acidosis, acute kidney
      injury, and hospital mortality all increased significantly as chloride load
      increased (p < 0.001). However, chloride load was no longer associated with
      hyperchloremic acidosis or acute kidney injury after controlling for total
      fluids, age, and baseline severity. Conversely, each 100 mEq increase in chloride
      load was associated with a 5.5% increase in the hazard of death even after
      controlling for total fluid volume, age, and severity (p = 0.0015) over 1 year.
      CONCLUSIONS: Chloride load is associated with significant adverse effects on
      survival out to 1 year even after controlling for total fluid load, age, and
      baseline severity of illness. However, the relationship between chloride load and
      development of hyperchloremic acidosis or acute kidney injury is less clear, and
      further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the adverse
      effects of chloride load on survival.

PMID- 27635772
TI  - Muscle Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Signals versus Venous Blood Hemoglobin Oxygen
      Saturation in Skeletal Muscle.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study aimed to examine the relationship between near-infrared
      spectroscopy (NIRS) signals and venous hemoglobin oxygen saturation (O2Hb%) and
      venous oxygen concentration (CvO2). METHODS: Gastrocnemius muscles (GS) in six
      dogs were surgically isolated and pump perfused. NIRS signals were recorded, and
      venous blood samples were collected at constant flow rates (control flow, high
      flow, and low flow) at rest as well as during electrically stimulated tetanic
      muscle contractions at rates of one contraction per 2 s (1/2 s) and two
      contractions per 3 s (2/3 s). Similar data were also collected at three different
      inspired O2 percentages (12%, 21%, and 100%) with constant blood flow. RESULTS:
      Complete data from five animals were analyzed; all data from one animal were
      deleted because of erratic oxy-NIRS signals. Venous O2Hb% ranged from 7.6% to
      97.5% across the various experimental conditions. After the NIRS signals were
      normalized to the physiological range, a high linear correlation was seen between
      the deoxygenated heme signal (HHbMb%) and the venous O2Hb% (R = 0.92 +/- 0.05),
      between the oxygenated heme signal (HbMbO2%) and the venous O2Hb% (R = 0.92 +/-
      0.03), between the HHbMb% and the CvO2 (R = 0.89 +/- 0.06), and between the
      HbMbO2% and the CvO2 (R = 0.90 +/- 0.05). The overall relationships between
      HHbMb%, HbMbO2%, and venous O2Hb% as well as between HHbMb%, HbMbO2%, and CvO2
      were also linear and highly correlated with R values ranging from 0.81 to 0.90.
      CONCLUSION: In this controlled canine muscle model, NIRS signals are highly
      correlated with venous O2Hb% and CvO2 across a wide range of physiological
      conditions. The practical application of our results is that for an individual
      muscle or perhaps muscle group, normalized NIRS HHbMb and HbMbO2 signals
      accurately reflect the mean venous O2 saturation of the interrogated muscle
      tissue.

PMID- 27635771
TI  - Olfactomedin-4 Is a Candidate Marker for a Pathogenic Neutrophil Subset in Septic
      Shock.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Heterogeneity in sepsis-related pathobiology presents a significant
      challenge. Resolving this heterogeneity presents an opportunity to understand
      pathobiology and improve patient care. Olfactomedin-4 is a neutrophil subset
      marker and may contribute to sepsis heterogeneity. Our objective was to evaluate
      the expression of olfactomedin-4 and characterize neutrophil heterogeneity in
      children with septic shock. DESIGN: Single-center, prospective cohort, as well as
      secondary analysis of existing transcriptomic and proteomic databases. SETTING:
      Tertiary care PICU. PATIENTS: Patients from 5 days to 18 years old with septic
      shock were enrolled. Data collected included the expression of olfactomedin-4
      messenger RNA, serum protein concentrations, and percentage of neutrophils that
      express olfactomedin-4. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      Secondary analysis of existing transcriptomic data demonstrated that olfactomedin
      4 is the most highly expressed gene in nonsurvivors of pediatric septic shock,
      compared with survivors. Secondary analysis of an existing proteomic database
      corroborated these observations. In a prospectively enrolled cohort, we
      quantified the percentage of olfactomedin-4+ neutrophils in patients with septic
      shock. Patients with a complicated course, defined as greater than or equal to
      two organ failures at day 7 of septic shock or 28-day mortality, had a higher
      percentage of olfactomedin-4+ neutrophils, compared with those without a
      complicated course. By logistic regression, the percentage of olfactomedin-4+
      neutrophils was independently associated with increased risk of a complicated
      course (odds ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01-1.17; p = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS:
      Olfactomedin-4 identifies a subpopulation of neutrophils in patients with septic
      shock, and those with a high percentage of olfactomedin-4+ neutrophils are at
      higher risk for greater organ failure burden and death. Olfactomedin-4 might
      serve as a marker of a pathogenic neutrophil subset in patients with septic
      shock.

PMID- 27635773
TI  - Increased Visual Use in Chronic Ankle Instability: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The underlying cause of balance impairments in chronic ankle instability
      (CAI) patients remains unknown, but an altered use of sensory information has
      been hypothesized as a potential cause. The purpose of this systematic review
      with meta-analysis was to determine whether CAI patients use somatosensory
      information to the same extent as uninjured controls during static single limb
      stance. METHODS: We searched PubMed, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and Scopus databases
      from origin to March 2016 using the combination of key words, including postural
      control, postural stability, single limb stance, single leg stance, single leg
      balance, single limb balance, and time to boundary (TTB). Eligible studies had to
      include instrumented single leg stance with both eyes open and eyes closed in
      healthy, CAI, or both groups as well as report TTB mean and SD values. RESULTS: A
      total of 11 articles were identified. Effect sizes using eyes closed to eyes open
      standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for
      all studies that were included in this investigation. Similarly, pooled estimates
      for each TTB outcome were compared between the CAI and the uninjured control
      groups. The mean (95% confidence interval) of the mediolateral TTB (control: 
      1.50 [-1.71 to -1.29]; CAI: -2.04 [-2.31 to -1.77]), anterioposterior mean
      (control: -2.19 [-2.43 to -1.96]; CAI: -2.82 [-3.13 to -2.52]), and
      anterioposterior SD (control: -1.81 [-2.03 to -1.58]; CAI: -2.50 [-2.79 to 
      2.22]) did not overlap, indicating significant differences between two groups.
      CONCLUSION: On the basis of our systematic review with meta-analysis, it appears
      that CAI patients do not use somatosensory information to the same extent as
      uninjured controls and instead upregulate the use of visual information during
      single limb stance.

PMID- 27635774
TI  - Revisiting Tabata's Protocol: Does It Even Exist?

PMID- 27635775
TI  - Response.

PMID- 27635776
TI  - RISK OF MULTIPLE RECURRING RETINAL DETACHMENT AFTER PRIMARY RHEGMATOGENOUS
      RETINAL DETACHMENT REPAIR.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate functional and anatomical outcomes of patients with retinal
      redetachments (re-RD) after surgery for primary rhegmatogenous retinal
      detachment. METHODS: Medical records of eyes with re-RD after rhegmatogenous
      retinal detachment surgery between 1999 and 2014 at the Department of
      Ophthalmology, University of Cologne, Germany, were retrospectively evaluated.
      Data included preoperative and postoperative clinical findings, best-corrected
      visual acuity, presence and grade of proliferative vitreoretinopathy, surgical
      procedures, and complication rates. RESULTS: Three hundred and twenty-eight eyes
      of 2,457 developed a re-RD (13.3%). Of these 328 eyes, 242 eyes (73.8%) had only
      one re-RD, whereas 86 eyes (26.2%) had 2 or more re-RDs. Visible presence of
      proliferative vitreoretinopathy during first redetachment surgery increased risk
      of re-RD with relative risk ratio of 1.46 (P = 0.05). Best-corrected visual
      acuity deteriorated with every additional re-RD (P < 0.001). Two hundred and
      thirty-seven eyes received oil endotamponde at least once. In 91 cases, oil
      endotamponade was left for long-term until last follow-up. CONCLUSION: Multiple
      re-RD (>=2 re-RDs) is an infrequent complication after rhegmatogenous retinal
      detachment surgery. After a first re-RD occurred, risk for multiple re-RD doubles
      compared with the risk of a first redetachment. Mean functional outcome is
      unfavorable, whereas predictability remains nevertheless poor because of the wide
      range of interindividual postoperative best-corrected visual acuity.

PMID- 27635777
TI  - Clinical echography: What? who? what for?

PMID- 27635778
TI  - Exploring Trends of C and N Isotope Fractionation to Trace Transformation
      Reactions of Diclofenac in Natural and Engineered Systems.
AB  - Although diclofenac ranks among the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals in
      the urban water cycle, its environmental transformation reactions remain
      imperfectly understood. Biodegradation-induced changes in 15N/14N ratios
      (epsilonN = -7.10/00 +/- 0.40/00) have indicated that compound-specific isotope
      analysis (CSIA) may detect diclofenac degradation. This singular observation
      warrants exploration for further transformation reactions. The present study
      surveys carbon and nitrogen isotope fractionation in other environmental and
      engineered transformation reactions of diclofenac. While carbon isotope
      fractionation was generally small, observed nitrogen isotope fractionation in
      degradation by MnO2 (epsilonN = -7.30/00 +/- 0.30/00), photolysis (epsilonN =
      +1.90/00 +/- 0.10/00), and ozonation (epsilonN = +1.50/00 +/- 0.20/00) revealed
      distinct trends for different oxidative transformation reactions. The small,
      secondary isotope effect associated with ozonation suggests an attack of O3 in a
      molecular position distant from the N atom. Model reactants for outer-sphere
      single electron transfer generated large inverse nitrogen isotope fractionation
      (epsilonN = +5.70/00 +/- 0.30/00), ruling out this mechanism for biodegradation
      and transformation by MnO2. In a river model, isotope fractionation-derived
      degradation estimates agreed well with concentration mass balances, providing a
      proof-of-principle validation for assessing micropollutant degradation in river
      sediment. Our study highlights the prospect of combining CSIA with transformation
      product analysis for a better assessment of transformation reactions within the
      environmental life of diclofenac.

PMID- 27635779
TI  - Photoredox Catalysis Mediated Application of Methyl Fluorosulfonyldifluoroacetate
      as the CF2CO2R Radical Source.
AB  - A new application of trifluoromethylating reagent, methyl
      fluorosulfonyldifluoroacetate (FO2SCF2CO2Me, Chen's reagent), as the
      carbomethoxydifluoromethylating reagent under visible light photoredox conditions
      is reported. The visible-light-induced reaction of FO2SCF2CO2Me with unactivated
      alkenes, styrenes, or heteroarenes affords a variety of
      carbomethoxydifluoromethylated products.

PMID- 27635780
TI  - Preferred Hydrogen-Bonding Partners of Cysteine: Implications for Regulating Cys
      Functions.
AB  - The hydrogen-bonding interactions of cysteine, which can serve as a hydrogen-bond
      donor and/or acceptor, play a central role in cysteine's diverse functional roles
      in proteins. They affect the balance between the neutral thiol (SH) or thiolate
      (S-) and the charge distribution in the rate-limiting transition state of a
      reaction. Despite their importance, no study has determined the preferred
      hydrogen-bonding partners of cysteine serving as a hydrogen-bond donor or
      acceptor. By computing the free energy for displacing a peptide backbone hydrogen
      bonded to cysteine with amino acid side chains in various protein environments,
      we have evaluated how the strength of the hydrogen bond to the cysteine
      thiol/thiolate depends on its hydrogen-bonding partner and its local environment.
      The predicted hydrogen-bonding partners preferred by cysteine are consistent with
      the hydrogen-bonding interactions made by cysteines in 9138 nonredundant X-ray
      structures. Our results suggest a mechanism to regulate the reactivity of
      cysteines and a strategy to design drugs based on the hydrogen-bonding preference
      of cysteine.

PMID- 27635781
TI  - Insulin Sensitivity-Enhancing Activity of Phlorizin Is Associated with
      Lipopolysaccharide Decrease and Gut Microbiota Changes in Obese and Type 2
      Diabetes (db/db) Mice.
AB  - Phlorizin exists in a number of fruits and foods and exhibits many bioactivities.
      The mechanism of its antidiabetic effect has been known as it can competitively
      inhibit sodium-glucose symporters (SGLTs). However, phlorizin has a wide range of
      two-phase metabolism in systemic circulation and shows poor oral bioavailability.
      An alternative mechanism may involve gut microbiota in intestine. Sixteen obese
      mice with type 2 diabetes (db/db) and eight age-matched control mice (db/+) were
      divided into three groups: diabetic group treated with phlorizin (DMT group),
      vehicle-treated diabetic group (DM group), and normal control group (CC group).
      Phlorizin was given in normal saline solution by intragastric administration for
      10 weeks. After the last treatment course, body weight, energy intake, serum
      lipopolysaccharides (LPS), insulin resistance, and fecal short-chain fatty acids
      (SCFAs) were compared. 16S rRNA gene denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis
      (DGGE) and quantitative PCR were used to determine the changes in microbiome
      composition. Coadministration of phlorizin significantly prevented metabolic
      syndrome by decreasing weight gain, energy intake, serum lipopolysaccharides, and
      insulin resistance, and the fecal level of total SCFAs was dramatically
      increased, especially butyric acid. DGGE and quantitative PCR demonstrated that
      phlorizin coadministration increased the gut microbial diversity and the growth
      of Akkermansia muciniphila and Prevotella. Meanwhile, the gut microbiota
      structure of db/db mice after phlorizin treatment was improved and approached the
      normal group. The mechanism of the hypoglycemic action of phlorizin is associated
      with LPS decrease and gut microbiota changes; briefly, it acts in the intestine
      to modify gut microbial community structure, resulting in lower LPS load in the
      host and higher SCFAs producing beneficial bacteria.

PMID- 27635782
TI  - Isohexide and Sorbitol-Derived, Enzymatically Synthesized Renewable Polyesters
      with Enhanced Tg.
AB  - Sugar-based polyesters derived from sorbitol and isohexides were obtained via
      solvent-free enzymatic catalysis. Pendant hydroxyl groups, coming from the
      sorbitol units, were present along the polyester backbone, whereas the two
      isohexides, namely, isomannide and isoidide dimethyl ester monomers, were
      selected to introduce rigidity into the polyester chains. The feasibility of
      incorporating isomannide as a diol compared to the isoidide dimethyl ester as
      acyl-donor via lipase-catalyzed polycondensation was investigated. The presence
      of bicyclic units resulted in enhanced Tg with respect to the parent sorbitol
      containing polyester lacking isohexides. The different capability of the two
      isohexides to boost the thermal properties confirmed the more flexible character
      provided by the isoidide diester derivative. Solvent-borne coatings were prepared
      by cross-linking the sugar-based polyester polyols with polyisocyanates. The
      increased rigidity of the obtained sugar-based polyester polyols led to an
      enhancement in hardness of the resulting coatings.

PMID- 27635783
TI  - Quantitative Assessment of Aromaticity and Antiaromaticity Utilizing Vibrational
      Spectroscopy.
AB  - Vibrational frequencies can be measured and calculated with high precision.
      Therefore, they are excellent tools for analyzing the electronic structure of a
      molecule. In this connection, the properties of the local vibrational modes of a
      molecule are best suited. A new procedure is described, which utilizes local CC
      stretching force constants to derive an aromaticity index (AI) that
      quantitatively determines the degree of pi-delocalization in a cyclic conjugated
      system. Using Kekule benzene as a suitable reference, the AIs of 30 mono- and
      polycyclic conjugated hydrocarbons are calculated. The AI turns out to describe
      pi-delocalization in a balanced way by correctly describing local aromatic units,
      peripheral, and all-bond delocalization. When comparing the AI with the harmonic
      oscillator model of AI, the latter is found to exaggerate the antiaromaticity of
      true and potential 4n pi-systems or to wrongly describe local aromaticity. This
      is a result of a failure of the Badger relationship (the shorter bond is always
      the stronger bond), which is only a rule and therefore cannot be expected to lead
      to an accurate description of the bond strength via the bond length. The AI
      confirms Clar's rule of disjoint benzene units in many cases, but corrects it in
      those cases where peripheral pi-delocalization leads to higher stability. [5]-,
      [6]-, [7]-Circulene and Kekulene are found to be aromatic systems with varying
      degree of delocalization. Properties of the local vibrational modes provide an
      accurate description of pi-delocalization and an accurate AI.

PMID- 27635784
TI  - A Reversible Nanolamp for Instantaneous Monitoring of Cyanide Based on an Elsner
      Like Reaction.
AB  - It is well-known that cyanide ion (CN-) is a hypertoxic anion, which can cause
      adverse effects in both the environment and living beings; thus, it is highly
      desirable to develop strategies for detecting CN-, especially in water and food.
      However, due to the short half-life of free cyanide, long analysis time and/or
      interference from other competitive ions are general challenges for accurate
      monitoring of CN-. In this work, through the investigation on the sequence
      dependent optical interaction of DNA-CuNPs with the fluorophore (e.g., EBMVC-B),
      we found, for the first time, that DNA-CuNPs were an ideal alternative as
      fluorescence quencher in constructing a sensor which could be illuminated by CN-
      based on an Elsner-like reaction and that the signal switching was dependent on
      poly(AT/TA) dsDNA sequence. By virtue of CuNPs' small size and its high chemical
      reactivity with cyanide, the lighting of fluorescence was ultrarapid and similar
      to the hairtrigger "turn-on" of a lamp, which is significant for accurately
      monitoring a target of short half-life (e.g., cyanide). Attributed to the unique
      Elsner-like reaction between CN- and the Cu atoms, high selectivity was achieved
      for CN- monitoring by the nanolamp, with practical applications in real water and
      food samples. In addition, because of the highly efficient in situ formation of
      DNA-CuNPs and the approximative stoichiometry between CN- and Cu2+ in the
      fluorescence switching, the nanolamp could be reversibly turned on and off
      through the alternate regulation of CN- and Cu2+, displaying potential for
      developing reusable nanosensors and constructing optical molecular logic
      circuits.

PMID- 27635785
TI  - MHz Ultrasound Induced Roughness of Fluid Interfaces.
AB  - The interface between two fluids is never flat at the nanoscale, and this is
      important for transport across interfaces. In the absence of any external field,
      the surface roughness is due to thermally excited capillary waves possessing
      subnanometric amplitudes in the case of simple liquids. Here, we investigate the
      effect of ultrasound on the surface roughness of liquid-gas and liquid-liquid
      interfaces. Megahertz (MHz) frequency ultrasound was applied normal to the
      interface at relatively low ultrasonic pressures (<0.6 MPa), and the amplitudes
      of surface fluctuations have been measured by light reflectivity and
      ellipsometry. We found a dramatic enhancement of surface roughness, roughly
      linear with intensity, with vertical displacements of the interface as high as 50
      100 nm. As a consequence, the effective contact area between two fluids can be
      increased by ultrasound. This result has a clear impact for enhancing interface
      based processes such as mass or heat transfer.

PMID- 27635786
TI  - Tuning the Catalytic Activity of a Metal-Organic Framework Derived Copper and
      Nitrogen Co-Doped Carbon Composite for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.
AB  - An efficient non-noble metal catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is
      of great importance for the fabrication of cost-effective fuel cells. Nitrogen
      doped carbons with various transition metal co-dopants have emerged as attractive
      candidates to replace the expensive platinum catalysts. Here we report the
      preparation of various copper- and nitrogen-doped carbon materials as highly
      efficient ORR catalysts by pyrolyzing porphyrin based metal organic frameworks
      and investigate the effects of air impurities during the thermal carbonization
      process. Our results indicate that the introduction of air impurities can
      significantly improve ORR activity in nitrogen-doped carbon and the addition of
      copper co-dopant further enhances the ORR activity to exceed that of platinum.
      Systematic structural characterization and electrochemical studies demonstrate
      that the air-impurity-treated samples show considerably higher surface area and
      electron transfer numbers, suggesting that the partial etching of the carbon by
      air leads to increased porosity and accessibility to highly active ORR sites. Our
      study represents the first example of using air or oxygen impurities to tailor
      the ORR activity of metal and nitrogen co-doped carbon materials and open up a
      new avenue to engineer the catalytic activity of these materials.

PMID- 27635787
TI  - Self-Positioned Nanosized Mask for Transparent and Flexible Ferroelectric Polymer
      Nanodiodes Array.
AB  - High density arrays of ferroelectric polymer nanodiodes have gained strong
      attention for next-generation transparent and flexible nonvolatile resistive
      memory. Here, we introduce a facile and innovative method to fabricate
      ferroelectric polymer nanodiode array on an ITO-coated poly(ethylene
      terephthalate) (PET) substrate by using block copolymer self-assembly and oxygen
      plasma etching. First, polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer (PS-b
      P2VP) micelles were spin-coated on poly(vinylidene fluoride-ran
      trifluoroethylene) copolymer (P(VDF-TrFE)) film/ITO-coated PET substrate. After
      the sample was immersed in a gold precursor (HAuCl4) containing solution, which
      strongly coordinates with nitrogen group in P2VP, oxygen plasma etching was
      performed. During the plasma etching, coordinated gold precursors became gold
      nanoparticles (GNPs), which successfully acted as self-positioned etching mask to
      fabricate a high density array of P(VDF-TrFE)) nanoislands with GNP at the top.
      Each nanoisland shows clearly individual diode property, as confirmed by current
      voltage (I-V) curve. Furthermore, due to the transparent and flexible nature of
      P(VDF-TrFE)) nanoisland as well as the substrate, the P(VDF-TrFE) nanodiode array
      was highly tranparent, and the diode property was maintained even after a large
      number of bendings (for instance, 1000 times). The array could be used as the
      next-generation tranparent and flexible nonvolatile memory device.

PMID- 27635788
TI  - Fibre type-dependent response of broiler muscles to dietary antioxidant
      supplementation for oxidative stability enhancement.
AB  - The influence of dietary antioxidants and quality of oil on the oxidative and
      physico-chemical properties of chicken broiler breast and thigh meat stored was
      studied in either an oxygen-enriched (HiOx: 80% O2/20% CO2) or an air-permeable
      polyvinylchloride (PVC) packaging system during retail display at 2-4 degrees C
      for up to 14 and 7 d, respectively. Broilers were fed on a diet with either a low
      oxidised (peroxide value (POV) 23 meq O2/kg) or a high-oxidised (POV 121 meq
      O2/kg) oil, supplemented with or without an algae/selenium-based antioxidant with
      organic minerals, for 42 d. Lipid and protein oxidation, myofibrillar protein
      profile and purge loss were analysed. In both packaging systems, lipid oxidation
      (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances [TBARS]) was inhibited by up to 65% and
      57% in chicken breast and thigh, respectively, with an antioxidant-supplemented
      diet compared to those without. In both breast and thigh samples, protein
      sulfhydryls and water-holding capacity (purge loss) were better protected by the
      antioxidant dietary treatment, regardless of oil quality. Thigh muscles had up to
      sevenfold greater TBARS formation and more myosin heavy chain losses compared to
      breast samples. Antioxidant supplementation was more protective against lipid
      oxidation and water-holding capacity in the group fed on high-oxidised oil
      compared to those fed on low-oxidised oil. The results suggest that dietary
      antioxidants can minimise the negative impact of oxidised oil on broiler meat
      quality, and this protection was more pronounced for thigh than breast muscle,
      indicating inherent variations between muscle fibre types.

PMID- 27635789
TI  - Nasal endoscopy: an adjunct to patient selection for preoperative low-dose CT
      examination in chronic rhinosinusitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The growing awareness of increased X-ray exposure to the public has
      led to the propagation of several methods for reducing the radiation dose during
      CT examination. Low-dose CT protocols do not, however, have an established role
      in pre-operative evaluation. The aim of this article was to assess the usefulness
      of nasal endoscopy in the selection of patients under pre-operative care for low
      dose CT examination. METHODS: A cadaver head was used to discover institutional
      minimum acceptable CT image quality and scanning settings. Then, 134 adult
      patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) were enrolled into the study and
      divided randomly into standard dose (120 kVp, 100 mAs) or low-dose CT groups (120
      kVp, 45 mAs). Subjective assessment of the diagnostic image quality of the
      surgically relevant anatomical structures was compared using a five-point scale
      (from excellent to unacceptable) by a radiologist and sinus surgeon
      independently. Pathologic states of the nose were quantified according to the
      Lund-Kennedy endoscopic system (LKES) and Lildholdt's scale. RESULTS: Image
      quality was similar in low-dose and standard dose groups in patients without
      polyps. The quality of 13% of scans from patients with polyps from the low-dose
      group and 4% from the standard dose group was in the range from moderate to poor.
      The quality of scans obtained with low milliamperes second (mAs) values worsened
      in patients with polyps in the middle meatus, but the difference was particularly
      pronounced compared with standard dose among subjects with Lildholdt's score
      above 2 (p < 0.001). Correlation with LKES revealed that changes other than
      polyps (i.e. discharge, oedema, scaring or crusting) in the nasal cavity alone do
      not affect the image quality. Interobserver agreement in both groups was very
      high. CONCLUSIONS: Low-dose scanning should be promoted as the screening imaging
      method of choice in patients with suspected CRS. Furthermore, low mAs value
      examination can be performed pre-operatively without fear of significant image
      quality deterioration in uncomplicated CRS patients without polyps, or with minor
      changes in nasal endoscopy. Standard dose CT, which provides a better
      identification of bony landmarks, minimizes diagnostic errors and risk to
      patients, so it might be considered in those with polyps below the middle
      turbinate.

PMID- 27635790
TI  - miR-34a Inhibits Lung Fibrosis by Inducing Lung Fibroblast Senescence.
AB  - Cellular senescence has been implicated in diverse pathologies. However, there is
      conflicting evidence regarding the role of this process in tissue fibrosis.
      Although dysregulation of microRNAs is a key mechanism in the pathogenesis of
      lung fibrosis, it is unclear whether microRNAs function by regulating cellular
      senescence in the disease. In this study, we found that miR-34a demonstrated
      greater expression in the lungs of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
      and in mice with experimental pulmonary fibrosis, with its primary localization
      in lung fibroblasts. More importantly, miR-34a was up-regulated significantly in
      both human and mouse lung myofibroblasts. We found that mice with miR-34a
      ablation developed more severe pulmonary fibrosis than did wild-type animals
      after fibrotic lung injury. Mechanistically, we found that miR-34a induced a
      senescent phenotype in lung fibroblasts because this microRNA increased
      senescence-associated beta-galactosidase activity, enhanced expression of
      senescence markers, and decreased cell proliferative capacities. Consistently, we
      found that primary lung fibroblasts from fibrotic lungs of miR-34a-deficient mice
      had a diminished senescent phenotype and enhanced resistance to apoptosis as
      compared with those from wild-type animals. We also identified multiple miR-34a
      targets that likely mediated its activities in inducing senescence in lung
      fibroblasts. In conclusion, our data suggest that miR-34a functions through a
      negative feedback mechanism to restrain fibrotic response in the lungs by
      promoting senescence of pulmonary fibroblasts.

PMID- 27635791
TI  - Efficacy of the radial acquisition regime (RADAR) for acquiring head and neck MR
      images.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of the radial acquisition regime (RADAR)
      for acquiring head and neck MR images. METHODS: 15 healthy volunteers underwent
      imaging with 4 sequences [fast spin echo T2 weighted imaging (FSE-T2WI), RADAR T2
      weighted imaging (RADAR-T2WI), single-shot echo planar imaging diffusion-weighted
      imaging (SS-EPI-DWI) and RADAR diffusion-weighted imaging (RADAR-DWI)]. Both
      standard images and images during periodic mouth motion were acquired. Two
      radiologists scored the overall image artefacts and detectability of several
      anatomical structures without knowledge of sequence type. For each sequence,
      image distortion was quantitatively compared by the anteroposterior to right-left
      ratio of several anatomical structures. The mean scores of artefacts and
      distortion of several anatomical structures were compared using the multiple
      comparison test. The detectabilities were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank
      test. RESULTS: Regardless of mouth motion, RADAR-T2WI was significantly superior
      to FSE-T2WI in artefacts and oral-area detectability (p < 0.01), and RADAR-DWI
      was significantly superior to SS-EPI-DWI in terms of artefacts (p < 0.01). In
      terms of image distortion, RADAR-DWI was significantly superior to SS-EPI-DWI (p
      < 0.01). CONCLUSION: RADAR-T2WI could replace FSE-T2WI as a conventional T2WI
      protocol for the head and neck. For the RADAR-DWI sequence, validation studies
      are needed. Advances in knowledge: RADAR-T2WI was superior to FSE-T2WI with
      regard to artefacts and detectability, and RADAR-DWI was superior in terms of
      artefacts compared with SS-EPI-DWI.

PMID- 27635794
TI  - Zirconia in biomedical applications.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of zirconia in medicine and dentistry has rapidly expanded
      over the past decade, driven by its advantageous physical, biological, esthetic,
      and corrosion properties. Zirconia orthopedic hip replacements have shown
      superior wear-resistance over other systems; however, risk of catastrophic
      fracture remains a concern. In dentistry, zirconia has been widely adopted for
      endosseous implants, implant abutments, and all-ceramic crowns. Because of an
      increasing demand for esthetically pleasing dental restorations, zirconia-based
      ceramic restorations have become one of the dominant restorative choices. Areas
      covered: This review provides an updated overview of the applications of zirconia
      in medicine and dentistry with a focus on dental applications. The MEDLINE
      electronic database (via PubMed) was searched, and relevant original and review
      articles from 2010 to 2016 were included. Expert commentary: Recent data suggest
      that zirconia performs favorably in both orthopedic and dental applications, but
      quality long-term clinical data remain scarce. Concerns about the effects of
      wear, crystalline degradation, crack propagation, and catastrophic fracture are
      still debated. The future of zirconia in biomedical applications will depend on
      the generation of these data to resolve concerns.

PMID- 27635793
TI  - Variability in Delivered Dose from Pressurized Metered-Dose Inhaler Formulations
      Due to a Delay Between Shake and Fire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) should be shaken before use
      to prevent creaming or sedimentation of the drugs in solution; however, data
      published on this topic are limited, and it is rarely specified how soon after
      shaking the device should be actuated. Delays between shaking and firing the pMDI
      have previously been shown to cause significant inhomogeneity in delivered dose.
      We studied the effect of various shake-fire delays on the drug delivered from
      five commercially available pMDIs commonly prescribed for asthma and chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease to assess the potential variability in delivered
      dose. METHODS: The pMDI formulations tested were the Flovent HFA, Ventolin
      Evohaler, Airomir Inhaler, and Symbicort (suspension pMDIs), and the QVAR 100
      Inhaler (solution pMDI). Each pMDI was shaken for 5 seconds before attachment to
      a dosage unit sampling apparatus collection tube and filter, and it was actuated
      once with shake-fire delays of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 seconds. Analysis
      of the eluates from the collection tubes and filters was performed by using high
      performance liquid chromatography. Three of each pMDI were tested twice with each
      time delay. RESULTS: All of the suspension pMDIs produced variable amounts of
      drug over the shake-fire delays tested. A comparison of the delivered doses after
      the 0- and 60-second delays showed that the drug delivered increased for the
      Flovent HFA (320%), Ventolin Evohaler (346%), and Airomir Inhaler (230%) pMDIs;
      decreased for the Symbicort budesonide (75%) and formoterol fumarate (76%) pMDI;
      and remained consistent for the QVAR 100 Inhaler pMDI. CONCLUSIONS: The amount of
      drug delivered can vary widely over different shake-fire delays with suspension
      pMDIs. Therefore, guidance should be given to users/caregivers on the timing of
      firing after shaking their device, particularly with pediatrics, who may take
      time to become receptive to accepting their medication after pMDI shaking and
      before dose administration.

PMID- 27635796
TI  - A poroelastic finite element model of the bone-cartilage unit to determine the
      effects of changes in permeability with osteoarthritis.
AB  - The changes experienced in synovial joints with osteoarthritis involve coupled
      chemical, biological, and mechanical processes. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the consequences of increasing permeability in articular cartilage
      (AC), calcified cartilage (CC), subchondral cortical bone (SCB), and subchondral
      trabecular bone (STB) as observed with osteoarthritis. Two poroelastic finite
      element models were developed using a depth-dependent anisotropic model of AC
      with strain-dependent permeability and poroelastic models of calcified tissues
      (CC, SCB, and STB). The first model simulated a bone-cartilage unit (BCU) in
      uniaxial unconfined compression, while the second model simulated spherical
      indentation of the AC surface. Results indicate that the permeability of AC is
      the primary determinant of the BCU's poromechanical response while the
      permeability of calcified tissues exerts no appreciable effect on the force
      indentation response of the BCU. In spherical indentation simulations with
      osteoarthritic permeability properties, fluid velocities were larger in magnitude
      and distributed over a smaller area compared to normal tissues. In vivo, this
      phenomenon would likely lead to chondrocyte death, tissue remodeling, alterations
      in joint lubrication, and the progression of osteoarthritis. For osteoarthritic
      and normal tissue permeability values, fluid flow was predicted to occur across
      the osteochondral interface. These results help elucidate the consequences of
      increases in the permeability of the BCU that occur with osteoarthritis.
      Furthermore, this study may guide future treatments to counteract osteoarthritis.

PMID- 27635795
TI  - Nonlinear associations between human values and neuroanatomy.
AB  - Human values guide behavior and the smooth functioning of societies. Schwartz's
      circumplex model of values predicts a sinusoidal waveform in relations between
      ratings of the importance of diverse human value types (e.g., achievement,
      benevolence) and any variables psychologically relevant to them. In this
      neuroimaging study, we examined these nonlinear associations between values types
      and brain structure. In 85 participants, we found the predicted sinusoidal
      relationship between ratings of values types and two measures of white matter
      (WM), volume and myelin volume fraction, as well as for grey matter (GM)
      parameters in several frontal regions. These effects reveal new functional
      associations for structural brain parameters and provide a novel cross-validation
      of Schwartz's model. Moreover, the sinusoidal waveform test can be applied to
      other circumplex models in social, affective and cognitive neuroscience.

PMID- 27635797
TI  - Cervical spinal root cavernoma: case report and review.
AB  - AIM: Cavernous malformations in the spinal canal are rare. We review previous
      reports and present our own case of a cervical intradural extramedullary
      cavernoma, associated with a ventral cervical rootlet. METHODS: A 65 year old
      woman presented with radicular pain and paresthesias of the neck and right arm.
      PubMed search was used to compare her case to those previously published.
      RESULTS: The cavernoma was successfully removed with excellent recovery and no
      deficits. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Gross total
      resection of symptomatic lesions continues to be the recommended approach, and
      resection outcomes have restored function in all cases but one, where the deficit
      persisted.

PMID- 27635856
TI  - Should network biology be used for drug discovery?

PMID- 27635857
TI  - Developing Program Performance Measures for Rural Emergency Medical Services.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The development of measures to monitor and evaluate the performance
      and quality of emergency medical services (EMS) systems has been a focus of
      attention for many years. The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex
      Program), established by Congress in 1997, provides grants to states to implement
      initiatives to strengthen rural healthcare delivery systems, including better
      integration of EMS into those systems of care. OBJECTIVE: Building on national
      efforts to develop EMS performance measures, we sought to identify measures
      relevant to the rural communities and hospitals supported by the Flex Program.
      The measures are intended for use in monitoring rural EMS performance at the
      community level as well as for use by State Flex Programs and the Federal Office
      of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to demonstrate the impact of the Flex Program.
      METHODS: To evaluate the performance of EMS in rural communities, we conducted a
      literature search, reviewed research on performance measures conducted by key EMS
      organizations, and recruited a panel of EMS experts to identify and rate rurally
      relevant EMS performance measures as well as emergent protocols for episodes of
      trauma, ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), and stroke. The rated
      measures were assessed for inclusion in the final measure set. RESULTS: The
      Expert Panel identified 17 program performance measures to support EMS services
      in rural communities. These measures monitor the capacity of local agencies to
      collect and report quality and financial data, use the data to improve agency
      performance, and train rural EMS employees in emergent protocols for all age
      groups. CONCLUSION: The system of care approach on which this rural EMS measures
      set is based can support the FORHP's goal of better focusing State Flex Program
      activity to improve program impact on the performance of rural EMS services in
      the areas of financial viability, quality improvement, and local/regional health
      system performance.

PMID- 27635858
TI  - Arsenic and its compounds in mushrooms: A review.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to review the detail concentration of arsenic in
      some species of mushrooms as well as organic and inorganic forms of arsenic in
      the substrates where wild and cultivated edible mushrooms grow. We also briefly
      review the molecular forms of arsenic in mushrooms. There is still a lack of
      experimental data from the environment for a variety of species from different
      habitats and for different levels of geogenic arsenic in soil. This information
      will be useful for mushrooms consumers, nutritionists, and food regulatory
      agencies by describing ways to minimize arsenic content in edible mushrooms and
      arsenic intake from mushroom meals.

PMID- 27635859
TI  - Neuroprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning via modulating the expression
      of cerebral miRNAs against transient cerebral ischemia in diabetic rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of the Ischemic
      preconditioning (IPreC) on the expression profile of cerebral miRNAs against
      stroke by induced transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in diabetic
      rats. METHODS: Eighty male Spraque Dawley rats were allocated to eight groups. In
      order to evaluate the expression profile of miRNAs, we induced transient MCAo
      seven days after STZ-induced diabetes (DM). Also we performed IPreC 72 h before
      transient MCAo to assess whether IPreC could have a neuroprotective effect
      against ischemia-reperfusion injury. RESULTS: The general characteristics of STZ
      treated rats included reduced body weight and elevated blood glucose levels
      compared to non-diabetic ones. We demonstrated that miRNA expression profiles,
      which are determined for biological functions such as aquaporin 4 formation (miR
      29b-2, miR-124a-3p, miR-130a, miR-223 and miR-320a), glutamate toxicity (miR107,
      miR-145, miR-223), salvageable ischemic area (miR-9a, miR-19b, miR-29b-2, miR
      341, miR-339-5p, miR-15-5p, miR-99b-5p), and neoangiogenesis (let-7f-5p, miR-126a
      and miR-322-3p), were regulated following IPreC. Ischemic preconditioning before
      cerebral ischemia significantly reduced infarction size compared with the other
      groups [IPreC + MCAo (27 +/- 11 mm3) vs. MCAo (109 +/- 15 mm3) p < 0.001; DM +
      IPreC + MCAo (38 +/- 9 mm3) vs. DM + MCAo (165 +/- 41 mm3) p < 0.001,
      respectively]. DISCUSSION: The study results revealed the neuroprotective effects
      of ischemic preconditioning, supported with the upregulated pro-survival miRNAs
      in MCA infarcts.

PMID- 27635860
TI  - Herpes simplex virus keratitis: an update of the pathogenesis and current
      treatment with oral and topical antiviral agents - response.

PMID- 27635862
TI  - Early Subchondral Bone Loss at Arthritis Onset Predicted Late Arthritis Severity
      in a Rat Arthritis Model.
AB  - Synovitis is usually observed before loss of articular function in rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). In addition to the synovium and according to the "Inside-Outside"
      theory, bone compartment is also involved in RA pathogenesis. Then, we
      investigated time dependent articular bone loss and prediction of early bone loss
      to late arthritis severity on the rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) model.
      Lewis female rats were longitudinally monitored from arthritis induction (day 0),
      with early (day 10) and late (day 17) steps. Trabecular and cortical
      microarchitecture parameters of four ankle bones were assessed by microcomputed
      tomography. Gene expression was determined at sacrifice. Arthritis occurred at
      day 10 in AIA rats. At this time, bone erosions were detected on four ankle
      bones, with cortical porosity increase (+67%) and trabecular alterations
      including bone volume fraction (BV/TV: -13%), and trabecular thickness decrease.
      Navicular bone assessment was the most reproducible and sensitive. Furthermore,
      strong correlations were observed between bone alterations at day 10 and
      arthritis severity or bone loss at day 17, including predictability of day 10
      BV/TV to day 17 articular index (R2  = 0.76). Finally, gene expression at day 17
      confirmed massive osteoclast activation and interestingly provided insights on
      strong activation of bone formation inhibitor markers at the joint level. In rat
      AIA, bone loss was already observed at synovitis onset and was predicted late
      arthritis severity. Our results reinforced the key role of subchondral bone in
      arthritis pathogenesis, in favour to the "Inside-Outside" theory. Mechanisms of
      bone loss in rat AIA involved resorption activation and formation inhibition
      changes. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1318-1325, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27635861
TI  - Dendritic cell-based vaccines in treating recurrent herpes labialis: Results of
      pilot clinical study.
AB  - Recurrent herpes simplex labialis caused predominantly with herpes simplexvirus
      1(HSV-1) is a major problem, for which various treatments have minimal impact.
      Given the important role of the immune system in controlling virus infection, an
      activation of virus-specific immune responses, in particular,using dendritic cell
      (DCs) vaccines, seems to be a promising approach for the treatment of patients
      with frequent recurrences of herpes labialis. The current paper presents the
      results of a pilot study of the safety and efficacy of DC vaccines in 14 patients
      with recurrent HSV-1 infections. DCs were generated in presence of GM-CSF and IFN
      alpha and were loaded with HSV-1 recombinant viral glycoprotein D (HSV1gD). DCs
      cells were injected subcutaneously as 2 courses of vaccination during 9 months.
      Immunotherapy with DCs did not induce any serious side effects and resulted in
      more than 2-fold reduction in the recurrence rate and significant enhancement of
      the inter-recurrent time during the 9 months of treatment and subsequent 6-month
      follow-up period. An obvious clinical improvement was accompanied with an
      induction of an antigen-specific response to HCV1gD and a normalization of
      reduced mitogenic responsiveness of mono-nuclear cells. According to long-term
      survey data (on average 48 months after the beginning of therapy), 87% of
      respondents reported the decreased incidence of recurrent infection. At this
      time, most patients (85.7%) responded to HCV1gD stimulation. The data obtained
      suggests that dendritic cell vaccines may be a promising new approach for the
      treatment of recurrent labial herpes.

PMID- 27635863
TI  - Phenotypic changes of acid-adapted cancer cells push them toward aggressiveness
      in their evolution in the tumor microenvironment.
AB  - The inter- and intra-tumoral metabolic phenotypes of tumors are heterogeneous,
      and this is related to microenvironments that select for increased glycolysis.
      Increased glycolysis leads to decreased pH, and these local microenvironment
      effects lead to further selection. Hence, heterogeneity of phenotypes is an
      indirect consequence of altering microenvironments during carcinogenesis. In
      early stages of growth, tumors are stratified, with the most aggressive cells
      developing within the acidic interior of the tumor. However, these cells
      eventually find themselves at the tumor edge, where they invade into the normal
      tissue via acid-mediated invasion. We believe acid adaptation during the
      evolution of cancer cells in their niche is a Rubicon that, once crossed, allows
      cells to invade into and outcompete normal stromal tissue. In this study, we
      illustrate some acid-induced phenotypic changes due to acidosis resulting in more
      aggressiveness and invasiveness of cancer cells.

PMID- 27635864
TI  - Release Kinetics of Nisin from Chitosan-Alginate Complex Films.
AB  - Understanding the release kinetics of antimicrobials from polymer films is
      important in the design of effective antimicrobial packaging films. The release
      kinetics of nisin (30 mg/film) from chitosan-alginate polyelectric complex films
      prepared using various fractions of alginate (33%, 50%, and 66%) was investigated
      into an aqueous release medium. Films containing higher alginate fractions showed
      significantly lower (P < 0.05) degree of swelling in water. Total amount of nisin
      released from films into an aqueous system decreased significantly (P < 0.05)
      with an increase in alginate concentration. The mechanism of diffusion of nisin
      from all films was found to be Fickian, and diffusion coefficients varied from
      0.872 * 10-9 to 8.034 *10-9 cm2 /s. Strong complexation was confirmed between
      chitosan and alginate polymers within the films using isothermal titration
      calorimetry and viscosity studies, which affects swelling of films and subsequent
      nisin release. Complexation was also confirmed between nisin and alginate, which
      limited the amount of free nisin available for diffusion from films. These low
      swelling biopolymer complexes have potential to be used as antimicrobial
      packaging films with sustained nisin release characteristics.

PMID- 27635865
TI  - Artificial nutrition dependence after cetuximab versus cisplatin combined with
      radiotherapy for advanced head and neck cancer: A propensity score-matched
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of cetuximab
      based radiotherapy (RT) with cisplatin-based concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CCRT)
      on artificial nutrition dependence in locoregional advanced head and neck cancer.
      METHODS: We identified patients treated with cetuximab-based RT or CCRT between
      2012 and 2014 in a Japanese national database, and used propensity score-matched
      analyses to evaluate artificial nutrition dependence for 30 days after starting
      chemotherapy and at hospital discharge. RESULTS: Of 3935 eligible patients,
      propensity score matching generated 250 pairs. Thirty-day artificial nutrition
      dependence was significantly lower in the cetuximab-based RT group than in the
      CCRT group (25.6% vs 35.2%; odds ratio [OR] = 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI]
      = 0.46-0.97; p = .036). No significant difference in artificial nutrition
      dependence at hospital discharge was shown (6.2% vs 7.2%; OR = 1.07; 95% CI =
      0.52-2.17; p = .861). Difference in duration of hospitalization was
      insignificant. CONCLUSION: Cetuximab-based RT may reduce short-term artificial
      nutrition dependence compared to CCRT. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck
      39: 320-325, 2017.

PMID- 27635933
TI  - Liver Capsule: FXR agonists against liver disease.

PMID- 27635934
TI  - Ureteroscopy: accessory devices.
AB  - The incidence of stone disease continues to rise. Surgical management options
      including shockwave laser lithotripsy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, and
      ureteroscopy with stone extraction and/or lithotripsy. The technology associated
      with the ureteroscopic treatment of stones has advanced significantly over the
      past decade and this review focuses on many of the accessory devices that can be
      employed to aid in the procedure.

PMID- 27635935
TI  - Real-World Experience and Impact of Canakinumab in Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic
      Syndrome: Results From a French Observational Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The ENVOL study was designed to assess the psychosocial impact of
      disease and therapy in a French cohort of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes
      (CAPS) patients (and caregivers) treated with canakinumab. METHODS: The ENVOL
      study was a multicenter, observational study of CAPS patients given >=1
      canakinumab dose. Data were collected before treatment, at 6 and 12 months
      afterward, and at the last visit. Patients and caregivers completed
      questionnaires assessing changes from the 12 months of pretreatment to 12 months
      prior to interview. Data were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The study
      included 10 physicians and 68 patients (53 adults, 15 children). Sixty-five
      patients (95.6%) were still receiving canakinumab at the last visit (median 5
      years after starting therapy). The mean +/- SD score for patient-reported general
      health increased from 7 +/- 2.9 before canakinumab to 2.7 +/- 2.7 after treatment
      (P < 0.001). Physical and emotional symptoms resolved or improved in a
      substantial proportion of patients, including bodily pain (38 of 46 patients),
      fever (32 of 39), skin disease (35 of 41), fatigue (31 of 47), self-confidence
      (29 of 46), and energy (34 of 47). Social activity, relationships, sexuality, and
      energy measures improved in >40% of respondents. Caregivers spent a median of 3
      versus 0.5 hours/week on care in the 12 months of pretreatment versus 12 months
      prior to interview (P < 0.001). Following treatment, patients required fewer
      consultations with general practitioners (mean +/- SD per patient per year: 5.2
      +/- 7.4 versus 8.5 +/- 7.2 pretreatment),
      internists/rheumatologists/dermatologists (2.0 +/- 2.1 versus 3.7 +/- 3.9), and
      pediatricians (1.8 +/- 1.5 versus 4.4 +/- 4.2). CONCLUSION: Long-term treatment
      with canakinumab achieves a highly relevant improvement in the physical,
      emotional, and social lives of patients with CAPS, accompanied by a marked
      reduction in support required from caregivers and in health care consultations.

PMID- 27635936
TI  - A whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine protects against the malaria liver
      stage.
AB  - Although the attenuated sporozoite is the most efficient vaccine to prevent
      infection with the malaria parasite, the limitation of a source of sterile
      sporozoites greatly hampers its application. In this study, we found that the
      whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine could confer protection against the
      blood stage as well as the liver stage. Although the protective immunity induced
      by the whole-organism vaccine against the blood stage is dependent on parasite
      specific CD4+ T-cell responses and antibodies, in mice immunized with the whole
      killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine, CD8+ , but not CD4+ effector T-cell responses
      greatly contributed to protection against the liver stage. Thus, our data
      suggested that the whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine could be an
      alternative promising strategy to prevent malaria infection and to reduce the
      morbidity and mortality of patients with malaria.

PMID- 27635937
TI  - Optimal duration of dual anti-platelet therapy after percutaneous coronary
      intervention: 2016 consensus position of the Italian Society of Cardiology.
AB  - Definition of the optimal duration of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) is an
      important clinical issue, given the large number of patients having percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI), the costs and risks of pharmacologic therapy, the
      consequences of stent thrombosis, and the potential benefits of DAPT in
      preventing ischaemic outcomes beyond stent thrombosis. Nowadays, the rationale
      for a prolonged duration of DAPT should be not only the prevention of stent
      thrombosis, but also the prevention of ischaemic events unrelated to the coronary
      stenosis treated with index PCI. A higher predisposition to athero-thrombosis may
      persist for years after an acute myocardial infarction, and even stable patients
      with a history of prior myocardial infarction are at high risk for major adverse
      cardiovascular events. Recently, results of pre-specified post-hoc analyses of
      randomized clinical trials, including the PEGASUS-TIMI 54 trial, have shed light
      on strategies of DAPT in various clinical situations, and should impact the next
      rounds of international guidelines, and also routine practice. Accordingly, the
      2015 to 2016 the Board of the Italian Society of Cardiology addressed newer
      recommendations on duration of DAPT based on most recent scientific information.
      The document states that physicians should decide duration of DAPT on an
      individual basis, taking into account ischaemic and bleeding risks of any given
      patient. Indeed, current controversy surrounding optimal duration of DAPT clearly
      reflects the fact that, nowadays, a one size fits all strategy cannot be reliably
      applied to patients treated with PCI. Indeed, patients usually have factors for
      both increased ischaemic and bleeding risks that must be carefully evaluated to
      assess the benefit/risk ratio of prolonged DAPT. Personalized management of DAPT
      must be seen as a dynamic prescription with regular re-evaluations of the
      risk/benefit to the patient according to changes in his/her clinical profile.
      Also, in order to derive more benefit than harm from new treatments, a multi
      parametric approach using several risk scores of the ischaemic and bleeding risks
      might improve the process of risk factor characterization. In patients with high
      ischaemic risk, particularly those with a history of myocardial infarction, the
      benefits of extended DAPT (particularly with ticagrelor up to 3 years) are likely
      to outweigh the risks.

PMID- 27635938
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of long corrected QT interval in HIV-positive patients:
      a multicenter study.
AB  - AIMS: HIV and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) may affect cardiac
      conduction, and a higher incidence of sudden death has been recognized in HIV
      positive patients. Nevertheless, predictors of prolonged corrected QT interval
      (cQT) have been poorly described. The aim of the study was to investigate the
      prevalence and predictors of long cQT in a cohort of HIV-positive patients.
      METHODS: Consecutive HIV-positive patients followed in a primary prevention
      clinic at two Italian institutions were retrospectively enrolled. A 12-lead ECG
      was recorded in all patients; main clinical features were collected. Prevalence
      of long cQT (defined as cQT >470 ms in women and >450 ms in men) was the primary
      end-point. Secondary end-points were the identification of predictors of cQT
      prolongation, and the association between HAART and HIV-related features with
      long cQT. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty-one HIV-positive patients were
      included, 26 (7.4%) with long cQT. Mean age was higher among those with long cQT
      (51.6 vs. 57.6 years; P = 0.007). A higher prevalence of long cQT was reported
      for patients with a CD4+ cell count below 200 cells/MUl at the moment of ECG (60
      vs. 24.2%; P = 0.002) and with a nadir of CD4+ cell count below 200 cells/MUl
      (91.3 vs. 58.6%; P = 0.001). At multivariate analysis, only the nadir of CD4+
      cell count below 200 cells/MUl consistently related to the presence of long cQT
      (odds ratio 5.8, 95% confidence interval 1.3-26.4). CONCLUSION: A low CD4+ cell
      count is associated with long cQT independently from HAART in HIV-positive
      patients and may be useful to correctly stratify arrhythmic risk in these
      patients.

PMID- 27635939
TI  - Self-concept clarity buffers the impact of societal threat to safety on right
      wing authoritarianism.
AB  - Exposure to societal threat can elicit an increase in right-wing authoritarianism
      (RWA). In this study, using a quasi-experimental vignette design (Italian
      community sample, N = 86), we tested the moderating role of self-concept clarity
      (SCC). A moderated regression showed that manipulated societal threat to safety
      fostered RWA only among low SCC scorers. It is concluded that SCC is an important
      resource for individuals facing threat conditions.

PMID- 27635940
TI  - Erratum: Biomechanical Comparison: Single-Bundle versus Double-Bundle Posterior
      Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Techniques.

PMID- 27635941
TI  - Erratum: Comparison between Closing-Wedge and Opening-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy
      in Patients with Medial Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta
      analysis.

PMID- 27635942
TI  - Treatment considerations in pulmonary coccidioidomycosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection caused by the
      soil-dwelling fungi, Coccidioides species. Coccidioidal infections may be
      asymptomatic in up to two-thirds of infected persons. Pulmonary
      coccidioidomycosis is the most common form of symptomatic infection. Fluconazole
      is the antifungal agent typically used to treat pulmonary coccidioidomycosis.
      Other azoles and amphotericin B products may be prescribed to treat nuanced
      aspects of coccidioidomycosis. AREAS COVERED: This review discusses current
      literature regarding medical treatment options, including the various triazoles
      and amphotericin B products. In addition, we discuss uncomplicated and
      complicated pulmonary infections and their sequelae and the approach to managing
      coccidioidomycosis in certain populations of patients, such as pregnant women,
      transplant recipients, individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus,
      and recipients of tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors. Expert commentary:
      Symptomatic coccidioidomycosis can present physicians with a number of
      challenges, including the lack of sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests
      and lack of a standard treatment approach for all patients with the infection.
      Ongoing and future clinical trials will determine the optimal diagnostic,
      therapeutic, and prophylactic approaches, particularly for patients with comorbid
      conditions.

PMID- 27635943
TI  - Mixed Epithelial and Stromal Tumor of the Kidney: A Clinicopathologic Study of 53
      Cases.
AB  - Mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of the kidney is an uncommon complex neoplasm,
      and previous studies have included only a modest number of cases and have left
      gaps in our understanding of its morphology. We analyzed 53 tumors (46 F, median
      age: 49 y), collecting data on gross, histologic, and immunohistochemical
      features. The most common gross appearance was solid and cystic (47%).
      Hypocellular fibrous and cellular spindle cell stroma were the most common
      stromal types, followed by smooth muscle differentiation, edematous stroma, and
      adipose tissue. Hypocellular fibrous stroma and adipose tissue were more common
      in larger tumors (P=0.003 and 0.04, respectively) and cellular spindle cell
      stroma in smaller tumors (P=0.0009). Combinations of diverse stromal elements
      were common: roughly 50% of tumors contained >4 types of stroma. With regard to
      epithelium, tiny crowded and branching glands were present in 60% of tumors.
      Round glands lined by tall cuboidal epithelium, reminiscent of thyroid follicles,
      spatulate papillae reminiscent of phyllodes tumor, glands reminiscent of
      nephrogenic adenoma, and complex papillae were also frequently found.
      Combinations of diverse epithelial elements were common: 64% of tumors contained
      >4 types of epithelium. All of the tumors except 1 were positive for smooth
      muscle actin in the stroma. Desmin and caldesmon expression were more variable.
      Stains for progesterone and estrogen receptors showed positivity in the stromal
      component in 85% and 73% of tumors, respectively. CD10 and CD34 immunolabeling
      were restricted to pericystic spindle cells. No tumor expressed inhibin. In
      summary, this study demonstrates a strong tendency for mixed epithelial and
      stromal tumors to contain multiple types of stroma and epithelium and
      comprehensively analyzes the immunohistochemical profile.

PMID- 27635944
TI  - Renomedullary Interstitial Cell Tumors: Pathologic Features and Clinical
      Correlations.
AB  - Renomedullary interstitial cell tumors are common incidental findings in kidney
      specimens. Despite their frequency, little is known about their morphology and
      pathogenesis. Kidneys from 402 unselected autopsies were sectioned at 1 to 2 mm
      intervals, and all lesions were examined histologically. A total of 421
      renomedullary interstitial cell tumors were present in 150 patients (37%),
      ranging from 1 to 23 tumors per patient (mean=3). There was no statistically
      significant difference in age, sex, hypertension, heart weight, tobacco smoking,
      diabetes mellitus, and renal function between patients with renomedullary
      interstitial cell tumors and those without. Almost half the patients with
      renomedullary interstitial cell tumors (41%) had bilateral tumors, and they were
      older than patients with unilateral tumors (P=0.0007). The tumors ranged in size
      from 0.5 to 6 mm (mean 1.7 mm). The lesions varied in cellularity: fibrous stroma
      was found in older patients, whereas cellular and hypocellular stroma
      predominated in younger patients (P=0.001 and P<0.0001, respectively). Entrapped
      renal tubules were found throughout the tumor in younger patients and smaller
      tumors, whereas the absence of entrapped tubules or their location only at the
      periphery of the lesion were common in older patients and larger tumors (P=0.02
      and P<0.0001, respectively). Ropey brightly eosinophilic material, found in 26%
      of tumors, was not amyloid but collagen type III. This material was observed in
      older patients (P<0.0001) with larger tumors (P<0.0001) and was also correlated
      to higher heart weight (P=0.003) but not to hypertension (P=0.11). On the basis
      of our findings, renomedullary interstitial cell tumors appear to originate as a
      proliferation of renomedullary interstitial cells between medullary tubules. As
      their size increases, cellularity decreases, ropey eosinophilic material is
      deposited, and tubules disappear.

PMID- 27635945
TI  - Myolipoma of Soft Tissue: Clinicopathologic Analysis of 34 Cases.
AB  - Myolipoma of soft tissue, which was first described by Meis and Enzinger (1991),
      is a rare benign neoplasm characterized by the admixture of mature adipocytes and
      well-differentiated smooth muscle cells. Recently, cytogenetic alteration of the
      HMGA2 gene has been reported in 2 myolipomas. We present the clinicopathologic
      features of 34 cases of myolipoma of soft tissue, study immunoreactivity for
      HMGA2, and review the previous literature. In our series, there were 32 women and
      2 men, with age at presentation ranging from 35 to 94 years (median, 55 y). The
      most frequently affected site was retroperitoneum (47%), followed by pelvis
      (15%), abdominal wall (12%), and intra-abdominal sites (9%). Follow-up
      information was available for 17 patients (50%), ranging from 1 to 202 months
      (mean, 41 mo). None has developed local recurrence or metastasis. Grossly, tumors
      were well circumscribed, and the cut surface showed an admixture of yellowish
      adipose tissue and tan-whitish nodules. The size ranged from 2.4 to 60 cm (median
      10.5 cm). Histologically, the tumors were composed of an intimate admixture of
      mature fat cells and bland spindle-shaped cells with brightly eosinophilic
      cytoplasm, arranged in fascicles. Some cases showed the following unusual
      features focally: hypercellular fascicular pattern (N=2), degenerative nuclear
      atypia (N=1), round cell morphology (N=1), hemosiderin deposition (N=1),
      metaplastic cartilage (N=1), metaplastic bone (N=1), and eosinophil infiltrates
      (N=1). Immunohistochemically, spindle cells showed strong and diffuse positivity
      for desmin (26/26 cases), SMA (20/21), and ER (13/15). Nuclear positivity for
      HMGA2 was identified in 15 of 25 cases (60%). MDM2 and CDK4 were usually negative
      (14/15, 8/9, respectively). In summary, myolipoma of soft tissue is a distinctive
      benign tumor composed of mature fat cells and smooth muscle cells and arises most
      commonly in deep-seated locations of middle-aged women. In our study, 60% of
      cases showed nuclear staining for HMGA2 by immunohistochemistry, which supports
      the possibility that these tumors harbor aberration of the HMGA2 gene, as seen in
      lipomas and leiomyomas elsewhere.

PMID- 27635946
TI  - Tubulocystic Carcinoma of the Kidney With Poorly Differentiated Foci: A Frequent
      Morphologic Pattern of Fumarate Hydratase-deficient Renal Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - An emerging group of high-grade renal cell carcinomas (RCCs), particularly
      carcinomas arising in the hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma syndrome
      (HLRCC), show fumarate hydratase (FH) gene mutation and loss of function. On the
      basis of similar cytomorphology and clinicopathologic features between these
      tumors and cases described as tubulocystic carcinomas with poorly differentiated
      foci (TC-PD) of infiltrative adenocarcinoma, we hypothesized a relationship
      between these entities. First, 29 RCCs with morphology of TC-PD were identified
      retrospectively and assessed for FH expression and aberrant succination (2SC) by
      immunohistochemistry (IHC), with targeted next-generation sequencing of 409 genes
      including FH-performed on a subset. The 29 TC-PD RCCs included 21 males and 8
      females, aged 16 to 86 years (median, 46), with tumors measuring 3 to 21 cm
      (median, 9) arising in the right (n=16) and left (n=13) kidneys. Family history
      or stigmata of HLRCC were identifiable only retrospectively in 3 (12%). These
      tumors were aggressive, with 79% showing perinephric extension, nodal involvement
      in 41%, and metastasis in 86%. Of these, 16 (55%) demonstrated loss of FH by IHC
      (14/14 with positive 2SC). In contrast, 5 (17%) showed a wild-type immunoprofile
      of FH+/2SC-. An intriguing group of 8 (28%) showed variable FH+/- positivity, but
      with strong/diffuse 2SC+. Next-generation sequencing revealed 8 cases with FH
      mutations, including 5 FH-/2SC+ and 3 FH+/-/2SC+ cases, but none in FH+/2SC-
      cases. Secondly, we retrospectively reviewed the morphology of 2 well
      characterized cohorts of RCCs with FH-deficiency determined by IHC or sequencing
      (n=23 and n=9), unselected for TC-PD pattern, identifying the TC-PD morphology in
      10 (31%). We conclude that RCCs with TC-PD morphology are enriched for FH
      deficiency, and we recommend additional workup, including referral to genetic
      counseling, for prospective cases. In addition, based on these and other
      observations, we propose the term "FH-deficient RCC" as a provisional term for
      tumors with a combination of suggestive morphology and immunophenotype but where
      genetic confirmation is unavailable upon diagnosis. This term will serve as a
      provisional nomenclature that will enable triage of individual cases for genetic
      counseling and testing, while designating these cases for prospective studies of
      their relationship to HLRCC.

PMID- 27635948
TI  - SMARCB1/INI1 Involvement in Pediatric Chordoma: A Mutational and
      Immunohistochemical Analysis.
AB  - Chordomas arise in the skull base and spine and usually occur in adults and are
      rare in the pediatric population. Cases of chordoma in pediatric age are often
      poorly differentiated, showing cytologic atypia, increased cellularity, and
      mitosis, and their aggressive behavior is associated with a high incidence of
      metastatic spread and a short patient survival. Recent studies have described
      loss of SMARCB1/INI1 protein in poorly differentiated chordomas associated not
      with point mutations but with SMARCB1/INI1 gene deletions instead. In this study,
      we considered immunohistochemistry and SMARCB1/INI1 mutational status to examine
      SMARCB1 status in a series of pediatric chordomas (7 classic and 1 poorly
      differentiated). We performed immunohistochemical tests for INI1, brachyury,
      S100, and cytokeratins and conducted a genetic analysis on the SMARCB1 coding
      sequence (NM_003073) using the Sanger method and multiplex ligation-dependent
      probe amplification to detect abnormal copy numbers of the gene locus. All 8
      cases were positive for brachyury, whereas there was no nuclear SMARCB1/INI1
      expression in 4 of the 8 cases, including the poorly differentiated chordoma.
      Genetic analysis identified a missense mutation in 2 cases and a nonsense
      mutation associated with loss of SMARCB1/INI1 protein and features of poorly
      differentiated tumor in 1. These mutations were novel variants occurring in
      heterozygosity, and they were judged to be pathogenic by 3 different
      bioinformatic tools. In 7 of 8 cases we performed multiplex ligation-dependent
      probe amplification, and 3 cases showed deletions at the SMARCB1 locus. Our
      results confirm the pathogenic involvement of SMARCB1/INI1 in childhood chordoma.
      We also describe 3 novel pathogenic mutations.

PMID- 27635947
TI  - NRASQ61R Mutation-specific Immunohistochemistry Also Identifies the HRASQ61R
      Mutation in Medullary Thyroid Cancer and May Have a Role in Triaging Genetic
      Testing for MEN2.
AB  - A quarter of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) have germline
      mutations in the RET proto-oncogene indicating MEN2. Therefore genetic testing is
      recommended for all patients presenting with MTC. Approximately 40% of MTCs have
      somatic RET mutations. Somatic mutations in the RAS genes are the next most
      common driver mutations and appear to be mutually exclusive with germline RET
      mutation. The single most common somatic RAS mutation is HRASQ61R (c.182A>G),
      reported in 4.6% to 11% of all MTCs. Mutation-specific immunohistochemistry (IHC)
      initially developed to identify the NRASQ61R mutation in melanoma (clone SP174)
      has proven highly sensitive and specific. Because the amino acid sequences for
      the HRAS and NRAS proteins at codon 61 are identical, we postulated that SP174
      IHC would also identify the somatic HRASQ61R mutation. IHC with SP174 was
      performed on a tissue microarray of 68 patients with MTC including 13 (22.8%)
      with molecularly confirmed MEN2. Seven (10.3%) MTCs demonstrated positive
      staining. Six of these patients had already undergone germline RET mutation
      testing as part of clinical care and were all confirmed to be wild type,
      excluding the diagnosis of MEN2. All SP174 immunohistochemically positive MTCs
      were proven to have HRASQ61R mutation (and lack KRASQ61R and NRASQ61R) by Sanger
      sequencing. All MEN2 patients showed negative staining. We conclude that IHC with
      SP174 is highly specific for the HRASQ61R mutation in MTC. Because current data
      suggest that this mutation is mutually exclusive with germline RET mutation, IHC
      may also have a role in triaging formal genetic testing for MEN2.

PMID- 27635949
TI  - Histologic Grading of Prostatic Adenocarcinoma Can Be Further Optimized: Analysis
      of the Relative Prognostic Strength of Individual Architectural Patterns in 1275
      Patients From the Canary Retrospective Cohort.
AB  - Histologic grading remains the gold standard for prognosis in prostate cancer,
      and assessment of Gleason score plays a critical role in active surveillance
      management. We sought to optimize the prognostic stratification of grading and
      developed a method of recording and studying individual architectural patterns by
      light microscopic evaluation that is independent of standard Gleason grade. Some
      of the evaluated patterns are not assessed by current Gleason grading (eg,
      reactive stromal response). Individual histologic patterns were correlated with
      recurrence-free survival in a retrospective postradical prostatectomy cohort of
      1275 patients represented by the highest-grade foci of carcinoma in tissue
      microarrays. In univariable analysis, fibromucinous rupture with varied
      epithelial complexity had a significantly lower relative risk of recurrence-free
      survival in cases graded as 3+4=7. Cases having focal "poorly formed glands,"
      which could be designated as pattern 3+4=7, had lower risk than cribriform
      patterns with either small cribriform glands or expansile cribriform growth. In
      separate multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses of both Gleason score
      3+3=6 and 3+4=7 carcinomas, reactive stromal patterns were associated with worse
      recurrence-free survival. Decision tree models demonstrate potential regrouping
      of architectural patterns into categories with similar risk. In summary, we argue
      that Gleason score assignment by current consensus guidelines are not entirely
      optimized for clinical use, including active surveillance. Our data suggest that
      focal poorly formed gland and cribriform patterns, currently classified as
      Gleason pattern 4, should be in separate prognostic groups, as the latter is
      associated with worse outcome. Patterns with extravasated mucin are likely
      overgraded in a subset of cases with more complex epithelial bridges, whereas
      stromogenic cancers have a worse outcome than conveyed by Gleason grade alone.
      These findings serve as a foundation to facilitate optimization of histologic
      grading and strongly support incorporating reactive stroma into routine
      assessment.

PMID- 27635950
TI  - Connectivity map identifies HDAC inhibition as a treatment option of high-risk
      hepatoblastoma.
AB  - Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common liver tumor of childhood, usually
      occurring in children under the age of 3 y. The prognosis of patients presenting
      with distant metastasis, vascular invasion and advanced tumor stages remains poor
      and children that do survive often face severe late effects from the aggressive
      chemotherapy regimen. To identify potential new therapeutics for high risk HB we
      used a 1,000-gene expression signature as input for a Connectivity Map (CMap)
      analysis, which predicted histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors as a promising
      therapy option. Subsequent expression analysis of primary HB and HB cell lines
      revealed a general overexpression of HDAC1 and HDAC2, which has been suggested to
      be predictive for the efficacy of HDAC inhibition. Accordingly, treatment of HB
      cells with the HDAC inhibitors SAHA and MC1568 resulted in a potent reduction of
      cell viability, induction of apoptosis, reactivation of epigenetically suppressed
      tumor suppressor genes, and the reversion of the 16-gene HB classifier toward the
      more favorable expression signature. Most importantly, the combination of HDAC
      inhibitors and cisplatin - a major chemotherapeutic agent of HB treatment -
      revealed a strong synergistic effect, even at significantly reduced doses of
      cisplatin. Our findings suggest that HDAC inhibitors skew HB cells toward a more
      favorable prognostic phenotype through changes in gene expression, thus
      indicating a targeted molecular mechanism that seems to enhance the anti
      proliferative effects of conventional chemotherapy. Thus, adding HDAC inhibitors
      to the treatment regimen of high risk HB could potentially improve outcomes and
      reduce severe late effects.

PMID- 27635952
TI  - Work stress and satisfaction in relation to personality profiles in a sample of
      Dutch anaesthesiologists: A questionnaire survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Working in anaesthesia is stressful, but also satisfying. Work
      related stress can have a negative impact on mental health, whereas work-related
      satisfaction protects against these harmful effects. OBJECTIVE(S): How work
      stress and satisfaction are experienced may be related to personality. Our aim
      was to study the relationship between personality and perception of work in a
      sample of Dutch anaesthesiologists. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey. SETTING: Data
      were collected in the Netherlands from July 2012 until December 2012.
      PARTICIPANTS: We sent electronic questionnaires to all 1955 practising resident
      and consultant members of the Dutch Anaesthesia Society. Of those, 655 (33.5%)
      were returned and could be used for analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      questionnaires assessed general work-related stress and satisfaction and
      anaesthesia-specific stress. A factor analysis was performed on the stress and
      satisfaction questionnaires. Personality traits were assessed using the Big Five
      Inventory. To identify personality profiles, a cluster analysis was performed on
      the Big Five Inventory. Scores of the extracted factors contributing to job
      stress and satisfaction were compared between the profiles we identified.
      RESULTS: Our analysis extracted six factors concerning general job stress. Of
      those, the emotionally difficult caseload contributed the most to job stress. The
      analysis also extracted four factors concerning general job satisfaction. Good
      relationships with patients and their families and being appreciated by
      colleagues contributed the most to satisfaction. The cluster analysis resulted in
      two distinct personality profiles: a distressed profile (n = 215) and a resilient
      profile (n = 440). General and anaesthesia-specific job stress was significantly
      higher and job satisfaction was significantly lower in the distressed profile,
      compared with the resilient profile. Experience of the emotionally difficult
      caseload did not differ between the two profiles CONCLUSION: Personality profiles
      were found to be related to anaesthesiologists' experience of work-related stress
      and satisfaction. One-third of the anaesthesiologists in our sample were
      categorised as distressed and are at risk of developing work-related mental
      health problems.

PMID- 27635951
TI  - Modelling of the optimal bupivacaine dose for spinal anaesthesia in ambulatory
      surgery based on data from systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal bupivacaine is used for day-case surgery but the appropriate
      dose that guarantees hospital discharge is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We sought to
      determine the spinal bupivacaine dose that prevents delayed hospital discharge in
      ambulatory surgery. DESIGN: Systematic review of clinical trials. DATA SOURCES:
      Comprehensive search in electronic databases of studies published between 1996
      and 2014 reporting the use of spinal bupivacaine in ambulatory patients.
      Additional articles were retrieved through hyperlinks and by manually searching
      reference lists in original articles, review articles and correspondence
      published in English and French. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were used to
      calculate, motor block duration and discharge time, an estimated maximal effect
      (Emax: maximum theoretical time of motor block) and the effective dose to obtain
      half of Emax (D50) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A simulation was
      performed to determine the dose corresponding to a time to recovery of 300 min
      for motor function, and 360 min for discharge, in 95% of the patients. RESULTS:
      In total, 23 studies (1062 patients) were included for analysis of the time to
      recovery of motor function, and 12 studies (618 patients) for the time to
      hospital discharge. The Emax for recovery of motor function was 268 min [95% CI
      (189 to 433 min)] and the D50 was 3.9 mg [95% CI (2.3 to 6.2 mg)]. A 7.5-mg dose
      of bupivacaine enables resolution of motor block and ambulation within 300 min in
      95% of the patients. A 5-mg dose or less was associated with an unacceptable
      failure rate. CONCLUSION: Ambulatory surgery is possible under spinal anaesthesia
      with bupivacaine although the dose range that ensures reliable anaesthesia with
      duration short enough to guarantee ambulatory management is narrow.

PMID- 27635953
TI  - Incidence and severity of chronic pain after caesarean section: A systematic
      review with meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The frequency of caesarean section has increased dramatically in
      recent decades. Despite this, robust data regarding the consequences of caesarean
      section in terms of developing chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) are still
      lacking. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review analysed the incidence and severity of
      CPSP in women 3 to less than 6, 6 to less than 12, and at least 12 months after
      caesarean section. DESIGN: Systematic review of prospective and retrospective
      observational studies and randomised controlled trials with meta-analysis. DATA
      SOURCE: We searched MEDLINE to May 2015. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included all
      studies investigating the incidence and/or severity of CPSP at least 3 months
      after caesarean section. The primary outcome was chronic postsurgical wound pain
      (CPSP 'wound'). Secondary outcomes were persistent pain in the back area, pelvic
      region or reported as residual pain, and severity of 'birth-related' chronic
      pain. RESULTS: Meta-analysis using the random-effects model based on 15 studies
      (n = 4475) reporting CPSP 'wound' at 3 to less than 6 months after caesarean
      section revealed an incidence of 15.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 9.9 to
      20.9%]. For 6 to less than 12 and at least 12 months after caesarean section, the
      incidence of CPSP 'wound' was estimated at 11.5% (95% CI: 8.1 to 15.0%, n = 3345)
      and 11.2% (95% CI: 7.4 to 15.0%, n = 3451), respectively. Meta-regression
      analysis using the publication year as predictor revealed stable CPSP 'wound'
      incidences at each postoperative time slot from 2002 to the present. Of those
      patients who reported chronic pain, 9.6% (95% CI: 0.0 to 21.0%) had severe pain,
      23.5% (95% CI: 10.0 to 37.0%) had moderate pain and 49.2% (95% CI: 18.9 to 79.4%)
      had mild pain at 6 months. LIMITATIONS: Major limitations are high statistical
      heterogeneity of the meta-analyses and inconsistencies in reporting severity of
      chronic 'birth-related' pain. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis finds a clinically
      relevant incidence of CPSP 'wound' after caesarean section ranging from 15% at 3
      months to 11% at 12 months or longer that has been largely stable in recent
      years.

PMID- 27635954
TI  - Recommended practice for out-of-hospital emergency anaesthesia in adults:
      Statement from the Out-of-Hospital Emergency Anaesthesia Working Group of the
      Emergency Medicine Research Group of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and
      Intensive Care.

PMID- 27635955
TI  - Impact of age on anaesthesiologists' competence: A narrative review.
AB  - The international anaesthesia community is getting older, in line with trends
      worldwide, and as men and women age there is the risk that psychophysiological
      decline could have an impact on clinical practice. Impairment of technical and
      nontechnical skills could have a negative impact on patients' safety and
      outcomes. The ageing process may not necessarily go hand-in-hand with a
      predictable pattern of decreased competence as not all aspects of functional
      decline are affected at the same rate and to the same extent. The development of
      simulation has provided a means of detecting and perhaps reversing the decline in
      ability associated with age. The introduction of recertification based on an
      assessment of competence at simulation sessions could play a crucial role in
      maintaining a high standard of patient care and an appropriate level of patient
      safety.

PMID- 27635956
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines
      on the Management of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas: Executive
      Summary.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are the most frequent
      pituitary tumors. OBJECTIVE: To create evidence-based guidelines for the initial
      management of NFPAs. METHODS: A multidisciplinary task force composed of
      physician volunteers and evidence-based medicine-trained methodologists conducted
      a systematic review of the literature relevant to the management of NFPAs. To
      ascertain the class of evidence for the posttreatment follow-ups, the task force
      used the Clinical Assessment evidence-based classification. RESULTS: Seven topics
      of importance were chosen for detailed evaluation. The topics addressed include
      preoperative evaluation, primary treatment, treatment options for residual tumors
      after surgery, and postoperative patient management. For preoperative patient
      evaluation, the guideline task force focused on preoperative imaging,
      preoperative laboratory evaluation, and preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation.
      For primary treatment, this guideline addresses surgical resection, medical
      therapy, radiation therapy, the natural history of untreated tumors, surgical
      methodologies, such as endoscopy, microscopy, or craniotomy, and intraoperative
      adjuncts like neuronavigation, cerebrospinal fluid diversion, or intraoperative
      imaging. For residual tumor treatment, the guideline task force evaluated
      radiation vs observation. Additional topics addressed in this guideline regarding
      postoperative patient management include the frequency of postoperative imaging,
      postoperative endocrine evaluation, and postoperative ophthalmologic evaluation.
      CONCLUSION: Although there is clearly a need for more randomized trials
      generating higher levels of evidence to help guide physicians managing NFPAs, the
      existing evidence provided valuable data upon which the guidelines described in
      the 7 articles generated from this effort are based. The full guidelines document
      can be located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients
      non-functioning-pituitary-adenomas. ABBREVIATION: NFPA, nonfunctioning pituitary
      adenoma.

PMID- 27635958
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      on Preoperative Imaging Assessment of Patients With Suspected Nonfunctioning
      Pituitary Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The authors reviewed published articles pertaining to the
      preoperative imaging evaluation of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) and
      formulated recommendations. OBJECTIVE: To provide an exhaustive review of
      published articles pertaining to the preoperative imaging evaluation of
      nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas. METHODS: The MEDLINE database was queried for
      studies investigating imaging for the preoperative evaluation of pituitary
      adenomas. RESULTS: From an initial search of 5598 articles, 122 articles were
      evaluated in detail and included in this article. Based on analysis of these
      articles, the recommendations are as follows: (1) High-resolution magnetic
      resonance imaging (level II) is recommended as the standard for preoperative
      assessment of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas, but may be supplemented with CT
      (level III) and fluoroscopy (level III). (2) Although there are promising results
      suggesting the utility of magnetic resonance spectroscopy, magnetic resonance
      perfusion, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission computed
      tomography, there is insufficient evidence to make formal recommendations
      pertaining to their clinical applications. CONCLUSION: The authors identified 122
      articles that form the basis of recommendations for preoperative imaging
      evaluation of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas. The full guidelines document for
      this chapter can be located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines
      management-patients-non-functioning-pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_2. ABBREVIATIONS:
      CT, computed tomographyDWI, diffusion-weighted imagingMRI, magnetic resonance
      imagingNFPA, nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma.

PMID- 27635959
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      for Pretreatment Endocrine Evaluation of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary
      Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are among the most common
      pituitary lesions and may present with hypopituitarism and/or hyperprolactinemia.
      OBJECTIVE: To review the existing literature as it pertains to preoperative
      endocrine assessment in the workup for NFPAs. METHODS: A systematic review
      methodology was utilized to identify and screen articles assessing the role and
      results of preoperative laboratory assessment in patients with NFPAs. The
      prevalence of individual pituitary hormonal axis deficiencies was reviewed.
      RESULTS: Twenty-nine studies met inclusion criteria for analysis. No class I
      evidence was available, and all studies met criteria for class II evidence.
      Baseline serum laboratory assessment showed a prevalence of overall
      hypopituitarism in 37% to 85% of patients. The most common hormonal axis
      deficiency was growth hormone deficiency, prevalent in 61% to 100% of patients.
      The next most common deficit was hypogonadism, seen in 36% to 95% of patients.
      Adrenal insufficiency was diagnosed in 17% to 62% of patients. Finally,
      hypothyroidism was seen in 8% to 81% of patients. Hyperprolactinemia was seen in
      25% to 65% of patients, with a mean level of 39 ng/mL and with a minority of
      patients exceeding a serum prolactin level of 200 ng/mL. No evidence supporting
      routine biomarker testing (eg, alpha-subunit or chromogranin A) or genetic
      testing in patients with sporadic NFPAs was available. CONCLUSION: Despite a
      paucity of class I evidence, multiple retrospective studies have demonstrated a
      high prevalence of hypopituitarism in patients with NFPAs. Routine endocrine
      analysis of all anterior pituitary axes to assess for hypopituitarism is
      recommended, with prolactin and insulin-like growth factor 1 evaluation also
      valuable to assess for hypersecretion states that might not be clinically
      suspected. The full guidelines document for this chapter can be located at
      https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients-non-functioning
      pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_3. ABBREVIATIONS: GH, growth hormoneIGF-1, insulin
      like growth factor 1NFPA, nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma.

PMID- 27635960
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      on Pretreatment Ophthalmology Evaluation in Patients With Suspected
      Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are the most frequent
      pituitary tumors. Visual symptoms from NFPAs are common and include visual field
      defects, loss of central vision, and motility problems resulting in diplopia.
      OBJECTIVE: To create evidence-based guidelines in an attempt to formulate
      guidance for preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation of NFPA patients. METHODS: An
      extensive literature search was performed. Only clinical articles describing
      preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation of adult patients with NFPA were included.
      To ascertain the class of evidence for the posttreatment follow-up, the authors
      used the Clinical Assessment evidence-based classification. RESULTS: Six studies
      met the inclusion criteria with respect to the questions regarding the
      preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation of NFPA patients. Based on the studies
      located through the search, the authors formulated evidence-based recommendations
      as they pertain to the necessity of ophthalmologic evaluation before surgical
      treatment. CONCLUSION: Preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation is recommended.
      Such evaluation can provide prognostic factors for recovery and, when paired with
      postoperative evaluation, documents postoperative change. In addition to formal
      ophthalmologic examination, tests of value include automated static perimetry and
      optical coherence tomography. Older patients and patients with longer duration
      (>4 months) of vision loss should be counseled regarding the reduced chance of
      postoperative vision improvement. The full guidelines document for this chapter
      can be located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients
      non-functioning-pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_4. ABBREVIATIONS: NFPA, nonfunctioning
      pituitary adenomaOCT, optical coherence tomography.

PMID- 27635961
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      on Primary Management of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are among the most common
      pituitary lesions and may present clinically with vision loss and
      hypopituitarism. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the existing literature as it
      pertains to the initial management of NFPAs. METHODS: A systematic literature
      review was conducted to identify and screen articles assessing primary treatment
      options (surgical, medical, radiation based, or observation) for NFPAs. Outcomes
      assessed included vision-, endocrine-, and headache-related symptoms, as well as
      tumor response to therapy. Twenty-five studies met inclusion criteria for
      analysis. RESULTS: A considerable amount of class II evidence (14 studies) was
      identified supporting primary surgical intervention in patients with symptomatic
      NFPA macroadenomas, resulting in immediate tumor volume reduction in nearly all
      patients and a residual tumor rate of 10% to 36%. One prospective, observational
      cohort study and multiple retrospective studies showed improved visual function
      in 75% to 91% of surgically treated patients and improved hypopituitarism in 35%
      to 50% of patients. Limited class II evidence showed inconsistent benefits for
      observation alone (1 study), primary radiation-based treatment (3 studies), or
      primary medical treatment (8 studies) for improving vision, headaches,
      hypopituitarism, or tumor volume. One retrospective study implementing
      observation alone showed tumor progression in 50% of patients and a requirement
      for surgery in 21% of patients. Eight studies assessing primary medical therapy
      for NFPAs showed inconsistent tumor response rates using somatostatin analogs
      (12%-40% response rate), dopamine agonist therapy (0%-61% response rate), or
      combination therapy (60% response rate). Three studies reporting primary
      radiosurgery for NFPAs showed decreased tumor size in 38% to 60% of patients.
      CONCLUSION: Multiple retrospective and some prospective studies have demonstrated
      consistent effectiveness of primary surgical resection of symptomatic NFPAs with
      acceptable morbidity rates. Limited and inconsistent reports are available for
      alternative treatment strategies, including radiation, medical treatment, and
      observation alone; these modalities may, however, play a valid role in patients
      who are not surgical candidates. Based on the available evidence, the authors
      recommend surgical resection as the preferred primary intervention for
      symptomatic NFPAs. The full guidelines document for this chapter can be located
      at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients-non-functioning
      pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_5. ABBREVIATION: NFPA, nonfunctioning pituitary
      adenoma.

PMID- 27635962
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      on Surgical Techniques and Technologies for the Management of Patients With
      Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous technological adjuncts are used during transsphenoidal
      surgery for nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs), including endoscopy,
      neuronavigation, intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) diversion, and dural closure techniques. OBJECTIVE: To generate
      evidence-based guidelines for the use of NFPA surgical techniques and
      technologies. METHODS: An extensive literature search spanning January 1, 1966,
      to October 1, 2014, was performed, and only articles pertaining to technological
      adjuncts for NFPA resection were included. The clinical assessment evidence-based
      classification was used to ascertain the class of evidence. RESULTS: Fifty-six
      studies met the inclusion criteria, and evidence-based guidelines were formulated
      on the use of endoscopy, neuronavigation, intraoperative MRI, CSF diversion, and
      dural closure techniques. CONCLUSION: Both endoscopic and microscopic
      transsphenoidal approaches are recommended for symptom relief in patients with
      NFPAs, with the extent of tumor resection improved by adequate bony exposure and
      endoscopic visualization. In select cases, combined transcranial and
      transsphenoidal approaches are recommended. Although intraoperative MRI can
      improve gross total resection, its use is associated with an increased false
      positive rate and is thus not recommended. There is insufficient evidence to
      recommend the use of neuronavigation, CSF diversion, intrathecal injection, or
      specific dural closure techniques. The full guidelines document for this chapter
      can be located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients
      non-functioning-pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_6. ABBREVIATIONS: CSF, cerebrospinal
      fluidNFPA, nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma.

PMID- 27635963
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      for the Management of Patients With Residual or Recurrent Nonfunctioning
      Pituitary Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the advancement of microsurgical and endoscopic techniques,
      some nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) can be difficult to cure. Tumor
      recurrence or incomplete resection may occur in some patients with NFPAs, and
      management strategies for these NFPAs remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To review the
      existing literature as it pertains to the management of postsurgical residual or
      recurrent NFPAs. METHODS: A systematic review of the treatment options for
      residual or recurrent NFPAs was performed. In this review, the authors critically
      evaluated the evidence to support the options of repeat microsurgical resection,
      stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT), and
      fractionated radiation therapy (XRT). RESULTS: Forty-nine studies met the
      inclusion criteria for analysis: outcome of repeat surgical resection (n = 4),
      radiosurgery (ie, single-session or hypofractionated SRS; n = 24), or
      fractionated radiotherapy (ie, conventional XRT, proton beam radiotherapy,
      intensity-modulated radiotherapy, SRT; n = 21). No class I evidence was
      available; 6 studies met criteria for class II evidence; and other studies
      provided class III evidence. A meta-analysis of 5 class II studies with
      recurrence rates for both adjuvant radiation therapy and observation demonstrated
      that XRT for residual/recurrent NFPAs offered a lower rate of recurrence (odds
      ratio = 0.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.20; P < .001). The analysis also
      demonstrated significant heterogeneity between the included studies (chi = 20.70;
      P = .003; I = 81%). CONCLUSION: Repeat resection, SRS, SRT, and XRT play a role
      in the management of patients with recurrent or residual NFPAs. SRS or some type
      of radiation therapy is typically performed for patients with residual tumor or
      tumor recurrence after resection. The full guidelines document for this chapter
      can be located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients
      non-functioning-pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_7. ABBREVIATIONS: NFPA, nonfunctioning
      pituitary adenomaSRS, stereotactic radiosurgerySRT, stereotactic radiotherapyXRT,
      fractionated radiation therapy.

PMID- 27635964
TI  - Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
      on Posttreatment Follow-up Evaluation of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary
      Adenomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are the most frequent
      pituitary tumors. Due to the lack of hormonal hypersecretion, posttreatment
      follow-up evaluation of NFPAs is challenging. OBJECTIVE: To create evidence-based
      guidelines in an attempt to formulate guidance for posttreatment follow-up in a
      consistent, rigorous, and cost-effective way. METHODS: An extensive literature
      search was performed. Only clinical articles describing postoperative follow-up
      of adult patients with NFPAs were included. To ascertain the class of evidence
      for the posttreatment follow-ups, the authors used the Clinical Assessment
      evidence-based classification. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies met the inclusion
      criteria with respect to answering the questions on the posttreatment radiologic,
      endocrinologic, and ophthalmologic follow-up. Through this search, the authors
      formulated evidence-based guidelines for radiologic, endocrinologic, and
      ophthalmologic follow-up after surgical and/or radiation treatment. CONCLUSION:
      Long-term radiologic, endocrinologic, and ophthalmologic surveillance monitoring
      after surgical and/or radiation therapy treatment of NFPAs to evaluate for tumor
      recurrence or regrowth, as well as pituitary and visual status, is recommended.
      There is insufficient evidence to make a recommendation on the duration of time
      of surveillance and its frequency. It is recommended that the first radiologic
      study to evaluate the extent of resection of the NFPA be performed >=3 months
      after surgical intervention. The full guidelines document for this chapter can be
      located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients-non
      functioning-pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_8. ABBREVIATION: NFPA, nonfunctioning
      pituitary adenoma.

PMID- 27635965
TI  - Characterization of a Wearable Dry Electroencephalography System.

PMID- 27635966
TI  - Understanding Rupture Risk Factors for Intracranial Aneurysms: Which Ticking Time
      Bomb Needs to be Defused?

PMID- 27635967
TI  - Transdifferentiation-Induced Neural Stem Cells for the Treatment of Malignant
      Gliomas.

PMID- 27635968
TI  - Silencing the Chatter Between the Spine and the Spleen After Spinal Cord Injury.

PMID- 27635969
TI  - Do Corticosteroids Compromise Survival in Glioblastoma?

PMID- 27635970
TI  - Conduits Between Cancer Cells and Astrocytes.

PMID- 27635971
TI  - A Randomized Clinical Trial of Radiation With or Without Chemotherapy for Low
      grade Gliomas.

PMID- 27635972
TI  - Chemical Control of Grafted Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons in a
      Mouse Parkinson Disease Model.

PMID- 27635973
TI  - Bioresorbable Silicon Electronic Sensors for the Brain.

PMID- 27635974
TI  - Brain Freeze: Focal Cooling Reveals Distinct Cortical Sites Underlying Speech.

PMID- 27635975
TI  - Real-Time Electrocorticography-Based Functional Mapping of Language Cortex.

PMID- 27635977
TI  - Control of Glioblastoma Tumorigenesis by Feed-Forward Cytokine Signaling.

PMID- 27635978
TI  - Recurrent giant cranial desmoid tumor in a 3-year-old boy with familial
      adenomatous polyposis requiring bifrontoparietal cranioplasty: case report.
AB  - Desmoid tumors, also known as aggressive fibromatosis, are locally infiltrating
      musculoaponeurotic neoplasms arising in connective tissues. Desmoid tumors may be
      associated with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a genetic disorder that
      presents with hundreds to thousands of precancerous colorectal polyps. The
      authors report the case of an 18-month-old boy who underwent resection of a right
      temporal desmoid tumor (initially diagnosed as cranial fasciitis) and developed a
      bilateral frontoparietal calvarial desmoid tumor 2 years later. The patient
      underwent gross-total resection of the tumor that required a large cranioplasty.
      He was subsequently diagnosed with FAP. The patient has been without tumor
      recurrence for 9 years afterwards and has not required revision of his
      cranioplasty. This is the first report describing a recurrent cranial desmoid
      tumor in a pediatric patient with FAP. The authors believe, however, that some of
      the cases previously reported as cranial fasciitis are likely desmoid tumors
      pathobiologically and genetically.

PMID- 27635979
TI  - Mature salivary gland rests within sonic hedgehog-positive medulloblastoma: case
      report and insights into the molecular genetics and embryopathology of ectopic
      intracranial salivary gland analogs.
AB  - Intracranial ectopic salivary gland rests within dural-based lesions are reported
      very infrequently in the literature. The authors report the unique case of a 12
      year-old boy with a cerebellar medulloblastoma positive for sonic hedgehog (Shh)
      that contained intraaxial mature ectopic salivary gland rests. The patient
      underwent clinical and radiological monitoring postoperatively, until he died of
      disseminated disease. An autopsy showed no evidence of salivary glands within
      disseminated lesions. The intraaxial presence of salivary gland rests and
      concomitant Shh positivity of the described tumor point to a disorder in
      differentiation as opposed to ectopic developmental foci, which are uniformly
      dural based in the described literature. The authors demonstrate the
      characteristic "papilionaceous" appearance of the salivary glands with
      mucicarmine stain and highlight the role of Shh signaling in explaining the
      intraaxial presence of seromucous gland analogs. This article reports the first
      intraaxial posterior fossa tumor with heterotopic salivary gland rests, and it
      provides molecular and embryopathological insights into the development of these
      lesions.

PMID- 27635980
TI  - What's New in Shock, October 2016?

PMID- 27635981
TI  - Enrofloxacin Transformation on Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 Reduced Goethite during
      Anaerobic-Aerobic Transition.
AB  - Antibiotics pollution has become a critical environmental issue worldwide due to
      its high ecological risk. In this study, rapid degradation of enrofloxacin (ENR)
      was observed on goethite in the presence of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 during the
      transition from anaerobic to aerobic conditions. The abiotic reactions also
      demonstrated that over 70% with initial concentration of 10 mg L-1 ENR was
      aerobically removed within 5 min by goethite with adsorbed Fe(II), without
      especial irradiation and strong oxidants. The results of spin trap electron spin
      resonance (ESR) experiments provide evidence that Fe(II)/Fe(III) complexes
      facilitate the generation of *OH. The electrophilic attack by *OH opens the
      quinolone ring of ENR and initiates further transformation reactions. Five
      transformation products were identified using high performance liquid
      chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and the ENR
      degradation process was proposed accordingly. The identification of ENR
      transformation products also revealed that both the surface adsorption and the
      electron density distribution in the molecule determined the reactive site and
      transformation pathway. This study highlights an important, but often
      underappreciated, natural process for in situ degradation of antibiotics. With
      the easy migration of the goethite-MR-1 complex to the anaerobic/aerobic
      interface, the environmental fates of ENR and other antibiotics need to be
      seriously reconsidered.

PMID- 27635982
TI  - Are cannabinoids effective for treatment of pain in patients with active cancer?
AB  - Cannabinoids have been proposed for the treatment of patients with cancer pain,
      especially if standard treatment does not control symptoms. Using Epistemonikos
      database, which is maintained by searching 30 databases, we identified nine
      systematic reviews including seven trials that answer the question of interest,
      of which six are randomized trials. We performed a meta-analysis and generated a
      summary of findings table using the GRADE approach. We concluded it is unclear
      whether cannabinoids decrease pain and improve quality of life in patients with
      refractory cancer pain because the certainty of the evidence is very low, and it
      probably increases adverse effects substantially. 

PMID- 27635994
TI  - Blocking Gastric Lipase Adsorption and Displacement Processes with Viscoelastic
      Biopolymer Adsorption Layers.
AB  - Delayed fat digestion might help to fight obesity. Fat digestion begins in the
      stomach by adsorption of gastric lipases to oil/water interfaces. In this study
      we show how biopolymer covered interfaces can act as a physical barrier for
      recombinant dog gastric lipase (rDGL) adsorption and thus gastric lipolysis. We
      used beta-lactoglobulin (beta-lg) and thermosensitive methylated nanocrystalline
      cellulose (metNCC) as model biopolymers to investigate the role of interfacial
      fluid dynamics and morphology for interfacial displacement processes by rDGL and
      polysorbate 20 (P20) under gastric conditions. Moreover, the influence of the
      combination of the flexible beta-lg and the elastic metNCC was studied. The
      interfaces were investigated combining interfacial techniques, such as pendant
      drop, interfacial shear and dilatational rheology, and neutron reflectometry.
      Displacement of biopolymer layers depended mainly on the fluid dynamics and
      thickness of the layers, both of which were drastically increased by the thermal
      induced gelation of metNCC at body temperature. Soft, thin beta-lg interfaces
      were almost fully displaced from the interface, whereas the composite beta-lg
      metNCC layer thermogelled to a thick interfacial layer incorporating beta-lg as
      filler material and therefore resisted higher shear forces than a pure metNCC
      layer. Hence, with metNCC alone lipolysis by rDGL was inhibited, whereas the
      layer performance could be increased by the combination with beta-lg.

PMID- 27635983
TI  - De Novo Asymmetric Synthesis of Phoracantholide J.
AB  - A de novo asymmetric total synthesis of the macrolide natural product (S)
      phoracantholide J has been achieved in 10 steps from the commodity chemicals (1
      pentyne, ethyl acrylate, acetaldehyde, and hydrogen). The asymmetry of the route
      was introduced by a Noyori reduction of a 3-yn-2-one, which makes the route
      equally amenable to the synthesis of either enantiomer. In addition, this route
      relies upon an alkyne zipper, a hydroalkynylation, and a macrolactonization to
      complete the synthesis.

PMID- 27635995
TI  - Manipulating mentors' assessment decisions: Do underperforming student nurses use
      coercive strategies to influence mentors' practical assessment decisions?
AB  - There is growing evidence of a culture of expectation among nursing students in
      Universities which leads to narcissistic behaviour. Evidence is growing that some
      student nurses are disrespectful and rude towards their university lecturers.
      There has been little investigation into whether they exhibit similar behaviour
      towards their mentors during practical placements, particularly when they, the
      students, are not meeting the required standards for practice. This paper focuses
      on adding to the evidence around a unique finding - that student nurses can use
      coercive and manipulative behaviour to elicit a successful outcome to their
      practice learning assessment (as noted in Hunt et al. (2016, p 82)). Four types
      of coercive student behaviour were identified and classified as: ingratiators,
      diverters, disparagers and aggressors, each of which engendered varying degrees
      of fear and guilt in mentors. The effects of each type of behaviour are discussed
      and considered in the light of psychological contracts. Mechanisms to maintain
      effective working relationships between student nurses and mentors and bolster
      the robustness of the practical assessment process under such circumstances are
      discussed. 

PMID- 27635997
TI  - Resumption of injecting drug use following release from prison in Australia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ex-prisoners with a history of injecting drug use (IDU) experience
      disproportionate drug-related harm. Rapid resumption of substance use following
      prison release is common and evidenced in high rates of overdose mortality.
      However, few studies have documented the rate of IDU resumption following prison
      release or identified risk factors for relapse. METHODS: Structured interviews
      were conducted with 533 adults with a history of IDU in Queensland, Australia
      prior to release from prison and approximately 1, 3 and 6 months post-release.
      Incidence of self-reported IDU resumption was calculated overall and for each
      follow-up interval. Risk factors associated with time to resumption of IDU were
      estimated using discrete-time survival analysis. RESULTS: IDU resumption was
      reported by 41% of participants during a median of 98days of follow-up (IQR=94
      121), an overall crude incidence of 1.06 per person-year. The highest rate was
      observed in the first month (23%; crude incidence 2.24 per person-year). In
      adjusted discrete-time survival analyses, being unemployed at the previous
      interview (AHR=1.59; 95%CI:1.10-2.30), shorter incarceration (<=90days vs.
      >365days; AHR=2.20; 95%CI:1.33-3.65), and IDU during the index incarceration
      (AHR=2.80; 95%CI:1.92-4.09) were significantly associated with time to IDU
      resumption; parole was protective (AHR=0.66; 95%CI:0.47-0.92). CONCLUSIONS:
      Evidence-based efforts to prevent IDU in prison and IDU resumption after release
      are important for both prisoner and public health. Enhancing opportunities for
      employment and capitalising on the short-term benefits of parole for ex-prisoners
      may delay resumption of IDU after release from prison. These strategies should
      complement rather than replace harm reduction efforts for this high-risk
      population.

PMID- 27635996
TI  - E-cigarettes, conventional cigarettes, and dual use in Korean adolescents and
      university students: Prevalence and risk factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine risk factors associated with use of e-cigarettes only,
      conventional cigarettes only, and dual use in Korean adolescents and young
      adults. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, anonymous questionnaires were
      completed between April-May, 2015 among 1) 2744 middle and high school students,
      aged 13-18, from Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Cheongju, Korea and 2) 2167
      university students, aged 19-29, from fourteen universities in Korea. RESULTS:
      The results show that 12.6% of adolescents and 21.2% of university students
      reported having ever tried e-cigarettes at least once. Among the ever e-cigarette
      users, 95.1% and 96.3% of adolescents and university students also tried
      conventional cigarettes, respectively. Dual users were more likely to be male
      (adolescents: OR 2.63, 95% CI 1.93-3.57; university students: 4.28, 3.21-5.70),
      have any close friends who smoke (adolescents: 11.56, 7.63-17.53; university
      students: 11.29, 5.52-23.10), have any siblings who smoke (adolescents: 3.17,
      2.25-4.46; university students: 1.78, 1.30-2.43), and have observed teachers
      smoke cigarettes at school (adolescents: 1.45, 1.05-2.01). CONCLUSIONS: A
      majority of e-cigarette users were dual users. Friends' and siblings' smoking
      status were significantly associated with dual product use in adolescent and
      young adult populations. Surveillance of e-cigarette use and implementation of
      evidence-based behavioral interventions targeting adolescents and young adults
      are necessary.

PMID- 27635999
TI  - Lowering Detection Limits Toward Target Ions Using Quasi-Symmetric Polymeric Ion
      Selective Membranes Combined with Amperometric Measurements.
AB  - An amperometric method is reported that compensates for the interference from
      marginally discriminated interfering ions when using traditional polymeric ion
      selective membrane (ISM) electrodes. The concept involves utilizing two ISMs in a
      three-compartment electrochemical cell configuration. The two ISMs are identical
      in composition except for the addition of an ionophore to one of the membranes.
      Initially, all three compartments contain the same concentration of interfering
      ion and the membrane does not contain primary ions. Reference electrodes are
      placed into each of the two outer compartments. At this point, there is no
      potential difference between the two reference electrodes. We show experimentally
      and theoretically that, when the concentration of an interfering species is
      increased in the sample compartment, the phase-boundary potentials of both sample
      solution|ISMs change similarly. However, when the primary ion is added to the
      sample, an asymmetry will emerge, and the membrane with the ionophore will
      exhibit a larger phase-boundary potential change. At low concentrations, the
      difference in membrane potentials can be too small for reliable potentiometric
      detection. Current, which can be routinely measured on pA levels, can be used
      instead to detect the small primary ion concentration changes with a significant
      lowering of detection limits. The theory of this method is described by Nernst
      Planck-Poisson finite element simulations, and both amperometric and
      potentiometric experimental verification is demonstrated using ammonium ISM. It
      is shown that amperometric measurements enable 200 nM ammonium to be detected in
      the presence of 0.1 mM of potassium, detection capability that is not possible
      via conventional potentiometry.

PMID- 27635998
TI  - Can brain games help smokers quit?: Results of a randomized clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Deficits in cognitive function are observed during nicotine
      withdrawal and present a challenge to successful smoking cessation. This clinical
      trial evaluated a cognitive exercise training (CT) program to improve smoking
      cessation rates. METHODS: Adult treatment-seeking smokers (n=213) were randomized
      to receive nicotine patch therapy and 12 weeks of either computerized CT or
      computerized relaxation (control) training. Smoking status was biochemically
      verified at the end of treatment and 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Quit rates did
      not differ by treatment arm at either time-point, nor were there effects on
      withdrawal symptoms or smoking urges. Reaction time for emotion recognition and
      verbal interference tasks showed improvement in the CT group. When including only
      successful quitters, improvements in recognition memory, verbal interference
      accuracy, and attention switching error rate were also observed in the CT group,
      while commission errors on the continuous performance task decreased in the
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: Despite modest changes in cognitive performance,
      these results do not support the efficacy of computerized cognitive training as
      an adjunctive therapy for smoking cessation.

PMID- 27636001
TI  - Tuning the Electronic Structure and Properties of Perylene-Porphyrin-Perylene
      Panchromatic Absorbers.
AB  - Light-harvesting architectures that afford strong absorption across the near
      ultraviolet to near-infrared region, namely, panchromatic absorptivity, are
      potentially valuable for capturing the broad spectral distribution of sunlight.
      One previously reported triad consisting of two perylene monoimides strongly
      coupled to a free base porphyrin via ethyne linkers (FbT) shows panchromatic
      absorption together with a porphyrin-like S1 excited state albeit at lower energy
      than that of a typical monomeric porphyrin. Here, two new porphyrin-bis(perylene)
      triads have been prepared wherein the porphyrin bears two pentafluorophenyl
      substituents. The porphyrin is in the free base (FbT-F) or zinc chelate (ZnT-F)
      forms. The zinc chelate (ZnT) of the original triad bearing nonfluorinated aryl
      rings also was prepared. The triads were characterized using static and time
      resolved optical spectroscopy. The results were analyzed with the aid of
      molecular-orbital characteristics obtained using density functional theory
      calculations. Of the four triads, FbT is the most panchromatic in affording the
      most even distribution of absorption spectral intensity as well as exhibiting the
      largest wavelength span (380-750 nm). The triads exhibit fluorescence yields
      (0.35 for FbT-F in toluene) that are substantially greater than for the porphyrin
      benchmarks (0.049 for FbP-F). The singlet excited-state lifetimes (tauS) for the
      triads in toluene decrease in the order FbT-F (2.7 ns) > FbT (2.0 ns) > ZnT (1.2
      ns) ~ ZnT-F (1.1 ns). The tauS values in benzonitrile are FbT (1.3 ns) > FbT-F
      (1.2 ns) > ZnT-F (0.6 ns) > ZnT (0.2 ns). Thus, the free base triads exhibit
      relatively long (1.2-2.7 ns) excited-state lifetimes in both polar and nonpolar
      media. The combined photophysical characteristics indicate that FbT and FbT-F are
      the best choices for panchromatic light-harvesting systems. Collectively, the
      findings afford insights into the effects of electronic structure on the
      panchromatic behavior of ethynyl-linked porphyrin-perylene architectures that can
      help guide next-generation designs and utilization of these systems. 

PMID- 27636000
TI  - Metabolomic Signatures of Chronic Kidney Disease of Diverse Etiologies in the
      Rats and Humans.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a major public health problem
      worldwide. It frequently progresses to end-stage renal disease, which is related
      to very high cost and mortality. Novel biomarkers can provide insight into the
      novel mechanism, facilitate early detection, and monitor progression of CKD and
      its response to therapeutic interventions. To identify potential biomarkers, we
      applied an UPLC-HDMS together with univariate and multivariate statistical
      analyses using plasma samples from patients with CKD of diverse etiologies (100
      sera in discovery set and 120 sera in validation set) and two different rat
      models of CKD. Using comprehensive screening and validation workflow, we
      identified a panel of seven metabolites that were shared by all patients and
      animals regardless of the underlying cause of CKD. These included ricinoleic
      acid, stearic acid, cytosine, LPA(16:0), LPA(18:2), 3-methylhistidine, and
      argininic acid. The combination of these seven biomarkers enabled the
      discrimination of patients with CKD from healthy subjects with a sensitivity of
      83.3% and a specificity of 96.7%. In addition, these biomarkers accurately
      reflected improvements in renal function in response to the therapeutic
      interventions. Our results indicated that the identified biomarkers may improve
      the diagnosis of CKD and provide a novel tool for monitoring of the progression
      of disease and response to treatment in CKD patients.

PMID- 27636002
TI  - beta-Sulfonamido Functionalized Aspartate Analogues as Excitatory Amino Acid
      Transporter Inhibitors: Distinct Subtype Selectivity Profiles Arising from Subtle
      Structural Differences.
AB  - In this study inspired by previous work on 3-substituted Asp analogues, we
      designed and synthesized a total of 32 beta-sulfonamide Asp analogues and
      characterized their pharmacological properties at the excitatory amino acid
      transporter subtypes EAAT1, EAAT2, and EAAT3. In addition to several potent EAAT
      inhibitors displaying IC50 values ~1 MUM at all three subtypes, this elaborate
      structure-activity relationship also identified analogues exhibiting distinct
      preferences or selectivities for specific transporter subtypes. Introduction of
      two fluorine atoms on the phenyl ring yielded analogue 4y that displayed an IC50
      of 0.8 MUM at EAAT1 with a 14- and 9-fold preference over EAAT2 and EAAT3,
      respectively. Conversely, the m-CF3-phenyl analogue 4r was a potent selective
      EAAT2-inhibitor (IC50 = 2.8 MUM) exhibiting 30- and 50-fold selectivity over
      EAAT1 and EAAT3, respectively. In conclusion, even small structural differences
      in these beta-sulfonamide Asp analogues provide analogues with diverse EAAT
      subtype selectivity profiles.

PMID- 27636003
TI  - Alteration of hydrogeomorphic processes by invasive beavers in southern South
      America.
AB  - The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is an invasive species in southern
      Patagonia, introduced in 1946 as part of a program by the Argentine government to
      augment furbearers. Research focus has turned from inventorying the beaver's
      population and ecosystem impacts toward eradicating it from the region and
      restoring degraded areas. Successful restoration, however, requires a fuller
      determination of how beavers have altered physical landscape characteristics, and
      of what landscape features and biota need to be restored. Our goal was to
      identify changes to the physical landscape by invasive beaver. We analyzed
      channel and valley morphology in detail at one site in each of the three major
      forest zones occurring on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego's main island.
      We also assessed 48 additional sites across the three forest biomes on the island
      to identify a broader range of aquatic habitat occupied and modified by beaver.
      Beaver build dams with Nothofagus tree branches on streams, which triggered
      mineral sediment accretion processes in the riparian zone, but not in ways
      consistent with the beaver meadow theory and only at a few sites. At the majority
      of sites, beavers actively excavated peat and mineral sediment, moved thousands
      of cubic meters of sediment within their occupied landscapes and used it to build
      dams. Beaver were also common in fen ecosystems where pond formation inundated
      and drowned peat forming mosses and sedges, and triggered a massive invasion of
      exotic plant species. Results highlight that restoration of fen ecosystems is a
      previously unrecognized but pressing and challenging restoration need in addition
      to reforestation of Nothofagus riparian forests. We recommend that decision
      makers include the full ecosystem diversity of the Fuegian landscape in their
      beaver eradiation and ecosystem restoration plans.

PMID- 27636004
TI  - Do drivers of biodiversity change differ in importance across marine and
      terrestrial systems - Or is it just different research communities' perspectives?
AB  - Cross-system studies on the response of different ecosystems to global change
      will support our understanding of ecological changes. Synoptic views on the
      planet's two main realms, the marine and terrestrial, however, are rare, owing to
      the development of rather disparate research communities. We combined
      questionnaires and a literature review to investigate how the importance of
      anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change differs among marine and terrestrial
      systems and whether differences perceived by marine vs. terrestrial researchers
      are reflected by the scientific literature. This included asking marine and
      terrestrial researchers to rate the relevance of different drivers of global
      change for either marine or terrestrial biodiversity. Land use and the associated
      loss of natural habitats were rated as most important in the terrestrial realm,
      while the exploitation of the sea by fishing was rated as most important in the
      marine realm. The relevance of chemicals, climate change and the increasing
      atmospheric concentration of CO2 were rated differently for marine and
      terrestrial biodiversity respectively. Yet, our literature review provided less
      evidence for such differences leading to the conclusion that while the history of
      the use of land and sea differs, impacts of global change are likely to become
      increasingly similar.

PMID- 27636005
TI  - Rainfall simulation and Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry for the analysis of
      soil water erosion in Mediterranean vineyards.
AB  - Soil water erosion is a serious problem, especially in agricultural lands. Among
      these, vineyards deserve attention, because they constitute for the Mediterranean
      areas a type of land use affected by high soil losses. A significant problem
      related to the study of soil water erosion in these areas consists in the lack of
      a standardized procedure of collecting data and reporting results, mainly due to
      a variability among the measurement methods applied. Given this issue and the
      seriousness of soil water erosion in Mediterranean vineyards, this works aims to
      quantify the soil losses caused by simulated rainstorms, and compare them with
      each other depending on two different methodologies: (i) rainfall simulation and
      (ii) surface elevation change-based, relying on high-resolution Digital Elevation
      Models (DEMs) derived from a photogrammetric technique (Structure-from-Motion or
      SfM). The experiments were carried out in a typical Mediterranean vineyard,
      located in eastern Spain, at very fine scales. SfM data were obtained from one
      reflex camera and a smartphone built-in camera. An index of sediment connectivity
      was also applied to evaluate the potential effect of connectivity within the
      plots. DEMs derived from the smartphone and the reflex camera were comparable
      with each other in terms of accuracy and capability of estimating soil loss.
      Furthermore, soil loss estimated with the surface elevation change-based method
      resulted to be of the same order of magnitude of that one obtained with rainfall
      simulation, as long as the sediment connectivity within the plot was considered.
      High-resolution topography derived from SfM revealed to be essential in the
      sediment connectivity analysis and, therefore, in the estimation of eroded
      materials, when comparing them to those derived from the rainfall simulation
      methodology. The fact that smartphones built-in cameras could produce as much
      satisfying results as those derived from reflex cameras is a high value added for
      using SfM.

PMID- 27636006
TI  - Contributions of feature shapes and surface cues to the recognition and neural
      representation of facial identity.
AB  - A full understanding of face recognition will involve identifying the visual
      information that is used to discriminate different identities and how this is
      represented in the brain. The aim of this study was to explore the importance of
      shape and surface properties in the recognition and neural representation of
      familiar faces. We used image morphing techniques to generate hybrid faces that
      mixed shape properties (more specifically, second order spatial configural
      information as defined by feature positions in the 2D-image) from one identity
      and surface properties from a different identity. Behavioural responses showed
      that recognition and matching of these hybrid faces was primarily based on their
      surface properties. These behavioural findings contrasted with neural responses
      recorded using a block design fMRI adaptation paradigm to test the sensitivity of
      Haxby et al.'s (2000) core face-selective regions in the human brain to the shape
      or surface properties of the face. The fusiform face area (FFA) and occipital
      face area (OFA) showed a lower response (adaptation) to repeated images of the
      same face (same shape, same surface) compared to different faces (different
      shapes, different surfaces). From the behavioural data indicating the critical
      contribution of surface properties to the recognition of identity, we predicted
      that brain regions responsible for familiar face recognition should continue to
      adapt to faces that vary in shape but not surface properties, but show a release
      from adaptation to faces that vary in surface properties but not shape. However,
      we found that the FFA and OFA showed an equivalent release from adaptation to
      changes in both shape and surface properties. The dissociation between the neural
      and perceptual responses suggests that, although they may play a role in the
      process, these core face regions are not solely responsible for the recognition
      of facial identity.

PMID- 27636007
TI  - Autofluorescence discrimination of metabolic fingerprint in nutritional and
      genetic fatty liver models.
AB  - Liver tissue autofluorescence (AF) has been characterized in two models with a
      different potential to undergo disease progression to steatohepatitis: Wistar
      rats, administered with a methionine, choline deficient diet (MCD), and Zucker
      (fa/fa) rats, homozygous for a spontaneous mutation of leptin receptor. AF
      spectra were recorded from liver tissue cryostatic sections by
      microspectrofluorometry, under 366nm excitation. Curve fitting analysis was used
      to estimate the contribution of different endogenous fluorophores (EFs) to the
      overall AF emission: i) fluorescing fatty acids, a fraction of liver lipids up to
      now poorly considered and complicated to detect by conventional procedures; ii)
      lipofuscin-like lipopigments, biomarkers of oxidizing events; iii) NAD(P)H and
      flavins, biomarkers of energy metabolism and tissue redox state. AF data and
      biochemical correlates of hepatocellular injury resulted to depend more on rat
      strain than on intratissue bulk lipid or ROS levels, reflecting a different
      metabolic ability of the two models to counteract potentially harmful agents. AF
      analysis can thus be proposed for extensive applications ranging from
      experimental hepatology to the clinics. AF based diagnostic procedures are
      expected to help both the prediction of the risk of fatty liver disease
      progression and the prescreening of marginal organs to be recruited as donors for
      transplantation. A support is also foreseen in the advancement and
      personalization of strategies to ameliorate the donor organ preservation outcome
      and the follow up of therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 27636008
TI  - Photothermal therapeutic effect of PEGylated gold nano-semicubes in chemically
      induced skin cancer in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The photothermal properties of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are
      promising therapeutic modality for cancer. The study objective is to evaluate the
      therapeutic effect of the prepared PEGylated gold nano-semicubes (PEG-GNSCs) in
      skin cancer. The synthesized PEG-GNSCs were intermediate between cubic and rod
      shapes (low aspect ratio- rods). METHODS: In vitro toxicity was investigated in
      human skin melanoma Sk-Mel-28 cells, and skin squamous cell carcinoma was induced
      in CD1 mice by dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) and 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13
      acetate (TPA). RESULTS: The calculated IC50 in Sk-Mel-28 cells was 3.41MUg/ml of
      PEG-GNSCs, in presence of laser exposure. Photothermal therapy using laser
      stimulated PEG-GNSCs resulted in inhibited volume of skin tumors. Our findings
      indicated that the inflammatory mediators, nitric oxide and cycloxygenase-2, were
      inhibited in mice after being treated with low and high doses of PEG-GNSCs,
      accompanied with laser exposure. However, the tumor necrosis factor -alpha was
      markedly elevated, while there was no change in 5-lipoxygenase. The pro
      angiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor was inhibited, while histone
      acetylation and apoptosis were induced in tumor-bearing groups, after being
      treated with laser-stimulated PEG-GNSCs. CONCLUSION: The present study indicated
      the promising photothermal therapeutic effect of laser-stimulated PEG-GNSCs as an
      effective modality to inhibit the tumor growth, the angiogenesis and partially
      the inflammation.

PMID- 27636009
TI  - Heterogeneity of grade 3 gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas: New
      insights and treatment implications.
AB  - Gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are currently
      classified as grade (G) 1, G2 and G3, in accordance with the 2010 WHO
      classification. G1 and G2 are named neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) whereas G3
      neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs). While advanced G1 and G2 are usually treated
      with several different therapies, including somatostatin analogs, chemotherapy,
      interferon, molecular targeted agents, peptide receptor radionuclide therapy
      (PRRT) and liver-directed treatments, advanced G3 NECs are usually treated with a
      platinum-etoposide chemotherapy, trusting their clinical homogeneity is similar
      to that of small cell lung cancer. However, over the last years a number of
      reports suggested that 2010 WHO G3 GEP NECs are more heterogeneous than expected.
      Therefore, we critically reviewed the literature about this topic and reported
      pathological and clinical considerations on 2010 WHO G3 GEP NEC category
      proposing new sub-categories. Over the last five years, six studies specifically
      investigating large series of G3 GEP NECs have been published, including around
      800 patients. Tumor morphology and Ki-67 Labeling Index (that will be mentioned
      as Ki-67 in this manuscript) combination has been reported as a tool to define
      two or even three subgroups of this category with different prognosis and
      potentially different therapeutic approach. Prospective trials are warranted to
      investigate if several types of therapy other than the platinum/etoposide
      chemotherapy can be effective in well differentiated GEP NEN with 21-55% Ki-67
      and alkylating-based chemotherapy in poorly differentiated GEP NEN with 21-55% Ki
      67.

PMID- 27636010
TI  - Arsenolite: a quasi-hydrostatic solid pressure-transmitting medium.
AB  - This study reports the experimental characterization of the hydrostatic
      properties of arsenolite (As4O6), a molecular solid which is one of the softest
      minerals in the absence of hydrogen bonding. The high compressibility of
      arsenolite and its stability up to 15 GPa have been proved by x-ray diffraction
      measurements, and the progressive loss of hydrostaticity with increasing pressure
      up to 20 GPa has been monitored by ruby photoluminescence. Arsenolite has been
      found to exhibit hydrostatic behavior up to 2.5 GPa and a quasi-hydrostatic
      behavior up to 10 GPa at room temperature. This result opens the way to explore
      other molecular solids as possible quasi-hydrostatic pressure-transmitting media.
      The validity of arsenolite as an insulating, stable, non-penetrating and quasi
      hydrostatic medium is explored by the study of the x-ray diffraction of zeolite
      ITQ-29 at high pressure.

PMID- 27636011
TI  - A reliable compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids by GC-C
      IRMS following derivatisation into N-pivaloyl-iso-propyl (NPIP)esters for high
      resolution food webs estimation.
AB  - The signatures of natural stable nitrogen isotopic composition (delta(15)N) of
      individual amino acid (AA) have been confirmed to be a potentially effective tool
      for elucidating nitrogen cycling and trophic position of various organisms in
      food webs. In the present study, a two-stage derivatisation approach of
      esterification followed by acylation was evaluated. The biological samples
      underwent acid hydrolysis and the released individual AA was derivatived into
      corresponding N-pivaloyl-isopropyl (NPIP) esters for nitrogen isotopic analysis
      in gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS).
      Usually, 13 individual AA derivatives were separated with fine baseline
      resolution based on a nonpolar gas chromatography column (DB-5ms). The minimum
      sample amount required under the presented conditions is larger than 20ngN on
      column in order to accurately determine the delta(15)N values. The delta(15)N
      values determined by GC-C-IRMS with a precision of better than 10/00, were within
      10/00 after empirical correction compared to the corresponding measured by
      element analysis (EA)-IRMS. Bland-Altman plot showed highly consistency of the
      delta(15)N values determined by the two measurement techniques. Cation-exchange
      chromatography was applied to remove interfering fraction from the extracts of
      plant and animal samples and without nitrogen isotope fractionation during the
      treatment procedure. Moreover, this approach was carried out to estimate the
      trophic level of various natural organisms in a natural lake environment. Results
      highly proved that the trophic level estimated via the presented AA method well
      reflected the actual food web structure in natural environments. 

PMID- 27636012
TI  - Self-Assembly of Magnetic Bacillus-Shaped Bilayer Vesicles in Catanionic
      Surfactant Solutions.
AB  - Bacillus-shaped bilayer vesicles of nanoscale size are very rare structures of
      stable surfactant self-assembly, because they are both thermodynamically and
      electrostatically unfavorable in solution. It is evidently demonstrated that
      appropriately aqueous mixtures of single-tailed cationic and anionic (catanionic)
      surfactants can produce rigidly bacillus-shaped bilayer vesicles with both flat
      parts and bent edges. The crucial requirement for forming bacillus-shaped bilayer
      vesicles is the use of cationic surfactants with relatively hydrophobic [FeCl3Br]
      as counterions. [FeCl3Br]- can strongly associate with cationic surfactants to
      partition into the hydrophobic bilayer of bacillus-shaped bilayer vesicles,
      significantly increasing the edge energy of cationic surfactants to make them
      distribute in the low curvature part of bilayers. This causes the formation of
      bacillus-shaped bilayer vesicles, but not completely bent spherical vesicles, in
      the case of cationic surfactant excess. The specificity of hydrophobic
      counterions, [FeCl3Br]-, could also make the catanionic mixtures do not
      precipitate at the stoichiometric point. This new self-assembly on catanionic
      systems is culminated in the discovery of beautifully structured colloidal
      objects which are of practical use for molecular templating and controlled drug
      or DNA release.

PMID- 27636013
TI  - Formation Mechanism and Control of Perovskite Films from Solution to Crystalline
      Phase Studied by in Situ Synchrotron Scattering.
AB  - Controlling the crystallization and morphology of perovskite films is crucial for
      the fabrication of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. For the first time, we
      investigate the formation mechanism of the drop-cast perovskite film from its
      precursor solution, PbCl2 and CH3NH3I in N,N-dimethylformamide, to a crystalline
      CH3NH3PbI3-xClx film at different substrate temperatures from 70 to 180  degrees
      C in ambient air and humidity. We employed an in situ grazing-incidence wide
      angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) technique for this study. When the substrate
      temperature is at or below 100  degrees C, the perovskite film is formed in three
      stages: the initial solution stage, transition-to-solid film stage, and
      transformation stage from intermediates into a crystalline perovskite film. In
      each stage, the multiple routes for phase transformations are preceded
      concurrently. However, when the substrate temperature is increased from 100 to
      180  degrees C, the formation mechanism of the perovskite film is changed from
      the "multistage formation mechanism" to the "direct formation mechanism". The
      proposed mechanism has been applied to understand the formation of a perovskite
      film containing an additive. The result of this study provides a fundamental
      understanding of the functions of the solvent and additive in the solution and
      transition states to the crystalline film. It provides useful knowledge to design
      and fabricate crystalline perovskite films for high-efficiency solar cells.

PMID- 27636014
TI  - Controlled Growth of Nanostructured Biotemplates with Cobalt and Nitrogen
      Codoping as a Binderless Lithium-Ion Battery Anode.
AB  - Biomass can serve as a sustainable template for the synthesis of carbon materials
      but is limited by the intrinsic properties of the precursor organism. In this
      study we demonstrate that the properties of a fungal biotemplate can be tuned
      during cultivation, establishing a new electrode manufacturing process and
      ultimately improving the electrochemical performance of the biomass-derived
      electrode. More specifically, the carbon/nitrogen ratio of Neurospora crassa
      mycelia mats was shifted by 5-fold while generating cobalt nanoparticles into the
      hyphal structure originating from macroconidia spores. This shift was achieved
      through nitrate limitation and equal molar concentrations of Mg2+ and Co2+ in the
      growth media. The resulting mycelia mat was converted via a high-temperature
      pyrolysis process (800  degrees C) to produce a freestanding cobalt and nitrogen
      codoped electrode material with no postmodification. Ultimately, nitrogen doping
      resulted in one of the highest recorded specific reversible capacity for a
      freestanding biomass-derived lithium-ion anode (400 mAh g-1 at C/10). We observed
      an additional improvement in capacity to 425 mAh g-1 with the incorporation of 3
      wt % Co. Our results show how shaping the chemical characteristics of an
      electrode during the growth of the biotemplate allows for sustainable carbon
      based material manufacturing from a living (self-assembled) material.

PMID- 27636015
TI  - Haematological parameters, serum lipid profile, liver function and fatty acid
      profile of broiler chickens fed on diets supplemented with pomegranate seed oil
      and linseed oil.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to determine effect of pomegranate seed
      oil (PSO) and linseed oil (LO) on haematological parameters, serum lipid profile
      and liver enzymes as well as fatty acids profile of adipose tissue in broilers.
      Broilers (n = 400) were fed on diets containing graded PSO levels (0.0%, 0.5%,
      1.0%, 1.5%) with or without 2% LO. After 6 weeks of feeding, 6 male broilers from
      each group were slaughtered and abdominal fat, liver and blood samples were
      collected. Mixtures of pomegranate seed oil (0.5%, 1%) with linseed oil increased
      white blood cell level in broilers. Total cholesterol was elevated after LO
      supplementation whereas administration of PSO (1.5%) significantly decreased this
      parameter. PSO administration caused c9,t11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
      concentration-dependent deposition in adipose tissue. By LO addition alpha
      linolenic acid (ALA) content was enhanced, decreasing the n-6/n-3 ratio. PSO and
      ALA also affected oleic acid proportion in adipose tissue. Neither pomegranate
      seed oil nor linseed oil had any effect on liver parameters. Pomegranate seed oil
      had no negative effects on broiler health status and can be considered as a
      functional poultry meat component.

PMID- 27636017
TI  - Adhesion G Protein-Coupled Receptor G1 (ADGRG1/GPR56) and Pancreatic beta-Cell
      Function.
AB  - CONTEXT: Adhesion G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-G1 (ADGRG1) is the most
      abundant GPCR in human pancreatic islets, but its role in islet function is
      unclear. OBJECTIVE: Investigate how ADGRG1 expression and activation by its
      ligand, collagen III, impacts beta-cell function in normal and type 2 diabetic
      (T2D) islets. DESIGN: Genes associated with the ADGRG1 in human islets was probed
      by RNA-sequencing of human pancreatic islet isolated from cadaveric donors,
      followed by functional studies on beta-cell proliferation, apoptosis, and insulin
      secretion in human and mouse islets and in INS-1 cells. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Changes in beta-cell gene expression, proliferation, apoptosis, and insulin
      secretion were quantified by RNA-sequencing, qPCR, Thymidine incorporation,
      Western blotting, and RIA, respectively. RESULTS: ADGRG1 is the most abundant
      GPCR mRNA in both human and mouse islets, and its expression in human islets
      strongly correlates with genes important for beta-cell function and T2D risk. The
      expression of ADGRG1 was reduced in islets of T2D donors, in db/db mouse islets,
      and in isolated human islets exposed to chronic hyperglycemia. Beneficial effects
      of collagen type III on beta-cell function via activation of the cAMP/protein
      kinase A pathway, suppression of RhoA and caspase-3 activity, increased beta-cell
      viability, and proliferation were abolished when ADGRG1 was down-regulated in
      beta-cells. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a mechanistic link between ADGRG1
      expression and beta-cell function. Pharmacological agents that promote expression
      or activation of the ADGRG1 receptor may represent a novel approach for the
      treatment of T2D.

PMID- 27636016
TI  - Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Deficient in Autophagy Proteins Are Susceptible to
      Oxidative Injury and Mitochondrial Dysfunction.
AB  - Oxidative stress resulting from inflammatory responses that occur during acute
      lung injury and sepsis can initiate changes in mitochondrial function. Autophagy
      regulates cellular processes in the setting of acute lung injury, sepsis, and
      oxidative stress by modulating the immune response and facilitating turnover of
      damaged cellular components. We have shown that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs)
      improve survival in murine models of sepsis by also regulating the immune
      response. However, the effect of autophagy on MSCs and MSC mitochondrial function
      during oxidative stress is unknown. This study investigated the effect of
      depletion of autophagic protein microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B
      (LC3B) and beclin 1 (BECN1) on the response of MSCs to oxidative stress. MSCs
      were isolated from wild-type (WT) and LC3B-/- or Becn1+/- mice. MSCs from the
      LC3B-/- and Becn1+/- animals had increased susceptibility to oxidative stress
      induced cell death as compared with WT MSCs. The MSCs depleted of autophagic
      proteins also had impaired mitochondrial function (decreased intracellular ATP,
      reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, and increased mitochondrial reactive
      oxygen species production) under oxidative stress as compared with WT MSCs. In WT
      MSCs, carbon monoxide (CO) preconditioning enhanced autophagy and mitophagy, and
      rescued the cells from oxidative stress-induced death. CO preconditioning was not
      able to rescue the decreased survival of MSCs from the LC3B-/- and Becn1+/-
      animals, further supporting the tenet that CO exerts its cytoprotective effects
      via the autophagy pathway.

PMID- 27636018
TI  - Interactions Between Neurokinin B and Kisspeptin in Mediating Estrogen Feedback
      in Healthy Women.
AB  - CONTEXT: Kisspeptin and neurokinin B (NKB) are obligate for normal gonadotropin
      secretion, but their hierarchy is unexplored in normal women. OBJECTIVE: To
      investigate the interaction between kisspeptin and NKB on estrogen-regulated LH
      secretion. DESIGN: Women were treated with neurokinin-3 receptor (NK3R)
      antagonist followed by transdermal estradiol to induce LH secretion 48 hours
      later, with kisspeptin-10 or vehicle infusion during estrogen administration in a
      2-way crossover study. SETTING: Clinical research facility. PATIENTS OR OTHER
      PARTICIPANTS: Healthy females with regular menses. INTERVENTION(S): NK3R
      antagonist AZD4901 40 mg twice daily orally was taken from cycle day 4-6 for 6
      days (n = 10, with 10 no treatment controls). Transdermal estradiol patches (200
      MUg/d) were applied after 5 days of NK3R antagonist treatment. At 24-hour
      estradiol treatment, women were randomized to 7-hour kisspeptin-10 (4 MUg/kg/h)
      or vehicle iv infusion, with the alternate infusion in a subsequent cycle. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Plasma gonadotropin and estradiol secretion. RESULTS: After
      an initial suppression, LH secretion was increased 48 hours after estradiol
      treatment. Kisspeptin-10 increased LH secretion during the inhibitory phase, and
      LH remained elevated beyond the discontinuation of kisspeptin-10 infusion. NK3R
      antagonist decreased LH pulse frequency (0.5 +/- 0.2 vs 0.7 +/- 0.2 pulses/h, P <
      .05) and stimulated FSH response to kisspeptin-10 infusion (10.7 +/- 11.0 vs 5.0
      +/- 3.6 IU/L, P < .05) with a nonsignificant rise in LH. The duration of LH
      response was blunted, with LH being lower at 48 hours (7.5 +/- 4.8 vs 15.0 +/-
      11.4 IU/L, P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that NKB signaling
      regulates GnRH/LH secretion in normal women, and is predominantly proximal to
      kisspeptin in mediating estrogenic positive and negative feedback on LH
      secretion.

PMID- 27636020
TI  - Knowledge and stigma regarding methadone maintenance treatment among personnel of
      methadone maintenance treatment and non-methadone maintenance treatment addiction
      facilities in Israel.
AB  - Stigma attached to methadone maintenance treatment is very common. The objective
      of the current article is to evaluate the presence of stigma and its relation to
      the extent of knowledge about methadone maintenance treatment. The authors
      conducted a survey among methadone maintenance treatment and non-methadone
      maintenance treatment addiction therapists from different treatment centers in
      Israel, including methadone maintenance treatment clinics (Ministry of Health)
      and non-methadone maintenance treatment addiction facilities (Ministry of Social
      Services), using an anonymous questionnaire about methadone maintenance treatment
      stigma and knowledge. There were 63 therapists from methadone maintenance
      treatment clinics (63%) and 46 therapists from the social services department
      (SSD) non-methadone maintenance treatment addiction facilities (9.2%) who
      responded. Methadone maintenance treatment versus social services department
      personnel were older (42.7 +/- 12.8 versus 37.5 +/- 8.2 years; p = 0.03), with
      fewer females (48 versus 75%; p = 0.006), and 50% were social workers compared to
      100% social workers in the SSD group (p < 0.0005). Stigma score was lower among
      methadone maintenance treatment personnel compared to the social services
      department personnel (3 +/- 2.5 versus 5.0 +/- 3.5; p = 0.0001), while the
      knowledge score about methadone maintenance treatment was higher among the
      methadone maintenance treatment personnel (10.3 +/- 2.9 versus 7.7 +/- 2.8; p <
      0.0005). The difference in both the stigma and knowledge scores remained
      significant after controlling for age, gender, and profession. There was a
      negative correlation between the stigma and knowledge scores among both the
      methadone maintenance treatment (R = -0.5, p < 0.0005) and the social services
      department personnel (R = -0.33, p = 0.03). These results revealed a significant
      correlation between the presence of stigma and the extent of education and
      knowledge about methadone maintenance treatment, with ignorance and stigma
      against methadone maintenance treatment being more pronounced among social
      services department personnel. An educational intervention, especially among
      social services department personnel, may benefit people who use opioids and
      improve the overall quality of treatment for opioid addiction in Israel.

PMID- 27636019
TI  - Diabetic Ketoacidosis Without Diabetes.
AB  - CONTEXT: Type B insulin resistance syndrome is a rare disease that occurs due to
      the development of autoantibodies to the insulin receptor and can result in
      either severe insulin resistance and hyperglycemia or, conversely, hypoglycemia.
      Diabetes mellitus is often severe, usually transient, and poorly responsive to
      exogenous insulin. Diabetic ketoacidosis is an unusual consequence of this most
      severe form of transient diabetes mellitus. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 39-year-old
      Nigerian woman presented with significant weight loss, severe diabetic
      ketoacidosis, and severe insulin resistance requiring massive doses of exogenous
      insulin. She was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus and type B insulin
      resistance syndrome. She was treated by immunomodulation with rituximab and pulse
      dose dexamethasone, and she entered euglycemic remission after 4 months of
      treatment. She remains independent of exogenous insulin 1 year later on
      maintenance azathioprine therapy. CONCLUSION: We report a case of severe type B
      insulin resistance syndrome complicated by severe diabetic ketoacidosis soon
      after the initial diagnosis of diabetes, despite large doses of exogenous insulin
      therapy. Our patient achieved euglycemic remission after combination
      immunomodulation. This case illustrates the severe catabolic state that may occur
      with high anti-insulin receptor antibody titers and that combination therapy with
      rituximab and dexamethasone, followed by maintenance azathioprine therapy for 1
      year, is an effective treatment approach for the management of type B insulin
      resistance syndrome.

PMID- 27636021
TI  - Effect of Body-Worn Cameras on EMS Documentation Accuracy: A Pilot Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Current Emergency Medical Services (EMS) documentation practices
      usually occur from memory after an event is over. While this practice is fairly
      standard, it is unclear if it can introduce significant error. Modern technology
      has seen the increased use of recorded video by society to more objectively
      document notable events. Stationary mounted cameras, cell-phone cameras, and law
      enforcement officer Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) are increasingly used by society for
      this purpose. Video used in this way can often clarify or contradict recall from
      memory. BWCs are currently not widely used by EMS. The hypothesis is that current
      EMS documentation practices are inaccurate and that BWCs will have a positive
      effect on documentation accuracy. METHODS: This prospective, observational study
      used a convenience sample of paramedics in a simulation lab. The Paramedics wore
      a BWC and responded to a simulated call of "One Down" (unresponsive from heroin
      abuse) involving Role Players (RPs). The paramedics received standardized cues
      from the RPs during the simulation to keep it on track.  The simulation contained
      many factors of concern (e.g., weapons and drugs in plain view, unattended
      minors, etc.) and intentional stressors (e.g., distraught family member,
      uncooperative patient, etc.). Upon completion of the scenario, paramedic
      documentation occurred from memory on an electronic template.  After initial
      documentation, paramedics viewed their BWC recording and were allowed to make
      tabulated changes. Changes were categorized by a priori criteria as minor,
      moderate, or major. RESULTS: Ten paramedics participated with an average age of
      33.3 years (range 22-43), 8 males and 2 females. The average length of paramedic
      career experience was 7.7 years (range 2 months to 20 years). There were 71 total
      documentation changes (7 minor, 51 moderate, 13 major) made after video review.
      Linear regression (ANCOVA) indicated changes made indirectly correlated with
      years of experience (coefficient 8.27, 4.22-12.3, 95% CI, p = 0.002), but all
      made some changes. CONCLUSION: Current EMS documentation practices demonstrate
      significant inaccuracy regardless of years of experience. Use of BWC technology
      appears to significantly improve EMS documentation accuracy in this pilot study.

PMID- 27636023
TI  - Individual differences in the sleep/wake cycle of Arctic flexitime workers.
AB  - Daytime workers tend to have shorter sleep duration and earlier sleep onset
      during work days than on days off. Large individual differences in sleep onset
      and sleep duration may be observed on work days, but work usually synchronizes
      sleep offset to a similar time. The present study describes individual
      differences in sleep behaviour of 48 daytime workers (25 men, aged 20-58 years)
      from an iron ore mine in Northern Sweden. The aim of the study was to determine
      whether differences in sleep patterns during work days were associated with the
      outcomes of sleepiness and sleep complaints. Cluster analysis was used to group
      workers into two categories of sleep onset and sleep duration. The "Late Sleep
      Onset" cluster comprised workers who slept 1.30 h later than the "Early Sleep
      Onset" cluster (p < 0.0001 for all weekdays). The "Long Sleep Duration" cluster
      slept 1.10 h longer than the "Short Sleep Duration" cluster (p < 0.0002 for work
      nights). The "Late Sleep Onset" cluster reported less refreshing sleep (p < 0.01)
      and had lower sufficient sleep scores (p < 0.01) than the "Early Sleep Onset"
      cluster. The "Short Sleep Duration" cluster also reported lower scores for
      sufficient sleep (p < 0.04) than the "Long Sleep Duration" cluster. For combined
      characteristics (phase and duration), workers with a late phase and short sleep
      duration reported greater sleep debt and sleepiness than workers with an early
      phase and short sleep duration (p < 0.02). Work schedule and commuting time
      modulate both sleep phase and sleep duration independently. Workers, classified
      as having an intermediate sleep phase preference, can organize their sleep time
      in order to minimize sleep debt and sleepiness symptoms. Individual differences
      in sleep phase and duration should be considered when promoting well-being at
      work even among groups with similar sleep needs. In order to minimize sleep debt
      and sleepiness symptoms, successful sleep behaviour could be promoted involving
      extend use of flexitime arrangement (i.e. later starting times) and reduce use of
      alarm clocks.

PMID- 27636022
TI  - Fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) MRI to investigate
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within dural reflections of posterior fossa cranial
      nerves.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is no consensus approach to covering skull base meningeal
      reflections-and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) therein-of the posterior fossa cranial
      nerves (CNs VII-XII) when planning radiotherapy (RT) for medulloblastoma and
      ependymoma. We sought to determine whether MRI and specifically fast imaging
      employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) sequences can answer this anatomical
      question and guide RT planning. METHODS: 96 posterior fossa FIESTA sequences were
      reviewed. Following exclusions, measurements were made on the following scans for
      each foramen respectively (left, right); internal acoustic meatus (IAM) (86, 84),
      jugular foramen (JF) (83, 85) and hypoglossal canal (HC) (42, 45). A protocol
      describes measurement procedure. Two observers measured distances for five cases
      and agreement was assessed. One observer measured all the remaining cases.
      RESULTS: IAM and JF measurement interobserver variability was compared. Mean
      measurement difference between observers was -0.275 mm (standard deviation
      0.557). IAM and JF measurements were normally distributed. Mean IAM distance was
      12.2 mm [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.8-15.6]; JF was 7.3 mm (95% CI 4.0-10.6).
      The HC was difficult to visualize on many images and data followed a bimodal
      distribution. CONCLUSION: Dural reflections of posterior fossa CNs are well
      demonstrated by FIESTA MRI. Measuring CSF extension into these structures is
      feasible and robust; mean CSF extension into IAM and JF was measured. We plan
      further work to assess coverage of these structures with photon and proton RT
      plans. Advances in knowledge: We have described CSF extension beyond the internal
      table of the skull into the IAM, JF and HC. Oncologists planning RT for patients
      with medulloblastoma and ependymoma may use these data to guide contouring.

PMID- 27636024
TI  - Farmers' mental health: A longitudinal sibling comparison - the HUNT study,
      Norway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Studies of the mental health of farmers have been largely cross
      sectional and possibly confounded. We performed a prospective cohort study as
      well as a sibling comparison to control for unmeasured confounding. METHODS: Our
      study included 76 583 participants aged >=19 years from the Nord-Trondelag Health
      Study [HUNT1 (1984-1986), HUNT2 (1995-1997) and HUNT3 (2006-2008)]. We used the
      Anxiety and Depression Index (ADI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
      (HADS) to measure symptoms of mental distress. We used logistic regression to
      investigate the association between occupation at baseline and symptoms of mental
      distress 11 years later and fixed effects conditional logistic regression to
      compare farmers with their siblings working in other occupations. RESULTS: In the
      prospective cohort study, farmers had similar odds of having symptoms of
      psychological distress and anxiety as other manual occupational groups. Among all
      the occupational groups in the study, farmers had the highest odds of having
      symptoms of depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.55
      2.55, reference group: higher grade professionals]. Compared with their farming
      brothers and sisters, siblings in other occupations had lower odds of having high
      depression (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.55-0.89) and anxiety (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63-1.00)
      scores in 2006-2008. CONCLUSION: Farmers had higher odds of having high
      depression scores compared to both other occupational groups and their siblings
      who were not working as farmers, suggesting that working in agriculture may
      impact mental health.

PMID- 27636025
TI  - Epigenetics and Racial Health Inequities.

PMID- 27636026
TI  - Radiogenomics of Glioblastoma: Machine Learning-based Classification of Molecular
      Characteristics by Using Multiparametric and Multiregional MR Imaging Features.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the association of multiparametric and multiregional magnetic
      resonance (MR) imaging features with key molecular characteristics in patients
      with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Materials and Methods Retrospective data
      evaluation was approved by the local ethics committee, and the requirement to
      obtain informed consent was waived. Preoperative MR imaging features were
      correlated with key molecular characteristics within a single-institution cohort
      of 152 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Preoperative MR imaging
      features (n = 31) included multiparametric (anatomic and diffusion-, perfusion-,
      and susceptibility-weighted images) and multiregional (contrast-enhancing regions
      and hyperintense regions at nonenhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery
      imaging) information with histogram quantification of tumor volumes, volume
      ratios, apparent diffusion coefficients, cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood
      volume, and intratumoral susceptibility signals. Molecular characteristics
      determined included global DNA methylation subgroups (eg, mesenchymal, RTK I
      "PGFRA," RTK II "classic"), MGMT promoter methylation status, and hallmark copy
      number variations (EGFR, PDGFRA, MDM4, and CDK4 amplification; PTEN, CDKN2A, NF1,
      and RB1 loss). Univariate analyses (voxel-lesion symptom mapping for tumor
      location, Wilcoxon test for all other MR imaging features) and machine learning
      models were applied to study the strength of association and discriminative value
      of MR imaging features for predicting underlying molecular characteristics.
      Results There was no tumor location predilection for any of the assessed
      molecular parameters (permutation-adjusted P > .05). Univariate imaging parameter
      associations were noted for EGFR amplification and CDKN2A loss, with both
      demonstrating increased Gaussian-normalized relative cerebral blood volume and
      Gaussian-normalized relative cerebral blood flow values (area under the receiver
      operating characteristics curve: 63%-69%, false discovery rate-adjusted P < .05).
      Subjecting all MR imaging features to machine learning-based classification
      enabled prediction of EGFR amplification status and the RTK II glioblastoma
      subgroup with a moderate, yet significantly greater, accuracy (63% for EGFR [P <
      .01], 61% for RTK II [P = .01]) than prediction by chance; prediction accuracy
      for all other molecular parameters was not significant. Conclusion The authors
      found associations between established MR imaging features and molecular
      characteristics, although not of sufficient strength to enable generation of
      machine learning classification models for reliable and clinically meaningful
      prediction of molecular characteristics in patients with glioblastoma. (c) RSNA,
      2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

PMID- 27636028
TI  - Toward a New Era of Trust and Transparency in Clinical Trials.

PMID- 27636027
TI  - Coronary CT Angiography: Variability of CT Scanners and Readers in Measurement of
      Plaque Volume.
AB  - Purpose To determine reader and computed tomography (CT) scan variability for
      measurement of coronary plaque volume. Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant
      study followed Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy guidelines.
      Baseline coronary CT angiography was performed in 40 prospectively enrolled
      subjects (mean age, 67 years +/- 6 [standard deviation]) with asymptomatic
      hyperlipidemia by using a 320-detector row scanner (Aquilion One Vision; Toshiba,
      Otawara, Japan). Twenty of these subjects underwent coronary CT angiography
      repeated on a separate day with the same CT scanner (Toshiba, group 1); 20
      subjects underwent repeat CT performed with a different CT scanner (Somatom
      Force; Siemens, Forchheim, Germany [group 2]). Intraclass correlation
      coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman analysis were used to assess interreader,
      intrareader, and interstudy reproducibility. Results Baseline and repeat coronary
      CT angiography scans were acquired within 19 days +/- 6. Interreader and
      intrareader agreement rates were high for total, calcified, and noncalcified
      plaques for both CT scanners (all ICCs >= 0.96) without bias. Scanner variability
      was +/-18.4% (coefficient of variation) with same-vendor follow-up. However,
      scanner variability increased to +/-29.9% with different-vendor follow-up. The
      sample size to detect a 5% change in noncalcified plaque volume with 90% power
      and an alpha error of .05 was 286 subjects for same-CT scanner follow-up and 753
      subjects with different-vendor follow-up. Conclusion State-of-the-art coronary CT
      angiography with same-vendor follow-up has good scan-rescan reproducibility,
      suggesting a role of coronary CT angiography in monitoring coronary artery plaque
      response to therapy. Differences between coronary CT angiography vendors resulted
      in lower scan-rescan reproducibility. (c) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material
      is available for this article.

PMID- 27636029
TI  - Downregulation of a novel human gene, ROGDI, increases radiosensitivity in
      cervical cancer cells.
AB  - ROGDI is a protein that contains a leucine zipper domain and may be involved in
      cell proliferation. In addition, ROGDI is associated with genome stability by
      regulating the activity of a DNA damage marker, gamma-H2AX. The role of ROGDI in
      tumor radiosensitization has not been investigated. Previous studies have
      indicated that radiosensitivity is associated with DNA repair and the cell cycle.
      In general, the G2/M DNA damage checkpoint is more sensitive to radiation,
      whereas the G1/S phase transition is more resistant to radiation. Inhibition of
      cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) can lead to a halt of cell cycle progression and
      a stay at different phases or checkpoints. Our data show that the downregulation
      of ROGDI led to a decreased expression of CDK 1, 2, cyclin A, B and resulted in a
      G2/M phase transition block. In addition, the downregulation of ROGDI increased
      cell accumulation at the G2 phase as detected using flow cytometry and decreased
      cell survival as revealed by clonogenic assay in HeLa and C33A cells following
      irradiation. These findings suggest that the downregulation of ROGDI can mediate
      radiosensitivity by blocking cells at G2/M, the most radiosensitive phase of the
      cell cycle, as well as exerting deleterious effects in the form of DNA damage, as
      shown by increased gamma-H2AX activation.

PMID- 27636031
TI  - Overcoming formulation challenges for the next generation of vaccines.

PMID- 27636030
TI  - Geographic and Individual Differences in Healthcare Access for U.S. Transgender
      Adults: A Multilevel Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify geographic and individual-level factors associated with
      healthcare access among transgender people in the United States. METHODS:
      Multilevel analyses were conducted to investigate lifetime healthcare refusal
      using national data from 5831 U.S. transgender adults. Hierarchical generalized
      linear models examined associations between individual (age, gender, race,
      income, insurance, and healthcare avoidance) and state-level factors (percent
      voting Republican, percent same-sex couple households, income inequality, and
      transgender protective laws) and lifetime refusal of care. RESULTS: Results show
      that individual-level factors (being older; trans feminine; Native American,
      multiracial, or other racial/ethnic minority; having low income; and avoiding
      care due to discrimination) are positively associated with care refusal (all P
      values <0.05). Adjusting for individual-level factors, variation was observed
      across U.S. states, with a greater proportion of states in the Southern and
      Western United States with transgender residents at increased odds of
      experiencing care refusal, relative to other regions of the United States. When
      adjusting for state-level factors, the percentage of the state population voting
      Republican was positively associated with care refusal among the transgender
      adults sampled (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Transgender adults surveyed reported
      differential access to healthcare by geographic region. Identifying geographic
      and individual-level factors associated with healthcare barriers allows for the
      development of targeted educational and policy interventions to improve
      healthcare access for transgender people most in need of services.

PMID- 27636090
TI  - Bone mesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium induces the upregulation of Smad6,
      which inhibits the BMP-4/Smad1/5/8 signaling pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of bone mesenchymal
      stem cells (BMSCs) conditioned medium on BMP4-induced activation of the Smad
      signaling pathway during the process of neural stem cells differentiation.
      METHODS: We designed four experimental groups: (A) control group, (B) BMP-4
      treatment group, (C) BMSC-CM group, and (D) BMSC-CM (BMSC-conditioned medium)
      combined with BMP-4 group. The expression of microtube-associated protein-2 (MAP
      2) detected by immunocytochemical staining and western blot. The expression of
      glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and BMP receptors (BMPRII and BMPRIa) was
      determined by western blot, while SMAD1/5/8 and SMAD6 mRNA expression was
      detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). RESULTS:
      We found that the expression of microtube-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) increased
      in group B compared to group A. In group C, the expression of GFAP was increased
      and the expression of MAP-2 was decreased compared to group A. This phenomenon
      was weaker in group D. We also demonstrated that BMSC-CM could inhibit the
      activation of BMP signaling by downregulating the expression of BMPRII and BMPRIa
      proteins. Moreover, BMSC-CM could upregulate the expression of Smad6 mRNA and
      inhibit the activation of Smad1/5/8 mRNA. CONCLUSION: These observations suggest
      that BMSC-CM could neutralize the effect of BMP-4 on the differentiation of NSCs
      by upregulating the expression of Smad6 and decrease the expression of GFAP by
      inhibiting the BMP-4-SMAD1/5/8 signaling pathway, conversely increasing the
      generation of neurons.

PMID- 27636092
TI  - How to Distinguish Conformational Selection and Induced Fit Based on Chemical
      Relaxation Rates.
AB  - Protein binding often involves conformational changes. Important questions are
      whether a conformational change occurs prior to a binding event ('conformational
      selection') or after a binding event ('induced fit'), and how conformational
      transition rates can be obtained from experiments. In this article, we present
      general results for the chemical relaxation rates of conformational-selection and
      induced-fit binding processes that hold for all concentrations of proteins and
      ligands and, thus, go beyond the standard pseudo-first-order approximation of
      large ligand concentration. These results allow to distinguish conformational
      selection from induced-fit processes-also in cases in which such a distinction is
      not possible under pseudo-first-order conditions-and to extract conformational
      transition rates of proteins from chemical relaxation data.

PMID- 27636091
TI  - A Liver-Centric Multiscale Modeling Framework for Xenobiotics.
AB  - We describe a multi-scale, liver-centric in silico modeling framework for
      acetaminophen pharmacology and metabolism. We focus on a computational model to
      characterize whole body uptake and clearance, liver transport and phase I and
      phase II metabolism. We do this by incorporating sub-models that span three
      scales; Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling of acetaminophen
      uptake and distribution at the whole body level, cell and blood flow modeling at
      the tissue/organ level and metabolism at the sub-cellular level. We have used
      standard modeling modalities at each of the three scales. In particular, we have
      used the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) to create both the whole-body and
      sub-cellular scales. Our modeling approach allows us to run the individual sub
      models separately and allows us to easily exchange models at a particular scale
      without the need to extensively rework the sub-models at other scales. In
      addition, the use of SBML greatly facilitates the inclusion of biological
      annotations directly in the model code. The model was calibrated using human in
      vivo data for acetaminophen and its sulfate and glucuronate metabolites. We then
      carried out extensive parameter sensitivity studies including the pairwise
      interaction of parameters. We also simulated population variation of exposure and
      sensitivity to acetaminophen. Our modeling framework can be extended to the
      prediction of liver toxicity following acetaminophen overdose, or used as a
      general purpose pharmacokinetic model for xenobiotics. 

PMID- 27636093
TI  - Changes in Choroidal Structures in Eyes with Chronic Central Serous
      Chorioretinopathy after Half-Dose Photodynamic Therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the structural changes in the choroid after half-dose
      photodynamic therapy (hPDT) in eyes with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy
      (CSC). METHODS: This was a retrospective interventional study of 29 eyes of 29
      patients who underwent hPDT for chronic CSC with serous retinal detachment (SRD)
      and were followed for >=3 months. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence
      tomographic (EDI-OCT) images of the subfoveal choroid were converted to binary
      images. The central choroidal thickness (CCT), the cross sectional subfoveal
      choroidal area, the hyporeflective and hyperreflective areas of the inner, outer,
      and whole choroid were determined at the baseline, and at 1, 3, and 12 months
      after the hPDT. RESULTS: The SRDs were resolved in 26 (89.7%) eyes at 3 months
      after the hPDT. The mean CCT (P = 0.001), the total choroidal area (P = 0.001),
      and the hypo-reflective area (P = 0.003) of the whole choroid were significantly
      decreased from the baseline at 3 months. The hyperreflective area of whole
      choroid was not significantly changed during the study period (P = 0.083). The
      hyperreflective but not the hyporeflective area of the inner choroid was
      significantly decreased at 3 months (P = 0.001, P = 1.000, respectively). The
      hyporeflective but not the hyperreflective area of the outer choroid was
      significantly decreased at 3 months (P = 0.001, P = 1.000, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: The hyperreflective area of the inner choroid and hyporeflective
      area of the outer choroid were significantly decreased after hPDT for chronic
      CSC. Because the hyperreflective and hyporeflective area correspond to the
      choroidal stroma and vessels, respectively, the decreased CCT and subfoveal
      choroidal area after hPDT may be attributed to a decrease in the exudative
      changes in the inner choroidal stroma and the reduction of the dilation of the
      outer choroidal vessels.

PMID- 27636094
TI  - Nephrectomy Type Was Not Associated with a Subsequent Risk of Coronary Heart
      Disease: A Population-Based Study.
AB  - Previous studies investigated the impacts of a partial nephrectomy (PN) or
      radical nephrectomy (RN) on cardiovascular events and death. However, the
      association between the type of nephrectomy (PN vs. RN) and cardiovascular
      disease is still equivocal. This retrospective cohort study aimed to compare the
      risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) between patients who underwent a PN and
      those who underwent an RN. We used data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health
      Insurance Database 2005. In total, 60 patients who underwent a PN and 545
      patients who underwent an RN were included. Each patient was tracked for 1-, 2-,
      3-, and 5-year periods to identify those who were subsequently diagnosed with
      CHD. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to calculate hazard
      ratios (HRs) for CHD during 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year follow-up periods between
      these two cohorts. For the 1-year follow-up period, the adjusted HR was 0.39 (95%
      CI: 0.05~2.90, p = 0.355) for patients who underwent a PN compared to those who
      underwent an RN. Additionally, the adjusted HRs of CHD in patients who underwent
      a PN for 2-, 3- and 5-year follow-up periods were 1.40 (95% CI: 0.62~3.16, p =
      0.417), 1.09 (95% CI: 0.52~2.31, p = 0.814), and 1.02 (95% CI: 0.48~2.18, p =
      0.961), respectively, compared to those who underwent an RN. We concluded that
      there was no significant difference in the risk of CHD between patients who
      underwent a PN and those who underwent an RN. 

PMID- 27636096
TI  - Correction: Modeling Occupancy of Hosts by Mistletoe Seeds after Accounting for
      Imperfect Detectability.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127004.].

PMID- 27636095
TI  - A Prediction Rule to Stratify Mortality Risk of Patients with Pulmonary
      Tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis imposes high human and economic tolls, including in Europe. This
      study was conducted to develop a severity assessment tool for stratifying
      mortality risk in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. A derivation cohort of
      681 PTB cases was retrospectively reviewed to generate a model based on multiple
      logistic regression analysis of prognostic variables with 6-month mortality as
      the outcome measure. A clinical scoring system was developed and tested against a
      validation cohort of 103 patients. Five risk features were selected for the
      prediction model: hypoxemic respiratory failure (OR 4.7, 95% CI 2.8-7.9), age
      >=50 years (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7-4.8), bilateral lung involvement (OR 2.5, 95% CI
      1.4-4.4), >=1 significant comorbidity-HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, liver
      failure or cirrhosis, congestive heart failure and chronic respiratory disease
      (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3-3.8), and hemoglobin <12 g/dL (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.1). A
      tuberculosis risk assessment tool (TReAT) was developed, stratifying patients
      with low (score <=2), moderate (score 3-5) and high (score >=6) mortality risk.
      The mortality associated with each group was 2.9%, 22.9% and 53.9%, respectively.
      The model performed equally well in the validation cohort. We provide a new, easy
      to-use clinical scoring system to identify PTB patients with high-mortality risk
      in settings with good healthcare access, helping clinicians to decide which
      patients are in need of closer medical care during treatment. 

PMID- 27636097
TI  - Cancer cells that survive checkpoint adaptation contain micronuclei that harbor
      damaged DNA.
AB  - We have examined the relationship between checkpoint adaptation (mitosis with
      damaged DNA) and micronuclei. Micronuclei in cancer cells are linked to genomic
      change, and may induce chromothripsis (chromosome shattering). We measured the
      cytotoxicity of the cancer drug cisplatin in M059K (glioma fibroblasts, IC50 15
      MUM). Nearly 100% of M059K cells were positive for histone gammaH2AX staining
      after 48 h treatment with a cytotoxic concentration of cisplatin. The proportion
      of micronucleated cells, as confirmed by microscopy using DAPI and lamin A/C
      staining, increased from 24% to 48%, and the total micronuclei in surviving cells
      accumulated over time. Promoting entry into mitosis with a checkpoint inhibitor
      increased the number of micronuclei in cells whereas blocking checkpoint
      adaptation with a Cdk inhibitor reduced the number of micronuclei. Interestingly,
      some micronuclei underwent asynchronous DNA replication, relative to the main
      nuclei, as measured by deoxy-bromo-uracil (BrdU) staining. These micronuclei
      stained positive for histone gammaH2AX, which was linked to DNA replication,
      suggesting that micronuclei arise from checkpoint adaptation and that micronuclei
      may continue to damage DNA. By contrast the normal cell line WI-38 did not
      undergo checkpoint adaptation when treated with cisplatin and did not show
      changes in micronuclei number. These data reveal that the production of
      micronuclei by checkpoint adaptation is part of a process that contributes to
      genomic change.

PMID- 27636099
TI  - An ICF-CY-based approach to assessing self- and observer-reported functioning in
      young persons with achondroplasia - development of the pilot version of the
      Achondroplasia Personal Life Experience Scale (APLES).
AB  - PURPOSE: Achondroplasia is the most common disproportionate short stature which
      impacts patients' well-being. Little is known about the burden of disease in
      terms of functioning of patients and few disease-specific patient-reported
      outcome (PRO) measures exist. To understand the consequences of achondroplasia,
      the objective of the study was to develop an achondroplasia-specific PRO tool.
      METHOD: Focus group discussions including 34 German patients (age 8-18 years) and
      21 parents were conducted and qualitatively analyzed. To identify relevant
      concepts, statements were coded according to the International Classification of
      Functioning, Disability and Health: Children & Youth version (ICF-CY). Upon
      condensation, relevant statements were reformulated as items. RESULTS: 1950
      statements related to 125 ICF-CY categories were identified. After condensation
      and prioritization, 59 items were retained. These were generated based on the ICF
      CY domains environmental factors (27 items), activities and participation (18
      items), body functions (9 items), and body structures (5 items). CONCLUSIONS: A
      new instrument, the Achondroplasia Personal Life Experience Scale (APLES) to
      assess burden of disease and functioning from the patients perspective of
      children and adolescents with achondroplasia has been developed in its pilot
      version based on the classification of the ICF-CY. Psychometric performance of
      the APLES is currently being examined. Implications for Rehabilitation Using the
      ICF-CY within the development of a disease-specific instrument to assess burden
      of disease and functioning provides guidance for clinicians and researchers in
      the selection of appropriate instruments complying with ICF categories.
      Qualitative research based on focus group interviews is an effective method to
      elicit experiences, beliefs, points of view, understandings, perceptions,
      impressions, needs and concerns as well as attitudes from the perspective of the
      individuals on a specific topic such as functioning. Direct assessment of the
      patient perspective is necessary to thoroughly understand a patient's experience
      of disease and treatment, the impact on their functioning and relevant health
      care needs. Including the perspective of the patient and its family is an
      important component in the provision of health-care services. Patient-reported
      outcomes are not only important for the development of interventions and the use
      in clinical trials but can also be used in medical decision-making processes.

PMID- 27636100
TI  - Prospects for vaccination against pathogenic African trypanosomes.
AB  - African trypanosomes cause human and animal African trypanosomiases, which are
      chronic, debilitating and often fatal diseases of people and livestock in sub
      Saharan Africa. The extracellular protozoan parasites are exemplars of antigenic
      variation. They direct host-protective B-cell and T-cell immune responses towards
      hypervariable components of their variable surface glycoprotein coat and evade
      immune elimination by generating new surface coat antigenic variants at a rate
      that supersedes immune destruction. This results in recurring waves of
      parasitemia, tissue invasion and escalating immunopathology in trypanosomiasis
      susceptible hosts. Here, we discuss the possibility that host control of African
      trypanosomes might be improved by immunization with conserved VSG peptides and
      invariant surface glycoproteins. Infection-induced T-cell recall responses to
      these typically poorly expressed or nonimmunogenic parasite components induce
      tissue phagocytes to produce microbicidal materials that kill trypanosomes.
      Preliminary data that support this immune-enhancing vaccine strategy are
      discussed, as are host and parasite interactions that might downregulate the
      protective responses. These include infection-induced immunosuppression and
      increasing virulence of infecting parasites over time.

PMID- 27636098
TI  - From discovery to licensure, the Adjuvant System story.
AB  - Adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to improve their immunogenicity. Used
      for more than 80 years, aluminum, the first adjuvant in human vaccines, proved
      insufficient to develop vaccines that could protect against new challenging
      pathogens such as HIV and malaria. New adjuvants and new combinations of
      adjuvants (Adjuvant Systems) have opened the door to the delivery of improved and
      new vaccines against re-emerging and difficult pathogens. Adjuvant Systems
      concept started through serendipity. The access to new developments in
      technology, microbiology and immunology have been instrumental for the
      dicephering of what they do and how they do it. This knowledge opens the door to
      more rational vaccine design with implications for developing new and better
      vaccines.

PMID- 27636101
TI  - Differential Expression of miR-4520a Associated With Pyrin Mutations in Familial
      Mediterranean Fever (FMF).
AB  - Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease
      characterized by recurrent, acute, and self-limiting attacks of fever. Mutations
      in MEFV gene encoding pyrin account for FMF, but the high number of heterozygote
      patients with typical symptoms of the disease has driven a number of alternative
      aetiopathogenic hypotheses. The MEFV gene was knocked down in human
      myelomonocytic cells that express endogenous pyrin to identify deregulated
      microRNAs (miRNAs). Microarray analyses revealed 29 significantly differentially
      expressed miRNAs implicated in pathways associated with cellular integrity and
      survival. Implementation of in silico gene network prediction algorithms and
      bioinformatics analyses showed that miR-4520a is predicted to target genes
      implicated in autophagy through regulation of RHEB/mTOR signaling. Differential
      expression levels of RHEB were confirmed by luciferase reporter gene assays
      providing further evidence that is directly targeted by miR-4520a. Although the
      relative expression levels of miR-4520a were variable among FMF patients, the
      statistical expression of miR-4520a was different between FMF mutation carriers
      and controls (P = 0.0061), indicating an association between miR-4520a expression
      and MEFV mutations. Comparison between FMF patients bearing the M694V mutation,
      associated with severe disease, and healthy controls showed a significant
      increase in miR-4520a expression levels (P = 0.00545). These data suggest that
      RHEB, the main activator of mTOR signaling, is a valid target of miR-4520a with
      the relative expression levels of the latter being significantly deregulated in
      FMF patients and highly dependent on the presence of pyrin mutations, especially
      of the M694V type. These results suggest a role of deregulated autophagy in the
      pathogenesis of FMF. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1326-1336, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636102
TI  - Cytology smears as excellent starting material for next-generation sequencing
      based molecular testing of patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Molecular testing of lung adenocarcinomas (ADCs) is crucial for
      therapy stratification of patients. Because of the often limited diagnostic
      material, the authors aimed to explore the suitability of cytology smears for
      next-generation sequencing (NGS) and compared the results with concurrent
      histological specimens or cell blocks. METHODS: A total of 16 formalin-fixed
      paraffin-embedded (FFPE) ADCs with known genetic alterations were used as the
      first cohort for targeted DNA and RNA sequencing. In the second cohort of 8
      cases, 8 cytological smears were compared with matching histological specimens or
      cell blocks for the study. For NGS library amplification, commercially available
      panels for DNA and RNA sequencing were applied. The Ion Torrent Personal Genome
      Machine and the Ion Reporter workflow (version 5.0) were used for sequencing.
      RESULTS: All DNA libraries derived from FFPE and non-formalin-fixed cytological
      smear samples produced acceptable quality metrics, thereby enabling successful
      targeted DNA sequencing (100% performance). Targeted RNA sequencing failed in 1
      FFPE case and 1 cytology probe by not reaching enough mapped fusion reads (92%
      performance rate). All previously detected mutations and gene rearrangements
      could be confirmed (sensitivity of 100%), whereas specificity of the DNA-based
      NGS assay reached 96%. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study demonstrated
      the suitability of non-formalin cytology specimens for the simultaneous NGS
      testing of lung ADCs using amplicon resequencing panels. These assays allowed for
      the input of cytological smears equal to concurrent histology or cell blocks and
      proved to be accurate in the detection of therapeutically actionable somatic
      mutations and gene rearrangements. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125:30-40. (c) 2016
      American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27636103
TI  - Common fragile sites (CFS) and extremely large CFS genes are targets for human
      papillomavirus integrations and chromosome rearrangements in oropharyngeal
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Common fragile sites (CFS) are chromosome regions that are prone to form gaps or
      breaks in response to DNA replication stress. They are often found as hotspots
      for sister chromatid exchanges, deletions, and amplifications in different
      cancers. Many of the CFS regions are found to span genes whose genomic sequence
      is greater than 1 Mb, some of which have been demonstrated to function as
      important tumor suppressors. CFS regions are also hotspots for human
      papillomavirus (HPV) integrations in cervical cancer. We used mate-pair
      sequencing to examine HPV integration events and chromosomal structural
      variations in 34 oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). We used endpoint
      PCR and Sanger sequencing to validate each HPV integration event and found HPV
      integrations preferentially occurred within CFS regions similar to what is
      observed in cervical cancer. We also found that many of the chromosomal
      alterations detected also occurred at or near the cytogenetic location of CFSs.
      Several large genes were also found to be recurrent targets of rearrangements,
      independent of HPV integrations, including CSMD1 (2.1Mb), LRP1B (1.9Mb), and
      LARGE1 (0.7Mb). Sanger sequencing revealed that the nucleotide sequences near to
      identified junction sites contained repetitive and AT-rich sequences that were
      shown to have the potential to form stem-loop DNA secondary structures that might
      stall DNA replication fork progression during replication stress. This could then
      cause increased instability in these regions which could lead to cancer
      development in human cells. Our findings suggest that CFSs and some specific
      large genes appear to play important roles in OPSCC. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27636104
TI  - Toward a Global Roadmap for Precision Medicine in Psychiatry: Challenges and
      Opportunities.
AB  - Mental disorders represent a major public health burden worldwide. This is likely
      to rise in the next decade, with the highest increases predicted to occur in low-
      and middle-income countries. Current psychotropic medication treatment guidelines
      focus on uniform approaches to the treatment of heterogeneous disorders and
      achieve only partial therapeutic success. Developing a global precision medicine
      approach in psychiatry appears attractive, given the value of this approach in
      other fields of medicine, such as oncology and infectious diseases. In this
      horizon scanning analysis, we review the salient opportunities and challenges for
      precision medicine in psychiatry over the next decade. Variants within numerous
      genes involved in a range of pathways have been implicated in psychotropic drug
      response and might ultimately be used to guide choice of pharmacotherapy.
      Multipronged approaches such as multi-omics (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics)
      analyses and systems diagnostics together with high-throughput sequencing and
      genotyping technologies hold promise for identifying precise and targeted
      treatments in mental disorders. To date, however, the vast majority of
      pharmacogenomics work has been undertaken in high-income countries on a
      relatively small proportion of the global population, and many other challenges
      face the field. Opportunities and challenges for establishing a global roadmap
      for precision medicine in psychiatry are discussed in this article.

PMID- 27636105
TI  - IKKalpha-mediated biogenesis of miR-196a through interaction with Drosha
      regulates the sensitivity of cancer cells to radiotherapy.
AB  - Retraction to: Cell Death Differ 2016;23(9):1471-1482. doi:10.1038/cdd.2016.32

PMID- 27636106
TI  - The killer protein Gasdermin D.

PMID- 27636108
TI  - Characterization and Analysis of Protein Structures in Oat Bran.
AB  - Globulin, albumin, gluten, and gliadin in oat bran were prepared by the Osborn
      method using oat bran as starting material. We characterized the secondary and
      tertiary structures of 4 proteins using circular dichroism, Fourier-transform
      infrared spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy in order to analyze the
      composition and functional mechanisms. The results showed that the amino acid
      composition in all the 4 proteins was relatively balanced, and the essential
      amino acid content in albumin and globulin was high. The molecular weights of
      albumin, globulin, gliadin, and gluten were 19 to 21, 15 to 53, 20 to 38, and 10
      to 90 kDa, respectively. The composition of gluten was a little complex compared
      to those of the other oat bran proteins. The secondary structure distribution of
      the 4 proteins differed, and increase in the pH resulted in modification of the
      beta-sheet structure to alpha-helical structure. Moreover, the alpha-helix
      content and surface hydrophobicity were negatively correlated (r = -0.988, P <
      0.05). The peak position (lambdamax ) and intensity of the fluorescence spectra
      of 4 proteins were in the order of gliadin > globulin > gluten > albumin,
      indicating that surface hydrophobicity of gliadin was the strongest and that of
      albumin was the weakest among the 4 proteins.

PMID- 27636107
TI  - CDK1-PDK1-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway regulates embryonic and induced
      pluripotency.
AB  - The mechanisms of how signaling pathways are coordinated and integrated for the
      maintenance of the self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and the
      acquisition of pluripotency in reprogramming are still only partly understood.
      CDK1 is a key regulator of mitosis. Recently, CDK1 has been shown to be involved
      in regulating self-renewal of stem cells, even though the mechanistic role of how
      CDK1 regulates pluripotency is unknown. In this report, we aim to understand how
      CDK1 can control pluripotency by reducing CDK1 activity to a level that has no
      effect on cell cycle progression. We demonstrated that high levels of CDK1 is
      associated with the pluripotency stage of hESCs; and decreased CDK1 activity to a
      level without perturbing the cell cycle is sufficient to induce differentiation.
      CDK1 specifically targets the phosphorylation of PDK1 and consequently the
      activity of PI3K/Akt and its effectors ERK and GSK3beta. Evidence of the
      reversion of inactive CDK1-mediated differentiation by the inhibition of Akt
      signaling effectors suggests that the CDK1-PDK1-PI3K/Akt kinase cascade is a
      functional signaling pathway for the pluripotency of hESCs. Moreover, cyclin B1
      CDK1 complexes promote somatic reprogramming efficiency, probably by regulating
      the maturation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), as cyclin B1 stimulates
      a higher cellular level of LIN28A, suggesting that monitoring iPSC factors could
      be a new path for the enhancement of reprogramming efficiency. Together, we
      demonstrate an essential role for the CDK1-PDK1-PI3K/Akt kinase signaling pathway
      in the regulation of self-renewal, differentiation, and somatic reprogramming,
      which provides a novel kinase cascade mechanism for pluripotency control and
      acquisition.

PMID- 27636109
TI  - Measurement of Receptor Signaling Bias.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are often pleiotropically linked to numerous
      cellular signaling mechanisms in cells, and it is now known that many agonists
      differentially activate some signaling pathways at the expense of others. The
      mechanism for this effect is the stabilization of different active receptor
      states by different agonists, and it leads to varying qualities of efficacy for
      different agonists. Agonist bias is a powerful mechanism to amplify beneficial
      signals and diminish harmful signals, and thus improve the overall profile of
      agonist ligands. This unit describes a method to quantify agonist bias with a
      scale that enables medicinal chemists to amplify or reduce these effects in new
      molecules. The method is based on the Black/Leff operational model and yields a
      statistical estimate of the confidence for bias measurements. (c) 2016 by John
      Wiley & Sons, Inc.

PMID- 27636110
TI  - A Mouse Model of Furosemide-Induced Overactive Bladder.
AB  - Detailed in this unit is a mouse model of overactive bladder and urinary
      incontinence based on diuretic stress-induced urination. The procedure involves
      the use of a unique, highly sensitive, and automated urine capturing method to
      measure urinary latency, frequency, and void volume. Although this method was
      first described and validated using an anti-muscarinic drug used for treating
      overactive bladder, subsequent work has shown that effective non-cholinergic
      agents can be detected. These findings indicate good predictive value for this
      model regarding the possible clinical utility of test agents as treatments for
      overactive bladder, regardless of their site of action. (c) 2016 by John Wiley &
      Sons, Inc.

PMID- 27636111
TI  - In Vitro Drug Metabolism Using Liver Microsomes.
AB  - Knowledge of the metabolic stability of newly discovered drug candidates
      eliminated by metabolism is essential for predicting the pharmacokinetic (PK)
      parameters that underpin dosing and dosage frequency. Further, characterization
      of the enzyme(s) responsible for metabolism (reaction phenotyping) allows
      prediction, at least at the qualitative level, of factors (including metabolic
      drug-drug interactions) likely to alter the clearance of both new chemical
      entities (NCEs) and established drugs. Microsomes are typically used as the
      enzyme source for the measurement of metabolic stability and for reaction
      phenotyping because they express the major drug-metabolizing enzymes cytochrome
      P450 (CYP) and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT), along with others that
      contribute to drug metabolism. Described in this unit are methods for microsome
      isolation, as well as for the determination of metabolic stability and metabolite
      formation (including kinetics). (c) 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

PMID- 27636112
TI  - Overview of Critical Parameters for the Design and Execution of a High-Throughput
      Screen for Allosteric Ligands.
AB  - Allosteric ligands modulate the activity of receptor targets by binding to sites
      that are distinct from the orthosteric (native agonist) binding site. Allosteric
      modulators have potential therapeutic advantages over orthosteric agonists and
      antagonists, including improved selectivity, and maintenance of the spatial and
      temporal fidelity of native signaling patterns. The identification of allosteric
      ligands presents unique challenges because of the requirement for screening in
      the presence of an orthosteric agonist, the small signal window that is produced
      by many allosteric modulators, the proclivity of allosteric modulators to exhibit
      activity switching within a chemotype (e.g., one compound may be a positive
      allosteric modulator while a close analog is a negative allosteric modulator),
      and probe dependence (differential interactions with different orthosteric
      agonists). Described in this unit are emerging strategies for the identification
      of allosteric ligands by high-throughput screening (HTS), including the use of
      multiple-add/multiple-read HTS assays and tool molecule-based screening formats.
      (c) 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

PMID- 27636113
TI  - Human DP and EP2 prostanoid receptors take on distinct forms depending on the
      diverse binding of different ligands.
AB  - Human D-type prostanoid (DP) and E-type prostanoid 2 (EP2) receptors are G
      protein-coupled receptors and are regarded as the most closely related receptors
      among prostanoid receptors because they are generated by tandem duplication. The
      DP receptor-cognate ligand, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2 ) has the ability to activate
      not only DP receptors but also EP2 receptors. Likewise, the EP2 receptor-cognate
      ligand, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) has the ability to activate DP receptors in
      addition to EP receptors in order to stimulate cAMP formation. However, since
      PGD2 and/or PGE2 activate DP and EP2 receptors to similar maximal levels, that
      is, their similar efficacies, differences between the ligands in each receptor
      have not yet been determined in detail except for their different affinities.
      Herein we demonstrated, using an in silico simulation to predict binding patterns
      among DP or EP2 receptors and PGD2 , PGE2 , or prostaglandin F2alpha as the
      reference prostanoid, that DP and EP2 receptors plausibly take on distinct forms
      depending on the diverse binding of different ligands. Since these ligands have
      the potential to make these receptors form distinct conformations with discrete
      signaling pathways, they are consequently regarded as endogenous biased ligands.
      Moreover, by using functional assays, the susceptibilities of the DP receptors to
      the noncognate ligands were approximately 10 times lower than those of EP2
      receptors. Thus, EP2 receptors seem to be able to distinguish endogenous ligands
      better than DP receptors, thereby both receptors are plausibly gaining role
      sharing functions with respect to one another as the copies of duplicated gene.

PMID- 27636114
TI  - [Physical training in chronic heart failure: pathophysiology and clinical
      evolution].
AB  - Chronic heart failure has become one of the main global health problems; 23
      million people suffer from this disease worldwide and age of onset has varied
      considerably over the past five decades, coinciding with other co-morbidities as
      longevity in the population increases. Treatment of heart failure has also shown
      striking variations in recent years. Such is the case of the substitution of
      sympathomimetic drugs by beta-blocking agents, which primarily means a conceptual
      change in the pathophysiological interpretation of this syndrome. Incorporating
      to the treatment of heart failure drugs such as angiotensin converting enzyme
      inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers has meant a great step forward in
      the treatment of patients with this condition that significantly has decreased
      mortality and morbidity. The latest introduction of the drug identified as
      angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (LCZ696), launched in August 2014 with
      an even greater reduction in mortality and morbidity of heart failure and fewer
      side effects, offers a valid hope in the treatment of this pathology. Training
      and physical activity is another area of treatment being completely reassessed.
      Pathophysiological aspects that link the practice of systematic physical exercise
      with heart failure and how they both relate to clinical outcomes, morbidity and
      mortality in the trained patient are reviewed in this paper. 

PMID- 27636115
TI  - Recovery of urinary continence after radical prostatectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the era of minimally-invasive surgery, urinary incontinence (UI)
      after radical prostatectomy (RP) still represents a troublesome issue for a
      considerable rate of patients. Factors associated with the risk of post-RP UI,
      need to be carefully assessed throughout the overall clinical management process
      thus including the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative setting.
      AREAS COVERED: This review analyses current published evidences regarding
      clinical and surgical aspects associated with urinary continence (UC) recovery
      after RP. A careful evaluation of patient's clinical characteristics should be
      carried out before surgery in order to properly counsel the patients regarding
      the risk of UI. In the last two decades, the advent of robotic surgery has led to
      an overall improvement of functional outcomes after RP, thanks to the development
      of different surgical strategies based on either the 'preservation' or the
      'reconstruction' of the anatomical elements responsible for urinary continence.
      Finally, several therapeutic strategies including either a conservative approach,
      or pharmacological and surgical treatments, should be carefully considered for
      the post-operative management of UI. Expert commentary: A comprehensive pre
      operative patient's clinical assessment, along with a proper and well-conducted
      surgical procedure and an effective post-operative care management are essential
      element to achieve a high probability of UC recovery.

PMID- 27636117
TI  - C-Met as a potential novel prognostic marker in squamous cell carcinoma and
      adenocarcinoma of esophagus: evidence from a meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION? The prognostic value of c-Met in patients with esophageal cancer
      (EC) remains inconsistent and controversial. Our study aims to clarify the
      correlation between c-Met overexpression and clinical outcome in EC patients.
      EVIDENCE ACQUISITION? We performed a comprehensive search of EMBASE, PubMed, Web
      of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Chinese
      Biomedical Database (CBM) (from inception to May 1, 2016) for published
      literature regarding the potential association between c-Met overexpression and
      clinical outcome in EC patients. A fixed-effects or random-effects model
      according to heterogeneity was applied to calculate the pooled hazard ratios
      (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall survival (OS), disease-free
      survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS? Nine
      eligible studies totaling 1062 patients were identified in this meta-analysis. C
      Met overexpression was significantly associated with shorter OS (HR: 2.04, 95%
      CI: 1.66-2.52, P<0.001) and DSS (HR: 3.03, 95% CI: 2.04-4.48, P<0.001) in
      patients with EC. However, no significant relationship between high expression of
      c-Met and DFS that was found (HR: 1.81, 95% CI: 0.77-4.26, P=0.176). For OS,
      similar associations were demonstrated in either esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC) (HR: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.62-2.90, P<0.001) or esophageal
      adenocarcinoma (EAC) (HR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.42-2.59, P<0.001). Additionally,
      further subgroup analyses according to publication year, ethnicity, the sample
      size, and statistical methodology all revealed a significant association between
      high expression of c-Met and OS in patients with EC. CONCLUSIONS? The current
      evidence indicated that c-Met overexpression is significantly associated with a
      poorer prognosis in EC. C-Met may serve as a potential novel prognostic biomarker
      for EC patients.

PMID- 27636116
TI  - Genetic and environmental associations between body dissatisfaction, weight
      preoccupation, and binge eating: Evidence for a common factor with differential
      loadings across symptom type.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prior twin studies provide support for a single "common factor" that
      contributes genetic and environmental risk to a range of disordered eating
      symptoms. However, the common factor may be indexed less well by binge eating
      (BE) than other symptoms of eating disorders [i.e., body dissatisfaction (BD) and
      weight preoccupation (WP)]. We sought to explore the presence of a common factor
      and test whether loadings differed across three key symptoms (i.e., BE, BD, WP).
      METHOD: Disordered eating was assessed via self-report in 631 female twin pairs
      from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. RESULTS: We detected a common
      disordered eating factor that was influenced primarily by additive genetic and
      nonshared environmental influences. However, we observed different loadings on
      this common factor by symptom type, as factor loadings for BD and WP were
      stronger than that for BE. Moreover, the residual environmental and/or genetic
      variances (i.e., those that are independent of the common factor) were larger in
      BE than those of BD or WP. DISCUSSION: Although all three symptoms share a common
      set of genetic and environmental influences, risk for BE may involve additional
      genetic, biological, and environmental factors that are not shared with other
      symptoms of eating pathology. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord
      2017; 50:157-161).

PMID- 27636118
TI  - Nickel Partitioning and Toxicity in Sediment during Aging: Variation in Toxicity
      Related to Stability of Metal Partitioning.
AB  - Metals in sediment can be complexed by minerals, partition between solid and
      aqueous phases, and cause toxicity at high concentrations. We studied how the
      oxidation of surface sediment that occurs during aging alters the partitioning
      and toxicity of Ni. Two sediments (Burntwood and Raisin) were amended with Ni,
      equilibrated, incubated in a flow-through flume, and examined for sediment
      physicochemistry and toxicity to Hyalella azteca (7 day growth). Through time,
      the sediment surface (5 mm) was oxidized, acid-volatile sulfide concentrations
      declined in Raisin sediment, and amorphous Fe oxides increased. Porewater Ni
      concentrations declined through time but total Ni concentrations in sediment were
      unchanged, suggesting changes in Ni partitioning through time. Both sediments
      elicited a toxic dose-response by H. azteca early in the aging process; but only
      Burntwood, for which Ni was primarily partitioned to Fe oxide minerals, exhibited
      a consistent dose-response during aging. Low total Ni concentrations (20 mg kg-1)
      in Raisin sediment reduced H. azteca growth at initiation, but all Ni treatments
      (up to 3000 mg kg-1) exhibited similar growth after 12 days of aging. The dynamic
      toxicity observed in Raisin sediment was likely due to the instability of NiS in
      surface sediments early in the aging process. These data suggest that short-term
      toxicity assays with homogenized Ni-amended sediment (i.e., standard sediment
      toxicity tests) may be accurate for sediments where Ni speciation is dominated by
      oxidized ligands; however, under high-AVS and high-Fe conditions, calculated
      toxicity thresholds may be overly conservative (here by >100-fold) with respect
      to natural sediment conditions.

PMID- 27636120
TI  - Follow-up bone scan in breast cancer patients: what is the appropriate
      interpretation of purely rib uptake?
AB  - AIM: Although rib uptake is frequently detected in follow-up bone scans of breast
      cancer patients, few studies have assessed its clinical significance. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Among 1208 breast cancer patients who underwent a bone scan between
      2011 and 2014, 157 patients presented with newly detected rib uptake at follow
      up. Patients who had underlying bone metastases (n=8) or had simultaneous new
      uptake in sites other than the rib (n=13) were excluded. The patients enrolled
      finally were those who had purely rib uptakes. The location, intensity, and final
      diagnosis of the uptake were evaluated by nuclear medicine physicians. RESULTS: A
      total of 275 new instances of rib uptake were detected in follow-up bone scans of
      136 patients. These were more frequently located on the ipsilateral side of the
      breast cancer (61.1%) and the anterior arc (65.1%), and they presented as
      moderate to intense (93.1%) uptakes. Among these, 265 lesions in 130 patients
      turned out to be benign fractures (96.4%), whereas only 10 lesions in six
      patients were metastases. The proportion of metastases was significantly higher
      if the uptake was linear or if the patient had recurrence. It was marginally
      higher if the uptake was located in the posterior arc. The proportion of
      metastases within the radiation field was significantly lower in patients with a
      history of irradiation. CONCLUSION: Newly detected purely rib uptake on a follow
      up bone scan in patients who have been treated for breast cancer is mostly
      because of fractures and rarely signals metastasis. However, if the patient has
      disease recurrence, metastasis should strongly be suspected, particularly when
      uptake is linear or located in the posterior arc.

PMID- 27636121
TI  - Electron Transfer in Nanoparticle Dyads Assembled on a Colloidal Template.
AB  - This work shows how to create covalently bound nanoparticle dyad assemblies on a
      colloidal template and studies photoinduced charge transfer in them. New results
      are reported for how the electron-transfer rate changes with the inter
      nanoparticle distance and the energy band offset of the nanoparticles (reaction
      Gibbs energy). The experimental findings show that the distance dependence is
      consistent with an electron tunneling mechanism. The dependence of the rate on
      the energy band offset is found to be consistent with Marcus theory, as long as
      one performs a sum over final electronic states. These results indicate that our
      understanding of electron transfer in molecular donor-bridge-acceptor assemblies
      can be translated to describe nanoparticle-bridge-nanoparticle assemblies.

PMID- 27636122
TI  - Association of 63/91 length polymorphism in the DHFR gene major promoter with
      toxicity of methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - AIM: Our aim was to explore the influence of 9-bp insertion/deletion and variable
      number of 9 bp elements (63/91) length polymorphism in noncoding interfering RNA
      and major promoter of DHFR gene on methotrexate (MTX) efficacy and toxicity in
      patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). PATIENTS & METHODS: Response to the MTX
      therapy and adverse effects were estimated in 243 RA patients genotyped for the
      selected polymorphism. RESULTS: The presence of allele 1 of analyzed polymorphism
      had significant protective effect against MTX toxicity (odds ratio: 0.37 [95% CI:
      0.19-0.70]; p = 0.002). Results remained significant in multiple logistic
      regression analysis with the inclusion of disease and treatment features in the
      model (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Polymorphism 63/91 in DHFR gene promoter can
      modulate the onset of MTX-related adverse effects in RA patients.

PMID- 27636123
TI  - Relationship Between Knee Pain and Patient Preferences for Joint Replacement:
      Health Care Access Matters.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if severity of osteoarthritis-related knee pain is
      associated with a willingness to undergo total knee replacement (TKR) and whether
      this association is confounded or modified by components of socioeconomic status
      and health care coverage. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis was conducted among
      3,530 Osteoarthritis Initiative study participants. Logistic regression models
      were used to assess the effect of knee pain severity (where 0 = none, 1-3 = mild,
      4-7 = moderate, and 8-10 = severe) on willingness to undergo TKR. Stratified
      analyses were conducted to evaluate whether socioeconomic status and health care
      coverage modify the effect of knee pain severity on willingness. RESULTS:
      Participants with severe knee pain, compared to participants without pain, were
      less willing to undergo TKR (odds ratio [OR] 0.73, 95% confidence interval [95%
      CI] 0.57-0.93). This association was attenuated when adjusted for age, sex,
      comorbidity, depression, health insurance coverage, prescription medicine
      coverage, health care source, education, income, employment, race, and marital
      status (adjusted OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.68-1.24). The odds of willingness to undergo
      TKR were significantly lower in those with the highest level of pain, compared to
      those without pain, among participants without health insurance (adjusted OR
      0.08, 95% CI 0.01-0.56), but not among those with health insurance (adjusted OR
      1.03, 95% CI 0.73-1.38), when adjusted for demographic, clinical, health care
      access, and socioeconomic factors (P = 0.015). However, <5% of participants were
      without health insurance. CONCLUSION: Among participants without health
      insurance, severe knee pain was paradoxically associated with less willingness to
      undergo TKR. Policies that improve access to quality health care may affect
      patient preferences and increase utilization of TKR surgery among vulnerable
      populations.

PMID- 27636124
TI  - Evaluation of Magnetic Resonance (MR) Biomarkers for Assessment of Response With
      Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors: Comparison of the Measurements of
      Neuroendocrine Tumor Liver Metastases (NETLM) With Various MR Sequences and at
      Multiple Phases of Contrast Administration.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our aim was to compare the interobserver and intraobserver variability
      for the measurement of the size of liver metastases in patients with carcinoid
      tumors with various magnetic resonance (MR) series. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      this retrospective institutional review board-approved study, 30 patients with
      liver metastases from a carcinoid primary had a complete MR examination of the
      abdomen at 1.5 T with gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid
      (Gd-EOB-DTPA). The complete MR examination included T1 (in-phase [IP]/out-of
      phase [OOP], T2, diffusion-weighted imaging, pre-Gd-EOB-DTPA and post-Gd-EOB-DTPA
      3D gradient echo (4 phases plus 20-minute hepatobiliary phase [HBP] Gd]). Four
      readers reviewed each series independently. The measurement for each lesion was
      compared to HBP-Gd images. The sensitivity for detection of each lesion was
      compared to HBP-Gd. Variance component analysis was used to estimate variance due
      to patient, lesion within patient, and reader by sequence. Linear mixed model was
      used to compare lesion size between sequences. RESULTS: The HBP-Gd had the
      smallest interreader variability. There was no significant difference between
      series with respect to interreader variability. Lesion sizes measured in
      diffusion-weighted imaging was significantly higher. T2-weighted imaging was the
      closest to HBP-Gd. Lesion sizes measured with the other sequences were
      significantly smaller. There was significant difference in sensitivity of lesion
      detection of some series when compared to HBP-Gd. CONCLUSION: The HBP-Gd series
      had the smallest interreader variability and is the recommended series to measure
      lesion size for evaluation of response to treatment.

PMID- 27636125
TI  - Assessment of Early Therapeutic Changes to Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy in
      Uterine Cervical Cancer Using Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent Magnetic
      Resonance Imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate blood oxygenation level-dependent
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in assessing early therapeutic changes in
      cervical cancers to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). METHODS: Fifteen
      consecutive patients with cervical cancer treated with CCRT were evaluated with
      blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI at 3 T. Magnetic resonance imaging
      examinations were performed before treatment (preTx), 1 week after treatment
      (postT1) and 4 weeks after treatment (postT2). At each time, the rate of spin
      dephasing (R2*) values were measured in tumor and in normal uterus. RESULTS:
      Tumor R2* increased from preTx to postT2 (P < 0.01). In pairwise comparisons of
      tumor R2*, postT2 was significantly higher than preTx or postT1 (P < 0.01),
      whereas postT1 was not significantly different from preTx (P > 0.05). A
      significant difference in R2* was found between the tumors and normal uterus at
      preTx (P = 0.001), postT1 (P < 0.001), and postT2 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Blood
      oxygenation level-dependent MRI may demonstrate early therapeutic changes of
      cervical cancers to CCRT.

PMID- 27636127
TI  - Dynamic Electrochemical Control of Cell Capture-and-Release Based on Redox
      Controlled Host-Guest Interactions.
AB  - Artificial control of cell adhesion on smart surface is an on-demand technique in
      areas ranging from tissue engineering, stem cell differentiation, to the design
      of cell-based diagnostic system. In this paper, we report an electrochemical
      system for dynamic control of cell catch-and-release, which is based on the redox
      controlled host-guest interaction. Experimental results reveal that the
      interaction between guest molecule (ferrocene, Fc) and host molecule (beta
      cyclodextrin, beta-CD) is highly sensitive to electrochemical stimulus. By
      applying a reduction voltage, the uncharged Fc can bind to beta-CD that is
      immobilized at the electrode surface. Otherwise, it is disassociated from the
      surface as a result of electrochemical oxidation, thus releasing the captured
      cells. The catch-and-release process on this voltage-responsive surface is
      noninvasive with the cell viability over 86%. Moreover, because Fc can act as an
      electrochemical probe for signal readout, the integration of this property has
      further extended the ability of this system to cell detection. Electrochemical
      signal has been greatly enhanced for cell detection by introducing branched
      polymer scaffold that are carrying large quantities of Fc moieties. Therefore, a
      minimum of 10 cells can be analyzed. It is anticipated that such redox-controlled
      system can be an important tool in biological and biomedical research, especially
      for electrochemical stimulated tissue engineering and cell-based clinical
      diagnosis.

PMID- 27636128
TI  - Understanding the Essential Meaning of Measured Changes in Weight and Body
      Composition Among Women During and After Adjuvant Treatment for Breast Cancer: A
      Mixed-Methods Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Changes in weight and body composition among women during and after
      adjuvant antineoplastic treatment for breast cancer may influence long-term
      survival and quality of life. Research on factual weight changes is diverse and
      contrasting, and their influence on women's perception of body and self seems to
      be insufficiently explored. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to expand the
      understanding of the association between changes in weight and body composition
      and the women's perception of body and selves. METHODS: A mixed-methods research
      design was used. Data consisted of weight and body composition measures from 95
      women with breast cancer during 18 months past surgery. Twelve women from this
      cohort were interviewed individually at 12 months. Linear mixed model and
      logistic regression were used to estimate changes of repeated measures and odds
      ratio. Interviews were analyzed guided by existential phenomenology. RESULTS:
      Joint displays and integrative mixed-methods interpretation demonstrated that
      even small weight gains, extended waist, and weight loss were associated with
      fearing recurrence of breast cancer. Perceiving an ambiguous transforming body,
      the women moved between a unified body subject and the body as an object
      dissociated in "I" and "it" while fighting against or accepting the body changes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Integrating findings demonstrated that factual weight changes do not
      correspond with the perceived changes and may trigger existential threats.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Transition to a new habitual body demand health
      practitioners to enter a joint narrative work to reveal how the changes impact on
      the women's body and self-perception independent of how they are displayed
      quantitatively.

PMID- 27636126
TI  - Use of Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging (SWI) in the Detection of Brain
      Hemorrhagic Metastases from Breast Cancer and Melanoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) has significantly increased our
      sensitivity in detecting hemorrhagic brain lesions. We sought to explore the
      prevalence of intratumoral hemorrhage as detected by SWI in brain metastases from
      melanoma and breast cancer. METHODS: Lesions with a size of 0.1 cm were
      categorized as micrometastases, whereas larger lesions were categorized as
      macrometastases. Susceptibility-weighted imaging findings on locations
      corresponding to enhancing lesions were categorized as either positive or
      negative based on presence/absence of signal dropout. The percentage of SWI
      positivity was then estimated as a function of lesion size. Two-tailed Fisher
      exact test was performed to examine differences in the contingency tables.
      RESULTS: Magnetic resonance imaging studies from 73 patients with 1173 brain
      metastases, which enhanced on postcontrast T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) were
      selected for analysis. Of these lesions, 952 had SWI data available, and 342 of
      952 were micrometastases. Only 10 of the 342 micrometastases and 410 (67.2%) of
      the 610 macrometastases were SWI positive (P < 0.0001). When examined by tumor
      type, 76.9% (melanoma) versus 55.6% (breast cancer) were SWI positive (P <
      0.0001), regardless of tumor size. All melanoma lesions (8/8) and only 1 of 15
      breast cancer lesions larger than 1.5 cm were SWI positive. CONCLUSION: With the
      use of combined SWI and contrast-enhanced high-resolution T1 imaging, we found
      that presence of intratumoral brain hemorrhage is uncommon in micrometastases but
      common in metastases greater than 0.1 cm from breast cancer or melanoma. Large
      metastases commonly harbored hemorrhage, and this occurred more frequently in
      patients with melanoma than with breast cancer.

PMID- 27636129
TI  - Facilitators of and Barriers to Gastric Cancer Screening Among Korean Americans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is the most highly prevalent cancer among Korean
      Americans, occurring at a higher rate than among other Asian Americans and non
      Latino Whites. However, little is known about the culturally specific barriers to
      gastric cancer screening among Korean Americans. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study
      was to explore facilitators of and barriers to gastric cancer screening among
      Korean Americans. METHODS: In this qualitative focus group study, a convenience
      sample of 50 Korean Americans aged 21 to 75 years was recruited from the Puget
      Sound area of Washington with the assistance of Korean churches. Five focus
      groups of 6 to 8 and 1 focus group of 13 were conducted in a church, a cafe, and
      an apartment community center. The focus group discussions lasted approximately
      30 minutes to 1 hour. Directed content analysis was used to analyze the data.
      RESULTS: Facilitators included exposure to Korean media, history and prevalence
      of gastric problems, perceptions concerning positive aspects of the healthcare
      system in South Korea, physician recommendations, technology, and church health
      fair. Barriers included a lack of knowledge, finance/lack of health insurance,
      fear of test results, perceptions of an inconvenient American healthcare system,
      a lack of knowledge of American healthcare providers on culturally related health
      risks, a dislike of medical procedures, and no preventive measures. CONCLUSIONS:
      Sociocultural facilitators and barriers add new knowledge in a field with scarce
      information available. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The study findings lay the
      groundwork for developing culturally relevant interventions that enhance
      healthcare providers' awareness while empowering Korean Americans to prevent
      gastric cancer.

PMID- 27636130
TI  - Enhancing Nurses' Oral Therapy Practice in 4 Latin American Countries: A
      Collaborative and Participatory Approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral therapy (OT) use for cancer is increasing globally. Yet, nurses
      in 4 Latin American countries lacked knowledge and educational opportunities to
      safely care for people receiving OTs. Global partnerships to contextualize
      education and create local capacity may enhance nursing practice. OBJECTIVE:
      Within 4 Latin American countries, this study aims to (1) develop, deliver, and
      evaluate an OT cancer nursing education program and (2) evaluate the feasibility
      and efficacy of using an integrated knowledge translation (iKT) framework to
      develop the program and foster nurses' capacity for OT care. METHODS: Using the
      iKT framework, a "train the trainer" model was used to develop, contextualize,
      pilot test, implement, and evaluate the OT education program. An online survey
      evaluated nurses' perceived benefits, ease of use, barriers, facilitators, and
      recommendations for improvement. Nurses' self-reported OT practices were
      evaluated 9 months after the final workshop. RESULTS: One hundred nineteen nurses
      across 4 countries participated in a pilot and/or final OT educational workshop,
      facilitated by 6 local nurse champions. The nurse champions found the program
      easy to use and modify. Participants reported using the curriculum to teach other
      nurses and patients and networking opportunities for problem solving. Barriers
      included nurses' role clarity and time for education. CONCLUSIONS: The iKT
      approach was an effective method to develop the OT curriculum and build OT
      capacity among nurses and leaders within the 4 countries. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      PRACTICE: The iKT approach may be useful in low- or middle-income countries to
      enhance nursing education and practice. Future OT education projects should
      strengthen strategies for ongoing support after education intervention.

PMID- 27636131
TI  - Quality of Life and Its Predictors Among Children and Adolescents With Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) increasingly is being assessed in pediatric
      patients with cancer. However, only a few studies focused on QoL predictors
      during and after treatment for pediatric patients with cancer. OBJECTIVE: The
      aims of this study were to (1) assess differences of QoL, distress behavior, and
      fatigue among children and adolescents; (2) examine the relationship of distress
      behaviors, fatigue, and a variety of demographic factors to QoL; and (3) identify
      QoL predictors. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study involving 150
      participants treated between 2012 and 2014 was conducted. All participants were
      given a diagnosis of cancer, ranged in age from 7 to 18 years, and had no
      developmental delay or mental illness. Three instruments including Pediatric
      Quality of Life, Distress Behaviors, and Multidimensional Fatigue Scale were
      administered. RESULTS: Adolescents aged 16 to 18 years reported lower school
      functioning and experienced more general and sleep/rest fatigue. Fatigue and
      distress behaviors were associated with a poorer QoL. Diagnosis at a younger age,
      greater time since diagnosis, and family structure were associated with a better
      QoL. General fatigue, relationship distress, family structure, and time since
      diagnosis were significant predictors of QoL, accounting for 64% of the total
      variance. CONCLUSIONS: Factors associated with a poorer QoL included fatigue,
      distress behaviors, and diagnosis at an older age. Less general fatigue and
      relationship distress, greater time since diagnosis, and living in nuclear family
      predicted a better QoL. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Routinely evaluating fatigue
      and school functioning in pediatric patients with cancer is warranted, as well as
      developing educational programs to enhance the management of fatigue and
      relationship issues, especially for those who were given a diagnosis recently or
      for late adolescents.

PMID- 27636132
TI  - Modified Julia Olefination on Anhydrides: Extension and Limitations. Application
      to the Synthesis of Maculalactone B.
AB  - The preparation of exo-enol esters from cyclic anhydrides is reported using a
      modified Julia olefination. The reaction is highly stereoselective. The Smiles
      rearrangement can be performed in a one-pot process, giving a straightforward
      access to exo-enol lactones. Furthermore, the reaction was extended to
      semistabilized sulfones, and this methodology was applied to the synthesis of
      maculalactone B.

PMID- 27636142
TI  - Self-esteem in adolescents with epilepsy: Psychosocial and seizure-related
      correlates.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study evaluated self-esteem in adolescents with epilepsy and its
      association with psychosocial and disease-related variables. METHODS: This was a
      cross-sectional study with patients enrolled between January and June 2010.
      Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory for Children (CFSEI-2) was administered to 140
      children with epilepsy and 50 children with asthma, aged 10-18years attending
      mainstream schools. RESULTS: Adolescents with epilepsy had a significantly lower
      overall self-esteem score when compared with those with asthma, 17+/-5.21 versus
      19.4+/-3.83, respectively (P=0.005). Thirty-one (22.1%) children with epilepsy
      compared with 4 (8.3%) with asthma had overall self-esteem score below the cutoff
      (P=0.034). There was a significant correlation between overall self-esteem score
      and duration of epilepsy, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) anxiety
      score, HADS depression score, and Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and
      Normal-Behaviors (SWAN) rating combined score. The impact of various correlates
      on individual domains was not identical. Independent factors associated with low
      overall self-esteem were HADS depression score (OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.2;
      P=0.002), duration of epilepsy (OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.88; P=0.024), and father
      employment status economically inactive (OR: 11.9; 95% CI: 1.07, 125; P=0.044).
      Seizure-free >=12months was a favorable factor that was less likely to be
      associated with low self-esteem (OR: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.81; P=0.028).
      CONCLUSION: Self-esteem was compromised in adolescents with epilepsy. A
      significant correlation between self-esteem and psychological comorbidities was
      demonstrated. Enhancing social support and education programs may improve the
      self-esteem and, ultimately, the lives of adolescents living with epilepsy.

PMID- 27636143
TI  - Biodegradable Micellar HPMA-Based Polymer-Drug Conjugates with Betulinic Acid for
      Passive Tumor Targeting.
AB  - Here, we present the synthesis, physicochemical, and preliminary biological
      characterization of micellar polymer-betulinic acid (BA) conjugates based on N-(2
      hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer carriers, enabling the controlled
      release of cytotoxic BA derivatives in solid tumors or tumor cells. Various HPMA
      copolymer conjugates differing in the structure of the spacer between the drug
      and the carrier were synthesized, all designed for pH-triggered drug release in
      tumor tissue or tumor cells. The high molecular weight of the micellar conjugates
      should improve the uptake of the drug in solid tumors due to the Enhanced
      permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Nevertheless, only the conjugate
      containing BA with methylated carboxyl groups enabled pH-dependent controlled
      release in vitro. Moreover, drug release led to the disassembly of the micellar
      structure, which facilitated elimination of the water-soluble HPMA copolymer
      carrier from the body by renal filtration. The methylated BA derivative and its
      polymer conjugate exhibited high cytostatic activity against DLD-1, HT-29, and
      HeLa carcinoma cell lines and enhanced tumor accumulation in HT-29 xenograft in
      mice.

PMID- 27636144
TI  - Comparison of the Prophylactic Antiemetic Efficacy of Aprepitant Plus
      Palonosetron Versus Aprepitant Plus Ramosetron in Patients at High Risk for
      Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A
      Prospective Randomized-controlled Trial.
AB  - We compared the antiemetic efficacy of aprepitant plus palonosetron versus
      aprepitant plus ramosetron in patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A
      total of 88, nonsmoking, female patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy
      were randomly allocated to 2 groups of 44 each who received palonosetron 0.075 mg
      (aprepitant plus palonosetron group) and ramosetron 0.3 mg (aprepitant plus
      ramosetron group) after induction of anesthesia. All patients received aprepitant
      80 mg 2 hours before surgery. The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting
      (PONV), use of rescue antiemetic, pain severity, and any side effects were
      assessed for 24 hours after surgery. The incidence of PONV and use of rescue
      antiemetic were less in aprepitant plus palonosetron group than in aprepitant
      plus ramosetron group for 24 hours after surgery (P<0.05, respectively). There
      was no difference in pain severity and side effects including headache and
      drowsiness. Aprepitant plus palonosetron significantly prevents PONV, compared
      with aprepitant plus ramosetron in patients at high risk for PONV after
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PMID- 27636145
TI  - Large Balloon Dilation Treatment for Retrieval of Embedded Sharp-pointed Objects
      in the Esophagus: A New Technique.
AB  - Most ingested foreign bodies are best treated with endoscopically. If the sharp
      pointed objects embedded in the esophageal wall, it may not be able to be removed
      by conventional endoscopic devices and surgery is required. Herein, we described
      a new technique for the extraction of both ends embedded sharp-pointed objects in
      the esophageal wall.

PMID- 27636146
TI  - Sensitivity and Specificity of Fractal Analysis to Distinguish Between Healthy
      and Pathologic Rectal Mucosa Microvasculature Seen During Colonoscopy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Conventional endoscopy is limited by human capability to recognize and
      to differentiate pathology. Fractal analysis of blood vessels has been used in
      other organs, such as the retina, but never before to supplement colonoscopy. The
      aim of this study was to assess whether it is possible to differentiate between
      healthy and pathologic rectal mucosa using fractal analysis of the mucosal
      microvascular architecture seen during colonoscopic examination (Supplemental
      Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/SLE/A145). METHODS: A total of 300
      consecutive patients, 133 females and 167 males with a mean age of 49.1 (+/-11.3)
      years, undergoing endoscopy were included in the prospective cohort study.
      Colonoscopy of the sigmorectal region was performed, and then analyzed with
      computer-assisted image fractal analysis. RESULTS: Fractal analysis of mucosal
      vasculature allowed for differentiation between healthy and pathologic rectal
      mucosa, as well as different pathologies (P<0.0001). The sensitivity of fractal
      analysis to diagnose rectal neoplasia was 92.8% to 96.4%, while the specificity
      was 91.9% to 98.5% depending on the fractal parameter. The sensitivity of fractal
      analysis to diagnose rectal colitis was 84.2% to 92.1%, while the specificity was
      95.0% to 96.0%, depending on the fractal parameter. CONCLUSIONS: Computer
      assisted fractal analysis allows for differentiation between healthy and
      pathologic rectal mucosa, as well as between different mucosal pathologies, seen
      during colonoscopy. Fractal analysis improves the sensitivity and specificity of
      colonoscopy to aid in the diagnosis of neoplasia or colitis, and should be
      included in the screening and surveillance of these pathologies.

PMID- 27636147
TI  - Is da Vinci Xi Better than da Vinci Si in Robotic Rectal Cancer Surgery?
      Comparison of the 2 Generations of da Vinci Systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to compare perioperative outcomes for procedures using the
      latest generation of da Vinci robot versus its previous version in rectal cancer
      surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-three patients undergoing robotic rectal
      cancer surgery between January 2010 and March 2015 were included. Patients were
      classified into 2 groups (Xi, n=28 vs. Si, n=25) and perioperative outcomes were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The groups had significant differences including operative
      procedure, hybrid technique and redocking (P>0.05). In univariate analysis, the
      Xi group had shorter console times (265.7 vs. 317.1 min, P=0.006) and total
      operative times (321.6 vs. 360.4 min, P=0.04) and higher number of lymph nodes
      harvested (27.5 vs. 17.0, P=0.008). In multivariate analysis, Xi robot was
      associated with a shorter console time (odds ratio: 0.09, P=0.004) with no
      significant differences regarding other outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Both generations
      of da Vinci robot led to similar short-term outcomes in rectal cancer surgery,
      but the Xi robot allowed shorter console times.

PMID- 27636148
TI  - Feasibility of Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection for Submucosal-invasive Gastric
      Cancer and the Predictors of Residual or Recurrent Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility
      of the endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for submucosal-invasive gastric
      cancer (SMGC) by assessing the therapeutic outcomes in patients treated with ESD.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2002 to 2013, ESD was performed for 597 lesions with
      early gastric cancer at our institute. ESD of the SMGC was performed for 85
      patients. RESULTS: Among these 85 patients, 35 patients underwent additional
      gastrectomy. Residual or recurrent cancer occurred in 12 patients treated through
      ESD method. The 5-year disease-specific survival rates were 94.9% for all 85
      patients and 97.2% for 49 patients with follow-up examinations after ESD. The
      multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that residual or recurrent
      cancer in the patients with SMGC was significantly associated with a tumor width
      in submucosa (P=0.0152). CONCLUSIONS: ESD for SMGC can be considered feasible in
      clinical practice in terms of the favorable long-term oncologic outcomes.

PMID- 27636149
TI  - Robotic Pancreaticoduodenectomy: Operative Steps (With Video).
AB  - Robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy represents actually an emerging procedure for
      robot-assisted surgery. Considering complexity, extensive dissection, and
      difficult restoration of the digestive continuity, it remains a challenge for
      surgeons. The embedded video (Supplemental Digital Content 1,
      http://links.lww.com/SLE/A146) reports our standardized technique for robotic
      pancreaticoduodenectomy. In conclusion, robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy is
      feasible and can be safely performed. Further evaluation with clinical trials is
      required to validate its real benefits.

PMID- 27636150
TI  - Proteomic Investigation of Ram Spermatozoa and the Proteins Conferred by Seminal
      Plasma.
AB  - Sperm proteomes have emerged for several species; however, the extent of species
      similarity is unknown. Sheep are an important agricultural species for which a
      comprehensive sperm proteome has not been produced. In addition, potential
      proteomic factors from seminal plasma that may contribute to improved fertility
      after cervical insemination are yet to be explored. Here we use liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to investigate the proteome of ejaculated
      ram spermatozoa, with quantitative comparison to epididymal spermatozoa. We also
      present a comparison to published proteomes of five other species. We identified
      685 proteins in ejaculated ram spermatozoa, with the most abundant proteins
      involved in metabolic pathways. Only 5% of ram sperm proteins were not detected
      in other species, which suggest highly conserved structures and pathways. Of the
      proteins present in both epididymal and ejaculated ram spermatozoa, 7% were more
      abundant in ejaculated spermatozoa. Only two membrane-bound proteins were
      detected solely in ejaculated sperm lysates: liver enriched gene 1 (LEG1/C6orf58)
      and epidermal growth factor-like repeats and discoidin I-like domains 3 (EDIL3).
      This is the first evidence that despite its relatively complex proteomic
      composition, seminal plasma exposure leads to few novel proteins binding tightly
      to the ram sperm plasma membrane.

PMID- 27636151
TI  - Effect of wet oxidation on the fingerprints of polymeric substances from an
      activated sludge.
AB  - Thermal pre-treatments of activated sludge involve the release of a high amount
      of polymeric substances into the bulk medium. The molecular size of these
      polymers will largely define the subsequent biological treatment of the liquid
      effluent generated. In this work, the effects of wet oxidation treatment (WO) on
      the fingerprints of the polymeric substances which compose the activated sludge,
      were analysed. For a better understanding of these transformations, the sludge
      was separated into its main fractions: soluble microbial products (SMP), loosely
      bound extracellular polymeric substances (LB-EPS), tightly bound extracellular
      polymeric substances (TB-EPS) and naked cells, and then each one was subjected to
      WO separately (190  degrees C and 65 bar), determining the fingerprints evolution
      by size exclusion technique. Results revealed a fast degradation of larger
      molecules (over 500 kDa) during the first minutes of treatment (40 min). WO also
      increases the absorptive properties of proteins (especially for 30 kDa), which is
      possibly due to the hydroxylation of phenylalanine amino acids in their
      structure. WO of naked cells involved the formation of molecules between 23 and
      190 kDa, which are related to the release of cytoplasmic polymers, and more
      hydrophobic polymers, probably from the cell membrane. The results allowed to
      establish a relationship between the location of polymeric material and its
      facility to become oxidised; thus, the more internal the polymeric material in
      the cell, the easier its oxidation. When working directly with the raw sludge,
      hydrolysis mechanisms played a key role during the starting period. Once a high
      degree of solubilisation was reached, the molecules were rapidly oxidised into
      other compounds with refractory characteristics. The final effluent after WO
      showed almost 90% of low molecular weight solubilised substances (0-35 kDa).

PMID- 27636152
TI  - Efficacy of wastewater treatment on Arcobacter butzleri density and strain
      diversity.
AB  - Arcobacter butzleri is a suspected waterborne enteric pathogen that is ubiquitous
      in the environment, but the degree to which wastewater treatment prevents entry
      of A. butzleri into environmental waters and the risks posed are not well
      established. Untreated and treated wastewater samples (n = 260) were collected
      weekly from the Lethbridge and Fort Macleod wastewater treatment facilities (the
      two major municipal inputs in southwestern Alberta, Canada) from May 2008 to
      April 2009. Untreated wastewaters contained high densities of A. butzleri and
      fecal coliform indicators, and densities at Lethbridge were typically higher than
      at Fort Macleod. Data indicated that A. butzleri and fecal coliform densities in
      wastewater were greatest in autumn and lowest in winter. Mechanical and
      biological treatment of wastewaters reduced but did not eliminate fecal coliform
      indicators or A. butzleri. At Lethbridge, UVB irradiation of mechanically and
      biologically treated wastewater further reduced densities of fecal coliform
      indicators. There was high A. butzleri genotype diversity in all sample sources,
      and survival during treatment was not strain-dependent. No genotype was dominant
      in any sample source, but 8.9% of genotypes were recurrent over time, and 4.4% of
      genotypes were detected at both wastewater treatment facilities. The current
      study demonstrates that viable A. butzleri are able to survive wastewater
      treatment, including UVB irradiation, which may lead to increased density and
      genetic diversity of this suspected pathogen in environmental waters via
      wastewater effluent discharge.

PMID- 27636153
TI  - Transplantation of allogenic chondrocytes with chitosan hydrogel-demineralized
      bone matrix hybrid scaffold to repair rabbit cartilage injury.
AB  - Cartilage tissue engineering is the hotspot of cartilage repair. The allogenic
      chondrocytes appear to be a promising source of seed cells in cartilage tissue
      engineering. In this study, we aimed to transplant allogenic chondrocytes with
      chitosan hydrogel (CS)-demineralized bone matrix (DBM) hybrid scaffold (CS/DBM)
      to repair rabbit cartilage injury with one-step operation. After the CS/DBM
      scaffold was successfully fabricated, it showed that the porous CS filled the
      large pores of DBM, which improved the distribution of seed cells in the CS/DBM
      scaffold. The allogenic chondrocytes at second passage were transplanted with
      different scaffolds to repair rabbit cartilage injury. Twenty-four weeks after
      surgery, the cartilage defect in the CS/DBM group was successfully filled as
      shown by MRI. Moreover, the histological score of CS/DBM group was significantly
      higher than that of the other groups. On the aspect of biomechanical property,
      the regenerated cartilage in the CS/DBM group were superior to those in the other
      groups as determined by nanoindentation. Meanwhile, no obvious inflammatory
      response was observed after the transplantation of allogenic chondrocytes at 24
      weeks post-surgery. Furtherly, gene expression profile for cells within the
      repair tissue was compared with the allogenic chondrocytes before transplantation
      using Agilent microarray and RT-qPCR. The results showed that some genes
      beneficial to cartilage regeneration, such as BMP-7, HGF, and IGF-1, were
      upregulated one month after transplantation. Consequently, our study demonstrated
      that the transplantation of allogenic chondrocytes with CS/DBM scaffold
      successfully repaired rabbit cartilage injury with only one-step operation,
      thereby providing new insights into cartilage tissue engineering.

PMID- 27636155
TI  - Caregivers' perception of factors associated with a healthy diet among people
      with intellectual disability living in community residences: A Concept mapping
      method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many people with intellectual disabilities (ID) living in community
      based residences have been found to have unhealthy diet and weight disturbances.
      In Norway, a majority of people with ID live in such residences. AIMS: The aim of
      the study was to examine factors affecting the caregivers' opportunity to promote
      a healthy diet among the residents. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A concept mapping
      methodology was adopted, including group-based brainstorming, idea synthesising,
      sorting, rating and analysis of the results. Informants were caregivers in four
      different community residences for people with mild to moderate ID in the
      southeast of Norway. A total of 13 informants were recruited (12 females and 1
      male), and 10 informants completed two sessions. RESULTS: Eight clusters were
      identified as affecting the caregivers' ability to promote a healthy diet:
      "Availability and accessibility", "Guidance and autonomy", "Competence among
      staff", "Planning and involvement", "Customization", "External conditions
      affecting staff", "Legislation, rules and structure" and "Everyday challenges",
      each including both barriers and facilitators. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:
      Multiple factors affect the caregivers' ability to promote a healthy diet.
      Caregivers' opportunity to promote a healthy diet is complex. Availability and
      accessibility of healthy food is crucial, but a healthy diet also requires time
      and competence among the caregivers.

PMID- 27636154
TI  - Immunomodulatory nanoparticles ameliorate disease in the Leishmania (Viannia)
      panamensis mouse model.
AB  - Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis (L. (V.) panamensis) is a species of protozoan
      parasites that causes New World leishmaniasis, which is characterized by a hyper
      inflammatory response. Current treatment strategies, mainly chemotherapeutic, are
      suboptimal due to adverse effects, long treatment regimens, and increasing drug
      resistance. Recently, immunotherapeutic approaches have shown promise in
      preclinical studies of leishmaniasis. As NPs may enable broad cellular
      immunomodulation through internalization in phagocytic and antigen-presenting
      cells, we tested the therapeutic efficacy of biodegradable NPs encapsulating a
      pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP), CpG-rich oligonucleotide (CpG; NP
      CpG), in mice infected with L. (V.) panamensis. NP-CpG treatment reduced lesion
      size and parasite burden, while neither free CpG nor empty NP showed therapeutic
      effects. NP-encapsulation led to CpG persistence at the site of infection along
      with an unexpected preferential cellular uptake by myeloid derived suppressor
      cells (MDSCs; CD11b(+)Ly6G(+)Ly6C(-)) as well as CD19(+) dendritic cells. This
      corresponded with the suppression of the ongoing immune response measured by the
      reduction of pathogenic cytokines IL-10 and IL-13, as well as IL-17 and IFNgamma,
      in comparison to other treatment groups. As chronic inflammation is generally
      associated with the accumulation of MDSCs, this study may enable the rational
      design of cost-effective, safe, and scalable delivery systems for the treatment
      of inflammation-mediated diseases.

PMID- 27636156
TI  - Psychometric properties of the Arabic self-report version of the strengths and
      difficulties questionnaire.
AB  - : Students in middle school tend to display emotional and behavioural
      difficulties (EBDs) compared to other forms of psychopathology. Early
      identification of EBDs is therefore a priority in order to prevent the chronic co
      morbidity with other forms of psychopathology which may affect students' academic
      achievement. Assessment of EBDs has been traditionally undertaken via proxy
      reporting; but psychometrically rigorous instruments are needed so that children
      and adolescents can report on their own emotions and behaviours. Such need
      increases in the Omani context given the lack of EBDs adequate assessment
      instruments. In the current study the factor structure of the Arabic self-report
      version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (A-SDQ) was examined in a
      sample of 815 middle school students (mean age=14 years). The study tested the
      SDQ original five-factor model which received considerable empirical support.
      Responses on the A-SDQ were compared to responses obtained via proxy reports from
      teachers and parents through confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). Results showed
      a reasonable fit for the three informant forms. Nevertheless, there were
      differences in item loadings across the three informant forms. Additionally,
      participants' self-report responses were tested for invariance across gender.
      CFAs provided support to the invariance hypothesis for item loadings, indicating
      that the items were similarly valid indices of the five factors for males and
      females. Factor correlations, factor variances and item residuals were not
      invariant across gender. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: This paper, to our knowledge, is
      the first research paper that provides empirical evidence on the Arabic self
      report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (A-SDQ) within a
      school-based sample. Though the focus was on the self-report version we collected
      data from the proxy versions for parents and teachers to provide additional
      evidence on the construct validity of the (A-SDQ) through cross informant data.

PMID- 27636158
TI  - Space charge and screening in bilayer graphene.
AB  - Undoped bilayer graphene is a two-dimensional semimetal with a low-energy
      excitation spectrum that is parabolic in the momentum. As a result, the screening
      of an arbitrary external charge Ze is accompanied by a reconstruction of the
      ground state: valence band electrons (for Z  >  0) are promoted to form a space
      charge around the charge while the holes leave the physical picture. The outcome
      is a flat neutral object resembling the regular atom except that for [Formula:
      see text] it is described by a strictly linear Thomas-Fermi theory. This theory
      also predicts that the bilayer's static dielectric constant is the same as that
      of a two-dimensional electron gas in the long-wavelength limit.

PMID- 27636159
TI  - Personality and body image: A systematic review.
AB  - This study systematically reviewed the evidence for personality as a correlate of
      body image. Electronic databases and reference lists were searched in May 2016
      for studies reporting an association between at least one dimension of
      personality and at least one component of negative body image. Twenty-six studies
      (33 discrete samples) met inclusion criteria. Sixteen samples were coded as
      medium-high quality. The results indicated that negative body image was
      associated with higher levels of Neuroticism and lower levels of Extraversion.
      Agreeableness was not related to body image, and findings for Conscientiousness
      and Openness were indeterminate. After taking study quality into account,
      negative body image was also associated with lower levels of Conscientiousness.
      Neuroticism was associated with negative body image in both women and men. Sex
      moderation effects for Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness were
      indeterminate. Large-sample, prospective studies of personality and body image
      are recommended.

PMID- 27636157
TI  - Associations between PTSD and intimate partner and non-partner aggression among
      substance using veterans in specialty mental health.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risk factors of violence perpetration in veterans include substance
      use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, it is unknown whether
      these factors are associated with greater risk for partner or non-partner
      violence. This study investigated the associations between probable PTSD, heavy
      drinking, marijuana use, cocaine use, and partner and non-partner violence
      perpetration. METHODS: Self-report questionnaires assessing past-year partner and
      non-partner aggression (CTS2) as well as past-month substance use (SAOM),
      probable PTSD (PCL-C), and probable depression (PHQ-9) were administered to 810
      substance using veterans entering VA mental health treatment. RESULTS: In
      bivariate analyses, probable PTSD in substance using veterans was associated with
      violence perpetration (partner physical, chi2=11.46, p=0.001, phi=0.12; non
      partner physical, chi2=50.64, p<0.001, phi=0.25; partner injury, chi2=6.41,
      p=0.011, phi=0.09; non-partner injury, chi2=42.71, p<0.001, phi=0.23). In
      multiple logistic regression analyses that adjusted for sociodemographic
      characteristics, probable PTSD was independently associated with non-partner
      physical (odds ratio [OR], 2.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.97-4.05) and
      injury aggression (OR, 3.96; CI, 2.56-6.13). Cocaine and heavy drinking were
      independently associated with non-partner physical and injury aggression and non
      partner injury aggression respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide evidence
      that probable PTSD, heavy drinking, and cocaine use are associated with increased
      risk of non-partner violence perpetration in substance using veterans. These
      results underscore the importance of screening for PTSD symptoms and violence
      perpetration towards non-partners in substance using veterans presenting for
      treatment.

PMID- 27636160
TI  - Psychometric properties and validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards
      Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) with a sample of Japanese adolescent girls.
AB  - The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) is a 22
      item five-factor measure that assesses thin- and muscular-ideal internalization
      as well as appearance-related pressures from peers, family, and media. The scale
      has been validated in Western cultures, but has not yet been examined in Eastern
      samples. Two studies were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the
      SATAQ-4 among 946 Japanese adolescent girls. In Study 1, exploratory factor
      analysis of the SATAQ-4 indicated that the five-factor structure was largely
      replicated with the exception of two cross-loading items. In Study 2,
      confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fit for the full 22-item and reduced
      20-item versions of the measure. SATAQ-4 subscales exhibited good internal
      consistency and were correlated in the expected direction with experiences of
      appearance teasing, strategies to lose and/or gain weight, and drive for
      muscularity. Overall, results support the reliability and validity of the SATAQ-4
      among Japanese adolescent girls.

PMID- 27636163
TI  - Applying Alkyl-Chain Surface Functionalizations in Mesoporous Inorganic
      Structures: Their Impact on Gas Flow and Selectivity Depending on Temperature.
AB  - Porous inorganic capillary membranes are prepared to serve as model structures
      for the experimental investigation of the gas transport in functionalized
      mesopores. The porous structures possess a mean pore diameter of 23 nm which is
      slightly reduced to 20 nm after immobilizing C16-alkyl chains on the surface. Gas
      permeation measurements are performed at temperatures ranging from 0 to 80 
      degrees C using Ar, N2, and CO2. Nonfunctionalized structures feature a gas
      transport according to Knudsen diffusion with regard to gas flow and selectivity.
      After C16-functionalization, the gas flow is reduced by a factor of 10, and the
      ideal selectivities deviate from the Knudsen theory. CO2 adsorption measurements
      show a decrease in total amount of adsorbed gas and isosteric heat of adsorption.
      It is hypothesized that the immobilized C16-chains sterically influence the gas
      transport behavior without a contribution from adsorption effects. The reduced
      gas flow derives from an additional surface resistance caused by the C16-chains
      spacially limiting the adsorption and desorption directions for gas molecules
      propagating through the structure, resulting in longer diffusion paths. In
      agreement, the gas flow is found to correlate with the molecular diameter of the
      gas species (CO2 < Ar < N2) increasing the resistance for larger molecules. This
      affects the ideal selectivities with the relation [Formula: see text]. The
      influence on selectivity increases with increasing temperature which leads to the
      conclusion that the temperature induced movement of the C16-chains is responsible
      for the stronger interaction between gas molecules and surface functional groups.

PMID- 27636161
TI  - Enhanced Antiglioblastoma Efficacy of Neovasculature and Glioma Cells Dual
      Targeted Nanoparticles.
AB  - Combining treatment of anticancer cells and antiangiogenesis is considered to be
      a potential targeted strategy for brain glioblastoma therapy. In this study, by
      utilizing the overexpression of Interleukin 13 receptor alpha2 (IL-13Ralpha2) on
      the glioma cells and heparan sulfate on neovascular endothelial cells, we
      developed a paclitaxel (PTX) loaded Pep-1 and CGKRK peptide-modified PEG-PLGA
      nanoparticle (PC-NP-PTX) for glioma cells and neovasculature dual-targeted
      chemotherapy to enhance the antiglioma efficacy. There were significant
      differences both on the enhancement of cellular uptake in HUVEC and C6 cells and
      on the improvement of in vitro antiglioma activity in the respect of
      proliferation, tumor spheroid growth, tube formation, and migration between PC-NP
      PTX and Taxol and NP-PTX. As for C6 cells, the IC50 were 3.59 +/- 0.056, 2.37 +/-
      0.044, 1.38 +/- 0.028, 1.82 +/- 0.035, and 1.00 +/- 0.016 MUg/mL of Taxol, NP
      PTX, Pep-NP-PTX, CGKRK-NP-PTX, and PC-NP-PTX, and for HUVEC cells, the IC50 were
      0.44 +/- 0.006, 0.33 +/- 0.005, 0.25 +/- 0.005, 0.19 +/- 0.004, and 0.16 +/-
      0.004 MUg/mL of Taxol, NP-PTX, Pep-NP-PTX, CGKRK-NP-PTX, and PC-NP-PTX,
      respectively. In vivo distribution assays confirmed that PC-NP-PTX targeted and
      accumulated effectively at glioma site. PC-NP-PTX showed a longer median survival
      time of 61 days when compared with Taxol (22 days), NP-PTX (24 days), Pep-NP-PTX
      (32 days), and CGKRK-NP-PTX (34 days). The in vivo antiglioma efficacy and safety
      evaluation showed PC-NP-PTX significantly enhanced the antiglioma efficacy and
      displayed negligible acute toxicity.

PMID- 27636162
TI  - Relationship between Surface Chemistry and Catalytic Performance of Mesoporous
      gamma-Al2O3 Supported VOX Catalyst in Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Propane.
AB  - Mesoporous gamma-Al2O3 was synthesized via a cation-anion double hydrolysis
      approach (CADH). The synthesized mesoporous alumina displayed a relatively high
      surface area, a large pore volume and a narrow pore size distribution. By
      applying the mesoporous alumina as a support, supported vanadium catalysts were
      prepared and evaluated in the dehydrogenation of propane, exhibiting a superior
      catalytic performance over that supported on a commercial alumina. Materials were
      characterized with a variety of techniques such as X-ray diffraction, X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, 51V magnetic angle
      spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transformed
      infrared spectroscopy of pyridine adsorption and thermogravimetric-differential
      thermal analysis. The correlated structure-performance relationship of catalysts
      reveals that a higher crystallization temperature endows mesoporous alumina
      materials with more surface acid sites, favoring the formation of polymerized VOX
      species, which are more active than isolated ones in the propane dehydrogenation,
      resulting in a better catalytic performance. The established relationship between
      surface chemistry and catalytic performance of supported VOX catalysts suggests
      that a superior vanadium catalyst for propane dehydrogenation could be achieved
      by rationally enriching the concentration of polymeric VOX species on the
      catalyst, which can be realized by tuning the surface acidity of alumina support.

PMID- 27636164
TI  - Crop milk protein is synthesised following activation of the IRS1/Akt/TOR
      signalling pathway in the domestic pigeon (Columba livia).
AB  - The experiment was conducted to study whether insulin receptor substance 1 (IRS1)
      / Protein kinase B (Akt)/target of the rapamycin (TOR) signalling pathway
      activation stimulates crop milk protein synthesis in the domestic pigeon (Columba
      livia). Crop milk was collected from ten 1-d-old squabs and analysed for nutrient
      content. During the non-breeding period and the first day of lactation, blood
      samples were collected from 5 pairs of breeding pigeons and the levels of
      prolactin and insulin were determined. Crop samples were collected from 5 pairs
      of breeders at d 14 and 16 of the incubation period and d 1, 3 and 7 of the
      lactation period. Crop samples were evaluated for changes in crop weight and
      thickness and changes in the expression patterns of IRS1/Akt/TOR signalling
      pathway-related proteins. The results demonstrated that prolactin induces a
      gradual increase in the relative weight and thickness of the crop, with crops
      reaching a maximum size at the third day of lactation. Pigeon crop milk contains
      64.1% crude protein and 29.7% crude fat based on dry weight. Serum prolactin and
      insulin levels in the lactation period were significantly higher than those in
      the non-breeding period. Compared with non-breeding pigeons, the expression of
      the phosphorylated IRS1 phosphorylated Akt, phosphorylated TOR, phosphorylated
      ribosomal protein S6 kinase, phosphorylated S6, phosphorylated eukaryotic
      initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E were
      significantly up-regulated in the crop of pigeons in the lactation period. In
      conclusion, prolactin might induce changes in crop tissue and form the
      physiological structure for crop milk synthesis. Furthermore, the synthesis of
      crop milk protein is regulated by activation of the IRS1/Akt/TOR signalling
      pathway.

PMID- 27636178
TI  - Effectiveness of a motionless ultrasonic toothbrush in reducing plaque and
      gingival inflammation in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of a motionless ultrasonic toothbrush to
      a manual toothbrush in reducing dental plaque, gingival inflammation, and mutans
      streptococci in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Twenty-five orthodontic patients were recruited to this crossover study.
      The patients were randomized into two groups starting with manual or motionless
      ultrasonic toothbrushes for 30 days. After a 30-day washout period, the patients
      switched to the other toothbrush type for 30 days. Plaque and gingival indices
      were evaluated by two calibrated-blinded examiners before and after each 30-day
      period of brushing. Salivary samples were also collected for quantification of
      mutans streptococci. RESULTS: On the bracket side, the motionless ultrasonic
      toothbrush showed a significantly higher mean plaque index bracket score after 30
      day usage than baseline (P = .049), while the manual toothbrush group showed no
      difference between the before and after brushing periods (P = .10). The changes
      in plaque index bracket score were significantly more favorable in the manual
      toothbrush group than in the ultrasonic toothbrush group (P = .04). In contrast,
      no difference was observed on the nonbracket side. There was no significant
      difference in the changes of gingival index or the numbers of mutans streptococci
      between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Manual toothbrushing performed better than
      brushing with the motionless ultrasonic toothbrush in plaque removal on the
      bracket side in orthodontic patients. However, no difference was observed in
      terms of gingival status and the numbers of mutans streptococci.

PMID- 27636179
TI  - Image-guided endoscopic surgery for spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral
      hematoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Endoscopic removal of intracerebral hematomas is becoming increasingly
      common, but there is no standard technique. The authors explored the use of a
      simple image-guided endoscopic method for removal of spontaneous supratentorial
      hematomas. METHODS Virtual reality technology based on a hospital picture
      archiving and communications systems (PACS) was used in 3D hematoma visualization
      and surgical planning. Augmented reality based on an Android smartphone app, Sina
      neurosurgical assist, allowed a projection of the hematoma to be seen on the
      patient's scalp to facilitate selection of the best trajectory to the center of
      the hematoma. A obturator and transparent sheath were used to establish a working
      channel, and an endoscope and a metal suction apparatus were used to remove the
      hematoma. RESULTS A total of 25 patients were included in the study, including 18
      with putamen hemorrhages and 7 with lobar cerebral hemorrhages. Virtual reality
      combined with augmented reality helped in achieving the desired position with the
      obturator and sheath. The median time from the initial surgical incision to
      completion of closure was 50 minutes (range 40-70 minutes). The actual endoscopic
      operating time was 30 (range 15-50) minutes. The median blood loss was 80 (range
      40-150) ml. No patient experienced postoperative rebleeding. The average hematoma
      evacuation rate was 97%. The mean (+/- SD) preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)
      score was 6.7 +/- 3.2; 1 week after hematoma evacuation the mean GCS score had
      improved to 11.9 +/- 3.1 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Virtual reality using hospital
      PACS and augmented reality with a smartphone app helped precisely localize
      hematomas and plan the appropriate endoscopic approach. A transparent sheath
      helped establish a surgical channel, and an endoscope enabled observation of the
      hematoma's location to achieve satisfactory hematoma removal.

PMID- 27636180
TI  - A brief history of carotid-cavernous fistula.
AB  - Carotid-cavernous fistula was one of the first intracranial vascular lesions to
      be recognized. This paper focuses on the historical progression of our
      understanding of the condition and its symptomatology-from the initial hypothesis
      of ophthalmic artery aneurysm as the cause of pulsating exophthalmos to the
      recognition and acceptance of fistulas between the carotid arterial system and
      cavernous sinus as the true etiology. The authors also discuss the advancements
      in treatment from Benjamin Travers' early common carotid ligation and wooden
      compression methods to today's endovascular approaches.

PMID- 27636181
TI  - Modification of electrophysiological activity pattern after anterior thalamic
      deep brain stimulation for intractable epilepsy: report of 3 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Thalamic stimulation can provoke electroencephalography (EEG)
      synchronization or desynchronization, which can help to reduce the occurrence of
      seizures in intractable epilepsy, though the underlying mechanism is not fully
      understood. Therefore, the authors investigated changes in EEG electrical
      activity to better understand the seizure-reducing effects of deep brain
      stimulation (DBS) in patients with intractable epilepsy. METHODS Electrical
      activation patterns in the epileptogenic brains of 3 patients were analyzed using
      classical low-resolution electromagnetic tomography analysis recursively applied
      (CLARA). Electrical activity recorded during thalamic stimulation was compared
      with that recorded during the preoperative and postoperative off-stimulation
      states in patients who underwent anterior thalamic nucleus DBS for intractable
      epilepsy. RESULTS Interictal EEG was fully synchronized to the beta frequency in
      the postoperative on-stimulation period. The CLARA showed that electrical
      activity during preoperative and postoperative off-stimulation states was
      localized in cortical and subcortical areas, including the insular, middle
      frontal, mesial temporal, and precentral areas. No electrical activity was
      localized in deep nucleus structures. However, with CLARA, electrical activity in
      the postoperative on-stimulation period was localized in the anterior cingulate
      area, basal ganglia, and midbrain. CONCLUSIONS Anterior thalamic stimulation
      could spread electrical current to the underlying neuronal networks that connect
      with the thalamus, which functions as a cortical pacemaker. Consequently, the
      thalamus could modify electrical activity within these neuronal networks and
      influence cortical EEG activity by inducing neuronal synchronization between the
      thalamus and cortical structures.

PMID- 27636182
TI  - Aneurysms with persistent patency after treatment with the Pipeline Embolization
      Device.
AB  - The Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) was approved for the treatment of
      intracranial aneurysms from the petrous to the superior hypophyseal segment of
      the internal carotid artery. However, since its approval, its use for treatment
      of intracranial aneurysms in other locations and non-sidewall aneurysms has grown
      tremendously. The authors report on a cohort of 15 patients with 16 cerebral
      aneurysms that incorporated an end vessel with no significant distal collaterals,
      which were treated with the PED. The cohort includes 7 posterior communicating
      artery aneurysms, 5 ophthalmic artery aneurysms, 1 superior cerebellar artery
      aneurysm, 1 anterior inferior cerebellar artery aneurysm, and 2 middle cerebral
      artery aneurysms. None of the aneurysms achieved significant occlusion at the
      last follow-up evaluation (mean 24 months). Based on these observations, the
      authors do not recommend the use of flow diverters for the treatment of this
      subset of cerebral aneurysms.

PMID- 27636184
TI  - Is less always better? Keyhole and standard subtemporal approaches: evaluation of
      temporal lobe retraction and surgical volume with and without zygomatic osteotomy
      in a cadaveric model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE The subtemporal approach is one of the surgical routes used to reach
      the interpeduncular fossa. Keyhole subtemporal approaches and zygomatic arch
      osteotomy have been proposed in an effort to decrease the amount of temporal lobe
      retraction. However, the effects of these modified subtemporal approaches on
      temporal lobe retraction have never been objectively validated. METHODS A keyhole
      and a classic subtemporal craniotomy were executed in 4 fresh-frozen silicone
      injected cadaver heads. The target was defined as the area bordered by the
      superior cerebellar artery, the anterior clinoid process, supraclinoid internal
      carotid artery, and the posterior cerebral artery. Once the target was fully
      visualized, the authors evaluated the amount of temporal lobe retraction by
      measuring the distance between the base of the middle fossa and the temporal
      lobe. In addition, the volume of the surgical and anatomical corridors was
      assessed as well as the surgical maneuverability using navigation and 3D
      moldings. The same evaluation was conducted after a zygomatic osteotomy was added
      to the two approaches. RESULTS Temporal lobe retraction was the same in the two
      approaches evaluated while the surgical corridor and the maneuverability were all
      greater in the classic subtemporal approach. CONCLUSIONS The zygomatic arch
      osteotomy facilitates the maneuverability and the surgical volume in both
      approaches, but the temporal lobe retraction benefit is confined to the lateral
      part of the middle fossa skull base and does not result in the retraction
      necessary to expose the selected target.

PMID- 27636183
TI  - A method for safely resecting anterior butterfly gliomas: the surgical anatomy of
      the default mode network and the relevance of its preservation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Gliomas invading the anterior corpus callosum are commonly deemed
      unresectable due to an unacceptable risk/benefit ratio, including the risk of
      abulia. In this study, the authors investigated the anatomy of the cingulum and
      its connectivity within the default mode network (DMN). A technique is described
      involving awake subcortical mapping with higher attention tasks to preserve the
      cingulum and reduce the incidence of postoperative abulia for patients with so
      called butterfly gliomas. METHODS The authors reviewed clinical data on all
      patients undergoing glioma surgery performed by the senior author during a 4-year
      period at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Forty patients were
      identified who underwent surgery for butterfly gliomas. Each patient was
      designated as having undergone surgery either with or without the use of awake
      subcortical mapping and preservation of the cingulum. Data recorded on these
      patients included the incidence of abulia/akinetic mutism. In the context of the
      study findings, the authors conducted a detailed anatomical study of the cingulum
      and its role within the DMN using postmortem fiber tract dissections of 10
      cerebral hemispheres and in vivo diffusion tractography of 10 healthy subjects.
      RESULTS Forty patients with butterfly gliomas were treated, 25 (62%) with
      standard surgical methods and 15 (38%) with awake subcortical mapping and
      preservation of the cingulum. One patient (1/15, 7%) experienced postoperative
      abulia following surgery with the cingulum-sparing technique. Greater than 90%
      resection was achieved in 13/15 (87%) of these patients. CONCLUSIONS This study
      presents evidence that anterior butterfly gliomas can be safely removed using a
      novel, attention-task based, awake brain surgery technique that focuses on
      preserving the anatomical connectivity of the cingulum and relevant aspects of
      the cingulate gyrus.

PMID- 27636185
TI  - The Myth of Openness and Secrecy in Intimate Relationships: The Case of Spouses
      of Mixed-Orientation Marriage.
AB  - The phenomenon of mixed-orientation marriages, in which one of the partners is
      straight and the other is non-straight, is invisible, yet not insignificant.
      Focusing on gay and bisexual men who are married to straight women, this article
      was designed to explore one of the essential themes in their relationship: the
      dynamics between secrecy and openness regarding the men's sexual orientation and
      gay practices. Based on the phenomenological paradigm, 38 men and eight women of
      mixed-orientation marriages in Israel were interviewed and shared their
      subjective life reality. Six patterns of secrecy and openness were identified,
      including complete secrecy, conspiracy of silence, initiated concealment (of the
      husband and wife), disloyalty/violation of the agreement, selective sharing, and
      complete openness. The findings challenge the idea that secrecy is detrimental
      and openness is beneficial in the context of mixed-orientation marriages.
      Findings are discussed within the framework of the dialectical approach.

PMID- 27636186
TI  - Do Pediatric Teams Affect Outcomes of Injured Children Requiring Inter-hospital
      Transport?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Studies show that pediatric trauma centers produce better outcomes
      and reduced mortality for injured children. Yet, most children do not have timely
      access to a pediatric trauma center and require stabilization locally with
      subsequent transfer. Investigators have demonstrated that pediatric transport
      teams (PTT) improve outcomes for critically ill children; however, these studies
      did not differentiate outcomes for injured children. It may be that moderate to
      severely injured children actually fare worse with PTT due to slower transport
      times inherent to their remote locations and thus delays in important
      interventions. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if outcomes
      for injured children are affected by use of PTT for inter-hospital transfer.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 1,177 children transferred
      to a pediatric trauma center for injury care between March 1st, 2012 and December
      31st, 2013. We compared children who were transported by PTT (ground/air) to
      those transported by ground advanced life support (ALS) and air critical care
      (ACC). We described patient characteristics and transport times. For PTT vs. ALS
      and ACC, we compared hospital length of stay (LOS), transport interventions and
      adverse events. RESULTS: 1,177 injured children were transferred by the following
      modes: 68% ALS, 13% ACC, 11% Ground PTT, and 9% Air PTT. Children transported by
      PTT were younger and had higher ISS and lower GCS scores. PTT had a longer total
      transport time, departure preparation time, and patient bedside time. After
      controlling for age, ISS, GCS, transport mode, distance, and time, we found no
      significant difference in LOS between PTT vs. ALS and ACC. A subgroup analysis of
      children with higher ISS scores demonstrated a 65% longer LOS for children
      transported by ACC vs. PTT. There were no differences between transport teams
      with regard to acidosis, hypocarbia or hypercarbia, or maintenance of tubes and
      lines. CONCLUSIONS: Children transported by PTT were younger and sicker (vs. ACC
      and ALS). Despite longer transport times, children transported by PTT did not
      have a longer hospital LOS or adverse events during transport. However, for those
      children with higher ISS, transport by ACC resulted in longer hospital LOS vs.
      PTT.

PMID- 27636187
TI  - A retrospective analysis of the role of adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of
      cutaneous melanoma.
AB  - Melanoma is a significant clinical problem, with rising rates of incidence.
      Surgery is the mainstay of treatment. The role of adjuvant radiotherapy in the
      control of locoregionally advanced cutaneous melanoma is controversial. A
      retrospective study of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
      database was performed. Patients with locoregionally confined cutaneous melanoma
      treated surgically between 2004 and 2009 were evaluated, with cancer-specific and
      all-cause mortality as primary end points. Propensity score matching was used to
      match 319 radiotherapy patients with 319 non-radiotherapy controls, stratifying
      by head and neck (HN) and non-head and neck (NHN) primary. Surgery was primarily
      by wide excision in both the radiotherapy (51.72%) and non-radiotherapy (53.91%)
      groups. The majority had nodal disease (82.13% vs. 82.44%). White (91.22% vs.
      90.59%) males (70.21% vs. 68.96%) predominated. Average ages at diagnosis were
      62.27 (SD 15.93) and 63.02 (SD 16.03). Using Cox proportional hazards models,
      radiation conferred decreased survival in all-cause (HR 1.44, p < 0.0003), and
      cancer specific mortality (HR 1.57, p < 0.0002) in combined analysis. The NHN
      group showed significantly decreased 6-year cancer specific survival (HR 2.05, p
      < 0.0001) for radiated patients. The HN group showed a non-significant hazard
      with radiotherapy (HR 1.19, p = 0.307). Meaningful differences not captured in
      the SEER database may exist between cohorts. Based on available SEER data,
      routine use of adjuvant radiotherapy should be viewed with caution and reserved
      for high-risk patients. Future trials evaluating patient quality of life may
      clarify the benefit of adjuvant radiotherapy in high-risk melanoma populations.

PMID- 27636189
TI  - Effects of Video Footage Versus Photographs on Perception of Dog Behavioral
      Traits.
AB  - Photographs are frequently used to promote adoption of dogs on rescue shelter
      websites. While physical traits are well illustrated via photographs, conveying a
      dog's behavioral traits is more problematic. Traits such as sociability,
      obedience, and friendliness are likely to be better displayed via video footage.
      This study explored the effects of video versus photographs on the perception of
      dog behavioral traits. Four dogs from a Gloucestershire Rescue Shelter (2
      desirable breeds, 2 from a stigmatized breed) were individually photographed, and
      a 30-s video of each was recorded. Two questionnaires were produced containing
      either a video or photograph of each dog. Each questionnaire presented all 4 dogs
      but via different media. Participants rated their agreement with 12 statements
      relating to their perceptions of the dog seen. Dogs viewed via video were
      considered to be more trainable, intelligent, friendly, and gentle and less
      dominant, aggressive, and unsociable. This finding was observed in desired and
      stigmatized breeds. Perceived behavioral traits can impact the likelihood of
      adoption. These findings suggest that greater use of video footage by rehoming
      shelters could help promote dog adoptions.

PMID- 27636188
TI  - 3D turbo field echo with diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium preparation
      technique (DSDE-TFE) versus echo planar imaging in evaluation of diffusivity of
      retinoblastoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Compared with echoplanar (EP) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), three
      dimensional (3D) turbo field echo with diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium
      (DSDE-TFE) preparation DWI obtains images with higher spatial resolution and less
      susceptibility artefacts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
      feasibility of DSDE-TFE to visualize retinoblastomas compared with EP imaging.
      METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review
      boards. Eight patients with retinoblastomas (five males and three females; age
      range 0-87 months; median 21 months) were studied. For the DSDE-TFE, motion
      probing gradients (MPGs) were conducted at one direction with b-values of 0 and
      500 s mm-2 and a voxel size of 1.5 * 1.5 * 1.5 mm3. For the EP imaging, MPGs were
      conducted at three directions with b-values of 0 and 1000 s mm-2 and a voxel size
      of 1.4 * 1.8 * 3 mm3. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of each lesion
      were measured. Statistical analyses were performed with Pearson R and linear
      correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Intraocular lesions were clearly visualized on
      the DSDE-TFE without obvious geometrical distortion, whereas all showed deformity
      on EP images. On the DSDE-TFE, the ADCs of the lesions ranged from 0.83 * 10-3 to
      2.93 * 10-3 mm2 s-1 (mean +/- standard deviation 1.73 +/- 0.73 * 10-3 mm2 s-1).
      On the EP images, the ADCs ranged from 0.53 * 10-3 to 2.03 * 10-3 mm2 s-1 (0.93
      +/- 0.53 * 10-3 mm2 s-1). There was a significant correlation in ADC measurement
      between the DSDE-TFE and EP imaging (r = 0.81, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: With its
      insensitivity to field inhomogeneity and high spatial resolution, the 3D DSDE-TFE
      technique enabled us to assess diffusivity in retinoblastomas. Advances in
      knowledge: DSDE-TFE could enable us to assess the ADC of retinoblastomas without
      obvious geometrical distortion.

PMID- 27636190
TI  - On-line processing and comprehension of direct object pronoun sentences in
      Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment.
AB  - Eleven native Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
      (8;3-10;11) and 11 typically developing children (8;7-10;8) received a
      comprehensive psycholinguistic evaluation. Participants listened to either Direct
      Object (DO) pronoun sentences or filler sentences without any pronoun, and they
      decided whether a picture on the screen (depicting the antecedent, another noun
      in the sentence, or an unrelated object) was 'alive'. They answered comprehension
      questions about pronoun sentences. Children with SLI showed significantly poorer
      comprehension of DO pronoun sentences when answering comprehension questions than
      children with Typical Language Development (TLD). This poor pronoun sentence
      understanding correlated significantly with poor auditory sentence completion,
      non-word repetition task and expressive vocabulary skills. Children with SLI were
      significantly slower in the animacy decisions than children with TLD across all
      pronoun and filler sentence conditions. Both groups exhibited high accuracy in
      the animacy decisions for any conditions. Clinical implications are discussed.

PMID- 27636191
TI  - Upper Cervical Spine Loading Simulating a Dynamic Low-Speed Collision
      Significantly Increases the Risk of Pain Compared to Quasi-Static Loading With
      Equivalent Neck Kinematics.
AB  - Dynamic cervical spine loading can produce facet capsule injury. Despite a large
      proportion of neck pain being attributable to the C2/C3 facet capsule, potential
      mechanisms are not understood. This study replicated low-speed frontal and rear
      end traffic collisions in occiput-C3 human cadaveric cervical spine specimens and
      used kinematic and full-field strain analyses to assess injury. Specimens were
      loaded quasi-statically in flexion and extension before and after dynamic
      rotation of C3 at 100 deg/s. Global kinematics in the sagittal plane were tracked
      at 1 kHz, and C2/C3 facet capsule full-field strains were measured. Dynamic
      loading did not alter the kinematics from those during quasi-static (QS) loading,
      but maximum principal strain (MPS) and shear strain (SS) were significantly
      higher (p = 0.028) in dynamic flexion than for the same quasi-static conditions.
      The full-field strain analysis demonstrated that capsule strain was
      inhomogeneous, and that the peak MPS generally occurred in the anterior aspect
      and along the line of the C2/C3 facet joint. The strain magnitude in dynamic
      flexion continued to rise after the rotation of C3 had stopped, with a peak MPS
      of 12.52 +/- 4.59% and a maximum SS of 5.34 +/- 1.60%. The peak MPS in loading
      representative of rear-end collisions approached magnitudes previously shown to
      induce pain in vivo, whereas strain analysis using linear approaches across the
      facet joint was lower and may underestimate injury risk compared to full-field
      analysis. The time at which peak MPS occurred suggests that the deceleration
      following a collision is critical in relation to the production of injurious
      strains within the facet capsule.

PMID- 27636192
TI  - Response to the "Letter to the Editor" by Dant, Stricklin and Millage on our
      Article: "Subject-Based versus Population- Based Care after Radiation Exposure".

PMID- 27636193
TI  - Commentary on WHO GATE Initiative.
AB  - Assistive technology is essential to people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) for
      living and participating in their communities. However, many people with SCI do
      not have access to adequate assistive technology and qualified services. The
      World Health Organization (WHO) is addressing this need through the Global
      Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE). The GATE initiative is focused on
      improving access to high-quality affordable AT world-wide. GATE working to meet
      the AT sector needs in response to the call by WHO to increase access to
      essential, high-quality, safe, effective and affordable medical devices, which is
      one of the six WHO leadership priorities.

PMID- 27636194
TI  - Systemic and Local Cytokine Profile in Biliary Atresia.
AB  - Purpose Systemic and local immune environments in human biliary atresia (BA) were
      analyzed. Methods Plasma concentrations of 19 inflammatory components in 16
      preoperative BA patients (median age, 51 days), 13 normal controls (NCs) (44
      days), and 15 cholestatic controls (CC) (23 days) were measured using flow
      cytometry, and compared according to post-Kasai outcomes in BA patients. Hepatic
      mRNA levels of representative helper T (Th) cell cytokines and forkhead box
      protein 3 (FoxP3) quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction were compared between BA and non-BA. Results No significant differences
      were observed between BA and control in serum Th1, Th2, or macrophage markers,
      while soluble cellular adhesion molecule (CAM) levels were significantly higher
      in BA (p < 0.0001 for NC; p = 0.0003 for CC). No statistically significant
      difference was discovered between BA with favorable and unfavorable prognosis.
      Hepatic mRNA levels of interferon-gamma or interleukin-4 showed no significant
      differences between BA and non-BA, while FoxP3 was significantly higher in BA (p
      = 0.01). Conclusions A skewed bias toward specific Th-oriented immunity was not
      demonstrated in either the systemic or local environment in the early stage of
      human BA, with patient prognoses not necessarily revealed by preoperative plasma
      inflammatory component levels. CAM and regulatory T cell roles and functions
      warrant further investigation.

PMID- 27636195
TI  - Dose accuracy of the redesigned follitropin alfa pen injector for infertility
      treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The prefilled, multi-dose follitropin alfa (GONAL-f(r)) pen injector
      was redesigned based upon user feedback, to improve pen functionality. The dose
      information display was altered with the intention of improving readability and
      the dosing mechanism hardware was modified to increase robustness. The dose
      accuracy of the redesigned pen injector was evaluated under different conditions
      and after handling processes. METHODS: Three studies investigated the dose
      accuracy of the three presentations (300, 450 and 900 IU) of the redesigned pen
      injector according to the ISO 11608-1:2012/2014 standard. The dose accuracy was
      evaluated in cold, standard and warm atmospheres, and subsequent to freefall,
      vibration, dry-heat, cold-storage and shipping preconditioning. The total
      extractable volume and dispense force of the pen injector were also investigated.
      RESULTS: All doses dispensed with all three presentations, under all the
      conditions examined, were within the limits for accuracy defined by the ISO
      standard, as was the total extractable volume. The mean +/- standard deviation
      dispense force was 12.5 +/- 0.99 and 13.8 +/- 1.16 N for the 300 and 900 IU pen
      injectors, respectively. These are below the upper threshold of the range
      considered optimal for pen injectors. CONCLUSIONS: These studies demonstrate that
      the redesigned pen injector functions reliably, dispensing accurate doses under
      the range of conditions studied.

PMID- 27636196
TI  - Too much to handle - how gaining chromosomes destabilizes the genome.
AB  - Most eukaryotic organisms are diploid, with 2 chromosome sets in their nuclei.
      Whole chromosomal aneuploidy, a deviation from multiples of the haploid
      chromosome number, arises from chromosome segregation errors and often has
      detrimental consequences for cells. In humans, numerical aneuploidy severely
      impairs embryonic development and the rare survivors develop disorders
      characterized by multiple pathologies. Moreover, as many as 75 % of malignant
      tumors display aneuploidy. Although the exact contribution of aneuploidy to
      tumorigenesis remains unclear, previous studies have suggested that aneuploidy
      may affect the maintenance of genome integrity. We found that human cells with
      extra chromosomes showed phenotypes suggestive of replication defects, a
      phenomenon which we went on to characterize as being due to the aneuploidy-driven
      downregulation of replication factors, in particular of the replicative helicase
      MCM2-7. Thus, missegregation of even a single chromosome can further promote
      genomic instability and thereby contribute to tumor development. In this review
      we will examine the possible causes of downregulation of replicative factors and
      discuss the consequences of genomic instability in aneuploid cells.

PMID- 27636198
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27636197
TI  - Relationship between Human Pupillary Light Reflex and Circadian System Status.
AB  - Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), whose photopigment
      melanopsin has a peak of sensitivity in the short wavelength range of the
      spectrum, constitute a common light input pathway to the olivary pretectal
      nucleus (OPN), the pupillary light reflex (PLR) regulatory centre, and to the
      suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), the major pacemaker of the circadian system. Thus,
      evaluating PLR under short wavelength light (lambdamax <= 500 nm) and creating an
      integrated PLR parameter, as a possible tool to indirectly assess the status of
      the circadian system, becomes of interest. Nine monochromatic, photon-matched
      light stimuli (300 s), in 10 nm increments from lambdamax 420 to 500 nm were
      administered to 15 healthy young participants (8 females), analyzing: i) the PLR;
      ii) wrist temperature (WT) and motor activity rhythms (WA), iii) light exposure
      (L) pattern and iv) diurnal preference (Horne-Ostberg), sleep quality
      (Pittsburgh) and daytime sleepiness (Epworth). Linear correlations between the
      different PLR parameters and circadian status index obtained from WT, WA and L
      recordings and scores from questionnaires were calculated. In summary, we found
      markers of robust circadian rhythms, namely high stability, reduced
      fragmentation, high amplitude, phase advance and low internal desynchronization,
      were correlated with a reduced PLR to 460-490 nm wavelengths. Integrated
      circadian (CSI) and PLR (cp-PLR) parameters are proposed, that also showed an
      inverse correlation. These results demonstrate, for the first time, the existence
      of a close relationship between the circadian system robustness and the pupillary
      reflex response, two non-visual functions primarily under melanopsin-ipRGC input.

PMID- 27636199
TI  - Gamma Synchronization Influences Map Formation Time in a Topological Model of
      Spatial Learning.
AB  - The mammalian hippocampus plays a crucial role in producing a cognitive map of
      space-an internalized representation of the animal's environment. We have
      previously shown that it is possible to model this map formation using a
      topological framework, in which information about the environment is transmitted
      through the temporal organization of neuronal spiking activity, particularly
      those occasions in which the firing of different place cells overlaps. In this
      paper, we discuss how gamma rhythm, one of the main components of the
      extracellular electrical field potential affects the efficiency of place cell map
      formation. Using methods of algebraic topology and the maximal entropy principle,
      we demonstrate that gamma modulation synchronizes the spiking of dynamical cell
      assemblies, which enables learning a spatial map at faster timescales.

PMID- 27636200
TI  - Exploring the impact of visual and movement based priming on a motor intervention
      in the acute phase post-stroke in persons with severe hemiparesis of the upper
      extremity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Explore the potential benefits of using priming methods prior to an
      active hand task in the acute phase post-stroke in persons with severe upper
      extremity hemiparesis. METHODS: Five individuals were trained using priming
      techniques including virtual reality (VR) based visual mirror feedback and
      contralaterally controlled passive movement strategies prior to training with an
      active pinch force modulation task. Clinical, kinetic, and neurophysiological
      measurements were taken pre and post the training period. Clinical measures were
      taken at six months post training. RESULTS: The two priming simulations and
      active training were well tolerated early after stroke. Priming effects were
      suggested by increased maximal pinch force immediately after visual and movement
      based priming. Despite having no clinically observable movement distally, the
      subjects were able to volitionally coordinate isometric force and muscle activity
      (EMG) in a pinch tracing task. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of force during
      the pinch trace task gradually decreased over the training period suggesting
      learning may have occurred. Changes in motor cortical neurophysiology were seen
      in the unaffected hemisphere using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
      mapping. Significant improvements in motor recovery as measured by the Action
      Research Arm Test (ARAT) and the Upper Extremity Fugl Meyer Assessment (UEFMA)
      were demonstrated at six months post training by three of the five subjects.
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests that an early hand-based intervention using
      visual and movement based priming activities and a scaled motor task allows
      participation by persons without the motor control required for traditionally
      presented rehabilitation and testing. Implications for Rehabilitation
      Rehabilitation of individuals with severely paretic upper extremities after
      stroke is challenging due to limited movement capacity and few options for
      therapeutic training. Long-term functional recovery of the arm after stroke
      depends on early return of active hand control, establishing a need for acute
      training methods focused distally. This study demonstrates the feasibility of an
      early hand-based intervention using virtual reality based priming and scaled
      motor activities which can allow for participation by persons without the motor
      control required for traditionally presented rehabilitation and testing.

PMID- 27636201
TI  - Growth and Adult Height in Patients with Crohn's Disease Treated with Anti-Tumor
      Necrosis Factor alpha Antibodies.
AB  - Inflammation contributes to growth failure associated with inflammatory bowel
      diseases. Anti-TNFalpha therapy induces sustained remission and short-term
      improvements in height velocity and/or height standard deviation score (H-SDS)
      patients with Crohn's disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate growth
      and adult height in patients with Crohn's disease taking maintenance infliximab
      or adalimumab therapy.This university-hospital based retrospective study included
      61 patients, with a median follow-up of 2.6 years (2.0; 3.3). 38 patients (62%)
      reached their adult height. H-SDS was collected at diagnosis and together with
      disease activity markers (Harvey-Bradshaw Index, albumin, and C-reactive protein)
      at treatment initiation (baseline), and follow-up completion. Wilcoxon's signed
      rank test was chosen for comparisons. Median H-SDS decreased from diagnosis to
      baseline (-0.08 [-0.73; +0.77] to -0.94 [-1.44; +0.11], p<0.0001) and then
      increased to follow-up completion (-0.63 [-1.08; 0.49], p = 0.003 versus
      baseline), concomitantly with an improvement in disease activity. Median adult H
      SDS was within the normal range (-0.72 [-1.25; +0.42]) but did not differ from
      baseline H-SDS and was significantly lower than the target H-SDS (-0.09 [-0.67;
      +0.42], p = 0.01). Only 2 (6%) males had adult heights significantly below their
      target heights (10.5 and -13.5 cm [-1.75 and -2.25 SD]). In conclusion, anti
      tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) therapy prevented loss of height without fully
      restoring the genetic growth potential in this group of patients with CD. Earlier
      treatment initiation might improve growth outcomes in these patients. 

PMID- 27636202
TI  - Characterization of Citrus-Associated Alternaria Species in Mediterranean Areas.
AB  - Alternaria brown spot is one of the most important diseases of tangerines and
      their hybrids worldwide. Recently, outbreaks in Mediterranean areas related to
      susceptible cultivars, refocused attention on the disease. Twenty representatives
      were selected from a collection of 180 isolates of Alternaria spp. from citrus
      leaves and fruit. They were characterized along with reference strains of
      Alternaria spp. Micro- and macroscopic characteristics separated most Alternaria
      isolates into six morphotypes referable to A. alternata (5) and A. arborescens
      (1). Phylogenetic analyses, based on endopolygalacturonase (endopg) and internal
      transcribed spacer (ITS), confirmed this finding. Moreover, a five-gene phylogeny
      including two anonymous genomics regions (OPA 1-3 and OPA 2-1), and the beta
      tubulin gene (beta-tub), produced a further clustering of A. alternata into three
      clades. This analysis suggested the existence of intra-species molecular
      variability. Investigated isolates showed different levels of virulence on leaves
      and fruit. In particular, the pathogenicity on fruit seemed to be correlated with
      the tissue of isolation and the clade. The toxigenic behavior of Alternaria
      isolates was also investigated, with tenuazonic acid (TeA) being the most
      abundant mycotoxin (0.2-20 mg/L). Isolates also synthesized the mycotoxins
      alternariol (AOH), its derivate alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), and altenuene
      (ALT), although to a lesser extent. AME production significantly varied among the
      six morphotypes. The expression of pksJ/pksH, biosynthetic genes of AOH/AME, was
      not correlated with actual toxin production, but it was significantly different
      between the two genotypes and among the four clades. Finally, ten isolates proved
      to express the biosynthetic genes of ACTT1 phytotoxin, and thus to be included in
      the Alternaria pathotype tangerine. A significant correlation between
      pathogenicity on leaves and ACTT1 gene expression was recorded. The latter was
      significantly dependent on geographical origin. The widespread occurrence of
      Alternaria spp. on citrus fruit and their ability to produce mycotoxins might
      represent a serious concern for producers and consumers. 

PMID- 27636204
TI  - Diagnosis of trichomoniasis in men by urine cytology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trichomonas vaginalis is a rare finding in urine cytology specimens,
      especially those from men; only 2 case reports have been described in the
      literature. The authors of the current report sought to determine the incidence
      and clinical significance of this finding in urine cytology in males. METHODS:
      The authors' cytopathology archives were queried for urine cytology specimens
      that contained Trichomonas over a 30-year period. Clinical information from men
      with Trichomonas-positive urines was reviewed retrospectively. Slides were
      reviewed, and the morphologic characteristics of the organisms were recorded.
      RESULTS: Trichomonas was detected in 73 of 60,000 urine cytology specimens
      (0.1%). The patients included 45 women and 28 men. Men with Trichomonas in their
      urine ranged in age from 28 to 87 years (mean age, 67 years; median, 71 years).
      Trichomonas organisms were round to oval, with eccentric nuclei and cytoplasmic
      granules. Acute inflammation was observed in 6 of 7 cases. Clinical history was
      available in 13 of 28 men. Lower urinary tract symptoms were reported in 10 of 13
      men, most commonly hematuria; and urethral strictures were identified by
      cystoscopy in 3 of 13 men. Clinical follow-up was available for 10 of 13
      patients; of these, 8 (80%) had received treatment with metronidazole based on
      urine cytology results. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the largest series of
      Trichomonas infection in men diagnosed by urine cytology in the literature. Most
      men had no prior diagnosis of trichomoniasis and received specific antibiotic
      therapy based on their urine cytology results. Urine cytology may represent the
      initial diagnostic test for Trichomonas in men, and accurate cytologic diagnosis
      may prevent undesired adverse outcomes for them and their partners. Cancer
      Cytopathol 2017;125:55-59. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27636203
TI  - Latent Patient Cluster Discovery for Robust Future Forecasting and New-Patient
      Generalization.
AB  - Commonly referred to as predictive modeling, the use of machine learning and
      statistical methods to improve healthcare outcomes has recently gained traction
      in biomedical informatics research. Given the vast opportunities enabled by large
      Electronic Health Records (EHR) data and powerful resources for conducting
      predictive modeling, we argue that it is yet crucial to first carefully examine
      the prediction task and then choose predictive methods accordingly. Specifically,
      we argue that there are at least three distinct prediction tasks that are often
      conflated in biomedical research: 1) data imputation, where a model fills in the
      missing values in a dataset, 2) future forecasting, where a model projects the
      development of a medical condition for a known patient based on existing
      observations, and 3) new-patient generalization, where a model transfers the
      knowledge learned from previously observed patients to newly encountered ones.
      Importantly, the latter two tasks-future forecasting and new-patient
      generalizations-tend to be more difficult than data imputation as they require
      predictions to be made on potentially out-of-sample data (i.e., data following a
      different predictable pattern from what has been learned by the model). Using
      hearing loss progression as an example, we investigate three regression models
      and show that the modeling of latent clusters is a robust method for addressing
      the more challenging prediction scenarios. Overall, our findings suggest that
      there exist significant differences between various kinds of prediction tasks and
      that it is important to evaluate the merits of a predictive model relative to the
      specific purpose of a prediction task. 

PMID- 27636205
TI  - Akinesia and freezing caused by Na+ leak-current channel (NALCN) deficiency
      corrected by pharmacological inhibition of K+ channels and gap junctions.
AB  - The Na+ leak-current channel (NALCN) regulates locomotion, respiration, and
      intellectual development. Previous work highlighted striking similarities between
      characteristic movement phenotypes of NALCN-deficient animals (Drosophila and
      Caenorhabditis elegans) and the major symptoms of Parkinson's disease and primary
      progressive freezing gait. We have discovered novel physiological connections
      between the NALCN, K+ channels, and gap junctions that mediate regulation of
      locomotion in C. elegans. Drugs that block K+ channels and gap junctions or that
      activate Ca++ channels significantly improve movement of NALCN-deficient animals.
      Loss-of-function of the NALCN creates an imbalance in ions, including K+ and Ca++
      , that interferes with normal cycles of depolarization-repolarization. This work
      suggests new therapeutic strategies for certain human movement disorders. J.
      Comp. Neurol. 525:1109-1121, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636206
TI  - Ingestion of High Molecular Weight Carbohydrate Enhances Subsequent Repeated
      Maximal Power: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - Athletes in sports demanding repeat maximal work outputs frequently train
      concurrently utilizing sequential bouts of intense endurance and resistance
      training sessions. On a daily basis, maximal work within subsequent bouts may be
      limited by muscle glycogen availability. Recently, the ingestion of a unique high
      molecular weight (HMW) carbohydrate was found to increase glycogen re-synthesis
      rate and enhance work output during subsequent endurance exercise, relative to
      low molecular weight (LMW) carbohydrate ingestion. The effect of the HMW
      carbohydrate, however, on the performance of intense resistance exercise
      following prolonged-intense endurance training is unknown. Sixteen resistance
      trained men (23+/-3 years; 176.7+/-9.8 cm; 88.2+/-8.6 kg) participated in a
      double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized 3-way crossover design comprising a
      muscle-glycogen depleting cycling exercise followed by ingestion of placebo
      (PLA), or 1.2 g*kg*bw-1 of LMW or HMW carbohydrate solution (10%) with blood
      sampling for 2-h post-ingestion. Thereafter, participants performed 5 sets of 10
      maximal explosive repetitions of back squat (75% of 1RM). Compared to PLA,
      ingestion of HMW (4.9%, 90%CI 3.8%, 5.9%) and LMW (1.9%, 90%CI 0.8%, 3.0%)
      carbohydrate solutions substantially increased power output during resistance
      exercise, with the 3.1% (90% CI 4.3, 2.0%) almost certain additional gain in
      power after HMW-LMW ingestion attributed to higher movement velocity after force
      kinematic analysis (HMW-LMW 2.5%, 90%CI 1.4, 3.7%). Both carbohydrate solutions
      increased post-exercise plasma glucose, glucoregulatory and gut hormones compared
      to PLA, but differences between carbohydrates were unclear; thus, the underlying
      mechanism remains to be elucidated. Ingestion of a HMW carbohydrate following
      prolonged intense endurance exercise provides superior benefits to movement
      velocity and power output during subsequent repeated maximal explosive resistance
      exercise. This study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02778373). 

PMID- 27636207
TI  - A Case of 3,4-Dimethoxyamphetamine (3,4-DMA) and 3,4
      Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) Toxicity with Possible Metabolic
      Interaction.
AB  - : We present a case of "ecstasy" ingestion revealing 3,4
      methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and 3,4-dimethoxyamphetamine (3,4-DMA) and
      absence of cytochrome P450 (CYP)-2D6 MDMA metabolites. CASE REPORT: A 19-year-old
      presented following a seizure. Initial vital signs were normal. Laboratories were
      normal with the exception of sodium 127 mEq/L and urine drugs of abuse screen
      positive for amphetamines. Twelve hours later, serum sodium was 114 mEq/L and a
      second seizure occurred. After receiving hypertonic saline (3%), the patient had
      improvement in mental status and admitted to taking "ecstasy" at a rave prior to
      her initial presentation. Liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry
      (LC-TOF/MS) of serum and urine revealed MDMA, 3,4-DMA, and the CYP-2B6 MDMA
      metabolites 3,4-methylendioxyamphetamine (MDA) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyamphetamine
      (HMA). The CYP2D6 metabolites of MDMA, 3,4-dihydromethamphetamine (HHMA) and 4
      hydroxy-3-methoxymethamphetamine (HMMA), were detected at very low levels.
      CONCLUSION: This case highlights the polypharmacy which may exist among users of
      psychoactive illicit substances and demonstrates that concurrent use of MDMA and
      3,4-DMA may predispose patients to severe toxicity. Toxicologists and other
      healthcare providers should be aware of this potential toxicity.

PMID- 27636208
TI  - Harnessing glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for the pharmacological
      treatment of overweight and obesity.
AB  - Over the past 30 years, there has been a dramatic rise in global obesity
      prevalence, resulting in significant economic and social consequences. Attempts
      to develop pharmacological agents to treat obesity have met with many obstacles
      including the lack of long-term effectiveness and the potential for adverse
      effects. Historically, there have been limited treatment options for overweight
      and obesity; however, since 2012, a number of new drugs have become available. A
      number of peptides produced in the gut act as key mediators of the gut-brain
      axis, which is involved in appetite regulation. This review discusses the role of
      the gut-brain axis in appetite regulation with special focus on glucagon-like
      peptide-1. Liraglutide 3.0 mg, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist that
      targets this pathway, is now approved for the treatment of obesity and overweight
      (body mass index >=27 kg/m2 ) with comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, high
      blood pressure, high cholesterol or obstructive sleep apnoea. In addition, other
      glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists offer promise for obesity management in
      the future. This review examines how glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists
      promote weight loss and summarizes the clinical data on weight loss with glucagon
      like peptide-1 receptor agonists.

PMID- 27636209
TI  - It is a Bigger Question Than What to Do With the Uterus.

PMID- 27636210
TI  - Patient Satisfaction With Nurse-Led Telephone Follow-up in an Ambulatory Setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We studied our practice of using nurse telephone follow-up under
      physician direction to assess symptom improvement and patient satisfaction.
      METHODS: Women were recruited when their clinical care merited nurse telephone
      follow-up in the opinion of the attending physician. Women specified a preferred
      telephone number and completed a symptom questionnaire at the time of enrollment.
      Nursing telephone follow-up was completed at an interval prescribed by the
      attending physician to answer specified clinical questions. Approximately 3
      months after the initial in-office visit, a satisfaction questionnaire and repeat
      symptom measure were mailed to the subjects. RESULTS: A convenience sample of 83
      women was analyzed. Of those, 91.6% were reached by telephone, and 47.0% returned
      the follow-up questionnaire. Mean (SD) age was 56.8 (16.6) years (range, 20-89
      years). Younger women were less likely to be able to be contacted by telephone (P
      = 0.02) and less likely to return the questionnaire (P = 0.02). Most common
      diagnoses were overactive bladder and mixed urinary incontinence. Satisfaction
      rates were high, and level of convenience for patients was high. Women indicated
      an ease of speaking over the telephone about their condition and confidence in
      the treatment plan. Satisfaction with telephone follow-up did not significantly
      differ based on age or diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Patient satisfaction was high for
      nurse telephone follow-up to replace in-office visits for selected diagnoses.
      This care strategy deserves further consideration for reimbursement purposes as
      health care evolves.

PMID- 27636212
TI  - Long-Term Effectiveness of Uterosacral Colpopexy and Minimally Invasive Sacral
      Colpopexy for Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to estimate rates of recurrent pelvic
      organ prolapse (POP) 6 years after patients underwent transvaginal uterosacral
      colpopexy, or laparoscopic or robotic sacral colpopexy at a large tertiary care
      center. We hypothesized that recurrence rates would be higher than those
      previously reported. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of women who
      underwent uterosacral colpopexy, laparoscopic, and robotic sacral colpopexy for
      treatment of POP between 2006 and 2012. A composite outcome for recurrent POP was
      defined as subjective failure (vaginal bulge symptoms), objective failure
      (prolapse to or beyond the hymen), or any retreatment for POP (reoperation or use
      of a pessary). Kaplan-Meier survival curves were generated from each patient's
      date of follow-up, and parametric survival modeling was used to estimate
      recurrent POP over 6 years. Annual estimated recurrence rates by type of
      colpopexy are reported using the composite and individual definitions for
      recurrent POP. RESULTS: One thousand three hundred eighty-one subjects met
      inclusion criteria: 983 (71.1 %) uterosacral, 256 (18.5%) laparoscopic, and 142
      (11.2%) robotic colpopexies. Median (range) months to failure using composite
      recurrence were as follows: uterosacral, 17.1 (7.6-41); laparoscopic, 10.1 (4.7
      25.1); robotic, 9.7 (1.6-17.2). By year 6 in the model, the estimated composite
      recurrence rates for the uterosacral colpopexy, robotic, and laparoscopic sacral
      colpopexy groups were 43%, 49%, and 57%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Estimated
      recurrence rates for uterosacral ligament colpopexy, laparoscopic, and robotic
      sacral colpopexy may be as high as 40% to 60% 6 years after surgery.

PMID- 27636211
TI  - Efficacy of FemiScan Pelvic Floor Therapy for the Treatment of Urinary
      Incontinence.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pelvic floor muscle training can be effective in alleviating urinary
      incontinence; however, women need instruction, motivation, and feedback to gain
      optimal benefit from pelvic rehabilitation. The Food and Drug Administration
      approved FemiScan Pelvic Floor Therapy System uses office electromyography and an
      in-home programmable device to provide training, motivation, and feedback between
      office visits. This study was undertaken to document the outcomes of women who
      completed an MD-supervised program using the FemiScan Pelvic Floor Therapy
      System. METHODS: In this chart review, women with urinary incontinence, who
      completed the 8-visit protocol, were included in the analysis. We collected
      patient demographics, electromyographic measurements, and responses to subjective
      questions about the status of their urinary incontinence symptoms. RESULTS: Two
      hundred fifteen (60%) of 361 patients who started treatment with FemiScan
      completed the 8-visit protocol. No adverse events were reported. The mean age was
      54.4 +/- 12.7 years. There was a statistically significant increase in the mean
      maximal response comparing the first and final electromyographic measurements
      obtained during the first and last electromyography office visits. The left side
      (15.9 +/- 10.2 MUV vs 28.0+/- 15.2 MUV, P < 001) and the right side (16.6 MUV vs
      28.2 MUV, P < 0.001) were analyzed separately in peak electromyographic
      measurements between the first and final visits. Seventy-five percent considered
      their symptoms at least 80% improved with 45% reporting complete subjective cure.
      Urinary Distress Inventory 6 results confirmed the subjective report with a
      statistical significant improvement comparing the first and last visit (9.47 +/-
      3.66 vs 2.71 +/- 3.58, P < 001). CONCLUSIONS: FemiScan appears to be a safe and
      effective treatment for urinary incontinence with concomitant increased pelvic
      floor electromyographic activity.

PMID- 27636213
TI  - Female Urethral Diverticulum: Presentation, Diagnosis, and Predictors of Outcomes
      After Surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: To report on clinical presentation, diagnosis, and
      outcomes after treatment of female urethral diverticulum (UD). METHODS: Using a
      record linkage system, women with a new diagnosis of UD at Mayo Clinic from
      January 1, 1980, through December 31, 2011, were identified. The presenting
      symptoms, clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and management of women presenting
      with UD were recorded. Outcomes after surgery were assessed using survival
      analysis. All statistical analyses were 2-sided and P values less than 0.05 were
      considered significant. Statistical analysis was done using SAS version 9.2 and
      JMP version 9.0 (SAS Institute Inc.). RESULTS: A total of 164 cases were
      identified. Median age at diagnosis was 46 years (range, 21-83). The most common
      presenting symptom was recurrent urinary tract infection (98, 59.8%), followed by
      urinary incontinence (81, 49.4%), dysuria (62, 37.8%), dyspareunia (37, 22.6%),
      and hematuria (15, 9.1%). Examination revealed vaginal mass in 55 (33.5%) of the
      women. A significant trend was noted toward an increase in use of both magnetic
      resonance imaging and computed tomography (P < 0.001) along with a progressive
      decrease in use of urethrogram (P < 0.001) for diagnosis of UD over the years.
      Among 114 women who underwent surgical treatment for UD, 14(12.3%) women
      presented with recurrent UD and the 5-year recurrence rate after surgery for UD
      was 23.4% (95% confidence interval, 13.9-37.0) and a reoperation rate of 17.0%
      (95% confidence interval, 8.8-30.2) at 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Female UD is a rare
      and unique condition. Clinical presentation is usually nonspecific, and magnetic
      resonance imaging is commonly used for confirming the diagnosis. Recurrence is
      not uncommon, and repeat surgical intervention might be needed.

PMID- 27636214
TI  - A Prospective Observational Study of the Classification of the Perineum and
      Evaluation of Perineal Repair at the Time of Posterior Colporrhaphy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective observational study was to obtain a better
      understanding of the anatomy and to classify the observed different perineal
      presentations at the time of posterior colporrhaphy and to describe specific
      surgical techniques used. METHODS: To classify the observed perineal findings,
      the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification System with a newly introduced
      additional measurement of the perineal ridge (PR) was taken intraoperatively and
      postoperatively in 121 consecutive women undergoing posterior colporrhaphy.
      Dependent on the preoperative classification of the perineum as being normal
      (type 1), deficient (type 2), or with a PR (type 3), a specific surgical repair
      was performed for each type of perineal presentation. RESULTS: The perineal
      presentations were categorized into 3 defined groups. Type 1 (normal perineum)
      was seen in 40%, type 2 (deficient perineum) in 13%, and type 3 (PR) in 47%. A
      type 1 correlates with prior cesarean section (P = 0.29), a type 2 correlates
      with prior vaginal delivery (P = 0.05), and type 3 perineum with prior pelvic
      floor surgery (P < 0.0001). When perineal type-specific surgical techniques were
      performed, the perineal body length increased postoperatively in type 2 (P <
      0.05), decreased in type 3 (P < 0.05), and remained unchanged in those with type
      1 defects. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the perineal region can be
      clearly defined into 3 categories. The distinct perineal presentation correlates
      with the previous gynecological history. With a specific perineal repair at the
      time of posterior colporrhaphy, the perineal anatomy can be restored in the short
      term.

PMID- 27636215
TI  - Characterizing the Bladder's Response to Onabotulinum Toxin Type A Using a Rat
      Model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to characterize the response of the rat
      bladder neuromuscular system to intramural injection of onabotulinum toxin type A
      (BoNT/A) over 9 weeks using in vivo cystometry (CMG) and in vitro contractility
      (IVC). METHODS: Chronic bladder catheters were implanted in female Sprague-Dawley
      rats, and either (1) BoNT/A (10 units in 20 MUL saline) or (2) saline (20 MUL)
      was injected in 5 * 4 MUL doses throughout the bladder wall. At 1, 3, 6, and 9
      weeks after injection, conscious restrained CMG was performed. At each time
      point, 25% of each group (8 BoNT/A and 4 controls) was euthanized and bladders
      harvested for IVC. We measured IVC in response to electric field stimulation,
      carbachol, and potassium chloride. RESULTS: In total, 47 animals were included;
      31 underwent BoNT/A injection, and 16 received sham (saline). Bladder capacities
      did not differ significantly between groups for each time point. One week after
      injection BoNT/A animals exhibited significantly longer bladder contraction
      durations and lower voiding efficiencies compared with controls. By 3 weeks these
      values returned to control levels. For BoNT/A animals, contractile response to
      carbachol stimulation was enhanced at 3 weeks. Otherwise, there were no
      differences in IVC responses. CONCLUSIONS: One week after BoNT/A injection,
      prolonged bladder contractions are noted in rats. This may reflect supraspinal
      compensation for denervation by increasing the duration of efferent drive during
      voiding. After 3 weeks postinjection, we observed no differences in either CMG or
      IVC responses suggesting either compensatory efferent sprouting, increased gap
      junction formation, or loss of BoNT/A effect.

PMID- 27636217
TI  - Analysis of Surgical Outcomes and Determinants of Litigation Among Women With
      Transvaginal Mesh Complications.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify litigation predictors among women with complications of
      transvaginal mesh. METHODS: Chart review and patient survey were conducted among
      women who had undergone a complication-related explant of a transvaginal prolapse
      or incontinence sling mesh. Trained study personnel administered a 57-question
      survey addressing subjective complaints related to bowel, bladder, sexual
      dysfunction, and development of pain or recurrent prolapse. These data were
      analyzed with respect to the subject's reported pursuit of litigation related to
      the mesh complication. Categorical and continuous variables were analyzed using
      the chi test and the t test as indicated. RESULTS: Ninety-five (68%) of 139 women
      completed the surveys with 60% of the patients pursuing litigation at the time of
      the survey. Individual risk factors for pursuing litigation included development
      of vaginal pain after mesh placement (P = 0.01); dyspareunia after mesh placement
      (P = 0.01); persistence of dyspareunia, suprapubic pain, and groin pain after
      mesh excision (P = 0.04, P = 0.02, and P = 0.001, respectively); unsuccessful
      attempts at conservative management of pelvic pain using pelvic floor
      rehabilitation (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: There is an association between a higher
      likelihood of pursuing litigation and new-onset or persistent pain symptoms
      attributable to transvaginal mesh.

PMID- 27636218
TI  - Identifying Gaps and Inconsistencies in Urogynecologic Surgical Training of
      Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the expectations of Obstetrics and
      Gynecology (ObGyn) residency and Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery
      (FPMRS) fellowship program directors (FPDs) for the independent performance of
      urogynecologic procedures during residency and to compare these expectations with
      the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG)
      educational objectives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two parallel, anonymous surveys
      were distributed simultaneously to all directors of accredited ObGyn residency
      and FPMRS fellowship programs in the United States. Respondents provided their
      own professional and program demographic information and indicated whether they
      expected their residents to independently perform 27 selected urogynecologic
      procedures. RESULTS: Among residency program directors (RPDs) and FPDs, the
      online survey response rate was 24.8% (n = 59) and 51.9% (n = 27), respectively.
      More RPDs expected residents to perform prolapse procedures with mesh, including
      laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy, all apical suspensions, mesh excisions, and
      cystotomy repairs, than FPDs. In addition, RPDs expected mastery of most
      urogynecologic procedures by the Post Graduate Year 3 level, whereas most FPDs
      did not expect independent performance of these procedures during residency at
      all. There were notable differences between RPDs' expectations and CREOG
      objectives regarding several surgical procedures. Whereas CREOG recommends
      independent performance of anterior and posterior repair, vaginal suspension,
      vaginal hysterectomy, and transobturator slings, a significant number of RPDs did
      not report expecting mastery of these procedures during residency. Approximately
      30% of RPDs expected residents to perform open sacrocolpopexy and vesicovaginal
      fistula repair, whereas CREOG recommends only the understanding of these, without
      procedural mastery. CONCLUSIONS: Although community needs vary by region and
      setting, CREOG objectives serve as the standard for resident surgical education.
      This study highlights the discordance between these objectives and ObGyn RDPs'
      reported expectations for resident performance as well as those held by FPMRS
      FPDs, the outcome of which reflects a misalignment in graduate medical education
      between RPDs and FPDs, thus hindering a clear standard for resident surgical
      competencies.

PMID- 27636216
TI  - Health Care Disparities Among English-Speaking and Spanish-Speaking Women With
      Pelvic Organ Prolapse at Public and Private Hospitals: What Are the Barriers?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare perceptions and barriers
      between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking women in public and private
      hospitals being treated for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). METHODS: Eight focus
      groups, 4 in English and 4 in Spanish, were conducted at 3 institutions with care
      in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. Standardized questions were
      asked regarding patients' emotions to when they initially noticed the POP, if
      they sought family support, and their response to the diagnosis and treatment.
      Transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory qualitative methods. RESULTS:
      Thirty-three women were Spanish-speaking and 25 were English-speaking. Spanish
      speakers were younger (P = 0.0469) and less likely to have a high school diploma
      (P < 0.0001) than English speakers. Spanish-speaking women had more concerns that
      the bulge or treatments could lead to cancer, were more resistant to treatment
      options, and were less likely to be offered surgery. Women in the private
      hospital desired more information, were less embarrassed, and were more likely to
      be offered surgery as first-line treatment. The concept emerged that patient care
      for POP varied based on socioeconomic status and language and suggested the
      presence of disparities in care for underserved women with POP. CONCLUSIONS: The
      discrepancies in care for Spanish-speaking women and women being treated at
      public hospitals suggest that there are disparities in care for POP treatment for
      underserved women. These differences may be secondary to profit-driven pressures
      from private hospitals or language barriers, low socioeconomic status, low health
      literacy, and barriers to health care.

PMID- 27636220
TI  - Risk Factors for Microscopic Hematuria in Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors that
      may contribute to the diagnosis of microscopic hematuria (MH) in women. METHODS:
      This multicenter case-control study reviewed cases of women presenting to Female
      Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery sites with MH from 2010 to 2014.
      Microscopic hematuria was defined as 3 or more red blood cells per high power
      field in the absence of infection as indicated in the American Urologic
      Association guidelines. Controls were matched to cases in a 1:1 ratio and chart
      review of 10 risk factors was performed (urethral caruncle, pelvic organ
      prolapse, vaginal atrophy, personal or family history of nephrolithiasis, prior
      prolapse or incontinence surgery, past or current smoking, chemical exposure,
      family history of urologic malignancy, prior pelvic radiation, and prior
      alkylating chemotherapy). Odds ratios were performed to assess risk factors.
      RESULTS: There were 493 cases and 501 controls from 8 Female Pelvic Medicine &
      Reconstructive Surgery sites. Current smoking, a history of pelvic radiation, and
      a history of nephrolithiasis were all significant risk factors for MH (P < 0.05).
      Vaginal atrophy, menopausal status, and use of estrogen were not found to be risk
      factors for MH (P = 0.42, 0.83, and 0.80, respectively). When stratifying the
      quantity of MH, women with increased red blood cells per high power field were
      more likely to have significant findings on their imaging results. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our findings suggest that the risk factors for MH in women are current smoking, a
      history of pelvic radiation, and a history of nephrolithiasis.

PMID- 27636219
TI  - National Assessment of Advancing Age on Perioperative Morbidity and Length of
      Stay Associated With Minimally Invasive Sacrocolpopexy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the impact of age on 30-day
      perioperative complications and length of stay (LOS) for minimally invasive
      sacrocolpopexy (MISC) using a national database. METHODS: We performed an
      institutional review board-exempt retrospective analysis of prospectively
      collected data, using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database
      to analyze MISC performed at participating hospitals from 2010 to 2013. Age was
      stratified into the following 5 categories: younger than 60, 60 to 64, 65 to 69,
      70 to 74, and 75 years or older. Complications were tabulated on the basis of
      available categories and were assessed using logistic multivariate regression.
      Length of stay was deemed abnormal if 3 days or more. RESULTS: A total of 1201
      patients were identified as having undergone MISC. Mean (SD) patients age was
      61.3 (11.1) years. Most patients had an American Society of Anesthesiologists
      (ASA) class of 2 (68.3%) or an ASA class of 3 (23.6%). Older patients had a
      significantly higher ASA class and lower body mass index. The most common
      complications were urinary tract infection (3.4%), readmission (2.7%), and return
      to the operating room (1.5%). Urinary tract infection (P = 0.93), readmission (P
      = 0.38), and return to the operating room (P = 0.17) were not significantly
      different between age groups. Older patients did not have greater odds of having
      an LOS of 3 days or more versus 1 day or 0 to 2 days. CONCLUSIONS: Returns to the
      operating room, readmission, and urinary tract infection were the most common
      adverse events and did not differ between age groups. Older patients did not have
      greater odds of having an increased LOS. Minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy seems
      to be safe among appropriately selected elderly patients.

PMID- 27636221
TI  - Outcomes of Robotic Sacrocolpopexy Using Only Absorbable Suture for Mesh
      Fixation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The optimal suture selection for mesh attachment during robotic
      sacrocolpopexy (RSC) is currently unknown. Here, we sought to evaluate the
      outcomes of RSC using absorbable sutures for vaginal and sacral mesh attachment.
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 132 RSC surgeries that were performed for
      vaginal vault prolapse in the Division of Gynecologic Surgery at our institution
      from February 2007 to December 2013. All cases were performed with absorbable
      suture (polyglactin) for vaginal and sacral mesh fixation. Sacrocolpopexy failure
      was defined as patients undergoing either repeat prolapse surgery or pessary use
      for recurrent prolapse. The durability of RSC was assessed via Kaplan-Meier
      method. RESULTS: The median age at surgery was 61.1 years (interquartile range
      [IQR], 55.6-68.2) and the median length of postoperative follow-up was 33 months
      (IQR, 15.7-57). The median body mass index was 26.5 kg/m (IQR, 24.3-29.7). During
      follow-up, 10 patients underwent prolapse retreatment. There were 2 apical
      recurrences, 4 distal anterior recurrences, 2 posterior recurrences, and, in 2
      cases, the location was unknown. One apical recurrence was confirmed to be
      secondary to detachment of the mesh from the sacral promontory. Among those with
      recurrence, the median time to recurrence was 15.5 months (IQR, 4.22-35.9).
      Overall, the 1-year and 3-year freedom from repeat surgery rates were 96% and
      93%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: With a median follow-up of 33 months, the use of
      absorbable suture for both vaginal and sacral attachments during RSC is
      effective. Further studies evaluating suture selection and mesh attachment
      techniques for RSC are needed.

PMID- 27636222
TI  - Outcomes of Sacral Neuromodulation in Patients with Prior Surgical Treatment of
      Stress Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Organ Prolapse.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of sacral
      neuromodulation in patients with prior stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or
      pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery. METHODS: Women in our prospective
      neuromodulation database were evaluated. Patients with a history of prior SUI/POP
      surgery were compared to those without. Medical records at baseline were
      reviewed, and primary outcome was defined as moderate/marked improvement on
      Global Response Assessment (GRA) at 3 months. Secondary outcomes were measured
      using bladder diaries and Overactive Bladder Symptom Severity (OABq-SS)/health
      related quality of life (HRQOL). Data were analyzed with Pearson chi test, Fisher
      exact test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and repeated-measures analyses. RESULTS: Of
      210 subjects, 108 (51%) had prior SUI/POP surgery. Patients with SUI/POP surgery
      had more prior hysterectomies. At 3 months, there was no difference between
      groups on GRA outcomes. On the bladder diary, both groups had improvement in
      median voids per 24 hours, urgency severity, and urge incontinence over 2 years.
      On the GRA, fewer patients in the SUI/POP group were treatment responders at 12
      and 24 months. For urinary urgency, a few in this group were moderately/markedly
      improved at 6 months, and a higher proportion are reported still leaking urine at
      6 and 12 months. Similar proportions in each group reported moderate/marked
      improvement in leaking. Satisfaction was similar between groups. The OABq
      SS/HRQOL scores improved, and there was no difference between the groups.
      CONCLUSION: Sacral neuromodulation improves bladder symptoms in women with prior
      SUI/POP surgery, but response may be slightly less in those with prior surgery
      due to underlying bladder or pelvic floor issues.

PMID- 27636224
TI  - Pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - The most common pediatric malignancy is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), of
      which T-cell ALL (T-ALL) comprises 10-15% of cases. T-ALL arises in the thymus
      from an immature thymocyte as a consequence of a stepwise accumulation of genetic
      and epigenetic aberrations. Crucial biological processes, such as
      differentiation, self-renewal capacity, proliferation, and apoptosis, are
      targeted and deranged by several types of neoplasia-associated genetic
      alteration, for example, translocations, deletions, and mutations of genes that
      code for proteins involved in signaling transduction, epigenetic regulation, and
      transcription. Epigenetically, T-ALL is characterized by gene expression changes
      caused by hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes, histone modifications, and
      miRNA and lncRNA abnormalities. Although some genetic and gene expression
      patterns have been associated with certain clinical features, such as
      immunophenotypic subtype and outcome, none has of yet generally been implemented
      in clinical routine for treatment decisions. The recent advent of massive
      parallel sequencing technologies has dramatically increased our knowledge of the
      genetic blueprint of T-ALL, revealing numerous fusion genes as well as novel gene
      mutations. The challenges now are to integrate all genetic and epigenetic data
      into a coherent understanding of the pathogenesis of T-ALL and to translate the
      wealth of information gained in the last few years into clinical use in the form
      of improved risk stratification and targeted therapies. Here, we provide an
      overview of pediatric T-ALL with an emphasis on the acquired genetic alterations
      that result in this disease. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636223
TI  - Transcriptional Regulation of Connective Tissue Metabolism Genes in Women With
      Pelvic Organ Prolapse.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare differences in expressions and
      relationships between key genes involved in extracellular matrix metabolism and
      tissue cellularity in women with and without pelvic organ prolapse (POP).
      METHODS: A total of 80 biopsies (anterior cuff, posterior cuff, and/or leading
      edge) were obtained from 30 women: n = 10 premenopausal without POP (controls), n
      = 10 premenopausal with POP, and n = 10 postmenopausal with POP. Quantitative
      reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to assess gene
      expression of bone morphogenetic protein 1 (BMP1), collagen types I (COL1) and
      III (COL3), relaxin family peptide receptor 1 (RXFP1), matrix metallopeptidase 2,
      and TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitors 2 and 3. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was
      used to assess cellularity of the connective tissue layer. Kruskal-Wallis test,
      Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson correlation, or linear regression analyses were
      used, as appropriate. RESULTS: Bone morphogenetic protein 1 expression was
      significantly up-regulated in patients with POP compared with controls. Bone
      morphogenetic protein 1 expression was correlated with COL1 expression in all
      groups but only correlated with TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 3 expression in
      controls. Similarly, COL3 expression was correlated with RXFP1 expression in
      women with POP but not in controls. The degree of dependence (slope of the
      regression line) between COL1 and COL3 expressions was significantly elevated in
      premenopausal women with POP compared with the other 2 groups. The slopes between
      COL1-COL3, COL3-matrix metallopeptidase 2, COL1-RXFP1, and COL3-RXFP1 expressions
      were significantly lower in postmenopausal women compared with premenopausal
      women with POP. No differences were found in overall tissue cellularity.
      CONCLUSIONS: Bone morphogenetic protein 1 expression may play a significant role
      in the pathophysiology of POP. The finding that BMP1 expression was correlated
      with COL1 expression in all groups suggests a conserved association between BMP1
      and collagen synthesis in the vaginal wall. The elevated slope between COL1 and
      COL3 expressions may be associated with early (premenopausal) development of POP.
      The expression of RXFP1 in postmenopausal women and its altered intergene
      regulation suggests a role for RXFP1 in connective tissue metabolism outside
      pregnancy.

PMID- 27636225
TI  - An Expert Review of Pharmacogenomics of Sickle Cell Disease Therapeutics: Not Yet
      Ready for Global Precision Medicine.
AB  - Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a blood disease caused by a single nucleotide
      substitution (T > A) in the beta globin gene on chromosome 11. The single point
      mutation (Glu6Val) promotes polymerization of hemoglobin S (HbS) and causes
      sickling of erythrocytes. Vaso-occlusive painful crises are associated with
      recurrent and long-term use of analgesics/opioids and hydroxyurea (HU) by people
      living with SCD. The present analysis offers a state-of-the-art expert review of
      the effectiveness of pharmacogenomics/genetics of pain management in SCD, with
      specific focus on HU and opioids. The literature search used the following
      keywords: SCD, pharmacogenomics, pharmacogenetics, pain, antalgics, opioids,
      morphine, and HU. The literature was scanned until March 2016, with specific
      inclusion of targeted landmark and background articles on SCD. Surprisingly, our
      review identified only a limited number of studies that addressed the
      genetic/genomic basis of variable responses to pain (e.g., variants in OPRM1,
      HMOX-1, GCH1, VEGFA COMT genes), and pharmacogenomics of antalgics and opioids
      (e.g., variants in OPRM1, STAT6, ABCB1, and COMT genes) in SCD. There has been
      greater progress made toward identifying the key genomic variants, mainly in
      BCL11A, HBS1L-MYB, or SAR1, which contribute to response to HU treatment.
      However, the complete picture on pharmacogenomic determinants of the above
      therapeutic phenotypes remains elusive. Strikingly, no study has been conducted
      in sub-Saharan Africa where majority of the patients with SCD live. This alerts
      the broader global life sciences community toward the existing disparities in
      optimal and ethical targeting of research and innovation investments for SCD
      specifically and precision medicine and pharmacology research broadly.

PMID- 27636227
TI  - Data from UK Biobank on febrile illness.

PMID- 27636226
TI  - Doyne lecture 2016: intraocular health and the many faces of inflammation.
AB  - Dogma for reasons of immune privilege including sequestration (sic) of ocular
      antigen, lack of lymphatic and immune competent cells in the vital tissues of the
      eye has long evaporated. Maintaining tissue and cellular health to preserve
      vision requires active immune responses to prevent damage and respond to danger.
      A priori the eye must contain immune competent cells, undergo immune surveillance
      to ensure homoeostasis as well as an ability to promote inflammation. By
      interrogating immune responses in non-infectious uveitis and compare with age
      related macular degeneration (AMD), new concepts of intraocular immune health
      emerge. The role of macrophage polarisation in the two disorders is a tractable
      start. TNF-alpha regulation of macrophage responses in uveitis has a pivotal
      role, supported via experimental evidence and validated by recent trial data.
      Contrast this with the slow, insidious degeneration in atrophic AMD or in
      neovasular AMD, with the compelling genetic association with innate immunity and
      complement, highlights an ability to attenuate pathogenic immune responses and
      despite known inflammasome activation. Yolk sac-derived microglia maintains
      tissue immune health. The result of immune cell activation is environmentally
      dependent, for example, on retinal cell bioenergetics status, autophagy and
      oxidative stress, and alterations that skew interaction between macrophages and
      retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). For example, dead RPE eliciting macrophage VEGF
      secretion but exogenous IL-4 liberates an anti-angiogenic macrophage sFLT-1
      response. Impaired autophagy or oxidative stress drives inflammasome activation,
      increases cytotoxicity, and accentuation of neovascular responses, yet exogenous
      inflammasome-derived cytokines, such as IL-18 and IL-33, attenuate responses.

PMID- 27636229
TI  - Response to: 'Data from UK Biobank on febrile illness'.

PMID- 27636228
TI  - The impact of preoperative evaluation on perioperative events in patients
      undergoing cataract surgery: a cohort study.
AB  - PurposeAmbulatory surgery is a major area of surgical and anesthetic practice,
      and preoperative clinics are being increasingly used for low-risk surgical
      procedures. This study investigated the impact of preoperative evaluation on
      perioperative events in patients undergoing cataract surgery.MethodsThis was a
      retrospective cohort study of 968 consecutive patients undergoing cataract
      surgery. Details of medical conditions, surgical, anesthetic, and postoperative
      information were collected from medical records. A logistic regression model was
      developed using propensity score adjustment for baseline
      characteristics.ResultsOut 968 patients included, 240 (24.7%) underwent
      outpatient preoperative evaluation. There were no perioperative major
      cardiovascular events. Hypertension occurred in 319 (33%) patients, accounting
      for 79.7% of all adverse events. Preoperative evaluation resulted in a lower
      hypertension rate after adjustment for propensity score (OR=0.6; 95% CI 0.41
      0.93); no effects were observed on posterior capsule rupture and emergency
      visits/hospitalization within 7 days of surgery. Eighty-nine patients (9.3%) had
      an initial systolic pressure >=180 mm Hg, which was not associated with higher
      risk of posterior capsule rupture (P=0.158) or postoperative adverse events
      (P=0.902). Median waiting time to surgery was 6 and 2 months for evaluated and
      non-evaluated patients, respectively (P<0.001).ConclusionsIn the context of low
      risk surgery and no major perioperative and postoperative outcomes, it appears
      that outpatient preoperative evaluation has no role in reducing adverse events in
      cataract surgery candidates. Despite fewer hypertensive episodes observed in
      evaluated patients, these episodes were not associated with any medical or
      surgical outcomes.

PMID- 27636231
TI  - Effects of Desolvating Agent Types, Ratios, and Temperature on Size and
      Nanostructure of Nanoparticles from alpha-Lactalbumin and Ovalbumin.
AB  - In this study, we compare the preparation of ovalbumin (OVA) and alpha
      lactalbumin (alpha-LA) nanoparticles using different desolvating agents (ethanol,
      acetone, and methanol) and water: desolvating agent volume ratios (1:3, 1:4, 1:5,
      1:10, and 1:20). Also the effects of protein solution temperature (25, 50, and 80
      C) on the size of nanoparticles and the stability of crosslinked nanoparticles
      for 30 d were studied. OVA and alpha-LA were shown to be good candidates for
      nanoparticulation and nanoparticles in the range of 60 to 230 nm were obtained.
      The comparison between the 2 proteins offers guidance to optimize OVA and alpha
      LA nanoparticle fabrication and to efficiently obtain nanoparticles with desired
      characteristics. The particle sizes of OVA nanoparticles were found to be in the
      range of 60 to 160 nm, and the particle sizes of alpha-LA were between 150 and
      230 nm. The sizes varied with different desolvating agents: for OVA, ethanol, and
      methanol both produced nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm; for alpha-LA, methanol
      produced the smallest nanoparticles. Water: desolvating agent ratios, in the
      studied range, did not show a significant effect on the particle sizes for both
      OVA and alpha-LA nanoparticles. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were
      found to change when the protein solutions were heated up to 50 and 80 C and
      cooled down before nanoparticulation and most nanoparticles had a smaller
      diameter.

PMID- 27636230
TI  - Ophthalmic presentation of giant cell arteritis in African-Americans.
AB  - PurposeTo determine the differences in the presentation of ophthalmic giant cell
      arteritis between African-Americans and Caucasians.MethodsThis was a multicenter
      retrospective case series comparing African-American patients with ophthalmic GCA
      to a previously published Caucasian cohort. Neuro-ophthalmic centers across the
      United States were contacted to provide data on African-American patients with
      biopsy-proven ophthalmic giant cell arteritis. The differences between African
      American and Caucasian patients with respect to multiple variables, including
      age, sex, systemic and ophthalmic signs and symptoms, ocular ischemic lesions,
      and laboratory results were studied.ResultsThe Caucasian cohort was slightly
      older (mean=76.1 years) than the African-American cohort (mean=72.6 years,
      P=0.03), and there was no difference in sex distribution between the two cohorts.
      Headache, neck pain, and anemia were more frequent, while jaw claudication was
      less frequent in African-Americans (P<0.01, <0.001, 0.02, and 0.03 respectively).
      Acute vision loss was the most common presentation of giant cell arteritis in
      both groups, though it was less common in African-Americans (78 vs 98% of
      Caucasians, P<0.001). Eye pain was more common in African-Americans (28 vs 8% of
      Caucasians, P<0.01).ConclusionsThe presenting features of ophthalmic giant cell
      arteritis in African-Americans and Caucasians are not markedly different,
      although a few significant differences exist, including higher rates of headache,
      neck pain, anemia, and eye pain, and lower rates of jaw claudication and acute
      vision loss in African-Americans. Persons presenting with suspicious signs and
      symptoms should undergo evaluation for giant cell arteritis regardless of race.

PMID- 27636233
TI  - Treatment Experiences of Child Sexual Offenders in Norway: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - This article is an attempt at gaining a better understanding of treatment of
      adults who have committed sexual offenses against children. In this study we
      aimed to explore what people who have committed sexual offenses against children
      find useful in therapy. The study was approached using qualitative methodology,
      and information was collected through semistructured interviews. Four male child
      sexual offenders were recruited from the Institute of Clinical Sexology and
      Therapy in Oslo, Norway. The informants were interviewed with a focus on what
      factors they found useful in therapy. Through an explorative, thematic analysis,
      five main themes were found. These themes include: "Why I started going to
      therapy," "Why did I do it?" "Therapy as life," "Previous and current
      relationships with others," and "I lived in a fantasy world where everything was
      okay." Based on this study and other earlier studies and theories it appears that
      the previously mentioned themes recur as important contributory factors in the
      treatment of child sexual offenders.

PMID- 27636232
TI  - Self-reported obstructive sleep apnea is associated with nonresponse to
      antidepressant pharmacotherapy in late-life depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is frequently comorbid with late-life
      depression. The purpose of this project was to determine, using a sample of older
      adults with major depressive disorder, whether patient-reported diagnosis of OSA
      was associated with rate of response to venlafaxine. METHODS: Participants from
      this multisite study were adults >=60 years old (n = 468) with major depressive
      disorder and a Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of >=15.
      Depression response was the outcome variable, defined as a MADRS score of <=10
      for two consecutive assessments at the end of 12 weeks of open-label treatment
      with venlafaxine 300 mg/day. To assess OSA, participants were asked if they had
      been diagnosed with OSA using polysomnography. RESULTS: Eighty participants
      (17.1%) reported a diagnosis of OSA prior to baseline. Participants with OSA were
      more likely to be male, report greater impairment on measures of health,
      experience a longer duration of the index episode, and receive an adequate
      antidepressant trial prior to entering the study. During the 12 weeks of
      treatment, 40.8% responded to treatment with venlafaxine (43.6%, n = 169/388 of
      the no OSA group, and 27.5%, n = 22/80 of the OSA group). Participants without
      OSA were 1.79 times more likely to respond to treatment (HR: 1.79 [95%CI: 1.13
      2.86], P < .05) compared to those with OSA. CONCLUSIONS: OSA may impair response
      to antidepressant pharmacotherapy in depressed older adults. Future studies of
      antidepressant response rates among depressed older adults with OSA should both
      prospectively diagnose OSA and monitor adherence to treatments such as continuous
      positive airway pressure.

PMID- 27636234
TI  - Hyperuricemia protects against low bone mineral density, osteoporosis and
      fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum uric acid (SUA) accounts for about 50% of extracellular
      antioxidant activity, suggesting that hyperuricemia may have a protective role in
      diseases characterized by high levels of oxidative stress, such as osteoporosis.
      We aimed to meta-analyse data regarding bone mineral density (BMD), osteoporosis
      and fractures in people with higher SUA vs. lower SUA concentrations. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Two investigators conducted a literature search using PubMed and
      Scopus, without language restrictions. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and
      95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used for BMD; risk ratios (RRs) and adjusted
      odds ratios (ORs) for cross-sectional data. Most possible adjusted hazard ratios
      (HRs) were used to assess the association between baseline SUA and incident
      fractures. RESULTS: Of 1405 initial hits, 19 studies were eligible including a
      total of 55 859 participants. Subjects with higher SUA levels had significantly
      higher BMD values for the spine (six studies; SMD = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.22-0.35; I2 =
      47%), total hip (seven studies; SMD = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.24-0.34; I2 = 33%) and
      femoral neck (six studies; SMD = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.16-0.34; I2 = 71%). Simple
      correlation analyses substantially confirmed these findings. An increase of one
      standard deviation in SUA levels reduced the number of new fractures at follow-up
      (three studies; HR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.74-0.92; I2 = 0%). No significant
      differences between men and women emerged, although data about women were
      limited. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperuricemia was found independently associated with BMD
      and fractures, supporting a protective role for uric acid in bone metabolism
      disorders.

PMID- 27636235
TI  - The influence of angiotensin converting enzyme mutations on the kinetics and
      dynamics of N-domain selective inhibition.
AB  - : Angiotensin-1-converting enzyme (ACE) is a zinc metalloprotease that plays a
      major role in blood pressure regulation via the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone
      system. ACE consists of two domains with differences in inhibitor binding
      affinities despite their 90% active site identity. While the C-domain primarily
      controls blood pressure, the N-domain is selective for cleavage of the
      antifibrotic N-acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro. Inhibitors, such as 33RE, that selectively
      bind to the N-domain thus show potential for treating fibrosis without affecting
      blood pressure. The aim of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanism of
      this selectivity. ACE inhibition by 33RE was characterized using a continuous
      kinetic assay with fluorogenic substrate. The N-domain displayed nanomolar (Ki =
      11.21 +/- 0.74 nm) and the C-domain micromolar (Ki = 11 278 +/- 410 nm)
      inhibition, thus 1000-fold selectivity. Residues predicted to contribute to
      selectivity based on the N-domain-33RE co-crystal structure were subsequently
      mutated to their C-domain counterparts. S2 subsite mutation with resulting loss
      of a hydrogen bond drastically decreased the affinity (Ki = 2 794 +/- 156 nm),
      yet did not entirely account for selectivity. Additional substitution of all
      unique S2 ' residues, however, completely abolished selectivity (Ki = 10 009 +/-
      157 nm). Interestingly, these residues do not directly bind 33RE. All mutants
      were therefore subjected to molecular dynamics simulations in the presence and
      absence of 33RE. Trajectory analyses highlighted the importance of these S2 '
      residues in formation of a favourable interface between the ACE subdomains and
      thus a closed, ligand-bound complex. This study provides a molecular basis for
      the intersubsite synergism governing 33RE's 1000-fold N-selectivity and aids the
      future design of novel inhibitors for fibrosis treatment. ENZYMES: Angiotensin
      converting enzyme (ACE, EC 3.4.15.1).

PMID- 27636237
TI  - A HAART-Breaking Review of Alternative Antiretroviral Administration: Practical
      Considerations with Crushing and Enteral Tube Scenarios.
AB  - Selection of an appropriate antiretroviral regimen for the patient infected with
      human immunodeficiency virus can be challenging, as various considerations must
      be taken into account including viral resistance mutations, patient
      comorbidities, drug interactions, and the potential for drug-related adverse
      effects and toxicities. Treatment is further complicated when a clinical scenario
      arises requiring an alteration in the dosage form. Factors ranging from dysphagia
      to administration through an enteral feeding tube can affect decisions regarding
      antiretroviral dosage forms. Limited pharmacokinetic data exist regarding the
      alteration of antiretroviral medications from their original form.
      Bioavailability may vary substantially between dosage forms, which can lead to
      unpredictable drug concentrations. Supratherapeutic or subtherapeutic
      antiretroviral drug concentrations can result in increased toxicity, virologic
      failure, or the emergence of drug resistance. We performed a systematic
      literature search to review the available antiretroviral literature on the
      modification of solid dosage forms as well as alternative routes of
      administration of oral antiretroviral agents and their application to clinical
      practice.

PMID- 27636236
TI  - The safety and efficacy of sonidegib for the treatment of locally advanced basal
      cell carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are the commonest malignancy in the
      Western world. Locally advanced BCCs (laBCCs) represent tumours that have
      developed in difficult-to-treat facial sites, aggressively recurrent tumours,
      large neglected tumours and those in which current treatment options are excluded
      by clinical or patient-driven criteria. It is estimated laBCCs represent 1% of
      BCCs. AREAS COVERED: Sonidegib is an oral hedgehog pathway inhibitor with a novel
      structure. It has recently been licensed for the treatment of laBCC. This article
      provides a comprehensive review of the literature regarding sonidegib, detailing
      the pharmacology of the compound, clinical trial data, competitor compounds and a
      future perspective. Expert commentary: Sonidegib is a novel smoothened (SMO)
      inhibitor with comparable efficacy to vismodegib, with patient response rates of
      44% (sonidegib) and 43% (vismodegib). The adverse effect profile of these two
      treatments is similar with the main effects being considered to be class effects
      of SMO inhibitors.

PMID- 27636238
TI  - Photoproduction of One-Electron Reducing Intermediates by Chromophoric Dissolved
      Organic Matter (CDOM): Relation to O2- and H2O2 Photoproduction and CDOM
      Photooxidation.
AB  - A molecular probe, 3-amino-2,2,5,5,-tetramethy-1-pyrrolydinyloxy (3ap), was
      employed to determine the formation rates of one-electron reducing intermediates
      generated photochemically from both untreated and borohydride-reduced Suwanee
      River fulvic and humic acids (SRFA and SRHA, respectively). This stable nitroxyl
      radical reacts rapidly with reducing radicals and other one-electron reductants
      to produce a relatively stable product, the hydroxylamine, which can be
      derivatized with fluorescamine, separated by HPLC and quantified
      fluorimetrically. We provide evidence that O2 and 3ap compete for the same
      pool(s) of photoproduced reducing intermediates, and that under appropriate
      experimental conditions, the initial rate of hydroxylamine formation (RH) can
      provide an estimate of the initial rate of superoxide (O2-) formation. However,
      comparison of the initial rates of H2O2 formation (RH2O2) to that of RH show far
      larger ratios of RH/RH2O2 (~6-13) than be accounted for by simple O2- dismutation
      (RH/RH2O2 = 2), implying a significant oxidative sink of O2- (~67-85%). Because
      of their high reactivity with O2- and their likely importance in the
      photochemistry of CDOM, we suggest that coproduced phenoxy radicals could
      represent a viable oxidative sink. Because O2-/phenoxy radical reactions can lead
      to more highly oxidized products, O2- could be playing a far more significant
      role in the photooxidation of CDOM than has been previously recognized.

PMID- 27636239
TI  - [Image diagnosis of aortic valve disease: an update].
AB  - Aortic valve disease is the most common acquired valvular disease and most often
      requiring surgical valve replacement in our environment. In this chapter the
      latest scientific contributions in the field of cardiac imaging in this disease
      (echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac computed tomography)
      are reviewed. Some of them have aroused large and lively debates in forums in
      recent years. These contributions have forced us to rethink some diagnostic
      criteria, and the management of this disease as well. 

PMID- 27636240
TI  - Fibrous Histiocytoma of the Conjunctiva.

PMID- 27636241
TI  - Lichen Nitidus of the Eyelids.
AB  - Lichen nitidus is a rare, idiopathic inflammatory condition that typically
      presents as small, flat-topped papules on the chest, abdomen, and upper
      extremities. The lesions are benign and often asymptomatic and self-resolve. The
      pediatric population is most often affected. The authors report a case of lichen
      nitidus presenting as isolated bilateral eyelid lesions increasing in number for
      several years. Eventual excision and antibiotic/steroid ointment prompted
      regression.

PMID- 27636242
TI  - A Novel One-Stage Obstruction-Based Endoscopic Approach to Congenital
      Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report 10-year results of a 1-stage, obstruction-based, endoscopic
      approach in children with congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO) with
      and without prior failed probing/intubation. METHODS: In a retrospective study,
      children with primary CNLDO of >6 months old previously failed
      probing/intubation, acute dacryocystitis or dacryocele at any age, and at least 6
      months follow up. Diagnosis was based on history of tearing and dye disappearance
      test. Excluded were patients with complete puncto-canalicular obstruction and
      craniofacial anomaly. Type of CNLDO was confirmed using endonasal endoscopic
      guided probing. An endoscopic probing was performed for membranous, intubation
      for incomplete complex, and dacryocystorhinostomy for complete complex CNLDO.
      They were followed at 1 week, 1, 3, and 6 months, and then after. Success was
      defined as no or occasional tearing related to noxious stimulus at least 6 months
      after the procedure. RESULTS: There were 226 eyes (200 patients). Mean age was
      26.72 months. Previous failed probing/intubation was in 34.1%. Inferior turbinate
      impaction in 73.5% and septal deviation in 2.7% were noted. Membranous CNLDO was
      found in 38.9%, incomplete complex in 57.9%, and complete complex in 3.1%. Mean
      time of tube removal was 11.9 weeks and last follow-up time was 24.3 months.
      There was no significant effect of any variables on the final success rates
      (probing: 96.5%, intubation: 95.4%, dacryocystorhinostomy: 100%). CONCLUSIONS:
      One-stage, obstruction-based endoscopic approach to CNLDO resulted in a high
      success rate for different types of CNLDO (membranous, incomplete complex, and
      complete complex). No variable significantly affected the success rates.

PMID- 27636243
TI  - Rates of Positive Findings on Positron Emission Tomography and Bone Marrow Biopsy
      in Patients With Ocular Adnexal Lymphoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine rates of positive findings on
      positron emission tomography (PET) and bone marrow biopsy performed during
      staging workup for ocular adnexal lymphoma (OAL). METHODS: A retrospective review
      of OAL patients was conducted. Demographics, primary versus secondary OAL,
      histologic subtype, and findings on PET and bone marrow biopsy performed as part
      of the initial staging workup for OAL were recorded. RESULTS: The study included
      119 patients with OAL. There were 85 primary and 34 secondary OALs. The main
      histologic subtypes of lymphoma were mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (n = 61),
      follicular (n = 26), diffuse large B-cell (n = 17), and mantle cell (n = 10).
      Positive PET findings were seen in 42 of 68 patients (62%) with primary OAL and
      19 of 24 (79%) with secondary OAL. Positive PET findings were seen in 24 of 47
      patients (51%) with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, 13 of 17 (76%) with
      follicular, 14 of 15 (93%) with diffuse large B-cell, and 9 of 10 (90%) with
      mantle cell lymphoma. Positive findings on bone marrow biopsy were seen in 7 of
      59 patients (12%) with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, 4 of 23 (17%) with
      follicular, 1 of 17 (6%) with diffuse large B-cell, and 2 of 9 (22%) with mantle
      cell lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a significant proportion of
      patients with primary and secondary OAL have positive findings on PET and bone
      marrow biopsy at initial diagnosis, suggesting a reasonable yield for these tests
      as part of the initial staging workup in patients with a new diagnosis of OAL.

PMID- 27636244
TI  - Addition of Carbon-Fluorine Bonds to a Mg(I)-Mg(I) Bond: An Equivalent of
      Grignard Formation in Solution.
AB  - Addition of the carbon-fluorine bond of a series of perfluorinated and
      polyfluorinated arenes across the Mg-Mg bond of a simple coordination complex
      proceeds rapidly in solution. The reaction results in the formation of a new
      carbon-magnesium bond and a new fluorine-magnesium bond and is analogous to
      Grignard formation in homogeneous solution.

PMID- 27636246
TI  - Pharmacogenetic and ethnicity influence on oxaliplatin therapy for colorectal
      cancer: a meta-analysis.
AB  - AIMS: Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for colorectal cancer demonstrates
      interindividual variability in response, and polymorphisms of ERCC1, ERCC2,
      XRCC1, GSTP1 and GSTM1 genes may be contributing factors. Additionally, the
      effect of these genotypes may differ between ethnic groups. Material & Methods: A
      meta-analysis of the association between these genotypes and response,
      progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) for patients with colorectal
      cancer treated with oxaliplatin-based therapy is reported. Results: ERCC1 C118T
      (TT vs CC OS [hazard ratio (HR): 2.59; p = 0.001]), ERCC2 A2251C (CC or AC vs AA
      OS [HR: 1.53; p = 0.04]) and GSTP1 A313G (GG vs AA OS, [HR: 0.47; p < 0.001])
      polymorphisms were associated with survival. The effect size may be larger for
      ERCC1 C118T and XRCC1 G1196A in Asian compared with Caucasian populations. No
      association was apparent for the GSTM1 genotype. CONCLUSION: ERCC1 C118T, ERCC2
      A2251C and GSTP1 A313G polymorphisms were associated with clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27636245
TI  - Knee Pain and Structural Damage as Risk Factors for Incident Widespread Pain:
      Data From the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the longitudinal relationship of knee pain, radiographic
      osteoarthritis (OA), symptomatic knee OA, and knee pain severity to incident
      widespread pain. METHODS: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study is a longitudinal
      cohort of persons with or at risk of knee OA. Participants were characterized as
      having consistent frequent knee pain, radiographic OA (Kellgren/Lawrence scale
      grade >=2), symptomatic OA, and knee pain severity at the 60-month visit
      (baseline). Widespread pain was categorized as pain above and below the waist, on
      both sides of the body and axially, using a standard homunculus, excluding knee
      pain. Incident widespread pain was defined as the presence of widespread pain at
      84 months in those who were free of widespread pain at baseline. We assessed the
      relationship of baseline radiographic OA, symptomatic OA, consistent frequent
      knee pain, and knee pain severity, respectively, with incident widespread pain
      using logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders, including models
      with and without pain severity. RESULTS: At baseline, 1,129 subjects were
      eligible for analysis (mean +/- SD age 66.7 +/- 7.8 years; mean +/- SD body mass
      index 30.1 +/- 5.8 kg/m2 ; 52% women). Radiographic OA in either knee (adjusted
      odds ratio [ORadj ] 0.90 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.63-1.30]; P = 0.587)
      was not associated with incident widespread pain. Baseline bilateral consistent
      frequent knee pain (ORadj 2.35 [95% CI 1.37-4.03]), bilateral symptomatic OA
      (ORadj 2.11 [95% CI 1.04-4.24]), and knee pain severity (worst knee) (ORadj 1.11
      [95% CI 1.05-1.17]; P < 0.001) were significantly associated with incident
      widespread pain. CONCLUSION: Consistent frequent knee pain, symptomatic OA, and
      knee pain severity increased the risk of developing widespread pain,
      independently of structural pathology. These results suggest that knee pain, and
      not structural pathology, contributes to the onset of widespread pain.

PMID- 27636247
TI  - Submillisievert Computed Tomography of the Chest Using Model-Based Iterative
      Algorithm: Optimization of Tube Voltage With Regard to Patient Size.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to define optimal tube potential for soft
      tissue and vessel visualization in dose-reduced chest CT protocols using model
      based iterative algorithm in average and overweight patients. METHODS: Thirty-six
      patients receiving chest CT according to 3 protocols (120 kVp/noise index [NI],
      60; 100 kVp/NI, 65; 80 kVp/NI, 70) were included in this prospective study,
      approved by the ethics committee. Patients' physical parameters and dose
      descriptors were recorded. Images were reconstructed with model-based algorithm.
      Two radiologists evaluated image quality and lesion conspicuity; the protocols
      were intraindividually compared with preceding control CT reconstructed with
      statistical algorithm (120 kVp/NI, 20). Mean and standard deviation of
      attenuation of the muscle and fat tissues and signal-to-noise ratio of the aorta
      were measured. RESULTS: Diagnostic images (lesion conspicuity, 95%-100%) were
      acquired in average and overweight patients at 1.34, 1.02, and 1.08 mGy and at
      3.41, 3.20, and 2.88 mGy at 120, 100, and 80 kVp, respectively. Data are given as
      CT dose index volume values. CONCLUSIONS: Model-based algorithm allows for
      submillisievert chest CT in average patients; the use of 100 kVp is recommended.

PMID- 27636248
TI  - Characterization of Parotid Tumors With Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast Perfusion
      Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize parotid tumors with dynamic susceptibility contrast
      perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and diffusion-weighted MR
      imaging. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective study was conducted upon 48
      consecutive patients (27 men, 21 women; aged 15-75 years; mean, 45 years) with
      parotid tumors that underwent dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion-weighted
      MR imaging was performed after bolus injection of gadopentate dimeglumine and
      diffusion-weighted MR imaging. The dynamic susceptibility contrast percentage
      (DSC%) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of parotid tumors were
      calculated and correlated with histopathological findings. RESULTS: The DSC% of
      malignant parotid tumors (33.53% +/- 3.99%) was significantly different (P =
      0.001) from that of benign parotid tumors (22.29% +/- 4.13%). The threshold
      values of DSC% and ADC used in differentiating malignant from benign parotid
      tumors were 26.5% and 1.07 * 10 mm/s, respectively, with area under the curve
      (AUC) of 0.96 and 0.81, respectively. The DSC% of malignant parotid tumors was
      significantly different from that of Warthin tumors (P = 0.001). The cutoff DSC%
      used to differentiate malignancy from Warthin tumors was 26.9% with an AUC of
      0.99. There was a significant difference in DSC% and ADC values between
      pleomorphic adenomas and Warthin tumors (P = 0.001). The threshold values of DSC%
      and ADC used in differentiating pleomorphic adenomas from Warthin tumors was
      22.5% and 0.99 * 10 mm/s, respectively, with AUC of 0.88 and 0.98, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced perfusion-weighted MR
      imaging and diffusion-weighted MR imaging are noninvasive promising methods that
      are used for differentiation of malignant from benign parotid tumors and for
      characterization of some benign parotid tumors.

PMID- 27636249
TI  - CT Differentiation of Female Peritoneal Tuberculosis and Peritoneal
      Carcinomatosis From Normal-Sized Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the computed tomography (CT)
      features of female peritoneal tuberculosis and peritoneal carcinomatosis from
      normal-sized ovarian cancer for their differentiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      analyzed the CT features of 18 female peritoneal tuberculosis and 17 peritoneal
      carcinomatosis with proven normal-sized ovarian carcinomas. Omental change,
      mesenteric change, parietal peritoneal thickening, lymph node enlargement,
      ascites, ovarian CT attenuation, and ovarian capsular change were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Heterogeneous parenchymal hyperattenuation and capsular change of the
      ovary were more frequently seen in cases of peritoneal carcinomatosis than in
      cases of female peritoneal tuberculosis (P = 0.002, P < 0.001, respectively).
      There were no statistically significant differences in the other CT features.
      CONCLUSIONS: The differentiation of female peritoneal tuberculosis and peritoneal
      carcinomatosis with normal-sized ovarian cancer by CT may be a diagnostic
      challenge. Ovarian hyperattenuation and any prominent ovarian capsular change may
      facilitate the differentiation between these groups.

PMID- 27636250
TI  - Arterial and Venous Pulmonary Vascular Morphology and Their Relationship to
      Findings in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Smokers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prior work has described the relationship between pulmonary vascular
      pruning on computed tomography (CT) scans and metrics of right-sided heart
      dysfunction in smokers. In this analysis, we sought to look at pruning on a lobar
      level, as well as examine the effect of the arterial and venous circulation on
      this association. METHODS: Automated vessel segmentation applied to noncontrast
      CT scans from the COPDGene Study in 24 subjects with cardiac magnetic resonance
      imaging scans was used to create a blood volume distribution profile. These
      vessels were then manually tracked to their origin and characterized as artery or
      vein. RESULTS: Assessment of pruning on a lobar level revealed associations
      between pruning and right ventricular function previously not observed on a
      global level. The right ventricular mass index, the right ventricular end
      systolic volume index, and pulmonary arterial-to-aorta ratio were associated with
      both arterial and venous pruning, whereas right ventricular ejection fraction was
      associated with only arterial pruning. CONCLUSIONS: Lobar assessment and
      segmentation of the parenchymal vasculature into arterial and venous components
      provide additional information about the relationship between loss of vasculature
      on CT scans and right ventricular dysfunction.

PMID- 27636302
TI  - Total Synthesis of Cytospolide D and Its Biomimetic Conversion to Cytospolides M,
      O, and Q.
AB  - A total synthesis of cytospolide D, starting from l-glutamic acid, is described.
      The critical macrolactonization to the 10-membered lactone containing an (E)
      configured double bond was successfully achieved by Shiina esterification.
      Conversion of cytospolide D to its bicyclic derivatives M, O, and Q was
      accomplished under mild conditions, lending support to the proposed biosynthetic
      hypothesis.

PMID- 27636301
TI  - Designing Synthetic Flexible Gene Regulation Networks Using RNA Devices in
      Cyanobacteria.
AB  - In recent years, studies on the development of gene regulation tools in
      cyanobacteria have been extensively conducted toward efficient production of
      valuable chemicals. However, there is considerable scope for improving the
      economic feasibility of production. To improve a recently reported gene induction
      system using anhydrotetracycline (aTc)-TetR and an endogenous gene repression
      system using small antisense RNA in the filamentous nitrogen-fixing
      cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 (Anabaena), we constructed a positive
      feedback loop, in which gfp and a small antisense RNA for tetR are controlled by
      an aTc-inducible promoter. GFP expression in this improved system was higher and
      longer than the system lacking tetR repression. In addition, by using TetR
      aptamer and a riboswitch, we succeeded in achieving a superior and longer
      induction of GFP expression even under high-light conditions. Hence, efficient
      gene induction systems were established in Anabaena by designing a gene
      regulation network using RNA-based tools.

PMID- 27636303
TI  - Gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to the new anticoagulants.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To quantify direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) related
      gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB), characterize patients at greatest risk and
      provide a pragmatic approach for the management of these drugs. This review will
      also summarize risk-management strategies and highlight evolving areas of
      clinical knowledge. RECENT FINDINGS: DOACs permit anticoagulation with
      predictable dosing without the need for routine serum monitoring. Since their
      availability on the market, they have quickly emerged as a popular alternative
      for patients requiring short-term and lifelong anticoagulation. However, they are
      associated with an increased risk of GIB when compared with warfarin; thus,
      gastroenterologists must be prepared to manage DOAC-related GIB and prevent drug
      related complications. This review will focus on acute and elective
      periendoscopic DOAC management, high-risk clinical groups for DOAC-related GIB,
      quantification of DOAC levels, use of reversal agents and minimization of
      thromboembolic risk associated with temporary interruption. SUMMARY: This review
      will highlight pragmatic strategies for the treatment of DOAC-related bleeding
      and the prevention of postendoscopic DOAC bleeding. It will address new and
      evolving areas of periendoscopic management and identify knowledge gaps requiring
      further research to inform clinical practice.

PMID- 27636304
TI  - An update in the nonendoscopic treatment of gastric cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews the recent seminal studies in
      esophagogastric cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: Regular low aspirin use may reduce the
      risk of esophagogastric cancer. Laparoscopic resection of locally advanced
      gastric cancer appears equivalent to open resection. There is no survival benefit
      for the addition of postoperative radiation therapy to adjuvant chemotherapy
      after primary gastric cancer resection. For tumors of the esophagus and
      gastroesophageal junction, the combination of preoperative radiation therapy with
      concurrent chemotherapy may be required to ensure achievement of a negative
      surgical margin and to reduce local tumor recurrence. Epirubicin may not add
      benefit to fluorinated pyrimidine and platinum-based chemotherapy, either in the
      preoperative setting or in the treatment of metastatic disease. The Her2-targeted
      agents lapatinib and trastuzumab emtansine failed to improve outcome when either
      added to or compared with chemotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibition appears to
      be active in metastatic gastric cancer. SUMMARY: Recent studies in
      esophagogastric cancer help clarify the role of radiation therapy in surgical
      management, as well as the role of chemotherapeutic and targeted agents.

PMID- 27636305
TI  - Stomach and duodenum.

PMID- 27636321
TI  - Cation States of Ethane: HEAT Calculations and Vibronic Simulations of the
      Photoelectron Spectrum of Ethane.
AB  - High-accuracy ab initio calculations have been carried out on ethane and its
      radical cation. With the HEAT-345(Q) scheme, adiabatic ionization potentials of
      11.52 and 11.57 eV are determined for the X (2)Eg and A (2)A1g states,
      respectively, with an uncertainty of +/-0.015 eV. Also considered in this report
      are linear and quadratic vibronic coupling involving both states. With this
      simple vibronic model, the photoelectron spectrum of ethane was simulated in the
      11-15 eV region using linear and full quadratic Jahn-Teller coupling
      Hamiltonians, and with up to 70 billion direct product basis functions in a high
      performance computing environment. Although the linear vibronic coupling model
      adequately reproduces the spectral envelope, the quadratic vibronic treatment
      results in much better agreement with the observed spectrum. 

PMID- 27636322
TI  - Self-assemblies of 5'-cholesteryl-ethyl-phosphoryl zidovudine.
AB  - Anti-HIV prodrugs are recently focused on due to their ability of self-assembly,
      macrophage targeting, and enhanced antiviral effects. Here, an amphiphilic
      prodrug of zidovudine, an anti-HIV nucleoside analogue, 5'-cholesteryl-ethyl
      phosphoryl zidovudine (CEPZ) was synthesized. CEPZ showed some unique
      physicochemical properties. The solubility of CEPZ in the noncompetitive solvents
      chloroform and tetrahydrofuran (THF) was very high based on the hydrogen bonds
      between zidovudine groups, though CEPZ was sparing soluble in alcohols and almost
      insoluble in water. The typical amphiphilic property of CEPZ was demonstrated
      according to the Langmuir monolayers at the air/water interface. The LogP of CEPZ
      was high to 13.78, indicating the high hydrophobicity of amphiphilic CEPZ similar
      to phospholipids. Homogenous and stable self-assemblies were formed with the mean
      size of 128.7nm and the zeta potential of -35.4mV after injecting the CEPZ-in-THF
      solution into water. Hydrophobic interaction between the cholesteryl moieties of
      CEPZ could drive molecular self-assembly and lead to the formation of spherical
      vesicles. CEPZ self-assemblies showed strong stability even under high
      temperature and gravity probably due to the high surface charge. CEPZ was very
      slowly degraded in neutral solutions (e.g., pH 7.4), but fast in acid solutions
      (e.g., pH 5.0) and some tissue homogenates. CEPZ was quickly eliminated from the
      circulation and distributed into the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) including
      the liver, spleen and lung after bolus intravenous administration of CEPZ self
      assemblies to mice. The MPS targeting effect of CEPZ self-assemblies makes them
      become a promising self-assembled drug delivery system to eradicate the HIV
      hidden in the macrophages.

PMID- 27636306
TI  - Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Age, and Chronic Diseases: Perspectives on
      Statistical Trends.
AB  - The release of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2002 was a shock to
      the medical community. Hormone therapy (HT) had generally been considered to be
      highly beneficial for postmenopausal women since it was the gold standard for
      relief of menopausal symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal atrophy) and it
      was thought to protect women from osteoporosis, heart disease, and cognitive
      decline and to generally improve quality of life. However, WHI showed a
      statistically significant increase in a number of disease states, including
      breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. One problem with the WHI study
      was that the average age of women in the study was 63, which is considerably
      older than the age at which most women enter menopause (about 51). The timing
      hypothesis attempts to rationalize the effect of age on response to HT and risk
      of various diseases. The data suggests that younger women (50-60) may be
      protected from heart disease with only a slight increase in breast cancer risk.
      In contrast, older women (>65) are more susceptible to breast cancer and heart
      disease and should avoid HT. This Perspective on Statistical Trends evaluates the
      current data on HT and risk for chronic diseases as a function of age.

PMID- 27636323
TI  - Self-efficacy and Associated Factors in Patients With Temporary Ostomies: A Cross
      sectional Survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine stoma self-efficacy (SE) and its association with health
      related quality of life (HRQOL) and social support in patients with temporary
      ostomies. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 150
      patients from 5 hospitals in Guangdong province, China, who had been living with
      a temporary ostomy for at least 1 month. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS:
      Respondents completed a questionnaire that included ostomy-related
      sociodemographic and clinical data, and Chinese language versions of several
      validated instruments, the Stoma Self-efficacy Scale (C-SSES), City of Hope
      Quality of Life-Ostomy Questionnaire (C-COH-QOL-OQ), and Perceived Social Support
      Scale (C-PSSS). RESULTS: Of the 150 questionnaires distributed, 122 (81.3%) were
      returned, and 111 (74%) had sufficiently complete responses to be included in the
      final analysis. The average score from the C-SSES was 78.55 +/- 14.72 (mean +/-
      standard deviation) for total stoma SE; 85.6% of respondents showed low or
      moderate self-efficacy related to ostomy care. The scores from the C-SSES were
      39.36 +/- 7.72 for stoma care SE and 23.33 +/- 6.69 for social SE. Stoma care SE
      was significantly associated with HRQOL domains, psychological well-being (B =
      2.09, P < .01), social well-being (B = 1.16, P < .05), significant other support
      (B = 1.19, P < .01), and friend support (B = 0.72, P < .01). Social SE was
      associated with education level (B = 2.84, P < .01), HRQOL domains, psychological
      well-being (B = 1.88, P < .01), social well-being (B = 1.17, P < .01), and family
      support (B = 0.48, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Persons with temporary ostomies
      reported low or moderate levels of SE, suggesting the need to focus on HRQOL
      aspects of psychological and social well-being, as well as social support. We
      hypothesize that interaction with other ostomy patients, especially those with
      long-term enterostomy experience or those trained through ostomy organizations,
      may improve stoma SE.

PMID- 27636325
TI  - Dissipation and metabolism of tebufenozide in cabbage and soil under open field
      conditions in South China.
AB  - The novel nonsteroidal ecdysone agonist tebufenozide is capable of controlling a
      wide range of lepidopteran pests. However its intensive use in vegetables has
      raised concerns towards the safety of food and environment. Here, we developed an
      easy and reliable method to analyze tebufenozide in cabbage and soil by reversed
      phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The average recoveries of
      tebufenozide ranged from 72.01% to 101.10% with the relative standard deviations
      (RSD)<6%, and the LOD and LOQ were 0.02ugg-1 and 0.05ugg-1, respectively.
      According to the dissipation study, the half-lives of tebufenozide were 2.96 and
      4.08 d in cabbage and 4.95-7.70d in soil, respectively. The final residues were
      determined below the maximum residue limit (MRL) (0.5mgkg-1) after a pre-harvest
      interval (PHI) of 7d. Moreover, its major metabolites were identified by liquid
      chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) on LTQ-Orbitrap XL, which
      leading to the first report of the degradation pathway of tebufenozide in
      cabbage. The present study is expected to provide basic data for the use guidance
      and safety evaluation of tebufenozide in agricultural crops and environment.

PMID- 27636324
TI  - Modulators of HBV capsid assembly as an approach to treating hepatitis B virus
      infection.
AB  - The search for a cure for hepatitis B virus infection extends beyond interferon
      and the existing polymerase inhibitors, and targets different aspects of the
      virus life cycle to develop agents that operate by alternative mechanisms.
      Examples of small molecules that disrupt the encapsidation of pgRNA have been
      known for some time, but recent advances in the understanding of nucleocapsid
      formation, how compounds interact with core protein, and the development of drug
      like molecules have recently progressed the study of capsid assembly modulators
      to proof of concept in the clinic with respect to reduction of viral load in
      chronic HBV patients. Interference with HBV capsid assembly is thus a legitimate
      approach to treating HBV infection.

PMID- 27636326
TI  - New insights about the hydrogen bonds formed between acetylene and hydrogen
      fluoride: pi?H, C?H and F?H.
AB  - A theoretical study of hydrogen bond strength and bond properties in the
      C2H2?(HF)-T, C2H2?2(HF)-T, C2H2?2(HF), C2H2?3(HF) and C2H2?4(HF) complexes was
      carried out at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) theory level. In these systems, a strength
      competition between the pi?H and C?H interactions was examined. Specifically the
      F?H hydrogen bond, its properties were studied through a comparison between the
      hydrogen fluoride and the higher-order complexes (trimer, tetramer and pentamer).
      Regarding the electronic properties, the hydrogen bond strength could not be
      determined by the supermolecule approach. Thus, the hydrogen bond energies were
      computed via NBO calculations. Additionally to NBO, the ChelpG charge
      calculations were used to interpret the intermolecular charge transfer. The QTAIM
      integrations were useful to predict the covalent character of the pi?H, C?H and
      F?H hydrogen bonds. Moreover, values of hybrid orbitals (s and p) and atomic
      radii were also determined in order to justify the red shifts in the stretch
      frequencies of the HF bonds.

PMID- 27636327
TI  - Mortality following status epilepticus in persons with and without epilepsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Incidence of status epilepticus (SE) ranges from 6.8 to 41.0 per 100,000
      population. Although SE is associated with significant morbidity and mortality,
      the temporal relationship between SE, epilepsy, and mortality is less clear. The
      risk of all-cause mortality following SE with and without prior epilepsy was
      investigated. METHOD: This study identified hospitalizations and emergency
      department visits for persons with SE and persons with epilepsy between 2000 and
      2013. Excluded were those with epilepsy subsequent to SE, epilepsia partialis
      continua, less than 90days follow-up, and less than 2 years of data prior to
      first diagnosis. The cohort was grouped into: 1) SE only, 2) post-epilepsy SE
      (PES), and 3) epilepsy only. The risk of mortality was estimated using Cox
      proportional hazard models adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: The
      cohort (N=82,331) consisted of 1296 SE only cases (1.6%); 2136 PES cases (2.6%);
      and 78,899 epilepsy only controls (95.8%) with 24.9%, 29.2% and 20.0% mortality,
      respectively. Compared with controls, the hazard of mortality was increased for
      those with SE only (hazard ratio [HR]=1.61, 95% CI=1.41-1.82) and PES (HR=1.16,
      95% CI=1.07-1.25) after adjustment for demographic and clinical factors. Prior
      stroke, central nervous system infection, and brain tumor increased the mortality
      hazard. CONCLUSION: There is a statistically significant increased risk of all
      cause mortality with SE. The risk is stronger in those with no prior epilepsy.
      Specific etiologies increase mortality risk in those with SE warranting further
      investigation of the complex associations between these etiologies and SE.

PMID- 27636328
TI  - Achieving Predictive Description of Molecular Conductance by Using a Range
      Separated Hybrid Functional.
AB  - The conductance of molecular bridges tends to be overestimated by computational
      studies in comparison to measured values. While this well-established trend may
      be related to difficulties for achieving robust bridges, the employed
      computational scheme can also contribute to this tendency. In particular, caveats
      of the traditional functionals employed in first-principles-based calculations
      can lead to discrepancies reflected in exaggerated conductance. Here, we show
      that by employing a range-separated hybrid functional the calculated values are
      within the same order as the measured conductance for all four considered cases.
      On the other hand, with B3LYP, which is a widely used functional, the calculated
      values greatly overestimate the conductance (by about 1-2 orders of magnitude).
      The improved description of the conductance with a RSH functional builds on
      achieving a physically meaningful treatment of the quasi particles associated
      with the frontier orbitals.

PMID- 27636329
TI  - Early conversational environment enables spontaneous belief attribution in deaf
      children.
AB  - Previous research suggests that deaf children who grow up with hearing parents
      display considerable difficulties in understanding mental states of others, up to
      their teenage years when explicitly asked in a verbal test situation (Meristo et
      al., 2007). On the other hand, typically developing pre-verbal infants display
      evidence of spontaneous false belief attribution when tested in looking-time
      tasks, although verbal tests are typically not passed before the age of 4years
      (Onishi & Baillargeon, 2005). The purpose of the present study was to examine
      whether deaf children of hearing parents are able to demonstrate spontaneous
      belief attribution in a non-verbal eye-tracking task. Thirty 4- to 8-year-old,
      deaf and hearing children, completed a non-verbal spontaneous-response false
      belief task and a verbal elicited-response false-belief task. The deaf children
      were either children with cochlear implants or children with hearing aids.
      Comparative analyses were also carried out with a previous sample of deaf and
      hearing 2-year-olds (reported in Meristo, Morgan, et al., 2012). We found that in
      the non-verbal spontaneous-response task typically hearing children, but not deaf
      children, were able to predict that a person with a false belief about an
      object's location will search erroneously for the object. However, hearing
      children and deaf children with implants, but not deaf children with hearing
      aids, passed the verbal elicited-response task. Language development was
      significantly correlated with both types of false-belief tasks for the whole
      sample. Our findings strengthen the hypothesis that the emergence of the ability
      to recognize others' beliefs needs to be supported initially by very early
      conversational input in dialogues with caregivers.

PMID- 27636330
TI  - Poly(ethylene glycol)-Based Hyperbranched Polymer from RAFT and Its Application
      as a Silver-Sulfadiazine-Loaded Antibacterial Hydrogel in Wound Care.
AB  - A multifunctional branched copolymer was synthesized by Reversible Addition
      Fragmentation Chain Transfer polymerization (RAFT) of poly(ethylene glycol)
      diacrylate (PEGDA Mn = 575) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl methacrylate
      (PEGMEMA Mn = 500) at a feed molar ratio of 50:50. Proton nuclear magnetic
      resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) confirmed a hyperbranched molecular structure and
      a high degree of vinyl functionality. An in situ cross-linkable hydrogel system
      was generated via a "click" thiol-ene-type Michael addition reaction of vinyl
      functional groups from this PEGDA/PEGMEMA copolymer system in combination with
      thiol-modified hyaluronic acid. Furthermore, encapsulation of antimicrobial
      silver sulfadiazine (SSD) into the copolymer system was conducted to create an
      advanced antimicrobial wound care dressing. This hydrogel demonstrated a
      sustained antibacterial activity against the bacterial strains Staphylococcus
      aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli in comparison to the direct
      topical application of SSD. In addition, in vitro toxicology evaluations
      demonstrated that this hydrogel-with low concentrations of encapsulated SSD
      supported the survival of embedded human adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs) and
      inhibited growth of the aforementioned pathogens. Here we demonstrate that this
      hydrogel encapsulated with a low concentration (1.0% w/v) of SSD can be utilized
      as a carrier system for stem cells with the ability to inhibit growth of
      pathogens and without adverse effects on hADSCs.

PMID- 27636331
TI  - Effect of the g.98535683A>G SNP in the CAST gene on meat traits of Nellore beef
      cattle (Bos indicus) and their crosses with Bos taurus.
AB  - The objective of this study was to estimate allele frequencies of the
      g.98535683A>G:BTAU7 SNP in the CAST gene in different genetic groups of beef
      cattle produced in Brazil (Nellore and their crosses with Bos taurus), and to
      evaluate associations between this polymorphism and meat traits. Five hundred
      animals from six different genetic groups were genotyped and phenotyped for shear
      force (SF), myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI), rib eye area, backfat
      thickness, and total lipids. Alleles A and G of the SNP were detected in all
      genetic groups and the frequency of A was higher than G. Significant association
      (P<0.05) was observed between the polymorphism and meat tenderness (SF and MFI),
      in which genotype AA exhibited the best values. These results demonstrate for the
      first time the occurrence of the studied SNP in a Zebu breed and its potential
      application to the genetic improvement of meat tenderness in the Nellore breed
      (Bos indicus) and its crosses with Bos taurus.

PMID- 27636332
TI  - Fathers' Perspectives on Coparenting in the Context of Child Feeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a diverse sample of fathers, this study examined coparenting
      dynamics specific to (1) how fathers managed responsibilities for food parenting
      with the child's mother and (2) the extent to which their food parenting
      practices were co-operative versus conflicting with those of the mother. METHODS:
      Semistructured interviews were conducted with 37 fathers (38 +/- 9.1 years) using
      a piloted interview guide. Interview questions focused on the division of
      responsibility in food parenting practices, experiences of consistent versus
      conflicting practices, and the source and consequences of conflicting practices.
      The data were analyzed in QSR NVivo 10 using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Sixty
      two percent (N = 23) of fathers reported sharing food parenting responsibilities
      with the child's mother. Among the remaining fathers, approximately half reported
      being solely responsible for food parenting (N = 6) and half reported that the
      mother was solely responsible (N = 8). Fathers reported using a variety of
      approaches to manage planning, procuring, and preparing food with mothers.
      Cooperative food parenting practices were reported by approximately half of the
      fathers in this sample. A large percentage of fathers (40%) also reported
      instances of conflicting food parenting practices. Conflicting practices
      typically focused on access to energy-dense, nutrient-poor snacks and introducing
      variety into the diet. Dissimilarities in practices were driven by differences in
      parental eating habits, feeding philosophies, and concern for child health, and
      often resulted in child tantrums or refusal to eat. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      identifies potential sources of inconsistencies in components of coparenting that
      would be important to address in future interventions.

PMID- 27636333
TI  - Chirality-induced magnon transport in AA-stacked bilayer honeycomb chiral
      magnets.
AB  - In this Letter, we study the magnetic transport in AA-stacked bilayer honeycomb
      chiral magnets coupled either ferromagnetically or antiferromagnetically. For
      both couplings, we observe chirality-induced gaps, chiral protected edge states,
      magnon Hall and magnon spin Nernst effects of magnetic spin excitations. For
      ferromagnetically coupled layers, thermal Hall and spin Nernst conductivities do
      not change sign as function of magnetic field or temperature similar to single
      layer honeycomb ferromagnetic insulator. In contrast, for antiferromagnetically
      coupled layers, we observe a sign change in the thermal Hall and spin Nernst
      conductivities as the magnetic field is reversed. We discuss possible
      experimental accessible honeycomb bilayer quantum materials in which these
      effects can be observed.

PMID- 27636334
TI  - Stabilization of the GeO2/Ge Interface by Nitrogen Incorporation in a One-Step NO
      Thermal Oxynitridation.
AB  - The thermal instability of GeO2/Ge structures lasts as a barrier against the
      development of Ge-based metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. In the present work,
      stabilization was achieved through the incorporation of nitrogen into the oxide
      layer by thermally growing GeOxNy films in NO. With this approach, a stable layer
      is obtained in a single step as opposed to other nitridation techniques (like
      plasma immersion) which require additional processing. Significant reduction of
      GeO desorption from the surface and a strong barrier against additional substrate
      oxidation were obtained by the insertion of a small amount of nitrogen content
      (N/O ~ 10%). Nuclear reaction analysis and profiling showed that nitrogen
      incorporation and removal occur simultaneously during film growth, yielding N to
      be distributed throughout the whole film, without accumulation in any particular
      region. Both the oxidation barrier and the lower GeO desorption rate are
      explained by a reduction of vacancy diffusivity inside the dielectric. This is
      not caused by the densification of the oxide, but is a consequence of nitrogen
      blockage of oxygen vacancy diffusion paths.

PMID- 27636349
TI  - Detraining-induced alterations in adipokines and cardiometabolic risk factors
      after nonlinear periodized resistance and aerobic interval training in obese men.
AB  - This study compared the effects of nonlinear resistance training (NRT), aerobic
      interval training (AIT), and detraining on adipokines and cardiometabolic risk
      factors in middle-aged obese men. Thirty-three obese men were randomly allocated
      to NRT (n = 12), AIT (n = 10), and control (CON, n = 11) groups. Subjects in
      experimental groups performed exercise protocols 3 days per week for 12 weeks
      followed by a 4-week detraining period. The NRT involved 55 min of weight
      training with flexible periodization. The AIT consisted of running on a treadmill
      (4 * 4-min intervals at 90% of maximal heart rate, with each interval separated
      by 3 min at 65%). Peak oxygen consumption increased significantly after training
      compared with CON (P < 0.01), but it increased more in the AIT group than in the
      NRT group (P = 0.004). After detraining, peak oxygen consumption decreased
      significantly in both training groups (P < 0.001); however, the value in the AIT
      group was still higher than that in the CON group (P = 0.003). No significant
      changes were observed in serum levels of omentin-1 and interleukin (IL)-18 after
      training (P > 0.05), but omentin-1 decreased significantly in both training
      groups and IL-18 increased significantly in the NRT group after detraining (P <
      0.05). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) increased significantly after
      training in the AIT group compared with the CON group (P < 0.05) and returned to
      the pre-training level after detraining. Conversely, apelin-13 increased
      significantly in response to training, compared with baseline (P < 0.05), and
      remained unchanged after detraining. Both training regimens had similar effects
      on most markers; however, AIT seems to have stronger anti-coronary disease
      effects (as indicated by HDL-C and peak oxygen consumption) than NRT.

PMID- 27636350
TI  - Schizophrenic Patients with Cancer Hospitalized at Psychiatric Hospitals in
      Japan.

PMID- 27636351
TI  - Narrating sexual identities in Kenya: "Choice," value, and visibility.
AB  - This article examines the discursive construction of female same-sex sexual
      identities in Nairobi. We identify the discursive forces of "choice,"
      devaluation, and invisibility as influential within Kenyan media representations
      of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex citizens. Using creative
      focus groups and participant observation, we demonstrate how same-sex attracted
      women in Nairobi resist and rearticulate these discursive forces to assert their
      identity and agency as individuals and as a queer community.

PMID- 27636352
TI  - Prehospital Glucose Testing for Children with Seizures: A Proposed Change in
      Management.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Many Emergency Medicine Services (EMS) protocols require point-of-care
      blood glucose testing (BGT) for any pediatric patient who presents with seizure
      or altered level of conscious. Few data describe the diagnostic yield of BGT when
      performed on all pediatric seizures regardless of presenting mental status. We
      analyzed a large single center dataset of pediatric patients presenting with
      prehospital seizures to determine the prevalence of hypoglycemic seizures and the
      utility of repeat BGT in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This was a
      retrospective, IRB-approved chart analysis of all pediatric patients (<=14 years)
      transported by EMS to the Harbor-UCLA pediatric ED over a 2-year period with a
      chief complaint of seizure. Cases were selected in which witnessed seizures had
      occurred in the field by family or EMS. Chart review included prehospital,
      nursing and physician records. Hypoglycemia was defined as blood glucose <60
      mg/dL. Analysis included blood glucose, witnessed field seizure, initial mental
      status assessed by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and further mental status
      assessments, along with age, sex, and medical history. Medical records were
      reviewed for subsequent BGT and patient outcome. RESULTS: A total 770 children
      were transported by EMS due to seizures. Four patients (0.5%) had recorded
      hypoglycemia in the field, yet only two received treatment to raise blood
      glucose. Additionally, one child (0.1%) was normoglycemic (81 mg/dL) in the field
      with hypoglycemia (43 mg/dL) in the ED but required no intervention. Two were
      found by EMS to have an ALOC (GCS <= 12) and hypoglycemia. Only the patient with
      hypoglycemia secondary to a suspected glipizide ingestion received ED glucose
      administration. The most common discharge diagnosis was simple febrile seizure
      (38.6%). CONCLUSION: Hypoglycemia in the pediatric seizure patient is extremely
      rare, thus universal field BGT has low utility and potential downstream effects.
      We propose a novel algorithm for the initial evaluation and management of
      prehospital pediatric seizures. Although limited to a retrospective analysis of a
      single medical center, our findings suggest the importance of reassessing
      prehospital seizure protocols. A larger patient sample should be studied to
      validate these findings and identify unique cases where glucose testing might be
      useful.

PMID- 27636353
TI  - Fusion proteins in head and neck neoplasms: Clinical implications, genetics, and
      future directions for targeting.
AB  - Fusion proteins resulting from chromosomal rearrangements are known to drive the
      pathogenesis of a variety of hematological and solid neoplasms such as chronic
      myeloid leukemia and non-small-cell lung cancer. Efforts to elucidate the role
      they play in these malignancies have led to important diagnostic and therapeutic
      triumphs, including the famous development of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      dasatinib targeting the BCR-ABL fusion. Until recently, there has been a paucity
      of research investigating fusion proteins harbored by head and neck neoplasms.
      The discovery and characterization of novel fusion proteins in neoplasms
      originating from the thyroid, nasopharynx, salivary glands, and midline head and
      neck structures offer substantial contributions to our understanding of the
      pathogenesis and biological behavior of these neoplasms, while raising new
      therapeutic and diagnostic opportunities. Further characterization of these
      fusion proteins promises to facilitate advances on par with those already
      achieved with regard to hematologic malignancies in the precise, molecularly
      guided diagnosis and treatment of head and neck neoplasms. The following is a
      subsite specific review of the clinical implications of fusion proteins in head
      and neck neoplasms and the future potential for diagnostic targeting.

PMID- 27636354
TI  - How Different Marker Sets Affect Joint Angles in Inverse Kinematics Framework.
AB  - The choice of marker set is a source of variability in motion analysis. Studies
      exist which assess the performance of marker sets when direct kinematics is used,
      but these results cannot be extrapolated to the inverse kinematic framework.
      Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the sensitivity of kinematic
      outcomes to inter-marker set variability in an inverse kinematic framework. The
      compared marker sets were plug-in-gait, University of Ottawa motion analysis
      model and a three-marker-cluster marker set. Walking trials of 12 participants
      were processed in opensim. The coefficient of multiple correlations was very good
      for sagittal (>0.99) and transverse (>0.92) plane angles, but worsened for the
      transverse plane (0.72). Absolute reliability indices are also provided for
      comparison among studies: minimum detectable change values ranged from 3 deg for
      the hip sagittal range of motion to 16.6 deg of the hip transverse range of
      motion. Ranges of motion of hip and knee abduction/adduction angles and hip and
      ankle rotations were significantly different among the three marker
      configurations (P < 0.001), with plug-in-gait producing larger ranges of motion.
      Although the same model was used for all the marker sets, the resulting minimum
      detectable changes were high and clinically relevant, which warns for caution
      when comparing studies that use different marker configurations, especially if
      they differ in the joint-defining markers.

PMID- 27636355
TI  - Relationship among apathy, cognition, and real-world disability after mild
      traumatic brain injury.
AB  - It is well established that most people recover soon after a mild traumatic brain
      injury (mTBI), yet protracted neuropsychological impairment is evident in many
      individuals. We sought to elucidate the relationship between apathy and
      neuropsychological impairment and disability as it pertains to real-world
      function in patients who sustained a mTBI reporting and demonstrating protracted
      neuropsychological impaired (i.e., more than three months post-injury). We
      employed a battery of neuropsychological and psychological measures, along with a
      measure of apathy in 104 patients who sustained a mTBI reporting
      neuropsychological complaints (38 in the not disabled group and 66 in the
      disabled group). Their ability to return to work was used as proxy for real-world
      disability. Specific deficits in verbal fluency, memory, and information
      processing predicted real-world disability but apathy did not, suggesting that
      psychological factors may play less of a mediating role than specific
      neuropsychological factors in the relationship between impairment and real world
      disability. Our research furthers our understanding of the cognitive and
      psychological differences that exist in patients with mTBI who have real-world
      disability compared to those who do not.

PMID- 27636356
TI  - Housing accessibility and its associations with participation among older adults
      living with long-standing spinal cord injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the housing situation and aspects of participation among
      older adults living with long-standing spinal cord injury (SCI) with attention to
      SCI severity, and to examine whether and how objective housing accessibility
      (based on objectively measurable criteria) is associated with aspects of
      participation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study utilizing the assessment tools
      Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA) and Housing Enabler (HE). Adjusting
      for demographic, social and injury related data, associations between objective
      housing accessibility and aspects of participation were analyzed by means of
      ordinal regression models. SETTING: Home and community settings. PARTICIPANTS:
      Older adults (>= 50 years) (N = 123), with a traumatic or non-traumatic SCI for
      at least 10 years. To make comparisons within the sample, three groups of SCI
      severity were formed using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)
      Impairment Scale. RESULTS: Housing adaptations and environmental barriers were
      common and differed between SCI severity groups; those with AIS D injuries had
      fewer adaptations and more environmental barriers indoors. A majority of the
      participants in the total sample perceived their participation as good or very
      good in most of the IPA activities studied. Accessibility indoors was
      significantly associated with autonomy indoors (P = 0.009), family role (P =
      0.002) and participation problems (P = 0.004); more accessibility problems were
      associated with less participation and more participation problems. CONCLUSION:
      This study indicates that optimizing the housing environment for older adults
      with SCI can potentially increase their participation and make them more
      autonomous. Further studies based on longitudinal data are needed to determine
      the causality of the associations identified.

PMID- 27636357
TI  - Establishment of a reference ELISA for measurement of universal thresholds of
      pregnanediol glucuronide excretion rates using urine samples diluted to a
      constant volume per unit time.
AB  - An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measurement of pregnanediol
      3alpha-glucuronide (PdG) excretion rates in urine samples diluted to 150 mL/h
      before analysis is described. The sensitivity of the 9 optimized standard curves
      was 0.093 +/- 0.070 MUmol PdG/24 hr, with the multiple combined standard curves
      having a mean mid-point (EC50) of 6.88 MUmol PdG/24 hr. The PdG threshold
      excretion rate of 7.0 MUmol/24 hr, which is used as a marker for the end of
      fertility, was situated in the most accurate region of the standard curve. The
      specificity of the ELISA was determined using normal variate transformation to
      compare seven menstrual cycle profiles obtained with the ELISA method with the
      profiles obtained previously using a validated radioimmunoassay (RIA) method. The
      cycle profiles all agreed within experimental error, and a high degree of
      correlation using Deming regression was obtained. The correlation equation was Y
      = 1.57X-0.11 MUmol PdG/24 hr (n = 200; r = 0.932). The PdG excretion rates
      determined by the ELISA were 50% higher than given by RIA, but the normal ranges
      were similar to those given by the original reference gas liquid chromatographic
      method. The ELISA assay was therefore suitable as a reference method for
      measurement of thresholds of PdG excretion rates.

PMID- 27636358
TI  - M-Track: A New Software for Automated Detection of Grooming Trajectories in Mice.
AB  - Grooming is a complex and robust innate behavior, commonly performed by most
      vertebrate species. In mice, grooming consists of a series of stereotyped
      patterned strokes, performed along the rostro-caudal axis of the body. The
      frequency and duration of each grooming episode is sensitive to changes in stress
      levels, social interactions and pharmacological manipulations, and is therefore
      used in behavioral studies to gain insights into the function of brain regions
      that control movement execution and anxiety. Traditional approaches to analyze
      grooming rely on manually scoring the time of onset and duration of each grooming
      episode, and are often performed on grooming episodes triggered by stress
      exposure, which may not be entirely representative of spontaneous grooming in
      freely-behaving mice. This type of analysis is time-consuming and provides
      limited information about finer aspects of grooming behaviors, which are
      important to understand movement stereotypy and bilateral coordination in mice.
      Currently available commercial and freeware video-tracking software allow
      automated tracking of the whole body of a mouse or of its head and tail, not of
      individual forepaws. Here we describe a simple experimental set-up and a novel
      open-source code, named M-Track, for simultaneously tracking the movement of
      individual forepaws during spontaneous grooming in multiple freely-behaving mice.
      This toolbox provides a simple platform to perform trajectory analysis of forepaw
      movement during distinct grooming episodes. By using M-track we show that, in
      C57BL/6 wild type mice, the speed and bilateral coordination of the left and
      right forepaws remain unaltered during the execution of distinct grooming
      episodes. Stress exposure induces a profound increase in the length of the
      forepaw grooming trajectories. M-Track provides a valuable and user-friendly
      interface to streamline the analysis of spontaneous grooming in biomedical
      research studies.

PMID- 27636359
TI  - A Comparison of Independent Event-Related Desynchronization Responses in Motor
      Related Brain Areas to Movement Execution, Movement Imagery, and Movement
      Observation.
AB  - Electroencephalographic (EEG) event-related desynchronization (ERD) induced by
      movement imagery or by observing biological movements performed by someone else
      has recently been used extensively for brain-computer interface-based
      applications, such as applications used in stroke rehabilitation training and
      motor skill learning. However, the ERD responses induced by the movement imagery
      and observation might not be as reliable as the ERD responses induced by movement
      execution. Given that studies on the reliability of the EEG ERD responses induced
      by these activities are still lacking, here we conducted an EEG experiment with
      movement imagery, movement observation, and movement execution, performed
      multiple times each in a pseudorandomized order in the same experimental runs.
      Then, independent component analysis (ICA) was applied to the EEG data to find
      the common motor-related EEG source activity shared by the three motor tasks.
      Finally, conditional EEG ERD responses associated with the three movement
      conditions were computed and compared. Among the three motor conditions, the EEG
      ERD responses induced by motor execution revealed the alpha power suppression
      with highest strengths and longest durations. The ERD responses of the movement
      imagery and movement observation only partially resembled the ERD pattern of the
      movement execution condition, with slightly better detectability for the ERD
      responses associated with the movement imagery and faster ERD responses for
      movement observation. This may indicate different levels of involvement in the
      same motor-related brain circuits during different movement conditions. In
      addition, because the resulting conditional EEG ERD responses from the ICA
      preprocessing came with minimal contamination from the non-related and/or
      artifactual noisy components, this result can play a role of the reference for
      devising a brain-computer interface using the EEG ERD features of movement
      imagery or observation. 

PMID- 27636360
TI  - Chemical torrefaction as an alternative to established thermal technology for
      stabilisation of sugar cane bagasse as fuel.
AB  - Dry and chemical torrefaction of sugar cane bagasse was examined in this study
      with the aim of stabilising and upgrading the fuel properties of bagasse. Dry
      torrefaction was conducted at temperatures from 160 degrees C to 300 degrees C
      under inert conditions, whilst chemical torrefaction incorporated a H2SO4 pre
      treatment of bagasse. Chemical torrefaction imparted superior chemical and
      physical properties inducing morphological transformation and textural
      development with the potential to address issues in handling, feeding and
      processing bagasse. It increased the energy density of the chars with maximum
      HHVmass 21.5 MJ/kg and maximum HHVvolume of 7.4 GJ/m3. Chemically torrefied
      bagasse demonstrated resistance against microbiological attack for 18 months.
      These features demonstrate the practical value of chemical torrefaction in
      advancing the utilisation of bagasse as fuel.

PMID- 27636361
TI  - [Primary Prevention in General Medical Practice: A Survey].
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: According to the German social insurance code S20 Sec. 1,
      statutory health insurance companies can reimburse up to 80% of costs incurred by
      primary prevention programs in physical activity, nutrition, stress management
      and drug consumption. Whether and how many general practitioners (GPs) provide
      their patients with information on such programs as part of their own practice is
      unknown. In this study, we investigate to which primary prevention programs
      primary care physicians refer their patients and whether they take into account
      reimbursability of programs. METHODS: Between November 2010 and February 2011,
      all GPs with a practice in Berlin (n=1 168) received a questionnaire that
      assessed if patients were referred to prevention programs and the type of
      programs they were referred to, if they ensured they are reimbursable and if they
      themselves offered prevention programs. Descriptive statistics and multivariate
      logistic regression was used for analysis. RESULTS: Of 474 respondents (response
      rate: 41%), 67% were female. Of the respondents, 22% offered reimbursable
      prevention programs and 42% at out-of-pocket expense. Patients were referred to
      reimbursable programs by 63%. GPs younger than 50 were twice as likely to offer
      reimbursable programs in their practice compared to those older than 50 (OR=1.7;
      95% KI 1.1-2,8; p-value 0.025). CONCLUSION: A successful implementation of the
      new German prevention law needs awareness among GPs about reimbursable prevention
      programs, which may be lacking in some groups.

PMID- 27636362
TI  - [How Patients View and Accept Health Care Services Provided by Health Care
      Assistants in the General Practice: Survey of Participants of the GP-centered
      Health Care Program in Baden-Wuerttemberg].
AB  - Background: In recent years, models for the delegation of GP tasks to non
      physician medical staff have been tested, implemented in a general practice
      setting and, to some extent, funded by health insurance companies. Aim: How were
      changes in the spectrum of tasks performed by non-physician staff viewed and
      accepted by patients? Methods: Between October 2014 and January 2015, a written
      survey was conducted among chronically ill patients (>= 65 years of age)
      receiving health care from health care assistants (HCA) with or without the
      additional "health care assistant in the family practice", or VERAH
      qualification. Using a self-developed survey, based on a previous collection of
      data, patients were asked about various aspects of health care provided by HCAs.
      Results: 77 practices participated and a total of 1 266 patients were surveyed.
      The patients said the HCAs had a role to play in many aspects of their health
      care. More than half the patients said HCAs could take responsibility for some of
      the home visits and contacts in the practice. Almost without exception, patients
      regarded the organisational, healthcare and other supporting services performed
      by the HCAs as very good. The results were more heterogeneous for specific
      consulting services. While consultations on vaccinations, preventive services,
      medical examinations and medication adherence were well accepted, this was much
      less often the case with advice on lifestyle. Many patients see HCAs as
      additional and competent persons they can trust, and could well imagine HCAs
      taking on responsibility for further delegable services. Conclusion: At least
      among GP-centered health care programme participants, many healthcare services
      delegated to HCAs were appreciated and accepted by patients. Home visits and case
      management, in the sense of structured individual health care for patients with
      special needs, are further services that may be well suited for delegation. This
      should be investigated in further studies (including qualitative studies).

PMID- 27636363
TI  - [Polypharmacy after Discharge from Hospital: An Analysis Using Data of the
      Statutory Health Insurance (AOK) of Saxony-Anhalt].
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: The growing number of people suffering from chronic
      diseases and multimorbidity is associated with an increased risk of polypharmacy.
      The aims of the study are to estimate the prevalence of polypharmacy and to
      analyse its determinants in the transition from in- to outpatient care.
      Furthermore, we estimate the risk of a potential inappropriate medication (PIM)
      and its determinants. METHODS: The analyses are based on the data of a German
      statutory health insurance (AOK Saxony-Anhalt) of the third quarter of 2009. The
      analyses include all insured persons aged 60 years and older who were discharged
      from hospital within the study period and had filled at least one prescription at
      the pharmacy (n=21 041). After the analysis of prevalence rates of polypharmacy
      within 30 days after discharge from hospital, we used binary logistic regression
      models to estimate the effect of determinants of polypharmacy and PIM. In
      addition, interaction effects between the number of diseases and the number of
      practitioners involved in the therapy were calculated. RESULTS: Our analyses show
      a significant effect of the number of diseases and the number of practitioners on
      the risk of polypharmacy. Furthermore, patients who are treated with 5 or more
      drugs have a significantly higher risk of a PIM prescription. The interaction
      model illustrates a disproportional rise of polypharmacy risk in women with
      multiple chronic conditions with an increase in the number of doctors treating
      them. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that polypharmacy is not a result of
      increasing morbidity alone. Furthermore, the remarkable effect of the number of
      physicians treating a patient points to an unsolved problem in communication and
      coordination in outpatient pharmacotherapy and shows the need for centralized
      medication monitoring.

PMID- 27636364
TI  - ["Treatment at Home" in Lengerich (Westfalia) - A Model of Community-Based Mental
      Health Care].
AB  - We examined the effectiveness of a new homebased integrated care intervention
      model for patients with multiple-episode psychosis in a rural area in Germany,
      which combines elements of 2 other well-defined interventions: Assertive
      Community Treatment and Home Treatment. The pilot evaluation was conducted in 2
      steps, using a quantitative and a qualitative design. In a 24-month follow-up
      period, patients showed significant improvement in symptoms, illness severity,
      global functioning and quality of life, as well as larger reduction in the number
      of days of inpatient treatment needed. The results of the qualitative survey
      indicate a high level of satisfaction with the care offered. The results are in
      agreement with other German studies. Home Treatment in Lengerich seems to be a
      model, which can address the fragmentation of the German healthcare system and
      provide effective care to long-term patients in a setting outside of psychiatric
      hospitals.

PMID- 27636365
TI  - [Rewards for Social Health Insurance Enrollees: A Conceptual Framework and
      Ethical Analysis].

PMID- 27636366
TI  - [Benefit Assessment and Price Negotiation Under AMNOG: Calculable Process or
      Unfair Poker Game?]
AB  - Ever since the introduction of the Market Restructuring Act, the evaluation and
      price negotiations of drugs have been controversial. While the Federal Joint
      Committee considers that the process is transparent and in accordance with clear
      evidence-based criteria, representatives of pharmaceutical companies are
      particularly critical of the fact that the central association of statutory
      health insurance is involved in both the determination of added therapeutic
      benefit of drugs as well as in the subsequent price negotiation. In this study,
      we investigate these 2 contradictory assessments empirically. For this purpose,
      we model the benefit assessment and price negotiation processes under AMNOG and
      analyze their relationship. We show that the number of patients in the target
      population, and the annual cost of therapy for the appropriate comparator therapy
      have a negative influence on the determination of the added benefit of the new
      therapy. The added value itself has a positive (negative) effect on the mark-up
      for the appropriate comparator therapy (price discount), while the annual
      treatment costs of the new therapy (which appropriate comparator therapy) have a
      positive (negative) influence. We find clues, but no significant evidence for the
      hypothesis that the decisions on the added value of new medicines and the
      subsequent price negotiations are interdependent.

PMID- 27636367
TI  - Factors Associated with Higher Reported Pain Levels in Patients with Chronic
      Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional, Correlational Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic musculoskeletal pain is highly prevalent, disabling, and
      costly, and has many negative effects on quality of life. The aim of this study
      was to investigate factors associated with higher reported pain levels in
      patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain among demographic, clinical, and
      psychological factors, and to evaluate whether insomnia is independently
      associated with pain intensity in this population. METHODS: A total of 357
      patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (pain duration >= six months)
      satisfied the study inclusion criteria and were included in the analyses. Patient
      demographics, clinical, and psychological factors were evaluated with
      hierarchical multivariate logistic analysis to identify factors associated with
      severe pain (NRS [numeric rating scale] >= 7). Hierarchical linear regression
      analysis also performed to identify factors associated with pain intensity (0 to
      10 NRS). RESULTS: Multivariate logistic analyses revealed older age (OR [odds
      ratio] = 1.017, 95% CI [confidence interval] 1.001-1.032, P = 0.034), high
      anxiety level (OR = 1.162, 95% CI 1.020-1.324, P = 0.024), high pain
      catastrophizing (OR = 1.043, 95% CI 1.007-1.081, P = 0.018), and severe insomnia
      (OR = 1.112, 95% CI 1.057-1.170, P<0.001) were significantly associated with
      severe pain. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed age (beta = 0.106, P
      = 0.041), pain catastrophizing (beta = 0.249, P<0.001), and insomnia (beta =
      0.286, P<0.001) were significantly associated with pain intensity. The variance
      in pain intensity explained by the final model was 32.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Older age,
      severe insomnia, and high pain catastrophizing were significantly associated with
      higher reported pain levels. Insomnia was independently associated with pain
      intensity, even after controlling for various demographic and clinical factors.
      These factors should be considered when devising pain management strategies for
      this population.

PMID- 27636368
TI  - Different Stages, Different Signals: The Modulating Effect of Cognitive Conflict
      on Subsequent Processing.
AB  - The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the
      function of signals induced by cognitive conflict during the detection stage and
      the resolution stage of perceptual processing. The study used a combination of
      the Stroop task and an affective priming task to examine the conflict priming
      effect when the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was 200 ms or 800 ms. Behavioral
      results showed that the RTs were shorter for positive targets following congruent
      primes relative to incongruent primes, and for negative targets following
      incongruent primes relative to congruent primes when the SOA was 200 ms. ERP
      results showed that the N2 amplitudes (200-300 ms) for incongruent stimuli were
      significantly larger than for congruent stimuli in the Stroop task, which
      indicated a significant conflict effect. Moreover, the N400 amplitudes (500-700
      ms) for positive targets after congruent primes were significantly lower than
      those after incongruent primes when the SOA was 200 ms, which showed a
      significant negative priming effect. While the SOA was 800 ms, behavioral results
      showed that the RTs were shorter for positive targets following incongruent
      primes relative to congruent primes. ERP results showed that the N2 amplitudes
      (200-300 ms) for incongruent stimuli were significantly larger than for congruent
      stimuli in the Stroop task, which indicated a significant conflict effect. The
      N400 amplitudes (1100-1300 ms) for the negative targets after congruent primes
      were significantly lower than those after incongruent primes when the SOA was 800
      ms, which showed a significant positive priming effect. The results demonstrated
      that the functions of signals induced by cognitive conflict were reversed in two
      different cognitive processing stages. 

PMID- 27636369
TI  - Plasma Leptin Levels and Risk of Incident Cancer: Results from the Dallas Heart
      Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Leptin dysregulation has been postulated to affect cancer risk through
      its effects on obesity and inflammation. Epidemiological data evaluating this
      relationship are conflicting and studies in non-white cohorts is lacking.
      Therefore, we examined the association of leptin with the risk of incident cancer
      in the multiethnic Dallas Heart Study (DHS). METHODS: Participants enrolled in
      the DHS without prevalent cancer and with baseline leptin measurements were
      included. Incident cancer cases were identified through a systematic linkage of
      the DHS and the Texas Cancer Registry. Leptin was evaluated both as a continuous
      variable and in sex-specific quartiles. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards
      modeling was performed to examine the association between leptin levels with
      incident cancer after adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking status, alcohol use,
      family history of malignancy, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus and C
      reactive protein. RESULTS: Among 2,919 participants (median age 44 years; 54%
      women; 70% nonwhite; median BMI 29.4 kg/m2), 190 (6.5%) developed cancer after
      median follow- up of 12 years. Median leptin levels were 12.9 (interquartile
      range [IQR] 5.8-29.5) ng/ml in the incident cancer group vs. 12.3 (IQR 5.4-26.4)
      ng/ml those without an incident cancer (p = 0.34). Leptin was not associated with
      cancer incidence in multivariable analysis (unit standard deviation increase in
      log-transformed leptin, hazard ratio 0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.77-1.16; p
      = 0.60). No association was observed in analyses stratified by sex,
      race/ethnicity, diabetes, or obesity status. CONCLUSIONS: In this study of a
      predominantly minority population, no association between premorbid leptin levels
      and cancer incidence was demonstrated. Despite preclinical rationale and positive
      findings in other studies, this association may not replicate across all
      racial/ethnic populations.

PMID- 27636370
TI  - Combined strategy for suppressing breast carcinoma MCF-7 cell lines by loading
      simvastatin on alpha lipoic acid nanoparticles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Augmentation of simvastatin (SMV) cytotoxicity in breast carcinoma
      cell lines MCF-7, by: improvement of cellular uptake and loading on alpha lipoic
      acid (ALA). METHODS: In this study, SMV was loaded on ALA nanoparticles and
      characterized for surface morphology, SMV entrapment efficiency percent (%EE),
      zeta potential and release profile. Cellular viability, morphology and uptake and
      DNA fragmentations were analyzed as a hallmark of cellular apoptosis. RESULTS:
      TEM images demonstrated spherical nanoparticles with particle size 104.7 +/- 5.5
      nm, SMV %EE was 95.8 +/- 2.1% with a zeta potential - 23.6 +/- 5.4 mV, and
      release properties were significantly enhanced. IC50 was decreased to 22.2 +/-
      2.4 uM while raw SMV was 49.3 +/- 6.6 uM. Cellular uptake of SMV-ALA
      nanoparticles was increased by about 3- and 2-folds after 2 and 4 h,
      respectively. DNA fragments confirmed the apoptosis property of ALA, which is
      associated with SMV cytotoxicity. CONCLUSION: This study suggests evidence that
      SMV loaded on ALA nanoparticles increases the MCF-7 cellular uptake and cytotoxic
      effects induced by SMV as revealed by significantly enhanced cell death rates in
      MCF-7 cells. These findings demonstrate that ALA induces cell death, which makes
      the combination a candidate for tumor therapy.

PMID- 27636372
TI  - Preclinical medical student observations associated with later professionalism
      concerns.
AB  - PURPOSE: Professionalism is a core physician competency and identifying students
      at risk for poor professional development early in their careers may allow for
      mentoring. This study identified indicators in the preclinical years associated
      with later professionalism concerns. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of
      observable indicators in the preclinical and clinical years was conducted using
      two classes of students (n = 226). Relationships between five potential
      indicators of poor professionalism in the preclinical years and observations
      related to professional concerns in the clinical years were analyzed. RESULTS:
      Fifty-three medical students were identified with at least one preclinical
      indicator and one professionalism concern during the clinical years. Two
      observable preclinical indicators were significantly correlated with
      unprofessional conduct during the clinical years: Three or more absences from
      attendance-required sessions (odds ratio 4.47; p=.006) and negative peer
      assessment (odds ratio 3.35; p=.049). CONCLUSIONS: We identified two significant
      observable preclinical indicators associated with later professionalism concerns:
      excessive absences and negative peer assessments. Early recognition of students
      at risk for future professionalism struggles would provide an opportunity for
      proactive professional development prior to the clinical years, when students'
      permanent records may be affected. Peer assessment, coupled with attention to
      frequent absences, may be a method to provide early recognition.

PMID- 27636371
TI  - Genome-Wide Analysis Identifies IL-18 and FUCA2 as Novel Genes Associated with
      Diastolic Function in African Americans with Sickle Cell Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diastolic dysfunction is common in sickle cell disease (SCD), and is
      associated with an increased risk of mortality. However, the molecular
      pathogenesis underlying this development is poorly understood. The aim of this
      study was to identify a gene expression profile that is associated with diastolic
      function in SCD, potentially elucidating molecular mechanisms behind diastolic
      dysfunction development. METHODS: Diastolic function was measured via
      echocardiography in 65 patients with SCD from two independent study populations.
      Gene expression microarray data was compared with diastolic function in both
      study cohorts. Candidate genes that associated in both analyses were tested for
      validation in a murine SCD model. Lastly, genotyping array data from the
      replication cohort was used to derive cis-expression quantitative trait loci (cis
      eQTLs) and genetic associations within the candidate gene regions. RESULTS:
      Transcriptome data from both patient cohorts implicated 7 genes associated with
      diastolic function, and mouse SCD myocardial expression validated 3 of these
      genes. Genetic associations and eQTLs were detected in 2 of the 3 genes, FUCA2
      and IL18. CONCLUSIONS: FUCA2 and IL18 are associated with diastolic function in
      SCD patients, and may be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. Genetic
      polymorphisms within the FUCA2 and IL18 gene regions are also associated with
      diastolic function in SCD, likely by affecting expression levels of the genes.

PMID- 27636373
TI  - The emerging role of serum/glucocorticoid-regulated kinases in cancer.

PMID- 27636375
TI  - Multiple biological processes may be associated with tumorigenesis under NUP88
      overexpressed condition.
AB  - Overexpression of the nucleoporin NUP88 has been observed in a large number of
      tumors and has been experimentally proven to promote tumorigenesis. However, the
      mechanism underlying the tumor-promoting activity of overexpressed NUP88 is not
      clear. To investigate the potential pathways that drive tumorigenesis under NUP88
      overexpressed condition, we applied a proteomic approach to identify NUP88
      associated proteins at a subcellular compartment level. Gene ontology analysis
      revealed significant associations between NUP88 interactome and biological
      processes that are related to nuclear transport, RNA processing, cell cycle
      progression, metabolic regulation, and viral infection. Moreover, we found that
      NUP88 interacts with MISP, a mitotic interactor and substrate of PLK1.
      Interestingly, NUP88 overexpression blocks MISP phosphorylation, which is known
      to be critical for normal spindle formation and accurate chromosome segregation
      during mitosis. In conclusion, our data for the first time provide a global view
      of biological processes that may drive tumorigenesis under NUP88 overexpressed
      condition, revealing a biological effect of NUP88-MISP interaction. Furthermore,
      identification of NUP88-associated proteins provides a valuable database for
      future studies. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636374
TI  - Patterns and distribution of presynaptic and postsynaptic elements within serial
      electron microscopic reconstructions of neuronal arbors from the medicinal leech
      Hirudo verbana.
AB  - Microscale connectomics involves the large-scale acquisition of high-resolution
      serial electron micrographs from which neuronal arbors can be reconstructed and
      synapses can be detected. In addition to connectivity information, these data
      sets are also rich with structural information, including vesicle types, number
      of postsynaptic partners at a given presynaptic site, and spatial distribution of
      synaptic inputs and outputs. This study uses serial block-face scanning electron
      microscopy (EM) to collect two volumes of serial EM data from ganglia of the
      medicinal leech. For the first volume, we sampled a small fraction of the
      neuropil belonging to an adult ganglion. From this data set we measured the
      proportion of arbors that contained vesicles and the types of vesicles contained
      and developed criteria to identify synapses and to measure the number of apparent
      postsynaptic partners in apposition to presynaptic boutons. For the second data
      set, we sampled an entire juvenile ganglion, which included the somata and arbors
      of all the neurons. We used this data set to placd our findings from mature
      tissue in the context of fully reconstructed arbors and to explore the spatial
      distribution of synaptic inputs and outputs on these arbors. We observed that
      some neurons segregated their arbors into input only and mixed input/output
      zones, that other neurons contained exclusively mixed input/output zones, and
      that still others contained only input zones. These results provide the
      groundwork for future behavioral studies. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3677-3695, 2016.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636376
TI  - Factors related to the indecision of older adults with knee osteoarthritis about
      receiving physician-recommended total knee arthroplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore factors related to the indecision of older adults with knee
      osteoarthritis (OA) about receiving physician-recommended total knee arthroplasty
      (TKA) and their needs during the decision-making process. METHOD: Older
      outpatients with knee OA and undecided about physician-recommended TKA (N = 26)
      were recruited by convenience from two medical centers and one regional hospital
      in northern Taiwan. Data were collected in individual interviews using a semi
      structured guide and analyzed by thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants'
      indecision about receiving physician-recommended TKA was due to four major
      concerns: treatment-related concerns, physical condition-related concerns,
      surgery-related concerns, and postsurgical care concerns. The few participants (n
      = 6) who expressed needs during the decision-making process wanted more
      information about preparing for surgery, postsurgical care, rehabilitation, and
      medicines. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare providers are challenged to respect the
      decision-making process of older adults with OA regarding recommended TKA while
      maintaining their quality of life. These adults need appropriate information not
      only about the relationship between OA suffering and quality of life, but also
      TKA. While these patients are deciding whether to undergo physician-recommended
      TKA, they also need information about preparations for surgery, postsurgical
      care, rehabilitation, and medicines. Implications for Rehabilitation Total knee
      arthroplasty (TKA) can significantly relieve pain and improve function for older
      adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA), but many are unwilling to receive the
      surgery. Our older adult participants with knee OA ascribed their indecision
      about receiving physician-recommended TKA to treatment-related, physical
      condition-related, surgery-related, and postsurgical care-related concerns.
      Healthcare providers need to provide appropriate information to older adults with
      knee OA not only about the relationship between OA suffering and quality of life,
      but also about TKA. Healthcare providers should also provide these patients
      information about preparing for surgery, postsurgical care, rehabilitation, and
      medicines while they are deciding whether to undergo TKA.

PMID- 27636377
TI  - Cytomorphology of clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma (CCPRCC) shares some
      morphologic and immunohistochemical markers with clear cell RCC and papillary
      RCC. To the author's knowledge, its cytomorphology on fine-needle aspiration
      (FNA) or touch preparations (TPs) of core needle biopsy specimens has not been
      well delineated in the English language literature. METHODS: The FNA/TP
      cytomorphology of 7 retrieved cases was studied. RESULTS: The tumor cells were
      arranged in small nests (100%), 3-dimensional clusters (71%),
      papillary/tubular/acinar arrays (43%), and as single cells (57%). The tumor cells
      were columnar (100%) and polygonal (57%) in shape, with eccentric, small, round
      to-oval nuclei. The nuclei contained evenly distributed, fine granular chromatin
      and demonstrated a smooth nuclear membrane (100%) (Fuhrman grade 1 to 2). The
      tumor cells had a moderate amount of delicate or clear cytoplasm containing small
      vacuoles (100%) and ill-defined cytoplasmic borders (100%). Scattered macrophages
      (57%) and necrosis (29%) were identified in the background. Vessels were noted
      within the papillary cores, transversing or surrounding nests of tumors.
      Immunochemical studies demonstrated expression of cytokeratin 7 (CK7) (100%),
      carbonic anhydrase IX (CA 9) (100% in a cup-shaped membranous pattern), alpha
      methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) (50%), and CD10 (43%). The tumor cells were
      negative for CD117. CONCLUSIONS: CCPRCC was found to demonstrate cytologic
      features that when taken together are helpful in diagnosing CCPRCC on FNA smears
      and TPs. If core needle biopsy specimens or cell blocks are available, an
      immunohistochemical panel including CK7, CA IX, CD10, and AMACR may help in
      excluding congeners. This subtype of RCC requires differentiation from clear cell
      RCC and papillary RCC due to its low-grade indolent behavior. Cancer Cytopathol
      2017;125:48-54. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27636378
TI  - Development and initial validation of the Respirator Comfort, Wearing Experience,
      and Function Instrument [R-COMFI].
AB  - Filtering face-piece respirators (FFRs) are worn to protect health care personnel
      from airborne particles; however, clinical studies have demonstrated that FFR
      adherence is relatively low in some settings, in part, due to discomfort and
      intolerance. The objective of this study was to develop and initially evaluate
      the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to measure the comfort and
      tolerability of FFRs. Instrument items were developed through literature reviews,
      focus groups, and several iterations of ranking and refining by experts.
      Psychometric evaluation of the instrument was conducted using Rasch partial
      credit model (PCM) analysis. Pivot anchoring was used to specify the threshold
      defining item difficulty; in our analyses, this was the point that participants
      moved from possessing none of the trait to some of the trait. The final
      instrument was completed by 165 health care personnel from 3 Veterans Health
      Administration facilities, and data were analyzed using Rasch PCM. Seven items
      were removed because they: (1) violated the assumption of independence; (2) were
      mis-fitting; and/or (3) were deemed not relevant. Category function analysis
      demonstrated that all categories progressed monotonically. Principal components
      analysis demonstrated the existence of three subscales (Discomfort, General
      Wearing Experience, and Function). Final reliability analyses showed that the
      scale had moderate to high person reliability and high item reliability. The
      final instrument contained 21 items. Until now, to our knowledge no instrument
      with evidence supporting its reliability and validity to assess discomfort and
      tolerance of FFRs among health care personnel has been published. A 21-item
      psychometrically sound measure of comfort and tolerability of FFRs, Respirator
      Comfort, Wearing Experience, and Function Instrument (R-COMFI), was developed.
      The significance of developing such an instrument is that it will help identify
      respirators that are likely to have better adherence in practice settings. The R
      COMFI may be used within and beyond the VA healthcare system as a
      psychometrically sound instrument to evaluate the comfort and tolerability of
      respirators, including developmental prototypes.

PMID- 27636379
TI  - IBS-like Symptoms in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis in Deep Remission Are
      Associated with Increased Levels of Serum Cytokines and Poor Psychological Well
      being.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal symptoms (GI) compatible with irritable bowel
      syndrome (IBS) are common in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) in remission.
      The causes of these symptoms remain to be clarified. Our aim was to investigate
      prevalence and factors associated with IBS-like symptoms in patients with UC in
      deep remission. METHODS: We included 298 patients with UC and used Mayo score,
      sigmoidoscopy, and fecal calprotectin to define deep remission versus active
      disease. Presence of IBS-like symptoms according to the Rome III criteria,
      severity of GI, extraintestinal and psychological symptoms, stress levels, and
      quality of life were measured with validated questionnaires. Serum cytokines and
      high-sensitive C-reactive peptide were determined. RESULTS: The criteria for deep
      remission was fulfilled by 132 patients (44%) and 24 of these fulfilled the Rome
      III criteria for IBS (18%). Patients with UC in deep remission with IBS-like
      symptoms had comparable levels of GI symptoms, non-GI somatic symptoms, and
      quality of life as patients with active UC. The patients with UC in deep
      remission with IBS-like symptoms had similar levels of fecal calprotectin as
      patients in deep remission without IBS-like symptoms (18 versus 31 MUg/g, P =
      0.11), but higher levels of serum cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1beta, IL-6, IL-13,
      IL-10 and IL-8, P < 0.05) and higher levels of anxiety (P < 0.001), depression (P
      = 0.02) and perceived stress (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: IBS-like symptoms in
      patients with UC in deep remission are common, but not as prevalent as previously
      reported. Poor psychological well-being and increased serum cytokine levels, but
      not colonic low-grade inflammation, were associated with IBS-like symptoms.

PMID- 27636380
TI  - Distinct Anti-IFI16 and Anti-GP2 Antibodies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and
      Their Variation with Infliximab Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by a chronic
      inflammation of the gut, partly driven by defects in the expression and function
      of pattern recognition receptors, including the IFI16 protein. Because this
      protein is a target for autoantibodies and its aberrant expression was reported
      in colonic mucosa from active patients with ulcerative colitis, we studied its
      expression and specific seroresponse in patients with IBD before and after
      infliximab (IFX) therapy. METHODS: Anti-IFI16 antibodies (IgG and IgA subtypes)
      were measured in the sera of 74 patients with IBD: 48 patients with Crohn's
      disease (CD) and 26 patients with ulcerative colitis, prospectively harvested
      before and after IFX therapy. Anti-GP2 antibodies (both IgG and IgA subtypes)
      were also tested for comparison. The patient antibody statuses were qualitatively
      and quantitatively associated with disease phenotype and response to IFX therapy.
      RESULTS: Significantly higher titers of anti-IFI16 IgG were found in both CD and
      ulcerative colitis patients compared with healthy controls. Anti-IFI16 IgA titers
      were also present in patients with CD. Anti-GP2 IgG subtype titers were
      significantly increased in patients with CD, as were IgA subtype titers.
      Significant changes in anti-IFI16 IgG subtype titers were observed after IFX in
      patients with CD who correlated with clinical remission or response. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results highlight the importance of IFI16 in IBD pathogenesis showing that
      its de novo overexpression in the gut epithelial cells leads to a breakdown in
      immune tolerance and the subsequent development of specific autoantibodies. Anti
      IFI16 IgG antibodies hold the potential to serve as a biomarker of response to
      IFX therapy.

PMID- 27636381
TI  - Lateral flow immunoassay with upconverting nanoparticle-based detection for
      indirect measurement of interferon response by the level of MxA.
AB  - Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) is a biomarker of interferon-induced gene
      expression state involved in many viral infections and some autoimmune disorders.
      It has a variety of potential utilities in clinical diagnostics, including
      distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections. Currently, MxA-assays are
      used for monitoring of IFN-beta therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. As a
      proof-of-concept for rapid quantitative measurement of interferon response, a
      lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) with upconverting nanoparticle (UCNP) reporters
      was developed and evaluated with clinical whole blood samples to assess the
      potential for a rapid and user-friendly quantitative assay for MxA, since the
      currently available rapid test for MxA (FebriDX) produces only qualitative
      result. The high detection sensitivity enabled by the UCNP reporter technology
      allowed the sample pre-treatment with dilution of whole blood into lysis buffer
      at a detectable analyte concentration. The assay can be done within 2 hr and the
      results correlate with the reference MxA-ELISA, which requires an overnight
      incubation. With 36 samples, R2 for linear regression was 0.86. The assay
      detected 96% of the IFN-beta responders with 89% specificity using a cut-off
      level of 100 MUg/L for an elevated MxA-concentration. J. Med. Virol. 89:598-605,
      2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636382
TI  - Possible Achondroplastic Dwarf Skull from Montevideo, Uruguay.
AB  - Achondroplasia (chondrodystrophia) is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder
      affecting approximately 1 in 26,000 live births and is the most common cause of
      dwarfism in humans. Disproportionate short stature and a suite of craniofacial
      characteristics typify achondroplasia. The literature available for differential
      diagnosis of the disorder relies primarily on the postcranial skeleton. In this
      paper, a possible case of achondroplasia is presented. The cranium presents a
      unique suite of cranial and craniofacial dysmorphologies. The lack of postcranial
      remains does not permit their use in the analysis. To make a differential
      diagnosis and to quantify the observed craniofacial dysmorphologies, craniometric
      data are compared to modern clinical literature and to craniometric data from
      known achondroplastic dwarfs. Thin-plate spline analysis is integrated to
      quantify the differences in degree and magnitude of shape change. This manuscript
      demonstrates an appropriate methodology for identifying achondroplasia from the
      cranial skeleton alone.

PMID- 27636383
TI  - Multidetector CT imaging of the pancreatic groove: differentiating carcinomas
      from paraduodenal pancreatitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify multidetector row CT (MDCT) findings that
      differentiate paraduodenal pancreatitis (PDP) from groove carcinomas (GC).
      METHODS: Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed various imaging features on
      pancreas protocol CT scans of 8 PDP and 8 GC patients. Two-tailed Fisher's Exact
      Test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: MDCT findings correlating with
      PDP included benign common bile duct morphology (P<.01), duodenal wall thickening
      (P<.05), and cystic groove lesions (P<.01). A statistical difference in
      gastroduodenal artery (GDA) encasement was not observed (P=.119). CONCLUSIONS:
      There are several MDCT findings that favor PDP over GC. However, presence of GDA
      encasement is not a reliable distinguishing feature.

PMID- 27636384
TI  - Neurolymphomatosis of the peripheral nervous system: a case report and review of
      the literature.
AB  - Neurolymphomatosis is a rare neurological syndrome in lymphomas. It is reported
      as infiltration of peripheral nerves by lymphoma. It is important to distinguish
      neurolymphomatosis from other types of neuropathies, particularly infectious and
      inflammatory conditions. However, it is difficult to isolate a cancer-related
      inflammatory vasculitis and mononeuritis multiplex without definitive
      histopathologic examination. In this report, we describe a case of non-Hodgkin's
      lymphoma involving the peroneal nerve and presenting as neurolymphomatosis.

PMID- 27636385
TI  - Multiple approaches to understanding and preventing elder abuse: Introduction to
      the cross-disciplinary National Institutes of Health workshop.
AB  - On October 30, 2015, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a workshop,
      "Multiple Approaches to Understanding and Preventing Elder Abuse," in Bethesda,
      Maryland. The workshop brought together experts from across disciplines to
      discuss research challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned from other
      fields. Participants included experts in elder abuse, child abuse, intimate
      partner violence (IPV), emergency medicine, and neuroscience. In this special
      issue of the Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, participants address topics
      explored before, during, and after the day-long workshop.

PMID- 27636386
TI  - Outer Hair Cell Molecular Protein, Prestin, as a Serum Biomarker for Hearing
      Loss: Proof of Concept.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: At present there are no serum biomarkers available to monitor
      cochlear health in those at risk of hearing loss. Outer hair cells (OHCs) play an
      important role in cochlear function and are one of the cellular elements most
      vulnerable to damage, such as acoustic trauma. We hypothesized that an OHC
      specific protein can serve as a biomarker for OHC damage in circulation. METHODS:
      After assessing auditory function, rats were exposed to intense octave band noise
      for 2 to 3 hours. Auditory function was assessed 14 days after trauma. Blood
      samples were collected and prestin concentration was measured using enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Circulating prestin was detectable in all control
      and noise-exposed animals. At 14 days after trauma, however, noise-exposed rats
      demonstrated statistically significant decrease in prestin concentrations
      compared with control animals. CONCLUSION: This work, for the first time,
      provides proof of concept that an otologic serum biomarker level can change after
      acoustic trauma and hearing loss. Our approach represents an entirely novel
      strategy in hearing diagnostics and has both research and clinical potential.
      Further work is needed to map out the temporal course of change in serum prestin
      concentrations after inner ear trauma, better define the relationship of
      serological and functional changes, and explore application to other etiologies
      of hearing loss (e.g., ototoxins).

PMID- 27636387
TI  - The Underlying Mechanism of Preventing Facial Nerve Stimulation by Triphasic
      Pulse Stimulation in Cochlear Implant Users Assessed With Objective Measure.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Triphasic pulse stimulation prevents from facial nerve stimulation
      (FNS) because of a different electromyographic input-output function compared
      with biphasic pulse stimulation. BACKGROUND: FNS is sometimes observed in
      cochlear implant users as an unwanted side effect of electrical stimulation of
      the auditory nerve. The common stimulation applied in current cochlear implant
      consists of biphasic pulse patterns. Two common clinical remedies to prevent
      unpleasant FNS caused by activation of certain electrodes are to expand their
      pulse phase duration or simply deactivate them. Unfortunately, in some patients
      these methods do not provide sufficient FNS prevention. In these patients
      triphasic pulse can prevent from FNS. The underlying mechanism is yet unclear.
      METHODS: Electromyographic (EMG) recordings of muscles innervated by the facial
      nerve (musculi orbicularis ori and oculi) were applied to quantitatively assess
      the effects on FNS. Triphasic and biphasic fitting maps were compared in four
      subjects with severe FNS. Based on the recordings, a model is presented which
      intends to explain the beneficial effects of triphasic pulse application.
      RESULTS: Triphasic stimulation provided by fitting of an OPUS 2 speech processor
      device. For three patients, EMG was successfully recorded depending on
      stimulation level up to uncomfortable and intolerable FNS stimulation as upper
      boarder. The obtained EMG recordings demonstrated high individual variability.
      However, a difference between the input-output function for biphasic and
      triphasic pulse stimulation was visually observable. Compared with standard
      biphasic stimulation, triphasic pulses require higher stimulation levels to
      elicit an equal amount of FNS, as reflected by EMG amplitudes. In addition, we
      assume a steeper slope of the input-output function for biphasic pulse
      stimulation compared with triphasic pulse stimulation. CONCLUSION: Triphasic
      pulse stimulation prevents from FNS because of a smaller gradient of EMG input
      output function compared with biphasic pulse stimulation. The underlying
      mechanism can be modeled by differences in spatiotemporal spread of the
      electrical field.

PMID- 27636388
TI  - Suggestions for a Guideline for Cochlear Implantation in CHARGE Syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Identifying aspects for establishing cochlear implantation guidelines
      for patients with ocular coloboma, heart defects, atresia of the choanae,
      retardation (of growth and/or of development), genital anomalies, and ear
      anomalies (CHARGE) syndrome (CS). STUDY DESIGN: Explorative retrospective study.
      SETTING: Cochlear implant (CI)-centers of tertiary referral centers in The
      Netherlands. PATIENTS: Ten patients with CS who received a CI between 2002 and
      2012. INTERVENTIONS: Describing the challenges and benefits of cochlear
      implantation in CS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Imaging and surgical findings,
      language development, and Quality-of-life (QoL), compared with two control
      groups: 1) 34 non-syndromic CI-users and 2) 13 patients with CS without CI
      because of sufficient hearing. RESULTS: Subjective and objective audiometry and
      magnetic resonance imaging were necessary to confirm the presence of the cochlear
      nerve. Surgery in CS was challenging because of enlarged emissary veins, semi
      circular-canal aplasia, aberrant facial nerve, and dysplastic cochlear windows,
      making computed tomography indispensable in surgical preparations. No major
      intraoperative complications occurred. Despite additional handicaps, all patients
      showed auditory benefit and improvement in disease-specific QoL. Patients
      implanted at a relatively young age (<=37 months) followed by a long period of CI
      use (>5 years) and with minor additional problems, developed spoken language at a
      basic level comparable to that of the control group of CS patients. CONCLUSION: A
      CI should be considered in all patients with CS and severe sensorineural hearing
      loss. A careful work-up is required, comprising computed tomography, magnetic
      resonance imaging, objective, and subjective audiometry and assessment by a
      specialized multidisciplinary team. Cochlear implantation in CS might be
      complicated by syndrome-related temporal-bone anatomy, and the outcome of the CI
      is more individually determined. Early implantation should be aimed for.

PMID- 27636389
TI  - Timing and Impact of Hearing Healthcare in Adult Cochlear Implant Recipients: A
      Rural-Urban Comparison.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare the timing and impact of
      hearing healthcare of rural and urban adults with severe hearing loss who use
      cochlear implants (CI). STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire study.
      SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Adult cochlear implant recipients.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Data collected included county of residence, socioeconomic
      information, impact of hearing loss on education/employment, and timing of
      hearing loss treatment. The benefits obtained from cochlear implantation were
      also evaluated. RESULTS: There were 91 participants (32 from urban counties, 26
      from moderately rural counties, and 33 for extremely rural counties). Rural
      participants have a longer commute time to the CI center (p < 0.001), lower
      income (p < 0.001), and higher percentage of Medicaid coverage (p = 0.004).
      Compared with urban-metro participants, rural participants with gradually
      progressive hearing loss had a greater time interval from the onset of hearing
      loss to obtaining hearing aid amplification (10 yr versus 5 yr, p = 0.04). There
      was also a greater time interval from onset of hearing loss to the time of
      cochlear implantation in rural participants (p = 0.04). Reported job loss was
      higher in rural participants than in urban participants (p = 0.05). Both groups
      reported comparable benefit from cochlear implantation. CONCLUSION: Rural CI
      recipients differ from urban residents in socioeconomic characteristics and may
      be delayed in timely treatment of hearing loss. Further efforts to expand access
      to hearing healthcare services may benefit rural adult patients.

PMID- 27636390
TI  - Prevalence of Barotrauma in Recreational Scuba Divers After Repetitive Saltwater
      Dives.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim was to investigate the prevalence of middle ear barotrauma
      (MEB) and to establish risk factors of MEB after repeated saltwater dives.
      METHODS: In this prospective observational cohort study 28 divers were examined
      over 6 consecutive days of diving in the Red Sea, Egypt. Participants underwent
      an otoscopic examination before the first dive, between each dive and after the
      last dive. In addition, they performed Valsalva maneuver (VM) and were questioned
      about dive-related complaints. Otoscopic findings were classified according to
      TEED classification for MEB (0 = normal otoscopy to 4 = perforation) separately
      for each ear. First examination was conducted before the first dive. Final
      examination, including a questionnaire, was conducted at least 12 h after the
      last dive. RESULTS: In total, 436 dives were performed and 1161 otoscopic
      findings were analyzed. All participants showed a normal eardrum and a positive
      VM during initial exam. MEB prevalence (TEED >0) was 36.5% at final examination.
      Prevalence increased significantly with number of dives per day (p < 0.001) as
      with number of diving days (p = 0.032). Neither depth nor duration of dives
      significantly influenced MEB prevalence (all p > 0.05). More experienced divers
      (>200 dives lifetime) showed significantly less barotrauma (p < 0.0001). Despite
      the high prevalence of MEB, 81.7% (316 of 387) of all dives were reported
      asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS: After 6 days of repetitive diving, MEB prevalence was
      high (36.5%). It was the most often cause of otalgia in divers. Cumulative
      pressure exposure during repetitive dives resulted in significant increase of
      MEB. Diving experience significantly reduced the MEB prevalence. Interestingly,
      the severity of MEB did not correlate with subjective complaints.

PMID- 27636391
TI  - Incidence of Pediatric Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence and Inner Ear
      Anomalies: A Large Multicenter Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the pediatric incidence and association of superior
      semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) with inner ear (IE) anomalies. STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Two tertiary referral centers. PATIENTS:
      Children less than 18 years who received a 0.5 mm or less collimated computed
      tomography study including the temporal bones between 2010 and 2013 for reasons
      including, but not limited to, hearing loss, trauma, and infection.
      INTERVENTIONS: Images were reformatted into Poschl and Stenver planes. Five
      hundred three computed tomography studies (1,006 temporal bones) were reviewed by
      experienced, blinded neuroradiologists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of SSCD
      and IE anomalies. Patient age, sex, and diagnosis were recorded. Statistical
      analysis was performed to compare outcome measures among patient demographics.
      RESULTS: The incidence of SSCD was 6.2% (31/503) and an IE anomaly was 15.1%
      (76/503) of individuals. The incidence of SSCD with an IE anomaly was not
      significantly correlated (1.1%, 40/1,006; p = 0.23; LR = +1.29). The mean age of
      children with SSCD was lower (5.9 versus 9.8 yr; p = 0.002). SSCD incidence
      decreased with age (ages <2, 2-8, and 9-18 yr were 36.7%, 5.6%, and 3.2%;
      p<0.001) and SSC bone thickness nonsignificantly increased with age. Children
      with SSCD were commonly male (74.2%, p = 0.041). CONCLUSION: SSCD and IE
      anomalies are unlikely related. SSCD incidence is highest in children <2 years,
      with SSC bone increasing until 2 to 8 years of age. This supports the theory of a
      congenital precedent to SSCD, with overlying bone maturation occurring during
      early childhood. Age <2 years was a significant predictor of SSCD.

PMID- 27636392
TI  - Epidemiology of Persistent Tympanic Membrane Perforations Subsequent to
      Tympanostomy Tubes Assessed With Real World Data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the incidence of persistent tympanic membrane perforation
      (TMP) after tympanostomy tube (TT) surgery using a large population-based cohort.
      STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Medicaid claims data from
      1999 to 2006. PATIENTS: We studied healthy children who had Medicaid eligibility
      within 6 months of birth that received TTs and had 2 to 7 years of follow-up.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We operationalized persistent TMP by a charge for
      tympanoplasty and/or one or more diagnoses of TMP. RESULTS: We identified 47,724
      children who received TTs and had >=2 years eligibility. The incidence of
      persistent TMP varied, based on definition and follow-up. The 2 and 7-year TMP
      rates were: 0.38% and 3.81% for two TMP diagnoses 6 months apart or
      tympanoplasty; 0.26% and 2.94% for two TMP diagnoses 6 months apart; 0.13% and
      1.73% for tympanoplasty, alone; 0.04% and 1.21% for tympanoplasty preceded by one
      TMP diagnosis; and 0.01% and 0.52% for tympanoplasty and two TMP diagnoses 6
      months apart. Reinserting TTs was associated with an increased likelihood of
      persistent TMP (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.98, 95% CI 1.49-2.63). Each year
      increase in age was associated with 49% increase in the risk of persistent TMP.
      CONCLUSION: Billing claims data may be used to assess the rate of persistent TMP
      after TT placement in large populations, yielding results consistent with
      findings from cohort studies and meta-analyses. Our findings may serve as the
      basis for future TMP research using real world datasets.

PMID- 27636393
TI  - Drug Diffusion to the Apex of the Human Cochlea? A Comment on "Kang WS, Nguyen K,
      McKenna CE, Sewell WF, McKenna MJ, Jung DH. Intracochlear Drug Delivery Through
      the Oval Window in Fresh Cadaveric Human Temporal Bones".

PMID- 27636394
TI  - Tension Pneumocephalus Related to Spontaneous Skull Base Dehiscence in a Patient
      on BiPAP.

PMID- 27636395
TI  - Diversity is the question, not the answer.
AB  - Local diversity (within-sample or alpha diversity) is often implicated as a cause
      of success or failure of a microbial community. However, the relationships
      between diversity and emergent properties of a community, such as its stability,
      productivity or invasibility, are much more nuanced. I argue that diversity
      without context provides limited insights into the mechanisms underpinning
      community patterns. I provide examples from traditional and microbial ecology to
      discuss common complications and assumptions about within-sample diversity that
      may prevent us from digging deeper into the more specific mechanisms underpinning
      community outcomes. I suggest that measurement of diversity should serve as a
      starting point for further inquiry of ecological mechanisms rather than an
      'answer' to community outcomes.

PMID- 27636396
TI  - Dexamethasone improves redox state in ataxia telangiectasia cells by promoting an
      NRF2-mediated antioxidant response.
AB  - Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a rare incurable neurodegenerative disease caused
      by biallelic mutations in the gene for ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM). The
      lack of a functional ATM kinase leads to a pleiotropic phenotype, and oxidative
      stress is considered to have a crucial role in the complex physiopathology.
      Recently, steroids have been shown to reduce the neurological symptoms of the
      disease, although the molecular mechanism of this effect is largely unknown. In
      the present study, we have demonstrated that dexamethasone treatment of A-T
      lymphoblastoid cells increases the content of two of the most abundant
      antioxidants [glutathione (GSH) and NADPH] by up to 30%. Dexamethasone promoted
      the nuclear accumulation of the transcription factor nuclear factor (erythroid
      derived 2)-like 2 to drive expression of antioxidant pathways involved in GSH
      synthesis and NADPH production. The latter effect was via glucose 6-phosphate
      dehydrogenase activation, as confirmed by increased enzyme activity and
      enhancement of the pentose phosphate pathway rate. This evidence indicates that
      glucocorticoids are able to potentiate antioxidant defenses to counteract
      oxidative stress in ataxia telangiectasia, and also reveals an unexpected role
      for dexamethasone in redox homeostasis and cellular antioxidant activity.

PMID- 27636397
TI  - Enantioenriched Cobalt Phosphonate Containing Delta-Type Chains and Showing Slow
      Magnetization Relaxation.
AB  - By using an achiral (4-carboxynaphthalen-1-yl)phosphonic acid (4-cnappH3),
      compound Co2(4-cnapp)(OH)(H2O)2 (1) is isolated crystallizing in orthorhomibic
      space group P212121. It shows a three-dimensional framework structure in which
      the Delta-type chains of corner-sharing Co3(MU3-OH) triangles are cross-linked by
      the organic groups of the phosphonate ligands. Interestingly, the bulk sample of
      compound 1 is enantioenriched, thus providing a rare example of symmetry breaking
      upon crystallization from achiral starting materials. Slow magnetization
      relaxation is observed at low temperature.

PMID- 27636398
TI  - Iliac and femoro-popliteal arteries morphological CTA features as determinants of
      outcome after standard EVAR procedures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the impact of iliac artery's diameters, tortuosity, and
      peripheral vascular patency on outcome of elective endovascular repair (EVAR) of
      abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in 2 high volume vascular centers' experience.
      METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on a prospectively collected
      database between 2010 and 2012. Anatomical features at pre-operative computed
      tomography (CTA) considered as potentially influencing outcomes were: iliac
      diameters, tortuosity (expressed as a ratio), and calcifications, bilateral
      internal iliac artery (IIA) patency, and presence of Trans-Atlantic Inter
      Societies Consensus (TASC) II C/D femoro-popliteal occlusive disease (PAD).
      Outcome measures were reintervention and mortality rates at follow-up. RESULTS:
      Two-hundred-eighty-nine patients' CTA preoperative images were reviewed with a
      mean of 1148+/-328 images per patient analysed. Mean common iliac artery (CIA)
      diameters calculated in the narrowest point were 12.8+/-4 mm and 12.9+/-3.9mm,
      and mean external iliac artery (EIA) diameters were 7.7+/-1.6mm 7.8+/-1.7mm,
      respectively on right and left side. Mean tortuosity ratios were 0.8+/-0.1 (0.40
      0.91) and 0.8+/-0.1 (0.49-0.99), respectively on right and left side. PAD was
      present in 31 patients (10.7%). Technical success was achieved in all case, and
      bilateral IIA patency was preserved in 229 (79.2%) patients. No in hospital and
      30-day mortality and complications were recorded. At a mean follow-up of 26
      months, 30 reinterventions were required in 26 patients (8.9%), and 22 (7.6%) non
      AAA-related deaths were noted. Right EIA diameter <=5mm(P=.0012, OR 5.2, 95% CI
      1.73-15.57), and femoro-popliteal steno-obstructive disease (P=.03, OR 3.06, 95%
      CI 1.02-9.20) were significantly related to reinterventions during follow-up.
      Iliac tortuosity ratio and calcification were not a significant predictors of
      adverse events. CONCLUSION: This preliminary experience suggests that diameters
      of access vessels and the presence of femoro-popliteal steno-obstructive disease
      could affect the outcome of EVAR.

PMID- 27636399
TI  - Which type of valve should we use in tricuspid position? Long-term comparison
      between mechanical and biological valves.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) is much less common than
      aortic or mitral valve replacement, since repair is almost always preferable.
      Prosthetic tricuspid valves are associated with high mortality and morbidity,
      mostly due to thrombotic or hemorrhagic events. Nevertheless, there is lack of
      evidence of which is the optimal type of valve (biological versus mechanical) in
      tricuspid position. METHODS: We analyzed all the patients who underwent TVR in
      our Institution, from 2005 to 2015. Patient baseline characteristics were
      recorded (such as functional class, previous cardiac surgery, right ventricular
      dysfunction or pulmonary hypertension), and a clinical long-term follow-up was
      conducted. We compared the outcomes between mechanical and biological prostheses:
      in-hospital mortality, long-term mortality, need for reintervention and adverse
      events (such as stroke or valve thrombosis). RESULTS: During the study period 120
      tricuspid prosthetic valves were implanted in 111 patients. 81 of them (67.5%)
      were bioprostheses, and 39 (32.5%) mechanical valves. 73 patients (60.8%) had
      undergone a previous cardiac surgery (28.4% had previous tricuspid surgery). Most
      of the patients (87.1%) were in high functional class (grade III-IV of the NYHA
      classification), and 85% had moderate to severe pulmonary hypertension. Mean
      logistic EuroSCORE I was 14.80%. Only 37 cases were isolated TVR (30.6%), as most
      of the cases were TVR concomitant to mitral valve replacement. In-hospital
      mortality was 21.7%, and during the follow-up (mean follow-up of 7 years) reached
      37.5%. Three mechanical tricuspid valves (7.7%) had to be replaced due to
      thrombosis, while 7 biological valves (8.6%) had to be replaced due to valve
      deterioration. The incidence of stroke was 7.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Tricuspid valve
      replacement is an infrequent procedure with a high incidence of perioperative
      morbidity and mortality. Biological or mechanical valves have similar mortality,
      and a reasonably low incidence of need for reintervention due to thrombosis or
      valve deterioration.

PMID- 27636400
TI  - Validation of FLARE-RA, a Self-Administered Tool to Detect Recent or Current
      Rheumatoid Arthritis Flare.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To validate the measurement properties and the detection performance
      of the FLARE-RA questionnaire in a longitudinal prospective study. METHODS: To
      validate the FLARE-RA self-administered questionnaire, we conducted a prospective
      trial in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to document: 1) content and construct
      validity by factor analysis, convergent validity by Pearson's correlation with
      routine assessment of patient index data (Routine Assessment of Patient Index
      Data 3 [RAPID-3] questionnaire), RA Impact of Disease (RAID) score, Disease
      Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28), and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ),
      2) reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] and Bland-Altman plot),
      and 3) feasibility of use. Patients were examined and questionnaires were
      collected at baseline and 3 months, and every week in between for RAPID-3.
      RESULTS: We recruited 138 patients from 13 centers: 81.9% women, mean age 57.4
      years, mean DAS28 2.9, mean C-reactive protein level 6.2 mg/liter, 84.4%
      rheumatoid factor positive, 78.0% anti-citrullinated protein antibody positive,
      and 78.8% with erosive disease. At baseline, the mean +/- SD FLARE-RA score was
      2.3 +/- 2.3. The content and construct validity of FLARE-RA was good. A
      substantial floor effect, but no ceiling effect, was observed. Principal
      components analysis revealed 1 domain disentangled in 2 subdomains: physical and
      emotional. The FLARE-RA total score was correlated with the DAS28 (r = 0.63, P <
      0.001), RAID (r = 0.80, P < 0.001), RAPID-3 (r = 0.77, P < 0.001), and HAQ (r =
      0.53, P < 0.001). The ICC for reliability was 0.94 (95% confidence interval 0.92
      0.96). CONCLUSION: The FLARE-RA self-administered questionnaire represents a
      valid and valuable instrument to detect RA flare between visits to the physician.

PMID- 27636401
TI  - Evaluation of pendimethalin binding to human serum albumin: Insights from
      spectroscopic and molecular modeling approach.
AB  - Interaction of pendimethalin (PM) herbicide with the major transporter in human
      circulation, human serum albumin (HSA), was studied using fluorescence, circular
      dichroism (CD), and molecular modeling methods. The attenuation of the
      fluorescence intensity of HSA in the presence of PM revealed formation of the PM
      HSA complex. Analysis of the fluorescence quenching data showed moderately strong
      binding affinity between PM and HSA. Both hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen
      bonding were suggested to stabilize the PM-HSA complex, based on thermodynamic
      data. Binding of PM to HSA induced perturbation in the microenvironment around
      the aromatic fluorophores as well as secondary and tertiary structural changes in
      the protein. Complexation of PM with HSA led to an increase in its thermal
      stability. Both site marker displacement and molecular modeling results suggested
      site I, located in subdomain IIA as the preferred binding site of PM on HSA.

PMID- 27636402
TI  - Co-contraction training, muscle explosive force and associated electromyography
      activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of a six-week Maximal isometric voluntary co-contraction
      (MIVCC) training program of the elbow flexor and extensor muscles on maximal and
      explosive muscle strength have been studied. METHODS: Ten active men underwent 6
      week MIVCC. Maximal rate of force development (MRFD) of the elbow flexor
      (MRFDflex) and extensor (MRFDext) were measured in addition to maximal voluntary
      contraction (MVC) of these muscles (MVCflex and MVCext) before (T0), after 4-week
      (T1) and 6-week (T2) MIVCC training program. During each test session, integrated
      electromyographic activity (iEMG) of agonistic and antagonistic muscles during
      MVC, MRFD, submaximal contractions (30% and 60% MVC) and MIVCC of the elbow
      flexor and extensor muscles were measured. RESULTS: At T2, MVCflex (13.3+/-11.7%)
      and MVCext (22.5+/-6.1%) increased significantly (P<0.001). Similarly, iEMG of
      agonists muscles during MVC increased significantly for flexor (+29.9%) and
      extensor (+29.6%) muscles (P<0.001) without changes of antagonists co-activation.
      The increases in MRFDflex (+12.5%), MRFDext (+9.2%) and iEMG at MRFD were not
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: MIVCC training can simultaneously improve strength of
      antagonistic muscles without inducing an alteration of MRFD or an increase in
      muscles co-activation during contractions of the agonist muscles. Interestingly,
      the improvement of estimated forces during MIVCC after 6-week-training suggested
      that the higher level of MIVCC previously observed in bodybuilders could be the
      result of specific training exercises (posing). The fact that MIVCC training did
      not alter "explosive" force production, which is important in optimal design of
      sports-specific resistance training as well as in rehabilitation programs.

PMID- 27636403
TI  - Game-specific characteristics of sport-related concussions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Concussions are common incidences in sports. However, game-specific
      characteristics such as tactics, field positions, etc. might
      positively/negatively contribute to the occurrence of mild traumatic brain
      injuries (mTBI) in various sports such as soccer, volleyball, handball, or
      basketball. Thus, the intention of this study was to analyze game-specific
      characteristics of concussive incidents in active players from the perspective of
      different sportive disciplines. METHODS: Four sport-specific questionnaires for
      soccer, handball, volleyball and basketball were established using an online
      survey tool. RESULTS: A total of 3001 participants completed the questionnaires.
      18% of the participants answered that they had experienced a concussion which
      significantly differed depending on the sport practiced (chi2(3)=56.868, P<0.001;
      soccer 25%, handball 24%, volleyball 13%, basketball 15%). Whereas handball and
      soccer players experienced most concussions on the amateur level, volleyball
      players experienced most on the professional level and basketball players during
      leisure play (chi2(9)=112.667, P<0.001). Soccer players experienced most
      concussions by a collision with another player, volleyball players instead
      experienced most concussions by hits from the ball (chi2(6)=211.260, P<0.001). In
      soccer, goalkeepers and defensive midfield players showed most concussive
      incidences (chi2(7)=19.638, P<0.01); in volleyball, the libero position and
      outside positions showed to be significantly affected from sport-related
      concussions (chi2(6)=13.617, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present results showed
      that factors critically contributing to the occurrence of concussions are sport
      specific and particularly concern amateurs. This indicates that most concussions
      in ball games appear in situations, where medical care units are not necessarily
      present. Preventive measures should therefore especially address amateurs in ball
      sports.

PMID- 27636404
TI  - Alcohol, Aldehyde, and Ketone Liberation and Intracellular Cargo Release through
      Peroxide-Mediated alpha-Boryl Ether Fragmentation.
AB  - alpha-Boryl ethers, carbonates, and acetals, readily prepared from the
      corresponding alcohols that are accessed through ketone diboration, react rapidly
      with hydrogen peroxide to release alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones through the
      collapse of hemiacetal intermediates. Experiments with alpha-boryl acetals
      containing a latent fluorophore clearly demonstrate that cargo can be released
      inside cells in the presence of exogenous or endogenous hydrogen peroxide. These
      experiments show that this protocol can be used for drug activation in an
      oxidative environment without generating toxic byproducts.

PMID- 27636405
TI  - Chemokine Patterns in Children with Acute Bacterial Infections.
AB  - Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines that are mainly involved in the migratory
      patterns of immune cells. Few studies have evaluated the levels of chemokines in
      children with acute bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the serum levels of chemokines MCP-1, RANTES, MIG and IP-10 in children with
      sepsis, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and skin abscess. Serum levels of MCP
      1, RANTES, MIG and IP-10 were measured in 37 children with sepsis, 27 children
      with CAP, 25 children with skin abscess and 20 controls with no signs of
      infection. Patients with sepsis, CAP and skin abscess had higher concentrations
      of RANTES compared to controls (P = 0.0057, P = 0.0004 and P = 0.0108,
      respectively). IP-10 values were higher in patients with sepsis compared to
      children with skin abscess (P = 0.0075). However, MCP-1 levels were lower in
      septic patients compared to controls (P = 0.0136). There was no difference on MIG
      concentrations between the groups. Our original findings observed that RANTES was
      consistently elevated in all types of infections suggesting this chemokine may
      play an important role in the pathogenesis of bacterial infection. Additionally,
      patients with sepsis had a unique pattern of response with high levels of IP-10
      but low levels of MCP-1, which should be further explored as the markers of
      disease severity.

PMID- 27636406
TI  - Treatment of Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis With Corticosteroid, Pentoxifylline, or
      Dual Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although both corticosteroids and pentoxifylline are
      currently recommended drugs for the treatment of patients with severe alcoholic
      hepatitis, their effectiveness in reducing mortality remains unclear. In this
      systematic review, we aimed to evaluate the therapeutic and adverse effects of
      corticosteroids, pentoxifylline, and combination by using Cochrane methodology
      and therefore determine optimal treatment for severe alcoholic hepatitis.
      METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials from their inauguration until October 2015. Combinations of the
      following keywords and controlled vocabularies were searched: alcoholic
      hepatitis, corticosteroid, and pentoxifylline. RESULTS: A total of 2639 patients
      from 25 studies were included. The treatment groups did not differ significantly
      in terms of overall mortality. Analysis of 1-month mortality revealed
      corticosteroid monotherapy reduced mortality compared with placebo (OR=0.58; 95%
      CI, 0.34-0.98; P=0.04), but pentoxifylline monotherapy did not. The mortality
      with dual therapy was similar to corticosteroid monotherapy (OR=0.91; 95% CI,
      0.62-1.34; P=0.63). However, dual therapy decreased the incidences of hepatorenal
      syndrome or acute kidney injury (OR=0.47; 95% CI, 0.26-0.86; P=0.01) and the
      infection risk (OR=0.63; 95% CI, 0.41-0.97; P=0.04) significantly more than
      corticosteroid monotherapy did. None of the treatments conferred any medium-term
      or long-term survival benefits in the present study. CONCLUSIONS: Dual therapy
      was not inferior to corticosteroid monotherapy and could reduce the incidence of
      hepatorenal syndrome or acute kidney injury and risk of infection. Therefore,
      dual therapy might be considered in treatment of patients with severe alcoholic
      hepatitis.

PMID- 27636407
TI  - Biological Therapy in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review.
AB  - The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has increased steadily
      worldwide, both in adult and in children; approximately 25% of IBD patients are
      diagnosed before the age of 18. The natural history of IBD is usually more severe
      in children than in adults, and can be associated with linear growth impairment,
      delayed puberty onset, reduced bone mass index, malnutrition, and the need for
      surgery. Biological therapies, especially blocking tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNFalpha), have radically modified the treatment strategies and disease course
      of IBD in children. In particular, drugs such as Infliximab and Adalimumab are
      routinely used in the treatment of pediatric IBD. The role of Infliximab and
      Adalimumab in the management of pediatric IBD has been recently updated in the
      Consensus guidelines of ECCO/ESPGHAN. Data regarding short-term and long-term
      efficacy and safety of these drugs in children, and the effects of "top-down" and
      "step-up" strategies, are lacking. In this paper, the authors will review current
      indications, efficacy, and safety of biological therapy in pediatric IBD
      patients, evaluating all articles published after ECCO/ESPGHAN guidelines
      publication. The authors carried out a systematic search through MEDLINE through
      PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library,
      and gray literature, from January 2013 to January 2016. Anti-TNFalpha has been
      shown to be effective and safe to maintain remission and to achieve mucosal
      healing. Multicenter trials based on large sample size cohorts are needed to
      better clarify long-term efficacy of anti-TNFalpha and the real incidence of
      treatment-related complications in pediatric IBD.

PMID- 27636408
TI  - Increased Prevalence of Metabolic Risk Factors in Asian Americans With
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We used metabolic risk factors to estimate the prevalence and
      clinical significance of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Asian Americans with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of
      824 consecutive Asian HCC patients at Stanford University Medical Center from
      1998 to 2015. Patients were subdivided as: Chinese, other East Asian (Japanese
      and Korean), South East Asian (Vietnamese, Thai, and Laotian), Maritime South
      East Asian (MSEA: Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, and Singaporean), and South
      West Asian (Indian, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern). Metabolic risk factors
      studied were body mass index, hypertension, type II diabetes, and hyperlipidemia.
      RESULTS: Most patients were male (76%) with mean age 63 years. Metabolic risk
      factors were highly prevalent on presentation and increased over time (P<0.001),
      as did the prevalence of cryptogenic HCC (P<0.004). Compared with other Asian
      subgroups, MSEAs had the highest body mass index (26.3) and higher rates of type
      II diabetes (44% vs. 23% to 35%, P=0.004), hypertension (59% vs. 38% to 55%,
      P=0.04), and cryptogenic HCC (15% vs. 4% to 10%, P=0.01). They were more likely
      to be symptomatic on presentation (44% vs. 32% to 58%, P=0.07), less likely to
      present within Milan criteria (34% vs. 35% to 63%, P<0.0001), and trended toward
      decreased 10-year survival rates compared with other ethnic subgroups (9% vs. 25%
      to 32%, P=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Metabolic risk factors were increasingly prevalent
      among Asian Americans with HCC. MSEAs, who had the highest incidence of these
      risk factors, had more advanced tumor stage and trended toward worse survival.

PMID- 27636411
TI  - More Accurate Method to Evaluate the Performance of Scores in Outcomes
      Prediction.

PMID- 27636409
TI  - Bifidobacterium infantis NLS Super Strain Reduces the Expression of alpha
      Defensin-5, a Marker of Innate Immunity, in the Mucosa of Active Celiac Disease
      Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have previously shown a reduction of gastrointestinal symptoms
      after the oral administration of Bifidobacterium infantis Natren Life Start super
      strain (NLS-SS) in untreated celiac disease (CD) patients. The symptomatic
      improvement was not associated with changes in intestinal permeability or serum
      levels of cytokines, chemokines, or growth factors. Therefore, we hypothesized
      that the beneficial symptomatic effect observed previously in patients with CD
      treated with B. infantis may be related to the modulation of innate immunity.
      GOALS: To investigate the potential mechanisms of a probiotic B. infantis Natren
      Life Start super strain on the mucosal expression of innate immune markers in
      adult patients with active untreated CD compared with those treated with B.
      infantis*6 weeks and after 1 year of gluten-free diet (GFD). METHODS: Numbers of
      macrophages and Paneth cells and alpha-defensin-5 expression were assessed by
      immunohistochemistry in duodenal biopsies. RESULTS: We showed that GFD decreases
      duodenal macrophage counts in CD patients more effectively than B. infantis. In
      contrast, B. infantis decreases Paneth cell counts and expression of alpha
      defensin-5 in CD (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results identify differential innate
      immune effects of treatment with B. infantis compared with 1 year of GFD. Further
      studies are needed to investigate synergistic effects of GFD and B. infantis
      supplementation in CD.

PMID- 27636410
TI  - Celiac Disease is Misdiagnosed Based on Serology Only in a Substantial Proportion
      of Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the diagnostic process in celiac disease (CeD) has been
      addressed in several international guidelines, little is known about the actual
      proceeding in current clinical practice. This study investigated the initial
      presentation, the diagnostic process, follow-up evaluations, and adherence to a
      gluten-free diet in CeD patients in a real-life setting in Switzerland from a
      patient's perspective. METHODS: We performed a large patient survey among
      unselected CeD patients in Switzerland. RESULTS: A total of 1689 patients were
      analyzed. The vast majority complained of both gastrointestinal and nonspecific
      symptoms (71.5%), whereas 1.8% reported an asymptomatic disease course. A total
      of 35.8% CeD patients were diagnosed by a nongastroenterologist. The diagnostic
      process differed between nongastroenterologists and gastroenterologists, with the
      latter more often using duodenal biopsy alone or in combination with serology
      (94.7% vs. 63.0%) and nongastroenterologists more frequently establishing the
      diagnosis without endoscopy (37.0% vs. 5.3%, P<0.001). Follow-up serology after 6
      months was performed only in half of all patients (49.4%), whereas 69.9% had at
      least 1 follow-up serology within the first year after diet initiation. About
      39.7% had a follow-up endoscopy with duodenal biopsies (after a median of 12 mo;
      range, 1 to 600 mo). The likelihood of receiving any follow-up examination was
      higher in patients initially diagnosed by a gastroenterologist. CONCLUSIONS: A
      significant proportion of CeD patients are diagnosed by nongastroenterologists.
      Under the diagnostic lead of the latter, more than a third of the patients
      receive their diagnosis on the basis of a positive serology and/or genetics only,
      in evident violation of current diagnostic guidelines, which may lead to an
      overdiagnosis of this entity.

PMID- 27636456
TI  - Editorial: Hybridizing Quantum Physics and Engineering.

PMID- 27636457
TI  - Ultradilute Low-Dimensional Liquids.
AB  - We calculate the energy of one- and two-dimensional weakly interacting Bose-Bose
      mixtures analytically in the Bogoliubov approximation and by using the diffusion
      Monte Carlo technique. We show that in the case of attractive inter- and
      repulsive intraspecies interactions the energy per particle has a minimum at a
      finite density corresponding to a liquid state. We derive the Gross-Pitaevskii
      equation to describe droplets of such liquids and solve it analytically in the
      one-dimensional case. 

PMID- 27636459
TI  - Universal Quantum Computing with Arbitrary Continuous-Variable Encoding.
AB  - Implementing a qubit quantum computer in continuous-variable systems
      conventionally requires the engineering of specific interactions according to the
      encoding basis states. In this work, we present a unified formalism to conduct
      universal quantum computation with a fixed set of operations but arbitrary
      encoding. By storing a qubit in the parity of two or four qumodes, all computing
      processes can be implemented by basis state preparations, continuous-variable
      exponential-swap operations, and swap tests. Our formalism inherits the
      advantages that the quantum information is decoupled from collective noise, and
      logical qubits with different encodings can be brought to interact without
      decoding. We also propose a possible implementation of the required operations by
      using interactions that are available in a variety of continuous-variable
      systems. Our work separates the "hardware" problem of engineering quantum
      computing-universal interactions, from the "software" problem of designing
      encodings for specific purposes. The development of quantum computer architecture
      could hence be simplified. 

PMID- 27636458
TI  - Failure of Local Thermal Equilibrium in Quantum Friction.
AB  - Recent progress in manipulating atomic and condensed matter systems has
      instigated a surge of interest in nonequilibrium physics, including many-body
      dynamics of trapped ultracold atoms and ions, near-field radiative heat transfer,
      and quantum friction. Under most circumstances the complexity of such
      nonequilibrium systems requires a number of approximations to make theoretical
      descriptions tractable. In particular, it is often assumed that spatially
      separated components of a system thermalize with their immediate surroundings,
      although the global state of the system is out of equilibrium. This powerful
      assumption reduces the complexity of nonequilibrium systems to the local
      application of well-founded equilibrium concepts. While this technique appears to
      be consistent for the description of some phenomena, we show that it fails for
      quantum friction by underestimating by approximately 80% the magnitude of the
      drag force. Our results show that the correlations among the components of
      driven, but steady-state, quantum systems invalidate the assumption of local
      thermal equilibrium, calling for a critical reexamination of this approach for
      describing the physics of nonequilibrium systems. 

PMID- 27636460
TI  - Exponential Communication Complexity Advantage from Quantum Superposition of the
      Direction of Communication.
AB  - In communication complexity, a number of distant parties have the task of
      calculating a distributed function of their inputs, while minimizing the amount
      of communication between them. It is known that with quantum resources, such as
      entanglement and quantum channels, one can obtain significant reductions in the
      communication complexity of some tasks. In this work, we study the role of the
      quantum superposition of the direction of communication as a resource for
      communication complexity. We present a tripartite communication task for which
      such a superposition allows for an exponential saving in communication, compared
      to one-way quantum (or classical) communication; the advantage also holds when we
      allow for protocols with bounded error probability. 

PMID- 27636461
TI  - Free-Space Quantum Signatures Using Heterodyne Measurements.
AB  - Digital signatures guarantee the authorship of electronic communications.
      Currently used "classical" signature schemes rely on unproven computational
      assumptions for security, while quantum signatures rely only on the laws of
      quantum mechanics to sign a classical message. Previous quantum signature schemes
      have used unambiguous quantum measurements. Such measurements, however, sometimes
      give no result, reducing the efficiency of the protocol. Here, we instead use
      heterodyne detection, which always gives a result, although there is always some
      uncertainty. We experimentally demonstrate feasibility in a real environment by
      distributing signature states through a noisy 1.6 km free-space channel. Our
      results show that continuous-variable heterodyne detection improves the signature
      rate for this type of scheme and therefore represents an interesting direction in
      the search for practical quantum signature schemes. For transmission values
      ranging from 100% to 10%, but otherwise assuming an ideal implementation with no
      other imperfections, the signature length is shorter by a factor of 2 to 10. As
      compared with previous relevant experimental realizations, the signature length
      in this implementation is several orders of magnitude shorter. 

PMID- 27636462
TI  - Langevin Equations for Reaction-Diffusion Processes.
AB  - For reaction-diffusion processes with at most bimolecular reactants, we derive
      well-behaved, numerically tractable, exact Langevin equations that govern a
      stochastic variable related to the response field in field theory. Using duality
      relations, we show how the particle number and other quantities of interest can
      be computed. Our work clarifies long-standing conceptual issues encountered in
      field-theoretical approaches and paves the way for systematic numerical and
      theoretical analyses of reaction-diffusion problems. 

PMID- 27636463
TI  - Quantum Nondemolition Measurement of a Quantum Squeezed State Beyond the 3 dB
      Limit.
AB  - We use a reservoir engineering technique based on two-tone driving to generate
      and stabilize a quantum squeezed state of a micron-scale mechanical oscillator in
      a microwave optomechanical system. Using an independent backaction-evading
      measurement to directly quantify the squeezing, we observe 4.7+/-0.9  dB of
      squeezing below the zero-point level surpassing the 3 dB limit of standard
      parametric squeezing techniques. Our measurements also reveal evidence for an
      additional mechanical parametric effect. The interplay between this effect and
      the optomechanical interaction enhances the amount of squeezing obtained in the
      experiment. 

PMID- 27636464
TI  - Demonstration of a Coherent Electronic Spin Cluster in Diamond.
AB  - An obstacle for spin-based quantum sensors is magnetic noise due to proximal
      spins. However, a cluster of such spins can become an asset, if it can be
      controlled. Here, we polarize and readout a cluster of three nitrogen electron
      spins coupled to a single nitrogen-vacancy spin in diamond. We further achieve
      sub-nm localization of the cluster spins. Finally, we demonstrate coherent spin
      exchange between the species by simultaneous dressing of the nitrogen-vacancy and
      the nitrogen states. These results establish the feasibility of environment
      assisted sensing and quantum simulations with diamond spins. 

PMID- 27636465
TI  - Search for Screened Interactions Associated with Dark Energy below the 100 MUm
      Length Scale.
AB  - We present the results of a search for unknown interactions that couple to mass
      between an optically levitated microsphere and a gold-coated silicon cantilever.
      The scale and geometry of the apparatus enable a search for new forces that
      appear at distances below 100  MUm and which would have evaded previous searches
      due to screening mechanisms. The data are consistent with electrostatic
      backgrounds and place upper limits on the strength of new interactions at <0.1 
      fN in the geometry tested. For the specific example of a chameleon interaction
      with an inverse power law potential, these results exclude matter couplings
      beta>5.6*10^{4} in the region of parameter space where the self-coupling Lambda?5
      meV and the microspheres are not fully screened. 

PMID- 27636466
TI  - Spectroscopy of Kerr Black Holes with Earth- and Space-Based Interferometers.
AB  - We estimate the potential of present and future interferometric gravitational
      wave detectors to test the Kerr nature of black holes through "gravitational
      spectroscopy," i.e., the measurement of multiple quasinormal mode frequencies
      from the remnant of a black hole merger. Using population synthesis models of the
      formation and evolution of stellar-mass black hole binaries, we find that Voyager
      class interferometers will be necessary to perform these tests. Gravitational
      spectroscopy in the local Universe may become routine with the Einstein
      Telescope, but a 40-km facility like Cosmic Explorer is necessary to go beyond
      z~3. In contrast, detectors like eLISA (evolved Laser Interferometer Space
      Antenna) should carry out a few-or even hundreds-of these tests every year,
      depending on uncertainties in massive black hole formation models. Many space
      based spectroscopical measurements will occur at high redshift, testing the
      strong gravity dynamics of Kerr black holes in domains where cosmological
      corrections to general relativity (if they occur in nature) must be significant. 

PMID- 27636467
TI  - Sound Speed of Primordial Fluctuations in Supergravity Inflation.
AB  - We study the realization of slow-roll inflation in N=1 supergravities where
      inflation is the result of the evolution of a single chiral field. When there is
      only one flat direction in field space, it is possible to derive a single-field
      effective field theory parametrized by the sound speed c_{s} at which curvature
      perturbations propagate during inflation. The value of c_{s} is determined by the
      rate of bend of the inflationary path resulting from the shape of the F-term
      potential. We show that c_{s} must respect an inequality that involves the
      curvature tensor of the Kahler manifold underlying supergravity, and the ratio
      M/H between the mass M of fluctuations ortogonal to the inflationary path, and
      the Hubble expansion rate H. This inequality provides a powerful link between
      observational constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity and information about the
      N=1 supergravity responsible for inflation. In particular, the inequality does
      not allow for suppressed values of c_{s} (values smaller than c_{s}~0.4) unless
      (a) the ratio M/H is of order 1 or smaller, and (b) the fluctuations of mass M
      affect the propagation of curvature perturbations by inducing on them a nonlinear
      dispersion relation during horizon crossing. Therefore, if large non-Gaussianity
      is observed, supergravity models of inflation would be severely constrained. 

PMID- 27636468
TI  - Electrophobic Scalar Boson and Muonic Puzzles.
AB  - A new scalar boson which couples to the muon and proton can simultaneously solve
      the proton radius puzzle and the muon anomalous magnetic moment discrepancy.
      Using a variety of measurements, we constrain the mass of this scalar and its
      couplings to the electron, muon, neutron, and proton. Making no assumptions about
      the underlying model, these constraints and the requirement that it solve both
      problems limit the mass of the scalar to between about 100 keV and 100 MeV. We
      identify two unexplored regions in the coupling constant-mass plane. Potential
      future experiments and their implications for theories with mass-weighted lepton
      couplings are discussed. 

PMID- 27636469
TI  - Magnetic Shift of the Chemical Freeze-out and Electric Charge Fluctuations.
AB  - We discuss the effect of a strong magnetic field on the chemical freeze-out
      points in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. As a result of inverse magnetic
      catalysis or magnetic inhibition, the crossover onset to hot and dense matter out
      of quarks and gluons should be shifted to a lower temperature. To quantify this
      shift we employ the hadron resonance gas model and an empirical condition for the
      chemical freeze-out. We point out that the charged particle abundances are
      significantly affected by the magnetic field so that the electric charge
      fluctuation is largely enhanced, especially at high baryon density. The charge
      conservation partially cancels the enhancement, but our calculation shows that
      the electric charge fluctuation could serve as a magnetometer. We find that the
      fluctuation exhibits a crossover behavior rapidly increased for eB?(0.4 
      GeV)^{2}, while the charge chemical potential has smoother behavior with an
      increasing magnetic field. 

PMID- 27636471
TI  - Rotational Control of Asymmetric Molecules: Dipole- versus Polarizability-Driven
      Rotational Dynamics.
AB  - We experimentally study the optical- and terahertz-induced rotational dynamics of
      asymmetric molecules in the gas phase. Terahertz and optical fields are
      identified as two distinct control handles over asymmetric molecules, as they
      couple to the rotational degrees of freedom via the molecular dipole and
      polarizability selectively. The distinction between those two rotational handles
      is highlighted by different types of quantum revivals observed in long-duration
      (>100  ps) field-free rotational evolution. The experimental results are in
      excellent agreement with random phase wave function (RPWF) simulations [Phys.
      Rev. A 91, 063420 (2015)] and provide verification of the RPWF as an efficient
      method for calculating asymmetric molecular dynamics at ambient temperatures,
      where exact calculation methods are practically not feasible. Our observations
      and analysis pave the way for orchestrated excitations by both optical and
      terahertz fields as complementary rotational handles that enable a plethora of
      new possibilities in three-dimensional rotational control of asymmetric
      molecules. 

PMID- 27636470
TI  - Proton Distribution Radii of ^{12-19}C Illuminate Features of Neutron Halos.
AB  - Proton radii of ^{12-19}C densities derived from first accurate charge changing
      cross section measurements at 900A  MeV with a carbon target are reported. A
      thick neutron surface evolves from ~0.5  fm in ^{15}C to ~1  fm in ^{19}C. The
      halo radius in ^{19}C is found to be 6.4+/-0.7  fm as large as ^{11}Li. Ab initio
      calculations based on chiral nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces reproduce
      the radii well. 

PMID- 27636472
TI  - Photon Energy Deposition in Strong-Field Single Ionization of Multielectron
      Molecules.
AB  - Molecules exposed to strong laser fields may coherently absorb multiple photons
      and deposit the energy into electrons and nuclei, triggering the succeeding
      dynamics as the primary stage of the light-molecule interaction. We
      experimentally explore the electron-nuclear sharing of the absorbed photon energy
      in above-threshold multiphoton single ionization of multielectron molecules.
      Using CO as a prototype, vibrational and orbital resolved electron-nuclear
      sharing of the photon energy is observed. Different from the simplest one- or two
      electron systems, the participation of the multiple orbitals and the coupling of
      various electronic states in the strong-field ionization and dissociation
      processes alter the photon energy deposition dynamics of the multielectron
      molecule. The population of numerous vibrational states of the molecular cation
      as the energy reservoir in the ionization process plays an important role in
      photon energy sharing between the emitted electron and the nuclear fragments. 

PMID- 27636473
TI  - Strong Coupling of Rydberg Atoms and Surface Phonon Polaritons on Piezoelectric
      Superlattices.
AB  - We propose a hybrid quantum system where the strong coupling regime can be
      achieved between a Rydberg atomic ensemble and propagating surface phonon
      polaritons on a piezoelectric superlattice. By exploiting the large electric
      dipole moment and long lifetime of Rydberg atoms as well as tightly confined
      surface phonon polariton modes, it is possible to achieve a coupling constant far
      exceeding the relevant decay rates. The frequency of the surface mode can be
      selected so that it is resonant with a Rydberg transition by engineering the
      piezoelectric superlattice. We describe a way to observe the Rabi splitting
      associated with the strong coupling regime under realistic experimental
      conditions. The system can be viewed as a new type of optomechanical system. 

PMID- 27636474
TI  - Orbital Angular Momentum-Entanglement Frequency Transducer.
AB  - Entanglement is a vital resource for realizing many tasks such as teleportation,
      secure key distribution, metrology, and quantum computations. To effectively
      build entanglement between different quantum systems and share information
      between them, a frequency transducer to convert between quantum states of
      different wavelengths while retaining its quantum features is indispensable.
      Information encoded in the photon's orbital angular momentum (OAM) degrees of
      freedom is preferred in harnessing the information-carrying capacity of a single
      photon because of its unlimited dimensions. A quantum transducer, which operates
      at wavelengths from 1558.3 to 525 nm for OAM qubits, OAM-polarization hybrid
      entangled states, and OAM-entangled states, is reported for the first time.
      Nonclassical properties and entanglements are demonstrated following the
      conversion process by performing quantum tomography, interference, and Bell
      inequality measurements. Our results demonstrate the capability to create an
      entanglement link between different quantum systems operating in a photon's OAM
      degrees of freedom, which will be of great importance in building a high-capacity
      OAM quantum network. 

PMID- 27636475
TI  - Ultrashort Pulses for Far-Field Nanoscopy.
AB  - We show that ultrashort pulses can be focused, in a particular instant, to a spot
      size given by the wavelength associated with its spectral width. For attosecond
      pulses this spot size is within the nanometer scale. Then we show that a two
      level system can be left excited after interacting with an ultrashort pulse whose
      spectral width is larger than the transition frequency, and that the excitation
      probability depends not on the field amplitude but on the field intensity. The
      latter makes the excitation profile have the same spot size as the ultrashort
      pulse. This unusual phenomenon is caused by quantum electrodynamics in the
      ultrafast light-matter interaction regime since the usually neglected
      counterrotating terms describing the interaction with the free electromagnetic
      modes are crucial for making the excitation probability nonzero and depend on the
      field intensity. These results suggest that a train of coherent attosecond pulses
      could be used to excite fluorescent markers with nanoscale resolution. The
      detection of the light emitted after fluorescence-or any other method used to
      detect the excitation-could then lead to a new scheme for far-field light
      nanoscopy. 

PMID- 27636476
TI  - Large Deviation Function for the Number of Eigenvalues of Sparse Random Graphs
      Inside an Interval.
AB  - We present a general method to obtain the exact rate function Psi_{[a,b]}(k)
      controlling the large deviation probability Prob[I_{N}[a,b]=kN]?e^{
      NPsi_{[a,b]}(k)} that an N*N sparse random matrix has I_{N}[a,b]=kN eigenvalues
      inside the interval [a,b]. The method is applied to study the eigenvalue
      statistics in two distinct examples: (i) the shifted index number of eigenvalues
      for an ensemble of Erdos-Renyi graphs and (ii) the number of eigenvalues within a
      bounded region of the spectrum for the Anderson model on regular random graphs. A
      salient feature of the rate function in both cases is that, unlike rotationally
      invariant random matrices, it is asymmetric with respect to its minimum. The
      asymmetric character depends on the disorder in a way that is compatible with the
      distinct eigenvalue statistics corresponding to localized and delocalized
      eigenstates. The results also show that the level compressibility
      kappa_{2}/kappa_{1} for the Anderson model on a regular graph satisfies
      0<kappa_{2}/kappa_{1}<1 in the bulk regime, in contrast with the behavior found
      in Gaussian random matrices. Our theoretical findings are thoroughly compared to
      numerical diagonalization in both cases, showing a reasonable good agreement. 

PMID- 27636477
TI  - From Cylindrical to Stretching Ridges and Wrinkles in Twisted Ribbons.
AB  - Twisted ribbons under tension exhibit a remarkably rich morphology, from smooth
      and wrinkled helicoids, to cylindrical or faceted patterns. This complexity
      emanates from the instability of the natural, helicoidal symmetry of the system,
      which generates both longitudinal and transverse stresses, thereby leading to
      buckling of the ribbon. Here, we focus on the tessellation patterns made of
      triangular facets. Our experimental observations are described within an
      "asymptotic isometry" approach that brings together geometry and elasticity. The
      geometry consists of parametrized families of surfaces, isometric to the
      undeformed ribbon in the singular limit of vanishing thickness and tensile load.
      The energy, whose minimization selects the favored structure among those
      families, is governed by the tensile work and bending cost of the pattern. This
      framework describes the coexistence lines in a morphological phase diagram, and
      determines the domain of existence of faceted structures. 

PMID- 27636478
TI  - Advection and the Efficiency of Spectral Energy Transfer in Two-Dimensional
      Turbulence.
AB  - We report measurements of the geometric alignment of the small-scale turbulent
      stress and the large-scale rate of strain that together lead to the net flux of
      energy from small scales to large scales in two-dimensional turbulence. We find
      that the instantaneous alignment between these two tensors is weak and, thus,
      that the spectral transport of energy is inefficient. We show, however, that the
      strain rate is much better aligned with the stress at times in the past,
      suggesting that the differential advection of the two is responsible for the
      inefficient spectral transfer. We provide evidence for this conjecture by
      measuring the alignment statistics conditioned on weakly changing stress history.
      Our results give new insight into the relationship between scale-to-scale energy
      transfer, geometric alignment, and advection in turbulent flows. 

PMID- 27636479
TI  - Bubble Drag Reduction Requires Large Bubbles.
AB  - In the maritime industry, the injection of air bubbles into the turbulent
      boundary layer under the ship hull is seen as one of the most promising
      techniques to reduce the overall fuel consumption. However, the exact mechanism
      behind bubble drag reduction is unknown. Here we show that bubble drag reduction
      in turbulent flow dramatically depends on the bubble size. By adding minute
      concentrations (6 ppm) of the surfactant Triton X-100 into otherwise completely
      unchanged strongly turbulent Taylor-Couette flow containing bubbles, we
      dramatically reduce the drag reduction from more than 40% to about 4%,
      corresponding to the trivial effect of the bubbles on the density and viscosity
      of the liquid. The reason for this striking behavior is that the addition of
      surfactants prevents bubble coalescence, leading to much smaller bubbles. Our
      result demonstrates that bubble deformability is crucial for bubble drag
      reduction in turbulent flow and opens the door for an optimization of the
      process. 

PMID- 27636480
TI  - Chirped-Standing-Wave Acceleration of Ions with Intense Lasers.
AB  - We propose a novel mechanism for ion acceleration based on the guided motion of
      electrons from a thin layer. The electron motion is locked to the moving nodes of
      a standing wave formed by a chirped laser pulse reflected from a mirror behind
      the layer. This provides a stable longitudinal field of charge separation, thus
      giving rise to chirped-standing-wave acceleration of the residual ions of the
      layer. We demonstrate, both analytically and numerically, that stable proton
      beams, with energy spectra peaked around 100 MeV, are feasible for pulse energies
      at the level of 10 J. Moreover, a scaling law for higher laser intensities and
      layer densities is presented, indicating stable GeV-level energy gains of dense
      ion bunches, for soon-to-be-available laser intensities. 

PMID- 27636481
TI  - Dynamics of a Mobile Impurity in a One-Dimensional Bose Liquid.
AB  - We develop a microscopic theory of a quantum impurity propagating in a one
      dimensional Bose liquid. As a result of scattering off thermally excited
      quasiparticles, the impurity experiences the friction. We find that, at low
      temperatures, the resulting force scales either as the fourth or the eighth power
      of temperature, depending on the system parameters. For temperatures higher than
      the chemical potential of the Bose liquid, the friction force is a linear
      function of temperature. Our approach enables us to find the friction force in
      the crossover region between the two limiting cases. In the integrable case,
      corresponding to the Yang-Gaudin model, the impurity becomes transparent for
      quasiparticles and thus the friction force is absent. Our results could be
      further generalized to study other kinetic phenomena. 

PMID- 27636482
TI  - Toward the Intrinsic Limit of the Topological Insulator Bi_{2}Se_{3}.
AB  - Combining high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and first principles
      calculations, we identified the major native defects, in particular the Se
      vacancies and Se interstitial defects, that are responsible for the bulk
      conduction and nanoscale potential fluctuations in single crystals of archetypal
      topological insulator Bi_{2}Se_{3}. Here it is established that the defect
      concentrations in Bi_{2}Se_{3} are far above the thermodynamic limit, and that
      the growth kinetics dominate the observed defect concentrations. Furthermore,
      through careful control of the synthesis, our tunneling spectroscopy suggests
      that our best samples are approaching the intrinsic limit with the Fermi level
      inside the band gap without introducing extrinsic dopants. 

PMID- 27636483
TI  - Dichotomy between Attractive and Repulsive Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquids in Spin
      Ladders.
AB  - We present a direct NMR method to determine whether the interactions in a
      Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL) state of a spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic
      ladder are attractive or repulsive. For the strong-leg spin ladder compound
      (C_{7}H_{10}N)_{2}CuBr_{4} we find that the isothermal magnetic field dependence
      of the NMR relaxation rate T_{1}^{-1}(H) displays a concave curve between the two
      critical fields bounding the TLL regime. This is in sharp contrast to the convex
      curve previously reported for a strong-rung ladder, (C_{5}H_{12}N)_{2}CuBr_{4}.
      We show that the concavity and the convexity of T_{1}^{-1}(H), which is a
      fingerprint of spin fluctuations, directly reflect the attractive and repulsive
      fermionic interactions in the TLL, respectively. The interaction sign is
      alternatively determined from an indirect method combining bulk magnetization and
      specific heat data. 

PMID- 27636484
TI  - Two-Channel Kondo Physics due to As Vacancies in the Layered Compound
      ZrAs_{1.58}Se_{0.39}.
AB  - We address the origin of the magnetic-field-independent -|A|T^{1/2} term observed
      in the low-temperature resistivity of several As-based metallic systems of the
      PbFCl structure type. For the layered compound ZrAs_{1.58}Se_{0.39}, we show that
      vacancies in the square nets of As give rise to the low-temperature transport
      anomaly over a wide temperature regime of almost two decades in temperature. This
      low-temperature behavior is in line with the nonmagnetic version of the two
      channel Kondo effect, whose origin we ascribe to a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect
      operating at the vacancy-carrying As layer with a C_{4} symmetry. The pair
      breaking nature of the dynamical defects in the square nets of As explains the
      low superconducting transition temperature T_{c}~0.14  K of ZrAs_{1.58}Se_{0.39}
      compared to the free-of-vacancies homologue ZrP_{1.54}S_{0.46} (T_{c}~3.7  K).
      Our findings should be relevant to a wide class of metals with disordered
      pnictogen layers. 

PMID- 27636485
TI  - Gate Tuning of Electronic Phase Transitions in Two-Dimensional NbSe_{2}.
AB  - Recent experimental advances in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenide
      (TMD) metals have unveiled a range of interesting phenomena including the
      coexistence of charge-density-wave (CDW) order and superconductivity down to the
      monolayer limit. The atomic thickness of two-dimensional (2D) TMD metals also
      opens up the possibility for control of these electronic phase transitions by
      electrostatic gating. Here, we demonstrate reversible tuning of superconductivity
      and CDW order in model 2D TMD metal NbSe_{2} by an ionic liquid gate. A variation
      up to ~50% in the superconducting transition temperature has been observed. Both
      superconductivity and CDW order can be strengthened (weakened) by increasing
      (reducing) the carrier density in 2D NbSe_{2}. The doping dependence of these
      phase transitions can be understood as driven by a varying electron-phonon
      coupling strength induced by the gate-modulated carrier density and the
      electronic density of states near the Fermi surface. 

PMID- 27636486
TI  - Observation of an Anisotropic Wigner Crystal.
AB  - We report a new correlated phase of two-dimensional charged carriers in high
      magnetic fields, manifested by an anisotropic insulating behavior at low
      temperatures. It appears in a large range of low Landau level fillings 1/3?nu?2/3
      in hole systems confined to wide GaAs quantum wells when the sample is tilted in
      magnetic field to an intermediate angle. The parallel field component (B_{?})
      leads to a crossing of the lowest two Landau levels, and an elongated hole wave
      function in the direction of B_{?}. Under these conditions, the in-plane
      resistance exhibits an insulating behavior, with the resistance along B_{?} about
      10 times smaller than the resistance perpendicular to B_{?}. We interpret this
      anisotropic insulating phase as a two-component, striped Wigner crystal. 

PMID- 27636487
TI  - Predictive Control over Charge Density in the Two-Dimensional Electron Gas at the
      Polar-Nonpolar NdTiO_{3}/SrTiO_{3} Interface.
AB  - Through systematic control of the Nd concentration, we show that the carrier
      density of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in
      SrTiO_{3}/NdTiO_{3}/SrTiO_{3}(001) can be modulated over a wide range. We also
      demonstrate that the NdTiO_{3} in heterojunctions without a SrTiO_{3} cap is
      degraded by oxygen absorption from air, resulting in the immobilization of donor
      electrons that could otherwise contribute to the 2DEG. This system is, thus, an
      ideal model to understand and control the insulator-to-metal transition in a 2DEG
      based on both environmental conditions and film-growth processing parameters. 

PMID- 27636488
TI  - Persistent Paramagnons Deep in the Metallic Phase of Sr_{2-x}La_{x}IrO_{4}.
AB  - We have studied the magnetic excitations of electron-doped Sr_{2-x}La_{x}IrO_{4}
      (0<=x<=0.10) using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering at the Ir L_{3} edge. The
      long-range magnetic order is rapidly lost with increasing x, but two-dimensional
      short-range order (SRO) and dispersive magnon excitations with nearly
      undiminished spectral weight persist well into the metallic part of the phase
      diagram. The magnons in the SRO phase are heavily damped and exhibit anisotropic
      softening. Their dispersions are well described by a pseudospin-1/2 Heisenberg
      model with exchange interactions whose spatial range increases with doping. We
      also find a doping-independent high-energy magnetic continuum, which is not
      described by this model. The spin-orbit excitons arising from the pseudospin-3/2
      manifold of the Ir ions broaden substantially in the SRO phase, but remain
      largely separated from the low-energy magnons. Pseudospin-1/2 models are
      therefore a good starting point for the theoretical description of the low-energy
      magnetic dynamics of doped iridates. 

PMID- 27636489
TI  - Inertia-Free Thermally Driven Domain-Wall Motion in Antiferromagnets.
AB  - Domain-wall motion in antiferromagnets triggered by thermally induced magnonic
      spin currents is studied theoretically. It is shown by numerical calculations
      based on a classical spin model that the wall moves towards the hotter regions,
      as in ferromagnets. However, for larger driving forces the so-called Walker
      breakdown-which usually speeds down the wall-is missing. This is due to the fact
      that the wall is not tilted during its motion. For the same reason
      antiferromagnetic walls have no inertia and, hence, no acceleration phase leading
      to higher effective mobility. 

PMID- 27636490
TI  - Magnons and Phonons Optically Driven out of Local Equilibrium in a Magnetic
      Insulator.
AB  - The coupling and possible nonequilibrium between magnons and other energy
      carriers have been used to explain several recently discovered thermally driven
      spin transport and energy conversion phenomena. Here, we report experiments in
      which local nonequilibrium between magnons and phonons in a single crystalline
      bulk magnetic insulator, Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12}, has been created optically within a
      focused laser spot and probed directly via micro-Brillouin light scattering.
      Through analyzing the deviation in the magnon number density from the local
      equilibrium value, we obtain the diffusion length of thermal magnons. By
      explicitly establishing and observing local nonequilibrium between magnons and
      phonons, our studies represent an important step toward a quantitative
      understanding of various spin-heat coupling phenomena. 

PMID- 27636491
TI  - Pressure-Tuned Exchange Coupling of a Quantum Spin Liquid in the Molecular
      Triangular Lattice kappa-(ET)_{2}Ag_{2}(CN)_{3}.
AB  - The effects of pressure on a quantum spin liquid are investigated in an organic
      Mott insulator kappa-(ET)_{2}Ag_{2}(CN)_{3} with a spin-1/2 triangular lattice.
      The application of negative chemical pressure to kappa-(ET)_{2}Cu_{2}(CN)_{3},
      which is a well-known sister Mott insulator, allows for extensive tuning of
      antiferromagnetic exchange coupling, with J/k_{B}=175-310  K, under hydrostatic
      pressure. Based on ^{13}C nuclear magnetic resonance measurements under pressure,
      we uncover universal scaling in the static and dynamic spin susceptibilities down
      to low temperatures ~0.1k_{B}T/J. The persistent fluctuations and residual
      specific heat coefficient are consistent with the presence of gapless low-lying
      excitations. Our results thus demonstrate the fundamental finite-temperature
      properties of a quantum spin liquid in a wide parameter range. 

PMID- 27636492
TI  - Transformation Optics Approach to Plasmon-Exciton Strong Coupling in
      Nanocavities.
AB  - We investigate the conditions yielding plasmon-exciton strong coupling at the
      single emitter level in the gap between two metal nanoparticles. Inspired by
      transformation optics ideas, a quasianalytical approach is developed that makes
      possible a thorough exploration of this hybrid system incorporating the full
      richness of its plasmonic spectrum. This allows us to reveal that by placing the
      emitter away from the cavity center, its coupling to multipolar dark modes of
      both even and odd parity increases remarkably. This way, reversible dynamics in
      the population of the quantum emitter takes place in feasible implementations of
      this archetypal nanocavity. 

PMID- 27636493
TI  - Enhanced Spontaneous Emission at Third-Order Dirac Exceptional Points in Inverse
      Designed Photonic Crystals.
AB  - We formulate and exploit a computational inverse-design method based on topology
      optimization to demonstrate photonic crystal structures supporting complex
      spectral degeneracies. In particular, we discover photonic crystals exhibiting
      third-order Dirac points formed by the accidental degeneracy of monopolar,
      dipolar, and quadrupolar modes. We show that, under suitable conditions, these
      modes can coalesce and form a third-order exceptional point, leading to strong
      modifications in the spontaneous emission (SE) of emitters, related to the local
      density of states. We find that SE can be enhanced by a factor of 8 in passive
      structures, with larger enhancements ~sqrt[n^{3}] possible at exceptional points
      of higher order n. 

PMID- 27636494
TI  - Optical Writing of Magnetic Properties by Remanent Photostriction.
AB  - We present an optically induced remanent photostriction in BiFeO_{3}, resulting
      from the photovoltaic effect, which is used to modify the ferromagnetism of Ni
      film in a hybrid BiFeO_{3}/Ni structure. The 75% change in coercivity in the Ni
      film is achieved via optical and nonvolatile control. This photoferromagnetic
      effect can be reversed by static or ac electric depolarization of BiFeO_{3}.
      Hence, the strain dependent changes in magnetic properties are written optically,
      and erased electrically. Light-mediated straintronics is therefore a possible
      approach for low-power multistate control of magnetic elements relevant for
      memory and spintronic applications. 

PMID- 27636495
TI  - Real and Imaginary Properties of Epsilon-Near-Zero Materials.
AB  - From the fundamental principle of causality we show that epsilon-near-zero (ENZ)
      materials with a very low (asymptotically zero) intrinsic dielectric loss do
      necessarily possess a very low (asymptotically zero) group velocity of
      electromagnetic wave propagation. This leads to the loss function being singular
      and causes high nonradiative damping of the optical resonators and emitters
      (plasmonic nanoparticles, quantum dots, chromophore molecules) embedded into them
      or placed at their surfaces. Rough ENZ surfaces do not exhibit hot spots of local
      fields suggesting that surface modes are overdamped. Reflectors and waveguides
      also show very large losses both for realistic and idealized ENZ materials. 

PMID- 27636496
TI  - Shear Thinning of Noncolloidal Suspensions.
AB  - Shear thinning-a reduction in suspension viscosity with increasing shear rates-is
      understood to arise in colloidal systems from a decrease in the relative
      contribution of entropic forces. The shear-thinning phenomenon has also been
      often reported in experiments with noncolloidal systems at high volume fractions.
      However its origin is an open theoretical question and the behavior is difficult
      to reproduce in numerical simulations where shear thickening is typically
      observed instead. In this letter we propose a non-Newtonian model of
      interparticle lubrication forces to explain shear thinning in noncolloidal
      suspensions. We show that hidden shear-thinning effects of the suspending medium,
      which occur at shear rates orders of magnitude larger than the range investigated
      experimentally, lead to significant shear thinning of the overall suspension at
      much smaller shear rates. At high particle volume fractions the local shear rates
      experienced by the fluid situated in the narrow gaps between particles are much
      larger than the averaged shear rate of the whole suspension. This allows the
      suspending medium to probe its high-shear non-Newtonian regime and it means that
      the matrix fluid rheology must be considered over a wide range of shear rates. 

PMID- 27636497
TI  - Comment on "Coherent Extreme Ultraviolet Light Amplification by Strong-Field
      Enhanced Forward Scattering".

PMID- 27636498
TI  - Serrat Replies.

PMID- 27636499
TI  - Erratum: Mercury Monohalides: Suitability for Electron Electric Dipole Moment
      Searches [Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 183001 (2015)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.183001.

PMID- 27636500
TI  - Publisher's Note: Evidence for Exotic Hadron Contributions to Lambda_{b}^{0}
      >J/psippi^{-} Decays [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 082003 (2016)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.082003.

PMID- 27636502
TI  - Novel approaches in preclinical HIV vaccine research.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose is to review recent novel approaches in HIV
      vaccine research and development being undertaken in the preclinical and early
      clinical space, as well as related and novel nonvaccine approaches such as
      genetic delivery of broadly neutralizing antibodies for protection from HIV
      infection and AIDS. RECENT FINDINGS: We review novel HIV envelope immunogen
      design, including native trimer and germline targeting approaches as well as
      genetic delivery of broadly neutralizing antibodies and replicating vector
      vaccinesSUMMARY: Despite 30+ years of research and development, and billions of
      dollars spent, a well tolerated and effective HIV vaccine remains a public health
      priority for any chance of ending the AIDS pandemic. It has become very clear
      that significant investments in novel technologies, innovation, and
      multidisciplinary science will be necessary to accelerate progress.

PMID- 27636501
TI  - Publisher's Note: Search for Majorana Neutrinos Near the Inverted Mass Hierarchy
      Region with KamLAND-Zen [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 082503 (2016)].
AB  - This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.082503.

PMID- 27636503
TI  - Pox-Protein Public Private Partnership program and upcoming HIV vaccine efficacy
      trials.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of review is to provide an overview of the Pox
      Protein Public Private Partnership (P5) and highlight the progress of the P5
      program, including an upcoming HIV vaccine efficacy trial in South Africa. RECENT
      FINDINGS: The RV144 Thai vaccine efficacy trial was the first to demonstrate that
      an HIV-1 vaccine can prevent HIV acquisition. The P5 vaccine regimen uses an
      ALVAC prime and protein boost modeled after the RV144 vaccine and adapted for the
      subtype C virus predominant in the southern African region. This regimen was
      recently tested in the HIV Vaccine Trials Network 100 phase 1/2a study in South
      Africa. Based on prospectively defined immunogenicity thresholds, criteria were
      met to support the launch of an efficacy study in late 2016. The aim of this
      phase 2b/3 trial will be to improve upon the results of RV144, with increased and
      more durable vaccine efficacy, to accelerate the potential licensure of a
      preventive vaccine in southern Africa. SUMMARY: The planned P5 efficacy trial,
      HIV Vaccine Trials Network 702, is designed to test and prospectively define
      correlates of protection, if efficacious. A vaccine with modest efficacy, vaccine
      efficacy at least 50%, could have substantial public health impact and
      significantly decrease the incidence of new infections in heavily burdened areas
      of the world.

PMID- 27636504
TI  - Pregnancy, Delivery, and Neonatal Outcomes of In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo
      Transfer in Patient with Previous Cesarean Scar.
AB  - BACKGROUND What role should previous cesarean section play in affecting clinical
      pregnancy outcomes and avoiding the complications of in vitro fertilization? In
      this article, we focus on elective single-embryo transfer (eSET) versus double
      embryo transfer (DET) and assess the clinical efficacy and safety of eSET in
      patients who have a previous cesarean scar. MATERIAL AND METHODS The pregnancy,
      delivery, and neonatal outcomes of 130 patients who had a previous cesarean scar
      and received in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) were retrospectively
      analyzed. The number of transferred embryos was chosen depending on patients'
      desire after acknowledging all benefits and risks, including eSET (eSET group,
      n=56) and DET (DET group, n=74). A total of 101 patients with previous vaginal
      delivery receiving IVF-ET in the same period were included as a control group.
      RESULTS The pregnancy rates, multiple birth rates, abortion rates, ectopic
      pregnancy rates, gestational age at delivery, preterm birth rates, neonatal birth
      weight, and take-home baby rates were similar between the previous cesarean
      section group and the previous vaginal delivery group. A previous cesarean
      section scar did not affect embryo implantation and pregnancy outcomes in IVF. In
      the eSET and DET groups of previous cesarean section patients, the embryo
      implantation rates, pregnancy rates, abortion rates, and take-home baby rates
      were similar. However, the rate of multiple pregnancies reached 50% in the DET
      group, which led to more preterm births and lower birth weight. CONCLUSIONS
      Elective single-embryo transfer is a well-accepted strategy to avoid multiple
      pregnancies and improve the obstetric and neonatal outcomes of singleton
      pregnancy in IVF patients with a previous cesarean section. 

PMID- 27636506
TI  - Analytical performance of the VERIS MDx system HCV assay for detecting and
      quantifying HCV RNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of HCV relies on the detection of viral RNA. OBJECTIVE:
      To evaluate the performance of the VERIS/MDx System HCV Assay, a new automated
      system for quantifying HCV RNA, and to compare with the COBAS(r)
      Ampliprep/COBAS(r) TaqmanTM (CAPCTM) HCV Test version 2.0. STUDY DESIGN: The
      limit of detection was determined by Probit analysis with the 3rd International
      WHO HCV standard and precision by assaying in duplicate control samples with HCV
      RNA concentrations of 7.9; 5.0; 3.4; 1.6 and 0logIU/ml over 20 days. Analytical
      specificity was assessed by assaying 180 samples from negative anti-HCV and HCV
      RNA blood donors and linearity with replicates of serial dilutions of a clinical
      plasma (6.4-0.6logIU/ml). We compared the VERIS MDx HCV and CAPCTM HCV assays by
      testing 209 samples. RESULTS: The limit of detection was 6.1IU/ml [CI 95%: 5.0
      8.3] and the precision, given by the standard deviation, was <=0.11logIU/ml.
      Specificity was 100%. The linearity ranged from 1.5 to 6.4logIU/ml. Passing
      Bablok regression analysis gave: VERIS logIU/ml=-0.33+[1.04* CAPCTM] logIU/ml,
      with biases for the 25th, 50th, 75th percentiles of 0.18, -0.10 and 
      0.06logIU/ml. The two assays were well correlated (rho=0.92, p<0.001) and Bland
      Altman analysis gave biases of 0.12, logIU/ml for genotype 1, -0.19 for genotype
      2, -0.26 for genotype 3, and -0.77 for genotype 4. CONCLUSION: The VERIS MDx HCV
      assay performed well. But, we observed an under-quantification of the genotype 4
      samples.

PMID- 27636505
TI  - Estimating bias in causes of death ascertainment in the Finnish Randomized Study
      of Screening for Prostate Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Precise cause of death (CoD) ascertainment is crucial in any cancer
      screening trial to avoid bias from misclassification due to excessive recording
      of diagnosed cancer as a CoD in death certificates instead of non-cancer disease
      that actually caused death. We estimated whether there was bias in CoD
      determination between screening (SA) and control arms (CA) in a population-based
      prostate cancer (PCa) screening trial. METHODS: Our trial is the largest
      component of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer with
      more than 80,000 men. Randomly selected deaths in men with PCa (N=442/2568 cases,
      17.2%) were reviewed by an independent CoD committee. Median follow-up was 16.8
      years in both arms. RESULTS: Overdiagnosis of PCa was present in the SA as the
      risk ratio for PCa incidence was 1.19 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.24).
      The hazard ratio (HR) for PCa mortality was 0.94 (95%CI 0.82-1.08) in favor of
      the SA. Agreement with official CoD registry was 94.6% (kappa=0.88) in the SA and
      95.4% (kappa=0.91) in the CA. Altogether 14 PCa deaths were estimated as false
      positive in both arms and exclusion of these resulted in HR 0.92 (95% CI 0.80
      1.06). CONCLUSIONS: A small differential misclassification bias in ascertainment
      of CoD was present, most likely due to attribution bias (overdiagnosis in the
      SA). Maximum precision in CoD ascertainment can only be achieved with independent
      review of all deaths in the diseased population. However, this is cumbersome and
      expensive and may provide little benefit compared to random sampling.

PMID- 27636507
TI  - Mepivacaine attenuates vasodilation induced by ATP-sensitive potassium channels
      in rat aorta.
AB  - The goal of this in vitro study was to investigate the effect of mepivacaine on
      vasodilation induced by the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel opener
      levcromakalim in isolated endothelium-denuded rat aortas. The effects of
      mepivacaine and the KATP channel inhibitor glibenclamide, alone or in
      combination, on levcromakalim-induced vasodilation were assessed in the isolated
      aortas. The effects of mepivacaine or combined treatment with a protein kinase C
      (PKC) inhibitor, GF109203X, and mepivacaine on this vasodilation were also
      investigated. Levcromakalim concentration-response curves were generated for
      isolated aortas precontracted with phenylephrine or a PKC activator, phorbol
      12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu). Further, the effects of mepivacaine and glibenclamide on
      levcromakalim-induced hyperpolarization were assessed in rat aortic vascular
      smooth muscle cells. Mepivacaine attenuated levcromakalim-induced vasodilation,
      whereas it had no effect on this vasodilation in isolated aortas pretreated with
      glibenclamide. Combined treatment with GF109203X and mepivacaine enhanced
      levcromakalim-induced vasodilation compared with pretreatment with mepivacaine
      alone. This vasodilation was attenuated in aortas precontracted with PDBu
      compared with those precontracted with phenylephrine. Mepivacaine and
      glibenclamide, alone or in combination, attenuated levcromakalim-induced membrane
      hyperpolarization. Taken together, these results suggest that mepivacaine
      attenuates vasodilation induced by KATP channels, which appears to be partly
      mediated by PKC.

PMID- 27636508
TI  - Atractylone, an active constituent of KMP6, attenuates allergic inflammation on
      allergic rhinitis in vitro and in vivo models.
AB  - KMP6 (Pyeongwee-San) is a Korean Medicine used to treat gastrointestinal
      disorders. Recently, we reported KMP6 had beneficial effects on allergic
      inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of
      atractylone (Atr), a constituent of KMP6, on allergic rhinitis (AR) and to
      identify the mechanism responsible for these effects. The anti-allergic
      inflammatory effects of Atr were evaluated on phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and
      calcium ionophore A23187 (PMACI)-stimulated human mast cell line, HMC-1 cells and
      in an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced AR animal model using Western blotting,
      quantitative real-time PCR, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry methods. In HMC-1
      cells, Atr and KMP6 attenuated PMACI-caused proinflammatory cytokine production
      and mRNA expression. We found that PMACI induced caspase-1/nuclear factor (NF)
      kappaB/mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) activation. PMACI-caused caspase
      1/NF-kappaB/MAPKs activations were attenuated by Atr and KMP6. In AR animal
      model, Atr and KMP6 reduced AR clinical symptoms and biomarkers including rub
      scores, total IgE, histamine, prostaglandin D2, thymic stromal lymphopoietin,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      cyclooxygenase-2, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and macrophage inflammatory
      protein-2. In addition, Atr and KMP6 attenuated eosinophils and mast cells
      invasions into nasal mucosa tissues and diminished mast cell-derived caspase-1
      activation. These results indicate that Atr is an active constituent of KMP6 and
      a potential therapeutic agent for AR.

PMID- 27636509
TI  - Interaction of multiple gene variants and their effects on schizophrenia
      phenotypes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a clinically heterogeneous disorder and may be
      explained by its complex genetic architecture. Many schizophrenia susceptibility
      genes were identified but the picture remains unclear due to inconsistent or
      contradictory genetic association studies. This confusion may, in part, be
      because symptoms result from the combined interaction of many genes and these
      interacting genes are associated with specific sub-phenotypes of schizophrenia
      rather than schizophrenia as a whole. This study investigates the relationship
      between schizophrenia susceptibility genes and schizophrenia sub-phenotypes by
      identifying multiple gene variant interactions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty SNPs
      from 21 genes were genotyped in 235 Australian participants with schizophrenia
      screened for various phenotypes. Schizophrenia participants were grouped into
      relevant phenotype clusters using cluster analysis and normalized phenotype
      cluster scores were calculated for each patient. The relationship between
      genotypes and normalized phenotype cluster scores were analyzed by linear
      regression analysis. RESULTS: Three phenotype clusters were identified. There was
      some overlap in symptoms between phenotype clusters, particularly for depression.
      However, cluster 1 appears to be characterized by speech disorder and affective
      behavior symptoms, cluster 2 has predominantly hallucination symptoms and cluster
      3 has mainly delusion symptoms. Interaction of five SNPs was found to have an
      effect on cluster 1 symptoms; ten SNPs on cluster 2 symptoms; and eight SNPs on
      cluster 3 symptoms. CONCLUSION: The interaction of specific susceptibility genes
      is likely to lead to specific clinical sub-phenotypes of schizophrenia. Larger
      patient cohorts with more extensive clinical data will improve the detection of
      gene interactions and the resultant schizophrenia clinical phenotypes.

PMID- 27636510
TI  - Macroscale Superlubricity of Multilayer Polyethylenimine/Graphene Oxide Coatings
      in Different Gas Environments.
AB  - Friction and wear decrease the efficiency and lifetimes of mechanical devices.
      Solving this problem will potentially lead to a significant reduction in global
      energy consumption. We show that multilayer polyethylenimine/graphene oxide thin
      films, prepared via a highly scalable layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition technique,
      can be used as solid lubricants. The tribological properties are investigated in
      air, under vacuum, in hydrogen, and in nitrogen gas environments. In all cases
      the coefficient of friction (COF) significantly decreased after application of
      the coating, and the wear life was enhanced by increasing the film thickness. The
      COF was lower in dry environments than in more humid environments, in contrast to
      traditional graphite and diamond-like carbon films. Superlubricity (COF < 0.01)
      was achieved for the thickest films in dry N2. Microstructural analysis of the
      wear debris revealed that carbon nanoparticles were formed exclusively in dry
      conditions (i.e., N2, vacuum), and it is postulated that these act as rolling
      asperities, decreasing the contact area and the COF. Density functional theory
      (DFT) simulations were performed on graphene oxide sheets under pressure, showing
      that strong hydrogen bonding occurs in the presence of intercalated water
      molecules compared with weak repulsion in the absence of water. It is suggested
      that this mechanism prevents the separation graphene oxide layers and subsequent
      formation of nanostructures in humid conditions.

PMID- 27636511
TI  - Growth factor pathways in hypertrophic scars: Molecular pathogenesis and
      therapeutic implications.
AB  - Hypertrophic scars represent the most common complication of skin injury and are
      caused by excessive cutaneous wound healing characterized by hypervascularity and
      pathological deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. To date, the
      optimal and specific treatment methods for hypertrophic scars have not been
      available in the clinic. Current paradigm has established fibroblasts and
      myofibroblasts as pivotal effector cells in the pathophysiology of wound healing.
      Their biological properties including origin, proliferation, migration,
      contraction and ECM regulation have profound impacts on the progression and
      regression of hypertrophic scars. These complex processes are executed and
      modulated by a signaling network involving a number of growth factors and
      cytokines. Of particular importance is transforming growth factor-beta, platelet
      derived growth factor, connective tissue growth factor, epidermal growth factor,
      and vascular endothelial growth factor. This review article briefly describes the
      biological functions of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts during hypertrophic scars,
      and thereafter examines the up-to-date molecular knowledge on the roles of key
      growth factor pathways in the pathophysiology of hypertrophic scars. Importantly,
      the therapeutic implications and future challenges of these molecular discoveries
      are critically discussed in the hope of advancing therapeutic approaches to limit
      pathological scar formation.

PMID- 27636512
TI  - Anti-fatigue effect by active dipeptides of fermented porcine placenta through
      inhibiting the inflammatory and oxidative reactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, we reported an anti-fatigue effect of fermented porcine
      placenta (FPP). Glycine-leucine (GL) and leucine-glycine (LG) dipeptides are main
      peptides of FPP. However, the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of GL
      and LG dipeptides on fatigue are still unclear. METHODS: Herein, we examined the
      anti-fatigue properties of GL and LG dipeptides using RAW264.7 macrophages and
      forced swimming test (FST) animal model. RESULTS: Our data revealed that
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumor necrosis factor
      alpha, and IL-6 productions were markedly inhibited by GL or LG in RAW264.7
      macrophages without inducing cytotoxicity. LPS-enhanced nitric oxide (NO)
      production and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression were inhibited by GL or
      LG, whereas superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were significantly enhanced by
      GL or LG in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. The present study also figured
      out that these effects of GL and LG were mediated by blockade of caspase-1 and
      nuclear factor-kappaB activation. In FST-induced fatigue mouse model, the mice
      which received the GL or LG for 21days showed significant decreases of IL-1beta,
      IL-6, and NO serum levels. Treatment with GL or LG significantly enhanced levels
      of SOD and glycogen and significantly lowered levels of lactate dehydrogenase,
      aspartate transaminase, and alanine transaminase. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our
      results indicated that GL and LG dipeptides, active components of FPP, should be
      considered as candidate of anti-fatigue agents.

PMID- 27636525
TI  - Zika Virus Infection in Pregnancy, Microcephaly, and Maternal and Fetal Health:
      What We Think, What We Know, and What We Think We Know.
AB  - CONTEXT: -The global epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has emerged as an
      important public health problem affecting pregnant women and their infants.
      OBJECTIVES: -To review the causal association between ZIKV infection during
      pregnancy and intrauterine fetal infection, microcephaly, brain damage,
      congenital malformation syndrome, and experimental laboratory models of fetal
      infection. Many questions remain regarding the risk factors, pathophysiology,
      epidemiology, and timing of maternal-fetal transmission and disease. These
      include mechanisms of fetal brain damage and microcephaly; the role of
      covariables, such as viral burden, duration of viremia, and host genetics, on
      vertical transmission; and the clinical and pathologic spectrum of congenital
      Zika syndrome. Additional questions include defining the potential long-term
      physical and neurobehavioral outcomes for infected infants, whether maternal or
      fetal host genetics influence the clinical outcome, and whether ZIKV infection
      can cause maternal morbidity. Finally, are experimental laboratory and animal
      models of ZIKV infection helpful in addressing maternal-fetal viral transmission
      and the development of congenital microcephaly? This communication provides
      current information and attempts to address some of these important questions.
      DATA SOURCES: -Comprehensive review of published scientific literature.
      CONCLUSIONS: -Recent advances in epidemiology, clinical medicine, pathology, and
      experimental studies have provided a great amount of new information regarding
      vertical ZIKV transmission and the mechanisms of congenital microcephaly, brain
      damage, and congenital Zika syndrome in a relatively short time. However, much
      work still needs to be performed to more completely understand the maternal and
      fetal aspects of this new and emerging viral disease.

PMID- 27636526
TI  - Influence of Binders, Carbons, and Solvents on the Stability of Phosphorus Anodes
      for Li-ion Batteries.
AB  - Phosphorus (P) is an abundant element that exhibits one of the highest
      gravimetric and volumetric capacities for Li storage, making it a potentially
      attractive anode material for high capacity Li-ion batteries. However, while
      phosphorus carbon composite anodes have been previously explored, the influence
      of the inactive materials on electrode cycle performance is still poorly
      understood. Here, we report and explain the significant impacts of polymer binder
      chemistry, carbon conductive additives, and an under-layer between the Al current
      collector and ball milled P electrodes on cell stability. We focused our study on
      the commonly used polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)
      binders as well as exfoliated graphite (ExG) and carbon nanotube (CNT) additives.
      The mechanical properties of the binders were found to change drastically because
      of interactions with both the slurry and electrolyte solvents, significantly
      effecting the electrochemical cycle stability of the electrodes. Binder adhesion
      was also found to be critical in achieving stable electrochemical cycling. The
      best anodes demonstrated ~1400 mAh/g-P gravimetric capacity after 200 cycles at
      C/2 rates in Li half cells.

PMID- 27636513
TI  - Synthesis of stable nanosilver particles (AgNPs) by the proteins of seagrass
      Syringodium isoetifolium and its biomedicinal properties.
AB  - A simple eco-friendly approach for the hasty synthesis of stable, potent and
      benign silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using seagrass, Syringodium isoetifolium was
      proposed and described here. The UV-Vis, DLS, XRD, AFM, FESEM, EDX and HRTEM
      analysis highly characterized and confirmed the presence of polydispersed (2
      50nm) spherical and stable AgNPs. FT-IR and phytochemical analysis suggested that
      the proteins act as reducing and also as capping agent. A hypothetical approach
      using bioinformatics tools revealed that the Phytochrome B protein of S.
      isoetifolium might be responsible for the biosynthesis of NPs. Furthermore,
      biosynthesized AgNPs showed magnificent antibacterial activity against thirteen
      clinical bacterial pathogens with maximum zone of inhibition of 14.3+/-0.12mm due
      to their smaller size and longer stability even at minimal nanomolar (nM)
      concentration. In addition, the MIC and MBC values also suggested the same.
      Moreover, the percentage of haemolysis (8.49+/-3.10 to 73.34+/-1.79%) and
      haemolytic index revealed the satisfactory biocompatibility of AgNPs that showed
      less/no haemolysis up to 3nM concentration. Further, the toxicity effect of
      biosynthesized AgNPs against the brine shrimp, Artemia salina exhibited
      significantly increasing mortality (13+/-4.7 to 100%) with LC50 value at 4nM
      concentration. Thus, the optical property, crystal structure, size, shape,
      stability, bactericidal activity, cytotoxicity, and biocompatibility apparently
      proved that the biologically synthesized AgNPs have typical properties of
      nanomaterials.

PMID- 27636527
TI  - Chemo and Crackers.

PMID- 27636528
TI  - The proof-of-concept of ASS234: Peripherally administered ASS234 enters the
      central nervous system and reduces pathology in a male mouse model of Alzheimer
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The heterogeneity of Alzheimer disease requires the development of
      multitarget drugs for treating the symptoms of the disease and its progression.
      Both cholinergic and monoamine oxidase dysfunctions are involved in the
      pathological process. Thus, we hypothesized that the development of therapies
      focused on these targets might be effective. We have developed and assessed a new
      product, coded ASS234, a multipotent acetyl and butyrylcholinesterase/monoamine
      oxidase A-B inhibitor with a potent inhibitory effect on amyloid-beta aggregation
      as well as antioxidant and antiapoptotic properties. But there is a need to
      reliably correlate in vitro and in vivo drug release data. METHODS: We examined
      the effect of ASS234 on cognition in healthy adult C57BL/6J mice in a model of
      scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment that often accompanies normal and
      pathological aging. Also, in a characterized transgenic APPswe/PS1DeltaE9 mouse
      model of Alzheimer disease, we examined the effects of short-term ASS234
      treatment on plaque deposition and gliosis using immunohistochemistry. Toxicology
      of ASS234 was assessed using a quantitative high-throughput in vitro cytotoxicity
      screening assay following the MTT assay method in HepG2 liver cells. RESULTS: In
      vivo, ASS234 significantly decreased scopolamine-induced learning deficits in
      C57BL/6J mice. Also, reduction of amyloid plaque burden and gliosis in the cortex
      and hippocampus was assessed. In vitro, ASS234 exhibited lesser toxicity than
      donepezil and tacrine. LIMITATIONS: The study was conducted in male mice only.
      Although the Alzheimer disease model does not recapitulate all features of the
      human disease, it exhibits progressive monoaminergic neurodegeneration.
      CONCLUSION: ASS234 is a promising alternative drug of choice to treat the
      cognitive decline and neurodegeneration underlying Alzheimer disease.

PMID- 27636530
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27636531
TI  - Application of an Adaptive Polynomial Chaos Expansion on Computationally
      Expensive Three-Dimensional Cardiovascular Models for Uncertainty Quantification
      and Sensitivity Analysis.
AB  - When applying models to patient-specific situations, the impact of model input
      uncertainty on the model output uncertainty has to be assessed. Proper
      uncertainty quantification (UQ) and sensitivity analysis (SA) techniques are
      indispensable for this purpose. An efficient approach for UQ and SA is the
      generalized polynomial chaos expansion (gPCE) method, where model response is
      expanded into a finite series of polynomials that depend on the model input
      (i.e., a meta-model). However, because of the intrinsic high computational cost
      of three-dimensional (3D) cardiovascular models, performing the number of model
      evaluations required for the gPCE is often computationally prohibitively
      expensive. Recently, Blatman and Sudret (2010, "An Adaptive Algorithm to Build Up
      Sparse Polynomial Chaos Expansions for Stochastic Finite Element Analysis,"
      Probab. Eng. Mech., 25(2), pp. 183-197) introduced the adaptive sparse gPCE
      (agPCE) in the field of structural engineering. This approach reduces the
      computational cost with respect to the gPCE, by only including polynomials that
      significantly increase the meta-model's quality. In this study, we demonstrate
      the agPCE by applying it to a 3D abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) wall mechanics
      model and a 3D model of flow through an arteriovenous fistula (AVF). The agPCE
      method was indeed able to perform UQ and SA at a significantly lower
      computational cost than the gPCE, while still retaining accurate results. Cost
      reductions ranged between 70-80% and 50-90% for the AAA and AVF model,
      respectively.

PMID- 27636532
TI  - Jamaica, Three Years Later: Effects of Intensified Pro-Gay Activism on Severe
      Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men.
AB  - Jamaica has developed an international reputation for severe anti-gay prejudice.
      However, in the past few years, between 2012 and 2015, intensified waves of
      activism have increased the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
      (LGBT) Jamaicans, and supported their social and legal inclusion in Jamaican
      society. This research investigated the effects of that activism by taking
      advantage of two large, representative surveys of Jamaicans' attitudes toward
      lesbians and gay men: one in 2012 and one in 2015. Over the three-year period
      there were significant reductions in desire for social distance and opposition to
      gay rights. However, there was no significant change in anti-gay attitudes, and
      there was evidence of an increase in anti-gay behaviors. There was also no
      evidence of polarization of responses to gay men and lesbians; rather, the most
      prejudiced Jamaicans showed the largest reductions in bias. Implications of these
      findings for activism in Jamaica and other anti-gay countries are discussed.

PMID- 27636529
TI  - Do EMS Providers Accurately Ascertain Anticoagulant and Antiplatelet Use in Older
      Adults with Head Trauma?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prehospital provider assessment of the use of anticoagulant or
      antiplatelet medications in older adults with head trauma is important. These
      patients are at increased risk for traumatic intracranial hemorrhage and
      therefore field triage guidelines recommend transporting these patients to
      centers capable of rapid evaluation and treatment. Our objective was to evaluate
      EMS ascertainment of anticoagulant and antiplatelet medication use in older
      adults with head trauma. METHODS: A retrospective study of older adults with head
      trauma was conducted throughout Sacramento County. All 5 transporting EMS
      agencies and all 11 hospitals in the county were included in the study, which ran
      from January 2012 to December 2012. Patients >=55 years who were transported to a
      hospital by EMS after head trauma were included. We excluded patients transferred
      between two facilities, patients with penetrating head trauma, prisoners, and
      patients with unmatched hospital data. Anticoagulant and antiplatelet use were
      categorized as: warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC; dabigatran,
      rivaroxaban, and apixaban), aspirin, and other antiplatelet agents (e.g.,
      clopidogrel and ticagrelor). We calculated the percent agreement and kappa
      statistic for binary variables between EMS and emergency department (ED)/hospital
      providers. A kappa statistic >=0.60 was considered acceptable agreement. RESULTS:
      After excluding 174 (7.6%) patients, 2,110 patients were included for analysis;
      median age was 73 years (interquartile range 62-85 years) and 1,259 (60%) were
      male. Per ED/hospital providers, the use of any anticoagulant or antiplatelet
      agent was identified in 595 (28.2%) patients. Kappa statistics between EMS and
      ED/hospital providers for the specific agents were: 0.76 (95% CI 0.71-0.82) for
      warfarin, 0.45 (95% CI 0.19-0.71) for DOAC agents, 0.33 (95% CI 0.28-0.39) for
      aspirin, and 0.51 (95% CI 0.42-0.60) for other antiplatelet agents. CONCLUSIONS:
      The use of antiplatelet or anticoagulant medications in older adults who are
      transported by EMS for head trauma is common. EMS and ED/hospital providers have
      acceptable agreement with preinjury warfarin use but not with DOAC, aspirin, and
      other antiplatelet use.

PMID- 27636534
TI  - Editorial: Antiplatelet Treatment in Cardiovascular Disease: New Insights.

PMID- 27636533
TI  - Comparative protein profiling of B16 mouse melanoma cells susceptible and non
      susceptible to alphavirus infection: Effect of the tumor microenvironment.
AB  - Alphavirus vectors are promising tools for cancer treatment. However, relevant
      entry mechanisms and interactions with host cells are still not clearly
      understood. The first step toward a more effective therapy is the identification
      of novel intracellular alterations that could be associated with cancer
      aggressiveness and could affect the therapeutic potential of these vectors. In
      this study, we observed that alphaviruses efficiently infected B16 mouse melanoma
      tumors/tumor cells in vivo, whereas their transduction efficiency in B16 cells
      under in vitro conditions was blocked. Therefore, we further aimed to understand
      the mechanisms pertaining to the differential transduction efficacy of
      alphaviruses in B16 tumor cells under varying growth conditions. We hypothesized
      that the tumor microenvironment might alter gene expression in B16 cells, leading
      to an up-regulation of the expression of virus-binding receptors or factors
      associated with virus entry and replication. To test our hypothesis, we performed
      a proteomics analysis of B16 cells cultured in vitro and of B16 cells isolated
      from tumors, and we identified 277 differentially regulated proteins. A further
      in-depth analysis to identify the biological and molecular functions of the
      detected proteins revealed a set of candidate genes that could affect virus
      infectivity. Importantly, we observed a decrease in the expression of interferon
      alpha (IFN-alpha) in tumor-isolated cells that resulted in the suppression of
      several IFN-regulated genes, thereby abrogating host cell antiviral defense.
      Additionally, differences in the expression of genes that regulate cytoskeletal
      organization caused significant alterations in cell membrane elasticity. Taken
      together, our findings demonstrated favorable intracellular conditions for
      alphavirus transduction/replication that occurred during tumor transformation.
      These results pave the way for optimizing the development of strategies for the
      application of alphaviral vectors as a potent cancer therapy.

PMID- 27636536
TI  - Decomposition pathways of polytetrafluoroethylene by co-grinding with
      strontium/calcium oxides.
AB  - Waste polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) could be easily decomposed by co-grinding
      with inorganic additive such as strontium oxide (SrO), strontium peroxide (SrO2)
      and calcium oxide (CaO) by using a planetary ball mill, in which the fluorine was
      transformed into nontoxic inorganic fluoride salts such as strontium fluoride
      (SrF2) or calcium fluoride (CaF2). Depending on the kind of additive as well as
      the added molar ratio, however, the reaction mechanism of the decomposition was
      found to change, with different compositions of carbon compounds formed. CO gas,
      the mixture of strontium carbonate (SrCO3) and carbon, only SrCO3 were obtained
      as reaction products respectively with equimolar SrO, excess SrO and excess SrO2
      to the monomer unit CF2 of PTFE were used. Excess amount of CaO was needed to
      effectively decompose PTFE because of its lower reactivity compared with
      strontium oxide, but it promised practical applications due to its low cost.

PMID- 27636535
TI  - Renal dysfunction and transcatheter aortic valve implantation outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) underwent
      progressive improvements until it became the default therapy for inoperable
      patients, and a recommended therapy in high-risk operable patients with
      symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Recent evidence will further support TAVI as
      treatment for a growing number of patients. Areas covered: This review will
      discuss on the current knowledge about the role of both pre-procedural chronic
      kidney disease (CKD) and post-procedural acute kidney injury (AKI) in adult
      patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing TAVI. Expert commentary: Pre
      procedural CKD is one of the most frequent comorbidities of TAVI patients and has
      been found to significantly worsen patients' prognosis at short and long-term
      follow-up. Similarly, post-procedural AKI is a frequent and relevant complication
      associated with increased mortality. The risk stratification of the patient, the
      prevention of complications and the appropriate post-procedural management are
      the main focus of the future research aimed at further improving clinical
      outcomes of TAVI patients.

PMID- 27636537
TI  - Patient advocacy by nurses - past, present and future.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient advocacy is central to the nursing profession yet a sense of
      certainty about the concept, its meaning and its implications for nursing
      practice remains elusive. AIM: This scholarly paper examines the concept of
      patient advocacy and its relevance to the nursing profession in Aotearoa/New
      Zealand. DESIGN: A broad historical overview of the evolution of the role of
      advocacy in nursing practice is provided including factors that encourage or
      discourage nurses to practice patient advocacy. CONCLUSIONS: This paper
      highlights the gap between the ideal of patient advocacy and the realities of
      everyday nursing practice. The responsibility for enacting advocacy sits with
      both individual practitioners and the organizations nurses work within.

PMID- 27636539
TI  - Study of the Impact of the Location of a Perforator in the Perfusion of a
      Perforator Flap: The Concept of "Angle of Perfusion".
AB  - Background Perforator flaps remain challenging in their design, especially as
      free flaps. We used a cadaveric model to help refine the design of perforator
      flaps by studying their vascular features. We define the angle of perfusion of a
      perforator as a tool to achieve safer flap designs. Methods A total of 83 flaps
      were designed from 20 fresh cadaveric anterolateral thigh flaps. The most
      dominant perforator larger than 0.5 mm was used as the reference point on the
      midline of the flap, and the tip of the flap was set at 5 cm (n = 10), 2 cm (n =
      5), or 10 cm (n = 5) from this perforator. The perforator was injected with
      contrast agent, and the flap was scanned with computed tomography (CT)
      angiography. The vascular territory of the injected perforator was drawn twice by
      two different investigators. Perfused volumes were then obtained through a
      computerized algorithm on the CT workstation. Flaps were then flushed with
      heparinized saline and cut at decreasing angles (120, 90, 60, and 45 degrees) and
      rescanned with contrast for each perfusion angle. The perfused volumes were
      calculated for each angle. Results Volume and percentage of perfusion were
      significantly decreased with decreasing angles of perfusion, regardless of
      perforator location (2 cm, p = 0.002; 5 cm, p = 0.02; 10 cm, p < 0.001).
      Conclusions Acute angles of perfusion were associated with fewer incorporated
      linking vessels and lower flap perfusion. This phenomenon was less apparent in
      centrally located perforators. Perfusion angle and perforator location influence
      flap vascularity in a cadaveric model.

PMID- 27636538
TI  - An enzyme immunoassay for determining epidermal growth factor (EGF) in human
      serum samples using an ultramicroanalytical system.
AB  - Human epidermal growth factor is a small peptide consisting of 53 amino acid
      residues, which stimulates cell proliferation and is associated with several
      human carcinomas. A simple sandwich-type ultramicroELISA assay (UMELISA), based
      on the advantages of high affinity reaction between streptavidin and biotin has
      been developed for the measurement of EGF in human serum samples. Strips coated
      with a high affinity monoclonal antibody directed against EGF are used as solid
      phase, to ensure the specificity of the assay. The EGF assay was completed in 18
      hr, with a measuring range of 39-2500 pg/mL. The intra- and inter-assay
      coefficients of variation were 4.4-7.3% and 0-5.1%, respectively, depending on
      the EGF concentrations evaluated. Percentage recovery ranged from 96-104%.
      Regression analysis showed a good correlation with the commercially available
      Human EGF Immunoassay Quantikine(r) ELISA kit (n = 130, r = 0.92, P < 0.01). The
      analytical performance characteristics of our UMELISA EGF endorse its use for the
      quantification of EGF in human serum samples.

PMID- 27636540
TI  - Topical Vasodilators in Microsurgery: What Is the Evidence?
AB  - Background Topical vasodilators are frequently used during free tissue transfer
      to prevent and treat vasospasm and microvascular thrombosis. A variety of agents
      have been studied and are available, yet most microsurgeons select an agent based
      on anecdotal evidence or personal training. Our aim was to review the literature
      on topical vasodilators so microsurgeons can make more informed decisions about
      which agent to use. Methods A systemic review of the literature was performed on
      PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar using keywords "topical vasodilator,"
      "antispasmodic," "vasospasm," "free flaps," and "microsurgery." Studies were
      included if they provided a comparative quantitative assessment of topical
      vasodilators and were written in English. In vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies
      were included. Results A total of 15 studies were identified and included in our
      analysis. The three most common classes of topical vasodilator include local
      anesthetics, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers (CCBs).
      Of the most commonly used topical vasodilators, CCBs (nifedipine and verapamil)
      were most effective followed by papaverine and lidocaine. Conclusion The most
      effective topical vasodilators appear to be CCBs including nifedipine,
      nicardipine, and verapamil. Evidence suggests that these agents are more
      effective than papaverine and lidocaine solutions that are commonly used. Future
      research should directly compare individual CCBs to assess the most effective
      agent. Studies to date have focused on vessels other than those used by
      microsurgeons, and therefore further studies specific to these vessels are
      warranted.

PMID- 27636541
TI  - Contraceptive behaviour of Christian and Muslim teenagers at the time of abortion
      and post-abortion in Thrace, Greece.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to compare the contraceptive behaviour of
      Christian and Muslim adolescents who had an abortion in Thrace, Greece, and to
      examine whether extensive contraceptive counselling at the time of abortion
      modified their subsequent contraceptive practices. METHODS: Adolescents, aged 14
      19 years, who had undergone an elective abortion in our department, were included
      in a prospective 12-year study. Extensive contraceptive counselling was offered
      before discharge from the hospital. Attitudes to contraception were assessed by
      means of a simple questionnaire at the time of abortion and at 1-year follow-up.
      RESULTS: The study population comprised of 95 Christian Orthodox adolescents
      (Group A) and 79 Muslim adolescents (Group B). At the time of abortion,
      contraceptive behaviour differed significantly between the two groups (p = .004).
      Contraceptive methods used in Group A in comparison with Group B were as follows:
      oral contraceptives (27.4% vs. 12.7%), condoms (22.1% vs. 38.0%), interrupted
      coitus (18.9% vs. 20.3%), periodic abstinence (16.8% vs. 25.3%) and emergency
      contraception (14.7% vs. 3.8%). The commonest source of information on
      contraception in Group A was the gynaecologist (17.9%) and family planning clinic
      (15.8%), whereas in Group B it was the individual's partner (25.3%) and parents
      (16.4%). Contraceptive behaviour was significantly modified in both groups at
      post-abortion follow-up (both p < .001). The original difference between the
      groups, however, persisted (p = .006). In Group A, oral contraceptives were the
      dominant method (48.4%), followed by condoms (30.5%), whereas in Group B, the
      order was still the reverse (24.1% and 46.8%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Cultural
      differences significantly affect the contraceptive behaviour. Nevertheless,
      interventions that promote contraception can still be successful in different
      populations.

PMID- 27636542
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Moxidectin, Synriam, Synriam-Praziquantel versus
      Praziquantel against Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni Infections: A
      Randomized, Exploratory Phase 2 Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis affects millions of people, yet treatment options are
      limited. The antimalarial Synriam (piperaquine 150 mg/arterolane 750 mg) and the
      anthelminthic moxidectin revealed promising antischistosomal properties in
      preclinical or clinical studies. METHODOLOGY: We conducted two single-blind,
      randomized exploratory Phase 2 trials in Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium
      infected adolescents in northern and central Cote d'Ivoire. Our primary endpoints
      were cure rates (CRs) and egg reduction rates (ERRs) based on geometric mean and
      safety. Each subject was asked to provide two stool samples (S. mansoni trial)
      for Kato-Katz analysis or three urine samples (S. haematobium trial) for urine
      filtration and one finger prick for malaria screening at baseline and follow-up.
      Participants were randomly assigned to either moxidectin, Synriam, Synriam plus
      praziquantel or praziquantel. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 128 adolescents (age: 12-17
      years) were included in each study. Against S. haematobium moxidectin and Synriam
      revealed low efficacy. On the other hand, Synriam plus praziquantel and
      praziquantel yielded CRs of 60.0% and 38.5% and ERRs of 96.0% and 93.5%,
      respectively. CRs observed in the treatment of S. mansoni were 13.0%, 6.7%,
      27.0%, and 27.6% for moxidectin, Synriam, Synriam plus praziquantel and
      praziquantel, respectively. ERRs ranged from 64.9% (Synriam) to 87.5%
      (praziquantel). CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Synriam and moxidectin show low efficacy
      against S. haematobium, hence an ancillary benefit is not expected when these
      drugs are used for treating onchocerciasis and malaria in co-endemic settings.
      Further studies are needed to corroborate our findings that moxidectin and
      Synriam show moderate ERRs against S. mansoni.

PMID- 27636543
TI  - Brain Metabolite Changes in Patients with Relapsing-Remitting and Secondary
      Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study.
AB  - Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides the unique ability to monitor
      several disease-related pathological processes via their characteristic metabolic
      markers in vivo. In the present study metabolic compositions were assessed every
      six months over the period of two years in 36 patients with Multiple Sclerosis
      (MS) including 21 relapsing-remitting (RR), 15 secondary progressive (SP)
      patients and 12 normal subjects. The concentrations of the main MRS-detectable
      metabolites N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate (tNAA), creatine and
      phosphocreatine (tCr), choline containing compounds (Cho), myo-Inositol (Ins),
      glutamine and glutamate (Glx) and their ratios were calculated in the normal
      appearing white matter (NAWM) and in selected non-enhancing white matter (WM)
      lesions. Association between metabolic concentrations in the NAWM and disability
      were investigated. Concentration of tNAA, a marker for neuroaxonal integrity, did
      not show any difference between the investigated groups. However, the patients
      with SPMS showed significant reduction of tNAA in the NAWM over the investigation
      period of two years indicating diffuse neuroaxonal loss during the disease
      course. Furthermore, we found a significant increase of Ins, Ins/tCr and Ins/tNAA
      in WM lesions independently from the course of the disease suggesting ongoing
      astrogliosis in silent-appearing WM lesions. Analyzing correlations between MRS
      metabolites in the NAWM and patients clinical status we found the positive
      correlation of Ins/tNAA with disability in patients with RRMS. In SPMS positive
      correlation of Cho with disability was found. 

PMID- 27636544
TI  - Varying the morphology of silver nanoparticles results in differential toxicity
      against micro-organisms, HaCaT keratinocytes and affects skin deposition.
AB  - The use of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) within the healthcare sector and
      consumer products is rapidly increasing. There are now a range of diverse-shaped
      Ag NPs that are commercially available and many of the products containing
      nanosilver are topically applied to human skin. Currently, there is limited data
      on the extent to which the antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxicity of Ag NPs is
      related to their shape and how the shape of the Ag NPs affects their distribution
      in both intact and burn wounded human skin after topical application. In this
      study, we related the relative Ag NP cytotoxicity to potential skin pathogens and
      HaCaT keratinocytes in vitro with the shape of the Ag NPs. We employed
      multiphoton fluorescence lifetime imaging to map the distribution of the native
      and unlabeled Ag NPs after topical application to both intact and burn wounded
      human skin using the localized surface plasmon resonance signal of the Ag NPs.
      Truncated plate shaped Ag NPs led to the highest cytotoxicity against both
      bacteria (IC50 ranges from 31.25 to 125 MUg/mL depending on the bacterial
      species) and HaCaT keratinocytes (IC50 78.65 MUg/mL [95%CI 63.88, 96.83]) thus
      both with similar orders of magnitude. All Ag NPs were less cytotoxic than
      solutions of silver nitrate (IC50 of 7.85 MUg/mL [95%CI 1.49, 14.69]). Plate
      shaped Ag NPs displayed the highest substantivity within the superficial layers
      of the stratum corneum when topically applied to intact skin and the highest
      deposition into the wound bed when applied to burned ex vivo human skin relative
      to other Ag NP shapes.

PMID- 27636545
TI  - ROS in translation: Chink in the armor.

PMID- 27636546
TI  - Enhancement of the Knowledge on Fungal Communities in Directly Brined Alorena de
      Malaga Green Olive Fermentations by Metabarcoding Analysis.
AB  - Nowadays, our knowledge of the fungal biodiversity in fermented vegetables is
      limited although these microorganisms could have a great influence on the quality
      and safety of this kind of food. This work uses a metagenetic approach to obtain
      basic knowledge of the fungal community ecology during the course of fermentation
      of natural Alorena de Malaga table olives, from reception of raw material to
      edible fruits. For this purpose, samples of brines and fruits were collected from
      two industries in Guadalhorce Valley (Malaga, Spain) at different moments of
      fermentation (0, 7, 30 and 120 days). The physicochemical and microbial counts
      performed during fermentation showed the typical evolution of this type of
      processes, mainly dominated by yeasts in apparent absence of Enterobacteriaceae
      and Lactobacillaceae. High-throughput barcoded pyrosequencing analysis of ITS1
      5.8S-ITS2 region showed a low biodiversity of the fungal community, with the
      presence at 97% identity of 29 different fungal genera included in 105
      operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The most important genera in the raw material
      at the moment of reception in the industry were Penicillium, Cladosporium,
      Malassezia, and Candida, whilst after 4 months of fermentation in brines
      Zygotorulaspora and Pichia were predominant, whereas in fruits were Candida,
      Penicillium, Debaryomyces and Saccharomyces. The fungal genera Penicillium,
      Pichia, and Zygotorulaspora were shared among the three types of substrates
      during all the course of fermentation, representing the core fungal population
      for this table olive specialty. A phylogenetic analysis of the ITS sequences
      allowed a more accurate assignment of diverse OTUs to Pichia manshurica, Candida
      parapsilosis/C. tropicalis, Candida diddensiae, and Citeromyces nyonensis clades.
      This study highlights the existence of a complex fungal consortium in olive
      fermentations including phytopathogenic, saprofitic, spoilage and fermentative
      genera. Insights into the ecology, identification and quantification of fungi
      species in olive fermentation will facilitate the design of new strategies to
      improve the quality and safety of this fermented vegetable. 

PMID- 27636547
TI  - Appraisal of Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy for Left-Sided Pancreatic Cancer:
      A Large Volume Cohort Study of 152 Consecutive Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to appraise the value of laparoscopic
      distal pancreatectomy (LDP) for left-sided pancreatic cancer based on a large
      volume cohort study. METHODS: We reviewed data for all consecutive patients
      undergoing LDP for left-sided pancreatic cancer at Asan Medical Center (Seoul,
      Korea) between December 2006 and December 2014. RESULTS: A total of 91 male and
      61 female patients, with a median age of 62.7 years were included in this study.
      The median operative duration was 234 minutes. Pathological reports revealed the
      following: a median tumor size of 3.0 cm (range, 0.4-10.0), T stages (T1 in 7.9%,
      T2 in 5.3%, T3 in 86.8%, and no T4), the tumor differentiation (well
      differentiated in 16.4%, moderately differentiated in 75.4%, and poorly
      differentiated in 8.2%), and R0 resection in 126 patients (82.9%). After
      pancreatectomy, 96 patients (63.2%) received adjuvant chemotherapy, and the
      median time to chemotherapy was 30 days. The median length of hospital stay was 8
      days (range, 5-31), and the median time to diet resumption was 1 day. Grade B or
      C postoperative pancreatic fistula occurred in 14 patients (9.2%) and grade II or
      III complications occurred in 27 (17.7%). The median overall survival was 43.0
      months. A Cox proportional hazards model showed that tumor size, N1 stage,
      combined resection, and incompleteness of planned adjuvant chemotherapy affect
      patient survival. CONCLUSIONS: LDP for left-sided pancreatic cancer is reasonable
      within selected indications. An international consensus on laparoscopic surgery
      for pancreatic cancer would be desirable and timely.

PMID- 27636548
TI  - Acute myeloid leukemia with del(9q) is characterized by frequent mutations of
      NPM1, DNMT3A, WT1 and low expression of TLE4.
AB  - Deletions of the long arm of chromosome 9 [del(9q)] are a rare but recurring
      aberration in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Del(9q) can be found as the sole
      abnormality or in combination with other cytogenetic aberrations such as t(8;21)
      and t(15;17). TLE1 and TLE4 were identified to be critical genes contained in the
      9q region. We performed whole exome sequencing of 5 patients with del(9q) as the
      sole abnormality followed by targeted amplicon sequencing of 137 genes of 26
      patients with del(9q) as sole or combined with other aberrations. We detected
      frequent mutations in NPM1 (10/26; 38%), DNMT3A (8/26; 31%), and WT1 (8/26; 31%)
      but only few FLT3-ITDs (2/26; 8%). All mutations affecting NPM1 and DNMT3A were
      exclusively identified in patients with del(9q) as the sole abnormality and were
      significantly more frequent compared to 111 patients classified as intermediate
      II according to the European LeukemiaNet (10/14, 71% vs. 22/111, 20%; P < 0.001,
      8/14, 57% vs. 26/111, 23%; P = 0.02). Furthermore, we identified DNMT3B to be
      rarely but recurrently targeted by truncating mutations in AML. Gene expression
      analysis of 13 patients with del(9q) and 454 patients with normal karyotype or
      various cytogenetic aberrations showed significant down regulation of TLE4 in
      patients with del(9q) (P = 0.02). Interestingly, downregulation of TLE4 was not
      limited to AML with del(9q), potentially representing a common mechanism in AML
      pathogenesis. Our comprehensive genetic analysis of the del(9q) subgroup reveals
      a unique mutational profile with the frequency of DNMT3A mutations in the del(9q)
      only subset being the highest reported so far in AML, indicating oncogenic
      cooperativity. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636549
TI  - Layer-by-Layer Thin Film of Iron Phthalocyanine as a Simple and Fast Sensor for
      Polyphenol Determination in Tea Samples.
AB  - Polyphenols have attracted attention due to their antioxidant capacity and
      beneficial effects to health. Therefore, fast, inexpensive, and efficient methods
      to discriminate and to quantify polyphenols are of interest for food industry. In
      this paper, Layer-by-Layer films of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and iron
      tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine were employed as sensor for determination of
      polyphenols in green tea (camellia sinensis), and green and roasted mate teas
      (ilex paraguariensis). The polyphenol sensor was tested in catechol standard
      solution by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), reaching a limit of detection
      of 1.76 * 10-7 mol/L. The determination of polyphenols in the tea samples was
      obtained by analytical curve and catechol standard addition using electrochemical
      techniques. Projection techniques (information visualization) were applied to the
      DPV results of the tea samples and a pattern of separation following the phenolic
      content was obtained. The results support the application of the sensor in fast
      classification of beverages according to their polyphenol content.

PMID- 27636551
TI  - An exploratory study of gait and functional outcomes after neuroprosthesis use in
      children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the immediate orthotic, total and therapeutic effects of
      functional electrical stimulation (FES) neuroprosthesis use on clinic based
      measures of gait and function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.
      METHODS: Eleven children (mean 9 years 11 months) participated in an FES
      neuroprosthesis (Ness L300) intervention (4 week accommodation period followed by
      12 weeks of daily use) and were assessed at baseline and post in stimulation off
      and stimulation on conditions. Measures included clinic based outcomes of gait
      and function. RESULTS: No significant immediate orthotic effects were observed.
      Significant (p < 0.01) total effects were noted for dorsiflexion at initial
      contact, Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and walking speed. A significant
      therapeutic effect was found for steps off path on the Standardized Walking
      Obstacle Course (SWOC). CONCLUSIONS: Results support previous findings of
      neuroprosthesis total effects on gait and provide some evidence for effects on
      function. Therapeutic effects remain unclear. Implications for Rehabilitation In
      this study, children with hemiplegic CP did not demonstrate immediate
      improvements in gait or function at their first clinic visit using the FES
      neuroprosthesis device suggesting one visit using the device is not sufficient to
      determine potential benefits. Over time with daily use of the FES
      neuroprosthesis, ankle dorsiflexion in swing and at initial contact, walking
      speed and endurance increased with the device worn. Overtime, no carryover
      effects in ankle dorsiflexion in swing and at initial contact were noted at the
      end of the intervention period with the device off. Clinicians should consider
      purchasing units to loan or rent to individuals to trial a device at home before
      determining long-term potential for benefit.

PMID- 27636550
TI  - A European Spectrum of Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers: Implications for Clinical
      Pharmacogenomics.
AB  - Pharmacogenomics aims to correlate inter-individual differences of drug efficacy
      and/or toxicity with the underlying genetic composition, particularly in genes
      encoding for protein factors and enzymes involved in drug metabolism and
      transport. In several European populations, particularly in countries with lower
      income, information related to the prevalence of pharmacogenomic biomarkers is
      incomplete or lacking. Here, we have implemented the microattribution approach to
      assess the pharmacogenomic biomarkers allelic spectrum in 18 European
      populations, mostly from developing European countries, by analyzing 1,931
      pharmacogenomics biomarkers in 231 genes. Our data show significant inter
      population pharmacogenomic biomarker allele frequency differences, particularly
      in 7 clinically actionable pharmacogenomic biomarkers in 7 European populations,
      affecting drug efficacy and/or toxicity of 51 medication treatment modalities.
      These data also reflect on the differences observed in the prevalence of high
      risk genotypes in these populations, as far as common markers in the CYP2C9,
      CYP2C19, CYP3A5, VKORC1, SLCO1B1 and TPMT pharmacogenes are concerned. Also, our
      data demonstrate notable differences in predicted genotype-based warfarin dosing
      among these populations. Our findings can be exploited not only to develop
      guidelines for medical prioritization, but most importantly to facilitate
      integration of pharmacogenomics and to support pre-emptive pharmacogenomic
      testing. This may subsequently contribute towards significant cost-savings in the
      overall healthcare expenditure in the participating countries, where
      pharmacogenomics implementation proves to be cost-effective. 

PMID- 27636552
TI  - CA153 in Breast Secretions as a Potential Molecular Marker for Diagnosing Breast
      Cancer: A Meta Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Many studies have reported that carbohydrate antigen 153 (CA153) in
      breast secretions (BS) can discriminate breast cancer (BC) patients from healthy
      individuals, indicating CA153 in BS as a potential index for BC. This meta
      analysis aimed to evaluate the actual diagnostic value of CA153 in BS. METHODS:
      Related papers were obtained from Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, Ovid, Sciverse, the
      Cochrane library, Chinese Biomedical literature Database (CBM), Technology of
      Chongqing (VIP), Wan Fang Data, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure
      (CNKI). Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of CA153
      in BS for BC diagnosis were analyzed with the random effect model. SROC and the
      area under the curve (AUC) were applied to assess overall diagnostic efficiency.
      RESULTS: This meta-analysis included five studies with a total of 329 BC patients
      and 381 healthy subjects. For CA153 in BS, the summary sensitivity, specificity,
      and DOR to diagnose BC were 0.63 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57~0.68), 0.82
      (95% CI: 0.78~0.86), and 9.18 (95% CI: 4.22~19.95), respectively. Furthermore,
      the AUC of BS CA153 in the diagnosis of BC was 0.8614. CONCLUSIONS: CA153 in BS
      is a valuable molecular marker in diagnosing BC and should be applied in standard
      clinical practices of BC screening upon confirmation of our findings in a larger
      prospective study.

PMID- 27636553
TI  - Androgen and glucocorticoid production in the male killer whale (Orcinus orca):
      influence of age, maturity, and environmental factors.
AB  - Circulating concentrations of testosterone and its precursor androstenedione, as
      well as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and the adrenal hormones cortisol and
      corticosterone were measured at monthly intervals in 14 male killer whales
      (Orcinus orca) aged 0.8-38 years. Analyses were performed for examination of the
      relationships of age, sexual maturation status (STATUS), season, and
      environmental temperature (monthly air ambient temperature, A-TEMP) with hormone
      production using a mixed effects linear regression model with animal ID as the
      random variable. Hormone profiles, derived from enzyme immunoassay procedures
      validated herein, established that simultaneous up-regulation of androstenedione
      and testosterone production occurs at puberty, when males are aged 8-12 years.
      Androgen (testosterone and androstenedione) production in pubertal and adult
      males was influenced by season, with highest (p < 0.01) concentrations observed
      in spring and summer months. A significant effect of STATUS and season on DHEA
      production was also documented, with higher (p < 0.05) concentrations in pubertal
      and adult males compared to juvenile males, and higher (p < 0.05) concentrations
      in the months of summer than the fall. Among adult males (>=13 years), those
      classified as aged (>=31 years) had concentrations of testosterone and both
      glucocorticoids that were lower (p < 0.05), and those of androstenedione that
      were higher (p < 0.05) than their younger counterparts. The
      cortisol:corticosterone ratio for adult males was 7 : 1, and both glucocorticoids
      were affected by STATUS (p < 0.05), but not season or A-TEMP. Results of this
      research enhance our understanding of reproductive and adrenocortical function in
      healthy male killer whales and provide baseline profiles of hormone production
      for use in the species' health assessment and conservation.

PMID- 27636554
TI  - Impact of a Submaximal Warm-Up on Endurance Performance in Highly Trained and
      Competitive Male Runners.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of a
      submaximal running warm-up on running performance in male endurance athletes (n =
      16, Mage = 21 +/- 2 years, MVO2max = 69.3 +/- 5.1 mL/kg/min). METHOD: Endurance
      performance was determined by a 30-min distance trial after control and
      submaximal running warm-up conditions in a randomized crossover fashion. The warm
      up began with 5 min of quiet sitting, followed by 6 min of submaximal running
      split into 2-min intervals at speeds corresponding to 45%, 55%, and 65% maximal
      oxygen consumption (VO2max). A 2-min walk at 3.2 km/hr concluded the 13-min warm
      up protocol. For the control condition, participants sat quietly for 13 min. VO2
      and heart rate (HR) were determined at Minutes 0, 5, and 13 of the pre-exercise
      protocol in each condition. RESULTS: At the end of 13 min prior to the distance
      trial, mean VO2 (warm-up = 14.1 +/- 2.2 mL/kg/min vs. control = 5.5 +/- 1.7
      mL/kg/min) and mean HR (warm-up = 105 +/- 11 bpm vs. control = 67 +/- 11 bpm)
      were statistically greater (p < .001) in the warm-up condition compared with the
      control condition. The distance run did not statistically differ (p = .37)
      between the warm-up (7.8 +/- 0.5 km) and control (7.7 +/- 0.6 km) conditions;
      however, effect size calculation revealed a small effect (d = 0.2) in favor of
      the warm-up condition. Thus, the warm-up employed may have important and
      practical implications to determine placing among high-level athletes in close
      races. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a submaximal running warm-up may have
      a small but critical effect on a 30-min distance trial in competitive endurance
      athletes. Further, the warm-up elicited increases in physiological variables VO2
      and HR prior to performance; thus, a submaximal specific warm-up should warrant
      consideration.

PMID- 27636555
TI  - Analysis of novel alleles of brother of tout-velu, the drosophila ortholog of
      human EXTL3 using a newly developed FRT42D ovoD chromosome.
AB  - The FLP/FRT system permits rapid phenotypic screening of homozygous lethal
      mutations in the context of a viable mosaic fly. Combining this system with ovoD
      dominant female-sterile transgenes enables efficient production of embryos
      derived from mutant germline clones lacking maternal contribution from a gene of
      interest. Two distinct sets of FRT chromosomes, carrying either the mini-white (w
      + mW.hs ), or rosy (ry+ ) and neomycin (neoR ) transgenes are in common use.
      Parallel ovoD lines were developed using w + mW.hs FRT insertions on the X and
      chromosomes 2R and 3L, as well as ry+ , neoR FRT insertions on 2L and 3R.
      Consequently, mutations isolated on the X, 2R and 3L chromosomes in a ry+ , neoR
      FRT background, are not amenable to germline clonal analysis without labor
      intensive recombination onto chromosome arms containing a w + mW.hs FRT. Here we
      report the creation of a new ovoD line for the ry+ , neoR FRT insertion at
      position FRT42D on chromosome 2R, through induced recombination in males. To
      establish the developmental relevance of this reagent we characterized the
      maternal-effect phenotypes of novel brother of tout-velu alleles generated on an
      FRT42D chromosome in a somatic mosaic screen. We find that an apparent null
      mutation that causes severe defects in somatic tissues has a much milder effect
      on embryonic patterning, emphasizing the necessity of analyzing mutant phenotypes
      at multiple developmental stages.

PMID- 27636557
TI  - Posttraumatic stress disorder in outpatients with depression: Still a missed
      diagnosis.
AB  - Comorbidity between major depressive disorder (MDD) and posttraumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) is a well-established fact but has been studied little among MDD
      patients and even less among outpatients. We assessed the prevalence and
      characteristics of comorbid MDD-PTSD patients in a sample of MDD outpatients in
      an effort to elucidate possible causes of MDD-PTSD comorbidity. A semistructured
      clinical interview was applied to 101 outpatients with MDD. Sociodemographic
      factors, psychiatric history, the presence of PTSD, and MDD-PTSD comorbidity were
      recorded. The prevalence of MDD-PTSD comorbidity was 38.6%, with 26.7% suffering
      currently from PTSD. The average duration of PTSD was 16 years, and in most cases
      (79.5%) PTSD started earlier than or simultaneously with MDD. Only 28.8% of
      patients with PTSD had a documented diagnosis in their medical record. The most
      significant factors predicting MDD-PTSD comorbidity were found to be chronic
      depression, a history of prolonged or repeated trauma, male gender, a younger age
      at onset of psychological symptoms, lower education, and a lower level of
      functioning. Our findings indicate that MDD-PTSD comorbidity still remains an
      overlooked fact. Prolonged trauma seems to be a major risk factor for MDD-PTSD
      comorbidity, predisposing subjects to PTSD and later on or simultaneously to
      comorbidity with MDD.

PMID- 27636556
TI  - Dual wavelength stimulation of polymeric nanoparticles for photothermal therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Photothermal therapy (PTT) has several applications in
      the areas of wound healing, pain management, bacterial infection control, and
      cancer treatment dependent on the temperature that is generated. PTT is often
      used exclusively with near infrared (NIR) light and most nanoparticles (NP) used
      for PTT are designed to absorb within one narrow range of wavelengths. We have
      developed a dual-wavelength photothermal therapy by capitalizing on the dual
      absorption of nanoparticles in the blue and NIR range. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our
      lab has previously developed NP based on the semiconducting, conjugated polymer
      poly[4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt-2,1,3
      benzoselenadiazole-4,7-diyl] (PCPDTBSe). The NP have strong absorption in the
      blue and NIR regions. In this report, we have explored the heat generated by
      PCPDTBSe NP using simultaneous delivery of 450 and 800 nm light, either
      independently or together for photothermal ablation of mouse colorectal cancer
      cells. RESULTS: The heat generation studies indicated that the use of either 450
      or 800 nm wavelengths at the same fluences produced approximately the same
      temperature change of deionized water. Fluences of 114.6 and 229.2 J/cm2 ,
      utilizing 450 or 800 nm light applied individually resulted in temperatures of 8
      47 degrees C above ambient temperature, leading to a 90% reduction in cell
      viability. Simultaneous stimulation of the PCPDTBSe NP with 450 and 800 nm light
      effectively doubles the effective power delivered, resulting in temperatures 18
      63 degrees C above ambient and 100% photothermal ablation of the colorectal
      cancer cells. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that PCPDTBSe
      polymer NP can be utilized as effective PTT agents by capitalizing on their dual
      absorption of both blue and NIR light. Lasers Surg. Med. 48:893-902, 2016. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636558
TI  - Contrasting effects of intra- and interspecific identity and richness of
      ectomycorrhizal fungi on host plants, nutrient retention and multifunctionality.
AB  - A major gap in our understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships
      concerns the role of intra- and interspecific diversity of mycorrhizal fungi,
      which are critical for plant fitness, biogeochemical cycling and other processes.
      Here, we test the hypothesis that the identity and richness of ectomycorrhizal
      (ECM) fungi at the intra- and interspecific levels affect ecosystem
      multifunctionality by regulating plant and fungal productivity, soil CO2 efflux
      and nutrient retention. Microcosms containing Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
      seedlings colonized by different ECM fungal isolates, in monocultures and
      mixtures, enabled us to test for both intra- and interspecific identity and
      richness effects, and transgressive overyielding. Intra- and interspecific
      identity had modest but significant effects on plant and fungal productivity and
      nutrient retention, but no effect on CO2 efflux. Intraspecific richness increased
      plant root productivity and ECM root tips but decreased hyphal length, whereas
      interspecific richness had no effects. Interspecific mixtures outperformed the
      most productive monocultures in only 10% of the cases, compared with 42% for the
      intraspecific mixtures. Both intra- and interspecific identity and richness of
      ECM fungi regulate ecosystem multifunctionality, but their effects on the
      direction and magnitude of individual variables differ. Transgressive
      overyielding suggests that positive niche complementarity effects are driving
      some of the responses to intraspecific richness.

PMID- 27636559
TI  - Label-free graphene biosensor targeting cancer molecules based on non-covalent
      modification.
AB  - A label-free immunosensor based on antibody-modified graphene field effect
      transistor (GFET) was presented. Antibodies targeting carcinoembryonic antigen
      (Anti-CEA) were immobilized to the graphene surface via non-covalent
      modification. The bifunctional molecule, 1-pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl
      ester, which is composed of a pyrene and a reactive succinimide ester group,
      interacts with graphene non-covalently via pi-stacking. The succinimide ester
      group reacts with the amine group to initiate antibody surface immobilization,
      which was confirmed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy
      and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. The resulting anti-CEA modified GFET
      sufficiently monitored the reaction between CEA protein and anti-CEA in real-time
      with high specificity, which revealed selective electrical detection of CEA with
      a limit of detection (LOD) of less than 100pg/ml. The dissociation constant
      between CEA protein and anti-CEA was estimated to be 6.35*10-11M, indicating the
      high affinity and sensitivity of anti-CEA-GFET. Taken together, the graphene
      biosensors provide an effective tool for clinical application and point-of-care
      medical diagnostics.

PMID- 27636560
TI  - PharmGKB summary: ivacaftor pathway, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics.

PMID- 27636562
TI  - Chloride channels in renal salt and water transport.

PMID- 27636561
TI  - The structure of a doripenem-bound OXA-51 class D beta-lactamase variant with
      enhanced carbapenemase activity.
AB  - OXA-51 is a class D beta-lactamase that is thought to be the native carbapenemase
      of Acinetobacter baumannii. Many variants of OXA-51 containing active site
      substitutions have been identified from A. baumannii isolates, and some of these
      substitutions increase hydrolytic activity toward carbapenem antibiotics. We have
      determined the high-resolution structures of apo OXA-51 and OXA-51 with one such
      substitution (I129L) with the carbapenem doripenem trapped in the active site as
      an acyl-intermediate. The structure shows that acyl-doripenem adopts an
      orientation very similar to carbapenem ligands observed in the active site of OXA
      24/40 (doripenem) and OXA-23 (meropenem). In the OXA-51 variant/doripenem
      complex, the indole ring of W222 is oriented away from the doripenem binding
      site, thereby eliminating a clash that is predicted to occur in wildtype OXA-51.
      Similarly, in the OXA-51 variant complex, L129 adopts a different rotamer
      compared to I129 in wildtype OXA-51. This alternative position moves its side
      chain away from the hydroxyethyl moiety of doripenem and relieves another
      potential clash between the enzyme and carbapenem substrates. Molecular dynamics
      simulations of OXA-51 and OXA-51 I129L demonstrate that compared to isoleucine, a
      leucine at this position greatly favors a rotamer that accommodates the ligand.
      These results provide a molecular justification for how this substitution
      generates enhanced binding affinity for carbapenems, and therefore helps explain
      the prevalence of this substitution in clinical OXA-51 variants.

PMID- 27636563
TI  - The role of gender, psycho-social factors and anthropological-cultural dimensions
      on pain in neurorehabilitation. Evidence and recommendations from the Italian
      Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation.
AB  - Pain is frequent in patients undergoing neurorehabilitation, but there is a
      number of still unanswered questions on this topic. The Italian Consensus
      Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation (ICCPN) was constituted with the
      purpose to identify the best practices that can be used in this context. In this
      article we summarize the existing evidence and recommendations provided by the
      ICCPN about the role of gender, psycho-social factors and anthropological
      cultural dimensions on pain in neurorehabilitation. Sex, gender, psycho-social
      variables, anthropological and cultural features may influence pain expression,
      and its pharmacological and non-pharmacological outcome, but the role of these
      factors has not been consistently explored in neurorehabilitation. There is a
      number of psychological factors that can be correlated with or represent a
      predictor for pain, or may influence the treatment and outcome of
      neurorehabilitation programs. All these factors should be considered when
      designing these programs, and future studies should incorporate them as potential
      covariates that may influence outcome.

PMID- 27636564
TI  - Magnetic Anisotropy of Tetrahedral CoII Single-Ion Magnets: Solid-State Effects.
AB  - This study reports the static and dynamic magnetic characterization of two
      mononuclear tetrahedral CoII complexes, [Co{iPr2P(E)NP(E)iPr2}2], where E = S
      (CoS4) and Se (CoSe4), which behave as single-ion magnets (SIMs). Low-temperature
      (15 K) single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies point out that the two complexes
      exhibit similar structural features in their first coordination sphere, but a
      disordered peripheral iPr group is observed only in CoS4. Although the latter
      complex crystallizes in an axial space group, the observed structural disorder
      leads to larger transverse magnetic anisotropy for the majority of the molecules
      compared to CoSe4, as confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.
      Static magnetic characterization indicates that both CoS4 and CoSe4 show easy
      axis anisotropy, with comparable D values (~-30 cm-1). Moreover, alternating
      current susceptibility measurements on these CoII complexes, magnetically diluted
      in their isostructural ZnII analogues, highlight the role of dipolar magnetic
      coupling in the mechanism of magnetization reversal. In addition, our findings
      suggest that, despite their similar anisotropic features, CoS4 and CoSe4 relax
      magnetically via different processes. This work provides experimental evidence
      that solid-state effects may affect the magnetic behavior of SIMs.

PMID- 27636565
TI  - Phase Restructuring in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Highly Stable Energy
      Storage.
AB  - Achieving homogeneous phase transition and uniform charge distribution is
      essential for good cycle stability and high capacity when phase conversion
      materials are used as electrodes. Herein, we show that chemical lithiation of
      bulk 2H-MoS2 distorts its crystalline domains in three primary directions to
      produce mosaic-like 1T' nanocrystalline domains, which improve phase and charge
      uniformity during subsequent electrochemical phase conversion. 1T'-LixMoS2, a
      macroscopic dense material with interconnected nanoscale grains, shows excellent
      cycle stability and rate capability in a lithium rechargeable battery compared to
      bulk or exfoliated-restacked MoS2. Transmission electron microscopy studies
      reveal that the interconnected MoS2 nanocrystals created during the phase change
      process are reformable even after multiple cycles of galvanostatic
      charging/discharging, which allows them to play important roles in the long term
      cycling performance of the chemically intercalated TMD materials. These studies
      shed light on how bulk TMDs can be processed into quasi-2D nanophase material for
      stable energy storage.

PMID- 27636566
TI  - Opioids and Adverse Effects: More Than Just Opium Dreams.

PMID- 27636567
TI  - Expanding Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis for At-Risk Obstetric Patients:
      Recommendations From the National Partnership Bundle.

PMID- 27636568
TI  - Integrating the New Thromboprophylaxis Guidelines Into Obstetric Anesthesia
      Practice.

PMID- 27636569
TI  - Publication Bias: The Elephant in the Review.

PMID- 27636570
TI  - Stroke and Intraoperative Hypotension: To Sleep, Perchance to Stroke-Ay, There's
      the Rub.

PMID- 27636571
TI  - Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management and Anesthesia &
      Analgesia: A New Collaboration and Home for Blood Management Research.

PMID- 27636572
TI  - Opioid-Induced Hallucination: Distressful or Sought After?

PMID- 27636573
TI  - A Near-Field Clutter Artifact Mimicking Pulmonary Thrombus During Transesophageal
      Echocardiography.

PMID- 27636574
TI  - Does Propofol Anesthesia Lead to Less Postoperative Pain Compared With
      Inhalational Anesthesia?: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many studies have compared propofol-based anesthesia with
      inhalational anesthesia. Results from several studies have shown improved
      postoperative analgesia after propofol anesthesia, but other studies showed
      contradictory results. There are no large prospective studies that compare
      postoperative pain after propofol versus inhalational anesthesia. This meta
      analysis was designed to focus on this question. METHODS: A systematic literature
      search for randomized controlled trials that compared propofol-based anesthesia
      with volatile agents-based anesthesia in adults undergoing surgery was conducted.
      Published data were pooled for the meta-analysis with Review Manager (ie,
      RevMan). The main outcomes included postoperative pain intensity, opioid
      consumption, need for rescue analgesics, and time to first analgesia. RESULTS:
      Thirty-nine clinical trials with a combined subject population of 4520 patients
      came within the purview of this meta-analysis. The investigated volatile agents
      included isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane. Compared with inhalational
      anesthetics, the propofol use was associated with a reduced postoperative pain
      intensity at rest at 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 12 hours (mean difference in pain
      scores, 30 minutes, -0.48 [visual analog scale, 0-10]; 99% confidence interval
      [CI], -1.07 to 0.12, P = 0.04) and reduced morphine-equivalent consumption 0 to
      24 hours postoperatively (mean difference in morphine-equivalent consumption, 
      2.68 mg; 99% CI, -6.17 to 0.82; P = 0.05). Fewer patients required postoperative
      rescue analgesics during 0 to 24 hours after surgery under propofol anesthesia
      (risk ratio, 0.87; 99% CI, 0.74-1.03; P = 0.04). In addition, patients
      anesthetized with propofol required administration of postoperative analgesia
      later than those anesthetized with volatiles (mean difference in time to first
      analgesic administration, 6.12 minutes; 99% CI, 0.02-12.21; P = 0.01).
      Considering that Z statistic in RevMan 5.3 does not perform optimally in highly
      heterogeneous samples among groups or many combinations of groups with small
      sample sizes, a P value of <.01 was considered statistically significant. On the
      basis of this threshold, none of the aforementioned results are statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: The current results are affected by substantial
      heterogeneity, which makes it difficult to predict significant differences in
      postoperative pain control between propofol anesthesia and inhalational
      anesthesia. Further large, randomized controlled trials are needed to corroborate
      these results and to detect differences (if any) between propofol and
      inhalational anesthesia on postoperative pain.

PMID- 27636575
TI  - Targeted Coagulation Management in Severe Trauma: The Controversies and the
      Evidence.
AB  - Hemorrhage in the setting of severe trauma is a leading cause of death worldwide.
      The pathophysiology of hemorrhage and coagulopathy in severe trauma is complex
      and remains poorly understood. Most clinicians currently treating trauma patients
      acknowledge the presence of a coagulopathy unique to trauma patients-trauma
      induced coagulopathy (TIC)-independently associated with increased mortality. The
      complexity and incomplete understanding of TIC has resulted in significant
      controversy regarding optimum management. Although the majority of trauma centers
      utilize fixed-ratio massive transfusion protocols in severe traumatic hemorrhage,
      a widely accepted "ideal" transfusion ratio of blood to blood products remains
      elusive. The recent use of viscoelastic hemostatic assays (VHAs) to guide blood
      product replacement has further provoked debate as to the optimum transfusion
      strategy. The use of VHA to quantify the functional contributions of individual
      components of the coagulation system may permit targeted treatment of TIC but
      remains controversial and is unlikely to demonstrate a mortality benefit in light
      of the heterogeneity of the trauma population. Thus, VHA-guided algorithms as an
      alternative to fixed product ratios in trauma are not universally accepted, and a
      hybrid strategy starting with fixed-ratio transfusion and incorporating VHA data
      as they become available is favored by some institutions. We review the current
      evidence for the management of coagulopathy in trauma, the rationale behind the
      use of targeted and fixed-ratio approaches and explore future directions.

PMID- 27636576
TI  - The Association Between Mild Intraoperative Hypotension and Stroke in General
      Surgery Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intraoperative hypotension may contribute to perioperative strokes.
      We therefore tested the hypothesis that intraoperative hypotension is associated
      with perioperative stroke. METHODS: After institutional review board approval for
      this case-control study, we identified patients who had nonneurological,
      noncardiac, and noncarotid surgery under general anesthesia at the Cleveland
      Clinic between 2005 and 2011 and experienced a postoperative stroke. Control
      patients not experiencing postoperative stroke were matched in a 4-to-1 ratio
      using propensity scores and restriction to the same procedure type as stroke
      patients. The association between intraoperative hypotension, measured as time
      integrated area under a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 70 mm Hg, and
      postoperative stroke was assessed using zero-inflated negative binomial
      regression. RESULTS: Among 106 337 patients meeting inclusion criteria, we
      identified 120 who had confirmed postoperative stroke events based on manual
      chart review. Four-to-one propensity matching yielded a final matched sample of
      104 stroke cases and 398 controls. There was no association between stroke and
      intraoperative hypotension. Stroke patients were not more likely than controls to
      have been hypotensive (odds ratio, 0.49 [0.18-1.38]), and among patients with
      intraoperative hypotension, stroke patients did not experience a greater degree
      of hypotension than controls (ratio of geometric means, 1.07 [0.76-1.53]).
      CONCLUSIONS: In our propensity score-matched case-control study, we did not find
      an association between intraoperative hypotension, defined as MAP < 70 mm Hg, and
      postoperative stroke.

PMID- 27636577
TI  - National Partnership for Maternal Safety: Consensus Bundle on Venous
      Thromboembolism.
AB  - Obstetric venous thromboembolism is a leading cause of severe maternal morbidity
      and mortality. Maternal death from thromboembolism is amenable to prevention, and
      thromboprophylaxis is the most readily implementable means of systematically
      reducing the maternal death rate. Observational data support the benefit of risk
      factor-based prophylaxis in reducing obstetric thromboembolism. This bundle,
      developed by a multidisciplinary working group and published by the National
      Partnership for Maternal Safety under the guidance of the Council on Patient
      Safety in Women's Health Care, supports routine thromboembolism risk assessment
      for obstetric patients, with appropriate use of pharmacologic and mechanical
      thromboprophylaxis. Safety bundles outline critical clinical practices that
      should be implemented in every maternity unit. The safety bundle is organized
      into four domains: Readiness, Recognition, Response, and Reporting and Systems
      Learning. Although the bundle components may be adapted to meet the resources
      available in individual facilities, standardization within an institution is
      strongly encouraged.

PMID- 27636579
TI  - Neuromuscular Blockers and Electroconvulsive Therapy: How Much Is Enough?

PMID- 27636578
TI  - Bisphosphonates Inhibit Pain, Bone Loss, and Inflammation in a Rat Tibia Fracture
      Model of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bisphosphonates are used to prevent the bone loss and fractures
      associated with osteoporosis, bone metastases, multiple myeloma, and osteogenesis
      deformans. Distal limb fractures cause regional bone loss with cutaneous
      inflammation and pain in the injured limb that can develop into complex regional
      pain syndrome (CRPS). Clinical trials have reported that antiresorptive
      bisphosphonates can prevent fracture-induced bone loss, inhibit serum
      inflammatory cytokine levels, and alleviate CRPS pain. Previously, we observed
      that the inhibition of inflammatory cytokines or adaptive immune responses
      attenuated the development of pain behavior in a rat fracture model of CRPS, and
      we hypothesized that bisphosphonates could prevent pain behavior, trabecular bone
      loss, postfracture cutaneous cytokine upregulation, and adaptive immune responses
      in this CRPS model. METHODS: Rats underwent tibia fracture and cast
      immobilization for 4 weeks and were chronically administered either
      subcutaneously perfused alendronate or oral zoledronate. Behavioral measurements
      included hindpaw von Frey allodynia, unweighting, warmth, and edema. Bone
      microarchitecture was measured by microcomputed tomography, and bone cellular
      activity was evaluated by static and dynamic histomorphometry. Spinal cord Fos
      immunostaining was performed, and skin cytokine (tumor necrosis factor,
      interleukin [IL]-1, IL-6) and nerve growth factor (NGF) levels were determined by
      enzyme immunoassay. Skin and sciatic nerve immunoglobulin levels were determined
      by enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: Rats with tibia fractures developed hindpaw
      allodynia, unweighting, warmth, and edema, increased spinal Fos expression and
      trabecular bone loss in the lumbar vertebra and bilateral distal femurs as
      measured by microcomputed tomography, increased trabecular bone resorption and
      osteoclast surface with decreased bone formation rates, increased cutaneous
      inflammatory cytokine and NGF expression, and elevated immunocomplex deposition
      in skin and nerve. Alendronate (60 MUg/kg/d subcutaneously [s.c.]) or zoledronate
      (3 mg/kg/d orally) treatment for 28 days, started at the time of fracture,
      completely inhibited the development of hindpaw allodynia and reduced hindpaw
      unweighting by 44% +/- 13% and 58% +/- 5%, respectively. Orally administered
      zoledronate (3 mg/kg/d for 21 days) treatment also completely reversed
      established allodynia and unweighting when started at 4 weeks postfracture.
      Histomorphometric and microcomputed tomography analysis demonstrated that both
      the 3 and 60 MUg/kg/d alendronate treatments reversed trabecular bone loss (an
      88% +/- 25% and 188% +/- 39% increase in the ipsilateral distal femur BV/TV,
      respectively) and blocked the increase in osteoclast numbers and erosion surface
      observed in bilateral distal femurs and in L5 vertebra of the fracture rats.
      Alendronate treatment inhibited fracture-induced increases in hindpaw
      inflammatory mediators, reducing postfracture levels of tumor necrosis factor by
      43% +/- 9%, IL-1 by 60% +/- 9%, IL-6 by 56% +/- 14%, and NGF by 37% +/- 14%, but
      had no effect on increased spinal cord Fos expression, or skin and sciatic nerve
      immunocomplex deposition. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these results indicate that
      bisphosphonate therapy inhibits pain, osteoclast activation, trabecular bone
      loss, and cutaneous inflammation in the rat fracture model of CRPS, data
      supporting the hypothesis that bisphosphonate therapy can provide effective
      multimodal treatment for CRPS.

PMID- 27636580
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 27636581
TI  - Does the Device Matter in Goal-Directed Fluid Therapy?

PMID- 27636582
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 27636583
TI  - Another Stone to the Edifice of Wireless Anesthesia.

PMID- 27636584
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 27636585
TI  - Stewart Versus Traditional Approach to Acid-Base Disorders.

PMID- 27636586
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 27636588
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27636590
TI  - Uncertainty associated with assessing semen volume: are volumetric and
      gravimetric methods that different?
AB  - The World Health Organization laboratory manual for the examination of human
      semen suggests that an indirect measurement of semen volume by weighing
      (gravimetric method) is more accurate than a direct measure using a serological
      pipette. A series of experiments were performed to determine the level of
      discrepancy between the two methods using pipettes and a balance which had been
      calibrated to a traceable standard. The median weights of 1.0ml and 5.0ml of
      semen were 1.03 g (range 1.02-1.05 g) and 5.11 g (range 4.95-5.16 g),
      respectively, suggesting a density for semen between 1.03g and 1.04 g/ml. When
      the containers were re-weighed after the removal of 5.0 ml semen using a
      serological pipette, the mean residual loss was 0.12 ml (120 MUl) or 0.12 g
      (median 100 MUl, range 70-300 MUl). Direct comparison of the volumetric and
      gravimetric methods in a total of 40 samples showed a mean difference of 0.25ml
      (median 0.32 +/- 0.67ml) representing an error of 8.5%. Residual semen left in
      the container by weight was on average 0.11 g (median 0.10 g, range 0.05-0.19 g).
      Assuming a density of 1 g/ml then the average error between volumetric and
      gravimetric methods was approximately 8% (p < 0.001). If, however, the WHO value
      for density is assumed (1.04 g/ml) then the difference is reduced to 4.2%. At
      least 2.4-3.5% of this difference is also explained by the residual semen
      remaining in the container. This study suggests that by assuming the density of
      semen as 1 g/ml, there is significant uncertainty associated with the average
      gravimetric measurement of semen volume. Laboratories may therefore prefer to
      provide in-house quality assurance data in order to be satisfied that
      'estimating' semen volume is 'fit for purpose' as opposed to assuming a lower
      uncertainty associated with the WHO recommended method.

PMID- 27636589
TI  - Establishment of MAGEC2-knockout cells and functional investigation of MAGEC2 in
      tumor cells.
AB  - Cancer/testis antigen MAGEC2, a member of the type I melanoma-associated antigen
      family, is expressed in a wide variety of cancer types but not in normal somatic
      cells. MAGEC2 has long been recognized as a tumor-specific target, however, its
      functions remain largely unknown. In this study, we established MAGEC2-knockout
      A375 melanoma cell lines using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Seven clonal cell lines
      were generated by using four single guide RNAs targeting the coding region of the
      MAGEC2 gene, which produced indels that abolished MAGEC2 protein expression. To
      identify the differentially expressed protein profiles associated with MAGEC2
      loss, isobaric tag for relative quantitation-based comparative proteomics
      experiments were carried out on the MAGEC2-knockcout and control A375 cells.
      Mining of the proteomics data identified a total 224 (61.6% upregulated and 38.4%
      downregulated) proteins to be significantly altered in expression level in MAGEC2
      knockcout cells. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis indicated that the significantly
      altered proteins were involved in critical neoplasia-related biological functions
      such as cell death, proliferation, and movement. Gene ontology analysis
      identified "apoptosis signaling" as the top-most upregulated pathway associated
      with MAGEC2 loss. We showed that knockout or knockdown of the MAGEC2 gene
      sensitized melanoma cells to tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced apoptosis.
      Interestingly, actin-based motility by Rho and RhoA signaling, known to promote
      cell migration, were also identified as the top downregulated pathways in MAGEC2
      knockout A375 cells. In short, our study provides a suitable cell model for
      exploring the biological functions of MAGEC2 in malignant cells, and sheds light
      on the molecular pathway by which MAGEC2 promotes tumor development.

PMID- 27636591
TI  - Base-Catalyzed Stereospecific Isomerization of Electron-Deficient Allylic
      Alcohols and Ethers through Ion-Pairing.
AB  - A mild base-catalyzed strategy for the isomerization of allylic alcohols and
      allylic ethers has been developed. Experimental and computational investigations
      indicate that transition metal catalysts are not required when basic additives
      are present. As in the case of using transition metals under basic conditions,
      the isomerization catalyzed solely by base also follows a stereospecific pathway.
      The reaction is initiated by a rate-limiting deprotonation. Formation of an
      intimate ion pair between an allylic anion and the conjugate acid of the base
      results in efficient transfer of chirality. Through this mechanism,
      stereochemical information contained in the allylic alcohols is transferred to
      the ketone products. The stereospecific isomerization is also applicable for the
      first time to allylic ethers, yielding synthetically valuable enantioenriched (up
      to 97% ee) enol ethers.

PMID- 27636592
TI  - Bruch's Membrane Opening-Minimum Rim Width Assessment With Spectral-Domain
      Optical Coherence Tomography Performs Better Than Confocal Scanning Laser
      Ophthalmoscopy in Discriminating Early Glaucoma Patients From Control Subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic performance and evaluate diagnostic agreement
      for early glaucoma detection between a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope
      (CSLO) and a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Fifty-five eyes of 55 open-angle glaucoma patients and 42 eyes of 42
      healthy control subjects were enrolled in this observational, cross-sectional
      study. All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination, visual
      field testing, and optic nerve head and retinal nerve fiber layer imaging by CSLO
      (HRT3) and SD-OCT (Spectralis OCT). The agreements of categorical classifications
      were evaluated (kappa statistics). Area under receiver operating characteristic
      curves (AUROC) and sensitivity at 95% fixed specificity were computed. RESULTS:
      The agreements of HRT3 and Spectralis OCT categorical classifications were fair
      to moderate (kappa ranged between 0.33 and 0.54), except for Moorfields
      regression analysis of the HRT3 and the OCT global Bruch's membrane opening
      minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) (criterion 1 kappa=0.63, criterion 2 kappa=0.67). The
      AUROC of OCT global BMO-MRW (0.956) was greater than those of HRT3 cup-to-disc
      area ratio (0.877, P=0.0063), vertical cup-to-disc ratio (0.872, P=0.0072), and
      cup area (0.845, P=0.0005). At 95% specificity, Spectralis OCT global BMO-MRW
      attained a higher sensitivity than HRT3 cup-to-disc area ratio (P<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The BMO-MRW assessment with SD-OCT performed well in discriminating
      early glaucoma patients from control subjects and had a better performance than
      CSLO. The diagnostic classifications of HRT3 and Spectralis OCT may reach good
      agreement.

PMID- 27636593
TI  - Transscleral Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty Without a Gonioscopy Lens.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study was to investigate results of
      selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) performed directly on the sclera without a
      gonioscopy lens. DESIGN: Interventional case series, prospective, randomized,
      masked, controlled clinical trial. METHODS: Setting: Meir Medical Center, Kfar
      Saba, Israel. STUDY POPULATION: Adults with uncontrolled primary open angle or
      pseudoexfoliation glaucoma randomized into 2 groups. INTERVENTION: The controls
      underwent conventional SLT with 100 spots delivered using a gonioscopy lens for
      360 degrees of the trabecular meshwork. The study group underwent irradiation
      using the same parameters with the laser applications administered on the
      perilimbal sclera. Study visits: 1 hour, 1, 7, 30, 60, 180, and 365 days
      postprocedure. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intraocular pressure (IOP) and side
      effects. RESULTS: Thirty adults were randomized into 2 groups. The mean (+/-SD)
      pretreatment IOP was 20.21+/-3.19 mm Hg for the study group (n=14) and 21.14+/
      2.98 mm Hg for the controls (n=14; P =0.43), dropping to 15.50+/-3.77 and 15.00+/
      4.08 mm Hg (P =0.74) after 6 months and to 16.00+/-3.31 and 14.00+/-2.45 mm Hg (P
      =0.22) after 12 months. The average IOP reduction after 6 and 12 months was 23.4%
      and 20.83% for the study group and 27.1% and 33.77% for the controls (P=0.528).
      Success (a decrease of >=15% at 6 months with no additional medications, laser,
      or glaucoma surgery) was achieved in 12 (85.7%) study patients and 9 (69.2%)
      controls (P=0.385). Complications were mild and transient (n=30), although
      significantly higher in the controls (n=15; P <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: SLT applied
      directly to the perilimbal sclera may be as efficacious as the conventional
      procedure for 1 year.

PMID- 27636594
TI  - Vessel Caliber in Normal Tension and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma Eyes With
      Hemifield Damage.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study was to evaluate retinal vessel
      diameter in age-matched normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and primary open angle
      glaucoma (POAG) eyes with hemifield involvement. METHODS: Fundus photographs of
      patients with hemifield defect, good visibility of retinal nerve fiber layer
      defect, and vessels were compared with 30 controls. One eye of each patient (28
      NTG and 30 POAG) was randomly chosen for analysis using Image J software by
      different clinicians at 2 levels. The structural parameters analyzed included
      retinal nerve fiber layer defect width, diameter of vessels (superotemporal or
      inferotemporal artery and superotemporal or inferotemporal vein). RESULTS: The
      average superotemporal artery diameter was similar in NTG (71+/-16.8 um), POAG
      (79+/-26.6 um), and controls (82+/-14.1 um), P=0.2 with similar pattern seen for
      other vessels. The affected quadrant in all eyes and those with disc hemorrhage
      (n=8) did not have significantly different arteries and veins diameter as
      compared with the unaffected quadrant in that eye. No relation of artery or vein
      diameter with retinal nerve fiber layer defect width or clinical variables in NTG
      or POAG eyes was seen on multivariate regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The
      vessel diameter was not significantly different in the affected and unaffected
      quadrants of age and severity-matched NTG and POAG eyes with hemifield structural
      and functional defect as reported in earlier studies. These results point toward
      the possibility that vascular diameter changes may not be the cause for
      glaucomatous changes.

PMID- 27636596
TI  - Central Field Index Versus Visual Field Index for Central Visual Function in
      Stable Glaucoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the variability of central field index (CFI) versus visual
      field index (VFI) in stable glaucoma with central fixation involvement. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: For this retrospective study, we identified multiple visual fields
      (VFs) of patients with repeatable central fixation involvement on Humphrey VFs
      (24-2 and 10-2 program) which were stable (clinically and on VFs) over a very
      short period of 2 to 3 months. The VFI and CFI were calculated as described in
      earlier reports. We graded the fields as early [mean deviation (MD)>-6 dB],
      moderate (-6.1 to -12 dB), and severe glaucoma (<-12 dB) based on MD on 24-2
      program. The variability of CFI and VFI between visits and across different
      severity of glaucoma was compared. Relation of the divergence to field indices
      and clinical parameters were assessed. RESULTS: The intervisit difference for VFI
      was greater than CFI ranging from -4% to 9% versus -1% to 8% in early (P=0.9), 
      13% to 18% versus -6% to 17% (P=0.056) in moderate, and -21% to 19% versus -9% to
      9% (P<0.001) in severe glaucoma. The CFI within each group had narrower range
      than VFI with maximum range in severe glaucoma (33% to 95%). The divergence of
      CFI from VFI started at MD 24-2 beyond (worse) -10 dB. This difference between
      CFI and VFI was associated significantly with number of points with P<1% on 24-2
      (R=80.3%). CONCLUSIONS: CFI is less variable than VFI in stable eyes with
      fixation involvement especially in severe glaucoma indicating need for
      incorporating CFI calculation for monitoring advanced disease in eyes with
      central defects.

PMID- 27636597
TI  - Lack of Response to HBHA in HIV-Infected Patients with Latent Tuberculosis
      Infection.
AB  - Heparin-binding haemagglutinin (HBHA) has been proposed as an immunological
      biomarker for discriminating active tuberculosis (TB) from latent TB infection
      (LTBI) and to identify those at higher risk of progressing to active disease. Few
      data are available in immune-compromised patients, which are those with increased
      risk of TB reactivation. The aim of this stusy was to evaluate the immune
      response to HBHA in HIV-infected subjects with LTBI (HIV-LTBI) or active TB (HIV
      TB) in comparison with the immune response to additional Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis (Mtb) or HIV and CMV antigens. The responses are evaluated in
      relation to TB status and in the LTBI subjects with the progression to active TB
      within 2 years. Forty-one HIV-infected antiretroviral-naive subjects were
      prospectively enrolled: 18 were HIV-TB and 23 HIV-LTBI. Whole blood was in vitro
      stimulated overnight with several antigens and mitogen. Interferon-gamma response
      in the harvested plasma was evaluated by ELISA. Despite that CD4 cell count was
      significantly different between HIV-LTBI and HIV-TB, no differences were observed
      in response to Mtb- or HIV-specific antigens. Differently, low responses to HBHA
      were observed in both HIV-LTBI and HIV-TB subjects. Importantly, none of the six
      HIV-LTBI responding to HBHA developed TB, while two of 17 non-HBHA responders
      developed active disease. HIV-TB-coinfected subjects, regardless of their TB
      status, showed low responses to HBHA despite maintaining detectable responses to
      other antigens; moreover, among the HIV-LTBI, the lack of HBHA responses
      indicated an increased risk to develop active TB. These results, although
      preliminary, suggest that a positive response to HBHA in HIV-LTBI correlates with
      Mtb containment.

PMID- 27636598
TI  - Opportunities for clinical applications of rest-activity rhythms in detecting and
      preventing mood disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Rest-activity rhythm (RAR) measurements may aid in the
      detection of depression risk and serve as an important target for depression
      prevention. This review evaluates the strength of current evidence supporting
      these potential applications. RECENT FINDINGS: Depression is associated with
      lower activity levels, that is less regularly patterned, and potentially shifted
      earlier or later in the day. Specific RAR patterns (combinations of several RAR
      characteristics) in patients with clinical depression may be unique or partially
      shared across disorders. Longitudinal research is limited but provides initial
      evidence that multiple distinct RAR patterns are associated with the risk of
      developing depression symptoms. SUMMARY: RAR measures provide a comprehensive and
      objective assessment of depression's behavioral manifestations, and therefore may
      be useful as monitoring tool, providing additional information to help clinicians
      tailor behavioral treatments to specific patients. RARs also appear to contribute
      to depression risk and may be an important target for depression prevention. But
      research has not established valid predictive metrics using RARs to diagnose
      depression or detect depression risk. Future research should prioritize
      establishing the specific RAR patterns related to depression risk in high-risk
      groups, and should seek to place this risk within the known psychosocial and
      neurobiological risk architecture of depression.

PMID- 27636599
TI  - Sexual dysfunction in medical practice.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sexual dysfunction is associated with many medical disorders.
      Lack of recognition of sexual dysfunction commonly occurs in medical practice.
      The impact of unrecognized sexual dysfunction affects quality of life, which in
      turn affects the recovery from medical illness. This article reviews the recent
      literature regarding sexual dysfunction in medical practice published in PubMed,
      Clinical key, Scopus, Google scholar from November 2014 to May 2016. RECENT
      FINDINGS: New findings suggest that sexual dysfunction is associated with most of
      the disorders affecting various systems. Sexual dysfunction associated with
      medical disorders, apart from having effects on patients, also has impact on
      spouses. Sexual dysfunction may also be a predictor of future major adverse
      event. Prevelance of sexual dysfunction in various major illness is in the range
      of 20-75%. Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors which are first line drugs to treat
      erectile dysfunction cause no increase in myocardial infarction or death.
      SUMMARY: Sexual functioning is impaired in neurological, endocrinal,
      cardiovascular, pelvic, dermatological, and other disorders. Stroke, epilepsy,
      traumatic brain injury, and other neurological disorders cause significant
      impairment in sexual functioning. Though exact correlation between androgen and
      sexual functioning cannot be made, androgen plays important role various phases
      of sexual cycle in both men and women. Diabetes has impact on all the phases of
      sexual cycle. Hypertension, as well as certain drugs used to treat hypertension
      also causes sexual dysfunction, judicious use of hypotensive drugs is
      recommended.

PMID- 27636600
TI  - The questioned p value: clinical, practical and statistical significance.
AB  - The use of p-value and statistical significance have been questioned since the
      early 80s in the last century until today. Much has been discussed about it in
      the field of statistics and its applications, especially in Epidemiology and
      Public Health. As a matter of fact, the p-value and its equivalent, statistical
      significance, are difficult concepts to grasp for the many health professionals
      some way involved in research applied to their work areas. However, its meaning
      should be clear in intuitive terms although it is based on theoretical concepts
      of the field of Statistics. This paper attempts to present the p-value as a
      concept that applies to everyday life and therefore intuitively simple but whose
      proper use cannot be separated from theoretical and methodological elements of
      inherent complexity. The reasons behind the criticism received by the p-value and
      its isolated use are intuitively explained, mainly the need to demarcate
      statistical significance from clinical significance and some of the recommended
      remedies for these problems are approached as well. It finally refers to the
      current trend to vindicate the p-value appealing to the convenience of its use in
      certain situations and the recent statement of the American Statistical
      Association in this regard. 

PMID- 27636650
TI  - A Novel Minimally Invasive Technique of Using Tooth-Borne Hyrax Expansion Screw
      for Distraction Osteogenesis of Large Alveolar Cleft Defects (HYDIS-TB).
AB  - Because of the high failure rates, large alveolar cleft defects cannot be
      successfully closed with bone grafting. Vega introduced the use of the hyrax
      screw for the closure of such defects by distraction osteogenesis. However, his
      technique was more invasive with a difficult adaptation of the appliance at the
      surgical table. To overcome these limitations, a completely tooth-borne trifocal
      distraction appliance was devised and placed after osteotomy in a 22-year-old
      repaired group 3 cleft patient who had a 15-mm alveolar defect on the right side.
      The tooth-borne trifocal distraction appliance was successful in the controlled
      closure of a large alveolar cleft with minimal invasiveness and low costs making
      this procedure feasible for a greater number of patients.

PMID- 27636649
TI  - T cells in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
AB  - Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disorder caused by a complex
      combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. Different
      polymorphisms and epigenetic modifications lead to altered gene expression and
      function of several molecules which lead to abnormal T cell responses. Metabolic
      and functional alterations result in peripheral tolerance failures and biased
      differentiation of T cells into pro-inflammatory and B cell-helper phenotypes as
      well as the accumulation of disease-promoting memory T cells. Understanding these
      T cell alterations and their origins is necessary to develop more accurate
      patient classification systems and to discover new therapeutic targets.

PMID- 27636651
TI  - Effect of Bilayer Partitioning of Curcumin on the Adsorption and Transport of a
      Cationic Dye Across POPG Liposomes Probed by Second-Harmonic Spectroscopy.
AB  - The effect of Curcumin partitioning into the bilayer during the adsorption and
      transport of a cationic dye, LDS, across a negatively charged POPG bilayer was
      investigated by the interface-selective second-harmonic (SH) spectroscopic
      technique. The intensity of SH electric field (E2omega) arising due to LDS
      adsorbed on the outer bilayer of the POPG liposome was observed to increase
      instantaneously (<1 s) following the addition of Curcumin. The fractional
      increase in the SH electric field (Ef2omega) and the bilayer transport rates (kT)
      of LDS were studied with respect to the pH of the solution and also with the
      Curcumin content in the lipid bilayer. Results obtained indicate that compared
      with the anionic form of the drug, its neutral form is more conducive of
      increasing the Ef2omega of LDS. With increasing Curcumin content in the lipid
      bilayer, two distinct regimes could be observed in terms of Ef2omega and kT
      values of LDS. For Curcumin:Lipid (C/L) ratio <=0.02, the Ef2omega of LDS
      increases rapidly, while kT remains unchanged; and for C/L ratio >=0.02, the
      Ef2omega values remains more or less constant, while there is a significant (~40
      times) increase followed by a modest increase in the kT values of LDS. The
      observed results support an earlier two-state binding model of Curcumin with the
      POPG bilayer. In addition, it is further proposed that at low C/L ratio Curcumin
      binds to the surface of the bilayer replacing the counterions (Na+) bound to the
      lipid head groups, which changes the bilayer surface charge density, thereby
      causing more LDS cations to adsorb on the bilayer surface. At high C/L ratio,
      Curcumin intercalates within the hydrophobic domain of the bilayer, altering its
      hydrophobicity and inducing enhanced transport of the LDS cation. Results
      presented in this work provide further insights into how Curcumin alters bilayer
      properties when it partitions from the aqueous to the bilayer phase.

PMID- 27636652
TI  - Photodetectors Based on Two-Dimensional Layer-Structured Hybrid Lead Iodide
      Perovskite Semiconductors.
AB  - Hybrid lead iodide perovskite semiconductors have attracted intense research
      interests recently because of their easy fabrication processes and high power
      conversion efficiencies in photovoltaic applications. Layer-structured materials
      have interesting properties such as quantum confinement effect and tunable band
      gap due to the unique two-dimensional crystalline structures. ?100?-oriented
      layer-structured perovskite materials are inherited from three-dimensional ABX3
      perovskite materials with a generalized formula of (RNH3)2(CH3NH3)n-1MnX3n+1, and
      adopt the Ruddlesden-Popper type crystalline structure. Here we report the
      synthesis and investigation of three layer-structured perovskite materials with
      different layer numbers: (C4H9NH3)2PbI4 (n = 1, one-layered perovskite),
      (C4H9NH3)2(CH3NH3)Pb2I7 (n = 2, two-layered perovskite) and
      (C4H9NH3)2(CH3NH3)2Pb3I10 (n = 3, three-layered perovskite). Their
      photoelectronic properties were investigated in related to their molecular
      structures. Photodetectors based on these two-dimensional (2D) layer-structured
      perovskite materials showed tunable photoresponse with short response time in
      milliseconds. The photodetectors based on three-layered perovskite showed better
      performances than those of the other two devices, in terms of output current,
      responsivity, Ilight/Idark ratio, and response time, because of its smaller
      optical band gap and more condensed microstructure comparing the other two
      materials. These results revealed the relationship between the molecular
      structures, film microstructures and the photoresponse properties of 2D layer
      structured hybrid perovskites, and demonstrated their potentials as flexible,
      functional, and tunable semiconductors in optoelectronic applications, by taking
      advantage of their tunable quantum well molecular structure.

PMID- 27636653
TI  - UV-Induced Adenine Radicals Induced in DNA A-Tracts: Spectral and Dynamical
      Characterization.
AB  - Adenyl radicals generated in DNA single and double strands, (dA)20 and
      (dA)20.(dT)20, by one- and two-photon ionization by 266 nm laser pulses decay at
      600 nm with half-times of 1.0 +/- 0.1 and 4 +/- 1 ms, respectively. Though
      ionization initially forms the cation radical, the radicals detected for (dA)20
      are quantitatively identified as N6-deprotonated adenyl radicals by their
      absorption spectrum, which is computed quantum mechanically employing TD-DFT.
      Theoretical calculations show that deprotonation of the cation radical induces
      only weak spectral changes, in line with the spectra of the adenyl radical cation
      and the deprotonated radical trapped in low temperature glasses.

PMID- 27636654
TI  - Prison suicide in female detainees in Germany 2000-2013.
AB  - Specific risk factors for suicide among female prisoners were examined using an
      exhaustive sample of all suicides in German prisons between 2000 and 2013. The
      rate of prison suicide was lower among female (53,5/100,000) than among male
      prisoners (101/100,000). Differences between the genders regarding the various
      risk factors for prison suicide are few. Significant differences were observed
      only for bullying among men and higher percentages of drug withdrawal syndrome
      among women. Factors specific to the prison setting that contribute to suicide
      risk in incarcerated women should be examined.

PMID- 27636655
TI  - New Brazilian developmental curves and reference values for the Alberta infant
      motor scale.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The lack of Brazilian norms restrains the use of the Alberta Infant
      Motor Scale (AIMS) to precisely categorize infant motor development and
      discriminate infants with motor difficulties from typically developing infants.
      OBJECTIVE: This study investigated reference values for the AIMS for Brazilian
      infants. METHODS: Descriptive, cross-sectional study of infants from birth-to-18
      months old. Trained professionals assessed infants in daycares, homes, and
      governmental health centers. RESULTS: Results showed increases in raw scores
      across age groups from 0- to 15-months of age. The stability of raw scores was
      observed after 16 months of age. Brazilian infants demonstrated lower scores in
      specific ages compared to the Canadian sample. CONCLUSIONS: Canadian and
      Brazilian children showed differences in motor performance scores across age and
      norms were established for Brazilian infants. This study highlights the
      importance to establish reference values for AIMS of infants across cultures.

PMID- 27636656
TI  - De novo sequencing and transcriptome analysis of female venom glands of
      ectoparasitoid Bracon hebetor (Say.) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).
AB  - Venom is a key-factor in the regulation of host physiology by parasitic
      Hymenoptera and a potentially rich source of novel bioactive substances for
      biotechnological applications. The limited study of venom from the ectoparasitoid
      Bracon hebetor, a tiny wasp that attacks larval pest insects of field and stored
      products and is thus a potential insect control agent, has not described the full
      complement and composition of these biomolecules. To have a comprehensive picture
      of genes expressed in the venom glands of B. hebetor, a venom gland transcriptome
      was assembled by using next generation sequencing technologies followed by de
      novo assemblies of the 10.81 M sequence reads yielded 22,425 contigs, of which
      10,581 had significant BLASTx hits to know genes. The majority of hits were to
      Diachasma alloeum, an ectoparasitoid from same taxonomic family, as well as other
      wasps. Gene ontology grouped the sequences into molecular functions in which
      catalytic activity with 42.2% was maximum, cellular components in which cells
      with 33.8% and biological processes among which metabolic process with 30% had
      the most representatives. In this study, we highlight the most abundant
      sequences, and those that are likely to be functional components of the venom for
      parasitization. Full length ORFs of Calreticulin, Venom Acid Phosphatase Acph-1
      like protein and arginine kinase proteins were isolated and their tissue specific
      expression was studied by RT-PCR. Our report is the first to characterize
      components of the B. hebetor venom glands that may be useful for developing
      control tools for insect pests and other applications.

PMID- 27636657
TI  - Elder mistreatment predicts later physical and psychological health: Results from
      a national longitudinal study.
AB  - Stress process theory predicts that elder mistreatment leads to declines in
      health, and that social support buffers its ill effects. We test this theory
      using nationally representative, longitudinal data from 2,261 older adults in the
      National Social Life Health and Aging Project. We regress psychological and
      physical health in 2010/2011 on verbal and financial mistreatment experience in
      2005/2006 and find that the mistreated have more anxiety symptoms, greater
      feelings of loneliness, and worse physical and functional health 5 years later
      than those who did not report mistreatment. In particular, we show a novel
      association between financial mistreatment and functional health. Contrary to the
      stress buffering hypothesis, we find little evidence that social support
      moderates the relationship between mistreatment and health. Our findings point to
      the lasting impact of mistreatment on health but show little evidence of a
      buffering role of social support in this process.

PMID- 27636672
TI  - White matter hyperintensities and cognitive reserve during a working memory task:
      a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in cognitively normal older adults.
AB  - Cognitive reserve (CR) models posit that lifestyle factors such as education
      modulate the relationship between brain damage and cognition. However, the
      functional correlates of CR in healthy aging are still under investigation. White
      matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are a common age-associated finding that impacts
      cognition. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to
      characterize the patterns of brain activation during a working memory task in
      older participants with high and low levels of education (as a proxy of CR) and
      high and low WMH volumes. Ninety older volunteers (aged 63-76 years) and 16 young
      adults (aged 21-27) completed the study. We found that older adults with higher
      education had better working memory performance than their less educated peers.
      Among the highly educated participants, those with WMH over-recruited areas
      engaged by young volunteers and showed activation in additional cortical and
      subcortical structures. However, those with low WMH differed little with respect
      to their younger counterparts. Our findings demonstrate that the functional
      mechanisms subtending the effects of education, as a proxy of CR, are modulated
      according to the WMH burden.

PMID- 27636673
TI  - Measurement of pleural pressure swings with a fluid-filled esophageal catheter vs
      pulmonary artery occlusion pressure.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pleural pressure measured with esophageal balloon catheters (Peso) can
      guide ventilator management and help with the interpretation of hemodynamic
      measurements, but these catheters are not readily available or easy to use. We
      tested the utility of an inexpensive, fluid-filled esophageal catheter (Peso) by
      comparing respiratory-induced changes in pulmonary artery occlusion (Ppao),
      central venous (CVP), and Peso pressures. METHODS: We studied 30 patients
      undergoing elective cardiac surgery who had pulmonary artery and esophageal
      catheters in place. Proper placement was confirmed by chest compression with
      airway occlusion. Measurements were made during pressure-regulated volume control
      (VC) and pressure support (PS) ventilation. RESULTS: The fluid-filled esophageal
      catheter provided a high-quality signal. During VC and PS, change in Ppao (?Ppao)
      was greater than ?Peso (bias = -2 mm Hg) indicating an inspiratory increase in
      cardiac filling. During VC, ?CVP bias was 0 indicating no change in right heart
      filling, but during PS, CVP fell less than Peso indicating an inspiratory
      increase in filling. Peso measurements detected activation of expiratory muscles,
      development of non-west zone 3 lung conditions during inspiration, and ventilator
      triggered inspiratory efforts. CONCLUSIONS: A fluid-filled esophageal catheter
      provides a high-quality, easily accessible, and inexpensive measure of change in
      pleural pressure and provided insights into patient-ventilator interactions.

PMID- 27636674
TI  - Social adversities and psychotic symptoms: A test of predictions derived from the
      social defeat hypothesis.
AB  - Based on the social defeat (SD) hypothesis, this study examines the postulate
      that various social adversities converge into one common factor, and whether this
      factor has an effect on psychotic symptoms while controlling for its effect on
      depression and anxiety. Competing hypotheses arguing for the reverse effect were
      also tested. The study was a cross-sectional survey in a community sample (N
      =2350) from Germany (n=786), Indonesia (n=844), and the United States (n=720).
      Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis with structural equation
      modeling were used to test the hypotheses. In the CFA two factors reflecting
      current and past experiences of SD could be identified with acceptable fit. Path
      analysis indicated acceptable fit for both SD and reverse models, and both the
      path from current SD to psychotic symptoms and the reverse one were significant,
      although the former was stronger than the latter. Interestingly, the current but
      not the past SD factor was significantly associated with psychotic symptoms.
      Overall, the results indicate that postulates derived from the SD hypothesis fit
      the data. However, longitudinal research is needed to further confirm the
      postulated directionality of the associations.

PMID- 27636676
TI  - Effects of arsenic supplementation in feed on laying performance, arsenic
      retention of eggs and organs, biochemical indices and endocrine hormones.
AB  - 1. The primary objective of this experiment was to estimate the toxic effects of
      arsenic (As) supplementation in feed on laying performance, As retention by eggs
      and organs, serum biochemical indices and endocrine hormones in laying hens. 2. A
      total of 320 "Jinghong Number 1" hens, 56-week-old, were randomly allocated into
      four treatments of four replicates with 20 layers in each. Graded arsenical was
      added to the basal diet in the experimental diets at As levels of 0, 17, 34 and
      51 mg/kg, respectively. The trial lasted for 9 weeks including 1 week for
      acclimatisation. 3. Supplementation of dietary As for eight weeks had no effect
      on laying performance. As retention in albumen, yolk, egg, liver and kidney
      increased as As levels increased The level of serum phosphorus (P) was minimised
      at the 17 mg As/kg group. The activity of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase
      (GOT) increased linearly. No differences were observed for levels of serum
      calcium (Ca), alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase
      (GPT). Concentrations of estradiol (E2) and progesterone (PG) declined at 34 and
      51 mg/kg As levels compared with the control group. As supplementation exerted no
      influence on levels of serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising
      hormone (LH), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and the ratio between T3 and
      T4. 4. In conclusion, dietary As supplementation accelerated retention in tissues
      and eggs, and affected the laying rate by diminishing hormone levels of E2 and PG
      at 51 mg/kg.

PMID- 27636677
TI  - Fibromyalgia.
AB  - Questions from patients about pain conditions and analgesic pharmacotherapy and
      responses from authors are presented to help educate patients and make them more
      effective self-advocates. In reply to a question about fibromyalgia, the authors
      discuss symptoms, the use of opioids and naltrexone, other medication and
      nonmedication options, and managing expectations for treatment. 

PMID- 27636675
TI  - Colorimetric Sensor Arrays for the Detection and Identification of Chemical
      Weapons and Explosives.
AB  - There is a significant demand for devices that can rapidly detect chemical
      biological-explosive (CBE) threats on-site and allow for immediate responders to
      mitigate spread, risk, and loss. The key to an effective reconnaissance mission
      is a unified detection technology that analyzes potential threats in real time.
      In addition to reviewing the current state of the art in the field, this review
      illustrates the practicality of colorimetric arrays composed of sensors that
      change colors in the presence of analytes. This review also describes an outlook
      toward future technologies, and describes how they could possibly be used in
      areas such as war zones to detect and identify hazardous substances.

PMID- 27636678
TI  - A Methodology for Verifying Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Wall Stress.
AB  - An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a permanent focal dilatation of the
      abdominal aorta of at least 1.5 times its normal diameter. Although the criterion
      of maximum diameter is still used in clinical practice to decide on a timely
      intervention, numerical studies have demonstrated the importance of other
      geometric factors. However, the major drawback of numerical studies is that they
      must be validated experimentally before clinical implementation. This work
      presents a new methodology to verify wall stress predicted from the numerical
      studies against the experimental testing. To this end, four AAA phantoms were
      manufactured using vacuum casting. The geometry of each phantom was subject to
      microcomputed tomography (MUCT) scanning at zero and three other intraluminal
      pressures: 80, 100, and 120 mm Hg. A zero-pressure geometry algorithm was used to
      calculate the wall stress in the phantom, while the numerical wall stress was
      calculated with a finite-element analysis (FEA) solver based on the actual zero
      pressure geometry subjected to 80, 100, and 120 mm Hg intraluminal pressure
      loading. Results demonstrate the moderate accuracy of this methodology with small
      relative differences in the average wall stress (1.14%). Additionally, the
      contribution of geometric factors to the wall stress distribution was
      statistically analyzed for the four phantoms. The results showed a significant
      correlation between wall thickness and mean curvature (MC) with wall stress.

PMID- 27636681
TI  - High Disparity Between Orthopedic Resident Interest and Participation in
      International Health Electives.

PMID- 27636680
TI  - Autoimmunity in common variable immunodeficiency: epidemiology, pathophysiology
      and management.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) comprises a large
      heterogeneous group of patients with primary antibody deficiency. Areas covered:
      The affected patients are characterized by increased susceptibility to infections
      and low levels of serum immunoglobulin. However, enteropathy, granulomatous organ
      infiltrates, malignancy, inflammatory and autoimmune conditions are also
      prevalent. The concomitance of immunodeficiency and autoimmunity appears to be
      paradoxical and creates difficulties in the management of autoimmune
      complications affecting these patients. Expert commentary: The management of
      autoimmunity in patients with CVID requires special considerations because
      dysregulation and dysfunctions of the immune system along with persistent
      inflammation impair the process of diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 27636682
TI  - New Paradigms in Orthopedic Education.

PMID- 27636679
TI  - Association between Dietary Inflammatory Index and Gastric Cancer Risk in an
      Italian Case-Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study, we explored the association between the dietary
      inflammatory index (DII) and gastric cancer risk in an Italian case-control
      study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cases were 230 patients with incident,
      histologically confirmed cases of gastric cancer from the Greater Milan area,
      Northern Italy. Controls were 547 frequency-matched subjects admitted to the same
      network of hospitals as cases for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic
      conditions. The DII was computed using a reproducible and valid 78-item food
      frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated through logistic
      regression models conditioned on age and sex and adjusted for recognized
      confounding factors, including total energy intake. RESULTS: Subjects with the
      most pro-inflammatory diet had a higher risk of gastric cancer compared to
      subjects with the most anti-inflammatory diet (ORQuartile4vs1 = 2.35, 95%
      confidence interval, 1.32, 4.20; P-trend = 0.004). CONCLUSION: These results
      indicate that a pro-inflammatory diet, as indicated by higher DII score, was
      associated with increased risk of gastric cancer.

PMID- 27636683
TI  - Applied Nanotechnology and Nanoscience in Orthopedic Oncology.
AB  - Nanomedicine is based on the fact that biological molecules behave similarly to
      nanomolecules, which have a size of less than 100 nm, and is now affecting most
      areas of orthopedics. In orthopedic oncology, most of the in vitro and in vivo
      studies have used osteosarcoma or Ewing sarcoma cell lineages. In this article,
      tumor imaging and treatment nanotechnology applications, including nanostructure
      delivery of chemotherapeutic agents, gene therapy, and the role of nano-selenium
      coated implants, are outlined. Finally, the potential role of nanotechnology in
      addressing the challenges of drug and radiotherapy resistance is discussed.
      [Orthopedics. 2016; 39(5):280-286.]. 

PMID- 27636684
TI  - Changes in kinematics and arm-leg coordination during a 100-m breaststroke swim.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare arm-leg coordination and kinematics
      during 100 m breaststroke in 26 (8 female; 18 male) specialist breaststroke
      swimmers. Laps were recorded using three 50-Hz underwater cameras. Heart rate and
      blood lactate were measured pre- and post-swim. Arm-leg coordination was defined
      using coordination phases describing continuity between recovery and propulsive
      phases of upper and lower limbs: coordination phase 1 (time between end of leg
      kick and start of the arm pull phases); and coordination phase 2 (time between
      end of arm pull and start of leg kick phases). Duration of stroke phases,
      coordination phases, swim velocity, stroke length (SL), stroke rate (SR) and
      stroke index (SI) were analysed during the last three strokes of each lap that
      were unaffected by turning or finishing. Significant changes in velocity, SI and
      SL (P < 0.05) were found between laps. Both sexes showed significant increase (P
      < 0.05) in heart rate and blood lactate pre- to post-swim. Males had
      significantly (P < 0.01) faster swim velocities resulting from longer SLs (P =
      0.016) with no difference in SR (P = 0.064). Sex differences in kinematic
      parameters can be explained by anthropometric differences providing males with
      increased propelling efficiency.

PMID- 27636687
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27636686
TI  - [The Sensory Organization Test on the Equitest(r) posturography system].

PMID- 27636688
TI  - Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Growing Problem.

PMID- 27636689
TI  - Special Issue on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.

PMID- 27636690
TI  - Ethical Considerations for Perinatal Toxicology Screening.
AB  - Neonatal nurses frequently care for babies who have been exposed in utero to
      potentially harmful substances, both licit and illicit. The risks to the fetus
      from nicotine, marijuana, alcohol, and opiates are significant. Adverse effects
      from environmental factors may confound pharmacologic effects of substances.
      Nurses are called to shift the perception of substance use disorder from that of
      willful harm to the fetus to that of an opportunity to provide treatment
      assistance that can positively affect child health and development. Concerns for
      unethical practices in the toxicology screening of pregnant women and their
      babies by risk factors that are unproven or disproven are discussed, and three
      goals of toxicology screening based on the ethical principles of justice and
      beneficence are proposed. This article will help equip neonatal nurses to fulfill
      their professional responsibility to advocate for just screening and referral
      practices in their institutions and communities. 

PMID- 27636691
TI  - Long-Term Outcomes of Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.
AB  - Parents of infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the NICU may have
      questions about the long-term consequences of prenatal exposure to methadone,
      both asked and unasked. Although the signs of withdrawal will abate relatively
      quickly, parents should be aware of potential vision, motor, and
      behavioral/cognitive problems, as well as sleeping disturbances and ear
      infections so their infants can be followed closely and monitored by their
      pediatrician with appropriate referrals made. Furthermore, this knowledge may
      inspire parents to enroll their infants in an early intervention program to help
      optimize their outcomes. There are still many unanswered questions about
      epigenetic consequences, risk for child abuse/neglect, and risk of future
      substance abuse in this population. 

PMID- 27636693
TI  - NICU Culture of Care for Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Focused
      Ethnography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this focused ethnography was to describe the culture of
      care and nonpharmacologic nursing interventions performed by NICU nurses for
      infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). METHOD: Roper and Shapira's
      framework for the analysis included participant observation, individual
      interviews, and examination of existing documents. SAMPLE: Twelve full-time
      nurses were observed and interviewed. RESULTS: Results described the culture of
      care provided to infants with NAS by NICU nurses as evidenced by six themes:
      learn the baby (routine care, comfort care, environment, adequate rest and sleep,
      feeding), core team relationships (support, interpersonal relationships), role
      satisfaction (nurturer/comforter, becoming an expert), grief, making a difference
      (wonderful insanity, critical to them), and education and care of the mother.

PMID- 27636694
TI  - Characteristics of Maternal-Infant Interaction During Treatment for Opioid
      Withdrawal.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the interactions between
      mothers in a methadone treatment program and their infants during a bottle
      feeding and compare the findings with normed data. DESIGN: A comparative
      descriptive design was used. SAMPLE: Data from 12 opiate-exposed mother-infant
      dyads were compared with normed data. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLE: Nursing Child
      Assessment Satellite-Training Scale scores. RESULTS: The opiate-exposed dyads
      scored significantly lower than the normed dyads in the infant subscales of
      clarity of cues (p < .001, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.56-4.08) and
      responsiveness to caregiver (p < .01, 95% CI, 0.27-2.5), as well as the total
      score (p < .001, 95% CI, 2.42-6.15). Parent sensitivity to infant cues subscale
      (p < .01, 95% CI, 0.42-2.37) and parent contingency score (p < .01, 95% CI, 0.55
      3.81) were also significantly lower. The cognitive growth fostering subscale
      scores were significantly higher in the neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) group
      (p < .01, 95% CI,- 2.94 to- 0.7).

PMID- 27636695
TI  - Nonpharmacologic Management of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: An Integrative
      Review.
AB  - Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) affects 3.39 in every 1,000 live births. A
      literature review was conducted to determine the varying types of
      nonpharmacologic management being used currently and its effect on the treatment
      of NAS symptoms. Fourteen articles were found that used nonpharmacologic
      management in the treatment of NAS. Therapies included breastfeeding,
      positioning, rooming-in, acupuncture/acupressure, and beds. Each of the
      nonpharmacologic therapies in these articles, with the exception of rocking beds,
      was shown to have a positive effect on the newborn with NAS. These effects
      include a shorter length of stay, a decrease in NAS scores, a decrease need for
      pharmacologic treatment, less agitation, a better quality of sleep, and a
      decrease in the severity of NAS symptoms. This review article shows that
      nonpharmacologic management is an effective tool for NAS symptom treatment. 

PMID- 27636697
TI  - Drug Screening in Neonates.
AB  - Gestational substance exposure continues to be a significant problem. Neonates
      may be exposed to various substances including illicit drugs, prescription drugs,
      and other legal substances that are best not used during pregnancy because of
      their potential deleterious effects as possible teratogens or their potential to
      create dependence and thus withdrawal in the neonate. Screening the newborn for
      gestational substance exposure is important for both acute care and early
      intervention to promote the best possible long-term outcomes. This column
      provides insight into what is known about the extent of substance use by pregnant
      women, an overview of neonatal biologic matrices for drug testing, and a
      discussion of the legal implications of neonatal substance screening. 

PMID- 27636696
TI  - Pharmacotherapy for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Choosing the Right Opioid or No
      Opioid at All.
AB  - Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) from in utero opioid exposure has reached
      epidemic levels in the United States. Although nonpharmacologic therapies form
      the foundation of care, many neonates require pharmacotherapy. Morphine
      represents the most widely used first-line agent and effectively treats the
      symptoms of withdrawal. However, methadone or buprenorphine may facilitate
      earlier discharge. Although phenobarbital is traditionally used when opioids
      fail, clonidine may be a more appropriate adjunctive agent to minimize negative
      neurodevelopmental impact. Consideration of the available data allows hospitals
      to generate effective pharmacologic strategies to manage NAS while further
      research continues. 

PMID- 27636699
TI  - Continuing Education Course.

PMID- 27636698
TI  - Adding to Our Practice Toolkit: Using the ACTS Script to Address Stigmatizing
      Peer Behaviors in the Context of Maternal Substance Use.
AB  - Infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) are a growing population in the
      NICU setting, and nurses report that caring for families can be challenging.
      Women who are pregnant and newly parenting who use drugs and alcohol typically
      face significant negative attitudes, judgment, and stigma within their
      communities and from providers when they access health care. When nurses witness
      biased behavior or communication from their peers, they may feel distressed and
      unprepared to address the situation. Using script guides or structured
      communication frameworks (e.g., SBAR) is one helpful strategy for rehearsing
      actions and responses. The ACTS script was developed specifically to address peer
      attitudes and stigma in relation to substance use during pregnancy. 

PMID- 27636700
TI  - News of the Academy of Neonatal Nursing.

PMID- 27636702
TI  - Influenza infection in neutropenic adults.
AB  - While lymphopenia is a well-defined risk factor for severe influenza, the effect
      of neutropenia is unknown. This was a retrospective single centre study of adult
      patients with documented neutropenia and influenza between 2005 and 2013. Forty
      patients were included with a median follow-up of 2 years (IQR 0.8-4.0). Median
      ANC at influenza diagnosis was 0.3 * 109/L (IQR 0.1-0.4 * 109/L). Outcomes
      included hospitalization (N = 28, 70%), pneumonia (N = 9, 23%), ICU admission (N
      = 9, 23%) and mechanical ventilation (N = 7, 18%). Three deaths (7.5%) were
      attributed to influenza, all of whom had lower respiratory tract infection
      (LRTI). Patients with LRTI (N = 18, 45%) also had a higher 30-day mortality (37
      versus 0%) and 90-day mortality (42 versus 0%) than those with upper respiratory
      tract infection. In summary, neutropenic patients have high rates of influenza
      complications. Our study highlights the need for early diagnosis and aggressive
      management of influenza in this population.

PMID- 27636701
TI  - Neither vaginal nor buccal administration of 800 MUg misoprostol alters mucosal
      and systemic immune activation or the cervicovaginal microbiome: a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which misoprostol
      alters mucosal or systemic immune responses following either buccal or vaginal
      administration. METHODS: This was a prospective, crossover pilot study of 15
      healthy, reproductive-age women. Women first received 800 MUg misoprostol either
      via buccal or vaginal administration and were crossed over 1 month later to
      receive the drug via the other route. Cervicovaginal lavage samples, cervical
      Cytobrush samples, cervicovaginal swabs, urine and blood were obtained
      immediately prior to drug administration and the following day. Parameters
      assessed included urine and cervicovaginal misoprostol levels, whole blood
      cytokine responses (by ELISA) to immune stimulation with lipopolysaccharide,
      peripheral blood and cervical lymphocyte phenotyping by flow cytometry,
      cervicovaginal antimicrobial peptide measurement by ELISA and vaginal microbial
      ecology assessment by 16S rRNA sequencing. RESULTS: Neither buccal nor vaginal
      misoprostol significantly altered local or systemic immune and microbiological
      parameters. CONCLUSION: In this pilot study, we did not observe significant
      alteration of mucosal or systemic immunology or vaginal microbial ecology 1 day
      after drug administration following either the buccal or vaginal route.

PMID- 27636703
TI  - Senescent cell death brings hopes to life.

PMID- 27636704
TI  - A Probiotic Adjuvant Lactobacillus rhamnosus Enhances Specific Immune Responses
      after Ocular Mucosal Immunization with Chlamydial Polymorphic Membrane Protein C.
AB  - Recent advances in the development of chlamydia vaccines, using live-attenuated
      or ultraviolet light-inactivated chlamydia, are paving the way for new
      possibilities to oppose the societal challenges posed by chlamydia-related
      diseases, such as blinding trachoma. An effective subunit vaccine would mitigate
      the risks associated with the use of a whole-cell vaccine. Our rationale for the
      design of an efficient subunit vaccine against Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is
      based on the membrane proteins involved in the initial Ct-host cell contact and
      on the route of immunization that mimics the natural infection process (i.e., via
      the ocular mucosa). The first aim of our study was to characterize the specific
      conjunctival and vaginal immune responses following eye drop immunization in
      BALB/c mice, using the N-terminal portion of the Ct serovar E polymorphic
      membrane protein C (N-PmpC) as the subunit vaccine antigen. Second, we aimed to
      examine the adjuvant properties of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LB)
      when formulated with N-PmpC. N-PmpC applied alone stimulated the production of N
      PmpC- and Ct serovar B-specific antibodies in serum, tears and vaginal washes,
      whereas the combination with LB significantly enhanced these responses. The N
      PmpC/LB combination initiated a T cell response characterized by an elevated
      percentage of CD25+ T cells and CD8+ effector T cells, enhanced CD4+ T-helper 1
      skewing, and increased regulatory T cell responses. Together, these results show
      that eye drop vaccination with combined use of N-PmpC and a live probiotic LB
      stimulates specific cellular and humoral immune responses, not only locally in
      the conjunctiva but also in the vaginal mucosa, which could be a promising
      approach in Ct vaccine development. 

PMID- 27636705
TI  - Cathepsin K Deficiency Prevents the Aggravated Vascular Remodeling Response to
      Flow Cessation in ApoE-/- Mice.
AB  - Cathepsin K (catK) is a potent lysosomal cysteine protease involved in
      extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and inflammatory remodeling responses.
      Here we have investigated the contribution of catK deficiency on carotid arterial
      remodeling in response to flow cessation in apoE-/- and wild type (wt)
      background. Ligation-induced hyperplasia is considerably aggravated in apoE-/-
      versus wt mice. CatK protein expression was significantly increased in neointimal
      lesions of apoE-/- compared with wt mice, suggesting a role for catK in intimal
      hyperplasia under hyperlipidemic conditions. Surprisingly, CatK deficiency
      completely blunted the augmented hyperplastic response to flow cessation in apoE
      /-, whereas vascular remodeling in wt mice was unaffected. As catK deficiency did
      neither alter lesion collagen content and elastic laminae fragmentation in vivo,
      we focused on effects of catK on (systemic) inflammatory responses. CatK
      deficiency significantly reduced circulating CD3 T-cell numbers, but increased
      the regulatory T cell subset in apoE-/- but not wt mice. Moreover, catK
      deficiency changed CD11b+Ly6G-Ly6C high monocyte distribution in apoE-/- but not
      wt mice and tended to favour macrophage M2a polarization. In conclusion, catK
      deficiency almost completely blunted the increased vascular remodeling response
      of apoE-/- mice to flow cessation, possibly by correcting hyperlipidemia
      associated pro-inflammatory effects on the peripheral immune response. 

PMID- 27636706
TI  - Familial solitary chondrosarcoma resulting from germline EXT2 mutation.
AB  - Germline mutations of EXT2, encoding Exostosin Glycosyltransferase 2, are
      associated with multiple osteochondromas (MO), an autosomal dominant disease
      characterized by the development of multiple peripheral cartilaginous benign
      tumors with a weak risk of malignant transformation. We report here a family with
      a remarkable clinical presentation characterized by the development of isolated
      chondrosarcomas, mostly located in ribs. Comparative analysis of exomes from two
      third-degree affected relatives led us to identify a single common disruptive
      variation, corresponding to a stop mutation (c.237G > A, p.Trp79*; (NM_000401.3);
      c.138G > A, p.Trp46*; (NM_207122.1)) within exon 2 of the EXT2 gene.
      Interestingly, no obvious sign of MO was detected in affected members by
      radiological examination. This report shows that germline mutations of EXT2 can
      result, not only in the development of multiple benign osteochondromas, but also
      in the development of isolated malignant cartilaginous tumors including central
      tumors, and that the presence of germline EXT2 mutation should be considered in
      patients suspected to have an inherited predisposition to chondrosarcoma, even in
      the absence of MO. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636707
TI  - Characterization of Chemically and Thermally Treated Oil-in-Water
      Heteroaggregates and Comparison to Conventional Emulsions.
AB  - Heteroaggregated oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions formed by targeted combination of
      oppositely charged emulsion droplets were proposed to be used for the modulation
      of physical properties of food systems, ideally achieving the formation of a
      particulate 3-dimensional network at comparably low-fat content. In this study,
      rheological properties of Quillaja saponins (QS), sugar beet pectin (SBP), and
      whey protein isolate (WPI) stabilized conventional and heteroaggregated O/W
      emulsions at oil contents of 10% to 60% (w/w) were investigated. Selected systems
      having an oil content of 30% (w/w) and different particle sizes (d43 <= 1.1 or
      >=16.7 MUm) were additionally subjected to chemical (genipin or glutaraldehyde)
      and thermal treatments, aiming to increase network stability. Subsequently, their
      rheological properties and stability were assessed. Yield stresses (tau0 ) of
      both conventional and heteroaggregated O/W emulsions were found to depend on
      emulsifier type, oil content, and initial droplet size. For conventional
      emulsions, high yield stresses were only observed for SBP-based emulsions (tau0
      ,SBP approximately 157 Pa). Highest yield stresses of heteroaggregates were
      observed when using small droplets stabilized by SBP/WPI (approximately 15.4 Pa),
      being higher than those of QS/WPI (approximately 1.6 Pa). Subsequent treatments
      led to significant alterations in rheological properties for SBP/WPI systems,
      with yield stresses increasing 29-fold (glutaraldehyde) and 2-fold (thermal
      treatment) compared to untreated heteroaggregates, thereby surpassing yield
      stresses of similarly treated conventional SBP emulsions. Genipin-driven
      treatments proved to be ineffective. Results should be of interest to food
      manufacturers wishing to design viscoelastic food emulsion based systems at lower
      oil droplet contents.

PMID- 27636708
TI  - The relational neurobehavioral approach: can a non-aversive program manage adults
      with brain injury-related aggression without seclusion/restraint?
AB  - PURPOSE: The Relational Neurobehavioral Approach (RNA) is a set of non-aversive
      intervention methods to manage individuals with brain injury-related aggression.
      New data on interventions used in the RNA and on how the RNA interventions can be
      used with patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) who have differing levels of
      functional impairment are provided in this paper. METHOD: The study was conducted
      over a 6-week period in a secure 65-bed program for individuals with ABI that is
      housed in two units of a skilled nursing facility (SNF). Implementation of the
      RNA was compared between two units that housed patients with differing levels of
      functional impairment (n = 65 adults). Since this was a hierarchical clustered
      dataset, Generalized Estimating Equations regression was used in the analyses.
      RESULTS: RNA interventions used to manage the 495 aggressive incidents included
      the following: Aggression ignored, Closer observation, Talking to patient,
      Reassurance, Physical distraction, Isolation without seclusion, Immediate
      medication by mouth, Holding patient. Different interventions were implemented
      differentially by staff based on level of functional impairment and without use
      of seclusion or mechanical restraint. CONCLUSIONS: The RNA can be used to non
      aversively manage aggression in patients with brain injury and with differing
      levels of functional impairment. Programs adopting the RNA can potentially manage
      brain injury-related aggression without seclusion or mechanical restraint.
      Implications for Rehabilitation The Relational Neurobehavioral Approach (RNA) is
      a set of non-aversive intervention methods to manage individuals with brain
      injury-related aggression. RNA methods can be used to manage aggression in
      patients with brain injury who have differing levels of functional impairment.
      Successful implementation of the RNA may allow for the management of brain injury
      related aggression without seclusion or mechanical restraint.

PMID- 27636709
TI  - Genetic Characterisation of Plasmodium falciparum Isolates with Deletion of the
      pfhrp2 and/or pfhrp3 Genes in Colombia: The Amazon Region, a Challenge for
      Malaria Diagnosis and Control.
AB  - Most Plasmodium falciparum-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) target
      histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2). However, P. falciparum isolates with deletion
      of the pfhrp2 gene and its homolog gene, pfhrp3, have been detected. We carried
      out an extensive investigation on 365 P. falciparum dried blood samples collected
      from seven P. falciparum endemic sites in Colombia between 2003 and 2012 to
      genetically characterise and geographically map pfhrp2- and/or pfhrp3-negative P.
      falciparum parasites in the country. We found a high proportion of pfhrp2
      negative parasites only in Amazonas (15/39; 38.5%), and these parasites were also
      pfhrp3-negative. These parasites were collected between 2008 and 2009 in
      Amazonas, while pfhrp3-negative parasites (157/365, 43%) were found in all the
      sites and from each of the sample collection years evaluated (2003 to 2012). We
      also found that all pfhrp2- and/or pfhrp3-negative parasites were also negative
      for one or both flanking genes. Six sub-population clusters were established with
      93.3% (14/15) of the pfhrp2-negative parasites grouped in the same cluster and
      sharing the same haplotype. This haplotype corresponded with the genetic lineage
      BV1, a multidrug resistant strain that caused two outbreaks reported in Peru
      between 2010 and 2013. We found this BV1 lineage in the Colombian Amazon as early
      as 2006. Two new clonal lineages were identified in these parasites from
      Colombia: the genetic lineages EV1 and F. PfHRP2 sequence analysis revealed high
      genetic diversity at the amino acid level, with 17 unique sequences identified
      among 53 PfHRP2 sequences analysed. The use of PfHRP2-based RDTs is not
      recommended in Amazonas because of the high proportion of parasites with pfhrp2
      deletion (38.5%), and implementation of new strategies for malaria diagnosis and
      control in Amazonas must be prioritised. Moreover, studies to monitor and
      genetically characterise pfhrp2-negative P. falciparum parasites in the Americas
      are warranted, given the extensive human migration occurring in the region. 

PMID- 27636710
TI  - First-generation phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors dropout: a comprehensive
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - The discontinuation rate with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) remains
      very high. The aim of this study was to review and meta-analyze currently
      available data regarding dropout of the first-generation of PDE5i including
      sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil. An extensive Medline Embase and Cochrane
      search was performed including the following words: 'PDE5i', 'discontinuation'.
      All observational studies reporting the dropout rate of PDE5i and its specific
      causes without any arbitrary restrictions were included. Out of 103 retrieved
      articles, 22 were included in the study. Retrieved trials included a total of
      162,936 patients with a mean age of 58.8 +/- 7.9 years. Prevalence of reported
      comorbid diabetes and hypertension were 27.7% and 36.9%, respectively. PDE5i were
      associated with a mean discontinuation rate of 4% per month (almost 50% after one
      year). This rate was higher in younger subjects and in those reporting a higher
      prevalence of associated morbidities. Six main reasons of PDE5i dropout were
      identified in the evaluated trials. Partner-related problems and lack of efficacy
      represented the most important reasons for PDE5i discontinuation, although no
      significant difference among factors was detected. In conclusion, despite their
      high efficacy and easy administration, the discontinuation rate and
      dissatisfaction with PDE5i are still very high. Our data showed that no single
      factor plays a major role in PDE5i dropout, suggesting that the discontinuation
      rate is usually because of a combination of both medical problems and
      psychosocial and relational factors.

PMID- 27636711
TI  - SmShb, the SH2-Containing Adaptor Protein B of Schistosoma mansoni Regulates
      Venus Kinase Receptor Signaling Pathways.
AB  - Venus kinase receptors (VKRs) are invertebrate receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs)
      formed by an extracellular Venus Fly Trap (VFT) ligand binding domain associated
      via a transmembrane domain with an intracellular tyrosine kinase (TK) domain.
      Schistosoma mansoni VKRs, SmVKR1 and SmVKR2, are both implicated in reproductive
      activities of the parasite. In this work, we show that the SH2 domain-containing
      protein SmShb is a partner of the phosphorylated form of SmVKR1. Expression of
      these proteins in Xenopus oocytes allowed us to demonstrate that the SH2 domain
      of SmShb interacts with the phosphotyrosine residue (pY979) located in the
      juxtamembrane region of SmVKR1. This interaction leads to phosphorylation of
      SmShb on tyrosines and promotes SmVKR1 signaling towards the JNK pathway. SmShb
      transcripts are expressed in all parasite stages and they were found in ovary and
      testes of adult worms, suggesting a possible colocalization of SmShb and SmVKR1
      proteins. Silencing of SmShb in adult S. mansoni resulted in an accumulation of
      mature sperm in testes, indicating a possible role of SmShb in gametogenesis. 

PMID- 27636712
TI  - The Influence of Attentional Focus Instructions and Vision on Jump Height
      Performance.
AB  - PURPOSE: Studies have suggested that the use of visual information may underlie
      the benefit associated with an external focus of attention. Recent studies
      exploring this connection have primarily relied on motor tasks that involve
      manipulation of an object (object projection). The present study examined whether
      vision influences the effect of attentional focus on the performance of body
      movements through space (body projection). METHOD: Participants (N = 24, Mage =
      25.0 +/- 3.3 years) performed a maximum vertical jump in a room with a 4-m
      ceiling under full-vision and no-vision conditions. Additionally, participants
      performed 3 trials under each of 3 attentional conditions, presented in a
      counterbalanced order: external focus (ExF; "concentrate on the ceiling and try
      to touch it"), internal focus (InF; "concentrate on your fingers and try to bring
      them up as high as possible"), and control (Con; no-focus instruction). RESULTS:
      Results indicated that regardless of visual condition, a statistically
      significant difference was observed such that participants in the ExF condition
      (30.93 +/- 8.37 cm) jumped significantly higher than participants in both the InF
      (30.09 +/- 8.66 cm, p = .004, d = 0.68) and Con (30.23 +/- 8.73 cm, p = .002, d =
      0.57) conditions. Furthermore, jump height was overall significantly higher in
      the full-vision condition compared with the no-vision condition (p = .004, d =
      0.47). Importantly, there was no interaction between ExF and vision. CONCLUSION:
      The present findings demonstrate the benefit of an ExF on a body projection task
      and further provide evidence of the independence of ExF and visual information.

PMID- 27636713
TI  - A Pilot Study of Circulating MicroRNA-125b as a Diagnostic and Prognostic
      Biomarker for Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Early diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer is critical for patient
      survival. The objective of this pilot study is to identify a circulating micro
      (mi)RNA as a potential biomarker for epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: A total
      of 135 epithelial ovarian cancer patients and 54 benign ovarian tumor patients
      were recruited for this study. Using customized TaqMan low density miRNA arrays,
      we first screened expression levels of 48 miRNAs in sera from 18 epithelial
      ovarian cancer patients and 16 benign ovarian tumor patients. The most
      significantly and differentially expressed miRNA was then further examined in all
      serum samples using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Its expression was
      further analyzed in relationship with clinicopathological factors and patient
      survival. RESULTS: Array screening data showed that expression levels of serum
      miRNA-20a, miRNA-125b, miRNA-126, miRNA-355, and let-7c were significantly
      different between malignant and benign ovarian tumor patients. Subsequent real
      time polymerase chain reaction results showed that serum miRNA-125b levels were
      significantly higher in epithelial ovarian cancer patients compared to benign
      controls. Moreover, serum miRNA-125b levels were significantly higher in ovarian
      cancer patients in early stages I and II, and in patients having no residual
      tumor following surgery, but were not associated with differentiation and
      histological types of ovarian cancer. Notably, the higher level of miR-125b was
      significantly positively correlated with progression-free survival (P = 0.035)
      and marginally, with overall survival (P = 0.069). CONCLUSIONS: miRNA-125b plays
      an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of epithelial ovarian
      cancer. Circulating miRNA-125b has the potential to become a novel biomarker for
      early diagnosis and prognosis prediction of epithelial ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27636714
TI  - Accelerated bony defect healing based on chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel
      scaffolds embedded with chitosan nanoparticles for the delivery of BMP2 plasmid
      DNA.
AB  - Regeneration of alveolar bone is among the main purposes of periodontal
      treatment. However, it is a challenge for both dentists and patients. An
      injectable chitosan-based thermosensitive hydrogel scaffold (CS/CSn-GP) was
      successfully designed and prepared with the incorporation of bone morphogenetic
      protein-2 plasmid DNA (pDNA-BMP2)-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CS/CSn(pDNA
      BMP2)-GP) in this study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the regenerative
      effect of this scaffold on the endogenous repair of alveolar bone.
      Thermosensitive properties, SEM scans and in vivo inflammatory reactions and
      degradation were evaluated. The CS/CSn-GP solution was initially injected into
      the muscle pouches of rats, where it changed into a gel, resulting in non
      specific inflammation. It effectively enhanced new bone formation in rat
      calvarial defects and enhanced bony defect healing in beagle dogs. All results
      indicated that the CS/CSn(pDNA-BMP2)-GP complex system is a potential candidate
      as a targeted, multi-effect scaffold for the endogenous repair of alveolar bone.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 265-273, 2017.

PMID- 27636715
TI  - Large-area spectrally encoded confocal endomicroscopy of the human esophagus in
      vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Diagnosis of esophageal diseases is often hampered by
      sampling errors that are inherent in endoscopic biopsy, the standard of care.
      Spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM) is a high-speed reflectance
      confocal endomicroscopy technology that has the potential to visualize cellular
      features from large regions of the esophagus, greatly decreasing the likelihood
      of sampling error. In this paper, we report results from a pilot clinical study
      imaging the human esophagus in vivo with a prototype SECM endoscopic probe.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this pilot clinical study, six patients undergoing
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) for surveillance of Barrett's esophagus (BE)
      were imaged with the SECM endoscopic probe. The device had a diameter of 7 mm, a
      length of 2 m, and a rapid-exchange guide wire provision for esophageal
      placement. During EGD, the distal portion of the esophagus of each patient was
      sprayed with 2.5% acetic acid to enhance nuclear contrast. The SECM endoscopic
      probe was then introduced over the guide wire to the distal esophagus and large
      area confocal images were obtained by helically scanning the optics within the
      SECM probe. RESULTS: Large area confocal images of the distal esophagus (image
      length = 4.3-10 cm; image width = 2.2 cm) were rapidly acquired at a rate of ~9
      mm2 /second, resulting in short procedural times (1.8-4 minutes). SECM enabled
      the visualization of clinically relevant architectural and cellular features of
      the proximal stomach and normal and diseased esophagus, including squamous cell
      nuclei, BE glands, and goblet cells. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that
      comprehensive spectrally encoded confocal endomicroscopy is feasible and can be
      used to visualize architectural and cellular microscopic features from large
      segments of the distal esophagus at the gastroesophageal junction. By providing
      microscopic images that are less subject to sampling error, this technology may
      find utility in guiding biopsy and planning and assessing endoscopic therapy.
      Lasers Surg. Med. 49:233-239, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636717
TI  - Prevalence, risk factors, and complications of violence against pregnant women in
      a hospital in Peninsular Malaysia.
AB  - Violence against women is a worldwide public health problem and becomes more
      crucial when it involves pregnant women. The primary aim of this study was to
      determine the prevalence of violence against pregnant women (VAPW), while the
      secondary aim was to identify the factors associated with violence and
      complications of violence during pregnancy. This was a cross-sectional study
      conducted in 1,200 postnatal women from March 1, 2015 through August 31, 2015
      using a validated Malay Version of the WHO Women's Health and Life Experiences
      Questionnaire. Data on pregnancy complications were obtained from antenatal
      records and discharge summaries. The prevalence of any form of VAPW was 35.9%,
      consisting of: any psychological (29.8%); any physical (12.9%); and any sexual
      (9.8%) violence. VAPW was significantly associated with: (1) women's use of
      drugs, having had exposure to violence during childhood, having a violence
      supporting attitude, having two or more children; and (2) having partners who
      were smokers, alcohol drinkers, or had controlling behavior. VAPW was
      significantly associated with anemia, urinary tract infection, premature rupture
      of membranes, antepartum hemorrhage, poor weight gain during pregnancy, low birth
      weight, and prematurity. In conclusion, the high prevalence of violence requires
      further research on preventive strategies for VAPW.

PMID- 27636716
TI  - QiShenYiQi Attenuates Renal Interstitial Fibrosis by Blocking the Activation of
      beta-Catenin.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is becoming a worldwide problem. However, current
      treatment options are limited. In the current study we showed that QiShenYiQi
      (QSYQ), a water-ethanol extract from several Chinese medicines, is a potent
      inhibitor of renal interstitial fibrosis. QSYQ inhibited transforming growth
      factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)-responsive alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA),
      collagen I, and fibronectin up-regulation in obstructive nephropathy and cultured
      cells. Administration of QSYQ also inhibited the established renal interstitial
      fibrosis in obstructive nephropathy. Interestingly, QSYQ selectively inhibited
      TGF-beta1-induced beta-catenin up-regulation and downstream gene transcription.
      Taken together, our study suggests that QSYQ selectively inhibits TGF-beta1
      induced beta-catenin up-regulation and might have significant therapeutic
      potential for the treatment of renal fibrosis. 

PMID- 27636718
TI  - Flux and permanence of risk perceptions: Tourists' perception of the relative and
      absolute risk for various destinations.
AB  - The present investigation is a cross-sectional, multi-national, quantitative, and
      quasi-experimental comparison of tourists' risk perceptions regarding different
      destinations throughout the past decade. Over 10,000 tourists to Norway from 89
      different countries filled in a questionnaire rating the perceived risk for
      various destinations. Data were collected during 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and
      2015 and allow for a comparison of perceived risk across time, place and
      nationality. Results show that while absolute risk judgments for different
      destinations fluctuate somewhat over the years, relative risk judgments remain
      constant. Findings also reveal a "home-is-safer-then-abroad-bias" with tourists
      consistently perceiving their home country among the safest destinations. The
      current investigation is rare because it looks at more than one destination at a
      time. Insights gained from the present findings diverge from what would have been
      concluded from employing case studies, that is, looking at one destination at a
      time.

PMID- 27636719
TI  - Automated Detection of P. falciparum Using Machine Learning Algorithms with
      Quantitative Phase Images of Unstained Cells.
AB  - Malaria detection through microscopic examination of stained blood smears is a
      diagnostic challenge that heavily relies on the expertise of trained
      microscopists. This paper presents an automated analysis method for detection and
      staging of red blood cells infected by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum
      at trophozoite or schizont stage. Unlike previous efforts in this area, this
      study uses quantitative phase images of unstained cells. Erythrocytes are
      automatically segmented using thresholds of optical phase and refocused to enable
      quantitative comparison of phase images. Refocused images are analyzed to extract
      23 morphological descriptors based on the phase information. While all individual
      descriptors are highly statistically different between infected and uninfected
      cells, each descriptor does not enable separation of populations at a level
      satisfactory for clinical utility. To improve the diagnostic capacity, we applied
      various machine learning techniques, including linear discriminant classification
      (LDC), logistic regression (LR), and k-nearest neighbor classification (NNC), to
      formulate algorithms that combine all of the calculated physical parameters to
      distinguish cells more effectively. Results show that LDC provides the highest
      accuracy of up to 99.7% in detecting schizont stage infected cells compared to
      uninfected RBCs. NNC showed slightly better accuracy (99.5%) than either LDC
      (99.0%) or LR (99.1%) for discriminating late trophozoites from uninfected RBCs.
      However, for early trophozoites, LDC produced the best accuracy of 98%.
      Discrimination of infection stage was less accurate, producing high specificity
      (99.8%) but only 45.0%-66.8% sensitivity with early trophozoites most often
      mistaken for late trophozoite or schizont stage and late trophozoite and schizont
      stage most often confused for each other. Overall, this methodology points to a
      significant clinical potential of using quantitative phase imaging to detect and
      stage malaria infection without staining or expert analysis. 

PMID- 27636720
TI  - Engineered fatty acid catabolism for fuel and chemical production.
AB  - Fatty acid oxidation pathways are attractive for metabolic engineering purposes
      due to their cyclic nature as well as their reactions that allow for the
      selective functionalization of alkyl chains. These characteristics allow for the
      production of various chemicals, such as alcohols, alkanes, ketones and
      hydroxyacids, in a wide range of carbon numbers. To this end, the alpha-, beta-,
      and omega-oxidation pathways have been engineered for use in various hosts.
      Furthermore, the beta-oxidation pathway has been engineered to operate in
      reverse, resulting in a promising carbon chain elongation platform. This review
      will describe the recent progress in metabolic engineering strategies for the
      production of chemicals through these fatty acid oxidation pathways.

PMID- 27636721
TI  - Kinetic of Virologic Response to Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin in Children
      With Chronic Hepatitis C Predicts the Effect of Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C is a global health problem. Although new, highly
      effective and safe direct-acting antivirals have been approved for adults, the
      only drugs currently registered for children are pegylated interferon and
      ribavirin. The timelines for the pediatric approval of the new treatment regimens
      are far off. Three phase II-III pediatric trials with direct-acting antivirals
      are recruiting, and the estimated dates of completion of these studies range
      between April 2018 and January 2023. METHODS: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the value of on-treatment virologic response (VR) as predictor of
      sustained virologic response (SVR) in a cohort of Italian children with chronic
      hepatitis C and to establish possible stopping rules. RESULTS: Sixty-four
      children were enrolled (January 2012 to December 2015). SVR rate was 79.7%
      (51/64). VR at weeks 2 to 12 were shown to be robust predictors for the
      attainment of SVR. The positive predictive values of VR at weeks 8 and 12 were
      98% and 92.7%, respectively. The negative predictive values at the same treatment
      weeks were 92.9% and 100%, indicating that no child who did not achieve VR at
      week 12 obtained SVR and that the likelihood of achieving SVR if still positive
      at week 8 was very low. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest for the first time that
      VR at week 8 could be considered a reliable predictor of SVR. Monitoring viral
      kinetics is useful for predicting the success of pegylated interferon and
      ribavirin therapy in children.

PMID- 27636722
TI  - Safety, Efficacy, and Exposure-Response of Voriconazole in Pediatric Patients
      With Invasive Aspergillosis, Invasive Candidiasis or Esophageal Candidiasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on safety and efficacy of voriconazole for invasive
      aspergillosis (IA) and invasive candidiasis/esophageal candidiasis (IC/EC) in
      pediatric patients are limited. METHODS: Patients aged 2-<18 years with IA and
      IC/EC were enrolled in 2 prospective open-label, non-comparative studies of
      voriconazole. Patients followed dosing regimens based on age, weight and
      indication, with adjustments permitted. Treatment duration was 6-12 weeks for IA
      patients, >=14 days after last positive Candida culture for IC patients and >=7
      days after signs/symptoms resolution for EC patients. Primary analysis for both
      the studies was safety and tolerability of voriconazole. Secondary end points
      included global response success at week 6 and end of treatment (EOT), all
      causality mortality and time to death. Voriconazole exposure-response
      relationship was explored. RESULTS: Of 53 voriconazole-treated pediatric patients
      (31 IA; 22 IC/EC), 14 had proven/probable IA, 7 had confirmed IC and 10 had
      confirmed EC. Treatment-related hepatic and visual adverse events, respectively,
      were reported in 22.6% and 16.1% of IA patients, and 22.7% and 27.3% of IC/EC
      patients. All-causality mortality in IA patients was 14.3% at week 6; no deaths
      were attributed to voriconazole. No deaths were reported for IC/EC patients.
      Global response success rate was 64.3% (week 6 and EOT) in IA patients and 76.5%
      (EOT) in IC/EC patients. There was no association between voriconazole exposure
      and efficacy; however, a slight positive association between voriconazole
      exposure and hepatic adverse events was established. CONCLUSIONS: Safety and
      efficacy outcomes in pediatric patients with IA and IC/EC were consistent with
      previous findings in adult patients.

PMID- 27636723
TI  - Bacterial-Fungal Interactions Including Quorum Sensing, Between 2 Opportunistic
      Pathogens, Resulting in Post-Traumatic Sepsis in a Child Presenting With a Closed
      Femoral Fracture.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans (are opportunistic pathogens that
      cause systemic infections in immune-suppressed patients. They show important
      bacterial-fungal interactions including quorum sensing. This involves cell
      signaling to communicate between the cells of their own colony and the cells of
      rival microbes or the host. It is thought that this phenomenon is vital in the
      potential competition and virulence of the organisms. We report a case of a
      previously healthy 2-year-old boy, where an accidental injury had been sustained
      resulting in a closed fracture of femur. He subsequently developed sepsis related
      to co-infection by C. albicans and P. aeruginosa. Trauma may result in a
      transient immune-suppression and predispose to sepsis caused by opportunistic
      microorganisms. They can engage in bacterial-fungal interaction. Clinicians
      should consider invasive co-infection when initial cultures show evidence for
      only 1 pathogen.

PMID- 27636724
TI  - Extreme Hyperferritinemia in Dizygotic Twins With Human Parechovirus-3 Infection.
AB  - Human parechovirus-3 has been associated with severe clinical manifestations in
      infants, such as sepsis-like illness and meningoencephalitis. Nevertheless, the
      vast majority of patients have a favorable outcome. We report the occurrence of
      this infection in dizygotic infants with extreme hyperferritinemia and a
      transient impairment of natural killer cell cytotoxicity.

PMID- 27636725
TI  - Single-dose Universal Hepatitis A Immunization in One-year-old Children in
      Argentina: High Prevalence of Protective Antibodies up to 9 Years After
      Vaccination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single-dose hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination was implemented in
      all Argentinean children 12 months of age in 2005. Previous studies demonstrated
      high prevalence of protective antibody response 4 years after single-dose
      vaccination. This study assessed long-term seroprotection against HAV after
      vaccination. METHODS: Children who received 1 dose of HAV vaccine at 1 year of
      age at least 6 years before enrollment were included at 5 centers in Argentina
      between 2013 and 2014. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were
      collected through a questionnaire. Blood samples were tested for anti-HAV
      antibodies. Antibody values >=10 mIU/mL were considered seroprotective. Logistic
      regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between demographic
      and socioeconomic variables and seroprotection. RESULTS: A total of 1088 children
      were included, with a median postvaccination interval of 7.7 years (range 6.3-9.2
      years). Of these children, 97.4% (95% confidence interval: 96.3%-98.3%) had
      protective antibodies against HAV. No association between demographic or
      socioeconomic variables and seroprotection was found. Geometric mean
      concentration of antibody levels against HAV was 170.5 mUI/mL (95% confidence
      interval: 163.2-178.2 mUI/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Single-dose universal hepatitis A
      immunization in 1-year-old children resulted in sustained immunologic protection
      for up to 9 years in Argentina. These findings, along with the low current
      disease burden, confirm the success of the intervention.

PMID- 27636726
TI  - Ageing: Accelerated ageing slowed by reduced calorie intake.

PMID- 27636727
TI  - Adipose tissue: Direct beige-to-white conversion.

PMID- 27636728
TI  - Bone: Neuronal origin of osteogenic effects of magnesium.

PMID- 27636729
TI  - Diabetes: Antibiotics promote T1DM in mice.

PMID- 27636730
TI  - PPARs in obesity-induced T2DM, dyslipidaemia and NAFLD.
AB  - Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that predisposes individuals to cardiometabolic
      complications, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD), which are all related to inappropriate ectopic lipid
      deposition. Identification of the pathogenic molecular mechanisms and effective
      therapeutic approaches are highly needed. The peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptors (PPARs) modulate several biological processes that are perturbed in
      obesity, including inflammation, lipid and glucose metabolism and overall energy
      homeostasis. Here, we review how PPARs regulate the functions of adipose tissues,
      such as adipogenesis, lipid storage and adaptive thermogenesis, under healthy and
      pathological conditions. We also discuss the clinical use and mechanism of PPAR
      agonists in the treatment of obesity comorbidities such as dyslipidaemia, T2DM
      and NAFLD. First generation PPAR agonists, primarily those acting on PPARgamma,
      are associated with adverse effects that outweigh their clinical benefits, which
      led to the discontinuation of their development. An improved understanding of the
      physiological roles of PPARs might, therefore, enable the development of safe,
      new PPAR agonists with improved therapeutic potential.

PMID- 27636732
TI  - PCOS: Refining diagnostic features in PCOS to optimize health outcomes.

PMID- 27636733
TI  - Large-scale analysis of intrinsic disorder flavors and associated functions in
      the protein sequence universe.
AB  - Intrinsic disorder (ID) in proteins has been extensively described for the last
      decade; a large-scale classification of ID in proteins is mostly missing. Here,
      we provide an extensive analysis of ID in the protein universe on the UniProt
      database derived from sequence-based predictions in MobiDB. Almost half the
      sequences contain an ID region of at least five residues. About 9% of proteins
      have a long ID region of over 20 residues which are more abundant in Eukaryotic
      organisms and most frequently cover less than 20% of the sequence. A small subset
      of about 67,000 (out of over 80 million) proteins is fully disordered and mostly
      found in Viruses. Most proteins have only one ID, with short ID evenly
      distributed along the sequence and long ID overrepresented in the center. The
      charged residue composition of Das and Pappu was used to classify ID proteins by
      structural propensities and corresponding functional enrichment. Swollen Coils
      seem to be used mainly as structural components and in biosynthesis in both
      Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. In Bacteria, they are confined in the nucleoid and in
      Viruses provide DNA binding function. Coils & Hairpins seem to be specialized in
      ribosome binding and methylation activities. Globules & Tadpoles bind antigens in
      Eukaryotes but are involved in killing other organisms and cytolysis in Bacteria.
      The Undefined class is used by Bacteria to bind toxic substances and mediate
      transport and movement between and within organisms in Viruses. Fully disordered
      proteins behave similarly, but are enriched for glycine residues and
      extracellular structures.

PMID- 27636731
TI  - Anti-obesogenic and antidiabetic effects of plants and mushrooms.
AB  - Obesity is reaching global epidemic proportions as a result of factors such as
      high-calorie diets and lack of physical exercise. Obesity is now considered to be
      a medical condition, which not only contributes to the risk of developing type 2
      diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer, but also negatively affects
      longevity and quality of life. To combat this epidemic, anti-obesogenic
      approaches are required that are safe, widely available and inexpensive. Several
      plants and mushrooms that are consumed in traditional Chinese medicine or as
      nutraceuticals contain antioxidants, fibre and other phytochemicals, and have
      anti-obesogenic and antidiabetic effects through the modulation of diverse
      cellular and physiological pathways. These effects include appetite reduction,
      modulation of lipid absorption and metabolism, enhancement of insulin
      sensitivity, thermogenesis and changes in the gut microbiota. In this Review, we
      describe the molecular mechanisms that underlie the anti-obesogenic and
      antidiabetic effects of these plants and mushrooms, and propose that combining
      these food items with existing anti-obesogenic approaches might help to reduce
      obesity and its complications.

PMID- 27636735
TI  - Perioperative hemodynamic therapy: goal-directed or meta-directed?

PMID- 27636736
TI  - Ultrasonography during weaning: a support to a comprehensive skilful strategy.

PMID- 27636734
TI  - A review of wave mechanics in the pulmonary artery with an emphasis on wave
      intensity analysis.
AB  - Mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) remain
      the most common haemodynamic measures to evaluate the severity and prognosis of
      pulmonary hypertension. However, PVR only captures the non-oscillatory component
      of the right ventricular hydraulic load and neglects the dynamic compliance of
      the pulmonary arteries and the contribution of wave transmission. Wave intensity
      analysis offers an alternative way to assess the pulmonary vasculature in health
      and disease. Wave speed is a measure of arterial stiffness, and the magnitude and
      timing of wave reflection provide information on the degree of impedance mismatch
      between the proximal and distal circulation. Studies in the pulmonary artery have
      demonstrated distinct differences in arterial wave propagation between
      individuals with and without pulmonary vascular disease. Notably, greater wave
      speed and greater wave reflection are observed in patients with pulmonary
      hypertension and in animal models exposed to hypoxia. Studying wave propagation
      makes a valuable contribution to the assessment of the arterial system in
      pulmonary hypertension, and here, we briefly review the current state of
      knowledge of the methods used to evaluate arterial waves in the pulmonary artery.

PMID- 27636737
TI  - Mn-NHC Electrocatalysts: Increasing pi Acidity Lowers the Reduction Potential and
      Increases the Turnover Frequency for CO2 Reduction.
AB  - A new manganese(I) N-heterocyclic carbene electrocatalyst containing a
      benzimidazole-pyrimidine-based ligand is reported for the two-electron conversion
      of CO2. The increased pi acidity of pyrimidine shifts the two-electron reduction
      to -1.77 V vs Fc/Fc+, 70 mV more positive than that for MnBr(2,2'
      bipyridine)(CO)3; increased catalytic current enhancement is also observed (5.2*
      vs 2.1*). Theoretical analyses suggest that this heightened activity may follow
      from the preference for a reduction-first dehydroxylation mechanism.

PMID- 27636739
TI  - An Investigation Into the Effects of In Vitro Dilution With Different Colloid
      Resuscitation Fluids on Clot Microstructure Formation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Balancing the beneficial effects of resuscitation fluids against
      their detrimental effect on hemostasis is an important clinical issue. We aim to
      compare the in vitro effects of 3 different colloid resuscitation fluids (4.5%
      albumin, hydroxyethyl starch [Voluven 6%], and gelatin [Geloplasma]) on clot
      microstructure formation using a novel viscoelastic technique, the gel point.
      This novel hemorheologic technique measures the biophysical properties of the
      clot and provides an assessment of clot microstructure from its viscoelastic
      properties. Importantly, in contrast to many assays in routine clinical use, the
      measurement is performed using unadulterated whole blood in a near-patient
      setting and provides rapid assessment of coagulation. We hypothesized that
      different colloids will have a lesser or greater detrimental effect on clot
      microstructure formation when compared against each other. METHODS: Healthy
      volunteers were recruited into the study (n = 104), and a 20-mL sample of whole
      blood was obtained. Each volunteer was assigned to 1 of the 3 fluids, and the
      sample was diluted to 1 of 5 different dilutions (baseline, 10%, 20%, 40%, and
      60%). The blood was tested using the gel point technique, which measures clot
      mechanical strength and quantifies clot microstructure (df) at the incipient
      stages of fibrin formation. RESULTS: df and clot mechanical strength decrease
      with progressive dilution for all 3 fluids. A significant reduction in df from
      baseline was recorded at dilutions of 20% for albumin (P < .0001), 40% for starch
      (P < .0001), and 60% for gelatin (P < .0001). We also observed significant
      differences, in terms of df, when comparing the different types of colloid (P <
      .0001). We found that albumin dilution produced the largest changes in clot
      microstructure, providing the lowest values of df (= 1.41 +/- 0.061 at 60%
      dilution) compared with starch (1.52 +/- 0.081) and gelatin (1.58 +/- 0.063).
      CONCLUSIONS: We show that dilution with all 3 fluids has a significant effect on
      coagulation at even relatively low dilution volumes (20% and 40%). Furthermore,
      we quantify, using a novel viscoelastic technique, how the physiochemical
      properties of the 3 colloids exert individual changes on clot microstructure.

PMID- 27636738
TI  - High-Resolution Analysis of Antibodies to Post-Translational Modifications Using
      Peptide Nanosensor Microarrays.
AB  - Autoantibodies are a hallmark of autoimmune diseases such as lupus and have the
      potential to be used as biomarkers for diverse diseases, including
      immunodeficiency, infectious disease, and cancer. More precise detection of
      antibodies to specific targets is needed to improve diagnosis of such diseases.
      Here, we report the development of reusable peptide microarrays, based on giant
      magnetoresistive (GMR) nanosensors optimized for sensitively detecting magnetic
      nanoparticle labels, for the detection of antibodies with a resolution of a
      single post-translationally modified amino acid. We have also developed a
      chemical regeneration scheme to perform multiplex assays with a high level of
      reproducibility, resulting in greatly reduced experimental costs. In addition, we
      show that peptides synthesized directly on the nanosensors are approximately two
      times more sensitive than directly spotted peptides. Reusable peptide nanosensor
      microarrays enable precise detection of autoantibodies with high resolution and
      sensitivity and show promise for investigating antibody-mediated immune responses
      to autoantigens, vaccines, and pathogen-derived antigens as well as other
      fundamental peptide-protein interactions.

PMID- 27636740
TI  - Neuraxial Anesthesia Reduces Lymphatic Flow: Proof-of-Concept in First In-Human
      Study.
AB  - Dilation of lymphatic vessels may contribute to iatrogenic dissemination of
      cancer cells during surgery. We sought to determine whether neuraxial anesthesia
      reduces regional lymphatic flow. Using nuclear lymphoscintigraphy, 5 participants
      receiving spinal anesthesia for brachytherapy had lower extremity lymph flow at
      rest compared with flow under conditions of spinal anesthesia. Six limbs were
      analyzed. Four limbs were excluded because of failure to demonstrate lymph flow
      (1 patient, 2 limbs), colloid injection error (1 limb), and undiagnosed deep vein
      thrombosis (1 limb). All analyzed limbs showed reduced lymph flow washout from
      the pedal injection site (range 62%-100%) due to neuraxial anesthesia. Lymph flow
      was abolished in 3 limbs. We report proof-of-concept that neuraxial anesthesia
      reduces lymphatic flow through a likely mechanism of sympathectomy.

PMID- 27636741
TI  - Review: Frontiers of Antifibrotic Therapy in Systemic Sclerosis.

PMID- 27636743
TI  - Improving Health Outcomes for Patients with Depression: A Population Health
      Imperative. Report on an Expert Panel Meeting.
AB  - Improving Health Outcomes for Patients with Depression: A Population Health
      Imperative. Report on an Expert Panel Meeting Janice L. Clarke, RN, Alexis
      Skoufalos, EdD, Alice Medalia, PhD, and A. Mark Fendrick, MD Editorial: A Call to
      Action : David B. Nash, MD, MBA   S-2 OVERVIEW: Depression and the Population
      Health Imperative    S-3 Promoting Awareness of the Issues and Opportunities for
      Improvement    S-5 Cognitive Dysfunction in Affective Disorders    S-5 Critical
      Role of Employers in Improving Health Outcomes for Employees with Depression    S
      6 Closing the Behavioral Health Professional and Process Gaps    S-6 Achieving
      the Triple Aim for Patients with Depressive Disorders    S-6 Improving the
      Experience of Care for Patients with Depression    S-6 Improving Quality of Care
      and Health Outcomes for Patients with Depression    S-7 Changing the Cost of Care
      Discussion from How Much to How Well    S-8 Panel Insights and Recommendations   
      S-9 Conclusion    S-10.

PMID- 27636744
TI  - Weigh and wait: the prospect of mitochondrial gene replacement.
AB  - Mitochondrial DNA transfer has recently received attention from physicians. The
      transfer techniques place genetic material from the egg nucleus of a woman with a
      mitochondrial DNA mutation into a healthy donated egg from which the nuclear DNA
      was removed. This technology intends to reconstruct a mitochondria-competent egg
      to produce a baby. Three approaches: (1) pronuclear transfer; (2) metaphase II
      spindle transfer (ST); and (3) polar body (PB) transfer, have been proposed and
      applied in animal models with very low levels of heteroplasmy. Because there is
      no curative treatment for patients with mitochondrial dysfunction, the UK
      government has allowed the use of this pioneering technique to prevent the
      transmission of rare and devastating mitochondrial diseases. Despite general
      safety in the observation period, this technology involves germline modification,
      raising scientific and ethical questions in the public. In this review, we focus
      on this unprecedented technology and discuss its clinical application in the
      future.

PMID- 27636742
TI  - Metformin inhibits estrogen-dependent endometrial cancer cell growth by
      activating the AMPK-FOXO1 signal pathway.
AB  - Metformin is an oral biguanide commonly used for treating type II diabetes and
      has recently been reported to possess antiproliferative properties that can be
      exploited for the prevention and treatment of a variety of cancers. The
      mechanisms underlying this effect have not been fully elucidated. Our study shows
      a marked loss of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and nuclear
      human Forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) protein in estrogen-dependent endometrial cancer
      (EC) tumors compared to normal control endometrium. Metformin treatment
      suppressed EC cell growth in a time-dependent manner in vitro; this effect was
      cancelled by cotreatment with an AMPK inhibitor, compound C. Metformin decreased
      FOXO1 phosphorylation and increased FOXO1 nuclear localization in Ishikawa and
      HEC-1B cells, with non-significant increase in FOXO1 mRNA expression. Moreover,
      compound C blocked the metformin-induced changes of FOXO1 and its phosphorylation
      protein, suggesting that metformin upregulated FOXO1 activity by AMPK activation.
      Similar results were obtained after treatment with insulin. In addition,
      transfection with siRNA for FOXO1 cancelled metformin-inhibited cell growth,
      indicating that FOXO1 mediated metformin to inhibit EC cell proliferation. A
      xenograft mouse model further revealed that metformin suppressed HEC-1B tumor
      growth, accompanied by downregulated ki-67 and upregulated AMPK phosphorylation
      and nuclear FOXO1 protein. Taken together, these data provide a novel mechanism
      of antineoplastic effect for metformin through the regulation of FOXO1, and
      suggest that the AMPK-FOXO1 pathway may be a therapeutic target to the
      development of new antineoplastic drugs.

PMID- 27636745
TI  - A General Protocol for the Polycondensation of Thienyl N-Methyliminodiacetic Acid
      Boronate Esters To Form High Molecular Weight Copolymers.
AB  - Thienyl di-N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronate esters are readily
      synthesized by electrophilic C-H borylation producing bench stable crystalline
      solids in good yield and excellent purity. Optimal conditions for the slow
      release of the boronic acid using KOH as the base in biphasic THF/water mixtures
      enables the thienyl MIDA boronate esters to be extremely effective homo
      bifunctionalized (AA-type) monomers in Suzuki-Miyaura copolymerizations with
      dibromo-heteroarenes (BB-type monomers). A single polymerization protocol is
      applicable for the formation of five alternating thienyl copolymers that are (or
      are close analogues of) state of the art materials used in organic electronics.
      The five polymers were produced in excellent yields and with high molecular
      weights comparable to those produced using Stille copolymerization protocols.
      Therefore, thienyl di-MIDA boronate esters represent bench stable and low
      toxicity alternatives to highly toxic di-trimethylstannyl AA-type monomers that
      are currently ubiquitous in the synthesis of these important alternating
      copolymers.

PMID- 27636746
TI  - Retrolaminar Migration of Intraocular Silicone Oil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Migration of intravitreal silicone to the retrolaminar optic nerve
      was detected pathologically in 1983, symptomatic migration to the subarachnoid
      space of the optic nerve was reported in 1994, and asymptomatic intraventricular
      silicone was first seen radiographically in 1999. Since then, little advance has
      been made in understanding this phenomenon despite numerous case reports.
      Although some authors have restricted their attention to cases of
      intraventricular silicone, we believe that these represent part of a clinical
      spectrum and that all cases with retrolaminar silicone should be considered. The
      pathophysiology of silicone migration may have significant implications for the
      management of patients after vitrectomy. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Two patients were
      evaluated by the authors. An internet-based literature review was conducted,
      beginning with the key search terms "intraventricular, intracranial,
      subarachnoid, or optic nerve silicone," and "complications of vitrectomy or
      intravitreal silicone." Further searches cascaded from the initial search
      results. An additional 24 cases of retrolaminar migration of silicone oil were
      found and summarized. The relevant anatomy and pathophysiology were reviewed,
      with attention to additional information from enucleation studies, as well as to
      gaps in the current understanding of this process. RESULTS: Retrolaminar
      migration of silicone oil may be more common than previously thought, especially
      in at-risk patient groups, and may be associated with visual and neurologic
      symptoms. Some impressions regarding the cause and significance of this syndrome
      seem incorrect. Although this process is likely linked to postoperative
      elevations of intraocular pressure, the exact mechanisms of silicone entry into
      the subarachnoid space remain undefined. A number of anatomic factors may
      influence the movement of silicone from the orbit and in the various compartments
      of the subarachnoid space and ventricular system, resulting in variability of
      clinical presentations and radiologic findings. Implications for clinical
      decision making and directions for further research are discussed. CONCLUSION:
      Greater awareness on the part of treating physicians, systematic study of at-risk
      populations, and advances in imaging technology will allow further insight into
      this phenomenon.

PMID- 27636748
TI  - Obesity and Weight Loss in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: A Narrative
      Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) are
      obese. Weight loss is felt to be an important factor in improving IIH. The
      mechanism by which weight loss leads to a reduction in elevated intracranial
      pressure is unclear. Evidence from prospective studies evaluating the role of
      weight loss in IIH is lacking. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We performed a detailed
      review of the published literature regarding the association of IIH and obesity,
      including proposed pathogenetic mechanisms, and the effect of weight loss and
      weight-loss interventions in IIH. References were identified by searching PubMed
      with the terms idiopathic intracranial hypertension and weight loss. Additional
      citations were found in the identified references. RESULTS: Over 90% of IIH
      patients are obese or overweight. The risk of IIH increases as a function of body
      mass index (BMI) and weight gain over the preceding year. The risk of IIH-induced
      vision loss also increases with increasing BMI, especially with BMI >40 kg/m.
      Several mechanisms have been proposed linking obesity to the development of IIH
      but the pathophysiology remains unknown. Published studies and clinical
      observations strongly support weight loss as an effective treatment, although
      there are no prospective controlled trials. Weight loss in the range of 6%-10%
      often leads to IIH remission. Weight loss of >=5% at 1 year is achieved in
      roughly 50%-70% of patients if they are enrolled in a high-intensity lifestyle
      modification program and in 20%-35% of patients if they direct their own weight
      loss. Weight is typically regained over 1-3 years but about a third of patients
      maintain >=5% weight loss over the long term. Patients treated initially with
      lifestyle modification therapy show a modest persisting benefit over self
      directed patients. Selected commercial weight loss programs also may improve long
      term maintenance of weight loss. New antiobesity drugs significantly improve the
      proportion of obese patients who have >=5% loss of weight at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS:
      Obesity is an important contributing factor for the development of IIH, although
      the pathophysiological mechanism linking obesity to IIH is unknown. The risk of
      developing IIH and associated visual loss increases with increasing BMI. Weight
      loss is an effective treatment for IIH. Long-term maintenance of initial weight
      loss is helped modestly by lifestyle modification programs and possibly by
      selected commercial weight loss programs. New antiobesity drugs may provide
      further options for IIH therapy in the future.

PMID- 27636749
TI  - Re-Treatment With Ethambutol After Toxic Optic Neuropathy.
AB  - There are no data in the literature regarding the safety of re-treatment with
      ethambutol for recurrent mycobacterial infection after prior ethambutol-induced
      optic neuropathy. We describe a patient who developed optic neuropathy attributed
      to ethambutol, recovered fully after drug withdrawal, and tolerated a 14-month
      long re-treatment 10 years later without developing recurrent optic neuropathy.

PMID- 27636747
TI  - Avoiding Clinical Misinterpretation and Artifacts of Optical Coherence Tomography
      Analysis of the Optic Nerve, Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer, and Ganglion Cell Layer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become an important tool for
      diagnosing optic nerve disease. The structural details and reproducibility of OCT
      continues to improve with further advances in technology. However, artifacts and
      misinterpretation of OCT can lead to clinical misdiagnosis of diseases if they go
      unrecognized. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A literature review using PubMed combined
      with clinical and research experience. RESULTS: We describe the most common
      artifacts and errors in interpretation seen on OCT in both optic nerve and
      ganglion cell analyses. We provide examples of the artifacts, discuss the causes,
      and provide methods of detecting them. In addition, we discuss a systematic
      approach to OCT analysis to facilitate the recognition of artifacts and to avoid
      clinical misinterpretation. CONCLUSIONS: While OCT is invaluable in diagnosing
      optic nerve disease, we need to be cognizant of the artifacts that can occur with
      OCT. Failure to recognize some of these artifacts can lead to misdiagnoses and
      inappropriate investigations.

PMID- 27636750
TI  - IgG4 Disease: Is It or Isn't It?

PMID- 27636751
TI  - Prosthodontic decision-making relating to dentitions with compromised molars: the
      perspective of Swedish General Dental Practitioners.
AB  - The aim of this investigation was to study the clinical prosthodontic decision
      making process relating to dentitions with compromised molars among Swedish
      general dental practitioners (GDPs). Eleven Swedish GDPs were purposively
      selected, and all agreed to participate. Then, in-depth, semi-structured
      interviews were conducted and covered treatment considerations concerning two
      authentic patient cases, initially with complete dental arches, and later, a
      final treatment based on a shortened dental arch (SDA) was discussed. The cases
      involved patients with compromised teeth situated mainly in the molar regions.
      One patient suffered from extensive caries and the other from severe periodontal
      disease. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. In the
      systematic analysis, two main categories were identified: holistic and functional
      approach. Among the interviewed GDPs, focus was put on patients' needs,
      background history and motivation for treatment as well as the preservation of
      molar support. Within the limitations of this study, the following can be
      concluded: keeping a dental arch with molars seems to be important to Swedish
      general dental practitioners. The SDA concept does not seem to have a substantial
      impact on the prosthodontic decision-making relating to dentitions with
      compromised molars. The dentist's experiences, as well as colleagues' or
      consulting specialist advice together with aetiological factors and the patient's
      individual situation, influence the decision-making more than the SDA concept.
      The conflicting results in the prosthetic decision-making process concerning the
      relevance of age and the need for molar support need further investigation, for
      example based on decisions made in the dentist's own clinical practice.

PMID- 27636752
TI  - [Classification of local anesthesia methods].
AB  - The traditional classification methods of dental local anesthesia must be
      modified. In this paper we proved that the vascular mechanism is leading
      component of spongy injection. It is necessary to take into account the high
      effectiveness and relative safety of spongy anesthesia, as well as versatility,
      ease of implementation and the growing prevalence in the world. The essence of
      the proposed modification is to distinguish the methods in diffusive (including
      surface anesthesia, infiltration and conductive anesthesia) and vascular
      diffusive (including intraosseous, intraligamentary, intraseptal and intrapulpal
      anesthesia). For the last four methods the common term "spongy (intraosseous)
      anesthesia" may be used. 

PMID- 27636753
TI  - [The impact of periodontal disease treatment on endothelium of sublingual
      microvessels].
AB  - The intactness degree of glycocalyx and the thickness of endothelium layer in
      sublingual microvessels was determined by means of darkfield microscopy and
      GlycoCheck RI software in 35 patients (19 men and 16 women, aged 35 to 65 years)
      with chronic generalized severe periodontitis before and after anti-inflammatory
      and surgical treatment. The patients were divided into two groups. The first
      group recieved only local anti-inflammatory therapy while patients of group 2
      underwent surgical intervention on the periodontium in addition to local anti
      inflammatory therapy. In both groups the changes of parameters of endothelial
      glycocalyx (EGC) in the early stages of treatment were not significant. In long
      terms the changes were not revealed in group 1, but in group 2 6 months after
      surgical treatment in all patients the decrease in the thickness of the permeable
      glycocalyx decreased and increase of the volume of red blood cells filling was
      observed. 

PMID- 27636754
TI  - [The expression of TLR4 and HBD3 in epithelial cells of oral mucosa by surgical
      treatment of periodontitis].
AB  - The expression of TLR4 and HBD3 in epithelial cells of the oral cavity was
      studied using polymerase chain reaction in real-time in patients with
      inflammatory and destructive periodontal lesions before and after surgery using
      osteoplastic material. Analysis of TLR4 and HBD3 expression in epithelial cells
      demonstrates the key role of the innate immune factors in the pathogenesis of
      inflammatory and destructive periodontal lesions. TLR4 gene expression was
      increased 1.5-7.0 times and HBD3 1.5-5.0 times compared to healthy individuals.
      Surgical treatment resulted in an effective rehabilitation and normalization of
      innate immunity. 

PMID- 27636755
TI  - [Payment of out-patient dental service according to tariffs in obligatory
      insurance system].
AB  - Cost price of dental services in system of obligatory medical insurance is higher
      two fold than officially determined tariffs. Costs of the same services in
      medical organizations of the same federal region in Russia tend to varyMeasures
      directed at the stimulation of reduction of expenses connected with the keep of
      those medical organizations that have increased expenses (compared to other
      medical organizations) should be considered. 

PMID- 27636756
TI  - The feasibility of descriptive epidemiology in assessments of dental caries
      disease in children in Russia and Belarus.
AB  - AIM: this study aims to estimate significance of the descriptive dental
      epidemiology in evaluation of the long-term effect of the Community program for
      prevention of dental caries. METHODS: The descriptive dental epidemiology data of
      DMFT 12-year-old children in Belarus and Russia were analyzed since 1961 to 2014.
      RESULTS: Meta-analysis of publications indicated that prevalence of dental caries
      has dropped from average 3.7-3.8 DMFT at baseline to 2.2-2.6 DMFT after 20 years
      of the programs implementation in Belarus and Russia accordingly. However, during
      last 5-6 years a negative trend was assumed. CONCLUSION: Based on long-term DMFT
      monitoring, the community programs in Belarus and Russia were effective in
      reducing dental caries by 30-40% for about 30-years period. However, the observed
      trend was not stable perhaps due to insufficient scientific support of programs.

PMID- 27636757
TI  - Photodynamic therapy in treatment of severe oral lichen planus.
AB  - The aim of the study was to elaborate the rationale for the application of
      photodynamic therapy in complex treatment of patient with severe oral lichen
      planus. Complex clinical and laboratory examination and treatment was performed
      in 54 patients divided on 3 groups. Diagnosis of oral lichen planus was based on
      clinical, histological and immunohistochemical features. Group 1 received
      standard treatment, in the second group photodynamic therapy was conducted in
      addition to conventional treatment, patients in the third group received only
      photodynamic therapy. The study results proved photodynamic therapy to be useful
      tool in complex treatment of severe oral lichen planus.

PMID- 27636758
TI  - Optimization of dental caries prevention.
AB  - The paper presents the rationale to dental caries prevention concerning fluoride
      varnish optimal concentration, method of application and exposure on dental
      enamel of caries-resistant and caries liable persons. It was found that enamel
      sealing liquid applicated on dental enamel for three minutes with rN 7,0
      demonstrated the best preventive effect.

PMID- 27636759
TI  - Effect of long term application of toothpaste Apadent Total Care Medical nano
      hydroxyapatite.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of toothpaste "Apadent Total
      Care" containing nanocalciumhydroxyapatite and its influence on caries resistance
      of tooth enamel and teeth sensitivity. The study involved 30 people: 15 patients
      aged 17-25 years and 15 aged 35-44 years. Study participants used "Apadent Total
      Care" toothpaste with nanocalciumhydroxyapatite. To evaluate the effectiveness of
      toothpastes clinical assessment of enamel remineralization rate was carried out,
      as well as the dynamics of enamel acid resistance and teeth sensitivity (Shiff
      index). Clinical evaluation of tooth enamel before the procedure and after 3
      months of use of toothpaste with nanohydroxyapatite showed the improvement of all
      indices. Time for complete remineralisation of enamel in both groups did not
      exceed 3 days. Acid resistance of tooth enamel increased by 1.65 in group I and
      1,75 in group II. The Schiff index after 3 months of using "Apadent" toothpaste
      also decreased in both groups.

PMID- 27636761
TI  - Functional disorders in patients with lip and nose deformity after
      cheilorhinoplasty.
AB  - Clinical analysis of the nasolabial complex in patients suffering of the
      unilateral cleft lip and palate deformity after cheilorhinoplasty is presented in
      the article. Functional disorders such as nasal breathe impairment and it's
      relation to the nasolabial muscle dystonia in the dependency of primary
      cheilorhinoplasty type are analyzed. The plan of surgical treatment as well as
      the postoperative rehabilitation using the botulotoxin injections is offered.

PMID- 27636760
TI  - Local anesthesia selection algorithm in patients with concomitant somatic
      diseases.
AB  - The paper presents basic principles of local anesthesia selection in patients
      with concomitant somatic diseases. These principles are history taking; analysis
      of drugs interaction with local anesthetic and sedation agents; determination of
      the functional status of the patient; patient anxiety correction; dental care
      with monitoring of hemodynamics parameters. It was found that adhering to this
      algorithm promotes prevention of urgent conditions in patients in outpatient
      dentistry.

PMID- 27636762
TI  - "Surgery first" or two stage complex rehabilitation plan for patients with
      malocclusions.
AB  - The article considers stages of complex rehabilitation treatment plans of
      patients with bite anomalies. The study included 515 patients with various
      complex malocclusions. Two and conventional three stage treatment plans are
      described. The article suggests indications for the two stage treatment protocol.
      The evaluation of efficiency and stability of achieved treatment results obtained
      with a help of the system of quantitative analysis of dentooralfacial disorders
      is presented.

PMID- 27636764
TI  - Paralytic lagophthalmos syndrome in the plastic and maxillofacial surgeon
      practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to identify and give an objective assessment of all changes in the
      periorbital region in paralysis orbicularis oculi muscle. METHODS: With physical,
      laboratory and instrumental methods of research, we analyzed the survey of 33
      patients with paralytic lagophthalmos. This survey has allowed us to identify the
      symptoms of periorbital changes characteristic of paralysis orbicularis oculi
      involved in lagophthalmos development. RESULTS: After analyzing the results of a
      survey of 33 patients with paralytic lagophthalmos, we identified 15 symptoms of
      changes in the periorbital region. CONCLUSION: In our opinion, lagophthalmos
      should be considered as a syndrome, including certain symptom in a particular
      case. For adequate closure of the optic fissure and obtaining a good aesthetic
      result is necessary to simultaneously remove more of the symptoms.

PMID- 27636763
TI  - Clinical-microbiological research of action ozone therapy and light-emetting
      diode radiation of red range (630 nanometers) on microflora of the hole extracted
      toothatalveolitis and limited osteomyelitis of jaws.
AB  - As a result of cliniko-microbiological research the data testifying to
      substantial improvement of efficiency of antimicrobictherape at inclusion in a
      complex of medical actions at alveolitis and the limited osteomyelitis of a jow
      ozone therapy in a combination with a light-emettinf diode irradiation of the
      hole extracted teeth red ( 630 nanometers) are obtained by light.

PMID- 27636765
TI  - Implant-supported fixed cantilever prosthesis: the impact on bone stress
      deformity.
AB  - Jaw fragment with complete absence of 3 teeth in the chewing area was simulated
      with masticatory loads corresponding to different types of antagonists: full
      dentures, partial dentures, intact teeth, implant-refained restavations.
      Simulated consoled elements of different lengths and sizes of dental implants.
      The analysis of the stress-deformation state of the teeth construction in the
      ANSYS program. As a result, it was found that with increasing length of the
      cantilever element 2 times - stress in the bone grows almost linearly. By
      reducing the diameter of the implant - is quadratic.

PMID- 27636766
TI  - Comparative analysis of 3D data accuracy of single tooth and full dental arch
      captured by different intraoral and laboratory digital impression systems.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of digital impressions taken by
      different intraoral and laboratory scanners. For this purpose a synthetic jaw
      model with prepared tooth was scanned using intraoral scanning systems: 3D
      Progress (MHT S.P.A., IT - MHT Optic Research AG, CH); True Definition (3M ESPE,
      USA); Trios (3Shape A/S, DNK); CEREC AC Bluecam, CEREC Omnicam (Sirona Dental
      System GmbH, DE); Planscan (Planmeca, FIN); and laboratory scanning systems: s600
      ARTI (Zirkonzahn GmbH, IT); Imetric Iscan D104, CH); D900 (3Shape A/S, DNK); Zfx
      Evolution (Zfx GmbH, DE) (each n=10). Reference-scanning was done by ATOS Core
      (GOM mbH, DE). The resulting digital impressions were superimposed with the
      master-scan. The measured deviations by points (trueness) for intraoral scanners
      were: True Definition - 15.0+/-2.85 MUm (single tooth) and 45.0+/-19.11 um (full
      arch); Trios - 17.1+/-1.44 and 58.8+/-27.36 um; CEREC AC Bluecam - 22.3+/-5.58
      and 20.3+/-4.13 um; CEREC Omnicam - 25.0+/-1.06 and 78.5+/-27.03 um; 3D Progress 
      26.4+/-5.75 and 213.5+/-47.44 um; Planscan - 54.6+/-11.58 and 205.2+/-21.73 um.
      For laboratory scanners: Imetric Iscan D104 - 10.2+/-0.87 MUm (stamp) and 65.3+/
      5.36 um (full arch); Zfx Evolution - 12.8+/-0.83 and 66.4+/-2.80 um; Zirkonzahn
      s600 ARTI - 15.1+/-1.36 and 65.9+/-1.33 um; 3Shape D900 - 19.9+/-0.53 and 63.6+/
      0.83 um. Precision was: True Definition - 19.9+/-2.77 MUm (single tooth) and
      40.1+/-11.04 um (full arch); Trios - 25.8+/-2.49 and 69.9+/-18.95 um; CEREC AC
      Bluecam - 36.4+/-2.78 and 46.6+/-3.44 um; CEREC Omnicam - 37.6+/-3.29 and 76.2+/
      13.36 um; 3D Progress - 76.9+/-11.04 and 102.2+/-8.06 um; Planscan - 74.3+/-6.58
      and 93.9+/-15.32 um. For laboratory scanners: Imetric Iscan D104 - 11.7+/-4.39
      MUm (stamp) and 31.2+/-5.58 um (full arch); Zfx Evolution - 8.4+/-0.49 and 24.8+/
      3.98 um; Zirkonzahn s600 ARTI - 13.4+/-6.74 and 20.7+/-4.34 um; 3Shape D900 -
      10.4+/-0.93 and 17.8+/-0.62 um. Whole deviation of the dental arch was: 3D
      Progress - 98.0+/-5.70 um; True Definition - 47.1+/-9.61 um; Trios - 59.6+/-18.77
      um; Omnicam - 77.8+/-8.79 um; Planscan - 107.9+/-1.58 um; Bluecam - 46.8+/-1.22
      um; Imetric - 36.4+/-1.62 um; Zfx Evolution - 29.5+/-0.58 um; S600 ARTI - 35.0+/
      1.04 um; 3Shape D900 - 32.7+/-0.29 um. The results indicate that digital
      impressions provide enough accuracy for clinical application.

PMID- 27636767
TI  - Technological features of metal-ceramic prosthesis frameworks manufactured from
      domestic alloys of precious and base metals.
AB  - The aim of the study was to examine changes in physical and mechanical properties
      of dental alloys depending of the initial composition at re-casting. Russianc
      precious alloys: Plagodent (AuPtPd) and Palladent (PdAu) and base alloys: Vitiriy
      N (NiCrMo) and Vitiriy-C (CoCrMo) were used as study samples, which were divided
      in three groups: a primary casting from the granules; 50% of re-casting; 100% of
      re-casting. We investigated the yield strength in bending, coefficient of thermal
      expansion and hardness. Changing in the composition of the alloys has led to
      changes of all physical and mechanical properties.

PMID- 27636768
TI  - Analysis of volume and costs of dental care provided in outpatient settings.
AB  - A conducted analysis of volume and cost of dental care provided in outpatient
      settings proves the need for harmonization of Russian Ministry of Health's
      documentation regulating dental checks in adults and children, and the Programme
      of state guarantees.

PMID- 27636769
TI  - Implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program in out-patient dialysis units.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Rates of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), including
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci,
      and multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria, continue to rise among the
      population of chronic hemodialysis. Antimicrobial exposure is the main risk
      factor for MDRO emergence and dissemination. Up to 30% of antimicrobial doses
      administered in out-patient dialysis units may not be indicated. Antimicrobial
      stewardship programs (ASP) improve antimicrobial prescribing patterns. The
      purpose of this review is to highlight the key elements and interventions of ASP.
      RECENT FINDINGS: The Infectious Disease Society of America and the Society of
      Healthcare Epidemiology of America have provided evidence-based guidelines for
      the development and implementation of an ASP. Many of their recommendations can
      be adapted to the out-patient dialysis setting. SUMMARY: Developing and
      implementing an ASP by following key elements and interventions in the out
      patient dialysis setting can lead to reduced mortality, adverse events, costs,
      and improvement in antimicrobial susceptibility rates.

PMID- 27636770
TI  - Imaging the kidney using magnetic resonance techniques: structure to function.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: MRI can noninvasively assess the structure and function of the
      kidney in a single MRI scan session. This review summarizes recent advancements
      in functional renal MRI techniques, with a particular focus on clinical
      applications. RECENT FINDINGS: A number of MRI techniques now provide measures of
      relevance to the pathophysiology of kidney disease. Diffusion-weighted imaging,
      used in chronic kidney disease and renal transplantation, shows promise as a
      measure of renal fibrosis. Longitudinal relaxation time (T1) mapping has been
      utilized in cardiac MRI to measure fibrosis and oedema; recent work shows its
      potential in the kidney. Blood oxygen-level-dependent MRI to measure renal
      oxygenation has been extensively studied, but a number of other factors affect
      results making it hard to draw definite conclusions as to its utility as an
      independent measure. Phase contrast and arterial spin labelling can measure renal
      artery blood flow and renal perfusion without exogenous contrast, as opposed to
      dynamic contrast-enhanced studies. In general, current data on clinical use of
      functional renal MRI are restricted to cross-sectional studies. SUMMARY: Renal
      MRI has seen significant recent advances. Current evidence demonstrates its
      potential, and next steps include wider evaluation of its clinical application.

PMID- 27636772
TI  - Current status of tolerance in kidney transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The attainment of tolerance remains a highly desirable goal in
      recipients of kidney transplants. Achievement of this goal would extend graft
      survival and eradicate toxicities related to long-term immunosuppression.
      Understanding mechanisms of tolerance and strategies to induce tolerance - their
      risk/benefit profiles - is essential for future success. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Mechanistic studies of spontaneously tolerant kidney transplant recipients have
      uncovered potential roles for B or regulatory T cells, or both, in the
      maintenance of tolerance. Mixed hematopoietic chimerism has been the most
      commonly used approach to induce tolerance. Distinct protocols at three major
      transplant centers have led to successful withdrawal of immunosuppression in a
      subset of living donor kidney transplant recipients at the expense of
      complications such as infections and graft versus host disease. The addition of
      regulatory cell therapies to tolerance induction protocols could enhance success
      while minimizing complications. SUMMARY: This review summarizes the features of
      spontaneous tolerance in kidney transplant recipients, the results of clinical
      trials of tolerance induction in the context of living donor kidney transplant,
      and potential measures to improve the safety and efficacy of tolerance induction
      strategies.

PMID- 27636771
TI  - Cardiovascular complications in chronic dialysis patients.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review article focuses on the most significant
      cardiovascular complications in dialysis patients [sudden cardiac death (SCD),
      acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation]. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Current and ongoing research aims to quantify the rate and pattern of
      significant arrhythmia in dialysis patients and to determine the predominant
      mechanism of SCD. Preliminary findings from these studies suggest a high rate of
      atrial fibrillation and that bradycardia and asystole may be more frequent than
      ventricular arrhythmia as a cause of sudden death. A recently published matched
      cohort study in dialysis patients who received a defibrillator for primary
      prevention showed that there was no significant difference in mortality rates
      between defibrillator-treated patients and propensity-matched controls. Two
      randomized controlled trials are currently recruiting participants and will
      hopefully answer the question of whether implantable or wearable cardioverter
      defibrillators can prevent SCD. An observational study using United States Renal
      Data System data demonstrated how difficult it is to keep hemodialysis patients
      on warfarin, as more than two-thirds discontinued the drug during the first year.
      The ISCHEMIA-CKD trial may provide answers about the optimal strategy for the
      treatment of atherosclerotic coronary disease in patients with advanced chronic
      kidney disease. SUMMARY: The article reviews the diagnosis of acute coronary
      syndromes in dialysis patients, current literature on myocardial
      revascularization, and data on fatal and nonfatal cardiac arrhythmia. The new
      classification of heart failure in end-stage renal disease is reviewed. Finally,
      available cohort studies on warfarin for stroke prevention in dialysis patients
      with atrial fibrillation are reviewed.

PMID- 27636773
TI  - Biomarkers for predicting outcomes in chronic kidney disease.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Current biomarkers for chronic kidney disease (CKD) are
      limited by lack of sensitivity and inability to prognosticate CKD progression.
      Significant recent research has better characterized novel biomarker candidates
      that are associated with CKD progression and cardiovascular mortality in CKD.
      This review discusses the most significant advances within the past year. RECENT
      FINDINGS: We discuss biomarkers for outcomes in CKD under two categories:
      emerging (defined as having been validated in an independent cohort), which
      include serum cystatin C, serum beta-trace protein, beta2-microglobulin, soluble
      urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, soluble tumor necrosis factor
      receptors 1/2, urinary monocyte chemotactic protein-1, neutrophil gelatin
      associated lipocalin, kidney injury molecule-1, and fibroblast growth factor-23;
      and novel (which have shown associations in smaller observational studies but
      have not been validated yet), which include indoxyl sulfate, p-cresyl sulfate,
      trimethylamine-N-oxide, IL-18, Klotho, markers of endothelial dysfunction,
      vimentin, and procollagen type III N-terminal propeptide. Further, we also
      discuss future directions for biomarker research including unbiased -omics
      approaches. SUMMARY: There are a number of promising biomarkers that can better
      prognosticate outcomes in and progression of CKD. Further research is warranted
      to examine whether these biomarkers validate independently as well, and if their
      incorporation improves clinical practice or trial enrollment.

PMID- 27636821
TI  - HC StratoMineR: A Web-Based Tool for the Rapid Analysis of High-Content Datasets.
AB  - High-content screening (HCS) can generate large multidimensional datasets and
      when aligned with the appropriate data mining tools, it can yield valuable
      insights into the mechanism of action of bioactive molecules. However, easy-to
      use data mining tools are not widely available, with the result that these
      datasets are frequently underutilized. Here, we present HC StratoMineR, a web
      based tool for high-content data analysis. It is a decision-supportive platform
      that guides even non-expert users through a high-content data analysis workflow.
      HC StratoMineR is built by using My Structured Query Language for storage and
      querying, PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor as the main programming language, and
      jQuery for additional user interface functionality. R is used for statistical
      calculations, logic and data visualizations. Furthermore, C++ and graphical
      processor unit power is diffusely embedded in R by using the rcpp and rpud
      libraries for operations that are computationally highly intensive. We show that
      we can use HC StratoMineR for the analysis of multivariate data from a high
      content siRNA knock-down screen and a small-molecule screen. It can be used to
      rapidly filter out undesirable data; to select relevant data; and to perform
      quality control, data reduction, data exploration, morphological hit picking, and
      data clustering. Our results demonstrate that HC StratoMineR can be used to
      functionally categorize HCS hits and, thus, provide valuable information for hit
      prioritization.

PMID- 27636823
TI  - Are dating apps a public health issue?

PMID- 27636824
TI  - The role of STI-related attitudes on screening attendance in young adults.
AB  - This study assessed whether attitudes towards STI screening, visiting a clinic
      and having an STI (STI stigma) predict STI screening attendance in young adults.
      Participants (N = 217) rated each of these attitudes and completed measures
      assessing their STI knowledge, past sexual behaviour and sexual health. STI
      stigma and having favourable attitudes towards STI screening positively predicted
      screening attendance. People were less likely to attend if they had a negative
      attitude towards visiting sexual health clinics. Researchers should assess
      attitudes towards the attitude object (screening), condition (STI stigma) and
      process (visiting a clinic) to understand the different ways that attitudes
      predict behaviour.

PMID- 27636825
TI  - Nanosheet Formation by an Anionic Surfactant-like Peptide and Modulation of Self
      Assembly through Ionic Complexation.
AB  - The surfactant-like peptide (Ala)6-(Asp) (A6D) is shown to self-assemble into
      ultrathin (3 nm thick) nanosheets in aqueous solution above a critical
      aggregation concentration. A combination of circular dichroism and FTIR
      spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction shows that the nanosheets comprise
      interdigitated bilayers of the peptide with beta-sheet conformation. The self
      assembly can be modulated by addition of hexamethylenediamine which is expected
      to interact with the anionic C terminus (and C-terminal D residue) of the
      peptide. Multiple ordered nanostructures can be accessed depending on the amount
      of added diamine. Nanosheet and bicontinuous network structures were observed
      using cryogenic-TEM and small-angle X-ray scattering. Addition of
      hexamethylenediamine at a sufficiently large molar ratio leads to disruption of
      the ordered nanostructure and the formation of a solution of A6D-diamine
      molecular complexes with highly charged end groups. The multiple acid
      functionalized nanostructures that are accessible in this system are expected to
      have many applications in the fabrication of new nanomaterials.

PMID- 27636822
TI  - NtPHYB1K326, a homologous gene of Arabidopsis PHYB, positively regulates the
      content of phenolic compounds in tobacco.
AB  - Polyphenols are important secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds in
      plants. Light is a vital abiotic factor that greatly impacts the content of
      polyphenols in plants. In spite of their importance the mechanism of polyphenol
      regulation still remains unknown in tobacco. A phytochrome B homolog,
      NtPHYB1K326, was isolated from Nicotiana tabacum cv. K326 to investigate the role
      of light receptors in the regulation of polyphenol metabolism in tobacco leaves.
      Furthermore, role of NtPHYB1K326 in polyphenol metabolism was analyzed by over
      expression and RNAi-silencing approaches. Consistent and complemented results
      indicated involvement of NtPHYB1K326 in the regulation of polyphenol metabolism
      in tobacco leaves. Moreover, high levels of NtPHYB1K326 transcripts favor the
      accumulation of chlorogenic acid and its isomers, the key polyphenol component in
      tobacco leaves. Transcriptome analysis was also carried out for exploring the
      regulation mechanism of NtPHYB1K326 in the polyphenol metabolism. Compared with
      WT, 1665 and 1421 differentially-expressed genes were found in NtPHYB1K326-GFP
      and NtPHYB1K326-RNAi transgenic lines, respectively. Among these, about 30 genes
      were related to phenylpropanoid pathway, which is predominantly involved in
      synthesis of polyphenols. Further evidences from quantitative RT-PCR confirmed
      that NtPHYB1K326 may control phenylpropanoid pathway through regulating the
      transcription of PAL4 (phenylalanine ammonialyase 4), 4CL1 (4-coumarate:coenzyme
      A ligase 1) and COMT (caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase) genes.

PMID- 27636826
TI  - Initiatorless Photopolymerization of Liquid Crystal Monomers.
AB  - Liquid crystal monomers are widely employed in industry to prepare optical
      compensating films as well as extend or enhance the properties of certain display
      modes. Because of the thermotropic nature of liquid crystalline materials,
      polymerization of liquid crystalline monomers (sometimes referred to as reactive
      mesogens) is often initiated by radical photoinitiation (photopolymerization) of
      (meth)acrylate functional groups. Here, we report on the initiatorless
      photopolymerization of commercially available liquid crystalline monomers upon
      exposure to 365 nm UV light. Initiatorless polymerization is employed to prepare
      thin films as well as polymer stabilizing networks in mixtures with low-molar
      mass liquid crystals. EPR and FTIR confirm radical generation upon exposure to
      365 nm light and conversion of the acrylate functional groups. A potential
      mechanism is proposed, informed by control experiments that indicate that the
      monomers undergo a type II Norrish mechanism. The initiatorless polymerization of
      the liquid crystalline monomers yield liquid crystalline polymer networks with
      mechanical properties that can be equal to those prepared with conventional
      radical photoinitiators. We demonstrate that initiatorless polymerization of
      display modes significantly increases the voltage holding ratio, which could
      result in a reduction in drive voltages in flat-panel televisions and hand-held
      devices, extending battery life and reducing power consumption.

PMID- 27636827
TI  - pH Dependence of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Organic Aerosol.
AB  - Atmospheric aerosol particles influence climate through their direct and indirect
      effects. These impacts depend in part on the morphology of the particles, which
      is determined by their composition. The effect of pH on morphology was
      investigated using particles composed of 3-methylglutaric acid and ammonium
      sulfate by manipulating the starting pH of the bulk solution through the addition
      of aqueous sodium hydroxide. Efflorescence, deliquescence, phase separation, and
      mixing transitions were observed with optical microscopy. Due to changes in its
      protonation states, the solubility of the organic component increases with
      increasing pH, which shifts the location of the separation relative humidity
      (SRH) from 78.7% for the fully protonated acid to 63.9% for the fully
      deprotonated acid. Surprisingly, this shift in the SRH leads to hysteresis
      between the SRH and the mixing relative humidity (MRH). Particle pH has the
      greatest effect on phase transitions that require nucleus formation, that is,
      efflorescence and SRH.

PMID- 27636829
TI  - Comparison of enzymatic properties and small molecule inhibition of gamma
      glutamyltranspeptidases from pathogenic and commensal bacteria.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori infects the stomach of 50% of the population worldwide, thus
      causing chronic gastritis. Although this infection can be cured by antibiotic
      treatment, therapeutic options are increasingly limited due to the development of
      resistances. The gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (gGT) of H. pylori (HpgGT) is a
      virulence factor important for colonization and contributes to bacterial immune
      evasion. Therefore, this enzyme is a potential target for developing new anti
      infectives. As species specificity of such compounds is required in order to
      avoid off-target or adverse effects, comparative analysis of the gGTs from
      different organisms is a prerequisite for drug development. To allow detailed
      biochemical and enzymatic characterization, recombinant gGTs from five different
      bacteria as well as Homo sapiens were characterized and compared. Investigation
      of the enzymatic activity, the binding modes of known inhibitors to the catalytic
      center, and a high resolution X-ray structure of the HpgGT provided a starting
      point for the identification of new inhibitory substances targeting HpgGT.
      Inhibitors with Ki values in the nm to mm range were identified and their binding
      modes were analyzed by mass spectrometry. The results of this study provide a
      basis for the development of species-specific lead compounds with anti-infective
      potential by effectively inhibiting HpgGT.

PMID- 27636828
TI  - Association of polymorphisms in PATE1 gene with idiopathic asthenozoospermia in
      Sichuan, China.
AB  - PURPOSE: Idiopathic Asthenozoospermia (AZS) is a common symptom of male
      infertility described as reduced forward motility or absence of sperm motility.
      The PATE1 is generally expressed in male genital tract and related to sperm
      development, maturation and fertilization. However, the single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) of the PATE1 gene which contribute to AZS were still
      unknown. For this reason, the possible association between the single nucleotide
      polymorphisms of the PATE1 gene and idiopathic asthenozoospermia was investigated
      in this research. METHODS: 108 idiopathic asthenozoospermia were screened by
      karyotype analysis, detection of Y microdeletions and mutations in 5 other genes
      from 140 clinical AZS. The sequence analyses of the PATE1 gene were conducted in
      108 idiopathic asthenozoospermia and 106 fertile men with normospermic parameters
      in Sichuan, China. RESULTS: In this study, a total 108 patients without
      chromosomal abnormalities, Y microdeletions and selected genes mutation were
      confirmed. The 1423G (odds ratio [OR] 1.939, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.320
      2.848, P=0.001) was found to be increased significantly in idiopathic
      asthenozoospermic patients compared with their fertile counterparts. This
      mutation substitutes a highly conserved glutamic to arginine at the position of
      the 47th amino acid which was shown to be located on the flank of the pleated
      sheet domain in PATE1 protein by the 3D model given by the Protein Model Portal
      (PMP). Moreover, PolyPhen-2 analysis predicted that this variant was "probably
      damaging". CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that PATE1 variant (A1423G) was
      probably one of the high risk genetic factors for idiopathic asthenozoospermia
      among males in Sichuan, China.

PMID- 27636830
TI  - Multifunctional biomaterial coatings: synthetic challenges and biological
      activity.
AB  - A controlled interaction of materials with their surrounding biological
      environment is of great interest in many fields. Multifunctional coatings aim to
      provide simultaneous modulation of several biological signals. They can consist
      of various combinations of bioactive, and bioinert components as well as of
      reporter molecules to improve cell-material contacts, prevent infections or to
      analyze biochemical events on the surface. However, specific immobilization and
      particular assembly of various active molecules are challenging. Herein, an
      overview of multifunctional coatings for biomaterials is given, focusing on
      synthetic strategies and the biological benefits by displaying several motifs.

PMID- 27636831
TI  - Advances in the design and engineering of peptide-binding repeat proteins.
AB  - The specific recognition of peptides, which we define to include unstructured
      regions or denatured forms of proteins, is an intrinsic part of a multitude of
      biochemical assays and procedures. Many cellular interactions are also based on
      this principle as well. While it would be highly desirable to have a stockpile of
      sequence-specific binders for essentially any sequence, a de novo selection of
      individual binders against every possible target peptide sequence would be rather
      difficult to reduce to practice. Modular peptide binders could overcome this
      problem, as preselected and/or predesigned modules could be reused for the
      generation of new binders and thereby revolutionize the generation of binding
      proteins. This minireview summarizes advances in the development of peptide
      binders and possible scaffolds for their design.

PMID- 27636832
TI  - Predictors of cultural competence among nursing students in the Philippines: A
      cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the continued emigration of Filipino nurses and increasing
      globalization, there is a need for globally competent nurses. Thus, the
      development of cultural competence among nursing students is critical in their
      preparation to assume their future responsibilities in the profession.
      OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the predictors of cultural competence among
      nursing students in the Philippines. DESIGN: This is a descriptive, cross-section
      study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study included 332 Bachelor of Science in
      nursing students in three nursing schools situated in the northern Philippines.
      METHODS: The Cultural Capacity Scale was used to gather data from the
      respondents. The demographic characteristics and cultural background of the
      students were entered in a regression analysis to predict their cultural
      competence. FINDINGS: The respondents manifested appreciably good cultural
      competence with a mean score of 68.98+/-11.73. The ability to understand the
      beliefs of various cultural groups received the highest mean of 3.65+/-0.86,
      while the ability to identify the care needs of patients with diverse cultural
      backgrounds received the lowest (mean, 3.31+/-0.74). Living in an environment
      with culturally diverse people, prior diversity training, being in the latter
      years of the nursing program, and with experience of caring for patients from
      diverse cultures and special population groups, were identified as predictors,
      accounting for 68.1% of the variance of cultural competence. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing
      education should devise strategies to ensure future culturally competent Filipino
      nurses. Considering the fact that most of the Filipino nurses will potentially
      work overseas, they should be well prepared to provide competent care that is
      culturally sensitive.

PMID- 27636833
TI  - "Diabetes paradox" in Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 27636834
TI  - Electrochemical Thin Layers in Nanostructures for Energy Storage.
AB  - Conventional electrical energy storage (EES) electrodes, such as rechargeable
      batteries, are mostly based on composites of monolithic micrometer sized
      particles bound together with polymeric and conductive carbon additives and
      binders. The kinetic limitations of these monolithic chunks of material are
      inherently linked to their electrical properties, the kinetics of ion insertion
      through their interface and ion migration in and through the composite phase.
      Redox chemistry of nanostructured materials in EES systems offer vast gains in
      power and energy. Furthermore, due to their thin nature, ion and electron
      transport is dramatically increased, especially when thin heterogeneous
      conducting layers are employed synergistically. However, since the stability of
      the electrode material is dictated by the nature of the electrochemical reaction
      and the accompanying volumetric and interfacial changes from the perspective of
      overall system lifetime, research with nanostructured materials has shown often
      indefinite conclusions: in some cases, an increase in unwanted side-reactions due
      to the high surface area (bad). In other cases, results have shown significantly
      better handling of mechanical stress that results from lithiation/delithiation
      (good). Despite these mixed results, scientifically informed design of thin
      electrode materials, with carefully chosen architectures, is considered a
      promising route to address many limitations witnessed in EES systems by reducing
      and protecting electrodes from parasitic reactions, accommodating mechanical
      stress due to volumetric changes from electrochemical reactions, and optimizing
      charge carrier mobilities from both the "ionic" and "electronic" points of view.
      Furthermore, precise nanoscale control over the electrode structure can enable
      accurate measurement through advanced spectroscopy and microscopy techniques.
      This Account summarizes recent findings related to thin electrode materials
      synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and electrochemical deposition
      (ECD), including nanowires, nanotubes, and thin films. Throughout the Account, we
      will show how these techniques enabled us to synthesize electrodes of interest
      with precise control over the structure and composition of the material. We will
      illustrate and discuss how the electrochemical response of thin electrodes made
      by these techniques can facilitate new mechanisms for ion storage, mediate the
      interfacial electrochemical response of the electrode, and address issues related
      to electrode degradation over time. The effects of nanosizing materials and their
      electrochemical response will be mechanistically reviewed through two categories
      of ion storage: (1) pseudocapacitance and (2) ion insertion. Additionally, we
      will show how electrochemical processes that are more complicated because of
      accompanying volumetric changes and electrode degradation pathways can be
      mediated and controlled by application of thin functional materials on the
      electrochemically active interface; examples include conversion electrodes,
      reactive lithium metal anodes, and complex reactions in a Li/O2 cathode system.
      The goal of this Account is to illustrate how careful design of thin materials
      either as active electrodes or as mediating layers can facilitate desirable
      interfacial electrochemical activity and resolve or shed light on mechanistic
      limitations of electrochemical processes related to micrometer size particles
      currently used in energy storage electrodes.

PMID- 27636835
TI  - Systematic evaluation on the effectiveness of conjugated linoleic acid in human
      health.
AB  - The term CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) corresponds to a mixture of positional
      and geometric isomers of linoleic acid. Two of these isomers (9c, 11t and 10t,
      12c) have biological activity. The milk and dairy products are the most abundant
      source of conjugated linoleic acid, which refers to a group of positional and
      geometric isomers of CLA (CLA 18:2 cis-9, cis-12). The following research aims to
      approach aspects regarding the CLA, as well as its relationship with diseases.
      Conjugated linoleic acids have been studied for their beneficial effects in the
      prevention and treatment of many diseases, including obesity, cancer, diabetes,
      and cardiovascular diseases. Scientific information put together the
      physiological properties of CLA, which serves as inputs to claim their potential
      as functional ingredients to be used in the prevention and control of several
      chronic metabolic disorders.

PMID- 27636836
TI  - Effects of segmental traction therapy on lumbar disc herniation in patients with
      acute low back pain measured by magnetic resonance imaging: A single arm clinical
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low Back Pain (LBP) is considered as one of the most frequent
      disorders, which about 80% of adults experience in their lives. Lumbar disc
      herniation (LDH) is a cause for acute LBP. Among conservative treatments,
      traction is frequently used by clinicians to manage LBP resulting from LDH.
      However, there is still a lack of consensus about its efficacy. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of segmental traction therapy
      on lumbar discs herniation, pain, lumbar range of motion (ROM), and back extensor
      muscles endurance in patients with acute LBP induced by LDH. METHODS: Fifteen
      patients with acute LBP diagnosed by LDH participated in the present study.
      Participants undertook 15 sessions of segmental traction therapy along with
      conventional physiotherapy, 5 times a week for 3 weeks. Lumbar herniated mass
      size was measured before and after the treatment protocol using magnetic
      resonance imaging. Furthermore, pain, lumbar ROM and back muscle endurance were
      evaluated before and after the procedure using clinical outcome measures.
      RESULTS: Following the treatment protocol, herniated mass size and patients' pain
      were reduced significantly. In addition, lumbar flexion ROM showed a significant
      improvement. However, no significant change was observed for back extensor muscle
      endurance after the treatment procedure. CONCLUSION: The result of the present
      study showed segmental traction therapy might play an important role in the
      treatment of acute LBP stimulated by LDH.

PMID- 27636837
TI  - EEG Dominant Frequency Peak Differentiates Between Alzheimer's Disease and
      Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration.
AB  - We investigated the power of EEG as biomarker in differential diagnosis of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). EEG was
      recorded from 106 patients with AD or FTLD, of which 37 had a definite diagnosis,
      and 40 controls. Dominant frequency peaks were extracted for all 19 channels, for
      each subject. The average frequency of the largest dominant frequency peaks
      (maxpeak) was significantly lower in AD than FTLD patients and controls. Based on
      ROC analysis, classification could be made with diagnostic accuracy of 78.9%. Our
      findings show that quantitative analysis of EEG maxpeak frequency is an easy and
      useful measure for differential dementia diagnosis.

PMID- 27636839
TI  - Nutritional Status of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Their Caregivers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is one of the most important conditions that negatively
      affects the health of elder people, particularly in patients with dementia.
      OBJECTIVE: To provide an assessment of nutritional status of patients affected by
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) living at home and of their caregivers by means of Mini
      Nutritional Assessment (MNA), and to explore the influence of different factors
      on nutrition. METHODS: 90 patients affected by AD living at home and 90 age- and
      sex-matched caregivers were enrolled. Patients and caregivers, coming from an
      urban-rural fringe of Southern Italy, were assessed using full MNA, Mini-Mental
      State Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale- short form, Activity of Daily
      Living, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scales. RESULTS: Malnutrition
      was found with high prevalence in patients affected by AD of different severity
      (more than 95% of patients were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition), and
      associated with reduced functional status. An altered nutrition was also
      recognized with high rate in the group of caregivers (23.3% were malnourished and
      41.1% at risk of malnutrition) and the worse nutritional condition was correlated
      with higher age and lower functional and cognitive status and education. A
      positive correlation between MNA score of AD patients and caregivers was found.
      CONCLUSION: Corrective measures should be taken in order to early identify
      nutritional deficiencies and risk of malnutrition observed with high rate in both
      groups of AD patients and their caregivers; in these subjects a nutrition
      education program and intervention policies are mandatory to restore nutritional
      status.

PMID- 27636838
TI  - Connected Language in Late Middle-Aged Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Connected language is often impaired among people with Alzheimer's disease (AD),
      yet little is known about when language difficulties first emerge on the path to
      a clinical diagnosis. The objective of this study was to determine whether
      individuals with psychometric (preclinical) evidence of amnestic mild cognitive
      impairment (pMCI) showed deficits in connected language measures. Participants
      were 39 pMCI and 39 cognitively healthy (CH) adults drawn from the Wisconsin
      Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention, who were matched for age, literacy, and sex.
      Participants completed a connected language task in which they described the
      Cookie Theft picture from the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. Language
      samples were analyzed across three language domains: content, syntactic
      complexity, and speech fluency. Paired t-tests were used to compare CH and pMCI
      groups on all variables, and Cohen's d effect sizes were calculated for each
      comparison. The CH and pMCI groups differed significantly on measures of content
      (e.g., CH group produced more semantic units, more unique words and had larger
      idea density, on average, than the pMCI group). The picture description findings
      are consistent with previous retrospective studies showing semantic language
      differences in adults with autopsy-confirmed AD. Given that these comparisons are
      between cognitively healthy and pMCI individuals (before a clinical MCI
      diagnosis), these findings may represent subtle language difficulty in
      spontaneous speech, and may be predictive of larger language changes over time.

PMID- 27636841
TI  - Perlecan Domain V Inhibits Amyloid-beta Induced Activation of the alpha2beta1
      Integrin-Mediated Neurotoxic Signaling Cascade.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neuronal death, neurofibrillary
      tangles, and senile plaques. Amyloid-beta (Abeta) is the major component of
      plaques and consists of two prominent isoforms, Abeta40 and Abeta42. As many risk
      factors for AD are vascular in origin and blood vessel defects in clearing Abeta
      from the brain are a potential key component of AD pathology, we have focused on
      the neuron-blood vessel interface, and in particular, the vascular basement
      membrane, which coats blood vessels and physically separates them from neurons. A
      prominent component of the vascular basement membrane is the extracellular matrix
      proteoglycan perlecan. Domain V (DV) is the C-terminal domain and is generated by
      perlecan proteolysis. DV interacts with the alpha2 integrin and Abeta is a ligand
      for both alpha2beta1 and alphavbeta1. Due to the known interaction of DV with
      alpha2beta1 and alpha2beta1's requirement for Abeta deposition and neurotoxicity,
      we hypothesized that DV and/or its C-terminal domain, LG3, might alter neurotoxic
      signaling pathways by directly blocking or otherwise interfering with alpha2beta1
      binding by Abeta. Our study suggests that alpha2beta1 mediates Abeta-induced
      activation of c-Jun and caspase-3, key components of the neurotoxic pathway, in
      primary cortical and hippocampal neurons. We further demonstrate that DV and/or
      LG3 may therapeutically modulate these alpha2beta1 mediated neurotoxic effects
      suggesting that they or other alpha2beta1 integrin modulators could represent a
      novel approach to treat AD. Finally, our results suggest different neurotoxicity
      susceptibilities between cortical and hippocampal neurons to Abeta40 and Abeta42
      as further underscored by differing neuroprotective potencies of LG3 in each cell
      type.

PMID- 27636840
TI  - Increased Levels of Extracellular Microvesicle Markers and Decreased Levels of
      Endocytic/Exocytic Proteins in the Alzheimer's Disease Brain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder
      accounting for more than 50% of all dementia cases. AD neuropathology is
      characterized by the formation of extracellular plaques and intracellular
      neurofibrillary tangles consisting of aggregated amyloid-beta and tau,
      respectively. The disease mechanism has only been partially elucidated and is
      believed to also involve many other proteins. OBJECTIVE: This study intended to
      perform a proteomic profiling of post mortem AD brains and compare it with
      control brains as well as brains from other neurological diseases to gain insight
      into the disease pathology. METHODS: Here we used label-free shotgun mass
      spectrometry to analyze temporal neocortex samples from AD, other neurological
      disorders, and non-demented controls, in order to identify additional proteins
      that are altered in AD. The mass spectrometry results were verified by antibody
      suspension bead arrays. RESULTS: We found 50 proteins with altered levels between
      AD and control brains. The majority of these proteins were found at lower levels
      in AD. Pathway analyses revealed that several of the decreased proteins play a
      role in exocytic and endocytic pathways, whereas several of the increased
      proteins are related to extracellular vesicles. Using antibody-based analysis, we
      verified the mass spectrometry results for five representative proteins from this
      group of proteins (CD9, HSP72, PI42A, TALDO, and VAMP2) and GFAP, a marker for
      neuroinflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Several proteins involved in exo-endocytic
      pathways and extracellular vesicle functions display altered levels in the AD
      brain. We hypothesize that such changes may result in disturbed cellular
      clearance and a perturbed cell-to-cell communication that may contribute to
      neuronal dysfunction and cell death in AD.

PMID- 27636842
TI  - Visual Rating of Posterior Atrophy as a Marker of Progression to Dementia in Mild
      Cognitive Impairment Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although medial temporal atrophy (MTA) is a useful imaging marker of
      the progression to dementia in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), substantial
      numbers of MCI patients without MTA still progress to dementia. OBJECTIVE: We
      investigated whether visual ratings of posterior atrophy (PA) on magnetic
      resonance imaging show independent predictive value for the progression to
      dementia in MCI patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of
      elderly patients who visited Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between
      2004 and 2012. A total of 148 patients who were initially diagnosed with MCI were
      followed for up to 3 years (median 22 months) to determine whether they
      progressed to dementia. We used 4-point and 5-point visual rating scales to
      assess PA and MTA, respectively. PA and MTA scores were dichotomized into normal
      (no atrophy) or abnormal (atrophy) in each patient. We performed a Cox regression
      analysis to examine the hazard ratios (HRs) of PA and MTA for the progression to
      dementia with adjustment for age, APOEE4 allele status, and baseline Mini-Mental
      State Examination score. RESULTS: Among the study population, 47 patients
      progressed to dementia. Visual assessment of the MRI scans revealed that 67
      patients (45.3%) showed PA, whereas 85 patients (57.3%) showed MTA. The HRs with
      95% confidence intervals for PA and MTA were 2.516 (1.244-5.091) and 4.238 (1.680
      10.687), respectively. The predictive values of visually assessed PA and MTA
      remained significant, independent of the covariates. CONCLUSION: Visual
      assessment of PA has independent predictive value for progression to dementia in
      MCI patients.

PMID- 27636843
TI  - A Novel and Intelligent Home Monitoring System for Care Support of Elders with
      Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assistive technology, in the form of a smart home environment, is
      employed to support people with dementia. OBJECTIVES: To propose a system for
      continuous and objective remote monitoring of problematic daily living activity
      areas and design personalized interventions based on system feedback and clinical
      observations for improving cognitive function and health-related quality of life.
      METHODS: The assistive technology of the proposed system, including wearable,
      sleep, object motion, presence, and utility usage sensors, was methodically
      deployed at four different home installations of people with cognitive
      impairment. Detection of sleep patterns, physical activity, and activities of
      daily living, based on the collected sensor data and analytics, was available at
      all times through comprehensive data visualization solutions. Combined with
      clinical observation, targeted psychosocial interventions were introduced to
      enhance the participants' quality of life and improve their cognitive functions
      and daily functionality. Meanwhile, participants and their caregivers were able
      to visualize a reduced set of information tailored to their needs. RESULTS:
      Overall, paired-sample t-test analysis of monitored qualities revealed
      improvement for all participants in neuropsychological assessment. Moreover,
      improvement was detected from the beginning to the end of the trial, in physical
      condition and in the domains of sleep. Detecting abnormalities via the system,
      for example in sleep quality, such as REM sleep, has proved to be critical to
      assess current status, drive interventions, and evaluate improvements in a
      reliable manner. CONCLUSION: It has been proved that the proposed system is
      suitable to support clinicians to reliably drive and evaluate clinical
      interventions toward quality of life improvement of people with cognitive
      impairment.

PMID- 27636844
TI  - Consequences of Anosognosia on the Cost of Caregivers' Care in Alzheimer's
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anosognosia is common in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and
      it is frequently related to an increase in time of care demand. OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of the study was to examine the effect of anosognosia on the total costs of
      informal care in patients with AD. METHODS: This was a prospective longitudinal
      study with community-dwelling AD patients. Anosognosia, time of informal care,
      and the use of support services (e.g., day care centers) were recorded at
      baseline and after 24 months. The cost of informal caregiving was calculated as
      'market price'. RESULTS: At baseline, the prevalence of anosognosia was 54.3% (n
      = 221), and 43.9% were classified as mild-AD. The average time of care was 5
      h/day+/-2.4 (IADL: 1.3 h/day+/-1.4 and BADL: 3.6 h/day+/-1.5). Thirty percent of
      the patients used home care services, and 25.1% attended a day care center.
      Patients with anosognosia received more time of care and were more likely to use
      support services than did their no-anosognosia peers, including
      institutionalization. The mean cost of support services was 490.4? /month (SD =
      413.1?; range = 25-2,212.38?), while the overall cost of care (support services
      plus informal care) was 1,787? /month (SD = 972.4?), ranging from 834.1? in mild
      AD without anosognosia patients, to 2,424.8? in severe-AD with incident
      anosognosia patients. CONCLUSIONS: Anosognosia was associated with an increased
      number of hours of informal care, and a greater use of support services,
      regardless of the severity of the dementia, which lead to an increase of the
      total family-care costs.

PMID- 27636845
TI  - The Effects of an APOE Promoter Polymorphism on Human White Matter Connectivity
      during Non-Demented Aging.
AB  - Polymorphisms of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) promoter rs405509 are related to
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). The T/T allele of rs405509 decreases the transcription
      of the APOE gene and leads to impairments in a specific brain structural network
      in aged individuals; thus, it is an important risk factor for AD. However, it
      remains unknown whether rs405509 affects white matter networks during aging.
      Here, we investigated the effect of the rs405509 genotype (T/T versus G-allele)
      on age-related brain white matter structural networks via construction of the
      graph theory-based structural connectome using diffusion MRI data in a large
      cohort. Network communication efficiency was quantified, along with the network's
      betweenness centrality (Bc), global efficiency, local efficiency, and shortest
      path length. Regarding cognition, TT carriers had significant negative
      correlations between age and memory performance and between age and executive
      functions. A network analysis showed that TT carriers had an accelerated age
      related loss of Bc and that regional Bc decreased in the left inferior frontal
      gyrus pars opercularis, the left posterior cingulate cortex, the right inferior
      occipital gyrus (IOG.R), and the left angular gyrus (ANG.L). Additional brain
      behavior relationship analyses showed that polymorphism of rs405509 and age have
      strong interaction effects on the association of nodal Bc and cognition, mainly
      in the IOG.R and ANG.L. These results demonstrate that the rs405509 T/T allele of
      APOE causes an age-related cognitive decline in non-demented elderly people,
      possibly by modulating brain network communication efficiency, which may be
      beneficial for understanding the neural mechanisms of rs405509-related cognitive
      aging and AD pathogenesis.

PMID- 27636846
TI  - Amyloid Plaques Show Binding Capacity of Exogenous Injected Amyloid-beta.
AB  - Amyloid plaques, although inducing damage to the immediately surrounding
      neuropil, have been proposed to provide a relatively innocuous way to deposit
      toxic soluble amyloid-beta (Abeta) species. Here we address this hypothesis by
      exploring spread and absorption of fluorescent Abeta to pre-existing amyloid
      plaques after local application in wild-type mice versus APP/PS1 transgenic mice
      with amyloid plaques. Local intracortical or intracerebroventricular injection of
      fluorescently-labeled Abeta in APP/PS1 mice with a high plaque density resulted
      in preferential accumulation of the peptide in amyloid plaques in both
      conventional postmortem histology and in live imaging using two-photon
      microscopy. These findings support the contention that amyloid plaques may act as
      buffers to protect neurons from the toxic effects of momentary high
      concentrations of soluble Abeta oligomers.

PMID- 27636848
TI  - Dual Kinase Inhibition Affords Extended in vitro Neuroprotection in Amyloid-beta
      Toxicity.
AB  - In Alzheimer's disease (AD), the amyloid cascade hypothesis proposes that amyloid
      beta (Abeta) neurotoxicity leads to neuroinflammation, synaptic loss, and
      neuronal degeneration. In AD patients, anti-amyloid immunotherapies did not
      succeed because they were possibly administered late in AD progression.
      Modulating new targets associated with Abeta toxicity, such as PKR (double
      stranded RNA dependent kinase), and JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) is a major goal
      for neuroprotection. These two pro-apoptotic kinases are activated in AD brains
      and involved in Abeta production, tau phosphorylation, neuroinflammation, and
      neuronal death. In HEK cells transfected with siRNA directed against PKR, and in
      PKR knockout (PKR-/-) mice neurons, we showed that PKR triggers JNK activation.
      Abeta-induced neuronal apoptosis, measured by cleaved PARP (Poly ADP-ribose
      polymerase) and cleaved caspase 3 levels, was reduced in PKR-/- neurons. Two
      selective JNK inhibitory peptides also produced a striking reduction of Abeta
      toxicity. Finally, the dual inhibition of PKR and JNK nearly abolished Abeta
      toxicity in primary cultured neurons. These results reveal that dual kinase
      inhibition can afford neuroprotection and this approach is worth being tested in
      in vivo AD and oxidative stress models.

PMID- 27636847
TI  - Humans with Type-2 Diabetes Show Abnormal Long-Term Potentiation-Like Cortical
      Plasticity Associated with Verbal Learning Deficits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accelerates cognitive aging and
      increases risk of Alzheimer's disease. Rodent models of T2DM show altered
      synaptic plasticity associated with reduced learning and memory. Humans with T2DM
      also show cognitive deficits, including reduced learning and memory, but the
      relationship of these impairments to the efficacy of neuroplastic mechanisms has
      never been assessed. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to compare mechanisms
      of cortical plasticity in humans with and without T2DM. Our secondary objective
      was to relate plasticity measures to standard measures of cognition. METHODS: A
      prospective cross-sectional cohort study was conducted on 21 adults with T2DM and
      15 demographically-similar non-diabetic controls. Long-term potentiation-like
      plasticity was assessed in primary motor cortex by comparing the amplitude of
      motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from single-pulse transcranial magnetic
      stimulation before and after intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS).
      Plasticity measures were compared between groups and related to
      neuropsychological scores. RESULTS: In T2DM, iTBS-induced modulation of MEPs was
      significantly less than controls, even after controlling for potential confounds.
      Furthermore, in T2DM, modulation of MEPs 10-min post-iTBS was significantly
      correlated with Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task (RAVLT) performance.
      CONCLUSION: Humans with T2DM show abnormal cortico-motor plasticity that is
      correlated with reduced verbal learning. Since iTBS after-effects and the RAVLT
      are both NMDA receptor-dependent measures, their relationship in T2DM may reflect
      brain-wide alterations in the efficacy of NMDA receptors. These findings offer
      novel mechanistic insights into the brain consequences of T2DM and provide a
      reliable means to monitor brain health and evaluate the efficacy of clinical
      interventions.

PMID- 27636849
TI  - Growth Arrest Specific 6 Concentration is Increased in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of
      Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6) has neurotrophic and neuroinflammatory functions,
      and may play a role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In keeping with this hypothesis,
      we observed that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Gas6 is increased in AD patients
      compared to controls (63 versus 67 subjects; median value 13.3 versus 9.1 ng/ml;
      p < 0.0001). Thereafter, we assessed whether CSF Gas6 concentration was
      correlated to the following parameters: disease duration, MMSE score two years
      after clinical diagnosis, AD CSF biomarkers, and years of formal schooling. We
      detected an inverse correlation between CSF Gas6 levels at diagnosis and both
      disease duration (p < 0.0001) and decrease in the MMSE score two years later (p <
      0.0001). Conversely, we found no correlation between CSF Gas6 and both AD
      biomarkers and years of formal schooling. In conclusion, our results suggest that
      upregulation of CSF Gas6 may be part of a defensive response aimed at
      counteracting AD progression.

PMID- 27636850
TI  - Comprehensive Quantitative Profiling of Tau and Phosphorylated Tau Peptides in
      Cerebrospinal Fluid by Mass Spectrometry Provides New Biomarker Candidates.
AB  - Aberrant tau phosphorylation is a hallmark in Alzheimer's disease (AD), believed
      to promote formation of paired helical filaments, the main constituent of
      neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. While cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of
      total tau and tau phosphorylated at threonine residue 181 (pThr181) are
      established core biomarkers for AD, the value of alternative phosphorylation
      sites, which may have more direct relevance to pathology, for early diagnosis is
      not yet known, largely due to their low levels in CSF and lack of standardized
      detection methods. To overcome sensitivity limitations for analysis of
      phosphorylated tau in CSF, we have applied an innovative mass spectrometry (MS)
      workflow, TMTcalibratortrademark, to enrich and enhance the detection of
      phosphoproteome components of AD brain tissue in CSF, and enable the quantitation
      of these analytes. We aimed to identify which tau species present in the AD brain
      are also detectable in CSF and which, if any, are differentially regulated with
      disease. Over 75% coverage of full-length (2N4R) tau was detected in the CSF with
      47 phosphopeptides covering 31 different phosphorylation sites. Of these, 11
      phosphopeptides were upregulated by at least 40%, along with an overall increase
      in tau levels in the CSF of AD patients relative to controls. Use of the
      TMTcalibratortrademark workflow dramatically improved our ability to detect tau
      derived peptides that are directly related to human AD pathology. Further
      validation of regulated tau peptides as early biomarkers of AD is warranted and
      is currently being undertaken.

PMID- 27636851
TI  - N-Terminal Pro-B Type Natriuretic Peptide is Associated with Mild Cognitive
      Impairment in the General Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a marker of
      cardiac stress and is linked with silent cardiac diseases. While associations of
      cognitive impairment with manifest cardiovascular diseases are established, data
      on whether subclinical elevation of NT-proBNP levels below clinically established
      threshold of heart failure is related with cognitive functioning, especially mild
      cognitive impairment (MCI), is rare. OBJECTIVE: Aim of the present study was to
      investigate the cross-sectional association of NT-proBNP levels and MCI in a
      population-based study sample without heart failure. METHODS: We used data from
      the second examination of the population based Heinz-Nixdorf-Recall-Study.
      Subjects with overt coronary heart disease and subjects with NT-proBNP levels
      indicating potential heart failure (NT-proBNP>=300 pg/ml) were excluded from this
      analysis. Participants performed a validated brief cognitive assessment and were
      classified either as MCI [subtypes: amnestic-MCI (aMCI), non-amnestic-MCI
      (naMCI)], or cognitively-normal. RESULTS: We included 419 participants with MCI
      (63.1+/-7.4 y; 47% men; aMCI n = 209; naMCI n = 210) and 1,206 cognitively normal
      participants (62.42+/-7.1 y; 48% men). NT-proBNP-levels>=125 pg/ml compared to
      <125 pg/ml were associated with MCI in fully adjusted models (OR 1.65 (1.23;2.23)
      in the total sample, 1.73 (1.09;2.74) in men and 1.63(1.10;2.41) in women). For
      aMCI, the fully adjusted OR was 1.53 (1.04;2.25) and for naMCI, the fully
      adjusted OR was 1.34 (1.09; 166) in the total sample. CONCLUSION: Within normal
      ranges and without manifest heart failure, higher NT-proBNPlevels are associated
      with MCI and both MCI subtypes independent of traditional cardiovascular risk
      factors and sociodemographic parameters.

PMID- 27636852
TI  - Health Advice in a Digital World: Quality and Content of Online Information about
      the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the number of older adults turning to the Internet for health
      information increases, so does the potential for online information to have a
      substantial impact on the patient-physician relationship and on their health.
      Inaccurate information may weaken patient-physician relationships or result in
      increased physician visits and health anxiety, while high quality information may
      allow Internet users to make better decisions about their health. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess the quality and content of available online resources about the prevention
      of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: A sample of 308 articles related to the
      prevention of AD was collected from the first three pages of location-independent
      keyword searches on Google.com between September 17-30, 2014. Content analysis
      was applied to articles that met criteria (n = 298) and a quality evaluation tool
      was developed to generate a quality score for each of the articles (n = 290).
      RESULTS: We found that articles on the high end of the quality spectrum focused
      on modifiable risk factors and tended to present balanced information, while
      articles of low quality emphasized nutrition as a method of prevention and were
      more likely to be in conflict of interest. CONCLUSION: This study provides the
      first insight into the content and quality of prevention information for AD
      currently available online and highlights the importance of future research to
      better understand the impact of this information on the patient-physician
      relationship and health decision-making of older adults.

PMID- 27636853
TI  - How Does Exercise Reduce the Rate of Age-Associated Cognitive Decline? A Review
      of Potential Mechanisms.
AB  - The rate of age-associated cognitive decline varies considerably between
      individuals. It is important, both on a societal and individual level, to
      investigate factors that underlie these differences in order to identify those
      which might realistically slow cognitive decline. Physical activity is one such
      factor with substantial support in the literature. Regular exercise can
      positively influence cognitive ability, reduce the rate of cognitive aging, and
      even reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. However,
      while there is substantial evidence in the extant literature for the effect of
      exercise on cognition, the processes that mediate this relationship are less
      clear. This review examines cardiovascular health, production of brain derived
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF), insulin sensitivity, stress, and inflammation as
      potential pathways, via which exercise may maintain or improve cognitive
      functioning, and may be particularly pertinent in the context of the aging brain.
      A greater understanding of these mechanisms and their potential relationships
      with exercise and cognition will be invaluable in providing biomarkers for
      investigating the efficacy of differing exercise regimes on cognitive outcomes.

PMID- 27636855
TI  - Development and application of a double- antibody sandwich ELISA kit for the
      detection of serum MUC1 in lung cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucin 1 (MUC1), as an oncogene, plays an important role in the
      diagnosis of lung cancer. OBJECTIVE: To establish a double-antibody sandwich
      enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) kit for the detection of serum MUC1 in
      lung cancer patients. METHODS: Commercial mouse anti-human MUC1 monoclonal
      antibody and rabbit anti-human MUC1 polyclonal antibody were used to construct a
      double-antibody sandwich ELISA kit. The serum MUC1 levels in peripheral blood of
      lung disease patients and healthy individuals were detected by the double
      antibody sandwich ELISA kit and CA15-3 kit, respectively. RESULTS: A double
      antibody sandwich ELISA kit was successfully constructed, and the sensitivity was
      up to 0.5 MU g/l. The cut-off value for the serum MUC1 levels in the peripheral
      blood was 1.98 MU g/l, the sensitivity was 62.5%, the specificity was 100% and
      the Youden index was 0.6250 when detected by the double-antibody sandwich ELISA
      kit, while the sensitivity was 18.75%, the specificity was 100% and the Youden
      index was 0.1875 when detected by CA15-3 kit. CONCLUSION: The double-antibody
      sandwich ELISA kit is superior to the CA15-3 kit in the detection of serum MUC1
      in lung cancer patients, suggesting an attractive applying of the double-antibody
      sandwich ELISA kit in the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

PMID- 27636856
TI  - Safety and Durability of Effect with Long-Term, Open-Label Droxidopa Treatment in
      Patients with Symptomatic Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension (NOH303).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (nOH) is associated with
      insufficient norepinephrine release in response to postural change. OBJECTIVE:
      The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term safety and durability
      of efficacy of the norepinephrine precursor droxidopa in patients with
      symptomatic nOH. METHODS: This multinational study consisted of 3 sequential
      phases: a 3-month open-label droxidopa treatment phase followed by a 2-week
      double-blind, placebo-controlled withdrawal phase, and a 9-month open-label
      extension phase in which all patients received droxidopa. Patients were adults
      diagnosed with symptomatic nOH associated with Parkinson's disease, multiple
      system atrophy, pure autonomic failure, dopamine beta-hydroxylase deficiency, or
      nondiabetic autonomic neuropathy. Efficacy was evaluated using patient- and
      investigator-reported questionnaire responses and the orthostatic standing test.
      Safety was assessed through adverse event (AE) reports and vital signs. RESULTS:
      A total of 102 patients received treatment with droxidopa. Initial improvements
      from baseline in patient-reported nOH symptom severity and impact on daily
      activities, evaluated using the Orthostatic Hypotension Questionnaire, exceeded
      50% and were maintained throughout the 12-month study. Decreased nOH severity was
      also reflected in clinician and patient ratings on the Clinical Global Impression
      questionnaire. Standing systolic and diastolic blood pressures were increased
      from baseline throughout the study with droxidopa treatment. The most frequently
      reported AEs were falls, urinary tract infection, and headache. There was a low
      incidence (<=2%) of cardiac AEs (eg, first-degree atrioventricular block,
      supraventricular extrasystoles). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term, open-label treatment
      with droxidopa for up to 12 months was generally well tolerated and provided
      durable improvements in nOH signs and symptoms.

PMID- 27636857
TI  - Nutritional characteristics and quality of eggs from laying hens fed on a diet
      supplemented with chestnut tannin extract (Castanea sativa Miller).
AB  - The trial was performed with 80 laying hens belonging to two Tuscan autochthonous
      breeds: 40 birds of the Mugellese (MU) breed and 40 of the White Leghorn (WL)
      breed. The animals were allotted to 4 groups of individually caged 20 hens each:
      two groups were fed on a commercial diet and worked as the control groups (MUC
      and WLC); the other two groups received the same diet, integrated with 2 g of
      chestnut tannin (CT) extract per kg of diet (MUT and WLT). A sample of 70 eggs
      were randomly collected and analysed for cholesterol content, fatty acid (FA)
      profile, weight, thickness of shell and colour of yolk. Physical parameters,
      including yolk colour, and indices of egg quality were not affected by the
      treatments. The concentration of unsaturated FAs increased, whereas cholesterol
      was significantly decreased: -17% in WLT and -9% in MUT. Dietary supplementation
      with CT extract resulted in a modification of lipid composition, towards a more
      healthy quality of eggs.

PMID- 27636858
TI  - Anti-Mullerian hormone levels are not reduced in patients with adult
      autoinflammatory diseases compared to healthy controls.

PMID- 27636859
TI  - The Palin Parent Rating Scales: Parents' Perspectives of Childhood Stuttering and
      Its Impact.
AB  - Purpose: The goal of this study is to explore the psychometric properties of the
      Parent Rating Scales-V1 (S. K. Millard, S. Edwards, & F. M. Cook, 2009), an
      assessment tool for parents of children who stutter, and to refine the measure
      accordingly. Method: We included 259 scales completed prior to therapy. An
      exploratory factor analysis determined the test constructs and identified the
      items that had greatest loadings on those factors. Items that did not load on the
      factors were removed, and normative scores calculated. Results: The resulting 19
      item questionnaire measures three factors: (a) the impact of stuttering on the
      child; (b) the severity of stuttering and its impact on the parents; and (c) the
      parents' knowledge about stuttering and confidence in managing it. Reliability
      was demonstrated, norms established, and an automated online version constructed.
      Conclusions: The Palin Parent Rating Scale is a valid and reliable tool,
      providing a method of exploring parents' perceptions of stuttering, the impact it
      has on the child and themselves, and the parents' knowledge of and confidence in
      managing the stuttering. This is an important addition to the existing range of
      assessments that may be used to evaluate stuttering in children up to age 14;6
      (years;months) and allows the wider targets of parent-led therapy programs to be
      evaluated.

PMID- 27636861
TI  - Clinical Impact of Cystatin C/Cathepsin L and Follistatin/Activin A Systems in
      Breast Cancer Progression: A Preliminary Report.
AB  - This study was directed to assess the clinical impact of the circulating
      cathepsin L, cystatin C, activin A, and follistatin in breast cancer patients.
      The serum concentrations of these molecules were determined by immunoenzymatic
      assays, and their association with some clinico-pathological parameters of breast
      cancer progression was evaluated. Our results identified cystatin C and activin A
      as predictive markers for the presence of breast cancer and bone metastasis,
      respectively. Therefore, these proteins may have a clinical role as circulating
      biomarkers in the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of breast cancer patients.

PMID- 27636860
TI  - Sulforaphane Regulates NFE2L2/Nrf2-Dependent Xenobiotic Metabolism Phase II and
      Phase III Enzymes Differently in Human Colorectal Cancer and Untransformed
      Epithelial Colon Cells.
AB  - Sulforaphane (SFN), a naturally occurring chemopreventive and anticancer agent,
      is a nuclear factor, erythroid 2-like 2 (NFE2L2/Nrf2) inducer. Nrf2 plays a
      critical role in coordinating the cell defense system by initiating the
      transcription of cytoprotective genes, including detoxification enzymes such as
      NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) and transport proteins such as ATP-binding
      cassette, subfamily C (CFTR/MRP). Recently, the essential role of Nrf2 in tumor
      development and progression and in the development of multidrug resistance in
      cancer cells has been highlighted. The aim of this study was to compare the
      effect of SFN on the Nrf2 system and the Nrf2-target enzymes NQO1 and MRP in
      human untransformed epithelial colon CRL-1790 cells and in HT-29 and Caco-2
      colorectal cancer cells to elucidate the role of SFN in cancer prevention and
      treatment. We have demonstrated that SFN has excellent cytoprotective properties
      in CRL-1790 cells, as it induced Nrf2-dependent expression of MRP1 and NQO1. SFN
      induced Nrf2 target enzyme activity in HT-29 and Caco-2 cancer cells but
      regulated the Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway differently in cancer and untransformed
      cells.

PMID- 27636862
TI  - tRNA evolution from the proto-tRNA minihelix world.
AB  - Multiple models have been advanced for the evolution of cloverleaf tRNA. Here,
      the conserved archaeal tRNA core (75-nt) is posited to have evolved from ligation
      of three proto-tRNA minihelices (31-nt) and two-symmetrical 9-nt deletions within
      joined acceptor stems (93 - 18 = 75-nt). The primary evidence for this conclusion
      is that the 5-nt stem 7-nt anticodon loop and the 5-nt stem 7-nt T loop are
      structurally homologous and related by coding sequence. We posit that the D loop
      was generated from a third minihelix (31-nt) in which the stem and loop became
      rearranged after 9-nt acceptor stem deletions and cloverleaf folding. The most 3'
      5-nt segment of the D loop and the 5-nt V loop are apparent remnants of the
      joined acceptor stems (14 - 9 = 5-nt). Before refolding in the tRNA cloverleaf,
      we posit that the 3'-5-nt segment of the D loop and the 5-nt V loop were paired,
      and, in the tRNA cloverleaf, frequent pairing of positions 29 (D loop) and 47 (V
      loop) remains (numbered on a 75-nt tRNA cloverleaf core). Amazingly, after >3.5
      billion years of evolutionary pressure on the tRNA cloverleaf structure, a model
      can be constructed that convincingly describes the genesis of 75/75-nt conserved
      archaeal tRNA core positions. Judging from the tRNA structure, cloverleaf tRNA
      appears to represent at least a second-generation scheme (and possibly a third
      generation scheme) that replaced a robust 31-nt minihelix protein-coding system,
      evidence for which is preserved in the cloverleaf structure. Understanding tRNA
      evolution provides insights into ribosome and rRNA evolution.

PMID- 27636863
TI  - Migration of copper from nanocopper/LDPE composite films.
AB  - Three nanocopper/low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composite films were tested in
      food simulants (3% acetic acid and 10% ethanol) and real food matrices (rice
      vinegar, bottled water and Chinese liquor) to explore the behaviours of copper
      migration using ICP-OES and GFAAS. The effects of exposure time, temperature,
      nanocopper concentration and contact media on the release of copper from
      nanocopper/LDPE composite films were studied. It was shown that the migration of
      copper into 10% ethanol was much less than that into 3% acetic acid at the same
      conditions. With the increase of nanocopper concentration, exposure time and
      temperature, the release of copper increased. Copper migration does not appear to
      be significant in the case of bottled water and Chinese liquor compared with rice
      vinegar with a maximum value of 0.54 MUg mL-1 for the CF-0.25# bags at 70 degrees
      C for 2 h. The presence and morphology of copper nanoparticles in the films and
      the topographical changes of the films were confirmed by field emission scanning
      electron microscope (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). In this manner,
      copper nanoparticles of different morphologies, sizes and distribution were
      found, and samples with higher nanocopper concentration had a more irregular
      topography. In the case of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), no
      chemical bonds formed between copper nanoparticles and LDPE. Copper nanoparticles
      were just as physically dispersed in LDPE.

PMID- 27636865
TI  - Incidence and risk factors for failed medical management of spinal epidural
      abscess: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a life-threatening infection. It is
      uncertain whether medical versus surgical treatment is the ideal initial approach
      for neurologically intact patients with SEA. Recent evidence demonstrates that
      initial medical management is increasingly common; however, patients who
      ultimately require surgery after failed medical management may have a worse
      prognosis than those whose treatment was initially surgical. The primary
      objective of this study was to establish the current incidence of failed medical
      management for SEA. The secondary aim was to identify risk factors associated
      with the failure of medical management. METHODS The authors conducted a
      systematic review and meta-analysis by searching electronic databases (MEDLINE,
      Embase, CINAHL, and PubMed), recent conference proceedings, and reference lists
      of relevant articles. Studies that reported original data on consecutive adult
      patients with SEA treated medically were eligible for inclusion. RESULTS Twelve
      studies met the inclusion criteria, which included a total of 489 medically
      treated patients with SEA. Agreement on articles for study inclusion was very
      high between the reviewers (kappa 0.86). In a meta-analysis, the overall pooled
      risk of failed medical management was 29.3% (95% CI 21.4%-37.2%) and when medical
      to surgical crossover was used to define failure the rate was 26.3% (95% CI 13.0%
      39.7%). Only 6 studies provided data for analysis by intended treatment, with a
      pooled estimate of 35.1% (95% CI 15.7%-54.4%) of failed medical management. Two
      studies reported predictors of the failure of medical management. CONCLUSIONS
      Although the incidence of failed medical management of SEA was relatively common
      in published reports, estimates were highly heterogeneous between studies, thus
      introducing uncertainty about the frequency of this risk. A consensus definition
      of failure is required to facilitate comparison of failure rates across studies.

PMID- 27636866
TI  - Effects of early surgical decompression on functional and histological outcomes
      after severe experimental thoracic spinal cord injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE In acute traumatic brain injury, decompressive craniectomy is a common
      treatment that involves the removal of bone from the cranium to relieve
      intracranial pressure. The present study investigated whether neurological
      function following a severe spinal cord injury improves after utilizing either a
      durotomy to decompress the intradural space and/or a duraplasty to maintain
      proper flow of cerebrospinal fluid. METHODS Sixty-four adult female rats (n = 64)
      were randomly assigned to receive either a 3- or 5-level decompressive
      laminectomy (Groups A and B), laminectomy + durotomy (Groups C and D), or
      laminectomy + duraplasty with graft (Group E and F) at 24 hours following a
      severe thoracic contusion injury (200 kilodynes). Duraplasty involved the use of
      DuraSeal, a hydrogel dural sealant. Uninjured and injured control groups were
      included (Groups G, H). Hindlimb locomotor function was assessed by open field
      locomotor testing (BBB) and CatWalk gait analysis at 35 days postinjury. Bladder
      function was analyzed and bladder wall thickness was assessed histologically. At
      35 days postinjury, mechanical and thermal allodynia were assessed by the Von
      Frey hair filament and hotplate paw withdrawal tests, respectively. Thereafter,
      the spinal cords were dissected, examined for gross anomalies at the injury site,
      and harvested for histological analyses to assess lesion volumes and white matter
      sparing. ANOVA was used for statistical analyses. RESULTS There was no
      significant improvement in motor function recovery in any treatment groups
      compared with injured controls. CatWalk gait analysis indicated a significant
      decrease in interlimb coordination in Groups B, C, and D (p < 0.05) and swing
      speed in Groups A, B, and D. Increased mechanical pain sensitivity was observed
      in Groups A, C, and F (p < 0.05). Rats in Group C also developed thermal pain
      hypersensitivity. Examination of spinal cords demonstrated increased lesion
      volumes in Groups C and F and increased white matter sparing in Group E (p <
      0.05). The return of bladder automaticity was similar in all groups. Examination
      of the injury site during tissue harvest revealed that, in some instances,
      expansion of the hydrogel dural sealant caused compression of the spinal cord.
      CONCLUSIONS Surgical decompression provided no benefit in terms of neurological
      improvement in the setting of a severe thoracic spinal cord contusion injury in
      rats at 24 hours postinjury. Decompressive laminectomy and durotomy did not
      improve motor function recovery, and rats in both of these treatment modalities
      developed neuropathic pain. Performing a durotomy also led to increased lesion
      volumes. Placement of DuraSeal was shown to cause compression in some rats in the
      duraplasty treatment groups. Decompressive duraplasty of 3 levels does not affect
      functional outcomes after injury but did increase white matter sparing.
      Decompressive duraplasty of 5 levels led to neuropathic pain development and
      increased lesion volumes. Further comparison of dural repair techniques is
      necessary.

PMID- 27636864
TI  - Dissociated sequential activity and stimulus encoding in the dorsomedial striatum
      during spatial working memory.
AB  - Several lines of evidence suggest that the striatum has an important role in
      spatial working memory. The neural dynamics in the striatum have been described
      in tasks with short delay periods (1-4 s), but remain largely uncharacterized for
      tasks with longer delay periods. We collected and analyzed single unit recordings
      from the dorsomedial striatum of rats performing a spatial working memory task
      with delays up to 10 s. We found that neurons were activated sequentially, with
      the sequences spanning the entire delay period. Surprisingly, this sequential
      activity was dissociated from stimulus encoding activity, which was present in
      the same neurons, but preferentially appeared towards the onset of the delay
      period. These observations contrast with descriptions of sequential dynamics
      during similar tasks in other brains areas, and clarify the contribution of the
      striatum to spatial working memory.

PMID- 27636867
TI  - Combined hormonal contraception and its effects on mood: a critical review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Adverse mood changes are sometimes cited as a reason for
      discontinuing combined hormonal contraception (CHC). A systematic review of
      recent literature was undertaken to characterise the nature of these side effects
      and identify characteristics that might predispose women to such effects.
      METHODS: A MEDLINE review of studies from the past 30 years that focused on CHC
      and mood was performed. Database search was supplemented with studies found
      through citations and references. RESULTS: The research literature on this topic
      is limited by a lack of prospective studies, a variety of measurements of mood,
      and a consolidation of many disparate types of contraceptives studied together in
      a single cohort. Common themes that emerge from review of these papers include
      (1) most women using CHC demonstrate no effect or a beneficial effect on mood,
      with a low incidence of adverse effects; (2) contraceptives containing less
      androgenic progestins may have fewer adverse effects on mood; (3) continuous and
      perhaps non-oral dosing of CHC has the fewest mood effects; (4) women with
      underlying mood disorders may be predisposed to mood effects, but this may
      reflect factors related to choice of contraception rather than the mood disorder
      itself. CONCLUSION: Inconsistent research methods and lack of uniform assessments
      make it difficult to make strong conclusions about which CHC users are at risk
      for adverse mood effects. Until more prospective data is available, clinicians
      should recognise that such effects are infrequent and CHC may be prescribed with
      confidence.

PMID- 27636868
TI  - External genitalia hypertrophy in an adolescent girl with Sanfilippo syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report unusual gynaecological features associated with Sanfilippo
      syndrome, a rare progressive multisystem storage disorder. CASE: A 10-year-old
      adolescent girl with Sanfilippo syndrome type B, presented to the Center for
      Adolescent Medicine accompanied by her mother. Maternal anxiety was related to a
      palpable mass over the adolescent's external genitalia that had been causing her
      discomfort and exacerbation of her behavioural problems when wearing trousers.
      The mass was also a site of blood accumulation during her menstruation causing
      hygiene issues. Gynaecological examination revealed hypertrophy and thickening of
      the adolescent's hymen, labia minora and the posterior fourchette, that protruded
      like a mass in her perineum. These findings were attributed to the accumulation
      of heparan sulphate in the connective tissue of her external genitalia and
      perineal area. Reassurance as well as counselling about hygiene and avoidance of
      tight clothes were provided to the mother. CONCLUSION: Girls with
      mucopolysaccharidoses need monitoring for evolving gynaecological problems in
      order to improve their quality of life.

PMID- 27636869
TI  - Reduced ability to work both before and after infectious spondylodiscitis in
      working-age patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As little is known about the ability to work in patients with
      infectious spondylodiscitis, we compared the relation between the workforce
      before infection with that of a reference population and described the patients'
      ability to work after infection including predictors of return to work (RTW).
      METHODS: We identified all patients aged 20-57 years treated for infectious
      spondylodiscitis January 1994-May 2009 at hospitals in Funen County, Denmark. The
      work status of each week from 2 years before until 2 years after index date was
      compared with that of a reference population. Time to RTW was described using
      cumulative incidence curves and univariate cause-specific Cox-regression analyses
      (hazard ratios - HRs). RESULTS: Of 112 identified patients, 8 (7%) died within
      the first year and 48 (43%) were part of the workforce 1 year before index.
      Through the entire observation period, the patients had lower affiliation to the
      workforce compared with the reference population. During the observation period,
      the proportion of patients on permanent disability pension increased from 24% to
      38% and the proportion of self-supporters decreased from 58% to 33%. Seventy
      three per cent of the patients being part of the workforce 1 year before index
      returned to the workforce within the 2 year follow-up. Main predictor of RTW was
      being part of the workforce 1 year before index (HR = 7.8; CI: 2.4-25.3).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with infectious spondylodiscitis were less likely to be
      part of the workforce before infection compared with a reference population and
      infection further lowered their ability to RTW.

PMID- 27636870
TI  - Communicating to Improve Care.

PMID- 27636871
TI  - Health Information Technology: The Need to Know vs. Data Security.

PMID- 27636872
TI  - The Illusion of Perfect Memory.
AB  - Memory is not infallible, and certain memory problems or glitches are normal.
      Most people notice that they experience more memory shortcomings as they age.
      Omission deficits and commission deficits are common and include transience,
      absentmindedness, tip-of-the-tongue experience, misattribution, suggestibility,
      bias, and persistence. Each of these has a different cause, and researchers have
      looked for interventions that can decrease the frequency and severity of these
      common problems. Though some people worry that memory glitches foreshadow
      dementia, that is not usually the case. Understanding how memory falters can
      assist pharmacists in helping patients provide better medical histories and
      improve adherence. It is useful when collecting reliable information if incident
      reports rely on eyewitness accounts. It can also help them improve pharmacists'
      own memories, and understand why memory may change over time. 

PMID- 27636873
TI  - Optimizing the Use of Discharge Medication Lists in Nursing Facilities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To highlight the need to optimize the use of discharge medication
      lists in nursing facilities. SETTING: In January 2014, the care transitions (CT)
      pharmacists at Frederick Memorial Hospital, Frederick, Maryland, began a pilot
      project in which they identified and followed high-risk patients transitioning
      from hospital to nursing facility and from nursing facility to home. PRACTICE
      DESCRIPTION: This pilot project served as a needs assessment to identify
      opportunities to improve patients' transition from nursing facility to home with
      the goal of reducing hospital readmissions. PRACTICE INNOVATION: One of the
      enormous opportunities that were immediately recognized was the nursing facility
      discharge medication list. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The CT pharmacists found
      that patients had difficulty deciphering and understanding the medication lists.
      RESULTS: By reviewing the elements of existing medication lists, the CT
      pharmacists identified 11 components of a nursing facility discharge medication
      list that would increase patient safety and potentially reduce medication-related
      hospital readmissions. These elements include the capability of electronically
      generating a medication list that includes both brand and generic medication
      names with accurate indications in layperson terms. The ideal discharge
      medication list would also be patient-specific and remove irrelevant information
      and take into consideration patients' age, vision, and health literacy.
      CONCLUSION: With the upcoming implementation of the nursing facility value-based
      purchasing program, nursing facilities may soon receive incentives to improve
      their medication management systems at discharge.

PMID- 27636874
TI  - Probable Drug-Related Meningioma Detected During the Course of Medication Review
      Services.
AB  - There is evidence to support a link between treatment with high-dose cyproterone
      acetate and the development of meningioma. This report describes a case where an
      elderly man with intellectual disability who was treated with cyproterone for
      problematic sexual behavior developed a meningioma. The case was the subject of a
      residential medication management review provided under the auspices of a program
      funded by the Commonwealth Government of Australia. A discussion of clinical and
      ethical implications of the case is provided. 

PMID- 27636875
TI  - Impact of a Pharmacist-Initiated Vancomycin Monitoring Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the clinical impact of pharmacist-initiated vancomycin
      monitoring and dosing in a long-term care setting. DESIGN: Single-center,
      pretest, post-test design. SETTING: Rutland Nursing Home, Brooklyn, New York.
      PARTICIPANTS: Nursing facility residents treated with intravenous vancomycin (N =
      198). OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary objective is to determine the incidence of
      acute kidney injury (AKI) a year before and a year after implementation of a
      pharmacist-initiated vancomycin-monitoring protocol. The secondary objectives are
      percentage of serum drug levels in therapeutic range and compliance with
      laboratory testing for monitoring of nephrotoxicity. RESULTS: The overall
      incidence of AKI decreased from 16.3% (8/49) to 4.7% (7/149) (P = 0.013).
      Compliance with weekly monitoring for nephrotoxicity via serum creatinine and
      blood urea nitrogen improved from 76% (37/49) to 95% (141/149) (P <= 0.001).
      Compliance with weekly vancomycin level monitoring improved from 71% (35/49) to
      85% (126/149) (P = 0.041). Percentage of vancomycin trough levels in the
      therapeutic range of 10-20 mcg/mL were shown to have no difference between two
      groups, but vancomycin levels > 20 mcg/mL decreased from 31% (15/49) to 17%
      (26/149) (P = 0.048). CONCLUSION: Implementation of pharmacist-driven vancomycin
      monitoring significantly improved monitoring compliance of vancomycin serum
      levels and kidney function as well as reduced the incidence of AKI in the long
      term care setting.

PMID- 27636876
TI  - Injuries in Adults 65 Years of Age and Older Prescribed Muscle Relaxants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Beers criteria list skeletal muscle relaxants (SMR) as
      inappropriate for individuals 65 years of age and older because of
      anticholinergic effects, sedation, and risk of falls/fractures. Patients 65 years
      of age and older presenting to U.S. primary care clinics for injury, prescribed
      an SMR, are at risk for these events. SMR prescribing patterns in older adults
      with injury have not been well studied at the population level. Using nationally
      representative data, the prevalence of older adults prescribed an SMR presenting
      to U.S. primary care clinics with injury was examined. DESIGN: A cross-sectional
      study analyzing 2012 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) data using
      bivariate and multivariate techniques. NAMCS, a nationally representative
      database of the U.S. population, collects data from primary care office visits
      and uses a multi-stage sampling strategy. SETTING: Primary care offices
      throughout the United States. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: Adults 65 years of age and
      older, presenting to rural primary care clinics with injury. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE(S): Prescription for SMR. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis yielded that the
      study population presenting to rural clinics for injury had 28% greater odds, non
      Caucasian adults had 11% greater odds, and those who had been seen at least twice
      in the past 12 months had 34% greater odds of being prescribed an SMR. Logistic
      regression analysis also yielded that females 65 to 74 years of age had greater
      odds of having a prescription for an SMR. CONCLUSION: The results of this study
      identified disparities among adults 65 years of age and older presenting to U.S.
      rural primary care clinics with injury and prescribed an SMR. Adults 65 years of
      age and older, Collaborative.

PMID- 27636877
TI  - The Politics of Health Care Spending.

PMID- 27636878
TI  - Mgm101: A double-duty Rad52-like protein.
AB  - Mgm101 has well-characterized activity for the repair and replication of the
      mitochondrial genome. Recent work has demonstrated a further role for Mgm101 in
      nuclear DNA metabolism, contributing to an S-phase specific DNA interstrand cross
      link repair pathway that acts redundantly with a pathway controlled by Pso2
      exonuclease. Due to involvement of FANCM, FANCJ and FANCP homologues (Mph1, Chl1
      and Slx4), this pathway has been described as a Fanconi anemia-like pathway. In
      this pathway, Mgm101 physically interacts with the DNA helicase Mph1 and the
      MutSalpha (Msh2/Msh6) heterodimer, but its precise role is yet to be elucidated.
      Data presented here suggests that Mgm101 functionally overlaps with Rad52,
      supporting previous suggestions that, based on protein structure and biochemical
      properties, Mgm101 and Rad52 belong to a family of proteins with similar
      function. In addition, our data shows that this overlap extends to the function
      of both proteins at telomeres, where Mgm101 is required for telomere elongation
      during chromosome replication in rad52 defective cells. We hypothesize that
      Mgm101 could, in Rad52-like manner, preferentially bind single-stranded DNAs
      (such as at stalled replication forks, broken chromosomes and natural chromosome
      ends), stabilize them and mediate single-strand annealing-like homologous
      recombination event to prevent them from converting into toxic structures.

PMID- 27636881
TI  - Health-related quality of life, physical activity, and sedentary behavior of
      adults with visual impairments.
AB  - PURPOSE: Research suggests that physical activity and sedentary behaviors can
      impact one's health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, little is known
      about the impact that these behaviors can have on the HRQoL of those with visual
      impairments. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to determine the
      associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior with HRQoL among a
      sample of adults with visual impairments. METHOD: Individuals with visual
      impairments were invited via email to complete three questionnaires: (a) the
      international physical activity questionnaire-short form, (b) the Rasch-revised
      versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument with the
      Level of Independence subscale, and (c) a demographic questionnaire. Eighty
      participants (Mage = 47.5) provided usable surveys for analyses. RESULTS: The
      results demonstrated that physical activity significantly predicted HRQoL
      (F(2,79) = 3.508, p = .035, R2Adjusted=.060), yet, sedentary behavior did not
      (F(2,79) = 1.546, p = .220, R2 = .039, R2Adjusted =.014). Gender differences were
      uncovered regarding the relationship between physical activity and health-related
      quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study demonstrate the
      importance of physical activity in influencing the HRQoL of adults with visual
      impairments. This study supports the need for additional intervention research to
      promote physical activity for those with visual impairments. Implications for
      Rehabilitations Adults with visual impairments tend to report lower health
      related quality of life than peers without visual impairments. Regular
      participation in leisure-time physical activity, and restricted sedentary time,
      have been demonstrated to positively influence health-related quality of life for
      adults without disabilities. In this study, physical activity shows promise as an
      effective means of improving health-related quality of life for adults with
      visual impairments.

PMID- 27636879
TI  - Germline miRNA DNA variants and the risk of colorectal cancer by subtype.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate up to one-third of all protein-coding genes including
      genes relevant to cancer. Variants within miRNAs have been reported to be
      associated with prognosis, survival, response to chemotherapy across cancer
      types, in vitro parameters of cell growth, and altered risks for development of
      cancer. Five miRNA variants have been reported to be associated with risk for
      development of colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we evaluated germline
      genetic variation in 1,123 miRNAs in 899 individuals with CRCs categorized by
      clinical subtypes and in 204 controls. The role of common miRNA variation in CRC
      was investigated using single variant and miRNA-level association tests. Twenty
      nine miRNAs and 30 variants exhibited some marginal association with CRC in at
      least one subtype of CRC. Previously reported associations were not confirmed (n
      = 4) or could not be evaluated (n = 1). The variants noted for the CRCs with
      deficient mismatch repair showed little overlap with the variants noted for CRCs
      with proficient mismatch repair, consistent with our evolving understanding of
      the distinct biology underlying these two groups. (c) 2016 The Authors Genes,
      Chromosomes & Cancer Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27636880
TI  - Suppression of Psyllium Husk Suspension Viscosity by Addition of Water Soluble
      Polysaccharides.
AB  - Psyllium seed husk is an insoluble dietary fiber with many health benefits. It
      can absorb many times its weight in water, forming very viscous suspensions,
      which have low palatability and consumer acceptance. We report here a novel
      approach for decreasing its viscosity, involving inclusion of a soluble
      polysaccharide in the suspension. This leads to a drastic decrease (up to 87%) in
      viscosity of suspensions, while maintaining the same dosage level of psyllium and
      also delivering a significant amount of soluble dietary fiber such as corn bio
      fiber gum in a single serving. Four soluble polysaccharides with a range of
      molecular weights and solution viscosities have been studied for their viscosity
      suppression effect. Besides improving palatability, another advantage of this
      approach is that it makes it possible to deliver 2 different dietary fibers in
      significant quantities, thus offering even greater health benefits.

PMID- 27636882
TI  - Relationship between serum testosterone and nocturia in men without benign
      prostate enlargement.
AB  - Recent studies have focused on the relationship between nocturia and serum
      testosterone because testosterone is thought to be an important factor of
      prostate growth. However, it remains unclear whether altered serum concentrations
      of testosterone is associated with an increased risk of nocturia because patients
      who were taking diuretics or who had a large prostate, which may precipitate
      nocturia, were not excluded from most previous studies. We analyzed the clinical
      records of 596 non-benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) male patients to explore
      the relationship between serum total testosterone and nocturia. All patients were
      evaluated using a serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) assay, measurement of
      serum total testosterone, transrectal ultrasonography, uroflowmetry, and a
      compilation of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and International
      Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaires. Nocturia was defined as >=2
      nocturnal voiding episodes. The number of nocturia episodes was assessed using
      IPSS question 7. To evaluate the effect of serum testosterone on nocturia,
      multivariate regression analysis was performed including the covariates of age,
      IPSS, IIEF score, body mass index, PSA, prostate volume, and maximal urine flow
      rate. Based on multivariate linear analysis, serum testosterone level was not
      significantly associated with the severity of nocturia. However, with regard to
      the relationship between prevalence of nocturia and serum testosterone,
      prevalence of nocturia was significantly positively associated with age (OR =
      1.048, p = 0.005), total IPSS (OR = 1.217, p < 0.001), and testosterone level (OR
      = 1.150, p = 0.041). Therefore, in men without an enlarged prostate, testosterone
      may play an opposing role in the etiology of nocturia.

PMID- 27636883
TI  - Diageo's 'Stop Out of Control Drinking' Campaign in Ireland: An Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been argued that the alcohol industry uses corporate social
      responsibility activities to influence policy and undermine public health, and
      that every opportunity should be taken to scrutinise such activities. This study
      analyses a controversial Diageo-funded 'responsible drinking' campaign ("Stop out
      of Control Drinking", or SOOCD) in Ireland. The study aims to identify how the
      campaign and its advisory board members frame and define (i) alcohol-related
      harms, and their causes, and (ii) possible solutions. METHODS: Documentary
      analysis of SOOCD campaign material. This includes newspaper articles (n = 9),
      media interviews (n = 11), Facebook posts (n = 92), and Tweets (n = 340) produced
      by the campaign and by board members. All material was coded inductively, and a
      thematic analysis undertaken, with codes aggregated into sub-themes. RESULTS: The
      SOOCD campaign utilises vague or self-defined concepts of 'out of control' and
      'moderate' drinking, tending to present alcohol problems as behavioural rather
      than health issues. These are also unquantified with respect to actual drinking
      levels. It emphasises alcohol-related antisocial behaviour among young people,
      particularly young women. In discussing solutions to alcohol-related problems, it
      focuses on public opinion rather than on scientific evidence, and on educational
      approaches and information provision, misrepresenting these as effective.
      "Moderate drinking" is presented as a behavioural issue ("negative drinking
      behaviours"), rather than as a health issue. CONCLUSIONS: The 'Stop Out of
      Control Drinking' campaign frames alcohol problems and solutions in ways
      unfavourable to public health, and closely reflects other Diageo Corporate Social
      Responsibility (CSR) activity, as well as alcohol and tobacco industry strategies
      more generally. This framing, and in particular the framing of alcohol harms as a
      behavioural issue, with the implication that consumption should be guided only by
      self-defined limits, may not have been recognised by all board members. It
      suggests a need for awareness-raising efforts among the public, third sector and
      policymakers about alcohol industry strategies.

PMID- 27636884
TI  - Repeated Treatments with Ingenol Mebutate Prevents Progression of UV-Induced
      Photodamage in Hairless Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Ingenol mebutate (IngMeb) is an effective treatment for
      actinic keratosis. In this study, we hypothesized that repeated treatments with
      IngMeb may prevent progression of UV-induced photodamage, and that concurrent
      application of a corticosteroid may reduce IngMeb-induced local skin responses
      (LSR). METHODS: Hairless mice (n = 60; 3 groups of 20 mice) were irradiated with
      solar simulated ultraviolet radiation (UVR) throughout the study. Five single
      treatments with IngMeb were given at 4-week intervals (Days 21, 49, 77, 105, and
      133). Clobetasol propionate (CP) was applied once daily for 5 days prior to each
      IngMeb application, as well as 6 h and 1 day post treatment. One week after
      IngMeb treatment No. 1, 3, and 5 (Days 28, 84, and 140), biopsies from four mice
      in each group were collected for histological evaluation of UV-damage on a
      standardized UV-damage scale (0-12). LSR (0-24) were assessed once daily (Days 1
      7) after each IngMeb treatment. RESULTS: IngMeb prevented progression of
      photodamage in terms of keratosis grade, epidermal hypertrophy, dysplasia, and
      dermal actinic damage with a lower composite UV-damage score on day 140 (UVR
      10.25 vs. UVR+IngMeb 6.00, p = 0.002) compared to UVR alone. IngMeb induced LSR,
      including erythema, flaking, crusting, bleeding, vesiculation, and ulceration.
      Concurrent CP increased LSR (max LSR Tx 1-5: UVR+IngMeb+CP 3.6-5.5 vs. UVR+IngMeb
      2.6-4.3) and provided better prevention of photodamage compared to IngMeb alone
      (Day 140: UVR+IngMeb 6.00 vs. UVR+IngMeb+CP 3.00 p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Repeated
      field-directed treatments with IngMeb prevent progression of cutaneous
      photodamage in hairless mice, while CP cannot be used to alleviate IngMeb-induced
      LSR. The findings suggest that IngMeb may potentially serve as a prophylactic
      treatment for UV-induced tumors.

PMID- 27636885
TI  - Comparison of single- and multiple-person mercury exposures.
AB  - Elemental and organic mercury are extremely toxic. All mercury exposures reported
      to Texas poison centers during 2000-2013 were identified. The cases were divided
      into multiple- and single-person exposure groups and compared, including
      identification of statistically significant differences (SSDs). There were 6,521
      single-person exposures and 214 multiple-person incidents involving 734 total
      persons; 45% and 27% of the multiple- and single-person exposures, respectively,
      involved patients aged 6-19 years (SSD). The multiple- and single-person
      exposures were, respectively, 87% vs 98% unintentional (SSD). The most frequent
      routes of multiple- and single-person exposures, respectively, involved ingestion
      (23% vs 72%, SSD), dermal (52% vs 23%, SSD), and inhalation (43% vs 5%, SSD). The
      most common site for multiple- and single-person exposures was the patient's own
      residence (56% vs 91%, respectively, SSD). Multiple-person mercury exposures are
      more likely to involve school-age children. A greater proportion of multiple
      person exposures was intentional, involved dermal and inhalation routes, and
      occurred at school.

PMID- 27636886
TI  - Mature and Immature Solid Teratomas Involving Uterine Corpus, Cervix, and Ovary.
AB  - Extragonadal teratomas are rare, and localization in the endometrium and cervix
      is exceptional, with fewer than 10 case reports documented so far in the English
      literature. We report here the case of a 46-year-old patient who presented with
      simultaneous immature teratoma in the endometrium and mature teratomas in the
      ovary in association with gliomatosis peritonei but with no evidence of
      gestational origin; she subsequently developed multiple solid mature teratomas in
      the cervix and parauterine tissue. No other similar cases have been previously
      reported to our knowledge. There are many similarities between the patient's
      pattern of recurrence and "growing teratoma syndrome (GTS)". Although the patient
      was not treated with chemotherapy after her first presentation and this case does
      not meet formal criteria for GTS, we believe that the pattern and histology of
      recurrences in this case represent a variant of GTS. Considering that the initial
      presentation in this case was endometrial and ovarian makes the occurrence of GTS
      like syndrome even more unique.

PMID- 27636887
TI  - DNA Genotyping of Suspected Partial Hydatidiform Moles Detects Clinically
      Significant Aneuploidy.
AB  - The diagnosis of partial hydatidiform mole (PM) is especially difficult early in
      gestation as the morphology of nonmolar abortus (NMA) may mimic PM. Molecular
      genotyping analysis can definitively identify diandric triploidy, the genetic
      basis for PM, whereas NMA cases show a biparental inheritance. This 4-year
      retrospective study sought to determine what proportion of NMA cases which were
      initially suspected as being PM was aneuploid, and whether this knowledge of
      aneuploidy status is clinically useful. Cases with atypical villous morphology on
      histopathology suggestive of PM were subjected to molecular genotyping. The
      genotyping testing panel contained 19 highly polymorphic short-tandem repeat
      markers on chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X, and Y and 2 nonpolymorphic markers for sex
      determination. Informative molecular genotyping analysis was available in 127
      cases (56 PMs and 71 NMAs). Aneuploidy was detected in 15/71 of NMAs (21.1%): 7
      cases of trisomy 18, 3 of trisomy 13, 1 of trisomy 21, and 4 of monosomy X. It is
      concluded that most cases of aneuploid NMAs (11/15) detected by molecular
      genotyping analysis of atypical villous morphology cases are sporadic in type
      with a low or age-related recurrence risk. Nevertheless, this information may be
      useful in subsequent counseling and in women undergoing in vitro fertilization by
      directing preimplantation genetic diagnosis in subsequent cycles. In about a
      quarter of aneuploid NMAs (4/15) specific aneuploidy types which may be caused by
      unbalanced familial chromosome rearrangement are identified and are clinically
      important to patient management. Detection of clinically relevant aneuploidy in
      NMAs represents an important secondary benefit to the adoption of molecular
      genotyping analysis in suspected PM.

PMID- 27636888
TI  - ALK-rearranged Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of the Placenta, With
      Observations on Site of Origin.

PMID- 27636890
TI  - Methylglyoxal in Metabolic Disorders: Facts, Myths, and Promises.
AB  - Glucose and fructose metabolism originates the highly reactive byproduct
      methylglyoxal (MG), which is a strong precursor of advanced glycation end
      products (AGE). The MG has been implicated in classical diabetic complications
      such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy, but has also been recently
      associated with cardiovascular diseases and central nervous system disorders such
      as cerebrovascular diseases and dementia. Recent studies even suggested its
      involvement in insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction, contributing to the
      early development of type 2 diabetes and creating a vicious circle between
      glycation and hyperglycemia. Despite several drugs and natural compounds have
      been identified in the last years in order to scavenge MG and inhibit AGE
      formation, we are still far from having an effective strategy to prevent MG
      induced mechanisms. This review summarizes the endogenous and exogenous sources
      of MG, also addressing the current controversy about the importance of exogenous
      MG sources. The mechanisms by which MG changes cell behavior and its involvement
      in type 2 diabetes development and complications and the pathophysiological
      implication are also summarized. Particular emphasis will be given to
      pathophysiological relevance of studies using higher MG doses, which may have
      produced biased results. Finally, we also overview the current knowledge about
      detoxification strategies, including modulation of endogenous enzymatic systems
      and exogenous compounds able to inhibit MG effects on biological systems.

PMID- 27636889
TI  - Extracellular matrix-derived hydrogels for dental stem cell delivery.
AB  - Decellularized mammalian extracellular matrices (ECM) have been widely accepted
      as an ideal substrate for repair and remodelling of numerous tissues in clinical
      and pre-clinical studies. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of ECM
      scaffolds derived from site-specific homologous tissues to direct cell
      differentiation. The present study investigated the suitability of hydrogels
      derived from different source tissues: bone, spinal cord and dentine, as suitable
      carriers to deliver human apical papilla derived mesenchymal stem cells (SCAP)
      for spinal cord regeneration. Bone, spinal cord, and dentine ECM hydrogels
      exhibited distinct structural, mechanical, and biological characteristics. All
      three hydrogels supported SCAP viability and proliferation. However, only spinal
      cord and bone derived hydrogels promoted the expression of neural lineage
      markers. The specific environment of ECM scaffolds significantly affected the
      differentiation of SCAP to a neural lineage, with stronger responses observed
      with spinal cord ECM hydrogels, suggesting that site-specific tissues are more
      likely to facilitate optimal stem cell behavior for constructive spinal cord
      regeneration. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A:
      319-328, 2017.

PMID- 27636891
TI  - Examining the association between motivations for induced abortion and method
      safety among women in Ghana.
AB  - This article draws on data from 552 women interviewed in the 2007 Ghana Maternal
      Health Survey to examine the association between motivations for women's
      pregnancy terminations and the safety of methods used. Women's reasons for
      induced abortions represented their vulnerability types at the critical time of
      decision making. Different motivations can result in taking various forms of
      action with the most vulnerable potentially resorting to the most harmful
      behaviors. Analysis of survey data pointed to spacing/delaying births as the main
      reason for abortion. Furthermore, women were more likely to terminate pregnancies
      unsafely if their main motivation for abortion was financial constraints.
      Especially among rural women, abortions for any reason were more likely
      associated with safe methods than if for financial reasons. These findings
      suggest a theme of vulnerability, resulting from poverty, as the motivations for
      women to resort to harmful abortion methods. Therefore, interventions formulated
      to reduce instances of unsafe pregnancy terminations should target reducing
      poverty and capacity building with the aim of economic advancement, in addition
      to curbing the root of the problem: unintended pregnancy.

PMID- 27636892
TI  - Complex Interplay between FleQ, Cyclic Diguanylate and Multiple sigma Factors
      Coordinately Regulates Flagellar Motility and Biofilm Development in Pseudomonas
      putida.
AB  - Most bacteria alternate between a free living planktonic lifestyle and the
      formation of structured surface-associated communities named biofilms. The
      transition between these two lifestyles requires a precise and timely regulation
      of the factors involved in each of the stages that has been likened to a
      developmental process. Here we characterize the involvement of the
      transcriptional regulator FleQ and the second messenger cyclic diguanylate in the
      coordinate regulation of multiple functions related to motility and surface
      colonization in Pseudomonas putida. Disruption of fleQ caused strong defects in
      flagellar motility, biofilm formation and surface attachment, and the ability of
      this mutation to suppress multiple biofilm-related phenotypes associated to
      cyclic diguanylate overproduction suggests that FleQ mediates cyclic diguanylate
      signaling critical to biofilm growth. We have constructed a library containing 94
      promoters potentially involved in motility and biofilm development fused to gfp
      and lacZ, screened this library for FleQ and cyclic diguanylate regulation, and
      assessed the involvement of alternative sigma factors sigmaN and FliA in the
      transcription of FleQ-regulated promoters. Our results suggest a dual mode of
      action for FleQ. Low cyclic diguanylate levels favor FleQ interaction with sigmaN
      dependent promoters to activate the flagellar cascade, encompassing the flagellar
      cluster and additional genes involved in cyclic diguanylate metabolism, signal
      transduction and gene regulation. On the other hand, characterization of the FleQ
      regulated sigmaN- and FliA-independent PlapA and PbcsD promoters revealed two
      disparate regulatory mechanisms leading to a similar outcome: the synthesis of
      biofilm matrix components in response to increased cyclic diguanylate levels. 

PMID- 27636893
TI  - A MicroRNA Cluster miR-23-24-27 Is Upregulated by Aldosterone in the Distal
      Kidney Nephron Where it Alters Sodium Transport.
AB  - The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is expressed in the epithelial cells of the
      distal convoluted tubules, connecting tubules, and cortical collecting duct (CCD)
      in the kidney nephron. Under the regulation of the steroid hormone aldosterone,
      ENaC is a major determinant of sodium (Na+ ) and water balance. The ability of
      aldosterone to regulate microRNAs (miRs) in the kidney has recently been
      realized, but the role of miRs in Na+ regulation has not been well established.
      Here we demonstrate that expression of a miR cluster mmu-miR-23-24-27, is
      upregulated in the CCD by aldosterone stimulation both in vitro and in vivo.
      Increasing the expression of these miRs increased Na+ transport in the absence of
      aldosterone stimulation. Potential miR targets were evaluated and miR-27a/b was
      verified to bind to the 3'-untranslated region of intersectin-2, a multi-domain
      protein expressed in the distal kidney nephron and involved in the regulation of
      membrane trafficking. Expression of Itsn2 mRNA and protein was decreased after
      aldosterone stimulation. Depletion of Itsn2 expression, mimicking aldosterone
      regulation, increased ENaC-mediated Na+ transport, while Itsn2 overexpression
      reduced ENaC's function. These findings reinforce a role for miRs in aldosterone
      regulation of Na+ transport, and implicate miR-27 in aldosterone's action via a
      novel target. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1306-1317, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27636894
TI  - Biological and environmental hazards associated with exposure to chemical warfare
      agents: arsenicals.
AB  - Arsenicals are highly reactive inorganic and organic derivatives of arsenic.
      These chemicals are very toxic and produce both acute and chronic tissue damage.
      On the basis of these observations, and considering the low cost and simple
      methods of their bulk syntheses, these agents were thought to be appropriate for
      chemical warfare. Among these, the best-known agent that was synthesized and
      weaponized during World War I (WWI) is Lewisite. Exposure to Lewisite causes
      painful inflammatory and blistering responses in the skin, lung, and eye. These
      chemicals also manifest systemic tissue injury following their cutaneous
      exposure. Although largely discontinued after WWI, stockpiles are still known to
      exist in the former Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, the United States, and Asia.
      Thus, access by terrorists or accidental exposure could be highly dangerous for
      humans and the environment. This review summarizes studies that describe the
      biological, pathophysiological, toxicological, and environmental effects of
      exposure to arsenicals, with a major focus on cutaneous injury. Studies related
      to the development of novel molecular pathobiology-based antidotes against these
      agents are also described.

PMID- 27636896
TI  - Stop Codon Polymorphisms in the Human SLC9A1 Gene Disrupt or Compromise Na+/H+
      Exchanger Function.
AB  - The NHE1 isoform of the mammalian Na+/H+ exchanger is a ubiquitous plasma
      membrane protein that regulates intracellular pH in mammalian cells by removing
      one intracellular proton in exchange for one extracellular sodium. Deletion of
      the NHE1 gene (SLC9A1) affects the growth and motor ability of mice and humans
      but mutations and polymorphisms of the gene are only beginning to be
      characterized. NHE1 has a cytosolic C-terminal regulatory tail of approximately
      315 amino acids and a 500 amino acid membrane domain. We examined the functional
      effects of three human stop codon mutations at amino acids 321, 449 and 735 in
      comparison with a mutant that had a shortened tail region (543 stop codon). The
      short mutants, 321, 449 and 543 stop codon mutant proteins, lost NHE1 activity
      and expression, and did not target to the plasma membrane. Protein for these
      short mutants was more rapidly degraded than the wild type and 735 ending
      proteins. The 735 terminating mutant, with the membrane domain and much of the
      cytosolic tail, had reduced protein expression and activity. The results
      demonstrate that early stop codon polymorphisms have significant and deleterious
      effects on the activity of the SLC9A1 protein product. The 735-NHE1 mutant,
      without the last 80 amino acids, had more minor defects. Surprisingly, retention
      of a proximal 43 amino acids adjacent to the membrane domain did little to
      maintain NHE1 expression, targeting and activity. 

PMID- 27636895
TI  - Immune-Complexed Adenovirus Induce AIM2-Mediated Pyroptosis in Human Dendritic
      Cells.
AB  - Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are nonenveloped proteinaceous particles containing a
      linear double-stranded DNA genome. HAdVs cause a spectrum of pathologies in all
      populations regardless of health standards. Following repeat exposure to multiple
      HAdV types, we develop robust and long-lived humoral and cellular immune
      responses that provide life-long protection from de novo infections and
      persistent HAdV. How HAdVs, anti-HAdV antibodies and antigen presenting cells
      (APCs) interact to influence infection is still incompletely understood. In our
      study, we used physical, pharmacological, biochemical, fluorescence and electron
      microscopy, molecular and cell biology approaches to dissect the impact of immune
      complexed HAdV (IC-HAdV) on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). We
      show that IC-HAdV generate stabilized complexes of ~200 nm that are efficiently
      internalized by, and aggregate in, MoDCs. By comparing IC-HAdV, IC-empty capsid,
      IC-Ad2ts1 (a HAdV-C2 impaired in endosomal escape due to a mutation that impacts
      protease encapsidation) and IC-AdL40Q (a HAdV-C5 impaired in endosomal escape due
      to a mutation in protein VI), we demonstrate that protein VI-dependent endosomal
      escape is required for the HAdV genome to engage the DNA pattern recognition
      receptor AIM2 (absent in melanoma 2). AIM2 engagement induces pyroptotic MoDC
      death via ASC (apoptosis-associated speck protein containing a caspase
      activation/recruitment domain) aggregation, inflammasome formation, caspase 1
      activation, and IL-1beta and gasdermin D (GSDMD) cleavage. Our study provides
      mechanistic insight into how humoral immunity initiates an innate immune response
      to HAdV-C5 in human professional APCs.

PMID- 27636897
TI  - Antenatal corticosteroids and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in
      adolescents born preterm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antenatal corticosteroid (ANCS) treatment hastens fetal lung maturity
      and improves survival of premature infants, but the long-term effects of ANCS are
      not well-described. Animal models suggest that ANCS increases the risk of
      cardiovascular disease through programmed changes in the renin-angiotensin (Ang)
      aldosterone system (RAAS). We hypothesized that ANCS exposure alters the RAAS in
      adolescents born prematurely. METHODS: A cohort of 173 adolescents born
      prematurely was evaluated, of whom 92 were exposed to ANCS. We measured plasma
      and urine Ang II and Ang-(1-7) and calculated Ang II/Ang-(1-7) ratios. We used
      general linear regression models to estimate the difference in the RAAS between
      the ANCS-exposed and unexposed groups, adjusting for confounding variables.
      RESULTS: In unadjusted analyses, and after adjustment for sex, race, and maternal
      hypertension, ANCS exposure was associated with increased urinary Ang II/Ang-(1
      7) (estimate 0.27 (95% CI 0.03, 0.5), P = 0.03), increased plasma Ang-(1-7) (0.66
      (0.26, 1.07), P = 0.002), and decreased plasma Ang II/Ang-(1-7) (-0.48 (-0.91, 
      0.06), P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: These alterations indicate an imbalance in the
      urinary RAAS, promoting the actions of Ang II at the expense of Ang-(1-7), which
      over time may increase the risk of renal inflammation and fibrosis and ultimately
      hypertension and renal disease.

PMID- 27636898
TI  - Enduring disturbances in regional cerebral blood flow and brain oxygenation at 24
      h after asphyxial cardiac arrest in developing rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disturbances in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and brain oxygenation
      (PbO2) are present early after pediatric cardiac arrest (CA). CBF-targeted
      therapies improved neurological outcome in our CA model. To assess the
      therapeutic window for CBF- and PbO2-targeted therapies, we propose to determine
      if CBF and PbO2 disturbances persist at 24 h after experimental pediatric CA.
      METHODS: Regional CBF and PbO2 were measured at 24 h after asphyxial CA in
      immature rats (n = 26, 6-8/group) using arterial spin label MRI and tissue
      electrodes, respectively. RESULTS: In all regions but the thalamus, CBF recovered
      to sham values by 24 h; thalamic CBF was >32% higher after CA vs. sham. PbO2
      values at 24 h after CA in the cortex and thalamus were similar to shams in rats
      who received supplemental oxygen, however, on room air, cortical PbO2 was lower
      after CA vs. shams. CONCLUSION: CBF remains increased in the thalamus at 24 h
      after CA and PbO2 is decreased to hypoxic levels in cortex at 24 h after CA in
      rats who do not receive supplemental oxygen. Given the enduring disturbances in
      this model and the lack of routine CBF or PbO2 monitoring in patients, our data
      suggest the need for clinical correlation.

PMID- 27636899
TI  - Solution structure of protein synthesis initiation factor 1 from Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen and a primary cause
      of nosocomial infection in humans. The rate of antibiotic resistance in P.
      aeruginosa is increasing worldwide leading to an unmet need for discovery of new
      chemical compounds distinctly different from present antimicrobials. Protein
      synthesis is an essential metabolic process and a validated target for the
      development of new antibiotics. Initiation factor 1 from P. aeruginosa (Pa-IF1)
      is the smallest of the three initiation factors that act to establish the 30S
      initiation complex during initiation of protein biosynthesis. Here we report the
      characterization and solution NMR structure of Pa-IF1. Pa-IF1 consists of a five
      stranded beta-sheet with an unusual extended beta-strand at the C-terminus and
      one short alpha-helix arranged in the sequential order beta1-beta2-beta3-alpha1
      beta4-beta5. The structure adopts a typical beta-barrel fold and contains an
      oligomer-binding motif. A cluster of basic residues (K39, R41, K42, K64, R66,
      R70, and R72) located on the surface of strands beta4 and beta5 near the short
      alpha-helix may compose the binding interface with the 30S subunit.

PMID- 27636903
TI  - One Single Graphene Oxide Film for Responsive Actuation.
AB  - Graphene, because of its superior electrical/thermal conductivity, high surface
      area, excellent mechanical flexibility, and stability, is currently receiving
      significant attention and benefit to fabricate actuator devices. Here, a sole
      graphene oxide (GO) film responsive actuator with an integrated self-detecting
      sensor has been developed. The film exhibits an asymmetric surface structure on
      its two sides, creating a promising actuation ability triggered by multistimuli,
      such as moisture, thermals, and infrared light. Meanwhile, the built-in laser
      writing reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sensor in the film can detect its own
      deformation in real time. Smart perceptual fingers in addition to rectangular
      shaped and even four-legged walking robots have been developed based on the
      responsive GO film.

PMID- 27636901
TI  - Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Links Oxidative Stress to Impaired Pancreatic Beta
      Cell Function Caused by Human Oxidized LDL.
AB  - Elevated plasma concentration of the pro-atherogenic oxidized low density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) triggers adverse effects in pancreatic beta-cells
      and is associated with type 2 diabetes. Here, we investigated whether the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a key player coupling oxidative stress to
      beta-cell dysfunction and death elicited by human oxidized LDL. We found that
      human oxidized LDL activates ER stress as evidenced by the activation of the
      inositol requiring 1alpha, and the elevated expression of both DDIT3 (also called
      CHOP) and DNAJC3 (also called P58IPK) ER stress markers in isolated human islets
      and the mouse insulin secreting MIN6 cells. Silencing of Chop and inhibition of
      ER stress markers by the chemical chaperone phenyl butyric acid (PBA) prevented
      cell death caused by oxidized LDL. Finally, we found that oxidative stress
      accounts for activation of ER stress markers induced by oxidized LDL. Induction
      of Chop/CHOP and p58IPK/P58IPK by oxidized LDL was mimicked by hydrogen peroxide
      and was blocked by co-treatment with the N-acetylcystein antioxidant. As a
      conclusion, the harmful effects of oxidized LDL in beta-cells requires ER stress
      activation in a manner that involves oxidative stress. This mechanism may account
      for impaired beta-cell function in diabetes and can be reversed by antioxidant
      treatment. 

PMID- 27636902
TI  - The prevalence of HPV types in women with CIN 2-3 or cervical cancer in Haifa
      district, Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human papilloma virus (HPV) is classified as a biologic carcinogen
      causing cervical cancer. Our aim was to identify all the HPV types responsible
      for cervical cancer and pre-cervical cancer in Israel. METHODS: This study
      included 226 women, diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2-3
      and 115 women diagnosed with cervical cancer, and tested for all HPV typing
      during the period of January 2006 to May 2013. RESULTS: HPV was detected in 92.9%
      of women with CIN 2-3 and high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) was detected in 85.8% of them.
      In women with cervical cancer, HPV was positive in 96.5%, HR-HPV detected in 93%.
      In the CIN 2-3 group the most common HPV types were 16 (42%), 31 (8.8%) and 18
      (4.9%) and in the cancer group HPV 16 (57.4%), 45 (9.6%), and 18 (7.8%). Multiple
      HPV types were seen in 12.8% of CIN 2-3 group but only in 0.9% of cancer group.
      The chief complaint led to cancer diagnosis was post menopause bleeding (27%),
      while abnormal Papanicolaou (Pap) test lead to CIN 2-3 diagnosis in 75.2% of the
      women. Only 22.6% of women diagnosed with cancer were diagnosed due to abnormal
      Pap test and 76.9% of them were diagnosed at stage I, as compared to women
      diagnosed with cancer because of bleeding or abnormal mass, of them 57.1 % were
      diagnosed at stage I (P<0.07). CONCLUSIONS: HR-HPV types were found in 93% of
      cancer group and 85.8% of CIN 2-3 group, and low-risk HPV (LR-HPV) was detected
      in 3.5% and 7.1% of women with cervical cancer and CIN 2-3 respectively. The most
      common HPV types in cervical cancer women were 16, 45 and 18. Women diagnosed
      with cancer because abnormal Pap test were in earlier stage compared to women
      diagnosed because of complains. Including LR-HPV types in screening HPV can
      increase the sensitivity of the test.

PMID- 27636904
TI  - Activated protein C resistance in patients following venous thromboembolism
      receiving rivaroxaban versus vitamin K antagonists: assessment using Russell
      viper venom time-based assay.
AB  - : Activated protein C resistance (APC-R) is assessed as part of thrombophilia
      screening, preferably in patients not taking oral anticoagulants. Rivaroxaban is
      known to alter some APC-R assays. To our knowledge, there have been no reports on
      the effect of rivaroxaban on the Russell viper venom time (RVVT)-based APC-R
      assay in real-life patients. In 168 consecutive outpatients suspected of having
      venous thromboembolism because of thrombophilia, APC-R was determined using the
      RVVT-based ProC Ac R assay (Siemens, Marburg, Germany). Patients receiving
      rivaroxaban or vitamin K antagonists were eligible. We measured rivaroxaban
      concentrations using the anti-Xa Biophen DiXal assay (Hyphen Biomed, Neuville-Sur
      Oise, France) and factor V Leiden using the real-time PCR. APC-R was detected in
      23 (28%) patients on rivaroxaban (n = 81) administrated 2-48 h since the blood
      draw, 15 (28%) patients on vitamin K antagonists (n = 54), and in four (12%)
      patients off anticoagulation (n = 33). Compared with nonanticoagulated patients,
      APC-R ratios were similar in patients on rivaroxaban, without any correlation
      with rivaroxaban concentrations (from 0 to 303 MUg/l). None of the patients on
      rivaroxaban were found to have false-negative or false-positive APC-R ratios.
      Rivaroxaban concentrations up to 300 MUg/l do not affect results of the ProC Ac R
      RVVT-based assay, which could be recommended in patients referred to a clinic for
      thrombophilia screening in whom the time since the last dose of rivaroxaban is
      uncertain.

PMID- 27636900
TI  - Desoxycorticosterone pivalate-salt treatment leads to non-dipping hypertension in
      Per1 knockout mice.
AB  - AIM: Increasing evidence demonstrates that circadian clock proteins are important
      regulators of physiological functions including blood pressure. An established
      risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease is the absence of a blood
      pressure dip during the inactive period. The goal of the present study was to
      determine the effects of a high salt diet plus mineralocorticoid on PER1-mediated
      blood pressure regulation in a salt-resistant, normotensive mouse model,
      C57BL/6J. METHODS: Blood pressure was measured using radiotelemetry. After
      control diet, wild-type (WT) and Per1 (KO) knockout mice were given a high salt
      diet (4% NaCl) and the long-acting mineralocorticoid deoxycorticosterone
      pivalate. Blood pressure and activity rhythms were analysed to evaluate changes
      over time. RESULTS: Blood pressure in WT mice was not affected by a high salt
      diet plus mineralocorticoid. In contrast, Per1 KO mice exhibited significantly
      increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) in response to a high salt diet plus
      mineralocorticoid. The inactive/active phase ratio of MAP in WT mice was
      unchanged by high salt plus mineralocorticoid treatment. Importantly, this
      treatment caused Per1 KO mice to lose the expected decrease or 'dip' in blood
      pressure during the inactive compared to the active phase. CONCLUSION: Loss of
      PER1 increased sensitivity to the high salt plus mineralocorticoid treatment. It
      also resulted in a non-dipper phenotype in this model of salt-sensitive
      hypertension and provides a unique model of non-dipping. Together, these data
      support an important role for the circadian clock protein PER1 in the modulation
      of blood pressure in a high salt/mineralocorticoid model of hypertension.

PMID- 27636906
TI  - Topical Amphotericin B for the treatment of localized cutaneous leishmaniasis.

PMID- 27636905
TI  - Autoimmune Arthritides, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, or Peripheral
      Spondyloarthritis Following Lyme Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe systemic autoimmune joint diseases that develop following
      Lyme disease, and to compare their clinical features with those of Lyme arthritis
      (LA). METHODS: We reviewed records of all adult patients referred to our LA
      clinic over a 13-year period, in whom we had diagnosed a systemic autoimmune
      joint disease following Lyme disease. For comparison, records of patients
      enrolled in our LA cohort over the most recent 2-year period were analyzed.
      Levels of IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi and to 3 Lyme disease-associated
      autoantigens were measured. RESULTS: We identified 30 patients who had developed
      a new-onset systemic autoimmune joint disorder a median of 4 months after Lyme
      disease (usually manifested by erythema migrans [EM]). Fifteen had rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA), 13 had psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and 2 had peripheral
      spondyloarthritis (SpA). The 30 patients typically had polyarthritis, and those
      with PsA or SpA often had previous psoriasis, axial involvement, or enthesitis.
      In the comparison group of 43 patients with LA, the usual clinical picture was
      monoarticular knee arthritis, without prior EM. Most of the patients with
      systemic autoimmune joint disorders were positive for B burgdorferi IgG
      antibodies, as detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, but had
      significantly lower titers and lower frequencies of Lyme disease-associated
      autoantibodies than patients with LA. Prior to our evaluation, these patients had
      often received additional antibiotics for presumed LA, without benefit. We
      prescribed antiinflammatory agents, most commonly disease-modifying antirheumatic
      drugs, resulting in improvement. CONCLUSION: Systemic autoimmune joint diseases
      (i.e., RA, PsA, SpA) may follow Lyme disease. Development of polyarthritis after
      antibiotic-treated EM, previous psoriasis, or low-titer B burgdorferi antibodies
      may provide insight into the correct diagnosis.

PMID- 27636907
TI  - In This Issue: At the Interaction between the Immune System and Microbes.

PMID- 27636908
TI  - Highly Sensitive Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Imaging of Protein
      Crystals.
AB  - Serial crystallography at last generation X-ray synchrotron sources and free
      electron lasers enabled data collection with micrometer and even submicrometer
      size crystals, which have resulted in amazing progress in structural biology.
      However, imaging of small crystals, which although is highly demanded, remains a
      challenge, especially in the case of membrane protein crystals. Here we describe
      a new extremely sensitive method of the imaging of protein crystals that is based
      on coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering.

PMID- 27636909
TI  - Nonoperative Treatment of Type IIA Supracondylar Humerus Fractures: Comparing 2
      Modalities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the recommended treatment for Gartland types I and III
      supracondylar humeral fractures is well-established, the optimal treatment for
      type II fractures without rotational malalignment remains controversial,
      involving circumferential casting or closed reduction and pinning. Our
      institution uses pronated flexion-taping for Gartland type IIA fractures. This
      theoretically removes external pressure secondary to circumferential casting,
      potentially decreasing risks of compartment syndrome and mitigating loss of
      reduction with extension while maintaining optimal flexion position for
      reduction. To our knowledge, these modalities have not yet been compared.
      METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed to compare flexion-taping
      with cuff-and-collar immobilization versus traditional above-elbow casting at 90
      to 100 degrees. It was hypothesized that closed reduction and flexion-taping of
      type IIA supracondylar fractures under sedation in the emergency department would
      result in comparable, if not superior, maintenance of reduction measured
      radiographically using Baumann angle and the lateral humeral capitellar angle
      (LHCA). Charts from 2010 to 2015 were reviewed for all patients between 2 and 8
      years of age with type IIA fractures treated with cast or taping. RESULTS: A
      total of 39 patients were included with 16 in the cast group and 23 in the tape
      group. Mean age was 4.08+/-1.72 years across both groups. No significant change
      in either measure was seen at termination of immobilization (3 to 4 wk
      postreduction). Final lateral humeral capitellar angle in the taping group was
      32.14+/-5.90 degrees compared with 28.23+/-7.27 degrees in the casting group
      (P=0.81). Final Baumann angle was 73.41+/-4.03 degrees in the taping group
      compared with 73.75+/-6.46 degrees (P=0.96). The only complication was a self
      limiting rash experienced by 1 patient in the taping group. CONCLUSIONS: Both
      techniques were able to achieve and maintain adequate reduction in all cases with
      no significant difference in outcome measures. There were no major complications
      or conversions to surgical treatment. In this cohort, taping resulted in adequate
      reduction and safe immobilization for type IIA fractures comparable to cast
      immobilization. Further research will investigate clinical/radiographic outcomes
      on these patients to assess remodeling and function. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III
      retrospective comparative study.

PMID- 27636910
TI  - Pediatric Injuries at an Annual Motocross Competition: Rates and Severity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pediatric motocross injuries occur frequently and with significant
      associated morbidity; however, data are limited regarding injury occurring during
      competition. North Central Florida hosts an annual motocross competition with
      numerous pediatric competitors. We sought to evaluate the rate and severity of
      injuries sustained at this event over a multiyear period. Our primary hypothesis
      was that motocross injury rates and severity in competition exceed that of other
      competitive sports in this age group. METHODS: A retrospective review was
      performed to identify pediatric patients (17 and younger) presenting to a single
      Level 1 Trauma Center as a result of injury sustained at an annual motocross
      competition from 2009 to 2012. Demographic, diagnostic, and treatment data were
      collected including injuries, procedural interventions, and length of hospital
      stay. Rate, type, and severity of injury were evaluated and compared with
      established norms of other competitive sports in a similar age group. RESULTS:
      Over a 4-year period, 51 pediatric motocross competitors sustained 75 injuries.
      Injured riders were 14.2+/-2.51 years (range, 8 to 17 y) old and 92% (47/51)
      male. Forty (78%) patients sustained at least 1 orthopaedic injury and 17 (33%)
      patients suffered polytrauma. The majority of injuries occurred in the upper
      extremity (36%). Twenty-four (47%) patients required procedural intervention, 15
      of which were operative. Thirty-nine (76%) patients necessitated surgical
      specialty care. Average injury severity score was 6.5 (1 to 75) and 1 death
      occurred. The injury rate for pediatric motocross riders in this study was 19.9
      injuries per 1000 competitors. CONCLUSIONS: High rates of injury occur among
      pediatric patients in competitive motocross, exceeding those seen in other
      competitive sports in a comparable age group. Significant morbidity and at least
      1 fatality were demonstrated in the group studied. The majority of patients
      suffer at least 1 orthopaedic injury and nearly all patients require pediatric
      surgical specialist care. Polytrauma is common. Motocross participants and
      parents should be aware of these risks of competition and event organizers should
      arrange events near facilities with appropriate pediatric surgical specialty
      services. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV-case series.

PMID- 27636911
TI  - Hip Morphology in MPS-1H Patients: An MRI-based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hip dysplasia is common in mucopolysaccharidosis type-1H (MPS-1H)
      patients, but its morphology is not completely understood. No magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI)-based studies have been reported in the literature. The purpose of
      this study was to improve knowledge of hip dysplasia pathology by describing the
      hip morphology of these patients in MRI scans, plain radiographs, and
      arthrograms. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 18 MPS-1H
      patients. Supine anteroposterior pelvic radiographs of 36 hips and MRI scans of
      18 hips were analyzed. Six arthrographs were also available. RESULTS: Plain
      radiographs were available for 18 patients. The mean age was 6.0 (SD=3.8) years.
      The mean acetabular index (AI) was 36.2 degrees (SD=5.8), and the mean migration
      percentage was 59.0% (SD=17.2). MRI data were available for 9 patients. The MRI
      findings were compared with the radiographs of the same patient. The mean AI
      (39.3 degrees, SD=5.8) was confirmed by the MRI findings (39.1 degrees, SD=5.5).
      The migration percentage was lower in the MRI scans than in the radiographs.
      Radiologically, the center-edge angle was negative in all patients, with a mean
      of -16.8 degrees (SD=7.9), and the MRI images produced a more negative value (
      19.6 degrees, SD=7.6). The soft tissue coverage of the femoral head was described
      with the inclusion of the cartilaginous roof and labrum. The cartilaginous AI was
      22.4 degrees (SD=7.5), and the labral AI was 13.5 degrees (SD=6.7). All 6
      arthrograms revealed stability during dynamic testing. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides the first description of hip morphology in MPS-1H patients through MRI
      based data. The cartilaginous coverage of the hip was increased compared with
      that of healthy children. The use of radiography alone may lead to a
      misunderstanding of hip morphology. MRI and arthrogram is highly recommended if
      surgery is considered.

PMID- 27636912
TI  - Walking Out of the Curve: Thoracolumbar Kyphosis in Achondroplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thoracolumbar kyphosis (TLK) is common in infants with
      achondroplasia. Our goals were to examine the natural history of TLK and identify
      factors associated with persistent TLK. METHODS: We reviewed records of patients
      with achondroplasia seen by a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon at a tertiary
      care medical center between 1997 and 2013. Inclusion criteria were minimum 2-year
      follow-up and radiographs taken at time of presentation, within 6 months of
      walking age, and within 6 months of the first anniversary of walking age. We
      defined TLK as kyphosis of >=20 degrees centered at T12 and L1. We assessed
      patient demographic characteristics, radiographic parameters (Cobb angle, apical
      vertebral translation, and apical vertebral wedging for vertebral height and
      width), and clinical parameters (developmental motor delay, hydrocephalus,
      presence of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, and foramen magnum decompression).
      Developmental motor delay was defined as the inability to sit or ambulate
      independently by age 14 or 30 months, respectively. Associations between these
      factors and persistent TLK (ie, unresolved at final follow-up) were evaluated
      using logistic regression and chi, Fisher exact, and independent t tests.
      Significance was set at P<0.05. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients were included.
      Mean values were as follows: age at presentation, 10.9+/-7.0 months; length of
      follow-up, 5.7+/-3.6 years; initial curve, 43.8+/-11.0 degrees; independent
      sitting age, 12.6+/-5.5 months; and independent walking age, 21.1+/-7.8 months.
      At walking age and 1 year after walking age, 15% and 58% of patients,
      respectively, had spontaneous TLK resolution. In total, 30% of patients had
      persistent TLK at final follow-up. Apical vertebral translation (P=0.001),
      percentage of apical vertebral wedging for vertebral height (P=0.031), and
      developmental motor delay (P=0.043) were associated with unresolved TLK.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with achondroplasia, TLK resolved at walking age in 15%
      of patients and after a year of walking in 58% of patients. Earlier bracing may
      slow TLK progression in patients with achondroplasia and developmental motor
      delay. Patients with kyphotic curves between 20 and 40 degrees should be examined
      intermittently for progressive deformity or worsening symptoms of spinal cord
      compression. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II.

PMID- 27636913
TI  - Oral Sucrose for Pain Relief During Clubfoot Casting: A Double-Blinded Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic clubfoot treatment is treated by manipulation and casting
      utilizing the Ponseti technique which can make the infant fussy and irritable.
      The goal of this study was to determine which intervention could decrease this
      pain response in infants undergoing Ponseti casting for idiopathic clubfeet. Our
      hypothesis was that the administration of oral sucrose solution or milk would be
      the most effective in accomplishing that goal. METHODS: We conducted a double
      blinded randomized controlled trial at a tertiary pediatric orthopaedic center on
      33 children (average age=17.94 d; SD=20.51 d) undergoing clubfoot manipulation
      and casting and their guardians. Each cast was considered a new event and was
      randomized to an oral 20% sucrose solution (S), water (W), or milk (M) in a
      bottle (breast or nonbreast). We assessed the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS),
      heart rate, and oxygen saturation before, during, and after the casting. RESULTS:
      A total of 131 casts were randomized and 118 analyzed (37 M, 42 S, 39 W). Each
      child underwent an average of 3.97 casts (SD=1.74). There were no significant
      differences seen between the groups before casting in their mean NIPS score
      (M=2.2; SD=2.38, S=1.84, SD=2.18, W=1.61, SD=2.12). However during casting, mean
      NIPS score for both milk, 0.91 (SD=1.26, P=0.0005) and sucrose, 0.64 (SD=1.27,
      P<0.0001) were significantly less than water, 2.27 (SD=2.03) but not different
      from each other (P=0.33). Postcasting, the sucrose NIPS score, 0.69 (SD=1.53)
      continued to be significantly less than milk, 2.11 (SD=2.37, P=0.0065. There was
      no correlation between heart rate or oxygen saturation and NIPS. CONCLUSIONS:
      Sucrose solution and milk during Ponseti casting and manipulation were effective
      in decreasing the pain response in children undergoing manipulation and casting
      for clubfeet. The sucrose solution administration continued the pain relief into
      the postcasting period. In addition to the benefits of improving the patient
      experience during casting, a less irritable child may result in better casting.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 1 evidence.

PMID- 27636914
TI  - Radiographic and Respiratory Effects of Growing Rods in Children With Spinal
      Muscular Atrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Respiratory weakness and spinal deformity are common in patients with
      spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Posterior (distraction type) growing rods have
      recently gained favor as a treatment option in this population, due to their
      ability to prevent spinal deformity progression and their potential to allow lung
      volumes to increase over time. The objective of this study was to determine the
      impact of posterior growing rods on the spinal alignment and respiratory function
      in children with SMA with intermediate term follow-up. METHODS: A single center,
      retrospective review was performed on SMA patients treated with growing rods,
      inserted between 2004 and 2010, with a minimum of 2-year follow-up. SMA type,
      changes in the route of bi-level positive airway pressure respiratory support and
      the amount of time receiving respiratory support are reported. Pulmonary function
      tests (PFTs) and radiographs were reviewed and data evaluated preinsertion,
      postinsertion, and at latest follow-up. RESULTS: Sixteen children with SMA (5
      type I, 11 type II) met inclusion criteria. The average age of insertion was 5.8
      (+/-1.5) years, the median number of lengthenings was 4 (range, 3 to 5), and the
      median time between insertion and last clinical review was 4.7 (range, 2.7 to
      9.5) years. Radiographic review demonstrated significant (P<0.05) improvements in
      the following: Spinal curve magnitude, pelvic obliquity, space available for the
      lung, rib vertebral angle difference, and thoracic kyphosis following growing rod
      implantation. Thoracic and lumbar height and chest width and depth increased
      significantly (P<0.05) over the lengthening process. None of the patients
      initially required more than noninvasive positive pressure ventilation support.
      Fifteen of the 16 experienced no changes in their noninvasive positive pressure
      ventilation support needs throughout the study duration, requiring support only
      at night and naps. Serial PFTs were available for 6 children with SMA type II.
      PFTs demonstrated significant improvements in absolute forced vital capacity
      (FVC), minimal changes in the maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures, and a
      gradual worsening of percent predicted FVC. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical respiratory
      support requirements appear to stabilize following the insertion and lengthening
      of posterior based growing rods in the SMA population. Similar to previous
      studies, increased spinal height and thoracic cavity size were noted throughout
      the process. Despite an increasing absolute FVC, the percent predicted FVC
      diminished over time. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV-therapeutic.

PMID- 27636915
TI  - Recommendations for Lengthening of Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods in
      Children With Pacemakers.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Pacemakers are currently identified as a contraindication
      for the use of magnetic growth rods (MGRs). This arises from concern that
      magnetic fields generated by the MGR external remote controller (ERC) during
      lengthening procedures may induce pacemaker dysfunction. We investigated (1)
      whether MGR lengthening affects pacemaker function, and (2) if the magnetic field
      of a pacemaker affects MGR lengthening. METHODS: MGRs were tested in conjunction
      with an magnetic resonance imaging-compatible pacemaker, which was connected to a
      virtual patient under continuous cardiac monitoring. To determine whether
      pacemaker function was affected during MGR lengthening, the electrocardiogram
      trace was monitored for arrhythmias, whereas an ERC was applied to lengthen the
      MGRs at varying distances from the pacemaker. To investigate if MGR lengthening
      was affected by the presence of a pacemaker, at the start and end of the
      experiment, the ability of the rods to fully elongate and shorten was tested to
      check for conservation of function. RESULTS: When the pacemaker was in normal
      mode, <16 cm away from the activated ERC during MGR lengthening, pacemaker
      function was affected by the ERC's magnetic forces. At this distance,
      prophylactically switching the pacemaker to tonic mode before lengthening
      prevented occurrence of inappropriate pacing discharges. No deleterious effect of
      the pacemaker's magnetic field on the MGR lengthening mechanism was identified.
      CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic resonance imaging-compatible pacemakers appear safe for
      concomitant use with MGRs, provided a pacemaker technician prophylactically
      switches the pacemaker to tonic function before outpatient lengthening
      procedures. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This experiment was designed to provide the first
      safety information on MGR lengthening in children with pacemakers. Although
      currently a rare clinical scenario, with increasing use of MGRs, this clinical
      scenario may arise more frequently in the future.

PMID- 27636916
TI  - Knee Pain and Activity Outcomes After Femoral Derotation Osteotomy for Excessive
      Femoral Anteversion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Excessive femoral anteversion is a developmental condition that can
      become symptomatic into adolescence and manifest as anterior knee pain, tripping,
      and or problems with sports. Femoral derotational osteotomy about an antegrade
      intramedullary nail (IMN) is an accepted option to treat this condition. This is
      the first report of the clinical and functional outcomes of treatment of
      excessive anteversion with femoral derotational osteotomy stabilized with an IMN.
      METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 28 consecutive patients between 2013 and 2014
      who underwent derotational osteotomy. Physical examination measures were used to
      calculate the amount of angular correction with focus on internal and external
      rotation of the hip, as well as the trochanteric prominence angle test of femoral
      anteversion. The International Knee Documentation Committee-9, Marx, and Tegner
      activity scales were 3 patient-reported outcomes recorded. RESULTS: After femoral
      derotation osteotomy over an IMN, femoral anteversion, as measured by the
      trochanteric prominence angle, improved an average of 29 degrees (P<0.0001). At 1
      year minimum follow-up, 22 of 28 subjects (78.5%) demonstrated a mean significant
      improvement of 13 points for International Knee Documentation Committee-9
      (SD=15.4, P=0.0007), which surpassed the level of minimal clinically important
      change. Furthermore, the Tegner inventory scores for the cohort improved by an
      average of 1.9 activity levels (SD=2.4, P=0.0012). CONCLUSIONS: For adolescents
      with symptomatic excessive femoral anteversion, derotational osteotomy over an
      IMN offers a reliable surgical option that provides predictable deformity
      correction and significant improvements in both function and pain scales. LEVELS
      OF EVIDENCE: Level II-prospective, consecutive, nonrandomized, internally
      controlled cohort study.

PMID- 27636917
TI  - Decreasing Resource Utilization Using Standardized Clinical Assessment and
      Management Plans (SCAMPs).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Standardized clinical assessment and management plans (SCAMPs) are a
      novel quality improvement initiative shown to improve patient care, diminish
      practice variation, and reduce resource utilization. Unlike clinical practice
      guidelines, a SCAMP is a flexible algorithm that undergoes iterative updates
      based on periodic data collection and review. We recently implemented a SCAMP for
      the closed treatment of pediatric torus fractures. The purpose of this study is
      to analyze the effect of SCAMP implementation on resource utilization, practice
      variability, cost of care, and outcomes. METHODS: This study was a retrospective
      review of prospectively collected data on 273 patients with pediatric torus
      fractures. The pre-SCAMP cohort included 116 subjects from 2008 to 2010. The
      SCAMP cohort included 157 subjects from 2011 to 2013. The pre-SCAMP cohort was
      treated according to the judgment of attending fellowship-trained pediatric
      orthopaedic surgeons. The SCAMP cohort was treated with a standardized algorithm
      including radiographs and splint application at initial presentation, with a
      single follow-up at 3 weeks. Patient demographics were analyzed to verify
      comparability between cohorts. Follow-up data including clinic visits, x-rays and
      practice variability was recorded. Costing analysis was conducted using time
      derived activity-based costing methodology. Outcomes were compared using Poisson
      regression analysis. Incident rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence limits were
      estimated. RESULTS: No differences in clinical results were observed between the
      pre-SCAMP and SCAMP cohorts, and all patients demonstrated return to baseline
      activity at final follow-up. Patient demographics were comparable across cohorts.
      The SCAMP cohort had a 48% reduction in clinic visits [IRR, 0.52; 95% confidence
      interval (CI), 0.44-0.60; P<0.001], 60% reduction in x-rays (IRR, 0.40; CI, 0.33
      0.47; P<0.001), and a 23% reduction in x-rays per clinic visit (IRR, 0.77; 95%
      CI, 0.65-0.91; P<0.001). Furthermore, SCAMP implementation resulted in a 49%
      reduction in the overall cost of care. CONCLUSIONS: SCAMPs provide a novel
      alternative to CPGs to implement cost effective changes in Orthopaedic practice.
      For pediatric torus fractures, SCAMP implementation resulted in decreased
      practice variability, resource utilization, and overall cost of care while
      maintaining clinical outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.

PMID- 27636918
TI  - Superficial CD34-positive fibroblastic tumour: a clinicopathological and
      immunohistochemical study of an additional series.
AB  - AIMS: To describe an additional series of superficial CD34-positive fibroblastic
      tumour, a newly described neoplasm, in order to enhance the recognition of an
      emerging novel entity. METHODS AND RESULTS: The clinicopathological features and
      immunophenotypes of 11 cases of superficial CD34-positive fibroblastic tumour
      were studied. There were eight males and three females, with a median age of 36
      years. Tumours occurred in the thigh (n = 4), buttock (n = 3), shoulder (n = 2),
      upper arm (n = 1), and waist (n = 1). Histologically, all tumours were
      characterized by relative circumscription, pleomorphic spindled to polygonal
      cells with variably enlarged bizarre-appearing cells, intranuclear cytoplasmic
      pseudoinclusions, and extremely low mitotic activity. Immunohistochemically,
      neoplastic cells showed diffuse and strong expression of CD34 and focal staining
      of cytokeratin. Follow-up thus far has revealed an indolent clinical behaviour.
      CONCLUSIONS: Superficial CD34-positive fibroblastic tumour represents a new
      member of the family of cutaneous CD34-positive spindle-cell tumours. Familiarity
      with its clinicopathological characteristics is helpful in avoiding confusion
      with a variety of cutaneous mesenchymal tumours with overlapping features.

PMID- 27636919
TI  - [Malabsorption is a leading clinical sign of small bowel disease].
AB  - The paper presents a variety of clinical manifestations of malabsorption syndrome
      (MAS) in celiac disease, collagenous sprue, Whipple's disease, Crohn's disease,
      intestinal lymphangiectasia, amyloidosis, common variable immune deficiency, and
      treatment of short bowel syndrome. It shows the specific features of the
      pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of MAS in small bowel diseases. 

PMID- 27636920
TI  - [Possibility of evaluating the effectiveness of renal artery sympathetic
      denervation in resistant hypertension early after radiofrequency ablation].
AB  - AIM: to investigate time course of changes in the adrenoreactivity (AR) of
      erythrocyte membranes (EM) after radiofrequency ablation of the synaptic nerves
      of the renal arteries (RA) in patients with resistant hypertension (RH) and to
      assess whether this indicator can be used for the early evaluation of the
      efficiency of an invasive intervention into the RA. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 24
      patients with RH, who received full-dose antihypertensive therapy with at least
      three drugs, including a diuretic, were examined. Renal sympathetic denervation
      (RSD) was carried out by endovascular radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the RA. 24
      hour blood pressure (BP) monitoring and determination of the beta
      adrenoreactivity (beta-AR) of EM were performed, by taking into account the
      change in erythrocyte osmoresistence at baseline and 1 and 24 weeks after RFA.
      The therapy was not changed during the observation. RESULTS: The patients
      included in the study were divided into 2 groups. One week following RSD, 15
      patients of Group 1 were noted to have a decrease in the beta-AR of EM by 10
      conditional units or more; average daily systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP)
      reduced by 8.3 and 2.8 mm Hg, respectively. In 9 patients of Group 2, the beta-AR
      of EM was unchanged in this observation period or increased compared with
      baseline. In this group, the decrease in average daily SBP and DBP was noted to
      be less pronounced than that in Group 1 (by 1.4 and 1.5 mm Hg, respectively). At
      24 weeks after RSD, Group 1 was seen to have an effective daily decrease in
      average daily SBP and DBP by 25.6 and 14.3 mm Hg, respectively (p=0.01 and 0.05).
      The average value of the beta-AR of EM significantly declined compared with
      baseline. In Group 2, no statistically significant changes were reported; SPB and
      DBP lowered by 7.0 and 3.0 mm Hg, respectively. There was a significant decrease
      in the beta-AR of EM compared with that at week 1. CONCLUSION: The decline in the
      beta-AR of EM within the first week after RFA is suggestive of the decreased
      activity of the sympathoadrenal system and may be used as an early efficiency
      index of RSD after the procedure.

PMID- 27636921
TI  - [Criteria for selecting patients with resistant hypertension for a renal
      sympathetic denervation].
AB  - AIM: to define and develop a procedure that can select patients with resistant
      hypertension (RH) for a renal sympathetic denervation (RSD) procedure, by being
      orienting to the specific initial values of beta-adrenoreactivity (beta-AR) and
      systolic blood pressure (SBP). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The analysis included 23 RH
      patients receiving the maximally tolerable doses of 4 antihypertensive drugs. The
      investigations involving BP control and a Russian spectrophotometric procedure
      for determining beta-AR in terms of the change in the osmoresistance of
      erythrocyte membranes (EM) were performed at baseline and 4 and 24 weeks. RSD was
      carried out using endovascular radiofrequency ablation of the renal arteries. The
      therapy was not changed during the observation. RESULTS: If SBP was >170 mm Hg
      and beta-AR of EM >40 conditional units (CUs) at baseline, DeltaSBP was 17.68+/
      3.24 mm Hg and the efficiency of RSD was 100%. When SBP was <170 mm Hg and beta
      AR of EM <40 CUs at baseline, DeltaSBP was 0.97+/-4.21 mm Hg (p>0.05) and the
      efficiency of RSD was low. CONCLUSION: The overall estimate of baseline SBP and
      beta-AR of EM in patients with RH could determine the expediency of the RSD
      procedure in order to lower BP. The proposed procedure can optimize the selection
      of patients and enhance the efficiency of RSD in the treatment of RH.

PMID- 27636922
TI  - [Non-drug rehabilitation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      concurrent with hypertension].
AB  - AIM: to evaluate the efficiency of decimeter wave therapy and halotherapy, which
      were additionally added to basic therapy, in patients with chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) concurrent with hypertension at the inpatient stage.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 36 patients aged 20 to 75 years with Stages I-II COPD
      concurrent with Stages I-II, first-second grade hypertension were examined and
      treated. The clinical examination included collection of complaints and medical
      history data, clinical laboratory and instrumental (electrocardiography,
      spirography) studies, and health-related quality of life (using the SF-36
      questionnaire). The patients were randomized into two groups: a study group and a
      comparison group. The study group patients received decimeter wave therapy and
      halotherapy in addition to basic drug treatment; the comparison patients had
      basic drug therapy. RESULTS: Pre- and postoperative comparative analysis of the
      major clinical manifestations of comorbidities revealed more pronounced positive
      changes with the lower rate of clinical manifestations in the study group. It was
      also observed to have a more marked reduction in blood pressure (BP) with its
      goal levels achieved. The mean pulse BP decreased by 28% in the study group
      (p=0.000005) and did not statistically reduced in the comparison group. In the
      study group patients, the integral quality-of-life indicator after a package of
      medical rehabilitation measures became statistically significantly higher by 35%.
      This indicator in the comparison group was statistically significantly unchanged.
      CONCLUSION: The directionality of the proposed rehabilitation complex towards the
      common pathogenetic components of the development and progression of COPD and
      hypertension, as well as the high efficiency of the complex justify its
      appropriate inclusion in the combination treatment and rehabilitation of this
      category of patients.

PMID- 27636923
TI  - [Pulmonary rehabilitation as an effective method for optimizing therapeutic and
      preventive measures in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      concurrent with metabolic syndrome].
AB  - AIM: to evaluate the impact of a pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) cycle based on
      patient education, smoking cessation, physical exercises, and balanced nutrition
      in addition to standard therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD in
      patients with this condition. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 70 patients (27 (38.6%) women
      and 43 (61.4%) men) aged 18 to 60 years (mean age, 48.31+/-0.64 years) with
      moderate COPD in remission concurrent with MS were examined. The comprehensive
      examination of the patients encompassed assessment of clinical, instrumental, and
      laboratory findings at baseline and 12 months. The patients were randomized into
      two groups: 1) 35 patients who underwent a RH cycle in addition to standard
      therapy for COPD; 2) 35 patients who received standard COPD treatment only.
      RESULTS: Group 1 was found to have significant differences in reducing the number
      of patients with COPD exacerbations, emergency calls, hospitalizations, severity
      of clinical symptoms of COPD and their impact on the physical activity and health
      of the patients, as well as better quality of life and exercise tolerance.
      CONCLUSION: The therapeutic and preventive measures for patients with COPD and MS
      should involve educational programs and physical trainings, which are developed,
      by taking into account of a comorbidity in order to optimize therapeutic and
      preventive measures and to improve quality of life in this category of patients.

PMID- 27636924
TI  - [Blood fatty acids in the development and correction of metabolic syndrome].
AB  - AIM: to investigate the composition of plasma fatty acids (FA) and red blood
      cells and the level of eicosanoids in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and
      to assess whether metabolic disturbances may be corrected during a cycle use of
      an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Examinations
      were made in 46 patients, including Group 1 (a control group) of 15 persons
      without MS components; Group 2 of 31 patients with MS, Group 3 of 16 MS patients
      who had taken an omega-3 PUFA for 6 months, and Group 4 of 15 MS patients who had
      received the drug for 12 months. The composition of plasma FA and red blood cells
      was analyzed on a gas-liquid chromatograph. An enzyme immunoassay was used to
      measure the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and
      eicosanoids (thromboxane B2, 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha, leukotriene B4). A
      biologically active additive from the king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica)
      hepatopancreas was used as a source of omega-3 PUFA. RESULTS: Having a higher
      proportion of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids in the plasma, the patients were
      found to have decreased levels of omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs (linoleic and alpha
      linolenic, arachidonic, and eicosapentaenoic acids) and a larger proportion of
      Mead acid and saturated FAs (myristic and stearic acids) in the red blood cells,
      suggesting that that cellular blood FA transfer was impaired and FAs were
      absorbed by cells. Their serum samples showed the high levels of leukotriene B4,
      6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha, and thromboxane A2. The long-term (6- and 12-month)
      use of omega-3 PUFA from the king crab hepatopancreas had a positive impact in
      modifying the lipid FA composition of red blood cells and in eliminating
      deficiencies of physiologically important omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs in the blood
      cells. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that FAs and their metabolites play an
      important role in the pathogenesis of MS and that dietary omega-3 PUFA should be
      incorporated into a package of preventive and therapeutic measures for MS.

PMID- 27636926
TI  - [Efficacy of Kolofort for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel
      syndrome].
AB  - AIM: to determine the efficacy and safety of Kolofort in the treatment of
      patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 52 patients
      (16 men and 36 women) aged 26 to 59 years were examined over 4 months to rule out
      organic disease. The diagnosis of IBS was established on the basis of the Rome
      III diagnostic criteria (2006). Seven patients were diagnosed as having IBS with
      a preponderance of constipation; 3 had IBS with a preponderance of diarrhea, and
      42 had mixed IBS. Thereafter they were given Kolofort, a combination release
      active antibody drug having anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, and spasmolytic
      effects. Kolofort affects the ligand-receptor interactions of the brain-specific
      protein S-100 with serotonin receptors and sigma1-receptors in the central
      nervous system and that of histamine with histamine H4 receptors in the
      gastrointestinal tract and modifies (regulates) the functional activity of tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). The regulatory action of the drug at the level
      of the central and autonomic nervous system and the immune system manifests
      itself as spasmolytic, anti-inflammatory, and sedative effects, which as a whole
      effectively normalizes gastrointestinal motility. For 3 months, the patients took
      sublingual Kolofort in a dose of 2 tablets thrice daily for 2 weeks, then 2
      tablets twice daily for 2.5 months. Control was made 2 weeks, 1, 2, and 3 months
      after treatment initiation. The investigators assessed abdominal pain syndrome,
      defecation disorders, abdominal distension, and flatulence by the visual analogue
      scale (VAS-IBS questionnaire), visceral sensitivity index (VSI questionnaire),
      quality of life (QL) in patients with IBS (IBS-QoL questionnaire), and stool form
      according to the Bristol Stool Chart and measured the levels of TNF-alpha and
      interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-10 before and after treatment. RESULTS: The
      efficacy of Kolofort showed itself within 2 weeks of its administration against
      all the study functional parameters (pain, defecation disorder, and flatulence).
      After one month of therapy, the efficacy of Kolofort achieved meaningful
      statistical significance against abdominal pain, complaints of flatulence,
      visceral sensitivity index, and QL. The statistically significant restoration of
      a stool form was achieved 2 months after treatment and 3-month Kolofort treatment
      showed a clear-cut positive clinical effect that appeared as reductions in pain
      syndrome (214+/-0.22; r < 0.001) and visceral hypersensitivity symptoms (from
      30.33+/-2.9 to 67.76+/-6.5; r < 0.001), improvements in subjective sensations
      associated with defecation disorders (from 6.95+/-0.71 to 2.74+/-0.28; r <
      0.001), stool form, and QL indicators (from 103.48+/-9.06 to 44.95+/-5.4; r <
      0.001), and a decrease in blood TNF-alpha levels after treatment termination
      (from 9.16 to 7.02 pg/ml; r < 0.026). A Kolofort treatment cycle for IBS produced
      no clinically relevant side effects. CONCLUSION: Kolofort was highly effective in
      relieving symptoms, in normalizing the psychological status, and in lowering the
      levels of TNF-alpha in the treatment of IBS. The efficacy of the drug was
      achieved because of its combined effect on the main components of the
      pathogenesis of IBS.

PMID- 27636925
TI  - [Primary percutaneous interventions into the coronary arteries in patients with
      diabetes mellitus].
AB  - AIM: to investigate the specific features and results of percutaneous
      interventions (PCI) into the coronary arteries in patients with acute ST-segment
      elevation myocardial infarction (MI) and diabetes mellitus (DM) in clinical
      practice. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A study group consisted of 120 patients with a
      history of type 2 DM, who had undergone primary PCI in 2008 to 2013. A comparison
      group included 601 patients without a history of DM. RESULTS: Assessment of the
      results of hospital interventions revealed no differences between the study and
      comparison groups in mortality rates (4.1 and 3.2%, respectively; p=0.376), stent
      thromboses (0.8 and 1.2%, respectively; p=0.601), and recurrent MI (0 and 1.5%,
      respectively; p=0.189). No differences were determined in the combined index
      including death, recurrent MI, and stent thrombosis (5 and 5%; p=0.985). At the
      same time, the no-reflow phenomenon developed statistically significantly more
      frequently in the patients with DM (7.4 and 2.8%; p=0.019). Binary logistic
      regression established independent associations between the presence of DM and
      patient age (odds ratio (OR) 1.04; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02 to 1.07;
      p<0.001), female sex (OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.56; p<0.001), and higher body
      mass index (OR 1.1; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.16; p<0.04). CONCLUSION: Primary PCIs in
      patients with DM are an effective and safe method for revascularization in acute
      ST-segment elevation MI and these are not followed by increases in mortality and
      frequency of major poor cardiac complications at the hospital stage despite the
      more common development of the no-reflow phenomenon.

PMID- 27636927
TI  - [Long-term infliximab therapy for ulcerative colitis in real clinical practice].
AB  - AIM: to retrospectively evaluate the efficiency of long-term infliximab (INF)
      therapy in patients with refractory ulcerative colitis (UC). SUBJECTS AND
      METHODS: The investigation enrolled 48 patients with refractory UC who had taken
      IFL in 2008 to 2014. Steroid-dependent or steroid-refractory UC was established
      in 40 (83.3%) patients; 8 (16.7%) were noted to be refractory to therapy with
      azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine. Cytomegalovirus DNA was identified in the
      biopsy specimens of the large intestinal mucosa (LIM) from 7 patients. One
      patient received antiviral therapy. Induction therapy with IFL was in its
      administration in a dose of 5 mg/kg at 0, 2, and 6 weeks, then maintenance
      therapy was continued every 8 weeks. RESULTS: After an IFL induction cycle, 3
      (6.3%) patients were unresponsive to therapy and were excluded from the
      investigation. At present, 25 (55.5%) of the 45 patients who have responded to
      the therapy continue to take IFL 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks and are in clinical
      remission; 4 (8.8%) patients receive intensified IFL therapy. Initially 23
      patients received combined therapy with IFL + an immunosuppressive drug; 22 had
      IFL monotherapy. Escape from the effect of the performed therapy was observed in
      5 (11.1%) patients, which required its intensification. The intensified therapy
      resulted in sustained remission in 4 (8.8%) patients; colectomy was carried out
      in one (2.2%) case. Secondary loss of response to IFL, its intolerance,
      development of severe infectious complications, which did not allow for further
      maintenance therapy with IFL, were seen in 11 (24.4%) patients; 5 (11.1%) stopped
      the therapy because they had been excluded from the additional drug subsidy list.
      Maintenance therapy with IFL proved successful during 64 months in 29 (64.4%) of
      the 45 patients and during 64 months if its intensity, when the occasion
      required, was enhanced. CONCLUSION: The long-term use of IFL in UC confirmed its
      high efficacy in achieving clinical response, in inducing a clinical remission
      and its capacity to heal LIM, and in sustaining remission.

PMID- 27636928
TI  - [Multiple primary colorectal cancer: Clinical aspects].
AB  - AIM: to define some clinical characteristics of synchronous and metachronous
      colorectal cancer (CRC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The investigation was concerned
      with the data of 150 patients with T1-4N0-2M0-1 multiple primary CRC. The
      clinical, biological, and morphological characteristics of synchronous and
      metachronous tumors were analyzed. RESULTS: Multiple primary tumors were 6.01% of
      all the cases of CRC. There was a preponderance of synchronous CRC (63.75%) with
      the tumor localized in the sigmoid colon and rectum. In women, synchronous
      colorectal tumors were more often concurrent with breast tumors; metachronous
      ones were detected after treatment for genital tumors. In men, synchronous
      colorectal tumors were more frequently concurrent with kidney cancer;
      metachronous ones were identified after treatment for gastric cancer. CONCLUSION:
      The found characteristics of multiple primary colorectal tumors may be taken in
      account in programs for both primary diagnosis and follow-up after treatment for
      malignant tumors, which will be able to improve the early detection of cancer
      patients and their treatment results.

PMID- 27636929
TI  - [Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in outpatients in Rostov-on-Don:
      Regional results of the DIREG-2 study].
AB  - AIM: to analyze and summarize the data of the DIREG-2 study of the nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) register in Rostov-on-Don versus those in Russia.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prospective disease registry study encompasses an
      epidemiologic, observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study estimating the
      prevalence of NAFLD in outpatients in Rostov-on-Don. A total of 3200 patients
      participated in this study. The investigators were 65 outpatient physicians.
      Epidemiological data were obtained during two patient visits to the research
      centers. RESULTS: The key result obtained from this study was the significantly
      higher prevalence of NAFLD in Rostov-on-Don than that in the general population
      (40.4 and 37.3%). In addition to the higher prevalence of NAFLD, there was also a
      higher spread of risk factors (RFs), such as abdominal obesity, female age of 45
      55 years, and hyperlipidemia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of NAFLD in the
      outpatients of Rostov-on-Don was 3.1% greater than that in Russia; this might be
      due to the significantly higher spread of some RFs (abdominal obesity, female age
      of 45-55 years, hyperlipidemia). The findings are undoubtedly necessary for the
      elaboration of measures for the primary and secondary prevention of NAFLD in
      Rostov-on-Don.

PMID- 27636930
TI  - [Renal transplantation in recipients with moderate presensitization].
AB  - AIM: to comparatively assess desensitization schemes with and without
      plasmapheresis in patients with low presensitization. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The
      investigators studied the efficiency of the two desensitization schemes (cascade
      plasma filtration + intravenous immunoglobulin used in a dose of 100 mg/kg in 19
      patients (a study group; panel reactive antibodies (PRA) 25.1+/-6.1%) versus 2
      g/kg in 23 patients (a comparison group, PRA 18.9+/-4.4%). The crossmatch
      reaction was negative in both groups. The median follow-up period was 23.5
      (quartiles 1 and 3: 10.25 and 26) months. RESULTS: The study group was noted to
      have 6 episodes of acute rejection and 1 episode of infection; the comparison
      group had 13 and 3 episodes, respectively. The overall renal graft survival was
      79 and 65% in the study and comparison groups, respectively; the 1-year graft
      survival was 94 and 62%. Graft function was significantly better in the study
      group: there was a lower daily proteinuria level (p<0.001) at 3 months after
      transplantation; a higher glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (p=0.001) and a lower
      daily proteinuria level (p=0.01) at 6 months; a lower serum creatinine
      comcentration (p=0.001) and lower daily proteinuria (p=0.001) and a higher GFR
      (p=0.001) at one year. CONCLUSION: Even with the relatively low level of
      sensitization, there is an increase in the frequency of acute rejection episodes
      and worse graft function. The efficiency of desensitization using cascade plasma
      filtration and low-dose intravenous immunoglobulin is higher than that with high
      dose intravenous immunoglobulin.

PMID- 27636931
TI  - [Evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy and safety of the selective anxiolytic
      afobazole in generalized anxiety disorder and adjustment disorders: Results of a
      multicenter randomized comparative study of diazepam].
AB  - AIM: to summarize the previously published results of a multicenter randomized
      clinical research phase III study trial of afobazole (INN: fabomotizole) versus
      diazepam in the treatment of patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and
      adjustment disorders (AD). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Five investigating centers
      included 150 patients aged 18 to 60 years (60 patients with GAD and 90 with AD) a
      simple structure of anxiety disorders without concurrent mental, neurological or
      somatic disorders. Patients were randomized to take afobazole (30 mg/day; n=100)
      or diazepam (30 mg/day; n=50) for 30 days. Prior to drug administration, patients
      susceptible to placebo were excluded according to the results of its 7-day use.
      Withdrawal syndrome was evaluated within 10 days after completion of active
      therapy. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change of Hamilton Anxiety Rating
      Scale (HAMA) total score. The scores of the Clinical Global Impression (CGI)
      Scale and the Sheehan Scale as secondary efficacy endpoints  were analyzed. Drug
      safety was evaluated by assessment of adverse events. RESULTS: Afobazole and
      diazepam caused a significant reduction of HAMA total score. In the afobazole
      group, the reduction of anxiety  exceeded that in the diazepam group (the
      difference in the total score changes was 2.93 [0.67; 5.19]; p=0,01).The
      proportion of patients with reduction of disease severity was 72% in the
      afobazole group and 58% in the diazepam group. After therapy completion, the
      proportion of patients with no or mild disorder in the afobazole group was
      significantly higher than that in the diazepam group (69 and 44%, respectively;
      chi2=12.46; p=0,014). There was a trend toward a higher subjective patient-rated
      estimate of the afobazole effect using the Sheehan scale. There were a total of
      15 and 199 adverse events in the afobazole and diazepam groups, respectively. No
      manifestations of afobazole withdrawal syndrome were found. Diazepam withdrawal
      syndrome was observed in 34 (68%) patients. CONCLUSION: Afobazole is an effective
      and safe drug to treat patients with GAD and AD and non-inferior than diazepam in
      the treatment of these disorders, however it is superior in terms of several
      variables, including the safety profile.

PMID- 27636933
TI  - [Role of polymorphic markers for the genes of hemostasis and platelet receptors
      in liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C].
AB  - AIM: to estimate the clinical and prognostic value of the carriage of different
      allele variants of the gene polymorphisms of the coagulation system and platelet
      receptors in the progression of liver fibrosis (LF) in patient with chronic
      hepatitis C (CHC). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The investigation enrolled 177 patients
      with CHC and liver cirrhosis at its outcome who were divided into 2 groups
      according to the rate of LF progression: 1) 89 patients with rapid (rapid
      fibrosis) and 2) 88 patients with slow (slow fibrosis) progression. The
      polymorphism of the study genes was studied using a real-time polymerase chain
      reaction and a melting curve analysis. RESULTS: In CHC patients, the FV 1691G/A
      genotype was more often in the rapid progressors than that in the slow
      progressors (10.11% vs 1.14%; p=0.011). The A allele of the 1691 G/A FV gene was
      more common in the rapid fibrosis group than that in the slow fibrosis group
      (1.7% vs 5.56%, odd ratio 9.787; p=0.139). In our investigation, the polymorphic
      marker GA in the FII 20210 G/A gene, as well as the 4G allele (5G4G + 4G4G
      genotypes) and the 4G allele of PAI-I -675 5G/4G were more often seen in the
      rapid fibrosis group than that in the slow fibrosis group; the detection rate was
      only at the trend level (p=0.118, p=0.112, and p=0.117 respectively). There were
      no significant differences between the groups in the spread of variant genotypes
      and alleles of other study genes. Integral model construction by coding
      "profibrogenic" genotypes (FV 1691 G/A, FII 20210 G/A, PAI-I -675 5G/4G) showed
      that the fibrosis progression rate expressed as fibrosis units annually also
      increased with higher total scores (p=0.039), indicating the combined effect of
      these genes. CONCLUSION: The carriage of mutant genotypes of FV 1691 G/A, FII
      20210 G/A, and PAI-I -675 5G/4G genes is a prognostic factor for rapid CHC
      progression.

PMID- 27636932
TI  - [Pneumonia: Regional experience with prevention programs].
AB  - AIM: to generalize the regional experience in implementing a package of
      organizational and methodical and antiepidemic measures for preventing
      pneumococcal infections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: How the prevention programs were
      implemented using the materials and methods of the epidemiological and
      statistical monitoring of the incidence of pneumonia in the Amur Region was
      analyzed. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevenar-13) and influenza vaccines
      were used for immunoprophylaxis against acute respiratory viral and pneumococcal
      infections. Information on the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections
      and pneumonia over time in the period 2010 to 2015 must be taken into account.
      Indicators and special criteria are used to evaluate the efficiency of
      vaccination. RESULTS: The comparative statistical analysis revealed the high
      efficiency of regional programs using the methods for immunoprophylaxis against
      pneumococcal infections: the vaccination prophylactic efficiency index in terms
      of the incidence of pneumonia might be as high as 75-100%. Pneumonia morbidity
      rates became 2.3 times lower in the vaccinated population of the region.
      CONCLUSION: The results of the investigation suggest that the Program for the
      clinical and epidemiological monitoring and prevention of community-acquired
      pneumonias, by using the vaccine against pneumococcal infection in the Amur
      Region, has a high medical and socioeconomic efficiency.

PMID- 27636934
TI  - [Cardiac damage in liver cirrhosis in alcohol abusers].
AB  - AIM: to estimate the contribution of liver cirrhosis (LC) to the development of
      heart diseases in alcohol abusers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The investigation
      included 80 patients with alcoholic LC without a history of cardiovascular and
      respiratory diseases and, as a control group, 32 alcohol abusers without a
      history of chronic diseases of the liver and cardiovascular and respiratory
      systems; 45 patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and congestive heart
      failure without a history of coronary heart disease and valvular diseases, among
      whom 11 patients were found to have LC. In addition to standard clinical
      examination, all the patients underwent electrocardiography, by estimating the
      corrected QT interval (QTc), standard echocardiography; and those without ACM
      underwent estimation of left ventricular (LV) kinetics using speckle-tracking
      echocardiography. RESULTS: The patients with alcoholic LC were found to have a
      higher LV ejection fraction and a more obvious impairment of LV global
      longitudinal deformity, and more commonly LV diastolic dysfunction. 16 of the 80
      patients with LC were observed to have moderate pulmonary hypertension while the
      mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) was within the normal range in all the
      patients without LC. A prolonged QTc interval was revealed in the patients with
      LC. The duration of QTc was directly correlated with the MELD severity of LC. The
      patients with chronic heart failure in the presence of ACM and CL showed a more
      obvious LV diastolic dysfunction, as estimated by E/E', a greater LV mass index,
      and a higher MPAP than those with ACM without LC. CONCLUSION: The LC patients
      both with ACM and without a history of diseases of the heart were noted to have
      its more evident disorders as diastolic dysfunction and elevated MPAP. Those
      without ACM were observed to have impaired LV global deformity and a prolonged
      QTc interval.

PMID- 27636935
TI  - [A clinical case of hemangioma of the face and tongue concurrent with severe
      obstructive sleep apnea syndrome complicated by cardiac arrhythmias and
      conduction disturbances].
AB  - The paper describes a clinical case of a female patient with severe obstructive
      sleep apnea syndrome in the presence of congenital hemangioma of the face, soft
      palate, and tongue concurrent with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and atrial
      flutter, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, and sinoatrial block (maximally
      up to 3.9 sec). Continuous positive airway pressure therapy could reduce the
      number of paroxysms of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, supraventricular
      tachycardia and eliminate sinoatrial block. 

PMID- 27636937
TI  - [Expert Panel Resolution on Personified Choice of an Inhaler in Patients with
      Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseas].

PMID- 27636936
TI  - [Pulmonary manifestations in adult patients with a defect in humoral immunity].
AB  - Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) are a group of congenital diseases of the
      immune system, which numbers more than 230 nosological entities associated with
      lost, decreased, or wrong function of its one or several components. Due to the
      common misconception that these are extremely rare diseases that occur only in
      children and lead to their death at an early age, PIDs are frequently ruled out
      by physicians of related specialties from the range of differential diagnosis.
      The most common forms of PIDs, such as humoral immunity defects, common variable
      immune deficiency, X-linked agammaglobulinemia, selective IgA deficiency, etc.,
      are milder than other forms of PID, enabling patients to attain their adult age,
      and may even manifest in adulthood. Bronchopulmonary involvements are the most
      common manifestations of the disease in patients with a defect in humoral
      immunity. Thus, a therapist and a pulmonologist are mostly the first doctors who
      begin to treat these patients and play a key role in their fate, since only
      timely diagnosis and initiation of adequate therapy can preserve not only the
      patient's life, but also its quality, avoiding irreversible complications. Chest
      computed tomography changes play a large role in diagnosis. These are not
      specific for PID; however, there are a number of characteristic signs that permit
      this diagnosis to be presumed. 

PMID- 27636981
TI  - A review of postsurgical dysphagia in nonmalignant disease.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews current literature regarding postsurgical
      dysphagia in nonmalignant disease examining the current recommendations, risk
      factors, and potential implications. RECENT FINDINGS: Surgical interventions
      including anterior cervical spine surgery, thyroidectomy, laryngeal and
      pulmonary, cardiac, esophageal and fundoplication, gastric and bariatric, and
      posterior fossa surgeries are known to result in swallowing dysfunction.
      Postsurgical dysphagia may increase the length of hospitalization, overall cost,
      risk of pneumonia, and time to oral intake. There are limited prospective
      research studies examining postsurgical dysphagia and poorly understood causes.
      The results are unclear regarding severity, symptom type, duration, and treatment
      outcomes of postsurgical dysphagia. SUMMARY: The life-changing and life
      threatening nature of dysphagia make this an important factor to consider and
      discuss with patients and families. Both acute and late-onset dysphagia may
      become chronic if left untreated. Presurgery and postsurgery swallow studies
      should be considered for cervical spine, thyroid, lung, gastric, cardiac, and
      surgeries involving the cranial nerves. Future research should examine
      postsurgical dysphagia in a prospective manner using established and reliable
      methods of measurement to parse out causal factors and more accurate prevalence
      rates for each surgical intervention and population.

PMID- 27636982
TI  - Beyond dilation: current concepts in endoscopic airway stenting and
      reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss current modalities of endoscopic airway management
      beyond balloon dilation therapy. RECENT FINDINGS: Advances continue to be made
      through technology and bioengineering with exciting potential in the pediatric
      airway. Smaller robots and instrumentation allow increased endoscopic surgical
      success. Biodegradable stents and bioengineered grafts are on the horizon for use
      in airway surgery. Dysphonia following airway reconstruction is of increasing
      recognition with new endoscopic treatments being performed. Supraglottoplasty is
      further recognized as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea for laryngomalacia
      diagnosed on sleep endoscopy. Interarytenoid injection may be beneficial in the
      normal larynx for aspiration and dysphagia as well as diagnosing and treating
      type I laryngeal clefts. SUMMARY: Endoscopic airway surgery continues to be a
      popular and effective method of treating the pediatric airway. Technological
      advances such as in robotics may have an increasing role in the future of
      endoscopic airway surgery in children. Bioengineered airway adjuncts including
      biodegradable airway stents look to be promising in the future treatment of
      airway stenosis.

PMID- 27636983
TI  - Pharyngoesophageal diverticuli: diagnosis, incidence and management.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Pharyngoesophageal diverticuli such as Zenker's diverticulum
      are relatively rare diseases that may have a significant impact on a patient's
      quality of life. Open surgical techniques have historically been the mainstay of
      treatment for Zenker's diverticuli and remain the preferred approach for many
      surgeons operating on Killian-Jamieson diverticuli (KJD) and pharyngoceles.
      However, advances in technology in recent decades have allowed for the
      development of successful endoscopic surgical techniques for the management of
      these conditions. RECENT FINDINGS: Endoscopic management of Zenker's diverticulum
      with carbon dioxide laser-assisted diverticulotomy or endoscopic stapler-assisted
      diverticulostomy has gained wide acceptance in recent years. This is based on
      studies showing high rates of successful outcomes, low rates of complications and
      shorter operative time with an associated impact on overall cost and patient
      recovery. Endoscopic management of KJD and pharyngoceles has recently been
      described, but remains controversial with many surgeons preferring open surgical
      approaches for the ability to identify and protect the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
      SUMMARY: Open and endoscopic techniques are accepted for the treatment of
      Zenker's diverticulum with open approaches remaining the traditional technique
      for management of non-Zenker's diverticulum. Further investigation of endoscopic
      approaches for management of KJD is necessary to assess safety and efficacy.

PMID- 27636984
TI  - Pediatric sialendoscopy indications and outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Chronic sialadenitis can affect patients of all age ranges and
      typically presents as recurrent or chronic painful swelling of the salivary
      glands. In children, the most common cause of sialadenitis is juvenile recurrent
      parotitis. Salivary stones, or sialolithiasis, are a much less common cause.
      Historically, for patients with chronic sialadenitis who failed conservative
      management, salivary gland removal was the standard treatment option. Recently,
      however, sialendoscopy has emerged as an effective gland-preserving procedure for
      sialadenitis evaluation and treatment in adults and children. The aim of this
      review is to discuss pediatric sialadenitis evaluation and treatment, including
      sialendoscopy indications, technique, and outcomes. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Sialendoscopy is a well tolerated and effective treatment for sialadenitis
      Sialendoscopy and salivary duct irrigation have been shown to improve frequency
      and severity of sialadenitis episodes in patients with juvenile recurrent
      parotitis. Salivary stones are managed successfully with endoscopic and combined
      endoscopic-assisted open approaches. Minimally invasive approaches with
      sialendoscopy have improved the ability to preserve salivary glands in patients
      with recurrent sialadenitis. SUMMARY: Sialendoscopy is a well tolerated and
      effective procedure for recurrent sialadenitis in children.

PMID- 27636985
TI  - Molecular docking study to evaluate the carcinogenic potential and mammalian
      toxicity of thiophosphonate pesticides by cluster and discriminant analysis.
AB  - In this paper, the carcinogenic potential and mammalian toxicity on rodents,
      based on the quantitative relationship models between structure and biological
      activity (QSAR), were evaluated. The carcinogenicity and acute toxicity were
      evaluated by docking molecular physicochemical descriptors, on a series of 33
      thiophosphonates. These properties, mainly hydrophobicity, electronic
      distribution, hydrogen bonding characteristics, molecule size and flexibility,
      and the presence of various pharmacophoric features, influence the behavior of
      molecule in a living organism, including bioavailability, transport properties,
      affinity to proteins, reactivity, toxicity, metabolic stability and many others.
      The model was validated using linear regression methods: principal component
      analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS) and multiple linear regression (MLR);
      non-linear regression methods: cluster analysis (CA) and discriminant analysis
      (DA); and neural network analysis: probabilistic neural network (PNN),
      identifying the best predictor.

PMID- 27636986
TI  - Scientometric characterization of Medwave's scientific production 2010-2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of bibliometric indicators for the evaluation of science
      allows an analysis of scientific production both from a quantitative and
      qualitative point of view. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the scientific production
      of Medwave during the period 2010 to 2014 in terms of visibility and
      productivity. METHODS: A bibliometric study was carried out. Variables analyzed
      were offered by the ?Publish or Perish? program working with the Google Scholar
      database. The number of articles published were related to the number of authors
      involved in each research work. The articles cited, number of citations, authors
      and year were reported. Indicators were obtained by placing in name of the
      journal and its International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) in the navigation box
      of Publish or Perish. RESULTS: There were 481 articles published with 220
      citations; at a rate of more than 36 citations per year and 20 citations per
      author and year. An index h = 5 and index g = 6 were achieved. There was an
      average of two authors per article. Only five articles had more citations than
      the total they provided. CONCLUSIONS: The scientometric indicators found place
      the journal in a favorable position relative to other medical journals of the
      region, in terms of visibility and productivity. There was a low rate of
      cooperation since articles with individual authors prevailed. A low number of
      articles contributed to the productivity of the journal despite having
      significant number of citations.

PMID- 27636987
TI  - Pre-season adductor squeeze test and HAGOS function sport and recreation subscale
      scores predict groin injury in Gaelic football players.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if pre-season adductor squeeze test and HAGOS function,
      sport and recreation subscale scores can identify Gaelic football players at risk
      of developing groin injury. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Senior inter
      county Gaelic football team. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-five male elite Gaelic football
      players (age = 24.0 +/- 2.8 years, body mass = 84.48 +/- 7.67 kg, height = 1.85
      +/- 0.06 m, BMI = 24.70 +/- 1.77 kg/m2) from a single senior inter-county Gaelic
      football team. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Occurrence of groin injury during the
      season. RESULTS: Ten time-loss groin injuries were registered representing 13% of
      all injuries. The odds ratio for sustaining a groin injury if pre-season adductor
      squeeze test score was below 225 mmHg, was 7.78. The odds ratio for sustaining a
      groin injury if pre-season HAGOS function, sport and recreation subscale score
      was < 87.5 was 8.94. Furthermore, for each additional point on the numerical
      rating scale pain rating during performance of the adductor squeeze test, the
      odds of groin injury increased by 2.16. CONCLUSION: This study provides
      preliminary evidence that pre-season adductor squeeze test and HAGOS function,
      sport and recreation subscale scores can be used to identify Gaelic football
      players at risk of developing groin injury.

PMID- 27636988
TI  - Biodiesel presence in the source zone hinders aromatic hydrocarbons attenuation
      in a B20-contaminated groundwater.
AB  - The behavior of biodiesel blend spills have received limited attention in spite
      of the increasing and widespread introduction of biodiesel to the transportation
      fuel matrix. In this work, a controlled field release of biodiesel B20 (100L of
      20:80 v/v soybean biodiesel and diesel) was monitored over 6.2years to assess the
      behavior and natural attenuation of constituents of major concern (e.g., BTEX
      (benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylenes) and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons)) in a sandy aquifer material. Biodiesel was preferentially
      biodegraded compared to diesel aromatic compounds with a concomitant increase in
      acetate, methane (near saturation limit (~22mgL-1)) and dissolved BTEX and PAH
      concentrations in the source zone during the first 1.5 to 2.0years after the
      release. Benzene and benzo(a)pyrene concentrations remained above regulatory
      limits in the source zone until the end of the experiment (6.2years after the
      release). Compared to a previous adjacent 100-L release of ethanol-amended
      gasoline, biodiesel/diesel blend release resulted in a shorter BTEX plume, but
      with higher residual dissolved hydrocarbon concentrations near the source zone.
      This was attributed to greater persistence of viscous (and less mobile) biodiesel
      than the highly-soluble and mobile ethanol in the source zone. This persistence
      of biodiesel/diesel NAPL at the source zone slowed BTEX and PAH biodegradation
      (by the establishment of an anaerobic zone) but reduced the plume length by
      reducing mobility. This is the first field study to assess biodiesel/diesel blend
      (B20) behavior in groundwater and its effects on the biodegradation and plume
      length of priority groundwater pollutants.

PMID- 27636989
TI  - Solute source depletion control of forward and back diffusion through low
      permeability zones.
AB  - Solute diffusive exchange between low-permeability aquitards and high
      permeability aquifers acts as a significant mediator of long-term contaminant
      fate. Aquifer contaminants diffuse into aquitards, but as contaminant sources are
      depleted, aquifer concentrations decline, triggering back diffusion from
      aquitards. The dynamics of the contaminant source depletion, or the source
      strength function, controls the timing of the transition of aquitards from sinks
      to sources. Here, we experimentally evaluate three archetypical transient source
      depletion models (step-change, linear, and exponential), and we use novel
      analytical solutions to accurately account for dynamic aquitard-aquifer diffusive
      transfer. Laboratory diffusion experiments were conducted using a well-controlled
      flow chamber to assess solute exchange between sand aquifer and kaolinite
      aquitard layers. Solute concentration profiles in the aquitard were measured in
      situ using electrical conductivity. Back diffusion was shown to begin earlier and
      produce larger mass flux for rapidly depleting sources. The analytical models
      showed very good correspondence with measured aquifer breakthrough curves and
      aquitard concentration profiles. The modeling approach links source dissolution
      and back diffusion, enabling assessment of human exposure risk and calculation of
      the back diffusion initiation time, as well as the resulting plume persistence.

PMID- 27636990
TI  - Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 inhibits gastric cancer cell
      proliferation by inactivating Wnt signaling pathway via c-Myc with aurora
      kinases.
AB  - The detailed molecular mechanisms and safety issues of recombinant human bone
      morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) usage in bone graft substitution remain poorly
      understood. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of
      rhBMP-2 in gastric cancer cells, we used microarrays to determine the gene
      expression patterns related to the effects of rhBMP-2. Based on a gene ontology
      analysis, several genes were upregulated during the regulation of the cell cycle
      and BMP signaling pathway. MYC was found to be significantly decreased along with
      its downstream target genes, the aurora kinases (AURKs), by rhBMP-2 in the
      network analysis. We further confirmed this finding with western blot data that
      rhBMP-2 inhibited c-Myc, AURKs, and beta-catenin in SNU484 and SNU638 cells. An
      AURK inhibitor significantly decreased c-Myc expression in gastric cancer cells.
      Combination treatment with rhBMP-2 and AURK inhibitor resulted in significantly
      decreased c-Myc expression compared with gastric cancer cells treated with an
      rhBMP-2 or AURK inhibitor, respectively. Similar effects for decreased c-Myc
      expression were observed when we silenced beta-catenin in gastric cancer cells.
      These results indicate that rhBMP-2 attenuated the growth of gastric cancer cells
      via the inactivation of beta-catenin via c-Myc and AURKs. Therefore, our findings
      suggest that rhBMP-2 could be safely used with patients who undergo gastric or
      gastroesophageal cancer surgery.

PMID- 27636991
TI  - Oxidized macrophage migration inhibitory factor is a potential new tissue marker
      and drug target in cancer.
AB  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine, which was
      shown to be upregulated in cancers and to exhibit tumor promoting properties.
      Unlike other cytokines, MIF is ubiquitously present in the circulation and tissue
      of healthy subjects. We recently described a previously unrecognized, disease
      related isoform of MIF, designated oxMIF, which is present in the circulation of
      patients with different inflammatory diseases. In this article, we report that
      oxMIF is also linked to different solid tumors as it is specifically expressed in
      tumor tissue from patients with colorectal, pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer.
      Furthermore, oxMIF can be specifically targeted by a subset of phage display
      derived fully human, monoclonal anti-MIF antibodies (mAbs) that were shown to
      neutralize pro-tumorigenic activities of MIF in vivo. We further demonstrate that
      anti-oxMIF mAbs sensitize human cancer cell lines (LNCaP, PC3, A2780 and
      A2780ADR) to the action of cytotoxic drugs (mitoxantrone, cisplatin and
      doxorubicin) in vitro and in an A2780 xenograft mouse model of ovarian cancer. We
      conclude that oxMIF is the disease related isoform of MIF in solid tumors and a
      potential new diagnostic marker and drug target in cancer.

PMID- 27636992
TI  - Determining the optimal 5-FU therapeutic dosage in the treatment of colorectal
      cancer patients.
AB  - Fluorouracil (5-FU) has been wildly used as a primary medication in the treatment
      of solid tumors including colorectal cancer. The treatment efficacy and toxicity
      of 5-FU varies greatly among individuals, suggesting a need for individualized
      regimen for cancer patients. The present study analyzed the blood concentration
      of 5-FU and its therapeutic efficacy and toxicity, evaluated the relationship of
      AUC (area under the plasma concentration-time curve), and the protein expression
      of DPD (dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase) and TS (thymidylate synthetase), and
      therapeutic efficacy and toxicity. It was found that the AUC of 5-FU was 34.16+/
      14.83mgmg.h/L in this cohort of study. The immunohistochemical analysis revealed
      38.96% and 81.82% positive staining for DPD and TS in colorectal cancer tissues,
      respectively. We demonstrated that the expression of TS is positively correlated
      with the expression of DPD. There was a positive correlation between AUC and
      therapeutic efficacy, and gastrointestinal tract and neural toxicity. The
      expression of neither DPD nor TS had significant correlations with therapeutic
      efficacy and toxicity. Based on the blood 5-FU concentration and its relationship
      with treatment efficacy and toxicity, we determined an optimal therapeutic dosage
      of 5-FU to be equivalent to an AUC=28.03-38.94mgmg.h/L. Our study will be helpful
      in providing an individualized medical regimen for the treatment of colorectal
      cancer patients.

PMID- 27636993
TI  - T4/N2 classification nasopharyngeal carcinoma benefit from concurrent
      chemotherapy in the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
AB  - Although the benefits of concurrent chemotherapy (CC) in the treatment of locally
      advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) had been proven in the era of two
      dimensional radiotherapy, long-term efficacy and safety of using CC combined with
      intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) remain unclear. A retrospective analysis
      of 1,182 patients who underwent IMRT for clinical II-Iva NPC was performed.
      Propensity score matching algorithm was used to identify two matched cohorts with
      or without CC (264 patients per cohort). Median follow-up time was 45.6 and 43.6
      months for the two cohorts. The estimated 5-year overall survival rate was 81.8%
      (95% CI 76.6-87.4) in patients treated with CC and 73.7% (95% CI 67.8-80.0) in
      those treated without CC, respectively (hazard ratio 0.64, 95% CI 0.44-0.93; p =
      0.018). The benefit of CC was mainly observed in those patients with good
      performance status, male, age > 48 years, T4 and N2 classification. Grade 3/4
      acute toxicities were more common in those patients administrated with CC. The
      grade and incidence of late salivary glands damage were also increased by CC (p =
      0.003). These findings indicated that the addition of CC significantly improved
      treatment outcomes of NPC patients treated with IMRT, but accompanied increased
      toxicities. Tailored CC and optimizing schedule of IMRT and systemic therapy were
      needed, provided that distant metastasis was the predominant pattern of failure
      in patients treated with IMRT.

PMID- 27636995
TI  - Radiofrequency ablation versus 125I-seed brachytherapy for painful metastases
      involving the bone.
AB  - This retrospective study aimed to demonstrate and compare the safety and
      effectiveness of computed tomography-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and
      125I-seed brachytherapy for painful bone metastases after failure of external
      beam radiotherapy (EBRT). From June 2013 to October 2015, 79 patients with
      moderate-to-severe pain caused by metastatic bone lesions who underwent either
      RFA (n = 41) or 125I-seed brachytherapy (n = 38) were enrolled. Pain in patients
      was measured using the brief pain inventory (BPI) before treatment, 1 week after
      treatment, and 3 months after treatment. Response rates were assessed by
      measuring the changes in pain and incorporation of changes in the analgesic
      requirements. At baseline, 1 week, and 3 months, the mean worst pain scores of
      BPI were 7.8, 5.4, and 2.7, respectively, for the RFA group and 7.7, 6.1, and
      2.8, respectively, for the brachytherapy group. At 1 week, the complete and
      partial response rates were 12% and 59%, respectively, in the RFA group compared
      with 3% and 45%, respectively, in the brachytherapy group. At 3 months, the
      complete and partial response rates were 23% and 58%, respectively, in the RFA
      group compared with 24% and 52% in the brachytherapy group (p = 0.95). The
      response rates in the RFA group were significantly higher than those in the
      brachytherapy group at 1 week (p = 0.32), but comparable at 3 weeks (p = 0.95).
      Both groups had low rates of complications and no treatment-related mortality. In
      conclusion, the short-term curative efficiency of RFA was better than that of
      brachytherapy, but the log-term efficiency of both treatments was equal.

PMID- 27636994
TI  - Chromatin determinants of the inner-centromere rely on replication factors with
      functions that impart cohesion.
AB  - Replication fork-associated factors promote genome integrity and protect against
      cancer. Mutations in the DDX11 helicase and the ESCO2 acetyltransferase also
      cause related developmental disorders classified as cohesinopathies. Here we
      generated vertebrate model cell lines of these disorders and cohesinopathies
      related genes. We found that vertebrate DDX11 and Tim-Tipin are individually
      needed to compensate for ESCO2 loss in chromosome segregation, with DDX11 also
      playing complementary roles with ESCO2 in centromeric cohesion. Our study reveals
      that overt centromeric cohesion loss does not necessarily precede chromosome
      missegregation, while both these problems correlate with, and possibly originate
      from, inner-centromere defects involving reduced phosphorylation of histone H3T3
      (pH3T3) in the region. Interestingly, the mitotic pH3T3 mark was defective in all
      analyzed replication-related mutants with functions in cohesion. The results
      pinpoint mitotic pH3T3 as a postreplicative chromatin mark that is sensitive to
      replication stress and conducts with different kinetics to robust centromeric
      cohesion and correct chromosome segregation.

PMID- 27636996
TI  - Genetic variants in vitamin D signaling pathways and risk of gestational diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - Vitamin D (VD) deficiency during pregnancy has been repeatedly linked to an
      increased gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk. We sought to determine the
      influences of genetic variants in vitamin D signaling pathways on the risk of
      GDM. In this study, we genotyped 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within
      8 representative genes (CYP27A1, CYP27B1, CYP24A1, VDR, RXRA, RXRB, RXRG and GC)
      of the vitamin D signaling pathways in a case-control study with 964 GDM cases
      and 1,021 controls using the Sequenom MassARRAY iPLEX platform. Logistic
      regression analyses in additive model showed that GC rs16847024 C>T, RXRG
      rs17429130 G>C and RXRA rs4917356 T>C were significantly associated with the
      increased risk of GDM (adjusted OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.10-1.58 for rs16847024;
      adjusted OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.04-1.57 for rs17429130; adjusted OR = 1.28, 95% CI
      = 1.06-1.54 for rs4917356). And GDM risk significantly increased with the
      increasing number of variant alleles of the three SNPs in a dose-dependent manner
      (P for trend < 0.001). Moreover, the combined effect of the three SNPs on GDM
      occurrence was more prominent in older women (age > 30). Further interactive
      analyses also detected a significantly multiplicative interaction between the
      combined variant alleles and age on GDM risk (P = 0.035). Together, these
      findings indicate that GC rs16847024, RXRG rs17429130 and RXRA rs4917356 were
      candidate susceptibility markers for GDM in Chinese females. Further validation
      studies with different ethnic background and biological function analyses were
      needed.

PMID- 27636997
TI  - Synthetic lethal interaction of cetuximab with MEK1/2 inhibition in NRAS-mutant
      metastatic colorectal cancer.
AB  - KRAS mutations are an established predictor of lack of response to EGFR-targeted
      therapies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, little
      is known about the role of the rarer NRAS mutations as a mechanism of primary
      resistance to the anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody cetuximab in wild-type KRAS mCRC.
      Using isogenic mCRC cells with a heterozygous knock-in of the NRAS activating
      mutation Q61K, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism(s) by which mutant NRAS blocks
      cetuximab from inhibiting mCRC growth. NRASQ61K/+ cells were refractory to
      cetuximab-induced growth inhibition. Pathway-oriented proteome profiling revealed
      that cetuximab-unresponsive ERK1/2 phosphorylation was the sole biomarker
      distinguishing cetuximab-refractory NRASQ61K/+ from cetuximab-sensitive NRAS+/+
      cells. We therefore employed four representative MEK1/2 inhibitors (binimetinib,
      trametinib, selumetinib, and pimasertib) to evaluate the therapeutic value of
      MEK/ERK signaling in cetuximab-refractory NRAS mutation-induced mCRC. Co
      treatment with an ineffective dose of cetuximab augmented, up to more than 1,300
      fold, the cytotoxic effects of pimasertib against NRASQ61K/+ cells. Simultaneous
      combination of MEK1/2 inhibitors with cetuximab resulted in extremely high and
      dose-dependent synthetic lethal effects, which were executed, at least in part,
      by exacerbated apoptotic cell death. Dynamic monitoring of real-time cell growth
      rates confirmed that cetuximab synergistically sensitized NRASQ61K/+ cellsto
      MEK1/2 inhibition. Our discovery of a synthetic lethal interaction of cetuximab
      in combination with MEK1/2 inhibition for the NRAS mutant subgroup of mCRC
      underscores the importance of therapeutic intervention both in the MEK-ERK and
      EGFR pathways to achieve maximal therapeutic efficacy against NRAS-mutant mCRC
      tumors.

PMID- 27636998
TI  - Dnmt3a deletion cooperates with the Flt3/ITD mutation to drive leukemogenesis in
      a murine model.
AB  - Internal tandem duplications of the juxtamembrane domain of FLT3 (FLT3/ITD) are
      among the most common mutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Resulting in
      constitutive activation of the kinase, FLT3/ITD portends a particularly poor
      prognosis, with reduced overall survival and increased rates of relapse. We
      previously generated a knock-in mouse, harboring an internal tandem duplication
      at the endogenous Flt3 locus, which develops a fatal myeloproliferative neoplasm
      (MPN), but fails to develop acute leukemia, suggesting additional mutations are
      necessary for transformation. To investigate the potential cooperativity of
      FLT3/ITD and mutant DNMT3A, we bred a conditional Dnmt3a knockout to a substrain
      of our Flt3/ITD knock-in mice, and found deletion of Dnmt3a significantly reduced
      median survival of Flt3ITD/+ mice in a dose dependent manner. As expected, pIpC
      treated Flt3ITD/+ mice solely developed MPN, while Flt3ITD/+;Dnmt3af/f and
      Flt3ITD/+;Dnmt3af/+ developed a spectrum of neoplasms, including MPN, T-ALL, and
      AML. Functionally, FLT3/ITD and DNMT3A deletion cooperate to expand LT-HSCs,
      which exhibit enhanced self-renewal in serial re-plating assays. These results
      illustrate that DNMT3A loss cooperates with FLT3/ITD to generate hematopoietic
      neoplasms, including AML. In combination with FLT3/ITD, homozygous Dnmt3a knock
      out results in reduced time to disease onset, LT-HSC expansion, and a higher
      incidence of T-ALL compared with loss of just one allele. The co-occurrence of
      FLT3 and DNMT3A mutations in AML, as well as subsets of T-ALL, suggests the
      Flt3ITD/+;Dnmt3af/f model may serve as a valuable resource for delineating
      effective therapeutic strategies in two clinically relevant contexts.

PMID- 27637000
TI  - Live-in "strangers": An experiential account of gerontology educational immersion
      in senior housing.
AB  - Gerontology education programs that combine elements of experiential service
      learning, community participation, and residential immersion have been emerging
      in the United States and internationally. Combining fieldwork, interviews, and
      immersion methods, this study draws on qualitative ethnographic and
      phenomenologic design, whereby a student lived in senior housing for 3.5 years.
      The study is among the longest and most intensive gerontological field
      experiences ever reported. It is based on more than 2,000 hours of observations
      and conversational interviews with 14 residents. Major patterns based on
      observational data show the importance of shared history, support for one
      another, negotiating environmental tensions, and demand for attention on the part
      of residents. Major themes derived from interviews elaborate on family conflict,
      conflict between residents, and life decisions. Results show that a unique
      combination of physical and social proximity in an intergenerational alliance
      enables life enhancement for older adults and learning opportunities for
      students. A recommendation is made to implement a live-in role more formally.

PMID- 27636999
TI  - Toll-like 4 receptor /NFkappaB inflammatory/miR-146a pathway contributes to the
      ART-correlated preterm birth outcome.
AB  - Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is widely used for the women with
      infertility conditions to achieve pregnancy. However, the adverse effects of ART
      may lead to poor perinatal and neonatal outcomes, e.g., preterm birth and low
      body weight. In this study, we investigated the inflammatory molecular factors
      and microRNA that might be involved in ART related preterm birth. We found the
      elevation of Toll-like 4 receptor (TLR4), activation of NFkappaB pathway and down
      regulation of microRNA-146a (miR-146a), a negative regulator of NFkappaB, in the
      placenta of preterm birth and ART, indicating preterm birth and ART were
      associated with inflammation signaling activation. In vitro experiments
      demonstrated that miR-146a suppressed NFkappaB pathway and shifted the balance of
      cytokines in the cord blood toward a repertoire of pro-inflammatory outcomes by
      down-regulating IRAK1 and TRAF6. The pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IFNgamma
      and TNFalpha in the cord blood were highly expressed in the preterm and ART,
      while anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was the lower in the preterm and ART. In
      summary, we firstly uncovered that TLR4/NFkappaB mediated inflammation signaling
      and miR-146a participated in ART-related preterm birth patients, which suggests
      that importance of TLR4/NFkappaB/miR-146a signaling in clinical interventions and
      biomarkers of ART-related perinatal or neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 27637001
TI  - Eicosapentaenoic acid promotes mitochondrial biogenesis and beige-like features
      in subcutaneous adipocytes from overweight subjects.
AB  - Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, has
      been reported to have beneficial effects in obesity-associated metabolic
      disorders. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of EPA
      on the regulation of genes involved in lipid metabolism, and the ability of EPA
      to induce mitochondrial biogenesis and beiging in subcutaneous adipocytes from
      overweight subjects. Fully differentiated human subcutaneous adipocytes from
      overweight females (BMI: 28.1-29.8kg/m2) were treated with EPA (100-200 MUM) for
      24 h. Changes in mRNA expression levels of genes involved in lipogenesis, fatty
      acid oxidation and mitochondrial biogenesis were determined by qRT-PCR.
      Mitochondrial content was evaluated using MitoTracker(r) Green stain. The effects
      on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, co-activator 1 alpha (PGC
      1alpha) and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) were also characterized. EPA down
      regulated lipogenic genes expression while up-regulated genes involved in fatty
      acid oxidation. Moreover, EPA-treated adipocytes showed increased mitochondrial
      content, accompanied by an up-regulation of nuclear respiratory factor-1,
      mitochondrial transcription factor A and cytochrome c oxidase IV mRNA expression.
      EPA also promoted the activation of master regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis
      such as sirtuin 1, PGC1-alpha and AMPK. In parallel, EPA induced the expression
      of genes that typify beige adipocytes such as fat determination factor PR domain
      containing 16, uncoupling protein 1 and cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector A,
      T-Box protein 1 and CD137. Our results suggest that EPA induces a remodeling of
      adipocyte metabolism preventing fat storage and promoting fatty acid oxidation,
      mitochondrial biogenesis and beige-like markers in human subcutaneous adipocytes
      from overweight subjects.

PMID- 27637002
TI  - White tea intake prevents prediabetes-induced metabolic dysfunctions in testis
      and epididymis preserving sperm quality.
AB  - Prediabetes has been associated with alterations in male reproductive tract,
      especially in testis and epididymis. Moreover, in vitro studies described a
      promising action of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) against metabolic dysfunctions.
      Herein, we hypothesized that white tea (WTEA) ingestion by prediabetic animals
      could ameliorate the metabolic alterations induced by the disease in testicular
      and epididymal tissues, preserving sperm quality. WTEA infusion was prepared and
      its phytochemical profile was evaluated by 1H-NMR. A streptozotocin-induced
      prediabetic rat model was developed and three experimental groups were defined:
      control, prediabetic (PreDM) and prediabetic drinking WTEA (PreDM+WTEA).
      Metabolic profiles of testis and epididymis were evaluated by determining the
      metabolites content (1H-NMR), protein levels (western blot) and enzymatic
      activities of key metabolic intervenient. The quality of spermatozoa from cauda
      epididymis was also assessed. Prediabetes increased glucose transporter 3 protein
      levels and decreased lactate dehydrogenase activity in testis, resulting in a
      lower lactate content. WTEA ingestion led to a metabolic adaptation to restore
      testicular lactate content. Concerning epididymis, prediabetes decreased the
      protein levels of several metabolic intervenient, resulting in decreased lactate
      and alanine content. WTEA consumption restored most of the evidenced alterations,
      however, not lactate content. WTEA also improved epididymal sperm motility and
      restored sperm viability. Prediabetes strongly affected testicular and epididymal
      metabolic status and most of these alterations were restored by WTEA consumption,
      resulting in the improvement of sperm quality. Our results suggest that WTEA
      consumption can be a cost-effective strategy to improve prediabetes-induced
      reproductive dysfunction.

PMID- 27637003
TI  - Enhancement of backward second harmonic generation of acoustic waves in a
      resonant cavity by using a superlattice.
AB  - In this paper, the enhancement effect of backward second harmonic generation of
      acoustic waves in the system, consisting of a linear solid superlattice and a
      nonlinear liquid resonant cavity, is investigated analytically and numerically.
      Results show the nonlinear effect in the system can be enhanced drastically due
      to the existence of defective modes and the large acoustic impedance mismatching
      between solids and liquids. Because of the latter, the dual-resonance phenomenon
      can always take place approximately and automatically. These results are
      different from previous conclusions in optical fields.

PMID- 27637004
TI  - A Critical Evaluation of Anti-IL-13 and Anti-IL-4 Strategies in Severe Asthma.
AB  - Asthma is a high-prevalence disease, still accounting for mortality and high
      direct and indirect costs. It is now recognized that, despite the implementation
      of guidelines, a large proportion of cases remain not controlled. Certainly,
      adherence to therapy and the education of patients remain the primary objective,
      but the increasingly detailed knowledge about the pathogenic mechanisms and new
      biotechnologies offer the opportunity to better address and treat the disease.
      Interleukin (IL)-13 and IL-4 appear as the most suitable targets to treat the T
      helper 2 (TH2)-mediated forms (endotypes) of asthma. IL-13 and IL-4 partly share
      the same receptor and signaling pathways and both are deeply involved in
      immunoglobulin E (IgE) synthesis, eosinophil activation, mucus secretion and
      airways remodeling. Several anti-IL-13 strategies have been proposed
      (anrukinzumab, lebrikizunab and tralokinumab), with relevant clinical results
      reported with lebrikizumab. Such studies facilitate better definition of the
      possible predictive markers of response to a specific treatment (e.g.
      eosinophils, total IgE, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide and periostin). In
      parallel, anti-IL-4 strategies have been attempted (pascolizumab, pitakinra and
      dupilumab). So far, dupilumab was reported capable of reducing the severity of
      asthma and the rate of exacerbations. IL-13 and IL-4 are crucial in TH2-mediated
      inflammation in asthma, but it remains clear that only specific endotypes respond
      to these treatments. Although the use of anti-IL-14 and anti-IL-13 strategies is
      promising, the search for appropriate predictive biomarkers is urgently needed to
      better apply biological treatments. 

PMID- 27637005
TI  - Retinal image quality assessment based on image clarity and content.
AB  - Retinal image quality assessment (RIQA) is an essential step in automated
      screening systems to avoid misdiagnosis caused by processing poor quality retinal
      images. A no-reference transform-based RIQA algorithm is introduced that assesses
      images based on five clarity and content quality issues: sharpness, illumination,
      homogeneity, field definition, and content. Transform-based RIQA algorithms have
      the advantage of considering retinal structures while being computationally
      inexpensive. Wavelet-based features are proposed to evaluate the sharpness and
      overall illumination of the images. A retinal saturation channel is designed and
      used along with wavelet-based features for homogeneity assessment. The presented
      sharpness and illumination features are utilized to assure adequate field
      definition, whereas color information is used to exclude nonretinal images.
      Several publicly available datasets of varying quality grades are utilized to
      evaluate the feature sets resulting in area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve above 0.99 for each of the individual feature sets. The
      overall quality is assessed by a classifier that uses the collective features as
      an input vector. The classification results show superior performance of the
      algorithm in comparison to other methods from literature. Moreover, the algorithm
      addresses efficiently and comprehensively various quality issues and is suitable
      for automatic screening systems.

PMID- 27637006
TI  - Phase retrieval deblurring for imaging of dense object within a low scattering
      soft biological tissue.
AB  - Tissues are characterized by a strong scattering of visible optical radiation,
      which prevents one from achieving deep-tissue imaging. We propose a computational
      imaging technique for the inference of specific macroscopic, spatial phase
      distribution features of the scattering media. The spatial phase distribution is
      reconstructed from several defocused intensity images. We empirically demonstrate
      the method by reconstructing the location of two fibula chicken bones, embedded
      within chicken breast tissue. The suggested technique is safe, using visible
      laser illumination, and noninvasive. It is also cost-effective since a simple
      optical system is used and the images are acquired using a conventional camera,
      and it does not require interferometric detection as well as direct access to the
      object in absence of the layer.

PMID- 27637007
TI  - Reproducibility, interchangeability of measures, time to measure stabilization,
      and reference values of two tissue oximeters in healthy volunteers.
AB  - This study aimed to compare two tissue oximeters, the INVOS 5100c and the Equanox
      7600, in terms of their reproducibility and the interchangeability of their
      measures. In a randomized order, three measurements were taken at six different
      sites on both sides of the body in 53 healthy volunteers. Intraclass correlation
      coefficients (ICC) and within-subject standard deviation (Sw) were calculated for
      each device. The ICCs were compared using Fisher r-to-z transformation and the Sw
      were compared using paired-sample t-tests. We found no difference between the
      reproducibility of the INVOS {ICC=0.92 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.90 to
      0.93]} and Equanox [ICC=0.90 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.93)] in terms of ICCs (p=0.06).
      However, the Equanox [Sw=1.96 (95% CI 1.91 to 2.02)] showed a better Sw than the
      INVOS [Sw=2.11 (95% CI 2.05 to 2.17)] (p=0.019). Also, when compared directly to
      stable condition, the readings produced by the two oximeters varied considerably
      [ICC 0.43 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.49)]. When taken individually, both tissue oximeters
      displayed good reproducibility, the Equanox being slightly better than the INVOS
      in terms of absolute reproducibility. However, when compared, the oximeters
      showed poor interdevices agreement. Reference values were also described.

PMID- 27637008
TI  - In vivo characterization of colorectal metastases in human liver using diffuse
      reflectance spectroscopy: toward guidance in oncological procedures.
AB  - There is a strong need to develop clinical instruments that can perform rapid
      tissue assessment at the tip of smart clinical instruments for a variety of
      oncological applications. This study presents the first in vivo real-time tissue
      characterization during 24 liver biopsy procedures using diffuse reflectance (DR)
      spectroscopy at the tip of a core biopsy needle with integrated optical fibers.
      DR measurements were performed along each needle path, followed by biopsy of the
      target lesion using the same needle. Interventional imaging was coregistered with
      the DR spectra. Pathology results were compared with the DR spectroscopy data at
      the final measurement position. Bile was the primary discriminator between normal
      liver tissue and tumor tissue. Relative differences in bile content matched with
      the tissue diagnosis based on histopathological analysis in all 24 clinical
      cases. Continuous DR measurements during needle insertion in three patients
      showed that the method can also be applied for biopsy guidance or tumor
      recognition during surgery. This study provides an important validation step for
      DR spectroscopy-based tissue characterization in the liver. Given the feasibility
      of the outlined approach, it is also conceivable to make integrated fiber-optic
      tools for other clinical procedures that rely on accurate instrument positioning.

PMID- 27637010
TI  - Developmental Hemostasis and Management of Central Venous Catheter Thrombosis in
      Neonates.
AB  - Neonatal hemostasis differs qualitatively, but in particular quantitatively, from
      hemostasis in older children and adults. Nevertheless, hemostasis in healthy
      neonates is functionally stable with no tendency to bleeding or thrombotic
      complications. In sick neonates, however, risk factors may disrupt this
      equilibrium and lead to thrombosis. The most important risk factor is the central
      venous catheter. Management of neonatal central venous catheter thrombosis is
      challenging, as no controlled trials have been performed. Therapeutic options
      include (1) observation and supportive treatment; (2) anticoagulant agents,
      including low-molecular-weight heparin and unfractionated heparin; (3)
      thrombolytic agents; and (4) thrombectomy. Prevention of thrombosis with
      anticoagulation is not advised yet. Careful consideration of the necessity of the
      catheter and optimal hygienic care are important preventative measures.

PMID- 27637009
TI  - Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) anabolism in Cupriavidus necator cultivated at various
      carbon-to-nitrogen ratios: insights from single-cell Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - Cupriavidus necator accumulates large amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), a
      biodegradable substitute for petroleum-based plastics, under certain nutrient
      conditions. Conventional solvent-extraction-based methods for PHB quantification
      only obtain average information from cell populations and, thus, mask the
      heterogeneity among individual cells. Laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS)
      was used to monitor dynamic changes in the contents of PHB, nucleic acids, and
      proteins in <italic<C. necator</italic< at the population and single-cell levels
      when the microorganism cells were cultivated at various carbon-to-nitrogen
      ratios. The biosynthetic activities of nucleic acids and proteins were maintained
      at high levels, and only a small amount of PHB was produced when the bacterial
      cells were cultured under balanced growth conditions. By contrast, the syntheses
      of nucleic acids and proteins were blocked, and PHB was accumulated in massive
      amount inside the microbial cells under nitrogen-limiting growth circumstances.
      Single-cell analysis revealed a relatively high heterogeneity in PHB level at the
      early stage of the bacterial growth. Additionally, bacterial cells in populations
      at certain cultivation stages were composed of two or three subpopulations on the
      basis of their PHB abundance. Overall, LTRS is a reliable single-cell analysis
      tool that can provide insights into PHB fermentation.

PMID- 27637011
TI  - Barriers to reporting medication errors and near misses among nurses: A
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore barriers to nurses' reporting of medication errors and near
      misses in hospital settings. DESIGN: Systematic review. DATA SOURCES: Medline,
      CINAHL, PubMed and Cochrane Library in addition to Google and Google Scholar and
      reference lists of relevant studies published in English between January 1981 and
      April 2015 were searched for relevant qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods
      empirical studies or unpublished PhD theses. Papers with a primary focus on
      barriers to reporting medication errors and near misses in nursing were included.
      REVIEW METHODS: The titles and abstracts of the search results were assessed for
      eligibility and relevance by one of the authors. After retrieval of the full
      texts, two of the authors independently made decisions concerning the final
      inclusion and these were validated by the third reviewer. Three authors
      independently assessed methodological quality of studies. Relevant data were
      extracted and findings were synthesised using thematic synthesis. RESULTS: From
      4038 identified records, 38 studies were included in the synthesis. Findings
      suggest that organizational barriers such as culture, the reporting system and
      management behaviour in addition to personal and professional barriers such as
      fear, accountability and characteristics of nurses are barriers to reporting
      medication errors. CONCLUSIONS: To overcome reported barriers it is necessary to
      develop a non-blaming, non-punitive and non-fearful learning culture at unit and
      organizational level. Anonymous, effective, uncomplicated and efficient reporting
      systems and supportive management behaviour that provides open feedback to nurses
      is needed. Nurses are accountable for patients' safety, so they need to be
      educated and skilled in error management. Lack of research into barriers to
      reporting of near misses' and low awareness of reporting suggests the need for
      further research and development of educational and management approaches to
      overcome these barriers.

PMID- 27637013
TI  - Effects of Hull Scratching, Soaking, and Boiling on Antinutrients in Japanese Red
      Sword Bean (Canavalia gladiata).
AB  - The effects of hull processing, soaking, and boiling on the content or activity
      of antinutrients in the red sword bean (RSB; Canavalia gladiata) were
      investigated. RSB seeds were compared with kidney bean (KB; Phaseolus vulgaris)
      seeds that are starch based and often used as processed products in Japan. RSB
      seeds had higher weight, thicker hull, and higher protein content, but lower
      moisture content compared with KB seeds. Because of the strong and thick hull,
      the relative water absorption of untreated RSB seeds was very low after soaking.
      Seeds were soaked after dehulling, scratching, and roasting. The results showed
      that hull scratching was the optimal method for increasing water absorption
      during soaking compared with dehulling and roasting. After soaking, the water
      used for soaking was discarded, since it had a high content of polyphenols and
      bitter taste, and RSB seeds were boiled in fresh water for 20, 40, and 60 min.
      The results showed that polyphenol and tannin contents, antioxidant activity, and
      hemagglutinating activity, as well as maltase, sucrase, and trypsin inhibitor
      activities in scratched RSB seeds decreased significantly after boiling compared
      with those in raw seeds, whereas amylase inhibitor activity showed no significant
      change. Overall, it was concluded that the combination of hull scratching,
      soaking, and boiling in fresh water can reduce thermal-stable or sensitive
      antinutrients in RSB and thus, significantly improve its nutritional value.

PMID- 27637012
TI  - Prognostic significance of P2RY8-CRLF2 and CRLF2 overexpression may vary across
      risk subgroups of childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - The cytokine receptor-like factor 2 (CRLF2) gene plays an important role in early
      B-cell development. Aberrations in CRLF2 activate the JAK-STAT signaling pathway
      that contributes to B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The prognostic
      significance of CRLF2 overexpression and P2RY8-CRLF2 fusion in various B-ALL risk
      subgroups has not been well established. Two hundred seventy-one patients with
      newly diagnosed childhood B-ALL were enrolled from a Chinese population. The
      prevalence of CRLF2 overexpression, CRLF2-P2RY8 fusion, CRLF2 F232C mutation, and
      JAK2 and IL7R mutational status were analyzed, and the prognostic impact of CRLF2
      overexpression and P2RY8-CRLF2 on B-ALL was evaluated by assessing their
      influence on overall survival and event-free survival. CRLF2 overexpression and
      P2RY8-CRLF2 were found in 19% and 10%, respectively, in the whole cohort. No
      correlation between CRLF2 overexpression and P2RY8-CRLF2 was observed. CRLF2
      F322C and IL7R mutations were not detected in B-ALL cases overexpressing CRLF2,
      and no JAK2 mutations were found in the whole cohort either. The results showed
      that CRLF2 overexpression and P2RY8-CRLF2 were associated with a poor outcome in
      unselected B-ALL. Moreover, in an intermediate risk B-ALL subgroup P2RY8-CRLF2
      was correlated with worse survival, whereas in high- and low-risk subgroups,
      CRLF2 overexpression predicted a poor outcome. Our findings suggest that P2RY8
      CRLF2 is an independent prognostic indicator in intermediate risk B-ALL, while
      CRLF2 overexpression is correlated with an inferior outcome in high- or low-risk
      B-ALL. Our study demonstrates that the impact of P2RY8-CRLF2 and CRLF2
      overexpression on B-ALL survival may differ across risk subgroups. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27637016
TI  - Minimally Invasive Strabismus Surgery.

PMID- 27637015
TI  - Rubicon inhibits autophagy and accelerates hepatocyte apoptosis and lipid
      accumulation in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice.
AB  - : Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent liver disease
      worldwide. It encompasses a spectrum ranging from simple steatosis to fatty liver
      with hepatocellular injury, termed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Recent studies
      have demonstrated hepatic autophagy being impaired in NAFLD. In the present
      study, we investigated the impact of Rubicon, a Beclin1-interacting negative
      regulator for autophagosome-lysosome fusion, in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. In
      HepG2 cells, BNL-CL2 cells, and murine primary hepatocytes, Rubicon was
      posttranscriptionally up-regulated by supplementation with saturated fatty acid
      palmitate. Up-regulation of Rubicon was associated with suppression of the late
      stage of autophagy, as evidenced by accumulation of both LC3-II and p62
      expression levels as well as decreased autophagy flux. Its blockade by small
      interfering RNA attenuated autophagy impairment and reduced palmitate-induced
      endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis, and lipid accumulation. Rubicon was also
      up-regulated in association with autophagy impairment in livers of mice fed a
      high-fat diet (HFD). Hepatocyte-specific Rubicon knockout mice generated by
      crossing Rubicon floxed mice with albumin-Cre transgenic mice did not produce any
      phenotypes on a normal diet. In contrast, on an HFD, they displayed significant
      improvement of both liver steatosis and injury as well as attenuation of both
      endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy impairment in the liver. In humans,
      liver tissues obtained from patients with NAFLD expressed significantly higher
      levels of Rubicon than those without steatosis. CONCLUSION: Rubicon is
      overexpressed and plays a pathogenic role in NAFLD by accelerating hepatocellular
      lipoapoptosis and lipid accumulation, as well as inhibiting autophagy. Rubicon
      may be a novel therapeutic target for regulating NAFLD development and
      progression. (Hepatology 2016;64:1994-2014).

PMID- 27637014
TI  - Gonadal function is associated with cardiometabolic health in pre-pubertal boys
      with Klinefelter syndrome.
AB  - The most common sex chromosome aneuploidy, Klinefelter syndrome (KS), is
      associated with primary gonadal failure and increased morbidity and mortality
      from cardiometabolic disorders in adulthood. Children with KS also have a high
      prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) features. To assess the relationship of
      gonadal and cardiometabolic function in children with KS, we evaluated serum
      hormones [gonadotropins, inhibin B (INHB), anti-mullerian hormone (AMH), total
      testosterone (TT)], and features of MetS (waist circumference, fasting lipid
      panel, fasting blood glucose (FBG), and blood pressure) in 93 pre-pubertal boys
      with KS age 4-12 years (mean 7.7 +/- 2.5 years). The cohort was grouped by age
      and tanner stage, and biomarkers were compared to normal ranges. A total of 80%
      of this pre-pubertal cohort had >=1 feature of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and 11%
      had >=3 features of MetS. Risk of MetS was independent of age and body mass
      index. Sertoli cell dysfunction was common with 18% having an INHB below the
      normal range. A low INHB was associated with higher FBG, triglycerides, LDL, and
      lower HDL (p < 0.05). An INHB <50 ng/dL yielded a sensitivity of 83% and a
      specificity of 79% for having >=3 features of MetS. INHB and AMH positively
      correlated with each other (p < 0.001), and high AMH was protective of MetS. TT
      was below the lower limit of normal in 49% of subjects, with mean values
      significantly lower than expected (3.3 ng/dL vs. 4.9 ng/dL, p < 0.0001), however,
      no convincing relationship between TT and MetS was seen. In conclusion, gonadal
      and cardiometabolic dysfunction are prevalent in pre-pubertal boys with KS.
      Although the relationship of testosterone deficiency and MetS is well-known, this
      study is the first to report an association between impaired Sertoli cell
      function and cardiometabolic risk.

PMID- 27637017
TI  - Persistent Tearing. . .Suspected Tear Duct Obstruction.

PMID- 27637018
TI  - A CRISPR Way to Change Genes.

PMID- 27637019
TI  - Treatment of Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction.

PMID- 27637020
TI  - Choroidal Freckling in Pediatric Patients Affected by Neurofibromatosis Type 1.
AB  - Greater understanding of choroidal freckling in patients affected by
      neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) has changed the previous belief that choroidal
      lesions are unusual in eyes with this disease. In fact, the high frequency of
      freckling suggests that the choroid is a structure commonly affected in patients
      with NF1. A review of patients aged 16 years or younger was performed. Recent
      studies using near-infrared reflectance imaging have shown that choroidal
      freckling frequently occurred in pediatric patients. As a result of these
      findings, some authors have suggested that choroidal freckling should be
      considered as a new diagnostic criterion for NF1. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol
      Strabismus. 2016;53(5):271-274.]. 

PMID- 27637021
TI  - Intraocular Pressure in Premature Low Birth Weight Infants.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the intraocular pressure (IOP) and central corneal thickness
      (CCT) in premature low birth weight (LBW) infants and their correlation with
      gestational age (GA). METHODS: IOP and CCT were measured in premature LBW infants
      (defined as a birth weight <= 1,500 g or birth GA <= 30 weeks) admitted to the
      neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Florida Division of
      Neonatology, UF Health Jacksonville. RESULTS: Ninety eyes of 45 premature LBW
      infants with mean birth GA of 28.2 +/- 2.3 weeks and mean birth weight of 1,131.5
      +/- 380.1 g were evaluated. The mean IOP and CCT were 29.0 +/- 9.0 mm Hg and
      660.0 +/- 65.0 um, respectively. There was no correlation between the IOP and CCT
      (r = 0.09; P = .38). There was a negative correlation between IOP and GA (r = 
      0.41) and between CCT and GA (r = -0.26). CONCLUSIONS: IOP is higher and CCT is
      thicker in premature infants compared to adults; however, there was no
      correlation between IOP and CCT. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2016;53(5):300
      304.].

PMID- 27637022
TI  - Dexmedetomidine Nasal Sedation Produces More Oculocardiac Reflex During
      Strabismus Surgery.

PMID- 27637023
TI  - No Perception of Light in a Child With Wyburn-Mason Syndrome.

PMID- 27637024
TI  - Information technology and social sciences: how can health IT be used to support
      the health professional?
AB  - Keeping up to date with the increasing amount of health-related knowledge and
      managing the increasing numbers of patients with more complex clinical problems
      is a challenge for healthcare professionals and healthcare systems. Health IT
      applications, such as electronic health records or decision-support systems, are
      meant to support both professionals and their support systems. However, for
      physicians using these applications, the applications often cause new problems,
      such as the impracticality of their use in clinical practice. This review adopts
      a social sciences perspective to understand these problems and derive suggestions
      for further development. Indeed, humans use tools to remediate the brain's
      weaknesses and enhance thinking. Available health IT tools have been shaped to
      fit administrative needs rather than physicians' needs. To increase the
      beneficial effect of health IT applications in health care, clinicians' style of
      thinking and their learning needs must be considered when designing and
      implementing such systems. New health IT tools must be shaped to fit health
      professionals' needs. To further ease the integration of new health IT tools into
      clinical practice, we must also consider the effects of implementing new tools on
      the wider social framework.

PMID- 27637025
TI  - ALK Positive Lung Cancer: Clinical Profile, Practice and Outcomes in a Developing
      Country.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the performance and treatment profile of advanced EML4
      ALK positive Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in a developing country
      with potentially restricted access to Crizotinib. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis of advanced ALK positive NSCLC patients who were treated
      from June 2012 to September 2015 was conducted. The primary goal was to evaluate
      outcomes of advanced ALK positive NSCLC in our practice and examine the logistic
      constraints in procuring Crizotinib. RESULTS: 94 patients were available for
      analysis. 21 (22.3%) patients were started on Crizotinib upfront, 60 (63.8%) on
      chemotherapy, 10 (10.6%) on Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (in view of poor PS) and 3
      (3.2%) patients were offered best supportive care. Reasons for not starting
      Crizotinib upfront included symptomatic patients needing early initiation of
      therapy (23.3%), ALK not tested upfront (23.3%) and financial constraints
      (21.9%). 69 patients (73.4%) received Crizotinib at some stage during treatment.
      Dose interruptions (> 1 week) with Crizotinib were seen in 20 patients (29%),
      with drug toxicity being the commonest reason (85%). Median Progression free
      survival (PFS) on first line therapy for the entire cohort was 10 months, with a
      significant difference between patients receiving Crizotinib and those who did
      not ever receive Crizotinib (10 months vs. 2 months, p = 0.028). Median Overall
      Survival (OS) was not reached for the entire cohort, with 1 year survival being
      81.2%. Patients with an ECOG Performance Status (PS) of >2 had a significantly
      reduced PFS compared to patients with PS < = 2 (1.5 months vs. 11 months, p<
      0.001). 47 patients with financial constraints (68.1%) received Crizotinib
      completely free via various extramural support schemes. CONCLUSION: A majority of
      our ALK positive NSCLC patients were exposed to Crizotinib through the help of
      various support mechanisms and these patients had similar outcomes to that
      reported from previously published literature.

PMID- 27637027
TI  - Tradition and renewal.

PMID- 27637026
TI  - Role of Chymase in the Development of Liver Cirrhosis and Its Complications:
      Experimental and Human Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue Angiotensin II (Ang-II), produced through local non ACE
      dependent pathways, stimulates liver fibrogenesis, renal vasoconstriction and
      sodium retention. AIM: To highlight chymase-dependent pathway of Ang-II
      production in liver and kidney during cirrhosis development. METHODS: Liver
      histology, portal pressure, liver and kidney function, and hormonal status were
      investigated in rat liver cirrhosis induced through 13 weeks of CCl4, with or
      without chymase inhibitor SF2809E, administered between 4th and 13th CCl4 weeks;
      liver and kidney chymase immunolocation and Ang-II content were assessed. Chymase
      immunohistochemistry was also assessed in normal and cirrhotic human liver, and
      chymase mRNA transcripts were measured in human HepG2 cells and activated hepatic
      stellate cells (HSC/MFs) in vitro. RESULTS: Rats receiving both CCl4 and SF2809E
      showed liver fibrotic septa focally linking portal tracts but no cirrhosis, as
      compared to ascitic cirrhotic rats receiving CCl4. SF2809E reduced portal
      pressure, plasma bilirubin, tissue content of Ang-II, plasma renin activity,
      norepinephrine and vasopressin, and increased glomerular filtration rate, water
      clearance, urinary sodium excretion. Chymase tissue content was increased and
      detected in alpha-SMA-positive liver myofibroblasts and in kidney tubular cells
      of cirrhotic rats. In human cirrhosis, chymase was located in hepatocytes of
      regenerative nodules. Human HepG2 cells and HSC/MFs responded to TGF-beta1 by up
      regulating chymase mRNA transcription. CONCLUSIONS: Chymase, through synthesis of
      Ang-II and other mediators, plays a role in the derangement of liver and kidney
      function in chronic liver diseases. In human cirrhosis, chymase is well
      represented and apt to become a future target of pharmacological treatment.

PMID- 27637028
TI  - Should pregnant women refrain entirely from using nicotine?

PMID- 27637029
TI  - Good use of doctors' working hours?

PMID- 27637030
TI  - [When the brain suddenly fails].

PMID- 27637031
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637032
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637033
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637034
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637035
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637036
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637037
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637038
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637039
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637040
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637041
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637042
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637043
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637044
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637045
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637046
TI  - Estimating date of delivery and gestational age - technology, biology or both?

PMID- 27637047
TI  - Reperfusion therapy in stroke cases with unknown onset.

PMID- 27637048
TI  - [When children are injured, with the best intentions].

PMID- 27637049
TI  - [Magnesium deficiency and proton pump inhibitors].

PMID- 27637050
TI  - [Humanitarian work among physicians must be recognized].

PMID- 27637051
TI  - [The future of air ambulances in northern Norway].

PMID- 27637052
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637053
TI  - Use of snus and smoking tobacco among pregnant women in the Agder counties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of snus during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirths,
      premature delivery and reduced birthweight. People have been warned against
      smoking during pregnancy, but less so against the use of snus. We have
      investigated the use of snus and smoking tobacco among pregnant women in the
      Agder counties. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Data on pregnant women and 10 583 births for
      the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 were retrieved from the electronic birth records of
      Sorlandet Hospital. RESULTS: In the three-year period 2012 - 2014, altogether 5 
      % used snus and 19  % used smoking tobacco before pregnancy and 2  % and 8  %
      respectively at the end of pregnancy. The use of snus before pregnancy increased
      from 3.6  % in 2012 to 6.8  % in 2014. The equivalent figures for the first
      trimester were 1.7  % and 3.4  %, and for the last trimester 1.2  % and 2.1  %.
      The use of smoking tobacco declined by 2  % over the three-year period. In the
      age group 16 - 24 years, a total of 12  % used snus before pregnancy and 5  % at
      the end. Of 522 women who used snus before their pregnancy, altogether 57.5  %
      had quit during the first trimester and 71.4  % during the third trimester. The
      corresponding figures for those 2 015 women who used smoking tobacco before their
      pregnancy were 45.2  % and 58.0  % (p < 0.001). INTERPRETATION: The use of snus
      before and during pregnancy doubled over the three-year period 2012 - 2014. The
      use was especially widespread in the youngest age groups. The proportion of women
      who quit using snus during their pregnancy was significantly higher than the
      proportion that quit smoking.

PMID- 27637054
TI  - Doctors' working hours and time spent on patient care in the period 1994 - 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is always a keen interest in the qualitative and quantitative
      aspects of doctors' working hours. In this study developments are described in
      terms of total weekly working hours and time spent on direct patient care from
      1994 to 2014 by doctors working in different job categories and medical
      disciplines in Norway. MATERIAL AND METHOD: All data has been obtained from
      LEFO's reference panel of doctors, a near representative sample of approximately
      1 600 practising doctors who have been followed up with questionnaires every
      second year since 1994. In the course of this period, doctors have come off the
      panel as they retired and new young doctors have been included in replacement.
      Questions relating to how they spend their time have always featured in the
      questionnaire. This article is based on data from 1994, 2000, 2006, 2010 and
      2014. RESULTS: Response rates were between 67 and 95  %. From 1994 to 2014, total
      weekly working hours remained the same for all categories of doctors, except
      those working in academia. Time spent on direct patient care has fallen, but not
      significantly, for general practitioners, specialists working in private practice
      and doctors working in academia and administration. Meanwhile, community medical
      officers and hospital doctors have seen their time spent on patient care fall
      significantly over the 20-year period. There is however great variation,
      particularly between the different medical disciplines in hospitals.
      INTERPRETATION: Differences and changes in the amount of time spent by doctors on
      direct patient care are caused by both structural and cultural factors relating
      to the working situation, and not least by a considerable increase in the number
      of hospital doctors.

PMID- 27637055
TI  - [Autoimmune myopathy associated with statin use].
AB  - It is well known that statins can have a toxic effect on musculature, but less
      widely known that they can also trigger progressive autoimmune myopathy. Statin
      associated autoimmune myopathy is characterised by proximal muscle weakness,
      antibodies to 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) in serum,
      and necrosis without lymphocytic infiltration on muscle biopsy. 

PMID- 27637056
TI  - [Thrombolytic therapy and thrombectomy in unknown stroke onset].

PMID- 27637057
TI  - A seven-month-old girl with sweaty feet.

PMID- 27637058
TI  - The Norwegian Laboratory Coding System - what became of the visions?

PMID- 27637059
TI  - [MRI in multiple sclerosis].

PMID- 27637060
TI  - [Emergency room jargon].

PMID- 27637061
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637062
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637063
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637064
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637065
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27637066
TI  - Can my mechanic fix blue cars? A discussion of health clinicians' interactions
      with Aboriginal Australian clients.

PMID- 27637067
TI  - Elucidating Key Motifs Required for Arp2/3-Dependent and Independent Actin
      Nucleation by Las17/WASP.
AB  - Actin nucleation is the key rate limiting step in the process of actin
      polymerization, and tight regulation of this process is critical to ensure actin
      filaments form only at specific times and at defined regions of the cell. Arp2/3
      is a well-characterised protein complex that can promote nucleation of new
      filaments, though its activity requires additional nucleation promotion factors
      (NPFs). The best recognized of these factors are the WASP family of proteins that
      contain binding motifs for both monomeric actin and for Arp2/3. Previously we
      demonstrated that the yeast WASP homologue, Las17, in addition to activating
      Arp2/3 can also nucleate actin filaments de novo, independently of Arp2/3. This
      activity is dependent on its polyproline rich region. Through biochemical and in
      vivo analysis we have now identified key motifs within the polyproline region
      that are required for nucleation and elongation of actin filaments, and have
      addressed the role of the WH2 domain in the context of actin nucleation without
      Arp2/3. We have also demonstrated that full length Las17 is able to bind
      liposomes giving rise to the possibility of direct linkage of nascent actin
      filaments to specific membrane sites to which Las17 has been recruited. Overall,
      we propose that Las17 functions as the key initiator of de novo actin filament
      formation at endocytic sites by nucleating, elongating and tethering nascent
      filaments which then serve as a platform for Arp2/3 recruitment and function. 

PMID- 27637069
TI  - Reliance on Pulmonary Function Tests in Assessment of Systemic Sclerosis Patients
      for Pulmonary Hypertension: Comment on the Article by Antoniou et al.

PMID- 27637068
TI  - The Breadth of Synthetic Long Peptide Vaccine-Induced CD8+ T Cell Responses
      Determines the Efficacy against Mouse Cytomegalovirus Infection.
AB  - There is an ultimate need for efficacious vaccines against human cytomegalovirus
      (HCMV), which causes severe morbidity and mortality among neonates and
      immunocompromised individuals. In this study we explored synthetic long peptide
      (SLP) vaccination as a platform modality to protect against mouse CMV (MCMV)
      infection in preclinical mouse models. In both C57BL/6 and BALB/c mouse strains,
      prime-booster vaccination with SLPs containing MHC class I restricted epitopes of
      MCMV resulted in the induction of strong and polyfunctional (i.e., IFN-gamma+,
      TNF+, IL-2+) CD8+ T cell responses, equivalent in magnitude to those induced by
      the virus itself. SLP vaccination initially led to the formation of effector CD8+
      T cells (KLRG1hi, CD44hi, CD127lo, CD62Llo), which eventually converted to a
      mixed central and effector-memory T cell phenotype. Markedly, the magnitude of
      the SLP vaccine-induced CD8+ T cell response was unrelated to the T cell
      functional avidity but correlated to the naive CD8+ T cell precursor frequency of
      each epitope. Vaccination with single SLPs displayed various levels of long-term
      protection against acute MCMV infection, but superior protection occurred after
      vaccination with a combination of SLPs. This finding underlines the importance of
      the breadth of the vaccine-induced CD8+ T cell response. Thus, SLP-based vaccines
      could be a potential strategy to prevent CMV-associated disease.

PMID- 27637070
TI  - SMCis: An Effective Algorithm for Discovery of Cis-Regulatory Modules.
AB  - The discovery of cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) is a challenging problem in
      computational biology. Limited by the difficulty of using an HMM to model
      dependent features in transcriptional regulatory sequences (TRSs), the
      probabilistic modeling methods based on HMMs cannot accurately represent the
      distance between regulatory elements in TRSs and are cumbersome to model the
      prevailing dependencies between motifs within CRMs. We propose a probabilistic
      modeling algorithm called SMCis, which builds a more powerful CRM discovery model
      based on a hidden semi-Markov model. Our model characterizes the regulatory
      structure of CRMs and effectively models dependencies between motifs at a higher
      level of abstraction based on segments rather than nucleotides. Experimental
      results on three benchmark datasets indicate that our method performs better than
      the compared algorithms. 

PMID- 27637071
TI  - Primary cutaneous cryptococcosis during infliximab therapy.

PMID- 27637073
TI  - Lentiviral vector interactions with the host cell.
AB  - Lentiviral vectors (LVs)-mediated gene transfer is an efficient method for ex
      vivo and in vivo gene therapy. Actually, LVs have been used in several clinical
      trials and therapeutic correction was reached in affected patients. However, in
      order to be effective gene therapy needs to be efficient without detrimental
      effects for target cells. Successful cell transduction by LVs can be hampered by
      several factors such as the activation of innate immune sensors during cell
      transduction and different restriction factors (RFs) inhibiting viral replication
      inside the cells. Therefore, a better knowledge of host-vector interactions is
      important for the development of more efficient gene therapy strategies improving
      the LVs platform by limiting harmful responses.

PMID- 27637072
TI  - Carbon: Nitrogen Interaction Regulates Expression of Genes Involved in N-Uptake
      and Assimilation in Brassica juncea L.
AB  - In plants, several cellular and metabolic pathways interact with each other to
      regulate processes that are vital for their growth and development. Carbon (C)
      and Nitrogen (N) are two main nutrients for plants and coordination of C and N
      pathways is an important factor for maintaining plant growth and development. In
      the present work, influence of nitrogen and sucrose (C source) on growth
      parameters and expression of genes involved in nitrogen transport and
      assimilatory pathways was studied in B. juncea seedlings. For this, B. juncea
      seedlings were treated with four combinations of C and N source viz., N source
      alone (-Suc+N), C source alone (+Suc-N), with N and C source (+Suc+N) or without
      N and C source (-Suc-N). Cotyledon size and shoot length were found to be
      increased in seedlings, when nitrogen alone was present in the medium. Distinct
      expression pattern of genes in both, root and shoot tissues was observed in
      response to exogenously supplied N and C. The presence or depletion of nitrogen
      alone in the medium leads to severe up- or down-regulation of key genes involved
      in N-uptake and transport (BjNRT1.1, BjNRT1.8) in root tissue and genes involved
      in nitrate reduction (BjNR1 and BjNR2) in shoot tissue. Moreover, expression of
      several genes, like BjAMT1.2, BjAMT2 and BjPK in root and two genes BjAMT2 and
      BjGS1.1 in shoot were found to be regulated only when C source was present in the
      medium. Majority of genes were found to respond in root and shoot tissues, when
      both C and N source were present in the medium, thus reflecting their importance
      as a signal in regulating expression of genes involved in N-uptake and
      assimilation. The present work provides insight into the regulation of genes of N
      uptake and assimilatory pathway in B. juncea by interaction of both carbon and
      nitrogen. 

PMID- 27637075
TI  - Relative effects of cognitive and behavioral therapies on generalized anxiety
      disorder, social anxiety disorder and panic disorder: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Although cognitive and behavioral therapies are effective in the treatment of
      anxiety disorders, it is not clear what the relative effects of these treatments
      are. We conducted a meta-analysis of trials comparing cognitive and behavioral
      therapies with a control condition, in patients with social anxiety disorder
      (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder. We included 42
      studies in which generic measures of anxiety were used (BAI, HAMA, STAI-State and
      Trait). Only the effects of treatment for panic disorder as measured on the BAI
      (13.33 points; 95% CI: 10.58-16.07) were significantly (p=0.001) larger than the
      effect sizes on GAD (6.06 points; 95% CI: 3.96-8.16) and SAD (5.92 points; 95%
      CI: 4.64-7.20). The effects remained significant after adjusting for baseline
      severity and other major characteristics of the trials. The results should be
      considered with caution because of the small number of studies in many subgroups
      and the high risk of bias in most studies.

PMID- 27637074
TI  - The association of posttraumatic stress disorder, complex posttraumatic stress
      disorder, and borderline personality disorder from a network analytical
      perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD, and Borderline
      Personality Disorder (BPD) share etiological risk factors and an overlapping set
      of associated symptoms. Since the ICD-11 proposal for trauma-related disorders,
      the relationship of these disorders has to be clarified. A novel approach to
      psychopathology, network analysis, allows for a detailed analysis of comorbidity
      on symptom level. METHODS: Symptoms were assessed in adult survivors of childhood
      abuse (N=219) using the newly developed ICD-11 Trauma-Questionnaire and the SCID
      II. The psychopathological network was analyzed using the network approach.
      RESULTS: PTSD and Complex PTSD symptoms were strongly connected within disorders
      and to a lesser degree between disorders. Symptoms of BPD were weakly connected
      to others. Re-experiencing and dissociation were the most central symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Mental disorders are no discrete entities, clear boundaries are
      unlikely to be found. The psychopathological network revealed central symptoms
      that might be important targets for specific first interventions.

PMID- 27637076
TI  - Morphological abnormalities in Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) at the
      territories contaminated as a result of the accident at Fukushima Dai-Ichi
      Nuclear Power Plant.
AB  - Our research, carried out in 2014-2016 at eight sites in the radioactive
      contaminated territories of Fukushima Prefecture, showed that the young trees of
      Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) are sensitive to radiation. Irradiation
      induced cancellation of the apical dominance in this species. The effect is
      similar to that observed in young trees of Scots pine growing in the Chernobyl
      zone. At the same time, we did not observed any morphological abnormalities in
      mature trees of Japanese red pine. The probability of cancelling the apical
      dominance in Japanese red pine increased to 0.11 and 0.14 in the two less
      irradiated populations, and to 0.5 and 0.9 at sites were the absorbed dose rates
      were approximately 14 and 25 MUGy h-1, respectively. Most of the observed
      abnormalities appeared in the second whorl after the beginning of exposure. No
      new abnormalities were observed in the fifth whorl. This temporal pattern is
      similar to those reported for Scots pine in Chernobyl and for Japanese fir in
      Fukushima. Additional detailed studies are necessary for interpretation of the
      observed temporal pattern and, in general, for explanation of the mechanism of
      formation of the morphological abnormalities.

PMID- 27637077
TI  - SIRT2 deletion enhances KRAS-induced tumorigenesis in vivo by regulating K147
      acetylation status.
AB  - The observation that cellular transformation depends on breaching a crucial KRAS
      activity threshold, along with the finding that only a small percentage of
      cellsharboring KRAS mutations are transformed, support the idea that additional,
      not fully uncovered, regulatory mechanisms may contribute to KRAS activation.
      Here we report that KrasG12D mice lacking Sirt2 show an aggressive tumorigenic
      phenotype as compared to KrasG12D mice. This phenotype includes increased
      proliferation, KRAS acetylation, and activation of RAS downstream signaling
      markers. Mechanistically, KRAS K147 is identified as a novel SIRT2-specific
      deacetylation target by mass spectrometry, whereas its acetylation status
      directly regulates KRAS activity, ultimately exerting an impact on cellular
      behavior as revealed by cell proliferation, colony formation, and tumor growth.
      Given the significance of KRAS activity as a driver in tumorigenesis,
      identification of K147 acetylation as a novel post-translational modification
      directed by SIRT2 in vivo may provide a better understanding of the mechanistic
      link regarding the crosstalk between non-genetic and genetic factors in KRAS
      driven tumors.

PMID- 27637078
TI  - miR-125b regulates differentiation and metabolic reprogramming of T cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia by directly targeting A20.
AB  - T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematopoietic
      malignancy. Although it has been reported that overexpression of miR-125b leads
      to T-ALL development, the underlying mechanisms of miR-125b action are still
      unclear. The goal of this study is to delineate the role of miR-125b in T-ALL
      development. We found that miR-125b is highly expressed in undifferentiated
      leukemic T cells (CD4-negative) while its expression is low in differentiated T
      cells (CD4-positive). Overexpression of miR-125b increased the CD4-negative
      population in T cells, whereas depletion of miR-125b by miR-125b-sponge decreased
      the CD4-negative cell population. We identified that A20 (TNFAIP3) is a direct
      target of miR-125b in T cells. Overexpression of miR-125b also increased glucose
      uptake and oxygen consumption in T cells through targeting A20. Furthermore,
      restoration of A20 in miR-125b-overexpressing cells decreased the CD4-negative
      population in T cell leukemia, and decreased glucose uptake and oxygen
      consumption to the basal level of T cells transfected with vector. In conclusion,
      our data demonstrate that miR-125b regulates differentiation and reprogramming of
      T cell glucose metabolism via targeting A20. Since both de-differentiation and
      dysregulated glucose metabolism contribute to the development of T-cell leukemia,
      these findings provide novel insights into the understanding and treatment of T
      ALL.

PMID- 27637079
TI  - Down-regulated resistin level in consequence of decreased neutrophil counts in
      untreated Grave's disease.
AB  - Resistin, belongs to cysteine-rich secretory protein, is mainly produced by
      circulating leukocytes, such as neutrophils monocytes and macrophages in humans.
      To date, few but controversial studies have reported about resistin
      concentrations in hyperthyroid patients, especially in Graves' disease (GD). We
      undertaked a controlled, prospective study to explore the serum resistin
      concentration in GD patients before and after -MMI treatment. In addition, we
      also investigated the main influencing factor on serum resistin level and
      discuessed the potential role of serum resistin plays in GD patients. 39
      untreated GD (uGD) patients, including 8 males and 31 females, were enrolled in
      our investigation. All of these patients were prescribed with MMI treatment, in
      addition to 25 healthy controls. Anthropometric parameters and hormone assessment
      were measured. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect serum
      resistin concentration in different stages of GD patients. Furthermore,
      neutrophil cell line NB4 with or without T3 treatment to detect the effect of
      thyroid hormones on resistin expression. The serum resistin level and neutrophil
      counts in untreated GD patients were significantly declined. And all of these
      parameters were recovered to normal after MMI treatment in ethyroid GD (eGD) and
      TRAb-negative conversion (nGD) patients. Resistin concentration exhibited a
      negative correlation with FT3 and FT4, but a positive correlation with absolute
      number of neutrophiles in uGD patients, whereas did not correlate with thyroid
      autoimmune antibodies and BMI. Neutrophile cell line, NB4, produced decreased
      expression of resistin when stimulated with T3. Our study showed a decrease of
      serum resistin level in GD patients and we suggested that the serum resistin
      might primarily secreted from circulating neutrophils and down-regulated by
      excessive thyroid hormones in GD patients.

PMID- 27637080
TI  - SASH1 mediates sensitivity of breast cancer cells to chloropyramine and is
      associated with prognosis in breast cancer.
AB  - Expression of the SASH1 protein is reduced in a range of human cancers and has
      been implicated in apoptotic cancer cell death. This study investigated whether
      increasing SASH1 expression could be a useful therapeutic strategy in breast
      cancer. Ectopic SASH1 expression increased apoptosis in 7/8 breast cancer cell
      lines. Subsequent in silico connectivity screening demonstrated that the
      clinically approved antihistamine drug, chloropyramine, increased SASH1 mRNA
      levels. Chloropyramine has previously been shown to have anti-tumour activity in
      breast cancer in part through modulation of FAK signalling, a pathway also
      regulated by SASH1. This study demonstrated that chloropyramine increased SASH1
      protein levels in breast cancer cells. Consistent with this the agent reduced
      cell confluency in 7/8 cell lines treated irrespective of their ER status but not
      apoptosis incompetent MCF7 cells. In contrast SASH1 siRNA-transfected breast
      cancer cells exhibited reduced chloropyramine sensitivity. The prognostic
      significance of SASH1 expression was also investigated in two breast cancer
      cohorts. Expression was associated with favourable outcome in ER-positive cases,
      but only those of low histological grade/proliferative status. Conversely, we
      found a very strong inverse association in HER2+ disease irrespective of ER
      status, and in triple-negative, basal-like cases. Overall, the data suggest that
      SASH1 is prognostic in breast cancer and could have subtype-dependent effects on
      breast cancer progression. Pharmacologic induction of SASH1 by chloropyramine
      treatment of breast cancer warrants further preclinical and clinical
      investigation.

PMID- 27637081
TI  - No association between telomere length-related loci and number of cutaneous nevi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Longer telomeres have been associated both with increased melanoma
      risk and increased nevus counts. Nevus count is one of the strongest risk factors
      for melanoma. Recent data showed that a genetic score derived by telomere length
      related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was strongly associated with
      melanoma risk; however, the relationships between these SNPs and number of
      cutaneous nevi have not been investigated. METHODS: We evaluated the associations
      between telomere length-related SNPs reported by previous genome-wide association
      study (GWAS) and nevus counts among 15,955 participants of European Ancestry in
      the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. RESULTS: None
      of the SNPs was associated with nevus counts, nor was the genetic score combining
      the dosage of alleles related to increased telomere length. CONCLUSIONS: The
      telomere length-related SNPs identified by published GWAS do not appear to play
      an important role in nevus formation. Genetic determinants of telomere length
      reported by GWAS do not explain the observed epidemiologic association between
      telomere length and nevus counts.

PMID- 27637082
TI  - Prognostic role and correlation of CA9, CD31, CD68 and CD20 with the desmoplastic
      stroma in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - We assessed the prognostic value of hypoxia (carbonic anhydrase 9; CA9), vessel
      density (CD31), with macrophages (CD68) and B cells (CD20) that can interact and
      lead to immune suppression and disease progression using scanning and
      histological mapping of whole-mount FFPE pancreatectomy tissue sections from 141
      primarily resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) samples treated with
      surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Their expression was correlated with
      clinicopathological characteristics, and overall survival (OS), progression-free
      survival (PFS), local progression-free survival (LPFS) and distant metastases
      free-survival (DMFS), also in the context of stroma density (haematoxylin-eosin)
      and activity (alpha-smooth muscle actin). The median OS was 21 months after a
      mean follow-up of 20 months (range, 2-69 months). The median tumor surface area
      positive for CA9 and CD31 was 7.8% and 8.1%, respectively. Although total
      expression of these markers lacked prognostic value in the entire cohort,
      nevertheless, high tumor compartment CD68 expression correlated with worse PFS (p
      = 0.033) and DMFS (p = 0.047). Also, high CD31 expression predicted for worse OS
      (p = 0.004), PFS (p = 0.008), LPFS (p = 0.014) and DMFS (p = 0.004) in patients
      with moderate density stroma. High stromal and peripheral compartment CD68
      expression predicted for significantly worse outcome in patients with loose and
      moderate stroma density, respectively. Altogether, in contrast to the current
      notion, hypoxia levels in PDAC appear to be comparable to other malignancies.
      CD31 and CD68 constitute prognostic markers in patient subgroups that vary
      according to tumor compartment and stromal density. Our study provides important
      insight on the pathophysiology of PDAC and should be exploited for future
      treatments.

PMID- 27637083
TI  - Long non-coding RNA CRNDE promotes gallbladder carcinoma carcinogenesis and as a
      scaffold of DMBT1 and C-IAP1 complexes to activating PI3K-AKT pathway.
AB  - Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) is deleted during cancer progression
      and as a potential tumor-suppressor gene in various types of cancer. However, its
      role in Gallbladder cancer remains poorly understood. DMBT1 has low-expression
      and deletion of copy number were detected in normal tissues and GBC cancer
      tissues by qRT-PCR. Knockdown of DMBT1 increased migration and invasion and
      overexpressed DMBT1 impaired migration and invasion in GBC cells. We also
      evaluated the molecular mechanism of DMBT1 by RNA sequencing and GSEA analysis.
      RNA-Pulldown and RIP assay authenticated CRNDE can specified binding with DMBT1
      and c-IAP1. Downregulation of DMBT1 resulted in significant change of gene
      expression (at least 2-fold) in PI3K-AKT pathway, increased expression of MMP-9,
      JUK-1, ERK and AKT, activating PI3K-AKT pathway lead to GBC carcinogenesis.We for
      the first time reported, DMBT1 as a prognosis biomarker, is low-expressed in GBC
      tumors, and CRNDE act as a scaffold to recruit the DMBT1 and c-IAP1, promotes the
      PI3K-AKT pathway. Our study reveals DMBT1 may be an important contributor to GBC
      cancer development.

PMID- 27637084
TI  - The prognostic value of the myeloid-mediated immunosuppression marker Arginase-1
      in classic Hodgkin lymphoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Neutrophilia is hallmark of classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL), but its
      precise characterization remains elusive. We aimed at investigating the
      immunosuppressive role of high-density neutrophils in HL. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN:
      First, N-HL function was evaluated in vitro, showing increased arginase (Arg-1)
      expression and activity compared to healthy subjects. Second, we measured serum
      level of Arg-1 (s-Arg-1) by ELISA in two independent, training (N = 40) and
      validation (N = 78) sets. RESULTS: s-Arg-1 was higher in patients with advanced
      stage (p = 0.045), B-symptoms (p = 0.0048) and a positive FDG-PET scan after two
      cycles of chemotherapy (PET-2, p = 0.012). Baseline levels of s-Arg-1 > 200 ng/mL
      resulted in 92% sensitivity and 56% specificity to predict a positive PET
      2.Patients showing s-Arg-1 levels > 200 ng/mL had a shorter progression free
      survival (PFS). In multivariate analysis, PET-2 and s-Arg-1 at diagnosis were the
      only statistically significant prognostic variables related to PFS (respectively
      p = 0.0004 and p = 0.012).Moving from PET-2 status and s-Arg-1 level we
      constructed a prognostic score to predict long-term treatment outcome: low s-Arg
      1 and negative PET-2 scan (score 0, N = 63), with a 3-Y PFS of 89.5%; either
      positive PET-2 or high s-Arg-1 (score 1, N = 46) with 3-Y PFS of 67.6%, and both
      positive markers (score 2, N = 9) with a 3-Y PFS of 37% (p = 0.0004).
      CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that N-HL are immunosuppressive through increased Arg-1
      expression, a novel potential biomarker for HL prognosis.

PMID- 27637086
TI  - A single-nucleotide polymorphism in MMP9 is associated with decreased risk of
      steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head.
AB  - Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common hip joint disease, and
      steroid-induced ONFH accounts for a large number of cases. Here, we examined
      eight previously-identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MPP2
      and MPP9 genes of 285 steroid-induced ONFH patients and 507 healthy controls from
      northern China to determine whether these SNPs were associated with the risk of
      developing steroid-induced ONFH. Chi-squared tests and genetic model and
      haplotype analyses were used to evaluate associations. The rs2274755 SNP in MMP9
      was associated with a decreased risk of steroid-induced ONFH in the allele,
      dominant, and additive models. Additionally, the "CGC" MMP9 haplotype was
      associated with a 0.69-fold decrease in the risk of steroid-induced ONFH.
      Although additional, larger population-based studies are needed to confirm these
      findings, our results reveal for the first time an association between a MMP9 SNP
      at the rs2274755 locus and a decreased risk of steroid-induced ONFH in a northern
      Chinese population.

PMID- 27637085
TI  - Dual oxidase 2 and pancreatic adenocarcinoma: IFN-gamma-mediated dual oxidase 2
      overexpression results in H2O2-induced, ERK-associated up-regulation of HIF
      1alpha and VEGF-A.
AB  - Several NADPH oxidase family members, including dual oxidase 2 [DUOX2], are
      expressed in human tumors, particularly gastrointestinal cancers associated with
      long-standing chronic inflammation. We found previously that exposure of
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells to the pro-inflammatory cytokine IFN-gamma
      increased DUOX2 expression (but not other NADPH oxidases) leading to long-lived
      H2O2 production. To elucidate the pathophysiology of DUOX2-mediated H2O2
      formation in the pancreas further, we demonstrate here that IFN-gamma-treated
      BxPC-3 and CFPAC-1 pancreatic cancer cells (known to increase DUOX2 expression)
      produce significant levels of intracellular oxidants and extracellular H2O2 which
      correlate with concomitant up-regulation of VEGF-A and HIF-1alpha transcription.
      These changes are not observed in the PANC-1 line that does not increase DUOX2
      expression following IFN-gamma treatment. DUOX2 knockdown with short interfering
      RNA significantly decreased IFN-gamma-induced VEGF-A or HIF-1alpha up-regulation,
      as did treatment of pancreatic cancer cells with the NADPH oxidase inhibitor
      diphenylene iodonium, the multifunctional reduced thiol N-acetylcysteine, and the
      polyethylene glycol-modified form of the hydrogen peroxide detoxifying enzyme
      catalase. Increased DUOX2-related VEGF-A expression appears to result from
      reactive oxygen-mediated activation of ERK signaling that is responsible for AP-1
      related transcriptional effects on the VEGF-A promoter. To clarify the relevance
      of these observations in vivo, we demonstrate that many human pre-malignant
      pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms and frank pancreatic cancers express
      substantial levels of DUOX protein compared to histologically normal pancreatic
      tissues, and that expression of both DUOX2 and VEGF-A mRNAs is significantly
      increased in surgically-resected pancreatic cancers compared to the adjacent
      normal pancreas.

PMID- 27637087
TI  - Comparison of outcomes of tyrosine kinase inhibitor in first- or second-line
      therapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients with sensitive EGFR
      mutations.
AB  - Direct comparisons between the use of first- and second-line EGFR tyrosine kinase
      inhibitor (TKI) in patients with sensitive EGFR mutations are limited. A total of
      264 advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with sensitive mutations
      received EGFR TKI therapy as the first-line therapy, and a total of 187 patients
      received TKI as the second-line therapy at Shanghai Chest Hospital. First-line
      EGFR TKI therapy [12.9 months, 95% confidence interval (CI), 10.7-15.2] provided
      longer progression-free survival (PFS) than did second-line EGFR TKI therapy (9.0
      months, 95% CI, 7.7-10.2) [hazard ratio (HR): 0.78, P = 0.034]. The objective
      response rate (ORR) of first-, and second-line TKI therapy were 67.8% (159/233)
      and 55.6% (94/169), respectively (P = 0.001). The overall survival (OS) for
      patients (n = 141) receiving first-line TKI followed by second-line chemotherapy
      were longer than those for patients (n = 187) receiving first-line chemotherapy
      followed by second-line TKI (HR: 0.69, P = 0.02).Compared with second-line TKI,
      first-line therapy achieved a significant and longer PFS, and higher ORR in the
      sensitive EGFR mutated NSCLC patients. The therapeutic strategy of using TKI
      followed by chemotherapy achieved longer OS than that using chemotherapy followed
      by TKI.

PMID- 27637090
TI  - Short and long-term effects of gait retraining using real-time biofeedback to
      reduce knee hyperextension pattern in young women.
AB  - The use of real-time biofeedback has been shown to enable individuals to make
      changes to their gait patterns. It remains unknown whether the short-term
      improvements reported in previous studies are retained in the longer term. In
      this study, the paradigm used to investigate the short and long-term effects of
      real-time biofeedback was modifying knee range of motion during gait to prevent
      knee hyperextension in women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the
      short-term (1-month follow up) and long-term (8-month follow up) effects of a
      gait retraining program using real-time biofeedback to correct knee
      hyperextension in young women. Seventeen healthy women, ages 18-35 years, with
      asymptomatic knee hyperextension underwent a three-week (6 sessions) treadmill
      gait retraining program. Real-time feedback of kinematic data (Visual 3D) was
      provided during treadmill training. Knee extension range of motion was monitored
      during overground gait evaluations and training sessions. Gait evaluations were
      performed pretraining, posttraining (2days after), and 1-month, and 8-month after
      the last training session. This study showed significant reduction in knee
      hyperextension patterns immediately following training (mean+/-SD, 10.9 degrees
      +/-4 degrees ), and at 1-month (7.5 degrees +/-5 degrees ) and 8-month (6.3
      degrees +/-3.5 degrees ) follow ups. There was an increase in knee extension
      between posttraining and 1-month follow up (3.4 degrees +/-5 degrees ). Reduction
      in knee hyperextension range of motion was retained at 8-month follow up
      evaluation. The present study shows the effects of real-time biofeedback in
      facilitating the acquisition and retention of proficiency in reducing knee
      hyperextension gait patterns, documenting that the retention is sustained for up
      to 8 months.

PMID- 27637088
TI  - Evolution of malignant plasmacytoma cell lines from K14E7 Fancd2-/- mouse long
      term bone marrow cultures.
AB  - We tested the effect of expression of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV E7) oncogene
      on hematopoiesis in long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMCs) derived from K14E7
      (FVB) Fancd2-/- (129/Sv), K14E7 Fancd2+/+, Fancd2-/-, and control (FVB X 129/Sv)
      Fl mice. K14E7 Fancd2-/- and Fancd2-/- LTBMCs showed decreased duration of
      production of total nonadherent hematopoietic cells and progenitors forming day 7
      and day 14 multilineage CFU-GEMM colonies in secondary cultures (7 wks and 8 wks
      respectively) compared to cultures from K14E7 Fancd2+/+ (17 wks) or control mice
      (18 wks) p < 0.0001. Marrow stromal cell lines derived from both K14E7 Fancd2-/-
      and Fancd2-/- cultures were radiosensitive, as were IL-3 dependent hematopoietic
      progenitor cell lines derived from K14E7 Fancd2-/- cultures. In contrast, Fancd2
      /- mouse hematopoietic progenitor cell lines and fresh marrow were
      radioresistant. K14E7 Fancd2-/- mouse freshly explanted bone marrow expressed no
      detectable K14 or E7; however, LTBMCs produced K14 positive factor-independent
      (FI) clonal malignant plasmacytoma forming cell lines in which E7 was detected in
      the nucleus with p53 and Rb. Transfection of an E6/E7 plasmid into Fancd2-/-, but
      not control Fancd2+/+ IL-3 dependent hematopoietic progenitor cell lines,
      increased cloning efficiency, cell growth, and induced malignant cell lines.
      Therefore, the altered radiobiology of hematopoietic progenitor cells and
      malignant transformation in vitro by K14E7 expression in cells of the Fancd2-/-
      genotype suggests a potential role of HPV in hematopoietic malignancies in FA
      patients.

PMID- 27637089
TI  - Research on neighborhood effects on health in the United States: A systematic
      review of study characteristics.
AB  - Neighborhood effects on health research has grown over the past 20 years. While
      the substantive findings of this literature have been published in systematic
      reviews, meta-analyses, and commentaries, operational details of the research
      have been understudied. We identified 7140 multi-level neighborhoods and health
      papers published on US populations between 1995 and 2014, and present data on the
      study characteristics of the 256 papers that met our inclusion criteria. Our
      results reveal rapid growth in neighborhoods and health research in the mid
      2000s, illustrate the dominance of observational cross-sectional study designs,
      and show a heavy reliance on single-level, census-based neighborhood definitions.
      Socioeconomic indicators were the most commonly analyzed neighborhood variables
      and body mass was the most commonly studied health outcome. Well-known challenges
      associated with neighborhood effects research were infrequently acknowledged. We
      discuss how these results move the agenda forward for neighborhoods and health
      research.

PMID- 27637091
TI  - Do fitness and fatigue affect gait biomechanics in overweight and obese children?
AB  - : The purpose of this study was to determine how an overweight or obese child's
      cardiorespiratory fitness level and a state of fatigue affect gait biomechanics.
      METHODS: Using a three-dimensional motion analysis system, twenty-nine (female
      and male) overweight and obese children aged 8-11 years walked on force plates
      before and after being fatigued from the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular
      Endurance Run (PACER) protocol. Joint moments were calculated for the knee and
      hip in the frontal and sagittal planes. RESULTS: In a non-fatigued state, peak
      hip and knee adductor moments showed a negative relationship with
      cardiorespiratory fitness level (R2=0.26, 0.26). After the subjects were
      fatigued, peak hip extensor (p=0.02), peak knee extensor moments (p=0.02) and
      peak knee adductor moments (p=0.01) showed a significant increase. CONCLUSION:
      This trend illustrates that as an overweight or obese individual's fitness
      improves, the lower limb joint moments in the frontal plane decrease when
      walking. However, with the introduction of cardiorespiratory fatigue, lower limb
      joint moments tend to increase in the frontal and sagittal planes. Increased
      joint stress may have potential implications for obese children performing
      physical activity, as well as for clinicians who are attempting to intervene in
      the cycle of obesity.

PMID- 27637092
TI  - Thermal-mechanical-chemical responses of polymer-bonded explosives using a
      mesoscopic reactive model under impact loading.
AB  - A mesoscopic framework is developed to quantify the thermal-mechanical-chemical
      responses of polymer-bonded explosive (PBX) samples under impact loading. A
      mesoscopic reactive model is developed for the cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine
      (HMX) crystal, which incorporates nonlinear elasticity, crystal plasticity, and
      temperature-dependent chemical reaction. The proposed model was implemented in
      the finite element code ABAQUS by the user subroutine VUMAT. A series of three
      dimensional mesoscale models were constructed and calculated under low-strength
      impact loading scenarios from 100m/s to 600m/s where only the first wave transit
      is studied. Crystal anisotropy and microstructural heterogeneity are responsible
      for the nonuniform stress field and fluctuations of the stress wave front. At a
      critical impact velocity (>=300m/s), a chemical reaction is triggered because the
      temperature contributed by the volumetric and plastic works is sufficiently high.
      Physical quantities, including stress, temperature, and extent of reaction, are
      homogenized from those across the microstructure at the mesoscale to compare with
      macroscale measurements, which will advance the continuum-level models. The
      framework presented in this study has important implications in understanding hot
      spot ignition processes and improving predictive capabilities in energetic
      materials.

PMID- 27637094
TI  - Immobilization potential of Cr(VI) in sodium hydroxide activated slag pastes.
AB  - This study investigated the immobilization potential of alkali-activated slag
      (AAS) pastes for Cr(VI) by examining compressive strength, toxicity
      characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and generalized acid neutralization
      capacity tests. Alkaline digestion, total acid digestion, XRD, FTIR and SEM-EDS
      were carried out to clarify the immobilization mechanism. The AAS pastes gave
      high compressive strengths, which contributed to the physical encapsulation of
      Cr. The addition of Cr(VI) induced an increase in compressive strength compared
      to Cr(VI)-free pastes. The leaching results showed that AAS pastes exhibited
      effective immobilization for Cr(VI) and that the leachability was strongly
      dependent on the NaOH dosage, water to slag ratio, initial Cr(VI) content,
      leachate pH and curing duration. The initial Cr(VI) content up to 1.5wt% by
      weight of slag was well immobilized with the total-Cr leachability below the TCLP
      regulatory limit of 5mg/L. The digestion results demonstrated that the reduction
      of chromium from hexavalent to trivalent played a significant role in the
      immobilization of Cr(VI) in AAS without any additional reductants. The XRD and
      SEM-EDS results suggested the formation of a clear CrO4-U phase as the primary
      retention phase for unreduced Cr(VI). Therefore, alkali-activated slag binder is
      effective in the immobilization of Cr(VI)-bearing wastes.

PMID- 27637095
TI  - Enhanced removal of EDTA-chelated Cu(II) by polymeric anion-exchanger supported
      nanoscale zero-valent iron.
AB  - In this study, a polymeric anion exchanger (D201) was utilized as the support for
      nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI), and the resultant nanocomposite (D201-ZVI) was
      employed to remove EDTA-chelated Cu(II) from water. The removal of EDTA-chelated
      Cu(II) was significantly enhanced by D201-ZVI in comparison with NZVI over a wide
      pH range from 5 to 9. Most of the removed Cu (97.2%) was immobilized inside the
      D201-ZVI beads, implying the enhanced permeation of CuEDTA2- by the fixated
      quaternary ammonium groups of the host D201. HPLC analysis revealed that the EDTA
      chelated Cu(II) was gradually replaced by Fe(III) originated from Fe0 oxidation.
      Then, the released Cu(II) was in situ removed via adsorption/precipitation, or
      further reduced into Cu0, as quantified by XPS spectra. The higher removal of
      EDTA-chelated Cu(II) by D201-ZVI than NZVI was mainly ascribed to the enhanced
      permeation of the host D201 as well as to the better dispersion and higher
      reactivity of the confined ZVI nanoparticles. Through the combination of periodic
      regeneration and complete regeneration, D201-ZVI could be sustainably employed
      for EDTA-chelated Cu(II) removal. Also, D201-ZVI exhibited great potential for
      practical application in the fixed-bed column operation. Therefore, the D201-ZVI
      nanocomposite was promising in highly efficient removal of EDTA-chelated Cu(II)
      from water.

PMID- 27637096
TI  - Catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol using gold nanoparticles biosynthesized by
      cell-free extracts of Aspergillus sp. WL-Au.
AB  - A facile one-pot eco-friendly process for synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)
      with high catalytic activity was achieved using cell-free extracts of Aspergillus
      sp. WL-Au as reducing, capping and stabilizing agents. The surface plasmon
      resonance band of UV-vis spectrum at 532nm confirmed the presence of AuNPs.
      Transmission electron microscopy images showed that quite uniform spherical AuNPs
      were synthesized and the average size of nanoparticles increased from 4nm to 29nm
      with reaction time. X-ray diffraction analysis verified the formation of nano
      crystalline gold particles. Fourier transform infrared spectra showed the
      presence of functional groups on the surface of biosynthesized AuNPs, such as OH,
      NH, CO, CH, COH and COC groups, which increased the stability of AuNPs. The
      biogenic AuNPs could serve as a highly efficient catalyst for 4-nitrophenol
      reduction. The reaction rate constant was linearly correlated with the
      concentration of AuNPs, which increased from 0.59min-1 to 1.51min-1 with the
      amount of AuNPs increasing form 1.46*10-6 to 17.47*10-6mmol. Moreover, the as
      synthesized AuNPs exhibited a remarkable normalized catalytic activity
      (4.04*105min-1mol-1), which was much higher than that observed for AuNPs
      synthesized by other biological and conventional chemical methods.

PMID- 27637093
TI  - Detoxification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Arabidopsis thaliana
      involves a putative flavonol synthase.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental contaminants with
      cytotoxic, teratogenic and carcinogenic properties. Bioremediation studies with
      bacteria have led to the identification of dioxygenases (DOXs) in the first step
      to degrade these recalcitrant compounds. In this study, we characterized the role
      of the Arabidopsis thaliana AT5G05600, a putative DOX of the flavonol synthase
      family, in the transformation of PAHs. Phenotypic analysis of loss-of-function
      mutant lines showed that these plant lines were less sensitive to the toxic
      effects of phenanthrene, suggesting possible roles of this gene in PAH
      degradation in vivo. Interestingly, these mutant lines showed less accumulation
      of H2O2 after PAH exposure. Transgenic lines over-expressing At5g05600 showed a
      hypersensitive response and more oxidative stress after phenanthrene treatments.
      Moreover, fluorescence spectra results of biochemical assays with the recombinant
      His-tagged protein AT5G05600 detected chemical modifications of phenanthrene.
      Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that AT5G05600 is involved
      in the catabolism of PAHs and the accumulation of toxic intermediates during PAH
      biotransformation in plants. This research represents the first step in the
      design of transgenic plants with the potential to degrade PAHs, leading to the
      development of vigorous plant varieties that can reduce the levels of these
      pollutants in the environment.

PMID- 27637097
TI  - Replacing the PDZ-interacting C-termini of DSCAM and DSCAML1 with epitope tags
      causes different phenotypic severity in different cell populations.
AB  - Different types of neurons in the retina are organized vertically into layers and
      horizontally in a mosaic pattern that helps ensure proper neural network
      formation and information processing throughout the visual field. The vertebrate
      Dscams (DSCAM and DSCAML1) are cell adhesion molecules that support the
      development of this organization by promoting self-avoidance at the level of cell
      types, promoting normal developmental cell death, and directing vertical neurite
      stratification. To understand the molecular interactions required for these
      activities, we tested the functional significance of the interaction between the
      C-terminus of the Dscams and multi-PDZ domain-containing scaffolding proteins in
      mouse. We hypothesized that this PDZ-interacting domain would mediate a subset of
      the Dscams' functions. Instead, we found that in the absence of these
      interactions, some cell types developed almost normally, while others resembled
      complete loss of function. Thus, we show differential dependence on this domain
      for Dscams' functions in different cell types.

PMID- 27637098
TI  - Antidepressant use during pregnancy and risk of postpartum hemorrhage: A
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Evidence about relationship between antidepressant use during pregnancy and the
      risk of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is conflicting. The aim of this meta-analysis
      was to systematically assess this relationship. To identify relevant studies, we
      conducted systematic searches in PubMed and Embase of articles published through
      May 2016. Random-effects models were adopted to estimate overall relative risk.
      In total, eight studies involving more than 40,000 PPH cases were included in our
      meta-analysis. After pooling the estimates, the odds for developing PPH were 1.32
      fold higher (risk ratio, RR = 1.32; 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.17-1.48) in
      antidepressant users compared with individuals who had not taken antidepressants.
      In subgroup analyses, the associations still exist for women with exposure to non
      SRI (RR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.1-1.56), SRIs (RR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.06-1.44), SSRIs
      (RR = 1.2, 95% CI = 1.04-1.38), and SNRIs (RR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.41-1.85). Based
      on exposure window, we found an increased risk of PPH among current (RR = 1.37,
      95% CI = 1.09-1.71) and recent users (RR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.15-1.51), but not
      past users (RR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.88-1.31). The findings of this meta-analysis
      support an increased risk of PPH in women exposure to antidepressant during late
      gestation.

PMID- 27637099
TI  - LBD1 of Vitellogenin Receptor Specifically Binds to the Female-Specific Storage
      Protein SP1 via LBR1 and LBR3.
AB  - Storage proteins are the major protein synthesized in the fat body, released into
      hemolymph and re-sequestered into the fat body before pupation in most insect
      species. Storage proteins are important amino acid and nutrition resources during
      the non-feeding pupal period and play essential roles for the metamorphosis and
      oogenesis of insects. The sequestration of storage protein is a selective,
      specific receptor-mediated process. However, to date, the potential receptor
      mediating the sequestration of storage protein has not been determined in Bombyx
      mori. In this study, we expressed and purified the first ligand binding domain of
      Bombyx mori vitellogenin receptor (BmVgR), LBD1, and found LBD1 could bind with
      an unknown protein from the hemolymph of the ultimate silkworm larval instar via
      pull-down assay. This unknown protein was subsequently identified to be the
      female-specific storage protein SP1 by mass spectrometry. Furthermore, far
      western blotting assay, immunoprecipitation and isothermal titration calorimetry
      analysis demonstrated LBD1 specifically bound with the female-specific SP1,
      rather than another unisex storage protein SP2. The specific binding of LBD1 with
      SP1 was dependent on the presence of Ca2+ as it was essential for the proper
      conformation of LBD1. Deletion mutagenesis and ITC analysis revealed the first
      and third ligand binding repeats LBR1 and LBR3 were indispensable for the binding
      of LBD1 with SP1, and LBR2 and LBR4 also had a certain contribution to the
      specific binding. Our results implied BmVgR may mediate the sequestration of SP1
      from hemolymph into the fat body during the larval-pupal transformation of Bombyx
      mori. 

PMID- 27637101
TI  - The importance of early detection and diversion of mental ill offenders to avoid
      prison sentences.

PMID- 27637100
TI  - Prognostic Value of Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) in Human Solid Carcinomas: A Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, the number of reports on focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as a
      vital therapeutic target in solid carcinomas has increased; however, the
      prognostic role of FAK status remains poorly understood. This study aims to
      evaluate the prognostic effect of FAK by means of a meta-analysis. METHODS: We
      performed a systematic literature search in order to examine the correlation
      between expression of FAK and overall survival(OS). The hazard ratio (HR) of OS
      was used to measure survival. A random-effects model was used to pool study
      statistics. Sensitivity and publication bias analyses were also conducted.
      RESULTS: Thirty eligible studies involving 4702 patients were included. The
      median expression rate of FAK was 54%. Meta-analysis of the HRs demonstrated that
      high FAK expression was associated with worse OS (average HR = 2.073,
      95%confidence interval[CI]:1.712-2.510, p = 0.000). Regarding cancer type, FAK
      was associated with worse OS in gastric cancer (HR = 2.646,95% CI:1.743-4.017, p
      = 0.000), hepatocellular carcinoma (HR = 1.788,95% CI:1.228-2.602, p = 0.002),
      ovarian cancer (HR = 1.815, 95% CI: 1.193-2.762, p = 0.005), endometrial cancer
      (HR = 4.149, 95% CI:2.832-6.079, p = 0.000), gliomas (HR = 2.650, 95% CI: 1.205
      5.829, p = 0.015), and squamous cell carcinoma (HR = 1,696, 95% CI: 1.030-2.793,
      p = 0.038). No association was found between HR and disease staging according to
      our meta-regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that high expression
      of FAK is associated with a worse OS in patients with carcinomas, but the
      association between FAK and prognosis varies according to cancer type. The value
      of FAK status in clinical prognosis in cancer needs further research.

PMID- 27637102
TI  - Study of depressive symptoms according to Zung's self-rating scale on men
      deprived of freedom in a city of Colombia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess depressive symptoms in men deprived from freedom in a prison
      in a Colombian intermediate city. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross sectional study
      was performed on a sample of three hundred and three patients in the Medium
      Security penitentiary and Prison Facility of the city of Manizales between April
      and May 2014. The information was collected through the Zung self-rating
      depression scale (SDS), subsequently there were established the positive results
      for depression screening according to the final score of the scale. RESULTS: 303
      men deprived from freedom were evaluated, mean age of 32.96 years +/- 10.8 years,
      43.5% were living in cohabitation, 38% were single and 10.2% married; 33.7% had a
      primary education, 58% had secondary or incomplete secondary education, 5.6%
      reported higher studies; 38.6% (95% CI: 35.8; 41.4) reported symptoms of
      depression, predominating in ages between 18 to 44 years, no statistically
      significant differences p> 0.05 between the variables analyzed were found.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study give rise to clinical evaluation, by
      specialized staff in the area of psychiatry and his intervention, given the
      characteristics of self-reported depression for this population.

PMID- 27637103
TI  - Psychosocial stressors perceived in the process of social reintegration and
      compliance time remaining in prison sentence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study shows the results obtained from evaluating the main
      psychosocial stressors perceived in the process of social reintegration and their
      relation to a remaining sentence time in prison. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      questionnaire based on an ad hoc design was administered, using a Likert scale,
      with a total of 383 inmates serving sentences in southeast Spain. RESULTS:
      Findings show that inmates with a remaining sentence period of more than one
      year, like those who had served more than a year of their sentence, showed
      greater concern about possible economic difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The
      psychosocial stressors studied might provide relevant information to facilitate
      the process of social reintegration after the completion of a prison sentence.

PMID- 27637104
TI  - Persistent infectious and tropical diseases in immigrant correctional
      populations.
AB  - A number of infectious diseases amongst travelers and the immigrant populations
      are a major public health concern. Some have a long incubation period or remain
      asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic for many years before leading to significant
      clinical manifestations and/or complications. HIV, hepatitis B and C,
      tuberculosis or latent syphilis are among the most significant persistent
      diseases in migrants. Schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis, for instance, are
      persistent helminthic infections that may cause significant morbidity,
      particularly in patients co-infected with HIV, hepatitis B and C. Chagas disease,
      which was initially confined to Latin America, must also now be considered in
      immigrants from endemic countries. Visceral leishmaniasis and malaria are other
      examples of parasitic diseases that must be taken into account by physicians
      treating incarcerated migrants. The focus of this review article is on the risk
      of neglected tropical diseases in particularly vulnerable correctional
      populations and on the risk of infectious diseases that commonly affect migrants
      but which are often underestimated. 

PMID- 27637105
TI  - Regarding the article: Mental disorder prevalence and associated risk factors in
      three prisons of Spain.

PMID- 27637106
TI  - Carpometacarpal dislocations: presentation of two clinical cases.

PMID- 27637107
TI  - Grip Strength Decline and Its Determinants in the Very Old: Longitudinal Findings
      from the Newcastle 85+ Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weak grip strength (GS) is a key component of sarcopenia and frailty
      and a powerful predictor of mortality, morbidity and disability. Despite
      increasing interest in understanding GS across the lifespan, little is known
      about GS decline in the very old (aged >=85). We examined trajectories of GS in
      very old adults and identified the determinants. METHODS: GS (kg) was measured
      four times over 5 years in 319 men and 526 women participating in the Newcastle
      85+ Study. A weak GS sub-cohort was identified as having strength of <=27 kg
      (men), and <=16 kg (women) at baseline and follow-up. Mixed models were used to
      establish trajectories of GS and associated factors in all participants, men and
      women, and in those with weak GS. RESULTS: Men's mean grip strength was 24.42 (SD
      = 6.77) kg, and women's 13.23 (4.42) kg (p<0.001) at baseline, with mean absolute
      change of -5.27 (4.90) kg and -3.14 (3.41), respectively (p<0.001) by 5-year
      follow-up. In the time-only mixed model, men experienced linear annual decline in
      GS of -1.13 (0.8) kg (beta (SE), p<0.001), whilst women's decline although
      slower, accelerated by -0.06 (0.02) kg (p = 0.01) over time. In the saturated
      model, higher baseline physical activity, height, fat-free mass, better self
      rated health, and not having arthritis in hand(s) were associated with stronger
      GS initially in both sexes. Annual GS decline in men and participants with weak
      GS who were highly physically active was slower by 0.95 and 0.52 kg, respectively
      compared with inactive counterparts. CONCLUSION: Grip strength decline in the
      very old followed linear (men) and curvilinear (women) trends. High levels of
      physical activity were protective of GS loss in men (but not in women) and in
      those with weak GS. Thus maintaining muscle strength in later life is important
      to reduce the morbidity and mortality in the very old.

PMID- 27637110
TI  - Handling Those Pesky Statistical Outliers.

PMID- 27637108
TI  - The NEAT Domain-Containing Proteins of Clostridium perfringens Bind Heme.
AB  - The ability of a pathogenic bacterium to scavenge iron from its host is important
      for its growth and survival during an infection. Our studies on C. perfringens
      gas gangrene strain JIR325, a derivative of strain 13, showed that it is capable
      of utilizing both human hemoglobin and ferric chloride, but not human holo
      transferrin, as an iron source for in vitro growth. Analysis of the C.
      perfringens strain 13 genome sequence identified a putative heme acquisition
      system encoded by an iron-regulated surface gene region that we have named the
      Cht (Clostridium perfringens heme transport) locus. This locus comprises eight
      genes that are co-transcribed and includes genes that encode NEAT domain
      containing proteins (ChtD and ChtE) and a putative sortase (Srt). The ChtD, ChtE
      and Srt proteins were shown to be expressed in JIR325 cells grown under iron
      limited conditions and were localized to the cell envelope. Moreover, the NEAT
      proteins, ChtD and ChtE, were found to bind heme. Both chtDE and srt mutants were
      constructed, but these mutants were not defective in hemoglobin or ferric
      chloride utilization. They were, however, attenuated for virulence when tested in
      a mouse myonecrosis model, although the virulence phenotype could not be restored
      via complementation and, as is common with such systems, secondary mutations were
      identified in these strains. In summary, this study provides evidence for the
      functional redundancies that occur in the heme transport pathways of this life
      threatening pathogen. 

PMID- 27637111
TI  - Effect of Stimulative and Sedative Music Videos on Depressive Symptoms and
      Physiological Relaxation in Older Adults: A Pilot Study.
AB  - Music has been found to improve depressive symptoms and relaxation. However, few
      studies related to this issue have been conducted using music videos (MVs). The
      aim was to compare the effects of stimulative and sedative MVs on depressive
      symptoms and physiological relaxation (i.e., electromyography, heart rate
      variability, and skin conductance) in older adults with depressive symptoms.
      Using a 2-week crossover design, interventions alternated between watching a
      stimulative and sedative MV and vice versa. Each intervention lasted for 30
      minutes on 1 day during the first week, and was then alternated to another
      intervention for 1 day during the following week. Stimulative MVs were more
      effective in treating depressive symptoms than sedative MVs. Stimulative and
      sedative MVs had beneficial effects on depressive symptoms and physiological
      relaxation compared with baseline data. These findings add new knowledge to the
      literature for health care providers to improve psychophysiological health in
      older adults with depressive symptoms. [Res Gerontol Nurs. 2016; 9(5):233-242.].

PMID- 27637112
TI  - Screening for Frailty in Hospitalized Older Adults: Reliability and Feasibility
      of the Maastricht Frailty Screening Tool for Hospitalized Patients (MFST-HP).
AB  - As nurses in hospitals are confronted with increasing numbers of older patients,
      their geriatric nursing skills and knowledge must be integrated into daily
      clinical practice. Early risk identification via screening tools may help improve
      geriatric care. To reduce the assessment burden of nurses, the Maastricht Frailty
      Screening Tool for Hospitalized Patients (MFST-HP) was developed. The aim of the
      current study was to explore aspects of reliability, validity, and feasibility of
      the MFST-HP. Intrarater reliability was assessed by measuring patients two times
      within 24 hours. Interrater reliability was assessed by having patients screened
      by two different nurses. Construct validity was studied by the associations
      between the MFST-HP scores and age and comorbidities. Intraclass correlation
      coefficients for both intra- and interrater reliability were good (>0.93). Older
      patients and those with more comorbidity showed higher scores on the MFST-HP
      compared to younger patients and those with less comorbidity. The MFST-HP shows
      promise as a reliable, valid, and feasible screening tool for frailty among
      hospitalized older adults. [Res Gerontol Nurs. 2016; 9(5):243-251.].

PMID- 27637109
TI  - A Systematic Investigation of Accuracy and Response Time Based Measures Used to
      Index ANS Acuity.
AB  - The approximate number system (ANS) was proposed to be a building block for later
      mathematical abilities. Several measures have been used interchangeably to assess
      ANS acuity. Some of these measures were based on accuracy data, whereas others
      relied on response time (RT) data or combined accuracy and RT data. Previous
      studies challenged the view that all these measures can be used interchangeably,
      because low correlations between some of the measures had been observed. These
      low correlations might be due to poor reliability of some of the measures, since
      the majority of these measures are mathematically related. Here we systematically
      investigated the relationship between common ANS measures while avoiding the
      potential confound of poor reliability. Our first experiment revealed high
      correlations between all accuracy based measures supporting the assumption that
      all of them can be used interchangeably. In contrast, not all RT based measures
      were highly correlated. Additionally, our results revealed a speed-accuracy trade
      off. Thus, accuracy and RT based measures provided conflicting conclusions
      regarding ANS acuity. Therefore, we investigated in two further experiments which
      type of measure (accuracy or RT) is more informative about the underlying ANS
      acuity, depending on participants' preferences for accuracy or speed. To this
      end, we manipulated participants' preferences for accuracy or speed both
      explicitly using different task instructions and implicitly varying presentation
      duration. Accuracy based measures were more informative about the underlying ANS
      acuity than RT based measures. Moreover, the influence of the underlying
      representations on accuracy data was more pronounced when participants preferred
      accuracy over speed after the accuracy instruction as well as for long or
      unlimited presentation durations. Implications regarding the diffusion model as a
      theoretical framework of dot comparison as well as regarding the relationship
      between ANS acuity and math performance are discussed. 

PMID- 27637113
TI  - The Preparticipation Sports Evaluation: Losing the Forest for the Trees?

PMID- 27637114
TI  - Current Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines May Lead to More Deaths from the
      Disease.

PMID- 27637115
TI  - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Radiation Cystitis.

PMID- 27637116
TI  - Physicians Making Eye Contact with Patients Is Important.

PMID- 27637117
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27637119
TI  - Preventing Diagnostic Errors in Primary Care.

PMID- 27637120
TI  - Diagnosis and Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation is a supraventricular arrhythmia that adversely affects
      cardiac function and increases the risk of stroke. It is the most common
      arrhythmia and a major source of morbidity and mortality; its prevalence
      increases with age. Pulse rate is sensitive, but not specific, for diagnosis, and
      suspected atrial fibrillation should be confirmed with 12-lead
      electrocardiography. Because normal electrocardiographic findings do not rule out
      atrial fibrillation, home monitoring is recommended if there is clinical
      suspicion of arrhythmia despite normal test results. Treatment is based on
      decisions made regarding when to convert to normal sinus rhythm vs. when to treat
      with rate control, and, in either case, how to best reduce the risk of stroke.
      For most patients, rate control is preferred to rhythm control. Ablation therapy
      is used to destroy abnormal foci responsible for atrial fibrillation.
      Anticoagulation reduces the risk of stroke while increasing the risk of bleeding.
      The CHA2DS2-VASc scoring system assesses the risk of stroke, with a score of 2 or
      greater indicating a need for anticoagulation. The HAS-BLED score estimates the
      risk of bleeding. Scores of 3 or greater indicate high risk. Warfarin,
      dabigatran, factor Xa inhibitors (e.g., rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban), and
      aspirin are options for stroke prevention. Selection of therapy should be
      individualized based on risks and potential benefits, cost, and patient
      preference. Left atrial appendage obliteration is an option for reducing stroke
      risk. Two implantable devices used to occlude the appendage, the Watchman and the
      Amplatzer Cardiac Plug, appear to be as effective as warfarin in preventing
      stroke, but they are invasive. Another percutaneous approach to occlusion,
      wherein the left atrium is closed off using the Lariat, is also available, but
      data on its long-term effectiveness and safety are still limited. Surgical
      treatments for atrial fibrillation are reserved for patients who are undergoing
      cardiac surgery for other reasons. 

PMID- 27637121
TI  - Medications for Chronic Asthma.
AB  - Chronic asthma is a major health concern for children and adults worldwide. The
      goal of treatment is to prevent symptoms by reducing airway inflammation and
      hyperreactivity. Step-up therapy for symptom control involves initiation with low
      dose treatment and increasing intensity at subsequent visits if control is not
      achieved. Step-down therapy starts with a high-dose regimen, reducing intensity
      as control is achieved. Multiple randomized controlled trials have shown that
      inhaled corticosteroids are the most effective monotherapy. Other agents may be
      added to inhaled corticosteroids if optimal symptom control is not initially
      attained. Long-acting beta2 agonists are the most effective addition, but they
      are not recommended as monotherapy because of questions regarding their safety.
      Leukotriene receptor antagonists can be used in addition to inhaled
      corticosteroids, but they are not as effective as adding a long-acting beta2
      agonist. Patients with mild persistent asthma who prefer not to use inhaled
      corticosteroids may use leukotriene receptor antagonists as monotherapy, but they
      are less effective. Because of their high cost and a risk of anaphylaxis,
      monoclonal antibodies should be reserved for patients with severe symptoms not
      controlled by other agents. Immunotherapy should be considered in persons with
      asthma triggered by confirmed allergies if they are experiencing adverse effects
      with medication or have other comorbid allergic conditions. Many patients with
      asthma use complementary and alternative agents, most of which lack data
      regarding their safety or effectiveness. 

PMID- 27637122
TI  - Pulmonary Hypertension: Diagnosis and Treatment.
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension is a common, complex group of disorders that result from
      different pathophysiologic mechanisms but are all defined by a mean pulmonary
      arterial pressure of 25 mm Hg or greater. Patients often initially present to
      family physicians; however, because the symptoms are typically nonspecific or
      easily attributable to comorbid conditions, diagnosis can be challenging and
      requires a stepwise evaluation. There is limited evidence to support screening of
      asymptomatic individuals. Echocardiography is recommended as the initial step in
      the evaluation of patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension. A definitive
      diagnosis cannot be made on echocardiographic abnormalities alone, and some
      patients require invasive evaluation by right heart catheterization. For certain
      categories of pulmonary hypertension, particularly pulmonary arterial
      hypertension, treatment options are rapidly evolving, and early diagnosis and
      prompt referral to an expert center are critical to ensure the best prognosis.
      There are no directed therapies for many other categories of pulmonary
      hypertension; therefore, family physicians have a central role in managing
      contributing comorbidities. Other important considerations for patients with
      pulmonary hypertension include influenza and pneumonia immunizations,
      contraception counseling, preoperative assessment, and mental health. 

PMID- 27637123
TI  - Healthy Aging with Intimations of Mortality.

PMID- 27637124
TI  - Croup.

PMID- 27637125
TI  - Screening for Skin Cancer: Recommendation Statement.

PMID- 27637126
TI  - Bilateral Pruritic Auricular Papules and Plaques.

PMID- 27637127
TI  - Helping Pregnant Women Keep Their Jobs.

PMID- 27637128
TI  - Clinical Diagnosis of Gout Without Joint Aspirate.

PMID- 27637129
TI  - AAFP Releases Position Paper on Preconception care.

PMID- 27637130
TI  - Ivermectin 1% Cream (Soolantra) for Inflammatory Lesions of Rosacea.

PMID- 27637131
TI  - Atrial Fibrillation.

PMID- 27637132
TI  - Indication for Dialysis Initiation and Mortality in Patients With Chronic Kidney
      Failure: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Initiation of maintenance dialysis therapy for patients with chronic
      kidney failure is a period of high risk for adverse patient outcomes. Whether
      indications for dialysis therapy initiation are associated with mortality in this
      population is unknown. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING &
      PARTICIPANTS: 461 patients who initiated dialysis therapy (hemodialysis, 437;
      peritoneal dialysis, 24) from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2012, and
      were treated in facilities operated by a single dialysis organization. Follow-up
      for the primary outcome was through December 31, 2013. PREDICTOR: Clinically
      documented primary indication for dialysis therapy initiation, as categorized
      into 4 groups: laboratory evidence of kidney function decline (reference
      category), uremic symptoms, volume overload or hypertension, and other/unknown.
      OUTCOMES: All-cause mortality. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 2.4 years,
      183 (40%) patients died. Crude mortality rates were 10.0 (95% CI, 6.8-14.7), 12.7
      (95% CI, 10.2-15.7), 21.7 (95% CI, 16.4-28.6), and 12.2 (95% CI, 6.8-14.7)
      deaths/100 patient-years among patients initiating dialysis therapy primarily for
      laboratory evidence of kidney function decline, uremic symptoms, volume overload
      or hypertension, and other/unknown reason, respectively. Following adjustment for
      demographic variables, coexisting illnesses, and estimated glomerular filtration
      rate, initiation of dialysis therapy for uremic symptoms, volume overload or
      hypertension, or other/unknown reasons was associated with 1.12 (95% CI, 0.72
      1.77), 1.69 (95% CI, 1.02-2.80), and 1.28 (95% CI, 0.73-2.26) times higher risk,
      respectively, for subsequent mortality compared to initiation for laboratory
      evidence of kidney function decline. LIMITATIONS: Possibility of residual
      confounding by unmeasured variables; reliance on clinical documentation to
      ascertain exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Patients initiating dialysis therapy due to
      volume overload may have increased risk for mortality compared with patients
      initiating dialysis due to laboratory evidence of kidney function decline.
      Further studies are needed to identify and test interventions that might reduce
      this risk.

PMID- 27637133
TI  - The problems of moderate preterm infants.
AB  - Moderate preterm infants are the largest group of preterm infants but are an
      understudied population. Care practices are adapted from studies of full term
      infants or extremely preterm infants. Studies are needed to tailor treatments for
      this vulnerable population. The NRN began investigation in this population with a
      registry of characteristics, and neonatal outcomes of these infants. This work
      compares outcomes of MPR with those of full term infants reported in the
      literature.

PMID- 27637134
TI  - Gemcitabine-induced radiation recall myositis in a patient with relapsed
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PMID- 27637135
TI  - Factors associated with increased academic productivity among US academic
      radiation oncology faculty.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Publication productivity metrics can help evaluate academic faculty
      for hiring, promotion, grants, and awards; however, limited benchmarking data
      exist, which makes intra- and interdepartmental comparisons difficult. Therefore,
      we sought to evaluate the scholarly activity of physician faculty at academic
      radiation oncology (RO) departments and establish factors associated with
      increased academic productivity. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Citation database
      searches were performed for all physician-faculty in US residency-affiliated
      academic RO departments. Demographics, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
      funding, and bibliometrics (number of publications, Hirsch-[h]-index, and m-index
      [Hirsch index divided by the number of years since first publication]) were
      collected and stratified by academic rank. Senior academic rank was defined as
      full professor, professor, and/or chair. Junior academic rank was defined as all
      others. Logistic regression was performed to determine the association of
      academic rank and other factors with h- and m-indices. RESULTS: A total of 1191
      academic RO physician faculty from 75 institutions were included in the analysis.
      The mean (standard deviation) number of publications and h- and m-indices were
      48.2 (71.2), 14.5 (15), and 0.86 (0.83), respectively. The median (interquartile
      range) number of publications and h- and m-indices were 20 (6-61), 9 (4-20), and
      0.69 (0.38-1.10), respectively. Recursive partitioning analysis revealed a
      statistically significant numeric h-index threshold of 21 between junior and
      senior faculty (LogWorth 114; receiver operating characteristic, 0.828). Senior
      faculty status, receipt of NIH funding, and a larger department size were
      associated with increased h- and m-indices. CONCLUSIONS: Current academic RO
      departments have relatively high objective metrics of scholastic productivity
      compared with prior benchmarking analyses of RO departments and compared with
      published metrics from other academic medicine subspecialties. An h-index of 21
      or greater was associated with senior faculty status. Additionally, receipt of
      NIH funding and greater departmental size were associated with a higher h-index.
      These data may be of interest to faculty preparing for promotion or award
      applications as well as institutional leadership evaluating their departments.

PMID- 27637136
TI  - Incidence and predictors of chest wall toxicity after high-dose radiation therapy
      in 15 fractions.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fifteen fraction treatment schedules are increasingly used to deliver
      high doses of radiation therapy (RT) to both lung and hepatobiliary malignancies.
      The purpose of our study was to examine the incidence and predictors of chest
      wall (CW) toxicity in patients treated with this regimen. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      We evaluated 135 patients treated with RT to doses >=52.5 Gy in 15 fractions for
      thoracic and hepatobiliary malignancies between January 2009 and December 2012.
      We documented patient characteristics and CW dosimetric parameters for each case.
      Toxicity was scored using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events,
      version 4.0, criteria for radiation dermatitis and CW pain. Patient
      characteristics and CW dosimetric parameters were evaluated for their association
      with CW toxicity using proportional hazards regression. RESULTS: Median follow-up
      was 9 months from the start of RT. Forty-eight patients (36%) developed
      dermatitis at a median time of 18 days. In multivariable analysis, the absolute
      volume of CW (in cm3) receiving 40 Gy (V40) >=120 cm3 was associated with the
      occurrence of dermatitis (hazard ratio, 3.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.74-5.60;
      P < .001). Twenty-one patients (16%) developed CW pain (20 grade 1, 1 grade 2) at
      a median time of 3 months. In multivariable analysis, CW V40 >=150 cm3 was
      associated with the occurrence of CW pain (hazard ratio, 2.65; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.12-6.24; P = .03). The absolute rate of CW pain in patients with V40
      <150 cm3 was 11% versus 26% in patients with V40 >=150 cm3 (P = .03).
      CONCLUSIONS: Hypofractionated RT with 15 fraction regimens results in an
      acceptable incidence of CW toxicity, specifically CW pain. We recommend a dose
      constraint of V40 <150 cm3 to minimize this adverse event.

PMID- 27637137
TI  - Early and multiple PSA bounces can occur following high-dose prostate
      stereotactic body radiation therapy: Subset analysis of a phase 1/2 trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: We hypothesized that high-dose stereotactic body radiation therapy
      (SBRT) would lead to faster time to nadir and lower nadir values compared with
      conventional radiation therapy experiences. We now report prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA) kinetics following high-dose SBRT in patients treated with
      radiation alone. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Ninety-one patients were enrolled on the
      phase 1/2 dose escalation study of SBRT for localized prostate cancer. All
      patients with at least 36 months of follow-up and without hormone therapy were
      included in this analysis (n = 47). Treatment response parameters evaluated
      include time to nadir, nadir value, occurrence of PSA bounces (rise of >=0.2
      ng/mL followed by a subsequent fall), magnitude of bounces, duration of bounces,
      and correlation of bounces with clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Median follow-up was
      42 months (range, 36-78 months). Treatment dose levels were 45 Gy (n = 10), 47.5
      Gy (n = 8), and 50 Gy (n = 29) in 5 fractions. Biochemical control rate was 98%.
      Median PSA at follow-up was 0.10 +/- 0.20 ng/mL. Median time to nadir was 36 +/-
      11 months. A total of 24/47 (51.1%) patients had >=1 PSA bounce. Median magnitude
      of PSA rise during bounce was 0.50 +/- 1.2 ng/mL. Median time to first bounce was
      9 +/- 7.0 months. Median bounce duration was 3 +/- 2.3 months for the first
      bounce and 6 +/- 5.2 months for subsequent bounces. Prostate volumes <30 mL were
      associated with a decreased likelihood of bounce (P = .0202), and increasing
      prostate volume correlated with increasingly likelihood of having >=2 bounces (P
      = .027). Patients reaching PSA nadir of <=0.1 ng/mL were less likely to
      experience any bounce (P = .0044). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with other SBRT
      experiences, our study demonstrated a higher PSA bounce rate, a similar or
      shorter median time to bounce, and a very low nadir. Prostate volume appears
      correlated with bounce.

PMID- 27637138
TI  - The world's first single-room proton therapy facility: Two-year experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: This is a review of our 2-year experience with the first single-gantry
      proton therapy (PT) system. METHODS AND MATERIALS: All patients were consented to
      participate on an institutional review board-approved prospective patient
      registry between December 2013 and December 2015. PT was delivered in a single
      room facility using a synchrocyclotron with proton beam energy of 250 MeV. The
      dataset was interrogated for demographics, diagnosis, treatment modality, and
      clinical trial involvement. Cases were classified as simple or complex based on
      fields used and immobilization. The volume of photon patients treated in our
      department was collected between January 2011 and December 2015 to evaluate the
      impact of PT on our photon patient volume. RESULTS: A total of 278 patients were
      treated with PT, including 228 (82%) adults and 50 (18%) pediatric cases. PT
      patients traveled a mean distance of 83.3 miles compared with 47.4 miles for
      photon patients queried in 2015. Rationale for treatment included reirradiation
      (20%), involvement in prospective clinical trial (14%), and proximity to critical
      structures to maximally spare organs at risk (66%). Forty patients were enrolled
      on 5 adult and 3 pediatric prospective clinical trials. The most common
      histologies treated were glioma (27%) and non-small cell lung cancer (18%) in
      adults, and medulloblastoma (22%) and low-grade glioma (24%) in pediatric
      patients. Prostate cancer composed 6% of PT. Complex cases composed 45% of our
      volume. Our photon patient volume increased yearly between 2011 and 2015, with
      2780 patients completing photon treatment in 2011 and 3385 patients in 2015. PT
      composed 4% of overall patients treated with external beam radiation.
      CONCLUSIONS: The installation of our single-gantry proton facility has expanded
      the treatment options within our cancer center, helping to increase the number of
      patients we see. Patients travel from twice as far away to receive this
      treatment, many for typical PT indications such as pediatrics or to participate
      in prospective clinical trials.

PMID- 27637139
TI  - Test Characteristics of Emergency Physician-Performed Limited Compression
      Ultrasound for Lower-Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current literature suggests that emergency physician (EP)
      performed limited compression ultrasound (LCUS) is a rapid and accurate test for
      deep vein thrombosis (DVT). OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to determine the
      sensitivity and specificity of LCUS for the diagnosis of DVT when performed by a
      large heterogeneous group of EPs. METHODS: This was a prospective diagnostic test
      assessment of LCUS conducted at two urban academic emergency departments. The
      scanning protocol involved compression at the common femoral, superficial
      femoral, and popliteal veins. Patients were eligible if undergoing radiology
      department ultrasound of the lower extremity with moderate or high pretest
      probability for DVT, or low pretest probability for DVT with a positive d-dimer.
      The enrolling EP performed LCUS before radiology department ultrasound of the
      same lower extremity. Sensitivity, specificity, and associated 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) were calculated with the radiologist interpretation of the
      radiology department ultrasound as the criterion standard. RESULTS: A total of 56
      EPs enrolled 296 patients for LCUS, with a median age of 50 years and 50% female.
      Fifty (17%) DVTs were identified by radiology department ultrasound, and another
      five (2%) cases were deemed indeterminate. The sensitivity and specificity of EP
      performed LCUS was 86% (95% CI 73-94%) and 93% (95% CI 89-96%), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: A large heterogeneous group of EPs with limited training can perform
      LCUS with intermediate diagnostic accuracy. Unfortunately, LCUS performed by EPs
      with limited ultrasound training is not sufficiently sensitive or specific to
      rule out or diagnose DVT as a single testing modality.

PMID- 27637140
TI  - Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as first-line surgical treatment for morbid
      obesity among adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of obesity has necessitated the increasing
      use of bariatric surgery in the adolescent population. Outcomes following
      laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) among adolescents, however, have not been
      well-studied. We report outcomes following LSG as a first-line surgical therapy
      in patients under 21years of age. METHODS: All patients who underwent LSG as a
      primary surgical option for morbid obesity were identified at the University of
      Illinois at Chicago between 2006 and 2014. Standard clinicopathologic and
      outcomes data were recorded. RESULTS: We identified 18 patients (13 females, 5
      males) who underwent LSG. Mean patient age was 17.8+/-1.7years. Mean BMI among
      all patients was 48.6+/-7.2kg/m2 and did not differ by gender (P=0.68). One
      patient (5.6%) experienced a 30-day perioperative complication (pulmonary
      embolism). Median LOS following LSG was 3days (IQR: 2, 3). 2 patients (11.1%)
      were readmitted within 30-days because of feeding intolerance that resolved
      without invasive intervention. At a median follow-up of 10.6 (range: 0-38)
      months, percent excess weight loss (%EWL) among all patients was 35.6%. Among
      patients with at least 2years follow-up (n=3), %EWL was 50.2%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in morbidly obese adolescents is a safe and
      feasible option. Short- and long-term weight loss appears to be successful
      following LSG. As such, LSG should be strongly considered as a primary surgical
      treatment option for all morbidly obese adolescents. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

PMID- 27637141
TI  - Ureterocele in newborns, infants and children: Ten year prospective study with
      primary endoscopic deroofing and double J (DJ) stenting.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the success of endoscopic deroofing with double J (DJ) stenting
      as a primary treatment modality of uncomplicated ureterocele. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: All babies with uncomplicated ureterocele referred to us between 2005
      and 2015 were to be prospectively recruited into the study without any exception.
      The preoperative management would include ultrasound KUB on a fixed protocol,
      micturating cystourethrogram, DTPA scan and MRU (magnetic resonance urography) or
      IVP (intravenous pyelography). Those who had non-obstructing ureterocele were to
      be followed conservatively. The indications for operative intervention were to be
      obstructed ureterocele, bladder outlet obstruction, recurrent UTI or progressive
      renal scarring. They were then to be taken for cystoscopy in diuretic phase for
      endoscopic deroofing and DJ stenting with 9F resectoscope. Four weeks later, the
      DJ stent was to be removed after examining the deroofing in each patient. They
      were then followed up for future development of symptoms and need for secondary
      surgery with anatomical and functional imaging as necessary. RESULTS: Forty three
      consecutive patients (47 ureterocele units) with ureterocele were recruited into
      the study between 2005 and 2015. Thirty four patients were managed by endoscopic
      first approach with ureterocele deroofing and DJ stenting. Four babies were
      asymptomatic and did not show obstructed drainage pattern on DTPA and hence were
      managed conservatively and kept on follow-up. Four patients underwent primary
      open surgery and reconstruction because of presentation with complications.
      ECTOPIC URETEROCELE: There were 17 patients with ectopic ureterocele. Thirteen
      underwent primary endoscopic deroofing. Three underwent open surgery and one
      underwent robotic bilateral ureterocele excision and ureteric reimplantation.
      Eight children out of thirteen are completely asymptomatic after the endoscopic
      incision. On ultrasound evaluation 8/13 have resolution of the hydronephrosis and
      5/13 have stable hydronephrosis with no increase in dilatation. None of these 13
      children have required a second endoscopic procedure for inadequate decompression
      of the ureterocele. None of the 13 patients have any voiding difficulty or
      incontinence. 2/13 cases with recurrent UTI and persistent symptoms, required
      secondary surgery. This constituted 15% secondary surgery in the ectopic
      ureterocele category. ORTHOTOPIC URETEROCELE: There were 21 patients out of 22
      with orthotopic ureterocele who underwent endoscopic deroofing. Six out of these
      21 patients had episodes of UTI, of which three had resolution of the reflux and
      two had downgrading of reflux. One child continued to have recurrent UTI and
      needed a laparoscopic nephroureterectomy. Eighteen children are completely
      asymptomatic after the initial endoscopic deroofing. The rate of secondary
      surgery was 4.7% in orthotopic ureterocele group, where nearly 50% have more than
      five years follow-up. None of our patients who are more than five years, have had
      any urinary incontinence or voiding dysfunction. All patients remain on follow-up
      from 6months to 10years (median 5years). CONCLUSION: At this stage of our study
      with median follow-up of 5years (6months-10years), we suggest that primary
      endoscopic deroofing with DJ stenting for obstructing ureterocele is the best
      initial approach for adequate decompression and reducing the rate of secondary
      surgery.

PMID- 27637142
TI  - Cost varies with procedure type in pediatric GI foreign bodies.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: In pediatric cases of ingested foreign bodies,
      gastrointestinal foreign bodies (GIFB) have distinct factors contributing to
      longer and more costly hospitalizations. METHODS: Patients admitted with ingested
      foreign bodies were identified in the Kids' Inpatient Database (1997-2009).
      RESULTS: Overall, 7480 cases were identified. Patients were most commonly <5years
      of age (44%), male (54%), and Caucasian (57%). A total of 2506 procedures were
      performed, GI surgical procedures (57%) most frequently, followed by GI endoscopy
      (24%), esophagoscopy (11%), and bronchoscopy - in cases of inhaled objects (9%).
      On multivariate analysis, length of stay increased when cases were associated
      with intestinal obstruction (OR=1.7), esophageal perforation (OR=40.0),
      intestinal perforation (OR=4.4), exploratory laparotomy (OR=1.9), and gastric
      (OR=2.9), small bowel (OR=1.5), or colon surgery (OR=2.5), all p<0.02. Higher
      total charges (TC) were associated with intestinal obstruction (OR=2.0),
      endoscopy of esophagus (OR=1.8), stomach (OR=2.1), or colon (OR=3.3), and
      exploratory laparotomy (OR=3.6) or surgery of stomach (OR=5.6), small bowel
      (OR=6.4), or colon (OR=3.4), all p<0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical or endoscopic
      procedures are performed in approximately one third of GIFB cases. Associated
      psychiatric disorder or self-inflicted injury is seen in more than 20% of GIFB
      patients. Resource utilization is determined heavily by associated diagnoses and
      treatment procedures.

PMID- 27637143
TI  - Ultrasound-assisted removal of Acid Red 17 using nanosized Fe3O4-loaded coffee
      waste hydrochar.
AB  - The Fe3O4-loaded coffee waste hydrochar (Fe3O4-CHC) was synthesized using a
      simple precipitation method. The as-prepared adsorbent was characterized using
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),
      energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer
      Emmett-Teller (BET) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The EDX
      analysis indicated the presence of Fe in the structure of Fe3O4-CHC. The specific
      surface area of hydrochar increased from 17.2 to 34.7m2/g after loading of Fe3O4
      nanoparticles onto it. The prepared Fe3O4-CHC was used for removal of Acid Red 17
      (AR17) through ultrasound-assisted process. The decolorization efficiency
      decreased from 100 to 74% with the increase in initial dye concentration and from
      100 to 91 and 85% in the presence of NaCl and Na2SO4, respectively. The
      synthesized Fe3O4-CHC exhibited good stability in the repeated adsorption
      desorption cycles. The high correlation coefficient (R2=0.997) obtained from
      Langmuir model indicated that physical and monolayer adsorption of dye molecules
      occurred on the Fe3O4-CHC surface. Furthermore, the by-products generated through
      the degradation of AR17 was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
      analysis.

PMID- 27637144
TI  - Overwhelming reaction enhanced by ultrasonics during brazing of alumina to copper
      in air by Zn-14Al hypereutectic filler.
AB  - The ultrasonic-assisted brazing of alpha-alumina to copper was achieved in air
      without flux using Zn-14wt%Al hypereutectic filler at 753K within tens of
      seconds. The effects of ultrasonic time on the microstructures and mechanical
      properties of joints were investigated. In the joint interlayer, large amounts of
      intermetallic phases consisted of binary CuZn5 embedded by many ternary
      Al4.2Cu3.2Zn0.7 particles were formed. At the ceramic interface, newly formed
      crystalline Al2O3 aggregated. At the Cu interface, acoustic corrosion on the
      copper resulted in depriving the surface oxides and forming many pits on its
      surface, which provided saturated Cu in the melted filler alloys during the
      brazing. The ultrasonic vibrations had distinct effects on the metallurgical
      reactions of the joints, resulting in intermetallic-phase-filled composite joints
      with shear strength of 66MPa. The overgrowth of intermetallic compounds, the
      newly formed crystalline alumina, and the acoustic pits was probably ascribed to
      the ultrasonic effects.

PMID- 27637145
TI  - Multi-tiered Reorganization of the Genome during B Cell Affinity Maturation
      Anchored by a Germinal Center-Specific Locus Control Region.
AB  - During the humoral immune response, B cells undergo a dramatic change in
      phenotype to enable antibody affinity maturation in germinal centers (GCs). Using
      genome-wide chromosomal conformation capture (Hi-C), we found that GC B cells
      undergo massive reorganization of the genomic architecture that encodes the GC B
      cell transcriptome. Coordinate expression of genes that specify the GC B cell
      phenotype-most prominently BCL6-was achieved through a multilayered chromatin
      reorganization process involving (1) increased promoter connectivity, (2)
      formation of enhancer networks, (3) 5' to 3' gene looping, and (4) merging of
      gene neighborhoods that share active epigenetic marks. BCL6 was an anchor point
      for the formation of GC-specific gene and enhancer loops on chromosome 3.
      Deletion of a GC-specific, highly interactive locus control region upstream of
      Bcl6 abrogated GC formation in mice. Thus, large-scale and multi-tiered genomic
      three-dimensional reorganization is required for coordinate expression of
      phenotype-driving gene sets that determine the unique characteristics of GC B
      cells.

PMID- 27637147
TI  - Sumoylation Promotes the Stability of the DNA Sensor cGAS and the Adaptor STING
      to Regulate the Kinetics of Response to DNA Virus.
AB  - During viral infection, sensing of cytosolic DNA by the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase
      (cGAS) activates the adaptor protein STING and triggers an antiviral response.
      Little is known about the mechanisms that determine the kinetics of activation
      and deactivation of the cGAS-STING pathway, ensuring effective but controlled
      innate antiviral responses. Here we found that the ubiquitin ligase Trim38
      targets cGas for sumoylation in uninfected cells and during the early phase of
      viral infection. Sumoylation of cGas prevented its polyubiquitination and
      degradation. Trim38 also sumoylated Sting during the early phase of viral
      infection, promoting both Sting activation and protein stability. In the late
      phase of infection, cGas and Sting were desumoylated by Senp2 and subsequently
      degraded via proteasomal and chaperone-mediated autophagy pathways, respectively.
      Our findings reveal an essential role for Trim38 in the innate immune response to
      DNA virus and provide insight into the mechanisms that ensure optimal activation
      and deactivation of the cGAS-STING pathway.

PMID- 27637146
TI  - mTORC1 and mTORC2 Kinase Signaling and Glucose Metabolism Drive Follicular Helper
      T Cell Differentiation.
AB  - Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are crucial for germinal center (GC) formation
      and humoral adaptive immunity. Mechanisms underlying Tfh cell differentiation in
      peripheral and mucosal lymphoid organs are incompletely understood. We report
      here that mTOR kinase complexes 1 and 2 (mTORC1 and mTORC2) are essential for Tfh
      cell differentiation and GC reaction under steady state and after antigen
      immunization and viral infection. Loss of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in T cells exerted
      distinct effects on Tfh cell signature gene expression, whereas increased mTOR
      activity promoted Tfh responses. Deficiency of mTORC2 impaired CD4(+) T cell
      accumulation and immunoglobulin A production and aberrantly induced the
      transcription factor Foxo1. Mechanistically, the costimulatory molecule ICOS
      activated mTORC1 and mTORC2 to drive glycolysis and lipogenesis, and glucose
      transporter 1-mediated glucose metabolism promoted Tfh cell responses.
      Altogether, mTOR acts as a central node in Tfh cells by linking immune signals to
      anabolic metabolism and transcriptional activity.

PMID- 27637148
TI  - IRF8 Transcription Factor Controls Survival and Function of Terminally
      Differentiated Conventional and Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells, Respectively.
AB  - Interferon regulatory factor-8 (IRF8) has been proposed to be essential for
      development of monocytes, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and type 1
      conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) and remains highly expressed in
      differentiated DCs. Transcription factors that are required to maintain the
      identity of terminally differentiated cells are designated "terminal selectors."
      Using BM chimeras, conditional Irf8(fl/fl) mice and various promotors to target
      Cre recombinase to different stages of monocyte and DC development, we have
      identified IRF8 as a terminal selector of the cDC1 lineage controlling survival.
      In monocytes, IRF8 was necessary during early but not late development. Complete
      or late deletion of IRF8 had no effect on pDC development or survival but altered
      their phenotype and gene-expression profile leading to increased T cell
      stimulatory function but decreased type 1 interferon production. Thus, IRF8
      differentially controls the survival and function of terminally differentiated
      monocytes, cDC1s, and pDCs.

PMID- 27637150
TI  - A systematic review of clinically available gene expression profiling assays for
      stage II colorectal cancer: initial steps toward genetic staging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, increasingly accessible and novel genetic
      technologies have spurred keen interest in the application of cancer genetics in
      predicting prognosis and response to treatment. In particular, investigators have
      eagerly sought to establish and validate genetic signatures that might improve
      the identification of patients with stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) who are at
      highest risk of recurrence. To better understand the evidence for incorporation
      of genetic assays into clinical practice, we have systematically reviewed those
      assays that have been validated and are available for clinical use in stage II
      CRC. METHODS: A systematic review was performed using PubMed, Web of Science and
      Scopus databases. The GRADE system was used to evaluate level of evidence and
      strength of recommendations. RESULTS: After duplicates were removed and exclusion
      criteria were applied, there were 13 articles for review. CONCLUSION: Identifying
      high-risk patients with stage II CRC using molecular profiling has been the
      primary aim of many investigators, and the approach is translating into clinical
      utility.

PMID- 27637149
TI  - Unsupervised High-Dimensional Analysis Aligns Dendritic Cells across Tissues and
      Species.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that hold great
      therapeutic potential. Multiple DC subsets have been described, and it remains
      challenging to align them across tissues and species to analyze their function in
      the absence of macrophage contamination. Here, we provide and validate a
      universal toolbox for the automated identification of DCs through unsupervised
      analysis of conventional flow cytometry and mass cytometry data obtained from
      multiple mouse, macaque, and human tissues. The use of a minimal set of lineage
      imprinted markers was sufficient to subdivide DCs into conventional type 1
      (cDC1s), conventional type 2 (cDC2s), and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) across tissues
      and species. This way, a large number of additional markers can still be used to
      further characterize the heterogeneity of DCs across tissues and during
      inflammation. This framework represents the way forward to a universal, high
      throughput, and standardized analysis of DC populations from mutant mice and
      human patients.

PMID- 27637151
TI  - Discovery of novel 2',4'-dimethyl-[4,5'-bithiazol]-2-yl amino derivatives as
      orally bioavailable TRPV4 antagonists for the treatment of pain: Part 1.
AB  - A novel series of 2',4'-dimethyl-[4,5'-bithiazol]-2-yl amino derivatives were
      found by high throughput screening of the TRPV4 receptor, at which these
      compounds showed competitive antagonist potential against 4alpha-phorbol 12,13
      didecanoate (4alphaPDD) as the selective TRPV4 agonist and showed excellent
      selectivity for TRPV1, N-type and L-type calcium ion channels, but poor ADME
      profile. In our SAR strategy, we found that the lead molecule 1 also having the
      unique 3-oxa-9-azabicyclo [3.3.1] nonan-7-one on the right part showed potent
      TRPV4 antagonist activity, good solubility at pH 6.8, good microsomal stability
      for human and better ADME profile including oral bioavailability. Moreover,
      compound 1 had an analgesic effect in Freund's Complete Adjuvant (FCA) induced
      mechanical hyperalgesia model in guinea pig. In this letter, we report a lead
      optimization process to identify the lead compound 1 (Fig. 1).

PMID- 27637152
TI  - Indole-3-acetic acid in plant-pathogen interactions: a key molecule for in planta
      bacterial virulence and fitness.
AB  - The plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas savastanoi, the causal agent of olive
      and oleander knot disease, uses the so-called "indole-3-acetamide pathway" to
      convert tryptophan to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) via a two-step pathway catalyzed
      by enzymes encoded by the genes in the iaaM/iaaH operon. Moreover, pathovar nerii
      of P. savastanoi is able to conjugate IAA to lysine to generate the less
      biologically active compound IAA-Lys via the enzyme IAA-lysine synthase encoded
      by the iaaL gene. Interestingly, iaaL is now known to be widespread in many
      Pseudomonas syringae pathovars, even in the absence of the iaaM and iaaH genes
      for IAA biosynthesis. Here, two knockout mutants, DeltaiaaL and DeltaiaaM, of
      strain Psn23 of P. savastanoi pv. nerii were produced. Pathogenicity tests using
      the host plant Nerium oleander showed that DeltaiaaL and DeltaiaaM were
      hypervirulent and hypovirulent, respectively and these features appeared to be
      related to their differential production of free IAA. Using the Phenotype
      Microarray approach, the chemical sensitivity of these mutants was shown to be
      comparable to that of wild-type Psn23. The main exception was 8 hydroxyquinoline,
      a toxic compound that is naturally present in plant exudates and is used as a
      biocide, which severely impaired the growth of DeltaiaaL and DeltaiaaM, as well
      as growth of the non-pathogenic mutant DeltahrpA, which lacks a functional Type
      Three Secretion System (TTSS). According to bioinformatics analysis of the Psn23
      genome, a gene encoding a putative Multidrug and Toxic compound Extrusion (MATE)
      transporter, was found upstream of iaaL. Similarly to iaaL and iaaM, its
      expression appeared to be TTSS-dependent. Moreover, auxin-responsive elements
      were identified for the first time in the modular promoters of both the iaaL gene
      and the iaaM/iaaH operon of P. savastanoi, suggesting their IAA-inducible
      transcription. Gene expression analysis of several genes related to TTSS, IAA
      metabolism and drug resistance confirmed the presence of a concerted regulatory
      network in this phytopathogen among virulence, fitness and drug efflux.

PMID- 27637153
TI  - Evolution of disease phenotype in pediatric-onset Crohn's disease after more than
      10 years follow up-Cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pediatric-onset Crohn's disease (CD) is a heterogeneous disorder
      which is subjected to progression and complications in a substantial proportion
      of patients. AIMS: We aimed to assess the progression in pediatric-onset CD
      phenotype on long term follow up. METHODS: Medical charts of pediatric onset CD
      patients with at least 10 years follow-up were analyzed retrospectively. Disease
      phenotype was determined at diagnosis and during follow up at different time
      points. Phenotype was determined according to the Paris classification. The
      impact of possible predictors on phenotype progression was assessed as well as
      the association between different therapeutic regimens during disease course and
      phenotype progression. RESULTS: Progression of disease location, behavior, and
      perianal involvement was observed in 20%, 38% and 20% of patients, respectively,
      after a median follow-up of 16.4 (+/-4.4) years. Microscopic ileocolonic disease
      at diagnosis was significant predictors for progression of disease extent.
      Treatment with anti tumor necrosis factor-alpha agents and number of flares per
      years of follow-up were associated with progression of disease extent, behavior
      and perianal involvement. CONCLUSION: Disease extent, behavior and prevalence of
      perianal disease change significantly over time in pediatric-onset CD. In our
      cohort, most clinical, laboratory and endoscopic parameters do not serve as
      predictors for long-term disease progression.

PMID- 27637154
TI  - Meta-analysis of CYP2E1 polymorphisms in liver carcinogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The CYP2E1 protein is a monooxygenase with certain polymorphisms
      linked to liver cancer. However, results from individual studies remain
      controversial. AIMS: To evaluate CYP2E1 polymorphisms in liver carcinogenesis
      through meta-analysis. METHODS: All studies about CYP2E1 polymorphisms and liver
      cancer were retrieved from seven major databases. Original data from each study
      were pooled and re-analyzed. RESULTS: Total of 16 articles with 4862 cases were
      selected, including 1820 cases of liver cancer and 3042 cases of controls. The c1
      allelic frequency in the cases and controls was 83.3% and 85.3%, respectively.
      Five genetic variations were compared: dominant c1c2/c2c2 vs. c1/c1 (OR=0.987
      (0.853, 1.141)), homozygous c2c2 vs. c1c1 (OR=0.767 (0.526, 1.119)), heterozygous
      c1c2 vs. c1c1 (OR=1.005 (0.854, 1.182)), recessive c2c2 vs. c1c2/c2c2 (OR=0.771
      (0.530, 1.122)), and different alleles c2 vs. c1 (OR=0.947 (0.828, 1.082)).
      Pooled data were further analyzed based on ethnicity, control sources, and HWE
      (Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium). These results from stratified groups were similar
      to that of nonstratified groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis results suggest
      that there is no evidence for a major role of CYP2E1 polymorphism in liver
      carcinogenesis, but do not rule out the possibility in certain cases.

PMID- 27637155
TI  - Comparison between mouse and sea urchin orthologs of voltage-gated proton channel
      suggests role of S3 segment in activation gating.
AB  - The voltage-gated proton channel, Hv1, is expressed in blood cells, airway
      epithelium, sperm and microglia, playing important roles in diverse biological
      contexts including phagocytosis or sperm maturation through its regulation of
      membrane potential and pH. The gene encoding Hv1, HVCN1, is widely found across
      many species and is also conserved in unicellular organisms such as algae or
      dinoflagellates where Hv1 plays role in calcification or bioluminescence. Voltage
      gated proton channels exhibit a large variation of activation rate among
      different species. Here we identify an Hv1 ortholog from sea urchin,
      Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, SpHv1. SpHv1 retains most of key properties of Hv1
      but exhibits 20-60 times more rapid activation kinetics than mammalian orthologs
      upon heterologous expression in HEK293T cells. Comparison between SpHv1 and mHv1
      highlights novel roles of the third transmembrane segment S3 in activation gating
      of Hv1.

PMID- 27637157
TI  - 'Pure' spindle cell variant of angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma, lacking classic
      histologic features.
AB  - Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is a soft tissue tumor of intermediate
      biologic potential and uncertain differentiation that most frequently occurs in
      the superficial extremities of children and young adults. It is histologically
      typified by nodules of ovoid to spindle cells with pseudoangiomatoid spaces and a
      surrounding dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate, desmin expression in about 50%,
      and association with EWSR1-CREB1, EWSR1-ATF1 or FUS-ATF1 gene fusions. The
      diagnosis still poses a challenge because AFH may not display all classic
      features, can show a variety of unusual histologic findings and lacks a specific
      immunoprofile. We describe a case of 'pure' spindle cell AFH arising in the
      forearm musculature of a 19 year-old female, which harbored EWSR1-CREB1 fusion
      transcripts by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The neoplasm was
      composed entirely of highly cellular fascicles of spindled cells architecturally
      resembling spindle cell sarcoma, and lacked obvious pseudoangiomatoid spaces or a
      lymphoid cuff. This purely spindle cell variant adds to the significant
      morphologic spectrum of AFH, and emphasizes that even when occuring at a typical
      site, AFH may be difficult to recognize when showing non-classical morphology.
      This is of clinical relevance, as AFH with this morphology could be potentially
      misdiagnosed as a high-grade sarcoma, with the patient subject to more radical
      therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 27637156
TI  - Enriched environment improves post-stroke cognitive impairment in mice by
      potential regulation of acetylation homeostasis in cholinergic circuits.
AB  - Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI), commonly seen in the clinical practice,
      is a major factor impeding patient rehabilitation. Enriched environment (EE)
      intervention is a simple and effective way to improve cognitive impairment,
      partially due to the rebalancing of the basal forebrain-hippocampus cholinergic
      signaling pathway. Epigenetic changes have been identified in many cognitive
      disorders. However, studies on the effects of EE on epigenetic regulation of
      cholinergic circuits in PSCI animal models have not yet been reported. In this
      study, we established a photothrombotic mouse PSCI model and showed that after EE
      intervention, mice with PSCI had significantly improved water maze performance,
      better induction of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), enhanced function
      of the basal forebrain-hippocampus cholinergic circuits of contralateral side of
      stroke and relatively balanced acetylation homeostasis compared to those of PSCI
      mice in standard environments (SE). In addition, PSCI mice in EE expressed much
      higher levels of p-CREB and CBP than in SE, and the chromatins bound to M-type
      promoter of ChAT gene were more acetylated. These results demonstrate that EE
      plays an important role in the improvement of PSCI and the underlying mechanism
      may involve in the acetylation of histones bound to the ChAT gene promoter in
      cholinergic circuits.

PMID- 27637158
TI  - Classification chaos in coeliac disease: Does it really matter?
AB  - The spectrum of mucosal pathology in coeliac disease (CD), initially defined by
      Marsh in 1992 has been subjected to several modifications in the following years
      by Oberhuber, then by Corazza and Villanaci, and finally by Ensari. The present
      study, aimed to end the ongoing confusion regarding the classification of mucosal
      pathology in CD by applying all the classifications proposed so far on a large
      series of cases. A total of 270 duodenal biopsies taken from the distal duodenum
      of patients with a diagnosis of CD were included in the study. All biopsies were
      classified according to Marsh, Oberhuber, Corazza Villanaci, and Ensari
      classification schemes. For statistical analyses cases were divided into three
      groups: Group 1 included type 1 lesions in Marsh, Ensari, and Oberhuber and grade
      A in Corazza Villanaci classifications. Group 2 comprised of type 2 lesions in
      Marsh and Ensari classifications together with type2, type 3a and 3b lesions in
      Oberhuber classification and grade B1 lesions in Corazza Villanaci
      classification. Group 3 included type 3 lesions in Marsh and Ensari
      classifications, and type 3c lesions in Oberhuber, and grade B2 lesions in
      Corazza Villanaci classifications. The kappa value was 1.00 (excellent) for group
      1, 0.53 (fair) for group 2 and 0.78 (excellent) for group 3 (p<0.0001). These
      results suggest that any of the above classification system would serve similar
      purposes in the diagnosis of CD. Therefore, it is advisable that the pathologist
      should use the simplest reliable scheme.

PMID- 27637159
TI  - Expanding the concept of neuroprotection for acute ischemic stroke: The pivotal
      roles of reperfusion and the collateral circulation.
AB  - This review surveys the efforts taken to achieve clinically efficacious
      protection of the ischemic brain and underscores the necessity of expanding our
      purview to include the essential role of cerebral perfusion and the collateral
      circulation. We consider the development of quantitative strategies to measure
      cerebral perfusion at the regional and local levels and the application of these
      methods to elucidate flow-related thresholds of ischemic viability and to
      characterize the ischemic penumbra. We stress that the modern concept of
      neuroprotection must consider perfusion, the necessary substrate upon which
      ischemic brain survival depends. We survey the major mechanistic approaches to
      neuroprotection and review clinical neuroprotection trials, focusing on those
      phase 3 multicenter clinical trials for acute ischemic stroke that have been
      completed or terminated. We review the evolution of thrombolytic therapies;
      consider the lessons learned from the initial, negative multicenter trials of
      endovascular therapy; and emphasize the highly successful positive trials that
      have finally established a clinical role for endovascular clot removal. As these
      studies point to the brain's collateral circulation as key to successful
      reperfusion, we next review the anatomy and pathophysiology of collateral
      perfusion as it relates to ischemic infarction, as well as the molecular and
      genetic influences on collateral development. We discuss the current MR and CT
      based diagnostic methods for assessing the collateral circulation and the
      prognostic significance of collaterals in ischemic stroke, and we consider past
      and possible future therapeutic directions.

PMID- 27637161
TI  - Optical factors influencing the amplitude of accommodation.
AB  - The purpose of this work was to find plausible predictors among optical
      parameters that may explain the inter-individual differences in subjective
      amplitude of accommodation not explained by age. An exploratory multivariable
      regression analysis was carried out retrospectively on a dataset with 180 eyes
      from 97 subjects (ages ranged from 20 to 58years). Subjective amplitudes of
      accommodation were recorded with the use of a custom-made Badal system. A
      commercial aberrometer was used to obtain each eye's wavefront during the full
      range of accommodation. The plausible predictors under study were pupil diameter
      in the unaccommodated eye, its reduction with accommodation; fourth- and six
      order Zernike spherical aberration, their reduction with accommodation, and
      subjective refraction. At a significance level of 0.05, only fourth- and sixth
      order Zernike spherical aberration were found to be predictors of subjective
      amplitude of accommodation not explained by age, each explaining on their own
      less than 5% of the variance, and about 9% together. All other optical parameters
      explained less than 2%. Spherical aberration did not explain the greater
      variability for younger eyes than for older eyes. The remainder variability in
      amplitude of accommodation not explained by age or spherical aberration was about
      +/-2.6D for 20year-old subjects, +/-1.5D for 40year-old subjects, and about +/
      0.6D for 55year-old subjects. Optical factors do not seem to account for much of
      the inter-individual differences in subjective amplitude of accommodation. Most
      of the variability not explained by age must be due to anatomical differences and
      physiological, psychological, or other factors.

PMID- 27637162
TI  - Endogenous angiotensin II in the paraventricular nucleus regulates arterial
      pressure during hypotension in rat, a single-unit study.
AB  - The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) controls cardiovascular regulation
      through vasopressin and sympathetic system. The PVN contains angiotensin II
      (AngII) and AngII receptors. We have already shown that microinjection of AngII
      into PVN produced a pressor response concomitant with an increase in firing rate
      of some PVN neurons. This study was performed to find if PVN AngII plays a
      regulatory function during hypotension. Hypovolemic-hypotension was induced and
      the possible role of the PVN AngII in returning arterial pressure toward normal
      was assessed by monitoring cardiovascular response and single-unit activity of
      the PVN neurons. Hemorrhage augmented the pressor, tachycardic and single-unit
      responses to AngII. After-hemorrhage injection of PD123319, an AT2 antagonist,
      into PVN resulted in a significant decrease in firing rate of some neurons,
      indicating that AngII was released into the PVN due to hemorrhage. Using single
      unit recording, we found that PVN receives electrical signals from baroreceptors
      and from circulating AngII through circumventricular organs. In addition, by
      producing hemorrhagic-hypotension and bilateral blockade of AT2 receptors of the
      PVN, we found that AngII regulates arterial pressure toward normal during
      hypotension. So for the first time, it was verified that brain renin-angiotensin
      system is also a major regulatory system of the cardiovascular system.

PMID- 27637160
TI  - SERPINB3 and B4: From biochemistry to biology.
AB  - Human SERPINB3 and SERPINB4 are evolutionary duplicated serine/cysteine protease
      inhibitors. Genomic analysis indicates that these paralogous genes were encoded
      from independent loci arising from tandem gene duplication. Although the two
      molecules share 92% identity of their amino acid sequences, they are distinct in
      the Reactive Center Loop (RCL) including a hinge region and catalytic sequences
      which accounts for altered substrate specificity. Elevated expression of the two
      molecules has been reported to contribute to numerous pathological conditions
      such as inflammatory diseases and cancer. In this review, we focus on summarizing
      the biochemical features of SERPINB3/B4 and discussing the mechanistic basis for
      their biological functions and implications in human diseases.

PMID- 27637164
TI  - Re-Evaluating Simpson Grade I, II, and III Resections in Neurosurgical Treatment
      of World Health Organization Grade I Meningiomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since 1957, the Simpson grading system has been considered a
      predictive system for meningioma recurrence. However, since then, surgical
      equipment and neurosurgical technique have developed extensively, so this grading
      system should be re-evaluated. This study aims to assess if the recurrence rate
      and recurrence-free survival (RFS) are different after Simpson grade I, II, and
      III resections in World Health Organization (WHO) grade I meningiomas. METHODS:
      We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients who underwent surgical treatment
      of WHO grade I meningiomas located in the convexity (group 1), falx/parasagittal
      (group 2), skull base, and tentorium (group 3) between June 1991 and December
      2011. We compared the recurrence rates and RFSs between Simpson grade I, II, and
      III resections in both overall cases and tumor subsets according to their
      localization. RESULTS: A total of 224 meningiomas were included in this study.
      There were no significant differences in recurrence rates and RFSs between
      Simpson grades I, II, and III. In each of the location groups, no significant
      differences were noted between the different degrees of Simpson. CONCLUSIONS: We
      have shown that complete resection of WHO grade I meningiomas achieves excellent
      tumor control, regardless of Simpson grades. More aggressive attempts at tumor
      resection (ie, Simpson grade I) must be balanced against the risks of removing
      dura or damaging critical neurovascular structures.

PMID- 27637163
TI  - Induced-Wedge Technique to Improve Liquid Embolic Agent Penetration into Spinal
      Dural Arteriovenous Fistula.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To promote embolization of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF)
      with a small long tortuous feeder that may impede successful application of an
      embolic agent. METHODS: An induced-wedge technique was developed in which blood
      flow was blocked by coiling at the proximal part of the microcatheter for secure
      injection of N-butyl cyanoacrylate. We used this technique in 11 patients with
      SDAVF (male/female ratio, 8:3): 7 thoracic, 2 lumbar, 1 sacral, and 1 cervical.
      Clinical outcome was evaluated by the Aminoff-Logue Disability Scale. RESULTS:
      Penetration of embolic agent through the fistula into the vein was complete (n =
      5), nearly complete (no penetration of embolic agent into the vein but no
      residual fistula on 3 adjacent selective angiograms; n = 4), or partial
      (embolization with a small residual filling of the draining vein; n = 2). All
      patients improved neurologically during follow-up (median, 18 months; range, 7-37
      months) and achieved complete recovery. Of the 2 patients who obtained partial
      obliteration, one showed disappearance of the residual lesion on angiography 21
      months later and the other achieved complete results after repeat embolization.
      CONCLUSIONS: The induced-wedge technique can improve SDAVF embolization by
      providing better penetration of the liquid embolic agent to the fistula and vein.

PMID- 27637165
TI  - The Effect of Hyponatremia and Sodium Variability on Outcomes in Adults with
      Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyponatremia is common in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, but
      its effect on outcomes remains contentious. Fluctuation in sodium has been
      reported to negatively affect perioperative outcomes in general surgical
      patients, but not specifically in patients with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. The
      primary aim was to describe the relationship between 1) hyponatremia and 2)
      sodium fluctuations during intensive care and neurologic outcome at hospital
      discharge. METHODS: Adults with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage between
      January 2012 and September 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Data were
      collected for admission to day 14 of intensive care or death. Severity of illness
      was assessed by Hunt and Hess grade and simplified acute physiology score.
      Hyponatremia was defined as any measurement <135 mEq/L. Sodium variability was
      categorized as a maximum change of <6, 6-12, or >12 mEq/L during intensive care.
      Neurologic outcomes at discharge were assessed by modified Rankin Scale. The
      relationship between sodium and outcome was assessed by ordinal logistic
      regression. RESULTS: A total of 198 patients were included. After adjustment for
      Hunt and Hess grade, severity of systemic illness, patient age, surgical
      intervention, and whether or not the hyponatremia was treated with additional
      sodium, hyponatremia was not associated with worse neurologic outcomes. More
      patients with sodium variability of 6-12 and >12 mEq/L had cerebral infarction
      than those with variability <6 mEq/L and had modified Rankin Scale scores of 2-3
      and 4-6, respectively (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sodium fluctuation, not
      hyponatremia, is associated with worse neurologic outcome in patients with
      aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. This is in contradistinction to current
      teaching and warrants further examination.

PMID- 27637166
TI  - Oblique Clip Technique via Anterior Temporal Approach for Blood Blister Aneurysm
      of Distal Portion of Internal Carotid Artery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood blister aneurysms (BBAs) of the internal carotid artery (ICA)
      are challenging vascular lesions for neurosurgeons because they are fragile and
      difficult to clip. They are commonly found at the dorsal wall of the ICA.
      Trapping is an alternative for these lesions, accompanied by vascular
      reconstruction. However, they are sometimes close to the posterior communicating
      artery and anterior choroidal artery. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 30-year-old man
      presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by rupture of a BBA in the right
      distal ICA. After construction of a high-flow bypass, the BBA was accessed via
      the standard pterional approach to end only in proximal clipping. Two weeks
      later, the remnant of the BBA showed a tendency to grow. Therefore, the anterior
      temporal approach was successfully used to obliterate the BBA using an oblique
      clip technique under direct inspection of patency of the perforators.
      CONCLUSIONS: The anterior temporal approach to a BBA in the distal ICA is
      amenable to application of the oblique clip technique, which can provide direct
      inspection of the perforators emanating from the posteromedial wall of the ICA as
      well as obliteration of the pathologic wall. Furthermore, less retraction of the
      frontal lobe is also reasonable for avoidance of premature rupture of a fragile
      BBA.

PMID- 27637167
TI  - 'Plasticity-First' Evolution and the Role of miRNAs: A Comment on Levis and
      Pfennig.

PMID- 27637168
TI  - Mainstreaming Coexistence with Wildlife: Reply to Gallagher.

PMID- 27637169
TI  - TLR and NLRP3 inflammasome expression deregulation in macrophages of adult rats
      subjected to neonatal malnutrition and infected with methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Nutritional aggression in critical periods may lead to epigenetic
      changes that affect gene expression. The aim of this study was to assess the
      effect of neonatal malnutrition on the expression of toll-like receptor (TLR)-2,
      TLR-4, and NLRP3 receptors, caspase-1 enzyme, and interleukin (IL)-1 beta
      production in macrophages infected with methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and
      methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) Staphylococcus aureus. METHODS: Wistar rats (N = 24)
      were divided in two distinct groups: nourished (17% casein) and malnourished (8%
      casein). Four systems were established after the isolation of mononuclear cells:
      negative control, positive control, MRSA, and MSSA. The plates were incubated at
      37 degrees C for 24 h in humidified atmosphere and 5% carbon dioxide. Tests were
      performed after this period to analyze the expression of standard recognition
      receptors, caspase-1 enzyme, and the production of IL-1 beta. Student's t test
      and analysis of variance were used in the statistical analysis; P < 0.05 was
      statistically significant. RESULTS: Malnutrition reduced animal growth and the
      expression of TLR-2, TLR-4, and NLRP3 receptors, the caspase-1 enzyme, and the IL
      1 beta levels in macrophages infected with lipopolysaccharides in the present
      study. However, the interaction between the S. aureus and the macrophages
      promoted greater gene expression of receptors and enzymes. CONCLUSION: The
      neonatal malnutrition model compromised the expression of standard recognition
      receptors, of the caspase-1 enzyme as well as the production of IL-1 beta.
      However, the S. aureus and neonatal malnutrition combination led to intense
      transcription of such innate immunity components. Therefore, the deregulation in
      the expression of TLR and NLRP3 receptors and of the caspase-1 enzyme may induce
      extensive tissue injury and favor the permanence and spread of these bacteria,
      especially those that are methicillin resistant.

PMID- 27637170
TI  - In-house quantitative real-time PCR for the diagnosis of hepatitis B virus and
      hepatitis C virus infections.
AB  - The quantification of viral nucleic acids in serum by real-time PCR plays an
      important role in diagnosing hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection.
      In this study, we developed an assay using specific primers and probes to
      quantify hepatitis B virus DNA or hepatitis C virus RNA in serum from infected
      patients. For standardization and validation of the assay, an international panel
      of hepatitis B virus/hepatitis C virus and standard plasmids was used. A
      correlation coefficient of 0.983 and 0.963 for hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C
      virus, respectively, was obtained based on cycle threshold values and
      concentrations of DNA or RNA. The standard curve showed a linear relationship
      from 19IU/mL to 1.9*109IU/mL of serum, with a coefficient of determination (r2)
      of 0.99. In sera from patients infected with hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C
      virus viral loads (19IU/mL and 1.9*109IU/mL), we quantified viral loads with a
      detection limit of 1.9*102IU/mL. The real-time quantitative PCR assay developed
      in this study provides an ideal system for routine diagnosis and confirmation of
      indeterminate serological results, especially in immunosuppressed patients.

PMID- 27637171
TI  - Use of a Target-Mediated Drug Disposition Model to Predict the Human
      Pharmacokinetics and Target Occupancy of GC1118, an Anti-epidermal Growth Factor
      Receptor Antibody.
AB  - GC1118 is an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody
      that is currently under clinical development. In this study, the pharmacokinetics
      (PK) of GC1118 were modelled in monkeys to predict human PK and receptor
      occupancy (RO) profiles. The serum concentrations of GC1118 and its comparator
      (cetuximab) were assessed in monkeys with a non-compartmental analysis and a
      target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD) model after intravenous infusion (3-25
      mg/kg) of these drugs. The scaling exponent of the EGFR synthesis rate was
      determined using a sensitivity analysis. The human cetuximab exposures were
      simulated by applying different exponents (0.7-1.0) for the EGFR synthesis rate
      in the allometric monkey PK model. Simulated Cmax and area under the curve values
      therein were compared with those previously reported in the literature to find
      the best exponent for the EGFR synthesis rate in human beings. The TMDD model
      appropriately described the monkey PK profile, which showed a decrease in
      clearance (CL; 1.2-0.4 ml/hr/kg) as the dose increased. The exponents for CL
      (0.75) and volume of distribution (Vd; 1.0) were used for the allometric scaling
      to predict human PK. The allometric coefficient for the EGFR synthesis rate
      chosen by the sensitivity analysis was 0.85, and the RO profiles that could not
      be measured experimentally were estimated based on the predicted concentrations
      of the total target and the drug-target complex. Our monkey TMDD model
      successfully predicts human PK and RO profiles of GC1118 and can be used to
      determine the appropriate dose for a first-in-human study investigating this
      drug.

PMID- 27637173
TI  - Association between preschool eczema and medication for attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder in school age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies show an association between eczema and attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood, but the mechanisms and time
      sequence remain unclear. Information on the association between eczema and other
      disorders involving the central nervous system (CNS) is limited. The aim was to
      explore whether preschool eczema was associated with ADHD or other CNS-associated
      disorders requiring pharmacotherapy at school age and to analyze whether eczema
      at other ages of childhood was associated with medication for ADHD. METHODS: From
      a Swedish birth cohort, 3606 children were included in the analyses. At 1, 2, 4,
      8, 12, and 16 years of age, their parents answered questionnaires regarding
      eczema the last year. Information on prescribed medications during school age (10
      18 years of age) was derived by record linkage to the Swedish Prescribed Drug
      Register. RESULTS: A total of 1178 (32.7%) of the children had preschool eczema
      (eczema at 1, 2, and/or 4 years), and 162 (4.5%) of the children had dispensed
      ADHD medication at school age. Preschool eczema was not associated with ADHD
      medication at school age (crude odds ratio 1.16; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.83
      1.61). There was no significant association between preschool eczema and use of
      antidepressants, migraine drugs, or anti-epileptics at school age. Infantile
      eczema, school-age eczema, and eczema ever up to 16 years of age were not
      associated with ADHD medication at school age. CONCLUSIONS: In this large birth
      cohort, there were no significant associations between preschool eczema and
      medications for ADHD, depression/anxiety/phobia, migraine, or epilepsy at school
      age.

PMID- 27637174
TI  - A case of dysphagia following botulinum toxin injection for neck rejuvenation.
AB  - Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) is now extensively employed for cosmetic concerns.
      Upper face rejuvenation, including glabella frown lines and crow's feet lines,
      received FDA approval for cosmetic uses. However, other off-label uses for lower
      face conditions have been employed for texture and contouring purposes, including
      masseter hypertrophy and vertical banding of the neck. BTX-A for rejuvenation of
      the aging neck is an effective and popular treatment with high patient
      satisfaction rates. Alleviating the aging appearance of the neck by BTX-A is the
      result of denervation of hyperkinetic platysma. Concerning an extensive area of
      treatment and the relationship of treated muscles with other nearby muscles,
      dermatologists should be aware of potential adverse effects of the BTX-A
      injection. We herein present a case of dysphagia following botulinum toxin
      injection for the treatment of platysma bands.

PMID- 27637172
TI  - Initiation of antiretroviral therapy before detection of colonic infiltration by
      HIV reduces viral reservoirs, inflammation and immune activation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Colonic infiltration by HIV occurs soon after infection,
      establishing a persistent viral reservoir and a barrier to cure. We investigated
      virologic and immunologic correlates of detectable colonic HIV RNA during acute
      HIV infection (AHI) and their response to antiretroviral treatment (ART).
      METHODS: From 49,458 samples screened for HIV, 74 participants were enrolled
      during AHI and 41 consented to optional sigmoidoscopy, HIV RNA was categorized as
      detectable (>=50 copies/mg) or undetectable in homogenized colon biopsy
      specimens. Biomarkers and HIV burden in blood, colon and cerebrospinal fluid were
      compared between groups and after 24 weeks of ART. RESULTS: Colonic HIV RNA was
      detectable in 31 participants (76%) and was associated with longer duration since
      HIV exposure (median 16 vs. 11 days, p=0.02), higher median plasma levels of
      cytokines and inflammatory markers (CXCL10 476 vs. 148 pg/mL, p=0.02; TNF-RII
      1036 vs. 649 pg/mL, p<0.01; neopterin 2405 vs. 1368 pg/mL, p=0.01) and higher
      levels of CD8+ T cell activation in the blood (human leukocyte antigen - antigen
      D related (HLA-DR)/CD38 expression 14.4% vs. 7.6%, p <0.01) and colon (8.9% vs.
      4.5%, p=0.01). After 24 weeks of ART, participants with baseline detectable
      colonic HIV RNA demonstrated persistent elevations in total HIV DNA in colonic
      mucosal mononuclear cells (CMMCs) (median 61 vs. 0 copies/10(6) CMMCs, p=0.03)
      and a trend towards higher total HIV DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMC) (41 vs. 1.5 copies/10(6) PBMCs, p=0.06). There were no persistent
      differences in immune activation and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of
      detectable colonic HIV RNA at the time of ART initiation during AHI is associated
      with higher levels of proviral DNA after 24 weeks of treatment. Seeding of HIV in
      the gut may have long-lasting effects on the size of persistent viral reservoirs
      and may represent an important therapeutic target in eradication strategies.

PMID- 27637175
TI  - Assortative mating for human height: A meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study of assortative mating for height has a rich history in
      human biology. Although the positive correlation between the stature of spouses
      has often been noted in western populations, recent papers suggest that mating
      patterns for stature are not universal. The objective of this paper was to review
      the published evidence to examine the strength of and universality in assortative
      mating for height. METHODS: We conducted an extensive literature review and meta
      analysis. We started with published reviews but also searched through secondary
      databases. Our search led to 154 correlations of height between partners. We
      classified the populations as western and non-western based on geography. These
      correlations were then analyzed via meta-analytic techniques. RESULTS: 148 of the
      correlations for partner heights were positive and the overall analysis indicates
      moderate positive assortative mating (r = .23). Although assortative mating was
      slightly stronger in countries that can be described as western compared to non
      western, this difference was not statistically significant. We found no evidence
      for a change in assortative mating for height over time. There was substantial
      residual heterogeneity in effect sizes and this heterogeneity was most pronounced
      in western countries. CONCLUSIONS: Positive assortative mating for height exists
      in human populations, but is modest in magnitude suggesting that height is not a
      major factor in mate choice. Future research is necessary to understand the
      underlying causes of the large amount of heterogeneity observed in the degree of
      assortative mating across human populations, which may stem from a combination of
      methodological and ecological differences.

PMID- 27637178
TI  - New section in EJNMMI and Annals of Nuclear Medicine.

PMID- 27637176
TI  - Complete NMR assignment and conformational analysis of 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol
      by using RDCs obtained in grafted graphene oxide.
AB  - The 1 H and 13 C NMR spectra of 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2), a well-known
      contraceptive, including diastereotopic methylene groups, were fully assigned
      with the help of residual dipolar couplings (RDC) measured in the recently
      developed grafted graphene oxide orienting medium. RDC analysis, which included
      all 1 DCH couplings and the long-range 2 DCH1 H-C=13 C coupling, also pointed to
      the presence of a minor conformation arising from pseudo-rotation of the steroid
      B ring. Saturation-transfer difference (STD) measurements revealed that the most
      likely interaction between EE2 and orienting medium occurred on the C and D ring.
      Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27637177
TI  - Telling the Tale and Living Well: Adolescent Narrative Identity, Personality
      Traits, and Well-Being Across Cultures.
AB  - This study explored links between narrative identity, personality traits, and
      well-being for 263 adolescents (age 12-21) from three New Zealand cultures:
      Maori, Chinese, and European. Turning-point narratives were assessed for
      autobiographical reasoning (causal coherence), local thematic coherence,
      emotional expressivity, and topic. Across cultures, older adolescents with higher
      causal coherence reported better well-being. Younger adolescents with higher
      causal coherence instead reported poorer well-being. Personal development topics
      were positively linked to well-being for New Zealand European adolescents only,
      and thematic coherence was positively linked to well-being for Maori adolescents
      only. Negative expressivity, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness were
      also linked to well-being. Implications of these cultural similarities and
      differences are considered for theories of narrative identity, personality, and
      adolescent well-being.

PMID- 27637179
TI  - One year of nuclear cardiology in Europe.

PMID- 27637180
TI  - [Neoadjuvant therapy before radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder
      cancer].

PMID- 27637181
TI  - [Urolithiasis 2016 : Reliable, effective and low radiation exposure].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urolithiasis is a widespread disease. Diagnostic imaging plays an
      important role in the evaluation and management of patients with suspected
      urolithiasis. Furthermore, modern imaging methods may provide information on
      stone location, size, fragility and composition aiding the urologist to determine
      the appropriate treatment modality. PURPOSE: Based on the current literature and
      guidelines, this review reports on the various new and established diagnostic
      imaging modalities. RESULTS: Ultrasound should always be the initial imaging
      modality. Following ultrasound, noncontrast CT-principally using a low-dose
      protocol-is the imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of patients with
      acute flank pain and suspected urolithiasis. New imaging modalities like dual
      energy CT, Uro Dyna CT and digital tomosynthesis are currently under
      investigation but not yet part of daily clinical practice. Magnetic resonance
      imaging can be used to detect obstruction caused by urinary stones but is not a
      first-line imaging modality.

PMID- 27637183
TI  - [Citrate salts for calcium containing kidney stones : Prevention and treatment].

PMID- 27637182
TI  - [Nonretractable foreskin in boys without complaints : An indication for
      circumcision?]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Removing boys' foreskins, even for medical reasons, is increasingly
      and critically discussed. The aim of this study is to retrospectively verify if
      the indication for the removal of boys' foreskins was justified. The study is
      based on the records of boys who underwent preputial operation in an outpatient
      medical office for pediatric surgery. METHODS: Preoperative clinical findings,
      complaints, applied conservative and/or surgical procedures and histological
      results of the resected foreskins of boys, who underwent preputial operation
      between 2013-2015, were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 176 boys
      (age 5 on average) underwent a preputial operation. In 85 % of the cases it was
      completely removed. Most frequent clinical findings (80 %) were that the prepuce
      was simply not retractable. 86 % of the boys were free of complaints. The most
      frequent histological findings were a discrete to moderately pronounced chronic
      fibrous posthitis (69 %) and subepithelial fibrosis (18 %), In the first case 78
      % of the boys had been free of complaints, in the latter 72 %. CONCLUSION: The
      majority of the treated boys were free of complaints; however, most of them
      underwent a complete removal of their foreskin simply because it was
      nonretractable. The foreskin represents the most sensitive part of the male
      genital, preputiolysis is a natural process that can go on until early
      adolescence. Irreversible surgical procedures, such as a complete foreskin
      removal, should thus be restricted to a clear medical indication.

PMID- 27637184
TI  - [Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: Information transfer from the clinic to the
      doctor's office : Results of a questionnaire study and presentation of a software
      solution].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The adjuvant treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder
      cancer (NMIBC) is based on the individual risk profile (RP) and its sufficient
      transfer from the clinic to the doctor's office. The objectives of our study were
      to verify the importance and degree of transfer of RP and recommendation for risk
      adapted adjuvant treatment (RAAT) in patients with NMIBC as well as to develop
      appropriate tools for this purpose, if necessary. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An email
      based survey distributed to urologists in Brandenburg, Berlin, Bavaria and Lower
      Saxony explored the questions mentioned above. In addition, a tool for risk
      stratification and information transfer for patients with NMIBC was developed and
      validated. RESULTS: From a total of 134 questionnaires analyzed, 55 were from
      clinic urologists (CUs) and 79 were from ambulant urologists (AUs). Although 9
      out of 10 urologists considered the RP of importance, only 29 % of CUs and 24 %
      of AUs (p = 0.553) confirmed that the RP was always mentioned in medical reports.
      The recommendation for RAAT was confirmed from 62 % of CUs and 20 % of AUs (p <
      0.001). A recommendation for RAAT in the medical report was requested by 86 % of
      AUs. The risk calculator presented here - to our knowledge the first with
      integration of the 2004 WHO grading - is delivered in all mathematically possible
      constellations a RP, according to guideline recommendations. CONCLUSION:
      Urologists in the clinic and doctor's office both attach considerable importance
      to the determination and transfer of RP and the recommendation for RAAT. There
      was evidence to suggest an overestimation of the quality of medical reports by
      the CU. The risk calculator provides an easy and cost-neutral option to improve
      risk stratification and information transfer from the clinic to the doctor's
      office.

PMID- 27637186
TI  - In memory of Daniel H. Teitelbaum.

PMID- 27637185
TI  - Reproducibility of image-based computational models of intracranial aneurysm;
      methodological issue.

PMID- 27637188
TI  - Optimization of hybrid iterative reconstruction level and evaluation of image
      quality and radiation dose for pediatric cardiac computed tomography angiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hybrid iterative reconstruction can reduce image noise and produce
      better image quality compared with filtered back-projection (FBP), but few
      reports describe optimization of the iteration level. OBJECTIVE: We optimized the
      iteration level of iDose4 and evaluated image quality for pediatric cardiac CT
      angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Children (n = 160) with congenital heart
      disease were enrolled and divided into full-dose (n = 84) and half-dose (n = 76)
      groups. Four series were reconstructed using FBP, and iDose4 levels 2, 4 and 6;
      we evaluated subjective quality of the series using a 5-grade scale and compared
      the series using a Kruskal-Wallis H test. For FBP and iDose4-optimal images, we
      compared contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) and size-specific dose estimates (SSDE)
      using a Student's t-test. We also compared diagnostic-accuracy of each group
      using a Kruskal-Wallis H test. RESULTS: Mean scores for iDose4 level 4 were the
      best in both dose groups (all P < 0.05). CNR was improved in both groups with
      iDose4 level 4 as compared with FBP. Mean decrease in SSDE was 53% in the half
      dose group. Diagnostic accuracy for the four datasets were in the range 92.6
      96.2% (no statistical difference). CONCLUSION: iDose4 level 4 was optimal for
      both the full- and half-dose groups. Protocols with iDose4 level 4 allowed 53%
      reduction in SSDE without significantly affecting image quality and diagnostic
      accuracy.

PMID- 27637187
TI  - Predicting 30-day postoperative mortality for emergent anterior abdominal wall
      hernia repairs using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality
      Improvement Program database.
AB  - PURPOSE: Anterior abdominal wall hernias are among the most commonly encountered
      surgical disease. We sought to identify risk factors that are associated with 30
      day postoperative mortality following emergent abdominal wall hernia repair using
      the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      (ACS NSQIP) database. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data from the ACS
      NSQIP from 2005 to 2010 was performed. Patients were selected using Current
      Procedural Terminology (CPT) and International Classification of Disease 9
      Clinical Modification (ICD9) codes for the repair of inguinal, femoral,
      umbilical, epigastric, ventral, or incisional hernias that were incarcerated,
      obstructed, strangulated, or gangrenous. Only emergent cases occurring within two
      days of admission and admitted as inpatients were included. Univariate and
      multivariable analysis was performed. A risk score was also created. RESULTS:
      There were 4298 cases of emergent anterior abdominal wall hernia surgery. The
      most common was inguinal (25.3 %), followed by incisional (23.8 %), umbilical
      (23.5 %), ventral (12.1 %), femoral (8.8 %), and epigastric (6.5 %) hernias.
      Multivariable analysis demonstrated six statistically significant predictors of
      short-term mortality, including history of congestive heart failure (CHF) [odds
      ratio (OR) 8.24, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 4.05-16.75), age (OR 5.52, 95 % CI
      3.48-8.77), history of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) (OR 4.98, 95 % CI 2.08
      11.92), presence of ascites (OR 3.16, 95 % CI 1.64-6.08), preoperative blood urea
      nitrogen (OR 1.35, 95 % CI 1.22-1.49), and preoperative white blood cell count
      (OR 1.22, 95 % CI 1.02-1.45). The C-statistic for the risk model was 0.858.
      CONCLUSION: We present a large study on short-term mortality following emergent
      anterior abdominal wall hernia repairs based on the ACS NSQIP with a derived risk
      model that demonstrates excellent discriminative ability.

PMID- 27637189
TI  - [Clinical Research without Direct Profit in Children and the Best Interest
      Standard].
AB  - Clinical research has an ambivalent nature for the benefits it promises and the
      risks we inevitably incur. When the subjects involved are minors, ethical issues
      become more complicated. The ethical importance of the matter is revealed
      especially when assessing clinical trials in which children are exposed to high
      risk (it can involve even the subject's live), because those children have no
      legal skill to decide about the question, and when the big institutions
      (pharmaceutical companies, universities or public institutions) give preference
      to research 'progress', over the welfare of the minors. In this paper we analyze
      on which criteria research involving children is uphold, as well as the standards
      that should be applied in this activity, and we will detain particularly in the
      valuation of the use of placebo, especially when the children involved in a trial
      do not receive a direct profit from it. 

PMID- 27637190
TI  - [Medicine and Crime Against Humanity. Dr. Adelaide Hautval's Legacy].
AB  - This article approaches the testimony of the Alsatian psychiatrist Dr Adelaide
      Hautval on the pseudo-medicine that was practiced in the Medical experimentation
      Block 10 of Auschwitz Birkenau, and on her refusal to take part in this crime
      against humanity. By reading her deportation diary and the acts of a peculiar
      judgment in Auschwitz that was celebrated in London in 1964, we are confronted
      with the ethical and professional dilemmas that doctors, who were themselves
      prisoners, had to face in this situation, and that incited them to resist
      inhumanity by acts, to disobey their superiors, and to be solidary with the
      victims. This attitude enlightens us on the course to follow in front of the bio
      political policies of today. 

PMID- 27637191
TI  - The Dialogue Between Medical Doctors and Bioethicists: Rethinking Experience to
      Improve Medical Education.
AB  - More and more seems to be necessary to find new ways of communication between
      medical doctors and bioethicists in order to build a shared vocabulary and to
      prevent conflicts: many bioethical problems seem to be caused by the lack of
      dialogue between them, which both seem to speak two different languages.
      Improving this dialogue means searching new languages and innovative forms of
      communication: the narration could be a really effective tool to enhance the
      physicians' and bioethicist's moral conscience, since it facilitates reasoning on
      someone's particular experience, and, ultimately, on our experience. Starting
      from the results of a questionnaire administered to a group of students of the
      Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University Campus Bio-Medico we present a
      theoretical discussion about the need for more dialogue and for a shared
      vocabulary in medical experiences. In this regard, we suggest as a possible
      solution to the conflicts among medical doctors and bioethicists, an educational
      strategy, i.e., humanities courses for medical students, which may help them to
      deeply describe their practical present (and future) experience. 

PMID- 27637192
TI  - [Integration of the Principles of Palliative Care In Intensive Care Medicine].
AB  - Recent scientific literature has shown a growing interest to integrate palliative
      medicine principles into the daily workflow in the intensive care unit (ICU).
      This article reviews this trend with the goal that its application might provide
      more understanding in the resolution of some current ethical issues. Patients
      with an advanced disease process and at the end of life who are admitted in the
      intensive care unit are in such a profound level of suffering and vulnerability
      that only an holistic and comprehensive approach can provide adequate relief to
      them. Nevertheless, the reality of the clinical care of these patients in the ICU
      is far beyond that ideal. Our primary end point is the improvement in the
      clinical care provided, especially when the patient is dying. It is indeed very
      complex to make progress in this field, but an effort has to be made. The project
      is to turn to palliative medicine as a role model for end of life care and as an
      holistic approach, and introduce palliative medicine principles in the ICU. The
      goal of this article is to reveal a practical approach to accomplish this, and
      make it functional in order to improve our patients' clinical and ethical care. 

PMID- 27637193
TI  - [Descriptive Study of the Activities Performed By the Provincial Medical
      Deontology Commissions].
AB  - AIM: to describe the expedient's features those settle the medical ethics
      commissions of the provincial colleges (PMEC). MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY:
      descriptive study, retrospective from the typology of the received claims to the
      PMEC between 01-06-2013 and 31-05-2014. The colleges were selected by simple
      stratified random sample. Variables related with the origin of the claim, chapter
      of the Medical Ethics Code affected, resolution timescales, judgement and others;
      were gathered. Descriptive analysis of the variables, expressing with medians the
      quantitative variables and their corresponding interquartile ranges; and with
      absolute and relative frequencies the qualitative ones. A bivariate analysis,
      through Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: 10 provincial colleges
      participated (47.652 members, 20.2% from the Spanish total) that communicated 120
      claims. Overall impact: 2.5 claims %0 members/year. The denouncers are mainly
      patients (80%). The family medicine is the most affected specialty (19.2% of the
      claims), the quality of the medical attention the most affected chapter of the CD
      (60% of the claims). The global resolution timescale was 115.5 days (55-187). The
      PMEC judged ethical failure in 17 cases (14.2), 10 of them within the private
      sector. 8 (6.7%) were pending on the date 01-03-2015. 8 cases (6.7%) ended in
      disciplinary file by the management board, one in verbal amonestation and one was
      pendent of resolution. CONCLUSIONS: the incidence of the medical ethics claims is
      low, as well as the proportion of disciplinary files. Too many discrepancies
      exist between the judgements of the PMEC and the college's management boards.

PMID- 27637194
TI  - [Contribution of Stein's Anthropology to Personalistic Bioethics].
AB  - Dr. Juan Manuel Burgos proposes "a challenge" to whom aims to consolidate the
      dignity of the human person as the center of a thought structure. Burgos presents
      a well-founded trilogy, citing Wojtyla, Sgreccia and he himself, as a perfect
      combination to support personalist bioethics. However, the possibility of giving
      a solid anthropological support to this bioethics remains open provided that a
      substantial list of personalistic authors is revised. This research seeks to
      collate Stein's anthropological proposal to personalist bioethics needs expressed
      by Burgos. The study aims to prove how Stein's anthropology can be assembled to
      the characteristics of personalism, and thus infer that more specific levels of
      the personalist bioethics can be based on this anthropology. 

PMID- 27637195
TI  - [The Problem of Beginning of the Personal Being In the Anthropology of V. E.
      Frankl].
AB  - In this paper we review the V. E. Frankl' conception of the 'person', which he
      understands as the superior part in man. This study consists of three parts: a)
      In the first we study 10 thesis that the father of logotherapy offers on the
      person, namely: 1st) the person is an individual; 2nd) whitaut possibility of
      sum; 3rd) is a new being; 4th) is spiritual; 5th) is existential; 6th) is the 'I'
      or the 'ego'; 7th) provides unity and wholeness; 8th) is dynamic; 9th) is able to
      transcend and to face herself; 10th) He is not understood by itself but from the
      point of view of transcendence. b) In the second part are studied 7 synonyms that
      the founder of the third Viennese school of psychology offers on the person: 1st)
      individual; 2nd) I; 3rd) personality; 4th) existence; 5th) spirit; 6th) heart;
      7th) becoming. c) The third part we review the franklian hypothesis defending
      that the human person appears after the birth of human biological life. Although
      it is the third part that gives the the title of this work, it can only be
      understood, and also reviewed, after having founded in the preceding two parties
      what specifically understand V.E. Frankl for person. 

PMID- 27637196
TI  - [Crispr-Cas9 Gene Editing Revolution and the Its Ethical and Legal Challenges].
AB  - After discovering the CRISPR-Cas9 as an extraordinary method for Gene editing it
      is necessary to reflect on the ethical, political and legal impact of this
      technology. This work pretends to offer a preliminary consideration of these
      problems. I do not pay attention to the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 in the fields of
      health or environment, nor to all the ethical, legal and political challenges it
      involves. I principally focus the attention on the possibility of using CRISPR
      Cas9 to alter the human germ line. There are some rulings on this topic delivered
      by intergovernmental organizations. There also are some statements from the
      scientific community on the matter. They are important in order to know the
      reasons why they propose a moratorium on the use of CRISPR-Cas9 for human germ
      line editing. I begin the paper with a short explanation on how CRISPR-Cas9
      works. 

PMID- 27637197
TI  - Use of Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Severe Eye Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine has major therapeutic
      potential. Recent clinical trials using cells derived from human stem cells are
      showing encouraging results, although these should be assessed with the necessary
      caution. DISCUSSION: Some media have reported the results of these trials without
      due care, perhaps creating expectations that do not match the reality of the
      facts. This paper describes some of the recent advances in the use of human stem
      cells, particularly those made in the area of ophthalmology, and more
      specifically, in Stargardt's disease and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
      We also present promising studies with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS),
      aimed at obtaining retinal pigmented epithelium and light-sensitive retinal rods
      in the aforementioned ocular diseases, with encouraging preclinical and clinical
      results. CONCLUSIONS: From a medical point of view, we must not forget that the
      transplanted retinal epithelium cells may cause tumours, since they have been
      obtained from Embryonic Stem cells, and may trigger immune rejection problems
      since they are heterologous. These considerations attest to the ethical
      uncertainty of the results of these clinical trials, but above all, it must be
      stressed that whenever Embryonic Stem cells are used, a human embryo must be
      destroyed to obtain them, which of course has objective ethical difficulties.

PMID- 27637198
TI  - [Informed Consent in the Humanization of the Cesarean: A Preliminary Study].
AB  - The informed consent (IC) is a process based on dialogue between the professional
      and the patient in which he freely decides on possible interventions in their
      health. This is applicable to caesarean delivery and if it meets a number of
      conditions will help to improve the process of "humanization" of birth. The
      overall objective of this study is to analyze preliminarily in several hospitals
      in the Region of Murcia the IC in caesarean delivery. To this end, we have
      revised the documents of IC and we studied who, where, when and how the IC
      process is done. The results show that all hospitals are based on the same
      document, and although the documents take into account all the elements of a IC,
      do not indicate the date of their design or subsequent revisions. It does not
      contemplate the risks and complications that caesarean section can have on the
      newborn, mother, and mother-child relationship later. It is noted that the
      document of IC normally is delivers by gynecologist in the consultation, when
      intervention is programmed, although it are sometimes nurses, who after admission
      to the hospital give it to sign the patient. In urgent caesarean sections, there
      are some hospitals that in life-threatening situation, do not offer the document
      of IC to women. In others, it is offered hastily by the gynecologist or midwife.
      In conclusion, the IC is a process which used correctly, favors the relationship
      between women and health professionals in the intervention of cesarean section.
      Although this process and the documents of IC examined in our study, have
      presented many positive aspects, the humanization of caesarean could be increased
      improving with the preparation and updating of these documents and coordinating
      the various professionals. 

PMID- 27637200
TI  - [Commentary on the Case: Parental Refusal to Treatment in a Minor. Enteral
      Nutrition to a Patient with Severe Neurological Deficit].

PMID- 27637199
TI  - [Case: Parental Refusal to Treatment in a Minor. Enteral Nutrition to a Patient
      with Severe Neurological Deficit].

PMID- 27637201
TI  - Opposite differential risks for autism and schizophrenia based on maternal age,
      paternal age, and parental age differences.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Effects of maternal and paternal age on offspring
      autism and schizophrenia risks have been studied for over three decades, but
      inconsistent risks have often been found, precluding well-informed speculation on
      why these age-related risks might exist. METHODOLOGY: To help clarify this
      situation we analysed a massive single population sample from Denmark including
      the full spectrum of autistic and schizophrenic disorders (eliminating between
      study confounding), used up to 30 follow-up years, controlled for over 20
      potentially confounding factors and interpret the ultimate causation of the
      observed risk patterns using generally accepted principles of parent-offspring
      conflict and life-history theory. RESULTS: We evaluated the effects of paternal
      age, maternal age and parental age difference on offspring mental disorders and
      found consistently similar risk patterns for related disorders and markedly
      different patterns between autistic and schizophrenic disorders. Older fathers
      and mothers both conferred increased risk for autistic but not schizophrenic
      disorders, but autism risk was reduced in younger parents and offspring of
      younger mothers had increased risk for many schizophrenic disorders. Risk for
      most disorders also increased when parents were more dissimilarly aged.
      Monotonically increasing autism risk is consistent with mutation accumulation as
      fathers' age, but this explanation is invalid for schizophrenic disorders, which
      were not related to paternal age and were negatively correlated with maternal
      age. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We propose that the observed maternally
      induced risk patterns ultimately reflect a shifting ancestral life-history trade
      off between current and future reproduction, mediated by an initially high but
      subsequently decreasing tendency to constrain foetal provisioning as women
      proceed from first to final pregnancy.

PMID- 27637202
TI  - Effect of light and auxin transport inhibitors on endoreduplication in hypocotyl
      and cotyledon.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Enhancement of endoreduplication in dark-grown hypocotyl is a common
      feature in dicotyledonous polysomatic plants, and TIBA-mediated inhibition of the
      endoreduplication is partially due to abnormal actin organization. Many higher
      plant species use endoreduplication during cell differentiation. However, the
      mechanisms underlying this process have remained elusive. In this study, we
      examined endoreduplication in hypocotyls and cotyledons in response to light in
      some dicotyledonous plant species. Enhancement of endoreduplication was found in
      the dark-grown hypocotyls of all the polysomatic species analyzed across five
      different families, indicating that this process is a common feature in
      dicotyledonous plants having polysomatic tissues. Conversely, endoreduplication
      was enhanced in the light-grown cotyledons in four of the five species analyzed.
      We also analyzed the effect of a polar auxin transport inhibitor, 2,3,5
      triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) on endoreduplication in hypocotyl and cotyledon
      tissues of radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. longipinnatus Bailey). TIBA was found
      to inhibit and promote endoreduplication in hypocotyls and cotyledons,
      respectively, suggesting that the endoreduplication mechanism differs in these
      organs. To gain insight into the effect of TIBA, radish and spinach (Spinacia
      oleracea L.) seedlings were treated with a vesicle-trafficking inhibitor,
      brefeldin A, and an actin polymerization inhibitor, cytochalasin D. Both of the
      inhibitors partially inhibited endoreduplication of the dark-grown hypocotyl
      tissues, suggesting that the prominent inhibition of endoreduplication by TIBA
      might be attributed to its multifaceted role.

PMID- 27637204
TI  - Intussusception and perforation due to an inflammatory fibroid polyp located in
      the ileum.

PMID- 27637203
TI  - Functional identification of oleate 12-desaturase and omega-3 fatty acid
      desaturase genes from Perilla frutescens var. frutescens.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: We described identification, expression, subcellular localization,
      and functions of genes that encode fatty acid desaturase enzymes in Perilla
      frutescens var. frutescens. Perilla (Perilla frutescens var. frutescens) seeds
      contain approximately 40 % of oil, of which alpha-linolenic acid (18:3) comprise
      more than 60 % in seed oil and 56 % of total fatty acids (FAs) in leaf,
      respectively. In perilla, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized and chloroplast
      localized omega-3 FA desaturase genes (PfrFAD3 and PfrFAD7, respectively) have
      already been reported, however, microsomal oleate 12-desaturase gene (PfrFAD2)
      has not yet. Here, four perilla FA desaturase genes, PfrFAD2-1, PfrFAD2-2,
      PfrFAD3-2 and PfrFAD7-2, were newly identified and characterized using random
      amplification of complementary DNA ends and sequence data from RNAseq analysis,
      respectively. According to the data of transcriptome and gene cloning, perilla
      expresses two PfrFAD2 and PfrFAD3 genes, respectively, coding for proteins that
      possess three histidine boxes, transmembrane domains, and an ER retrieval motif
      at its C-terminal, and two chloroplast-localized omega-3 FA desaturase genes,
      PfrFAD7-1 and PfrFAD7-2. Arabidopsis protoplasts transformed with perilla genes
      fused to green fluorescence protein gene demonstrated that PfrFAD2-1 and PfrFAD3
      2 were localized in the ER, and PfrFAD7-1 and PfrFAD7-2 were localized in the
      chloroplasts. PfrFAD2 and perilla omega-3 FA desaturases were functional in
      budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) indicated by the presence of 18:2 and
      16:2 in yeast harboring the PfrFAD2 gene. 18:2 supplementation of yeast harboring
      omega-3 FA desaturase gene led to the production of 18:3. Therefore, perilla
      expresses two functional FAD2 and FAD3 genes, and two chloroplast-localized omega
      3 FA desaturase genes, which support an evidence that P. frutescens cultivar is
      allotetraploid plant.

PMID- 27637205
TI  - Association between apolipoprotein B EcoRI poly mor phisms and coronary heart
      disease : A meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study was carried out to examine the association between
      apolipoprotein B (ApoB) EcoRI polymorphism (E- vs. E+) (rs1042031) and coronary
      heart disease (CHD) risk by systematically analyzing multiple independent
      studies. METHODS: The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) test was applied to assess
      genotype frequency distribution in healthy controls. The quality of the studies
      was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). Power analysis was performed
      with Power and Precision V4 software. A fixed effect model was used because no
      deviation from homogeneity was found. Publication bias was quantified and
      examined with Begg's funnel plot test and Egger's linear regression method. The
      meta-analysis was performed by Stata 12.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 21
      eligible association studies were merged in this meta-analysis and the pooled
      sample consisted of 2994 CHD patients and 3258 healthy controls. No significant
      publication bias and heterogeneity were observed in these studies. The pooled
      odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of E- vs. E+ were 1.18 (1.06
      1.32). The pooled OR (95% CI) of E+ E- + E- E- vs. E+ E+ was 1.18 (1.04-1.34).
      CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicated that ApoB EcoRI confers a moderate risk
      for CHD and the E- allele at this locus might be a susceptibility allele for the
      development of CHD.

PMID- 27637208
TI  - MedUni Wien RESEARCHER OF THE MONTH, September 2016.

PMID- 27637206
TI  - Prognostic nutritional index as a predictor of prognosis in patients with diffuse
      large B cell lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognostic nutritional index (PNI), an indicator of nutritional
      status and systemic inflammation, is associated with short-term and long-term
      outcomes of various malignancies. The prognostic value of PNI in diffuse large B
      cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to
      determine the prognostic value of baseline PNI in DLBCL patients. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analyzed data from 103 DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP or R
      CHOP-like regimens. We evaluated the significance of PNI as a predictor of
      response to treatment, overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS).
      RESULTS: Patients with a PNI <= 44.55, where the cut-off was calculated by
      receiver operating characteristics (Youden index) and the same was obtained for
      response to treatment with 76.2 % sensitivity and a specificity of 85.4 %, for OS
      with 72.4 % sensitivity and a specificity of 90.5 % and for EFS with 65.6 %
      sensitivity and a specificity of 90.1 %, had significantly worse 5-year OS (18.3
      % vs 86.4 %, P < 0.001, log rank test) and 5-year EFS (15.1 % vs 82.3 %, P <
      0.001, log rank test). Regression analysis showed that PNI <= 44.55 was an
      independent prognostic factor for response to treatment with an odds ratio (OR)
      of 4.88 for treatment failure, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.077-22.105, OS
      hazard ratio (HR) 4.24, 95 % CI 1.451-12.392 and EFS HR 4.007, 95 % CI 1.48
      10.852. Lower PNI levels were found in patients with advanced Ann Arbor clinical
      stage (46.6 +/- 7.77 vs. 52.7 +/- 5.43) and in those with poor response to
      therapy (40.58 +/- 7.26 vs. 50.67 +/- 6.26). CONCLUSIONS: The PNI is a simple and
      useful marker to predict long-term survival outcome in DLBCL patients. Low PNI
      predicted poor outcome. A limitation of the study is its retrospective design in
      which the prognostic value was tested in the derivation cohort only.
      Notwithstanding, this is the first study suggesting that PNI is an important
      prognostic factor in DLBCL.

PMID- 27637207
TI  - Blood level of CD45+ platelets and development of restenosis after drug-eluting
      stent implantation in patients with stable coronary artery disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess CD45-positive platelets (CD45+
      platelets) involvement in restenosis development after drug-eluting stent (DES)
      implantation in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: The
      study comprised 126 male and female patients with stable angina pectoris, who
      underwent elective coronary stenting with DES and follow-up angiography within 6
      12 months. The patients were assigned to the group with restenosis (n = 53) or
      group without restenosis (n = 73) according to the follow-up angiograms. In both
      groups we compared the level in blood of CD45+ platelets, the clinical,
      laboratory and angiographic variables, which may affect the development of
      restenosis. We have also constructed a logit regression model for prognosis of
      restenosis occurrence after DES implantation. RESULTS: The blood count of CD45+
      platelets was higher in patients with restenosis than in patients without: 0.82 %
      (0.58; 1.12) vs. 0.34 % (0.20; 0.68), p < 0.001, data are expressed as median
      (lower quartile; upper quartile). By binary comparisons of more than 35 different
      clinical, laboratory and angiographic variables we identified 8 significant risk
      factors for the development of stent restenosis after DES. In order to define the
      risk of the development of restenosis, we have built a logit regression model.
      The resulting logit regression equation included the level of CD45+ platelets,
      the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), small diameter arteries stenting and
      the number of simultaneously implanted stents in one patient. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve analysis has demonstrated the high prognostic value of
      the resulting logit regression equation with an area under the curve (AUC) of
      0.91 % (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The acquired data indicate the presence of a
      close relationship between circulating CD45+ platelets and restenosis development
      after DES implantation in patients with stable CAD.

PMID- 27637209
TI  - The Second World Robotic Urology Symposium.

PMID- 27637210
TI  - Robotic applications in reproductive endocrinology and infertility.
AB  - In reproductive medicine, minimally invasive techniques are commonly used to
      perform various surgeries (e.g., tubal reanastomosis and myomectomy) in the
      infertile patient. In recent years, robotic technology has been utilized to
      perform these surgeries. This article will review the laparoscopic and robotic
      applications for tubal reanastomosis and myomectomy within the field of
      reproductive medicine. In addition, current robotic techniques utilized at our
      institution will be reviewed. In reproductive medicine, robotic-assisted
      technology provides a feasible option for minimally invasive surgery. 

PMID- 27637212
TI  - The patterns and costs of the Da Vinci robotic surgery system in a large academic
      institution.
AB  - The da Vinci TMRobotic System (dVRS) is the latest advancement in laparoscopic
      surgery allowing the surgeon more accurate and precise control of instrumentation
      with an added three-dimensional image. Technology comes with a price, $1.3
      million. Due to charitable contributions from the Durham family, the University
      of Nebraska was the eighth Medical Center in the USA to obtain a dVRS in June
      2000. UNMC analyzed 224 dVRS surgical procedures from July 2000 to February 2007.
      These procedures were designated by surgical service and further scrutinized for
      length of stay, and cost. We also reviewed trends in operative usage, academic
      and public relations components with this innovative technology. The dVRS was
      used for multiple other purposes that were beneficial including research with
      engineering graduate students, training for surgical residents, display and demos
      as a means for public relations. Primarily general and urologic surgeons utilized
      the dVRS. General surgeons were the early adopters of the new technology, the
      greatest growth and utilization of the equipment has been in urologic procedures,
      which has outpaced general surgery in the past year. Cost analysis shows a subtle
      benefit with a reduced length of stay by an average of 4 days. Average direct
      costs were found to be greater with the dVRS by $1,470. Overall, the effects of
      the dVRS are vast reaching and are fundamental to the growth of an academic
      institution and continued progress in minimally invasive surgery. 

PMID- 27637211
TI  - The role of surgical simulation and the learning curve in robot-assisted surgery.
AB  - New surgical teaching methods are continuously being developed to overcome the
      learning curves of new advanced surgical procedures. The learning curve is
      recognized in most minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery. The development
      of complex skills-training models and simulators, although in its infancy, has
      started to facilitate the transfer of these skills to novice surgeons without
      increasing the risk to patients' safety. Robotic surgery, whether in the
      specialties of urology, general surgery, or cardiac surgery, has become the ideal
      platform to integrate simulators for teaching purposes. Its different interface
      requires the surgeon to acquire more advanced skills compared with conventional
      open or laparoscopic surgery. However, simulators can allow the naive surgeon to
      develop these skills and pass the learning curve without the medico-legal
      implications of surgical training, limitations in trainee working hours, and
      ethical considerations of learning basic skills on humans. 

PMID- 27637213
TI  - The cost of radical prostatectomy: retrospective comparison of open,
      laparoscopic, and robot-assisted approaches.
AB  - New technologies are regularly being used for surgical treatment of prostate
      cancer, however the cost associated is often a secondary issue. We assessed the
      operative costs incurred by using the daVinci robot assisted prostatectomy (RAP)
      method compared to pure laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) and open radical
      prostatectomy (ORP). We retrospectively analyzed three techniques of radical
      prostatectomies: ORP, LRP, and RAP (n = 70, 57, 106, respectively). The mean
      patient age was 53.6, 57.6, and 60 with a mean preoperative prostate specific
      antigen (PSA) of 7.2, 8.4, and 6.6, respectively. The mean Gleason score was 6.
      Operative cost was measured for each patient. Charts were reviewed to assess
      individual patients postoperative requirements, and hospital length of stay
      (LOS). Intraoperative data show costs to be higher with the RAP and LRP compared
      to open surgery. Average total operating room (OR) costs per case were $5410,
      $3876, and $1870 for RAP, LRP, and open prostatectomy, respectively. However when
      comparisons are made in the postoperative period with regard to LOS, there is a
      significant advantage of the RAP and LRP groups over open surgery (P < 0.05).
      Intraoperative costs are highest for RAP. Both LRP and RAP are associated with a
      shorter hospital stay. 

PMID- 27637214
TI  - Surgical case order does not affect outcomes during robot-assisted radical
      prostatectomy.
AB  - Fatigue has been implicated in medical errors. There has not been any report in
      the surgical literature addressing the impact of case order on patient outcomes.
      The purpose of this study was to determine whether the order of robot-assisted
      radical prostatectomy (RARP) has an influence on surgical outcomes. All patients
      undergoing RARP by a single surgeon (J.V.J.) on days during which there were
      three consecutive RARP cases were divided into three groups based on case order.
      They were compared with respect to pre-operative, intra-operative, and post
      operative parameters. Complications were classified as surgical (bladder neck
      contracture, urinary tract infection, post-operative bleeding) or medical (deep
      venous thrombosis, myocardial infarction, C. difficile colitis) and compared
      between the groups. A total of 381 patients were evaluated, 127 in each group.
      The median start time for group 1 was 0732 hours (range 0722-0900 hours), group 2
      was 1108 hours (range 1008-1344 hours), and group 3 was 1458 hours (range 1258
      1742 hours). Patient age, body mass index, pre-operative PSA, pre-operative
      Gleason score, and clinical stage were all similar amongst the groups. The total
      operative time was equivalent, as was the estimated blood loss. Prostate volume
      and pathologic Gleason score showed no significant changes between groups.
      Pathologic stage showed a slight trend toward increasing percentages of T3
      disease with increasing group number (group 1 = 17%, group 2 = 19%, and group 3 =
      24%). Positive margin rates were lowest in group 3 (11.8% for group 1, 12.6% for
      group 2, and 3.9% for group 3). Complication rates were equivalent at 5-7%
      overall (2-6% surgical complications, 2-4% medical). Three patients from each
      group had PSA recurrence. With an experienced surgical team, three RARP
      procedures may be performed in 1 day without significant variation in surgical
      outcomes among the cases. 

PMID- 27637215
TI  - Identification and preservation of accessory pudendal vessels during robot
      assisted laparoscopic radical retropubic prostatectomy.
AB  - The introduction of minimally invasive surgery for radical retropubic
      prostatectomy has increased the incidence of recognition of accessory pudendal
      arteries. Early identification and preservation of these vessels is paramount for
      optimal functional outcomes. In this article, we describe our robotic surgical
      technique for identification and preservation of both lateral and apical
      accessory pudendal arteries. The illuminated, magnified surgical field, the
      pneumoperitoneum which minimizes venous bleeding, and the ability to acutely
      angle the robotic instruments assists in the preservation of these arteries.
      Although anatomy precludes the preservation of all accessory pudendal arteries,
      adopting a strategic approach to robotic dissection allows accessory pudendal
      arteries to be successfully spared in most cases. 

PMID- 27637216
TI  - First case series of robotic radical cystoprostatectomy, bilateral pelvic
      lymphadenectomy, and urinary diversion with the da Vinci S system.
AB  - One of the recent developments in the da Vinci robot surgical system is the
      introduction of a more ergonomic four-arm robot. We report our experience of
      robotic radical cystectomy (RRC) for bladder cancer using the four-arm da
      Vinci((r)) S(TM) robot (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). Beginning
      September 2006, we performed robotic radical cystectomy and bilateral pelvic
      lymphadenectomy in six patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer using da
      Vinci((r)) S(TM) robot. Ileal conduit diversion was made in five patients, and
      sigmoid orthotopic neobladder in one patient. The operating surgeon used the
      fourth arm for various steps such as bladder retraction for defining vascular
      pedicles, separating cystoprostatectomy specimen off the rectum, and while
      performing urethroneovesicostomy. The mean operative time was 12, 148, 44, and
      126 min for docking, cystectomy, lymphadenectomy, and urinary diversion,
      respectively. Median blood loss was 200 ml. Mean hospital stay was 9.2 days.
      Surgical margins were negative in all the patients. The mean number of nodes
      removed was 12 (4-19). Histopathology revealed transitional cell carcinoma in all
      the patients (pT2a-1, pT2b-3, pT3a-2). Robotic radical cystectomy is feasible
      with new four-arm da Vinci((r)) S(TM) surgical system. The operating surgeon can
      use the fourth arm of the robot as a substitute for the second assistant during
      the procedure. However, a patient-side surgeon with adequate training in
      laparoscopic skills is mandatory. 

PMID- 27637217
TI  - Early robotic experience with paraesophageal hernia repair and Nissen
      fundoplication: short-term outcomes.
AB  - The applications of robot-assisted surgery continue to expand. Several recent
      studies have examined the use of robotic Nissen fundoplication (RF) for treatment
      of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Our experience with RF has led us to
      introduce this technology for the treatment of paraesophageal hernias (PEH).
      There is little information about the short-term outcomes of patients undergoing
      robotic paraesophageal hernia repair (RPEH). The goal of our study was to
      summarize the short-term outcomes of patients who underwent either RF or RPEH. We
      conducted a retrospective review of all patients who underwent RPEH and RF by a
      single surgeon between June, 2005 and August, 2006. Data collected included age,
      gender, body mass index (BMI), co-morbidities and prior operations, and ASA
      class. Outcomes included operating times, length of stay, pain medication use,
      and perioperative complications. We performed a comparison of the two groups
      using the Mann-Whitney U test for statistical significance. Seven patients
      underwent RPEH, and 19 patients underwent RF alone. Four patients were excluded
      from the RF group. Patients in the RPEH group had a significantly higher BMI (33
      vs. 26 kg/m(2), P = 0.007) and significantly more comorbidities (6 vs. 4, P =
      0.004). There was no calculated statistical difference between the two groups in
      regards to age, ASA class, operating times, length of stay, or complications.
      Patients undergoing RPEH have similar short-term outcomes when compared to
      patients undergoing RF. The skills necessary for RF can be easily applied to
      RPEH, despite technical differences between the two operations. Similar morbidity
      can be anticipated between the two groups. 

PMID- 27637218
TI  - Renal vein varix and UPJ obstruction: a case report and techniques for robotic
      management.
AB  - The use of minimally invasive techniques to manage an ureteropelvic junction
      obstruction (UPJO) has been well described. In this case report, we describe the
      management of an UPJO and a large renal vein varix discovered at the time of
      robotic pyeloplasty. The control and precision of robotic assistance was key to
      the effective management of this intra-operative finding. 

PMID- 27637219
TI  - Annular pancreas in an adult managed by laparobotic surgery: a case report.
AB  - Annular pancreas in an adult is an uncommon and infrequently reported anomaly
      which is characterized by the presence of ectopic pancreatic tissue surrounding
      the descending part of the duodenum. It is one of the few congenital anomalies of
      the gastrointestinal tract, which can manifest with symptoms late in life
      (Ravitch and Woods in Ann Surg 132:1116-1127, 1950). In adults, the factors
      initiating symptoms are recurrent pancreatitis, duodenal stenosis at the site of
      the annulus, or duodenal or gastric ulceration (Morrell and Keynes in Br J Surg
      57:814-816, 1970). Operative management of these cases involves bypassing the
      obstructed duodenum. Duodenoduodenostomy is routinely performed in neonates and
      children. We report a case of annular pancreas in a 55-year-old male that was
      successfully treated with robotic duodenoduodenostomy. 

PMID- 27637220
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in patients with pre-existing
      inflatable penile prosthesis.
AB  - Patients with clinically localized prostate cancer presenting for extirpative
      therapy often have a prior history of pelvic surgery. This must be taken into
      account when offering various surgical options. We present two patients who
      underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) after having
      previously undergone implantation of three-piece inflatable penile prostheses. A
      video is provided for illustration of our technique. 

PMID- 27637221
TI  - Laparoscopic robotic-assisted gastrointestinal surgery: a Geneva experience.

PMID- 27637222
TI  - Fresh fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms as transmission vehicles for Echinococcus
      multilocularis.

PMID- 27637223
TI  - Morphological description and phylogeny of Ceratomyxa scorpaeni n. sp.
      (Myxosporea: Ceratomyxidae) infecting the gallbladder of Scorpaena porcus (L.)
      (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) from the bay of Bizerte in Tunisia.
AB  - A new marine myxosporean species Ceratomyxa scorpaeni n. sp. is described using
      morphological characteristics and small subunit ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence
      data. The parasite was found infecting the gallbladder of Scorpaena porcus
      Linnaeus, 1758 collected from the Bay of Bizerte. Mature plasmodia were disporous
      free floating in the bile. Spores were transversely elongated and crescent-shaped
      with unequal shell valves and measured 7.6 +/- 0.2 (7.2-8.0) MUm in length and
      32.8 +/- 0.3 (21.6-44.0) MUm in thickness. Two sub-spherical polar capsules equal
      in size, situated at the same level and measured 3.0 +/- 0.2 (3.0-3.2) MUm in
      length and 2.4 +/- 0.3 (2.3-3.3) MUm in width. The infection with C. scorpaeni n.
      sp. was prevalent throughout the year with a maximum prevalence of infection
      during spring and summer. Molecular analysis of the SSU rRNA gene confirmed the
      parasite as a new member of the genus Ceratomyxa and showed close relationship
      with the species of Ceratomyxa infecting the gallbladders of Sparidae from the
      Mediterranean Sea. This is the first report of Ceratomyxa species from the
      gallbladder of S. porcus in Tunisian coastal waters.

PMID- 27637224
TI  - Activity changes of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes in Tenebrio molitor
      (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) larvae infected by the entomopathogenic nematode
      Heterorhabditis beicherriana (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae).
AB  - Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) of the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis
      are lethal parasites of many insect species. To investigate defensive mechanisms
      towards EPNs in relation to antioxidative and detoxifying enzymes, we chose
      Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) as experimental insect. We studied
      the activity changes of superoxide dismutases (SODs), peroxidases (PODs), and
      catalases (CATs), as well as tyrosinase (TYR), acetylcholinesterase (AChE),
      carboxylesterase (CarE), and glutathione S-transferase (GSTs) for 40 h in T.
      molitor larvae infected with Heterorhabditis beicherriana infective juveniles
      (IJs) at 5 rates (0, 20, 40, 80, and 160 IJs/larva). We found that when T.
      molitor larvae infected with H. beicherriana at higher rates (80 and 160
      IJs/larva), SOD activity quickly increased to more than 70 % higher than that
      control levels. The activities of POD and CAT increased after 24 h. TYR activity
      increased slowly at lower rates of infection for 16 h, followed by a slight
      decrease, and then increasing from 32 to 40 h. The other detoxifying enzymes
      (GST, CarE, and AChE) were enhanced at lower infection rates, but were inhibited
      at higher rates. Our results suggested that host antioxidative response and
      detoxification reactions played a central role in the defensive reaction to EPNs,
      and that this stress which was reflected by the higher level enzymes activity
      contributed to the death of hosts. Further study should explore the exact
      function of these enzymes using different species of EPNs and investigate the
      links between enzyme activity and host susceptibility to EPNs.

PMID- 27637226
TI  - Human intestinal sarcocystosis in Iran: there but not seen.
AB  - Human sarcocystosis is a rare infection caused by the genus Sarcocystis who human
      serve as definitive (intestinal form of infection) host or intermediate
      (extraintestinal form) host for some various Sarcocystis species. The detection
      of Sarcocystis oocysts/sporocysts in the feces usually incidentally and is
      achieved by microscopic examination of the fresh or preserved specimens. To rule
      out any parasitological etiology among 23,875 (aged 2 months to 95 years)
      apparently immunocompetent Iranian individuals (from October of 2010 to June of
      2016) with abdominal discomforts referred to several teaching hospitals and local
      clinical laboratories in Fars Province, Iran, their fecal samples were examined
      using light microscopy. Most pathogenic parasite-positive and doubtful samples
      were sent to the Intestinal Protozoology Laboratories of Fasa and Shiraz
      Universities of Medical Sciences to further examination to detect probable co
      infection with other underdiagnose parasitoses. In addition to the common
      protozoal and helminthic infections, during the course of examining stool
      specimens using direct smear mixed with saline or iodine mounts and by formalin
      ethyl acetate techniques, four cases of intestinal Sarcocystis infection as only
      or concurrently infected with other parasites were found. The present paper
      presents cases of human intestinal Sarcocystis infection in Iran. Since
      Sarcocystis are small in size and usually rare in stool, they often go unnoticed.
      It should be noted that stool smears must be examined with great care to avoid
      misinterpretation of Sarcocystis infections in microscopic examinations. To the
      best of our knowledge, co-infection of intestinal sarcocystosis and other
      principal parasitoses in stool investigations has not been reported earlier.

PMID- 27637228
TI  - Regular, narrow QRS, long RP tachycardia - what is the mechanism?

PMID- 27637225
TI  - Evaluating the risk of Schistosoma mansoni transmission in mainland China.
AB  - Biomphalaria straminea, an intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni, is
      predominantly distributed in the South Americas and Caribbean; however, this
      snail, as an invasive species, was introduced to Shenzhen, southern China, in
      1981, and recent epidemiologic surveys demonstrate that the distribution of B.
      straminea has expanded across the Zhujiang River Basin, South China. In the
      presence of continuous importation of S. mansoni-infected cases, there is a
      growing concern about the transmission of S. mansoni in China. To evaluate the
      risk of S. mansoni transmission in China, we tested the compatibility of B.
      straminea captured from the snail habitats in southern China with S. mansoni in
      laboratory. We detected no S. mansoni infections in B. straminea following
      exposure to the parasite larvae at snail/miracidium ratios of 1:5, 1:10, 1:20,
      1:40, and 1:80, while 6.7 to 66.7 % infections occurred in the control
      Biomphalaria glabrata depending on the ratio. The results of the present study
      demonstrate that the invasive B. straminea snails seem to be incompatible with S.
      mansoni, suggesting a low risk of S. mansoni transmission in mainland China.

PMID- 27637227
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for patent Toxocara infections in cats and cat
      owners' attitude towards deworming.
AB  - The prevalence of and risk factors for shedding Toxocara eggs in cats older than
      6 months were determined by examining 670 faecal samples collected in 4 cross
      sectional studies in the Netherlands. Additionally, cat owners provided
      information on their attitude towards routine deworming. Samples were examined
      using the centrifugal sedimentation flotation method. Overall Toxocara prevalence
      was 7.2 %. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that young age and
      living in rural areas were significant risk factors for shedding Toxocara eggs.
      Moreover, the more time a cat was allowed to roam outdoors, the higher was its
      risk to shed Toxocara as compared to cats with no outdoor access at all. For 199
      cats (81.6 % of cats subjected to a deworming regimen) owners provided the reason
      for treatment. The main reason for routine deworming (80.4 %) concerned the cat's
      health and only 10.6 % of the cats were treated for public health reasons.
      Moreover, the generally advocated four-times-a-year deworming advice was applied
      on only 24.5 % of cats. We concluded that free roaming is a key factor in the
      acquisition of patent Toxocara infections leading to the environmental
      contamination with Toxocara eggs. Additionally, the knowledge of cat owners is
      still insufficient to expect them to make sound decisions on routine deworming.

PMID- 27637229
TI  - Regular, narrow QRS, long RP tachycardia - what is the mechanism?

PMID- 27637230
TI  - Raising children in Fukushima.
AB  - Before the accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011, I
      never thought about radiation. After the accident, I originally evacuated with my
      two sons, but we returned home a few weeks later to be with my husband and
      parents-in-law as I felt that life with my family was what mattered and the very
      basis of my happiness. Today, 5 years after the accident, some people are able to
      think positively about the situation, and some remain uncertain. This article
      offers my experience and thoughts as a mother to help enable others to feel less
      stressed about eating food produced in Fukushima, and suggests ideas to help lift
      their spirits.

PMID- 27637231
TI  - Current status of pelvic lymph node dissection in prostate cancer.
AB  - Pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is presently considered the gold standard for
      the detection of lymph node invasion in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.
      Controversy exists over the adequate extent of PLND for patients at different
      stages of PCa and over the therapeutic value of the procedure. The most recent
      consensus advocates extended PLND (ePLND) in a patient with Gleason score >=7 and
      serum prostate-specific antigen >10 ng/ml who is undergoing radical
      prostatectomy. Critics claim more aggressive dissection is associated with an
      increase in complications, hospitalization time, and cost. The present review
      examines the debate of limited versus ePLND, and discusses the potential value of
      the latter for patients with PCa. Furthermore, it examines the utility of robotic
      assisted surgery in performing PLNDs with both comparable oncological outcomes
      and comparable complication rates. The literature has reported promising results
      that support both diagnostic and therapeutic benefits of ePLND. However,
      prospective, multi-center, long-term studies are necessary to alleviate criticism
      of the increased risk of complications and costs of performing PLND. 

PMID- 27637232
TI  - Standardized surgical technique and dedicated operating room environment can
      reduce the operative time during robotic-assisted surgery for pelvic floor
      disorders.
AB  - Robotic-assisted surgery for pelvic floor disorders (PFD) meets the accepted
      standards for laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this study was to describe the
      technique and the impact of this standardized surgical technique and dedicated
      operating teams on the operative time for robotic-assisted laparoscopic ventral
      mesh rectopexy (RALVMR). Data from a prospective database were extracted for all
      patients who underwent RALVMR between January 2008 and May 2012 for multi
      compartment PFD. Patient pre-, intra- and early postoperative data were analysed.
      To evaluate the impact of both the surgical technique and operating room team on
      operative time over successive years, we divided the total operation time (TOT)
      into robot set-up time (RST) and surgeon console time (SCT) including
      disembarking robotic arms and closure of wounds. A total of 51 patients (3 male)
      with a mean age of 61.1 [+/-11, standard deviation (SD)] years were included for
      analysis. There were no major complications or deaths. Median TOT fell
      significantly by 23 % from 2008 (270 min) to 2012 (179 min) (p < 0.0001). The
      largest reduction (>60 %) was seen in RST, from 55 (SD +/-3) to 21 (SD +/-2) min
      (p < 0.0001). Similarly, SCT was reduced by 36 % from 216 (SD +/-12) to 138 (SD
      +/-8) min (p < 0.0001). Decreased operative time and efficiency were facilitated
      by a devoted, well-trained and consistent team. A standardized surgical technique
      for PFD helps to reduce the duration of the surgical procedure. 

PMID- 27637233
TI  - Progressive reduction in abdominal hysterectomy rates: impact of laparoscopy,
      robotics and surgeon factors.
AB  - The objective of this study is to describe changes in rates of types of
      hysterectomy at a tertiary care community teaching hospital since the
      introduction of laparoscopic and robotic techniques and to determine the effect
      of surgeon characteristics on route of hysterectomy. This is a retrospective
      analysis of types of hysterectomies performed for benign disease during five
      different years (1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009) at a large community teaching
      hospital. Hospital discharge data was reviewed to identify all hysterectomies
      performed during the first six months of each year of the study. Hospital charts
      were reviewed and patient characteristics, indication for surgery, type of
      hysterectomy and surgeon characteristics were recorded. Hysterectomies performed
      for malignancy, suspected malignancy, or postpartum hemorrhage were excluded.
      Types of hysterectomies included abdominal (AH), vaginal (VH), laparoscopic
      assisted vaginal (LAVH), total laparoscopic (TLH), laparoscopic supracervical
      (LSH) and robotic-assisted (RH). The progressive introduction of newer minimally
      invasive surgical techniques (LAVH, TLH, LSH, and RH) resulted in an overall
      reduction in the abdominal hysterectomy rate from 77 to 35.2 % during the time of
      the study. The majority of abdominal, laparoscopic supracervical and robotic
      hysterectomies were performed by generalists, while the majority of vaginal,
      laparoscopic-assisted vaginal and total laparoscopic hysterectomies were
      performed by fellowship trained subspecialists. Minimally invasive hysterectomy
      techniques significantly reduced the rate of abdominal hysterectomies. The LSH
      and RH were the techniques utilized by generalists as their most preferred
      minimally invasive surgical approaches to hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27637234
TI  - Retrograde renal hilar dissection and segmental arterial clamping: a simple
      modification to achieve super-selective robotic partial nephrectomy.
AB  - Super-selective vascular control prior to robotic partial nephrectomy (also known
      as 'zero-ischemia') is a novel surgical technique that promises to reduce warm
      ischemia time. The technique has been shown to be feasible but adds substantial
      technical complexity and cost to the procedure. We present a simplified
      retrograde dissection of the renal hilum to achieve selective vascular control
      during robotic partial nephrectomy. Consecutive patients with stage 1 solid and
      complex cystic renal masses underwent robotic partial nephrectomies with
      selective vascular control using a modification to previously described super
      selective robotic partial nephrectomy. In each case, the renal arterial branch
      supplying the mass and surrounding parenchyma was dissected in a retrograde
      fashion from the tumor. Intra-renal dissection of the interlobular artery was not
      performed. Intra-operative immunofluorescence was not utilized as assessment of
      parenchymal ischemia was documented before partial nephrectomy. Data was
      prospectively collected in an IRB-approved partial nephrectomy database.
      Operative variables between patients undergoing super-selective versus standard
      robotic partial nephrectomy were compared. Super-selective partial nephrectomy
      with retrograde hilar dissection was successfully completed in five consecutive
      patients. There were no complications or conversions to traditional partial
      nephrectomy. All were diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma and surgical margins
      were all negative. Estimated blood loss, warm ischemia time, operative time and
      length of stay were all comparable between patients undergoing super-selective
      and standard robotic partial nephrectomy. Retrograde hilar dissection appears to
      be a feasible and safe approach to super-selective partial nephrectomy without
      adding complex renovascular surgical techniques or cost to the procedure. 

PMID- 27637236
TI  - A comparison of outcomes between the traditional laparoscopic and totally robotic
      Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures.
AB  - Background Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is considered to be the gold standard of
      bariatric procedures. Minimally invasive surgical techniques have been
      demonstrated to decrease recovery time and provide for favorable cosmetic
      outcomes. The drawback of traditional laparoscopic techniques for the surgeon
      comes in the form of 2D monitoring of not always intuitive instrument
      manipulation. The da Vinci Surgical System provides surgeons with a 3D view and
      more intuitive instrument manipulation. This study was conducted in order to
      compare the surgical outcomes and assess the learning curve of traditional
      laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses (LRYGB) to totally robotic Roux-en-Y
      gastric bypasses (TRRYGB). A single surgeon's 100 most recent patients who
      underwent traditional LRYGB and the first 100 patients who underwent TRRYGB were
      included in this study. Data was collected on patient age, gender, body mass
      index (BMI), co-morbidities, surgical time, length of admission, and complication
      rates. No significant differences were found between study groups with respect to
      age, gender, BMI or any recorded co-morbidities. The mean operative times for
      patients 1-50 in the TRRYGB and LRYGB groups were 204.34 +/- 90.19 min and 151.16
      +/- 47.16 min, respectively (P = 0.0004). Mean operative times were 159.60 +/-
      48.26 min and 166.66 +/- 44.95 min for patients 51-100 in the TRRYGB and LRYGB
      groups, respectively (P = 0.45). No significant differences were found between
      study groups with respect to post-surgical complications or 30-day outcomes. Our
      data shows that TRRYGB compares favorably to the traditional laparoscopic
      approach, while maintaining patient safety. 

PMID- 27637235
TI  - Does pure robotic partial nephrectomy provide similar perioperative outcomes when
      compared to the combined laparoscopic-robotic approach?
AB  - Laparoscopic and robotic partial nephrectomy have become the preferred option for
      surgical management of incidentally discovered small renal tumors. Currently
      there is no consensus on which aspects of the procedure should be performed
      laparoscopically versus robotically. We believe that combining a laparoscopic
      exposure and hilar dissection followed by tumor extirpation and renorrhaphy with
      robotic assistance provides improved perioperative outcomes compared to a pure
      robotic approach alone. We performed a comparison of perioperative outcomes
      between combined laparoscopic-robotic partial nephrectomy-or hybrid procedure-and
      pure robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN). A multi-center retrospective analysis of
      patients undergoing RPN and hybrid PN using the da Vinci S system((r)) was
      performed. Patient data were reviewed for demographic and perioperative
      variables. Statistical analysis was performed using the Welch t test and linear
      regression, and nonparametric tests with similar significance results. Thirty-one
      patients underwent RPN while 77 patients underwent hybrid PN between 2007 and
      2011. Preoperative variables were comparable in both groups with the exception of
      lesion size and nephrometry score which were significantly higher in patients
      undergoing hybrid PN. Length of surgery, estimated blood loss and morphine used
      were significantly less in the hybrid group, while warm ischemia time was
      significantly longer. The difference in WIT was accounted for in this data by
      adjusting for nephrometry score. In our multi-center series, the hybrid approach
      was associated with a shorter operative time, reduced blood loss and lower
      narcotic usage. We believe this approach is a valid alternative to RPN. 

PMID- 27637237
TI  - Analysis of postoperative pain in robotic versus traditional laparoscopic
      hysterectomy.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess postoperative pain and narcotic use in the
      first 23 h following robotic versus traditional laparoscopic hysterectomy for
      benign pathology. The study design was that of a retrospective case-control study
      of robotic (first 100 consecutive) versus traditional (last 100 consecutive)
      total laparoscopic hysterectomy cases at an obstetrics and gynecology multi
      institutional community practice. Patient characteristics were equivalent in both
      groups (age, p = 0.364; body mass index, p = 0.326; uterine weight, p = 0.565),
      except for a higher number of Caucasians in the traditional laparoscopic group (p
      = 0.017). Compared to patients who underwent robotic laparoscopic hysterectomy,
      those who underwent the traditional procedure had higher visual analog scale pain
      scores (3.1 +/- 1.5 vs. 4.6 +/- 2.4, respectively; p < 0.001) and used more
      narcotics (27.5 vs. 35.4 mg hydrocodone, respectively; p < 0.05). Factors that
      could potentially increase pain (more procedures, more ports, total incision
      size, and longer operative time) were significantly higher in the robotic group,
      but only surgical approach, amount of narcotic, and age correlated with pain
      levels when evaluated with regression analysis. Complication rates were
      equivalent between groups. In conclusion, patients who underwent robotic assisted
      laparoscopic hysterectomy had statistically decreased postoperative pain scores
      and narcotic use than those who underwent the traditional laparoscopic approach,
      even when the robotic cases involved more procedures and ports and were
      associated with longer operative time. 

PMID- 27637238
TI  - Nerve-sparing robotic radical hysterectomy: our technique.
AB  - Robotic surgery is now becoming accepted for treatment of gynaecological
      malignancies. Nerve preservation during radical hysterectomy is increasingly
      being offered due to improved post-operative bladder and sexual function. We
      aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of performing a nerve-sparing radical
      hysterectomy robotically and to assess the oncological and functional outcomes
      associated with this surgery. Between August 2011 and January 2013, a total of 12
      non-consecutive patients underwent robotic surgery for early stage cervical
      cancer at our institution. Patients comprising FIGO stage IA2 to IB1 were treated
      with nerve-sparing robotic radical hysterectomy using a C1 (Querleu-Morrow
      classification) type technique. The feasibility, operative time, blood loss,
      oncological outcome and post-operative bladder function were assessed. All the
      procedures were completed robotically without conversion to laparoscopy or
      laparotomy. The mean age of the patients was 56 years (range 44-76) and their
      mean body mass index was 22.6 kg/m(2) (range 18.1-26.4). The mean operative time
      was 156 min (range 120-250); the mean blood loss was 120 ml (50-250). The Foley
      catheter was removed on the third post-operative day, with full recovery of
      bladder function in all patients except one who required prolonged
      catheterisation for 3 weeks. Residual urine was 40 ml (range 30-80). Parametrial
      margins of 2.5-3 cm, distal vaginal margins of 2-2.5 cm and a mean nodal harvest
      of 24 (range 18-30) were achieved. The mean hospital stay was 3 days (range 2-6).
      The median follow-up is 12 months. There is no loco-regional recurrence. All the
      patients are sexually active. Robotic nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy is
      technically feasible to perform, and is oncologically safe for early stage
      cervical carcinoma. 

PMID- 27637240
TI  - Transoral robotic study of the vascular anatomy of the head and neck.
AB  - We aimed to explore, highlight and accurately identify the vascular anatomy of
      the oropharynx, hypopharynx and supraglottis utilizing the transoral robotic
      perspective. This was a case series using anatomic studies of cadaveric
      specimens. The cadavers were injected with red- and blue-dyed silicone through
      the arterial and venous systems to define the macro- and microvasculature.
      Following injection of the specimen, a da Vinci robotic surgical system was
      engaged to perform a transoral dissection of the oropharynx, hypopharynx and
      supraglottic regions. Dissection was carried out under high-definition optics.
      Vascular structures were identified and followed to their terminal branches. We
      successfully performed transoral robotic dissections of five fresh frozen
      cadaveric human heads which had been injected with dyed silicone. The injection
      technique and use of a high-definition magnifying camera allowed us to visualize
      and identify the vasculature of the head and neck in a unique fashion. The
      cadaveric model provides an excellent educational tool to aid in training.
      Additionally, the use of this model and the transoral approach has allowed us to
      identify vessels which typically may not be visible on routine dissection. We
      believe this to be very relevant in training and improving performance for safe
      and bloodless transoral robotic surgery. To our knowledge this is the first study
      using the transoral robotic approach to examine the vascular anatomy of the
      oropharynx and larynx. 

PMID- 27637239
TI  - Telerobotic contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation of the ciliary body with
      the diode laser.
AB  - To assess the feasibility of using the Robotic Slave Micromanipulator Unit (RSMU)
      to remotely photocoagulate the ciliary body for the treatment of glaucoma with
      the diode laser. In fresh unoperated enucleated human eyes, the ciliary body was
      destroyed either with a standard contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation 'by
      hand' diode laser technique, or remotely using the RSMU. The treated sections
      were fixed in formalin, paraffin-embedded, and stained with hematoxylin and
      eosin. Histological evaluation was performed by a masked observer using a
      standardized grading system based on the amount of damage to the ciliary body to
      evaluate effectiveness of treatment. Both methods of contact transscleral
      cyclophotocoagulation showed therapeutic tissue disruption of the ciliary
      processes and both the non-pigmented and pigmented ciliary epithelium. Histology
      examination of remote robotic contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation and "by
      hand" technique produced similar degrees of ciliary body tissue disruption.
      Remote diode laser contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation of the ciliary body
      in fresh enucleated human eyes is possible with the RSMU. Therapeutic tissue
      disruption of the ciliary body was achieved. Additional study is necessary to
      determine the safety and efficacy of robotically-delivered cyclophotocoagulation
      in live eyes. 

PMID- 27637241
TI  - Evaluation of robotic-assisted platysmaplasty procedures in a cadaveric model
      using the da Vinci Surgical System.
AB  - We are evaluating the technical feasibility of robotic-assisted laparoscopic
      vertical-intermediate platysmaplasty in conjunction with an open rhytidectomy. In
      a cadaveric study, the da Vinci Surgical System was used to access certain angles
      in the lower neck that are difficult for traditional short incision, short flap
      procedures. Ergonomics, approach, and technical challenges were noted. To date,
      there are no published reports of robotic-assisted neck lifts, motivating us to
      assess its potential in this field of plastic surgery. Standard open technique
      short flap rhytidectomies with concurrent experimental robotic-assisted
      platysmaplasties (neck lifts) were performed on six cadavers with the da Vinci Si
      Surgical System((r)) (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). The surgical
      procedures were performed on a diverse cadaver population from June 2011 to
      January 2012. The procedures included (1) submental incision and laser-assisted
      liposuction, (2) open rhytidectomy, and (3) robotic-assisted platysmaplasty using
      knot-free sutures. A variety of sutures and fat extraction techniques, coupled
      with 0 degrees  and 30 degrees  three-dimensional endoscopes, were utilized to
      optimize visualization of the platysma. An unaltered da Vinci Si Surgical System
      with currently available instruments was easily adaptable to neck lift surgery.
      Mid-neck platysma exposure was excellent, tissue handling was delicate and
      precise, and suturing was easily performed. Robotic-assisted surgery has the
      potential to improve outcomes in neck lifts by offering the ability to manipulate
      instruments with increased freedom of movement, scaled motion, tremor reduction,
      and stereoscopic three-dimensional visualization in the deep neck. Future
      clinical studies on live human patients can better assess subject and surgeon
      benefits arising from the use of the da Vinci system for neck lifts. EBM LEVEL
      IV: Evidence obtained from multiple time series with or without the intervention,
      such as case studies. Dramatic results in uncontrolled trials might also be
      regarded as this type of evidence.

PMID- 27637242
TI  - The head butler with design modification: a useful mountable shelf for the
      operating table in robotic surgery.
AB  - The 'head butler' or 'iron maiden', as it is sometimes referred to, is a
      mountable shelf that is attached to the main operating room table using stirrup
      clamps or brackets. It provides an elevated flat surface, which protects the
      patient's face and chest from inadvertent trauma of robotic arms, instruments and
      camera while also serving as a platform for placement of instrumentation that
      minimizes handoffs to improve workflow. Its canted design also prevents slippage
      of instruments off the operating field during steep Trendelenburg positioning.
      This operating room equipment was designed to improve efficiency in an operating
      room set-up while ensuring safety during patient positioning when performing
      robotic procedures. A modification of the original Head Butler((r)) (Tri-Medical
      Corporation, Portland, OR, USA) is presented here which improves upon the design
      by avoiding brachial plexus nerve injury to the patient due to pressure from the
      uprights pressing on the patient's shoulders during use. 

PMID- 27637243
TI  - Robotic resection of choledochocele in an adult with intracorporeal
      hepaticojejunostomy and Roux-en-Y anastomosis: encouraging progress for robotic
      surgical treatment of biliary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robotic surgery offers three-dimensional visualization and precision
      of movement that could be of great value to hepatobiliary surgeons. Previous
      reports of robotic choledochocele resections in adults have detailed
      extracorporeal jejunojejunostomies. We describe a total robotic excision of a
      choledochal cyst with hepaticojejunostomy and intracorporeal Roux-en-Y
      anastomosis. METHODS: A 58-year-old woman underwent a robotic excision of a small
      choledochocele with hepaticojejunostomy and intracorporeal Roux-en-Y. RESULT:
      Port placement was determined via collaborative surgical discussion and
      previously reported robotic right hepatectomies. Total operative time was 386 min
      and total robot working time was 330 min. The hepaticojejunostomy was performed
      using 5-0 PDS suture with parachute-style back wall and running front wall
      sutures. The jejunojejunostomy was a stapled anastomosis. Estimated blood loss
      was less than 100 mL. The patient was ambulating and tolerating oral intake on
      post-operative day 1, and was discharged home on post-operative day 2.
      CONCLUSIONS: Robotic resection of choledochal cyst with intracorporeal Roux-en-Y
      anastomosis is feasible, with advantages over open surgery such as superior
      visualization, precision, and post-operative patient recovery.

PMID- 27637245
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy after previous open
      transvesical adenomectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) is one of
      the best treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer. RALRP is
      currently performed in patients without previous surgical treatment for benign
      prostatic hyperplasia. This paper presents a successfully performed RALRP after
      previous open transvesical adenomectomy (TVA). CASE REPORT: A 68-year-old patient
      underwent nerve-sparing RALRP for prostate cancer revealed by transrectal
      ultrasound guided prostate biopsy, 7 years after TVA. RESULTS: Postoperatively, a
      regular diet was allowed on day 1. The Foley catheter was removed on day 7. At 3
      months' follow-up, the patient complained of moderate stress incontinence but
      erectile function was responsive to Tadalafil((r)). Serum prostate-specific
      antigen was undetectable. Quality of life was satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: A
      history of previous prostatic surgery does not appear to compromise the outcome
      of RALRP. Nerve sparing is still indicated. Long-term follow-up is necessary to
      define RALRP as a gold standard also in patients with previous TVA.

PMID- 27637244
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic simple prostatectomy and bladder diverticulectomy
      with temporary clamping of internal iliac arteries.
AB  - The minimally invasive approach for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is
      replacing open surgery. Laparoscopic and robotic techniques have benefits in
      treatment of BPH especially for large prostatic adenoma. We present a case of
      laparoscopic robotic-assisted simple prostatectomy with bilateral transient
      occlusion of internal iliac arteries. This could be an optional surgical
      technique when a significant blood loss is expected, for example in patients with
      an estimated volume of BPH larger than 100 ml or in patients who cannot suspend
      antiaggregant therapy. In this case we temporarily occluded the internal iliac
      arteries bilaterally with Bulldog clamps and the adenoma was enucleated according
      to Sotelo's laparoscopic robotic-assisted technique. We had optimal results in
      terms of intraoperative and postoperative outcomes. 

PMID- 27637246
TI  - Trocar-site hernia at the 8-mm robotic port after robot-assisted laparoscopic
      prostatectomy: a case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Trocar-site hernia is an uncommon but serious complication after laparoscopic
      surgery as it frequently requires surgical intervention. We describe a 75-year
      old man with Gleason score 4 + 3, clinical stage T1c prostate adenocarcinoma who
      underwent an uneventful robot-assisted transperitoneal laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy. On post-operative day four, he developed symptoms of small bowel
      obstruction due to herniation and incarceration of the small bowels in a
      Spigelian-type hernia at the left lower quadrant 8-mm trocar site. Surgical
      exploration was performed via a mini-laparotomy to reduce the bowel and repair
      the fascial layers. A literature search was performed to review other cases of
      trocar-site hernia through the 8-mm robotic port after robot-assisted surgery and
      the suggested methods of prevention. 

PMID- 27637247
TI  - Robotic total pelvic exenteration.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic exenteration is now becoming widely acceptable as a curative
      procedure rather than a palliative one. Performing these surgeries by minimally
      invasive techniques helps to improve the quality of life and decrease the
      morbidity of these extensive procedures. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate the
      feasibility of performing a total pelvic exenteration robotically, and to study
      the morbidity associated with such extensive surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 35
      year-old female with advanced cervical cancer presented with a vesicovaginal
      fistula and a rectovaginal fistula. In view of these, we performed a total
      robotic pelvic exenteration with colo-anal anastomosis and uretero-sigmoidostomy.
      The patient refused an ileal-loop conduit for urinary tract diversion due to
      social reasons associated with a stoma. RESULTS: The total operative time was 240
      min and the console time was 120 min. The estimated blood loss was 300 ml and the
      intensive care unit stay was 2 days. Post-operatively, the patient had good
      faecal and urinary continence and good quality of life.

PMID- 27637248
TI  - Robot assisted laparoscopic documentation of endometriosis.
AB  - The increased confirmation of endometriosis noted using robotically assisted
      laparoscopy may be the result of multiple factors, including the three
      dimensional view provided with the robot, increased attention and awareness while
      using new technology, increased time spent considering histologic documentation
      in preparation for publication, or general improvement with experience. 

PMID- 27637249
TI  - Financial and legal decision-making capacity in the aphasic population - a
      narrative review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Capacity is assumed to be present unless proven otherwise.
      Assessments of specific decision-making capacity for financial and legal
      decisions, although challenging in the general population, becomes almost
      impossible for individuals with language disorders (i.e. aphasia) in the absence
      of appropriate communication aids. Several capacity aids exist for the general
      population; however, it is unclear whether any communication aids exist
      specifically for the aphasic population to assist assessment of financial and
      legal decision-making capacity. METHOD: A literature review was conducted of six
      databases with the assistance of a research librarian. From 171 articles
      screened, 12 were included in the final review. RESULTS: The literature focus was
      on medical decision-making capacity, and in particular, patient consent. Few
      articles addressed legal or financial decision-making capacity. Several articles
      identified the presence of general and specific capacity aids for the general
      population; however, there was a clear absence of similar communication aids
      available for the aphasic population with only one communication aid identified
      to assist with decision-making capacity assessment for healthcare and
      accommodation decisions only. CONCLUSION: Whilst a significant amount of research
      has been done on decision-making capacity, it is mostly focused on healthcare; in
      particular, on patient consent for treatment for the non-aphasic population.
      Although a communication aid exists to aid assessment of decision-making capacity
      for healthcare for aphasic individuals, no similar tools exist to aid financial
      and legal decision-making capacity assessments. This paper highlights an
      important problem encountered during clinical practice which requires further
      research.

PMID- 27637251
TI  - Editorial for special surgical issue.

PMID- 27637250
TI  - Selection-, age-, and exercise-dependence of skeletal muscle gene expression
      patterns in a rat model of metabolic fitness.
AB  - Intrinsic aerobic exercise capacity can influence many complex traits including
      obesity and aging. To study this connection we established two rat lines by
      divergent selection of untrained aerobic capacity. After 32 generations the high
      capacity runners (HCR) and low capacity runners (LCR) differed in endurance
      running distance and body fat, blood glucose, other health indicators, and
      natural life span. To understand the interplay among genetic differences,
      chronological age, and acute exercise we performed microarray-based gene
      expression analyses in skeletal muscle with a 2*2*2 design to simultaneously
      compare HCR and LCR, old and young animals, and rest and exhaustion. Transcripts
      for mitochondrial function are expressed higher in HCRs than LCRs at both rest
      and exhaustion and for both age groups. Expression of cell adhesion and
      extracellular matrix genes tend to decrease with age. This and other age effects
      are more prominent in LCRs than HCRs, suggesting that HCRs have a slower aging
      process and this may be partly due to their better metabolic health. Strenuous
      exercise mainly affects transcription regulation and cellular response. The
      effects of any one factor often depend on the other two. For example, there are
      ~140 and ~110 line-exercise "interacting" genes for old and young animals,
      respectively. Many genes highlighted in our study are consistent with prior
      reports, but many others are novel. The gene- and pathway-level statistics for
      the main effects, either overall or stratified, and for all possible
      interactions, represent a rich reference dataset for understanding the
      interdependence among lines, aging, and exercise.

PMID- 27637252
TI  - The robotic Whipple: operative strategy and technical considerations.
AB  - Advances in robotic surgery have allowed the frontiers of minimally invasive
      pancreatic surgery to expand. We present a step-by-step approach to the robotic
      Whipple procedure. The discussion includes port setting and robotic docking,
      kocherization and superior mesenteric vein identification, portal dissection,
      releasing the ligament of Treitz, uncinate dissection, and reconstruction. A
      brief report of our initial 2-year experience with the robotic Whipple procedure
      is also presented. 

PMID- 27637254
TI  - The evolution of robotic thyroidectomy: from inception to neck dissection.
AB  - Over the past decade, the application of surgical robotics is bringing about
      dramatic changes in various surgical fields. Robotic thyroidectomy has achieved
      safe and accurate management of thyroid disease with remarkable cosmetic and
      functional benefits. As experiences with robotic techniques accumulate, its
      indications will expand to include more advanced cases with higher levels of
      difficulty. 

PMID- 27637255
TI  - The technique of single-stage totally robotic low anterior resection.
AB  - The introduction of robotic surgical systems has produced a significant
      technological advance in minimally invasive surgery. The application of robotics
      to rectal cancer surgery is being spotlighted as the means to eliminate many of
      the technical difficulties inherent in conventional laparoscopic surgery.
      However, standardization of surgical technique has not yet been established. We
      have developed a single-stage totally robotic low anterior resection for rectal
      cancer, and describe here our surgical technique. 

PMID- 27637253
TI  - Technique for laparobotic distal pancreatectomy with preservation of spleen.
AB  - Minimally invasive surgery for pancreas has advanced at a steady pace in recent
      years. Although proximal pancreatic resection is still a formidable task, distal
      resection has become routine with a laparoscopic approach. The recent
      introduction of the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System has helped to make this
      complex procedure much more feasible, efficient, and safe. In this paper, we
      describe our technique for robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy with splenic
      preservation, which can be broken down into five steps in a medial-to-lateral
      progression. Preservation of splenic vessels is routine, although in certain
      instances a Warshaw's technique is employed. The advantages of the robotic
      approach are described. 

PMID- 27637256
TI  - Surgical treatment of hiatus hernia and gastroesophageal reflux disease in
      complex cases using robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery: a prospective
      study/consistent experience in a single institution.
AB  - The aim of this study was to report our experience in robotic-assisted surgery of
      hiatus hernia and gastroesophageal reflux disease in a large series of complex
      cases. From March 2009 until July 2010, 21 patients were operated due to hiatus
      hernia or reflux disease using robotic-assisted surgery at Albert Einstein
      Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil. All patients were selected for the robotic approach
      because of the complexity of the cases (associated co-morbidity) such as:
      previous major upper abdominal surgery in 6 patients, hiatus hernia with
      paraesophageal involvement in 8 patients, obesity with a body mass index of over
      29 kg/m(2) in 8 patients, and previous hiatus hernioplasty in 3 patients. Optimal
      trocar positioning, operating and setup times, conversion rate, intraoperative
      complications, and perioperative morbidity and mortality rate were analyzed. The
      mean operating time was reduced from 316 to 195 min after five procedures and the
      setup time from 20 to 10 min after five procedures. There were no conversions in
      this group of patients and also no complication or need of blood transfusion.
      Robotic-assisted fundoplication is feasible, safe and effective for treating
      hiatus hernias and gastroesophageal reflux disease, especially in complex cases
      because improved dissection in the esophageal hiatus region compensates for long
      operating times. Disadvantages are the high costs, the time to master the
      setup/system, and the necessity of exact trocar positioning. 

PMID- 27637257
TI  - Treatment of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, neuroendocrine and
      periampullary pancreatic tumors using robotic surgery: a safe and feasible
      technique.
AB  - In the last few years, robotic surgery has started to take its place in
      pancreatic surgery. Robotic surgery provides advantages such as enhanced
      visualisation and freedom of dissection within a confined space and also allows
      economical surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety
      and short-term outcome of the robotic approach using the da Vinci robotic system
      in pancreatic/peripancreatic tumors other than pancreatic carcinomas. Fifteen
      patients with eight intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, four pancreatic
      neuroendocrine and three periampulary tumors were included in this initial
      series. Seven left pancreatectomies, five pancreatoduodenectomies and two total
      pancreatectomies were performed at Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
      The mean operating room time for all the procedures was 503 min (315-775 min).
      Blood transfusion was necessary in one patient (3 units). The mean length of stay
      for all patients was 16 days (5-52 days). Large series of robotic pancreatic
      surgery should be described and the decision as to its routine use will come from
      cumulative experience. This surgical system allows difficult procedures to be
      performed more easily, effectively and precisely. 

PMID- 27637259
TI  - Totally robotic gastric bypass: approach and technique.
AB  - Despite the advantages of the da Vinci robotic system in the performance of
      abdominal surgery (Maeso et al. Ann Surg 252:254-262, 2010), there has been
      limited application of this technology to bariatric surgery. The robotic platform
      may be ideal for performance of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), providing
      significant ergonomic advantage and greater ability to maneuver more precisely in
      limited spaces. However, there has been slow adoption of robotic technology for
      the performance of the RYGB procedure due, in part, to the perceived difficulty
      of conversion from laparoscopic to totally robotic procedures and the associated
      initial increase in operative time. In this report, we describe our approach to
      developing a standardized totally robotic technique with focus on patient safety
      and attention to operative times, the technique itself, and surgery outcomes of
      nearly 300 RYGB cases. Our findings show that totally robotic RYGB can be safely
      approached through systematic stepwise progression with minimal complications and
      comparable operative times. 

PMID- 27637258
TI  - Robotic rectal cancer surgery: technique of abdomino-perineal resection.
AB  - Rectal cancer surgery using a minimally invasive technique has been regarded as a
      challenging procedure. Since the introduction of the robotic surgical system into
      the operating theater, totally robotic rectal surgery has been attempted with
      several techniques. Abdomino-perineal resection might be a more reliable
      indication for totally robotic surgery than low anterior resection. Because the
      range of dissection is confined to the pelvic cavity and mobilization of the
      sigmoid colon, problems during totally robotic surgery can be minimized. With our
      technique, totally robotic surgery can be performed successfully. Technical
      advantages of the current robotic system can be reflected in patient benefits
      after totally robotic abdomino-perineal resection. 

PMID- 27637261
TI  - Totally robotic left colectomy.
AB  - Laparoscopic colectomy has been a challenge for surgeons due to steep learning
      curves, limited dexterity of instruments and non-depth perception with
      visualization. Robotics for left colectomy has been described in the past years
      using mostly single docking or hybrid techniques. With the advantages of the
      robotic technology including the use of 3D visualization, increase dexterity with
      360-degree motion of the instruments, surgeons may see an increase in the
      adoption of minimally invasive surgery for colectomies. Surgeons know that multi
      quadrant dissection can be difficult at best with the current platforms available
      due to the approach of the angles with the robotic arms and collisions. The use
      of a single docking technique can be challenging especially for the dissection of
      the splenic flexure especially in obese patients. We describe a double docking
      technique for the approach of the left colectomy that may help surgeons in the
      approach of multi-quadrant colorectal surgery. 

PMID- 27637260
TI  - Designing a robotic colorectal program.
AB  - Designing a successful robotic colorectal program requires consideration and
      implementation of several important concepts with continued perseverance through
      many obstacles that may arise. The ideal strategy is to establish a core group of
      committed individuals, define the goals and vision of the program, enlist
      corporate partners, and gain financial support with a sound business,
      educational, and research plan. Factors such as cost, limited availability, and
      demanding training are often hindrances to the implementation of a new robotic
      colorectal program while scheduling conflicts and inadequate resources may
      present obstacles to developing a colorectal program in institutions with
      existing robotic surgical programs. In developing a business plan one should
      consider the potential for increased patient referrals and the benefits of
      reduced hospital stay, decreased infection and complication rates, and quicker
      recovery compared with open surgical procedures. The optimal robotics surgical
      staff will include those most eager to be trained, as they are highly motivated
      and have the greatest enthusiasm to succeed. The early foundation of
      accomplishment will be vital to the long-term success of the program. In addition
      to building the ideal surgical team, patient selection is one of the most crucial
      considerations in developing a successful robotics program. Initiating a positive
      impression for robotic-assisted laparoscopic colorectal procedures will be an
      important precursor to continued success. Likewise, maintaining a regular
      schedule of procedures may advance the team's competencies and deter complacency.
      Proper planning, deliberate implementation, and sustained perseverance are key to
      the successful initiation of a robotic colorectal program. 

PMID- 27637262
TI  - Current status of robotic colorectal surgery.
AB  - To keep pace with the rapidly growing incidence of colorectal cancer, substantial
      progress has been made in colorectal cancer management in recent decades.
      Minimally invasive surgery is rapidly gaining acceptance for surgical management
      of colorectal cancer; however, laparoscopic colorectal surgery is technically
      demanding and has a steep learning curve. Although many colorectal surgeons have
      great expectations of the robotic surgical system to overcome the pitfalls of
      laparoscopic surgery, the application of robots in colorectal cancer surgery
      seems to be delayed when compared with other surgical fields. However, in recent
      years, there has been an increasing number of reports on robotic colorectal
      surgery and much attention is given to it in the colorectal community. Most of
      the interest has been in robotic total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer. In
      contrast, the use of robotics for colon resections does not confer significant
      advantages. We summarize the current evidence on clinical and oncologic outcomes
      of robotic colorectal surgery. 

PMID- 27637263
TI  - Robotic techniques for adrenal surgery.
AB  - Robotic surgery is becoming a popular abdominothoracic surgical procedure. Since
      the introduction of robotic adrenalectomy less than a decade ago, this technique
      has gained increased acceptance and has generated great interest among
      laparoendoscopic surgeons. This article describes the detailed techniques used
      for robotic adrenalectomy using different approaches. 

PMID- 27637265
TI  - NHS is not in "land of milk and honey" with tough choices ahead, warns head of
      NHS.

PMID- 27637264
TI  - Stiff Landings Are Associated With Increased ACL Injury Risk in Young Female
      Basketball and Floorball Players.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few prospective studies have investigated the biomechanical risk
      factors of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. PURPOSE: To investigate the
      relationship between biomechanical characteristics of vertical drop jump (VDJ)
      performance and the risk of ACL injury in young female basketball and floorball
      players. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: At baseline,
      a total of 171 female basketball and floorball players (age range, 12-21 years)
      participated in a VDJ test using 3-dimensional motion analysis. The following
      biomechanical variables were analyzed: (1) knee valgus angle at initial contact
      (IC), (2) peak knee abduction moment, (3) knee flexion angle at IC, (4) peak knee
      flexion angle, (5) peak vertical ground-reaction force (vGRF), and (6) medial
      knee displacement. All new ACL injuries, as well as match and training exposure,
      were then recorded for 1 to 3 years. Cox regression models were used to calculate
      hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. RESULTS: Fifteen new ACL injuries occurred
      during the study period (0.2 injuries/1000 player-hours). Of the 6 factors
      considered, lower peak knee flexion angle (HR for each 10 degrees  increase in
      knee flexion angle, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.34-0.88) and higher peak vGRF (HR for each
      100-N increase in vGRF, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.09-1.45) were the only factors associated
      with increased risk of ACL injury. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
      curve analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.6 for peak knee flexion and
      0.7 for vGRF, indicating a failed-to-fair combined sensitivity and specificity of
      the test. CONCLUSIONS: Stiff landings, with less knee flexion and greater vGRF,
      in a VDJ test were associated with increased risk of ACL injury among young
      female basketball and floorball players. However, although 2 factors (decreased
      peak knee flexion and increased vGRF) had significant associations with ACL
      injury risk, the ROC curve analyses revealed that these variables cannot be used
      for screening of athletes.

PMID- 27637266
TI  - Localized translation regulates cell adhesion and transendothelial migration.
AB  - Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process by which cancer cells
      gain the ability to leave the primary tumor site and invade surrounding tissues.
      These metastatic cancer cells can further increase their plasticity by adopting
      an amoeboid-like morphology, by undergoing mesenchymal-to-amoeboid transition
      (MAT). We found that adhering cells produce spreading initiation centers (SICs),
      transient structures that are localized above nascent adhesion complexes, and
      share common biological and morphological characteristics associated with
      amoeboid cells. Meanwhile, spreading cells seem to return to a mesenchymal-like
      morphology. Thus, our results indicate that SIC-induced adhesion recapitulates
      events  that are associated with amoeboid-to-mesenchymal transition (AMT). We
      found that polyadenylated RNAs are enriched within SICs, blocking their
      translation decreased adhesion potential of metastatic cells that progressed
      through EMT. These results point to a so-far-unknown checkpoint that regulates
      cell adhesion and allows metastatic cells to alter adhesion strength to modulate
      their dissemination.

PMID- 27637267
TI  - An objective structured clinical exam to measure intrinsic CanMEDS roles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The CanMEDS roles provide a comprehensive framework to organize
      competency-based curricula; however, there is a challenge in finding feasible,
      valid, and reliable assessment methods to measure intrinsic roles such as
      Communicator and Collaborator. The objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) is
      more commonly used in postgraduate medical education for the assessment of
      clinical skills beyond medical expertise. METHOD: We developed the CanMEDS In
      Training Exam (CITE), a six-station OSCE designed to assess two different CanMEDS
      roles (one primary and one secondary) and general communication skills at each
      station. Correlation coefficients were computed for CanMEDS roles within and
      between stations, and for general communication, global rating, and total scores.
      One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate differences between
      year of residency, sex, and the type of residency program. RESULTS: In total, 63
      residents participated in the CITE; 40 residents (63%) were from internal
      medicine programs, whereas the remaining 23 (37%) were pursuing other
      specialties. There was satisfactory internal consistency for all stations, and
      the total scores of the stations were strongly correlated with the global scores
      r=0.86, p<0.05. Noninternal medicine residents scored higher in terms of the
      Professional competency overall, whereas internal medicine residents scored
      significantly higher in the Collaborator competency overall. DISCUSSION: The OSCE
      checklists developed for the assessment of intrinsic CanMEDS roles were
      functional, but the specific items within stations required more uniformity to be
      used between stations. More generic types of checklists may also improve
      correlations across stations. CONCLUSION: An OSCE measuring intrinsic competence
      is feasible; however, further development of our cases and checklists is needed.
      We provide a model of how to develop an OSCE to measure intrinsic CanMEDS roles
      that educators may adopt as residency programs move into competency-based medical
      education.

PMID- 27637268
TI  - Chest Pain Patients at Veterans Hospitals Are Increasingly More Likely to Be
      Observed Than Admitted for Short Stays.
AB  - Observation stays are an outpatient service used to diagnose and treat patients
      for extended periods of time while a decision is made regarding inpatient
      admission or discharge. Although the use of observation stays is increasing,
      little is known about which patients are observed and which are admitted for
      similar periods of time as inpatients. The aim was to identify patient
      characteristics associated with being observed rather than admitted for a short
      stay (<48 hours) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In our
      longitudinal analysis, we used logistic regression within a generalized
      estimating equation framework to model observation stays as a function of patient
      characteristics, time trends, and hospital fixed effects. To minimize
      heterogeneity between groups, we limit our sample to patients with a presenting
      diagnosis of chest pain. Our analysis includes a total of 121 584 hospital
      events, which consist of all observation and short-stay admissions for chest pain
      patients at VHA hospitals between 2005 and 2013. Both the absolute and relative
      use of observation stays increased markedly over time. The odds of an observation
      stay were higher among women, but lower among older patients and rural residents.
      Despite strong evidence that chest pain patients are increasingly more likely to
      be observed than admitted, suggesting a substitution effect, we find little
      evidence of within-hospital disparities in VHA observation stay use.

PMID- 27637269
TI  - Physicians-Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives Interactions and Conflict of
      Interest: Challenges and Solutions.
AB  - Physician-industry relationships have come a long way since serious debates began
      after a 1990 Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources report on the topic.
      On one side, the Sun Shine Act of 2007, now a part of the Patient Protection and
      Affordable Care Act that mandates disclosure of payments and gifts to the
      physicians, has injected more transparency into the relationships, and on the
      other side, numerous voluntary self-regulation guidelines have been instituted to
      protect patients. However, despite these commendable efforts, problem persists.
      Taking the specific case of physician-pharmaceutical sales representative (PSR)
      interactions, also called as detailing, where the PSRs lobby physicians to
      prescribe their brand drugs while bringing them gifts on the side, an August 2016
      article concluded that gifts as small as $20 are associated with higher
      prescribing rates. A close examination reveals the intricacies of the
      relationships. Though PSRs ultimately want to push their drugs, more than gifts,
      they also bring the ready-made synthesized knowledge about the drugs, something
      the busy physicians, starving for time to read the literature themselves, find
      hard to let go. Conscientious physicians are not unaware of the marketing
      tactics. And yet, physicians too are humans. It is also the nature of their job
      that requires an innate cognitive dissonance to be functional in medical
      practice, a trait that sometimes works against them in case of PSR interactions.
      Besides, PSRs too follow the dictates of the shareholders of their companies.
      Therefore, if they try to influence physicians using social psychology, it is a
      job they are asked to do. The complexity of relationships creates conundrums that
      are hard to tackle. This commentary examines various dimensions of these
      relationships. In the end, a few suggestions are offered as a way forward.

PMID- 27637270
TI  - The Physical and Psychological Health of Migrants in Guangzhou, China: How Does
      Neighborhood Matter?
AB  - This study analyzed the health of migrants in 4 types of neighborhood in the city
      of Guangzhou in China. The research shows that the health of internal migrants in
      urban villages and private housing neighborhoods is much better than those living
      in older inner city neighborhoods (which are known as jiefang shequ) and unit
      neighborhoods (which are known as danwei). The reasons behind this are the facts
      that the migrants in urban villages tend to be relatively young and there tend to
      be better social and economic conditions in the private housing neighborhood.
      Moreover, among the 4 kinds of neighborhood, the gap between psychological health
      and physical health is the largest in urban villages. In addition, migrants who
      are younger, have better working conditions, and have higher levels of education
      have better health scores, and they tend to have more friends in the city, larger
      houses, better insurance, and more satisfaction with their neighborhood
      relationships, and they tend to be better adapted to urban life. As for the
      determinants of health, individual characteristics, community factors, and
      insurance are the most important factors. Specifically, individual age and age of
      housing have negative influences on physical health while insurance has a
      positive effect. This study shows that the type of neighborhood that migrants
      live in has a great impact on their psychological health, which can be improved
      by promoting neighborhood environments. Last, we propose that it is necessary to
      implement different strategies in different communities.

PMID- 27637271
TI  - Occupational exposure to the municipal solid waste workers in Chandigarh, India.
AB  - Manual handling of municipal solid waste is of serious concern owing to emerging
      occupational risks. Considering this, health risks of municipal solid waste
      workers involved in street sweeping, waste collection, waste processing and rag
      picking were assessed in Chandigarh, India, using an interview schedule as a
      study tool. Result shows that the waste worker profession is mainly dominated by
      males, except in rag pickers, and with a lower literacy rate. Age distribution
      shows that 16% of waste collectors and 11% of rag pickers were below 18 years of
      age. Daily income of the waste workers ranges from ?100 to ?200. It was observed
      that 22.2% of waste collectors, 43.2% of street sweepers and 25.5% of rag pickers
      do not use any type of protective gears owing to their casual attitude, which
      results in various types of injuries. The major occupational health issues
      reported by various categories of waste workers were respiratory disorders,
      injuries and allergies having prevalence of 12.3%-17.6%, 4.9%-44.4% and 35.3%
      48.9%, respectively. Waste workers are vulnerable to occupational health hazards
      and hence there is a need to safeguard them through formulation of new laws and
      policies.

PMID- 27637272
TI  - Construction and demolition waste generation rates for high-rise buildings in
      Malaysia.
AB  - Construction and demolition waste continues to sharply increase in step with the
      economic growth of less developed countries. Though the construction industry is
      large, it is composed of small firms with individual waste management practices,
      often leading to the deleterious environmental outcomes. Quantifying construction
      and demolition waste generation allows policy makers and stakeholders to
      understand the true internal and external costs of construction, providing a
      necessary foundation for waste management planning that may overcome deleterious
      environmental outcomes and may be both economically and environmentally optimal.
      This study offers a theoretical method for estimating the construction and
      demolition project waste generation rate by utilising available data, including
      waste disposal truck size and number, and waste volume and composition. This
      method is proposed as a less burdensome and more broadly applicable alternative,
      in contrast to waste estimation by on-site hand sorting and weighing. The
      developed method is applied to 11 projects across Malaysia as the case study.
      This study quantifies waste generation rate and illustrates the construction
      method in influencing the waste generation rate, estimating that the conventional
      construction method has a waste generation rate of 9.88 t 100 m-2, the mixed
      construction method has a waste generation rate of 3.29 t 100 m-2, and demolition
      projects have a waste generation rate of 104.28 t 100 m-2.

PMID- 27637273
TI  - Sustainability assessment and prioritisation of bottom ash management in Macao.
AB  - In Macao, about 7200 t yr-1 of bottom ash (BA) is generated and conventionally
      landfilled with construction waste. Because the properties of BA are similar to
      those of natural aggregates, it is suitable to be recycled as construction
      material. However, pre-treatment processes for BA reuse may require more resource
      input and may generate additional environmental impacts. Life cycle assessment,
      multi-media transport model analysis, cost-benefit analysis and the analytical
      hierarchy process were conducted to evaluate the impacts of current and potential
      BA management scenarios regarding environmental, economic, social and regulatory
      aspects. The five analysed scenarios are as follows: (0) BA buried with
      construction and demolition waste (current system); (1) pre-treated BA used to
      replace 25% of the natural aggregate in asphalt concrete; (2) pre-treated BA used
      to replace 25% of the natural aggregate in cement concrete; (3) pre-treated BA
      used to replace 25% of cement in cement concrete; and (4) pre-treated BA sent to
      China, blended with municipal solid waste for landfill. The results reveal the
      following ranking of the scenarios: 3 > 2 > 0 > 1 > 4. Scenario 3 shows the best
      conditions for BA recycling, because the quantity of cement concrete output is
      the highest and this brings the greatest economic benefits. Our use of integrated
      analysis provides multi-aspect investigations for BA management systems,
      particularly in accounting for site-specific characteristics. This approach is
      suitable for application in other non-western regions.

PMID- 27637274
TI  - Redox and Peroxidase Activities of the Hemoglobin Superfamily: Relevance to
      Health and Disease.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Erythrocyte hemoglobin (Hb) and myocyte myoglobin, although
      primarily oxygen-carrying proteins, have the capacity to do redox chemistry. Such
      redox activity in the wider family of globins now appears to have important
      associations with the mechanisms of cell stress response. In turn, an
      understanding of such mechanisms in vivo may have a potential in the
      understanding of cancer therapy resistance and neurodegenerative disorders such
      as Alzheimer's. Recent Advances: There has been an enhanced understanding of the
      redox chemistry of the globin superfamily in recent years, leading to advances in
      development of Hb-based blood substitutes and in hypotheses relating to specific
      disease mechanisms. Neuroglobin (Ngb) and cytoglobin (Cygb) have been linked to
      cell protection mechanisms against hypoxia and oxidative stress, with
      implications in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases for Ngb
      and cancer for Cygb. CRITICAL ISSUES: Despite advances in the understanding of
      redox chemistry of globins, the physiological roles of many of these proteins
      still remain ambiguous at best. Confusion over potential physiological roles may
      relate to multifunctional roles for globins, which may be modulated by surface
      exposed cysteine pairs in some globins. Such roles may be critical in deciphering
      the relationships of these globins in human diseases. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Further
      studies are required to connect the considerable knowledge on the mechanisms of
      globin redox chemistry in vitro with the physiological and pathological roles of
      globins in vivo. In doing so, new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders and
      cancer therapy resistance may be targeted. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 763-776.

PMID- 27637275
TI  - Extra-articular hip impingement due to heterotopic ossification formation at the
      anterior inferior iliac spine following previous pelvic external fixation.
AB  - Femoroacetabular impingements (FAIs), specifically cam type and pincer type,
      continue to be accepted as causes of intra-articular hip pathology and sources of
      hip pain. Reports of other causes of hip impingement including extra-articular
      causes have surfaced recently. One structure of importance is the anterior
      inferior iliac spine (AIIS) due to its inconsistent bony morphology and the pull
      of the rectus femoris muscle putting it at risk for an avulsion fracture. Under
      certain circumstances, open surgical excision of exostosis formation after an
      avulsion fracture of the AIIS has been used. The case below represents a clinical
      scenario in which a medically unstable and multiply injured trauma patient had an
      external pelvic fixator placed as part of the treatment plan for an unstable
      pelvic injury. Following this pelvic external fixation treatment, the patient
      went on to develop clinically significant heterotopic bone formation at the AIIS
      pin site with extra-articular hip impingement syndrome. 

PMID- 27637276
TI  - Extensive choroidal infarction in a case of mixed essential cryoglobulinaemia in
      a postpartum female.
AB  - A case of mixed essential cryoglobulinaemia resulting in massive choroidal
      infarction and irreversible vision loss in a postpartum female is discussed.
      Cryoglobulinaemia can rarely involve ocular vessels and, in this case, was
      adjunctive to mild hypertension in causing acute choroidopathy. Although the
      systemic condition of the patient improved after steroids and immunosuppressive
      agents, the visual loss was permanent. 

PMID- 27637277
TI  - Large retropharyngeal abscess: a case of mistaken identity.
AB  - We report an unusual case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), presenting initially
      as a retropharyngeal collection. We discuss the investigation, diagnosis and
      management of NPC and furthermore review the literature of NPC, emphasising the
      varied presentation. A 44-year-old Caucasian male ex-smoker presented with a 10
      day history of a painless left-sided neck lump; progressive dysphagia and
      unintentional weight loss. Examination demonstrated a large left posterior
      pharyngeal swelling with soft palatal effacement, confirmed on nasoendoscopy. A
      CT scan revealed a fluid collection in the retropharyngeal space, which partially
      occluded the nasopharynx, and numerous satellite lesions were identified along
      with cervical lymphadenopathy. The suspected abscess was drained in theatre and
      nasopharyngeal biopsies were taken. These revealed Epstein-Barr virus-positive
      NPC. Staging investigations revealed a T4N2M0l carcinoma. Treatment consisted of
      radical chemoradiation therapy with curative intent. NPC is known for its varied
      and late presentation, and is an important condition to be aware of when
      considering a differential diagnosis of pharyngeal masses. 

PMID- 27637279
TI  - Polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN) emissions from scrap processing steel plants
      with electric-arc furnaces.
AB  - Polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN) emissions of scrap iron processing steel plants
      were explored by measuring concentrations in stack gases of five plants, in the
      atmosphere (n=11) at a site close to those plants, and in soil at several sites
      in the region (n=40) in Aliaga, Izmir, Turkey. Observed stack-gas Sigma32PCN
      levels from the plants without scrap preheating (189+/-157ngNm-3, average+/-SD,
      n=4) showed that they are substantial PCN emitting sources. Stack-gas Sigma32PCN
      level for the plant with scrap preheating was considerably higher (1262ngNm-3).
      Similarly, Sigma32PCN emission factor for this plant was substantially higher
      (11.9mgton-1) compared to those without scrap preheating (1.30+/-0.98mgton-1).
      Results have also suggested that the investigated steel plants emit large
      quantities of fugitive particle-phase PCNs. Measured soil Sigma32PCN
      concentrations that are considered to be representative of the atmospheric levels
      were greatly variable in the region, ranging between 0.003 and 10.02MUgkg-1 (dry
      wt). Their spatial distribution showed that main PCN sources in the region were
      the iron-steel plants. Ambient air levels (1620+/-800pgm-3) were substantially
      higher than ones observed around the world and in the study area verifying that
      the steel plants with electric arc furnaces (EAFs) are important PCN sources.
      Investigation of possible mechanisms suggested that the combustion processes also
      contribute to emissions from EAFs in addition to evaporation of PCNs present in
      the scrap iron.

PMID- 27637278
TI  - Sublingual dermoid causing stertor in an infant.
AB  - Sublingual dermoids are uncommon lesions in the floor of mouth. The most common
      age of presentation is early adulthood, but presentation in infancy has also been
      reported. This report highlights the clinical presentation and treatment
      challenges in infants. An 8-month-old infant presented with inability to close
      mouth, intermittent stertor and snoring. MRI suggested a sublingual dermoid which
      was confirmed on histopathology of the surgically enucleated specimen. Sublingual
      dermoids are uncommon lesions of the floor of mouth. The age of presentation of a
      sublingual dermoid depends on the initial size of the lesion. Large sublingual
      dermoids in neonates can present with respiratory embarrassment and need early
      surgical intervention. Surgical enucleation via an intraoral approach is the
      treatment of choice with external approach reserved for very large cysts below
      the mylohyoid. Large sublingual cysts can present with anaesthetic challenges and
      may need fibreoptic intubation. 

PMID- 27637280
TI  - Large for Gestational Age Newborns from Mothers Without Diabetes Mellitus Tend to
      Become Tall and Lean Toddlers.
AB  - A longitudinal study with dual x-ray absorptiometry disclosed that infants born
      large for gestational age from mothers without diabetes mellitus and without
      excessive gestational weight gain tend to be long with increased adipose tissue
      as newborns and tall and lean as toddlers.

PMID- 27637281
TI  - Blood lead levels in Syracuse, New York, 2009-2015.

PMID- 27637282
TI  - Unsupervised home monitoring of Parkinson's disease motor symptoms using body
      worn accelerometers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Current PD assessment methods have inherent limitations. There is
      need for an objective method to assist clinical decisions and to facilitate
      evaluation of treatments. Accelerometers, and analysis using artificial neural
      networks (ANN), have shown potential as a method of motor symptom evaluation.
      This work describes the development of a novel PD disease state detection system
      informed by algorithms based on data collected in an unsupervised, home
      environment. We evaluated whether this approach can reproduce patient-completed
      symptom diaries and clinical assessment of disease state. METHODS: 34
      participants with PD wore bilateral wrist-worn accelerometers for 4 h in a
      research facility (phase 1) and for 7 days at home whilst completing symptom
      diaries (phase 2). An ANN to predict disease state was developed based on home
      derived accelerometer data. Using a leave-one-out approach, ANN performance was
      evaluated against patient-completed symptom diaries and against clinician rating
      of disease state. RESULTS: In the clinical setting, specificity for dyskinesia
      detection was extremely high (0.99); high specificity was also demonstrated for
      home-derived data (0.93), but with low sensitivity (0.38). In both settings,
      sensitivity for on/off detection was sub-optimal. ANN-derived values of the
      proportions of time in each disease state showed strong, significant correlations
      with patient-completed symptom diaries. CONCLUSION: Accurate, real-time
      evaluation of symptoms in an unsupervised, home environment, with this sensor
      system, is not yet achievable. In terms of the amounts of time spent in each
      disease state, ANN-derived results were comparable to those of symptom diaries,
      suggesting this method may provide a valuable outcome measure for medication
      trials.

PMID- 27637283
TI  - Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive behavior, and dysmorphic features in a
      patient with deletions at chromosome 18q22.1 and chromosome 13q12.3-q13.1.

PMID- 27637284
TI  - Increased suicide risk and clinical correlates of suicide among patients with
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a debilitating, neurodegenerative
      condition frequently complicated by psychiatric symptoms. Patients with PD may be
      at higher risk for suicide than the general population, but previous estimates
      are limited and conflicting. The aim of this study is to estimate the suicide
      rate based on the clinical case registry and to identify risk factors for suicide
      among patients diagnosed with PD. METHODS: The target sample consisted of 4362
      patients diagnosed with PD who were evaluated at a general hospital in Seoul,
      South Korea, from 1996 to 2012. The standardized mortality ratio for suicide
      among PD patients was estimated. In order to identify the clinical correlates of
      suicide, case-control study was conducted based on retrospective chart review.
      The 29 suicide cases (age: 62.3 +/- 13.7 years; females: 34.5%) were matched with
      116 non-suicide controls (age: 63.5 +/- 9.2 years; females 56.9%) by the year of
      initial PD evaluation. RESULTS: The SMR for suicide in PD patients was 1.99 (95%
      CI 1.33-2.85). Mean duration from time of initial diagnosis to suicide among
      cases was 6.1 +/- 3.5 years. Case-control analysis revealed that male, initial
      extremity of motor symptom onset, history of depressive disorder, delusion, any
      psychiatric disorder, and higher L-dopa dosage were significantly associated with
      suicide among PD patients. Other PD-related variables such as UPDRS motor score
      were not significantly associated with death by suicide. CONCLUSION: Suicide risk
      in PD patients is approximately 2 times higher than that in the general
      population. Psychiatric disorders, and also L-dopa medication need further
      attention with respect to suicide.

PMID- 27637285
TI  - A Simulation Screening Mammography Module Created for Instruction and Assessment:
      Radiology Residents vs National Benchmarks.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To improve mammographic screening training and breast
      cancer detection, radiology residents participated in a simulation screening
      mammography module in which they interpreted an enriched set of screening
      mammograms with known outcomes. This pilot research study evaluates the
      effectiveness of the simulation module while tracking the progress, efficiency,
      and accuracy of radiology resident interpretations and also compares their
      performance against national benchmarks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A simulation
      module was created with 266 digital screening mammograms enriched with high-risk
      breast lesions (seven cases) and breast malignancies (65 cases). Over a period of
      27 months, 39 radiology residents participated in the simulation screening
      mammography module. Resident sensitivity and specificity were compared to Breast
      Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC data through 2009) national benchmark and
      American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI
      RADS) acceptable screening mammography audit ranges. RESULTS: The sensitivity,
      the percentage of cancers with an abnormal initial interpretation (BI-RADS 0),
      among residents was 84.5%, similar to the BCSC benchmark sensitivity of 84.9%
      (sensitivity for tissue diagnosis of cancer within 1 year following the initial
      examination) and within the acceptable ACR BI-RADS medical audit range of >=75%.
      The specificity, the percentage of noncancers that had a negative image
      interpretation (BI-RADS 1 or 2), among residents was 83.2% compared to 90.3%
      reported in the BCSC benchmark data, but lower than the suggested ACR BI-RADS
      range of 88%-95%. CONCLUSIONS: Using simulation modules for interpretation of
      screening mammograms is a promising method for training radiology residents to
      detect breast cancer and to help them achieve competence toward national
      benchmarks.

PMID- 27637286
TI  - The development of a coding system to code planning talk within motivational
      interviewing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Understanding mechanisms of motivational interviewing (MI) could
      improve practice. Planning is important for behavior change, and a component of
      MI. We aimed to develop a scale to measure planning talk within MI and explore
      the potential association between planning and weight loss maintenance (WLM).
      METHODS: A literature review and thematic analysis was used to develop the coding
      system. Reliability was tested using MI examples and a transcript. It was applied
      to 50 sessions and associations between planning and WLM were analyzed using
      logistic and linear regression. RESULTS: The coding system included: past,
      continuing, future and hypothetical plans and goal setting, varying on
      specificity and commitment. The percentage agreement was 86% and 75% for examples
      and transcript reliability respectively. Frequent planners, potentially decrease
      their weight 2.8kg(-9.7, 0.6) and BMI 1.2kg/m2(-3.1, 0.4) more compared to less
      frequent planners. Frequent goal setters increase their BMI(3.6kg/m2, 1.5, 5.7)
      and weight (9.5kg, 3.4, 15.6) compared to non-goal setters. CONCLUSION: It is
      feasible to measure planning, with acceptable agreement. Limited conclusions for
      the potential associations were demonstrated. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This is the
      first scale to measure planning, an important aspect of MI which has received
      less attention.

PMID- 27637287
TI  - The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Thoracic Surgery Practice and Access Task Force:
      2014 Workforce Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) has intermittently surveyed
      its workforce, providing isolated accounts of the current state of thoracic
      surgical practice. METHODS: The 63-question survey instrument was received by
      4,343 surgeon members of the STS, and responses were gathered between October 1
      and November 5, 2014. The return rate was 29.1%. RESULTS: The median age of the
      active United States thoracic surgeons is 54 years. Women comprise 6.9% of the
      responders, constituting 6.3% of adult cardiac, 6.1% of congenital heart, and
      11.8% of general thoracic surgeons. The decision to pursue a career in thoracic
      surgery was made before or in medical school by 48.3% of surgeons. Most survey
      respondents had a mean of 8.7 years of residency training after medical school
      graduation. The cumulative average educational debt was $62,815. Overall career
      satisfaction was 43.5% (very or extremely satisfied). STS Database participation
      greatly increased (89.9%) compared with the 2009 survey. Operative volume over
      the past 12 months decreased for 26% of surgeons. Malpractice premiums over the
      past 5 years have averaged between $54,310 and $$57,281. Of those who responded,
      43.8% plan to retire between the age of 66 and 70 years. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      provide a current, detailed profile of the specialty. Ongoing challenges remain
      length of training and educational debt. Case volumes, scope of practice,
      malpractice costs, and career satisfaction have remained relatively constant.
      With contraction of the current resident pool and the workforce ages, significant
      cardiothoracic surgeon shortages may develop as the United States population
      expands.

PMID- 27637288
TI  - Endosonography Versus Mediastinoscopy in Mediastinal Staging of Lung Cancer:
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Whether endosonography can replace mediastinoscopy as the initial procedure for
      mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer remains controversial. Herein,
      we perform a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and observational
      studies (both procedures performed in same subjects) comparing the two
      procedures. Nine studies (960 subjects) were identified. The pooled risk
      difference of the sensitivity of endosonography versus mediastinoscopy in
      observational studies and randomized controlled trials was 0.11 (95% confidence
      interval, -0.07 to 0.29) and 0.11 (95% confidence interval, -0.03 to 0.25),
      respectively suggesting equivalence of the two procedures. The complication rate
      was significantly lower with endosonographic procedures. Endoscopic ultrasound
      guided fine needle aspiration/endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial
      needle aspiration was found to have similar yield but lower complication rate
      compared to mediastinoscopy in the initial mediastinal staging of non-small cell
      lung cancer.

PMID- 27637289
TI  - Embolic Protection Devices During TAVI: Current Evidence and Uncertainties.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is now the principal therapeutic
      option in patients with severe aortic stenosis deemed inoperable or at high
      surgical risk. Implementing TAVI in a lower risk profile population could be
      limited by relatively high cerebrovascular event rates related to the procedure.
      Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging studies have demonstrated the
      ubiquitous presence of silent embolic cerebral infarcts after TAVI, with some
      data relating these lesions to subsequent cognitive decline. Embolic protection
      devices provide a mechanical barrier against debris embolizing to the brain
      during TAVI. We review the current evidence and ongoing uncertainties faced with
      the 3 currently available devices (Embrella, TriGuard and Claret) in TAVI.
      Studies evaluated neurological damage at 3 levels: clinical, subclinical, and
      cognitive. Feasibility and safety were analyzed for the 3 devices. In terms of
      efficacy, all studies were exploratory, but none demonstrated significant
      reductions in clinical event rates. The Embrella and Claret devices demonstrated
      significant reductions of the total cerebral lesion volume on diffusion-weighted
      magnetic resonance imaging. Studies evaluating the effects on cognition were also
      somewhat inconclusive. In conclusion, despite embolic protection devices
      demonstrating reductions in the total cerebral lesion volume on diffusion
      weighted magnetic resonance imaging, the clinical efficacy in terms of preventing
      stroke/cognitive decline requires confirmation in larger studies.

PMID- 27637291
TI  - A study of extracellular vesicle concentration in active diabetic Charcot
      neuroarthropathy.
AB  - It was the aim of this work to determine whether the plasma concentration of
      extracellular vesicles (EVs) in active diabetic Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) is
      connected to the inflammatory markers, temperature elevation in the affected foot
      and concentration of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE).
      EVs were isolated from peripheral blood of 35 patients with active CN. EVs were
      counted after repetitive centrifugation and washing of samples, by flow
      cytometry. Foot temperature was measured by infrared thermometer. Concentration
      of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) was determined by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found statistically significant
      correlations of EV concentration (but not soluble RAGE concentration) with C
      Reactive Protein (CRP) and with temperature difference between the affected and
      the contralateral foot (r=0.40, p=0.032; r=0.89, p<10-8, respectively). We
      provide evidence that the concentration of EVs is related to elevation of markers
      of inflammation (CRP and foot temperature difference) in acute Diabetic CN. EV
      based markers could be considered as a potential aid in early diagnosis of CN.

PMID- 27637290
TI  - Effect of cholecystectomy on bile acids as well as relevant enzymes and
      transporters in mice: Implication for pharmacokinetic changes of rifampicin.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Long-term medical consequences of cholecystectomy are
      believed to be uncommon. It has been reported that bile acids (BAs) changed after
      cholecystectomy. As important signaling molecules, the alternations of BAs might
      favour the regulatory effect on enzymes and transporters involved in BAs
      physiological homeostasis at the transcriptional level, which could lead to
      pharmacokinetic changes of drugs. Here, we determined the effect of
      cholecystectomy on BAs, relevant enzymes and transporters and pharmacokinetic
      parameters of rifampicin, and explored the potential mechanisms at the
      transcriptional regulatory level via nuclear receptors. METHODS: Parameters of
      BAs in different specimens, mRNA and protein expression of enzymes, transporters
      and nuclear receptors that relate to BAs homeostasis in liver and ileum, and the
      pharmacokinetic character of rifampicin were measured in sham-operated and
      cholecystectomized mice. KEY RESULTS: Cholecystectomy associated with
      considerable decreased BAs pool size that could attribute to increased fecal
      excretion. Most notably, as the Fxr and Pxr ligands, the alternations of hepatic
      and ileal individual BAs affected expression of enzymes Cyp3a11 and transporters
      Ntcp and Bsep in liver and Asbt in ileum significantly following cholecystectomy.
      Eventually, the rifampicin bioavailability was improved with depressed clearance
      in mice without gallbladders. CONCLUSION: As natural ligands for Fxr and Pxr, the
      alternations of individual BAs lead to the regulation of hepatic and ileal
      relevant enzymes and transporters after cholecystectomy. Especially, the down
      regulation of hepatic Cyp3a11 suggests that undesirable pharmacokinetic
      alternations of drugs especially Cyp3a11 substrates like rifampicin might occur
      in phase with cholecystectomy.

PMID- 27637293
TI  - Support for research about disability and health.

PMID- 27637292
TI  - SWORD: A simplified desensitization protocol for enzyme replacement therapy in
      adult Pompe disease.
AB  - Pompe disease is an inherited lysosomal disease in which there is a decrease or
      absence of acid alpha-glucosidase activity. This enzyme defect induces glycogen
      storage in different tissues, especially muscle and heart, resulting in muscle
      weakness, respiratory failure and heart disease. Substitutive enzyme replacement
      therapy (ERT) dispensed every two weeks is the only treatment that has shown
      benefits. However, this treatment induces hypersensitivity for half of the
      treated patients. Reactions range from mild to severe, sometimes requiring ERT
      suspension and anti-anaphylaxis drug administration. Understandably, high amount
      of acid alpha-glucosidase infusion seems to be identified by the immune system as
      a danger associated molecular pattern, and induce an immune reaction, involving
      sometimes, but not always, immunoglobulin E (IgE) production and activating mast
      and basophil polynuclear cells. Considering the lack of therapeutic alternatives
      and the proved benefit of ERT, desensitization finds its place here. We hereby
      report the case of a patient for whom a simplified desensitization protocol
      ("SWORD": Start With One Regular Drop) was successfully achieved, allowing ERT to
      be pursued, resulting eventually in clinical improvement.

PMID- 27637294
TI  - Bone turnover markers: Defining a therapeutic target.

PMID- 27637295
TI  - Statistical issues with the determination of the troponin 99th percentile - Not
      just a problem for troponin?

PMID- 27637296
TI  - Incentive and Reminder Strategies to Improve Response Rate for Internet-Based
      Physician Surveys: A Randomized Experiment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most research on how to enhance response rates in physician surveys
      has been done using paper surveys. Uncertainties remain regarding how to enhance
      response rates in Internet-based surveys. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a
      low-cost nonmonetary incentive and paper mail reminders (formal letter and
      postcard) on response rates in Internet-based physician surveys. METHODS: We
      executed a factorial-design randomized experiment while conducting a nationally
      representative Internet-based physician survey. We invited 3966 physicians
      (randomly selected from a commercial database of all licensed US physicians) via
      email to complete an Internet-based survey. We used 2 randomly assigned email
      messages: one message offered a book upon survey completion, whereas the other
      did not mention the book but was otherwise identical. All nonrespondents received
      several email reminders. Some physicians were further assigned at random to
      receive 1 reminder via paper mail (either a postcard or a letter) or no paper
      reminder. The primary outcome of this study was the survey response rate.
      RESULTS: Of the 3966 physicians who were invited, 451 (11.4%) responded to at
      least one survey question and 336 (8.5%) completed the entire survey. Of those
      who were offered a book, 345/2973 (11.6%) responded compared with 106/993 (10.7%)
      who were not offered a book (odds ratio 1.10, 95% CI 0.87-1.38, P=.42). Regarding
      the paper mail reminder, 168/1572 (10.7%) letter recipients, 148/1561 (9.5%)
      postcard recipients, and 69/767 (9.0%) email-only recipients responded (P=.35).
      The response rate for those receiving letters or postcards was similar (odds
      ratio 1.14, 95% CI 0.91-1.44, P=.26). CONCLUSIONS: Offering a modest nonmonetary
      incentive and sending a paper reminder did not improve survey response rate.
      Further research on how to enhance response rates in Internet-based physician
      surveys is needed.

PMID- 27637298
TI  - Analyzing resilience properties in oscillatory biological systems using
      parametric model checking.
AB  - Automated verification of living organism models allows us to gain previously
      unknown knowledge about underlying biological processes. In this paper we show
      how parametric time model checking can be applied to define the time behavior of
      biological oscillatory systems more precisely. In particular, we focus on the
      resilience properties of such systems. This notion was introduced to understand
      the behavior of biological systems (e.g. the mammalian circadian rhythm) that are
      reactive and adaptive enough to endorse major changes in their environment (e.g.
      jet-lags, day-night alternating work-time). We formalize these properties through
      parametric TCTL and investigate the influence of environmental conditions changes
      on the resilience of living organisms under the uncertainty in parameters. In
      particular, we discuss the influence of various perturbations, e.g. artificial
      jet-lag or components knock-out on the parameters controlling the oscillatory
      behavior. This analysis is crucial when it comes to model elicitation for dynamic
      biological systems. We demonstrate the applicability of this technique using a
      simplified model of circadian clock and discuss its results with regard to other
      previous studies based on hybrid modeling.

PMID- 27637297
TI  - Heterologous expression of carnation Italian ringspot virus p36 protein enhances
      necrotic cell death in response to acetic acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - A universal feature of the replication of positive-strand RNA viruses is the
      association with intracellular membranes. Carnation Italian ringspot virus (CIRV)
      replication in plants occurs in vesicles derived from the mitochondrial outer
      membrane. The product encoded by CIRV ORF1, p36, is required for targeting the
      virus replication complex to the outer mitochondrial membrane both in plant and
      yeast cells. Here the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used as a model host to
      study the effect of CIRV p36 on cell survival and death. It was shown that p36
      does not promote cell death, but decreases cell growth rate. In addition, p36
      changed the nature of acetic acid-induced cell death in yeast by increasing the
      number of cells dying by necrosis with concomitant decrease of the number of
      cells dying by programmed cell death, as judged by measurements of
      phosphatidylserine externalization. The tight association of p36 to membranes was
      not affected by acetic acid treatment, thus confirming the peculiar and
      independent interaction of CIRV p36 with mitochondria in yeast. This work proved
      yeast as an invaluable model organism to study both the mitochondrial
      determinants of the type of cell death in response to stress and the molecular
      pathogenesis of (+)RNA viruses.

PMID- 27637299
TI  - Next-generation sequencing analysis of TSHR in 384 Chinese subclinical congenital
      hypothyroidism (CH) and CH patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Defects in the human TSHR gene are reported to be one of the causes
      of CH due to thyroid dysgenesis, the purpose of this study was to examine the
      TSHR mutation spectrum and prevalence in congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and
      subclinical congenital hypothyroidism (SCH) patients in the Guangxi Zhuang
      Autonomous Region of China and to evaluate the genotype-phenotype correlations.
      METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 384 patients including 240 CH and 144
      SCH patients in Guangxi, China. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood
      leukocytes. All exons of the 11 known CH associated genes including TSHR together
      with their exon-intron boundaries were screened by next-generation sequencing
      (NGS). RESULTS: NGS analysis of TSHR revealed nine different variants in ten
      individuals. Six (4.2%) of 144 patients with SCH were found to harbor monoallelic
      TSHR variants. Four (1.6%) of 240 patients with CH harbored TSHR variants
      combined with another monoallelic mutation in either DUOX2 or TG gene. The
      present study identified five novel variants c.1838A>G (p.Y613C), c.1576G>A
      (p.A526T), c.2087T>G (p.F696C), c.1631G>A (p.G544E) and c.2051C>A (p.A684D) in
      TSHR, seven known pathogenic variants c.1349G>A (p.R450H), c.326G>A (p.R109Q),
      c.2066T>G (p.V689G) and c.2272G>A (p.E758K) in TSHR, IVS3+2T>G in TG, and
      c.1588A>T (p.K530X) and c.2635G>A (p.E879K) in DUOX2. The previously reported
      hotspot mutation p.R450H was found in only one SCH patient. CONCLUSION: The
      prevalence of TSHR mutations was 1.6% in CH patients and 4.2% in SCH patients in
      Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Monoallelic TSHR pathogenic variants
      were associated with SCH, while TSHR pathogenic variants combined with
      monoallelic mutations in DUOX2 or TG gene might contribute to CH. Our study
      expands the TSHR mutation spectrum and provides the best estimation of mutation
      rate for SCH and CH patients in this Chinese population.

PMID- 27637300
TI  - Diagnosis of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia by a Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing
      Panel: Molecular and Clinical Findings in Italian Patients.
AB  - Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic disorder that alters
      mucociliary clearance, with consequent chronic disease of upper and lower
      airways. Diagnosis of PCD is challenging, and genetic testing is hampered by the
      high heterogeneity of the disease, because autosomal recessive causative
      mutations were found in 34 different genes. In this study, we clinically and
      molecularly characterized a cohort of 51 Italian patients with clinical signs of
      PCD. A custom next-generation sequencing panel that enables the affordable and
      simultaneous screening of 24 PCD genes was developed for genetic analysis. After
      variant filtering and prioritization, the molecular diagnosis of PCD was achieved
      in 43% of the patients. Overall, 5 homozygous and 27 compound heterozygous
      mutations, 21 of which were never reported before, were identified in 11 PCD
      genes. The DNAH5 and DNAH11 genes were the most common cause of PCD in Italy, but
      some population specificities were identified. In addition, the number of
      unsolved cases and the identification of only a single mutation in six patients
      suggest further genetic heterogeneity and invoke the need of novel strategies to
      detect unconventional pathogenic DNA variants. Finally, despite the availability
      of mutation databases and in silico prediction tools helping the interpretation
      of variants in next-generation sequencing screenings, a comprehensive segregation
      analysis is required to establish the in trans inheritance and support the
      pathogenic role of mutations.

PMID- 27637301
TI  - Reliable Next-Generation Sequencing of Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tissue
      Using Single Molecule Tags.
AB  - Sequencing of tumor DNA to detect genetic aberrations is becoming increasingly
      important, not only to refine cancer diagnoses but also to predict response to
      targeted treatments. Next-generation sequencing is widely adopted in diagnostics
      for the analyses of DNA extracted from routinely processed formalin-fixed,
      paraffin-embedded tissue, fine-needle aspirates, or cytologic smears. PCR-based
      enrichment strategies are usually required to obtain sufficient read depth for
      reliable detection of genetic aberrations. However, although the read depth
      relates to sensitivity and specificity, PCR duplicates generated during target
      enrichment may result in overestimation of library complexity, which may result
      in false-negative results. Here, we report the validation of a 23-gene panel
      covering 41 hotspot regions using single-molecule tagging of DNA molecules by
      single-molecule molecular inversion probes (smMIPs), allowing assessment of
      library complexity. The smMIP approach outperforms Sanger and Ampliseq-Personal
      Genome Machine-based sequencing in our clinical diagnostic setting. Furthermore,
      single-molecule tags allow consensus sequence read formation, allowing detection
      to 1% allele frequency and reliable exclusion of variants to 3%. The number of
      false-positive calls is also markedly reduced (>10-fold), and our panel design
      allows for distinction between true mutations and deamination artifacts. Not only
      is this technique superior, smMIP-based library preparation is also scalable,
      easy to automate, and flexible. We have thus implemented this approach for
      sequence analysis of clinical samples in our routine diagnostic workflow.

PMID- 27637302
TI  - The History of Antithrombotic Therapy: The Discovery of Heparin, the Vitamin K
      Antagonists, and the Utility of Aspirin.
AB  - The administration of intravenous heparin to postoperative patients by Barritt
      and Jordan reduced the incidence of fatal and nonfatal pulmonary embolism and
      established heparin as the standard for parenteral anticoagulation. The coumarin
      family of vitamin K antagonists quickly became the standard for long-term oral
      anticoagulation. Aspirin became a widely used antithrombotic agent after the
      discovery that chronic oral administration reduced the incidence of secondary
      strokes and myocardial infarction. This article gives a brief history of
      antithrombotic therapy, including the discovery of heparin, the vitamin k
      antagonists, and the utility of aspirin. 

PMID- 27637303
TI  - Direct Oral Anticoagulants: Monitoring Anticoagulant Effect.
AB  - In some clinical settings laboratory measurement of direct oral anticoagulants
      effect is helpful in guiding medical care, such as life-threatening bleeding,
      need for emergency surgery, renal impairment, severe hepatic failure, extremes of
      body weight, or in patients with bleeding or thrombosis on therapy. This article
      reviews approaches to laboratory testing to assess the anticoagulant effect of
      these drugs. Because of the wide variation in levels measured in patients on
      therapy and minimal clinical data from dose adjustment, dose adjustment based on
      levels is not currently advised. In addition, these drugs interfere with many
      clot-based laboratory tests and caution is advised in interpreting these tests in
      patients on direct oral anticoagulants.

PMID- 27637304
TI  - Postorthopedic Surgery Joint Replacement Surgery Venous Thromboembolism
      Prophylaxis.
AB  - Elective total hip or knee arthroplasty places patients at risk for venous
      thromboembolism (VTE). As our understanding of the pathophysiology of VTE after
      joint arthroplasty has increased, pharmacologic strategies have been developed to
      target different aspects of the coagulation cascade. Various approaches have been
      used as risk reduction strategies. In 2011 and 2014 the Food and Drug
      Administration approved rivaroxaban and apixaban as new oral antithrombotic
      agents. Although controversies remain with regard to the ideal VTE
      pharmacoprophylactic agent, this class of novel oral anticoagulants has been
      demonstrated to be safe and to be more effective than enoxaparin.

PMID- 27637305
TI  - Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - For more than 50 years, vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) have been the standard of
      care for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the numerous limitations
      of VKAs have led to the development of non-VKA oral anticoagulants (NOACs). There
      are 4 NOACs currently approved for prevention of thromboembolism in patients with
      nonvalvular AF. This article provides an overview of AF, summarizes basic
      properties of NOACs, and reviews the landmark trials. Current data on use of
      NOACs in special populations and specific clinical scenarios are also presented.
      Lastly, recommendations from experts on controversial topics of bleeding
      management and reversal are described.

PMID- 27637306
TI  - Use of the Direct Oral Anticoagulants for the Treatment of Venous
      Thromboembolism.
AB  - In the past 2 decades, the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have emerged as
      alternatives to the standard therapy (unfractionated or low-molecular-weight
      heparin followed by vitamin K antagonists [VKA]), for the acute and extended
      treatment of venous thromboembolism. The DOACs have a more favorable
      pharmacologic profile and a predictable anticoagulant response and, therefore,
      have the potential to overcome some of the limitations associated with the use of
      VKA. Several ongoing registries are evaluating the use of the DOACs in routine
      clinical practice and will provide additional information in less selected
      patient populations.

PMID- 27637307
TI  - Use of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Special Populations.
AB  - Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been approved for the treatment of venous
      thromboembolism and atrial fibrillation based on randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) of direct comparisons with vitamin K antagonists. Despite having more than
      100,000 patients enrolled, safety and efficacy are debated in selected
      populations. Although DOACs are reviewed as a class of anticoagulant,
      pharmacokinetic differences exist such that different medications may be
      beneficial in distinct clinical settings. Synthesizing available evidence based
      on phase III RCTs, post hoc subgroup analyses, and pooled metaanalyses, this
      review provides an overview of DOACs and scrutinizes individual differences in
      their applications for the special populations.

PMID- 27637308
TI  - Perioperative Management of the Direct Oral Anticoagulants: A Case-Based Review.
AB  - The periprocedural management of patients on direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs)
      is a common but potentially challenging clinical problem because there are few
      prospective studies to guide clinical decisions. Retrospective analyses from
      randomized trials and observational data suggest that DOACs can be managed in a
      standardized manner, based on surgical and patient characteristics, that does not
      result in excess major bleeding or thrombosis. In a case-based manner, this
      article presents a perioperative DOAC management algorithm and reviews the
      available and emerging evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of this
      approach. A free online clinical guidance tool is available from Thrombosis
      Canada that includes the proposed management algorithm.

PMID- 27637309
TI  - Reversal Agents for the Direct Oral Anticoagulants.
AB  - The vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are associated with a significant rate of major
      and fatal bleeding complications. The new direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs),
      even though having a better bleeding profile than the VKAs, are still associated
      with serious bleeding. The anticoagulation induced by the VKAs can be reversed
      with both vitamin K and prothrombin complex concentrates, whereas the DOACs were
      developed without specific reversal agents. Although there is controversy around
      the necessity of a reversal agent, most clinicians agree that having a reversal
      agent for the DOACs would be beneficial. Three reversal agents are currently in
      development.

PMID- 27637312
TI  - Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Clinical Practice.

PMID- 27637311
TI  - Regulatory Impact on Thrombosis Treatment, Prevention, and Anticoagulant Use.
AB  - Thromboembolism afflicts millions of patients annually in the United States and
      is associated with a significant cost burden. Oral anticoagulants provide
      clinicians with options for management of these diseases and their use continues
      to grow. Accordingly, regulatory, legislative, and nonprofit organizations have
      set performance standards with the goal of improving patient outcomes, ensuring
      patient safety, and reducing costs. Recent efforts in quality improvement have
      introduced changes surrounding regulatory requirements, surveillance, litigation,
      and oversight that clinicians should be familiar with. This article summarizes
      key updates related to the management of anticoagulant therapy as it relates to
      thrombosis prevention and treatment.

PMID- 27637310
TI  - The Intrinsic Pathway of Coagulation as a Target for Antithrombotic Therapy.
AB  - Plasma coagulation in the activated partial thromboplastin time assay is
      initiated by sequential activation of coagulation factors XII, XI, and IX. While
      this series of proteolytic reactions is not an accurate model for hemostasis in
      vivo, there is mounting evidence that factor XI and factor XII contribute to
      thrombosis, and that inhibiting them can produce an antithrombotic effect with a
      small effect on hemostasis. This article discusses the contributions of
      components of the intrinsic pathway to thrombosis in animal models and humans,
      and results of early clinical trials of drugs targeting factors IX, XI, and XII.

PMID- 27637313
TI  - 6-Acetamidoflavone obtained by microbiological and chemical methods and its
      antioxidant activity.
AB  - The aim of this research was to select microbial strains capable of transforming
      flavonoid compounds containing an amino group. 6-Aminoflavone (1) was used as a
      model compound. Biotransformation of 1 by the cultures of Rhodococcus sp. DSM 364
      and Gordonia sp. DSM 44456 bacteria led to 6-acetamidoflavone (2) with the
      isolated yields in 86% and 93%, respectively. The structure of the product was
      determined on the basis of spectroscopic data, including NMR spectra (1H, 13C, 1H
      1H, 1H-13C, and DEPT 135 degrees ), a UV and IR spectrum and HR ESI-MS analysis.
      The developed method of microbial replacement of the amino group in 6
      aminoflavone (1) by a acetamido one may find application in chemical industry,
      being an alternative to the reactions involving acetic anhydride. The antioxidant
      activity of flavone, and its C-6 substituted derivatives: 6-aminoflavone (1), 6
      hydroxyflavone and isolated metabolite 6-acetamidoflavone (2) has been examined
      using the ABTS and DPPH methods.

PMID- 27637314
TI  - Aptamer-based trapping of phytosphingosine in urine samples.
AB  - Usually, small molecules like single metabolites used in clinical diagnostic can
      be quantified by instrumental approaches like LC-MS or bioanalytical techniques
      using antibodies or aptamers as selective receptors. The present work comprises
      the generation of aptamers with an affinity towards the medically relevant
      metabolite phytosphingosine via the previously reported just in time-Selection
      approach (Hunniger et al., 2014). The whole approach could be seen as a proof of
      concept to extend the existing just in time-Selection protocol for selection
      towards small molecules with dissociation constants in the low nanomolar range.
      Moreover it is conceivable that the shown methods could be quickly adapted to
      further scopes. Aptamers could be applied for clean-up or concentration processes
      prior to further analysis. As an example, we used the selected aptamers towards
      phytosphingosine bound to magnetic particles for affinity enrichment in both
      selection buffer and urine samples. As an outcome, enrichment factors of up to 9
      fold (selection buffer)/4-fold (urine samples) were achieved by this approach.

PMID- 27637315
TI  - Specific detection of tetanus toxoid using an aptamer-based matrix.
AB  - Batch-to-batch variation of therapeutic proteins produced by biological means
      requires rigorous monitoring at all stages of the production process. A large
      number of animals are employed for risk assessment of biologicals, which has low
      ethical and economic acceptability. Research is now focussed on the validation of
      in vitro and ex vivo tests to replace live challenges. Among in vitro methods,
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is considered to be the gold standard
      for estimation of integrity of tetanus toxoid. ELISA utilizes antibodies for
      detection, which, because of their biological origin and limited modifiability,
      may have low stability and result in irreproducibility. We have developed a
      method using highly specific and selective RNA aptamers for detection of tetanus
      toxoid. Using displacement assay, we first identified aptamers which bind to
      different aptatopes on the surface of the toxoid. Pairs of these aptamers were
      employed as capture-detection ligands in a sandwich-ALISA (aptamer-linked
      immobilized sorbent assay) format. The binding efficiency was confirmed by the
      fluorescence intensity in each microtire plate well. Using aptamers alone,
      detection of tetanus toxoid was possible with the same level of sensitivity as
      antibody. Aptamers were also used in the capture ALISA format. Adjuvanted tetanus
      toxoid was subjected to accelerated stress testing, including thermal, mechanical
      and freeze-thawing stress conditions. The loss in antigenicity of the preparation
      determined by ALISA in each case was found to be similar to that determined by
      conventional ELISA. Thus, it is possible to replace antibodies with aptamers to
      develop a more robust detection tool for tetanus toxoid.

PMID- 27637316
TI  - Target-directed discovery and production of pharmaceuticals in transgenic mutant
      plant cells.
AB  - Plants are a source of complex bioactive compounds, with value as
      pharmaceuticals, or leads for synthetic modification. Many of these secondary
      metabolites have evolved as defenses against competing organisms and their
      pharmaceutical value is "accidental", resulting from homology between target
      proteins in these competitors, and human molecular therapeutic targets. Here we
      show that it is possible to use mutation and selection of plant cells to re
      direct their "evolution" toward metabolites that interact with the therapeutic
      target proteins themselves. This is achieved by expressing the human target
      protein in plant cells, and selecting mutants for survival based on the
      interaction of their metabolome with this target. This report describes the
      successful evolution of hairy root cultures of a Lobelia species toward increased
      biosynthesis of metabolites that inhibit the human dopamine transporter protein.
      Many of the resulting selected mutants are overproducing the active metabolite
      found in the wild-type plant, but others overproduce active metabolites that are
      not readily detectable in non-mutants. This technology can access the whole
      genomic capability of a plant species to biosynthesize metabolites with a
      specific target. It has potential value as a novel platform for plant drug
      discovery and production, or as a means of optimizing the therapeutic value of
      medicinal plant extracts.

PMID- 27637317
TI  - Influence of temporomandibular joint disc displacement on mandibular advancement
      in patients without pre-treatment condylar resorption.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to clarify the correlation between pre-treatment
      anterior disc displacement and mandibular stability after orthognathic and
      orthodontic treatment among patients with a skeletal class II malocclusion and
      without pre-treatment condylar resorption. Thirty-seven patients were included (7
      male, 30 female). The mean length of follow-up was 6.76+/-3.06 years. Patients
      with condylar resorption before treatment were excluded. Magnetic resonance
      images and lateral cephalometric radiographs were taken before treatment (T0),
      after treatment (T1), and at follow-up (T2). Patients were classified according
      to the degree of disc displacement: -10-10 degrees  'normal', 11-50 degrees 
      'slight to mild', >=51 degrees  'moderate to severe'. Results showed the condyle
      moved posterosuperiorly after treatment, and then moved anteriorly to a more
      concentric location during the long follow-up period. Condylar movement was found
      not to correlate with disc displacement. The degree of disc displacement before
      treatment did not correlate with the post-surgical mandibular positional change
      in either the sagittal or vertical direction. To conclude, the mandibular
      bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy was stable in the long-term after
      orthognathic and orthodontic treatment. In the absence of pre-treatment condylar
      resorption, the degree of initial anterior disc displacement did not have a
      significant influence on the stability of mandibular advancement.

PMID- 27637318
TI  - Metabolic flux analyses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cystic fibrosis isolates.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a metabolically versatile wide-ranging opportunistic
      pathogen. In humans P. aeruginosa causes infections of the skin, urinary tract,
      blood, and the lungs of Cystic Fibrosis patients. In addition, P. aeruginosa's
      broad environmental distribution, relatedness to biotechnologically useful
      species, and ability to form biofilms have made it the focus of considerable
      interest. We used 13C metabolic flux analysis (MFA) and flux balance analysis to
      understand energy and redox production and consumption and to explore the
      metabolic phenotypes of one reference strain and five strains isolated from the
      lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. Our results highlight the importance of the
      oxidative pentose phosphate and Entner-Doudoroff pathways in P. aeruginosa
      growth. Among clinical strains we report two divergent metabolic strategies and
      identify changes between genetically related strains that have emerged during a
      chronic infection of the same patient. MFA revealed that the magnitude of fluxes
      through the glyoxylate cycle correlates with growth rates.

PMID- 27637319
TI  - Systemic capillary leak syndrome and autoimmune diseases: A case series.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Systemic capillary leak syndrome (Clarkson's disease) is a rare
      entity characterized by recurrent and unpredictable attacks of capillary leakage
      of plasma fluid and proteins throughout the endothelium. Some cases are
      secondary. We describe the rare association between secondary capillary leak
      syndrome (SCLS) and autoimmune diseases. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide,
      retrospective, observational, and collaborative study throughout the hospital
      units of the Club des Rhumatismes et Inflammations network (CRI) between March
      and August 2015. Inclusion criteria were patients with (1) capillary leakage
      episodes characterized by edema and elevated hematocrit, low albumin count
      without proteinuria, or other cause of protein loss; and (2) definite autoimmune
      diseases according to international classification criteria. RESULTS: The
      clinical and biological data of five patients (three women) were reviewed. Median
      age was 43.2 (17-55) years. Four patients had Sjogren syndrome. One of them also
      fulfilled the criteria for systemic sclerosis (n = 1). The fifth patient had
      polymyositis. During the 37.2 months of median follow-up (5.4-201), we recorded a
      total of 24 attacks, yielding an attack incidence of 91/100 patient-years.
      Laboratory tests revealed that three patients had anti-SSA/Ro antibodies. Only
      one patient had a monoclonal blood component (IgGkappa). Three patients needed
      ICU support; one died during a flare. CONCLUSIONS: We reported the first case
      series of a rare association of SCLS and autoimmune diseases, supporting the idea
      of some immune mediation in the pathogenesis of the former disease.

PMID- 27637320
TI  - Biopharmaceutic Profiling of Salts to Improve Absorption of Poorly Soluble Basic
      Drugs.
AB  - AZD1175 and AZD2207 are 2 highly lipophilic compounds with a significant risk of
      not achieving therapeutic plasma concentrations due to solubility-limited
      absorption. The compounds have the same molecular weight and minimal structural
      differences. The aim of the present work was to investigate whether salts could
      be applied to improve the intestinal absorption, and the subsequent in vivo
      exposure. Drug solubilities, dissolution rates, and degree of supersaturation and
      precipitation were determined in biorelevant media. Dog studies were performed,
      in the absence and presence of a precipitation inhibitor (hydroxypropyl
      methylcellulose). Finally, a human phase I study was performed. For AZD1175,
      there was a good agreement between dissolution rates, in vivo exposure in dog,
      and the obtained exposure in human with the selected hemi-1,5
      naphthalenedisulfonate of the compound. For AZD2207, the picture was more
      complex. The same counter ion was selected for the study in man. In addition, the
      chloride salt of AZD2207 showed promising data in the presence of a precipitation
      inhibitor in vitro and in dog that, however, could not be repeated in man. The
      differences in observations between the 2 compounds could be attributed to the
      difference in solubility and to the degree of supersaturation in the gastric
      environment rather than in the intestine.

PMID- 27637321
TI  - Utility of Solution X-Ray Scattering for the Development of Antibody
      Biopharmaceuticals.
AB  - Characterization of immunoglobulin solutions at high concentrations represents a
      significant challenge. A current trend in the biopharmaceutical industry is to
      manufacture highly concentrated drug products, which can be used to deliver high
      doses in small volumes, via subcutaneous injections. Studying a molecule's
      structure and properties in its final drug product formulation is ideal, but
      characterization is typically performed under dilute solution conditions with
      critical stabilizing buffer components removed because of interference effects,
      which can result in an incomplete understanding of the molecule's properties.
      Direct study of protein conformation and protein-protein interactions in
      concentrated solutions is challenging for most biophysical and biochemical
      techniques; however, X-ray solution scattering offers opportunities. Combined
      with other biophysical techniques, X-ray scattering has the potential to provide
      relevant information on both structure and interactions in protein solutions over
      a broad concentration range. Here, we report X-ray solution scattering of 4
      monoclonal antibodies, designated mAb1 (glycosylated and de-glycosylated), mAb2,
      and mAb3 at concentrations between 0.5 and >168 mg/mL. Data acquired from these
      measurements are combined with the results from other biophysical measurements to
      generate a comprehensive profile of their solution behaviors. Our results show
      that X-ray solution scattering can assess key parameters needed to aid in
      formulation development.

PMID- 27637322
TI  - Assessment of Lumbar Spine Height Following Sustained Lumbar Extension Posture:
      Comparison Between Musculoskeletal Ultrasonography and Stadiometry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to correlate sitting height measured by
      stadiometry with lumbar spine height (LSH) modifications measured by
      musculoskeletal ultrasonography (MSU). METHODS: Eighteen healthy young adults
      were recruited for this study (mean age: 21.5 +/- 1.5 years). All subjects were
      tested in the following sequence: (1) lying supine for 10 minutes, (2) sitting
      under loaded (9.5 kg) and unloaded conditions for 5 minutes each, (3) lying
      supine for 15 minutes with passive lumbar extension, and (4) sitting unloaded for
      5 minutes. Both stadiometry and MSU measurements were taken after each step of
      the testing sequence. RESULTS: Following the loaded sitting step, sitting height
      (measured by stadiometry) decreased by 3.4 +/- 1.6 mm, whereas following
      sustained lumbar extension, sitting height increased by 5.4 +/- 3.5 mm (P < .05).
      Following loaded sitting and sustained lumbar extension, LSH decreased by 3.8 +/-
      1.7 mm and increased by 6.2 +/- 4.1 mm, respectively (P < .05). On the basis of
      the mean differences (between the different steps of the testing sequence), the
      mean correlation coefficient and the mean coefficient of determination between
      stadiometry and MSU measurements were calculated at 0.93 +/- 0.07 and 0.88 +/-
      0.13, respectively, and no statistical differences were observed (P > .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: In vivo measurements of sitting height changes, measured using
      stadiometry, were strongly correlated with LSH changes, measured using
      ultrasonography.

PMID- 27637323
TI  - Cell-cycle markers do not improve discrimination of EORTC and CUETO risk models
      in predicting recurrence and progression of non-muscle-invasive high-grade
      bladder cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess if a panel of cell-cycle markers could improve the
      discrimination of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer
      (EORTC) and Spanish Urological Club for Oncological Treatment (CUETO) models in
      predicting recurrence and progression of high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder
      cancer (NMIBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2007 and January 2012,
      every patient with high-grade NMIBC treated with transurethral resection of
      bladder underwent immunohistochemical staining for 5 biomarkers (p21, p27, p53,
      KI-67, and cyclin E1). We excluded patients who had muscle-insvasive disease,
      underwent early cystectomy, and those with incomplete follow-up. Kaplan-Meier
      curves assessed recurrence and progression-free survival. Univariate and
      multivariate Cox regression analysis assessed the predictive ability of markers
      after correcting for EORTC or CUETO risk scores. Harrel concordance index
      assessed for discrimination. RESULTS: There were 131 patients with a median
      follow-up of 31.1 months. Stage was Ta (50%), T1 (44%), and Tis (8%). For 95
      patients this was the primary tumor. Intravesical therapy was used in 76% of
      cases of which 45% had maintenance. Recurrence-free survival rates at 6, 12, and
      24 months were 68.9%, 52.1%, and 33.2%, respectively, whereas progression-free
      survival rate at 6, 12, and 24 months were 93.8%, 88%, and 84.3%, respectively.
      No differences in survival based on number of altered markers were noted.
      Biomarker status was neither a significant predictor of recurrence nor
      progression. Marker alterations marginally improved discrimination of EORTC and
      CUETO models, which were confirmed to be mediocre. CONCLUSIONS: Markers were not
      significant predictors of recurrence nor progression in patients with high-grade
      NMIBC and their addition to prediction models is of little benefit.

PMID- 27637324
TI  - [A not so poorly-defined opacity].
AB  - A 60-year-old patient was under follow-up for pulmonary hypertension consistent
      with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease. During his follow-up, a parenchymal
      opacity was discovered. We describe the management of the suspicion of lung
      cancer, highlighting the modification of the conventional diagnostic and
      therapeutic strategy on account of the pulmonary hypertension. Chest physicians
      should be able to adapt their diagnostic and therapeutic management in the case
      of neoplasia in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension.

PMID- 27637325
TI  - A predictive model of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in UK white as well as black and
      Asian minority ethnic population groups for application in food fortification
      strategy development towards vitamin D deficiency prevention.
AB  - Within Europe, dark-skinned ethnic groups have been shown to be at much increased
      risk of vitamin D deficiency compared to their white counterparts. Increasing the
      dietary supply of vitamin D is potentially the only modifiable environmental
      component that can be used to prevent vitamin D deficiency among dark-skinned
      ethnic groups living at high latitude. Empirical data to support development of
      such strategies is largely lacking. This paper presents the development and
      validation of an integrated model that may be adapted within the UK population to
      design fortification strategies for vitamin D, for application in both white and
      black and Asian minority ethnic (BAME) population groups. Using a step-wise
      approach, models based on available ultraviolet B (UVB) data, hours of sunlight
      and two key components (the dose-response of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]
      to UVB in white and BAME persons and the dose-response of 25(OH)D to vitamin D)
      were used to predict changes population serum 25(OH)D concentrations throughout
      the year, stratified by ethnicity, 'via increases' in dietary intake arising from
      food fortification simulations. The integrated model successfully predicted
      measured average wintertime 25(OH)D concentrations in addition to the prevalence
      of serum 25(OH)D <30nmol/L in adult white and BAME individuals (18-70y) in the UK
      based National Diet and Nutrition Survey both separately (21.7% and 49.3%
      predicted versus 20.2% and 50.5% measured, for white and BAME, respectively) and
      when combined at UK population-relevant proportions of 97% white and 7% BAME
      (23.2% predicted versus 23.1% measured). Thus this integrated model presents a
      viable approach to estimating changes in the population concentrations of 25(OH)D
      that may arise from various dietary fortification approaches.

PMID- 27637327
TI  - Introduction to special issue: Experimental psychopathology approach to
      understanding and treating mental disorders.

PMID- 27637326
TI  - BRAF signals to pro-apoptotic BIM to enhance AraC cytotoxicity induced in AML
      cells by Vitamin D-based differentiation agents.
AB  - Vitamin D has so far not fulfilled its early promise as an antineoplastic agent,
      in spite of compelling in vitro data. With the aim of bringing vitamin D or its
      derivatives (VDDs) effectively to the clinic, we developed a two-pronged
      approach. First, by adding the plant-derived Carnosic Acid (CA) to a vitamin D2
      derivative Doxercalciferol we increased its differentiation potency without
      increasing it hypercalcemic properties. Second, we added these two agents
      together to AML cells already treated with Cytarabine (AraC), the standard drug
      for the treatment of patients with AML. We now report that BRAF, a part of the
      MAPK signaling pathway, is required for the optimally increased cell death in
      this system and acts upstream of BIM, the regulator of the caspase cascade that
      leads to cell death by apoptosis. It is proposed that this therapeutic regimen
      should be tested in a clinical trial.

PMID- 27637329
TI  - Toll-like Receptor (TLR) Signaling Interacts with CREBH to Modulate High-density
      Lipoprotein (HDL) in Response to Bacterial Endotoxin.
AB  - Bacterial endotoxin can induce inflammatory and metabolic changes in the host. In
      this study, we revealed a molecular mechanism by which a stress-inducible, liver
      enriched transcription factor, cAMP-responsive element-binding protein hepatic
      specific (CREBH), modulates lipid profiles to protect the liver from injuries
      upon the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS challenge can activate
      CREBH in mouse liver tissues in a toll-like receptor (TLR)/MyD88-dependent
      manner. Upon LPS challenge, CREBH interacts with TNF receptor-associated factor 6
      (TRAF6), an E3 ubiquitin ligase that functions as a key mediator of TLR
      signaling, and this interaction relies on MyD88. Further analysis demonstrated
      that TRAF6 mediates K63-linked ubiquitination of CREBH to facilitate CREBH
      cleavage and activation. CREBH directly activates expression of the gene encoding
      Apolipoprotein A4 (ApoA4) under LPS challenge, leading to modulation of high
      density lipoprotein (HDL) in animals. CREBH deficiency led to reduced production
      of circulating HDL and increased liver damage upon high-dose LPS challenge.
      Therefore, TLR/MyD88-dependent, TRAF6-facilitated CREBH activation represents a
      mammalian hepatic defense response to bacterial endotoxin by modulating HDL.

PMID- 27637328
TI  - Roles of Conserved Residues of the Glycine Oxidase GoxA in Controlling Activity,
      Cooperativity, Subunit Composition, and Cysteine Tryptophylquinone Biosynthesis.
AB  - GoxA is a glycine oxidase that possesses a cysteine tryptophylquinone (CTQ)
      cofactor that is formed by posttranslational modifications that are catalyzed by
      a modifying enzyme GoxB. It is the second known tryptophylquinone enzyme to
      function as an oxidase, the other being the lysine epsilon-oxidase, LodA. All
      other enzymes containing CTQ or tryptophan tryptophylquinone (TTQ) cofactors are
      dehydrogenases. Kinetic analysis of GoxA revealed allosteric cooperativity for
      its glycine substrate, but not O2 This is the first CTQ- or TTQ-dependent enzyme
      to exhibit cooperativity. Here, we show that cooperativity and homodimer
      stabilization are strongly dependent on the presence of Phe-237. Conversion of
      this residue, which is a Tyr in LodA, to Tyr or Ala eliminates the cooperativity
      and destabilizes the dimer. These mutations also significantly affect the kcat
      and Km values for the substrates. On the basis of structural and modeling
      studies, a mechanism by which Phe-237 exerts this influence is presented. Two
      active site residues, Asp-547 and His-466, were also examined and shown by site
      directed mutagenesis to be critical for CTQ biogenesis. This result is compared
      with the results of similar studies of mutagenesis of structurally conserved
      residues of other tryptophylquinone enzymes. These results provide insight into
      the roles of specific active-site residues in catalysis and CTQ biogenesis, as
      well as describing an interesting mechanism by which a single residue can dictate
      whether or not an enzyme exhibits cooperative allosteric behavior toward a
      substrate.

PMID- 27637330
TI  - Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1/Redox Factor-1 (Ape1/Ref-1) Modulates
      Antigen Presenting Cell-mediated T Helper Cell Type 1 Responses.
AB  - Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox factor-1 (Ape1/Ref-1) is a
      multifunctional protein possessing DNA repair, redox control, and transcriptional
      regulatory activities. Although Ape1/Ref-1 plays multiple roles in the immune
      system, its functions in helper T (Th) cell activation and differentiation are
      largely unknown. In this study, the function of Ape1/Ref-1 in Th cell activation
      was analyzed using an Ape1/Ref-1 redox-specific inhibitor, E3330. When
      splenocytes from OT-II mice, which are ovalbumin (OVA)-specific T-cell receptor
      transgenic mice, were activated with OVA in the presence of E3330, the induction
      of IFN-gamma-producing OT-II T cells was significantly increased. In contrast,
      E3330 did not enhance IFN-gamma production from plate-bound anti-CD3 antibody
      stimulated CD4+ T cells in the absence of antigen presenting cells (APCs).
      Furthermore, E3330-pretreated and OVA-pulsed APCs also enhanced the IFN-gamma
      production from OT-II T cells. These results suggested that E3330 enhances Th1
      responses by modifying APC function. E3330 did not alter the surface expression
      of MHC-II or the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 on APCs. On the other
      hand, E3330 up-regulated the IL-12 p35 and p40 gene expression, and IL-12 surface
      retention, but decreased the IL-12 secretion from Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand
      stimulated APCs. These results were confirmed with Ape1/Ref-1 knockdown
      experiments. Taken together, our findings indicated that the suppression of
      Ape1/Ref-1 redox function leads to an increased cell surface retention of IL-12
      and enhances Th1 responses. This is the first study to demonstrate that Ape1/Ref
      1 modulates the IL-12 production and secretion from APCs and controls Th1 immune
      responses.

PMID- 27637331
TI  - Strategic Positioning and Biased Activity of the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter
      in Cardiac Muscle.
AB  - Control of myocardial energetics by Ca2+ signal propagation to the mitochondrial
      matrix includes local Ca2+ delivery from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) ryanodine
      receptors (RyR2) to the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) Ca2+ uniporter (mtCU).
      mtCU activity in cardiac mitochondria is relatively low, whereas the IMM surface
      is large, due to extensive cristae folding. Hence, stochastically distributed
      mtCU may not suffice to support local Ca2+ transfer. We hypothesized that mtCU
      concentrated at mitochondria-SR associations would promote the effective Ca2+
      transfer. mtCU distribution was determined by tracking MCU and EMRE, the proteins
      essential for channel formation. Both proteins were enriched in the IMM-outer
      mitochondrial membrane (OMM) contact point submitochondrial fraction and, as
      super-resolution microscopy revealed, located more to the mitochondrial periphery
      (inner boundary membrane) than inside the cristae, indicating high accessibility
      to cytosol-derived Ca2+ inputs. Furthermore, MCU immunofluorescence distribution
      was biased toward the mitochondria-SR interface (RyR2), and this bias was
      promoted by Ca2+ signaling activity in intact cardiomyocytes. The SR fraction of
      heart homogenate contains mitochondria with extensive SR associations, and these
      mitochondria are highly enriched in EMRE. Size exclusion chromatography suggested
      for EMRE- and MCU-containing complexes a wide size range and also revealed MCU
      containing complexes devoid of EMRE (thus disabled) in the mitochondrial but not
      the SR fraction. Functional measurements suggested more effective mtCU-mediated
      Ca2+ uptake activity by the mitochondria of the SR than of the mitochondrial
      fraction. Thus, mtCU "hot spots" can be formed at the cardiac muscle mitochondria
      SR associations via localization and assembly bias, serving local Ca2+ signaling
      and the excitation-energetics coupling.

PMID- 27637332
TI  - Helicoidal Organization of Chitin in the Cuticle of the Migratory Locust Requires
      the Function of the Chitin Deacetylase2 Enzyme (LmCDA2).
AB  - In the three-dimensional extracellular matrix of the insect cuticle, horizontally
      aligned microfibrils composed of the polysaccharide chitin and associated
      proteins are stacked either parallel to each other or helicoidally. The
      underlying molecular mechanisms that implement differential chitin organization
      are largely unknown. To learn more about cuticle organization, we sought to study
      the role of chitin deacetylases (CDA) in this process. In the body cuticle of
      nymphs of the migratory locust Locusta migratoria, helicoidal chitin organization
      is changed to an organization with unidirectional microfibril orientation when
      LmCDA2 expression is knocked down by RNA interference. In addition, the LmCDA2
      deficient cuticle is less compact suggesting that LmCDA2 is needed for chitin
      packaging. Animals with reduced LmCDA2 activity die at molting, underlining that
      correct chitin organization is essential for survival. Interestingly, we find
      that LmCDA2 localizes only to the initially produced chitin microfibrils that
      constitute the apical site of the chitin stack. Based on our data, we hypothesize
      that LmCDA2-mediated chitin deacetylation at the beginning of chitin production
      is a decisive reaction that triggers helicoidal arrangement of subsequently
      assembled chitin-protein microfibrils.

PMID- 27637333
TI  - Identification of Novel Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cell (NFAT)-associated
      Proteins in T Cells.
AB  - Transcription factors of the nuclear factor of activated T cell (NFAT) family are
      essential for antigen-specific T cell activation and differentiation. Their
      cooperative DNA binding with other transcription factors, such as AP1 proteins
      (FOS, JUN, and JUNB), FOXP3, IRFs, and EGR1, dictates the gene regulatory action
      of NFATs. To identify as yet unknown interaction partners of NFAT, we purified
      biotin-tagged NFATc1/alphaA, NFATc1/betaC, and NFATc2/C protein complexes and
      analyzed their components by stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell
      culture-based mass spectrometry. We revealed more than 170 NFAT-associated
      proteins, half of which are involved in transcriptional regulation. Among them
      are many hitherto unknown interaction partners of NFATc1 and NFATc2 in T cells,
      such as Raptor, CHEK1, CREB1, RUNX1, SATB1, Ikaros, and Helios. The association
      of NFATc2 with several other transcription factors is DNA-dependent, indicating
      cooperative DNA binding. Moreover, our computational analysis discovered that
      binding motifs for RUNX and CREB1 are found preferentially in the direct vicinity
      of NFAT-binding motifs and in a distinct orientation to them. Furthermore, we
      provide evidence that mTOR and CHEK1 kinase activity influence NFAT's
      transcriptional potency. Finally, our dataset of NFAT-associated proteins
      provides a good basis to further study NFAT's diverse functions and how these are
      modulated due to the interplay of multiple interaction partners.

PMID- 27637335
TI  - The impact of an omega-3 fatty acid rich lipid emulsion on fatty acid profiles in
      critically ill septic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Death from sepsis in the intensive therapy unit (ITU) is frequently
      preceded by the development of multiple organ failure as a result of uncontrolled
      inflammation. Treatment with omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs), principally
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), has been demonstrated
      to attenuate the effects of uncontrolled inflammation and may be clinically
      beneficial in reducing mortality from organ dysfunction. Fish oil (FO) is a
      source of EPA and DHA. METHODS: A randomized trial investigating the effects of
      parenteral (intravenous) nutrition providing FO (0.092g EPA+DHA/kg body
      weight/day) was conducted. Sixty consecutive ITU patients diagnosed with sepsis
      were randomised to receive either once daily parenteral FO and standard medical
      care or standard medical care only. RESULTS: Forty one patients (21 received fish
      oil; 20 controls) consented to blood sampling and blood was taken on days 0, 1,
      2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 13; because of deaths, patient discharge and withdrawal of
      consent, the number of blood samples available for analysis diminished with time.
      FA composition of plasma phosphatidylcholine (PC), plasma non-esterified FAs
      (NEFAs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was determined by gas
      chromatography. EPA and DHA were rapidly incorporated into all 3 lipid pools
      investigated. There was a reduction in the arachidonic acid (AA) to EPA+DHA ratio
      in plasma PC and NEFAs. Fewer patients died in the FO group (13.3% (n=4))
      compared with the control group (26.7% (n=8)) but this difference was not
      significant. A reduction in the AA/(EPA+DHA) ratio in PBMCs and plasma PC was
      associated with significantly improved survival. Plasma PC, plasma NEFA and PBMC
      FA profiles are rapidly altered by FO infusion in critically ill septic patients.
      CONCLUSION: The provision of high dose n-3 FAs resulted in a rapid and
      significant increase in EPA and DHA and a reduction in AA/(EPA+DHA) ratio. This
      latter reduction is associated with improved survival.

PMID- 27637334
TI  - Heterodimerization of Kinesin-2 KIF3AB Modulates Entry into the Processive Run.
AB  - Mammalian KIF3AB is an N-terminal processive kinesin-2 that is best known for its
      roles in intracellular transport. There has been significant interest in KIF3AB
      to define the key principles that underlie its processivity but also to define
      the mechanistic basis of its sensitivity to force. In this study, the kinetics
      for entry into the processive run were quantified. The results show for KIF3AB
      that the kinetics of microtubule association at 7 MUm-1 s-1 is less than the
      rates observed for KIF3AA at 13 MUm-1 s-1 or KIF3BB at 11.9 MUm-1 s-1 ADP release
      after microtubule association for KIF3AB is 33 s-1 and is significantly slower
      than ADP release from homodimeric KIF3AA and KIF3BB, which reach 80-90 s-1 To
      explore the interhead communication implied by the rate differences at these
      first steps, we compared the kinetics of KIF3AB microtubule association followed
      by ADP release with the kinetics for mixtures of KIF3AA plus KIF3BB.
      Surprisingly, the kinetics of KIF3AB are not equivalent to any of the mixtures of
      KIF3AA + KIF3BB. In fact, the transients for each of the mixtures overlay the
      transients for KIF3AA and KIF3BB. These results reveal that intermolecular
      communication within the KIF3AB heterodimer modulates entry into the processive
      run, and the results suggest that it is the high rate of microtubule association
      that drives rebinding to the microtubule after force-dependent motor detachment.

PMID- 27637336
TI  - Red blood cell PUFAs reflect the phospholipid PUFA composition of major organs.
AB  - Numerous clinical trials examining the use of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated
      fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) on various health outcomes have been conducted, and
      fish oil remains one of the most widely used nutritional supplements. More
      recently, studies have begun to utilize the omega-3 index, defined as the sum of
      EPA+DHA in red blood cells (RBCs), as both a biomarker of n-3 LCPUFA exposure and
      a potential risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Considerably less
      research evaluates whether RBC phospholipid fatty acids reflect the phospholipid
      fatty acid composition of other tissues across increasing intakes of n-3 LCPUFAs.
      We fed mice diets containing increasing amounts of EPA+DHA, equivalent to current
      recommendations by the American Heart Association on a percent of energy basis,
      and analyzed the phospholipid fatty acid composition of various tissues in
      relation to RBCs. We observed that RBCs, heart, muscle, spleen, lung, and adipose
      tissues all respond to dietary supplementation with EPA+DHA with increasing n-3
      LCPUFA and decreasing n-6 LCPUFA levels. Furthermore, the n-3 LCPUFA profiles of
      all measured tissues had strong (r>0.7) and significant (p<0.001) correlations to
      RBCs. Interestingly, we also observed changes in saturated fatty acid (SFA) and
      monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) levels across various tissues in response to
      increased EPA+DHA intakes despite there being no change in dietary SFA and MUFA.
      Specifically, there were increases in RBC SFA and spleen MUFA and decreases in
      heart MUFA. These demonstrate that the RBC, including the omega-3 index, may
      serve as a marker for the relative levels of n-3 and n-6 LCPUFAs in phospholipids
      of certain tissues.

PMID- 27637338
TI  - Fatty acids profile in preterm Colostrum of Tunisian women. Association with
      selected maternal characteristics.
AB  - Fatty acids (FA), especially arachidonic (AA, 20:4omega6) and docosahexaenoic
      (DHA, 22:6omega3) acids are critical for the health and development of infants.
      Colostrum FA composition has been examined in 101 lactating Tunisian women
      delivering prematurely using gas chromatography. Among polyunsaturated FA,
      linoleic acid predominated whereas each of the other polyunsaturated FA accounted
      for 1% or less of total FA. Colostrum AA and DHA contents were lower in women
      aged above 34 years compared to those less than 34 years. Preeclampsia was
      associated with lower DHA (0.40+/-0.22 vs. 0.53+/-0.27; p=0.018), but higher AA
      (1.14+/-0.44 vs. 0.93+/-0.30; p<0.006) and AA:DHA ratio (4.31+/-4.04 vs. 2.29+/
      2.79; p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, colostrum DHA correlated with plasma
      DHA (beta, 0.417; p=0.002), maternal age (beta, -0.290; p=0.028) and preeclampsia
      (beta, -0.270; p=0.042). Preterm colostrum FA profile in Tunisian women is
      comparable to those of other populations. Colostrum AA and DHA levels are altered
      in aged and pre-eclamptic women.

PMID- 27637337
TI  - Smoking and red blood cell phospholipid membrane fatty acids.
AB  - Smoking is associated with lower n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
      (LCPUFA) concentrations; however, limited studies have accounted for dietary PUFA
      intake or whether tobacco dose or smoking duration influences this association.
      We measured red blood cell phospholipid (RBC) membrane concentrations of fatty
      acids in 126 current smokers, 311 former smokers, and 461 never smokers using gas
      liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Smokers had lower RBC
      membrane percentages of total n-3 LCPUFAs compared to former smokers or never
      smokers (median percent: 5.46, [interquartile range (IQR) 4.52, 6.28] versus
      6.39; [IQR: 5.18, 7.85] versus 6.59; [IQR 5.34, 8.01]) (p<0.001) and this
      association remained after adjusting for dietary PUFA intake. Duration of smoking
      and cigarettes per day were not associated with RBC membrane n-3 LCPUFA
      differences. Smoking is associated with lower n-3 LCPUFA RBC membrane percentages
      and this association was not influenced by diet or smoking dose or duration.

PMID- 27637339
TI  - Decreased n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio reduces chronic reflux
      esophagitis in rats.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the effect of dietary ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFAs on chronic
      reflux esophagitis (RE) and lipid peroxidation. METHOD: Rat RE model were
      established and then fed on a diet contained different n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios
      (1:1.5, 5:1, 10:1) or received pure n-6 PUFA diet for 14 days. Esophageal
      pathological changes were evaluated using macroscopic examination and
      hematoxyline-eosin staining. IL-1beta, IL-8, and TNFalpha mRNA and protein levels
      of were determined using RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively.
      Malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were determined using
      ELISA. RESULTS: The severity of esophagitis was lowest in the PUFA(1:1.5) group
      (P<0.05). IL-1beta, IL-8, and TNFalpha mRNA and protein and MDA levels were
      significantly increased in model groups with the increasing n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios.
      SOD levels were significantly decreased in all RE PUFA groups (P<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Esophageal injury and lipid peroxidation appeared to be ameliorated
      by increased n-3 PUFAs intake.

PMID- 27637340
TI  - Predicting the effect of maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation to
      reduce early preterm birth in Australia and the United States using results of
      within country randomized controlled trials.
AB  - The DHA to Optimize Mother Infant Outcome (DOMInO) and Kansas DHA Outcomes Study
      (KUDOS) were randomized controlled trials that supplemented mothers with 800 and
      600mg DHA/day, respectively, or a placebo during pregnancy. DOMInO was conducted
      in Australia and KUDOS in the United States. Both trials found an unanticipated
      and statistically significant reduction in early preterm birth (ePTB; i.e., birth
      before 34 weeks gestation). However, in each trial, the number of ePTBs were
      small. We used a novel Bayesian approach to estimate statistically derived low,
      moderate or high risk for ePTB, and to test for differences between the DHA and
      placebo groups. In both trials, the model predicted DHA would significantly
      reduce the expected proportion of deliveries in the high risk group under the
      trial conditions of the parent studies. Among the next 300,000 births in
      Australia we estimated that 1112 ePTB (95% credible interval 51-2189) could be
      avoided by providing DHA. And in the USA we estimated that 106,030 ePTB (95%
      credible interval 6400 to 175,700) could be avoided with DHA.

PMID- 27637341
TI  - Prenatal omega-3 fatty acid supplementation does not affect offspring telomere
      length and F2-isoprostanes at 12 years: A double blind, randomized controlled
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress and nutritional deficiency may influence the
      excessive shortening of the telomeric ends of chromosomes. It is known that
      stress exposure in intrauterine life can produce variations in telomere length
      (TL), thereby potentially setting up a long-term trajectory for disease
      susceptibility. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of omega-3 long chain
      polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) supplementation during pregnancy on
      telomere length and oxidative stress in offspring at birth and 12 years of age
      (12y). DESIGN: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study, 98
      pregnant atopic women were randomised to 4g/day of n-3 LCPUFA or control (olive
      oil [OO]), from 20 weeks gestation until delivery. Telomere length as a marker of
      cell senescence and plasma and urinary F2-isoprostanes as a marker of oxidative
      stress were measured in the offspring at birth and 12y. RESULTS: Maternal n-3
      LCPUFA supplementation did not influence offspring telomere length at birth or at
      12y with no changes over time. Telomere length was not associated with F2
      isoprostanes or erythrocyte total n-3 fatty acids. Supplementation significantly
      reduced cord plasma F2-isoprostanes (P<0.001), with a difference in the change
      over time between groups (P=0.05). However, the differences were no longer
      apparent at 12y. Between-group differences for urinary F2-isoprostanes at birth
      and at 12y were non-significant with no changes over time. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study does not support the hypothesis that n-3 LCPUFA during pregnancy provides
      sustained effects on postnatal oxidative stress and telomere length as observed
      in the offspring.

PMID- 27637342
TI  - 3D Biomimetic Cultures: The Next Platform for Cell Biology.
AB  - Advances in engineering of cells and culture formats have led to the development
      of a new generation of 3D cultures that can recapitulate a variety of multicell
      type, morphogenetic behaviors that were previously largely observable only in in
      vivo settings. Ultimately, these systems are likely to be assimilated into and
      forever change the landscape of biomedical research.

PMID- 27637343
TI  - Interdisciplinary Team Science in Cell Biology.
AB  - The cell is complex. With its multitude of components, spatial-temporal
      character, and gene expression diversity, it is challenging to comprehend the
      cell as an integrated system and to develop models that predict its behaviors. I
      suggest an approach to address this issue, involving system level data analysis,
      large scale team science, and philanthropy.

PMID- 27637345
TI  - Adrenal cortical and chromaffin stem cells: Is there a common progeny related to
      stress adaptation?
AB  - The adrenal gland is a highly plastic organ with the capacity to adapt the body
      homeostasis to different physiological needs. The existence of stem-like cells in
      the adrenal cortex has been revealed in many studies. Recently, we identified and
      characterized in mice a pool of glia-like multipotent Nestin-expressing
      progenitor cells, which contributes to the plasticity of the adrenal medulla. In
      addition, we found that these Nestin progenitors are actively involved in the
      stress response by giving rise to chromaffin cells. Interestingly, we also
      observed a Nestin-GFP-positive cell population located under the adrenal capsule
      and scattered through the cortex. In this article, we discuss the possibility of
      a common progenitor giving rise to subpopulations of cells both in the adrenal
      cortex and medulla, the isolation and characterization of this progenitor as well
      as its clinical potential in transplantation therapies and in pathophysiology.

PMID- 27637346
TI  - Mechanisms and significance of brain glucose signaling in energy balance, glucose
      homeostasis, and food-induced reward.
AB  - The concept that hypothalamic glucose signaling plays an important role in
      regulating energy balance, e.g., as instantiated in the so-called "glucostat"
      hypothesis, is one of the oldest in the field of metabolism. However the
      mechanisms by which neurons in the hypothalamus sense glucose, and the function
      of glucose signaling in the brain, has been difficult to establish. Nevertheless
      recent studies probing mechanisms of glucose signaling have also strongly
      supported a role for glucose signaling in regulating energy balance, glucose
      homeostasis, and food-induced reward.

PMID- 27637344
TI  - Does Cystolitholapaxy at the Time of Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate
      Affect Outcomes?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcomes of men undergoing holmium laser enucleation of
      the prostate (HoLEP) with and without concurrent holmium laser cystolitholapaxy
      (HLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of a prospectively maintained
      database was performed on patients who underwent HoLEP: Group 1 (N = 279) and
      HoLEP with concurrent HLC: Group 2 (N = 41) between June 2008 and July 2015.
      Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared. RESULTS: The average bladder
      stone burden was 3.6 cm. Preoperative characteristics were similar. Not
      surprisingly, group 2 had longer operative times (172 minutes vs 146 minutes, P =
      .01) (Table 1) whereas postvoid residual was slightly higher than in group 1 at 6
      week follow-up (30 mL vs 52 mL, P = .04). This difference was not clinically
      significant. Group 2 had a higher rate of early urinary incontinence (UI) (26.8%
      versus 12.5%, P = .03) (Table 3); however, only 2 patients in the entire cohort
      experienced long-term UI. Otherwise, outcomes including blood loss, urinary
      symptom scores, flow rates, and complication rates were similar between the 2
      groups. CONCLUSION: This is the largest series of HoLEP with concurrent HLC
      studied. Patients undergoing concurrent HoLEP and HLC can be counseled that
      although there is nearly a 30% rate of UI immediately following surgery, they can
      likely expect complete resolution by 3-6 months. Holmium laser treatment should
      be considered in all patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia with bladder
      outlet obstruction and bladder stones, as this multimodality tool treats both
      pathologies, and results in excellent outcomes.

PMID- 27637347
TI  - The growth of arthralgic Ross River virus is restricted in human monocytic cells.
AB  - Alphaviruses such as Chikungunya and Ross River (RRV) viruses are associated with
      persistent arthritis and arthralgia in humans. Monocytes and macrophages are
      believed to play an important role in alphaviral arthritides. In this study, we
      evaluated RRV permissiveness of the human acute leukemia MM6 cell line. Viral
      growth analysis showed that RRV infection of MM6 cells resulted in a very low
      virus progeny production with daily output. Using recombinant RRV expressing the
      reporter gene Renilla luciferase, a weak viral replication level was detected in
      infected cells at the early stages of infection. The infection restriction was
      not associated with type-I interferon and pro-inflammatory cytokines release.
      Apoptosis hallmarks (i.e. mitochondrial BAX localisation and PARP cleavage) were
      observed in infected MM6 cells indicating that RRV can trigger apoptosis at late
      infection times. The long-term persistence of RRV genomic RNA in surviving MM6
      cells identifies human monocytic cells as potential cellular reservoirs of viral
      material within the infected host.

PMID- 27637348
TI  - From the field to the lab - An European view on the global spread of PEDV.
AB  - Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) is a member of the genus Alphacoronavirus,
      in the family Coronaviridae, of the Nidovirales order and outbreaks of porcine
      epidemic diarrhoea (PED) were first recorded in England in the 1970s.
      Intriguingly the virus has since successfully made its way around the globe,
      while seemingly becoming extinct in parts of Europe before its recent return from
      Northern America. In this review we are re-evaluating the spread of PEDV, its
      biology and are looking at lessons learnt from both failure and success. While a
      new analysis of PEDV genomes demonstrates a wider heterogeneity of PEDV than
      previously anticipated with at least five rather than two genotypes, biological
      features of the virus and its replication also point towards credible control
      strategies to limit the impact of this re-emerging virus.

PMID- 27637350
TI  - Treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) with
      enzalutamide.
AB  - Prostate cancer is initially responsive to androgen deprivation therapy, but most
      patients eventually develop castration-resistant disease. Enzalutamide is an
      androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor that targets several steps in the AR signaling
      pathway and has shown significant efficacy in the treatment of metastatic
      castration-resistant prostate cancer in patients with or without prior
      chemotherapy. To provide optimal treatment, it is important to understand the
      implications of enzalutamide use in the context of other therapies, as recent
      findings have suggested cross-resistance occurs between and within drug classes.
      Mutations and splice variants of AR also impact the course of prostate cancer.
      Future strategies involving enzalutamide should account for previous exposure to
      taxanes or antiandrogen therapies and the presence of AR variants that could
      affect efficacy. 

PMID- 27637349
TI  - Risk factors and treatment for recurrent vulvar squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Recurrent disease occurs in 12-37% of patients with vulvar squamous cell
      carcinoma (VSCC). Decisions about treatment of recurrent VSCC mainly depend on
      the location of the recurrence and previous treatment, resulting in
      individualized and consensus-based approaches. Most recurrences (40-80%) occur
      within 2 years after initial treatment. Currently, wide local excision is the
      treatment of choice for local recurrences. Isolated local recurrence of VSCC has
      a good prognosis, with reported 5-year survival rates of up to 60%. Groin
      recurrences and distant recurrences are less common and have an extremely poor
      prognosis. For groin recurrences, surgery with or without (chemo) radiotherapy is
      a treatment option, depending on prior treatment. For distant recurrences, there
      are only palliative treatment options. In this review, we give an overview of the
      available literature and discuss epidemiology, risk factors, and prognostic
      factors for the different types of recurrent VSCC and we describe treatment
      options and clinical outcome. 

PMID- 27637351
TI  - Malignant melanoma-The cradle of anti-neoplastic immunotherapy.
AB  - One of the defining characteristics of the malignant phenotype is the ability to
      evade the host immune system. Immunotherapy as a treatment modality represents a
      new dawn in the way we think about the treatment of a variety of malignancies.
      The story of immunotherapy traces its roots to its relationship with malignant
      melanoma. In this article, we review the intertwined history of immunotherapy and
      melanoma, including the early significant history, a discussion on immune
      mechanisms, resistance, local and systemic immunotherapeutic modalities, and
      speculate on possible novel future treatment options. 

PMID- 27637352
TI  - Prognostic value of interim FDG-PET in R-CHOP-treated diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - This study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze the prognostic value
      of interim (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)
      in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with rituximab,
      cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (R-CHOP). MEDLINE
      and EMBASE were systematically searched for suitable studies. Included studies
      were methodologically appraised, and results were summarized both descriptively
      and meta-analytically. Nine studies, comprising a total of 996 R-CHOP-treated
      DLBCL patients, were included. Overall, studies were of moderate methodological
      quality. The area under the summary receiver operating curve (AUC) of interim FDG
      PET in predicting treatment failure and death were 0.651 and 0.817, respectively.
      There was no heterogeneity in diagnostic odds ratios across available studies
      (I(2)=0.0%). At multivariable analysis, 2 studies reported interim FDG-PET to
      have independent prognostic value in addition to the International Prognostic
      Index (IPI) in predicting treatment failure, whereas 3 studies reported that this
      was not the case. One study reported interim FDG-PET to have independent
      prognostic value in addition to the IPI in predicting death, whereas 2 studies
      reported that this was not the case. In conclusion, interim FDG-PET in R-CHOP
      treated DLBCL has some correlation with outcome, but its prognostic value is
      homogeneously suboptimal across studies and it has not consistently proven to
      surpass the prognostic potential of the IPI. Moreover, there is a lack of studies
      that compared interim FDG-PET to the recently developed and superior National
      Comprehensive Cancer Network-IPI. Therefore, at present there is no scientific
      base to support the clinical use of interim FDG-PET in R-CHOP-treated DLBCL. 

PMID- 27637353
TI  - Laryngeal preneoplastic lesions and cancer: challenging diagnosis. Qualitative
      literature review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multi-step cancerogenesis guides laryngeal cancer onset and it
      includes a wide variety of pre-cancerous lesions macroscopically challenging to
      identify and distinguish from initial cancerous foci. OBJECT: Different
      modalities of diagnostic techniques of laryngeal epithelial lesions exist and
      they do not offer a single system to make a differential diagnosis. Hence, this
      meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the validity of each single diagnostic tool to
      improve laryngeal patient management. METHODS: A systematic review of literature
      was led searching for articles mentioning the following terms: larynx, laryngeal
      precancerous lesions, laryngeal cancer, white light (WL) endoscopy, stroboscopy,
      contact endoscopy (CE), autofluorescence (AF), ultrasound (US), narrow band
      imaging (NBI), computed axial tomography (CAT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
      positron emission tomography (PET), CAT/PET. Then, a quantitative analysis was
      carried on for paper published after 2005 onward. RESULTS: The search identified
      7215 publications, of which 3616 published after 2005, with a final results of a
      total of 214 articles stratified and included by our selection criteria. 42 out
      of 214 articles were selected for quantitative synthesis. 25 out of 41 studies
      had a good quality score, 16 were fair. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive overview of
      the most recent advances in laryngeal imaging technology combined with all of the
      information needed to interpret findings and manage patients with voice disorders
      can be found herein. Our flow-chart allows clinicians in risk-stratify patients
      and select proper examination modalities to provide appropriate care. Study
      limitations, together with possible clinical and research implications have been
      counted.

PMID- 27637354
TI  - The role of IL-29 in immunity and cancer.
AB  - Interleukin-29 (IL-29) is a new member of the recently discovered interferon
      lambda (IFNlambda) family. It is produced predominantly by maturing dendritic
      cells and macrophages. It has been implicated in numerous immunological responses
      and has shown antiviral activity similar to the Type I interferons, although its
      target cell population is more limited than the Type I interferons. In recent
      years, the role of IL-29 in the pathogenesis of various cancers has also been
      extensively studied. In this review, we will discuss the recent advances of IL-29
      in immunological processes and the pathogenesis of various cancer. 

PMID- 27637355
TI  - Romidepsin for the treatment of relapsed/refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
      (mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome): Use in a community setting.
AB  - Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a heterogeneous group of rare non-Hodgkin
      lymphomas that arise in the skin. In advanced stages, CTCL becomes systemic and
      is associated with poor prognosis. Diagnosis of CTCL and treatment of early-stage
      disease with topical therapies often occurs under the care of a dermatologist.
      Community oncologists see few patients with CTCL due to direct referrals from
      dermatologists to academic or lymphoma specialty centers. However, some patients
      will continue to be managed in a community setting. Currently there is no
      evidence-based stepwise algorithm for treatment of patients with CTCL, and
      guidelines suggest a wide range of systemic therapies, including biologics,
      targeted agents, and more traditional chemotherapies. To provide optimal care in
      a community setting, oncologists must become familiar with newer
      nonchemotherapeutic treatment options. This review highlights romidepsin, a
      histone deacetylase inhibitor approved for the treatment of patients with CTCL
      who have received >=1 prior systemic therapy. 

PMID- 27637356
TI  - Aptamers in hematological malignancies and their potential therapeutic
      implications.
AB  - Aptamers are short DNA/RNA oligonucleotides selected by the process called
      Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). Due to their
      functional similarity to monoclonal antibodies with some superior characters,
      such as high specificity and affinity, flexible modification and stability, and
      lack of toxicity and immunogenicity, they are promising alternative and
      complementary targeted therapy for hematologic malignancies. The trends in
      aptamer technology including production, selection, modifications are briefly
      discussed in this review. The key aspect is to illustrate aptamers against cancer
      cells in hematologic malignancies especially those that have entered clinical
      trials. We also discuss some challenges remain in the application of aptamers. 

PMID- 27637357
TI  - Folates as adjuvants to anticancer agents: Chemical rationale and mechanism of
      action.
AB  - Folates have been used with cytotoxic agents for decades and today they are used
      in hundreds of thousands of patients annually. Folate metabolism is complex. In
      the treatment of cancer with 5-fluorouracil, the administration of folates
      mechanistically leads to the formation of [6R]-5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate,
      and the increased concentration of this molecule leads to stabilization of the
      ternary complex comprising thymidylate synthase, 2'-deoxy-uridine-5'
      monophosphate, and [6R]-5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate. The latter is the only
      natural folate that can bind directly in the ternary complex, with other folates
      requiring metabolic activation. Modulation of thymidylate synthase activity
      became central in the study of folate/cytotoxic combinations and, despite wide
      use, research into the folate component was neglected, leaving important
      questions unanswered. This article revisits the mechanisms of action of folates
      and evaluates commercially available folate derivatives in the light of current
      research. Better genomic insight and availability of new analytical techniques
      and stable folate compounds may open new avenues of research and therapy,
      ultimately bringing increased clinical benefit to patients. 

PMID- 27637358
TI  - Presurgical window of opportunity trial design as a platform for testing
      anticancer drugs: Pros, cons and a focus on breast cancer.
AB  - The high attrition rate is a major issue in anticancer drug development. Among
      the alternative trial designs, presurgical window of opportunity trials envision
      a short course treatment in the time window between diagnostic biopsy and surgery
      in a moderately-sized patient population. This approach allows testing
      therapeutics when pre- and post-treatment tumor tissues are available for
      comprehensive molecular analyses. The emerging evidence may help define the
      ability of a given agent to modulate its target(s) and help obtain a broader
      picture of the molecular changes operated by the treatment. The resulting gain
      may outweigh the potential harms for patients in the early disease setting.
      Window of opportunity trials have been extensively applied to breast cancer.
      Overall, a wider use of these trial designs might lead to the identification of
      potential responders, ineffective drugs or combinations, and ultimately
      contribute to enhance the efficiency of the clinical developmental process. 

PMID- 27637359
TI  - [A case of extensive macular atrophy and pseudodrusen-like appearance].

PMID- 27637360
TI  - [Severe head trauma: Role of early ophthalmologic examination. Case report of
      bilateral Terson Syndrome].

PMID- 27637361
TI  - Tracking Dabbing Using Search Query Surveillance: A Case Study in the United
      States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dabbing is an emerging method of marijuana ingestion. However, little
      is known about dabbing owing to limited surveillance data on dabbing. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of the study was to analyze Google search data to assess the scope and
      breadth of information seeking on dabbing. METHODS: Google Trends data about
      dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], also
      known as e-cigarettes) in the United States between January 2004 and December
      2015 were collected by using relevant search terms such as "dab rig." The
      correlation between dabbing (including topics: dab and hash oil) and ENDS
      (including topics: vaping and e-cigarette) searches, the regional distribution of
      dabbing searches, and the impact of cannabis legalization policies on
      geographical location in 2015 were analyzed. RESULTS: Searches regarding dabbing
      increased in the United States over time, with 1,526,280 estimated searches
      during 2015. Searches for dab and vaping have very similar temporal patterns,
      where the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is .992 (P<.001). Similar
      phenomena were also obtained in searches for hash oil and e-cigarette, in which
      the corresponding PCC is .931 (P<.001). Dabbing information was searched more in
      some western states than other regions. The average dabbing searches were
      significantly higher in the states with medical and recreational marijuana
      legalization than in the states with only medical marijuana legalization (P=.02)
      or the states without medical and recreational marijuana legalization (P=.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: Public interest in dabbing is increasing in the United States. There
      are close associations between dabbing and ENDS searches. The findings suggest
      greater popularity of dabs in the states that legalized medical and recreational
      marijuana use. This study proposes a novel and timely way of cannabis
      surveillance, and these findings can help enhance the understanding of the
      popularity of dabbing and provide insights for future research and informed
      policy making on dabbing.

PMID- 27637362
TI  - Attitudes toward antipsychotic medications as a useful feature in exploring
      medication non-adherence in schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the interest in the attitudes toward antipsychotic
      medication in exploring medication non-adherence. METHODS: Schizophrenic patients
      (N=120) completed the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire and measures of
      medication adherence, and clinical outcomes. Comparison between four attitudinal
      groups and logistic regressions were performed. RESULTS: High level of adherence
      varied significantly between attitudinal groups (Accepting, 70%; Indifferent,
      63%; Ambivalent, 50%; Sceptical, 14%; p<0.001). Poor insight and psychic side
      effects were the most significant predictors of negative beliefs. CONCLUSION: The
      attitudinal groups approach could facilitate the identification of patients with
      non-adherence and determine individual targets of interventions to improve
      negative beliefs.

PMID- 27637363
TI  - Independent component analysis of SNPs reflects polygenic risk scores for
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder with high heritability. Recent genome
      wide association studies have provided a list of risk loci reliably derived from
      unprecedentedly large samples. However, further delineation of the diagnosis
      associated susceptibility variants is needed to better characterize the genetic
      architecture given the disease's complex nature. In this sense, a data-driven
      approach might hold promise for identifying functionally related clusters of
      genetic variants that might not be captured by hypothesis-based models. In the
      current study, independent component analysis (ICA) was applied to the
      Psychiatric Genomics Consortium's schizophrenia-related single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in 104 schizophrenia patients and 142 healthy controls of
      European Ancestry. We found that, for 13 out of 16 extracted independent
      components, the associated loadings correlated highly (r>0.5) with the polygenic
      risk scores for SZ of the corresponding SNPs. These correlations were likely not
      inflated by the linkage disequilibrium structure (permutation p<0.001). In brief,
      we demonstrate an example of ICA analysis on SNP data yielding functionally
      meaningful clusters, which motivates further application of data-driven
      approaches as a complimentary tool for hypothesis-based methods to enrich our
      knowledge on the genetic basis of complex disorders.

PMID- 27637365
TI  - Risk of myocardial infarction at specific troponin T levels using the parameter
      predictive value among lookalikes (PAL).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction is more likely if the heart damage biomarker
      cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is elevated in a blood sample, indicating that cardiac
      damage has occurred. No method allows the clinician to estimate the risk of
      myocardial infarction at a specific cTnT level in a given patient. METHODS:
      Predictive value among lookalikes (PAL) uses pre-test prevalence, sensitivity and
      specificity at adjacent cTnT limits based on percentiles. PAL is the pre-test
      prevalence-adjusted probability of disease between two adjacent cTnT limits. If a
      chest pain patient's cTnT level is between these limits, the risk of myocardial
      infarction can be estimated. RESULTS: The PAL based on percentiles had an
      acceptable sampling error when using 100 bootstrapped data of 18 different
      biomarkers from 38,945 authentic lab measurements. A PAL analysis of an emergency
      room cohort (n=11,020) revealed that the diagnostic precision of a high-sensitive
      cTnT assay was similar among chest pain patients at different ages. The higher
      incidence of false positive results due to non-specific increases in cTnT in the
      high-age group was counterbalanced by a higher pre-test prevalence of myocardial
      infarction among older patients, a finding that was missed when using a
      conventional ROC plot analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The PAL was able to calculate the
      risk of myocardial infarction at specific cTnT levels and could complement
      decision limits.

PMID- 27637364
TI  - Measurement of levofloxacin in human plasma samples for a reliable and accessible
      drug monitoring.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Levofloxacin monitoring is recommended to obtain clinical cure and
      low incidence of antimicrobial resistance. During the monitoring procedure,
      levofloxacin should be measured in plasma samples and several assays are reported
      for this purpose. However, those methods do not have all of the characteristics
      for an accessible and reliable drug monitoring. For this reason, we develop a
      method that has all of the essential characteristics for levofloxacin monitoring.
      DESIGN AND METHODS: The procedure of validation was done in terms of Food and
      Drug Administration guidelines. Subsequently, our assay was applied in plasma
      samples obtained from healthy volunteers with a single oral administration of
      levofloxacin as well as patients with respiratory diseases under levofloxacin
      therapy. RESULTS: Levofloxacin was extracted from samples using only two
      precipitation steps. Our assay had a rapid run time (5min), adequate sensitivity
      (0.05MUg/ml of lower limit of quantification), and acceptable parameters of
      validation. Moreover, compound identities were supported using three dimensional
      spectra and purities were confirmed employing similarity factors (values>900).
      Variable concentrations of levofloxacin in samples were observed during the
      application. CONCLUSIONS: Levofloxacin is successfully quantified using our
      method that shows reliable results, appropriate range, rapid analyses, and cost
      effective measurements under a simple and easy technique while all prior methods
      did not have it all together. Consequently, our method is a valuable tool for
      routine drug monitoring. Moreover, a complete evaluation of specificity was done
      for levofloxacin in plasma samples for the first time. Meanwhile, the application
      data supported the necessity of levofloxacin monitoring.

PMID- 27637367
TI  - Serum levels of cardiac troponin I and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: How
      much, how often, and when?

PMID- 27637368
TI  - Manganese binding to antioxidant peptides involved in extreme radiation
      resistance in Deinococcus radiodurans.
AB  - A decapeptide, DEHGTAVMLK (DP1), and its random scrambled version, THMVLAKGED
      (DP2), have been studied for their interactions with manganese. The amino acid
      composition of the peptides was selected to include the majority of the most
      prevalent amino acids present in a Deinococcus radiodurans bacterium cell-free
      extract that contains components capable of conferring extreme resistance to
      ionizing radiation. The extract appears to be rich in Mn(II) complexes which seem
      to be responsible for protecting proteins from Reactive Oxygen Species damage. We
      focused our attention on the interaction of the decapeptides with Mn(II) ion with
      the aim of obtaining information on the possible complexes formed, by using NMR,
      EPR, and ESI-MS techniques.

PMID- 27637366
TI  - Electronic patient-reported outcomes from home in patients recovering from major
      gynecologic cancer surgery: A prospective study measuring symptoms and health
      related quality of life.
AB  - PURPOSE: We previously reported on the feasibility of a Web-based system to
      capture patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in the immediate postoperative period.
      The purpose of this study was to update the experience of these patients and
      assess patient and provider satisfaction and feedback regarding the system.
      METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study of patients scheduled to undergo
      laparotomy for presumed gynecologic malignancy. Patients completed a Web-based
      Symptom Tracking and Reporting (STAR) questionnaire preoperatively and weekly
      during a 6-week postoperative period. Email alerts were sent to study nurses when
      concerning patient responses were entered. The patient and the nurse assessments
      of STAR's usefulness were measured via an exit survey. RESULTS: The study
      enrolled 96 eligible patients. Of these, 71 patients (74%) completed at least
      four of seven total sessions. Of the patients who completed the exit satisfaction
      survey, 98% found STAR easy to use; 84% found it useful; and 82% would recommend
      it to other patients. Despite positive feedback from patients, clinical personnel
      found that the STAR system increased their current workload without enhancing
      patient care. CONCLUSIONS: Application of an electronic program for PROs in those
      recovering from major gynecologic cancer surgery is feasible, and acceptable to
      most patients. While most clinicians did not find STAR clinically helpful, the
      majority of patients reported a positive experience with the system and would
      recommend its use. The program helped many patients feel more empowered in their
      postoperative recovery.

PMID- 27637369
TI  - Liver function: homogenous or not?

PMID- 27637370
TI  - Intergenerational changes in chest size and proportions in children and
      adolescents aged 3-18 from Krakow (Poland), within the last 70 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The size and proportions of the human body change continuously in
      response to social change and economic development. As reported by papers on
      intergenerational changes in chest size, this part of the human body is also
      influenced by environmental factors. The aim of this study was to assess changes
      in the dimensions and proportions of the chest of children and adolescents over a
      span of 70 years. METHODS: In 2010 an anthropological study was conducted on 3878
      children and adolescents aged 3-18 years living in Krakow (Poland). Data on chest
      dimensions (breadth, depth, circumference, chest index) were compared to data
      from 1938 (3719 children) and 1983 (6464 children). RESULTS: In boys, chests
      became increasingly deep; in boys 18 years of age, the chest index increased by
      4.8 units, unlike girls, whose chests markedly flattened. The chest index in
      girls 18 years of age decreased by 4.2 units. In almost all age categories these
      differences were statistically significant. Also, in all age categories, children
      studied in 2010 had a significantly bigger chest circumference than boys and
      girls surveyed in 1983, respectively, by averages of 3.6 cm and 3 cm.
      CONCLUSIONS: The main reason for these changes may be the socio-economic
      transformation, which has been especially strong in recent decades. These results
      may have practical importance in many areas of knowledge, including medicine,
      nutritional science, and sports. They can also be important for informing
      preventive measures that should be taken in order to increase the physical
      activity of children and youth, especially boys.

PMID- 27637371
TI  - Serum fatty acids in infants, reflecting family fish consumption, were inversely
      associated with allergy development but not related to farm residence.
AB  - AIM: In this study, differences in serum fatty acid patterns between farm and
      nonfarm infants were investigated and related to subsequent allergy development.
      We also related allergy-related serum fatty acids to maternal diet and breast
      milk fatty acids. METHODS: The FARMFLORA birth cohort included 28 farm and 37
      nonfarm infants. Serum was obtained from 21 farm infants and 29 controls at four
      months post-partum and analysed for phospholipid fatty acids. Allergy was
      diagnosed by paediatricians at three years of age. RESULTS: Serum fatty acid
      patterns were similar in farm and control infants, although farm infants had
      lower 18:1 omega-7 proportions. Serum proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
      were unrelated to farming status, but lower in children who subsequently
      developed allergy, with an odds ratio of 0.47 and 95% confidence interval of 0.27
      0.83 (p = 0.01) for every 0.1% EPA increase. The infants' serum EPA proportions
      correlated with breast milk EPA proportions, which, in turn, correlated with
      maternal oily fish intake during lactation. CONCLUSION: The allergy-protective
      effect of farming was not linked to infant serum fatty acid composition. However,
      healthy infants had higher proportions of EPA in their sera, probably reflecting
      a family diet rich in fish, compared to subsequently allergic children.

PMID- 27637372
TI  - Non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergies in children.
AB  - Non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergic disorders (non-IgE-GI-FA)
      including food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES), food protein
      induced enteropathy (FPE), and food protein-induced allergic proctocolitis
      (FPIAP) are relatively uncommon in infants and young children, but are likely
      under-diagnosed. Non-IgE-GI-FA have a favorable prognosis, with majority
      resolving by age 3-5 years. Diagnosis relies on the recognition of symptoms
      pattern in FPIAP and FPIES and biopsy in FPE. Further studies are needed for a
      better understanding of the pathomechanism, which will lead eventually to the
      development of diagnostic tests and treatments. Limited evidence supports the
      role of food allergens in subsets of constipation, gastroesophageal reflux
      disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and colic. The immunologic pathomechanism is
      not fully understood and empiric prolonged avoidance of food allergens should be
      limited to minimize nutrient deficiency and feeding disorders/food aversions in
      infants.

PMID- 27637373
TI  - The relation between inflammation and coronary artery ectasia.

PMID- 27637374
TI  - Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI): Symptoms without evidence.

PMID- 27637376
TI  - Patient Experiences of Life Years After Severe Civilian Lower Extremity Trauma
      With Vascular Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Severe lower limb trauma with arterial injury is often devastating for
      the individual. Many studies describe how to manage these injuries when they
      occur. Short-term functional outcome is quite well described, but the patients
      are often young, and their suffering is physical, mental, and social from a
      lifelong perspective. The aim of this study was to report patient experiences of
      their lives several years after their accidents, and to explore mechanisms of how
      to improve management. METHOD: The Swedvasc registry was searched for
      participants from 1987 to 2011, living in the region of Uppsala, Sweden. Some
      amputated participants were added from the Walking Rehabilitation Center. There
      were five reconstructed patients with an intact limb, and three with amputations.
      In depth interviews were conducted and systematically analyzed, using A Giorgi's
      descriptive phenomenological method. RESULTS: Eight patients participated, five
      with reconstructed and three with amputated limbs. Life affecting functional
      impairments were described by all patients. The patients undergoing amputation
      had received more structured follow up and support through the Walking
      Rehabilitation Center. The satisfaction with the cosmetic result was poorer than
      expected. All patients had developed strategies of how to cope with their
      impairments and stated they now lived "normal lives." CONCLUSIONS: Despite
      substantial physical, psychological, and cosmetic impairments years after severe
      lower limb trauma, the participants described life as "normal" and mainly
      satisfactory. Transition to the new situation could have been facilitated by more
      frequent and continuous follow up after discharge from hospital, in particular
      among the non-amputated patients who tend to be lost to follow up. Findings also
      indicate that family members have to be acknowledged, strengthened, and
      supported.

PMID- 27637375
TI  - Antinociceptive effects of the 6-O-sulfate ester of morphine in normal and
      diabetic rats: Comparative role of mu- and delta-opioid receptors.
AB  - : This study determined the antinociceptive effects of morphine and morphine-6-O
      sulfate (M6S) in both normal and diabetic rats, and evaluated the comparative
      role of mu-opioid receptors (mu-ORs) and delta-opioid receptors (delta-ORs) in
      the antinociceptive action of these opioids. In vitro characterization of mu-OR
      and delta-OR-mediated signaling by M6S and morphine in stably transfected Chinese
      hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells showed that M6S exhibited a 6-fold higher affinity
      for delta-ORs and modulated G-protein and adenylyl cyclase activity via delta-ORs
      more potently than morphine. Interestingly, while morphine acted as a full
      agonist at delta-ORs in both functional assays examined, M6S exhibited either
      partial or full agonist activity for modulation of G-protein or adenylyl cyclase
      activity, respectively. Molecular docking studies indicated that M6S but not
      morphine binds equally well at the ligand binding site of both mu- and delta-ORs.
      In vivo analgesic effects of M6S and morphine in both normal and streptozotocin
      induced diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats utilizing the hot water tail flick latency
      test showed that M6S produced more potent antinociception than morphine in both
      normal rats and diabetic rats. This difference in potency was abrogated following
      antagonism of delta- but not mu- or kappa (kappa-ORs) opioid receptors. During
      9days of chronic treatment, tolerance developed to morphine-treated but not to
      M6S-treated rats. Rats that developed tolerance to morphine still remained
      responsive to M6S. Collectively, this study demonstrates that M6S is a potent and
      efficacious mu/delta opioid analgesic with a delayed tolerance profile when
      compared to morphine in both normal and diabetic rats. PERSPECTIVE: This study
      demonstrates that M6S acts at both mu- and delta-ORs, and adds to the growing
      evidence that the use of mixed mu/delta opioid agonists in pain treatment may
      have clinical benefit.

PMID- 27637378
TI  - Construction of explicit models to correlate the structure and the inhibitory
      activity of aldose reductase: Flavonoids and sulfonyl-pyridazinones as
      inhibitors.
AB  - The correlation between binding energies and bioactivities is the core of
      structure-based computer-aided drug design. However, many models to address this
      correlation are still strongly system-dependent at current stage. We constructed
      two explicit models to correlate the binding energies with the inhibitory
      activities of flavonoids and sulfonyl-pyridazinones as inhibitors of aldose
      reductase. The introduction of multiple complex states comprised of protein,
      coenzyme, substrate, and inhibitor can remarkably improve the correlation
      coefficients, compared with that using single complex state. Recombination of
      energy terms from complex structures and molecular descriptors of inhibitors can
      further improve the correlation. The explicit models provide correlation
      coefficients of 0.90 and 0.92 for flavonoids and sulfonyl-pyridazinones,
      respectively. These models also steadily present the contribution from each
      energy term and the favorite of protein-inhibitor complex states. Meanwhile, we
      also observed that some inhibitors can accommodate alternative sites out of the
      conserved binding pocket at the presence/absence of coenzyme and substrate. It is
      responsible for the remarkable change in the binding energies and thus
      significantly influences the correlation between the structures and the
      inhibitory activities. Overall, this work presents a rational way to construct
      reliable explicit models through the combination of multiple physically
      accessible complex states, even though each of them only bears marginal
      information related to their activities.

PMID- 27637379
TI  - A Comparison of the Discoloration Potential for EndoSequence Bioceramic Root
      Repair Material Fast Set Putty and ProRoot MTA in Human Teeth: An In Vitro Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the discoloration potential of Endosequence Bioceramic Root
      Repair Material fast set putty (ERRMF) and ProRoot MTA (PMTA) when placed
      coronally in human extracted teeth over a 4-month period. METHODOLOGY: Forty
      eight premolars were sectioned 2 mm below the cementoenamel junction. The pulp
      chambers were cleaned chemo-mechanically. The specimens were randomly assigned to
      three groups: PMTA, ERRMF, and no fill (control). Tooth color was measured
      spectrophotometrically at six time points: after material placement, after 2, 4,
      8, 12, and 16 weeks. Data were transformed into Commission Internationale de
      l'eclairage (CIE) L*a*b* system and color difference values (DeltaEpsilon) were
      calculated. Specimen images were recorded for each time point. Three random
      specimens from experimental groups were sectioned longitudinally and examined
      under a stereomicroscope. For data analyses, we used one-way analysis of variance
      with repeated measurements and Tukey's test (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: At 2 weeks,
      the DeltaE means did not differ significantly between the groups. At 4, 8, 12,
      and 16 weeks, PMTA group exhibited a significantly higher DeltaE compared with
      the ERRMF and control groups. The DeltaE did not differ significantly between the
      ERRMF and control groups. Teeth restored using PMTA exhibited a visually
      progressive dark discoloration. The control and ERRMF group specimens exhibited
      color stability. Sections of PMTA specimens revealed grayish discoloration of the
      material with dark dentinal staining that was not visible in the ERRMF specimens.
      CONCLUSION: Teeth restored using PMTA exhibited progressive discoloration,
      whereas teeth restored with ERRMF maintained color stability over a 4-month
      period. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results found in the present study suggest
      that PMTA produces tooth discoloration over time, whereas ERRMF does not induce
      tooth discoloration. Therefore, ERRMF might be an alternative to PMTA, especially
      for coronal restoration in aesthetic zone teeth. (J Esthet Restor Dent 29:59-67,
      2017).

PMID- 27637377
TI  - Aortic root dilatation in the children and young adults: prevalence,
      determinants, and association with target organ damage.
AB  - Aortic root dilatation is associated with increased cardiovascular risk in
      hypertensive adults. In the young, few data have been published evaluating the
      cardiovascular organ damage that may be present in patients with aortic
      dilatation. The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of proximal aorta
      dilatation, its possible determinants, and its relation with target organ damage
      in young subjects. The aorta was measured at the level of the sinus of valsalva
      and at its proximal ascending aorta (pAA) in a total of 177 young subjects (11-35
      years). Linear regression analysis was used to assess the association between
      aortic size, clinical, and hemodynamic parameters. Prevalence of pAA and sinus of
      valsalva dilatation was 10.2% and 8.7%, respectively. No significant differences
      in prevalence were found in hypertensive, diabetic and obese subjects; aortic
      enlargement was less frequent in African-Americans. Age, sex, and central pulse
      pressure were the most important determinants of aortic size. Left ventricular
      mass was increased in patients with aortic enlargement, and aortic size showed an
      inverse relation with indices of local distensibility. The prevalence of aortic
      dilatation among young patients is high (10%). As in adults, age and body surface
      area are the main determinants of aortic size. Dilatation of the ascending aorta
      is associated with an increased left ventricular mass, as in adults, but not with
      increased arterial stiffness. Local distensibility is reduced in patients with
      pAA enlargement.

PMID- 27637380
TI  - Language Brokering and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican-American Adolescents:
      Parent-Child Alienation and Resilience as Moderators.
AB  - This study aimed to untangle the mixed effects of language brokering by examining
      a contextual factor (i.e., parent-child alienation) and a personal attribute
      (i.e., resilience) that may relate to adolescents' feelings during translating
      (i.e., sense of burden and efficacy) and that may moderate the association
      between such feelings and adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants included
      557 adolescent language brokers (Mage  = 12.96) in Mexican-American families.
      Results showed that adolescents with a strong sense of alienation from parents or
      low resilience (a) experienced more burden or less efficacy in translating and
      (b) were more susceptible to the detrimental effects of feeling a sense of burden
      and the beneficial effects of experiencing a sense of efficacy, as measured by
      depressive symptoms.

PMID- 27637381
TI  - Zebrafish Cdh5 negatively regulates mobilization of aorta-gonad-mesonephros
      derived hematopoietic stem cells.

PMID- 27637383
TI  - Severe winter asthma exacerbations can be prevented by omalizumab, but there is
      no carryover effect.

PMID- 27637382
TI  - Development of acetophenone ligands as potential neuroimaging agents for
      cholinesterases.
AB  - Association of cholinesterase with beta-amyloid plaques and tau neurofibrillary
      tangles in Alzheimer's disease offers an opportunity to detect disease pathology
      during life. Achieving this requires development of radiolabelled cholinesterase
      ligands with high enzyme affinity. Various fluorinated acetophenone derivatives
      bind to acetylcholinesterase with high affinity, including 2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(3
      dimethylaminophenyl)ethanone (1) and 1-(3-tert-butylphenyl)-2,2,2
      trifluoroethanone (2). Such compounds also offer potential for incorporation of
      radioactive fluorine (18F) for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of
      cholinesterases in association with Alzheimer's disease pathology in the living
      brain. Here we describe the synthesis of two meta-substituted
      chlorodifluoroacetophenones using a Weinreb amide strategy and their rapid
      conversion to the corresponding trifluoro derivatives through nucleophilic
      substitution by fluoride ion, in a reaction amenable to incorporating 18F for PET
      imaging. In vitro kinetic analysis indicates tight binding of the trifluoro
      derivatives to cholinesterases. Compound 1 has a Ki value of 7nM for
      acetylcholinesterase and 1300nM for butyrylcholinesterase while for compound 2
      these values are 0.4nM and 26nM, respectively. Tight binding of these compounds
      to cholinesterase encourages their development for PET imaging detection of
      cholinesterase associated with Alzheimer's disease pathology.

PMID- 27637384
TI  - Wheezing disorders in children: Are girls and boys different?

PMID- 27637385
TI  - Bullous pemphigoid outcome is associated with CXCL10-induced matrix
      metalloproteinase 9 secretion from monocytes and neutrophils but not lymphocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The outcome of bullous pemphigoid (BP), the most frequent autoimmune
      skin-blistering disease, involves matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), IL-17, and
      IL-23 release from infiltrated inflammatory cells. The chemokine CXCL10 has been
      associated with several autoimmune diseases, but its participation in BP
      pathophysiology still needs to be clarified. OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess
      whether BP outcome was associated with different CXCL10 levels and to evaluate
      the contribution of CXCL10 to the described cytokine/protease inflammatory loop
      associated with disease outcome. METHODS: Skin biopsy specimens (n = 16), serum
      (n = 114), blister fluid (n = 23), and primary inflammatory cells from patients
      with BP were used to investigate CXCL10 expression and function. RESULTS: At
      baseline, both resident cells, such as keratinocytes and fibroblasts, and
      infiltrating immune cells expressed CXCL10 at lesional sites in skin of patients
      with BP. CXCL10 levels were higher in blister fluid (P < .0001) and serum (P <
      .005) from patients with BP than in serum from age- and sex-matched control
      subjects (n = 34). Furthermore, CXCL10 serum levels increased at day 60 only in
      patients who relapsed within the first year of treatment (n = 33, P < .005).
      Interestingly, CXCL10 expression could be upregulated by itself and IL-17 in
      inflammatory cells. Notably, neutrophils and monocytes from patients with BP, but
      not lymphocytes, responded to CXCL10 by increasing MMP-9 secretion through the
      activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38, phosphoinositide-3
      kinase signaling pathways. Finally, CXCL10-increased MMP-9 secretion was
      inhibited by methylprednisolone and also by compound A, a novel nonsteroidal
      glucocorticoid receptor ligand. CONCLUSION: We showed that increased levels of
      inflammatory biomarkers in patients with BP, such as CXCL10, favor neutrophil-
      and monocyte-associated MMP-9 release and disease relapse and opened new
      therapeutic horizons in patients with this autoimmune disease.

PMID- 27637386
TI  - Detecting facial emotion recognition deficits in schizophrenia using dynamic
      stimuli of varying intensities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deficits in facial emotion recognition have been associated with
      functional impairments in patients with Schizophrenia (SZ). Whilst a strong
      ecological argument has been made for the use of both dynamic facial expressions
      and varied emotion intensities in research, SZ emotion recognition studies to
      date have primarily used static stimuli of a singular, 100%, intensity of
      emotion. To address this issue, the present study aimed to investigate accuracy
      of emotion recognition amongst patients with SZ and healthy subjects using
      dynamic facial emotion stimuli of varying intensities. To this end an emotion
      recognition task (ERT) designed by Montagne (2007) was adapted and employed.
      METHODS: 47 patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of SZ and 51 healthy participants
      were assessed for emotion recognition. Results of the ERT were tested for
      correlation with performance in areas of cognitive ability typically found to be
      impaired in psychosis, including IQ, memory, attention and social cognition.
      RESULTS: Patients were found to perform less well than healthy participants at
      recognising each of the 6 emotions analysed. Surprisingly, however, groups did
      not differ in terms of impact of emotion intensity on recognition accuracy; for
      both groups higher intensity levels predicted greater accuracy, but no
      significant interaction between diagnosis and emotional intensity was found for
      any of the 6 emotions. Accuracy of emotion recognition was, however, more
      strongly correlated with cognition in the patient cohort. DISCUSSION: Whilst this
      study demonstrates the feasibility of using ecologically valid dynamic stimuli in
      the study of emotion recognition accuracy, varying the intensity of the emotion
      displayed was not demonstrated to impact patients and healthy participants
      differentially, and thus may not be a necessary variable to include in emotion
      recognition research.

PMID- 27637387
TI  - Infiltration of invariant natural killer T cells occur and accelerate brain
      infarction in permanent ischemic stroke in mice.
AB  - Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are a unique subset of T cells that have
      been implicated in inflammation, atopy, autoimmunity, infections, and cancer.
      Although iNKT cells have been extensively studied over the past decade, its role
      in the pathogenesis of ischemic brain injury is still largely unknown. In our
      study, we determined whether iNKT cells infiltration occur in a mouse model of
      permanent cerebral ischemia. C57BL6/J male mice were treated with either alpha
      galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) or vehicle control before undergoing permanent
      middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO). alpha-GalCer, a glycolipid antigen,
      specifically activates iNKT cells by a CD1d-restricted mechanism. Using flow
      cytometry, 10,000 leukocytes (CD45 high cells) from the ischemic hemisphere and
      peripheral blood respectively were analyzed to determine the number of NK1.1+CD3+
      cells at 3, 12, 24 and 48h post-pMCAO. Cerebral infarct size, brain edema and
      morphological characteristics were measured at the stipulated time points by
      2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, weighing, and H&E staining.
      The levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in brain tissue and serum were assessed by
      immunohistochemistry and ELISA respectively. We found that the number of iNKT
      cells started increasing from 12h (PB sample) and 24h (ischemic hemisphere
      sample) respectively in the vehicle treated group. iNKT cells infiltration
      occurred at an earlier time-point compared in the alpha-GalCer treated group
      (T=3H vs T=12H in PB sample; T=12H vs T=24H in ischemic hemisphere sample). Brain
      water content at 12h and 24h was significantly higher in pMCAO+alpha-GalCer mice
      compared to pMCAO+vehicle mice which was in turn higher than mice that underwent
      sham surgery. Aggravated morphological abnormalities in HE-stained neurons and
      significantly increased neurons with pyknotic nuclei and cavitation in the
      ischemic region were observed at 24h in the pMCAO+alpha-GalCer and pMCAO+vehicle
      groups. Cerebral infarct volume, neurological deficit Scores and brain edema were
      significantly increased at 24h in the pMCAO+alpha-GalCer group compared to
      pMCAO+vehicle group. In the pMCAO+vehicle group, the serum concentrations of TNF
      alpha and IFN-gamma were increased at 12h and 24h post-pMCAO, and remained
      elevated up to 48h. In mice treated with pMCAO+alpha-GalCer, TNF-alpha and IFN
      gamma were both increased at 12h post-pMCAO, and remained elevated up to 48h.
      Immunohistochemistry showed that protein expression of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma in
      brain tissues was higher in alpha-GalCer-treated mice. Our results demonstrate
      that within 48h of focal permanent cerebral ischemia, iNKT cells infiltrate into
      the brain and contribute to brain infarction.

PMID- 27637388
TI  - Spinal mitochondrial-derived ROS contributes to remifentanil-induced
      postoperative hyperalgesia via modulating NMDA receptor in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor by reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) in the spinal cord plays an important role in the development of
      hyperalgesia in several neuropathic pain models. The study examined the
      involvement of ROS-NMDA signaling pathway in remifentanil-induced postoperative
      hyperalgesia. METHODS: Nociceptive responses were measured by paw withdrawal
      mechanical threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWL) before and up
      to day 5 after remifentanil infusion. Spinal delivery of MitoSOX red was
      performed to detect mitochondrial ROS. Changes in expression of NMDA receptor
      subunits (NR1 and NR2B) in the spinal cord were analyzed by immunofluorescence
      and Western blotting. Intraperitoneal injection of phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone
      (PBN), a non-selective ROS scavenger, was administrated to investigate the role
      of ROS in remifentanil-induced postoperative hyperalgesia. RESULTS:
      Intraoperative infusion of remifentanil induced postoperative mechanical
      allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. ROS production, phosphorylated NR1 and NR2B
      subunits of NMDA receptor were found to be significantly increased in the spinal
      dorsal horn after intraoperative remifentanil infusion. However, remifentanil
      induced postoperative hyperalgesia was suppressed by pretreatment of PBN. In
      addition, reduction of ROS by PBN prevented enhanced phosphorylation of NR1 and
      NR2B subunits. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that ROS-dependent activation
      of NMDA receptor in the spinal cord might be a potential mechanism underlying
      remifentanil-induced postoperative hyperalgesia.

PMID- 27637389
TI  - Cannabis use related to early psychotic onset: Role of premorbid function.
AB  - The present cross-sectional study investigates the relation between Cannabis and
      the development of a psychotic disorder. The main objective is to explore the
      relations between Cannabis use and psychosis onset, premorbid adjustment
      cognitive impairment and familiarity. Forty-three patients with a diagnosis of
      Psychotic Disorder were recruited and divided in two groups based on Cannabis use
      before onset: Cannabis-using patients (PCU, N=21) and Cannabis-free patients
      (PCF, N=22). Cognitive functioning was evaluated by Trail Making Test A and B
      (TMT), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF), and the Rey Auditory-Verbal
      Learning Test (RAVLT). Premorbid functioning was assessed retrospectively through
      the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). PCU group showed earlier onset of the
      psychotic disorder compared to PCF (p=0.008). This finding was not influenced by
      age or positive family history for psychiatric illness. PCU subjects showed a
      worse premorbid functioning respect to PCF and this difference was found to
      impact on the early onset in the PCU group. In conclusion the present study
      suggests the hypothesis of an interactive role of Cannabis and poor premorbid
      school adjustment in the development of psychotic disorders.

PMID- 27637390
TI  - Gene therapy for the CNS using AAVs: The impact of systemic delivery by AAV9.
AB  - Several attempts have been made to discover the ideal vector for gene therapy in
      central nervous system (CNS). Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are currently the
      preferred vehicle since they exhibit stable transgene expression in post-mitotic
      cells, neuronal tropism, low risk of insertional mutagenesis and diminished
      immune responses. Additionally, the discovery that a particular serotype, AAV9,
      bypasses the blood-brain barrier has raised the possibility of intravascular
      administration as a non-invasive delivery route to achieve widespread CNS gene
      expression. AAV9 intravenous delivery has already shown promising results for
      several diseases in animal models, including lysosomal storage disorders and
      motor neuron diseases, opening the way to the first clinical trial in the field.
      This review presents an overview of clinical trials for CNS disorders using AAVs
      and will focus on preclinical studies based on the systemic gene delivery using
      AAV9.

PMID- 27637391
TI  - Past, Present, and Future of Traumatic Brain Injury Research.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the greatest cause of death and severe disability
      in young adults; its incidence is increasing in the elderly and in the developing
      world. Outcome from severe TBI has improved dramatically as a result of
      advancements in trauma systems and supportive critical care, however we remain
      without a therapeutic which acts directly to attenuate brain injury. Recognition
      of secondary injury and its molecular mediators has raised hopes for such
      targeted treatments. Unfortunately, over 30 late-phase clinical trials
      investigating promising agents have failed to translate a therapeutic for
      clinical use. Numerous explanations for this failure have been postulated and are
      reviewed here. With this historical context we review ongoing research and
      anticipated future trends which are armed with lessons from past trials, new
      scientific advances, as well as improved research infrastructure and funding.
      There is great hope that these new efforts will finally lead to an effective
      therapeutic for TBI as well as better clinical management strategies. 

PMID- 27637392
TI  - Pathophysiology of Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - This article provides a concise overview, at the structural and functional level,
      of those changes evoked by traumatic brain injury across the spectrum of the
      disease. Using data derived from animals and humans, the pathogenesis of focal
      versus diffuse brain damage is presented for consideration of its overall
      implications for morbidity. Emphasis is placed on contusion and its potential
      expansion in concert with diffuse changes primarily assessed at the axonal level.
      Concomitant involvement of neuroexcitation and its role in global and focal
      metabolic changes is considered. Lastly, the influence of premorbid factors
      including age, genetics, and socioeconomic background is discussed. 

PMID- 27637395
TI  - Cerebral Metabolism and the Role of Glucose Control in Acute Traumatic Brain
      Injury.
AB  - This article reviews key concepts of cerebral glucose metabolism, neurologic
      outcomes in clinical trials, the biology of the neurovascular unit and its
      involvement in secondary brain injury after traumatic brain insults, and current
      scientific and clinical data that demonstrate a better understanding of the
      biology of metabolic dysfunction in the brain, a concept now known as cerebral
      metabolic energy crisis. The use of neuromonitoring techniques to better
      understand the pathophysiology of the metabolic crisis is reviewed and a model
      that summarizes the triphasic view of cerebral metabolic disturbance supported by
      existing scientific data is outlined. The evidence is summarized and a template
      for future research provided. 

PMID- 27637397
TI  - Cerebral Edema in Traumatic Brain Injury: Pathophysiology and Prospective
      Therapeutic Targets.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury is a heterogeneous disorder resulting from an external
      force applied to the head. The development of cerebral edema plays a central role
      in the evolution of injury following brain trauma and is closely associated with
      neurologic outcomes. Recent advances in the understanding of the molecular and
      cellular pathways contributing to the posttraumatic development of cerebral edema
      have led to the identification of multiple prospective therapeutic targets. The
      authors summarize the pathogenic mechanisms underlying cerebral edema and
      highlight the molecular pathways that may be therapeutically targeted to mitigate
      cerebral edema and associated sequelae following traumatic brain injury. 

PMID- 27637394
TI  - Concussion-Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Recoverable Injury with Potential for
      Serious Sequelae.
AB  - Concussion is increasingly recognized as a major public health issue. Most
      patients will return to baseline and experience full recovery, although a subset
      experiences persistent symptoms. Newer animal models and imaging studies are
      beginning to demonstrate that metabolic and neurovascular resolution may actually
      take longer than symptomatic recovery. Repeat traumatic brain injury within the
      metabolic window of dysfunction may result in worsened symptoms and prolonged
      recovery. The true risk for second impact syndrome appears to be small, and
      development of cerebral edema after a mild impact may be related to genetic risks
      rather than serial impacts. 

PMID- 27637396
TI  - Role of Metabolomics in Traumatic Brain Injury Research.
AB  - Metabolomics is an important member of the omics community in that it defines
      which small molecules may be responsible for disease states. This article reviews
      the essential principles of metabolomics from specimen preparation, chemical
      analysis, to advanced statistical methods. Metabolomics in traumatic brain injury
      has so far been underutilized. Future metabolomics-based studies focused on the
      diagnoses, prognoses, and treatment effects need to be conducted across all types
      of traumatic brain injury. 

PMID- 27637393
TI  - Imaging Evaluation of Acute Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality
      worldwide. Imaging plays an important role in the evaluation, diagnosis, and
      triage of patients with TBI. Recent studies suggest that it also helps predict
      patient outcomes. TBI consists of multiple pathoanatomic entities. This article
      reviews the current state of TBI imaging including its indications, benefits and
      limitations of the modalities, imaging protocols, and imaging findings for each
      of these pathoanatomic entities. Also briefly surveyed are advanced imaging
      techniques, which include several promising areas of TBI research. 

PMID- 27637398
TI  - Hypothermia in Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - For over 50 years, clinicians have used hypothermia to manage traumatic brain
      injury (TBI). In the last two decades numerous trials have assessed whether
      hypothermia is of benefit in patients. Mild to moderate hypothermia reduces the
      intracranial pressure (ICP). Randomized control trials for short-term hypothermia
      indicate no benefit in outcome after severe TBI, whereas longer-term hypothermia
      could be of benefit by reducing ICP. This article summarises current evidence and
      gives recommendations based upon the conclusions. 

PMID- 27637399
TI  - Seizures and the Role of Anticonvulsants After Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - Posttraumatic seizures are a common complication of traumatic brain injury.
      Posttraumatic epilepsy accounts for 20% of symptomatic epilepsy in the general
      population and 5% of all epilepsy. Early posttraumatic seizures occur in more
      than 20% of patients in the intensive care unit and are associated with secondary
      brain injury and worse patient outcomes. Most posttraumatic seizures are
      nonconvulsive and therefore continuous electroencephalography monitoring should
      be the standard of care for patients with moderate or severe brain injury. The
      literature shows that posttraumatic seizures result in secondary brain injury
      caused by increased intracranial pressure, cerebral edema and metabolic crisis. 

PMID- 27637400
TI  - The Role of Multimodal Invasive Monitoring in Acute Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - This article reviews the role of modalities that directly monitor brain
      parenchyma in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. The physiology
      monitored involves compartmental and perfusion pressures, tissue oxygenation and
      metabolism, quantitative blood flow, pressure autoregulation, and
      electrophysiology. There are several proposed roles for this multimodality
      monitoring, such as to track, prevent, and treat the cascade of secondary brain
      injury; monitor the neurologically injured patient; integrate various data into a
      composite, patient-specific, and dynamic picture; apply protocolized,
      pathophysiology-driven intensive care; use as a prognostic marker; and understand
      pathophysiologic mechanisms involved in secondary brain injury to develop
      preventive and abortive therapies, and to inform future clinical trials. 

PMID- 27637401
TI  - The Role of Surgical Intervention in Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - The general consensus to optimize the care for severe TBI patients is management
      at specialized neurotrauma centers with neurosurgical and neurocritical care
      support and the use of guidelines-based standardized protocols. Over the last
      decade, significant efforts have been made to define neurotrauma treatment
      guidelines. However, it is important to recognize the heterogeneity of TBI and
      that the "one-size-fits-all approach" may not always be appropriate for these
      patients. Knowledge synthesis activities in neurotrauma are important to define
      future research agendas. Clinical and research advances have influenced
      neurotrauma as it continues to mature into a distinct subspecialty of
      neurosurgery. 

PMID- 27637403
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27637402
TI  - Repetitive Head Impacts and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
AB  - Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a distinctive neurodegenerative disease
      that occurs as a result of repetitive head impacts. CTE can only be diagnosed by
      postmortem neuropathologic examination of brain tissue. CTE is a unique disorder
      with a pathognomonic lesion that can be reliably distinguished from other
      neurodegenerative diseases. CTE is associated with violent behaviors,
      explosivity, loss of control, depression, suicide, memory loss and cognitive
      changes. There is increasing evidence that CTE affects amateur athletes as well
      as professional athletes and military veterans. CTE has become a major public
      health concern. 

PMID- 27637404
TI  - Advances in Neurotrauma Research.

PMID- 27637406
TI  - Can Triage Nurses Accurately Predict Patient Dispositions in the Emergency
      Department?
AB  - : Contemporary emergency departments experience crowded conditions with poor
      patient outcomes. If triage nurses could accurately predict admission, one
      theoretical intervention to reduce crowding is to place patients in the admission
      cue on arrival to the emergency department. The purpose of this study was to
      determine if triage nurses could accurately predict patient dispositions.
      METHODS: This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary academic hospital's
      emergency department using a data collection tool embedded in the ED electronic
      information system. Study variables included the predicted and actual
      disposition, as well as level of care, gender, age, and Emergency Severity Index
      level. Data were collected for 28 consecutive days from September 17 through
      October 9, 2013. Sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive
      values, and accuracy of prediction, as well as the associations between patient
      characteristics and nurse prediction, were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 5,135
      cases were included in the analysis. The triage nurses predicted admissions with
      a sensitivity of 71.5% and discharges with a specificity of 88.0%. Accuracy was
      significantly higher for younger patients and for patients at very low or very
      high severity levels. DISCUSSION: Although the ability to predict admissions at
      triage by nurses was not adequate to support a change in the bed procurement
      process, a specificity of 88.0% could have implications for rapid ED discharges
      or other low-acuity processes designed within the emergency department. Further
      studies in additional settings and on alternative interventions are needed.

PMID- 27637405
TI  - A Context-Sensing Mobile Phone App (Q Sense) for Smoking Cessation: A Mixed
      Methods Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A major cause of lapse and relapse to smoking during a quit attempt
      is craving triggered by cues from a smoker's immediate environment. To help
      smokers address these cue-induced cravings when attempting to quit, we have
      developed a context-aware smoking cessation app, Q Sense, which uses a smoking
      episode-reporting system combined with location sensing and geofencing to tailor
      support content and trigger support delivery in real time. OBJECTIVE: We sought
      to (1) assess smokers' compliance with reporting their smoking in real time and
      identify reasons for noncompliance, (2) assess the app's accuracy in identifying
      user-specific high-risk locations for smoking, (3) explore the feasibility and
      user perspective of geofence-triggered support, and (4) identify any
      technological issues or privacy concerns. METHODS: An explanatory sequential
      mixed-methods design was used, where data collected by the app informed
      semistructured interviews. Participants were smokers who owned an Android mobile
      phone and were willing to set a quit date within one month (N=15). App data
      included smoking reports with context information and geolocation, end-of-day
      (EoD) surveys of smoking beliefs and behavior, support message ratings, and app
      interaction data. Interviews were undertaken and analyzed thematically (N=13).
      Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately and findings presented
      sequentially. RESULTS: Out of 15 participants, 3 (20%) discontinued use of the
      app prematurely. Pre-quit date, the mean number of smoking reports received was
      37.8 (SD 21.2) per participant, or 2.0 (SD 2.2) per day per participant. EoD
      surveys indicated that participants underreported smoking on at least 56.2% of
      days. Geolocation was collected in 97.0% of smoking reports with a mean accuracy
      of 31.6 (SD 16.8) meters. A total of 5 out of 9 (56%) eligible participants
      received geofence-triggered support. Interaction data indicated that 50.0%
      (137/274) of geofence-triggered message notifications were tapped within 30
      minutes of being generated, resulting in delivery of a support message, and 78.2%
      (158/202) of delivered messages were rated by participants. Qualitative findings
      identified multiple reasons for noncompliance in reporting smoking, most notably
      due to environmental constraints and forgetting. Participants verified the app's
      identification of their smoking locations, were largely positive about the value
      of geofence-triggered support, and had no privacy concerns about the data
      collected by the app. CONCLUSIONS: User-initiated self-report is feasible for
      training a cessation app about an individual's smoking behavior, although
      underreporting is likely. Geofencing was a reliable and accurate method of
      identifying smoking locations, and geofence-triggered support was regarded
      positively by participants.

PMID- 27637407
TI  - Active Intervention Can Decrease Burnout In Ed Nurses.
AB  - : The aim of this study was to evaluate whether active intervention can decrease
      job burnout and improve performance among ED nurses. METHODS: This study was
      carried out in the emergency departments of 3 hospitals randomly selected from 8
      comprehensive high-level hospitals in Jinan, China. A total of 102 nurses were
      enrolled and randomly divided into control and intervention groups. For 6 months,
      nurses in intervention groups were treated with ordinary treatment plus
      comprehensive management, whereas nurses in the control group were treated with
      ordinary management, respectively. Questionnaires were sent and collected at
      baseline and at the end of the study. The Student t test was used to evaluate the
      effect of comprehensive management in decreasing burnout. RESULTS: All ED nurses
      showed symptoms of job burnout at different levels. Our data indicated that
      comprehensive management significantly decreased emotional exhaustion and
      depersonalization (P < .01). DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that active
      intervention with comprehensive management may effectively reduce job burnout in
      ED nurses and contribute to relieving work-related stress and may further protect
      against potential mental health problems.

PMID- 27637409
TI  - Sex and MC1R variants in human pigmentation: Differences in tanning ability and
      sensitivity to sunlight between sexes.

PMID- 27637408
TI  - Effect of Angiotensin System Inhibitors on Survival in Patients Receiving
      Chemotherapy for Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Preclinical studies suggest that angiotensin system inhibitors
      (ASI) and bevacizumab improve tumor perfusion and chemotherapy efficacy. We
      performed a retrospective study to examine whether concomitant ASI use during
      carboplatin and paclitaxel (CP) without or with bevacizumab (CPB) was associated
      with improved overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced nonsquamous, non
      small-cell lung cancer (NS-NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a retrospective
      cohort study, adult patients diagnosed with stage IIIB or IV NS-NSCLC between
      2005 and 2011 were identified from tumor registries at 1 of 4 Kaiser Permanente
      regions. Survival differences between those who did and did not receive ASIs
      concomitant with chemotherapy (CP or CPB) were assessed using propensity score
      matched proportional hazard models. OS was measured from the initiation of
      chemotherapy until death, disenrollment, or December 31, 2012. RESULTS: Of the
      1465 CP and 348 CPB patients included, 273 (19%) and 78 (22%), respectively,
      received concomitant ASI. For CP patients with and without concomitant ASI
      exposure, median OS was 12.0 and 8.4 months, respectively (crude hazard ratio
      [HR], 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-0.84). For CPB patients, the
      comparable median OS was 14.9 and 11.9 months, respectively (crude HR, 0.77; 95%
      CI, 0.57-1.02). Using propensity score-matched cohorts, the HR for concomitant
      ASI use was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.61-0.88) for CP patients and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.51-1.21)
      for CPB patients. CONCLUSION: Concomitant ASI receipt during CP or CPB therapy
      for NS-NSCLC was associated with improved survival, although the association was
      only statistically significant in the CP group.

PMID- 27637410
TI  - Grip strength and body composition in Turkana pastoralist children and
      adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In an earlier study, age changes and sex differences in grip strength
      were documented for adult Turkana pastoralists of Kenya (Little and Johnson,
      1986). The objective here is to characterize age changes and sex differences in
      grip strength of Turkana children and adolescents in the context of arm lean
      tissue composition, and in comparison with other African, African-American, and
      non-Western populations. METHODS: Anthropometric measurements, derived body
      composition values, and grip strength measures (maximum voluntary contraction)
      were taken on a sample of 232 nomadic Turkana pastoralist children (94 boys and
      138 girls) aged 3 to 21 years. Relationships were tested between grip strength
      (in Newtons) and mid-upper arm (brachium) lean tissue cross-sectional areas.
      Comparisons were made among several different ethnic groups. RESULTS: Turkana
      children and adolescents had low arm muscle (derived lean tissue) and grip
      strength values when compared with U.S. NHANES percentile references. Girls'
      percentile rankings were greater than boys' percentile rankings for muscle and
      for grip strength. Both boys and girls were intermediate when compared with other
      non-Western populations and U.S. strength grip reference values. Correlations
      between grip strength and arm lean tissue areas were highly significant for both
      boys and girls. CONCLUSIONS: The greater relative muscle size and grip strength
      values of late adolescent girls compared to boys is consistent with an earlier
      study of adults. The difference is likely to result from greater physical
      subsistence activity and greater access to food in girls than in boys. Several
      suggestions are given to explain why Turkana youths have relatively small muscle
      sizes.

PMID- 27637411
TI  - [Facial palsy in children].
AB  - Facial palsy (FP) in children is congenital or acquired. When present at birth
      (congenital), etiologies are mostly traumatic and rarely developmental. Acquired
      FP needs investigation. Research on the etiology helps to determine prognostic
      and treatment. At most times, no specific cause is found. Treatment of idiopathic
      FP consists of early oral corticosteroid therapy and ocular protection. Treating
      the sequelae is essential and the physician has to consider the dynamic balance
      of both sides of the face. Dynamic rehabilitation should mainly concern the
      inferior facial third. We recommend the lengthening temporalis myoplasty (LTM).
      This relevant technique ensures replicable and reliable results with a harmonious
      smile. Facial dynamic rehabilitation after surgical procedure (muscle tranfer or
      free muscle flap) must be directed toward control of voluntary movement, to move
      from a mandibular smile to a spontaneous and voluntary smile, thanks to brain
      plasticity. Furthermore, botulinum toxin is well tolerated and remains a great
      tool to treat a child who can support injections.

PMID- 27637412
TI  - [Congenital malformations of the forefoot].
AB  - Malformations and deformations of the forefoot are a frequent reason for
      consultation. The most frequent malformations viewed at birth are syndactylies
      (second web space), clinodactylies (quintus varus, halllux), polydactylies
      (hallux, fifth toe). The macrodactylies, hypoplasia, amniotic bands are rare. The
      management of these defects requires knowledge of surgery adult foot, plastic
      surgery and especially collaboration with physiotherapists, podiatrists and
      orthotists. The fast growth of the foot the first year and the development of
      walking at one year require to start early the treatment of deformations and to
      anticipate the evolution of malformations.

PMID- 27637413
TI  - Reporting on data monitoring committees in neonatal randomised controlled trials
      is inconsistent.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the reported use of data monitoring committees (DMCs), the
      frequency of interim analysis, prespecified stopping rules and early trial
      termination in neonatal randomised controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: We reviewed
      neonatal RCTs published in four high-impact general medical journals,
      specifically looking at safety issues including documented involvement of a DMC,
      stated interim analysis, stopping rules and early trial termination. We searched
      all journal issues over an 11-year period (2003-2013) and recorded predefined
      parameters on each item for RCTs meeting inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Seventy
      neonatal trials were identified in four general medical journals: Lancet, New
      England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), British Medical Journal and Journal of
      American Medical Association. A total of 43 (61.4%) studies reported the presence
      of a DMC, 36 (51.4%) explicitly mentioned interim analysis, stopping rules were
      reported in 15 (21.4%) RCTs and seven (10%) trials were terminated early. The
      NEJM most frequently reported these parameters compared to the other three
      journals reviewed. CONCLUSION: While the majority of neonatal RCTs report on DMC
      involvement and interim analysis, there is still scope for improvement. Clear
      documentation of safety-related issues should be a central component of reporting
      in neonatal trials involving newborn infants.

PMID- 27637415
TI  - Erratum to: The KT Jeang Retrovirology prize 2016: Frank Kirchhoff.

PMID- 27637416
TI  - Chronic tibial pandiaphysitis with Brodie abscess due to Salmonella saprophyticus
      in a 29-year-old healthy man.

PMID- 27637414
TI  - The European Survey on Adverse Systemic Reactions in Allergen Immunotherapy
      (EASSI): A paediatric assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Safety data on 'real-life' allergen immunotherapy (AIT) in children
      and adolescents is usually extrapolated from studies in adults. METHODS: Patients
      aged 18 or under initiating aeroallergen AIT were evaluated in a prospective
      European survey. Patient profiles and systemic reactions (SRs) were recorded.
      Descriptive, univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk
      factors for SRs. RESULTS: A total of 1563 patients (mean +/- SD age: 11.7 +/- 3.9
      years; rhinitis: 93.7%; asthma: 61.5%; polysensitization: 62.5%) and 1578 courses
      of AIT were assessed. Single-allergen AIT was administered in 89.5% of cases (n =
      1412; mites: 49%; grass pollen: 25.8%; tree pollen: 8.7%; Alternaria: 4.6%;
      dander: 0.8%; weed pollen: 0.6%). Subcutaneous AIT (SCIT) was used in 71.4% (n =
      1127) of the treatments, including 574 (50.9%) with natural extracts. Sublingual
      AIT (SLIT) was used for the remaining 451 treatments (drops: 73.8%; tablets:
      26.2%). The mean +/- SD follow-up period was 12.9 +/- 3.3 months. The estimated
      total number of doses was 19,669 for SCIT and 131,550 for SLIT. Twenty-four
      patients (1.53%) experienced 29 SRs. Respiratory (55.7%) and skin symptoms
      (37.9%) were most frequent. Anaphylaxis was diagnosed in 3 SRs (10.3%), and
      adrenaline was administered in 2 of these cases. In a univariate analysis, the
      risk of SRs was lower in mite-sensitized patients and higher in cases of pollen
      polysensitization (>3), grass pollen extracts and the use of natural extracts
      (vs. allergoids). CONCLUSIONS: In a real-life paediatric setting, AIT is safe.
      SRs are infrequent and generally not severe. Pollen polysensitization, grass
      pollen extracts and natural extracts (vs. allergoids) were risk factors for AIT
      associated SRs.

PMID- 27637417
TI  - Concurrent emphysematous pyelonephritis, cystitis, and iliopsoas abscess from
      discitis in a diabetic woman.

PMID- 27637418
TI  - Oculomotor nerve palsy in invasive intracranial aspergillosis.

PMID- 27637419
TI  - Diagnosis of neurological disorders and the Zika virus epidemic in Colombia 2014 
      2016.

PMID- 27637420
TI  - Easing the Transition: An Innovative Generational Approach to Peer Mentoring for
      New Graduate Nurses.

PMID- 27637421
TI  - Risks and Protective Factors for Stress Self-Management in Parents of Children
      With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Integrated Review of the Literature.
AB  - PROBLEM: Stress in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has
      been reported to be very high. However, little is known about what risk and
      protective factors influence parental stress self-management in this population.
      Accordingly, this manuscript is a synthesis of the risk and protective factors
      that impact self-management of stress in these parents. The concepts in the
      individual and family self-management theory context domain were used as a
      framework to guide data collection and analysis. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Searches
      were conducted using CINAHL, MedLine and PsychInfo. Studies were included if they
      addressed context factors in parents of children with ASD and were written in
      English. SAMPLE: Ninety-eight studies met review criteria. RESULTS: This review
      highlighted risk factors to parental stress self-management within the context of
      condition-specific factors, physical and social environment, and individual and
      family. The most concerning of these findings is that parents struggle accessing
      a diagnosis and services for their child and are frustrated with health care
      providers' knowledge of ASD and lack of communication. CONCLUSIONS: The risks
      parents experience as they care for their child with ASD far outweigh the
      protective factors for self-management of parental stress. IMPLICATIONS: Nurses
      who are aware of these issues can make important changes to their practice and
      have a significant impact on parental stress self-management and the care of
      children with ASD.

PMID- 27637422
TI  - Outcome and performance of bioprosthetic pulmonary valve replacement in patients
      with congenital heart disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this single-center series was to assess differences in
      reintervention by the type of valve used for surgical bioprosthetic pulmonary
      valve replacement and to identify independent predictors of reintervention.
      METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected for 611 patients undergoing
      pulmonary valve replacement from 1996 to 2014. Kaplan-Meier estimation and Cox
      proportional hazards regression methodologies were used. RESULTS: The median age
      of patients was 17.8 years (interquartile range, 11.9-27.3). The diagnosis was
      tetralogy of Fallot in 69% of patients. The median follow-up was 3.0 years
      (interquartile range, 1.1-5.3). Valve types included Sorin Mitroflow (Milan,
      Italy), 316 (50%; median age 16.5 years); Carpentier-Edwards (Irvine, Calif)
      Magna/MagnaEase, 223 (35%; median age, 19.3 years); and Carpentier-Edwards
      Perimount, 72 (11%; median age, 21.9 years). Reintervention occurred in 6.7% of
      patients (41/633) and was higher in children than adults (hazard ratio, 4.8). Age
      adjusted 5-year reintervention rates were Sorin Mitroflow, 13.4%; Carpentier
      Edwards Magna/MagnaEase, 2.1%; and Carpentier-Edwards Perimount, 0%.
      Reintervention was not associated with gender, valve insertion method, or
      concurrent procedures. The only independent risk factor for reintervention after
      controlling for age was valve type (P < .001). The Sorin Mitroflow valve had a
      shorter time to reintervention than the other 2 valve types (hazard ratios both
      >7, each P < .001). Differences by valve type did not depend on age (interaction
      P = .61). CONCLUSIONS: Bioprosthetic pulmonary valve replacement in patients with
      congenital heart disease has excellent short-term outcomes, but children have an
      approximately 5-fold greater risk of reintervention than adults. Independently of
      age, reintervention rates vary by valve type. These differences may be important
      in valve selection and follow-up.

PMID- 27637423
TI  - Vasoactive-ventilation-renal score...a preliminary report.

PMID- 27637424
TI  - Discussion.

PMID- 27637425
TI  - Pulmonary valve replacement for congenital heart disease: What valve substitute
      should we be using?

PMID- 27637427
TI  - High Chinese elm pollen counts in the fall in Atlanta, Georgia, 2009-2015.

PMID- 27637428
TI  - Clinical Efficacy of Romidepsin in Tumor Stage and Folliculotropic Mycosis
      Fungoides.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor stage and folliculotropic mycosis fungoides are uncommon
      subtypes of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with an aggressive disease course.
      Romidepsin is a histone deacetylase inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug
      Administration for patients with CTCL who have received >= 1 previous systemic
      therapy. In the present study, we examined the efficacy and safety of romidepsin
      in patients from the pivotal, single-arm, open-label, phase II study of relapsed
      or refractory CTCL with cutaneous tumors and/or folliculotropic disease
      involvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with CTCL who had received >= 1
      previous systemic therapy received romidepsin at 14 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 of
      28-day cycles. Responses were determined by a composite endpoint (assessments of
      the skin, blood, and lymph nodes). Patients with cutaneous tumors and/or
      folliculotropic disease involvement were identified by review of diagnosis and
      histology reports. RESULTS: The objective response rate to romidepsin was 45% in
      patients with cutaneous tumors (n = 20) and 60% in patients with folliculotropic
      disease involvement (n = 10). CONCLUSION: Romidepsin is active in subtypes of
      CTCL with less favorable outcomes, such as tumor stage and folliculotropic
      mycosis fungoides.

PMID- 27637429
TI  - Preparation, characterization, and in vitro evaluation of bleomycin-containing
      nanoliposomes.
AB  - Bleomycin is an anticancer drug used against various types of cancers. The aim of
      this study was to prepare a new PEGylated and non-PEGylated nanoliposomal
      formulation of bleomycin (PEG-nLip-BLM and nLip-BLM) and evaluate their
      anticancer activity in different tumor cell lines. The liposomes were prepared by
      thin-film hydration method, and then, bleomycin (BLM) was loaded to the prepared
      vesicles. The size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, loading rate, release
      profile, and cytotoxicity of liposomal formulations in TC-1, LLC1, and HFLF-PI5
      cell lines were investigated. Mean particle size and zeta potential of the PEG
      nLip-BLM and nLip-BLM were found to be 99.4 +/- 4.6 nm and -34.83 +/- 4.7 mV; and
      112.2 +/- 7.2 nm and -27.5 +/- 3.2 mV, respectively, which were stable for at
      least 2 months. Encapsulation and loading efficiency of BLM for PEG-nLip-BLM and
      nLip-BLM were obtained about 83.1 +/- 4.2% and 14.3 +/- 2.5%; and 78.3 +/- 8.6%
      and 11.1 +/- 3.3%, respectively. Drug release study showed a slow release pattern
      without considerable burst effect. The liposomal formulations indicated lower
      toxicity compared to free drug in case of TC-1 and HFLF-PI5 cells, but their
      cytotoxicity against LLC1 cells was significantly higher than free drug. The
      results of this study indicated that PEG-nLip-BLM can be a suitable candidate for
      drug delivery to solid tumors.

PMID- 27637426
TI  - ALK alterations and inhibition in lung cancer.
AB  - The advent of precision medicine in non-small cell lung cancer has remarkably
      altered the direction of research and improved clinical outcomes. The
      identification of molecular subsets with differential response to targeted
      therapies began with the identification of epidermal growth factor receptor
      mutated tumors in subsets of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Emboldened by
      unprecedented response rates to kinase inhibitors seen in that subset, the
      oncologic community searched for other molecular subsets featuring oncogene
      addiction. An early result of this search was the discovery of NSCLC driven by
      activating rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. In an
      astoundingly brief period following the recognition of ALK-positive NSCLC,
      details of the biology, clinicopathologic features, development of targeted
      inhibitors, mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, and new generations of
      treatment were elucidated. This review summarizes the current understanding of
      the pathologic features, diagnostic approach, treatment options, resistance
      mechanisms, and future research areas for ALK-positive NSCLC.

PMID- 27637431
TI  - Habit, Mindfulness, and Simulation: Wiring Our Brains for Safety.

PMID- 27637433
TI  - A 63-Year-Old Male Interfacility Transfer for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
      Evaluation.

PMID- 27637430
TI  - Clinical impact and diagnostic accuracy of 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose
      positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) brain imaging in
      patients with cognitive impairment: a tertiary centre experience in the UK.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the clinical impact of combined 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose
      (FDG) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) brain imaging
      performed in selected patients with cognitive impairment at a tertiary referral
      centre in the UK, and to assess the accuracy of FDG PET/CT to correctly establish
      the diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia (AD) in "real-world" clinical practice.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: Using an institutional radiology database, 136 patients
      were identified for inclusion in the study. FDG PET/CT was performed using a
      standard technique and interpreted by dual-trained radiologists and nuclear
      medicine physicians. Standardised questionnaires were sent to the referring
      clinicians to establish the final clinical diagnosis and to obtain information
      about the clinical impact of FDG PET/CT. RESULTS: There was a 72% questionnaire
      return (98/136), with mean patient follow-up of 471 (standard deviation 205)
      days. FDG PET/CT had an impact on patient management in 81%, adding confidence to
      the pre-test diagnosis in 43%, changing the pre-test diagnosis in 35%, reducing
      the need for further investigations in 42%, and resulting in a change in therapy
      in 32%. There was substantial correlation between the PET/CT diagnosis and final
      clinical diagnosis with a correlation (k) coefficient of 0.78 (p<0.0001). The
      accuracy of FDG PET/CT in diagnosis of AD was 94% (95% confidence interval [CI]:
      87-99), with a sensitivity of 87% (95% CI: 75-92) and a specificity of 97% (95%
      CI: 87-99). CONCLUSION: FDG PET/CT brain imaging has a significant clinical
      impact when performed selectively in patients with cognitive impairment and shows
      high accuracy in the diagnosis of AD in "real-world" clinical practice.

PMID- 27637434
TI  - The Sepsis Saga: Sepsis-3-Ready for Prime Time?

PMID- 27637435
TI  - Civilians in a War Zone.

PMID- 27637438
TI  - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality by Helicopter Rescue Swimmers While Flying.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
      quality by helicopter rescue swimmers (HRSs) while flying. METHODS: Twenty HRSs
      from the Spanish Maritime Safety took part in this study. The research protocol
      included 2 phases: a baseline test (5 minutes of CPR on land) and a challenge
      test (5 minutes of CPR on a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter in-flight). A Laerdal
      Resusci Anne mannequin with Laerdal PC Skill Reporting (Stavanger, Norway) was
      used to register CPR variables. RESULTS: CPR quality on land versus in-flight was
      not significantly different. The mean chest compression (CC) depth (52.6 mm on
      land vs. 51.9 mm in-flight) was inside the recommended range, but mean CC rate
      (133 vs. 132 per minute), tidal volume (752 vs. 888 mL), and hands-off time (9
      per cycle in both tests) were above the 2015 recommended goal. Incomplete chest
      re-expansion was observed in 19% of on land and 26% in-flight CCs. CPR quality
      was maintained throughout the 5-minute challenges. CONCLUSION: HRSs are able to
      perform CPR in a flying helicopter with similar quality to CPR on land. They need
      additional training to avoid excessive CC rates, tidal volumes, and hands-off
      times and to permit chest re-expansion.

PMID- 27637439
TI  - Laryngeal Cuff Force Application Modeling During Air Medical Evacuation
      Simulation.
AB  - Endotracheal tubes are intended to protect the airway and assist with mechanical
      ventilation in sedated patients. The blood vessels of the tracheal mucosa can be
      compressed by high tracheal tube cuff pressures (> 30 cm H2O), leading to reduced
      mucosal blood flow with resulting ischemia and morbidity. Previous research
      showed a direct correlation between aircraft pressure altitude and the pressure
      reading from the tracheal cuff, with resulting pressures > 80 cm H2O at 10,000
      ft. Standard practice is to periodically remove air from the cuff during ascent
      based on assumed increased pressure on the adjacent tracheal mucosa. Using a
      vacuum chamber and a direct reading micropressure sensor in a 22-mm-diameter
      semirigid tube, we assessed the direct force applied by the tracheal cuff against
      the laryngeal tube analog. Standard tracheal cuffs showed direct force/pressure
      relationships when properly inflated to 20 cm H2O but much less than reported in
      the literature. Current literature reports values of 55 to 150 cm H2O at 5,000
      ft, whereas we report 23 to 25 cm H2O. Our data indicate that a properly inflated
      cuff does not exceed the critical pressure of 30 cm H2O until the altitude
      exceeds 8,000 ft. Thus, the standard practice of deflating the laryngeal cuff on
      ascent should be reconsidered because it may be counterproductive to patient
      safety. 

PMID- 27637440
TI  - The Effect of Prehospital Intubation on Treatment Times in Patients With
      Suspected Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examines whether, in patients requiring intubation with
      moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), prehospital intubation compared
      with emergency department intubation leads to a reduction in treatment times and
      time to a computed tomographic (CT) scan. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study
      compared adult patients with a Glasgow Coma Score of less than 14 with a
      suspected TBI who underwent intubation, either prehospital or on arrival to the
      emergency department. RESULTS: Prehospital intubation was associated with a
      decreased time from emergency department arrival to CT scan compared with
      emergency department intubation (43 vs. 54 minutes, P < .001). The prehospital
      intubation group had a longer median scene time (42 vs. 17 minutes, P <= .001),
      longer median transport times (32 vs. 14 minutes, P <= .001), and longer total
      treatment times (90 vs. 73 minutes, P = .007). CONCLUSIONS: Patients intubated in
      the prehospital setting spend a longer time at the scene but a shorter amount of
      time in the emergency department before brain imaging. Prehospital intubation may
      lead to earlier control of airway and ventilation. The minority of intubated TBI
      patients required urgent neurosurgical intervention. Overall prehospital
      intubation shows no significant survival advantage for the patients when compared
      with emergency department intubation.

PMID- 27637441
TI  - Simulation-Based Training in Mountain Helicopter Emergency Medical Service: A
      Multidisciplinary Team Training Concept.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mountain helicopter rescue operations often confront crews with unique
      challenges in which even minor errors can result in dangerous situations.
      Simulation training provides a promising tool to train the management of complex
      multidisciplinary settings, thus reducing the occurrence of fatal errors and
      increasing the safety for both the patient and the helicopter emergency medical
      service (HEMS) crew. METHODS: A simulation-based training, dedicated to mountain
      helicopter emergency medicine service, was developed and executed. We evaluated
      the impact of this training by the means of a pre- and posttraining self
      assessment of 40 HEMS crewmembers. RESULTS: Multidisciplinary simulation-based
      educational training in HEMS is feasible. There was a significant increase in
      self-assessed competence in safety-related items of human factors and team
      resource management. The highest gain of competence was demonstrated by a trend
      in the domain of structured decision making. CONCLUSIONS: Interprofessional
      simulation-based team training could have the potential to impact patient
      outcomes and improve rescuer safety. Simulation trainings lead to a subjective
      increase of self-assuredness in the management of complex situations in a
      difficult working environment.

PMID- 27637442
TI  - The Hypoxia Alarm of a Multigas Analyzer Is Triggered During Helicopter Takeoffs
      in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Operations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Safety in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) settings might
      be enhanced by the routine use of portable multigas analyzers to indicate hypoxic
      ambient air mixtures and the presence of hazardous gases. METHODS: In our HEMS
      (EC-135, Lifeliner 1, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), we introduced a professional
      multigas analyzer (Gas Alert Max XT II; Honeywell Analytics, Lincolnshire, IL) to
      prospectively detect possible hazardous gas mixtures. This analyzer measures
      ambient oxygen percentage (FO2, 0%-30%), carbon monoxide (CO, 0-1,000 ppm),
      hydrogen sulfide (H2S, 0-200 ppm), and combustibles (lower explosive limit, %).
      RESULTS: Before 12 HEMS flights, we measured a stable baseline ambient FO2 of
      20.9%. However, in all flights, takeoff to cruising altitude (500-1,000 ft)
      markedly decreased the measured FO2 to 19.1% +/- 0.1% (mean +/- standard
      deviation; Wilcoxon signed rank test, P = .002) with a minimum of 18.8%. This
      triggered the optoacoustic hypoxia alarm (preset to 19.5% to comply with
      international guidelines) in all cases. Maintaining cruise altitude restored
      measured FO2 slowly back to 20.9%. In contrast, CO, H2S, and combustibles
      remained unchanged during takeoff and flight. CONCLUSIONS: The hypoxia alarm of
      multigas analyzers is reproducibly triggered during helicopter takeoff. This
      observation may be explained by properties of certain multigas analyzers using a
      capillary controlled concentration sensor for FO2 measurement. Flight crews,
      increasingly equipped with those multigas analyzers, should be aware of this
      fact.

PMID- 27637443
TI  - Feasibility of Air Transport Simulation Training: A Case Series.
AB  - Limited clinical site availability and an increased need for clinical training
      experiences often make it difficult for prehospital health care providers to
      complete new and annual training requirements. Medical simulation provides an
      alternative learning environment that provides trainees the opportunity to
      acquire and perfect new clinical skills without compromising patient care. The
      following is a detailed description of an air medical transport simulation of a
      neonate with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy requiring transport to a higher
      level of care. Patient parameters were altered during flight to simulate
      potential complications unique to air medical transport. Use of this training
      strategy is particularly beneficial for low-volume, high-risk patients, and these
      lessons can be applied across all age patient groups, making the experience
      broadly applicable. 

PMID- 27637444
TI  - Emergent Interhospital Transport of Pediatric Patient With a Berlin Heart Device.
AB  - Ventricular assist devices (VADs) for the mechanical support of cardiac failure
      are being used more frequently in children of increasingly younger age. These
      children have significant and multiple medical comorbidities, and their length of
      hospital stay has been increasing. As this population of hospitalized VAD
      supported children increases, so does the possibility of their need for
      interfacility transport for specialized diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
      Reports on such transports are limited to 3 children who underwent scheduled
      elective transfers. We report our experience with a child with a Berlin Heart
      EXCOR left ventricular assist device (Berlin Heart, Berlin, Germany) who required
      emergent interfacility transport between our hospital and an affiliated
      institution. 

PMID- 27637446
TI  - Concern Network.

PMID- 27637447
TI  - "What do Ayurveda Postgraduate Entrance Examinations actually assess?" - Results
      of a five-year period question-paper analysis based on Bloom's taxonomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The standards of Ayurveda education in India are being questioned in
      the recent years and many suggestions related to educational reforms are being
      put forth by educators and health policy experts. However, the Post Graduate
      Entrance Examinations (PGEEs) that are carried out to select the candidates to
      pursue postgraduate programs have received little attention in this context.
      OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to classify the Multiple Choice
      Questions (MCQs) from Ayurveda PGEEs conducted in different universities of India
      during the five year period (ranging from 2010 to 2014) into six levels of
      Bloom's Taxonomy in cognitive domain. METHODS: This is a retrospective
      observational study. The sampling method followed was purposive sampling.
      Totally, 3299 MCQs obtained out of 25 question papers from seven universities
      spread across four zones of India (North, South, West and East) were included in
      the study and were classified based on the Bloom's taxonomy. RESULTS: About 93.3%
      of MCQs assessed only the 'recall' component whereas 6.2% of the MCQs assessed
      'comprehension'. Percentage of MCQs that assessed 'application' level was a mere
      0.3% whereas the percentage of MCQs that assessed the 'analysis' component was
      found to be only 0.2%. There was not even a single question to assess the
      'synthesis' and 'evaluation' components. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that an
      appropriate proportion of MCQs assessing 'higher order thinking' are required to
      be included in Ayurveda PGEEs. While it is possible to frame MCQs to assess all
      six levels of Bloom's taxonomy in cognitive domain, the teachers are required to
      be trained well in the skills of MCQ writing. We propose that our study may be
      taken as a lead to introduce the required reforms in PGEEs. Clinical Trial
      Registration No.: Not applicable.

PMID- 27637445
TI  - A Case Review: In-Flight Births Over a 4-Year Period in the Northern Territory,
      Australia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There has been much newspaper and online news coverage of in-flight
      obstetric births on commercial aircraft over several decades. This case series
      reviews several cases of in-flight birth and immediate maternal and neonatal
      outcomes from air medical retrievals in the Northern Territory of Australia over
      a 4-year [corrected] period. METHODS: This is a retrospective written case note
      and electronic medical retrieval record analysis of 4 patients undergoing in
      flight, at altitude, obstetric birth. RESULTS: Four premature births are recorded
      by CareFlight Operations over a 4-year period from January 2011 to January 2015.
      All patients involved were preterm; term ranged from 22 weeks to 36 weeks.
      Tocolysis was implemented on all 4 patients according to local obstetric
      guidelines. Maternal complications included 1 patient suffering antepartum
      hemorrhage and 2 patients suffering postpartum hemorrhage. Three neonates born at
      altitude needed neonatal resuscitation including positive-pressure ventilation.
      One neonate, 22 weeks' gestation, died approximately 2 hours after delivery.
      Maternal follow-up showed no morbidity or mortality at 1 to 6 days after birth.
      CONCLUSION: In-flight deliveries are rare events in air medical medicine. This
      case series includes patients of variable preterm gestation and correlates poor
      outcomes to prematurity of neonates. Close communication between remote clinics,
      obstetric centers, and air medical teams plus up-to-date early labor guidelines
      are essential for safe practice and to limit the risk of in-flight births.

PMID- 27637448
TI  - Bacterial cellulose composites loaded with SiO2 nanoparticles: Dynamic-mechanical
      and thermal properties.
AB  - The aim of this paper was to prepare composites of bacterial cellulose (BC)
      filled with silica (SiO2) nanoparticles to evaluate the influence of the SiO2
      contents (3, 5 and 7wt%) on the thermo-mechanical properties of the composites.
      BC hydro-gel was immersed in an aqueous solution of silanol derived from
      tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), the silanol was then converted into SiO2 in the BC
      matrix by pressing at 120 degrees C and 2MPa. The BC/SiO2 translucent sheets were
      examined by dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA),
      and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The temperature dependence of the storage
      modulus, loss modulus and tan delta was determined by DMA. In general, the
      results revealed that the increment of storage modulus and thermal stability
      increased concomitantly with the augmentation of SiO2 content. Therefore, it
      could be concluded that the mechanical properties of the composites were improved
      by using high amounts of nano silica. This would be a high aspect ratio of BC
      capable of connecting the BC matrix and SiO2, thereby enhancing a large contact
      surface and resulting in excellent coherence. A decrease of the storage modulus
      was consistent with increasing temperature, resulting from softening of the
      composites. The storage modulus of the composites increased in the order:
      BC/S7>BC/S5>BC/S3, while the loss modulus and tan delta decreased. On the other
      hand, the thermal stabilities of all BC/SiO2 composites were remarkably enhanced
      as compared to the pristine BC. TGA curves showed that the temperature of
      decomposition of the pure BC gradually shifted from about 260 degrees C to about
      370 degrees C as silica content increased. SEM observations illustrated that the
      nano-scale SiO2 was embedded between the voids and nano-fibrils of the BC matrix.
      Overall, the results indicated that the successful synthesis and superior
      properties of BC/SiO2 advocate its effectiveness for various applications.

PMID- 27637449
TI  - Preliminary characterizations, antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of
      polysaccharide from Cistanche deserticola.
AB  - To research the preliminary characterizations, antioxidant and hepatoprotective
      activity of polysaccharides from Cistanche deserticola (CDPs), three
      polysaccharide fractions, CDP-A, CDP-B and CDP-C, were obtained by successively
      membrane filtration (microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration).
      Molecular weights, monosaccharide compositions, purities and IR spectra of the
      three fractions were analyzed. Results showed that CDP-C contained higher
      proportion of galacturonic acid (GalUA) than CDP-B and CDP-A. Antioxidant
      activities were also analyzed and the results revealed that CDP-C possessed the
      highest activity. Thus, hepatoprotective activity of CDP-C was studied further.
      In vitro research, CDP-C promoted viability of HepG2 cells. In vivo research, CDP
      C ameliorated the alterations induced by alcohol, including serological indexes
      (alanine transaminase, acid phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and
      triglyceride) and hepatic indicators (superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde,
      glutathione S-transferase and triglyceride) in model animals. The prominent
      microvesicular steatosis and mild necrosis in hepatic histopathology of model
      animals were also attenuated by CDP-C administration. These findings indicated
      that CDP-C possessed hepatoprotective activity against chronic hepatic injury
      induced by alcohol. The underlying mechanism might be that CDP-C can reduce the
      contents of MDA and TG, and modulate the activities of the relative enzyme. This
      property might associate with GalUA in CDP-C.

PMID- 27637450
TI  - Structure and cytotoxic activity of ulvan extracted from green seaweed Ulva
      lactuca.
AB  - The structure of an ulvan obtained by water extraction from green seaweed Ulva
      lactuca was elucidated by using IR, NMR, SEC-MALL and ESIMS methods. The ulvan
      was also evaluated for its cytotoxic effects on three human cancer cell lines.
      The results showed that the ulvan was composed of rhamnose, galactose, xylose,
      manose, glucose (with a mole ratio of Rha: Gal: Xyl: Man: Glu equal to 1: 0.03:
      0.07: 0.01: 0.06), uronic acid (21.5%) and sulfate content (18.9%) with a
      molecular weight of 347000. This ulvan mainly consists of disaccharide [->4)-beta
      d-GlcA-(1->4)-alpha-l-Rha3S-(1->] and other minor disaccharide beta-GlcA-(1->2)
      alpha-Xyl and beta-GlcA-(->2)-alpha-Rha. The ulvan showed a significant cytotoxic
      activity against hepatocellular carcinoma (IC50 29.67+/-2.87MUg/ml), human breast
      cancer (IC50 25.09+/-1.36MUg/ml), and cervical cancer (IC50 36.33+/-3.84MUg/ml).

PMID- 27637451
TI  - Polysaccharide type and concentration affect nanocomplex formation in associative
      mixture with beta-lactoglobulin.
AB  - The main objective of this work was to investigate the effects of polysaccharide
      type (gum Arabic, GA and/or carboxymethyl cellulose, CMC) and concentration (0
      0.2% (w/w)) on the electrostatic interactions with beta-lactoglobulin (BLG).
      Biopolymer interaction was studied using turbidimetric analysis, dynamic light
      scattering (DLS), electrophoretic mobility and relative viscosity measurements.
      Complexes were developed at pH values below the isoelectric point (pI) of BLG.
      Increasing polysaccharide concentration increased the stability of nanocomplexes
      through increasing the negative charges carried by complexes. The differences
      between GA and CMC were attributed to the polysaccharide structure (linear or
      branched chains), charge density and flexibility. Phase contrast optical
      microscopy showed that complexation was of nucleation and growth type mechanism.
      Relative viscosity measurements confirmed that wrapping phenomenon occurred in
      both associative mixtures.

PMID- 27637452
TI  - Pectin mediated gold nanoparticles induces apoptosis in mammary adenocarcinoma
      cell lines.
AB  - Pectin and its several modified forms have shown remarkable impact in therapeutic
      use against various cancers. In the present study, pectin, an anionic
      polysaccharide isolated from Musa paradisiaca is employed for the synthesis of
      gold nanoparticles at ambient temperature conditions. The synthesized
      nanoparticles were characterized using microscopic and spectroscopic studies and
      its anti-cancer potential was evaluated in mammary adenocarcinoma cell lines MCF
      7 and MDA-MB-231. Apoptosis induction was evident from increase in sub-G1
      population studied using flow cytometry analysis. DNA damage followed by cell
      death in pectin mediated gold nanoparticles (p-GNPs) treated cells was confirmed
      by Comet assay. Uptake of p-GNPs by cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) was
      analyzed using FE-SEM which revealed the presence of p-GNPs as aggregates over
      the surface of cells with loss in cellular integrity compared to control cells.

PMID- 27637454
TI  - Advancements in brachytherapy.
AB  - Brachytherapy is a radiotherapy modality associated with a highly focal dose
      distribution. Brachytherapy treats the cancer tissue from the inside, and the
      radiation does not travel through healthy tissue to reach the target as with
      external beam radiotherapy techniques. The nature of brachytherapy makes it
      attractive for boosting limited size target volumes to very high doses while
      sparing normal tissues. Significant developments over the last decades have
      increased the use of 3D image guided procedures with the utilization of CT, MRI,
      US and PET. This has taken brachytherapy to a new level in terms of controlling
      dose and demonstrating excellent clinical outcome. Interests in focal,
      hypofractionated and adaptive treatments are increasing, and brachytherapy has
      significant potential to develop further in these directions with current and new
      treatment indications.

PMID- 27637455
TI  - The effects of dietary and herbal phytochemicals on drug transporters.
AB  - Membrane transporter proteins (the ABC transporters and SLC transporters) play
      pivotal roles in drug absorption and disposition, and thus determine their
      efficacy and safety. Accumulating evidence suggests that the expression and
      activity of these transporters may be modulated by various phytochemicals (PCs)
      found in diets rich in plants and herbs. PC absorption and disposition are also
      subject to the function of membrane transporter and drug metabolizing enzymes. PC
      drug interactions may involve multiple major drug transporters (and metabolizing
      enzymes) in the body, leading to alterations in the pharmacokinetics of substrate
      drugs, and thus their efficacy and toxicity. This review summarizes the reported
      in vitro and in vivo interactions between common dietary PCs and the major drug
      transporters. The oral absorption, distribution into pharmacological sanctuaries
      and excretion of substrate drugs and PCs are considered, along with their
      possible interactions with the ABC and SLC transporters which influence these
      processes.

PMID- 27637453
TI  - Clustered structural and functional plasticity of dendritic spines.
AB  - The configuration of synaptic circuits underlies their ability to process and
      store information. Research on dendritic spines has revealed that their
      structural and functional alterations are clustered along the parent dendrite.
      Here we review the evidence supporting such notion of clustered synaptic
      plasticity, discuss its functional implications and possible contributing
      factors, and suggest potential strategies to deal with open challenges.

PMID- 27637456
TI  - Chiropractic and Spinal Manipulation Therapy on Twitter: Case Study Examining the
      Presence of Critiques and Debates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) is a popular though controversial
      practice. The debates surrounding efficacy and risk of SMT are only partially
      evident in popular discourse. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the
      presence of critiques and debates surrounding efficacy and risk of SMT on the
      social media platform Twitter. The study examines whether there is presence of
      debate and whether critical information is being widely disseminated. METHODS: An
      initial corpus of 31,339 tweets was compiled through Twitter's Search Application
      Programming Interface using the query terms "chiropractic," "chiropractor," and
      "spinal manipulation therapy." Tweets were collected for the month of December
      2015. Post removal of tweets made by bots and spam, the corpus totaled 20,695
      tweets, of which a sample (n=1267) was analyzed for skeptical or critical tweets.
      Additional criteria were also assessed. RESULTS: There were 34 tweets explicitly
      containing skepticism or critique of SMT, representing 2.68% of the sample
      (n=1267). As such, there is a presence of 2.68% of tweets in the total corpus,
      95% CI 0-6.58% displaying explicitly skeptical or critical perspectives of SMT.
      In addition, there are numerous tweets highlighting the health benefits of SMT
      for health issues such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), immune
      system, and blood pressure that receive scant critical attention. The presence of
      tweets in the corpus highlighting the risks of "stroke" and "vertebral artery
      dissection" is also minute (0.1%). CONCLUSIONS: In the abundance of tweets
      substantiating and promoting chiropractic and SMT as sound health practices and
      valuable business endeavors, the debates surrounding the efficacy and risks of
      SMT on Twitter are almost completely absent. Although there are some critical
      voices of SMT proving to be influential, issues persist regarding how widely this
      information is being disseminated.

PMID- 27637457
TI  - Biosimilar and interchangable biologic medications.

PMID- 27637458
TI  - Electronic health records - Software licensing agreement considerations.

PMID- 27637459
TI  - Embracing our own vulnerability for more effective and compassionate care.

PMID- 27637460
TI  - Preexisting Periapical Inflammatory Condition Exacerbates Tooth Extraction
      induced Bisphosphonate-related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw Lesions in Mice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Surgical interventions such as tooth extraction increase the
      chances of developing osteonecrosis of the jaw in patients receiving
      bisphosphonates (BPs) for the treatment of bone-related diseases. Tooth
      extraction is often performed to eliminate preexisting pathological inflammatory
      conditions that make the tooth unsalvageable; however, the role of such
      conditions on bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) development
      after tooth extraction is not clearly defined. Here, we examined the effects of
      periapical periodontitis on tooth extraction-induced BRONJ development in mice.
      METHODS: Periapical periodontitis was induced by exposing the pulp of the
      maxillary first molar for 3 weeks in C57/BL6 mice that were intravenously
      administered with BPs. The same tooth was extracted, and after an 3 additional
      weeks, the mice were harvested for histologic, histomorphometric, and
      histochemical staining analyses. RESULTS: Pulp exposure induced periapical
      radiolucency as shown by increased inflammatory cells, tartrate-resistant acid
      phosphatase-positive osteoclasts, and bone resorption. When BPs were
      administered, pulp exposure did not induce apical bone resorption despite the
      presence of inflammatory cells and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive
      osteoclasts. Although tooth extraction alone induced BRONJ lesions, pulp exposure
      further increased tooth extraction-induced BRONJ development as shown by the
      presence of more bone necrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that a
      preexisting pathological inflammatory condition such as periapical periodontitis
      is a predisposing factor that may exacerbate BRONJ development after tooth
      extraction. Our study further provides a clinical implication wherein periapical
      periodontitis should be controlled before performing tooth extraction in BP users
      in order to reduce the risk of developing BRONJ.

PMID- 27637462
TI  - A renaissance in plant development.

PMID- 27637461
TI  - Cone-beam Computed Tomography Volumetric Analysis and Comparison of Dentin
      Structure Loss after Retrieval of Separated Instrument by Using Ultrasonic EMS
      and ProUltra Tips.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A separated instrument within the root canal may interfere in the
      successful outcome of endodontic treatment. The retrieval of fractured
      instruments might compromise the remaining tooth structure and subsequently
      resistance to tooth fracture. The aim of this study was to compare the change in
      volume of root canal and dentin thickness after retrieval of separated instrument
      by 2 different endodontic ultrasonic tips. METHODS: Each of the instruments (EMS
      Endochuck and ProUltra #6, #7, and #8 tips) was used to remove 40 separated
      rotary ProTaper F2 instruments from the mesiobuccal roots of mandibular molar
      under *15 magnification. Cone-beam computed tomography analysis of the samples
      was done to evaluate the change in volume, dentin thickness, weight, time taken,
      and success. RESULTS: Paired sample t test showed statistically significant (P <
      .05) difference in volume before and after instrument retrieval in both the EMS
      group, where the increase was 112.52%, and in the ProUltra group, where the
      increase was by 55.35%. Intergroup comparison showed statistically significant (P
      < .05) decrease in dentin thickness; it was more for EMS as compared with
      ProUltra. Overall decrease in the mean weight of EMS group (18.42%) was more than
      that of ProUltra group (9.36%). The overall success rate for removal of fractured
      instrument in this study was 87.5%; however, the difference in success rate was
      not statistically significant. The mean time taken for retrieval by ProUltra
      system was 63.89 minutes, whereas it was significantly less (P < .05) for EMS
      system (50.22 minutes). CONCLUSIONS: Removal of separated instrument with EMS
      resulted in more significant tooth structure loss as compared to ProUltra.

PMID- 27637464
TI  - Authors' reply - E4: More studies for support of new indications.

PMID- 27637463
TI  - Mycobacterium abscessus ESX-3 plays an important role in host inflammatory and
      pathological responses during infection.
AB  - Mycobacterial ESX systems are often related to pathogenesis during infection.
      However, little is known about the function of ESX systems of Mycobacterium
      abscessus (Mab). This study focuses on the Mab ESX-3 cluster, which contains
      major genes such as esxH (Rv0288, low molecular weight protein antigen 7; CFP-7)
      and esxG (Rv0287, ESAT-6 like protein). An esx-3 (MAB 2224c-2234c)-deletional
      mutant of Mab (Deltaesx) was constructed and used to infect murine and human
      macrophages. We then investigated whether Mab Deltaesx modulated innate host
      immune responses in macrophages. Mab Deltaesx infection resulted in less
      pathological and inflammatory responses. Additionally, Deltaesx resulted in
      significantly decreased activation of inflammatory signaling and cytokine
      production in macrophages compared to WT. Moreover, recombinant EsxG.EsxH
      (rEsxGH) proteins encoded by the ESX-3 region showed synergistic enhancement of
      inflammatory cytokine generation in macrophages infected with Deltaesx. Taken
      together, our data suggest that Mab ESX-3 plays an important role in inflammatory
      and pathological responses during Mab infection.

PMID- 27637465
TI  - A customized high-resolution array-comparative genomic hybridization to explore
      copy number variations in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common progressive neurodegenerative
      disorder, was long believed to be a non-genetic sporadic syndrome. Today, only a
      small percentage of PD cases with genetic inheritance patterns are known, often
      complicated by reduced penetrance and variable expressivity. The few well
      characterized Mendelian genes, together with a number of risk factors, contribute
      to the major sporadic forms of the disease, thus delineating an intricate genetic
      profile at the basis of this debilitating and incurable condition. Along with
      single nucleotide changes, gene-dosage abnormalities and copy number variations
      (CNVs) have emerged as significant disease-causing mutations in PD. However, due
      to their size variability and to the quantitative nature of the assay, CNV
      genotyping is particularly challenging. For this reason, innovative high
      throughput platforms and bioinformatics algorithms are increasingly replacing
      classical CNV detection methods. Here, we report the design strategy,
      development, validation and implementation of NeuroArray, a customized exon
      centric high-resolution array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH)
      tailored to detect single/multi-exon deletions and duplications in a large panel
      of PD-related genes. This targeted design allows for a focused evaluation of
      structural imbalances in clinically relevant PD genes, combining exon-level
      resolution with genome-wide coverage. The NeuroArray platform may offer new
      insights in elucidating inherited potential or de novo structural alterations in
      PD patients and investigating new candidate genes.

PMID- 27637466
TI  - Long-term shedding of CTX-M-15-producing Escherichia coli B2:ST127 by a healthy
      asymptomatic carrier.

PMID- 27637467
TI  - Determinants of 6-month survival of critically ill patients with an active
      hematologic malignancy.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study assessed the determinants of 6-month survival of critically
      ill patients with an active hematologic malignancy (HM). METHODS: All patients
      with an active HM defined by either receiving ongoing or due to receive
      antineoplastic therapy, admitted to 2 tertiary intensive care units between 2010
      and 2015, were included in this retrospective cohort study. RESULTS: Of the 273
      patients included in the study (median age, 63[interquartile range, 54-71] years;
      40.7% female), 116 (42.5%; 95% confidence interval, 36.8-48.4) died in hospital.
      The 6-month mortality was 56.4% (95% confidence interval, 50.5-62.2). Mechanical
      ventilation, intensive care unit admission source, and the type of active HM were
      significantly associated with hospital mortality and 6-month survival, after
      adjusting for severity of acute illness. The type of active HM was the most
      important prognostic factor, with over a 10-fold difference in 6-month survival
      between HM with the best and worst prognosis. In addition, recent hematopoietic
      stem cell transplant (<30 days) was associated with a better 6-month survival.
      CONCLUSION: Differences in 6-month survival between critically ill patients with
      different types of active HM were substantial. Recent hematopoietic stem cell
      transplant, severity of illness, and use of mechanical ventilation were
      additional important determinants of 6-month survival in patients with an active
      HM.

PMID- 27637468
TI  - Are greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping a type of marine
      pollution?
AB  - Whether greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping are a type of marine
      pollution is a controversial issue and is currently open to debate. This article
      examines the current treaty definitions of marine pollution, and applies them to
      greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Based on the legal analysis of treaty
      definitions and relevant international and national regulation on this issue,
      this article asserts that greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping
      are a type of 'conditional' marine pollution.

PMID- 27637469
TI  - UV filters analyzed by isotope diluted TurboFlow-LC-MS/MS in urine from Danish
      children and adolescents.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Experimental studies indicate that some chemicals with UV blocking
      properties (known as UV filters) can act as endocrine disruptors. UV filters are
      used in sunscreens and other cosmetic- and personal care products, as well as in
      other consumer products such as food packaging, clothing and furniture textiles
      to protect the products against UV radiation. Here we present the urinary
      excretion of suspected endocrine active UV filters in Danish children and
      adolescents recruited from the general population. METHODS: The content of
      benzophenone (BP), benzophenone-1 (BP-1), benzophenone-2 (BP-2), benzophenone-3
      (BP-3), 5-chloro-2- hydroxybenzophenone (BP-7), 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-HBP), 4
      methyl-benzophenone (4-MBP), 3-(4- methylbenzylidene)-camphor (4-MBC) and 3
      benzylidene camphor (3-BC) were monitored in 24h urine and two consecutive first
      morning samples from 129 healthy Danish children and adolescents (6-21 yrs). All
      387 samples were collected during the autumn (Nov. 2007) and were analyzed by a
      new on-line TurboFlow-LC-MS/MS method developed for simultaneous biomonitoring of
      these nine UV filters in urine. RESULTS: BP-3 and BP-1 were detected in more than
      80% of the 24h samples and were significantly correlated (R2=0.815). BP, 4-HBP
      and BP-2 were found in 43, 15 and 5% of the samples, respectively. The median
      (range) concentrations of the UV-filters in 24-h urine were as follows: BP-3,
      0.92 (LOD-115); BP-1, 0.54 (LOD-44.6); BP,<LOD (LOD-48.5); 4-HBP,<LOD (LOD-10.5);
      and BP-2,<LOD (LOD-8.43) ng/mL. In general BP-1 and BP-3 were higher in girls
      compared to boys and were also higher in the group of adolescent girls (16-21
      yrs) compared to the younger age groups of girls. None of the other UV filters;
      BP-7, 4-MBP, 4-MBC or 3-BC were detected in urine. A highly significant
      correlation between first morning and 24h urine levels of BP-3, BP-1 and 4-HBP
      from the same day was observed. CONCLUSION: Our project on UV filters analyzed by
      a new robust and sensitive LC-MS/MS method in Danish children and adolescents
      showed that almost all individuals were exposed to UV filters. Sun protection
      products have been claimed to be a major source of exposure to sunscreens.
      However since all children in the present study were exposed during autumn where
      sunscreens are not needed in Denmark our study also indicates that other sources
      and routes of exposure might be of relevance.

PMID- 27637470
TI  - Dynamic computed tomography is useful for prediction of pathological grade in
      pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Pathological grading is important in defining the therapeutic
      strategy in pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm (PNEN) but is difficult for
      unresectable cases. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration
      (FNA) is useful in the diagnosis of PNEN, but its usefulness for pathological
      grading is not well established. No studies have examined the diagnostic ability
      of dynamic computed tomography (CT) for pathological grading of PNEN. We
      investigated the usefulness of EUS-FNA and dynamic CT in the diagnosis and
      pathological grading of PNEN. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 39 PNEN
      patients finally diagnosed via EUS-FNA and/or surgical resection underwent
      dynamic CT. Pathological samples were diagnosed based on WHO2010; staging was
      based on the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society classification. The proportion
      of the quantification value in the tumor to the pancreatic parenchyma in arterial
      phase was defined as the CT ratio. Immunohistochemical staining with CD31 was
      performed to evaluate microvessel density (MVD). We evaluated the relationship
      between pathological grade, CT ratio, and MVD. RESULTS: By using EUS-FNA, 35 of
      39 (90%) cases were diagnosed as PNEN. As for pathological grade, 15 of 35 (43%)
      cases could be identified correctly. CT ratio could predict pathological Grade 3
      disease. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy were 100%, 94%,
      and 95%. MVD was significantly correlated with CT ratio (r = 0.83, P < 0.0001)
      and pathological grade (P = 0.0074). CONCLUSIONS: Computed tomography ratio has a
      relationship with pathological grade in PNEN, which would help decide therapeutic
      strategy in unresectable cases and cases in which pathological grading is
      difficult.

PMID- 27637471
TI  - Modeling and interoperability of heterogeneous genomic big data for integrative
      processing and querying.
AB  - While a huge amount of (epi)genomic data of multiple types is becoming available
      by using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, the most important
      emerging problem is the so-called tertiary analysis, concerned with sense making,
      e.g., discovering how different (epi)genomic regions and their products interact
      and cooperate with each other. We propose a paradigm shift in tertiary analysis,
      based on the use of the Genomic Data Model (GDM), a simple data model which links
      genomic feature data to their associated experimental, biological and clinical
      metadata. GDM encompasses all the data formats which have been produced for
      feature extraction from (epi)genomic datasets. We specifically describe the
      mapping to GDM of SAM (Sequence Alignment/Map), VCF (Variant Call Format),
      NARROWPEAK (for called peaks produced by NGS ChIP-seq or DNase-seq methods), and
      BED (Browser Extensible Data) formats, but GDM supports as well all the formats
      describing experimental datasets (e.g., including copy number variations, DNA
      somatic mutations, or gene expressions) and annotations (e.g., regarding
      transcription start sites, genes, enhancers or CpG islands). We downloaded and
      integrated samples of all the above-mentioned data types and formats from
      multiple sources. The GDM is able to homogeneously describe semantically
      heterogeneous data and makes the ground for providing data interoperability,
      e.g., achieved through the GenoMetric Query Language (GMQL), a high-level,
      declarative query language for genomic big data. The combined use of the data
      model and the query language allows comprehensive processing of multiple
      heterogeneous data, and supports the development of domain-specific data-driven
      computations and bio-molecular knowledge discovery.

PMID- 27637472
TI  - Control of interior surface materials for speech privacy in high-speed train
      cabins.
AB  - The effect of interior materials with various absorption coefficients on speech
      privacy was investigated in a 1:10 scale model of one high-speed train cabin
      geometry. The speech transmission index (STI) and privacy distance (rP ) were
      measured in the train cabin to quantify speech privacy. Measurement cases were
      selected for the ceiling, sidewall, and front and back walls and were classified
      as high-, medium- and low-absorption coefficient cases. Interior materials with
      high absorption coefficients yielded a low rP , and the ceiling had the largest
      impact on both the STI and rP among the interior elements. Combinations of the
      three cases were measured, and the maximum reduction in rP by the absorptive
      surfaces was 2.4 m, which exceeds the space between two rows of chairs in the
      high-speed train. Additionally, the contribution of the interior elements to
      speech privacy was analyzed using recorded impulse responses and a multiple
      regression model for rP using the equivalent absorption area. The analysis
      confirmed that the ceiling was the most important interior element for improving
      speech privacy. These results can be used to find the relative decrease in rP in
      the acoustic design of interior materials to improve speech privacy in train
      cabins.

PMID- 27637473
TI  - Combined treatment with MSC transplantation and neutrophil depletion ameliorates
      D-GalN/LPS-induced acute liver failure in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The imbalance of immunity is an important pathogenesis of acute liver
      failure (ALF). Neutrophils are the hallmark of acute inflammation, which have an
      essential role in immune regulation. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation
      is a promising therapy in ALF treatment. Recent studies indicated a considerable
      connection between MSCs and neutrophils in immune regulation. AIM: To investigate
      changes in neutrophils in ALF rats after MSC transplantation, and to explore the
      therapeutic effect and mechanism of the combined treatment with MSC
      transplantation and neutrophil depletion in ALF. METHODS: We employed monotherapy
      and the combination therapy with MSCs and anti-PMN serum in D-galactosamine (D
      GalN)/lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced ALF rats. Rats were sacrificed at 6, 12
      and 24h, respectively. Blood samples and liver tissues were collected. Hepatic
      injury, inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-10), chemokines (CXCL1
      and CXCL2), the number and activity of neutrophils and animal survival were
      assessed at fixed times. RESULTS: MSC transplantation can effectively improve the
      liver function of ALF rats and reduce the number and activity of neutrophils in
      both peripheral blood and liver. Compared with MSC transplantation alone, anti
      PMN treatment and co-treatment had a better result in diminishing neutrophils.
      The co-treatment also exhibited a better therapeutical effect in ALF rats
      compared with monotherapy. In this process, the expressions of inflammatory
      cytokines in the liver were consistent with liver function. CONCLUSIONS: The
      regulation of the neutrophil-related microenvironment is affected in D-GalN/LPS
      induced ALF rats after MSC transplantation. The combined treatment with MSC
      transplantation and neutrophil depletion may have a better therapeutic effect in
      ALF rats.

PMID- 27637474
TI  - Effect of ceramide-1-phosphate transfer protein on intestinal bacterial
      translocation in severe acute pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of
      ceramide-1-phosphate transfer protein (CPTP) on the intestinal epithelial tight
      junction proteins in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). METHODS:
      Fifty patients with SAP were classified into two groups according to the presence
      of bacterial translocation (BT) in the blood. Thirty healthy individuals were
      included in the control group. The presence of BT was analyzed by polymerase
      chain reaction. The expression of tight junction proteins and CPTP was determined
      using immunohistochemistry and western blotting. RESULTS: Bacterial DNA was
      detected in the peripheral blood of 62.0% of the patients with SAP. The
      expression of CPTP and tight junction proteins in SAP patients was lower than
      that in healthy controls. Among the patients with SAP, those positive for BT(+)
      showed a lower level of CPTP and occluding (OC) and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1)
      expression and a higher level of IVA cPLA2 expression than BT(-) patients.
      Moreover, the expression of CPTP was significantly associated with ZO-1 and
      showed a negative correlation with expression of IVA cPLA2 in SAP-BT(+) patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: CPTP affects the expression of tight junction proteins and may
      protects the intestinal epithelial barrier by downregulating the expression of
      IVA cPLA2.

PMID- 27637475
TI  - Ebola virus: A gap in drug design and discovery - experimental and computational
      perspective.
AB  - The Ebola virus, formally known as the Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is an acute viral
      syndrome causing sporadic outbreaks that have ravaged West Africa. Due to its
      extreme virulence and highly transmissible nature, Ebola has been classified as a
      category A bioweapon organism. Only recently have vaccine or drug regimens for
      the Ebola virus been developed, including Zmapp and peptides. In addition,
      existing drugs which have been repurposed toward anti-Ebola virus activity have
      been re-examined and are seen to be promising candidates toward combating Ebola.
      Drug development involving computational tools has been widely employed toward
      target-based drug design. Screening large libraries have greatly stimulated
      research toward effective anti-Ebola virus drug regimens. Current emphasis has
      been placed on the investigation of host proteins and druggable viral targets.
      There is a huge gap in the literature regarding guidelines in the discovery of
      Ebola virus inhibitors, which may be due to the lack of information on the Ebola
      drug targets, binding sites, and mechanism of action of the virus. This review
      focuses on Ebola virus inhibitors, drugs which could be repurposed to combat the
      Ebola virus, computational methods which study drug-target interactions as well
      as providing further insight into the mode of action of the Ebola virus.

PMID- 27637476
TI  - A Novel Hybrid Feature Selection Model for Classification of Neuromuscular
      Dystrophies Using Bhattacharyya Coefficient, Genetic Algorithm and Radial Basis
      Function Based Support Vector Machine.
AB  - An accurate classification of neuromuscular disorders is important in providing
      proper treatment facilities to the patients. Recently, the microarray technology
      is employed to monitor the level of activity or expression of large number of
      genes simultaneously. The gene expression data derived from the microarray
      experiment usually involve a large number of genes but a very few number of
      samples. There is a need to reduce the dimension of gene expression data which
      intends to find a small set of discriminative genes that accurately classifies
      the samples of various kinds of diseases. So, our goal is to find a small subset
      of genes which ensures the accurate classification of neuromuscular disorders. In
      the present paper, we propose a novel hybrid feature selection model for
      classification of neuromuscular disorders. The process of feature selection is
      done in two phases by integrating Bhattacharyya coefficient and genetic algorithm
      (GA). In the first phase, we find Bhattacharyya coefficient to choose a candidate
      gene subset by removing the most redundant genes. In the second phase, the target
      gene subset is created by selecting the most discriminative gene subset by
      applying GA wherein the fitness function is calculated using radial basis
      function support vector machine (RBF SVM). The proposed hybrid algorithm is
      applied on two publicly available microarray neuromuscular disorders datasets.
      The results are compared with two individual techniques of feature selection,
      namely Bhattacharyya coefficient and GA, and one integrated technique, i.e.,
      Bhattacharyya-GA wherein the fitness function of GA is calculated using four
      other classifiers, which shows that the proposed integrated method is capable of
      giving the better classification accuracy.

PMID- 27637477
TI  - Is there an ideal implant for orbital reconstructions? Prospective 64-case study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of porous polyethylene,
      titanium mesh, and castor oil-derived biopolymer randomized in orbital
      reconstructions of defects larger than 1 cm in length on the inferior and medial
      walls. A total of 63 patients (64 orbits) were evaluated to determine the
      presence of diplopia, enophthalmos ocular motility, and infraorbital nerve
      paraesthesia in both the preoperative and postoperative periods. The surgeons'
      opinions of the ease in handling the implants were also obtained after each
      procedure. The patients were divided into 3 groups: 17 received porous
      polyethylene, 21 received castor oil-derived biopolymer, and 26 received titanium
      mesh. In the preoperative period, 30 patients experienced enophthalmos, 11
      experienced diplopia, and 12 experienced ocular motility. Ninety days after the
      orbital reconstruction, 6 cases of enophthalmos persisted, as did 2 cases of
      diplopia and 2 cases of ocular motility. Ten patients developed some type of
      postoperative complication. Material removal was required in only 1 case.
      Regardless of the size of the defect, the materials used were found to be
      effective for reconstructing orbital volume; they were also found to offer ease
      in handling and stabilization.

PMID- 27637478
TI  - Trends in techniques to avoid bone augmentation surgery: Application of short
      implants, narrow-diameter implants and guided surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Minimally invasive implantology using reduced implant dimensions as
      well as virtual treatment planning and CAD/CAM stereolithographic templates has
      gained popularity in recent years. The aim of the present investigation was to
      analyze prevailing trends in clinical utilization of these graftless therapeutic
      options. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 12.865 dental implants were placed in
      5.365 patients at the Academy for Oral Implantology in Vienna, of which 5.5% were
      short (length < 10 mm), 19.5% narrow (diameter < 3.75 mm) and 10.6% template
      guided. Application trends were analyzed using linear regression and compared
      between jaw location and dentition subgroups. RESULTS: Use of short implants and
      guided surgery increased significantly in all subgroups. Narrow-diameter implants
      were most frequent in single-tooth gaps (24.1%), however, upward trends could
      only be observed in partially and completely edentulous patients. Short implants
      were predominantly used in the mandible (9.9% vs. 2.5%, P < 0.001) while guided
      surgery was favored in the maxilla (14.2% vs. 5.4%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Short
      implants (most frequent in partial edentulism) and guided implant surgery (most
      frequent in complete edentulism) represent uprising and promising surgical
      approaches to avoid patient morbidity associated with bone graft surgery.

PMID- 27637479
TI  - Palliative care consultation team on acute wards-an intervention study with pre
      post comparisons.
AB  - : ?: There is little evidence regarding primary healthcare team members'
      perceptions concerning palliative care consultation team (PCCT) and palliative
      care (PC) issues on their own wards. PURPOSE: This study aimed to study whether a
      PCCT can influence and change primary healthcare team members' perceptions
      regarding the palliative care at the end of life they are providing to patients
      in their own acute wards. METHODS: The intervention was a PCCT visiting surgical
      and internal medicine wards in 1 year. We used a quasi-experimental design with
      pre-post-testing, measuring at baseline, and after 1 year's intervention. A
      questionnaire was answered by all primary healthcare team members in three acute
      wards. RESULTS: A total of 252 team members (pre-post-intervention n = 132/n =
      120) participated in the study. Overall, 11 of the 12 statements scored
      significantly higher after the intervention than before. Responses varied
      significantly between different professions and depending on the number of dying
      patients cared for during the last month. The five with the highest Wald values
      were as follows: the presence of a break point dialogue with a patient, where the
      changed aim and focus of care was discussed; early detection of impending death;
      adequate symptom relief and psychological and existential issues. CONCLUSION: It
      is possible to change perceptions about end-of-life care in primary healthcare
      team members on acute wards. Palliative care consultation teams should be a
      natural part wherever dying patients are cared for.

PMID- 27637480
TI  - Levels of DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients undergoing
      standard hemodialysis vs on-line hemodiafiltration: A comet assay investigation.
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients exhibit high levels of genetic damage. Part
      of this genetic damage is supposed to be caused by the hemodialysis (HD) therapy.
      Different and more efficient HD procedures could reduce the genetic damage and
      improve health status of CKD patients. In the present study, we analyzed if
      changing to online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) has a beneficial effect on the
      levels of genetic damage. The levels of genetic damage (DNA breaks and
      oxidatively damaged DNA) were analyzed in peripheral blood lymphocytes by using
      the comet assay. Forty-nine patients submitted to HD, 34 of them changing to OL
      HDF and 15 patients continuing in low-flux HD, were included in the study. Plasma
      antioxidant capacity was also determined. Second sampling period was established
      after 6 months on the new or traditional HD protocol. A slight decrease in the
      levels of DNA damage was observed in patients who switched to OL-HDF (P=0.048) in
      relation to the reference group. This reduction is indicative that OL-HDF shows
      greater efficiency than low-flux HD in the reduction of basal levels of genetic
      damage. 

PMID- 27637482
TI  - Monitoring genotoxicity in patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer:
      application of the PIG-A assay.
AB  - The recently introduced Pig-a in vivo gene mutation assay measures endogeneous
      mutations of Pig-a (human, PIG-A), an X-linked gene that is conserved across
      species from rodents to humans. Flow cytometric analysis enables the enumeration
      of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor-deficient erythrocytes, resulting
      from a mutation in Pig-a/PIG-A, in only a few microliters of peripheral blood.
      Pig-a/PIG-A mutations appear to function in a neutral manner, allowing evaluation
      of the accumulated genotoxic effects of repeated exposures. To date, most Pig-a
      studies have been conducted in rodents; only a few reports regarding human
      applications of the PIG-A assay have been published. We have conducted a PIG-A
      assay in the context of human genotoxicity monitoring. Peripheral blood was
      collected from healthy human donors and chemotherapy-treated cancer patients at
      Yamagata University Hospital. To investigate the PIG-A mutant frequency (MF)
      induced by chemotherapy, red blood cells were analyzed via flow cytometry
      following staining with allophycocyanin-conjugated anti-CD235ab (erythrocyte
      specific) and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-CD59 antibodies (GPI
      anchored protein specific). Reticulocyte frequencies (%RET) were also analyzed
      using a phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-CD71 antibody to monitor bone marrow
      suppression and reticulocytosis. Two of 27 patients exhibited a significantly
      elevated frequency of PIG-A mutants. Although we observed either a reduced or an
      increased %RET in all patients, no association was observed between this factor
      and the PIG-A MF. Unfortunately, we could not analyze blood samples collected
      before treatment during therapeutic processes. Additionally, the sampling time
      point for some patients was too short to express the PIG-A mutant phenotypes.
      Therefore, the possibility of natively high PIG-A MFs prior to treatment must be
      considered. The human PIG-A assay shows promise as a human genotoxicity
      monitoring method. 

PMID- 27637481
TI  - A comparison of the genotoxicity of benzo[a]pyrene in four cell lines with
      differing metabolic capacity.
AB  - Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is a known genotoxin and carcinogen, yet its genotoxic
      response at low level exposure has not been determined. This study was conducted
      to examine the interplay of dose and metabolic capacity on genotoxicity of B[a]P.
      Investigating and better understanding the biological significance of low level
      chemical exposures will help improve human health risk assessments. The genotoxic
      and mutagenic effects of B[a]P were investigated using human cell lines (AHH-1,
      MCL-5, TK6 and HepG2) with differential expression of the CYP450 enzymes CYP1A1,
      1B1 and1A2 involved in B[a]P metabolism. MCL-5 and HepG2 cells showed detectable
      basal expression and activity of CYP1A1, 1B1 and 1A2 than AHH-1 which only show
      CYP1A1 basal expression and activity. TK6 cells showed negligible expression
      levels of all three CYP450 enzymes. In vitro micronucleus and HPRT assays were
      conducted to determine the effect of B[a]P on chromosome damage and point
      mutation induction. After 24h exposure, linear increases in micronucleus (MN)
      frequency were observed in all cell lines except TK6. After 4h exposure, only the
      metabolically competent cell lines MCL-5 and HepG2 showed MN induction (with a
      threshold concentration at 25.5MUM from MCL-5 cells) indicating the importance of
      exposure time for genotoxicity. The HPRT assay also displayed linear increases in
      mutant frequency in MCL-5 cells, after 4h and 24h treatments. Mutation spectra
      analysis of MCL-5 and AHH-1 HPRT mutants revealed frequent B[a]P induced G to T
      transversion mutations (72% and 44% of induced mutations in MCL-5 and AHH-1
      respectively). This study therefore demonstrates a key link between metabolic
      capability, B[a]P exposure time and genotoxicity. 

PMID- 27637483
TI  - Role of exposure/recovery schedule in micronuclei induction by several
      promutagens in V79-derived cells expressing human CYP2E1 and SULT1A1.
AB  - The standard procedure for the micronucleus test in cell lines requires a short
      exposure (<=0.5 cell cycle) to the test compounds followed by a long recovery
      (>=1.5 cell cycle), and in case of negative or equivocal results, a second test
      with extended exposure (>=2 cell cycles) without or with a recovery time. In
      general the two procedures are advantageous for detecting clastogens and
      aneugens, respectively. However, whether the recommended procedures apply to
      micronucleus tests with promutagens in cell lines genetically engineered for
      expressing biotransformation enzymes has not been identified. In this study,
      several promutagens dependent on cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2E1 and/or
      sulfotransferase (SULT) 1A1 were used in the micronucleus test in a Chinese
      hamster V79-derived cell line expressing human CYP2E1 and SULT1A1 (V79-hCYP2E1
      hSULT1A1), with varying exposure/recovery schedules: 3h/21h, 6h/18h, 12h/12h,
      18h/6h, and 24h/0h, in comparison with known clastogens and aneugens in V79
      control cells. The results showed peaked micronuclei induction by mitomycin C and
      bleomycin (clastogens) at the 12h/12h schedule, while colchicine and vinblastine
      (aneugens) showed the strongest effect at 24h/0h. Catechol and trihydroxybenzene
      (activated by CYP2E1) induced micronuclei most strongly at 6h/18h, whereas
      somewhat longer exposures were optimal for hydroquinone, another compound
      activated by CYP2E1. 1-Hydroxymethylpyrene (activated by SULT1A1) and 1
      methylpyrene (activated sequentially by CYP2E1 and SULT1A1) produced the highest
      response with the 18h/6h treatment regimen. Moreover, mitotic arrest by 1
      hydroxymethylpyrene was observed in V79-hCYP2E1-hSULT1A1 cells but not in V79
      cells, and 1-methylpyrene arrested mitosis in V79-hCYP2E1-hSULT1A1 more strongly
      than in V79 cells. Our study suggests that intracellular bioactivation of
      promutagens may not delay the induction of micronuclei in the present model, and
      1-methylpyrene and 1-hydroxymethylpyrene may be activated to mitosis-arresting
      metabolites. 

PMID- 27637485
TI  - Peripheral blood lymphocyte micronucleus frequencies in men from areas of Kerala,
      India, with high vs normal levels of natural background ionizing radiation.

PMID- 27637484
TI  - Polymorphisms in metabolism and repair genes affects DNA damage caused by open
      cast coal mining exposure.
AB  - Increasing evidence suggest that occupational exposure to open-cast coal mining
      residues like dust particles, heavy metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
      (PAHs) may cause a wide range of DNA damage and genomic instability that could be
      associated to initial steps in cancer development and other work-related
      diseases. The aim of our study was to evaluate if key polymorphisms in metabolism
      genes CYP1A1Msp1, GSTM1Null, GSTT1Null and DNA repair genes XRCC1Arg194Trp and
      hOGG1Ser326Cys could modify individual susceptibility to adverse coal exposure
      effects, considering the DNA damage (Comet assay) and micronucleus formation in
      lymphocytes (CBMN) and buccal mucosa cells (BMNCyt) as endpoints for
      genotoxicity. The study population is comprised of 200 healthy male subjects, 100
      open-cast coal-mining workers from "El Cerrejon" (world's largest open-cast coal
      mine located in Guajira - Colombia) and 100 non-exposed referents from general
      population. The data revealed a significant increase of CBMN frequency in
      peripheral lymphocytes of occupationally exposed workers carrying the wild-type
      variant of GSTT1 (+) gene. Exposed subjects carrying GSTT1null polymorphism
      showed a lower micronucleus frequency compared with their positive counterparts
      (FR: 0.83; P=0.04), while BMNCyt, frequency and Comet assay parameters in
      lymphocytes: Damage Index (DI) and percentage of DNA in the tail (Tail % DNA)
      were significantly higher in exposed workers with the GSTM1Null polymorphism.
      Other exfoliated buccal mucosa abnormalities related to cell death (Karyorrhexis
      and Karyolysis) were increased in GSTT/M1Null carriers. Nuclear buds were
      significantly higher in workers carrying the CYP1A1Msp1 (m1/m2, m2/m2) allele.
      Moreover, BMNCyt frequency and Comet assay parameters were significantly lower in
      exposed carriers of XRCC1Arg194Trp (Arg/Trp, Trp/Trp) and hOGG1Ser326Cys
      (Ser/Cys, Cys/Cys), thereby providing new data to the increasing evidence about
      the protective role of these polymorphisms. This modulation may involve specific
      and differentiated pathways in different tissues that also may cause a
      differential sensitivity related to differential induction of some enzymes. 

PMID- 27637486
TI  - Symptoms and Functional Limitations in the First Year Following a Myocardial
      Infarction: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This qualitative interview study was designed to
      highlight the symptoms and functional limitations experienced by patients in the
      year following a myocardial infarction (MI). This information can support the use
      or development of patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments in the post-MI
      population. METHODS: Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 38
      participants who had experienced an MI (with or without ST segment elevation)
      within the past month to <6 months (n = 17), or 6 months to <=12 months (n = 21).
      Using content and thematic analysis, patient reports of symptoms and functional
      limitations were coded and then grouped into categories. The specific content and
      frequency of the symptom and functional limitation reports were summarized.
      RESULTS: Nearly half of all symptom expressions were related to fatigue. Within
      this fatigue category, patients reported experiencing general tiredness, as well
      as a loss of physical energy, mental energy, and/or motivation. Chest pain and
      discomfort, sleep disruption, and shortness of breath were also frequently
      reported. Additionally, patients reported emotional effects, including worry and
      depression, as well as a negative impact on relationships and social activities.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients reported a wide variety of symptoms and functional
      limitations after an MI. Fatigue was the most commonly reported symptom and
      included several specific dimensions related to tiredness. Consideration of these
      concepts associated with the patient's experience following an MI may yield novel
      endpoints for use in clinical trials and better therapies.

PMID- 27637487
TI  - Impact of Measuring Patient-Reported Outcomes in Dermatology Drug Development.
AB  - Although some symptoms of dermatologic diseases, such as pruritus and pain, can
      be subjectively assessed only by patients, the most commonly used endpoints in
      dermatology drug research traditionally have been clinician-reported outcomes.
      Research has found that patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were included in only
      one-quarter of 125 trials conducted between 1994 and 2001. Our objective was to
      characterize the impact of PROs in dermatology drug development from the patient,
      prescriber, regulator, payer, and manufacturer perspectives using a case study
      approach. We conducted a structured literature review for pivotal clinical trials
      using PROs for six dermatologic products (MAS063DP, onabotulinumtoxinA,
      calcipotriene hydrate plus betamethasone dipropionate, pimecrolimus, tacrolimus,
      and ustekinumab). We also searched regulatory websites to identify product
      labeling and the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence website to
      identify submissions for the products of interest. A total of 32 articles
      illustrating the various perspectives were selected for inclusion. Clinical
      trials that include PROs allow patients to differentiate among treatments based
      on the experience of other patients participating in trials and enable
      prescribers to understand the benefit-risk profile of new treatments. The
      inclusion of PROs enables regulators to evaluate product benefits with a patient
      centered perspective; five of the products of interest obtained eight total
      product labeling statements. PRO data supported manufacturers' dissemination of
      product benefits in the form of publications and PRO labeling for the product.
      For payers, PRO data were used in an analysis of cost effectiveness of new
      treatments. Inclusion of PROs in dermatology drug development programs benefits
      patients, prescribers, regulators, manufacturers, and payers.

PMID- 27637489
TI  - New families of single integration vectors and gene tagging plasmids for genetic
      manipulations in budding yeast.
AB  - The tractability of the budding yeast genome has provided many insights into the
      fundamental mechanisms regulating cellular life. With the advent of synthetic
      biology and single-cell measurements, novel tools are required to manipulate the
      yeast genome in a more controlled manner. We present, here, a new family of yeast
      shuttle vectors called single integration vectors (pSIV). Upon transformation in
      yeast, these plasmids replace the entire deficient auxotrophy marker locus by a
      cassette containing an exogenous marker. As shown using flow cytometry, this
      complete replacement results in a unique integration of the desired DNA fragment
      at the marker locus. In addition, a second transcriptional unit can be inserted
      to achieve the simultaneous integration of two constructs. The selection marker
      cassettes, present in the pSIV, were also used to generate a complete set of gene
      tagging plasmids (pGT) encompassing a large palette of fluorescent proteins, from
      a cyan fluorescent protein to a near-infrared tandem dimer red fluorescent
      protein. These tagging cassettes are orthogonal to each other thanks to the use
      of different TEF promoter and terminator couples, thereby avoiding marker
      cassette switching and favoring integration in the desired locus. In summary, we
      have created two sets of robust molecular tools for the precise genetic
      manipulation of the budding yeast.

PMID- 27637490
TI  - Inhibition of MicroRNA-21 induces apoptosis in dermal fibroblasts of patients
      with systemic sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prolonged activation of dermal fibroblasts is the main cause of
      progressive fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc). It seems that inhibition of
      apoptosis in SSc fibroblasts deregulates fibrosis. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is a pro
      fibrotic factor with high expression in lesional areas of SSc skin and
      fibroblasts. METHODS: The effects of miR-21 on expression of Bcl-2 and Bax, two
      apoptotic genes, in dermal fibroblasts of SSc patients were evaluated using real
      time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Apoptotic cells were
      detected using flow cytometry and Hoechst 33258 staining assays. RESULTS:
      Overexpression of miR-21 using synthetic miR-21 RNA increased expression of Bcl
      2, an inhibitor of apoptosis, and decreased the Bax : Bcl-2 expression ratio, a
      cell fate determinant, in SSc fibroblasts. Antisense inhibition of miR-21 induced
      a high rate of apoptosis in SSc fibroblasts. We propose that this may be
      associated with a decrease in Bcl-2 expression and a shift in the Bax : Bcl-2
      ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Although further studies are necessary to determine the
      underlying apoptotic pathway, we propose that inhibition of miR-21 in dermal
      fibroblasts from lesional skin may be useful in harnessing progressive fibrosis
      in SSc.

PMID- 27637488
TI  - A Review of HIV-Specific Patient-Reported Outcome Measures.
AB  - The use of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures to provide added feedback to
      health providers is receiving interest as a means of improving clinical care and
      patient outcomes, and contributing to more patient-centered care. In human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV), while PROs are used in research, their application
      in clinical practice has been limited despite their potential utility. PRO
      selection is an important consideration when contemplating their use. As past
      reviews of PROs in HIV have focused on particular areas (e.g. disability,
      satisfaction with care), a more comprehensive review could better inform on the
      available instruments and their scope. This article reviews HIV-specific PROs to
      produce an inventory and to identify the central concepts targeted over time.
      Seven databases were searched (HAPI, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL,
      Google Scholar), generating 14,794 records for evaluation. From these records,
      117 HIV-specific PROs were identified and categorized based on a content analysis
      of their targeted concept: Health-Related Quality of Life (23; 20 %), ART and
      Adherence-Related Views and Experiences (19; 16 %), Healthcare-Related Views and
      Experiences (15; 13 %), Psychological Challenges (12; 10 %), Symptoms (12; 10 %),
      Psychological Resources (10; 9 %), HIV Self-Management and Self-Care (8; 7 %),
      HIV-Related Stigma (8; 7 %), Body and Facial Appearance (4; 3 %), Social Support
      (3; 3 %), Sexual and Reproductive Health (2; 2 %), and Disability (1; 1 %). This
      review highlights the variety and evolution of HIV-specific PROs, with the
      arrival of seven categories of PROs only after the advent of highly-active
      antiretroviral therapy. Our inventory also offers a useful resource. However, the
      interest of further HIV-specific PRO development should be explored in sexual
      health, which received little independent attention.

PMID- 27637491
TI  - Chemotherapy appointment scheduling under uncertainty using mean-risk stochastic
      integer programming.
AB  - Oncology clinics are often burdened with scheduling large volumes of cancer
      patients for chemotherapy treatments under limited resources such as the number
      of nurses and chairs. These cancer patients require a series of appointments over
      several weeks or months and the timing of these appointments is critical to the
      treatment's effectiveness. Additionally, the appointment duration, the acuity
      levels of each appointment, and the availability of clinic nurses are uncertain.
      The timing constraints, stochastic parameters, rising treatment costs, and
      increased demand of outpatient oncology clinic services motivate the need for
      efficient appointment schedules and clinic operations. In this paper, we develop
      three mean-risk stochastic integer programming (SIP) models, referred to as SIP
      CHEMO, for the problem of scheduling individual chemotherapy patient appointments
      and resources. These mean-risk models are presented and an algorithm is devised
      to improve computational speed. Computational results were conducted using a
      simulation model and results indicate that the risk-averse SIP-CHEMO model with
      the expected excess mean-risk measure can decrease patient waiting times and
      nurse overtime when compared to deterministic scheduling algorithms by 42 % and
      27 %, respectively.

PMID- 27637492
TI  - Human iPS Cell-Derived Cardiac Tissue Sheets: a Platform for Cardiac
      Regeneration.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: Stem cell therapy is a promising therapeutic option for severe
      cardiac diseases that are resistant to conventional therapies. To overcome the
      unsatisfactory results of most clinical researches on stem cell injections to an
      injured heart, we are developing bioengineered cardiac tissue grafts using
      pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and vascular cells. We have
      validated the functional benefits of mouse embryonic stem cell-derived and human
      induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac tissue sheets (CTSs) in a rat
      myocardial infarction model. We further showed enhanced functional recovery and
      engraftment efficiency leading to de novo myocardium upon transplanting thick
      multi-layered CTSs that had gelatin hydrogel microspheres between the layers. We
      anticipate that the combination of pluripotent stem cell biology and tissue
      engineering will contribute to future stem cell therapies for severe heart
      diseases.

PMID- 27637493
TI  - Comparing Stroke and Bleeding with Rivaroxaban and Dabigatran in Atrial
      Fibrillation: Analysis of the US Medicare Part D Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No studies have directly compared the effectiveness and safety of
      dabigatran and rivaroxaban using US Medicare data. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was
      to compare effectiveness and safety between rivaroxaban 20 mg/dabigatran 150 mg
      and rivaroxaban 15 mg/dabigatran 75 mg among patients with atrial fibrillation
      (AF). METHODS: Using 2010-2013 US Medicare Part D data, we selected patients with
      AF initiating dabigatran 150/75 mg or rivaroxaban 20/15 mg between 4 November
      2011 (when rivaroxaban was approved) and 31 December 2013. Our sample included
      7322 patients receiving dabigatran 150 mg, 5799 patients receiving rivaroxaban 20
      mg, 1818 receiving dabigatran 75 mg, and 2568 receiving rivaroxaban 15 mg. We
      followed them until stroke, other thromboembolic events, bleeding,
      discontinuation or switch of an anticoagulant, death, or 31 December 2013. We
      constructed Cox proportional hazard models with propensity score weighting to
      compare clinical outcomes between groups. RESULTS: There was no difference in the
      risk of stroke between dabigatran 150 mg and rivaroxaban 20 mg (hazard ratio [HR]
      1.05; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.97-1.13) or between dabigatran 75 mg and
      rivaroxaban 15 mg (HR 1.05; 95 % CI 0.94-1.18). Compared with dabigatran 150 mg,
      rivaroxaban 20 mg was associated with a higher risk of other thromboembolic
      events (HR 1.28; 95 % CI 1.14-1.44), major bleeding (HR 1.32; 95 % CI 1.17-1.50),
      and death (HR 1.36; 95 % CI 1.19-1.56). The risk of thromboembolic events other
      than stroke (HR 1.37; 95 % CI 1.15-1.62), major bleeding (HR 1.51; 95 % CI 1.25
      1.82), and death (HR 1.21; 95 % CI 1.04-1.41) was also higher for rivaroxaban 15
      mg than for dabigatran 75 mg. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in stroke
      prevention between rivaroxaban and dabigatran; however, rivaroxaban was
      associated with a higher risk of thromboembolic events other than stroke, death,
      and bleeding.

PMID- 27637494
TI  - A Review of the Efficacy, Safety, and Clinical Implications of Naturally Derived
      Dietary Supplements for Dyslipidemia.
AB  - Dyslipidemia is recognized as a major cause of cardiovascular disease. A number
      of evidence-based guidelines recommend conventional synthetic drugs as standard
      therapy for dyslipidemia in clinical practice. However, antihyperlipidemic drugs
      have some serious side effects. Naturally derived dietary supplements are
      becoming attractive as an alternative strategy because of their high efficacy and
      safety, as supported by numerous data. Moreover, they could be considered an
      initial treatment for dyslipidemia. The aims of this literature review were to
      demonstrate the efficacy, safety, and clinical implications of dietary
      supplements for treating dyslipidemia. We reviewed the literature, including data
      from in vitro, in vivo, and human studies, and clinical guideline
      recommendations. We classified dietary supplements by their proposed mechanisms
      of action on lipid metabolism and also collected daily dosage recommendations,
      interactions with concurrent drugs and/or foods, dosage forms, and examples of
      commercially available products. Various types of naturally derived dietary
      supplements exhibit lipid-improving properties. Efficacy and safety are
      acceptable; however, their use in clinical practice will require further well
      designed investigations and the support of scientific data.

PMID- 27637495
TI  - Rethinking primate facial expression: A predictive framework.
AB  - Primate facial expression has long been studied within a framework of emotion
      that has heavily influenced both theoretical approaches and scientific methods.
      For example, our understanding of the adaptive function and cognition of facial
      expression is tied to the assumption that facial expression is accompanied by an
      emotional internal state, which is decipherable by others. Here, we challenge
      this view and instead support the alternative that facial expression should also
      be conceptualised as an indicator of future behaviour as opposed to current
      emotional state alone (Behavioural Ecology View, Fridlund, 1994). We also
      advocate the use of standardised, objective methodology Facial Action Coding
      System, to avoid making assumptions about the underlying emotional state of
      animals producing facial expressions. We argue that broadening our approach to
      facial expression in this way will open new avenues to explore the underlying
      neurobiology, cognition and evolution of facial communication in both human and
      non-human primates.

PMID- 27637496
TI  - Neuroendocrine and neurotrophic signaling in Huntington's disease: Implications
      for pathogenic mechanisms and treatment strategies.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by an
      extended polyglutamine tract in the huntingtin protein. Circadian, sleep and
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis disturbances are observed in HD as
      early as 15 years before clinical disease onset. Disturbances in these key
      processes result in increased cortisol and altered melatonin release which may
      negatively impact on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and
      contribute to documented neuropathological and clinical disease features. This
      review describes the normal interactions between neurotrophic factors, the HPA
      axis and circadian rhythm, as indicated by levels of BDNF, cortisol and
      melatonin, and the alterations in these intricately balanced networks in HD. We
      also discuss the implications of these alterations on the neurobiology of HD and
      the potential to result in hypothalamic, circadian, and sleep pathologies.
      Measurable alterations in these pathways provide targets that, if treated early,
      may reduce degeneration of brain structures. We therefore focus here on the means
      by which multidisciplinary therapy could be utilised as a non-pharmaceutical
      approach to restore the balance of these pathways.

PMID- 27637497
TI  - Changes in Health and Antiretroviral Adherence Among HIV-Infected Adults in
      Kenya: Qualitative Longitudinal Findings from a Livelihood Intervention.
AB  - This longitudinal qualitative study sought to understand how and why a livelihood
      intervention affected the health and health behaviors of HIV-infected Kenyan
      adults. The intervention included a microfinance loan, agricultural and financial
      training, and a human-powered water pump. In-depth interviews were conducted at
      two time points with intervention and control participants and program staff. We
      double coded interviews (n = 117) and used thematic content analysis of
      transcripts following an integrative inductive-deductive approach. Intervention
      participants described improvements in HIV health, including increased CD4 counts
      and energy, improved viral suppression, and fewer HIV-related symptoms. Better
      health was linked to improved clinic attendance and ART adherence through several
      mechanisms: (1) reductions in food insecurity and abject hunger; (2) improved
      financial stability; (3) improved productivity which enhanced social support; (4)
      better control over work situations; and, (5) renewed desire to prioritize their
      own health. Livelihood interventions may improve health by influencing upstream
      determinants of health behavior including food security and poverty.

PMID- 27637498
TI  - Gender, Transience, Network Partnerships and Risky Sexual Practices Among Young
      Persons who Inject Drugs.
AB  - Persons who inject drugs (PWID) may be at risk of acquiring HIV and sexually
      transmitted infections (STIs) from risky sexual practices and elevated disease
      prevalence within their drug injection and sexual networks. We conducted a
      personal (egocentric) network study of young PWID (aged 18-30) from the Chicago
      metropolitan area. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations
      evaluated associations between individual and network factors and sexual
      behaviors. Of 162 participants, 116 (71.6 %) were non-Hispanic White and 135
      reported on 314 sexual network members. Multiplexity-having network members with
      overlapping roles as injection and sexual partners-was associated with more
      condomless vaginal sex (aOR 5.55; 95 % CI 1.62-19.0) and anal sex (aOR 6.79; 95 %
      CI 2.49-18.5) and less exchange sex among women (aOR 0.12; 95 % CI 0.03-0.40),
      adjusting for sociodemographic and sexual network characteristics. The
      contribution of individual and sexual network factors to HIV/STI transmission
      among young PWID warrants further research.

PMID- 27637500
TI  - Miracle fruit: An alternative sugar substitute in sour beverages.
AB  - High sugar consumption has been related to several chronic diseases and thus,
      many alternative sweeteners have been extensively researched. However, there is
      still controversy regarding the harmful effects of their consumption, mainly
      regarding the use of artificial sweeteners, controversy which increases the
      demand for natural sweeteners, such as miracle fruit. This tropical plant grows
      in West Africa is named for its unique ability of changing a sour taste into
      sweet. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the temporal profile of
      miracle fruit and assess its sugar substitute power in sour beverages through
      time-intensity and temporal dominance of sensations tests. For this, unsweetened
      lemonade and lemonades with sugar, sucralose and previous miracle fruit
      ingestions were evaluated. We noted that the dynamic profile of lemonade ingested
      after miracle fruit ingestion indicates that it seems to be a good sugar
      substitute, since it provides high sweetness intensity and persistence, reduced
      product sourness and an absence of aftertastes. The miracle fruit also provided a
      sensory profile similar to that of sucralose, an established and recognized sugar
      substitute. The results of this study provide important information for future
      applications of miracle fruit as a sugar substitute in sour beverages, providing
      an alternative use for a natural substance as a sweetening agent.

PMID- 27637499
TI  - Erectile Dysfunction Medication Prescription and Condomless Intercourse in HIV
      Infected Men Who have Sex with Men in the United States.
AB  - Using nationally representative data, we assessed the prevalence of erectile
      dysfunction medication (EDM) prescription, and its association with insertive
      condomless anal intercourse (CAI) with an HIV-serodiscordant partner among
      sexually-active HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) receiving medical
      care in the United States. Overall, 14 % (95 % CI 12-16) were prescribed EDM and
      21 % (95 % CI 19-23) engaged in serodiscordant CAI. MSM who were prescribed EDM
      were more likely to engage in insertive CAI with a serodiscordant casual partner
      than those not prescribed EDM after adjusting for illicit drug use before or
      during sex (adjusted prevalence ratio = 1.38; 95 % CI 1.01-1.88). We found no
      association with main partners. Only 40 % (95 % CI 36-44) of MSM prescribed EDM
      received risk-reduction counseling from healthcare professionals. Risk-reduction
      counseling should be provided at least annually to all HIV-infected persons as
      recommended, especially at the time of EDM prescription.

PMID- 27637502
TI  - Novel dynamic information integration during da Vinci robotic partial nephrectomy
      and radical nephrectomy.
AB  - With the increasing discovery of small renal neoplasms, minimally invasive
      excisional approaches have become more popular. Robotic partial nephrectomy is an
      emerging procedure. During robotic renal surgery, the console surgeon often has a
      need to view images or other data during the surgical dissection. Herein, we
      describe the preliminary use of integrative surgical imaging in the console
      surgical view during 20 cases of robotic partial and radical nephrectomy.
      Integration of this technology, termed Tilepro, allows the surgeon to view data
      within the robotic console and thus prevents disengagement. The success rate of
      transmission was 95% and the usefulness of the transmission was 89%.
      Complications included delayed transmission and cabling issues. This technology
      is useful in robotic renal surgery and may have benefits in telepresence or other
      surgical fields. 

PMID- 27637501
TI  - A brief review: anesthesia for robotic prostatectomy.
AB  - A brief review of the anesthesia for robotic prostatectomies, with a description
      of the procedure, the physiological principles involved, anesthetic management,
      problems, and possible complications. 

PMID- 27637503
TI  - Robotic hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy for endometrial cancer: technical
      aspects and details of success-the Ohio State University method.
AB  - Limited data exist regarding description and technical aspects of operating room
      (OR) set-up, port placement, and instrument selection for robotic gynecologic
      oncology procedures. The objective of this manuscript and video is to show the
      established protocol steps at our institution for setting up a robotic
      hysterectomy and comprehensive lymphadenectomy (dVH-LND) for endometrial cancer.
      OR preparation of the robotic system prior to patient entry and set-up is
      demonstrated. The patient is placed in low-lithotomy on an OR table that includes
      a beanbag and a gel pad that is taped securely for additional stabilization. The
      arms/shoulders are padded to decrease injury risk and the chest is padded with
      foam to protect the patient from robotic arm movements. The patient is prepped
      widely from mid-nipple line to beyond the mid-axillary line and draped. Vaginal
      instrumentation includes an end-to-end anstomosis (EEA) sizer and pneumo
      occluder. Port preferences, placement, and instrument selections are also
      demonstrated. Using a four-arm robotic system, the camera port is placed midline,
      approximately 20-27 cm above the pubic symphysis. Robotic ports (RP) for arms #2
      and #3 are placed 8-12 cm left lateral to and 15-30 degrees  down from the camera
      port at approximately the level of the umbilicus. A 12 mm laparoscopic assistant
      port and RP#1 are placed 8-12 cm right lateral to the umbilicus and in the same
      position as RP#3 and #2, respectively. An additional 5 mm port is placed beneath
      the costal margin. This method requires only a single docking and one instrument
      exchange. The bedside assistant stands on the right and is essential for
      exposure, manipulating the uterus, passage of suture, and troubleshooting
      potential problems. In addition, port closure technique and methods to remove a
      large uterus are discussed. We have successfully completed over 70 dVH-LND for
      endometrial cancer using this protocol. Establishing a systematic routine for OR
      set-up and port placement in robotic surgery for gynecologic oncology is
      important for patient safety and allows for efficient use of OR time. 

PMID- 27637504
TI  - Robotic radical prostatectomy in Greece: the learning curve and beyond. The
      initial 40 cases.
AB  - Radical prostatectomy is the treatment of choice for management of organ-confined
      prostate cancer. Minimally invasive treatments, as an alternative, have refined
      been recently by the introduction of da Vinci robotic technology which has the
      potential to improve surgical outcomes and reduce the steep learning curve
      associated with conventional laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. We report on our
      experience with robotic radical prostatectomy using the first da Vinci robotic
      system in our country. During 8 months, 40 robotic radical prostatectomies were
      performed by a single surgical team at Athens Medical Centre (Marousi, Greece).
      Preoperative data collection included basic demographics, prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA), clinical stage, and Gleason score. Operative outcomes included
      operative time, estimated blood loss, and complications. Postoperative outcomes
      included hospital stay, pain, catheter time, pathology, PSA, return of
      continence, and potency. Average operative time was 186.25 min with an estimated
      mean blood loss of 135 ml. There were no intra-operative complications. Ninety
      per cent of the patients were discharged home on postoperative day 1 with mean
      haematocrit 36.7 (range 29-43). All patients reported minimal postoperative pain
      and resumed regular diet on the first postoperative day. Average catheter time
      was 6.6 days (range 5-10). Early continence was observed in 47.5% of the
      patients, seven days after catheter removal. Continence at 1, 3, and 6 months was
      75, 82.5 and 95%, respectively. The overall positive margin rate was 17.5%.
      Ninety-five per cent of the patients had undetectable postoperative PSA levels
      (less than 0.1 ng/ml) at a median follow-up of 6 months. Our initial experience
      with robotic radical prostatectomy is very promising. The learning curve was
      approximately 10-12 cases. With a methodical approach we were able to implement
      the method safely and effectively in our practice, combining minimal morbidity
      with good oncological and functional outcomes. 

PMID- 27637505
TI  - Feasibility and safety of robot-assisted salvage prostatectomy for recurrent
      prostate cancer following radiation therapy.
AB  - We report a comparison of perioperative complications and pathologic outcomes in
      patients with locally radiorecurrent prostate cancer treated by open radical
      retropubic or robot-assisted prostatectomy. The results of our study demonstrate
      that both surgical approaches were feasible and safe without any significant
      perioperative complications (death, rectal injury) with comparable short-term
      outcomes. 

PMID- 27637506
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: initial 15 cases in Japan.
AB  - Recently, we have introduced robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
      (RALP) in Japan. This article describes the details of a training program to
      shorten the learning curve in the absence of an urologist with expertise in
      robotic surgery. Five months after a 2-day training course of robotic surgery,
      RALP was first performed in Japan, and a total of 15 cases were performed in the
      subsequent 4 months. Our training program consisted of: (1) image training using
      surgical operation videos, (2) dry lab training using a sham pelvic cavity model,
      and (3) intraoperative mentoring. The operative procedure was divided into five
      consecutive stages, and time required to complete each stage was recorded.
      Robotic radical prostatectomy was completed in all patients without conversion to
      open surgery, except for the first patient in whom a restriction to a 2-h
      operation had been imposed by the ethics committee. The mean console time and the
      mean intraoperative blood loss (including urine) reduced from 264.2 min and 459.4
      ml, respectively, in the first 11 cases, to 151 min and 133.3 ml, respectively,
      in the last three cases. With direct intraoperative guidance by the mentor during
      cases 13 and 14, the operation time was reduced at all five stages of the
      operative procedure. Our training program proved remarkably effective in reducing
      the learning curve of RALP in Japan, where there is no person with expertise in
      robotic surgery. 

PMID- 27637507
TI  - Rectal tube or no rectal tube? A viewpoint from the University of California at
      Irvine.

PMID- 27637509
TI  - Failure of a robotic arm during da Vinci prostatectomy: a case report.
AB  - We report a rare case of a da Vinci robotic arm failure during a laparoscopic
      robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. The articulation joint of an Endowrist
      needle driver was broken and positioned at such an angle that made it impossible
      to remove through the trocar. In addition, it was later discovered that a small
      piece of the instrument was detached and remained inside the abdomen of the
      patient without even having been identified on subsequent radiological
      evaluation. In order to remove the broken instrument, we had to uninstall it from
      the robot arm and a bigger incision had to be made in the abdominal wall of the
      patient. The operation was completed without any other incidents. Testing the
      broken instrument for integrity is recommended to avoid this rare complication. 

PMID- 27637510
TI  - Robotic repair of Morgagni congenital diaphragmatic hernia in an infant.
AB  - We describe a robotic repair of a large Morgagni congenital diaphragmatic hernia
      in a 12-month-old infant using the da Vinci surgical robot. 

PMID- 27637508
TI  - Rectal tube or no rectal tube? A viewpoint from Duke University Medical Center.

PMID- 27637511
TI  - Robot-assisted radical cystoprostatectomy in a small child with rhabdomyosarcoma:
      a case report.
AB  - We report the first case of a robot-assisted radical cystoprostatectomy in a 22
      month-old boy with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in his urinary bladder. Treatment
      according to international protocol CWS-2002 P (Cooperative Weichteilsarkom
      Studie) was given prior to surgery. The da Vinci S Surgical System from Intuitive
      Surgical (Sunnyvale, CA, USA) was used to laparoscopically remove the urinary
      bladder and prostate radically. The surgical procedure performed and the
      postoperative course were uneventful. This technique is safe and feasible also in
      small children. It seems to have advantages over open surgery and no
      disadvantages. We recommend this technique for further use. 

PMID- 27637512
TI  - Third Annual World Robotic Urology Symposium, Orlando, Florida, 17-19 March 2008
      : Scientific Session Abstracts.

PMID- 27637514
TI  - Homeownership among Older Adults in Urban China: the Importance of Institutional
      Factors.
AB  - Homeownership is a key element to maintain social welfare and stability in an
      aging society. Yet, the existing literature on homeownership does not adequately
      address non-Western cultures and institutional factors. We used two nationwide
      surveys in 2006 and 2010 to investigate how institutional factors are associated
      with homeownership among older adults in China. Institutional factors were
      measured by proxy measures of job seniority, political status, type of work
      units, and hierarchy of cities. After controlling for demographics, resources,
      health needs, neighborhood characteristics, and cultural factors, we found that
      homeownership was strongly associated with these institutional factors among the
      current cohorts of older adults in China. Older adults who were more senior or
      who were from public sectors tended to have a higher odds of homeownership. Older
      adults in the top or bottom of the city hierarchy tended to have a lower odds of
      homeownership than those in other types of cities. Implications of these findings
      are discussed.

PMID- 27637513
TI  - The shifts of sediment microbial community phylogenetic and functional structures
      during chromium (VI) reduction.
AB  - The Lanzhou reach of the Yellow River, located at the upstream of Lanzhou, has
      been contaminated by heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons over a
      long-time. We hypothesized that indigenous microbial communities would remediate
      those contaminants and some unique populations could play an important role in
      this process. In this study, we investigated the sediment microbial community
      structure and function from the Lanzhou reach. Sediment samples were collected
      from two nearby sites (site A and site B) in the Lanzhou reach along the Yellow
      River. Sediment geochemical property data showed that site A sediment samples
      contained significantly (p < 0.05) higher heavy metals than site B, such as
      chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), and copper (Cu). Both site A and B samples were
      incubated with or without hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) for 30 days in the
      laboratory, and Cr (VI) reduction was only observed in site A sediment samples.
      After incubation, MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed that the
      phylogenetic composition and structure of microbial communities changed in both
      samples, and especially Proteobacteria, as the most abundant phylum increased
      from 45.1 % to 68.2 % in site A, and 50.1 % to 71.3 % in site B, respectively.
      Some unique OTUs and populations affiliated with Geobacter, Clostridium,
      Desulfosporosinus and Desulfosporosinus might be involved in Cr (VI) reduction in
      site A. Furthermore, GeoChip 4.0 (a comprehensive functional gene array) data
      showed that genes involved in carbon and nitrogen cycling and metal resistance
      significantly (p < 0.05) increased in site A sediment samples. All the results
      indicated that indigenous sediment microbial communities might be able to
      remediate contaminants like Cr (VI), and this information provides possible
      strategies for future bioremediation of the Lanzhou reach.

PMID- 27637515
TI  - Molecular cloning, characterization and expression analysis of TGF-beta and
      receptor genes in the woodchuck model.
AB  - Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is an important cytokine with
      pleiotropic regulatory functions in the immune system and in the responses
      against viral infections. TGF-beta acts on a variety of immune cells through the
      cell surface TGF-beta receptor (University of Duisburg-EssenTGFBR). The woodchuck
      has been used as a biomedical model for studies of obesity and energy balance,
      endocrine and metabolic function, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and neoplastic
      disease. Woodchucks infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) represent an
      informative animal model to study hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this
      study, the cDNA sequences of woodchuck TGF-beta1, TGF-beta2, TGFBR1 and TGFBR2
      were cloned, sequenced and characterized. The full-length TGFBR1 cDNA sequence
      consisted of 1305bp coding sequence (CDS) that encoded 434 amino acids with a
      molecular weight of 48.9kDa. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the
      woodchuck TGF-beta family genes had a closer genetic relationship with Ictidomys
      tridecemlineatus. One antibody with cross-reactivity to woodchuck TGFBR1 was
      identified by flow cytometry. Moreover, the expression of these genes were
      analyzed at the transcriptional level. The quantitative PCR analysis showed that
      the TGF-beta family transcripts were constitutively expressed in many tissues
      tested. Altered expression levels of the TGF-beta family transcripts in the liver
      of WHV infected woodchucks were observed. These results serve as a foundation for
      further insight into the role of the TGF-beta family in viral hepatitis in
      woodchuck model. Our work also possesses the potential value for characterizing
      the TGF-beta family in other related diseases, such as obesity-related diseases,
      metabolic disorder, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

PMID- 27637516
TI  - DNA methylation detection at single base resolution using targeted next
      generation bisulfite sequencing and cross validation using capillary sequencing.
AB  - With a purpose of accurate and simultaneous determination of DNA methylation from
      multiple loci in multiple samples, here, we are demonstrating a method to aid
      rapid DNA methylation detection of genomic sequences. Using genomic DNA of
      peripheral blood from 14 healthy individuals, DNA methylation in 465 CpG sites
      from 12 loci of genes (ADAM22, ATF2, BCR, CD83, CREBBP, IL12B, IL17RA, MAP2K2,
      RBM38, TGFBR2, TGFBR3, and WNT5A) was analysed by targeted next generation
      bisulfite sequencing. Analysed region for three genes, BCR, IL17RA and RBM38
      showed an absolute mean DNA methylation of 25.6%, 89.2% and 38.9% respectively.
      Other nine gene loci were unmethylated and exhibited <10% absolute mean DNA
      methylation. Two genes, IL17RA and RBM38 were technically validated using direct
      capillary sequencing and results were comparable with positive correlation
      (P=0.0088 & P<0.0001 respectively) in the CpG sites for DNA methylation. All CpG
      sites analysed from RBM38 genes locus displayed 95% limits of agreement for DNA
      methylation measurements from the two methods. The present approach provides a
      fast and reliable DNA methylation quantitative data at single base resolution
      with good coverage of the CpG sites under analysis in multiple loci and samples
      simultaneously. Use of targeted next generation bisulfite sequencing may provide
      an opportunity to explore genes in the discovery panel for biomarker
      identification and facilitate functional validation.

PMID- 27637518
TI  - Autologous retro-pubic urethral sling: a novel, quick, intra-operative technique
      to improve continence after robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy.
AB  - After radical prostatectomy, many men may suffer from urinary incontinence, which
      can have detrimental effects on quality of life. We describe a novel technique
      using an autologous retro-pubic urethral sling placed at the time of robotic
      assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) and evaluate its impact on post
      operative urinary continence. During 2011, 153 men who underwent sling placement
      at the time of RALP at a high-volume academic institution were compared to 78 men
      who did not undergo sling placement. The primary outcomes were time to one and no
      pads per day. The association between these outcomes and placement of a sling was
      assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression. Median follow-up was 26 weeks
      in those who had slings and 32.5 weeks in those who did not. Clinical and
      pathological characteristics were similar between the groups, with the exception
      that sling patients were older (p < 0.01) and underwent less nerve sparing (p <
      0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that sling placement did not appear to have
      an effect on time to one (p = 0.24) or no pads per day (p = 0.20). Although the
      association between sling placement and early return of urinary continence did
      not reach statistical significance, there was a selection bias against the sling,
      since it was placed in men who were expected to have more difficulty regaining
      their continence. A randomized trial is needed to assess the true benefit of
      sling placement on urinary continence. 

PMID- 27637517
TI  - A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness and Cost
      Effectiveness of Tobacco Cessation on Prescription in Swedish Primary Health
      Care: A Protocol of the Motivation 2 Quit (M2Q) Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Sweden, the prevalence of tobacco use is disproportionately high
      among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Previous research and clinical
      experience suggest that prescribed lifestyle interventions in the primary health
      care (PHC) setting such as Physical Activity on Prescription are effective in
      changing behavior. However, there is a lack of evidence for if and how such a
      prescription approach could be effectively transferred into the tobacco cessation
      context. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and
      cost-effectiveness of Tobacco Cessation on Prescription (TCP) compared to current
      practice for tobacco cessation targeting socioeconomically disadvantaged groups
      in the PHC setting in Sweden. METHODS: The design is a pragmatic cluster
      randomized controlled trial. The sample will consist of 928 daily tobacco users
      with Swedish social security numbers and permanent resident permits, recruited
      from 14-20 PHC centers located in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in
      Stockholm County. The primary outcome will be measured in self-reported 7-day
      abstinence at 6 and 12 months after the intervention. The secondary outcomes will
      be measured in daily tobacco consumption, number of quit attempts, and health
      related quality of life at 6 and 12 months after the intervention. Data will be
      collected through questionnaires and review of electronic medical records. Cost
      effectiveness will be estimated through decision analytic modeling and measured
      by the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year. RESULTS: In the first set
      of PHC centers participating in the study, eight centers have been included.
      Recruitment of individual study participants is currently ongoing. Inclusion of a
      second set of PHC centers is ongoing with expected study start in September 2016.
      CONCLUSIONS: If TCP is found effective and cost-effective compared to standard
      treatment, the method could be implemented to facilitate tobacco cessation for
      socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in the PHC setting in Sweden. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN):
      11498135; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11498135 (Archived by WebCite at
      http://www.webcitation.org/6kTu6giYQ).

PMID- 27637519
TI  - Role of robotic-assisted surgery in benign esophageal diseases.
AB  - Laparoscopic treatment of benign esophageal conditions is technically complex
      with several inherent limitations. Robotic-assisted surgery provides technical
      improvement and helps to overcome some of these limitations. We therefore report
      a single surgeon's experience in management of benign esophageal diseases by
      robotic-assisted surgery. Over a period of 8 consecutive years, a retrospective
      chart review was performed of 105 patients who underwent robotic-assisted surgery
      for benign esophageal diseases by a single surgeon. Demographic data and outcome
      measures were studied. The robotic-assisted procedures included 85 Nissen
      fundoplications with and without mesh repair, 12 Heller myotomies and eight para
      esophageal hernia repairs. The mean total operating time was lowest for the
      Nissen group (94 min) and highest for the para-esophageal group (183 min).
      Operating time decreased from a mean of 105 min in the first 20 cases to 84 min
      in the last 20 cases for the Nissen group (P = 0.014). The mean length of stay
      was 1.3, 1.6, 1.5 and 4.8 days for the groups, respectively. Persistent symptoms
      of dysphagia/reflux/dysphonia requiring further investigation were seen in nine
      (8 %) of these patients. Two of these patients required repeat Nissen
      fundoplication in the mesh group. Our complication rate, total operating time and
      length of stay for robotic-assisted benign esophageal surgery are comparable to
      those reported in the literature. When performed by an experienced surgeon,
      robotic-assisted surgery is safe and effective in the management of benign
      esophageal diseases. 

PMID- 27637520
TI  - Robot-assisted gastroesophageal surgery: usefulness and limitations.
AB  - Robot-assisted surgery overcomes some of the limitations of traditional
      laparoscopic surgery. We present our experience and lessons learned in two
      surgical units dedicated to gastro-esophageal surgery. From June 2009 to January
      2013, we performed 130 robot-assisted gastroesophageal procedures, including
      Nissen fundoplication (29), paraesophageal hernia repair (18), redo for failed
      antireflux surgery (11), esophagectomy (19), subtotal (5) or wedge (4)
      gastrectomy, Heller myotomy for achalasia (22), gastric bypass for morbid obesity
      (12), thoracoscopic leiomyomectomy (4), Morgagni hernia repair (3), lower-third
      esophageal diverticulectomy (1) and two diagnostic procedures. There were 80 men
      and 50 women with a median age of 54 years (interquartile range: 46-65). Ten
      patients (7.7 %) had severe postoperative complications: eight after
      esophagectomy (three leaks-two cervical and one thoracic-managed conservatively),
      one stapler failure, one chylothorax, one case of gastric migration to the
      thorax, one case of biliary peritonitis, and one patient with a transient
      ventricular dyskinesia. One redo procedure needed reoperation because of port
      site bleeding, and one patient died of pulmonary complications after a giant
      paraesophageal hernia repair; 30-day mortality was, therefore, 0.8 %. There were
      six elective and one forced conversions (hemorrhage), so total conversion was 5.4
      %. Median length of stay was 4 days (IQ range 3-7). Robot-assisted
      gastroesophageal surgery is feasible and safe, and may be applied to most common
      procedures. It seems of particular value for Heller myotomy, large paraesophageal
      hernias, redo antireflux surgery, transhiatal dissection, and hand-sewn
      intrathoracic anastomosis. 

PMID- 27637521
TI  - Laparoscopic robotic liver surgery: the Henri Mondor initial experience of 20
      cases.
AB  - Laparoscopic liver surgery is now an established practice in many institutions.
      It is a safe and feasible approach in the hands of trained surgeons. The
      introduction of robotics into surgery represents progression in the field of
      minimally invasive surgery but has seen a slow uptake in the
      hepatopancreaticobiliary subspeciality. We report our initial experience in 20
      cases of laparoscopic robotic liver resection (LRLR). From March 2011 to April
      2013 patients with lesions within the liver were assessed and consented for
      laparoscopic robotic liver surgery. This is a retrospective analysis of a
      prospectively kept database on preoperative details and intraoperative and
      postoperative outcomes. During the time period there were 20 LRLRs. The median
      age was 62 years (range 39-80 years) with a male to female ratio of 14:6. Ten
      patients had left lateral sectionectomies, 10 patients had atypical segmental
      resections; 14 patients had resections for malignancies, 6 patients had
      resections for benign disease. One case was converted to open resection. The mean
      operating time was 176.4 +/- 74.6 min (range 60-300 min), the mean blood loss was
      107 +/- 106 ml (range 50-700 ml) and the mean hospital stay was 6.5 +/- 3.7 days
      (range 2-16 days). Two patients required blood transfusions. The incidence of
      postoperative complications was 10 % (n = 2). LRLR overcomes some of the
      disadvantages of conventional laparoscopic surgery. It is a technically feasible
      and safe approach for wedge resections and left lateral sectionectomy of the
      liver without oncological compromise. However, this surgical technique requires
      advanced laparoscopic skills and there is an associated steep learning curve.
      Further studies are needed to determine the potential advantages of this
      technique for the patient compared to the traditional laparoscopic approach. 

PMID- 27637522
TI  - Short-term perioperative outcomes after robot-assisted and laparoscopic distal
      pancreatectomy.
AB  - Robotic surgery offers potential technical advantages that may facilitate
      pancreatic resection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the learning curve
      and short-term perioperative outcomes in patients who underwent laparoscopic and
      robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy. All perioperative variables were evaluated
      and compared retrospectively between laparoscopic (LDP) (n = 23) and robot
      assisted (RDP) (n = 11) distal pancreatectomy. The mean total operative time was
      shorter in LDP (194 vs. 225 min; p = 0.017). All other perioperative criteria
      were similar between LDP and RDP patients (blood loss, transfusion rate,
      conversion, pancreatic fistula, postoperative morbidity, and duration of
      hospitalization). Non-adjusted CUSUM curve for composite events including
      operative time, conversion, postoperative morbidity and reoperation rates showed
      that the RDP learning curve corresponded to the first seven consecutive patients.
      During early experience, RDP was associated with longer operative time but
      similar short-term perioperative outcomes compared to conventional distal
      pancreatectomy. 

PMID- 27637523
TI  - A new fast nonlinear modeling of soft tissue for surgical simulation.
AB  - In this paper, soft tissue is modeled by a mass-spring-damper system and tissue
      deformations under the compression of surgical instruments are simulated. For
      this purpose, soft tissue confined in a cubic plastic mold is studied using a
      nonlinear viscoelastic model. Displacements resulting from probe insertions are
      measured and modeled for use in robotic surgery. Data is collected on bovine
      sirloin using the Instron hardness tester. The model's dynamic equations are
      obtained in the form of ordinary differential equations. The external force is
      considered as the input and the resulting deformation as the output of the model.
      Simulation results are compared with laboratory findings, and the nonlinear
      model's unknown parameters are estimated. The threshold force and displacement
      before the tearing of the soft tissue are respectively determined by analyzing
      the force-time and displacement-time diagrams obtained for the test samples. 

PMID- 27637524
TI  - Mental stress experienced by first-year residents and expert surgeons with
      robotic and laparoscopic surgery interfaces.
AB  - Prior research has indicated that novices experienced a beneficial stress profile
      in the robotic surgery (da Vinci) training environment when compared to the
      laparoscopic surgery training environment. The objective of this study was to
      assess whether this finding generalizes to expert surgeons. Towards that end,
      first-year residents' and attending surgeons' performances and subjective stress
      experiences were assessed in a surgical training task that was performed with the
      da Vinci and laparoscopic surgery interfaces. This study indicated that both
      groups exhibited superior performance and lower stress with the da Vinci surgical
      system than the laparoscopic system. The results provide further support for the
      sensitivity of the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire in identifying different
      stress responses experienced by trainees and experts in the minimally invasive
      surgery environment. 

PMID- 27637525
TI  - Robotic versus traditional laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: comparison of
      outcomes with a transition of techniques.
AB  - We aimed to evaluate the effect of a transition from laparoscopic partial
      nephrectomy (LPN) to robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) on
      peri-operative and oncological patient outcomes. We present the results of the
      last 50 LPN (group 1) compared with our first 50 RALPN (group 2). The peri
      operative data was evaluated using appropriate comparison tests. The parameters
      compared included operative times, warm ischaemia time (WIT), estimated blood
      loss (EBL), complications using the Clavien-Dindo (CD) grading system and
      oncological outcomes including positive surgical margin (PSM) rates. Patients in
      group 1 (n = 50) and group 2 (n = 50) had comparable pre-operative RENAL scores,
      ASA scores and tumour size characteristics. Ninety-four percent of the patients
      in group 1 underwent retroperitoneal LPN while 96 % of patients in group 2
      underwent transperitoneal RALP. The mean total operative time in groups 1 and 2
      was 163 versus 195 min, respectively (p = 0.003), and EBL was 294 versus 187 ml
      (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in WIT between
      groups 1 and 2 (24.7 and 21.8 min, respectively, p = 0.18). Post-operative
      histology was comparable in the two groups and the PSM rate was 8 versus 4 % (p =
      0.58). The CD major complication rate was 16 % in group 1 versus 4 % in group 2
      (p < 0.001). In our series, RALPN appears to have a longer initial total
      operative time than LPN; however, this reduces after the first 20 cases. RALP has
      a significant reduction in EBL and post-operative major complication rates,
      including immediate peri-operative complication rates such as the risk of acute
      haemorrhage or urinoma. Our data indicates that it is safe to change from LPN to
      RALPN with no compromise in patient safety or oncological outcomes. 

PMID- 27637527
TI  - Robotic-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in a patient with situs inversus.
AB  - We report the case of a morbidly obese patient with situs inversus who presented
      for robotic-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. To do the procedure, the ports
      were reversed and the first assistant stood on the opposite side of the table.
      With these minor modifications to technique, the surgery was successfully
      performed without confusion over the patient's anatomy. There were no
      intraoperative complications. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful
      and he was discharged on postoperative day 3. We believe this is the first
      reported robotic-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in a patient with situs
      inversus. 

PMID- 27637526
TI  - Robotic surgery compared with laparotomy for high-grade endometrial cancer.
AB  - High-grade endometrial cancer often presents with occult metastatic disease and
      this presentation pattern can be considered a contraindication to minimally
      invasive surgery. We sought to compare the surgical and oncologic outcomes of
      patients with high-grade endometrial cancer who underwent surgical
      management/staging via the robotic approach versus the traditional open approach.
      A retrospective analysis was performed of patients with high-grade endometrial
      cancer who were treated at a single institution from January 2008 through
      December 2011. High-grade endometrial histology was defined as FIGO grade 2 or 3
      endometrioid, serous, clear cell or uterine carcinosarcoma. Pre-operatively, all
      patients had clinical stage I disease based on a combination of physical
      examination and imaging studies. Baseline patient demographics, operative
      results, complications and oncologic outcomes were analyzed. Eighty consecutive
      patients were included. Forty-seven patients underwent surgical management using
      the robotic approach and 33 patients underwent a traditional operation via
      laparotomy. The groups were well matched in terms of age, body mass index,
      medical co-morbidities, stage and histology. The average hospital stay for
      patients who underwent open surgery was significantly longer than for those who
      underwent a robotic approach [5.6 versus 1.4 days (p = 0.0001)]. Of the patients
      who underwent robotic surgery, 7/47 (15 %) experienced an operative complication
      versus 18/33 (55 %) in the open surgery cohort (p = 0.002). The average number of
      pelvic lymph nodes retrieved in each cohort was 12. The average number of para
      aortic lymph nodes retrieved in each group was 4. On final pathologic analysis,
      20 patients in the robotic surgery arm were found to have disease that had spread
      beyond the uterus (43 %), compared to 14 in the traditional surgery group (42 %).
      There were 11/47 (23 %) recurrences in the robotic surgery group during the study
      period, compared to 8/33 (24 %) in the laparotomy group. There were no
      significant differences in progression-free or overall survival between the two
      cohorts. Robotic surgery is safer than laparotomy for patients with high-grade
      endometrial cancer. The oncologic outcomes appear similar. Minimizing morbidity
      in this patient population is important since many are elderly and will require
      adjuvant therapy. 

PMID- 27637528
TI  - Robotic assisted minimally invasive pelvic exenteration in advanced rectal
      cancer: review and case report.

PMID- 27637529
TI  - Rare use of robotic surgery for removal of large urachal carcinoma.
AB  - Minimally invasive surgery has been used traditionally for removal of colorectal,
      gastric and gallbladder disease pathologies with great success. Many advantages
      have been demonstrated with the addition of robotic surgery, such as 3-D
      visualization, articulation of instruments and improved surgeon ergonomics while
      operating. These benefits have allowed the implementation of robotic surgery into
      new areas. We describe here a rare case of a robotic resection of an urachal
      carcinoma. A 53-year-old female patient presented to her primary care physician
      (PCP) with a chief complaint of recurrent urinary tract infections. An initial
      urinary bladder ultrasound showed a large mass anterior and superior to the
      bladder, thus prompting an abdominal/pelvic MRI, which confirmed a large complex
      cystic mass anterior to and abutting the urinary bladder (5.4 * 6.7 * 5.9 cm). A
      follow-up cystoscopy showed no abnormal findings within the bladder. Based on the
      patient's symptoms and imaging, a careful evaluation by her PCP, oncology and
      surgical team prompted for the removal of the mass. Because of the uncertainty,
      complexity and location of the mass the patient was offered surgical treatment
      with the da Vinci robot. Histopathology revealed an urachal adenocarcinoma, well
      differentiated. We present that surgical resection of an urachal tumor can be
      performed with the da Vinci robot. Robotic surgery can add to the benefits seen
      with the conventional laparoscopic approach and thus can be an accepted method
      for treatment of abdominal wall masses. 

PMID- 27637531
TI  - Robot-assisted management of Zinner's syndrome: report of seminal vesicle sparing
      technique and review of literature.
AB  - The range of urological procedures performed with robotic assistance has widened
      with increasing experience with the da Vinci robotic system. We describe the use
      of the da Vinci SI Surgical System for excision of a seminal vesicle cyst in a
      patient who had associated ipsilateral renal agenesis (Zinner's syndrome). The
      robotic platform afforded a minimally invasive procedure with precise dissection
      and no collateral damage to neighbouring vital anatomy. 

PMID- 27637532
TI  - Robotic transperitoneal ilioinguinal pelvic lymphadenectomy for high-risk
      melanoma: an update of 18-month follow-up.

PMID- 27637530
TI  - Robotic-assisted cystogastrostomy for a patient with a pancreatic pseudocyst.
AB  - Pancreatic pseudocysts are generally treated by endoscopic cystogastrostomy.
      However, difficult cases involving abscess, necrosis, or risk of hemorrhage often
      require surgical intervention. Here, we report a case of a robotically assisted
      cystogastrostomy. The patient presented with an infected pseudocyst with adjacent
      varices. Use of the da Vinci Surgical System allowed us to create a widely patent
      anastomosis between the pseudocyst and the stomach. The patient tolerated the
      procedure well without any complications. This report demonstrates the
      feasibility of robotic cystogastrostomy. 

PMID- 27637533
TI  - Robotic transanal surgery for local excision of rectal neoplasms.
AB  - Robotic transanal surgery (RTS) has been a natural evolution of transanal
      minimally invasive surgery. This video demonstrates how RTS is performed for the
      full-thickness excision of a malignant rectal polyp, with endoluminal robotic
      suturing of the rectal wall defect. The general approach to RTS, including the
      approach to docking of the robotic cart, are also illustrated in video format. 

PMID- 27637535
TI  - The Giep needle pass: a simple technique for the passage of needles for vaginal
      cuff closure in robotically assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy.
AB  - The passage of needles and suture to close the vaginal cuff during a robotically
      assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy typically necessitates the use of a 10-12 mm
      accessory port to allow for the passage of a CT-1 sized needle. This results in a
      relatively large incision, which may lead to increased patient discomfort and
      dissatisfaction with cosmetic results compared to a smaller incision. Our
      technique of passing the needle and suture through the vagina allows us to use a
      smaller caliber accessory port while maintaining our ability to use a larger CT-1
      needle easily and safely, with a reduced risk of losing the needle within the
      patient's abdomen. 

PMID- 27637534
TI  - Robotic surgery: review of the latest advances, risks, and outcomes.
AB  - Using differing levels of evidence, we developed criteria to critically review 21
      scientifically peer-reviewed articles on robot-assisted surgeries in various
      medical fields. The advantages and limitations of robotic systems are discussed
      and compared with traditional surgical methods. Since training in the use of
      robotic skills is essential, various training models are discussed to teach the
      complex skills necessary for robotic surgery. There is a paucity of control
      studies on a sufficient number of subjects in robot-assisted surgeries in all
      fields. Studies that meet more stringent clinical trials criteria show that robot
      assisted surgery appears comparable to traditional surgery in terms of
      feasibility and outcomes but that costs associated with robot-assisted surgery
      are higher because of longer operating times and expense of equipment. While a
      limited number of studies on the da Vinci robotic system have proven the benefit
      of this approach in regard to patient outcomes, including significantly reduced
      blood loss, lower percentage of postoperative complications, and shorter hospital
      stays, there are mechanical and institutional risks that must be more fully
      addressed. In addition, trials are needed to identify simulators for learners
      that can enhance the da Vinci performance in order to shorten the learning curve.

PMID- 27637536
TI  - Surgical staging of endometrial cancer: robotic versus open technique outcomes in
      a contemporary single surgeon series.
AB  - Patients prefer robotic surgery due to perceived cosmetic advantages and quicker
      resumption of regular activity. We compared the results of hysterectomy and
      surgical staging for endometrial cancer using robotic versus open techniques in
      patients operated on by a single surgeon. A retrospective clinical data analysis
      was performed of all patients who underwent surgical staging for endometrial
      cancer. Patients selected for open techniques underwent surgery between January
      2003 and December 2005, whereas patients selected for da Vinci robotic surgery
      were operated on between June 2006 and June 2008. The study was approved by the
      Institutional Review Board (IRB). The preoperative diagnosis of endometrial
      cancer was confirmed using endometrial biopsy. Data were collected and
      comparative analyses were made using mean or chi-squared test or other
      appropriate statistical techniques. The study population consisted of 97 patients
      (open, N = 38; robotic, N = 59). Mean age was 66.5 +/- 1.97 versus 59.5 +/- 1.43
      years, mean parity was 2.11 versus 1.93, and mean body mass index (BMI) was 32.2
      +/- 2.03 versus 39.3 +/- 2.03 (P = 0.02) for open versus robotic surgery,
      respectively. Operating time and lymph node (LN) yield was 175.24 +/- 4.6 versus
      185.27 +/- 4.4 min, number of pelvic LNs were 8.6 versus 11.34, and aortic LNs
      were 3.5 versus 1.9 in the open versus robotic groups, respectively. Although
      mean BMI was higher, blood loss, complications, and hospital stay were
      significantly lower for patients undergoing robotic surgery. Overall,
      complications occurred in 5/38 (13%) patients in the open group and 2/59 (3%)
      patients in the robotic group. Of the two complications in the robotic group,
      there was one injury to the external iliac vein requiring open surgical
      management with blood transfusion resulting in a hospital stay of 7 days;
      however, no other patient required blood transfusion in either surgical group.
      Robotic surgery results in less blood loss and shorter hospital stay and yields
      comparable number of lymph nodes, which are adequate for staging. It also results
      in reduced surgical risks in patients with higher BMI who are prone to higher co
      morbidities. Robotic surgery is a useful minimally invasive tool for the
      comprehensive surgical staging of patients with endometrial cancer. 

PMID- 27637537
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomies: early experience and review of
      the literature.
AB  - With over 80,000 patients in the United States awaiting kidney transplantation,
      renal transplant surgery continues to evolve with attractive surgical options for
      living donation, which include laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) and robotic
      assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (RALDN). LDN is currently accepted as the
      gold standard procedure for living donor nephrectomy; RALDN is an evolving
      technique and may emerge as a preferred procedure over time. We present our
      initial experience with RALDN from December 2007 to August 2008. Thirty-five
      patients who underwent RALND were retrospectively analyzed and compared with 35
      age- and time (year)-matched patients who underwent LDN. The parameters analyzed
      were length of hospital stay (3.2 +/- 0.9 days, P < 0.59), estimated blood loss
      (146 +/- 363 ml, P < 0.36), operating time (149 +/- 44 min, P < 0.23), cold
      ischemic time (135 +/- 202 min, P < 0.19), preoperative creatinine (0.82 +/- 0.26
      mg/dl, P < 0.46) and postoperative creatinine (1.44 +/- 1.03 mg/dl, P < 0.20).
      There was no statistical difference between RALDN patients with single renal
      artery (n = 27) and those with more than one renal artery (n = 8) kidneys. There
      was one serious complication requiring conversion to open laparotomy to control a
      bleeding renal artery stump following extraction of the kidney. One-year graft
      survival for the 35 recipients of RALDN was 97.1%. RALDN is feasible and compares
      favorably to the standard LDN procedure with good graft survival. Robotic
      assisted transplant surgery is an emerging technique with potential benefits to
      both surgeon and patient. 

PMID- 27637538
TI  - Impact of Partin nomogram on presurgical planning: intrafascial versus
      interfascial nerve sparing during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.
AB  - We studied the impact of using the Partin nomogram in tailoring the nerve sparing
      approach during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. From July 2008 to July
      2009, 168 patients underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy with bilateral
      nerves spared. All of the first 70 patients (cohort I) had intrafascial nerve
      sparing, while the Partin nomogram was used to determine the nerve sparing
      approach in the next 98 patients (cohort II). In patients with a probability
      greater than 53% of having pathologically non-organ-confined disease,
      conventional interfascial nerve sparing was performed; otherwise, intrafascial
      nerve sparing was carried out. Preoperative patient demographics were similar
      between the two cohorts. In cohort II, 68 and 30 patients had the bilateral
      nerves spared intrafascially and interfascially, respectively. Overall, the
      prevalence of pT3 disease in cohort I was 24.3% and in cohort II was 21.4%. The
      positive surgical margin rate in cohort I was 15.7% while that in cohort II was
      6.1%. There was no significant difference in positive surgical margin rate in
      organ-confined (pT2) disease between the two groups (7.5 and 5.2%). On the other
      hand, pT3 positive surgical margin rate was significantly reduced in cohort II
      (41.2 and 4.8%, P = 0.013). Using the Partin nomogram in deciding interfascial
      versus intrafascial nerve sparing during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy
      gave a significant reduction of positive surgical margin rate in pT3 prostate
      cancers. 

PMID- 27637539
TI  - A prospective study of 100 roboticallyassisted laparoscopic adrenalectomies.
AB  - We evaluated robotically assisted laparoscopic adrenalectomy (RLA) in a
      prospective study of 100 consecutive patients (60 women and 40 men) undergoing
      unilateral adrenalectomy at the University Hospital. The median age was 59 (24
      82) years and BMI 27.6 (17.1-40.9) kg/m(2). Preoperative diagnoses were Conn's
      syndrome 30%, pheochromocytoma 23%, Cushing syndrome 27% and non-functional tumor
      20%. The median tumor size was 53 (10-106) mm. The majority of the 7% of the
      patients who were converted to open surgery were in the early phase after the
      introduction of the technique. The BMI of the patients who were converted to open
      surgery was significantly higher, 31.5 (range 25.3-37.8) compared to, 27.5 (range
      17.1-40.9) in patients without conversion (P = 0.047). The median weight of the
      tumor was 51 g for patients with conversion (range 18-97 g) and 30 g (range 8-128
      g) for patients without conversion (P = 0.066). The median console operation time
      for the whole series was 88 min (range 39-397 min). The console operation time
      decreased significantly with the numbers of patients operated (r = 0.372; P =
      0.0003). There was an association between the weight of the specimen and
      operation time (r = 0.42; P = 0.0001). RLA is a safe and a feasible surgical
      alternative for treating all kind of adrenal disorders, particularly large tumors
      and more complex circumstances. The present study clearly shows that a learning
      curve is present for the console surgeon and assistants. 

PMID- 27637540
TI  - Setting up robotic surgery in gynaecology: the experience of the Strasbourg
      teaching hospital.
AB  - Teleoperated surgical robots could provide a genuine breakthrough in laparoscopy
      and it is for this reason that the development of robot-assisted laparoscopy is
      one of the priorities of the Strasbourg University Hospitals' strategic plan. The
      hospitals purchased a da Vinci S((r)) robot in June 2006 and Strasbourg has, in
      IRCAD, one of the few robotic surgery training centres in the world. Our
      experience has, however, revealed the difficulties involved in setting up robotic
      surgery, the first of which are organizational issues. This prospective work was
      carried out between December 2007 and September 2008, primarily to examine the
      possibility of setting up robotic surgery on a regular basis for gynaecological
      surgical procedures at the Strasbourg University Hospitals. We maintained a
      "logbook" in which we prospectively noted all the resources implemented in
      setting up the robotic surgery service. The project was divided into two phases:
      the preparatory phase up until the first hysterectomy and then the second phase
      with the organization of subsequent hysterectomies. The first surgical procedure
      took 5 months to organize, and followed 25 interviews, 10 meetings, 53 telephone
      conversations and 48 e-mails with a total of 40 correspondents. The project was
      presented to seven separate groups, including the hospital medical commission,
      the gynaecology unit committee and the surgical staff. Fifteen members of the
      medical and paramedical team attended a two-day training course. Preparing the
      gynaecology department for robotic surgery required freeing up 8.5 days of
      "physician time" and 12.5 days of "nurse time". In the following five months, we
      performed five hysterectomies. Preparation for each procedure involved on average
      5 interviews, 19 telephone conversations and 11 e-mails. The biggest obstacle was
      obtaining an operating slot, as on average it required 18 days, four telephone
      calls and four e-mails to be assigned a slot in the operating theatre schedule,
      which is prepared on average 28 days in advance. It is extremely important for
      organising robotic surgery and assembling the surgical teams to have a series of
      operating slots allocated a sufficiently long time in advance. Considerable
      benefits would be had by setting up a team of anaesthetists and especially
      perioperative nurses dedicated to robotic surgery. 

PMID- 27637541
TI  - Differences in hand movements and task completion times between laparoscopic,
      robotically assisted, and open surgery: an in vitro study.
AB  - Surgical dexterity depends on economy and precision of movements, and this can be
      objectively measured using electromagnetic motion analysis. We have assessed the
      differences in hand movements and task completion times between open,
      laparoscopic and robotically assisted surgery during an exercise performed in
      vitro. A standard surgical exercise was performed using open, standard
      laparoscopic (SL) and robotically assisted laparoscopic (RAL) approaches. The
      total duration of the exercise was studied along with the number and duration of
      movements required to complete the exercise in each surgical modality. The time
      taken to complete the exercise was significantly longer in both the SL and RAL
      approaches when compared to the open route. However, it was found that RAL had
      significantly decreased number of movements (mean difference = 24 movements, P <
      0.006) but a longer duration of each movement when compared to SL (mean
      difference = 0.13 s, P < 0.001). This study shows objectively that the exercise
      took longer to complete using the RAL approach than the standard open approach.
      However, RAL had more purposeful movements and required fewer movements to
      complete the exercise compared to SL. 

PMID- 27637542
TI  - Robotic-assisted resection of an intrapericardial bronchogenic cyst.
AB  - The advantages of robotic-assisted surgery have been well described and include
      improved three-dimensional visualization, increased precision of dissection, and
      the absence of tremor. These characteristics are particularly useful in the
      mediastinal dissection of major vascular structures. We present a case of an
      intrapericardial bronchogenic cyst resected with robotic assistance. Bronchogenic
      cysts are congenital thoracic anomalies that typically occur in the mediastinum
      or lung parenchyma, and occasionally within the pericardium. Historically a
      sternotomy was required for complete resection, although a thoracoscopic approach
      has now been widely adopted. We report the resection of an intrapericardial
      bronchogenic cyst utilizing a robotic-assisted thoracoscopic approach and a
      review of the literature regarding the incidence, diagnosis, and management of
      this rare condition. 

PMID- 27637543
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic common bile duct exploration: case report and
      proposed training model.
AB  - We present a case of a 32-year-old female patient with the diagnosis of gallstone
      disease and choledocholithiasis. Prior to in vivo surgery, we practiced the
      critical steps of the procedure using a proposed inert training model. We
      performed a robot-assisted laparoscopic common bile duct exploration, obtaining
      one stone. The operating time was 140 min (console time: 120 min) with no
      complications during the procedure. The patient was discharged 2 days after the
      operation. Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery of the common bile duct is a
      safe and effective procedure and seems to have some benefits over conventional
      laparoscopic surgery. 

PMID- 27637544
TI  - Immediate robot-assisted ureteral reimplantation during robotic prostatectomy in
      locally advanced prostate cancer.
AB  - We report the technique and outcomes of immediate robot-assisted ureteral
      reimplantation due to unexpected ureteral injury during robot-assisted
      laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). A 61-year-old male was diagnosed with locally
      advanced prostate adenocarcinoma (T3bN0M0). Multiple positive margins at the
      bladder neck were noted on frozen section during RALP, and re-excision of the
      bladder neck was done. Unfortunately, the distal third of right ureter was
      transected. We immediately performed robot-assisted ureteroneocystostomy with
      double J stent insertion. No complications developed during the follow-up period.

PMID- 27637545
TI  - Telerobotic anterior translocation of the ulnar nerve.
AB  - The application of telerobotics in the biomedical field has grown rapidly and is
      showing very promising results. Robotically assisted microsurgery and nerve
      manipulation are some of its latest innovations. The purpose of this article is
      to update the community of shoulder and elbow surgeons on that field. Simple
      anterior subcutaneous translocation of the ulnar nerve was first experimented in
      two cadavers, and then performed in one live patient who presented with cubital
      tunnel syndrome. This procedure is the first reported case using the robot in
      elbow surgery. In this paper we attempt to analyze various aspects related to
      human versus robotically assisted surgery. 

PMID- 27637546
TI  - [Scaphoid pseudarthrosis : Indications for avascular iliac crest or radius bone
      grafts].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Operative treatment of the scaphoid nonunion includes avascular
      corticocancellous and cancellous bone grafts and increasingly the use of vascular
      pedicled and free vascular corticocancellous grafts. Especially the latter
      require a fair amount of operative expertise and experience in microsurgical
      techniques. OBJECTIVE: Which criteria lead to the decision for or against an
      avascular graft used for reconstruction of scaphoid nonunion? Is our current
      classification system of a scaphoid pseudarthrosis able to illustrate our
      diagnostic potential in a way that makes us refer to operative procedures?
      METHODS: Evaluation of current literature and expert opinions RESULTS: Avascular
      bone grafts show a high union rate as long as a sufficient vascularisation of the
      remaining fragments is present. In general, patients benefit from a very good
      functional outcome. Even revisions of failed scaphoid union may be successfully
      treated with an avascular bone graft. Failures of union are repeatedly
      experienced in treating proximal pole fractures with critical vascularisation or
      extensive bone loss, especially including avascular necrosis of the proximal pole
      (AVN). Current classification systems do not allow description and correlation of
      morphologic findings so as to compare results profoundly and to recommend
      specific procedures. CONCLUSIONS: As long as sufficient vascularisation of
      remaining fragments is seen, the avascular bone graft is eligible for
      reconstructing scaphoid nonunion. Classification systems do not seem to reflect
      the status quo of diagnostic possibilities and make it difficult to provide
      guidelines for state-of-the-art operative procedures.

PMID- 27637547
TI  - [Diagnosis of the scaphoid bone : Fractures, nonunion, circulation, perfusion].
AB  - The clinical relevance of scaphoid bone fractures is reflected by their high
      incidence, accounting for approximately 60 % among carpal fractures and for 2-3 %
      of all fractures. With adequate therapy most scaphoid bone fractures heal
      completely without complications. Insufficient immobilization or undiagnosed
      fractures increase the risk of nonunion and the development of pseudarthrosis.X
      ray examination enables initial diagnosis of scaphoid fracture in 70-80 % of
      cases. Positive clinical symptoms by negative x-ray results require further
      diagnostics by multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT) or MRI to exclude or confirm a
      fracture. In addition to the diagnosis and description of fractures MSCT is
      helpful for determining the stage of nonunion. Contrast enhanced MRI is the best
      method to assess the vitality of scaphoid fragments.

PMID- 27637549
TI  - Challenges in implementing an advance care planning programme in long-term care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A high prevalence of cognitive impairment and frailty complicates the
      feasibility of advance care planning in the long-term-care population. Research
      aim: To identify challenges in implementing the 'Let Me Decide' advance care
      planning programme in long-term-care. RESEARCH DESIGN: This feasibility study had
      two phases: (1) staff education on advance care planning and (2) structured
      advance care planning by staff with residents and families. Participants and
      research context: long-term-care residents in two nursing homes and one community
      hospital. Ethical considerations: The local research ethics committee granted
      ethical approval. FINDINGS: Following implementation, over 50% of all residents
      had completed some form of end-of-life care plan. Of the 70 residents who died in
      the post-implementation period, 14% had no care plan, 10% (with capacity)
      completed an advance care directive and lacking such capacity, 76% had an end-of
      life care plan completed for them by the medical team, following discussions with
      the resident (if able) and family. The considerable logistical challenge of
      releasing staff for training triggered development of an e-learning programme to
      facilitate training. DISCUSSION: The challenges encountered were largely
      concerned with preserving resident's autonomy, avoiding harm and suboptimal or
      crisis decision-making, and ensuring residents were treated fairly through
      optimisation of finite resources. CONCLUSIONS: Although it may be too late for
      many long-term-care residents to complete their own advance care directive, the '
      Let Me Decide' programme includes a feasible and acceptable option for structured
      end-of-life care planning for residents with variable capacity to complete an
      advance care directive, involving discussion with the resident (to the extent
      they were able) and their family. While end-of-life care planning was time
      consuming to deliver, nursing staff were willing to overcome this and take
      ownership of the programme, once the benefits in improved communication and
      enhanced peace of mind among all parties involved became apparent in practice.

PMID- 27637548
TI  - Laboratory Assessment of the Anticoagulant Activity of Direct Oral
      Anticoagulants: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are the treatment of choice for
      most patients with atrial fibrillation and/or noncancer-associated venous
      thromboembolic disease. Although routine monitoring of these agents is not
      required, assessment of anticoagulant effect may be desirable in special
      situations. The objective of this review was to summarize systematically evidence
      regarding laboratory assessment of the anticoagulant effects of dabigatran,
      rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science
      were searched for studies reporting relationships between drug levels and
      coagulation assay results. RESULTS: We identified 109 eligible studies: 35 for
      dabigatran, 50 for rivaroxaban, 11 for apixaban, and 13 for edoxaban. The
      performance of standard anticoagulation tests varied across DOACs and reagents;
      most assays, showed insufficient correlation to provide a reliable assessment of
      DOAC effects. Dilute thrombin time (TT) assays demonstrated linear correlation
      (r2 = 0.67-0.99) across a range of expected concentrations of dabigatran, as did
      ecarin-based assays. Calibrated anti-Xa assays demonstrated linear correlation
      (r2 = 0.78-1.00) across a wide range of concentrations for rivaroxaban, apixaban,
      and edoxaban. CONCLUSIONS: An ideal test, offering both accuracy and precision
      for measurement of any DOAC is not widely available. We recommend a dilute TT or
      ecarin-based assay for assessment of the anticoagulant effect of dabigatran and
      anti-Xa assays with drug-specific calibrators for direct Xa inhibitors. In the
      absence of these tests, TT or APTT is recommended over PT/INR for assessment of
      dabigatran, and PT/INR is recommended over APTT for detection of factor Xa
      inhibitors. Time since last dose, the presence or absence of drug interactions,
      and renal and hepatic function should impact clinical estimates of anticoagulant
      effect in a patient for whom laboratory test results are not available.

PMID- 27637550
TI  - Calcium-dependent generation of N-acylethanolamines and lysophosphatidic acids by
      glycerophosphodiesterase GDE7.
AB  - N-Acylethanolamines form a class of lipid mediators and include an
      endocannabinoid arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide), analgesic and anti
      inflammatory palmitoylethanolamide, and appetite-suppressing oleoylethanolamide.
      In animal tissues, N-acylethanolamines are synthesized from N-acylated
      ethanolamine phospholipids directly by N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine-hydrolyzing
      phospholipase D or through multi-step pathways via N-acylethanolamine
      lysophospholipids. We previously reported that glycerophosphodiesterase (GDE) 4,
      a member of the GDE family, has lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD) activity
      hydrolyzing N-acylethanolamine lysophospholipids to N-acylethanolamines.
      Recently, GDE7 was shown to have lysoPLD activity toward lysophosphatidylcholine
      to produce lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Here, we examined the reactivity of GDE7
      with N-acylethanolamine lysophospholipids as well as the requirement of divalent
      cations for its catalytic activity. When overexpressed in HEK293 cells,
      recombinant GDE7 proteins of human and mouse showed lysoPLD activity toward N
      palmitoyl, N-oleoyl, and N-arachidonoyl-lysophosphatidylethanolamines and N
      palmitoyl-lysoplasmenylethanolamine to generate their corresponding N
      acylethanolamines and LPAs. However, GDE7 hardly hydrolyzed glycerophospho-N
      palmitoylethanolamine. Overexpression of GDE7 in HEK293 cells increased
      endogenous levels of N-acylethanolamines and LPAs. Interestingly, GDE7 was
      stimulated by micromolar concentrations of Ca2+ but not by millimolar
      concentrations of Mg2+, while GDE4 was stimulated by Mg2+ but was insensitive to
      Ca2+. GDE7 was widely distributed in various tissues of humans and mice with the
      highest levels in their kidney tissues. These results suggested that GDE7 is a
      novel Ca2+-dependent lysoPLD, which is involved in the generation of both N
      acylethanolamines and LPAs.

PMID- 27637552
TI  - Predictors of Work-Family Role Conflict and Its Impact on Professional Women in
      Medicine, Engineering, and Information Technology in Nigeria.
AB  - This study examines work-family role conflict and the factors predicting it, with
      a sample of 173 professional women in engineering and information technology (IT)
      firms, including 2 hospitals-1 public and 1 private. Our findings show no
      significant difference in the level of work-family role conflict encountered by
      women across medicine, engineering, and IT, whereas hours of work, family
      responsibilities, job demand, and work role overload were significantly
      correlated with work-family role conflict. Multiple linear regression analysis
      indicates that only work role overload, family responsibilities, and hours of
      work significantly predicted 45.9% of work-family role conflict. This implies
      that working women are burdened by work demands, which invariably affects the
      work-family role conflict they experience and leads to deterioration of their
      occupational health. It is suggested that employers should create a flexible work
      schedule and establish family-friendly policies in the workplace to promote a
      healthy work-life balance for women in science careers.

PMID- 27637553
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Case 3].

PMID- 27637551
TI  - Proliferation, behavior, and differentiation of osteoblasts on surfaces of
      different microroughness.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Titanium surface roughness is recognized as an important parameter
      influencing osseointegration. However, studies concerning the effect of well
      defined surface topographies of titanium surfaces on osteoblasts have been
      limited in scope. In the present study we have investigated how Ti surfaces of
      different micrometer-scale roughness influence proliferation, migration, and
      differentiation of osteoblasts in-vitro. METHODS: Titanium replicas with surface
      roughnesses (Ra) of approximately 0, 1, 2, and 4MUm were produced and MG-63
      osteoblasts were cultured on these surfaces for up to 5 days. The effect of
      surface micrometer-scale roughness on proliferation, migration in time-lapse
      microscopy experiments, as well as the expression of alkaline phosphatase,
      osteocalcin, vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF), osteoprotegerin (OPG),
      and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) were
      investigated. RESULTS: Proliferation of MG-63 cells was found to decrease
      gradually with increasing surface roughness. However, the highest expression of
      alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and VEGF was observed on surfaces with Ra
      values of approximately 1 and 2MUm. Further increase in surface roughness
      resulted in decreased expression of all investigated parameters. The cell
      migration speed measured in time-lapse microscopy experiments was significantly
      lower on surfaces with a Ra value of about 4MUm, compared to those with lower
      roughness. No significant effect of surface roughness on the expression of OPG
      and RANKL was observed. SIGNIFICANCE: Thus, surfaces with intermediate Ra
      roughness values of 1-2MUm seem to be optimal for osteoblast differentiation.
      Neither proliferation nor differentiation of osteoblasts appears to be supported
      by surfaces with higher or lower Ra values.

PMID- 27637554
TI  - [A rib tumor].

PMID- 27637555
TI  - Reducing Ventricular Pacing Frequency in Patients With Atrioventricular Block: Is
      It Time to Change the Current Pacing Paradigm?

PMID- 27637556
TI  - Transcutaneous immunization in auricle skin induces antigen-specific mucosal and
      systemic immune responses in BALB/c mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Transcutaneous immunization (TCI) is a novel route of vaccination
      through application of a topical vaccine antigen on skin. Phosphorylcholine (PC)
      is a structural component of a variety of pathogens, and anti-PC immune responses
      protect mice against invasive bacterial diseases. The purpose of the study was to
      examine the effect of TCI using PC in back skin or auricle skin in BALB/c mice.
      METHODS: TCI was performed in BALB/c mice in back skin or auricle skin using PC
      keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) plus cholera toxin (CT). Inoculations were given
      once each week for six consecutive weeks. Immunogenicity was evaluated by
      measuring PC-specific IgG and specific IgG1, IgG2a, IgM, IgA, and secretory IgA
      antibodies by ELISA. IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13 and IFN-gamma levels were
      also measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Serum IgG after TCI in auricle skin was
      significantly higher than after TCI in back skin and in controls. Secretory IgA
      antibodies after TCI in auricle skin were also significantly higher than after
      TCI in back skin and in controls in nasal, BALF, vaginal and fecal samples. PC
      specific IgG1 and IgG2a were significantly higher after TCI in auricle skin
      compared to controls and compared to TCI in back skin. IgG1 was significantly
      higher than IgG2a after TCI in auricle skin. Production of IFN-gamma, IL-4 and IL
      10 from CD4+ cells was significantly higher after TCI in auricle skin than after
      TCI in back skin and in controls, whereas IL-5, IL-12 and IL-13 were not detected
      in any mice. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that TCI in auricle skin using PC
      plus CT in BALB/c mice is a simple approach for induction of systemic and mucosal
      immune responses that are shifted in the Th2 direction.

PMID- 27637557
TI  - The Validity and Applicability of Using a Generic Exposure Assessment Model for
      Occupational Exposure to Nano-Objects and Their Aggregates and Agglomerates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Control banding can be used as a first-tier assessment to control
      worker exposure to nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates (NOAA). In
      a second tier, more advanced modelling approaches are needed to produce
      quantitative exposure estimates. As currently no general quantitative nano
      specific exposure models are available, this study evaluated the validity and
      applicability of using a generic exposure assessment model (the Advanced REACH
      Tool-ART) for occupational exposure to NOAA. METHOD: The predictive capability of
      ART for occupational exposure to NOAA was tested by calculating the relative bias
      and correlations (Pearson) between the model estimates and measured
      concentrations using a dataset of 102 NOAA exposure measurements collected during
      experimental and workplace exposure studies. RESULTS: Moderate to (very) strong
      correlations between the ART estimates and measured concentrations were found.
      Estimates correlated better to measured concentration levels of dust (r = 0.76, P
      < 0.01) than liquid aerosols (r = 0.51, P = 0.19). However, ART overestimated the
      measured NOAA concentrations for both the experimental and field measurements
      (factor 2-127). Overestimation was highest at low concentrations and decreased
      with increasing concentration. Correlations seemed to be better when looking at
      the nanomaterials individually compared to combined scenarios, indicating that
      nanomaterial-specific characteristics are not well captured within the
      mechanistic model of the ART. DISCUSSION: Although ART in its current state is
      not capable to estimate occupational exposure to NOAA, the strong correlations
      for the individual nanomaterials indicate that the ART (and potentially other
      generic exposure models) have the potential to be extended or adapted for
      exposure to NOAA. In the future, studies investigating the potential to estimate
      exposure to NOAA should incorporate more explicitly nanomaterial-specific
      characteristics in their models.

PMID- 27637558
TI  - Relevance of Geriatric Assessment in Older Patients With Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate the relevance of geriatric assessment
      (GA) in older patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to study functional
      status (FS) and chemotherapy-related toxicity during treatment. METHODS: Patients
      with CRC aged >= 70 years were evaluated at baseline using a GA. Results were
      communicated to the treating physician. At 2 to 3 months follow-up, FS was
      reassessed, and chemotherapy-related toxicity was recorded. RESULTS: A total of
      193 patients, with a median age of 77 years, were included. GA was abnormal in
      75% and revealed unknown problems in 40%. Treatment was altered in 37% based on
      clinical assessment. GA led to geriatric interventions in 9 patients (5%) and
      additionally influenced treatment in 1 patient. At follow-up (n = 164),
      functional decline was observed in 29 patients (18%) for activities of daily
      living (ADL) and in 60 patients (37%) for instrumental activities of daily living
      (IADL). Baseline IADL, depression, fatigue, and cognition were predictors for ADL
      decline, whereas no predictors for IADL decline could be identified. In the 109
      patients receiving chemotherapy, stage and baseline fatigue were predictive for
      grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity, and baseline ADL, fatigue, and nutrition were
      predictive for grade 3/4 nonhematologic toxicity. CONCLUSION: Although GA
      identified previously unknown problems in more than one-third of older CRC
      patients, the impact on interventions or treatment decisions was limited.
      Baseline GA parameters may predict functional decline and chemotherapy-related
      toxicity. Education of physicians treating older patients with CRC is an
      essential step in the implementation of GA and subsequent interventions.

PMID- 27637559
TI  - A Comparison of Survival by Site of Metastatic Resection in Metastatic Colorectal
      Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metastatic resection (MR) of liver-limited disease is an effective
      therapy for selected patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Despite
      limited data, this approach has been expanded to include MR of other sites, such
      as the lung, locoregional, and other distant disease (ODD). We performed a
      population-based study of patients with mCRC who had undergone MR and compared
      survival between MR of the liver and MR of other sites. METHODS: Patients with
      mCRC who were referred to the British Columbia Cancer Agency between 1995 and
      2010 were reviewed. Patients were included if they had an R0 MR with a negative
      margin and no residual disease. The site of MR was classified according to
      collaborative staging criteria as liver, lung, locoregional, or ODD. Median
      overall survival (mOS) was assessed with Kaplan-Meier methods and compared using
      the log-rank test. A Cox proportional-hazards model was used to compare mOS,
      while adjusting for known prognostic factors. RESULTS: A total of 2082 patients
      with mCRC were identified, of whom 257 underwent R0 MR. Sites of MR included
      liver (65%), lung (16%), locoregional (5%), and ODD (14%). The mOS of liver,
      lung, locoregional, and ODD were 48.0, 42.8, 37.2, and 26.2 months, respectively
      (P = .087). On multivariate analysis, only MR of ODD had a significantly
      different survival estimate than MR of the liver (hazard ratio, 1.78; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.13-2.80; P = .012). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with limited
      lung and locoregional disease seem to have a comparable survival advantage from
      MR as patients with liver-limited metastases.

PMID- 27637562
TI  - [Therapeutic patient education for asthmatic children].

PMID- 27637561
TI  - Stigmatization of mentally ill patients by media coverage of Germanwings
      disaster.

PMID- 27637560
TI  - Structure of Arabidopsis thaliana FUT1 Reveals a Variant of the GT-B Class Fold
      and Provides Insight into Xyloglucan Fucosylation.
AB  - The plant cell wall is a complex and dynamic network made mostly of cellulose,
      hemicelluloses, and pectins. Xyloglucan, the major hemicellulosic component in
      Arabidopsis thaliana, is biosynthesized in the Golgi apparatus by a series of
      glycan synthases and glycosyltransferases before export to the wall. A better
      understanding of the xyloglucan biosynthetic machinery will give clues toward
      engineering plants with improved wall properties or designing novel xyloglucan
      based biomaterials. The xyloglucan-specific alpha2-fucosyltransferase FUT1
      catalyzes the transfer of fucose from GDP-fucose to terminal galactosyl residues
      on xyloglucan side chains. Here, we present crystal structures of Arabidopsis
      FUT1 in its apoform and in a ternary complex with GDP and a xylo-oligosaccharide
      acceptor (named XLLG). Although FUT1 is clearly a member of the large GT-B fold
      family, like other fucosyltransferases of known structures, it contains a variant
      of the GT-B fold. In particular, it includes an extra C-terminal region that is
      part of the acceptor binding site. Our crystal structures support previous
      findings that FUT1 behaves as a functional dimer. Mutational studies and
      structure comparison with other fucosyltransferases suggest that FUT1 uses a SN2
      like reaction mechanism similar to that of protein-O-fucosyltransferase 2. Thus,
      our results provide new insights into the mechanism of xyloglucan fucosylation in
      the Golgi.

PMID- 27637563
TI  - [Caring for young girls victims of incest].

PMID- 27637564
TI  - David Oliver: Treating NHS staff fairly when things go wrong.

PMID- 27637566
TI  - Issues in Pain Prediction - Beyond Pain and Gain.

PMID- 27637565
TI  - Homeostatic Plasticity of Subcellular Neuronal Structures: From Inputs to
      Outputs.
AB  - Neurons in the brain are highly plastic, allowing an organism to learn and adapt
      to its environment. However, this ongoing plasticity is also inherently unstable,
      potentially leading to aberrant levels of circuit activity. Homeostatic forms of
      plasticity are thought to provide a means of controlling neuronal activity by
      avoiding extremes and allowing network stability. Recent work has shown that many
      of these homeostatic modifications change the structure of subcellular neuronal
      compartments, ranging from changes to synaptic inputs at both excitatory and
      inhibitory compartments to modulation of neuronal output through changes at the
      axon initial segment (AIS) and presynaptic terminals. Here we review these
      different forms of structural plasticity in neurons and the effects they may have
      on network function.

PMID- 27637567
TI  - Ancestral Gene Flow and Parallel Organellar Genome Capture Result in Extreme
      Phylogenomic Discord in a Lineage of Angiosperms.
AB  - While hybridization has recently received a resurgence of attention from
      systematists and evolutionary biologists, there remains a dearth of case studies
      on ancient, diversified hybrid lineages-clades of organisms that originated
      through reticulation. Studies on these groups are valuable in that they would
      speak to the long-term phylogenetic success of lineages following gene flow
      between species. We present a phylogenomic view of Heuchera, long known for
      frequent hybridization, incorporating all three independent genomes: targeted
      nuclear (~400,000 bp), plastid (~160,000 bp), and mitochondrial (~470,000 bp)
      data. We analyze these data using multiple concatenation and coalescence
      strategies. The nuclear phylogeny is consistent with previous work and with
      morphology, confidently suggesting a monophyletic Heuchera. By contrast, analyses
      of both organellar genomes recover a grossly polyphyletic Heuchera,consisting of
      three primary clades with relationships extensively rearranged within these as
      well. A minority of nuclear loci also exhibit phylogenetic discord; yet these
      topologies remarkably never resemble the pattern of organellar loci and largely
      present low levels of discord inter alia. Two independent estimates of the
      coalescent branch length of the ancestor of Heuchera using nuclear data suggest
      rare or nonexistent incomplete lineage sorting with related clades, inconsistent
      with the observed gross polyphyly of organellar genomes (confirmed by simulation
      of gene trees under the coalescent). These observations, in combination with
      previous work, strongly suggest hybridization as the cause of this phylogenetic
      discord. [Ancient hybridization; chloroplast capture; incongruence;
      phylogenomics; reticulation.].

PMID- 27637568
TI  - Predictive Factors for Epilepsy in Pediatric Patients With Sturge-Weber Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sturge-Weber syndrome is characterized by a facial port-wine stain
      associated with either or both a retinal angioma and a cerebral pial angioma.
      Because a pial angioma may not be evident on the initial imaging studies,
      individuals at risk for epilepsy are often not identified before their first
      seizure. The aim of this study is to identify predictive factors predisposing
      Sturge-Weber patients to epilepsy. METHODS: The medical archives and photography
      database of our institution were reviewed to identify Sturge-Weber Syndrome
      patients followed up between 1990 and 2015. Patients without epilepsy were
      compared with patients with epilepsy based on the location of the port-wine
      stain, its extent and cerebral imaging. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients were
      included in the study. Thirteen did not develop epilepsy. Patients with bilateral
      port-wine stain were at higher risk of epilepsy (P = 0.03). Unilateral port-wine
      stain did not increase the risk of epilepsy (P = 0.29) regardless of its extent.
      The presence of developmental venous anomalies on brain imaging was also
      associated with a higher risk of epilepsy (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral
      facial port-wine stain and cerebral developmental venous anomalies increase the
      risk of epilepsy in Sturge-Weber syndrome patients. Because they can be detected
      at birth, they might guide preventive management and follow-up.

PMID- 27637569
TI  - Orthopaedic manifestations of congenital indifference to pain with anhidrosis
      (Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy type IV).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital indifference to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) is a rare
      hereditary neuropathy, which is associated with defective sensation to noxious
      stimuli and autonomic dysfunction. The objective of the study was to report on
      the orthopaedic manifestations of this condition and provide an evidence-based
      approach for management. METHODS: Retrospective review of 14 consecutive patients
      with CIPA referred to a single tertiary centre. Mean age of diagnosis was 2.5
      years (range 0.5 to 11 years). RESULTS: Patients presented with a range of
      orthopaedic problems including fractures, infections, growth disturbance, joint
      subluxation and Charcot joints affecting the limbs and spine. Conservative
      treatment with closed reduction and cast immobilisation was satisfactory for
      stress fractures of the lower extremity and Charcot joints. Posterior
      instrumented correction of scoliosis was associated with a high-risk of infection
      requiring reoperation for debridement and removal of posterior instrumentation.
      Growth disturbance leading to leg-length discrepancies were managed with shoe
      raises and corrective osteotomies. Aspiration and cultures may be used to
      differentiate between acute fracture and infection. CONCLUSIONS: Preventative
      treatment strategies with appropriately padded shoe-wear, gait and posture
      modification, parental education regarding environmental thermoregulation, and
      behavioural support are essential for improving prognosis and reducing long-term
      complications.

PMID- 27637570
TI  - Neither internal nor external nasal dilation improves cycling 20-km time trial
      performance.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Research is equivocal regarding endurance performance benefits of
      external nasal dilators, and currently research focusing on internal nasal
      dilators is non-existent. Both devices are used within competitive cycling. This
      study examined the influence of external and internal nasal dilation on cycling
      economy of motion and 20-km time trial performance. DESIGN: The study utilized a
      randomized, counterbalanced cross-over design. METHODS: Fifteen trained cyclists
      completed three exercise sessions consisting of a 15min standardized warm up and
      20-km cycling time trial while wearing either a Breathe Right(r) external nasal
      dilator, Turbine(r) internal nasal dilator or no device (control). During the
      warm up, heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion and dyspnea and expired gases
      were collected. During the time trial, heart rate, perceived exertion, and
      dyspnea were collected at 4-km intervals and mean 20-km power output was
      recorded. RESULTS: No differences were observed for mean 20-km power output
      between the internal (270+/-45W) or external dilator (271+/-44W) and control
      (272+/-44W). No differences in the economy of motion were observed throughout the
      15-min warm up between conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The Turbine(r) and Breathe
      Right(r) nasal dilators are ineffective at enhancing 20-km cycling time trial
      performance.

PMID- 27637571
TI  - Structural and functional analyses of PolyProline-II helices in globular
      proteins.
AB  - PolyProline-II (PPII) helices are defined as a continuous stretch of a protein
      chain in which the constituent residues have backbone torsion angle (phi, psi)
      values of (-75 degrees , 145 degrees ) and take up an extended left handed
      helical conformation, without any intra-chain hydrogen bonds. They are found to
      occur quite frequently in protein structures, with their number exceeding that of
      pi-helices, though it is considerably less than that of alpha-helices and beta
      strands. A relatively new procedure, ASSP, for the identification of regular
      secondary structures using Calpha trace identifies 3597 PPII-helices in 3582
      protein chains, solved at resolution ?2.0A. Taking advantage of this
      significantly expanded database of PPII-helices, we have analyzed their
      structural and functional roles as well as determined the amino acid propensity
      within and around them. Though Pro residues are highly preferred, their presence
      is not a mandatory requirement for the formation of PPII-helices, since ~40% PPII
      helices were found to contain no Pro residues. Aromatic amino acids are avoided
      within this helix, while Gly, Asn and Asp residues are preferred in the proximal
      flanking regions. The PPII-helices range from 3 to 13 residues in length with the
      average twist and rise being -121.2 degrees +/-9.2 degrees  and 3.0A+/-0.1A
      respectively. A majority (~72%) of PPII-helices were found to occur in
      conjunction with alpha-helices and beta-strands, and serve as linkers as well.
      The analysis of various intra-helical non-bonded interactions revealed frequent
      presence of CH?O H-bonds. PPII-helices participate in maintaining the three
      dimensional structure of proteins and are important constituents of binding
      motifs involved in various biological functions.

PMID- 27637572
TI  - The nanostructure of murine alveolar bone and its changes due to type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Alveolar bone - the bony ridge containing the tooth sockets - stands out by its
      remodeling activity where bone is being formed and resorbed at a much higher rate
      than in any other bony tissue. Teeth that are anchored in the jaw through the
      periodontal ligament exert very large localized loads during mastication that
      could lead to a unique adaptation of the collagen/mineral structure in the bone.
      Our aim was to characterize the nanostructure of alveolar bone and to determine
      the influence of diabetes on structural characteristics of the mineralized
      matrix. Using small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), we studied a
      spontaneous diabetic mouse model (KK+) and its corresponding healthy controls (KK
      ) (n=6) to determine the size and mutual alignment of the mineral nanoparticles
      embedded in the collagen matrix. On cross-sections (buccal-lingual) of the first
      molar multiple line scans with a spatial resolution of 30MUm were performed on
      each sample, from the lingual to the buccal side of the mandible. Mineral
      particle thickness and length are decreasing towards the tooth in both buccal and
      lingual sides of alveolar bone. While mineral particles are well aligned with the
      long axis of the tooth on the buccal side, they are in a quarter of the
      measurements oriented along two preferred directions on the lingual side. These
      nanostructural differences can be interpreted as the result of an asymmetric
      loading during mastication, leading to a tilting of the tooth in its socket. In
      diabetic mice particle thicknesses are smaller compared to control animals.

PMID- 27637573
TI  - Overall and cause-specific mortality in Korean patients with inflammatory bowel
      disease: A hospital-based cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Limited data are available regarding mortality from
      inflammatory bowel disease in non-Caucasian populations. Herein, we evaluated
      overall and cause-specific mortality in a hospital-based cohort of Korean
      inflammatory bowel disease patients. METHODS: We determined mortality in 2414
      Crohn's disease patients and 2798 ulcerative colitis patients diagnosed between
      1977 and 2013. Standardized mortality ratios were calculated in several
      demographic and phenotypic subgroups. RESULTS: During the mean 9-year follow up,
      114 patients died: 35 with Crohn's disease and 79 with ulcerative colitis. The
      overall standardized mortality ratios were 1.40 (95% confidence interval: 0.97
      1.94) in Crohn's disease and 0.73 (0.58-0.91) in ulcerative colitis. In Crohn's
      disease, female sex, age < 30 years at diagnosis, disease duration > 10 years,
      ileocolonic disease at diagnosis, perianal fistula, intestinal resection, and
      ever-use of corticosteroids were associated with higher mortality. In ulcerative
      colitis, male sex, age >= 30 years at diagnosis, disease duration <= 5 years,
      proctitis at diagnosis, and no history of colectomy were associated with lower
      mortality, while primary sclerosing cholangitis was associated with higher
      mortality. In both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, high mortality rates
      due to nonmalignant gastrointestinal causes (standardized mortality ratios: 4.59
      and 2.32, respectively) and gastrointestinal malignancies (standardized mortality
      ratios: 16.59 and 3.45, respectively) were observed. Cardiovascular mortality was
      lower in ulcerative colitis (standardized mortality ratio: 0.47). CONCLUSIONS:
      The overall mortality tended to be higher in Crohn's disease patients than in the
      general population; it was slightly lower in ulcerative colitis patients than in
      the general population.

PMID- 27637574
TI  - The influence of titanium surface characteristics on macrophage phenotype
      polarization during osseous healing in type I diabetic rats: a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effect of titanium surface modification on
      macrophage phenotype polarization and osseous healing under diabetic conditions.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Critical-sized calvarial defects were created in healthy
      and streptozotocin-induced type I diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats. Titanium (Ti)
      discs with either large-grit sandblasted and acid-etched micro-rough (SLA) or
      hydrophilic-modified SLA (modSLA) surfaces were used to cover the healing defect
      for a period of up to 28 days. Samples of the exudate within the calvarial defect
      and beneath the titanium discs were collected 1, 4 and 7 days post-surgery for
      inflammatory cytokine analysis using an ELISA. The macrophage phenotype(s) on the
      Ti disc surfaces were determined by CD11c+ (M1) and CD163+ (M2) immunofluorescent
      staining. Samples of the healing defects at days 14 and 28 were also prepared for
      histomorphometric analysis. RESULTS: Cytokine levels in the diabetic animals were
      higher than those of the healthy group throughout the observation period. The
      modSLA surface significantly reduced MIP-2 levels at day 1 in both diabetic and
      healthy animals, and MCP-1 levels at day 4 in the diabetic animals. Immuno
      fluorescent staining showed that an M2-like macrophage phenotype was more
      frequently found on the modSLA surface at day 1 in healthy and day 4 in both
      healthy and diabetic animals. Histomorphometric analysis showed more new bone
      formation on the modSLA surface at days 14 and 28 in both groups, although
      statistically significant differences were only found in the healthy group.
      CONCLUSION: Diabetic conditions greatly increased the expression of
      proinflammatory cytokines during osseous healing. The modSLA surface was shown to
      promote an M2-like macrophage phenotypic response in titanium adherent
      macrophages despite the significantly elevated inflammatory environment induced
      by uncontrolled type I diabetes. Modulation of the macrophage phenotype by the
      modSLA surface in the early healing period was associated with osseous healing
      under both healthy and uncontrolled diabetic conditions.

PMID- 27637576
TI  - Younger Elementary School Students Waste More School Lunch Foods than Older
      Elementary School Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children may not receive nutritional benefits from school lunch meals
      if they do not eat the foods served. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether
      there were differences in school lunch foods consumed and wasted by grade level
      of elementary school students. DESIGN: In this cross-sectional study, anonymous
      meal observations were conducted after students selected their reimbursable
      school lunch meals in the cafeteria lunch line. The amounts of foods selected and
      consumed were recorded using the quarter waste method and food waste was
      calculated using the information recorded. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: During the
      spring of 2013, eight elementary schools (50% low income) enrolling children in
      kindergarten through grade 5 in one school district in the Houston, TX, area were
      selected by the Child Nutrition Director. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The amount of
      calories and foods consumed and the percentage wasted were assessed. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSES PERFORMED: Analysis of covariance and post hoc analysis were used to
      examine food consumption and plate waste by grade level (kindergarten and grade 1
      [K-Gr1], grades 2 and 3 [Gr2-3], and grades 4 and 5 [Gr4-5]), controlling for
      student sex and school-level free/reduced priced meal eligibility. RESULTS: There
      were 568 nonrandom lunch meal observations of students included in the analyses.
      Approximately 48% of the observations were from boys; 50% were from low-income
      schools, and were evenly divided by grade. In general, students in K-Gr1 consumed
      fewer calories than both Gr2-3 and Gr4-5, and Gr2-3 students consumed
      significantly fewer calories than Gr4-5. K-Gr1 students also consumed less and
      wasted more total and red-orange vegetables, total/whole/refined grains, and
      total protein foods than the older students. Gr2-3 students wasted more calories
      and total grains than Gr4-5 students. K-Gr1 students wasted more fruit than Gr2-3
      students. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, younger students in elementary schools (K-Gr-1)
      consumed less of the foods they selected for their lunch meals, and wasted more
      than older elementary school students. Future studies should investigate why
      younger children wasted more food and potential strategies to reduce food waste
      by younger students.

PMID- 27637577
TI  - Evaluation of DNMT1 gene expression profile and methylation of its promoter
      region in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
AB  - Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune disease with a chronic inflammatory
      arthritis. The critical role of methylation in the biology of immunocytes has
      increasingly been surveyed to discover disease etiology. DNA methyltransferase 1
      (DNMT1) is an enzyme, which establishes and regulates patterns of methylated
      cytosine residues. The aim of the current investigation was to unveil if
      methylation circumstances of CpG sites in DNMT1 promoter could affect the mRNA
      expression level of this gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from
      AS patients. PBMCs were isolated from whole blood of 40 AS patients and 40
      healthy individuals. Total RNA and DNA contents of leukocytes were extracted.
      Afterward, quantitative analysis was carried out by real-time PCR using the SYBR
      Green PCR Master Mix. Finally, to determine the methylation level, PCR products
      of bisulfite-treated DNA from patients and controls were sequenced. Compared with
      healthy controls, expression level of DNMT1 in AS patients was significantly
      downregulated. Methylation of DNMT1 promoter was significantly higher in AS
      patients in comparison to controls. While a negative correlation between
      methylation and expression level of DNMT1 was observed in AS patients, both
      methylation and expression level of DNMT1 did not correlate with clinical
      manifestations. Considering the observation that decreased expression level of
      DNMT1 was associated with hypermethylation of DNMT1 promoter in PBMCs from AS
      patients, this survey suggests that dysregulation of DNMT1 expression through
      altered methylation level of other target genes would probably contribute to AS
      development.

PMID- 27637575
TI  - Macrophages modulate the growth and differentiation of rhesus monkey embryonic
      trophoblasts.
AB  - PROBLEM: Immune cells within the endometrium at implantation are thought to play
      an important role in implantation, although their exact role is not well
      understood. METHOD OF STUDY: A co-culture system of rhesus monkey embryos and
      maternal immune cells was established. Blastocysts obtained by in vitro
      fertilization were co-cultured with peripheral blood cells or decidual
      macrophages. Culture media were collected to assess secretions. Embryo growth was
      monitored, and trophoblasts were evaluated for proliferation, apoptosis, and
      differentiation. RESULTS: Embryonic trophoblast outgrowths were visible within 6
      days of culture, and the area of embryo outgrowth was reduced when blastocysts
      were cultured with peripheral-derived or decidual macrophages. Trophoblast
      proliferation was not significantly affected with macrophage co-culture while
      chorionic gonadotropin secretion was increased. Trophoblast expression of CDH 11
      and GJA1 was increased, suggesting that macrophages accelerate differentiation of
      peri-implantation trophoblasts. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate an important
      role of macrophages in placentation and pregnancy success.

PMID- 27637580
TI  - Professional caregivers' knowledge in dermatology : Improving knowledge and
      communication to dermatologists in geriatric facilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research regarding effective collaboration and communication between
      professional caregivers and dermatologists and the need for further education and
      training for caregivers in the field of geriatric dermatology still remains
      relatively scarce. OBJECTIVE: To document the state of knowledge of professional
      caregivers in the field of geriatric dermatology and make recommendations for
      dermatological education and postgraduate training. METHODS: A questionnaire with
      open and closed questions was used to evaluate the level of knowledge and current
      need for information in geriatric dermatology. A total of 58 professional
      caregivers from several hospital departments, including geriatric wards and
      nursing homes participated in this study. Quantitative and qualitative data were
      generated and responses to open questions were categorized according to the most
      quoted contents. The study was approved by the Charite University in Berlin
      ethics committee. RESULTS: The study demonstrates that there is a lack of
      dermatological knowledge. Participants indicated a huge information need
      regarding skin tumors (77.2 %), prevention of skin diseases (50.0 %) and pruritus
      (41.4 %). According to the caregivers, communication problems with physicians
      arise in view of using standardized terms of skin diseases (22.9 %) and
      formulating unclear care records of skin diseases (20.8 %). CONCLUSION:
      Difficulties in communication between professional caregivers and physicians can
      influence patients' punctual and well-founded treatment; therefore, further
      education must be mediated vividly and practically. Moreover, training should
      focus on learning standardized terms and descriptions for optimizing the flow of
      information with physicians and written communication, such as care records.

PMID- 27637579
TI  - [Obesity in old age and its importance for functionality and frailty].
AB  - In later life a high body mass index (BMI) is associated with the lowest age
      related mortality rate. The BMI range used by the World Health Organization (WHO)
      to classify overweight, a BMI of 25-30 kg/m2, can be regarded as normal weight in
      old age; nevertheless, obesity is associated with an increased risk of disability
      and of a deterioration in physical functionality, particularly among older age
      groups. This relationship to obesity has also been established for frailty. For
      this reason, a reduction in weight may be appropriate under functional aspects if
      BMI values exceed 30 kg/m2; however, such a decision cannot be made on the basis
      of an individual BMI alone. The functional status, body composition,
      comorbidities and, in particular the life perspectives of the patient should also
      be taken into consideration. If weight loss is intended, it must always be
      performed under strict medical supervision involving optimized protein intake, a
      carefully calculated moderate reduction in calories and adequate physical
      training. In the case of chronically ill elderly patients, weight reduction is
      not usually appropriate. Restrictive diets of any kind should principally be
      critically viewed in old age because even temporary inadequate energy intake may
      lead to accelerated deterioration of muscle and bone structure.

PMID- 27637582
TI  - The Relationship Between Sleep-Disordered Breathing Severity and Daytime Adaptive
      Functioning in Children with Down Syndrome.

PMID- 27637581
TI  - Technology-based measurements for screening, monitoring and preventing frailty.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Sensor technology, in particular wearable inertial
      sensors, has the potential to help researchers objectively assess the
      functionality of older adults. The following review provides an overview about
      the possible use of sensor technology to detect and prevent pre-frailty and
      frailty. METHOD: A systematic literature search in PubMed and the Cochrane
      Library was conducted. Articles were selected according to the following
      criteria: frail and/or pre-frail population, use of wearable and non-wearable
      sensor technology to measure or enhance human movements or activities of daily
      living and a focus on frailty assessment. RESULTS: A total of 28 publications
      were found. Sensor-derived parameters obtained during assessment of gait,
      functional performances and physical activity were reported to be relevant for
      screening and monitoring pre-frailty and frailty; however, current findings are
      limited to cross-sectional studies, which do not allow establishment of a causal
      relationship between motor performance, physical activity and specific frailty
      states. No study monitored specific activities of daily living. DISCUSSION:
      Outcome variables from technology-based assessment seem to provide valuable
      information for frailty assessment. Strenuous testing conditions as well as
      increased variability in gait, functional performance and physical activity may
      be useful in identifying frailty. Outcome variables derived from gait, motor
      assessment and physical activity must still be validated in large cohorts and
      under daily living conditions in order to develop robust screening tools for pre
      frailty and frailty. Further research should focus on specific activities of
      daily living in pre-frail or frail older adults and technology-based approaches
      for intervention and prevention.

PMID- 27637583
TI  - The future therapy of endometrial cancer: microRNA's functionality, capability,
      and putative clinical application.
AB  - PURPOSE: Endometrial cancer (EC) therapy is characterized by the heterogeneity of
      EC subtypes resulting in unclear clinical behavior as well as in unsatisfactory
      treatment options. The available biomarkers, such as cellular tumor antigen p53
      (TP53), phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate 3-phosphatase and dual
      specificity protein phosphatase (PTEN), and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate
      3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) genes alone might not be sufficient,
      and thus, new predictive and prognostic biomarkers are urgently required. The
      biomolecule class of microRNA represents a group of endogenously expressed
      regulatory factors primarily involved in control of pivotal cancer-related
      mechanisms including cell cycle, proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Here,
      we review the current state of science regarding microRNA functionality in EC
      progression.

PMID- 27637584
TI  - Response to the letter to the editor.

PMID- 27637586
TI  - Aflatoxin B1 contamination in feed from Puglia and Basilicata regions (Italy): 5
      years monitoring data.
AB  - During a 5-year period from 2010 to 2014, n = 919 samples of feed and raw
      materials were analyzed for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination using accredited
      ELISA screening methods. Only 0.76 % of these samples were non-compliant with
      maximum levels set by the European Union Regulation 32/2002. Non-compliant
      samples were mainly from the province of Bari (n = 3 samples, mean AFB1 value
      7.03 MUg/kg), although the highest AFB1 levels were found in two samples from the
      provinces of Foggia and Brindisi, at 32.6 +/- 3.6 MUg/kg and 31.0 +/- 4.0 MUg/kg,
      respectively. Mean AFB1 levels in samples contaminated but compliant with the
      limits ranged from 1.4 to 2.2 MUg/kg. Considering the great importance of climate
      conditions in mycotoxins production, during crops production and during the
      critical phases of materials storage and/or transport, to better understand the
      variability in contamination levels, the analytical results were reviewed in term
      of temperature and relative environmental humidity in the sampling areas.
      Correlations between aflatoxin B1 levels in feed and these climate factors might
      explain seasonal and annual variations in contamination levels. The data from the
      present study provide useful suggestions for the organization of targeted
      monitoring plans and the protection of consumers, as well as for improvement in
      the quality standards of zootechnological activities and feed industry.

PMID- 27637585
TI  - Sarcolipin: A Key Thermogenic and Metabolic Regulator in Skeletal Muscle.
AB  - Skeletal muscle constitutes ~40% of body mass and has the capacity to play a
      major role as thermogenic, metabolic, and endocrine organ. In addition to
      shivering, muscle also contributes to nonshivering thermogenesis via futile
      sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) activity. Sarcolipin
      (SLN), a regulator of SERCA activity in muscle, plays an important role in
      regulating muscle thermogenesis and metabolism. Uncoupling of SERCA by SLN
      increases ATP hydrolysis and heat production, and contributes to temperature
      homeostasis. SLN also affects whole-body metabolism and weight gain in mice, and
      is upregulated in various muscle diseases including muscular dystrophy,
      suggesting a role for SLN during increased metabolic demand. In this review we
      also highlight the physiological roles of skeletal muscle beyond contraction.

PMID- 27637588
TI  - Linking microbiota and respiratory disease.
AB  - An increasing body of evidence indicates the relevance of microbiota for
      pulmonary health and disease. Independent investigations recently demonstrated
      that the lung harbors a resident microbiota. Therefore, it is intriguing that a
      lung microbiota can shape pulmonary immunity and epithelial barrier functions.
      Here, we discuss the ways how the composition of the microbial community in the
      lung may influence pulmonary health and vice versa, factors that determine
      community composition. Prominent microbiota at other body sites such as the
      intestinal one may also contribute to pulmonary health and disease. However, it
      is difficult to discriminate between influences of lung vs. gut microbiota due to
      systemic mutuality between both communities. With focuses on asthma and
      respiratory infections, we discuss how microbiota of lung and gut can determine
      pulmonary immunity and barrier functions.

PMID- 27637587
TI  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Asia: emerging perspectives.
AB  - As in the West, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the commonest chronic
      liver disease in Asia, with a prevalence higher than 40 % in some countries. The
      risk factors for NAFLD development are similar to those in Western countries,
      including increased body mass index, diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic
      syndrome. NAFLD in Asians is associated with different extrahepatic
      manifestations involving the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and renal systems.
      A considerable proportion of Asians with NAFLD are described as having "lean"
      NAFLD. Present in approximately 20 % of the Asian population, lean NAFLD is
      closely linked with insulin resistance, diabetes, and other metabolic
      complications, but its association with disease progression to nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis and cirrhosis remains to be defined. There is emerging evidence
      of the interactions of NAFLD with hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus
      infection in Asia. Unlike in Western countries, NAFLD constitutes only a minority
      of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma cases in Asia. Possible explanations
      are the lower prevalence of obesity and the overwhelming problem of viral
      hepatitis in Asia. With aging of the obesity cohort in Asia, NAFLD-related liver
      complications are expected to increase.

PMID- 27637589
TI  - Mechanisms of force depression caused by different types of physical exercise
      studied by direct electrical stimulation of human quadriceps muscle.
AB  - PURPOSE: Force production frequently remains depressed for several hours or even
      days after various types of strenuous physical exercise. We hypothesized that the
      pattern of force changes during the first hour after exercise can be used to
      reveal muscular mechanisms likely to underlie the decline in muscle performance
      during exercise as well as factors involved in the triggering the prolonged force
      depression after exercise. METHODS: Nine groups of recreationally active male
      volunteers performed one of the following types of exercise: single prolonged or
      repeated short maximum voluntary contractions (MVCs); single or repeated all-out
      cycling bouts; repeated drop jumps. The isometric force of the right quadriceps
      muscle was measured during stimulation with brief 20 and 100 Hz trains of
      electrical pulses given before and at regular intervals for 60 min after
      exercise. RESULTS: All exercises resulted in a prolonged force depression, which
      was more marked at 20 Hz than at 100 Hz. Short-lasting (<=2 min) MVC and all-out
      cycling exercises showed an initial force recovery (peak after ~ 5 min) followed
      by a secondary force depression. The repeated drop jumps, which involve eccentric
      contractions, resulted in a stable force depression with the 20 Hz force being
      markedly more decreased after 100 than 10 jumps. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with
      our hypothesis, the results propose at least three different mechanisms that
      influence force production after exercise: (1) a transiently recovering process
      followed by (2) a prolonged force depression after metabolically demanding
      exercise, and (3) a stable force depression after mechanically demanding
      contractions.

PMID- 27637590
TI  - Do maximal aerobic power and anaerobic capacity start really to decrease at the
      fourth decade of life?

PMID- 27637592
TI  - Does better editorial staff mean a better journal impact factor?

PMID- 27637591
TI  - Funding in facial palsy.

PMID- 27637593
TI  - Improved productivity and sustainable pastoral systems in an era of insecurity
      Fulani herds of the southern Jos Plateau, North-Central Nigeria.
AB  - This study investigated the productivity and management of sheep and cattle kept
      by Fulani pastoralists of Bokkos local government area on the Jos Plateau, North
      Central Nigeria. Despite the challenges related to insecurity and restricted
      access to natural resources, results show large breeding herds with above average
      productivity and reproductive performance. The management strategy was focused on
      providing both milk and increased cattle numbers for pastoralists and beef to
      satisfy the high market demand. High natural herd growth and moderate offtake
      rates allowed households to maintain herd sizes with a small net increase in
      cattle numbers. Sheep productivity in these herds was characterised by high
      births, high mortality and high offtake, leading to overall negative herd growth.
      The use of hired herders is on the rise in response to natural resource conflict,
      insecurity and reduced family labour availability due to alternative livelihood
      strategies. Disease and related mortality remain significant constraints to
      productivity which could be addressed by increased access to quality veterinary
      care. However, any further increases in livestock numbers would put additional
      strain on already inadequate natural resources.

PMID- 27637594
TI  - A cross-sectional study of swine influenza in intensive and extensive farms in
      the northeastern region of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - Swine influenza (SI) is a seasonal infectious disease highly important to the
      world pig industry. Loss of daily weight gain, increased costs for the prevention
      and treatment of secondary infections are the main economic losses associated
      with the presence of this disease. However, some epidemiological features of SI
      remain quite unclear. This study focused on assessing the prevalence of swine
      influenza virus (SIV) infection in intensive and extensive pig herds and
      associating risk factors. A set of 601 blood samples of five intensive farrow-to
      finish farms and 361 blood samples from 56 extensive farms were analyzed using an
      indirect ELISA kit CIVTEST SUIS INFLUENZA(r), Hipra (Amer, Spain), in order to
      detect anti-SIV antibodies. In total, 24.13 % of samples from intensive herds
      were positive, while no positive samples were detected in extensive rearing
      herds. Sow and weaning piglets had the highest prevalence values. In the
      intensive rearing system, occurrence of reproductive disorders and exposure to
      recently introduced animals were positively associated with the disease
      occurrence in swine herds. The findings highlight the importance of sows in the
      epidemiology of the disease and bring information about risk factors involved in
      the occurrence of swine influenza in intensive herds.

PMID- 27637597
TI  - Skin Lesion with Splenic Microabscesses in a Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

PMID- 27637596
TI  - An Uncommon Cause of Obstructive Jaundice: An Infrequent Neoplasm.

PMID- 27637595
TI  - Visual neglect after left-hemispheric lesions: a voxel-based lesion-symptom
      mapping study in 121 acute stroke patients.
AB  - Visual neglect after left-hemispheric lesion is thought to be less frequent, less
      severe, and shorter lived than visuospatial attention deficits resulting from
      right-hemispheric lesions. However, reports exist opposing this assumption, and
      it is unclear how these findings fit into the current theories of visuospatial
      processing. Furthermore, only little is known about the exact structure-function
      relationship between visuospatial attention deficits and left-hemispheric stroke.
      We investigated neglect in 121 patients with acute left-hemispheric ischemic
      stroke by following clinical development from within the first 24 h of stroke
      onset until hospital discharge. Visuospatial attention deficits occurred in 17.4
      % (n = 21). Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping associated visual neglect to the
      right with lesion in the left superior and middle temporal gyrus, temporal pole,
      frontal operculum, and insula. Neglect severity, captured by the Center of
      Cancellation Score of the Bells test, was associated with lesion in the left
      anterior temporal lobe and the left frontal operculum. The left-hemispheric
      lesion pattern of neglect thus involves areas of the ventral attention system and
      partly mirrors the critical regions of the right hemisphere known to be
      associated with neglect. Based on our prospective analysis on a large cohort of
      patients with left-hemispheric stroke, this study shows that in a remarkable
      number of patients, the left hemisphere essentially contributes to an intact
      representation of space and clarifies the impact of the distinct left-hemispheric
      structures involved in visuospatial processing.

PMID- 27637598
TI  - Out of Sight: Culture-Negative Endocarditis and Endophthalmitis.

PMID- 27637599
TI  - Small Cell Lung Cancer Presenting as a Cardiac Mass with Embolic Phenomena.

PMID- 27637600
TI  - Fraud in Academic Publishing: Researchers Under Cyber-Attacks.
AB  - Day by day, researchers receive new suspicious e-mails in their inboxes. Many of
      them do not have sufficient information about these types of e-mails, and may
      become victims of cyber-attacks. In this short communication, we review current
      cyber threats in academic publishing and try to present general guidelines for
      authors.

PMID- 27637602
TI  - Erratum to: Ethical and Surgical Dilemmas in Patients with Neglected Surgical
      Diseases Visiting a Field Hospital in a Zone of Recent Disaster.

PMID- 27637603
TI  - The Presence of Serum p53 Antibody Predicts the Pathological Tumor Response to
      Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Docetaxel, Cisplatin and Fluorouracil (DCF) in
      Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Docetaxel, cisplatin and fluorouracil (DCF) is a candidate
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) regimen for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
      (ESCC). Although the efficacy and safety of DCF have been reported, the markers
      that predict the patient's response are still unknown. The aim of this study was
      to identify the predictive markers for a response to NAC with DCF in patients
      with ESCC. METHODS: A total of 79 patients who received preoperative DCF followed
      by esophagectomy between August 2008 and December 2014 were enrolled in this
      study. All of the patients completed 2 preoperative courses of DCF. The clinical
      and pathological responses to DCF were investigated, and the associations between
      the pathological response, the clinicopathological factors and the prognosis were
      retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 79 patients, the pathological
      response to DCF (evaluated according to the Japanese Classification of Esophageal
      Cancer) was grade 3 (complete pathological response) in 7 patients (8.9 %), grade
      2 in 13 patients (16.5 %), grade 1b in 8 patients (10.1 %) and grade 1a in 51
      patients (64.6 %). A good pathological response (grade 2-3) was significantly
      associated with both favorable disease-free survival (P = 0.0051) and favorable
      cancer-specific survival (P = 0.0366). A multivariate analysis revealed that a
      good clinical response (HR 13.743, 95 % CI 2.455-76.917) and the presence of
      serum p53 antibody before treatment (HR 3.987, 95 % CI 1.103-14.416) were
      independent predictors of good pathological response. CONCLUSIONS: The presence
      of serum p53 antibody can be used as a novel, noninvasive predictor of the
      pathological tumor response to NAC with DCF in ESCC patients.

PMID- 27637604
TI  - Total Extraperitoneal Hernia Repair: Residency Teaching Program and Outcome
      Evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total extraperitoneal (TEP) hernia repair has been shown to offer
      less pain, shorter postoperative hospital stay and earlier return to work when
      compared to open surgery. Our institution routinely performs TEP procedures for
      patients with primary or recurrent inguinal hernias. The aim of this study was to
      show that supervised senior residents can safely perform TEP repairs in a
      teaching setting. METHODS: All consecutive patients treated for inguinal hernias
      by laparoscopic approach from October 2008 to June 2012 were retrospectively
      analyzed from a prospective database. RESULTS: A total of 219 TEP repairs were
      performed on 171 patients: 123 unilateral and 48 bilateral. The mean patient age
      was 51.6 years with a standard deviation (SD) of +/- 15.9. Supervised senior
      residents performed 171 (78 %) and staff surgeons 48 (22 %) TEP repairs,
      respectively. Thirty-day morbidity included cases of inguinal paresthesias (0.4
      %, n = 1), umbilical hematomas (0.9 %, n = 2), superficial wound infections (0.9
      %, n = 2), scrotal hematomas (2.7 %, n = 6), postoperative urinary retentions
      (2.7 %, n = 6), chronic pain syndromes (5 %, n = 11) and postoperative seromas
      (6.7 %, n = 14). Overall, complication rates were 18.7 % for staff surgeons and
      19.3 % for residents (p = 0.83). For staff surgeons and residents, mean operative
      times for unilateral hernia repairs were 65 min (SD +/- 18.9) and 77.6 min (SD +/
      29.8) (p = 0.043), respectively, while mean operative times for bilateral
      repairs were 115 min (SD +/- 40.1) and 103.6 (SD +/- 25.9) (p = 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: TEP repair is a safe procedure when performed by supervised senior
      surgical trainees. Teaching of TEP should be routinely included in general
      surgery residency programs.

PMID- 27637605
TI  - Surgical Informed Consent Revisited: Time to Revise the Routine?

PMID- 27637601
TI  - Translational Assays for Assessment of Cognition in Rodent Models of Alzheimer's
      Disease and Dementia.
AB  - Cognitive dysfunction appears as a core feature of dementia, which includes its
      most prevalent form, Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as vascular dementia,
      frontotemporal dementia, and other brain disorders. AD alone affects more than 45
      million people worldwide, with growing prevalence in aging populations. There is
      no cure, and therapeutic options remain limited. Gene-edited and transgenic
      animal models, expressing disease-specific gene mutations, illuminate pathogenic
      mechanisms leading to cognitive decline in AD and other forms of dementia. To
      date, cognitive tests in AD mouse models have not been directly relevant to the
      clinical presentation of AD, providing challenges for translation of findings to
      the clinic. Touchscreen testing in mice has enabled the assessment of specific
      cognitive domains in mice that are directly relevant to impairments described in
      human AD patients. In this review, we provide context for how cognitive decline
      is measured in the clinic, describe traditional methods for assessing cognition
      in mice, and outline novel approaches, including the use of the touchscreen
      platform for cognitive testing. We highlight the limitations of traditional
      memory-testing paradigms in mice, particularly their capacity for direct
      translation into cognitive testing of patients. While it is not possible to
      expect direct translation in testing methodologies, we can aim to develop tests
      that engage similar neural substrates in both humans and mice. Ultimately, that
      would enable us to better predict efficacy across species and therefore improve
      the chances that a treatment that works in mice will also work in the clinic.

PMID- 27637606
TI  - Chronic Inguinal Pain After Kidney Transplantation, a Common and Underexposed
      Problem.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence and impact of chronic inguinal pain after kidney
      transplantation is not clearly established. A high incidence of pain after
      inguinal hernia repair, a comparable surgical procedure, suggests an underexposed
      problem. METHODS: Between 2011 and 2013, 403 consecutive patients who underwent
      kidney transplantation were invited to complete the Caroline Comfort Scale (CCS)
      and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) in order to assess the incidence of chronic
      inguinal pain and movement disabilities, complemented by questions regarding
      comorbidity during follow-up. RESULTS: The response rate was 58 % (n = 199) with
      a median follow-up of 22 months (IQR 12-30). In total, 90 patients (45 %)
      reported a CCS > 0 and 64 patients (32 %) experienced at least mild but
      bothersome complaints. Most inguinal complaints were reported during bending over
      and walking with a mean CCS score of 1.1 (SD +/- 2.2) and 1.2 (SD +/- 2.4),
      respectively. A high body mass index (BMI), delayed graft function, and the need
      for a second operation were associated with a higher CCS score on univariate
      analysis. Using multivariate analysis, only BMI (p = 0.02) was considered an
      independent risk factor for chronic inguinal pain. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of
      chronic inguinal pain is a common though underexposed complication after kidney
      transplantation. More awareness to prevent neuropathic pain seems indicated.

PMID- 27637607
TI  - Comment on: "Prevention of Esophageal Stricture After Endoscopic Submucosal
      Dissection: A Systematic Review".

PMID- 27637608
TI  - Severity scoring of manganese health effects for categorical regression.
AB  - Characterizing the U-shaped exposure response relationship for manganese (Mn) is
      necessary for estimating the risk of adverse health from Mn toxicity due to
      excess or deficiency. Categorical regression has emerged as a powerful tool for
      exposure-response analysis because of its ability to synthesize relevant
      information across multiple studies and species into a single integrated analysis
      of all relevant data. This paper documents the development of a database on Mn
      toxicity designed to support the application of categorical regression
      techniques. Specifically, we describe (i) the conduct of a systematic search of
      the literature on Mn toxicity to gather data appropriate for dose-response
      assessment; (ii) the establishment of inclusion/exclusion criteria for data to be
      included in the categorical regression modeling database; (iii) the development
      of a categorical severity scoring matrix for Mn health effects to permit the
      inclusion of diverse health outcomes in a single categorical regression analysis
      using the severity score as the outcome variable; and (iv) the convening of an
      international expert panel to both review the severity scoring matrix and assign
      severity scores to health outcomes observed in studies (including case reports,
      epidemiological investigations, and in vivo experimental studies) selected for
      inclusion in the categorical regression database. Exposure information including
      route, concentration, duration, health endpoint(s), and characteristics of the
      exposed population was abstracted from included studies and stored in a
      computerized manganese database (MnDB), providing a comprehensive repository of
      exposure-response information with the ability to support categorical regression
      modeling of oral exposure data.

PMID- 27637609
TI  - Streptozotocin inhibits synaptic transmission and edaravone attenuates
      streptozotocin-induced electrophysiological changes in CA1 pyramidal neurons of
      rat hippocampal slices.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute and chronic effects of
      streptozotocin (STZ) upon synaptic transmission and the effects of edaravone
      (EDA, a free radical scavenger) on STZ-induced electrophysiological changes in
      CA1 pyramidal neurons of rat hippocampal slices. To accomplish this goal,
      spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC), miniature excitatory
      postsynaptic current (mEPSC), spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current (sIPSC)
      and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current (mIPSC) were recorded within
      hippocampal slices using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. The results showed
      that the amplitudes and frequencies of sEPSC, mEPSC, sIPSC and mIPSC were
      inhibited by 1000MUM STZ, while treatment of EDA (1000MUM) attenuated these STZ
      induced changes. The degree of these neurotoxic effects of STZ and effects of EDA
      increased as a function of drug duration as assessed at 2, 4 or 8h of exposure.
      Taken together, our results demonstrate that STZ induces neurotoxicity within
      these hippocampal slices through its capacity to alter synaptic transmission and
      these STZ-induced alterations in electrophysiological responses are attenuated by
      EDA.

PMID- 27637610
TI  - Letter to the Editor: Editorial: Orthopaedic Surgeons Should Recommend That
      Children and Young Adults Not Play Tackle Football.

PMID- 27637611
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Novel Augmentation Technique for Patellar Tendon Repair
      Improves Strength and Decreases Gap Formation: A Cadaveric Study.

PMID- 27637613
TI  - CORR Insights(r): A Novel Technique for Assessing Antioxidant Concentration in
      Retrieved UHMWPE.

PMID- 27637612
TI  - Is Increased Acetabular Cartilage or Fossa Size Associated With Pincer
      Femoroacetabular Impingement?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment for pincer femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) of
      the hip remains controversial, between trimming the prominent acetabular rim and
      reverse periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) that reorients the acetabulum. However,
      rim trimming may decrease articular surface size to a critical threshold where
      increased joint contact forces lead to joint degeneration. Therefore, knowledge
      of how much acetabular articular cartilage is available for resection is
      important when evaluating between the two surgical options. In addition, it
      remains unclear whether the acetabulum rim in pincer FAI is a prominent rim
      because of increased cartilage size or increased fossa size. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES:
      We used reformatted MR and CT data to establish linear length dimensions of the
      lunate cartilage and cotyloid fossa in normal, dysplastic, and deep acetabula.
      METHODS: We reviewed the last 200 hips undergoing PAO, reverse PAO, and surgical
      dislocation for acetabular rim trimming at one institution. We compared MR images
      of symptomatic hips with acetabular dysplasia (20 hips), pincer FAI (29 hips),
      and CT scans of asymptomatic hips from patients who underwent CT scans for
      reasons other than hip pain (20 hips). These hips were chosen sequentially from
      the underlying pool of 200 potential subjects to identify the first 10 male and
      the first 10 female hips in each group that met inclusion criteria. As a result
      of low numbers, we included all hips that had undergone reverse PAO and met
      inclusion criteria. Cartilage width was measured medially from the cotyloid fossa
      to the lateral labrochondral junction. Cotyloid fossa linear height was measured
      from superior to inferior and cotyloid fossa width was measured from anterior to
      posterior. Superior lunate cartilage width (SLCW) and cotyloid fossa height (CFH)
      were measured on MR and CT oblique coronal reformats; anterior lunate cartilage
      width (ALCW), posterior lunate cartilage width (PLCW), and cotyloid fossa width
      (CFW) were measured on MR and CT oblique axial reformats. Cohorts were compared
      using multivariate analysis of variance with Bonferroni's adjustment for multiple
      comparisons. RESULTS: Compared with control acetabula, dysplastic acetabula had
      smaller SLCW (2.08 +/- 0.29 mm versus 2.63 +/- 0.42 mm, mean difference = -0.55
      mm; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.83 to -0.27; p < 0.01), ALCW (1.20 +/- 0.34
      mm versus 1.64 +/- 0.21 mm, mean difference = -0.44 mm; 95% CI = -0.70 to -0.18;
      p = 0.00), CFH (2.84 +/- 0.37 mm versus 3.42 +/- 0.57 mm, mean difference = -0.59
      mm; 95% CI = -0.96 to -0.21; p < 0.01), and CFW (1.98 +/- 0.50 mm versus 2.77 +/-
      0.33 mm, mean difference = -0.80 mm; 95% CI = -1.16 to -0.42; p < 0.0001). Based
      on the results, we identified two subtypes of deep acetabula. Compared with
      controls, deep subtype 1 had normal CFH and CFW but increased ALCW (2.09 +/- 0.42
      mm versus 1.64 +/- 0.21 mm; p < 0.001) and PLCW (2.32 +/- 0.36 mm versus 2.00 +/-
      0.32 mm; p = 0.04). Compared with controls, deep subtype 2 had increased CFH
      (4.37 +/- 0.51 mm versus 3.42 +/- 0.57 mm; p < 0.01) and CFW (2.76 +/- 0.54 mm
      versus 2.77 +/- 0.33 mm; p = 1.0) but smaller SCLW (2.12 +/- 0.40 mm versus 2.63
      +/- 0.42 mm; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Deep acetabula have two distinct
      morphologies: subtype 1 with increased anterior and posterior cartilage lengths
      and subtype 2 with a larger fossa in height and width and smaller superior
      cartilage length. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In patients with deep subtype 1 hips that
      have increased anterior and posterior cartilage widths, rim trimming to create an
      articular surface of normal size may be reasonable. However, for patients with
      deep subtype 2 hips that have large fossas but do not have increased cartilage
      widths, we propose that a reverse PAO that reorients yet preserves the size of
      the articular surface may be more promising. However, these theories will need to
      be validated in well-controlled clinical studies.

PMID- 27637614
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Is Botulinum Toxin Type A a Valuable Adjunct During Femoral
      Lengthening? A Randomized Trial.

PMID- 27637615
TI  - CORR Insights(r): What is the Intraarticular Concentration of Tobramycin Using
      Low-dose Tobramycin Bone Cement in TKA: An In Vivo Analysis?

PMID- 27637616
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Does the Utilization of Allograft Tissue in Medial
      Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients
      Restore Patellar Stability?

PMID- 27637617
TI  - Editor's Spotlight/Take 5: When Can I Drive After Orthopaedic Surgery? A
      Systematic Review.

PMID- 27637618
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Is Increased Acetabular Cartilage or Fossa Size Associated With
      Pincer Femoroacetabular Impingement?

PMID- 27637619
TI  - Classifications in Brief: Rockwood Classification of Acromioclavicular Joint
      Separations.

PMID- 27637620
TI  - Drug-Induced Tactile Hallucinations Beyond Recreational Drugs.
AB  - In monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis (MHP), such as delusional
      infestation (DI), the patient has a fixed, false, encapsulated belief associated
      with tactile hallucinations (TH), most commonly formication, which is defined as
      cutaneous sensations of crawling, stinging, biting, etc., without evidence of
      infestation. Drug-induced TH should be considered in patients with suspected MHP.
      Although recreational drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, and narcotics are well
      known to induce TH, many busy practicing dermatologists may not be familiar with
      other types of medications that can induce TH. A literature search for peer
      reviewed articles was conducted in the PubMed, PsychInfo, Cochrane, and Embase
      databases. For each article, the medication(s) that induced TH was identified in
      a systematic way. The most commonly reported group of medications to induce TH
      was anti-Parkisonian agents, followed by antidepressants, prescription
      stimulants, antihypertensives (propranolol), and antiepileptics. In many cases,
      other types of hallucinations, such as visual and auditory, were present.
      Patients also commonly presented with psychiatric comorbidities. Although the
      conclusions that can be derived from this literature review are limited, it
      appears that certain medications that alter neurotransmitters, especially
      dopamine and, less convincingly, norepinephrine and serotonin, can be associated
      with TH. Drug-induced TH should also be considered in patients presenting with
      multiple types of hallucinations and patients with existing psychiatric
      comorbidity. Drug-induced TH, especially with an underlying psychiatric diagnosis
      that is separate from MHP, may be a more manageable disease entity compared with
      bona fide MHP.

PMID- 27637621
TI  - Acute central effects of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) on energy balance:
      Effects of age and gender.
AB  - Previously demonstrated age-related changes in the catabolic melanocortin system
      that may contribute to middle-aged obesity and aging anorexia, raise the question
      of the potential involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in these
      phenomena, as this catabolic hypothalamic mediator acts downstream to
      melanocortins. Catabolic effects of CRF were shown to be mediated by both CRF1
      (hypermetabolism) and CRF2 (anorexia) receptors. To test the potential role of
      CRF in age-related obesity and aging anorexia, we investigated acute central
      effects of the peptide on energy balance in male and female rats during the
      course of aging. Effects of an intracerebroventricular CRF injection on food
      intake (FI), oxygen-consumption (VO2), core- and tail skin temperatures (Tc and
      Ts) were studied in male and female Wistar rats of five different age-groups
      (from 3- to 24-month). Anorexigenic responsiveness was tested during 180-min re
      feeding (FeedScale) following 24-h fasting. Thermoregulatory analysis was
      performed by indirect calorimetry (Oxymax) complemented by thermocouples
      recording Tc and Ts (indicating heat loss). CRF suppressed FI in 3-month male and
      female animals. In males, CRF-induced anorexia declined with aging, whereas in
      females it was maintained in all groups. The peptide increased VO2 and Tc in all
      male age-groups, while the weaker hypermetabolic response characterizing 3-month
      females declined rapidly with aging. Thus, age-related alterations in acute
      central anorexigenic and hypermetabolic effects of CRF show different non
      parallel patterns in males and females. Our findings underline the importance of
      gender differences. They also call the attention to the differential age-related
      changes in the CRF1 and CRF2 receptor systems.

PMID- 27637623
TI  - Results of Clipping Surgery for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Elderly
      Patients Aged 90 or Older.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of elderly patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage (SAH) is increasing. Although advanced age is one of the recognized
      risk factors for poor outcome, conservative treatment for aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage cannot provide satisfactory outcome in elderly patients. The aim of
      this study is to assess the outcome in patients aged 90 or older, for whom
      ruptured aneurysms were treated by clipping. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      the medical records of non-traumatic SAH patients who were hospitalized at the
      Chiba Neurosurgical Clinic between 2004 and 2013. Of the 702 patients, 8 patients
      (1.1 %) were aged 90 or older. Of them, four underwent clipping surgery and the
      other four died or were managed conservatively. Their preoperative conditions
      were evaluated with the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Grading Scale
      of SAH, and the Fisher classification was used to assess the bleeding severity.
      The location of the ruptured aneurysm was determined by three-dimensional
      computed tomographic angiography or cerebral angiography. The Glasgow Outcome
      Scale evaluation was assigned at discharge. RESULTS: Four patients (four female,
      all WFNS grade 1), aged 90 or older, underwent clipping surgery. Fisher
      classification was three in two patients and four in the other two. Location of
      the ruptured aneurysm was internal carotid artery in two, anterior communicating
      artery in one, and posterior inferior cerebellar artery in one patient. Two of
      these four patients had a favorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that
      advanced age alone does not exclude suitable surgical clipping in patients with
      aneurysmal rupture in the tenth decade of life.

PMID- 27637622
TI  - Surgical Management of Aneurysmal Hematomas: Prognostic Factors and Outcome.
AB  - From 1991 until 2013, 304 patients with intracranial hematomas from aneurysmal
      rupture were managed surgically in our department, constituting 17 % of all
      patients with aneurysmal rupture. Of them, 242 patents presented with isolated
      intracerebral hematomas (in 69 cases associated with significant intraventricular
      hemorrhage), 50 patients presented with combined intracerebral and subdural
      hematomas (in 11 cases associated with significant intraventricular hemorrhage),
      and 12 presented with an isolated subdural hematoma. The surgical procedure
      consisted of simultaneous clipping of the aneurysm and evacuation of the hematoma
      in all cases. After surgery, 16 patients (5 %) submitted to an additional
      decompressive hemicraniectomy, and 66 patients (21 %) submitted to a ventriculo
      peritoneal shunt. Clinical outcomes were assessed at discharge and at 6 months,
      using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS); a favorable outcome (mRS 0-2) was observed
      in 10 % of the cases at discharge, increasing to 31 % at 6 months; 6-month
      mortality was 40 %. Applying uni- and multivariate analysis, the following risk
      factors were associated with a significantly worse outcome: age >60; preoperative
      Hunt-Hess grades IV-V; pupillary mydriasis (only on univariate); midline shift
      >10 mm; hematoma volume >30 cc; and the presence of hemocephalus (i.e., packed
      intraventricular hemorrhage). Based on these results, an aggressive surgical
      treatment should be adopted for most cases with aneurysmal hematomas, excluding
      patients with bilateral mydriasis persisting after rescue therapy.

PMID- 27637624
TI  - Flexible Endoscopic Aspiration for Intraventricular Casting Hematoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conventionally, patients suffering a massive intraventricular
      hemorrhage have undergone external ventricular drainage. However, long-term or
      repeated drainage increases the risk of complications due to infections or shunt
      dependency. Neuroendoscopic surgery may offer some advantages over more
      conventional procedures. METHODS: Thirteen patients suffering intraventricular
      hematoma associated with intracerebral hemorrhage, treated in our hospital
      between April 2011 and March 2014, were reviewed retrospectively. Casting
      hematomas in the ventricles were manually aspirated using a flexible endoscope.
      The timing of the operation, period of post-endoscopic ventricular drainage,
      additional internal shunt surgery, 3-month post-surgical outcome, and critical
      complications were evaluated. RESULTS: Two patients (treated during our earliest
      use of endoscope) who underwent surgery on the 7th and 16th day post-onset
      required subsequent cerebrospinal shunt surgery. In contrast, of the 11 patients
      who underwent endoscopic surgery on the day of onset, only 1 patient required an
      additional, third ventriculostomy due to a secondary obstruction of the aqueduct
      by adhesive fibrous membranes. After 3 months, all six patients with mRS scores
      of 2-3 satisfied all the following criteria: initial Glasgow Coma Scale scores
      higher than 8, flexible endoscopic surgeries performed on the day of onset, and
      period of ventricular drainage of less than 4 days. CONCLUSIONS: Early surgical
      intervention using a flexible endoscope and short period of post-surgical
      drainage can be highly effective for patients suffering from casting
      intraventricular hematomas associated with intracerebral hemorrhage. The
      advantages of this treatment may be a less invasive procedure, ICP control in the
      acute phase, breaking away from ventricular drainage in the early stage, and
      prevention of hydrocephalus or intracranial infectious complications in the long
      term.

PMID- 27637625
TI  - Clipping Surgery for Paraclinoid Carotid Aneurysm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paraclinoid carotid aneurysm is widely treated with coil
      embolization. However, all paraclinoid carotid aneurysms cannot be obliterated by
      the endovascular approach. METHODS: Our direct surgical procedure was presented.
      The clinical data of surgically treated paraclinoid carotid aneurysms were
      retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: One hundred ninety paraclinoid carotid
      aneurysms in 181 patients were directly obliterated at the Shinshu University
      Hospital and its affiliated hospitals between 1991 and 2013. CONCLUSIONS: Direct
      surgical repair of the paraclinoid carotid aneurysm is still useful, even in the
      era of endovascular treatment.

PMID- 27637626
TI  - Outcome After Surgical Treatment of Paraclinoid Carotid Aneurysms.
AB  - Surgery on paraclinoid carotid aneurysms is technically demanding and entails
      considerable risks, especially to visual function. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the clinical and visual outcome after surgery in 66 patients with
      paraclinoid carotid aneurysms (30 ruptured and 36 unruptured) treated between
      1990 and 2014. Thirty-six aneurysms were of standard size, and 30 were large (16
      20 mm) or giant (>20 mm); the Barami classification was used in every case.
      During surgery, multiple clips were needed in 25 % of patients with standard, and
      in 80 % of patients with large-giant aneurysms; temporary carotid occlusion was
      performed on 11 % of patients with standard and 63 % with large-giant aneurysms.
      Postoperatively, a cerebrospinal fluid fistula was repaired surgically in two
      patients. At the 3-month follow-up, the modified Rankin Score (mRS) was favorable
      (0-2) in 63 % of patients with ruptured and in 97 % with unruptured aneurysms;
      four patients presenting with large hematomas died. Postoperative visual
      impairment (worsening or newly developing deficit) was noted in 25 % of cases
      with standard and 14 % of cases with large-giant ruptured aneurysms, and,
      respectively, in 10 % with standard and 31 % with large-giant unruptured
      aneurysms. It has been concluded that surgery remains a reasonable choice in the
      management of patients with paraclinoid carotid aneurysms.

PMID- 27637627
TI  - Predictive Factors for the Occurrence of Visual and Ischemic Complications After
      Open Surgery for Paraclinoid Aneurysms of the Internal Carotid Artery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive factors for visual and ischemic
      complications after open surgery for paraclinoid aneurysms of the internal
      carotid artery (ICA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight consecutive patients
      with unruptured paraclinoid aneurysms of ICA operated on between 2009 and 2013
      were included in this study. The male:female ratio was 6:32 and the ages ranged
      from 33 to 81 (mean: 60 +/- 2). Twenty cases were asymptomatic and 18 had
      ophthalmological symptoms. The sizes of the aneurysms ranged from 2 to 35 mm
      (mean: 10.6 +/- 9 mm). Twenty-three patients were treated by clipping and 15 by
      trapping with bypass (high-flow bypass in 11, and low-flow in 4). Twenty-four
      patients underwent removal of the anterior clinoid process. Among them, 8
      underwent en bloc anterior clinoidectomy with a high-speed drill, and 16 had
      piecemeal excision with a microrongeur or ultrasonic bone curette. Intraoperative
      monitoring was performed using motor-evoked potentials (MEP) and visual-evoked
      potentials (VEP) in 27 and 15 cases, respectively. RESULTS: Complete obliteration
      of the aneurysm was achieved in 37 cases (97.4 %). The patency rate of bypass was
      100 %. Postoperative worsening of visual acuity, including one case of blindness,
      was observed in six cases (11 %). Worsening of visual field defects occurred in
      14 cases (38 %), but 10 of them were transient. Transient oculomotor nerve palsy
      occurred in six cases (15 %). Postoperative stroke was detected by diffusion
      weighted imaging (DWI) in five cases (13 %), four of which were symptomatic.
      Statistical analysis showed that piecemeal anterior clinoidectomy was
      significantly safer than en bloc removal in preserving visual function. Trapping
      with high-flow bypass had a significantly greater risk of postoperative stroke
      than direct clipping. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative VEP monitoring might be useful
      for preventing postoperative worsening of visual function. Two-stage treatment
      with bypass and endovascular trapping might be safer than single-stage trapping
      alone.

PMID- 27637628
TI  - Retrograde Suction Decompression Through Direct Puncture of the Common Carotid
      Artery for Paraclinoid Aneurysm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical clipping of paraclinoid aneurysm can be very difficult
      because strong adhesions may hinder the dissection of the perforators and
      surrounding anatomical structures from the aneurysm dome. We describe our
      experience with using retrograde suction decompression during the clipping of
      paraclinoid aneurysms and discuss the relative advantages and pitfalls. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: This study included 23 patients with large and giant paraclinoid
      aneurysms who underwent surgical treatment consisting of direct clipping with
      suction decompression between March 2004 and August 2014. Direct puncture of the
      common carotid artery (CCA) was performed with a 20-gauge needle. The aneurysm
      was temporarily trapped by clamping of the CCA and external carotid artery (ECA),
      followed by temporary clipping of the intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA)
      distal to the aneurysm neck. Blood was then gently aspirated through a catheter
      introduced into the cervical ICA, resulting in collapse of the aneurysm.
      Therefore, safe aneurysm dissection was feasible during interruption of the blood
      flow, which could be maintained for up to 5 min. This procedure was repeated
      until dissection and clipping of the aneurysm were completed. RESULTS: Seven
      patients were admitted with SAH, 11 with asymptomatic unruptured aneurysm, and 5
      with symptomatic unruptured aneurysm. The aneurysms were located on the
      paraclinoidal segment of the ICA in 15 cases, on the ICA-posterior communicating
      artery (PComA) in 6, at the ICA bifurcation in 1, and on the anterior wall of the
      ICA in 1. None of them suffered complications related to the CCA puncture.
      Surgical outcome was good recovery in 13 patients, moderate disability in 4,
      severe disability in 4, and vegetative state in 1. CONCLUSION: Retrograde suction
      decompression through direct puncture of the common carotid artery is a useful
      adjunct technique for the clipping of paraclinoid ICA aneurysms.

PMID- 27637630
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Complex Cerebral Aneurysms Using Interposition Short Vein
      Graft.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cerebral revascularization strategies may become necessary
      in select patients who present with challenging cerebral aneurysms. In this
      study, we present the techniques of a moderate-flow extra-intracranial bypass
      using a short interposition vein graft and concurrent aneurysm management.
      METHODS: The short interposition vein graft was used for the reconstruction of
      complex cerebral aneurysms in nine patients. In eight of them, the superficial
      temporal artery (STA) main trunk was used as a donor site for the anastomosis of
      a short interposition vein graft, and an extracranial vertebral artery (VA) was
      used in one case. The vein grafts were implanted into the M2 of the middle
      cerebral artery (MCA) for the adjunctive treatment of internal carotid artery
      (ICA) aneurysms in three patients, into the A3 of the anterior cerebral artery
      (ACA) in one patient, into the P2 of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) for the
      adjunctive treatment of complex PCA aneurysms in three patients, into the P3 of
      the PCA for the adjunctive treatment of a basilar artery (BA) trunk giant
      aneurysm in 1 patient, and into the postero-inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) for
      the adjunctive treatment of the VA dissecting aneurysm in one patient. RESULTS:
      All of the bypasses were patent. Intraoperative flow measurements confirmed a
      moderate flow-carrying capacity of the short interposition short vein graft (30
      70 ml; mean: 43 ml/min). CONCLUSION: The STA main trunk to proximal MCA/PCA
      bypass and the extracranial VA to PICA bypass using short interposition vein
      grafts can provide sufficient blood flow and may be a reasonable alternative to
      the conventional EC-IC bypass/high-flow bypass.

PMID- 27637629
TI  - Bypass Surgeries in the Treatment of Cerebral Aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During surgery for cerebral aneurysm, revascularization techniques
      are occasionally needed to (1) treat an aneurysm (trapping or flow alteration);
      (2) preserve blood flow during temporary parent artery occlusion (insurance); and
      (3) repair accidentally injured vessels (troubleshooting). Herein we present our
      surgical case experiences. METHODS: Revascularization modalities were employed in
      33 (7.6 %) of 452 cases of surgically treated aneurysms. The aneurysm locations
      and associated required bypass procedures were: (1) 7 middle cerebral artery
      (MCA) aneurysms with 7 superficial temporal artery (STA)-MCA bypass procedures;
      (2) 10 internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms with 9 high-flow and 1 STA-MCA
      procedures; (3) 10 vertebro-basilar artery aneurysms with 2 high-flow, 6
      occipital artery (OA)-posterior ICA, and 1 STA-superior cerebellar artery (SCA)
      procedures; (4) 1 posterior cerebral artery (PCA) aneurysm with OA-PCA bypass;
      and (5) 5 anterior cerebral artery aneurysms with 4 A3-A3 and 1 A3-STA-A3
      procedure. Curative bypasses for aneurysmal treatment, temporary bypasses, and
      troubleshooting procedures were performed in 25, 3, and 5 cases, respectively.
      RESULTS: Among the 26 aneurysms treated via curative bypass, 16 aneurysms that
      were trapped or clipped using revascularization techniques had better outcomes
      (no aneurysmal rupture and 1 perforator infarction), whereas among the 10
      aneurysms that could not be trapped or clipped and were thereby treated via flow
      alteration (e.g., bypass plus proximal artery clipping), 2 developed symptomatic
      infarction and 2 exhibited aneurysmal rupture after partial thrombosis. Patients
      whose bypass procedures were used for temporary parent artery occlusion
      (insurance) or troubleshooting had no complications. CONCLUSION: Complex aneurysm
      clipping or trapping using bypass techniques yielded good results. In particular,
      perforator vessel ischemia still requires resolution. Flow alteration techniques
      leading to aneurismal thrombosis carried the risks of ischemic and hemorrhagic
      complications when applied to intracranial aneurysms. Bypasses for temporary use
      or troubleshooting were quite effective.

PMID- 27637631
TI  - Partial Trapping Strategies for Managing Complex Intracranial Aneurysms.
AB  - In this chapter we discuss the rationale of partial trapping strategies and
      associated flow-replacement bypass surgery for managing complex intracranial
      aneurysms (IAs).

PMID- 27637632
TI  - Emergency Non-occlusive High Capacity Bypass Surgery for Ruptured Giant Internal
      Carotid Artery Aneurysms.
AB  - AIM: Managing ruptured giant internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms in an
      emergency situation is very challenging. By reporting two cases, we discuss the
      role of the Excimer Laser-assisted Non-occlusive Anastomosis (ELANA) technique as
      an armamentarium for cerebrovascular surgeons dealing with giant ICA aneurysms
      presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      management of two consecutive patients treated with ELANA bypass during a 6-month
      period (June- December 2013) for ruptured giant ICA aneurysms in an emergency
      setting is presented. RESULTS: The two patients presented with SAH and newly
      diagnosed giant ICA aneurysms (both Fisher 3; WFNS scores 2 and 4, respectively).
      Both patients received an emergent high-capacity extra- to intracranial (EC-IC)
      bypass with interposition of a saphenous vein graft between the external carotid
      artery (ECA) and the ICA-termination. The intracranial anastomosis was performed
      by the use of the non-occlusive ELANA technique. The aneurysms were successfully
      trapped, and there were no major complications and no major persistent morbidity
      in either patient. A good clinical outcome was obtained with a modified Rankin
      scale of 2 at the last follow-up in both patients. CONCLUSION: Emergency ELANA
      bypass surgery is a useful instrument for managing patients with giant ICA
      aneurysms presenting with SAH. In experienced hands, the technique does not seem
      to carry increased risk and may expand the surgical options due to its non
      occlusive nature.

PMID- 27637633
TI  - Clipping Surgery for Unruptured Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms.
AB  - Clipping surgeries for 139 consecutive unruptured middle cerebral aneurysms were
      performed between April 1991 and March 2014. Left hemiparesis occurred in one
      case (0.7 %). Transient symptoms arose in six patients due to perforator injury,
      arterial branch occlusion, damage to the venous system, or chronic subdural
      hematoma. Neither mortality nor decline in cognitive function was noted in this
      study. Clipping surgery for unruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysms can be
      done with minimal morbidity. However, meticulous management during the
      perioperative period as well as the use of modern technologies during the
      surgery, such as MEP monitoring and ICG videoangiography, are needed for safe and
      secure clipping surgery.

PMID- 27637634
TI  - Flow Dynamics of Aneurysm Growth and Rupture: Challenges for the Development of
      Computational Flow Dynamics as a Diagnostic Tool to Detect Rupture-Prone
      Aneurysms.
AB  - Saccular intracranial aneurysm (sIA) is a relatively common disease that can
      potentially cause a devastating, life-threatening intracranial hemorrhage. Many
      sIAs never rupture and thus do not necessitate interventions, making the
      detection of rupture-prone sIAs a very relevant clinical problem. Moreover,
      because currently available methods to prevent sIA rupture have significant risks
      of morbidity and mortality, diagnostic tools that can predict imminent rupture
      and help plan proper timing of prophylactic interventions, can improve patient
      care. Hemorrhage from an sIA occurs when hemodynamic stress exceeds sIA wall
      strength. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a tool with which the hemodynamic
      stress to which the sIA wall is exposed can be determined non-invasively. Studies
      using CFD in sIAs have demonstrated associations of wall shear stress (WSS) with
      aneurysm growth, fragile sIA wall, and sIA rupture; these studies show the
      potential of CFD as a diagnostic tool. This review discusses the limitations of
      CFD and of the studies performed, and what needs to be done in order to develop
      CFD into a useful diagnostic tool to determine aneurysm-specific rupture risk.

PMID- 27637635
TI  - Reconsideration of Hemodynamic Cerebral Ischemia Using Recent PET/SPECT Studies.
AB  - Hemodynamic cerebral ischemia has been conceptually confirmed by positron
      emission tomography (PET) imaging, and misery perfusion could be compensated with
      both vascular and metabolic reserve; however, these compensatory reserve
      capacities do not always respond in the same manner from short-term to long-term
      compromise of hemodynamic cerebral ischemia.In patients with acute misery
      perfusion, CMRO2 is immediately compensated by a marked increase of OEF combined
      with a limited increase of CBV. In patients with chronic misery perfusion, a
      moderate increase of OEF is compatible with a moderate increase of CBV, which
      could correlate with a moderate decrease of vascular reserve (VR). In moyamoya
      disease with long-standing misery perfusion, hemodynamic cerebral ischemia is
      initially compensated with a great deal of vasodilation, and can then be followed
      with an increased OEF in response to the degree of progression.The stage of
      hemodynamic cerebral ischemia has been defined by an increase of OEF, but could
      be reconsidered from different patterns of the engagement of compensatory reserve
      capacities, and misery perfusion could be classified into three subtypes, such as
      acute, chronic, and long-standing misery perfusion.

PMID- 27637636
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Carotid Artery Stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The indications for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and
      carotid artery stenting (CAS) have not been established. CEA is more appropriate
      than CAS if soft atherosclerotic plaques are included in the stenotic lesion,
      since such soft plaques are associated with a high incidence of ischemic
      complications during CAS. This report presents our surgical methods and the
      clinical results of CEA and CAS, and suggests an appropriate treatment strategy
      using plaque diagnosis, especially for high-risk patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      From January 2001 until December 2013 we surgically treated carotid stenosis in
      241 lesions by CEA, and 309 lesions by CAS. The average age of the patients was
      70.5 in CEA and 71.4 in CAS. The symptomatic stenosis rate was 67 % and the
      average stenotic rate was 82 % in CEA; these were 61 % and 66 %, respectively, in
      CAS. RESULTS: Stenosis of carotid arteries was relieved in all cases after CEA or
      CAS. Peri-operative mortality with CEA and CAS was 0.4 % (1/241) and 0.3 %
      (1/309), respectively. Morbidity by ischemic stroke with CEA and CAS was 2.9 %
      (7/241) and 1.6 % (5/309), respectively. Surgical morbidity was not high in
      patients with medical risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid stenotic lesions can be
      treated with comparably low morbidity and mortality rates using CEA and/or CAS
      even with high risks when appropriate surgical methods are selected, considering
      each characteristic of carotid stenosis using plaque diagnosis.

PMID- 27637637
TI  - Lateral Position of the External Carotid Artery: A Rare Variation to Be
      Recognized During Carotid Endarterectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: External carotid artery (ECA) positioned laterally to the internal
      carotid artery (ICA) at the level of the common carotid artery (CCA) bifurcation
      is occasionally encountered during carotid endarterectomy (CEA). This study aimed
      to determine the frequency of this phenomenon and provide technical tips for
      performing CEA. METHODS: The study included 199 consecutive patients (209 carotid
      arteries) who underwent CEA at Otaru Municipal Medical Center in 2007-2014. The
      position of the ECA with respect to the ICA at the CCA bifurcation was
      preoperatively rated as either lateral or normal, using three-dimensional
      computerized tomographic angiography (3-D CTA) anteroposterior projections.
      Postoperative diffusion-weighted images (DWIs), and postoperative 3-D CTA images
      were reviewed. RESULTS: Among the 209 carotid arteries with atherosclerosis, 11
      instances (5.3 %) of lateral position of the ECA were detected in 11 patients.
      Ten of these arteries (91 %) were right-sided (odds ratio 11.1; 95 % confidence
      interval 1.38-88.9). Wider longitudinal exposure of the arteries was used during
      CEA, and the CCA and ECA were rotated clockwise or counter clockwise. The ICA
      lying behind the ECA along the surgical access route was then pulled out
      laterally and moved to the shallow surgical field. Cross-clamping, arteriotomy,
      plaque removal, and wall suturing were performed as usual. No cerebral infarcts
      were detected on postoperative DWIs, and 3-D CTA revealed no CCA and ICA kinking.
      CONCLUSIONS: Lateral position of the ECA is not extremely rare in patients
      undergoing CEA for atherosclerosis and may be a congenital variation, although
      this is still controversial. CEA can be performed safely if the arteries from the
      CCA to the ICA are rotated, and the ICA is moved to the shallow surgical field
      under wider longitudinal exposure. Although no postoperative cerebral infarcts
      were detected, the risk of artery-to-artery embolism resulting from artery
      repositioning prior to plaque removal should be taken into consideration.

PMID- 27637638
TI  - Temporary Steno-occlusive Change in the Donor Artery During Mouth Opening (Big
      Bite Ischemic Phenomenon) After Superficial Temporal Artery to Middle Cerebral
      Artery Bypass in Adult Patients with Moyamoya Disease and Atherosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Superficial temporal artery (STA) to middle cerebral artery (MCA)
      bypass is one of the most common surgical procedures performed for direct
      extracranial (EC) to intracranial (IC) bypasses. We describe a temporary steno
      occlusive change in the STA that was caused by mouth opening after the STA-MCA
      bypass (so-called big bite ischemic phenomenon) in an adult patient with moyamoya
      disease. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of this phenomenon in
      patients with atherosclerosis. METHODS: Adult patients with ischemic
      cerebrovascular disease who underwent STA-MCA anastomosis were included in this
      study. Ultrasound examinations were postoperatively performed on 62 sides to
      determine whether mouth opening affected the blood flow of the donor STA and
      resulted in any ischemic symptoms within 1 min. Computed tomography angiography
      was performed during both mouth opening and closing when blood flow changes were
      recognized in the donor STA. RESULTS: During wide mouth opening, steno-occlusion
      of the donor STA occurred in 8 of the 62 affected sides (12.9 %), which included
      3 of the 47 sides (6.4 %) in patients with atherosclerosis and 5 of the 15 sides
      (33.3 %) in patients with moyamoya disease. CONCLUSION: Steno-occlusion of the
      donor STA occurred during wide mouth opening in 12.9 % of the sides of adult
      patients who had undergone STA-MCA anastomosis. This phenomenon was more common
      in patients with moyamoya disease than in patients with atherosclerosis.

PMID- 27637639
TI  - Universal Bypass for Treatment of Symptomatic Moyamoya Disease or Moyamoya
      Syndrome. Analysis of a Personal Case Series on Behalf of the Italian Moyamoya
      Association.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Moyamoya (MM) is a very rare cerebrovascular disease, particularly in
      Caucasians. We describe the results of an Italian case series where the mainstay
      of treatment was a bypass or a combined approach. METHODS: An analysis of a
      prospectively collected database was carried out. The main objective was to
      investigate (1) the risk of perioperative stroke and surgical complications, (2)
      the risk of new ischemic events, and (3) the risk of new hemorrhages at follow-up
      (mean follow-up: 2.2 years). RESULTS: Between January 2011 and January 2015 we
      carried out 34 bypasses in 23 patients with MM (15 MM disease, 5 unilateral MM, 3
      MM syndrome); mean age was 34 (range:1-57). The mortality and definitive
      morbidity rates were 0 %. Two patients suffered from transient aphasia and one
      developed partial palsy of the facial nerve. Five of the 12 patients with
      preoperative fixed deficits improved. No patient with preoperative ischemia
      experienced new ischemic symptoms. Rebleeding occurred in 1 of the 11 patients
      with a hemorrhagic presentation (9 %). CONCLUSIONS: The bypass/combined approach
      to MM appears to have a favorable risk profile and preventive effectiveness,
      particularly on TIAs and ischemic stroke.

PMID- 27637640
TI  - A Prospective and Retrospective Study of Cerebral AVM Treatment Strategies 1990
      2014.
AB  - Although treatment options for cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) have
      changed since the advent of endovascular surgery and radiosurgery, microsurgery
      is still the major treatment option since it is effective for immediate cure. We
      proposed, and have applied, a revised treatment strategy to patients at our
      institution from February 2008 to May 2014, in which the final goal was
      disappearance of the nidus on angiography in patients who underwent surgical
      intervention. We followed 67 patients with cerebral AVMs, and in the 59 patients
      who had surgical intervention, the cure rate was 89.8 % (53 of 59). In all 67
      patients, the surgical extirpation rate was 70.1 % (47/67). These rates were
      significantly higher than those between 1990 and 2008 at our institute.
      Microsurgical extirpation-related complications were a postoperative fatal
      hemorrhage in one patient, and visual field defects in two. In the endovascular
      treatment, two patients experienced hemiparesis, and radiosurgery-related
      complications were a fatal hemorrhage in one patient. Two patients from the non
      surgical intervention group suffered from fatal hemorrhage. To achieve lower
      morbidity and mortality in AVM microsurgery, complete treatment until
      disappearance of the lesion, and an effective combination of available treatment
      modalities, are mandatory.

PMID- 27637641
TI  - Multimodal Flow-Assisted Resection of Brain AVMs.
AB  - OBJECT: The authors report their personal experience with brain arterio-venous
      malformations (bAVMs) surgery with a multimodal flow-assisted approach. METHODS:
      Data from patients who consecutively underwent bAVM resection with the assistance
      of indocyanine green video-angiography (ICG-VA), micro-flow probe flowmetry, and
      temporary arterial clipping test under intra-operative monitoring, were
      retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty seven patients were enrolled in the
      study. Re-operation for residual nidus was needed in one case (3 %). Average mRS
      change 1 month after surgery was +0.02. In our experience, the multimodal flow
      assisted approach enabled surgeons to shift from one technique to another,
      according to the stage of resection, AVM location, or specific issues to be
      addressed. Before resection, the value of ICG-VA and flowmetry in showing AVM
      angio-architecture and guiding surgical strategy was related to AVM features. The
      temporary arterial clipping-test presented a 100 % sensitivity to differentiate
      between an AVM feeder and a transit artery to the sensi-motor area. At the final
      stage of resection, flowmetry was more effective than ICG-VA in detecting
      residual nidus missed at dissection. CONCLUSIONS: Multimodal flow-assisted
      approach in AVM surgery proved a feasible, safe, and reliable methodology to
      achieve AVM resection with high radicality and low morbidity rate.

PMID- 27637642
TI  - Seizures and Brain Arterovenous Malformation: A Surgical Series.
AB  - Seizures are common symptoms of supratentorial arteriovenous malformations
      (AVMs). The potential risk factors for epilepsy in patients with AVMs are still
      controversial. The reported long-term outcome of seizures after surgical
      treatment of AVMs is variable and the data available are mainly from small
      retrospective case series.We identified all consecutive patients between 1990 and
      2006 who underwent microsurgical resection of supratentorial AVMs at our
      institute. Pre-operative risk factors for seizures, intra-operative
      characteristics, long-term neurological disability, and seizure outcome (Engel's
      classification) were recorded and analyzed.During the study period, 110 patients
      underwent surgical resection of supratentorial AVM. Sixty of them (55 %) were
      symptomatic for seizures preoperatively. In our series, the absence of
      preoperative neurological deficits (p = 0.005), a large AVM size (p = 0.005), and
      no history of preoperative AVM hemorrhage (p < 0.001) were identified as risk
      factors for preoperative seizures. Following surgical resection, 77 % of patients
      with preoperative seizures had a modified Engel class I outcome. Among patients
      without a history of preoperative epilepsy, 56 % had new-onset seizures after
      surgical resection. None of the risk factors associated with preoperative
      seizures was associated with post-operative seizures. As there are no reliable
      factors predicting patients who may benefit from surgical treatment, epilepsy
      control should not be considered as the primary goal of AVMs surgery.

PMID- 27637643
TI  - Multimodality Management of Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations with Special
      Reference to AVM-Related Hemorrhages During Ongoing Staged Treatment.
AB  - In this study we report and analyze the results of a multimodality management
      concept for intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), including
      microsurgery, embolization, and gamma knife radiosurgery. The study population
      consists of a consecutive series of 294 patients treated for 304 intracranial
      AVMs over a 10-year period.

PMID- 27637644
TI  - Advances in Embolization of bAVMs.
AB  - Brain AVMs are complex malformations, usually congenital, that need a deep
      understanding of anatomy and pathophysiology to be safely treated. Nowadays,
      embolization and radiosurgery are carried out more frequently due to their
      reduced invasiveness as compared to conventional neurosurgery. This paper aims to
      describe different and new endovascular approaches that allow the
      interventionalist to treat almost all the small AVMs and to reduce the nidus of
      the bigger ones in order to facilitate the surgical or radiosurgical
      intervention.

PMID- 27637645
TI  - Embryological Consideration of Dural AVF.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The distribution of intracranial dural AVFs (DAVFs) may be affected
      by the embryological bony structures that consist of membranous bone and
      endochondral bone. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the distribution of the
      shunt points in 58 consecutive cases of DAVFs. Shunt points were identified with
      selective digital subtraction angiography, high-resolution cone beam computed
      tomography (CT), or three-dimensional rotation angiography. All the shunt points
      were plotted on the map of the skull base in relation to the topography of the
      endochondral bone and the membranous bone. If the shunt point was localized on
      the surface of endochondral bone, this was categorized as the endochondral bone
      group. If it was located on membranous bone, this was categorized as the
      membranous bone group. If the shunt point was independent from both bony
      structures, this was categorized as the independent group. FINDINGS: In 55 of 58
      cases, shunt points were identified angiographically. Three cases had multiple
      shunts. There were 33 shunt points (60 %) belonging to endochondral bone. In this
      group, 16 cases of sigmoid, 11 of carotid cavernous, 3 of petrosal apex, and 3 of
      sigmoid DAVF were observed. There were 12 shunt points (22 %) localized on
      membranous bone; in this group, there were nine cases of transverse sinus, two of
      superior sagittal sinus, and one case of confluence DAVF. There were ten shunt
      points (18 %) independent from these two bony structures: four cases of olfactory
      groove, four . of middle fossa, and two of hypoglossal canal DAVF. CONCLUSIONS:
      There were correlations between the localization of shunt points of DAVFs and the
      topography of endochondral bone and the membranous bone. The histological
      difference of endochondral bone and membranous bone at the level of epidural
      space might cause the formation of DAVFs.

PMID- 27637646
TI  - Intracranial and Spinal Dural Arterio-Venous Fistula (DAVF): A Surgical Series of
      107 Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) is a challenging condition in
      vascular neurosurgery. Development of new endovascular techniques has
      progressively modified treatment strategies; however, surgery is still considered
      a valid option of treatment of this pathology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From a
      retrospective analysis of our database, we selected 107 patients who underwent
      surgical treatment for DAVFs. Patients were grouped into five categories
      according to the Borden and Cognard classifications. Patients and treatment
      characteristics/outcome is reported. RESULTS: At admission, 30 (28 %) patients
      presented with intracranial hemorrhage. Fifteen (14 %) had seizure, whereas
      nearly half of the patients presented with non-aggressive symptoms, including
      headache (10, 9.3 %), cognitive impairment (8, 7.5 %), gait disturbance, and
      imbalance (8, 7.5 %). The majority of patients underwent surgical treatment of
      fistulas; in some cases, we elected combined surgical-endovascular (obliteration)
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Management of DAVF requires a multidisciplinary
      assessment and treatment strategies including surgical, endovascular, and
      radiosurgical treatment. The data reported confirmed that surgical treatment of
      DAVFs is associated with a good clinical and radiological (complete occlusion of
      the fistula) outcome in all cases, with a low rate of complications.

PMID- 27637647
TI  - Epidemiologic Survey of Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas in Japan: Clinical Frequency
      and Present Status of Treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There are few reports describing the prevalence of dural
      arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs). We conducted a nation-wide retrograde survey on
      the clinical frequency and the status of treatment of dAVFs in Japan. METHODS:
      The first questionnaire was sent to 1,236 certified neurosurgery clinics in Japan
      to ask about the number of patients treated and the location of dAVF during the 5
      years from 1998 to 2002. The second questionnaire was sent to 102 large-volume
      centers to ask the patients' ages, gender, location of the fistula, clinical
      presentation, treatment modalities, clinical and radiological results, and
      recurrence. RESULTS: In the first survey, 1,815 cases were chosen from 338
      clinics, including 826 cavernous sinus, 514 transverse-sigmoid sinus, 105 spinal,
      and 370 lesions in other places. The estimated detection rate was 0.29 per
      100,000 persons per year in Japan. In the second survey, there were 1,490 cases
      (mean age: 62.7 ; 628 men and 850 women) that were culled from 68 high-volume
      centers. The initial clinical presentation was ocular symptoms (45 % of the
      cases), tinnitus (20 %), intracranial hemorrhage (16 %), and non-hemorrhagic
      neurological deficits (20 %). Treatment modality was endovascular therapy (76 %
      of the patients), open surgery (13 %), irradiation (3.4 %), and conservative
      therapy (11 %). Angiographic results were total obliteration in 59 % of the
      patients and subtotal obliteration in 16 %. Clinical symptoms disappeared in 54 %
      of the patients, improved in 16 %, unchanged in 7 %, worsened in 1.5 %, and death
      occurred in 1.2 %. Recurrence was reported in 5.9 % of the patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      This survey delineated the clinical frequency and the epidemiologic features of
      dAVF in Japan.

PMID- 27637648
TI  - Surgical Approach to Ponto-mesencephalic Cavernoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The surgical treatment of intrinsic brainstem lesions
      remains a major challenge. In this article we present the results of using an
      infratentorial-supracerebellar (ITSC) approach for the resection of intrinsic
      ponto-mesencephalic lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors reviewed the
      cases of 16 patients. In seven of them, a paramedian ITSC transcollicular
      approach was used to resect intrinsic mid-brain lesions, and in the other nine
      patients, an intermediate or lateral ITSC infra-trochlear approach was used for
      ponto-mesencephalic lesions. RESULTS: All 16 lesions were completely removed.
      There was no recurrence of bleeding during the follow-up period, and no
      mortality. In seven patients with mid-brain lesions, the preoperative ocular
      symptoms improved in three of them, and the neurological deficits - other than
      ocular symptoms improved - in five of them. The preoperative modified Rankin
      Scale score of 1.8 improved to 1.3 postoperatively. In nine patients with a ponto
      mesencephalic lesion, the preoperative ocular symptoms improved in four of nine
      patients, and the neurological deficits other than ocular symptoms improved in
      five of them, while one patient exhibited venous infarction in a cerebellar
      hemisphere that caused neurological deterioration. The preoperative modified
      Rankin Scale score of 3.75 improved to 2.5 postoperatively in these patients.
      CONCLUSION: The ITSC transcollicular or infra-trochlear approach provide a wide
      operative entry zone and minimize the functional damage to the surrounding
      structures for access to ponto-mesencephalic lesions.

PMID- 27637650
TI  - Health Care Reform: Impact on Total Joint Replacement.
AB  - The US health care system has been fragmented for more than 40 years; this model
      created a need for modification. Sociopoliticomedical system-related factors led
      to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a restructuring of health care
      provision/delivery. The ACA increases access to high-quality "affordable care"
      under cost-effective measures. This article provides a comprehensive review of
      health reform and the motivating factors that drive policy to empower
      arthroplasty providers to effectively advocate for the field of orthopedics as a
      whole, and the patients served. 

PMID- 27637651
TI  - Reducing Length of Stay in Total Joint Arthroplasty Care.
AB  - As health care reforms continue to improve quality of care, significant emphasis
      will be placed on evaluation of orthopedic patient outcomes. Total joint
      arthroplasty (TJA) has a proven track record of enhancing patient quality of life
      and are easily replicable. The outcomes of these procedures serve as a measure of
      health care initiative success. Specifically, length of stay, will be targeted as
      a marker of quality of surgical care delivered to TJA patients. Within this
      review, we will discuss preoperative and postoperative methods by which
      orthopedic surgeons may enhance TJA outcomes and effectively reduce length of
      stay. 

PMID- 27637652
TI  - Approach to Decrease Infection Following Total Joint Arthroplasty.
AB  - Surgical site infection in total joint arthroplasty is a challenging complication
      that warrants discussion with regard to prevention and management. Limiting
      postoperative infection rate is a paramount quest in the orthopedic community.
      Several preoperative risk factors have been identified in orthopedic literature
      with regards to likelihood of developing postoperative infection. This article
      evaluates several factors that predispose total joint arthroplasty patients to
      infection. Methods of patient surgical preparation designed to decrease
      postoperative infection, decreasing intraoperative traffic during procedural
      settings, and elaborate intraoperative prophylactic advancements are assessed.
      Approaches to decrease postoperative infection by discussing means of lowering
      rates of postoperative transfusion, wound drainage, and hematoma formation are
      analyzed. 

PMID- 27637649
TI  - Nutritional Strategies in the Management of Adult Patients with Inflammatory
      Bowel Disease: Dietary Considerations from Active Disease to Disease Remission.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic, lifelong, and relapsing
      illnesses, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, which involve the
      gastrointestinal tract. There is no cure for these diseases, but combined
      pharmacological and nutritional therapy can induce remission and maintain
      clinical remission. Malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies among IBD patients
      result in poor clinical outcomes such as growth failure, reduced response to
      pharmacotherapy, increased risk for sepsis, and mortality. The aim of this review
      is to highlight the consequences of malnutrition in the management of IBD and
      describe nutritional interventions to facilitate induction of remission as well
      as maintenance; we will also discuss alternative delivery methods to improve
      nutritional status preoperatively. 

PMID- 27637654
TI  - Planning, Building, and Maintaining a Successful Musculoskeletal Service Line.
AB  - Within the past 3 decades, a recent trend in the growth of musculoskeletal
      service lines has been seen nationally. Orthopedics offers an appealing concourse
      for implementation of service-line care. Within this review, the authors address
      the components involved in planning and building a musculoskeletal service line.
      The authors also address methods by which orthopedic surgeons can maintain the
      efficacy of their service lines by examining how orthopedic surgeons can navigate
      their service line through recent advents in health care reform. Finally, the
      authors review successful examples of musculoskeletal service lines currently in
      practice within the orthopedic community. 

PMID- 27637653
TI  - Reducing 30-day Readmission After Joint Replacement.
AB  - Hospital readmission is a focus of quality measures used by the Center for
      Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to evaluate quality of care. Policy changes provide
      incentives and enforce penalties to decrease 30-day hospital readmissions. CMS
      implemented the Readmission Penalty Program. Readmission rates are being used to
      determine reimbursement rates for physicians. The need for readmission is deemed
      an indication for inadequate quality of care subjected to financial penalties.
      This reviews identifies risk factors that have been significantly associated with
      higher readmission rates, addresses approaches to minimize 30-day readmission,
      and discusses the potential future direction within this area as regulations
      evolve. 

PMID- 27637656
TI  - Patient Centeredness in Total Joint Replacement: Beyond the Slogan.
AB  - Patient-centered care (PCC) is gaining considerable momentum among health care
      professionals and policy-making authorities. The need for PCC stems from the
      innumerable benefits of adopting such a system. The practice of PCC in orthopedic
      surgery in general, and in total joint replacement in particular, is still in its
      youth. However, present literature already establishes the need for applying PCC
      in total joint replacement. Extensive research and effort should be invested to
      better grasp and define the dimensions of PCC as they relate to total joint
      replacement. 

PMID- 27637655
TI  - High Reliability of Care in Orthopedic Surgery: Are We There Yet?
AB  - As health care reimbursement models shift from volume-based to value-based
      models, orthopedic surgeons must provide patients with highly reliable care,
      while consciously minimizing cost, maintaining quality, and providing timely
      interventions. An established means of achieving these goals is by implementing a
      highly reliable care model; however, before such a model can be initiated, a
      safety culture, robust improvement strategies, and committed leadership are
      needed. This article discusses interdependent and critical changes required to
      implement a highly reliable care system. Specific operative protocols now
      mandated are discussed as they pertain to high reliability of orthopedic care and
      elimination of wrong-site procedures. 

PMID- 27637657
TI  - Affordable Care Organizations and Bundled Pricing: A New Philosophy of Care.
AB  - Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Centers for
      Medicare and Medicaid Services' Innovation was chartered to develop new models of
      health care delivery. The changes meant a drastic need to restructure the health
      care system. To minimize costs and optimize quality, new laws encourage
      continuity in health care delivery within an integrated system. Affordable care
      organizations provided a model of high-quality care while reducing costs. Bundled
      payments can have a substantial effect on the national expenditures. This article
      examines new developments in bundle payments, affordable care organizations, and
      gainsharing agreements as they pertain to arthroplasty. 

PMID- 27637658
TI  - Big Data, Big Research: Implementing Population Health-Based Research Models and
      Integrating Care to Reduce Cost and Improve Outcomes.
AB  - Recent trends in clinical research have moved attention toward reporting clinical
      outcomes and resource consumption associated with various care processes. This
      change is the result of technological advancement and a national effort to
      critically assess health care delivery. As orthopedic surgeons traverse an
      unchartered health care environment, a more complete understanding of how
      clinical research is conducted using large data sets is necessary. The purpose of
      this article is to review various advantages and disadvantages of large data sets
      available for orthopaedic use, examine their ideal use, and report how they are
      being implemented nationwide. 

PMID- 27637659
TI  - Big Data, Big Problems: Incorporating Mission, Values, and Culture in Provider
      Affiliations.
AB  - This article explores how integration of data from clinical registries and
      electronic health records produces a quality impact within orthopedic practices.
      Data are differentiated from information, and several types of data that are
      collected and used in orthopedic outcome measurement are defined. Furthermore,
      the concept of comparative effectiveness and its impact on orthopedic clinical
      research are assessed. This article places emphasis on how the concept of big
      data produces health care challenges balanced with benefits that may be faced by
      patients and orthopedic surgeons. Finally, essential characteristics of an
      electronic health record that interlinks musculoskeletal care and big data
      initiatives are reviewed. 

PMID- 27637661
TI  - Pediatric Elbow and Wrist Pathology Related to Sports Participation.
AB  - Pediatric overuse injuries are becoming more prevalent in today's society with
      more children competitively playing year-round sports at a younger age. The
      importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment is paramount to the treatment for
      these injuries, second only to rest and activity modification. This article will
      focus on overuse injuries of the upper extremity, specifically: little league
      elbow, elbow osteochondritis dissecans, and gymnast wrist. It will also discuss
      the pathophysiology, diagnosis, imaging, and treatment of each of these entities.

PMID- 27637660
TI  - Tibial Stress Fractures in Athletes.
AB  - Tibial stress fractures are common in the athlete. There are various causes of
      these fractures, the most common being a sudden increase in training intensity.
      Most of these injuries are treated conservatively; however, some may require
      operative intervention. Intervention is mostly dictated by location of the
      fracture and failure of conservative treatment. There are several surgical
      options available to the treating surgeon, each with advantages and
      disadvantages. The physician must understand the nature of the fracture and the
      likelihood for it to heal in a timely manner in order to best treat these
      fractures in this patient subset. 

PMID- 27637662
TI  - Shoulder Injuries in Pediatric Athletes.
AB  - Shoulder injuries in pediatric athletes are typically caused by acute or overuse
      injuries. The developing structures of the shoulder lead to injury patterns that
      are distinct from those of adult athletes. Overuse injuries often affect the
      physeal structures of the proximal humerus and can lead to pain and loss of
      sports participation. Shoulder instability is common in pediatric athletes, and
      recurrence is also a concern in this population. Fractures of the proximal
      humerus and clavicle are typically treated with conservative management, but
      there is a trend toward surgical intervention. 

PMID- 27637663
TI  - Pediatric Knee Osteochondritis Dissecans Lesions.
AB  - Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) can cause knee pain and dysfunction in children.
      The etiology of OCD remains unclear; theories on causes include inflammation,
      ischemia, ossification abnormalities, genetic factors, and repetitive
      microtrauma. Most OCD lesions in skeletally immature patients will heal with
      nonoperative treatment. The success of nonoperative treatment decreases once
      patients reach skeletal maturity. The goals of surgical treatment include
      maintenance of articular cartilage congruity, rigid fixation of unstable
      fragments, and repair of osteochondral defects with cells or tissues that can
      adequately replace lost or deficient cartilage. Unsalvageable OCD lesions can be
      treated with various surgical techniques. 

PMID- 27637664
TI  - Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Children and Adolescents.
AB  - Dramatic increases in youth competitive athletic activity, early sport
      specialization, and year-round training and competition, along with increased
      awareness of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in children, have led to a
      commensurate increase in the frequency of ACL tears in the skeletally immature.
      Recent understanding of the risks of nonoperative treatment and surgical delay
      have supported a trend toward early operative treatment. This article discusses
      treatment strategies for ACL injuries in children and adolescents, and offers our
      preferred treatment strategy for skeletally immature youth athletes with ACL
      tears. 

PMID- 27637665
TI  - Ulnar-Sided Wrist Pain in the Athlete.
AB  - Ulnar-sided wrist pain can be a challenging entity for the hand surgeon and even
      more so in the athletic population. The authors present 8 causes of ulnar-sided
      wrist pain in an athlete (hook of hamate fracture, pisiform fracture, hypothenar
      hammer syndrome, triangular fibrocartilage complex injuries, ulnocarpal impaction
      syndrome, lunotriquetral ligament tears, extensor carpi ulnaris tendinitis,
      subluxation of extensor carpi ulnaris) and their associated imaging and treatment
      options. 

PMID- 27637666
TI  - Thumb Ligament Injuries in the Athlete.
AB  - Hand injuries account for up to 15% of sports injuries and are common in contact
      sports and in sports with a high risk of falling. Appropriate management requires
      knowledge of the type of injury, demands of the sport and position, competitive
      level of the athlete, future athletic demands and expectations, and the role of
      rehabilitation and protective splints for return to play. Management of the
      athlete requires aggressive and expedient diagnostic intervention and treatment.
      This article describes ligamentous injuries to the thumb, including thumb
      carpometacarpal dislocations, thumb metacarpophalangeal dislocations, collateral
      ligament injuries and interphalangeal dislocations, their evaluation, treatment
      and outcomes. 

PMID- 27637667
TI  - Foot and Ankle Stress Fractures in Athletes.
AB  - The incidence of stress fractures in the general athletic population is less than
      1%, but may be as high as 15% in runners. Stress fractures of the foot and ankle
      account for almost half of bone stress injuries in athletes. These injuries occur
      because of repetitive submaximal stresses on the bone resulting in
      microfractures, which may coalesce to form complete fractures. Advanced imaging
      such as MRI and triple-phase bone scans is used to evaluate patients with
      suspected stress fracture. Low-risk stress fractures are typically treated with
      rest and protected weight bearing. High-stress fractures more often require
      surgical treatment. 

PMID- 27637668
TI  - Sports-Related Injuries.

PMID- 27637669
TI  - Higher-order auditory areas in congenital deafness: Top-down interactions and
      corticocortical decoupling.
AB  - The theory of predictive coding assumes that higher-order representations
      influence lower-order representations by generating predictions about sensory
      input. In congenital deafness, one identified dysfunction is a reduced activation
      of deep layers in the auditory cortex. Since these layers play a central role for
      processing top-down influences, congenital deafness might interfere with the
      integration of top-down and bottom-up information flow. Studies in humans suggest
      more deficits in higher-order than in primary cortical areas in congenital
      deafness. That opens up the question how well neurons in higher-order areas can
      be activated by the input through the deprived auditory pathway after restoration
      of hearing with cochlear implants. Further it is unclear whether their
      interconnections to lower order areas are impaired by absence of hearing.
      Corticocortical anatomical fiber tracts and general auditory responsiveness in
      both primary and higher-order areas are generally preserved in absence of
      auditory experience. However, the existing data suggest a dichotomy between
      preservation of anatomical cortical connectivity in congenital deafness and
      functional deficits in corticocortical coupling. Further, cross-modal
      reorganization observed in congenital deafness in specific cortical areas appears
      to be established by functional synaptic changes and rests on anatomically
      preserved, genetically-predetermined and molecularly patterned circuitry
      connecting the sensory systems. Current data indicate a reduced corticocortical
      functional coupling between cortical auditory areas in congenital deafness, both
      in bottom-up and top-down information stream. Consequently, congenital deafness
      is likely to result in a deficit in predictive coding that affects learning
      ability after late cochlear implantation.

PMID- 27637670
TI  - Initial orthostatic hypotension in teenagers and young adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess: (1) the frequency of an abnormally large fall in blood
      pressure (BP) upon standing from supine in patients with initial orthostatic
      hypotension (IOH); (2) the underlying hemodynamic mechanisms of this fall in BP
      upon standing from supine and from squatting. METHODS: In a retrospective study
      of 371 patients (<=30 years) visiting the syncope unit, the hemodynamic response
      to standing and squatting were studied in 26 patients who were diagnosed
      clinically with IOH, based on history taking only. In six patients changes in
      cardiac output (CO) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were determined, and
      the underlying hemodynamics were analyzed. RESULTS: 15/26 (58 %) patients with
      IOH had an abnormally large initial fall in systolic BP (>=40 mmHg). There was a
      large scatter in CO and SVR response after arising from supine [DeltaCO at BP
      nadir median -8 % (range -37, +27 %); DeltaSVR at BP nadir median -31 % (range 
      46, +10 %)]. The hemodynamic response after squatting showed a more consistent
      pattern, with a fall in SVR in all six patients [DeltaCO at BP nadir median +23 %
      (range -12, +31 %); DeltaSVR at BP nadir median -42 %, (range -52, -35 %)].
      INTERPRETATION: The clinical diagnosis of IOH is based on history taking, as an
      abnormally large fall in systolic BP can only be documented in 58 %. For IOH upon
      standing after supine rest, the hemodynamic mechanism can be either a large fall
      in CO or in SVR. For IOH upon arising from squatting a large fall in SVR is a
      consistent finding.

PMID- 27637671
TI  - Judith and her Maidservant: a goitrous heroin in two masterpieces.

PMID- 27637672
TI  - Intravitreal implantation of TPP1-transduced stem cells delays retinal
      degeneration in canine CLN2 neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.
AB  - The CLN2 form of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis is a neurodegenerative disease
      that results from mutations in the TPP1 gene. Affected children exhibit
      progressive declines in most neurological functions including vision. Functional
      declines are accompanied by progressive brain and retinal atrophy. TPP1 encodes
      the soluble lysosomal enzyme tripeptidyl peptidase-1 (TPP1). Dachshunds with a
      TPP1 null mutation exhibit a disorder very similar to human CLN2 disease.
      Periodic infusion of recombinant TPP1 protein or a single injection of a TPP1
      gene therapy vector into the cerebrospinal fluid of affected dogs significantly
      delays the onset and progression of neurological signs but does not slow vision
      loss or retinal degeneration. Studies were conducted to determine whether
      intravitreal implantation of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells transduced
      with a TPP1 expression construct would inhibit retinal degeneration in the canine
      model. A single injection of the transduced cells at an early stage in the
      disease progression substantially inhibited the development of disease-related
      retinal function deficits and structural changes. No adverse effects of the
      treatment were detected. These findings indicate that ex vivo gene therapy using
      autologous stem cells is an effective means of achieving sustained delivery of
      therapeutic compounds to tissues such as the retina for which systemic
      administration would be ineffective.

PMID- 27637673
TI  - Lasker Foundation announces award winners for 2016.

PMID- 27637674
TI  - Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage.
AB  - Subarachnoid haemorrhage is an uncommon and severe subtype of stroke affecting
      patients at a mean age of 55 years, leading to loss of many years of productive
      life. The rupture of an intracranial aneurysm is the underlining cause in 85% of
      cases. Survival from aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage has increased by 17% in
      the past few decades, probably because of better diagnosis, early aneurysm
      repair, prescription of nimodipine, and advanced intensive care support.
      Nevertheless, survivors commonly have cognitive impairments, which in turn affect
      patients' daily functionality, working capacity, and quality of life.
      Additionally, those deficits are frequently accompanied by mood disorders,
      fatigue, and sleep disturbances. Management requires specialised neurological
      intensive care units and multidisciplinary clinical expertise, which is better
      provided in high-volume centres. Many clinical trials have been done, but only
      two interventions are shown to improve outcome. Challenges that remain relate to
      prevention of subarachnoid haemorrhage by improved screening and development of
      lower-risk methods to repair or stabilise aneurysms that have not yet ruptured.
      Multicentre cooperative efforts might increase the knowledge that can be gained
      from clinical trials, which is often limited by small studies with differing
      criteria and endpoints that are done in single centres. Outcome assessments that
      incorporate finer assessment of neurocognitive function and validated surrogate
      imaging or biomarkers for outcome could also help to advance the specialty.

PMID- 27637675
TI  - Care of non-communicable diseases in emergencies.

PMID- 27637676
TI  - Stroke.
AB  - In the past decade, the definition of stroke has been revised and major advances
      have been made for its treatment and prevention. For acute ischaemic stroke, the
      addition of endovascular thrombectomy of proximal large artery occlusion to
      intravenous alteplase increases functional independence for a further fifth of
      patients. The benefits of aspirin in preventing early recurrent ischaemic stroke
      are greater than previously recognised. Other strategies to prevent recurrent
      stroke now include direct oral anticoagulants as an alternative to warfarin for
      atrial fibrillation, and carotid stenting as an alternative to endarterectomy for
      symptomatic carotid stenosis. For acute intracerebral haemorrhage, trials are
      ongoing to assess the effectiveness of acute blood pressure lowering, haemostatic
      therapy, minimally invasive surgery, anti-inflammation therapy, and
      neuroprotection methods. Pharmacological and stem-cell therapies promise to
      facilitate brain regeneration, rehabilitation, and functional recovery. Despite
      declining stroke mortality rates, the global burden of stroke is increasing. A
      more comprehensive approach to primary prevention of stroke is required that
      targets people at all levels of risk and is integrated with prevention strategies
      for other diseases that share common risk factors.

PMID- 27637677
TI  - Robotic-assisted abdominal cerclage: a case report and literature review.
AB  - We report a robotic-assisted, ultrasound-guided abdominal cerclage placement
      during pregnancy that resulted in term delivery, and review the current
      literature with respect to the efficacy of robotic-assisted transabdominal
      cerclage (RoboTAC) placement. The patient was a 25-year-old gravida 5 para 0-0-4
      0 with cervical insufficiency who failed McDonald cerclage placement in two prior
      pregnancies, and presented at 13 weeks with a shortened (1.66 cm) cervical
      length. Placement of abdominal cerclage with robotic assistance under ultrasound
      guidance was performed at a teaching hospital. The main outcome measure was
      feasibility of RoboTAC placement in a gravid uterus under ultrasound guidance,
      and delivery of an infant >=34 weeks of gestation with neonatal survival.
      Abdominal cerclage was safely and successfully placed at 13 weeks with robotic
      assistance. The patient had an otherwise uncomplicated antenatal course and was
      delivered via primary cesarean section at 38 weeks. Robotic-assisted abdominal
      cerclage can be considered for patients who require abdominal cerclage placement
      by skilled robotic surgeons. 

PMID- 27637678
TI  - Unidirectional barbed suture versus interrupted vicryl suture in vaginal cuff
      healing during robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy.
AB  - This study examined the performance of unidirectional barbed suture versus
      polyglactin 910 with respect to vaginal cuff healing in robotic-assisted total
      laparoscopic hysterectomy (RATLH). This was a retrospective cohort study of 93
      patients who underwent RATLH in a teaching hospital from July 2008 to June 2012.
      In the first 44 patients, the vaginal cuff was closed by interrupted polyglactin
      (Vicryl) 2-0 suture. In the following 49 patients, unidirectional barbed suture
      (V-loc) in a running fashion was used for cuff closure. Patients were seen 2 and
      6 weeks postoperatively to evaluate cuff healing. Age, tobacco use, hemoglobin,
      deliveries, uterine weight, menopause, steroid use, underlying health problems,
      and concomitant procedures were found not to be significantly different between
      the two groups. There was one cuff dehiscence in the unidirectional barbed suture
      group and none in the interrupted polyglactin group (P > 0.05). The mean cuff
      healing time (8.5 vs. 7.7 weeks), incidence of cuff cellulitis (4.6 vs. 4.1 %),
      and postoperative bleeding (22.7 vs. 14.3 %) were not statistically significantly
      different between polyglactin and barbed suture closures, respectively (P >
      0.05). However, polyglactin suture was associated with greater presence of
      granulation tissue than barbed suture (27.3 vs. 8.2 %, odds ratio = 3.34, P <
      0.05). Unidirectional barbed suture cases were associated with shorter total
      operative times (220.2 vs. 272.8 min) and less estimated blood loss (164.8 vs.
      274.9 ml); however, cuff closure times were not specifically measured. In our
      study, unidirectional barbed suture was identified as possibly superior to
      polyglactin cuff closure because of less observed granulation tissue, shorter
      operative duration, and lower estimated blood loss. However, there was no
      statistical difference in cuff healing time, cuff dehiscence, cellulitis, or
      postoperative bleeding between the two groups. A prospective randomized trial
      would be necessary to confirm these findings. 

PMID- 27637679
TI  - Outcomes of gynecologic oncology patients undergoing robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic procedures in a university setting.
AB  - This study evaluated intraoperative complications and postoperative outcomes of
      gynecologic oncology patients undergoing robotic-assisted (RA) laparoscopic
      procedures in a university setting. A retrospective chart review evaluated all
      gynecologic oncology patients at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who
      underwent attempted RA procedures between August 2006 and October 2011. Patient
      demographics, medical/surgical history, intraoperative complications,
      postoperative outcomes, conversion rates, readmission rates, and length of stay
      were examined. Total complication rates were assessed over time for each surgeon.
      681 patients underwent planned RA procedures by seven gynecologic oncologists.
      The mean body mass index was 33.5 kg/m(2) (range 16.6-71.0 kg/m(2)). 61.4 % were
      diagnosed with malignancy. The most common procedure was RA hysterectomy with
      unilateral/bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (37.2 %). Robotic staging was
      performed in 291 patients (45.1 %). Mean estimated blood loss was 75 ml (range 5
      700 ml). 36 patients (5.3 %) were converted to laparotomy. The most common reason
      for conversion was adhesions (30.1 %), followed by uterine size (22.2 %). In 107
      cases, a surgical modification was required for specimen removal including mini
      laparotomy (24), extension of accessory port (36), morcellation (9), and
      difficult vaginal delivery (38). 3.7 % had intraoperative complications; 6
      patients had a cystotomy and 5 had a vascular injury. Postoperatively, 20
      patients had a febrile episode, 9 had wound complications, and 3 had a vaginal
      cuff dehiscence. 27 (4.2 %) patients were readmitted within 30 days. Complication
      rates and conversion rates were similar per surgeon. Total complication rates for
      evaluable surgeons were similar between the first 10 cases and subsequent 50
      cases. Although patients undergoing RA procedures in a university setting are
      high risk, the conversion rate to laparotomy is low and intraoperative and
      postoperative complications are acceptable. Total complication rates for each
      surgeon were not impacted by the number of cases performed. 

PMID- 27637680
TI  - Developing a robotic program in thoracic surgery at Cape Cod Hospital.
AB  - This study aimed to elucidate the stepwise progression of robotic skills
      required, the natural progression from thoracoscopic to robotic technique with a
      focus on approaching the hilar structures, and the nuances of perioperative care,
      in a community hospital and solo surgeon practice. It was a case-control analysis
      comparing 22 consecutive robotic-assisted lobectomy (RAL) procedures with 22
      matched historic video-assisted lobectomy (VAL) procedures from June 2011 to
      December 2012. Patients undergoing VAL had 1.09 days greater length of stay than
      did patients who underwent RAL. Although hospital charges were significantly
      higher for RAL patients, patients undergoing VAL had greater blood loss, required
      longer hospital stay, had greater readmission rates, and were transferred more
      often to a rehabilitation facility at discharge. Subjectively, dexterity,
      ergonomics, and optics with the RALs were superior to the VALs. Favorable
      outcomes were demonstrated for patients undergoing RALs. Effective communication
      is paramount for the skill set and team building for a safe transition to
      practice. 

PMID- 27637681
TI  - Perioperative outcomes of three-port robotically assisted hysterectomy: a
      continuous series of 53 cases.
AB  - This study evaluated the feasibility and safety of 3-port robotically assisted
      laparoscopic hysterectomy (RALH), using a consecutive series of women who
      underwent 3-port RALH in a university hospital. From November 2010 until June
      2013 we operated on 53 women, whose mean age was 48.4 +/- 7.7 years (range 35-68
      years), and mean body mass index was 27.1 +/- 5.1 kg/m(2) (range 19.5-42.9
      kg/m(2)). The indications for hysterectomy were myoma in 31 (58.5 %), adenomyosis
      in 10 (18.9 %), cervical dysplasia in 4 (7.5 %), neoplasia in 4 (7.5 %), and
      recurrent polyps or postmenopausal bleeding in the remaining 4 women (7.5 %). We
      performed total RALH in 50 cases (94.3 %) and subtotal in the others. The median
      duration of total intervention was 169 min (interquartile range 147.5-206.5 min).
      The mean weight of the uterus was 209.8 +/- 166.6 g (range 36-790 g) and mean
      estimated blood loss was 72.3 +/- 75.9 ml (range 0-300 ml). There were no
      perioperative complications, in particular no blood transfusions nor conversions
      to laparotomy. The median hospital stay was 4 days (interquartile range 3-4
      days). One patient was reoperated 1 month later for vaginal vault hematoma and
      another was readmitted 3 weeks post-operatively due to vaginal vault dehiscence
      after premature intercourse, but did not require reoperation. Three-port RALH is
      feasible and safe for simple hysterectomy. We believe this experience using
      minimum ports to be useful to prepare for robotically assisted single-port
      hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27637682
TI  - Training current and future robotic surgeons simultaneously: initial experiences
      with safety and efficiency.
AB  - Robotic surgery is experiencing a rapidly-increasing presence in the field of
      general surgery. The adoption of any new technology carries the challenge of
      training current and future surgeons in a safe and effective manner. We report
      our experience with the initiation of a robotic general surgery program at an
      academic institution while simultaneously incorporating surgical trainees. The
      initial procedure performed was robotic-assisted cholecystectomy (RAC).
      Concurrent with the introduction of a robotic general surgical program, our
      institution implemented a progressive surgical trainee curriculum for all active
      residents and fellows. Immediately after being credentialed to perform RAC,
      attending surgeons began incorporating surgical trainees into robotic procedures.
      We retrospectively reviewed our first 50 RACs and compared them with our previous
      50 standard laparoscopic cholecystectomies (SLC) to determine the impact of rapid
      integration of surgical trainees on developing technologies. Despite new
      technology and novice surgeons, there was no difference in mean operative time
      between the SLC and RAC groups (75.3 vs. 84.1 min, p = 0.077). Two patients in
      the robotic-assisted group required intraoperative conversion. Hospital length of
      stay was similar between groups, with the majority of patients leaving the same
      day. There were no postoperative complications in either group. A robotic general
      surgery program can be initiated while concurrently instructing surgical trainees
      on robotic surgery in a safe and efficient manner. We report our initial
      experience with the adoption of this rapidly advancing technology and describe
      our training model. 

PMID- 27637683
TI  - Magnification effects on distance estimation during robotic suturing.
AB  - We aimed to understand the impact of magnification on distance estimation during
      robotic suturing. Twenty subjects estimated the lengths of various sutures
      externally, in plain sight, to validate their ability to measure distances. They
      then robotically repaired a 3-cm cystotomy, suturing 10 mm above and below the
      incision and 10 mm on either side of the incision. The bladder was removed and
      distances measured. A total of 20 surgeons were analyzed: 7 residents, 8 fellows,
      and 5 staff. Specialties comprised four urologists, eight general gynecologists,
      two urogynecologists, three gynecologic oncologists, and three reproductive
      endocrinologists. The mean estimation for external suture length was not
      significant at 10 mm: mean = 9.6 (+/-3.2) mm (p = 0.59). When comparing these
      data sets, the externally visualized 10-mm suture versus the suture-to-suture and
      the suture-to-incision distances were both significantly different (p = 0.002 and
      p < 0.001, respectively). The mean distance between each suture was 6.5 (+/-1.8)
      mm, which was significantly different from the 10-mm goal (p < 0.001, 95 %
      confidence interval (CI) [-4.4,-2.6]). The mean distance from the suture to the
      incision was 4.1 (+/-1.0) mm, which was also statistically significantly
      different from the goal (p < 0.001, 95 % CI [-6.3,-5.4]). Surgical experience was
      negatively associated with suture-to-incision distance (r s = -0.53, p = 0.016).
      Inter-suture distance was also negatively associated with experience (r s = 
      0.30, p = 0.22), though not statistically significant. In vivo distances are
      significantly underestimated during robotic suture placement. Interestingly, the
      most experienced surgeons had the worst distance estimation from the incision to
      the suture. 

PMID- 27637684
TI  - Secure patient positioning using Badillo/Trendelenburg restraint strap during
      robotic surgery.
AB  - Steep Trendelenburg position is routine during robotic urologic and gynecologic
      surgery in order to optimize exposure of the pelvis. This position requires that
      the patient be properly secured as to avoid any movement during the procedure. We
      analyzed the safety and tolerability of a reusable strap with disposable cushions
      used during robotic assisted radical prostatectomy. The Badillo/Trendelenburg
      restraint is a harness which is placed on the table prior to patient transfer.
      The restraint is a Class I FDA-registered device (Pintler Medical, Seattle, WA).
      Patients were marked at the beginning and end of the case to determine if any
      movement had occurred. The Badillo/Trendelenburg restraint was employed in 1,200
      consecutive RARP cases. The restraint was used by a single surgeon at two
      institutions. The operating table was marked from edge of the patients shoulder
      to the end of the head of table at the beginning and end of the case to determine
      if any movement had occurred. Maximum movement observed was 1 cm. All patients
      were questioned and a physical examination were done in the post operative period
      for any shoulder or nerve injury. No reports of shoulder or brachial injury. For
      patients undergoing robotic surgery with steep Trendelenburg position the
      Badillo/Trendelenburg restraint provides a secure, reliable and safe means of
      maintaining proper position without any patient movement. 

PMID- 27637685
TI  - Developing technical expertise in robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy in a
      moderate-volume center through a proctor-based team approach.
AB  - Our aim is to report our preliminary experience of a proctor-based team approach
      in robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) for the treatment of
      localized prostate cancer. Data was collected between December 2008 and February
      2012. RALP was performed on 100 consecutive patients with prostate cancer by a
      team of five urologists proctored by two fellowship-trained surgeons from a
      single hospital. Clinical and pathological data of these patients were reviewed.
      The mean age of the patients was 66 years (range 48-76). Clinical stages were 82
      % cT1c, 3 % cT1b, 13 % cT2a and 2 % cT3a disease. Preoperative mean prostate
      specific antigen level was 11.33 ng/ml (SD 10.47). Mean operative time was 342
      min and mean blood loss was 717 ml (SD 988). Mean hospital stay and duration of
      the indwelling catheter were 3.2 days (SD 1.8) and 12.6 days (SD 8.5),
      respectively. Pathological staging showed 65 patients with pT2a (65 %) disease
      and 33 patients with pT3a (33 %) disease. Thirty-five patients (35 %) had
      positive surgical margins. Eighteen patients underwent adjuvant radiotherapy.
      Overall postoperative complication rate was 14 %. There were six Clavien grade 1
      complications, seven Clavien grade 2 complications and one Clavien grade 3
      complication. At mean follow-up of 36 months, 100 % of patients remained free of
      biochemical recurrence with continence at 70 %. Our proctor-based team approach
      will continue to improve each surgeon's technical competency. He or she will
      continue to improve and gradually move on to achieving his or her outcomes
      learning curve. 

PMID- 27637686
TI  - One hundred consecutive robotically assisted cholecystectomies by one surgeon
      without any conversions to an open technique.
AB  - Between June 2010 and December 2012, one surgeon performed 100 consecutive
      robotically assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomies without any conversions to an
      open technique. To our knowledge, this is the largest single-surgeon series of
      robotic cholecystectomies in the literature and, because of the zero percent
      conversion rate, also provides evidence that robotic cholecystectomies have a
      clinical advantage over traditional laparoscopic cholecystectomies. 

PMID- 27637687
TI  - Ultrasonic thermal damage during robotic hysterectomy.
AB  - Application of energy in minimally invasive hysterectomy creates thermal injury
      which may increase vaginal cuff dehiscence. The purpose of this study was to
      compare vaginal tissue damage in a swine model between the two power settings of
      ultrasonic energy. This was an IACUC-approved, prospective, single-blinded study
      analyzing energy-induced damage to the swine vagina during robotic hysterectomy.
      Multiple colpotomy transections were performed on 18 animals using robotic
      ultrasonic energy, the exact same platform used in human surgery. Specimens (n =
      72) were analyzed by a veterinary pathologist blinded to the energy source.
      Thermal injury was microscopically measured. Mean thermal injury (um) was not
      statistically different between Max-Setting 5 and Min-Setting 3 (1243 +/- 544 vs.
      1293 +/- 554; 95 % CI -310 to 210, p = 0.66). Time (s) to complete transection
      was significantly shorter when using Setting 5 (13.00 +/- 7.75 vs. 17.92 +/-
      9.03; 95 % CI -4.92 to -8.88, p = 0.001). The rate of injury (um/s) for Setting 5
      also trended toward being higher (118.98 +/- 72.81 vs. 93.03 +/- 62.34; 95 % CI 
      5.91 to 57.81, p = 0.053). In these swine vaginal specimens, energy-induced
      tissue damage was not statistically different for the two ultrasonic power
      settings. Max-Setting 5 was faster and trended toward a higher rate of damage;
      this was balanced by equivalent distance of tissue injury compared with Min
      Setting 3. In larger human specimens, the use of Max-Setting 5 may be recommended
      to decrease surgical time as it is faster and causes an equivalent amount of
      injury to Min-Setting 3. 

PMID- 27637688
TI  - Using virtual reality to maintain surgical skills during periods of robotic
      surgery inactivity.
AB  - Periodic practice is needed for newly trained robotic surgeons to maintain skills
      during periods of robotic inactivity. The current study was performed to
      determine whether virtual robotic skill maintenance can serve as an adequate
      substitute for practice on a surgical robot. Eleven surgical residents with no
      prior robotic training were trained to a level of robotic proficiency with
      inanimate models, including a needle driving pad, a running suture pad, and ring
      placement on a rocking peg board. After reaching proficiency, each resident was
      tested on a complex tissue closure task. For the next 8 weeks, the only robotic
      activity was biweekly virtual robotic skills maintenance. After 8 weeks, the
      residents performed the tissue closure task twice with the robot, followed by
      evaluation on the inanimate models used to reach proficiency. Repeated-measures
      statistical analyses were used to compare between the three tissue closure trials
      and between the final test at week 0 and the evaluation at week 8 for the other
      inanimate models. Time to complete the tissue closure task was more than 20 %
      lower for the second evaluation at 8 weeks than for the other two trials (p <
      0.05). Residents maintained their skills for needle driving, but times for suture
      running and rocking peg board increased by more than 20 % at 8 weeks (p < 0.01).
      Virtual practice shows promise for maintaining robotic skills. Following a warm
      up period, some skills may actually improve with biweekly virtual practice, but
      skill retention is selective, so further improvements are needed. 

PMID- 27637689
TI  - The effects of fatigue on robotic surgical skill training in Urology residents.
AB  - This study reports on the effect of fatigue on Urology residents using the
      daVinci surgical skills simulator (dVSS). Seven Urology residents performed a
      series of selected exercises on the dVSS while pre-call and post-call. Prior to
      dVSS performance a survey of subjective fatigue was taken and residents were
      tested with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Using the metrics available in
      the dVSS software, the performance of each resident was evaluated. The Urology
      residents slept an average of 4.07 h (range 2.5-6 h) while on call compared to an
      average of 5.43 h while not on call (range 3-7 h, p = 0.08). Post-call residents
      were significantly more likely to be identified as fatigued by the Epworth
      Sleepiness Score than pre-call residents (p = 0.01). Significant differences were
      observed in fatigued residents performing the exercises, Tubes and Match Board 2
      (p = 0.05, 0.02). Additionally, there were significant differences in the total
      number of critical errors during the training session (9.29 vs. 3.14, p = 0.04).
      Fatigue in post-call Urology residents leads to poorer performance on the dVSS
      simulator. The dVSS may become a useful instrument in the education of fatigued
      residents and a tool to identify fatigue in trainees. 

PMID- 27637690
TI  - Robotic transanal endoscopic microsurgery in benign rectal tumour.
AB  - AIM: To present a case of resection of a rectal tumour by a transanal robotic
      approach. PATIENT: A 58-year-old woman with a 3-cm tumour located 6 cm proximal
      to anal verge (uT1N0). RESULTS: We describe the details of the surgical
      technique. A complete resection with adequate margins was accomplished. The
      defect was closed with a running suture. Operation time was 180 min. There were
      no complications and the patient was discharged 24 h after surgery. CONCLUSION: A
      complete resection of a rectal tumour by a robotic approach is feasible and safe.
      More studies are needed to clearly define the indications where this new approach
      can show clear advantages over other transanal resection approaches.

PMID- 27637691
TI  - Axillary web syndrome after transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy.
AB  - Axillary web syndrome is a self-limiting and frequently overlooked complication
      in the early postoperative period of axillary surgery. This entity has been
      described in breast cancer patients after axillary lymph node dissection. Robot
      assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy is now becoming increasingly popular in part
      owing to the desire to avoid an obvious cervical scar. This procedure is a kind
      of axillary surgery, but there has been no report about axillary web syndrome
      after robotic transaxillary thyroidectomy. Here, we report on a 47-year-old
      female with axillary web syndrome after robotic transaxillary thyroid lobectomy. 

PMID- 27637692
TI  - Robotic gastric electrical stimulator placement: technique and literature review.
AB  - Gastroparesis in a chronic setting is a disorder that results in diminished
      quality of life. Laparoscopic gastric electrical stimulator (GES) placement is
      now being performed in patients with medically refractory gastroparesis. During
      this procedure, a significant amount of suturing is required to anchor the
      electrodes to the gastric wall. Robotic surgery may provide surgeons with several
      technical and ergonomic advantages during this procedure, when compared with a
      standard laparoscopic approach. The aim of this study is to present a case and
      review the technique and literature for robotic placement of GES. This report
      demonstrates the safety and feasibility of robotic GES placement. 

PMID- 27637693
TI  - Pediatric robot-assisted laparoscopic radical adrenalectomy and lymph-node
      dissection for neuroblastoma in a 15-month-old.
AB  - Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extra-cranial solid tumor in children and
      the most common malignancy in infants, with complete resection being curative in
      low-stage disease. The previous standard of treatment for many abdominal NBs
      involving the adrenal gland had been open surgery; however, there have been
      numerous descriptions of the safety and feasibility of a laparoscopic approach to
      resect adrenal masses in the pediatric population in benign and malignant
      disease, including improved cosmetic results, decreased length of stay, decreased
      surgical morbidity, and comparable oncological outcomes to open surgery. Despite
      these reported advantages over open surgery, the newer robot-assisted laparoscopy
      (RAL) offers benefits over the conventional laparoscopic approach that could
      further improve outcomes and expand the use of minimally invasive surgical
      approaches for pediatric adrenal masses. RAL offers many additional advantages
      over conventional laparoscopy, such as 3D visualization, increased range of
      motion of surgical instruments, tremor control, and a shorter learning curve
      compared with traditional laparoscopic surgery, while still maintaining the
      advantages of minimally invasive surgery. The body of literature concerning robot
      assisted oncological surgery involving the adrenal gland in children is quite
      small, and to our knowledge no case reports have been published describing robot
      assisted removal of an adrenal NB in a pediatric patient. We present our
      experience and technique of an RAL approach for lymph-node dissection and radical
      resection of a low-stage NB involving the adrenal gland with no image-defined
      risk factors in a 15-month-old infant. 

PMID- 27637694
TI  - Robotic resection of a common hepatic artery aneurysm.
AB  - The introduction of robotics into surgery represents progression in the field of
      minimally invasive surgery. Its use has been reported in coronary artery bypass
      graft along with repair of other major vascular structures. We report the first
      case of robot-assisted resection of a large hepatic artery aneurysm. Robotic
      surgery is safe and feasible and is a significant advance in the field of
      aneurismal repair. It offers significant advantages in the degrees of freedom of
      movement compared to laparoscopic surgery. 

PMID- 27637695
TI  - Meeting the Unmet Need: Training General Surgeons to Perform Life-Saving
      Neurosurgical Procedures in Low-Resource Settings.

PMID- 27637696
TI  - In Reply to "Meeting the Unmet Need: Training General Surgeons to Perform Life
      Saving Neurosurgical Procedures in Low-Resource Settings".

PMID- 27637697
TI  - Brain Infarct and Abscess-A Very Common Disease and a Rare Association.

PMID- 27637698
TI  - In Reply to "Brain Infarct and Abscess-A Very Common Disease and a Rare
      Association".

PMID- 27637699
TI  - Evaluation of a 10-Year Retrospective Study for Recurrence and Prognostic Factor
      Assessment for World Health Organization Grade II Meningioma.

PMID- 27637700
TI  - A Letter to the Editor regarding, "Time to Surgery and Outcomes in Cauda Equina
      Syndrome: An Analysis of 45 Cases." Critique of Bydon et al.

PMID- 27637701
TI  - A new technique for robotic thyroidectomy: "the daVinci gasless single-incision
      axillary approach".
AB  - Robotic thyroidectomy has been recently introduced as a new modality of treatment
      for selected benign and malignant thyroid lesions. The standard technique,
      popularized by a leading Korean group, combines an axillary and a thoracic
      approach to accomplish thyroid resection without neck incision. We recently
      introduced a modified technique that has enabled us to complete robotic
      thyroidectomy through a single axillary incision. We herein report our initial
      successful experience in 35 cases with the modified technique. 

PMID- 27637702
TI  - Robotic-assisted Heller myotomy for esophageal achalasia: feasibility, technique,
      and short-term outcomes.
AB  - Laparoscopic Heller myotomy is the standard surgical treatment for esophageal
      achalasia. The incidence of esophageal perforation is about 5-10%. Robotic
      assisted Heller myotomy (RAHM) offers results at least as good as those from
      laparoscopic procedures, additionally yielding fewer intraoperative
      complications. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the safety and
      feasibility of RAHM and its value in the treatment of esophageal achalasia. We
      analyzed demographics, preoperative symptoms, esophagograms, esophageal
      manometry, intraoperative and postoperative data of all the patients who
      underwent RAHM for achalasia at three institutions: 36 women and 37 men, mean age
      45 +/- 16 (13-87) years. Dysphagia was present in 100% of patients. Thirty-three
      patients (45%) had had previous endoscopic treatment: 23 patients had pneumatic
      dilation, four patients had Botox injections, and six patients had both. Surgical
      time averaged 119 min (range of 62-211); blood loss averaged 23 ml; no mucosal
      perforations were observed; length of hospitalization was 1.5 days; there were no
      deaths. At 12 months, 96% of patients had relief of their dysphagia. In
      conclusion, RAHM is safe and effective since there were no intraoperative
      esophageal perforations and relief of symptoms was achieved in 96% of the
      patients. 

PMID- 27637703
TI  - Robotic sacrocolpoperineopexy with ventral rectopexy for the combined treatment
      of rectal and pelvic organ prolapse: initial report and technique.
AB  - The objective of our study is to describe the peri-operative and early
      postoperative surgical outcomes following robotic sacrocolpoperineopexy with
      ventral rectopexy for the combined treatment of rectal and pelvic organ prolapse.
      This was a retrospective cohort study of ten women with symptomatic Stage 2 or
      greater pelvic organ prolapse and concomitant rectal prolapse who desired
      combined robotic surgery, at a single institution. The mean age of the subjects
      was 55.3 +/- 19.2 years (range 19-86)  and the mean body mass index was 25.8 +/-
      5.7 kg/m(2). Preoperatively, the women had Stage 2 or greater pelvic organ
      prolapse and the average length of rectal prolapse was 2.1 +/- 1.9 cm. There were
      no conversions to conventional laparoscopy or laparotomy. The mean operating room
      time was 307 +/- 45 min with an estimated blood loss of 144 +/- 68 ml. The
      average length of stay was 2.4 +/- 0.8 days. Preliminary data suggest that
      robotic sacrocolpoperineopexy with ventral rectopexy is a feasible procedure with
      minimal operative morbidity for the combined treatment of rectal and pelvic organ
      prolapse. Longer follow-up is needed to ensure favorable long-term subjective and
      objective outcomes. 

PMID- 27637704
TI  - Long-term outcomes of robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy with a minimum
      of three years follow-up.
AB  - We describe efficacy and safety of robotic-assisted laparoscopic vaginal vault
      prolapse repair with long-term follow-up. We reviewed the records of 40
      consecutive patients with posthysterectomy vaginal vault prolapse who underwent a
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy at our institution between September
      2002 and September 2006. Patient analysis focused on complications, patient
      satisfaction, and morbidity, with a minimum of 36 months' follow-up. Median
      follow-up was 62 months (range 36-84) and mean age was 67 (43-83) years. Mean
      operating time was 3.1 (2.15-5) h with a median operating time of 2.9 h. All but
      four were discharged home on postoperative day one; three patients left on
      postoperative day two and one left on postoperative day seven. Three developed
      recurrent grade 3-4 rectoceles and two vaginal extrusion of mesh. Thirty-eight of
      the 40 patients (95%) were satisfied with their outcome. Robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy is a minimally invasive technique for vaginal vault
      prolapse repair, combining the advantages of open sacrocolpopexy with the
      decreased morbidity of laparoscopy. We found a short hospital stay, low
      complication rates, and high patient satisfaction with a minimum of 3 years'
      follow-up. 

PMID- 27637705
TI  - Da Vinci robotic-assisted radical hysterectomy procedural guide.
AB  - The Da Vinci robotic surgical platform has rapidly been adopted by skilled
      surgeons for procedures in gynecologic oncology. The lack of specific procedural
      guides and surgical atlases for robotic surgery in gynecologic oncology produces
      challenges in the education of trainees in their role both as the assistant and
      as the console surgeon. This procedural guide was developed in order to
      facilitate trainee education in the technical aspects of radical hysterectomy for
      cervical cancer using the Da Vinci robotic surgical platform. Patient selection,
      preparation, and the technical aspects of robotic radical hysterectomy are
      described from both the standpoint of the console surgeon and the bedside
      assistant. 

PMID- 27637706
TI  - Evaluation of the learning curve of total robotic hysterectomy with or without
      lymphadenectomy for a gynecologic oncology service.
AB  - We sought to determine the learning curve for total robotic hysterectomy,
      bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (TRH, BSO) with/without lymphadenectomy (LND) for
      a gynecologic oncology service. Data was collected prospectively and included
      demographics, surgical data, and timed data points to calculate times for the
      following categories: total operating room (OR) time, setup time, hysterectomy
      (HYST) time, lymphadenectomy (LND) time, and console time. Cases were grouped
      into tens by chronological order and compared. A risk-adjusted cumulative sum
      (CUSUM) model was used to evaluate learning curves for hysterectomy and
      lymphadenectomy. The first 155 patients are reported. Average HYST time was 45.2
      min and average LND time was 52.4 min. Cases were grouped by each consecutive 10
      cases per surgeon (i.e. Group 1 = cases 1-10 for each surgeon). All groups were
      similar with respect to age, body mass index, stage, grade, cancer type, number
      of lymph nodes, and uterine weight. All times significantly improved with the
      increase in number of cases: total OR time (P < 0.001); setup time (P = 0.004);
      HYST time (P = 0.001); LND time (P = 0.05); console time (P = 0.05). CUSUM
      analysis demonstrated a learning curve of 14 cases for HYST time and 19 cases for
      lymphadenectomy. Our data describes the robotic laparoscopic learning curves for
      both hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy in a gynecologic oncology practice and
      could be utilized for hospital credentialing. The amount of experience required
      to achieve maximum time efficiency for robotic lymphadenectomy was greater than
      that for hysterectomy. A significant improvement was observed in all timed data
      points collected, and the time to proficiency appears reasonable. 

PMID- 27637707
TI  - Initial validation of the ProMIS surgical simulator as an objective measure of
      robotic task performance.
AB  - Virtual reality robotic simulation has gained widespread momentum. In order to
      determine the value of virtual reality robotic simulation and its objective
      metrics, a reality-based robotic surgical training platform with similar analytic
      capabilities must be developed and validated. The ProMIS laparoscopic surgical
      simulator is a widely available reality-based simulation platform that has been
      previously validated as an objective measure of laparoscopic task performance. In
      this study, we evaluated the validity of the ProMIS laparoscopic surgical
      simulator as an objective measure of robotic task performance. Volunteers were
      recruited from two experience groups (novice and expert). All subjects completed
      three tasks (peg transfer, precision cutting, intracorporeal suture/knot) in the
      ProMIS laparoscopic simulator using the da Vinci robotic surgical system. Motion
      analysis data was obtained by the ProMIS computerized optical tracking system and
      objective metrics recorded included time, path length, economy of motion, and
      observer-recorded penalty scores. The novice group consisted of 10 subjects with
      no previous robotic surgical experience. The expert group consisted of 10
      subjects with robotic experience. The expert group outperformed the novice group
      in all three tasks. Subjects rated this training platform as easy to use, as an
      accurate measure of their robotic surgical proficiency, and as relevant to
      robotic surgery. The experts described the simulator platform as useful for
      training and agreed with incorporating it into a residency curriculum. This study
      demonstrates that the ProMIS laparoscopic simulator is a face, content, and
      construct valid reality-based simulation platform that can be used for
      objectively measuring robotic task performance. 

PMID- 27637710
TI  - Dilation of the vaginal cuff using the Bakri Postpartum Balloon to extract the
      large uterus at the time of robotic hysterectomy for endometrial carcinoma.
AB  - Removal of large uterine specimens during robotic or total laparoscopic
      hysterectomy poses surgical challenges, particularly in cases performed for
      gynecologic malignancy. A 23-year-old patient with endometrioid adenocarcinoma of
      the endometrium underwent robotic total laparoscopic hysterectomy with bilateral
      salpingo-oophorectomy. The large uterine specimen was removed by dilating the
      colpotomy incision using the Bakri Postpartum BalloonTM. Dilation of the
      colpotomy incision with the uterine tamponade balloon can allow for the intact
      removal of a large uterine specimen in cases of robotic or total laparoscopic
      hysterectomy performed for gynecologic malignancy when specimen morcellation is
      contraindicated. 

PMID- 27637709
TI  - Robotic partial nephrectomy outcomes at a single institution and experience with
      R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score.
AB  - Partial nephrectomy is the current gold-standard treatment of small renal masses.
      The articulated instruments of the surgical robot have made the laparoscopic
      approach more feasible. We present our experience with 50 robot-assisted
      laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) surgeries and attempt to validate a
      recently reported nephrometry score. From July 2008 to July 2010, 50 (53 planned)
      elective RALPNs were performed utilizing the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive
      Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). All patients had an enhancing renal mass on CT
      scan pre-operatively. Clinicopathologic, surgical, and renal functional
      (Cockcroft-Gault formula) outcomes were recorded prospectively and analyzed. Mean
      tumor size, length of surgery (LS), warm ischemia time (WIT), and nephrometry
      scores were 3.6 cm (1-8), 303 min (133-610), 29.1 min (11-42), and 6.8 (4-11)
      respectively. Renal cell carcinoma was found in 39 (78%) patients. When
      evaluating the nephrometry score, comparison of low, medium, and high complexity
      tumors for length of surgery, WIT, and estimated blood loss (EBL) showed no
      difference (p > 0.05). Nearness to the collecting system (N score 1 vs. N score
      3) showed increased EBL (195 ml vs. 510 mL, p = 0.005), and location relative to
      polar lines (L score 1 and L score 2) increased mean LS (265 vs. 359 min, p =
      0.02). RALPN is safe and effective. Nephrometry scores are a method of
      standardizing tumor complexity and can be utilized in comparing tumor cohorts but
      may not be predictive of intra-operative outcomes. 

PMID- 27637708
TI  - Older age does not impact perioperative complications after robot-assisted
      radical prostatectomy.
AB  - To determine whether men aged 70 years and older had more perioperative
      complications after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) compared with
      younger patients, a retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent
      RARP between March 2004 and September 2009. Subjects were stratified according to
      age into four groups (age 30-49, 50-59, 60-69, and >=70 years). American Society
      of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores were obtained. Complication rates in the
      perioperative period, transfusion rates, and length of stay were compared.
      Complications were classified using the previously validated Clavien system.
      There were a total of 293 patients aged 70 years and older amongst the 1,223
      total subjects. ASA comorbidity scores did vary significantly amongst the
      different age groups, and there was modest correlation noted between ASA and age.
      There was no statistically significant difference amongst complication rates in
      men aged 70 years and older (15%) compared with the other cohorts (P = 0.832).
      There was also no significant difference in transfusion rates (P = 0.170) or
      length of stay (P = 0.131). Patients with higher ASA scores (ASA 3-4) had more
      Clavien I-II complications compared with patients with ASA scores of 1-2 (15.5%
      versus 10.3%, P = 0.03). There was no difference in transfusion rates or length
      of stay between the ASA scores. There are no more complications in men aged 70
      years and older compared with men <70 years of age undergoing robot-assisted
      radical prostatectomy. RARP is a safe treatment option to offer to the selected
      elderly patient. 

PMID- 27637711
TI  - Transoral robot-assisted excision of a lingual thyroid gland.
AB  - Lingual thyroid is a rare condition in which ectopic thyroid tissue is present in
      the base of tongue. We present a case of a 46-year-old patient with a symptomatic
      lingual thyroid that was successfully removed with minimal morbidity using
      transoral robotic surgery. The traditional treatment algorithm for lingual
      thyroid is reviewed. The advantages of using transoral robotic surgery to remove
      lingual thyroid tissue are described along with the reasons why the addition of
      this technique should shift treatment of lingual thyroid towards more frequent
      use of surgical ablation. This report is, to our knowledge, the first describing
      the use of transoral robotic surgery for treating lingual thyroid. 

PMID- 27637712
TI  - Retropharyngeal lymphadenectomy with transoral robotic surgery for papillary
      thyroid cancer.
AB  - Retropharyngeal metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma is a rare but well
      recognized phenomenon. Traditional open surgical approaches to nodal metastasis
      located in the retropharyngeal space are particularly morbid considering the
      relatively indolent nature of some thyroid cancers. Minimally invasive surgical
      approaches offer a useful alternative that is both low in morbidity and high in
      levels of patient acceptance. To assess feasibility and safety, we report a case
      series of robotic lymphadenectomy in two patients with thyroid cancer metastatic
      to the retropharyngeal space. Two patients, ages 66 and 73, with unilateral
      recurrent papillary carcinoma of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes had previously
      undergone thyroidectomy, neck dissection, and radioactive iodine ablation prior
      to retropharyngeal resection. Retropharyngeal lymphadenectomy via transoral
      robotic surgery was performed for both patients: for the first, the oropharyngeal
      wound was left to heal by secondary intention, while for the other patient,
      simple pharyngeal flap closure was performed. Retropharyngeal lymph node
      dissections were successfully carried out using a transoral robotic
      retropharyngotomy with the da Vinci surgical robotic system. Both patients
      tolerated the procedure well. One patient did developed temporary dysphagia which
      resolved with conservative measures, not requiring a feeding tube. We report the
      first two cases of transoral robot-assisted resection of thyroid cancer
      metastatic to the retropharyngeal lymph nodes. The technique is feasible,
      minimally invasive, and appears to be as safe as conventional surgical methods in
      achieving the goals of management of regionally metastatic disease. 

PMID- 27637713
TI  - Robotic-assisted thoracoscopic enucleation of esophageal leiomyoma.
AB  - Minimally invasive approaches to esophageal leiomyoma, including thoracoscopic
      and laparoscopic enucleation, have been shown to have better postoperative
      recovery compared with thoracotomy approach. We present a case of robotic
      assisted thoracoscopic enucleation of esophageal leiomyoma using the da
      Vinci((r)) S system. 

PMID- 27637714
TI  - Robotic surgery for adnexal masses in pregnancy.

PMID- 27637715
TI  - How to respond to an ICU patient asking if she/he is going to die.

PMID- 27637717
TI  - Dynamic predictors of VILI risk: beyond the driving pressure.

PMID- 27637716
TI  - Physical declines occurring after hospital discharge in ARDS survivors: a 5-year
      longitudinal study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are at high risk
      for new or ongoing physical declines after hospital discharge. The objective of
      our study was to evaluate the epidemiology of physical declines over 5-year
      follow-up and identify patients at risk for decline. METHODS: This multi-site
      prospective cohort study evaluated ARDS survivors who completed a physical status
      assessment at 3 or 6 months post-discharge. Three measures were evaluated: muscle
      strength (Medical Resource Council sumscore); exercise capacity [6-min walk test
      (6MWT)]; physical functioning [36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36 survey)].
      Patients were defined as "declined" if a comparison of their current and prior
      score showed a decrease that was greater than the Reliable Change Index-or if the
      patient died. Risk factors [pre-ARDS baseline status, intensive care unit (ICU)
      illness severity, and other intensive care variables] were evaluated using
      longitudinal, generalized linear regression models for each measure. RESULTS:
      During the follow-up of 193 ARDS survivors (55 % male; median age 49 years), 166
      (86 %) experienced decline in >=1 physical measure (including death) and 133 (69
      %) experienced a physical decline (excluding death). For all measures, age was a
      significant risk factor [odds ratios (OR) 1.34-1.69 per decade; p < 0.001]. Pre
      ARDS comorbidity (Charlson Index) was independently associated with declines in
      strength and exercise capacity (OR 1.10 and 1.18, respectively; p < 0.02), and
      organ failure [maximum daily Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in
      ICU] was associated with declines in strength (OR 1.06 per 1 point of SOFA score;
      p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Over the follow-up period, the majority of ARDS survivors
      experienced a physical decline, with older age and pre-ICU comorbidity being
      important risk factors for this decline.

PMID- 27637718
TI  - The use of low-dose IV haloperidol is not associated with QTc prolongation: post
      hoc analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

PMID- 27637719
TI  - Glycemic control, mortality, and hypoglycemia in critically ill patients: a
      systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: It is unclear whether tight glycemic control is warranted in all
      critically ill adults. We employed network meta-analysis to examine the risk of
      mortality and hypoglycemia associated with different glycemic control targets in
      critically ill adults. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched up to 2016 for
      randomized controlled trials comparing various insulin regimens in critically ill
      adults with hyperglycemia. Two reviewers independently extracted information and
      evaluated quality with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Four glycemic control
      groups were compared: tight (blood glucose: 4.4 < 6.1 mmol/l), moderate (6.1 <
      7.8 mmol/l), mild (7.8 < 10.0 mmol/l), and very mild (10.0 to < 12.2 mmol/l).
      Network meta-analysis was performed by a frequentist approach with multivariate
      random effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-six randomized trials (17,996
      patients) were identified. Compared with very mild control, tight control did not
      reduce the risk of short-term mortality [relative risk (RR) 0.94 (95 % CI 0.83
      1.07, p = 0.36)], and neither did mild control [RR 0.88 (0.73-1.06), p = 0.18] or
      moderate control [RR 1.1 (0.66-1.84), p = 0.72]. However, severe hypoglycemia
      (<2.2 mmol/l) was more frequent with tight control than very mild control [RR
      5.49 (3.22-9.38), p < 0.001] or mild control [RR 4.47 (2.5-8.03), p < 0.001].
      Stratified analyses (cause of death, ICU type, time period, or diabetes) did not
      find significant between-group differences. Ranking analysis revealed the
      following hierarchy for avoiding death (highest to lowest rank): mild control,
      tight control, and very mild control. CONCLUSIONS: Network meta-analysis showed
      no mortality benefit of tight glycemic control in critically ill patients, but
      fivefold more hypoglycemia versus mild or very mild control.

PMID- 27637720
TI  - High oxygen affinity hemoglobins.
AB  - High oxygen affinity hemoglobins are responsible for rare and heterogeneous
      autosomic dominant genetic diseases. They cause pure erythrocytosis, sometimes
      accountable for hyperviscosity and thrombosis, or hemolysis. Differential
      diagnoses must be first ruled out. The diagnosis is based on the identification
      of a decreased P50, and their possible characterization by cation exchange-high
      performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. Finally, genetic
      studies of the responsible globin chain gene will confirm the mutation. The
      prognosis mainly relies on the P50 decrease rate and on the hemoglobin
      cooperativity impairment. Disease management should be personalized, and it
      should primarily depend on smoking cessation and physical activity. Phlebotomy
      and platelet aggregation inhibitors' prescriptions can be discussed. There is no
      contraindication to flights, high-altitude conditions, or pregnancy.
      Nevertheless, blood donation must be prohibited.

PMID- 27637721
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27637722
TI  - Predicting the reading skill of Japanese children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To clarify cognitive processes underlining the development of reading
      in children speaking Japanese as their first language, we examined relationships
      between performances of cognitive tasks in the preschool period and later reading
      abilities. METHODS: Ninety-one normally developing preschoolers (41 girls and 50
      boys; 5years 4months to 6years 4months, mean 5years 10months) participated as
      subjects. We conducted seven cognitive tasks including phonological awareness
      tasks, naming tasks, and working memory tasks in the preschool period. In terms
      of reading tasks, the hiragana naming task was administered in the preschool
      period; the reading times, which is a composite score of the monomoraic syllable
      reading task, the word and the non-word reading tasks, and the single sentence
      reading task, was evaluated in first and second grade; and the kanji reading task
      (naming task) was tested in second grade. Raven's colored progressive matrices
      and picture vocabulary test revised were also conducted in first grade.
      Correlation analyses between task scores and stepwise multiple regression
      analyses were implemented. RESULTS: Tasks tapping phonological awareness, lexical
      access, and verbal working memory showed significant correlations with reading
      tasks. In the multiple regression analyses the performances in the verbal working
      memory task played a key role in predicting character naming task scores (the
      hiragana naming task and the kanji reading task) while the digit naming task was
      an important predictor of reading times. Unexpectedly, the role of phonological
      (mora) awareness was modest among children speaking Japanese. CONCLUSION:
      Cognitive functions including phonological awareness, digit naming, and verbal
      working memory (especially the latter two) were involved in the development of
      reading skills of children speaking Japanese.

PMID- 27637723
TI  - PEEK-OPTIMATM as an alternative to cobalt chrome in the femoral component of
      total knee replacement: A preliminary study.
AB  - PEEK-OPTIMATM (Invibio Ltd, UK) has been considered as an alternative joint
      arthroplasty bearing material due to its favourable mechanical properties and the
      biocompatibility of its wear debris. In this study, the potential to use
      injection moulded PEEK-OPTIMATM as an alternative to cobalt chrome in the femoral
      component of a total knee replacement was investigated in terms of its wear
      performance. Experimental wear simulation of three cobalt chrome and three PEEK
      OPTIMATM femoral components articulating against all-polyethylene tibial
      components was carried out under two kinematic conditions: 3 million cycles under
      intermediate kinematics (maximum anterior-posterior displacement of 5 mm)
      followed by 3 million cycles under high kinematic conditions (anterior-posterior
      displacement 10 mm). The wear of the GUR1020 ultra-high-molecular-weight
      polyethylene tibial components was assessed by gravimetric analysis; for both
      material combinations under each kinematic condition, the mean wear rates were
      low, that is, below 5 mm3/million cycles. Specifically, under intermediate
      kinematic conditions, the wear rate of the ultra-high-molecular-weight
      polyethylene tibial components was 0.96 +/- 2.26 mm3/million cycles and 2.44 +/-
      0.78 mm3/million cycle against cobalt chrome and PEEK-OPTIMATM implants,
      respectively (p = 0.06); under high kinematic conditions, the wear rates were
      2.23 +/- 1.85 mm3/million cycles and 4.44 +/- 2.35 mm3/million cycles,
      respectively (p = 0.03). Following wear simulation, scratches were apparent on
      the surface of the PEEK-OPTIMATM femoral components. The surface topography of
      the femoral components was assessed using contacting profilometry and showed a
      statistically significant increase in measured surface roughness of the PEEK
      OPTIMATM femoral components compared to the cobalt chrome implants. However, this
      did not appear to influence the wear rate, which remained linear over the
      duration of the study. These preliminary findings showed that PEEK-OPTIMATM gives
      promise as an alternative bearing material to cobalt chrome alloy in the femoral
      component of a total knee replacement with respect to wear performance.

PMID- 27637724
TI  - Functional Image-guided Radiotherapy Planning for Normal Lung Avoidance.
AB  - For patients with lung cancer undergoing curative intent radiotherapy, functional
      lung imaging can be incorporated into treatment planning to modify the dose
      distribution within non-target volume lung by differentiation of lung regions
      that are functionally defective or viable. This concept of functional image
      guided lung avoidance treatment planning has been investigated with several
      imaging modalities, primarily single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT),
      but also hyperpolarised gas magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, positron emission
      tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT)-based measures of lung
      biomechanics. Here, we review the application of each of these modalities, review
      practical issues of lung avoidance implementation, including image registration
      and the role of both ventilation and perfusion imaging, and provide guidelines
      for reporting of future lung avoidance planning studies.

PMID- 27637726
TI  - Concerns about LUNG-SAFE: response to the letter to the Editor of Critical Care
      by Bellani et al.

PMID- 27637725
TI  - Adaptive Dose Escalation using Serial Four-dimensional Positron Emission
      Tomography/Computed Tomography Scans during Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Non
      small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - AIMS: Computed tomography (CT)-based radiotherapy dose escalation for locally
      advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) has had limited success. In this
      planning study, we investigated the potential for adaptive dose escalation using
      respiratory-gated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography scans (4DPET/4DCT) acquired before and during a
      course of chemoradiotherapy (CRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively
      enrolled patients with LA-NSCLC receiving curative intent CRT. Radiotherapy was
      delivered using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using the week 0 4DCT
      scan. Three alternative, dose-escalated IMRT plans were developed offline based
      on the week 0, 2 and 4 4DPET/4DCT scans. The FDG-avid primary (PET-T) and nodal
      disease (PET-N) volumes defined by the 50% of maximum standard uptake value
      threshold were dose escalated to as high as possible while respecting organ at
      risk constraints. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were recruited, 27 completing all
      scans. Twenty-five patients (93%) were boosted successfully above the clinical
      plan doses at week 0, 23 (85%) at week 2 and 20 (74%) at week 4. The median dose
      received by 95% of the planning target volume (D95) at week 0, 2 and 4 to PET-T
      were 74.4 Gy, 75.3 Gy and 74.1 Gy and to PET-N were 74.3 Gy, 71.0 Gy and 69.5 Gy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Using 18F-FDG-4DPET/4DCT, it is feasible to dose escalate both
      primary and nodal disease in most patients. Choosing week 0 images to plan a
      course with an integrated boost to PET-avid disease allows for more patients to
      be successfully dose escalated with the highest boost dose.

PMID- 27637727
TI  - Scientists Should Oppose the Drive of Postmodern Ideology.
AB  - The National Academies of Sciences of the USA recently published a report
      entitled Gene Drive on the Horizon. This commentary discusses the 'Aligning
      Research with Public Values' aspects in this report, the topic of public
      engagement, and the worrying ideological shift towards postmodernism which aims
      to deconstruct Enlightenment values.

PMID- 27637728
TI  - Marrow Fat Quality Differences by Sex in Healthy Adults.
AB  - Several studies have demonstrated the relationship between bone marrow adiposity
      (BMAT) and bone mass. 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a noninvasive
      technique able to assess both BMAT quantity and quality. The aim of our study was
      to perform quantitative and qualitative analyses of BMAT and to investigate its
      association with bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy nonobese volunteers. Fifty
      one healthy volunteers, 21 men and 30 women, underwent 1.5 T 1H magnetic
      resonance spectroscopy of the lumbar spine. BMD was determined by dual-energy X
      ray absorptiometry of the lumbar spine. Correlation analysis was performed to
      evaluate association among lipids fractions, BMD, and age. The female and male
      volunteers had similar body mass index and BMD (p > 0.05). Our data demonstrated
      an inverse correlation of BMD and BMAT with age, with a stronger correlation of
      saturated lipids (r = 0.701; p < 0.0001) compared with unsaturated lipids (UL) (r
      = 0.278; p = 0.004). Importantly, female subjects had the highest amount of UL
      (confidence interval: 0.685%-1.722%; p < 0.001). Our study reports that men and
      women with similar BMD and body mass index have striking differences in bone
      marrow lipids composition, namely women have higher UL than men. In addition, we
      believe that our study brings new insights to the complex network involving BMAT
      and other factors that influence bone integrity.

PMID- 27637729
TI  - Predictors of Adverse Outcome and Transient Neurological Dysfunction Following
      Aortic Arch Replacement in 626 Consecutive Patients in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early mortality and cerebral injury are severe complications of
      aortic arch surgery, but data from Asian countries are scarce. We reviewed the
      results of patients who underwent aortic arch replacement with deep hypothermic
      circulatory arrest (DHCA) and antegrade selective cerebral perfusion (ASCP) at
      our institution to analyse pre- and intraoperative predictors of early death and
      neurological complications. METHODS: Clinical data of adult patients who
      underwent aortic arch surgery with DHCA plus ASCP between January 2005 and
      December 2011 were retrospectively analysed. Univariate and multivariate analyses
      were performed to identify predictors of adverse outcome defined as 30-day
      mortality and permanent neurological dysfunction (PND), and transient
      neurological dysfunction (TND). RESULTS: A total of 626 patients were included in
      the study. The average age of the patients was 45.0+/-10.7 years with male
      predominance (77.0%). The incidence of adverse outcome was 5.8%, consisting of
      4.6% 30-day mortality and 1.9% PND. Transient neurological dysfunction was found
      in 13.9% patients. Multiple logistic regression showed that stroke (OR=7.846, 95%
      CI: 2.737-22.489, p<0.001), emergency (OR=2.198, 95% CI: 1.019-4.740, p=0.045),
      CPB time (OR=1.009, 95% CI: 1.004-1.014, p<0.001), CABG (OR=2.613, 95% CI: 1.066
      6.405, p=0.036) and packed red blood cells (OR=1.113, 95% CI: 1.038-1.193,
      p=0.003) were independent predictors of adverse outcome, and acute type A aortic
      dissection (OR=2.635, 95% CI: 1.535-4.524, p<0.001), preoperative neurological
      deficits (OR=5.326, 95% CI: 1.529-18.548, p=0.009), CPB time (OR=1.004, 95% CI:
      1.000-1.007, p=0.026) and cerebral low-flow time (OR=1.034, 95% CI: 1.003-1.066,
      p=0.033) were associated with TND. CONCLUSIONS: A history of stroke was a strong
      predictor of adverse outcome, and acute type A aortic dissection and preoperative
      neurological deficits had a high correlation with TND. The predictors identified
      in this study may help clinicians to optimise the risk evaluation and
      perioperative clinical management of patients undergoing aortic arch surgery to
      reduce morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 27637730
TI  - The evolution and functional characterization of miiuy croaker cytosolic gene
      LGP2 involved in immune response.
AB  - The laboratory of genetics and physiology 2 (LGP2) is a member of retinoic acid
      inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLR receptors), which may participate in
      the immune regulation process. The role of LGP2 on modulating signaling was
      ambiguous, some researchers suggested that the regulation mechanism of LGP2 to
      melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) and retinoic acid inducible
      gene-I (RIG-I) were different. In this study, the bioinformatics and functions of
      LGP2 from miiuy croaker (mmLGP2) were characterized. Comparative genomic analysis
      showed that the evolution of LGP2 in mammals was more conserved than it in fish.
      LGP2 contains three structural domains: ResIII, HelicaseC and RD, and ResIII
      structural domain of LGP2 was extremely conservative. The mmLGP2 was ubiquitously
      expressed in the tested miiuy croaker tissues and the expressions were
      significantly upregulated after stimulation with poly(I:C), indicating that LGP2
      might participate in the immune response, especially antiviral immunity.
      Furthermore, immunofluorescence of miiuy croaker LGP2 presents in the cytoplasm
      in Hela cells. The overexpression of mmLGP2 can activate ISRE, but cannot
      activate NF-kappaB luciferase reporter, implying that mmLGP2 might act as a
      positive regulator in immune responses through activating ISRE to induce the
      expression of IFN. The research of mmLGP2 will enrich the information of fish
      LGP2, and the functional experiments will be helpful for the future research
      about fish immune systems.

PMID- 27637731
TI  - Transcriptional profiling of immune-related genes in Pacific white shrimp
      (Litopenaeus vannamei) during ontogenesis.
AB  - We have performed here a gene expression analysis to determine the developmental
      stage at the main genes involved in crustacean immune response begin to be
      expressed and their changes in mRNA abundance during shrimp development. By using
      a quantitative PCR-based approach, we have measured the mRNA abundance of 24
      immune-related genes from different functional categories in twelve developmental
      stages ranging from fertilized eggs to larval and postlarval stages and also in
      juveniles. We showed for the first time that the main genes from the RNAi-based
      post-transcriptional pathway involved in shrimp antiviral immunity are
      transcribed in all developmental stages, but exhibit a diverse pattern of gene
      expression during shrimp ontogenesis. On the other hand, hemocyte-expressed genes
      mainly involved in antimicrobial defenses appeared to be transcribed in larval
      stages, indicating that hematopoiesis initiates early in development. Moreover,
      transcript levels of some genes were early detected in fertilized eggs at 0-4 h
      post-spawning, suggesting a maternal contribution of immune-related transcripts
      to shrimp progeny. Altogether, our results provide important clues regarding the
      ontogenesis of hemocytes as well the establishment of antiviral and antimicrobial
      defenses in shrimp.

PMID- 27637732
TI  - miR-122 involved in the regulation of toll-like receptor signaling pathway after
      Vibrio anguillarum infection by targeting TLR14 in miiuy croaker.
AB  - Innate and acquired immune responses provide critical line in defense against
      pathogens. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in regulate gene expression in
      inflammation and innate immunity. However, the main role of miRNAs are in a large
      part unclear in aquatic organisms. In this study, we found that miR-122 displayed
      dramatically declined expression profiles in Vibrio anguillarum challenged miiuy
      croaker. Meanwhile, we have explored TLR14 as a novel target gene of miR-122
      involved in miiuy croakers inflammatory and immune response, which were further
      estimated through negative expression profiles in both Vibrio anguillarum
      challenged miiuy croaker and LPS exposure macrophages. Finally, in the dual
      luciferase reporter assay presented mmi-miR-122 negatively regulated the 3'-UTR
      of wild-type in luciferase activity rather than the mutant one in HEK-293T cells.
      This result demonstrated that mmi-miR-122 modulated TLR14 expression by directly
      targeting TLR14-3'UTR. All of the present data suggested miR-122 was involved in
      TLR cascade could modulate Vibrio anguillarum infection in miiuy croakers.

PMID- 27637733
TI  - Smoltification and seawater transfer of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) is
      associated with systemic repression of the immune transcriptome.
AB  - Smoltification and seawater adaptation of Atlantic salmon are associated with
      profound alterations in the endocrine status, osmoregulation and behaviour.
      Little is known about immunological changes during smoltification, although
      increased incidences of infectious diseases after seawater transfer (SWT) may
      indicate weakened protection. We report microarray gene expression analyses in
      farmed Atlantic salmon during smoltification stimulated with constant light and
      early seawater adaptation (one and three weeks after SWT). Gene expression
      changes were large, their magnitude in the head kidney and proximal intestine was
      greater than in the gill. Among 360 differentially expressed immune genes, 300
      genes were down-regulated, and multiple functional groups were affected such as
      innate antiviral immunity, chemokines, cytokines and receptors, signal
      transducers, effectors of humoral and cellular innate immunity, antigen
      presentation and lymphocytes, especially T cells. No recovery was observed after
      three weeks in seawater. A notable exception was a transient up-regulation of
      immunoglobulin transcripts in the gill after SWT. Genes involved in stress
      responses and xenobiotic metabolism were up-regulated in respectively intestine
      and gill. The duration of this observed immune suppression and the possible
      consequences for susceptibility to infections and diseases need further
      exploration.

PMID- 27637734
TI  - Standard and double-dose intravenous proton pump inhibitor injections for
      prevention of bleeding after endoscopic resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Endoscopic resection is commonly used to remove gastric
      neoplasms. However, effective dosing or scheduling of proton pump inhibitors for
      the prevention of delayed bleeding after endoscopic resection remains unclear.
      METHODS: One hundred sixty-six patients with gastric adenoma or early gastric
      cancer were enrolled. After an endoscopic procedure, each subject was randomly
      assigned to 40 mg every 24 h (standard dose group) or 40 mg every 12 h (double
      dose group) of intravenous pantoprazole for 48 h. Second-look endoscopy was
      performed on day 2 after endoscopic resection to compare signs of rebleeding and
      ulcer status between the two groups. RESULT: Eighty-one patients of the standard
      dose group and 81 of the double-dose group were analyzed. There were no
      significant differences in the incidence of delayed bleeding events (1.3% vs
      6.2%, P = 0.21) and bleeding ulcer at the second-look endoscopy (6.2% vs 3.9%, P
      = 0.69) between standard and double-dose groups. There were no other significant
      variables associated with delayed bleeding or bleeding ulcer on second-look
      endoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous pantoprazole 40 mg every 24 h or 12 h for 2
      days after endoscopic resection was equally effective for the prevention of
      delayed bleeding.

PMID- 27637735
TI  - Efficacy of Cognitive-Functional (Cog-Fun) Occupational Therapy Intervention
      Among Children With ADHD: An RCT.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy of a Cognitive-Functional (Cog-Fun)
      intervention for children with ADHD. METHOD: Random allocation of 107 children to
      study or control groups preceded 10 parent-child weekly Cog-Fun sessions
      emphasizing executive strategy training in games and daily activities. Controls
      received treatment after crossover. Study participants were followed up 3 months
      post-treatment. Outcomes included parent/teacher ratings of executive functions,
      ADHD symptoms, and parent ratings of quality of life. RESULTS: Eight children
      withdrew prior to treatment. All children in both groups who began treatment
      completed it. Mixed effects ANOVA revealed significant Time * Group interaction
      effects on all parent-reported outcomes. Treatment effects were moderate to
      large, replicated after crossover in the control group and not moderated by
      medication. Parent-reported treatment gains in the study group were maintained at
      follow-up. No significant Time * Group interaction effects were found on teacher
      outcomes. CONCLUSION: Cog-Fun occupational therapy (OT) intervention shows
      positive context-specific effects on parent, but not teacher, ratings.

PMID- 27637736
TI  - Effects of functional taping compared with sham taping and minimal intervention
      on pain intensity and static postural control for patients with non-specific
      chronic low back pain: a randomised clinical trial protocol.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the immediate and 1-month effects of functional taping
      to lumbar spine for pain intensity and postural control in patients with chronic
      non-specific low back pain. DESIGN: Randomised clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: One
      hundred and twenty participants aged 18 to 50 years. INTERVENTIONS: Participants
      will be allocated at random to receive one of three interventions: functional
      star-shape taping for 7 days, sham functional taping for 7 days or minimal
      intervention, one session. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes will be
      pain intensity and postural control. Four measurements of static posturography
      will be conducted: pre-intervention, immediately after application of the tape, 7
      days post-intervention (after removal of the tape) and 1-month follow-up. The
      secondary outcomes will be low-back-pain-related disability, global perceived
      effect of treatment and fear avoidance beliefs. Primary and secondary outcomes
      will be assessed on three occasions: pre-intervention, 7 days post-intervention
      and at 1-month follow-up. All statistical analyses will be conducted following
      intention-to-treat principles, and the treatment effects will be calculated using
      linear mixed models. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will determine the
      effects of functional taping on pain intensity and postural control compared with
      sham taping and minimal intervention. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT02546466.

PMID- 27637738
TI  - Many older patients with high blood pressure are not taking medication as
      directed, US study finds.

PMID- 27637737
TI  - Effect of two designs of implant-supported overdentures on peri-implant and
      posterior mandibular bone resorptions: a 5-year prospective radiographic study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of two
      designs of implant-supported overdentures on peri-implant and posterior
      mandibular bone resorptions after 5 years of follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty edentulous patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups: Group I
      (GI), patients received overdentures supported and retained by cantilevered bars
      on two canine implants and Group II (GII), patients received overdentures
      retained by straight bars on two canine implants and supported by two-first molar
      implants. Peri-implant vertical (VBL) and horizontal (HBLO) bone losses were
      assessed on periapical radiographs at the time of overdenture insertion (T0), 6
      months (T6 m), 1 year (T1), 3 years (T3), and 5 years (T5) after insertion.
      Posterior mandibular bone resorption was evaluated using proportional
      measurements (posterior area index, PAI) made on panoramic radiographs at T0 and
      T5. RESULTS: Group I recorded significant higher VBL than GII. VBL increased
      significantly with advance of time in both groups. Posterior implant recorded
      significant higher VBL than anterior implants in GII. HBLO did not differ
      significantly between groups or between observation times. Group I recorded
      significant higher PAI than GII at T5. Group, age, and initial height of the
      mandibular ridge were significantly correlated with PAI. CONCLUSION: Within the
      limitations of this study, regarding the small sample size, it could be concluded
      that overdentures retained by straight bars on two canine implants and supported
      by two-first molar implants present a clinical advantage in terms of peri-implant
      and posterior mandibular bone preservation compared to overdentures supported and
      retained by cantilevered bars on two canine implants after 5 years.

PMID- 27637739
TI  - An Interactive, Graphical Tool for Retrospectively Assessing Symptom Frequency
      and Severity: An Illustration With Eating Disorder Behaviors, Body Weight, and
      Stress.
AB  - There are few assessments that gather valid, highly detailed data on short-term
      (i.e., weekly) symptom frequency/severity retrospectively. In particular,
      methodologies that provide valid data for research investigating symptom changes
      are typically prospective, expensive, and burdensome. The purpose of this study
      was to evaluate a new interactive and graphical assessment tool for gathering
      detailed information about eating-related symptom frequency/severity
      retrospectively over a 3-month period. A mixed eating disorder sample ( N = 113)
      recruited from the community provided symptom data once weekly for 12 weeks and
      completed the Interactive, Graphical Assessment Tool (IGAT) assessing eating
      disorder symptoms on three occasions to determine the test-retest and concurrent
      validity of the IGAT. The IGAT performed marginally better than other measures
      for retrospective symptom frequency assessment in the eating disorders and did so
      at a greater level of detail than other available tools. Future research should
      evaluate the IGAT with other behaviors of interest.

PMID- 27637740
TI  - Modeling General, Specific, and Method Variance in Personality Measures: Results
      for ZKA-PQ and NEO-PI-R.
AB  - Contemporary models of personality assume a hierarchical structure in which
      broader traits contain narrower traits. Individual differences in response styles
      also constitute a source of score variance. In this study, the bifactor model is
      applied to separate these sources of variance for personality subscores. The
      procedure is illustrated using data for two personality inventories-NEO
      Personality Inventory-Revised and Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality
      Questionnaire. The inclusion of the acquiescence method factor generally improved
      the fit to acceptable levels for the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality
      Questionnaire, but not for the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. This effect was
      higher in subscales where the number of direct and reverse items is not balanced.
      Loadings on the specific factors were usually smaller than the loadings on the
      general factor. In some cases, part of the variance was due to domains being
      different from the main one. This information is of particular interest to
      researchers as they can identify which subscale scores have more potential to
      increase predictive validity.

PMID- 27637741
TI  - Michele Ramsay: working collaboratively to improve African health.

PMID- 27637742
TI  - Effect of cigarette prices on smoking initiation and cessation in China: a
      duration analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: China is the world's largest producer and consumer of cigarettes. The
      status of tobacco as both a contributor to China's economy and a liability for
      the health of its population may complicate the use of taxes for addressing
      smoking in the country. Understanding how cigarette prices affect transitions in
      smoking behaviour in China can increase understanding of how China's high smoking
      rates can be influenced by tax policy. METHODS: In order to estimate the effect
      of cigarette prices on smoking initiation and cessation in China, we construct
      pseudo-longitudinal samples for duration analysis using data from the Global
      Adult Tobacco Survey China 2010. We use the historical variation in prices
      representative of 4 China regions over a 20-year period to identify the average
      price effect on the hazards of initiation and cessation while controlling for
      unobserved fixed and time-varying region characteristics. FINDINGS: We find that
      initiation rates fall in response to higher prices (with a price elasticity of
      initiation estimated at -0.95 for men and -1.07 overall). CONCLUSIONS: The effect
      of prices on smoking in China is likely to occur through averting initiation over
      time. At the population level, cessation behaviour may be less responsive to
      price increases as the wide range of cigarette prices in China may provide
      relatively high opportunity for switching to lower priced brands.

PMID- 27637743
TI  - Going abroad.

PMID- 27637744
TI  - Cake or death? Ending confusions about asymmetries between consent and refusal.
AB  - In this paper, I will argue that much of the debate concerning asymmetries
      between consent and refusal (eg, in a case in which an adolescent is granted a
      right to consent to treatment, but not a right to refuse treatment) is confused.
      My aim in this paper is to highlight nuances and ambiguities, and to emphasise
      the fact that we are not just addressing a puzzle about one asymmetry between
      consent and refusal. I will show that there are a number of relevant asymmetries,
      not just the asymmetry of competence. And even if we focus specifically on the
      asymmetry of competence, we need to recognise that 'asymmetry of competence' is
      ambiguous. By clarifying these issues, my aim is to end the confusion that is
      common in this debate, allowing us to make progress on an issue that has
      previously been considered puzzling.

PMID- 27637745
TI  - Clinical outcomes of melanoma brain metastases treated with stereotactic
      radiosurgery and anti-PD-1 therapy, anti-CTLA-4 therapy, BRAF/MEK inhibitors,
      BRAF inhibitor, or conventional chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of immunologic and targeted agents on intracranial
      response rates in patients with melanoma brain metastases (MBMs) is not yet
      clearly understood. This report analyzes outcomes of intact MBMs treated with
      single-session stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and anti-PD-1 therapy, anti-CTLA-4
      therapy, BRAF/MEK inhibitors(i), BRAFi, or conventional chemotherapy. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Patients were included if MBMs were treated with single-session SRS
      within 3 months of receiving systemic therapy. The primary end point of this
      study was distant MBM control. Secondary end points were local MBM control
      defined as a >20% volume increase on follow-up MRI, systemic progression-free
      survival, overall survival (OS) from both SRS and cranial metastases diagnosis,
      and neurotoxicity. Images were reviewed alongside two neuro-radiologists at our
      institution. RESULTS: Ninety-six patients were treated to 314 MBMs over 119 SRS
      treatment sessions between January 2007 and August 2015. No significant
      differences were noted in age (P = 0.27), gender (P = 0.85), treated gross tumor
      volume (P = 0.26), or the diagnosis-specific graded prognostic assessment (P =
      0.51) between the treatment cohorts. Twelve-month Kaplan-Meier (KM) distant MBM
      control rates were 38%, 21%, 20%, 8%, and 5% (P = 0.008) for SRS with anti-PD-1
      therapies, anti-CTLA-4 therapy, BRAF/MEKi, BRAFi, and conventional chemotherapy,
      respectively. No significant differences were noted in the KM local MBM control
      rates among treatment groups (P = 0.25). Treatment with anti-PD-1 therapy, anti
      CTLA-4 therapy, or BRAF/MEKi significantly improved OS on both univariate and
      multivariate analyses when compared with conventional chemotherapy. CONCLUSION:
      In our institutional analysis of patients treated with SRS and various systemic
      immunologic and targeted melanoma agents, significant differences in distant MBM
      control and OS are noted. Prospective evaluation of the potential synergistic
      effect between these agents and SRS is warranted.

PMID- 27637746
TI  - Histone Modifications Define Expression Bias of Homoeologous Genomes in
      Allotetraploid Cotton.
AB  - Histone modifications regulate gene expression in eukaryotes, but their roles in
      gene expression changes in interspecific hybrids or allotetraploids are poorly
      understood. Histone modifications can be mapped by immunostaining of metaphase
      chromosomes at the single cell level and/or by chromatin immunoprecipitation
      sequencing (ChIP-seq) for analyzing individual genes. Here, we comparatively
      analyzed immunostained metaphase chromosomes and ChIP-seq of individual genes,
      which revealed a chromatin basis for biased homoeologous gene expression in
      polyploids. We examined H3K4me3 density and transcriptome maps in root-tip cells
      of allotetraploid cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). The overall H3K4me3 levels were
      relatively equal between A and D chromosomes, which were consistent with equal
      numbers of expressed genes between the two subgenomes. However, intensities per
      chromosomal area were nearly twice as high in the D homeologs as in the A
      homeologs. Consistent with the cytological observation, ChIP-seq analysis showed
      that more D homeologs with biased H3K4me3 levels than A homeologs with biased
      modifications correlated with the greater number of the genes with D-biased
      expression than that with A-biased expression in most homeologous chromosome
      pairs. Two chromosomes displayed different expression levels compared with other
      chromosomes, which correlate with known translocations and may affect the local
      chromatin structure and expression levels for the genes involved. This example of
      genome-wide histone modifications that determine expression bias of homeologous
      genes in allopolyploids provides a molecular basis for the evolution and
      domestication of polyploid species, including many important crops.

PMID- 27637748
TI  - Overexpression of Paxillin Correlates with Tumor Progression and Predicts Poor
      Survival in Glioblastoma.
AB  - AIMS: To explore the prognostic and clinicopathological features of glioma with
      Paxillin (PXN) expression based on a large number of samples. METHODS: RNA
      sequencing data of 325 glioma samples from Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA)
      database were obtained as discovery set. Three additional datasets were further
      obtained as validation sets. The protein expression pattern of PXN in glioma was
      measured by IHC. Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate Cox analysis were used to
      estimate the survival distributions. Moreover, the functional annotation of PXN
      was also analyzed. RESULTS: In the discovery set, PXN overexpression was
      significantly associated with high-grade glioma as well as the higher mortality
      in survival analysis (log-rank test, P < 0.01). The results of the other
      validation datasets showed similar findings. PXN also served as an independent
      prognostic biomarker in glioblastoma patients. Functional assays showed that PXN
      contributed to glioma cell proliferation and invasion. CONCLUSION: PXN plays as
      an oncogene in glioma progression and suggests a new potential biotarget for
      therapy.

PMID- 27637749
TI  - For drug-induced carcinogenesis, the observations are the hypothesis: Invited
      editorial for the Mini-Symposium on Cancer Pharmacoepidemiology.

PMID- 27637747
TI  - Carbon Supply and Photoacclimation Cross Talk in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas
      reinhardtii.
AB  - Photosynthetic organisms are exposed to drastic changes in light conditions,
      which can affect their photosynthetic efficiency and induce photodamage. To face
      these changes, they have developed a series of acclimation mechanisms. In this
      work, we have studied the acclimation strategies of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a
      model green alga that can grow using various carbon sources and is thus an
      excellent system in which to study photosynthesis. Like other photosynthetic
      algae, it has evolved inducible mechanisms to adapt to conditions where carbon
      supply is limiting. We have analyzed how the carbon availability influences the
      composition and organization of the photosynthetic apparatus and the capacity of
      the cells to acclimate to different light conditions. Using electron microscopy,
      biochemical, and fluorescence measurements, we show that differences in CO2
      availability not only have a strong effect on the induction of the carbon
      concentrating mechanisms but also change the acclimation strategy of the cells to
      light. For example, while cells in limiting CO2 maintain a large antenna even in
      high light and switch on energy-dissipative mechanisms, cells in high CO2 reduce
      the amount of pigments per cell and the antenna size. Our results show the high
      plasticity of the photosynthetic apparatus of C. reinhardtii This alga is able to
      use various photoacclimation strategies, and the choice of which to activate
      strongly depends on the carbon availability.

PMID- 27637750
TI  - Northern European manpower in Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

PMID- 27637751
TI  - Bone anchored hearing implants without skin thinning: the Gruppo Otologico
      surgical and audiological experience.
AB  - To investigate the surgical and audiological outcomes of an installation of a
      bone-anchored hearing system (BAHS) procedure without tissue reduction using
      Ponto implants and abutments. Retrospective consecutive case series. Forty-nine
      patients, 18 years or older and eligible for treatment with a bone-anchored
      hearing system with tissue preservation surgery, were included in the study.
      Following a systematic scheme for medical outcomes, we collected the data
      regarding surgical intervention, quality of life (GBI), skin and soft tissue
      reactions (Holgers grading system), pain and numbness (VAS). Hearing performance
      (aided thresholds and speech recognition in noise) was recorded in 20 patients.
      No implants were lost, skin, and soft tissue reactions were mild in 96 % of the
      all visits. Quality of life (GBI) generally improved in the aided condition
      compared to prior to implantation. Audiologically, 100 % of the 20 patients
      examined showed improvement of speech reception and sound field thresholds
      comparing aided to unaided. An average improvement of 33 dB on PTA was recorded.
      The study, presenting data on a large population, treated with tissue
      preservation and modern titanium implants, shows that this treatment is a viable
      solution that results in fewer complications, high degree of predictability and
      good audiological results.

PMID- 27637752
TI  - Clinical features and surgical treatment for Chinese juvenile onset current
      respiratory papillomatosis (JORRP).
AB  - Juvenile onset current respiratory papillomatosis (JORRP), which is the commonest
      benign laryngeal disease in children, has not been well investigated. This study
      aimed at further evaluating the clinical features and surgery for such children
      with JORRP. Patients diagnosed as JORRP in our department from January 2011 to
      June 2014 were enrolled, and the demographic and clinical data were collected.
      All the patients were followed up after surgery, and the recurrences were
      recorded. A total of 124 patients were included and categorized into low
      recurrence (<4/year, n = 97) and high recurrence (>=4/year, n = 27) groups based
      on the recurrence at diagnosis, respectively. The demographic characteristics
      were comparable in two groups. There were more patients in high recurrence group
      who had dyspnea II-III, abnormal chest X-ray findings and severe illness, and
      needed electrocardiscope monitoring (P < 0.05). Patients who had dyspnea II (P =
      0.008) and severe illness (P = 0.002) needed electrocardiscope monitoring (P =
      0.014) in high recurrence group were more prone to have recurrence after surgery.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis proved that high recurrence at
      diagnosis was an independent risk factor for recurrence after surgery in JORRP
      [95 %CI OR 17.342 (1.266, 237.608), P = 0.033]. The recurrence at diagnosis could
      be used as a prognostic factor for JORRP after surgery, which could help to
      improve the therapeutic efficacy in such children.

PMID- 27637754
TI  - Reply to letter "Therapeutic ductal injection in chronic sialadenitis is
      established".

PMID- 27637753
TI  - A prospective multicenter clinical feasibility study of a new automatic speaking
      valve for postlaryngectomy voice rehabilitation.
AB  - Evaluation of short- and long-term clinical feasibility and exploration of
      limitations and advantages of a new automatic speaking valve (ASV) for
      laryngectomized patients with integrated HME, the Provox FreeHands FlexiVoice
      (FlexiVoice). This ASV not only enables automatic, but also manual closure of the
      valve. A multicenter, prospective clinical study in 40 laryngectomized patients
      was conducted. Participants were asked to use the FlexiVoice for 26 weeks. The
      primary outcome measure was long-term compliance. Secondary outcome measures
      were: patient preference, hours of FlexiVoice use, device life of adhesive, voice
      and speech quality, and quality of life. After 26 weeks, 15 patients (37.5 %)
      were using the FlexiVoice on a daily basis, for a mean of 12.64 h/day (SD +/-
      5.03). Ten patients (25 %) were using the device on a non-daily basis, for a mean
      of 3.76 h/day (SD +/- 2.07). The remaining 15 patients (37.5 %) discontinued
      using the FlexiVoice. Sixty percent of the 25 long-term users applied both
      automatic and manual closure of the valve. Unpredictable fixation of the adhesive
      was the main reason for discontinuing or not using the FlexiVoice on a daily
      basis. Overall, 18 patients (45 %) preferred the FlexiVoice, 16 patients (40 %)
      their usual HME, 3 patients (7.5 %) their usual ASV, 1 patient (2.5 %) preferred
      no device at all, and in 2 patients preference was not recorded. The minor
      technical issues identified could be corrected. The Provox FreeHands FlexiVoice
      appears to be a useful ASV, which allows for hands-free speech in a larger
      proportion of laryngectomized patients in the present cohort. The additional
      manual closure option of the device is beneficial for maintaining the adhesive
      seal longer.

PMID- 27637755
TI  - The effect of hyperglycaemia on osseointegration: a review of animal models of
      diabetes mellitus and titanium implant placement.
AB  - Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have a higher risk of dental and/or
      orthopaedic implant failure. However, the mechanism behind this phenomenon is
      unclear, and animal studies may prove useful in shedding light on the processes
      involved. This review considers the available literature on rat models of
      diabetes and titanium implantation. INTRODUCTION: The process of osseointegration
      whereby direct contact is achieved between bone and an implant surface depends on
      healthy bone metabolism. Collective evidence suggests that hyperglycaemia
      adversely affects bone turnover and the quality of the organic matrix resulting
      in an overall deterioration in the quality, resilience and structure of the bone
      tissue. This in turn results in compromised osseointegration in patients
      receiving dental and orthopaedic implants. The incidence of diabetes mellitus
      (DM), which is a chronic metabolic disorder resulting in hyperglycaemia, is
      rising. Of particular significance is the rising incidence of adult onset type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in an ageing population. Understanding the effects of
      hyperglycaemia on osseointegration will enable clinicians to manage health
      outcomes for patients receiving implants. Much of our understanding of how
      hyperglycaemia affects osseointegration comes from animal studies. METHODS: In
      this review, we critically analyse the current animal studies. RESULTS: Our
      review has found that most studies used a type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) rodent
      model and looked at a young male population of rodents. The pathophysiology of
      T1DM is however very different to that of T2DM and is not representative of T2DM,
      the incidence of which is rising in the ageing adult population. Genetically
      modified rats have been used to model T2DM, but none of these studies have
      included female rats and the metabolic changes in bone for some of these models
      used are not adequately characterized. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, the review
      suggests that the study population needs to be broadened to include both T1DM and
      T2DM models, older rats as well as young rats, and importantly animals from both
      sexes to reflect more accurately clinical practice.

PMID- 27637756
TI  - Discretely Integrated Condition Event Simulation for Pharmacoeconomics.

PMID- 27637757
TI  - Economic Evaluations of First-Line Chemotherapy Regimens for Pancreatic Cancer: A
      Critical Review.
AB  - Effect sizes of efficacy of first-line treatments for (metastatic) pancreas
      cancer are constrained, underscoring the need for evaluations of the efficacy-to
      cost relationship. We critically review economic evaluations of first-line
      chemotherapy regimens for pancreatic cancer since the 1997 introduction of
      gemcitabine. We searched PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE (1997-2015), and the websites
      of health technology assessment agencies. Two authors independently reviewed
      economic studies for eligibility in this review; evaluated peer-reviewed, journal
      published studies in terms of the Drummond Checklist; and critiqued the technical
      and scientific merit of all studies. Sixteen pharmacoeconomic evaluations were
      included: ten published in nine peer-reviewed journals and six on three websites.
      Six were on single-agent therapies and ten on combination therapies. Analyses
      conducted included cost-effectiveness (three studies), cost-utility (one study),
      or combined cost-effectiveness and cost-utility (12 studies). Studies diverged in
      results, mainly because of different assumptions, methods, inputs, and country
      specific guidelines. The two most recent regimens, nanoparticle albumin-bound
      paclitaxel plus gemcitabine (NAB-P + GEM) and the combination of fluorouracil,
      oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRINOX), were evaluated in an
      indirect comparison, yielding a statistically similar benefit in overall survival
      but superior progression-free survival for FOLFIRINOX. NAB-P + GEM showed greater
      economic benefit over FOLFIRINOX. In conclusion, the divergence in results
      observed across studies is attributable to economic drivers that are specific to
      countries and their healthcare (financing) systems. No recommendations regarding
      the relative economic benefit of treatment regimens, general or country-specific,
      are made as the purpose of pharmacoeconomic analysis is to inform policy decision
      making and clinical practice, not set policy or define clinical practice.

PMID- 27637758
TI  - Challenges in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Modelling of HPV Vaccines in Low- and
      Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Practice Recommendations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face a number of challenges
      in implementing cervical cancer prevention programmes that do not apply in high
      income countries. OBJECTIVE: This review assessed how context-specific challenges
      of implementing cervical cancer prevention strategies in LMICs were accounted for
      in existing cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) models of human papillomavirus
      (HPV) vaccination. METHODS: The databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, NHS Economic
      Evaluation Database, EconLit, Web of Science, and the Center for the Evaluation
      of Value and Risk in Health (CEA) Registry were searched for studies published
      from 2006 to 2015. A descriptive, narrative, and interpretative synthesis of data
      was undertaken. RESULTS: Of the 33 studies included in the review, the majority
      acknowledged cost per vaccinated girl (CVG) (26 studies) and vaccine coverage
      rate (21 studies) as particular challenges for LMICs, while nine studies
      identified screening coverage rate as a challenge. Most of the studies estimated
      CVG as a composite of different cost items. However, the basis for the items
      within this composite cost was unclear. The majority used an assumption rather
      than an observed rate to represent screening and vaccination coverage rates. CVG,
      vaccine coverage and screening coverage were shown by some studies through
      sensitivity analyses to reverse the conclusions regarding cost-effectiveness,
      thereby significantly affecting policy recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: While many
      studies recognized aspects of the particular challenges of HPV vaccination in
      LMICs, greater efforts need to be made in adapting models to account for these
      challenges. These include adapting costings of HPV vaccine delivery from other
      countries, learning from the outcomes of cervical cancer screening programmes in
      the same geographical region, and taking into account the country's previous
      experience with other vaccination programmes.

PMID- 27637760
TI  - Comparative analysis of the immunomodulatory capacities of human bone marrow- and
      adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells from the same donor.
AB  - BACKGROUND AIMS: The immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stromal cells
      (MSCs), together with their tissue regenerative potential, make them interesting
      candidates for clinical application. METHODS: In the current study, we analyzed
      the in vitro immunomodulatory effects of MSCs derived from bone marrow (BM-MSCs)
      and from adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) obtained from the same donor on both innate and
      acquired immunity cells. BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs were expanded to fourth or fifth
      passage and co-cultured with T cells, monocytes or natural killer (NK) cells
      isolated from human peripheral blood and stimulated in vitro. The possible
      differing impact of MSCs obtained from distinct sources on phenotype, cell
      proliferation and differentiation, cytokine production and function of these
      immune cells was comparatively analyzed. RESULTS: BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs induced a
      similar decrease in NK-cell proliferation, cytokine secretion and expression of
      both activating receptors and cytotoxic molecules. However, only BM-MSCs
      significantly reduced NK-cell cytotoxic activity, although both MSC populations
      showed the same susceptibility to NK-cell-mediated lysis. AT-MSCs were more
      potent in inhibiting dendritic-cell (DC) differentiation than BM-MSC, but both
      MSC populations similarly reduced the ability of DCs to induce CD4(+) T-cell
      proliferation and cytokine production. BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs induced a similar
      decrease in T-cell proliferation and production of inflammatory cytokines after
      activation. CONCLUSIONS: AT-MSCs and BM-MSCs from the same donor had similar
      immunomodulatory capacity on both innate and acquired immunity cells. Thus, other
      variables, such as accessibility of samples or the frequency of MSCs in the
      tissue should be considered to select the source of MSC for cell therapy.

PMID- 27637761
TI  - Micro-CT study of the dehiscences of the tympanic segment of the facial canal.
AB  - PURPOSE: To depict the anatomy of the tympanic segment of the facial canal using
      a 3D visualization technique, to detect dehiscences, and to evaluate their
      frequency, location, shape, and size. METHODS: Research included 36 human
      temporal bones (18 infant and 18 adult samples) which were scanned using a
      Nanotom 180N device. The final resolution of the reconstructed object was 18 um.
      Obtained micro-CT data were subsequently processed by the volume rendering
      software. RESULTS: The micro-CT study allowed for the 3D visualization of the
      tympanic segment of the facial canal and detects dehiscences in the studied
      material in both infants and adults. Most of the dehiscences (66.7 %) involved
      the inferior wall of the tympanic segment in infants as well as in adults, and
      were located above and backward to the oval window. The most frequent dehiscence
      shape was elliptic (66.7 % in infants; 50 % in adults). Furthermore, we observed
      dehiscences of fusiform and trapezoidal shape in infants. Length of the
      dehiscences in most cases ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 mm (50 % in infants; 75 % in
      adults). CONCLUSIONS: Volumetric reconstructions demonstrated the course of the
      tympanic segment of the facial canal and its relationship with the tympanic
      cavity. Knowledge about the size and location of any dehiscence within the
      tympanic segment of the facial canal is necessary due to the surgical
      significance of this region. If a dehiscence occurs, there is an increased risk
      of injury to the facial nerve during the operations or spread of inflammation
      from the middle ear.

PMID- 27637762
TI  - Estimation of spinopelvic muscles' volumes in young asymptomatic subjects: a
      quantitative analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Muscles have been proved to be a major component in postural regulation
      during pathological evolution or aging. Particularly, spinopelvic muscles are
      recruited for compensatory mechanisms such as pelvic retroversion, or knee
      flexion. Change in muscles' volume could, therefore, be a marker of greater
      postural degradation. Yet, it is difficult to interpret spinopelvic muscular
      degradation as there are few reported values for young asymptomatic adults to
      compare to. The objective was to provide such reference values on spinopelvic
      muscles. A model predicting the muscular volume from reduced set of MRI segmented
      images was investigated. METHODS: A total of 23 asymptomatic subjects younger
      than 24 years old underwent an MRI acquisition from T12 to the knee. Spinopelvic
      muscles were segmented to obtain an accurate 3D reconstruction, allowing precise
      computation of muscle's volume. A model computing the volume of muscular groups
      from less than six MRI segmented slices was investigated. RESULTS: Baseline
      values have been reported in tables. For all muscles, invariance was found for
      the shape factor [ratio of volume over (area times length): SD < 0.04] and volume
      ratio over total volume (SD < 1.2 %). A model computing the muscular volume from
      a combination of two to five slices has been evaluated. The five-slices model
      prediction error (in  % of the real volume from 3D reconstruction) ranged from 6
      % (knee flexors and extensors and spine flexors) to 11 % (spine extensors).
      CONCLUSION: Spinopelvic muscles' values for a reference population have been
      reported. A new model predicting the muscles' volumes from a reduced set of MRI
      slices is proposed. While this model still needs to be validated on other
      populations, the current study appears promising for clinical use to determine,
      quantitatively, the muscular degradation.

PMID- 27637764
TI  - Associations of the VEGF level, VEGF rs2010963 G/C gene polymorphism and
      ankylosing spondylitis risk in a Chinese Han population.
AB  - To investigate the roles of the plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
      level and VEGF gene polymorphisms in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) susceptibility.
      The plasma VEGF level was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      The VEGF rs2010963 G/C gene polymorphism was analyzed by matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Our data indicated that
      the average plasma VEGF concentration in the AS patients was markedly higher than
      in the controls. Stratification analysis indicated a significant correlation
      between an elevated plasma VEGF level in AS patients and sex, but not age, HLA
      B27, C-reactive protein (CRP), or grade of the sacroiliac joint. We also found
      that VEGF rs2010963 G/C was associated with a decreased risk of AS. Significant
      differences were found between the VEGF rs2010963 G/C genotypes and elevated
      plasma level in AS patients when compared with the controls. However, we did not
      find a significant association between the plasma VEGF level and different
      rs2010963 G/C genotypes in the AS patients or controls. To sum up, serum VEGF
      levels are significantly associated with the inflammatory process of AS. This
      study suggests that VEGF is involved in the immunological or inflammatory process
      of AS.

PMID- 27637759
TI  - Mesenchymal stromal cell injection promotes vocal fold scar repair without long
      term engraftment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regenerative medicine holds promise for restoring voice in patients
      with vocal fold scarring. As experimental treatments approach clinical
      translation, several considerations remain. Our objective was to evaluate
      efficacy and biocompatibility of four bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell (BM
      MSC) and tunable hyaluronic acid based hydrogel (HyStem-VF) treatments for vocal
      fold scar using clinically acceptable materials, a preclinical sample size and a
      dosing comparison. METHODS: Vocal folds of 84 rabbits were injured and injected
      with four treatment variations (BM-MSC, HyStem-VF, and BM-MSC in HyStem-VF at two
      concentrations) 6 weeks later. Efficacy was assessed with rheometry, real-time
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and histology at 2, 4 and 10 weeks following
      treatment. Lung, liver, kidney, spleen and vocal folds were screened for
      biocompatibility by a pathologist. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Persistent
      inflammation was identified in all hydrogel-injected groups. The BM-MSC alone
      treatment appeared to be the most efficacious and safe, providing an early
      resolution of viscoelasticity, gene expression consistent with desirable
      extracellular matrix remodeling (less fibronectin, collagen 1alpha2, collagen 3,
      procollagen, transforming growth factor [TGF]beta1, alpha smooth muscle actin,
      interleukin-1beta, interleukin-17beta and tumor necrosis factor [TNF] than
      injured controls) and minimal inflammation. Human beta actin expression in BM-MSC
      treated vocal folds was minimal after 2 weeks, suggesting that paracrine
      signaling from the BM-MSCs may have facilitated tissue repair.

PMID- 27637766
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Diversity of immunoglobulin G functions.
AB  - This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author(s) and/or editor.
      The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier
      Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at
      http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

PMID- 27637765
TI  - Predictive value of serum cytokine levels in chronic myeloid leukemia patients.
AB  - Serum samples taken at diagnosis in 28 chronic myeloid leukemia patients were
      tested for the presence of 20 cytokines by a magnetic bead-based Bio-plex
      immunoassay. According to complete cytogenetic remission achieved at 12 months of
      treatment, patients were divided into groups with either optimal or non-optimal
      outcome. Patients with increased cytokine levels tended to react optimally to the
      therapy more frequently than those others. TGF-beta3 was a notable exception; its
      levels were significantly higher in patients with non-optimal outcomes. Further
      analysis enabled us to define two combinations of cytokine cut-off levels -
      namely low TGF-beta3 and either high IL-8 or high MCP-1-each of which
      corresponded to therapy outcome better than either Sokal or EUTOS scores.

PMID- 27637763
TI  - Copy-number variant analysis of classic heterotaxy highlights the importance of
      body patterning pathways.
AB  - Classic heterotaxy consists of congenital heart defects with abnormally
      positioned thoracic and abdominal organs. We aimed to uncover novel, genomic copy
      number variants (CNVs) in classic heterotaxy cases. A microarray containing 2.5
      million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was used to genotype 69 infants
      (cases) with classic heterotaxy identified from California live births from 1998
      to 2009. CNVs were identified using the PennCNV software. We identified 56 rare
      CNVs encompassing genes in the NODAL (NIPBL, TBX6), BMP (PPP4C), and WNT (FZD3)
      signaling pathways, not previously linked to classic heterotaxy. We also
      identified a CNV involving FGF12, a gene previously noted in a classic heterotaxy
      case. CNVs involving RBFOX1 and near MIR302F were detected in multiple cases. Our
      findings illustrate the importance of body patterning pathways for cardiac
      development and left/right axes determination. FGF12, RBFOX1, and MIR302F could
      be important in human heterotaxy, because they were noted in multiple cases.
      Further investigation into genes involved in the NODAL, BMP, and WNT body
      patterning pathways and into the dosage effects of FGF12, RBFOX1, and MIR302F is
      warranted.

PMID- 27637767
TI  - Higher-dose, higher-repetition upper limb motor rehabilitation program after
      stroke is not superior to dose-matched or usual-dose customary occupational
      therapy [synopsis].

PMID- 27637768
TI  - Interpretation of dichotomous outcomes: sensitivity, specificity, likelihood
      ratios, and pre-test and post-test probability.

PMID- 27637769
TI  - Increasing the amount of usual rehabilitation improves activity after stroke: a
      systematic review.
AB  - QUESTIONS: In people receiving rehabilitation aimed at reducing activity
      limitations of the lower and/or upper limb after stroke, does adding extra
      rehabilitation (of the same content as the usual rehabilitation) improve
      activity? What is the amount of extra rehabilitation that needs to be provided to
      achieve a beneficial effect? DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analysis of
      randomised trials. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 18 years or older that had a
      diagnosis of stroke. INTERVENTION: Extra rehabilitation with the same content as
      usual rehabilitation aimed at reducing activity limitations of the lower and/or
      upper limb. OUTCOME MEASURES: Activity measured as lower or upper limb ability.
      RESULTS: A total of 14 studies, comprising 15 comparisons, met the inclusion
      criteria. Pooling data from all the included studies showed that extra
      rehabilitation improved activity immediately after the intervention period
      (SMD=0.39, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.71, I(2)=66%). When only studies with a large
      increase in rehabilitation (> 100%) were included, the effect was greater (SMD
      0.59, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.94, I(2)=44%). There was a trend towards a positive
      relationship (r=0.53, p=0.09) between extra rehabilitation and improved activity.
      The turning point on the ROC curve of false versus true benefit (AUC=0.88,
      p=0.04) indicated that at least an extra 240% of rehabilitation was needed for
      significant likelihood that extra rehabilitation would improve activity.
      CONCLUSION: Increasing the amount of usual rehabilitation aimed at reducing
      activity limitations improves activity in people after stroke. The amount of
      extra rehabilitation that needs to be provided to achieve a beneficial effect is
      large. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42012003221. [Schneider EJ, Lannin NA, Ada
      L, Schmidt J (2016) Increasing the amount of usual rehabilitation improves
      activity after stroke: a systematic review.Journal of Physiotherapy62: 182-187].

PMID- 27637770
TI  - Functional electrical stimulation cycling does not improve mobility in people
      with acquired brain injury and its effects on strength are unclear: a randomised
      trial.
AB  - QUESTION: Does 4 weeks of active functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling
      in addition to usual care improve mobility and strength more than usual care
      alone in people with a sub-acute acquired brain injury caused by stroke or
      trauma? DESIGN: Multi centre, randomised, controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Forty
      patients from three Sydney hospitals with recently acquired brain injury and a
      mean composite strength score in the affected lower limb of 7 (SD 5) out of 20
      points. INTERVENTION: Participants in the experimental group received an
      incremental, progressive, FES cycling program five times a week over a 4-week
      period. All participants received usual care. OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures
      were taken at baseline and at 4 weeks. Primary outcomes were mobility and
      strength of the knee extensors of the affected lower limb. Mobility was measured
      with three mobility items of the Functional Independence Measure and strength was
      measured with a hand-held dynamometer. Secondary outcomes were strength of the
      knee extensors of the unaffected lower limb, strength of key muscles of the
      affected lower limb and spasticity of the affected plantar flexors. RESULTS: All
      but one participant completed the study. The mean between-group differences for
      mobility and strength of the knee extensors of the affected lower limb were 
      0.3/21 points (95% CI -3.2 to 2.7) and 7.5 Nm (95% CI -5.1 to 20.2), where
      positive values favoured the experimental group. The only secondary outcome that
      suggested a possible treatment effect was strength of key muscles of the affected
      lower limb with a mean between-group difference of 3.0/20 points (95% CI 1.3 to
      4.8). CONCLUSION: Functional electrical stimulation cycling does not improve
      mobility in people with acquired brain injury and its effects on strength are
      unclear. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12612001163897. [de Sousa DG, Harvey LA, Dorsch
      S, Leung J, Harris W (2016) Functional electrical stimulation cycling does not
      improve mobility in people with acquired brain injury and its effects on strength
      are unclear: a randomised controlled trial.Journal of Physiotherapy62: 203-208].

PMID- 27637771
TI  - Primary contact physiotherapy services reduce waiting and treatment times for
      patients presenting with musculoskeletal conditions in Australian emergency
      departments: an observational study.
AB  - QUESTION: Can primary contact physiotherapists reduce waiting and treatment times
      and facilitate faster discharge in Australian emergency departments? DESIGN: Data
      on patients treated by primary contact physiotherapists were collected
      prospectively and compared with historical and concurrent cohorts of patients
      treated by other clinicians, using diagnosis and urgency. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty
      nine primary contact physiotherapists, working at 10 sites, treated a total of 14
      452 patients with musculoskeletal conditions in triage categories 3, 4 and 5.
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were analysed for two time periods: baseline (historical
      control) and implementation (12 to 15 months). A concurrent control cohort within
      the implementation period was selected using diagnosis (ICD-10-AM) and urgency of
      treatment (triage category). Waiting time, treatment time, and time to discharge
      from the emergency department were compared across periods and between cohorts.
      RESULTS: Significant differences were found in waiting and treatment times. On
      average, patients treated by primary contact physiotherapists waited 31minutes
      less than those treated by other practitioners and had an average treatment time
      of 108minutes compared with 148minutes. Overall, 93% of patients treated by
      primary contact physiotherapists and 75% treated by other practitioners were
      discharged from the emergency department within a 4-hour time period. To address
      concerns that these results could be due to other differences between cohorts,
      multiple regression models were used and the results were still significantly in
      favour of the primary contact physiotherapists. CONCLUSION: A primary contact
      physiotherapist model in hospital emergency departments can reduce waiting and
      treatment times for patients with musculoskeletal presentations, resulting in
      better performance in achieving discharge within the 4-hour national target.
      [Bird S, Thompson C, Williams KE (2016) Primary contact physiotherapy services
      reduce waiting and treatment times for patients presenting with musculoskeletal
      conditions in Australian emergency departments: an observational study.Journal of
      Physiotherapy62: 209-214].

PMID- 27637772
TI  - Exercise improves glycaemic control in women diagnosed with gestational diabetes
      mellitus: a systematic review.
AB  - QUESTION: Does exercise improve postprandial glycaemic control in women diagnosed
      with gestational diabetes mellitus? DESIGN: A systematic review of randomised
      trials. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women diagnosed with gestational diabetes
      mellitus. INTERVENTION: Exercise, performed more than once a week, sufficient to
      achieve an aerobic effect or changes in muscle metabolism. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Postprandial blood glucose, fasting blood glucose, glycated haemoglobin,
      requirement for insulin, adverse events and adherence. RESULTS: This systematic
      review identified eight randomised, controlled trials involving 588 participants;
      seven trials (544 participants) had data that were suitable for meta-analysis.
      Five trials scored >= 6 on the PEDro scale, indicating a relatively low risk of
      bias. Meta-analysis showed that exercise, as an adjunct to standard care,
      significantly improved postprandial glycaemic control (MD -0.33mmol/L, 95% CI 
      0.49 to -0.17) and lowered fasting blood glucose (MD -0.31 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.56
      to -0.05) when compared with standard care alone, with no increase in adverse
      events. Effects of similar magnitude were found for aerobic and resistance
      exercise programs, if performed at a moderate intensity or greater, for 20 to
      30minutes, three to four times per week. Meta-analysis did not show that exercise
      significantly reduced the requirement for insulin. All studies reported that
      complications or other adverse events were either similar or reduced with
      exercise. CONCLUSION: Aerobic or resistance exercise, performed at a moderate
      intensity at least three times per week, safely helps to control postprandial
      blood glucose levels and other measures of glycaemic control in women diagnosed
      with gestational diabetes mellitus. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42015019106.
      [Harrison AL, Shields N, Taylor NF, Frawley HC (2016) Exercise improves glycaemic
      control in women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic
      review.Journal of Physiotherapy62: 188-196].

PMID- 27637774
TI  - Worklessness: can physiotherapists do more?

PMID- 27637773
TI  - Higher-dose, higher-repetition upper limb motor rehabilitation program after
      stroke is not superior to dose-matched or usual-dose customary occupational
      therapy [commentary].

PMID- 27637775
TI  - The RNA polymerase I subunit Rpa12p interacts with the stress-responsive
      transcription factor Msn4p to regulate lipid metabolism in budding yeast.
AB  - In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RPA12 encodes the small subunit of RNA polymerase I.
      Here, we demonstrate that Rpa12p interacts with the transcription factor Msn4p
      and prevents its binding to the promoter of AYR1 encoding Ayr1p (1
      acyldihydroxyacetone phosphate reductase), a key enzyme involved in
      triacylglycerol biosynthesis and mobilization of nonpolar lipids. Deletion of
      RPA12 leads to triacylglycerol accumulation due to the binding of Msn4p to the
      promoter of AYR1 and activation of its transcription. The double deletion
      rpa12Delta::ayr1Delta caused a reduction in triacylglycerol levels. Our findings
      reveal that Rpa12p functions as a negative regulator of lipid metabolism by
      modulating nonpolar lipid biosynthesis through its interaction with Msn4p.

PMID- 27637777
TI  - Scaffold-Based Delivery of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheet Fragments
      Enhances New Bone Formation In Vivo.
AB  - PURPOSE: Stem cell therapy is becoming a potent strategy to shorten the
      consolidation time and reduce potential complications during distraction
      osteogenesis (DO). However, the conventional local injection or scaffold-based
      delivery of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) suspension deprives the
      cells of their endogenous extracellular matrix, which might dampen cell
      differentiation and tissue regeneration after implantation. Therefore, in our
      study, a BMSC sheet was established and was then minced into fragments and loaded
      onto a hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffold for grafting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      purified and characterized BMSCs were grown into a cell sheet, and bone formation
      and mineralization capacity, as well as the cell sheet composition, were
      analyzed. Afterward, the in vivo osteogenic ability of cell sheet fragments
      (CSFs) was evaluated in immunocompromised mouse and rabbit models of DO. RESULTS:
      The BMSC sheet exhibited higher alkaline phosphatase activity than osteogenic
      cell suspension cultures. Alkaline phosphatase activity and mineral particles in
      the cell sheet increased further after osteogenic induction. Moreover, calcium
      and phosphorus were present only in the osteogenic cell sheet, along with the
      common elements carbon, oxygen, chlorine, sodium, and sulfur, as indicated by x
      ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. In a mouse model, the CSF-HA complex was
      injected subcutaneously. Micro-computed tomography analysis showed that the
      osteogenic CSF-HA complex led to a considerably higher bone volume than the BMSC
      HA or CSF-HA complex. The osteogenic CSF-HA specimens showed increased
      angiogenesis and deposition of type I collagen compared with the non-osteogenic
      CSF-HA or BMSC-HA specimens. Moreover, the osteogenic CSF-HA markedly improved
      bone consolidation and increased bone mass in DO rabbits. CONCLUSIONS:
      Collectively, the incorporation of osteogenic BMSC sheets into HA particles
      greatly promoted bone regeneration, which offers therapeutic alternatives for DO.

PMID- 27637776
TI  - Treatment of Wound Healing Disorders of Radial Forearm Free Flap Donor Sites
      Using Cold Atmospheric Plasma: A Proof of Concept.
AB  - PURPOSE: The treatment of wound healing disturbances of the radial forearm free
      flap donor site after reconstructive surgery is typically long and burdensome and
      often requires additional surgery. Cold atmospheric plasma is a promising
      approach to overcome these impairments. The aim of this proof of concept study
      was to evaluate the clinical outcome of plasma irradiation in patients with wound
      healing disorders with exposed brachial tendons of the radial forearm. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Four patients (mean age 64.2 years, range 44 to 80) who had
      undergone radial forearm free flap procedures and developed wound healing
      disturbance leading to exposed flexor tendons were included in the present
      prospective case series. In addition to routine wound care, all sites were
      irradiated with cold atmospheric plasma. The primary outcome variable was
      complete wound closure. RESULTS: In all patients, complete wound repair in terms
      of the absence of tendon exposure was observed within a mean treatment time of
      10.1 weeks (range 4.9 to 16). No undesirable side effects were observed, and no
      inflammation or infection occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Cold atmospheric plasma could
      offer a reliable conservative treatment option for complicated wound healing
      disturbances. This was exemplarily shown in the case of radial forearm free flap
      donor site morbidity with exposed flexor tendons in the present study.

PMID- 27637778
TI  - TUC338 Overexpression Leads to Enhanced Proliferation and Reduced Apoptosis in
      Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells In Vitro.
AB  - PURPOSE: Long noncoding RNAs are closely related to the development of tumors. In
      this study, we explored the contribution of the long noncoding RNA TUC338 to
      cellular processes in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: First, we detected TUC338 expression using quantitative reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 25 patients. Then, we transfected a
      short hairpin RNA to silence TUC338 expression in the CAL-27 and SCC-9 cell
      lines. Tumor cell growth was determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5
      diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and apoptosis and cell-cycle
      analyses were performed via flow cytometry. RESULTS: The results indicated that
      TUC338 was overexpressed in TSCCs (P < .05). In addition, silencing TUC338 in CAL
      27 and SCC-9 cells inhibited cell growth and increased apoptosis significantly in
      vivo (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Long noncoding RNA TUC338 overexpression leads to
      enhanced proliferation and reduced apoptosis in TSCC.

PMID- 27637779
TI  - Detection of Glutathione in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells With a Fluorescent
      Probe During the Course of Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To detect glutathione (GSH) in oral squamous carcinoma cells (OSCCs)
      with a GSH selective fluorescent probe during the course of oxidative stress and
      apoptosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A novel GSH probe was applied to assess GSH in
      human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cells (cal-27). The cellular GSH and
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were assessed with a GSH probe and DCF-DA
      (2,7-dichlorofluorescin diacetate) probe. The mitochondrial GSH and ROS levels
      were assessed with a GSH probe, DCF-DA probe, and Mitotracker Red CM-H2XRos probe
      (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). To further study whether oxidative stress would
      induce apoptosis of OSCCs, we then applied a GSH probe and annexin V-fluorescein
      isothiocyanate probe to assess cellular GSH levels and eversion of
      phosphatidylserine, and the cellular GSH levels and mitochondrial membrane
      potential (DeltaPsim) were assessed with a GSH probe and JC-1 probe during the
      course of oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide and
      ethacrynic acid. The fluorescence was observed under laser confocal fluorescence
      microscopy. RESULTS: The intensity of fluorescence that represented intracellular
      alteration of GSH levels, cellular ROS formation, mitochondrial ROS formation,
      and apoptosis occurrence, respectively, could be visualized under laser confocal
      fluorescence microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The GSH selective fluorescent probe can
      evaluate cellular GSH levels sensitively during the course of oxidative stress
      and apoptosis of OSCCs induced by exogenous hydrogen peroxide, which could be
      enhanced by depletion of mitochondrial GSH.

PMID- 27637780
TI  - Increased urinary lysophosphatidic acid in mouse with subtotal nephrectomy:
      potential involvement in chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Increased incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with consecutive progression
      to end-stage renal disease represents a significant burden to healthcare systems.
      Renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) is a classical hallmark of CKD and is
      well correlated with the loss of renal function. The bioactive lysophospholipid
      lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), acting through specific G-protein-coupled receptors,
      was previously shown to be involved in TIF development in a mouse model of
      unilateral ureteral obstruction. Here, we study the role of LPA in a mouse
      subjected to subtotal nephrectomy (SNx), a more chronic and progressive model of
      CKD. Five months after surgical nephron reduction, SNx mice showed massive
      albuminuria, extensive TIF, and glomerular hypertrophy when compared to sham
      operated animals. Urinary and plasma levels of LPA were analyzed using liquid
      chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. LPA was significantly increased in SNx
      urine, not in plasma, and was significantly correlated with albuminuria and TIF.
      Moreover, SNx mice showed significant downregulation in the renal expression of
      lipid phosphate phosphohydrolases (LPP1, 2, and 3) that might be involved in
      reduced LPA bioavailability through dephosphorylation. We concluded that SNx
      increases urinary LPA through a mechanism that could involve co-excretion of
      plasma LPA with albumin associated with a reduction of its catabolism in the
      kidney. Because of the previously demonstrated profibrotic activity of LPA, the
      association of urinary LPA with TIF suggests the potential involvement of LPA in
      the development of advanced CKD in the SNx mouse model. Targeting LPA metabolism
      might represent an interesting approach in CKD treatment.

PMID- 27637781
TI  - Initial experience of the BREAST-Q breast-conserving therapy module.
AB  - PURPOSE: The most recently developed module of the BREAST-Q, a validated patient
      outcome measure, is for patients who have undergone breast-conserving therapy
      (BCT) for cancer. This aim of this study was to assess patient satisfaction and
      quality of life after BCT using BREAST-Q, investigate clinical risk factors for
      lower satisfaction and explore the relationship between patient satisfaction with
      the appearance of their breasts and the other domains of the BREAST-Q. METHODS:
      Women who had undergone unilateral BCT in the preceding 1-6 years were invited to
      participate at the time of their annual surveillance mammogram.
      Clinicopathological data were collected from an electronic database. Linear
      regression was used to evaluate risk factors for lower satisfaction. Spearman's
      rho correlation coefficients were calculated to evaluate the relationship between
      domains. RESULTS: 200 women completed the questionnaire. Mean age was 60 years
      (SD 11.1). Time from surgery was 35.5 months (SD 17.8). Median score for
      'Satisfaction with breasts' was 68 (interquartile range 55-80). Lowest scores
      were for 'sexual wellbeing' (57, IQR 45-66). On multivariate analysis, BMI at the
      time of surgery (p = 0.002), delayed wound healing (p = 0.001) and axillary
      surgery (p = 0.003) were independent risk factors for lower satisfaction. There
      was significant correlation between 'Satisfaction with breasts' and all other
      BREAST-Q domains. CONCLUSION: High BMI, delayed wound healing and axillary
      surgery are risk factors for lower patient satisfaction. This first publication
      reporting the whole dataset for the BREAST-Q BCT will serve as a benchmark for
      future studies of patient satisfaction following BCT.

PMID- 27637782
TI  - Why did Danish women's life expectancy stagnate? The influence of interwar
      generations' smoking behaviour.
AB  - The general health status of a population changes over time, generally in a
      positive direction. Some generations experience more unfavourable conditions than
      others. The health of Danish women in the interwar generations is an example of
      such a phenomenon. The stagnation in their life expectancy between 1977 and 1995
      is thought to be related to their smoking behaviour. So far, no study has
      measured the absolute effect of smoking on the mortality of the interwar
      generations of Danish women and thus the stagnation in Danish women's life
      expectancy. We applied a method to estimate age-specific smoking-attributable
      number of deaths to examine the effect of smoking on the trends in partial life
      expectancy of Danish women between age 50 and 85 from 1950 to 2012. We compared
      these trends to those for women in Sweden, where there was no similar stagnation
      in life expectancy. When smoking-attributable mortality was excluded, the gap in
      partial life expectancy at age 50 between Swedish and Danish women diminished
      substantially. The effect was most pronounced in the interwar generations. The
      major reason for the stagnation in Danish women's partial life expectancy at age
      50 was found to be smoking-related mortality in the interwar generations.

PMID- 27637783
TI  - A Perspective on the Nature and Frequency of Pigment Epithelial Detachments.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe and compare the clinical and imaging characteristics of
      pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD),
      polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), and central serous chorioretinopathy
      (CSC) as seen in a clinical setting of a tertiary retinal practice. DESIGN: A
      perspective supported by clinical and imaging characteristics of a consecutive
      cohort of patients with strictly defined PEDs. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-four
      eyes of 113 patients with PEDs were studied with comprehensive clinical retinal
      examination and multimodal imaging; PEDs were differentiated into nonvascularized
      and vascularized forms with 3 main underlying etiologies: AMD (76%), PCV (9%),
      and CSC (3%). AMD was the most common diagnosis, with both nonvascularized PEDs
      (drusenoid and serous) and vascularized PEDs (type 1 and type 3
      neovascularization) associated with drusen and a thin choroid. PCV patients had
      large, vascularized, peaked PEDs associated with polyps and a variable choroidal
      thickness, while CSC patients had a thick choroid and predominantly
      nonvascularized, serous PEDs with an overlying neurosensory detachment. The
      combined clinical and imaging characteristics form a profile for each PED subtype
      related to their underlying disease. However, atypical features noted in 11% of
      patients may complicate the underlying diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Typical phenotypic
      manifestations of PEDs and other features seen with multimodal imaging were
      associated with specific underlying etiologies. As suggested by our study,
      identification of these features help clinicians to determine the precise
      underlying etiology and manage both vascularized PEDs, where evidence-based
      treatment exists, and nonvascularized PEDs, where current treatment is not
      supported by convincing evidence.

PMID- 27637784
TI  - Real-World Outcomes of Ranibizumab Treatment for Diabetic Macular Edema in a
      United Kingdom National Health Service Setting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine visual acuity (VA) and spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography (OCT) outcomes with intravitreal ranibizumab for diabetic macular
      edema (DME) in a United Kingdom National Health Service clinical setting. DESIGN:
      Retrospective interventional case series. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive patients with
      DME, treated with the first ranibizumab injection between August 2013 and March
      2014 across 4 sites of Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. METHODS: Two hundred eyes
      of 164 consecutive patients with center-involving DME and VA <=79 ETDRS letters,
      central subfield macular thickness (CST) >=350 MUm on Topcon 3D OCT 2000,
      initiated on a loading phase of 3 intravitreal ranibizumab injections and who had
      at least 6 months follow-up were reviewed. Subsequent retreatment was guided by
      VA and OCT with the aim of treating to stability. VA, OCT CST, and macular volume
      (MV) were recorded at baseline and monthly to 12 months. RESULTS: The mean VA,
      mean CST, and mean MV at baseline were 54.4 (+/- 15.26) letters, 490.16 (+/-
      116.54) MUm, and 10.46 (+/- 2.28) mm3. The mean VA change at 12 months was +6.6
      (+/- 13.35) letters (P = .0003). A total of 40.3% of patients (n = 77) gained
      >=10 letters and 25.1% (n = 48) gained >=15 letters; 8.9% (n = 17) lost >=10
      letters and 6.3% (n = 12) lost >=15 letters. At 12 months, the mean change in CST
      and MV were -133.9 (+/- 160.12) MUm (P = .0001) and -1.5 (+/- 1.96) mm3 (P =
      .0001), respectively. An average of 7.2 (+/- 2.3) injections were given over 12
      months. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes with 3 loading injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab
      given monthly followed by pro re nata retreatment in a clinical setting are
      comparable with outcomes from clinical trials.

PMID- 27637785
TI  - The Auckland Cataract Study: Assessing Preoperative Risk Stratification Systems
      for Phacoemulsification Surgery in a Teaching Hospital.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate 2 preoperative risk stratification systems for assessing the
      risk of complications in phacoemulsification cataract surgery, performed by
      residents, fellows, and attending physicians in a public teaching hospital.
      DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: One observer assessed the clinical data of 500
      consecutive cases, prior to phacoemulsification cataract surgery performed
      between April and June 2015 at Greenlane Clinical Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.
      Preoperatively 2 risk scores were calculated for each case using the Muhtaseb and
      Buckinghamshire risk stratification systems. Complications, intraoperative and
      postoperative, and visual outcomes were analyzed in relation to these risk
      scores. RESULTS: Intraoperative complication rates increased with higher risk
      scores using the Muhtaseb or Buckinghamshire stratification system (P = .001 and
      P = .003, respectively, n = 500). The odds ratios for residents and fellows were
      not significantly different from attending physicians after case-mix adjustment
      according to risk scores (P > .05). Postoperative complication rates increased
      with higher Buckinghamshire risk scores but not with Muhtaseb scores (P = .014
      and P = .094, respectively, n = 476). Postoperative corrected-distance visual
      acuity was poorer with higher risk scores (P < .001 for both, n = 476).
      CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the risk of intraoperative complications
      increases with higher preoperative risk scores. Furthermore, higher risk scores
      correlate with poorer postoperative visual acuity and the Buckinghamshire risk
      score also correlates with postoperative complications. Therefore, preoperative
      assessment using such risk stratification systems could assist individual
      informed consent, preoperative surgical planning, safe allocation of cases to
      trainees, and more meaningful analyses of outcomes for individual surgeons and
      institutions.

PMID- 27637786
TI  - Introduction: health policy II. A new era of heath policy in electrophysiology
      and cardiology.

PMID- 27637787
TI  - Monitoring and exposure assessment of pesticide residues in cowpea (Vigna
      unguiculata L. Walp) from five provinces of southern China.
AB  - Residues of 14 pesticides were determined in 150 cowpea samples collected in five
      southern Chinese provinces in 2013 and 2014.70% samples were detected one or more
      residues. 61.3% samples were illegal mainly because of detection of unauthorized
      pesticides. 14.0% samples contained more than three pesticides. Deterministic and
      probabilistic methods were used to assess the chronic and acute risk of
      pesticides in cowpea to eight subgroups of people. Deterministic assessment
      showed that the estimated short-term intakes (ESTIs) of carbofuran were 1199.4%
      2621.9% of the acute reference doses (ARfD) while the rates were 985.9%-4114.7%
      using probabilistic assessment. Probabilistic assessment showed 4.2%-7.8%
      subjects may suffer from unacceptable acute risk from carbofuran contaminated
      cowpeas from the five provinces (especially children). But undue concern is not
      necessary, because all the estimations are based on conservative assumption.

PMID- 27637788
TI  - Metabolomics as read-across tool: A case study with phenoxy herbicides.
AB  - New technologies, such as metabolomics, can address chemical grouping and read
      across from a biological perspective. In a virtual case study, we selected MCPP
      as target substance and MCPA and 2,4-DP as source substances with the goal to
      waive a 90-day study with MCPP. In order to develop a convincing case to show how
      biological data can substantiate read across, we used metabolomics on blood
      samples from the 28-day studies to show the qualitative and quantitative
      similarity of the substances. The 28-day metabolome evaluation of source
      substances and the target substance indicate liver and kidneys as target organs.
      2,4-DP was identified as the best source substance. Using the information of the
      90-day 2,4-DP study, we predicted MCPP's toxicity profile at 2500 ppm: reduced
      food consumption and body weight gain, liver and kidney weight increases with
      clinical-pathology changes and a moderate red blood cell parameter reduction.
      NOEL prediction for MCPP was below that of 2,4-DP (<500 ppm), and similar to that
      of MCPA (>=150 ppm). Qualitatively, these predictions are comparable to the
      results of the real MCPP 90-day study in rats (reduced food consumption and body
      weight gain, weight increases and clinical-pathology changes in liver and
      kidneys, reduced red blood cells values). Quantitatively, the predicted NOAEL
      (150 ppm) is similar to the actual study (NOEL = 75 ppm, NOAEL <= 500 ppm). Thus,
      the 90-day rat toxicity study of MCPP could have been waived and substituted by
      the 90-day results of 2,4-DP by using metabolome data of 28 day studies.

PMID- 27637789
TI  - Patients with prior TURP undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy have higher positive surgical margin rates.
AB  - With the incidence of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RALP) increasing,
      questions regarding the significance of margin status have arisen. Patients with
      a history of a prior transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) may have a
      higher incidence of positive margins because of the prior surgery. We examined
      our IRB-approved database to determine whether patients who had undergone a prior
      TURP had higher rates of positive margins than patients who had no history of
      TURP. Between July 2003 and March 2007, six urologic surgeons in our medical
      group (City of Hope medical group) performed RALP on 2,041 patients. Consent to
      enter the database was obtained from 1,768 patients. Of these, 51 had undergone
      prior TURP. Patients with a history of TURP before undergoing RALP had positive
      margin rates of 35.3% (18 of 51) compared with 17.6% (18 of 102) of patients
      without a history of TURP (P = 0.015). The location of the positive margins was
      statistically more prevalent at the bladder neck in TURP patients (13.7 vs. 2.0%)
      than in non-TURP patients (Fisher's exact P value = 0.004). These two groups were
      statistically similar with regard to other variables examined including race,
      BMI, preoperative PSA, Gleason score, and pathologic stage. Patients who
      underwent RALP following TURP were found to have a higher positive margin rate.
      The positive margins were more likely to be located at the bladder neck in TURP
      versus non-TURP patients. 

PMID- 27637791
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: an athermal anterior approach
      to the seminal vesicle dissection.
AB  - The seminal vesicles, particularly the lateral aspect and tips, are among the
      closest structures to the cavernous nerves and pelvic plexus. Given this
      proximity it is essential that the seminal vesicle dissection be performed in an
      athermal and atraumatic fashion during robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy
      (RALP). Traditionally the seminal vesicle dissection during RALP is performed by
      dividing the vas deferens and following it proximally to locate the tip of the
      seminal vesicle. Here we describe a modification to the traditional anterior
      approach to seminal vesicle dissection. Our modification allows the dissection to
      be performed athermally and efficiently with use of minimal traction. The
      dissection proceeds medially between the two terminal vas deferens to identify
      the medial surface of one of the seminal vesicles. This medial surface is
      avascular and can be developed easily along the length of the vesicle using blunt
      dissection. Once its tip is identified it is elevated with the fourth arm
      medially between the two vas deferens. The ipsilateral vas can then be clipped
      and divided below the level of the elevated seminal vesicle. The vascular supply
      to the seminal vesicle is then simply identified entering the lateral aspect of
      its tip. A hemolock clip is placed directly beneath the tip of the seminal
      vesicle to control its vasculature. The remainder of the dissection can be
      performed with sharp dissection. Using this technique the seminal vesicle can be
      excised entirely with minimal traction and no thermal energy. By elevating the
      tip medially away from the location of the pelvic plexus and cavernous nerves,
      inadvertent damage to these neural structures is avoided when placing the
      hemolock clips. 

PMID- 27637790
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic gastrectomy with D2 dissection for adenocarcinoma:
      initial experience with 17 patients.
AB  - Robot-assisted gastrectomy has been practised so far in very few centres in the
      world. The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility of robot-assisted
      gastrectomy for adenocarcinoma with D2 lymph nodal dissection and to analyze our
      preliminary results. Between January 2006 and August 2008, as many as 17 patients
      (11 females, 6 males) underwent laparoscopic robot-assisted surgery for non
      metastatic adenocarcinoma of the stomach by a 3-armed da Vinci((r)) Robotic
      Surgical System. The mean age of patients was 65.9 years. This series included
      eight patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) and nine with advanced gastric
      cancer (AGC). A 4/5 laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy (LSG) with D2 nodal
      clearance was the procedure of choice for 16 distal cancers. Laparoscopic total
      gastrectomy (LTG) with D2 lymphadenectomy was performed for one AGC of the middle
      third of the stomach. No intraoperative complication was registered. Conversion
      to laparotomy was required in two patients with distal cancer. The mean operating
      time (excluding converted patients) was 352 min (348 for LSG). Morbidity
      consisted in one pancreatic leak that healed conservatively. One death occurred
      postoperatively for haemorragic stroke. On average, 25.5 +/- 4 lymph nodes were
      collected (range 10-40). The resection margin was 6.4 +/- 0.6 cm (range 4.2-8),
      and the margin was tumour free in all the specimens. The mean hospital stay of
      totally laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy was 10 +/- 1.2 days (range 8-13). The
      mean follow-up was 14 months (range 1-29) and three patients with AGC showed
      recurrence after LSG and died of disease. Robotics in gastrectomy for cancer is a
      feasible and safe procedure, yielding adequate D2 nodal clearance with respect of
      oncologic principles. Robotic techniques can represent a remarkable tool to
      improve laparoscopic surgeon's ability and precision in small surgical fields,
      i.e. during D2 dissection. This study demonstrated the feasibility of robot
      assisted gastrectomy for cancer although further studies are required to validate
      our preliminary results, especially as far as patients' benefits are concerned. 

PMID- 27637792
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic colectomy: 70 cases-one surgeon.
AB  - This study reviewed the use of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery for colon
      resection. We described the six-year experience of one minimally invasive
      fellowship-trained surgeon performing 70 consecutive colectomies using the da
      Vinci system. Between September 2002 and 2007, data on 70 patients undergoing
      robotic colectomy for diverticular disease, polyps, cancer, or carcinoid tumor
      were collected. Operations were right colectomy and sigmoid colectomy. A total of
      38 right and 32 sigmoid colectomies were performed in 32 males and 38 females.
      The postoperative diagnoses were diverticular disease (19), polyps (36), cancer
      (13), and carcinoid (2). Times for the right colectomies were: port setup time
      33.6 +/- 12.1 (20-64) min, robotic time 147.2 +/- 44.4 (53-306) min, and total
      case time 221.3 +/- 43.7 (150-380) min. The estimated blood loss (EBL) was 53.9
      +/- 78.2 (15-500) ml, the body mass index (BMI) 27.2 +/- 4.2 (17-36.8) kg/m(2),
      and the median length of stay (LOS) 3 (2-27) days. The robotic portion
      represented 66.5 % of the total case time. Times for the sigmoid colectomies
      were: port setup time 30.0 +/- 9.8 (10-57) min, robotic time 101.8 +/- 25.3 (67
      165) min, and total case time 228.4 +/- 40.5 (147-323) min. The EBL was 71.2 +/-
      47.9 (15-200) ml, the BMI 27.1 +/- 4.9 (17.0-40.5) kg/m(2), and the median LOS 4
      (2-27) days. The robotic portion represented 44.6% of the total case time. Eight
      different types of complication occurred. Eight cases were converted-five to open
      and three to laparoscopic. Two resulted from robot malfunction. Residents
      participated in 40 cases (57.1%). In the years 2002-2006, respectively, 5, 12,
      10, 11, and 19 robotic colectomies were performed. In the first nine months of
      2007, 13 robotic colectomies were performed. These 70 consecutive cases have
      demonstrated robotic colectomy to be a safe and technically feasible approach.
      The number of robotic colectomies performed each year has steadily increased over
      the last six years. This series compared favorably with other robotic series in
      length of hospital stay, conversion rates, and total case time. 

PMID- 27637793
TI  - Open versus robotic radical prostatectomy: a prospective analysis based on a
      single surgeon's experience.
AB  - The background of this study is to compare prospectively the oncological and
      functional results of open radical prostatectomy (OP) and robotic prostatectomy
      (RP) from the experience of a single surgeon. Between June 2002 and June 2007,
      422 patients underwent radical prostatectomy (OP 199, RP 223). We divided OP
      patients into 89 early cases (OP-I) and 110 late cases (OP-II) before and after
      introduction of a robotic system, and RP patients into 35 early cases (RP-I) and
      188 late cases (RP-II). Functional outcomes were measured by use of validated
      questionnaires completed by the patients. There were no significant differences
      in preoperative characteristics among the four groups, except that RP-I patients
      had lower biopsy Gleason scores. In the RP groups the mean estimated blood loss
      was lower and mean durations of hospital stay and bladder catheterization were
      shorter compared to those of the OP groups. The frequency of intraoperative
      complications was significantly lower in the RP-II group. The positive surgical
      margin rates in the RP-II group were similar to or lower than those in the OP
      groups when stratified by pathologic stage T2 and T3. From one month after
      surgery, RP-II patients had higher continence rates than OP-II patients. For
      patients >=60 years old, recovery of potency was better in the RP-II group. To
      conclude, RP by an experienced surgeon may have a similar or lower positive
      surgical margin rate than OP. Additionally, RP may lead to a shorter duration of
      bladder catheterization and hospital stay and better recovery of continence and
      potency than obtainable by OP. 

PMID- 27637794
TI  - Robot-assisted vaginal construction using ileum in a case of Mayer-Rokitansky
      Kuster-Hauser syndrome.
AB  - Congenital absence of the vagina is a rare condition commonly associated with
      Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, Morris Syndrome, and XY sex
      reversal. Secondarily this condition may be caused by exenteration of various
      pelvic tumors. Surgical options for treating this devastating condition include
      external vaginal dilation, internal dilation using traction devices, and vaginal
      construction using flaps of skin, bladder, or various bowel segments. We describe
      our innovative surgical technique employing robotic assistance in the creation of
      a neo-vagina for a young woman with MRKH syndrome. To the best of our knowledge
      this is the first report of this surgical technique. 

PMID- 27637796
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic ipsilateral ureteroureterostomy for injury of an
      ectopic duplicated ureter following robotic prostatectomy.
AB  - We report the feasibility and the safety of a robot-assisted laparoscopic
      ipsilateral ureteroureterostomy in a patient who had previously undergone a robot
      assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and was found postoperatively to have
      complete right sided ureteral duplication with apparent injury to the distal
      ectopic ureter. Robot-assisted laparoscopic ipsilateral ureteroureterostomy was
      performed transperitoneally using the same six port sites that had previously
      been used for the robotic prostatectomy. Rigid cystoscopy was performed at the
      time of the procedure to identify the normal ureter, perform a retrograde
      pyelogram, and place a double pigtail ureteral stent. The ureteroureterostomy
      anastamosis was performed using interrupted 4-0 polyglactin sutures. The
      operation was performed successfully and without complications. Total operating
      room time was 117 min. Robot time was 73 min. Estimated blood loss was 50 ml.
      Other than a brief episode of renal colic on postoperative day 2, the patient
      recovered uneventfully and was discharged home on postoperative day 4.
      Preoperative serum creatinine was 1.05 mg/dl and on the day of discharge was 0.85
      mg/dl. Prostate pathology showed adenocarcinoma of the prostate, Gleason 3 + 4 =
      7 with negative margins pathologic stage T2c.Robot-assisted laparoscopic
      ipsilateral ureteroureterostomy is safe and effective for the treatment of
      ureteral injury in a duplicated system. 

PMID- 27637795
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic aortobifemoral bypass: initial experience developing
      a new program.
AB  - Despite improved technology for endovascular treatment of aorto iliac occlusive
      disease, aortobifemoral bypass (ABF) continues to offer superior long-term
      patency. In an effort to reduce the morbidity of surgical ABF, multiple minimally
      invasive techniques have been reported. The da Vinci robot may facilitate the
      construction of a minimally invasive aortic anastomosis using standard vascular
      suture techniques. Our initial experience in the development of a minimally
      invasive surgical aortic reconstruction program is reported. After extensive time
      in the laboratory developing our surgical technique in human cadavers and a pig
      model, our team initiated a robotic vascular surgery program in 2007. A
      retrospective review of our initial six robot-assisted laparoscopic ABF cases was
      conducted. The aorta was exposed laparoscopically using the Stadler technique and
      the aortic anastomosis performed with the da Vinci robot. These results are
      compared with currently published reports of robotic ABF and alternative methods
      of minimally invasive aortic reconstruction. From January 2007 to August 2007,
      six robot-assisted laparoscopic ABFs were performed. Two patients had prior
      abdominal surgical procedures. Four patients had prior endovascular or surgical
      aorto iliac reconstruction. Operative time varied from 5 h 26 min to 8 h 12 min.
      Total clamp time, for the aortic anastomosis, ranged from 70 to 100 min with a
      mean of 75 min. Estimated blood loss ranged from 300 to 2,000 ml with a mean of
      850 ml. Conversion with a short upper midline incision was required in one
      patient (16%) with an associated abdominal aortic aneurysm. Post operative length
      of stay ranged from five to ten days with a median of seven days. There was no
      operative mortality. Results from robotically assisted laparoscopic ABF are
      equivalent to those from other minimally invasive options while enabling a much
      shorter learning curve. Using the technique described, minimally invasive ABF was
      accomplished in a safe and reliable manner despite prior vascular treatment. 

PMID- 27637797
TI  - Robot-assisted retroperitoneal renal cryoablation.
AB  - A 74-year-old man with multiple medical comorbidities and a 3.6 cm right
      posterior renal hilar mass, biopsy-confirmed as papillary renal cell carcinoma,
      underwent a robot-assisted retroperitoneal renal cryoablation. We report the
      feasibility of robot-assisted retroperitoneal cryoablation of a renal tumor and
      describe our technique. 

PMID- 27637798
TI  - Identification and conservative management of a distal ureteral injury occurring
      during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
AB  - Iatrogenic ureteric injury following open radical prostatectomy and laparoscopic
      radical prostatectomy is a rare but known complication. We report a unique case
      of ureteric injury diagnosed postoperatively following robot-assisted
      laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (R-LRP). Conservative management of the injury
      using percutaneous drainage and anterograde ureteral stenting allowed for
      complete resolution of the ureteral injury. 

PMID- 27637799
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic bladder diverticulectomy and concomitant ureteral
      re-implantation: initial clinical experience.
AB  - We present our initial clinical experience with robotic-assisted laparoscopic
      bladder diverticulectomy with associated ureteral re-implantation. A 75-year-old
      man was referred to us for recurrent urinary tract infections and lower urinary
      tract symptoms. On computed tomography of abdomen and pelvis the patient was
      found to have a 13 * 14 * 6 cm diverticulum in the left posterior bladder wall.
      The patient elected to undergo robotic-assisted laparoscopic removal of the
      diverticulum. The patient's preparation, draping, and trocar placement was
      performed as per standard fashion of robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical
      prostatectomy. The bladder was mobilized and diverticulum was identified and
      removed. The left ureter was transected secondary to its passage through the
      diverticulum, and required re-implantation. After hemostasis was achieved, the
      repair was tested and confirmed. The operation was completed in 207 min without
      any complications. Estimated blood loss was 150 cc. On postoperative day 1, the
      patient was placed on oral analgesic and discharged home. Our initial report of
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic bladder diverticulectomy and ureteral re
      implantation illustrates that this minimally invasive technique is an effective
      method of treatment of bladder diverticulum. Proximity of the ureter to the
      diverticulum should not be a deterrent for this approach of repair. 

PMID- 27637800
TI  - Robot-assisted radical cystoprostatectomy in the post-radiation and chemotherapy
      patient.
AB  - We report a case of successful salvage radical cystoprostatectomy (RRCP) on a
      patient with recurrent high-grade T2 transitional cell carcinoma following
      external-beam radiation and systemic chemotherapy. The effect on tissue planes
      and the resulting adhesions after external radiation are well-known. While RRCPs
      have been successfully completed in many academic centers, there have been no
      reports of using this approach for salvage cystectomy after radiation. The RRCP
      was performed without complications, and was followed by an extended bilateral
      pelvic lymph node dissection and creation of an ileal conduit via the midline
      extraction incision. 

PMID- 27637801
TI  - The fifth European robotic urology symposium.

PMID- 27637802
TI  - Qualitatively and quantitatively investigating the regulation of intestinal
      microbiota on the metabolism of panax notoginseng saponins.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Intestinal microflora plays crucial roles in
      modulating pharmacokinetic characteristics and pharmacological actions of active
      ingredients in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). However, the exact impact of
      altered intestinal microflora affecting the biotransformation of TCMs remains
      poorly understood. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to reveal the specific
      enterobacteria which dominate the metabolism of panax notoginseng saponins (PNSs)
      via exploring the relationship between bacterial community structures and the
      metabolic profiles of PNSs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 2, 4, 6
      Trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (TNBS)-challenged and pseudo germ-free (pseudo GF)
      rats, which prepared by treating TNBS and antibiotic cocktail, respectively, were
      employed to investigate the influence of intestinal microflora on the PNS
      metabolic profiles. Firstly, the bacterial community structures of the
      conventional, TNBS-challenged and pseudo GF rat intestinal microflora were
      compared via 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing technique. Then, the biotransformation
      of protopanaxadiol-type PNSs (ginsenoside Rb1, Rb2 and Rd), protopanaxatriol-type
      PNSs (ginsenoside Re, Rf, Rg1 and notoginsenoside R1) and Panax notoginseng
      extract (PNE) in conventional, TNBS-challenged and pseudo GF rat intestinal
      microbiota was systematically studied from qualitative and quantitative angles
      based on LC-triple-TOF/MS system. Besides, glycosidases (beta-glucosidase and
      beta-xylosidase), predominant enzymes responsible for the deglycosylation of
      PNSs, were measured by the glycosidases assay kits. RESULTS: Significant
      differences in the bacterial community structure on phylum, class, order, family,
      and genera levels were observed among the conventional, TNBS-challenged and
      pseudo GF rats. Most of the metabolites in TNBS-challenged rat intestinal
      microflora were identified as the deglycosylation products, and had slightly
      lower exposure levels than those in the conventional rats. In the pseudo GF
      group, the peak area of metabolites formed by loss of glucose, xylose and
      rhamnose was significantly lower than that in the conventional group.
      Importantly, the exposure levels of the deglycosylated metabolites were found
      have a high correlation with the alteration of glycosidase activities and
      proteobacteria population. Several other metabolites, which formed by oxidation,
      dehydrogenation, demethylation, etc, had higher relative exposure in pseudo GF
      group, which implicated that the up-regulation of Bacteroidetes could enhance the
      activities of some redox enzymes in intestinal microbiota. CONCLUSION: The
      metabolism of PNSs was greatly influenced by intestinal microflora.
      Proteobacteria may affect the deglycosylated metabolism of PNSs via regulating
      the activities of glycosidases. Besides, up-regulation of Bacteroidetes was
      likely to promote the redox metabolism of PNSs via improving the activities of
      redox metabolic enzymes in intestinal microflora.

PMID- 27637803
TI  - Activation of LILRB2 signal pathway in temporal lobe epilepsy patients and in a
      pilocarpine induced epilepsy model.
AB  - Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a frequent form of focal intractable epilepsy in
      adults, but the specific mechanism underlying the epileptogenesis of TLE is still
      unknown. Human leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B2 (LILRB2) (the murine
      homolog gene called paired immunoglobulin-like receptor B, or PirB), participates
      in the process of synaptic plasticity and neurite growth in the central nervous
      system (CNS), suggesting a potential role of LILRB2 in epilepsy. However, the
      expression pattern of LILRB2 and the downstream molecular signal in intractable
      TLE remains poorly understood. In the present study, western blotting and
      immunohistochemistry results showed that LILRB2 expression was upregulated in the
      temporal neocortex of patients with TLE. Moreover, protein levels of LILRB2
      negatively correlated with the frequency of seizures in TLE patients. In the
      pilocarpine-induced C57BL/6 mouse model, PirB upregulation in the hippocampus
      began 12h after status epilepticus (SE), reached a peak at 7days and then
      maintained a significantly high level until day 60. Similarly, we found a
      remarkable increase in PirB expression at 1day, 7days and30days post-SE in the
      temporal cortex. Double-labeled immunofluorescence showed that LILRB2/PirB were
      highly expressed in neurons and astrocytes but not microglia. In addition,
      protein levels of POSH, SHROOM3, ROCK1 and ROCK2, the important downstream
      factors of the LILRB2 pathway, were significantly increased in the epileptic foci
      of TLE patients and located on the NeuN-positive neurons and GFAP-positive
      astrocytes. Taken together, our results indicate that LILRB2/PirB may be involved
      in the process of TLE.

PMID- 27637804
TI  - Chronic mild stress accelerates the progression of Parkinson's disease in A53T
      alpha-synuclein transgenic mice.
AB  - Daily stress is associated with increased risk for various diseases, and numerous
      studies have provided evidence that environmental stress leads to deleterious
      effects on the central nervous system. However, it remains unclear whether
      chronic stress exacerbates the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). To
      investigate this hypothesis, we determined the effect of chronic mild stress
      (CMS) on the pathogenesis of PD in a transgenic mice line that overexpresses the
      human A53T mutant alpha-synuclein (A53T Tg mice). We show that when exposed to
      CMS, male, but not female, A53T Tg mice developed profound motor disabilities and
      exhibited olfactory sensitivity deficits. Pathological analysis also identified
      robust dopaminergic neuron degeneration and strong reduction of dopamine levels
      in A53T Tg male mice who underwent CMS treatment. Systematic examination of the
      abnormal aggregation of alpha-synuclein revealed a profound increase of inclusion
      in A53T Tg male mice subject to CMS resembling key pathological changes of PD. An
      insight into the mechanism underlying stress leading to the acceleration of
      neurodegeneration in those with genetic susceptibility, was revealed by evidence
      of microglia activation and elevated pro-inflammatory factor levels in A53T Tg
      male mice following CMS. Notably, these effects of CMS on the pathogenesis of PD
      showed a remarkable sexual dimorphism: only male A53T Tg mice exhibited
      exacerbation of the progression of PD. However, the molecular and cellular bases
      for this difference remains to be elucidated. Our results indicate a causative
      role for chronic mild stress using a PD animal model. Based on these findings, we
      propose that CMS acts as an environmental risk factor that leads to
      neuroinflammation and progressive neurodegeneration on a background of PD
      susceptibility.

PMID- 27637805
TI  - Exploring the link between institutional pressures and environmental management
      systems effectiveness: An empirical study.
AB  - Institutional theory has been widely debated by scholars. A part of literature
      examines how institutional pressures act on company choices regarding proactive
      environmental strategies. However, the institutional perspective has still not
      completely clarified the influence of these pressures on the effectiveness of
      environmental management systems (EMSs) in achieving goals in terms of eco
      innovation, competitiveness and corporate reputation. This paper analyses the
      role played by coercive, mimetic and normative forces in stimulating innovative
      and competitive responses by firms with an environmental certification. Using the
      results of a survey on 242 European EMAS-registered organisations, the paper
      highlights the more positive influence of mimetic and normative pressures than
      coercive ones. The paper contributes to the literature debate on EMSs analysed
      through the lens of institutional theory.

PMID- 27637806
TI  - Assessing sustainable remediation frameworks using sustainability principles.
AB  - The remediation industry has grown exponentially in recent decades. International
      organizations of practitioners and remediation experts have developed several
      frameworks for integrating sustainability into remediation projects; however,
      there has been limited attention to how sustainability is approached and
      operationalized in sustainable remediation frameworks and practices - or whether
      sustainability plays any meaningful role at all in sustainable remediation. This
      paper examines how sustainability is represented in remediation frameworks and
      the guidance provided for practical application. Seven broad sustainability
      principles and review criteria are proposed and applied to a sample of six
      international remediation frameworks. Not all review criteria were equally
      satisfied and none of the frameworks fully met all criteria; however, the best
      performing frameworks were those identified as sustainability remediation
      frameworks. Intra-generational equity was addressed by all frameworks.
      Integrating social, economic and biophysical components beyond triple-bottom-line
      indicators was explicitly addressed only by the sustainable remediation
      frameworks. No frameworks provided principle- or rule-based guidance for dealing
      with trade-offs in sustainability decisions.

PMID- 27637807
TI  - An agent-based model for an air emissions cap and trade program: A case study in
      Taiwan.
AB  - To determine the actual status of individuals in a system and the trading
      interaction between polluters, this study uses an agent-based model to set up a
      virtual world that represents the Kaohsiung and Pingtung regions in Taiwan, which
      are under the country's air emissions cap and trade program. The model can
      simulate each controlled industry's dynamic behavioral condition with the bottom
      up method and can investigate the impact of the program and determine the
      industry's emissions reduction and trading condition. This model can be used
      elastically to predict the impact of the trading market through adjusting
      different settings of the program rules or combining the settings with other
      measures. The simulation results show that the emissions trading market has an
      oversupply, but we find that the market trading amounts are low. Additionally, we
      find that increasing the air pollution fee and offset rate restrains the agents'
      trading decision, according to the simulation results of each scenario. In
      particular, NOx and SOx trading amounts are easily impacted by the pollution fee,
      reduction rate, and offset rate. Also, the more transparent the market, the more
      it can help polluters trade. Therefore, if authorities want to intervene in the
      emissions trading market, they must be careful in adjusting the air pollution fee
      and program rules; otherwise, the trading market system cannot work effectively.
      We also suggest setting up a trading platform to help the dealers negotiate
      successfully.

PMID- 27637808
TI  - Implementing sustainable drainage systems for urban surface water management
      within the regulatory framework in England and Wales.
AB  - The UK 2007 floods resulted in damages estimated to exceed over L4 billion. This
      triggered a national review of strategic flood risk management (Pitt, 2008) with
      its recommendations informing and implemented by the Flood and Water Management,
      Act (FWMA, 2010). Estimating that up to two-thirds of properties flooded in the
      2007 event as a direct result of overloaded sewer systems, the FWMA set out an
      ambitious overhaul of flood risk management approaches including identifying
      bodies responsible for the management of local flood risk (local municipalities)
      and the development of over-arching Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) at a
      regional level. LLFAs duties include developing local flood risk management
      strategies and, aligned with this, many LLFAs and local municipalities produced
      sustainable drainage system (SUDS) guidance notes. In parallel, changes to the
      national planning policy framework (NPPF) in England give priority to the use of
      SUDS in new major developments, as does the related Town and Country Planning
      Order (2015). However, whilst all three pieces of legislation refer to the
      preferential use of SUDs, these requirements remain "economically proportionate"
      and thus the inclusion of SUDS within development controls remain desirable - but
      not mandatory - obligations. Within this dynamic policy context, reignited most
      recently by the December 2015 floods, this paper examines some of the challenges
      to the implementation of SUDS in England and Wales posed by the new regulatory
      frameworks. In particular, it examines how emerging organisational procedures and
      processes are likely to impact on future SUDS implementation, and highlights the
      need for further cross-sectoral working to ensure opportunities for cross
      sectoral benefits- such as that accrued by reducing stormwater flows within
      combined sewer systems for water companies, property developers and environmental
      protection - are not lost.

PMID- 27637809
TI  - Public attitudes and opinions as dimensions of efficient management with
      extensive meadows in Natura 2000 area.
AB  - Over time, grassland use has changed from traditional (extensive) to intensive
      agricultural management, a change which has caused biodiversity loss in the
      European grassland area. To save Europe's biodiversity, the most important
      measure was the establishment of the Natura 2000 network. Goricko Landscape Park
      in Slovenia is in Natura 2000 to preserve its traditional and extensive small
      scale farming. The aims of this research were to identify potential obstacles to
      proper management of the extensively used meadows in this region and identify
      major factors that would affect such management in order to prepare more
      appropriate strategies for habitat conservation. The data was collected by online
      survey and in paper and pencil format. Based on Principal Component Analysis
      (PCA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling, we can
      conclude that less than a half of 228 respondents can identify what activities
      are permitted in a Natura 2000 area, which indicates a lack of knowledge about
      Natura 2000. The majority agree with meadow management in the welfare of
      protected plants and animals but would accept management under stricter
      regulations only if accompanied by higher subsidies in for management under
      stricter regulations. These respondents are not prepared to participate in
      measures for preserving biodiversity without beneficiaries. Respondents have in
      average a positive opinion toward protected plants and animals, but the procedure
      for obtaining environmental subsidies for meadows seems to them too complicated.
      Although the majority of respondents do not see a Natura 2000 area as a place for
      quality living, it is the factor with the highest significant effect on
      willingness to participate in measures to preserve biodiversity.

PMID- 27637810
TI  - When can a green entrepreneur manage the local environment?
AB  - How do we deal with environmental management issues at the local level?
      Traditionally, the approach proposed from an environmental management perspective
      has involved various kinds of "top-down" regulatory measures, such as defining a
      standard that must be satisfied or a tax on pollution. Conversely, there has been
      less focus on the analysis of local, bottom-up approaches, as for example the
      effectiveness of various ways of organizing a local environmental transition
      process. Our focus is on analyzing of under what conditions it is possible for a
      "green entrepreneur" (GE) to manage a transition from brown to green energy?
      Theoretically, we consider four entrepreneurial skills, at least two of which
      must be present for the GE to succeed. In the case of the Danish island of Samso
      and its rapid introduction of renewable energy, three of these skills are found
      to be present: profits, communication, and trustworthiness. The GE, however,
      failed to activate the fourth skill concerning the ability to persuade local non
      green actors regarding the value of the green component. Thus, a main result is
      that it is crucial to convince non-green locals about the profitability of local
      environmental management rather than its potentially green components.

PMID- 27637811
TI  - Assessment of the effects of Cu and Ag in oysters Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg,
      1793) using a battery of cell and tissue level biomarkers.
AB  - Oysters are considered sentinel organisms in environmental water quality
      monitoring programs in which cell and tissue level biomarkers are reliable tools.
      Copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) are present in relatively high concentrations in
      several estuaries, potentially affecting environmental and human health.
      Crassostrea gigas oysters were exposed during 28 days to a range of
      environmentally relevant concentrations of Cu and Ag alone or in mixture. Effects
      were studied through cell and tissue level biomarkers approach. Results
      indicated: changes in the Condition Index (CI), altered digestive gland
      epithelium and presence of histopathological alterations in the gonad and
      digestive gland of exposed oysters. A time-dependent increase in lipofuscin
      contents in exposed oysters and an increase in intralysosomal metal accumulation
      in digestive cells through the experiment were also recorded. The Integrative
      Biological Response (IBR) Index showed that even at low exposure levels, Ag and
      Cu can produce alterations on oysters' health status.

PMID- 27637812
TI  - Healthcare improvement can't happen without better management.

PMID- 27637813
TI  - Management's Discussion and Analysis: A tool for advancing quality and safety.

PMID- 27637814
TI  - Beyond the Dartmouth Atlas - regional variation in private health care spending.

PMID- 27637815
TI  - The potential unintended consequences of linking insurance coverage decisions to
      quality metrics.

PMID- 27637816
TI  - Trials without tribulations: Minimizing the burden of pragmatic research on
      healthcare systems.
AB  - Pragmatic clinical trials are increasingly common because they have the potential
      to yield findings that are directly translatable to real-world healthcare
      settings. Pragmatic clinical trials need to integrate research into clinical
      workflow without placing an undue burden on the delivery system. This requires a
      research partnership between investigators and healthcare system representatives.
      This paper, organized as a series of case studies drawn from our experience in
      the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory, presents guidance from
      informational interviews of physician-scientists, health services researchers,
      and delivery system leaders who recently launched pragmatic clinical trials. 

PMID- 27637817
TI  - The residency-MBA program: A novel approach to training physician leaders.

PMID- 27637818
TI  - Community health workers for patients with medical and behavioral health needs -
      Challenges and opportunities.
AB  - Behavioral health integration efforts often focus on the formal health care
      infrastructure. We performed a non-systematic literature review and expert
      interviews to identify community-based interventions for patients with medical
      and behavioral health needs. Community Health Workers (CHWs) are the dominant
      intervention to support patients outside of the clinic. These interventions do
      not always optimally meet patients' needs. Organizations should consider the
      challenges and benefits of CHWs for patients with medical and behavioral health
      needs. We outline two challenges to successful CHW programs for this population,
      propose two design considerations for community-based integration, and suggest
      how quality improvement methods might help with both challenges. 

PMID- 27637819
TI  - Using focus groups to identify characteristics of an ideal work environment for
      Advanced Practice Clinicians.
AB  - Advanced Practice Clinicians (APCs) in collaborative practice represent a diverse
      and valuable group of health care professionals, including nurse practitioners,
      physician assistants, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives. Because these
      healthcare professionals have been identified as part of the solution to
      physician shortages, it is critical for health networks to examine and address
      issues affecting collaborative relationships. We invited our network APCs to
      participate in focus group sessions to determine both attributes and barriers to
      an ideal work environment. Four major themes emerged: (1) compensation, (2)
      network representation, (3) employment structure, and (4) workplace culture.
      While issues relating to compensation and representation were prevalent,
      discussions also revealed the importance of relationships and communication. To
      ensure successful collaboration and, thereby, reduce clinician turnover, leaders
      must address gaps between the existing and ideal states in structural factors
      affecting job satisfaction (Themes 1-3) as well as the behavioral factors
      represented in workplace culture (Theme 4). 

PMID- 27637820
TI  - Do accountable care organizations (ACOs) help or hinder primary care physicians'
      ability to deliver high-quality care?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many view advanced primary care models such as the patient-centered
      medical home as foundational for accountable care organizations (ACOs), but it
      remains unclear how these two delivery reforms are complementary and how they may
      produce conflict. The objective of this study was to identify how joining an ACO
      could help or hinder a primary care practice's efforts to deliver high-quality
      care. METHODS: This qualitative study involved interviews with a purposive sample
      of 32 early adopters of advanced primary care and/or ACO models, drawn from
      across the U.S. and conducted in mid-2014. Interview notes were coded using
      qualitative data analysis software, permitting topic-specific queries which were
      then summarized. RESULTS: Respondents perceived many potential benefits of
      joining an ACO, including care coordination staff, data analytics, and improved
      communication with other providers. However, respondents were also concerned
      about added "bureaucratic" requirements, referral restrictions, and a potential
      inability to recoup investments in practice improvements. CONCLUSIONS:
      Interviewees generally thought joining an ACO could complement a practice's
      efforts to deliver high-quality care, yet noted some concerns that could
      undermine these synergies. Both the advantages and disadvantages of joining an
      ACO seemed exacerbated for small practices, since they are most likely to benefit
      from additional resources yet are most likely to chafe under added bureaucratic
      requirements. IMPLICATIONS: Our identification of the potential pros and cons of
      joining an ACO may help providers identify areas to examine when weighing whether
      to enter into such an arrangement, and may help ACOs identify potential areas for
      improvement.

PMID- 27637821
TI  - Patterns of care for clinically distinct segments of high cost Medicare
      beneficiaries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Efforts to improve the efficiency of care for the Medicare population
      commonly target high cost beneficiaries. We describe and evaluate a novel
      management approach, population segmentation, for identifying and managing high
      cost beneficiaries. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of
      6,919,439 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in 2012. We defined and
      characterized eight distinct clinical population segments, and assessed
      heterogeneity in managing practitioners. RESULTS: The eight segments comprised
      9.8% of the population and 47.6% of annual Medicare payments. The eight segments
      included 61% and 69% of the population in the top decile and top 5% of annual
      Medicare payments. The positive-predictive values within each segment for meeting
      thresholds of Medicare payments ranged from 72% to 100%, 30% to 83%, and 14% to
      56% for the upper quartile, upper decile, and upper 5% of Medicare payments
      respectively. Sensitivity and positive-predictive values were substantially
      improved over predictive algorithms based on historical utilization patterns and
      comorbidities. The mean [95% confidence interval] number of unique practitioners
      and practices delivering E&M services ranged from 1.82 [1.79-1.84] to 6.94 [6.91
      6.98] and 1.48 [1.46-1.50] to 4.98 [4.95-5.00] respectively. The percentage of
      cognitive services delivered by primary care practitioners ranged from 23.8% to
      67.9% across segments, with significant variability among specialty types.
      CONCLUSIONS: Most high cost Medicare beneficiaries can be identified based on a
      single clinical reason and are managed by different practitioners. IMPLICATIONS:
      Population segmentation holds potential to improve efficiency in the Medicare
      population by identifying opportunities to improve care for specific populations
      and managing clinicians, and forecasting and evaluating the impact of specific
      interventions.

PMID- 27637822
TI  - Clinical pathway for esophagectomy improves perioperative nutrition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical pathways reduce hospitalization and costs in colorectal and
      pancreatic cancer. We describe creating an esophagectomy pathway and analyze its
      implementation and effects. METHODS: We documented the process of developing an
      esophagectomy clinical pathway. We performed a retrospective review of
      prospectively collected data on 12 patients before pathway implementation and 12
      patients after. RESULTS: Pathway Implementation: more patients were presented at
      tumor board (9 pathway vs. 2 pre-pathway; p=0.012) and chose their postoperative
      care facility before surgery (8 vs. 0; p=0.0013) OUTCOMES: There were no changes
      in mortality (0 vs. 0), major complications (5 vs. 5), hospitalization (median
      9.5 vs. 12 days; p=0.82), and total charges ($ 98,395 vs. $ 96,946; p=0.96).
      Pathway patients lost significantly less weight preoperatively (2.3% vs. 7.6%;
      p=0.01) and perioperatively (6.3% vs. 12%; p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This is the
      first study to report the process of designing and implementing an esophagectomy
      pathway. While there was no significant decrease in mortality, complications,
      hospitalization, or charges, our pathway significantly decreased pre- and
      perioperative weight loss, which we attribute to coordinated patient education
      and care.

PMID- 27637823
TI  - Value based care and bundled payments: Anesthesia care costs for outpatient
      oncology surgery using time-driven activity-based costing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the movement towards bundled payments, stakeholders should know
      the true cost of the care they deliver. Time-driven activity-based costing
      (TDABC) can be used to estimate costs for each episode of care. In this analysis,
      TDABC is used to both estimate the costs of anesthesia care and identify the
      primary drivers of those costs of 11 common oncologic outpatient surgical
      procedures. METHODS: Personnel cost were calculated by determining the hourly
      cost of each provider and the associated process time of the 11 surgical
      procedures. Using the anesthesia record, drugs, supplies and equipment costs were
      identified and calculated. The current staffing model was used to determine
      baseline personnel costs for each procedure. Using the costs identified through
      TDABC analysis, the effect of different staffing ratios on anesthesia costs could
      be predicted. RESULTS: Costs for each of the procedures were determined. Process
      time and costs are linearly related. Personnel represented 79% of overall cost
      while drugs, supplies and equipment represented the remaining 21%. Changing
      staffing ratios shows potential savings between 13% and 28% across the 11
      procedures. CONCLUSIONS: TDABC can be used to estimate the costs of anesthesia
      care. This costing information is critical to assessing the anesthesiology
      component in a bundled payment. It can also be used to identify areas of cost
      savings and model costs of anesthesia care. CRNA to anesthesiologist staffing
      ratios profoundly influence the cost of care. This methodology could be applied
      to other medical specialties to help determine costs in the setting of bundled
      payments.

PMID- 27637824
TI  - Transformation of anesthesia for ambulatory orthopedic surgery: A mixed-methods
      study of a diffusion of innovation in healthcare.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To provide insight into how an innovation in healthcare is
      implemented and diffused, we studied the transition from routine use of general
      anesthesia to peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) for ambulatory orthopedic extremity
      surgery. Rogers' diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory was used as our
      theoretical framework. We identified themes that would be helpful for others
      attempting to diffuse innovations into healthcare settings. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      A mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology was used. We retrospectively
      reviewed operative and anesthesia records of patients who underwent ambulatory
      repair of distal radius fractures or arthroscopic knee meniscus procedures from
      1998 to 2012 to identify whether general anesthetics or PNBs were used and the
      time course of the innovation. We interviewed orthopedic surgeons,
      anesthesiologists, and a nursing administrator working in the ambulatory surgery
      unit during the innovation to identify key themes associated with the adoption of
      PNBs. RESULTS: From 2003 to 2012, use of PNBs increased from less than 10% to 70%
      of cases studied. The adoption timeframe followed an S-shaped curve. Key themes
      included improved safety, quality, efficiency, physician leadership and trust,
      organizational structure, and technological change. The innovation involved an
      optional decision-making process and took root in a satellite facility and
      generally fit with Rogers DOI theory. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption and diffusion of
      PNBs provides a useful model for understanding innovations with optional decision
      making in healthcare. Critical elements in our case were the characteristics of
      the innovation, which facilitated the decision-making process, and the
      positioning of the innovation in a peripheral structure away from core clinical
      facilities.

PMID- 27637825
TI  - Why patients should arrive late: The impact of arrival time on patient
      satisfaction in an academic clinic.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: When considering quality improvement of healthcare practices,
      patient flow, wait time, and satisfaction are important factors to monitor.
      Patient wait time can affect satisfaction with the care received, and it can be
      dependent on many different factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      the impact of patients' arrival times to his/her appointment (early vs. on time
      vs. late) on patients' wait times and satisfaction. METHODS: 171 patients in an
      otolaryngology outpatient clinic completed surveys that asked them to record wait
      times in various areas of the clinic and to provide a satisfaction level for
      these wait times. Statistical analysis tested for any significant differences in
      wait time and satisfaction for patients that arrived early, on time, or late.
      RESULTS: Late, on time, and early arriving patients spent 18.2, 30.7, and 38.8min
      in the waiting room, respectively. Late, on time, and early arriving patients had
      a total visit length of 57.4, 68.6, and 81.9min, respectively. There was a
      significant difference with total time spent in the clinic (p=0.0034) and for
      overall satisfaction with the total length of the visit (p=0.0202) between late
      and early arriving patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates patients arriving
      late had shorter wait times and, not surprisingly, were more satisfied with the
      visit. The study provides evidence that patients view their wait as starting when
      they arrive to the clinic and not the actual time of the appointment. It
      questions the traditional scheduling systems that many clinics still use and
      proposes that there may be "out-of-the-box" approaches that positively impact
      patient satisfaction.

PMID- 27637826
TI  - The relationship between historical risk-adjusted 30-day mortality and subsequent
      hip fracture outcomes: Retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While 30-day risk-adjusted mortality is a performance measure for hip
      fracture care, it has not been shown to predict long-term outcomes. We assessed
      whether hospital rankings based on historical 30-day mortality predicted
      subsequent hip fracture outcomes. METHODS: Using national Medicare data, we
      calculated annual hospital performance rankings based on standardized 30-day hip
      fracture mortality ratios. We used logistic regression to measure the association
      of patients' survival at 180 days with their hospital's ranking for the year
      prior to admission. Subgroup analyses assessed whether associations between
      hospital performance and 180-day outcomes were similar for community-dwelling
      patients as well as those living in nursing homes prior to fracture. RESULTS: Out
      of 378,077 patients hospitalized with hip fractures between January 1, 2007 and
      June 30, 2009, 81,653 (21.6%) died by 180 days. Worse historical hospital
      performance was associated with a greater adjusted odds of 30 day mortality (odds
      ratio (OR), fourth vs. first quartile: 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18,
      1.29, P<0.001) and 180 day mortality (OR, fourth vs. first quartile: 1.15, 95% CI
      1.11, 1.18, P<0.001). Past hospital performance was associated with death or new
      nursing home placement among community dwellers (OR, fourth vs. first quartile:
      1.09, 95% CI 1.05, 1.13, P<0.001), but was not associated with death or new
      dependence in locomotion among nursing home residents (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.97,
      1.15, P=0.229). CONCLUSIONS: Better historical hospital hip fracture mortality
      predicts modest decreases in mortality at 180 days for subsequent patients, but
      is inconsistently associated with changes in functional outcomes. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level 3 (Non-randomized controlled cohort study).

PMID- 27637827
TI  - Across the divide: "Primary care departments working together to redesign care to
      achieve the Triple Aim".
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary care is considered the foundation of an effective health care
      system. However, primary care departments at academic health centers have
      numerous challenges to overcome when trying to achieve the Triple Aim. METHODS:
      As part of an organizational initiative to redesign primary care at a large
      academic health center, departments of internal medicine, general pediatrics and
      adolescent medicine, and family medicine worked together to comprehensively
      redesign primary care. This article describes the process of aligning these three
      primary care departments: defining panel size, developing a common primary care
      job description, redesigning the primary care compensation plan, redesigning the
      care model, and developing standardized staffing. RESULTS: Prior to the
      initiative, the rate of patient satisfaction was 85%, anticoagulation measurement
      65%, pneumococcal vaccination 85%, breast cancer screening 79%, and colorectal
      cancer screening 69%. These rates all improved to 87%, 75%, 88%, 80%, and 80%
      respectively. Themes around key challenges to departmental integration are
      identified: (1) implementing effective communication strategies; (2) addressing
      specialty differences in primary care delivery; (3) working within resource
      limitations; and (4) developing long-term sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: Primary
      care in this large academic health center was transformed through developing a
      united primary care leadership team that bridged individual departments to create
      and adopt a common vision and solutions to shared problems. Our collaboration has
      achieved improvements across patient satisfaction, clinical safety metrics, and
      publicly-reported preventive care outcomes. IMPLICATIONS: The description of this
      experience may be useful for other academic health centers or other non
      integrated delivery systems undertaking primary care practice transformation.

PMID- 27637828
TI  - Impact of provider mailings on medication adherence by Medicare Part D members.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Medicare 5-Star Rating System measures and provides incentive for
      improving Medicare Part D plans through a quality-based payment program.
      Adherence to medications for chronic conditions is key to the Star ratings. Our
      objective was to assess the impact of direct-to-provider letters on improving
      medication adherence. METHODS: Members of a large US pharmacy benefits manager
      (PBM) who did not adhere to prescription of oral diabetes (antidiabetics),
      cholesterol-reducing (statins), or hypertension (renin angiotensin system [RAS]
      antagonists) drug therapy were identified from the prescriptions claims data
      of>600,000 continuously enrolled Medicare members. Nonadherence was defined by
      the Star ratings definition of proportion of days covered (PDC)<80%. The PBM sent
      letters to prescribing physicians of nonadherent members, requesting that they
      discuss adherence barriers and potential solutions with their patients. A
      historical control cohort was constructed from the PBM satisfying the same
      eligibility criteria as the intervention cohort. Both binary (>=80%) and
      continuous PDC measures were assessed as outcomes through multivariate logistic
      regression and difference-in-difference models, respectively. RESULTS: Final
      sample sizes were 21,044; 106,829; and 73,560 patients for antidiabetic, statin,
      and RAS antagonist use, respectively, with approximately equal number of
      intervention and control subjects in each drug class. Physician mailing was
      associated with 11%, 16%, and 7% higher odds of being adherent by members in
      antidiabetic, statin, and RAS antagonist cohorts, respectively (all P<.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Within limitations of historical controls, physician mailing was
      associated with improved medication adherence. IMPLICATIONS: Physician mailing
      can be an impactful tool for improving medication adherence. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      II.

PMID- 27637829
TI  - State challenges to child health quality measure reporting and recommendations
      for improvement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was re-authorized in
      2009, ushering in an unprecedented focus on children's health care quality one of
      which includes identifying a core set of performance measures for voluntary
      reporting by states' Medicaid/CHIP programs. However, there is a wide variation
      in the quantity and quality of measures states chose to report to the Center's
      for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The objective of this study is to assess
      reporting barriers and to identify potential opportunities for improvement.
      METHODS: From 2013 to 2014 a questionnaire developed in coordination with CMS and
      the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was sent to state Medicaid
      and CHIP officials to assess barriers to child health quality reporting for
      Federal Fiscal Year 2012. States were categorized as high, medium, or low
      reporting for comparative analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-five of the 50 states and the
      District of Columbia agreed to participate in the study and completed the
      questionnaire. States placed a high priority on children's health care quality
      reporting (4.2 of 5 point Likert Scale, SD 0.99) and 96% plan to use measurement
      results to further improve their quality initiatives. However, low reporting
      states believed they had inadequate staffing and that data collection and
      extraction was too time-consuming than high reporting states. CONCLUSION: Based
      on state responses, possible solutions to improve reporting includes funding and
      staff support, refining the technical assistance provided, and creating venues
      for state-to-state interaction. Realistic and tangible improvements are within
      reach and opportunities for CMS and states to collaborate to improve child health
      care quality.

PMID- 27637830
TI  - Improving the diagnostic stage of the suspected colorectal cancer pathway: A
      quality improvement project.
AB  - We aimed to improve the lead-time and the patient experience of the diagnostic
      stage of the suspected colorectal cancer pathway. This project worked within the
      constraints of limited resources and an austere environment. The core team
      included a project manager trained in quality improvement methodologies. Senior
      and Fleming's planned change model was used as the overall framework. Baseline
      data supported the case for change and highlighted targets for improvement. A
      stakeholder workshop employed social movement theory, lean thinking, experience
      based design and patient stories to engage influential leaders and secure support
      and commitment. Solutions that arose from the workshop were then researched. A
      "Genchi Genbutsu" ethos took the team to Northumbria to learn about another
      unit's pathway innovations. Subsequently, our new pathway employed solutions
      aimed at increasing the proportion of patients who went straight-to-test.
      Consensus on the design was achieved using Schein's process consultation theory.
      Implementation of the new pathway resulted in a significant reduction in the
      median time from referral to endoscopy from 26 days to 14 days (P<0.001), and a
      significant increase in the proportion going straight-to-test from 6% to 43%.
      Changes to improve patient experience were also implemented, however data to
      evidence this has not yet been collected. Going forward, further standardisation
      is required and issues around sustainability need to be tackled. This project
      exemplified, amongst others, the value of working from data from the beginning
      and a comprehensive early stakeholder engagement. 

PMID- 27637831
TI  - Choosing Wisely(r): A case study of constructive engagement in health policy.
AB  - Choosing Wisely began at a time when a polarized national debate on healthcare
      reform stymied effective conversation on effective and efficient resource use.
      The ABIM Foundation sought to change attitudes and culture and promote the idea
      that removing waste is an integral component of providing high quality care by
      using an approach of constructive engagement to persuade specialty societies to
      identify five wasteful tests or treatments within their field. 

PMID- 27637834
TI  - Heterogeneity in general practitioners' preferences for quality improvement
      programs: a choice experiment and policy simulation in France.
AB  - Despite increasing popularity, quality improvement programs (QIP) have had modest
      and variable impacts on enhancing the quality of physician practice. We
      investigate the heterogeneity of physicians' preferences as a potential
      explanation of these mixed results in France, where the national voluntary QIP -
      the CAPI - has been cancelled due to its unpopularity. We rely on a discrete
      choice experiment to elicit heterogeneity in physicians' preferences for the
      financial and non-financial components of QIP. Using mixed and latent class logit
      models, results show that the two models should be used in concert to shed light
      on different aspects of the heterogeneity in preferences. In particular, the
      mixed logit demonstrates that heterogeneity in preferences is concentrated on the
      pay-for-performance component of the QIP, while the latent class model shows that
      physicians can be grouped in four homogeneous groups with specific preference
      patterns. Using policy simulation, we compare the French CAPI with other possible
      QIPs, and show that the majority of the physician subgroups modelled dislike the
      CAPI, while favouring a QIP using only non-financial interventions. We underline
      the importance of modelling preference heterogeneity in designing and
      implementing QIPs. 

PMID- 27637835
TI  - Reduced effects of pictorial distinctiveness on false memory following dynamic
      visual noise.
AB  - High levels of false recognition for non-presented items typically occur
      following exposure to lists of associated words. These false recognition effects
      can be reduced by making the studied items more distinctive by the presentation
      of pictures during encoding. One explanation of this is that during recognition,
      participants expect or attempt to retrieve distinctive pictorial information in
      order to evaluate the study status of the test item. If this involves the
      retrieval and use of visual imagery, then interfering with imagery processing
      should reduce the effectiveness of pictorial information in false memory
      reduction. In the current experiment, visual-imagery processing was disrupted at
      retrieval by the use of dynamic visual noise (DVN). It was found that effects of
      DVN dissociated true from false memory. Memory for studied words was not
      influenced by the presence of an interfering noise field. However, false memory
      was increased and the effects of picture-induced distinctiveness was eliminated.
      DVN also increased false recollection and remember responses to unstudied items.

PMID- 27637832
TI  - ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients.
AB  - Cancers are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and
      the number of new cases is expected to rise significantly over the next decades.
      At the same time, all types of cancer treatment, such as surgery, radiation
      therapy, and pharmacological therapies are improving in sophistication, precision
      and in the power to target specific characteristics of individual cancers. Thus,
      while many cancers may still not be cured they may be converted to chronic
      diseases. All of these treatments, however, are impeded or precluded by the
      frequent development of malnutrition and metabolic derangements in cancer
      patients, induced by the tumor or by its treatment. These evidence-based
      guidelines were developed to translate current best evidence and expert opinion
      into recommendations for multi-disciplinary teams responsible for identification,
      prevention, and treatment of reversible elements of malnutrition in adult cancer
      patients. The guidelines were commissioned and financially supported by ESPEN and
      by the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer (EPAAC), an EU level
      initiative. Members of the guideline group were selected by ESPEN to include a
      range of professions and fields of expertise. We searched for meta-analyses,
      systematic reviews and comparative studies based on clinical questions according
      to the PICO format. The evidence was evaluated and merged to develop clinical
      recommendations using the GRADE method. Due to the deficits in the available
      evidence, relevant still open questions were listed and should be addressed by
      future studies. Malnutrition and a loss of muscle mass are frequent in cancer
      patients and have a negative effect on clinical outcome. They may be driven by
      inadequate food intake, decreased physical activity and catabolic metabolic
      derangements. To screen for, prevent, assess in detail, monitor and treat
      malnutrition standard operating procedures, responsibilities and a quality
      control process should be established at each institution involved in treating
      cancer patients. All cancer patients should be screened regularly for the risk or
      the presence of malnutrition. In all patients - with the exception of end of life
      care - energy and substrate requirements should be met by offering in a step-wise
      manner nutritional interventions from counseling to parenteral nutrition.
      However, benefits and risks of nutritional interventions have to be balanced with
      special consideration in patients with advanced disease. Nutritional care should
      always be accompanied by exercise training. To counter malnutrition in patients
      with advanced cancer there are few pharmacological agents and pharmaconutrients
      with only limited effects. Cancer survivors should engage in regular physical
      activity and adopt a prudent diet.

PMID- 27637833
TI  - NutritionDay ICU: A 7 year worldwide prevalence study of nutrition practice in
      intensive care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To determine the nutrition practice in intensive care units and the
      associated outcome across the world, a yearly 1 day cross sectional audit was
      performed from 2007 to 2013. The data of this initiative called "nutritionDay
      ICU" were analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire translated in 17
      languages was used to determine the unit's characteristics, patient's condition,
      nutrition condition and therapy as well as outcome. All the patients present in
      the morning of the 1 day prevalence study were included from 2007 to 2013.
      RESULTS: 9777 patients from 46 countries and 880 units were included. Their SAPS
      2 was median 38 (IQR 27-51), predicted mortality was 30.7% +/- 26.9, and their
      SOFA score 4.5 +/- 3.4 with median 4 (IQR 2-7). Administration of calories did
      not appear to be related to actual or ideal body weight within all BMI groups.
      Patients with a BMI <18.5 or >40 received slightly less calories than all other
      BMI groups. Two third of the patients were either ventilated or were in the ICU
      for longer than 24 h at nutritionDay. Routes of feeding used were the oral,
      enteral and parenteral routes. More than 40% of the patients were not fed during
      the first day. The mean energy administered using enteral route was 1286 +/- 663
      kcal/day and using parenteral nutrition 1440 +/- 652 kcal/day. 60 days mortality
      was 26.0%. DISCUSSION: This very large collaborative cohort study shows that most
      of the patients are underfed during according to actual recommendations their ICU
      stay. Prescribed calories appear to be ordered regardless to the ideal weight of
      the patient. Nutritional support is slow to start and never reaches the
      recommended targets. Parenteral nutrition prescription is increasing during the
      ICU stay but reaching only 20% of the population studied if ICU stay is one week
      or longer. The nutritional support worldwide does not seem to be guided by weight
      or disease but more to be standardized and limited to a certain level of
      calories. These observations are showing the poor observance to guidelines.

PMID- 27637852
TI  - Multidrug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis.
AB  - The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) compromises global tuberculosis
      control. The incidence of multidrug-resistant strains (MDR) defined as resistant
      to the two main antituberculosis drugs, rifampicin and isoniazid, was raised in
      the 1990s. Ten percent of these strains have developed additional resistance to
      the main second-line antituberculosis drugs: fluoroquinolones and
      aminoglycosides. These strains are defined as extensively drug-resistant (XDR).
      The prognosis of MDR-TB and XDR-TB is poor due to limited therapeutic resources.
      However, many new innovations may lead to a radical change in this field.
      Genotypic testing is now able to detect drug resistance within a few hours.
      Genotypic diagnosis of rifampicin resistance is now recommended in France for
      each new case of TB. The currently recommended treatment for MDR-TB is long (18
      24 months) and toxic. It is, however, on the verge of being replaced by a 9-month
      treatment. New antituberculosis drugs such as bedaquiline and delamanid should
      also improve the prognosis of MDR-TB and XDR-TB.

PMID- 27637853
TI  - Erratum to: Telerobotic anterior translocation of the ulnar nerve.

PMID- 27637855
TI  - EKA survey: diagnosis of prosthetic knee joint infection.
AB  - PURPOSE: Due to the juvenility of research in the field of periprosthetic joint
      infection (PJI), approaches employed for diagnosis of PJI vary amongst surgeons
      in different geographic regions. The aim of this study was to determine common
      diagnostic approaches utilized by European knee arthroplasty surgeons for the
      diagnosis of PJI. METHODS: A task force was established for questionnaire
      development, consisting of surgeons and clinical researchers who each had a
      record of publishing in the field of PJI. A pool of items was initially generated
      from a Medline literature search. These were organized into a file and
      independently sent to each task force member for evaluation and additional
      supplementation. After reaching a consensus, a final online version was generated
      and administered to all 4865 members of the "European Society of Sports
      Traumatology Knee Surgery & Arthroscopy". RESULTS: There were 262 respondents
      between August 2015 and March 2016. Most European surgeons (41.1 %) diagnose
      between 2 and 5 PJIs yearly, and only 5.8 % diagnose >30 PJIs per year. Serum
      tests to rule out infection were commonly CRP (97.7 %), leucocyte count (73.6 %)
      and microbiology cultures (45.3 %), while serum interleukins were least common
      (<5 %). Synovial fluid exams most commonly included microbiology (97.7 %),
      leucocyte count (74.8 %), percentage polymorphonuclear cells (65.8 %), synovial
      fluid CRP (26.4 %) and alpha-defensin (19.4 %). Conventional radiographs
      represent the most common radiographic exam (87.6 %) followed by SPECT-CT scans
      (41.7 %). The majority (93.6 %) take biopsies at the time of surgery, 62.0 % take
      1-5 biopsies, and 34.9 % take >5. Most biopsies (98.8 %) are sent for culture
      exams and 72.5 % for histology, and 36.4 % of surgeons send the implants for
      sonication. CONCLUSION: Microbiology and cell count remain the most commonly
      applied synovial fluid tests in Europe, while alpha-defensin and leucocyte
      esterase are currently less common. Serum interleukins have not gained widespread
      use. Implant sonication, despite evidence of diagnostic effectiveness, was only
      applied by one-third of survey respondents, highlighting the problematic issues
      of cost and accessibility of some tools. The results highlight the current state
      of European diagnostic practice, emphasizing the areas of divergence from state
      of evidence and demonstrating the need for development of standard diagnostic
      algorithms. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Cross-sectional survey, Level IV.

PMID- 27637854
TI  - Biomechanical comparison of graft structures in anterior cruciate ligament
      reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: Double-bundle (DB) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction may
      offer kinematic restoration superior to anatomic single bundle (SB), but it
      remains technically challenging. The femoral attachment site has the most effect
      on ACL graft isometry, so a simplified three-socket (3S) construct which still
      uses two sockets to cover the femoral ACL attachment is attractive. It was
      hypothesised that ACL reconstruction using three- and four-socket techniques
      would more closely restore native knee kinematics compared to anatomic two-socket
      (SB) surgery. METHODS: Nine cadaveric knees were used to evaluate the kinematics
      of ACL-intact, ACL-deficient, anatomic SB, three-socket, and DB arthroscopic ACL
      reconstructions. Suspensory fixation was used, and grafts were tensioned to match
      the anterior draw of the intact knee at 20 degrees . A six-degree-of-freedom
      robotic system measured knee laxity under 90 N anterior tibial force and
      rotational laxity under 5 N-m torque. Combined moments were applied to simulate
      the pivot-shift subluxation: 4 N-m internal rotation and 8 N-m valgus. RESULTS:
      Significant differences between reconstructions were not found during anterior
      tibial loading, apart from SB being more lax than DB at 60 degrees  flexion. All
      reconstructions produced comparable laxity to the intact state, apart from SB at
      60 degrees . Significant differences between reconstructions were not found at
      any flexion angle during tibial internal/external applied torques. Under combined
      loading, DB produced significantly less laxity than SB constructs apart from
      anterior tibial translation at 0 degrees  and internal rotation at 45 degrees .
      3S and DB were comparable to the native knee throughout. CONCLUSION: Although 3S
      restored laxities to a similar extent to DB, significant superiority over SB
      surgery was not observed. Although statistically significant differences were
      found between SB and DB surgery during anterior tibial and simulated pivot-shift
      loading, both remained similar to the native knee. The clinical relevance is that
      this study did not support an ACL graft construct more complex than an anatomic
      single bundle.

PMID- 27637856
TI  - Counterpoint: Why Things Are Going Right With the ABR Examinations.

PMID- 27637857
TI  - Pulmonary hypertension in adults with congenital heart disease: First data from
      Latvian PAH registry.

PMID- 27637858
TI  - Ten years results of the Canadian breast intensity modulated radiation therapy
      (IMRT) randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We report the long-term outcomes in patients enrolled in
      a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing Intensity Modulated Radiation
      Therapy (IMRT) with standard wedge radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Trial
      participants were assessed to compare long-term side effects between treatment
      arms. The primary endpoint was chronic breast pain assessed by trained observers
      blinded to treatment allocation. Secondary endpoints included cosmesis and
      quality of life measures. RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 9.8years and 241
      patients were available for assessment. There was no significant difference in
      chronic pain between treatment arms (OR=0.74, range 0.432-1.271). There were also
      no differences for the secondary endpoints. Univariate and multivariate analyses
      identified young age (p=0.013) and pain during RT (p<0.001) to be associated with
      chronic pain. Acute moist desquamation was associated with late subcutaneous
      fibrosis (p=0.003) and telangiectasia (p=0.039). Pain during RT was associated
      with a long-term poorer self-assessed cosmetic outcome (p<0.001) and quality of
      life (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Breast IMRT cannot be recommended for all patients
      to reduce long-term side effects. However, late toxicities were significantly
      correlated with acute side effects, which are increased in patients having poor
      dose distribution. Breast IMRT may hence be useful for selected patients.

PMID- 27637859
TI  - Clustered double-strand breaks in heterochromatin perturb DNA repair after high
      linear energy transfer irradiation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: High linear energy transfer (LET) radiotherapy offers
      superior dose conformity and biological effectiveness compared with low-LET
      radiotherapy, representing a promising alternative for radioresistant tumours. A
      prevailing hypothesis is that energy deposition along the high-LET particle
      trajectories induces DNA lesions that are more complex and clustered and
      therefore more challenging to repair. The precise molecular mechanisms underlying
      the differences in radiobiological effects between high-LET and low-LET
      radiotherapies remain unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Human fibroblasts were
      irradiated with high-LET carbon ions or low-LET photons. At 0.5h and 5h post
      exposure, the DNA-damage pattern in the chromatin ultrastructure was visualised
      using gold-labelled DNA-repair factors. The induction and repair of single-strand
      breaks, double-strand breaks (DSBs), and clustered lesions were analysed in
      combination with terminal dUTP nick-end labelling of DNA breaks. RESULTS: High
      LET irradiation induced clustered lesions with multiple DSBs along ion
      trajectories predominantly in heterochromatic regions. The cluster size increased
      over time, suggesting inefficient DSB repair. Low-LET irradiation induced many
      isolated DSBs throughout the nucleus, most of which were efficiently rejoined.
      CONCLUSIONS: The clustering of DSBs in heterochromatin following high-LET
      irradiation perturbs efficient DNA repair, leading to greater biological
      effectiveness of high-LET irradiation versus that of low-LET irradiation.

PMID- 27637860
TI  - Relationship Between the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Repeatable Battery
      for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status in Patients Referred for a
      Dementia Evaluation.
AB  - The current study examined the relationship between the Repeatable Battery for
      the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and the Mini-Mental State
      Examination (MMSE) in a large, heterogeneous sample of patients referred for
      dementia assessment (N = 495; 37% males, 63% females; M age = 76.8 years, SD =
      7.0). The MMSE showed a significant moderate correlation with the RBANS Total
      Scale score (r = .65). Moderate significant correlations were found between the
      MMSE and the RBANS indexes (r = .41 to .49). The MMSE demonstrated moderate
      correlations with RBANS factor scores of .63 for Factor 1 (memory/learning) and
      .58 for Factor 2 (visuospatial/attention). These correlations suggest that the
      MMSE is best considered a measure of global cognitive functioning with the
      strongest correlations between broader measures.

PMID- 27637861
TI  - High-field MR spectroscopy in the multiparametric MRI evaluation of breast
      lesions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this work was to assess the role of 3T-MR spectroscopy
      (MRS) in the multi-parametric MRI evaluation of breast lesions, using a pattern
      recognition based classification method. METHODS: 291 patients (301 lesions,
      median 2.3cm3) were enrolled in the study (age 18-85y, mean 54.2y). T1-TSE
      (TR/TE=400/10ms) and T2-STIR imaging (TR/TE=5000/60ms), dynamic-contrast-enhanced
      MRI (DCE-MRI), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) (b=0-800s/mm2), and single
      voxel MRS (10*10*10mm3, PRESS, TR/TE=3000ms/135ms) were performed by means of a
      3T scanner. MRS results were accepted if the FWHM of the water peak was ?45Hz.
      Total choline (tCho) was considered detected if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
      of the 3.2ppmpeak was ?2. A classifier-based analysis (support-vector-machines,
      SVM) was performed with 4-dimensional vectors including type of margin, DCE-MRI
      kinetic curve type, ADC mean value, and tCho SNR. A comparison with 3-dimensional
      vectors (without tCho SNR) was used to assess MRS impact on sensitivity,
      specificity, and positive-negative predictive values (PPV-NPV) for malignancy.
      RESULTS: 228 lesions (180 malignant/48 benign) showed acceptable spectral
      quality. Comparison of classification results with histopathological examination
      of surgical specimens showed sensitivity=93.7%, specificity=84.9%, PPV=95.2%,
      NPV=81.5% without the inclusion of MRS in the SVM analysis. When MRS was
      included, the figures increased to 95.1%, 90.7%, 97.2%, and 85.0%, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Inclusion of 3T-MRS in the multi-parametric MRI evaluation of breast
      lesions improved the performance of the SVM-based classifier, showing a possible
      role of high-field MR spectroscopy in the differential diagnosis between benign
      and malignant breast lesions. Further research is however needed to confirm this
      initial evidence.

PMID- 27637862
TI  - Gamma-band activity reflects attentional guidance by facial expression.
AB  - Facial expressions attract attention due to their motivational significance.
      Previous work focused on attentional biases towards threat-related, fearful
      faces, although healthy participants tend to avoid mild threat. Growing evidence
      suggests that neuronal gamma (>30Hz) and alpha-band activity (8-12Hz) play an
      important role in attentional selection, but it is unknown if such oscillatory
      activity is involved in the guidance of attention through facial expressions.
      Thus, in this magnetoencephalography (MEG) study we investigated whether
      attention is shifted towards or away from fearful faces and characterized the
      underlying neuronal activity in these frequency ranges in forty-four healthy
      volunteers. We employed a covert spatial attention task using neutral and fearful
      faces as task-irrelevant distractors and emotionally neutral Gabor patches as
      targets. Participants had to indicate the tilt direction of the target. Analysis
      of the neuronal data was restricted to the responses to target Gabor patches. We
      performed statistical analysis at the sensor level and used subsequent source
      reconstruction to localize the observed effects. Spatially selective attention
      effects in the alpha and gamma band were revealed in parieto-occipital regions.
      We observed an attentional cost of processing the face distractors, as reflected
      in lower task performance on targets with short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA
      <150ms) between faces and targets. On the neuronal level, attentional orienting
      to face distractors led to enhanced gamma band activity in bilateral occipital
      and parietal regions, when fearful faces were presented in the same hemifield as
      targets, but only in short SOA trials. Our findings provide evidence that both
      top-down and bottom-up attentional biases are reflected in parieto-occipital
      gamma-band activity.

PMID- 27637863
TI  - Distinctive time-lagged resting-state networks revealed by simultaneous EEG-fMRI.
AB  - Functional activation as evidenced by blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD)
      functional MRI changes or event-related EEG is known to closely follow patterns
      of stimulation or self-paced action. Any lags are compatible with axonal
      conduction velocities and neural integration times. The important analysis of
      resting state networks is generally based on the assumption that these principles
      also hold for spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity. Previous observations
      using simultaneous EEG and fMRI indicate that slower processes, with delays in
      the seconds range, determine at least part of the relationship between
      spontaneous EEG and fMRI. To assess this relationship systematically, we used
      deconvolution analysis of EEG-fMRI during the resting state, assessing the
      relationship between EEG frequency bands and fMRI BOLD across the whole brain
      while allowing for time lags of up to 10.5s. Cluster analysis, identifying
      similar BOLD time courses in relation to EEG band power peaks, showed a clear
      segregation of functional subsystems of the brain. Our analysis shows that fMRI
      BOLD increases commonly precede EEG power increases by seconds. Most zero-lag
      correlations, on the other hand, were negative. This indicates two main distinct
      neuromodulatory mechanisms: an "idling" mechanism of simultaneous electric and
      metabolic network anticorrelation and a "regulatory" mechanism in which metabolic
      network activity precedes increased EEG power by some seconds. This has to be
      taken into consideration in further studies which address the causal and
      functional relationship of metabolic and electric brain activity patterns.

PMID- 27637865
TI  - Naming natural products: Uses, abuses and a proposal for discussion.

PMID- 27637864
TI  - Disease severity and erythropoiesis in chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The erythropoiesis in hepatitis C virus infection is unclear. We
      aimed to evaluate the erythropoietic components in chronic hepatitis C (CHC)
      patients. METHODS: The red blood cell (RBC) components, serum erythropoietin
      (EPO) levels, and their relationship to clinical characteristics were evaluated
      between 124 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls and 248 histology-proven
      CHC patients. RESULTS: Chronic hepatitis C patients had significantly higher
      serum levels of EPO (1.44 +/- 0.36 log mIU/mL versus 1.03 +/- 0.31 log mIU/mL, P
      < 0.0001) and lower hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations (14.6 +/- 1.4 g/dL versus 15.3
      +/- 1.2 g/dL, P < 0.001) as compared with healthy controls. Among the CHC
      patients, the serum EPO level was negatively associated with the Hb concentration
      (beta = -0.227; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: -0.09-0.027; P < 0.001) and RBC
      counts (beta = -0.204; 95% CI: -0.245-0.061; P = 0.001) and was positively
      correlated with necroinflammatory activity (beta = 0.201; 95% CI: 0.009-0.046; P
      = 0.003) and fibrosis (beta = 0.143; 95% CI: 0.003-0.076; P = 0.04) of liver
      histopathology. For non-cirrhotic CHC patients, the severity of liver
      necroinflammatory activity was positively correlated with the reticulocyte and
      serum EPO levels (P = 0.001 and 0.008, respectively), and negatively related to
      the RBC counts (P = 0.03). Using stepwise multivariate linear regression
      analysis, the grade of necroinflammatory activity was positive (beta = 0.214; 95%
      CI: 0.046-0.209, P = 0.002), whereas the Hb concentration was inversely (beta = 
      0.205; 95% CI: -0.09-0.018, P = 0.004) associated with the serum EPO levels in
      CHC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The disease activity in CHC patients had a negative
      impact on erythropoiesis with compensatory higher but blunted EPO responses.

PMID- 27637866
TI  - Making adjustments to event annotations for improved biological event extraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current state-of-the-art approaches to biological event extraction
      train statistical models in a supervised manner on corpora annotated with event
      triggers and event-argument relations. Inspecting such corpora, we observe that
      there is ambiguity in the span of event triggers (e.g., "transcriptional
      activity" vs. 'transcriptional'), leading to inconsistencies across event trigger
      annotations. Such inconsistencies make it quite likely that similar phrases are
      annotated with different spans of event triggers, suggesting the possibility that
      a statistical learning algorithm misses an opportunity for generalizing from such
      event triggers. METHODS: We anticipate that adjustments to the span of event
      triggers to reduce these inconsistencies would meaningfully improve the present
      performance of event extraction systems. In this study, we look into this
      possibility with the corpora provided by the 2009 BioNLP shared task as a proof
      of concept. We propose an Informed Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, which
      trains models using the EM algorithm with a posterior regularization technique,
      which consults the gold-standard event trigger annotations in a form of
      constraints. We further propose four constraints on the possible event trigger
      annotations to be explored by the EM algorithm. RESULTS: The algorithm is shown
      to outperform the state-of-the-art algorithm on the development corpus in a
      statistically significant manner and on the test corpus by a narrow margin.
      CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of the annotations generated by the algorithm shows
      that there are various types of ambiguity in event annotations, even though they
      could be small in number.

PMID- 27637867
TI  - Comparison of two series of non-invasive instruments used for the skin
      physiological properties measurements: the DermaLab(r) from Cortex Technology vs.
      the series of detectors from Courage & Khazaka.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The detectors from Courage & Khazaka and DermaLab(r) from
      Cortex Technology were two series of the most commonly used non-invasive
      instruments for the skin physiological properties measurements. The aim of this
      study is to reveal the differences and correlations in measuring skin color,
      hydration, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), sebum and elasticity on the forearm
      or faces between two commercially available series of instruments. METHODS: 30
      subjects were enrolled to be measured by the two series of instruments. The
      measurements by each series were performed on the left/right side of the body
      randomly. The hydration, sebum, elasticity and TEWL measurements were performed
      on different sites. RESULTS: Positive correlations were found in the values of
      skin color, hydration, TEWL, sebum and visco-elasticity detected by the two
      series. The values related to skin firmness measured by the two instruments were
      statistically negative correlated. Contrary to the results in measuring the skin
      color, the detectors from Courage & Khazaka presented lower values of variation
      in measuring skin hydration and TEWL than those from DermaLab(r) . CONCLUSION:
      The two series have significant correlations.The differences of the two series
      can be due either to differences in the design of the probe or left/right part of
      the body.

PMID- 27637869
TI  - Canada's ban on private healthcare faces legal challenge.

PMID- 27637868
TI  - Homeopathic mistletoe adverse reaction mimics nodal involvement in 18F-FDG PET/CT
      performed for evaluation of response to chemotherapy in lymphoma.
AB  - Some patients use complementary medicine. We present a patient with Hodgkin's
      lymphoma, scanned with 18F-FDG PET/CT for evaluation of response after
      chemotherapy, who was self-administering mistletoe as a homeopathic medicine
      product. The careful review of the images of the entire scan and patient
      collaboration in anamnesis were crucial to avoid a false positive result. A
      review of the published scientific data on the effects of mistletoe is also
      presented.

PMID- 27637870
TI  - [Quetiapine and anticholinergic drugs induced ischaemic colitis: A case study].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this paper is to underline the need for systematic
      monitoring of patients treated with anticholinergic antipsychotic drugs. We
      present the clinical history of a 34-year-old adult, treated with quetiapine in
      combination with other drugs with anticholinergic effects. CASE REPORT: A 34-year
      old male adult had been suffering from bipolar disorder since 2001. He was
      treated with risperidone, but he was not compliant due to adverse effects,
      including decreased libido and erectile dysfunction. On June 5th 2012, it was
      decided to administrate 600mg per day of quetiapine in combination with
      tropatepine consequent to an episode of agitation and aggressiveness. On June
      14th 2012, while the patient was receiving diazepam and valproic acid, loxapine
      oral solution was introduced. On June 23th, the patient started mentioning
      digestive disorders, such as diffuse abdominal pain with constipation but
      continued to pass gaz. On June 25th, at 6:30 am, he declared abdominal pain,
      which worsened at 8:15 am despite administration of analgesics, followed by
      malaise and onset of vomiting. His laboratory tests showed leukocytosis 11.2G/L
      with neutrophils 7.7G/L. The abdomen's radiograph without preparation showed
      small bowel and colonic air-fluid levels. The result of the CT scan confirmed an
      occlusive syndrome affecting the whole small gut and colon. At 1 pm, the
      patient's condition worsened. He received an intramuscular injection of 100mg of
      loxapine and an opioid treatment, including tramadol and morphine. At 2:30 pm,
      the clinical condition further deteriorated with an onset of generalized
      abdominal contracture, the absence of abdominal breathing, sweating, tachycardia
      at 104 beats per minute, and hypothermia of 34.5 degrees C. He was transferred to
      an intensive care unit. Laboratory tests showed metabolic acidosis, elevated
      liver enzymes and acute renal failure. He received volume expansion and was
      treated by renal replacement therapy and antibiotics. He was intubated and
      transferred to the operating room. At laparotomy, both colonic necrosis with
      perforation and necrosis of the small bowel were seen. The patient underwent
      total colectomy with small bowel resection, distal ileostomy and closure of the
      rectal stump. The onset of septic and hemorrhagic state required further surgery
      on June 26th. The evolution was characterized by multi-organ failure with acute
      anuric renal failure, multiple cardiac arrests, and systemic bacterial and fungal
      infection. On July 24th, this unfavorable outcome lead to death. In summary, the
      patient had an occlusive syndrome due to neuroleptics and complications,
      including mesenteric ischemia with necrotizing colitis. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION:
      Quetiapine, like all antipsychotics, has anticholinergic effects, including
      cardiac, psychiatric and digestive disorders. The combination of anticholinergic
      drugs decreases intestinal peristalsis. Without any prompt management, this
      decrease can result in a colonic ischemia or necrosis. In patients treated with
      neuroleptics, the onset of constipation must alert medical staff. Systematic
      monitoring of bowel movements should be performed in any patient receiving
      anticholinergic drugs.

PMID- 27637872
TI  - [Suicidal behavior prevention for children under age 13: A systematic review].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to review international literature on suicidal
      behavior prevention for children under age 13. METHODS: We gathered all relevant
      articles on suicide prevention for children under 13. We researched all
      publications in the French and English languages in PubMed (MEDLINE), PsychINFO
      and SUDOC databases published until February 2014, with the keywords "child",
      "child preschool", "prevention and control", "suicide", and "suicide attempted".
      Publications were included if they described suicidal behavior prevention
      programs (suicide prevention programs, attempted-suicide prevention programs,
      suicidal ideation screening programs), and if the studies concerned children
      under age 13. We also included references cited in the articles if they were not
      already present in our searches but met inclusion criteria. Studies were excluded
      if they analyzed populations of children and adolescents without sub-analysis for
      children under age 13. RESULTS: A total of 350 potentially relevant articles were
      identified, 33 of which met the inclusion criteria, including 4 retrieved from
      articles' bibliography. Preventive measures against suicidal behavior for
      children under 13 exist and include: social programs, maltreatment prevention,
      curriculum-based suicide prevention programs, suicide screening in schools,
      gatekeepers, reduction of access of lethal means of suicide, suicide screening by
      primary care, and post-suicide intervention programs. Overall, the evidence was
      limited by methodological concerns, particularly a lack of RCTs. However,
      positive effects were found: school-based suicide prevention programs and
      gatekeepers increased knowledge about suicide and how to seek help, post-suicide
      programs helped to reduce psychological distress in the short term. One study
      showed a decreased risk of attempted-suicide after entry into the child welfare
      system. CONCLUSION: There are promising interventions but there is not enough
      scientific evidence to support any efficient preventive measure against suicidal
      behavior for children under 13, whether primary, secondary, tertiary or post
      intervention. More research is needed.

PMID- 27637871
TI  - [Which psychiatric comorbidities in cannabis dependence during adolescence?
      Comparison of outpatients and controls].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of illicit substances, in particular cannabis, among French
      adolescents and young adults has become an important public health concern. A
      better understanding of the mechanisms involved in pathological substance use is
      nowadays critical. Psychiatric comorbidities have been previously reported in
      adult substance abusers but are less documented in adolescents, especially
      regarding cannabis dependence. OBJECTIVES: We investigated mental health problems
      in adolescents and young adults, seeking treatment for their problematic cannabis
      use, comparatively to healthy controls, taking into account the participant's
      gender and age. Moreover, we explored the relationships between psychiatric
      diagnosis and substance use modalities. METHODS: In total, 100 young patients (80
      males - mean age 18.2 (SD=2.9; [14 to 25] years old)) with a cannabis dependence
      (DSM-IV-TR criteria) seeking treatment in an addiction unit, and 82 healthy
      control subjects (50 males - mean age 18.3 (SD=3.4; [14 to 25] years old)) with
      no substance misuse diagnostic other than for alcohol, participated in the study.
      The MINI was administered to evaluate cannabis dependence, and DSM-IV axis I
      comorbid diagnosis, and a semi-structured interview was used to determine
      psychoactive substance use. RESULTS: Statistical analyses revealed that 79 % of
      the patients reported at least one other non-drug or alcohol comorbid diagnosis,
      versus 30.5 % in the control group (chi2=16.83; P<0.001). Logistic regression
      indicated that participants with a psychiatric diagnosis had an 8.6 times higher
      risk (P<0.001; OR 95 % CI=[4.38-16.81]) of being patients. Significant inter
      group differences and OR were noted for several diagnoses: dysthymia over the
      previous 2years (chi2=14.06; P<0.001; OR=10.63; OR 95 % CI=[2.41-46.87]), life
      time panic attack disorder (chi2=4.15; P<0.042; OR=3.59; OR 95 % CI=[0.98
      13.19]), alcohol abuse (chi2=47.72; P<0.001; OR=66.27; OR 95 % CI=[8.87-495.11])
      and dependence (V=0.230; P=0.001) and generalized anxiety disorder (chi2=7.46;
      P=0.006-OR=3.57; OR 95 % CI=[1.37-9.30]). On the whole, the females (n=20) of our
      clinical sample presented significantly more comorbid diagnoses than the males
      (n=80) (95 % versus 75 %; chi2=6.25, P=0.011). These significant gender
      differences were found for life-time eating disorder (V=0.352; P=0.007) and
      generalized anxiety disorder diagnoses (V=0.278; P=0.013). Moreover, young adult
      patients (19-25years old; n=35) presented, on the whole, significantly more
      comorbid diagnoses than adolescent patients (14-18years old; n=65) (70.8 % versus
      94.3 %; chi2=7.58, P=0.006). These age inter-group differences were found for
      several diagnoses: alcohol dependence (6.2 % versus 20 %; V=0.211, P=0.047),
      dysthymia over the past 2years (13.8 % versus 34.3 %; chi2=5.73, P=0.017) and
      generalized anxiety disorder (12.3 % versus 40 %; chi2=10.17, P=0.001). Various
      associations were observed between psychiatric comorbid diagnosis and substance
      use indicators. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that cannabis dependence in
      adolescents and young adults is related to great psychological distress and puts
      emphasis on the importance of substance use prevention as early as middle school.
      Moreover, the psychiatric features of adolescents and young adults need to be
      taken into consideration for treatment planning.

PMID- 27637873
TI  - ["Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in forensic psychiatry: A review"].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most
      common and challenging childhood neurobehavioral disorders. ADHD may have
      behavioral consequences and involvements in minor and serious crimes. Our work
      aims to establish links between ADHD and forensic psychiatry. METHODS: A review
      of international scientific literature concerning the relationship between ADHD
      and forensic psychiatry was conducted using the PudMed electronic database. We
      used the Mesh terms: "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder" and "forensic
      psychiatry". We also used the "related articles" function of PubMed, the
      bibliography of selected articles and the Google Scholar database to identify
      possible additional papers. RESULTS: The prevalence of ADHD in prison populations
      may vary but remain higher than those found in the general population. Violence
      committed by a person with ADHD seems to be against other persons rather than
      property offences. Reactive-impulsive violence seems to be more prevalent than
      pro-active instrumental violence. The existence of ADHD does not appear as a risk
      factor of recidivism. The violence risk may be increased by the occurrence of
      comorbidities as conduct disorders and mental deficiency. There may exist a
      preferential association between ADHD and antisocial personality disorder or
      substance abuse which both increase the risk of violence. DISCUSSION: To put in
      perspective forensic psychiatry and ADHD allowed us to identify typology of
      violence, epidemiological aspect of ADHD in a prison environment and
      comorbidities involved in the risk of violence. This research permits to precise
      elements of prevention, diagnosis and assistance in the management of violent
      behaviour in ADHD and in expert practice.

PMID- 27637874
TI  - [Validation in Arabic of the Revised Autistic Behavior Summarized Evaluation
      Scale (BSE-R)].
AB  - : The Behavioral Summarized Evaluation is a rating scale specifically related to
      the assessment of autistic behaviors in children and young teenagers with Autism
      Spectrum Disorder, such as communication, social interaction and interests. It
      also facilitates progressive recording of the evolution of children with ASD
      involved in short-term therapeutical studies. In the absence of standardized
      tools to assess autistic behaviors and effects of therapeutics in Lebanon, the
      BSE-R validation is an urgent need. The purpose of this study is to validate the
      BSE-R to the Lebanese population. METHOD: Specialized translators and clinicians
      ensured forward and backward translation of the scale into Arabic. The
      participants consisted of 100 children with ASD, diagnosed upon DSMIV-TR
      criterion (age range: 35 to 153 months, DS: 28.0). Fifty-eight had intellectual
      disability (ID). Scores of autism severity as measured by CARS1 (Schopler et al.,
      1980) varied from 20-58.5. Trained raters on recorded individual and group
      situations performed BSE-R ratings. RESULTS: BSE-R for Lebanese was found to have
      excellent inter-rater reliability. The internal validity highlighted a main
      factor which describes the severity of core autistic behaviors related to social
      interactions and communication, and behavioral specificities and particular
      interests with an internal consistency of 0.91 in a one-to-one setting and 0.92
      in group settings. External validity of the scale as measured by correlations
      with CARS and the age of the children showed that this main factor is essentially
      determined by ASD severity, not by the severity of ID. It was named "relational
      deficiency" according to the initial paper of Barthelemy et al. (1997).
      CONCLUSION: BSE-R in Arabic is a practical tool, useful to all team members
      working with ASD children in Lebanon and the Arab countries. It will also allow
      future research based on reliable tools at an international level.

PMID- 27637875
TI  - GlnR and PhoP Directly Regulate the Transcription of Genes Encoding Starch
      Degrading, Amylolytic Enzymes in Saccharopolyspora erythraea.
AB  - Starch-degrading enzymes hydrolyze starch- and starch-derived oligosaccharides to
      yield glucose. We investigated the transcriptional regulation of genes encoding
      starch-degrading enzymes in the industrial actinobacterium Saccharopolyspora
      erythraea We observed that most genes encoding amylolytic enzymes (one alpha
      amylase, one glucoamylase, and four alpha-glucosidases) were regulated by GlnR
      and PhoP, which are global regulators of nitrogen and phosphate metabolism,
      respectively. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and reverse transcription-PCR
      (RT-PCR) analyses demonstrated that GlnR and PhoP directly interact with their
      promoter regions and collaboratively or competitively activate their
      transcription. Deletion of glnR caused poor growth on starch, maltodextrin, and
      maltose, whereas overexpression of glnR and phoP increased the total activity of
      alpha-glucosidase, resulting in enhanced carbohydrate utilization. Additionally,
      transcript levels of amylolytic genes and total glucosidase activity were induced
      in response to nitrogen and phosphate limitation. Furthermore, regulatory effects
      of GlnR and PhoP on starch-degrading enzymes were conserved in Streptomyces
      coelicolor A3(2). These results demonstrate that GlnR and PhoP are involved in
      polysaccharide degradation by mediating the interplay among carbon, nitrogen, and
      phosphate metabolism in response to cellular nutritional states. Our study
      reveals a novel regulatory mechanism underlying carbohydrate metabolism, and
      suggests new possibilities for designing genetic engineering approaches to
      improve the rate of utilization of starch in actinobacteria.IMPORTANCE The
      development of efficient strategies for utilization of biomass-derived sugars,
      such as starch and cellulose, remains a major technical challenge due to the weak
      activity of associated enzymes. Here, we found that GlnR and PhoP directly
      regulate the transcription of genes encoding amylolytic enzymes and present
      insights into the regulatory mechanisms of degradation and utilization of starch
      in actinobacteria. Two nutrient-sensing regulators may play important roles in
      creating a direct association between nitrogen/phosphate metabolisms and
      carbohydrate utilization, as well as modulate the C:N:P balance in response to
      cellular nutritional states. These findings highlight the interesting
      possibilities for designing genetic engineering approaches and optimizing the
      fermentation process to improve the utilization efficiency of sugars in
      actinobacteria via overexpression of the glnR and phoP genes and nutrient signal
      stimulation.

PMID- 27637877
TI  - Peeking under the Iron Curtain: Development of a Microcosm for Imaging the
      Colonization of Steel Surfaces by Mariprofundus sp. Strain DIS-1, an Oxygen
      Tolerant Fe-Oxidizing Bacterium.
AB  - : Microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) is a major cause of damage to steel
      infrastructure in the marine environment. Despite their ability to grow directly
      on Fe(II) released from steel, comparatively little is known about the role
      played by neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB). Recent work has shown that
      FeOB grow readily on mild steel (1018 MS) incubated in situ or as a substrate for
      pure cultures in vitro; however, details of how they colonize steel surfaces are
      unknown yet are important for understanding their effects. In this study, we
      combine a novel continuously upwelling microcosm with confocal laser scanning
      microscopy (CLSM) to determine the degree of colonization of 1018 MS by the
      marine FeOB strain DIS-1. 1018 MS coupons were incubated with sterile seawater
      (pH 8) inoculated with strain DIS-1. Incubations were performed both under oxic
      conditions and in an anoxic-to-oxic gradient. Following incubations of 1 to 10
      days, the slides were removed from the microcosms and stained to visualize both
      cells and stalk structures. Stained coupons were visualized by CLSM after being
      mounted in a custom frame to preserve the three-dimensional structure of the
      biofilm. The incubation of 1018 MS coupons with strain DIS-1 under oxic
      conditions resulted in initial attachment of cells within 2 days and nearly total
      coverage of the coupon with an ochre film within 5 days. CLSM imaging revealed a
      nonadherent biofilm composed primarily of the Fe-oxide stalks characteristic of
      strain DIS-1. When incubated with elevated concentrations of Fe(II), DIS-1
      colonization of 1018 MS was inhibited. IMPORTANCE: These experiments describe the
      growth of a marine FeOB in a continuous culture system and represent direct
      visualizations of steel colonization by FeOB. We anticipate that these
      experiments will lay the groundwork for studying the mechanisms by which FeOB
      colonize steel and help to elucidate the role played by marine FeOB in MIC. These
      observations of the interaction between an FeOB, strain DIS-1, and steel suggest
      that this experimental system will provide a useful model for studying the
      interactions between microbes and solid substrates.

PMID- 27637876
TI  - In Vivo Analysis of NH4+ Transport and Central Nitrogen Metabolism in
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae during Aerobic Nitrogen-Limited Growth.
AB  - Ammonium is the most common N source for yeast fermentations. Although its
      transport and assimilation mechanisms are well documented, there have been only a
      few attempts to measure the in vivo intracellular concentration of ammonium and
      assess its impact on gene expression. Using an isotope dilution mass spectrometry
      (IDMS)-based method, we were able to measure the intracellular ammonium
      concentration in N-limited aerobic chemostat cultivations using three different N
      sources (ammonium, urea, and glutamate) at the same growth rate (0.05 h-1). The
      experimental results suggest that, at this growth rate, a similar concentration
      of intracellular (IC) ammonium, about 3.6 mmol NH4+/literIC, is required to
      supply the reactions in the central N metabolism, independent of the N source.
      Based on the experimental results and different assumptions, the vacuolar and
      cytosolic ammonium concentrations were estimated. Furthermore, we identified a
      futile cycle caused by NH3 leakage into the extracellular space, which can cost
      up to 30% of the ATP production of the cell under N-limited conditions, and a
      futile redox cycle between Gdh1 and Gdh2 reactions. Finally, using shotgun
      proteomics with protein expression determined relative to a labeled reference,
      differences between the various environmental conditions were identified and
      correlated with previously identified N compound-sensing mechanisms.IMPORTANCE In
      our work, we studied central N metabolism using quantitative approaches. First,
      intracellular ammonium was measured under different N sources. The results
      suggest that Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells maintain a constant NH4+
      concentration (around 3 mmol NH4+/literIC), independent of the applied nitrogen
      source. We hypothesize that this amount of intracellular ammonium is required to
      obtain sufficient thermodynamic driving force. Furthermore, our calculations
      based on thermodynamic analysis of the transport mechanisms of ammonium suggest
      that ammonium is not equally distributed, indicating a high degree of
      compartmentalization in the vacuole. Additionally, metabolomic analysis results
      were used to calculate the thermodynamic driving forces in the central N
      metabolism reactions, revealing that the main reactions in the central N
      metabolism are far from equilibrium. Using proteomics approaches, we were able to
      identify major changes, not only in N metabolism, but also in C metabolism and
      regulation.

PMID- 27637878
TI  - Generation of a Stable Plasmid for In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of Staphylococcus
      Species.
AB  - A major shortcoming to plasmid-based genetic tools is the necessity of using
      antibiotics to ensure plasmid maintenance. While selectable markers are very
      powerful, their use is not always practical, such as during in vivo models of
      bacterial infection. During previous studies, it was noted that the
      uncharacterized LAC-p01 plasmid in Staphylococcus aureus USA300 isolates was
      stable in the absence of a known selection and therefore could serve as a
      platform for new genetic tools for Staphylococcus species. LAC-p01 was
      genetically manipulated into an Escherichia coli-S. aureus shuttle vector that
      remained stable for at least 100 generations without antibiotic selection. The
      double- and single-stranded (dso and sso) origins were identified and found to be
      essential for plasmid replication and maintenance, respectively. In contrast,
      deletion analyses revealed that none of the four LAC-p01 predicted open reading
      frames were necessary for stability. Subsequent to this, the shuttle vector was
      used as a platform to generate two plasmids. The first plasmid, pKK22, contains
      all genes native to the plasmid for use in S. aureus USA300 strains, while the
      second, pKK30, lacks the four predicted open reading frames for use in non-USA300
      isolates. pKK30 was also determined to be stable in Staphylococcus epidermidis
      Moreover, pKK22 was maintained for 7 days postinoculation during a murine model
      of S. aureus systemic infection and successfully complemented an hla mutant in a
      dermonecrosis model. These plasmids that eliminate the need for antibiotics
      during both in vitro and in vivo experiments are powerful new tools for studies
      of StaphylococcusIMPORTANCE Plasmid stability has been problematic in bacterial
      studies, and historically antibiotics have been used to ensure plasmid
      maintenance. This has been a major limitation during in vivo studies, where
      providing antibiotics for plasmid maintenance is difficult and has confounding
      effects. Here, we have utilized the naturally occurring plasmid LAC-p01 from an
      S. aureus USA300 strain to construct stable plasmids that obviate antibiotic
      usage. These newly modified plasmids retain stability over a multitude of
      generations in vitro and in vivo without antibiotic selection. With these
      plasmids, studies requiring genetic complementation, protein expression, or
      genetic reporter systems would not only overcome the burden of antibiotic usage
      but also eliminate the side effects of these antibiotics. Thus, our plasmids can
      be used as a powerful genetic tool for studies of Staphylococcus species.

PMID- 27637879
TI  - The Redox Cofactor F420 Protects Mycobacteria from Diverse Antimicrobial
      Compounds and Mediates a Reductive Detoxification System.
AB  - A defining feature of mycobacterial redox metabolism is the use of an unusual
      deazaflavin cofactor, F420 This cofactor enhances the persistence of
      environmental and pathogenic mycobacteria, including after antimicrobial
      treatment, although the molecular basis for this remains to be understood. In
      this work, we explored our hypothesis that F420 enhances persistence by serving
      as a cofactor in antimicrobial-detoxifying enzymes. To test this, we performed a
      series of phenotypic, biochemical, and analytical chemistry studies in relation
      to the model soil bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis Mutant strains unable to
      synthesize or reduce F420 were found to be more susceptible to a wide range of
      antibiotic and xenobiotic compounds. Compounds from three classes of
      antimicrobial compounds traditionally resisted by mycobacteria inhibited the
      growth of F420 mutant strains at subnanomolar concentrations, namely,
      furanocoumarins (e.g., methoxsalen), arylmethanes (e.g., malachite green), and
      quinone analogues (e.g., menadione). We demonstrated that promiscuous F420H2
      dependent reductases directly reduce these compounds by a mechanism consistent
      with hydride transfer. Moreover, M. smegmatis strains unable to make F420H2 lost
      the capacity to reduce and detoxify representatives of the furanocoumarin and
      arylmethane compound classes in whole-cell assays. In contrast, mutant strains
      were only slightly more susceptible to clinical antimycobacterials, and this
      appeared to be due to indirect effects of F420 loss of function (e.g., redox
      imbalance) rather than loss of a detoxification system. Together, these data show
      that F420 enhances antimicrobial resistance in mycobacteria and suggest that one
      function of the F420H2-dependent reductases is to broaden the range of natural
      products that mycobacteria and possibly other environmental actinobacteria can
      reductively detoxify.IMPORTANCE This study reveals that a unique microbial
      cofactor, F420, is critical for antimicrobial resistance in the environmental
      actinobacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis We show that a superfamily of redox
      enzymes, the F420H2-dependent reductases, can reduce diverse antimicrobials in
      vitro and in vivoM. smegmatis strains unable to make or reduce F420 become
      sensitive to inhibition by these antimicrobial compounds. This suggests that
      mycobacteria have harnessed the unique properties of F420 to reduce structurally
      diverse antimicrobials as part of the antibiotic arms race. The F420H2-dependent
      reductases that facilitate this process represent a new class of antimicrobial
      detoxifying enzymes with potential applications in bioremediation and
      biocatalysis.

PMID- 27637880
TI  - Listeria monocytogenes Strains Underrepresented during Selective Enrichment with
      an ISO Method Might Dominate during Passage through Simulated Gastric Fluid and
      In Vitro Infection of Caco-2 Cells.
AB  - Various Listeria monocytogenes strains may contaminate a single food product,
      potentially resulting in simultaneous exposure of consumers to multiple strains.
      However, due to bias in strain recovery, L. monocytogenes strains isolated from
      foods by selective enrichment (SE) might not always represent those that can
      better survive the immune system of a patient. We investigated the effect of
      cocultivation in tryptic soy broth with 0.6% yeast extract (TSB-Y) at 10 degrees
      C for 8 days on (i) the detection of L. monocytogenes strains during SE with the
      ISO 11290-1:1996/Amd 1:2004 protocol and (ii) the in vitro virulence of strains
      toward the Caco-2 human colon epithelial cancer cell line following exposure to
      simulated gastric fluid (SGF; pH 2.0)-HCl (37 degrees C). We determined whether
      the strains which were favored by SE would be effective competitors under the
      conditions of challenges related to gastrointestinal passage of the pathogen.
      Interstrain competition of L. monocytogenes in TSB-Y determined the relative
      population of each strain at the beginning of SE. This in turn impacted the
      outcome of SE (i.e., favoring survival of competitors with better fitness) and
      the levels exposed subsequently to SGF. However, strong growth competitors could
      be outcompeted after SGF exposure and infection of Caco-2 cells by strains
      outgrown in TSB-Y and underdetected (or even missed) during enrichment. Our data
      demonstrate a preferential selection of certain L. monocytogenes strains during
      enrichments, often not reflecting a selective advantage of strains during
      infection. These findings highlight a noteworthy scenario associated with the
      difficulty of matching the source of infection (food) with the L. monocytogenes
      isolate appearing to be the causative agent during listeriosis outbreak
      investigations.IMPORTANCE This report is relevant to understanding the processes
      involved in selection and prevalence of certain L. monocytogenes strains in
      different environments (i.e., foods or sites of humans exposed to the pathogen).
      It highlights the occurrence of multiple strains in the same food as an important
      aspect contributing to mismatches between clinical isolates and infection sources
      during listeriosis outbreak investigations.

PMID- 27637881
TI  - Rare taxa maintain microbial diversity and contribute to terrestrial community
      dynamics throughout bark beetle infestation.
AB  - : A global phenomenon of increasing bark beetle-induced tree mortality has
      heightened concern regarding ecosystem response and biogeochemical implications.
      Here we explore microbial dynamics under lodgepole pines through the analysis of
      bulk (16S rDNA) and potentially active (16S rRNA) communities to understand
      terrestrial ecosystem responses associated with this form of large-scale tree
      morality. We found that the relative abundance of bulk and potentially active
      taxa was correlated across taxonomic levels, but at lower levels cladal
      differences became more apparent. Despite this correlation, there was a strong
      differentiation of community composition between bulk and potentially active
      taxa, with further clustering in association with stages of tree mortality.
      Surprisingly, community clustering as a function of tree phase had limited
      correlation to soil water content and total nitrogen concentrations, which were
      the only two measured edaphic parameters to differ in association with tree
      phase. Bacterial clustering is more readily explained by the observed decrease in
      abundance of active, rare microorganisms after tree death in conjunction with
      stable alpha diversity measurements. This enables the rare fraction of the
      terrestrial microbial community to maintain metabolic diversity by transitioning
      between metabolically active and dormant states during this ecosystem disturbance
      and contributes disproportionately to community dynamics and archived metabolic
      capabilities. These results suggest that analyzing the bulk and potentially
      active communities after beetle infestation might be a more sensitive indicator
      of disruption than measuring local edaphic parameters. IMPORTANCE: Forests around
      the world are experiencing unprecedented mortality due to insect infestations
      fueled in part by a changing climate. While above-ground processes have been
      explored, changes at the terrestrial interface relevant to microbial
      biogeochemical cycling remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the
      changing bulk and potentially active microbial communities beneath healthy and
      beetle-killed trees. We found that even though few edaphic parameters were
      altered from beetle infestation, the rare microbes were more likely to be active
      and fluctuate between dormancy and metabolic activity. This indicates rare as
      opposed to abundant taxa contribute disproportionately to microbial community
      dynamics and presumably biogeochemical cycling within these types of perturbed
      ecosystems.

PMID- 27637882
TI  - Microbial herd protection mediated by antagonistic interaction in polymicrobial
      communities.
AB  - : In the host and natural environments, microbes often exist in complex
      multispecies communities. The molecular mechanisms through which such communities
      develop and persist - despite significant antagonistic interactions between
      species - are not well understood. The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a
      lethal weapon commonly employed by Gram-negative bacteria to inhibit neighboring
      species through delivery of toxic effectors. It is well established that intra
      species protection is conferred by immunity proteins that neutralize effector
      toxicities. By contrast, the mechanisms for interspecies protection are not
      clear. Here we use two T6SS active antagonistic bacteria, Aeromonas hydrophila
      (AH) and Vibrio cholerae (VC), to demonstrate that interspecies protection is
      dependent on effectors. AH and VC do not share conserved immunity genes but could
      equally co-exist in a mixture. However, mutants lacking the T6SS or effectors
      were effectively eliminated by the other competing wild type. Time-lapse
      microscopy analyses show that mutually lethal interactions drive the segregation
      of mixed species into distinct single-species clusters by eliminating
      interspersed single cells. Cluster formation provides herd protection by
      abolishing lethal interaction inside each cluster and restricting it to the
      boundary. Using an agent-based modeling approach, we simulated the antagonistic
      interactions of two hypothetical species. The resulting simulations recapitulate
      our experimental observation. These results provide mechanistic insights for the
      general role of microbial weapons in determining the structures of complex
      multispecies communities. IMPORTANCE: Investigating the warfare of microbes
      allows us to better understand the ecological relationships in complex microbial
      communities such as the human microbiota. Here we use the T6SS, a deadly
      bacterial weapon, as a model to demonstrate the importance of lethal interactions
      in determining community structures and exchange of genetic materials. This
      simplified model elucidates a mechanism of microbial herd protection by which
      competing antagonistic species coexist in the same niche despite their diverse
      mutually destructive activities. Our results also suggest that antagonistic
      interaction imposes a strong selection that could promote multicellular like
      social behaviors and contribute to the transition to multicellularity during
      evolution.

PMID- 27637883
TI  - Selection of Amine-Oxidizing Dairy Lactic Acid Bacteria and Identification of the
      Enzyme and Gene Involved in the Decrease of Biogenic Amines.
AB  - : Accumulation of biogenic amines (BAs) in cheese and other foods is a matter of
      public health concern. The aim of this study was to identify the enzyme
      activities responsible for BA degradation in lactic acid bacteria which were
      previously isolated from traditional Sicilian and Apulian cheeses. The selected
      strains would control the concentration of BAs during cheese manufacture. First,
      431 isolates not showing genes encoding the decarboxylases responsible for BA
      formation were selected using PCR-based methods. Ninety-four out of the 431
      isolates degraded BAs (2-phenylethylamine, cadaverine, histamine, putrescine,
      spermine, spermidine, tyramine, or tryptamine) during cultivation on chemically
      defined medium. As shown by random amplification of polymorphic DNA-PCR and
      partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, 78 of the 94 strains were Lactobacillus
      species (Lactobacillus casei, Lb. fermentum, Lb. parabuchneri, Lb. paracasei, Lb.
      paraplantarum, and Lb. rhamnosus), Leuconostoc species (Leuconostoc lactis and
      Ln. mesenteroides), Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus
      species (Streptococcus gallolyticus and S. thermophilus), Enterococcus lactis,
      and Weissella paramesenteroides A multicopper oxidase-hydrolyzing BA was purified
      from the most active strain, Lb. paracasei subsp. paracasei CB9CT. The gene
      encoding the multicopper oxidase was sequenced and was also detected in other
      amine-degrading strains of Lb. fermentum, Lb. paraplantarum, and P. pentosaceus
      Lb. paracasei subsp. paracasei CB9CT and another strain (CACIO6CT) of the same
      species that was able to degrade all the BAs were singly used as adjunct starters
      for decreasing the concentration of histamine and tyramine in industrial
      Caciocavallo cheese. The results of this study disclose a feasible strategy for
      increasing the safety of traditional cheeses while maintaining their typical
      sensorial traits. IMPORTANCE: Because high concentrations of the potentially
      toxic biogenic amines may be found in traditional/typical cheeses, the safety of
      these food items should be improved. Lactic acid bacteria selected for the
      ability to degrade biogenic amines may be used during cheese making to control
      the concentrations of biogenic amines.

PMID- 27637884
TI  - Metabolism of Fructophilic Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from the Apis mellifera
      L. Bee Gut: Phenolic Acids as External Electron Acceptors.
AB  - Fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) are strongly associated with the
      gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of Apis mellifera L. worker bees due to the
      consumption of fructose as a major carbohydrate. Seventy-seven presumptive lactic
      acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from GITs of healthy A. mellifera L. adults,
      which were collected from 5 different geographical locations of the Apulia region
      of Italy. Almost all of the isolates showed fructophilic tendencies: these
      isolates were identified as Lactobacillus kunkeei (69%) or Fructobacillus
      fructosus (31%). A high-throughput phenotypic microarray targeting 190 carbon
      sources was used to determine that 83 compounds were differentially consumed.
      Phenotyping grouped the strains into two clusters, reflecting growth performance.
      The utilization of phenolic acids, such as p-coumaric, caffeic, syringic, or
      gallic acids, as electron acceptors was investigated in fructose-based medium.
      Almost all FLAB strains showed tolerance to high phenolic acid concentrations. p
      Coumaric acid and caffeic acid were consumed by all FLAB strains through
      reductases or decarboxylases. Syringic and gallic acids were partially
      metabolized. The data collected suggest that FLAB require external electron
      acceptors to regenerate NADH. The use of phenolic acids as external electron
      acceptors by the 4 FLAB showing the highest phenolic acid reductase activity was
      investigated in glucose-based medium supplemented with p-coumaric acid. Metabolic
      responses observed through a phenotypic microarray suggested that FLAB may use p
      coumaric acid as an external electron acceptor, enhancing glucose dissimilation
      but less efficiently than other external acceptors such as fructose or pyruvic
      acid.IMPORTANCE Fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) remain to be fully
      explored. This study intends to link unique biochemical features of FLAB with
      their habitat. The quite unique FLAB phenome within the group lactic acid
      bacteria (LAB) may have practical relevance in food fermentations. The FLAB
      phenome may have implications for the levels of hexose metabolism products in
      fermented foods, as well as food probiotication. Due to the harsh conditions of
      honeybees' GITs, these bacteria had to develop specific physiological and
      biochemical characteristics, such as tolerance to phenolic acids. The screening
      of FLAB strains based on metabolic pathways involving phenolic acids may allow
      the selection of starter cultures with both technological and functional
      beneficial attributes. Bioconversion of phenolic compounds may contribute to the
      aroma attributes and biofunctionality of fermented foods. Thus, the selection of
      FLAB strains as starter cultures with specific enzymatic activities involving
      phenolic acids may have a promising role in food fermentations.

PMID- 27637885
TI  - Pseudomonas brassicacearum strain DF41 kills Caenorhabditis elegans through
      biofilm-dependent and biofilm-independent mechanisms.
AB  - : Pseudomonas brassicacearum DF41 is a biocontrol agent that suppresses disease
      caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum A number of exometabolites
      are produced by DF41 including the lipopeptide sclerosin, hydrogen cyanide (HCN)
      and degradative enzymes. Production of these compounds is controlled at both the
      transcriptional and posttranscriptional level by quorum sensing (QS) and the Gac
      two component regulatory system. In order to be successful, a biocontrol agent
      must persist in the environment at levels sufficient for pathogen control.
      Bacterivorous predators, including nematodes, represent a challenge to the
      establishment of introduced microorganisms. In the current study, DF41 was
      investigated for its ability to resist predation by Caenorhabditis elegans. We
      discovered that this bacterium is capable of killing C. elegans through two
      different mechanisms: the first involves exposure to toxic metabolites; and the
      second entails biofilm formation on the nematode head blocking the buccal cavity.
      Biofilm formation on nematodes, which has only been reported for Yersinia spp.
      and Xenorhabdus nematophila, is dependent upon the Gac system. Biofilms were not
      observed when bacteria were grown on NaCl-containing media, and on C. elegans
      biofilm-resistant mutants. Co-culturing with nematodes lead to increased
      expression of the pdfRI-rfiA QS genes and hcnA which is under QS control. HCN was
      the most nematicidal of the exometabolites, suggesting that this bacterium can
      respond to predator cues and upregulate expression of toxins accordingly. In
      summary, DF41 is able to respond to the presence of C. elegans and through two
      distinct mechanisms it can escape predation. IMPORTANCE: Pseudomonas
      brassicacearum DF41 can suppress fungal pathogens through a process known as
      biocontrol. To be successful, a biocontrol agent must be able to persist in the
      environment at levels sufficient for pathogen control. Predators including the
      nematode Caenorhabditis elegans represent a threat to persistence. The aim of the
      current study was to investigate the DF41-C. elegans interaction. We discovered
      that DF41 is able to escape predation through two distinct mechanisms. The first
      involves exposure to toxic bacterial metabolites and the second entails formation
      of a sticky coating on the nematode head, called a biofilm, which blocks feeding
      and causes starvation. This is the first report of a pseudomonad forming biofilms
      on the C. elegans surface. When grown with C. elegans, DF41 exhibits altered gene
      expression and metabolite production indicating that this bacterium can sense the
      presence of these predators and adjust its physiology accordingly.

PMID- 27637886
TI  - Recombination and genetic variance among maize doubled haploids induced from F1
      and F2 plants.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Inducing maize doubled haploids from F 2 plants (DHF2) instead of F
      1 plants (DHF1) led to more recombination events. However, the best DHF2 lines
      did not outperform the best DHF1 lines. Maize (Zea mays L.) breeders rely on
      doubled haploid (DH) technology for fast and efficient production of inbreds.
      Breeders can induce DH lines most quickly from F1 plants (DHF1), or induce DH
      lines from F2 plants (DHF2) to allow selection prior to DH induction and have
      more recombinations. Our objective was to determine if the additional
      recombinations in maize DHF2 lines lead to a larger genetic variance and a
      superior mean of the best lines. A total of 311 DHF1 and 241 DHF2 lines, derived
      from the same biparental cross, were crossed to two testers and evaluated in
      multilocation trials in Europe and the US. The mean number of recombinations per
      genome was 14.48 among the DHF1 lines and 21.38 among the DHF1 lines. The means
      of the DHF1 and DHF2 lines did not differ for yield, moisture, and plant height.
      The genetic variance was higher among DHF2 lines than among DHF1 lines for
      moisture, but not for yield and plant height. The ratio of repulsion to coupling
      linkages, which was estimated from genomewide marker effects, was higher among
      DHF1 lines than among DHF2 lines for moisture, but not for yield and plant
      height. The higher genetic variance for moisture among DHF2 lines did not lead to
      lower moisture of the best 10 % of the lines. Our results indicated that the
      decision of inducing DH lines from F1 or F2 plants needs to be made from
      considerations other than the performance of the resulting DHF1 or DHF2 lines.

PMID- 27637887
TI  - Identification of a Lineage D Betacoronavirus in Cave Nectar Bats (Eonycteris
      spelaea) in Singapore and an Overview of Lineage D Reservoir Ecology in SE Asian
      Bats.
AB  - Coronaviruses are a diverse group of viruses that infect mammals and birds. Bats
      are reservoirs for several different coronaviruses in the Alphacoronavirus and
      Betacoronavirus genera. They also appear to be the natural reservoir for the
      ancestral viruses that generated the severe acute respiratory syndrome
      coronavirus and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreaks. Here, we
      detected coronavirus sequences in next-generation sequence data created from
      Eonycteris spelaea faeces and urine. We also screened by PCR urine samples,
      faecal samples and rectal swabs collected from six species of bats in Singapore
      between 2011 and 2014, all of which were negative. The phylogenetic analysis
      indicates this novel strain is most closely related to lineage D
      Betacoronaviruses detected in a diverse range of bat species. This is the second
      time that coronaviruses have been detected in cave nectar bats, but the first
      coronavirus sequence data generated from this species. Bat species from which
      this group of coronaviruses has been detected are widely distributed across SE
      Asia, South Asia and Southern China. They overlap geographically, often share
      roosting sites and have been witnessed to forage on the same plant. The addition
      of sequence data from this group of viruses will allow us to better understand
      coronavirus evolution and host specificity.

PMID- 27637889
TI  - Safe and Effective Treatment of Experimental Neuroblastoma and Glioblastoma Using
      Systemically Delivered Triple MicroRNA-Detargeted Oncolytic Semliki Forest Virus.
AB  - Background: Glioblastoma multiforme and high-risk neuroblastoma are cancers with
      poor outcome. Immunotherapy in the form of neurotropic oncolytic viruses is a
      promising therapeutic approach for these malignancies. Here we evaluate the
      oncolytic capacity of the neurovirulent and partly IFNbeta-resistant Semliki
      Forest virus (SFV)-4 in glioblastoma multiformes and neuroblastomas. To reduce
      neurovirulence we constructed SFV4miRT, which is attenuated in normal central
      nervous system (CNS) cells through insertion of microRNA target sequences for
      miR124, miR125, miR134.Methods: Oncolytic activity of SFV4miRT was examined in
      mouse neuroblastoma and glioblastoma multiforme cell lines and in patient-derived
      human glioblastoma cell cultures (HGCC). In vivo neurovirulence and therapeutic
      efficacy was evaluated in two syngeneic orthotopic glioma models (CT-2A, GL261)
      and a syngeneic subcutaneous neuroblastoma model (NXS2). The role of IFNbeta in
      inhibiting therapeutic efficacy was investigated.Results: The introduction of
      miRNA target sequences reduced neurovirulence of SFV4 in terms of attenuated
      replication in mouse CNS cells and ability to cause encephalitis when
      administered intravenously. A single intravenous injection of SFV4miRT prolonged
      survival and cured four of eight mice (50%) with NXS2 and three of 11 mice (27%)
      with CT-2A, but not for GL261 tumor-bearing mice. In vivo therapeutic efficacy in
      different tumor models inversely correlated to secretion of IFNbeta by respective
      cells upon SFV4 infection in vitro Similarly, killing efficacy of HGCC lines
      inversely correlated to IFNbeta response and interferon-alpha/beta receptor-1
      expression.Conclusions: SFV4miRT has reduced neurovirulence, while retaining its
      oncolytic capacity. SFV4miRT is an excellent candidate for treatment of
      glioblastoma multiforme and neuroblastoma with low IFN-beta secretion. Clin
      Cancer Res; 23(6); 1519-30. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27637888
TI  - Mutant p53 Together with TGFbeta Signaling Influence Organ-Specific Hematogenous
      Colonization Patterns of Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: TP53 and the TGFbeta pathway are major mediators of pancreatic cancer
      metastasis. The mechanisms by which they cause hematogenous metastasis have not
      been fully explored.Experimental Design:KPC (LSL-KRASG12D/+;LSL-Trp53R172H/+;
      Ptf1aCre/+) mice were generated, and the frequency and morphology of organ
      specific hematogenous metastases compared with that seen in KPTC and KTC
      littermates (Tgfbr2+/-). Key findings were validated in primary cells from each
      genotype and samples of human pancreatic cancer liver metastases.Results: The
      frequency of hematogenous metastasis in KPTC mice was significantly lower than
      for KPC mice (41% vs. 68%, P < 0.05), largely due to a reduction in liver
      metastases. No differences were found between KPC and KPTC lung metastases,
      whereas liver metastases in KPTC mice showed a profound extravasation deficiency
      characterized by sinusoidal growth and lack of desmoplastic stroma. Analogous
      findings were confirmed in liver samples from patients indicating their clinical
      relevance. Portal vein colonization as a direct mode of access to the liver was
      observed in both mice and humans. Secretome analyses of KPC cells revealed an
      abundance of secreted prometastatic mediators including Col6A1 and Lcn2 that
      promoted early steps of metastatic colonization. These mediators were
      overexpressed in primary tumors but not metastases, suggesting that the ability
      to colonize is, in part, developed within the primary site, a phenomenon we refer
      to as the "Cinderella effect."Conclusions: These findings establish a novel
      paradigm for understanding pancreatic cancer metastasis and the observed clinical
      latencies of liver versus lung metastases specifically. Clin Cancer Res; 23(6);
      1607-20. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27637891
TI  - Variations in Spontaneous Assembly and Disassembly of Molecules on Unmodified
      Gold Nanoparticles.
AB  - Electrostatic attraction, covalent binding, and hydrophobic absorption are
      spontaneous processes to assemble and disassemble the molecules of gold
      nanoparticles (GNP). This dynamic change can be performed in the presence of
      ions, such as NaCl or charged molecules. Current research encompasses the GNP in
      mediating non-biofouling and investigating the molecular attachment and
      detachment. Experiments were performed with different sizes of GNP and polymers.
      As a proof of concept, poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(acrylic acid), called PEG
      PAAc, attachment and binding events between factor IX and factor IX-bp from snake
      venom were demonstrated, and the variations with these molecular attachment on
      GNP were shown. Optimal concentration of NaCl for GNP aggregation was 250 mM, and
      the optimal size of GNP used was 30 nm. The polymer PEG-PAAc (1 mg/ml) has a
      strong affinity to the GNP as indicated by the dispersed GNP. The concentration
      of 5800 nM of factor IX was proved to be optimal for dispersion of GNP, and at
      least 100 nM of factor IX-bp was needed to remove factor IX from the surface of
      GNP. This study delineates the usage of unmodified GNP for molecular analysis and
      downstream applications. 

PMID- 27637890
TI  - The Human CD38 Monoclonal Antibody Daratumumab Shows Antitumor Activity and
      Hampers Leukemia-Microenvironment Interactions in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
AB  - Purpose: To establish a proof-of-concept for the efficacy of the anti-CD38
      antibody daratumumab in the poor prognosis CD38+ chronic lymphocytic leukemia
      (CLL) subtype.Experimental Design: The mechanism of action of daratumumab was
      assessed in CLL primary cells and cell lines using peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells to analyze antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity (ADCC), murine and human
      macrophages to study antibody-dependent cell phagocytosis (ADCP), or human serum
      to analyze complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). The effect of daratumumab on
      CLL cell migration and adhesion to extracellular matrix was characterized.
      Daratumumab activity was validated in two in vivo models.Results: Daratumumab
      demonstrated efficient lysis of patient-derived CLL cells and cell lines by ADCC
      in vitro and ADCP both in vitro and in vivo whereas exhibited negligible CDC in
      these cells. To demonstrate the therapeutic effect of daratumumab in CLL, we
      generated a disseminated CLL mouse model with the CD38+ MEC2 cell line and CLL
      patient-derived xenografts (CLL-PDX). Daratumumab significantly prolonged overall
      survival of MEC2 mice, completely eliminated cells from the infiltrated organs,
      and significantly reduced disease burden in the spleen of CLL-PDX. The effect of
      daratumumab on patient-derived CLL cell dissemination was demonstrated in vitro
      by its effect on CXCL12-induced migration and in vivo by interfering with CLL
      cell homing to spleen in NSG mice. Daratumumab also reduced adhesion of CLL cells
      to VCAM-1, accompanied by downregulation of the matrix metalloproteinase
      MMP9.Conclusions: These unique and substantial effects of daratumumab on CLL
      viability and dissemination support the investigation of its use in a clinical
      setting of CLL. Clin Cancer Res; 23(6); 1493-505. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27637892
TI  - Engineered Gold Nanoparticles and Plant Adaptation Potential.
AB  - Use of metal nanoparticles in biological system has recently been recognised
      although little is known about their possible effects on plant growth and
      development. Nanoparticles accumulation, translocation, growth response and
      stress modulation in plant system is not well understood. Plants exposed to gold
      and gold nanoparticles have been demonstrated to exhibit both positive and
      negative effects. Their growth and yield vary from species to species. Cytoxicity
      of engineered gold nanoparticles depends on the concentration, particle size and
      shape. They exhibit increase in vegetative growth and yield of fruit/seed at
      lower concentration and decrease them at higher concentration. Studies have shown
      that the gold nanoparticles exposure has improved free radical scavenging
      potential and antioxidant enzymatic activities and alter micro RNAs expression
      that regulate different morphological, physiological and metabolic processes in
      plants. These modulations lead to improved plant growth and yields. Prior to the
      use of gold nanoparticles, it has been suggested that its cost may be calculated
      to see if it is economically feasible. 

PMID- 27637893
TI  - Rolling Resistance and Mechanical Properties of Grinded Copper Surfaces Using
      Molecular Dynamics Simulation.
AB  - Mechanical properties of copper (Cu) film under grinding process were
      accomplished by molecular dynamics simulation. A numerical calculation was
      carried out to understand the distributions of atomic and slip vector inside the
      Cu films. In this study, the roller rotation velocity, temperature, and roller
      rotation direction change are investigated to clarify their effect on the
      deformation mechanism. The simulation results showed that the destruction of
      materials was increased proportionally to the roller rotation velocity. The
      machining process at higher temperature results in larger kinetic energy of atoms
      than lower temperature during the grinding process of the Cu films. The result
      also shows that the roller rotation in the counterclockwise direction had the
      better stability than the roller rotation in the clockwise direction due to
      significantly increased backfill atoms in the groove of the Cu film surface.
      Additionally, the effects of the rolling resistances on the Cu film surfaces
      during the grinding process are studied by the molecular dynamics simulation
      method. 

PMID- 27637894
TI  - Nano-structured CuO-Cu2O Complex Thin Film for Application in CH3NH3PbI3
      Perovskite Solar Cells.
AB  - Nano-structured CuO-Cu2O complex thin film-based perovskite solar cells were
      fabricated on an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass and studied. Copper (Cu)
      thin films with a purity of 99.995 % were deposited on an ITO-coated glass by
      magnetron reactive sputtering. To optimize the properties of the nano-structured
      CuO-Cu2O complex thin films, the deposited Cu thin films were thermally oxidized
      at various temperatures from 300 to 400  degrees C. A CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite
      absorber was fabricated on top of CuO-Cu2O complex thin film by a one-step spin
      coating process with a toluene washing treatment. Following optimization, the
      maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) exceeded 8.1 %. Therefore, the low
      cost, solution-processed, stable nano-structured CuO-Cu2O complex thin film can
      be used as an alternative hole transport layer (HTL) in industrially produced
      perovskite solar cells. 

PMID- 27637895
TI  - Silica Cladding of Ag Nanoparticles for High Stability and Surface-Enhanced Raman
      Spectroscopy Performance.
AB  - For high-precision biochemical sensing, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
      (SERS) has been demonstrated to be a highly sensitive spectroscopic analytical
      method and Ag is considered to be the best material for SERS performance. Due to
      the high surface activity of Ag nanoparticles, the high stability of Ag
      nanostructures, especially in moist environments, is one of the key issues that
      need to be solved. A method for silica (SiO2) cladding of Ag nanoparticles (NPs)
      is demonstrated here for high sensitivity and long-term stability when putted in
      aqueous solution. The chemically inert, transparent, hydrophilic, and bio
      compatible SiO2 surface acts as the protection layer for the Ag nanoparticles,
      which can also enhance the Raman intensity to a certain extent. In our study, the
      Ag@SiO2 core-shell substrate can detect crystal violet solutions with molar
      concentrations down to 10(-12) M. After 24 h of immersion, the reduction in Raman
      scattering intensity is about 85 % for sole Ag NP films, compared to 12 % for the
      Ag coated with a 10-nm SiO2 layer. This thickness was found to be optimum for
      Ag@SiO2 core-shell substrates with long-term stability and high SERS activity. 

PMID- 27637896
TI  - Enhanced Resolution of DNA Separation Using Agarose Gel Electrophoresis Doped
      with Graphene Oxide.
AB  - In this work, a novel agarose gel electrophoresis strategy has been developed for
      separation of DNA fragments by doping graphene oxide (GO) into agarose gel. The
      results show that the addition of GO into agarose gel significantly improved the
      separation resolution of DNA fragments by increasing the shift distances of both
      the single DNA fragments and the adjacent DNA fragments and completely
      eliminating the background noise derived from the diffusion of the excessive
      ethidium bromide (EB) dye in the gel after electrophoresis. The improved
      resolution of DNA fragments in GO-doped agarose gel could be attributed to the
      successive adsorption-desorption processes between DNA fragments and GO sheets,
      while the elimination of the background noise could be attributed to the
      adsorption of the excessive EB dye on the surface of GO sheets and high
      fluorescence quenching efficiency of GO. These results provide promising
      potential for graphene and its derivate utilized in various electrophoresis
      techniques for separation and detection of DAN fragments and other biomolecules. 

PMID- 27637897
TI  - Bioengineered Silicon Diatoms: Adding Photonic Features to a Nanostructured
      Semiconductive Material for Biomolecular Sensing.
AB  - Native diatoms made of amorphous silica are first converted into silicon
      structures via magnesiothermic process, preserving the original shape: electron
      force microscopy analysis performed on silicon-converted diatoms demonstrates
      their semiconductor behavior. Wet surface chemical treatments are then performed
      in order to enhance the photoluminescence emission from the resulting silicon
      diatoms and, at the same time, to allow the immobilization of biological probes,
      namely proteins and antibodies, via silanization. We demonstrate that light
      emission from semiconductive silicon diatoms can be used for antibody-antigen
      recognition, endorsing this material as optoelectronic transducer. 

PMID- 27637899
TI  - Detection of Primary T Cell Responses to Drugs and Chemicals in HLA-Typed
      Volunteers: Implications for the Prediction of Drug Immunogenicity.
AB  - A number of serious adverse drug reactions are caused by T cells. An association
      with HLA alleles has been identified with certain reactions, which makes it
      difficult to develop standardized preclinical tests to predict chemical
      liability. We have recently developed a T cell priming assay using the drug
      metabolite nitroso sulfamethoxazole (SMX-NO). We now report on reproducibility of
      the assay, establishment of a biobank of PBMC from 1000 HLA-typed volunteers, and
      generation of antigen-specific responses to a panel of compounds. Forty T cell
      priming assays were performed with SMX-NO; 5 gave weak responses (1.5-1.9) and 34
      showed good (SI 2.0-3.9) or strong responses (SI  > 4.0) using readouts for
      proliferation and cytokine release. Thus, SMX-NO can be used as a model reagent
      for in vitro T cell activation. Good to strong responses were also generated to
      haptenic compounds (amoxicillin, piperacillin and Bandrowski's base) that are not
      associated with an HLA risk allele. Furthermore, responses were detected to
      carbamazepine (in HLA-B*15:02 donors), flucloxacillin (in 1 HLA-B*57:01 donor)
      and oxypurinol (in HLA-B*58:01 donors), which are associated with HLA-class I
      restricted forms of hypersensitivity. In contrast, naive T cell priming to
      ximelagatran, lumiracoxib, and lapatinib (HLA-class II-restricted forms of
      hypersensitivity) yielded negative results. Abacavir, which activates memory T
      cells in patients, did not activate naive T cells from HLA-B*57:01 donors. This
      work shows that the priming assay can be used to assess primary T cell responses
      to drugs and to study mechanisms T cell priming for drugs that display HLA class
      I restriction. Additional studies are required to investigate HLA-class II
      restricted reactions.

PMID- 27637898
TI  - Interactive Influence of N6AMT1 and As3MT Genetic Variations on Arsenic
      Metabolism in the Population of Inner Mongolia, China.
AB  - Chronic arsenic exposure via drinking water has become a worldwide public health
      concern. In humans, inorganic arsenic (iAs) is metabolized to monomethylarsonic
      acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) mainly mediated by arsenic (+3
      oxidation state) methyltransferase (As3MT). We reported recently that N-6 adenine
      specific DNA methyltransferase 1 (N6AMT1) was involved in arsenic metabolism, and
      examined its interactive effect with As3MT on arsenic metabolism in vitro To
      further evaluate the interactive effect of N6AMT1 and As3MT on arsenic
      biomethylation in humans, we conducted a human population-based study including
      289 subjects living in rural villages in Inner Mongolia, China, and assessed
      their urinary arsenic metabolites profiles in relation to genetic polymorphisms
      and haplotypes of N6AMT1 and As3MT Five N6AMT1 single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs; rs1003671, rs7282257, rs2065266, rs2738966, rs2248501) and the N6AMT1
      haplotype 2_GGCCAT were significantly associated with the percentage of iAs (%
      iAs) in urine (e.g., for rs7282257, mean was 9.62% for TT, 6.73% for AA).
      Rs1003671 was also in a significant relationship with urinary MMA and DMA (the
      mean of %MMA was 24.95% for GA, 31.69% for GG; the mean of % DMA was 69.21% for
      GA, 59.82% for GG). The combined effect of N6AMT1 haplotype 2_GGCCAT and As3MT
      haplotype 2_GCAC showed consistence with the additive significance of each
      haplotype on % iAs: the mean was 5.47% and 9.36% for carriers with both and null
      haplotypes, respectively. Overall, we showed that N6AMT1 genetic polymorphisms
      were associated with arsenic biomethylation in the Chinese population, and its
      interaction with As3MT was observed in specific haplotype combinations.

PMID- 27637900
TI  - A case of myocardial infarction and left ventricular pseudo-false aneurysm
      perforating the right ventricle.

PMID- 27637901
TI  - Genetic differences on intracranial versus spinal cord ependymal tumors: a meta
      analysis of genetic researches.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although ependymomas occur in both the brain and the spine, the
      prognosis is quite varied by tumor location. Spinal ependymomas usually follow a
      relatively benign course with more favorable prognosis than that of the
      intracranial ependymomas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the genetic
      differences between spinal ependymomas and their intracranial counterparts using
      a meta-analysis. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the
      Cochrane library. Comparative or single arm genetic studies that enrolled
      patients with both intracranial and spinal ependymoma were included. The
      frequency of genetic aberration was calculated in each group. We calculated the
      odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for direct comparative
      studies and the logit event rate (LER) and 95 % CI for single arm studies.
      RESULTS: Twenty-five studies comprising of 380 spinal ependymomas and 964
      intracranial ependymomas were compared to determine the association of the
      genetic differences of ependymomas at different locations. There were 25
      comparable genetic aberrations between spinal and intracranial ependymomas. Among
      the genes, the NF2 mutation was significantly associated with the spinal
      ependymomas rather than with the intracranial ependymomas (spinal tumor: LER 
      0.750, 95 % CI -1.233 to -0.266, intracranial tumor: LER -3.080, 95 % CI -3.983
      to -2.177). Intracranial ependymomas were found to be significantly associated
      with EPB41L3 deletion (OR 0.34; 95 % CI 0.14-0.80) and HIC1 methylation (OR 0.12;
      95 % CI 0.02-0.68). CONCLUSION: The genetic aberrations of spinal ependymomas are
      quite different from those of intracranial ependymomas. The difference in
      prognosis of ependymoma by location may be associated with genetic difference. A
      more detailed understanding of them may enable the development of targeted
      therapy and the estimation of prognosis.

PMID- 27637902
TI  - Improvement of sensory function after sequestrectomy for lumbar disc herniation:
      a prospective clinical study using quantitative sensory testing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have investigated sensory recovery in patients with
      lumbar disc herniation using rather subjective methods. There have been no
      reports on changes of sensory function in patients suffering from a preoperative
      sensory deficit using quantitative sensory testing (QST). The aims of this
      prospective study were (1) to assess the recovery of preoperative sensory
      dysfunction after lumbar sequestrectomy and (2) to quantify the strength of
      relationship between a sensory deficit and the patient's quality of life.
      METHODS: We applied the QST protocol of the German Research Network on
      Neuropathic Pain (DFNS) in fifty-two patients with a single lumbar disc
      herniation confirmed on MRI treated by lumbar sequestrectomy. Further evaluation
      included a detailed medical history, a physical examination, numeric rating scale
      for leg, EQ-5D questionnaire, and thermometer. RESULTS: Disc surgery resulted in
      a significant reduction of leg pain and a significant gain of quality of life.
      Thermal, mechanical, and vibration perception thresholds showed an obvious side
      to-side difference preoperatively (p < 0.005). An early recovery of mechanical
      and vibration perception thresholds was detected, whereas cold perception needed
      more than 6 months to recover (p < 0.05). Quality of life was independent from
      perception thresholds, but correlated significantly with pain reduction.
      CONCLUSION: Our data clearly show that there is a subjective and quantifiable
      improvement in sensory dysfunction postoperatively. The current data suggest that
      a sensory dysfunction does not influence a patient's quality of life.

PMID- 27637904
TI  - Note from the SBIC President.

PMID- 27637903
TI  - Preclinical evaluation of posterior spine stabilization devices: can we compare
      in vitro and in vivo loads on the instrumentation?
AB  - PURPOSE: To discuss whether the standard test method for preclinical evaluation
      of posterior spine stabilization devices with an anterior support correctly
      describes the effect of two short-segment posterior stabilization techniques
      frequently used in clinical practice for the treatment of traumatic, degenerative
      and iatrogenic instabilities. METHODS: A finite element study compared a
      validated instrumented L2-L4 segment undergoing standing, upper body flexion and
      extension to ISO 12189 standards model under a compressive load. A bridge
      instrumentation, with screws only at cranial and caudal levels, and a full
      stabilization, using screws at every level, are considered for both conditions.
      The internal loads on the spinal rod and the stress values on the implant are
      analysed in detail. RESULTS: Using ISO model and a bridge stabilization construct
      allow to overstress the pedicle screw more than a full stabilization with respect
      to the corresponding L2-L4 segment undergoing upper body flexion, while the
      stress on the spinal rod is comparable. Choosing softer/stiffer springs would
      involve higher/lower loads on every component. CONCLUSIONS: ISO model predicts
      the effects of using both a full and a bridge posterior instrumentation. The
      study justifies the use of both conditions during in vitro reliability tests to
      achieve meaningful results easy to compare to clinically relevant loading modes
      and known in vivo failure modes.

PMID- 27637906
TI  - When to switch to oral antibiotics?

PMID- 27637905
TI  - Protection of mice against the highly pathogenic VVIHD-J by DNA and fowlpox
      recombinant vaccines, administered by electroporation and intranasal routes,
      correlates with serum neutralizing activity.
AB  - The control of smallpox was achieved using live vaccinia virus (VV) vaccine,
      which successfully eradicated the disease worldwide. As the variola virus no
      longer exists as a natural infection agent, mass vaccination was discontinued
      after 1980. However, emergence of smallpox outbreaks caused by accidental or
      deliberate release of variola virus has stimulated new research for second
      generation vaccine development based on attenuated VV strains. Considering the
      closely related animal poxviruses that also arise as zoonoses, and the increasing
      number of unvaccinated or immunocompromised people, a safer and more effective
      vaccine is still required. With this aim, new vectors based on avian poxviruses
      that cannot replicate in mammals should improve the safety of conventional
      vaccines, and protect from zoonotic orthopoxvirus diseases, such as cowpox and
      monkeypox. In this study, DNA and fowlpox (FP) recombinants that expressed the VV
      L1R, A27L, A33R, and B5R genes were generated (4DNAmix, 4FPmix, respectively) and
      tested in mice using novel administration routes. Mice were primed with 4DNAmix
      by electroporation, and boosted with 4FPmix applied intranasally. The lethal
      VVIHD-J strain was then administered by intranasal challenge. All of the mice
      receiving 4DNAmix followed by 4FPmix, and 20% of the mice immunized only with
      4FPmix, were protected. The induction of specific humoral and cellular immune
      responses directly correlated with this protection. In particular, higher anti
      A27 antibodies and IFNgamma-producing T lymphocytes were measured in the blood
      and spleen of the protected mice, as compared to controls. VVIHD-J neutralizing
      antibodies in sera from the protected mice suggest that the prime/boost
      vaccination regimen with 4DNAmix plus 4FPmix may be an effective and safe mode to
      induce protection against smallpox and poxvirus zoonotic infections. The
      electroporation/intranasal administration routes contributed to effective immune
      responses and mouse survival.

PMID- 27637907
TI  - Developmental trajectories in children with prolonged NICU stays.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between prolonged neonatal intensive care
      unit (NICU) stay after birth and childhood neurodevelopmental measures from age 9
      months to kindergarten. DESIGN: Longitudinal birth cohort study. SETTING AND
      PATIENTS: This study examined a nationally representative sample of 10 700
      participants from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Sample-Birth Cohort and
      selected those who had a NICU stay (n=2100). These children were followed from
      birth to kindergarten. PREDICTORS: Days in the NICU. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Childhood neurodevelopmental and early academic scores. RESULTS: Increasing
      length of stay in the NICU had a significant negative relationship with the 9
      month and 24-month Bayley mental and motor scores. Each additional week in the
      NICU increased the odds of scoring in the lowest 10% on the Bayley 9-month mental
      (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.034 to 1.122) and motor (OR 1.11, CI 1.065 to 1.165)
      assessments and 24-month mental (OR 1.09, CI 1.041 to 1.144) and motor
      assessments (OR 1.07 CI 1.017 to 1.123). Gestational age was not significantly
      related with these measures in our model. Increasing socioeconomic status had a
      significant positive relationship with preschool and kindergarten reading and
      math scores and a lower odds of scoring in the lowest 10% in these measures.
      CONCLUSION: Increasing length of NICU stay was predictive of decreased child
      development measures in early childhood (9 and 24 months), while socioeconomic
      status was a better predictor at later assessments (preschool and kindergarten
      entries). Gestational category did not account for these differences. These data
      may have implications for counselling parents regarding potential
      neurodevelopmental consequences following NICU stay.

PMID- 27637909
TI  - Mitochondrial Inner Membrane Depolarization as a Marker of Platelet Apoptosis :
      Disclosure of Nonapoptotic Membrane Depolarization
AB  - Availability of universal marker for the diagnosis of platelet apoptosis is an
      important but currently unresolved goal of platelet physiology investigations.
      Mitochondrial inner transmembrane potential (?Psim) depolarization is frequently
      used as a marker of apoptosis in nucleated cells and anucleate platelets. Since
      ?Psim depolarization in platelets is also frequently associated with concurrent
      induction of other apoptotic responses, it may appear that ?Psim depolarization
      is a good universal marker of platelet apoptosis. However, data presented in the
      current study indicate that this is incorrect. We report here fundamental
      differences in the effects of potassium ionophore valinomycin and calcium
      ionophore A23187 on human platelet apoptosis. Although both A23187-triggered and
      valinomycin-triggered ?Psim depolarization are strongly induced, the former is
      dependent on the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) and
      the latter is MPTP-independent. Furthermore, effects of calcium and potassium
      ionophores on other apoptotic events are also basically different. A23187 induces
      caspase-3 activation, proapoptotic Bax and Bak protein expression,
      phosphatidylserine exposure, and microparticle formation, whereas valinomycin
      does not induce these apoptotic manifestations. Discovery of targeted ?Psim
      depolarization not associated with apoptosis in valinomycin-treated platelets
      indicates that this marker should not be used as a single universal marker of
      platelet apoptosis in unknown experimental and clinical settings as it may lead
      to a false-positive apoptosis diagnosis.

PMID- 27637908
TI  - Utilization of multiparametric prostate magnetic resonance imaging in clinical
      practice and focal therapy: report from a Delphi consensus project.
AB  - PURPOSE: To codify the use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI)
      for the interrogation of prostate neoplasia (PCa) in clinical practice and focal
      therapy (FT). METHODS: An international collaborative consensus project was
      undertaken using the Delphi method among experts in the field of PCa. An online
      questionnaire was presented in three consecutive rounds and modified each round
      based on the comments provided by the experts. Subsequently, a face-to-face
      meeting was held to discuss and finalize the consensus results. RESULTS: mpMRI
      should be performed in patients with prior negative biopsies if clinical
      suspicion remains, but not instead of the PSA test, nor as a stand-alone
      diagnostic tool or mpMRI-targeted biopsies only. It is not recommended to use a
      1.5 Tesla MRI scanner without an endorectal or pelvic phased-array coil. mpMRI
      should be performed following standard biopsy-based PCa diagnosis in both the
      planning and follow-up of FT. If a lesion is seen, MRI-TRUS fusion biopsies
      should be performed for FT planning. Systematic biopsies are still required for
      FT planning in biopsy-naive patients and for patients with residual PCa after FT.
      Standard repeat biopsies should be taken during the follow-up of FT. The final
      decision to perform FT should be based on histopathology. However, these
      consensus statements may differ for expert centers versus non-expert centers.
      CONCLUSIONS: The mpMRI is an important tool for characterizing and targeting PCa
      in clinical practice and FT. Standardization of acquisition and reading should be
      the main priority to guarantee consistent mpMRI quality throughout the urological
      community.

PMID- 27637910
TI  - The Khorana Score in Predicting Venous Thromboembolism for Patients With
      Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma and Variant Histology Treated With Chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Khorana score is a predictive risk model for venous
      thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with cancer planning to receive chemotherapy.
      Urothelial carcinoma and variant histologies (UC/VH) were underrepresented in the
      model. We sought to evaluate whether the Khorana score predicts for VTE in a
      retrospective multinational data set of patients with metastatic UC/VH. METHODS:
      Patients diagnosed with metastatic UC/VH who received chemotherapy were eligible.
      Those with incomplete or miscoded data were excluded. Khorana scores were
      calculated based on the pretreatment data and categorized into high (>=3) or
      intermediate (1-2) VTE risk. Other patient-, tumor-, and therapy-related factors
      were also analyzed. The chi2 and logistic regression analyses were used to assess
      differences in VTE rates based on the clinical characteristics. Subgroup analyses
      were performed to evaluate the Khorana score and associated variables for early
      (<3 months) and late (>3 months) VTE. RESULTS: A total of 943 patients were
      eligible for analysis. The cumulative VTE rate was 9.9%. There was no statistical
      difference in overall VTE rate between Khorana high- and intermediate-risk groups
      ( P = .16). In the multivariate analysis, nonurothelial histology (odds ratio
      [OR] = 2.56; P = .002) and the presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or CVD
      risk factors (OR = 2.14; P = .002) were associated with increased VTE risk. In
      the first 3 months from initiation of chemotherapy, Khorana high risk (OR = 2.08;
      P = .04) was associated with higher VTE rates. White blood cell (WBC) count (OR =
      1.05; P = .04) was the only significant Khorana variable for early VTE.
      CONCLUSIONS: The Khorana score stratifies early but not overall VTE risk in
      patients with metastatic UC/VH. The WBC count drives the increased early VTE risk
      seen with the Khorana score.

PMID- 27637911
TI  - Concomitant Use of Proton-Pump Inhibitors and Clopidogrel Increases the Risk of
      Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Ischemic Stroke Carrying Reduced-Function
      CYP2C19*2.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Conflicting data exist as to whether proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs)
      diminish the efficacy of clopidogrel. The aim of this study was to investigate
      the association between cytochrome P450 ( CYP) genetic variants and clinical
      adverse outcomes of concomitant use of PPIs and clopidogrel by patients. METHODS:
      We consecutively enrolled 523 patients with ischemic stroke receiving
      clopidogrel. Platelet aggregation was measured before and after 7 to 10 days of
      clopidogrel treatment. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms of CYP3A4, CYP3A5,
      CYP2C19*2, and CYP2C19*3 were examined using mass spectrometry. The primary
      outcome was a composite of recurrent ischemic stroke (RIS), myocardial infarction
      (MI), and vascular death that occurred during the 1-year follow-up period. The
      safety outcome was hemorrhagic episodes that occurred during the 1-year follow-up
      period. RESULTS: This study comprised a total of 523 patients with IS, 96.3%
      (155/161) patients treated with PPIs and 95.9% (347/362) in patients treated
      without PPIs completed 1-year follow-up. The primary outcome was observed in 69
      (13.7%) patients (56 RIS, 7 MI, and 6 died). There was no significant difference
      in the frequencies of primary outcome and safety outcome between patients treated
      with or without PPIs. The frequency of primary outcome was significantly higher
      in patients carrying CYP2C19*2 AG/AA genotype receiving PPIs compared with the
      same genotype in those not receiving PPIs. The PPIs used in patients carrying
      CYP2C19*2 AG/AA was independently associated with the primary outcome after
      adjusting for other risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The concomitant use of PPIs and
      clopidogrel may be associated with an increased risk of RIS, MI, or vascular
      death in patients with IS carrying reduced-function CYP2C19*2.

PMID- 27637912
TI  - Medication errors reported to the National Medication Error Reporting System in
      Malaysia: a 4-year retrospective review (2009 to 2012).
AB  - PURPOSE: Reporting and analysing the data on medication errors (MEs) is important
      and contributes to a better understanding of the error-prone environment. This
      study aims to examine the characteristics of errors submitted to the National
      Medication Error Reporting System (MERS) in Malaysia. METHODS: A retrospective
      review of reports received from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012 was
      undertaken. Descriptive statistics method was applied. RESULTS: A total of 17,357
      MEs reported were reviewed. The majority of errors were from public-funded
      hospitals. Near misses were classified in 86.3 % of the errors. The majority of
      errors (98.1 %) had no harmful effects on the patients. Prescribing contributed
      to more than three-quarters of the overall errors (76.1 %). Pharmacists detected
      and reported the majority of errors (92.1 %). Cases of erroneous dosage or
      strength of medicine (30.75 %) were the leading type of error, whilst
      cardiovascular (25.4 %) was the most common category of drug found. CONCLUSIONS:
      MERS provides rich information on the characteristics of reported MEs. Low
      contribution to reporting from healthcare facilities other than government
      hospitals and non-pharmacists requires further investigation. Thus, a feasible
      approach to promote MERS among healthcare providers in both public and private
      sectors needs to be formulated and strengthened. Preventive measures to minimise
      MEs should be directed to improve prescribing competency among the fallible
      prescribers identified.

PMID- 27637913
TI  - Benefits of a national network of drug information centres: RELIS.

PMID- 27637914
TI  - Attempted suicide with rivaroxaban.

PMID- 27637915
TI  - "Metabolically healthy" obesity: Prevalence, clinical features and association
      with myocardial ischaemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of the "metabolically healthy" (MH) or
      "metabolically unhealthy" (MU) obesity phenotypes and their association with
      cardiorespiratory fitness and inducible myocardial ischaemia. METHODS:
      Individuals without known coronary artery disease undergoing myocardial perfusion
      single-photon emission computed tomography (MPS) were studied. Those without
      dyslipidemia, hypertension, or diabetes were considered MH, and when >=1 of these
      was present, MU status was considered present. Summed stress and difference
      perfusion scores (SSS and SDS, respectively) were calculated; a SDS >1 defined
      ischaemic MPS. RESULTS: MH patients were 35.0% of the nonobese population and
      23.5% of the obese (p<0.001). The prevalence of ischaemia was not significantly
      different between MH patients with obesity or MH patients without obesity (10.9%
      vs 9.1%, p=0.3), except for patients with body mass index >=40kg/m2 (21.9%). MH
      obese patients were less frequently able to exercise and had lower exercise
      capacity than the nonobese patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of myocardial
      ischaemia was not significantly different between MH obese or nonobese
      individuals, supporting the concept of the "metabolically healthy obesity".
      However, there are other factors involved, such as the ability to exercise, that
      influence the risk of myocardial ischaemia, limiting the "safety" of that obesity
      phenotype.

PMID- 27637916
TI  - Evaluation of Macro- and Microelement Levels in Black Tea in View of Its
      Geographical Origin.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the elemental composition of black tea
      samples and their infusions in view of their geographical origin. In total, 14
      elements were analyzed, 13 (Ca, K, Mg, Na, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co, Cd, and
      Pb) by flame atomic absorption spectrometry, and P by UV-Vis spectrometry, after
      mineralization of samples. It was found that K was the most abundant macroelement
      in the analyzed samples, whereas among microelements, the highest concentration
      was found for Mn. Based on the obtained data, the percentage of elements leached
      into the infusions as well as the daily elemental intake from tea were
      calculated. The daily intake from tea was compared to the recommended daily
      allowances (RDAs), and the highest percentages of the RDAs were found for Mn (15
      %) and Co (10 %). To study the relations between elemental composition and
      country of origin of samples, factor analysis and cluster analysis were applied.
      These multivariate techniques proved to be efficient tools able to differentiate
      samples according to their provenance as well as plantation within the common
      regions.

PMID- 27637918
TI  - Cross-linking for the analysis of alpha-synuclein in the enteric nervous system.
AB  - Since the observation that aggregated alpha-synuclein, the pathological hallmark
      of Parkinson's disease (PD), is found in the gut in almost all patients, it has
      been suggested that the enteric nervous system (ENS) could be a starting point
      for alpha-synuclein pathology. alpha-synuclein has long been thought to occur as
      a monomer in living cells, but recent studies reported that it instead exists as
      a tetramer in non-neuronal cells and in neurons. Given the possible key role of
      the ENS in PD pathophysiology, we undertook the current research to characterize
      the native state of alpha-synuclein in rat primary culture of ENS and in adult
      human healthy ENS. Using amine-reactive cross-linking, we showed that, by
      contrast to cell lines and brain neurons, alpha-synuclein exists primarily as a
      monomer in intact enteric neurons, suggesting that the native state of alpha
      synuclein is different between the ENS and the brain. Our results provide new
      insights into the widely discussed concepts of alpha-synuclein aggregation and
      misfolding in PD and raise issue about the possible transmission of alpha
      synuclein from the ENS to the brain.

PMID- 27637919
TI  - Economic Evaluation in Ethiopian Healthcare Sector Decision Making: Perception,
      Practice and Barriers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Globally, economic evaluation (EE) is increasingly being considered
      as a critical tool for allocating scarce healthcare resources. However, such
      considerations are less documented in low-income countries, such as in Ethiopia.
      In particular, to date there has been no assessment conducted to evaluate the
      perception and practice of and barriers to health EE. OBJECTIVE: This paper
      assesses the use and perceptions of EE in healthcare decision-making processes in
      Ethiopia. METHODS: In-depth interview sessions with decision makers/healthcare
      managers and program coordinators across six regional health bureaus were
      conducted. A qualitative analysis approach was conducted on three thematic areas.
      RESULTS: A total of 57 decision makers/healthcare managers were interviewed from
      all tiers of the health sector in Ethiopia, ranging from the Federal Ministry of
      Health down to the lower levels of the health facility pyramid. At the high-level
      healthcare decision-making tier, only 56 % of those interviewed showed a good
      understanding of EE when explaining in terms of cost and consequences of
      alternative courses of action and value for money. From the specific program
      perspective, 50 % of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS
      program coordinators indicated the relevance of EE to program planning and
      decision making. These respondents reported a limited application of costing
      studies on the HIV/AIDS prevention and control program, which were most commonly
      used during annual planning and budgeting. CONCLUSION: The study uncovered three
      important barriers to growth of EE in Ethiopia: a lack of awareness, a lack of
      expertise and skill, and the traditional decision-making culture.

PMID- 27637920
TI  - Health State Utility Values for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Review and
      Advice.
AB  - Health state utility values are a major source of uncertainty in economic
      evaluations of interventions for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This
      review identifies and critiques published utility values and methods for
      eliciting de novo utility values in AMD. We describe how utility values have been
      used in healthcare decision making and provide guidance on the choice of utility
      values for future economic evaluations for AMD. Literature was searched using
      PubMed, and health technology assessments (HTA) were searched using HTA agency
      websites to identify articles reporting utility values or approaches to derive
      utility values in AMD and articles applying utilities for use in healthcare
      decision making relating to treatments for AMD. A total of 70 studies qualified
      for data extraction, 22 of which were classified as containing utility values
      and/or elicitation methods, and 48 were classified as using utility values in
      decision making. A large number of studies have elicited utility values for AMD,
      although those applied to decision making have focused on a few of these. There
      is an appreciation of the challenges in the measurement and valuation of health
      states, with recent studies addressing challenges such as the insensitivity of
      generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires and utility in the
      worse-seeing eye. We would encourage careful consideration when choosing utility
      values in decision making and an explicit critique of their applicability to the
      decision problem.

PMID- 27637917
TI  - Somatic mutation analysis of KRAS, BRAF, HER2 and PTEN in EGFR mutation-negative
      non-small cell lung carcinoma: determination of frequency, distribution pattern
      and identification of novel deletion in HER2 gene from Indian patients.
AB  - Somatic mutations of KRAS, BRAF, HER2, PTEN genes are the most important
      molecular markers after the EGFR gene mutation. The current study evaluated the
      frequency and distribution pattern of KRAS, BRAF, HER2, PTEN mutation in Indian
      non-small cell lung carcinoma patients. The frequency of KRAS, BRAF, HER2, PTEN
      mutations was 6.4 % (14/204), 1.5 % (3/204), 1.5 % (3/204), 0 % (0/204),
      respectively. KRAS, BRAF, HER2 mutations were more prevalent in males than in
      females. KRAS and HER2 showed a trend of a higher frequency of mutation in the
      age group of <60 years, whereas BRAF mutations were more frequent in the age
      group of >=60 years. Sequencing analysis of KRAS gene revealed c.34G>T (G12C) (n
      = 8), c.35G>A (G12D) (n = 3), c.35G>T (G12 V) (n = 1) and c.34G>T (G12C)/c.41T>C
      (V14A) (n = 2) mutations. Three different BRAF mutations (L584P: n = 1, V600E: n
      = 1, K601E: n = 1) were detected. Two cases harboured c.2324_2325ins12
      (ATACGTGATGGC duplication) in HER2 gene, and one case was positive for
      NG_007503.2 (NM_001005862.2):c.2218-4del. It is less certain, but still quite
      possible that this mutation will affect splicing as the deletion of one C
      actually brings in one additional purine into the region. In conclusion, the
      present study demonstrates an instance of diverse nature of KRAS, BRAF, HER2 and
      PTEN gene in Indian patients and confirms that the frequency of these gene
      mutations varies globally. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Indian
      study to evaluate KRAS, BRAF, HER2 and PTEN gene mutations. 

PMID- 27637921
TI  - The pCONus Device in Treatment of Wide-necked Aneurysms : Technical and Midterm
      Clinical and Angiographic Results.
AB  - PURPOSE: A variety of devices for treatment of wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms
      are emerging. Here we report our results using the new pCONus device with special
      emphasis on the morphological and anatomical requirements for successful
      implantation. METHODS: In this study we treated 21 patients with 22 aneurysms by
      endovascular interventions. After providing informed consent, patients were
      included according to the following criteria: aneurysm dome to neck ratio <2 or
      neck diameter >4 mm. The primary end points for clinical safety were the absence
      of death, absence of major or minor stroke and absence of transient ischemic
      attack. RESULTS: A total of 22 aneurysms in 21 patients were treated with pCONus
      assisted coiling. In 19 patients harboring 20 aneurysms the implantation of the
      device was successful and these aneurysms showed an adequate occlusion after 6
      months in 95 %. The complication rate was low (5 %) with one case of minor
      neurological stroke. Analysis of the data showed that the difference in aneurysm
      angulation between successful (mean 45 degrees ) and failed implantations (mean
      71.5 degrees ) was highly significant. CONCLUSION: Use of the pCONus device and
      coiling in wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms is safe and provides good occlusion
      rates but might be limited by the angulation between the aneurysm and the parent
      vessel.

PMID- 27637922
TI  - Intraparenchymal Hyperattenuations on Flat-Panel CT Directly After Mechanical
      Thrombectomy are Restricted to the Initial Infarct Core on Diffusion-Weighted
      Imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: The presence of intraparenchymal hyperattenuations (IPH) on flat-panel
      computed tomography (FP-CT) after endovascular recanalization in stroke patients
      is a common phenomenon. They are thought to occur in ischemic areas with
      breakdown of the blood-brain barrier but previous studies that investigated a
      mutual interaction are scarce. We aimed to assess the relationship of IPH
      localization with prethrombectomy diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions.
      METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study included 27 acute stroke patients
      who underwent DWI prior to FP-CT following mechanical thrombectomy. After
      software-based coregistration of DWI and FP-CT, lesion volumetry was conducted
      and overlapping was analyzed. RESULTS: Two different patterns were observed: IPH
      corresponding to the DWI lesion and IPH exceeding the DWI lesion. The latter
      showed demarcated infarction of DWI exceeding IPH at 24 h. No major hemorrhage
      following IPH was observed. Most IPH were manifested within the basal ganglia and
      insular cortex. CONCLUSION: The IPH primarily appeared within the initial
      ischemic core and secondarily within the penumbral tissue that progressed to
      infarction. The IPH represent the minimum final infarct volume, which may help in
      periinterventional decision making.

PMID- 27637923
TI  - Fluorescent substrates for ADAM15 useful for assaying and high throughput
      screening.
AB  - A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 15 (ADAM15), also known as metargidin, plays
      important roles in regulating inflammation, wound healing, neovascularization,
      and is an attractive drug target. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
      based peptide substrates were tested to identify candidate reagents for high
      throughput screening and detection of ADAM15 in biological samples. ADAM15
      exhibits a unique and diverse activity profile compared to other
      metalloproteinases. Two FRET substrates, Dabcyl-Gly-Pro-Leu-Gly-Met-Arg-Gly
      Lys(FAM)-NH2 (PEPDAB011) and Dabcyl-Ala-Pro-Arg-Trp-Ile-Gln-Asp-Lys(FAM)-NH2
      (PEPDAB017), which also detect activities of several matrix metalloproteinases
      (MMPs -2, -9, and -13), were efficiently cleaved by ADAM15 with specificity
      constants of 5800 M-1 s-1 and 4300 M-1 s-1, respectively. Additionally, ADAM15
      efficiently processed Dabcyl-Leu-Arg-Glu-Gln-Gln-Arg-Leu-Lys-Ser-Lys(FAM)-NH2
      (PEPDAB022), which is based on a physiological CD23 cleavage site, with a
      specificity constant (kcat/Km) of 5200 M-1 s-1. PEPDAB022 was used to screen the
      ability of known metalloproteinase inhibitors including TAPI-2, marimastat, GI
      254023, and the Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases(TIMPs) 1 and 3 to block
      ADAM15 activity. Even though ADAM15 exhibits similar substrate preferences to
      other metalloproteinases, many broad spectrum inhibitors failed to block ADAM15
      activity at concentrations as high as 50 MUM. Thus, a clear need exists to
      develop potent and selective ADAM15 inhibitors, and the FRET substrates described
      herein should aid future research efforts towards this aim.

PMID- 27637924
TI  - Enhanced cytotoxic and apoptosis inducing activity of lycopene oxidation products
      in different cancer cell lines.
AB  - Currently, upon understanding the metabolomics of carotenoids, it is important to
      address the key role of carotenoid derived products. In this regard, aim of the
      study was to elucidate and explore the role of lycopene (LYC) oxidative products
      generated through autoxidation (AOL) or chemical (KMnO4) oxidation (COL) against
      proliferation of selected cancer cells. Preliminary, we investigated the effect
      of LYC on cell viability of various cancer cell lines (PC-3, MCF-7, A431, HepG2,
      HeLa and A549). Based on the results of LYC treatment on cell cytotoxicity
      levels, MCF-7, PC-3 and HeLa cell lines were further tested with AOL and COL
      products. The decreased cell viability with depleted GSH and increased MDA levels
      were observed when treated with COL products than control, LYC and AOL. In
      addition, COL products increased ROS levels and percent apoptosis. The typical
      morphological changes and nuclear condensations showed that COL products have
      anti-proliferation and apoptosis inducing activity. Based on results, we
      hypothesized that ROS generation by LYC oxidation products may be one of
      intermediate step involved in apoptosis. The redox status and therapeutic
      approach of COL products in modulating ROS and induction of apoptosis in cancer
      cells were reported for the first time, to our knowledge. To conclude, COL
      products involves in cancer growth inhibition efficiently than intact LYC and
      AOL. Hence, there is a great potential for synthesizing or producing such
      carotenoid oxidation products to augment cancer complication.

PMID- 27637925
TI  - Gender differences in pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of 3
      perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in rats.
AB  - The aim of this study was to confirm and investigate the gender differences in
      pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics and tissue distribution of 3 perfluoroalkyl
      and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) consisted of perfluorooctanoic acid
      (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid
      (PFHxS) in both male and female rats. For this study, a simultaneous
      determination method of the 3 PFASs in rat plasma and tissues was developed and
      validated using a UPLC-MS/MS system. The PK parameters after a single oral or
      intravenous administration of the 3 PFASs in both rats were calculated using
      WinNonlin(r) software. The mean half-life of the 3 PFASs in female and male rats
      was in the range of 0.15-0.19 and 1.6-1.8 days for PFOA, 23.5-24.8 and 26.4-28.7
      days for PFOS, and 0.9-1.7 and 20.7-26.9 days for PFHxS, respectively. The 3
      PFASs were highly distributed in the liver and kidney. These results suggest that
      there are gender differences in the PKs for PFOA and PFHxS in rats, whereas the
      PFOS represented no significant gender differences except the Kp value of liver.
      The validated simultaneous determination method of the 3 PFASs was also within
      the accepted criteria of the international guidance.

PMID- 27637926
TI  - A New Recessive Gene Conferring Resistance Against Rice Blast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rice blast (causative pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae) represents a major
      biotic constraint over rice production. While numerous genes for resistance have
      been found in both japonica and indica germplasm, as yet the diversity harbored
      by aus germplasm has not been widely exploited. RESULTS: The blast resistance
      present in the aus type cultivar AS20-1 was shown, via an analysis of segregation
      in the F2 generation bred from a cross with the highly blast susceptible cultivar
      Aichi Asahi, to be due to the action of a single recessive gene, denoted pi66(t).
      The presence of pi66(t) gave an intermediate level control to plants infected
      with the blast pathogen isolate EHL0635. A bulked segregant analysis indicated
      that four microsatellite loci (SSRs) mapping to chromosome 3 were probably linked
      to pi66(t). Localized mapping using chromosome 3-based SSRs and Indels defined a
      genetic window for pi66(t), flanked by the markers F04-j2 and M19-i12, which
      physically equals to 27.7 and 49.0 kb, respectively, in the reference genomes of
      cultivars Nipponbare and 93-11. This physical interval does not harbor any major
      gene currently associated with disease resistance. CONCLUSION: pi66(t) is one of
      just three recessive genes controlling rice blast, and is the first major gene
      for resistance to be mapped to chromosome 3.

PMID- 27637927
TI  - Differential ligand regulation of PlexB signaling in motor neuron axon guidance
      in Drosophila.
AB  - Plexins (Plexs) are a large family of phylogenetically conserved guidance
      receptors that bind specifically to semaphorins (Semas), another large family of
      guidance molecules. In the Drosophila embryonic central nervous system (CNS), the
      secreted semaphorins Sema-2a and Sema-2b both act as ligands for PlexB, but
      mediate mutually independent and opposite functions (repulsive and attractive
      guidance, respectively). PlexB is also known to regulate motor axon guidance in
      the embryonic peripheral nervous system (PNS). However, it is unclear whether the
      mechanisms of ligand regulation of PlexB seen in the CNS are similar or the same
      as those that exist in PNS motor axon guidance. Here, we find that two distinct
      modes of ligand regulation underlie differential roles of PlexB in PNS motor axon
      pathfinding during embryonic development. Epistasis analyses in the
      intersegmental nerve b (ISNb) pathway suggest that PlexB serves as a receptor for
      both Sema-2a and Sema-2b and integrates their mutually dependent but opposite
      guidance functions. Furthermore, we present evidence that PlexB mediates not only
      Sema-2a/2b-dependent guidance functions, but also Sema-2a/2b-independent target
      recognition in establishing the segmental nerve a (SNa) motor axon pathway. These
      results demonstrate that a single guidance receptor can elicit diverse effects on
      the establishment of neuronal connectivity via regulation of its ligands
      themselves.

PMID- 27637929
TI  - CeF3-ZnO scintillating nanocomposite for self-lighted photodynamic therapy of
      cancer.
AB  - We report on the synthesis and characterization of a composite nanostructure
      based on the coupling of cerium fluoride (CeF3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) for
      applications in self-lighted photodynamic therapy. Self-lighted photodynamic
      therapy is a novel approach for the treatment of deep cancers by low doses of X
      rays. CeF3 is an efficient scintillator: when illuminated by X-rays it emits UV
      light by fluorescence at 325 nm. In this work, we simulate this effect by
      exciting directly CeF3 fluorescence by UV radiation. ZnO is photo-activated in
      cascade, to produce reactive oxygen species. This effect was recently
      demonstrated in a physical mixture of distinct nanoparticles of CeF3 and ZnO
      [Radiat. Meas. (2013) 59:139-143]. Oxide surface provides a platform for rational
      functionalization, e.g., by targeting molecules for specific tumors. Our
      composite nanostructure is stable in aqueous media with excellent optical
      coupling between the two components; we characterize its uptake and its good cell
      viability, with very low intrinsic cytotoxicity in dark. 

PMID- 27637928
TI  - Duloxetine prevents the effects of prenatal stress on depressive-like and anxiety
      like behavior and hippocampal expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in adult
      male offspring rats.
AB  - Stress during pregnancy may cause neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.
      However, the mechanisms are largely unknown. Currently, pro-inflammatory
      cytokines have been identified as a risk factor for depression and anxiety
      disorder. Unfortunately, there is very little research on the long-term effects
      of prenatal stress on the neuroinflammatory system of offspring. Moreover, the
      relationship between antidepressant treatment and cytokines in the central
      nervous system, especially in the hippocampus, an important emotion modulation
      center, is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects
      of prenatal chronic mild stress during development on affective-like behaviors
      and hippocampal cytokines in adult offspring, and to verify whether
      antidepressant (duloxetine) administration from early adulthood could prevent the
      harmful consequences. To do so, prenatally stressed and non-stressed Sprague
      Dawley rats were treated with either duloxetine (10mg/kg/day) or vehicle from
      postnatal day 60 for 21days. Adult offspring were divided into four groups: 1)
      prenatal stress+duloxetine treatment, 2) prenatal stress+vehicle, 3) duloxetine
      treatment alone, and 4) vehicle alone. Adult offspring were assessed for anxiety
      like behavior using the open field test and depression-like behavior using the
      forced swim test. Brains were analyzed for pro-inflammatory cytokine markers in
      the hippocampus via real-time PCR. Results demonstrate that prenatal stress
      induced anxiety- and depression-like behaviors are associated with an increase in
      hippocampal inflammatory mediators, and duloxetine administration prevents the
      increased hippocampal pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 and anxiety- and
      depression-like behavior in prenatally stressed adult offspring. This research
      provides important evidence on the long-term effect of PNS exposure during
      development in a model of maternal adversity to study the pathogenesis of
      depression and its therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 27637930
TI  - Molecular characterization of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      isolates from high prevalence tuberculosis states in Mexico.
AB  - Mexico is one of the most important contributors of multidrug resistance
      tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Latin-America, however little is known about the
      molecular characteristics of these strains. For this reason, the objective of
      this work was to determine the genotype and characterize polymorphisms in genes
      associated with resistance to rifampicin, isoniazid, and second-line drugs in
      isolates from two regions of Mexico with high prevalence of drug resistant
      tuberculosis. Clinical isolates from individuals with confirmed MDR-TB were
      genotyped using MIRU-VNTR 12 loci. To characterize the polymorphisms in genes
      associated with resistance to rifampicin, isoniazid and second-line drugs; rpoB,
      katG, inhA, rrs, eis, gyrA, gyrB and tlyA were sequenced. 22 (41%) of the 54 MDR
      TB isolates recovered were from the state of Baja California, while 32 (59%) were
      from Veracruz. The results show the katGS315T mutation was observed in 20%
      (11/54) of the isolates, while rpoBS315L was present in 33% (18/54). rrs had
      three polymorphisms (T1239C, ntA1401C and ntA1401G), gyrB presented no
      modifications, whereas gyrA showed five (S95T, F60Y, A90V, S91P and P124A), eis
      two (G-10A and A431G) and tlyA one (insertion at codon 67). Only 20% (11/54) of
      isolates were confirmed as MDR-TB by sequencing, and no mutations at any of the
      genes sequenced were observed in 43% (23/54) of the strains. Two isolates were
      recognized with the proper set of mutations like pre-XDR and one was XDR-TB.
      Eighteen isolates were classified as orphans and the remaining thirty-six were
      distributed in fourteen lineages, the most frequent were S (11%), Haarlem (9%),
      Ghana (9%) and LAM (7%). Out of the fourteen clusters identified, seven included
      unknown genotypes and nine had lineages. This is one of the most detailed
      analyses of genotypic characteristics and mutations associated with drug
      resistance to first and second-line drugs in MDR-TB isolates from Mexico. An
      important genetic variability and significant discrepancy between phenotypic
      tests and polymorphisms was observed. Our results set the need to screen
      additional loci as well as implement a molecular epidemiological surveillance
      system of MDR-TB in the country.

PMID- 27637931
TI  - Bioinformatics tools and databases for whole genome sequence analysis of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of global public health importance
      caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) in which M. tuberculosis (Mtb)
      is the major causative agent. Recent advancements in genomic technologies such as
      next generation sequencing have enabled high throughput cost-effective generation
      of whole genome sequence information from Mtb clinical isolates, providing new
      insights into the evolution, genomic diversity and transmission of the Mtb
      bacteria, including molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. The large
      volume of sequencing data generated however necessitated effective and efficient
      management, storage, analysis and visualization of the data and results through
      development of novel and customized bioinformatics software tools and databases.
      In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive survey of the current freely
      available bioinformatics software tools and publicly accessible databases for
      genomic analysis of Mtb for identifying disease transmission in molecular
      epidemiology and in rapid determination of the antibiotic profiles of clinical
      isolates for prompt and optimal patient treatment.

PMID- 27637932
TI  - Phylogenetic placement of two species known only from resting spores: Zoophthora
      independentia sp. nov. and Z. porteri comb nov. (Entomophthorales:
      Entomophthoraceae).
AB  - Molecular methods were used to determine the generic placement of two species of
      Entomophthorales known only from resting spores. Historically, these species
      would belong in the form-genus Tarichium, but this classification provides no
      information about phylogenetic relationships. Using DNA from resting spores,
      Zoophthora independentia, infecting Tipula (Lunatipula) submaculata in New York
      State, is now described as a new species and Tarichium porteri, described in
      1942, which infects Tipula (Triplicitipula) colei in Tennessee, is transferred to
      the genus Zoophthora. We have shown that use of molecular methods can assist with
      determination of the phylogenetic relations of specimens within the form-genus
      Tarichium for an already described species and a new species for which only
      resting spores are available.

PMID- 27637933
TI  - Investigation of Microbubble Cavitation-Induced Calcein Release from Cells In
      Vitro.
AB  - In the present study, microbubble (MB) cavitation signal analysis was performed
      together with calcein release evaluation in both pressure and exposure duration
      domains of the acoustic field. A passive cavitation detection system was used to
      simultaneously measure MB scattering and attenuation signals for subsequent
      extraction efficiency relative to MB cavitation activity. The results indicate
      that the decrease in the efficiency of extraction of calcein molecules from
      Chinese hamster ovary cells, as well as cell viability, is associated with MB
      cavitation activity and can be accurately predicted using inertial cavitation
      doses up to 0.18 V * s (R2 > 0.9, p < 0.0001). No decrease in additional calcein
      release or cell viability was observed after complete MB sonodestruction was
      achieved. This indicates that the optimal exposure duration within which maximal
      sono-extraction efficiency is obtained coincides with the time necessary to
      achieve complete MB destruction. These results illustrate the importance of MB
      inertial cavitation in the sono-extraction process. To our knowledge, this study
      is the first to (i) investigate small molecule extraction from cells via
      sonoporation and (ii) relate the extraction process to the quantitative
      characteristics of MB cavitation acoustic spectra.

PMID- 27637934
TI  - Automatic Differential Diagnosis of Melanocytic Skin Tumors Using Ultrasound
      Data.
AB  - We describe a novel automatic diagnostic system based on quantitative analysis of
      ultrasound data for differential diagnosis of melanocytic skin tumors. The
      proposed method has been tested on 160 ultrasound data sets (80 of malignant
      melanoma and 80 of benign melanocytic nevi). Acoustical, textural and shape
      features have been evaluated for each segmented lesion. Using parameters selected
      according to Mahalanobis distance and linear support vector machine classifier,
      we are able to differentiate malignant melanoma from benign melanocytic skin
      tumors with 82.4% accuracy (sensitivity = 85.8%, specificity = 79.6%). The
      results indicate that high-frequency ultrasound has the potential to be used for
      differential diagnosis of melanocytic skin tumors and to provide supplementary
      information on lesion penetration depth. The proposed system can be used as an
      additional tool for clinical decision support to improve the early-stage
      detection of malignant melanoma.

PMID- 27637935
TI  - Chairman's preface.

PMID- 27637936
TI  - Safe roundabouts for cyclists.
AB  - May roundabouts be safer for cyclists than intersections? How are safe
      roundabouts designed? This paper tries to answer these questions on the basis of
      a before-after safety study of conversions of intersections to 255 single-lane
      roundabouts in Denmark. The before-after study accounts for long-term accident
      and injury trends and regression-to-the-mean effects. In order to relate safety
      effects for cyclists of various roundabout design features it is crucial to split
      the converted sites by speed limit, because safety effects for both cyclists and
      other road users of converting intersections to roundabouts depend heavily on
      speed limits on roads entering the converted sites. If speed limits are 70km/h or
      higher then converting intersections to roundabouts have resulted in bicycle
      safety improvements in Denmark. Results show that diameter and height of central
      islands and type of bicycle facilities at single-lane roundabouts have
      considerable impacts on cyclists' safety. Central island diameters of 20-40m are
      safer for cyclists than smaller or larger roundabouts. A central island, which
      middle is elevated 2m or more above the circulating lane, is safer for cyclists
      than single-lane roundabouts with lower central islands. Single-lane roundabouts
      with separate cycle paths, where cyclists must yield to motorists entering or
      exiting the roundabout, are safer than roundabouts with cycle lanes. Single-lane
      roundabouts are safer for cyclists than intersections regardless of speed limits
      when these roundabouts have high central islands and/or separate cycle paths.

PMID- 27637938
TI  - Narcissism, self-esteem, and the phenomenology of autobiographical memories.
AB  - Across two studies, we investigated the influence of narcissism and self-esteem
      along with gender on phenomenological ratings across the four subscales of the
      Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire (AMQ; impact, recollection, rehearsal, and
      belief). Memory cues varied in valence (positive vs. negative) and agency
      (agentic vs. communal). In Study 2, we used different memory cues reflecting
      these four Valence by Agency conditions and additionally investigated retrieval
      times for the autobiographical memories (AMs). Results were consistent with the
      agency model of narcissism [Campbell, W. K., Brunell, A. B., & Finkel, E. J.
      (2006). Narcissism, interpersonal self-regulation, and romantic relationships: An
      agency model approach. In E. J. Finkel & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Self and
      relationships: Connecting intrapersonal and interpersonal processes. New York,
      NY: Guilford], which characterises narcissists as being more concerned with
      agentic (self-focused) rather than communal (other-focused) positive self
      relevant information. Narcissism predicted greater phenomenology across the four
      subscales for the positive-agentic memories (Study 1: clever; Study 2:
      attractive, talented) as well as faster memory retrieval times. Narcissism also
      predicted greater recollection and faster retrieval times for the negative
      communal AMs (Study 1: rude; Study 2: annoying, dishonest). In contrast, self
      esteem predicted greater phenomenology and faster retrieval times for the
      positive-communal AMs (Study 1: cooperative; Study 2: romantic, sympathetic). In
      both studies, results of LIWC analyses further differentiated between narcissism
      and self-esteem in the content (word usage) of the AMs.

PMID- 27637942
TI  - Concentrations and patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls at different process
      stages of cement kilns co-processing waste incinerator fly ash.
AB  - Cement kilns can be used to co-process fly ash from municipal solid waste
      incinerators. However, this might increase emission of organic pollutants like
      polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Knowledge of PCB concentrations and homolog and
      congener patterns at different stages in this process could be used to assess the
      possibility of simultaneously controlling emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p
      dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and "dioxin-like" compounds. To date,
      emissions from cement kilns co-processing fly ash from municipal solid waste
      incinerators have not been analyzed for PCBs. In this study, stack gas and
      particulate samples from two cement kilns co-processing waste incinerator fly ash
      were analyzed for PCBs. The average total tri- to deca-chlorinated biphenyl (?3
      10PCB) concentration in the stack gas samples was 10.15ngm-3. The ?3-10PCB
      concentration ranges in particulate samples from different stages were 0.83
      41.79ngg-1 for cement kiln 1and0.13-1.69ngg-1 for cement kiln 2. The ?3-10PCB
      concentrations were much higher in particulate samples from the suspension pre
      heater boiler, humidifier tower, and kiln back-end bag filters than in
      particulate samples from other stages. For these three stages, PCBs contributed
      to 15-18% of the total PCB, PCDD/F, and polychlorinated naphthalene toxic
      equivalents in stack gases and particulate matter. The PCB distributions were
      similar to those found in other studies for PCDD/Fs and polychlorinated
      naphthalenes, which suggest that it may be possible to simultaneously control
      emissions of multiple organic pollutants from cement kilns. Homolog patterns in
      the particulate samples were dominated by the pentachlorobiphenyls. CB-105, CB
      118, and CB-123 were the dominant dioxin-like PCB congeners that formed at the
      back-end of the cement kiln. A mass balance of PCBs in the cement kilns indicated
      that the total mass of PCBs in the stack gases and clinker was about half the
      mass of PCBs in the raw materials.

PMID- 27637937
TI  - MicroRNA reduction of neuronal West Nile virus replication attenuates and affords
      a protective immune response in mice.
AB  - West Nile virus (WNV) is an important agent of human encephalitis that has
      quickly become endemic across much of the United States since its identification
      in North America in 1999. While the majority (~75%) of infections are
      subclinical, neurologic disease can occur in a subset of cases, with outcomes
      including permanent neurologic damage and death. Currently, there are no WNV
      vaccines approved for use in humans. This study introduces a novel vaccine
      platform for WNV to reduce viral replication in the central nervous system while
      maintaining peripheral replication to elicit strong neutralizing antibody titers.
      Vaccine candidates were engineered to incorporate microRNA (miRNA) target
      sequences for a cognate miRNA expressed only in neurons, allowing the host miRNAs
      to target viral transcription through endogenous RNA silencing. To maintain
      stability, these targets were incorporated in multiple locations within the 3'
      untranslated region, flanking sequences essential for viral replication without
      affecting the viral open reading frame. All candidates replicated comparably to
      wild type WNV in vitro within cells that did not express the cognate miRNA.
      Insertional control viruses were also capable of neuroinvasion and neurovirulence
      in vivo in CD-1 mice. Vaccine viruses were safe at all doses tested and did not
      demonstrate mutations associated with a reversion to virulence when serially
      passaged in mice. All vaccine constructs were protective from lethal challenge in
      mice, producing 93-100% protection at the highest dose tested. Overall, this is a
      safe and effective attenuation strategy with broad potential application for
      vaccine development.

PMID- 27637943
TI  - Purification and characterization of an extracellular beta-xylosidase from
      Pseudozyma hubeiensis NCIM 3574 (PhXyl), an unexplored yeast.
AB  - This paper reports on the production of beta-xylosidase from an unexplored yeast,
      Pseudozyma hubeinsis. The expression of this enzyme could be induced by beech
      wood xylan when the yeast was grown at 27  degrees C. The enzyme was purified to
      homogeneity as a glycoprotein with 23 % glycosylation. The purification protocol
      involved ammonium sulphate precipitation, QAE-Sephadex A50 ion exchange
      chromatography and sephacryl-200 column chromatography which resulted in 8.3-fold
      purification with 53.12 % final recovery. The purified enzyme showed prominent
      single band on SDS-PAGE. It is a monomeric protein of 110 kDa molecular weight
      confirmed by SDS-PAGE followed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (112.3 kDa). The
      enzyme was optimally active at 60  degrees C and pH 4.5 and stable at pH range (4
      9) and at 50  degrees C for 4 h. Chemical modification studies revealed that
      active site of the purified enzyme comprised of carboxyl, tyrosine and tryptophan
      residues. The carboxyl residue is involved in catalysis and tryptophan residue is
      solely involved in substrate binding. The best match from the search of the
      NCBInr database was with gi|808364558 glycoside hydrolase of Pseudozyma
      hubeiensis SY62 with 26 % sequence coverage confirming that it is a glycoside
      hydrolase/beta-glucosidase. From the search of customized SWISSPROT database, it
      was revealed that SWISSPROT does not contain any entries that are similar to the
      purified enzyme. 

PMID- 27637944
TI  - Screening of genes involved in interactions with intestinal epithelial cells in
      Cronobacter sakazakii.
AB  - Cronobacter sakazakii possesses a significant ability to adhere to and invade
      epithelial cells in its host. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this
      process are poorly understood. In the current study, the adhesive and invasive
      capabilities of 56 C. sakazakii strains against human epithelial cells were
      evaluated, and one of them was selected for construction of a mutant library
      using the Tn5 transposon. In a systematic analysis of the adhesive and invasive
      capabilities of 1084 mutants, 10 mutants that showed more than a 50 % reduction
      in adhesion or invasion were obtained. Tail-PCR was used to sequence the flanking
      regions of the inserted transposon and 8 different genes (in 10 different
      mutants) were identified that encoded an exonuclease subunit, a sugar
      transporter, a transcriptional regulator, two flagellar biosynthesis proteins,
      and three hypothetical proteins. Raman spectroscopy was used to analyze
      variations in the biochemical components of the mutants, and the results showed
      that there were fewer amide III proteins, protein -CH deformations, nucleic acids
      and tyrosines and more phenylalanine, carotenes, and fatty acids in the mutants
      than in the wild type strain. Real-time PCR was used to further confirm the
      involvement of the genes in the adhesive and invasive abilities of C. sakazakii,
      and the results indicated that the expression levels of the 8 identified genes
      were upregulated 1.2- to 11.2-fold. The results of this study provide us with
      insight into the mechanism by which C. sakazakii infects host cells at molecular
      level. 

PMID- 27637945
TI  - NFAP2, a novel cysteine-rich anti-yeast protein from Neosartorya fischeri NRRL
      181: isolation and characterization.
AB  - The increasing incidence of fungal infections and damages due to drug-resistant
      fungi urges the development of new antifungal strategies. The cysteine-rich
      antifungal proteins from filamentous ascomycetes provide a feasible base for
      protection against molds due to their potent antifungal activity on them. In
      contrast to this, they show no or weak activity on yeasts, hence their
      applicability against this group of fungi is questionable. In the present study a
      5.6 kDa anti-yeast protein (NFAP2) is isolated, identified and characterized from
      the ferment broth of Neosartorya fischeri NRRL 181. Based on a phylogenetic
      analysis, NFAP2 and its putative homologs represent a new group of ascomycetous
      cysteine-rich antifungal proteins. NFAP2 proved to be highly effective against
      tested yeasts involving clinically relevant Candida species. NFAP2 did not cause
      metabolic inactivity and apoptosis induction, but its plasma membrane disruption
      ability was observed on Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The antifungal activity was
      maintained after high temperature treatment presumably due to the in silico
      predicted stable tertiary structure. The disulfide bond-stabilized, heat
      resistant folded structure of NFAP2 was experimentally proved. After further
      investigations of antifungal mechanism, structure and toxicity, NFAP2 could be
      applicable as a potent antifungal agent against yeasts. 

PMID- 27637946
TI  - Association of running manner with bacterial community dynamics in a partial
      short-term nitrifying bioreactor for treatment of piggery wastewater with high
      ammonia content.
AB  - Optimization of running parameters in a bioreactor requires detailed
      understanding of microbial community dynamics during the startup and running
      periods. Using a novel piggery wastewater treatment system termed "UASB + SHARON
      + ANAMMOX" constructed in our laboratory, we investigated microbial community
      dynamics using the Illumina MiSeq method, taking activated sludge samples at ~2
      week intervals during a ~300-day period. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were
      further investigated by quantification of AOB amoA genes and construction of gene
      clone libraries. Major changes in bacterial community composition and dynamics
      occurred when running manner was changed from continuous flow manner (CFM) to
      sequencing batch manner (SBM), and when effluent from an upflow anaerobic sludge
      blanket (UASB) reactor for practical treatment of real piggery wastewater was
      used as influent; differences among these three experimental groups were
      significant (R (2)  = 0.94, p < 0.01). When running manner was changed from CFM
      to SBM, relative abundance of the genus Nitrospira decreased sharply from 18.1 %
      on day 116 to 1.5 % on day 130, and to undetectable level thereafter. Relative
      abundance of the genus Nitrosomonas increased from ~0.67 % during the CFM period
      to 8.0 % by day 220, and thereafter decreased to a near-constant ~1.6 %.
      Environmental factors such as load ammonia, effluent ammonia, effluent nitrite,
      UASB effluent, pH, and DO levels collectively drove bacterial community dynamics
      and contributed to maintenance of effluent NH4 (+)-N/NO2 (-)-N ratio ~1. Theses
      results might provide useful clues for the control of the startup processes and
      maintaining high efficiency of such bioreactors. 

PMID- 27637947
TI  - Cloning, expression, and characterization of a peptidoglycan hydrolase from the
      Burkholderia pseudomallei phage ST79.
AB  - The lytic phage ST79 of Burkholderia pseudomallei can lyse a broad range of its
      host including antibiotic resistant isolates from within using a set of proteins,
      holin, lysB, lysC and endolysin, a peptidoglycan (PG) hydrolase enzyme. The phage
      ST79 endolysin gene identified as peptidase M15A was cloned, expressed and
      purified to evaluate its potential to lyse pathogenic bacteria. The molecular
      size of the purified enzyme is approximately 18 kDa and the in silico study cited
      here indicated the presence of a zinc-binding domain predicted to be a member of
      the subfamily A of a metallopeptidase. Its activity, however, was reduced by the
      presence of Zn(2+). When Escherichia coli PG was used as a substrate and
      subjected to digestion for 5 min with 3 MUg/ml of enzyme, the peptidase M15A
      showed 2 times higher in lysis efficiency when compared to the commercial
      lysozyme. The enzyme works in a broad alkaligenic pH range of 7.5-9.0 and
      temperatures from 25 to 42  degrees C. The enzyme was able to lyse 18 Gram
      negative bacteria in which the outer membrane was permeabilized by chloroform
      treatment. Interestingly, it also lysed Enterococcus sp., but not other Gram
      positive bacteria. In general, endolysin cannot lyse Gram-negative bacteria from
      outside, however, the cationic amphipathic C-terminal in some endolysins showed
      permeability to Gram-negative outer membranes. Genetically engineered ST79
      peptidase M15A that showed a broad spectrum against Gram-negative bacterial PG
      or, in combination with an antibiotic the same way as combined drug methodology,
      could facilitate an effective treatment of severe or antibiotic resistant cases. 

PMID- 27637948
TI  - Oleaginous yeasts from Ethiopia.
AB  - Oleaginous microorganisms can produce high amounts of oil (>20 % of their
      biomass) under suitable cultivation conditions. In this research work 200 samples
      were collected from soil, plant surfaces (leaves, flowers and fruits), waste oils
      from traditional oil milling houses and dairy products (cheese, milk and yoghurt)
      in Ethiopia. Three hundred and forty yeast colonies were isolated from these
      samples. By applying Sudan III staining tests, 18 strains were selected as
      possible oleaginous yeasts. The 18 strains were identified and characterized for
      their lipid production as a feedstock for biodiesel production in the future.
      They were identified using morphological and physiological methods as well as
      sequencing the 3'end of the small-subunit rRNA gene, the internal transcribed
      spacer regions (ITS; ITS 1, ITS 2 and the intervening 5.8S rRNA gene), and the
      D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene. The 18 yeasts were identified as
      Cutaneotrichosporon curvatus (syn, Cryptococcus curvatus) (PY39), Rhodotorula
      kratochvilovae (syn, Rhodosporidium kratochvilovae) (SY89), Rhodotorula
      dairenensis (SY94) and Rhodotourula mucilaginosa (SY09, SY18, SY20, PY21, PY23,
      PY25, SY30, PY32, SY43, PY44, SY52, PY55, PY61, SY75 and PY86). Under nitrogen
      limited cultivation conditions, R. mucilaginosa PY44 produced the highest biomass
      (15.10 +/- 0.54 g/L), while R. mucilaginosa PY32 produced the lowest biomass
      (10.32 +/- 0.18 g/L). The highest lipid yield of 6.87 +/- 0.62 g/L and lipid
      content of 46.51 +/- 0.70 % were attained by C. curvatus (syn, C. curvatus) PY39.
      On the other hand, R. mucilaginosa PY61 gave the lowest lipid yield (2.06 +/-
      0.52 g/L) and R. mucilaginosa SY52 gave the lowest lipid content of 16.99 +/-
      0.85 %. The results in this research work suggest that much more oleaginous
      yeasts can be isolated from Ethiopian environment. On the basis of their
      substantial lipid production abilities, the three oleaginous yeast strains PY39,
      SY89 and SY18 were selected and recommended for further optimization processes. 

PMID- 27637949
TI  - Epidemiology for the clinical neurologist.
AB  - Epidemiology is a foundation of all clinical and public health research and
      practice. Epidemiology serves seven important uses for the advancement of
      medicine and public health. It enables community diagnosis by quantifying risk
      factors and diseases in the community; completes the clinical picture of disease
      by revealing the entire distribution of disease and presenting meaningful
      population averages from representative samples; identifies risk factors for
      disease by detecting and quantifying associations between exposures and disease
      and evaluating causal hypotheses; computes individual risk to identify high-risk
      groups to whom preventive interventions can be targeted; evaluates historic
      trends that monitor disease over time and provide clues to etiology; delineates
      new syndromes and disease subtypes not previously apparent in clinical settings,
      helping to streamline effective disease management; and investigates the effects
      of health services on population health to identify effective public health
      interventions. The clinician with a grasp of epidemiologic principles is in a
      position to critically evaluate the research literature, to apply it to clinical
      practice, and to undertake valid clinical epidemiology research with patients in
      clinical settings. 

PMID- 27637950
TI  - Population neuroscience.
AB  - Population neuroscience endeavors to identify influences shaping the human brain
      from conception onwards, thus generating knowledge relevant for building and
      maintaining brain health throughout the life span. This can be achieved by
      studying large samples of participants drawn from the general population and
      evaluated with state-of-the-art tools for assessing (a) genes and their
      regulation; (b) external and internal environments; and (c) brain properties.
      This chapter reviews the three elements of population neuroscience (principles,
      tools, innovations, limitations), and discusses future directions in this field. 

PMID- 27637951
TI  - Advanced epidemiologic and analytical methods.
AB  - Observational studies are indispensable for etiologic research, and are key to
      test life-course hypotheses and improve our understanding of neurologic diseases
      that have long induction and latency periods. In recent years a plethora of
      advanced design and analytic techniques have been developed to strengthen the
      robustness and ultimately the validity of the results of observational studies,
      and to address their inherent proneness to bias. It is the responsibility of
      clinicians and researchers to critically appraise and appropriately contextualize
      the findings of the exponentially expanding scientific literature. This critical
      appraisal should be rooted in a thorough understanding of advanced epidemiologic
      methods and techniques commonly used to formulate and test relevant hypotheses
      and to keep bias at bay. 

PMID- 27637952
TI  - Basics of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology.
AB  - This chapter presents an overview of the anatomy and functioning of the central
      nervous system. We begin the discussion by first examining the cellular basis of
      neural transmission. Then we present a brief description of the brain's white and
      gray matter and associated diseases, including a discussion of white-matter
      lesions. Finally, we place this information into context by discussing how the
      central nervous system integrates complex information to guide key functional
      systems, including the visual, auditory, chemosensory, somatic, limbic, motor,
      and autonomic systems. Where appropriate, we have supplied information pertaining
      to pathologic and functional outcomes of damage to the central nervous system.
      Also included is a brief description of important tools and methods used in the
      study of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. Overall, this chapter provides a basic
      review of the concepts required to understand and interpret the clinical
      disorders and related material presented in the subsequent chapters of this book.

PMID- 27637953
TI  - Population imaging in neuroepidemiology.
AB  - Neuroepidemiologic studies have traditionally focused on studying associations
      between determinants and neurologic outcomes, while treating the pathway in
      between both as a "black box." With the rise of noninvasive, advanced
      neuroimaging techniques, it has become possible to directly study brain changes
      occurring in this "black box." This importantly aids to unravel disease pathways,
      find new markers of disease, or identify subjects at risk of disease. Imaging in
      neuroepidemiologic studies is also called population neuroimaging. This chapter
      discusses the rationale of population neuroimaging, the different imaging
      modalities that can be applied, and the various ways to extract visual or
      quantitative information from these images. Population neuroimaging is a fast
      progressing field, partly due to new techniques and partly due to the growing
      need for collaboration, harmonization, and standardization among studies.
      Considerations for future applications of imaging in neuroepidemiology are
      discussed against this background. 

PMID- 27637954
TI  - Use of "omics" technologies to dissect neurologic disease.
AB  - Over the past 5 years, the advent of massively parallel technologies for
      understanding disease at the molecular level accompanied by simultaneous rapid
      development of the computational tools needed to analyze and filter such data has
      revolutionized medical science. These "next-generation" "omics" technologies
      include next-generation sequencing technology for detection of disease-associated
      DNA sequence variants, RNA sequencing for transcriptome and noncoding RNA
      analysis, quantitative detection of epigenomic dynamics, and chromatin
      immunoprecipitation sequencing analysis for DNA-protein interactions, interactome
      analysis for networks formed by protein-protein interactions, and metabolome
      analysis for metabolic systems. The analysis and integration of data derived from
      massively parallel technologies will significantly deepen our understanding of
      human disease, will inform functional studies, in vitro and in vivo model
      generation, and will advance the development of improved, personalized diagnostic
      tools and more effective therapeutic targets. In this chapter we review the
      classic genomic approaches for identifying mechanisms underlying human disease,
      and summarize the emerging "omics" technologies allowing massively parallel
      interrogation of biologic systems. 

PMID- 27637955
TI  - Neuropsychologic assessment.
AB  - In this chapter, we review the use of neuropsychologic assessment in
      epidemiologic studies. First, we provide a brief introduction to the history of
      clinical neuropsychology and neuropsychologic assessment. We expand on the
      principal components of a neuropsychologic assessment and cognitive domains most
      commonly examined. This chapter also seeks to highlight specific domains and
      tests with validated psychometric properties that are widely accepted in clinical
      practice, as well as how data from a neuropsychologic test should be interpreted.
      Additionally, the important roles that neuropsychologic assessments play in
      tracking normative changes, patient diagnoses, care, and research will be
      discussed. Factors to consider when deciding on the inclusion of test instruments
      for a research study will also be reviewed. Lastly, we shed light on the
      contributions that neuropsychology has played in epidemiologic studies, as well
      as some challenges frequently faced when participating in this field of research.

PMID- 27637956
TI  - Dementias.
AB  - This chapter will focus on the descriptive, analytic, and intervention-oriented
      epidemiology of dementia and its most frequent etiologic type due to Alzheimer's
      disease. The chapter opens with a brief presentation of the concept of dementia,
      followed by the presentation of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), including
      natural history, clinical manifestation, neuropathology, medical prognosis, and
      management. Further, the chapter presents the prevalence and incidence of
      dementia, with special consideration of secular trends in prevalence and
      incidence of DAT, and prognosis of the socioeconomic impact of dementia.
      Thereafter the main risk factors for DAT are covered. The chapter also addresses
      the results of ongoing therapeutic and preventive intervention trials for DAT.
      Finally, the future challenges of the epidemiology of dementia with a focus on
      the impact of the new diagnostic criteria for neurocognitive disorders, as well
      as the development of biomarkers for DAT and other types of dementia, will be
      briefly discussed. 

PMID- 27637957
TI  - Epidemiology of alpha-synucleinopathies: from Parkinson disease to dementia with
      Lewy bodies.
AB  - The epidemiology of the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy
      bodies is still based on clinical criteria and the definition of the different
      diseases is still a challenge for clinician and researcher. The epidemiologic
      estimates of prevalence and incidence are highly affected by differences in
      diagnostic criteria, geographic location, and methodologic limitations. Studies
      of prevalence and incidence show increases with advancing age and a higher rate
      of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies in men compared to women. 

PMID- 27637958
TI  - Epidemiology of epilepsy.
AB  - Modern epidemiology of epilepsy maximizes the benefits of advanced diagnostic
      methods and sophisticated techniques for case ascertainment in order to increase
      the diagnostic accuracy and representativeness of the cases and cohorts studied,
      resulting in better comparability of similarly performed studies. Overall, these
      advanced epidemiologic methods are expected to yield a better understanding of
      diverse risk factors, high-risk populations, seizure triggers, multiple and
      poorly understood causes of epilepsy, including the increasing and complex role
      of genetics, and establish the natural course of treated and untreated epilepsy
      and syndromes - all of which form the foundation of an attempt to prevent
      epileptogenesis as the primary prophylaxis of epilepsy. Although data collection
      continues to improve, epidemiologists still need to overcome definition and
      coding variability, insufficient documentation, as well as the interplay of
      socioeconomic factors and stigma. As most of the 65-70 million people with
      epilepsy live outside of resource-rich countries, extensive underdiagnosis,
      misdiagnosis, and undertreatment are likely. Epidemiology will continue to
      provide the necessary information to the medical community, public, and
      regulators as the foundation for improved health policies, targeted education,
      and advanced measures of prevention and prognostication of the most common severe
      brain disorder. 

PMID- 27637959
TI  - The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis: insights to a causal cascade.
AB  - MS-pathogenesis involves both genetic-susceptibility and environmental
      determinants. Three (or more) sequential environmental-factors are implicated.
      The first acts near birth, the second acts during childhood/adolescence, and the
      third acts subsequently. Two candidate factors (vitamin D deficiency and Epstein
      Barr viral infection) seem particularly well-suited to the first two
      environmental-events but other factors (e.g., obesity and smoking behavior) seem
      also to be involved in the causal scheme. MS-pathogenesis can be modeled by
      incorporating both the environmental and genetic-factors into a causal scheme,
      which can then help to explain some of the changes in MS-epidemiology (e.g.,
      increasing disease-prevalence, changing sex-ratio, and regional-variations in
      monozygotic-twin-concordance-rates), which have been taking place recently. This
      model suggests that genetic-susceptibility is overwhelmingly the most important
      determinant of MS and that, at least, 92.5% of individuals (and likely much more)
      are, essentially, incapable of developing MS, regardless of their specific
      environmental-exposures. Nevertheless, the genetics is complex and the
      contribution of any specific gene to MS-susceptibility seems to be quite modest.
      Thus, even for the DRB1*1501 allele (the strongest known MS-susceptibility
      marker), most carriers are not in the genetically-susceptible group. Moreover, 45
      50% of individuals with MS lack this allele entirely and some of the haplotypes
      that carry this allele don't also confer any disease-risk. Finally, because the
      prevalence of genetic-susceptibility seems to be so similar throughout North
      America and Europe, and despite the crucial importance of a person's genetic make
      up to disease pathogenesis, it is the environmental-factors, which largely
      responsible for the observed regional variations in disease-characteristics.
      Thus, despite MS being more common in women, men are more likely to be
      genetically-susceptible. This apparent paradox seems to relate to the fact that
      women are much more responsive than men to the recent changes in environmental
      exposure (whatever these have been). These gender-differences may help to explain
      changes in the sex-ratio and the increasing disease-prevalence, which have both
      been observed recently. The potential importance of these conclusions regarding
      the role of environment in MS-pathogenesis is that they open the door to the
      possibility of pursuing strategies for primary primary disease prevention in the
      future. 

PMID- 27637961
TI  - The epidemiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common motor neuron disease in
      adults and is characterized by neurodegeneration of motor neurons in the brain
      and spinal cord. The incidence of ALS is approximately 1-2.6 cases per 100 000
      persons annually, whereas the prevalence is approximately 6 cases per 100 000.
      The average age of onset of ALS is currently 58-60 years and the average survival
      from onset to death is 3-4 years. Between October 19, 2010 and December 31, 2011,
      there were an estimated 12 187 prevalent cases diagnosed with definite ALS in the
      USA alone. Sporadic ALS (90-95%) constitutes the large majority of cases, while
      the remaining 5-10% are hereditary and termed familial ALS. Sporadic ALS is
      suspected to involve genetic susceptibility to environmental risk factors. The
      purpose of this review is to present a clinical overview of ALS and provide an
      epidemiologic summary of personal and environmental risk factors shown to be
      related to the risk of disease. A discussion of the most recent research
      initiatives is also included. 

PMID- 27637960
TI  - Neuroepidemiology of traumatic brain injury.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public-health concern. TBI is
      defined as an acute brain injury resulting from mechanical energy to the head
      from external physical forces. Some of the leading causes of TBI include falls,
      assaults, motor vehicle or traffic accidents, and sport-related concussion. Two
      of the most common identified risk factors are sex (males are nearly three times
      more likely to suffer a TBI than females); and a bimodal age pattern (persons 65
      years and older, and children under 14 years old). It is estimated that
      approximately 1.5-2 million Americans suffer from TBI annually. TBIs account for
      around 1.4 million emergency room visits, 275 000 hospital admissions, and 52 000
      deaths in the USA each year. TBI contributes to approximately 30% of all deaths
      in the USA annually. In Australia, it is estimated that approximately 338 700
      individuals (1.9% of the population) suffer from a disability related to TBI. Of
      these, 160 200 were severely or profoundly affected by acquired brain injury,
      requiring daily support. In the UK, TBI accounted for 3.4% of all emergency
      department attendances annually. An overall rate of 453 per 100 000 was found for
      all TBI severities, of which 40 per 100 000 (10.9%) were moderate to severe. TBI
      often results in residual symptoms that affect an individual's cognition,
      movement, sensation, and/or emotional functioning. Recovery and rehabilitation
      from TBI may require considerable resources and may take years. Some individuals
      never fully recover, and some require lifetime ongoing care and support. TBI has
      an enormous social and financial cost, with estimates of the annual financial
      burden associated with TBI ranging between 9 and 10 billion US dollars. 

PMID- 27637962
TI  - Cerebrovascular disease.
AB  - With 16.9 million people who suffered a first-ever stroke in 2010 worldwide,
      stroke is a very common vascular disease. Epidemiologic studies have played an
      essential role in assessing this burden and in detecting the risk factors for
      stroke. Primary prevention of these risk factors, primarily hypertension,
      smoking, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation, has reduced the incidence in high
      income countries. However, stroke remains a major cause of death and disability,
      and therefore research should be continued. Subarachnoid hemorrhages are less
      prevalent than strokes but have an even higher risk of death. Similar to stroke,
      epidemiologic studies identified smoking and hypertension as its most important
      risk factors, together with excessive alcohol intake. Although rare, arterial
      dissections, CADASIL, arteriovenous malformations, venous sinus thrombosis,
      moyamoya disease, and vasculitis can lead to serious symptoms. The burden and
      risk factors of those rare diseases are more challenging to assess. Whenever
      possible, they should be recognized in a timely manner for their increased risk
      of stroke, but most often they are diagnosed only at the time of stroke. Some
      cerebrovascular abnormalities do not result in immediate symptoms. This
      subclinical cerebrovascular disease includes silent infarcts, white-matter
      lesions, and microbleeds, and is incidentally found by neuroimaging. These
      lesions are not innocent, as several epidemiologic studies have associated
      subclinical cerebrovascular disease with an increased risk of stroke, cognitive
      decline, dementia, and death. 

PMID- 27637963
TI  - Peripheral neuropathies.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathies are diseases of the peripheral nervous system that can be
      divided into mononeuropathies, multifocal neuropathies, and polyneuropathies.
      Symptoms usually include numbness and paresthesia. These symptoms are often
      accompanied by weakness and can be painful. Polyneuropathies can be divided into
      axonal and demyelinating forms, which is important for diagnostic reasons. Most
      peripheral neuropathies develop over months or years, but some are rapidly
      progressive. Some patients only suffer from mild, unilateral, slowly progressive
      tingling in the fingers due to median nerve compression in the wrist (carpal
      tunnel syndrome), while other patients can be tetraplegic, with respiratory
      insufficiency within 1-2 days due to Guillain-Barre syndrome. Carpal tunnel
      syndrome, with a prevalence of 5% and incidence of 1-2 per 1000 person-years, is
      the most common mononeuropathy. Population-based data for chronic polyneuropathy
      are relatively scarce. Prevalence is estimated at 1% and increases to 7% in
      persons over 65 years of age. Incidence is approximately 1 per 1000 person-years.
      Immune-mediated polyneuropathies like Guillain-Barre syndrome and chronic
      inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy are rare diseases, with an
      annual incidence of approximately 1-2 and 0.2-0.5 per 100 000 persons
      respectively. Most peripheral neuropathies are more prevalent in older adults and
      in men, except for carpal tunnel syndrome, which is more common in women.
      Diabetes is a common cause of peripheral neuropathy and is associated with both
      mono- and polyneuropathies. Among the group of chronic polyneuropathies, in about
      20-25% no direct cause can be found. These are slowly progressive axonal
      polyneuropathies. 

PMID- 27637964
TI  - Migraine.
AB  - This chapter presents an overview of migraine epidemiology and mechanisms.
      Migraine is a common and disabling neurologic disorder characterized by episodic
      attacks of severe head pain and other symptoms, including interference with
      activity, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. A number of risk factors
      for migraine onset and progression have been identified, including the presence
      of comorbid disorders and overuse of acute headache medications. Though the
      pathophysiology of migraine is complex and incompletely understood, advances in
      genetics research and clinical trials methodology offer promise for better
      understanding the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms. These advances
      presently center on genomewide studies, development of antibodies targeting
      calcitonin gene-related peptide, and understanding the psychologic mechanisms
      that underlie the efficacy of some interventions. Studies of both pharmacologic
      and behavioral interventions for migraine and its common comorbidities also offer
      promise for understanding the neuroepidemiologic mechanisms of migraine. Clinical
      trials relevant to these mechanisms are reviewed, and methodologic considerations
      for future trials are discussed. 

PMID- 27637965
TI  - Neuroepidemiology of cancer and treatment-related neurocognitive dysfunction in
      adult-onset cancer patients and survivors.
AB  - Cancer and treatment-related neurocognitive dysfunction (CRND) - impairments in
      aspects of cognition commonly including attention and memory, information
      processing speed, and executive functioning - can negatively affect patients' and
      survivors' participation in routine activities of daily living and overall
      quality of life. CRND can be enduring, and varies in severity level. The
      epidemiology of CRND is not yet clearly established; reported incidence has
      ranged from 17% to 75% among patients and survivors of noncentral nervous system
      malignancies, including breast, prostate, cervical, and colorectal cancers.
      Progress in the development of strategies for assessing and treating CRND has
      been delayed by limitations in the knowledge of the precise etiology of this
      adverse condition, as well as the lack of sufficiently sensitive and reliable
      methods to determine its presence and quantify its severity. In this chapter, we
      present a brief description of the concept of CRND and its clinical presentation,
      and discuss the descriptive epidemiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, and
      availability of treatment interventions. This neuroepidemiologic perspective
      provides a framework for characterizing CRND, determining its etiology, and
      understanding its negative effects on routine activities of daily living, to help
      support the development and testing of reliable interventions to treat this
      deleterious condition for patients and survivors. 

PMID- 27637967
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 27637968
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 27637966
TI  - Sickle cell disease.
AB  - Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited hemoglobinopathy caused by a mutation
      in the sixth amino acid of the beta-globin gene (HBB). It is the most common
      serious genetic diseases in childhood, affecting approximately 1 in 2500 births
      and 100 000 individuals in the USA, in addition to 300 000 new cases globally
      each year. Central nervous system injury is the most debilitating frequent
      complication of SCD and includes stroke, silent cerebral infarct (SCI), and
      cognitive impairment. Among children with sickle cell anemia (HbSS), 11% had a
      stroke by age 18 years before the implementation of transcranial Doppler
      screening. SCI is identified in 27% of children with HbSS by their 5th birthday.
      Children who develop SCI have greater cognitive impairment compared with either
      children with HbSS without SCI or siblings without SCD. A recent study of adults
      demonstrated significant cognitive dysfunction, even in participants with
      apparently mild SCD. 

PMID- 27637969
TI  - Apneic oxygenation and intracranial hemorrhage: where the rubber meets the road.

PMID- 27637971
TI  - Basic science and translational research in robotic surgery.

PMID- 27637970
TI  - Supraglottic jet oxygenation and ventilation-assisted fibre-optic bronchoscope
      intubation in patients with difficult airways.
AB  - A difficult airway may lead to hypoxia and brain damage. The WEI Nasal Jet Tube
      (WNJ) is a new nasal pharyngeal tube that applies supraglottic jet oxygenation
      and ventilation (SJOV) for patients during tracheal intubation without the need
      for mask ventilation. We evaluated the effectiveness and safety of SJOV-assisted
      fibre-optic bronchoscopy (FOB) using the WNJ in the management of difficult
      tracheal intubations. A total of 50 adult patients with Cormack-Lehane grade >=3
      and general anesthesia with tracheal intubation were randomly assigned to either
      the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) or WNJ groups. The primary outcome was the
      percentage of patients with SpO2 values lower than 94 % during intubation. The
      proportion of successful intubations, total time of intubation, and associated
      complications were also recorded. The percentage of patients with SpO2 values
      lower than 94 % during intubation was significantly higher in the LMA group (25 %
      in the LMA vs. 0 % in the WNJ, P = 0.01). Although there were no statistically
      significant differences in the total success rates of intubation, the first
      attempt success rate was significantly higher in the WNJ group (100 vs. 79.2 %, P
      = 0.02). The total time required for intubation with the WNJ was shorter than
      that of the LMA (73.4 vs. 99.5 s, P < 0.001), although the duration of fibre
      optic intubation was similar. The incidence of complications was similar between
      the two groups. SJOV-assisted FOB using the WNJ improved oxygenation and
      successful tracheal intubation in the management of difficult airways. This
      technique can be used as an alternative approach to improve success and minimize
      hypoxia during difficult airway management.

PMID- 27637972
TI  - A special section on selected papers from the 4th Hamlyn Symposium on Medical
      Robotics, 2011.

PMID- 27637973
TI  - Magnetic propulsion and ultrasound tracking of endovascular devices.
AB  - In this paper a robotic means of magnetic navigation of an endovascular device a
      few millimeters in diameter is presented. The technique, based on traditional
      computer-assisted surgery adapted to intravascular medical procedures, includes a
      manipulator for magnetic dragging interfaced with an ultrasound system for
      tracking the endovascular device. The main factors affecting device propulsion
      are theoretically analyzed, including magnetic forces, fluidic forces, and
      friction forces between the endovascular device and the vessel. A dedicated set
      up for measuring locomotion, and for navigation with and against the flow, has
      been developed and preliminary tests have been performed to derive the best
      configuration for controlled magnetic dragging in the vascular system.
      Experimental outcomes are consistent with a simple analytical model that analyzes
      dragging of the magnetic capsule in a tube. By means of this model, different
      working conditions can be considered to select the appropriate conditions, for
      example flow rate, coefficient of friction, or magnetic properties. 

PMID- 27637974
TI  - A robotic assistant for trans-oral surgery: the robotic endo-laryngeal flexible
      (Robo-ELF) scope.
AB  - This paper describes the continued development of the Robotic EndoLaryngeal (Robo
      ELF) Scope System, a simple clinically usable robot for manipulating flexible
      endoscopes, particularly in laryngeal surgery. The system includes a robot with
      three active and two passive degrees of freedom, a five degree of freedom passive
      positioning arm, a malleable scope shaft support, and a custom joystick
      controller. The Robo-ELF Scope allows a surgeon to control a flexible endoscope
      with only one hand and also to release the controls and perform bimanual surgery
      if desired. We have evaluated the Robo-ELF Scope system in both phantom and
      cadaver studies and found it superior to hand manipulation of flexible endoscopes
      and conventional rigid endoscopes. 

PMID- 27637975
TI  - Hospital costs and length of stay related to robot-assisted versus open radical
      and partial nephrectomy for kidney cancer in the USA.
AB  - There are scant national outcomes data for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery.
      We assessed costs and length of stay (LOS) related to robot-assisted radical and
      partial nephrectomy in a nationally representative population database. We
      performed a cohort analysis of the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. Using
      ICD-9 procedure codes, we identified patients who underwent radical or partial
      nephrectomy for kidney cancer from October 2008 to December 2008. We excluded
      patients with non-robot-assisted laparoscopic procedures and those under age 18
      years. We performed multivariate analyses of LOS and total hospital charges,
      adjusting for age, race, gender, Charlson comorbidity index, and teaching
      hospital status. Records of 2,242 patients were analyzed. On adjusted
      multivariate analysis, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy was associated with
      shorter LOS compared with open surgery (-2.0 days, P = 0.032). Robot-assisted
      radical nephrectomy was associated with shorter LOS compared with open surgery (
      1.8 days, P = 0.077). There were no significant differences in total charges for
      robot-assisted compared with open surgery for either radical (P = 0.631) or
      partial (P = 0.713) nephrectomy. In this large, population-based analysis, robot
      assisted radical and partial nephrectomy were associated with shorter LOS and
      equivalent hospital charges compared with their open surgery counterparts. These
      data suggest that, for renal surgery, diminished LOS offsets other hospital costs
      associated with robot-assisted procedures. 

PMID- 27637977
TI  - Evaluation of robotic assistance in neurosurgical applications.
AB  - An analysis of usability aspects and accuracy for three different methods of
      neurosurgical intervention-stereotaxy, neuro-navigation, and robotic assistance
      was accomplished in a detailed study including clinicians with different
      experience levels. Accuracy tests with a specially designed phantom were
      performed under clinical conditions according to EN ISO 9283. Test scenarios were
      designed according to a realistic clinical work-flow for the brain biopsy
      process. This paper presents the results of the accuracy evaluation as well as a
      discussion of the results and further steps. 

PMID- 27637976
TI  - An effective visualisation and registration system for image-guided robotic
      partial nephrectomy.
AB  - Robotic partial nephrectomy is presently the fastest-growing robotic surgical
      procedure, and in comparison to traditional techniques it offers reduced tissue
      trauma and likelihood of post-operative infection, while hastening recovery time
      and improving cosmesis. It is also an ideal candidate for image guidance
      technology since soft tissue deformation, while still present, is localised and
      less problematic compared to other surgical procedures. This work describes the
      implementation and ongoing development of an effective image guidance system that
      aims to address some of the remaining challenges in this area. Specific
      innovations include the introduction of an intuitive, partially automated
      registration interface, and the use of a hardware platform that makes
      sophisticated augmented reality overlays practical in real time. Results and
      examples of image augmentation are presented from both retrospective and live
      cases. Quantitative analysis of registration error verifies that the proposed
      registration technique is appropriate for the chosen image guidance targets. 

PMID- 27637978
TI  - Robotic lobectomy: flattening the learning curve.
AB  - Early experience with robotic technology in pulmonary resection has emphasized a
      steep learning curve. We initiated a robotic thoracic surgical program with the
      goal of minimizing complications, operative times, and hospital stays. We
      implemented robotic lobe resections at our institution with the intent of
      performing an operationally analogous procedure to that of the open technique.
      Specifically, we used single docking of the robotic cart, innovative retraction,
      single interspace port placement, and dockings specific to the resected lobe. We
      reviewed outcomes for patients undergoing robotic lobectomy at our institution.
      Data is presented as mean +/- standard deviation. 20 patients (69 +/- 12 years)
      underwent robotic lobe resections. American Joint Committee on Cancer staging for
      14 patients undergoing resections for non-small cell lung cancers were Stage I
      (10), Stage II (2), and Stage III (2). Operative times for 20 patients undergoing
      robotic lobectomies were 203 +/- 53 min. Median postoperative hospital stay was 3
      days. Conversions to open procedures were required in two patients secondary to
      failure to progress (1) and bleeding (1). Complications occurred in four (20%)
      patients and included atelectasis (2), myocardial infarction (1), and atrial
      fibrillation (1). No fatalities occurred. The perception that robotic pulmonary
      resection involves a steep learning curve may not be universally accurate; our
      operative times and hospital stays are consistent with those reported by
      established programs. For surgeons experienced in open and thoracoscopic
      lobectomy, appropriate patient selection coupled with the specific robotic
      techniques described may flatten the learning curve. 

PMID- 27637979
TI  - Web-connected surgery: using the internet for teaching and proctoring of live
      robotic surgeries.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using live
      teleconferencing for teaching of new robotic-assisted surgical techniques. This
      was a prospective study with review of outcomes (Canadian Task Force
      classification II-3) in a community hospital. In 2009, our community hospital
      acquired the da Vinci ConnectTM System, a technology which allows for live
      surgeon-to-surgeon interaction during robotic surgery via a secure internet
      connection. We utilized this technology from March 2009 through March 2011 to
      perform 28 live robotic surgeries that were observed by surgeons and hospital
      staff in 14 different US states as well as in France. We also had 14 episodes
      where new robotic surgeons in our facilities were mentored by experienced robotic
      surgeons in other geographic locations live through the da Vinci Connect internet
      connection. We performed two live surgeries for continuing medical education
      courses with live interactions between the course attendees and the console
      surgeon. Finally, one surgeon in our hospital proctored new surgeons remotely in
      distant sites on challenging cases. Utilizing computers that allow an experienced
      mentor surgeon to interact with less experienced surgeons on a live case is
      invaluable and presages the way we will train surgeons in the future. This
      feasibility study validates the need to pursue this technology for future
      education and training as well as for real-time collaboration. 

PMID- 27637980
TI  - Gestonurse: a robotic surgical nurse for handling surgical instruments in the
      operating room.
AB  - While surgeon-scrub nurse collaboration provides a fast, straightforward and
      inexpensive method of delivering surgical instruments to the surgeon, it often
      results in "mistakes" (e.g. missing information, ambiguity of instructions and
      delays). It has been shown that these errors can have a negative impact on the
      outcome of the surgery. These errors could potentially be reduced or eliminated
      by introducing robotics into the operating room. Gesture control is a natural and
      fundamentally sound alternative that allows interaction without disturbing the
      normal flow of surgery. This paper describes the development of a robotic scrub
      nurse Gestonurse to support surgeons by passing surgical instruments during
      surgery as required. The robot responds to recognized hand signals detected
      through sophisticated computer vision and pattern recognition techniques.
      Experimental results show that 95% of the gestures were recognized correctly. The
      gesture recognition algorithm presented is robust to changes in scale and
      rotation of the hand gestures. The system was compared to human task performance
      and was found to be only 0.83 s slower on average. 

PMID- 27637982
TI  - Lost needle: a dilemma in robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - A case is presented where a needle was lost in the assistant's port during a
      robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy. This complication generated a unique
      dilemma: whether or not to disengage the robot and search for the needle or to
      continue with the operation and look for the needle at the end of the operation. 

PMID- 27637981
TI  - The aching surgeon: a survey of physical discomfort and symptoms following open,
      laparoscopic, and robotic surgery.
AB  - There is increasing interest in understanding the toll that operating takes on a
      surgeon's body. The effect of robotic surgery on surgeon discomfort has not been
      studied. We sought to document the discomfort of robotic surgery compared with
      open and laparoscopic surgery and to investigate the factors that affect the risk
      of physical symptoms. Nineteen-thousand eight-hundred and sixty-eight surgeons
      from all specialties trained in the use of robots were sent a 26-question online
      survey and 1,407 responded. One-thousand two-hundred and fifteen surgeons who
      practiced all three approaches were used in the analysis. Eight-hundred and
      seventy-one surgeons had physical discomfort or symptoms attributable to
      operating. Of those with symptoms, 55.4% attributed most of the symptoms to
      laparoscopic surgery, 36.3% to open surgery, and 8.3% to robotic surgery. A
      higher case load was predictive of increased symptoms for open and laparoscopic
      surgery, but not for robotic surgery. Robotic surgery was less likely than open
      or laparoscopic surgery to lead to neck, back, hip, knee, ankle, foot, and
      shoulder pain and less likely than laparoscopic surgery to lead to elbow and
      wrist pain. Robotic surgery was more likely than either open or laparoscopic
      surgery to lead to eye pain, and more likely than open surgery to lead to finger
      pain. Nearly a third (30.3%) of surgeons admit to giving consideration to their
      own discomfort when choosing an operative modality. Robotic surgery has promise
      in reducing the risk of physical discomfort for the operator. This is important
      as more surgeons consider their own health when choosing a surgical modality. 

PMID- 27637983
TI  - A new dimension: robotic reconstruction in plastic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted surgery was first approved by the Federal Drug
      Administration in 1994. The robotic system has the advantages of three
      dimensional visualization of the operating field, 7 degrees  range of motion,
      tremor elimination, 360 degrees of freedom at 10-mm distance, and a comfortable,
      seated operating posture. The purpose of this paper is to present a new surgical
      tool, the robot, for use in reconstructive surgery. METHODS: A case is presented
      in which the robotic system was used to elevate a pedicled, myocutaneous
      latissimus dorsi flap for shoulder reconstruction. RESULTS: The robot was used
      successfully to harvest a pedicled latissimus dorsi flap. Since this case, we
      have used the robotic system to harvest one other pedicled latissimus flap for
      breast reconstruction as well as to perform the microvascular anastomoses in a
      radial forearm and rectus abdominus free flaps to the lower extremity.
      CONCLUSION: There is great potential for the use of robot as a surgical tool in
      the field of plastic surgery. The advantages are numerous, including superior
      visibility, greater range of motion as a more comfortable position for the
      operating surgeon. The limitations include the learning curve and the lack of
      biofeedback.

PMID- 27637984
TI  - Prospective analyses of female urinary incontinence symptoms following total hip
      arthroplasty.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Some patients with hip osteoarthritis report that
      urinary incontinence (UI) is improved following total hip arthroplasty (THA).
      However, the type and severity of UI remain unclear. In this study, we
      hypothesize that both stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and urge urinary
      incontinence (UUI) are improved after THA. We assess the characteristics of UI
      and discuss the anatomical factors related to UI and THA for improved treatment
      outcome. METHODS: Fifty patients with UI who underwent direct anterior-approach
      THA were evaluated. Type of UI was assessed using four questionnaires: Core Lower
      Urinary Tract Symptom Score (CLSS), Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI
      6), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and Overactive Bladder Symptom
      Score (OABSS). Uroflowmetry and postvoid residual urine were measured using
      ultrasound technology. Hip-joint function was evaluated using Western Ontario and
      McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and range of motion (ROM).
      RESULTS: Of the 50 patients, 21 had SUI, 16 had mixed urinary incontinence (MUI),
      and eight had urgency urinary incontinence (UUI). In total, 36 patients were
      better than improved (72 %). The rate of cured and improved was 76 % for SUI, 100
      % MUI, and 50 % UUI. The improvement of ROM was more significant in cured or
      improved patients than in stable or worse patients. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in
      mild UI may be an added benefit for those undergoing THA for hip-joint disorders.
      These data suggest that for patients with hip-joint disorder, hip-joint treatment
      could prove to also be a useful treatment for UI.

PMID- 27637986
TI  - Ibrutinib holds promise for patients with 17p deletion CLL.

PMID- 27637987
TI  - Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 27637988
TI  - Transformative Leadership in Action.

PMID- 27637985
TI  - Ibrutinib for patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
      with 17p deletion (RESONATE-17): a phase 2, open-label, multicentre study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The TP53 gene, encoding tumour suppressor protein p53, is located on
      the short arm of chromosome 17 (17p). Patients with 17p deletion (del17p) chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia have poor responses and survival after chemoimmunotherapy.
      We assessed the activity and safety of ibrutinib, an oral covalent inhibitor of
      Bruton's tyrosine kinase, in relapsed or refractory patients with del17p chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. METHODS: We did a
      multicentre, international, open-label, single-arm study at 40 sites in the USA,
      Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Patients (age >=18 years) with
      previously treated del17p chronic lymphocytic leukaemia or small lymphocytic
      lymphoma received oral ibrutinib 420 mg once daily until progressive disease or
      unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response in the all
      treated population per International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia
      2008 response criteria modified for treatment-related lymphocytosis. Preplanned
      exploratory analyses were progression-free survival, overall survival, sustained
      haematological improvement, and immunological improvement. Patient enrolment is
      complete, but follow-up is ongoing. Treatment discontinuation owing to adverse
      events, unacceptable toxicity, or death were collected as a single combined
      category. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01744691.
      FINDINGS: Between Jan 29, 2013, and June 19, 2013, 145 patients were enrolled.
      The all-treated population consisted of 144 patients with del17p chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma who received at least one
      dose of study drug, with a median age of 64 years (IQR 57-72) and a median of two
      previous treatments (IQR 1-3). At the prespecified primary analysis after a
      median follow-up of 11.5 months (IQR 11.1-13.8), 92 (64%, 95% CI 56-71) of 144
      patients had an overall response according to independent review committee
      assessment; 119 patients (83%, 95% CI 76-88) had an overall response according to
      investigator assessment. In an extended analysis with median follow-up of 27.6
      months (IQR 14.6-27.7), the investigator-assessed overall response was reported
      in 120 patients (83%, 95% CI 76-89). 24-month progression-free survival was 63%
      (95% CI 54-70) and 24-month overall survival was 75% (67-81). Sustained
      haematological improvement was noted in 72 (79%) of 91 patients with any baseline
      cytopenia. No clinically relevant changes were noted from baseline to 6 months or
      24 months in IgA (median 0.4 g/L at baseline, 0.6 g/L at 6 months, and 0.7 g/L at
      24 months), IgG (5.0 g/L, 5.3 g/L, and 4.9 g/L), or IgM (0.3 g/L at each
      timepoint) concentrations. Common reasons for treatment discontinuation were
      progressive disease in 34 (24%) patients and adverse events, unacceptable
      toxicity, or death in 24 (17%) patients. Major bleeding occurred in 13 (9%)
      patients (11 [8%] grade 3-4). Grade 3 or worse infections occurred in 43 (30%)
      patients, including pneumonia in 19 (13%) patients. In the extended analysis, 38
      patients died, 18 as a result of adverse events (four pneumonia, three chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia, two Richter's syndrome, two sepsis, and one each of acute
      myocardial infarction, septic shock, encephalopathy, general deterioration in
      physical health, abnormal hepatic function, myocardial infarction, and renal
      infarction). INTERPRETATION: A high proportion of patients had an overall
      response to ibrutinib and the risk:benefit profile was favourable, providing
      further evidence for use of ibrutinib in the most difficult subset of patients
      with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. Ibrutinib
      represents a clinical advance in the treatment of patients with del17p chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia and has been incorporated into treatment algorithms as a
      primary treatment for these patients. FUNDING: Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie
      Company.

PMID- 27637990
TI  - Ecological divergence in the yellow-bellied kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster)
      at two North American biodiversity hotspots.
AB  - Several biogeographic barriers in the Eastern Nearctic appear to reduce gene flow
      among populations of many species in predictable ways, however these patterns
      used to infer process of divergence may be deceiving if alternative modes of
      diversification are not considered. By using a multilocus statistical
      phylogeographic approach to examine diversity within a North American snake,
      Lampropeltis calligaster, we find that mode and timing of speciation near the
      Mississippi River embayment and peninsular Florida, two main biodiversity
      hotspots in eastern North America, challenge previously held notions of strict
      vicariance as the causal factor behind patterns of divergence seen among taxa at
      these locations. We found three species inhabiting distinct ecological niches
      with divergences dating to the mid- and early-Pleistocene with subsequently
      stable or increasing effective population sizes, further supporting the idea that
      the Pleistocene was an important driver of diversification in North America. Our
      results lead to a revised hypothesis that ecological divergence has occurred in
      this group across environments associated with the Mississippi River and at the
      Florida peninsula. Importantly, in their western distributions, we show that
      species divergence is associated with the ecological transition from distinct
      forested habitats to grasslands, rather than the nearby Mississippi River, a
      barrier often implicated for many other organisms. Additionally, we stress the
      importance of examining each delimited lineage with respect to conservation,
      since ecological niche models suggest that by the end of the century changes in
      climate may negatively alter habitat suitability and, barring adaptation,
      substantially reduce the suitable range of two of the three species we
      identified.

PMID- 27637989
TI  - Identification of two lineages of host-associated eriophyoid mites predisposed to
      different levels of host diversification.
AB  - Herbivorous arthropods can diversify as a consequence of evolutionary changes in
      response to their plant hosts. Current patterns of host association of herbivores
      are likely to reflect a long evolutionary history of herbivore-plant co
      evolution. Here, we used molecular phylogenetics to track the evolutionary
      history of host shifts and diversification of 66 eriophyoid mites (Acari,
      Eriophyoidea), and linked past patterns of evolutionary diversification to more
      recent patterns of divergence by tracking population genetic variation in 13 of
      the eriophyoid mite species feeding on different gymnosperm hosts. This allowed
      us to explore the relationship between a past history of diversification and the
      current potential of mites to undergo host range shifts. We found that population
      level diversity across gymnosperm hosts as measured by 28S rRNA markers was
      greater in species from the mite clade that had radiated across evolutionary time
      to utilize a variety of hosts including angiosperms, compared to species from the
      clade that has remained restricted to ancestral gymnosperm hosts. Species from
      the radiated clade exhibited higher variation in host use. Lineages of mites that
      have in the past been able to radiate and adapt to diverse plants may therefore
      be predisposed to continue their expansion on new hosts, although additional
      clades need to be tested.

PMID- 27637991
TI  - Hidden diversity within the lizard genus Liolaemus: Genetic vs morphological
      divergence in the L. rothi complex (Squamata:Liolaeminae).
AB  - Currently, Liolaemus is the second most species-rich reptile genus in the world
      (257 species), and predictions of its real diversity suggest that it may be the
      most diverse genus. Originally, Liolaemus species were described as widely
      distributed and morphologically variable taxa, but extensive sampling in
      previously unexplored geographic areas, coupled with molecular and more extensive
      morphological studies, have discovered an unexpectedly high number of previously
      undetected species. Here, we study the level of molecular vs. morphological
      divergence within the L. rothi complex, combining a total of 14 loci (2
      mitochondrial and 12 nuclear loci) for 97 individuals, as well as morphological
      data (nine morphometric and 15 color pattern variables), that represent all six
      described species of the L. rothi complex, plus two candidate species. We use the
      multi-coalescent species delimitation program iBPP and resolve strong differences
      in molecular divergence; and each species is inferred as an independent lineage
      supported by high posterior probabilities. However, morphological differences are
      not that clear, and our modeling of morphological characters suggests
      differential selection pressures implying some level of morphological stasis. We
      discuss the role of natural selection on phenotypic traits, which may be an
      important factor in "hiding" the real diversity of the genus.

PMID- 27637992
TI  - Multi-locus phylogeny and species delimitation of Australo-Papuan blacksnakes
      (Pseudechis Wagler, 1830: Elapidae: Serpentes).
AB  - Genetic analyses of Australasian organisms have resulted in the identification of
      extensive cryptic diversity across the continent. The venomous elapid snakes are
      among the best-studied organismal groups in this region, but many knowledge gaps
      persist: for instance, despite their iconic status, the species-level diversity
      among Australo-Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis) has remained poorly understood due
      to the existence of a group of cryptic species within the P. australis species
      complex, collectively termed "pygmy mulga snakes". Using two mitochondrial and
      three nuclear loci we assess species boundaries within the genus using Bayesian
      species delimitation methods and reconstruct their phylogenetic history using
      multispecies coalescent approaches. Our analyses support the recognition of 10
      species, including all of the currently described pygmy mulga snakes and one
      undescribed species from the Northern Territory of Australia. Phylogenetic
      relationships within the genus are broadly consistent with previous work, with
      the recognition of three major groups, the viviparous red-bellied black snake P.
      porphyriacus forming the sister species to two clades consisting of ovoviviparous
      species.

PMID- 27637993
TI  - Salivary Amylase as a Marker of Salivary Gland Function in Patients Undergoing
      Radiotherapy for Oral Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate salivary amylase in patients
      with primary oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy as the main modality of
      treatment. MATERIALS/METHODS: The study was conducted on ten histologically
      proven cases of oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Stimulated whole saliva was
      collected at three stages of radiotherapy-0, 3, and 6 weeks. Salivary amylase was
      estimated using Henry-Chiamori method and comparison was made with appropriate
      age- and gender-matched controls. RESULTS: Salivary amylase levels showed
      significant decrease in healthy subjects when compared to oral cancer patients (P
      < 0.001). The latter group also showed changing trend with initial decrease from
      0 to 3 weeks followed by increase from 3 to 6 weeks following radiotherapy (P <
      0.0528). CONCLUSIONS: The trend in changes in the levels of salivary amylase
      could be used as a surrogate marker of salivary gland function in patients with
      oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy as primary treatment.

PMID- 27637994
TI  - [Isoflurane provides neuroprotection in neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury by
      suppressing apoptosis].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Isoflurane is halogenated volatile ether used for
      inhalational anesthesia. It is widely used in clinics as an inhalational
      anesthetic. Neonatal hypoxic ischemia injury ensues in the immature brain that
      results in delayed cell death via excitotoxicity and oxidative stress. Isoflurane
      has shown neuroprotective properties that make a beneficial basis of using
      isoflurane in both cell culture and animal models, including various models of
      brain injury. We aimed to determine the neuroprotective effect of isoflurane on
      hypoxic brain injury and elucidated the underlying mechanism. METHODS: A
      hippocampal slice, in artificial cerebrospinal fluid with glucose and oxygen
      deprivation, was used as an in vitro model for brain hypoxia. The orthodromic
      population spike and hypoxic injury potential were recorded in the CA1 and CA3
      regions. Amino acid neurotransmitters concentration in perfusion solution of
      hippocampal slices was measured. RESULTS: Isoflurane treatment caused delayed
      elimination of population spike and improved the recovery of population spike;
      decreased frequency of hypoxic injury potential, postponed the onset of hypoxic
      injury potential and increased the duration of hypoxic injury potential.
      Isoflurane treatment also decreased the hypoxia-induced release of amino acid
      neurotransmitters such as aspartate, glutamate and glycine induced by hypoxia,
      but the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid were elevated. Morphological studies
      showed that isoflurane treatment attenuated edema of pyramid neurons in the CA1
      region. It also reduced apoptosis as evident by lowered expression of caspase-3
      and PARP genes. CONCLUSIONS: Isoflurane showed a neuro-protective effect on
      hippocampal neuron injury induced by hypoxia through suppression of apoptosis.

PMID- 27637995
TI  - [Corrected QT interval and corrected QT interval dispersion is worthwhile when
      interpreted with other repolarization measurements].

PMID- 27637996
TI  - [Neuraxial anesthesia after local anesthesia for management of percutaneous
      vertebroplasty complication during vertebroplasty].
AB  - Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a relatively safe, simple and commonly performed
      interventional procedure for the management of vertebral compression fractures.
      However, serious complications are rarely reported in the procedure. Those are
      pulmonary embolism, severe infection, paraplegia and an occurrence of a new
      fracture in an adjacent vertebra after vertebroplasty. Acute complications are
      generally associated with the procedure. We present the case of neuraxial
      anesthesia, developed after local anesthesia with 8mL of 2% prilocaine, in a 68
      year-old woman who underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty after an osteoporotic
      collapsed fracture in the L1 vertebra due to trauma. To our knowledge, this is
      the first case in the literature.

PMID- 27637997
TI  - Predictors of success for double balloon-assisted endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography in patients with Roux-en-Y anastomosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in
      patients with roux-en-Y anastomosis (REYA) is challenging. Use of double balloon
      enteroscope-assisted ERCP (DBE-ERCP) has been successful. We aim to determine
      predictors of successful biliary cannulation with DBE-ERCP in patients with REYA.
      METHODS: We retrospectively studied patients with REYA who had DBE-ERCP between
      2009 and 2015. RESULTS: 86 DBE-ERCP were done on 52 patients. Patients had REYA
      for liver transplant (n = 26), gastrojejunostomy (n = 9), previous bile duct
      injury (n = 9), biliary atresia (n = 2) and other (n = 6). The biliary-enteric
      anastomosis was reached in 76% and cholangiogram was successful in 70%. Highest
      success rates were in patients with previous bile duct injury (94%) or
      gastrojejunostomy (89%). Post-transplant patients had intermediate success (64%).
      Patients with redo surgery (46%) and childhood surgery (38%), especially Kasai
      procedure (20%), had low success. Patients with previous bile duct injury were
      more likely to succeed (94% vs 63%, P = 0.010). Those more likely to fail were
      patients with childhood surgery (38% vs 73%, P = 0.037), biliary atresia (20% vs
      73%, P = 0.013) and second operation post-transplant (25% vs 70%, P = 0.046).
      CONCLUSION: Indication for REYA impacts on successful biliary cannulation in
      patients undergoing DBE-ERCP. The procedure is most successful in non-liver
      transplant adult surgery and post-transplant patients without a second operation.
      It is least successful in patients with surgically corrected biliary atresia and
      post-transplant patients with second operation. Alternative methods of biliary
      access should be considered in these patients.

PMID- 27637998
TI  - Infant lung function predicts asthma persistence and remission in young adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Asthma in adults is associated with a persistent
      reduction in lung function from childhood, but this link has not been assessed
      back to infancy. Reduced infant lung function (ILF), a measure of antenatal and
      infant lung growth, is associated with asthma into adolescence. Our aim was to
      assess whether this link persists into adulthood and whether ILF can predict the
      remission of asthma symptoms in young adults. METHODS: The study cohort was an
      unselected full-term birth cohort of 253 subjects enrolled antenatally with lung
      function assessments at 1, 6 and 12 months (maximum expiratory flow at functional
      residual capacity, V'maxFRC), and 6, 11, 18 and 24 years (spirometry) of age.
      RESULTS: Infants with V'maxFRC in the lowest quartile at 1 month had an OR of 5.1
      (95% CI: 2-13, P = 0.001) for asthma at 24 years. Subjects with asthma at 24
      years had a mean V'maxFRC at 1 month of 69% predicted (95% CI: 48-90%) versus
      110% (95% CI: 101-119%) in non-asthmatic patients (P = 0.001). Subjects with
      current versus resolved asthma symptoms at 24 years had a mean V'maxFRC at 1
      month of 69% predicted (95% CI: 53-84%) versus 105% (88-123%), respectively (P =
      0.003). Subjects with current asthma at 24 years had persistently lower lung
      function from infancy with a mean reduction of 16.2% (95% CI: 8.1-24.3%, P <
      0.0001). CONCLUSION: Reduced lung function in early infancy is predictive of
      persistent asthma in young adults and a persistent reduction in lung function,
      suggesting abnormal lung development and growth in utero or very early in life.

PMID- 27637999
TI  - Three-year outcomes of intracapsular femoral neck fractures fixed with sliding
      hip screws in adults aged under sixty-five years.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intracapsular femoral neck fractures remain associated with high
      rates of post-traumatic femoral head necrosis, non-union, and revision surgery.
      AIM: Our aim was to identify factors associated with revision surgery in
      intracapsular femoral neck fractures treated with sliding hip screws (SHS) in
      adults aged <65 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Consecutive admissions were
      identified retrospectively from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, which was
      the largest volume hospital on the National Hip Fracture Database. Of 2201 hip
      fractures between 1st August 2008 and 31st December 2010, 97 (4%) intracapsular
      fractures treated with SHS in adults <65 years were followed for a mean of 2.9
      years (range 0-6.6). RESULTS: Twenty-one (22%) hips were revised to arthroplasty.
      Avascular necrosis developed in 28 (29%) femoral heads. Eight (8%) fractures
      proceeded to non-union. Displaced fractures (p<0.001, Fisher's exact [FE]),
      posterior comminution (p=0.049, FE), chronic respiratory disease (p=0.006, FE)
      and residual distraction (p=0.011, chi2) were associated with revision to
      arthroplasty. Multiple regression found displaced fractures (p=0.006) and chronic
      respiratory disease (p=0.017) significant; in the latter 4 of 6 were revised
      (67%), including all four patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD). Eleven (11%) individuals required walking aids before injury, which rose
      to 34 (35%) at one year (p<0.0001, chi2). Eighty-nine (92%) individuals could
      walk alone outdoors before injury, but only 76 (78%) at one year (p=0.009, chi2).
      CONCLUSIONS: Displaced fractures in individuals with chronic respiratory disease
      should be considered high risk for revision to arthroplasty. Posterior cortex
      deficiency should be evaluated prior to choice of operation. Fracture biology and
      revascularisation play a greater role than operation timing. A significant
      proportion of individuals do not recovery pre-morbid mobility by one year.

PMID- 27638000
TI  - Osteoarticular allograft reconstruction of post-traumatic defect of distal femur
      in a pediatric patient: A case report and literature review.
AB  - Successful results of osteoarticular allografts in reconstruction of
      periarticular bone defect after tumor resection encouraged its utilization in
      post-traumatic defects. Here we describe a case of post-traumatic skeletal defect
      in a 4 year-old girl treated with osteoarticular allograft reconstruction. Due to
      severity of the associated soft tissue injury and contamination at presentation
      staged treatment with antibiotic spacer followed by the reconstruction was
      carried out. At the end of one year the patient achieved 'Musculoskeletal tumor
      society' functional score of 27 points and radiographic score of 93%.
      Reconstruction immediately after healing of soft tissues prevented development of
      any varus or valgus deformity of the knee. Our case demonstrates utility of
      osteoarticular allograft in a pediatric post-traumatic skeletal defect.

PMID- 27638001
TI  - Erratum to: Modeling Alexander disease with patient iPSCs reveals cellular and
      molecular pathology of astrocytes.

PMID- 27638002
TI  - Functional liver tissue engineering by an adult mouse liver-derived neuro-glia
      antigen 2-expressing stem/progenitor population.
AB  - Deaths due to end-stage liver diseases are increasingly registered annually in
      the world. Liver transplantation is the ultimate treatment for end-stage liver
      diseases to date, which has been hampered by a critical shortage of organs. The
      potential of decellularized liver scaffolds (DLS) derived from solid organs as a
      three-dimensional platform has been evolved as a promising approach in liver
      tissue engineering for translating functional liver organ replacements, but
      questions still exist regarding the optimal cell population for seeding in DLS
      and the preparation of the DLS themselves. The aim of our study was to utilize a
      sodium dodecyl sulfate decellularization procedure in combination with a low
      concentration of trypsin (0.005%)-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (0.002%)
      process to manufacture DLS from whole mouse livers and recellularized with
      hepatic stem/progenitors for use in liver tissue engineering and injured liver
      treatment. Results showed that the DLS generated with all the necessary
      microstructure and the extracellular components to support seeded hepatic
      stem/progenitor cell attachment, functional hepatic cell differentiation. Hepatic
      differentiation from stem/progenitor cells loaded by DLS was more efficient than
      that of the stem/progenitor cells in the two-dimensional cell culture model. In
      summary, the method of DLS loaded by hepatic stem/progenitor cells provided by
      this study was effective in maintaining DLS extracellular matrix to introduce
      seeded stem/progenitor cell differentiation, hepatic-like tissue formation and
      functional hepatic protein production in vitro that promoted functional recovery
      and survival in a mouse model of dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver cirrhosis
      after auxiliary heterotopic liver transplantation. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley
      & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27638003
TI  - NAS agar is more suitable than McKay agar for primary culture of Streptococcus
      milleri group (SMG) fastidious bacteria, S. intermedius in particular.
AB  - Streptococcus milleri group (SMG) is a group of three streptococcal species (S.
      anginosus, intermedius and constellatus) that act as opportunist pathogens, among
      others in cystic fibrosis. Due to their fastidious character, they are both
      difficult to cultivate and to differentiate from less pathogenic streptococcal
      species, therefore being most probably underdiagnosed. Semi-selective McKay agar
      and NAS agar were developed to facilitate SMG recovery from clinical samples;
      however, direct comparison of recovery rates has not been published yet. We
      tested the performance of both media on 123 patient samples and demonstrated
      general superiority of NAS agar for SMG recovery during primary cultivation
      convincingly. This observation was also confirmed by quantitative drop tests
      during subculture. Despite the undisputed overall superiority of NAS agar over
      McKay agar, a smaller fraction of strains grew better on McKay agar. Inter-strain
      differences were the most probable explanation. Therefore, when economic
      conditions are not limiting and maximum recovery rate is desirable, both plates
      are advised to be used in parallel for primary cultivation of clinical samples.

PMID- 27638005
TI  - BMJ editor asks chief medical officer to set up inquiry into statin risks and
      benefits.

PMID- 27638004
TI  - Filling in Pediatric Acne Practice Gaps: A Prospective Multicenter Study of Case
      Based Education.
AB  - PURPOSE: Studies have documented practice gaps in acne management between
      pediatricians and dermatologists. Evidence-based recommendations for acne
      management were published by the American Acne and Rosacea Society and the
      American Academy of Pediatrics in 2013. We assess the impact of a case-based
      learning intervention on pediatrician knowledge and treatment of acne in
      accordance with published recommendations. METHODS: Participants were recruited
      at four conferences for pediatric providers. Knowledge of the recommendations and
      confidence in utilizing them was assessed. Five case-based questions were
      presented, with providers choosing acne treatments before, immediately after, and
      3 months after a case-based educational presentation. Answer selections
      consistent with the recommendations were scored as correct, and all responses
      were evaluated for patterns of medication selection. RESULTS: A total of 150
      individuals participated, most with over 10 years experience. Knowledge of the
      recommendations and confidence in prescribing acne therapy was poor. The average
      preintervention management selections were 70% correct, increasing significantly
      to 86% 3 months after intervention (p < .01). The most significant improvements
      were demonstrated in provider's ability to choose regimens for moderate acne
      consistent with published recommendations, and in recommendation-consistent usage
      of retinoids and benzoyl peroxide (p < .05). Persisting practice gaps included a
      reluctance to use topical retinoids in preadolescents and lack of initiating oral
      combination therapies in patients with severe acne. CONCLUSIONS: A case-based
      educational intervention significantly increased providers choosing acne
      treatments in accordance with evidence-based recommendations in an examination
      setting. Limitations of the study include an inability to assess actual provider
      prescribing behavior through this methodology.

PMID- 27638006
TI  - Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Gram-positive and -negative bacterial
      isolates directly from spiked blood culture media with Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - Patients suffering from bacterial bloodstream infections have an increased risk
      of developing systematic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), which can result
      in rapid deterioration of the patients' health. Diagnostic methods for bacterial
      identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests are time-consuming. The aim
      of this study was to investigate whether Raman spectroscopy would be able to
      rapidly provide an antimicrobial susceptibility profile from bacteria isolated
      directly from positive blood cultures. First, bacterial strains (n = 133) were
      inoculated in tryptic soy broth and incubated in the presence or absence of
      antibiotics for 5 h. Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles were analyzed by Raman
      spectroscopy. Subsequently, a selection of strains was isolated from blood
      cultures and analyzed similarly. VITEK(r)2 technology and broth dilution were
      used as the reference methods. Raman spectra from 67 antibiotic-susceptible
      strains showed discriminatory spectra in the absence or at low concentrations of
      antibiotics as compared to high antibiotic concentrations. For 66 antibiotic
      resistant strains, no antimicrobial effect was observed on the bacterial Raman
      spectra. Full concordance with VITEK(r)2 data and broth dilution was obtained for
      the antibiotic-susceptible strains, 68 % and 98 %, respectively, for the
      resistant strains. Discriminative antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST)
      profiles were obtained for all bacterial strains isolated from blood cultures,
      resulting in full concordance with the VITEK(r)2 data. It can be concluded that
      Raman spectroscopy is able to detect the antimicrobial susceptibility of
      bacterial species isolated from a positive blood culture bottle within 5 h.
      Although Raman spectroscopy is cheap and rapid, further optimization is required,
      to fulfill a great promise for future AST profiling technology development.

PMID- 27638007
TI  - Reduced pro-inflammatory responses to Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection
      and low prevalence of enterotoxin genes in isolates from patients on
      haemodialysis.
AB  - Patients with end-stage renal failure undergo regular haemodialysis (HD) and
      often develop episodes of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (BSI),
      which can re-occur. However, clinically, patients on HD, with S. aureus BSI,
      respond well to treatment, rarely developing overt signs of sepsis. We
      investigated the contributions of bacterial virulence and cytokine responses to
      the clinical course of S. aureus BSI in HD and non-HD patients. Seventy patients
      were recruited, including 27 (38.6 %) patients on HD. Isolates were spa-typed and
      virulence and antimicrobial resistance gene carriage was investigated using DNA
      microarray analysis. Four inflammatory cytokines, IL-6, RANTES, GROgamma and
      leptin, were measured in patient plasma on the day of diagnosis and after 7 days.
      There was no significant difference in the prevalence of genotypes or
      antimicrobial resistance genes in S. aureus isolates from HD compared to non-HD
      patients. The enterotoxin gene cluster (containing staphylococcal enterotoxins
      seg, sei, sem, sen, seo and seu) was significantly less prevalent among BSI
      isolates from HD patients compared to non-HD patients. Comparing inflammatory
      cytokine response to S. aureus BSI in HD patients to non-HD patients, IL-6 and
      GROgamma were significantly lower (p = 0.021 and p = 0.001, respectively) in HD
      patients compared to other patients on the day of diagnosis and RANTES levels
      were significantly lower (p = 0.025) in HD patients on day 7 following diagnosis.
      Lowered cytokine responses in HD patients and a reduced potential for super
      antigen production by infecting isolates may partly explain the favourable
      clinical responses to episodes of S. aureus BSI in HD patients that we noted
      clinically.

PMID- 27638008
TI  - Influence of contraceptive choice on vaginal bacterial and fungal microflora.
AB  - The influence of contraception on vaginal microflora can have a major impact on
      the risk of developing acute or recurrent vaginal infections, but also may
      influence the risk of acquiring sexually transmissible infections (STI) such as
      HIV. A cohort of 248 women presenting for levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine
      system (LNG-IUS) insertion or reinsertion were stratified according to their
      current contraceptive method. Information concerning their menstrual pattern and
      data about the medical history were collected. The composition of their vaginal
      microflora was studied by detailed phase contrast microscopy of fresh vaginal
      fluid, and aerobic cultures were taken to detect enteric bacterial growth and
      fungal colonisation. LNG-IUS and progesterone-only-pill (POP) users had
      significantly lower blood loss (p < 0.001) than other women. Regardless of the
      type of contraception used, all women reported similar rates of symptomatic lower
      genital tract infection during the preceding year. Women using combined oral
      contraception (COC) and long-term LNG-IUS had the same bacterial composition of
      vaginal microflora as non-contraceptive users, even when infections were
      combined. Both hormonal and non-hormonal intrauterine device users had an
      increased tendency to have more vaginal colonisation with Candida. Women on POPs
      or subcutaneous implants had a tendency towards increased vaginal atrophy, but
      had a lower Candida carriage rate compared to IUCD users (LNG-IUS and Copper
      IUCD, p = 0.037). Women with an increased risk of acquiring STIs or recurrent BV
      could benefit from LNG-IUS or COC due to a well-preserved vaginal bacterial
      flora. Women with a susceptibility for RVVC should prefer POPs, and avoid
      intrauterine contraception.

PMID- 27638009
TI  - High frequency of occupied attB regions in Norwegian Staphylococcus aureus
      isolates supports a two-step MRSA screening algorithm.
AB  - Rapid nucleic acid amplification tests for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus (MRSA) diagnostics commonly target the mec resistance gene, genes specific
      for S. aureus, and the integration site for the SCCmec resistance cassette, orfX.
      Due to poor specificity when these target genes are used individually, additional
      culture is required to verify positive results. The combination of these targets
      is useful, but the optimal algorithm may depend on the presence of the genetic
      markers in S. aureus isolates, as well as the prevalence of MRSA in a population.
      The aim of the present study was to identify a rapid, low-cost, and functional
      screening algorithm in order to reduce the response time for MRSA diagnostics. An
      in-house orfX-SCCmec polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was established and
      evaluated. The results were compared with an existing mec/nuc PCR assay and
      traditional culture. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) that tested false
      positive in the orfX-SCCmec PCR assay were further investigated with full genome
      sequencing using the Ion PGMTM System to verify results and causality. Based on
      these data, a two-step screening algorithm with initial mec/nuc PCR followed by
      orfX-SCCmec PCR on positive samples was suggested and tested on 1443 patient
      samples. 22.5 % of MSSA isolates tested false-positive with the orfX-SCCmec PCR.
      Full genome sequencing of these isolates identified genetic variation in the attB
      region of S. aureus, including empty cassette variants and non-mec SCC. The
      suggested two-step MRSA screening algorithm allowed us to report MRSA results for
      95.6 % of all samples and 99 % of MRSA-negative samples after one day.

PMID- 27638010
TI  - Group A streptococcus: is there a genital carrier state in women following
      infection?
AB  - Group A streptococcus (GAS) is a rare but serious cause of postpartum and
      gynecological infections. There are no follow-up or prophylaxis guidelines for
      women with previous GAS genital infection. We aimed to evaluate the incidence of
      long-term gynecological carrier state in patients with a history of genital GAS
      infection. This is a prospective study of women who had a genital GAS infection
      and were followed for 1 year from the date of isolation. Cultures were obtained
      every 3-4 months. As a control group, women with no previously documented GAS
      infection were screened for GAS. Twenty-five women with a previous GAS infection
      participated in the study. Two of the 25 patients had positive vaginal GAS
      cultures during follow-up, giving a carrier rate of 8 %. Four hundred and thirty
      six women participated in the control group; none was a carrier of GAS (p <
      0.003). We found that common gynecological procedures were occasionally
      associated with invasive GAS infection. A significant rate of carriers was found
      among women with previous GAS genital infection. Common office procedures can be
      related to severe GAS infection. Consideration should be given to screening women
      with previous GAS infection prior to invasive as well as semi-invasive
      gynecological or obstetric procedures.

PMID- 27638011
TI  - Antibody to Chlamydia trachomatis proteins, TroA and HtrA, as a biomarker for
      Chlamydia trachomatis infection.
AB  - : We studied whether antibody to two chlamydial proteins (TroA and HtrA) could be
      used as biomarkers of Chlamydia trachomatis infection. METHODS: Recombinant
      proteins C. trachomatis TroA and HtrA were used as antigens in enzyme immunoassay
      (EIA). Both IgG and IgA antibody responses were studied. RESULTS: IgG or IgA
      antibody to either protein was infrequently detected in sera from healthy blood
      donors or virgin girls. Patients attending the STI Clinic and patients with
      perihepatitis had often IgG antibody against TroA (25 and 50 % respectively) and
      HtrA (21 and 38 % respectively). Especially in sera from patients with chlamydial
      perihepatitis, the A450nm values with TroA were high (mean 1.591). A positive
      correlation between C. trachomatis MIF antibody and TroA (r  = 0.7) as well as
      HtrA (r  = 0.5) antibody was observed in sera from STI clinic patients and
      perihepatitis patients. Individuals with C. trachomatis infection and positive
      serology already when seeking medical attention had higher A450nm values for TroA
      (0.638) and HtrA (0.836) than patients with no marker of previous exposure or
      with no infection (0.208 and 0.234 respectively). Diagnosis of genital C.
      trachomatis infection is often NAAT-based, whereas serology has little value in
      testing for uncomplicated genital C. trachomatis infection. TroA and HtrA
      antibodies are potential biomarkers for evaluation of ascending and repeated C.
      trachomatis infection.

PMID- 27638013
TI  - Attachment of upper arm prostheses with a subcutaneous osseointegrated implant in
      transhumeral amputees.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The stump-socket interface is of utmost importance for prosthetic
      function in transhumeral amputees. Stability of this connection may be improved
      using a newly designed subcutaneous implant. OBJECTIVES: The purpose was to
      determine the effect of the implant together with customized socket designs on
      the range of motion of the shoulder and the prosthetic function compared to
      conventional fitting. STUDY DESIGN: Case series. METHODS: The range of motion was
      measured with scaled metrics and the prosthetic function evaluated with the
      Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure and the Box and Block Test. Maximal loading
      was measured in straight and 90 degrees  flexion of the elbow. RESULTS: The
      restriction of range of motion after conventional fitting was decreased from
      42.55% +/- 6.56% to 9.23% +/- 14.89% in Patient I and from 62.18% +/- 15.19% to
      2.51% +/- 2.49% in Patient II using the implant with customized sockets compared
      to range of motion without prosthesis. Both patients showed improved prosthetic
      function with the new system compared to conventional fitting. CONCLUSION: The
      presented subcutaneous humeral implant, together with customized socket designs
      without straps and harnesses to the contralateral shoulder, can maintain almost
      complete range of motion of the shoulder. This resulted in improved prosthetic
      function and comfort for the patient without constant risk of infection. Clinical
      relevance Discomfort and limited prosthetic function are the main reasons for
      abandonment especially in transhumeral amputees. Shoulder straps and harnesses
      within conventional socket designs may not only lead to pain and skin irritations
      at the contralateral shoulder but also limit the range of motion of the shoulder
      joint and therefore prosthetic function.

PMID- 27638012
TI  - Prosthetists' perceptions and use of outcome measures in clinical practice: Long
      term effects of focused continuing education.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Continuing education is intended to facilitate clinicians' skills and
      knowledge in areas of practice, such as administration and interpretation of
      outcome measures. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term effect of continuing
      education on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures and their
      perceptions of outcomes measurement in clinical practice. DESIGN: Pretest
      posttest survey methods. METHODS: A total of 66 prosthetists were surveyed
      before, immediately after, and 2 years after outcomes measurement education and
      training. Prosthetists were grouped as routine or non-routine outcome measures
      users, based on experience reported prior to training. RESULTS: On average,
      prosthetists were just as confident administering measures 1-2 years after
      continuing education as they were immediately after continuing education. In all,
      20% of prosthetists, initially classified as non-routine users, were subsequently
      classified as routine users at follow-up. Routine and non-routine users' opinions
      differed on whether outcome measures contributed to efficient patient evaluations
      (79.3% and 32.4%, respectively). Both routine and non-routine users reported
      challenges integrating outcome measures into normal clinical routines (20.7% and
      45.9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Continuing education had a long-term impact on
      prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures and may influence
      their clinical practices. However, remaining barriers to using standardized
      measures need to be addressed to keep practitioners current with evolving
      practice expectations. Clinical relevance Continuing education (CE) had a
      significant long-term impact on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome
      measures and influenced their clinical practices. In all, approximately 20% of
      prosthetists, who previously were non-routine outcome measure users, became
      routine users after CE. There remains a need to develop strategies to integrate
      outcome measurement into routine clinical practice.

PMID- 27638014
TI  - [Rheumadocs seeks ...].

PMID- 27638015
TI  - Comparative efficacy and safety of tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil,
      azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide as maintenance therapy for lupus nephritis : A
      Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - AIMS: This study aimed to assess the relative efficacy and safety of tacrolimus,
      mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), azathioprine (AZA), and cyclophosphamide (CYC) as
      maintenance therapy for lupus nephritis. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) examining the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus, MMF, AZA, and CYC for
      maintenance therapy in lupus nephritis patients were included. We performed a
      Bayesian random-effects network meta-analysis to combine direct and indirect
      evidence from the RCTs. RESULTS: Five RCTs including 525 patients were included.
      Although the difference was not statistically significant, tacrolimus showed a
      trend toward a lower renal relapse rate than AZA or CYC. Similarly, MMF showed a
      trend toward a lower relapse rate than AZA or CYC. Renal relapse tended to be
      lower in the AZA group than in the CYC group. Ranking probability based on the
      surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) indicated that tacrolimus had
      the highest probability of being the best treatment based on the renal relapse,
      followed by MMF, AZA, and CYC. Analysis of withdrawal due to adverse events
      showed the same pattern. The leukopenia incidence was significantly lower in the
      MMF group than in the AZA group. Similarly, it tended to be lower in the
      tacrolimus group than in the AZA group. Ranking probability based on SUCRA
      indicated that MMF had the highest probability of being the safest treatment
      based on leukopenia incidence, followed by tacrolimus and AZA. CONCLUSIONS: Lower
      renal relapse rates combined with a more favorable safety profile suggest that
      tacrolimus and MMF are superior to AZA and CYC as maintenance treatments in these
      patients.

PMID- 27638016
TI  - Portable Nanopore Sequencing for Viral Surveillance.

PMID- 27638017
TI  - Belowground communication: impacts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from soil
      fungi on other soil-inhabiting organisms.
AB  - We reviewed the impact of fungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on soil
      inhabiting organisms and their physiological and molecular consequences for their
      targets. Because fungi can only move by growth to distinct directions, a main
      mechanism to protect themselves from enemies or to manipulate their surroundings
      is the secretion of exudates or VOCs. The importance of VOCs in this regard has
      been significantly underestimated. VOCs not only can be means of communication,
      but also signals that are able to specifically manipulate the recipient. VOCs can
      reprogram root architecture of symbiotic partner plants or increase plant growth
      leading to enlarged colonization surfaces. VOCs are also able to enhance plant
      resistance against pathogens by activating phytohormone-dependent signaling
      pathways. In some cases, they were phytotoxic. Because the response was specific
      to distinct species, fungal VOCs may contribute to regulate the competition of
      plant communities. Additionally, VOCs are used by the producing fungus to attack
      rivaling fungi or bacteria, thereby protecting the emitter or its nutrient
      sources. In addition, animals, like springtails, nematodes, and earthworms, which
      are important components of the soil food web, respond to fungal VOCs. Some VOCs
      are effective repellents for nematodes and, therefore, have applications as
      biocontrol agents. In conclusion, this review shows that fungal VOCs have a huge
      impact on soil fauna and flora, but the underlying mechanisms, how VOCs are
      perceived by the recipients, how they manipulate their targets and the resulting
      ecological consequences of VOCs in inter-kingdom signaling is only partly
      understood. These knowledge gaps are left to be filled by future studies. 

PMID- 27638018
TI  - Current Concepts in the Pathogenesis of Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - Takotsubo syndrome is typically characterized by acute reversible impairment of
      apical and mid -left ventricular systolic function. The pathophysiology is
      complex and remains to be completely understood. A catecholamine surge appears to
      be a central feature. Patients with prior history of psychiatric disorders have a
      predisposition. The putative role of a switch in b-adrenoceptor signalling
      resulting in negative inotropy remains uncertain. Downregulation of noncritical
      cellular functions may offer some protection in preventing irreversible cellular
      necrosis. Microvascular function is a common occurrence in these patients. 

PMID- 27638019
TI  - The Sympathetic Nervous System in the Pathogenesis of Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - Takotsubo syndrome is a unique clinical condition of acute heart failure and
      reversible left ventricular dysfunction frequently precipitated by sudden
      emotional or physical stress. There is growing evidence that exaggerated
      sympathetic stimulation is central to the pathogenesis of this syndrome.
      Precisely how catecholamines mediate myocardial stunning in takotsubo syndrome
      remains incompletely understood; but possible mechanisms include epicardial
      spasm, microvascular dysfunction, direct adrenergic-receptor-mediated myocyte
      injury, and systemic vascular effects that alter ventricular-arterial coupling.
      Risk factors that increase sympathetic tone and/or catecholamine sensitivity may
      render individuals particularly susceptible to takotsubo syndrome during episodes
      of acute stress. 

PMID- 27638021
TI  - A Clinical Perspective of the Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - This article provides a contemporary review of the clinical features of the
      takotsubo syndrome. The author discusses hallmark elements that distinguish this
      novel acute cardiac condition from the more common acute coronary syndrome. This
      review includes relevant clinical detail surrounding findings on ECG, biochemical
      testing, and cardiac imaging and a discussion of complications, including acute
      decompensated heart failure, arrhythmias, ventricular thrombi, and left
      ventricular outflow obstruction. The review concludes with discussion of proper
      treatment, long-term survival, and recurrence. 

PMID- 27638022
TI  - Influence of Age and Gender in Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) occurs predominantly in elderly females but young
      individuals and children may also be affected. There are no consistent
      differences between men and women regarding age, symptoms, prehospital delay, or
      clinical course. Mortality has been reported to be higher in males. The QTc
      interval may be disproportionately prolonged in male patients in the days after
      admission predisposing them to ventricular arrhythmias. The higher level of
      cardiac markers in males with TTS may be related to the greater frequency of
      physical stress before the onset of TTS. Understanding the pathogenetic
      background may lead to preventive/therapeutic means against this life-threatening
      disease. 

PMID- 27638020
TI  - Genetics of Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an enigmatic disease with a multifactorial and still
      unresolved pathogenesis. A genetic predisposition has been suggested based on the
      few familial TTS cases. Conflicting results have been published regarding the
      role of functional polymorphisms in relevant candidate genes, such as alpha1-,
      beta1-, and beta2-adrenergic receptors; G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5; and
      estrogen receptors. Further research is required to help clarify the role of
      genetic susceptibility in TTS. 

PMID- 27638023
TI  - Chronobiology of Takotsubo Syndrome and Myocardial Infarction: Analogies and
      Differences.
AB  - Several pathophysiologic factors, not harmful if taken alone, are capable of
      triggering unfavorable events when presenting together within the same temporal
      window (chronorisk), and the occurrence of many cardiovascular events is not
      evenly distributed in time. Both acute myocardial infarction and takotsubo
      syndrome seem to exhibit a temporal preference in their onset, characterized by
      variations according to time of day, day of the week, and month of the year,
      although with both analogies and differences. 

PMID- 27638024
TI  - Takotsubo Syndrome and Embolic Events.
AB  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), initially defined as a benign disease, is
      associated with several complications. One of them is a thromboembolism, which is
      clinically presented by events such as stroke, ventricular thrombi, and
      peripheral embolization, and can be present at index event of TCC as well as at
      any time in disease course. Patients with elevated C-reactive protein levels,
      markedly elevated D-dimers and severely impaired left ventricular function seem
      to be at higher risk of developing thrombemboli. Treatment strategies prescribed
      in the management of thombembolic complications in patients with acute myocardial
      infarction includes a short course of anticoagulation. A similar analogy could
      also be considered for patients with TTC presenting with this complications.
      Nevertheless, an individualized close-follow-up is of utmost importance to avoid
      any relapse and not to oversee any impeding complications in light of dynamic
      processes in myocardial stunning. 

PMID- 27638025
TI  - Challenges of Chronic Cardiac Problems in Survivors of Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - A hallmark feature of the Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is the reversible nature of
      the observed cardiac dysfunction. This is underlined in diagnostic criteria.
      However, it would appear this reversibility is a subtle process, and that
      myocardial catecholamine toxicity can cause lasting permanent abnormalities of
      myocardial physiology. A growing body of evidence suggests persisting
      abnormalities may predispose post-TTS patients to cardiac and noncardiac
      morbidity and mortality. The cardiology community needs to understand more
      clearly how TTS evolves, how to identify high-risk patients with incomplete
      resolution, and perform studies to assess which treatment(s) are effective to
      improve cardiac recovery and clinical outcomes. 

PMID- 27638026
TI  - Contemporary Imaging in Takotsubo Syndrome.
AB  - Transthoracic echocardiography is the first-line imaging modality for evaluating
      patients with Takotsubo syndrome (TTS). Beyond diagnosis, TTE enables detection
      of peculiar complications and is useful for risk stratification and management of
      patients with cardiogenic shock. Cardiac magnetic resonance can be used to detect
      myocardial edema typically associated with TTS and is helpful in the differential
      diagnosis with other disease states. Coronary computed tomography angiography can
      be performed as an alternative to coronary angiography to confirm coronary artery
      patency. Molecular imaging is a promising approach for identifying patients at
      increased risk of recurrence. 

PMID- 27638027
TI  - Takotsubo Syndrome-Scientific Basis for Current Treatment Strategies.
AB  - Takotsubo syndrome (TS) is characterized by severe reversible left ventricular
      (LV) wall motion abnormality in the absence of explanatory coronary lesion.
      Despite an increasing number of patients diagnosed with TS worldwide, there are
      no randomized clinical trials. In mild cases, no treatment or a short course of
      limited anticoagulation therapy may be sufficient. Positive inotropic and
      vasodilating agents should be avoided. In severe cases with refractory
      cardiogenic shock, early treatment with mechanical support using venoarterial
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or a LV assist device should be considered. 

PMID- 27638028
TI  - Takotsubo Syndrome: Insights from Japan.
AB  - We report the history and new insights of takotsubo syndrome based on the
      achievements that Japanese researchers have contributed and summarize the
      evidence originally presented from Japan. Takotsubo syndrome is a newly described
      heart failure characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction. We should
      be aware of this entity as a syndrome, not actual cardiomyopathy. Japanese
      researchers focus on the experimental approaches for clinical diagnosis and
      treatment of takotsubo syndrome. As representatives from a country originally
      naming this syndrome takotsubo, a global registry for takotsubo syndrome
      including Japan should be established. 

PMID- 27638029
TI  - The International Takotsubo Registry: Rationale, Design, Objectives, and First
      Results.
AB  - Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) was first described in Japan in 1990. The clinical
      presentation is similar to that of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Cardiac enzymes
      are commonly elevated. A global initiative was launched and the InterTAK Registry
      was established to provide a systematic database. The major goals of the
      International Takotsubo Registry (InterTAK Registry) are to provide a
      comprehensive clinical characterization on natural history, treatment, and
      outcomes. We linked a biorepository to identify biomarkers for the diagnosis and
      prognosis and to investigate the genetic basis as well as disease-related
      factors. We focus on the rationale, objectives, design, and first results of the
      InterTAK Registry. 

PMID- 27638030
TI  - Takotsubo: From Cardiomyopathy to Acute Reversible Heart Failure Syndrome.

PMID- 27638031
TI  - Physiology of the fasciculation potentials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:
      which motor units fasciculate?
AB  - We set out to study whether in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) fasciculation
      potentials (FPs) arise from the most excitable motor units (MUs). We studied 70
      patients with ALS and 18 subjects with benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS). Of
      the 56 eligible ALS patients, 31 had signs of reinnervation in the right first
      dorsal interosseous muscle selected for study, and 25 did not. Two needle
      electrodes were placed in different MUs in each studied muscle. We defined the
      most excitable MU as that first activated by minimal voluntary contraction. In
      muscles without reinnervation, the recording site with most frequent FPs had a
      higher probability of showing the first recruited MU (p < 0.001). No significant
      difference was found in other patients or in BFS subjects. In very early affected
      muscles, fasciculating MUs are the most likely to be recruited volitionally. This
      probably represents hyperexcitability at lower motor neuronal level.

PMID- 27638032
TI  - HIV-Related Risk Behaviors Among Labor Migrants, Their Wives and the General
      Population in Nepal.
AB  - Nepalese labor migrants and their wives are considered as at-risk populations for
      HIV infection. There may be a risk of HIV transmission from the labor migrant and
      their wives to the general population due to HIV-related risk behaviors, but so
      far empirical evidence to support this hypothesis is scarce. Therefore, this
      study was conducted to compare HIV-related risk behaviors between labor migrants,
      their wives, and males and females from the general population in the far-western
      region of Nepal. This was a cross-sectional study, in which structured face-to
      face interviews were conducted with 261 male labor migrants, 262 wives of labor
      migrants, 123 males and 122 females from the general population. We found that
      the proportion of the labor migrants and their wives reporting having had
      extramarital sex in the previous year did not differ significantly with the males
      (11.9 vs. 13.4 %, p value 0.752) and females (2.0 vs. 1.7 %, p value 0.127) from
      the general population. However, the labor migrants compared with the males from
      the general population were 1.51 times and the wives of labor migrants compared
      with the females from the general population were 2.37 times more likely to have
      been tested for HIV. Both the males from the general population and the labor
      migrants are equally engaged in unprotected extramarital sex. Therefore, it is
      recommended that the prevention programs, including access to condoms and HIV
      testing, should be scaled up targeting a broader range of individuals in the far
      western region of Nepal.

PMID- 27638033
TI  - Type 2 Diabetes and Its correlates: A Cross Sectional Study in a Tertiary
      Hospital of Nepal.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an emerging global health problem in Nepal.
      However, there is still a paucity of information on its burden and its risk
      factors among service users from a hospital based setting. This is a cross
      sectional study conducted among the service users of diabetes clinic in Tribhuvan
      University Teaching Hospital of Nepal. A sample size of 154 was selected
      systematically from the patient registration from 30th July to 16th August, 2013.
      Of the 154 participants, 42.85 % had T2DM. Higher mean body mass index (26.50 +/-
      5.05 kg/m2) and waist circumference (92.47 +/- 11.30 cm) was found among the
      individuals with T2DM and, compared to those without diabetes (Body mass index
      25.13 +/- 4.28 kg/m2: waist circumference 88.91 +/- 12.30 cm) (P = 0.013). In
      further analysis, the sedentary occupation (aOR 3.088; 95 % CI 1.427-6.682),
      measure of high waist circumference (aOR 2.758; 95 % CI 1.238-6.265) individuals
      from lower socioeconomic status (aOR 3.989; 95 % CI 1.636-9.729) right knowledge
      on symptoms of diabetes (aOR 3.670; 95 % CI 1.571-8.577) and right knowledge on
      prevention of diabetes (aOR 3.397; 95 % CI 1.377-8.383) were significantly
      associated with T2DM status. The current findings suggest that health programs
      targeting T2DM should focus increasing awareness on harmful health effects of
      sedentary occupation, symptoms of T2DM and its prevention among the urban
      population.

PMID- 27638034
TI  - Community Partners Join Forces: Battling Obesity and Diabetes Together.
AB  - Our objectives was to create an initiative to change the culture of a small
      community to improve quality of life as it relates to health for the residents
      through the use of health-related educational sessions, a coordinated fitness and
      nutrition program, and the construction of community fitness trails. We compared
      the use of a health-focused community driven program to the status quo in seeking
      opportunities to improve perception and understanding of one's health and overall
      quality of life for participants. Among the various techniques identified to
      improve a community's health outcomes, dissemination of information through the
      use of educational sessions empowered citizens to take control of their health
      status, and ultimately, their quality of life. This came with zero negative
      impacts for those providing the education, as well as those participating in the
      sessions. Although the application of these methods depends on local resources,
      leadership, and partnerships, programs similar to those presented here can help
      to improve quality of life for citizens in communities across the country facing
      the challenges secondary to a sedentary lifestyle.

PMID- 27638035
TI  - Association between FKBP5 and CRHR1 genes with suicidal behavior: A systematic
      review.
AB  - Suicide is one of the leading causes of death around the world with approximately
      one million suicides per year. An increasing number of neurobiological studies
      implicate HPA system dysfunction in suicide behavior, stimulating genetic
      research to focus on genes related to this system. This systematic review was
      focused on searching a correlation between FKBP5 and CRHR1 genes with suicidal
      behavior. Therefore, an electronic search strategy, using PubMed, EBSCO and
      Cochrane Library databases, was conducted from the inception of the studies into
      the databases to July 2016. The inclusion criteria were: use of at least one
      analysis investigating the relation between either the genetic variants in FKBP5
      and/or CRHR1 genes with suicidal behavior. 2) use of a case-control design; 3)
      investigation about suicidal behavior in the form of suicide completion or
      history of at least one suicide attempt, as defined by each individual study; 4)
      inclusion of samples comprising control subjects; and 6) inclusion of reports
      written only in English language. The PRISMA guidelines were followed and the
      search strategy ensured that all possible studies were identified to compile the
      review. Using the keyword combinations, the search strategy provided 3334
      articles, of which only 15 case-control studies were included in this systematic
      review. The included studies comprised 2526 subjects with suicidal behavior. A
      quantitative synthesis of results from the included studies was not undertaken
      due to marked methodological heterogeneity. This review showed a significant
      genetic association in most studies in FKBP5 and CRHR1 genes with a high rate of
      attempted suicide, pointing out that the expression of these genes and its
      polymorphisms could be a key predictor of suicide risk. In conclusion, this
      systematic review supports an association between suicidal behavior and genetic
      variants in FKBP5 and CRHR1 genes.

PMID- 27638036
TI  - mGlu5 receptor antagonist blocks bromocriptine-induced conditioned place
      preference in bilateral mesolimbic-lesioned rat.
AB  - Dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS) has been attributed to both dopamine
      replacement therapies (DRT) and the mesencephalic dopaminergic lesion. The DRT
      reinforcement effect is due to its action on the reward system, particularly on
      the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This nucleus receives two major projections, a
      glutamatergic from the prefrontal cortex and a dopaminergic from the posterior
      ventral tegmental area (pVTA). The latter modulate the former within the NAc.
      pVTA has been demonstrated to be implicated in the motivational effect of
      bromocriptine (dopamine 2 receptor (D2R) agonist) in bilateral pVTA-lesioned
      animals. Therefore the potential implication of the metabotropic glutamate
      receptor 5 (mGluR5) antagonist (MTEP: 3-((2-Methyl-1,3-thiazol-4
      yl)ethynyl)pyridine) on bromocriptine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP)
      was explored. Results showed that the administration of the MTEP blocked
      completely the bromocriptine-induced CPP in bilateral pVTA-lesioned rats. Both
      the CPP acquisition and expression were abolished. These effects are due, at
      least to an increase of the glutamate concentration and that of mGlu5 receptor
      expression in the NAc shell of the pVTA-lesioned animals. Altogether these data
      demonstrated the importance of the mGlu5 receptor in the bromocriptine induced
      reinforcement and that DDS is probably due to DRT effect on this glutamate
      receptor.

PMID- 27638037
TI  - Early life low intensity stress experience modifies acute stress effects on
      juvenile brain cell proliferation of European sea bass (D. Labrax).
AB  - Early life adversity may be critical for the brain structural plasticity that in
      turn would influence juvenile behaviour. To address this, we questioned whether
      early life environment has an impact on stress responses latter in life, using
      European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, as a model organism. Unpredictable
      chronic low intensity stress (UCLIS), using a variety of moderate intensity
      stressors, was applied during two early ontogenetic stages, flexion or formation
      all fins. At juvenile stage, fish were exposed to acute stress and plasma
      cortisol, brain mRNA expression of corticosteroid receptors' genes (gr1, gr2, mr)
      and brain cell proliferation (using BrdU immunohistochemistry) were determined in
      experimental and matched controls. UCLIS treatment specifically decreased brain
      gr1 expression in juveniles, but had no effect on the juvenile brain cell
      proliferation pattern within the major neurogenic zones studied of dorsal (Dm,
      Dld) and ventral (Vv) telencephalic, preoptic (NPO) areas, periventricular tectum
      gray zone (PGZ) and valvula cerebellum (VCe). In contrast, exposure to acute
      stress induced significant plasma cortisol rise, decreases of cerebral cell
      proliferation in juveniles, not previously exposed to UCLIS, but no effect
      detected on the expression levels of gr1, gr2 and mr in all groups of different
      early life history. Interestingly, juveniles with UCLIS history showed modified
      responses to acute stress, attenuating acute stress-induced cell proliferation
      decreases, indicating a long-lasting effect of early life treatment. Taken
      together, early life mild stress experience influences an acute stress plasticity
      end-point, cerebral cell proliferation, independently of the stress-axis
      activation, possibly leading to more effective coping styles.

PMID- 27638038
TI  - Xpert MTB/RIF - why the lack of morbidity and mortality impact in intervention
      trials?
AB  - Compared with smear microscopy, the Xpert MTB/RIF assay (Xpert), with superior
      accuracy and capacity to diagnose rifampicin resistance, has advanced TB
      diagnostic capability. However, recent trials of Xpert impact have not
      demonstrated reductions in patient morbidity and mortality. We conducted a
      narrative review of Xpert impact trials to summarize which patient-relevant
      outcomes Xpert has improved and explore reasons for no observed morbidity or
      mortality reductions. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library and
      Embase and identified eight trials meeting inclusion criteria: three individually
      randomized, three cluster-randomized, and two pre-post trials. In six trials
      Xpert increased diagnostic yield of bacteriologically-confirmed TB from sputa and
      in four trials Xpert shortened time to TB treatment. However, all-cause mortality
      was similar between arms in all six trials reporting this outcome, and the only
      trial to assess Xpert impact on morbidity reported no impact. Trial
      characteristics that might explain lack of observed impact on morbidity and
      mortality include: higher rates of empiric TB treatment in microscopy compared
      with Xpert arms, enrollment of study populations not comprised exclusively of
      populations most likely to benefit from Xpert, and health system weaknesses. So
      far as equipoise exists, future trials that address past limitations are needed
      to inform Xpert use in resource-limited settings.

PMID- 27638039
TI  - Long-term mid-facial growth of patients with a unilateral complete cleft of lip,
      alveolus and palate treated by two-stage palatoplasty: cephalometric analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate long-term facial growth in
      adults previously treated for an isolated unilateral complete cleft lip, alveolus
      and palate by two-stage palatoplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Unilateral cleft lip
      and palate (UCLP) patients of 17 years and older treated by two-stage
      palatoplasty were invited for long-term follow-up. During follow-up, lateral
      cephalograms were obtained (n = 52). Medical history was acquired from their
      medical files. Outcome was compared to previously published normal values and the
      Eurocleft study. RESULTS: Soft and hard palate closure were performed at the age
      of 8 (SD 5.9) months and 3 (SD 2.2) years, respectively. The mean maxillary and
      mandibular angle (SNA, SNB) were 74.9 degrees  (SD 4.2) and 75.8 degrees  (SD
      3.8). Maxillary and maxillomandibular relationships (SNA, ANB) were comparable to
      all Eurocleft Centres, except for Centre D. We observed a significantly steeper
      upper interincisor angle compared to the Eurocleft Centres. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study describes the long-term craniofacial morphology in adults treated for a
      UCLP with hard palate closure at a mean age of 3 years. The mean maxillary angle
      SNA and mandibular angle SNPg were comparable to previous studies both applying
      early and delayed hard palate closure. The observed upper incisor proclination is
      likely caused by orthodontic overcorrection in response to the unfavourable jaw
      relationships. No clear growth benefit of this protocol could be demonstrated.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The present study shows the long-term craniofacial morphology
      of UCLP adults after the Utrecht treatment protocol which includes two-stage
      palate closure.

PMID- 27638041
TI  - The Effects of Wearable Resistance Training on Metabolic, Kinematic and Kinetic
      Variables During Walking, Running, Sprint Running and Jumping: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wearable resistance training (WRT) provides a means of activity- or
      movement-specific overloading, supposedly resulting in better transference to
      dynamic sporting performance. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review was to
      quantify the acute and longitudinal metabolic, kinematic and/or kinetic changes
      that occur with WRT during walking, running, sprint running or jumping movements.
      DATA SOURCES: PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science and MEDLINE (EBSCO) were
      searched using the Boolean phrases (limb OR vest OR trunk) AND (walk* OR run* OR
      sprint* OR jump* OR bound*) AND (metabolic OR kinetic OR kinematic) AND (load*).
      STUDY SELECTION: A systematic approach was used to evaluate 1185 articles.
      Articles with injury-free subjects of any age, sex or activity level were
      included. RESULTS: Thirty-two studies met the inclusion criteria and were
      retained for analysis. Acute trunk loading reduced velocity during treadmill
      sprint running, but only significantly when loads of 11 % body mass (BM) or
      greater were used, while over-the-ground sprint running times were significantly
      reduced with all loads (8-20 %BM). Longitudinal trunk loading significantly
      increased jump performance with all loads (7-30 %BM), but did not significantly
      improve sprint running performance. Acute limb loading significantly increased
      maximum oxygen consumption and energy cost with all loads (0.3-8.5 %BM) in
      walking and running, while significantly reducing velocity during sprint running.
      LIMITATIONS: The variation in load magnitude, load orientation, subjects, testing
      methods and study duration no doubt impact the changes in the variables examined
      and hence make definitive conclusions problematic. CONCLUSIONS: WRT provides a
      novel training method with potential to improve sporting performance; however,
      research in this area is still clearly in its infancy, with future research
      required into the optimum load placement, orientation and magnitude required for
      adaptation.

PMID- 27638042
TI  - Corrigendum to "Generation of a human induced pluripotent stem cell line from
      urinary cells of a healthy donor using an integration free vector" [Stem Cell
      Res. 16/2 (2016) 314-317].

PMID- 27638044
TI  - Diagnosing disruptive mood dysregulation disorder: Integrating semi-structured
      and unstructured interviews.
AB  - The newest iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-fifth edition (DSM
      5), is the first to include the diagnosis of disruptive mood dysregulation
      disorder (DMDD). The assessment and diagnosis of psychopathology in children are
      complicated, particularly for mood disorders. Practice can be guided by the use
      of well-validated instruments. However, as this is a new diagnosis existing
      instruments have not yet been evaluated for the diagnosis of DMDD. This study
      seeks to provide a method for using existing structured interview instruments to
      assess for this contemporary diagnosis. The Children's Interview for Psychiatric
      Syndromes (ChIPS) and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for
      Children and Adolescents (MINI-KID) are reviewed and existing items consistent
      with a diagnosis of DMDD are identified. Finally, a case is presented using both
      measures and applying the theoretical items identified to illustrate how one
      might use these measures to assess DMDD. Limitations and future directions are
      discussed.

PMID- 27638040
TI  - Eccentric Exercise: Physiological Characteristics and Acute Responses.
AB  - An eccentric contraction involves the active lengthening of muscle under an
      external load. The molecular and neural mechanisms underpinning eccentric
      contractions differ from those of concentric and isometric contractions and
      remain less understood. A number of molecular theories have been put forth to
      explain the unexplained observations during eccentric contractions that deviate
      from the predictions of the established theories of muscle contraction.
      Postulated mechanisms include a strain-induced modulation of actin-myosin
      interactions at the level of the cross-bridge, the activation of the structural
      protein titin, and the winding of titin on actin. Accordingly, neural strategies
      controlling eccentric contractions also differ with a greater, and possibly
      distinct, cortical activation observed despite an apparently lower activation at
      the level of the motor unit. The characteristics of eccentric contractions are
      associated with several acute physiological responses to eccentrically-emphasised
      exercise. Differences in neuromuscular, metabolic, hormonal and anabolic
      signalling responses during, and following, an eccentric exercise bout have
      frequently been observed in comparison to concentric exercise. Subsequently, the
      high levels of muscular strain with such exercise can induce muscle damage which
      is rarely observed with other contraction types. The net result of these
      eccentric contraction characteristics and responses appears to be a novel
      adaptive signal within the neuromuscular system.

PMID- 27638043
TI  - Mice lacking Faim2 show increased cell death in the MPTP mouse model of Parkinson
      disease.
AB  - The death receptor Fas/CD95 mediates apoptotic cell death in response to external
      stimuli. In neurons, Fas-induced apoptosis is prevented by Fas-apoptotic
      inhibitory molecule 2 (Faim2). Mice lacking Faim2 showed increased
      neurodegeneration in animal models of stroke and bacterial meningitis. We
      therefore tested the relevance of Faim2 in a classical animal model of Parkinson
      disease and determined the toxicity of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6
      tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) in Faim2-deficient mice. Without MPTP treatment, there
      was no difference in the dopaminergic system between Faim2-deficient mice and
      control mice. MPTP was applied i.p. in doses of 30 mg per kg on five consecutive
      days. Fourteen days after the last MPTP injection, the number of dopaminergic
      neurons in the lateral substantia nigra, assayed by stereological counting, was
      reduced by 39% in control mice and 53% in Faim2-deficient mice. The density of
      dopaminergic fibers in the dorsal striatum was reduced by 36% in control mice and
      69% in Faim2-deficient mice, in the ventral striatum 44% in control mice and 76%
      in Faim2-deficient mice. Fiber density recovered at 90 days after MPTP with
      similar density in both groups. Striatal catecholamine levels were reduced by 81
      84% in both groups and recovered at 90 days. Faim2 expression was documented in
      mouse midbrain using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and found
      decreased after MPTP administration. Taken together, our findings demonstrate
      increased degeneration of dopaminergic neurons with Faim2 deficiency, indicating
      that Fas-induced apoptosis contributes to cell death in the MPTP mouse model.
      Along with the decreased expression of Faim2 after MPTP, this finding indicates
      that boosting Faim2 function might represent a therapeutic strategy for Parkinson
      disease.

PMID- 27638045
TI  - Phase 1 study evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetics of pralatrexate in
      relapsed/refractory advanced solid tumors and lymphoma patients with mild,
      moderate, and severe renal impairment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pralatrexate is a folate analogue indicated for the treatment of
      relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. It has not been formally
      tested in patients with renal impairment. This study evaluated the
      pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of pralatrexate in patients with renal impairment
      and with relapsed/refractory advanced solid tumors and lymphoma. METHODS: This
      was an open-label, nonrandomized, phase 1 study. Eligible patients received
      pralatrexate administered as an IV push over 3-5 min once weekly for 6 weeks in 7
      week cycles until progressive disease or intolerable toxicity. Four cohorts of 6
      patients were planned for a total of 24 patients. Patients with normal renal
      function (Cohort A), mild (Cohort B), and moderate renal impairment (Cohort C)
      received 30 mg/m2 pralatrexate once weekly for 6 weeks in 7-week cycles, and
      patients with severe renal impairment (Cohort D) were to be administered 20 mg/m2
      once weekly for 6 weeks. Plasma and urine samples were collected at pre-specified
      time points to determine the PK profile of pralatrexate in each treatment cohort.
      Patients were followed for safety and tolerability. RESULTS: A total of 29
      patients were enrolled and 27 patients (14 male) received at least 1 dose of
      pralatrexate. Because of a qualifying toxicity in Cohort C, the starting dose for
      Cohort D was reduced to 15 mg/m2. Chronic renal impairment led to a decrease in
      renal clearance of the pralatrexate diastereomers, PDX-10a and PDX-10b, but
      systemic exposure to these diastereomers was not dramatically affected by renal
      impairment. Pralatrexate exposure in Cohort D (15 mg/m2) was similar to the
      exposure in other cohorts (30 mg/m2). No apparent difference in toxicity between
      the four treatment cohorts was observed, except for an increase in cytopenias in
      patients with severe renal impairment. CONCLUSION: Pralatrexate exposure, at a
      dose of 30 mg/m2, in patients with mild or moderate renal impairment was similar
      to the exposure in patients with normal renal function. For patients with severe
      renal impairment only, a pralatrexate dose of 15 mg/m2 is recommended.

PMID- 27638046
TI  - Electrooptical Analysis of Microbial Cell Suspensions forDetermination of
      Antibiotic Resistance.
AB  - The effects of ampicillin; kanamycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline on
      electrophysical characteristics of cells of sensitive (ampicillin; kanamycin,
      chloramphenicol) and resistant (ampicillin; kanamycin, chloramphenicol,
      tetracycline) Escherichia coli strains were studied. Under the action of
      antibiotics sensitive and resistant E. coli strains acquire different electro
      optical properties. Changes in suspension-orientational spectra, that are
      observed under the action of ampicillin; kanamycin, chloramphenicol, and
      tetracycline can be used in determination of antibiotic resistance of the studied
      bacterial strains. In our opinion, the methods of microbial suspension electro
      optical analysis can be used in microbiology, medicine, veterinary, and are an
      effective tool for solving the problems connected with determination of microbial
      cell antibiotic resistance.

PMID- 27638047
TI  - Comparison of Voltage Gated K+ Currents in Arterial Myocytes with Heterologously
      Expressed K v Subunits.
AB  - We have shown that three components contribute to functional voltage gated K+ (K
      v) currents in rat small mesenteric artery myocytes: (1) Kv1.2 plus Kv1.5 with
      Kvbeta1.2 subunits, (2) Kv2.1 probably associated with Kv9.3 subunits, and (3)
      Kv7.4 subunits. To confirm and address subunit stoichiometry of the first two, we
      have compared the biophysical properties of K v currents in small mesenteric
      artery myocytes with those of Kv subunits heterologously expressed in HEK293
      cells using whole cell voltage clamp methods. Selective inhibitors of Kv1
      (correolide, COR) and Kv2 (stromatoxin, ScTx) channels were used to separate
      these K v current components. Conductance-voltage and steady state inactivation
      data along with time constants of activation, inactivation, and deactivation of
      native K v components were generally well represented by those of Kv1.2-1.5
      beta1.2 and Kv2.1-9.3 channels. The slope of the steady state inactivation
      voltage curve (availability slope) proved to be the most sensitive measure of
      accessory subunit presence. The availability slope curves exhibited a single peak
      for both native K v components. Availability slope curves for Kv1.2-1.5-beta1.2
      and Kv2.1-9.3 channels expressed in human embryonic kidney cells also exhibited a
      single peak that shifted to more depolarized voltages with increasing accessory
      to alpha subunit transfection ratio. Availability slope curves for SxTc
      insensitive currents were similar to those of Kv1.2-1.5 expressed with Kvbeta1.2
      at a 1:5 molar ratio while curves for COR-insensitive currents closely resembled
      those of Kv2.1 expressed with Kv9.3 at a 1:1 molar ratio. These results support
      the suggested Kv subunit combinations in small mesenteric artery, and further
      suggest that Kv1 alpha and Kvbeta1.2 but not Kv2.1 and Kv9.3 subunits are present
      in a saturated (4:4) stoichiometry.

PMID- 27638048
TI  - Appraisal of role of the polyanionic inducer length on amyloid formation by 412
      residue 1N4R Tau protein: A comparative study.
AB  - In many neurodegenerative diseases, formation of protein fibrillar aggregates has
      been observed as a major pathological change. Neurofibrillary tangles, mainly
      composed of fibrils formed by the microtubule-associated protein; Tau, are a
      hallmark of a group of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
      Tau belongs to the class of natively unfolded proteins and partially folds into
      an ordered beta-structure during aggregation. Polyanionic cofactors such as
      heparin are commonly used as inducer of Tau aggregation in vitro. The role of
      heparin in nucleation and elongation steps during Tau fibril formation is not
      fully understood. In the current study, aggregation kinetics as well as structure
      of Tau amyloid fibrils, by using the 1N4R isoform, have been reproducibly
      determined in the presence of heparin and the shorter molecule; enoxaparin. The
      kinetic studies demonstrated that heparin (not enoxaparin) efficiently
      accelerates Tau amyloid formation and revealed, mechanistically, that the
      molecular weight of the inducer is important in accelerating amyloidogenesis. The
      kinetic parameter values of Tau amyloid aggregation, especially, the amyloid
      aggregation extent, were relatively different in the presence of heparin and
      enoxaparin, at various stoichiometries of the inducers binding. Also, based on
      the results, obtained from CD, FTIR, AFM and XRD studies, it may be suggested
      that the inducer length plays a critical role mainly in the nucleation process,
      so that it determines that oligomers lie on or off the pathway of Tau
      fibrillization. The biochemical results herein suggest that the chemical
      environment of the extracellular matrix as well as localization of distinct
      glycosaminoglycans may influence deposition behavior of Tau amyloidosis.

PMID- 27638049
TI  - ATF4 regulates arsenic trioxide-mediated NADPH oxidase, ER-mitochondrial
      crosstalk and apoptosis.
AB  - Arsenic is a mitochondrial toxin, and its derivatives, such as arsenic trioxide
      (ATO), can trigger endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the associated unfolded protein
      response (UPR). Here, we show that arsenic induction of the UPR triggers ATF4,
      which is involved in regulating this ER-mitochondrial crosstalk that is important
      for the molecular pathogenesis of arsenic toxicity. Employing ATF4+/+ and ATF4-/-
      MEFs, we show that ATO induces UPR and impairs mitochondrial integrity in ATF4+/+
      MEF cells which is largely ablated upon loss of ATF4. Following ATO treatment,
      ATF4 activates NADPH oxidase by promoting assembly of the enzyme components Rac
      1/P47phox/P67phox, which generates ROS/superoxides. Furthermore, ATF4 is required
      for triggering Ca++/calpain/caspase-12-mediated apoptosis following ATO
      treatment. The IP3R inhibitor attenuates Ca++/calpain-dependent apoptosis, as
      well as reduces m-ROS and MMP disruption, suggesting that ER-mitochondria
      crosstalk involves IP3R-regulated Ca++ signaling. Blockade of m-Ca++ entry by
      inhibiting m-VDAC reduces ATO-mediated UPR in ATF4+/+ cells. Additionally, ATO
      treatment leads to p53-regulated mitochondrial apoptosis, where p53
      phosphorylation plays a key role. Together, these findings indicate that ATO
      mediated apoptosis is regulated by both ER and mitochondria events that are
      facilitated by ATF4 and the UPR. Thus, we describe novel mechanisms by which ATO
      orchestrates cytotoxic responses involving interplay of ER and mitochondria.

PMID- 27638051
TI  - Ketamine alleviates bradykinin-induced disruption of the mouse cerebrovascular
      endothelial cell-constructed tight junction barrier via a calcium-mediated
      redistribution of occludin polymerization.
AB  - Following brain injury, a sequence of mechanisms leads to disruption of the blood
      brain barrier (BBB) and subsequent cerebral edema, which is thought to begin with
      activation of bradykinin. Our previous studies showed that ketamine, a widely
      used intravenous anesthetic agent, can suppress bradykinin-induced cell
      dysfunction. This study further aimed to evaluate the protective effects of
      ketamine against bradykinin-induced disruption of the mouse cerebrovascular
      endothelial cell (MCEC)-constructed tight junction barrier and the possible
      mechanisms. Exposure of MCECs to bradykinin increased intracellular calcium
      (Ca2+) concentrations in a time-dependent manner. However, pretreatment of MCECs
      with ketamine time- and concentration-dependently lowered the bradykinin-induced
      calcium influx. As to the mechanisms, although exposure of MCECs to ketamine
      induced bradykinin R1 receptor protein and mRNA expression, this anesthetic did
      not change levels of the bradykinin R2 receptor, a major receptor that responds
      to bradykinin stimulation. Bradykinin increased amounts of soluble occludin in
      MCECs, but pretreatment with ketamine alleviated this disturbance in occludin
      polymerization. Consequently, exposure to bradykinin decreased the
      transendothelial electronic resistance in the MCEC-constructed tight junction
      barrier. However, pretreatment with ketamine attenuated the bradykinin-induced
      disruption of the tight junction barrier. Taken together, this study shows that
      ketamine at a therapeutic concentration can protect against bradykinin-induced
      breakage of the BBB via suppressing calcium-dependent redistribution of occludin
      tight junctions. Thus, ketamine has the potential for maintaining the BBB in
      critically ill patients with severe brain disorders.

PMID- 27638050
TI  - Redox status in a model of cancer stem cells.
AB  - Reversible oxidation of Cys residues is a crucial element of redox homeostasis
      and signaling. According to a popular concept in oxidative stress signaling, the
      oxidation of targets of signals can only take place following an overwhelming of
      the cellular antioxidant capacity. This concept, however, ignores the activation
      of feedback mechanisms possibly leading to a paradoxical effect. In a model of
      cancer stem cells (CSC), stably overexpressing the TAZ oncogene, we observed that
      the increased formation of oxidants is associated with a globally more reduced
      state of proteins. Redox proteomics revealed that several proteins, capable of
      undergoing reversible redox transitions, are indeed more reduced while just few
      are more oxidized. Among the proteins more oxidized, G6PDH emerges as both more
      expressed and activated by oxidation. This accounts for the observed more reduced
      state of the NADPH/NADP+ couple. The dynamic redox flux generating this
      apparently paradoxical effect is rationalized in a computational system biology
      model highlighting the crucial role of G6PDH activity on the rate of redox
      transitions eventually leading to the reduction of reversible redox switches.

PMID- 27638052
TI  - Targeted Cancer Therapies and QT Interval Prolongation: Unveiling the Mechanisms
      Underlying Arrhythmic Complications and the Need for Risk Stratification
      Strategies.
AB  - The care and treatment of cancer patients has significantly changed in the last
      decade with a remarkable shift towards novel targeted therapies. These promising
      new drugs may represent effective and potentially life-saving therapeutic options
      in cancer patients, but are also emerging in the cardiotoxicity scenario for
      their arrhythmogenic potential due to their QT-prolonging activity. In this
      article we review the mechanisms underlying drug-induced QT interval prolongation
      and the classes of anticancer-targeted therapies most frequently responsible for
      this adverse event, with a particular focus on tyrosine kinase-targeting
      molecules. Since up to 49 % of serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and 58 % of
      potentially fatal ADRs may not appear on initial drug safety labels, we also
      review and discuss data from the post-marketing VigiBase(r) safety reporting
      system, the World Health Organization's global database of ADRs. Finally, we
      discuss arrhythmic risk stratification and prevention strategies in the complex
      multiple-risk setting of cancer patients, paying particular attention to drug
      drug interactions with common antimicrobial, psychotropic and antiemetic
      supportive care, and we also provide an electrocardiographic QT monitoring
      algorithm for patients who are candidates for targeted cancer therapies.

PMID- 27638054
TI  - Fabrication and toxicity characterization of a hybrid material based on oxidized
      and aminated MWCNT loaded with carboplatin.
AB  - This study focused on the fabrication and toxicity characterization of a hybrid
      material-based on the multiple functionalizations of multiwalled carbon nanotubes
      (MWCNTs) with carboxyl or amino groups and the anti-tumor drug carboplatin (CP).
      The functionalization was evidenced by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy
      (FTIR) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The amount of platinum
      ions released in the simulated body fluid (SBF) was assessed by inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Cell viability, nanotubes cellular
      uptake, cell proliferation, superoxide anion production, SOD activity,
      intracellular glutathione and protein expression of several molecules involved in
      breast tumor cell survival and death were investigated after 24h exposure.
      Exposure to the aminated carbon nanotubes loaded with carboplatin resulted in a
      greater decrease of viability compared to oxidized carbon nanotubes loaded with
      the same drug, which was in an inversely proportional relationship with the
      production of superoxide anions in breast cancer cells. The inhibition of Hsp60,
      Hsp90, p53 and Mdm2 protein expression was induced as a consequence of the
      cytoprotection mechanism failure. Overexpression of Beclin1 and the reduction of
      Bcl2 expression were also observed, suggesting that functionalized MWCNT loaded
      with CP trigger cell death via autophagy in breast cancer cells.

PMID- 27638053
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in Healthy
      Women Receiving Single and Multiple Doses of Highly Purified Human Menotrophin
      and Urofollitrophin.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Highly purified human menotrophin and urofollitrophin
      preparations obtained from human urine via a novel patented purification method
      have been tested over a timeframe of 14 years in the studies presented in this
      article. The objective of the studies was to investigate the pharmacokinetics and
      the pharmacodynamics of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) after single
      subcutaneous and intramuscular doses and multiple subcutaneous doses of the
      tested preparations in healthy fertile pituitary-suppressed women. DESIGNS: We
      performed five open, randomised, crossover, single-dose bioequivalence and/or
      bioavailability studies and one open, multiple-dose, pharmacokinetics and
      pharmacodynamics study. STUDY SUBJECTS AND TREATMENTS: The six studies included
      121 healthy fertile women taking their usual combined oral contraceptives for 3
      months before the study: Study 1: 300 international units (IU) of highly purified
      menotrophin as single subcutaneous and intramuscular doses. Study 2: 300 IU of
      highly purified menotrophin (test formulation vs. comparator) as single
      subcutaneous doses. Study 3: 300 IU of highly purified urofollitrophin (hp-FSH)
      (test formulation vs. comparator) as single subcutaneous doses. Study 4: 300 IU
      (2 * 150 IU vs. 4 * 75 IU) of hp-FSH as single subcutaneous doses. Study 5: 225
      and 445 IU of hp-FSH as single subcutaneous doses. Study 6: daily 225 IU of hp
      FSH as subcutaneous doses for 5 consecutive days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main
      outcome measures were the FSH pharmacokinetic parameters, estradiol
      concentrations, and the number and size of the follicles. RESULTS: FSH after
      single subcutaneous and intramuscular injections of menotrophin or
      urofollitrophin attained a systemic peak (maximum) concentration (C max) that was
      on average consistent throughout the first four studies and ranged from 4.98 to
      7.50 IU/L. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) from
      administration to the last observed concentration time t (AUCt) ranged from
      409.71 to 486.16 IU/L.h and the elimination half-life (t 1/2) ranged from 39.02
      to 53.63 h. After multiple doses of urofollitrophin (225 IU) for 5 days, FSH
      attained a mean C max of 14.93 +/- 2.92 IU/L and had an AUC during the time
      interval tau between two consecutive doses at steady state (AUCtau) of 322.59 +/-
      57.92 IU/L.h, which was similar to the mean AUCt after a single subcutaneous dose
      of 225 IU of urofollitrophin in study 5 (306.82 +/- 68.37 IU/L.h). CONCLUSIONS:
      In our studies, the intramuscular and subcutaneous routes of menotrophin were
      equivalent; both menotrophin and urofollitrophin were bioequivalent to their
      marketed reference; FSH kinetic parameters following injection of urofollitrophin
      were dose proportional and independent from the administered concentration; and
      multiple doses of FSH increased estradiol levels and enhanced growth of follicles
      with a good dose-response correlation. Local tolerability was excellent
      throughout the six studies.

PMID- 27638056
TI  - Medical and social egg freezing: internet-based survey of knowledge and attitudes
      among women in Denmark and the UK.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Until recently, limited options for preserving fertility in order
      to delay childbearing were available. Although egg freezing and successful
      thawing is now possible, it remains unclear to what extent women are aware of the
      availability of this technique, their attitudes towards its use, or the
      circumstances under which this technique may be considered. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      An online cross-sectional survey was designed to investigate knowledge and
      attitudes of women in Denmark and the UK on egg freezing and their potential
      intentions regarding the procedure. RESULTS: Data was collected from September
      2012 to September 2013 and the responses of 973 women were analyzed. In total,
      83% of women reported having heard of egg freezing, and nearly all considered it
      acceptable for medical indications, whilst 89% considered it acceptable for
      social reasons. Overall, 19% expressed active interest in the procedure, and 27%
      expressed possible interest. Key factors found to positively influence attitudes
      to accepting the procedure were reassurance that it would not affect future
      fertility and greater than 50% chance of achieving a live birth. Characteristics
      significantly associated with intention to freeze eggs were being single, age
      under 35 years, childlessness, and a history of infertility. In this group, risk
      and cost were less important considerations. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates
      that there is widespread awareness and support of the availability of eggs
      freezing for reproductive planning. Reassurance regarding its efficacy appears
      more important than its potential adverse effects on their health or that of
      future children, or the costs of the procedure.

PMID- 27638055
TI  - From genome-wide arrays to tailor-made biomarker readout - Progress towards
      routine analysis of skin sensitizing chemicals with GARD.
AB  - Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) initiated by chemical sensitizers is an
      important public health concern. To prevent ACD, it is important to identify
      chemical allergens to limit the use of such compounds in various products. EU
      legislations, as well as increased mechanistic knowledge of skin sensitization
      have promoted development of non-animal based approaches for hazard
      classification of chemicals. GARD is an in vitro testing strategy based on
      measurements of a genomic biomarker signature. However, current GARD protocols
      are optimized for identification of predictive biomarker signatures, and not
      suitable for standardized screening. This study describes improvements to GARD to
      progress from biomarker discovery into a reliable and cost-effective assay for
      routine testing. Gene expression measurements were transferred to NanoString
      nCounter platform, normalization strategy was adjusted to fit serial arrival of
      testing substances, and a novel strategy to correct batch variations was
      presented. When challenging GARD with 29 compounds, sensitivity, specificity and
      accuracy could be estimated to 94%, 83% and 90%, respectively. In conclusion, we
      present a GARD workflow with improved sample capacity, retained predictive
      performance, and in a format adapted to standardized screening. We propose that
      GARD is ready to be considered as part of an integrated testing strategy for skin
      sensitization.

PMID- 27638058
TI  - Efficacy of inspiratory muscle training as a practical and minimally intrusive
      technique to aid functional fitness among adults with obesity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) as a non
      intrusive and practical intervention to stimulate improved functional fitness in
      adults with obesity. As excess adiposity of the chest impedes the mechanics of
      breathing, targeted re-training of the inspiratory muscles may ameliorate
      sensations of breathlessness, improve physical performance and lead to greater
      engagement in physical activity. METHODS: Sixty seven adults (BMI=36+/-6.5) were
      randomized into either an experimental (EXP: n=35) or placebo (PLA: n=32) group
      with both groups undertaking a 4-week IMT intervention, comprising daily use of a
      inspiratory resistance device set to 55% (EXP), or 10% (PLA) of maximum
      inspiratory effort. RESULTS: Inspiratory muscle strength was significantly
      improved in EXP (19.1 cmH20 gain; P<0.01) but did not change in PLA.
      Additionally, the post training walking distance covered was significantly
      extended for EXP (P<0.01), but not for PLA. Bivariate analysis demonstrated a
      positive association between the change (%) of performance in the walking test
      and BMI (r=0.78; P<0.01) for EXP. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study
      suggest IMT provides a practical, self-administered intervention for use in a
      home setting. This could be a useful strategy to improve the functional fitness
      of obese adults and perhaps lead to better preparedness for engagement in
      physical activity initiatives.

PMID- 27638057
TI  - Analytically Confirmed Intoxications Involving MDMB-CHMICA from the STRIDA
      Project.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: About a decade ago, synthetic cannabinoids (SC) started to appear
      as recreational drugs on the new psychoactive substance (NPS) market. This report
      from the STRIDA project describes analytically confirmed intoxications involving
      MDMB-CHMICA (methyl-2-(1-(cyclohexylmethyl)-1H-indol-3-ylcarbonylamino)-3,3
      dimethylbutanoate), a SC that was first detected in 2014. STUDY DESIGN: This is
      an observational case series of patients from Sweden with suspected NPS exposure
      presenting in emergency departments and intensive care units. The results of
      retrospective serum and urine toxicological analysis were compared with clinical
      signs reported during consultation with the Poisons Information Centre and
      retrieved from medical records. METHODS: Clinical and bioanalytical data in nine
      acute intoxications associated with MDMB-CHMICA during 2014-2015 are presented.
      The patients were aged 23-62 (median 34) years, and eight were men. MDMB-CHMICA
      (parent compound) was analytically confirmed in serum samples, using a liquid
      chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry multi-component method. RESULTS:
      Of the nine MDMB-CHMICA-positive patients, eight had a Poisoning Severity Score
      (PSS) of 2 or 3, and five were monitored in the intensive care unit and all
      patients survived. Development of seizures and deep unconsciousness were common
      features. All cases except one also tested positive for other NPS and/or
      classical psychoactive compounds, hampering the possibility to establish a causal
      relationship between drug and toxic symptoms. MDMB-CHMICA was also identified in
      seven drug materials donated by the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The association with
      severe adverse reactions in nine acute analytically confirmed intoxication cases
      involving MDMB-CHMICA is consistent with other reports of serious toxicity linked
      to this substance, suggesting that MDMB-CHMICA might be a particularly harmful
      SC.

PMID- 27638059
TI  - Anatomy, physiology, and physics of the peripheral vestibular system.
AB  - Many medical doctors consider vertigo and dizziness as the major, almost
      obligatory complaints in patients with vestibular disorders. In this chapter, we
      will explain that vestibular disorders result in much more diverse and complex
      complaints. Many of these other complaints are unfortunately often misinterpreted
      and incorrectly classified as psychogenic. When we really understand the function
      of the vestibular system, it becomes quite obvious why patients with vestibular
      disorders complain about a loss of visual acuity, imbalance, fear of falling,
      cognitive and attentional problems, fatigue that persists even when the vertigo
      attacks and dizziness decreases or even disappears. Another interesting new
      aspect in this chapter is that we explain why the function of the otolith system
      is so important, and that it is a mistake to focus on the function of the
      semicircular canals only, especially when we want to understand why some patients
      seem to suffer more than others from the loss of canal function as objectified by
      reduced caloric responses. 

PMID- 27638060
TI  - Physiology of central pathways.
AB  - The relative simplicity of the neural circuits that mediate vestibular reflexes
      is well suited for linking systems and cellular levels of analyses. Notably, a
      distinctive feature of the vestibular system is that neurons at the first central
      stage of sensory processing in the vestibular nuclei are premotor neurons; the
      same neurons that receive vestibular-nerve input also send direct projections to
      motor pathways. For example, the simplicity of the three-neuron pathway that
      mediates the vestibulo-ocular reflex leads to the generation of compensatory eye
      movements within ~5ms of a head movement. Similarly, relatively direct pathways
      between the labyrinth and spinal cord control vestibulospinal reflexes. A second
      distinctive feature of the vestibular system is that the first stage of central
      processing is strongly multimodal. This is because the vestibular nuclei receive
      inputs from a wide range of cortical, cerebellar, and other brainstem structures
      in addition to direct inputs from the vestibular nerve. Recent studies in alert
      animals have established how extravestibular signals shape these "simple"
      reflexes to meet the needs of current behavioral goal. Moreover, multimodal
      interactions at higher levels, such as the vestibular cerebellum, thalamus, and
      cortex, play a vital role in ensuring accurate self-motion and spatial
      orientation perception. 

PMID- 27638061
TI  - Neurotransmitters in the vestibular system.
AB  - Neuronal networks that are linked to the peripheral vestibular system contribute
      to gravitoinertial sensation, balance control, eye movement control, and
      autonomic function. Ascending connections to the limbic system and cerebral
      cortex are also important for motion perception and threat recognition, and play
      a role in comorbid balance and anxiety disorders. The vestibular system also
      shows remarkable plasticity, termed vestibular compensation. Activity in these
      networks is regulated by an interaction between: (1) intrinsic neurotransmitters
      of the inner ear, vestibular nerve, and vestibular nuclei; (2) neurotransmitters
      associated with thalamocortical and limbic pathways that receive projections
      originating in the vestibular nuclei; and (3) locus coeruleus and raphe
      (serotonergic and nonserotonergic) projections that influence the latter
      components. Because the ascending vestibular interoceptive and thalamocortical
      pathways include networks that influence a broad range of stress responses
      (endocrine and autonomic), memory consolidation, and cognitive functions, common
      transmitter substrates provide a basis for understanding features of acute and
      chronic vestibular disorders. 

PMID- 27638062
TI  - Multisensory integration in balance control.
AB  - This chapter provides an introduction to the topic of multisensory integration in
      balance control in, both, health and disease. One of the best-studied examples is
      that of visuo-vestibular interaction, which is the ability of the visual system
      to enhance or suppress the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR suppression). Of clinical
      relevance, examination of VOR suppression is clinically useful because only
      central, not peripheral, lesions impair VOR suppression. Visual, somatosensory
      (proprioceptive), and vestibular inputs interact strongly and continuously in the
      control of upright balance. Experiments with visual motion stimuli show that the
      visual system generates visually-evoked postural responses that, at least
      initially, can override vestibular and proprioceptive signals. This paradigm has
      been useful for the study of the syndrome of visual vertigo or vision-induced
      dizziness, which can appear after vestibular disease. These patients typically
      report dizziness when exposed to optokinetic stimuli or visually charged
      environments, such as supermarkets. The principles of the rehabilitation
      treatment of these patients, which use repeated exposure to visual motion, are
      presented. Finally, we offer a diagnostic algorithm in approaching the patient
      reporting oscillopsia - the illusion of oscillation of the visual environment,
      which should not be confused with the syndrome mentioned earlier of visual
      vertigo. 

PMID- 27638063
TI  - The epidemiology of dizziness and vertigo.
AB  - This chapter gives an overview of the epidemiology of dizziness, vertigo, and
      imbalance, and of specific vestibular disorders. In the last decade, population
      based epidemiologic studies have complemented previous publications from
      specialized settings and provided evidence for the high burden of dizziness and
      vertigo in the community. Dizziness (including vertigo) affects about 15% to over
      20% of adults yearly in large population-based studies. Vestibular vertigo
      accounts for about a quarter of dizziness complaints and has a 12-month
      prevalence of 5% and an annual incidence of 1.4%. Its prevalence rises with age
      and is about two to three times higher in women than in men. Imbalance has been
      increasingly studied as a highly prevalent complaint particularly affecting
      healthy aging. Studies have documented the high prevalence of benign paroxysmal
      positional vertigo (BPPV) and vestibular migraine (VM), as well as of comorbid
      anxiety at the population level. BPPV and VM are largely underdiagnosed, while
      Meniere's disease, which is about 10 times less frequent than BPPV, appears to be
      overdiagnosed. Risk factor research is only at its beginning, but has provided
      some interesting observations, such as the consistent association of vertigo and
      migraine, which has greatly contributed to the recognition of VM as a distinct
      vestibular syndrome. 

PMID- 27638064
TI  - Vestibular symptoms and history taking.
AB  - History taking is an essential part in the diagnostic process of vestibular
      disorders. The approach to focus strongly on the quality of symptoms, like
      vertigo, dizziness, or unsteadiness, is not that useful as these symptoms often
      coexist and are all nonspecific, as each of them may arise from vestibular and
      nonvestibular diseases (like cardiovascular disease) and do not permit to
      distinguish potentially dangerous from benign causes. Instead, patients should be
      categorized if they have an acute, episodic, or chronic vestibular syndrome (AVS,
      EVS, or CVS) to narrow down the spectrum of differential diagnosis. Typical
      examples of disorders provoking an AVS would be vestibular neuritis or stroke of
      peripheral or central vestibular structures, of an EVS Meniere's disease, benign
      paroxysmal positional vertigo, or vestibular migraine and of a CVS long-standing
      uni- or bilateral vestibular failure or cerebellar degeneration. The presence of
      triggers should be established with a main distinction between positional (change
      of head orientation with respect to gravity), head motion-induced (time-locked to
      head motion regardless of direction) and orthostatic position change as the
      underlying disorders are quite different. Accompanying symptoms also help to
      orient to the underlying cause, like aural or neurologic symptoms, but also chest
      pain or dyspnea. 

PMID- 27638065
TI  - Bedside examination.
AB  - In most dizzy patients a limited selection of bedside tests, together with the
      history, is adequate to establish a differential diagnosis and select the next
      diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. A set of basic bedside tests that should
      be applied in every patient with vertigo or imbalance allows identifying: (1)
      patients who need immediate referral for further assessment and treatment; (2)
      patients with nonthreatening disorders for which treatment can be started without
      more detailed testing; (3) patients with benign paroxysmal vertigo, in whom a
      detailed work-up is not required and who can immediately be treated with an
      appropriate particle-repositioning maneuver; and (4) patients who need a
      comprehensive neuro-otologic and neurologic work-up. Additional neuro-otologic
      bedside tests help to further refine the differential diagnosis. 

PMID- 27638066
TI  - Eye movements in vestibular disorders.
AB  - The differential diagnosis of patients with vestibular symptoms usually begins
      with the question: is the lesion central or is it peripheral? The answer commonly
      emerges from a careful examination of eye movements, especially when the lesion
      is located in otherwise clinically silent areas of the brain such as the
      vestibular portions of the cerebellum (flocculus, paraflocculus which is called
      the tonsils in humans, nodulus, and uvula) and the vestibular nuclei as well as
      immediately adjacent areas (the perihypoglossal nuclei and the paramedian nuclei
      and tracts). The neural circuitry that controls vestibular eye movements is
      intertwined with a larger network within the brainstem and cerebellum that also
      controls other types of conjugate eye movements. These include saccades and
      pursuit as well as the mechanisms that enable steady fixation, both straight
      ahead and in eccentric gaze positions. Navigating through this complex network
      requires a thorough knowledge about all classes of eye movements to help localize
      lesions causing a vestibular disorder. Here we review the different classes of
      eye movements and how to examine them, and then describe common ocular motor
      findings associated with central vestibular lesions from both a topographic and
      functional perspective. 

PMID- 27638067
TI  - The caloric irrigation test.
AB  - The test of caloric thermal irrigations is one of the first tests for sensitivity
      of the peripheral vestibular systems dating to the late 1800s. This chapter
      reviews the various protocols that have been developed over the years using
      thermal irrigations to the external auditory canals. The discussion covers the
      interpretations of the protocols and makes recommendations for those protocols
      that have the best performance and at the same time are practical to perform. The
      primary utility of the caloric test has remained the same since its origination -
      the comparison of the relative sensitivity of the right versus left peripheral
      vestibular function. This is now known to be applicable to the horizontal canals
      without any significant influence of the vertical canals. The hypothesized
      physiology behind the thermal caloric proposed in the early 1900s has now, with
      the help of experiments in microgravity, been partially verified. Until recently
      this was the only test that could investigate one peripheral end organ at a time.
      It is still the one test that emphasizes the low-frequency function of the
      horizontal canals individually. 

PMID- 27638068
TI  - Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials.
AB  - The vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) is a short-latency potential
      evoked through activation of vestibular receptors using sound or vibration. It is
      generated by modulated electromyographic signals either from the
      sternocleidomastoid muscle for the cervical VEMP (cVEMP) or the inferior oblique
      muscle for the ocular VEMP (oVEMP). These reflexes appear to originate from the
      otolith organs and thus complement existing methods of vestibular assessment,
      which are mainly based upon canal function. This review considers the basis,
      methodology, and current applications of the cVEMP and oVEMP in the assessment
      and diagnosis of vestibular disorders, both peripheral and central. 

PMID- 27638069
TI  - Audiometry and other hearing tests.
AB  - Hearing tests of the peripheral auditory system are well established and the pure
      tone audiogram is generally regarded as the screening test of choice in adults.
      It allows the distinction to be made between conductive, i.e., outer- and middle
      ear, and sensorineural, i.e., cochlear, hearing loss, and also to describe the
      configuration of the hearing thresholds in terms of severity and the frequency
      affected. Electrophysiologic testing with auditory potentials, e.g., the auditory
      brainstem response, can identify sites of lesion in the eighth nerve, brainstem,
      and more centrally. However, it is only in the last two decades that a battery of
      central auditory tests has been established that can probe the central pathways
      in more details, i.e., when the pure-tone audiogram may be normal, and yet the
      patient still has symptoms of hearing dysfunction. 

PMID- 27638070
TI  - Rotational testing.
AB  - The natural stimulus for the semicircular canals is rotation of the head, which
      also might stimulate the otolith organs. Vestibular stimulation usually induces
      eye movements via the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The orientation of the
      subject with respect to the axis of rotation and the orientation of the axis of
      rotation with respect to gravity together determine which labyrinthine receptors
      are stimulated for particular motion trajectories. Rotational testing usually
      includes the measurement of eye movements via a video system but might use a
      subject's perception of motion. The most common types of rotational testing are
      whole-body computer-controlled sinusoidal or trapezoidal stimuli during earth
      vertical axis rotation (EVAR), which stimulates primarily the horizontal
      semicircular canals bilaterally. Recently, manual impulsive rotations, known as
      head impulse testing (HIT), have been developed to assess individual horizontal
      semicircular canals. Most types of rotational stimuli are not used routinely in
      the clinical setting but may be used in selected research environments. This
      chapter will discuss clinically relevant rotational stimuli and several types of
      rotational testing that are used primarily in research settings. 

PMID- 27638071
TI  - An overview of vestibular rehabilitation.
AB  - Data related to the efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation and its evolution as an
      intervention are provided. Concepts and various treatment strategies are
      described, with explanations of why people with uncompensated peripheral and
      central vestibular disorders might improve with rehabilitation. Various tests and
      measures are described that are commonly used to examine patients and determine
      their level of ability to participate in their environment. Factors that affect
      recovery, both positively and negatively, are described in order to better
      prognosticate recovery. A case utilizing many of the principles discussed is
      included to provide insight into how to utilize vestibular rehabilitation with a
      person with an uncompensated peripheral vestibular loss. 

PMID- 27638073
TI  - Acute unilateral loss of vestibular function.
AB  - Sudden unilateral loss of vestibular function is the most severe condition that
      can occur in the vestibular system. The clinical syndrome is caused by the
      physiologic properties of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) arc. In the normal
      situation, the two peripheral vestibular end organs are connected to a functional
      unit in coplanar pairs of semicircular canals working in a push-pull mode. "Push
      pull" mode means that, when one side is excited, the other side is inhibited, and
      vice versa due to two mechanisms. First, first-order vestibular afferents are
      bipolar cells. They have a tonic firing rate that is modulated up or down
      depending on the direction of rotation. Second, via inhibitory neural connections
      of second-order vestibular neurons between the vestibular nuclei (vestibular
      commissural system), the excited side inhibits further the contralateral side.
      The neural signals are encoded as the difference of the change in firing rate of
      the vestibular neurons modulating the tonic firing rate on both sides in opposite
      directions (one side up, the contralateral side down). When the head is not
      moving, the two peripheral vestibular end organs generate a resting firing rate,
      which is exactly equal on both sides. When the head is rotated, for example, to
      the right, the right-sided first-order vestibular afferents increase their
      discharge rate and the left-sided ones decrease their firing rate. This leads to
      increase in firing rate of also the type I second-order vestibular neurons in the
      vestibular nuclei, which synapse with inhibitory type II neurons on the
      contralateral side, further decreasing the firing rate in the second-order
      vestibular neurons in the contralateral vestibular nucleus. When the direction of
      head rotation is reversed, the behavior of the type I neurons on the two sides of
      the head is reversed. The same relation exists between the coplanar vertical
      canal afferents on the two sides of the head. When there is unilateral damage to
      the end organ or the vestibular nerve, the resting firing frequency is
      drastically reduced or even silenced on the lesioned side, thereby creating a
      tonic imbalance between the normal resting firing on the healthy side and the
      lesioned side. This tonic imbalance mimics a permanent rotation toward the
      healthy side (the side with the higher firing rate), resulting, via the VOR, in a
      slow-phase drift of the eyes toward the side of the lesion, interrupted by rapid
      quick-phase resetting eye movements toward the healthy side. This leads to the
      typical vestibular spontaneous horizontal-torsional nystagmus together with
      rotational vertigo and postural imbalance, with the tendency to fall toward the
      lesioned side. The tonic imbalance with the hallmark of spontaneous nystagmus
      usually recovers within days to weeks after the lesion due to the central
      restoration of tonic activity on the lesioned side. The dynamic changes, however,
      might be long-lasting when the peripheral sensors do not recover their function.
      This causes asymmetric VOR responses, with weaker responses when the head is
      rotated rapidly toward the lesioned side, leading to transient oscillopsia. 

PMID- 27638072
TI  - Principles of vestibular pharmacotherapy.
AB  - Ideally, vestibular pharmacotherapy is intended, through specific and targeted
      molecular actions, to significantly alleviate vertigo symptoms, to protect or
      repair the vestibular sensory network under pathologic conditions, and to promote
      vestibular compensation, with the eventual aim of improving the patient's quality
      of life. In fact, in order to achieve this aim, considerable progress still needs
      to be made. The lack of information on the etiology of vestibular disorders and
      the pharmacologic targets to modulate, as well as the technical challenge of
      targeting a drug to its effective site are some of the main issues yet to be
      overcome. In this review, my intention is to provide an account of the
      therapeutic principles that have shaped current vestibular pharmacotherapy and to
      further explore crucial questions that must be taken into consideration in order
      to develop targeted and specific pharmacologic therapies for each type and stage
      of vestibular disorders. 

PMID- 27638074
TI  - Chronic unilateral vestibular loss.
AB  - Chronic unilateral vestibular loss is a condition defined by the presence of
      reduced function of the peripheral vestibular system on one side, which has
      generally persisted for 3 or more months. The deficit is demonstrated by a
      reduction of the vestibular-ocular reflex either at the bedside or on laboratory
      testing. Though some patients with chronic vestibular loss have disabling
      symptoms, others are asymptomatic. Causes include a viral/postviral disorder,
      Meniere's disease, structural lesions, ischemia, and trauma. Any other systemic
      or genetic disorder would be expected to involve both sides at some point. 

PMID- 27638075
TI  - Bilateral vestibulopathy.
AB  - The leading symptoms of bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) are postural imbalance and
      unsteadiness of gait that worsens in darkness and on uneven ground. There are
      typically no symptoms while sitting or lying under static conditions. A minority
      of patients also have movement-induced oscillopsia, in particular while walking.
      The diagnosis of BVP is based on a bilaterally reduced or absent function of the
      vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). This deficit is diagnosed for the high-frequency
      range of the angular VOR by a bilaterally pathologic bedside head impulse test
      (HIT) and for the low-frequency range by a bilaterally reduced or absent caloric
      response. If the results of the bedside HIT are unclear, angular VOR function
      should be quantified by a video-oculography system (vHIT). An additional test
      supporting the diagnosis is dynamic visual acuity. Cervical and ocular vestibular
      evoked myogenic potentials (c/oVEMP) may also be reduced or absent, indicating
      impaired otolith function. There are different subtypes of BVP depending on the
      affected anatomic structure and frequency range of the VOR deficit: impaired
      canal function in the low- and/or high-frequency VOR range only and/or otolith
      function only; the latter is very rare. The etiology of BVP remains unclear in
      more than 50% of patients: in these cases neurodegeneration is assumed. Frequent
      known causes are ototoxicity mainly due to gentamicin, bilateral Meniere's
      disease, autoimmune diseases, meningitis and bilateral vestibular schwannoma, as
      well as an association with cerebellar degeneration (cerebellar ataxia,
      neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome=CANVAS). In general, in the long term
      there is no improvement of vestibular function. There are four treatment options:
      first, detailed patient counseling to explain the cause, etiology, and
      consequences, as well as the course of the disease; second, daily vestibular
      exercises and balance training; third, if possible, treatment of the underlying
      cause, as in bilateral Meniere's disease, meningitis, or autoimmune diseases;
      fourth, if possible, prevention, i.e., being very restrictive with the use of
      ototoxic substances, such as aminoglycosides. In the future vestibular implants
      may also be an option. 

PMID- 27638077
TI  - Meniere's disease.
AB  - Meniere's disease (MD) is a chronic multifactorial disorder of the inner ear
      characterized by episodic vestibular symptoms associated with sensorineural
      hearing loss, tinnitus, and aural pressure. Epidemiologic and genomic evidence
      supports a genetic susceptibility with multiple biochemical pathways involved,
      including the endocrine system, innate immune response, and autonomic nervous
      system. Allergens, infectious agents, vascular events, or genetic factors could
      modify inner-ear homeostasis and trigger MD. The diagnosis of MD is based on
      clinical criteria and requires the observation of an episodic vertigo syndrome
      associated with low- to medium-frequency sensorineural hearing loss and
      fluctuating aural symptoms (hearing loss, tinnitus, and/or fullness) in the
      affected ear. Headache is also found during the attacks and bilateral involvement
      is found in 25-40% of cases. Audiologic and vestibular assessment is recommended
      to monitor the clinical course. The treatment of MD is symptomatic to obtain
      relief of vestibular episodes and preventive to limit hearing loss progression.
      Treatment options include sodium restriction, betahistine, intratympanic
      gentamicin, or steroids and eventually surgery, such as cochlear implantation. 

PMID- 27638076
TI  - Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and its variants.
AB  - Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a common labyrinthine disorder caused by
      a mechanic stimulation of the vestibular receptors within the semicircular
      canals. It is characterized by positional vertigo and positional nystagmus, both
      provoked by changes in the position of the head with respect to gravity. The
      social impact of the disease and its direct and indirect costs to healthcare
      systems are significant owing to impairment of daily activities and increased
      risk of falls. The first description of a patient with benign paroxysmal
      positional vertigo is from Robert Barany in 1921, but the features of the
      syndrome and the diagnostic maneuver were well described by Dix and Hallpike in
      1952. Since then, the gradually increasing interest of otolaryngologists and
      neurologists has led to a progressive advance in the knowledge of this
      labyrinthine disorder with regard to its epidemiologic, pathophysiologic,
      clinical, and therapeutic aspects. Despite the often effective diagnosis and
      treatment of most cases of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, the
      physiopathologic explanations of the disease are mainly speculative. In this
      chapter, we describe the epidemiologic, pathophysiologic, clinical, and
      therapeutic aspects of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. 

PMID- 27638078
TI  - Otologic disorders causing dizziness, including surgery for vestibular disorders.
AB  - This chapter will focus on vertigo/dizziness due to inner-ear malformations,
      labyrinthine fistula, otosclerosis, infectious processes, and autoimmune inner
      ear disorders. Inner-ear malformation due to dehiscence of the superior
      semicircular canal is the most recently described inner-ear malformation.
      Vertigo/dizziness is typically induced by sound and pressure stimuli and can be
      associated with auditory symptoms (conductive or mixed hearing loss).
      Labyrinthine fistula, except after surgery for otosclerosis, in the context of
      trauma or chronic otitis media with cholesteatoma, still remains a challenging
      disorder due to multiple uncertainties regarding diagnostic and management
      strategies. Otosclerosis typically manifests with auditory symptoms and
      conductive or mixed hearing loss on audiometry. Vertigo/dizziness is rare in
      nonoperated otosclerosis and should draw clinical attention to an inner-ear
      malformation. Computed tomography scan confirms otosclerosis in most cases and
      should rule out an inner-ear malformation, avoiding needless middle-ear surgical
      exploration. Labyrinth involvement after an infectious process is unilateral when
      it complicates a middle-ear infection but can be bilateral after meningitis.
      Labyrinth involvement due to an inflammatory disease is a challenging issue,
      particularly when restricted to the inner ear. The diagnosis relies on the
      bilateral and rapid aggravation of audiovestibular symptoms that will not respond
      to conventional therapy but to immunosuppressive drugs. 

PMID- 27638079
TI  - Posttraumatic dizziness and vertigo.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury is an increasingly common public health issue, with the
      mild variant most clinically relevant for this chapter. Common causes of mild
      traumatic brain injury (mTBI) include motor vehicle accidents, athletics, and
      military training/deployment. Despite a range of clinically available testing
      platforms, diagnosis of mTBI remains challenging. Symptoms are primarily
      neurosensory, and include dizziness, hearing problems, headaches, cognitive, and
      sleep disturbances. Dizziness is nearly universally present in all mTBI patients,
      and is the easiest symptom to objectify for diagnosis. Aside from a thorough
      history and physical exam, in the near future specialized vestibular function
      tests will be key to mTBI diagnosis. A battery of oculomotor (antisaccade,
      predictive saccade) and vestibular tasks (head impulse test) has been
      demonstrated to sensitively and specifically identify individuals with acute
      mTBI. Vestibular therapy and rehabilitation have shown improvements for mTBI
      patients in cognitive function, ability to return to activities of daily living,
      and ability to return to work. Dizziness, as a contributor to short- and long
      term disability following mTBI, is ultimately crucial not only for diagnosis but
      also for treatment. 

PMID- 27638080
TI  - Vestibular migraine.
AB  - During the last decades a new vestibular syndrome has emerged that is now termed
      vestibular migraine (VM). The main body of evidence for VM is provided by
      epidemiologic data demonstrating a strong association between migraine and
      vestibular symptoms. Today, VM is recognized as one of the most common causes of
      episodic vertigo. The clinical presentation of VM is heterogeneous in terms of
      vestibular symptoms, duration of episodes, and association with migrainous
      accompaniments. Similar to migraine, there is no clinical or laboratory
      confirmation for VM and the diagnosis relies on the history and the exclusion of
      other disorders. Recently, diagnostic criteria for VM have been elaborated
      jointly by the International Headache Society and the Barany Society. Clinical
      examination of patients with acute VM has clarified that the vast majority of
      patients with VM suffer from central vestibular dysfunction. Findings in the
      interval may yield mild signs of damage to both the central vestibular and ocular
      motor system and to the inner ear. These interictal clinical signs are not
      specific to VM but can be also observed in migraineurs without a history of
      vestibular symptoms. How migraine affects the vestibular system is still a matter
      of speculation. In the absence of high-quality therapeutic trials, treatment is
      targeted at the underlying migraine. 

PMID- 27638081
TI  - Ischemic syndromes causing dizziness and vertigo.
AB  - Dizziness/vertigo and imbalance are the most common symptoms of vertebrobasilar
      ischemia. Even though dizziness/vertigo usually accompanies other neurologic
      symptoms and signs in cerebrovascular disorders, a diagnosis of isolated vascular
      vertigo is increasing markedly by virtue of recent developments in clinical
      neurotology and neuroimaging. It is important to differentiate isolated vertigo
      of a vascular cause from more benign disorders involving the inner ear, since
      therapeutic strategies and prognosis differ between these two conditions. Over
      the last decade, we have achieved a marked development in the understanding and
      diagnosis of vascular dizziness/vertigo. Introduction of diffusion-weighted
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has greatly enhanced detection of infarctions in
      patients with vascular dizziness/vertigo, especially in the posterior-circulation
      territories. However, well-organized bedside neurotologic evaluation is even more
      sensitive than MRI in detecting acute infarction as a cause of spontaneous
      prolonged vertigo. Furthermore, detailed evaluation of strategic infarctions has
      elucidated the function of various vestibular structures of the brainstem and
      cerebellum. In contrast, diagnosis of isolated labyrinthine infarction still
      remains a challenge. This diagnostic difficulty also applies to isolated
      transient dizziness/vertigo of vascular origin. Regarding the common nonlacunar
      mechanisms in the acute vestibular syndrome from small infarctions, individual
      strategies may be indicated to prevent recurrences of stroke in patients with
      vascular vertigo. 

PMID- 27638082
TI  - Functional and psychiatric vestibular disorders.
AB  - Behavioral factors have long been recognized as affecting spatial orientation and
      balance function. Neuroanatomic and neurophysiologic studies conducted worldwide
      over the last 30 years have substantially advanced our knowledge about the
      inherently strong connectivity among threat/anxiety, vestibular, visual, and
      somatosensory systems in the brain. Clinical investigations have shed greater
      light on the nature of functional and psychiatric disorders that manifest or
      magnify vestibular morbidity. Concepts of these syndromes have changed over 150
      years. Even their nomenclature has had different meanings in different eras. This
      chapter will review functional and psychiatric vestibular disorders. Terminology
      will follow the International Classification of Diseases, 11th edition, beta
      draft and the International Classification of Vestibular Disorders. Anxiety plays
      a central role in behavioral vestibular morbidity. Anxiety, traumatic stress,
      obsessive, and depressive disorders may be primary causes of episodic and chronic
      vestibular symptoms or secondary complications of other vestibular disorders.
      These psychiatric illnesses affect 30-50% of patients who consult neurologists or
      otologists for vestibular symptoms. Coexisting psychiatric disorders adversely
      affect treatment for patients with structural vestibular diseases, especially
      when unrecognized. Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness is the leading cause
      of long-term vestibular disability. Fortunately, pharmacologic,
      psychotherapeutic, and rehabilitative treatments of these illnesses have improved
      in recent years. 

PMID- 27638083
TI  - Vertigo and dizziness in children.
AB  - Vertigo and dizziness of at least moderate severity occur in >5% of school-aged
      children and cause considerable restrictions in participation in school and
      leisure activity. More than 50% of dizzy children also have headache. Vestibular
      migraine and benign paroxysmal vertigo as a migraine precursor are the most
      common diagnoses in dizziness clinics for children and adolescents. They account
      for 30-60% of diagnoses. Other common causes are somatoform, orthostatic, or
      posttraumatic dizziness. All other disorders that are known to cause vertigo and
      dizziness in adults also occur in children, but incidence rates are usually
      lower. The vestibular and balance systems are largely developed after 1 year of
      age. Therefore, clinical and laboratory testing is reliable. Brain magnetic
      resonance imaging to exclude severe conditions, such as a brainstem tumor, is
      necessary only if clinical - in particular, ocular motor - testing is abnormal.
      Most conditions causing vertigo and dizziness in childhood and adolescence are
      treatable. Nonpharmacologic prophylaxis should always be recommended in
      vestibular migraine. Behavioral support is useful in somatization. Evidence for
      the effectiveness of drug therapy is largely based on experience in adult
      populations. High-quality controlled studies in childhood cohorts are sparse. It
      is important to make a correct diagnosis early on, as counseling and appropriate
      treatment may avoid chronic illness. 

PMID- 27638084
TI  - The conundrum of cervicogenic dizziness.
AB  - Cervicogenic or cervical dizziness is debated as an entity. However, there exists
      both a physiologic basis and a multitude of clinical data to make such a disease
      concept at least possible and worth considering. In addition, the interaction of
      proprioceptive and vestibular mechanisms may amplify dizziness of other origin.
      Cervical pain and dizziness are both common symptoms and may coincide, and neck
      pain or obvious dysfunction does not necessarily cause dizziness or balance
      disturbances. So far, there is also the lack of a proper diagnostic test for
      cervicogenic dizziness. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that
      cervical proprioceptive input is important for balance and postural control not
      only in animals but also in humans, and that intervention in disorders affecting
      the human cervical segment may relieve dizziness in some patients. It is
      advocated that the diagnosis should be used with care and that there is a need
      for better diagnostic tests. In the absence of such a test, one has to rely on
      preliminary criteria and a diagnosis ex juvantibus. A possible approach would
      require patients to present with neck pain before or in close temporal relation
      with dizziness; that other causes should be made at least unlikely; and that
      treatment of a cervical dysfunction reduces also dizziness or balance
      disturbance. 

PMID- 27638085
TI  - Motion sickness.
AB  - Over 2000 years ago the Greek physician Hippocrates wrote, "sailing on the sea
      proves that motion disorders the body." Indeed, the word "nausea" derives from
      the Greek root word naus, hence "nautical," meaning a ship. The primary signs and
      symptoms of motion sickness are nausea and vomiting. Motion sickness can be
      provoked by a wide variety of transport environments, including land, sea, air,
      and space. The recent introduction of new visual technologies may expose more of
      the population to visually induced motion sickness. This chapter describes the
      signs and symptoms of motion sickness and different types of provocative stimuli.
      The "how" of motion sickness (i.e., the mechanism) is generally accepted to
      involve sensory conflict, for which the evidence is reviewed. New observations
      concern the identification of putative "sensory conflict" neurons and the
      underlying brain mechanisms. But what reason or purpose does motion sickness
      serve, if any? This is the "why" of motion sickness, which is analyzed from both
      evolutionary and nonfunctional maladaptive theoretic perspectives. Individual
      differences in susceptibility are great in the normal population and predictors
      are reviewed. Motion sickness susceptibility also varies dramatically between
      special groups of patients, including those with different types of vestibular
      disease and in migraineurs. Finally, the efficacy and relative advantages and
      disadvantages of various behavioral and pharmacologic countermeasures are
      evaluated. 

PMID- 27638086
TI  - Mal de debarquement syndrome.
AB  - Mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS) is typified by a prolonged rocking sensation 
      for a month or longer - that begins immediately following a lengthy exposure to
      motion. The provoking motion is usually a sea voyage. About 80% of MdDS sufferers
      are women, and most of them are middle-aged. MdDS patients are troubled by more
      migraine headaches than controls. Unlike dizziness caused by vestibular disorders
      or motion sickness, the symptoms of MdDS usually improve with re-exposure to
      motion. The long duration of symptoms - a month or more - distinguishes MdDS from
      land-sickness. Treatment of MdDS with common vestibular suppressants is nearly
      always ineffective. Benzodiazepines can be helpful, but their usefulness is
      limited by the potential for addiction. Studies are ongoing regarding treatment
      with visual habituation and transcranial magnetic stimulation. 

PMID- 27638087
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 27638088
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 27638090
TI  - Reply to Chi et al.

PMID- 27638089
TI  - Comparison of T1-weighted 2D TSE, 3D SPGR, and two-point 3D Dixon MRI for
      automated segmentation of visceral adipose tissue at 3 Tesla.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate and compare conventional T1-weighted 2D turbo spin echo
      (TSE), T1-weighted 3D volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE), and
      two-point 3D Dixon-VIBE sequences for automatic segmentation of visceral adipose
      tissue (VAT) volume at 3 Tesla by measuring and compensating for errors arising
      from intensity nonuniformity (INU) and partial volume effects (PVE). MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The body trunks of 28 volunteers with body mass index values ranging
      from 18 to 41.2 kg/m2 (30.02 +/- 6.63 kg/m2) were scanned at 3 Tesla using three
      imaging techniques. Automatic methods were applied to reduce INU and PVE and to
      segment VAT. The automatically segmented VAT volumes obtained from all
      acquisitions were then statistically and objectively evaluated against the
      manually segmented (reference) VAT volumes. RESULTS: Comparing the reference
      volumes with the VAT volumes automatically segmented over the uncorrected images
      showed that INU led to an average relative volume difference of -59.22 +/- 11.59,
      2.21 +/- 47.04, and -43.05 +/- 5.01 % for the TSE, VIBE, and Dixon images,
      respectively, while PVE led to average differences of -34.85 +/- 19.85, -15.13 +/
      11.04, and -33.79 +/- 20.38 %. After signal correction, differences of -2.72 +/-
      6.60, 34.02 +/- 36.99, and -2.23 +/- 7.58 % were obtained between the reference
      and the automatically segmented volumes. A paired-sample two-tailed t test
      revealed no significant difference between the reference and automatically
      segmented VAT volumes of the corrected TSE (p = 0.614) and Dixon (p = 0.969)
      images, but showed a significant VAT overestimation using the corrected VIBE
      images. CONCLUSION: Under similar imaging conditions and spatial resolution,
      automatically segmented VAT volumes obtained from the corrected TSE and Dixon
      images agreed with each other and with the reference volumes. These results
      demonstrate the efficacy of the signal correction methods and the similar
      accuracy of TSE and Dixon imaging for automatic volumetry of VAT at 3 Tesla.

PMID- 27638091
TI  - Re: The Early Effects of Rapid Androgen Deprivation on Human Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 27638092
TI  - Reply to Eugenio Ventimiglia, Francesco Montorsi, and Andrea Salonia's Letter to
      the Editor re: Jakob Damsgaard, Ulla N. Joensen, Elisabeth Carlsen, et al.
      Varicocele Is Associated with Impaired Semen Quality and Reproductive Hormone
      Levels: A Study of 7035 Healthy Young Men from Six European Countries. Eur Urol
      2016;70:1019-29.

PMID- 27638093
TI  - Re: Claude Schulman, Erik Cornel, Vsevolod Matveev, et al. Intermittent Versus
      Continuous Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Patients with Relapsing or Locally
      Advanced Prostate Cancer: A Phase 3b Randomised Study (ICELAND). Eur Urol
      2016;69:720-7.

PMID- 27638095
TI  - Patient-reported and Cost-effectiveness Outcomes Are Key to Determining the
      Optimal Therapeutic Sequence for Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

PMID- 27638094
TI  - Generalizability of the Prostate Cancer Intervention Versus Observation Trial
      (PIVOT) Results to Contemporary North American Men with Prostate Cancer.
AB  - : The Prostate Cancer Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT) concluded
      that radical prostatectomy (RP) offered no survival benefit compared with
      observation in men with clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa). We identified
      patients within the National Cancer Database (NCDB) for the period 2004-2012 who
      met the inclusion criteria of PIVOT (ie, histologically confirmed PCa, clinical
      stage T1-2NxM0, prostate-specific antigen <50 ng/ml, age <75 yr, estimated life
      expectancy >10 yr, and undergoing RP or observation as initial treatment within
      12 mo of diagnosis) to confirm the generalizability of the PIVOT results to the
      US population. Life expectancy was calculated using the US Social Security
      Administration life tables and was adjusted for comorbidities at diagnosis.
      Compared with PIVOT, men in the NCDB were younger (mean age 60.3 vs 67.0 yr) and
      healthier (Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index of 0: 93% vs 56%; both p < 0.001).
      Furthermore, 42% of men randomized to receive RP in PIVOT harbored D'Amico low
      risk PCa, whereas 32% of men undergoing RP in the NCDB had low-risk disease. Our
      findings were confirmed in a sensitivity analysis including men regardless of
      life expectancy but satisfying all other inclusion criteria of PIVOT. Given that
      the NCDB represents nearly 70% of all incident cancers diagnosed in the United
      States, our data provide further evidence that PIVOT results may not be
      generalizable to contemporary clinical practice. PATIENT SUMMARY: We observed
      that men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer within the National
      Cancer Database (2004-2012) were younger, healthier, and more likely to have
      radical prostatectomy for higher risk disease than men in the Prostate Cancer
      Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT), raising questions about the
      applicability of PIVOT conclusions to the contemporary US population.

PMID- 27638096
TI  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate-activated TRPC1 channel controls chemotaxis of
      glioblastoma cells.
AB  - TRP channels are involved in the control of a broad range of cellular functions
      such as cell proliferation and motility. We investigated the gating mechanism of
      TRPC1 channel and its role in U251 glioblastoma cells migration in response to
      chemotaxis by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). PDGF induced an influx of
      Ca2+ that was partially inhibited after pretreatment of the cells with SKI-II, a
      specific inhibitor of sphingosine kinase producing sphingosine-1-P (S1P). S1P by
      itself also induced an entry of Ca2+. Interestingly, PDGF- and S1P-induced
      entries of Ca2+ were lost in siRNA-TRPC1 treated cells. PDGF-induced chemotaxis
      of U251 cells was dramatically inhibited in cells treated with SKI-II. This
      effect was almost completely rescued by addition of synthetic S1P. Chemotaxis was
      also completely lost in siRNA-TRPC1 treated cells and interestingly, the rescue
      of migration of cells treated with SKI-II by S1P was dependent on the expression
      of TRPC1. Immunocytochemistry revealed that, in response to PDGF, TRPC1
      translocated from inside of the cell to the front of migration (lamellipodes).
      This effect seemed PI3K dependent as it was inhibited by cell pre-treatment with
      LY294002, a PI3-kinase inhibitor. Our results thus identify S1P as a potential
      activator of TRPC1, a channel involved in cell orientation during chemotaxis by
      PDGF.

PMID- 27638097
TI  - What Determines Whether the Great Arteries Are Normally or Abnormally Related?
AB  - The situs, or pattern of anatomic organization, of the subarterial infundibulum
      and of the great arteries and the degree of development of the subarterial
      infundibulum largely determine whether the great arteries are normally or
      abnormally related. There are 2 types of situs: solitus (normal) and inversus (a
      mirror image of solitus). Situs ambiguus means that the pattern of anatomic
      organization is uncertain or unknown. Infundibular development varies from
      absent, to atretic, to severely stenotic, to mildly or moderately stenotic; great
      arteries are solitus normally related or inversus normally related, respectively.
      When the situs of the subarterial infundibulum and the situs of the great
      arteries are discordant (different), then the great arteries are abnormally
      related. Equations indicating the situs of the infundibulum and the situs of the
      great arteries show whether infundibuloarterial (IA) situs concordance or
      discordance is present. Many types of IA anomalies typically have IA situs
      discordance, including transposition of the great arteries, double-outlet right
      ventricle, double-outlet left ventricle, and anatomically corrected malposition
      of the great arteries. However, tetralogy of Fallot and truncus arteriosus
      typically have IA situs concordance, with hypoplasia or atresia of the
      subpulmonary infundibulum. The relation between the great arteries in tetralogy
      of Fallot and in truncus arteriosus is almost normal. The IA equations
      demonstrate the infundibular situs, the great arterial situs, the IA situs
      concordance or discordance, and the degree of development of the infundibulum.
      The infundibular situs and the great arterial situs are the formulas or "recipes"
      for each of the abnormal types of conotruncal malformation.

PMID- 27638098
TI  - Frequency and Effect of Access-Related Vascular Injury and Subsequent Vascular
      Intervention After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.
AB  - Vascular access and closure remain a challenge in transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement (TAVR). This single-center study aimed to report the incidence,
      predictive factors, and clinical outcomes of access-related vascular injury and
      subsequent vascular intervention. During a 30-month period, 365 patients
      underwent TAVR and 333 patients (94%) were treated by true percutaneous
      transfemoral approach. Of this latter group, 83 patients (25%) had an access
      related vascular injury that was managed by the use of a covered self-expanding
      stent (n = 49), balloon angioplasty (n = 33), or by surgical intervention (n =
      1). In 16 patients (5%), the vascular injury was classified as a major vascular
      complication. Absence of a preprocedural computed tomography angiography (CTA) of
      the iliofemoral arteries (OR 2.04, p = 0.007) and female gender (OR 2.18, p =
      0.004) were independent predictors of the need for access-related vascular
      intervention. In addition, a high sheath/common femoral artery ratio as measured
      on preoperative CTA was associated with a higher rate of post-TAVR vascular
      intervention. The radiation dose, iodine contrast volume, transfusion need,
      length of hospitalization, and 30-day mortality were not significantly different
      between patients with versus without access-related vascular intervention. In
      conclusion, access-related vascular intervention in patients who underwent
      transfemoral-TAVR is not uncommon. Female gender and a high sheath/common femoral
      artery ratio are risk factors for access-related vascular injury, whereas
      preprocedural planning with CTA of the access vessels may reduce the risk of
      vascular injury. Importantly, most access-related vascular injuries may be
      treated by percutaneous techniques with similar clinical outcomes to patients
      without vascular injuries.

PMID- 27638099
TI  - Fabrication of transparent quaternized PVA/silver nanocomposite hydrogel and its
      evaluation as an antimicrobial patch for wound care systems.
AB  - Grafting of quaternary nitrogen atoms into the backbone of polymer is an
      efficient way of developing new generation antimicrobial polymeric wound
      dressing. In this study, an elastic, non-adhesive and antimicrobial transparent
      hydrogel based dressing has been designed, which might be helpful for routine
      observation of wound area without removing the dressing material along with
      maintaining a sterile environment for a longer period of time. Green synthesized
      silver nanoparticles have been loaded into the quaternized PVA hydrogel matrix to
      improve its antimicrobial property. Silver nanoparticles loaded quaternized PVA
      hydrogel showed enhanced mechanical and swelling properties compared to native
      quaternized PVA hydrogel. Release kinetics evaluated by atomic absorption
      spectroscopy revealed that the release mechanism of silver nanoparticles from the
      hydrogel follows Fickian diffusion. Antimicrobial efficacy of the hydrogels was
      evaluated by disk diffusion test on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus
      and Escherichia coli. After 96 h of release in phosphate buffer, the growth
      inhibition zone created by silver nanoparticless loaded quaternized PVA hydrogel
      is comparable to that created by ampicillin. These observations assert that the
      silver nanoparticles loaded quaternized PVA hydrogel acts as a reservoir of
      silver nanoparticles, which helps in maintaining a sterile environment for longer
      time duration by releasing Ag nanocrystallite in sustained manner. 

PMID- 27638100
TI  - Technology and vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA)-lessons learned
      from the first bilateral pediatric hand transplant.
AB  - The reconstructive principle of replacing "like with like" is best met with
      vascularized composite allotransplantation in which the components of an existing
      defect are "matched" to the greatest extent possible in a single stage
      restoration. Hand transplantation is a labor-intensive and time-intensive process
      and can be conceptualized into distinct phases that include (1) patient selection
      and preoperative preparation, (2) technical execution of the procedure, and (3)
      postoperative rehabilitation and follow-up. The advent of technological
      innovations, such as 3D printing technology, novel implant technology, as well as
      innovative imaging technology, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging have
      the potential of favorably affecting all phases of this process, thus
      contributing to improved outcomes. The use of these technologies in the world's
      first case of bilateral hand transplantation in a pediatric patient is discussed.

PMID- 27638101
TI  - Estimation of the radon production rate in granite rocks and evaluation of the
      implications for geogenic radon potential maps: A case study in Central Portugal.
AB  - The goal of this study was to estimate radon gas production rate in granitic
      rocks and identify the factors responsible for the observed variability. For this
      purpose, 180 samples were collected from pre-Hercynian and Hercynian rocks in
      north and central Portugal and analysed for a) 226Ra activity, b) radon (222Rn)
      per unit mass activity, and c) radon gas emanation coefficient. On a subset of
      representative samples from the same rock types were also measured d) apparent
      porosity and e) apparent density. For each of these variables, the values ranged
      as follows: a) 15 to 587 Bq kg-1, b) 2 to 73 Bq kg-1, c) 0.01 to 0.80, d) 0.3 to
      11.4 % and e) 2530 to 2850 kg m-3. Radon production rate varied between 40 to
      1386 Bq m-3 h-1. The variability observed was associated with geologically late
      processes of low and high temperature which led to the alteration of the granitic
      rock with mobilization of U and increase in radon 222Rn gas emanation. It is
      suggested that, when developing geogenic radon potential maps, data on uranium
      concentration in soils/altered rock should be used, rather than data obtained
      from unaltered rock.

PMID- 27638102
TI  - Learning relay start strategies in swimming: What feedback is best?
AB  - In the past, studies and book recommendations on relay starts in swimming have
      been predominantly focused on the change-over time (COT) as a performance
      criterion. Aside from the circular backswing start with parallel foot placement,
      few studies have analysed differences in the take-off movement including step
      approaches as well. Although trends could be identified, the results remained
      still somewhat inconclusive. In contrast, no study has examined as has examined
      whether a reduction of COT in between wall contact of the income swimmer and the
      take-off of the outgoing swimmer is an optimal relay start strategy, as advocated
      by various swimming experts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare
      two different relay start strategies: offensive strategy minimizing COT and
      conservative strategy to maximize horizontal peak force (HPF). In this regard, a
      learning intervention with 24 elite-level swimmers (12 females, 12 male) was
      conducted to compare both strategies regarding relay start time, HPF and COT.
      Subjects were randomly assigned to two feedback groups: COT versus HPF at take
      off. The results of this study showed a clear advantage for HPF feedback for
      relay start performance measured by wall contact of the incoming swimmer and head
      passage at 7.5 m of the outgoing swimmer. In addition, similar reductions in COTs
      were found in both training groups. In conclusion, swimmers should focus on force
      production rather than minimizing COT. For the latter, deteriorating consequences
      for force production must be considered.

PMID- 27638103
TI  - Radiomics and its emerging role in lung cancer research, imaging biomarkers and
      clinical management: State of the art.
AB  - With the development of functional imaging modalities we now have the ability to
      study the microenvironment of lung cancer and its genomic instability. Radiomics
      is defined as the use of automated or semi-automated post-processing and analysis
      of large amounts of quantitative imaging features that can be derived from
      medical images. The automated generation of these analytical features helps to
      quantify a number of variables in the imaging assessment of lung malignancy.
      These imaging features include: tumor spatial complexity, elucidation of the
      tumor genomic heterogeneity and composition, subregional identification in terms
      of tumor viability or aggressiveness, and response to chemotherapy and/or
      radiation. Therefore, a radiomic approach can help to reveal unique information
      about tumor behavior. Currently available radiomic features can be divided into
      four major classes: (a) morphological, (b) statistical, (c) regional, and (d)
      model-based. Each category yields quantitative parameters that reflect specific
      aspects of a tumor. The major challenge is to integrate radiomic data with
      clinical, pathological, and genomic information to decode the different types of
      tissue biology. There are many currently available radiomic studies on lung
      cancer for which there is a need to summarize the current state of the art.

PMID- 27638104
TI  - Guide extension catheter stepwise advancement facilitated by repeated distal
      balloon anchoring.
AB  - Coronary stent delivery can be extremely challenging in tortuous and calcified
      lesions especially when radial approach is chosen. Guide extension catheter is a
      useful tool for overcoming the inherent difficulties arising by the use of radial
      access in complex percutaneous interventions. We describe a technique for guide
      extension catheter system advancement by presenting two cases. This was performed
      stepwise by repeated distal balloon anchoring in the coronary artery of interest.

PMID- 27638105
TI  - Association of endothelial dysfunction and no-reflow during primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary no-reflow during primary percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PPCI) is a predictor of poorer cardiovascular outcome. Both endothelial
      dysfunction and no-reflow involves abnormal vascular function and hemostasis. Our
      aim was to assess the association between endothelial dysfunction and no reflow
      during primary PCI. METHODS: Thirty consecutive patients with ST elevation
      myocardial infarction (STEMI) and normal flow during primary PCI were compared to
      19 consecutive patients who had no reflow. All subjects underwent assessment of
      peripheral endothelial function by reactive hyperemia index (RHI) 48-72h post PCI
      using the EndoPAT device. RESULTS: Age, sex and hypertension were similar in both
      groups. Smokers were less likely to have no-reflow. Post PPCI there was less ST
      segment resolution in the no-reflow group (48%+/-7 vs. 81%+/-6; p=0.001).
      Patients who had no reflow had subsequently lower ejection fraction (39%+/-10 vs.
      47%+/-10; p=0.015). There was no difference in vascular function (RHI), between
      the no-reflow and normal flow groups (1.91+/-0.3 vs. 2.09+/-0.11; p=0.24).
      CONCLUSIONS: Systemic peripheral endothelial function does not differ between
      STEMI patients with and without no reflow during primary PCI.

PMID- 27638106
TI  - High sensitive and selective C-reactive protein detection by means of lossy mode
      resonance based optical fiber devices.
AB  - This work presents the development of high sensitive, selective, fast and
      reusable C-reactive protein (CRP) aptasensors. This novel approach takes
      advantage of the utilization of high sensitive refractometers based on Lossy Mode
      Resonances generated by thin indium tin oxide (ITO) films fabricated onto the
      planar region of d-shaped optical fibers. CRP selectivity is obtained by means of
      the adhesion of a CRP specific aptamer chain onto the ITO film using the Layer-by
      Layer (LbL) nano-assembly fabrication process. The sensing mechanism relies on
      resonance wavelength shifts originated by refractive index variations of the
      aptamer chain in presence of the target molecule. Fabricated devices show high
      selectivity to CRP when compared with other target molecules, such as urea or
      creatinine, while maintaining a low detection limit (0.0625mg/L) and fast
      response time (61s). Additionally, these sensors show a repetitive response for
      several days and are reusable after a cleaning process in ultrapure water.

PMID- 27638107
TI  - An implantable ENG detector with in-system velocity selective recording (VSR)
      capability.
AB  - Detection and classification of electroneurogram (ENG) signals in the peripheral
      nervous system can be achieved by velocity selective recording (VSR) using multi
      electrode arrays. This paper describes an implantable VSR-based ENG recording
      system representing a significant development in the field since it is the first
      system of its type that can record naturally evoked ENG and be interfaced
      wirelessly using a low data rate transcutaneous link. The system consists of two
      CMOS ASICs one of which is placed close to the multi-electrode cuff array (MEC),
      whilst the other is mounted close to the wireless link. The digital ASIC provides
      the signal processing required to detect selectively ENG signals based on
      velocity. The design makes use of an original architecture that is suitable for
      implantation and reduces the required data rate for transmission to units placed
      outside the body. Complete measured electrical data from samples of the ASICs are
      presented that show that the system has the capability to record signals of
      amplitude as low as 0.5 MUV, which is adequate for the recording of naturally
      evoked ENG. In addition, measurements of electrically evoked ENG from the
      explanted sciatic nerves of Xenopus Laevis frogs are presented.

PMID- 27638108
TI  - An enhanced random walk algorithm for delineation of head and neck cancers in PET
      studies.
AB  - An algorithm for delineating complex head and neck cancers in positron emission
      tomography (PET) images is presented in this article. An enhanced random walk
      (RW) algorithm with automatic seed detection is proposed and used to make the
      segmentation process feasible in the event of inhomogeneous lesions with
      bifurcations. In addition, an adaptive probability threshold and a k-means based
      clustering technique have been integrated in the proposed enhanced RW algorithm.
      The new threshold is capable of following the intensity changes between adjacent
      slices along the whole cancer volume, leading to an operator-independent
      algorithm. Validation experiments were first conducted on phantom studies: High
      Dice similarity coefficients, high true positive volume fractions, and low
      Hausdorff distance confirm the accuracy of the proposed method. Subsequently,
      forty head and neck lesions were segmented in order to evaluate the clinical
      feasibility of the proposed approach against the most common segmentation
      algorithms. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is more
      accurate and robust than the most common algorithms in the literature. Finally,
      the proposed method also shows real-time performance, addressing the physician's
      requirements in a radiotherapy environment.

PMID- 27638109
TI  - PCA-based artifact removal algorithm for stroke detection using UWB radar
      imaging.
AB  - Stroke patients should be dispatched at the highest level of care available in
      the shortest time. In this context, a transportable system in specialized
      ambulances, able to evaluate the presence of an acute brain lesion in a short
      time interval (i.e., few minutes), could shorten delay of treatment. UWB radar
      imaging is an emerging diagnostic branch that has great potential for the
      implementation of a transportable and low-cost device. Transportability, low cost
      and short response time pose challenges to the signal processing algorithms of
      the backscattered signals as they should guarantee good performance with a
      reasonably low number of antennas and low computational complexity, tightly
      related to the response time of the device. The paper shows that a PCA-based
      preprocessing algorithm can: (1) achieve good performance already with a
      computationally simple beamforming algorithm; (2) outperform state-of-the-art
      preprocessing algorithms; (3) enable a further improvement in the performance
      (and/or decrease in the number of antennas) by using a multistatic approach with
      just a modest increase in computational complexity. This is an important result
      toward the implementation of such a diagnostic device that could play an
      important role in emergency scenario.

PMID- 27638110
TI  - Advanced computational workflow for the multi-scale modeling of the bone
      metabolic processes.
AB  - Multi-scale modeling of the musculoskeletal system plays an essential role in the
      deep understanding of complex mechanisms underlying the biological phenomena and
      processes such as bone metabolic processes. Current multi-scale models suffer
      from the isolation of sub-models at each anatomical scale. The objective of this
      present work was to develop a new fully integrated computational workflow for
      simulating bone metabolic processes at multi-scale levels. Organ-level model
      employs multi-body dynamics to estimate body boundary and loading conditions from
      body kinematics. Tissue-level model uses finite element method to estimate the
      tissue deformation and mechanical loading under body loading conditions. Finally,
      cell-level model includes bone remodeling mechanism through an agent-based
      simulation under tissue loading. A case study on the bone remodeling process
      located on the human jaw was performed and presented. The developed multi-scale
      model of the human jaw was validated using the literature-based data at each
      anatomical level. Simulation outcomes fall within the literature-based ranges of
      values for estimated muscle force, tissue loading and cell dynamics during bone
      remodeling process. This study opens perspectives for accurately simulating bone
      metabolic processes using a fully integrated computational workflow leading to a
      better understanding of the musculoskeletal system function from multiple length
      scales as well as to provide new informative data for clinical decision support
      and industrial applications.

PMID- 27638111
TI  - Optic disc detection in retinal fundus images using gravitational law-based edge
      detection.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy is one of the primary causes of vision loss worldwide. Early
      detection of the condition is critical for providing adequate treatment of this
      ailment to prevent vision loss. This detection is achieved by processing retinal
      fundus images. A key step in detecting diabetic retinopathy is identifying the
      optic disc in these images. The optic disc is similar in color and contrast to
      the exudates that indicate diabetic retinopathy. Hence, the optic disc has to be
      removed from the fundus image before exudates can be detected. Detecting the
      optic disc is also required in algorithms used for blood vessel segmentation in
      fundus images. Therefore, there is a need for approaches that accurately and
      quickly detect optic disc. This paper proposes a simple, deterministic, and time
      efficient approach for optic disc detection by adapting an edge detection
      algorithm inspired by the gravitational law. Our method introduces novel pre- and
      post-detection steps that aim to increase the accuracy of the adapted detection
      method. In addition, a candidate selection technique is proposed to decrease the
      number of missed optic discs. The proposed methodology was found to have a
      detection rate of 100, 97.75, 92.90, and 95 % for DRIVE, DiaRet, DMED, and STARE
      datasets, respectively, which is comparatively better than existing optic disc
      detection schemes. Experimental results showed an average running time of 0.40 s
      per image, which is significantly lower than available methods published in the
      literature.

PMID- 27638112
TI  - Antenatal palliative care consultation: implications for decision-making and
      perinatal outcomes in a single-centre experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some pregnant patients with complex fetal anomalies meet with
      paediatric palliative care subspecialists prior to delivery, but referral to
      antenatal palliative care consultation (APCC) is not standard. Little is known
      about its role in perinatal decision-making. METHODS: A single-centre
      retrospective cohort study was undertaken for patients referred for outpatient
      antenatal counselling by a neonatologist over a two-and-half-year period.
      Patients also receiving APCC were compared with infants with similar prognoses
      who did not. Outcomes assessed included antenatal decision-making, obstetric and
      neonatal outcomes. RESULTS: 24 (17%) of the 144 referred fetuses received APCC;
      nearly all had been given the prognoses of 'non-survivable' or 'uncertain, likely
      poor'. Fetal or neonatal outcome included: fetal demise 5 (21%), in-hospital
      death 16 (67%) and survival to discharge (DC) 3(12%). 24 fetuses with similarly
      poor prognoses were not referred, but had similar outcomes: fetal demise 5 (21%),
      in-hospital death 16 (67%) and survival to DC 3 (12%). Those with APCC were more
      likely to choose comfort care than those without (67% vs 17%, p<0.01) and those
      who died in hospital had a shorter time to death than those who did not receive
      APCC. Less racial diversity was noted in the group receiving APCC. Infants with
      identified/suspected genetic syndromes were more likely to receive consultation
      despite similar mortality to the remaining cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term
      outcomes with and without APCC were similar for infants with poor prognoses,
      though non-survivors with APCC were more likely to have a comfort care plan and
      shorter time to in-hospital death.

PMID- 27638113
TI  - Ehrlichia sp. infection in carthorses of low-income owners, Southern Brazil.
AB  - Although well established in dogs, Ehrlichia sp. infection has been scarcely
      reported in horses. The aim was to perform a comprehensive serological and
      molecular survey for the detection of Ehrlichia spp. in carthorses from Southern
      Brazil. Blood samples from 190 carthorses from Parana State were sampled. Horses
      were also tested for Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Anti
      Ehrlichia sp. antibodies were detected by a commercial rapid ELISA, and
      immunofluorescence antibody assays (IFA) with E. chaffeensis and E. canis as
      crude antigens. The molecular and phylogenetic analysis of Ehrlichia sp. was
      based on 16S rRNA and dsb genes. A total of 52 (27.4%), 4 (2.1%), and 3 (1.6%)
      horses were positive for Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi,
      respectively, by the commercial rapid ELISA. Thirty-eight (20.0%) and 37 (19.5%)
      horses showed anti-E. chaffeensis and anti-E. canis antibodies by IFA,
      respectively. One blood sample that also showed anti-E. chaffeensis antibodies
      was PCR positive for the 16S rRNA and dsb genes of Ehrlichia spp., showing an
      identity of>98.0% to the uncultured Ehrlichia sp. previously detected in
      Brazilian jaguars (Panthera onca). Anti-Ehrlichia sp. antibodies and Ehrlichia
      DNA were detected in carthorses from Southern Brazil, which may post public
      health concerns due to intimate contact with low-income owners. This is the first
      report of a natural infection of this bacteria in horses from South America.
      Clinical signs and the tick vector remain unknown. 

PMID- 27638114
TI  - Antimicrobial resistance and virulence profiles of Enterococcus spp. isolated
      from horses in korea.
AB  - Antimicrobial-resistant (AR) enterococci have emerged as leading nosocomial
      pathogens. Transmission of AR Enterococci from animals to humans has been
      demonstrated. However, there is limited information on the transmission of
      enterococci from horses to humans. To address this issue, we characterized 260
      enterococci isolated from horse-associated samples in Korea in 2013 based on
      their AR profiles and virulence traits. AR profiling revealed an average ratio of
      AR enterococci of 23.8%. Seven isolates (2.7%) were multidrug-resistant
      Enterococcus faecalis. Most tetracycline-resistant enterococci harbored either
      tetM or tetL or both genes; genes conferring resistance to other antimicrobials
      were detected at low rates. Biofilm formation and gelatinase activity were
      observed in 51.1% and 47.7% of isolates, respectively; most were E. faecalis
      harboring the gelE gene. Evidence of transmission of AR enterococci between
      horses and their environments was provided by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis,
      and highlights the risk of AR enterococcus transmission to horse riders and
      handlers through close contact. 

PMID- 27638115
TI  - Genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter and Salmonella
      strains isolated from decoys and raptors.
AB  - Infections caused by thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. are
      the leading causes of human gastroenteritis worldwide. Wild birds can act as
      reservoirs of both pathogens. A survey was carried out to determine the
      prevalence, genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of thermotolerant
      Campylobacter and Salmonella in waterfowl used as decoys and wild raptors in
      Andalusia (Southern Spain). The overall prevalence detected for Campylobacter was
      5.9% (18/306; CI95%: 3.25-8.52) in decoys and 2.3% (9/387; CI95%: 0.82-3.83) in
      wild raptors. Isolates were identified as C. jejuni, C. coli and C. lari in both
      bird groups. Salmonella was isolated in 3.3% (10/306; CI95%: 2.3-4.3) and 4.6%
      (18/394; CI95%: 3.5-5.6) of the decoys and raptors, respectively. Salmonella
      Enteritidis and Typhimurium were the most frequently identified serovars,
      although Salmonella serovars Anatum, Bredeney, London and Mikawasima were also
      isolated. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of isolates showed higher
      genetic diversity within Campylobacter species compared to Salmonella serovars.
      Campylobacter isolates showed resistance to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and
      tetracycline, while resistance to erythromycin and tetracycline was found in
      Salmonella isolates. The results indicate that both decoys and raptors can act as
      natural carriers of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Spain, which may have
      important implications for public and animal health. 

PMID- 27638116
TI  - Ablation of CD11c(hi) dendritic cells exacerbates Japanese encephalitis by
      regulating blood-brain barrier permeability and altering tight junction/adhesion
      molecules.
AB  - Japanese encephalitis (JE), characterized by extensive neuroinflammation
      following infection with neurotropic JE virus (JEV), is becoming a leading cause
      of viral encephalitis due to rapid changes in climate and demography. The blood
      brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in restricting neuroinvasion of
      peripheral leukocytes and virus, thereby regulating the progression of viral
      encephalitis. In this study, we explored the role of CD11c(hi) dendritic cells
      (DCs) in regulating BBB integrity and JE progression using a conditional
      depletion model of CD11c(hi) DCs. Transient ablation of CD11c(hi) DCs resulted in
      markedly increased susceptibility to JE progression along with highly increased
      neuro-invasion of JEV. In addition, exacerbated JE progression in CD11c(hi) DC
      ablated hosts was closely associated with increased expression of proinflammatory
      cytokines (IFN-beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha) and CC chemokines (CCL2, CCL3, CXCL2)
      in the brain. Moreover, our results revealed that the exacerbation of JE
      progression in CD11c(hi) DC-ablated hosts was correlated with enhanced BBB
      permeability and reduced expression of tight junction and adhesion molecules
      (claudin-5, ZO-1, occluding, JAMs). Ultimately, our data conclude that the
      ablation of CD11c(hi) DCs provided a subsidiary impact on BBB integrity and the
      expression of tight junction/adhesion molecules, thereby leading to exacerbated
      JE progression. These findings provide insight into the secondary role of
      CD11c(hi) DCs in JE progression through regulation of BBB integrity and the
      expression of tight junction/adhesion molecules. 

PMID- 27638117
TI  - Association of swine leukocyte antigen class II haplotypes and immune-related
      traits in a swine line selected for resistance to mycoplasmal pneumonia.
AB  - By selective breeding for five generations, a Landrace line has been recently
      established to improve resistance to mycoplasmal pneumonia of swine (MPS), daily
      gain (DG), back fat thickness (BF), and plasma cortisol concentrations (COR). To
      clarify the involvement of swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) polymorphisms in the
      selection process, we investigated possible associations of 11 SLA-class II
      haplotypes with selected traits or immune parameters. Pigs with the low
      resolution SLA haplotype Lr-0.23 or Lr-0.13, which increased in frequency with
      the passage of generations, had less severe pathological lesions of MPS,
      increased leukocyte phagocytic activity, and higher white blood cell counts. In
      contrast, Lr-0.12 and Lr-0.2, which decreased in subsequent generations, were
      weakly associated with more severe pathological lesions of MPS. Therefore, in the
      studied Landrace line, the Lr-0.23 and Lr-0.13 haplotypes are potentially useful
      genetic markers for selecting and breeding animals with less severe pathological
      lesions of MPS. 

PMID- 27638118
TI  - Clinical improvement in feline herpesvirus 1 infected cats by oral low dose of
      interleukin-12 plus interferon-gamma.
AB  - Feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1) is a widespread cat pathogen inducing rhinitis,
      conjunctivitis and corneal ulcers. To alleviate acute FHV-1-induced disease,
      antiviral agents are used often with antibiotics. But sometimes, these
      treatments, as well as conventional doses of cytokines have moderate efficacy
      and/or collateral effects. Herein we have investigated the effects of low dose
      interleukin (IL)-12 plus interferon (IFN)-gamma, prepared by Sequential Kinetic
      Activated (SKA), on the treatment of FHV-1 infection. Twenty-five, unvaccinated
      FHV-1-positive cats were recruited into a prospective, randomized, placebo
      controlled, double-blinded clinical trial. Fifteen cats were treated for 6 months
      with oral low doses of SKA IL-12 plus IFN-gamma and 10 cats were treated with
      placebo. At 1, 6 and 12 months (follow-up) after the beginning of treatment,
      clinical assessment, PCR assay and blood count were carried out. At follow-up, in
      treated group, we observed significant (p<0.05) improvements in clinical signs
      and PCR became negative in 12/15 cats (80%). In placebo, 10/10 cats were PCR
      positive, with improvements (30%) or worsening (70%) in clinical signs. Blood
      values were normal in both groups. Our results show that the low dose therapy,
      based on activated solutions of IL-12 plus IFN-gamma, represents a novel approach
      to treat FHV-1 infection in cats. 

PMID- 27638119
TI  - NTPDase and 5'-nucleotidase as inflammatory markers in cattle naturally infected
      by Eurytrema coelomaticum.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate seric NTPDase and 5'nucleotidase activities
      of cattle naturally infected by Eurytrema coelomanticum, as well as to correlate
      them to histopathological lesions in the pancreas and the degree of parasitism.
      Blood samples and pancreas of 51 bovines were collected on a slaughterhouse in
      Southern Brazil: 33 from cattle naturally infected by E. coelomanticum (the Group
      A), and 18 from uninfected animals (the Group B). Infected animals showed an
      average of 532 parasites per pancreas. In the pancreatic histology, ducts
      displayed hyperplasia, stenosis, proliferation of fibrous tissue, and
      interstitial inflammatory infiltration of lymphocytes. The serum from infected
      animals showed an increase in NTPDase activity when ATP was used as substrate
      (P<0.001). For the ADP substrate, there was no difference between groups
      regarding NTPDase activity (P=0.37), as well as 5'-nucleotidase activity
      (P=0.27). Correlating NTPDase activity (ATP substrate) with the degree of
      histopathological lesions (rho=0.66, P<0.001) and the parasitic load on the
      pancreas (rho=0.65, P<0.001), a positive correlation was observed. Similar
      results were found between the degree of histopathological lesions and NTPDase
      activity (ADP substrate; rho=0.29, P=0.03), and 5'nucleotidase activity
      (rho=0.35, P=0.01). Based on the results of NTPDase and 5'nucleotidase enzymes in
      cattle naturally infected by E. coleomanticum, it is possible to suggest that
      these enzymes are involved in the modulation of inflammation, and they can act as
      markers of inflammatory response. 

PMID- 27638120
TI  - Bovine natural killer cells are present in Escherichia coli infected mammary
      gland tissue and show antimicrobial activity in vitro.
AB  - Natural killer (NK) cells are early responders in bacterial infections but their
      role in bovine mastitis has not been characterized. For the first time, we show
      the presence of NK cells (NKp46(+)/CD3(-)) in bovine mammary gland tissue after
      an intramammary challenge with Escherichia (E.) coli. A small number of NK cells
      was detected in milk from quarters before and during an E. coli challenge. In
      vitro cultures of primary bovine mammary gland epithelial cells stimulated with
      UV irradiated E. coli induced significant migration of peripheral blood NK cells
      (pbNK) within 2h. Furthermore, pbNK cells significantly reduced counts of live E.
      coli in vitro within 2h of culture. The results show that bovine NK cells have
      the capacity to migrate to the site of infection and produce antibacterial
      mediators. These findings introduce NK cells as a leukocyte population in the
      mammary gland with potential functions in the innate immune response in bovine
      mastitis. 

PMID- 27638121
TI  - Serological evidence of widespread West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis
      virus infection in native domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos var domesticus) in
      Kuttanad region, Kerala, India.
AB  - Birds can act as reservoirs of West Nile virus (WNV) with a key role in its
      epidemiology. WNV lineage 1 associated fatal cases of human encephalitis in 2011
      and acute flaccid paralysis in 2013 were reported in Alappuzha district, Kerala,
      India. But no information is available on WNV circulation in domestic ducks,
      which are abundant, cohabit with humans and occupy wetlands and water bodies in
      the region. To determine the extent of WNV infection, we investigated 209 sera,
      250 oral and 350 cloacal swab samples from local Chara and Chemballi domestic
      ducks (Anas platyrhynchos var domesticus) in the districts of Alappuzha,
      Kottayam, Kollam and Pathanamthitta collected during January and March 2015. The
      serum samples were tested for WNV antibodies first by a competition ELISA and
      then by a micro virus neutralization test (micro-VNT), while oral and cloacal
      swabs were subjected to WNV real-time RT-PCR. Ninety five ducks showed evidence
      of flavivirus antibodies by ELISA. End point neutralizing antibody titre against
      WNV and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) revealed WNV specific antibodies in 24
      (11.5%) ducks in 3 districts, JEV specific antibodies in 21 (10%) ducks in 2
      districts and flavivirus specific antibodies in 19 (9%) ducks. However, no WNV
      genomic RNA could be detected. The results of this study demonstrate evidence of
      widespread WNV and JEV infection in domestic ducks in Kuttanad region, Kerala
      with a higher seroprevalence to WNV than JEV. Additionally, it highlights the
      utility of domestic ducks as a surveillance tool to detect WNV/JEV circulation in
      a region. 

PMID- 27638122
TI  - Molecular analysis of lungs from pigs immunized with a mutant transferrin binding
      protein B-based vaccine and challenged with Haemophilus parasuis.
AB  - The molecular analysis of pigs vaccinated with a mutant transferrin-binding
      protein B (Y167A) from Haemophilus parasuis was compared with that performed for
      unvaccinated challenged (UNCH) and unvaccinated unchallenged (UNUN) pigs.
      Microarray analysis revealed that UNCH group showed the most distinct expression
      profile for immune response genes, mainly for those genes involved in
      inflammation or immune cell trafficking. This fact was confirmed by real-time
      PCR, in which the greatest level of differential expression from this group were
      CD14, CD163, IL-8 and IL-12. In Y167A group, overexpressed genes included MAP3K8,
      CD14, IL-12 and CD163. Proteomics revealed that collagen alpha-1 and
      peroxiredoxins 2 and 6 were overexpressed in Y167A pigs. Our study reveals new
      data on genes and proteins involved in H. parasuis infection and several
      candidates of resistance to infection that are induced by Y167A vaccine. The
      expression of proinflammatory molecules from Y176A pigs is similar to their
      expression in UNUN pigs. 

PMID- 27638123
TI  - Immunomodulation over the course of experimental Arthrographis kalrae infection
      in mice.
AB  - Arthrographis kalrae is occasionally described as an opportunistic human
      pathogen. This study investigated the immune response to A. kalrae during murine
      experimental infection (7, 14, 28 and 56 days post infection). The fungal load
      was higher in the early phase and mice presented with neurological syndrome over
      the course of the infection. There was a gradual increase in the level of anti-A.
      kalrae IgG and increased levels of DTH at 14 days. There was decreased IFN-gamma
      (14-56 days) and an increase in IL-4 (7 and 56 days). Decreased levels of
      cytokines (IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-17) were observed in the brain at 56
      days p.i. The results suggest that the immune response during murine A. kalrae
      infection modulates to the pattern of Th2 response. This study shows for the
      first time the cytokines and cellular immunomodulation that occur in response to
      an experimental infection with A. kalrae in mice. 

PMID- 27638124
TI  - A minimally invasive approach to spleen histopathology in dogs: A new method for
      follow-up studies of spleen changes in the course of Leishmania infantum
      infection.
AB  - Severe forms of zoonotic visceral leishmaniosis (ZVL) are associated with
      disruption of the spleen structure. However, the study of spleen histology
      requires splenectomy or necropsy. In this work, we present a minimally invasive
      cell-block technique for studying spleen tissue histology in dogs with ZVL. We
      examined 13 dogs with and seven dogs without Leishmania infantum infection. The
      dogs with Leishmania infection had a lower frequency of lymphoid follicles (2/13,
      Fisher's test, P<0.02) and a higher density of plasma cells (score 3, Fisher's
      test, P<0.02) than uninfected dogs (5/7 exhibiting lymphoid follicles and a
      plasma cell score of 1). The dogs with Leishmania infection also presented with
      granulomas (8/13) and infected macrophages (5/13). These differences in the
      histological presentations of spleen tissue from infected and uninfected dogs
      corresponded to changes observed in conventional histology. Hence, the cell-block
      technique described here may be used in the follow-up care and study of dogs with
      ZVL and other diseases in both clinical practice and research. 

PMID- 27638126
TI  - Impaired development and dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells in type 2
      diabetic mice.
AB  - AIM: Dysfunction of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has been
      shown to affect the development of microvascular diseases in diabetes patients.
      The aim of this study was to elucidate the development and mechanical dysfunction
      of EPCs in type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: The colony-forming capacity of EPCs
      and differentiation potential of bone marrow (BM) c-Kit(+)/Sca-I(+) lineage
      negative mononuclear cells (KSL) were examined in T2D mice, db/db mice and KKAy
      mice, using EPC colony-forming assay (EPC-CFA). RESULTS: T2D mice had fewer BM
      stem/progenitor cells, and proliferation of KSL was lowest in the BM of db/db
      mice. In T2D mice, the frequency of large colony-forming units (CFUs) derived
      from BM-KSL was highly reduced, indicating dysfunction of differentiation into
      mature EPCs. Only a small number of BM-derived progenitors [CD34(+) KSL cells],
      which contribute to the supply of EPCs for postnatal neovascularization, was also
      found. Furthermore, in terms of their plasticity to transdifferentiate into
      various cell types, BM-KSL exhibited a greater potential to differentiate into
      granulocyte macrophages (GMs) than into other cell types. CONCLUSION: T2D
      affected EPC colony formation and differentiation of stem cells to mature EPCs or
      haematopoietic cells. These data suggest opposing regulatory mechanisms for
      differentiation into mature EPCs and GMs in T2D mice.

PMID- 27638127
TI  - Mitochondrial Antigen Presentation: A Vacuolar Path to Autoimmunity in
      Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Mitochondrial antigens can be presented by MHC molecules and initiate adaptive
      immune responses but the mechanisms of mitochondrial antigen presentation (MitAP)
      have remained mostly unknown. A recent study proposes a new model whereby MitAP
      is mediated by a vesicle transport pathway that is suppressed by the Parkinson's
      disease (PD) associated proteins PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) and
      Parkin. This discovery brings a new perspective on the link between mitochondrial
      dysfunction and autoimmunity in PD.

PMID- 27638129
TI  - A Qualitative Evaluation of Elev8 New Mexico School-Based Health Centers.
AB  - There is a scarcity of qualitative studies on school-based health centers
      (SBHCs). We established two primary aims for this study: (a) to assess
      stakeholders' perceptions of Elev8 New Mexico SBHCs' functionality and (b) to
      provide a snapshot of the overall contribution of the program to the schools and
      communities they serve. We collected the data through observations and
      semistructured interviews. We identified issues that diminish the functionality
      of SBHCs, such as limited infrastructure and services, lack of cooperation
      between school personnel and health care providers, and lack of long-term
      financial sustainability. These structural, interpersonal, and logistical issues
      limited the contribution of the SBHCs to the health of the students and the
      community at large. However, Elev8 New Mexico SBHCs serve communities with
      considerable education and health needs and constitute a unique opportunity to
      provide health education, disease prevention, and quality health care to a large
      number of youth and adults.

PMID- 27638130
TI  - Identification and pharmacological characterization of a novel inhibitor of
      autotaxin in rodent models of joint pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Autotaxin is a secreted lysophospholipase that mediates the conversion
      of lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC) to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a bioactive
      lipid mediator. Autotaxin levels in plasma and synovial fluid correlate with
      disease severity in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The goal of this
      study was to develop and characterize a novel small molecule inhibitor of
      autotaxin to inhibit LPA production in vivo and determine its efficacy in animal
      models of musculoskeletal pain. DESIGN: Compound libraries were screened using an
      LPC coupled enzyme assay that measures the amount of choline released from LPC by
      the action of autotaxin. Hits from this assay were tested in a plasma assay to
      assess inhibition of endogenous plasma autotaxin and subsequently tested for
      their ability to lower plasma LPA levels upon oral dosing of rats. The best
      compounds were then tested in animal models of musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS:
      Compound screening led to the identification of compounds with nanomolar potency
      for inhibition of autotaxin activity. Studies in rats demonstrated a good
      correlation between compound exposure levels and a decrease in LPA levels in
      plasma. The leading molecule (compound-1) resulted in a dose dependent decrease
      in joint pain in the mono-sodium iodoacetate (MIA) and meniscal tear models and a
      decrease in bone fracture pain in the osteotomy model in rats. CONCLUSION: We
      have identified and characterized a novel small molecule inhibitor of autotaxin
      and demonstrated its efficacy in animal models of musculoskeletal pain. The
      inhibitor has the potential to serve as an analgesic for human OA and bone
      fracture.

PMID- 27638131
TI  - Evaluation of the LABGEO PT10 Point-Of-Care Testing Device: Comparison of Analyte
      Measurements in Capillary Whole Blood and Lithium Heparin Whole Blood Samples
      With Those in Central Laboratory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Point-of-care (POC) testing device has been widely used because of
      its rapid availability of results making diagnosis and management as early as
      possible. Capillary blood can reduce the difficulty of obtaining samples compared
      to venous blood and allows the prompt testing results. In this study, we
      evaluated the usefulness of capillary blood in Samsung LABGEO PT10. METHODS:
      Fifty-one patients and 18 healthy adults aged between 20 and 65 were enrolled and
      their capillary and venous blood samples were collected. Venous blood samples
      were split into lithium heparin (LiHep) tube and serum-separating tube.
      Measurements using capillary blood and LiHep whole blood were performed in LABGEO
      PT10. Serum was used for measurement by Toshiba 2000FR NEO in central laboratory.
      RESULTS: In comparison between measurements in LABGEO PT10 using capillary and
      LiHep whole blood, the slope ranged between 0.9289 and 1.0471, correlation
      coefficients (R2 ) were over 0.95 except albumin, high-density lipoprotein, and
      total protein. Comparison of measurements in capillary and LiHep whole blood
      using LABGEO PT10 with those in the central laboratory revealed that the slope
      ranged between 0.6433 and 1.1364 for capillary whole blood and 0.6255 and 1.1602
      for LiHep whole blood except alkaline phosphatase. For most of analytes, R2 were
      over 0.95. CONCLUSION: Measurements in LABGEO PT10 using capillary blood was well
      correlated with those in LABGEO PT10 using LiHep whole blood and also with in the
      central laboratory. In conclusion, capillary blood provides reliable measurements
      and can be trustfully used in LABGEO PT10.

PMID- 27638128
TI  - Regulation of Lymph Node Vascular-Stromal Compartment by Dendritic Cells.
AB  - During normal and pathologic immune responses, lymph nodes can swell
      considerably. The lymph node vascular-stromal compartment supports and regulates
      the developing immune responses and undergoes dynamic expansion and remodeling.
      Recent studies have shown that dendritic cells (DCs), best known for their
      antigen presentation roles, can directly regulate the vascular-stromal
      compartment, pointing to a new perspective on DCs as facilitators of lymphoid
      tissue function. Here, we review the phases of lymph node vascular-stromal growth
      and remodeling during immune responses, discuss the roles of DCs, and discuss how
      this understanding can potentially be used for developing novel therapeutic
      approaches.

PMID- 27638132
TI  - External validation of the APPS, a new and simple outcome prediction score in
      patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A recently developed prediction score based on age, arterial oxygen
      partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen ratio (PaO2/FiO2) and plateau
      pressure (abbreviated as 'APPS') was shown to accurately predict mortality in
      patients diagnosed with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). After
      thorough temporal external validation of the APPS, we tested the spatial external
      validity in a cohort of ARDS patients recruited during 3 years in two hospitals
      in the Netherlands. METHODS: Consecutive patients with moderate or severe ARDS
      according to the Berlin definition were included in this observational
      multicenter cohort study from the mixed medical-surgical ICUs of two university
      hospitals. The APPS was calculated per patient with the maximal airway pressure
      instead of the plateau pressure as all patients were ventilated in pressure
      controlled mode. The predictive accuracy for hospital mortality was evaluated by
      calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC
      ROC). Additionally, the score was recalibrated and reassessed. RESULTS: In total,
      439 patients with moderate or severe ARDS were analyzed. All-cause hospital
      mortality was 43 %. The APPS predicted all-cause hospital mortality with moderate
      accuracy, with an AUC-ROC of 0.62 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.56-0.67].
      Calibration was moderate using the original cutoff values (Hosmer-Lemeshow
      goodness of fit P < 0.001), and recalibration was performed for the cutoff value
      for age and plateau pressure. This resulted in good calibration (P = 1.0), but
      predictive accuracy did not improve (AUC-ROC 0.63, 95 % CI 0.58-0.68).
      CONCLUSIONS: The predictive accuracy for all-cause hospital mortality of the APPS
      was moderate, also after recalibration of the score, and thus the APPS does not
      seem to be fitted for that purpose. The APPS might serve as simple tool for
      stratification of mortality in patients with moderate or severe ARDS. Without
      recalibrations, the performance of the APPS was moderate and we should therefore
      hesitate to blindly apply the score to other cohorts of ARDS patients.

PMID- 27638134
TI  - Myofibrillar and distal myopathies.
AB  - Distal myopathies and myofibrillar myopathies are both rare subcategories of
      muscle diseases. Myofibrillar myopathies are genetically heterogeneous group of
      diseases characterized by distinctive histopathology of abnormal protein
      aggregations and myofibrillar disintegration. All genes causing myofibrillar
      myopathy encode proteins that either reside in or associate with the Z-disc.
      Distal myopathies are also genetically heterogeneous muscular dystrophies in
      which muscle weakness presents distally in the feet and/or hands. A subgroup of
      distal myopathies, desminopathy, distal myotilinopathy, ZASPopathy and alpha-B
      crystallin-mutated distal myopathy, belong to myofibrillar myopathies and show
      similar pathological changes in muscle biopsies. Common features of these
      diseases are dominant inheritance and adult-onset of symptoms starting in the
      feet and slowly progressing to encompass other muscle groups. Cardiomyopathy is
      not a common feature in distal MFM myopathies.

PMID- 27638135
TI  - Regarding the past, what is the trial you have always been dreaming of in CIDP?
AB  - Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy is an orphan disease of
      poorly understood cause. While first line treatments with corticosteroids,
      intravenous immunoglobulin and plasma exchange have at least short-term efficacy,
      no trial has shown that immunosuppressants work. In our dream, we will take
      advantage of the recently improved EU regulations to launch a Europe wide trial
      which will investigate the cause of the disease. It will compare three parallel
      groups, the anti-B cell agent rituximab, the anti-T cell agent abatacept and
      usual care. The trial will not be blinded and the design will be very simple. The
      primary outcome measure will be improvement from baseline of the overall
      neuropathy limitations scale (ONLS) score by 1 or more grades at 12 weeks without
      increase in concomitant corticosteroids or IVIg or use of plasma exchange. There
      will be an option to substitute improvement in the Rasch-built overall disability
      scale depending on future experience with that scale as the primary outcome
      measure. The trial will require 3 groups of 60 participants to detect an increase
      from 20% in the usual care group to 30% with one of the other agents with a power
      of 90% and P-value of 5%. It will be larger than any trial of an
      immunosuppressant agent so far performed in CIDP. However, recruitment will be
      easier because inclusion criteria will be broad and allow randomisation of any
      patient in whom their neurologist wishes to introduce an immunosuppressant.
      Avoidance of blinding and use of simple monitoring with facetime will simplify
      running the trial and reduce expense. The trial will follow participants and
      measure outcomes at 12 months. Other outcomes will consist only of grip strength,
      time to walk 10 m and Euroqol, the last allowing us to estimate the cost per QALY
      of rituximab or abatacept. Even including central analysis of key biomarkers, the
      trial will only cost 3 million euros, a fraction of the cost of the usual phase
      III pharmaceutical company trial.

PMID- 27638136
TI  - Between genetics and biology. Is ENMG useful in peripheral neuropathy diagnosis
      and management?
AB  - Neurography and EMG are complementary techniques used in the diagnosis and
      monitoring of neuropathies. Both assess function of the peripheral nervous system
      and provide clinically useful information regarding the functional status of
      peripheral nerves. This information is not readily obtainable using biochemical,
      genetic or imaging techniques. I will discuss the role of these techniques in the
      diagnosis and management of neuropathies and some limitations of these
      techniques. These methods are routinely used in an EMG lab. These are most useful
      when used in conjunction with clinical examination to answer a well-defined
      clinical question. Reference values are required for interpretation of the data.

PMID- 27638133
TI  - Management of neutropenic patients in the intensive care unit (NEWBORNS EXCLUDED)
      recommendations from an expert panel from the French Intensive Care Society
      (SRLF) with the French Group for Pediatric Intensive Care Emergencies (GFRUP),
      the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care (SFAR), the French Society of
      Hematology (SFH), the French Society for Hospital Hygiene (SF2H), and the French
      Infectious Diseases Society (SPILF).
AB  - Neutropenia is defined by either an absolute or functional defect (acute myeloid
      leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome) of polymorphonuclear neutrophils and is
      associated with high risk of specific complications that may require intensive
      care unit (ICU) admission. Specificities in the management of critically ill
      neutropenic patients prompted the establishment of guidelines dedicated to
      intensivists. These recommendations were drawn up by a panel of experts brought
      together by the French Intensive Care Society in collaboration with the French
      Group for Pediatric Intensive Care Emergencies, the French Society of Anesthesia
      and Intensive Care, the French Society of Hematology, the French Society for
      Hospital Hygiene, and the French Infectious Diseases Society. Literature review
      and formulation of recommendations were performed using the Grading of
      Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. Each
      recommendation was then evaluated and rated by each expert using a methodology
      derived from the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method. Six fields are covered by the
      provided recommendations: (1) ICU admission and prognosis, (2) protective
      isolation and prophylaxis, (3) management of acute respiratory failure, (4) organ
      failure and organ support, (5) antibiotic management and source control, and (6)
      hematological management. Most of the provided recommendations are obtained from
      low levels of evidence, however, suggesting a need for additional studies. Seven
      recommendations were, however, associated with high level of evidences and are
      related to protective isolation, diagnostic workup of acute respiratory failure,
      medical management, and timing surgery in patients with typhlitis. 

PMID- 27638137
TI  - Double guidewire endoscopic technique, a major evolution in endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography: Results of a retrospective study with historical
      controls comparing two therapeutic sequential strategies.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Endoscopic access to the common bile duct (CBD) remains
      difficult in 10% of cases, requiring alternative techniques .CBD access was
      difficult after either five unsuccessful attempts, five unintentional insertions
      into the pancreatic duct or >10-min-long unsuccessful attempts. This
      retrospective study with historical controls aimed to evaluate the benefit of the
      double guidewire (DGW) technique after failure of standard CBD cannulation.
      METHODS: From January 2012 to December 2014, all patients requiring therapeutic
      endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with difficult access to
      CBD were included in a Studied group. This group was compared to a historical
      ERCP control group from January 2009 to December 2011. In the Studied group, a
      sequential strategy including DGW technique was done when the guidewire was
      unintentionally passed into the pancreatic duct. In the control group, only pre
      cut technique was used. RESULTS: Among the 538 patients with naive papilla
      eligible for ERCP, 73 had difficult CBD access. Successful CBD access rate was
      higher in the Studied group: 91% (50/55) versus 67% (12/18) P = 0.0215.
      Complication rates were similar in both groups: 28% versus 20%, P = 0.5207. LOS
      was shorter in the Studied group (9.2 +/- 8.5 vs 14.4 +/- 7.4 days, P = 0.0028).
      Post-ERCP cholangitis were lower in the Studied group: 2% (1/55) versus 22%
      (4/18), P = 0.0118. CONCLUSION: After standard cannulation failure, DGW technique
      increased successful CBD access rate and decreased LOS without increasing
      complications.

PMID- 27638140
TI  - Pathogenesis of the antiphospholipid syndrome revisited: time to challenge the
      dogma: comment.

PMID- 27638141
TI  - The development of a weak anion micro-capillary film for protein chromatography.
AB  - In this study, the surface of a microporous walled micro-capillary film (MMCF)
      was modified into a weak anion exchanger by coupling cyanuric chloride and 2
      diethylaminoethylamine (DEAE) to the ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) matrix.
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements of modified and
      unmodified MMCFs confirmed the addition of a triazine ring and DEAE onto the
      membrane. Binding of bovine serum albumin (BSA) at pH 7.2 was found to follow a
      Langmuir isotherm with a maximum equilibrium binding of 12.4mg BSA/mL adsorbent
      and 8.2mg BSA/mL adsorbent under static and flow conditions, respectively. The
      ion exchange capacity, determined by Mohr's titration of chlorine atoms displaced
      from the functionalised surface, was found to be 195+/-21MUmol Cl-/mL of
      adsorber, comparable to commercial ion exchangers. BSA adsorption onto the ion
      exchanger was strongly pH-dependant, with an observed reduction in binding above
      pH 8.2. Frontal experiments of a BSA (5mg/mL) and lysozyme (5mg/mL) mixture
      demonstrated successful separation of BSA from lysozyme at more than 97% purity
      as verified by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS
      PAGE). Separation between similarly charged anionic molecules was also achieved
      using BSA (5mg/mL) and herring sperm DNA (0.25mg/mL). BSA was extracted at 100%
      purity, demonstrating the ability of MMCF-DEAE to remove significant DNA
      contamination from a protein solution. These experiments highlight the potential
      for MMCFs to be used for fast protein purification in preparative chromatography
      application.

PMID- 27638142
TI  - Corrigendum to "Using mass spectrometry to detect hydrolysed gluten in beer that
      is responsible for false negatives by ELISA" [J. Chromatogr. A 1370 (2014) 105
      114].

PMID- 27638138
TI  - Differences in bone quality and strength between Asian and Caucasian young men.
AB  - : This is a cross-sectional study to assess differences in bone quality in young
      Asian and Caucasian (n = 30/group) men between 25 and 35 years. We found that
      Asians had smaller bones, thicker and denser cortices, and more plate-like
      trabeculae, but stiffness did not differ between groups. INTRODUCTION: We
      conducted a cross-sectional study to assess differences in bone quality in young
      Asian and Caucasian (n = 30/group) men between 25 and 35 years. METHODS: We
      measured bone mineral density (BMD) at the spine, total hip (TH), femoral neck
      (FN), and forearm by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and bone geometry,
      density, microarchitecture, and mechanical competence at the radius and tibia by
      high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) with
      application of individual trabecula segmentation (ITS) and trabecular and whole
      bone finite element analysis (FEA). We measured load-to-strength ratio to account
      for differences in bone size and height, respectively. We used Wilcoxon rank sum
      and generalized linear models adjusted for height, weight, and their interaction
      for comparisons. RESULTS: Asians were 3.9 % shorter and weighed 6.5 % less than
      Caucasians. In adjusted models: by DXA, there were no significant race-based
      differences in areal BMD; by HR-pQCT, at the radius, Asians had smaller total and
      trabecular area (p = 0.003 for both), and denser (p = 0.01) and thicker (p =
      0.04) cortices at the radius; by ITS, at the radius Asians, had more plate-like
      than rod-like trabeculae (PR ratio p = 0.01), greater plate trabecular surface (p
      = 0.009) and longer rod length (p = 0.002). There were no significant race-based
      differences in FEA or the load-to-strength ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Asians had smaller
      bones, thicker and denser cortices, and more plate-like trabeculae, but
      biomechanical estimates of bone strength did not differ between groups. Studies
      are needed to determine whether these differences persist later in life.

PMID- 27638139
TI  - Household siblings and nasal and fecal microbiota in infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early-life exposure to older siblings is associated with a lower risk
      of asthma. To date, no study has addressed the impact of having siblings on both
      the airway and fecal microbiota during infancy. The aim of this study was
      therefore to profile the nasal airway and fecal microbiota in infants, and to
      examine the association between having siblings and microbiota profile. METHODS:
      We conducted a cross-sectional study of 105 healthy infants (aged <1 year). Using
      16S rRNA gene sequencing and an unbiased clustering approach to the nasal airway
      and fecal samples, we identified microbiota profiles and then determined the
      association between having siblings and microbiome profile. RESULTS: Overall, the
      median age was 3.4 months (IQR, 2.0-4.7 months); 43% had siblings in the
      household. Unbiased clustering of nasal airway microbiota identified three
      profiles: Moraxella dominant (43%), Corynebacterium/Dolosigranulum dominant
      (36%), and mixed (21%). Infants with siblings were more likely to have a
      Moraxella-dominant profile than Corynebacterium/Dolosigranulum-dominant profile
      (76% vs 18%), while those without siblings had the opposite pattern (18% vs 50%;
      P < 0.001, multivariable-adjusted). Fecal microbiota consisted of three profiles:
      Bifidobacterium dominant (39%), Escherichia dominant (31%), and Enterobacter
      dominant (30%). Infants with siblings were more likely to have a Bifidobacterium
      dominant profile than Escherichia-dominant profile (49% vs 24%) while those
      without siblings had the opposite pattern (32% vs 37%; P = 0.04, multivariable
      adjusted). CONCLUSIONS: In this cross-sectional study, infants with siblings were
      more likely to have a Moraxella-dominant nasal microbiota profile and
      Bifidobacterium-dominant fecal microbiota profile. These findings should
      facilitate further investigation of the interplay between early-life
      environmental exposure, the microbiome, and childhood asthma.

PMID- 27638144
TI  - Niastellahibisci sp. nov., isolated from rhizosphere soil of mugunghwa, the
      Korean national flower.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, long rods with no flagellum strain,
      designated THG-YS3.2.1T, was isolated from rhizosphere soil of mugunghwa,
      collected from Kyung Hee University, Yongin, South Korea. Growth occurred at 10
      40  degrees C (optimum 28  degrees C), at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum pH 7.0) and with 0
      1.0 % NaCl (optimum 1.0 %). The predominant menaquinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7).
      The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C12 : 0, iso-C14 : 0, iso-C15 : 0,
      anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G, anteiso-C15 : 1 A, C15 : 0 2-OH, C16 : 0, iso-C16
      : 0, C16 : 0 3-OH, iso-C16 : 0 3-OH, iso-C16 : 1 G, C17 : 0 2-OH, iso-C17 : 0 3
      OH, C17 : 1omega6c, C18 : 3omega6c (6, 9, 12), C18 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 :
      1omega7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH). The major polar lipids were
      phosphatidylmethylethanolamine), phosphatidylethanolamine, five unidentified
      aminolipids and three unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of strain THG
      YS3.2.1T was 45.3 mol%. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the nearest
      phylogenetic neighbours of strain THG-YS3.2.1T were Niastella populi KCTC 22560T
      (98.7 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Niastella gongjuensis KACC 17399T
      (96.9 %), Niastella vici KCTC 42474T (96.2 %), Niastella yeongjuensis KACC 11466T
      (95.5 %) and Niastella koreensis KACC 11465T (95.1 %). DNA-DNA hybridization
      values between strain THG-YS3.2.1T and N. populi KCTC 22560T, N. gongjuensis KACC
      17399T, N.vici KCTC 42474T, N. yeongjuensis KACC 11466T and N. koreensis KACC
      11465Twere 55.8+/-1.0, 39.5+/-0.5, 35.2+/-0.1, 17.6+/-0.3 and 12.5+/-1.2 %,
      respectively. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data,
      physiological characteristics and DNA-DNA hybridization data, strain THG-YS3.2.1T
      represents a novel species of the genus Niastella, for which the name
      Niastellahibisci sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-YS3.2.1T (=KCTC
      52084T=CCTCC AB 2015356T).

PMID- 27638143
TI  - Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in
      patients with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: Vitamin B12 deficiency could be associated with cardiovascular autonomic
      neuropathy (CAN) in diabetes patients. We aim to investigate the association
      between serum levels of vitamin B12 and CAN in type 2 diabetes patients. METHODS:
      469 ambulatory type 2 diabetes patients (mean diabetes duration 10.0years (IQR
      5.0;17.0), mean age 59.0years (SD 11.6), 63% men, mean B12 289.0pmol/l (IQR
      217;390)) were screened for CAN using three cardiovascular reflex tests, five
      minute resting heart rate (5min RHR) and heart rate variability indices. RESULTS:
      Serum levels of vitamin B12 were significantly lower in patients treated with
      metformin and/or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) compared with patients not treated
      (p<0.001). A 25pmol/l higher level of vitamin B12 was associated with an odds
      ratio of the CAN diagnosis of 0.94 (95% CI 0.88; 1.00, p=0.034), an increase in
      E/I-ratio of 0.21% (95% CI 0.01; 0.43, p=0.038), and a decrease in 5min RHR of
      0.25 beats per minute (95% CI -0.47; -0.03, p=0.025). CONCLUSION: Vitamin B12 may
      be inversely associated with CAN in patients with type 2 diabetes. Confirmatory
      studies investigating a causal role of vitamin B12 for the development of
      diabetic CAN are warranted.

PMID- 27638145
TI  - Repeated failure to report female genital mutilation should be a criminal
      offence, MPs say.

PMID- 27638146
TI  - Letter regarding "Same strategy for pitfalls of radiotherapy in different
      anatomical districts".

PMID- 27638147
TI  - Increase in the nitric oxide release without changes in cell viability of
      macrophages after laser therapy with 660 and 808 nm lasers.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of low-level laser therapy
      (LLLT) with different parameters and wavelengths on nitric oxide (NO) release and
      cell viability. Irradiation was performed with Ga-Al-As laser, continuous mode
      and wavelengths of 660 and 808 nm at different energy and power densities. For
      each wavelength, powers of 30, 50, and 100 mW and times of 10, 30, and 60 s were
      used. NO release was measured using Griess reaction, and cell viability was
      evaluated by mitochondrial reduction of bromide 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5
      diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) to formazan. LLLT promoted statistically
      significant changes in NO release and MTT value only at the wavelength of 660 nm
      (p < 0.05). LLLT also promoted an increase in the NO release and cell viability
      when the energy densities 64 (p = 0.04) and 214 J/cm2 (p = 0.012), respectively,
      were used. LLLT has a significant impact on NO release without affecting cell
      viability, but the significance of these findings in the inflammatory response
      needs to be further studied.

PMID- 27638148
TI  - Low-level laser therapy reduces the fatigue index in the ankle plantar flexors of
      healthy subjects.
AB  - Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been suggested as a resource capable of
      increasing resistance to fatigue and enhancing muscle performance through its
      metabolic and photochemical effects. This study evaluated the immediate effects
      of the application of LLLT on neuromuscular performance of the plantar ankle
      flexors in healthy subjects through a fatigue-induced protocol. This is a
      randomized controlled clinical trial, attended by 60 young and physically active
      volunteers of both genders. The subjects were randomly assigned into three
      groups, control, placebo, and laser, and underwent a preliminary evaluation of
      the isokinetic performance of plantar flexors and electromyographic activity of
      the soleus muscle to ensure homogeneity between groups. After the application of
      the respective intervention protocols, participants were induced to fatigue by
      performing 100 isokinetic concentric contractions of ankle plantar flexors at a
      speed of 90 degrees /s. The dynamometric fatigue index (DFI) and median frequency
      were recorded during the fatigue protocol for comparison between groups. The
      group receiving the laser application showed significantly lower dynamometric
      fatigue index (p = 0.036) when compared to control and placebo groups. In
      relation to the median frequency during the fatigue test, there was a decrease in
      all groups, however with no differences between them. We suggest that LLLT being
      applied prior to exercise can reduce the fatigue index in the ankle plantar
      flexors of healthy subjects.

PMID- 27638149
TI  - Attention Moderates the Relationship Between Primary Psychopathy and Affective
      Empathy in Undergraduate Students.
AB  - Psychopathy is personality traits, which is consisted of primary psychopathy
      characterized by affective and interpersonal problems and secondary psychopathy
      characterized by behavioral problems. Prior researchers have suggested that
      people with psychopathy have peculiar attention, which prevents them from
      detecting information peripheral to their concern, and we hypothesized that this
      explains their low empathy. Based on these reasoning, the present study assessed
      whether attention moderates the relationship between psychopathy and affective
      empathy. Eighty-five undergraduates (40 men and 45 women; mean age = 19.8 years;
      SD = 1.6) completed the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, the Interpersonal
      Reactivity Index, and a perceptual load task. Hierarchical regression showed that
      a significant moderation effect was found: primary psychopathy was negatively
      associated with affective empathy, among those with reduced interference from
      task-irrelevant stimuli under a medium level of perceptual load. Future study
      should need to replicate this finding with clinical population.

PMID- 27638150
TI  - Proteomic analysis of Toxocara canis excretory and secretory (TES) proteins.
AB  - Toxocariasis is a neglected disease, and its main etiological agent is the
      nematode Toxocara canis. Serological diagnosis is performed by an enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay using T. canis excretory and secretory (TES) antigens
      produced by in vitro cultivation of larvae. Identification of TES proteins can be
      useful for the development of new diagnostic strategies since few TES components
      have been described so far. Herein, we report the results obtained by proteomic
      analysis of TES proteins using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
      (LC-MS/MS) approach. TES fractions were separated by one-dimensional SDS-PAGE and
      analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The MS/MS spectra were compared with a database of protein
      sequences deduced from the genome sequence of T. canis, and a total of 19
      proteins were identified. Classification according to the signal peptide
      prediction using the SignalP server showed that seven of the identified proteins
      were extracellular, 10 had cytoplasmic or nuclear localization, while the
      subcellular localization of two proteins was unknown. Analysis of molecular
      functions by BLAST2GO showed that the majority of the gene ontology (GO) terms
      associated with the proteins present in the TES sample were associated with
      binding functions, including but not limited to protein binding (GO:0005515),
      inorganic ion binding (GO:0043167), and organic cyclic compound binding
      (GO:0097159). This study provides additional information about the exoproteome of
      T. canis, which can lead to the development of new strategies for diagnostics or
      vaccination.

PMID- 27638151
TI  - Characterization of telomeres and telomerase from the single-celled eukaryote
      Giardia intestinalis.
AB  - The ends of linear chromosomes, telomeres, are most commonly maintained by the
      enzyme telomerase. Our study presents the characteristics of telomeres and
      telomerase from the single-celled parasitic eukaryote Giardia intestinalis. Using
      fluorescence in situ hybridization, we localized telomeres during all stages of
      the trophozoite cell cycle and demonstrated differences in the observed number of
      telomeric foci, indicating telomere clustering. The length of Giardia telomeres
      was determined in different cell lines derived from WB clinical isolate using
      terminal restriction fragment analysis and ranged from 0.5 to 2.5kb; moreover, a
      BAL-31 digestion experiment did not reveal any long interstitial telomeric
      sequences in the genome. Despite the absence of the specific T motif in the
      telomerase catalytic subunit, the presence of an active telomerase enzyme
      synthesising telomeric repeats in Giardia was proved by a Telomere repeat
      amplification protocol assay, and its localization in nuclei was determined by
      the expression of recombinant GiTERT. Except for the Giardia-type TAGGG telomeric
      repeat, Giardia telomerase was proved to synthesize in vitro also other repeat
      variants, TAAGG and TAAGGG. In summary, despite its unusual characteristics,
      including a structurally divergent but active telomerase, unique terminal
      sequences and relatively short telomeres, the present data support the view that
      the chromosomal termini in Giardia are maintained in a conservative manner that
      is common to other eukaryotes.

PMID- 27638152
TI  - Reliability and Validity of the Swedish Version of the Hull Airway Reflux
      Questionnaire (HARQ-S).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cough is a common symptom for which patients seek medical care and
      is defined as chronic if it has lasted for more than 8 weeks. The Hull Airway
      Reflux Questionnaire (HARQ) was developed with the aim of eliciting the major
      component of chronic cough. It comprises 14 items with a maximum total score of
      70. A Swedish version (HARQ-S) has previously been developed but not yet formally
      validated. The aim of the present study was to validate the HARQ-S in terms of
      instrumental reliability and concurrent validity. METHODS: A total of 67
      consecutively selected non-smoking patients with chronic cough and 91 non-smoking
      allegedly healthy controls were asked to answer two questionnaires, the HARQ-S
      and a local questionnaire, at two occasions about 3 weeks apart. RESULTS: The
      HARQ-S showed good psychometric properties. The patients had significantly higher
      total scores (p < 0.001) compared to the controls, and the questionnaire showed
      outstanding discrimination ability to distinguish between patients and controls,
      with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.99. Fifty
      patients and 77 controls completed the HARQ-S twice, showing good test-retest
      agreement in all items as well as in the total scores in both groups, and without
      any significant differences over time. CONCLUSION: The Swedish version of the
      HARQ is a valid and reliable questionnaire with good agreement between the two
      measurements in both patients and controls. The HARQ-S has good reliability and
      validity and can be used as a diagnostic tool in Swedish-speaking patients with
      chronic cough.

PMID- 27638153
TI  - How is shoulder ultrasound done in Italy? A survey of clinical practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To define when an ultrasound examination of the shoulder can be
      considered complete and how many examinations currently performed in Italy are
      actually complete according to that definition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Reports
      and images of previously performed ultrasound examinations of the shoulder of
      patients seen in 2014 for interventional procedures were reviewed for the
      following items, according to guidelines published by the European Society of
      Musculoskeletal Radiology: long biceps, subscapularis, supraspinatus, external
      rotators, acromioclavicular joint, subacromial bursa, subacromial space, coraco
      acromial ligament, and the posterior recess. The first six items were considered
      mandatory in a complete shoulder ultrasound examination. The specialization of
      the performing physician was noted. The number of complete examinations performed
      by different physicians was compared with the number of incomplete examinations.
      RESULTS: We analyzed 324 examinations (212 women, 112 men; mean age = 47 +/- 12
      years). The most frequently reported item was the supraspinatus tendon (83 %),
      the least frequently reported was the posterior recess (3 %). The image that was
      most frequently found was the long head of the biceps tendon (77 %), the least
      frequently found was the coraco-acromial ligament (3 %). The median number of
      images/examination was 6 (25th-75th percentiles, range 4-9). The mean number of
      unrecognizable images was 3 (2-4). A radiologist performed the examination in 269
      patients (83 %). The rate of complete examinations was 47 %. The number of
      complete examinations performed by physicians from different specialties was not
      significantly different from that of incomplete examinations (P = 0.228).
      CONCLUSIONS: Complete shoulder ultrasound examinations account for less than 50 %
      of those performed in clinical practice in some Italian regions. Standardized
      scanning protocols and structured reporting may help to improve this figure and
      consistency among providers performing these examinations.

PMID- 27638154
TI  - Assessment of bone healing ability of calcium phosphate cements loaded with
      platelet lysate in rat calvarial defects.
AB  - Injectable calcium phosphate cements have been used as a valid alternative to
      autologous bone grafts for bone augmentation with the additional advantage of
      enabling minimally invasive implantation procedures and for perfectly fitting the
      tissue defect. Nevertheless, they have low biodegradability and lack adequate
      biochemical signaling to promote bone healing and remodeling. In previous in
      vitro studies, we observed that the incorporation of platelet lysate directly
      into the cement paste or loaded in hyaluronic acid microspheres allowed to
      modulate the cement degradation and the in vitro expression of osteogenic markers
      in seeded human adipose derived stem cells. The present study aimed at
      investigating the possible effect of this system in new bone formation when
      implanted in calvarial bilateral defects in rats. Different formulations were
      assessed, namely plain calcium phosphate cements, calcium phosphate cements
      loaded with human platelet lysate, hybrid injectable formulations composed of the
      calcium phosphate cement incorporating hyaluronin acid non-loaded microparticles
      (20% hyaluronin acid) or with particles loaded with platelet lysate. The
      degradability and new bone regrowth were evaluated in terms of mineral volume in
      the defect, measured by micro-computed tomography and histomorphometric analysis
      upon 4, 8 and 12 weeks of implantation. We observed that the incorporation of
      hyaluronin acid microspheres induced an overly rapid cement degradation,
      impairing the osteoconductive properties of the cement composites. Moreover, the
      incorporation of platelet lysate induced higher bone healing than the materials
      without platelet lysate, up to four weeks after surgery. Nevertheless, this
      effect was not found to be significant when compared to the one observed in the
      sham-treated group.

PMID- 27638157
TI  - From the Editor.

PMID- 27638156
TI  - Production and characterization of hyaluronic acid microparticles for the
      controlled delivery of growth factors using a spray/dehydration method.
AB  - Hyaluronic acid is the main polysaccharide present in the connective tissue.
      Besides its structural function as backbone of the extracellular matrix,
      hyaluronic acid plays staple roles in several biological processes including the
      modulation of inflammation and wound healing processes. The application of
      hyaluronic acid in regenerative medicine, either as cells and/or drug/growth
      factors delivery vehicles, relies on its ability to be cross-linked using a
      plethora of reactions, producing stable hydrogels. In this work, we propose a
      novel method for the production of hyaluronic acid microparticles that presents
      several advantages over others that have been used. Basically, droplets of
      hyaluronic acid solution produced with a nozzle are collected in an isopropanol
      dehydration bath, and stabilized after crosslinking with adipic acid dihydrazide,
      using a cabodiimide-based chemistry. The size and morphology of the hyaluronic
      acid microparticles produced by this method varied with the molecular weight and
      concentration of the hyaluronic acid solution, the nozzle chamber pressure, the
      distance between the nozzle and the crosslinking solution, and the number of
      crosslinking steps. The degree of crosslinking of the hyaluronic acid
      microparticles produced was tunable and allowed to control the rate of the
      degradation promoted by hyaluronidase. Moreover, the particles were loaded with
      platelet lysate, a hemoderivative rich in cytokines with interest for
      regenerative medicine applications. The hyaluronic acid microparticles showed
      potential to bind selectively to positively charged molecules, as the factors
      present in the platelet lysate. It is envisioned that these can be further
      released in a sustained manner by ion exchange or by the degradation of the
      hyaluronic acid microparticles matrix promoted by extracellular matrix
      remodeling.

PMID- 27638158
TI  - The Lilacs.

PMID- 27638159
TI  - They Buried Him in California.

PMID- 27638155
TI  - Bio-printing cell-laden Matrigel-agarose constructs.
AB  - 3D printing of biological architectures that mimic the structural and functional
      features of in vivo tissues is of great interest in tissue engineering and the
      development of transplantable organ constructs. Printable bio-inks that are
      compatible with cellular activities play critical roles in the process of 3D bio
      printing. Although a variety of hydrogels have been used as bio-inks for 3D bio
      printing, they inherit poor mechanical properties and/or the lack of essential
      protein components that compromise their performance. Here, a hybrid Matrigel
      agarose hydrogel system has been demonstrated that possesses both desired
      rheological properties for bio-printing and biocompatibility for long-term (11
      days) cell culture. The agarose component in the hybrid hydrogel system enables
      the maintenance of 3D-printed structures, whereas Matrigel provides essential
      microenvironments for cell growth. When human intestinal epithelial HCT116 cells
      are encapsulated in the printed Matrigel-agarose constructs, high cell viability
      and proper cell spreading morphology are observed. Given that Matrigel is used
      extensively for 3D cell culturing, the developed 3D-printable Matrigel-agarose
      system will open a new way to construct Matrigel-based 3D constructs for cell
      culture and tissue engineering.

PMID- 27638160
TI  - Isolation of autologous adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells for bone
      repair.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adipose tissue represents an abundant and accessible source of
      adult stem cells that can differentiate into cells and tissues of mesodermal
      origin, including osteogenic cells. METHODS: This paper describes the procedure
      to obtain a 5-cm3 saline sample, containing the adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs)
      pellet, starting from lipoaspirate obtained from a conventional abdominal
      liposuction. RESULTS: A mean of 2.5*106 cells is isolated for each procedure; 35%
      (875000) of these are CD34+/CD45- cells, which express a subset of both positive
      (CD10, CD13, CD44, CD59, CD73, CD90, HLAABC) and negative (CD33, CD39, CD102,
      CD106, CD146, HLADR) cell-associated surface antigens, characterizing them as
      ASCs. CONCLUSIONS: This procedure is easy, effective, economic and safe. It
      allows the harvesting of a significant number of ASCs that are ready for one-step
      bony regenerative surgical procedures.

PMID- 27638161
TI  - Why is nacre strong? II. Remaining mechanical weakness for cracks propagating
      along the sheets.
AB  - In our previous paper (Eur. Phys. J. E 4, 121 (2001)) we proposed a coarse
      grained elastic energy for nacre, or stratified structure of hard and soft layers
      found in certain seashells . We then analyzed a crack running perpendicular to
      the layers and suggested one possible reason for the enhanced toughness of this
      substance. In the present paper, we consider a crack running parallel to the
      layers. We propose a new term added to the previous elastic energy, which is
      associated with the bending of layers. We show that there are two regimes for the
      parallel-fracture solution of this elastic energy; near the fracture tip the
      deformation field is governed by a parabolic differential equation while the
      field away from the tip follows the usual elliptic equation. Analytical results
      show that the fracture tip is lenticular, as suggested in a paper on a smectic
      liquid crystal (P.G. de Gennes, Europhys. Lett. 13, 709 (1990)). On the contrary,
      away from the tip, the stress and deformation distribution recover the usual
      singular behaviors ( and 1/, respectively, where x is the distance from the tip).
      This indicates there is no enhancement in toughness in the case of parallel
      fracture. 

PMID- 27638162
TI  - The transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional foam structures.
AB  - Small cells in an experimental sample of two-dimensional foam, such as that which
      is contained between two glass plates, may undergo a transition to a three
      dimensional form, becoming detached from one boundary. We present the first
      detailed observations of this phenomenon, together with computer simulations. The
      transition is attributed to an instability of the Rayleigh-Plateau type. A
      theoretical analysis is given which shows that an individual cell is susceptible
      to this instability only if it has less than six sides. 

PMID- 27638164
TI  - Magnetic phospholipid tubes connected to magnetoliposomes: Pearling instability
      induced by a magnetic field.
AB  - We propose here a method to modify the membrane tension of phospholipid tubes
      with an applied magnetic field. The tubes are connected to giant liposomes
      capping the tubes at both ends. Tubes and liposomes are all filled with a
      magnetic fluid. The tension of the tube membrane is tuned by the deformation of
      the ending liposomes under the applied field. We modelize the magnetoliposome
      deformation and we are then able to describe the tube evolution. At low magnetic
      fields, the tube remains at equilibrium with a cylindrical shape and a uniform
      radius. It responds to an increase of membrane tension by a diameter reduction.
      Above a magnetic-field threshold, the cylindrical shape becomes unstable with
      respect to a pearling deformation. The tube shape then selected by the system is
      an unduloid, with a constant mean curvature equal to C 0, the spontaneous
      curvature of the membrane. 

PMID- 27638163
TI  - Association behaviour of glucitol amine gemini surfactants : Self-consistent
      field theory and molecular-dynamics simulations.
AB  - The association behaviour of a number of glucitol amine gemini surfactants has
      been investigated by means of molecular dynamics and self-consistent-field
      calculations. We have shown that the titratable head group of the surfactant is
      responsible for a micelle-to-membrane transition when changing the pH.
      Furthermore, the association structure of this group of surfactants is shown to
      be very sensitive to ionic strength. The combination of a charged head group, a
      spacer, and the hydrophilic glucitol side chains is responsible for the possible
      structural transitions in the associates as a function of ionic strength and pH. 

PMID- 27638165
TI  - Vesicle-to-micelle transition induced by grafted diblock copolymers.
AB  - We study by small-angle neutron scattering the vesicle-to-micelle transition
      induced by anchoring diblock copolymers on the surfactant membranes. Vesicles are
      made using the ternary system SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate)/octanol/PS-POE
      (polystyrene-polyoxyethylene), chosen as a model of more complex biological
      systems. The anchored polymer chains destabilize the membranes and lead to the
      formation of mixed polymer-surfactant micelles. We show that there is no
      influence of the polymer mass on the membranes destabilization. We compare this
      experimental result with recent theoretical predictions concerning the polymer
      grafted membranes. We have a good agreement with predictions involving membrane
      curvature effects, and also with predictions focusing on more local deformations
      of membranes created by the grafted chains. 

PMID- 27638166
TI  - Controlled structure and density of "living" polystyrene brushes on flat silica
      surfaces.
AB  - Thin layers of polystyrene were grown from surface-grafted nitroxide initiators
      via controlled "living" free radical polymerization. The "reactive" Langmuir
      Blodgett deposition method allowed an effective control of the initiator layer
      density leading to PS brushes with different and high grafting density and
      stretching. The influence of the grafting density on the layer structure was
      studied. Comparison with theoretical predictions for monodispersed brushes in bad
      solvent was discussed. The thickness was found to vary linearly with molecular
      weight and the density dependence was shown using wetting measurements. Special
      features of controlled radical nitroxide polymerization from a surface were
      discussed. A direct comparison of the molecular weight and polydispersity between
      surface and bulk polymers was made by de-grafting the brushes into a toluene/HF
      solution. Finally, some evidence of a "surface Fischer" effect was shown from re
      initiated layers. 

PMID- 27638167
TI  - Directed force chain networks and stress response in static granular materials.
AB  - A theory of stress fields in two-dimensional granular materials based on directed
      force chain networks is presented. A general Boltzmann equation for the densities
      of force chains in different directions is proposed and a complete solution is
      obtained for a special case in which chains lie along a discrete set of
      directions. The analysis and results demonstrate the necessity of including
      nonlinear terms in the Boltzmann equation. A line of nontrivial fixed-point
      solutions is shown to govern the properties of large systems. In the vicinity of
      a generic fixed point, the response to a localized load shows a crossover from a
      single, centered peak at intermediate depths to two propagating peaks at large
      depths that broaden diffusively. 

PMID- 27638168
TI  - Electrophoresis of a charge-inverted macroion complex: Molecular-dynamics study.
AB  - We have performed molecular-dynamics simulations to study the effect of an
      external electric field on a macroion in the solution of multivalent Z : 1 salt.
      To obtain plausible hydrodynamics of the medium, we explicitly make the
      simulation of many neutral particles along with ions. In a weak electric field,
      the macroion drifts together with the strongly adsorbed multivalent counterions
      along the electric field, in the direction proving inversion of the charge sign.
      The reversed mobility of the macroion is insensitive to the external field, and
      increases with salt ionic strength. The reversed mobility takes a maximal value
      at intermediate counterion valence. The motion of the macroion complex does not
      induce any flow of the neutral solvent away from the macroion, which reveals
      screening of hydrodynamic interactions at short distances in electrolyte
      solutions. A very large electric field, comparable to the macroion unscreened
      field, disrupts charge inversion by stripping the adsorbed counterions off the
      macroion. 

PMID- 27638169
TI  - Membrane-mediated interactions of rod-like inclusions.
AB  - Inclusions embedded in lipid membranes undergo a mediated force, due to the
      tendency of the membrane to relax its excess of elastic energy. In this paper we
      determine the exact shape of a two-dimensional vesicle hosting two different
      inclusions, and we analyse how the inclusion conformation influences the mediated
      interaction. We find non-trivial equilibrium configurations for the inclusions
      along the hosting membrane, and we derive the complete phase diagram of the
      mediated interaction. In particular, we find a non-vanishing mediated force even
      when the distance between the inclusions is much greater than their size. Our
      model can be applied to describe the mediated interactions of parallel, elongated
      inclusions embedded in three-dimensional membranes. 

PMID- 27638170
TI  - Glassy and fluidlike behavior of the isotropic phase of n-cyanobiphenyls in broad
      band dielectric relaxation studies.
AB  - It is shown that the temperature behavior of peaks f p, of dielectric loss curves
      in the isotropic phase of n-cyanobiphenyls n = 8, 9, 10 with isotropic-nematic
      and isotropic-smectic A transitions exhibits features characterisic for both
      supercooled, glass-forming liquids and critical, binary mixtures. The behavior of
      f p T can be portrayed by the Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman relation and the "critical
      like", mode-coupling theory (MCT) equation. The latter is supported by the novel
      analysis of electric conductivity sigma T . The obtained f p T and sigmaT
      dependencies can be related by using the fractional Debye-Einstein-Stokes law.
      For all tested mesogens the static dielectric permittivities E(') T and T are
      described by dependencies resembling those applied in the homogeneous phase of
      critical mixturesbut with specific-heat critical exponent alpha~ 0.5. This
      behavior agrees with the novel fluidlike description for the isotropic-nematic
      transition (P.K. Mukherjee, Phys. Rev. E 51, 5745 (1995); A. Drozd-Rzoska, Phys.
      Rev. E 59, 5556 (1999)). The obtained glassy features of dielectric relaxation
      support the recent simulation analysis carried out by M. Letz et al.Phys. Rev. E
      62, 5173 (2000)). 

PMID- 27638171
TI  - Solute effects on the helix-coil transition.
AB  - We discuss the effects of the solvent composition on the helix-coil transition of
      a polypeptide chain. We use a simple model to demonstrate that improving the
      hydrogen-bonding ability of the solvent can make the transition less cooperative,
      without affecting the transition temperature. This effect is very different from
      other solvent effects which primarily influence the melting transition rather
      than the cooperativity. 

PMID- 27638173
TI  - [Unilateral upper eyelid membrane in conjunctivitis lignosa].

PMID- 27638172
TI  - Different dehydrins perform separate functions in Physcomitrella patens.
AB  - MAIN CONCLUSION: Dehydrins, PpDHNA and PpDHNB from Physcomitrella patens provide
      drought and cold tolerance while PpDHNC shows antimicrobial property suggesting
      different dehydrins perform separate functions in P. patens. The moss
      Physcomitrella patens can withstand extremes of environmental condition including
      abiotic stress such as dehydration, salinity, low temperature and biotic stress
      such as pathogen attack. Osmotic stress is inflicted under both cold and drought
      stress conditions where dehydrins have been found to play a significant
      protective role. In this study, a comparative analysis was drawn for the three
      dehydrins PpDHNA, PpDHNB and PpDHNC from P. patens. Our data shows that PpDHNA
      and PpDHNB play a major role in cellular protection during osmotic stress. PpDHNB
      showed several fold upregulation of the gene when P. patens was subjected to cold
      and osmotic stress in combination. PpDHNA and PpDHNB provide protection to enzyme
      lactate dehydrogenase under osmotic as well as freezing conditions. PpDHNC
      possesses antibacterial activity and thus may have a role in biotic stress
      response. Overexpression of PpDHNA, PpDHNB and PpDHNC in transgenic tobacco
      showed a better performance for PpDHNB with respect to cold and osmotic stress.
      These results suggest that specific dehydrins contribute to tolerance of mosses
      under different stress conditions.

PMID- 27638175
TI  - Foreword to Sixth Special Issue on Electroporation-Based Technologies and
      Treatments.

PMID- 27638174
TI  - Correlated trapping of sugar molecules by the trimeric protein channel 
      chitoporin.
AB  - The protein channel chitoporin (ChiP), which is used by marine bacteria to
      translocate selected sugar molecules through the outer cell membrane, is studied
      via single channel current measurements in water and heavy water sugar solutions.
      The dynamic trapping and escape probabilities of sugar molecules from different
      monomers in the trimeric channel are characterized, including their dependence on
      channel orientation and sensitivity to a deuterium isotope effect. A detailed
      analysis of stochastic current fluctuations reveals that the trapping properties
      of chitoporin exhibit memory effects: the rate of trapping transitions depends on
      the previous sequence of transitions; and intermonomer correlations: the average
      trapping rate of an unblocked monomer is larger when its neighboring monomers are
      blocked. The latter, likely resulting from rapid re-trapping of recently escaped
      sugar molecules, is considered as a possible design strategy to enhance sugar
      transport.

PMID- 27638176
TI  - A Characeae Cells Plasma Membrane as a Model for Selection of Bioactive Compounds
      and Drugs: Interaction of HAMLET-Like Complexes with Ion Channels of Chara
      corallina Cells Plasmalemma.
AB  - Interaction of a HAMLET-like La-OA cytotoxic complex (human alpha-lactalbumin
      oleic acid) and its constituents with the excitable plasmalemma of giant Chara
      corallina cells was investigated. The voltage-clamp technique was used to study
      Ca2+ and Cl- transient currents in the plasmalemma of intact cells. The action of
      the complex and OA on the target cell membrane has a dose-dependent character. It
      was found that the La-OA complex has an inhibiting effect on Ca2+ current across
      the plasmalemma, while alpha-lactalbumin alone does not affect the
      electrophysiological characteristics of the cellular membrane. However, oleic
      acid blocks Ca2+ current across the plasmalemma. This is accompanied by the
      induction of a non-selective conductivity in the cellular membrane, a decrease in
      the resting potential and plasma membrane resistance of algal cells. We propose
      that the cytotoxicity of La-OA and other HAMLET-like complexes is determined by
      oleic acid acting as a blocker of potential-dependent Ca2+ channels in the plasma
      membrane of target cells. The presented results show that the study model of
      green algae C. corallina cells plasmalemma is a convenient tool for the
      investigation of ion channels in many animal cells.

PMID- 27638178
TI  - Primary Cilia and Coordination of Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) and Transforming
      Growth Factor beta (TGF-beta) Signaling.
AB  - Since the beginning of the millennium, research in primary cilia has
      revolutionized our way of understanding how cells integrate and organize diverse
      signaling pathways during vertebrate development and in tissue homeostasis.
      Primary cilia are unique sensory organelles that detect changes in their
      extracellular environment and integrate and transmit signaling information to the
      cell to regulate various cellular, developmental, and physiological processes.
      Many different signaling pathways have now been shown to rely on primary cilia to
      function properly, and mutations that lead to ciliary dysfunction are at the root
      of a pleiotropic group of diseases and syndromic disorders called ciliopathies.
      In this review, we present an overview of primary cilia-mediated regulation of
      receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)
      signaling. Further, we discuss how defects in the coordination of these pathways
      may be linked to ciliopathies.

PMID- 27638180
TI  - Use of restraint with hospitalized children: A survey of nurses' perceptions of
      practices.
AB  - Restraint is often perceived as necessary to ensure that medical procedures are
      carried out safely. The limited research into nurses' perceptions of restraint
      practices with hospitalized children hinders understanding the extent of the
      problem. A survey design was used to investigate nurses' perceptions of restraint
      use from five units in one children's hospital in Ireland. Findings revealed that
      restraint is a common practice, with physical and psycho- logical restraints most
      commonly used and newborn to 4-year-old children most likely to be restrained.
      Restraint was most often used for cannulation and latterly for administering
      medication and preventing interference to intravenous lines. To promote the use
      of thera- peutic holding for the safe delivery of procedures, nurses require
      education and skills training. Restraint should only be used as a last resort and
      in all situations, nurses should assess the need to use restraint and explore any
      alternatives in order to gain the child's cooperation. More research is needed
      into the situational variables that can lead to restraint usage in order to
      identify learning needs and promote the use of alternative interventions.

PMID- 27638179
TI  - Effects of pretreatments and hydrothermal aging on biaxial flexural strength of
      lithium di-silicate and Mg-PSZ ceramics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of specimen thickness, pretreatment and
      hydrothermal aging on the biaxial flexural strength (BFS) of lithium di-silicate
      glass (e.max Cad) and magnesia-stabilized zirconia (ZirMagnum) ceramic discs.
      METHODS: The e.max Cad discs was studied: i) crystallized, ii) crystallized and
      glazed and iii) crystallized, glazed and unglazed side etched with hydrofluoric
      acid. The ZirMagnum discs were studied: i) as delivered, ii) after sandblasting
      and iii) after heat treatment similar to veneering. Hydrothermal aging was
      simulated by autoclave treatment. RESULTS: The BFS of all the ZirMagnum specimens
      was superior (p<0.001) to all the e.max Cad specimens. Glazing the 0.4mm e.max
      Cad discs reduced (p<0.05) their BFS compared with the unglazed 0.8mm specimens,
      whereas glazing of 0.8mm discs had no influence (p>0.05) on the strength. Etching
      and autoclaving of e.max Cad did not affect (p>0.05) the BFS. For ZirMagnum
      sandblasting with 0.2MPa or 0.6MPa did not influence the biaxial flexural
      strength (p>0.05), whereas heat treatment reduced (p<0.01) the BFS of 0.6MPa
      sandblasted ZirMagnum. Autoclaving reduced the strength (p<0.05) compared with
      ZirMagnum as delivered, whereas autoclaving of the 0.6MPa sandblasted and heat
      treated specimens did not influence (p>0.05) the BFS. Glazing, etching and
      sandblasting increased (p<0.05) surface roughness. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of
      glazing, heat treatment, aging and mechanical treatment of the materials
      evaluated should be considered since their strength could be affected. CLINICAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: Mechanical properties of restorations made from prefabricated
      ceramic blocks could be affected of various treatments and could change over
      time.

PMID- 27638182
TI  - Low precipitation aggravates the impact of extreme high temperatures on lizard
      reproduction.
AB  - Extreme high temperatures are occurring more frequently with ongoing
      anthropogenic climate warming, but the experimental tests of the effects of high
      temperatures on terrestrial vertebrates in natural conditions are rare. In this
      study, we investigated the effects of extreme high temperatures on female
      reproduction and offspring traits of multi-ocellated racerunners (Eremias
      multiocellata) kept in field enclosures in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia.
      Our studies indicate that high temperatures significantly affect the gestation
      period and reproductive output of females and the offspring sex ratio, but have
      little impact on offspring body size and mass. More interestingly, we found that
      the effect of extreme high temperatures on female reproductive output was not
      consistent between two consecutive years that differed in precipitation. Low
      precipitation may aggravate the impact of climate warming on lizards and
      negatively affect the survival of lizards in the desert steppe. Our results
      provide evidence that temperature interacts with precipitation to determine the
      life history of lizards, and they suggest that a drier and hotter environment,
      such as the future climate in arid mid-latitude areas, will likely impose severe
      pressure on lizard populations, which are an important component of the food web
      in desert areas around the world.

PMID- 27638177
TI  - Structural Biology and Evolution of the TGF-beta Family.
AB  - We review the evolution and structure of members of the transforming growth
      factor beta (TGF-beta) family, antagonistic or agonistic modulators, and
      receptors that regulate TGF-beta signaling in extracellular environments. The
      growth factor (GF) domain common to all family members and many of their
      antagonists evolved from a common cystine knot growth factor (CKGF) domain. The
      CKGF superfamily comprises six distinct families in primitive metazoans,
      including the TGF-beta and Dan families. Compared with Wnt/Frizzled and
      Notch/Delta families that also specify body axes, cell fate, tissues, and other
      families that contain CKGF domains that evolved in parallel, the TGF-beta family
      was the most fruitful in evolution. Complexes between the prodomains and GFs of
      the TGF-beta family suggest a new paradigm for regulating GF release by
      conversion from closed- to open-arm procomplex conformations. Ternary complexes
      of the final step in extracellular signaling show how TGF-beta GF dimers bind
      type I and type II receptors on the cell surface, and enable understanding of
      much of the specificity and promiscuity in extracellular signaling. However,
      structures suggest that when GFs bind repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family
      coreceptors, type I receptors do not bind until reaching an intracellular,
      membrane-enveloped compartment, blurring the line between extra- and
      intracellular signaling. Modulator protein structures show how structurally
      diverse antagonists including follistatins, noggin, and members of the chordin
      family bind GFs to regulate signaling; complexes with the Dan family remain
      elusive. Much work is needed to understand how these molecular components
      assemble to form signaling hubs in extracellular environments in vivo.

PMID- 27638181
TI  - The role of dendritic cells in cancer.
AB  - Though present in low numbers, dendritic cells (DCs) are recognized as major
      players in the control of cancer by adaptive immunity. The roles of cytotoxic
      CD8+ T-cells and Th1 helper CD4+ T-cells are well-documented in murine models of
      cancer and associated with a profound prognostic impact when infiltrating human
      tumors, but less information is known about how these T-cells gain access to the
      tumor or how they are primed to become tumor-specific. Here, we highlight recent
      findings that demonstrate a vital role of CD103+ DCs, which have been shown to be
      experts in cross-priming and the induction of anti-tumor immunity. We also focus
      on two different mediators that impair the function of tumor-associated DCs:
      prostaglandin E2 and beta-catenin. Both of these mediators seem to be important
      for the exclusion of T-cells in the tumor microenvironment and may represent key
      pathways to target in optimized treatment regimens against cancer.

PMID- 27638183
TI  - Provenance does matter: links between winter trophic segregation and the
      migratory origins of European robins.
AB  - Amongst migratory species, it is common to find individuals from different
      populations or geographical origins sharing staging or wintering areas. Given
      their differing life histories, ecological theory would predict that the
      different groups of individuals should exhibit some level of niche segregation.
      This has rarely been investigated because of the difficulty in assigning
      migrating individuals to breeding areas. Here, we start by documenting a broad
      geographical gradient of hydrogen isotopes (delta 2H) in robin Erithacus rubecula
      feathers across Europe. We then use delta 2H, as well as wing-tip shape, as
      surrogates for broad migratory origin of birds wintering in Iberia, to
      investigate the ecological segregation of populations. Wintering robins of
      different sexes, ages and body sizes are known to segregate between habitats in
      Iberia. This has been attributed to the despotic exclusion of inferior
      competitors from the best patches by dominant individuals. We find no segregation
      between habitats in relation to delta 2H in feathers, or to wing-tip shape, which
      suggests that no major asymmetries in competitive ability exist between migrant
      robins of different origins. Trophic level (inferred from nitrogen isotopes in
      blood) correlated both with delta 2H in feathers and with wing-tip shape, showing
      that individuals from different geographic origins display a degree of ecological
      segregation in shared winter quarters. Isotopic mixing models indicate that
      wintering birds originating from more northerly populations consume more
      invertebrates. Our multi-scale study suggests that trophic-niche segregation may
      result from specializations (arising in the population-specific breeding areas)
      that are transported by the migrants into the shared wintering grounds.

PMID- 27638184
TI  - Increased pro-inflammatory milieu in combat related PTSD - A new cohort
      replication study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Several lines of evidence indicate that increased inflammation is
      associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We have previously
      reported that peripheral inflammatory markers are significantly higher in combat
      exposed veterans with than without PTSD. This study was designed to replicate
      these findings in a new study cohort using the same population and recruitment
      strategies. METHODS: Sixty-one male war veterans (31 PTSD and 30 control
      subjects) were included in this replication study. Levels of Interleukin-6, Tumor
      Necrosis Factor-alpha, Gamma interferon, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein
      were quantified in blood samples. A standardized "total pro-inflammatory score"
      was calculated to limit the number of statistical comparisons. The Clinician
      Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) rating scale was used to assess PTSD symptom
      severity. RESULTS: PTSD subjects had significantly higher total pro-inflammatory
      scores compared to non-PTSD subjects in unadjusted analysis (Cohen's d=0.75,
      p=0.005) as well as after adjusting for potentially confounding effects of age,
      BMI, smoking, and potentially interfering medications and somatic co-morbidities
      (p=0.023). There were no significant correlations between inflammatory markers
      and severity of symptoms within the PTSD group. CONCLUSIONS: We replicated, in a
      new sample, our previous finding of increased inflammatory markers in combat
      exposed PTSD subjects compared to combat-exposed non-PTSD controls. These
      findings strongly add to the growing literature suggesting that immune activation
      may be an important aspect of PTSD pathophysiology, although not directly
      correlated with current PTSD symptom levels in the PTSD group.

PMID- 27638185
TI  - Cervical length at 11-40 weeks: unconditional and conditional longitudinal
      reference ranges.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Our aim was to establish unconditional and conditional longitudinal
      reference ranges for cervical length throughout pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Prospective longitudinal study. In singleton pregnancies repeated cervical length
      measurements were carried out by transvaginal ultrasound throughout gestation.
      Multilevel modeling was applied to establish cervical length reference ranges
      from 11 to 40 weeks. RESULTS: In all, 4397 women contributed to 13 765 cervical
      length measurements. A linear mixed effects random intercept-random slope model
      was fitted to the data. Mean cervical length had a negative non-linear polynomial
      association with gestational age. Unconditional ranges were developed. Terms that
      allow the construction of personalized cervical length charts conditional to a
      previous measurement were calculated. CONCLUSIONS: We constructed longitudinal
      reference charts for cervical length in singleton pregnancies. Cervical length
      should be adjusted according to specific gestational-age-dependent ranges.
      Individualization of cervical assessment is feasible by the application of charts
      conditional to previous measurements.

PMID- 27638186
TI  - [Ethical aspects of palliative medicine].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of palliative medicine is to adequately care for and attend
      to patients suffering from life-threatening and incurable medical conditions
      according to their needs. This implies that for these patients it is not a matter
      of dealing with diseases that can be treated separately but with their existence
      in the face of their approaching death. OBJECTIVE: This article investigates
      which ethical questions are currently prioritized for discussion in palliative
      medicine. METHOD: Review of the current medical and ethical literature and own
      reflections with a relational ethics approach that puts patient wishes at the
      centre of attention. RESULTS: Palliative medicine is not a "luxury medicine" but
      has to be considered as primary care to which every person is entitled. If there
      is a need for improvement of care, promoting it is an ethical obligation. In this
      respect the question of a "good death" is extremely complex. The term is
      connected to the ethics of a good life and includes the dimensions of happiness
      suffering as well as meaning-futility; therefore, the best possible treatment of
      symptoms, most of all pain is just as important as recognizing subjective
      questions of meaning. Dealing with the wishes of patients, including possible
      wishes to die, are the starting point for elaborating palliative care measures.
      It is concerned with finding the right point in time for each patient
      individually, in their best interests and according to their wishes, at which
      dying should no longer be held back but for their own benefit the patient should
      be accompanied and supported during dying. CONCLUSION: In the current
      construction of palliative medicine, including its normative configuration within
      the law and medical ethics, the criteria which are essential for the quality of
      life up to death are being discussed.

PMID- 27638188
TI  - Linguistic and emotional-valence characteristics of reading passages for clinical
      use and research.
AB  - Purpose: Fluency assessment in people who stutter (PWS) includes reading aloud
      passages. There is little information on properties of these passages that may
      affect reading performance: emotional valance, arousal, word familiarity and
      frequency and passage-readability. Our first goal was to present an extensive
      examination of these factors in three commonly used ("traditional") passages. The
      second goal was to compare a traditional passage to a new passage, designed to
      minimize the impact of these properties. Methods: Content words were rated (129
      participants) on arousal, valence and familiarity. Other linguistic features were
      analyzed based on available datasets. This information was used to assess
      traditional passages, and to construct a new well-balanced passage, made of
      neutral, low-arousal and highly-familiar words. Readability for all passages was
      tested using formula-based and CLOZE tests (31 participants). Finally, 26 PWS
      were evaluated on fluency comparing the commonly used "Rainbow" passage with the
      novel one. Results: The three traditional passages contain a share of emotionally
      valenced (22-34%), high arousal (15-18%), lower familiarity (6-8%) and
      polysyllabic (5-9%) content words. Readability was highest for the novel passage
      (on formula-based scales). Average disfluencies percent for the Rainbow and our
      novel passage were not significantly different. Yet half of the individuals in
      this sample showed a large difference between the two passages. Conclusion: We
      provide detailed information on potential sources of variance using the
      traditional passages. Knowledge about these characteristics can inform clinical
      practice (and research). We suggest a combined procedure, using more than one
      passage to assess stuttering in individual cases.

PMID- 27638187
TI  - Pancreatic mucinous cystadenocarcinoma: Epidemiology and outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic mucinous cystadenocarcinoma is a rare malignancy. Our aim
      was to investigate the demographic, pathological characteristics, treatment
      modalities and survival of patients with mucinous cystadenocarcinoma via the
      National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)
      database analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of SEER
      database's records on patients with mucinous cystadenocarcinoma diagnosed from
      1988 to 2012. Primary outcome measures were clinico-pathological characteristics,
      observed and disease-specific survival. RESULTS: A total of 507 patients were
      identified. Median age at diagnosis was 67 years and most patients were female
      (68.4%). The tumors were mainly low grade (82.9%, grade I-II) and frequently
      localized (42.8%) in the body/tail of the pancreas (45.6%). According to Kaplan
      Meier curves observed survival was 111 months (95%CI: 82.5, 139.5) vs 14 months
      (95% CI: 10.9, 17.1) vs 4 months (95%CI: 2.9, 5.1) for patients with localized,
      regional and distant disease, respectively. One-year disease-specific survival
      for patients with localized disease was 90.1%, vs. 56.7% for those with regional
      and 18.7% with distant tumor spread. CONCLUSIONS: Mucinous cystadenocarcinomas
      tend to be low grade tumors, localized to the pancreatic body/tail. Surgery as
      the primary therapeutic intervention and tumor stage are independent predictors
      of disease-specific survival.

PMID- 27638190
TI  - The Lidcombe Program of early stuttering intervention for Malaysian families:
      Four case studies.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study investigated the outcomes of implementing the Lidcombe
      Program, an evidence-based early intervention for stuttering, with four preschool
      children in Malaysia. Early stuttering intervention is currently underdeveloped
      in Malaysia, where stuttering treatment is often more assertion-based than
      evidence-based. Therefore, introducing an evidence-based early stuttering
      intervention is an important milestone for Malaysian preschoolers who stutter.
      METHOD: The participants ranged from 3 years 3 months to 4 years 9 months at the
      start of the study. Beyond-clinic speech samples were obtained at 1 month and 1
      week pretreatment and immediately post-Stage 1, and at 1 month, 3 months, 6
      months and 12 months post-Stage 1. RESULTS: Two participants, who were bilingual,
      achieved near-zero levels of stuttering at 12 months posttreatment. Near zero
      levels of stuttering were also present in their untreated languages. One
      participant withdrew due to reasons not connected with the research or treatment.
      The remaining participant, who presented with severe stuttering, completed Stage
      1 but had some relapse in Stage 2 and demonstrated mild stuttering 12 months post
      Stage 1. CONCLUSIONS: The outcomes were achieved without the need to
      significantly adapt Lidcombe Program procedures to Malaysian culture. Further
      research to continue evaluation of the Lidcombe Program with Malaysian families
      and to estimate proportion of those who will respond is warranted.

PMID- 27638189
TI  - Prevalence of anxiety disorders among children who stutter.
AB  - PURPOSE: Stuttering during adulthood is associated with a heightened rate of
      anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety disorder. Given the early onset of
      both anxiety and stuttering, this comorbidity could be present among stuttering
      children. METHOD: Participants were 75 stuttering children 7-12 years and 150
      matched non-stuttering control children. Multinomial and binary logistic
      regression models were used to estimate odds ratios for anxiety disorders, and
      two-sample t-tests compared scores on measures of anxiety and psycho-social
      difficulties. RESULTS: Compared to non-stuttering controls, the stuttering group
      had six-fold increased odds for social anxiety disorder, seven-fold increased
      odds for subclinical generalized anxiety disorder, and four-fold increased odds
      for any anxiety disorder. CONCLUSION: These results show that, as is the case
      during adulthood, stuttering during childhood is associated with a significantly
      heightened rate of anxiety disorders. Future research is needed to determine the
      impact of those disorders on speech treatment outcomes.

PMID- 27638191
TI  - Premonitory Awareness in Stuttering Scale (PAiS).
AB  - Anticipation of stuttering events in persistent developmental stuttering is a
      frequent but inadequately measured phenomenon that is of both theoretical and
      clinical importance. Here, we describe the development and preliminary testing of
      a German version of the Premonitory Awareness in Stuttering Scale (PAiS): a 12
      item questionnaire assessing immediate and prospective anticipation of stuttering
      that was translated and adapted from the Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (PUTS)
      (Woods, Piacentini, Himle, & Chang, 2005). After refining the preliminary PAiS
      scale in a pilot study, we administered a revised version to 21 adults who
      stutter (AWS) and 21 age, gender and education-matched control participants.
      Results demonstrated that the PAiS had good internal consistency and
      discriminated the two speaker groups very effectively, with AWS reporting
      anticipation of speech disruptions significantly more often than adults with
      typical speech. Correlations between the PAiS total score and both the objective
      and subjective measures of stuttering severity revealed that AWS with high PAiS
      scores produced fewer stuttered syllables. This is possibly because these
      individuals are better able to adaptively use these anticipatory sensations to
      modulate their speech. These results suggest that, with continued refinement, the
      PAiS has the potential to provide clinicians and researchers with a practical and
      psychometrically sound tool that can quantify how a given AWS anticipates
      upcoming stuttering events.

PMID- 27638192
TI  - Parents' reactions to children's stuttering and style of coping with stress.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the research was to determine: (a) how parents react to their
      child's stuttering, (b) what stress coping strategies they utilise, as well as
      (c) whether stress coping style depends on parents' reaction to their child's
      stuttering. METHODS: The research involved 23 mothers and 23 fathers of children
      who stutter (CWS) at the age of three to six years old. The Reaction to Speech
      Disfluency Scale (RSDS), developed by the authors, was used in the research. To
      determine the parents' coping the Coping Inventory in Stressful Situations (CISS)
      by N.S. Endler and D.A Parker was applied. RESULTS: The strongest reactions are
      observed on the cognitive level. Stronger cognitive, emotional and behavioural
      reactions are observed in the mothers towards their disfluently speaking sons and
      in the fathers towards their daughters. Having analysed the profiles of coping
      styles, it can be noticed that the task-oriented coping is most frequently
      adapted by the fathers. The mothers most often use the avoidance-oriented coping.
      No relevant correlation was observed between the fathers' coping style and their
      reactions to the child's disfluent speech. As far as the mothers are concerned,
      it has been proved that an increase in behavioural reactions correlates with the
      avoidance-oriented coping. CONCLUSION: The cognitive reactions of the parents'
      towards their child's stuttering were most frequent, while the emotional ones
      were the least frequent. Confronted with a stressful situation, the fathers most
      often adapt the task-oriented coping, whereas the mothers use the avoidance
      oriented coping. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: the reader will be able to (1) learn
      what the key reactions of parents to their children's stuttering are, (2)
      describe stuttering as a stress factor for the parents, (3) describe the factors
      which influence parents' reactions to their child's stuttering and their coping
      style.

PMID- 27638193
TI  - Irisin improves perivascular adipose tissue dysfunction via regulation of the
      heme oxygenase-1/adiponectin axis in diet-induced obese mice.
AB  - AIMS: To determine whether irisin could improve perivascular adipose tissue
      (PVAT) dysfunction via regulation of the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)/adiponectin axis
      in obesity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were given chow or a high-fat
      diet (HFD) with or without treatment with irisin. The concentration-dependent
      responses of the thoracic aorta with or without PVAT (PVAT+ or PVAT-) to
      phenylephrine were studied in an organ bath. Protein levels of HO-1 and
      adiponectin were determined by western blot. UCP-1, Cidea, and TNF-alpha gene
      expression in PVAT were analyzed by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Treatment of obese
      mice with irisin improved glucose and lipid metabolism, reduced plasma levels of
      TNF-alpha and malondialdehyde, and increased plasma adiponectin levels (P<0.01).
      The anti-contractile effects of PVAT were attenuated in HFD mice and this
      attenuation was restored in HFD mice treated with irisin (P<0.05). Incubation of
      aortas (PVAT+) with the HO-1 inhibitor and adiponectin receptor blocking peptide
      in irisin-treated HFD mice abolished the beneficial effects of irisin on PVAT
      function. The same results were also observed in HFD mice treated with irisin ex
      vivo. Treatment of HFD mice with irisin significantly enhanced protein levels of
      HO-1 and adiponectin, and reduced superoxide production and TNF-alpha expression
      in PVAT. Irisin treatment enhanced brown adipocyte markers UCP-1 and Cidea
      expression in PVAT from HFD mice. CONCLUSION: Irisin improved the anti
      contractile properties of PVAT from the thoracic aorta in diet-induced obese
      mice. The mechanism for protective effects of irisin appeared to be related to
      upregulation of the HO-1/adiponectin axis in PVAT and browning of PVAT.

PMID- 27638194
TI  - What attracts people to a career in oral and maxillofacial surgery? A
      questionnaire survey.
AB  - A key aspect of recruiting and retaining the best trainees is identification of
      the factors that attracted them to OMFS. Although such factors have been examined
      for medicine in general, we know of no previous study that has looked at those
      that are specific to OMFS. We distributed a survey online to roughly 1500 people
      who had registered an interest in OMFS over the past seven years. Personal data,
      and those about education and employment, were recorded, together with particular
      factors that drew them to OMFS. Of the 251 trainees who responded, 177 (71%) were
      interested in a career in OMFS. Differences among sub-groups related to dual
      qualification, sex, and relationships. Open comments identified the following
      attractive factors: variety of work, intellectually interesting work, collegiate
      atmosphere within OMFS, and making a difference to patients. The personalities of
      those who continued with OMFS training placed high value on achievement, and were
      more conscientious. The factors identified suggest that the positioning of OMFS
      as a complex, challenging, and varied hospital-based surgical specialty is key to
      attracting trainees, and these will be used in future research so that we can
      move forward from identifying preferences to assessing the relative value placed
      on those preferences. The data will be useful in the development of strategies to
      attract new trainees and retain them in the specialty.

PMID- 27638195
TI  - Thyrotropin and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Receptor Crosstalk Upregulates
      Sodium-Iodide Symporter Expression in Primary Cultures of Human Thyrocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Major regulation of thyroid gland function is mediated by thyrotropin
      (TSH) activating the TSH receptor (TSHR) and inducing upregulation of genes
      involved in thyroid hormone synthesis. Evidence suggests that the insulin-like
      growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor (IGF-1R) may play a role in regulating TSHR
      functional effects. This study examined the potential role of TSHR/IGF-1R
      crosstalk in primary cultures of human thyrocytes. RESULTS: TSH/IGF-1 co
      treatment elicited additive effects on thyroglobulin (TG), thyroperoxidase (TPO),
      and deiodinase type 2 (DIO2) mRNA levels but synergistic effects on sodium-iodide
      symporter (NIS) mRNA. Similar cooperativity was seen on the level of TG protein
      secretion (additive) and NIS protein expression (synergistic). The IGF-1R
      tyrosine kinase inhibitor linsitinib inhibited TSH-stimulated upregulation of NIS
      but not TG, indicating that NIS regulation is in part IGF-1R dependent and occurs
      via receptor crosstalk. Cooperativity was not seen at the level of cAMP/protein
      kinase A (PKA) signaling, IGF-1R phosphorylation, or Akt activation. However, TSH
      and IGF-1 synergistically activated ERK1/2. Pharmacological inhibition of ERK1/2
      by the MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126 and of Akt by MK-2206 virtually abolished NIS
      stimulation by TSH and the synergistic effect of IGF-1. CONCLUSION: As linsitinib
      inhibited upregulation of NIS stimulated by TSH alone, it is concluded that
      crosstalk between TSHR and IGF-1R, without agonist activation of IGF-1R, plays a
      role in NIS regulation in human thyrocytes via a mechanism involving ERK1/2
      and/or Akt. Fully understanding the nature of this crosstalk has clinical
      implications for the treatment of thyroid diseases, including thyroid cancer.

PMID- 27638197
TI  - Thermococcus piezophilus sp. nov., a novel hyperthermophilic and piezophilic
      archaeon with a broad pressure range for growth, isolated from a deepest
      hydrothermal vent at the Mid-Cayman Rise.
AB  - A novel strictly anaerobic, hyperthermophilic archaeon, designated strain CDGST,
      was isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent in the Cayman Trough at 4964m
      water depth. The novel isolate is obligate anaerobe and grows
      chemoorganoheterotrophically with stimulation of growth by sulphur containing
      compounds. Its growth is optimal at 75 degrees C, pH 6.0 and under a pressure of
      50MPa. It possesses the broadest hydrostatic pressure range for growth that has
      ever been described for a microorganism. Its genomic DNA G+C content is
      51.11mol%. The novel isolate belongs to the genus Thermococcus. Phylogenetic
      analyses indicated that it is most closely related to Thermococcus barossii
      DSM17882T based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence, and to 'Thermococcus onnurineus'
      NA1 based on its whole genome sequence. The average nucleotide identity scores
      with these strains are 77.66% for T. barossii and 84.84% for 'T. onnurineus',
      respectively. Based on the draft whole genome sequence and phenotypic
      characteristics, strain CDGST is suggested to be separated into a novel species
      within the genus Thermococcus, with proposed name Thermococcus piezophilus (type
      strain CDGST=ATCC TSD-33T=UBOCC 3296T).

PMID- 27638196
TI  - High rates of microbial dinitrogen fixation and sulfate reduction associated with
      the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica.
AB  - Seagrass meadows of Posidonia oceanica represent hotspots of productivity in the
      oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea. The lack of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in
      the seawater suggests that the N-demand of these meadows might be in part
      supported by microbial dinitrogen (N2) fixation. However, currently there are no
      direct N2 fixation measurements available for this productive marine macrophyte.
      Here we investigated N2 fixation activity associated with P. oceanica leaf,
      rhizome and root pieces. In 15N2 incubations, the roots exhibited highest rates
      of N2 fixation. The rates varied considerably between replicates, presumably due
      to a patchy microbial colonization of the roots. Additions of organic carbon
      compounds (acetate, glucose, sucrose or algal lysate) did not enhance the N2
      fixation rates. Sulfate reduction rates measured alongside were also highest in
      root incubations. Correspondingly, sequences of the nifH gene (a marker gene for
      the iron protein of the N2-fixing enzyme nitrogenase) related to known sulfate
      reducing bacteria were retrieved from P. oceanica roots. Other nifH sequences
      clustered with known heterotrophic diazotrophs previously identified in other
      marine macrophytes. In particular, many sequences obtained from P. oceanica roots
      were similar (>94%) to a saltmarsh rhizosphere-associated heterotrophic
      diazotroph, indicating that heterotrophic lifestyle might be common among marine
      macrophyte-associated diazotrophs.

PMID- 27638198
TI  - Heterogeneity of Patients With Intermediate-Prognosis Metastatic Renal Cell
      Carcinoma Treated With Sunitinib.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and International
      Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) models categorize
      patients with 1 or 2 risk factors as intermediate prognosis (INTMP). This
      category encompasses 15 and 19 permutations of the MSKCC and IMDC risk factors,
      respectively. The purpose of the present retrospective analysis of data from
      INTMP patients in 6 clinical trials was to determine whether this heterogeneity
      influences the response to sunitinib. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with INTMP
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) were identified using the MSKCC and IMDC
      classifications. The statistical data were analyzed using Cox regression
      analysis, Kaplan-Meier methods, and Pearson chi2 tests. RESULTS: The patient
      characteristics and risk factors were similar in the MSKCC (n = 548) and IMDC (n
      = 517) groups. Overall, 59% had 1 risk factor and 41% had 2 risk factors. The
      most common was low hemoglobin alone or with an interval of < 1 year since
      diagnosis. In both groups, patients with 1 risk factor had longer overall
      survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) than did those with 2 risk
      factors (P < .001 for both outcomes). Patients in the IMDC group with 1 risk
      factor had a greater objective response rate (ORR; P = .023). In both groups, OS
      was longer for patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance
      status (ECOG PS) 0 than for those with ECOG PS 1 or 2 (P < .001). An ECOG PS of 0
      was also associated with superior PFS and ORR in the MSKCC group (P < .05).
      CONCLUSION: INTMP comprises a heterogeneous group of mRCC patients in whom the
      number of risk factors and ECOG PS might predict the outcome with sunitinib.

PMID- 27638199
TI  - A carbon for every nitrogen.

PMID- 27638200
TI  - Visualization of the spontaneous emergence of a complex, dynamic, and
      autocatalytic system.
AB  - Autocatalytic chemical reactions are widely studied as models of biological
      processes and to better understand the origins of life on Earth. Minimal self
      reproducing amphiphiles have been developed in this context and as an approach to
      de novo "bottom-up" synthetic protocells. How chemicals come together to produce
      living systems, however, remains poorly understood, despite much experimentation
      and speculation. Here, we use ultrasensitive label-free optical microscopy to
      visualize the spontaneous emergence of an autocatalytic system from an aqueous
      mixture of two chemicals. Quantitative, in situ nanoscale imaging reveals
      heterogeneous self-reproducing aggregates and enables the real-time visualization
      of the synthesis of new aggregates at the reactive interface. The aggregates and
      reactivity patterns observed vary together with differences in the respective
      environment. This work demonstrates how imaging of chemistry at the nanoscale can
      provide direct insight into the dynamic evolution of nonequilibrium systems
      across molecular to microscopic length scales.

PMID- 27638201
TI  - Anticipating societal collapse; Hints from the Stone Age.

PMID- 27638203
TI  - When fairness matters less than we expect.
AB  - Do those who allocate resources know how much fairness will matter to those who
      receive them? Across seven studies, allocators used either a fair or unfair
      procedure to determine which of two receivers would receive the most money.
      Allocators consistently overestimated the impact that the fairness of the
      allocation procedure would have on the happiness of receivers (studies 1-3). This
      happened because the differential fairness of allocation procedures is more
      salient before an allocation is made than it is afterward (studies 4 and 5).
      Contrary to allocators' predictions, the average receiver was happier when
      allocated more money by an unfair procedure than when allocated less money by a
      fair procedure (studies 6 and 7). These studies suggest that when allocators are
      unable to overcome their own preallocation perspectives and adopt the receivers'
      postallocation perspectives, they may allocate resources in ways that do not
      maximize the net happiness of receivers.

PMID- 27638204
TI  - Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss.
AB  - Invasive species threaten biodiversity globally, and invasive mammalian predators
      are particularly damaging, having contributed to considerable species decline and
      extinction. We provide a global metaanalysis of these impacts and reveal their
      full extent. Invasive predators are implicated in 87 bird, 45 mammal, and 10
      reptile species extinctions-58% of these groups' contemporary extinctions
      worldwide. These figures are likely underestimated because 23 critically
      endangered species that we assessed are classed as "possibly extinct." Invasive
      mammalian predators endanger a further 596 species at risk of extinction, with
      cats, rodents, dogs, and pigs threatening the most species overall. Species most
      at risk from predators have high evolutionary distinctiveness and inhabit insular
      environments. Invasive mammalian predators are therefore important drivers of
      irreversible loss of phylogenetic diversity worldwide. That most impacted species
      are insular indicates that management of invasive predators on islands should be
      a global conservation priority. Understanding and mitigating the impact of
      invasive mammalian predators is essential for reducing the rate of global
      biodiversity loss.

PMID- 27638202
TI  - Leveraging premalignant biology for immune-based cancer prevention.
AB  - Prevention is an essential component of cancer eradication. Next-generation
      sequencing of cancer genomes and epigenomes has defined large numbers of driver
      mutations and molecular subgroups, leading to therapeutic advances. By
      comparison, there is a relative paucity of such knowledge in premalignant
      neoplasia, which inherently limits the potential to develop precision prevention
      strategies. Studies on the interplay between germ-line and somatic events have
      elucidated genetic processes underlying premalignant progression and preventive
      targets. Emerging data hint at the immune system's ability to intercept
      premalignancy and prevent cancer. Genetically engineered mouse models have
      identified mechanisms by which genetic drivers and other somatic alterations
      recruit inflammatory cells and induce changes in normal cells to create and
      interact with the premalignant tumor microenvironment to promote oncogenesis and
      immune evasion. These studies are currently limited to only a few lesion types
      and patients. In this Perspective, we advocate a large-scale collaborative effort
      to systematically map the biology of premalignancy and the surrounding cellular
      response. By bringing together scientists from diverse disciplines (e.g.,
      biochemistry, omics, and computational biology; microbiology, immunology, and
      medical genetics; engineering, imaging, and synthetic chemistry; and
      implementation science), we can drive a concerted effort focused on cancer
      vaccines to reprogram the immune response to prevent, detect, and reject
      premalignancy. Lynch syndrome, clonal hematopoiesis, and cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia which also serve as models for inherited syndromes, blood, and viral
      premalignancies, are ideal scenarios in which to launch this initiative.

PMID- 27638205
TI  - Autophagy induction stabilizes microtubules and promotes axon regeneration after
      spinal cord injury.
AB  - Remodeling of cytoskeleton structures, such as microtubule assembly, is believed
      to be crucial for growth cone initiation and regrowth of injured axons. Autophagy
      plays important roles in maintaining cellular homoeostasis, and its dysfunction
      causes neuronal degeneration. The role of autophagy in axon regeneration after
      injury remains speculative. Here we demonstrate a role of autophagy in regulating
      microtubule dynamics and axon regeneration. We found that autophagy induction
      promoted neurite outgrowth, attenuated the inhibitory effects of nonpermissive
      substrate myelin, and decreased the formation of retraction bulbs following
      axonal injury in cultured cortical neurons. Interestingly, autophagy induction
      stabilized microtubules by degrading SCG10, a microtubule disassembly protein in
      neurons. In mice with spinal cord injury, local administration of a specific
      autophagy-inducing peptide, Tat-beclin1, to lesion sites markedly attenuated
      axonal retraction of spinal dorsal column axons and cortical spinal tract and
      promoted regeneration of descending axons following long-term observation.
      Finally, administration of Tat-beclin1 improved the recovery of motor behaviors
      of injured mice. These results show a promising effect of an autophagy-inducing
      reagent on injured axons, providing direct evidence supporting a beneficial role
      of autophagy in axon regeneration.

PMID- 27638206
TI  - Convergent evolution of caffeine in plants by co-option of exapted ancestral
      enzymes.
AB  - Convergent evolution is a process that has occurred throughout the tree of life,
      but the historical genetic and biochemical context promoting the repeated
      independent origins of a trait is rarely understood. The well-known stimulant
      caffeine, and its xanthine alkaloid precursors, has evolved multiple times in
      flowering plant history for various roles in plant defense and pollination. We
      have shown that convergent caffeine production, surprisingly, has evolved by two
      previously unknown biochemical pathways in chocolate, citrus, and guarana plants
      using either caffeine synthase- or xanthine methyltransferase-like enzymes.
      However, the pathway and enzyme lineage used by any given plant species is not
      predictable from phylogenetic relatedness alone. Ancestral sequence resurrection
      reveals that this convergence was facilitated by co-option of genes maintained
      over 100 million y for alternative biochemical roles. The ancient enzymes of the
      Citrus lineage were exapted for reactions currently used for various steps of
      caffeine biosynthesis and required very few mutations to acquire modern-day
      enzymatic characteristics, allowing for the evolution of a complete pathway.
      Future studies aimed at manipulating caffeine content of plants will require the
      use of different approaches given the metabolic and genetic diversity revealed by
      this study.

PMID- 27638208
TI  - Advanced maritime adaptation in the western Pacific coastal region extends back
      to 35,000-30,000 years before present.
AB  - Maritime adaptation was one of the essential factors that enabled modern humans
      to disperse all over the world. However, geographic distribution of early
      maritime technology during the Late Pleistocene remains unclear. At this time,
      the Indonesian Archipelago and eastern New Guinea stand as the sole, well
      recognized area for secure Pleistocene evidence of repeated ocean crossings and
      advanced fishing technology. The incomplete archeological records also make it
      difficult to know whether modern humans could sustain their life on a resource
      poor, small oceanic island for extended periods with Paleolithic technology. We
      here report evidence from a limestone cave site on Okinawa Island, Japan, of
      successive occupation that extends back to 35,000-30,000 y ago. Well-stratified
      strata at the Sakitari Cave site yielded a rich assemblage of seashell artifacts,
      including formally shaped tools, beads, and the world's oldest fishhooks. These
      are accompanied by seasonally exploited food residue. The persistent occupation
      on this relatively small, geographically isolated island, as well as the
      appearance of Paleolithic sites on nearby islands by 30,000 y ago, suggest wider
      distribution of successful maritime adaptations than previously recognized,
      spanning the lower to midlatitude areas in the western Pacific coastal region.

PMID- 27638207
TI  - High-fat diet modifies the PPAR-gamma pathway leading to disruption of microbial
      and physiological ecosystem in murine small intestine.
AB  - Diet is among the most important factors contributing to intestinal homeostasis,
      and basic functions performed by the small intestine need to be tightly preserved
      to maintain health. Little is known about the direct impact of high-fat (HF) diet
      on small-intestinal mucosal defenses and spatial distribution of the microbiota
      during the early phase of its administration. We observed that only 30 d after HF
      diet initiation, the intervillous zone of the ileum-which is usually described as
      free of bacteria-became occupied by a dense microbiota. In addition to affecting
      its spatial distribution, HF diet also drastically affected microbiota
      composition with a profile characterized by the expansion of Firmicutes
      (appearance of Erysipelotrichi), Proteobacteria (Desulfovibrionales) and
      Verrucomicrobia, and decrease of Bacteroidetes (family S24-7) and Candidatus
      arthromitus A decrease in antimicrobial peptide expression was predominantly
      observed in the ileum where bacterial density appeared highest. In addition, HF
      diet increased intestinal permeability and decreased cystic fibrosis
      transmembrane conductance regulator (Cftr) and the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter 1
      (Nkcc1) gene and protein expressions, leading to a decrease in ileal secretion of
      chloride, likely responsible for massive alteration in mucus phenotype. This
      complex phenotype triggered by HF diet at the interface between the microbiota
      and the mucosal surface was reversed when the diet was switched back to standard
      composition or when mice were treated for 1 wk with rosiglitazone, a specific
      agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma).
      Moreover, weaker expression of antimicrobial peptide-encoding genes and
      intervillous bacterial colonization were observed in Ppar-gamma-deficient mice,
      highlighting the major role of lipids in modulation of mucosal immune defenses.

PMID- 27638209
TI  - Absence of visual experience modifies the neural basis of numerical thinking.
AB  - In humans, the ability to reason about mathematical quantities depends on a
      frontoparietal network that includes the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). How do
      nature and nurture give rise to the neurobiology of numerical cognition? We asked
      how visual experience shapes the neural basis of numerical thinking by studying
      numerical cognition in congenitally blind individuals. Blind (n = 17) and
      blindfolded sighted (n = 19) participants solved math equations that varied in
      difficulty (e.g., 27 - 12 = x vs. 7 - 2 = x), and performed a control sentence
      comprehension task while undergoing fMRI. Whole-cortex analyses revealed that in
      both blind and sighted participants, the IPS and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices
      were more active during the math task than the language task, and activity in the
      IPS increased parametrically with equation difficulty. Thus, the classic
      frontoparietal number network is preserved in the total absence of visual
      experience. However, surprisingly, blind but not sighted individuals additionally
      recruited a subset of early visual areas during symbolic math calculation. The
      functional profile of these "visual" regions was identical to that of the IPS in
      blind but not sighted individuals. Furthermore, in blindness, number-responsive
      visual cortices exhibited increased functional connectivity with prefrontal and
      IPS regions that process numbers. We conclude that the frontoparietal number
      network develops independently of visual experience. In blindness, this number
      network colonizes parts of deafferented visual cortex. These results suggest that
      human cortex is highly functionally flexible early in life, and point to
      frontoparietal input as a mechanism of cross-modal plasticity in blindness.

PMID- 27638211
TI  - Orthographic processing in pigeons (Columba livia).
AB  - Learning to read involves the acquisition of letter-sound relationships (i.e.,
      decoding skills) and the ability to visually recognize words (i.e., orthographic
      knowledge). Although decoding skills are clearly human-unique, given they are
      seated in language, recent research and theory suggest that orthographic
      processing may derive from the exaptation or recycling of visual circuits that
      evolved to recognize everyday objects and shapes in our natural environment. An
      open question is whether orthographic processing is limited to visual circuits
      that are similar to our own or a product of plasticity common to many vertebrate
      visual systems. Here we show that pigeons, organisms that separated from humans
      more than 300 million y ago, process words orthographically. Specifically, we
      demonstrate that pigeons trained to discriminate words from nonwords picked up on
      the orthographic properties that define words and used this knowledge to identify
      words they had never seen before. In addition, the pigeons were sensitive to the
      bigram frequencies of words (i.e., the common co-occurrence of certain letter
      pairs), the edit distance between nonwords and words, and the internal structure
      of words. Our findings demonstrate that visual systems organizationally distinct
      from the primate visual system can also be exapted or recycled to process the
      visual word form.

PMID- 27638210
TI  - Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids support aerial insectivore
      performance more than food quantity.
AB  - Once-abundant aerial insectivores, such as the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta
      bicolor), have declined steadily in the past several decades, making it
      imperative to understand all aspects of their ecology. Aerial insectivores forage
      on a mixture of aquatic and terrestrial insects that differ in fatty acid
      composition, specifically long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA)
      content. Aquatic insects contain high levels of both LCPUFA and their precursor
      omega-3 PUFA, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), whereas terrestrial insects contain
      much lower levels of both. We manipulated both the quantity and quality of food
      for Tree Swallow chicks in a full factorial design. Diets were either high-LCPUFA
      or low in LCPUFA but high in ALA, allowing us to separate the effects of direct
      LCPUFA in diet from the ability of Tree Swallows to convert their precursor, ALA,
      into LCPUFA. We found that fatty acid composition was more important for Tree
      Swallow chick performance than food quantity. On high-LCPUFA diets, chicks grew
      faster, were in better condition, and had greater immunocompetence and lower
      basal metabolic rates compared with chicks on both low LCPUFA diets. Increasing
      the quantity of high-LCPUFA diets resulted in improvements to all metrics of
      performance while increasing the quantity of low-LCPUFA diets only resulted in
      greater immunocompetence and lower metabolic rates. Chicks preferentially
      retained LCPUFA in brain and muscle when both food quantity and LCPUFA were
      limited. Our work suggests that fatty acid composition is an important dimension
      of aerial insectivore nutritional ecology and reinforces the importance of high
      quality aquatic habitat for these declining birds.

PMID- 27638212
TI  - Palaeoproteomic evidence identifies archaic hominins associated with the
      Chatelperronian at the Grotte du Renne.
AB  - In Western Europe, the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition is associated with
      the disappearance of Neandertals and the spread of anatomically modern humans
      (AMHs). Current chronological, behavioral, and biological models of this
      transitional period hinge on the Chatelperronian technocomplex. At the site of
      the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, morphological Neandertal specimens are not
      directly dated but are contextually associated with the Chatelperronian, which
      contains bone points and beads. The association between Neandertals and this
      "transitional" assemblage has been controversial because of the lack either of a
      direct hominin radiocarbon date or of molecular confirmation of the Neandertal
      affiliation. Here we provide further evidence for a Neandertal-Chatelperronian
      association at the Grotte du Renne through biomolecular and chronological
      analysis. We identified 28 additional hominin specimens through zooarchaeology by
      mass spectrometry (ZooMS) screening of morphologically uninformative bone
      specimens from Chatelperronian layers at the Grotte du Renne. Next, we obtain an
      ancient hominin bone proteome through liquid chromatography-MS/MS analysis and
      error-tolerant amino acid sequence analysis. Analysis of this palaeoproteome
      allows us to provide phylogenetic and physiological information on these ancient
      hominin specimens. We distinguish Late Pleistocene clades within the genus Homo
      based on ancient protein evidence through the identification of an archaic
      derived amino acid sequence for the collagen type X, alpha-1 (COL10alpha1)
      protein. We support this by obtaining ancient mtDNA sequences, which indicate a
      Neandertal ancestry for these specimens. Direct accelerator mass spectometry
      radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modeling confirm that the hominin specimens date
      to the Chatelperronian at the Grotte du Renne.

PMID- 27638215
TI  - Robot-assisted gynecological surgery in a community setting.
AB  - The objective of this study is to review our experience using the da Vinci
      robotic system to perform various gynecological surgeries for benign indications.
      Between July 2005 and April 2008, 110 patients underwent robot-assisted
      gynecological surgeries in Rochester General Hospital, NY. The records of these
      patients were retrospectively reviewed by an independent data collector to
      analyze the safety, effectiveness, and outcome of the surgeries done using the
      robotic system. The parameters reviewed include indication for surgery, type of
      procedure, operative time, blood loss, hospital stay, and intraoperative and post
      operative complications. The procedures completed include 74 hysterectomies
      including hysterectomies with bilateral salpingoophorectomy, 15 hysterectomies
      with sacrocolpopexy and other concomitant procedures, 18 myomectomies, and 3
      oophorectomies. All procedures were completed robotically without the need for
      conversion to an open approach. The mean operation time was 2.15 h. Average
      estimated blood loss was 160 cc. Complications encountered include one cystotomy
      which was identified immediately and repaired in addition to one vault dehiscence
      and two post operative infections. The mean hospital stay was 1 day, with more
      than half of the patients being discharged within 24 h after the surgery. Post
      operative pain level was in the range of 0-6 in a scale of 0-10 (0: no pain, 10:
      worst pain in their life) and relieved by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
      Robot-assisted laparoscopic benign surgical procedures are feasible techniques in
      a community setting. Robot-assisted laparoscopy has a promising future in
      minimally invasive surgery as it proved beneficial for our patients who
      experienced low complication rate and overall fast recovery compared to other
      approaches. 

PMID- 27638216
TI  - Tumor enucleoresection in robot-assisted partial nephrectomy.
AB  - The objective of this study is to describe our technique and results of the
      enucleoresection technique in robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. The patient is
      positioned in full flank position. Three robotic arms of a da Vinci system and an
      assistant's port are used. The renal hilus is freed, the kidney mobilized and the
      site of the partial excision prepared. The vessels are clamped with a bulldog.
      The capsula of the kidney is incised circular about 5 mm around the tumor. A
      pseudocapsula of compressed healthy tissue around the tumor is found and mainly
      blunt dissection is done with the cold scissors. At the base of the dissection,
      the resection is completed sharply. Possible calyceal defects and major vessels
      are stitched. Fibrinogen coagulation enhancer and cellulose coagulation sponge
      are used to lessen the gap and the renal defect is closed with absorbable suture.
      The kidney is re-perfused and observed for bleeding. We have performed 17 cases
      with warm ischemia time 16-35 min (mean 24 min) and tumor size 2.2-5.3 cm (mean
      3.8 cm). All surgical margins were tumor free. No postoperative complications
      were identified except one clot retention. Robot-assisted enucleoresection of
      kidney tumors is a feasible and very promising technique that needs to be further
      evaluated for results. 

PMID- 27638213
TI  - Low-cost functional plasticity of TRPV1 supports heat tolerance in squirrels and
      camels.
AB  - The ability to sense heat is crucial for survival. Increased heat tolerance may
      prove beneficial by conferring the ability to inhabit otherwise prohibitive
      ecological niches. This phenomenon is widespread and is found in both large and
      small animals. For example, ground squirrels and camels can tolerate temperatures
      more than 40  degrees C better than many other mammalian species, yet a molecular
      mechanism subserving this ability is unclear. Transient receptor potential
      vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a polymodal ion channel involved in the detection of
      noxious thermal and chemical stimuli by primary afferents of the somatosensory
      system. Here, we show that thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys
      tridecemlineatus) and Bactrian camels (Camelus ferus) express TRPV1 orthologs
      with dramatically reduced temperature sensitivity. The loss of sensitivity is
      restricted to temperature and does not affect capsaicin or acid responses,
      thereby maintaining a role for TRPV1 as a detector of noxious chemical cues. We
      show that heat sensitivity can be reengineered in both TRPV1 orthologs by a
      single amino acid substitution in the N-terminal ankyrin-repeat domain.
      Conversely, reciprocal mutations suppress heat sensitivity of rat TRPV1,
      supporting functional conservation of the residues. Our studies suggest that
      squirrels and camels co-opt a common molecular strategy to adapt to hot
      environments by suppressing the efficiency of TRPV1-mediated heat detection at
      the level of somatosensory neurons. Such adaptation is possible because of the
      remarkable functional flexibility of the TRPV1 molecule, which can undergo
      profound tuning at the minimal cost of a single amino acid change.

PMID- 27638217
TI  - The effect of body characteristics on mean operative times while experiencing the
      learning curve for robotic prostatectomy.
AB  - We reviewed our series of robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy to assess the
      effect of certain patient body characteristics on the mean operative time over
      the course of a single surgeon's learning curve. The operating room times were
      recorded for the first 210 cases performed. These cases were broken down into
      thirds and then patient characteristics were stratified by height, weight, body
      mass index (BMI) and final prostate volume. Mean body characteristics were equal
      for all groups. The average time for the first group (70 cases) was 157.9 min,
      the second group 148.5 min and the third 135.0 min. Times were significantly
      shorter for the patients <72 in. in height in the first 70 cases (168 vs. 153
      min, P < 0.003). Cases were shorter in the first 70 for weight <200 lbs (142 vs.
      173 min, P < 0.001). Patients with a BMI of 25-30 had a significantly shorter
      time (153 min) than those <25 (163 min, P < 0.02) and those >30 (164 min, P <
      0.006). With regard to prostate volume, there was a significant shorter operative
      time for those patients with glands <60 g in the first group. Patients <72 in.,
      <200 lbs, with a BMI of between 25 and 30, and prostate size <60 g had
      significantly shorter operative times in the first 70 cases of a single surgeon's
      learning curve. 

PMID- 27638214
TI  - Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel
      sustainable development paradigm.
AB  - For half a century, the process of economic integration of the Amazon has been
      based on intensive use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, which has
      brought significant basin-wide environmental alterations. The rural development
      in the Amazonia pushed the agricultural frontier swiftly, resulting in widespread
      land-cover change, but agriculture in the Amazon has been of low productivity and
      unsustainable. The loss of biodiversity and continued deforestation will lead to
      high risks of irreversible change of its tropical forests. It has been
      established by modeling studies that the Amazon may have two "tipping points,"
      namely, temperature increase of 4  degrees C or deforestation exceeding 40% of
      the forest area. If transgressed, large-scale "savannization" of mostly southern
      and eastern Amazon may take place. The region has warmed about 1  degrees C over
      the last 60 y, and total deforestation is reaching 20% of the forested area. The
      recent significant reductions in deforestation-80% reduction in the Brazilian
      Amazon in the last decade-opens up opportunities for a novel sustainable
      development paradigm for the future of the Amazon. We argue for a new development
      paradigm-away from only attempting to reconcile maximizing conservation versus
      intensification of traditional agriculture and expansion of hydropower capacity
      in which we research, develop, and scale a high-tech innovation approach that
      sees the Amazon as a global public good of biological assets that can enable the
      creation of innovative high-value products, services, and platforms through
      combining advanced digital, biological, and material technologies of the Fourth
      Industrial Revolution in progress.

PMID- 27638218
TI  - Comparison of hospital charges between robotic, laparoscopic stapled, and
      laparoscopic handsewn Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
AB  - The feasibility and safety of laparoscopic and robotic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
      (RRYGB) have been established. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of robotic
      surgery we compared the hospital charges for robotic, laparoscopic stapled
      (SRYGB), and laparoscopic handsewn Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (HRYGB) at our
      institution. One hundred thirty-five consecutive patients undergoing Roux-en-Y
      gastric bypass at Stanford University Medical Center by handsewn, stapled or
      robotic techniques from 1 July 2005 to 31 December 2005 were evaluated. Medical
      records of these patients were retrospectively reviewed and the following
      variables were collected and analyzed: age, gender, body mass index (BMI), number
      of preoperative comorbidities, length of stay (LOS), operating and anesthesia
      times, postoperative complications, mortality, professional fees, and hospital
      and total charges. Twenty-one RRYGB, 78 SRYGB, and 36 HRYGB were performed during
      the study period. Comparison of the above three groups demonstrated no
      statistically significant differences in age, gender, BMI, number of preoperative
      comorbidities, LOS, operating and anesthesia times, postoperative complications,
      mortality or professional fees. Total charges were higher for RRYGB (US $77,820)
      when compared with SRYGB (US $66,153) but not when compared with HRYGB (US
      $68,814). RRYGB higher hospital charges resulted in higher total charges when
      compared with SRYGB and HRYGB. These differences do not reflect actual cost to
      the hospital. 

PMID- 27638219
TI  - Are there advantages to robotic-assisted surgery over laparoscopy from the
      surgeon's perspective?
AB  - The advantages of a robotic approach are often difficult to quantify for surgical
      procedures that can be performed laparoscopically. Using a novel subjective
      rating scale, this study demonstrates a methodology to measure surgeon assessment
      of ease of use, comparing complex operations performed robotically and
      laparoscopically. A subjective assessment scale for robotic surgery was developed
      that included 13 task-related factors assessing operative challenges and ease of
      use. As part of a larger study comparing outcomes of laparoscopic and robotic
      biliary-enteric anastomosis, a surgeon performing 20 choledochojejunal
      anastomoses in an ex vivo pig model completed this scale after each procedure.
      Ten anastomoses were performed laparoscopically and ten using da Vinci robot
      assistance. Overall difficulty was also assessed using a 10-cm visual analog
      scale. Robotic surgery was associated with superior ease to laparoscopy in 8 of
      the 13 factors, including image quality, depth perception, comfort, eye fatigue,
      dexterity, precision of motion, speed of motion, and range of motion. The visual
      analog scale also showed a significant benefit in overall ease of the robotic
      over laparoscopic procedure. Nonsignificant trends favoring robotics were seen
      with fluidity of motion and equipment setup. Based on these results this study
      suggest that surgeon ease of use may be quantified using this assessment scale
      and that robot assistance may be advantageous over laparoscopy when performing
      complex surgical tasks in an ex vivo model from the surgeon's perspective. 

PMID- 27638220
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty: outcomes reported by a centre with no
      previous laparoscopic experience.
AB  - Laparoscopic pyeloplasty (LP) has proved to be an effective minimally invasive
      treatment for ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO). However, its application
      is still limited by the challenge of the laparoscopic learning curve, which seems
      to be overcome by the recent introduction of robot assistance. The aim of this
      manuscript is to show our outcomes after the first robot-assisted laparoscopic
      pyeloplasties (RP) and critically evaluate the feasibility of this technique when
      performed by a surgical team without any previous laparoscopic experience.
      Between March 2005 and July 2008, 16 patients with UPJO underwent transperitoneal
      RPs. Before and after surgery patients were evaluated by ultrasonography,
      intravenous urography or retrograde pyelography, computed tomography (CT) scan,
      and/or diuretic renography. Mean follow-up was 16.8 months. The assessed outcomes
      were mean operative time (OT), mean estimated blood loss (EBL), mean length of
      hospital stay (LOS), success (SR), and complication rates (CR). OT, EBL, LOS, and
      SR were 202 min, 60 ml, 5.2 days, and 94%, respectively. Among the minor
      complications, two patients (12%) reported moderate abdominal pain while,
      concerning major complications, one patient (6%) developed ileus. Robot
      assistance was confirmed as a special tool for laparoscopic treatment of UPJO
      with excellent outcomes after a shorter learning curve. As shown by our results,
      the feasibility of RP may also be extended to naive surgeons who can approach
      this technique even in the absence of previous laparoscopic training, rapidly
      attaining results similar to those reported by both laparoscopically experienced
      and expert robotic surgeons. 

PMID- 27638221
TI  - The University of Chicago technique of complete intracorporeal pediatric robotic
      assisted laparoscopic augmentation ileocystoplasty and Mitrofanoff
      appendicovesicostomy.
AB  - We present the University of Chicago technique for complete intracorporeal
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic augmentation ileocystoplasty and Mitrofanoff
      appendicovesicostomy. The operative steps of the open procedure were replicated
      laparoscopically using robotic assistance. Initially, five transperitoneal
      laparoscopic ports are placed prior to docking the da Vinci S robotic system. A
      20 cm ileal segment is isolated, and the gastrointestinal anastomosis is
      performed in an end-to-end fashion using intracorporeal suturing. The appendix is
      anastomosed to the right posterior wall of the bladder over an 8F feeding tube in
      an extravesical fashion. Then, the bladder is incised in a coronal plane, and the
      simple detubularized ileal on-lay patch is anastomosed to the posterior and
      anterior walls of the bladder. A suprapubic catheter and pelvic drain are placed.
      Finally, the Mitrofanoff stoma is then fashioned. Cystography is done at 4 weeks
      postoperatively. This report suggests that robotic-assisted ileocystoplasty and
      appendicovesicostomy is feasible. A reasonable outcome with early recovery,
      resumption of normal activities, and excellent cosmesis can be achieved in select
      patients. A large case series, however, is necessary to determine whether a
      robotic-assisted approach provides any significant advantages over conventional
      open procedures. 

PMID- 27638222
TI  - Postoperative hemorrhage following robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy
      controlled with external penile compression.
AB  - We report a postoperative hemorrhage of the dorsal vein complex after
      transperitoneal robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy managed with external
      penile compression. Control of the dorsal vein required two sutures, and the
      estimated blood loss due to the procedure was 400 ml. Severe gross hematuria
      developed on postoperative day 2, but this quickly subsided with external
      compression at the base of the penis. Transfusions were required, but the patient
      refused re-exploration. A self-adherent bandage was applied circumferentially to
      the entire penis for 48 h. During this time there was no further hematuria, and
      the patient recovered uneventfully. 

PMID- 27638223
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty for the management of pelvi-ureteric
      junction obstruction in horseshoe kidneys: initial experience.
AB  - Minimally invasive dismembered pyeloplasty has become the gold-standard treatment
      for symptomatic pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) in recent years. A
      small proportion of patients with PUJO have horseshoe kidneys. We present two
      cases of robot-assisted pyeloplasty in horseshoe kidneys and describe the
      technical modifications for success in these cases. Two patients, aged 28 and 35
      years, were diagnosed with symptomatic PUJO in horseshoe kidneys. Both had a
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty using the da Vinci((r))
      surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). Three-dimensional
      computed tomography (CT) reconstructions were performed pre-operatively to plan
      surgery. The transperitoneal ports were placed more caudally than usual for
      improved access to the PUJ. The isthmus was not divided in either case. The
      procedures took 190 and 90 min, respectively, with minimal blood loss and no post
      operative complications. Patients were discharged on post-operative day 2
      following catheter and drain removal. Follow-up diuretic renograms showed no
      residual obstruction and patients were symptomatically better. Our initial
      experience suggests that RALP is a safe and feasible option for the treatment of
      PUJO in horseshoe kidneys with good short-term outcomes. These are challenging
      cases and robust pre-operative planning combined with technical modifications has
      been beneficial to our success. The enhanced suturing possible with the da
      Vinci((r)) surgical system facilitates these procedures. 

PMID- 27638224
TI  - Robotic correction of Ostling folds as a rare cause of ureteropelvic junction
      obstruction in children.
AB  - Ostling folds are considered to be normal variants of ureteral growth at a
      quicker rate than body lengthening and, therefore, have been reported to be of no
      clinical significance. We report a robotic correction of the first documented
      cases of Ostling folds causing a persistent ureteroplevic junction obstruction in
      children. 

PMID- 27638225
TI  - Well leg compartment syndrome after robotic prostatectomy: a word of caution.
AB  - Compartment syndrome of the lower extremity is a rare complication that can occur
      following prolonged surgery in the lithotomy position. We report the case of a 45
      year-old man who developed compartment syndrome in the post-operative period
      after radical robotic prostatectomy. Four-compartment fasciotomy helped prevent
      serious sequelae from the injury. Young males with a high body mass index
      undergoing prolonged surgery in the lithotomy position are particularly at risk
      for developing this complication. The early diagnosis and implementation of
      preventive measures will facilitate timely management. 

PMID- 27638226
TI  - Proceedings of the Fourth Annual World Robotic Urology Symposium: on-site report.

PMID- 27638227
TI  - Abstracts of 4th World Robotic Urology Symposium, Orlando, Florida, 6-8 April
      2009.

PMID- 27638228
TI  - Editorial overview: Probing environmental processes and microbiome functions
      using stable isotopes as smart tracers in analytical biotechnology.

PMID- 27638229
TI  - [Focus on placental transfusion for preterm neonates: Delayed cord clamping
      and/or milking?]
AB  - Anemia of prematurity remains a common complication despite recent advances in
      perinatal and neonatal medicine. The delayed cord clamping (at least 30seconds as
      recommended) has several benefits: increased hemoglobin and hematocrit levels at
      birth, improved initial hemodynamic, decreased incidence of transfusions and
      intraventricular hemorrhages. When the birth transition is difficult, wait
      30seconds before clamping can be impossible. So as not to interfere with the
      neonatal resuscitation, the "milking" has been proposed as an alternative method
      to the delayed cord clamping. This is a safe and easy method, which can be done
      either by an obstetrician or pediatrician with comparable results for the child
      on his hemodynamic, hematological and neurological status. It still lacks
      technical information on this method and neurodevelopmental outcomes of these
      preterm infants.

PMID- 27638230
TI  - [Pertussis: Where do we stand 10years after the introduction of cocooning
      vaccination strategy in France?]
AB  - The goals of this article are to review the pertussis cocooning strategy, which
      has been recommended in France since 2004 to protect infants not yet vaccinated
      from becoming infected by vaccinating their immediate entourage, and to present
      room for improvement. The analysis of the literature between 2004 and 2015 shows
      that pertussis vaccine coverage in new parents is lower than 50% and that
      attempts that have already been implemented to increase it are effective.
      Pertussis vaccine coverage improvement requires all health actors to collaborate
      and be trained in informing and motivating parents to get vaccinated before,
      during and after pregnancy (the parents then will act as relays to their
      relatives); generalization in maternity wards of systematic checking of the
      vaccination card; extension to the midwives of the right to prescribe and
      administer pertussis vaccine to spouses; vaccination facilitation in maternity
      wards with the support of health organizations. Exchange and sharing of
      experiences between health care professionals are essential. Pregnancy is the
      ideal period to promote pertussis vaccination.

PMID- 27638231
TI  - Opportunities for Integrated Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases That Affect
      the Skin.
AB  - Many neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect the skin, causing considerable
      disability, stigma, and exacerbation of poverty. However, there has been
      relatively little investment into laboratory research, epidemiology, diagnostic
      tools or management strategies to control tropical skin disease. Integration may
      advance the control of skin disease across a range of domains, including mapping,
      diagnosis, clinical management, and community control measures such as mass drug
      administration. Examples of successful integration strategies include programs
      targeting scabies, impetigo, yaws, and diseases causing lymphoedema. Future
      strategies should build on these experiences and the experience of integration of
      other NTDs, strengthen existing health systems, and contribute toward the
      attainment of Universal Health Coverage. Strong partnerships and political
      support and will be necessary to achieve these goals.

PMID- 27638232
TI  - Mechanisms and effects of public reporting of surgeon outcomes: A systematic
      review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Public reporting of surgeon outcomes has become a key strategy in the
      English NHS to ensure accountability and improve the quality of care. Much of the
      evidence that supported the design of the strategy originates from the USA. This
      report aims to assess how the evidence on public reporting could be harnessed for
      cross-country translation of this health system strategy; in particular, to gauge
      the expected results of the UK surgeon outcome initiative and to propose criteria
      that elucidate that prerequisites and factors that are needed to public reporting
      effective. METHODS: A systematic search of academic databases was followed by
      snowballing from the reference lists. Only peer-reviewed articles and primary
      studies were included. RESULTS: 25 studies from the USA (n=22) and the UK (n=3)
      were included. Suggestive evidence of a negative effect on access to surgery was
      found for high-risk patients and non-whites; one survey indicated presence of
      gaming. There was anecdotal evidence of quality improvement measures adopted by
      low-rated hospitals in New York. Most studies reported only on the effectiveness
      of public reporting, rather than addressing how effects accrue. This limits cross
      country transferability of policy lessons. Based on our analysis, we propose
      factors impacting on the transferability of the evidence underlying the public
      reporting of surgeon outcomes, which may inform the adoption of this strategy in
      other health systems. CONCLUSIONS: There is some evidence that public reporting
      can be an incentive for low performing surgeons to improve quality. Negative
      incentive on patient selection as suggested in the USA have not yet been observed
      in the UK.

PMID- 27638233
TI  - Progression of Renal Impairment and Chronic Kidney Disease in Chronic Heart
      Failure: An Analysis From GISSI-HF.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on the natural change in renal function in patients with chronic
      heart failure (HF) are limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: Estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (eGFR) was assessed over 36 months in 6934 patients included in
      the GISSI-HF study. Associations from baseline, changes in renal function, and
      occurrence of cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization were assessed. Mean age
      was 67 years, mainly men (78%), and mean eGFR was 68 mL * min-1 * 1.73 m-2.
      Change in eGFR in the 1st year was -1.5 +/- 16 mL * min-1 * 1.73 m-2, and over 36
      months it was -3.7 +/- 18 mL * min-1 * 1.73 m-2. Over the latter period, only 25%
      deteriorated >=1 Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiatives (KDOQI) class of
      chronic kidney disease (CKD). Fifteen percent of patients had >15 mL * min-1 *
      1.73 m-2 decrease in eGFR in the 1st 12 months. Lower eGFR was associated with
      outcome: hazard ratio (HR) 1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.10 (P <
      .001) per 10 mL * min-1 * 1.73 m-2 decrease, as well as every 10 mL * min-1 *
      1.73 m-2 decrease over the 1st year (HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.04-1.17; P < .001). A
      deterioration in eGFR >15 mL * min-1 * 1.73 m-2 in the 1st year showed the
      highest risk of events (HR 1.22, 95% CI 1.10-1.36; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Mean
      decrease in renal function over time in patients with chronic HF was modest. Only
      25% deteriorated >=1 KDOQI class of CKD after 3 years. Any decrease in eGFR over
      time was associated with strongly increased event rates.

PMID- 27638234
TI  - The Death of Balzac (1799-1850) and the Treatment of Heart Failure During the
      Nineteenth Century.
AB  - Overweight, workaholic, and a caffeine abuser, Honore de Balzac lived a life of
      excess. He prematurely died at the age of 51 owing to gangrene associated with
      congestive heart failure. Textual sources allow us to take a glimpse into his
      last 3 months of life. Because of ventricular hypertrophy, Balzac's respiratory
      conditions were appalling and he developed severe leg edemas and possibly stasis
      dermatitis. Here we report on Balzac's demise and provide first evidence of a
      pioneering medical treatment applied to save his life: the use of a trocar to
      drain leg edema. Based on the empirical observation of the benefits derived from
      an accidental leg drainage, Balzac's physicians anticipated the invention of the
      "Southey tube", whose use evolved in the following century to treat obstinate
      edema in heart failure patients. Unfortunately, following the daily maneuvers for
      trocar insertion and in the absence of adequate disinfection measures and
      antibiotics, bacteria infected the open wound and gave rise to the gangrene,
      which caused the writer to die within 24 hours of its onset.

PMID- 27638235
TI  - The Reference Intervals for Serum C-Terminal Agrin Fragment in Healthy
      Individuals and as a Biomarker for Renal Function in Kidney Transplant
      Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: C-terminal agrin fragment (CAF) has been shown to be a promising new
      biomarker for kidney function. The aim of this study was to verify the reference
      intervals for CAF in Chinese healthy adults and to assess the efficiency of CAF
      for monitoring renal function after transplantation. METHODS: Serum samples were
      collected from 200 healthy adult subjects and 60 living donor kidney recipients
      before and on day 1, day 2 and at 6 months after transplantation. We measured
      serum CAF, creatinine, cystatin C and NGAL concentrations at each time. Estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was evaluated by Chronic Kidney Disease
      Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation. Reference intervals for CAF were
      determined at 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles. RESULTS: Serum CAF concentrations
      were observed to be higher in females of old age groups while no significant
      differences were discovered in males between age groups. There were significant
      gender-related differences in CAF in old age groups (50-64 and >=65 years). Serum
      CAF correlated positively with serum creatinine, cystatin C and negatively with
      eGFR on day 1, day 2 and at 6 months after kidney transplantation. CAF and NGAL
      fell rapidly into the normal range on the second postoperative day, prior to
      creatinine and cystatin C. CONCLUSIONS: This study verified the reference
      intervals for serum CAF. CAF could be a potential new biomarker for kidney
      function monitoring.

PMID- 27638236
TI  - Abnormal Ventricular and Aortic Wall Properties Can Cause Inconsistencies in
      Grading Aortic Regurgitation Severity: A Computer Simulation Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assessment of aortic regurgitation (AR) severity is often based on
      Doppler echocardiographic imaging. Hemodynamic responses to AR are influenced by
      the interplay among cardiovascular properties, including left ventricular (LV)
      and aortic tissue properties, that cannot be measured directly. The aim of this
      study was to investigate how both echocardiographic measures of AR severity and
      the hemodynamic consequences of AR are influenced by LV and aortic stiffness.
      METHODS: AR was simulated using the CircAdapt computational model of the human
      cardiovascular system. Simulations were performed with normal LV and aortic
      stiffness, high LV stiffness, high aortic stiffness, and high LV and aortic
      stiffness. For each configuration of levels of stiffness, four AR severity grades
      were simulated by setting the effective regurgitant orifice area (ROA) of the
      aortic valve at 0, 0.05, 0.25, and 0.6 cm2, representing no, mild, moderate, and
      severe AR, respectively. The regurgitant volume, regurgitant fraction (RF), and
      pressure half-time (PHT) were computed for each simulation giving an AR severity
      score (mild, moderate, or severe). Mean left atrial pressure was also calculated.
      RESULTS: Increasing ROA resulted in faster decay of diastolic flow velocity and
      larger regurgitant blood flow across the aortic valve. This caused shorter PHT
      and larger regurgitant volume and RF, all indicating higher AR severity.
      Increasing aortic stiffness resulted in a larger decline in diastolic aortic
      pressure, whereas increasing LV stiffness resulted in a larger rise in diastolic
      LV pressure. Hence, increasing LV and/or aortic stiffness led to faster decay of
      the transvalvular pressure gradient and, therefore, to faster decay of diastolic
      flow velocity across the aortic valve compared with normal stiffness with the
      same ROA. This faster decay led, on one hand, to a shorter PHT, indicating higher
      severity scores, and, on the other hand, to a lower RF, as less regurgitant blood
      volume traveled into the left ventricle, indicating lower severity scores. AR
      severity scores reflected mean left atrial pressure poorly when variations in
      tissue properties were present. CONCLUSIONS: Simulating altered AR hemodynamics
      caused by variations in cardiovascular tissue properties led to inconsistent
      severity scores when evaluating the severity using RF, regurgitant volume, and
      PHT. In this situation, pulmonary congestion is poorly reflected by AR severity
      as quantified by ROA, RF, and PHT. Cardiac and aortic tissue properties should
      therefore be taken into account to improve clinical assessment of AR severity.

PMID- 27638237
TI  - Challenges in Interpreting Deformation Values by Two-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking
      Echocardiography in Preterm and Term Infants.

PMID- 27638239
TI  - Violence, health, and the 2030 agenda: Merging evidence and implementation.
AB  - The Guest Editors introduce the Special Issue for the Journal of Public Health
      Policy on violence, health, and the 2030 Agenda. Emphasizing the importance of
      collaboration between scholars and practitioners, they outline the process of
      jointly imagining and designing the next generation of violence prevention
      strategies. They include representative works of members of the World Health
      Organization (WHO) Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), including the World Bank,
      the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prevention
      Institute, the Danish Institute Against Torture, the University of Cambridge
      Institute of Criminology, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
      Gender Violence and Health Centre, and the Yale University Law and Psychiatry
      Division, among others. 

PMID- 27638238
TI  - Physiologic Determinants of Left Atrial Longitudinal Strain: A Two-Dimensional
      Speckle-Tracking and Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Study in Healthy
      Volunteers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left atrial (LA) longitudinal strain (LS) using two-dimensional
      speckle-tracking echocardiography has emerged as an important diagnostic and
      prognostic parameter in various cardiovascular conditions. However, its reference
      values, their correlations with demographics characteristics, and its physiologic
      determinants remain to be established. METHODS: Accordingly, 171 healthy
      volunteers (mean age, 45 +/- 12 years; 61% women) in whom LS was obtained from
      both apical four- and two-chamber dedicated views of the left atrium, considering
      the P-P interval on the electrocardiogram as the reference cardiac cycle, were
      prospectively studied. From the LA LS curve we measured the extent of the
      negative deflection (LSneg), representing LA active contraction, the positive
      deflection (LSpos) during LA filling, and total LS (LStot), as the sum of LSneg
      and LSpos values. RESULTS: Average values for biplane LA LSpos, LSneg, and LStot
      were 19.7%, -14.5%, and 33.3%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, age, left
      ventricular (LV) global LS and volume, and LV diastolic function were the main
      physiologic determinants of LA LSpos (R2 = 0.57) and LStot (R2 = 0.40), whereas
      systolic blood pressure, E/A ratio, global LS, and LV stroke volume were the main
      determinants of LA LSneg (R2 = 0.20). Women had higher LSpos and LStot than men,
      particularly before 50 years of age. LA LSpos and LStot decreased with aging,
      with different trends in men and women. CONCLUSIONS: LA LS values are different
      in men and women and should be interpreted taking into account patient age and LV
      function as well. These reference values may help identify subclinical LA
      dysfunction in several cardiovascular or systemic conditions.

PMID- 27638240
TI  - Transforming Our World: Implementing the 2030 Agenda Through Sustainable
      Development Goal Indicators.
AB  - The United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes violence
      as a threat to sustainability. To serve as a context, we provide an overview of
      the Sustainable Development Goals as they relate to violence prevention by
      including a summary of key documents informing violence prevention efforts by the
      World Health Organization (WHO) and Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) partners.
      After consultation with the United Nations (UN) Inter-Agency Expert Group on
      Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG), we select specific targets
      and indicators, featuring them in a summary table. Using the diverse expertise of
      the authors, we assign attributes that characterize the focus and nature of these
      indicators. We hope that this will serve as a preliminary framework for
      understanding these accountability metrics. We include a brief analysis of the
      target indicators and how they relate to promising practices in violence
      prevention. 

PMID- 27638241
TI  - Healing invisible wounds and rebuilding livelihoods: Emerging lessons for
      combining livelihood and psychosocial support in fragile and conflict-affected
      settings.
AB  - Populations living in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCS) endure serious
      hardship, often including witnessing or having direct exposure to violence. These
      experiences adversely affect the mind, body, and spirit, and diminish the
      capacity of individuals and communities to take full advantage of economic
      empowerment opportunities. A small but growing number of programs have begun to
      combine psychosocial support with livelihood support in FCS, with some promising
      indication that this combination can enhance project outcomes. This paper
      assesses evidence to generate a 'hypothesis of change' that combining
      psychosocial with livelihood support can improve development outcomes in FCS. We
      reviewed evaluations of three categories of programs: (i) those that provide
      psychosocial support and assess impact on economic empowerment, (ii) those that
      provide livelihood support and assess impact on psychosocial well-being, and
      (iii) those that combine both types of support and assess impact on one or both
      outcomes. 

PMID- 27638242
TI  - THRIVES: Using the best evidence to prevent violence against children.
AB  - More than 1 billion children - half the children in the world - are victims of
      violence every year. As part of the Post-2015 sustainable development agenda, the
      UN has issued a global call-to-action: to eliminate violence against children.
      Essential to preventing violence against children is guidance to countries on
      using the best available evidence to address this problem. THRIVES provides this
      evidence. It represents a framework of complementary strategies that, taken
      together, have potential to achieve and sustain efforts to prevent violence
      against children. These strategies, which span health, social services,
      education, and justice sectors, include Training in parenting, Household economic
      strengthening, Reduced violence through legislative protection, Improved
      services, Values and norms that protect children, Education and life skills, and
      Surveillance and evaluation. For each THRIVES area, we review evidence for
      effectiveness and identify programmatic or policy examples. This framework will
      facilitate commitments to effective, sustainable, and scalable action. 

PMID- 27638243
TI  - Achieving population-level violence declines: implications of the international
      crime drop for prevention programming.
AB  - The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations for the
      period 2016-2030 aim to achieve a substantial reduction of interpersonal
      violence. An increasing body of evidence of what works, emerging from randomized
      controlled trials, can inform public health policy decisions. However, there is
      very limited evidence on the kinds of mechanisms that lead to sustained declines
      in interpersonal violence at the population level. We discuss the implications of
      what is known about recent major declines in violence to guide violence-reduction
      policies. 

PMID- 27638244
TI  - Communities are not all created equal: Strategies to prevent violence affecting
      youth in the United States.
AB  - We describe violence in the United States (US) and solutions the Urban Networks
      to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) Initiative has developed, led by Prevention
      Institute, a US non-governmental organization (NGO) and authors of this article,
      with initial funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
      (CDC). Safety distribution across populations is unequal, while public health
      research has identified aspects of community environments that affect the
      likelihood of violence, or risk and resilience factors. An overwhelming number of
      risk factors have accumulated in some US communities, disproportionately
      impacting young people of color. US policies, systems, and institutions
      powerfully shape how and where these factors manifest. Violence is preventable,
      not inevitable. We argue that comprehensive strategies for improving community
      environments can reduce violence and promote health equity. We present lessons,
      tools, and frameworks that UNITY cities use to adapt for international
      application, including multi-sector collaboration, strategies for influencing
      policy and legislation, and strengthening local violence prevention efforts. 

PMID- 27638245
TI  - Rigged or rigorous? Partnerships for research and evaluation of complex social
      problems: Lessons from the field of violence against women and girls.
AB  - There is growing demand for robust evidence to address complex social phenomena
      such as violence against women and girls (VAWG). Research partnerships between
      scientists and non-governmental or international organizations (NGO/IO) are
      increasingly popular, but can pose challenges, including concerns about potential
      conflicts of interest. Drawing on our experience collaborating on VAWG research,
      we describe challenges and contributions that NGO/IO and academic partners can
      make at different stages of the research process and the effects that
      collaborations can have on scientific inquiry. Partners may struggle with
      differing priorities and misunderstandings about roles, limitations, and
      intentions. Benefits of partnerships include a shared vision of study goals,
      differing and complementary expertise, mutual respect, and a history of
      constructive collaboration. Our experience suggests that when investigating multi
      faceted social problems, instead of 'rigging' study results, research
      collaborations can strengthen scientific rigor and offer the greatest potential
      for impact in the communities we seek to serve. 

PMID- 27638246
TI  - A culture gap in the United States: Implications for policy on limiting access to
      firearms for suicidal persons.
AB  - Suicide is a critical public health problem worldwide. In the United States (US),
      firearm ownership is common, and firearms account for the majority of deaths by
      suicide. While suicide prevention strategies may include limiting access to
      firearms, the contentious nature of gun regulations in the US, particularly among
      members of rural communities, often gives rise to constitutional concerns and
      political polarization that could inhibit suicidal persons from seeking the help
      they need. We examine potential outcomes of public health strategies in the US
      that encourage limiting access to firearms for populations who both value firearm
      ownership and are vulnerable to suicide. Based on preliminary results from a
      firearm safety study, we argue that attempts to limit access to firearms among
      those at risk of suicide will only succeed when the most affected cultural groups
      are engaged in collaborative discussions. 

PMID- 27638247
TI  - The anthropology of violence: Context, consequences, conflict resolution,
      healing, and peace-building in Central and Southern Africa.
AB  - This study, with a focus on Central and Southern Africa, offers an overview of
      best practices and theoretical debates in the anthropology of violence, including
      the ethnography of situations where violence is pervasive and active efforts are
      made to deal with it. Although the multiple sites of recent violence in this
      region are unique in their scale, intensity, and cause, the literature review
      suggests a typical course of events of patterns of violence and trauma,
      construction of memory, efforts at mediation and healing, or persisting conflict
      and confronting the aftermath of violence at home or in exile. The essay suggests
      that political reconciliation, healing, ritualized memory, and restoration of
      justice often accompany, singly or in combination, a break in the cycle of
      violence. Ethnography and anthropological analysis offers tools for policy
      makers, therapists, and leaders to deal with the consequences of violence. 

PMID- 27638248
TI  - A case for studying country regimes in the public health model of violence.
AB  - Many national and international institutions advocate approaching violence as a
      problem in public health and preventive medicine, in a manner similar to the way
      we address other disabling and life-threatening pathologies such as cancer,
      diabetes, and heart disease. Prevention by a health model requires an ecological
      perspective. Previous work has found evidence that economic factors, including
      unemployment and relative poverty, as well as political culture and values, may
      affect violent death rates, including homicide and suicide. Nevertheless, wider
      political analyses of the effects that different regimes have on these variables
      have been notably absent, for understandable reasons given the sheer complexity
      of patterns of governance throughout the world. In view of the importance and
      scale of the problem, and implications of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for
      Sustainable Development, we feel it is nevertheless important to bring regime
      types into the conversation of factors that can influence violent death. 

PMID- 27638251
TI  - Issue Highlights - September 2016.

PMID- 27638250
TI  - Kidney transplant recipients after nonrenal solid organ transplantation show low
      alloreactivity but an increased risk of infection.
AB  - The number of kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) after nonrenal solid organ
      transplantation (SOT) has increased to almost 5%. Knowledge on patient and
      allograft outcomes, infections, and alloreactivity, however, remains scarce. We
      studied 40 KTRs after nonrenal SOT. Seven hundred and twenty primary KTRs and 119
      repeat KTRs were used for comparison. Samples were collected pretransplantation,
      at +1, +2, and +3 months post-transplantation. Alloreactive and CMV-specific T
      cells were measured by interferon-gamma ELISPOT assay. Patient survival in KTRs
      after SOT, primary and repeat KTRs was comparable. While death-censored allograft
      survival was comparable between KTRs after SOT and primary KTRs, KTRs after SOT
      showed superior 5-year death-censored allograft survival of 92.5% compared to
      81.2% in repeat KTRs. Interestingly, KTRs after SOT show less preformed panel
      reactive antibodies, frequencies of alloreactive T cells, and acute rejections
      compared to repeat KTRs. KTRs after SOT, however, show higher incidences of EBV
      viremia and PTLD, sepsis, and death from sepsis. Impaired CMV-specific cellular
      immunity was associated with more CMV replication compared to repeat KTRs. Our
      results suggest comparable patient and allograft outcomes in KTRs after SOT and
      primary KTRs. The observed low alloreactivity may contribute to excellent
      allograft outcomes. Caution should be taken in KTRs after SOT regarding
      infectious complications due to overimmunosuppression.

PMID- 27638252
TI  - Streptococcus pyogenes as the cause of vulvovaginitis and balanitis in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus) is the etiological
      agent of perineal infection in children, consisting of perianal infection,
      vulvovaginitis and balanitis. If it is not properly diagnosed and treated, it can
      persist for many months and can cause severe complications. Furthermore,
      treatment with penicillin can be followed by failures and recurrences. METHODS:
      We report here the prevalence of S. pyogenes isolates in genital tract specimens
      from girls (n = 1692) with symptoms of vulvovaginitis and from boys (n = 52) with
      balanitis in the municipality of Nis, Southeast-Serbia (the Western Balkans) in a
      10 year period, and the seasonal distribution, patient age and sensitivity to
      bacitracin and antimicrobial drugs used in the treatment of streptococcal
      infection. RESULTS: Streptococcal vulvovaginitis was diagnosed in 2.30% of
      examinees. Of those cases, 64.10% were detected from April to September, and it
      was most common (71.79%) in girls aged 3-7 years. Streptococcal balanitis was
      diagnosed in two instances: in a 4-year-old boy and in a 7-year-old boy. S.
      pyogenes strains resistant to bacitracin were identified in five girls. Two
      isolates with M phenotype and five isolates with cMLSB phenotype were identified.
      CONCLUSIONS: Streptococcal vulvovaginitis was diagnosed less often in the present
      study, but it was still far more common than streptococcal balanitis in
      childhood. Bacitracin resistance of S. pyogenes strains should be taken into
      account in routine microbiological identification, and the detection of S.
      pyogenes isolates resistant to erythromycin requires surveillance in the present
      geographical territory.

PMID- 27638249
TI  - Pangenome and Phylogenomic Analysis of the Pathogenic Actinobacterium Rhodococcus
      equi.
AB  - We report a comparative study of 29 representative genomes of the animal pathogen
      Rhodococcus equi The analyses showed that R. equi is genetically homogeneous and
      clonal, with a large core genome accounting for ~80% of an isolates' gene
      content. An open pangenome, even distribution of accessory genes among the
      isolates, and absence of significant core-genome recombination, indicated that
      gene gain/loss is a main driver of R. equi genome evolution. Traits previously
      predicted to be important in R. equi physiology, virulence and niche adaptation
      were part of the core genome. This included the lack of a
      phosphoenolpyruvate:carbohydrate transport system (PTS), unique among the
      rhodococci except for the closely related Rhodococcus defluvii, reflecting
      selective PTS gene loss in the R. equi-R. defluvii sublineage. Thought to be
      asaccharolytic, rbsCB and glcP non-PTS sugar permease homologues were identified
      in the core genome and, albeit inefficiently, R. equi utilized their putative
      substrates, ribose and (irregularly) glucose. There was no correlation between R.
      equi whole-genome phylogeny and host or geographical source, with evidence of
      global spread of genomovars. The distribution of host-associated virulence
      plasmid types was consistent with the exchange of the plasmids (and corresponding
      host shifts) across the R. equi population, and human infection being
      zoonotically acquired. Phylogenomic analyses demonstrated that R. equi occupies a
      central position in the Rhodococcus phylogeny, not supporting the recently
      proposed transfer of the species to a new genus.

PMID- 27638254
TI  - Prediction of fat globule particle size in homogenized milk using Fourier
      transform mid-infrared spectra.
AB  - Our objective was to develop partial least square models using data from Fourier
      transform mid-infrared (MIR) spectra to predict the particle size distributions
      d(0.5) and d(0.9), surface volume mean diameter D[3,2], and volume moment mean
      diameter D[4,3] of milk fat globules and validate the models. The goal of the
      study was to produce a method built into the MIR milk analyzer that could be used
      to warn the instrument operator that the homogenizer is near failure and needs to
      be replaced to ensure quality of results. Five homogenizers with different
      homogenization efficiency were used to homogenize pasteurized modified
      unhomogenized milks and farm raw bulk milks. Homogenized milks were collected
      from the homogenizer outlet and then run through an MIR milk analyzer without an
      in-line homogenizer to collect a MIR spectrum. A separate portion of each
      homogenized milk was analyzed with a laser light-scattering particle size
      analyzer to obtain reference values. The study was replicated 3 times with 3
      independent sets of modified milks and bulk tank farm milks. Validation of the
      models was done with a set of 34 milks that were not used in the model
      development. Partial least square regression models were developed and validated
      for predicting the following milk fat globule particle size distribution
      parameters from MIR spectra: d(0.5) and d(0.9), surface volume mean diameter
      D[3,2], and volume moment mean diameter D[4,3]. The basis for the ability to
      model particle size distribution of milk fat emulsions was hypothesized to be the
      result of the partial least square modeling detecting absorbance shifts in MIR
      spectra of milk fat due to the Christiansen effect. The independent sample
      validation of particle size prediction methods found more variation in d(0.9) and
      D[4,3] predictions than the d(0.5) and D[3,2] predictions relative to laser light
      scattering reference values, and this may be due to variation in particle size
      among different pump strokes. The accuracy of the d(0.9) prediction for routine
      quality assurance, to determine if a homogenizer within an MIR milk analyzer was
      near the failure level [i.e., d(0.9) >1.7um] and needed to be replaced, is fit
      for-purpose. The daily average particle size performance [i.e., d(0.9)] of a
      homogenizer based on the mean for the day could be used for monitoring
      homogenizer performance.

PMID- 27638255
TI  - Effect of dried nut fortification on functional, physicochemical, textural, and
      microbiological properties of yogurt.
AB  - In this study, walnut, hazelnut, almond, or pistachio were incorporated to
      produce functional yogurts. The effects on physicochemical and instrumental
      textural characteristics and syneresis, contents of folic acid, selenium,
      tocopherols, and n-3 and n-6 (omega) fatty acids, and viable counts of
      Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus were evaluated during
      storage. Fortified yogurts demonstrated higher protein and total solid contents
      and lower syneresis compared with control yogurt on d 21. Addition of nuts,
      except walnut, also increased S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus counts. The
      concentrations of folic acid, alpha-tocopherol, selenium, and n-3 and n-6 fatty
      acids were higher in fortified yogurts compared with the levels found in the
      respective nut types. However, a decreasing trend was observed in all components
      during storage. Consequently, each nut could be incorporated into yogurt because
      of a specific functional property. For instance, walnut could be preferred for
      omega acid enrichment.

PMID- 27638253
TI  - Persistent Cytomegalovirus Infection in Amniotic Membranes of the Human Placenta.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading viral cause of birth defects,
      including microcephaly, neurological deficits, hearing impairment, and vision
      loss. We previously reported that epithelial cells in amniotic membranes of
      placentas from newborns with intrauterine growth restriction and underlying
      congenital HCMV infection contain viral proteins in cytoplasmic vesicles. Herein,
      we immunostained amniotic membranes from 51 placentas from symptomatic and
      asymptomatic congenital infection with HCMV DNA in amniotic fluid and/or newborn
      saliva, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm deliveries, and controls. We
      consistently observed HCMV proteins in amniotic epithelial cells (AmEpCs) from
      infected placentas, sometimes with aberrant morphology. Primary AmEpCs isolated
      from mid-gestation placentas infected with pathogenic VR1814 proliferated and
      released infectious progeny for weeks, producing higher virus titers than late
      gestation cells that varied by donor. In contrast to intact virion assembly
      compartments in differentiated retinal pigment epithelial cells, infected AmEpCs
      made dispersed multivesicular bodies. Primary AmEpCs and explants of
      amniochorionic membranes from mid-gestation placentas formed foci of infection,
      and interferon-beta production was prolonged. Infected AmEpCs up-regulated anti
      apoptotic proteins survivin and Bcl-xL by mechanisms dependent and independent of
      the activated STAT3. Amniotic membranes naturally expressed both survivin and Bcl
      xL, indicating that fetal membranes could foster persistent viral infection. Our
      results suggest strengthening innate immune responses and reducing viral
      functions could suppress HCMV infection in the fetal compartment.

PMID- 27638256
TI  - Short communication: In vivo screening platform for bacteriocins using
      Caenorhabditis elegans to control mastitis-causing pathogens.
AB  - This study aimed to develop an in vivo screening platform using Caenorhabditis
      elegans to identify a novel bacteriocin for controlling the mastitis-causing
      pathogen Staphylococcus aureus strain RF122 in dairy cows. Using Bacillus spp.
      isolated from traditional Korean foods, we developed a direct in vivo screening
      platform that uses 96-well plates and fluorescence image analysis. We identified
      a novel bacteriocin produced by Bacillus licheniformis strain 146 (lichenicin
      146) with a high in vivo antimicrobial activity using our liquid C. elegans
      Staph. aureus assay. We also determined the characteristics of lichenicin 146
      using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and confirmed that it shared
      homologous sequences with bacteriocin family proteins. In addition, RNA
      sequencing analysis revealed genes encoding cell surface or membrane proteins
      (SAB0993c, SAB0150, SAB0994c, and SAB2375c) that are involved in the bactericidal
      activity of lichenicin 146 against Staph. aureus strain RF122 infection as well
      as those encoding transcriptional regulators (SAB0844c and SAB0133). Thus, our
      direct in vivo screening platform facilitates simple, convenient, cost-effective,
      and reliable screening of potential antimicrobial compounds with applications in
      the dairy field.

PMID- 27638257
TI  - Characteristics of dairy cows with a greater or lower risk of subacute ruminal
      acidosis: Volatile fatty acid absorption, rumen digestion, and expression of
      genes in rumen epithelial cells.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine whether lactating dairy cows with a
      greater or lower risk of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) have differences in
      volatile fatty acid (VFA) absorption rate, expression of genes involved in VFA
      metabolism and intracellular pH regulation in rumen epithelial cells, and in situ
      carbohydrate digestibility in the rumen. We fed 14 ruminally cannulated mid
      lactating dairy cows (119+/-47.2d in milk; body weight 640+/-47.9kg) a high-grain
      diet consisting of 30% forage ad libitum, with an 18-d diet adaptation and a 7-d
      sample and data collection period. Eight cows with the lowest acidosis index
      [area below pH 5.8 normalized for dry matter intake (DMI); 0.10+/-0.16 pH *
      min/kg of DMI] and 5 with the highest acidosis index (3.72+/-0.19 pH * min/kg of
      DMI) were classified as animals with lower risk (LS) and higher risk (HS) of
      SARA, respectively. Minimum (5.75 vs. 5.33) and mean rumen pH (6.33 vs. 5.98)
      were higher for LS than for HS cows. In addition, the duration and area of rumen
      pH below 5.8 was lower in LS cows (24.9 vs. 481min/d; 2.94 vs. 102 pH * min/d).
      Although DMI, milk yield, and milk component yields did not differ, milk fat
      concentration tended to be higher for LS cows than for HS cows (3.36 vs. 2.93%).
      However, we observed no difference in VFA absorption rate between LS and HS cows.
      In situ starch and neutral detergent fiber digestibility were not different
      between LS and HS cows, but the relative mRNA abundance of lanosterol synthase
      (LSS) was higher for LS cows than for HS cows. In addition, the mRNA abundance of
      hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase 1 (HMGCS1) tended to be higher for LS cows
      than for HS cows. These results suggested that VFA absorption rate might not
      explain the difference in rumen pH between LS and HS cows in the current study,
      even though expression of some genes related to VFA metabolism in rumen
      epithelium may be associated with variation in the risk of SARA among lactating
      cows. This variation in the risk of SARA may not be attributed to differences in
      the capacity of rumen microbes to ferment carbohydrates, because in situ
      carbohydrate digestibility in the rumen was not different between cows with
      higher and lower risk of SARA.

PMID- 27638258
TI  - A randomized controlled trial of dexamethasone as an adjunctive therapy to
      propylene glycol for treatment of hyperketonemia in postpartum dairy cattle.
AB  - Treatment of hyperketonemia with oral propylene glycol has proven efficacy but
      the cure rate remains moderate. Dexamethasone has long been suggested as a
      treatment for hyperketonemia, even though evidence of its efficacy is
      contradictory. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate
      the effect of adding a single intramuscular injection of 20mg of dexamethasone to
      oral propylene glycol therapy for hyperketonemia [blood beta-hydroxybutyrate
      (BHB) >=1.2mmol/L]. All cows between 3 and 16d in milk on 4 dairy farms in New
      York State were tested once weekly for hyperketonemia using a handheld ketone
      meter. All enrolled animals received 312g (300mL) of propylene glycol orally once
      daily for 4d and either a single injection of dexamethasone or an equivalent
      volume of sterile saline. A total of 509 animals were enrolled, with 254 and 255
      in the placebo and dexamethasone groups, respectively. Treatment with
      dexamethasone decreased the odds of being hyperketonemic in the second week
      posttreatment; however, the odds of hyperketonemia in the first week
      posttreatment only decreased in those animals that were treated at a BHB blood
      concentration between 1.2 and 1.5mmol/L. For the 8% of cows with blood BHB
      >3.2mmol/L at enrollment, receiving dexamethasone increased the odds of being
      hyperketonemic the following week. We detected no difference between treatment
      groups in the odds of postpartum disease or in milk production. For cows with
      initial BHB of 1.2 to 1.5mmol/L, treatment with dexamethasone tended to reduce
      the odds of pregnancy at first insemination. Based on the small and conditional
      benefits of dexamethasone and a lack of difference in milk yield or disease
      incidence, we do not recommend the use of dexamethasone to treat hyperketonemia.

PMID- 27638259
TI  - Increasing palmitic acid intake enhances milk production and prevents glucose
      stimulated fatty acid disappearance without modifying systemic glucose tolerance
      in mid-lactation dairy cows.
AB  - Feeding saturated fatty acids may enhance milk yield in part by decreasing
      insulin sensitivity and shifting glucose utilization toward the mammary gland.
      Our objective was to evaluate the effects of palmitic acid (C16:0) on milk
      production and insulin sensitivity in cows. Twenty multiparous mid-lactation
      Holstein cows were enrolled in a study consisting of a 5-d covariate, 49-d
      treatment, and 14-d posttreatment period. All cows received a common sorghum
      silage-based diet and were randomly assigned to a diet containing no supplemental
      fat (control; n=10; 138+/-45d in milk) or C16:0 at 4% of ration DM (PALM; 98%
      C16:0; n=10; 136+/-44d in milk). Blood and milk were collected at routine
      intervals. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests (300mg/kg of body weight) were
      performed at d -1, 24, and 49 relative to start of treatment. Data were analyzed
      as repeated measures using a mixed model with fixed effects of treatment and
      time, and milk yield served as a covariate. The PALM treatment increased milk
      yield by wk 7. Furthermore, PALM increased milk fat yield and energy-corrected
      milk at wk 3 and 7. Changes in milk production occurred in parallel with enhanced
      energy intake. Increased milk fat yield during PALM treatment was due to
      increased C16:0 and C16:1 incorporation; PALM had no effect on concentration of
      milk components, BW, or body condition score. Two weeks posttreatment, energy
      corrected milk and milk fat yield remained elevated in PALM-fed cows whereas
      yields of milk were similar between treatments. Increased milk fat yield after
      PALM treatment was due to increased de novo lipogenesis and uptake of preformed
      fatty acids. The basal concentration of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) in
      plasma increased by d 4, 6, and 8 of PALM treatment, a response not observed
      thereafter. Although PALM supplementation did not modify insulin, glucose, or
      triacylglycerol levels in plasma, total cholesterol in plasma was elevated by wk
      3. Estimated insulin sensitivity was lower during the first week of PALM
      treatment; however, glucose disposal following glucose tolerance tests was not
      modified. In contrast, C16:0 feeding reduced glucose-stimulated NEFA
      disappearance by wk 7. Results demonstrate that increasing dietary energy from
      C16:0 for 7wk improves milk yield and milk composition without modifying systemic
      glucose tolerance. Reduced glucose-stimulated NEFA disappearance with C16:0
      feeding and elevated circulating NEFA may reflect changes in adipose tissue
      insulin sensitivity.

PMID- 27638260
TI  - Intramammary immunization with ultraviolet-killed Escherichia coli shows partial
      protection against late gestation intramammary challenge with a homologous
      strain.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intramammary
      immunization with UV-killed Escherichia coli ECC-Z on prevention of intramammary
      colonization after a challenge with a dose of the homologous E. coli ECC-Z live
      bacteria. A total of 10 cows were included in a study to evaluate the efficacy of
      intramammary immunization. All 10 cows received an intramammary immunization of
      100 cfu of UV-killed E. coli ECC-Z bacteria into one hind quarter at the time of
      dry off. Approximately 2wk before the anticipated calving date, both hind
      quarters of all cows were challenged with 100 cfu of live E. coli ECC-Z bacteria.
      Five of the cows were vaccinated parenterally with a commercial J5 bacterin, and
      5 cows served as controls with no parenteral vaccination. The cows were then
      followed over time and infection risk, clinical scores, somatic cell count, and
      milk production were observed over time. The results of these 10 cows showed
      partial protection of intramammary immunization on the outcome of a subsequent
      homologous intramammary challenge. Immunization resulted in a lower probability
      of infection, a lower bacteria count, lower somatic cell counts and milk
      conductivity, a lower clinical mastitis score, and increased milk production
      compared with unimmunized control quarters. Once the analysis was corrected for
      immunization, parenteral J5 vaccination had no significant effect on any of the
      measured parameters. These results provide the first evidence that intramammary
      immunization may improve the outcome of an intramammary E. coli infection in late
      gestation and onset of mastitis immediately following parturition. Unlike
      systemic vaccination, which generally does not reduce the intramammary infection
      risk, the intramammary immunization did show a 5-times reduced odds of an
      established intramammary infection after challenge. Cytokine profiles indicated a
      local return of proinflammatory response after challenge as the data showed a
      more pronounced increase in in IFN-gamma with a subsequent negative feedback due
      to a spike in the level of IL-10 in immunized quarters relative to nonimmunized
      quarters. Although these results are preliminary and obtained on only 10 cows,
      the results provide insight into the biological benefits of triggering mucosal
      immunity in the mammary gland.

PMID- 27638261
TI  - Better postpartal performance in dairy cows supplemented with rumen-protected
      methionine compared with choline during the peripartal period.
AB  - The onset of lactation in dairy cows is characterized by high output of
      methylated compounds in milk when sources of methyl group are in short supply.
      Methionine and choline (CHOL) are key methyl donors and their availability during
      this time may be limiting for milk production, hepatic lipid metabolism, and
      immune function. Supplementing rumen-protected Met and CHOL may improve overall
      performance and health of transition cows. The objective of this study was to
      evaluate the effect of supplemental rumen-protected Met and CHOL on performance
      and health of transition cows. Eighty-one multiparous Holstein cows were used in
      a randomized, complete, unbalanced block design with 2*2 factorial arrangement of
      Met (Smartamine M, Adisseo NA, Alpharetta, GA) and CHOL (ReaShure, Balchem Inc.,
      New Hampton, NY) inclusion (with or without). Treatments (20 to 21 cows each)
      were control (CON), CON+Met (SMA), CON+CHOL (REA), and CON+Met+CHOL (MIX). From 
      50 to -21d before expected calving, all cows received the same diet (1.40Mcal of
      NEL/kg of DM) with no Met or CHOL. From -21d to calving, cows received the same
      close-up diet (1.52Mcal of NEL/kg of DM) and were assigned randomly to treatments
      (CON, SMA, REA, or MIX) supplied as top dresses. From calving to 30 DIM, cows
      were fed the same postpartal diet (1.71Mcal of NEL/kg of DM) and continued to
      receive the same treatments through 30 DIM. The Met supplementation was adjusted
      daily at 0.08% DM of diet and REA was supplemented at 60g/d. Incidence of
      clinical ketosis and retained placenta tended to be lower in Met-supplemented
      cows. Supplementation of Met (SMA, MIX) led to greater DMI compared with other
      treatments (CON, REA) in both close-up (14.3 vs. 13.2kg/d, SEM 0.3) and first 30d
      postpartum (19.2 vs. 17.2kg/d, SEM 0.6). Cows supplemented with Met (SMA, MIX)
      had greater yields of milk (44.2 vs. 40.4kg/d, SEM 1.2), ECM (44.6 vs. 40.5kg/d,
      SEM 1.0), and FCM (44.6 vs. 40.8kg/d, SEM 1.0) compared with other (CON, REA)
      treatments. Milk fat content did not differ in response to Met or CHOL. However,
      milk protein content was greater in Met-supplemented (3.32% vs. 3.14%, SEM 0.04%)
      but not CHOL-supplemented (3.27 vs. 3.19%, SEM 0.04%) cows. Supplemental CHOL led
      to greater blood glucose and insulin concentrations with lower glucose:insulin
      ratio. No Met or CHOL effects were detected for blood fatty acids or BHB, but a
      Met * time effect was observed for fatty acids due to higher concentrations on d
      20. Results from the present study indicate that peripartal supplementation of
      rumen-protected Met but not CHOL has positive effects on cow performance.

PMID- 27638262
TI  - Palmitic acid feeding increases ceramide supply in association with increased
      milk yield, circulating nonesterified fatty acids, and adipose tissue
      responsiveness to a glucose challenge.
AB  - Reduced insulin action is a key adaptation that facilitates glucose partitioning
      to the mammary gland for milk synthesis and enhances adipose tissue lipolysis
      during early lactation. The progressive recovery of insulin sensitivity as cows
      advance toward late lactation is accompanied by reductions in circulating
      nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and milk yield. Because palmitic acid can
      promote insulin resistance in monogastrics through sphingolipid ceramide
      dependent mechanisms, palmitic acid (C16:0) feeding may enhance milk production
      by restoring homeorhetic responses. We hypothesized that feeding C16:0 to mid
      lactation cows would enhance ceramide supply and ceramide would be positively
      associated with milk yield. Twenty multiparous mid-lactation Holstein cows were
      enrolled in a study consisting of a 5-d covariate, 49-d treatment, and 14-d
      posttreatment period. All cows were randomly assigned to a sorghum silage-based
      diet containing no supplemental fat (control; n=10; 138+/-45 d in milk) or C16:0
      at 4% of ration dry matter (PALM; 98% C16:0; n=10; 136+/-44 d in milk). Blood and
      milk were collected at routine intervals. Liver and skeletal muscle tissue were
      biopsied at d 47 of treatment. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests (300mg/kg of
      body weight) were performed at d -1, 24, and 49 relative to start of treatment.
      The plasma and tissue concentrations of ceramide and glycosylated ceramide were
      determined using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.
      Data were analyzed as repeated measures using a mixed model with fixed effects of
      treatment and time, and milk yield served as a covariate. The PALM treatment
      increased milk yield, energy-corrected milk, and milk fat yield. The most
      abundant plasma and tissue sphingolipids detected were C24:0-ceramide, C24:0
      monohexosylceramide (GlcCer), and C16:0-lactosylceramide. Plasma concentrations
      of total ceramide and GlcCer decreased as lactation advanced, and ceramide and
      GlcCer were elevated in cows fed PALM. Palmitic acid feeding increased hepatic
      ceramide levels, a response not observed in skeletal muscle tissue. Plasma
      ceramides (e.g., C24:0-ceramide) were positively correlated with plasma NEFA and
      milk yield, and positively correlated with NEFA levels following a glucose
      challenge. Our data demonstrate a remodeled plasma and hepatic sphingolipidome in
      mid-lactation dairy cows fed PALM. The potential involvement in ceramide in
      homeorhetic nutrient partitioning to support lactation requires further
      consideration.

PMID- 27638263
TI  - Effect of transmembrane pressure control on energy efficiency during skim milk
      concentration by ultrafiltration at 10 and 50 degrees C.
AB  - The efficiency of the ultrafiltration process during skim milk concentration was
      studied using both dynamic and constant (465 or 672kPa) transmembrane pressure
      experiments at refrigerated temperature (10 degrees C) and high temperature (50
      degrees C). The pilot-scale module was equipped with a 10-kDa polyethersulfone
      spiral-wound membrane element with a surface area of 2.04m2. Permeation flux,
      resistance-in-series model, mineral and protein rejection, and energy consumption
      were studied as a function of temperature and transmembrane pressure applied.
      Higher permeation flux values were systematically obtained at 50 degrees C. Also,
      a significant temperature effect was found for calcium rejection, which was lower
      at 10 degrees C compared with 50 degrees C. Total hydraulic resistance and
      reversible fouling resistance were higher at 50 degrees C than at 10 degrees C.
      No change in protein rejection was observed, depending on the operating mode
      studied. Permeation flux, which was higher at 50 degrees C, had lower pumping
      energy consumption compared with ultrafiltration at the colder temperature. Also,
      the low ultrafiltration temperature required a higher total energy consumption to
      reach the 3.6* retentate compared with ultrafiltration at 50 degrees C. Overall,
      our study shows that the operating parameters and temperature can be optimized
      using an energy efficiency ratio.

PMID- 27638264
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase- and AmpC
      producing Escherichia coli in dairy farms.
AB  - A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of extended
      spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)- and plasmid-mediated AmpC-producing Escherichia
      coli and associated risk factors in dairy herds. One hundred dairy herds were
      randomly selected and sampled to study the presence of ESBL- and AmpC-producing
      E. coli in slurry samples. The sensitivity of testing slurry samples for
      ESBL/AmpC herd status is less than 100%, especially for detecting herds with a
      low ESBL/AmpC prevalence. Therefore, whereas herds that tested positive for
      ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli in slurry were defined as positive herds, herds with
      negative slurry samples were defined as unsuspected. Isolates of ESBL- and AmpC
      producing E. coli were further characterized by detection and typing of their
      ESBL/AmpC gene. At the initial sampling, a comprehensive questionnaire was
      conducted at the participating farms. The farmers were asked questions about
      management practices potentially associated with the ESBL/AMPC herd status. Also,
      data on antimicrobial purchases during 2011 were acquired to evaluate whether the
      animal-defined daily dose of antimicrobials per year at farm level was associated
      with the ESBL/AmpC herd status. Multivariable logistic regression models were
      used to determine the association between management practices and the ESBL/AmpC
      herd status. Six months after the initial slurry sampling, 10 positive herds and
      10 herds that had an unsuspected ESBL/AmpC herd status during the first visit
      were resampled. At each farm, slurry samples and feces from 24 individual cows
      were collected to evaluate within herd dynamics. During the first sampling,
      ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli were isolated from the slurry samples collected at
      41% of the herds. In total, 37 isolates were further characterized, revealing 7
      different ESBL genes (blaCTX-M-1, -2, -14, -15, -32, -55 and blaTEM-52), 1
      plasmid-encoded AmpC gene (blaCMY-2), and 1 chromosomally encoded ampC gene (ampC
      type 3). The total animal-defined daily dose of antimicrobials per year at farm
      level was not significantly different between ESBL/AmpC-positive and unsuspected
      dairy herds. The use of third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, however, was
      found to be associated with ESBL/AmpC status, with higher use of these
      antimicrobials resulting in a significant higher odds to be ESBL/AmpC-positive.
      Management factors that were associated with a higher odds of being ESBL/AmpC
      positive were treatment of all cases of clinical mastitis with antimicrobials, a
      higher proportion of calves treated with antimicrobials, not applying teat
      sealants in all cows at dry off, and the use of a floor scraper. This last
      association, however, was considered a methodological effect rather than a true
      risk factor. On 5 of the 10 initially positive farms, no ESBL/AmpC-producing E.
      coli were cultured from the slurry or any of the individual cow samples collected
      during the second sampling. In 4 of the initially unsuspected farms, slurry or
      individual cow samples tested positive during the second sampling. In conclusion,
      ESBL/AmpC could frequently be cultured from slurry samples collected from Dutch
      dairy farms and the ESBL/AmpC genes carried by the isolates were consistent with
      those reported earlier. The use of third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins
      appeared to be associated the ESBL/AmpC herd status.

PMID- 27638265
TI  - Effect of high-pressure processing of bovine colostrum on immunoglobulin G
      concentration, pathogens, viscosity, and transfer of passive immunity to calves.
AB  - This study aimed to determine the effects of high-pressure processing on the
      immunoglobulin concentration, microbial load, viscosity, and transfer of passive
      immunity to calves when applied to bovine colostrum as an alternative to thermal
      pasteurization. A pilot study using Staphylococcus aureus was conducted to
      determine which pressure-time treatments are most appropriate for use with bovine
      colostrum, with the goals of maximizing bacterial inactivation while minimizing
      IgG content and viscosity changes. Following the pilot study, an inoculation
      study was conducted in which first-milking colostrum samples from Holstein
      Friesian cows were inoculated with known concentrations of various bacteria or
      viruses and pressure processed at either 300 MPa for up to 60min or at 400MPa for
      up to 30min. The recovery of total native aerobic bacteria, Escherichia coli,
      Salmonella enterica ssp. enterica serovar Dublin, Mycobacterium avium ssp.
      paratuberculosis, bovine herpesvirus type 1, and feline calicivirus were
      determined after processing. Colostrum IgG content was measured before and after
      pressure processing. Shear stress and viscosity for each treatment was determined
      over shear rates encompassing those found during calf feeding and at normal
      bovine body temperature (37.8 degrees C). Following a calf trial, serum IgG
      concentration was measured in 14 calves fed 4 L of colostrum pressure processed
      at 400MPa for 15min. In the pilot study, S. aureus was effectively reduced with
      pressure treatment at 300 and 400MPa (0, 5, 10, 15, 30, and 45min), with 2
      treatments at 400MPa (30, 45min) determined to be inappropriate for use with
      bovine colostrum due to viscosity and IgG changes. High-pressure processing at
      300MPa (30, 45, and 60min) and 400MPa (10, 15, and 20min) was shown to
      effectively reduce total native aerobic bacteria, E. coli, Salmonella Dublin,
      bovine herpesvirus type 1, and feline calicivirus populations in bovine
      colostrum, but no decrease occurred in Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis.
      All inoculation study pressure treatments insignificantly decreased IgG content
      of colostrum. Treatment of colostrum at 400MPa for 15min during the calf trial
      decreased IgG content of colostrum. Treatment at 400MPa for 15min increased
      colostrum viscosity, with 2 of 14 samples requiring dilution with water for calf
      feeding. Calves fed pressure-processed colostrum had similar serum IgG but lower
      efficiency of absorption than calves fed heat-treated colostrum. The results of
      this study suggest that high-pressure processing of bovine colostrum maintains an
      acceptable IgG level while decreasing bacterial and viral counts. Changes in
      viscosity sometimes made calf feeding more difficult, but still feasible.
      Additional research to optimize this technology for on-farm use is necessary.

PMID- 27638267
TI  - Survey of reproduction management on Canadian dairy farms.
AB  - The objectives of this study were to (1) quantify current reproduction management
      practices, and (2) assess the association between these practices and herd
      reproductive performance on dairy farms in Canada. A bilingual survey was
      developed, validated, and administered from March to May 2014 to collect general
      and reproduction management and performance measures [annual 21-d pregnancy rate
      (PR), 21-d insemination rate (IR), and conception risk (CR)]. Associations
      between management practices and reproductive performance measures were tested
      using linear regression models. A total of 832 questionnaires were completed
      online and by mail, representing a response rate of 9%. On average, farms had 77
      lactating cows (median=50) and 13 dry cows (median=10), and Holstein was the most
      common breed (92% of herds). Lactating cow housing was tiestall on 61% of the
      farms, freestall on 37%, and bedded pack on 2%. The average voluntary waiting
      period was 58 d in milk (DIM). The main reproduction management practice per farm
      was defined as the means employed for >50% of inseminations. Farms reported their
      main reproduction management practice for first and subsequent inseminations,
      respectively, as visual estrus detection (51 and 44% of herds), timed AI (21 and
      23% of herds), automated activity monitoring (AAM; 10 and 10% of herds), other
      management practice (bulls; 2 and 2% of herds), and a combination of management
      practices (16 and 21% of herds). On farms using visual estrus detection, cows
      were observed for signs of estrus on average 3.5 times per day, for an average
      total of 36 min/d. The most common use of reproductive hormones was to
      synchronize ovulation using Ovsynch (58% of the farms). Average PR, IR, and CR
      were 17.6, 44.1, and 40.5%, respectively. In linear regression analyses adjusted
      for confounders, pregnancy rate was significantly associated with geographic
      region, housing (tiestall: PR=15.4%, freestall: PR=17.6%), herd size (<50
      lactating cows: PR=16.2%, 50-100 cows: PR=16.5%, >100 cows: PR=17.8%), voluntary
      waiting period (<=60 DIM: PR=17.6%, >60 DIM: PR=15.9%), and frequency of
      insemination per day (once daily: PR=16.6%, twice or more daily: PR=18.1%). The
      main reproduction management practice at first and subsequent inseminations was
      divergently associated with IR and CR, but not with PR (visual heat detection:
      PR=17.4%, timed AI: PR=18.4%, AAM: PR=17.1%, combined practices: PR=18.2%).

PMID- 27638266
TI  - Separation of milk fat globules via microfiltration: Effect of diafiltration
      media and opportunities for stream valorization.
AB  - Milk fat globule membranes (MFGM) sourced in buttermilk have gained recent
      interest given their nutritional value and functional properties. However,
      production of isolated MFGM has been challenging given their size similarity with
      casein micelles, which limits attempts toward fractionation by size exclusion
      techniques. Therefore, the hypothesis underpinning this study is that the removal
      of proteins from cream before butter-making facilitates MFGM isolation. As such,
      milk fat globules were separated from raw whole milk via microfiltration (1.4-um
      pore diameter and 0.005-m2 filtration surface area) by using 3 diafiltration
      media; namely, skim milk ultrafiltration permeate, saline, and water. Their
      effects on the stability of the milk fat globules and protein permeation was
      elucidated. Whereas a substantial reduction in protein concentration was achieved
      with all diafiltration media (~90% reduction), water and saline produced
      negligible membrane fouling with better filtration performance. Moreover,
      diafiltration with skim milk ultrafiltration permeate exhibited reduced permeate
      flux. Colloidal stability of the resultant milk decreased with all diafiltration
      solutions due to changing composition and reduced apparent viscosity. Overall,
      microfiltration was found to be an efficient method for separation of milk fat
      globules from whole milk, leading to increased MFGM fragment concentration in
      buttermilk dry matter, thus making it more suitable for industrial utilization.

PMID- 27638269
TI  - The "All-Inside" Arthroscopic Brostrom Procedure With Additional Suture Anchor
      Augmentation: A Prospective Study of 45 Consecutive Patients.
AB  - Lateral ankle sprains are a common injury that typically respond well to
      nonoperative therapy. When nonoperative therapy fails and patients develop
      chronic lateral ankle instability, they become candidates for surgical repair.
      The present study examined 45 consecutive patients (45 ankles) with chronic
      lateral ankle instability who underwent arthroscopic Brostrom repair using a
      double-row suture anchor construct. The 45 patients (27 females and 18 males)
      were followed up for a mean of 14 (range 12 to 20) months. The mean time to
      weightbearing with crutches was 3.3 (range 2 to 4) days, and full weightbearing
      was initiated at a mean of 14.4 (range 12 to 16) days. All patients participated
      in structured physical therapy, which was started at 21.6 (range 18 to 23) days.
      Patients were transitioned to regular shoe gear with a stirrup-style ankle brace
      at 28.7 (range 26 to 31) days. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society
      scale scores improved from an average preoperative score of 48.7 (range 45 to 55)
      to 95.4 (range 90 to 100) postoperatively. The average visual analog scale
      decreased from 8 (range 6 to 10) preoperatively to 0.6 (range 0 to 5)
      postoperatively at the last follow-up visit. The Karlsson-Peterson score
      postoperatively was 87 of 100. We have shown that patients with this new
      arthroscopic Brostrom technique modified with a proximal suture anchor can begin
      weightbearing earlier than previously reported, without adverse effects in terms
      of pain, functional outcomes scores, and clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27638268
TI  - Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery through a right mini-thoracotomy.
AB  - Since its introduction in the mid-1990s, minimally invasive mitral valve surgery
      (MIMVS) has been shown to be a feasible alternative to a conventional full
      sternotomy approach, and several studies have reported excellent clinical
      outcomes with low perioperative morbidity and mortality. As a result, MIMVS is
      being increasingly employed as a routine procedure worldwide. On the other hand,
      several issues have been raised, including complications specific to this
      technique and its steep learning curve, while there are also concerns regarding
      the durability of a mitral valve repair through a limited access. In this study,
      the current status and future perspectives of MIMVS were examined.

PMID- 27638271
TI  - Experimental evaluation of a novel steerable probe with a programmable bevel tip
      inspired by nature.
AB  - The ability to steer flexible needles and probes to access deep anatomical
      locations safely for medical diagnosis and treatment represents a current
      clinical and engineering research challenge. The behaviour of parasitic wasps has
      inspired the development of a novel steerable and flexible multi-part probe,
      which allows the control of its approach angle by adjusting the steering offset
      between probe segments, i.e. by means of a programmable bevel tip. This paper
      describes the experimental evaluation of several scaled-up proof-of-concept
      flexible probe prototypes to explore the effects of tip design (bevel-tip angle)
      and dimensions (outer diameter) on steering. For each prototype, a linear
      relationship between steering offset and curvature is confirmed. The effect of
      probe diameter and bevel-tip angle on steering performance is also analysed, with
      results confirming that larger bevel-tip angles and smaller probe diameters lead
      to larger curvature values, although improved steering comes at the price of a
      less stable insertion process. 

PMID- 27638272
TI  - Robotic-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy and staging for the treatment of
      endometrial cancer: a comparison with conventional laparoscopy and abdominal
      approaches.
AB  - The treatment of endometrial cancer using a minimally invasive approach provides
      benefits to the patient; however, there are currently few papers comparing
      robotic total laparoscopic hysterectomy with staging to conventional laparoscopic
      and abdominal approaches. Analyses of 102 consecutive patients undergoing robotic
      total hysterectomy were compared to historical cohorts of 104 patients undergoing
      laparoscopic total hysterectomy and 78 patients undergoing abdominal total
      hysterectomy (laparotomy). The majority of all patients were FIGO'88 stage IB.
      Patient characteristics were similar, except for lower age (P = 0.0236) and body
      mass index (P = 0.0134) in the laparoscopy group when compared to laparotomy.
      Operative time was longer for the robotic group at 108.7 min, compared to 79.4
      min for laparoscopy (P = 0.0207) and 84.0 min for laparotomy (P < 0.0001). Lymph
      node yield was significantly higher in the robotic group (16.0 nodes) when
      compared to both laparoscopy (5.0 nodes, P < 0.0001) and laparotomy (11.4 nodes,
      P = 0.0006). The perioperative complication rates were significantly decreased in
      both the robotic (10.8%) and laparoscopy (6.7%) groups when compared to
      laparotomy at 25.6% (P = 0.0089; P = 0.0002). Hospital stay was significantly
      reduced in both the robotic (1.9 days, P < 0.0001) and laparoscopic (1.8 days, P
      < 0.0001) groups when compared to laparotomy (4.1 days). Both minimally invasive
      approaches reduced morbidity. Robotic assistance resulted in improved lymph node
      yield. Robotic surgery for endometrial cancer is at least equivalent to
      laparoscopic and open techniques and may be the preferred method for treatment of
      endometrial cancer. 

PMID- 27638270
TI  - Current trends in minimally invasive reconstructive urology.
AB  - This paper is a systematic review of the current literature in minimally invasive
      reconstructive urological surgery. It focuses on the commonest reconstructive
      procedures in both the upper and lower urinary tracts including laparoscopic and
      robotic pyeloplasty for ureteropelvic junction obstruction, laparoscopic and
      robotic bladder diverticulectomy, laparoscopic and robotic partial cystectomy
      with urinary diversion, laparoscopic and robotic cystoplasty, repair of
      colovesical fistula, and, in urogynaecology, repair of vesicovaginal fistula. To
      evaluate the development, current status, feasibility, and safety of minimally
      invasive surgery (MIS) in reconstructive urology the literature on the topic was
      collated and reviewed. 

PMID- 27638273
TI  - Robotic adrenalectomy by an open surgeon: are outcomes different?
AB  - Our objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of robotic adrenalectomy by a
      traditional open surgeon using the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System and to
      analyze our outcomes. All patients who underwent robotic adrenalectomy by a
      single surgeon from July 2001 to April 2011 were included in the study. Vascular
      inflow control was obtained early on to facilitate dissection and handling of the
      adrenal gland. Forty adrenalectomies were performed during the study period in 39
      patients (15 males; 25 left sided; 1 bilateral). Four patients underwent
      conversion to complete the procedure. The mean tumor size was 6.97 +/- 2.4 cm.
      The mean operating room (OR) time was 117 +/- 50.4 min. Comparing the OR time
      between da Vinci and da Vinci S robotic systems showed that the OR time was
      significantly less (169 +/- 46 vs. 94.25 +/- 32 min; P = 0.002) while blood loss,
      length of stay, size and weight were not different. The mean length of stay was 3
      days. There were no mortalities in our study. Benign neoplasms formed a majority
      of the tumors removed. Robotic adrenalectomy is an option for surgeons without
      extensive training in advanced laparoscopic techniques provided they have
      adequate open experience. 

PMID- 27638274
TI  - Robotic-assisted Heller myotomy versus laparoscopic Heller myotomy for the
      treatment of esophageal achalasia: a case-control study.
AB  - Minimally invasive surgery has become the gold standard for the treatment of
      achalasia. The incorporation of robotic technology can improve many limitations
      of laparoscopic surgery, through, for example, the availability of three
      dimensional vision, increasing the degrees of movement, avoiding the fulcrum
      effect and optimizing ergonomics. The aim of this study was to compare robotic
      assisted laparoscopic Heller myotomy (RAHM) with laparoscopic Heller myotomy
      (LHM) in terms of efficacy and safety. Thirty-one patients with diagnosis of
      achalasia confirmed by esophagogram and manometry were included. Dysphagia and
      weight loss were the main complaints in both groups. 18 patients were treated
      with LHM and 13 patients with RAHM. There was no difference in mean operative
      time (76 +/- 13 vs. 79 +/- 20 min; P = 0.73). Intraoperative complications were
      less frequent in the robotic-assisted procedures (5.5% vs. 0%); however, this was
      a non-significant difference. 94.5-100% of patients had relief of their symptoms.
      We conclude that RAHM is a safe and effective procedure. The operative time is no
      longer than in LHM, but it is necessary to evaluate the technique in randomized
      clinical trials to determine its advantages in terms of intraoperative
      complications. 

PMID- 27638275
TI  - Robotic vasovasostomy: description of technique and review of initial results.
AB  - Vasovasostomy (VV) for iatrogenic infertility is commonly employed for patients
      with obstructive intervals of less than 15 years, with the microsurgical
      technique gaining favor over use of loupe magnification due to precision suture
      placement. We present our technique of a robot-assisted VV and compare surgical
      times of staff to resident. Twenty patients with iatrogenic infertility and
      obstructed intervals of less than 10 years underwent robot-assisted VV, 17
      utilizing a single-layer reapproximation and 3 using a double-layer
      reapproximation. Average patient age was 32.9 years. Following vasal exposure,
      the staff performed the robot-assisted anastomosis on one side followed by the
      resident on the opposite side. Reanastomosis times and semen analyses were
      recorded. Twenty patients underwent successful single- or double-layer robot
      assisted vasovasostomy. Mean console time for staff to complete the vasal
      reconstruction was 37.6 min compared to the resident time of 54 min. Mean total
      operative time for all procedures was 187 min (single-layer procedure averaged
      182 min compared to double-layer repair which averaged 238 min). Thirteen
      patients returned for follow-up semen analysis, with twelve patients
      demonstrating sperm within the ejaculate. Additionally, two patients reported
      pregnancies for a patency rate of 93%. Mean sperm density was 14 million/ml with
      motility of 26.4%. Robot-assisted vasovasostomy is a technically feasible
      procedure demonstrating adequate results on follow-up semen analysis, and can be
      included in training residents in robotic surgery. Additional data are needed to
      determine its role in the management of iatrogenic infertility. 

PMID- 27638277
TI  - International survey study of attitudes towards robotic surgery.
AB  - The field of robotic surgery is rapidly advancing both in terms of the surgical
      procedures performed and the potential applications of this technology. This
      survey study attempts to evaluate the opinions of the public regarding a number
      of issues in robotic surgery. A web-based survey study was constructed using the
      web-based software "Kwiksurveys". This survey was then advertised and distributed
      over the Internet to gain responders from a wide range of socio-economic groups
      and in a number of countries. Responses were collected over a six-month period.
      One-hundred and fifty-five participants took part in this survey study. The mean
      age of participants was 35.5 +/- 3.4 years. The majority of participants (52%)
      were either comfortable or totally comfortable with the current version of
      robotic surgery during which a surgeon in the same room controls instruments
      inside the patient. Sixty-eight percent of responders reported they would be very
      uncomfortable with the idea of not seeing the operating surgeon in person before
      or after surgery. Forty-five percent of participants reported they would consider
      the idea of an internal robot operating internally with little or no external
      scarring. This survey study has demonstrated that currently the public seem to be
      comfortable with the current version of robotic surgery, with the operating
      surgeon in the same room as the patient. The results of this survey study show
      that even with technical advances in robotic surgery, patients will still want to
      have contact with their operating surgeon. 

PMID- 27638276
TI  - Experience with robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery of the lower ureteral segment
      in adults.
AB  - Open reconstructive surgery of the lower ureteral segments in adults requires
      wide exposure as the basic prerequisite for such complex procedures. Thus, open
      surgical reconstruction in this area is an invasive procedure for the patient.
      Nevertheless, during the last few years robot-assisted laparoscopic techniques
      have emerged and have also already been used successfully for minimally invasive
      complex reconstructive procedures in urology. We present the medical histories,
      descriptions of the surgical procedures, and the postoperative data for adult
      patients undergoing robot-assisted surgery of the lower ureteral segments.
      Between July 2009 and July 2010, three surgeons performed nine robot-assisted
      reconstructive operations of the lower ureteral segments including five segmental
      ureteral resections combined with the psoas hitch procedures in three cases and,
      in addition, a Boari flap in one of them, one ureteric stricture resection with
      end-to-end anastomosis, one extravesical ureteral reimplantation because of
      vesicorenal reflux, one bilateral intravesical ureteral reimplantation because of
      bilateral ureteral ectopia, and one ureterolysis with omental wrap in a patient
      with pelvic endometriosis. We observed no intraoperative complications.
      Postoperative complications occurred in six patients (Clavien Grad I n = 1, II n
      = 4, IVa n = 1). During a median follow up of five months all affected renal
      units remained asymptomatic and were free from hydronephrosis. Our data
      illustrate that robot-assisted surgery of the lower ureter is feasible and
      support the growing evidence from the literature that it can be successfully used
      for complex ureteric reconstruction. 

PMID- 27638278
TI  - Simulation of robotic radical hysterectomy using the porcine model.
AB  - This paper describes simulation of robotically-assisted radical hysterectomy
      using the porcine model. A technique for robotically-assisted radical
      hysterectomy was developed using 3 domestic pigs. An edited videoclip of the
      model was assessed by 3 gynecologic oncologists. The steps of the operation are
      described in detail and shown in a videoclip. Overall the procedure simulated
      that done in the human, both anatomically and surgically. Surgical plane
      development and ureterolysis appears to be easier in the pig, the uterine artery
      is not anatomically related to the ureter, and there is not a well defined
      ureteric tunnel. Reported here is a technique for robotically-assisted radical
      hysterectomy in the domestic pig that may be useful for training purposes. 

PMID- 27638279
TI  - Use of a barbed suture for continuous urethro-vesical anastomosis during robot
      assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

PMID- 27638280
TI  - Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy utilizing a hybrid-port technique.
AB  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is increasingly being favored for
      treatment of small renal cortical neoplasms. The technique utilized varies based
      upon the institution and surgeon experience and several modifications have been
      proposed. We choose to utilize the fourth robotic arm as well as the Satinsky
      vascular clamp for these cases. Previously, we would utilize the fourth arm
      through a robotic port until the hilum was dissected, then replace the trocar
      with a flexible trocar for the Satinski clamp. We now utilize a hybrid-port
      technique where we establish placement of the flexible trocar and pass a robotic
      trocar through this to begin with the fourth arm in use. We then remove the
      fourth arm and the trocar after the hilum is dissected to place the Satinski
      clamp. The technique and description will be discussed. 

PMID- 27638281
TI  - Parallel side-docking technique for gynecologic procedures utilizing the da Vinci
      robot.
AB  - Minimally invasive approaches to gynecologic surgery have quickly gained favor.
      The da Vinci surgical system robot as an option for minimally invasive surgery
      offers many advantages. As the placement of the system between the legs can be
      prohibitive, we propose a modification of the standard docking procedure by
      aligning the system parallel to the operating room table. Our experience is that
      parallel side-docking allows access to the perineum without compromising docking
      time and range of motion. 

PMID- 27638283
TI  - Robotically assisted laparoscopic management of pelvic splenosis.
AB  - Robotically assisted laparoscopy is a superior technique for the management of
      abdominopelvic splenosis, which is an often unsuspected cause of pelvic pain. A
      25-year-old female with a distant history of traumatic splenic rupture and
      splenectomy was diagnosed with splenosis at the time of laparoscopy for vague
      abdominopelvic pain. She was transferred to our service for evaluation and
      definitive surgical management. We report the use of robotically enhanced
      laparoscopy for the excision of the splenic tissue. Splenosis is a potential
      cause of pelvic pain in a patient with a history of splenic injury. Robotically
      assisted laparoscopy provides the manual dexterity and the enhanced field of view
      necessary for the meticulous nature of this surgery. 

PMID- 27638282
TI  - Robotic rectovaginal fistula repair.
AB  - Minimally invasive surgery for diseases in the pelvic region is gaining
      popularity due to advances in technology and increased benefit to the patient. As
      indications for such surgeries increase, the known boundaries for minimal access
      are being extended by a few teams. We report a patient who underwent robotic
      assisted transabdominal repair of a high rectovaginal fistula which developed
      following a vaginal hysterectomy. Vaginography revealed a communication between
      the vaginal vault and the upper rectum. After evaluation of the colon and the
      vagina, the patient was planned for a robotic-assisted rectovaginal fistula
      repair. The three-arm daVinci((r)) surgical robot was used. A total of five ports
      were used to complete the entire procedure, which included adhesiolysis, re
      creation of the vaginal vault, repair of the fistula and omental interposition.
      This is the first robotic-assisted rectovaginal fistula repair reported to date.
      Besides the advantages of minimally invasive surgery for the patient, the surgeon
      benefits from the ease of suturing deep in the pelvis afforded by the articulated
      robotic arms. 

PMID- 27638284
TI  - Early experience in robotic-assisted laparoscopic bilateral intravesical ureteral
      reimplantation for vesicoureteral reflux in children.
AB  - A high success rate has been reported for laparoscopic intravesical ureteral
      reimplantation in the management of high-grade vesicoureteral reflux in children.
      With the introduction of the da Vinci robotic surgical system (Intuitive
      Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), robotic-assisted laparoscopic intravesical
      ureteral reimplantation may provide additional benefits, particularly in
      intravesical suturing. We present here our experience in three children, all with
      high-grade bilateral vesicoureteral reflux, who underwent robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic intravesical bilateral ureteral reimplantation. The procedure was
      successfully performed in all cases. There were no intra-operative or post
      operative complications. Operative times were 430, 240 and 220 min. Hospital stay
      was 7, 6 and 2 days. Postoperative voiding cystourethrogram confirmed resolution
      of vesicoureteral refluxes in all cases and all three children were free from
      urinary tract infections on follow-up. Our initial experience with robotic
      assisted laparoscopic intravesical ureteral reimplantation has shown this to be a
      technically safe and feasible option in the management of children with bilateral
      high-grade vesicoureteric reflux. 

PMID- 27638286
TI  - Venous injury during lymphadenectomy: management without laparotomy.
AB  - During robotically-assisted pelvic lymphadenectomy, four venous injuries occurred
      that did not resolve with pressure. After the application of tightly woven,
      oxidized regenerated cellulose and a fibrin sealant, all four venotomies were
      hemostatic. There were no sequelae. 

PMID- 27638285
TI  - Emergency and weekend robotic surgery are feasible.
AB  - Robotic surgery has made a minimally invasive approach feasible for many complex
      operations that were previously performed by the open approach. Because of the
      complexity of its technology and the need for specially trained personnel,
      robotic operations have been limited to elective cases during weekdays. As more
      surgeons from different specialties perform robotic operations, the chances of
      scheduling conflicts and the possibility of complications needing a re-operation
      at night or during a weekend (defined as after hours) are also increasing. Until
      now, complications have been salvaged by conventional laparoscopy or laparotomy
      but we were able to demonstrate that, with appropriately trained staff, robotic
      surgery is feasible after hours and in emergencies. Use of the robot after hours
      could help alleviate scheduling conflicts for the operating room. For patients,
      it could potentially avoid laparotomy with its associated morbidity. As far as we
      are aware, use of the robot for emergency surgery has previously not been
      reported in the literature. 

PMID- 27638287
TI  - Hemiparesis after robotic laparoscopic radical cystectomy and ileal conduit
      formation in steep Trendelenburg position.
AB  - Robotic surgery is becoming popular for minimally invasive surgical procedures as
      robotic devices allow unprecedented control and precision. We report a case of
      robotic radical cystectomy with ileal conduit urinary diversion surgery having
      perioperative neurological complications related to prolonged surgery in the
      steep head-down position. There was a neurological deficit in the form of
      hemiparesis, which resolved with conservative management. We suggest that
      duration and positioning should be optimized for such prolonged surgery in the
      steep head-down position, and make some recommendations. Moreover, in such
      surgeries great vigilance must be observed in the perioperative period. 

PMID- 27638288
TI  - Risk of post-operative visual loss and robotic surgery.

PMID- 27638290
TI  - Preliminary results from case-control study confirm Zika virus causes
      microcephaly.

PMID- 27638289
TI  - Effects of initial disease status on lymph flow following gastrectomy in cases of
      carcinoma in the remnant stomach.
AB  - PURPOSE: In cases of carcinoma in the remnant stomach (CRS), the lymphatic flow
      may be altered by the initial surgery. In this study of CRS after gastrectomy, we
      investigated how the regions of lymph node metastasis and changes in lymphatic
      flow depend on initial disease status. METHOD: The study included 76 patients
      with CRS who underwent gastrectomy between September 2002 and November 2014. We
      analyzed and compared the clinicopathological factors and survival periods
      between patients after distal gastrectomy for malignant disease (group M, 33
      patients) and patients after distal gastrectomy for benign disease (group B, 43
      patients). RESULTS: The depth of tumor invasion was more advanced in group B
      (T1/T2/T3/T4: group M 18/1/7/7, group B 8/11/8/16; P = 0.002). However, the
      degree of lymph node metastasis did not differ significantly between the two
      groups. The incidence of lymph node metastasis was high at stations 2 (19 %), 4sa
      (17 %), 10 (25 %), 11p (19 %), and 11d (27 %) in group M and 1 (14 %), 3 (23 %),
      and 4sb (15 %), and the mesojejunal lymph node (21 %) in group B. Lymph node
      dissection was highly beneficial at station 3, station 7, and the mesojejunum in
      both groups, but not at stations 10 or 11d. CONCLUSION: As compared with group B,
      group M showed higher incidences of lymph node metastasis in the greater
      curvature, splenic hilum, and lymph nodes along the splenic artery, suggesting
      the predominance of lymphatic flows from the greater curvature to the splenic
      hilum and from the remnant stomach to the splenic artery.

PMID- 27638291
TI  - The Adaptor Protein p62 Mediates Nuclear Factor kappaB Activation in Response to
      Inflammation and Facilitates the Formation of Prolabor Mediators in Human
      Myometrium.
AB  - Preventing spontaneous preterm birth is one of the most important issues facing
      perinatal medicine today. The pathophysiology of preterm labor, the single
      biggest cause of preterm birth, is poorly understood. Inflammation, however,
      plays a significant role in the terminal processes of human labor, which include
      myometrial contractions. Nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) drives the
      transcription of proinflammatory mediators involved in the terminal effector
      pathways of human labor and delivery. Recent studies in nongestational tissues
      have shown that the adaptor protein p62 interacts with NF-kappaB to induce
      inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine the role of p62 in the
      genesis of NF-kappaB-induced proinflammatory and prolabur mediators. Human
      spontaneous term labor was associated with increased p62 messenger RNA (mRNA) and
      protein expression in myometrium. Myometrial cells treated with proinflammatory
      cytokines interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF
      alpha) also significantly increased p62 mRNA and protein expression. Functional
      studies using p62 small interfering RNA (siRNA) demonstrated a significant
      attenuation of TNF-alpha- and IL-1beta-induced proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6)
      and chemokine (IL-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 [MCP-1]) mRNA
      expression and secretion, expression of cyclooxygenase 2, release of
      prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha), and expression of the prostaglandin F receptor
      (FP). In addition, siRNA knockdown of p62 significantly suppressed IL-1beta- and
      TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB activation. Collectively, these studies suggest that
      p62 is involved in the genesis of NF-kappaB-induced proinflammatory and prolabor
      mediators.

PMID- 27638292
TI  - Allergy testing in children with persistent asthma: comparison of four diagnostic
      methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple allergic sensitizations are common in persistent childhood
      asthma, and thorough assessment of allergy is crucial for optimal care of these
      children. Microarray testing offers opportunities for improved sIgE
      characterization, which has been projected to be useful in the management of
      multisensitized patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the
      accuracy and information obtained by two microarray platforms applied on a well
      characterized pediatric asthma cohort. METHODS: Seventy-one children were
      recruited from a nationwide Swedish study on severe childhood asthma. Severe (n =
      40) and controlled (n = 31) asthmatics were assessed for allergic sensitization
      by two microarray systems (Microtest and ISAC) and by two standard diagnostic
      methods (ImmunoCAP and skin prick test). Data on clinical history, physical
      examination, spirometry, asthma control test, and doctor's diagnosis were
      collected. Results from the four diagnostic methods were analyzed and compared.
      RESULTS: A high prevalence of allergic sensitization was observed in this cohort.
      The pairwise concordance between two methods was 90-92% independently of methods
      compared. The sensitivity of the four methods against doctor's diagnosis was 0.77
      0.88, and the specificity was 0.97-0.99. Microarray methods provided new
      information in 47% of the sensitized children in comparison with results obtained
      by standard diagnostic methods. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of food and
      respiratory sensitization supports the clinical guideline recommendation that
      allergies should be evaluated in all children with suspected asthma. The
      microarray platforms studied here demonstrated acceptable accuracy and provided
      refined IgE characterization in 47% of the patients compared to standard extract
      based methods.

PMID- 27638294
TI  - REctus Sheath block for postoperative analgesia in gynecological ONcology Surgery
      (RESONS): a randomized-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Opioid-sparing pain management is important for Enhanced Recovery
      After Surgery. Rectus sheath (RS) blocks are emerging as a promising modality for
      pain relief following midline laparotomy; however, there are limited prospective
      clinical trials testing their efficacy. The purpose of this randomized-controlled
      trial is to assess the morphine-sparing effect of local anesthetic (LA) boluses
      through RS catheters following elective gynecological oncology surgery. METHOD:
      After patients' informed consent, bilateral RS catheters were placed
      intraoperatively in 74 females (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical
      status I-II) undergoing elective midline laparotomy under general anesthesia. The
      patients were randomized to receive 20-mL injections of either LA (0.25%
      bupivacaine) or normal saline (NS) postoperatively every six hours for 48 hr.
      Groups were compared for the co-primary outcomes of 24- and 48-hr morphine
      requirements. The secondary outcomes were numeric rating scale (NRS) scores for
      pain recorded at rest and with movement. RESULTS: The mean (SD) morphine
      consumption was significantly reduced in the LA group compared with the NS group
      at 24 hr [8.8 (8.3) mg vs 27.3 (10.0) mg, respectively; mean difference, 18.5 mg;
      95% confidence interval (CI), 14.3 to 22.8; P < 0.001] and at 48 hr [14.8 (11.0)
      mg vs 42.4 (16.8) mg, respectively; mean difference, 27.7 mg; 95% CI, 20.9 to
      34.3; P < 0.001]. At 48 hr postoperatively, there was also a significant decrease
      in the median [interquartile range] NRS scores for pain in the LA group compared
      with the NS group, both at rest (3 [2-3] vs 5 [5-6], respectively; P < 0.001) and
      with movement (4 [4-5] vs 7 [6-8], respectively; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The use
      of intermittent LA boluses through RS catheters is an effective morphine-sparing
      pain management strategy for females undergoing midline laparotomy for
      gynecological cancer surgery. This study was registered with the Clinical Trial
      Registry of India (CTRI/2013/10/004075).

PMID- 27638295
TI  - Postoperative orthostatic intolerance: a common perioperative problem with few
      available solutions.

PMID- 27638293
TI  - Protective effects of alpha phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone and ascorbic acid in human
      adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells from differently aged donors.
AB  - Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are multipotent stem cells that
      promote therapeutic effects and are frequently used in autologous applications.
      Little is known about how ADSCs respond to genotoxic stress and whether or not
      donor age affects DNA damage and repair. In this study, we used the comet assay
      to assess DNA damage and repair in human ADSCs derived from young (20-40 years),
      middle-aged (41-60 years), and older (61+ years) donors following treatment with
      H2O2 or UV light. Tail lengths in H2O2-treated ADSCs were substantially higher
      than the tail lengths in UV-treated ADSCs. After 30 minutes of treatment with
      H2O2, ADSCs preconditioned with alpha phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN) or ascorbic
      acid (AA) showed a significant reduction in % tail DNA. The majority of ADSCs
      treated with PBN or AA displayed low olive tail movements at various timepoints.
      In general and indicative of DNA repair, % tail length and % tail DNA peaked at
      30 minutes and then decreased to near-control levels at the 2 hour and 4 hour
      timepoints. Differently aged ADSCs displayed comparable levels of DNA damage in
      the majority of these experiments, suggesting that the age of the donor does not
      affect the DNA damage response in cultured ADSCs.

PMID- 27638296
TI  - Opioid use after propofol or sevoflurane anesthesia: a randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The intravenous anesthetic propofol is a gamma-aminobutyric acid A
      receptor agonist. Propofol promotes analgesia by depressing nociceptive
      transmission in peripheral neurons, antagonizing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors,
      and activating gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptors in dorsal root ganglion
      receptor cells. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether intraoperative propofol
      causes clinically meaningful postoperative analgesia. We therefore tested the
      hypothesis that patients anesthetized with sevoflurane require a greater quantity
      of postoperative opioids (from the end of surgery until the next postoperative
      morning) than those anesthetized with propofol. METHODS: With Institutional
      Review Board and EudraCT Number approval (2009-011038-82) and patients' informed
      consent, ninety patients scheduled for open vein stripping were randomized to
      either sevoflurane or propofol anesthesia at the Medical University of Vienna
      General Hospital and the Danube Hospital, the largest regional hospital in
      Vienna. Pain was treated with bolus piritramide and patient-controlled morphine
      hydrochloride. The primary outcome was total opioid use from the end of surgery
      until the first postoperative morning. For the initial four postoperative hours
      and on the first postoperative morning, a blinded investigator recorded pain
      scores on an 11-point Likert verbal response scale. RESULTS: The median
      [interquartile range] morphine sulfate equivalents were 9.8 [4-19] mg in the
      sevoflurane group and 10 [6-20] mg in the propofol group. Sevoflurane was not
      superior to propofol on postoperative opioid consumption, giving a ratio of means
      of 0.91 (95% interim-adjusted confidence interval [CI], 0.33 to 2.45; P = 0.74).
      Additionally, no difference in pain scores was found over time between the two
      groups, with a mean difference on an 11-point scale of 0.20 (95% interim-adjusted
      CI, -0.36 to 0.73; P = 0.31). CONCLUSION: Intraoperative sevoflurane did not
      reduce postoperative analgesia. This finding is consistent with the results in
      most previous reports. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov:
      NCT00712517.

PMID- 27638298
TI  - The future of cardiac 123-I MIBG imaging.

PMID- 27638297
TI  - Simulation-based assessment of anesthesiology residents' competence: development
      and implementation of the Canadian National Anesthesiology Simulation Curriculum
      (CanNASC).
AB  - The specialty of anesthesiology will soon adopt the Competence By Design (CBD)
      approach to residency education developed by the Royal College of Physicians and
      Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). A foundational component of CBD is frequent and
      contextualized assessment of trainees. In 2013, the RCPSC Anesthesiology
      Specialty Committee assembled a group of simulation educators, representing each
      of the 17 Canadian anesthesiology residency programs, to form the Canadian
      National Anesthesiology Simulation Curriculum (CanNASC) Task Force. The goals
      were to develop, implement, and evaluate a set of consensus-driven standardized
      mannequin-based simulation scenarios that every trainee must complete
      satisfactorily prior to completion of anesthesiology residency and certification.
      Curriculum development followed Kern's principles and was accomplished via
      monthly teleconferences and annual face-to-face meetings. The development and
      implementation processes included the following key elements: 1) Curriculum needs
      assessment: 368 of 958 invitees (38.4%) responded to a national survey resulting
      in 64 suggested scenario topics. Use of a modified Delphi technique resulted in
      seven important and technically feasible scenarios. 2) Scenario development: All
      scenarios have learning objectives from the National Curriculum for Canadian
      Anesthesiology Residency. Standardized scenario templates were created, and the
      content was refined and piloted. 3) Assessment: A validated Global Rating Scale
      (GRS) is the primary assessment tool, informed by using scenario-specific
      checklists (created via a modified Delphi technique) and the Anesthesia Non
      Technical Skills GRS. 4) Implementation: Standardized implementation guidelines,
      pre-brief/debrief documents, and rater training videos, guide, and commentary
      were generated. National implementation of the scenarios and program evaluation
      is currently underway. It is highly feasible to achieve specialty-based consensus
      on the elements of a national simulation-based curriculum. Our process could be
      adapted by any specialty interested in implementing a simulation-based curriculum
      incorporating competency-based assessment on a national scale.

PMID- 27638300
TI  - A cow on the prairie vs. a cow on the street: long-term consequences of semantic
      conflict on episodic encoding.
AB  - Long-term effects of cognitive conflict on performance are not as well understood
      as immediate effects. We used a change detection task to explore long-term
      consequences of cognitive conflict by manipulating the congruity between a
      changing object and a background scene. According to conflict-based accounts of
      memory formation, incongruent trials (e.g., a cow on the street), in spite of
      hindering immediate performance, should promote stronger encoding than congruent
      trials (e.g., a cow on a prairie). Surprisingly, across three experiments we show
      that semantic incongruity actually impairs remembering of the information
      presented during scene processing. This set of results is incompatible with the
      frequently accepted hypothesis of conflict-triggered learning. Rather, we discuss
      the present data and other studies previously reported in the literature in the
      light of two much older hypotheses of memory formation: the desirable difficulty
      and the levels of processing principles.

PMID- 27638299
TI  - Anticipation of delayed action-effects: learning when an effect occurs, without
      knowing what this effect will be.
AB  - According to the ideomotor principle, behavior is controlled via a retrieval of
      the sensory consequences that will follow from the respective movement ("action
      effects"). These consequences include not only what will happen, but also when
      something will happen. In fact, recollecting the temporal duration between
      response and effect takes time and prolongs the initiation of the response. We
      investigated the associative structure of action-effect learning with delayed
      effects and asked whether participants acquire integrated action-time-effect
      episodes that comprise a compound of all three elements or whether they acquire
      separate traces that connect actions to the time until an effect occurs and
      actions to the effects that follow them. In three experiments, results showed
      that participants retrieve temporal intervals that follow from their actions even
      when the identity of the effect could not be learned. Furthermore, retrieval of
      temporal intervals in isolation was not inferior to retrieval of temporal
      intervals that were consistently followed by predictable action-effects. More
      specifically, when tested under extinction, retrieval of action-time and action
      identity associations seems to compete against each other, similar to
      overshadowing effects reported for stimulus-response conditioning. Together,
      these results suggest that people anticipate when the consequences of their
      action will occur, independently from what the consequences will be.

PMID- 27638301
TI  - MicroRNA-455-3p modulates cartilage development and degeneration through
      modification of histone H3 acetylation.
AB  - Histone acetylation regulated by class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) plays a
      pivotal role in matrix-specific gene transcription and cartilage development.
      While we previously demonstrated that microRNA (miR)-455-3p is upregulated during
      chondrogenesis and can enhance early chondrogenesis, the mechanism underlying
      this process remains largely unclear. In this study, we characterized the effect
      of miR-455-3p on histone H3 acetylation and its role during cartilage development
      and degeneration. We observed that miR-455-3p was highly expressed in
      proliferating and pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes, while HDAC2 and HDAC8 were
      primarily expressed in hypertrophic chondrocytes. Meanwhile, miR-455-3p
      suppressed the activity of reporter constructs containing the 3'-untranslated
      regions of HDAC2/8, inhibited HDAC2/8 expression and promoted histone H3
      acetylation at the collagen 2 (COL2A1) promoter in human SW1353 chondrocyte-like
      cells. Treatment with the HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) resulted in
      increased expression of cartilage-specific genes and promoted glycosaminoglycan
      deposition. Moreover, TSA inhibited matrix metalloproteinase 13 (Mmp13)
      expression and promoted nuclear translocation of SOX9 in interleukin-1-treated
      primary mouse chondrocytes. Lastly, knockdown of HDAC2/3/8 increased SRY (sex
      determining region Y)-box 9 (SOX9) and decreased Runt-related transcription
      factor 2 (RUNX2) expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that miR-455
      3p plays a critical role during chondrogenesis by directly targeting HDAC2/8 and
      promoting histone H3 acetylation, which raises possibilities of using miR-455-3p
      to influence chondrogenesis and cartilage degeneration.

PMID- 27638302
TI  - Plasma phospholipid fatty acid composition and desaturase activity in women with
      gestational diabetes mellitus before and after delivery.
AB  - AIMS: Analyze plasma phospholipid fatty acids (PPFA) composition and desaturase
      activity in women with gestational diabetes (GDM) and in women with a normal
      glucose tolerance (NGT) before and after delivery, and to evaluate the possible
      relationship between desaturase activity and inflammatory parameters. METHODS:
      PPFA composition was analyzed by gas chromatography in 21 women with GDM and from
      21 with NGT, during the third trimester of pregnancy and 6 months after delivery.
      We used fatty acid product-to-precursor ratios to estimate desaturase activity,
      and we also measured in all women interleukins six and ten, tumor necrosis factor
      alpha and C-reactive protein. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed
      between NGT and GDM women in terms of PPFA composition, both in pregnancy and
      after pregnancy. Estimated desaturase Delta9-18 activity was significantly
      higher, and estimated desaturase Delta5 activity was significantly lower during
      pregnancy in all women. We observed no correlations between inflammatory markers
      and desaturases activity, during or after pregnancy, in both groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our data suggest that GDM does not influence PPFA composition and desaturase
      activity during pregnancy. In addition, late pregnancy characterized by
      hyperinsulinemia appears to upregulate desaturase Delta9-18 activity in NGT and
      GDM women.

PMID- 27638303
TI  - Temporal lobe epilepsy associated with GAD autoimmunity.

PMID- 27638304
TI  - How females of chirping and trilling field crickets integrate the 'what' and
      'where' of male acoustic signals during decision making.
AB  - In crickets acoustic communication serves mate selection. Female crickets have to
      perceive and integrate male cues relevant for mate choice while confronted with
      several different signals in an acoustically diverse background. Overall female
      decisions are based on the attractiveness of the temporal pattern (informative
      about the 'what') and on signal intensity (informative about the 'where') of male
      calling songs. Here, we investigated how the relevant cues for mate choice are
      integrated during the decision process by females of five different species of
      chirping and trilling field crickets. Using a behavioral design, female
      preferences in no-choice and choice situations for male calling songs differing
      in pulse rate, modulation depth, intensities, chirp/trill arrangements and
      temporal shifts were examined. Sensory processing underlying decisions in female
      field crickets is rather similar as combined evidence suggested that incoming
      song patterns were analyzed separately by bilaterally paired networks for pattern
      attractiveness and pattern intensity. A downstream gain control mechanism leads
      to a weighting of the intensity cue by pattern attractiveness. While remarkable
      differences between species were observed with respect to specific processing
      steps, closely related species exhibited more similar preferences than did more
      distantly related species.

PMID- 27638305
TI  - Human transbodies to VP40 inhibit cellular egress of Ebola virus-like particles.
AB  - A direct acting anti-Ebola agent is needed. VP40, a conserved protein across
      Ebolavirus (EBOV) species has several pivotal roles in the virus life cycle.
      Inhibition of VP40 functions would lessen the virion integrity and interfere with
      the viral assembly, budding, and spread. In this study, cell penetrable human
      scFvs (HuscFvs) that bound to EBOV VP40 were produced by phage display
      technology. Gene sequences coding for VP40-bound-HuscFvs were subcloned from
      phagemids into protein expression plasmids downstream to a gene of cell
      penetrating peptide, i.e., nonaarginine (R9). By electron microscopy, transbodies
      from three clones effectively inhibited egress of the Ebola virus-like particles
      from human hepatic cells transduced with pseudo-typed-Lentivirus particles
      carrying EBOV VP40 and GP genes. Computerized simulation indicated that the
      effective HuscFvs bound to multiple basic residues in the cationic patch of VP40
      C-terminal domain which are important in membrane-binding for viral matrix
      assembly and virus budding. The transbodies bound also to VP40 N-terminal domain
      and L domain peptide encompassed the PTAPPEY (WW binding) motif, suggesting that
      they might confer VP40 function inhibition through additional mechanism(s). The
      generated transbodies are worthwhile tested with authentic EBOV before developing
      to direct acting anti-Ebola agent for preclinical and clinical trials.

PMID- 27638306
TI  - Possible role of mitochondrial permeability transition pore in the pathogenesis
      of Huntington disease.
AB  - Huntington disease (HD) is a devastating neurological disorder that affects the
      striatum and cortex of patients. HD patients develop progressive motor
      dysfunction and psychiatric disturbances with gradual dementia. HD is caused by a
      pathological expansion of CAG repeats in the huntingtin gene that codifies for a
      protein called huntingtin (Htt), which principal function is not completely
      understood. Accumulative evidence shows that this pathological expansion modifies
      Htt function affecting different neuronal targets, including mitochondrial
      function which is an important factor that contributes to HD. Interestingly,
      several groups have shown mitochondrial disturbances including calcium handling
      defects, depolarization, decrease of mitochondrial transport, ATP reduction, and
      increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cellular and murine HD models.
      Systematic analysis of this evidence indicates that a mitochondrial structure,
      the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), could be responsible for
      these changes that affect mitochondria. The mPTP plays an important role in
      apoptosis and neurodegeneration. It has also been reported to have some
      physiological functions in heart development and synaptic communication. In HD,
      the presence of mutant huntingtin (mHtt) activates this mechanism producing a
      significant compromise of mitochondrial metabolism and bioenergetics. Considering
      these findings this review explores the evidence that suggests the important role
      of mPTP in the mitochondrial impairment induced by mHtt, which leads to calcium
      derangement and contributes to neuronal dysfunction in HD.

PMID- 27638307
TI  - EZH2 promotes invasion and metastasis of laryngeal squamous cells carcinoma via
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition through H3K27me3.
AB  - Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2(EZH2), which can change chromatin structure by tri
      methylation of the 27th lysine of H3 in nucleosome histone (H3K27me3), is
      involved in different types of cancers. However, the role and mechanism
      underlying aberrant EZH2 expression in laryngeal squamous cells carcinoma (LSCC)
      remain unclear. In the present study, we found that down-regulation of EZH2 and
      H3K27me3 in LSCC cells (Hep-2 and SCC10A) resulted in an mesenchymal-epithelial
      transition(MET) like cell morphology and lower invasion in vitro, weakened tumor
      growth, intrahepatic and pulmonary metastasis in vivo. Furthermore, EZH2 promoted
      the epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) process through down-regulation of
      Ca2+ dependent cell adhesion molecule E (E-cadherin) and up-regulation of
      H3K27me3 in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, E-cadherin was transcriptionally induced
      upon stable knockdown of EZH2, and quantitative chromatin
      immunoprecipitation(qChIP) analysis confirmed the depletion of H3K27me3
      enrichment on E-cadherin promoter upon EZH2 knockdown in Hep-2 and SCC10A cells.
      In addition, the expression of EZH2 was positively correlated with that of
      H3K27me3 and both of them were inversely correlated with E-cadherin expression in
      human LSCC tissues. In summary, this study indicated that EZH2 promoted invasion
      and metastasis of LSCC via EMT through H3K27me3.

PMID- 27638308
TI  - NSrp70 is significant for embryonic growth and development, being a crucial
      factor for gastrulation and mesoderm induction.
AB  - NSrp70 (nuclear speckle-related protein 70), a recently discovered protein and it
      belongs to the serine/arginine (SR) rich related protein family. NSrp70 is
      recognized as an important splicing factor comprising RNA recognition motif (RRM)
      and arginine/serine (RS)-like regions at the N- and C-terminus respectively,
      along with two coiled coil domains at each terminus. However, other functions of
      NSrp70 remain unelucidated. In this study, we investigated the role of NSrp70 in
      Xenopus embryogenesis and found that its maternal expression plays a critical
      role in embryonic development. Knockdown of NSrp70 resulted in dramatic reduction
      in the length of developing tadpoles and mild to severe malformation in Xenopus
      embryos. In addition, knockdown of NSrp70 resulted in an extremely short axis by
      blocking gastrulation and convergent extension. Further, animal cap assays along
      with activin A treatment revealed that NSrp70 is an essential factor for dorsal
      mesoderm induction as knockdown of NSrp70 caused a dramatic down-regulation of
      dorsal mesoderm specific genes and its loss significantly shortened the
      elongation region of animal caps. In conclusion, NSrp70 is crucial for early
      embryonic development, influencing gastrulation and mesoderm induction.

PMID- 27638311
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27638309
TI  - PPARgamma is regulated by miR-27b-3p negatively and plays an important role in
      porcine oocyte maturation.
AB  - To elucidate the key miRNAs and the signalling pathways that are involved in
      porcine oocyte maturation, we performed a deep sequencing analysis of the miRNAs
      of pig germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes and metaphase II (MII) oocytes. Seven
      differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified and the expression levels of
      miR-21 and miR-27b-3p were further confirmed by QPCR analysis. The target genes
      of 7 DE miRNAs were predicted and subjected to pathway analysis. Interestingly,
      fatty acid metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis were the top two significantly
      enriched molecular functions during oocyte maturation. Heat map, which was built
      with 7 DE miRNAs and the enriched the molecular functions, revealed that miR-21,
      miR-27b-3p, miR-10a-5p and miR-10b-5p were involved in fatty acid metabolism. In
      particular, the regulatory role of miR-27b-3p on peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) was confirmed by their inversed expression
      patterns in GV and MII oocytes and luciferase report assays. In addition, we
      observed that PPARgamma agonist (rosiglitazone) treatment significantly enhanced
      porcine oocyte maturation rate and early embryo developmental competent. Taken
      together, our results demonstrated that miR-27b and its target, PPARgamma, play
      the vital roles in pig oocyte maturation through regulating the fatty acid
      metabolism. These data increased our understanding of the regulatory gene
      networks in porcine oocyte maturation and development.

PMID- 27638310
TI  - O-glycans and O-glycosylation sites of recombinant human GM-CSF derived from
      suspension-cultured rice cells, and their structural role.
AB  - Recombinant human GM-CSF (rhGM-CSF) from yeast has been clinically applied to
      immunosuppressed patients. The production of suspension-cultured rice-cell
      derived rhGM-CSF (rrhGM-CSF), which has a longer blood clearance time and the
      same bioactivity as yeast-derived rhGM-CSF, and the analysis of its N-glycans
      have been reported recently. However, there are no previous reports of the O
      glycosylation of rhGM-CSF from plant cells, and so this study investigated O
      glycans, O-glycosylation sites, and their structural role in rrhGM-CSF.
      Monosaccharide analysis revealed the presence of O-glycans comprising arabinose
      and galactose. Eight O-glycans comprising four arabinose residues with zero to
      seven galactose residues along with their relative quantities were analyzed.
      Analysis of pronase-digested glycopeptides indicated that the O-glycans are
      partially attached to Ser 5, Ser 7, Ser 9, or Thr 10 residues, and glycan
      heterogeneity was confirmed at each site. Pro-to-hydroxyproline conversions
      occurred at Pro 2, Pro 6, and Pro 8 residues. The preparation of deglycosylated
      rrhGM-CSFs revealed that deglycosylation greatly affects their alpha-helix
      structures. These findings indicate that O-glycans of rrhGM-CSF are essential for
      maintaining its structural stability and result in an extended in vivo half-life,
      but without affecting its biological function. This is the first report on the O
      glycosylation of rhGM-CSF derived from plant cells.

PMID- 27638312
TI  - Susceptibility of Candida albicans Isolated from Blood to Wickerhamomyces
      anomalous Mycocins.
AB  - The occurrence of infections caused by Candida albicans in developed and
      developing countries and their resistance to some available antifungal drugs have
      been viewed as causing a great problem to human health worldwide. In order to
      find new researched molecules, there are some mycoses secreted by yeasts,
      especially mycocins produced by Wickerhamomyces anomalus with a broad
      antimicrobial spectrum of activity. Thus, this trial aimed at evaluating
      mycocins' activity obtained from environmental W. anomalus cell wall compared to
      thirty C. albicans strains isolated from blood. Mycocins were extracted from cell
      walls of three W. anomalus strains (WA40, WA45, and WA92). The 400 MUg mL-1
      concentration of WA40M1, WA45M2, and WA92M3 mycocin extracts showed the following
      respective activity results: 96.6, 96.6, and 90.0 % C. albicans strains. WA45M2
      and WA92M3 mycocin extracts showed some activity in 3.3 % of C. albicans strains
      at 50 MUg mL-1 concentration. Mycocins extracted from cell walls of three W.
      anomalus strains named as WA40, WA45, and WA92 showed antifungal activity
      compared to C. albicans and low degree of hemolysis.

PMID- 27638314
TI  - Non-pharmacological interventions to reduce psychological distress in patients
      undergoing diagnostic cardiac catheterization: a rapid review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac catheterization is the standard procedure for the diagnosis
      of coronary heart disease. The threat physically and emotionally from this
      procedure can affect the patient's perception of their health. The heightened
      psychological distress associated with this diagnostic procedure can cause
      adverse patient outcomes. Non-pharmacologic interventions have been implemented
      to reduce psychological distress associated with cardiac catheterization. AIMS:
      The objective of this rapid review is to assess the efficacy of non-pharmacologic
      interventions (procedural education, relaxation techniques, psychological
      preparation) on psychological distress experienced by patients as they undergo a
      cardiac catheterization. METHODS: Published, peer-reviewed, English-language
      intervention studies from 1981 to 2014 were identified in a search of CINAHL,
      Medline, and Cochrane Library. Eligible studies included adults undergoing
      cardiac catheterization. Studies included in this review used experimental and
      quasi-experimental designs and assessed at least one primary outcome: anxiety,
      depression, and pain to test non-pharmacologic interventions pre and post-cardiac
      catheterization. Researchers independently extracted data from included studies
      and completed a quality assessment using a published tool. Data were synthesized
      as a narrative. RESULTS: There were 29 eligible experimental and quasi
      experimental studies that tested the three interventions ( n=2504). Findings
      suggest that non-pharmacologic interventions were able to effectively reduce
      psychological distress in some patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.
      CONCLUSION: Evidence is stronger in recent studies that non-pharmacologic
      interventions of procedural education and psychological preparation can reduce
      psychological distress in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Further
      research is needed to define the various relaxation techniques that can be
      effectively implemented for patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.

PMID- 27638313
TI  - Antibacterial Activity of Polyphenolic Fraction of Kombucha Against Enteric
      Bacterial Pathogens.
AB  - The emergence of multi-drug-resistant enteric pathogens has prompted the
      scientist community to explore the therapeutic potentials of traditional foods
      and beverages. The present study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of
      Kombucha, a fermented beverage of sugared black tea, against enterotoxigenic
      Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Shigella flexneri and Salmonella Typhimurium
      followed by the identification of the antibacterial components present in
      Kombucha. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining the inhibition
      zone diameter, minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal
      concentration. Kombucha fermented for 14 days showed maximum activity against the
      bacterial strains. Its ethyl acetate extract was found to be the most effective
      upon sequential solvent extraction of the 14-day Kombucha. This potent ethyl
      acetate extract was then subjected to thin layer chromatography for further
      purification of antibacterial ingredients which led to the isolation of an active
      polyphenolic fraction. Catechin and isorhamnetin were detected as the major
      antibacterial compounds present in this polyphenolic fraction of Kombucha by High
      Performance Liquid Chromatography. Catechin, one of the primary antibacterial
      polyphenols in tea was also found to be present in Kombucha. But isorhamnetin is
      not reported to be present in tea, which may thereby suggest the role of
      fermentation process of black tea for its production in Kombucha. To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first report on the presence of isorhamnetin in
      Kombucha. The overall study suggests that Kombucha can be used as a potent
      antibacterial agent against entero-pathogenic bacterial infections, which mainly
      is attributed to its polyphenolic content.

PMID- 27638315
TI  - Management of traumatic haemorrhage in the Berger's space of a 4-year-old child.
AB  - We are reporting an unusual case of haemorrhage in the Berger's space after an
      episode of blunt ocular trauma in an eye of a 4-year-old boy, who enjoyed
      premorbid normal vision. A secondary posterior subcapsular cataract developed as
      a complication of the haemorrhage after 6 months of observation. Surgery
      comprised cataract extraction, removal of a residual retrolenticular haematoma
      via opening of posterior continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (CCC), anterior
      vitrectomy and placement of an intraocular lens. This yielded a reasonable visual
      outcome. Complete spontaneous resolution of haemorrhage in the Berger's space is
      unlikely and may cause secondary cataracts in children. We suggest early
      intervention in such conditions in order to prevent the development of amblyopia.

PMID- 27638316
TI  - Refractive outcomes of penetrating keratoplasty and deep anterior lamellar
      keratoplasty in fellow eyes for keratoconus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the refractive outcomes following penetrating keratoplasty
      and deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty in fellow eyes in patients with
      keratoconus. METHODS: This is an observational retrospective review of
      consecutive patients with keratoconus first managed with penetrating keratoplasty
      in one eye and then with lamellar keratoplasty in the fellow eye, between 2002
      and 2007. Data collection was based on patients' hospital records. Information
      related to assessment before surgery and at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 months after
      keratoplasty were retrieved and considered in the analysis. Clinical evaluations
      included patients' medical histories and diagnosis of keratoconus, uncorrected
      and best corrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent, refractive cylinder,
      topographic cylinder, and high-order aberrations, complications, and adverse
      reactions. Data on contrast sensitivity, central corneal thickness, and central
      residual bed thickness (only for lamellar keratoplasty) were retrieved from
      anterior segment optical coherence tomography observation performed at 48 months.
      RESULTS: Sixteen patients (32 eyes), 7 males and 9 females, were included in the
      analyses. After 4 years from transplantation, at the end of follow-up, no
      statistically significant differences were found in visual acuity and refractive
      measures between the two keratoplasties. Perforating keratoplasty showed
      significant differences for contrast sensitivity at 6 cpd with maximum glare (p =
      0.026) and without glare (p = 0.015). Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty showed
      a negative correlation between central residual bed thickness and best corrected
      visual acuity (R = -0.414, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The manual pre-descemetic
      deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty used in this study showed refractive and
      visual results comparable to those obtained with penetrating keratoplasty. Such
      results indicated that leaving healthy stroma attached to Descemet's membrane
      does not compromise the clinical outcome in the short and long term after
      surgery.

PMID- 27638317
TI  - Culture medium refinement by dialysis for the expansion of human induced
      pluripotent stem cells in suspension culture.
AB  - Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) secrete essential autocrine factors
      that are removed along with toxic metabolites when the growth medium is exchanged
      daily. In this study, after determining the minimum inhibitory level of lactic
      acid for hiPSCs, a medium refining system was constructed by which toxic
      metabolites were removed from used culture medium and autocrine factors as well
      as other growth factors were recycled. Specifically, about 87 % of the basic
      fibroblast growth factor and 80 % of transforming growth factor beta 1 were
      retained in the refined medium after dialysis. The refined medium efficiently
      potentiated the proliferation of hiPS cells in adherent culture. When the
      refining system was used to refresh medium in suspension culture, a final cell
      density of (1.1 +/- 0.1) * 106 cells mL-1 was obtained, with 99.5 +/- 0.2 % OCT
      3/4 and 78.3 +/- 1.1 % TRA-1-60 expression, on day 4 of culture. These levels of
      expression were similar to those observed in the conventional suspension culture.
      With this method, culture medium refinement by dialysis was established to remove
      toxic metabolites, recycle autocrine factors as well as other growth factors, and
      reduce the use of macromolecules for the expansion of hiPSCs in suspension
      culture.

PMID- 27638318
TI  - Bioremediation techniques-classification based on site of application:
      principles, advantages, limitations and prospects.
AB  - Environmental pollution has been on the rise in the past few decades owing to
      increased human activities on energy reservoirs, unsafe agricultural practices
      and rapid industrialization. Amongst the pollutants that are of environmental and
      public health concerns due to their toxicities are: heavy metals, nuclear wastes,
      pesticides, green house gases, and hydrocarbons. Remediation of polluted sites
      using microbial process (bioremediation) has proven effective and reliable due to
      its eco-friendly features. Bioremediation can either be carried out ex situ or in
      situ, depending on several factors, which include but not limited to cost, site
      characteristics, type and concentration of pollutants. Generally, ex situ
      techniques apparently are more expensive compared to in situ techniques as a
      result of additional cost attributable to excavation. However, cost of on-site
      installation of equipment, and inability to effectively visualize and control the
      subsurface of polluted sites are of major concerns when carrying out in situ
      bioremediation. Therefore, choosing appropriate bioremediation technique, which
      will effectively reduce pollutant concentrations to an innocuous state, is
      crucial for a successful bioremediation project. Furthermore, the two major
      approaches to enhance bioremediation are biostimulation and bioaugmentation
      provided that environmental factors, which determine the success of
      bioremediation, are maintained at optimal range. This review provides more
      insight into the two major bioremediation techniques, their principles,
      advantages, limitations and prospects. 

PMID- 27638319
TI  - Novel insights into the origin and diversification of photosynthesis based on
      analyses of conserved indels in the core reaction center proteins.
AB  - The evolution and diversification of different types of photosynthetic reaction
      centers (RCs) remains an important unresolved problem. We report here novel
      sequence features of the core proteins from Type I RCs (RC-I) and Type II RCs (RC
      II) whose analyses provide important insights into the evolution of the RCs. The
      sequence alignments of the RC-I core proteins contain two conserved inserts or
      deletions (indels), a 3 amino acid (aa) indel that is uniquely found in all RC-I
      homologs from Cyanobacteria (both PsaA and PsaB) and a 1 aa indel that is
      specifically shared by the Chlorobi and Acidobacteria homologs. Ancestral
      sequence reconstruction provides evidence that the RC-I core protein from
      Heliobacteriaceae (PshA), lacking these indels, is most closely related to the
      ancestral RC-I protein. Thus, the identified 3 aa and 1 aa indels in the RC-I
      protein sequences must have been deletions, which occurred, respectively, in an
      ancestor of the modern Cyanobacteria containing a homodimeric form of RC-I and in
      a common ancestor of the RC-I core protein from Chlorobi and Acidobacteria. We
      also report a conserved 1 aa indel in the RC-II protein sequences that is
      commonly shared by all homologs from Cyanobacteria but not found in the homologs
      from Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes. Ancestral sequence
      reconstruction provides evidence that the RC-II subunits lacking this indel are
      more similar to the ancestral RC-II protein. The results of flexible structural
      alignments of the indel-containing region of the RC-II protein with the
      homologous region in the RC-I core protein, which shares structural similarity
      with the RC-II homologs, support the view that the 1 aa indel present in the RC
      II homologs from Cyanobacteria is a deletion, which was not present in the
      ancestral form of the RC-II protein. Our analyses of the conserved indels found
      in the RC-I and RC-II proteins, thus, support the view that the earliest
      photosynthetic lineages with living descendants likely contained only a single RC
      (RC-I or RC-II), and the presence of both RC-I and RC-II in a linked state, as
      found in the modern Cyanobacteria, is a derivation from these earlier
      phototrophs.

PMID- 27638320
TI  - Far-red light photoacclimation (FaRLiP) in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7335: I.
      Regulation of FaRLiP gene expression.
AB  - Far-red light photoacclimation (FaRLiP) is a mechanism that allows some
      cyanobacteria to utilize far-red light (FRL) for oxygenic photosynthesis. During
      FaRLiP, cyanobacteria remodel photosystem (PS) I, PS II, and phycobilisomes while
      synthesizing Chl d, Chl f, and far-red-absorbing phycobiliproteins, and these
      changes enable these organisms to use FRL for growth. In this study, a
      conjugation-based genetic system was developed for Synechococcus sp. PCC 7335.
      Three antibiotic cassettes were successfully used to generate knockout mutations
      in genes in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7335, which should allow up to three gene loci
      to be modified in one strain. This system was used to delete the rfpA, rfpB, and
      rfpC genes individually, and characterization of the mutants demonstrated that
      these genes control the expression of the FaRLiP gene cluster in Synechococcus
      sp. PCC 7335. The mutant strains exhibited some surprising differences from
      similar mutants in other FaRLiP strains. Notably, mutations in any of the three
      master transcription regulatory genes led to enhanced synthesis of phycocyanin
      and PS II. A time-course study showed that acclimation of the photosynthetic
      apparatus from that produced in white light to that produced in FRL occurs very
      slowly over a period 12-14 days in this strain and that it is associated with a
      substantial reduction (~34 %) in the chlorophyll a content of the cells. This
      study shows that there are differences in the detailed responses of cyanobacteria
      to growth in FRL in spite of the obvious similarities in the organization and
      regulation of the FaRLiP gene cluster.

PMID- 27638321
TI  - Interaction between cysteine synthase and serine O-acetyltransferase proteins and
      their stage specific expression in Leishmania donovani.
AB  - Leishmania possess a unique trypanothione redox metabolism with undebated roles
      in protection from oxidative damage and drug resistance. The biosynthesis of
      trypanothione depends on l-cysteine bioavailability which is regulated by
      cysteine biosynthesis pathway. The de novo cysteine biosynthesis pathway is
      comprised of serine O-acetyltransferase (SAT) and cysteine synthase (CS) enzymes
      which sequentially mediate two consecutive steps of cysteine biosynthesis, and is
      absent in mammalian host. However, despite the apparent dependency of redox
      metabolism on cysteine biosynthesis pathway, the role of SAT and CS in redox
      homeostasis has been unexplored in Leishmania parasites. Herein, we have
      characterized CS and SAT to investigate their interaction and relative abundance
      of these proteins in promastigote vs. amastigote growth stages of L. donovani. CS
      and SAT genes of L. donovani (LdCS and LdSAT) were cloned, expressed, and fusion
      proteins purified to homogeneity with affinity column chromatography. Purified
      LdCS contains PLP as cofactor and showed optimum enzymatic activity at pH 7.5.
      Enzyme kinetics showed that LdCS catalyses the synthesis of cysteine using O
      acetylserine and sulfide with a Km of 15.86 mM and 0.17 mM, respectively.
      Digitonin fractionation and indirect immunofluorescence microscopy showed that
      LdCS and LdSAT are localized in the cytoplasm of promastigotes. Size exclusion
      chromatography, co-purification, pull down and immuno-precipitation assays
      demonstrated a stable complex formation between LdCS and LdSAT proteins.
      Furthermore, LdCS and LdSAT proteins expression/activity was upregulated in
      amastigote growth stage of the parasite. Thus, the stage specific differential
      expression of LdCS and LdSAT suggests that it may have a role in the redox
      homeostasis of Leishmania.

PMID- 27638322
TI  - Large-scale implementation of enhanced recovery programs after surgery. A
      francophone experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Enhanced recovery after surgery program (ERP) has now surpassed the
      stage of clinical research in certain specialties and currently poses the
      problematic of large-scale implementation. The goal of this study was to report
      the experience during the first year of implementation in three French-speaking
      countries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a prospective study in which 67
      healthcare centers, all registered in the Grace-Audit databank, participated.
      Included were patients undergoing colorectal (CRS), bariatric (BS) and orthopedic
      hip and knee surgery (OS), performed within an ERP. The main endpoints were
      duration of hospital stay, postoperative morbidity, the degree of compliance with
      the elements of the ERP, the relation between the extent of application of the
      elements and postoperative hospital stay, and finally the completeness of data
      inclusions in the databank. RESULTS: A total of 1904 patients were included in
      the Grace-Audit databank between January 1, 2015 and January 31, 2016, undergoing
      CRS (n=490), BS (n=431), and OS (n=983). The mean implementation rate was 83.7+/
      10.0% for CRS, 75.0+/-23.7% for BS, and 83.5+/-14.9% for OS. The duration of
      hospital stay was 6.5 days for CRS, 2.6 days for BS and 3.4 days for OS. Overall
      postoperative morbidity (onset of postoperative undesirable event), surgical
      morbidity (superficial or deep organ space surgical site complications such as
      bleeding, infection or defective healing) and readmission rates were 20.6%, 7.5%,
      and 5.7% for CRS; 2.5%, 1.4%, and 1.6% for BS and 2.9%, 0.2%, and 2% for OS,
      respectively. A statistically significant relationship was found between the
      degree of compliance of the elements of ERP and the duration of hospital stay for
      CRS and BS; hospital stay was reduced when at least 15 of the 22 elements of the
      program were applied (P<0.001). The patients included in the Grace-Audit databank
      represented less than 20% of the patients undergoing operation in the same
      establishments during the study period for all three specialties. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study shows that large-scale ERPs are feasible and safe in French-speaking
      countries. Nonetheless, although encouraging, these preliminary results highlight
      that implementation must be improved in specialties such as bariatric surgery and
      that more complete data collection is needed.

PMID- 27638323
TI  - Geriatric Cardiology Mini-Focus Issue: Call for Papers.

PMID- 27638325
TI  - Triclosan elevates estradiol levels in serum and tissues of cycling and peri
      implantation female mice.
AB  - Triclosan, an antimicrobial agent added to personal care products, can modulate
      estrogenic actions. We investigated whether triclosan affects concentrations of
      exogenous and endogenous estradiol. Female mice were given injections of
      triclosan followed by 1MUCi tritium-labeled estradiol. Mice given daily 2-mg
      triclosan doses (57.9mg/kg/dose) showed significantly elevated radioactivity in
      tissues and serum compared to controls. A single dose of 1 or 2mg triclosan
      increased radioactivity in the uterus in both cycling and peri-implantation
      females. We also measured natural urinary estradiol at 2-12h following triclosan
      injection. Unconjugated estradiol was significantly elevated for several hours
      following 1 or 2mg of triclosan. These data are consistent with evidence that
      triclosan inhibits sulfonation of estrogens by interacting with
      sulfotransferases, preventing metabolism of these steroids into biologically
      inactive forms. Elevation of estrogen concentrations by triclosan is potentially
      relevant to anti-reproductive and carcinogenic actions of excessive estrogen
      activity.

PMID- 27638326
TI  - Seizures and electroencephalography findings in 61 patients with fetal alcohol
      spectrum disorders.
AB  - Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) cause neurodevelopmental abnormalities.
      However, publications about epilepsy and electroencephalographic features are
      scarce. In this study, we prospectively performed electroencephalography (EEG)
      and brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in 61 patients with diagnosis of FASD.
      One patient had multiple febrile seizures with normal EEGs. Fourteen children
      showed EEG anomalies, including slow background activity and interictal
      epileptiform discharges, focal and/or generalized, and 3 of them had epilepsy. In
      one patient, seizures were first detected during the EEG recording and one case
      had an encephalopathy with electrical status epilepticus during slow sleep
      (ESES). Focal interictal discharges in our patients did not imply the presence of
      underlying visible focal brain lesions in the neuroimaging studies, such as
      cortical dysplasia or polymicrogyria. However, they had nonspecific brain MR
      abnormalities, including corpus callosum hypoplasia, vermis hypoplasia or cavum
      septum pellucidum. The latter was significantly more frequent in the group with
      EEG abnormal findings (p < 0.01).

PMID- 27638327
TI  - Neurodevelopmental disorder associated with prenatal exposure to alcohol (ND
      PAE): A proposed diagnostic method of capturing the neurocognitive phenotype of
      FASD.
AB  - Neurobehavioral Disorder associated with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (ND-PAE) was
      proposed as a diagnostic formulation intended to capture the range of mental
      health problems occurring in alcohol-affected individuals with a history of
      prenatal alcohol exposure. The proposed criteria for the disorder are reviewed as
      well as various factors considered in the development of the disorder and its
      associated criteria. The taxonomic research related to the disorder is reviewed
      with preliminary analyses indicating that clinicians are readily able to agree
      when applying the diagnostic criteria but that the adaptive functioning criteria
      may need to be modified to expand its coverage of alcohol-affected individuals
      and to aid in discriminating these individuals from others not alcohol-affected.
      Finally, the challenges with translating the diagnosis into European medical and
      mental healthcare systems are discussed and recommendations for facilitating
      implementation are made.

PMID- 27638329
TI  - Prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
      Disorders among the general and Aboriginal populations in Canada and the United
      States.
AB  - Prenatal alcohol exposure may cause a number of health complications for the
      mother and developing fetus, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
      This study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of i) alcohol use (any amount)
      and binge drinking (4 or more standard drinks on a single occasion) during
      pregnancy, and ii) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and FASD among the general and
      Aboriginal populations in Canada and the United States, based on the available
      literature. Comprehensive systematic literature searches and meta-analyses,
      assuming a random-effects model, were conducted. It was revealed that about 10%
      and 15% of pregnant women in the general population consume alcohol in Canada and
      the United States, respectively, and that about 3% of women engage in binge
      drinking during pregnancy in both countries. However, the prevalence of alcohol
      use during pregnancy in the Aboriginal populations of the United States and
      Canada were found to be approximately 3-4 times higher, respectively, compared to
      the general population. Even more alarmingly, it was estimated that approximately
      one in five women in the Aboriginal populations in both countries engage in binge
      drinking during pregnancy. Further, among the general population of Canada, the
      pooled prevalence was estimated to be about 1 per 1000 for FAS and 5 per 1000 for
      FASD. However, compared to the general population, the prevalence of FAS and FASD
      among the Aboriginal population in Canada was estimated to be 38 times and 16
      times higher, respectively. With respect to the United States, the pooled
      prevalence of FAS and FASD was estimated to be about 2 per 1000 and 15 per 1,000,
      respectively, among the general population, and 4 per 1000 and 10 per 1,000,
      respectively, among the Aboriginal population. The FAS and FASD pooled prevalence
      estimates presented here should be used with caution due to the limited number of
      existing studies and their methodological limitations. Based on the results of
      the current study, it is evident that there is an urgent need for implementing
      more effective national prevention and surveillance strategies to monitor and
      lower the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and FASD.

PMID- 27638328
TI  - A novel missense mutation, p.(R102W) in WNT7A causes Al-Awadi Raas-Rothschild
      syndrome in a fetus.
AB  - Al-Awadi-Raas-Rothschild syndrome (AARRS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder
      which consists of severe malformations of the upper and lower limbs, abnormal
      genitalia and underdeveloped pelvis. Here, we present a fetus with severe limbs
      defects, including bilateral humeroradial synostosis, bilateral oligodactyly in
      hands, underdeveloped pelvis, short femora and tibiae, absence of fibulae,
      severely small feet, and absence of uterus. An autosomal recessively inherited
      novel mutation in WNT7A found in the fetus, c.304C > T, affects an evolutionarily
      well-conserved amino acid, causing the p.(R102W) missense change at protein
      level. The findings presented in this fetus are compatible with diagnosis of
      AARRS, expanding the mutational spectrum of limb malformations arising from
      defects in WNT7A.

PMID- 27638330
TI  - The impact of thalidomide use in birth defects in Brazil.
AB  - Although the thalidomide tragedy occurred more than 50 years ago, the medication
      is still being used worldwide for different reasons, and several aspects
      regarding its teratogenicity remain unsolved. Despite the strict regulation
      implemented, new cases of thalidomide embryopathy (TE) are still being registered
      in Brazil. Furthermore, the molecular processes that lead to malformations when
      the embryo is exposed to thalidomide have not yet been fully identified. In this
      article, we perform a critical analysis of thalidomide's history in Brazil,
      highlighting aspects of the occurrence of TE over the decades. Finally, we
      present the main perspectives and challenges for ongoing surveillance and
      prevention of TE in Brazil. The effective control of dispensing thalidomide,
      especially in areas where leprosy is endemic, is one of the most important and
      challenging points. Furthermore, the emergence of thalidomide analogues is fast
      approaching, and their availability would pose additional concerns. The
      understanding of the molecular mechanisms and targets of thalidomide in both
      experimental and human models is essential for generating new insights into
      teratogenic mechanisms, so that safer thalidomide analogues can be developed.

PMID- 27638331
TI  - Alcoholic hepatitis: should we combine old drugs for better results?

PMID- 27638332
TI  - Applications and limitations of electron correlation microscopy to study
      relaxation dynamics in supercooled liquids.
AB  - Electron correlation microscopy (ECM) is a way to measure structural relaxation
      times, tau, of liquids with nanometer-scale spatial resolution using coherent
      electron scattering equivalent of photon correlation spectroscopy. We have
      applied ECM with a 3.5nm diameter probe to Pt57.5Cu14.7Ni5.3P22.5 amorphous
      nanorods and Pd40Ni40P20 bulk metallic glass (BMG) heated inside the STEM into
      the supercooled liquid region. These data demonstrate that the ECM technique is
      limited by the characteristics of the time series, which must be at least 40tau
      to obtain a well-converged correlation function g2(t), and the time per frame,
      which must be less than 0.1tau to obtain sufficient sampling. A high-speed direct
      electron camera enables fast acquisition and affords reliable g2(t) data even
      with low signal per frame.

PMID- 27638333
TI  - Prospects for quantitative and time-resolved double and continuous exposure off
      axis electron holography.
AB  - The technique of double exposure electron holography, which is based on the
      superposition of two off-axis electron holograms, was originally introduced
      before the availability of digital image processing to allow differences between
      electron-optical phases encoded in two electron holograms to be visualised
      directly without the need for holographic reconstruction. Here, we review the
      original method and show how it can now be extended to permit quantitative
      studies of phase shifts that oscillate in time. We begin with a description of
      the theory of off-axis electron hologram formation for a time-dependent electron
      wave that results from the excitation of a specimen using an external stimulus
      with a square, sinusoidal, triangular or other temporal dependence. We refer to
      the more general method as continuous exposure electron holography, present
      preliminary experimental measurements and discuss how the technique can be used
      to image electrostatic potentials and magnetic fields during high frequency
      switching experiments.

PMID- 27638335
TI  - Impact of Demographics, Organ Impairment, Disease, Formulation, and Food on the
      Pharmacokinetics of the Selective S1P1 Receptor Modulator Ponesimod Based on 13
      Clinical Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ponesimod is a selective, orally active sphingosine-1-phosphate
      receptor 1 modulator currently undergoing clinical evaluation for the treatment
      of multiple sclerosis (MS) in phase III clinical trials. Ponesimod dose
      dependently reduces peripheral blood lymphocyte counts by blocking the egress of
      lymphocytes from lymphoid organs. METHODS: A population pharmacokinetic (PK)
      analysis was performed based on pooled data from 13 clinical studies.
      Interindividual variability (IIV) and the impact of key demographic variables and
      other covariates on ponesimod exposure were assessed quantitatively. RESULTS: A
      two-compartment model with sequential zero/first-order absorption, including lag
      time, intercompartmental drug flow, and first-order clearance, adequately
      described the PK of ponesimod. Body weight, race, MS, psoriasis, hepatic
      impairment, drug formulation, and food were identified to significantly affect
      the concentration-time profile. The inclusion of these covariates into the model
      explained approximately 25 % of the IIV in the PK of ponesimod. Model predictions
      indicated that the impact of the identified covariates on ponesimod steady-state
      exposure is within 20 % of exposure, and thus within the margins of the IIV, with
      the exception of hepatic impairment. Changes up to threefold were predicted for
      severe cases of liver dysfunction. CONCLUSION: The rich data set enabled building
      a comprehensive population PK model that accurately predicts the concentration
      time data of ponesimod. Covariates other than hepatic impairment were considered
      not clinically relevant and thus do not require dose adjustment. A potential dose
      adaptation can be conducted based on the final model.

PMID- 27638336
TI  - High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is a Good Treatment Option for Localized
      Prostate Cancer: Con.

PMID- 27638334
TI  - Impact of Venetoclax Exposure on Clinical Efficacy and Safety in Patients with
      Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Venetoclax is a selective, potent, first-in-class B-cell lymphoma-2
      inhibitor that restores apoptosis in cancer cells and has demonstrated efficacy
      in a variety of hematological malignancies. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this
      research was to characterize the relationship between venetoclax exposures and
      efficacy and safety in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). METHODS: A total of
      272 and 338 patients from four clinical studies were pooled for the exposure
      efficacy and exposure-safety analyses, respectively. Demographics, baseline
      disease characteristics, and select co-medications were evaluated for their
      impact on efficacy (lymphocytes, tumor size, objective response [OR]) and safety
      (neutropenia and infection). RESULTS: Higher venetoclax concentrations led to a
      more rapid decrease in lymphocyte counts and tumor size, which translated into
      patients more rapidly achieving OR. The 17p deletion somatic mutation was not
      identified, in any of the analyses, to affect the responsiveness of patients to
      venetoclax. Model-based simulations of lymphocyte counts and tumor size estimated
      an OR rate (ORR) of 84.8 % (95 % confidence interval 81.5-88.0 %) at a venetoclax
      dosage of 400 mg daily, with minimal increase in ORR at higher doses. The safety
      analyses of the adverse events (grade 3 or higher) of neutropenia and infection
      indicated that higher average venetoclax concentrations were not associated with
      an increase in adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The exposure-response analyses
      indicated that a venetoclax dosage regimen of 400 mg daily results in a high (>80
      %) probability of achieving OR in R/R CLL/SLL patients, with minimal probability
      of increasing neutropenia or infection with higher exposures.

PMID- 27638337
TI  - High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is a Good Treatment Option for Localized
      Prostate Cancer: Pro.

PMID- 27638338
TI  - Nucleic acid-mediated autoinflammation and autoimmunity-type I
      interferonopathies.

PMID- 27638340
TI  - Zinc and zinc-containing biomolecules in childhood brain tumors.
AB  - Zinc ions are essential cofactors of a wide range of enzymes, transcription
      factors, and other regulatory proteins. Moreover, zinc is also involved in
      cellular signaling and enzymes inhibition. Zinc dysregulation, deficiency, over
      supply, and imbalance in zinc ion transporters regulation are connected with
      various diseases including cancer. A zinc ion pool is maintained by two types of
      proteins: (i) zinc-binding proteins, which act as a buffer and intracellular
      donors of zinc and (ii) zinc transporters responsible for zinc fluxes into/from
      cells and organelles. The decreased serum zinc ion levels have been identified in
      patients suffering from various cancer diseases, including head and neck tumors
      and breast, prostate, liver, and lung cancer. On the contrary, increased zinc ion
      levels have been found in breast cancer and other malignant tissues. Zinc
      metalloproteomes of a majority of tumors including brain ones are still not yet
      fully understood. Current knowledge show that zinc ion levels and detection of
      certain zinc-containing proteins may be utilized for diagnostic and prognostic
      purposes. In addition, these proteins can also be promising therapeutic targets.
      The aim of the present work is an overview of the importance of zinc ions, zinc
      transporters, and zinc-containing proteins in brain tumors, which are, after
      leukemia, the second most common type of childhood cancer and the second leading
      cause of death in children after accidents.

PMID- 27638339
TI  - Deregulation of ocular nucleotide homeostasis in patients with diabetic
      retinopathy.
AB  - : Clear signaling roles for ATP and adenosine have been established in all
      tissues, including the eye. The magnitude of signaling responses is governed by
      networks of enzymes; however, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms of
      purinergic signaling in the eye. By employing thin-layer chromatographic assays
      with 3H-labeled substrates, this study aimed to evaluate the role of nucleotide
      homeostasis in the pathogenesis of vitreoretinal diseases in humans. We have
      identified soluble enzymes ecto-5'-nucleotidase/CD73, adenylate kinase-1, and
      nucleoside diphosphate kinase in the vitreous fluid that control active cycling
      between pro-inflammatory ATP and anti-inflammatory adenosine. Strikingly,
      patients with proliferative form of diabetic retinopathy (DR) had higher
      adenylate kinase activity and ATP concentration, when compared to non
      proliferative DR eyes and non-diabetic controls operated for rhegmatogenous
      retinal detachment, macular hole, and pucker. The non-parametric correlation
      analysis revealed positive correlations between intravitreal adenylate kinase and
      concentrations of ATP, ADP, and other angiogenic (angiopoietins-1 and -2),
      profibrotic (transforming growth factor-beta1), and proteolytic (matrix
      metalloproteinase-9) factors but not erythropoietin and VEGF. Immunohistochemical
      staining of postmortem human retina additionally revealed selective expression of
      ecto-5'-nucleotidase/CD73 on the rod-and-cone-containing photoreceptor cells.
      Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into the regulatory
      mechanisms that influence purinergic signaling in diseased eye and open up new
      possibilities in the development of enzyme-targeted therapeutic approaches for
      prevention and treatment of DR. KEY MESSAGE: Ecto-5'-nucleotidase/CD73 and
      adenylate kinase-1 circulate in human vitreous fluid. Adenylate kinase activity
      is high in diabetic eyes with proliferative retinopathy. Diabetic eyes display
      higher intravitreal ATP/ADP ratio than non-diabetic controls. Soluble adenylate
      kinase maintains resynthesis of inflammatory ATP in diabetic eyes.

PMID- 27638341
TI  - Diverse impact of xeno-free conditions on biological and regenerative properties
      of hUC-MSCs and their extracellular vesicles.
AB  - : Growing evidence indicates that intracellular signaling mediated by
      extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by stem cells plays a considerable role in
      triggering the regenerative program upon transplantation. EVs from umbilical cord
      mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC-EVs) have been shown to enhance tissue repair in
      animal models. However, translating such results into clinical practice requires
      optimized EV collection procedures devoid of animal-originating agents. Thus, in
      this study, we analyzed the influence of xeno-free expansion media on biological
      properties of UC-MSCs and UC-MSC-EVs for future applications in cardiac repair in
      humans. Our results show that proliferation, differentiation, phenotype
      stability, and cytokine secretion by UC-MSCs vary depending on the type of xeno
      free media. Importantly, we found distinct molecular and functional properties of
      xeno-free UC-MSC-EVs including enhanced cardiomyogenic and angiogenic potential
      impacting on target cells, which may be explained by elevated concentration of
      several pro-cardiogenic and pro-angiogenic microRNA (miRNAs) present in the EVs.
      Our data also suggest predominantly low immunogenic capacity of certain xeno-free
      UC-MSC-EVs reflected by their inhibitory effect on proliferation of immune cells
      in vitro. Summarizing, conscious selection of cell culture conditions is required
      to harvest UC-MSC-EVs with the optimal desired properties including enhanced
      cardiac and angiogenic capacity, suitable for tissue regeneration. KEY MESSAGE:
      Type of xeno-free media influences biological properties of UC-MSCs in vitro.
      Certain xeno-free media promote proliferation and differentiation ability of UC
      MSCs. EVs collected from xeno-free cultures of UC-MSCs are biologically active.
      Xeno-free UC-MSC-EVs enhance cardiac and angiogenic potential of target cells.
      Type of xeno-free media determines immunomodulatory effects mediated by UC-MSC
      EVs.

PMID- 27638342
TI  - Postpartum weight trajectories in overweight and lean women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: overweight and obesity in women of reproductive age are increasing
      and are often linked with excessive weight gain in pregnancy and weight retention
      after birth. Studies on spontaneous maternal weight trajectory after childbirth
      are scarce. OBJECTIVE: we describe women's spontaneous weight trajectory during
      the first six weeks of the postpartum period and its relationship between Body
      Mass Index and socio-demographical, behavioural and psychological variables.
      DESIGN: data from 212 women who gave birth in three regional hospitals were
      collected prospectively between December 2015 and February 2016. Potential
      determinants were examined during pregnancy and the postpartum period at four and
      six weeks after childbirth. Descriptive statistics and a linear multivariate
      regression model were used. Early postnatal weight retention (PWR) was defined as
      the difference between the maternal weight six weeks after childbirth and the pre
      pregnancy weight (kg). MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: mean PWR at six weeks after
      childbirth was 3.3kg (SD 4.1), with a range between -7 and +16.2kg; 81% reported
      some weight retention (PWR>0kg), and 36% showed a high weight retention
      (PWR>=5kg). Women with a BMI <25kg/m2 showed a significantly higher mean PWR six
      weeks after childbirth compared to women with a BMI >=25kg/m2 (4.0kg versus
      1.6kg, p=0.002). There was a significant correlation between maternal weight
      retention and gestational weight gain (GWG) (B=0.65, p<0.001) and pre-pregnancy
      body mass index <25kg/m2 (B=1.12, p=0.017), six weeks after childbirth. KEY
      CONCLUSIONS: weight retention six weeks after childbirth is associated with pre
      pregnancy BMI and GWG, but contrary to expectations, lean women with excessive
      GWG tended to retain most weight after childbirth. No significant associations
      with several socio-demographical, behavioural and psychological variables were
      found. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: weight management strategies around pregnancy
      should not be limited to overweight and obese mothers. Women with pre-pregnancy
      BMI <25kg/m2 require equal attention to prevent postnatal weight retention.

PMID- 27638343
TI  - Correlates of pregnant women's gestational weight gain knowledge.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to investigate correlates of pregnant women's gestational weight gain
      (GWG) knowledge commensurate with GWG guidelines. DESIGN: cross sectional
      quantitative study. SETTING: an Australian tertiary level maternity hospital.
      PARTICIPANTS: pregnant women (n=1032) following their first antenatal visit.
      MEASUREMENTS: survey to assess GWG knowledge and a range of potential correlates
      of knowledge including socio-economic characteristics, pregnancy characteristics
      (parity, gestation, pre-pregnancy BMI) and GWG information procurement and GWG
      attitudinal variables. FINDINGS: participants (n=366; 35.4% response) averaged
      32.5 years of age with 33% speaking a language other than English. One third of
      women reported GWG knowledge consistent with guidelines. Women overweight prior
      to pregnancy were less likely to underestimate appropriate GWG (RRR 0.23, 95%
      CI=0.09-0.59). Conversely, women in the overweight (RRR 8.80, 95% CI=4.02-19.25)
      and obese (RRR 19.62, 95% CI=8.03-48.00) categories were more likely to
      overestimate GWG recommendations, while tertiary educated women were less likely
      to overestimate GWG (RRR 0.28, 95% CI=0.10-0.79). No associations were found
      between GWG knowledge and pregnancy, GWG information source or attitudinal
      variables. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: the findings highlight
      women's lack of GWG knowledge and the role of pre-pregnancy body mass index and
      women's education as correlates of GWG knowledge. Women susceptible to poor GWG
      knowledge should be a priority target for individual and community-based
      education.

PMID- 27638344
TI  - Interrelationship between temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (OA) and
      cervical spine pain: Effects of intra-articular injection with hyaluronic acid.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate cervical spine pain and function
      after five sessions of viscosupplementation with hyaluronic acid (HA) in patients
      with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis. METHODS: Forty-nine patients,
      (79% females, aged between 43-81 years), affected by TMJ osteoarthritis and
      concurrent cervical spine pain and limited function were recruited. All patients
      underwent a cycle of five weekly arthrocenteses and viscosupplementation with 1
      ml of medium molecular weight HA according to the single-needle arthrocentesis
      technique. Outcome variables were TMJ pain (VAS), cervical active ranges of
      motion, cervical disability (NPDS), and presence of painful palpation sites.
      Assessments were carried out at baseline and at one, three and six months after
      the end of treatment protocol. RESULTS: A significant reduction over time was
      shown both in TMJ pain levels and in NPDS values with respect to baseline (p <
      0.001). Most parameters of active cervical range of motion showed an improvement
      with time. Benefits remained stable throughout six months after the
      viscosupplementation protocol. CONCLUSIONS: A protocol of TMJ intra articular
      arthrocentesis and viscosupplementation improved cervical function and reduced
      disability in patients with concurrent cervical spine pain. These findings add to
      the complex amount of literature on the relationship between temporomandibular
      disorders and cervical spine disorders.

PMID- 27638346
TI  - In vitro susceptibility of Burkholderia cepacia complex isolates: Comparison of
      disk diffusion, Etest(r), agar dilution, and broth microdilution methods.
AB  - Broth microdilution, agar dilution, Etest(r) and disk diffusion techniques were
      compared to evaluate the susceptibility profile of 82 Bcc clinical isolates
      against six antimicrobials as recommended by CLSI. Broth microdilution was
      considered the "gold standard" method. The regression analysis was applied to
      determine the essential (EA) and categorical (CA) agreement rates. STX (MIC50, 1
      mg/L) was the most potent antimicrobial tested against Bcc isolates. The worst in
      vitro activity was observed for chloramphenicol (MIC50, 16 mg/L) and ticarcillin
      clavulanic acid (MIC50, >256 mg/L). The EA among broth microdilution and agar
      dilution results was good for the majority of antimicrobial tested. When
      comparing broth microdilution and Etest(r), ceftazidime, SXT and chloramphenicol
      exhibited EA rates below 90%. SXT showed an excellent CA (100%) when dilution
      methodologies were compared. However, a low CA rate was found for this agent
      between dilution and disk diffusion methodologies resulting in unacceptable very
      major and minor error rates.

PMID- 27638345
TI  - Pneumatosis intestinalis during chemotherapy with nilotinib in a patient with
      chronic myeloid leukemia who tested positive for anti-topoisomerase I antibodies.
AB  - A 55-year-old man with several comorbidities including idiopathic interstitial
      pneumonia under long-term corticosteroid therapy, longstanding myocardial
      infarction, chronic heart failure, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, gastro
      esophageal reflux disease, constipation, and history of paralytic ileus, was
      diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase. He also
      tested positive for anti-topoisomerase I antibodies without clinical diagnosis of
      any connective tissue disease, including systemic sclerosis. Approximately 5
      months after the initiation of nilotinib for CML, he developed upper abdominal
      distension with intermitting abdominal pain, and based on abdominal computed
      tomography findings, a diagnosis of pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) was made. Five
      courses of hyperbaric oxygen therapy quickly eliminated the PI and related
      symptoms without the cessation of nilotinib and, thereafter, additional oral
      prokinetic agents and non-absorbable antibiotics ensured the non-recurrence of
      PI. At 6 and 18 months after commencing nilotinib therapy, major and complete
      molecular response were achieved, respectively. It is suspected that both
      gastrointestinal hypokinesis related to the presence of anti-topoisomerase I
      antibodies and mucosal permeability due to corticosteroid therapy had existed.
      Thus, subsequent administration of nilotinib may have triggered PI by depressing
      gastrointestinal motility via the inhibition of c-kit.

PMID- 27638347
TI  - Risk factors and outcomes of afebrile bacteremia patients in an emergency
      department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is limited research on afebrile bacteremia. We aimed to compare
      the risk factors and outcomes of patients with afebrile and febrile infections.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of bloodstream isolates from 994
      adults admitted to the emergency department of a university hospital. Afebrile
      infections, defined as the absence of fever history or measured fever through the
      emergency department course, was compared with febrile infection. Frequencies and
      proportions of sources of infection, comorbidities, along with organ failure and
      mortality were presented. The major outcome measure was 30-day survival. chi
      Square or Student's t test was used for univariate analysis, and Cox proportional
      hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: We found that the risk
      factors and outcomes of febrile and afebrile bacteremia patients were very
      different. The afebrile patients were older, have higher Charlson comorbidity
      index, and had poorer outcomes than the febrile patients. We also found that
      oldest old age, nonhematologic malignancy, necrotizing fasciitis, spontaneous
      bacterial peritonitis, and pneumonia were each positive independent predictors of
      afebrile bacteremia, whereas Escherichia coli infection and liver abscess were
      independent negative predictors of afebrile bacteremia. Finally, the 30-day all
      cause mortality was higher in the afebrile group than in the febrile group (45%
      versus 12%, log-rank P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This series of patients with afebrile
      bacteremia confirmed the previously reported associations with old age and
      immunocompromised conditions. Clinicians should explore the possibility of occult
      severe infection, and initiate early hemodynamic support and empirical
      antimicrobial therapy for patients with the aforementioned risk factors.

PMID- 27638349
TI  - Detection of high-risk human papillomavirus infection in tonsillar specimens
      using 2 commercially available assays.
AB  - THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY IS TO DETERMINE THE PREVALENCE OF HIGH-RISK HUMAN
      PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HRHPV) INFECTION IN TONSILLAR SWABS AND TISSUE: Patients
      undergoing tonsillectomy for nonmalignant causes were enrolled. A flocked swab
      and fresh tissue were collected from the left and right tonsil of each patient.
      Specimens were tested for hrHPV DNA using the Roche cobas test and for the
      presence of E6/E7 messenger RNA using the Hologic Aptima hrHPV test. Of the 193
      patients enrolled, 129 were in the pediatric group (ages 1-12years; median,
      5years), and 64 were in the adult group (ages 13-55; median, 22years). All swab
      and tissue specimens were negative for hrHPV by both methods. Positive, negative,
      and internal controls performed as expected. We found a 0% rate of infection
      indicating that detectable hrHPV infection in tonsillar tissue appears to be
      uncommon in the children and adults in the population sampled.

PMID- 27638348
TI  - Synthesis, antifungal activity of caffeic acid derivative esters, and their
      synergism with fluconazole and nystatin against Candida spp.
AB  - We tested the antifungal potential of caffeic acid and 8 of its derivative esters
      against Candidaalbicans ATCC 90028 and 9 clinical isolatesand carried out a
      synergism assay with fluconazole and nystatin. Propyl caffeate (C3) showed the
      best antifungal activity against the tested strains. When in combination, C3
      markedly reduced the MIC of fluconazole and nystatin with synergistic effect up
      to 64-fold. Finally, C3 showed a high IC50 value and selective indexagainst oral
      keratinocytes, demonstrating low toxicity against this cell type and selectivity
      for yeast cells. Further research should confirm its antifungal potential for
      development of combined therapy to treat C. albicans infections.

PMID- 27638350
TI  - Molecular types and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Clostridium
      difficile isolates in different epidemiological settings in a tertiary care
      center in Israel.
AB  - The aims of this prospective study were to examine the correlation between the
      molecular types and the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Clostridium
      difficile isolates with the source of acquisition and the occurrence of C.
      difficile infections (CDI) in a tertiary center in Israel. All available isolates
      from community-acquired (CA) CDI episodes (n=43) and matching numbers of isolates
      from community-onset, hospital acquired (CO-HA, n=67) and HA-CDI (n=56) and 32
      cases of recurrent CDI were typed and tested for susceptibility to vancomycin and
      metronidazole. The most common types were SlpA hr-02 (21%), SlpA hr-05/PCR
      ribotype-014 (12%), PCR-ribotype-027 (10%) and SlpA cr-02 (10%). The PCR-ribotype
      027 was most common in the CO-HA group and the hr-05 type was more common in the
      CA group. Non-susceptibility to metronidazole and/or vancomycin was found in 4/7
      of re-infection isolates. Our study shows that CA-CDI is uncommon and is caused
      by similar strains as HA-CDI, albeit with different rates.

PMID- 27638351
TI  - Mechanisms and phenomenology of phase separation: Comment on: "Phase separation
      driven by density-dependent movement: A novel mechanism for ecological patterns"
      by Quan-Xing Liu et al.

PMID- 27638353
TI  - Clinical Versus Research Sequencing.
AB  - Historically, sequencing has been the key technology to assess variation in the
      genetic code, and has been widely accepted in clinical diagnostics of genetic
      disease. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods increased the
      size of the analyzed target by several orders of magnitude, while at the same
      time drastically reducing the cost of sequencing. Current research allows
      sequencing of germline and tumor whole genomes. However, with the arrival of
      cutting-edge technology to the clinical diagnostic field, strict regulatory
      oversight is required to use the advances of the latest research when applied to
      routine clinical practice. We discuss the differences between sequencing in a
      research setting and sequencing in a clinical diagnostics setting, as applied to
      next-generation technology.

PMID- 27638354
TI  - Management of Stable Angina - Current Guidelines: A Critical Appraisal.
AB  - Guidelines provide recommendations to improve patient outcomes, but many of the
      recommendations made for treating patients with stable angina are opinion based
      rather than evidence based. Risk stratification to predict patients at an
      increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and sudden ischemic death, and
      selection of patients for possible revascularization, is based on expert opinion.
      Randomized trials have compared optimal medical therapy to revascularization,
      after the coronary anatomy was known, and yet routine coronary angiography to
      exclude left main disease is not recommended. What exactly is optimal antianginal
      treatment varies considerably from one country's guideline recommendations to
      another. None of the antianginal drugs reduce mortality or MI and these drugs are
      equally effective in treating angina pectoris; and yet beta-blockers and calcium
      channel blockers are recommended as first line therapy. Double and triple therapy
      with different classes of antianginal drugs is also expert opinion based rather
      than evidence based. Recommendations to reduce the incidence of MI and sudden
      death are appropriate; however the use of a potent, high dose statin, is
      recommended by AHA/ACC and NICE guidelines for all patients with ischemic heart
      disease, while the European guidelines recommend a target LDL goal in patients
      with coronary artery disease (CAD). Management of patients with stable angina
      pectoris with normal coronary arteries remains ambiguous. This short review
      critically appraises the recommendations for managing patients with stable angina
      pectoris. 

PMID- 27638352
TI  - MLL3/MLL4/COMPASS Family on Epigenetic Regulation of Enhancer Function and
      Cancer.
AB  - During development, precise spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression are
      coordinately controlled by cis-regulatory modules known as enhancers. Their
      crucial role in development helped spur numerous studies aiming to elucidate the
      functional properties of enhancers within their physiological and disease
      contexts. In recent years, the role of enhancer malfunction in tissue-specific
      tumorigenesis is increasingly investigated. Here, we direct our focus to two
      primary players in enhancer regulation and their role in cancer pathogenesis:
      MLL3 and MLL4, members of the COMPASS family of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4)
      methyltransferases, and their complex-specific subunit UTX, a histone H3 lysine
      27 (H3K27) demethylase. We review the most recent evidence on the underlying
      roles of MLL3/MLL4 and UTX in cancer and highlight key outstanding questions to
      help drive future research and contribute to our fundamental understanding of
      cancer and facilitate identification of therapeutic opportunities.

PMID- 27638355
TI  - Active treatment for food allergy.
AB  - Food allergy has grown in rapidly in prevalence, currently affecting 5% of adults
      and 8% of children. Management strategy is currently limited to 1) food avoidance
      and 2) carrying and using rescue intramuscular epinephrine/adrenaline and oral
      antihistamines in the case of accidental ingestion; there is no FDA approved
      treatment. Recently, oral, sublingual and epicutaneous immunotherapy have been
      developed as active treatment of food allergy, though none have completed phase 3
      study. Efficacy and safety studies of immunotherapy have been variable, though
      there is clearly signal that immunotherapy will be a viable option to desensitize
      patients. The use of bacterial adjuvants, anti-IgE monoclonal antibodies, and
      Chinese herbal formulations either alone or in addition to immunotherapy may hold
      promise as future options for active treatment. Active prevention of food allergy
      through early introduction of potentially offending foods in high-risk infants
      will be an important means to slow the rising incidence of sensitization.

PMID- 27638356
TI  - Requirements for global elimination of hepatitis B: a modelling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the existence of effective prevention and treatment
      interventions, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to cause nearly 1
      million deaths each year. WHO aspires to global control and elimination of HBV
      infection. We aimed to evaluate the potential impact of public health
      interventions against HBV, propose targets for reducing incidence and mortality,
      and identify the key developments required to achieve them. METHODS: We developed
      a simulation model of the global HBV epidemic, incorporating data on the natural
      history of HBV, prevalence, mortality, vaccine coverage, treatment dynamics, and
      demographics. We estimate the impact of current interventions and scaling up of
      existing interventions for prevention of infection and introducing wide-scale
      population screening and treatment interventions on the worldwide epidemic.
      FINDINGS: Vaccination of infants and neonates is already driving a large decrease
      in new infections; vaccination has already prevented 210 million new chronic
      infections by 2015 and will have averted 1.1 million deaths by 2030. However,
      without scale-up of existing interventions, our model showed that there will be a
      cumulative 63 million new cases of chronic infection and 17 million HBV-related
      deaths between 2015 and 2030 because of ongoing transmission in some regions and
      poor access to treatment for people already infected. A target of a 90% reduction
      in new chronic infections and 65% reduction in mortality could be achieved by
      scaling up the coverage of infant vaccination (to 90% of infants), birth-dose
      vaccination (to 80% of neonates), use of peripartum antivirals (to 80% of
      hepatitis B e antigen-positive mothers), and population-wide testing and
      treatment (to 80% of eligible people). These interventions would avert 7.3
      million deaths between 2015 and 2030, including 1.5 million cases of cancer
      deaths. An elimination threshold for incidence of new chronic infections would be
      reached by 2090 worldwide. The annual cost would peak at US$7.5 billion worldwide
      ($3.4 billion in low-income and lower-middle-income countries), but decrease
      rapidly and this would be accelerated if a cure is developed. INTERPRETATION:
      Scale-up of vaccination coverage, innovations in scalable options for prevention
      of mother-to-child transmission, and ambitious population-wide testing and
      treatment are needed to eliminate HBV as a major public health threat.
      Achievement of these targets could make a major contribution to one of the
      Sustainable Development Goals of combating hepatitis. FUNDING: Medical Research
      Council.

PMID- 27638357
TI  - Vaccine-induced mucosal immunity to poliovirus: analysis of cohorts from an open
      label, randomised controlled trial in Latin American infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of mechanisms that limit poliovirus replication is
      crucial for informing decisions aimed at global polio eradication. Studies of
      mucosal immunity induced by oral poliovirus (OPV) or inactivated poliovirus (IPV)
      vaccines and mixed schedules thereof will determine the effectiveness of
      different vaccine strategies to block virus shedding. We used samples from a
      clinical trial of different vaccination schedules to measure intestinal immunity
      as judged by neutralisation of virus and virus-specific IgA in stools. METHODS:
      In the FIDEC trial, Latin American infants were randomly assigned to nine groups
      to assess the efficacy of two schedules of bivalent OPV (bOPV) and IPV and
      challenge with monovalent type 2 OPV, and stools samples were collected. We
      selected three groups of particular interest-the bOPV control group (serotypes 1
      and 3 at 6, 10, and 14 weeks), the trivalent attenuated OPV (tOPV) control group
      (tOPV at 6, 10, and 14 weeks), and the bOPV-IPV group (bOPV at 6, 10, and 14
      weeks plus IPV at 14 weeks). Neutralising activity and poliovirus type-specific
      IgA were measured in stool after a monovalent OPV type 2 challenge at 18 weeks of
      age. Mucosal immunity was measured by in-vitro neutralisation of a type 2 polio
      pseudovirus (PV2). Neutralisation titres and total and poliovirus-type-specific
      IgG and IgA concentrations in stools were assessed in samples collected before
      challenge and 2 weeks after challenge from all participants. FINDINGS: 210
      infants from Guatemala and Dominican Republic were included in this analysis. Of
      38 infants tested for mucosal antibody in the tOPV group, two were shedding virus
      1 week after challenge, compared with 59 of 85 infants receiving bOPV (p<0.0001)
      and 53 of 87 infants receiving bOPV-IPV (p<0.0001). Mucosal type 2 neutralisation
      and type-specific IgA were noted primarily in response to tOPV. An inverse
      correlation was noted between virus shedding and both serum type 2 neutralisation
      at challenge (p<0.0001) and mucosal type 2 neutralisation at challenge
      (p<0.0001). INTERPRETATION: Mucosal type-2-specific antibodies can be measured in
      stool and develop in response to receipt of OPV type 2 either in the primary
      vaccine series or at challenge. These mucosal antibodies influence the amount of
      virus that is shed in an established infection. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates
      Foundation.

PMID- 27638359
TI  - Eliminating hepatitis B virus as a global health threat.

PMID- 27638358
TI  - Unravelling mucosal immunity to poliovirus.

PMID- 27638360
TI  - In-host adaptation and acquired triazole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus: a
      dilemma for clinical management.
AB  - Aspergillus fumigatus causes a range of diseases in human beings, some of which
      are characterised by fungal persistence. A fumigatus can persist by adapting to
      the human lung environment through physiological and genomic changes. The
      physiological changes are based on the large biochemical versatility of the
      fungus, and the genomic changes are based on the capacity of the fungus to
      generate genetic diversity by spontaneous mutations or recombination and
      subsequent selection of the genotypes that are most adapted to the new
      environment. In this Review, we explore the adaptation strategies of A fumigatus
      in relation to azole resistance selection and the clinical implications thereof
      for management of diseases caused by Aspergillus spp. We hypothesise that the
      current diagnostic tools and treatment strategies do not take into account the
      biology of the fungus and might result in an increased likelihood of fungal
      persistence in patients. Stress factors, such as triazole exposure, cause
      mutations that render resistance. The process of reproduction-ie, sexual,
      parasexual, or asexual-is probably crucial for the adaptive potential of
      Aspergillus spp. As any change in the environment can provoke adaptation,
      switching between triazoles in patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis
      might result in a high-level pan-triazole-resistant phenotype through the
      accumulation of resistance mutations. Alternatively, when triazole therapy is
      stopped, an azole-free environment is created that could prompt selection for
      compensatory mutations that overcome any fitness costs that are expected to
      accompany resistance development. As a consequence, starting, switching, and
      stopping azole therapy has the risk of selecting for highly resistant strains
      with wildtype fitness. A similar adaptation is expected to occur in response to
      other stress factors, such as endogenous antimicrobial peptides; over time the
      fungus will become increasingly adapted to the lung environment, thereby limiting
      the probability of eradication. Our hypothesis challenges current management
      strategies, and future research should investigate the genomic dynamics during
      infection to understand the key factors facilitating adaptation of Aspergillus
      spp.

PMID- 27638361
TI  - Description of Lunatimonas salinarum sp. nov.
AB  - A Gram-stain-negative, crescent-shaped, non-motile, aerobic bacterium was
      isolated from a saltern at Nari along the Bhavnagar coast, Gujarat, India. The
      strain designated JC344T was oxidase- and catalase-positive. The 16S rRNA gene
      sequence analysis and sequence comparison data indicated that JC344T represented
      a member of the genus Lunatimonas and was closely related to the only species of
      the genus, Lunatimonas lonarensis AK24T (95.5 %). The DNA G+C content of JC344T
      was 43 mol%. JC344T has phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and four unidentified polar
      lipids. MK-7 is the only respiratory quinone. The major (>10 %) fatty acids of
      strain JC344T are iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and summed feature 9 (iso-C17 :
      1omega9c and/or C16 : 0 10-methyl). On the basis of physiological, genotypic,
      phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic analyses, we conclude that JC344T represents a
      novel species of the genus Lunatimonas, for which the name Lunatimonas salinarum
      sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC344T (=KCTC 42988T=LMG 29259T).

PMID- 27638363
TI  - For Whom the Bell Tolls: Programmed Death 1 as a Marker of Post-Transplantation
      Mortality.

PMID- 27638362
TI  - Comparison of Cyclophosphamide Combined with Total Body Irradiation, Oral
      Busulfan, or Intravenous Busulfan for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell
      Transplantation in Adults with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - We conducted a retrospective analysis to compare outcomes in adult patients with
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic cell
      transplantation (allo-HCT) with conditioning regimens containing cyclophosphamide
      (CY) in combination with total body irradiation (TBI), oral busulfan (p.o. BU),
      or intravenous busulfan (i.v. BU). We used data for January 2000 to December 2012
      from the Transplant Registry Unified Management Program of the Japan Society of
      Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. We identified 2130 patients treated with
      TBI/CY (n = 2028), p.o. BU/CY (n = 60), or i.v. BU/CY (n = 42). Two-year overall
      survival (OS) and 2-year relapse-free survival rates were 69.0% and 62.1%,
      respectively, in the TBI/CY group, 55.9% and 54.2% in the p.o. BU/CY group, and
      71.0% and 46.8% in the i.v. BU/CY group. In multivariate analysis, compared with
      TBI/CY, p.o. BU/CY, but not i.v. BU/CY, was associated with lower OS (hazard
      ratio [HR], 1.46; P = .047) and a higher incidence of sinusoidal obstruction
      syndrome (HR, 3.36; P = .030). No between-group differences were seen in the
      incidence of nonrelapse mortality, relapse, acute graft-versus-host disease
      (GVHD), or chronic GVHD. We suggest that i.v. BU/CY might be a possible
      alternative allo-HCT conditioning regimen for adults with ALL who are not
      suitable for TBI.

PMID- 27638364
TI  - Using Appropriate Methods in Cost-Effectiveness Analyses: The Case of Allogeneic
      Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Sickle Cell Disease.

PMID- 27638365
TI  - Using Molecular Data in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Outcomes
      for Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Underestimating True Tumor Diversity?

PMID- 27638368
TI  - Development and evaluation of an unlabeled probe high-resolution melting assay
      for detection of ATP7B mutations in Wilson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wilson's disease (WD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder
      characterized by the deposition of copper mainly in the liver or nerve system
      that leads to their dysfunction. Mutations in the gene encoding ATPase, Cu+
      transporting, beta polypeptide (ATP7B) are causative for WD. The aim of this
      study was to develop a rapid and convenient assay for detection of the three most
      common causative ATP7B mutations, p.R778L, p.P992L, and p.V1106I. METHODS:
      Plasmids containing DNA fragments harboring each of the three ATP7B mutations
      were constructed. High-resolution melting (HRM) analysis was conducted by
      asymmetric polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with paired primer and
      unlabeled probe, performed in a 96-well plate formatted LightCycler 480 Real-Time
      PCR System. The assay was evaluated for accuracy and reproducibility by
      genotyping of 41 WD cases. RESULTS: The unlabeled probe HRM assays performed on
      constructs with the p.R778L, p.P992L, and p.V1106I mutations in the ATP7B gene
      resulted in additional melting peaks. According to the unlabeled probe HRM
      molecular signature, we could differentiate homozygous mutations from wild-type
      with the DeltaTm (difference between melting temperatures) >4 degrees C, and the
      coefficient of variation in repeatability tests was <5%. In the validation assay
      using our method to examine clinical samples, a 100% accuracy rate was achieved.
      CONCLUSIONS: The newly developed assay to rapidly genotype the ATP7B mutations is
      convenient, accurate, and reproducible, and represents a favorable alternative to
      Sanger sequencing in the identification of specific ATP7B mutations.

PMID- 27638366
TI  - Outcome of Patients with Multiple Myeloma and CKS1B Gene Amplification after
      Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - The gain/amplification of the CKS1B gene on chromosome 1q21 region is associated
      with a poor outcome in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, there are
      limited data on the outcome of patients with CKS1B amplification after a single
      high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      (auto-HCT). We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of patients with CKS1B
      amplification who received an auto-HCT between June 2012 and July 2014 at our
      institution. We identified 58 patients with MM and CKS1B gene amplification
      detected by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). We compared their outcomes
      with a propensity score-matched control group of 58 patients without CKS1B
      amplification who were treated at approximately the same time. The primary
      objective was to compare the progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS)
      between the CKS1B and the control groups. Stratified log-rank test with the
      matched pairs as strata and double robust estimation under the Cox model were
      used to assess the effect of CKS1B gene amplification on PFS or OS in the matched
      cohort. Patients in the CKS1B and control groups were well matched for age,
      gender, disease status, year of auto-HCT, response to pretransplantation therapy,
      and baseline hemoglobin level. In both groups, 57% patients were in first
      remission and 43% had relapsed disease at auto-HCT. Twenty-seven (47%) patients
      with CKS1B amplification had concurrent monosomy 13 or 13q deletion; 6 (10%) by
      conventional cytogenetics only, 16 (28%) by FISH only, and 5 (9%) by both. Median
      follow-up after auto-HCT was 25.4 months. The median PFS of the CKS1B and the
      control groups were 15.0 months and 33.0 months (P = .002), respectively. The
      median OS have not been reached yet. The 2-year OS rates in the CKS1B and the
      control groups were 62% and 91% (P = .02), respectively. In conclusion, Patients
      with CKS1B amplification are more likely to have additional high-risk cytogenetic
      abnormalities and a shorter PFS and OS after an auto-HCT.

PMID- 27638369
TI  - Pathologic analysis of capsular and incisional denudation and positive margin
      status in the development of a robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy program.
AB  - The aim of this study is to explore the use of pathologically confirmed capsular
      incision and denudation as a measure of adequacy of extirpation following robot
      assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). All patients who underwent RALP at
      the George Washington University Medical Center during the first 2 years of
      inception of the robotic prostatectomy program were included. All pathologic
      specimens were reviewed by a single pathologist. One hundred twenty-eight men who
      underwent RALP during the first 2 years were identified. Sixty-four patients
      underwent RALP during the first year (group 1) and all pathologic specimens were
      reviewed retrospectively. Sixty-four patients underwent RALP during the second
      year (group 2) after revision of our operative technique and all pathologic
      specimens were reviewed prospectively. Of patients in group 1, 18 (28%) had a
      positive surgical margin (PSM), and 18 (28%) with negative surgical margins were
      found to have capsular incision or denudation. In group 1, 32 (50%) patients had
      evidence of iatrogenic capsular violation. Group 2 consisted of 13 (20%) patients
      with a PSM and 9 (14%) margin-negative patients with capsular incision or
      denudation. Group 2 had a total of 22 (34%) patients with evidence of iatrogenic
      capsular violation. Overall reduction in positive margins was not statistically
      significant between the groups. Improvement in capsular incision/denudation rate
      and overall capsular violation between the two groups was statistically
      significant (P < 0.03 and <0.0055). Surgical margin status alone underestimates
      the overall quality of surgical resection after RALP because not all capsular
      violations result in a PSM. Surgeon-guided pathologic review in addition to
      intraoperative experience may improve oncologic success during the RALP learning
      curve. 

PMID- 27638367
TI  - Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: How Not
      to Put the CART Before the Horse.
AB  - Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) remains an important and potentially
      curative option for most hematologic malignancies. As a form of immunotherapy,
      allogeneic HCT (allo-HCT) offers the potential for durable remissions but is
      limited by transplantation- related morbidity and mortality owing to organ
      toxicity, infection, and graft-versus-host disease. The recent positive outcomes
      of chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cell therapy in B cell malignancies may
      herald a paradigm shift in the management of these disorders and perhaps other
      hematologic malignancies as well. Clinical trials are now needed to address the
      relative roles of CART cells and HCT in the context of transplantation-eligible
      patients. In this review, we summarize the state of the art of the development of
      CART cell therapy for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma and discuss our perspective
      of how CART cell therapy can be applied in the context of HCT.

PMID- 27638370
TI  - Robot-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy in obese and morbidly obese women.
AB  - Total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) in obese patients is challenging. We sought
      to evaluate whether total laparoscopic hysterectomies using the da Vinci robotic
      system in obese patients, in comparison with non-obese patients, is a reasonable
      surgical approach. One-hundred consecutive robot-assisted TLHs were performed
      over a 17-month period. Obesity was not a contraindication to robotic surgery,
      assuming adequate respiratory function to tolerate Trendelenburg position and,
      for cancer cases, a small enough uterus to allow vaginal extraction without
      morcellation. Data were prospectively collected on patient characteristics, total
      operative time, hysterectomy time, estimated blood loss, length of stay, and
      complications. Outcomes with non-obese and obese women were compared. The median
      age, weight, and BMI of the 100 patients who underwent robot-assisted TLH was
      57.6 years (30.0-90.6), 82.1 kg (51.9-159.6), and 30.2 kg/m(2) (19.3-60.2),
      respectively. Fifty (50%) patients were obese (BMI >= 30); 22 patients were
      morbidly obese (BMI >= 40). There was no increase in complications (p = 0.56) or
      blood loss (p = 0.44) with increasing BMI. While increased BMI was associated
      with longer operative times (p = 0.05), median time increased by only 36 min when
      comparing non-obese and morbidly obese patients. Median length of stay was one
      day for all weight categories (p = 0.42). Robot-assisted TLH is feasible and can
      be safely performed in obese patients. More data are needed to compare robot
      assisted TLH with other hysterectomy techniques in obese patients. Nonetheless,
      our results are encouraging. Robot-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy may
      be the preferred technique for appropriately selected obese patients. 

PMID- 27638371
TI  - Camera and trocar placement for robot-assisted radical and partial nephrectomy:
      which configuration provides optimal visualization and instrument mobility?
AB  - Proper camera and trocar placement is critical to the success of minimally
      invasive procedures. For robot-assisted renal surgery, two basic trocar
      configurations have been described. The medial approach, using a 30 degrees 
      downward-angled lens mimics a traditional transperitoneal laparoscopic
      configuration. An alternative configuration, using a 0 degrees  or 30 degrees 
      upward-angled lens approach locates the camera laterally, evoking a position
      sense similar to a retroperitoneal approach. Our objective is to compare the
      differences between these two standard approaches for robot-assisted renal
      surgery. After performing a review and analysis of available literature, our
      group tested both the medial and lateral camera approaches during robotic renal
      surgery performed in human patients. The medial approach provides a wide field of
      view, because of the relatively greater distance to the target structures and a
      horizon line closer to the patient's midline. The lateral configuration offers
      significantly different visualization. The relative proximity to the target
      structures and a higher horizon line results in a comparatively restricted field
      of vision. Instrument mobility is comparable between the two approaches. Meta
      analysis of the literature reveals that both approaches provide comparable
      overall operative times for both radical and partial nephrectomy, though there is
      a trend towards shorter overall operative times for partial nephrectomy performed
      through a medial approach. The medial trocar configuration provides a familiar
      working environment for both surgeon and assistant; the wide-angle view enables
      enhanced visualization of surrounding structures and tracking of the instruments
      inserted by the assistant. The lateral approach offers the potential advantage of
      a closer view of the kidney, but does so at the expense of a significantly
      restricted field of view. In our experience, a medial trocar configuration offers
      significant advantages over the lateral trocar configuration, and is, therefore,
      the standard approach at our high-volume center. 

PMID- 27638372
TI  - Robotic ureteroureterostomy in children with a duplex collecting system.
AB  - Duplex collecting system pathology can be handled using an ablative procedure or
      reconstructive procedure even in the light of a poorly functioning moiety. We
      propose that, when a reconstructive procedure is an option, a robotic
      ureteroureterostomy is safe and feasible. Fifteen children between the ages of 6
      months and 10 years (mean 31.26 months) underwent transperitoneal robotic
      ureteroureterostomy for duplex collecting system pathology. The surgical
      procedure included transperitoneal robotic approach. Outcome measures included
      operative time, length of hospital stay, and resolution of symptoms. Mean
      operative time was 1.2 h (range 0.75-2.2 h) for the entire procedure, including
      the cystoscopic evaluation. Length of stay averaged 20.8 h (range 15-26 h). All
      postoperative imaging demonstrated intact, well-draining collecting systems. The
      presenting symptomatology resolved in all the patients in whom symptoms were
      present. Robotic ureteroureterostomy is feasible and safe in the pediatric
      population and should be considered part of the surgical armamentarium when upper
      tract preservation seems warranted. 

PMID- 27638373
TI  - The advanced learning curve in robotic prostatectomy: a multi-institutional
      survey.
AB  - Several studies have attempted to define the learning curve associated with robot
      assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). These studies have focused on the
      acquisition of skills by novice robotic surgeons. It is unclear, however, if
      basic proficiency can be equated with satisfactory patient outcomes. We surveyed
      experienced robotic surgeons with high surgical volume in an attempt to define an
      "advanced" learning curve, relating to proficiency and outcomes with the robotic
      procedure. A questionnaire was designed to evaluate the learning curve of the
      RALP from basic to advanced techniques. High-volume, experienced surgeons were
      asked to complete this questionnaire on the basis of their personal experience
      with the RALP procedure. Nine institutions participated in the study accounting
      for a total case volume of 6,276. Median surgeon experience was 460 cases (range
      325-1,500); median total operative and robotic time were 165 and 105 min,
      respectively. Median time to "basic proficiency" with the robot was 40 cases;
      proficiency in more challenging cases was approached after a median of 50 cases.
      Surgical outcomes were deemed satisfactory to the surgeon for continence,
      potency, and surgical margins after a median of 100, 200, and 300 procedures,
      respectively. These data confirm previous studies that basic proficiency with the
      robotic system occurs relatively quickly, after 25-40 cases. Obtaining
      "satisfactory outcomes" took substantially longer, from 100 to 300 cases.
      Satisfactory outcomes regarding surgical margins and potency took longer to
      obtain than continence, likely reflecting the relative complexity of cancer
      control and nerve-sparing compared with the vesico-urethral anastomosis. 

PMID- 27638374
TI  - Tool guidance using a compact robotic assistant.
AB  - Surgical robots in popular clinical use are generally large machines, which
      limits their practical use to some extent. This study aims to investigate the
      potential of a small, table-mounted robot for tool guidance in minimally invasive
      surgery (MIS). In particular, its multipurpose use for guidance of various tools
      was investigated. A compact robot capable of manipulating MIS tools was designed
      and built. The robot can move in four degrees of freedom (DOF): three rotational
      and one translational. These DOF correspond to motion constrained by a trocar.
      The robot kinematics are based on a bevel-geared "spherical mechanism," which
      allows trocar-constrained motion using a small mechanical device. The robot was
      tested in a porcine model by manipulating scopes and robotic grasping tools using
      a joystick as directed by a surgeon. Holding a laparoscope, the robot provided
      superior stability as a camera assistant. It manipulated the scope for
      visualization of the liver, spleen, bowel, etc. during manual tissue
      manipulation. Its compactness allowed increased space around the operating table,
      and the robot was in fact manipulated by joystick from across the room.
      Maneuvering grasping tools, the robot similarly provided a stable and dexterous
      platform for tissue manipulation. The test results suggest that the use of
      robotics for surgery may be enhanced via compact devices to include more hybrid
      robotic-manual procedures. The robot motion is smoother and more repeatable than
      that of a human operator. Use of a foot joystick could also place camera control
      directly with the surgeon. Flexible endoscopes can also be used with the robot
      for highly dexterous visualization. Notably, changing tools with this system is a
      very straightforward process and can be achieved without re-registration of the
      robot's position/orientation. Therefore, combined with other simple robotic tools
      for grasping, cautery, etc., compact robotic systems based on this technology
      could replace the large systems in current use, potentially increasing the impact
      of robots on medical care. This represents an important step towards
      multifunctional compact surgical robots. 

PMID- 27638375
TI  - A multi-institutional comparison of radical retropubic prostatectomy, radical
      perineal prostatectomy, and robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy for
      treatment of localized prostate cancer.
AB  - To evaluate the pathological stage and margin status of patients undergoing
      radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), radical perineal prostatectomy (RPP) and
      robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). We performed a retrospective
      analysis of 196 patients who underwent RRP, RPP, and RALP as part of our multi
      institution program. Fifty-seven patients underwent RRP, 41 RPP, and 98 RALP.
      Patient age, preoperative prostate specific antigen (PSA), preoperative Gleason
      score, preoperative clinical stage, pathological stage, postoperative Gleason
      score, and margin status were reviewed. The three groups had similar preoperative
      characteristics, except for PSA (8.4, 6.5, and 6.2 ng/ml) for the retropubic,
      robotic, and perineal approaches. Margins were positive in 12, 24, and 36% of the
      specimens from RALP, RRP, and RPP, respectively (P = 0.004). The positive margin
      rates in patients with pT2 tumors were 4, 14, and 19% in the RALP, RRP, and the
      RPP groups, respectively (P = 0.03). Controlling for age and pre-operative PSA
      and Gleason score, the rate of positive margins was statistically lower in the
      RALP versus both the RRP (P = 0.046) and the RPP groups (P = 0.02). In the
      patients with pT3 tumors, positive margins were observed in 36% of patients
      undergoing the RALP and 53 and 90% of those patients undergoing the RRP and RPP,
      respectively (P = 0.015). Controlling for the same factors, the rate of positive
      margins was statistically lower in the RALP versus the RPP (P = 0.01) but not
      compared with the RRP patients (P = 0.32). The percentage of positive margins was
      lower in RALP than in RPP for both pT2 and pT3 tumors. RRP had a higher
      percentage of positive margins than RALP in the pT2 tumors but not in the pT3
      tumors. 

PMID- 27638376
TI  - Comparison of a novel surgical approach for radical hysterectomy: robotic
      assistance versus open surgery.
AB  - To report the learning curve and perioperative outcomes for robotic radical
      hysterectomy using a unilateral surgical approach transferred directly from one
      surgeon's open radical hysterectomy experience, thirty-two consecutive robotic
      radical hysterectomy cases (10/2006-1/2009) were contrasted to a cohort of 20
      consecutive open radical hysterectomies (2/2005-2/2008). Perioperative
      characteristics compared included operative time, number of nodes, estimated
      blood loss, length of hospital stay, and complications. Robotic operative times
      were significantly longer than for open (122.1 +/- 33.0 versus 67.5 +/- 16.2 min,
      P < 0.0001), but decreased with experience, going from 156.0 min for the first
      eight robotic cases to 95.0 min for the last eight cases (P < 0.05). Blood loss
      (99.2 +/- 46.2 mL versus 275.0 +/- 206.0 mL, P < 0.0001) and length of hospital
      stay (1.7 versus 5.2 days, P < 0.001) were significantly lower for the robotic
      cohort. Lymph node yield in the robotic cohort was equivalent to that for the
      open cohort (11.5 versus 9.2, P = 0.1446), and complication rates were 21.9% for
      robotic and 30.0% for open radical hysterectomy. Implementing a unilateral
      approach to maximize surgical efficiency greatly reduced surgical times without
      compromising patient morbidity, bringing robotic operative times while still
      within the learning curve close to those for open radical hysterectomy. Thus,
      robotic radical hysterectomy may soon be considered the preferred standard front
      line therapy for cervical cancer. 

PMID- 27638377
TI  - Port-site complications after pediatric urologic robotic surgery.
AB  - The incidence of port-site hernia development after adult laparoscopic surgery is
      reported to be between 0.1% and 3.0%. There are no published reports concerning
      hernia incidence or related factors after pediatric urologic laparoscopic
      interventions. We present our experience with port-site complications following
      pediatric urologic robotic surgery (PURS). From July 2005 to June 2009 we
      prospectively followed the first 200 PURS cases performed at Children's Hospital
      of Philadelphia. All cases had follow-up available for at least 2 months
      postoperatively. The data collected allowed for evaluation of the outcomes for
      each port site separately and compared its size, location, and fascial closure
      status. Median age was 3.2 years (0.4-18.8 years). All 200 patients had follow-up
      with median of 11 months (0.2-83.4 months). There were 600 port sites analyzed in
      the 200 cases. Of the 600 port sites, 200 were umbilical. The other 400 port
      sites were lateral to the rectus muscle, either subcostal or at the level of the
      anterior superior iliac spine. There was no wound irrigation prior to closure on
      any sites. All the patients received perioperative antibiotics. One umbilical
      port had a hernia diagnosed 2 weeks postoperatively. Four of the 600 ports (0.6%)
      developed skin dehiscence secondary to superficial wound infection within 1 week
      postoperatively. At our institution, the overall incidence of port-site
      complications after PURS was 0.83%. This is slightly lower than the published
      incidence in adults undergoing conventional laparoscopy. Due to the low incidence
      of complications it is difficult to draw conclusions on contributing factors. 

PMID- 27638378
TI  - Robotic salvage cystectomy in the nonagenarian.
AB  - Radical cystectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy remains the standard treatment for
      muscle-invasive bladder cancer. However, bladder preservation with radiotherapy,
      with or without chemotherapy, represents an alternative treatment strategy. In
      patients that fail this bladder conservation treatment, salvage cystectomy is
      then indicated to treat persistent or recurrent cancer. We report our experience
      with robotic-assisted laparoscopic salvage radical cystoprostatectomy with pelvic
      lymph node dissection in a 91-year-old man. This minimally invasive approach for
      treatment of persistent bladder cancer refractory to chemoradiation, even in the
      nonagenarian, is a safe and viable alternative to traditional open surgery. 

PMID- 27638379
TI  - Single-setting robotic radical nephrectomy and radical prostatectomy.

PMID- 27638380
TI  - Comparison of hospital charges between robotic, laparoscopic stapled, and
      laparoscopic handsewn Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

PMID- 27638382
TI  - Paradoxical reaction (PR) in tuberculous lymphadenitis among HIV-negative
      patients: retrospective cohort study.

PMID- 27638381
TI  - Regorafenib in the Real-Life Clinical Practice: Data from the Czech Registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of regorafenib for the treatment of metastatic
      colorectal cancer (mCRC) in clinical practice in the Czech Republic, and to
      describe the clinical outcomes of patients in terms of safety and survival.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data of patients treated with regorafenib were
      extracted from the national CORECT registry. The CORECT registry is a non
      interventional post-marketing database, gathering information about patients with
      CRC and treated with targeted agents. Twenty oncology centres in the Czech
      Republic contributed to this registry. Collected data included patients'
      characteristics, disease history, cancer treatments, response to treatments and
      safety. RESULTS: A total of 148 patients treated with regorafenib in clinical
      practice were analysed. At regorafenib initiation, almost all patients were fully
      active or slightly restricted in physical activity. Regorafenib was not
      administered as first-line treatment in any patient. Median progression-free
      survival was 3.5 months and median overall survival was 9.3 months. One-year
      survival rate was 44.6 %. Four partial responses were observed and 51 stable
      diseases. Progression was observed in 66 patients (44.6 %). The main reported
      adverse events were skin toxicity (5.4 %) and fatigue (2.0 %). CONCLUSIONS:
      Regorafenib is a well-established treatment for pretreated patients with mCRC,
      however real-life data are scarce. Our results demonstrated slightly better
      efficacy of regorafenib and better safety profile in patients with mCRC compared
      to the randomised trials.

PMID- 27638383
TI  - Combined exposure of low dose lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury in mice.

PMID- 27638384
TI  - Allograft utilization for pediatric heart transplantation: what are we doing
      wrong?

PMID- 27638385
TI  - Novel yeast isolated from broilers' feedstuff, gut and faeces as aflatoxin B1
      adsorbents.
AB  - AIMS: To isolate and characterize native yeast strains from broilers' environment
      as feedstuff, faeces and gut, and to evaluate their binding capacity for
      aflatoxin B1 (AFB1 ). METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of nine yeast strains were
      isolated: three from feedstuff identified as Pichia kudriavzevii (2) and
      Clavispora lusitaniae (1), two from gut identified as Candida tropicalis and four
      from faeces identified as Cl. lusitaniae (3) and Cyberlindnera fabianii (1). AFB1
      binding percentages varied among yeast strains and with AFB1 concentrations. To
      carry out adsorption studies, one strain from each genus and each origin was
      selected as follows: Cl. lusitaniae and P. kudriavzevii from feedstuff, Cl.
      lusitaniae and Cy. fabianii from faeces and Ca. tropicalis from gut. The most
      appropriate concentrations for cells and toxin were 107 cells per ml and 100 ng
      ml-1 of AFB1 respectively. All the tested yeast strains showed similar adsorption
      capacities independently of the origin. The adsorption isotherm studies in all
      yeasts assayed showed behaviour of L type or Langmuir and a varied affinity for
      the toxin. The stability of the AFB1 -yeast complex demonstrated the
      irreversibility of the binding process. CONCLUSION: Yeast strains tested in this
      study constitute potential AFB1 adsorbents and they possess the advantage to be
      native from the avian environment. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This
      study makes a contribution to using native yeasts from broilers' environment for
      controlling chronic aflatoxicosis in avian production.

PMID- 27638388
TI  - Costs and assessment in medical education: a strategic view.

PMID- 27638387
TI  - Lymphoepithelial cyst with sebaceous glands of the pancreas: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphoepithelial cyst (LEC) of the pancreas is a rare benign tumor.
      LEC with sebaceous glands of the pancreas is extremely rare, and its histogenesis
      remains unclear. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a 66-year-old man with an
      incidental finding of a cystic lesion at the neck of the pancreas. Pancreatic
      juice cytology results and elevated serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and Dupan-2
      levels indicated that the cyst was a potential adenocarcinoma. Therefore, a
      pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed. Macroscopically, the tumor was a
      unilocular cyst with a thin transparent wall, filled with soft yellow material.
      Pathological findings showed that the cyst was lined with squamous epithelium,
      accompanied by dense lymphoid tissue with scattered germinal centers. There were
      no hair follicles, but sebaceous glands were present in the lymphoid tissue just
      beneath the squamous epithelium. Therefore, the histopathological diagnosis was
      an LEC with sebaceous glands of the pancreas. Furthermore, the squamous
      epithelium surrounding the cyst was pathologically continuous with the tubular
      structure, indicating that the tubular structure transitioned into the squamous
      epithelium. CONCLUSIONS: We report an extremely rare case of LEC with sebaceous
      glands of the pancreas. Moreover, the pathological findings, which showed that
      the tubular structure transitioned into the squamous epithelium, suggested that
      this was squamous metaplasia. In order to investigate the histogenesis of LEC of
      the pancreas, the pathological findings must be evaluated.

PMID- 27638389
TI  - Reflection's role in learning: increasing engagement and deepening participation.

PMID- 27638386
TI  - Cancer Stem Cells in Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
AB  - Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are found in many cancer types, including squamous cell
      carcinoma (SCC). CSCs initiate cancer formation and are linked to metastasis and
      resistance to therapies. Studies have revealed that several distinct CSC
      populations coexist in SCC and that tumor initiation and metastatic potential of
      these populations can be uncoupled. Therefore, it is critical to understand CSC
      biology to develop novel CSC-targeted therapies for patients with SCC with poor
      prognoses. This review compares the properties of CSCs in SCC with normal stem
      cells in the skin, summarizes current advances and characteristics of CSCs, and
      considers the challenges for CSC-targeted treatment of SCC.

PMID- 27638390
TI  - Experiencing authenticity - the core of student learning in clinical practice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Learning in clinical practice is challenging regarding
      organizational and pedagogical issues. Clinical education wards are one way to
      meet these challenges by focusing on both patient care and student learning.
      However, more knowledge is needed about how students' learning can be enhanced
      and about patients' and supervisors' roles in these settings. METHODS: The aim
      was to explore nursing students' learning on a clinical education ward with an
      explicit pedagogical framework. Semi-structured interviews of students were
      analyzed using qualitative content analysis and an ethnographic study including
      observations and follow-up interviews of students, patients and supervisors was
      conducted. RESULTS: The core of student meaningful learning experiences both
      external and internal authenticity. Students in early stages immediately created
      mutual relationships, experienced both external and internal authenticity, and
      patients became active participants in student learning. Without a mutual
      relationship, patients passively let students practice on their bodies. Students
      nearing graduation experienced only external authenticity, creating uncertainty
      as a threshold for learning. Caring for patients with complex needs helped
      students overcome the threshold and experience internal authenticity.
      Supervisors' challenges were to balance patient care and student learning by
      working as a team. They supported students coping with the complex challenges on
      the ward. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Students need to experience external and
      internal authenticity to make learning meaningful. Experiencing authenticity,
      involving meaning-making processes and knowledge construction, is linked to
      transformative learning and overcoming thresholds. Therefore, an explicit
      pedagogical framework, based on patient-centredness, peer learning and the
      supervisory team, creates the prerequisites for experiencing external and
      internal authenticity.

PMID- 27638391
TI  - Using reflection to influence practice: student perceptions of daily reflection
      in clinical education.
AB  - PURPOSE: Reflection is a key element in learning from experience, but the impact
      of most programmes of reflection on daily practice remains unclear. We
      investigated students' perceptions of adding a daily written reflection
      assignment to a clinical rotation. METHODS: Third-year medical students on a
      single two-week rotation completed daily reflections analyzing their performance.
      Programme evaluation used a 33-question anonymized survey. Quantitative data were
      summarized and qualitative responses coded for recurring themes. RESULTS: Twenty
      six students completed the survey (90 % response rate). Eighty-five percent of
      students felt that the daily reflections had a positive impact on their learning
      from clinical experience. Seventy-seven percent of students reported that the
      programme changed their awareness of their thoughts and actions, and 80 % felt
      that it improved their recall of experiences. A greater sense of mindfulness and
      focus on self-improvement were major themes that emerge from students'
      descriptions of the role of daily reflections in their learning. CONCLUSION:
      Overall, daily reflections demonstrated a positive learning influence. This
      exploratory study suggests students may benefit from more frequent, short
      reflections as opposed to more typically spaced reflective assignments.

PMID- 27638392
TI  - On the issue of costs in programmatic assessment.
AB  - Programmatic assessment requires labour and cost intensive activities such as
      feedback in a quantitative and qualitative form, a system of learner support in
      guiding feedback uptake and self-directed learning, and a decision-making
      arrangement that includes committees of experts making a holistic professional
      judgment while using due process measures to achieve trustworthy decisions. This
      can only be afforded if we redistribute the resources of assessment in a
      curriculum. Several strategies are suggested. One is to introduce progress
      testing as a replacement for costly cognitive assessment formats in modules. In
      addition, all assessments should be replaced by assessment formats that are
      maximally aligned with the learning tasks. For performance-based assessment,
      OSCEs should be sparsely used, while education and work-embedded assessment
      should be maximized as part of the routine of ongoing instruction and assessment.
      Information technology may support affordable feedback strategies, as well as the
      creation of a paper trail on performance. By making more dramatic choices in the
      way we allocate resources to assessment, the cost-intensive activities of
      programmatic assessment may be realized. 

PMID- 27638393
TI  - The uneasy alliance of assessment and feedback.

PMID- 27638394
TI  - Multiple independent sampling within medical school admission interviewing: an
      "intermediate approach".
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Balancing reliability and resource limitations as well as
      recruitment activities during admission interviews is a challenge for many
      medical schools. The Modified Personal Interview (MPI) has been shown to have
      good psychometric properties while being resource efficient for specialized
      admission interviews. We describe implementation of an MPI adaptation integrating
      psychometric rigour alongside resourcing and recruitment goals for larger-scale
      medical school admission interviewing at the University of Toronto. METHODS: The
      MPI was implemented during the 2013-2014 admission cycle. The MPI uses multiple
      independent sampling by having applicants interviewed in a circuit of four brief
      semi-structured interviews. Recruitment is reflected in a longer MPI interviewing
      time to foster a 'human touch'. Psychometric evaluation includes generalizability
      studies to examine inter-interview reliability and other major sources of error
      variance. We evaluated MPI impact upon applicant recruitment yield and
      resourcing. RESULTS: MPI reliability is 0.56. MPI implementation maintained
      recruitment compared with previous year. MPI implementation required 160
      interviewers for 600 applicants whereas for pre-MPI implementation 290
      interviewers were required to interview 587 applicants. MPI score correlated with
      first year OSCE performance at 0.30 (p < 0.05). DISCUSSION: MPI reliability is
      measured at 0.56 alongside enhanced resource utilization and maintenance of
      recruitment yield. This 'intermediate approach' may enable broader institutional
      uptake of integrated multiple independent sampling-based admission interviewing
      within institution-specific resourcing and recruitment goals.

PMID- 27638395
TI  - Intercultural doctor-patient communication in daily outpatient care: relevant
      communication skills.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intercultural communication (ICC) between doctors and patients is
      often associated with misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. To develop ICC
      specific medical education, it is important to find out which ICC skills medical
      specialists currently apply in daily clinical consultations. METHODS: Doctor
      patient consultations of Dutch doctors with non-Dutch patients were videotaped in
      a multi-ethnic hospital in the Netherlands. The consultations were analyzed using
      the validated MAAS-Global assessment list in combination with factors influencing
      ICC, as described in the literature. RESULTS: In total, 39 videotaped
      consultations were analyzed. The doctors proved to be capable of practising many
      communication skills, such as listening and empathic communication behaviour.
      Other skills were not practised, such as being culturally aware and checking the
      patient's language ability. CONCLUSION: We showed that doctors did practice some
      but not all the relevant ICC skills and that the ICC style of the doctors was
      mainly biomedically centred. Furthermore, we discussed the possible overlap
      between intercultural and patient-centred communication. Implications for
      practice could be to implement the relevant ICC skills in the existing
      communication training or develop a communication training with a patient-centred
      approach including ICC skills.

PMID- 27638396
TI  - Indole production provides limited benefit to Escherichia coli during co-culture
      with Enterococcus faecalis.
AB  - Escherichia coli lives in the gastrointestinal tract and elsewhere, where it
      coexists within a mixed population. Indole production enables E. coli to grow
      with other gram-negative bacteria as indole inhibits N-acyl-homoserine lactone
      (AHL) quorum regulation. We investigated whether E. coli indole production
      enhanced competition with gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis, wherein quorum
      signaling is mediated by small peptides. During planktonic co-culture with E.
      faecalis, the fitness and population density of E. coli tnaA mutants (unable to
      produce indole) equaled or surpassed that of E. coli wt. During biofilm growth,
      the fitness of both populations of E. coli stabilized around 100 %, whereas the
      fitness of E. faecalis declined over time to 85-90 %, suggesting that biofilm and
      planktonic populations have different competition strategies. Media
      supplementation with indole removed the competitive advantage of E. coli tnaA in
      planktonic populations but enhanced it in biofilm populations. E. coli wt and
      tnaA showed similar growth in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth. However, E. coli growth
      was inhibited in the presence of filter-sterilized spent LB from E. faecalis,
      with inhibition being enhanced by indole. Similarly, there was also an inhibition
      of E. faecalis growth by proteinaceous components (likely bacteriocins) from
      spent culture media from both E. coli strains. We conclude that E. coli indole
      production is not a universal competition strategy, but rather works against gram
      negative, AHL-producing bacteria.

PMID- 27638397
TI  - Characterization of Embryo Transcriptome of Gynogenetic Olive Flounder
      Paralichthys olivaceus.
AB  - Olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus is an important commercially cultured
      marine flatfish in China, Korea, and Japan. Gynogenesis, via meiogynogenesis and
      mitogynogenesis, shows advantages in breeding and sex control, but the low
      survival rate, especially for mitogynogenesis, limits its application. In this
      study, we sequenced the embryo transcriptomes of gynogenetic haploid,
      meiogynogenetic diploid, mitogynogenetic diploid, and common diploid flounder and
      investigated their respective genetic characteristics by analyzing differentiated
      expressed genes. Compared with common diploid, the gynogenetic haploid showed
      significant downregulation in notch signaling and wingless-related integration
      site (Wnt) signaling pathways, which may be the source of haploid syndrome. In
      both meiogynogenesis and mitogynogenesis, several upregulated genes including
      complement C3, formin-2, and intelectin may be related to increased survival
      compared to the haploid. The downregulation of immune system and energy
      metabolism-related genes caused retarded development of gynogenetic diploids
      compared with the common diploid. These data provided new and important
      information for application of artificially induced gynogenesis to aquaculture.

PMID- 27638398
TI  - Asthma quality of life and control after sinus surgery in patients with chronic
      rhinosinusitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) often have comorbid
      asthma. Prior studies have not examined the impact of CRS or endoscopic sinus
      surgery (ESS) upon asthma quality of life (QOL) and asthma control using
      validated outcome metrics. METHODS: Patients with CRS, both with and without
      polyps, and comorbid asthma completed the Mini Asthma QOL Questionnaire
      (miniAQLQ) and Asthma Control Test (ACT) at baseline and 6 months postoperatively
      as part of a multi-institutional, prospective study. RESULTS: Baseline metrics
      were available on 86 patients. Patients undergoing ESS reported improved miniAQLQ
      [0.5 (SD +/-1.1), 95% CI: 0.2-0.7; P = 0.002] and ACT scores [1.3 (+/-4.1), 95%
      CI: 0.2-2.4; P = 0.025]. Uncontrolled baseline asthma (ACT < 20) was present in
      51% of patients undergoing ESS. In uncontrolled patients, ESS resulted in a
      minimal clinically important difference 57% of the time for miniAQLQ scores
      (>=0.5 points) and 50% of the time for ACT scores (>=3.0 points). After
      adjustment with linear regression, baseline miniAQLQ scores were worse in
      patients with comorbid allergy (P = 0.045) and chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD; P = 0.015). Adjusted baseline ACT scores were worse in patients
      with COPD (P = 0.004). Covariates associated with changes in miniAQLQ scores
      after ESS were pre-operative corticosteroid dependency (P = 0.011) and change in
      total SNOT-22 score (P = 0.010). Covariate associated with significantly less
      improvement in ACT scores was obstructive sleep apnea (P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with CRS often present with uncontrolled asthma, and ESS improves both
      miniAQLQ and ACT. Approximately half of patients with uncontrolled asthma improve
      after ESS, yet there are few CRS-specific factors associated with asthma QOL or
      control or ESS outcomes.

PMID- 27638399
TI  - Hyperoxia Early After Hospital Admission in Comatose Patients with Non-Traumatic
      Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - BACKGROUND The clinical effect of hyperoxia in patients with non-traumatic out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains uncertain. We therefore initiated this
      study to find out whether there is an association between survival and hyperoxia
      early after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in OHCA patients admitted to
      our hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS All OHCA patients admitted to our hospital
      between 1 January 2008 and 30 June 2015 were identified by analysis of our
      central admission register. Data from individual patients were collected from
      patient health records and anonymously stored on a central database. RESULTS
      Altogether, there were 280 OHCA patients admitted to our hospital between 1
      January 2008 and 30 June 2015, including 35 patients (12.5%) with hyperoxia and
      99 patients (35.4%) with normoxia. Comparison of these 2 groups showed lower pH
      values in OHCA patients admitted with normoxia compared to those with hyperoxia
      (7.10+/-0.18 vs. 7.21+/-0.17; p=0.001) but similar rates of initial lactate
      (7.92+/-3.87 mmol/l vs. 11.14+/-16.40 mmol/l; p=0.072). Survival rates differed
      between both groups (34.4% vs. 54.3%; p=0.038) with better survival rates in OHCA
      patients with hyperoxia at hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS Currently, different
      criteria are used to define hyperoxia following OHCA, but if the negative effects
      of hyperoxia in OHCA patients are a cumulative effect over time, hyperoxia < 60
      min after hospital admission as investigated in this study would be equivalent to
      a short period of hyperoxia. It may be that the positive effect of buffering
      metabolic acidosis early after cardiac arrest maintains the negative effects of
      hyperoxia in general. 

PMID- 27638400
TI  - MSAProbs-MPI: parallel multiple sequence aligner for distributed-memory systems.
AB  - : MSAProbs is a state-of-the-art protein multiple sequence alignment tool based
      on hidden Markov models. It can achieve high alignment accuracy at the expense of
      relatively long runtimes for large-scale input datasets. In this work we present
      MSAProbs-MPI, a distributed-memory parallel version of the multithreaded MSAProbs
      tool that is able to reduce runtimes by exploiting the compute capabilities of
      common multicore CPU clusters. Our performance evaluation on a cluster with 32
      nodes (each containing two Intel Haswell processors) shows reductions in
      execution time of over one order of magnitude for typical input datasets.
      Furthermore, MSAProbs-MPI using eight nodes is faster than the GPU-accelerated
      QuickProbs running on a Tesla K20. Another strong point is that MSAProbs-MPI can
      deal with large datasets for which MSAProbs and QuickProbs might fail due to time
      and memory constraints, respectively. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Source
      code in C ++ and MPI running on Linux systems as well as a reference manual are
      available at http://msaprobs.sourceforge.net CONTACT:
      jgonzalezd@udc.esSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at
      Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27638402
TI  - Captopril pretreatment protects the lung against severe acute pancreatitis
      induced injury via inhibiting angiotensin II production and suppressing Rho/ROCK
      pathway.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis (AP) usually causes acute lung injury, which is also known as
      acute pancreatitis associated lung injury (APALI). This study aimed to
      investigate whether captopril pretreatment was able to protect lung against APALI
      via inhibiting angiotensin II (Ang II) production and suppressing Rho/ROCK (Rho
      kinase) pathway in rats. Severe AP (SAP) was introduced to rats by bile
      pancreatic duct retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate. Rats were
      randomly divided into three groups. In the sham group, sham operation was
      performed; in the SAP group, SAP was introduced; in the pre-cpl + SAP group, rats
      were intragastrically injected with 5 mg/kg captopril 1 hour prior to SAP
      induction. Pathological examination of the lung and pancreas, evaluation of
      pulmonary vascular permeability by wet/dry ratio and Evans Blue staining,
      detection of serum amylase, Western blot assay for Ang II receptor type 1 (AT1),
      RhoA, ROCK (Rho kinase), and MLCK (myosin light chain kinase) were performed
      after the animals were sacrificed at 24 hours. After the surgery, characteristic
      findings of pancreatitis were observed, accompanied by lung injury. The serum
      amylase, Ang II, and lung expression of AT1, RhoA, ROCK, and MLCK increased
      dramatically in SAP rats. However, captopril pretreatment improved the
      histological changes, reduced the pathological score of the pancreas and lung,
      inhibited serum amylase and Ang II production, and decreased expression of AT1,
      RhoA, ROCK, and MLCK in the lung. These findings suggest that captopril
      pretreatment is able to protect the lung against APALI, which is, at least
      partially, related to the inhibition of Ang II production and the suppression of
      the Rho/ROCK pathway. 

PMID- 27638403
TI  - Rebaudioside A inhibits pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsions in rats.
AB  - The safety of patients with epilepsy consuming sweetening agents, which is
      becoming increasingly prevalent for various reasons, is a topic that should be
      emphasized as sensitively as it is for other diseases. Patients with epilepsy
      consume sweetening agents for different reasons such being diabetic or
      overweight. They can occasionally be exposed to sweetening agents unrestrainedly
      through consuming convenience food, primarily beverages. This study aimed to
      investigate the effects of rebaudioside A (Reb-A), which is a steviol glycoside
      produced from the herb Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), on epileptic seizures and
      convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). Forty-eight male rats were used.
      Twenty-four rats were administered 35 mg/kg PTZ to trigger epileptiform activity;
      the remaining 24 rats were administered 70 mg/kg PTZ to trigger the convulsion
      model. The epileptiform activity was evaluated by spike percentage, whereas
      convulsion was evaluated by Racine's Convulsion Scale and the onset time of the
      first myoclonic jerk. Statistical analysis revealed a statistically significant
      decrease in the Racine's Convulsion Scale score and increase in the latency of
      first myoclonic jerk in a dose-dependent manner for the rat groups in which PTZ
      epilepsy had been induced and Reb-A had been administered. For the groups that
      were administered Reb-A, the spike decrease was apparent in a dose-dependent
      manner, based on the spike percentage calculation. These results indicated that
      Reb-A has positive effects on PTZ-induced convulsions. 

PMID- 27638404
TI  - Protective effects of oridonin on the sepsis in mice.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of oridonin (ORI) on cecal
      ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice weighing 22
      30 g and aged 8-10 weeks were randomly assigned to three groups: Sham group, CLP
      group, or CLP plus ORI group. In the CLP group and ORI group, CLP was induced,
      and intraperitoneal injection of normal saline and oridonin (100 MUg/kg) was
      conducted, respectively. The survival rate was determined within the following 7
      days. The blood, liver, and lung were collected at 24 hours after injury.
      Hematoxylin-eosin staining of the lung, detection of lung wet-to-dry ratio, and
      serum cytokines (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-alpha and interleukin [IL]-6), and
      examination of intraperitoneal and blood bacterial clearance were conducted to
      evaluate the therapeutic efficacy. Results showed that ORI treatment
      significantly reduced the lung wet-to-dry ratio, decreased serum TNF-alpha and IL
      6, and improved liver pathology compared with the CLP group (p < 0.05). Moreover,
      the intraperitoneal and blood bacterial clearance increased markedly after ORI
      treatment (p < 0.05). The 7-day survival rate in the ORI group was also
      dramatically higher than in the CLP group (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that
      ORI can attenuate liver and lung injuries and elevate bacterial clearance to
      increase the survival rate of sepsis mice. 

PMID- 27638401
TI  - Investigating somatic aneuploidy in the brain: why we need a new model.
AB  - The steady occurrence of DNA mutations is a key source for evolution, generating
      the genomic variation in the population upon which natural selection acts.
      Mutations driving evolution have to occur in the oocytes and sperm in order to be
      transmitted to the next generation. Through similar mechanisms, mutations also
      accumulate in somatic cells (e.g., skin cells, neurons, lymphocytes) during
      development and adult life. The concept that somatic cells can collect new
      mutations with time suggests that we are a mosaic of cells with different genomic
      compositions. Particular attention has been recently paid to somatic mutations in
      the brain, with a focus on the relationship between this phenomenon and the
      origin of human diseases. Given this progressive accumulation of mutations, it is
      likely that an increased load of somatic mutations is present later in life and
      that this could be associated with late-life diseases and aging. In this review,
      we focus on a particular type of mutation: the loss and/or gain of whole
      chromosomes (i.e., aneuploidy) caused by errors in chromosomes segregation in
      neurons and glia. Currently, it is hard to grasp the functional impact of somatic
      mutation in the brain because we lack reliable estimates of the proportion of
      aneuploid cells in the normal brain across different ages. Here, we revisit the
      key studies that attempted to quantify the proportion of aneuploid cells in both
      normal and diseased brains and highlight the deep inconsistencies among the
      different studies done in the last 15 years. Finally, our review highlights
      several limitations of studies performed in human and rodent models and explores
      a possible translational role for non-human primates.

PMID- 27638405
TI  - Determine of the optimal number of cycles of docetaxel in the treatment of
      metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
AB  - To determine the optimal number of cycles of docetaxel for metastatic castration
      resistant prostate cancer, we retrospectively collected 73 patients receiving
      varying numbers of docetaxel plus prednisolone and analyzed the clinical outcomes
      including overall survival, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response, and adverse
      events. The study included 33 patients receiving <= 10 cycles of docetaxel and 40
      patients receiving > 10 cycles. Patients receiving > 10 cycles were younger than
      those who received <= 10 cycles. There was no statistical significant difference
      in overall survival between the two groups (log-rank test, p = 0.75). Adverse
      effects were more common among patients receiving >= 10 cycles of treatment. A
      PSA flare-up was observed among six patients (8.2%); the median duration of the
      PSA surge was 3 weeks (range, 3-12 weeks). The overall survival rates in patients
      with PSA flare-up were comparable with the patients having PSA response. We
      concluded that at least four cycles of docetaxel should be administered in
      metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients in order not to cease
      treatment prematurely from potentially beneficial chemotherapy. However,
      administering > 10 cycles does not result in any further improvement in survival
      and is associated with more adverse effects. 

PMID- 27638406
TI  - Salvage urethroplasty using skin grafts for previously failed long-segment
      urethral strictures.
AB  - The aim of this study was to describe a technique using full-thickness skin
      grafts (FTSGs) from different parts of the body for salvage urethroplasties and
      the present outcomes. A total of 24 men underwent urethroplasties for strictures
      averaging 7.7 cm (range, 5-17 cm) in length, using FTSGs from the inner arm,
      inner thigh, or abdominal skin. Each of these cases had at least one failed
      urethroplasty. Twenty-four patients underwent surgery for 26 urethral strictures,
      with a mean follow-up period of 23.2 (5-44) months and a mean operation time of
      140 (115-180) minutes. Reconstruction of the urethra with skin grafting was
      successful in 18 out of the 26 procedures during the first attempt (69%). A
      "redo" skin grafting was performed for the eight failed cases, with four
      successful procedures (50%). Overall, the success rate was 84% (22 out of 26
      urethral strictures); however, the failed cases developed abscesses and later,
      ureterocutaneous fistulas. No hair formation from the skin grafts was seen. Skin
      grafts provide useful alternative graft sources for previously failed long
      segment urethral strictures in which the buccal mucosae are not available or are
      insufficient for salvage urethroplasties with an acceptable success rate. 

PMID- 27638408
TI  - The prevalence and risk factors of visual impairment among the elderly in Eastern
      Taiwan.
AB  - Visual impairment is associated with disability and poor quality of life. This
      study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of visual
      impairment among the suburban elderly in Eastern Taiwan. The cross-sectional
      research was conducted from April 2012 to August 2012. The ocular condition
      examination took place in suburban areas of Hualien County. Medical records from
      local infirmaries and questionnaires were utilized to collect demographic data
      and systemic disease status. Logistic regression models were used for the
      simultaneous analysis of the association between the prevalence of visual
      impairment and risk factors. Six hundred and eighty-one residents participated in
      this project. The mean age of the participants was 71.4+/-7.3 years. The
      prevalence of vision impairment (better eye<6/18) was 11.0%. Refractive error and
      cataract were the main causes of vision impairment. Logistic regression analysis
      showed that people aged 65-75 years had a 3.8 times higher risk of developing
      visual impairment (p=0.021), while the odds ratio of people aged > 75 years was
      10.0 (p<0.001). In addition, patients with diabetic retinopathy had a 3.7 times
      higher risk of developing visual impairment (p=0.002), while the odds ratio of
      refractive error was 0.36 (p<0.001). The prevalence of visual impairment was
      relatively high compared with previous studies. Diabetic retinopathy was an
      important risk factor of visual impairment; by contrast, refractive error was
      beneficial to resist visual impairment. Therefore, regular screening of ocular
      condition and early intervention might aid in the prevention of avoidable vision
      loss. 

PMID- 27638407
TI  - Insertion torque, resonance frequency, and removal torque analysis of
      microimplants.
AB  - This study aimed to compare the insertion torque (IT), resonance frequency (RF),
      and removal torque (RT) among three microimplant brands. Thirty microimplants of
      the three brands were used as follows: Type A (titanium alloy, 1.5-mm * 8-mm),
      Type B (stainless steel, 1.5-mm * 8-mm), and Type C (titanium alloy, 1.5-mm * 9
      mm). A synthetic bone with a 2-mm cortical bone and bone marrow was used. Each
      microimplant was inserted into the synthetic bone, without predrilling, to a 7 mm
      depth. The IT, RF, and RT were measured in both vertical and horizontal
      directions. One-way analysis of variance and Spearman's rank correlation
      coefficient tests were used for intergroup and intragroup comparisons,
      respectively. In the vertical test, the ITs of Type C (7.8 Ncm) and Type B (7.5
      Ncm) were significantly higher than that of Type A (4.4 Ncm). The RFs of Type C
      (11.5 kHz) and Type A (10.2 kHz) were significantly higher than that of Type B
      (7.5 kHz). Type C (7.4 Ncm) and Type B (7.3 Ncm) had significantly higher RTs
      than did Type A (4.1 Ncm). In the horizontal test, both the ITs and RTs were
      significantly higher for Type C, compared with Type A. No significant differences
      were found among the groups, and the study hypothesis was accepted. Type A had
      the lowest inner/outer diameter ratio and widest apical facing angle, engendering
      the lowest IT and highest RF values. However, no significant correlations in the
      IT, RF, and RT were observed among the three groups. 

PMID- 27638409
TI  - A rare hepatoid adenocarcinoma from the gastric remnant.

PMID- 27638410
TI  - A case of lupus nephritis treated with clarithromycin, tacrolimus, and
      glucocorticoids.

PMID- 27638411
TI  - Discordant HIV DNA PCR results among infants diagnosed with HIV infection and
      initiated on ART: a case series.
AB  - This case series reports three infants diagnosed with HIV-1 infection using DNA
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. The three children were initiated on
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) at ten, four and six months of age. Their
      serological tests at 18 months of age were negative for HIV-1. The first child
      was discontinued from ART. The other two children were HIV-negative after 18
      months, but were continued on ART. Such seroreversion may be either due to viral
      suppression or false-positive DNA PCR results. There is a need to develop
      guidelines to address such discordant cases.

PMID- 27638412
TI  - Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Has no Additive Incremental Value to Standard
      Scoring Systems when Risk Stratifying for Bariatric Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) can identify patients at risk
      of adverse post-operative outcomes following major abdominal surgery including
      bariatric surgery. Scoring systems that also aim to predict post-operative
      outcome in this group include the validated obesity surgery mortality risk score
      (OSMRS). This study aims to investigate if CPET has additive value to other
      scoring systems in predicting post-operative outcomes following bariatric
      surgery. METHODS: Data was collected retrospectively on 398 patients who
      underwent CPET between October 2008 and April 2013. CPET data, medical history,
      complication rates and length of stay (LOS) were obtained from patient records.
      Data was analysed to investigate the relationship between CPET and other scoring
      systems with post-operative outcome. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty patients
      underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. Median LOS was 4 days
      (IQR 4-6 days) and 41 patients (16.4 %) developed a complication. Adjusted data
      showed a risk difference for complications of 17 % (95 % CI 9-25 %) between high-
      and low-risk patients stratified by OSMRS alongside a 27 % (95 % CI 12-45 %)
      longer LOS. Variation in AT or peak VO2 showed no significant relationship with
      complications or LOS. Amongst high OSMRS risk patients, there was no significant
      difference in complications or LOS when CPET data was added to this analysis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing adds no incremental value in
      predicting post-operative outcomes in the bariatric population compared to the
      OSMRS, which is strongly predictive of length of stay and complication following
      bariatric surgery.

PMID- 27638416
TI  - MOLS 2.0: software package for peptide modeling and protein-ligand docking.
AB  - We previously developed an algorithm to perform conformational searches of
      proteins and peptides, and to perform the docking of ligands to protein
      receptors. In order to identify optimal conformations and docked poses, this
      algorithm uses mutually orthogonal Latin squares (MOLS) to rationally sample the
      vast conformational (or docking) space, and then analyzes this relatively small
      sample using a variant of mean field theory. The conformational search part of
      the algorithm was denoted MOLS 1.0. The docking portion of the algorithm, which
      allows only "flexible ligand/rigid receptor" docking, was denoted MOLSDOCK. Both
      are FORTRAN-based command-line-only molecular docking computer programs, though a
      GUI was developed later for MOLS 1.0. Both the conformational search and the
      rigid receptor docking parts of the algorithm have been extensively validated. We
      have now further enhanced the capabilities of the program by incorporating
      "induced fit" side-chain receptor flexibility for docking peptide ligands.
      Benchmarking and extensive testing is now being carried out for the flexible
      receptor portion of the docking. Additionally, to make both the peptide
      conformational search and docking algorithms (the latter including both flexible
      ligand/rigid receptor and flexible ligand/flexible receptor techniques) more
      accessible to the research community, we have developed MOLS 2.0, which
      incorporates a new Java-based graphical user interface (GUI). Here, we give a
      detailed description of MOLS 2.0. The source code and binary for MOLS 2.0 are
      distributed free (under a GNU Lesser General Public License) to the scientific
      community. They are freely available for download at
      https://sourceforge.net/projects/mols2-0/files/ . 

PMID- 27638415
TI  - Maternal Circulating microRNAs and Pre-Eclampsia: Challenges for Diagnostic
      Potential.
AB  - Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a common hypertensive disorder of pregnancy with a
      significant impact on maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. While the
      pathogenesis of PE has been well described, identification of a biomarker(s) with
      robust predictive utility in identifying women at the highest risk of developing
      the condition has yet to be identified. In the search for diagnostic markers,
      those that may be obtained from the circulation are preferred alternatives to
      those derived from organ tissue samples. Because of their stability in plasma,
      microRNAs (miRNAs) have been explored as biomarkers in a host of disease states,
      although there is comparably little literature available on the circulating
      miRNAome of PE. This article provides a narrative review on the current state of
      knowledge on miRNAs associated with PE. Literature on circulating miRNAs is
      presented and the challenges to developing the diagnostic and prognostic utility
      of miRNAs in this context is discussed.

PMID- 27638417
TI  - Local circulating clones of Staphylococcus aureus in Ecuador.
AB  - The spread of pandemic Staphylococcus aureus clones, mainly methicillin-resistant
      S. aureus (MRSA), must be kept under surveillance to assemble an accurate, local
      epidemiological analysis. In Ecuador, the prevalence of the USA300 Latin American
      variant clone (USA300-LV) is well known; however, there is little information
      about other circulating clones. The aim of this work was to identify the sequence
      types (ST) using a Multiple-Locus Variable number tandem repeat Analysis 14-locus
      genotyping approach. We analyzed 132 S. aureus strains that were recovered from
      2005 to 2013 and isolated in several clinical settings in Quito, Ecuador. MRSA
      isolates composed 46.97% (62/132) of the study population. Within MRSA, 37
      isolates were related to the USA300-LV clone (ST8-MRSA-IV, Panton-Valentine
      Leukocidin [PVL] +) and 10 were related to the Brazilian clone (ST239-MRSA-III,
      PVL-). Additionally, two isolates (ST5-MRSA-II, PVL-) were related to the New
      York/Japan clone. One isolate was related to the Pediatric clone (ST5-MRSA-IV,
      PVL-), one isolate (ST45-MRSA-II, PVL-) was related to the USA600 clone, and one
      (ST22-MRSA-IV, PVL-) was related to the epidemic UK-EMRSA-15 clone. Moreover, the
      most prevalent MSSA sequence types were ST8 (11 isolates), ST45 (8 isolates),
      ST30 (8 isolates), ST5 (7 isolates) and ST22 (6 isolates). Additionally, we found
      one isolate that was related to the livestock associated S. aureus clone ST398.
      We conclude that in addition to the high prevalence of clone LV-ST8-MRSA-IV,
      other epidemic clones are circulating in Quito, such as the Brazilian, Pediatric
      and New York/Japan clones. The USA600 and UK-EMRSA-15 clones, which were not
      previously described in Ecuador, were also found. Moreover, we found evidence of
      the presence of the livestock associated clone ST398 in a hospital environment.

PMID- 27638413
TI  - Application of flow cytometry to monitor assimilable organic carbon (AOC) and
      microbial community changes in water.
AB  - Flow cytometry is an efficient monitoring tool for rapid cell counting, and can
      be applied to research on water quality and treatment. In this study, a method
      that employs flow cytometry and a natural microbial inoculum to determine
      assimilable organic carbon (AOC) was adapted for use with challenging surface
      waters that have a high organic and particle content, and subsequently applied in
      a long term river water study. AOC method optimization showed that river water
      bacteria could pass through a 0.2MUm membrane filter, and therefore membrane
      filtration combined with heat treatment was required for sample sterilization.
      Preparation of the natural river inoculum with an acceptable yield value could
      only be achieved when grown using the natural water source, since growth was
      limited on different types of inorganic minimal media and in natural spring
      water. The resulting flow cytometry AOC method was reliable and reproducible, and
      results were comparable to the standard plate count AOC method. Size exclusion
      chromatography showed that both high and low molecular weight organic matter
      fractions were utilized by the natural AOC inoculum. Flow cytometry was used to
      measure both AOC levels and total cell counts in a long term study to monitor the
      water quality of a river which was used as a drinking water source. The method
      could distinguish between high nucleic acid (HNA) and low nucleic acid (LNA)
      groups of bacteria, and HNA bacteria were found to respond faster than LNA
      bacteria to seasonal changes in nutrients and water temperature.

PMID- 27638418
TI  - Introduction of paramedic led Echo in Life Support into the pre-hospital
      environment: The PUCA study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Can pre-hospital paramedic responders perform satisfactory pre
      hospital Echo in Life Support (ELS) during the 10-s pulse check window, and does
      pre-hospital ELS adversely affect the delivery of cardiac arrest care. METHODS:
      Prospective observational study of a cohort of ELS trained paramedics using saved
      ultrasound clips and wearable camera videos. RESULTS: Between 23rd June 2014 and
      31st January 2016, seven Resuscitation Rapid Response Unit (3RU) paramedics
      attended 45 patients in Lothian suffering out-of-hospital CA where resuscitation
      was attempted and ELS was available and performed. 80% of first ELS attempts by
      paramedics produced an adequate view which was excellent/good or satisfactory in
      68%. 44% of views were obtained within the 10-s pulse check window with a median
      time off the chest of 17 (IQR 13-20) seconds. A decision to perform ELS was
      communicated 67% of the time, and the 10-s pulse check was counted aloud in 60%.
      A manual pulse check was observed in around a quarter of patients and the rhythm
      on the monitor was checked 38% of the time. All decision changing scans involved
      a decision to stop resuscitation. CONCLUSIONS: Paramedics are able to obtain good
      ELS views in the pre-hospital environment but this may lead to longer hands off
      the chest time and possibly less pulse and monitor checking than is recommended.
      Future studies will need to demonstrate either improved outcomes or a benefit
      from identifying patients in whom further resuscitation and transportation is
      futile, before ELS is widely adopted in most pre-hospital systems.

PMID- 27638414
TI  - The external gate of the human and Drosophila serotonin transporters requires a
      basic/acidic amino acid pair for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)
      translocation and the induction of substrate efflux.
AB  - The substituted amphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy),
      is a widely used drug of abuse that induces non-exocytotic release of serotonin,
      dopamine, and norepinephrine through their cognate transporters as well as
      blocking the reuptake of neurotransmitter by the same transporters. The resulting
      dramatic increase in volume transmission and signal duration of neurotransmitters
      leads to psychotropic, stimulant, and entactogenic effects. The mechanism by
      which amphetamines drive reverse transport of the monoamines remains largely
      enigmatic, however, promising outcomes for the therapeutic utility of MDMA for
      post-traumatic stress disorder and the long-time use of the dopaminergic and
      noradrenergic-directed amphetamines in treatment of attention-deficit
      hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy increases the importance of understanding
      this phenomenon. Previously, we identified functional differences between the
      human and Drosophila melanogaster serotonin transporters (hSERT and dSERT,
      respectively) revealing that MDMA is an effective substrate for hSERT but not
      dSERT even though serotonin is a potent substrate for both transporters. Chimeric
      dSERT/hSERT transporters revealed that the molecular components necessary for
      recognition of MDMA as a substrate was linked to regions of the protein flanking
      transmembrane domains (TM) V through IX. Here, we performed species-scanning
      mutagenesis of hSERT, dSERT and C. elegans SERT (ceSERT) along with biochemical
      and electrophysiological analysis and identified a single amino acid in TM10
      (Glu394, hSERT; Asn484, dSERT, Asp517, ceSERT) that is primarily responsible for
      the differences in MDMA recognition. Our findings reveal that an acidic residue
      is necessary at this position for MDMA recognition as a substrate and serotonin
      releaser.

PMID- 27638419
TI  - A Variable Genetic Architecture of Melanic Evolution in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Unraveling the genetic architecture of adaptive phenotypic divergence is a
      fundamental quest in evolutionary biology. In Drosophila melanogaster, high
      altitude melanism has evolved in separate mountain ranges in sub-Saharan Africa,
      potentially as an adaptation to UV intensity. We investigated the genetic basis
      of this melanism in three populations using a new bulk segregant analysis mapping
      method. We identified 19 distinct QTL regions from nine mapping crosses, with
      several QTL peaks overlapping between two or all populations, and yet different
      crosses involving the same melanic population commonly yielded distinct QTL. The
      strongest QTL often overlapped well-known pigmentation genes, but we typically
      did not find wide signals of genetic differentiation (FST) between lightly and
      darkly pigmented populations at these genes. Instead, we found small numbers of
      highly differentiated SNPs at the probable causative genes. A simulation analysis
      showed that these patterns of polymorphism were consistent with selection on
      standing genetic variation. Overall, our results suggest that, even for
      potentially simpler traits like pigmentation, the complexity of adaptive trait
      evolution poses important challenges for QTL mapping and population genetic
      analysis.

PMID- 27638421
TI  - Inferring Past Effective Population Size from Distributions of Coalescent Times.
AB  - Inferring and understanding changes in effective population size over time is a
      major challenge for population genetics. Here we investigate some theoretical
      properties of random-mating populations with varying size over time. In
      particular, we present an exact solution to compute the population size as a
      function of time, [Formula: see text], based on distributions of coalescent times
      of samples of any size. This result reduces the problem of population size
      inference to a problem of estimating coalescent time distributions. To illustrate
      the analytic results, we design a heuristic method using a tree-inference
      algorithm and investigate simulated and empirical population-genetic data. We
      investigate the effects of a range of conditions associated with empirical data,
      for instance number of loci, sample size, mutation rate, and cryptic
      recombination. We show that our approach performs well with genomic data (>=
      10,000 loci) and that increasing the sample size from 2 to 10 greatly improves
      the inference of [Formula: see text] whereas further increase in sample size
      results in modest improvements, even under a scenario of exponential growth. We
      also investigate the impact of recombination and characterize the potential
      biases in inference of [Formula: see text] The approach can handle large sample
      sizes and the computations are fast. We apply our method to human genomes from
      four populations and reconstruct population size profiles that are coherent with
      previous finds, including the Out-of-Africa bottleneck. Additionally, we uncover
      a potential difference in population size between African and non-African
      populations as early as 400 KYA. In summary, we provide an analytic relationship
      between distributions of coalescent times and [Formula: see text], which can be
      incorporated into powerful approaches for inferring past population sizes from
      population-genomic data.

PMID- 27638420
TI  - Extraction of the Constituent Subgenomes of the Natural Allopolyploid Rapeseed
      (Brassica napus L.).
AB  - As the dynamic nature of progenitor genomes accompanies the speciation by
      interspecific hybridization, the extraction of the constituent subgenome(s) from
      a natural allopolyploid species of long history and then restitution of the
      progenitor(s) provides the unique opportunity to study the genome evolution and
      interplay. Herein, the A subgenome from the allotetraploid oilseed rape (Brassica
      napus L., AACC) was extracted through inducing the preferential elimination of C
      subgenome chromosomes in intertribal crosses and the progenitor B. rapa was
      restituted (RBR). Then by crossing and backcrossing RBR with B. napus donor, the
      C subgenome was in situ dissected by adding each of its nine chromosomes to the
      extracted A subgenome and establishing the whole set of monosonic alien addition
      lines (MAALs). RBR from spring-type B. napus genotype "Oro" expressed a phenotype
      resembling some type of B. rapa never observed before, but showed a winter-type
      flowering habit. This RBR had weaker growth vigor and suffered more seriously
      from biotic and abiotic stresses compared with Oro. The phenotypes specific for
      these MAALs showed the location of the related genes on the particular C
      subgenome chromosomes. These MAALs exhibited obviously different frequencies in
      homeologous pairing and transmission of additional C-subgenome chromosomes, which
      were associated with the distinct degrees of their relatedness, and even with the
      possible genetic regulation for meiotic pairing evolved in B. napus Finally,
      large scaffolds undetermined for sequence assembly of B. napus were anchored to
      specific C-subgenome chromosomes using MAALs.

PMID- 27638423
TI  - FIRST, "KNOW" HARM: Response to Letter to the Editor.

PMID- 27638422
TI  - Different Mechanisms of Longevity in Long-Lived Mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans
      Mutants Revealed by Statistical Analysis of Mortality Rates.
AB  - Mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans mutants with altered life spans are being used
      to investigate the aging process and how genes determine life span. The survival
      of a population can be modeled by the Gompertz function, which comprises two
      parameters. One of these parameters ("G") describes the rate at which mortality
      accelerates with age and is often described as the "rate of aging." The other
      parameter ("A") may correspond to the organism's baseline vulnerability to
      deleterious effects of disease and the environment. We show that, in mice, life
      span-extending mutations systematically fail to affect the age-dependent
      acceleration of mortality (G), but instead affect only baseline vulnerability
      (A). This remains true even when comparing strains maintained under identical
      environmental conditions. In contrast, life-span-extending mutations in C.
      elegans were associated with decreases in G These observations on mortality rate
      kinetics suggest that the mechanisms of aging in mammals might fundamentally
      differ from those in nematodes.

PMID- 27638424
TI  - Reliability, Validity, and Clinical Utility of the Dominic Interactive for
      Adolescents-RevisedA DSM-5-Based Self-Report Screen for Mental Disorders,
      Borderline Personality Traits, and Suicidality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Dominic Interactive for Adolescents-Revised (DIA-R) is a
      multimedia self-report screen for 9 mental disorders, borderline personality
      traits, and suicidality defined by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-5). This study aimed to examine the
      reliability and the validity of this instrument. METHODS: French- and English
      speaking adolescents aged 12 to 15 years ( N = 447) were recruited from schools
      and clinical settings in Montreal and were evaluated twice. The internal
      consistency was estimated by Cronbach alpha coefficients and the test-retest
      reliability by intraclass correlation coefficients. Cutoff points on the DIA-R
      scales were determined by using clinically relevant measures for defining
      external validation criteria: the Schedule for Affective Disorders and
      Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the
      Abbreviated-Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) analyses provided accuracy estimates (area under the ROC
      curve, sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio) to evaluate the ability of the
      DIA-R scales to predict external criteria. RESULTS: For most of the DIA-R scales,
      reliability coefficients were excellent or moderate. High or moderate accuracy
      estimates from ROC analyses demonstrated the ability of the DIA-R thresholds to
      predict psychopathological conditions. These thresholds were generally capable to
      discriminate between clinical and school subsamples. However, the validity of the
      obsessions/compulsions scale was too low. CONCLUSIONS: Findings clearly support
      the reliability and the validity of the DIA-R. This instrument may be useful to
      assess a wide range of adolescents' mental health problems in the continuum of
      services. This conclusion applies to all scales, except the
      obsessions/compulsions one.

PMID- 27638426
TI  - A decade of Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC):
      Credibility, cohesion and vision for the next decade.
AB  - The Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC), has reached a
      special milestone as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. Today, an expansive
      network of proteomics in Central and Eastern Europe stands established to
      facilitate scientific interactions and collaborations in and around Central and
      Eastern Europe, as well as with international research institutions worldwide.
      Currently, when many conferences are struggling to attract participants, CEEPC is
      thriving in its status and stature as well as expanding by attracting newer
      member countries. CEEPC's success is driven by mutual respect between scientists
      sharing interest in proteomics and its applications in multidisciplinary research
      areas related to biological systems. This effort when interwoven with exciting
      ambience steeped with culture, and tradition is also a reason why participants
      enjoy it. CEEPC's careful balance between excellence and cohesion holds the key
      to its success. It is evident that CEEPC is ready for the next decade of
      excitement and expectations of multifaceted proteomics in Central and Eastern
      Europe. Additionally, in the era of emerging personalized medicine where
      treatment selection for each patient is becoming individualized, CEEPC and
      proteomics is expected to play a significant role moving forward for the benefit
      of mankind.

PMID- 27638425
TI  - Quantitative proteomic analysis of Edwardsiella tarda in response to
      oxytetracycline stress in biofilm.
AB  - : Edwardsiella tarda is a virulent fish pathogen that causes extensive economic
      losses in the aquaculture industry worldwide. The antibiotic resistance status of
      E. tarda is high, especially in the biofilm status; however, the mechanisms
      underlying its resistance remain largely unknown. In this study, isobaric tag for
      relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomics methods
      were used to compare the differential expression of E. tarda in response to
      oxytetracycline (OXY) stress in biofilm. Additional bioinformatics analysis
      demonstrated an increasing abundance of translation-related proteins, especially
      ribosomal subunits, and a decreasing abundance of key metabolic pathways
      underlying the adaptation of E. tarda to OXY in biofilm. We performed Western
      blotting and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses to validate selected proteomics
      results, and measured enzyme activity to verify the antibiotic resistance
      functions of central metabolic pathways. In addition, we examined the antibiotic
      susceptibility of a mutant of an NADP-dependent malic enzyme (MaeB), which is
      involved in the bacterial tricarboxylic acid cycle, and found significantly
      increased resistance to OXY in biofilm. Our findings demonstrate the importance
      of central metabolic pathways in the antibiotic resistance of E. tarda to
      bacterial biofilms and provide insight into the prevention of this resistance,
      which would aid in disease control. BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The antibiotics
      resistance mechanisms in E. tarda have been well documented recently; however,
      its response to antibiotics in biofilms remains elusive. Our current study is the
      first exploratory report investigating this aspect via an iTARQ-based
      quantitative proteomics method. Several important proteins, related processes,
      and metabolic pathways were found to be involved in OXY fitness in biofilm
      status. Most importantly, the depletion of the maeB gene decreased the
      susceptibility of E. tarda to OXY indicating the important role of central
      metabolic pathways in antibiotics resistance in biofilm.

PMID- 27638427
TI  - Using the Health Belief Model to Explain Mothers' and Fathers' Intention to
      Participate in Universal Parenting Programs.
AB  - Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework, we studied
      factors related to parental intention to participate in parenting programs and
      examined the moderating effects of parent gender on these factors. Participants
      were a community sample of 290 mothers and 290 fathers of 5- to 10-year-old
      children. Parents completed a set of questionnaires assessing child emotional and
      behavioral difficulties and the HBM constructs concerning perceived program
      benefits and barriers, perceived child problem susceptibility and severity, and
      perceived self-efficacy. The hypothesized model was evaluated using structural
      equation modeling. The results showed that, for both mothers and fathers,
      perceived program benefits were associated with higher intention to participate
      in parenting programs. In addition, higher intention to participate was
      associated with lower perceived barriers only in the sample of mothers and with
      higher perceived self-efficacy only in the sample of fathers. No significant
      relations were found between intention to participate and perceived child problem
      susceptibility and severity. Mediation analyses indicated that, for both mothers
      and fathers, child emotional and behavioral problems had an indirect effect on
      parents' intention to participate by increasing the level of perceived benefits
      of the program. As a whole, the proposed model explained about 45 % of the
      variance in parental intention to participate. The current study suggests that
      mothers and fathers may be motivated by different factors when making their
      decision to participate in a parenting program. This finding can inform future
      parent engagement strategies intended to increase both mothers' and fathers'
      participation rates in parenting programs.

PMID- 27638429
TI  - Novel applications of Phototherapy.

PMID- 27638430
TI  - A brief report on the history of phototherapy.
AB  - From ancient times, light has played a significant role in the treatment of
      diseases. The modern discoveries (eg, ultraviolet radiation) and modern
      inventions (eg, the electric generator or the electric lightbulb), as well as
      balneologic experiences of the treatment with sunlight, contributed to the
      transition from heliotherapy to artificial light phototherapy at the end of the
      19th century. Nils Ryberg Finsen (1860-1904) was the founder of modern
      phototherapy. He is famous for applying an electric carbon arc torch in treating
      patients with lupus vulgaris using ultraviolet radiation. Subsequently,
      phototherapy using artificial light sources gained importance in the treatment of
      skin diseases with a noninfectious etiology. William Henry Goeckerman (1884-1954)
      chose an ultraviolet B light to treat psoriasis. Improvement in the effectiveness
      of dermatologic phototherapy occurred in 1947, when methoxypsoralen was isolated.
      During the 20th century, phototherapy was applied to new therapeutic areas, such
      as neonatology, psychiatry, and ophthalmology. 

PMID- 27638431
TI  - The symbiosis of phototherapy and photoimmunology.
AB  - The health benefits of natural sunlight have been noted since the rise of
      civilization, even without the knowledge of its mechanisms of action. Currently,
      phototherapy remains an effective and widely used treatment for a variety of skin
      diseases. Ultraviolet radiation, from either the sun or artificial light sources,
      has a profound immunomodulatory effect that is responsible for its beneficial
      clinical outcomes. Ultraviolet radiation mostly induces the innate while
      suppressing the adaptive immune system, leading to both local and systemic
      effects. It is antigen specific, acts on both effector and regulatory T cells,
      alters antigen-presenting cell function, and induces the secretion of cytokines
      and soluble mediators. This review provides an overview of the immunologic
      mechanisms by which ultraviolet radiation is responsible for the therapeutic
      effects of phototherapy. 

PMID- 27638432
TI  - Phototherapy and vitamin D.
AB  - The skin is the site for the photosynthesis of vitamin D and is a target tissue
      for the active metabolite of vitamin D. An increasing body of evidence indicates
      that vitamin D produced during phototherapy may be responsible for the positive
      effects observed during treatment of some skin diseases. Topical or oral
      application of vitamin D derivatives are used alone or with phototherapy. This
      paper reviews what is known about the use of phototherapy to enhance vitamin D
      levels, the use of vitamin D analogues with phototherapy, the efficacy of
      combination therapies, and controversies regarding some of the outcomes. Vitamin
      D can play a beneficial role in treating psoriasis, even though the exact role of
      vitamin D in the pathogenesis and severity of psoriasis remains unclear. The role
      of vitamin D in vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, polymorphic light eruption, and
      mycosis fungoides must be further investigated. 

PMID- 27638433
TI  - The dark side of the light: Phototherapy adverse effects.
AB  - Phototherapy is a valuable therapeutic tool in Dermatology, but there may be
      drawbacks. Acute and long-term adverse effects, of variable severity, include
      skin erythema, xerosis, pruritus, blistering, altered pigmentation, photoaging,
      and photocarcinogenesis. Despite concerns over the carcinogenic potential of
      ultraviolet radiation, most studies have not found an increased risk of non
      melanoma or melanoma skin cancer in patients treated with ultraviolet B
      (broadband and narrowband) and ultraviolet A1 phototherapy. These are therefore
      considered reasonably safe treatment modalities concerning the development of
      skin neoplasms, although caution and further investigation are warranted.
      Photoprotective measures, such as avoidance of concurrent sunlight exposure and
      covering skin areas not afflicted with disease, or more modern strategies,
      including phytochemical antioxidants and exogenous DNA repair enzymes, can
      minimize the hazards of phototherapy. Patients submitted to phototherapeutic
      regimens should undergo complete, careful dermatologic examination regularly and
      lifelong. 

PMID- 27638428
TI  - Curcumin, the golden nutraceutical: multitargeting for multiple chronic diseases.
AB  - : Curcumin, a yellow pigment in the Indian spice Turmeric (Curcuma longa), which
      is chemically known as diferuloylmethane, was first isolated exactly two
      centuries ago in 1815 by two German Scientists, Vogel and Pelletier. However,
      according to the pubmed database, the first study on its biological activity as
      an antibacterial agent was published in 1949 in Nature and the first clinical
      trial was reported in The Lancet in 1937. Although the current database indicates
      almost 9000 publications on curcumin, until 1990 there were less than 100 papers
      published on this nutraceutical. At the molecular level, this multitargeted agent
      has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity through the suppression of
      numerous cell signalling pathways including NF-kappaB, STAT3, Nrf2, ROS and COX
      2. Numerous studies have indicated that curcumin is a highly potent antimicrobial
      agent and has been shown to be active against various chronic diseases including
      various types of cancers, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, pulmonary,
      neurological and autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, this compound has also been
      shown to be synergistic with other nutraceuticals such as resveratrol, piperine,
      catechins, quercetin and genistein. To date, over 100 different clinical trials
      have been completed with curcumin, which clearly show its safety, tolerability
      and its effectiveness against various chronic diseases in humans. However, more
      clinical trials in different populations are necessary to prove its potential
      against different chronic diseases in humans. This review's primary focus is on
      lessons learnt about curcumin from clinical trials. LINKED ARTICLES: This article
      is part of a themed section on Principles of Pharmacological Research of
      Nutraceuticals. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 27638434
TI  - The dark side of the light: mechanisms of photocarcinogenesis.
AB  - Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can have a beneficial biologic impact on skin, but it
      is also the most significant environmental risk factor for skin cancer
      development. Photocarcinogenesis comprises a complex interplay between the
      carcinogenic UVR, skin, and the immune system. UVB is absorbed by the superficial
      skin layers and is mainly responsible for direct DNA damage, which, if
      unrepaired, can lead to mutations in key cancer genes. UVA is less carcinogenic,
      penetrates deeper in the dermis, and mainly causes indirect oxidative damage to
      cellular DNA, proteins, and lipids, via photosensitized reactions. UVR not only
      induces mutagenesis, altering proliferation and differentiation of skin cells,
      but also has several immunosuppressive effects that compromise tumor
      immunosurveillance by impairing antigen presentation, inducing suppressive cells,
      and modulating the cytokine environment. This review focuses upon molecular and
      cellular effects of UVR, regarding its role in skin cancer development.

PMID- 27638435
TI  - Drug-induced photosensitivity: Photoallergic and phototoxic reactions.
AB  - Drug-induced photosensitivity refers to the development of cutaneous disease due
      to the interaction between a given chemical agent and sunlight. Photosensitivity
      reactions can be classified as phototoxic or photoallergic. Sometimes, there is
      an overlap between these two patterns, making their distinction particularly
      difficult for the clinician. We review the drugs that have been implicated as
      photosensitizers, the involved mechanism, and their clinical presentations. The
      main topical agents that cause contact photosensitivity are the nonsteroidal
      antiinflammatory drugs, whereas the main systemic drugs inducing photosensitivity
      are antimicrobials, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents, and cardiovascular
      drugs. Drug-induced photosensitivity remains a common clinical problem and is
      often underdiagnosed. 

PMID- 27638436
TI  - Compliance and phototherapy.
AB  - When beginning a phototherapy regimen for a patient, consideration of compliance
      rates is important. Compliance to phototherapy can be affected by several
      factors, including the grade of discomfort and side effects from therapy, failure
      of previous therapies, accessibility and convenience to reach the phototherapy
      center, grade of improvement during phototherapy, patient relief due to light
      therapy, and rapport with staff. Understanding how these factors can affect
      patient adherence can allow for phototherapy regimens to be tailored in a manner
      that optimizes health outcomes and allows for proper patient selection. 

PMID- 27638437
TI  - Ultraviolet B radiation therapy for psoriasis: Pursuing the optimal regime.
AB  - Psoriasis is a chronic and common disease mediated by resident memory T cells
      that negatively affects a broad range of people worldwide. One of the oldest and
      most commonly used treatments is phototherapy. We reviewed the existing
      literature on the four main ultraviolet B (UVB) modalities of phototherapy in the
      management of psoriasis: heliotherapy, broadband UVB, narrowband UVB, and excimer
      laser and lamp. Despite the many studies done on these therapies, there is
      significant variation in their prescription and use. Phototherapy remains one of
      the most effective and safest treatments for psoriasis. We provide an updated
      comprehensive overview of UVB phototherapy for psoriasis to help physicians
      optimize their choice of modality and dosing regimen to ensure optimal outcomes
      for psoriasis patients. (c) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

PMID- 27638438
TI  - Phototherapy: The vitiligo management pillar.
AB  - Phototherapy has been the mainstay of vitiligo therapy for several decades. A
      variety of wavelengths and modalities are available, but narrowband ultraviolet B
      remains the safest and most commonly used treatment. Acting on multiple steps in
      vitiligo pathogenesis, narrowband ultraviolet B is one of the few therapies that
      can effectively induce stabilization and stimulate repigmentation. Achievement of
      optimal results involves using a combination of appropriate treatment protocols,
      careful patient selection, and patient education to set expectations. Individual
      patient characteristics, including disease activity, vitiligo phenotype, lesion
      location, and skin phototype, should all be considered, along with combination
      therapies. 

PMID- 27638439
TI  - Portable home phototherapy for vitiligo.
AB  - Vitiligo is the most common depigmentation disorder, affecting around 1% of
      population worldwide. There is no cure, and no firm clinical recommendations can
      be made for the treatment of vitiligo. A European guideline suggests early
      treatment of small lesions of recent onset and childhood vitiligo with
      combination of phototherapy and topical agents. Suitable facilities and
      equipment, such as hand-held portable phototherapy devices, are needed, if this
      new guideline is to be implemented. Hand-held units are suitable for small
      lesions, making phototherapy available for patients with limited and/or early
      vitiligo. Recently, a pilot randomized controlled multicenter trial study was
      conducted to develop an educational package for patients describing how to use
      phototherapy at home, adjust the dose, and manage short-term side effects. The
      pilot trial showed that vitiligo patients are very keen to participate in trials
      of home phototherapy. The study has successfully demonstrated willingness of
      participants to be randomized and very good treatment adherence and
      repigmentation rates, providing evidence of feasibility for a definitive trial.
      The mean post-trial outputs of hand-held phototherapy devices were lower than the
      pretrial values. Close collaboration with a local medical physics department is
      essential. Hand-held phototherapy devices might overcome the need to treat
      vitiligo in hospital-based phototherapy cabinets and allow early treatment at
      home that may enhance the likelihood of successful repigmentation. 

PMID- 27638440
TI  - Phototherapy for atopic dermatitis.
AB  - Phototherapy is a second-line treatment for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis
      (AD) that effectively decreases cutaneous inflammation with minimal or no
      systemic side effects. Children in grade school, adolescents, and adults may
      benefit from phototherapy, when they have chronic AD refractory to first-line
      topical treatments. This review focuses on six approaches for phototherapy in AD:
      (1) broadband ultraviolet B (UVB), (2) Goeckerman regimen (coal tar + broadband
      UVB), (3) narrowband UVB, (4) excimer lasers for targeted areas, (5) combination
      UVA/UVB, and (6) UVA-1. Phototherapy can be very effective in some individuals,
      but it is limited by inconvenience and adverse effects, including limited access
      to in-office treatment, difficulty adhering to thrice-weekly schedule, flaring
      from excessive heat, and increased risk of skin cancer. Dosing regimen and
      treatment concerns are reviewed. 

PMID- 27638441
TI  - Phototherapy for sclerosing skin conditions.
AB  - Phototherapy is an effective treatment strategy for a variety of sclerosing skin
      conditions. There are a number of phototherapeutic modalities used for the
      treatment of sclerosing skin conditions, including ultraviolet (UV)A1, broadband
      UVA, psoralen plus UVA, and narrowband UVB phototherapy. As controlled trials
      with validated outcome measures are lacking for these therapies, existing
      evidence is largely level II for morphea and is even more minimal for scleroderma
      and other sclerosing disorders (scleroderma, lichen sclerosus, and chronic graft
      versus-host disease, among others). Studies do suggest that phototherapy may be
      effective for many of these disorders, including those that have been
      unresponsive to other therapies. Phototherapy remains an attractive therapeutic
      option for patients due to its efficacy and favorable risk-versus-benefit
      profile. Phototherapy also offers a therapeutic alternative to systemic
      immunosuppressives for patients who cannot tolerate these medications. 

PMID- 27638442
TI  - Phototherapy in cosmetic dermatology.
AB  - Light therapy has been incorporated into the art of healing and cosmesis for
      thousands of years and currently has found utility in many areas of medicine.
      Various modalities of cosmetic phototherapy are detailed, as well as the
      indications and mechanism of action for each modality. These modalities can be
      used to treat many common cosmetic conditions, including acne vulgaris, solar
      lentigo, and melasma. Phototherapy is considered a safe and effective option in
      the treatment of many of these disorders. 

PMID- 27638443
TI  - Phototherapy for alopecia areata.
AB  - Phototherapy is a useful therapeutic method for various skin diseases due to its
      modulatory effect on the cutaneous immune system. Alopecia areata is a dermatosis
      characterized by partial or complete hair loss. Collapse of the immune privilege
      of the hair follicle, which induces noncicatricial alopecia, is an important
      factor in its etiology. Several forms of phototherapy are used in dermatology. 

PMID- 27638444
TI  - Phototherapy in children: Considerations and indications.
AB  - Phototherapy can be a safe and effective treatment for various skin diseases in
      children. Special considerations governing the use of this treatment modality in
      pediatric populations include patient, family, and facility-based factors that
      are oriented around heightened concerns with regard to safety and tolerability of
      treatment. Although phototherapy has been found to be effective in a wide range
      of dermatologic conditions affecting pediatric populations, including psoriasis,
      atopic dermatitis, pityriasis lichenoides, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and
      vitiligo, there is need for additional research on other conditions in which
      phototherapy has shown promise. 

PMID- 27638445
TI  - Tanning beds: Impact on health, and recent regulations.
AB  - As the use of indoor tanning beds gained popularity in the decades after their
      appearance in the market in the early 1970s, concerns arose regarding their use.
      Clinical research has revealed an association between indoor tanning and several
      health risks, including the subsequent occurrence of melanoma and nonmelanoma
      skin cancers, the development of psychologic dependence, and a tendency toward
      other high-risk health behaviors. In the face of mounting evidence, legislation
      has been passed, which includes the restriction of access to tanning beds by
      minors in 42 states and the District of Columbia, and the recent reclassification
      by the Food and Drug Administration, which now categorizes tanning beds as class
      II devices and worthy of restrictions and oversight. Early evidence suggests that
      these labors are resulting in cultural change, although continued efforts are
      necessary to limit further exposure and better inform the public of the dangers
      associated with indoor tanning use. 

PMID- 27638446
TI  - Pressure and disenchantment in physicians-Part I: Developing an approach to
      reconnect with what is noble about medicine.
AB  - Physicians are faced with many stressors today that place them at risk of
      disenchantment, depression, and burnout. Although this is costly to the
      individual physician, it is equally costly to society, because physician stress
      can lead to exercise of poor judgment and medical errors. It also threatens to
      exacerbate physician shortages, as more physicians opt to retire or, in some
      cases, change careers altogether. In this essay, suggestions are made as to how
      to deal with these stressors that, if used, can ameliorate them at least to some
      degree. In a companion essay, a Chinese spiritual text, the Tao Te Ching, will be
      explored in depth as yet another tool that physicians can use as a guide for
      living with less stress. 

PMID- 27638447
TI  - Loco-regional immune default: The immunocompromised district in human and
      comparative dermatology.
AB  - Lately, the innovative concept of an immunocompromised cutaneous district (ICD)
      has been introduced to explain why a previously injured cutaneous site may become
      in time a privileged location for the onset of opportunistic infections, tumors,
      and immune reactions. The injuring events capable of rendering a skin region a
      potential ICD are various, numerous, and most of the time identifiable by means
      of a careful clinical history. The reason that only a small minority of injured
      skin areas actually becomes ICDs, with subsequent opportunistic localization of a
      second and unrelated skin disorder, is presently unknown. The ICD is a conceptual
      entity that is not limited to human dermatology. It can also apply to veterinary
      medicine. Development of sarcomas at the injection site in cats after routine
      vaccination and, occasionally, administration of pharmaceutical products, as well
      as insertion of any foreign body, is a repeatedly documented event. Antigen load,
      persistent inflammation, and fibroblastic proliferation are thought to be
      important factors predisposing to the onset of fibrosarcoma in cats. Recently, it
      has been hypothesized that a local immunosuppression caused by inhalant
      glucocorticoids may have favored the development of regional demodicosis in cats.
      In our opinion, injection-site sarcomas and feline localized demodicosis can be
      considered examples of veterinary ICDs. 

PMID- 27638448
TI  - Bibliography of secondary sources on the history of dermatology: Journal articles
      in English.

PMID- 27638449
TI  - Shift Work: A Risk Factor for Central Serous Chorioretinopathy.

PMID- 27638452
TI  - Barriers for recruitment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      to a controlled telemedicine trial.
AB  - The aim of this analysis is to investigate reasons why patients with chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease decline to participate in a controlled trial of
      telemedicine. Patients with previous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      exacerbations were invited to participate in a 6-month randomized telemedicine
      trial. For eligible patients, reasons for refusal were registered. Of 560
      eligible patients, 279 (50%) declined to participate in the trial, 257 (92%)
      reported a reason: 53 (20.6%) technical concerns, 164 (63.8%) personal reasons,
      17 (6.6%) preferred outpatient clinic visits, and 23 (8.9%) did not want to
      participate in clinical research. Compared to consenting patients, subjects
      declining participation were significantly older, more often female, had higher
      lung function (%predicted), lower body mass index, higher admission-rate for
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the previous year, and were more often
      diagnosed with osteoporosis. Many eligible patients decline participating in a
      controlled tele-healthcare trial and, furthermore, a tailored approach for
      recruiting females and elderly patients appears appropriate.

PMID- 27638451
TI  - Agmatine rescues autistic behaviors in the valproic acid-induced animal model of
      autism.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an immensely challenging developmental disorder
      characterized primarily by two core behavioral symptoms of social communication
      deficits and restricted/repetitive behaviors. Investigating the etiological
      process and identifying an appropriate therapeutic target remain as formidable
      challenges to overcome ASD due to numerous risk factors and complex symptoms
      associated with the disorder. Among the various mechanisms that contribute to
      ASD, the maintenance of excitation and inhibition balance emerged as a key factor
      to regulate proper functioning of neuronal circuitry. Interestingly, our previous
      study involving the valproic acid animal model of autism (VPA animal model) has
      demonstrated excitatory-inhibitory imbalance (E/I imbalance) due to enhanced
      differentiation of glutamatergic neurons and reduced GABAergic neurons. Here, we
      investigated the potential of agmatine, an endogenous NMDA receptor antagonist,
      as a novel therapeutic candidate in ameliorating ASD symptoms by modulating E/I
      imbalance using the VPA animal model. We observed that a single treatment of
      agmatine rescued the impaired social behaviors as well as hyperactive and
      repetitive behaviors in the VPA animal model. We also observed that agmatine
      treatment rescued the overly activated ERK1/2 signaling in the prefrontal cortex
      and hippocampus of VPA animal models, possibly, by modulating over-excitability
      due to enhanced excitatory neural circuit. Taken together, our results have
      provided experimental evidence suggesting a possible therapeutic role of agmatine
      in ameliorating ASD-like symptoms in the VPA animal model of ASD.

PMID- 27638453
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of telemonitoring of diabetic foot ulcer patients.
AB  - This study compared the cost-effectiveness of telemonitoring with standard
      monitoring for patients with diabetic foot ulcers. The economic evaluation was
      nested within a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. A total of 374 patients
      were randomised to either telemonitoring or standard monitoring. Telemonitoring
      consisted of two tele-consultations in the patient's own home and one
      consultation at the outpatient clinic; standard monitoring consisted of three
      outpatient clinic consultations. Total healthcare costs were estimated over a 6
      month period at individual patient level, from a healthcare sector perspective.
      The bootstrap method was used to calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratio, and one-way sensitivity analyses were performed. Telemonitoring costs were
      found to be ?2039 less per patient compared to standard monitoring; however, this
      difference was not statistically significant. Amputation rate was similar in the
      two groups. In conclusion, a telemonitoring service in this form had similar
      costs and effects as standard monitoring.

PMID- 27638454
TI  - The influence of street layouts and viaduct settings on daily carbon monoxide
      exposure and intake fraction in idealized urban canyons.
AB  - Environmental concerns have been raised on the adverse health effects of vehicle
      emissions in micro-scale traffic-crowded street canyons, especially for
      pedestrians and residents living in near-road buildings. Viaduct design is
      sometimes used to improve transportation efficiency but possibly affects urban
      airflow and the resultant exposure risk, which have been rarely investigated so
      far. The personal intake fraction (P_IF) is defined as the average fraction of
      total emissions that is inhaled by each person of a population (1 ppm = 1 * 10
      6), and the daily carbon monoxide (CO) pollutant exposure (Et) is estimated by
      multiplying the average concentration of a specific micro-environment within one
      day. As a novelty, by considering time activity patterns and breathing rates in
      various micro-environments for three age groups, this paper introduces IF and Et
      into computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation to quantify the impacts of
      street layouts (street width/building height W/H = 1, 1.5, 2), source location,
      viaduct settings and noise barriers on the source-exposure correlation when
      realistic CO sources are defined. Narrower streets experience larger P_IF (1.51
      5.21 ppm) and CO exposure, and leeward-side buildings always attain higher
      vehicular pollutant exposure than windward-side. Cases with a viaduct experience
      smaller P_IF (3.25-1.46 ppm) than cases without a viaduct (P_IF = 5.21-2.23 ppm)
      if the single ground-level CO source is elevated onto the viaduct. With two CO
      sources (both ground-level and viaduct-level), daily CO exposure rises 2.80-3.33
      times but P_IF only change slightly. Noise barriers above a viaduct raise
      concentration between barriers, but slightly reduce vehicular exposure in near
      road buildings. Because people spend most of their time indoors, vehicular
      pollutant exposure within near-road buildings can be 6-9 times that at pedestrian
      level. Although further studies are still required to provide practical
      guidelines, this paper provides effective methodologies to quantify the impacts
      of street/viaduct configurations on human exposure for urban design purpose.

PMID- 27638455
TI  - Nonylphenol biodegradation characterizations and bacterial composition analysis
      of an effective consortium NP-M2.
AB  - Nonylphenol (NP), ubiquitously detected as the degradation product of nonionic
      surfactants nonylphenol polyethoxylates, has been reported as an endocrine
      disrupter. However, most pure microorganisms can degrade only limited species of
      NP with low degradation efficiencies. To establish a microbial consortium that
      can effectively degrade different forms of NP, in this study, we isolated a
      facultative microbial consortium NP-M2 and characterized the biodegradation of NP
      by it. NP-M2 could degrade 75.61% and 89.75% of 1000 mg/L NP within 48 h and 8
      days, respectively; an efficiency higher than that of any other consortium or
      pure microorganism reported so far. The addition of yeast extract promoted the
      biodegradation more significantly than that of glucose. Moreover, surface-active
      compounds secreted into the extracellular environment were hypothesized to
      promote high-efficiency metabolism of NP. The detoxification of NP by this
      consortium was determined. The degradation pathway was hypothesized to be
      initiated by oxidization of the benzene ring, followed by step-wise side-chain
      biodegradation. The bacterial composition of NP-M2 was determined using 16S rDNA
      library, and the consortium was found to mainly comprise members of the
      Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Alicycliphilus, and Acidovorax genera, with the former
      two accounting for 86.86% of the consortium. The high degradation efficiency of
      NP-M2 indicated that it could be a promising candidate for NP bioremediation in
      situ.

PMID- 27638450
TI  - Altered nocifensive behavior in animal models of autism spectrum disorder: The
      role of the nicotinic cholinergic system.
AB  - Caretakers and clinicians alike have long recognized that individuals with autism
      spectrum disorder (ASD) can have altered sensory processing, which can contribute
      to its core symptoms. However, the pathobiology of sensory alterations in ASD is
      poorly understood. Here we examined nocifensive behavior in ASD mouse models, the
      BTBR T+Itpr3tf/J (BTBR) and the fragile-X mental retardation-1 knockout (Fmr1-KO)
      mice. We also examined the effects of nicotine on nocifensive behavior given that
      nicotine, a nicotinic cholinergic receptor (nAChR) agonist that has
      antinociceptive effects, was shown to improve social deficits and decrease
      repetitive behaviors in BTBR mice. Compared to respective controls, both BTBR and
      Fmr1-KO had hyporesponsiveness to noxious thermal stimuli and electrical
      stimulation of C-sensory fibers, normal responsiveness to electrical stimulation
      of Abeta- and Adelta-fiber, and hyperresponsiveness to visceral pain after acetic
      acid intraperitoneal injection. In BTBR, nicotine at lower doses increased,
      whereas at higher doses, it decreased hotplate latency compared to vehicle. In a
      significantly different effect pattern, in control mice, nicotine had
      antinociceptive effects to noxious heat only at the high dose. Interestingly,
      these nocifensive behavior alterations and differential responses to nicotine
      antinociceptive effects in BTBR mice were associated with significant
      downregulation of alpha3, alpha4, alpha5, alpha7, beta2, beta3, and beta4 nAChR
      subunits in several cerebral regions both, during embryonic development and
      adulthood. Taken together, these findings further implicate nAChRs in behaviors
      alterations in the BTBR model and lend support to the hypothesis that nAChRs may
      be a target for treatment of behavior deficits and sensory dysfunction in ASD.

PMID- 27638456
TI  - Colloidal aggregation and structural assembly of aspect ratio variant goethite
      (alpha-FeOOH) with nC60 fullerene in environmental media.
AB  - Environmental mobility of C60 fullerene can be significantly affected in the
      presence of naturally abundant alpha-FeOOH. However, alpha-FeOOH vary
      significantly in sizes, shapes and associated properties that can greatly
      influence the fate and transport of C60 fullerene in environmental media.
      Therefore, colloidal hetero-association between well crystallized low aspect
      (LAsp) alpha-FeOOH and nC60 fullerene may differ substantially to weakly
      crystallized high-aspect (HAsp) counterpart. In contrast to LAsp alpha-FeOOH,
      inherent crystal defects and surface charge generation in HAsp alpha-FeOOH
      facilitated strong Coulombic attraction and aggregation with fullerene in acidic
      pH. However, LAsp alpha-FeOOH demonstrated subtle entropic depletion mediated
      interaction with fullerene prevalent in hard rods. Humic acid (HA) encapsulation
      of HAsp alpha-FeOOH substantially blocked fullerene attachment. Minute
      enhancement in colloidal stability was detected for HA-coated HAsp alpha-FeOOH
      and fullerene mixture to HA-coated HAsp alpha-FeOOH alone. To investigate the
      interfacial assembly of alpha-FeOOH with fullerene "in situ" differential
      interference contrast (DIC) microscopic investigations were employed. This study
      showed significantly different interface behavior of the binary mixtures of
      fullerene and HAsp alpha-FeOOH NPs, and LAsp particles. On air-water interface,
      bare HAsp alpha-FeOOH displayed liquid crystalline packing. However, addition of
      fullerene to HAsp alpha-FeOOH suspension at pH5 produced closed-loop polygonal
      and circular ring structures. Head-to-tail alignment of magnetic dipoles as well
      as fullerene hydrophobicity facilitated such assembly formation. "Ex situ" AFM
      investigation revealed further the presence of magnetically derived ring
      structure which asserts that the formed "in situ" ensembles were not transient,
      hence, may abate fullerene transport through environmental interfaces. Barring
      hydrophobicity assisted attachment of fullerene to LAsp alpha-FeOOHs, the absence
      of any close-packed structures may unlikely abate fullerene transport as
      envisaged in case of HAsp alpha-FeOOH. Thus, aspect ratio variation and
      associated material properties of naturally abundant alpha-FeOOH may
      significantly impact fullerene transport through environmental media.

PMID- 27638457
TI  - Evaluation of free/labile concentrations of trace metals in Athabasca oil sands
      region streams (Alberta, Canada) using diffusive gradient in thin films and a
      thermodynamic equilibrium model.
AB  - The Athabasca's oil sands exploitation is controversial due to its potential
      risks to water quality but little is known about the temporal changes in the most
      bioavailable fraction of metal, the free/labile species. In this study, diffusive
      gradient in thin films (DGT) and the Windermere Humic Aqueous Model (WHAM VII)
      equilibrium model were used to examine the temporal changes in free/labile metal
      (Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb) species in three tributaries of the north-flowing Athabasca
      River in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR). The influence of dissolved
      organic matter (DOM) composition (i.e. fulvic: humic ratio) on modeled Cu and Ni
      speciation showed a negligible effect on the labile concentration. The best
      agreements (92 +/- 8%) between DGT-labile and WHAM calculated labile
      concentrations were found assuming the formation of iron oxyhydroxides (FeO(OH)).
      The agreement was only 70 +/- 7% in the presence of inorganic colloidal aluminum
      oxyhydroxides (AlO(OH)) and in the absence of any inorganic colloids. Together
      these results suggest that a change in DOM composition had limited impacts on
      modeled free metal ion concentrations. Although the concentration of the main
      metal ligand (i.e. DOM), varied from 9 to 40 ppm, no significant temporal
      differences in the abundance of WHAM-modeled labile species were found,
      suggesting mobility and bioavailability of Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were comparable over
      the 2003-2012 period.

PMID- 27638458
TI  - Alkali-earth metal bridges formed in biofilm matrices regulate the uptake of
      fluoroquinolone antibiotics and protect against bacterial apoptosis.
AB  - Bacterially extracellular biofilms play a critical role in relieving toxicity of
      fluoroquinolone antibiotic (FQA) pollutants, yet it is unclear whether antibiotic
      attack may be defused by a bacterial one-two punch strategy associated with metal
      reinforced detoxification efficiency. Our findings help to assign functions to
      specific structural features of biofilms, as they strongly imply a molecularly
      regulated mechanism by which freely accessed alkali-earth metals in natural
      waters affect the cellular uptake of FQAs at the water-biofilm interface.
      Specifically, formation of alkali-earth-metal (Ca2+ or Mg2+) bridge between
      modeling ciprofloxacin and biofilms of Escherichia coli regulates the trans
      biofilm transport rate of FQAs towards cells (135-nm-thick biofilm). As the
      addition of Ca2+ and Mg2+ (0-3.5 mmol/L, CIP: 1.25 MUmol/L), the transport rates
      were reduced to 52.4% and 63.0%, respectively. Computational chemistry analysis
      further demonstrated a deprotonated carboxyl in the tryptophan residues of
      biofilms acted as a major bridge site, of which one side is a metal and the other
      is a metal girder jointly connected to the carboxyl and carbonyl of a FQA. The
      bacterial growth rate depends on the bridging energy at anchoring site, which
      underlines the environmental importance of metal bridge formed in biofilm
      matrices in bacterially antibiotic resistance.

PMID- 27638459
TI  - The relationship between sleep quality and perceived fatigue measured using the
      Neurological Fatigue Index in people with Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Neurological Fatigue Index (NFI-MS) is the only known perceived
      fatigue scale to include questions that consider the contribution of sleep
      quality to symptoms of fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). However,
      the relationship between the NFI-MS and sleep quality measures is unknown. This
      study aimed to explore the relationship between the NFI-MS and self-reported and
      objective sleep quality. Understanding the relationship between perceived fatigue
      and sleep quality measures could encourage a wider use of the NFI-MS in research
      and clinical settings. METHODS: Fifty-one participants took part in this cross
      sectional study (mean age: 47 +/- 10.1 years old). Participants completed the NFI
      MS to assess perceived fatigue, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to asses sleep
      quality, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to assess daytime sleepiness. The
      participants wore an actigraph device one week on the dominant wrist to
      objectively quantify sleep quality. RESULTS: Higher perceived fatigue is
      significantly associated with poorer self-reported sleep quality and excessive
      daytime sleepiness, but not with objective sleeps quality. DISCUSSION: The NFI-MS
      can be easily administered in clinical and research settings to assess the impact
      of sleep on perceived fatigue in the MS population.

PMID- 27638460
TI  - Initial end-tidal CO2 partial pressure predicts outcomes of in-hospital cardiac
      arrest.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Monitoring the partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide
      (PEtco2) has been advocated since 2010 as an index of resuscitation efforts.
      However, related research has largely focused on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
      victims. In-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) differs in terms of etiologies and
      demographics, the merit of initial PEtco2 values was explored. METHODS: This was
      a retrospective study in a single medical center between February 2011 and August
      2014. Eligible subjects had suffered nontraumatic IHCA in the emergency
      department, where resuscitation was performed in accord with 2010 American Heart
      Association guidelines. Patients with initial PEtco2 recordings via capnography
      were recruited. RESULTS: A total of 353 IHCA events with initial PEtco2 were
      recorded in 202 patients (male, 61.4%; mean age, 67.0 +/- 16.2 years). Shockable
      rhythm (ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation) accounted for 11.8%. A
      cut point of 25.5 mm Hg was established for initial PEtco2, creating 2 tiers of
      sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) that differed significantly in
      cumulative survival probability (log rank test, P = .002). For patients with
      initial PEtco2 <25.5 mm Hg, survival benefit ceased at an earlier point in
      resuscitation, whereas above this threshold, the probability of survival
      cumulatively increased for a longer period. In multivariate analysis, initial
      PEtco2 >25.5 mm Hg was found independently predictive of sustained ROSC (odds
      ratio, 2.64; 95% confidence interval, 1.43-4.88; P = .002), and survival to
      discharge (odds ratio, 3.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-7.60; P = .014), but
      failed to correlate with neurologic outcome. CONCLUSION: In IHCA, the therapeutic
      threshold for initial PEtco2 should set fairly higher to encourage more pulmonary
      flow and increase the likelihood of sustained ROSC.

PMID- 27638461
TI  - Associations of adiponectin and leptin levels with protein-energy wasting, in end
      stage renal disease patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of protein-energy
      wasting (PEW) in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients in our
      center and determine whether adiponectin and leptin are involved in the
      development of PEW. DESIGN: Prospective (18 months). SETTING: University Hospital
      of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. SUBJECTS: Seventy-four end-stage-renal-disease
      patients, 47 on HD and 27 on PD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At three sequential time
      points (baseline, 6 and 18 months) anthropometric, nutritional and inflammatory
      status data were collected. Serum adiponectin and leptin were also assessed at
      each time point. Patients were allocated to 3 strata according to PEW severity
      (0, 1-2 and >=3 criteria for PEW). RESULTS: Adiponectin and leptin levels were
      greater among PD compared to HD patients (p<=0.035). Adiponectin levels were
      incrementally greater across increasing strata of PEW (p<=0.002). Leptin showed
      the opposite trend, with lower levels in malnourished patients and higher levels
      in patients with zero PEW criteria (p<=0.042). Alterations of adiponectin levels
      during the observation period were dependent on PEW stratum (p<=0.021) and mode
      of dialysis (p<=0.002), after adjustment for age, dialysis vintage, gender and
      fat mass index. Particularly, adiponectin levels increased over time in HD
      patients with >=3 criteria for PEW, whereas adiponectin levels decreased in PD
      patients with >=3 criteria for PEW throughout the study. Leptin alterations over
      time were not affected by dialysis mode or PEW stratification. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study provides evidence that increased adiponectin and decreased leptin levels
      are independently associated with PEW and thus, poor prognosis.

PMID- 27638462
TI  - A rare case of atypical sympathetic ophthalmia post therapeutic keratoplasty.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is a rare, bilateral, diffuse
      granulomatous uveitis that usually occurs after open globe injury or intraocular
      surgery. METHODS: A patient developed SO following therapeutic penetrating
      keratoplasty (TPK) with cataract extraction in the exciting eye following fungal
      keratitis. The sympathizing eye presented with only posterior segment findings
      (exudative retinal detachment) and responded well with oral corticosteroids.
      RESULTS: Graft remained clear in the left eye and the right eye; the best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved to 0.2 log MAR. CONCLUSION: SO presenting
      after TPK for fungal keratitis is a rare occurrence but if detected early can be
      managed effectively.

PMID- 27638463
TI  - Facile synthesis of magnetic biochar/Fe3O4 nanocomposites using electro
      magnetization technique and its application on the removal of acid orange 7 from
      aqueous media.
AB  - This study introduces a new methodology to synthesize magnetic biochar/Fe3O4
      nanocomposites (M-BC) from marine macroalgae using a facile electro-magnetization
      technique. M-BC was prepared by stainless steel electrode-based electrochemical
      system, followed by pyrolysis. Physical and chemical analyses revealed that the
      porosity and magnetic properties were simultaneously improved via the electro
      magnetization process, which enabled not only higher adsorption performance, but
      also easier separation/recovery from aqueous media at post-adsorption stage using
      a bar magnet. The adsorption equilibrium studies reveal that the Sips model
      satisfactorily predicts the adsorption capacity, which found to be 190, 297, and
      382mgg(-1) at 10, 20, and 30 degrees C, respectively. The overall findings
      indicate that one-step electro-magnetization technique can be effectively
      utilized for the fabrication of biochar with concurrent acquisition of porosity
      and magnetism, which can bring about new directions in the practical use of
      adsorption process in environment remediation and mitigate crises originating
      from it. 

PMID- 27638464
TI  - Enhanced biogas production from rice straw by selective micronutrients under
      solid state anaerobic digestion.
AB  - Biomethanation of rice straw (RS) was studied in a batch mode at high total solid
      content (TSC) of 25% in outdoor pilot scale digesters. Performance was monitored
      for over six months by supplementing Nickel and Cobalt 15 and 10mgkg(-1) RS to
      each of mesophilic and thermophilic digesters for 35 and 21days retention time
      (RT), respectively. The average biogas production from mesophilic and
      thermophilic digesters were found varying 310 and 396Lkg(-1)TS, respectively. The
      corresponding figures for the control digesters were 225 and 270Lkg(-1)TS. Around
      37 and 46% higher biogas production was recorded by supplementing the
      micronutrients in mesophilic and thermophilic digesters, respectively. Methane
      content in biogas was 57-59%. Matured compost had nitrogen, phosphorus and
      potassium contents of 1.0-1.2, 1.3-2.2, and 1.2-2.1%, respectively. The results
      demonstrated that the present process is faster, requires less than 85% water and
      produces green energy in addition to manure in less time compared to conventional
      process. 

PMID- 27638466
TI  - C30F12.4 influences oogenesis, fat metabolism, and lifespan in C. elegans.
AB  - Reproduction, fat metabolism, and longevity are intertwined regulatory axes;
      recent studies in C. elegans have provided evidence that these processes are
      directly coupled. However, the mechanisms by which they are coupled and the
      reproductive signals modulating fat metabolism and lifespan are poorly
      understood. Here, we find that an oogenesis-enriched gene, c30f12.4, is
      specifically expressed and located in germ cells and early embryos; when the gene
      is knocked out, oogenesis is disrupted and brood size is decreased. In addition
      to the reproductive phenotype, we find that the loss of c30f12.4 alters fat
      metabolism, resulting in decreased fat storage and smaller lipid droplets.
      Meanwhile, c30f12.4 mutant worms display a shortened lifespan. Our results
      highlight an important role for c30f12.4 in regulating reproduction, fat
      homeostasis, and aging in C. elegans, which helps us to better understand the
      relationship between these processes.

PMID- 27638465
TI  - Dual role for the unfolded protein response in the ovary: adaption and apoptosis.
AB  - The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the principal organelle responsible for several
      specific cellular functions including synthesis and folding of secretory or
      membrane proteins, lipid metabolism, and Ca2+ storage. Different physiological as
      well as pathological stress conditions can, however, perturb ER homeostasis,
      giving rise to an accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the ER lumen,
      a condition termed ER stress. To deal with an increased folding demand, cells
      activate the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is initially protective but
      can become detrimental if ER stress is severe and prolonged. Accumulating
      evidence demonstrates a link between the UPR and ovarian development and
      function, including follicular growth and maturation, follicular atresia, and
      corpus luteum biogenesis. Additionally, ER stress and the UPR may also play an
      important role in the ovary under pathological conditions. Understanding the
      molecular mechanisms related to the dual role of unfolded protein response in the
      ovarian physiology and pathology may reveal the pathogenesis of some reproductive
      endocrine diseases and provide a new guidance to improve the assisted
      reproductive technology. Here we review the current literature and discuss
      concepts and progress in understanding the UPR, and we also analyze the role of
      ER stress and the UPR in the ovary.

PMID- 27638467
TI  - Structural studies on MRG701 chromodomain reveal a novel dimerization interface
      of MRG proteins in green plants.
AB  - MRG proteins are conserved during evolution in fungi, flies, mammals and plants,
      and they can exhibit diversified functions. The animal MRGs were found to form
      various complexes to activate gene expression. Plant MRG1/2 and MRG702 were
      reported to be involved in the regulation of flowering time via binding to
      H3K36me3-marked flowering genes. Herein, we determined the crystal structure of
      MRG701 chromodomain (MRG701CD). MRG701CD forms a novel dimerization fold both in
      crystal and in solution. Moreover, we found that the dimerization of MRG
      chromodomains is conserved in green plants. Our findings may provide new insights
      into the mechanism of MRGs in regulation of gene expression in green plants.

PMID- 27638468
TI  - Crystal structure of HLA-B*5801, a protective HLA allele for HIV-1 infection.

PMID- 27638470
TI  - Disturbance, Reassembly, and Disease Risk in Socioecological Systems.

PMID- 27638471
TI  - A Comparison of Disease Risk Analysis Tools for Conservation Translocations.
AB  - Conservation translocations are increasingly used to manage threatened species
      and restore ecosystems. Translocations increase the risk of disease outbreaks in
      the translocated and recipient populations. Qualitative disease risk analyses
      have been used as a means of assessing the magnitude of any effect of disease and
      the probability of the disease occurring associated with a translocation.
      Currently multiple alternative qualitative disease risk analysis packages are
      available to practitioners. Here we compare the ease of use, expertise required,
      transparency, and results from, three different qualitative disease risk analyses
      using a translocation of the endangered New Zealand passerine, the hihi
      (Notiomystis cincta), as a model. We show that the three methods use
      fundamentally different approaches to define hazards. Different methods are used
      to produce estimations of the risk from disease, and the estimations are
      different for the same hazards. Transparency of the process varies between
      methods from no referencing, or explanations of evidence to justify decisions,
      through to full documentation of resources, decisions and assumptions made.
      Evidence to support decisions on estimation of risk from disease is important, to
      enable knowledge acquired in the future, for example, from translocation outcome,
      to be used to improve the risk estimation for future translocations. Information
      documenting each disease risk analysis differs along with variation in emphasis
      of the questions asked within each package. The expertise required to commence a
      disease risk analysis varies and an action flow chart tailored for the non
      wildlife health specialist are included in one method but completion of the
      disease risk analysis requires wildlife health specialists with epidemiological
      and pathological knowledge in all three methods. We show that disease risk
      analysis package choice may play a greater role in the overall risk estimation of
      the effect of disease on animal populations involved in a translocation than
      might previously have been realised.

PMID- 27638472
TI  - Evolution of Socioeconomic Conditions and Its Relation to Spatial-Temporal
      Changes of Giardiasis and Helminthiasis in Amazonian Children.
AB  - This study analyzed the evolution of socioeconomic, sanitary, and personal
      factors as well as spatiotemporal changes in the prevalence of helminthiasis and
      giardiasis in urban Amazonian children between 2003 and 2011. Child age, lack of
      sanitation, and lack of access to bottled water were identified as significant
      associated factors for helminthiasis and giardiasis. There was an overall
      improvement in socioeconomic and sanitary conditions in the city resulting in
      decreased helminth prevalences from 12.42 to 9.63% between 2003 and 2010, but the
      prevalence increased to 15.03% in 2011 due to migratory movement and unstable
      sanitary conditions. As for Giardiasis, socioeconomic and environmental changes
      were not enough to reduce prevalence (16% in 2003 and 23% in 2011). Spatial
      analysis identified a significant cluster for helminthiasis in an area of poor
      housing conditions. Control programs in the Amazon need to target high-risk areas
      focusing changes in sanitation, water usage, and health education.

PMID- 27638473
TI  - Ecosystem Research Experience with Two Indigenous Communities of Colombia: The
      Ecohealth Calendar as a Participatory and Innovative Methodological Tool.
AB  - Eco-bio-social factors may increase or decrease a community's susceptibility to
      vector-borne disease transmission. Traditional studies have contributed
      information about the association between eco-bio-social factors and health
      outcomes, but few have provided this information in an integrative way
      characterizing annual dynamics among indigenous communities. Transdisciplinary
      research was conducted with the Bari of Karikachaboquira and the Wayuu of
      Marbacella and El Horno, using qualitative and participatory methods, including
      seasonal graphics, semi-structured interviews, geo-referencing routes, and
      participatory observation. The information was triangulated and discussed with
      local actors in order to validate and complement the results. An ecohealth
      calendar was obtained for each community, linking the socioecological dynamics to
      specific diseases, especially malaria. Local dynamics can change, depending on
      environmental conditions, and these determine the presence or absence of
      diseases. For both communities, the rainy season is the period with the greatest
      proliferation of mosquitoes (including Anopheles spp.), during which malaria
      cases occur. The ecohealth calendar integrates eco-bio-social information from
      local communities, through participatory and potentially empowering processes,
      into a comprehensive layout. This can break down the conceptual, demographic, and
      cultural barriers in the context of community-based interventions and research to
      action based on an ecosystem framework.

PMID- 27638474
TI  - Current state of knowledge of hepatic encephalopathy (part III): non-absorbable
      disaccharides.
AB  - Nonabsorbable disaccharides have been the mainstay of treatment for hepatic
      encephalopathy since introduced into clinical practice in 1966. Their beneficial
      effects reflect their ability to reduce the intestinal production/absorption of
      ammonia. A recent Cochrane review confirmed the efficacy and safety of
      nonabsorbable disaccharides for the treatment and prevention of hepatic
      encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis. The findings were robust and support
      the use of nonabsorbable disaccharides as a first line treatment for hepatic
      encephalopathy, in this patient population, and for its prevention.

PMID- 27638475
TI  - Urinary metabolic profiling by 1H NMR spectroscopy in patients with cirrhosis may
      discriminate overt but not covert hepatic encephalopathy.
AB  - To date urinary metabolic profiling has been applied to define a specific
      metabolic fingerprint of hepatocellular carcinoma on a background of cirrhosis.
      Its utility for the stratification of other complications of cirrhosis, such as
      hepatic encephalopathy (HE), remains to be established. Urinary proton nuclear
      magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectra were acquired and NMR data from 52 patients
      with cirrhosis (35 male; 17 female, median (range) age [60 (18-81) years]) and 17
      controls were compared. A sub-set of 45 patients (33 male; 12 female, [60 (18-90)
      years, median model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score 11 (7-27)]) were
      fully characterised by West-Haven criteria, Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy
      Score (PHES) and electroencephalogram (EEG), and defined as overt HE (OHE, n =
      21), covert HE (cHE, n = 7) or no HE (n = 17). Urinary proton nuclear magnetic
      resonance (1H-NMR) spectra were analysed by partial-least-squares discriminant
      analysis (PLS-DA). The results showed good discrimination between patients with
      cirrhosis (n = 52) and healthy controls (n = 17) (R2X = 0.66, R2Y = 0.47, Q2Y =
      0.31, sensitivity-60 %, specificity-100 %) as the cirrhosis group had higher 1
      methylnicotinamide with lower hippurate, acetate, phenylacetylglycine and N
      methyl nicotinic acid levels. While patients with OHE could be discriminated from
      those with no HE, with higher histidine, citrate and creatinine levels, the best
      models lack robust validity (R2X = 0.65, R2Y = 0.48, Q2Y = 0.12, sensitivity-100
      %, specificity-64 %) with the sample size used. Urinary 1H-NMR metabolic
      profiling did not discriminate patients with cHE from those without HE, nor
      discriminate subjects on the basis of PHES/EEG result or MELD score. In
      conclusion, patients with cirrhosis showed different urinary 1H-NMR metabolic
      profiles compared to healthy controls and those with OHE may be distinguished
      from those with no HE although larger studies are required. However, urinary 1H
      NMR metabolic profiling did not discriminate patients with differing grades of HE
      or according to severity of underlying liver disease.

PMID- 27638476
TI  - Rickettsia amblyommatis sp. nov., a spotted fever group Rickettsia associated
      with multiple species of Amblyomma ticks in North, Central and South America.
AB  - In 1973, investigators isolated a rickettsial organism, designated strain WB-8
      2T, from an adult Amblyomma americanum tick collected at Land Between the Lakes
      National Recreation Area, TN, USA. This organism is now recognized as highly
      prevalent in A. americanum, as well as several other Amblyomma species found
      throughout the Western hemisphere. It has been suggested that cross-reactivity to
      WB-8-2T and similar strains contributes to the increasing number of spotted fever
      cases reported in the USA. In 1995, investigators provided preliminary evidence
      that this strain, as well as another strain from Missouri, represented a distinct
      taxonomic unit within the genus Rickettsia by evaluating sequences of the 16S
      rRNA and 17 kDa protein genes. However, the bacterium was never formally named,
      despite the use of the designation 'Rickettsia amblyommii' and later 'Candidatus
      Rickettsia amblyommii', for more than 20 years in the scientific literature.
      Herein, we provide additional molecular evidence to identify strain WB-8-2T as a
      representative strain of a unique rickettsial species and present a formal
      description for the species, with the proposed name modified to Rickettsia
      amblyommatis sp. nov. to conform to the International Code of Nomenclature of
      Prokaryotes. We also establish a pure culture of strain WB-8-2T and designate it
      as the type strain for the species. The type strain is WB-8-2T (=CRIRC
      RAM004T=CSURP2882T).

PMID- 27638478
TI  - Chemical Composition and In Vitro Evaluation of Antimicrobial, Antioxidant and
      Antigerminative Properties of the Seed Oil from the Tunisian Endemic Ferula
      tunetana Pomel ex Batt.
AB  - Essential oil of the seeds from the endemic Tunisian plant Ferula tunetana Pomel
      ex Batt. was analyzed for its chemical composition and screened for its
      antimicrobial, antioxidant and antigerminative properties. The chemical
      composition of the isolated oil is reported for the first time. According to the
      GC/FID, GC/MS and 13 C-NMR analysis results; 18 compounds were identified
      accounting for 84.6% of the total oil. The chemical composition of this essential
      oil was characterized by the presence of a high proportion of monoterpene
      hydrocarbons (77.3%) followed by oxygenated sesquiterpenes (4.1%) and
      sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (3.2%). alpha-Pinene (39.8%), beta-pinene (11.5%) and
      (Z)-beta-ocimene (7.5%) were the predominant compounds. Moreover, the isolated
      oil was tested for its antimicrobial activity using the disc-diffusion and the
      microdilution assays against six Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacteria as
      well as towards two Candida species. The isolated oil was tested also for its
      antioxidant activity against DPPH, ABTS, O2? and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), and
      for its antigerminative potential. It was found that it exhibited interesting
      antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhimurium LT2 DT104 (inhibition zone
      (IZ) 16.2 +/- 1.0 mm) and Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 (IZ 15.8 +/- 1.0 mm).
      However, it exerted a moderate antioxidant activity against H2 O2 (IC50 78.2 +/-
      2.98 MUg/ml) and towards O2? (IC50 89.2 +/- 3.82 MUg/ml). The antigerminative
      effect of this oil was also evaluated in this work. Results showed a toxic
      effect.

PMID- 27638477
TI  - Effects of dietary supplementation with green tea waste on growth, digestive
      enzyme and lipid metabolism of juvenile hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus *
      O. aureus.
AB  - An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary
      supplementation with green tea waste (GTW) on growth, digestive enzyme and lipid
      metabolism of juvenile hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus * O. aureus. The
      fish (initial mean body weight, 12.63 +/- 0.75 g) were fed five experimental
      diets that included 0 (control), 0.8, 1.6, 3.2 or 6.4 % of GTW in triplicate
      aquaria, twice daily. Growth performance, plasma metabolites content and liver
      and intestine digestive enzyme activities were determined. Fish accepted well all
      experimental diets during the trial, and no mortality was observed. The weight
      gain increased (P < 0.05) with the increase in GTW inclusion level up to 1.6 %,
      after which it decreased, but no significant differences between the control and
      high level (3.2 or 6.4 % of GTW) groups were observed. Moreover, fish fed on
      diets containing 0.8 and 1.6 % GTW had lower feed conversion ratio (FCR, 1.75 and
      1.73, respectively) and had better protein deposition (higher protein efficiency
      ratio, PER, 1.73 and 1.71, respectively), compared to other treatments. No
      differences among groups were observed in whole body and dorsal muscle
      composition with the exception of lipid content which was lower in fish fed 6.4 %
      GTW diets, compared to other treatments. Lipase activities in liver or intestine
      were higher in fish fed GTW-supplemented diets with the exception of intestine
      lipase activities, which was unaffected, compared to the control. Similarly,
      liver lipoprotein lipase activities were also increased in fish fed diets
      supplemented a medium dose of GTW (1.6 or 3.2 %), compared to other treatments.
      However, intestine amylase activities were decreased in fish fed diets containing
      a high dose of GTW (3.2 and 6.4 %); while the liver amylase activities were
      unaffected by the GTW supplementation. Blood chemistry parameters were affected
      by GTW inclusion, except the values of triglycerides, which was unaffected. The
      values of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol increased with
      increasing GTW inclusion level up to 3.2 %, after which the values decreased.
      These results indicate that diets supplemented with appropriate concentration of
      GTW (from 0.8 to 1.6 %) may potentially serve as an effective functional food and
      additive for tilapia to improve growth performance, digestion efficacy and fat
      metabolism.

PMID- 27638480
TI  - Clinical Use and Therapeutic Potential of IVIG/SCIG, Plasma-Derived IgA or IgM,
      and Other Alternative Immunoglobulin Preparations.
AB  - Intravenous and subcutaneous immunoglobulin preparations, consisting of IgG class
      antibodies, are increasingly used to treat a broad range of pathological
      conditions, including humoral immune deficiencies, as well as acute and chronic
      inflammatory or autoimmune disorders. A plethora of Fab- or Fc-mediated immune
      regulatory mechanisms has been described that might act separately or in concert,
      depending on pathogenesis or stage of clinical condition. Attempts have been
      undertaken to improve the efficacy of polyclonal IgG preparations, including the
      identification of relevant subfractions, mild chemical modification of molecules,
      or modification of carbohydrate side chains. Furthermore, plasma-derived IgA or
      IgM preparations may exhibit characteristics that might be exploited
      therapeutically. The need for improved treatment strategies without increase in
      plasma demand is a goal and might be achieved by more optimal use of plasma
      derived proteins, including the IgA and the IgM fractions. This article provides
      an overview on the current knowledge and future strategies to improve the
      efficacy of regular IgG preparations and discusses the potential of human plasma
      derived IgA, IgM, and preparations composed of mixtures of IgG, IgA, and IgM.

PMID- 27638479
TI  - Ectopic expression of a cyanobacterial flavodoxin in creeping bentgrass impacts
      plant development and confers broad abiotic stress tolerance.
AB  - Flavodoxin (Fld) plays a pivotal role in photosynthetic microorganisms as an
      alternative electron carrier flavoprotein under adverse environmental conditions.
      Cyanobacterial Fld has been demonstrated to be able to substitute ferredoxin of
      higher plants in most electron transfer processes under stressful conditions. We
      have explored the potential of Fld for use in improving plant stress response in
      creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). Overexpression of Fld altered plant
      growth and development. Most significantly, transgenic plants exhibited
      drastically enhanced performance under oxidative, drought and heat stress as well
      as nitrogen (N) starvation, which was associated with higher water retention and
      cell membrane integrity than wild-type controls, modified expression of heat
      shock protein genes, production of more reduced thioredoxin, elevated N
      accumulation and total chlorophyll content as well as up-regulated expression of
      nitrite reductase and N transporter genes. Further analysis revealed that the
      expression of other stress-related genes was also impacted in Fld-expressing
      transgenics. Our data establish a key role of Fld in modulating plant growth and
      development and plant response to multiple sources of adverse environmental
      conditions in crop species. This demonstrates the feasibility of manipulating Fld
      in crop species for genetic engineering of plant stress tolerance.

PMID- 27638482
TI  - Every Grain of Rice: Ancient Rice DNA Data Provides New View of Domestication
      History.

PMID- 27638481
TI  - Activated and Memory T Lymphocytes in Children with Gaucher Disease.
AB  - Gaucher disease (GD) is the most prevalent lysosomal storage disorder. Gaucher
      disease is associated with remarkable alterations in the immune system, and GD
      patients are more susceptible to infections and are at a higher risk of
      developing autoimmune disorders and malignancies. In a case-control study, we
      used three-color flow cytometric immunophenotyping for determination of the
      frequency of lymphocyte subpopulations and activated T lymphocytes among 18
      children with GD1 under enzyme replacement therapy managed in Assiut University
      Hospitals. We found significant increases in the frequencies of total
      lymphocytes, CD19+, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ in children with GD1 when compared to
      healthy control. The frequencies of activated T lymphocytes (CD3+HLA-DR+),
      activated T-helper cells (CD4+HLA-DR+), and activated T-suppressor/cytotoxic
      cells (CD8+HLA-DR+) were significantly higher in GD1 as compared to healthy
      children. Our data show that the increased proportion of activated T lymphocytes
      in children with GD1 raises the issue of their possible involvement in the
      pathogenesis of the immune dysfunction seen in these patients. Our data suggested
      that the activated T lymphocytes could play a role in the clinical course of GD1.
      The relationship of these cells to immune disorders in GD1 children remains to be
      determined.

PMID- 27638483
TI  - The Great Evolutionary Smoke out: An Advantage for Modern Humans?

PMID- 27638484
TI  - New Study Reveals Adaptations for Snub-Nosed Monkeys.

PMID- 27638485
TI  - Study Pushes Back the Origin of HIV-Related Retroviruses to 60 Ma.

PMID- 27638490
TI  - Barriers to making recommendations about medical tests: a qualitative study of
      European guideline developers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Development of medical test guidelines differs from intervention
      guideline development. These differences can pose unique challenges in building
      evidence-based recommendations to guide clinical practice. The aim of our study
      was to better understand these challenges, explore reasons behind them and
      identify possible solutions. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In this qualitative study,
      we conducted in-depth interviews between February 2012 and April 2013 of a
      convenience sample of 17 European guideline developers experienced in medical
      test guideline development. OUTCOMES MEASURED: We used framework analysis with
      deductive and inductive approaches to generate the themes from the interviews. We
      kept interpretation grounded in the data. RESULTS: Guideline developers
      acknowledged that inclusion of patient important outcomes in their guideline
      development was necessary but lacking. This and other challenges raised fell into
      3 broad and overlapping domains: methodological issues, resource limitations and
      a lack of awareness on the need for evidence that links testing to patient
      outcomes. Education was mentioned as a key solution to increase awareness and
      address the resources limitations mentioned. CONCLUSIONS: Challenges guideline
      developers face were interlinked across the domains of methodological issues,
      resource limitations and a lack of awareness. Solutions that addressed these
      challenges in parallel are needed. Raising awareness, education and training of
      relevant stakeholders such as medical doctors, funders and regulators to look
      beyond test accuracy is key to having a long-term resolution to the issues faced
      in medical test guideline development.

PMID- 27638491
TI  - Does it matter whether physicians' recommendations are given early or late in the
      decision-making process? An experimental study among patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Physicians' recommendations are seen as an essential component in
      many models of medical decision-making, including shared decision-making. It is,
      however, unclear at what time in the decision-making process the recommendation
      is best given, not to adversely influence patient preferences. Within the present
      study we wanted to evaluate at what time in the decision-making process a
      doctor's recommendation is best given, not to adversely influence patient
      preferences. DESIGN: We performed an experimental study involving hypothetical
      decisions vignettes and compared the influence of 3 conditions (no advice, early
      advice, late advice) on patients' decision-making. SETTING: N=21 psychiatric
      hospitals in Germany. PARTICIPANTS: N=208 inpatients suffering from
      schizophrenia. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome was the
      number of patients choosing the option in each experimental condition that had
      been less preferable to most patients during pretests. Additional outcome
      measures were patient satisfaction and reactance. RESULTS: Patients in the 'late
      advice' condition more often (n=49) accepted an advice that was against their
      preferences compared with the other conditions (n=36 for 'early advice',
      p=0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Although giving advice is an important part of every
      doctor's daily practice and is seen as an essential element of shared decision
      making, hitherto there has been little empirical evidence relating to the
      influence of physicians' advice on patients' decision-making behaviour. With our
      study we could show that the point in time an advice is given by a physician does
      have an influence on patients' decisional behaviour even if the mechanism of this
      effect is not yet understood.

PMID- 27638492
TI  - Effect of a national requirement to introduce named accountable general
      practitioners for patients aged 75 or older in England: regression discontinuity
      analysis of general practice utilisation and continuity of care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of introducing named accountable general
      practitioners (GPs) for patients aged 75 years on patterns of general practice
      utilisation, including continuity of care. DESIGN: Regression discontinuity
      design applied to data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to estimate
      the treatment effect for compliers aged 75. SETTING: 200 general practices in
      England. PARTICIPANTS: 255 469 patients aged between 65 and 85, after excluding
      those aged 75. INTERVENTION: From April 2014, general practices in England were
      required to offer patients aged 75 or over a named accountable GP. This study
      compared having named accountable GPs for patients aged just over 75 with usual
      care provided for patients just under 75. OUTCOMES: Number of contacts (face-to
      face or telephone) with GPs, longitudinal continuity of care (usual provider of
      care, or UPC, index), number of referrals to specialist care and numbers of
      common diagnostic tests. Outcomes were measured over 9 months following
      assignment to a named accountable GP and for a comparable period for those
      unassigned. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with a named accountable GP
      increased from 3.5% to 79.8% at age 75. No statistically significant effects were
      detected for continuity of care (estimated treatment effect 0.00, 95% CI -0.01 to
      0.02) or the number of GP contacts per person (estimated treatment effect -0.11,
      95% CI -0.31 to 0.09) over 9 months. No significant change was seen in the number
      of referrals, blood pressure or HbA1c diagnostic tests per person. A
      statistically significant treatment effect of -0.05 cholesterol tests per person
      (95% CI -0.07 to -0.02) was estimated; however, sensitivity analysis indicated
      that this effect predated the introduction of named accountable GPs. CONCLUSIONS:
      Continuity of care is valued by patients, but the named accountable GP initiative
      did not improve continuity of care or change patterns of GP utilisation in the
      first 9 months of the policy.

PMID- 27638493
TI  - Scientific research output in orthopaedics from China and other top-ranking
      countries: a 10-year survey of the literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Orthopaedics-related diseases and conditions are a significant burden
      worldwide. In this study, we aimed to compare the quantity and quality of
      research output in the field of orthopaedics from Mainland China (MC), USA, UK,
      Japan and Germany. SETTING: The USA, UK, Japan, Germany and MC. PARTICIPANTS: We
      selected orthopaedics journals from the subject category 'orthopedics' from the
      Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of
      publications, the number of publications in the surveyed publication types,
      impact factor (IF) and citations from the corresponding country from 2005 to 2014
      were collected for quantity and quality comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 128 895
      articles were published worldwide in orthopaedics-related journals from 2005 to
      2014. The USA contributed the largest proportion (31 190 (24.20%)), followed by
      the UK (6703 (5.20%)), Japan (5718 (4.41%)), Germany (4701 (3.66%)) and MC (3389
      (2.63%)). Publications from MC represented the fewest, but this quantity is
      rapidly increasing. The quantity of annual publications from MC has exceeded that
      of Germany since 2012. The USA plays a predominant role in all kinds of
      publication types under investigation in the study, except in the category of
      meta-analysis. MC was in the last place for cumulative IFs, and the average IF
      actually decreased from the beginning of the study. For total and average
      citations, MC still lags behind the other countries in the study. CONCLUSIONS:
      The USA has occupied the dominant place in orthopaedics-related research for the
      last 10 years. Although MC has made great progress in the number of published
      works in the field of orthopaedics over the last 10 years, the quality of these
      publishing efforts needs further improvement.

PMID- 27638494
TI  - Long-term responses to treatment in UK veterans with military-related PTSD: an
      observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Military-related trauma can be difficult to treat. Evaluating longer
      term responses to treatment and identifying which individuals may need additional
      support could inform clinical practice. We assessed 1-year outcomes in UK
      veterans treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). DESIGN: Within
      participant design. SETTING: The intervention was offered by Combat Stress, a
      mental health charity for veterans in the UK. PARTICIPANTS: The sample included
      401 veterans who completed a standardised 6-week residential treatment. Of these,
      268 (67%) were successfully followed up a year after the end of treatment.
      METHODS: A range of health outcomes were collected pretreatment and repeated at
      standard intervals post-treatment. The primary outcome was severity of PTSD
      symptoms, and secondary outcomes included measures of other mental health
      difficulties (depression, anxiety and anger), problems with alcohol, and social
      and occupational functioning. RESULTS: Significant reductions in PTSD severity
      were observed a year after treatment (PSS-I: -11.9, 95% CI -13.1 to -10.7).
      Reductions in the secondary outcomes were also reported. Higher levels of post
      treatment functional impairment (0.24, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.41) and alcohol problems
      (0.18, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.32) were associated with poorer PTSD treatment response
      at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: This uncontrolled study suggests the longer term
      benefits of a structured programme to treat UK veterans with PTSD. Our findings
      point to the importance of continued support targeted for particular individuals
      post-treatment to improve longer term outcomes.

PMID- 27638498
TI  - Abstracts : SERGS.

PMID- 27638496
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effect of prophylactic macrolides on children with chronic lung
      disease: a protocol for a double-blinded randomised controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recent studies suggest that the high mortality rate of respiratory
      viral infections is a result of an overactive neutrophilic inflammatory response.
      Macrolides have anti-inflammatory properties, including the ability to
      downregulate the inflammatory cascade, attenuate excessive cytokine production in
      viral infections, and may reduce virus-related exacerbations. In this study, we
      will test the hypothesis that prophylactic macrolides will reduce the severity of
      respiratory viral illness in children with chronic lung disease by preventing the
      full activation of the inflammatory cascade. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A randomised
      double-blind placebo-controlled trial that will enrol 92 children to receive
      either azithromycin or placebo for a period of 3-6 months during two respiratory
      syncytial virus (RSV) seasons (2015-2016 and 2016-2017). We expect a reduction of
      at least 20% in the total number of days of unscheduled face-to-face encounters
      in the treatment group as compared with placebo group. Standard frequentist and
      Bayesian analyses will be performed using an intent-to-treat approach.
      DISCUSSION: We predict that the prophylactic use of azithromycin will reduce the
      morbidity associated with respiratory viral infections during the winter season
      in patients with chronic lung disease as evidenced by a reduction in the total
      number of days with unscheduled face-to-face provider encounters. ETHICS AND
      DISSEMINATION: This research study was approved by the Institutional Review Board
      of the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston on 9 October 2014. On
      completion, the results will be published. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT02544984.

PMID- 27638497
TI  - Exploring senior doctors' beliefs and attitudes regarding mental illness within
      the medical profession: a qualitative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the views of senior doctors on mental illness within the
      medical profession. BACKGROUND: There has been increasing interest on the issue
      of doctors' mental health. However, there have been few qualitative studies on
      senior doctors' general attitude towards mental illness within the medical
      profession. SETTING: Large North London teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 13
      hospital consultants and senior academic general practitioners. METHODS: A
      qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews and reflective work. The
      outcome measures were the themes derived from the thematic framework approach to
      analysis. RESULTS: Four main themes were identified. (1) 'Doctors' attitudes to
      mental illness'-doctors felt that there remained a significant stigma attached to
      suffering from a mental illness within the profession. (2) 'Barriers to seeking
      help'-doctors felt that there were numerous barriers to seeking help such as
      negative career implications, being perceived as weak, denial and fear of
      prejudice. (3) 'Support'-doctors felt that the use of support depended on
      certainty concerning confidentiality, which for occupational health was not
      thought to be guaranteed. Confiding in colleagues was rare except among close
      friends. Supervision for all doctors was raised. (4) 'General Medical Council
      (GMC) involvement'-doctors felt that uneasy referring colleagues to the GMC and
      the appraisal and revalidation process was thought not to be thorough enough in
      picking up doctors with a mental illness. CONCLUSIONS: Owing to the small size of
      this study, the conclusions are limited; however, if the findings are confirmed
      by larger studies, they suggest that greater efforts are needed to destigmatise
      mental illness in the profession and improve support for doctors. Additional
      research should be carried out into doctors' views on occupational health
      services in managing doctors with mental illness, the provision of supervision
      for all doctors and the effectiveness of the current appraisal and revalidation
      process at identifying doctors with a mental illness.

PMID- 27638495
TI  - Education, night splinting and exercise versus usual care on recovery and
      conversion to surgery for people awaiting carpal tunnel surgery: a protocol for a
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a prevalent upper limb condition
      that results in significant individual and socioeconomic costs. Large patient
      numbers, long outpatient waiting times and traditional referral pathways in
      public health systems create delays in accessing treatment for this condition.
      Alternative care pathways aimed at streamlining access to treatment and reducing
      the need for surgical intervention warrant further investigation. METHODS: A
      randomised, single-blind controlled clinical trial will be conducted. 128
      participants aged 18-75 years with CTS will be recruited from the carpal tunnel
      surgery waitlists of participating public hospitals. Suitable participants will
      be stratified for severity and randomly allocated to either receive therapy
      (education, provision of splints and a home exercise programme) or standard care
      (continuing on the waitlist without hand therapy intervention for the duration of
      the study). Outcomes will be measured at baseline and after 6 weeks and 6 months.
      Primary outcomes are conversion to surgery ratio and perceived effect via the
      Global Rating of Change Scale.Secondary measures include patient satisfaction,
      and monitoring of symptoms and function using outcome measures including the
      Boston CTS Questionnaire, Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire,
      Patient-Specific Functional Scale, patient completed diagram of symptoms and Self
      reported Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs pain scale.
      DISCUSSION: This paper outlines the design and rationale for a randomised
      controlled trial that aims to assess the efficacy of an alternative care pathway
      for the management of patients with CTS while on the surgery waitlist. It is
      anticipated that the outcomes of this study will contribute to improved and
      expedited management of this common condition in a public hospital setting.
      ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was granted by the Princess Alexandra
      Hospital Centres for Health Research (HREC/13/QPAH/434-SSA/13/QPAH/447) and the
      Medical Research Ethics Committee at the University of Queensland. Results will
      be disseminated via conferences and peer-reviewed publications. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12613001095752.

PMID- 27638499
TI  - Blockade of NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways by ulinastatin attenuates wear particle
      stimulated osteoclast differentiation in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Ulinastatin, a urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), is widely used to clinically
      treat lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-related inflammatory disorders recently. Adherent
      pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), of which LPS is the best-studied
      and classical endotoxin produced by Gram-negative bacteria, act to increase the
      biological activity of osteopedic wear particles such as polymethyl-methacrylate
      (PMMA) and titanium particles in cell culture and animal models of implant
      loosening. The present study was designed to explore the inhibitory effect of UTI
      on osteoclastogenesis and inflammatory osteolysis in LPS/PMMA-mediated Raw264.7
      cells and murine osteolysis models, and investigate the potential mechanism. The
      in vitro study was divided into the control group, LPS-induced group, PMMA
      stimulated group and UTI-pretreated group. UTI (500 or 5000 units/ml)
      pretreatment was followed by PMMA (0.5 mg/ml) with adherent LPS. The levels of
      inflammatory mediators including tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha),
      matrixmetallo-proteinases-9 (MMP-9) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), receptor activation
      of nuclear factor NF-kappaB (RANK), and cathepsin K were examined and the amounts
      of phosphorylated I-kappaB, MEK, JNK and p38 were measured. In vivo study, murine
      osteolysis models were divided into the control group, PMMA-induced group and UTI
      treated group. UTI (500 or 5000 units/kg per day) was injected intraperitoneally
      followed by PMMA suspension with adherent LPS (2*108 particles/25 MUl) in the UTI
      treated group. The thickness of interfacial membrane and the number of
      infiltrated inflammatory cells around the implants were assessed, and bone
      mineral density (BMD), trabecular number (Tb.N.), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th.),
      trabecular separation (Tb.Sp.), relative bone volume over total volume (BV/TV) of
      distal femur around the implants were calculated. Our results showed that UTI
      pretreatment suppressed the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines including MMP
      9, IL-6, TNF-alpha, RANK and cathepsin K through down-regulating the activity of
      nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and MAPKs partly in LPS/PMMA-mediated Raw264.7
      cells. Finally, UTI treatment decreased the inflammatory osteolysis reaction in
      PMMA-induced murine osteolysis models. In conclusion, these results confirm the
      anti-inflammatory potential of UTI in the prevention of particle disease.

PMID- 27638500
TI  - Cocktail supplement with rosiglitazone: a novel inducer for chicken preadipocyte
      differentiation in vitro.
AB  - The preadipocyte differentiation biological process involves a cascade of
      transcriptional events that culminates in the expression of peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma. The differentiation cocktail
      [insulin (INS), dexamethasone (DEX) and isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX)] can induce
      preadipocyte differentiation in mammals, but it is insufficient for chicken
      (Gallus gallus) adipogenesis. Oleate can induce chicken preadipocyte
      differentiation, but these differentiated preadipocytes may not be fully
      functional. The objective of the current study was to evaluate whether chicken
      preadipocytes can be induced to mature adipocytes by a novel induction method
      using differentiation cocktail supplemented with PPARgamma agonist(s). Chicken
      preadipocytes cultured in cocktail supplemented with rosiglitazone or
      troglitazone resulted in a marked increase in lipid droplet accumulation
      (P<0.05), glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity (P<0.05), mRNA
      expression level of adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2; P<0.05), G0/G1
      switch gene 2 (G0S2; P<0.05) and lipolysis (P<0.05). In addition, supplementation
      of the cocktail with rosiglitazone promoted PPARgamma mRNA expression (P<0.05).
      In conclusion, our data indicated that chicken preadipocytes can be induced to
      mature adipocytes using differentiation cocktail supplemented with rosiglitazone.
      The results of the present study provide a novel induction method for in vitro
      chicken preadipocyte differentiation.

PMID- 27638502
TI  - Why did researchers not use realistic doses in animal studies of bisphenol A?

PMID- 27638501
TI  - Hazardous Alcohol Use Associated with Increased Sexual Risk Behaviors Among
      People Who Inject Drugs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol is associated with a multitude of severe health consequences.
      While risk behaviors related to illicit drug use are commonly studied among
      people who inject drugs (PWID), the role of alcohol use has received
      substantially less attention in this population. We explored whether drug and
      sexual risk behaviors as well as experiences of violence were associated with
      hazardous alcohol use in a cohort of PWID. METHODS: Analyses were conducted using
      observational data from a prospective cohort of community-recruited HIV-negative
      PWID in Vancouver, Canada. We used the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
      and Alcoholism definition of hazardous alcohol use (i.e., >14 drinks/wk or >4
      drinks on 1 occasion for men, and >7 drinks/wk or >3 drinks on 1 occasion for
      women). We used multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE) to identify
      the factors associated with hazardous alcohol use. RESULTS: Between 2006 and
      2012, 1,114 HIV-negative individuals were recruited, and 186 (16.7%) reported
      hazardous alcohol use in the previous 6 months at baseline. In multivariable GEE
      analyses, having multiple sex partners (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.25),
      history of sexually transmitted infection (AOR = 1.50), experiencing violence
      (AOR = 1.36), and incarceration (AOR = 1.29) were each independently associated
      with hazardous alcohol use. Caucasian ethnicity (AOR = 0.56), >= daily heroin
      injection (AOR = 0.81), and engagement in addiction treatment (AOR = 0.84) were
      negatively associated with hazardous alcohol use (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A
      considerable proportion of PWID reported hazardous alcohol use, which was
      independently associated with reporting sexual, but not drug-related, HIV risk
      behaviors and experiencing recent violence. Findings suggest a need to integrate
      regular screening and evidence-based alcohol interventions into treatment efforts
      for PWID.

PMID- 27638503
TI  - Extended analysis validates sample mix-up problem in gene expression datasets :
      Comment to: Panko B, Science 353, issue 6298, July 29, 2016: Sex problems?
      Researchers find 'widespread' mislabeling of the sex of human samples.

PMID- 27638504
TI  - Comparison of biological effects with albumin adducts of 4,4'-methylenediphenyl
      diisocyanate in workers.
AB  - Lung sensitization and asthma are the main health effects of 4,4'
      methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). Albumin adducts (isocyanate-specific
      adducts) of MDI might be involved in the etiology of sensitization reactions.
      Albumin adducts of MDI were analyzed in sera of diisocyanate-exposed worker with
      and without diisocyanate occupational asthma (DA), as well as in exposed workers
      with and without diisocyanate-specific IgG antibodies. In DA-positive workers and
      IgG-positive workers, albumin adducts were significantly higher versus workers
      without DA and those who were specific IgG negative. The odds ratio to be DA
      positive was 57 times larger for workers with adduct levels above 230 fmol/mg.
      The odds ratio to be IgG-positive was 10 times larger for workers with adduct
      levels above 113 fmol/mg. Therefore, albumin adducts appear to be a good
      predictor of the biological effects. The albumin-adduct levels in workers without
      biological effects were in the range of the adduct levels found in previous
      studies of healthy MDI-factory and construction site workers.

PMID- 27638505
TI  - Hepatic transcriptomic alterations for N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine (DMPT) and p
      toluidine after 5-day exposure in rats.
AB  - N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine (DMPT), an accelerant for methyl methacrylate monomers
      in medical devices, was a liver carcinogen in male and female F344/N rats and
      B6C3F1 mice in a 2-year oral exposure study. p-Toluidine, a structurally related
      chemical, was a liver carcinogen in mice but not in rats in an 18-month feed
      exposure study. In this current study, liver transcriptomic data were used to
      characterize mechanisms in DMPT and p-toluidine liver toxicity and for conducting
      benchmark dose (BMD) analysis. Male F344/N rats were exposed orally to DMPT or p
      toluidine (0, 1, 6, 20, 60 or 120 mg/kg/day) for 5 days. The liver was examined
      for lesions and transcriptomic alterations. Both chemicals caused mild hepatic
      toxicity at 60 and 120 mg/kg and dose-related transcriptomic alterations in the
      liver. There were 511 liver transcripts differentially expressed for DMPT and 354
      for p-toluidine at 120 mg/kg/day (false discovery rate threshold of 5 %). The
      liver transcriptomic alterations were characteristic of an anti-oxidative damage
      response (activation of the Nrf2 pathway) and hepatic toxicity. The top cellular
      processes in gene ontology (GO) categories altered in livers exposed to DMPT or p
      toluidine were used for BMD calculations. The lower confidence bound benchmark
      doses for these chemicals were 2 mg/kg/day for DMPT and 7 mg/kg/day for p
      toluidine. These studies show the promise of using 5-day target organ
      transcriptomic data to identify chemical-induced molecular changes that can serve
      as markers for preliminary toxicity risk assessment.

PMID- 27638506
TI  - Brain Distribution and Efficacy of the Brain Penetrant PI3K Inhibitor GDC-0084 in
      Orthotopic Mouse Models of Human Glioblastoma.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults.
      Limited treatment options have only marginally impacted patient survival over the
      past decades. The phophatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, frequently altered
      in GBM, represents a potential target for the treatment of this glioma. 5-(6,6
      Dimethyl-4-morpholino-8,9-dihydro-6H-[1,4]oxazino[4,3-e]purin-2-yl)pyrimidin-2
      amine (GDC-0084) is a PI3K inhibitor that was specifically optimized to cross the
      blood-brain barrier. The goals of our studies were to characterize the brain
      distribution, pharmacodynamic (PD) effect, and efficacy of GDC-0084 in orthotopic
      xenograft models of GBM. GDC-0084 was tested in vitro to assess its sensitivity
      to the efflux transporters P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and breast cancer resistance
      protein (BCRP) and in vivo in mice to evaluate its effects on the PI3K pathway in
      intact brain. Mice bearing U87 or GS2 intracranial tumors were treated with GDC
      0084 to assess its brain distribution by matrix-assisted laser desorption
      ionization (MALDI) imaging and measure its PD effects and efficacy in GBM
      orthotopic models. Studies in transfected cells indicated that GDC-0084 was not a
      substrate of P-gp or BCRP. GDC-0084 markedly inhibited the PI3K pathway in mouse
      brain, causing up to 90% suppression of the pAkt signal. MALDI imaging showed GDC
      0084 distributed evenly in brain and intracranial U87 and GS2 tumors. GDC-0084
      achieved significant tumor growth inhibition of 70% and 40% against the U87 and
      GS2 orthotopic models, respectively. GDC-0084 distribution throughout the brain
      and intracranial tumors led to potent inhibition of the PI3K pathway. Its
      efficacy in orthotopic models of GBM suggests that it could be effective in the
      treatment of GBM. GDC-0084 is currently in phase I clinical trials.

PMID- 27638507
TI  - Establishment and Characterization of a Novel Caco-2 Subclone with a Similar Low
      Expression Level of Human Carboxylesterase 1 to Human Small Intestine.
AB  - Caco-2 cells predominantly express human carboxylesterase 1 (hCE1), unlike the
      human intestine that predominantly expresses human carboxylesterase 2 (hCE2).
      Transport experiments using Caco-2 cell monolayers often lead to misestimation of
      the intestinal absorption of prodrugs because of this difference, as prodrugs
      designed to increase the bioavailability of parent drugs are made to be resistant
      to hCE2 in the intestine, so that they can be hydrolyzed by hCE1 in the liver. In
      the present study, we tried to establish a new Caco-2 subclone, with a similar
      pattern of carboxylase expression to human intestine, to enable a more accurate
      estimation of the intestinal absorption of prodrugs. Although no subclone could
      be identified with high expression levels of only hCE2, two subclones, #45 and
      #78, with extremely low expression levels of hCE1 were subcloned from parental
      Caco-2 cells by the limiting dilution technique. Unfortunately, subclone #45 did
      not form enterocyte-like cell monolayers due to low expression of claudins and
      beta-actin. However, subclone #78 formed polarized cell monolayers over 4 weeks
      and showed similar paracellular and transcellular transport properties to
      parental Caco-2 cell monolayers. In addition, the intestinal transport of
      oseltamivir, a hCE1 substrate, could be evaluated in subclone #78 cell
      monolayers, including P-glycoprotein-mediated efflux under nonhydrolysis
      conditions, unlike parental Caco-2 cells. Consequently, it is proposed that
      subclone #78 may provide a more effective system in which to evaluate the
      intestinal absorption of prodrugs that are intended to be hydrolyzed by hCE1.

PMID- 27638508
TI  - Investigation of Endogenous Compounds Applicable to Drug-Drug Interaction Studies
      Involving the Renal Organic Anion Transporters, OAT1 and OAT3, in Humans.
AB  - This study was a comprehensive analysis of metabolites in plasma and urine
      specimens from subjects who received probenecid, a potent inhibitor of renal
      organic anion transporters (OATs). Taurine and glycochenodeoxycholate sulfate
      (GCDCA-S) could be identified using authentic standards. Probenecid had no effect
      on the area under the plasma-concentration time curves of taurine and GCDCA-S,
      whereas it significantly inhibited their urinary excretion in a dose-dependent
      manner. Probenecid at 500, 750, and 1500 mg orally decreased the renal clearance
      (CLR) values of taurine and GCDCA-S by 45% and 60%, 59% and 79%, and 70% and 88%,
      respectively. The CLR values correlated strongly (r > 0.96) between the test
      compounds (benzylpenicillin, 6beta-hydroxycortisol, taurine, and GCDCA-S).
      Taurine and GCDCA-S were substrates of OAT1 and OAT3, with Km values of 379 +/-
      58 and 64.3 +/- 3.9 MUM, respectively. The Ki values of probenecid for the OAT1-
      and OAT3-mediated uptake of taurine and GCDCA-S (9.49 +/- 1.27 and 7.40 +/- 0.70
      MUM, respectively) were similar to those of their typical substrate drugs. The
      magnitude of the reduction in the CLR of taurine and GCDCA-S by probenecid could
      be reasonably explained using the geometric mean values of unbound probenecid
      concentration and Ki values. These results suggest that taurine and GCDCA-S can
      be used as probes for evaluating pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions involving
      OAT1 and OAT3, respectively, in humans.

PMID- 27638509
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: The Ohio State University
      technique.
AB  - Robotic radical prostatectomy is a new innovation in the surgical treatment of
      prostate cancer. The technique is continuously evolving. In this article we
      demonstrate The Ohio State University technique for robotic radical
      prostatectomy. Robotic radical prostatectomy is performed using the da Vinci
      surgical system. The video demonstrates each step of the surgical procedure.
      Preliminary results with robotic prostatectomy demonstrate the benefits of
      minimally invasive surgery while also showing encouraging short-term outcomes in
      terms of continence, potency and cancer control. Robotic radical prostatectomy is
      an evolving technique that provides a minimally invasive alternative for the
      treatment of prostate cancer. Our experience with the procedure now stands at
      over 1,300 cases. 

PMID- 27638510
TI  - Robotic endoscopic surgery in a porcine model of the infant neck.
AB  - Minimally invasive surgery is rapidly becoming the desired surgical standard,
      especially for pediatric patients. Infants and children are a particular
      technical challenge, however, because of the small size of target anatomical
      structures and the small surgical workspace. Computer-assisted robot-enhanced
      surgical telemanipulators may overcome these challenges by facilitating surgery
      in a small workspace. We studied the feasibility of performing robotic endoscopic
      neck surgery on a porcine model of the human infant neck. The study design was a
      prospective, feasibility pilot study of a small cohort for proof of concept and
      for a survival model. Sixteen non-survival piglets weighing 4.5-10 kg were used
      to develop the surgical approach and operative technique. Eight piglets aged 3-6
      weeks old and weighing 4.0-9.1 kg underwent survival thyroidectomy by a cervical
      endoscopic approach using the Zeus surgical robot, which includes the Aesop
      endoscope holder and "Microwrist" microdissecting instruments. We succeeded in
      performing endoscopic robotic neck surgery on a piglet as small as 4 kg, in an
      operative pocket as small as 2 cm(3). Total incision length for all three ports
      was <=23 mm. There were no major complications, no major robotic instrument
      malfunctions or breakages, and no procedures required conversion to open surgery.
      These results support the feasibility of robotic endoscopic neck surgery on a
      neck the size of a human infant's. 

PMID- 27638513
TI  - The T2 shading sign.

PMID- 27638512
TI  - Distribution of corticotropin-releasing factor neurons in the mouse brain: a
      study using corticotropin-releasing factor-modified yellow fluorescent protein
      knock-in mouse.
AB  - We examined the morphological features of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)
      neurons in a mouse line in which modified yellow fluorescent protein (Venus) was
      expressed under the CRF promoter. We previously generated the CRF-Venus knock-in
      mouse, in which Venus is inserted into the CRF gene locus by homologous
      recombination. In the present study, the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (Neo),
      driven by the pgk-1 promoter, was deleted from the CRF-Venus mouse genome, and a
      CRF-Venus?Neo mouse was generated. Venus expression is much more prominent in the
      CRF-Venus?Neo mouse when compared to the CRF-Venus mouse. In addition, most Venus
      expressing neurons co-express CRF mRNA. Venus-expressing neurons constitute a
      discrete population of neuroendocrine neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of
      the hypothalamus (PVH) that project to the median eminence. Venus-expressing
      neurons were also found in brain regions outside the neuroendocrine PVH,
      including the olfactory bulb, the piriform cortex (Pir), the extended amygdala,
      the hippocampus, the neocortices, Barrington's nucleus, the midbrain/pontine
      dorsal tegmentum, the periaqueductal gray, and the inferior olivary nucleus (IO).
      Venus-expressing perikarya co-expressing CRF mRNA could be observed clearly even
      in regions where CRF-immunoreactive perikarya could hardly be identified. We
      demonstrated that the CRF neurons contain glutamate in the Pir and IO, while they
      contain gamma-aminobutyric acid in the neocortex, the bed nucleus of the stria
      terminalis, the hippocampus, and the amygdala. A population of CRF neurons was
      demonstrated to be cholinergic in the midbrain tegmentum. The CRF-Venus?Neo mouse
      may be useful for studying the structural and functional properties of CRF
      neurons in the mouse brain.

PMID- 27638514
TI  - The round belly sign.

PMID- 27638515
TI  - The tubal ring and ring of fire signs.

PMID- 27638511
TI  - Modulation of Postnatal Neurogenesis by Perinatal Asphyxia: Effect of D1 and D2
      Dopamine Receptor Agonists.
AB  - Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is associated to delayed cell death, affecting
      neurocircuitries of basal ganglia and hippocampus, and long-term neuropsychiatric
      disabilities. Several compensatory mechanisms have been suggested to take place,
      including cell proliferation and neurogenesis. There is evidence that PA can
      increase postnatal neurogenesis in hippocampus and subventricular zone (SVZ),
      modulated by dopamine, by still unclear mechanisms. We have studied here the
      effect of selective dopamine receptor agonists on cell death, cell proliferation
      and neurogenesis in organotypic cultures from control and asphyxia-exposed rats.
      Hippocampus and SVZ sampled at 1-3 postnatal days were cultured for 20-21 days.
      At day in vitro (DIV) 19, cultures were treated either with SKF38393 (10 and 100
      uM, a D1 agonist), quinpirole (10 uM, a D2 agonist) or sulpiride (10 MUM, a D2
      antagonist) + quinpirole (10 MUM) and BrdU (10 MUM, a mitosis marker) for 24 h.
      At DIV 20-21, cultures were processed for immunocytochemistry for microtubule
      associated protein-2 (MAP-2, a neuronal marker), and BrdU, evaluated by confocal
      microscopy. Some cultures were analysed for cell viability at DIV 20-21
      (LIVE/DEAD kit). PA increased cell death, cell proliferation and neurogenesis in
      hippocampus and SVZ cultures. The increase in cell death, but not in cell
      proliferation, was inhibited by both SKF38393 and quinpirole treatment.
      Neurogenesis was increased by quinpirole, but only in hippocampus, in cultures
      from both asphyxia-exposed and control-animals, effect that was antagonised by
      sulpiride, leading to the conclusion that dopamine modulates neurogenesis in
      hippocampus, mainly via D2 receptors.

PMID- 27638516
TI  - Evaluation of fibrosis and inflammation in diffuse liver diseases using
      intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted MR imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the role of intravoxel
      incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion model for the assessment of liver fibrosis and
      inflammation in diffuse liver disorders, also considering the presence of liver
      steatosis and iron deposits. METHODS: Seventy-four patients were included, with
      liver biopsy and a 3 Tesla abdominal magnetic resonance imaging examination, with
      an IVIM diffusion-weighted sequence (single-shot spin-echo echo-planar sequence,
      with gradient reversal fat suppression; 6 b-values: 0, 50, 200, 400, 600, and 800
      s/mm2). Histological evaluation comprised the Ishak modified scale, for grading
      inflammation and fibrosis, plus steatosis and iron loading classification. The
      liver apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and IVIM parameters (D, D*, f) were
      calculated from the IVIM images. The relationship between IVIM parameters and
      histopathological scores were evaluated by ANOVA and Spearman correlation tests.
      A test-retest experiment assessed reproducibility and repeatability in 10 healthy
      volunteers and 10 randomly selected patient studies. RESULTS: ADC and f values
      were lower with higher fibrosis stages (p = 0.009, p = 0.006, respectively) and
      also with higher necro-inflammatory activity grades (p = 0.02, p = 0.017,
      respectively). Considered together, only fibrosis presented a significant effect
      on ADC and f measurements (p < 0.05), whereas inflammation had no significant
      effect (p > 0.05). A mild correlation was found between ADC and f with fibrosis
      (R S = -0.32 and R S = -0.38; p < 0.05) and inflammation (R S = -0.31 and R S = 
      0.32, p < 0.05; respectively). The AUROC for ADC and f measurements with the
      different dichotomizations between fibrosis or inflammation grades were only fair
      (0.670 to 0.749, p < 0.05). Neither D nor D* values were significantly different
      between liver fibrosis or inflammation grades. D measurements were significantly
      different across histologic grades of steatosis (p < 0.001) and iron overload (p
      < 0.001), whereas f measurements showed significant differences across histologic
      steatosis grades (p = 0.005). There was an excellent agreement between the
      different readers for ADC, f, and D. CONCLUSIONS: Although fibrosis presented a
      significant effect on ADC and f, IVIM measurements are not accurate enough to
      stage liver fibrosis or necro-inflammatory activity in diffuse liver diseases. D
      values were influenced by steatosis and iron overload.

PMID- 27638517
TI  - Which Characteristics are Associated with the Timing of the First Healthcare
      Consultation, and Does the Time to Care Influence the Duration of Compensation
      for Occupational Back Pain?
AB  - Purpose To identify the characteristics associated with the timing of the first
      healthcare consultation and to measure the impact of that timing on the duration
      of the first episode of compensation for occupational back pain following the
      injury. Methods We analyzed data from a cohort of workers with compensated back
      pain in 2005 in Ontario obtained from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
      Cox multivariable survival models were performed to identify factors associated
      with the time to care and to measure its association with the length of the first
      episode of 100 % compensation. Results Among the 5520 claims analyzed, 93.7 % of
      workers accessed care within the first week (average = 2.1 days; median = 1 day).
      Time to care was shorter for males, for workers who had received previous
      compensation and for those with access to an early return to work program. Age,
      number of employees in the company and personal earnings were positively
      associated with the time to care. More severe nature of injury, employers doubt
      about the work-relatedness of the injury and consulting a physiotherapist as the
      first healthcare provider were also associated with longer time to care.
      Considering potential confounders, longer time to care was significantly
      associated with a delay in the end of the first episode of compensation (hazard
      ratio = 0.98; P < 0.001). Conclusion Temporal access to a source of care is not
      problematic for the vast majority of Ontarian workers who receive compensation
      for occupational back pain; however, for the minority of workers who do not
      rapidly access care, the timing of the first healthcare consultation is a
      significant predictor of the duration of the first episode of compensation.

PMID- 27638518
TI  - Association Between the Type of First Healthcare Provider and the Duration of
      Financial Compensation for Occupational Back Pain.
AB  - Objective To compare the duration of financial compensation and the occurrence of
      a second episode of compensation of workers with occupational back pain who first
      sought three types of healthcare providers. Methods We analyzed data from a
      cohort of 5511 workers who received compensation from the Workplace Safety and
      Insurance Board for back pain in 2005. Multivariable Cox models controlling for
      relevant covariables were performed to compare the duration of financial
      compensation for the patients of each of the three types of first healthcare
      providers. Logistic regression was used to compare the occurrence of a second
      episode of compensation over the 2-year follow-up period. Results Compared with
      the workers who first saw a physician (reference), those who first saw a
      chiropractor experienced shorter first episodes of 100 % wage compensation
      (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.20 [1.10-1.31], P value < 0.001), and the workers
      who first saw a physiotherapist experienced a longer episode of 100 %
      compensation (adjusted HR = 0.84 [0.71-0.98], P value = 0.028) during the first
      149 days of compensation. The odds of having a second episode of financial
      compensation were higher among the workers who first consulted a physiotherapist
      (OR = 1.49 [1.02-2.19], P value = 0.040) rather than a physician (reference).
      Conclusion The type of healthcare provider first visited for back pain is a
      determinant of the duration of financial compensation during the first 5 months.
      Chiropractic patients experience the shortest duration of compensation, and
      physiotherapy patients experience the longest. These differences raise concerns
      regarding the use of physiotherapists as gatekeepers for the worker's
      compensation system. Further investigation is required to understand the between
      provider differences.

PMID- 27638519
TI  - Differentiation of ureteral stones and phleboliths using Hounsfield units on
      computerized tomography: a new method without observer bias.
AB  - To differentiate ureteral stones and phleboliths by measuring density [as
      Hounsfield unit (HU)] and volume (as mm3) of the opacities in the bony pelvis on
      unenhanced computerized tomography (U-CT). A total of 52 patients, who underwent
      semirigid ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy for distal ureteral stone and had
      isochoronous phleboliths in U-CT, were included. Images were reviewed for density
      and volume of the opacities. Data were compared, and a cut-off value was defined
      with receiver operating characteristics curve analysis to differentiate the
      nature of the opacity. Using the cut-off values of 171 mm3 for volume
      (sensitivity 75 %, specificity 100 %) and 643 HU for density (sensitivity 75 %,
      specificity 93 %), differentiation between stone and phlebolith was achieved.
      Differentiation of pelvic opacities needs meticulous observation with certain
      signs on U-CT. On the other hand, our study offers a new method, with certain cut
      off values, such as 643 HU and 171 mm3, which can be used to precisely predict
      the actual nature of opacities of interest.

PMID- 27638522
TI  - [STAT3-regulated ARF suppresses prostate cancer metastasis].

PMID- 27638523
TI  - [Meeting of the Gastroenteropathology Working Group on May 19, 2016 : 100th
      Annual Conference of the German Society of Pathology in Berlin].

PMID- 27638520
TI  - The surgical experience influences the safety of retrograde intrarenal surgery
      for kidney stones: a propensity score analysis.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate if surgical experience could influence the
      outcomes of retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) in terms of stone clearance and
      complication rate. Patients from five institutions were included in this study.
      Patients were divided into two groups. Group 1: patients treated by three
      surgeons in the early phase of learning curve (surgical experience <100
      procedures); Group 2: cases operated by two surgeons with great endourological
      experience (>400 procedures). Patients and stone characteristics, outcome and
      complications were analyzed. Multivariable regression model was used. Differences
      between groups were estimated using propensity scores to adjust for the bias
      inherent to the different characteristics. 381 RIRS were analyzed (Group 1: 150
      RIRS; Group 2: 231 RIRS). Clinical data and stone parameters were comparable. The
      SFR was 70 % in Group 1 and 77.9 % in Group 2 (p = 0.082). Operative time was
      significantly shorter in the Group 2 (76.3 vs. 53.1 min, p = 0.001). The overall
      complication rate was significantly lower in Group 2 (20.7 vs. 8.7, p = 0.001).
      At unadjusted analysis, a non-significant difference was found between centers on
      SFR (OR 1.51 95 % CI 0.95-2.41). Conversely, a significant difference was found
      on overall complications (OR 0.36 95 %CI 0.20-0.67) with lower overall
      complication in Group 2. This study shows that surgeon experience influences the
      outcomes of RIRS mainly in terms of safety. Further studies will be needed to
      assess the exact number of procedures necessary to obtain a plateau in the rate
      of complications and success.

PMID- 27638524
TI  - [Session report of the Uropathology Working Group of the German Society of
      Pathology 2016].

PMID- 27638521
TI  - The influence of natural photoperiod on seasonal torpor expression of two
      opportunistic marsupial hibernators.
AB  - Many mammals use torpor throughout the year but the individual contributions of
      environmental variables to seasonal changes in torpor expression are often
      difficult to tease apart. In many mammals, torpor is most often used
      opportunistically in response to decreased ambient temperature (T a ) and food
      availability, but information on how seasonally changing photoperiod per se
      influences torpor patterns is scant. Therefore, we quantified patterns of torpor
      use in response to natural photoperiod in captive marsupial pygmy-possums held at
      near-constant T a with a stable food supply over a period of 19 months. Western
      pygmy-possums (Cercartetus concinnus) and eastern pygmy-possums (C. nanus) used
      spontaneous torpor in every month of the year; in total we measured >1100
      individual torpor bouts. Torpor bout duration was >60 % longer in winter than in
      summer and increased with decreasing day length for both species. Interestingly,
      the duration of torpor appeared to be adjusted at both the beginning and end of
      bouts because the time of entry into and rewarming from torpor relative to
      sunrise and sunset, respectively, changed with season. We propose that this
      reflects a synchronisation of torpor timing with foraging periods in the wild,
      which would enable animals to maintain a high body mass year-round by maximising
      both energy savings via torpor and energy input via food consumption. Our study
      suggests that photoperiod makes a significant contribution to the seasonal change
      in torpor bout duration of small hibernating mammals that use torpor throughout
      the year.

PMID- 27638525
TI  - [Report of the working group Thoracic Pathology of the German Pathological
      Society 2016].

PMID- 27638527
TI  - [Report of the German Society of Pathology working group on cytopathology :
      Thursday, 19.05.2016 in Berlin].

PMID- 27638526
TI  - [Jochen Kunz : 19.08.1932-11.01.2016].

PMID- 27638528
TI  - [New prognostic and predictive markers for breast cancer].
AB  - Breast cancer can be divided into four molecular subtypes with different
      prognoses using immunohistochemical markers in the routine clinicopathological
      work-up. The protein Ki-67 is of central importance in this context, in
      particular to distinguish between luminal A and luminal B carcinomas.
      Determination of the Ki-67 index of a carcinoma also allows a prediction of the
      likelihood of the response to chemotherapy. Additionally, the expression of
      certain cytokeratins in tumor cells is associated with a poor response to
      chemotherapy. The heterogeneity of molecular subtypes with regard to the
      histological appearance indicates an even greater diversity of breast cancer. We
      were able to show that a high proportion of luminal B carcinomas display
      neuroendocrine differentiation. Further studies with particular emphasis on
      histomorphological criteria should be performed to attain a more accurate
      classification of breast cancer and to pave the way towards targeted therapies
      for a better prognosis in the future.

PMID- 27638529
TI  - [Degenerative DNA alterations in osteoarthritis].
AB  - Osteoarthritis is a complex disease involving not only the cartilage but also the
      adjacent bone and the synovial membrane. The etiology of osteoarthritis involves
      multiple factors. Unlike secondary forms of osteoarthritis, which are the result
      of other diseases or excessive mechanical stress, the origins of primary forms of
      osteoarthritis lie within the cartilage. In primary osteoarthritis complex
      interactions of cytokines leading to a derangement of homeostasis have been
      discovered, which lead to a slow and progressive degeneration of the cartilage
      and bone, ultimately resulting in destruction of the joint. Damage to the
      cartilage matrix is caused by an increased activity of matrix metalloproteases
      induced by catabolic cytokines. One of the initial events triggering these
      processes might be degenerative DNA alterations causing local defects in multiple
      genes leading to an impaired function of chondrocytes and a phenotype similar to
      senescence.

PMID- 27638530
TI  - [HMGB1 as metabolic weapon in the arsenal of natural killer cells].
AB  - The German Nobel Prize winner Otto Warburg discovered the importance of
      glycolysis in cancer cells in the 1920s. Nearly one century later the inhibition
      of tumor glycolysis in cancer cells could literally be the Achilles Heel in
      cancer therapy. Surprisingly, we could show that Natural Killer (NK) cells pursue
      this strategy. They employ specific metabolic weapons to eliminate cancer cells
      by targeting tumor glycolysis. In colon cancer cells a specifically modified form
      of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein released by NK cells induced a
      previously unknown form of cell death. This new link between the killing of
      cancer cells and the innate immune system opened up new perspectives for
      immunotherapy in oncology.

PMID- 27638532
TI  - [Working Group for Head and Neck Pathology of the German Society of Pathology :
      Chair's report 2016].

PMID- 27638533
TI  - [Report on sessions and the general meeting of the working group Molecular
      Pathology].

PMID- 27638534
TI  - [Meeting of the Gynecological and Breast Pathology Working Group of the German
      Society of Pathology 2016].

PMID- 27638531
TI  - [Prognostic biomarkers for metastatic colorectal cancer].
AB  - In colorectal cancer (CRC) distant metastases essentially determine the overall
      survival and prognosis. Biomarkers that correlate with the presence of distant
      metastases are therefore of great clinical importance for risk stratification and
      clinical treatment decisions. As part of the habilitation project various
      prognostic biomarkers were analyzed and correlated with the occurrence of distant
      metastases and different patterns of distant spread in CRC. It could be
      demonstrated that CRC with microsatellite instability (MSI), as detected by a
      loss of hMLH1 protein expression, have a very low risk of distant metastases. In
      contrast, microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC (with positive hMLH1 expression) with
      concurrent activation of the Wnt-beta catenin signaling pathway and strong
      expression of the cancer stem cell marker CD133, exhibit a very high risk for
      liver metastases. From these observations a two-step immunohistochemical
      algorithm based on three immunohistochemical stains could be derived, allowing
      CRC to be classified according to the risk of distant metastases. Further studies
      demonstrated that a deregulation of the Wnt-beta catenin signaling pathway and
      the expression of cancer stem cell markers, such as CD133 and CD44 correlated
      with hematogenous metastasis to the liver but not with peritoneal carcinomatosis
      or hematogenous metastasis to the central nervous system (CNS). Finally, in CRC
      patients with CNS metastases, increased rates of mutations in the mitogen
      activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathway (KRAS and BRAF mutations) in combination
      with a low beta catenin expression could be detected. It can be concluded from
      these results that for CRC with different patterns of distant spread alternative
      molecular mechanisms must play a role.

PMID- 27638535
TI  - [Pathogenetic aspects in precursor lesions of gastrointestinal tumors].
AB  - The pathogenesis of precursor lesions of gastrointestinal tumors is manifested in
      many ways. In the esophagus an aberrant genetic expression of intestinal
      transcription factors, such as CDX2 is initiated by local environment factors.
      During the subsequent dysplasia to carcinoma sequence, chromosomal gain and loss
      of genes occurs. A 4-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay can be
      applied in dysplasia as well as in Barrett's adenocarcinoma to define prognostic
      marker combinations. In the gastric carcinogenesis sequence the gene expression
      of CDX1 is regulatively dependent on an interplay between inflammation and
      promotor methylation. In the colon sessile serrated adenomas show a sequence with
      initial BRAF mutation and late onset of MLH1 promotor hypermethylation with
      consecutive potential cancer progression. This event is accompanied by an
      increase of intraepithelial lymphocytes, which is an easy to use tool for routine
      diagnostics using H&E sections. Next generation sequencing (NGS) investigations
      of germline mutations in colorectal cancer revealed a spectrum of mutations with
      low penetration in the field of mismatch repair proteins as well as the APC gene.
      An individual risk stratification for penetration of these germline mutations is
      necessary. In conclusion, genetics, phenotypes and terminology of
      gastrointestinal precursor lesions are unified to a mutually influencing concept
      within medicine.

PMID- 27638536
TI  - [Modern biomarkers for precancerous lesions of the uterine cervix : Histological
      cytological correlation and use].
AB  - The correlation between the cytological findings from the PAP smear and the
      histological outcome in cases where the cytological findings must be
      histologically verified, is an integral component of the German screening program
      for cervical cancer. These data are collected nationwide as part of a
      benchmarking process by the individual Associations of Statutory Health Insurance
      Physicians (KV) in the federal states and reported to the National Association of
      Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) in Berlin. In most cases there is a
      good correlation between cytology and histology but in some cases either a
      different grade of severity of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is found
      or the histological findings are negative. The reasons for a lack of correlation
      can be insufficient sampling in the cytology or the biopsy or a misinterpretation
      of the individual findings. Although the findings from H&E sections are
      considered to be the gold standard in the histological evaluation, it has long
      been known that the interobserver agreement in these preparations is only
      moderate. A significant improvement becomes apparent, firstly by the
      classification of cervical cancer precursors into low-grade and high-grade groups
      and secondly by the targeted application of biomarkers, in particular p16 and Ki
      67, according to the recommendations of the lower anogenital squamous terminology
      standardization (LAST) project. The biomarkers p16 and Ki-67 should be used in
      the differential diagnostics between reactive and reparative alterations and for
      further differentiation of a CIN grade 2 but not to confirm a CIN grade 3. It is
      still unclear whether p16 is suitable as a prognostic marker for low-grade
      lesions.

PMID- 27638537
TI  - [Minutes of the AG Knochen-, Gelenk- und Weichgewebspathologie : DGB-Conference
      on 19 May 2016].

PMID- 27638538
TI  - [Alfred Manz : 21.03.1921-31.12.2015].

PMID- 27638539
TI  - [Metabolome analysis of solid tumors].
AB  - Metabolomics, the newest of the omics sciences that also include genomics,
      transcriptomics and proteomics, has matured into a reliable high-throughput
      technology. Gas chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC
      TOFMS) is a suitable method to analyze the central metabolism in fresh frozen
      tumor tissue samples. Bioinformatics methods, including the PROFILE clustering
      developed by us, permit integrated analysis and fast interpretation of
      metabolomics data in the context of enzymatic reactions and metabolic pathways.
      The metabolome analyses of three solid tumor types presented here, together with
      the results of other authors, show that metabolites are suitable as biomarkers
      and provide diverse options for translation into the clinical setting.

PMID- 27638540
TI  - CD28/CTLA-4/ICOS haplotypes confers susceptibility to Graves' disease and
      modulates clinical phenotype of disease.
AB  - Graves' disease, an autoimmune disease with heterogeneous symptoms including
      Graves' orbitopathy, has a combined genetic/environmental background, where
      variations within CD28/CTLA-4/ICOS genes are considered as disease
      markers.Association of CD28c.17+3T>C(rs3116496), CTLA-4g.319C>T(rs5742909), CTLA
      4c.49A>G(rs231775), CTLA-4g.*642AT(8_33), CT60(rs3087243), Jo31(rs11571302),
      ICOSc.1554+4GT(8_15) polymorphisms with susceptibility to Graves' disease and
      clinical outcome was investigated. The study group comprised of 561 Polish
      Caucasians, including 172 unrelated Graves' disease patients. CTLA-4c.49A>G, CTLA
      4g.319C>T, and CT60 were genotyped by PCR-RFLP; Jo31 and CD28c.17+3C>T by
      minisequencing; CTLA-4g.*642AT(8_33) and ICOSc.1554+4GT(8_15)-PCR and
      fluorescence-based technique. CD28c.17+3T>C(rs3116496)T/CTLA
      4g.319C>T(rs5742909)C/CTLA-4c.49A>G(rs231775)G/CTLA-4g.*642AT(8_33)(AT16
      21)/CT60(rs3087243)G/Jo31(rs11571302)G/ICOSc.1554+4GT(8_15)(m) and
      TCA(AT<16)GT(m) haplotypes increased risk of Graves' disease, especially in
      males, as well as overall Graves' orbitopathy development with severe outcome.
      TCG(AT16-21)GG(l) haplotype increased risk of Graves' disease and reduced the
      chance of successful medical treatment. Although this haplotype was mainly
      observed in patients without signs of Graves' orbitopathy, if Graves' orbitopathy
      developed it favored a Graves' orbitopathy outcome. Haplotype TCA(AT>21)GT(m)
      increased Graves' disease risk in women and, in all patients, was linked to
      Graves' disease without Graves' orbitopathy. TCG(AT<16)GG(m) haplotype was
      predominantly observed in patients without Graves' orbitopathy, whereas TCA(AT16
      21)GG(m) was absent in those patients. TCA(AT16-21)GG(m) occurred in patients
      with a mild Graves' orbitopathy outcome. The marker CTLA-4g.*642AT(8_33) was the
      only independent Graves' disease risk factor, whereas CT60 was an independent
      factor for disease progression. Sporadic Graves' disease was related to presence
      of CTLA-4c.49A>G[A] and the rare CTLA-4g.319C>T[T] allele variant. Familial
      background of the disease was exclusively associated with CTLA
      4g.*642AT(8_33)[AT>21]/[AT>21] genotype. CD28/CTLA-4/ICOS loci may confer
      inherited susceptibility to Graves' disease or may be involved in susceptibility
      to Graves' disease and play a pathogenetic role.

PMID- 27638542
TI  - Lifestyle and risk factor management in people at high risk of cardiovascular
      disease. A report from the European Society of Cardiology European Action on
      Secondary and Primary Prevention by Intervention to Reduce Events (EUROASPIRE) IV
      cross-sectional survey in 14 European regions.
AB  - Background European Action on Secondary and Primary Prevention by Intervention to
      Reduce Events (EUROASPIRE) IV in primary care was a cross-sectional survey
      carried out by the European Society of Cardiology, EURObservational Research
      Programme in 2014-2015 in 71 centres from 14 European countries. The main
      objective was to determine whether the 2012 Joint European Societies' guidelines
      on cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in people at high CVD risk have been
      followed in clinical practice. Methods Patients without a history of
      atherosclerotic disease started on either blood pressure and/or lipid and/or
      glucose-lowering treatments were identified and interviewed at least six months
      after the start of medication. Results Medical notes of 6700 patients were
      reviewed, and 4579 patients (58.7% women; mean age 58.8 (standard deviation (SD)
      11.3) years) interviewed (interview rate 68.3%). Overall, 16.6% were smokers,
      39.9% were overweight (body mass index (BMI)>=25 and <30 kg/m2), 43.5% obese (BMI
      >=30 kg/m2) and 63.9% centrally obese (waist circumference of >=88 cm for women,
      >=102 cm for men). The medical risk factor control was very poor, with less than
      half (42.8%) of the patients on blood pressure lowering medication reaching the
      target of <140/90 mm Hg (<140/80 mm Hg in people with self-reported diabetes).
      Among treated dyslipidaemic patients only 32.7% attained the low-density
      lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol target of <2.5 mmol/l. Among people treated for
      type 2 diabetes mellitus, 58.5% achieved the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) target
      of <7.0%. Conclusion The EUROASPIRE IV survey shows that large proportions of
      patients at high CVD risk have unhealthy lifestyle habits and uncontrolled blood
      pressure, lipids and diabetes. The present data make it clear that more efforts
      must be taken to improve cardiovascular prevention in people at high CVD risk.

PMID- 27638543
TI  - RNA-DNA sequence differences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Alterations of RNA sequences and structures, such as those from editing and
      alternative splicing, result in two or more RNA transcripts from a DNA template.
      It was thought that in yeast, RNA editing only occurs in tRNAs. Here, we found
      that Saccharomyces cerevisiae have all 12 types of RNA-DNA sequence differences
      (RDDs) in the mRNA. We showed these sequence differences are propagated to
      proteins, as we identified peptides encoded by the RNA sequences in addition to
      those by the DNA sequences at RDD sites. RDDs are significantly enriched at
      regions with R-loops. A screen of yeast mutants showed that RDD formation is
      affected by mutations in genes regulating R-loops. Loss-of-function mutations in
      ribonuclease H, senataxin, and topoisomerase I that resolve RNA-DNA hybrids lead
      to increases in RDD frequency. Our results demonstrate that RDD is a conserved
      process that diversifies transcriptomes and proteomes and provide a mechanistic
      link between R-loops and RDDs.

PMID- 27638544
TI  - Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.
AB  - Heart failure (HF) is a societal burden due to its high prevalence, frequent
      admissions for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), and the economic impact
      of direct and indirect costs associated with HF and ADHF. Common etiologies of
      ADHF include medication and diet noncompliance, arrhythmias, deterioration in
      renal function, poorly controlled hypertension, myocardial infarction, and
      infections. Appropriate medical management of ADHF in patients is guided by the
      identification of signs and symptoms of fluid overload or low cardiac output and
      utilization of evidence-based practices. In patients with fluid overload, various
      strategies for diuresis or ultrafiltration may be considered. Depending on
      hemodynamics and patient characteristics, vasodilator, inotropic, or vasopressor
      therapies may be of benefit. Upon ADHF resolution, patients should be medically
      optimized, have lifestyle modifications discussed and implemented, and medication
      concierge service considered. After discharge, a multidisciplinary HF team should
      follow up with the patient to ensure a safe transition of care. This review
      article evaluates the management options and considerations when treating a
      patient with ADHF.

PMID- 27638545
TI  - Smooth muscle contraction and growth of stromal cells in the human prostate are
      both inhibited by the Src family kinase inhibitors, AZM475271 and PP2.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In benign prostatic hyperplasia, increased prostate
      smooth muscle tone and prostate volume may contribute alone or together to
      urethral obstruction and voiding symptoms. Consequently, it is assumed there is a
      connection between smooth muscle tone and growth in the prostate, but any
      molecular basis for this is poorly understood. Here, we examined effects of Src
      family kinase (SFK) inhibitors on prostate contraction and growth of stromal
      cells. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: SFK inhibitors, AZM475271 and PP2, were applied to
      human prostate tissues to assess effects on smooth muscle contraction, and to
      cultured stromal (WPMY-1) and c-Src-deficient cells to examine effects on
      proliferation, actin organization and viability. KEY RESULTS: SFKs were detected
      by real time PCR, western blot and immunofluorescence in human prostate tissues,
      some being located to smooth muscle cells. AZM475271 (10 MUM) and PP2 (10 MUM)
      inhibited SFK in prostate tissues and WPMY-1 cells. Both inhibitors reduced
      alpha1 -adrenoceptor-mediated and neurogenic contraction of prostate strips. This
      may result from cytoskeletal deorganization, which was observed in response to
      AZM475271 and PP2 in WPMY-1 cells by staining of actin filaments with phalloidin.
      This was paralleled by reduced proliferation of wildtype but not of c-Src
      deficient cells; cytotoxicity was mainly observed at higher concentrations (>50
      MUM). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: In human prostate, smooth muscle tone and
      growth are both controlled by an SFK-dependent process, which may explain their
      common role in bladder outlet obstruction. Targeting prostate smooth muscle tone
      and prostate growth simultaneously by a single compound may, in principal, be
      possible.

PMID- 27638547
TI  - General continuous-time Markov model of sequence evolution via
      insertions/deletions: are alignment probabilities factorable?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insertions and deletions (indels) account for more nucleotide
      differences between two related DNA sequences than substitutions do, and thus it
      is imperative to develop a stochastic evolutionary model that enables us to
      reliably calculate the probability of the sequence evolution through indel
      processes. Recently, indel probabilistic models are mostly based on either hidden
      Markov models (HMMs) or transducer theories, both of which give the indel
      component of the probability of a given sequence alignment as a product of either
      probabilities of column-to-column transitions or block-wise contributions along
      the alignment. However, it is not a priori clear how these models are related
      with any genuine stochastic evolutionary model, which describes the stochastic
      evolution of an entire sequence along the time-axis. Moreover, currently none of
      these models can fully accommodate biologically realistic features, such as
      overlapping indels, power-law indel-length distributions, and indel rate
      variation across regions. RESULTS: Here, we theoretically dissect the ab initio
      calculation of the probability of a given sequence alignment under a genuine
      stochastic evolutionary model, more specifically, a general continuous-time
      Markov model of the evolution of an entire sequence via insertions and deletions.
      Our model is a simple extension of the general "substitution/insertion/deletion
      (SID) model". Using the operator representation of indels and the technique of
      time-dependent perturbation theory, we express the ab initio probability as a
      summation over all alignment-consistent indel histories. Exploiting the
      equivalence relations between different indel histories, we find a "sufficient
      and nearly necessary" set of conditions under which the probability can be
      factorized into the product of an overall factor and the contributions from
      regions separated by gapless columns of the alignment, thus providing a sort of
      generalized HMM. The conditions distinguish evolutionary models with factorable
      alignment probabilities from those without ones. The former category includes the
      "long indel" model (a space-homogeneous SID model) and the model used by Dawg, a
      genuine sequence evolution simulator. CONCLUSIONS: With intuitive clarity and
      mathematical preciseness, our theoretical formulation will help further advance
      the ab initio calculation of alignment probabilities under biologically realistic
      models of sequence evolution via indels.

PMID- 27638549
TI  - [Imaging in orthopaedics and trauma surgery].

PMID- 27638548
TI  - [Fractures of the thumb ray].
AB  - Fractures of the first thumb ray are common and need accurate differential
      treatment to restore gripping hand functions. Displaced fractures of the distal
      and proximal phalanx of the thumb are often treated with screws or Kirschner
      wires. Stable fractures can also be treated non-operatively. Fractures of the
      base of the first metacarpal should be differentiated into extra-articular
      Winterstein fractures and intra-articular Bennett or Rolando fractures. Traction
      forces by the abductor pollicis longus tendon regularly lead to displacement of
      the shaft of the first metacarpal; therefore, these fractures usually require
      reduction and fixation. Good functional results can be achieved by operative
      treatment. Fractures of the trapezium are rare. If they are displaced, operative
      treatment is recommended to prevent osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal
      joint.

PMID- 27638546
TI  - Therapeutic Mechanisms of Lithium in Bipolar Disorder: Recent Advances and
      Current Understanding.
AB  - Lithium is the most effective and well established treatment for bipolar
      disorder, and it has a broad array of effects within cellular pathways. However,
      the specific processes through which therapeutic effects occur and are maintained
      in bipolar disorder remain unclear. This paper provides a timely update to an
      authoritative review of pertinent findings that was published in CNS Drugs in
      2013. A literature search was conducted using the Scopus database, and was
      limited by year (from 2012). There has been a resurgence of interest in lithium
      therapy mechanisms, perhaps driven by technical advancements in recent years that
      permit the examination of cellular mechanisms underpinning the effects of lithium
      along with the reuptake of lithium in clinical practice. Recent research has
      further cemented glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta) inhibition as a key
      mechanism, and the inter-associations between GSK3beta-mediated neuroprotective,
      anti-oxidative and neurotransmission mechanisms have been further elucidated. In
      addition to highly illustrative cellular research, studies examining higher-order
      biological systems, such as circadian rhythms, as well as employing innovative
      animal and human models, have increased our understanding of how lithium-induced
      changes at the cellular level possibly translate to changes at behavioural and
      clinical levels. Neural circuitry research is yet to identify clear mechanisms of
      change in bipolar disorder in response to treatment with lithium, but important
      structural findings have demonstrated links to the modulation of cellular
      mechanisms, and peripheral marker and pharmacogenetic studies are showing
      promising findings that will likely inform the exploration for predictors of
      lithium treatment response. With a deeper understanding of lithium's therapeutic
      mechanisms-from the cellular to clinical levels of investigation-comes the
      opportunity to develop predictive models of lithium treatment response and
      identify novel drug targets, and recent findings have provided important leads
      towards these goals.

PMID- 27638550
TI  - [Reasons for proximal femoral fracture surgery delays : Analysis of the
      structured dialog in Rheinland-Pfalz].
AB  - BACKGROUND: For the "preoperative stay" quality indicator , which is part of the
      external quality assurance for proximal femoral fractures (module 17/1), a
      tolerance range for surgery within 48 h after admission of <=15 % is given.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The structured dialog (2014) in Rheinland-Pfalz was
      analyzed with respect to reasons for delaying surgery for more than 48 h after
      admission. RESULTS: A total of 331 cases were analyzed. In 60.7 % patient-related
      reasons and in 13.3 % administrative reasons were found. In 9.1 % the statements
      were not feasible. Due to a lack of software-related specifications in 7.3 % a
      wrong preoperative length of stay was generated. Wrong coding or a computer
      related problem was found in 6.6 %. The most common reason for delay was the
      intake of an anticoagulant (25.7 %). CONCLUSION: The significance of the quality
      indicator "Preoperative stay" without division into whether this was
      administrative or patient-related must be considered critically.

PMID- 27638551
TI  - [Associated injuries with greater tuberosity fractures : Mechanism of injury,
      diagnostics, treatment].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, little attention has been given to greater tuberosity
      fractures (GTFs) in the literature. Several mechanisms of injury are described,
      but few authors report that a GTF is accompanied by a high rate of often
      unrecognized associated injuries. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to document the
      incidence of dislocation, to diagnose associated injuries and, based on these,
      these draw conclusions about the mechanism of injury concerning GTF. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: From 2007-2015 the detection of a shoulder dislocation, the fracture
      extent (displacement, fragments, size), associated injuries, and the surgical
      treatment of GTF and associated injuries were documented in 46 patients with GTF
      who were less than 65 years of age. After detection of associated injuries by
      computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or arthroscopy it was
      decided if surgery was necessary or not. RESULTS: Shoulder dislocation was found
      in 46.2 % of patients with a 1-fragmentary GTF. Shoulder dislocation was found in
      66.7 % of patients with a 2-fragmentary GTF and 100 % of patients with >=3
      fragments.. Typical injuries associated with dislocation were found in 90.7 %. In
      52.6 % of these surgery was necessary. With or without dislocation, approximately
      the same prevalence of associated injuries was present (92.6 %; 87.5 %). With
      dislocation surgery for the associated injuries was necessary in 70.8 %; without
      dislocation surgery was necessary in 35.7 %. DISCUSSION: The reason for a GTF
      seems to be an anterior shoulder dislocation or partial dislocation. In
      multifragmentary GTF or GTF with dislocation surgery is necessary frequently;
      without dislocation surgery is necessary less frequently. Associated injuries
      should be searched for selectively. An arthroscopy could be performed for
      diagnosis and therapy. In a GTF that can be treated conservatively, an MRI should
      be performed.

PMID- 27638552
TI  - [Extracorporal shock wave therapy for the treatment of pseudarthrosis : New
      experiences with an old technology].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Between 5 and 10 % of all fractures show disturbed healing or
      nonunion formation. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has been described
      as a non-surgical treatment option. Even though the outcome has shown promising
      results, the procedure is not commonly used in clinical practice. The purpose of
      this study was to analyze the union rate of pseudarthrosis and the cost savings
      after ESWT. METHODS: In this study 42 nonunions were treated with shock waves
      (LithSpaceOrtho, JenaMedtech). The follow up examinations were performed over a
      period of six months. Outcome measurement included radiological fracture union
      and pain (VAS). The study group contained 39 pseudarthrosis in the six-week
      follow-up (93 %), 41 after three months (98 %) and 41 after six months (98 %).
      RESULTS: After six weeks, 13 % of patients showed fracture union. After three
      months 61 % and after six months 73 % of the fractures were completely healed.
      The fracture healing was significantly lower in older nonunions. All patients
      presented significantly lower pain levels six weeks after ESWT. Shock wave
      treatment of all 42 pseudarthrosis made up less than one quarter of the overall
      operative costs. CONCLUSION: We established the ESWT as an important treatment
      option for fracture nonunion in our clinic. Considering the selection of patients
      in this study with a high mean time from injury to ESWT and multiple prior
      operations, the fracture healing rate of 73 % after ESWT is comparable with
      operative healing rates of nonunions. Further prospective, randomized and
      controlled studies are needed to show the effectiveness of ESWT in the treatment
      of nonunions on a higher level of evidence and to identify pseudarthrosis that
      particularly responds to the EWST.

PMID- 27638553
TI  - [The semi-occlusive dressing in treating Allen III and IV fingertip injuries as
      an alternative to local skin flaps].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fingertip injuries are very common in emergency departments.
      According to the literature, Allen III and IV fingertip injuries should be
      treated with local skin flaps. Instead, we have treated these kinds of injuries
      in recent years with a semi-occlusive dressing. The main purpose of this study
      was to evaluate the outcome after semi-occlusive dressing therapy with respect to
      soft tissue cover, recovery of sensibility and duration of disability. METHODS:
      We retrospectively analysed 77 fingertip injuries (39 Allen I, 25 Allen II, 9
      Allen III, 4 Allen IV) from 2008-2011 in 23 women and 54 men who were treated
      with a semi-occlusive dressing. The mean age was 36 +/- 14 years and the mean
      follow-up was seven months. The bone was not shortened even if the bone was
      exposed up to the wound level. The primarily occlusive dressing was left as long
      as possible and was sealed when necessary. Furthermore, the treatment time with
      the semi-occlusive dressing and the period of disability was recorded. Patient
      sensitivity recovery was also analysed. RESULTS: The mean treatment duration was
      21 +/- 10 days and the mean duration of disability was 30 +/- 17 days. The mean
      duration of disability was 19 +/- 8 days for Allen I injuries, 36 +/- 16 days for
      Allen II, 45 +/- 20 days for Allen III and 58 +/- 7 days for Allen IV. All
      patients developed satisfactory tissue cover and sensibility recovery. For
      amputation injuries of Allen III and IV, we recorded a normal light-touch 2-point
      discrimination in the Semmes-Weinstein Test in 77 % and diminished in 23 %. There
      were no complications like tissue infections, neuroma or osteitis. Also, no
      secondary flap supply was necessary. CONCLUSIONS: The semi-occlusive dressing is
      a good therapy for all kind of fingertip injuries, regardless of the amputation
      level. Even if the bone is exposed up to the wound level, satisfactory soft
      tissue cover can be achieved.

PMID- 27638554
TI  - [Three-dimensional correction of the thoraco-lumbar spine after sarcoma resection
      : An inter-disciplinary approach with free-tissue transfer].
AB  - This article presents the case of a high-grade deformity of the thoraco-lumbar
      spine. The patient suffered from a sarcoma that was radically resected. Due to
      adjuvant radiation, the patient suffered from a radiation injury with chronic
      fistula. In a two-stage approach, the deformity was corrected by a closing-wedge
      osteotomy of L3 with elongation of the present dorsal spondylodesis (Th10-L4) to
      Th8 and the iliac bone. Soft-tissue reconstruction was achieved by a free
      latissimus dorsi flap that was anastomosed to an axillary arterio-venous loop.
      The presented interdisciplinary approach allowed an almost complete correction of
      the deformity and stable soft-tissue coverage.

PMID- 27638555
TI  - [Uncritical use of tranexamic acid in trauma patients : Do no further harm!]
AB  - Based upon the results of CRASH-2, early administration of antifibrinolytic
      tranexamic acid (TXA) is recommended in bleeding trauma patients or trauma
      patients presumed to bleed. Many trauma centers and emergency medical services
      have adopted this practice into their routine algorithms. The pitfalls of CRASH-2
      have been discussed in the literature, but the positive effects could sometimes
      not be reproduced in follow-up studies. The mechanism of action of TXA in trauma
      is still not clear and major knowledge gaps with TXA in the context of trauma
      have been identified. Component analyses have indicated different phenotypes of
      fibrinolytic disturbances after trauma upon emergency department admission with
      fibrinolytic "shutdown" potentially representing the most prominent and frequent
      phenotype (64 %). Viscoelastic tests, e. g. ROTEM(r), are currently the best
      method to assess fibrinolytic phenotype in the acute phase and may support more
      selective TXA administration and therapies in trauma.

PMID- 27638556
TI  - [Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography : What is important in
      orthopedics and traumatology].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are
      established complementary tools for cross-sectional imaging in addition to
      standard x-rays in orthopedics and traumatology. OBJECTIVE: Illustration of
      possible applications of MRI and CT in acute and chronic joint diseases. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Summary of the relevant literature with focus on the validity of MRI
      and CT in depicting joint trauma and pathologies. In addition, description of
      pitfalls in evaluation of the images. RESULTS: The main focus of CT is the
      detailed visualization of fractures and deformities; however, MRI is the primary
      imaging technique for depiction of soft tissue pathologies, such as ligament
      tears and chondral lesions. Both imaging techniques are valuable in orthopedics
      and traumatology and complement each other in the development of treatment
      algorithms. CONCLUSION: Both MRI and CT are essential and complementing cross
      sectional imaging techniques in the diagnostic procedures for joint pathologies
      in orthopedics and traumatology.

PMID- 27638562
TI  - CTP Synthase 1 Deficiency in Successfully Transplanted Siblings with Combined
      Immune Deficiency and Chronic Active EBV Infection.

PMID- 27638561
TI  - Proliferative Properties of 17beta-aminoestrogens in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - The 17beta-aminoestrogens (AEs) prolame, butolame and pentolame are weakly
      oestrogenic in rodents and display anticoagulant properties in contrast to
      oestradiol (E2 ) which presents pro-coagulant effects, potentially thrombogenic.
      They possess anti-anxiety and antidepressive properties, being good candidates
      for menopausal hormone therapy (MHT). Their capability to induce proliferation of
      MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, in which proliferative rate depends on
      oestrogens, has not been explored; thus, the aim of this work was to characterize
      it. AEs' proliferation properties were evaluated compared with E2 in MCF-7
      carcinoma cell line cultures using established methods. Receptor mediation on
      cell proliferation was studied by co-incubating them with the oestrogen receptor
      antagonists tamoxifen, ICI 182,780 and the selective antagonists MPP (ERalpha)
      and PHTPP (ERbeta). E2 and AEs increased MCF-7 cell proliferation; their
      proliferative effect was between 1.5-2 and E2 = 3.6 compared with controls (0);
      their relative proliferative effect was 18-38% (E2 = 100%) with a relative
      proliferative potency of 4.5-8.9 (E2 = 100). The ERalpha antagonist MPP inhibited
      the MCF-7 cell proliferation induced by E2 and AEs; on the contrary, the ERbeta
      antagonist PHTPP exacerbated the proliferative response, showing that the AEs'
      proliferative activity was mainly ERalpha-mediated and apparently controlled by
      ERbeta. Preliminary cytometric DNA flow analysis showed that AEs' cell cycle S
      phase inducer property was lower than E2 following the proliferative order: E2 >
      butolame > prolame > pentolame, indicating pentolame with the weakest
      proliferative properties and being the safest of this series as a candidate for
      MHT.

PMID- 27638563
TI  - Description of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma meliae', a phytoplasma associated with
      Chinaberry (Melia azedarach L.) yellowing in South America.
AB  - China tree yellows (ChTY) phytoplasma is associated with the yellowing disease of
      the China tree (Melia azedarach) in Argentina. According to partial 16S rRNA gene
      analysis, ChTY phytoplasma belongs to the 16Sr XIII group, subgroup G. Strains of
      species of ChTY have 98-99 % 16S rDNA gene sequence similarity with 16SrXIII
      group phytoplasmas, and less than 97.5 % when compared to all
      'CandidatusPhytoplasma' described so far, except for the novel
      'CandidatusPhytoplasma hispanicum'. However, strains of species of ChTY are
      differentiated from the latter due to having additional molecular and biological
      attributes. The presence of unique features in the 16S rDNA sequence
      distinguishes ChTY from all species of 'CandidatusPhytoplasma' currently
      described. The in silico RFLP profile of 16S rDNA (1.2 kb) and rpLV-rpsC (1.3 kb)
      genes distinguished ChTY, as in the 16SrXIII-G subgroup within the 16SrXIIII
      group. The phylogenetic analyses, based on 16S rDNA, rpLV-rpsC and secA gene
      sequences, in addition to the restricted host range, characteristic symptoms and
      geographical distribution, confirm that the collective strains of the species
      ChTY represent a distinct lineage within the phytoplasma clade and support the
      description of a novel species of 'CandidatusPhytoplasma meliae' with the
      reference strain being ChTY-Mo3 (Montecarlo, Argentina).

PMID- 27638564
TI  - Recovery after robot-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy: the patients'
      perspective.
AB  - Little information exists about recovery after robot-assisted laparoscopic
      sacrocolpopexy. We sought to report on subjects' perioperative experience.
      Subjects were queried about resumption of activities such as work and driving,
      bowel function, whether recovery went as expected, and whether they would
      recommend this surgery. Use of pain medications, pain scores, and perioperative
      data were collected N = 21. All would recommend surgery to a friend. 13/18 (72%)
      felt their recovery went better than expected, and none responded it was worse
      than expected. 9/21 (43%) did not use narcotics after the day of surgery, with
      15/21 (71%) no longer taking narcotics by postoperative day 4. Fifty-five percent
      experienced their first postoperative bowel movement as painful. Based on this
      survey, most patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy will
      not require narcotics beyond postoperative day 3. Nonsteroidals are the mainstay
      of pain management. This survey highlights the importance of preventing
      postoperative constipation/ painful defecation. 

PMID- 27638565
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic simple prostatectomy: an alternative minimal
      invasive approach for prostate adenoma.
AB  - To substantiate robotic-assisted laparoscopic simple prostatectomy (RLSP) as an
      alternative minimal invasive approach for the treatment of prostatic adenoma.
      Retrospective chart review performed with institutional review board (IRB)
      approval. Demographic and clinical data were collected on 15 men between May 2007
      and October 2009 who underwent RLSP for urinary retention secondary to benign
      prostate hypertrophy (BPH) and complicated by significant median lobe
      hypertrophy, bladder diverticula and/or stones. International Prostate Symptoms
      Score (IPSS), postvoid residual (PVR), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and
      cystoscopy, urodynamics evaluation, and operative reports were reviewed and
      analyzed. Average age, PSA, IPSS, and PVR in the series were 65.8 years, 5.17
      ng/ml, 23.85, and 265.79 ml, respectively. Eleven men (73%) had urinary retention
      at presentation, 93.3% had significant intravesical lobe hypertrophy, 13.3% had
      bladder diverticula with/without stones, and mean prostate volume was 70.85 ml.
      All the men complained principally of persistent lower urinary tract symptoms
      (LUTS) despite maximal medical treatment. Mean operative time, estimated blood
      loss, and adenoma weight were 128.8 min, 139.3 ml, and 46.4 g, respectively. Mean
      hospital stay was 2.5 days with average postoperative Foley catheter time of 4.6
      days. The only significant complication in the series was a postoperative
      incarcerated hernia in a patient with intraoperative repair of inguinal hernia.
      Postoperatively, symptom score improved significantly to an average of 8.13 (P =
      0.0002), and urine residual also improved to an average of 44.19 ml (P <=
      0.0001). Significant improvement from the sequelae of BPH can be successfully
      achieved with RLSP. 

PMID- 27638566
TI  - Robotically assisted hysterectomy: 100 cases after the learning curve.
AB  - To report on perioperative outcomes of robotic hysterectomy after the learning
      curve, we performed a retrospective review of our second 100 consecutive robotic
      hysterectomies performed by two surgeons between January 2007 and February 2008.
      Operative time following our learning curve was 79.3 +/- 36.1 min. Patient age
      was 44.2 +/- 9.6 years, body mass index (BMI) was 30.9 +/- 8.3 kg/m(2), and
      uterine weight was 223.7 +/- 195.8 g. Indications for surgery included fibroids,
      menstrual disorders, and endometriosis. We performed total robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic hysterectomy type IVE. There were no conversions, no blood
      transfusions, and one cystotomy, repaired intraoperatively. Blood loss was 68.8
      +/- 105.8 cc, and average length of stay was 1.1 +/- 0.3 days. There were no
      postoperative complications. Perioperative outcomes demonstrate low average
      operative times with a high level of safety on a broadened patient population,
      suggesting a potential advantage to using the robotic platform. 

PMID- 27638568
TI  - Survey of obstetrics and gynecology residents' training and opinions on robotic
      surgery.
AB  - To investigate obstetrics and gynecology residents' access to training in
      robotics and their opinions of its utility and future in gynecologic surgery a 31
      item questionnaire was developed and distributed to Ob/Gyn residents in the
      United States via email. Results were tabulated via SurveyMonkey.com((c)). A
      total of 470 residents representative of all ACOG districts and PGY levels
      responded. A total of 72% of residents reported >=3 staff surgeons performing
      robotic gynecologic surgery at their institution and 70% had participated in
      robotic surgery in the past 12 months. Robotic hysterectomy (81%) and oncologic
      surgery (76%) were the most frequently performed procedures. A total of 79%
      believe their institution should provide formal training in robotics, but only
      38% report access to it. A total of 23% have operated at the surgeon console, and
      44% plan to incorporate robotic surgery into their practice after completing
      residency. A total of 3.6% feel equipped to perform robotic surgery without
      additional training. A total of 63% believe robotic surgery in gynecology will
      continue to increase in popularity. Exposure to gynecologic robotic procedures
      during residency is increasing. Although residents believe robotics has a place
      in gynecology, many feel formalized training has not been successfully
      implemented into their residency. Development of a structured program for
      training residents in robotics merits further investigation. 

PMID- 27638567
TI  - Robotic-assisted surgery in children: advantages and limitations.
AB  - The use of surgical robots in minimally invasive surgery was developed to
      overcome difficulties seen with conventional laparoscopic surgery. I report my
      experience with pediatric robotic-assisted surgery and highlight its feasibility,
      safety, advantages, and limitations. Children and infants included in this study
      underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic procedures performed by the author, using
      the original da Vinci surgical system, between July 2005 and July 2008. Their
      medical records were reviewed with respect to demographic data, robot setup
      times, techniques and operative procedures, complications, outcomes, and follow
      up duration. Forty-three patients (20 female, 23 male), ranging in age from 2.5
      months to 16 years, underwent 46 robotic-assisted procedures. Mean setup time was
      17.6 min. One primary and two to four working ports were used, allowing insertion
      of 5- and 8-mm robotic instruments. Five- and 11-mm telescopes were used based on
      patient size. All procedures were successfully completed except for two. The most
      common procedure was Nissen fundoplication (N = 26). There were no intraoperative
      complications or deaths, but three patients developed postoperative
      complications. Mean follow-up time was 12 months. Robotic-assisted surgery in
      children is safe, feasible, and applicable to a wide range of procedures.
      Advantages include improved visibility, dexterity, and ergonomics, although it
      does have certain limitations. Technological refinements will allow its use in
      more complex procedures, with probable greater use of robots in pediatric
      surgery. 

PMID- 27638569
TI  - Straight-arm positioning and port placement for pediatric robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic renal surgery.
AB  - Minimally invasive procedures are gaining in popularity for application in
      reconstructive surgeries of the kidney in children. The use of robotic assistance
      for these laparoscopic procedures is an emerging option. Here, we describe our
      straight-arm positioning technique, which serves as a simple and effective
      alternative to classic flank positioning in pediatric renal cases, and the
      associated port placement strategies for these robotic-assisted laparoscopic
      reconstructive renal procedures. 

PMID- 27638570
TI  - A novel method for training residents in robotic hysterectomy.
AB  - Standard surgeon training for robotic hysterectomy currently includes the use of
      a porcine lab to gain experience using the daVinci Surgical System. Residents in
      obstetrics/gynecology are taught using a novel dry lab which mimics the tasks
      specific to a robotic hysterectomy. This technique may ultimately aid in the
      credentialing of gynecologic surgeons, obviating the need for the porcine lab. A
      lab simulating the anatomy of key tasks in the hysterectomy with salpingo
      oophorectomy has been developed using readily available materials. Residents
      perform simulated tasks under direct supervision. Time to complete, a subjective
      grading score, and any errors made are recorded and compared amongst the
      participants. From April 2007 through April 2008, 16 residents participated in
      the lab. Mean times (range, standard deviation) to perform simulated procedures
      were: 177.3 s (100-270, 48.2) for dexterity training, 71.9 s (32-171, 34.6) for
      identification of the ureter and sealing/dividing the infundibulopelvic ligament,
      157.8 s (60-300, 76.8) for dissecting the bladder flap, 77 s (25-148, 34.8) for
      skeletonizing the uterine arteries, and 516 s (270-946, 237.8) for suturing the
      vaginal cuff. Since completing the lab, five residents have completed a total of
      16 robotic hysterectomies on live patients, with no training-related patient
      complications. This lab closely mimics those segments of a hysterectomy on
      humans. Here, we describe a technique to train residents for robotic hysterectomy
      and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy without the use of a porcine lab. 

PMID- 27638571
TI  - A pilot study to assess the feasibility, safety and cost of robotic assisted
      total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety, feasibility and cost
      effectiveness of robotic assisted total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo
      oophorectomy (RATHBSO). Sixteen women underwent this new procedure for a variety
      of gynaecological indications. Outcome measures included operating time,
      estimated blood loss, length of hospital stay and cost. No intra-operative
      complications were recorded. Fifteen patients were discharged on day 1 following
      the procedure, and one patient stayed an extra day for pain relief. The cost of
      the procedure compared favourably with other surgical hysterectomy techniques. We
      conclude that RATHBSO is a feasible and safe surgical technique with all the
      advantages of minimal access surgery and equivalent cost. 

PMID- 27638572
TI  - Fusion of the seminal vesicles discovered at the time of robot-assisted
      laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
AB  - The reported incidence of seminal vesicle anomalies is low, and it usually occurs
      in association with other genitourinary anomalies, thus frequently diagnosed by a
      cluster of fertility, pain or obstructive symptoms. We present a case of a
      clinically silent seminal vesicle fusion encountered during a robotic assisted
      radical prostatectomy. Awareness of potential congenital anomalies is crucial for
      surgeons, to prevent surgical complications or adverse outcomes as a result of
      the altered anatomy. 

PMID- 27638573
TI  - Robotic light source failure and recovery: an innovative solution to an uncommon
      problem.
AB  - Since 2003 the increasing use of robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy has
      been accompanied by the need to be prepared for a new set of problems in the
      operating room. Operative complications unique to the robot and its components
      are rare but can lead to case conversion and procedural abandonment. We describe
      an innovative solution to the uncommon problem of intraoperative robotic light
      source failure. Surgeons carrying out such procedures should be aware of this
      complication and be able to substitute a comparable light source. Possession of
      an appropriate type of low-cost alternative light source could prevent
      unnecessary procedural abandonment or open conversion in the setting of mid
      operative light source failure. 

PMID- 27638574
TI  - Double primary tumor of the stomach and the prostate managed robotically
      simultaneously.
AB  - The occurrence of multiple primary tumors is rare. Here we present a case of a 65
      year-old male with a longstanding cardiac condition who presented with
      synchronous adenocarinoma of the stomach and prostate. Both cancers were managed
      simultaneously using robot-assisted laparoscopy techniques. Subtotal gastrectomy
      with gastro-jejunostomy and nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy were performed
      successfully. Post-operative course was likewise uneventful. Operative and
      oncologic outcomes were excellent with the patient cancer-free after one year of
      follow up. We believe the robotic system enabled us to manage this case
      simultaneously with excellent results. 

PMID- 27638575
TI  - Placental site trophoblastic tumor presenting as an intramural mass with negative
      markers: an opportunity for novel diagnosis and treatment with robotic
      hysterectomy.
AB  - A patient presented with persistent levels of quantitative human chorionic
      gonadotropin despite therapy with methotrexate. A dilation and curettage
      procedure did not provide a pathologic diagnosis. Gestational trophoblastic
      disease was suspected, but serum biomarkers were unable to provide a pre
      operative diagnosis. A mass was found in the uterus by ultrasound and subsequent
      computed tomography scans. There was no evidence of extrauterine disease, but the
      uterine mass was continuous with the endometrial cavity, evoking the suspicion of
      an invasive endometrial mass. The patient underwent robotic hysterectomy for both
      therapy and diagnosis of suspected gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). The
      final pathologic diagnosis was placental site trophoblastic tumor. The robotic
      approach allows for a minimally invasive surgical procedure with thorough
      examination of the pelvic cavity and adnexae and does not require a uterine
      manipulator which may be contra-indicated in the setting of uterine GTD. For
      patients with suspected persistent uterine GTD who are otherwise candidates for
      minimally invasive surgery, a robotic procedure offers advantages when compared
      to traditional laparoscopy or vaginal hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27638577
TI  - World Robotic Symposium, April 11-14, 2010 : Videos.

PMID- 27638576
TI  - Persisting media criticism of robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy.

PMID- 27638579
TI  - World Robotic Symposium, April 11-14, 2010 : Unmoderated Abstracts.

PMID- 27638578
TI  - World Robotic Symposium, April 11-14, 2010 : Moderated Posters.

PMID- 27638580
TI  - A tribute to the work and life of Dr. Knud H. Krabbe: Advances in genetics,
      neuropathogenesis, therapies, and clinical management of Krabbe's disease.

PMID- 27638581
TI  - My encounters with Krabbe disease: A personal recollection of a 40-Year journey
      with young colleagues.
AB  - In this hybrid of a personal essay and a subjective review, I am attempting to
      convey the sense of an adventure I myself experienced in exploring various
      aspects of Krabbe disease, which occupied a significant portion of my life as a
      biomedical researcher. This is meant to be a personal summary, and I have no
      pretense of this being an objective scholarly review. Since the first description
      of the disease by Krabbe 100 years ago, knowledge about the disease has advanced
      significantly. The main contributions from my laboratory, always the fruits of
      dedicated efforts of talented young colleagues, include the identification of the
      genetic defect as deficiency of galactosylceramidase, proposal of the psychosine
      hypothesis as the pathogenetic mechanism to explain the unique phenotypic
      characteristics of the disease, detailed delineations of the substrate
      specificities of the two lysosomal beta-galactosidases, discovery of the twitcher
      mutant as a convenient and useful mouse model, and identification of saposin A as
      a specific galactosylceramide activator protein and as the second causative gene
      for globoid cell leukodystrophy. Now, attempts are being made in many
      laboratories for meaningful therapy, unthinkable when I started working on this
      disease. Despite these advances, there are still many unknowns and uncertainties
      about Krabbe disease waiting to be clarified. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638583
TI  - Krabbe disease: One Hundred years from the bedside to the bench to the bedside.
AB  - This Review summarizes the progress in understanding the pathogenesis and
      treatment of Krabbe disease from the description of five patients in by Knud
      Krabbe until 2016. To determine the cause of this genetic disease, pathological
      and chemical analyses of tissues from the nervous systems of patients were
      performed. It was determined that these patients had a pathological feature known
      as globoid cell in the brain and that this consisted partially of
      galactosylceramide, a major sphingolipid component of myelin. The finding that
      these patients had a deficiency of galactocerebrosidase (GALC) activity opened
      the way to relatively simple diagnostic testing with easily obtainable tissue
      samples, studies leading to the purification of GALC, and cloning of the GALC
      cDNA and gene. The availability of the gene sequence led to the identification of
      mutations in patients and to the current studies involving the use of viral
      vectors containing the GALC cDNA to treat experimentally naturally occurring
      animal models, such as twitcher mice. Currently, treatment of presymptomatic
      human patients is limited to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). With
      recent studies showing successful treatment of animal models with a combination
      of HSCT and viral gene therapy, it is hoped that more effective treatments will
      soon be available for human patients. For this Review, it is not possible to
      reference all of the articles contributing to our current state of knowledge
      about this disease; however, we have chosen those that have influenced our
      studies by suggesting research paths to pursue. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638582
TI  - Lysosphingolipids and sphingolipidoses: Psychosine in Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Until recently, lipids were considered inert building blocks of cellular
      membranes. This changed three decades ago when lipids were found to regulate cell
      polarity and vesicle transport, and the "lipid raft" concept took shape. The
      lipid-driven membrane anisotropy in form of "rafts" that associate with proteins
      led to the view that organized complexes of lipids and proteins regulate various
      cell functions. Disturbance of this organization can lead to cellular, tissue,
      and organ malfunction. Sphingolipidoses, lysosomal storage diseases that are
      caused by enzyme deficiencies in the sphingolipid degradation pathway, were found
      to be particularly detrimental to the brain. These enzyme deficiencies result in
      accumulation of sphingolipid metabolites in lysosomes, although it is not yet
      clear how this accumulation affects the organization of lipids in cellular
      membranes. Krabbe's disease (KD), or globoid cell leukodystrophy, was one of the
      first sphingolipidosis for which the raft concept offered a potential mechanism.
      KD is caused by mutations in the enzyme beta-galactocerebrosidase; however,
      elevation of its substrate, galactosylceramide, is not observed or considered
      detrimental. Instead, it was found that a byproduct of galactosylceramide
      metabolism, the lysosphingolipid psychosine, is accumulated. The "psychosine
      hypothesis" has been refined by showing that psychosine disrupts lipid rafts and
      vesicular transport critical for the function of glia and neurons. The role of
      psychosine in KD is an example of how the disruption of sphingolipid metabolism
      can lead to elevation of a toxic lysosphingolipid, resulting in disruption of
      cellular membrane organization and neurotoxicity. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27638585
TI  - Clinical, electrophysiological, and biochemical markers of peripheral and central
      nervous system disease in canine globoid cell leukodystrophy (Krabbe's disease).
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), or Krabbe's disease, is a debilitating and
      always fatal pediatric neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation in the gene
      encoding the hydrolytic enzyme galactosylceramidase (GALC). In the absence of
      GALC, progressive loss of myelin and accumulation of a neurotoxic substrate lead
      to incapacitating loss of motor and cognitive function and death, typically by 2
      years of age. Currently, there is no cure. Recent convincing evidence of the
      therapeutic potential of combining gene and cell therapies in the murine model of
      GLD has accelerated the requirement for validated markers of disease to evaluate
      therapeutic efficacy. Here we demonstrate clinically relevant and quantifiable
      measures of central (CNS) and peripheral (PNS) nervous system disease progression
      in the naturally occurring canine model of GLD. As measured by brainstem auditory
      evoked response testing, GLD dogs demonstrated a significant increase in I-V
      interpeak latency and hearing threshold at all time points. Motor nerve
      conduction velocities (NCVs) in GLD dogs were significantly lower than normal by
      12-16 weeks of age, and sensory NCV was significantly lower than normal by 8-12
      weeks of age, serving as a sensitive indicator of peripheral nerve dysfunction.
      Post-mortem histological evaluations confirmed neuroimaging and electrodiagnostic
      assessments and detailed loss of myelin and accumulation of storage product in
      the CNS and the PNS. Additionally, cerebrospinal fluid psychosine concentrations
      were significantly elevated in GLD dogs, demonstrating potential as a biochemical
      marker of disease. These data demonstrate that CNS and PNS disease progression
      can be quantified over time in the canine model of GLD with tools identical to
      those used to assess human patients. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638587
TI  - Challenge of phenotype estimation for optimal treatment of Krabbe disease.
AB  - Krabbe disease is an autosomal recessive, inherited demyelinating disease caused
      by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme galactocerebrosidase. It is recognized as
      one of the predominant genetic diseases showing leukodystrophy from infancy to
      adulthood. The clinical phenotype and genotype for this disease show considerable
      variation worldwide, which makes accurate diagnosis difficult. Effective therapy
      is limited, although hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at an early stage
      has been established to some extent. We report here the long-term clinical effect
      on juvenile Krabbe disease for two brothers who underwent hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation at an early stage of their disease. We review research into
      genotype-phenotype correlation for the possibility of early diagnosis at a
      presymptomatic stage. Medical care for this intractable disease will improve in
      the near future as a result of the increasing awareness of its molecular
      pathology and improvements in medical treatment. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638586
TI  - Fluid levity of the cell: Role of membrane lipid architecture in genetic
      sphingolipidoses.
AB  - Sphingolipidoses arise from inherited loss of function of key enzymes regulating
      the sphingolipid (SL) metabolism and the accumulation of large quantities of
      these lipids in affected cells. Most frequently, toxicity is manifested in the
      nervous system, where survival and function of neurons and glial cells are most
      affected. Although detailed information is available on neuroglial alterations
      during terminal stages of the disease, the initial pathogenic mechanisms
      triggering neuropathology are largely unclear. Because they are key components of
      biological membranes, changes in the local concentration of SLs are likely to
      impact the organization of membrane domains and functions. This Commentary
      proposes that SL toxicity involves initial defects in the integrity of lipid
      domains, membrane fluidity, and membrane bending, leading to membrane deformation
      and deregulation of cell signaling and function. Understanding how SLs alter
      membrane architecture may provide breakthroughs for more efficient treatment of
      sphingolipidoses. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638588
TI  - Synaptic failure: The achilles tendon of sphingolipidoses.
AB  - The presence of life-threatening neurological symptoms in more than two-thirds of
      lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) underscores how vulnerable the nervous system
      is to lysosomal failure. Neurological dysfunction in LSDs has historically been
      attributed to the disruption of neuronal and glial homeostasis resulting from the
      progressive jamming of the endosomal/lysosomal pathway. In neurons, a
      dysfunctional endosomal-lysosomal system can elicit dire consequences. Given that
      neurons are largely postmitotic after birth, one can clearly understand that the
      inability of these cells to proliferate obliterates any possibility of diluting
      stored lysosomal material by means of cellular division. At its most advanced
      stage, this situation constitutes a terminal factor in neuronal life, resulting
      in cell death. However, synaptic deficits in the absence of classical neuronal
      cell death appear to be common features during the early stages in many LSDs,
      particularly sphingolipidoses. In essence, failure of synapses to convey their
      messages, even without major structural damage to the neuronal bodies, is a form
      of physiological death. This concept of dying-back neuropathology is highly
      relevant not only for understanding the dynamics of the neurological decline in
      these diseases, but, more importantly; it might also constitute an important
      target for molecular therapies to protect perhaps the "Achilles" point in the
      entire physiological architecture of the brain, thus avoiding an irreversible
      journey to neuronal demise. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638584
TI  - Biochemical, cell biological, pathological, and therapeutic aspects of Krabbe's
      disease.
AB  - Krabbe's disease (KD; also called globoid cell leukodystrophy) is a genetic
      disorder involving demyelination of the central (CNS) and peripheral (PNS)
      nervous systems. The disease may be subdivided into three types, an infantile
      form, which is the most common and severe; a juvenile form; and a rare adult
      form. KD is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a deficiency of
      galactocerebrosidase activity in lysosomes, leading to accumulation of
      galactoceramide and neurotoxic galactosylsphingosine (psychosine [PSY]) in
      macrophages (globoid cells) as well as neural cells, especially in
      oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells. This ultimately results in damage to myelin
      in both CNS and PNS with associated morbidity and mortality. Accumulation of PSY,
      a lysolipid with detergent-like properties, over a threshold level could trigger
      membrane destabilization, leading to cell lysis. Moreover, subthreshold
      concentrations of PSY trigger cell signaling pathways that induce oxidative
      stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, inflammation, endothelial/vascular
      dysfunctions, and neuronal and axonal damage. From the time the "psychosine
      hypothesis" was proposed, considerable efforts have been made in search of an
      effective therapy for lowering PSY load with pharmacological, gene, and stem cell
      approaches to attenuate PSY-induced neurotoxicity. This Review focuses on the
      recent advances and prospective research for understanding disease mechanisms and
      therapeutic approaches for KD. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638589
TI  - Axonal pathology in Krabbe's disease: The cytoskeleton as an emerging therapeutic
      target.
AB  - In Krabbe's disease (KD), demyelination and myelin-independent axonal and
      neuronal defects contribute to the severe neuropathology. The toxic substrate
      that accumulates in this disease, psychosine, induces alterations in membrane
      lipid rafts with downstream consequences to cellular signaling pathways that
      include impaired protein kinase C, ERK, and AKT-glycogen synthase kinase-3beta
      (GSK3beta) activation. In addition to impaired recruitment of signaling proteins
      to lipid rafts, endocytosis and axonal transport are affected in KD. Defects in
      AKT-GSK3beta activation, a central pathway regulating microtubule stability,
      together with alterations in neurofilaments and microtubules and severely
      defective axonal transport, highlight the importance of the neuronal cytoskeleton
      in KD. This Review critically discusses these primary neuronal defects as well as
      new windows for action opened by their identification that may contribute to
      effectively correct the neuropathology that underlies this disorder. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638590
TI  - How membrane dysfunction influences neuronal survival pathways in sphingolipid
      storage disorders.
AB  - Sphingolipidoses are a class of inherited diseases that result from the toxic
      accumulation of undigested sphingolipids in lysosomes and other cellular
      membranes. Sphingolipids are particularly enriched in cells of the nervous
      system, and their excessive accumulation during disease has a significant impact
      on the nervous system. Neuronal dysfunction followed by neurological compromise
      is a common feature in many of these diseases; however, the underlying mechanisms
      that cause vulnerability of neurons are not fully understood. The plasma membrane
      plays a critical role in regulating cellular survival pathways, and its
      dysfunction has been implicated in neuronal failure in various adult-onset
      neuropathies. In the context of sphingolipidoses, we hypothesize that gradual
      accumulation of undigested lipids in plasma membranes causes local disruptions in
      lipid raft domains, leading to deregulation of multiple signaling pathways
      important for neuronal survival and function. We propose that defects in
      downstream signaling as a result of membrane dysfunction are common mechanisms
      underlying neuronal vulnerability in sphingolipid storage disorders with
      neurological compromise. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638592
TI  - Newborn screening for Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Live newborn screening for Krabbe's disease (KD) was initiated in New York on
      August 7, 2006, and started in Missouri in August, 2012. As of August 7, 2015,
      nearly 2.5 million infants had been screened, and 443 (0.018%) infants had been
      referred for followup clinical evaluation; only five infants had been determined
      to have KD. As of August, 2015, the combined incidence of infantile KD in New
      York and Missouri is ~1 per 500,000; however, patients who develop later-onset
      forms of KD may still emerge. This Review provides an overview of the processes
      used to develop the screening and followup algorithms. It also includes updated
      results from screening and discussion of observations, lessons learned, and
      suggested areas for improvement that will reduce referral rates and the number of
      infants defined as at risk for later-onset forms of KD. Although current
      treatment options for infants with early-infantile Krabbe's disease are not
      curative, over time treatment options should improve; in the meantime, it is
      essential to evaluate the lessons learned and to ensure that screening is
      completed in the best possible manner until these improvements can be realized.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638593
TI  - Expression of individual mutations and haplotypes in the galactocerebrosidase
      gene identified by the newborn screening program in New York State and in
      confirmed cases of Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Newborn screening (NBS) for Krabbe's disease (KD) has been instituted in several
      states, and New York State has had the longest experience. After an initial
      screening of dried blood spots, samples from individuals with
      galactocerebrosidase (GALC) values below a given cutoff level were subjected to
      additional testing, including sequencing of the GALC gene. This resulted in the
      identification of mutations that had previously been found in confirmed KD
      patients and of variants that had never previously been reported. Some
      individuals had variants considered to be polymorphisms, alone or on the same
      allele as another mutation. To help with counseling of families on the risk for a
      newborn to develop KD, expression studies were conducted with these variants
      identified by NBS. GALC activity was measured in COS1 cells for 140 constructs
      and compared with mutations that had previously been seen in confirmed cases of
      KD. When a polymorphism was present on the same allele as the variant, expressed
      activity was measured with and without the polymorphism. In some cases the
      presence of the polymorphism greatly lowered the measured GALC activity, possibly
      making it disease causing. Although it is not possible to predict conclusively
      whether a variant is severe and will result in infantile KD if two such variants
      are present or whether a variant is mild and will result in late-onset disease,
      some variants clearly are not disease causing. This is the largest expression
      study of GALC variants/mutations found in NBS and confirmed KD cases. This work
      will be helpful for counseling families of screen-positive newborns found to have
      low GALC activity. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638591
TI  - A microglial hypothesis of globoid cell leukodystrophy pathology.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), also known as Krabbe's disease, is a fatal
      demyelinating disease accompanied by the formation of giant, multinucleated cells
      called globoid cells. Previously believed to be a byproduct of inflammation,
      these cells can be found early in disease before evidence of any damage. The
      precise mechanism by which these globoid cells cause oligodendrocyte dysfunction
      is not completely understood, nor is their cell type defined. This Review
      outlines the idea that microglial cells are transformed into an unknown and
      undefined novel M3 phenotype in GLD, which is cytotoxic to oligodendrocytes,
      leading to disease progression. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638594
TI  - Can psychosine and galactocerebrosidase activity predict early-infantile Krabbe's
      disease presymptomatically?
AB  - Krabbe's disease (KD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, with the early
      infantile form (EIKD) defined by onset of symptoms before age 6 months. Early and
      highly accurate identification of EIKD is required to maximize benefits of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation treatment. This study investigates the
      potential for accurate prediction of EIKD based on a novel newborn screening
      (NBS) tool developed from two biomarkers, galactocerebrosidase (GALC) enzyme
      activity and galactosylsphingosine concentration (psychosine [PSY]). Normative
      information about PSY and GALC, derived from distinct samples of normal newborns,
      was used to develop the novel diagnostic tool. Bivariate normal limits (BVNL)
      were constructed, assuming a multivariate normal distribution of natural
      logarithms of GALC and PSY of normal newborns. The (lnGALC, lnPSY) points for
      newborns in various "abnormal groups," including one group of infants who
      subsequently suffered EIKD, were plotted on a graph of BVNL. The points for all
      EIKD patients fell outside of BVNL (100% sensitivity). In a simulation study to
      compare the false-positive rate of existing univariate methods of diagnosis with
      our new BVNL-based method, we generated 100 million normal newborn data points.
      All fell within BVNL (i.e., zero false positives), whereas 5,682 false positives
      were observed when applying a two-tiered univariate method of the type suggested
      in the literature. These results suggest that (lnGALC, lnPSY) BVNLs will allow
      highly accurate prediction of EIKD, whereas two-tiered univariate approaches will
      not. Redevelopment of the BVNL based on GALCs and PSYs measured on a common large
      sample of normal newborns is required for NBS use. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27638596
TI  - Diffusion tensor imaging: A biomarker of outcome in Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Krabbe's disease is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal disorder resulting from
      deficiency of beta-galactocerebrosidase that affects primarily cerebral white
      matter and peripheral nerves. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is
      sensitive to changes in white matter myelination, but its assessment is based
      purely on qualitative, visual inspection, and it is subject to interobserver
      variability and open to reader bias. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an
      advanced MRI technique that provides quantitative information about the
      microscopic structural organization of the white matter and changes in cell
      density and myelination, and it is a suitable MRI tool for studying Krabbe's
      disease. This Review discusses the available studies on the application of
      quantitative DTI analysis to assess white matter changes in patients with
      Krabbe's disease. Quantitative analysis of DTI scalars, especially radial
      diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, has been shown to be a sensitive in vivo
      biomarker of white matter microstructural damage in Krabbe's disease, to detect
      early white matter injury in asymptomatic neonates with Krabbe's disease, to
      predict motor and cognitive functions after hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT), and to serve as a measurement for monitoring effects of
      HSCT on white matter development in Krabbe's disease. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27638595
TI  - Metabolic profiling reveals biochemical pathways and potential biomarkers
      associated with the pathogenesis of Krabbe disease.
AB  - Krabbe disease (KD) is caused by mutations in the galactosylceramidase (GALC)
      gene, which encodes a lysosomal enzyme that degrades galactolipids, including
      galactosylceramide and galactosylsphingosine (psychosine). GALC deficiency
      results in progressive intracellular accumulation of psychosine, which is
      believed to be the main cause for the demyelinating neurodegeneration in KD
      pathology. Umbilical cord blood transplantation slows disease progression when
      performed presymptomatically but carries a significant risk of morbidity and
      mortality. Accurate presymptomatic diagnosis is therefore critical to facilitate
      the efficacy of existing transplant approaches and to avoid unnecessary treatment
      of children who will not develop KD. Unfortunately, current diagnostic criteria,
      including GALC activity, genetic analysis, and psychosine measurement, are
      insufficient for secure presymptomatic diagnosis. This study performs a global
      metabolomic analysis to identify pathogenetic metabolic pathways and novel
      biomarkers implicated in the authentic mouse model of KD known as twitcher. At a
      time point before onset of signs of disease, twitcher hindbrains had metabolic
      profiles similar to WT, with the exception of a decrease in metabolites related
      to glucose energy metabolism. Many metabolic pathways were altered after early
      signs of disease in the twitcher, including decreased phospholipid turnover,
      restricted mitochondrial metabolism of branched-chain amino acids, increased
      inflammation, and changes in neurotransmitter metabolism and osmolytes.
      Hypoxanthine, a purine derivative, is increased before signs of disease appear,
      suggesting its potential as a biomarker for early diagnosis of KD. Additionally,
      given the early changes in glucose metabolism in the pathogenesis of KD,
      diagnostic modalities that report metabolic function, such as positron emission
      tomography, may be useful in KD. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638597
TI  - Clinical management of Krabbe disease.
AB  - Krabbe disease (KD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in
      the gene encoding the galactocerebrosidase enzyme. The early- and late-infantile
      subtypes, which are the most common forms of the disease, are rapidly progressive
      and lead to early death, whereas the later-onset types are clinically
      heterogeneous. The only disease-modifying treatment currently available is
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is effective only when performed
      early in the course of the disease. Because most patients with KD are diagnosed
      too late for treatment, primary care physicians are faced with the challenge of
      caring for a child with severe neurologic impairment. This Review describes
      presenting symptoms, diagnosis, and disease manifestations of KD and provides
      basic guidelines for its management. Symptomatic treatment and supportive care
      that address the unique requirements of these patients can greatly improve the
      quality of life of patients and their families. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638598
TI  - Treatment for Krabbe's disease: Finding the combination.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative
      disorder caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme galactocerebrosidase
      (GALC). GALC is responsible for catabolism of certain glycolipids, including the
      toxic compound galactosylsphingosine (psychosine). Histological signs of disease
      include the widespread loss of myelin in the central and peripheral nervous
      systems, profound neruroinflammation, and axonal degeneration. Patients suffering
      from GLD also display neurological deterioration. Many different individual
      therapies have been investigated in the murine model of the GLD, the Twitcher
      mouse, with minimal success. The current standard of care for GLD patients,
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, serves only to delay disease progression
      and is not an effective cure. However, combination therapies that target
      different pathogenic mechanisms/pathways have been more effective at reducing
      histological signs of disease, delaying disease onset, prolonging life span, and
      improving behavioral/cognitive functions in rodent models of Krabbe's disease. In
      some cases, dramatic synergy between the various therapies has been observed. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638599
TI  - Intrathecal administration of AAV/GALC vectors in 10-11-day-old twitcher mice
      improves survival and is enhanced by bone marrow transplant.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), or Krabbe disease, is an autosomal recessive
      neurodegenerative disease caused by the deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme
      galactocerebrosidase (GALC). Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)
      provides modest benefit in presymptomatic patients but is well short of a cure.
      Gene transfer experiments using viral vectors have shown some success in
      extending the survival in the mouse model of GLD, twitcher mice. The present
      study compares three single-stranded (ss) AAV serotypes, two natural and one
      engineered (with oligodendrocyte tropism), and a self-complementary (sc) AAV
      vector, all packaged with a codon-optimized murine GALC gene. The vectors were
      delivered via a lumbar intrathecal route for global CNS distribution on PND10-11
      at a dose of 2 * 10(11) vector genomes (vg) per mouse. The results showed a
      similar significant extension of life span of the twitcher mice for all three
      serotypes (AAV9, AAVrh10, and AAV-Olig001) as well as the scAAV9 vector, compared
      to control cohorts. The rAAV gene transfer facilitated GALC biodistribution and
      detectable enzymatic activity throughout the CNS as well as in sciatic nerve and
      liver. When combined with BMT from syngeneic wild-type mice, there was
      significant improvement in survival for ssAAV9. Histopathological analysis of
      brain, spinal cord, and sciatic nerve showed significant improvement in
      preservation of myelin, with ssAAV9 providing the greatest benefit. In summary,
      we demonstrate that lumbar intrathecal delivery of rAAV/mGALCopt can
      significantly enhance the life span of twitcher mice treated at PND10-11 and that
      BMT synergizes with this treatment to improve the survival further. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638600
TI  - Hematopoietic Stem cell transplantation and lentiviral vector-based gene therapy
      for Krabbe's disease: Present convictions and future prospects.
AB  - Currently, presymtomatic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell transplantation
      (HSPCT) is the only therapeutic modality that alleviates Krabbe's disease (KD)
      induced central nervous system damage. However, all HSPCT-treated patients
      exhibit severe deterioration in peripheral nervous system function characterized
      by major motor and expressive language pathologies. We hypothesize that a
      combination of several mechanisms contribute to this phenomenon, including 1)
      nonoptimal conditioning protocols with consequent inefficient engraftment and
      biodistribution of donor-derived cells and 2) insufficient uptake of donor cell
      secreted galactocerebrosidease (GALC) secondary to a naturally low expression
      level of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate-receptor (CI-MPR). We have
      characterized the effects of a busulfan (Bu) based conditioning regimen on the
      efficacy of HSPCT in prolonging twi mouse average life span. There was no
      correlation between the efficiency of bone marrow engraftment of donor cells and
      twi mouse average life span. HSPCT prolonged the average life span of twi mice,
      which directly correlated with the aggressiveness of the Bu-mediated conditioning
      protocols. HSPC transduced with lentiviral vectors carrying the GALC cDNA under
      control of cell-specific promoters were efficiently engrafted in twi mouse bone
      marrow. To facilitate HSPCT-mediated correction of GALC deficiency in target
      cells expressing low levels of CI-MPR, a novel GALC fusion protein including the
      ApoE1 receptor was developed. Efficient cellular uptake of the novel fusion
      protein was mediated by a mannose-6-phosphate-independent mechanism. The novel
      findings described here elucidate some of the cellular mechanisms that impede the
      cure of KD patients by HSPCT and concomitantly open new directions to enhance the
      therapeutic efficacy of HSPCT protocols for KD. (c) 2016 The Authors. Journal of
      Neuroscience Research Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638601
TI  - Gene therapy for metachromatic leukodystrophy.
AB  - Leukodystrophies (LDs) are rare, often devastating genetic disorders with
      neurologic symptoms. There are currently no disease-specific therapeutic
      approaches for these diseases. In this review we use metachromatic leukodystrophy
      as an example to outline in the brief the therapeutic approaches to MLD that have
      been tested in animal models and in clinical trials, such as enzyme-replacement
      therapy, bone marrow/umbilical cord blood transplants, ex vivo transplantation of
      genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells, and gene therapy. These studies
      suggest that to be successful the ideal therapy for MLD must provide persistent
      and high level expression of the deficient gene, arylsulfatase A in the CNS. Gene
      therapy using adeno-associated viruses is therefore the ideal choice for clinical
      development as it provides the best balance of potential for efficacy with
      reduced safety risk. Here we have summarized the published preclinical data from
      our group and from others that support the use of a gene therapy with AAVrh.10
      serotype for clinical development as a treatment for MLD, and as an example of
      the potential of gene therapy for LDs especially for Krabbe disease, which is the
      focus of this special issue. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638602
TI  - Cellular transplant therapies for globoid cell leukodystrophy: Preclinical and
      clinical observations.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder
      caused by the deficiency of galactocerebrosidase (GALC), resulting in
      accumulation of toxic metabolites in neural tissues. Clinically variable based on
      age of onset, infantile GLD is generally a rapidly fatal syndrome of progressive
      neurologic and cognitive decline, whereas later-onset GLD has a more indolent,
      protracted clinical course. Animal models, particularly the twitcher mouse, have
      allowed investigation of both the pathophysiology of and the potential treatment
      modalities for GLD. Cellular therapy for GLD, notably hematopoietic cell
      transplantation (HCT; transplantation of bone marrow, peripheral blood stem
      cells, or umbilical cord blood cells) from a normal related or unrelated
      allogeneic donor provides a self-renewing source of GALC in donor-derived cells.
      The only currently available treatment option in human GLD, allogeneic HCT, can
      slow the progression of the disease and improve survival, especially when
      performed in presymptomatic infants. Because persistent neurologic dysfunction
      still occurs after HCT in GLD, preclinical studies are evaluating combinations of
      HCT with other treatment modalities. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638603
TI  - Evidence for improved survival in postsymptomatic stem cell-transplanted patients
      with Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Krabbe's disease (KD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder affecting white
      matter in the brain and peripheral nerves. Transplantation of hematopoietic stem
      cells (HSCT), although not curative, has been shown to extend survival and
      alleviate neurodevelopmental symptoms when treatment precedes the onset of
      symptoms. Existing evidence, although not tested statistically, seems clearly to
      show that postsymptomatic transplantation does not improve neurodevelopmental
      outcomes. The impact of postsymptomatic HSCT treatment on survival, however, is
      an open question. This study uses a KD registry to examine the effect of HSCT on
      survival of symptomatic KD patients. Sixteen transplanted patients were matched
      by age of onset to 68 nontransplanted patients. The potential confounding effect
      of age of onset was, therefore, avoided. To quantify the effect of HSCT over
      time, we used Cox regression analysis, and we observed a sustained and nearly 2.2
      fold risk of death from KD in patients who were not transplanted relative to
      those who were transplanted (one-tailed P = 0.0365; 95% lower bound = 1.07). The
      improvement of survival resulting from HSCT did not appear to depend on the age
      of symptom onset. Thus, these results establish a long-term, quantitative benefit
      of HSCT even in patients who are already experiencing symptoms. They also provide
      a benchmark for improved survival that can be used for potential new treatments
      for KD. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638605
TI  - Chaperones as potential therapeutics for Krabbe disease.
AB  - Krabbe's disease (KD) is an autosomal recessive, neurodegenerative disorder. It
      is classified among the lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs). It was first described
      in , but the genetic defect for the galactocerebrosidase (GALC) gene was not
      discovered until the beginning of the 1970s, 20 years before the GALC cloning.
      Recently, in 2011, the crystal structures of the GALC enzyme and the GALC-product
      complex were obtained. For this, compared with other LSDs, the research on
      possible therapeutic interventions is much more recent. Thus, it is not
      surprising that some treatment options are still under preclinical investigation,
      whereas their relevance for other pathologies of the same group has already been
      tested in clinical studies. This is specifically the case for pharmacological
      chaperone therapy (PCT), a promising strategy for selectively correcting
      defective protein folding and trafficking and for enhancing enzyme activity by
      small molecules. These compounds bind directly to a partially folded biosynthetic
      intermediate, stabilize the protein, and allow completion of the folding process
      to yield a functional protein. Here, we review the chaperones that have
      demonstrated potential therapeutics during preclinical studies for KD,
      underscoring the requirement to invigorate research for KD-addressed PCT that
      will benefit from recent insights into the molecular understanding of GALC
      structure, drug design, and development in cellular models. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638604
TI  - New therapeutic approaches for Krabbe disease: The potential of pharmacological
      chaperones.
AB  - Missense mutations in the lysosomal hydrolase beta-galactocerebrosidase (GALC)
      account for at least 40% of known cases of Krabbe disease (KD). Most of these
      missense mutations are predicted to disrupt the fold of the enzyme, preventing
      GALC in sufficient amounts from reaching its site of action in the lysosome. The
      predominant central nervous system (CNS) pathology and the absence of accumulated
      primary substrate within the lysosome mean that strategies used to treat other
      lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are insufficient in KD, highlighting the still
      unmet clinical requirement for successful KD therapeutics. Pharmacological
      chaperone therapy (PCT) is one strategy being explored to overcome defects in
      GALC caused by missense mutations. In recent studies, several small-molecule
      inhibitors have been identified as promising chaperone candidates for GALC. This
      Review discusses new insights gained from these studies and highlights the
      importance of characterizing both the chaperone interaction and the underlying
      mutation to define properly a responsive population and to improve the
      translation of existing lead molecules into successful KD therapeutics. We also
      highlight the importance of using multiple complementary methods to monitor PCT
      effectiveness. Finally, we explore the exciting potential of using combination
      therapy to ameliorate disease through the use of PCT with existing therapies or
      with more generalized therapeutics, such as proteasomal inhibition, that have
      been shown to have synergistic effects in other LSDs. This, alongside advances in
      CNS delivery of recombinant enzyme and targeted rational drug design, provides a
      promising outlook for the development of KD therapeutics. (c) 2016 The Authors.
      Journal of Neuroscience Research Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638606
TI  - Cell-based high-throughput screening identifies galactocerebrosidase enhancers as
      potential small-molecule therapies for Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Krabbe's disease, also known as globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), is a lysosomal
      storage disease caused by the deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme beta
      galactocerebrosidase (GALC), resulting in severe neurological manifestations
      related to demyelination secondary to elevated galactosylsphingosine (psychosine)
      with its subsequent cytotoxicity. The only available treatment is hematopoietic
      stem cell transplantation, which delays disease onset but does not prevent long
      term neurological manifestations. This article describes the identification of
      small molecules that enhance mutant GALC activity, identified by quantitative
      cell-based high-throughput screening (qHTS). Using a specific neurologically
      relevant murine cell line (145M-Twi) modified to express common human hGALC-G270D
      mutant, we were able to detect GALC activity in a 1,536-well microplate format.
      The qHTS of approximately 46,000 compounds identified three small molecules that
      showed significant enhancements of residual mutant GALC activity in primary cell
      lines from GLD patients. These compounds were shown to increase the levels of
      GALC-G270D mutant in the lysosomal compartment. In kinetic assessments, these
      small molecules failed to disturb the GALC kinetic profile under acidic
      conditions, which is highly desirable for folding-assisting molecules operating
      in the endoplasmic reticulum and not affecting GALC catalytic properties in the
      lysosomal compartment. In addition, these small molecules rescued the decreased
      GALC activity at neutral pH and partially stabilized GALC under heat-denaturating
      conditions. These drug-like compounds can be used as the starting point to
      develop novel small-molecule agents to treat the progressive neurodegenerative
      course of GLD. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638608
TI  - Substrate reduction therapy for Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Krabbe's disease (KD) is a lysosomal storage disorder in which
      galactosylceramide, a major glycosphingolipid of myelin, and psychosine
      (galactose-sphingosine) cannot be adequately metabolized because of a deficiency
      in galactosylceramidase. Substrate reduction therapy (SRT) has been tested in
      preclinical studies. The premise of SRT is to reduce the synthesis of substrates
      that are not adequately digested so that the substrate burden is lowered,
      resulting in less accumulation of unmetabolized material. SRT is used for
      Gaucher's disease, in which inhibitors of the terminal biosynthetic step are
      used. Unfortunately, an inhibitor for the final step of galactosylceramide
      biosynthesis, i.e., UDP glycosyltransferase 8 (a.k.a. UDP-galactose ceramide
      galactosyltransferase), has not been found. Approaches that inhibit an earlier
      biosynthetic step or that lessen the substrate burden by other means, such as
      genetic manipulations, have been tested in the twitcher mouse model of KD. Either
      as a stand-alone therapy or in combination with other approaches, SRT slowed the
      disease course, indicating that this approach has potential therapeutic value.
      For instance, in individuals with adult-onset disease, SRT theoretically could
      lessen the production of substrates so that residual enzymatic activity could
      adequately manage the lower substrate burden. In more severe forms of disease,
      SRT theoretically could be part of a combination therapy. However, SRT has the
      potential to impair normal function by reducing the synthesis of
      galactosylceramide to levels that impede myelin function, or SRT could have other
      deleterious effects. Thus, multiple issues need to be resolved before this
      approach is ready for testing in humans. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638607
TI  - Lithium improves cell viability in psychosine-treated MO3.13 human
      oligodendrocyte cell line via autophagy activation.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) is a rare, rapidly progressing childhood
      leukodystrophy triggered by deficit of the lysosomal enzyme galactosylceramidase
      (GALC) and characterized by the accumulation of galactosylsphingosine
      (psychosine; PSY) in the nervous system. PSY is a cytotoxic sphingolipid, which
      leads to widespread degeneration of oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells, causing
      demyelination. Here we report on autophagy in the human oligodendrocyte cell line
      MO3.13 treated with PSY and exploitation of Li as an autophagy modulator to
      rescue cell viability. We demonstrate that PSY causes upregulation of the
      autophagic flux at the level of autophagosome and autolysosome formation and LC3
      II expression. We show that pretreatment with Li, a drug clinically used to treat
      bipolar disorders, can further stimulate autophagy, improving cell tolerance to
      PSY. This Li protective effect is found not to be linked to reduction of PSY
      induced oxidative stress and might not stem from a reduction of PSY accumulation.
      These data provide novel information on the intracellular pathways activated
      during PSY-induced toxicity and suggest the autophagy pathway as a promising
      novel therapeutic target for ameliorating the GLD phenotype. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638609
TI  - Suppression of galactocerebrosidase premature termination codon and rescue of
      galactocerebrosidase activity in twitcher cells.
AB  - Krabbe's disease (KD) is a degenerative lysosomal storage disease resulting from
      deficiency of beta-galactocerebrosidase activity. Over 100 mutations are known to
      cause the disease, and these usually occur in compound heterozygote patterns. In
      affected patients, nonsense mutations leading to a nonfunctional enzyme are often
      found associated with other mutations. The twitcher mouse is a naturally
      occurring model of KD, containing in beta-galactocerebrosidase a premature stop
      codon, W339X. Recent studies have shown that selected compounds may induce the
      ribosomal bypass of premature stop codons without affecting the normal
      termination codons. The rescue of beta-galactocerebrosidase activity induced by
      treatment with premature termination codon (PTC) 124, a well-characterized
      compound known to induce ribosomal read-through, was investigated on
      oligodendrocytes prepared from twitcher mice and on human fibroblasts from
      patients bearing nonsense mutations. The effectiveness of the nonsense-mediated
      mRNA decay (NMD) inhibitor 1 (NMDI1), a newly identified inhibitor of NMD, was
      also tested. Incubation of these cell lines with PTC124 and NMDI1 increased the
      levels of mRNA and rescued galactocerebrosidase enzymatic activity in a dose
      dependent manner. The low but sustained expression of beta-galactocerebrosidase
      in oligodendrocytes was sufficient to improve the morphology of the
      differentiated cells. Our in vitro approach provides the basis for further
      investigation of ribosomal read-through as an alternative therapeutic strategy to
      ameliorate the quality of life in selected KD patients. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638610
TI  - Krabbe's leukodystrophy: Approaches and models in vitro.
AB  - This Review describes some in vitro approaches used to investigate the mechanisms
      involved in Krabbe's disease, with particular regard to the cellular systems
      employed to study processes of inflammation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. The aim
      was to update the knowledge on the results obtained from in vitro models of this
      neurodegenerative disorder and provide stimuli for future research. For a long
      time, the nonavailability of established neural cells has limited the
      understanding of neuropathogenic mechanisms in Krabbe's leukodystrophy. More
      recently, the development of new Krabbe's disease cell models has allowed the
      identification of neurologically relevant pathogenic cascades, including the
      major role of elevated psychosine levels. Thus, direct and/or indirect roles of
      psychosine in the release of cytokines, reactive oxygen species, and nitric oxide
      and in the activation of kinases, caspases, and angiogenic factors results should
      be clearer. In parallel, it is now understood that the presence of globoid cells
      precedes oligodendrocyte apoptosis and demyelination. The information described
      here will help to continue the research on Krabbe's leukodystrophy and on
      potential new therapeutic approaches for this disease that even today, despite
      numerous attempts, is without cure. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638611
TI  - Quantum dots and potential therapy for Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Enzyme replacement therapy and substrate reduction therapy have proved useful in
      reversing many pathological consequences of many nonneural lysosomal storage
      diseases but have not yet reversed pathology or influenced disease outcome in
      Krabbe's disease (KD). This Review discusses the relative merits of stem cell
      therapy, molecular chaperone therapy, gene therapy, substrate reduction therapy,
      enzyme replacement therapy, and combination therapy. Given the limitations of
      these approaches, this Review introduces the idea of using tiny, 6-nm, intensely
      fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) to deliver a cell-penetrating peptide and 6
      histidine residue-tagged beta-D-galactocerebrosidase across the blood-brain
      barrier. We can therefore follow the fate of injected material and ensure that
      all targets are reached and that accumulated material is degraded. Uptake of
      lysosomal hydrolases is a complex process, and the cell-penetrating peptide JB577
      is uniquely able to promote endosomal egress of the QD cargo. This Review further
      shows that uptake may depend on the charge of the coating of the QD,
      specifically, that negative charge directs the cargo to neurons. Because KD
      involves primarily glia, specifically oligodendroglia, we experiment with many
      coatings and discover a coating (polyethylene glycol 600 amino) that has a
      positive charge and targets oligodendrocytes. A similar effect is achieved by
      treating with chondroitinase ABC to degrade the extracellular matrix, indicating
      that enzyme replacement has several hurdles to overcome before it can become a
      routine CNS therapy. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638612
TI  - Perspective on innovative therapies for globoid cell leukodystrophy.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), or Krabbe's disease, is a lysosomal storage
      disorder resulting from deficiency of the lysosomal hydrolase
      galactosylceramidase. The infantile forms are characterized by a unique
      relentless and aggressive progression with a wide range of neurological symptoms
      and complications. Here we review and discuss the basic concepts and the novel
      mechanisms identified as key contributors to the peculiar GLD pathology,
      highlighting their therapeutic implications. Then, we evaluate evidence from
      extensive experimental studies on GLD animal models that have highlighted
      fundamental requirements to obtain substantial therapeutic benefit, including
      early and timely intervention, high levels of enzymatic reconstitution, and
      global targeting of affected tissues. Continuous efforts in understanding GLD
      pathophysiology, the interplay between various therapies, and the mechanisms of
      disease correction upon intervention may allow advancing research with innovative
      approaches and prioritizing treatment strategies to develop more efficacious
      treatments. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638613
TI  - Zoledronate derivatives as potential inhibitors of uridine diphosphate-galactose
      ceramide galactosyltransferase 8: A combined molecular docking and dynamic study.
AB  - Krabbe's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by deficiency of
      galactocerebrosidase activity that affects the myelin sheath of the nervous
      system, involving dysfunctional metabolism of sphingolipids. It has no cure.
      Because substrate inhibition therapy has been shown to be effective in some human
      lysosomal storage diseases, we hypothesize that a substrate inhibition
      therapeutic approach might be appropriate to allow correction of the imbalance
      between formation and breakdown of glycosphingolipids and to prevent pathological
      storage of psychosine. The enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of
      galactosylceramide and psychosine is uridine diphosphate-galactose ceramide
      galactosyltransferase (2-hydroxyacylsphingosine 1-beta-galactosyltransferase;
      UGT8; EC 2.4.1.45), which catalyzes the transferring of galactose from uridine
      diphosphate-galactose to ceramide or sphingosine, an important step of the
      biosynthesis of galactosphingolipids. Because some bisphosphonates have been
      identified as selective galactosyltransferase inhibitors, we verify the binding
      affinity to a generated model of the enzyme UGT8 and investigate the molecular
      mechanisms of UGT8-ligand interactions of the bisphosphonate zoledronate by a
      multistep framework combining homology modeling, molecular docking, and molecular
      dynamics simulations. From structural information on UGTs' active site
      stereochemistry, charge density, and access through the hydrophobic environment,
      the molecular docking procedure allowed us to identify zoledronate as a potential
      inhibitor of human ceramide galactosyltransferase. More importantly, zoledronate
      derivates were designed through computational modeling as putative new
      inhibitors. Experiments in vivo and in vitro have been planned to verify the
      possibility of using zoledronate and/or the newly identified inhibitors of UGT8
      for a substrate inhibition therapy useful for treatment of Krabbe's disease
      and/or other lysosomal disorders. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638614
TI  - Beyond Krabbe's disease: The potential contribution of galactosylceramidase
      deficiency to neuronal vulnerability in late-onset synucleinopathies.
AB  - New insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms behind late-onset
      neurodegenerative diseases have come from unexpected sources in recent years.
      Specifically, the group of inherited metabolic disorders known as lysosomal
      storage diseases that most commonly affect infants has been found to have
      surprising similarities with adult neurodegenerative disorders. Most notable has
      been the identification of Gaucher's disease as a comorbidity for Parkinson's
      disease. Prompted by the recent identification of neuronal aggregates of alpha
      synuclein in another lysosomal storage disease, Krabbe's disease, we propose the
      idea that a similar connection exists between adult synucleinopathies and
      Krabbe's. Similarities between the two diseases, including the pattern of alpha
      synuclein aggregation in the brain of the twitcher mouse (the authentic murine
      model of Krabbe's disease), changes to lipid membrane dynamics, and possible
      dysfunction in synaptic function and macroautophagy, underscore a link between
      Krabbe's disease and late-onset synucleinopathies. Silent GALC mutations may even
      constitute a risk factor for the development of Parkinson's in certain patients.
      More research is required to identify definitively any link and the validity of
      this hypothesis, but such a connection would prove invaluable for developing
      novel therapeutic targets for Parkinson's based on our current understanding of
      Krabbe's disease and for establishing new biomarkers for the identification of at
      risk patients. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638617
TI  - Immunological considerations for treating globoid cell leukodystrophy.
AB  - Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD, or Krabbe's disease) is a severe inherited
      neurodegenerative disease caused by the lack of a lysosomal enzyme, GALC. The
      disease has been characterized in humans as well as three naturally occurring
      animal models, murine, canine, and nonhuman primate. Multiple treatment
      strategies have been explored for GLD, including enzyme replacement therapy,
      small-molecule pharmacological approaches, gene therapy, and bone marrow
      transplant. No single therapeutic approach has proved to be entirely effective,
      and the reason for this is not well understood. It is unclear whether initiation
      of a neuroinflammatory cascade in GLD precedes demyelination, a hallmark of the
      disease, but it does precede overt symptoms. This Review explores what is known
      about the role of inflammation and the immune response in the progression of GLD
      as well as how various treatment strategies might interplay with innate and
      adaptive immune responses involved in GLD. The focus of this Review is on GLD,
      but these concepts may have relevance for other, related diseases. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638616
TI  - Neuroimmune mechanisms in Krabbe's disease.
AB  - Neuroinflammation, activation of innate immune components of the nervous system
      followed by an adaptive immune response, is observed in most leukodystrophies and
      coincides with white matter pathology, disease progression, and morbidity.
      Despite this, there is a major gap in our knowledge of the contribution of the
      immune system to disease phenotype. Inflammation in Krabbe's disease has been
      considered a secondary effect, resulting from cell-autonomous oligodendroglial
      cell death or myelin loss resulting from psychosine accumulation. However, recent
      studies have shown immune activation preceding clinical symptoms and white matter
      pathology. Moreover, the therapeutic effect underlying hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation, the only treatment for Krabbe's disease, has been demonstrated
      to occur via immunomodulation. This Review highlights recent advances in
      elaboration of the immune cascade involved in Krabbe's disease. Mechanistic
      insight into the inflammatory pathways participating in myelin and axon loss or
      preservation may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for this disorder. (c) 2016
      The Authors. Journal of Neuroscience Research Published by Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27638618
TI  - Wing flexibility improves bumblebee flight stability.
AB  - Insect wings do not contain intrinsic musculature to change shape, but rather
      bend and twist passively during flight. Some insect wings feature flexible joints
      along their veins that contain patches of resilin, a rubber-like protein.
      Bumblebee wings exhibit a central resilin joint (1m-cu) that has previously been
      shown to improve vertical force production during hovering flight. In this study,
      we artificially stiffened bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) wings in vivo by applying
      a micro-splint to the 1m-cu joint, and measured the consequences for body
      stability during forward flight in both laminar and turbulent airflow. In laminar
      flow, bees with stiffened wings exhibited significantly higher mean rotation
      rates and standard deviation of orientation about the roll axis. Decreasing the
      wing's flexibility significantly increased its projected surface area relative to
      the oncoming airflow, likely increasing the drag force it experienced during
      particular phases of the wing stroke. We hypothesize that higher drag forces on
      stiffened wings decrease body stability when the left and right wings encounter
      different flow conditions. Wing splinting also led to a small increase in body
      rotation rates in turbulent airflow, but this change was not statistically
      significant, possibly because bees with stiffened wings changed their flight
      behavior in turbulent flow. Overall, we found that wing flexibility improves
      flight stability in bumblebees, adding to the growing appreciation that wing
      flexibility is not merely an inevitable liability in flapping flight, but can
      enhance flight performance.

PMID- 27638619
TI  - New electroantennography method on a marine shrimp in water.
AB  - Antennular chemoreception in aquatic decapods is well studied via the recording
      of single chemoreceptor neuron activity in the antennule, but global responses of
      the antennule (or antennae in insects) by electroantennography (EAG) has so far
      been mainly restricted to aerial conditions. We present here a well-established
      underwater EAG method to record the global antennule activity in the marine
      shrimp Palaemon elegans in natural (aqueous) conditions. EAG responses to food
      extracts, recorded as net positive deviations of the baseline, are reproducible,
      dose-dependent and exhibit sensory adaptation. This new EAG method opens a large
      field of possibilities for studying in vivo antennular chemoreception in aquatic
      decapods, in a global approach to supplement current, more specific techniques.

PMID- 27638615
TI  - Port-to-port delivery: Mobilization of toxic sphingolipids via extracellular
      vesicles.
AB  - The discovery that most cells produce extracellular vesicles (EVs) and release
      them in the extracellular milieu has spurred the idea that these membranous
      cargoes spread pathogenic mechanisms. In the brain, EVs may have multifold and
      important physiological functions, from deregulating synaptic activity to
      promoting demyelination to changes in microglial activity. The finding that small
      EVs (exosomes) contain alpha-synuclein and beta-amyloid, among other pathogenic
      proteins, is an example of this notion, underscoring their potential role in the
      brains of patients with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Given that they are
      membranous vesicles, we speculate that EVs also have an intrinsic capacity to
      incorporate sphingolipids. In conditions under which these lipids are elevated to
      toxic levels, such as in Krabbe's disease and metachromatic leukodystrophy, EVs
      may contribute to spread disease from sick to healthy cells. In this essay, we
      discuss a working hypothesis that brain cells in sphingolipidoses clear some of
      the accumulated lipid material to attempt restoring cell homeostasis via EV
      secretion. We hypothesize that secreted sphingolipid-loaded EVs shuttle
      pathogenic lipids to cells that are not intrinsically affected, contributing to
      establishing non-cell-autonomous defects. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27638621
TI  - Cancer-Associated Thrombosis: Regulatory Mechanisms and Emerging Directions.
AB  - Venous thrombosis is a common complication in cancer patients, and some cancer
      chemotherapies are associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism.
      The regulatory mechanisms that control thrombus formation and subsequent
      resolution in patients with cancer, however, are incompletely understood, and
      novel treatments for cancer-associated thrombosis may arise from a better
      understanding of such mechanisms. In this chapter, pathways that regulate cancer
      associated thrombus formation are outlined, and the effects of anti-angiogenic
      cancer chemotherapies on venous thrombus resolution are highlighted. Potentially
      pro-thrombotic effects of anti-angiogenic agents are important considerations
      when managing the complications of venous thrombosis in cancer patients.

PMID- 27638622
TI  - The Diagnosis and Management of Early Deep Vein Thrombosis.
AB  - The diagnosis and management of an acute DVT is difficult and mistakes are often
      made. The cost to the National Health Service (NHS) of litigation arising from
      failure to diagnose and treat DVT early is substantial. Clinical diagnosis alone
      is often unreliable and a large proportion of DVT occurring in hospital are
      asymptomatic. In the United Kingdom, clinical scoring systems, D-dimer and
      ultrasound (US) imaging have all been adopted to aid diagnosis via DVT pathways.
      These pathways aim to exclude DVT only and often fail to actually address the
      cause of the symptoms once DVT is eventually cleared.

PMID- 27638623
TI  - Portal Vein Thrombosis: Recent Advance.
AB  - Portal vein thrombosis is a life-threatening vascular disorder of the liver. In
      this chapter, I will review the recent advance regarding the epidemiology,
      etiology, management, and prognosis of portal vein thrombosis.

PMID- 27638620
TI  - AMPKalpha2 Regulates Bladder Cancer Growth through SKP2-Mediated Degradation of
      p27.
AB  - : AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is the central metabolic regulator of the
      cell and controls energy consumption based upon nutrient availability. Due to its
      role in energy regulation, AMPK has been implicated as a barrier for cancer
      progression and is suppressed in multiple cancers. To examine whether AMPK
      regulates bladder cancer cell growth, HTB2 and HT1376 bladder cells were treated
      with an AMPK activator, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR).
      AICAR treatment reduced proliferation and induced the expression of p27Kip1
      (CDKN1B), which was mediated through an mTOR-dependent mechanism. Interestingly,
      AMPKalpha2 knockdown resulted in reduced p27 levels, whereas AMPKalpha1
      suppression did not. To further determine the exact mechanism by which AMPKa2
      regulates p27, HTB2 and HT1376 cells were transduced with an shRNA targeting
      AMPKalpha2. Stable knockdown of AMPKalpha2 resulted in increased proliferation
      and decreased p27 protein. The reduced p27 protein was determined to be dependent
      upon SKP2. Additionally, loss of AMPKalpha2 in a xenograft and a chemical
      carcinogen model of bladder cancer resulted in larger tumors with less p27
      protein and high SKP2 levels. Consistent with the regulation observed in the
      bladder cancer model systems, a comprehensive survey of human primary bladder
      cancer clinical specimens revealed low levels of AMPKalpha2 and p27 and high
      levels of SKP2. IMPLICATIONS: These results highlight the contribution of
      AMPKalpha2 as a mechanism for controlling bladder cancer growth by regulating
      proliferation through mTOR suppression and induction of p27 protein levels, thus
      indicating how AMPKalpha2 loss may contribute to tumorigenesis. Mol Cancer Res;
      14(12); 1182-94. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638624
TI  - Portal Vein Thrombosis After Splenic and Pancreatic Surgery.
AB  - The portal vein is formed by the confluence of the splenic and superior
      mesenteric veins, which drain the spleen and small intestine respectively.
      Occlusion of the portal vein by thrombus typically occurs in patients with
      cirrhosis and/or prothrombotic disorders. However, portal vein thrombosis (PVT)
      can also happen after determined surgeries. Moreover, PVT can have serious
      consequences depending on the location and extent of the thrombosis, including
      hepatic ischemia, intestinal ischemia, portal hypertension... In this chapter, we
      will review the incidence, management and prophylaxis of PVT after splenectomy,
      pancreas transplantation, pancreatic surgery and in the setting of acute and
      chronic pancreatitis.

PMID- 27638625
TI  - The Use of Surgical Care Improvement Projects in Prevention of Venous
      Thromboembolism.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potentially mortal complication in patients
      undergoing surgery. Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism can be seen up
      to 40 % of patients who have no or inappropriate VTE prophylaxis during
      perioperative period.In addition to the preoperative and intraoperative
      preventive measures, the standardization of postoperative care and follow-up are
      essential to reduce VTE risk. Modern healthcare prioritizes patient's safety and
      aims to reduce postoperative morbidity by using standardized protocols. Use of
      quality improvement projects with well-organized surgical care has an important
      role to prevent VTE during hospital stay. Present surgical care improvement
      projects have provided us the opportunity to identify patients who are vulnerable
      to VTE. Description and introduction of the quality standards for VTE prevention
      in the educational materials, meetings and at the medical schools will increase
      the VTE awareness among the health care providers. You are going to find the
      characteristics of the major surgical quality improvement projects and their
      relations with VTE in the chapter.

PMID- 27638626
TI  - Genetic Risk Factors in Venous Thromboembolism.
AB  - Genetic risk factors predispose to thrombophilia and play the most important
      etiopathogenic role in venous thromboembolism (VTE) in people younger than 50
      years old. At least one inherited risk factor could be found in about half of the
      cases with a first episode of idiopathic VTE.Roughly, genetic risk factors are
      classified into two main categories: loss of function mutations (such as
      deficiencies of antithrombin, protein C, protein S) and gain of function
      mutations, (such as prothrombin mutation G20210A, factor V Leiden). A
      revolutionary contribution to the genetic background of VTE was brought by the
      achievements of the genome-wide association studies which analyze the association
      of a huge number of polymorphisms in large sample size.Hereditary thrombophilia
      testing should be done only in selected cases. The detection of hereditary
      thrombophilia has impact on the management of the anticoagulation in children
      with purpura fulminans, pregnant women at risk of VTE and may be useful in the
      assessment of the risk for recurrent thrombosis in patients presenting an episode
      of VTE at a young age (<40 years) and in cases with positive family history
      regarding thrombosis.

PMID- 27638627
TI  - The Risk of Thromboembolism in Users of Antidepressants and Antipsychotics.
AB  - Arterial and venous thromboembolism are common causes of morbidity and mortality
      in the Western world. Mental disorders are also highly prevalent with a lifetime
      risk of experiencing any psychiatric disease ranging between 32 % and 37 %.
      Depression and schizophrenia may increase the risk of thromboembolism through
      genetic, behavioral, and biological mechanisms. Treatment of psychiatric patients
      with psychotropic drugs is imperative to improve quality of life and to reduce
      morbidity and mortality. However, studies have shown that psychotropic drugs
      themselves may modify the risk of arterial and venous thromboembolism, which
      should be taken into consideration when using these drugs in clinical practice.
      This association is, however, multifactorial, complex and susceptible to several
      confounding factors. Psychotropic drugs are widely prescribed, also among
      patients with cardiovascular disease. Therefore, understanding the association
      with thromboembolism and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms is of major
      importance and will be reviewed in this chapter.

PMID- 27638628
TI  - Non-Invasive Management of Peripheral Arterial Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is common and symptoms can be
      debilitating and lethal. Risk management, exercise, radiological and surgical
      intervention are all valuable therapies, but morbidity and mortality rates from
      this disease are increasing. Circulatory enhancement can be achieved using simple
      medical electronic devices, with claims of minimal adverse side effects. The
      evidence for these is variable, prompting a review of the available literature.
      METHODS: Embase and Medline were interrogated for full text articles in humans
      and written in English. Any external medical devices used in the management of
      peripheral arterial disease were included if they had objective outcome data.
      RESULTS: Thirty-one papers met inclusion criteria, but protocols were
      heterogenous. The medical devices reported were intermittent pneumatic
      compression (IPC), electronic nerve (NMES) or muscle stimulators (EMS), and
      galvanic electrical dressings. In patients with intermittent claudication, IPC
      devices increase popliteal artery velocity (49-70 %) and flow (49-84 %).
      Gastrocnemius EMS increased superficial femoral artery flow by 140 %. Over 4.5-6
      months IPC increased intermittent claudication distance (ICD) (97-150 %) and
      absolute walking distance (AWD) (84-112 %), with an associated increase in
      quality of life. NMES of the calf increased ICD and AWD by 82 % and 61-150 % at 4
      weeks, and 26 % and 34 % at 8 weeks. In patients with critical limb ischaemia IPC
      reduced rest pain in 40-100 % and was associated with ulcer healing rates of 26
      %. IPC had an early limb salvage rate of 58-83 % at 1-3 months, and 58-94 % at
      1.5-3.5 years. No studies have reported the use of EMS or NMES in the management
      of CLI. CONCLUSION: There is evidence to support the use of IPC in the management
      of claudication and CLI. There is a building body of literature to support the
      use of electrical stimulators in PAD, but this is low level to date. Devices may
      be of special benefit to those with limited exercise capacity, and in non
      reconstructable critical limb ischaemia. Galvanic stimulation is not recommended.

PMID- 27638630
TI  - Physiology in fine fettle in the fair city.

PMID- 27638631
TI  - Crash course in EPaCCS (Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems): 8 years
      of successes and failures in patient data sharing to learn from.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems (EPaCCS) are
      England's pre-eminent initiative in enabling advance care planning and improved
      communication and coordination at the end of life. EPaCCS have been under
      development for 8 years after being proposed, as Locality Registers, in the 2008
      End of Life Care Strategy for England. EPaCCS are electronic registers or tools
      and processes for sharing data which aim to enable access to information about
      dying patients. Striking outcomes have been reported around EPaCCS, such as 77.8%
      of 'Coordinate My Care' patients dying in their preferred place. EPaCCS have,
      however, been extremely challenging to develop and implement, with many projects
      remaining continuously 'under development' or folding. They also continue to be
      suboptimally integrated with other data sharing initiatives. Rigorous research is
      non-existent. DISCUSSION POINTS: We discuss the current EPaCCS landscape and way
      forward. We summarise key facts concerning the availability, uptake, outcomes and
      costs of EPaCCS. We outline 5 key challenges (scope of projects, unrealistic
      expectations set by existing guidance, the discrepancy between IT realities in
      healthcare and our broader lives, information governance and 'death register'
      associations) and 6 key drivers (robust concept, striking outcomes, national
      support and strong clinical leadership, clinician commitment, education and
      funding). CONCLUSIONS: The priorities for advancing EPaCCS we propose include
      linking to other work streams and reframing the concept, potentially making it
      less 'end of life', overview of current EPaCCS and lessons learnt, continuing
      work on information standards, rethinking of national funding and new levels of
      individual and community involvement.

PMID- 27638629
TI  - Magnitude of non-operative surgical emergency admissions; service implications
      for surgical and radiological practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Financial sustainability is an area of sharp ongoing focus across the
      broad spectrum of the Irish Health Service. Recent attention has been drawn to
      the financial implications of non-operative surgical admissions, suggesting that
      some of these may be unnecessary. AIMS: In this study, we aim to determine the
      volume of emergency surgical admissions to Mayo University Hospital (MUH), in
      particular, to identify the scale of non-operative admissions and to assess the
      wider inherent implications for acute hospital services. METHODS: An electronic
      handover system for emergency surgical admissions was introduced in MUH in
      September 2014. All surgical admissions from September 1st 2014 to August 31st
      2015 were identified from this prospectively maintained database. HIPE (Hospital
      Inpatient Enquiry) data were not used in this study. Theatre logbooks confirmed
      those patients who required operative intervention. RESULTS: 1466 patients were
      admitted as emergencies during the study period. 58 % (850) were male and median
      age was 48 years (0-100). Average length of stay was 5 days (range 1-125). 327
      patients (22.3 %) required operative intervention. The most commonly performed
      procedure was appendicectomy (52.5 %). 48 (3.3 %) patients were transferred to
      other hospitals. 131 (8.9 %) admissions related to the acute urological
      conditions. Of the 1466 admissions, 546 underwent a CT scan, while 342 patients
      proceeded to ultrasound. CONCLUSION: Almost 80 % of all surgical emergency
      admissions were discharged without undergoing a formal operative procedure while
      generating a significant workload for the radiology department. Changes in
      working practices and hospital network structures will be required to reduce the
      burden of non-operative emergency admissions.

PMID- 27638632
TI  - Regulatory network analysis of microRNAs and genes in imatinib-resistant chronic
      myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Targeted therapy in the form of selective breakpoint cluster region-abelson
      (BCR/ABL) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (imatinib mesylate) has successfully been
      introduced in the treatment of the chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However,
      acquired resistance against imatinib mesylate (IM) has been reported in nearly
      half of patients and has been recognized as major issue in clinical practice.
      Multiple resistance genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) are thought to be involved in
      the IM resistance process. These resistance genes and miRNAs tend to interact
      with each other through a regulatory network. Therefore, it is crucial to study
      the impact of these interactions in the IM resistance process. The present study
      focused on miRNA and gene network analysis in order to elucidate the role of
      interacting elements and to understand their functional contribution in
      therapeutic failure. Unlike previous studies which were centered only on genes or
      miRNAs, the prime focus of the present study was on relationships. To this end,
      three regulatory networks including differentially expressed, related, and global
      networks were constructed and analyzed in search of similarities and differences.
      Regulatory associations between miRNAs and their target genes, transcription
      factors and miRNAs, as well as miRNAs and their host genes were also
      macroscopically investigated. Certain key pathways in the three networks,
      especially in the differentially expressed network, were featured. The
      differentially expressed network emerged as a fault map of IM-resistant CML.
      Theoretically, the IM resistance process could be prevented by correcting the
      included errors. The present network-based approach to study resistance miRNAs
      and genes might help in understanding the molecular mechanisms of IM resistance
      in CML as well as in the improvement of CML therapy.

PMID- 27638634
TI  - Paving the road for the study of epigenetics in neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27638633
TI  - Agmatine protects rat liver from nicotine-induced hepatic damage via
      antioxidative, antiapoptotic, and antifibrotic pathways.
AB  - Tobacco smoking with its various forms is a global problem with proved hazardous
      effects to human health. The present work was planned to study the defending role
      of agmatine (AGM) on hepatic oxidative stress and damage induced by nicotine in
      rats. Thirty-two rats divided into four groups were employed: control group,
      nicotine-only group, AGM group, and AGM-nicotine group. Measurements of serum
      hepatic biochemical markers, lipid profile, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1
      were done. In addition, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      glutathione (GSH) activity, and nitrate/nitrite (NOx) levels were estimated in
      the liver homogenates. Immunohistochemistry for Bax and transforming growth
      factor beta (TGF-beta1) and histopathology of the liver were also included. Data
      of the study demonstrated that nicotine administration exhibited marked liver
      deterioration, an increase in liver enzymes, changes in lipid profile, and an
      elevation in MDA with a decline in levels of SOD, GSH, and NOx (nitrate/nitrite).
      Also, levels of proapoptotic Bax and profibrotic TGF-beta1 showed marked
      elevation in the liver. AGM treatment to rats in nicotine-only group ameliorated
      all the previous changes. These findings indicate that AGM could successfully
      overcome the nicotine-evoked hepatic oxidative stress and tissue injury,
      apoptosis, and fibrosis.

PMID- 27638635
TI  - Stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27638637
TI  - Evolution of robotic surgery in Europe: The Crafoord Conference 2007.

PMID- 27638636
TI  - Is chronic ventilatory support really effective in patients with amyotrophic
      lateral sclerosis?
AB  - Most patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) develop respiratory
      insufficiency in the advanced stage of their disease. Non-invasive ventilation
      (NIV) is commonly regarded to be a treatment that is effective in reducing these
      complaints. To assess whether the effect of NIV on gas exchange and quality of
      life (QOL) is different in patients with ALS versus without ALS. A post hoc
      analysis was done with data from a previously published trial, in which all
      patients were instituted on NIV. Arterial blood gasses were assessed next to QOL
      by generic as well as disease-specific questionnaires. 77 patients started NIV:
      30 with ALS and 47 without. Both groups showed significant improvements in blood
      gasses after 2 and 6 months. Compared to the non-ALS group, the ALS group had
      significantly worse scores after 6 months in MRF-28, SRI, HADS and SF-36 than the
      non-ALS group. This study shows that NIV improves gas exchange, both in patients
      with and without ALS. QOL improves markedly more in patients without ALS than in
      those with ALS, in whom only some domains improve. Our observation of little or
      no effect in ALS patients warrants a large study limited to ALS patients only.

PMID- 27638638
TI  - Evaluating patients for psychosocial distress and supportive care needs based on
      health-related quality of life in primary brain tumors: a prospective multicenter
      analysis of patients with gliomas in an outpatient setting.
AB  - The association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL), psychosocial
      distress, and supportive care is in the focus of patient-centered neuro-oncology.
      We investigated the relationship between the aforementioned in glioma-patients to
      evaluate the association of these instruments and determine cut-off values for
      suitable HRQoL scales indicating a potential need for intervention. In an
      observational multi-center study, outpatients completed the Distress Thermometer
      (DT), EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30/BN20, HRQoL), and
      Supportive-Care-Needs-Survey-SF34-G (SCNS). Based on nine EORTC-function and
      selected -symptom scales items of the questionnaires were matched. Convergent
      validity of related single items and scores across the instruments was estimated.
      EORTC cut-off values were calculated. Data of 167 patients were analyzed. The
      strongest correlation of EORTC-QLQ-C30 and DT was found for cognitive function
      (cogf), global health status (GHS), emotional (emof), role function (rolef),
      future uncertainty (FU), fatigue, and between EORTC-QLQ-C30 and SCNS for FU,
      emof, rolef (r = |0.4-0.7|; p < 0.01). EORTC cut-off values of <54.2 (GHS/QoL)
      and <62.5 (emof) predicted a DT >= 6 (AUC 0.79, 0.85, p < 0.01). EORTC cut-off
      values of <70.8 (emof) and <52.8 (FU) predicted the need for supportive care (AUC
      0.78, 0.85; p < 0.01). Worse EORTC-C30 scores correlate with higher DT and SCNS
      scores. With this exploratory assessment, cut-off values for EORTC-C30 subscores
      to predict distress and pathological SCNS-scores could be determined, which could
      influence patients' referral to further treatment. However, further prospective
      clinical trials are needed to confirm the clinical relevance of these cut-off
      values.

PMID- 27638639
TI  - Assessment of non-linear combination effect terms for drug-drug interactions.
AB  - Drugs interact with their targets in different ways. A diversity of modeling
      approaches exists to describe the combination effects of two drugs. We
      investigate several combination effect terms (CET) regarding their underlying
      mechanism based on drug-receptor binding kinetics, empirical and statistical
      summation principles and indirect response models. A list with properties is
      provided and the interrelationship of the CETs is analyzed. A method is presented
      to calculate the optimal drug concentration pair to produce the half-maximal
      combination effect. This work provides a comprehensive overview of typically
      applied CETs and should shed light into the question as to which CET is
      appropriate for application in pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models to describe
      a specific drug-drug interaction mechanism.

PMID- 27638640
TI  - Management strategy for treatment of vasospasm following transsphenoidal excision
      of craniopharyngioma.
AB  - We describe two cases of clinical and radiographic vasospasm after
      transsphenoidal resection of a craniopharyngioma. We review the literature on the
      association of vasospasm and craniopharyngioma and examine management options.
      Given the lack of evidence for the optimal management of these patients,
      treatment in concordance with protocols for vasospasm due to subarachnoid
      haemorrhage is recommended.

PMID- 27638641
TI  - "Nuances of Gamma Knife radiosurgery for upper cervical spine lesions".

PMID- 27638642
TI  - Endoscopic radical hypophysectomy: how I do it.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total hypophysectomy it is a classical procedure that currently has
      many indications especially in patients with Cushing syndrome without good
      endocrine control. Expanded endonasal endoscopic techniques grant us an
      alternative standpoint to the classic trans-sphenoidal microscopic approach and a
      comprehensive assessment of the process METHOD: The author provides technical
      nuances and describe step by step the radical endoscopic hypophysectomy. The
      study of cadaveric specimens adds clarifying dissections. CONCLUSIONS: Radical
      hypophysectomy is an easily replicable and safe procedure. The most important
      morbidity is the intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, which is
      inherent to this technique and can be successfully prevented with a pedicled
      nasoseptal flap reconstruction.

PMID- 27638643
TI  - Immediate loading of implants in the edentulous mandible: a multicentre study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the two-year
      outcomes following immediate loading of mono-cortically engaged implants.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty healthy mandible edentulous patients with an
      average age of 67.3 years and presenting with sufficient bony ridge at the
      mandible symphysis were included in the study. Four Astra Tech, Ti-Oblast(r)
      implants were installed between the mental foramina using the mono-cortical
      anchorage technique. The primary stability of the implants was assessed by
      resonance frequency analysis (RFA). After uni-abutments were placed, a temporary
      bridge was constructed and fixed the same day. The definitive bridges were
      installed 6 weeks after implant surgery. Five of 120 placed implants were lost in
      four patients during the first 6 weeks and these patients were excluded from the
      follow-up. The changes in marginal bone level (n = 20) were evaluated in
      Brazilian and Swedish groups at baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, 12 months and 24
      months. The RFA (n = 30) was evaluated at baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, 12 months
      and 24 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Compared with baseline measurements, the
      postoperative values for marginal bone level (6 weeks, 6 months, 12 months and 24
      months) were significantly reduced (p < 0.05), while no differences were observed
      in the RFA analysis (12 months and 24 months). CONCLUSIONS: The immediate loading
      of mono-cortically engaged implants in the edentulous mandible is safe and
      predictable and implant stability remains excellent after 2-year follow-up.

PMID- 27638644
TI  - First case of bilateral coronoid hyperplasia in monozygotic twin sisters-a new
      aetiological perspective?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mandibular coronoid hyperplasia is a rare condition associated with
      gradual reduction in mouth opening. Its aetiology is unknown but increased
      temporalis activity, endocrine stimulus, trauma and familial causes have been
      proposed. CASE REPORT: In this article, we present a case of bilateral coronoid
      hyperplasia presenting with limited mouth opening in 16-year-old Caucasian twin
      sisters. DISCUSSION: This report gives a new perspective to the aetiology of
      coronoid hyperplasia since it describes its occurrence in monozygotic twins and
      hence provides a strong argument in support of a genetic aetiology.

PMID- 27638646
TI  - Evaluation of Cardiac Toxicity Biomarkers in Rats from Different Laboratories.
AB  - There is a great need for improved diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of
      potential cardiac toxicity in drug development. This study reports the evaluation
      of several commercially available biomarker kits by 3 institutions (SRI, Eli
      Lilly, and Pfizer) for the discrimination between myocardial
      degeneration/necrosis and cardiac hypertrophy as well as the assessment of the
      interlaboratory and interplatform variation in results. Serum concentrations of
      natriuretic peptides (N-terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide [NT-proANP] and N
      terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP]), cardiac and skeletal
      troponins (cTnI, cTnT, and sTnI), myosin light chain 3 (Myl3), and fatty acid
      binding protein 3 (FABP3) were assessed in rats treated with minoxidil (MNX) and
      isoproterenol (ISO). MNX caused increased heart-to-body weight ratios and
      prominent elevations in NT-proANP and NT-proBNP concentrations detected at 24-hr
      postdose without elevation in troponins, Myl3, or FABP3 and with no abnormal
      histopathological findings. ISO caused ventricular leukocyte infiltration,
      myocyte fibrosis, and necrosis with increased concentrations of the natriuretic
      peptides, cardiac troponins, and Myl3. These results reinforce the advantages of
      a multimarker strategy in elucidating the underlying cause of cardiac insult and
      detecting myocardial tissue damage at 24-hr posttreatment. The interlaboratory
      and interplatform comparison analyses also showed that the data obtained from
      different laboratories and platforms are highly correlated and reproducible,
      making these biomarkers widely applicable in preclinical studies.

PMID- 27638647
TI  - Branched-chain amino acids differently modulate catabolic and anabolic states in
      mammals: a pharmacological point of view.
AB  - : Substantial evidence has been accumulated suggesting that branched-chain amino
      acid (BCAA) supplementation or BCAA-rich diets have a positive effect on the
      regulation of body weight, muscle protein synthesis, glucose homeostasis, the
      ageing process and extend healthspan. Despite these beneficial effects,
      epidemiological studies have shown that BCAA plasma concentrations and BCAA
      metabolism are altered in several metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes
      mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. In this review article, we present an
      overview of the current literature on the different effects of BCAAs in health
      and disease. We also highlight the results showing the most promising therapeutic
      effects of dietary BCAA supplementation and discuss how BCAAs can trigger
      different and even opposite effects, depending on the catabolic and anabolic
      states of the organisms. Moreover, we consider the effects of BCAAs when
      metabolism is abnormal, in the presence of a mixture of different anabolic and
      catabolic signals. These unique pharmacodynamic properties may partially explain
      some of the markedly different effects found in BCAA supplementation studies. To
      predict accurately these effects, the overall catabolic/anabolic status of
      patients should be carefully considered. In wider terms, a correct modulation of
      metabolic disorders would make nutraceutical interventions with BCAAs more
      effective. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on
      Principles of Pharmacological Research of Nutraceuticals. To view the other
      articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 27638648
TI  - Autonomic Arousal Response Habituation to Social Stimuli Among Children with Asd.
AB  - Sustained autonomic arousal during eye contact could cause the impairments in eye
      contact behavior commonly seen in autism. The aim of the present study was to re
      analyze the data from a study by Kaartinen et al. (J Autism Develop Disord
      42(9):1917-1927, 2012) to investigate the habituation of autonomic arousal
      responses to repeated facial stimuli and the correlations between response
      habituation and social impairments among children with and without ASD. The
      results showed that among children with ASD, the smaller the habituation was,
      specifically in responses to a direct gaze, the more the child showed social
      impairments. The results imply that decreased autonomic arousal habituation to a
      direct gaze might play a role in the development of social impairments in autism.

PMID- 27638649
TI  - Student-Teacher Relationships for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder:
      Risk and Protective Factors.
AB  - The quality of early student-teacher relationships (STRs) has been shown to
      predict children's school adjustment, and children with autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD) are at risk for poor quality STRs. The present study examined 162 children
      with ASD (ages 4-7) and their teachers to evaluate student, teacher, and
      classroom characteristics that predicted concurrent and prospective STR quality
      across one school year. Child oppositional behavior, autism severity and teacher
      degree predicted changes in student-teacher conflict over a 1-year period, while
      child social skills and IQ positively predicted change in student-teacher
      closeness. Teacher preparedness, trainings in ASD, and classroom setting were
      unrelated to STR quality. Implications for intervention are discussed.

PMID- 27638650
TI  - Metric Learning for Multi-atlas based Segmentation of Hippocampus.
AB  - Automatic and reliable segmentation of hippocampus from MR brain images is of
      great importance in studies of neurological diseases, such as epilepsy and
      Alzheimer's disease. In this paper, we proposed a novel metric learning method to
      fuse segmentation labels in multi-atlas based image segmentation. Different from
      current label fusion methods that typically adopt a predefined distance metric
      model to compute a similarity measure between image patches of atlas images and
      the image to be segmented, we learn a distance metric model from the atlases to
      keep image patches of the same structure close to each other while those of
      different structures are separated. The learned distance metric model is then
      used to compute the similarity measure between image patches in the label fusion.
      The proposed method has been validated for segmenting hippocampus based on the
      EADC-ADNI dataset with manually labelled hippocampus of 100 subjects. The
      experiment results demonstrated that our method achieved statistically
      significant improvement in segmentation accuracy, compared with state-of-the-art
      multi-atlas image segmentation methods.

PMID- 27638652
TI  - A Rare Cause of Recurrent Stroke in a Visually Impaired 10-year-old Girl.

PMID- 27638651
TI  - Relapse prediction in Graves' disease: Towards mathematical modeling of clinical,
      immune and genetic markers.
AB  - PROBLEM: Graves' disease (GD) is an important and prevalent thyroid autoimmune
      disorder. Standard therapy for GD consists of antithyroid drugs (ATD) with
      treatment periods of around 12 months but relapse is frequent. Since predictors
      for relapse are difficult to identify the individual decision making for optimal
      treatment is often arbitrary. METHODS: After reviewing the literature on this
      topic we summarize important factors involved in GD and with respect to their
      potential for relapse prediction from markers before and after treatment. This
      information was used to design a mathematical model integrating thyroid hormone
      parameters, thyroid size, antibody titers and a complex algorithm encompassing
      genetic predisposition, environmental exposures and current immune activity in
      order to arrive at a prognostic index for relapse risk after treatment.
      CONCLUSION: In the search for a tool to analyze and predict relapse in GD
      mathematical modeling is a promising approach. In analogy to mathematical
      modeling approaches in other diseases such as viral infections, we developed a
      differential equation model on the basis of published clinical trials in patients
      with GD. Although our model needs further evaluation to be applicable in a
      clinical context, it provides a perspective for an important contribution to a
      final statistical prediction model.

PMID- 27638653
TI  - Probable Moyamoya Syndrome in Association with Hemophilia A in an Infant.

PMID- 27638654
TI  - Implementation of Lifestyle Modification Program Focusing on Physical Activity
      and Dietary Habits in a Large Group, Community-Based Setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lifestyle modification programs improve several health-related
      behaviors, including physical activity (PA) and nutrition. However, few of these
      programs have been expanded to impact a large number of individuals in one
      setting at one time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine
      whether a PA- and nutrition-based lifestyle modification program could be
      effectively conducted using a large group format in a community-based setting.
      METHOD: One hundred twenty-one participants enrolled in a 16-week, community
      based lifestyle modification program and separated in small teams of 13 to 17
      individuals. Height, weight, fruit and vegetable (FAV) consumption, physical
      fitness, and several psychosocial measures were assessed before and after the
      program. RESULTS: Significant improvements in 6-minute walk distance (+68.3 m; p
      < .001), chair stands (+6.7 repetitions; p < .001), FAV servings (+1.8
      servings/day; p < .001), body weight (-3.2 lbs; p < .001), as well as PA social
      support and eating habits self-efficacy were observed. Our lifestyle modification
      program was also successful in shifting participants to higher levels of stages
      of change for nutrition and PA, increasing overall levels of self-efficacy for
      healthy eating, and improving levels of social support for becoming more active.
      CONCLUSIONS: A lifestyle modification program can be successfully implemented in
      a community setting using a large group format to improve PA and FAV attitudes
      and behaviors.

PMID- 27638657
TI  - A Survey of Adverse Event Reporting Practices Among US Healthcare Professionals.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The under-reporting of adverse drug events (ADEs) is an
      international health concern. A number of studies have assessed the root causes
      but, to our knowledge, little information exists relating under-reporting to
      practices and systems used for the recording and tracking of drug-related adverse
      event observations in ambulatory settings, institutional settings, and retail
      pharmacies. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to explore the process for reporting
      ADEs in US hospitals, ambulatory settings, and retail pharmacies; to explore gaps
      and inconsistencies in the reporting process; and to identify the causes of under
      reporting ADEs in these settings. METHODS: The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug
      Development (Tufts CSDD) interviewed 11 thought leaders and conducted a survey
      between May and August 2014 among US-based healthcare providers (HCPs) in diverse
      settings to assess their experiences with, and processes for, reporting ADEs.
      RESULTS: A total of 123 individuals completed the survey (42 % were pharmacists;
      27 % were nurses; 15 % were physicians; and 16 % were classified as 'other').
      HCPs indicated that the main reasons for under-reporting were difficulty in
      determining the cause of the ADE, given that most patients receive multiple
      therapies simultaneously (66 % of respondents); that HCPs lack sufficient time to
      report ADEs (63 % of respondents); poor integration of ADE-reporting systems (53
      % of respondents); and uncertainty about reporting procedures (52 % of
      respondents). DISCUSSION: The results of this pilot study identify that key
      factors contributing to the under-reporting of ADEs relate to a lack of
      standardized process, a lack of training and education, and a lack of integrated
      health information technologies.

PMID- 27638658
TI  - Role of Preemptive Genotyping in Preventing Serious Adverse Drug Events in South
      Korean Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Preemptive and multi-variant genotyping is suggested to improve the
      safety of patient drug therapy. The number of South Koreans who would benefit
      from this approach is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to quantify the number of
      patients who may experience serious adverse drug events (ADEs) due to high-risk
      pharmacogenetic variants and who may benefit from preemptive genotyping. METHODS:
      The health claims dataset of the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment
      service for 3 % of the South Korean population for year 2011 was used to
      calculate the number of patients exposed to 84 drugs covered by National Health
      Insurance with pharmacogenomic biomarkers. The product of ADE risk-conferring
      genotype prevalence, ADE prevalence rates, and genotype effect sizes in South
      Koreans or East Asians derived from published literature and the 1000 Genomes
      Project, and the drug exposure data were solved to estimate the number of South
      Koreans in whom preemptive genotyping may prevent serious ADEs. RESULTS: Among
      1,341,077 patients in the dataset with prescriptions, 47.4 % were prescribed a
      drug whose response was affected by genetic variants and 31.9 % were prescribed
      at least one drug with serious ADEs modulated by these variants. Without genetic
      testing, the number of South Korean patients predicted to experience serious ADEs
      due to their higher ADE risk genotypes was estimated at 729. Extrapolating this
      to the total South Korean population indicated that approximately 24,300 patients
      in 2011 might have benefitted from preemptive genotyping. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      quantified the number of South Korean patients predicted to have serious ADEs and
      demonstrated the need for preemptive genotyping to assist safer drug therapy in
      South Korea.

PMID- 27638659
TI  - Association Between the Occurrence of Adverse Drug Events and Modification of
      First-Line Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in Ghanaian HIV Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients initiated on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)
      generally remain on medication indefinitely. A modification in the HAART regimen
      may become necessary because of possible acute or chronic toxicities, concomitant
      clinical conditions, development of virological failure or the advent of adverse
      drug events. The study documents adverse drug events of HIV-positive Ghanaian
      patients with HAART modifications. It also investigates the association between
      documented adverse drug events and HAART modification using an unmatched case
      control study design. METHOD: The study was conducted in the Fevers Unit of the
      Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and involved patients who attended the HIV Care Clinic
      between January 2004 and December 2009. Data from 298 modified therapy patients
      (cases) were compared with 298 continuing therapy patients (controls) who had
      been on treatment for at least 1 month before the end of study. Controls were
      sampled from the same database of a cohort of HIV-positive patients on HAART, at
      the time a case occurred, in terms of treatment initiation +/-1 month. Data were
      obtained from patients' clinical folders and the HIV clinic database linked to
      the pharmacy database. The nature of the documented adverse drug events of the
      cases was described and the association between the documented adverse drug
      events and HAART modification was determined by logistic regression with reported
      odds ratios (ORs) and their 95 % confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Among the 298
      modified therapy patients sampled in this study, 52.7 % of them had at least one
      documented adverse drug event. The most documented adverse drug event was
      anaemia, recorded in 18.5 % of modified therapy patients, all of whom were on a
      zidovudine-based regimen. The presence of documented adverse drug events was
      significantly associated with HAART modification [adjusted OR = 2.71 (95 % CI
      2.11-3.48), p < 0.001]. CONCLUSION: Among HIV patients on HAART, adverse drug
      events play a major role in treatment modification. Occurrence of adverse drug
      events may be used as a predictor for possible therapy modification. We recommend
      the institution of active pharmacovigilance in HIV treatment programmes as it
      permits the proper identification and characterisation of drug-related adverse
      events. This can help develop approaches towards their management and also
      justify therapy modifications.

PMID- 27638660
TI  - Prevention of Medication Errors in Hospitalized Patients: The Japan Adverse Drug
      Events Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The nature of medication errors (MEs) and the frequency of
      identified or intercepted MEs are not being scrutinized in daily practice in
      Japan. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to clarify the epidemiology of MEs
      and the risk factors for non-intercepted and unidentified MEs. METHODS: The Japan
      Adverse Drug Events (JADE) study was a prospective cohort study carried out at
      three tertiary-care teaching hospitals in Japan. Participants were consecutive
      patients (N = 3459) aged >=15 years who were admitted to the study wards. MEs
      were identified by on-site reviews of all medical charts, self-reports, and
      prescription queries by pharmacists. Two independent physicians reviewed and
      classified all MEs and adverse drug events and determined the stages at which the
      MEs occurred and whether there was interception or identification of the MEs.
      RESULTS: A total of 514 MEs were observed among 433 patients. Sixty-four percent
      of MEs occurred at the ordering stage. Among these, 60 % were due to duplicate
      drug orders. Overall, 63 % and 45 % of MEs were not intercepted or identified
      during hospitalization, respectively. The independent risk factors for non
      intercepted MEs were hospitalization in the surgical ward (odds ratio [OR] 2.94)
      and the intensive care unit (OR 3.57). MEs by resident physicians were more
      likely to be intercepted (OR 0.52 for non-intercepted MEs). CONCLUSIONS: MEs
      frequently occurred and most at the ordering stage. Almost half of MEs were not
      intercepted or identified. Many MEs at the later stages were less likely to be
      intercepted and resulted in actual patient harm. Systems to improve the
      identification and interception of MEs should be implemented.

PMID- 27638661
TI  - Current Safety Concerns with Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Cluster Analysis of
      Reports in VigiBase(r).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A number of safety signals-complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS),
      postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and chronic fatigue syndrome
      (CFS)-have emerged with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, which share a
      similar pattern of symptomatology. Previous signal evaluations and
      epidemiological studies have largely relied on traditional methodologies and
      signals have been considered individually. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was
      to explore global reporting patterns for HPV vaccine for subgroups of reports
      with similar adverse event (AE) profiles. METHODS: All individual case safety
      reports (reports) for HPV vaccines in VigiBase(r) until 1 January 2015 were
      identified. A statistical cluster analysis algorithm was used to identify natural
      groupings based on AE profiles in a data-driven exploratory analysis. Clinical
      assessment of the clusters was performed to identify clusters relevant to current
      safety concerns. RESULTS: Overall, 54 clusters containing at least five reports
      were identified. The four largest clusters included 71 % of the analysed HPV
      reports and described AEs included in the product label. Four smaller clusters
      were identified to include case reports relevant to ongoing safety concerns
      (total of 694 cases). In all four of these clusters, the most commonly reported
      AE terms were headache and dizziness and fatigue or syncope; three of these four
      AE terms were reported in >50 % of the reports included in the clusters. These
      clusters had a higher proportion of serious cases compared with HPV reports
      overall (44-89 % in the clusters compared with 24 %). Furthermore, only a
      minority of reports included in these clusters included AE terms of diagnoses to
      explain these symptoms. Using proportional reporting ratios, the combination of
      headache and dizziness with either fatigue or syncope was found to be more
      commonly reported in HPV vaccine reports compared with non-HPV vaccine reports
      for females aged 9-25 years. This disproportionality remained when results were
      stratified by age and when those countries reporting the signals of CRPS (Japan)
      and POTS (Denmark) were excluded. CONCLUSIONS: Cluster analysis reveals
      additional reports of AEs following HPV vaccination that are serious in nature
      and describe symptoms that overlap those reported in cases from the recent safety
      signals (POTS, CRPS, and CFS), but which do not report explicit diagnoses. While
      the causal association between HPV vaccination and these AEs remains uncertain,
      more extensive analyses of spontaneous reports can better identify the relevant
      case series for thorough signal evaluation.

PMID- 27638666
TI  - Cartilage damage and bone erosion are more prominent determinants of functional
      impairment in longstanding experimental arthritis than synovial inflammation.
AB  - Chronic inflammation of articular joints causing bone and cartilage destruction
      consequently leads to functional impairment or loss of mobility in affected
      joints from individuals affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Even successful
      treatment with complete resolution of synovial inflammatory processes does not
      lead to full reversal of joint functionality, pointing to the crucial
      contribution of irreversibly damaged structural components, such as bone and
      cartilage, to restricted joint mobility. In this context, we investigated the
      impact of the distinct components, including synovial inflammation, bone erosion
      or cartilage damage, as well as the effect of blocking tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF) on functional impairment in human-TNF transgenic (hTNFtg) mice, a chronic
      inflammatory erosive animal model of RA. We determined CatWalk-assisted gait
      profiles as objective quantitative measurements of functional impairment. We
      first determined body-weight-independent gait parameters, including maximum
      intensity, print length, print width and print area in wild-type mice. We
      observed early changes in those gait parameters in hTNFtg mice at week 5 - the
      first clinical signs of arthritis. Moreover, we found further gait changes during
      chronic disease development, indicating progressive functional impairment in
      hTNFtg mice. By investigating the association of gait parameters with
      inflammation-mediated joint pathologies at different time points of the disease
      course, we found a relationship between gait parameters and the extent of
      cartilage damage and bone erosions, but not with the extent of synovitis in this
      chronic model. Next, we observed a significant improvement of functional
      impairment upon blocking TNF, even at progressed stages of disease. However,
      blocking TNF did not restore full functionality owing to remaining subclinical
      inflammation and structural microdamage. In conclusion, CatWalk gait analysis
      provides a useful tool for quantitative assessment of functional impairment in
      inflammatory destructive arthritis. Our findings indicate that cartilage damage
      and bone erosion, but not synovial inflammation, are the most important
      determinants for progressive functional impairment in this chronic erosive
      arthritis model.

PMID- 27638667
TI  - High- and ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging of naive, injured and
      scarred vocal fold mucosae in rats.
AB  - Subepithelial changes to the vocal fold mucosa, such as fibrosis, are difficult
      to identify using visual assessment of the tissue surface. Moreover, without
      suspicion of neoplasm, mucosal biopsy is not a viable clinical option, as it
      carries its own risk of iatrogenic injury and scar formation. Given these
      challenges, we assessed the ability of high- (4.7 T) and ultrahigh-field (9.4 T)
      magnetic resonance imaging to resolve key vocal fold subepithelial tissue
      structures in the rat, an important and widely used preclinical model in vocal
      fold biology. We conducted serial in vivo and ex vivo imaging, evaluated an array
      of acquisition sequences and contrast agents, and successfully resolved key
      anatomic features of naive, acutely injured, and chronically scarred vocal fold
      mucosae on the ex vivo scans. Naive lamina propria was hyperintense on T1
      weighted imaging with gadobenate dimeglumine contrast enhancement, whereas
      chronic scar was characterized by reduced lamina propria T1 signal intensity and
      mucosal volume. Acutely injured mucosa was hypointense on T2-weighted imaging;
      lesion volume steadily increased, peaked at 5 days post-injury, and then
      decreased - consistent with the physiology of acute, followed by subacute,
      hemorrhage and associated changes in the magnetic state of hemoglobin and its
      degradation products. Intravenous administration of superparamagnetic iron oxide
      conferred no T2 contrast enhancement during the acute injury period. These
      findings confirm that magnetic resonance imaging can resolve anatomic
      substructures within naive vocal fold mucosa, qualitative and quantitative
      features of acute injury, and the presence of chronic scar.

PMID- 27638669
TI  - What's New in Gastric and Esophageal Cancers.

PMID- 27638668
TI  - Immortalized Parkinson's disease lymphocytes have enhanced mitochondrial
      respiratory activity.
AB  - In combination with studies of post-mortem Parkinson's disease (PD) brains,
      pharmacological and genetic models of PD have suggested that two fundamental
      interacting cellular processes are impaired - proteostasis and mitochondrial
      respiration. We have re-examined the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in
      lymphoblasts isolated from individuals with idiopathic PD and an age-matched
      control group. As previously reported for various PD cell types, the production
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by PD lymphoblasts was significantly elevated.
      However, this was not due to an impairment of mitochondrial respiration, as is
      often assumed. Instead, basal mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis are
      dramatically elevated in PD lymphoblasts. The mitochondrial mass, genome copy
      number and membrane potential were unaltered, but the expression of indicative
      respiratory complex proteins was also elevated. This explains the increased
      oxygen consumption rates by each of the respiratory complexes in experimentally
      uncoupled mitochondria of iPD cells. However, it was not attributable to
      increased activity of the stress- and energy-sensing protein kinase AMPK, a
      regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and activity. The respiratory differences
      between iPD and control cells were sufficiently dramatic as to provide a
      potentially sensitive and reliable biomarker of the disease state, unaffected by
      disease duration (time since diagnosis) or clinical severity. Lymphoblasts from
      control and PD individuals thus occupy two distinct, quasi-stable steady states;
      a 'normal' and a 'hyperactive' state characterized by two different metabolic
      rates. The apparent stability of the 'hyperactive' state in patient-derived
      lymphoblasts in the face of patient ageing, ongoing disease and mounting disease
      severity suggests an early, permanent switch to an alternative metabolic steady
      state. With its associated, elevated ROS production, the 'hyperactive' state
      might not cause pathology to cells that are rapidly turned over, but brain cells
      might accumulate long-term damage leading ultimately to neurodegeneration and the
      loss of mitochondrial function observed post-mortem. Whether the 'hyperactive'
      state in lymphoblasts is a biomarker specifically of PD or more generally of
      neurodegenerative disease remains to be determined.

PMID- 27638670
TI  - Immediate Reconstruction in Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Challenging Current Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is an aggressive disease that is
      treated with trimodality therapy consisting of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery,
      and post-mastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT). Traditionally, modified radical
      mastectomy without reconstruction has been the operation of choice for patients
      with IBC due to fears of high rates of margin positivity, risk of local
      recurrence, and the need for PMRT. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed
      to evaluate women with IBC at our institution from 2006 to 2014 who completed
      trimodality therapy. Patients were identified as undergoing reconstruction or no
      reconstruction (NR), with reconstruction being further classified as immediate
      (IR) if reconstruction occurred at the initial surgery, or delayed (DR) if
      initial reconstruction occurred after PMRT. RESULTS: Sixty women with IBC were
      identified using inclusion criteria. The median follow-up was 2.3 years (range
      1.4-4.6). Patients with IR had a statistically significant increased risk (p =
      0.006) in postoperative complication rates compared with DR (0 %) and NR (2.6 %).
      Two patients had positive skin margins on final pathology (one IR, one NR), with
      both eventually having recurrence. Time to PMRT was delayed 10 days in patients
      with IR compared with those without IR. No statistically significant difference
      in recurrence rates was observed (p = 0.86) when comparing patients with IR and
      those with NR, and no difference in survival was observed between patients who
      had reconstruction and those without (p = 0.91). CONCLUSION: Performing IR with
      mastectomy for IBC is associated with increased complications, but is not
      associated with decreased survival or increased recurrence in selected patients.
      IR in selected IBC patients can facilitate successful breast reconstruction.

PMID- 27638671
TI  - Quality-of-Life Evaluation After Cytoreductive Surgery with Hyperthermic
      Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytoreductive surgery (CS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal
      chemotherapy (HIPEC) for peritoneal metastases can alleviate symptoms and prolong
      survival at the expense of morbidity and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed
      to monitor QoL and outcomes before and after HIPEC. METHODS: A prospective QoL
      trial of patients who underwent HIPEC for peritoneal metastases from 2000 to 2015
      was conducted. The patients completed the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short
      Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy + Colon
      Subscale (FACT-C), the Brief Pain Inventory, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies
      Depression scale, and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance
      status at baseline, then 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after HIPEC. The trial outcome
      index (TOI) was analyzed. Proportional hazards modeled the effect of baseline QoL
      on survival. RESULTS: The 598 patients (53.8 % female) in the study had a mean
      age of 53.3 years. The overall 1-year survival rate was 76.8 %, and the median
      survival period was 2.9 years. The findings showed a minor morbidity rate of 29.3
      %, a major morbidity rate of 21.7 %, and a 30-day mortality rate of 3.5 %. The
      BPI (p < 0.0001) and worst pain (p = 0.004) increased at 3 months but returned to
      baseline at 6 months. After CS + HIPEC, FACT-C emotional well-being, SF-36 mental
      component score, and emotional health improved (all p < 0.001). Higher baseline
      FACT-General (hazard ratio [HR], 0.92; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.96),
      FACT-C (HR, 0.73; 95 % CI 0.65-0.83), physical well-being (HR, 0.71; 95 % CI 0.64
      0.78), TOI (HR, 0.87; 95 % CI 0.84-0.91), and SF-36 vitality (HR, 0.88; 95 % CI
      0.83-0.92) were associated with improved survival (all p < 0.001). Higher
      baseline BPI (HR, 1.1; 95 % CI 1.05-1.14; p < 0.0001), worst pain (HR, 1.06; 95 %
      CI 1.01-1.10; p = 0.01), and ECOG (HR, 1.74; 95 % CI 1.50-2.01; p < 0.0001) were
      associated with worse survival. CONCLUSIONS: Although HIPEC is associated with
      morbidity and detriments to QoL, recovery with good overall QoL typically occurs
      at or before 6 months. Baseline QoL is associated with morbidity, mortality, and
      survival after HIPEC.

PMID- 27638672
TI  - Skeletal Muscle Quality is Associated with Worse Survival After
      Pancreatoduodenectomy for Periampullary, Nonpancreatic Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Body composition measures may predict outcomes of cancer surgery.
      Whereas low muscle mass shown on preoperative computed tomography (CT) scans has
      been associated with worse outcomes after surgery for pancreatic cancer, less
      consideration has been given to low muscle attenuation, reflecting poor muscle
      quality. Studies relating muscle mass and muscle attenuation with outcomes for
      patients with periampullary, nonpancreatic cancer are lacking. METHODS: Skeletal
      muscle mass and attenuation were assessed in 166 consecutive patients undergoing
      pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) for periampullary, nonpancreatic cancer at a single
      center between 2000 and 2012. The skeletal muscle index (SMI) was calculated from
      cross-sectional muscle area on preoperative CT imaging at the third lumbar
      vertebra level (L3) and normalized for height. The skeletal muscle attenuation
      index (MAI) was calculated by measuring the average Hounsfield units of the total
      muscle area at the L3 level. Overall survival (OS) and the rate of major
      postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo >=3) were extracted from prospectively
      maintained databases. RESULTS: Low SMI was present in 78.3 % and low MAI in 48.8
      % of the patients. The multivariate analysis showed lymph node metastasis [hazard
      ratio (HR) 1.8; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.1-2.9], microscopic radicality
      (HR 2.0; 95 % CI 1.2-3.4), and low MAI (HR 2.0; 95 % CI 1.2-3.3), but not low SMI
      to be significantly associated with decreased OS. Low MAI (HR 1.9; 95 % CI 1.0
      3.8) was the only independent risk factor for major postoperative complications.
      CONCLUSION: Skeletal muscle quality, but not muscle mass, predicted survival and
      major complications after PD for periampullary, nonpancreatic cancer.
      Preoperative CT-derived body composition measures may stratify patients into risk
      categories and support shared decision making.

PMID- 27638673
TI  - Role of Prealbumin as a Powerful and Simple Index for Predicting Postoperative
      Complications After Gastric Cancer Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative factors, including nutritional status, may have strong
      correlations with postoperative morbidities. The current study evaluated
      preoperative prealbumin concentrations as a predictor of postoperative
      complications after gastric surgery. METHODS: A retrospective study of 1798
      patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma was performed.
      Information was collected on basic patient characteristics, preoperative
      laboratory findings, and 30 day postoperative complications. The patients were
      divided into three groups based on prealbumin concentrations (>=22 mg/dL, <22 to
      >=15 mg/dL, and <15 mg/dL) for analysis. RESULTS: The overall complication rate
      was 21.7 %, and the infection rate was 16 %. Subgroup analysis based on
      prealbumin concentrations showed that complication rates were markedly elevated
      with decreasing concentrations of prealbumin. Multivariate analysis using a
      logistic regression model showed that both overall and infectious complications
      were strongly associated with male gender, elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), and
      decreased prealbumin levels (p < 0.05). Even in patients with a CRP level higher
      than 0.1 mg/dL, male gender and low prealbumin concentrations (<15 mg/dL) were
      significantly correlated with overall and infectious morbidities (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative prealbumin concentrations are useful predictors of
      short-term postoperative outcomes after gastrectomy.

PMID- 27638674
TI  - A Singular Hope: How the Discussion Around Cancer Surgery Sometimes Fails.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer often have an overly optimistic view of
      prognosis, as well as potential benefits of treatment. Patient-surgeon
      communication in the preoperative period has not received as much attention as
      communicating prognosis or bad news in the postoperative setting. METHODS: The
      published literature on patient-physician communication in the preoperative
      setting among patients considering surgery for a malignant indication was
      reviewed. PubMed was queried for MESH terms including "surgery," "preoperative,"
      "discussion," "treatment goals," "patient perceptions," and "cure." Information
      on how surgeons and patients may be empowered to improve communication about
      goals of care was also outlined. RESULTS: Physicians tended not to dwell on
      prognosis in early discussions, instead emphasizing the uniqueness of individuals
      and the uncertainty of statistics. The treatment plan often became the dominant
      feature of the conversation and functioned to deflect attention from discussions
      of prognosis. Surgeons tended to understate possible complications and provided
      little detail regarding potential severity or long-term consequences. While most
      patients wished to be informed of their prognosis, only a subset actually
      received an estimate of life expectancy. Because optimism with respect to
      prognosis (often simplified as "hope") has been largely considered essential for
      positivity and optimism-even a false or inappropriate optimism-many providers
      have created, tolerated, or enabled it. Several studies have emphasized, however,
      that hope can be maintained with truthful discussion, even if the topic is a bad
      prognosis or eventual death. CONCLUSIONS: Open, honest, and patient-driven
      discussions before surgery will lead to more robust shared decision making and
      create more engaged and satisfied patients (and caregivers). Enhanced
      preoperative discussion can also facilitate clarity about the possibility of
      cancer recurrence, cure, preferences about advance care planning, and formation
      of advance directives.

PMID- 27638675
TI  - The COMET Open-label Phase II Study of Neoadjuvant FOLFOX or XELOX Treatment
      Combined with Molecular Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies in Patients with
      Resectable Liver Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advantages of neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with monoclonal
      antibodies for treating patients with resectable colorectal cancer liver
      metastasis (CLM) have not been established. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin-based regimen (FOLFOX or XELOX)
      plus monoclonal antibodies (cetuximab or bevacizumab) treatment in patients with
      resectable CLM. METHODS: A single-arm, open-label, multicenter, phase II trial
      was conducted for patients aged >= 20 years with resectable and untreated CLM.
      Patients received preoperative FOLFOX (6 cycles) or XELOX (4 cycles). Cetuximab
      or bevacizumab was administered to patients with wild-type or mutated KRAS codons
      12 and 13, respectively. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival
      (PFS). RESULTS: Between January 2010 and June 2012, 47 patients were enrolled
      from 12 institutions. Wild-type or mutant KRAS sequences were examined in 32 and
      15 patients, respectively. Twenty-one (45 %) patients experienced Grades 3/4
      adverse events, and 55 % of all patients responded to therapy. The sizes of
      tumors of patients in the wild-type KRAS group were significantly reduced
      compared with those of the mutant KRAS group. The overall rates of liver
      resection and postoperative morbidity were 83 and 14 %, respectively, and the
      median PFS was 15.6 months. The median PFS times of the KRAS wild-type and mutant
      groups were 22.5 months and 10.5 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant
      therapy using FOLFOX/XELOX combined with monoclonal antibodies did not improve
      PFS, although it was administered safely and had less adverse effects after liver
      resection.

PMID- 27638676
TI  - Synovial Sarcoma Recurrence in Children and Young Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrence of synovial sarcoma (SS) has been associated with poor
      prognosis. Optimal treatment is unknown due to heterogeneous primary therapies
      with or without chemotherapy. METHODS: Data of patients treated in consecutive
      prospective European Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studiengruppe trials 1981-2010
      with primary localized SS less than 21 years were analyzed. Chemotherapy had been
      recommended for all SS patients during primary therapy. RESULTS: Of 220 patients,
      52 experienced recurrence a median of 2.5 years (range, 0.3-11.6 years) after
      their initial diagnosis. Recurrence was local in 22 (42 %), metastatic in 24 (46
      %), and combined in 6 (12 %) of the 52 patients. If present, metastases involved
      the lungs in more than 90 % of the patients. Second remission was achieved by 39
      (75 %) of the 52 patients, whereas only 12 (23 %) of the 39 patients maintained
      it. The median follow-up period for 17 survivors was 6.7 years (range, 3.2-19.6
      years). The 5-year post-relapse event-free survival probability was 26 %, and the
      overall survival probability was 40 %. In the univariable analyses, initial tumor
      smaller than 3 cm, 2.5 years or longer to recurrence, local relapse only, and
      R0/R1 resection at relapse correlated with improved survival expectancies. In the
      multivariable analysis, the only factor retaining significance was R0/R1
      resection of the recurrence. No difference between R0 and R1 resections was
      evident. For the patients with metastatic relapse, maintenance therapy seemed to
      prolong the time to subsequent recurrences. CONCLUSION: Although 75 % of the
      patients with first SS recurrence achieved a second remission, only a minority
      became long-term, disease-free survivors. They had small tumors at initial
      diagnosis, local relapse as the only site of involvement, and complete resection
      of their recurrence. Because the majority of patients relapse subsequently,
      quality-of-life-based treatment approaches prolonging disease-free intervals are
      needed.

PMID- 27638677
TI  - The Half-Life of Serum Des-Gamma-Carboxy Prothrombin Is a Prognostic Index of
      Survival and Recurrence After Liver Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) is a representative tumor marker
      of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its values are occasionally very high in
      HCC cases. The current study aimed to clarify the postoperative half-life of DCP
      as a prognostic factor. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 177 patients
      who had undergone liver resection as an initial treatment for HCC. Three DCP half
      life groups were defined as follows: within the normal range, half-life shorter
      than 4 days, and half-life of 4 days or longer. The overall and recurrence-free
      survival rates were estimated and compared among the three groups. RESULTS: There
      were 140 patients in the group with a DCP half-life in the normal range, 19
      patients in the group with a DCP half-life shorter 4 days, and 18 patients in the
      group with a DCP half-life of 4 days or longer. A multivariate analysis showed
      that only a postoperative DCP half-life of 4 days or longer was an independent
      prognostic risk factor for overall and recurrence-free survival (respective
      hazard ratios of 2.92 and 4.19; P < 0.001). The group with a preoperative DCP
      value lower than 1400 mAU/mL, the median value of DCP in the current study,
      included no patients from the group with a half-life shorter than 4 days. The
      overall and recurrence-free survival rates in the group with a half-life of 4
      days or longer were significantly poorer (P < 0.001) than in the group that had a
      half-life shorter than 4 days (P = 0.002) with a preoperative DCP status of 1400
      mAU/mL or more. CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed for the first time that a
      prolonged half-life of DCP is an independent prognostic risk factor for survival
      and recurrence after liver resection with curative intent.

PMID- 27638678
TI  - 18F-FDG PET/CT Volumetric Parameters are Associated with Tumor Grade and
      Metastasis in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors in von Hippel-Lindau Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 8-17 % of patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)
      syndrome develop pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs), with 11-20 %
      developing metastases. Tumor grade is predictive of prognosis. OBJECTIVE: The aim
      of this study was to determine if preoperative metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and
      total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were associated with metastatic disease and tumor
      grade. METHODS: Sixty-two patients with VHL-associated PNETs prospectively
      underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography (PET/CT). MTV, TLG, and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax)
      were measured using a semi-automatic method. Surgically resected PNETs were
      classified according to 2010 World Health Organization tumor grade
      classification. MTV, TLG, and SUVmax were analyzed by metastatic disease and
      tumor grade using the Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: A total of 88 PNETs were
      identified by CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT, 10 of which were non-FDG-avid. Histologic
      grading was available for 20 surgical patients. Patients with metastatic PNETs
      had a higher TLG (median 25.9 vs. 7.7 mean SUV [SUVmean]*mL; p = 0.0092) compared
      with patients without metastasis, while patients with grade 2 PNETs had a higher
      MTV (median 6.9 vs. 2.6 mL; p = 0.034) and TLG (median 41.2 vs. 13.1 SUVmean*mL;
      p = 0.0035) compared with patients with grade 1 PNETs. No difference in tumor
      size or SUVmax was observed between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      metastatic PNETs have a higher TLG compared with patients without metastasis.
      Grade 2 PNETs have a higher MTV and TLG compared with grade 1 PNETs. Tumor size
      and SUVmax were not associated with grade. Volumetric parameters on 18F-FDG
      PET/CT may be useful in detecting higher grade PNETs with a higher malignant
      potential that may need surgical intervention.

PMID- 27638679
TI  - Contrast-Enhanced Digital Mammography in the Surgical Management of Breast
      Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contrast-enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) is a new breast imaging
      technique. The role of CEDM in the surgical management of breast cancer has not
      yet been characterized. METHODS: A retrospective review of prospective breast
      surgery and breast imaging databases for patients who underwent CEDM and had
      breast cancer surgery. RESULTS: A total of 351 patients had CEDM; 128 had
      malignant lesions, and 101 of these underwent surgery with 105 malignancies
      identified. The mean age was 62 years (range 25-85 years). The histology was 65 %
      invasive ductal carcinoma, 16 % invasive lobular carcinoma, 11 % ductal carcinoma
      in situ, 3 % mixed invasive ductal carcinoma/invasive lobular carcinoma, and 5 %
      other histologies. After excluding two lesions that had been removed before the
      examination, CEDM identified 98 % (n = 101/103) of the index lesions. The two
      lesions not identified were Paget disease only and a parasternal lesion too
      medial to include in the field of view. CEDM led to additional biopsies in 12 %
      (n = 12) of patients. Of these, 67 % (n = 8) proved to be invasive carcinoma and
      33 % (n = 4) were benign. CEDM changed surgical management in 20 % (n = 20) of
      cancer patients with a 4 % (n = 4) rate of conversion to mastectomy. CONCLUSIONS:
      Among patients undergoing surgical therapy for breast cancer, CEDM was highly
      sensitive, had size measurements that correlated well with histologic size, and
      produced a relatively low rate of false-positive additional biopsy findings. CEDM
      appears to be promising as an alternative to magnetic resonance imaging in the
      surgical planning of these patients.

PMID- 27638680
TI  - Editorial: Should We Abandon TNM Staging in Favor of Gene Profiles in Node
      Positive Melanoma?

PMID- 27638681
TI  - Metastasectomy Following Immunotherapy with Adoptive Cell Transfer for Patients
      with Advanced Melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunotherapeutic treatment strategies including adoptive cell
      transfer (ACT) for metastatic melanoma are capable of mediating complete and
      durable responses, as well as partial responses and prolonged disease
      stabilization. Unfortunately, many patients ultimately develop progressive
      disease. The role of salvage metastasectomy in managing these patients has not
      been evaluated. METHODS: Records of patients with metastatic melanoma treated
      with ACT at a single institution between 2000 and 2014 were reviewed. Patients
      with an objective response by RECIST criteria or disease stabilization of at
      least 6 months and who subsequently developed progressive melanoma and were
      managed with metastasectomy as the next therapeutic strategy were studied for
      progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Five additional
      clinical parameters were also reviewed for association with outcomes. RESULTS: Of
      115 patients treated with ACT who met our response criteria and then developed
      progressive disease, 26 (23%) had surgery. There were no mortalities related to
      surgical intervention. Median follow-up after surgery was 62 months. Median PFS
      after surgery was 11 months and five-year OS was 57%. The development of a new
      site of metastasis after ACT was associated with poor PFS and OS. CONCLUSIONS:
      Surgery after immunotherapy is safe. Long PFS and OS can be achieved by
      metastasectomy in selected patients with progressive melanoma following treatment
      with ACT. Clinical variables important for patient selection for metastasectomy
      after immunotherapy remain largely undefined. Improvements in immunotherapeutic
      treatment strategies may increase the role of surgery for patients with advanced
      disease.

PMID- 27638682
TI  - The causal explanatory functions of medical diagnoses.
AB  - Diagnoses in medicine are often taken to serve as explanations of patients'
      symptoms and signs. This article examines how they do so. I begin by arguing that
      although some instances of diagnostic explanation can be formulated as covering
      law arguments, they are explanatory neither in virtue of their argumentative
      structures nor in virtue of general regularities between diagnoses and clinical
      presentations. I then consider the theory that medical diagnoses explain symptoms
      and signs by identifying their actual causes in particular cases. While I take
      this to be largely correct, I argue that for a diagnosis to function as a
      satisfactory causal explanation of a patient's symptoms and signs, it also needs
      to be supplemented by understanding the mechanisms by which the identified cause
      produces the symptoms and signs. This mechanistic understanding comes not from
      the diagnosis itself, but rather from the theoretical framework within which the
      physician operates.

PMID- 27638683
TI  - Personalized medicine: evidence of normativity in its quantitative definition of
      health.
AB  - Systems medicine, which is based on computational modelling of biological
      systems, is emerging as an increasingly prominent part of the personalized
      medicine movement. It is often promoted as 'P4 medicine' (predictive, preventive,
      personalized, and participatory). In this article, we test promises made by some
      of its proponents that systems medicine will be able to develop a scientific,
      quantitative metric for wellness that will eliminate the purported vagueness,
      ambiguity, and incompleteness-that is, normativity-of previous health
      definitions. We do so by examining the most concrete and relevant evidence for
      such a metric available: a patent that describes a systems medicine method for
      assessing health and disease. We find that although systems medicine is promoted
      as heralding an era of transformative scientific objectivity, its definition of
      health seems at present still normatively based. As such, we argue that it will
      be open to influence from various stakeholders and that its purported objectivity
      may conceal important scientific, philosophical, and political issues. We also
      argue that this is an example of a general trend within biomedicine to create
      overly hopeful visions and expectations for the future. 

PMID- 27638684
TI  - A little cooperation helps murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) go a long way: MCMV co
      infection rescues a chemokine salivary gland defect.
AB  - Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) produce chemokines (vCXCLs) that have both sequence and
      functional homology to host chemokines. Assessment of vCXCL-1's role in CMV
      infection is limited to in vitro and in silico analysis due to CMVs species
      specificity. In this study, we used the murine CMV (MCMV) mouse model to evaluate
      the function of vCXCL-1 in vivo. Recombinant MCMVs expressing chimpanzee CMV
      vCXCL-1 (vCXCL-1CCMV) or host chemokine, mCXCL1, underwent primary dissemination
      to the popliteal lymph node, spleen and lung similar to the parental MCMV.
      However, neither of the recombinants expressing chemokines was recovered from the
      salivary gland (SG) at any time post-infection although viral DNA was detected.
      This implies that the virus does not grow in the SG or the overexpressed
      chemokine induces an immune response that leads to suppressed growth. Pointing to
      immune suppression of virus replication, recombinant viruses were isolated from
      the SG following infection of immune-ablated mice [i.e. SCID (severe combined
      immunodeficiency), NSG (non-obese diabetic SCID gamma) or cyclophosphamide
      treated]. Depletion of neutrophils or NK cells does not rescue the recovery of
      chemokine-expressing recombinants in the SG. Surprisingly we found that co
      infection of parental virus and chemokine-expressing virus leads to the recovery
      of the recombinants in the SG. We suggest that parental virus reduces the levels
      of chemokine expression leading to a decrease in inflammatory monocytes and
      subsequent SG growth. Therefore, aberrant expression of the chemokines induces
      cells of the innate and adaptive immune system that curtail the growth and
      dissemination of the recombinants in the SG.

PMID- 27638687
TI  - Cognitive Distortions Among Sexual Offenders Against Women in Japan.
AB  - Research in Western countries has indicated that the cognitive distortions of
      sexual offenders play an etiological and maintenance role in offending. The
      present study examines whether the cognitive distortions hypothesized by previous
      Western studies can be found in Japanese sexual offenders against women. This
      study used the questionnaire administered by probation officers in the special
      cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for sexual offenders, which have been
      implemented since 2006 in Japan. Participants in the offender group were 80
      Japanese male probationers and parolees (more than 19 years old, M age = 34.6, SD
      = 8.8) convicted of rape ( n = 39) or indecent assault ( n = 41). All of them
      attended special treatment programs at probation offices. The non-offender
      comparison group consisted of 95 Japanese male probation officers and police
      officers ( M age = 35.5, SD = 11.4). A factor analysis of the questionnaire
      responses extracted three factors: Blaming the Victim, Minimization, and
      Avoidance of Responsibility. The data analyses showed that sexual offenders
      scored significantly higher than non-offender participants on the three
      subscales. No significant differences were found among four sexual offender
      groups classified as rapists or indecent assaulters and with or without previous
      convictions for sexual offenses. In conclusion, the results of this study
      indicate that rapists and indecent assaulters placed on probation or parole in
      Japan hold cognitive distortions concerning sexual assaults against women than
      the control group of probation and police officers. The findings of this study
      also suggest that cognitive distortions exhibited by sexual offenders against
      women transcend cultural divides.

PMID- 27638685
TI  - In Silico Whole Genome Sequencer and Analyzer (iWGS): a Computational Pipeline to
      Guide the Design and Analysis of de novo Genome Sequencing Studies.
AB  - The availability of genomes across the tree of life is highly biased toward
      vertebrates, pathogens, human disease models, and organisms with relatively small
      and simple genomes. Recent progress in genomics has enabled the de novo decoding
      of the genome of virtually any organism, greatly expanding its potential for
      understanding the biology and evolution of the full spectrum of biodiversity. The
      increasing diversity of sequencing technologies, assays, and de novo assembly
      algorithms have augmented the complexity of de novo genome sequencing projects in
      nonmodel organisms. To reduce the costs and challenges in de novo genome
      sequencing projects and streamline their experimental design and analysis, we
      developed iWGS ( in silicoWhole Genome Sequencer and Analyzer), an automated
      pipeline for guiding the choice of appropriate sequencing strategy and assembly
      protocols. iWGS seamlessly integrates the four key steps of a de novo genome
      sequencing project: data generation (through simulation), data quality control,
      de novo assembly, and assembly evaluation and validation. The last three steps
      can also be applied to the analysis of real data. iWGS is designed to enable the
      user to have great flexibility in testing the range of experimental designs
      available for genome sequencing projects, and supports all major sequencing
      technologies and popular assembly tools. Three case studies illustrate how iWGS
      can guide the design of de novo genome sequencing projects, and evaluate the
      performance of a wide variety of user-specified sequencing strategies and
      assembly protocols on genomes of differing architectures. iWGS, along with a
      detailed documentation, is freely available at
      https://github.com/zhouxiaofan1983/iWGS.

PMID- 27638686
TI  - Non-Mendelian Dominant Maternal Effects Caused by CRISPR/Cas9 Transgenic
      Components in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - The CRISPR/Cas9 system has revolutionized genomic editing. The Cas9 endonuclease
      targets DNA via an experimentally determined guide RNA (gRNA). This results in a
      double-strand break at the target site . We generated transgenic Drosophila
      melanogaster in which the CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to target a GAL4 transgene
      in vivo To our surprise, progeny whose genomes did not contain CRISPR/Cas9
      components were still capable of mutating GAL4 sequences. We demonstrate this
      effect was caused by maternal deposition of Cas9 and gRNAs into the embryo,
      leading to extensive GAL4 mutations in both somatic and germline tissues. This
      serves as a cautionary observation on the effects of maternal contributions when
      conducting experiments using genomically encoded CRISPR/Cas9 components. These
      results also highlight a mode of artificial inheritance in which maternal
      contributions of DNA editing components lead to transmissible mutant defects even
      in animals whose genomes lack the editing components. We suggest calling this a
      dominant maternal effect to reflect it is caused by the gain of maternally
      contributed products. Models of CRISPR-mediated gene drive will need to
      incorporate dominant maternal effects in order to accurately predict the
      efficiency and dynamics of gene drive in a population.

PMID- 27638688
TI  - Post-Discharge Needs of Victims of Gun Violence in Chicago: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to understand the post-discharge needs of violently
      injured patients and their families to improve health outcomes and reduce the
      impact of gun violence. We recruited 10 patients from the trauma registry of a
      Midwestern university hospital with a Level 1 Trauma Center (L1TC). After
      obtaining the informed consent, semi-structured, face-to-face, in-depth
      interviews were conducted. Discussions focused on post-discharge needs and
      resources to facilitate the recovery and rehabilitation process, and aid in
      community reintegration. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim.
      Transcripts were analyzed thematically in stages of open, axial, and selective
      coding methods. Seven main themes were identified at the hospital and community
      level. These included the following: (a) feeling stigmatized by hospital
      personnel, (b) patient-provider communication, (c) feeling discharged too soon,
      (d) issues in obtaining medicines, (e) challenges with Chicago Police Department,
      (f) transportation to trauma center for follow-up care, and (g) concerns with
      returning back to the community. Patients reported the need for mental health
      counseling for themselves and their family, more follow-up, and help with
      financial paperwork among others. For the victims of gun violence, there exists a
      chasm between injury and care, and an even wider one between care and
      rehabilitation. The findings can inform health care, social workers, and
      rehabilitation professionals in their efforts to better address the myriad of
      unmet needs pre- and post-discharge. For trauma centers, the identified needs
      provide a template for developing an individualized- and community-centered
      resource pathway to improve outcomes and reduce suffering for this particularly
      vulnerable subset of patients.

PMID- 27638690
TI  - Hardware Technologies and Probe Development in Light Microscopy Help Drive
      Discoveries in Cell Biology: Introduction to a Virtual Symposium in The
      Biological Bulletin.

PMID- 27638689
TI  - Ghd2, a CONSTANS-like gene, confers drought sensitivity through regulation of
      senescence in rice.
AB  - CONSTANS (CO)-like genes have been intensively investigated for their roles in
      the regulation of photoperiodic flowering, but very limited information has been
      reported on their functions in other biological processes. Here, we found that a
      CO-like gene, Ghd2 (Grain number, plant height, and heading date2), which can
      increase the yield potential under normal growth condition just like its
      homologue Ghd7, is involved in the regulation of leaf senescence and drought
      resistance. Ghd2 is expressed mainly in the rice (Oryza sativa) leaf with the
      highest level detected at the grain-filling stage, and it is down-regulated by
      drought stress conditions. Overexpression of Ghd2 resulted in significantly
      reduced drought resistance, while its knockout mutant showed the opposite
      phenotype. The earlier senescence symptoms and the transcript up-regulation of
      many senescence-associated genes (SAGs) in Ghd2-overexpressing transgenic rice
      plants under drought stress conditions indicate that Ghd2 plays essential roles
      in accelerating drought-induced leaf senescence in rice. Moreover, developmental
      and dark-induced leaf senescence was accelerated in the Ghd2-overexpressing rice
      and delayed in the ghd2 mutant. Several SAGs were confirmed to be regulated by
      Ghd2 using a transient expression system in rice protoplasts. Ghd2 interacted
      with several regulatory proteins, including OsARID3, OsPURalpha, and three 14-3-3
      proteins. OsARID3 and OsPURalpha showed expression patterns similar to Ghd2 in
      rice leaves, with the highest levels at the grain-filling stage, whereas OsARID3
      and the 14-3-3 genes responded differently to drought stress conditions. These
      results indicate that Ghd2 functions as a regulator by integrating environmental
      signals with the senescence process into a developmental programme through
      interaction with different proteins.

PMID- 27638691
TI  - Impact of New Camera Technologies on Discoveries in Cell Biology.
AB  - New technologies can make previously invisible phenomena visible. Nowhere is this
      more obvious than in the field of light microscopy. Beginning with the
      observation of "animalcules" by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, when he figured out how
      to achieve high magnification by shaping lenses, microscopy has advanced to this
      day by a continued march of discoveries driven by technical innovations. Recent
      advances in single-molecule-based technologies have achieved unprecedented
      resolution, and were the basis of the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 2014. In this
      article, we focus on developments in camera technologies and associated image
      processing that have been a major driver of technical innovations in light
      microscopy. We describe five types of developments in camera technology: video
      based analog contrast enhancement, charge-coupled devices (CCDs), intensified
      sensors, electron multiplying gain, and scientific complementary metal-oxide
      semiconductor cameras, which, together, have had major impacts in light
      microscopy.

PMID- 27638692
TI  - Fast Fluorescence Microscopy with Light Sheets.
AB  - In light sheet microscopy, optical sectioning by selective fluorescence
      excitation with a sheet of light is combined with fast full-frame acquisition.
      This illumination scheme provides minimal photobleaching and phototoxicity.
      Complemented with remote focusing and multi-view acquisition, light sheet
      microscopy is the method of choice for acquisition of very fast biological
      processes, large samples, and high-throughput applications in areas such as
      neuroscience, plant biology, and developmental biology. This review explains why
      light sheet microscopes are much faster and gentler than other established
      fluorescence microscopy techniques. New volumetric imaging schemes and highlights
      of selected biological applications are also discussed.

PMID- 27638694
TI  - Protein Corona Modulates Uptake and Toxicity of Nanoceria via Clathrin-Mediated
      Endocytosis.
AB  - Particles present in diesel exhaust have been proposed as a significant
      contributor to the development of acute and chronic lung diseases, including
      respiratory infection and allergic asthma. Nanoceria (CeO2 nanoparticles) are
      used to increase fuel efficiency in internal combustion engines, are present in
      exhaust fumes, and could affect cells of the airway. Components from the
      environment such as biologically derived proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids can
      form a dynamic layer, commonly referred to as the "protein corona" which alters
      cellular nanoparticle interactions and internalization. Using confocal
      reflectance microscopy, we quantified nanoceria uptake by lung-derived cells in
      the presence and absence of a serum-derived protein corona. Employing mass
      spectrometry, we identified components of the protein corona, and demonstrated
      that the interaction between transferrin in the protein corona and the
      transferrin receptor is involved in mediating the cellular entry of nanoceria via
      clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Furthermore, under these conditions nanoceria does
      not affect cell growth, viability, or metabolism, even at high concentration.
      Alternatively, despite the antioxidant capacity of nanoceria, in serum-free
      conditions these nanoparticles induce plasma membrane disruption and cause
      changes in cellular metabolism. Thus, our results identify a specific receptor
      mediated mechanism for nanoceria entry, and provide significant insight into the
      potential for nanoparticle-dependent toxicity.

PMID- 27638693
TI  - Using Stage- and Slit-Scanning to Improve Contrast and Optical Sectioning in Dual
      View Inverted Light Sheet Microscopy (diSPIM).
AB  - Dual-view inverted selective plane illumination microscopy (diSPIM) enables high
      speed, long-term, four-dimensional (4D) imaging with isotropic spatial
      resolution. It is also compatible with conventional sample mounting on glass
      coverslips. However, broadening of the light sheet at distances far from the beam
      waist and sample-induced scattering degrades diSPIM contrast and optical
      sectioning. We describe two simple improvements that address both issues and
      entail no additional hardware modifications to the base diSPIM. First, we
      demonstrate improved diSPIM sectioning by keeping the light sheet and detection
      optics stationary, and scanning the sample through the stationary light sheet
      (rather than scanning the broadening light sheet and detection plane through the
      stationary sample, as in conventional diSPIM). This stage-scanning approach
      allows a thinner sheet to be used when imaging laterally extended samples, such
      as fixed microtubules or motile mitochondria in cell monolayers, and produces
      finer contrast than does conventional diSPIM. We also used stage-scanning diSPIM
      to obtain high-quality, 4D nuclear datasets derived from an uncompressed nematode
      embryo, and performed lineaging analysis to track 97% of cells until twitching.
      Second, we describe the improvement of contrast in thick, scattering specimens by
      synchronizing light-sheet synthesis with the rolling, electronic shutter of our
      scientific complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (sCMOS) detector. This
      maneuver forms a virtual confocal slit in the detection path, partially removing
      out-of-focus light. We demonstrate the applicability of our combined stage- and
      slit-scanning- methods by imaging pollen grains and nuclear and neuronal
      structures in live nematode embryos. All acquisition and analysis code is freely
      available online.

PMID- 27638695
TI  - Aurora A Kinase Amplifies a Midzone Phosphorylation Gradient to Promote High
      Fidelity Cytokinesis.
AB  - During cytokinesis, aurora B kinase (ABK) relocalizes from centromeres to the
      spindle midzone, where it is thought to provide a spatial cue for cytokinesis.
      While global ABK inhibition in Drosophila S2 cells results in macro- and multi
      nucleated large cells, mislocalization of midzone ABK (mABK) by depletion of
      Subito (Drosophila MKLP2) does not cause notable cytokinesis defects. Subito
      depletion was, therefore, used to investigate the contribution of other molecules
      and redundant pathways to cytokinesis in the absence of mABK. Inhibiting
      potential polar relaxation pathways via removal of centrosomes (CNN RNAi) or a
      kinetochore-based phosphatase gradient (Sds22 RNAi) did not result in cytokinesis
      defects on their own or in combination with loss of mABK. Disruption of aurora A
      kinase (AAK) activity resulted in midzone assembly defects, but did not
      significantly affect contractile ring positioning or cytokinesis. Live-cell
      imaging of a Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based aurora kinase
      phosphorylation sensor revealed that midzone substrates were less phosphorylated
      in AAK-inhibited cells, despite the fact that midzone levels of active
      phosphorylated ABK (pABK) were normal. Interestingly, in the absence of mABK, an
      increased number of binucleated cells were observed following AAK inhibition. The
      data suggest that equatorial stimulation rather than polar relaxation mechanisms
      is the major determinant of contractile ring positioning and high-fidelity
      cytokinesis in Drosophila S2 cells. Furthermore, we propose that equatorial
      stimulation is mediated primarily by the delivery of factors to the cortex by
      noncentrosomal microtubules (MTs), as well as a midzone-derived phosphorylation
      gradient that is amplified by the concerted activities of mABK and a soluble pool
      of AAK.

PMID- 27638698
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27638696
TI  - Imaging Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP).
AB  - Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a universal mediator of metabolism and signaling
      across unicellular and multicellular species. There is a fundamental
      interdependence between the dynamics of ATP and the physiology that occurs inside
      and outside the cell. Characterizing and understanding ATP dynamics provide
      valuable mechanistic insight into processes that range from neurotransmission to
      the chemotaxis of immune cells. Therefore, we require the methodology to
      interrogate both temporal and spatial components of ATP dynamics from the
      subcellular to the organismal levels in live specimens. Over the last several
      decades, a number of molecular probes that are specific to ATP have been
      developed. These probes have been combined with imaging approaches, particularly
      optical microscopy, to enable qualitative and quantitative detection of this
      critical molecule. In this review, we survey current examples of technologies
      available for visualizing ATP in living cells, and identify areas where new tools
      and approaches are needed to expand our capabilities.

PMID- 27638699
TI  - Changes in Editorship and Publisher.

PMID- 27638697
TI  - Living Cells and Dynamic Molecules Observed with the Polarized Light Microscope:
      the Legacy of Shinya Inoue.
AB  - In 1948, Shinya Inoue arrived in the United States for graduate studies at
      Princeton. A year later he came to Woods Hole, starting a long tradition of
      summer research at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), which quickly became
      Inoue's scientific home. Primed by his Japanese mentor, Katsuma Dan, Inoue
      followed Dan's mantra to work with healthy, living cells, on a fundamental
      problem (mitosis), with a unique tool set that he refined for precise and
      quantitative observations (polarized light microscopy), and a fresh and brilliant
      mind that was unafraid of challenging current dogma. Building on this potent
      combination, Inoue contributed landmark observations and concepts in cell
      biology, including the notion that there are dynamic, fine structures inside
      living cells, in which molecular assemblies such as mitotic spindle fibers exist
      in delicate equilibrium with their molecular building blocks suspended in the
      cytoplasm. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Inoue and others at the MBL were
      instrumental in conceiving video microscopy, a groundbreaking technique which
      married light microscopy and electronic imaging, ushering in a revolution in how
      we know and what we know about living cells and the molecular mechanisms of life.
      Here, we recount some of Inoue's accomplishments and describe how his legacy has
      shaped current activities in polarized light imaging at the MBL.

PMID- 27638700
TI  - Extended post-mortem delay times should not be viewed as a deterrent to the
      scientific investigation of human brain tissue: a study from the Brains for
      Dementia Research Network Neuropathology Study Group, UK.

PMID- 27638702
TI  - 23-mm iodine-125 plaque for uveal melanoma: benefit of vitrectomy and silicone
      oil on visual acuity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review outcomes in mostly large uveal melanoma treated with a 23-mm
      diameter iodine-125 plaque, the largest size available at our center, and the
      influence of vitrectomy and silicone oil 1000 centistokes for radiation
      attenuation. METHODS: A one-to-one matched case-control comparison was performed.
      Case patients were treated with a 23-mm-diameter iodine-125 plaque and vitrectomy
      with silicone oil 1000-cSt placement. Control cases, treated with 23-mm plaque
      alone, were matched to cases with respect to tumor size and distance from tumor
      apex to optic nerve and fovea. Postoperative complications, visual acuity and
      metastasis were reviewed. RESULTS: Twenty case patients with uveal melanoma
      treated with a 23-mm plaque were identified. The final logMAR vision was 0.83 in
      case patients and 2.06 in control patients (P = 0.0064); the change from pre
      treatment to last follow-up logMAR vision was 0.70 in cases and 1.62 in controls
      (P = 0.019). Of good vision outcomes, 65 % of cases and 25 % of controls achieved
      vision >=20/200 (P = 0.025). Of poor vision outcomes, 35 % of cases and 80 % of
      controls achieved vision <20/200 (P = 0.0053), and 5 % of cases and 35 % of
      controls achieved "light perception" or "no light perception" vision (P = 0.044).
      Thirty-nine of the 40 eyes (98 %) achieved local tumor control. Metastasis
      occurred in 15 % of cases and 45 % of controls (P = 0.082). CONCLUSIONS: Iodine
      125 brachytherapy for mostly large uveal melanoma is effective in achieving local
      tumor control. Furthermore, combining brachytherapy with vitrectomy and silicone
      oil 1000-cSt for radiation attenuation significantly improves vision over the use
      of plaque alone.

PMID- 27638704
TI  - Publication for promotion in medical academia.

PMID- 27638703
TI  - Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Calculation of Its Pollution Index
      for Ugljesnica River, Serbia.
AB  - The aim of the study was to assess the water pollution in terms of total content
      of heavy metals by parameter called Heavy metal pollution index (HPI). The water
      samples were collected from four different locations along the course of the
      river during spring and the autumn seasons. The concentrations of lead (Pb),
      cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), arsenic (As) and
      mercury (Hg) were determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The data were
      used to evaluate HPI of the river water. The mean value of HPI was 67.487 for the
      spring season, and 80.676 for the autumn season. The average for both seasons and
      all sampling sites is 74.082. The maximum value of 112.722 found at one sampling
      site is above the critical index limit of 100. Also, from the values of mean HPI
      for each sampling site could be concluded that the pollution load at sampling
      site-4 is the most significant (HPI 89.575).

PMID- 27638701
TI  - Risk factor SORL1: from genetic association to functional validation in
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents one of the most dramatic threats to healthy
      aging and devising effective treatments for this devastating condition remains a
      major challenge in biomedical research. Much has been learned about the molecular
      concepts that govern proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein to
      amyloid-beta peptides (Abeta), and how accelerated accumulation of neurotoxic
      Abeta peptides underlies neuronal cell death in rare familial but also common
      sporadic forms of this disease. Out of a plethora of proposed modulators of
      amyloidogenic processing, one protein emerged as a key factor in AD pathology, a
      neuronal sorting receptor termed SORLA. Independent approaches using human
      genetics, clinical pathology, or exploratory studies in animal models all
      converge on this receptor that is now considered a central player in AD-related
      processes by many. This review will provide a comprehensive overview of the
      evidence implicating SORLA-mediated protein sorting in neurodegenerative
      processes, and how receptor gene variants in the human population impair
      functional receptor expression in sporadic but possibly also in autosomal
      dominant forms of AD.

PMID- 27638705
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging in perianal fistulas-A pictorial atlas.
AB  - This pictorial atlas provides a review of perianal fistulas with a brief
      description of the relevant anatomy, technique of imaging, and examples of
      various fistula types. Magnetic resonance imaging is highly accurate for
      depiction of both the primary tract and its secondary branches as well as
      abscesses. It is useful in the accurate preoperative classification of perianal
      fistulas and allows institution of the correct surgical procedure, thereby
      reducing the chances of recurrence or complications from occurring.

PMID- 27638706
TI  - Over-the-scope clip placement for closure of gastrointestinal fistula,
      postoperative leaks and refractory gastrointestinal bleed.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The over-the-scope clip (OTSC) has been successfully used in the
      closure of fistula, perforation, dehiscence, and endoscopic hemostasis. We
      describe our experience with the OTSC application. METHODS: Between April 2014
      and April 2015, seven patients underwent OTSC application. In four patients, OTSC
      was applied for the closure of esophageal fistula, one had OTSC closure of
      persistent gastrocutaneous fistula after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy
      removal, and OTSC was applied in duodenum in two patients, for duodenal
      Dieulafoy's lesion after failed conventional endotherapy and massive rebleed in
      one and duodenal perforation in another. RESULTS: All procedures had technical
      success with no immediate complication related to OTSC application. Patients were
      followed up for every month with mean duration of follow up 10.2 months. One
      patient with bronchoesophageal fistula had development of another fistulous
      opening above the site of OTSC placement, which was successfully closed with
      another OTSC. One patient had superficial esophageal wall ulcer opposite the OTSC
      but it healed spontaneously. CONCLUSION: OTSC provided safe and successful
      closure in a number of settings.

PMID- 27638707
TI  - Computational modelling of local calcium ions release from calcium phosphate
      based scaffolds.
AB  - A variety of natural or synthetic calcium phosphate (CaP)-based scaffolds are
      currently produced for dental and orthopaedic applications. These scaffolds have
      been shown to stimulate bone formation due to their biocompatibility,
      osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity. The release of the [Formula: see text]
      ions from these scaffolds is of great interest in light of the aforementioned
      properties. It can depend on a number of biophysicochemical phenomena such as
      dissolution, diffusion and degradation, which in turn depend on specific scaffold
      characteristics such as composition and morphology. Achieving an optimal release
      profile can be challenging when relying on traditional experimental work alone.
      Mathematical modelling can complement experimentation. In this study, the in
      vitro dissolution behaviour of four CaP-based scaffold types was investigated
      experimentally. Subsequently, a mechanistic finite element method model based on
      biophysicochemical phenomena and specific scaffold characteristics was developed
      to predict the experimentally observed behaviour. Before the model could be used
      for local [Formula: see text] ions release predictions, certain parameters such
      as dissolution constant ([Formula: see text]) and degradation constant ([Formula:
      see text]) for each type of scaffold were determined by calibrating the model to
      the in vitro dissolution data. The resulting model showed to yield release
      characteristics in satisfactory agreement with those observed experimentally.
      This suggests that the mathematical model can be used to investigate the local
      [Formula: see text] ions release from CaP-based scaffolds.

PMID- 27638708
TI  - Mechanics of the urethral duct: tissue constitutive formulation and structural
      modeling for the investigation of lumen occlusion.
AB  - Urinary incontinence, often related to sphincter damage, is found in male
      patients, leading to a miserable quality of life and to huge costs for the
      healthcare system. The most effective surgical solution currently considered for
      men is the artificial urinary sphincter that exerts a pressure field on the
      urethra, occluding the duct. The evaluation of this device is currently based on
      clinical and surgical competences. The artificial sphincter design and mechanical
      action can be investigated by a biomechanical model of the urethra under
      occlusion, evaluating the interaction between tissues and prosthesis. A specific
      computational approach to urethral mechanics is here proposed, recalling the
      results of previous biomechanical experimental investigation. In this preliminary
      analysis, the horse urethra is considered, in the light of a significant
      correlation with human and in consideration of the relevant difficulty to get to
      human samples, which anyway represents the future advance. Histological data
      processing allow for the definition of a virtual and a subsequent finite element
      model of a urethral section. A specific hyperelastic formulation is developed to
      characterize the nonlinear mechanical behavior. The inverse analysis of tensile
      tests on urethra samples leads to the definition of preliminary constitutive
      parameters. The parameters are further refined by the computational analysis of
      inflation tests carried out on the entire urethral structure. The results
      obtained represent, in the light of the correlation reported, a valid preliminary
      support for the information to be assumed for prosthesis design, integrating
      surgical and biomechanical competences.

PMID- 27638709
TI  - Long-term results of a modified Spitzy shelf operation for residual hip dysplasia
      and subluxation. A fifty year follow-up study of fifty six children and young
      adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to establish long-term outcome of the
      Spitzy shelf-operation and evaluate whether the procedure would delay
      osteoarthritis. METHODS: During 1954-1976, 56 patients (70 hips) underwent Spitzy
      shelf operation at a mean age of 11.9 years (5 to 22). Indications included
      residual hip dysplasia or subluxation with Centre-Edge angle < 20 degrees . We
      used survival analysis with conversion to total hip replacements as end-point.
      For patients without total hip replacement, information was provided from case
      records and radiographs. Avascular necrosis was assessed in pre-Spitzy
      radiographs, when available. Kaplan-Meier product-limit method was used to
      estimate survival function of the Spitzy shelf operation. Survival was assessed
      by Cox regression. Univariable Cox regression was performed separately for each
      variable. Potential predictors (p-value < 0.10) were entered into a multivariable
      regression model; p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Mean
      survival of the shelf procedure was 39.9 years (21 to 53). Survival fell from 83
      % 30 years post-operatively, to 22 % at 50 years. Fifty-three hips (76 %) had
      undergone total hip replacement at mean age of 49.4 years (33 to 64). Seventeen
      hips had not received total hip replacement, mean survival 47.9 years (39 to 53).
      CONCLUSION: The study showed that Spitzy shelf-operation had satisfactory long
      term outcome with hip-survival in almost 90 % at patient age 40 years. The
      results indicate that Spitzy shelf-operation postpone total hip replacement. We
      consider Spitzy shelf-operation a good alternative in patients above 8 years. In
      younger children the procedure is not recommended due to increased frequency of
      graft resorption.

PMID- 27638710
TI  - Revealing Both Sides of the Story: A Comparative Analysis of Mentors and Proteges
      Relational Perspectives.
AB  - Mentoring continues to be a popular intervention for promoting positive youth
      development. However, the underlying mechanisms associated with sustainable and
      successful relationships remain largely unknown. Our study aimed to expand on
      previous literature by examining characteristics that have previously been linked
      to mentoring outcomes (e.g., authenticity, empathy), from a process-focused lens.
      We utilized post program satisfaction scores and interviews to examine the
      presence of each characteristic in a large sample of dyads (n = 144) as well as
      dyads' levels of agreement or disagreement about aspects of the relationships. We
      found that high satisfaction dyads demonstrated greater congruity and detail in
      their descriptions of their relationships, whereas low satisfaction dyads were
      highly divergent and inconsistent in their descriptions. In addition,
      misattunement, a negative relational aspect, was the most powerful distinguisher
      between high and low satisfaction dyads, which provides support for mentors
      receiving attunement training in order to reduce instances of misattunement.
      Findings from this study highlight the importance of examining and assessing
      mentoring relationships from both the mentor and protege perspectives, as a
      single perspective may not present a full picture of the relationship. 

PMID- 27638712
TI  - "Torpedo" for the brain: perspectives in neurostimulation.

PMID- 27638714
TI  - Putative Roles for Metallothionein and HSP70 Genes in Relation with Heavy Metal
      Accumulation and Parasitic Cymothoid in the Fish Nemipterus furcosus.
AB  - To assess stress level induced by multiple stressors in aquatic organism,
      biomarkers have been adopted as early warning indicator due to their high
      accuracy, rapidity, and sensitivity. We investigated the effects of ectoparasitic
      isopod infection on heavy metal bioaccumulation (Fe, Cu, Zn, and Cd) in the fish
      Nemipterus furcosus and profiled the expression of metallothionein (MT) and heat
      shock proteins 70 (HSP70) genes of the fish host. Sixty individuals (parasitized
      and nonparasitized with Cymothoa truncata) were collected from three sites
      differing in the levels of anthropogenic activities off the South China Sea. Our
      results revealed no significant difference in heavy metal concentrations between
      infected and nonparasitized fish. We observed a positive correlation between
      heavy metal bioaccumulation in the fish host and anthropogenic activities.
      Accordingly, expression analysis of MT genes in fish liver showed significant
      differences in expression level between sampling sites, with lowest level in the
      least exploited site (Batu Rakit). A reverse pattern in HSP70 gene expression was
      demonstrated in fish muscle, showing the highest expression at Batu Rakit. While
      cymothoid infection in N. furcosus had no significant impact on fish MT gene
      expression, it resulted in a reduction of HSP70 level in liver of parasitized
      fish. These findings highlight the putative roles of MT in heavy metal
      assessment. Future studies should determine the kinetics of cymothoid infection
      and other potential stressors in characterizing the HSP70 gene expression
      profile.

PMID- 27638715
TI  - Historical Profiles of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Marine Sediment
      Cores from Northwest Spain.
AB  - The northwest coast of Spain is characterized by an irregular coastline rich in
      marine life and with the highest mussel production in Europe. Taking this into
      account, the characterization of the pollution levels and the sources involved
      appear necessary. Not only were parent Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
      analysed but also their alkylated homologues. In total, 35 compounds were
      analyzed in 5 sediment cores. Sediments were collected using a box core dredge
      and extracted by (Pressurized Liquid Extraction) whilst the quantification of
      PAHs was performed using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
      The total concentration detected varied from 49.6 to 2489 ng g-1 dry weight
      (d.w.) of which parent PAHs ranged from 44.5 to 2254 ng g-1 d.w. and alkylated
      PAHs varied from 5.04 to 317 ng g-1 d.w. Temporal and spatial evolution were
      outlined and pollution sources were identified along with a possible correlation
      between this pollution and local history and industry. Most of the PAHs from the
      superficial samples have a biomass and coal combustion profile, and some
      specific, localized events are reflected in the total PAH concentration
      evolution. Moreover, the study of the deepest layers of the sampled cores
      provides a baseline to develop background concentration values that will help in
      future sediment quality assessment.

PMID- 27638716
TI  - Copper Bioaccumulation and Depuration in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) Following
      Co-exposure to TiO2 and CuO Nanoparticles.
AB  - Metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), such as TiO2 and CuO, are widely applied in an
      increasing number of products and applications, and therefore their release to
      the aquatic ecosystems is unavoidable. However, little is known about joint
      toxicity of different NPs on tissues of aquatic organisms, such as fish. This
      study was conducted to assess the uptake and depuration of Cu following exposure
      to CuO NPs in the presence of TiO2 NPs in the liver, intestine, muscle, and gill
      of common carp, Cyprinus carpio. Carps with a mean total length of 23 +/- 1.5 cm
      and mean weight of 13 +/- 1.3 g were divided into 6 groups of 15 each (1 control
      group) and exposed to TiO2 NPs, CuO NPs, and a mixture of TiO2 and CuO NPs for
      periods of 20 days for uptake and 10 days for depuration. The determination of
      total Cu concentration was carried out by an ICP-OES. The order of Cu uptake in
      different tissues of the carps was liver > gill > muscle > intestine in both
      levels of CuO NPs alone; results showed that the total Cu concentrations in the
      presence of TiO2 nanoparticles were increased and were in the sequence of liver >
      gill > intestine > muscle. In depuration period, Cu concentrations were decreased
      in all treatments in the sequence of gill > intestine > muscle > liver. Uptake of
      Cu in different tissues of common carp increased with increasing concentration
      and time and was tissues- and time-dependent. In conclusion, this study suggested
      that the uptake of Cu in the tissues of common carp increased in the joint
      presence of TiO2 NPs.

PMID- 27638713
TI  - Gene therapy targeting mitochondrial pathway in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) presents a relative selective localization of pathology
      to substantia nigra and well-defined motor symptoms caused by dopaminergic
      degeneration that makes it an ideal target for gene therapy. Parallel progress in
      viral vector systems enables the delivery of therapeutic genes directly into
      brain with reasonable safety along with sustained transgene expression. To date,
      gene therapy for PD that has reached clinical trial evaluation is mainly based on
      symptomatic approach that involves enzyme replacement strategy and restorative
      approach that depends on the addition of neurotrophic factors. Mitochondrial
      dysregulation, such as reduced complex I activity, increased mitochondria-derived
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, ROS-mediated mitochondrial DNA damage,
      bioenergetic failure, and perturbation of mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy,
      has long been implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. Many of mutated genes linked
      to familial forms of PD affect these mitochondrial features. In this review, we
      discuss the recent progress that has been made in preclinical development of gene
      therapy targeting the mitochondrial pathway as disease modifying approach for PD.
      This review focuses on the potential therapeutic efficacy of candidate genes,
      including Parkin, PINK1, alpha synuclein, PGC-1 alpha, and anti-apoptotic
      molecules.

PMID- 27638711
TI  - Carotenoids: biochemistry, pharmacology and treatment.
AB  - : Carotenoids and retinoids have several similar biological activities such as
      antioxidant properties, the inhibition of malignant tumour growth and the
      induction of apoptosis. Supplementation with carotenoids can affect cell growth
      and modulate gene expression and immune responses. Epidemiological studies have
      shown a correlation between a high carotenoid intake in the diet with a reduced
      risk of breast, cervical, ovarian, colorectal cancers, and cardiovascular and eye
      diseases. Cancer chemoprevention by dietary carotenoids involves several
      mechanisms, including effects on gap junctional intercellular communication,
      growth factor signalling, cell cycle progression, differentiation-related
      proteins, retinoid-like receptors, antioxidant response element, nuclear
      receptors, AP-1 transcriptional complex, the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and
      inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, carotenoids can stimulate the proliferation of
      B- and T-lymphocytes, the activity of macrophages and cytotoxic T-cells, effector
      T-cell function and the production of cytokines. Recently, the beneficial effects
      of carotenoid-rich vegetables and fruits in health and in decreasing the risk of
      certain diseases has been attributed to the major carotenoids, beta-carotene,
      lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, crocin (/crocetin) and curcumin, due to their
      antioxidant effects. It is thought that carotenoids act in a time- and dose
      dependent manner. In this review, we briefly describe the biological and
      immunological activities of the main carotenoids used for the treatment of
      various diseases and their possible mechanisms of action. LINKED ARTICLES: This
      article is part of a themed section on Principles of Pharmacological Research of
      Nutraceuticals. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 27638717
TI  - Pathogenesis of cerebral palsy through the prism of immune regulation of nervous
      tissue homeostasis: literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cerebral palsy is highly actual issue of pediatrics, causing
      significant neurological disability. Though the great progress in the
      neuroscience has been recently achieved, the pathogenesis of cerebral palsy is
      still poorly understood. METHODS: In this work, we reviewed available
      experimental and clinical data concerning the role of immune cells in
      pathogenesis of cerebral palsy. Maintaining of homeostasis in nervous tissue and
      its transformation in case of periventricular leukomalacia were analyzed.
      RESULTS: The reviewed data demonstrate involvement of immune regulatory cells in
      the formation of nervous tissue imbalance and chronicity of inborn brain damage.
      The supported opinion, that periventricular leukomalacia is not a static
      phenomenon, but developing process, encourages our optimism about the possibility
      of its correction. CONCLUSIONS: The further studies of changes of the nervous and
      immune systems in cerebral palsy are needed to create fundamentally new
      directions of the specific therapy and individual schemes of rehabilitation.

PMID- 27638718
TI  - Transcranial Doppler in the evaluation of infants treated with retrograde
      ventriculosinus shunt.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hydrocephalus is a prevalent condition among infants. Retrograde
      ventriculosinus shunt (RVSS) proposes a feasible option to treat hydrocephalus
      according to the principles presented by El-Shafei. In this essay, we analyze
      nuances and application of transcranial Doppler (TCD) in patients submitted to
      RVSS. METHODS: We consecutively enrolled patients diagnosed with hydrocephalus
      after surgical repair of myelomeningocele from January 2010 to January 2012,
      users of Hospital das Clinicas, University of Sao Paulo. They were treated with
      RVSS. Patients enrolled to the study were consecutively evaluated in an
      outpatient basis with TCD in preoperative, immediate postoperative period, and
      late postoperative period (1 year). RESULTS: Except for patient 3, there was an
      increase in mean flow velocity, decreased pulsatility index, and decreased
      resistance index in all vessels analyzed. DISCUSSION: In our sample, transcranial
      Doppler could be used as a diagnostic and follow-up tool to evaluate hemodynamics
      and hydrodynamics in the preoperative and postoperative phases of RVSS. It was
      technically feasible in all patients, had close relation with other clinical and
      image parameters, and was sensitive to identify system malfunction.

PMID- 27638719
TI  - Dorsal midbrain syndrome in two cases with two different presentations.

PMID- 27638720
TI  - Predicting ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection in children with hydrocephalus
      using artificial neural network.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The relationships between shunt infection and predictive factors have
      not been previously investigated using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model. The
      aim of this study was to develop an ANN model to predict shunt infection in a
      group of children with shunted hydrocephalus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among more
      than 800 ventriculoperitoneal shunt procedures which had been performed between
      April 2000 and April 2011, 68 patients with shunt infection and 80 controls that
      fulfilled a set of meticulous inclusion/exclusion criteria were consecutively
      enrolled. Univariate analysis was performed for a long list of risk factors, and
      those with p value < 0.2 were used to create ANN and logistic regression (LR)
      models. RESULTS: Five variables including birth weight, age at the first
      shunting, shunt revision, prematurity, and myelomeningocele were significantly
      associated with shunt infection via univariate analysis, and two other variables
      (intraventricular hemorrhage and coincided infections) had a p value of less than
      0.2. Using these seven input variables, ANN and LR models predicted shunt
      infection with an accuracy of 83.1 % (AUC; 91.98 %, 95 % CI) and 55.7 % (AUC;
      76.5, 95 % CI), respectively. The contribution of the factors in the predictive
      performance of ANN in descending order was history of shunt revision, low birth
      weight (under 2000 g), history of prematurity, the age at the first shunt
      procedure, history of intraventricular hemorrhage, history of myelomeningocele,
      and coinfection. CONCLUSION: The findings show that artificial neural networks
      can predict shunt infection with a high level of accuracy in children with
      shunted hydrocephalus. Also, the contribution of different risk factors in the
      prediction of shunt infection can be determined using the trained network.

PMID- 27638721
TI  - Concordance analysis and diagnostic test accuracy review of IDH1
      immunohistochemistry in glioblastoma.
AB  - The study investigated isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 immunohistochemistry
      (IHC) positive rate and concordance rate between IDH1 IHC and molecular test in
      glioblastoma. The current study included 1360 glioblastoma cases from sixteen
      eligible studies. Meta-analysis, including subgroup analysis by antibody clones
      and cut-off values, for IDH1 IHC positive rate was conducted. In addition, we
      performed a concordance analysis and diagnostic test accuracy review between IDH1
      IHC and molecular tests. The estimated rates of IDH1 IHC were 0.106 [95 %
      confidence interval (CI) 0.085-0.132]. The IDH1 IHC positive rate of primary and
      secondary glioblastomas was 0.049 (95 % CI 0.023-0.99) and 0.729 (95 % CI 0.477
      0.889), respectively. The overall concordance rate between IDH1 IHC and molecular
      test was 0.947 (95 % CI 0.878-0.978). In IDH1 IHC-positive and negative
      subgroups, the concordance rate was 0.842 (95 % CI 0.591-0.952) and 0.982 (95 %
      CI 0.941-0.995), respectively. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for IDH1
      IHC were 1.00 (95 % CI 0.82-1.00) and 0.99 (95 % CI 0.96-1.00), respectively.
      IDH1 IHC is an accurate test for IDH1 mutation in glioblastoma patients. Further
      cumulative studies for evaluation criteria of IDH1 IHC will determine how to best
      apply this approach in daily practice.

PMID- 27638722
TI  - Genetic markers as therapeutic target in rheumatoid arthritis: A game changer in
      clinical therapy?
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory, multi-systemic autoimmune
      disease unremitted by genetic and environmental factors. The factors are crucial
      but inadequate in the development of disease; however, these factors can be
      representative of potential therapeutic targets and response to clinical therapy.
      Insights into the contribution of genetic risk factors are currently in progress
      with studies querying the genetic variation, their role in gene expression of
      coding and non-coding genes and other mechanisms of disease. In this review, we
      describe the significance of genetic markers architecture of RA through genome
      wide association studies and meta-analysis studies. Further, it also reveals the
      mechanism of disease pathogenesis investigated through the mutual findings of
      functional and genetic studies of individual RA-associated genes, which includes
      HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1, HLA-DPB1, PADI4, PTPN22, TRAF1-C5, STAT4 and C5orf30.
      However, the genetic background of RA remains to be clearly depicted. Prospective
      efforts of the post-genomic and functional genomic period can travel toward real
      possible assessment of the genetic effect on RA. The discovery of novel genes
      associated with the disease can be appropriate in identifying potential
      biomarkers, which could assist in early diagnosis and aggressive treatment.

PMID- 27638723
TI  - Relationship between chronic kidney disease and central sleep apnea: the
      importance of volume management.

PMID- 27638724
TI  - Probing the prevalence of central sleep apnea in patients with chronic kidney
      disease.

PMID- 27638726
TI  - Microfinance Participation and Marital Violence in Bangladesh: A Qualitative
      Inquiry.
AB  - This study explores the experiences of marital violence within the context of
      microfinance participation among a sample of women living in poverty in
      Bangladesh. Status inconsistency theory suggests that the higher incomes and
      female independence that may occur with microfinance participation may threaten
      or destabilize marital norms in Bangladesh, and have implications in terms of
      increased violence. We use qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 30
      women residing in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to assess the circumstances in
      which there may be an association between microfinance participation and marital
      violence and elucidate the context in which this interaction occurs.

PMID- 27638725
TI  - Factors predicting CPAP adherence in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with a range of
      neurocognitive and cardiovascular complications, leading to a compromised quality
      of life. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the gold standard
      therapeutic intervention for this disorder, yet patient compliance remains
      essential to its success. This study aimed at identifying the determinants of
      short-term and long-term CPAP adherence in a group of Lebanese patients. METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study, conducted at the Sleep Center of Hotel-Dieu de France
      hospital in Lebanon, included patients diagnosed with OSA and treated with CPAP
      for at least one night between June 2008 and January 2015. Adherence was assessed
      based on patients' self-report. RESULTS: The study enrolled 138 patients.
      Adherence rate was 70.3 % at 6 months and around 50 % after 5 years. Cox models
      showed that use of nasal masks (HR 0.48, p = 0.048) and higher oxygen
      desaturation index at baseline (HR 0.98 p = 0.048) were associated with a better
      short-term CPAP adherence. Patients who bought their devices (HR 0.18, p <
      0.001), those who were frequently contacted by the CPAP provider (HR 0.85, p
      0.024), and those who reported improvement on treatment (HR 0.36, p < 0.001) were
      significantly more likely to remain adherent on the long term. Conversely,
      individuals on a diet plan tended to interrupt the treatment earlier (HR 4.85, p
      0.039). CONCLUSION: The present findings should be further explored in order to
      tailor interventions to the specific needs of different patient profiles and
      secure an improved CPAP adherence.

PMID- 27638728
TI  - Should preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) be implemented to routine IVF
      practice?

PMID- 27638727
TI  - Anti-Mullerian hormone is produced heterogeneously in primate preantral follicles
      and is a potential biomarker for follicle growth and oocyte maturation in vitro.
AB  - PURPOSE: The main goals of this study were to investigate the expression of anti
      Mullerian hormone (AMH) and its receptor (AMHR2) during follicular development in
      primates, and to evaluate the potential of AMH as a biomarker for follicle growth
      and oocyte maturation in vitro. METHODS: The mRNA and protein expression of AMH
      and AMHR2 were determined using isolated follicles and ovarian sections from
      rhesus macaques (n = 4) by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively.
      Isolated secondary follicles were cultured individually. Follicle growth and
      media AMH concentrations were assessed by ELISA. The mRNA expression profiles,
      obtained from RNA sequencing, of in vitro- and in vivo-developed antral follicles
      were compared. Secondary follicles from additional animals (n = 35) were
      cultured. Follicle growth, oocyte maturation, and media AMH concentrations were
      evaluated for forecasting follicular development in vitro by AMH levels. RESULTS:
      AMH immunostaining was heterogeneous in the population of preantral follicles
      that were also stained for AMHR2. The mRNA expression profiles were comparable
      between in vivo- and in vitro-developed follicles. AMH levels produced by growing
      follicles were higher than those of nongrowing follicles in culture. With a
      cutoff value of 1.40 ng/ml, 85 % of nongrowing follicles could be identified
      while eliminating only 5 % of growing follicles. Growing follicles that generated
      metaphase II-stage oocytes secreted greater amounts of AMH than did those
      yielding immature germinal vesicle-stage oocytes. CONCLUSIONS: AMH, co-expressed
      with AMHR2, was produced heterogeneously by preantral follicles in macaques with
      levels correlated positively with follicle growth and oocyte maturation. AMH may
      serve as a biomarker for primate follicular development in vitro.

PMID- 27638729
TI  - New species of Plagioporus Stafford, 1904 (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from California,
      with an amendment of the genus and a phylogeny of freshwater plagioporines of the
      Holarctic.
AB  - Plagioporus hageli n. sp. is described from the intestine of Oncorhynchus mykiss
      (Walbaum) collected from the River Yuba, California, USA. Of the accepted,
      nominal species of Plagioporus Stafford, 1904 from the Nearctic, the new species
      is morphologically similar to three intestinal species from the western USA
      parasitising diadromous fishes, including Plagioporus shawi (McIntosh, 1939),
      Plagioporus kolipinskii Tracey, Choudhury, Cheng & Ghosh, 2009 and Plagioporus
      siliculus Sinitsin, 1931, and is also similar to Plagioporus serotinus Stafford,
      1904 from catostomids from eastern Canada. Plagioporus hageli n. sp. is
      distinguished from the former three species in lacking a dorsal vitelline field
      and from the latter species in having a consistent interruption in the
      distribution of the vitellarium at the level of the ventral sucker. The new
      species is also morphologically similar to an unnamed species of Plagioporus and
      a species misidentified as 'Plagioporus angusticolle' that were collected from
      California, but it is easily distinguished from both in its shorter body length.
      To estimate the placement of the new species within Plagioporus and within the
      Opecoelidae Ozaki, 1925, we conducted a Bayesian inference (BI) analysis of
      partial 28S rDNA sequence data that included sequences from Plagioporus hageli n.
      sp., five other species of Plagioporus, three species of Neoplagioporus Shimazu,
      1990, including the type-species, Neoplagioporus zacconis (Yamaguti, 1934), two
      species of Urorchis Ozaki, 1927 (including the type-species, Urorchis goro Ozaki,
      1927) and sequences of 42 opecoelid species obtained from GenBank. Our
      phylogenetic analysis revealed (i) plagioporines parasitising freshwater hosts
      form a monophyletic group; (ii) Plagiocirrus loboides Curran, Overstreet & Tkach,
      2007 nested within the rest of the members of Plagioporus; (iii) the new species
      was closer to Plagiocirrus loboides than to Plagioporus shawi, the other salmonid
      parasite included in our analysis; (iv) P. shawi was the poorly supported sister
      to its congeners; (v) Neoplagioporus elongatus (Goto & Ozaki, 1930) Shimazu, 1990
      was closer to the two species of Urorchis than to the other two species of
      Neoplagioporus; and (vi) the paraphyly of the Plagioporinae Manter, 1947 was
      reinforced. Based on 28S rDNA sequence data and our BI analysis, we propose
      Plagioporus loboides (Curran, Overstreet & Tkach, 2007) n. comb., and amend
      Plagioporus accordingly. This analysis represents the first phylogenetic study of
      the opecoelids that estimates the interrelationships of the Plagioporinae that
      includes a member of Plagioporus.

PMID- 27638730
TI  - Pharyngostrongylus thylogale n. sp. (Nematoda: Strongylida) from the stomachs of
      macropodid marsupials defined by morphological and molecular criteria.
AB  - Pharyngostrongylus thylogale n. sp. (Nematoda: Strongylida) is described from the
      stomach of the red-legged pademelon, Thylogale stigmatica (Gould) (Marsupialia:
      Macropodidae) from north-eastern Queensland and Papua New Guinea, having formerly
      been confused with P. iota Johnston & Mawson, 1939. Pharyngostrongylus thylogale
      n. sp. differs from all congeners in having 12 labial crown elements rather than
      eight or 16. Pharyngostrongylus iota was found in T. stigmatica, but only in
      southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, in the subspecies T. s.
      wilcoxi, compared with P. thylogale n. sp. which was found in T. s. stigmatica in
      northern Queensland and T. s. oriomo in Papua New Guinea. Differences in the
      sequences of the first and second internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2)
      of the nuclear ribosomal DNA of P. thylogale n. sp. and ten congeners support the
      erection of the new species, and the validity of the morphospecies examined.
      However, results of the phylogenetic analyses of the molecular data also provide
      evidence for the existence of cryptic species within P. kappa Mawson, 1965. No
      obvious co-evolutionary relationships were observed between parasite species and
      their macropodid marsupial hosts.

PMID- 27638731
TI  - Hamacreadium cribbi n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from Lethrinus miniatus
      (Forster) (Perciformes: Lethrinidae) from New Caledonian waters.
AB  - A new species of Hamacreadium Linton, 1910, H. cribbi n. sp. is described from
      Lethrinus miniatus (Forster) from the waters off New Caledonia. It is compared
      with the other species of Hamacreadium reported from lethrinids and is
      characterised by the size of its eggs which tend to be larger [72-93 (84) vs 54
      81 (56) um long] than those of other species. Other characteristics, such as body
      size and shape and internal ratios, differentiate H. cribbi from other species;
      these differences are discussed in detail.

PMID- 27638732
TI  - Anhemialges suteui n. sp. (Astigmata: Analgidae) from Hylia prasina (Cassin)
      (Passeriformes, Macrosphenidae) in Ivory Coast.
AB  - Anhemialges suteui n. sp. (Astigmata: Analgidae: Analginae) is described from the
      green hylia Hylia prasina (Cassin) (Passeriformes, Macrosphenidae) in Ivory
      Coast. The new species differs from the closest species, Anhemialges mironovi
      Kolarova, 2010, by the following features: in both sexes, solenidion sigma on
      genu II is modified and widened in a form of leaf; dorsal setae c2, d2 and e2 are
      longer; and sternum and epimerites II are thinner. In males of the new species
      ambulacral discs of legs IV extend beyond the level of the lobar apices; in
      females, dorsal setae c2, d2 and e2 are situated on small oval shields and the
      anterior margin of epigynum exceeds the level of mesal extremities of epimerites
      II.

PMID- 27638733
TI  - Rare parasitic copepods (Siphonostomatoida: Lernanthropidae) from Egyptian Red
      Sea fishes.
AB  - Two rare species of parasitic copepods belonging to the genus Lernanthropus de
      Blainville, 1822 (Siphonostomatoida: Lernanthropidae) are redescribed in detail,
      based on material collected from Red Sea fishes, caught at El-Tor, near Sharm El
      Sheikh on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Adult females of Lernanthropus sanguineus
      Song & Chen, 1976 were found on the gills of snapper Lutjanus fulviflamma
      (Forsskal). This species was known only from its original description based on
      material from Chinese waters. Adult females of Lernanthropus triangularis Pillai,
      1963 were obtained from the gills of mojarra Gerres oyena (Forsskal). Both
      parasite species are new records for Egyptian Red Sea waters and both host
      records are new.

PMID- 27638734
TI  - Three new species of the genus Pterygosoma Peters, 1849 (Acariformes:
      Pterygosomatidae) from agamid lizards (Sauria: Agaminae) with DNA barcode data.
AB  - Three new species of the genus Pterygosoma Peters, 1849 parasitising lizards of
      the subfamily Agaminae (Squamata: Agamidae) are described: P. pallidum n. sp.
      from Trapelus pallidus (Merrem) and P. parasiniatum n. sp. from Pseudotrapelus
      cf. sinaitus (Heyden) (both from Jordan); and P. theobaldi n. sp. from
      Phrynocephalus theobaldi Blyth from North India. We extend the standard
      morphological description of the new species by using DNA barcode markers,
      partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene
      and the hypervariable region D2 of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene. A key to the
      species group inermis is constructed based on female morphology. The agamid genus
      Phrynocephalus Kaup, 1825 is recorded as a host of Pterygosoma for the first
      time.

PMID- 27638735
TI  - Two new species of coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from leaf-tailed geckos,
      Uroplatus spp. (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Madagascar, including a new host of
      Eimeria brygooi Upton & Barnard, 1987.
AB  - During May and June 2015, four common leaf-tailed geckos, Uroplatus fimbriatus
      (Schneider), five satanic leaf-tailed geckos, Uroplatus phantasticus (Boulenger),
      and four mossy leaf-tailed geckos, Uroplatus sikorae Boettger originally
      collected from Madagascar and housed at the Dallas Zoo, USA, had their faeces
      examined for coccidian parasites. Eight (62%) geckos were found to be passing
      oocysts, including a new eimerian, a new isosporan and a previously described
      eimerian. Three of four (75%) U. fimbratus (type-host) and one of five (20%) U.
      phantasticus were infected with Eimeria schneideri n. sp.; oocysts were
      subspheroidal to ellipsoidal with a bi-layered wall and measured (mean length *
      width, L * W) 15.1 * 13.5 um, with a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.1. A micropyle
      and oocyst residuum were absent but one to many polar granules were present.
      Sporocysts were ovoidal, 6.9 * 5.3 um, L/W = 1.3. Stieda, sub-Stieda and para
      Stieda bodies were absent. A globular sporocyst residuum was present as dispersed
      granules. Four of five (80%) U. phantasticus harboured Isospora boulengeri n.
      sp.; oocysts were subpheroidal to ellipsoidal with a bi-layered wall and measured
      17.3 * 16.0 um, L/W = 1.1. A micropyle and oocyst residuum were absent but a
      polar granule was present. Sporocysts were ellipsoidal, 9.5 * 6.9 um, L/W = 1.4.
      Stieda and sub-Stieda bodies were present but a para-Stieda body was absent. A
      globular sporocyst residuum was present with dispersed granules. In addition, one
      of four (25%) U. sikorae was infected with an eimerian indistinguishable from
      Eimeria brygooi Upton & Barnard, 1987, previously reported from Madagascar day
      gecko, Phelsuma grandis Gray and golddust day gecko, Phelsuma laticauda
      (Boettger) from Madagascar. These are the first coccidians described from
      Uroplatus spp.

PMID- 27638736
TI  - Isospora cardellinae n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the red warbler
      Cardellina rubra (Swainson) (Passeriformes: Parulidae) in Mexico.
AB  - A new coccidian species (Protozoa: Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) collected from the
      red warbler Cardellina rubra (Swainson) is reported from the Nevado de Toluca
      National Park, Mexico. Isospora cardellinae n. sp. has subspherical oocysts,
      measuring on average 26.6 * 25.4 MUm, with smooth, bi-layered wall, c.1.3 MUm
      thick. Micropyle, oocyst residuum, and polar granule are absent. Sporocysts are
      ovoidal, measuring on average 19.0 * 12.0 um, with a knob-like Stieda body, a
      trapezoidal sub-Stieda body and sporocyst residuum composed of scattered
      spherules of different sizes. Sporozoites are vermiform with one refractile body
      and a nucleus. This is the fourth description of an isosporoid coccidian
      infecting a New World warbler.

PMID- 27638738
TI  - A mixed-methods study of smoking attitudes and behaviors among dual-smoker stroke
      survivor-caregiver dyads.
AB  - Although cigarette smoking is a major contributor to continued health problems
      after stroke, the majority of stroke survivors do not quit smoking. This may be
      due in part to the high rate of smoking among committed partners of stroke
      survivors. This study investigated the experiences of 11 dual-smoker stroke
      survivor-caregiver dyads, identifying themes which may be useful for
      understanding this entrenched population: managing the addiction as a dyad;
      conflicting feelings about whether smoking is an individual versus mutual
      concern; and dyad-level barriers and facilitators of quitting. We also present
      specific cessation strategies that dual-smoker dyads participating in the study
      described.

PMID- 27638737
TI  - (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N resonance assignments and secondary structure information
      for Methylobacterium extorquens PqqD and the complex of PqqD with PqqA.
AB  - The ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP),
      pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), is a dehydrogenase cofactor synthesized by, but
      not exclusively used by, certain prokaryotes. RiPPs represent a rapidly expanding
      and diverse class of natural products-many of which have therapeutic potential
      and the biosynthetic pathways for these are gaining attention. Five gene products
      from the pqq operon (PqqA, PqqB, PqqC, PqqD, and PqqE) are essential for PQQ
      biosynthesis. The substrate is the peptide PqqA, which is presented to the
      radical SAM enzyme PqqE by the small protein PqqD. PqqA is unstructured in
      solution, and only binds to PqqE when in complex with PqqD. PqqD is a member of a
      growing family of RiPP chaperone proteins (or domains in most cases) that present
      their associated peptide substrates to the initial RiPP biosynthesis enzymes. An
      X-ray crystal structure exists for dimeric Xanthomonas campestris PqqD (PDB ID:
      3G2B), but PqqD is now known to act as a monomer under physiological conditions.
      In this study, the PqqD truncation from naturally fused Methylobacterium
      extorquens (Mex) PqqCD was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and MexPqqA was
      chemically synthesized. Solution NMR (1)H-,(15)N-HSQC chemical shift studies have
      identified the PqqD residues involved in binding PqqA, and (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N
      peak assignments for PqqD alone and for PqqD bound to PqqA are reported herein.

PMID- 27638739
TI  - Biosimilar Monoclonal Antibodies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Current Comfort
      and Future Prospects.
AB  - Biosimilars are biologic medicines that enter the market after a patent for an
      original reference product expires. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) developed
      a stringent legislation process for biosimilar monoclonal antibodies, whereby
      similarity to the reference medicinal product in terms of quality
      characteristics, biological activity, clinical safety and efficacy must be
      demonstrated. Biosimilar infliximab CT-P13 was the first biosimilar monoclonal
      antibody to receive EMA marketing authorization, and further biosimilar molecules
      are being developed. The phase I and III clinical trials were conducted in
      ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis, and the use of CT-P13 in
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was extrapolated on the results of these trials.
      Medical professionals were initially concerned about the reversed engineering
      process, the novel legal framework and the lack of clinical data in IBD. Emerging
      real-world data have confirmed the similarities between CT-P13 and the reference
      product in terms of efficacy, safety and immunogenicity in IBD. The cost
      reduction represented by biosimilars promotes industry competition and improves
      treatment access with sustained quality of care. This article reviews the
      existing and emerging clinical data for CT-P13 and a future perspective on
      biosimilar use in IBD.

PMID- 27638740
TI  - Predictive validity of the UKCAT for medical school undergraduate performance: a
      national prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) has been shown to have a modest
      but statistically significant ability to predict aspects of academic performance
      throughout medical school. Previously, this ability has been shown to be
      incremental to conventional measures of educational performance for the first
      year of medical school. This study evaluates whether this predictive ability
      extends throughout the whole of undergraduate medical study and explores the
      potential impact of using the test as a selection screening tool. METHODS: This
      was an observational prospective study, linking UKCAT scores, prior educational
      attainment and sociodemographic variables with subsequent academic outcomes
      during the 5 years of UK medical undergraduate training. The participants were
      6812 entrants to UK medical schools in 2007-8 using the UKCAT. The main outcome
      was academic performance at each year of medical school. A receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was also conducted, treating the UKCAT as a
      screening test for a negative academic outcome (failing at least 1 year at first
      attempt). RESULTS: All four of the UKCAT scale scores significantly predicted
      performance in theory- and skills-based exams. After adjustment for prior
      educational achievement, the UKCAT scale scores remained significantly predictive
      for most years. Findings from the ROC analysis suggested that, if used as a sole
      screening test, with the mean applicant UKCAT score as the cut-off, the test
      could be used to reject candidates at high risk of failing at least 1 year at
      first attempt. However, the 'number needed to reject' value would be high (at
      1.18), with roughly one candidate who would have been likely to pass all years at
      first sitting being rejected for every higher risk candidate potentially declined
      entry on this basis. CONCLUSIONS: The UKCAT scores demonstrate a statistically
      significant but modest degree of incremental predictive validity throughout
      undergraduate training. Whilst the UKCAT could be considered a fairly crude
      screening tool for future academic performance, it may offer added value when
      used in conjunction with other selection measures. Future work should focus on
      the optimum role of such tests within the selection process and the prediction of
      post-graduate performance.

PMID- 27638742
TI  - Role of I-123 MIBG in sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 27638741
TI  - [Determinants of psychotropic medication in adults with mild or moderate
      intellectual disabilities].
AB  - BACKGROUND: During the past years the provision of mental healthcare for adults
      with intellectual disabilities (ID) has repeatedly been criticized; however, the
      number of relevant studies is still relatively few. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the
      present study was to identify determinants for utilization of mental healthcare
      services and prescription of psychotropic medication in adults with mild to
      moderate ID. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analyses were based on data from 417 adults
      with mild to moderate ID, which had been collected within the cross-sectional
      MEMENTA study in three different regions of Germany. Logistic regression analyses
      were conducted to identify clinical and sociodemographic variables as predictors
      of utilization of mental healthcare services (n = 282) and psychotropic
      medication (n = 351). RESULTS: Utilization of healthcare services and
      psychotropic medication were both associated with mental disorders and problem
      behavior. In addition, the likelihood of being treated with psychotropic
      medication and antipsychotic drugs was higher in adults living in residential
      homes. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate a lack of adherence to existing
      guidelines in the treatment of adults with ID living in residential homes.

PMID- 27638743
TI  - Nuclear imaging of cardiac amyloidosis. 'We've only just begun'.

PMID- 27638744
TI  - Chest pain triage: Current trends in the emergency departments in the United
      States.
AB  - Chest pain is one of the most common complaints in the emergency department (ED).
      Over the past decade, there has been a significant shift in the approach to
      patients with chest pain in the ED. With the development of improved cardiac
      biomarkers, the validation of clinical scoring systems, and an increasing
      emphasis on shared patient medical decision making, increasing numbers of
      patients in the ED are being evaluated without requiring admission to the
      hospital.

PMID- 27638745
TI  - Feasibility of FDG-PET in myocarditis: Comparison to CMR using integrated
      PET/MRI.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Besides cardiac sarcoidosis, FDG-PET is rarely used in the diagnosis
      of myocardial inflammation, while cardiac MRI (CMR) is the actual imaging
      reference for the workup of myocarditis. Using integrated PET/MRI in patients
      with suspected myocarditis, we prospectively compared FDG-PET to CMR and the
      feasibility of integrated FDG-PET/MRI in myocarditis. METHODS: A total of 65
      consecutive patients with suspected myocarditis were prospectively assessed using
      integrated cardiac FDG-PET/MRI. Studies comprised T2-weighted imaging, late
      gadolinium enhancement (LGE), and simultaneous PET acquisition. Physiological
      glucose uptake in the myocardium was suppressed using dietary preparation.
      RESULTS: FDG-PET/MRI was successful in 55 of 65 enrolled patients: two patients
      were excluded due to claustrophobia and eight patients due to failed inhibition
      of myocardial glucose uptake. Compared with CMR (LGE and/or T2), sensitivity and
      specificity of PET was 74% and 97%. Overall spatial agreement between PET and CMR
      was kappa = 0.73. Spatial agreement between PET and T2 (kappa = 0.75) was higher
      than agreement between PET and LGE (kappa = 0.64) as well as between LGE and T2
      (kappa = 0.56). CONCLUSION: In patients with suspected myocarditis, FDG-PET is in
      good agreement with CMR findings.

PMID- 27638746
TI  - Optimizing quantitative myocardial perfusion by positron emission tomography for
      guiding CAD management.

PMID- 27638751
TI  - Are molecular scanners going to make double-blind placebo-controlled trials
      impossible?

PMID- 27638752
TI  - Structural and recovery mechanisms of 3D dental pulp cell microtissues challenged
      with Streptococcusmutans in extracellular matrix environment.
AB  - Cariopathogen Streptococcus mutans exists in infected dental pulp of deciduous
      teeth and is frequently linked with heart diseases. Organotypic (3D) dental pulp
      stem cell (DPSC) cultures/microtissues, developed to mimic the physiological
      conditions in vivo, were utilized to assess the bacterial impact on their (i) 3D
      structural configuration and (ii) recovery mechanisms. The cultures, developed in
      extracellular matrix (ECM) bio-scaffold (MatrigelTM), interacted with WT and GFP
      tagged bacterial biofilms by permitting their infiltration through the ECM.
      Challenged cell constructs were visualized by F-actin/nuclei staining. Their
      pluripotency (Sox2) and differentiation (osteocalcin) markers were assessed by
      immunocytochemistry. Secreted mineral was detected by alizarin red, and 3D
      structural arrangements were analysed by epi-fluorescence and confocal scanning
      microscopy. Bacterial biofilm/ECM-embedded DPSC interactions appeared in distinct
      areas of the microtissues. Bacterial attachment to the cell surface occurred
      without evidence of invasion. Surface architecture of the challenged versus
      unchallenged microtissues was apparently unaltered. However, significant
      increases in thickness (138.42 vs 106.51 um) and bacterial penetration were
      detected in challenged structures causing canal-like microstructures with various
      diameters (12.94 -42.88 um) and average diameter of 20.66 to 33.42 um per
      microtissue. Challenged constructs expressed pluripotency and differentiation
      markers and secreted the mineral. Presented model shows strong potential for
      assessing pulp-pathogen interactions in vivo. S. mutans infiltrated and
      penetrated the microtissues but did not invade the cells or compromise major cell
      repair mechanisms. These findings would suggest reexamining the role of S. mutans
      as an endodontic pathogen and investigating DPSC resistance to its pathogenicity.

PMID- 27638753
TI  - History of robotic surgery.
AB  - Robotic surgery is one of the most advanced forms of Minimally Invasive Surgery.
      Although the application of robotic technology to surgical robotics started some
      20 years ago, the earliest work in robotics and automation can be traced back to
      400 BC. Some of the early pioneers include Archytas of Arentum, Leonardo da
      Vinci, Gianello Toriano, and Pierre Jaquet-Droz, and we owe to these philosophers
      and scientists the fact that we can offer the benefit of minimal invasion in
      surgery. The purpose of this review is to give a brief description of the
      evolution of robotic surgery from its early history to present-day surgical
      robotics. 

PMID- 27638754
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial adrenalectomy: a case report and review of
      the literature.
AB  - Adrenal-sparing surgery has recently been reported in the literature on minimally
      invasive surgery. Originally described as a conventional laparoscopic procedure,
      encouraging outcomes in terms of preservation of adrenal function have been
      reported. Since the introduction of robotic surgery, surgeons have utilized
      robotic assistance for adrenal surgery and have recently described adrenal
      sparing surgery using this platform. Certain patients that present with adrenal
      masses may benefit from minimally-invasive partial adrenalectomy, including those
      with a solitary adrenal gland, bilateral adrenal masses, and hereditary disease
      predisposing them to multiple adrenal masses. Patients without these conditions
      may also benefit from adrenal-sparing surgery in order to preserve normal adrenal
      function. We present the case of a patient with a 1.5-cm adrenal mass who elected
      to undergo adrenal-sparing surgery. The technique of transperitoneal laparoscopic
      partial adrenalectomy utilizing the da VinciTM Surgical System is described. We
      also review the literature on minimally-invasive partial adrenalectomy in which
      robotic-assistance was utilized. In conclusion, while robot-assisted laparoscopic
      partial adrenalectomy remains in its infancy, it can be performed safely and with
      satisfactory surgical and functional outcomes. 

PMID- 27638755
TI  - Does the presence of robotic surgery affect demographics in patients choosing to
      undergo radical prostatectomy? A multi-center contemporary analysis.
AB  - We report on differences in patient demographics in those men choosing to undergo
      radical prostatectomy in a UK center where there is no influence of robotic
      surgery and in those choosing radical prostatectomy in a US center where there is
      a strong robotic influence. Demographic and pathologic data were prospectively
      recorded in parallel for 78 consecutive men undergoing robot-assisted radical
      prostatectomy in a tertiary care academic US center and 69 consecutive men
      concurrently undergoing open radical prostatectomy in a similar UK center.
      Although average patient age was significantly younger in the US cohort (58.8
      years, range 43.1-77.6 vs. 62.2 years, range 51.7-70.5; P = 0.002), the US cohort
      encompassed a wider age range and older patients than the UK cohort. Average
      preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was significantly lower in the US
      group (6.0, range 2.0-6.0 vs. 8.60, range 4.6-12.6; P < 0.01). Biopsy Gleason
      score, clinical stage, final pathology Gleason score, pathologic staging and
      positive margin rate were not significantly different between the two groups.
      Blood loss and transfusion rate were significantly lower in the US group. 16.7%
      of men in the US cohort had overall positive surgical margins compared to 29% in
      the UK group (P = 0.07). This data confirms our belief that patient age ranges
      are different in a setting influenced by robotic surgery. Although pathologic
      parameters were similar, the age distribution of robotic surgery patients was
      much wider, suggesting robotics attracts men previously reluctant to undergo
      surgery in the open setting or to pursue active surveillance protocols. Larger
      studies are needed to verify this finding. 

PMID- 27638756
TI  - Safety and learning curve in robotic colorectal surgery.
AB  - Robotic surgery has recently started to be used for minimally invasive colorectal
      surgery. Because of limited access and high cost, very few colorectal units are
      available in the US. We describe our experience with benign and malignant disease
      since September 2008 in a dedicated colorectal practice. A prospective collected
      robotic database was queried for colon and rectal procedures. Anonymized
      demographic, intraoperative, and postoperative data, and pathology information,
      were collected and analyzed. A total of 48 robotic procedures for colorectal
      maladies were performed in the study period. There were 35 females and 13 males.
      The average age was 57 years. Twenty-two cases were performed for diverticulitis,
      13 for malignancy (10 distal rectum (<8 cm anal verge), two rectosigmoid, and one
      ascending colon cancer), 10 for rectal prolapse, two for rectovaginal fistula,
      and one for incidental appendiceal mucocele found during a gynecologic resection.
      The average operating room time (OR) was 162 min and there were no conversions to
      open procedures. Blood loss averaged 104 mL. Mean length of hospital stay (LOS)
      was 5.4 days. Patient readmission occurred in 27.3% of cases. The anastamotic
      leak rate was 2.1% (one patient). No mortalities were reported. When the analysis
      was performed for colorectal malignancies (13 procedures), there were nine
      females and four males. Average age was 59 years. The mean OR time was 191.1 min.
      Mean intraoperative blood loss was 123 mL and there were no conversions to open
      surgery. Average LOS was 7.0 days. There was one anastamotic leak (7.7%). The
      length of stay was increased for the patient with anastamotic leak (18 days) and
      for a patient with high stoma output and postoperative ileus (17 days).
      Readmission rate was 30.1%. The total number of lymph nodes retrieved averaged
      19.5, with a mean distal margin of 3.0 cm and in all cases negative radial
      margins. Robotic colorectal surgery for benign and malignant disease is safe, and
      short-term outcomes are comparable with those of traditional and laparoscopic
      surgery. Oncologic resections were adequate with excellent lymph node sampling
      and radial and distal margins. 

PMID- 27638757
TI  - "Orthobot, to your station!" The application of the remote presence robotic
      system in orthopaedic surgery in Ireland: a pilot study on patient and nursing
      staff satisfaction.
AB  - The remote presence robotic system (RPRS) enables an individual to "be in two
      places at once". Its application includes various uses in medicine and surgery.
      However, its usefulness in the field of orthopaedic surgery has not been
      described. The objective of our pilot study was to determine patient and nursing
      staff satisfaction with the RPRS in an orthopaedic clinical setting in Ireland.
      We performed evening and weekend ward rounds to gain feedback and determine
      patient and nursing staff satisfaction with this innovative system.
      Questionnaires were handed to all patients and staff nurses involved. Both
      patients and nursing staff had very positive reactions to the RPRS in an
      orthopaedic postoperative care setting. Potential uses in orthopaedic surgery
      include clinical outreach in the setting of trauma, supervision in theatre, or
      watching theatre cases from outside the hospital, providing both patient and
      parent reassurance in paediatric orthopaedic cases, and, finally, in the setting
      of outpatient departments. Integration of the RPRS in an orthopaedic clinical
      setting has exciting and limitless potential. More so in this era in which it
      would allow trainees to benefit from teaching and training while also cutting
      down their in-house time and thus hospitals costs. 

PMID- 27638758
TI  - A comprehensive method to train residents in robotic hysterectomy techniques.
AB  - Training residents to perform robotic surgery poses several challenges. We
      describe a comprehensive method, beginning with a dry lab, and progressing
      through bedside assisting, then segmental involvement, to full participation, for
      residents to train and obtain credentials in robotic hysterectomy. From August 1,
      2006 through July 31, 2009 a training method was developed at the University of
      South Alabama on the Gynecologic Oncology service. A dry lab which closely
      simulates specific tasks performed in a robotic hysterectomy was accompanied by
      resident observation of robotic surgery, and followed with progressive
      involvement in the robotic console. This culminated in their completion of dozens
      of complete robotic hysterectomies. Sixteen residents completed the dry lab and
      228 robotic cases were performed, 190 of which were hysterectomy; 161/190 (84.7%)
      included resident participation, 103/190 (54.2%) included resident participation
      in the console, and in 65/190 (34.2%) residents completed the hysterectomy
      procedure. The mean time for resident robotic hysterectomy was 45.08 min (range =
      13-92 min), and the mean time to tie a single figure-of-eight suture in the
      vaginal cuff was 4.41 min (range = 2.25-9.25). Complications were similar for
      resident and attending surgeon cases. Using a dry lab as well as graded
      introduction to robotic surgery which begins with observation, progresses through
      bedside assisting, and culminates in complete hysterectomy by residents, we have
      demonstrated a method to train and credential Ob/Gyn residents in robotic
      hysterectomy. 

PMID- 27638759
TI  - Robotic-assisted laparoscopic cryo-partial nephrectomy: a novel technique using
      cryoablation in lieu of hilar clamping in a porcine model.
AB  - Laparoscopic and robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy has become an increasingly
      viable approach for the resection of renal tumors. There are several technical
      limitations in performing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, the most significant
      being the inability to easily obtain cold ischemia which allows for an extended
      operative time. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of
      cryoablation as an alternative to hilar clamping to maintain hemostasis during
      robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in a porcine model. Twelve
      female swine underwent nine open and eight robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial
      nephrectomies using modified cryoablative methods to create hemostasis. Renal
      perfusion imaged with indocyanine green (ICG) and histological analysis was
      assessed immediately after the procedure and at 3 weeks post-operatively. With
      two freeze/thaw cycles, all nine open and eight robotic-assisted laparoscopic
      partial nephrectomies were successfully completed without the need for hilar
      clamping. The mean blood loss for the open and robotic-assisted groups was 230.6
      and 99.4 ml, respectively. In all cases, maintenance of renal perfusion was
      confirmed by the presence of a renal pulse and intraoperative ICG imaging
      immediately and 3 weeks post-operatively. The histological anatomy was well
      preserved in the resected segment following cryo-resection. After 21 days
      following cryo-resection, histological analysis demonstrated normal viable tissue
      with minimal scarring in the remaining kidney. The use of cryoablation created a
      zone of hemostasis without compromising the vascularity of the remaining kidney,
      while preserving the renal cytoarchitecture of the segment remove for
      pathological analysis. Further studies will help to delineate its usefulness in
      laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. 

PMID- 27638760
TI  - DaVinci robot-assisted transcervical excision of a parapharyngeal space tumor.
AB  - Neoplastic processes in the parapharyngeal space represent less than 1% of all
      head and neck tumors. Due to the complexity, deep location and surrounding vital
      structures of the parapharyngeal space, resection of tumors from this area can
      prove challenging. There are a number of surgical approaches traditionally used
      to access the parapharyngeal space; the choice is dictated by the size of the
      tumor, its location, its relationship to the great vessels, and suspicion of
      malignancy. We describe our innovative surgical technique employing DaVinci robot
      assisted transcervical excision of a parapharyngeal space tumor. To the best of
      our knowledge this is the first report of this surgical technique. 

PMID- 27638761
TI  - The outcome of radical prostatectomy for patients with prostate cancer and acute
      urinary retention.
AB  - Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed medical
      condition in older men. As a consequence, acute urinary retention can occur in
      patients with preoperative prostate cancer. Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy
      as a treatment modality for prostate cancer was designed to decrease operative
      morbidity and minimize long-term morbidity such as incontinence and erectile
      dysfunction. Three patients with prostate cancer coexisting with a BPH-related
      urinary retention managed with a clean intermittent catheterization (patient #1),
      and an indwelling Foley catheter (patients #2 and #3), were treated with a robot
      assisted radical prostatectomy. After the procedure, the patients were able to
      void spontaneously, with good urine flow and reasonable bladder emptying. 

PMID- 27638762
TI  - "Double Burden of Malnutrition": Reexamining the Coexistence of Undernutrition
      and Overweight Among Women in India.
AB  - India has one of the highest rates of underweight burden, with signs of rising
      obesity. Coexistence of underweight and overweight persons is symptomatic of the
      "double burden of malnutrition." The present study throws new light on the
      "double burden of malnutrition" among Indian women in the age group 22-49 years.
      The analysis is based on a nationally representative household survey, India
      Human Development Survey. Our results indicate the continuing pattern of
      socioeconomic segregation of underweight and overweight/obese women, with a large
      concentration of underweight women among the low socioeconomic group and of
      overweight/obese women among the high socioeconomic group. Further, relative food
      prices of food items like cereals and vegetables are significantly associated
      with the risk of being underweight and overweight/obese. Additionally, we find
      notable rural/urban differences. The relationship between socioeconomic factors
      and the probability of being underweight and overweight/obese is stronger in
      urban than in rural areas. Given that the health implications of being
      underweight and overweight/obese are equally grim, provision of healthy food
      items at affordable prices and implementation of programs for preventive and
      curative care of plausible illnesses related to underweight and overweight/obese
      are imperative.

PMID- 27638765
TI  - The Dynamics of Son Preference, Technology Diffusion, and Fertility Decline
      Underlying Distorted Sex Ratios at Birth: A Simulation Approach.
AB  - We present a micro-founded simulation model that formalizes the "ready, willing,
      and able" framework, originally used to explain historical fertility decline, to
      the practice of prenatal sex selection. The model generates sex ratio at birth
      (SRB) distortions from the bottom up and attempts to quantify plausible levels,
      trends, and interactions of son preference, technology diffusion, and fertility
      decline that underpin SRB trajectories at the macro level. Calibrating our model
      for South Korea, we show how even as the proportion with a preference for sons
      was declining, SRB distortions emerged due to rapid diffusion of prenatal sex
      determination technology combined with small but growing propensities to abort at
      low birth parities. Simulations reveal that relatively low levels of son
      preference (about 20 % to 30 % wanting one son) can result in skewed SRB levels
      if technology diffuses early and steadily, and if fertility falls rapidly to
      encourage sex-selective abortion at low parities. Model sensitivity analysis
      highlights how the shape of sex ratio trajectories is particularly sensitive to
      the timing and speed of prenatal sex-determination technology diffusion. The
      maximum SRB levels reached in a population are influenced by how the readiness to
      abort rises as a function of the fertility decline.

PMID- 27638763
TI  - Schwann cell mitochondria as key regulators in the development and maintenance of
      peripheral nerve axons.
AB  - Formation of myelin sheaths by Schwann cells (SCs) enables rapid and efficient
      transmission of action potentials in peripheral axons, and disruption of
      myelination results in disorders that involve decreased sensory and motor
      functions. Given that construction of SC myelin requires high levels of lipid and
      protein synthesis, mitochondria, which are pivotal in cellular metabolism, may be
      potential regulators of the formation and maintenance of SC myelin. Supporting
      this notion, abnormal mitochondria are found in SCs of neuropathic peripheral
      nerves in both human patients and the relevant animal models. However, evidence
      for the importance of SC mitochondria in myelination has been limited, until
      recently. Several studies have recently used genetic approaches that allow SC
      specific ablation of mitochondrial metabolic activity in living animals to show
      the critical roles of SC mitochondria in the development and maintenance of
      peripheral nerve axons. Here, we review current knowledge about the involvement
      of SC mitochondria in the formation and dysfunction of myelinated axons in the
      peripheral nervous system.

PMID- 27638769
TI  - Adamts18 deletion results in distinct developmental defects and provides a model
      for congenital disorders of lens, lung, and female reproductive tract
      development.
AB  - The ADAMTS family comprises 19 secreted metalloproteinases that cleave
      extracellular matrix components and have diverse functions in numerous disease
      and physiological contexts. A number of them remain 'orphan' proteases and among
      them is ADAMTS18, which has been implicated in developmental eye disorders,
      platelet function and various malignancies. To assess in vivo function of
      ADAMTS18, we generated a mouse strain with inactivated Adamts18 alleles. In the
      C57Bl6/Ola background, Adamts18-deficient mice are born in a normal Mendelian
      ratio, and are viable but show a transient growth delay. Histological examination
      revealed a 100% penetrant eye defect resulting from leakage of lens material
      through the lens capsule occurring at embryonic day (E)13.5, when the lens grows
      rapidly. Adamts18-deficient lungs showed altered bronchiolar branching. Fifty
      percent of mutant females are infertile because of vaginal obstruction due to
      either a dorsoventral vaginal septum or imperforate vagina. The incidence of
      ovarian rete is increased in the mutant mouse strain. Thus, Adamts18 is essential
      in the development of distinct tissues and the new mouse strain is likely to be
      useful for investigating ADAMTS18 function in human disease, particularly in the
      contexts of infertility and carcinogenesis.

PMID- 27638764
TI  - Emerging Trends in the Etiology, Prevention, and Treatment of Gastrointestinal
      Anastomotic Leakage.
AB  - Anastomotic leaks represent one of the most alarming complications following any
      gastrointestinal anastomosis due to the substantial effects on post-operative
      morbidity and mortality of the patient with long-lasting effects on the
      functional and oncologic outcomes. There is a lack of consensus related to the
      definition of an anastomotic leak, with a variety of options for prevention and
      management. A number of patient-related and technical risk factors have been
      found to be associated with the development of an anastomotic leak and have
      inspired the development of various preventative measures and technologies. The
      International Multispecialty Anastomotic Leak Global Improvement Exchange group
      was convened to establish a consensus on the definition of an anastomotic leak as
      well as to discuss the various diagnostic, preventative, and management measures
      currently available.

PMID- 27638766
TI  - Continuous administration of the mTORC1 inhibitor everolimus induces tolerance
      and decreases autophagy in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Everolimus is an allosteric inhibitor of the mechanistic
      target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) widely known for its potent autophagy
      stimulating properties. Because everolimus shows poor solubility and stability in
      aqueous solutions, long-term in vivo administration in preclinical models is
      challenging. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of short
      term and long-term everolimus administration on mTORC1 inhibition and autophagy
      induction in mice. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We developed a vehicle in which
      everolimus was solubilized and stable at 37 degrees C for at least 1 month. Using
      osmotic minipumps, GFP microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 transgenic
      mice were treated continuously either with vehicle or everolimus (1.5 mg.kg-1 per
      day) for 3 or 28 days. Alternatively, a regimen consisting of intermittent
      everolimus administration (every other day) for 56 days by oral gavage was used.
      Autophagy markers and mTORC1 activation status were investigated in the liver.
      KEY RESULTS: As expected, everolimus inhibited mTORC1 and stimulated autophagy in
      the liver after 3 days of treatment. However, continuous administration for 28
      days resulted in hyperactivation of the Akt1-mTORC1 pathway accompanied by a
      remarkable decrease in autophagy markers. Everolimus given intermittently for 56
      days partially rescued mTORC1 sensitivity to the drug but without inducing
      autophagy. The failure to induce autophagy following long-term everolimus
      administration was due to uncoupling of the mTORC1 substrate unc-51 like
      autophagy activating kinase 1. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our data encourage
      the use of intermittent everolimus regimens to prevent tolerance and to extend
      its activity.

PMID- 27638770
TI  - Reduced expression of CXCR4, a novel renal cancer stem cell marker, is associated
      with high-grade renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a population with tumour-initiating,
      self-renewal, and differentiation potential. This study aimed to evaluate the
      expression patterns and clinical significance of chemokine receptor type 4
      (CXCR4) as a novel CSC marker in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODS: The
      expression of CXCR4 was examined in 173 well-defined renal tumour tissues,
      including 106 (61.5 %) clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs), 35 (20 %)
      papillary renal cell carcinomas (pRCCs), and 32 (18.5 %) chromophobe renal cell
      carcinomas (ChRCCs), by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray. The
      association between expression of this marker and clinicopathologic parameters
      was then analysed. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the expression
      levels of CXCR4 in the ccRCC samples compared to the ChRCC and pRCC samples (P <
      0.001). Increased expression of CXCR4 was significantly correlated with higher
      grade tumours (P < 0.001) and worse stage (P = 0.001). A significant association
      was also found between expression of CXCR4 and microvascular invasion (P =
      0.018). Among RCC subtypes, comparison of the differences between CXCR4
      expression in low- and high-grade tumours demonstrated that pRCC tumours had a
      significantly higher expression of CXCR4 (P < 0.001) than ccRCC tumours (P =
      0.01). CONCLUSION: Significantly higher expression levels of CXCR4 were found in
      pRCC and ccRCC samples. Increased CXCR4 expression was associated with more
      aggressive tumour behaviour in RCC patients, especially in pRCC and ccRCC
      subtypes due to their more metastatic behaviour. These findings suggest that
      CXCR4 can be considered as a novel diagnostic and therapeutic marker for targeted
      therapy of renal carcinoma.

PMID- 27638768
TI  - Lethal lung hypoplasia and vascular defects in mice with conditional Foxf1
      overexpression.
AB  - FOXF1 heterozygous point mutations and genomic deletions have been reported in
      newborns with the neonatally lethal lung developmental disorder, alveolar
      capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV). However, no
      gain-of-function mutations in FOXF1 have been identified yet in any human disease
      conditions. To study the effects of FOXF1 overexpression in lung development, we
      generated a Foxf1 overexpression mouse model by knocking-in a Cre-inducible Foxf1
      allele into the ROSA26 (R26) locus. The mice were phenotyped using micro-computed
      tomography (micro-CT), head-out plethysmography, ChIP-seq and transcriptome
      analyses, immunohistochemistry, and lung histopathology. Thirty-five percent of
      heterozygous R26-Lox-Stop-Lox (LSL)-Foxf1 embryonic day (E)15.5 embryos exhibit
      subcutaneous edema, hemorrhages and die perinatally when bred to Tie2-cre mice,
      which targets Foxf1 overexpression to endothelial and hematopoietic cells.
      Histopathological and micro-CT evaluations revealed that R26Foxf1; Tie2-cre
      embryos have immature lungs with a diminished vascular network. Neonates
      exhibited respiratory deficits verified by detailed plethysmography studies. ChIP
      seq and transcriptome analyses in E18.5 lungs identified Sox11, Ghr, Ednrb, and
      Slit2 as potential downstream targets of FOXF1. Our study shows that
      overexpression of the highly dosage-sensitive Foxf1 impairs lung development and
      causes vascular abnormalities. This has important clinical implications when
      considering potential gene therapy approaches to treat disorders of FOXF1
      abnormal dosage, such as ACDMPV.

PMID- 27638771
TI  - CCAT1: an oncogenic long noncoding RNA in human cancers.
AB  - PURPOSE: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a new class of noncoding RNAs that
      participate in a variety of biological processes such as cell proliferation, cell
      cycle, differentiation and apoptosis, mainly by regulation of gene expression at
      various levels, including chromatin, splicing, transcriptional and post
      transcriptional levels. CCAT1 is a recently identified oncogenic lncRNA, which
      has been reported to be consistently upregulated in multiple cancer tissues and
      closely correlated with initiation and progression of cancers. The aim of this
      paper is to provide an overview of various roles of CCAT1 in human cancers.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We searched studies in electronic databases. Studies have
      shown the high expression pattern and oncogenic role of CCAT1 in different types
      of cancer, and aberrant expression of CCAT1 is involved in several processes
      correlated with carcinogenesis such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration
      and invasion by regulating different target genes and pathways. CONCLUSION:
      LncRNA CCAT1 promises to be a novel diagnostic biomarker, therapeutic target, as
      well as prognostic biomarker in human cancers.

PMID- 27638773
TI  - Cancer incidence in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a genetic disorder
      characterized by deficiency in endoglin, an angiogenic protein. We previously
      showed that HHT, in which systemic endoglin expression is reduced, was associated
      with better survival outcomes in cancer patients (Duarte et al. in Cancer
      Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 23:117-125, 2014). Here, we evaluated whether HHT was
      associated with reduced cancer incidence. METHODS: A matched case-control
      analysis using SEER Medicare was conducted to evaluate the effect of HHT on
      diagnosis with breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer between 2000 and 2007
      (n = 633,162). Cancer and non-cancer patients were matched on age, sex, SEER
      registry region, and length of the ascertainment period for HHT. We assessed
      crude association using a McNemar's test and then adjusted for demographic
      variables, cancer type, cancer stage, comorbidities, and ascertainment period
      with a conditional logistic regression model for cancer incidence. RESULTS: The
      McNemar's test showed no significant association between HHT and cancer incidence
      (p = 0.74). Adjusting for covariates with the conditional logistic regression
      model did not change the result [HHT odds ratio 0.978; 95 % CI (0.795, 1.204)].
      The lack of association between HHT and cancer incidence is unexpected given the
      previously discovered significant association between HHT and improved survival
      outcomes (Duarte et al. in Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 23:117-125, 2014).
      CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the protective effect of reduced systemic endoglin
      expression in cancer is specific to cancer progression through its effect on
      vascularization and other stromal effects but does not extend to cancer
      initiation.

PMID- 27638772
TI  - Transarterial embolization combined with RNA interference targeting hypoxia
      inducible factor-1alpha for hepatocellular carcinoma: a preliminary study of rat
      model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study whether transarterial embolization (TAE) with RNA interference
      (RNAi) targeting hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) can improve
      efficacy of TAE in treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: CBRH-7919 rat hepatoma cell line was used and HCC models of rats were
      constructed. The siRNA transfection compound was made by mixing specific siRNA
      and Lipofectamine 2000TM. Delivery and transfection of siRNA were administered by
      injecting iodized oil emulsion (diluted lipiodol and siRNA) via hepatic artery.
      The expression levels of mRNA and protein were detected using the real-time
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunohistochemistry
      and western blotting assays, respectively. RESULTS: In vitro experiment, the
      specific HIF-1alpha-siRNA was proved to inhibit expression levels of HIF-1alpha
      and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) effectively. In animal study, real
      time RT-PCR assay showed the average relative mRNA expressions of HIF-1alpha were
      0.31 +/- 0.01, 0.65 +/- 0.03, 0.46 +/- 0.005, and 1.00 +/- 0.00 in TAE + siRNA,
      siRNA, TAE, and control groups, respectively. Western blotting assay showed the
      average relative protein expressions of HIF-1alpha were 0.13 +/- 0.02, 0.87 +/-
      0.02, 0.39 +/- 0.02, and 1.02 +/- 0.01 in TAE + siRNA, siRNA, TAE, and control
      groups, respectively. Compared with control, TAE, and siRNA groups, TAE + siRNA
      can significantly inhibit protein expressions of HIF-1alpha and VEGF (P HIF
      1alpha < 0.001; P VEGF < 0.001). Overall survival of rats underwent TAE + siRNA
      was significantly longer than that of rats treated with TAE monotherapy (P =
      0.001). CONCLUSION: This animal study showed TAE combined with HIF-1alpha-RNAi
      could significantly improve efficacy of TAE in treating HCC by inhibiting
      expressions of HIF-1alpha and VEGF after TAE treatment.

PMID- 27638774
TI  - Production of monoclonal antibodies against the ORF3 protein of rat hepatitis E
      virus (HEV) and demonstration of the incorporation of the ORF3 protein into
      enveloped rat HEV particles.
AB  - Eight murine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against a synthetic peptide
      corresponding to the C-terminal 15-amino-acid portion of the ORF3 protein of rat
      hepatitis E virus (ratHEV) were produced and characterized. Immunofluorescence
      assays using the anti-ratHEV ORF3 MAbs revealed the accumulation of ORF3 protein
      in the cytoplasm of PLC/PRF/5 cells transfected with ORF3-expressing plasmids or
      inoculated with cell-culture-generated ratHEV strains. Anti-ORF3 MAbs could
      capture ratHEV particles in culture supernatant and serum following treatment
      with 0.5 % deoxycholate, but not those without prior detergent treatment or fecal
      ratHEV particles. Following treatment with 0.5 % deoxycholate and 0.5 % trypsin,
      the buoyant density of ratHEV particles in culture supernatant with ORF3 protein
      on the surface shifted from 1.15 g/cm3 to 1.26 g/cm3 in a sucrose gradient; the
      resulting particles were capturable by an anti-ORF2 MAb but not by an anti-ORF3
      MAb. This indicates that the ORF3 protein (at least its C-terminal portion) is
      incorporated into the enveloped ratHEV virions released from infected cells but
      that it is not found in the virions in the feces, supporting the hypothesis that
      the ratHEV ORF3 protein is associated with the egress of virions from infected
      cells, similar to human HEV, despite the fact that the ratHEV ORF3 protein lacks
      a PSAP amino acid motif.

PMID- 27638775
TI  - Molecular variation and expansion of a rice black-streaked dwarf virus population
      based on analysis of segment 1 in Jining, China.
AB  - To analyze the variation in rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) in an area
      with high incidence of maize rough dwarf disease (MRDD), the RBSDV S1 segment in
      a collection of 100 maize isolates (sample population A100) from Jining, Shandong
      Province, was sequenced. An additional 21 maize and rice isolates (subpopulation
      B21) that were sampled from nine other geographic locations in China in 2012 and
      2013 were used as a control. A total of 914 nucleotide mutations, including 239
      singleton variable and 675 parsimony-informative sites were detected among the
      segment 1 (S1) sequences from A100. A total of 614 nucleotide mutation sites
      including 164 singleton variable and 450 parsimony-informative sites were
      detected among the S1 sequences from B21, while 97.55 % of the parsimony
      informative sites from B21 were also detected in A100. The nucleotide sequence
      diversities of A100 (pi = 0.0479) and B21 (pi = 0.0396) were significantly
      different (P = 0.0002) but showed similar trends. Phylogenetic analysis showed
      that the 121 RBSDV isolates could be classified into two groups based on their S1
      sequences, independent of subpopulation, with a combination of host species and
      locations. A100 and B21 were under the same level of negative and purifying
      selection, with Ka/Ks ratios of 0.0337 and 0.0369, respectively. The combined
      RBSDV population, including 121 isolates, was expanding, with negative values for
      Tajima's D, Fu and Li's D, and Fu and Li's F in both A100 and B21, except
      Tajima's D in A100. Based on S1, the RBSDV population in China has long-term
      phytogeographic stability, and there do not appear to be any newly-emerging
      strains.

PMID- 27638777
TI  - Avian nephritis virus (ANV) on Brazilian chickens farms: circulating genotypes
      and intra-genotypic diversity.
AB  - Avian nephritis virus (ANV), which belongs to the family Astroviridae, is
      associated with different clinical manifestations (including enteric disorders).
      Despite being frequently found in the avian industry worldwide, information
      regarding genetic features of these viruses in Brazil is scarce. Therefore, sixty
      fecal sample pools (5-6 birds of the same flock), representing 60 poultry farms
      from six Brazilian States, were screened using an astrovirus-specific hemi-nested
      PCR assay targeting the conserved ORF1b gene, followed by nucleotide sequencing
      of amplified products. PCR and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the detection of
      21 positive samples to ANV (35 %). In order to investigate the genetic diversity
      represented by these viruses, amplification, cloning and phylogenetic analysis of
      the deduced amino acid sequence of ORF2 gene were attempted. Eight samples were
      successfully cloned (generating 32 clones in total) and sequenced. Based on
      phylogenetic analysis of ORF2, sequences defined in this study were classified
      into three genotypes: genotype 5, which has already been described in birds, and
      two other novel genotypes, tentatively named genotype 8 and 9, all of which
      occurred in single or mixed infections. Moreover, high intra-genotypic diversity
      and co-circulation of distinct strains in a same host population were observed.
      This study revealed the presence of new strains of ANV in Brazilian poultry and
      their circulation in commercial chicken flocks.

PMID- 27638776
TI  - Apigenin inhibits African swine fever virus infection in vitro.
AB  - African swine fever virus (ASFV) is one of the most devastating diseases of
      domestic pigs for which no effective vaccines are available. Flavonoids, natural
      products isolated from plants, have been reported to have significant in vitro
      and in vivo antiviral activity against different viruses. Here, we tested the
      antiviral effect of five flavonoids on the replication of ASFV in Vero cells. Our
      results showed a potent, dose-dependent anti-ASFV effect of apigenin in vitro.
      Time-of-addition experiments revealed that apigenin was highly effective at the
      early stages of infection. Apigenin reduced the ASFV yield by more than 99.99 %
      when it was added at 1 hpi. The antiviral activity of apigenin was further
      investigated by evaluation of ASFV protein synthesis and viral factories. This
      flavonoid inhibited ASFV-specific protein synthesis and viral factory formation.
      ASFV-infected cells continuously treated with apigenin did not display a
      cytopathic effect. Further studies addressing the use of apigenin in vivo are
      needed.

PMID- 27638778
TI  - Detection of koala retrovirus subgroup B (KoRV-B) in animals housed at European
      zoos.
AB  - Many koalas carry an endogenous retrovirus, KoRV-A, in their genome. Recently, a
      second retrovirus, KoRV-B, was detected in koalas in Japanese and U.S. zoos.
      However, this virus is not endogenous, differs in the receptor binding site of
      the surface envelope protein, and uses a receptor different from that of KoRV-A.
      We describe here a KoRV-B found in koalas at zoos in Germany and Belgium that
      differs slightly from that found in the Los Angeles zoo.

PMID- 27638780
TI  - Pediatric Cardiology Centers: Cooperation Versus Competition.

PMID- 27638781
TI  - Impact of Transcatheter Intervention on Myocardial Deformation in Patients with
      Coarctation of the Aorta.
AB  - Myocardial deformation measured by speckle tracking echocardiography can detect
      subtle abnormalities of left ventricular function before an obvious abnormality
      in traditional echocardiographic parameters such as ejection fraction is seen. We
      hypothesized that patients with coarctation of the aorta (CoA) may have impaired
      myocardial deformation that may persist even after successful transcatheter
      intervention. This is a retrospective study to assess the myocardial deformation
      in patients undergoing transcatheter intervention of CoA. The data were compared
      with age-matched normal controls. Echocardiographic parameters were obtained
      before, immediately and at median 6 months (range 3-8 months) after transcatheter
      intervention. Myocardial deformation indices were obtained off-line using Tomtec
      2D Cardiac Performance Analysis Software. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to
      compare the indices between three time points. Independent sample t test or Chi
      square test was used to compare data between groups. Twenty-four patients (age
      13.5 +/- 7.7 years) underwent successful transcatheter CoA intervention (stent
      19, balloon angioplasty five) improving CoA peak gradient in the catheterization
      laboratory from 27.1 +/- 11.3 to 4.5 +/- 3.0 mmHg (p < 0.001). To compare with
      normal controls (n = 25, age 14.5 +/- 1.9 years), fraction shortening was
      significantly higher in pre-intervention CoA patients (40.4 +/- 7.1 vs. 33.8 +/-
      2.4 %, p < 0.001). In contrast, CoA patients had significantly abnormal left
      ventricular longitudinal strain compared to normal controls (-14.9 +/- 2.6 vs. 
      20.5 +/- 1.8 %, p < 0.001). In CoA patients, left ventricular longitudinal strain
      improved immediately and 3-8 months after intervention (-18.0 +/- 2.9 and -17.6
      +/- 2.9 %, p < 0.007) but continued to be abnormal compared to normal controls.
      Patients with CoA had impaired myocardial deformation compared to normal
      controls. Myocardial mechanics improved but did not normalize even after
      successful transcatheter intervention on CoA in the short term.

PMID- 27638782
TI  - Hydrogen Sulfide Regulates Kruppel-Like Factor 5 Transcription Activity via
      Specificity Protein 1 S-Sulfhydration at Cys664 to Prevent Myocardial
      Hypertrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a gasotransmitter that regulates multiple
      cardiovascular functions. Kruppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) exerts diverse functions
      in the cardiovascular system. Whether and how H2S regulates KLF5 in myocardial
      hypertrophy is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In our study, hypertrophic
      myocardial samples in the clinic were collected and underwent histological and
      molecular biological analysis. Spontaneously hypertensive rats and neonatal rat
      cardiomyocytes were studied for functional and signaling responses to GYY4137, an
      H2S-releasing compound. Expression of cystathionine gamma-lyase, a principal
      enzyme for H2S generation in heart, decreased in human hypertrophic myocardium,
      whereas KLF5 expression increased. After GYY4137 administration for 4 weeks,
      myocardial hypertrophy was inhibited in spontaneously hypertensive rats, as
      demonstrated by improvement in cardiac structural parameters, heart mass, size of
      cardiac myocytes, and expression of atrial natriuretic peptide. H2S diminished
      expression of KLF5 in myocardium of spontaneously hypertensive rats and in
      hypertrophic cardiomyocytes. H2S also inhibits platelet-derived growth factor A
      promoter activity, decreased recruitment of KLF5 to the platelet-derived growth
      factor A promoter, and reduced atrial natriuretic peptide expression in
      angiotensin II-stimulated cardiomyocytes, and these effects are suppressed by
      KLF5 knockdown. KLF5 promoter activity and KLF5 expression was also reversed by
      H2S. H2S increased the S-sulfhydration on specificity protein 1 in
      cardiomyocytes. Moreover, H2S decreased KLF5 promoter activity; reduced KLF5 mRNA
      expression; attenuated specificity protein 1 binding activity with KLF5 promoter;
      and inhibited hypertrophy after specificity protein 1 mutated at Cys659, Cys689,
      and Cys692 but not Cys664 overexpression. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest
      that H2S regulates KLF5 transcription activity via specificity protein 1 S
      sulfhydration at Cys664 to prevent myocardial hypertrophy.

PMID- 27638783
TI  - Cumulative Exposure to Ideal Cardiovascular Health and Incident Diabetes in a
      Chinese Population: The Kailuan Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether ideal cardiovascular health (CVH), and
      particularly cumulative exposure to ideal CVH (cumCVH), is associated with
      incident diabetes. We aimed to fill this research gap. METHODS AND RESULTS: The
      Kailuan Study is a prospective cohort of 101 510 adults aged 18 to 98 years
      recruited in 2006-2007 and who were subsequently followed up at 2- (Exam 2), 4-
      (Exam 3), and 6 (Exam 4)-year intervals after baseline. The main analysis is
      restricted to those individuals with complete follow-up at all 4 examinations and
      who had no history of diabetes until Exam 3. Cumulative exposure to ideal CVH
      (cumCVH) was calculated as the summed CVH score for each examination multiplied
      by the time between the 2 examinations (score*year). Logistic regression models
      were used to assess the association between cumCVH and incident diabetes. In
      fully adjusted models, compared with the lowest quintile of cumCVH, individuals
      in the highest quintile had ~68% (95% confidence interval [CI] 60-75) lower risk
      for incident diabetes (compared with 61% [95% CI 52-69] lower risk when using
      baseline CVH). Every additional year lived with a 1-unit increase in ideal CVH
      was associated with a 24% (95% CI 21-28) reduction in incident diabetes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Ideal CVH is associated with a reduced incidence of diabetes, but
      the association is likely to be underestimated if baseline measures of CVH
      exposure are used. Measures of cumulative exposure to ideal CVH are more likely
      to reflect lifetime risk of diabetes and possibly other health outcomes. CLINICAL
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.chictr.org. Unique identifier: ChiCTRTNC
      11001489.

PMID- 27638784
TI  - Cerebral Microbleeds, Vascular Risk Factors, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging
      Markers: The Northern Manhattan Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) represent intracerebral hemorrhages due
      to amyloid angiopathy or exposure to modifiable risk factors. Few community-based
      stroke-free studies including blacks and Hispanics have been done. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: The Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) is a stroke-free, racially and
      ethnically diverse cohort study. Brain MRI was performed in 1290 participants,
      925 of whom had available T2* gradient-recall echo data. We used multivariable
      logistic regression to examine the association of sociodemographics, vascular
      risk factors, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, and brain MRI markers with CMB
      presence and location. The prevalence of CMBs in our cohort was 5%. Of the 46
      participants with CMBs, 37% had only deep CMBs, 48% had only lobar CMBs, and 15%
      had CMBs in both locations. The difference in CMB distribution was not
      statistically significant across race/ethnic group or APOE genotype. In
      multivariable analyses, age (OR [95% CI]: 1.09 [1.04, 1.15]) and SBIs (2.58
      [1.01, 6.59]) were positively associated with CMB presence, and diabetes
      medication use was negatively associated (0.25 [0.07, 0.86]). CONCLUSIONS: CMBs
      may represent the severity of vascular disease in this racially and ethnically
      diverse cohort. Larger studies are needed to elucidate the association between
      diabetes medication use and CMB presence.

PMID- 27638786
TI  - Use of radiometric indices to evaluate Zn and Pb stress in two grass species
      (Festuca rubra L. and Vulpia myuros L.).
AB  - Vegetation indices obtained from radiometric measurements have been used to
      estimate the stress response of plants grown in contaminated sites. The
      phytotoxicity of Pb and Zn in Festuca rubra L. and Vulpia myuros L. plants grown
      under hydroponic conditions was evaluated using vegetation indices obtained from
      radiometric measurements. The plants were supplied with 3 mM Zn (+Zn), 500 MUM Pb
      (+Pb) and 500 MUM Pb with EDTA (+PbEDTA) for 3 months. Significantly higher Zn
      concentrations in F. rubra shoots compared with V. myuros shoots were detected
      for Zn and Pb treatments. EDTA increased Pb transport to the shoots for both
      grasses, while Pb-treated plants retained Pb primarily in the roots. All
      vegetation indices tested showed the highest differences in F. rubra under
      +PbEDTA treatment and minor effects under +Zn, whereas the major variations for
      V. myuros corresponded to +Zn treatment, followed by +PbEDTA. Red edge normalized
      difference vegetation index, yellowness index and anthocyanin concentration index
      were the most sensitive indices to report Zn and Pb phytotoxicity in these
      grasses. According to the results obtained, both metal concentrations and
      radiometric indices suggested that Pb is more phytotoxic to F. rubra, which
      tolerates high Zn levels, whereas V. myuros was strongly affected by high Zn
      levels and markedly tolerant to Pb, even when applied in a mobile form (PbEDTA).
      Both species could be used in the phytostabilization of Zn- and Pb-contaminated
      soils. The abilities of F. rubra to accumulate Zn and V. myuros to accumulate Pb
      in the roots would facilitate a more efficient phytoremediation strategy when
      used in combination.

PMID- 27638787
TI  - Decomposition approach of the nitrogen generation process: empirical study on the
      Shimabara Peninsula in Japan.
AB  - Groundwater nitrate pollution is one of the most prevalent water-related
      environmental problems worldwide. The objective of this study is to identify the
      determinants of nitrogen pollutant changes with a focus on the nitrogen
      generation process. The novelty of our research framework is to cost-effectively
      identify the factors involved in nitrogen pollutant generation using public data.
      This study focuses on three determinant factors: (1) nitrogen intensity changes,
      (2) structural changes, and (3) scale changes. This study empirically analyses
      three sectors, including crop production, farm animals, and the household, on the
      Shimabara Peninsula in Japan. Our results show that the nitrogen supply from crop
      production sectors has decreased because the production has been scaled down and
      shifted towards lower nitrogen intensive crops. In the farm animal sector, the
      nitrogen supply has also been successfully reduced due to scaling-down efforts.
      Households have decreased the nitrogen supply by diffusion of integrated septic
      tank and sewerage systems.

PMID- 27638785
TI  - Weight Gain Trajectories Associated With Elevated C-Reactive Protein Levels in
      Chinese Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent longitudinal work suggests that weight change is an important
      risk factor for inflammation across the full range of BMI. However, few studies
      have examined whether the risk of inflammation differs by patterns of weight gain
      over time. Using latent class trajectory analysis, we test whether patterns of
      weight gain are associated with elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs
      CRP 2-10 mg/L). METHODS AND RESULTS: Data come from China Health and Nutrition
      Survey (CHNS) participants (n=5536), aged 18 at baseline to 66 years in 2009,
      with measured weight over 18 years. Latent class trajectory analysis was used to
      identify weight-change trajectories in 6 age and sex strata. Multivariable
      general linear mixed-effects models fit with a logit link were used to assess the
      risk of elevated hs-CRP across weight trajectory classes. Models were fit within
      age and sex strata, controlling for baseline weight, adult height, and smoking,
      and included random intercepts to account for community-level correlation.
      Steeper weight-gain trajectories were associated with greater risk of elevated hs
      CRP compared to more moderate weight-gain trajectories in men and women.
      Initially high weight gain followed by weight loss was associated with lower risk
      of elevated hs-CRP in women aged 18 to 40. CONCLUSIONS: Latent class trajectory
      analysis identified heterogeneity in adult weight change associated with
      differential risk of inflammation independently of baseline weight and smoking.
      These results suggest that trajectories of weight gain are an important clinical
      concern and may identify those at risk for inflammation and the development of
      cardiometabolic disease.

PMID- 27638788
TI  - Occurrence and diversity of tetracycline resistance genes in the agricultural
      soils of South Korea.
AB  - Reports on the occurrence and diversity of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and
      genes, which are considered to be emerging pollutants worldwide, have, to date,
      not been published on South Korean agricultural soils. This is the first study to
      investigate the persistence of tetracycline (oxytetracycline, tetracycline, and
      chlortetracycline)-resistant bacterial community and genes in natural and long
      term fertilized (NPK, pig, and cattle manure composts) agricultural soils in
      South Korea. The results showed that oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline could
      be the dominant residues in animal manures; regular fertilization of manures,
      particularly pig manures, may be the prime cause for the spread and abundance of
      tetracycline resistance in South Korean agricultural soils. Both the country's
      natural and agricultural soils are reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant species. Of
      the 113 tetracycline-resistant isolates identified (19 typical bacterial genera
      and 36 distinct species), approximately 40 to 99 % belonged to Gram-positive
      bacteria and Bacillus constituted the predominant genera. Of the 24 tet genes
      targeted, tetG, tetH, tetK, tetY, tetO, tetS, tetW, and tetQ were detected in all
      soil samples, highlighting their predominance and robust adaptability in soils.
      Meanwhile, it is suggested that tetC, tetE, tetZ, tetM, tetT, and tetP(B) are the
      common residues in pig manures, and furthermore, the treatment of soils with pig
      manures may wield a different impact on the tet gene resistome in agricultural
      soils. This study thus highlights the necessity for regulating the usage of
      tetracyclines in South Korean animal farming. This must be followed by proper
      monitoring of the subsequent usage of animal manures especially that derived from
      pig farms located in agricultural soils.

PMID- 27638789
TI  - Amoxicillin degradation from contaminated water by solar photocatalysis using
      response surface methodology (RSM).
AB  - In this study, the solar photocatalytic process in a pilot plant with compound
      parabolic collectors (CPCs) was performed for amoxicillin (AMX) degradation, an
      antibiotic widely used in the world. The response surface methodology (RSM) based
      on Box-Behnken statistical experiment design was used to optimize independent
      variables, namely TiO2 dosage, antibiotic initial concentration, and initial pH.
      The results showed that AMX degradation efficiency affected by positive or
      negative effect of variables and their interactions. The TiO2 dosage, pH, and
      interaction between AMX initial concentration and TiO2 dosage exhibited a
      synergistic effect, while the linear and quadratic term of AMX initial
      concentration and pH showed antagonistic effect in the process response. Response
      surface and contour plots were used to perform process optimization. The optimum
      conditions found in this regard were TiO2 dosage = 1.5 g/L, AMX initial
      concentration = 17 mg/L, and pH = 9.5 for AMX degradation under 240 min solar
      irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation of AMX after 34.95 kJUV/L accumulated
      UV energy per liter of solution was 84.12 % at the solar plant.

PMID- 27638790
TI  - Efficiency of several leaching reagents on removal of Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn from
      highly contaminated paddy soil.
AB  - The efficiency of five different single leaching reagents (tartaric acid (TA),
      citric acid (CA), CaCl2, FeCl3, EDTA) and two different composite leaching
      reagents (CA + FeCl3, CA + EDTA) on removing Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd from contaminated
      paddy soil in Hunan Province (in China) was studied. The results indicated that
      the efficiencies of CA, FeCl3, and EDTA on extracting Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn from
      soil were greater than that of TA and CaCl2, and their extraction efficiencies
      were EDTA >= FeCl3 > CA. The efficiencies of CA + FeCl3 on extracting Cu, Pb, Cd,
      and Zn were higher than that of single CA or FeCl3. The 25 mmol L-1 CA + 20 mmol
      L-1 FeCl3 was a promising composite leaching reagent for paddy soil, and it could
      remove Cu (57.6 %), Pb (59.3 %), Cd (84.8 %), and Zn (28.0 %), respectively. With
      the same amount of leaching reagent, the efficiency of continuous leaching by
      several times was higher than that by once. In addition, the easily reducible and
      oxidizable fractions of heavy metals showed significant decrease during the
      process of leaching.

PMID- 27638792
TI  - Reply to the letter to the editor "TCDD and birth weight of Vietnamese infants".

PMID- 27638791
TI  - Evaluation of the multiple biomarkers on identification of the vulnerable coastal
      pollution hotspots.
AB  - This paper presents multiple biomarkers on metal accumulation and its impacts
      along the Chennai to Puducherry, southeast coast of India using bivalves as
      bioindicators. In this regard, water samples and Perna viridis were collected
      from three stations and the accumulation of metals and its biological impacts
      were assessed. Among the three sampling stations, the maximum accumulation was
      noticed in Ennore (S1) than the Puducherry (S3) followed by Kovalam (S2). Mean
      accumulation pattern of metals in Perna viridis was found to be in the following
      order Zn > Cu > Ni > Cr > Pb > Cd, which were in close match with the metal
      concentration in seawater at respective site. The ambient metal concentration and
      behavior of multiple biomarkers were positively correlated indicating that the
      uptake of metals might induce biological changes, particularly in the internal
      organs, thus significantly affecting health of the aquatic organisms. P. viridis
      provides reliable information concerning the adverse effects and reflects the
      integrated effects of all contaminants. Thus, study confirmed that Ennore (S1)
      coast is highly vulnerable for significant pollution, in terms of metal toxicity
      in the study area. Overall investigation revealed that metal enrichment was
      observed close to the major urban areas in the S1 and S2 which were associated
      with industrialized areas. The assessment of multiple biomarkers on metal
      accumulation was the first step in determining the trophic transfer factors on
      marine foot web, which can be evaluated in the future based on this study.

PMID- 27638793
TI  - Occurrence of Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium sp. in wastewater samples
      from Sao Paulo State, Brazil, and Lima, Peru.
AB  - The objectives of the study were to detect and genotype Cryptosporidium spp. and
      Giardia intestinalis in wastewater samples obtained from five cities with high
      transit of people in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and at the entrance of a
      Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Lima, Peru. Samples were collected and
      concentrated by centrifugation. The genomic DNA was extracted for molecular
      characterization by nested PCR for Cryptosporidium and double nested PCR for
      Giardia, followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. G. intestinalis was
      found in 63.6 % of the samples, and the human assemblages A and B were
      identified. Cryptosporidium sp. was found in 36.4 % of the samples, and the
      species were corresponding to Cryptosporidium hominis, Cryptosporidium cuniculus,
      and Cryptosporidium muris. Results revealed the presence of human pathogenic
      Cryptosporidium species and G. intestinalis human pathogenic assemblages.
      Molecular tools highlight the importance to map the genetic diversity of these
      parasites, as well as to detect their epidemiological circulation pathway in the
      environment.

PMID- 27638795
TI  - Do morphometric parameters and geological conditions determine chemistry of
      glacier surface ice? Spatial distribution of contaminants present in the surface
      ice of Spitsbergen glaciers (European Arctic).
AB  - The chemism of the glaciers is strongly determined by long-distance transport of
      chemical substances and their wet and dry deposition on the glacier surface. This
      paper concerns spatial distribution of metals, ions, and dissolved organic
      carbon, as well as the differentiation of physicochemical parameters (pH,
      electrical conductivity) determined in ice surface samples collected from four
      Arctic glaciers during the summer season in 2012. The studied glaciers represent
      three different morphological types: ground based (Blomlibreen and Scottbreen),
      tidewater which evolved to ground based (Renardbreen), and typical tidewater
      glacier (Recherchebreen). All of the glaciers are functioning as a glacial system
      and hence are subject to the same physical processes (melting, freezing) and the
      process of ice flowing resulting from the cross-impact force of gravity and
      topographic conditions. According to this hypothesis, the article discusses the
      correlation between morphometric parameters, changes in mass balance, geological
      characteristics of the glaciers and the spatial distribution of analytes on the
      surface of ice. A strong correlation (r = 0.63) is recorded between the aspect of
      glaciers and values of pH and ions, whereas dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
      depends on the minimum elevation of glaciers (r = 0.55) and most probably also on
      the development of the accumulation area. The obtained results suggest that
      although certain morphometric parameters largely determine the spatial
      distribution of analytes, also the geology of the bed of glaciers strongly
      affects the chemism of the surface ice of glaciers in the phase of strong
      recession.

PMID- 27638796
TI  - Research and application of method of oxygen isotope of inorganic phosphate in
      Beijing agricultural soils.
AB  - Phosphorus (P) in agricultural ecosystems is an essential and limited element for
      plants and microorganisms. However, environmental problems caused by P
      accumulation as well as by P loss have become more and more serious. Oxygen
      isotopes of phosphate can trace the sources, migration, and transformation of P
      in agricultural soils. In order to use the isotopes of phosphate oxygen,
      appropriate extraction and purification methods for inorganic phosphate from
      soils are necessary. Here, we combined two different methods to analyze the
      oxygen isotopic composition of inorganic phosphate (delta18OP) from chemical
      fertilizers and different fractions (Milli-Q water, 0.5 mol L-1 NaHCO3 (pH =
      8.5), 0.1 mol L-1 NaOH and 1 mol L-1 HCl) of agricultural soils from the Beijing
      area. The delta18OP results of the water extracts and NaHCO3 extracts in most
      samples were close to the calculated equilibrium value. These phenomena can be
      explained by rapid P cycling in soils and the influence of chemical fertilizers.
      The delta18OP value of the water extracts and NaHCO3 extracts in some soil
      samples below the equilibrium value may be caused by the hydrolysis of organic P
      fractions mediated by extracellular enzymes. The delta18OP values of the NaOH
      extracts were above the calculated equilibrium value reflecting the balance state
      between microbial uptake of phosphate and the release of intracellular phosphate
      back to the soil. The HCl extracts with the lowest delta18OP values and highest
      phosphate concentrations indicated that the HCl fraction was affected by
      microbial activity. Hence, these delta18Op values likely reflected the oxygen
      isotopic values of the parent materials. The results suggested that phosphate
      oxygen isotope analyses could be an effective tool in order to trace phosphate
      sources, transformation processes, and its utilization by microorganisms in
      agricultural soils.

PMID- 27638797
TI  - Plastic ingestion by Newell's (Puffinus newelli) and wedge-tailed shearwaters
      (Ardenna pacifica) in Hawaii.
AB  - The ingestion of plastic by seabirds has been used as an indicator of pollution
      in the marine environment. On Kaua'i, HI, USA, 50.0 % of Newell's (Puffinus
      newelli) and 76.9 % of wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) fledglings
      necropsied during 2007-2014 contained plastic items in their digestive tract,
      while 42.1 % of adult wedge-tailed shearwaters had ingested plastic. For both
      species, the frequency of plastic ingestion has increased since the 1980s with
      some evidence that the mass and the number of items ingested per bird have also
      increased. The color of plastic ingested by the shearwaters was assessed relative
      to beach-washed plastics by using Jaccard's index (where J = 1 complete
      similarity). The color (J = 0.65-0.68) of items ingested by both species, and the
      type ingested by wedge-tailed shearwaters (J = 0.85-0.87), overlapped with
      plastic available in the local environment indicating moderate selection for
      plastic color and type. This study has shown that the Hawaiian populations of
      shearwaters, like many seabird species, provide useful but worrying insights into
      plastic pollution and the health of our oceans.

PMID- 27638794
TI  - Risk assessment of PBDEs and PAHs in house dust in Kocaeli, Turkey: levels and
      sources.
AB  - Indoor dust samples were collected from 40 homes in Kocaeli, Turkey and were
      analyzed simultaneously for 14 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and 16 poly
      aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) isomers. The total concentrations of PBDEs
      (Sigma14PBDEs) ranged from 29.32 to 4790 ng g-1, with a median of 316.1 ng g-1,
      while the total indoor dust concentrations of 16 PAHs (Sigma16PAHs) extending
      over three to four orders of magnitude ranged from 85.91 to 40,359 ng g-1 with a
      median value of 2489 ng g-1. Although deca-PBDE products (BDE-209) were the
      principal source of PBDEs contamination in the homes (median, 138.3 ng g-1), the
      correlation in the homes was indicative of similar sources for both the
      commercial penta and deca-PBDE formulas. The PAHs diagnostic ratios indicated
      that the main sources of PAHs measured in the indoor samples could be
      coal/biomass combustion, smoking, and cooking emissions. For children and adults,
      the contributions to ?14PBDEs exposure were approximately 93 and 25 % for the
      ingestion of indoor dust, and 7 and 75 % for dermal contact. Exposure to ?16PAHs
      through dermal contact was the dominant route for both children (90.6 %) and
      adults (99.7 %). For both groups, exposure by way of inhalation of indoor dust
      contaminated with PBDEs and PAHs was negligible. The hazard index (HI) values for
      BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-153, and BDE-209 were lower than the safe limit of 1, and
      this result suggested that none of the population groups would be likely to
      experience potential health risk due to exposure to PBDEs from indoor dust in the
      study area. Considering only ingestion + dermal contact, the carcinogenic risk
      levels of both B2 PAHs and BDE-209 for adults were 6.2 * 10-5 in the US EPA safe
      limit range while those for children were 5.6 * 10-4 and slightly higher than the
      US EPA safe limit range (1 * 10-6 and 1 * 10-4). Certain precautions should be
      considered for children.

PMID- 27638799
TI  - A new biological process for short-chain fatty acid generation from waste
      activated sludge improved by Clostridiales enhancement.
AB  - Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the carbon source of biological nutrient
      removal, can be produced by waste activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic fermentation.
      To get more SCFAs from sludge, most studies in literature focused on the
      mechanical process control or the structure of microbial community; little
      attention has been paid to the key microorganisms and their function related to
      SCFA generation. In this study, a different sludge pretreated method, i.e.,
      pretreating sludge by proteinase K for 2 days followed by pretreating at pH 10
      for 4 days, is reported, by which the proportion of Clostridiales was increased
      and SCFA generation was enhanced. First, the effects of different proteinase K
      concentrations and initial pH on sludge hydrolysis and SCFA generation were
      investigated. The optimal conditions showed the highest SCFA generation (352.91
      mg COD per gram of volatile suspended solids), which was 2.89-fold of the blank
      (un-pretreated). Further, the new biological pretreatment process led to the
      conversion of other SCFAs to acetic acid. Acetic acid accounted for 60.8 % of
      total SCFAs with the new biological pretreatment process compared with 44.9 % in
      the blank test. Then, the investigation on the key microorganisms related to SCFA
      production with 16S rRNA gene clone library and fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) indicated that there were much greater active Clostridiales
      when SCFAs were generated with the proteinase K and pH 10 pretreated sludge.
      Further, the mechanisms for the optimal conditions significantly enhancing SCFA
      generation were investigated. It was found that pretreating sludge by proteinase
      K and pH 10 caused the greatest key enzyme activities, organic consumption, and
      inhibition of methane generation. Graphical abstract A new biological process for
      short-chain fatty acid generation from waste activated sludge improved by
      Clostridiales enhancement.

PMID- 27638798
TI  - Effect on the growth and development and induction of abnormalities by a
      glyphosate commercial formulation and its active ingredient during two
      developmental stages of the South-American Creole frog, Leptodactylus latrans.
AB  - We evaluated the acute lethal and sublethal effects of technical-grade glyphosate
      (GLY) and the GLY-based commercial formulation Roundup ULTRA MAX(r) (RU) on two
      Gosner stages (Gss) 25 and 36 of the South-American Creole frog, Leptodactylus
      latrans. Bioassays were performed following standardized methods within a wide
      range of concentrations (0.0007-9.62 mg of acid equivalents per liter-a.e./L-of
      RU and 3-300 mg/L of GLY). The endpoints evaluated were mortality, swimming
      activity, growth, development, and the presence of morphologic abnormalities,
      especially in the mouthparts. No lethal effects were observed on larvae exposed
      to GLY during either Gs-25 or Gs-36. The concentrations inducing 50 % lethality
      in RU-exposed larvae at different exposure times and Gss ranged from 3.26 to 9.61
      mg a.e./L. Swimming activity was affected by only RU. Effects on growth and
      development and the induction of morphologic abnormalities-like oral
      abnormalities and edema-were observed after exposure to either GLY or RU. Gs-25
      was the most sensitive stage to both forms of the herbicide. The commercial
      formulation was much more toxic than the active ingredient on all the endpoints
      assessed. Effects on growth, development, and the induction of morphologic
      abnormalities observed in the range of environmental concentrations reported for
      agroecosystems of Argentina constitute an alert to the potential detrimental
      effects of the herbicide that could be affecting the fitness and survival of
      anurans in agroecosystems.

PMID- 27638801
TI  - All-printed planar photoelectrochemical cells with digitated cathodes for the
      oxidation of diluted aqueous pollutants.
AB  - A novel outline of a planar photoelectrochemical cell consisting of a
      semiconductor layer topped by subsequent layers of a digitated insulator and
      counter electrode is introduced. The use of vertically separated electrodes
      represents a major development in reducing the footprint (inactive areas) of
      planar electrochemical cells. The cells, consisting of a nanoparticular titania
      photoanode and a digitated, metallic cathode, were fabricated by a strictly
      additive process employing material printing as the exclusive deposition and
      patterning tool. Transparent conductive oxide-coated glass and
      polyethyleneterepthalate sheets were used as substrates; nanocrystalline titania
      dispersion bonded by a novel organosilica binder was used for the fabrication of
      the photoanode and gold or carbon inks for the fabrication of the digitated
      cathodes. Due to the digitated shaping of the cathode, photoelectrochemical
      response was not suffering from iR drop down to low electrolyte ionic strengths.
      The printed cells were used for electroassisted photocatalytic degradation
      experiments with aqueous solutions of coumarin. Considerable acceleration of the
      coumarin degradation rate compared to the plain photocatalytic mode was observed.

PMID- 27638800
TI  - Antimosquito property of Petroselinum crispum (Umbellifereae) against the
      pyrethroid resistant and susceptible strains of Aedes aegypti (Diptera:
      Culicidae).
AB  - The increasing and widespread resistance to conventional synthetic insecticides
      in vector populations has underscored the urgent need to establish alternatives
      in the mosquito management system. This study was carried out with the aim to
      investigate the antimosquito property, larvicidal and adulticidal potential, of
      plant products against both the pyrethroid-susceptible and resistant strains of
      Aedes aegypti. Seventeen plant products, including essential oils and ethanolic
      extracts, were obtained by steam distillation and extraction with 95 % ethanol,
      respectively. Their larvicidal activity was screened, using World Health
      Organization (WHO) procedures against A. aegypti, Muang Chiang Mai-susceptible
      (MCM-S) strain. The most effective product was a candidate for investigating
      larvicidal and adulticidal potential against three laboratory strains of A.
      aegypti, comprising MCM-S, Pang Mai Dang-resistant (PMD-R), and Upakut-resistant
      (UPK-R). Potential toxicity of the plant candidate was compared with that of
      synthetic temephos, permethrin, and deltamethrin. Chemical constituents of the
      most effective plant product also were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS). Results obtained from the preliminary screening revealed
      the varying larvicidal efficacy of plant-derived products against MCM-S A.
      aegypti, with mortality ranging from 0 to 100 %. The larvicidal activity of seven
      effective plant products was found to be dose dependent, with the highest
      efficacy established from Petroselinum crispum fruit oil, followed by oils of
      Foeniculum vulgare, Myristica fragrans, Limnophila aromatica, Piper sarmentosum,
      Curcuma longa, and M. fragrans ethanolic extract (LC50 values of 43.22, 44.84,
      47.42, 47.94, 49.19, 65.51, and 75.45 ppm, respectively). Essential oil of P.
      crispum was then investigated further and proved to be a promising larvicide and
      adulticide against all strains of A. aegypti. The pyrethroid-resistant strains of
      both PMD-R and UPK-R A. aegypti showed significant resistance to temephos,
      permethrin, and deltamethrin in either the larval or adult stage. Interestingly,
      high susceptibility to P. crispum oil was observed in the larvae and adults of
      MCM-S, which are pyrethroid-susceptible A. aegypti, and comparable to those of
      the pyrethroid-resistant strains, PMD-R and UPK-R. GC-MS analysis of P. crispum
      oil demonstrated that 19 compounds, accounting for 98.25 % of the whole oil, were
      identified, with the main constituents being thymol (42.41 %), p-cymene (27.71
      %), and gamma-terpinene (20.98 %). In conclusion, the profound larvicidal and
      adulticidal potential of P. crispum oil promises to form a new larvicide and
      adulticide against either the pyrethroid-susceptible or resistant strain of A.
      aegypti. Consequently, P. crispum oil and its constituents can be used or
      incorporated with other chemicals/measures in integrated mosquito management for
      controlling A. aegypti, particularly in localities with high levels of pyrethroid
      and organophosphate resistance.

PMID- 27638802
TI  - Inhibitory effects of tributyl phosphate on algal growth, photosynthesis, and
      fatty acid synthesis in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.
AB  - The widely used solvent extractant, tributyl phosphate (TBP), primarily used as a
      solvent for the conventional processing of nuclear fuel, has come under scrutiny
      recently due to concerns surrounding potential environmental contamination and
      toxicity. In this study, we found that, in Phaeodactylum tricornutum,
      administration of TBP severely inhibited algal cell growth by reducing
      photosynthetic efficiency and inducing oxidative stress. We further explored the
      effect of TBP by examining the gene expression of the photosynthetic electron
      transport chain and its contribution to reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst. Our
      data revealed that TBP affected both fatty acid content and profile by regulating
      the transcription of genes related to glycolysis, fatty acid biosynthesis, and
      beta-oxidation. These results demonstrated that TBP did in fact trigger the
      synthesis of ROS, disrupting the subcellular membrane structure of this aquatic
      organism. Our study brings new insight into the fundamental mechanism of toxicity
      exerted by TBP on the marine alga P. tricornutum.

PMID- 27638803
TI  - Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity induced by coal and coal fly ash particles samples
      in V79 cells.
AB  - Exposure to coal and coal ashes can cause harmful effects in in vitro and in vivo
      systems, mainly by the induction of oxidative damage. The aim of this work was to
      assess cytotoxic and genotoxic effects using the V79 cell line treated with coal
      and coal fly ash particles derived from a coal power plant located in Santa
      Catarina, Brazil. Two coal samples (COAL11 and COAL16) and two coal fly ash
      samples (CFA11 and CFA16) were included in this study. COAL16 was co-firing with
      a mixture of fuel oil and diesel oil. The comet assay data showed that exposure
      of V79 cells to coal and coal fly ash particles induced primary DNA lesions.
      Application of lesion-specific endonucleases (FPG and ENDO III) demonstrated
      increased DNA effects indicating the presence of high amounts of oxidative DNA
      lesions. The cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome assay analysis showed that
      exposure of V79 cells to high concentrations of coal and coal fly ash particles
      induced cytotoxic effects (apoptosis and necrosis) and chromosomal instability
      (nucleoplasmic bridges, nuclear buds, and micronucleus (MN) formation). These
      results may be associated with compounds contained in the surface of the
      particles as hazardous elements, ultrafine/nanoparticles, and polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs) which were detected in the samples. Graphical abstract ?.

PMID- 27638804
TI  - Biosorption of cadmium (II) from aqueous solutions by natural and modified non
      living leaves of Posidonia oceanica.
AB  - Natural, HCl-treated, and formaldehyde-treated non-living leaves of Posidonia
      oceanica, a marine plant, were investigated as potential biosorbents to remove
      Cd2+ from aqueous solutions. The studied biosorbents were characterized by
      elemental analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and it was
      observed that the adsorption capacity of the biosorbents strongly depended on the
      pH, increasing as the pH rises. The adsorption process was fast. The adsorption
      kinetic was analyzed using five kinetic models: pseudo-first order, pseudo-second
      order, Elovich, intraparticle diffusion, and Bangham models. The adsorption
      isotherms were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Sips,
      Redlich-Peterson, and Toth models. The maximum biosorption capacity was attained
      by the biosorbent treated with HCl (1.11 mmol g-1). The distribution equilibrium
      constant and the Gibbs free energy change were calculated. The effects of the
      presence of Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ ions in the solution on Cd2+ uptake were
      studied. Results indicate that non-living leaves of P. oceanica, natural or
      treated, can be considered as effective and low-cost biosorbents for the removal
      of cadmium from aqueous solutions.

PMID- 27638805
TI  - Impact of acute and chronic inhalation exposure to CdO nanoparticles on mice.
AB  - Cadmium nanoparticles can represent a risk in both industrial and environmental
      settings, but there is little knowledge on the impacts of their inhalation,
      especially concerning longer-term exposures. In this study, mice were exposed to
      cadmium oxide (CdO) nanoparticles in whole body inhalation chambers for 4 to 72 h
      in acute and 1 to 13 weeks (24 h/day, 7 days/week) in chronic exposure to
      investigate the dynamics of nanoparticle uptake and effects. In the acute
      experiment, mice were exposed to 2.95 * 106 particles/cm3 (31.7 MUg CdO/m3). The
      same concentration and a lower one (1.18 * 106 particles/cm3, 12.7 MUg CdO/m3)
      were used for the chronic exposure. Transmission electron microscopy documented
      distribution of nanoparticles into all studied organs. Major portion of
      nanoparticles was retained in the lung, but longer exposure led to a greater
      relative redistribution into secondary organs, namely the kidney, and also the
      liver and spleen. Accumulation of Cd in the lung and liver occurred already after
      24 h and in the brain, kidney, and spleen after 72 h of exposure, and a further
      increase of Cd levels was observed throughout the chronic exposure. There were
      significant differences in both Cd accumulation and effects between the two
      exposure doses. Lung weight in the higher exposure group increased up to 2-fold
      compared to the control. Histological analyses showed dose-dependent alterations
      in lung and liver morphology and damage to their tissue. Modulation of oxidative
      stress parameters including glutathione levels and increased lipid peroxidation
      occurred mainly after the greater chronic exposure. The results emphasize risk of
      longer-term inhalation of cadmium nanoparticles, since adverse effects occurring
      after shorter exposures gradually progressed with a longer exposure duration.

PMID- 27638806
TI  - Three-dimensional fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy with
      regional integration analysis for assessing waste sludge hydrolysis at different
      pretreated temperatures.
AB  - Heat pretreatment process can promote sludge hydrolysis and enhance the
      degradability of waste sludge. The effect of heat pretreatment at different
      temperatures on the changes of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD),
      carbohydrates, and proteins and the structural and functional properties of
      organics in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and dissolved organic
      matters (DOM) were systematically investigated. Heat pretreatment was conducted
      at 65, 80, 100, and 121  degrees C for 30 min. The SCOD in DOM increased with
      pretreated temperatures. Three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM)
      fluorescence spectroscopy was utilized to evaluate the biodegradable and non
      biodegradable components in EPS and DOM. Moreover, the humification index (HIX)
      and the fluorescence index (FI) were used to evaluate the humification and DOM
      source. At 80  degrees C, the percent fluorescence response (P i,n ) of easily
      biodegradable soluble microbial by-product substance was higher than others;
      meanwhile, little non-biodegradable humic acid-like substance was accumulated. In
      order to enhance sludge biodegradability, 80  degrees C was chosen as the optimal
      temperature for heat pretreatment.

PMID- 27638807
TI  - Distribution of Cr and Pb in artificial sea water and their sorption in marine
      sediments: an example from experimental mesocosms.
AB  - The uptake of two heavy metals (chromium and lead) in sediments in experimental
      mesocosms under exposure to different metal concentrations was evaluated by
      monitoring their concentrations over time both in seawater and in sediment. Two
      separate experiments under laboratory-controlled conditions were carried out for
      the two metals. Sediments were collected from a protected natural area
      characterized by low anthropic influence and were placed in mesocosms that were
      housed in aquaria each with seawater at a different metal concentration. At pre
      established time intervals, seawater and sediment samples were collected from
      each mesocosm for chemical analyses. Quantification of chromium and lead
      concentration in seawater and sediment samples was carried out by atomic
      absorption spectrometer with graphite furnace. Low doses of chromium and lead (<1
      mg L-1) do not entail an uptake in sediments and waters. At doses >=1 mg L-1,
      evolution of concentrations over time shows significant differences between these
      two metals: (i) chromium absorption from seawater is twice faster than lead; (ii)
      lead accumulates in considerable amount in sediments. The different behaviour of
      the two investigated heavy metals could be ascribed to different interactions
      existing between metal ions and different components of sediment.

PMID- 27638808
TI  - Transgenic glyphosate-resistant oilseed rape (Brassica napus) as an invasive weed
      in Argentina: detection, characterization, and control alternatives.
AB  - The presence of glyphosate-resistant oilseed rape populations in Argentina was
      detected and characterized. The resistant plants were found as weeds in RR
      soybeans and other fields. The immunological and molecular analysis showed that
      the accessions presented the GT73 transgenic event. The origin of this event was
      uncertain, as the cultivation of transgenic oilseed rape cultivars is prohibited
      in Argentina. This finding might suggest that glyphosate resistance could come
      from unauthorized transgenic oilseed rape crops cultivated in the country or as
      seed contaminants in imported oilseed rape cultivars or other seed imports.
      Experimentation showed that there are alternative herbicides for controlling
      resistant Brassica napus populations in various situations and crops. AHAS
      inhibiting herbicides (imazethapyr, chlorimuron and diclosulam), glufosinate, 2,4
      D, fluroxypyr and saflufenacil proved to be very effective in controlling these
      plants. Herbicides evaluated in this research were employed by farmers in one of
      the fields invaded with this biotype and monitoring of this field showed no
      evidence of its presence in the following years.

PMID- 27638809
TI  - The SAMPL5 host-guest challenge: computing binding free energies and enthalpies
      from explicit solvent simulations by the attach-pull-release (APR) method.
AB  - The absolute binding free energies and binding enthalpies of twelve host-guest
      systems in the SAMPL5 blind challenge were computed using our attach-pull-release
      (APR) approach. This method has previously shown good correlations between
      experimental and calculated binding data in retrospective studies of
      cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) and beta-cyclodextrin (betaCD) systems. In the present
      work, the computed binding free energies for host octa acid (OA or OAH) and tetra
      endo-methyl octa-acid (TEMOA or OAMe) with guests are in good agreement with
      prospective experimental data, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.8
      and root-mean-squared error of 1.7 kcal/mol using the TIP3P water model. The
      binding enthalpy calculations achieve moderate correlations, with R2 of 0.5 and
      RMSE of 2.5 kcal/mol, for TIP3P water. Calculations using the newly developed OPC
      water model also show good performance. Furthermore, the present calculations
      semi-quantitatively capture the experimental trend of enthalpy-entropy
      compensation observed, and successfully predict guests with the strongest and
      weakest binding affinity. The most populated binding poses of all twelve systems,
      based on clustering analysis of 750 ns molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories, were
      extracted and analyzed. Computational methods using MD simulations and explicit
      solvent models in a rigorous statistical thermodynamic framework, like APR, can
      generate reasonable predictions of binding thermodynamics. Especially with
      continuing improvement in simulation force fields, such methods hold the promise
      of making substantial contributions to hit identification and lead optimization
      in the drug discovery process.

PMID- 27638810
TI  - DockBench as docking selector tool: the lesson learned from D3R Grand Challenge
      2015.
AB  - Structure-based drug design (SBDD) has matured within the last two decades as a
      valuable tool for the optimization of low molecular weight lead compounds to
      highly potent drugs. The key step in SBDD requires knowledge of the three
      dimensional structure of the target-ligand complex, which is usually determined
      by X-ray crystallography. In the absence of structural information for the
      complex, SBDD relies on the generation of plausible molecular docking models.
      However, molecular docking protocols suffer from inaccuracies in the description
      of the interaction energies between the ligand and the target molecule, and often
      fail in the prediction of the correct binding mode. In this context, the
      appropriate selection of the most accurate docking protocol is absolutely
      relevant for the final molecular docking result, even if addressing this point is
      absolutely not a trivial task. D3R Grand Challenge 2015 has represented a
      precious opportunity to test the performance of DockBench, an integrate
      informatics platform to automatically compare RMDS-based molecular docking
      performances of different docking/scoring methods. The overall performance
      resulted in the blind prediction are encouraging in particular for the pose
      prediction task, in which several complex were predicted with a sufficient
      accuracy for medicinal chemistry purposes.

PMID- 27638811
TI  - A population study of the reported incidence of native joint septic arthritis in
      the United Kingdom between 1998 and 2013.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Septic arthritis is a life-threatening condition with mortality rates
      of 10-15%. Previous studies in other countries have shown the incidence of septic
      arthritis may be changing. Our aim was investigate the incidence and pattern of
      native joint septic arthritis in the UK. METHODS: We performed an analysis using
      Hospital Episode Statistics to investigate the reported incidence of septic
      arthritis in the UK between 1998 and 2013. RESULTS: A total of 54 532 cases of
      septic arthritis were reported via Hospital Episode Statistics during the
      timeframe studied. There has been a 43% increase in the reported incidence of
      septic arthritis, with rates rising from 5.5/100 000 in 1998 to 7.8/100 000 in
      2013. The rate increased most rapidly in those >75 years of age (15/100 000 in
      1998 and 31/100 000 in 2013). Staphylococcal species were the most frequently
      reported, followed by Streptococcus Pneumococcus rates were relatively stable,
      with the exception of a 7-fold spike in reported incidence in 2011. DISCUSSION:
      This large population-based study demonstrates that the incidence of septic
      arthritis is increasing in the UK. Rates are increasing most rapidly in the >75
      years age group, which is likely the result of increasing co-morbidities. The
      clustering of pneumococcal cases has potential public health implications.

PMID- 27638813
TI  - Regarding Dettloff et al. "Mammary Analog Secretory Carcinoma (MASC) Involving
      the Thyroid Gland: A Report of the First Three Cases".

PMID- 27638812
TI  - Improvement in insulin resistance is greater when infliximab is added to
      methotrexate during intensive treatment of early rheumatoid arthritis-results
      from the IDEA study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the change in established biomarkers of cardiovascular
      (CV) risk, namely, total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio
      (TC/HDL-C), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and insulin
      resistance (IR) in patients with early RA treated with two different treat-to
      target strategies. METHODS: Fasting glucose, lipids, insulin and NT-proBNP were
      measured at baseline, weeks 26 and 78 in 79 DMARD-naive RA patients, free of CV
      disease, as part of a double-blind randomized controlled trial of MTX with either
      infliximab (IFX) or methylprednisolone as induction therapy. Homeostasis model
      assessment-estimated IR (HOMA-IR) (glucose*insulin/405) was used to measure IR.
      Multiple imputation was employed, and linear regression analyses were adjusted
      for baseline values. RESULTS: Changes in DAS44-CRP did not differ between the
      treatment arms at weeks 26 and 78. Mean TC/HDL-C, HOMA-IR and NT-proBNP improved
      in both groups at weeks 26 and 78, although change in NT-proBNP was not
      statistically significant at week 78. Changes in TC/HDL-C and NT-proBNP were
      similar between treatment arms, but HOMA-IR values in the IFX + MTX arm were 42%
      lower than those treated with MTX + methylprednisolone at week 78 (P = 0.003);
      the difference remained significant after adjustment for baseline BMI, ACPA
      positivity, smoking status and intramuscular glucocorticoid use (P = 0.007).
      CONCLUSION: When implementing a treat-to-target approach, treatment of early RA
      was associated with improvement in TC/HDL-C, HOMA-IR and NT-proBNP, and a greater
      long-term improvement in HOMA-IR was seen in those treated with IFX. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: EU Clinical Trials Register, http://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu,
      Eudract-2005-005013-37; ISRTCNregisrty, http://www.isrctn.com, ISRCTN48638981.

PMID- 27638814
TI  - Endocan: a novel biomarker associated with well-developed coronary collateral
      circulation in patients with stable angina and chronic total occlusion.
AB  - Angiogenesis and arteriogenesis have a crucial role in the formation of coronary
      collateral vessels. It has been shown that endocan and vascular cell adhesion
      molecule-1 (VCAM-1) are potential angiogenetic factors. We investigated the
      relationship between serum endocan levels and grade of coronary collaterals, and
      also the correlation of endocan levels with serum VCAM-1 levels. Patients with
      stable angina and at least one total coronary occlusion at invasive coronary
      angiography were included in our study. Collateral degree was graded according to
      Rentrop and Cohen's classification. Patients who had grade 0 or 1 collateral
      vessels were included in the poorly-developed collateral group, and those with
      grade 2 or 3 coronary collateral vessels were included in the well-developed
      collateral group. Serum endocan and VCAM-1 levels were significantly higher in
      the well-developed collateral group (436.6 +/- 213.3 ng/mL vs. 216.1 +/- 78.5
      ng/mL, p < .001; 11.02 +/- 6.58 ng/mL vs. 6.78 +/- 1.14 ng/mL, p < .001,
      respectively). In a logistic regression analysis, only serum endocan level
      remained as an independent predictor for good collateral development. In the ROC
      curve analysis, 282 ng/mL endocan level had an a 82 % sensitivity and 86 %
      specificity for prediction of the well-developed collateral group. Higher endocan
      level was related to better coronary collateral development. In the event that
      these results are confirmed in further studies, endocan may be considered as an
      anti-ischemic treatment strategy in order to improve collateral development.

PMID- 27638815
TI  - Fire Increases Genetic Diversity of Populations of Six-Lined Racerunner.
AB  - Wildfires are highly variable and can disturb habitats, leading to direct and
      indirect effects on the genetic characteristics of local populations. Florida
      scrub is a fire-dependent, highly fragmented, and severely threatened habitat.
      Understanding the effect of fire on genetic characteristics of the species that
      use this habitat is critically important. We investigated one such lizard, the
      Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), which has a strong preference for
      open areas. We collected Six-lined Racerunners (n = 154) from 11 sites in
      Highlands County, FL, and defined 2 time-since-last-fire (TSF) categories:
      recently burned and long unburned. We screened genetic variation at 6
      microsatellites to estimate genetic differentiation and compare genetic diversity
      among sites to determine the relationship with TSF. A clear pattern exists
      between genetic diversity and TSF in the absence of strong genetic
      differentiation. Genetic diversity was greater and inbreeding was lower in sites
      with more recent TSF, and genetic characteristics had significantly larger
      variance in long unburned sites compared with more recently burned sites. Our
      results suggest that fire suppression increases variance in genetic
      characteristics of the Six-lined Racerunner. More generally, fire may benefit
      genetic characteristics of some species that use fire-dependent habitats and
      management efforts for such severely fragmented habitat will be challenged by the
      presence of multiple species with incompatible fire preferences.

PMID- 27638816
TI  - Development and Characterization of 15 Polymorphic Dinucleotide Microsatellite
      Markers for Tule Elk Using HiSeq3000.
AB  - The tule elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes) experienced a severe bottleneck in the
      1800s, resulting in low genetic diversity. There is a need for high-resolution
      genetic assays that can be used to differentiate individual elk, including close
      relatives, with high confidence. An efficient assay requires multiple markers
      both polymorphic and that can be amplified in concert with other markers in
      multiplex reactions. To develop such markers, we employed 150-bp paired-end whole
      genome shotgun sequencing on an Illumina HiSeq3000 platform to discover
      dinucleotide microsatellite markers. After preliminary screening of these
      markers, we selected and screened 15 candidate loci and 5 existing tetra
      nucleotide markers in 56 tule elk. We combined these markers in 2 multiplex
      reactions and report primer concentrations and PCR conditions enabling their
      efficient amplification.

PMID- 27638817
TI  - Targeted Therapy for Older Patients with Uncontrolled Severe Asthma: Current and
      Future Prospects.
AB  - Severe asthma in the elderly places a high burden on affected individuals and
      society. Emerging therapies target specific phenotypes of the asthma disease
      spectrum, and can be beneficial for older asthmatics, albeit their response might
      be altered due to age-related characteristics. Paradoxically, these
      characteristics are often ground for exclusion from clinical trials. The question
      thus arises how the senior asthmatic population can successfully enter the era of
      targeted therapy. Therefore, we highlight characteristics of this population
      relevant to effective treatment, and review the evidence for targeted therapy in
      elderly patients. For targeted therapy it is important to account for aging, as
      this affects the distribution of phenotypes (e.g. late-onset asthma, non
      eosinophilic asthma) and may alter biomarkers and drug metabolism. Elderly
      asthmatics suffer from age-related comorbidities and subsequent polypharmacy. A
      systematic search into targeted asthma therapy yielded no randomized clinical
      trials dedicated to older asthmatics. Post hoc analyses of the anti
      immunoglobulin E agent omalizumab indicate similar efficacy in both younger and
      older adults. Conference abstracts on anti-interleukin-5 and anti-interleukin-13
      therapy suggest even more pronounced effects of targeted treatments in late-onset
      disease and in asthmatic patients 65 years or older, but full reports are
      lacking. For non-eosinophilic asthma in the elderly, there is not yet high-level
      evidence for targeted therapy, but macrolides may offer a viable option. In
      conclusion, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the effect of older age on the
      safety and efficacy of targeted asthma therapy. Further investigations in the
      elderly are needed, with special emphasis on both late-onset asthma and
      therapeutics for non-eosinophilic asthma.

PMID- 27638819
TI  - Does the Victim-Offender Relationship Matter? Exploring the Sentencing of Female
      Homicide Offenders.
AB  - Empirical research pertaining to sentencing of homicide offenders has been
      restricted almost exclusively to samples of male offenders in the United States.
      To fill this void in international research and to explore questions regarding
      the treatment of female homicide offenders further, we examined the extent to
      which victim-offender relationships and motives independently affect the length
      of sentences imposed by analyzing a nationally representative sample of female
      offenders adjudicated guilty of homicide in South Korea, over the period 1986
      2013. In contrast to previous studies conducted in Canada, the Netherlands, and
      the United States, the current study found that the victim-offender relationship
      has no affect on sentence lengths. Rather, the most significant predictor for the
      sentence lengths of the female homicide offenders was the motive for killing. We
      discuss future directions for international comparative research on the roles of
      victim-offender relationships and motives in sentencing outcomes of female
      offenders.

PMID- 27638820
TI  - [An eight-year-old boy with painful flat feet].

PMID- 27638818
TI  - Anticholinergic Drug Use and Risk to Cognitive Performance in Older Adults with
      Questionable Cognitive Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Age-associated decline in central cholinergic activity makes older
      adults susceptible to the harmful effects of anticholinergic (AC) medications;
      however, there is an inadequate understanding of the association and possible
      effects of AC drugs on cognition. This cross-sectional study examines the
      associations of AC medications on cognition among older adults with questionable
      cognitive impairment (QCI). METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, we used a
      multicenter database of community-dwelling older adults (N = 7351) aged 60+ years
      with QCI, from September 2005 to March 2014, as the baseline data. The
      Anticholinergic Drug Scale was used to categorize AC drug load into no, low, or
      moderate/high groups. Individuals with a Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes
      score between 0.5 and 2.5 were identified as having QCI, while cognitive
      performance was evaluated using the Neuropsychological Test Battery. The mean z
      scores of neuropsychological tests were grouped into a global cognition score.
      RESULTS: Participants who took AC medications were older, largely female, and had
      a higher prevalence of incontinence than those without AC exposure. Global
      cognition was significantly greater in the moderate/high-AC group than the no-AC
      group (-0.23 +/- 0.53 vs. -0.32 +/- 0.53). Multivariable linear regression showed
      that the global cognition score among the low- and moderate/high-AC groups,
      compared with the no-AC group, was 0.064 higher (p = 0.006 and p = 0.12,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional study indicates that older
      adults with QCI who were exposed to AC medications might have higher global
      cognitive scores than those without AC exposure. The observed associations
      indicate that older adults might experience some beneficial cognitive effects
      from AC drugs, possibly due to the therapeutic effects of these medications in
      controlling comorbidities, thus outweighing their adverse effects on cognition.

PMID- 27638821
TI  - [Acute abdomen with abdominal mass and missing spleen].

PMID- 27638822
TI  - [Extrathoracic manifestations of tuberculosis].
AB  - CLINICAL/METHODICAL ISSUE: Besides the lungs, tuberculosis (TB) can affect any
      organ system. In most cases, extrathoracic TB occurs in immunosuppressed patients
      as part of a severe illness via hematogenous spread. Extrathoracic involvement
      most commonly involves abdominal organs, especially the urogenital tract and less
      commonly the central nervous system (CNS) and the musculoskeletal system. Most
      frequently, computed tomography (CT) is used for detecting extrathoracic TB
      manifestations, except for CNS and musculoskeletal manifestations, where contrast
      enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard. Extrathoracic
      manifestations of TB may be indistinguishable from inflammatory or malignant
      causes. Due to unspecific symptoms the diagnosis is often delayed. This article
      summarizes and discusses the various radiological manifestations of extrathoracic
      manifestation of TB. STANDARD RADIOLOGICAL METHODS: Radiological modalities for
      screening extrathoracic TB are CT and MRI. Conventional X-radiographs do not play
      a role in the diagnosis of extrathoracic TB. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: The
      possibility of extrathoracic TB should be considered particularly in
      immunosuppressed patients, such as the homeless, alcoholics or drug addicts or in
      patients with an immigrant background from the endemic areas of TB. The most
      likely site of extrathoracic TB is the abdomen; however, infections of the CNS or
      musculoskeletal systems and multisystem infections can also occur. In patients
      with suspected extrathoracic TB, radiological modalities for screening are CT,
      especially for abdominal infections and lymphadenopathy and MRI with contrast
      media for the musculoskeletal system and the CNS.

PMID- 27638823
TI  - [Thoracic manifestation of tuberculosis].
AB  - CLINICAL ISSUE: Tuberculosis (TB) is a granulomatous disease caused by
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis and transmission is via an airborne route by droplet
      infection. In the majority of cases patients have thoracic TB, which most
      frequently presents with hilar lymphadenopathy and pulmonary manifestation. Due
      to the rise in incidence of TB in central Europe to be expected over the coming
      years, it is essential to be acquainted with the radiological manifestations of
      pulmonary TB, particularly to be able to discriminate active from inactive TB.
      Due to the use of molecular techniques entailing DNA fingerprinting, the
      traditional classification of TB in primary and postprimary TB is being
      challenged. These genetic studies have revealed that variations in the clinical
      and radiographic appearance of TB are mainly affected by the immune status of the
      patients. Due to the low prevalence of TB in central Europe and the wide
      variation of radiological presentations, the diagnosis and therapy of TB is often
      delayed. In this article, the radiographic manifestations of thoracic TB are
      summarized and discussed. STANDARD RADIOLOGICAL METHODS: Together with the
      medical history and bacteriological tests, chest X-ray imaging and computed
      tomography (CT) play a major role not only in the detection of TB but also in the
      follow-up during and after therapy. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: Chest X
      radiographs should be the primary diagnostic method in patients with suspected TB
      in screening as well as for diagnosis and therapy monitoring. The use of CT is
      more sensitive than chest radiographs and is frequently performed after chest
      radiographs to obtain detailed information about subtle parenchymal changes or
      lymph node manifestation. When active TB is suspected CT should be performed.
      Tree in bud, lobular consolidations, centrilobular nodules, cavities and ground
      glass opacification are typical changes in active TB.

PMID- 27638825
TI  - [Skeletal sarcoidosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Presentation of the etiology, pathology, clinical course, radiology
      and differential diagnostics of skeletal sarcoidosis. PATHOANATOMICAL PRINCIPLES:
      Noncaseating epithelioid cell granulomas can trigger solitary, multiple or
      disseminated osteolysis, reactive osteosclerosis and/or granulomatous synovitis.
      INCIDENCE: The incidence of sarcoidosis is 10-12 per 100,000 inhabitants per
      year. Skeletal involvement is approximately 14 %. CLINICAL ASPECTS: Skeletal
      involvement occurs almost exclusively in the stage of lymph node and pulmonary
      manifestation. Most cases of skeletal involvement are clinically asymptomatic. In
      the case of synovial involvement, unspecific joint complaints (arthralgia) or
      less commonly arthritis can occur. Typical skin alterations can be diagnostically
      significant. RADIOLOGY: Punch out lesions osteolysis, coarse destruction and
      osteosclerosis can occur, which are best visualized with projection radiography
      and/or computed tomography. Pure bone marrow foci without interaction with the
      bone can only be detected with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and more recently
      with positron emission tomography (PET), mostly as incidental findings. There is
      a predeliction for the hand and trunk skeleton. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSTICS:
      Skeletal tuberculosis, metastases, multiple myeloma, Langerhans cell
      histiocytosis and sarcoid-like reactions in solid tumors must be differentiated.
      The key factors for correct diagnosis are thorax radiography, thorax CT and
      dermatological manifestations.

PMID- 27638824
TI  - [IgG4-associated diseases : State of the art].
AB  - CLINICAL ISSUE: IgG4-related diseases are rare but the incidence is continuously
      increasing. The pathophysiology is only incompletely understood. Multiorgan
      involvement correlates with high relapse rates, high serum IgG4 levels and an
      aggressive disease course, which is why diagnostics and therapy must be carried
      out rapidly and efficiently according to international guidelines despite all the
      difficulties. STANDARD TREATMENT: Currently the therapeutic standard is initial
      therapy (induction therapy) with glucocorticosteroids over a longer period of
      time and if necessary followed by low-dose maintenance therapy. Steroids are also
      the first choice therapy for management of relapses. Refractory disease courses
      are a rare but relevant problem. TREATMENT INNOVATIONS: The B-cell depleting
      antibody rituximab has shown excellent results in terms of remission induction
      and also maintenance therapy. The good effectiveness profile is likely to change
      the current treatment regimen for IgG4-related diseases in the future. DIAGNOSTIC
      WORK-UP: The current diagnostic algorithms applicable for several organ systems
      are based on four major pillars: (i) patient history and physical examination,
      (ii) serological diagnostics, (iii) organ swelling in the appropriately selected
      imaging procedure and (iv) the histological picture as gold standard.
      PERFORMANCE: The currently used algorithms allow a diagnosis to be made in most
      cases. ACHIEVEMENTS: IgG4-related diseases are a relevant differential diagnosis,
      particularly of malignant diseases. It is often a diagnosis by exclusion. An
      interdisciplinary approach is essential for rapid diagnostics and induction of
      therapy. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: In Europe IgG4 serum levels are just one of
      several diagnostic criteria. Imaging studies should be chosen according to the
      organ and disease manifestations.

PMID- 27638827
TI  - [Neurosarcoidosis].
AB  - CLINICAL/METHODICAL ISSUE: Neurosarcoidosis is a relatively rare complication of
      sarcoidosis that occurs in approximately 5-15 % of patients. The clinical picture
      is variable. Clinically, neurosarcoidosis is mostly manifested as lesions of the
      cranial nerves (50-70 %) and several cranial nerves are typically affected. This
      is the result of aseptic granulomatous basal meningitis. Intraparenchymal
      granulomas also occur, frequently affecting basal near-midline structures, such
      as the hypothalamus and pituitary glands and can lead to encephalopathy. STANDARD
      RADIOLOGICAL METHODS: Diagnostics are essentially performed using magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) as it can demonstrate the thickened meninges, which have
      a high affinity for contrast media but the results are not specific. Particularly
      in the absence of systemic sarcoidosis, diagnosis can be difficult. Laboratory
      tests are not very sensitive and specific, which makes neurosarcoidosis a
      diagnostic challenge. ACHIEVEMENTS: Due to the substantial morbidity of the
      disease, early and consistent treatment should be initiated. This is usually
      carried out with corticosteroids supported by immunosuppressant drugs, such as
      azathioprine and methotrexate.

PMID- 27638826
TI  - [Pulmonary granulomatous diseases and pulmonary manifestations of systemic
      granulomatous disease : Including tuberculosis and nontuberculous
      mycobacteriosis].
AB  - CLINICAL/METHODICAL ISSUE: Granulomas as signs of specific inflammation of the
      lungs are found in various diseases with pulmonary manifestations and represent
      an important imaging finding. STANDARD RADIOLOGICAL METHODS: The standard imaging
      modality for the work-up of granulomatous diseases of the lungs is most often
      thin-slice computed tomography (CT). There are a few instances, e. g.
      tuberculosis, sarcoidosis and silicosis, where a chest radiograph still plays an
      important role. METHODICAL INNOVATIONS: Further radiological modalities are
      usually not needed in the routine work-up of granulomatous diseases of the chest.
      In special cases magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission
      tomography (PET)-CT scans play an important role, e. g. detecting cardiac
      sarcoidosis by cardiac MRI or choline C-11 PET-CT in diagnosing lung carcinoma in
      scar tissue after tuberculosis. PERFORMANCE: The accuracy of thin-slice CT is
      very high for granulomatous diseases. ACHIEVEMENTS: In cases of chronic disease
      and fibrotic interstitial lung disease it is important to perform thin-slice CT
      in order to diagnose a specific disease pattern. Thin-slice CT is also highly
      sensitive in detecting disease complications and comorbidities, such as
      malignancies. Given these indications thin-slice CT is generally accepted in the
      routine daily practice. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: A thin-slice CT and an
      interdisciplinary discussion are recommended in many cases with a suspected
      diagnosis of pulmonary granulomatous disease due to clinical or radiographic
      findings.

PMID- 27638828
TI  - Apoptotic effect of the selective PPARbeta/delta agonist GW501516 in invasive
      bladder cancer cells.
AB  - GW501516 is a selective and high-affinity synthetic agonist of peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor beta/delta (PPARbeta/delta). This molecule
      promoted the inhibition of proliferation and apoptosis in few cancer cell lines,
      but its anticancer action has never been investigated in bladder tumor cells.
      Thus, this study was undertaken to determine whether GW501516 had
      antiproliferative and/or apoptotic effects on RT4 and T24 urothelial cancer cells
      and to explore the molecular mechanisms involved. Our results indicated that, in
      RT4 cells (derived from a low-grade papillary tumor), GW501516 did not induce
      cell death. On the other hand, in T24 cells (derived from an undifferentiated
      high-grade carcinoma), this PPARbeta/delta agonist induced cytotoxic effects
      including cell morphological changes, a decrease of cell viability, a G2/M cell
      cycle arrest, and the cell death as evidenced by the increase of the sub-G1 cell
      population. Furthermore, GW501516 triggered T24 cell apoptosis in a caspase
      dependent manner including both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways
      through Bid cleavage. In addition, the drug led to an increase of the Bax/Bcl-2
      ratio, a mitochondrial dysfunction associated with the dissipation of DeltaPsim,
      and the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol. GW501516
      induced also ROS generation which was not responsible for T24 cell death since
      NAC did not rescue cells upon PPARbeta/delta agonist exposure. For the first
      time, our data highlight the capacity of GW501516 to induce apoptosis in invasive
      bladder cancer cells. This molecule could be relevant as a therapeutic drug for
      high-grade urothelial cancers.

PMID- 27638832
TI  - Trust me, I'm a researcher!: The role of trust in biomedical research.
AB  - In biomedical research lack of trust is seen as a great threat that can severely
      jeopardise the whole biomedical research enterprise. Practices, such as informed
      consent, and also the administrative and regulatory oversight of research in the
      form of research ethics committees and Institutional Review Boards, are
      established to ensure the protection of future research subjects and, at the same
      time, restore public trust in biomedical research. Empirical research also
      testifies to the role of trust as one of the decisive factors in research
      participation and lack of trust as a barrier for consenting to research. However,
      what is often missing is a clear definition of trust. This paper seeks to address
      this gap. It starts with a conceptual analysis of the term trust. It compares
      trust with two other related terms, those of reliance and trustworthiness, and
      offers a defence of Baier's attribute of 'good will' a basic characteristic of
      trust. It, then, proceeds to consider trust in the context of biomedical research
      by examining two questions: First, is trust necessary in biomedical research?;
      and second, do increases in regulatory oversight of biomedical research also
      increase trust in the field? This paper argues that regulatory oversight is
      important for increasing reliance in biomedical research, but it does not improve
      trust, which remains important for biomedical research. It finishes by pointing
      at professional integrity as a way of promoting trust and trustworthiness in this
      field.

PMID- 27638829
TI  - Histone H3 lysine 23 acetylation is associated with oncogene TRIM24 expression
      and a poor prognosis in breast cancer.
AB  - Acetylated H3 lysine 23 (H3K23ac) is a specific histone post-translational
      modification recognized by oncoprotein TRIM24. However, it is not clear whether
      H3K23ac levels are correlated with TRIM24 expression and what role H3K23ac may
      have in cancer. In this study, we collected breast carcinoma samples from 121
      patients and conducted immunohistochemistry to determine the levels of TRIM24 and
      H3K23ac in breast cancer. Our results demonstrated that TRIM24 expression is
      positively correlated with H3K23ac levels, and high levels of both TRIM24 and
      H3K23ac predict shorter overall survival of breast cancer patients. We also
      showed that both TRIM24 and H3K23ac are higher in HER2-positive patients, and
      their levels were positively correlated with HER2 levels in breast cancer.
      Moreover, TRIM24 expression is associated with estrogen receptor (ER) and
      progesterone receptor (PR) statuses in both our cohort and The Cancer Genome
      Atlas (TCGA) breast carcinoma. In summary, our results revealed an important role
      of TRIM24 and H3K23ac in breast cancer and provided further evidence that TRIM24
      small-molecule inhibitors may benefit ER- and PR-negative or HER2-positive breast
      cancer patients.

PMID- 27638833
TI  - Training in Gastrointestinal Motility.

PMID- 27638830
TI  - MiR-377 inhibits the proliferation of pancreatic cancer by targeting Pim-3.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of various tumor
      biological processes including proliferation and apoptosis. MiR-377 has been
      implicated in many types of cancer, whereas its expressional feature and
      potential biological function in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains
      unclear. In this study, we scanned the global miRNA expression profiles in PDAC
      from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and found miR-377 was down-regulated
      significantly in PDAC. Then, its expression was measured in both pancreatic
      cancer tissues and cells; the data showed that miR-377 was de-regulated and
      inversely correlated with pathologic parameters of tumor growth or metastasis. We
      generated PDAC cell lines with stable overexpression or inhibition of miR-377,
      and our results indicated that miR-377 up-regulation significantly promoted cell
      viability, proliferation, and migration in PDAC cells, and also induced cell
      apoptosis and cell cycle arrest simultaneously. Binding-site predictions by
      bioinformatics showed that Pim-3 might be a potential target of miR-377.
      Luciferase reporter assay ulteriorly identified that miR-377 suppressed Pim-3
      expression by binding the 3'-UTR. In tumor tissues, we also showed that the Pim-3
      expression was inversely correlated with that of miR-377. Furthermore, stable
      ectopic miR-377 expression in pancreatic cancer cell lines suppressed Pim-3
      expression, leading to the attenuation of Bad phosphorylation level at its Ser112
      and promoting cell apoptosis. Overall, these results reveal that miR-377 may have
      tumor growth suppression function by down-regulating Pim-3 kinase expression to
      inhibit both pancreatic tumor growth and migration, and induce cell apoptosis.
      Hence, miR-377 may be a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target.

PMID- 27638834
TI  - Patients Perceive Clinical Benefit with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for
      Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that dietary therapy may be effective for
      patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but limited published data exist
      on the usage and efficacy of dietary therapy. AIM: To evaluate the perspective of
      IBD patients using the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). METHODS: An anonymous
      online survey was conducted using REDCap, a Web-based survey tool. Survey links
      were sent to known Web sites as well as support groups in an attempt to
      characterize patient utilization of the SCD and perception of efficacy of the
      SCD. RESULTS: There were 417 respondents of the online survey on the SCD with
      IBD. Mean age for individuals on the SCD was 34.9 +/- 16.4 years. Seventy percent
      were female. Forty-seven percent had Crohn's disease, 43 % had ulcerative
      colitis, and 10 % had indeterminate colitis. Individuals perceived clinical
      improvement on the SCD. Four percent reported clinical remission prior to the
      SCD, while 33 % reported remission at 2 months after initiation of the SCD, and
      42 % at both 6 and 12 months. For those reporting clinical remission, 13 %
      reported time to achieve remission of less than 2 weeks, 17 % reported 2 weeks to
      a month, 36 % reported 1-3 months, and 34 % reported greater than 3 months. For
      individuals who reported reaching remission, 47 % of individuals reported
      associated improvement in abnormal laboratory values. CONCLUSIONS: The SCD is
      utilized by many patients as a primary and adjunct therapy for IBD. Most patients
      perceive clinical benefit to use of the SCD.

PMID- 27638835
TI  - Diagnostic Delay in Crohn's Disease: Time for Red Flags.

PMID- 27638836
TI  - Cryptococcus neoformans population diversity and clinical outcomes of HIV
      associated cryptococcal meningitis patients in Zimbabwe.
AB  - HIV and cryptococcal meningitis co-infection is a major public health problem in
      most developing countries. Cryptococcus neoformans sensu stricto is responsible
      for the majority of HIV-associated cryptococcosis cases in sub-Saharan Africa.
      Despite the available information, little is known about cryptococcal population
      diversity and its association with clinical outcomes in patients with HIV
      associated cryptococcal meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa. In a prospective
      cohort, we investigated the prevalence and clinical outcome of
      Cryptococcusneoformans sensu stricto meningitis among HIV-infected patients in
      Harare, Zimbabwe, and compared the genotypic diversity of the isolates with those
      collected from other parts of Africa. Molecular typing was done using amplified
      fragment length polymorphism genotyping and microsatellite typing. The majority
      of patients with HIV-associated Cryptococcusneoformans sensu stricto meningitis
      in this cohort were males (n=33/55; 60.0 %). The predominant Cryptococcus
      neoformans sensu stricto genotype among the Zimbabwean isolates was genotype
      AFLP1/VNI (n=40; 72.7 %), followed by AFLP1A/VNB/VNII (n=8; 14.6 %), and
      AFLP1B/VNII was the least isolated (n=7; 12.7 %). Most of the isolates were
      mating-type alpha (n=51; 92.7 %), and only four (7.3 %) were mating-type a.
      Overall in-hospital mortality was 55.6 % (n=30), and no difference between
      infecting genotype and clinical outcome of patient (P=0.73) or CD4+ counts
      (P=0.79) was observed. Zimbabwean Cryptococcusneoformans sensu stricto genotypes
      demonstrated a high level of genetic diversity by microsatellite typing, and 51
      genotypes within the main molecular types AFLP1/VNI, AFLP1A/VNB/VNII and
      AFLP1B/VNII were identified. This study demonstrates that Cryptococcusneoformans
      sensu stricto in Zimbabwe has a high level of genetic diversity when compared to
      other regional isolates.

PMID- 27638838
TI  - Physician Satisfaction With Integrated Behavioral Health in Pediatric Primary
      Care.
AB  - As the benefits of integrated behavioral health care services are becoming more
      widely recognized, this study investigated physician satisfaction with ongoing
      integrated psychology services in pediatric primary care clinics. Data were
      collected across 5 urban and 6 rural clinics and demonstrated the specific
      factors that physicians view as assets to having efficient access to a pediatric
      behavioral health practitioner. Results indicated significant satisfaction
      related to quality and continuity of care and improved access to services. Such
      models of care may increase access to care and reduce other service barriers
      encountered by individuals and their families with behavioral health concerns
      (ie, those who otherwise would seek services through referrals to traditional
      tertiary care facilities).

PMID- 27638837
TI  - Health Insurance Trends and Access to Behavioral Healthcare Among Justice
      Involved Individuals-United States, 2008-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A large proportion of justice-involved individuals have mental health
      issues and substance use disorders (SUD) that are often untreated due to high
      rates of uninsurance. However, roughly half of justice-involved individuals were
      estimated to be newly eligible for health insurance through the Affordable Care
      Act (ACA). OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess health insurance trends among justice
      involved individuals before and after implementation of the ACA's key provisions,
      the dependent coverage mandate and Medicaid expansion, and to examine the
      relationship between health insurance and treatment for behavioral health
      conditions. DESIGN: Repeated and pooled cross-sectional analyses of data from the
      National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). PARTICIPANTS: Nationally
      representative sample of 15,899 adults age 19-64 years between 2008 and 2014 with
      a history of justice involvement during the prior 12 months. MAIN MEASURES:
      Uninsurance rates between 2008 and 2014 are reported. Additional outcomes include
      adjusted treatment rates for depression, serious mental illness, and SUD by
      insurance status. KEY RESULTS: The dependent coverage mandate was associated with
      a 13.0 percentage point decline in uninsurance among justice-involved individuals
      age 19-25 years (p < 0.001). Following Medicaid expansion, uninsurance declined
      among justice involved individuals of all ages by 9.7 percentage points (p <
      0.001), but remained 16.3 percentage points higher than uninsurance rates for
      individuals without justice involvement (p < 0.001). In pooled analyses,
      Medicaid, relative to uninsurance and private insurance, was associated with
      significantly higher treatment rates for illicit drug abuse/dependence and
      depression. CONCLUSION: Given the high prevalence of mental illness and substance
      use disorders among justice-involved populations, persistently elevated rates of
      uninsurance and other barriers to care remain a significant public health
      concern. Sustained outreach is required to reduce health insurance disparities
      between individuals with and without justice involvement. Public insurance
      appears to be associated with higher treatment rates, relative to uninsurance and
      private insurance, among justice-involved individuals.

PMID- 27638839
TI  - Combined Glaucoma Tube Shunt (Ahmed) and Fluocinolone Acetonide (RetisertTM)
      Implantation Compared to Ahmed Alone in Uveitic Glaucoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Glaucoma is a known complication of uveitis, and may require
      glaucoma tube shunt implantation for intraocular pressure (IOP) control. The
      success of glaucoma tube shunt implantation in the setting of a local ocular
      steroid depot in uveitic glaucoma remains unknown. The purpose of this study was
      to determine whether patients who underwent combined glaucoma tube shunt (Ahmed)
      and fluocinolone acetonide (RetisertTM, Bausch + Lomb, Bridgewater, NJ, USA)
      implantation have superior outcomes compared to patients with Ahmed implants only
      in the setting of uveitic glaucoma. METHODS: All participants were studied
      retrospectively and underwent Ahmed implantation alone or with
      existing/concurrent Retisert implantation (combined group) at a single academic
      institution. The main outcome measures were IOP, visual acuity (VA), number of
      IOP-lowering medications, and adverse events at 6 months after Ahmed
      implantation. Secondary outcome measures included adverse events and surgical
      success at 6 months after Ahmed implantation. RESULTS: Mean IOP at 6 months after
      Ahmed implantation was 15.3 +/- 4.8 and 15.1 +/- 4.9 mm Hg in the Ahmed only
      group (n = 17) and the combined group (n = 17), respectively (p = 0.89). The mean
      number of IOP-lowering medications at 6 months after Ahmed implantation was 1.7
      +/- 1.0 and 1.8 +/- 1.0 in the Ahmed only group and the combined group,
      respectively (p = 0.86). Mean VA at 6 months after Ahmed implantation was 0.35 +/
      0.29 and 0.42 +/- 0.33 log mean angle of resolution in the Ahmed only group and
      the combined group, respectively (p = 0.50). No significant differences in
      surgical success or adverse events were noted between the two groups. CONCLUSION:
      At 6 months, no significant differences in mean IOP, mean number of IOP-lowering
      medications, VA, surgical success, or adverse events were noted between Ahmed
      implantation alone or combined Ahmed and Retisert implantation in patients with
      uveitic glaucoma.

PMID- 27638840
TI  - Clinical Response of a Patient to Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy and the Immune
      Landscape of Testicular Germ Cell Tumors.
AB  - Anti-Programed Death 1 (PD-1) is standard immunotherapy for multiple cancers, and
      the expression of one of its ligands, PD-L1, has been described in germ cell
      tumors (GCT). Neither the clinical activity of anti-PD-1 nor the incidence of an
      immunoresponsive tumor microenvironment has been described for GCTs. A patient
      initially diagnosed with melanoma via fine needle aspiration was treated with one
      dose of antibody to PD-1. A core needle biopsy was subsequently performed to
      acquire sufficient tissue for molecular analysis, which led to a change in
      diagnosis to metastatic embryonal carcinoma. The testicular GCT cohort of The
      Cancer Genome Atlas was analyzed using a T-cell gene signature associated with
      benefit from immunotherapy. Primary tumors (N = 134) were categorized as high (T
      cell-inflamed), medium, or low (non-T-cell-inflamed) by their T-cell signature
      derived from RNAseq data. Anti-PD-1 induced decreases in serum markers and a 33%
      reduction in tumor volume. Gene expression revealed a T-cell-inflamed tumor
      microenvironment in 47% of testicular GCTs, including seminoma (83%) and
      nonseminoma (17%) tumor subtypes. Expression of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) RNA
      correlated with lack of the T-cell signature, with increasing AFP RNA inversely
      correlating with the inflamed signature and expression of IFNgamma-associated
      genes. These data suggest that GCTs can respond to anti-PD-1 and that gene
      expression profiling supports investigation of immunotherapy for treatment of
      GCTs. Cancer Immunol Res; 4(11); 903-9. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638842
TI  - Activity, specificity, and titer of naturally occurring canine anti-DEA 7
      antibodies.
AB  - The reported prevalence of naturally occurring anti-dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA)
      7 antibodies in DEA 7-negative dogs is as high as 50%. Characterization of these
      antibodies may better define their importance in canine transfusion medicine. We
      determined in vitro activity, specificity, and titer of anti-DEA 7 antibodies in
      DEA 7-negative dogs. Plasma samples from 317 DEA 7-negative dogs were cross
      matched with DEA 7-positive red blood cells (RBCs) using gel column technology.
      Agglutination occurred with DEA 7-positive RBCs but not with DEA 7-negative RBCs
      in 73 samples (23%), which were hence classified as containing anti-DEA 7
      antibodies. These samples were evaluated for hemolytic and agglutinating
      activity, strength of agglutination, and antibody specificity and titers. All
      samples showed agglutination but none showed hemolysis. Gel agglutination was
      graded as 1+ for 20 samples (27%), 2+ for 49 samples (67%), 3+ for 4 samples
      (6%); no samples were graded 4+. The agglutination titer was <1:2 for 51 samples
      (73%), 1:2 for 13 samples (19%), 1:4 for 4 samples (5%), and 1:8 for 2 samples
      (3%). Of 16 samples treated with 2-mercaptoethanol, 11 samples (69%) contained
      only IgM, 4 samples (25%) exhibited only IgG activity, and 1 sample (6%) had both
      IgG and IgM activity. Low titers of warm, weakly agglutinating, mostly naturally
      occurring IgM anti-DEA 7 antibodies were found in 23% of DEA 7-negative dogs. The
      presence of naturally occurring anti-DEA 7 antibodies suggests that cross
      matching of canine blood recipients is advisable, even at first transfusion, to
      minimize delayed transfusion reactions.

PMID- 27638843
TI  - Biological variation of 20 analytes measured in serum from clinically healthy
      domestic cats.
AB  - The applications of data on biological variation include assessment of the
      utility of population-based reference intervals, evaluation of the significance
      of change in serial results, and setting of analytical quality specifications. We
      investigated the biological variation of 19 biochemistry analytes and total T4,
      measured in serum from 7 clinically healthy domestic cats sampled once weekly for
      5 weeks. Samples were frozen and analyzed in random order in the same analytical
      run. Results were analyzed for outliers, and the components of variance,
      subsequently generated by restricted maximum likelihood, were used to determine
      within-subject and between-subject variation (CVI and CVG, respectively), as well
      as analytical variation (CVA) for each analyte. Indices of individuality,
      reference change values, and analytical performance goals were calculated. The
      smallest CVI and CVG were found for calcium, chloride, and sodium, whereas the
      largest values were calculated for bile acids. Nine analytes (albumin, alkaline
      phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, cholesterol,
      creatinine, phosphate [phosphorus], total protein, total T4) demonstrated high
      individuality, indicating limited utility of population-based reference
      intervals. Individuality was low, and population-based reference intervals were
      thereby considered appropriate for 5 analytes (bile acids, calcium, fructosamine,
      glucose, potassium). The intermediate individuality observed for 4 analytes
      (creatine kinase, iron, magnesium, urea) indicated that population-based
      reference intervals should be used with caution.

PMID- 27638844
TI  - Intralaboratory development and evaluation of a high-performance liquid
      chromatography-fluorescence method for detection and quantitation of aflatoxins
      M1, B1, B2, G1, and G2 in animal liver.
AB  - Aflatoxins are potent mycotoxins with effects that include hepatotoxicity,
      immunosuppression, and suppression of animal growth and production. The etiologic
      diagnosis of aflatoxicosis, which is largely based on analysis of contaminated
      feed matrices, has significant disadvantages given the fact that representative
      feed samples may not be available and feed-based test methods are not
      confirmatory of an etiologic diagnosis. A tissue-based analytical method for
      biomarkers of exposure would be valuable for confirmation of aflatoxicosis. We
      describe in-house development and evaluation of a high-performance liquid
      chromatographic method with fluorescence detection and precolumn derivatization
      for determination of aflatoxins M1, B1, B2, G1, and G2 in animal liver. The
      method demonstrates good selectivity for the tested aflatoxins in the liver
      matrix. The overall range was 0.03-0.10 ng/g for limit of detection and 0.09-0.18
      ng/g for limit of quantitation. The correlation coefficient (R2) of calibration
      curves was >0.9978 for AFM1, 0.9995 for AFB1, 0.9986 for AFB2, 0.9983 for AFG1,
      and 0.9980 for AFG2 For fortification levels of 0.2-10 ng/g, repeatability was 10
      18% for AFM1, 7-14% for AFB1, 5-14% for AFB2, 6-16% for AFG1, and 10-15% for AFG2
      Recovery was 52-57% for AFM1, 54-62% for AFB1, 55-61% for AFB2, 57-67% for AFG1,
      and 61-65% for AFG2 There was no liver matrix effect found. The method is rugged
      against minor changes based on the selected factors. The results indicate that
      the proposed method is suitable for quantitative determination of aflatoxins M1,
      B1, B2, G1, and G2 in liver.

PMID- 27638841
TI  - Restoring Retinoic Acid Attenuates Intestinal Inflammation and Tumorigenesis in
      APCMin/+ Mice.
AB  - Chronic intestinal inflammation accompanies familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)
      and is a major risk factor for colorectal cancer in patients with this disease,
      but the cause of such inflammation is unknown. Because retinoic acid (RA) plays a
      critical role in maintaining immune homeostasis in the intestine, we hypothesized
      that altered RA metabolism contributes to inflammation and tumorigenesis in FAP.
      To assess this hypothesis, we analyzed RA metabolism in the intestines of
      patients with FAP as well as APCMin/+ mice, a model that recapitulates FAP in
      most respects. We also investigated the impact of intestinal RA repletion and
      depletion on tumorigenesis and inflammation in APCMin/+ mice. Tumors from both
      FAP patients and APCMin/+ mice displayed striking alterations in RA metabolism
      that resulted in reduced intestinal RA. APCMin/+ mice placed on a vitamin A
      deficient diet exhibited further reductions in intestinal RA with concomitant
      increases in inflammation and tumor burden. Conversely, restoration of RA by
      pharmacologic blockade of the RA-catabolizing enzyme CYP26A1 attenuated
      inflammation and diminished tumor burden. To investigate the effect of RA
      deficiency on the gut immune system, we studied lamina propria dendritic cells
      (LPDC) because these cells play a central role in promoting tolerance. APCMin/+
      LPDCs preferentially induced Th17 cells, but reverted to inducing Tregs following
      restoration of intestinal RA in vivo or direct treatment of LPDCs with RA in
      vitro These findings demonstrate the importance of intestinal RA deficiency in
      tumorigenesis and suggest that pharmacologic repletion of RA could reduce
      tumorigenesis in FAP patients. Cancer Immunol Res; 4(11); 917-26. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638845
TI  - Structural pathology is not related to patient-reported pain and function in
      patients undergoing meniscal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between meniscal tears and other joint pathologies
      with patient-reported symptoms is not clear. We investigated associations between
      structural knee pathologies identified at surgery with preoperative knee pain and
      function in patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscal surgery. METHODS: This
      study included 443 patients from the Knee Arthroscopy Cohort Southern Denmark
      (KACS), a prospective cohort following patients 18 years or older undergoing
      arthroscopic meniscal surgery at 4 hospitals between 1 February 2013 and 31
      January 2014. Patient-reported outcomes, including the Knee Injury and
      Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), were obtained by online questionnaires prior
      to surgery. Knee pathology was assessed by the operating surgeons using a
      modified version of the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and
      Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS) classification of meniscal tears
      questionnaire, supplemented with information extracted from surgery reports.
      Following hypothesis-driven preselection of candidate variables, backward
      elimination regressions were performed to investigate associations between
      patient-reported outcomes and structural knee pathologies. RESULTS: Regression
      models only explained a small proportion of the variability in self-reported pain
      and function (adjusted R2=0.10-0.12) and this association was mainly driven by
      age, gender and body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: Specific meniscal pathology and
      other structural joint pathologies found at meniscal surgery were not associated
      with preoperative self-reported pain and function in patients with meniscal tears
      questioning inferences made about a direct relationship between these. Our
      findings question the role of arthroscopic surgery to address structural
      pathology as a means to improve patient-reported outcomes in patients having
      surgery for a meniscal tear.

PMID- 27638846
TI  - Use of the triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio to identify
      cardiometabolic risk: impact of obesity?
AB  - There is evidence that the plasma concentration ratio of triglyceride (TG)/high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) identifies insulin resistance and
      increased cardiometabolic risk and outcome in apparently healthy individuals.
      Since use of the TG/HDL-C ratio to accomplish this task in persons over a wide
      range of adiposity has not been studied, the ability of previously defined sex
      specific TG/HDL-C cut-points to identify increased cardiometabolic risk was
      evaluated in apparently healthy normal weight, overweight, and obese individuals.
      Data were analyzed from a population-based study of apparently healthy men
      (n=416) and women (n=893), subdivided into categories by body mass index (BMI,
      kg/m2): normal weight (BMI 20.0-24.9), overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9) and obese (BMI
      30.0-34.9). The adiposity groups were further stratified on the basis of their
      TG/HDL-C ratio into groups defined as being either at 'high risk' versus 'low
      risk' of cardiometabolic disease. Multiple cardiometabolic risk factors were
      compared between these subgroups, as was their degree of insulin resistance
      assessed by fasting plasma insulin concentration and homeostasis model assessment
      of insulin resistance. The proportion of high-risk individuals varied with BMI
      category, ranging from 14% (normal weight) to 36% (obese). However, within each
      BMI category high-risk individuals had a significantly more adverse
      cardiometabolic risk profile. Finally, the adjusted OR of being insulin resistant
      was significantly greater in those with a high TG/HDL-C ratio in the normal
      (3.02), overweight (2.86), and obese (2.51) groups. Thus, irrespective of
      differences in BMI, the TG/HDL-C ratio identified apparently healthy persons with
      a more adverse cardiometabolic risk profile associated with an increased
      prevalence of insulin resistance.

PMID- 27638847
TI  - Prediction of 10-year Risk of Incident Heart Failure in Elderly Hypertensive
      Population: The ANBP2 Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multivariable risk prediction models consisting of routinely
      collected measurements can facilitate early detection and slowing of disease
      progression through pharmacological and nonpharmacological risk factor
      modifications. This study aims to develop a multivariable risk prediction model
      for predicting 10-year risk of incident heart failure diagnosis in elderly
      hypertensive population. METHODS: The derivation cohort included 6083
      participants aged 65 to 84 years at baseline (1995-2001) followed for a median of
      10.8 years during and following the Second Australian National Blood Pressure
      Study (ANBP2). Cox proportional hazards models were used to develop the risk
      prediction models. Variables were selected using bootstrap resampling method, and
      Akaike and Bayesian Information Criterion and C-statistics were used to select
      the parsimonious model. The final model was internally validated using a
      bootstrapping, and its discrimination and calibration were assessed. RESULTS:
      Incident heart failure was diagnosed in 319 (5.2%) participants. The final
      multivariable model included age, male sex, obesity (body mass index > 30kg/m2),
      pre-existing cardiovascular disease, average visit-to-visit systolic blood
      pressure variation, current or past smoking. The model has C-statistics of 0.719
      (95% CI: 0.705-0.748) in the derivation cohort, and 0.716 (95% CI: 0.701-0.731)
      after internal validation (optimism corrected). The goodness-of-fit test showed
      the model has good overall calibration (chi 2 = 1.78, P = 0.94). CONCLUSION: The
      risk equation, consisting of variables readily accessible in primary and
      community care settings, allows reliable prediction of 10-year incident heart
      failure in elderly hypertensive population. Its application for the prediction of
      heart failure needs to be studied in the community setting to determine its
      utility for improving patient management and disease prevention.

PMID- 27638848
TI  - Orthostatic Hypotension in Middle-Age and Risk of Falls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One-third of older adults fall each year. Orthostatic hypotension
      (OH) has been hypothesized as an important risk factor for falls, but findings
      from prior studies have been inconsistent. METHODS: We conducted a prospective
      study of the association between baseline OH (1987-1989) and risk of falls in the
      Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Falls were ascertained during
      follow-up via ICD-9 hospital discharge codes or Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
      Services claims data. OH was defined as a drop in systolic blood pressure (SBP)
      >=20mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >=10mm Hg within 2 minutes of moving
      from the supine to standing position. Changes in SBP or DBP during OH assessments
      were also examined as continuous variables. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of
      23 years, there were 2,384 falls among 12,661 participants (mean age 54 years,
      55% women, 26% black). OH was associated with risk of falls even after adjustment
      for demographic characteristics and other risk factors (hazard ratio (HR): 1.30;
      95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10, 1.54; P = 0.002). Postural change in DBP was
      more significantly associated with risk of falls (HR 1.09 per -5mm Hg change in
      DBP; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.13; P < 0.001) than postural change in SBP (HR 1.03 per -5mm
      Hg change in SBP; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.05; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: In a community
      based, middle-aged population, OH, and in particular, postural change in DBP,
      were independent risk factors for falls over 2 decades of follow-up. Future
      studies are needed to examine OH thresholds associated with increased risk of
      falls.

PMID- 27638852
TI  - The association of ACE gene polymorphism with diabetic kidney disease and
      renoprotective efficacy of valsartan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To investigate the associations between the insertion/deletion
      (I/D) polymorphisms in the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene and
      susceptibility to diabetic kidney disease (DKD); and the efficacy of valsartan in
      reducing the urine protein in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: We enrolled 128 T2DM patients in this study, including 54 cases with
      DKD (DKD+) and 74 controls (DKD-). The ACE polymorphism was assayed by polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR), and the genotype distribution and allele frequency were
      analyzed. The DKD+ group was subdivided into the DD, ID and II subgroups, based
      on their genotypes. In addition, patients with DKD received valsartan treatment
      for 12 weeks. We determined changes in the urinary albumin to creatinine ratio
      (ACR) and serum creatinine (SCr). RESULTS: The frequencies of the genotypes DD
      and ID were higher in the DKD+ than in the DKD- group. The frequency of allele D
      was higher, and of allele I was lower, in the DKD+ than in DKD- group (p < 0.05).
      Following valsartan treatment, albuminuria was significantly decreased in
      subgroups DD and ID (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In T2DM patients, the ACE I/D
      polymorphism was associated with onset of DKD. Furthermore, the ACE I/D
      polymorphism influenced the renoprotective response to valsartan: Patients with
      the DD genotype benefitted the most from this treatment.

PMID- 27638850
TI  - Challenging the complementarity of different metrics of left atrial function:
      insight from a cardiomyopathy-based study.
AB  - Aims: Left ventricular (LV) strain provides incremental values to LV ejection
      fraction (LVEF) in predicting outcome. We sought to investigate if similar
      relationship is observed between left atrial (LA) emptying fraction and LA
      strain. Methods and results: In this study, we selected 50 healthy subjects, 50
      patients with dilated, 50 hypertrophic, and 50 infiltrative (light-chain (AL)
      amyloidosis) cardiomyopathy (CMP). Echocardiographic measures included LVEF and
      LA emptying fraction as well as LV and LA longitudinal strain (LVLS and LALS).
      After regression analysis, comparison of least square means of LA strain among
      aetiologies was performed. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and
      coefficient of variation (COV) were used in the assessment of variability and
      reproducibility of LV and LA metrics. The mean LVLS and all LA metrics were
      impaired in patients with all CMP compared with healthy subjects. In contrast to
      the moderate relationship between LVEF and LVLS (r = -0.51, P < 0.001), there was
      a strong linear relationship between LA emptying fraction and LA strain (r =
      0.87, P < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, total LA strain was associated
      with LVLS (beta = -0.48, P < 0.001), lateral E/e' (beta = -0.24, P < 0.001), age
      (beta = -0.21, P < 0.001), and heart rate (beta = -0.14, P = 0.02). The least
      square mean of LA strain adjusted for the parameters was not different among
      aetiologies (ANOVA P = 0.82). The ICC (>0.77) and COV (<13) were acceptable.
      Conclusion: In contrast to LV measures, there is a strong linear relationship
      between volumetric and longitudinal deformation indices of left atrium
      irrespective of CMP aetiology. Either LA emptying fraction or LA strain could be
      used as an important parameter in predictive models.

PMID- 27638853
TI  - Progenitor cell secretory products exert additive renoprotective effects when
      combined with ace inhibitors in experimental CKD.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS/INTRODUCTION: Renal fibrovascular injury often persists in chronic
      kidney disease patients treated with renin-angiotensin system blockers.
      Intriguingly, early outgrowth cell-derived factor infusion also inhibits chronic
      renal injury. We sought to determine whether early outgrowth cell-derived factor
      administration provides further renoprotection when added to renin-angiotensin
      system blockade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Conditioned medium was generated by
      incubating rat early outgrowth cells with serum-free endothelial basal medium-2
      to collect their secreted factors. Subtotal nephrectomy rats received enalapril
      0.5 mg/L in drinking water or placebo, beginning 8 weeks post-surgery. Four weeks
      later, enalapril-treated rats received intravenous injections of either
      conditioned medium or control endothelial basal medium-2 for 2 weeks. Glomerular
      filtration rate, urinary protein excretion and renal structure were assessed 4
      weeks later at 16 weeks post-surgery. RESULTS: Enalapril-treated subtotal
      nephrectomy rats receiving control endothelial basal medium-2 injections
      experienced only partial renoprotection when compared to vehicle-treated subtotal
      nephrectomy rats. In contrast, conditioned medium infusion, when administered in
      addition to enalapril, attenuated the progression of renal dysfunction in
      subtotal nephrectomy rats, improving glomerular filtration rate and reducing
      proteinuria without affecting blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Early outgrowth cell
      derived factors exert additive renoprotective effects on top of angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitor therapy in experimental chronic kidney disease,
      providing the rationale for clinical trials of early outgrowth cell-based
      therapies for chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 27638854
TI  - Overexpression of angiotensinogen downregulates aquaporin 1 expression via
      modulation of Nrf2-HO-1 pathway in renal proximal tubular cells of transgenic
      mice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We aimed to examine the regulation of aquaporin 1 expression in an
      angiotensinogen transgenic mouse model, focusing on underlying mechanisms.
      METHODS: Male transgenic mice overexpressing rat angiotensinogen in their renal
      proximal tubular cells (RPTCs) and rat immortalised RPTCs stably transfected with
      rat angiotensinogen cDNA were used. RESULTS: Angiotensinogen-transgenic mice
      developed hypertension and nephropathy, changes that were either partially or
      completely attenuated by treatment with losartan or dual renin-angiotensin system
      blockade (losartan and perindopril), respectively, while hydralazine prevented
      hypertension but not nephropathy. Decreased expression of aquaporin 1 and heme
      oxygenase-1 and increased expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor
      2 (Nrf2) and sodium-hydrogen exchanger 3 were observed in RPTCs of
      angiotensinogen-transgenic mice and in angiotensinogen-transfected immortalised
      RPTCs. These parameters were normalised by dual renin-angiotensin system
      blockade. Both in vivo and in vitro studies identified a novel mechanism in which
      angiotensinogen overexpression in RPTCs enhances the cytosolic accumulation of
      Nrf2 via the phosphorylation of pGSK3beta Y216. Consequently, lower intranuclear
      Nrf2 levels are less efficient to trigger heme oxygenase-1 expression as a
      defence mechanism, which subsequently diminishes aquaporin 1 expression in RPTCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Angiotensinogen-mediated downregulation of aquaporin 1 and Nrf2
      signalling may play an important role in intrarenal renin-angiotensin system
      induced hypertension and kidney injury.

PMID- 27638856
TI  - CT-707, a Novel FAK Inhibitor, Synergizes with Cabozantinib to Suppress
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Blocking Cabozantinib-Induced FAK Activation.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma is among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths
      worldwide, and the development of new treatment regimens is urgently needed to
      improve therapeutic approach. In our study, we found that the combination of a
      Met inhibitor, cabozantinib, and a novel FAK inhibitor, CT-707, exerted
      synergistic antitumor effects against hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in
      vivo Interestingly, further studies showed that therapeutic concentrations of
      cabozantinib increased the phosphorylation of FAK, which might attenuate the
      antitumor activity of cabozantinib. The simultaneous exposure to CT-707
      effectively inhibited the activation of FAK that was induced by cabozantinib,
      which contributes to the synergistic effect of the combination. Furthermore,
      cabozantinib increased the mRNA and protein levels of integrin alpha5, which is a
      canonical upstream of FAK, and the introduction of cilengitide to block integrin
      function could abrogate FAK activation by cabozantinib, indicating that
      cabozantinib upregulated the phosphorylation of FAK in an integrin-dependent
      manner. Similar synergy was also observed on PHA-665752, another selective MET
      inhibitor, indicating that this observation might be a common characteristic of
      MET-targeting strategies. Our findings not only favor the development of the
      novel FAK inhibitor CT-707 as a therapeutic agent against hepatocellular
      carcinoma but also provide a new strategy of combining MET and FAK inhibitors to
      potentiate the anticancer activities of these two types of agents for treating
      hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(12); 2916-25. (c)2016
      AACR.

PMID- 27638857
TI  - Combining Nonclinical Experiments with Translational PKPD Modeling to
      Differentiate Erlotinib and Gefitinib.
AB  - We quantitatively compare the efficacy of two approved EGFR tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors, erlotinib and gefitinib, based on in vivo and in vitro data and show
      how a modeling approach can be used to scale from animal to humans. Gefitinib
      shows a higher tumor uptake in cancer patients, and we explored the potential
      impact on pharmacologic and antitumor activity in in vitro and in xenograft mice.
      Tumor growth inhibition was monitored, and the pharmacokinetics (PK) in plasma
      and tumor, as well as temporal changes of phospho-Erk (pErk) signals were
      examined in patient-derived tumor xenograft mice. These data were integrated in a
      translational PKPD model, allowing us to project an efficacious human dose, which
      we retrospectively compared with prescribed doses for cancer patients. In vitro
      experiments showed that cell-cycle arrest was similar for erlotinib and
      gefitinib. Similar pERK biomarker responses were obtained despite a 6.6-fold
      higher total tumor exposure for gefitinib. The PKPD model revealed a 3.7-fold
      higher in vivo potency for gefitinib, which did not translate into a lower
      anticipated efficacious dose in humans. The model-based dose prediction matched
      the recommended clinical doses well. These results suggest that despite having
      lower total tumor-to-plasma ratios, active drug exposure at target site is higher
      for erlotinib. Considering the PK properties, this translates in a 50% lower
      recommended daily dose of erlotinib in cancer patients. In summary, total
      exposure at target site is not suitable to rank compounds, and an integrated
      modeling and experimental approach can assess efficacy more accurately. Mol
      Cancer Ther; 15(12); 3110-9. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638855
TI  - Evi1 regulates Notch activation to induce zebrafish hematopoietic stem cell
      emergence.
AB  - During development, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) emerge from aortic
      endothelial cells (ECs) through an intermediate stage called hemogenic
      endothelium by a process known as endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT).
      While Notch signaling, including its upstream regulator Vegf, is known to
      regulate this process, the precise molecular control and temporal specificity of
      Notch activity remain unclear. Here, we identify the zebrafish transcriptional
      regulator evi1 as critically required for Notch-mediated EHT In vivo live imaging
      studies indicate that evi1 suppression impairs EC progression to hematopoietic
      fate and therefore HSC emergence. evi1 is expressed in ECs and induces these
      effects cell autonomously by activating Notch via pAKT Global or endothelial
      specific induction of notch, vegf, or pAKT can restore endothelial Notch and HSC
      formations in evi1 morphants. Significantly, evi1 overexpression induces Notch
      independently of Vegf and rescues HSC numbers in embryos treated with a Vegf
      inhibitor. In sum, our results unravel evi1-pAKT as a novel molecular pathway
      that, in conjunction with the shh-vegf axis, is essential for activation of Notch
      signaling in VDA endothelial cells and their subsequent conversion to HSCs.

PMID- 27638858
TI  - Oncogenic Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Directly Phosphorylate Focal Adhesion Kinase
      (FAK) as a Resistance Mechanism to FAK-Kinase Inhibitors.
AB  - Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a major drug target in cancer and current
      inhibitors targeted to the ATP-binding pocket of the kinase domain have entered
      clinical trials. However, preliminary results have shown limited single-agent
      efficacy in patients. Despite these unfavorable data, the molecular mechanisms
      that drive intrinsic and acquired resistance to FAK-kinase inhibitors are largely
      unknown. We have demonstrated that receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) can directly
      bypass FAK-kinase inhibition in cancer cells through phosphorylation of FAK's
      critical tyrosine 397 (Y397). We also showed that HER2 forms a direct protein
      protein interaction with the FAK-FERM-F1 lobe, promoting direct phosphorylation
      of Y397. In addition, FAK-kinase inhibition induced two forms of compensatory RTK
      reprogramming: (i) the rapid phosphorylation and activation of RTK signaling
      pathways in RTKHigh cells and (ii) the long-term acquisition of RTKs novel to the
      parental cell line in RTKLow cells. Finally, HER2 +: cancer cells displayed
      resistance to FAK-kinase inhibition in 3D growth assays using a HER2 isogenic
      system and HER2+ cancer cell lines. Our data indicate a novel drug resistance
      mechanism to FAK-kinase inhibitors whereby HER2 and other RTKs can rescue and
      maintain FAK activation (pY397) even in the presence of FAK-kinase inhibition.
      These data may have important ramifications for existing clinical trials of FAK
      inhibitors and suggest that individual tumor stratification by RTK expression
      would be important to predict patient response to FAK-kinase inhibitors. Mol
      Cancer Ther; 15(12); 3028-39. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638859
TI  - ATM Expression Predicts Veliparib and Irinotecan Sensitivity in Gastric Cancer by
      Mediating P53-Independent Regulation of Cell Cycle and Apoptosis.
AB  - Identification of synthetically lethal cellular targets and synergistic drug
      combinations is important in cancer chemotherapy as they help to overcome
      treatment resistance and increase efficacy. The Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated
      (ATM) kinase is a nuclear protein that plays a major role in the initiation of
      DNA repair signaling and cell-cycle check points during DNA damage. Although ATM
      was shown to be associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer, its
      implications as a predictive biomarker for cancer chemotherapy remain unexplored.
      The present study evaluated ATM-induced synthetic lethality and its role in
      sensitization of gastric cancer cells to PARP and TOP1 inhibitors, veliparib (ABT
      888) and irinotecan (CPT-11), respectively. ATM expression was detected in a
      panel of gastric cell lines, and the IC50 against each inhibitors was determined.
      The combinatorial effect of ABT-888 and CPT-11 in gastric cancer cells was also
      determined both in vitro and in vivo ATM deficiency was found to be associated
      with enhanced sensitivity to ABT-888 and CPT-11 monotherapy, hence suggesting a
      mechanism of synthetic lethality. Cells with high ATM expression showed reduced
      sensitivity to monotherapy; however, they showed a higher therapeutic effect with
      ABT-888 and CPT-11 combinatorial therapy. Furthermore, ATM expression was shown
      to play a major role in cellular homeostasis by regulating cell-cycle progression
      and apoptosis in a P53-independent manner. The present study highlights the
      clinical utility of ATM expression as a predictive marker for sensitivity of
      gastric cancer cells to PARP and TOP1 inhibition and provides a deeper
      mechanistic insight into ATM-dependent regulation of cellular processes. Mol
      Cancer Ther; 15(12); 3087-96. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638860
TI  - Antitumor and Antiangiogenic Effects of Aspirin-PC in Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - To determine the efficacy of a novel and safer (for gastrointestinal tract)
      aspirin (aspirin-PC) in preclinical models of ovarian cancer, in vitro dose
      response studies were performed to compare the growth-inhibitory effect of
      aspirin-PC versus aspirin on three human (A2780, SKOV3ip1, and HeyA8) and a mouse
      (ID8) ovarian cancer cell line over an 8-day culture period. In the in vivo
      studies, the aspirin test drugs were studied alone and in the presence of a VEGF
      A inhibitor (bevacizumab or B20), due to an emerging role for platelets in tumor
      growth following antiangiogenic therapy, and we examined their underlying
      mechanisms. Aspirin-PC was more potent (vs. aspirin) in blocking the growth of
      both human and mouse ovarian cancer cells in monolayer culture. Using in vivo
      model systems of ovarian cancer, we found that aspirin-PC significantly reduced
      ovarian cancer growth by 50% to 90% (depending on the ovarian cell line). The
      efficacy was further enhanced in combination with Bevacizumab or B20. The growth
      inhibitory effect on ovarian tumor mass and number of tumor nodules was evident,
      but less pronounced for aspirin and the VEGF inhibitors alone. There was no
      detectable gastrointestinal toxicity. Both aspirin and aspirin-PC also inhibited
      cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and increased apoptosis of ovarian cancer
      cells. In conclusion, PC-associated aspirin markedly inhibits the growth of
      ovarian cancer cells, which exceeds that of the parent drug, in both cell culture
      and in mouse model systems. We also found that both aspirin-PC and aspirin have
      robust antineoplastic action in the presence of VEGF-blocking drugs. Mol Cancer
      Ther; 15(12); 2894-904. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638862
TI  - Calpain Activity Is Essential for ATP-Driven Unconventional Vesicle-Mediated
      Protein Secretion and Inflammasome Activation in Human Macrophages.
AB  - Extracellular ATP is an endogenous danger signal that is known to activate
      inflammatory responses in innate immune cells, including macrophages. Activated
      macrophages start to secrete proteins to induce an immune response, as well as to
      recruit other immune cells to the site of infection and tissue damage. In this
      study, we characterized the secretome (i.e., the global pattern of secreted
      proteins) of ATP-stimulated human macrophages. We show that ATP stimulation
      activates robust vesicle-mediated unconventional protein secretion, including
      exosome release and membrane shedding, from human macrophages. Pathway analysis
      of the identified secreted proteins showed that calpain-related pathways were
      overrepresented in the secretome of ATP-stimulated cells. In accordance with
      this, calpains, which are calcium-dependent nonlysosomal cysteine proteases, were
      activated upon ATP stimulation through a P2X purinoceptor 7 receptor-dependent
      pathway. Functional studies demonstrated that calpain activity is essential for
      the P2X purinoceptor 7 receptor-mediated activation of unconventional protein
      secretion. Unconventional protein secretion was followed by cell necrosis and
      NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated secretion of the mature form of the proinflammatory
      cytokine IL-1beta. Furthermore, ATP-driven NLRP3 inflammasome activation was also
      dependent on calpain activity. Interestingly, pro-IL-1beta and inflammasome
      components ASC and caspase-1 were released by ATP-activated macrophages through a
      vesicle-mediated secretion pathway. In conclusion, to our knowledge, we provide
      the first global characterization of proteins secreted by ATP-activated human
      macrophages and show a pivotal role for calpains in the activation of the
      inflammatory response during ATP exposure.

PMID- 27638861
TI  - Alkylating Agent-Induced NRF2 Blocks Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated
      Apoptosis via Control of Glutathione Pools and Protein Thiol Homeostasis.
AB  - Alkylating agents are a commonly used cytotoxic class of anticancer drugs.
      Understanding the mechanisms whereby cells respond to these drugs is key to
      identify means to improve therapy while reducing toxicity. By integrating genome
      wide gene expression profiling, protein analysis, and functional cell validation,
      we herein demonstrated a direct relationship between NRF2 and Endoplasmic
      Reticulum (ER) stress pathways in response to alkylating agents, which is
      coordinated by the availability of glutathione (GSH) pools. GSH is essential for
      both drug detoxification and protein thiol homeostasis within the ER, thus
      inhibiting ER stress induction and promoting survival, an effect independent of
      its antioxidant role. NRF2 accumulation induced by alkylating agents resulted in
      increased GSH synthesis via GCLC/GCLM enzyme, and interfering with this NRF2
      response by either NRF2 knockdown or GCLC/GCLM inhibition with buthionine
      sulfoximine caused accumulation of damaged proteins within the ER, leading to
      PERK-dependent apoptosis. Conversely, upregulation of NRF2, through KEAP1
      depletion or NRF2-myc overexpression, or increasing GSH levels with N
      acetylcysteine or glutathione-ethyl-ester, decreased ER stress and abrogated
      alkylating agents-induced cell death. Based on these results, we identified a
      subset of lung and head-and-neck carcinomas with mutations in either KEAP1 or
      NRF2/NFE2L2 genes that correlate with NRF2 target overexpression and poor
      survival. In KEAP1-mutant cancer cells, NRF2 knockdown and GSH depletion
      increased cell sensitivity via ER stress induction in a mechanism specific to
      alkylating drugs. Overall, we show that the NRF2-GSH influence on ER homeostasis
      implicates defects in NRF2-GSH or ER stress machineries as affecting alkylating
      therapy toxicity. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(12); 3000-14. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638865
TI  - UK troops to continue to receive mefloquine despite concern over adverse events.

PMID- 27638864
TI  - Inhibition of Acid Sphingomyelinase Allows for Selective Targeting of CD4+
      Conventional versus Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells.
AB  - CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) depend on CD28 signaling for their
      survival and function, a receptor that has been previously shown to activate the
      acid sphingomyelinase (Asm)/ceramide system. In this article, we show that the
      basal and CD28-induced Asm activity is higher in Tregs than in conventional CD4+
      T cells (Tconvs) of wild-type (wt) mice. In Asm-deficient (Smpd1-/-; Asm-/-)
      mice, as compared with wt mice, the frequency of Tregs among CD4+ T cells,
      turnover of the effector molecule CTLA-4, and their suppressive activity in vitro
      were increased. The biological significance of these findings was confirmed in
      our Treg-sensitive mouse model of measles virus (MV) CNS infection, in which we
      observed more infected neurons and less MV-specific CD8+ T cells in brains of Asm
      /- mice compared with wt mice. In addition to genetic deficiency, treatment of wt
      mice with the Asm inhibitor amitriptyline recapitulated the phenotype of Asm
      deficient mice because it also increased the frequency of Tregs among CD4+ T
      cells. Reduced absolute cell numbers of Tconvs after inhibitor treatment in vivo
      and extensive in vitro experiments revealed that Tregs are more resistant toward
      Asm inhibitor-induced cell death than Tconvs. Mechanistically, IL-2 was capable
      of providing crucial survival signals to the Tregs upon inhibitor treatment in
      vitro, shifting the Treg/Tconv ratio to the Treg side. Thus, our data indicate
      that Asm-inhibiting drugs should be further evaluated for the therapy of
      inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.

PMID- 27638863
TI  - FACIN, a Double-Edged Sword of the Emerging Periodontal Pathogen Filifactor
      alocis: A Metabolic Enzyme Moonlighting as a Complement Inhibitor.
AB  - Periodontal disease is one of the most common inflammatory infectious diseases
      worldwide and it is associated with other syndromes, such as cardiovascular
      disease or rheumatoid arthritis. Recent advances in sequencing allowed for
      identification of novel periodontopathogens such as Gram-positive Filifactor
      alocis, but its virulence mechanisms remain largely unknown. We confirmed that F.
      alocis is a prevalent species in periodontitis patients, and we also observed
      strong correlation of this bacterium with clinical parameters, highlighting its
      role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Further, we found that preincubation of
      human serum with F. alocis resulted in abolished bactericidal activity and that
      F. alocis was surviving readily in full blood. We demonstrated that one of the
      key contributors to F. alocis complement resistance is a unique protein, FACIN
      (F. alocis complement inhibitor), which binds to C3, resulting in suppression of
      all complement pathways. Interestingly, FACIN is a nonclassical cell surface
      protein, a cytosolic enzyme acetylornithine transaminase, for which we now
      identified a moonlighting function. FACIN binds to C3 alone, but more importantly
      it also captures activated complement factor 3 within the complex with factor B,
      thereby locking in the convertase in an inactive state. Because of the
      indispensable role of alternative pathway convertase in amplifying complement
      cascades, its inhibition by FACIN results in a very potent downregulation of
      activated complement factor 3 opsonization on the pathogen surface, accompanied
      by reduction of downstream C5 cleavage.

PMID- 27638872
TI  - A Pluridimensional View of Biased Agonism.
AB  - When studying G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling and ligand-biased
      agonism, at least three dimensional spaces must be considered, as follows: 1) the
      distinct conformations that can be stabilized by different ligands promoting the
      engagement of different signaling effectors and accessory regulators; 2) the
      distinct subcellular trafficking that can be conferred by different ligands,
      which results in spatially distinct signals; and 3) the differential binding
      kinetics that maintain the receptor in specific conformation and/or subcellular
      localization for different periods of time, allowing for the engagement of
      distinct signaling effector subsets. These three pluridimensional aspects of
      signaling contribute to different faces of functional selectivity and provide a
      complex, interconnected way to define the signaling profile of each individual
      ligand acting at GPCRs. In this review, we discuss how each of these aspects may
      contribute to the diversity of signaling, but also how they shed light on the
      complexity of data analyses and interpretation. The impact of phenotype
      variability as a source of signaling diversity, and the influence of novel and
      more sensitive assays in the detection and analysis of signaling
      pluridimensionality, is also discussed. Finally, we discuss perspectives for the
      use of the concept of pluridimensional signaling in drug discovery, in which we
      highlight future predictive tools that may facilitate the identification of
      compounds with optimal therapeutic and safety properties based on the signaling
      signatures of drug candidates.

PMID- 27638866
TI  - "Doing Trust".
AB  - Trust in research is important but not well understood. We examine the ways that
      researchers understand and practice trust in research. Using a qualitative
      research design, we interviewed 19 researchers, including eight researchers
      involved in Australian Indigenous research. The project design focused on
      sensitive research including research involving vulnerable participants and
      sensitive research topics. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. We
      found that researchers' understanding of trust integrates both the conceptual and
      concrete; researchers understand trust in terms of how it relates to other
      similar concepts and how they practice trust in research. This provides a sound
      basis to better understand trust in research, as well as identifying mechanisms
      to regain trust when it is lost in research.

PMID- 27638873
TI  - Gbetagamma Pathways in Cell Polarity and Migration Linked to Oncogenic GPCR
      Signaling: Potential Relevance in Tumor Microenvironment.
AB  - Cancer cells and stroma cells in tumors secrete chemotactic agonists that
      exacerbate invasive behavior, promote tumor-induced angiogenesis, and recruit
      protumoral bone marrow-derived cells. In response to shallow gradients of
      chemotactic stimuli recognized by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), Gbetagamma
      dependent signaling cascades contribute to specifying the spatiotemporal assembly
      of cytoskeletal structures that can dynamically alter cell morphology. This
      sophisticated process is intrinsically linked to the activation of Rho GTPases
      and their cytoskeletal-remodeling effectors. Thus, Rho guanine nucleotide
      exchange factors, the activators of these molecular switches, and their upstream
      signaling partners are considered participants of tumor progression.
      Specifically, phosphoinositide-3 kinases (class I PI3Ks, beta and gamma) and P
      Rex1, a Rac-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor, are fundamental
      Gbetagamma effectors in the pathways controlling directionally persistent
      motility. In addition, GPCR-dependent chemotactic responses often involve
      endosomal trafficking of signaling proteins; coincidently, endosomes serve as
      signaling platforms for Gbetagamma In preclinical murine models of cancer,
      inhibition of Gbetagamma attenuates tumor growth, whereas in cancer patients,
      aberrant overexpression of chemotactic Gbetagamma effectors and recently
      identified mutations in Gbeta correlate with poor clinical outcome. Here we
      discuss emerging paradigms of Gbetagamma signaling in cancer, which are essential
      for chemotactic cell migration and represent novel opportunities to develop
      pathway-specific pharmacologic treatments.

PMID- 27638874
TI  - Senior doctors urge public inquiry over Hunt's claims of excess weekend
      mortality.

PMID- 27638875
TI  - Commentary on Almassalha et al., "The Greater Genomic Landscape: The
      Heterogeneous Evolution of Cancer".
AB  - In this issue of Cancer Research, Almassalha and colleagues have proposed a new
      concept of the development of malignancy, that of the greater genomic landscape.
      They propose a stressor-related exploration of intracellular genomic sites as a
      response mechanism. This process can express sites with beneficial or deleterious
      effects, among them those that promote cell proliferation. They point out that
      their conception is broader, although certainly inclusive, of the process of gene
      induction. The authors view the physical process of chromatin reorganization as
      central to the exploration of the genomic landscape. Accordingly, they advocate
      the development of agents to limit chromatin structural modification as a
      chemotherapeutic approach in cancer. We found their theory relevant to understand
      the phenotypic heterogeneity of malignancy, particularly in familial cancer
      syndromes. For example, the familial atypical multiple mole melanoma (FAMMM)
      syndrome, related to a gene mutation, is characterized by a diversity of
      melanocytic lesions, only some of which become malignant melanoma. This new
      conceptualization can do much to increase understanding of the diversity of
      malignancy in families with hereditary cancer. Cancer Res; 76(19); 5602-4.
      (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27638877
TI  - GLP-1 inhibits VEGFA-mediated signaling in isolated human endothelial cells and
      VEGFA-induced dilation of rat mesenteric arteries.
AB  - We investigated the acute effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), GLP-1(1
      36), and GLP-1(7-36) on vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGFA)-induced
      endothelium-dependent signaling and vasodilation. Our hypothesis was that GLP-1
      released from intestinal l-cells modulates processes related to PLCgamma
      activation, Src, and endothelial NOS (eNOS) signaling, thereby controlling
      endothelial vessel tone. By using RT-PCR analysis, we found mRNA for the GLP-1
      receptor (GLP-1R) in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC), human
      retinal microvascular endothelial cells, and rat arteries. In isolated rat
      mesenteric resistance arteries precontracted with the thromboxane analog U46619
      to 80-90% of maximum contraction, VEGFA (25 ng/ml) caused a small and gradual
      relaxation (28.9 +/- 3.9%). Pretreatment of arteries with either GLP-1(1-36) (500
      nM) or GLP-1(7-36) (1 nM) abolished the VEGFA-induced relaxation. VEGFA-induced
      relaxations were also inhibited in endothelial-denuded arteries and in arteries
      pretreated with the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, Nomega-nitro-l
      arginine methyl ester (100 MUM). In vivo studies on male Wistar rats also
      revealed that GLP-1(7-36) inhibited VEGFA-induced vasodilation of the same
      arteries. In isolated endothelial cells, GLP-1(1-36) and GLP-1(7-36) caused a
      reduction in VEGFA-induced phosphorylation of PLCgamma. Ca2+ imaging of
      endothelial cells and rat mesenteric resistance arteries using fura-2, revealed
      that both GLP-1 analogs caused a reduction in VEGFA-induced Ca2+ signaling. GLP
      1(1-36) also reduced VEGFA-induced eNOS phosphorylation in HDMEC. In conclusion,
      GLP-1 reduced relaxation induced by VEGFA in resistance arteries by inhibiting
      VEGFR2-mediated Ca2+ signaling and endothelial NO synthesis. GLP-1, on its own,
      also induced phosphorylation of Src and ERK1/2 that can lead to proliferation and
      is implicated in vessel permeability.

PMID- 27638876
TI  - Changes in cardiac Nav1.5 expression, function, and acetylation by pan-histone
      deacetylase inhibitors.
AB  - Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are small molecule anticancer therapeutics
      that exhibit limiting cardiotoxicities including QT interval prolongation and
      life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. Because the molecular mechanisms for HDAC
      inhibitor-induced cardiotoxicity are poorly understood, we performed whole cell
      patch voltage-clamp experiments to measure cardiac sodium currents (INa) from
      wild-type neonatal mouse ventricular or human-induced pluripotent stem cell
      derived cardiomyocytes treated with trichostatin A (TSA), vorinostat (VOR), or
      romidepsin (FK228). All three pan-HDAC inhibitors dose dependently decreased peak
      INa density and shifted the voltage activation curve 3- to 8-mV positive.
      Increases in late INa were not observed despite a moderate slowing of the
      inactivation rate at low activating potentials (<-40 mV). Scn5a mRNA levels were
      not significantly altered but NaV1.5 protein levels were significantly reduced.
      Immunoprecipitation with anti-NaV1.5 and Western blotting with anti-acetyl-lysine
      antibodies indicated that NaV1.5 acetylation is increased in vivo after HDAC
      inhibition. FK228 inhibited total cardiac HDAC activity with two apparent IC50s
      of 5 nM and 1.75 MUM, consistent with previous findings with TSA and VOR. FK228
      also decreased ventricular gap junction conductance (gj), again consistent with
      previous findings. We conclude that pan-HDAC inhibition reduces cardiac INa
      density and NaV1.5 protein levels without affecting late INa amplitude and, thus,
      probably does not contribute to the reported QT interval prolongation and
      arrhythmias associated with pan-HDAC inhibitor therapies. Conversely, reductions
      in gj may enhance the occurrence of triggered activity by limiting electrotonic
      inhibition and, combined with reduced INa, slow myocardial conduction and
      increase vulnerability to reentrant arrhythmias.

PMID- 27638878
TI  - Resistance-based interval exercise acutely improves endothelial function in type
      2 diabetes.
AB  - Different modes of exercise, disease, and training status can modify endothelial
      shear stress and result in distinct effects on endothelial function. To date, no
      study has examined the influence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and training status on
      the acute endothelial response to different modes of interval exercise (INT). We
      examined the effect of a single session of resistance- and cardio-based INT
      compared with a time-matched control on endothelial function in 12 age-matched
      T2D participants, 12 untrained, and 11 trained adults (aged 56 +/- 7 yr). Flow
      mediated dilation (%FMD) of the brachial artery was assessed at baseline and
      immediately, 1, and 2 h after an acute bout of cardio interval (C-INT),
      resistance interval (R-INT), and seated control (CTL); these interventions were
      randomized and separated by >2 days. C-INT involved seven 1-min cycling intervals
      at 85% of peak power with 1-min recovery between. R-INT involved the same pattern
      of seven 1-min intervals using leg resistance exercises. Endothelial function
      (%FMD) was improved after R-INT in all groups (Condition * Time interaction, P <
      0.01), an effect that was most robust in T2D where %FMD was higher immediately
      (+4.0 +/- 2.8%), 1 h (+2.5 +/- 2.5%), and 2 h (+1.9 +/- 1.9%) after R-INT
      compared with CTL (P < 0.01 for all). C-INT improved %FMD in T2D at 1-h
      postexercise (+1.6 +/- 2.2%, P = 0.03) compared with CTL. In conclusion, R-INT
      acutely improves endothelial function throughout the 2-h postexercise period in
      T2D patients. The long-term impact of resistance exercise performed in an
      interval pattern is warranted.

PMID- 27638879
TI  - Vascular function assessed by passive leg movement and flow-mediated dilation:
      initial evidence of construct validity.
AB  - The vasodilatory response to passive leg movement (PLM) appears to provide a
      novel, noninvasive assessment of vascular function. However, PLM has yet to be
      compared with the established noninvasive assessment of vascular health, flow
      mediated dilation (FMD). Therefore, as an initial evaluation of the construct
      validity of PLM and upright seated and supine PLM as well as brachial (BA) and
      superficial femoral (SFA) artery FMDs were performed in 10 young (22 +/- 1) and
      30 old (73 +/- 2) subjects. During upright seated PLM, the peak change in leg
      blood flow (DeltaLBF) and leg vascular conductance (DeltaLVC) was significantly
      correlated with BA (r = 0.57 and r = 0.66) and SFA (r = 0.44 and r = 0.41,
      DeltaLBF and DeltaLVC, respectively) FMD. Furthermore, although the relationships
      were not as strong, the supine PLM response was also significantly correlated
      with BA (r = 0.38 and r = 0.35) and SFA (r = 0.39 and r = 0.35, DeltaLBF and
      DeltaLVC, respectively) FMD. Examination of the young and old separately,
      however, revealed that significant relationships persisted in both groups only
      for the upright seated PLM response and BA FMD (young: r = 0.73 and r = 0.77;
      old: r = 0.35 and r = 0.45, DeltaLBF and DeltaLVC, respectively). Normalizing FMD
      for shear rate during PLM abrogated all significant relationships between the PLM
      and FMD response, suggesting a role for nitric oxide (NO) in these associations.
      Collectively, these data indicate that PLM, particularly upright seated PLM,
      likely provides an index of vascular health analogous to the traditional FMD
      test. Given the relative ease of PLM implementation, these data have important
      positive implications for PLM as a clinical vascular health assessment.

PMID- 27638881
TI  - Exercise intensity modulates the appearance of circulating microvesicles with
      proangiogenic potential upon endothelial cells.
AB  - The effect of endurance exercise on circulating microvesicle dynamics and their
      impact on surrounding endothelial cells is unclear. Here we tested the hypothesis
      that exercise intensity modulates the time course of platelet (PMV) and
      endothelial-derived (EMV) microvesicle appearance in the circulation through
      hemodynamic and biochemical-related mechanisms, and that microvesicles formed
      during exercise would stimulate endothelial angiogenesis in vitro. Nine healthy
      young men had venous blood samples taken before, during, and throughout the
      recovery period after 1 h of moderate [46 +/- 2% maximal oxygen uptake (Vo2max)]
      or heavy (67 +/- 2% Vo2max) intensity semirecumbent cycling and a time-matched
      resting control trial. In vitro experiments were performed by incubating
      endothelial cells with rest and exercise-derived microvesicles to examine their
      effects on cell angiogenic capacities. PMVs (CD41+) increased from baseline only
      during heavy exercise (from 21 +/- 1 * 103 to 55 +/- 8 * 103 and 48 +/- 6 * 103
      PMV/MUl at 30 and 60 min, respectively; P < 0.05), returning to baseline early in
      postexercise recovery (P > 0.05), whereas EMVs (CD62E+) were unchanged (P >
      0.05). PMVs were related to brachial artery shear rate (r2 = 0.43) and plasma
      norepinephrine concentrations (r2 = 0.21) during exercise (P < 0.05). Exercise
      derived microvesicles enhanced endothelial proliferation, migration, and tubule
      formation compared with rest microvesicles (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate
      substantial increases in circulating PMVs during heavy exercise and that exercise
      derived microvesicles stimulate human endothelial cells by enhancing angiogenesis
      and proliferation. This involvement of microvesicles may be considered a novel
      mechanism through which exercise mediates vascular healing and adaptation.

PMID- 27638880
TI  - H2S concentrations in the heart after acute H2S administration: methodological
      and physiological considerations.
AB  - In this study, we have tried to characterize the limits of the approach typically
      used to determine H2S concentrations in the heart based on the amount of H2S
      evaporating from heart homogenates-spontaneously, after reaction with a strong
      reducing agent, or in a very acidic solution. Heart homogenates were prepared
      from male rats in control conditions or after H2S infusion induced a transient
      cardiogenic shock (CS) or cardiac asystole (CA). Using a method of determination
      of gaseous H2S with a detection limit of 0.2 nmol, we found that the process of
      homogenization could lead to a total disappearance of free H2S unless performed
      in alkaline conditions. Yet, after restoration of neutral pH, free H2S
      concentration from samples processed in alkaline and nonalkaline milieus were
      similar and averaged ~0.2-0.4 nmol/g in both control and CS homogenate hearts and
      up to 100 nmol/g in the CA group. No additional H2S was released from control,
      CS, or CA hearts by using the reducing agent tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine or a
      strong acidic solution (pH < 2) to "free" H2S from combined pools. Of note, the
      reducing agent DTT produced a significant sulfide artifact and was not used.
      These data suggest that 1) free H2S found in heart homogenates is not a
      reflection of H2S present in a "living" heart and 2) the pool of combined
      sulfides, released in a strong reducing or acidic milieu, does not increase in
      the heart in a measurable manner even after toxic exposure to sulfide.

PMID- 27638882
TI  - Mitochondrial tRNA mutation with high-salt stimulation on cardiac damage:
      underlying mechanism associated with change of Bax and VDAC.
AB  - Mitochondrial transfer RNA (tRNA) mutation with high-salt stimulation can cause
      high blood pressure. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the
      present study, we examined the potential molecular mechanisms of cardiac damage
      caused by mitochondrial tRNA mutation with high-salt stimulation in spontaneously
      hypertensive rats (SHR). Unanesthetized, 44-wk-old, male, SHR were divided into
      four groups: SHR, SHR with high-salt stimulation for 8 wk (SHR + NaCl), SHR
      carrying tRNA mutations (SHR + M), and SHR + M with high-salt stimulation for 8
      wk (SHR + M + NaCl). Healthy Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were used as controls. Left
      ventricular mass and interventricular septum were highest in the SHR + M + NaCl
      group (P < 0.05), while ejection fraction was lowest in the SHR + M + NaCl group
      (P < 0.05). Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed myocardial cell hypertrophy
      with interstitial fibrosis and localized inflammatory cell infiltration, in the
      hypertensive groups, particularly in the SHR + M + NaCl group. Electron
      microscopy showed different degrees of mitochondrial cavitation in heart tissue
      of the hypertensive groups, which was highest in the SHR + M + NaCl group. In
      hypertensive animals, levels of reactive oxygen species were highest in the SHR +
      M + NaCl group (P < 0.05). Expression of the voltage-dependent anion channel
      (VDAC) and the apoptosis regulator Bax were highest in the SHR + M + NaCl group
      (P < 0.05), which also showed evidence of VDAC and Bax colocalization (P < 0.05).
      Overall, these data suggest that mitochondrial tRNA mutation with high-salt
      stimulation can aggravate cardiac damage, potentially because of increased
      expression and interaction between Bax and VDAC and increased reactive oxygen
      species formation and initiation of apoptosis.

PMID- 27638883
TI  - Molecular basis of cobalamin-dependent RNA modification.
AB  - Queuosine (Q) was discovered in the wobble position of a transfer RNA (tRNA) 47
      years ago, yet the final biosynthetic enzyme responsible for Q-maturation,
      epoxyqueuosine (oQ) reductase (QueG), was only recently identified. QueG is a
      cobalamin (Cbl)-dependent, [4Fe-4S] cluster-containing protein that produces the
      hypermodified nucleoside Q in situ on four tRNAs. To understand how QueG is able
      to perform epoxide reduction, an unprecedented reaction for a Cbl-dependent
      enzyme, we have determined a series of high resolution structures of QueG from
      Bacillus subtilis Our structure of QueG bound to a tRNATyr anticodon stem loop
      shows how this enzyme uses a HEAT-like domain to recognize the appropriate
      anticodons and position the hypermodified nucleoside into the enzyme active site.
      We find Q bound directly above the Cbl, consistent with a reaction mechanism that
      involves the formation of a covalent Cbl-tRNA intermediate. Using protein film
      electrochemistry, we show that two [4Fe-4S] clusters adjacent to the Cbl have
      redox potentials in the range expected for Cbl reduction, suggesting how Cbl can
      be activated for nucleophilic attack on oQ. Together, these structural and
      electrochemical data inform our understanding of Cbl dependent nucleic acid
      modification.

PMID- 27638885
TI  - The international Genome sample resource (IGSR): A worldwide collection of genome
      variation incorporating the 1000 Genomes Project data.
AB  - The International Genome Sample Resource (IGSR;
      http://www.internationalgenome.org) expands in data type and population diversity
      the resources from the 1000 Genomes Project. IGSR represents the largest open
      collection of human variation data and provides easy access to these resources.
      IGSR was established in 2015 to maintain and extend the 1000 Genomes Project
      data, which has been widely used as a reference set of human variation and by
      researchers developing analysis methods. IGSR has mapped all of the 1000 Genomes
      sequence to the newest human reference (GRCh38), and will release updated variant
      calls to ensure maximal usefulness of the existing data. IGSR is collecting new
      structural variation data on the 1000 Genomes samples from long read sequencing
      and other technologies, and will collect relevant functional data into a single
      comprehensive resource. IGSR is extending coverage with new populations sequenced
      by collaborating groups. Here, we present the new data and analysis that IGSR has
      made available. We have also introduced a new data portal that increases
      discoverability of our data-previously only browseable through our FTP site-by
      focusing on particular samples, populations or data sets of interest.

PMID- 27638884
TI  - CTCF modulates Estrogen Receptor function through specific chromatin and nuclear
      matrix interactions.
AB  - Enhancer regions and transcription start sites of estrogen-target regulated genes
      are connected by means of Estrogen Receptor long-range chromatin interactions.
      Yet, the complete molecular mechanisms controlling the transcriptional output of
      engaged enhancers and subsequent activation of coding genes remain elusive. Here,
      we report that CTCF binding to enhancer RNAs is enriched when breast cancer cells
      are stimulated with estrogen. CTCF binding to enhancer regions results in
      modulation of estrogen-induced gene transcription by preventing Estrogen Receptor
      chromatin binding and by hindering the formation of additional enhancer-promoter
      ER looping. Furthermore, the depletion of CTCF facilitates the expression of
      target genes associated with cell division and increases the rate of breast
      cancer cell proliferation. We have also uncovered a genomic network connecting
      loci enriched in cell cycle regulator genes to nuclear lamina that mediates the
      CTCF function. The nuclear lamina and chromatin interactions are regulated by
      estrogen-ER. We have observed that the chromatin loops formed when cells are
      treated with estrogen establish contacts with the nuclear lamina. Once there, the
      portion of CTCF associated with the nuclear lamina interacts with enhancer
      regions, limiting the formation of ER loops and the induction of genes present in
      the loop. Collectively, our results reveal an important, unanticipated interplay
      between CTCF and nuclear lamina to control the transcription of ER target genes,
      which has great implications in the rate of growth of breast cancer cells.

PMID- 27638886
TI  - Ribonuclease selection for ribosome profiling.
AB  - Ribosome profiling has emerged as a powerful method to assess global gene
      translation, but methodological and analytical challenges often lead to
      inconsistencies across labs and model organisms. A critical issue in ribosome
      profiling is nuclease treatment of ribosome-mRNA complexes, as it is important to
      ensure both stability of ribosomal particles and complete conversion of polysomes
      to monosomes. We performed comparative ribosome profiling in yeast and mice with
      various ribonucleases including I, A, S7 and T1, characterized their cutting
      preferences, trinucleotide periodicity patterns and coverage similarities across
      coding sequences, and showed that they yield comparable estimations of gene
      expression when ribosome integrity is not compromised. However, ribosome coverage
      patterns of individual transcripts had little in common between the
      ribonucleases. We further examined their potency at converting polysomes to
      monosomes across other commonly used model organisms, including bacteria,
      nematodes and fruit flies. In some cases, ribonuclease treatment completely
      degraded ribosome populations. Ribonuclease T1 was the only enzyme that preserved
      ribosomal integrity while thoroughly converting polysomes to monosomes in all
      examined species. This study provides a guide for ribonuclease selection in
      ribosome profiling experiments across most common model systems.

PMID- 27638891
TI  - The past, the present, and the future in the gastrointestinal health of women: An
      interview with Dr Jacqueline L Wolf.

PMID- 27638887
TI  - Reep1 null mice reveal a converging role for hereditary spastic paraplegia
      proteins in lipid droplet regulation.
AB  - Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs; SPG1-76 plus others) are length-dependent
      disorders affecting long corticospinal axons, and the most common autosomal
      dominant forms are caused by mutations in genes that encode the spastin (SPG4),
      atlastin-1 (SPG3A) and REEP1 (SPG31) proteins. These proteins bind one another
      and shape the tubular endoplasmic reticulum (ER) network throughout cells. They
      also are involved in lipid droplet formation, enlargement, or both in cells,
      though mechanisms remain unclear. Here we have identified evidence of partial
      lipoatrophy in Reep1 null mice in addition to prominent spastic paraparesis.
      Furthermore, Reep1-/- embryonic fibroblasts and neurons in the cerebral cortex
      both show lipid droplet abnormalities. The apparent partial lipodystrophy in
      Reep1 null mice, although less severe, is reminiscent of the lipoatrophy
      phenotype observed in the most common form of autosomal recessive lipodystrophy,
      Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy. Berardinelli-Seip lipodystrophy is
      caused by autosomal recessive mutations in the BSCL2 gene that encodes an ER
      protein, seipin, that is also mutated in the autosomal dominant HSP SPG17 (Silver
      syndrome). Furthermore, REEP1 co-immunoprecipitates with seipin in cells. This
      strengthens the link between alterations in ER morphogenesis and lipid
      abnormalities, with important pathogenic implications for the most common forms
      of HSP.

PMID- 27638892
TI  - Rational study endpoints in anti-neoplastic agent regulatory approval trials in
      the gynecologic malignancies.
AB  - A discussion of rational endpoints in clinical trials seeking regulatory approval
      for new anti-neoplastic agents involving the three major gynecologic
      malignancies, cancers of the ovary, cervix, and endometrial, is particularly
      interesting as (in the opinion of this commentator) the conclusion will be
      different in the individual cancers.

PMID- 27638893
TI  - Size matters in planning hysterectomy approach.
AB  - Hysterectomy is the second most common gynecologic surgery; approximately 600,000
      women undergo hysterectomies each year in the United States. Estimated uterine
      size, either by bimanual examination, ultrasonography, or both, is one of the
      major factors in evaluating the need for hysterectomy and in selecting the
      surgical approach. In this article, we review how physician-estimated uterine
      size can be confidently used in providing optimal hysterectomy care, as data
      indicate estimation is closely correlated with actual post-surgical pelvic
      specimen weight.

PMID- 27638894
TI  - Clinical implications of accessory fallopian tube ostium in endometriosis and
      primary infertility.
AB  - Several variations in fallopian tube anatomy may be noted during the evaluation
      of infertility. Some anatomical variants such as accessory tubal ostia are rare.
      A 31-year-old woman presented to our center with a 2-year history of primary
      infertility. Given her history of dysmenorrhea, a diagnostic laparoscopy was
      performed. Laparoscopy revealed a left utero-sacral endometriosis implant, which
      was resected. Although the left fallopian tube was normal, the right fallopian
      tube was noted to have two prongs with individual ostia. Tubal cannulation
      confirmed two separate ostia, with chromotubation showing free flow of dye
      through separate fimbrial ostia of the right fallopian tube. The current case
      highlights that accessory tubal ostia are rare mullerian duct anomalies seen
      during laparoscopy and can be associated with endometriois or primary
      infertility.

PMID- 27638895
TI  - New diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis during the third trimester of pregnancy.
AB  - We report here an unusual case of rheumatoid arthritis presenting for the first
      time in a 32-week pregnant patient. Despite thorough evaluations from different
      specialties, the patient's diagnosis went undiscovered originally being
      attributed to orthopedic issues and then to normal symptoms of pregnancy. The
      patient's symptoms progressively worsened until she was no longer able to
      ambulate and complete her daily activities. A primary diagnosis of rheumatoid
      arthritis is exceedingly rare during pregnancy due to changes in the body's
      immune system that accommodate the foreign fetus. Also physiologic changes that
      occur during pregnancy can often cloud the clinical picture of a patient
      presenting with joint pain and weakness. Nonetheless, a thorough workup should be
      conducted to rule out underlying rheumatologic disease.

PMID- 27638896
TI  - The value of hysteroscopic biopsy in the diagnosis of endometrial polyps.
AB  - Several studies have demonstrated that the combination of hysteroscopy with
      endometrial biopsy is more accurate in differentiating endometrial polyps from
      endometrial hyperplasia and cancer. However, blind biopsy not always confirms
      hysteroscopic findings due to high rates of inadequate or insufficient material.
      The objective of this clinical, prospective, and comparative study was to
      establish a correlation between the histological results of office-based
      endometrial biopsies (hysteroscopically guided and blind) with the surgical
      polypectomy specimens. We evaluated 82 patients with hysteroscopic diagnosis of
      endometrial polyp, who randomly underwent hysteroscopically guided biopsy or
      blind biopsy, referred for surgical resection. A total of 36 women (43.9%)
      underwent hysteroscopically guided biopsy and 46 women (56.1%) underwent blind
      biopsy. The sensitivity of hysteroscopically guided biopsy for the diagnosis of
      endometrial polyps ranged between 35.3 and 36.8%, when carried out at the apex
      and base of the lesion, compared with 29.2% for blind biopsy. Specificity was
      33.3, 50, and 60%, respectively, for each biopsy. The positive predictive values
      were 75, 77.8, and 87.5%, and negative predictive values were 8.3, 14.3, and 8.1%
      respectively, compared with surgical polypectomy specimens. The office-based
      endometrial biopsies had low diagnostic accuracy for endometrial polyps compared
      with surgical polypectomy specimens.

PMID- 27638897
TI  - Early spontaneous multiple fetal pregnancy reduction is associated with adverse
      perinatal outcomes in in vitro fertilization cycles.
AB  - The primary objective of this study is to investigate whether early spontaneous
      multiple fetal pregnancy reduction, also known as vanishing twin syndrome, is
      associated with adverse perinatal outcomes in fresh in vitro fertilization
      cycles. This is a retrospective cohort study of women with live singleton births
      with and without an early vanishing twin after fresh in vitro fertilization.
      Characteristics compared included incidence of preterm birth, overall birth
      weight, overall low birth weight, overall very low birth weight, and term low
      birth weight. In all, 4049 patients with live singleton births were included-853
      and 3196 with and without a vanishing twin, respectively. The vanishing twin
      group had a lower overall birth weight compared to those without (3279.5 +/-
      369.9 vs 3368.6 +/- 567.5 g; p < 0.01). Early vanishing twin was also associated
      with an increased odds of overall low birth weight (odds ratio: 1.75; 95%
      confidence interval: 1.36-2.25; p < 0.01) and increased odds of term low birth
      weight (odds ratio: 3.44; 95% confidence interval: 2.14-5.53; p < 0.01). Our
      study suggests that early vanishing twin is associated with lower overall birth
      weight and higher odds of overall low birth weight and term low birth weight in
      live singleton births after fresh in vitro fertilization.

PMID- 27638898
TI  - Diabetes prevention: Reproductive age women affected by insulin resistance.
AB  - In the United States, 29.1 million people are affected by diabetes, of which 95%
      have type 2 diabetes. There has been a fivefold increase in type 2 diabetes in
      the latter half of the 20th century, an increase strongly linked to the obesity
      epidemic in the United States. In addition, insulin resistance affects 86 million
      Americans, or more than one-third of the adult population, as manifested by
      impaired fasting glucose tolerance with random glucose values ranging from ?100
      to <126 mg/dL. In all, 90% of those affected by impaired fasting glucose
      tolerance or pre-diabetes are unaware of their metabolic derangement. Although
      impaired fasting glucose tolerance increases one's risk of developing type 2
      diabetes, once identified, application of lifestyle changes by affected
      individuals may avoid or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. For reproductive age
      women who are found to have impaired fasting glucose tolerance, lifestyle changes
      may be an effective tool to diminish the reproductive health consequences of
      insulin resistance related diseases.

PMID- 27638899
TI  - Management of inherited thrombophilia in pregnancy.
AB  - Adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as pregnancy loss and pre-eclampsia, are
      associated with thrombotic mechanisms and thrombophilia. Antithrombotic
      interventions, particularly low-molecular-weight heparin, have been investigated
      in women identified by previous pregnancy outcome; however, the results have been
      inconsistent. This may reflect heterogeneity of both the study groups and the
      disease processes resulting in inadequate stratification to guide antithrombotic
      interventions. Furthermore, the variation in gestation at initiation of low
      molecular-weight heparin treatment might be important. Despite limited evidence
      of efficacy, low-molecular-weight heparin is often used in an attempt to prevent
      these complications, owing to the lack of other effective treatments and its
      perceived safety in pregnancy. Research is required to better understand the
      disease processes, identify possible biomarkers and thereby more homogeneous
      groups for targeted treatment.

PMID- 27638900
TI  - Uterus transplantation: From animal models through the first heart beating
      pregnancy to the first human live birth.
AB  - Absolute uterine factor infertility affects 3-5% of the general population, and
      unfortunately this condition is untreatable. There are some available options,
      including surrogacy or adoption, but neither of these suits each and every woman
      who desires to have her own genetic child. With recent advances in surgery and
      transplant immunology, uterus transplantation may be a source of hope for these
      women with uterine infertility. In the last decade, a number of animal species
      including rats, mice, rabbits, pigs, sheep, and primates have been used as
      experimental models, and pregnancies were achieved in some of these. Human data
      consist of 11 subjects yielding positive pregnancy results with no live births in
      the second trial from Turkey and, more fortunately, live births from the latest
      trial from Sweden. In the light of all these studies, uterus transplantation has
      been proven to be a viable option for women with uterine factor infertility.

PMID- 27638901
TI  - Peripheral Serotonin 1B Receptor Transcription Predicts the Effect of Acute
      Tryptophan Depletion on Risky Decision-Making.
AB  - Background: The effects of acute tryptophan depletion on human decision-making
      suggest that serotonin modulates the processing of rewards and punishments.
      However, few studies have assessed which of the many types of serotonin receptors
      are responsible. Methods: Using a within-subject, double-blind, sham-controlled
      design in 26 subjects, we examined whether individual differences in serotonin
      system gene transcription, measured in peripheral blood, predicted the effect of
      acute tryptophan depletion on decision-making. Participants performed a task in
      which they chose between successive pairs of fixed, lower-stakes (control) and
      variable, higher-stakes (experimental) gambles, each involving wins or losses. In
      21 participants, mRNA from 9 serotonin system genes was measured in whole blood
      prior to acute tryptophan depletion: 5-HT1B, 5-HT1F, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, 5-HT3A, 5
      HT3E, 5-HT7 (serotonin receptors), 5-HTT (the serotonin transporter), and
      tryptophan hydroxylase 1. Results: Acute tryptophan depletion did not
      significantly influence participants' sensitivity to probability, wins, or
      losses, although there was a trend for a lower tendency to choose experimental
      gambles overall following depletion. Significant positive correlations, which
      survived correction for multiple comparisons, were detected between baseline 5
      HT1B mRNA levels and acute tryptophan depletion-induced increases in both the
      overall tendency to choose the experimental gamble and sensitivity to wins. No
      significant relationship was observed with any other peripheral serotonin system
      markers. Computational analyses of decision-making data provided results
      consistent with these findings. Conclusions: These results suggest that the 5
      HT1B receptor may modulate the effects of acute tryptophan depletion on risky
      decision-making. Peripheral levels of serotonin markers may predict response to
      treatments that act upon the serotonin system, such as selective serotonin
      reuptake inhibitors.

PMID- 27638902
TI  - Protein phosphatase 2A activation attenuates inflammation in murine models of
      acute lung injury.
AB  - Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a leading cause of morbidity
      and mortality in both adult and pediatric intensive care units. A key event in
      the development of ARDS is neutrophil recruitment into the lungs leading to
      tissue damage and destruction. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is the major human chemokine
      responsible for neutrophil recruitment into the lungs. Protein phosphatase 2A
      (PP2A) has been shown to be a key regulator of the mitogen-activated protein
      kinase (MAPK) cascades, which control the production of IL-8. Previously, our
      laboratory employed an in vitro model to show that inhibition of PP2A results in
      an increase in IL-8 production in human alveolar epithelial cells. The objective
      of this study was to determine whether PP2A regulated this response in vivo by
      investigating the impact of pharmacologic activation of PP2A on chemokine
      production and activation of the MAPK cascade and lung injury using endotoxin-
      and bacterial-challenge models of ARDS in mice. N6-cyclopentyladenosine (N6-CPA)
      increased PP2A activity and inhibited endotoxin-induced cytokine production in a
      murine alveolar macrophage cell line. N6-CPA pretreatment in mice challenged with
      intratracheal endotoxin decreased chemokine production, reduced neutrophil
      infiltration, and attenuated lung injury. Following initiation of lung injury
      with live Pseudomonas aeruginosa, mice that received N6-CPA 4 h following
      bacterial challenge showed attenuated chemokine production and reduced neutrophil
      infiltration compared with control mice. Pharmacologic PP2A activation both
      limited and prevented inflammation and tissue injury in two direct injury models
      of ARDS. These results suggest modulation of PP2A activity as a therapeutic
      target in ARDS.

PMID- 27638903
TI  - Activation of heat shock response augments fibroblast growth factor-1 expression
      in wounded lung epithelium.
AB  - We previously showed that coincident exposure to heat shock (HS; 42 degrees C for
      2 h) and TNF-alpha synergistically induces apoptosis in mouse lung epithelium. We
      extended this work by analyzing HS effects on human lung epithelial responses to
      clinically relevant injury. Cotreatment with TNF-alpha and HS induced little
      caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage in human small airway
      epithelial cells, A549 cells, and BEAS2B cells. Scratch wound closure rates
      almost doubled when A549 and BEAS2B cells and air-liquid interface cultures of
      human bronchial epithelial cells were heat shocked immediately after wounding.
      Microarray, qRT-PCR, and immunoblotting showed fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1)
      to be synergistically induced by HS and wounding. Enhanced FGF1 expression in
      HS/wounded A549 was blocked by inhibitors of p38 MAPK (SB203580) or HS factor
      (HSF)-1 (KNK-437) and in HSF1 knockout BEAS2B cells. PCR demonstrated FGF1 to be
      expressed from the two most distal promoters in wounded/HS cells. Wound closure
      in HS A549 and BEAS2B cells was reduced by FGF receptor-1/3 inhibition (SU-5402)
      or FGF1 depletion. Exogenous FGF1 accelerated A549 wound closure in the absence
      but not presence of HS. In the presence of exogenous FGF1, HS slowed wound
      closure, suggesting that it increases FGF1 expression but impairs FGF1-stimulated
      wound closure. Frozen sections from normal and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
      (IPF) lung were analyzed for FGF1 and HSP70 by immunofluorescence confocal
      microscopy and qRT-PCR. FGF1 and HSP70 mRNA levels were 7.5- and 5.9-fold higher
      in IPF than normal lung, and the proteins colocalized to fibroblastic foci in IPF
      lung. We conclude that HS signaling may have an important impact on gene
      expression contributing to lung injury, healing, and fibrosis.

PMID- 27638905
TI  - Real-time imaging of inflation-induced ATP release in the ex vivo rat lung.
AB  - Extracellular ATP and other nucleotides are important autocrine/paracrine
      mediators that regulate diverse processes critical for lung function, including
      mucociliary clearance, surfactant secretion, and local blood flow. Cellular ATP
      release is mechanosensitive; however, the impact of physical stimuli on ATP
      release during breathing has never been tested in intact lungs in real time and
      remains elusive. In this pilot study, we investigated inflation-induced ATP
      release in rat lungs ex vivo by real-time luciferin-luciferase (LL)
      bioluminescence imaging coupled with simultaneous infrared tissue imaging to
      identify ATP-releasing sites. With LL solution introduced into air spaces, brief
      inflation of such edematous lung (1 s, ~20 cmH2O) induced transient (<30 s) ATP
      release in a limited number of air-inflated alveolar sacs during their
      recruitment/opening. Released ATP reached concentrations of ~10-6 M, relevant for
      autocrine/paracrine signaling, but it remained spatially restricted to single
      alveolar sacs or their clusters. ATP release was stimulus dependent: prolonged
      (100 s) inflation evoked long-lasting ATP release that terminated upon alveoli
      deflation/derecruitment while cyclic inflation/suction produced cyclic ATP
      release. With LL introduced into blood vessels, inflation induced transient ATP
      release in many small patchlike areas the size of alveolar sacs. Findings suggest
      that inflation induces ATP release in both alveoli and the surrounding blood
      capillary network; the functional units of ATP release presumably consist of
      alveolar sacs or their clusters. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of real
      time ATP release imaging in ex vivo lungs and provides the first direct evidence
      of inflation-induced ATP release in lung air spaces and in pulmonary blood
      capillaries, highlighting the importance of purinergic signaling in lung
      function.

PMID- 27638906
TI  - The unfolded protein response controls ER stress-induced apoptosis of lung
      epithelial cells through angiotensin generation.
AB  - Recent work from this laboratory showed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress
      induced apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) is regulated by the
      autocrine angiotensin (ANG)II/ANG1-7 system. The proteasome inhibitor MG132 or
      surfactant protein C (SP-C) BRICHOS domain mutation G100S induced apoptosis in
      human AECs by activating the proapoptotic cathepsin D and reducing antiapoptotic
      angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2). This study tested the hypothesis that ER
      stress-induced apoptosis of human AECs might be mediated by influence of the
      unfolded protein response (UPR) on the autocrine ANGII/ANG1-7 system. A549 cells
      were challenged with MG132 or SP-C BRICHOS domain mutant G100S to induce ER
      stress and activation of UPR pathways. The results showed that either MG132 or
      G100S SP-C mutation activated all three canonical pathways of the UPR (IRE1/XBP1,
      ATF6, and PERK/eIF2alpha), which led to a significant increase in cathepsin D or
      in TACE (an ACE-2 ectodomain shedding enzyme) and eventually caused AEC
      apoptosis. However, ER stress-induced AEC apoptosis could be prevented by
      chemical chaperone or by UPR blockers. It is also suggested that ATF6 and IRE1
      pathways might play important role in regulation of angiotensin system. These
      data demonstrate that ER stress induces apoptosis in human AECs through mediation
      of UPR pathways, which in turn regulate the autocrine ANGII/ANG1-7 system. They
      also demonstrated that ER stress-induced AEC apoptosis can be blocked by
      inhibition of UPR signaling pathways.

PMID- 27638908
TI  - National trends in safety performance of electronic health record systems in
      children's hospitals.
AB  - Objective: To evaluate the safety of computerized physician order entry (CPOE)
      and associated clinical decision support (CDS) systems in electronic health
      record (EHR) systems at pediatric inpatient facilities in the US using the
      Leapfrog Group's pediatric CPOE evaluation tool. Methods: The Leapfrog pediatric
      CPOE evaluation tool, a previously validated tool to assess the ability of a CPOE
      system to identify orders that could potentially lead to patient harm, was used
      to evaluate 41 pediatric hospitals over a 2-year period. Evaluation of the last
      available test for each institution was performed, assessing performance overall
      as well as by decision support category (eg, drug-drug, dosing limits).
      Longitudinal analysis of test performance was also carried out to assess the
      impact of testing and the overall trend of CPOE performance in pediatric
      hospitals. Results: Pediatric CPOE systems were able to identify 62% of potential
      medication errors in the test scenarios, but ranged widely from 23-91% in the
      institutions tested. The highest scoring categories included drug-allergy
      interactions, dosing limits (both daily and cumulative), and inappropriate routes
      of administration. We found that hospitals with longer periods since their CPOE
      implementation did not have better scores upon initial testing, but after initial
      testing there was a consistent improvement in testing scores of 4 percentage
      points per year. Conclusions: Pediatric computerized physician order entry (CPOE)
      systems on average are able to intercept a majority of potential medication
      errors, but vary widely among implementations. Prospective and repeated testing
      using the Leapfrog Group's evaluation tool is associated with improved ability to
      intercept potential medication errors.

PMID- 27638904
TI  - Protective effect of suppressing STAT3 activity in LPS-induced acute lung injury.
AB  - Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are
      diseases with high mortality. Macrophages and neutrophils are responsible for
      inflammatory responses in ALI and ARDS, which are characterized by excessive
      production of proinflammatory mediators in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)
      and plasma. Aberrant activation of the JAK/STAT pathway is critical for
      persistent inflammation in many conditions such as infection and autoimmunity.
      Given the importance of the STAT3 transcription factor in activating macrophages
      and neutrophils and augmenting inflammation, we investigated the therapeutic
      potential of inhibiting STAT3 activity using the small-molecule STAT3 inhibitor,
      LLL12. Our results demonstrate that LPS induces STAT3 activation in macrophages
      in vitro and in CD45+CD11b+ cells from BALF in the LPS-induced ALI model in vivo.
      LLL12 treatment inhibits LPS-induced lung inflammation in the ALI model, which is
      accompanied by suppression of LPS-induced STAT3 activation and an inhibition of
      macrophage and inflammatory cell infiltration in lung and BALF. LLL12 treatment
      also suppresses expression of proinflammatory genes including IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF
      alpha, iNOS, CCL2, and MHC class II in macrophages and inflammatory cells from
      BALF and serum as determined by ELISA. Furthermore, hyperactivation of STAT3 in
      LysMCre-SOCS3fl/fl mice accelerates the severity of inflammation in the ALI
      model. Both pre- and post-LPS treatment with LLL12 decrease LPS-induced
      inflammatory responses in mice with ALI. Importantly, LLL12 treatment attenuates
      STAT3 phosphorylation in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells induced by
      plasma from patients with ARDS, which suggests the feasibility of targeting the
      STAT3 pathway therapeutically for patients with ALI and ARDS.

PMID- 27638907
TI  - Predicting neutropenia risk in patients with cancer using electronic data.
AB  - Objectives: Clinical guidelines recommending the use of myeloid growth factors
      are largely based on the prescribed chemotherapy regimen. The guidelines suggest
      that oncologists consider patient-specific characteristics when prescribing
      granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) prophylaxis; however, a mechanism
      to quantify individual patient risk is lacking. Readily available electronic
      health record (EHR) data can provide patient-specific information needed for
      individualized neutropenia risk estimation. An evidence-based, individualized
      neutropenia risk estimation algorithm has been developed. This study evaluated
      the automated extraction of EHR chemotherapy treatment data and externally
      validated the neutropenia risk prediction model. Materials and Methods: A
      retrospective cohort of adult patients with newly diagnosed breast, colorectal,
      lung, lymphoid, or ovarian cancer who received the first cycle of a cytotoxic
      chemotherapy regimen from 2008 to 2013 were recruited from a single cancer
      clinic. Electronically extracted EHR chemotherapy treatment data were validated
      by chart review. Neutropenia risk stratification was conducted and risk model
      performance was assessed using calibration and discrimination. Results:
      Chemotherapy treatment data electronically extracted from the EHR were verified
      by chart review. The neutropenia risk prediction tool classified 126 patients
      (57%) as being low risk for febrile neutropenia, 44 (20%) as intermediate risk,
      and 51 (23%) as high risk. The model was well calibrated (Hosmer-Lemeshow
      goodness-of-fit test = 0.24). Discrimination was adequate and slightly less than
      in the original internal validation (c-statistic 0.75 vs 0.81). Conclusion:
      Chemotherapy treatment data were electronically extracted from the EHR
      successfully. The individualized neutropenia risk prediction model performed well
      in our retrospective external cohort.

PMID- 27638909
TI  - Growth arrest specific 2-like protein 1 expression is upregulated in podocytes
      through advanced glycation end-products.
AB  - Background: Growth arrest specific 2-like protein 1 (GAS2L1) protein is a member
      of the GAS2 family of proteins, known to regulate apoptosis and cellular
      cytoskeleton reorganization in different cells. Recently we identified that
      Gas2l1 gene expression in podocytes is influenced by advanced glycation end
      product-bovine serum albumin(AGE-BSA). Methods: The study was performed employing
      cultured podocytes and diabetic ( db/db ) mice, a model of type 2 diabetes.
      Akbuminuria as wellas urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL)
      excretion as measured with specific ELISAs. Gene expression was analysed via
      semiquantitative and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The protein levels were
      determined by western blotting and immunostaining. Results: We found that the
      Gas2l1 alpha isoform is expressed in podocytes. Treatment with AGE-BSA induced
      Gas2l1 alpha and Gas2 mRNA levels compared with controls incubated with non
      glycated control BSA (Co-BSA). Moreover, application of the recombinant soluble
      receptor of AGEs (sRAGE), a competitor of cellular RAGE, reversed the AGE-BSA
      effect. Interestingly, AGE-BSA also increased the protein levels of GAS2L1alpha
      in a RAGE-dependent manner, but did not affect the GAS2 expression. Periodic acid
      Schiff staining and albuminuria as well as urinary NGAL excretion revealed that
      db/db mice progressively developed diabetic nephropathy with renal accumulation
      of N epsilon -carboxy-methyl-lysine (immunohistochemistry, western blots).
      Analyses of GAS2L1alpha and GAS2 proteins in diabetic mice revealed that both
      were significantly elevated relative to their non-diabetic littermates. In
      addition, GAS2L1alpha and GAS2 proteins positively correlated with the
      accumulation of AGEs in the blood plasma of diabetic mice and the administration
      of sRAGE in diabetic mice reduced the glomerular expression of both proteins.
      Conclusions: We show for the first time that the protein expression of
      GAS2L1alpha in vitro and in vivo is regulated by the AGE-RAGE axis. The
      suppression of AGE ligation with their RAGE in diabetic mice with progressive
      nephropathy reversed the GAS2L1alpha expression, thus suggesting a role of
      GAS2L1alpha in the development of diabetic disease, which needs to be further
      elucidated.

PMID- 27638910
TI  - Suicide and chronic kidney disease: a case-control study.
AB  - Background: The association of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and dialysis with
      suicide is not well established. The objectives of this study were to assess the
      association of suicide with CKD and dialysis and investigate whether differences
      exist between dialysis modalities or the durations of dialysis. Methods: Data
      were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A
      total of 51 642 patients who died from suicide between 2000 and 2012 and 206 568
      living control patients matched by age, gender and residency area were examined.
      Known risk factors included sociodemographic characteristics, physical
      comorbidities and psychiatric disorders, which were controlled for as covariates
      in the analysis. The crude odds ratios (ORs) and adjusted ORs (aORs) for various
      risk factors were obtained using conditional logistic regression. Results: After
      potential confounders were controlled for, CKD was significantly associated with
      an increased risk of suicide [aOR = 1.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.17
      1.34]. End-stage renal disease patients on haemodialysis (HD) had an increased
      risk of suicide compared with controls (aOR = 3.35, 95% CI = 3.02-3.72).
      Moreover, patients who initially underwent dialysis within 0-3 months had a
      significantly increased risk of suicide (aOR = 20.26, 95% CI = 15.99-25.67).
      Conclusions: CKD and HD are positively associated with suicide. Suicide is
      preventable; therefore, assessing mental and physical disorders is essential and
      recommended to all physicians, particularly those treating patients in the early
      phase of HD.

PMID- 27638911
TI  - An investigation of APOL1 risk genotypes and preterm birth in African American
      population cohorts.
AB  - Background: Two genetic variants in apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) are associated with
      increased risk of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis as well as other glomerular
      phenotypes. These risk variants are common in individuals of African ancestry but
      absent in other racial groups. Yet, the majority of individuals with two APOL1
      risk alleles [high-risk (HR) genotype] do not have renal disease. It is critical
      to identify environmental and secondary genetic influences that, when combined
      with these alleles, lead to kidney disease. In a recent study of black children
      with glomerular disease enrolled in the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network
      (NEPTUNE) and Chronic Kidney Disease in Children Study (n = 104), we found that
      subjects with an HR genotype had a 4.6-fold increase in the odds of preterm birth
      as compared to those with a low risk (LR) genotype [odds ratio 4.6 (CI 1.4
      15.5)]. There are known racial disparities in preterm birth, which itself is a
      known risk factor for chronic kidney disease and focal segmental
      glomerulosclerosis. Thus, we questioned whether an HR APOL1 genotype is
      associated with prematurity in the general African American population. Methods:
      We analyzed two publically available genetic datasets of preterm birth in African
      Americans, including 867 infants and 519 mothers from the Gene Environment
      Association Studies (GENEVA) study of preterm delivery and 960 mothers from the
      Boston Medical Center genome-wide association study of preterm birth. We
      performed multivariable analyses testing for association between HR APOL1 and
      birth outcomes. Results: In both studies, there was no association between HR
      APOL1 in mothers and prematurity, gestational age or birthweight. Additionally,
      in the GENEVA study, we saw no association between infant HR APOL1 and
      prematurity, gestational age or birthweight. Conclusion: From these data, we
      conclude that the previously observed association between HR APOL1 and
      prematurity is specific to those with glomerular disease, suggesting prematurity
      may act as an additional risk factor in APOL1-associated renal disease.

PMID- 27638912
TI  - Prevalence, incidence and prognosis of chronic kidney disease classified
      according to current guidelines: a large retrospective cohort study of rheumatoid
      arthritis patients.
AB  - Background: The prevalence, incidence and prognosis of chronic kidney disease
      (CKD) have not been fully understood in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
      Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in 1077 RA patients from July
      2004 to June 2014. CKD was defined as either proteinuria >=1+ or estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or both, according to the
      current CKD classification with risk categories for future death, end-stage renal
      disease and cardiovascular disease. The cumulative incidence of mortality and CKD
      was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. The association of each outcome with
      known risk factors was analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards
      regression models. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for
      mortality and incidence of CKD were calculated for estimation. Results: The mean
      follow-up period was 51.5 +/- 39.6 months, and the cumulative mortality was 20.6%
      over 10 years. The prevalence of any CKD was 24.5% at enrollment. Preexisting CKD
      was significantly associated with future death [HR 1.64 (95% CI 1.05-2.57)]. This
      association was the most robust in very-high-risk CKD [HR 4.76 (95% CI 2.24
      9.51)]. The cumulative incidence of CKD over time was 59.5% in 813 patients who
      did not have prior CKD. Aside from the commonly known risk factors, the use of
      prednisolone and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increased the likelihood of
      death [HR 1.75 (95% CI 1.11-2.79)] and incident CKD [HR 1.44 (95% CI 1.13-1.86)].
      Conclusions: The incidence of CKD increases over time among RA patients and
      prevalent CKD may be an insidious risk factor linked to increased mortality in RA
      patients.

PMID- 27638913
TI  - Erratum: How many biological replicates are needed in an RNA-seq experiment and
      which differential expression tool should you use?

PMID- 27638914
TI  - Corrigendum: Conserved RNA secondary structures and long-range interactions in
      hepatitis C viruses.

PMID- 27638915
TI  - Corrigendum: Long-range RNA pairings contribute to mutually exclusive splicing.

PMID- 27638916
TI  - Lost crops of the Incas: Origins of domestication of the Andean pulse crop tarwi,
      Lupinus mutabilis.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The Andean highlands are a hotspot of domestication, yet
      our understanding of the origins of early Andean agriculture remains fragmentary.
      Key questions of where, when, how many times, and from what progenitors many
      Andean crops were domesticated remain unanswered. The Andean lupine crop tarwi
      (Lupinus mutabilis) is a regionally important pulse crop with exceptionally high
      seed protein and oil content and is the focus of modern breeding efforts, but its
      origins remain obscure. METHODS: A large genome-wide DNA polymorphism data set
      was generated using nextRADseq to infer relationships among more than 200
      accessions of Andean Lupinus species, including 24 accessions of L. mutabilis and
      close relatives. Phylogenetic and demographic analyses were used to identify the
      likely progenitor of tarwi and elucidate the area and timing of domestication in
      combination with archaeological evidence. KEY RESULTS: We infer that tarwi was
      domesticated once in northern Peru, most likely in the Cajamarca region within,
      or adjacent to the extant distribution of L. piurensis, which is the most likely
      wild progenitor. Demographic analyses suggest that tarwi split from L. piurensis
      around 2600 BP and suffered a classical domestication bottleneck. The earliest
      unequivocal archaeological evidence of domesticated tarwi seeds is from the
      Mantaro Valley, central Peru ca. 1800 BP. CONCLUSIONS: A single origin of tarwi
      from L. piurensis in northern Peru provides a robust working hypothesis for the
      domestication of this regionally important crop and is one of the first clear-cut
      examples of a crop originating in the highlands of northern Peru.

PMID- 27638917
TI  - Fungal partner shifts during the evolution of mycoheterotrophy in Neottia.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Few previous studies have examined how mycobionts change
      during the evolution from autotrophy to mycoheterotrophy based on phylogenetic
      hypotheses. Neottia (Orchidaceae) comprises leafy species that are autotrophic
      and related leafless mycoheterotrophic species, and the phylogenetic
      relationships among them have been clarified. Accordingly, Neottia is a suitable
      taxon for investigating the question above. Here we clarified the diversity of
      mycobionts in Neottia plants and elucidated changes in the character of symbiotic
      associations during the evolution of mycoheterotrophy. METHODS: We sequenced the
      internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal (nr) DNA for
      mycobionts of Neottia plants. Furthermore, we selected one representative DNA
      sample from each fungal operational taxonomic unit (OTU) and used it to amplify
      the large subunit (LSU) nrDNA sequences. Phylogenetic analyses of Sebacinales
      (basidiomycetes), the dominant mycobiont of Neottia, were conducted and sample
      based rarefaction curves generated for the observed mycobiont richness on each
      OTU. KEY RESULTS: Leafy and leafless species in Neottia were associated with
      Sebacinales Group B and Sebacinales Group A, respectively. The composition and
      specificity level of fungal partners varied among Neottia species. CONCLUSIONS:
      Fungal partner composition and specificity level changed with speciation in both
      leafy and leafless Neottia species. In particular, mycorrhizal associations
      likely shifted from Sebacinales Group B to Group A during the evolution from
      autotrophy to mycoheterotrophy. Partner shifts to Sebacinales Group A have also
      been reported in the evolution of mycoheterotrophy of other plant groups,
      suggesting that convergence to this fungal group occurs in association with the
      evolution of mycoheterotrophy.

PMID- 27638918
TI  - Seasonal changes in tissue-water relations for eight species of ferns during
      historic drought in California.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: California experienced severe drought between 2012 and
      2016. During this period, we compared seasonal changes in tissue-water relations
      among eight fern species in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California to
      elucidate differential mechanisms of drought survival and physiological
      performance during extreme water deficits. METHODS: We monitored seasonal changes
      in water potential (Psimd) and dark-adapted chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm),
      assessed tissue-water relations including osmotic potential at saturation and the
      turgor loss point (Psipi, sat and Psipi, tlp), and measured, for two evergreen
      species, xylem-specific and leaf-specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks and Kl) and
      vulnerability of stem xylem to water stress-induced embolism (water potential at
      50% loss hydraulic conductivity, Psi50). KEY RESULTS: Species grew in either
      riparian or chaparral understory. The five chaparral species had a wider range of
      seasonal water potentials, root depths, and frond phenological traits, including
      one evergreen, two summer-deciduous, and two desiccation-tolerant (resurrection)
      species. Evergreen species were especially diverse, with an evergreen riparian
      species maintaining seasonal water potentials above -1.3 MPa, while an evergreen
      chaparral species had seasonal water potentials below -8 MPa. In those two
      species the Psi50 values were -2.5 MPa and -4.3 MPa, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Observed differences in physiological performance among eight fern species
      reflected niche partitioning in water utilization and habitat preference
      associated with distinct phenological traits. We predict differential survival
      among fern species as future drought events in California intensify, with
      desiccation-tolerant resurrection ferns being the most resistant.

PMID- 27638922
TI  - A neurodevelopmental approach to cognitive and behavioral assessment in epilepsy.

PMID- 27638923
TI  - Sudden neurologic death masquerading as out-of-hospital sudden cardiac death.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the frequency of and risk factors for out-of-hospital
      sudden neurologic deaths. METHODS: During the initial 25 months (February 1, 2011
      March 1, 2013) of the San Francisco Postmortem Systematic Investigation of Sudden
      Cardiac Death Study, we captured incident WHO criteria sudden cardiac deaths
      (SCDs) through active surveillance of consecutive out-of-hospital deaths, which
      must be reported to the medical examiner by law. All cases were referred for full
      autopsy with detailed examination of the heart and cranial vault, toxicology, and
      histology. A multidisciplinary committee adjudicated a final cause of death.
      RESULTS: Of 352 incident SCDs, 335 (95%) underwent systematic evaluation
      including full autopsy. Of these 335 cases, 18 (5.4%) were sudden neurologic
      deaths (mean age 60.6 years [SD 17.6, range 27-87]; 67.7% female), which
      accounted for 14.9% of the 121 noncardiac sudden deaths. The risk of sudden
      neurologic death compared to non-neurologic SCD was lower in male and white
      participants (p < 0.01). Neurologic causes included intracranial hemorrhage (8),
      sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (6, including 2 with juvenile myoclonic
      epilepsy), aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (2), acute ischemic stroke (1), and
      aspiration from Huntington disease (1). Most deaths were unwitnessed (16; 89%)
      with asystole at presentation (17; 94%). Prior stroke/TIA was not associated with
      risk of stroke (odds ratio [OR] 1.4 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-11.8], p =
      0.73), but antithrombotic medication use was (OR 3.9 [95% 1.01-15.5], p = 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Sudden neurologic death is an important cause of out-of-hospital
      apparent SCDs. Low prevailing autopsy rates may result in systematic
      misclassification of apparent SCDs and underestimation of the incidence of sudden
      neurologic death.

PMID- 27638924
TI  - Thyroid function and the risk of dementia: The Rotterdam Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the role of thyroid function in dementia, cognitive function,
      and subclinical vascular brain disease with MRI. METHODS: Analyses were performed
      within the Rotterdam Study (baseline 1997), a prospective, population-based
      cohort. We evaluated the association of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and
      free thyroxine with incident dementia using Cox models adjusted for age, sex,
      cardiovascular risk factors, and education. Absolute risks were calculated
      accounting for death as a competing risk factor. Associations of thyroid function
      with cognitive test scores and subclinical vascular brain disease (white matter
      lesions, lacunes, and microbleeds) were assessed with linear or logistic
      regression. Additionally, we stratified by sex and restricted analyses to normal
      thyroid function. RESULTS: We included 9,446 participants with a mean age of 65
      years. During follow-up (mean 8.0 years), 601 participants had developed
      dementia. Higher TSH was associated with lower dementia risk in both the full and
      normal ranges of thyroid function (hazard ratio [HR] 0.90, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 0.83-0.98; and HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64-0.91, respectively). This
      association was independent of cardiovascular risk factors. Dementia risk was
      higher in individuals with higher free thyroxine (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07).
      Absolute 10-year dementia risk decreased from 15% to 10% with higher TSH in older
      women. Higher TSH was associated with better global cognitive scores (p = 0.021).
      Thyroid function was not related to subclinical vascular brain disease as
      indicated by MRI. CONCLUSIONS: High and high-normal thyroid function is
      associated with increased dementia risk. Thyroid function is not related to
      vascular brain disease as assessed by MRI, suggesting a role for thyroid hormone
      in nonvascular pathways leading to dementia.

PMID- 27638925
TI  - Mechanisms of memory impairment in epilepsy depend on age at disease onset.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to uncover distinct antecedents of
      autobiographic memory dysfunction in patients with epilepsy with early
      (childhood/adolescence) vs late (adulthood) disease onset. METHODS: One hundred
      sixty-six adults participated: 92 patients with focal epilepsy, whose cognitive
      and psychiatric functioning were compared to that of 74 healthy controls.
      Predictors of autobiographic memory deficit were contrasted between patients with
      early-onset (n = 47) vs late-onset (n = 45) epilepsy. RESULTS: Overall, people
      with epilepsy performed significantly worse on measures of both semantic and
      episodic autobiographic memory and showed markedly high rates of depressive
      symptoms and disorders (p < 0.001). Reduced autobiographic memory in patients
      with early-onset epilepsy was associated with young age at onset, more frequent
      seizures, and reduced working memory. In contrast, the difficulty that patients
      with late-onset epilepsy had in recalling autobiographic information was linked
      to depression and the presence of an MRI-identified lesion. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study reveals that memory deficits in people with focal epilepsy have differing
      antecedents depending on the timing of the disease onset. While neurobiological
      factors strongly underpin reduced autobiographic function in patients with early
      onset epilepsy, psychological maladjustment gives rise to the impairments seen in
      patients with late-onset epilepsy. More broadly, these findings support the
      practice of subtyping patients according to distinct clinical characteristics to
      find individualized predictors of cognitive dysfunction.

PMID- 27638926
TI  - Progressive solitary sclerosis: Gradual motor impairment from a single CNS
      demyelinating lesion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report patients with progressive motor impairment resulting from an
      isolated CNS demyelinating lesion in cerebral, brainstem, or spinal cord white
      matter that we call progressive solitary sclerosis. METHODS: Thirty patients were
      identified with (1) progressive motor impairment for over 1 year with a single
      radiologically identified CNS demyelinating lesion along corticospinal tracts,
      (2) absence of other demyelinating CNS lesions, and (3) no history of relapses
      affecting other CNS pathways. Twenty-five were followed prospectively in our
      multiple sclerosis (MS) clinic and 5 were identified retrospectively from our
      progressive MS database. Patients were excluded if an alternative etiology for
      progressive motor impairment was found. Multiple brain and spinal cord MRI were
      reviewed by a neuroradiologist blinded to the clinical details. RESULTS: The
      patients' median age was 48.5 years (range 23-71) and 15 (50%) were women. The
      median follow-up from symptom onset was 100 months (range 15-343 months). All had
      insidiously progressive upper motor neuron weakness attributable to the solitary
      demyelinating lesion found on MRI. Clinical presentations were
      hemiparesis/monoparesis (n = 24), quadriparesis (n = 5), and paraparesis (n = 1).
      Solitary MRI lesions involved cervical spinal cord (n = 18), cervico
      medullary/brainstem region (n = 6), thoracic spinal cord (n = 4), and subcortical
      white matter (n = 2). CSF abnormalities consistent with MS were found in 13 of 26
      (50%). Demyelinating disease was confirmed pathologically in 2 (biopsy, 1;
      autopsy, 1). CONCLUSIONS: Progressive solitary sclerosis results from an isolated
      CNS demyelinating lesion. Future revisions to MS diagnostic criteria could
      incorporate this presentation of demyelinating disease.

PMID- 27638927
TI  - CyAbrB2 Contributes to the Transcriptional Regulation of Low CO2 Acclimation in
      Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
AB  - Acclimation to low CO2 conditions in cyanobacteria involves the co-ordinated
      regulation of genes mainly encoding components of the carbon-concentrating
      mechanism (CCM). Making use of several independent microarray data sets, a core
      set of CO2-regulated genes was defined for the model strain Synechocystis sp. PCC
      6803. On the transcriptional level, the CCM is mainly regulated by the well
      characterized transcriptional regulators NdhR (= CcmR) and CmpR. However, the
      role of an additional regulatory protein, namely cyAbrB2 belonging to the widely
      distributed AbrB regulator family that was originally characterized in the genus
      Bacillus, is less defined. Here we present results of transcriptomic and
      metabolic profiling of the wild type and a DeltacyabrB2 mutant of Synechocystis
      sp. PCC 6803 after shifts from high CO2 (5% in air, HC) to low CO2 (0.04%, LC).
      Evaluation of the transcriptomic data revealed that cyAbrB2 is involved in the
      regulation of several CCM-related genes such as sbtA/B, ndhF3/ndhD3/cupA and
      cmpABCD under LC conditions, but apparently acts supplementary to NdhR and CmpR.
      Under HC conditions, cyAbrB2 deletion affects the transcript abundance of PSII
      subunits, light-harvesting components and Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle enzymes.
      These changes are also reflected by down-regulation of primary metabolite pools.
      The data suggest a role for cyAbrB2 in adjusting primary carbon and nitrogen
      metabolism to photosynthetic activity under fluctuating environmental conditions.
      The findings were integrated into the current knowledge about the acquisition of
      inorganic carbon (Ci), the CCM and parts of its regulation on the transcriptional
      level.

PMID- 27638928
TI  - Effect of dietary modification by calorie restriction on cholesterol levels in
      lipoprotein(a) and other lipoprotein classes.
AB  - Background Dietary habits are associated with obesity which is a risk factor for
      coronary heart disease. The objective is to estimate the change of lipoprotein(a)
      and other lipoprotein classes by calorie restriction with obesity index and
      Framingham risk score. Methods Sixty females (56 +/- 9 years) were recruited.
      Their caloric intakes were reduced during the six-month period, and the calorie
      from fat was not more than 30%. Lipoprotein profiles were estimated at baseline
      and after the six-month period of calorie restriction. Cholesterol levels in six
      lipoprotein classes (HDL, LDL, IDL, VLDL, chylomicron and lipoprotein(a)) were
      analysed by anion-exchange liquid chromatography. The other tests were analysed
      by general methods. Additionally, Framingham risk score for predicting 10-year
      coronary heart disease risk was calculated. Results Body mass index, waist
      circumference, insulin resistance, Framingham risk score, total cholesterol, LDL
      cholesterol and IDL-cholesterol were significantly decreased by the calorie
      restriction, and the protein and cholesterol levels of lipoprotein(a) were
      significantly increased. The change of body mass index was significantly
      correlated with those of TC, VLDL-cholesterol and chylomicron-cholesterol, and
      that of waist circumference was significantly correlated with that of chylomicron
      cholesterol. The change of Framingham risk score was significantly correlated
      with the change of IDL-C. Conclusion Obesity indexes and Framingham risk score
      were reduced by the dietary modification. Lipoprotein profile was improved with
      the reduction of obesity indexes, but lipoprotein(a) was increased. The changes
      of obesity indexes and Framingham risk score were related with those of
      triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, e.g. IDL, VLDL and CM.

PMID- 27638929
TI  - Neurokinin A monitoring of response to interferon alpha in a patient with an
      advanced small bowel neuroendocrine tumour uncontrolled by somatostatin analogue
      therapy.
AB  - A 52-year-old lady presented with a history of occasional, severe abdominal
      cramps, postprandial diarrhoea and weight loss. After routine gastrointestinal
      investigations, she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. Over six months,
      she developed occasional facial flushing prompting assessment of neuroendocrine
      tumour markers. Urinary 5HIAA, 5HT, chromogranin A and neurokinin A were
      significantly elevated. Scans showed extensive hepatic metastases but did not
      show the location of a primary tumour. Somatostatin analogue therapy was
      commenced but despite increasing doses, symptoms increased and biomarkers rose
      dramatically. Interferon alpha was introduced concomitant with somatostatin
      analogue therapy. Biomarkers were monitored regularly. Within six months,
      symptoms abated and biomarkers reduced, continuing to fall over the next year,
      close to reference range. To manage side-effects of interferon alpha, dose was
      reduced from time to time. During these short periods, neurokinin A showed
      significant transient increases (75-150 ng/L) and carcinoid symptoms returned.
      For more than seven years, and with the co-operation of the patient, a balance
      was achieved between interferon alpha side-effects and disease control. Scans
      showed tumour load to be stable. The patient survived for 10 years post
      diagnosis. She chose to discontinue interferon alpha and received peptide
      receptor radiation therapy in her final year. Throughout, neurokinin A remained
      the most sensitive monitor of her disease progression.

PMID- 27638930
TI  - Antiphospholipid and antioangiogenic activity in females with recurrent
      miscarriage and antiphospholipid syndrome.
AB  - Background Antiphospholipid syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by
      thrombosis, fetal losses and thrombocytopenia associated to antiphospholipid
      antibodies. They are directed to phospholipids, such as cardiolipins
      (anticardiolipin) and lupus anticoagulant or to complexes formed by phospholipids
      and protein cofactors, such as beta2 glycoprotein 1 (a-beta2GP1) and annexin V (a
      annexin V). These auto-antibodies may be considered as a family of antibodies
      involved in thrombotic events and antiphospholipid activity. On the other hand,
      some proangiogenic factors are involved in the normal development of placental
      vasculature, such as the vascular endothelial growth factor. Overexpression of
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor in its soluble form (sVEGFR-1) has
      been associated to a higher antiangiogenic activity. Our aim was to analyse the
      association between anticardiolipin, lupus anticoagulant, a-beta2GP1, a-annexin V
      and sVEGFR-1 with recurrent miscarriage before week 10 of gestation in females
      with antiphospholipid syndrome. Methods We studied 24 females (primary or
      secondary antiphospholipid syndrome), who were divided into two groups: females
      with recurrent miscarriage before week 10 of gestation (M; n = 12) and females
      with no history of fetal loss (NM; n = 12). Anticardiolipin, a-beta2GP1, a
      annexin V and sVEGF-R1 concentrations were assessed by ELISA, while lupus
      anticoagulant was assessed by screening and confirmatory tests. Results A
      significant association was observed between the number of positive biomarkers
      and the belonging group ( P < 0.05). Besides, a positive result for lupus
      anticoagulant and a-beta2GP1 was found to be significantly associated to the M
      group ( P < 0.05). Conclusions Lupus anticoagulant and a-beta2GP1 may be
      implicated in pregnancies complicated by recurrent miscarriage in females with
      antiphospholipid syndrome.

PMID- 27638931
TI  - Motor Development Interventions for Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta
      analysis.
AB  - CONTEXTS: Preterm infants are at an increased risk of neurodevelopmental delay.
      Some studies report positive intervention effects on motor outcomes, but it is
      currently unclear which motor activities are most effective in the short and
      longer term. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify interventions that
      improve the motor development of preterm infants. DATA SOURCES: An a priori
      protocol was agreed upon. Seventeen electronic databases from 1980 to April 2015
      and gray literature sources were searched. STUDY SELECTION: Three reviewers
      screened the articles. DATA EXTRACTION: The outcome of interest was motor skills
      assessment scores. All data collection and risk of bias assessments were agreed
      upon by the 3 reviewers. RESULTS: Forty-two publications, which reported results
      from 36 trials (25 randomized controlled trials and 11 nonrandomized studies)
      with a total of 3484 infants, met the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was
      conducted by using standardized mean differences on 21 studies, with positive
      effects found at 3 months (mean 1.37; confidence interval 0.48-2.27), 6 months
      (0.34; 0.11-0.57), 12 months (0.73; 0.20-1.26), and 24 months (0.28; 0.07-0.49).
      At 3 months, there was a large and significant effect size for motor-specific
      interventions (2.00; 0.28-3.72) but not generic interventions (0.33; -0.03 to 
      0.69). Studies were not excluded on the basis of quality; therefore,
      heterogeneity was significant and the random-effects model was used. LIMITATIONS:
      Incomplete or inconsistent reporting of outcome measures limited the data
      available for meta-analysis beyond 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: A positive
      intervention effect on motor skills appears to be present up to 24 months'
      corrected age. There is some evidence at 3 months that interventions with
      specific motor components are most effective.

PMID- 27638932
TI  - Family Language Barriers and Special-Needs Children.

PMID- 27638933
TI  - Screening for Persistent Psychopathology in 4-Year-Old Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To inform primary care screening and preventive intervention efforts,
      the authors examined the screening efficiency of the parent version of the
      Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQP4-16) for persistent disorders
      relative to transient disorders and its capacity to distinguish between the two.
      METHODS: Persistence and transience in preschool-onset psychiatric disorders were
      identified by using data from a large population-based cohort study in Norwegian
      children initially assessed at age 4 and followed up at age 6 (n = 1038).
      Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, diagnoses
      at both time points were assigned by using the Preschool Age Psychiatric
      Assessment Interview, against which the SDQP4-16 was compared through receiver
      operating characteristics analysis. RESULTS: The screening efficiency for
      persistent disorders exceeded that for transient disorders with a specificity of
      86.1%, a sensitivity of 79.3%, and an area under the curve value of 0.85. The
      SDQP4-16 was able to discriminate persistent disorders from transient disorders
      at an area under the curve value of 0.71. At the selected cutoff of 10, the
      negative predictive value was 99.6%, whereas the positive predictive value was
      9.5%, partly due to the low prevalence (1.8%) of persistent disorders.
      CONCLUSIONS: The SDQP4-16 is a sensitive tool for detecting persistent
      psychiatric disorders in young children. However, a large proportion of positive
      screens are nonpersistent cases, as indicated by the high false-positive rate.
      Thus, the clinical utility of the SDQP4-16 in primary care screening for
      persistent disorders is uncertain, particularly in samples in which the rate of
      psychiatric disorders is low.

PMID- 27638934
TI  - Neighborhood Context and Youth Physical Activity: Differential Associations by
      Gender and Age.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this research is to examine the extent to which facets of
      neighborhood sociodemographic contexts influence individual-level physical
      activity (PA) among youth. DESIGN: Using National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey (NHANES), geographic information systems (GIS), and census
      data sources, we explicitly test whether built environment factors have
      differential associations depending on the age and gender of the youth living in
      urban census tracts. SETTING: Participants are from the NHANES 2003 to 2006
      waves. PARTICIPANTS: The study sample for this article was 2706 youth aged 6 to
      17 years with valid PA accelerometer measures. MEASURES: A measure of park
      accessibility was constructed from the 2006 park GIS layer in Environmental
      System Research Institute ArcGIS 9.3 data. Average daily minutes of moderate to
      vigorous PA in bouts equal to or longer than 1 minute were recorded using
      accelerometers over 4 to 7 days. ANALYSIS: Analysis was conducted with SAS 9.2,
      including descriptive analyses and linear regression for PA. RESULTS: Findings
      suggest that built environment features are especially salient for adolescents
      and youth living in urban areas. Vigorous activity varied by the age and gender
      of the youth. For example, greater distance to parks is associated with a
      decrease in PA among girls and boys aged 6 to 11 years. Among teens, distance to
      parks is significantly associated with decreases in PA among the total sample and
      among male teens. However, an increase in population density is associated with
      less time spent in PA among youth aged 6 to 11 years but more PA among teens.
      CONCLUSION: These analyses represent an important step to considering the
      implications of modifiable environmental features for youth and contrast with
      existing literature for adults. Results speak to the efficacy of built
      environment measures in urban communities and the importance of considering the
      possibility of differing patterns of associations in childhood and adolescence
      and by gender. Results from this research inform policy efforts to interdict in
      the growing trend of youth inactivity in the United States.

PMID- 27638935
TI  - Comment on "A Cytokine-Independent Approach To Identify Antigen-Specific Human
      Germinal Center T Follicular Helper Cells and Rare Antigen-Specific CD4+ T Cells
      in Blood".

PMID- 27638936
TI  - Response to Comment on "A Cytokine-Independent Approach To Identify Antigen
      Specific Human Germinal Center T Follicular Helper Cells and Rare Antigen
      Specific CD4+ T Cells in Blood".

PMID- 27638937
TI  - TLR4: The Winding Road to the Discovery of the LPS Receptor.

PMID- 27638938
TI  - Pillars Article: Cutting Edge: Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4)-Deficient Mice Are
      Hyporesponsive to Lipopolysaccharide: Evidence for TLR4 as the Lps Gene Product.
      J. Immunol. 1999. 162: 3749-3752.

PMID- 27638940
TI  - Adherence to Intestinal Cells Promotes Biofilm Formation in Vibrio cholerae.
AB  - Vibrio cholerae, the etiological agent of cholera, is known to form biofilms to
      persist in the environment. It is demonstrated here that even during infection,
      biofilm genes are upregulated, and microscopic observation indicated that biofilm
      formation is initiated almost immediately after adherence of V. cholerae to
      intestinal cells. About 7-fold upregulation of the biofilm regulatory gene vpsT
      was observed within 30 minutes of adherence of V. cholerae to the intestinal cell
      line INT 407, and a massive induction of about 700-fold was observed in rabbit
      ileal loops. The upregulation was observed in the classical and El Tor biotype
      strains of serogroup O1 that is most frequently associated with epidemic cholera.
      vpsT upregulation was primarily dependent on the virulence master regulator AphA.
      Of possible clinical relevance was the observation that V. cholerae in the INT
      407-associated biofilms was significantly more resistant to antibiotics than
      unadhered planktonic cells.

PMID- 27638939
TI  - Role of Metabolism in the Immunobiology of Regulatory T Cells.
AB  - Intracellular metabolism is central to cell activity and function. CD4(+)CD25(+)
      regulatory T cells (Tregs) that express the transcription factor FOXP3 play a
      pivotal role in the maintenance of immune tolerance to self. Recent studies
      showed that the metabolism and function of Tregs are influenced significantly by
      local environmental conditions and the availability of certain metabolites. It
      also was reported that defined metabolic programs associate with Treg
      differentiation, expression of FOXP3, and phenotype stabilization. This article
      reviews how metabolism modulates FOXP3 expression and Treg function, what
      environmental factors are involved, and how metabolic manipulation could alter
      Treg frequency and function in physiopathologic conditions.

PMID- 27638941
TI  - A Prophage in Diabetic Foot Ulcer-Colonizing Staphylococcus aureus Impairs
      Invasiveness by Limiting Intracellular Growth.
AB  - The mechanisms that drive the transition from commensality to invasiveness in
      Staphylococcus aureus are poorly understood. We recently reported that >50% of S.
      aureus isolates from uninfected diabetic foot ulcers in French patients harbor a
      prophage, ROSA-like, that is absent from invasive isolates from diabetic foot
      infections, including osteomyelitis. Here we show that the ROSA-like insertion
      abolishes the ability of S. aureus to replicate within osteoblasts, the bone
      forming cells, greatly reducing damage to infected cells. These results unravel
      an important mechanism by which particular S. aureus strains are maintained in a
      commensal state in diabetic foot ulcers.

PMID- 27638943
TI  - The Role of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin: The Pendulum Swings.

PMID- 27638942
TI  - Humanized Mice Exhibit Increased Susceptibility to Staphylococcus aureus
      Pneumonia.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is a highly successful human pathogen that has evolved in
      response to human immune pressure. The common USA300 methicillin-resistant S.
      aureus (MRSA) strains express a number of toxins, such as Panton-Valentine
      leukocidin and LukAB, that have specificity for human receptors. Using nonobese
      diabetic (NOD)-scid IL2Rgammanull (NSG) mice reconstituted with a human
      hematopoietic system, we were able to discriminate the roles of these toxins in
      the pathogenesis of pneumonia. We demonstrate that expression of human immune
      cells confers increased severity of USA300 infection. The expression of PVL but
      not LukAB resulted in more-severe pulmonary infection by the wild-type strain
      (with a 30-fold increase in the number of colony-forming units/mL; P < .01) as
      compared to infection with the lukS/F-PV (Deltapvl) mutant. Treatment of mice
      with anti-PVL antibody also enhanced bacterial clearance. We found significantly
      greater numbers (by 95%; P < .05) of macrophages in the airways of mice infected
      with the Deltapvl mutant compared with those infected with the wild-type strain,
      as well as significantly greater expression of human tumor necrosis factor and
      interleukin 6 (84% and 51% respectively; P < .01). These results suggest that the
      development of humanized mice may provide a framework to assess the contribution
      of human-specific toxins and better explore the roles of specific components of
      the human immune system in protection from S. aureus infection.

PMID- 27638944
TI  - T-Cell Immunoglobulin- and Mucin-Domain-Containing Molecule 3 Signaling Blockade
      Improves Cell-Mediated Immunity Against Malaria.
AB  - Cell-mediated immune responses play important roles in immune protection against
      Plasmodium infection. However, impaired immunity, such as lymphocyte exhaustion,
      is a common phenomenon in malaria. T-cell immunoglobulin- and mucin-domain
      containing molecule 3 (Tim-3) is an important regulatory molecule in cell
      mediated immunity and has been implicated in malaria. In this study, it was found
      that Tim-3 expression on key populations of lymphocytes was significantly
      increased in both Plasmodium falciparum-infected patients and Plasmodium berghei
      ANKA (PbANKA)-infected C57BL/6 mice. Upregulation of Tim-3 led to lymphocyte
      exhaustion, while blocking Tim-3 signaling with an anti-Tim-3 antibody restored
      lymphocyte activity in Plasmodium infections. Further, anti-Tim-3 treatment
      accelerated the parasite clearance and relieved the symptoms of cerebral malaria
      in PbANKA-infected mice. In conclusion, Tim-3 on immune cells negatively
      regulates cell-mediated immunity against Plasmodium infection, and blocking Tim-3
      signaling enhances sterile immunity and may play a protective role during
      malarial parasite infections.

PMID- 27638945
TI  - Genomic Epidemiology of Gonococcal Resistance to Extended-Spectrum
      Cephalosporins, Macrolides, and Fluoroquinolones in the United States, 2000-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection is empirical and based
      on population-wide susceptibilities. Increasing antimicrobial resistance
      underscores the potential importance of rapid diagnostic tests, including
      sequence-based tests, to guide therapy. However, the usefulness of sequence-based
      diagnostic tests depends on the prevalence and dynamics of the resistance
      mechanisms. METHODS: We define the prevalence and dynamics of resistance markers
      to extended-spectrum cephalosporins, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones in 1102
      resistant and susceptible clinical N. gonorrhoeae isolates collected from 2000 to
      2013 via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Gonococcal Isolate
      Surveillance Project. RESULTS: Reduced extended-spectrum cephalosporin
      susceptibility is predominantly clonal and associated with the mosaic penA XXXIV
      allele and derivatives (sensitivity 98% for cefixime and 91% for ceftriaxone),
      but alternative resistance mechanisms have sporadically emerged. Reduced
      azithromycin susceptibility has arisen through multiple mechanisms and shows
      limited clonal spread; the basis for resistance in 36% of isolates with reduced
      azithromycin susceptibility is unclear. Quinolone-resistant N. gonorrhoeae has
      arisen multiple times, with extensive clonal spread. CONCLUSIONS: Quinolone
      resistant N. gonorrhoeae and reduced cefixime susceptibility appear amenable to
      development of sequence-based diagnostic tests, whereas the undefined mechanisms
      of resistance to ceftriaxone and azithromycin underscore the importance of
      phenotypic surveillance. The identification of multidrug-resistant isolates
      highlights the need for additional measures to respond to the threat of
      untreatable gonorrhea.

PMID- 27638947
TI  - Molecular Diagnostic Field Test for Point-of-Care Detection of Ebola Virus
      Directly From Blood.
AB  - A molecular diagnostic method for robust detection of Ebola virus (EBOV) at the
      point of care (POC) directly from blood samples is described. This assay is based
      on reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) of the
      glycoprotein gene of EBOV. Complete reaction formulations were lyophilized in 0.2
      mL polymerase chain reaction tubes. RT-LAMP reactions were performed on a battery
      operated isothermal instrument. Limit of detection of this RT-LAMP assay was 2.8
      * 102 plaque-forming units (PFU)/test and 1 * 103 PFU/test within 40 minutes for
      EBOV-Kikwit and EBOV-Makona, respectively. This assay was found to be specific
      for the detection of EBOV, as no nonspecific amplification was detected in blood
      samples spiked with closely related viruses and other pathogens. These results
      showed that this diagnostic test can be used at the point of care for rapid and
      specific detection of EBOV directly from blood with high sensitivity within 40
      minutes.

PMID- 27638949
TI  - Co-Infestation and Spatial Distribution of Bactrocera carambolae and Anastrepha
      spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Common Guava in the Eastern Amazon.
AB  - Field infestation and spatial distribution of introduced Bactrocera carambolae
      Drew and Hancock and native species of Anastrepha in common guavas [Psidium
      guajava (L.)] were investigated in the eastern Amazon. Fruit sampling was carried
      out in the municipalities of Calcoene and Oiapoque in the state of Amapa, Brazil.
      The frequency distribution of larvae in fruit was fitted to the negative binomial
      distribution. Anastrepha striata was more abundant in both sampled areas in
      comparison to Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) and B. carambolae The frequency
      distribution analysis of adults revealed an aggregated pattern for B. carambolae
      as well as for A. fraterculus and Anastrepha striata Schiner, described by the
      negative binomial distribution. Although the populations of Anastrepha spp. may
      have suffered some impact due to the presence of B. carambolae, the results are
      still not robust enough to indicate effective reduction in the abundance of
      Anastrepha spp. caused by B. carambolae in a general sense. The high degree of
      aggregation observed for both species suggests interspecific co-occurrence with
      the simultaneous presence of both species in the analysed fruit. Moreover, a
      significant fraction of uninfested guavas also indicated absence of competitive
      displacement. 

PMID- 27638950
TI  - Dropping Behavior in the Pea Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae): How Does Environmental
      Context Affect Antipredator Responses?
AB  - The pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum : Harris (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is a phloem
      feeding insect whose antipredator defenses include kicking, walking away, and
      dropping from the plant. Aphid dropping, a risky and energetically costly
      antipredator behavior, can be increased by the release of aphid alarm pheromone;
      there is also evidence that insect density and plant health can affect the
      likelihood of aphids engaging in this behavior. We investigated whether
      interactions between alarm cues, insect density, and plant health can alter the
      dropping behavior of aphids in response to an artificial disturbance. The
      presence of the alarm pheromone E-beta-farnesene resulted in a nearly 15-fold
      increase in aphid dropping behavior; the other two factors, however, did not
      affect dropping and none of the two- or three-way interactions were significant.
      This was surprising because aphids affected plant health: production of new plant
      biomass after 5 d of exposure to high aphid densities was 50% lower than in the
      control treatment. This research adds to our understanding of the factors
      affecting aphid antipredator behavior; the fact that neither aphid density nor
      feeding period impacted dropping may reflect the high energetic costs of this
      activity and an unwillingness to use it in any but the riskiest situations. 

PMID- 27638946
TI  - Analysis of Diagnostic Findings From the European Mobile Laboratory in Gueckedou,
      Guinea, March 2014 Through March 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A unit of the European Mobile Laboratory (EMLab) consortium was
      deployed to the Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment unit in Gueckedou, Guinea,
      from March 2014 through March 2015. METHODS: The unit diagnosed EVD and malaria,
      using the RealStar Filovirus Screen reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) kit and a malaria rapid diagnostic test, respectively. RESULTS:
      The cleaned EMLab database comprised 4719 samples from 2741 cases of suspected
      EVD from Guinea. EVD was diagnosed in 1231 of 2178 hospitalized patients (57%)
      and in 281 of 563 who died in the community (50%). Children aged <15 years had
      the highest proportion of Ebola virus-malaria parasite coinfections. The case
      fatality ratio was high in patients aged <5 years (80%) and those aged >74 years
      (90%) and low in patients aged 10-19 years (40%). On admission, RT-PCR analysis
      of blood specimens from patients who died in the hospital yielded a lower median
      cycle threshold (Ct) than analysis of blood specimens from survivors (18.1 vs
      23.2). Individuals who died in the community had a median Ct of 21.5 for throat
      swabs. Multivariate logistic regression on 1047 data sets revealed that low Ct
      values, ages of <5 and >=45 years, and, among children aged 5-14 years, malaria
      parasite coinfection were independent determinants of a poor EVD outcome.
      CONCLUSIONS: Virus load, age, and malaria parasite coinfection play a role in the
      outcome of EVD.

PMID- 27638948
TI  - TRPA5, an Ankyrin Subfamily Insect TRP Channel, is Expressed in Antennae of Cydia
      pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Multiple Splice Variants.
AB  - Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are an ancient family of cation
      channels, working as metabotropic triggers, which respond to physical and
      chemical environmental cues. Perception of chemical signals mediate reproductive
      behaviors and is therefore an important target for sustainable management tactics
      against the codling moth Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). However,
      olfactory behavior strongly depends on diel periodicity and correlation of
      chemical with physical cues, like temperature, and physical cues thus essentially
      contribute to the generation of behavioral response. From an antennal
      transcriptome generated by next generation sequencing, we characterized five
      candidate TRPs in the codling moth. The coding DNA sequence of one of these was
      extended to full length, and phylogenetic investigation revealed it to be
      orthologous of the TRPA5 genes, reported in several insect genomes as members of
      the insect TRPA group with unknown function but closely related to the thermal
      sensor pyrexia Reverse transcription PCR revealed the existence of five alternate
      splice forms of CpTRPA5. Identification of a novel TRPA and its splice forms in
      codling moth antennae open for investigation of their possible sensory roles and
      implications in behavioral responses related to olfaction. 

PMID- 27638951
TI  - De Novo Assembly of the Transcriptome for Oriental Armyworm Mythimna separata
      (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Analysis on Insecticide Resistance-Related Genes.
AB  - Mythimna separata walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous pest of nearly
      100 families of more than 300 kinds of food and industrial crops. So far, both
      nucleotide and protein sequence information has been rarely available in database
      for M. separata, strictly limiting molecular biology research in this insect
      species. In this study, we carried out a transcriptome sequencing for M. separata
      The sequencing and subsequent bioinformatics analysis yielded 69,238 unigenes,
      among which 45,227 unigenes were annotated to corresponding functions by blasting
      with high homologous genes in database, giving annotation rate of 65.32%. Several
      lepidopteran insects gave best matches with the transcriptome data. To gain
      insight into the mechanism of insecticide resistance in M. separata, 15 families
      of genes encoding insecticide resistance-related proteins were investigated.
      Substantial numbers of unigenes in these families were identified in the
      transcriptome data, and 17 out of 21 selected unigenes were successfully
      amplified. Expressions of most of these genes were detected at larval stages and
      in gut tissue, as was consistent with their putative involvement in insecticide
      resistance. Our study provides most comprehensive transcriptome data for M.
      separata to date, and also provides reference sequence information for other
      Noctuidae family insects. 

PMID- 27638952
TI  - Feeding Patterns of Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Sarcoptiformes: Acaridae) Indicate
      That Mycophagy Is Not a Single and Homogeneous Category of Nutritional Biology.
AB  - Mycophagy should not be considered as a single and homogeneous category of
      nutritional biology due to the specific symbiotic chitinolytic bacteria
      associated with mites and fungi. To test interaction among mites, fungi, and
      chitinolytic bacteria, experiments were conducted on the model species Tyrophagus
      putrescentiae (Schrank). Mucor sp, Alternaria alternata, Penicillium claviforme,
      P. griseofulvum, and Verticillium sp. were plated onto malt agar and offered to
      T. putrescentiae in the laboratory. Mites were evaluated utilizing
      microanatomical examination based on histology, excrement analysis using
      fluorescence microscopy, bacterial plating, impact of mite homogenate on fungi in
      Petri dishes, reproduction of mites feeding upon each fungus, and isolation of
      associated bacteria inside mites. There were clear differences regarding the
      digested spores of different fungi passing through the gut and subsequently in
      the feces. Abundances of bacterial cells in excrement also corresponded to the
      fungi offered. The extracts from mites had chitinolytic activity, and the plated
      bacteria are known to produce exochitinases. The various feeding patterns
      observed were caused by differences in the cell wall structures of the tested
      fungi. The study illustrates that mycophagy in saprophagous mites does not
      consist of a single pattern, but rather that it can be classified into several
      sub-patterns depending upon the digested fungal species and its parts. The
      results point to a nearly symbiotic relationship between chitinolytic bacteria
      and digested fungi in mycophagous microarthropods. 

PMID- 27638953
TI  - Individual and Combined Effects of Bacillus Thuringiensis and Azadirachtin on
      Plodia Interpunctella Hubner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
AB  - The Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella Hubner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a
      major stored product pest that is found throughout the world. In this study, the
      effect of oral exposure to Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) subsp. kurstaki
      (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) and azadirachtin was evaluated in third instar P.
      interpunctella under laboratory conditions. The median lethal concentration
      (LC50) of Bt and azadirachtin on third instars was 490 and 241 MUg a.i./ml,
      respectively. The median lethal time (LT50) of these insecticides was the same
      (4.5 d following exposure to 750 or 400 MUg a.i./ml of Bt or azadirachtin,
      respectively). When the larvae fed on diet containing LC30 concentrations of both
      Bt and azadirachtin an additive interaction in terms of mortality was found. A
      synergistic interaction was found when the larvae fed on diet containing LC50
      concentrations of both insecticides. Larvae that fed on insecticide-containing
      diet (either Bt or azadirachtin at an LC30 concentration, or both insecticides at
      LC30 or LC50 concentrations) showed lower glycogen and lipid levels, and
      generally lower protein content in comparison to control larvae. Larvae that fed
      on diet containing both Bt and azadirachtin showed reduced weight gain and
      nutritional indices in comparison to control larvae or larvae fed on the diet
      containing only one of the insecticides. Finally, exposure to both insecticides,
      either individually or in combination, reduced the level of digestive enzymes
      found in the midgut. Our findings indicate that both Bt and azadirachtin, either
      individually or in combination have significant potential for use in controlling
      of P. interpunctella. 

PMID- 27638954
TI  - Biology of Fopius arisanus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Two Species of Fruit
      Flies.
AB  - Fopius arisanus (Sonan, 1932) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an egg-larval
      parasitoid used in control programs of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and Ceratitis
      capitata (Wiedemann). In Brazil, C. capitata and Anastrepha fraterculus
      (Wiedemann) are considered the main tephritid pests of exotic and indigenous
      fruits. The objective of this study was to study the biology of F. arisanus in C.
      capitata and A. fraterculus Eggs of the two fruit fly species were used to
      determine the parasitism rate, number of offspring, emergence rate, sex ratio,
      adult weight and longevity of male and female F. arisanus These biological
      parameters were used to develop a fertility life table. We observed higher
      parasitism and emergence rates of adults, a shorter duration of the egg-adult
      period and a sex ratio biased to females when F. arisanus was reared in eggs of
      C. capitata than in those of A. fraterculus However, adults of F. arisanus from
      eggs of A. fraterculus were heavier and had greater longevity than those obtained
      from C. capitata eggs. The fertility life table showed better biological and
      reproductive performance for F. arisanus reared in eggs of C. capitata, although
      eggs of A. fraterculus also provided positive values for population increase. 

PMID- 27638956
TI  - Irradiation of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) Eggs to Inhibit Fly
      Emergence in the Mass-Rearing of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera:
      Braconidae).
AB  - As the incidence of Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) has increased in Southern
      Brazil in the past 3 yr, an initiative to release sterile flies and parasitoids
      has started. In order to make feasible the mass-rearing of the parasitoid
      Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmed), this study investigated the suitability of
      A. fraterculus larvae derived from irradiated eggs as host for D. longicaudata
      Two different ages of A. fraterculus eggs (24 and 48 h old) were analyzed for
      hatchability after the exposure to a range of radiation doses. The hatchability
      of 48-h-old eggs was not affected by radiation, and no fly emerged at doses
      higher than 27.5 Gy. The larvae derived from irradiated eggs proved to be
      suitable hosts for the parasitoid development, with observed parasitism rates
      higher than 70% and sex ratio values above 0.6. The parasitism capability and
      longevity of D. longicaudata reared on larvae derived from irradiated eggs were
      also assessed. During the 10 d of parasitism evaluated, D. longicaudata from the
      treatments were able to parasitize nonirradiated larvae similarly as the
      parasitoids from controls and the laboratory colony. The longevity of D.
      longicaudata from the treatments was not affected either, with survival rates
      higher than 80% after 20 d of evaluation. The age of 48 h and a dose of 30 Gy
      could be considered the best age and dose for A. fraterculus eggs to be used in
      the mass-rearing of D. longicaudata The results of this study will decrease the
      costs of mass-rearing D. longicaudata on A. fraterculus. 

PMID- 27638955
TI  - Comparative Gut Microbiomes of Four Species Representing the Higher and the Lower
      Termites.
AB  - Aiming at learning the association between the gut microbiota and termites with
      different diet habits and phylogenetic positions, the gut bacteria of three
      populations for each of the two higher termites (wood-feeding Mironasutitermes
      shangchengensis and fungus-feeding Odontotermes formosanus) and two wood-feeding
      lower termites (Tsaitermes ampliceps and Reticulitermes flaviceps) were analyzed
      by high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing of 16S V1-V3 amplicons. As results, 132
      bacterial genera and some unidentified operational taxonomic units within 29
      phyla in the gut bacteria were detected, with Spirochaetes (11-55%), Firmicutes
      (7-18%), Bacteroidetes (7-31%), and Proteobacteria (8-14%) as the main phyla, and
      Treponema, TG5, Dysgonomonas, Tannerella, za29, Lactococcus, Pseudomonas, and SJA
      88 as the common genera in all the four termites. The diversity of gut bacterial
      communities in the higher termite guts was significantly greater than that in the
      lower termites; while the gut microbiota in M. shangchengensis (wood-feeding
      higher termite) was more similar to those of the wood-feeding lower termites
      rather than that of O. formosanus (fungus-feeding higher termite), and phylum
      Spirochaetes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria were super-dominant in the wood-feeding
      termites, despite of their phylogenetic relations. This study reported for the
      first time the gut bacterial communities for the termites of M. shangchengensis
      and T. ampliceps and the comparative analyses showed that the gut microbial
      communities varied according to the phylogeny and the diet habits of termites. 

PMID- 27638957
TI  - Sublethal Effects of Insecticide Exposure on Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius)
      Nymphs: Key Biological Traits and Acetylcholinesterase Activity.
AB  - Megacopta cribraria F. (Hemiptera: Plataspidae), the kudzu bug, is an invasive
      insect pest of U.S. soybean. At present, insecticide application is the primary
      and most effective control option for M. cribraria In this study, the potential
      effects of sublethal and low-lethal concentrations (LC10 and LC40) of three
      common insecticides on key biological traits and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
      activity of the treated nymphal stage of insect were assessed. The results show
      that the sublethal concentration of imidacloprid significantly reduced adult
      emergence rate of M. cribraria A low-lethal concentration of imidacloprid
      significantly increased nymphal development time, but significantly decreased
      adult emergence rate and adult longevity. Both sublethal and low-lethal
      concentrations of acephate caused an increase in nymphal development time and a
      reduction in adult emergence rate and adult longevity. Fecundity of females was
      significantly reduced only by exposure to low-lethal concentrations of acephate.
      Sublethal and low-lethal concentrations of bifenthrin increased nymphal
      development time, but significantly decreased adult emergence rate. In addition,
      we found that the AChE activity of M. cribraria was significantly increased only
      by LC40 imidacloprid, but strongly inhibited by acephate. 

PMID- 27638958
TI  - Evaluation of Standard Loose Plastic Packaging for the Management of Rhyzopertha
      dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)
      (Coleoptera: Tenebriondiae).
AB  - Three standard foodstuff plastic packaging namely polyethylene (PE),
      polypropylene (PP), and polyvinylchloride (PVC) were evaluated for management of
      lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and red
      flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Resistance
      parameters in packaging were recorded as punctures, holes, penetrations, sealing
      defects, and invasions with two thicknesses and tested for two lengths of time.
      Damages like punctures, holes and penetrations by both insects were more in PE
      packaging however R. dominica made more penetrations in PP than in PE. For both
      insects sealing defects and invasions were predominant in PVC than in others.
      Thickness did not affect significantly damage types but significantly more holes
      and penetrations by R. dominica were in less thickness. Punctures and holes by R.
      dominica were more after less time period but other damages in packaging were
      more after more time period. However for T. castaneum all sorts of damages were
      seen more after more time period. Overall categorization between two insects
      showed R. dominica made more penetrations and T. castaneum made more invasions
      compared with their counterparts. Pictures were taken under camera fitted
      microscope to magnify punctures and holes in different packaging and thicknesses.
      Insect mortality due to phosphine was more in PP and PE packaging and least in
      PVC packaging and thickness effect was marginal. T. castaneum mortality was
      significantly more after 48 h than after 24 h. Damages extent in packaging and
      fumigation results showed PP to be the best of three packaging materials to
      manage these insects. 

PMID- 27638961
TI  - The enteric nervous system: From embryology to therapy.

PMID- 27638959
TI  - Cyp2c70 is responsible for the species difference in bile acid metabolism between
      mice and humans.
AB  - Bile acids are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver and subjected to
      multiple metabolic biotransformations in hepatocytes, including oxidation by
      cytochromes P450 (CYPs) and conjugation with taurine, glycine, glucuronic acid,
      and sulfate. Mice and rats can hydroxylate chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) at the
      6beta-position to form alpha-muricholic acid (MCA) and ursodeoxycholic acid
      (UDCA) to form beta-MCA. However, MCA is not formed in humans to any appreciable
      degree and the mechanism for this species difference is not known. Comparison of
      several Cyp-null mouse lines revealed that alpha-MCA and beta-MCA were not
      detected in the liver samples from Cyp2c-cluster null (Cyp2c-null) mice. Global
      bile acid analysis further revealed the absence of MCAs and their conjugated
      derivatives, and high concentrations of CDCA and UDCA in Cyp2c-null mouse cecum
      and feces. Analysis of recombinant CYPs revealed that alpha-MCA and beta-MCA were
      produced by oxidation of CDCA and UDCA by Cyp2c70, respectively. CYP2C9-humanized
      mice have similar bile acid metabolites as the Cyp2c-null mice, indicating that
      human CYP2C9 does not oxidize CDCA and UDCA, thus explaining the species
      differences in production of MCA. Because humans do not produce MCA, they lack
      tauro-beta-MCA, a farnesoid X receptor antagonist in mouse that modulates
      obesity, insulin resistance, and hepatosteatosis.

PMID- 27638962
TI  - Risk Factors of Acute Pancreatitis in Oral Double Balloon Enteroscopy.
AB  - Double balloon enteroscopy (DBE) was introduced 15 years ago. The complications
      of diagnostic DBE are rare, acute pancreatitis is most redoubtable one (incidence
      about 0.3%). Hyperamylasemia after DBE seems to be a rather common condition
      respectively. The most probable cause seems to be a mechanical straining of the
      pancreas. We tried to identify patients in a higher risk of acute pancreatitis
      after DBE. We investigated several laboratory markers before and after DBE (serum
      cathepsin B, lactoferrin, E-selectin, SPINK 1, procalcitonin, S100 proteins, alfa
      1-antitrypsin, hs-CRP, malondialdehyde, serum and urine amylase and serum
      lipase). Serum amylase and lipase rose significantly with the maximum 4 hours
      after DBE. Serum cathepsin and procalcitonin decreased significantly 4 hours
      after DBE compared to healthy controls and patients values before DBE. Either
      serum amylase or lipase 4 hours after DBE did not correlate with any markers
      before DBE. There was a trend for an association between the number of push-and
      pull cycles and procalcitonin and urine amylase 4 hours after DBE; between
      procalcitonin and alfa-1-antitrypsin, cathepsin and hs-CRP; and between E
      selectin and malondialdehyde 4 hours after DBE. We found no laboratory markers
      determinative in advance those patients in a higher risk of acute pancreatitis
      after DBE.

PMID- 27638963
TI  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and anxiety disorders: a nationwide
      population-based study in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Few studies have investigated the relationship between chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and anxiety disorder outcomes. We sought to
      investigate the association in a large national sample. METHODS: Cases were
      identified from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database who were
      aged 15 years and above, with a new primary diagnosis of COPD (International
      Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes: 491, 492, 494 and 496) between
      2000 and 2007. The 29,951 cases identified were compared to 29,951 controls
      matched on sex, age, urban/rural residence and socioeconomic status based on
      insurance premium. Both groups were followed until the end of 2008 for instances
      of anxiety disorders. Competing risk-adjusted Cox regression analyses were
      applied, adjusting for matching variables, Charlson comorbidity index, hospital
      admission days and daily dose of prednisone. RESULTS: Of the 59,902 subjects,
      3951 were found to have anxiety disorders during a mean (SD) follow-up period of
      5.5 (2.5) years. COPD, female, urban residence, lower dose of prednisone use,
      depressive disorders and higher outpatient visits were independent predictors of
      incident anxiety disorder. CONCLUSIONS: COPD was associated with increased risk
      of an anxiety disorder diagnosis, independent of a number of potential
      confounding factors.

PMID- 27638964
TI  - Outcome of multidisciplinary, CBT-focused treatment for pediatric OCD.

PMID- 27638966
TI  - Mental and behavioral health environments: critical considerations for facility
      design.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to identify features in the physical
      environment that are believed to positively impact staff and patients in
      psychiatric environments and use these features as the foundation for future
      research regarding the design of mental and behavioral health facilities.
      METHODS: Pursuant to a broad literature review that produced an interview script,
      researchers conducted 19 interviews of psychiatric staff, facility administrators
      and architects. Interview data were analyzed using the highly structured
      qualitative data analysis process authored by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Seventeen
      topics were addressed ranging from the importance of a deinstitutionalized
      environment to social interaction and autonomy. RESULTS: The interviewees
      reinforced the controversy that exists around the implications of a
      deinstitutionalized environment, when the resulting setting diminishes patient
      and staff safety. Respondents tended to support open nurse stations vs. enclosed
      stations. Support for access to nature and the provision of an aesthetic
      environment was strong. Most interviewees asserted that private rooms were highly
      desirable because lower room density reduces the institutional character of a
      unit. However, a few interviewees adamantly opposed private rooms because they
      considered the increased supervision of one patient by another to be a deterrent
      to self-harm. The need to address smoking rooms in future research received the
      least support of all topics. CONCLUSION: Responses of interviews illustrate
      current opinion regarding best practice in the design of psychiatric facilities.
      The findings emphasize the need for more substantive research on appropriate
      physical environments in mental and behavioral health settings.

PMID- 27638967
TI  - Suicidal ideation in persons with neurological conditions: prevalence,
      associations and validation of the PHQ-9 for suicidal ideation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our primary aim was to validate the Patient Health Questionnaire
      (PHQ)-9 as a screening tool for suicidal ideation (SI). METHODS: Persons with
      epilepsy (n=188), migraine (n=208), multiple sclerosis (n=151), and stroke
      (n=122) completed questionnaires (e.g., PHQ-9) and the structured clinical
      interview for DSM-IV (SCID). Logistic regression was used to examine factors
      associated with SI [odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)]. The
      diagnostic accuracy of the PHQ-9 in identifying SI [sensitivity (Se), specificity
      (Sp), positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV)] was validated against
      the SCID. RESULTS: The 2-week prevalence of SI ranged from 5.7% (stroke) to 12.7%
      (epilepsy). Factors most strongly associated with SI were depression [OR ranging
      from 14.6 (migraine) to 38.6 (stroke)] and anxiety [OR ranging from 8.6
      (migraine) to 15.3 (epilepsy)] (see text for 95% CI). The PHQ-9 had good Se for
      SI in epilepsy (90%) and migraine (75.0%). PPV was poor while Sp and NPV were
      >90% for every condition. CONCLUSIONS: Screening for depression and anxiety is
      important in view of their strong association with SI. The PHQ-9 may be
      considered as a screening tool for SI, although it should not be relied on solely
      in view of its suboptimal PPV.

PMID- 27638968
TI  - Associations between immune activation and the current severity of the "with
      anxious distress" specifier in patients with depressive disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Immune dysregulation may be linked with depressive disorders and in
      particular anxiety symptoms. This study compared the levels of immune factors,
      demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with depressive disorders
      between mild to moderate and moderate-severe to severe anxious distress groups.
      METHODS: This study included 177 patients diagnosed with a depressive disorder
      who were hospitalized between March 2012 and April 2015. The patients were
      categorized into mild to moderate and moderate-severe to severe anxious distress
      groups, based on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) scores on the
      Agitation and Anxiety-Psychic subscales. The charts of the patients were reviewed
      to evaluate immune factors, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood
      cell levels, confounding factors, such as smoking, other general medical
      disorders and body mass index, and demographic and clinical characteristics, such
      as age, sex, total HAM-D scores, comorbidities, family history of mood disorders,
      suicidality, psychotic features and prescription patterns. RESULTS: The moderate
      severe to severe group tended to have higher CRP and monocyte levels compared
      with the mild to moderate group. After adjusting for the HAM-D scores, patients
      with moderate-severe to severe anxious distress had a significantly greater trend
      toward significance for suicidality and a higher rate of antipsychotic use.
      CONCLUSION: High levels of anxiety symptoms may modulate the inflammatory
      response and course of illness, affecting treatment planning.

PMID- 27638965
TI  - The prognostic impact and optimal timing of the Patient Health Questionnaire
      depression screen on 4-year mortality among hospitalized patients with systolic
      heart failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An American Heart Association (AHA) Science Advisory recommends
      patients with coronary heart disease undergo routine screening for depressive
      symptoms with the two-stage Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). However, little
      is known on the prognostic impact of a positive PHQ screen on heart failure (HF)
      mortality. METHODS: We screened hospitalized patients with systolic HF (left
      ventricle ejection fraction<=40%) for depression with the two-item Patient Health
      Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and administered the follow-up nine-item Patient Health
      Questionnaire (PHQ-9) both immediately following the PHQ-2 and by telephone 1
      month after discharge. Later, we ascertained vital status at 4-year follow-up on
      all patients who completed the inpatient PHQ-9 and calculated mortality incidence
      and risk by baseline PHQ. RESULTS: Of the 520 HF patients we enrolled, 371
      screened positive for depressive symptoms on the PHQ-2. Of these, 63% scored PHQ
      9>=10 versus 24% of those who completed the PHQ-9 1 month later (P<.001). PHQ-2
      positive status was an independent predictor of 4-year all-cause mortality (HR:
      1.50; P=.04), and mortality incidence was similar by baseline PHQ-9 score.
      CONCLUSIONS: Among hospitalized patients with systolic HF, a positive PHQ-2
      screen for depressive symptoms is an independent risk factor for increased 4-year
      all-cause mortality. Our findings extend the AHA's Science Advisory for
      depression to hospitalized patients with systolic HF.

PMID- 27638970
TI  - Examining the impact of comorbid serious mental illness on rehospitalization
      among medical and surgical inpatients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Multiple barriers to quality health care may affect the outcomes of
      postacute treatment for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). This study
      examined rehospitalization for medical and surgical inpatients with and without a
      comorbid diagnosis of SMI which included psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder
      and major depression. METHODS: We examined hospital discharge records for medical
      and surgical inpatients from a large urban health system. Descriptive statistics
      and logistic regression models compared 7-, 30-, 60-, 90- and 180-day
      rehospitalization among medical and surgical inpatients with SMI (n=3221) and
      without an SMI diagnosis (n=70,858). RESULTS: Within 6 months following
      discharge, hospitalized medical patients without an SMI diagnosis (34.3%) and
      with an SMI diagnosis (43.4%) were rehospitalized (P<.001), while surgical
      patients without an SMI diagnosis (20.3%) and with an SMI diagnosis (30.0%) were
      rehospitalized (P<.001). Odds of rehospitalization among medical patients were
      1.5 to 2.4 times higher for those with an SMI diagnosis compared to those without
      an SMI diagnosis (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Medical patients with a comorbid
      psychotic or major mood disorder diagnosis have an increased likelihood of a
      medical rehospitalization as compared to those without a comorbid SMI diagnosis.
      These findings support prior literature and suggest the importance of identifying
      targeted interventions aimed at lowering the likelihood of rehospitalization
      among inpatients with a comorbid SMI diagnosis.

PMID- 27638969
TI  - Distribution-based estimates of minimal important difference for hospital anxiety
      and depression scale and impact of event scale-revised in survivors of acute
      respiratory failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study will estimate distribution-based minimal important
      difference (MID) for the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety (HADS-A)
      and depression (HADS-D) subscales, and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R)
      in survivors of acute respiratory failure (ARF). METHODS: Secondary analyses of
      data from two US and three UK studies of ARF survivors (total N=1223). HADS-D and
      HADS-A were used to assess depression and anxiety symptoms. IES-R assessed post
      traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Standard error of measurement, minimal
      detectable change90, 0.5 standard deviation (S.D.), and 0.2 S.D. were used to
      estimate MID for the combined sample, by studies, 6- and 12-month follow-ups,
      country and mental health condition. RESULTS: Overall, MID estimates converged to
      2.0-2.5 for the HADS-A, 1.9-2.3 for the HADS-D and 0.17-0.18 for the IES-R. MID
      estimates were comparable across studies, follow-up, country and mental health
      condition. CONCLUSION: Among ARF survivors, 2.0-2.5 is a reasonable range for the
      MID for both HADS subscales, and 0.2 is reasonable for IES-R. Until anchor-based
      MIDs for these instruments are available, these distribution-based estimates can
      help researchers plan future studies and interpret the clinical importance of
      findings in ARF patient populations.

PMID- 27638971
TI  - Pain severity and emotion dysregulation among Latinos in a community health care
      setting: relations to mental health.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although pain severity is often related to poorer mental health and
      is one of the most common presenting complaints in community health care
      settings, there is little understanding of the pain experience in relation to
      anxiety/depressive symptoms and disorders among Latino populations in medical
      contexts. METHOD: To address this gap, the current study explored an interactive
      model of pain severity and emotion dysregulation in relation to
      anxiety/depressive symptoms and psychopathology among 274 Latinos who attended a
      community-based primary health care clinic [86.9% female; Mage=39.3 (SD=11.2);
      96.0% indicated Spanish as their first language]. RESULTS: Results indicated a
      statistically significant interaction between pain severity and emotion
      dysregulation for suicidal symptoms, social anxiety symptoms and number of
      mood/anxiety disorders, such that more severe pain and greater levels of emotion
      dysregulation related to poorer mental health. Both pain severity and emotion
      dysregulation were significant predictors of depressive symptoms, but only pain
      severity was a significant predictor of anxious arousal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:
      These novel findings suggest a clinically significant interplay between pain
      severity and emotion dysregulation among Latinos in. The results are discussed in
      relation to the need for new screening and intervention tactics that address
      interrelations between pain severity and emotional dysregulation among Latinos
      seeking treatment in community health-care-based settings.

PMID- 27638972
TI  - Depression and doctor-patient communication in the emergency department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Depression may adversely affect health outcomes by influencing doctor
      patient communication. We aimed to determine the association between depressive
      symptoms and doctor-patient communication among patients presenting to the
      emergency department (ED) with a suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHOD:
      We enrolled a consecutive sample of 500 patients evaluated for ACS symptoms from
      the ED of an urban medical center. Depressive symptoms (8-item Patient Health
      Questionnaire, PHQ-8) and doctor-patient communication in the ED (Interpersonal
      Processes of Care) were assessed during hospitalization. Logistic regression was
      used to determine the association between depressive symptoms and doctor-patient
      communication, adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, language,
      health insurance status and comorbidities. RESULTS: Compared to nondepressed
      patients, depressed patients (PHQ-8>=10) were more likely (P<.05) to report
      suboptimal communication on five of seven communication domains: clarity,
      elicitation of concerns, explanations, patient-centered decision making and
      discrimination. A greater proportion of depressed versus nondepressed patients
      reported suboptimal overall communication (39.8% versus 22.9%, P<.001). In
      adjusted analyses, depressed patients remained more likely to report suboptimal
      doctor-patient communication (adjusted odds ratio 2.42, 95% confidence interval
      1.52-3.87; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Depressed patients with ACS symptoms reported
      less optimal doctor-patient communication in the ED than nondepressed patients.
      Research is needed to determine whether subjectively rated differences in
      communication are accompanied by observable differences.

PMID- 27638973
TI  - Increased risk of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder: A
      population-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of
      chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder. METHODS: We used a
      random sample of 766,427 subjects aged >=18 years from the National Health
      Research Institute database in the year 2005. Subjects with at least one primary
      diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2005 were identified. Patients with a primary or
      secondary diagnosis of chronic liver disease were also defined. We compared the
      prevalence and associated factors of chronic liver disease between patients with
      bipolar disorder and the general population in 2005. We also compared the
      incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder and the
      general population from 2006 to 2010. RESULTS: The prevalence of chronic liver
      disease in patients with bipolar disorder (13.9%) was 2.68 times higher than that
      of the general population (5.8%) in 2005. The average annual incidence of chronic
      liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder from 2006 to 2010 was also higher
      than that of the general population (2.95% vs. 1.73%; risk ratio: 1.71; 95%
      confidence interval: 1.46-2.01). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with bipolar disorder had
      a significantly higher prevalence and incidence of chronic liver disease than
      those in the general population, and younger patients with bipolar disorder have
      a much higher prevalence and incidence than those in the general population. Male
      sex, second-generation antipsychotic or antidepressant use, and hyperlipidemia
      were associated factors for chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar
      disorder.

PMID- 27638977
TI  - Le Dalkon Shield : oublie, mais toujours pas disparu.

PMID- 27638976
TI  - Dalkon Shield: Forgotten but Not Yet Gone.

PMID- 27638974
TI  - Performance of depression rating scales in patients with chronic kidney disease:
      an item response theory-based analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Because there is overlap between somatic symptoms of depression and
      symptoms of chronic kidney disease (CKD), it is unclear if self-reported
      depression rating scales can be used accurately in predialysis CKD patients,
      especially if CKD and other comorbidities are symptomatic. We assessed the
      performance of two depression scales - the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and
      the Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16) - by CKD stage,
      diagnosis of diabetes and total medical comorbidity burden - using item response
      theory (IRT) in a sample of 272 predialysis CKD patients. METHODS: We performed
      IRT by low versus high CKD stage, diabetes versus no diabetes and high (>3
      diagnoses) versus low medical comorbidity burden. RESULTS: IRT models of each
      rating scale were affected in a limited way by CKD stage, diabetes and medical
      comorbidity burden. Sleep disturbances on the QIDS-SR16 were more discriminatory
      for depression in diabetics and those with high comorbidity burden. Pessimism and
      guilt from the BDI compared to QIDS-SR16 were more discriminatory of depression
      in the high CKD and high comorbidity groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Overall
      item differences were modest, and chronic disease severity by CKD stage, diabetes
      mellitus or other medical comorbidities did not appreciably contribute to
      differences in scale performance.

PMID- 27638975
TI  - Psychiatric disorders and psychological distress in patients undergoing
      evaluation for lung transplantation: a national cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate type and prevalence of psychiatric disorders
      and psychological distress in patients being evaluated for lung transplantation.
      METHODS: One hundred eighteen patients were assessed [74% with chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)] with the MINI Neuropsychiatric Interview,
      the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale
      (HADS). Spirometry and the 6-min walk test (6MWT) assessed lung function with
      data subject to multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS: Current and lifetime
      prevalence for mental disorders were 41.5% and 61.0% respectively, with anxiety
      (39.8% of patients), mood disorders (11.8%), and subsyndromal disorders (8.7%)
      identified. 15% of patients reported feelings of panic during the last week, 9%
      reported hopelessness, and 3% felt that life was not worth living. Statistically
      significant correlates were derived for HADS-depression with lung function
      (P=.0012) and 6MWT (P=.030) for the entire group (P=.012), and with lung function
      (P=.030) for COPD patients (P=.045), for whom higher chronic GHQ-scores
      correlated with poorer lung function (P=.009). In multivariate regression
      analysis, history of mental disorder was strongest predictor of current distress.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underline the importance of assessing past, current,
      and sub-syndromal psychiatric disorders in addition to levels of distress in
      transplant candidates, with prospective studies needed to investigate impact on
      long-term outcome after transplantation.

PMID- 27638978
TI  - A Word About Bioidenticals.

PMID- 27638979
TI  - Un mot a propos des hormones " bio-identiques ".

PMID- 27638980
TI  - The Impact of Maternal Obesity on Breastfeeding.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the rate of any breastfeeding at the time of postpartum
      hospital discharge between obese women (BMI >= 30.00 kg/m(2)) and women with a
      normal BMI (18.50 to 24.99 kg/m(2)). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort
      study of women with live, singleton pregnancies who delivered in St. John's,
      Newfoundland and Labrador between 2002 and 2011, using data from the Newfoundland
      and Labrador provincial perinatal registry. The primary outcome was any
      breastfeeding at the time of discharge from hospital. Secondary analysis included
      comparison of breastfeeding rates by class of obesity. We compared additional
      maternal and neonatal outcomes between women who were breastfeeding at discharge
      and those who were not. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses
      were performed, and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% CIs were calculated.
      RESULTS: We included 12 831 women with BMI data available in the study: 8676 were
      breastfeeding and 4155 were not at the time of postpartum discharge. Obese women
      were less likely to breastfeed than women with normal weight (60.0% vs. 71.7%)
      (aOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.55 to 0.71). Multivariate analysis showed a significant
      effect on the primary outcome of a mother's age (aOR 1.03; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.05),
      nulliparity (aOR 1.73; 95% CI 1.51 to 1.98), being partnered (aOR 1.57; 95% CI
      1.34 to 1.84), working (aOR 1.10; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.19), having higher education
      (aOR 1.48; 95% CI 1.38 to 1.60), smoking (aOR 0.35; 95% CI 0.29 to 0.43), having
      gestational diabetes (aOR 0.70; 95% CI 0.5 to 0.92), pre-existing hypertension
      (aOR 0.58; 95% CI 0.39 to 0.87), gestational hypertension (aOR 0.67; 95% CI 0.55
      to 0.82), and undergoing general anaesthesia (aOR 0.41; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.77).
      CONCLUSION: Obesity is an independent risk factor for not breastfeeding at the
      time of postpartum discharge from hospital. It is important to counsel women on
      the benefits of breastfeeding, emphasizing these particularly in women with a
      high pre-pregnancy BMI.

PMID- 27638981
TI  - Fertility and Pregnancy in Turner Syndrome.
AB  - Turner syndrome (TS) occurs in one in 2500 live female births and is one of the
      most common chromosomal abnormalities in women. Pregnancies in women with TS,
      conceived with either autologous or donated oocytes, are considered high risk
      because of the associated miscarriages and life-threatening cardiovascular
      complications (aortic dissection, severe hypertension). Therefore, it is
      imperative to conduct a full preconception evaluation and counselling that
      includes cardiac assessment with Holter blood pressure monitoring,
      echocardiography, and thoracic MRI. Abnormal findings, such an aortic dilatation,
      mandate close monitoring throughout the pregnancy and the immediate postpartum
      period and could possibly contraindicate pregnancy. When in vitro fertilization
      using donated oocytes is performed in these women, only a single embryo should be
      transferred. Women with a Turner mosaic karyotype appear to have a lower risk of
      obstetrical and cardiovascular complications but should nevertheless undergo the
      full preconception evaluation. In this article, we offer guidelines on the
      management of women with TS in the preconception period, during pregnancy, and
      postpartum.

PMID- 27638982
TI  - Successful Management of a Periviable Pregnancy with Morbidly Adherent Placenta
      after Uterine Rupture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although rare, trauma in pregnancy can cause uterine rupture. In a
      periviable pregnancy, uterine rupture can lead to premature delivery and
      significant morbidity. CASE: A 29-year-old woman with four prior CSs presented
      with uterine rupture and a protruding morbidly adherent placenta at 23+4 weeks of
      gestation. Since the pregnancy was highly desired, the defect was repaired and
      the decision made to continue with the pregnancy. The patient presented at 29+3
      weeks of gestation with preterm labour and subsequently delivered a healthy male
      infant of 1130 grams. CONCLUSION: Expectant management followed by CS can be
      beneficial in certain cases of uterine rupture with morbidly adherent placenta
      following trauma. This is especially the case in a periviable pregnancy, since
      prolonging the pregnancy will improve neonatal outcomes. We recommend
      individualized management based on clinical presentation, imaging findings, and
      the patient's wishes.

PMID- 27638983
TI  - Recommendations for Implementing Human Papillomavirus-Based Cervical Cancer
      Screening: Lessons Learned from the HPV FOCAL Trial.

PMID- 27638984
TI  - The New Genetic Inheritance: Mechanisms of Inheritance That Mendel Would Not Have
      Predicted With Sweet Peas.

PMID- 27638985
TI  - "Mitochondrial Replacement" Technologies and Human Germline Nuclear Modification.
AB  - In 2015 the United Kingdom became the first jurisdiction to approve
      "mitochondrial replacement techniques" (MRT), thereby dropping prohibitions
      against creating human embryos with a permanently altered genetic make-up for
      purposes of reproduction. MRT is a misnomer because in fact it is the nucleus of
      the oocyte of the woman who wants a genetically related child that is transferred
      to the enucleated oocyte of a woman paid to undergo IVF to provide the oocyte.
      MRT thus constitutes nuclear transfer, which is prohibited by criminal sanctions
      under sections of laws on reproductive cloning in Canada, the United States,
      Australia, and European countries that regulate assisted reproduction. By
      adopting policies permitting the use of MRT, the United Kingdom has become the
      first jurisdiction to counteract an international consensus prohibiting germline
      modification. Analyses of the legal, ethical, and societal implications of MRT in
      assisted human reproduction are essential.

PMID- 27638986
TI  - An Advisory Committee for the Regulation of Innovation in Gynaecologic Practice:
      Development and Implementation.
AB  - The fundamental precepts that underpin the delivery of all medical care are
      safety and efficacy. Although these precepts, in theory, are accepted without
      challenge, in many settings where clinical care is delivered, there is a lack of
      formal oversight necessary to ensure their implementation in practice. Even
      though most medical specialties have national bodies that provide guidelines for
      good medical practice, and hospital accreditation makes reference to
      dissemination of such guidelines, there is usually not a mechanism to monitor
      medical uptake and adherence to good practice in the day-to-day delivery of care.
      Most hospitals require approval by an institutional review board before research
      protocols can be undertaken, but regional health authorities and hospitals do not
      usually have formal processes in place to regulate the adoption of new
      technologies into clinical practice. Recognizing the lack of a formal process at
      the hospital level to guide and regulate the introduction of new technologies or
      procedures, we set out to establish an oversight process to fill this gap. A
      committee was established to oversee innovation in the Gynaecology Division of
      our hospital. We describe here the establishment of this committee, the tools the
      committee used, and the processes used for the committee to do its work. We
      conclude that formal, local oversight of medical innovation is indispensible for
      ensuring the high standards of medical practice necessary to optimize patient
      safety.

PMID- 27638989
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27638987
TI  - Joint SOGC-CCMG Opinion for Reproductive Genetic Carrier Screening: An Update for
      All Canadian Providers of Maternity and Reproductive Healthcare in the Era of
      Direct-to-Consumer Testing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This guideline was written to update Canadian maternity care and
      reproductive healthcare providers on pre- and postconceptional reproductive
      carrier screening for women or couples who may be at risk of being carriers for
      autosomal recessive (AR), autosomal dominant (AD), or X-linked (XL) conditions,
      with risk of transmission to the fetus. Four previous SOGC- Canadian College of
      Medical Geneticists (CCMG) guidelines are updated and merged into the current
      document. INTENDED USERS: All maternity care (most responsible health provider
      [MRHP]) and paediatric providers; maternity nursing; nurse practitioner;
      provincial maternity care administrator; medical student; and postgraduate
      resident year 1-7. TARGET POPULATION: Fertile, sexually active females and their
      fertile, sexually active male partners who are either planning a pregnancy or are
      pregnant (preferably in the first trimester of pregnancy, but any gestational age
      is acceptable). OPTIONS: Women and their partners will be able to obtain
      appropriate genetic carrier screening information and possible diagnosis of AR,
      AD, or XL disorders (preferably pre-conception), thereby allowing an informed
      choice regarding genetic carrier screening and reproductive options (e.g.,
      prenatal diagnosis, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, egg or sperm donation, or
      adoption). OUTCOMES: Informed reproductive decisions related to genetic carrier
      screening and reproductive outcomes based on family history, ethnic background,
      past obstetrical history, known carrier status, or genetic diagnosis. SOGC
      REPRODUCTIVE CARRIER SCREENING SUMMARY STATEMENT (2016): Pre-conception or
      prenatal education and counselling for reproductive carrier screening requires a
      discussion about testing within the three perinatal genetic carrier
      screening/diagnosis time periods, which include pre-conception, prenatal, and
      neonatal for conditions currently being screened for and diagnosed. This new
      information should be added to the standard reproductive carrier screening
      protocols that are already being utilized by the most responsible maternity
      provider through the informed consent process with the patient. (III-A; GRADE
      low/moderate) SOGC OVERVIEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS QUALITY AND GRADE: There was a
      strong observational/expert opinion (quality and grade) for the genetic carrier
      literature with randomized controlled trial evidence being available only for the
      invasive testing. Both the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care quality
      and classification and the GRADE evidence quality and grade are provided.
      EVIDENCE: MEDLINE; PubMed; government neonatal screening websites; key
      words/common reproductive genetic carrier screened diseases/previous SOGC
      Guidelines/medical academic societies (Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine [SMFM];
      American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics; American College of
      Obstetricians and Gynecologists [ACOG]; CCMG; Royal College Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology [RCOG] [UK]; American Society of Human Genetics [ASHG]; International
      Society of Prenatal Diagnosis [ISPD])/provincial neonatal screening policies and
      programs; search terms (carrier screening, prenatal screening, neonatal
      genetic/metabolic screening, cystic fibrosis (CF), thalassemia, hemoglobinopathy,
      hemophilia, Fragile X syndrome (FXS), spinal muscular atrophy, Ashkenazi Jewish
      carrier screening, genetic carrier screening protocols, AR, AD, XL). SEARCH
      PERIOD: 10 years (June 2005-September 2015); initial search dates June 30, 2015
      and September 15, 2015; completed final search January 4, 2016. Validation of
      articles was completed by primary authors RD Wilson and I De Bie. BENEFITS,
      HARMS, AND COST: Benefits are to provide an evidenced based reproductive genetic
      carrier screening update consensus based on international opinions and
      publications for the use of Canadian women, who are planning a pregnancy or who
      are pregnant and have been identified to be at risk (personal or male partner
      family or reproductive history) for the transmission of a clinically significant
      genetic condition to their offspring with associated morbidity and/or mortality.
      Harm may arise from having counselling and informed testing of the carrier status
      of the mother, their partner, or their fetus, as well as from declining to have
      this counselling and informed testing or from not having the opportunity for
      counselling and informed testing. Costs will ensue both from the provision of
      opportunities for counselling and testing, as well as when no such opportunities
      are offered or are declined and the birth of a child with a significant inherited
      condition and resulting morbidity/mortality occurs; these comprise not only the
      health care costs to the system but also the
      social/financial/psychological/emotional costs to the family. These
      recommendations are based on expert opinion and have not been subjected to a
      health economics assessment and local or provincial implementation will be
      required. GUIDELINE UPDATE: This guideline is an update of four previous joint
      SOGC-CCMG Genetic Screening Guidelines dated 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2008 developed
      by the SOGC Genetic Committee in collaboration with the CCMG Prenatal Diagnosis
      Committee (now Clinical Practice Committee). 2016 CARRIER SCREENING
      RECOMMENDATIONS.

PMID- 27638988
TI  - Opinion commune de la SOGC et du CCGM sur le depistage genetique en contexte de
      procreation : Mise a jour a l'intention de l'ensemble des prestataires canadiens
      de soins de sante maternelle et de services en procreation, a l'ere des tests
      offerts directement aux consommateurs.

PMID- 27638990
TI  - Impact of inferior vena cava thrombus extension on thrombolysis for acute
      iliofemoral thrombosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombosis may occur in patients with
      iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and its impact on thrombolysis outcomes
      is poorly defined. This study compared outcomes of patients undergoing
      thrombolysis for acute iliofemoral DVT with and without IVC involvement. METHODS:
      Patients who underwent thrombolysis for iliofemoral DVT between May 2007 and
      March 2014 were identified from a prospectively maintained database and divided
      into two groups: those with IVC involvement and those without. End points were
      technical and clinical success (>=50% lysis or freedom from 30-day DVT
      recurrence), long-term DVT recurrence, and post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS;
      Villalta score >=5). Multivariate regression models were used to determine
      predictors of anatomic and clinical failures. RESULTS: There were 102 patients
      (127 limbs) treated with various combinations of catheter-directed or
      pharmacomechanical thrombolysis. In 46 patients, thrombus extended into the IVC
      (54.3% extended up to the renal veins; 87% had >=50% luminal reduction; 50%
      occurred in association with an indwelling thrombosed IVC filter). The caval
      group had fewer women and more previous DVTs but otherwise was similar to the
      noncaval group. Pharmacomechanical thrombolysis was used more frequently in the
      caval thrombus group (97.8% vs 82.1%; P = .011), and iliac vein stenting was used
      more often in the noncaval group (41.3% vs 62.5%; P = .033). Clinical success was
      similar between the two groups (88.7% for caval vs 89.3% for noncaval; P = .921).
      All failures in the caval group occurred in patients with an indwelling
      thrombosed IVC filter. Primary patency at 2 years for the caval and noncaval
      groups was 76.7% and 78.0%, respectively (P = .787). Valve reflux and PTS at 2
      years were higher in the noncaval group (50.8% and 34.3% vs 23.3% and 11.5% in
      the caval group; P = .013 and P = .035). On multivariate analysis, incomplete
      lysis was predictive of recurrence (hazard ratio [HR], 22.7; P < .001) and PTS
      (HR, 5.59; P = .010), whereas caval involvement (HR, 0.22; P = .005) was
      protective from PTS. CONCLUSIONS: IVC thrombosis does not have an impact on the
      technical success of thrombolysis in patients with iliofemoral DVT; the presence
      of a thrombosed IVC filter, though, may make failure more likely. Caval
      thrombosis may not affect primary patency but is associated with a lower
      incidence of PTS after successful lysis.

PMID- 27638991
TI  - Surgical management of iliofemoral vein thrombosis during pregnancy and the
      puerperium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of deep venous thrombosis is elevated during pregnancy and
      the puerperium. Therapy is usually limited to conservative measures as invasive
      thrombus removal is feared because of possible complications. However, leg- or
      life-threatening situations require fast thrombus removal, and the long-term rate
      of post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) may be reduced by venous recanalization. Our
      center's experience may give support to surgical venous thrombectomy (VT).
      METHODS: Between 1996 and 2016, all women who received VT for pregnancy-related
      deep venous thrombosis in our department were included. Retrospective data were
      combined with a current follow-up. RESULTS: The study included 82 women with a
      mean age of 29 years (17-38 years). An additional arteriovenous fistula was
      performed in 79 and planned simultaneous cesarean section in 13 patients. Neither
      pulmonary emboli nor fetal complications occurred during surgery, and
      perioperative and postoperative mortality was 0%. Operative revision was required
      in 38% mainly for rethrombosis (24%) and bleeding (12%). One fetus died 2 months
      after VT of unrelated causes. After a mean of 83 months, complete venous
      recanalization was seen in 88%, venous valve sufficiency in 90%, and PTS in 31%
      without any ulcers. At 10 years, PTS incidence rose to reach 50% with limited
      statistical significance because of the number of patients reaching long-term
      follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Iliofemoral venous recanalization during pregnancy can be
      performed safely in a specialized center, with lower PTS rates than in historical
      controls.

PMID- 27638992
TI  - Mesenteric vein thrombosis can be safely treated with anticoagulation but is
      associated with significant sequelae of portal hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT) is a relatively uncommon but
      potentially lethal condition associated with bowel ischemia and infarction. The
      natural history and long-term outcomes are poorly understood and under-reported.
      METHODS: A single-institution retrospective review of noncirrhotic patients
      diagnosed with MVT from 1999 to 2015 was performed using International
      Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and radiology codes. Patients were
      excluded if no radiographic imaging was available for review. Eighty patients
      were identified for analysis. Demographic, clinical, and radiographic data on
      presentation and at long-term follow-up were collected. Long-term sequelae of
      portal venous hypertension were defined as esophageal varices, portal vein
      cavernous transformation, splenomegaly, or hepatic atrophy, as seen on follow-up
      imaging. RESULTS: There were 80 patients (57.5% male; mean age, 57.9 +/- 15.6
      years) identified; 83.3% were symptomatic, and 80% presented with abdominal pain.
      Median follow-up was 480 days (range, 1-6183 days). Follow-up radiographic and
      clinical data were available for 50 patients (62.5%). The underlying causes of
      MVT included cancer (41.5%), an inflammatory process (25.9%), the postoperative
      state (20.7%), and idiopathic cases (18.8%). Pancreatic cancer was the most
      common associated malignant neoplasm (53%), followed by colon cancer (15%).
      Twenty patients (26%) had prior or concurrent lower extremity deep venous
      thromboses. Most patients (68.4%) were treated with anticoagulation; the rest
      were treated expectantly. Ten (12.5%) had bleeding complications related to
      anticoagulation, including one death from intracranial hemorrhage. Four patients
      underwent intervention (three pharmacomechanical thrombolysis and one
      thrombectomy). One patient died of intestinal ischemia. Two patients had
      recurrent MVT, both on discontinuing anticoagulation. Long-term imaging sequelae
      of portal hypertension were noted in 25 of 50 patients (50%) who had follow-up
      imaging available. Patients with long-term sequelae had lower recanalization
      rates (36.8% vs 65%; P = .079) and significantly higher rates of complete as
      opposed to partial thrombosis at the initial event (73% vs 43.3%; P < .005). Long
      term sequelae were unrelated to the initial cause or treatment with
      anticoagulation (P = NS). CONCLUSIONS: Most cases of MVT are associated with
      malignant disease or an inflammatory process, such as pancreatitis. A diagnosis
      of malignant disease in the setting of MVT has poor prognosis, with a 5-year
      survival of only 25%. MVT can be effectively treated with anticoagulation in the
      majority of cases. Operative or endovascular intervention is rarely needed but
      important to consider in patients with signs of severe ischemia or impending
      bowel infarction. There is a significant incidence of radiographically noted long
      term sequelae from MVT related to portal venous hypertension, especially in cases
      of initial complete thrombosis of the mesenteric vein.

PMID- 27638993
TI  - Roll-in phase analysis of clinical study of cyanoacrylate closure for incompetent
      great saphenous veins.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cyanoacrylate closure (CAC) was shown in the recently published
      VenaSeal Sapheon Closure System vs Radiofrequency Ablation for Incompetent Great
      Saphenous Veins (VeClose) randomized clinical study to be an effective and
      noninferior option (in terms of both safety and effectiveness) to radiofrequency
      ablation (RFA) in the treatment of incompetent great saphenous veins. The
      objectives of this analysis were to report the efficacy and safety outcomes of
      the VeClose roll-in (training) group treated with CAC by physicians who had
      received device use training but had no prior treatment experience with the
      technique and to compare the outcomes with those from the randomized RFA and CAC
      groups. METHODS: The first two subjects at each participating site (n = 20) were
      roll-in cases (ie, not randomized but instead treated with CAC) to ensure the
      physician's familiarity with the procedure. Subsequent eligible subjects were
      randomized to either CAC or RFA. After treatment, all subjects returned for
      assessment on day 3 and months 1, 3, 6, and 12. The study's primary end point was
      complete closure of the target vein at month 3. Secondary analyses included
      patient-reported intraprocedural pain and investigator-rated ecchymosis at day 3.
      Additional assessments included procedure time, quality of life surveys, and
      adverse events. RESULTS: Mean procedure time was longer in the roll-in group (31
      minutes) compared with the randomized groups (24 minutes for CAC and 19 minutes
      for RFA; P < .0001). Procedure time decreased in both the CAC and RFA groups over
      time, plateauing at about 22 minutes for CAC and 15 minutes for RFA. In the roll
      in group, the 3-month complete occlusion rate was 100%. Reported intraprocedural
      pain ratings were similar between the roll-in and randomized groups. Other
      clinical assessments, including quality of life improvement and adverse events,
      were similar between the roll-in and randomized groups. Increasing procedure
      number did not affect clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the
      VeClose study roll-in group demonstrate that despite the physician's lack of
      prior experience, initial treatment with CAC leads to comparable efficacy and
      safety results to RFA and is associated with a relatively short learning period.

PMID- 27638994
TI  - Effect of treated length in endovenous laser ablation of great saphenous vein on
      early outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this preliminary study was to document the effect of
      treated great saphenous vein (GSV) length on short-term outcomes using freedom
      from secondary intervention as a marker. METHODS: Analysis was performed of a
      prospective database of endovascular laser therapy (EVLT) procedures performed by
      a single surgeon in an NHS hospital setting using a standardized technique in a
      series of consecutive ambulatory patients. During a 2-year period, 131 episodes
      with sufficient data were recorded. The effect of GSV vein length treated was
      assessed at 6 weeks. Hospital records were monitored for unplanned events for a
      minimum of 6 months. RESULTS: All patients with primary or recurrent varicose
      veins affecting the GSV were offered EVLT ablation. Aneurysmal vein segments,
      severely tortuous veins, ankle-brachial pressure index of <0.5, and presence of
      thrombus in the vein were excluded. Patients on anticoagulation were not
      excluded. Of 192 patients scheduled for EVLT for varicose veins, 61 were excluded
      from the analysis (40 small saphenous veins, 5 failures to complete procedure, 16
      with incomplete data). There were 79 women (60.3%) and 52 men (39.7%), with a
      mean age of 54 +/- 16 (standard deviation) years. CEAP clinical categories were
      C2, 30 (22.9%); C3, 33 (25.2%); C4, 52 (39.7%); C5, 1 (0.8%); and C6, 15 (11.5%).
      In addition to EVLT, ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy or surgical avulsions
      were used when required. The main outcome measure was freedom from ancillary
      treatment with foam sclerotherapy or multiple avulsions. The freedom from
      reintervention was 68.9% if the treated vein length was 0 to 20 cm (n = 17),
      86.5% for a vein length of 21 to 39 cm (n = 74), and 100% for a vein length >40
      cm (n = 41; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: The total length of vein treated appears to
      have a significant effect on reintervention rates. This may be due to better
      occlusion of tributaries. Where possible, >=30 cm should be treated; otherwise,
      sclerotherapy or avulsions may be incorporated simultaneously to allow for one
      stop treatment.

PMID- 27638995
TI  - Invited commentary.

PMID- 27638996
TI  - Patterns of pediatric venous disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The spectrum of chronic venous disease (CVD) is well documented in
      adults; clinical guidelines standardize diagnosis and treatment. There is a
      paucity of data published commenting on pediatric CVD exclusive of Klippel
      Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) and post-thrombotic syndrome. METHODS: This study aimed
      to define patterns of pediatric venous disease. All venous reflux studies
      performed on patients <18 years of age between January 2012 and June 2014 were
      reviewed. Study indication, patient history, clinical examination, and duplex
      ultrasound results were queried and described. Venous reflux parameters were
      compared using one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: Twenty patients were
      evaluated. All presented through the vascular surgery or multidisciplinary venous
      clinic at a tertiary academic medical center. Indications for referral included
      swelling (n = 10), varicose veins (n = 9), and rubor/acrocyanosis (n = 3); two
      patients carried a diagnosis of KTS. Mean age at study was 13 years (range, 5-17
      years). Clinical examination revealed the following: dependent rubor (n = 3);
      edema (n = 9); and varicose veins or venous abnormality concerning for venous
      malformation (n = 9). There were no stigmata of chronic inflammation,
      hyperpigmentation, or ulceration; 90% of patients (n = 18) demonstrated venous
      reflux by duplex ultrasound interrogation. Mean right great saphenous vein (GSV)
      diameter was 0.49 cm (range, 0.31-0.66 cm); mean left GSV diameter was 0.55 cm
      (range, 0.24-0.93 cm). Adjunctive studies were often used (including magnetic
      resonance venography and lymphoscintigraphy). Despite the presence of venous
      reflux on imaging, an alternate diagnosis was made in 8 of 18 children (44%),
      including postural orthostatic hypotension syndrome (n = 2), vascular
      malformation (n = 2), lymphedema (n = 2), complex regional pain syndrome (n = 1),
      and acrocyanosis of disuse (n = 1). An additional case of KTS was identified.
      Three cases referred for varicose veins were diagnosed with venous malformation.
      Maximum GSV diameter and venous reflux time were compared across patients with
      isolated CVD, KTS, or an alternate diagnosis (as before). Whereas there was no
      significant difference in maximum GSV diameter, superficial venous reflux time
      was significantly increased in the patients with primary CVD and KTS (P = .0394).
      CONCLUSIONS: The differential diagnosis for pediatric lower extremity edema and
      varicosities is broad; workup often requires adjunctive studies to secure the
      appropriate diagnosis. Often there is venous reflux present despite an
      alternative clinical diagnosis. Superficial venous reflux time may aid in the
      diagnosis of primary CVD. Whereas the clinical significance of pediatric venous
      reflux remains unclear, ongoing work to expand on venous parameters in healthy
      pediatric controls is warranted, as is additional follow-up to assess the natural
      history of pediatric venous disease.

PMID- 27638997
TI  - Abdominal and pubic collateral veins as indicators of deep venous obstruction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chronic deep venous obstruction can cause a significant loss of
      quality of life, although it can be treated successfully by stenting. A clear
      referral pattern for additional imaging is warranted in patients with lower limb
      complaints. The aim of this study was to determine the value of clinically
      visible abdominal wall collateral veins in the diagnosis of a potentially
      treatable deep venous obstruction. METHODS: A total of 295 patients referred for
      evaluation at a tertiary venous clinic with a collateral vein on the abdominal
      wall or pubic bone, visible on physical examination, were retrospectively
      analyzed and compared with a randomly selected control group of 365 patients
      without such a collateral vein. Duplex ultrasound, magnetic resonance venography,
      computed tomography venography, and conventional venography were used to
      determine the presence or absence of deep venous obstruction. RESULTS: Mean age
      of the group with a positive collateral was 43.5 +/- 13.7 (6-76) years compared
      with 44.7 +/- 14.2 (16-89) years in the control group. In the collateral group,
      66.1% were female compared with 63.3% in the control group. Sensitivity of the
      abdominal wall collateral vein for any obstruction at the level of the groin or
      more proximal was 53% (95% confidence interval [CI], 48-57); specificity, 86%
      (95% CI, 79-91); positive predictive value, 93% (95% CI, 90-96); and negative
      predictive value, 32% (95% CI, 28-37). Sensitivity was 68% (95% CI, 62-73) for
      higher degrees of post-thrombotic obstruction and 27% (95% CI, 19-36) in iliac
      vein compression. CONCLUSIONS: A collateral vein on the abdominal wall or across
      the pubic bone in patients with complaints of the lower limb has an excellent
      positive predictive value for deep venous obstructive disease at the level of the
      groin or higher. Such collateral veins should therefore not be removed, and
      symptomatic patients could be offered further diagnostics and treatment.

PMID- 27638998
TI  - Fixing the jugular flow reduces ventricle volume and improves brain perfusion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Increased ventricle volume and brain hypoperfusion are linked to
      neurodegeneration. We hypothesized that in patients with restricted jugular flow,
      surgical restoration may reduce brain ventricle volume, because it should improve
      the pressure gradient, hence promoting cerebrospinal fluid reabsorption into the
      venous system. METHODS: The effects of restoring the jugular flow were assessed
      by means of a validated echocardiography with color Doppler (ECD) protocol of
      flow quantification, magnetic resonance venography, and single-photon emission
      computed tomography combined with computed tomography (SPECT-CT). The main
      outcome measurement was the cerebral ventricle volume blindly assessed at SPECT
      CT. Secondary outcomes were brain perfusion in the whole brain and in another 12
      cerebral regions. The mean follow-up of the SPECT-CT and ECD parameters was 30
      days. Patency rate was subsequently monitored by means of the same ECD protocol
      every 3 months. RESULTS: Among 56 patients (28 male and 28 female; mean age, 44
      +/- 10 years) with ECD screening positive for chronic cerebrospinal venous
      insufficiency due to nonmobile jugular leaflets, 15 patients were excluded from
      the initial cohort because they did not meet the inclusion and exclusion
      criteria. Of the remaining 41 patients, 27 patients (14 male, 13 female; mean
      age, 48 +/- 7 years) underwent endophlebectomy and autologous vein patch
      angioplasty. Omohyoid muscle section was performed when appropriate. The control
      group comprised 14 patients matched by age and gender (8 male, 6 female; mean
      age, 44 +/- 11 years) who were not treated. Comorbidity was multiple sclerosis
      without significant differences in relapsing remitting (RR) and secondary
      progressive (SP) clinical course among groups. In the control group, neither ECD
      nor SPECT-CT showed any significant changes at follow-up. On the contrary, in the
      group operated on, the collateral flow index went from 70% to 30% (P < .0003)
      thanks to improved flow through the internal jugular vein. Correspondingly,
      ventricle volume dramatically decreased in the treated group (from 34 +/- 14
      cm(3) to 31 +/- 13 cm(3); P < .01). The effect was much more evident in the RR
      subgroup (P = .009), whereas in the SP subgroup, it was not significant.
      Perfusion was found to be improved in the surgical group with respect to
      controls, particularly in the occipital and parietal regions of the RR subgroup
      (P < .0001 and P = .017, respectively), but not in the SP subgroup. The
      probability of reducing ventricle size is increased by 13-fold (P < .03) when
      restoration of the jugular flow achieves a postoperative collateral flow index
      <=20%. Finally, the 18-month patency rate was 74%. CONCLUSIONS: Fixing the flow
      in the jugulars in patients with chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency might
      significantly reduce brain ventricle volume and improve cerebral perfusion. These
      changes are more evident in patients in the earlier stages of neurodegenerative
      disease.

PMID- 27638999
TI  - Time taken to the maximum increase in the oxygenated hemoglobin level in calf
      muscle as a predictor of mild and moderate post-thrombotic syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) allows continuous noninvasive
      monitoring of changes in the tissue levels of oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb) and
      deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) and can identify the severity of chronic venous
      diseases. Here we investigated the predictors of post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS)
      using NIRS in patients with a first episode of deep venous thrombosis (DVT).
      METHODS: The study enrolled 129 patients with DVT. Risk factors in each patient
      were assessed at presentation. Venous abnormalities confirmed by ultrasound and
      parameters derived from NIRS were evaluated at 6 months after DVT. On standing,
      increases in O2Hb and HHb (DeltaO2Hbst and DeltaHHbst) and the times taken for
      each concentration to become maximal (TO2Hbst, and THHbst) were measured. During
      10 tiptoe movements, O2Hb showed a continuous decrease (DeltaO2Hbex), whereas
      venous expulsion (DeltaHHbEex) and subsequent retention (DeltaHHbRex) were
      observed. The oxygenation index (HbD; HbD = O2Hb - HHb) was also calculated at
      the end of standing and at the end of 10 tiptoe movements (DeltaHbDst and
      DeltaHbDex). Final clinical manifestations were evaluated at 6 years, and PTS was
      considered to be present if the Villalta score was >=5. RESULTS: Thirteen
      patients were excluded and 116 patients were finally included. Of these, 19 (16%)
      developed PTS. Among various NIRS-derived parameters, TO2Hbst had the highest
      area under the curve (0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80-0.93; P < .01)
      with the best cutoff value (TO2Hbst <=48 seconds). On univariate analysis,
      variables associated with greater risk for development of PTS were stroke (odds
      ratio [OR], 5.59; 95% CI, 0.74-42.41; P = .06), idiopathic DVT (OR, 4.13; 95% CI,
      1.36-12.55; P < .01) and iliofemoral DVT (OR, 4.31; 95% CI, 1.48-12.60; P < .01)
      at initial presentation, venous occlusion combined with reflux (OR, 4.24; 95% CI,
      1.50-12.00; P < .01), and NIRS-derived TO2Hbst <=48 seconds (OR, 43.03; 95% CI,
      9.04-204.81; P < .01) at 6 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis
      finally revealed venous occlusion combined with reflux (OR, 4.80; 95% CI, 1.03
      22.36; P < .05) and NIRS-derived TO2Hbst <=48 seconds (OR, 53.73; 95% CI, 8.43
      342.41; P < .01) to be independently associated with PTS progression.
      CONCLUSIONS: NIRS-derived TO2Hbst <=48 seconds is a promising time-course
      predictor of PTS progression.

PMID- 27639000
TI  - Venous leg symptoms in healthy subjects assessed during prolonged standing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The core symptoms of venous disease include leg discomfort or pain
      accompanied by sensations of heavy, weighty, or swollen legs. This suggests the
      presence of a cause and effect relationship between swelling and pain, resulting
      in the assumption that a venous disorder is responsible. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the relationship between leg volume increase and symptoms
      provoked by a period of stationary standing and also to investigate the effect of
      medical compression stockings (MCS). METHODS: Healthy volunteers were subject to
      stationary standing. Lower leg volume and the intensity and nature of the
      emerging symptoms were assessed seven times during 10 minutes. RESULTS: Of 46
      subjects analyzed after an initial test with bare legs, 18 (39%) developed no or
      few symptoms (<=2 on a Numeric Rating Scale [NRS] of 0 to 10). However, their leg
      volume increased as much as in the 28 subjects who experienced more symptoms.
      Oligosymptomatic subjects scored lower in a baseline questionnaire on leg
      symptoms of somatic and psychic origin than did volunteers with more symptoms.
      The oligosymptomatic subjects were excluded from the tests with MCS. In the 24
      subjects who completed the whole study, the lower leg volume increased in two
      phases, reaching an increment of 44 mL (standard deviation [SD], 18) or 1.73%
      (SD, 0.65) after 10 minutes. Symptoms emerged and increased in a linear fashion,
      reaching a mean score of 2.93 NRS points (SD, 1.52) at 10 minutes. The most
      prominent symptom was tingling (NRS, 5.07; SD, 3.05), followed by feelings of
      pressure and tension (NRS, 2.17; SD, 1.87). No correlation was found between
      volume increase and symptoms. MCS exerting an ankle pressure of 10 to 15 mm Hg
      reduced the volume increase to 32 mL (SD, 20), and MCS exerting 23 to 32 mm Hg
      reduced it to 24 mL (SD, 20; both P < .001; difference between stockings, P =
      .06). Symptom intensity was reduced to NRS 2.06 (SD, 1.52) and 2.21 (SD, 1.23;
      both P < .001), respectively. Both MCS reduced the symptoms equally (P = .38).
      Symptom reduction was not correlated with the prevention of volume increase.
      CONCLUSIONS: On prolonged stationary standing, leg volume increase and symptoms
      occur independently. MCS reduce volume increase according to the pressure they
      exert. Symptoms are reduced independent of the pressure exerted and the volume
      increase prevented. This suggests that MCS act in more ways than by a simple
      reduction in volume.

PMID- 27639001
TI  - Alterations in macrophage phenotypes in experimental venous thrombosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Macrophages are involved in venous thrombus (VT) resolution and vein
      wall remodeling. This study was undertaken to identify variations in macrophage
      phenotypes in thrombi and vein wall in multiple models of VT to clarify the
      natural history of macrophage polarization in clearance of VT. We also sought to
      demonstrate the feasibility of macrophage phenotyping in human VT. METHODS:
      Established murine models of VT were used to mimic the clinical spectrum of human
      VT (stasis and nonstasis models). Vein wall and thrombi were isolated at acute (2
      days) or chronic (6-21 days) time points and analyzed by Bio-Plex assay (Bio-Rad,
      Carlsbad, Calif) for cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12), by
      immunohistochemistry for "M1-like" (IL-12) or "M2-like" (arginase 1 [Arg-1])
      markers, and by histology for intimal thickness and collagen content (Sirius red
      staining). Bone marrow was harvested from animals 2 days after undergoing sham,
      stasis, or nonstasis surgery. Macrophages were skewed toward M1 using
      lipopolysaccharide, and RNA analysis was done for inflammatory cytokine genes (IL
      1beta, IL-12). Human blood samples were similarly analyzed with reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction for macrophage polarization markers
      (CD206, inducible nitric oxide synthase, CCR2) and thrombi with
      immunohistochemistry (inducible nitric oxide synthase, Arg-1). RESULTS: Stasis
      (chronic) and nonstasis (acute and chronic) thrombi were characterized by a
      predominance in anti-inflammatory (M2) macrophages (n = 4-5/group; P < .05).
      Larger thrombi were found in the stasis model at both time points (n = 3; P <
      .01), correlating with decreased intrathrombus inflammatory (M1) cytokines (IL
      1beta, P = .03; IL-12, P = .17; n = 4) and diminished inflammatory response of
      bone marrow-derived macrophages to lipopolysaccharide (IL-1beta, P = .03; IL-12,
      P = .04; n = 4) compared with nonstasis model. Anti-inflammatory (M2 [Arg-1])
      macrophage cell counts were elevated in the post-thrombotic vein wall of stasis
      mice compared with nonstasis mice (acute: n = 4, P < .05; chronic: n = 5, P <
      .01), consistent with increased intimal thickness (P < .01; n = 4-6) and collagen
      deposition chronically (P = .005; n = 12). M2-like thrombi (Arg-1, P < .05; n = 4
      7) and circulating markers (CD206, P < .05; n = 9-17) decreased over time in
      human VT. CONCLUSIONS: Experimental VT is characterized by an anti-inflammatory
      predominant macrophage phenotype, possibly impairing thrombus resolution, and is
      model dependent. Altering the M1/M2 macrophage balance may accelerate thrombus
      resolution and allow the development of translatable novel therapies to treat VT
      and to prevent post-thrombotic syndrome.

PMID- 27639002
TI  - In vitro evaluation of clot capture efficiency of an absorbable vena cava filter.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the in vitro clot capture
      efficiency (CCE) of an investigational absorbable inferior vena cava filter
      (IVCF) vs the Greenfield IVCF. METHODS: Investigational absorbable and Greenfield
      filters were challenged with polyacrylamide clot surrogates ranging from 3 * 5 to
      10 * 24 mm (diameter * length) in a flow loop simulating the venous system.
      Filters were challenged with clots until CCE standard error of 5% or less was
      achieved under binomial statistics. Pressure gradients across the filters were
      measured for the largest size clot, enabling calculation of forces on the filter.
      RESULTS: The in vitro CCE of the absorbable IVCF was statistically similar to
      that of the Greenfield filter for all clot sizes apart from the 3 * 10-mm clot,
      for which there was statistically significant difference between filter CCEs
      (absorbable filter, 59%; Greenfield filter, 31%; P = .0001). CCE ranged from an
      average 32% for the 3 * 5-mm clot to 100% for 7 * 10-mm and larger clots for the
      absorbable IVCF. Pressure gradient across the absorbable filter with 10 * 24-mm
      clot averaged 0.14 mm Hg, corresponding to a net force on the filter of 2.1 * 10(
      3) N, compared with 0.39 mm Hg or 5.8 * 10(-3) N (P < .001) for the Greenfield
      filter. CONCLUSIONS: CCE of the absorbable filter was statistically similar to or
      an improvement on that of the Greenfield stainless steel filter for all clot
      sizes tested. CCE of the Greenfield filter in this study aligned with data from
      previous studies. Given the efficacy of the Greenfield filter in attenuating the
      risk of pulmonary embolism, the current study suggests that the absorbable filter
      may be a viable candidate for subsequent human testing.

PMID- 27639003
TI  - May-Thurner syndrome presenting as spontaneous left iliac vein rupture.
AB  - Spontaneous iliac vein rupture resulting in a retroperitoneal hematoma is
      extremely rare and can present as a life-threatening emergency. There is often a
      delay in diagnosis with no established treatment recommendations. We report the
      case of a 39-year-old woman who presented with hypovolemic shock, a large left
      retroperitoneal hematoma, and left lower extremity phlegmasia in the setting of a
      previously asymptomatic May-Thurner syndrome. She was successfully treated with a
      combined open and endovascular approach. We also reviewed the literature on the
      evolution of diagnosis and treatment of this rare condition and present our
      recommendations for management.

PMID- 27639004
TI  - Diagnosis of a varicose aneurysm is rare but not obsolete.

PMID- 27639006
TI  - Diagnosis and treatment of effort-induced thrombosis of the axillary subclavian
      vein due to venous thoracic outlet syndrome.
AB  - Venous thoracic outlet syndrome (VTOS) is uncommon but most frequently occurs in
      young, active, healthy patients. This condition typically presents as subclavian
      vein (SCV) effort thrombosis, also known as Paget-Schroetter syndrome. The
      pathophysiology underlying VTOS is chronic repetitive compression injury of the
      SCV in the costoclavicular space, resulting in progressive venous scarring, focal
      stenosis, and eventual thrombosis. Clinical evaluation includes a history and
      physical examination followed by catheter-based venography, for definitive
      confirmation of the diagnosis and initial treatment with pharmacomechanical
      thrombolysis. After restoration of SCV patency, patients are maintained with
      anticoagulation and surgical therapy is usually planned within 4 to 6 weeks.
      Surgical management of VTOS can be accomplished via different protocols involving
      either the transaxillary, infraclavicular or paraclavicular approaches to
      thoracic outlet decompression. The paraclavicular approach is emphasized in this
      review, because it affords the surgeon the ability to safely perform complete
      thoracic outlet decompression (complete anterior and middle scalenectomy, removal
      of the entire first rib, and resection of the subclavius muscle and
      costoclavicular ligament), along with definitive management of the damaged SCV
      (external venolysis, intraoperative venography, and direct vein reconstruction,
      if needed, using patch angioplasty or bypass grafting), in one operative setting.
      After surgical therapy, interval anticoagulation and a comprehensive physical
      therapy and rehabilitation program are important in achieving a return to full
      function. Current protocols on the basis of the paraclavicular surgical approach
      have thereby routinely provided patients with lasting symptomatic relief, freedom
      from indefinite anticoagulation, and the ability to return to unrestricted upper
      extremity activity.

PMID- 27639005
TI  - Gonadal vein dilation secondary to chronic calcified inferior vena cava
      thrombosis.

PMID- 27639007
TI  - Mesenteric venous thrombosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This review explores the current literature on the natural history,
      diagnosis, and management of mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT) in the modern
      era. METHODS: A review of the contemporary literature from 1997 to 2016 on MVT
      and its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment was performed. RESULTS: MVT is an
      insidious and lethal disease associated with acute mesenteric ischemia. The
      prevalence of MVT has increased sharply during the past two decades commensurate
      with an increase in radiographic imaging for abdominal complaints. The optimal
      treatment of and approach to MVT is controversial, given the poorly understood
      natural history of this rare disease. Both endovascular and open surgical
      strategies in addition to systemic anticoagulation have been used as adjuncts to
      treat MVT with limited success. Despite advances in treatment, mortality
      associated with MVT is still high. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that
      failure to recanalize the portomesenteric venous system leads to an increased
      risk for development of sequelae of portal hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: MVT is a
      challenging disease to treat, given the difficulty in establishing a prompt
      initial diagnosis and the inability to reliably monitor patients for evidence of
      impending bowel infarction. Careful selection of patients for endovascular, open,
      or hybrid approaches is key to achieving improved outcomes. However, the paucity
      of prospective data and our evolving understanding of the natural history of MVT
      make consensus treatment strategies difficult to ascertain.

PMID- 27639008
TI  - Diagnostic biomarkers in venous thromboembolic disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common disease with serious, often
      fatal sequelae. The optimal strategy for diagnosis of VTE remains unclear,
      although considerable progress has been made in this area. Several new biomarkers
      have showed promise for diagnosis of VTE, and more are under active
      investigation. We reviewed the literature for studies evaluating these diagnostic
      biomarkers. METHODS: We reviewed the English literature between 1990 and 2015,
      searching for papers evaluating diagnostic performance of biomarkers in VTE.
      RESULTS: D-dimer, a fibrin degradation product, has been thoroughly investigated,
      and performs well in select populations, although it is best as a rule-out test
      because of its generally low specificity. Soluble P-selectin, a marker of
      endothelial activation, has shown good diagnostic performance in several studies
      but has not yet been adopted widely. Others, including cellular adhesion
      molecules, tissue factor, circulating microparticles, and C-reactive protein, are
      under investigation, with varying results in a few studies. CONCLUSIONS: At this
      time, D-dimer and P-selectin remain the most clinically valuable. New biomarkers
      are needed for clinical use in VTE.

PMID- 27639010
TI  - Open surgical removal of iliac vein Wallstents with excision of pseudointima
      obstructing the contralateral iliac vein.
AB  - Persistent pain after iliac vein stenting is rare. Surgical removal of two
      oversized (20-mm) iliac vein stents was performed in a 36-year-old woman because
      of severe back pain of 21/2 years' duration. Clamping or venotomy were not
      required for stent removal, which was done by extraction of each wire of the
      stent through small puncture wounds in the vein wall. Duplex scanning confirmed
      residual pseudointima obstructing the orifice of the right common iliac vein. The
      pseudointima was surgically removed. The patient recovered without complications,
      and her pain completely resolved.

PMID- 27639011
TI  - Invited commentary.

PMID- 27639009
TI  - A systematic review and meta-analysis of the risk for development of varicose
      veins in women with a history of pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The association between pregnancy and the development of varicose
      veins is uncertain. We aimed to determine whether a history of pregnancy is
      associated with the development of varicose veins. METHODS: We performed a
      systematic literature search using the databases of PubMed, Embase, Robert Koch
      Institut, and Cochrane Central and the references of included papers. Eligible
      studies were all epidemiologic observational studies in which the outcome
      "varicose veins" and pregnancy history were assessed. The quality of each study
      was evaluated on the basis of the Dutch Cochrane review checklist and by the
      STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology)
      statement. For our meta-analysis, a random effects model was applied to pool odds
      ratios and 95% confidence intervals across studies. RESULTS: We found nine
      eligible studies enrolling 17,109 women. Pregnancy was associated with a
      significant risk increase in developing varicose veins. The results of our meta
      analysis suggest that the odds for women with a history of pregnancy in
      developing varicose veins significantly increases by 82% (odds ratio, 1.82; 95%
      CI, 1.43-2.33) compared with women with no history of pregnancy. As expected for
      epidemiologic observational studies, the heterogeneity was considerably high
      (I(2) = 81%). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis strongly supports the hypothesis
      that there is a significant and strong association between a history of pregnancy
      and varicose veins. However, qualitative and quantitative differences among
      studies were evident and were also reflected in a considerably high
      heterogeneity.

PMID- 27639012
TI  - Predictors of the post-thrombotic syndrome and their effect on the therapeutic
      management of deep vein thrombosis.
AB  - The post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), which refers to chronic clinical
      manifestations of venous insufficiency after a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), is a
      frequent occurrence. Because treatment options for PTS are limited, its
      management mainly relies on the prevention of its occurrence after DVT. Among
      identified predictors of PTS, extensive proximal location of DVT directly
      modifies the treatment of DVT because of the possibility of performance of
      complementary endovascular techniques. The association between poor international
      normalized ratio control and subsequent PTS should encourage physicians to
      perform frequent and regular international normalized ratio monitoring of
      patients receiving vitamin K antagonists. Other identified PTS risk factors are
      ipsilateral DVT recurrence, older age, pre-existing primary venous insufficiency,
      obesity, and residual venous obstruction, but these are less amenable to therapy.
      Because of their potential therapeutic implications, identification of biomarkers
      that are predictive of PTS such as markers of inflammation is crucial and such
      research is ongoing.

PMID- 27639013
TI  - Regarding "The value of hemodynamic measurements by air plethysmography in
      diagnosing venous obstruction of the lower limb".

PMID- 27639014
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27639015
TI  - Regarding "Evaluation and management of peripheral venous and lymphatic
      malformations".

PMID- 27639016
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27639017
TI  - International flavours.

PMID- 27639018
TI  - Negative feedback adjustment challenges reconstruction study from tree rings: A
      study case of response of Populus euphratica to river discontinuous flow and
      ecological water conveyance.
AB  - Drought stress changes the relationship between the growth of tree rings and
      variations in ambient temperature. However, it is not clear how the growth of
      trees changes in response to drought of varying intensities, especially in arid
      areas. Therefore, Tree rings were studied for 6years in Populus euphratica to
      assess the impacts of abrupt changes in environment on tree rings using the
      theories and methods in dendrohydrology, ecology and phytophysiology. The width
      of tree rings increased by 8.7% after ecological water conveyance downstream of
      Tarim River compared to that when the river water had been cut off. However,
      during intermediate drought, as the depth of the groundwater increases, the
      downward trend in the tree rings was reversed because of changes in the
      physiology of the tree. Therefore, the growth of tree rings shows a negative
      feedback to intermediate drought stress, an observation that challenges the
      homogenization theory of tree ring reconstruction based on the traditional
      methods. Owing to the time lag, the cumulative effect and the negative feedback
      between the growth of tree rings and drought stress, the reconstruction of past
      environment by studying the patterns of tree rings is often inaccurate. Our
      research sets out to verify the hypothesis that intermediate drought stress
      results in a negative feedback adjustment and thus to answers two scientific
      questions: (1) How does the negative feedback adjustment promote the growth of
      tree rings as a result of intermediate drought stress? (2) How does the negative
      feedback adjustment lower the accuracy with which the past is reconstructed based
      on tree rings? This research not only enriches the connotations of intermediate
      disturbance hypothesis and reconstruction theory of tree rings, but also provides
      a scientific basis for the conservation of desert riparian forests worldwide.

PMID- 27639020
TI  - Risk assessment of oil spills along the Mediterranean coast: A sensitivity
      analysis of the choice of hazard quantification.
AB  - Oil pollution in the Mediterranean represents a serious threat to the coastal
      environment. Quantifying the risks associated with a potential spill is often
      based on results generated from oil spill models. In this study, MEDSLIK-II, an
      EU funded and endorsed oil spill model, is used to assess potential oil spill
      scenarios at four pilot areas located along the northern, eastern, and southern
      Mediterranean shoreline, providing a wide range of spill conditions and coastal
      geomorphological characteristics. Oil spill risk assessment at the four pilot
      areas was quantified as a function of three oil pollution metrics that include
      the susceptibility of oiling per beach segment, the average volume of oiling
      expected in the event of beaching, and the average oil beaching time. The results
      show that while the three pollution metrics tend to agree in their hazard
      characterization when the shoreline morphology is simple, considerable
      differences in the quantification of the associated hazard is possible under
      complex coastal morphologies. These differences proved to greatly alter the
      evaluation of environmental risks. An integrative hazard index is proposed that
      encompasses the three simulated pollution metrics. The index promises to shed
      light on oil spill hazards that can be universally applied across the
      Mediterranean basin by integrating it with the unified oil spill risk assessment
      tool developed by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the
      Mediterranean (REMPEC).

PMID- 27639019
TI  - From hygroscopic aerosols to cloud droplets: The HygrA-CD campaign in the Athens
      basin - An overview.
AB  - The international experimental campaign Hygroscopic Aerosols to Cloud Droplets
      (HygrA-CD), organized in the Greater Athens Area (GAA), Greece from 15 May to 22
      June 2014, aimed to study the physico-chemical properties of aerosols and their
      impact on the formation of clouds in the convective Planetary Boundary Layer
      (PBL). We found that under continental (W-NW-N) and Etesian (NE) synoptic wind
      flow and with a deep moist PBL (~2-2.5km height), mixed hygroscopic
      (anthropogenic, biomass burning and marine) particles arrive over the GAA, and
      contribute to the formation of convective non-precipitating PBL clouds (of ~16
      20MUm mean diameter) with vertical extent up to 500m. Under these conditions,
      high updraft velocities (1-2ms-1) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)
      concentrations (~2000cm-3 at 1% supersaturation), generated clouds with an
      estimated cloud droplet number of ~600cm-3. Under Saharan wind flow conditions (S
      SW) a shallow PBL (<1-1.2km height) develops, leading to much higher CCN
      concentrations (~3500-5000cm-3 at 1% supersaturation) near the ground; updraft
      velocities, however, were significantly lower, with an estimated maximum cloud
      droplet number of ~200cm-3 and without observed significant PBL cloud formation.
      The largest contribution to cloud droplet number variance is attributed to the
      updraft velocity variability, followed by variances in aerosol number
      concentration.

PMID- 27639021
TI  - Assessing the environmental/human risk of potential genotoxicants in water
      samples from lacustrine ecosystems: The case of lakes in Western Greece.
AB  - Lakes, representing major freshwater resources, play a crucial role for both
      humans and ecosystems. Based on the increasing international interest in the
      contamination of water resources by genotoxic compounds, the present study aimed
      to evaluate the genotoxic potential of surface water samples collected from the
      five (5) lakes (Amvrakia, Lysimachia, Ozeros, Trichonida, Kastraki) located in
      Aitoloakarnania regional unit (Western Greece). The genotoxic potential of
      surface water samples was evaluated by employing the Cytokinesis Block
      MicroNucleus (CBMN) assay in cultured human lymphocytes. In the former assay,
      lymphocytes were treated with 1, 2 and 5% (v/v) of surface water from each lake.
      Statistically significant differences (1.7 to 3.3 fold increase in MN frequencies
      vs. the control) were seen at the dose of 5% (v/v) in all studied lakes. At the
      dose of 2% (v/v) statistically significant differences (1.7 to 2.6 fold increase
      in MN frequencies vs. the control) were observed in all studied lakes except
      Trichonida lake. Finally, at the dose of 1% (v/v) statistically significant
      differences (2.3 and 2.5 fold increase in MN frequencies vs. the control) were
      observed in the Ozeros and Lysimachia lakes. The evaluation of the potential
      genotoxic effects and the analysis of the physicochemical parameters of lakes'
      surface water samples is a first step in our effort to evaluate the water
      quality, in terms of the presence and environmental/human risk of genotoxicants
      in the studied lake ecosystems. The present study showed for the first time the
      presence of genotoxic substances in surface waters of the studied lakes.

PMID- 27639022
TI  - Dynamics of limnological parameters in reservoirs: A case study in South Brazil
      using remote sensing and meteorological data.
AB  - Reservoirs are important in Brazil for the production of hydroelectric power and
      human water consumption. The objective was to evaluate the variability of total
      suspended solids (TSS) and chlorophyll-a as well as the rainfall/temperature and
      land use impacts on these optically active constituents (OAC). The study area is
      the Passo Real reservoir in south Brazil. The methodology was divided in four
      steps. First, we used wavelet to detect anomalous periods of rainfall and
      temperature (2002-2014). Second, we carried out 12 field campaigns to obtain in
      situ measurements for limnological characterization (2009-2010). The third step
      was the analysis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Terra
      and Aqua satellites data corrected and non-corrected for bidirectional effects.
      Finally, we evaluated potential drivers of OAC changes over time using cross
      correlation analysis. The results showed a decrease in the TSS and chlorophyll-a
      concentrations from the upper to the lower streams of the reservoir. The
      exponential regression between the MODIS red reflectance and TSS had an adjusted
      r2 of 0.63. It decreased to 0.53 for the relationship between the green
      reflectance and chlorophyll-a. MODIS data corrected for bidirectional effects
      provided better OAC estimates than non-corrected data. The validation of MODIS
      TSS and chlorophyll-a estimates using a separate set of measurements showed a
      RMSE of 2.98mg/l and 2.33MUg/l, respectively. MODIS estimates indicated a gradual
      transition in OAC from the upper to the lower streams in agreement with the
      patterns observed using field limnological data. The analysis of land use
      (greenness) showed two well-defined crop cycles per year. The highest seasonal
      concentrations of TSS and chlorophyll-a were observed in December and the lowest
      concentrations in April. Despite the interrelationships between both factors, our
      cross-correlation analysis indicated that the great concentrations of TSS and
      chlorophyll-a were primarily controlled by rainfall and secondarily by land use.

PMID- 27639024
TI  - Groundwater flow estimation using temperature-depth profiles in a complex
      environment and a changing climate.
AB  - Obtaining reliable estimates of vertical groundwater flows remains a challenge
      but is of critical importance to the management of groundwater resources. When
      large scale land clearing or groundwater extraction occurs, methods based on
      water table fluctuations or water chemistry are unreliable. As an alternative, a
      number of methods based on temperature-depth (T-z) profiles are available to
      provide vertical groundwater flow estimates from which recharge rates may be
      calculated. However, methods that invoke steady state assumptions have been shown
      to be inappropriate for sites that have experienced land surface warming.
      Analytical solutions that account for surface warming are available, but they
      typically include unrealistic or restrictive assumptions (e.g. no flow initial
      conditions or linear surface warming). Here, we use a new analytical solution and
      associated computer program (FAST) that provides flexible initial and boundary
      conditions to estimate fluxes using T-z profiles from the Willunga Super Science
      Site, a complex, but densely instrumented groundwater catchment in South
      Australia. T-z profiles from seven wells (ranging from high elevation to near sea
      level) were utilised, in addition to mean annual air temperatures at nearby
      weather stations to estimate boundary conditions, and thermal properties were
      estimated from down borehole geophysics. Temperature based flux estimates were 5
      to 23mmy-1, which are similar to those estimated using chloride mass balance.
      This study illustrates that T-z profiles can be studied to estimate recharge in
      environments where more commonly applied methods fail.

PMID- 27639023
TI  - Characterization of sections of the Sava River based on fish community structure.
AB  - Sampling was undertaken, with the same fishing gear and along the Sava River,
      from its source to its confluence, in September 2014 and September 2015. In
      total, 44 fish species were identified, of which 37 were native species and 7
      were alien. Fish samples revealed independence in terms of both species
      composition and their abundance under different hydrological conditions. During
      flooding and high water levels in 2014, pelagic fish species were sampled in
      greater proportion than at lower water levels in 2015 when benthic fish species
      were more abundant. The flood wave in 2014 was accompanied by catch of common
      carp, Cyprinus carpio, a typical lower rhithron fish species in the upper course,
      and of tench, Tinca tinca, a typical potamon fish species of backwaters, in the
      main channel of the lower Sava River. One specimen of bighead goby, Ponticola
      kessleri, which is common in the potamon fish community, was caught during the
      2015 sampling close to the boundary between the upper and middle sections of the
      Sava. This is the first record of Ponto-Caspian gobies in the inland waters of
      Slovenia. Its finding far upstream indicates a strong effect of an as yet
      unidentified stress along the Sava River up to the spot where the bighead goby
      was sampled. Finally, these results indicate that pelagic fish species are more
      resistant to the stressful effect of flooding than benthic species, and that the
      structure of fish communities is influenced/affected by flooding as a short-term
      stressor. The progressively increasing number of alien fish species downstream in
      the Sava River point to the effects of long-term human-induced stressors in the
      area.

PMID- 27639025
TI  - Enrichment of natural 15N abundance during soil N losses under 20years of
      continuous cereal cropping.
AB  - It is generally accepted that the enrichment of natural 15N abundance in soil
      over time is reflective of historic N cycling and loss, but this process in
      cropping soils is not yet clear. In this study, we identified an enrichment
      gradient of natural 15N abundance during 20-year chronosequence of cereal
      cropping on Alfisols in southwest Queensland, Australia, that have no history of
      fertilisation. We demonstrate that the increase in soil 15N abundance is
      explained by isotopic fractionation of 15N during organic N mineralisation and
      nitrification, which lead to isotopically heavier ammonium retained in the soil
      and isotopically lighter soil nitrate taken up and removed by seasonal crops
      during harvest. Here we present a framework for natural 15N isotopic
      fractionation co-occurring with N losses during long-term cultivation.

PMID- 27639027
TI  - Different kinds of persulfate activation with base for the oxidation and
      mechanism of BDE209 in a spiked soil system.
AB  - The feasibility of using base persulfate (PS) and coupled with other activation
      methods (heat, ultrasonic and Fe2+gluconate) was first explored for the removal
      of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) in a soil system, and various factors were
      also investigated. The results showed that the removal of BDE209 followed a
      pseudo-first-order model. Interestingly, the rate constant (k1) indicated a good
      power exponential relationship with initial PS (k1=0.018*[PS]00.437, R2=0.983,
      [PS]0=0.02-0.5M) or BDE209 (k1=0.029*e-0.038*[BDE209]0, R2=0.999, [BDE209]0=10
      50mgkg-1) concentration, respectively. Additionally, k1 well fitted the Arrhenius
      equation at the temperature range of 25 to 55 degrees C, and the calculated
      activation energy (Ea) approximately was 41.2kJmol-1. The removal efficiency
      could be enhanced in the presence of ultrasound due to increasing the amount of
      BDE209 molecules desorbed from soil and organic matters. Finally, nine
      intermediate products were identified during the heat and base co-activated PS
      oxidation process, and the possible reaction pathways were further proposed.

PMID- 27639026
TI  - Different responses of functional traits and diversity of stream
      macroinvertebrates to environmental and spatial factors in the Xishuangbanna
      watershed of the upper Mekong River Basin, China.
AB  - Functional traits and diversity indices have provided new insights into community
      responses to stressors. Most traits of aquatic organisms have frequently been
      tested for predictability and geographical stability in response to environmental
      variables, but such tests of functional diversity indices are rare. We sampled
      macroinvertebrates at 18 reference sites (RS) and 35 disturbed sites (DS) from
      headwater streams in the upper Mekong River Basin, Xishuangbanna (XSBN), China.
      We selected 29 qualitative categories of eight traits and then calculated five
      functional diversity indices, namely functional richness (FRic), functional
      evenness (FEve), functional dispersion (FDis), functional divergence (FDiv) and
      Rao's Quadratic Entropy (RaoQ), and two trait diversity indices, namely trait
      richness (TR) and trait diversity (TD). We used combination of RLQ and fourth
      corner to examine the response of traits and functional diversity to the
      disturbance and environmental variables. We used variance partitioning to explore
      the relative role of environmental variables and spatial factors in constraining
      trait composition and functional diversity. We found that the relative frequency
      of ten trait categories, and the values of TD, TR, FRic and FDis in RS were
      significantly different (p<0.05) from DS. In addition, the seven traits (except
      for "habit") demonstrated a predictable response of trait patterns along the
      integrative environmental gradients. Environmental variables significantly
      contributed to most of the traits, functional diversity and trait diversity.
      However, spatial variables were mainly significant in shaping ecological traits,
      FRic and FEve. Our results confirm the dominant role of environmental variables
      in the determination of community trait composition and functional diversity, and
      substantiate the contribution of spatial vectors in explaining the variance of
      functional traits and diversity. We conclude that the traits "Refuge", "External
      protection", "Respiration" and "Body shape", and diversity indices FDis, TD, and
      TR are promising indicators of stream conditions at XSBN.

PMID- 27639029
TI  - Corrigendum to "Quality of life in epilepsy in Bhutan" [Seizure 39 (2016) 44-48].

PMID- 27639028
TI  - Pregnancy history and blood-borne microvesicles in middle aged women with and
      without coronary artery calcification.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Having a history of preeclampsia increases the risk for
      future coronary artery calcification (CAC). This study evaluated the association
      of blood-borne, cell-derived microvesicles (MV) with CAC in middle-aged women.
      METHODS: Twelve pre-selected, antigen-specific MV were measured by digital flow
      cytometry in the blood of age- and parity-matched women (median age 60 years)
      without a history of cardiovascular events, but with either a history of
      preeclampsia (PE, n = 39) or normotensive pregnancy (NP, n = 40). CAC was
      determined by computed tomography. RESULTS: CAC scores ranged from 0 to 47 and 0
      602 Agatston Units in the NP and PE groups, respectively. Waist circumference and
      insulin resistance were greatest in PE women with CAC. MV positive for tissue
      factor or stem/progenitor cell antigen (CD117) differed between NP and PE groups.
      In univariate analysis, those positive for tissue factor, ICAM-1, stem cells, and
      adipocytes (P16-set) antigens associated with CAC in the PE group. Principal
      components (PC) analysis reduced the MV variables to three independent
      dimensions. PC1 showed a modest correlation with CAC scores in the PE group (rho
      = 0.31, p = 0.06) and associated with CAC in a multivariable model on pooled
      groups that included all 3 PC variables when adjusted for pregnancy status (p =
      0.03). The association was lost when corrected for body mass index or waist
      circumference. CONCLUSIONS: In women with a history of PE and elevated metabolic
      risk profile, a group of specific antigen-positive MV associated with CAC. These
      MV may reflect cellular processes associated with CAC. Their diagnostic potential
      for CAC remains to be determined.

PMID- 27639030
TI  - Comparative transcriptomic analyses of two bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys
      nobilis) groups with different growth rates.
AB  - Growth is one of the most important and desired economic traits for aquaculture
      species, and identification of loci controlling growth is a difficult task
      without genomic sequences. In this study, the liver transcriptomes of two groups
      (F and S) of bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) within a full-sib family
      with significant differences in growth rate were sequenced. Following de novo
      assembly of the combined reads from the two groups, a total of 410 differentially
      expressed genes were identified. Functional annotation and analysis of these
      genes indicated that some of these were involved in regulation of glucose levels
      and lipid metabolism, particularly fatty acid oxidation and transport. In
      addition to the differences on expression levels between the two groups, we also
      identified many non-synonymous coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that
      were specific to each group, including SNPs from 4 genes involved in the lipid
      metabolism process (GO: 0006629). These differences in gene expression and DNA
      sequences may in part comprise the genetic background for the regulation of early
      growth rate in bighead carp.

PMID- 27639031
TI  - Psychological factors associated with the intention to choose for risk-reducing
      mastectomy in family cancer clinic attendees.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Women seeking counseling because of familial breast cancer occurrence
      face difficult decisions, such as whether and when to opt for risk-reducing
      mastectomy (RRM) in case of BRCA1/2 mutation. Only limited research has been done
      to identify the psychological factors associated with the decision for RRM. This
      study investigated which psychological factors are related to the intention to
      choose for RRM. MATERIALS & METHODS: A cohort of 486 cancer-unaffected women with
      a family history of breast cancer completed the following questionnaires prior to
      genetic counseling: the Cancer Worry Scale, Positive And Negative Affect Scale,
      Perceived Personal Control Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and State
      Anxiety Scale and questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics, family
      history, risk perception and RRM intention. Multivariate logistic regression was
      used to analyze the relation between psychological factors and women's intention
      to choose for RRM. RESULTS: Factors associated with RRM intention were high
      positive affect (OR = 1.86, 95%CI = 1.12-3.08), high negative affect (OR = 2.52,
      95%CI = 1.44-4.43), high cancer worry (OR = 1.65, 95%CI = 1.00-2.72), high
      perceived personal control (OR = 3.58, 95%CI = 2.18-5.89), high risk-perception
      (OR = 1.85, 95%CI = 1.15-2.95) and having children (OR = 2.06, 95%CI = 1.21
      3.50). CONCLUSION: Negative and positive affects play an important role in the
      intention for RRM. Furthermore, perceived personal control over the situation is
      associated with an intention for RRM. In addition to focusing on accurate risk
      communication, counseling should pay attention to the influence of perceived
      control and emotions to facilitate decision-making.

PMID- 27639032
TI  - Costs associated with Eribulin treatment for patients with metastatic breast
      cancer in a comprehensive cancer center in France.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is no standard recommendation for metastatic breast cancer
      treatment (MBC) after two chemotherapy regimens. Eribulin (Halaven(r)) has shown
      a significant improvement in overall survival (OS) in this setting. Its use may
      however be hampered by its cost, which is up to three times the cost of other
      standard drugs. We report the clinical outcomes and health care costs of a large
      series of consecutive MBC patients treated with Eribulin. METHODS: A monocentric
      retrospective study was conducted at Institut Curie over 1 year (August 2012 to
      August 2013). Data from patient's medical records were extracted to estimate
      treatment and outcome patterns, and direct medical costs until the end of
      treatment were measured. Factors affecting cost variability were identified by
      multiple linear regressions and factors linked to OS by a multivariate Cox model.
      RESULTS: We included 87 MBC patients. The median OS was 10.7 months (95%CI = 8.0
      13.3). By multivariate Cox analysis, independent factors of poor prognosis were
      an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 3, a number of
      metastatic sites >= 4 and the need for hospitalization. Per-patient costs during
      whole treatment were ?18,694 [CI 95%: 16,028-21,360], and ?2581 [CI 95%: 2226
      3038] per month. Eribulin administration contributed to 79% of per-patient costs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Innovative and expensive drugs often appear to be the main cost
      drivers in cancer treatment, particularly for MBC. There is an urgent need to
      assess clinical practice benefits.

PMID- 27639033
TI  - Expression of progesterone receptor in the porcine uterus and placenta throughout
      gestation: correlation with expression of uteroferrin and osteopontin.
AB  - Progesterone (P4) stimulates production and secretion of histotroph, a mixture of
      hormones, growth factors, nutrients, and other substances required for growth and
      development of the conceptus (embryo or fetus and placental membranes).
      Progesterone acts through the progesterone receptor (PGR); however, there is a
      gap in our understanding of P4 during pregnancy because PGR have not been
      localized in the uteri and placentae of pigs beyond day 18. Therefore, we
      determined endometrial expression of PGR messenger RNA (mRNA) and localized PGR
      protein in uterine and placental tissues throughout the estrous cycle and through
      day 85 of pregnancy in pigs. Further, 2 components of histotroph, tartrate
      resistant acid phosphatase 5 (ACP5; uteroferrin) and secreted phosphoprotein 1
      (SPP1; osteopontin) proteins, were localized in relation to PGR during pregnancy.
      Endometrial expression of PGR mRNA was highest at day 5 of the estrous cycle,
      decreased between days 5 and 11 of both the estrous cycle and pregnancy, and then
      increased between days 11 and 17 of the estrous cycle (P < 0.01), but decreased
      from days 13 to 40 of pregnancy (P < 0.01). Progesterone receptor protein
      localized to uterine stroma and myometrium throughout all days of the estrous
      cycle and pregnancy. PGR were expressed by uterine luminal epithelium (LE)
      between days 5 and 11 of the estrous cycle and pregnancy, then PGR became
      undetectable in LE through day 85 of pregnancy. During the estrous cycle, PGR
      were downregulated in LE between days 11 and 15, but expression returned to LE on
      day 17. All uterine glandular epithelial (GE) cells expressed PGR from days 5 to
      11 of the estrous cycle and pregnancy, but expression decreased in the
      superficial GE by day 12. Expression of PGR in GE continued to decrease between
      days 25 and 85 of pregnancy; however, a few glands near the myometrium and in
      close proximity to areolae maintained expression of PGR protein. Acid phosphatase
      5 protein was detected in the GE from days 12 to 85 of gestation and in areolae.
      Secreted phosphoprotein 1 protein was detected in uterine LE in apposition to
      interareolar, but not areolar areas of the chorioallantois on all days examined,
      and in uterine GE between days 35 and 85 of gestation. Interestingly, uterine GE
      cells adjacent to areolae expressed PGR, but not ACP5 or SPP1, suggesting these
      are excretory ducts involved in the passage, but not secretion, of histotroph
      into the areolar lumen and highlighting that P4 does not stimulate histotroph
      production in epithelial cells that express PGR.

PMID- 27639034
TI  - Identifying women at risk for postpartum anxiety: a prospective population-based
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a multifactorial model to predict anxiety symptomatology at
      8 weeks postpartum. METHOD: In a population-based study, 522 women in a health
      region near Vancouver, Canada, completed questionnaires at 1, 4, and 8 weeks
      postpartum. Questionnaires included risk factors measured at 1 week
      (sociodemographic, biological, pregnancy-related, life stressors, social support,
      obstetric, and maternal adjustment). Sequential logistic regression was completed
      to develop a predictive model of anxiety symptomatology at 8 weeks (State-Trait
      Anxiety Inventory score >40). RESULTS: The prevalence of anxiety symptomatology
      at 1, 4, and 8 weeks postpartum was 22.6%, 17.2%, and 14.8% respectively. In
      multivariable models, anxiety symptomatology at 1 week (aOR 2.78, 95% CI: 1.04
      7.43), multiparous parity (aOR 3.29, 95% CI: 1.28-8.48), history of psychiatric
      problems (aOR 3.07, 95% CI: 1.19-7.97), perceived stress (1 SD increase: aOR
      4.92, 95% CI: 2.62-9.26), and childcare stress (1 SD increase: aOR 1.63, 95% CI:
      1.01-2.64) were independent predictors of anxiety symptomatology at 8 weeks.
      CONCLUSION: While a significant proportion of women experience anxiety
      symptomatology following childbirth, multiparous women with a psychiatric history
      who have high levels of diverse stress are at greatest risk. These key factors
      may be used to promote early identification and secondary preventive
      interventions.

PMID- 27639036
TI  - Predatory journals in dermatology.

PMID- 27639035
TI  - Trends in incidence and survival analysis in non-melanoma skin cancer from 1994
      to 2012 in Girona, Spain: A population-based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We present an epidemiological study focused on Non-melanoma skin
      cancers (NMSC), including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma
      (BCC), Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFS) and
      adnexal and skin appendages neoplasm (ASAN), a neoplasm understudied in cancer
      registries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyze trends of incidence and survival of
      NMSC registered with the Cancer Registry of Girona, Spain. RESULTS: We found
      14389 cases of NMSC, accounting 3,474 SCC, 10729 BCC, 33 MCC, 61 DFSP and 71
      ASAN. Incidence increased significantly in SCC and BCC with annual percentage of
      change of 1.6 and 1.5, respectively, but not in MCC, DFS or ASAN. Five-year
      relative survival for both sexes was 90.1% in SCC, 99.8% in BCC, 44.2% in MCC,
      93.7% in DFS and 84% in ASAN. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the increasing
      incidence and good survival of SCC and BCC and enhances knowledge on the
      epidemiology of the less incidental NMSC.

PMID- 27639037
TI  - Extracellular Phosphate Induces the Expression of Dentin Matrix Protein 1 Through
      the FGF Receptor in Osteoblasts.
AB  - Dentin matrix protein 1 (Dmp1) is an extracellular matrix protein involved in
      phosphate metabolism and biomineralization, and its expression markedly increases
      during the maturation of osteoblasts into osteocytes. We previously reported that
      an increased level of inorganic phosphate (Pi) in media up-regulated the
      expression of Dmp1 in primary osteocytes isolated from mouse bones. In the
      present study, we found that elevated extracellular Pi strongly induced the
      expression of Dmp1 in osteoblasts and explored its underlying mechanism of
      action. In an osteoblastic cell line MC3T3-E1, increases in extracellular Pi
      induced the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and up-regulated the expression of Dmp1,
      fibroblast growth factor 2 (Fgf2), and Fgf receptor 1 (Fgfr1). A co-treatment
      with the MEK inhibitor U0126 abolished the increase in the expression of Dmp1 and
      Fgfr1 by elevated Pi, suggesting the involvement of the MEK/ERK pathway in this
      up-regulation. Elevated extracellular Pi also resulted in the phosphorylation of
      FGF receptor substrate 2alpha (FRS2alpha), which was diminished by knockdown of
      Slc20a1 encoding Pit1 sodium-phosphate co-transporter. The co-treatment with an
      inhibitor against FGFR (SU5402) abolished the up-regulation of Dmp1 induced by
      elevated extracellular Pi. In primary osteoblasts, a treatment with 4 mM Pi
      transiently increased the expression of early growth response 1 (Egr1) before the
      up-regulation of Dmp1. These results indicate that FGFR mediates the direct
      effects of extracellular Pi on the expression of Dmp1 in osteoblasts and enhance
      the close relationship between the signaling evoked by elevated extracellular Pi
      and FGF/FGFR signaling. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1151-1163, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27639040
TI  - [Health and social conditions in Brod na Savi during World War I].
AB  - During World War I, social and health conditions were difficult in Brod na Savi,
      as it stationed a large number of troops, and the military hospital was crowded
      with patients. With so many able-bodied men and breadwinners mobilised, the
      town's economy verged on the brink of poverty, but people managed to keep
      starvation at bay. The most common diseases among civilians were tuberculosis,
      malaria, intestinal infectious diseases, diphtheria, and venereal diseases, and
      in 1915 cholera broke out that lasted five months. At the end of 1918 "Spanish
      flu" also hit the town. The number of wounded and sick soldiers occasionally
      surpassed the hospital's capacity, so they had to be stationed at the local
      school facilities for a while. Over two thousand people died in the military
      hospital, which suggests that the total number of patients who went through the
      hospital had to be very large. Unfortunately, there are no records to show the
      hospital's mortality rate or disease prevalence. We are currently trying to
      establish the demographics of the 2000 dead buried at the local cemetery during
      WWI using the death records we have.

PMID- 27639038
TI  - Nitrogen isotope fractionation during N uptake via arbuscular mycorrhizal and
      ectomycorrhizal fungi into grey alder.
AB  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi affect plant nitrogen
      (N) dynamics. Plant N isotope patterns have been used to characterise the
      contribution of ECM fungi to plant N uptake. By quantifying and comparing the
      effects of an AM and an ECM fungus on growth, N uptake and isotopic composition
      of one host plant grown at different relative N supply levels, the aim of this
      study was to improve the mechanistic understanding of natural 15N abundance
      patterns in mycorrhizal plants and their underlying causes. Grey alders were
      inoculated with one ECM fungus or one AM fungus or left non-mycorrhizal. Plants
      were grown under semi-hydroponic conditions and were supplied with three rates of
      relative N supply ranging from deficient to luxurious. Neither mycorrhizal fungus
      increased plant growth or N uptake. AM root colonisation had no effect on whole
      plant delta15N and decreased foliar delta 15N only under N deficiency. The roots
      of these plants were 15N-enriched. ECM root colonisation consistently decreased
      foliar and whole plant delta15N. It is concluded, that both mycorrhizal fungi
      contributed to plant N uptake into the shoot. Nitrogen isotope fractionation
      during N assimilation and transformations in fungal mycelia is suggested to have
      resulted in plants receiving 15N-depleted N via the mycorrhizal uptake pathways.
      Negative mycorrhizal growth effects are explained by symbiotic resource trade on
      carbon and N and decreased direct plant N uptake.

PMID- 27639039
TI  - Careseeking for childhood diarrhoea at the primary level of care in communities
      in Cross River State, Nigeria.
AB  - Risk factors for care-seeking choices for childhood diarrhea in Nigeria are
      poorly understood. They are essential to the control of childhood illnesses
      because diarrhea is an important cause of childhood mortality. This study
      explored the contributors to care-seeking choices in Cross River State, Nigeria.
      Caregivers of children aged 0-59months in 1240 randomly selected households in
      Cross River State were involved in this cross-sectional study. Questionnaires
      were used to collect information on demographics, knowledge of illness, and care
      seeking patterns, and observed associations were explored using logistic
      regression. Care was given at home (50.4%, n=142; as recommended), at the health
      center (27%, n=76), and at the local drug store (19.1%, n=54). Main reasons for
      care sought were health education (31.9%, n=94), treatment cost (18%, n=53), and
      experiences (16.6%, n=49). Caregivers living in the mainly urban area of Calabar
      Municipality [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=2.81 (1.26-6.26)] and the mainly rural
      area of Obanliku [AOR=3.59 (1.94-6.64)], were more likely to give home treatment.
      Choice of treatment was only associated with area of residence. Influencers of
      care-seeking behavior, especially for childhood diarrhea, are complex and need to
      be better understood to encourage enhanced care for young children with diarrhea.

PMID- 27639041
TI  - [Dr Teodor Gjurgjevic, lawyer, diplomat, polyglot, and the collaborator of
      Andrija Stampar].
AB  - Dr Theodor Gjurgjevic was born in Stubicka Kaniza on 1 December 1909 and died in
      Zagreb on 20 March 1976. He finished high school in Zagreb in 1927 and obtained a
      doctoral degree from the Zagreb University Faculty of Law in 1933. In 1956, he
      obtained his second doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford. He
      dedicated a large part of his career to international affairs: before and during
      World War II in the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade and after
      the war at the Zagreb School of Public Health as a collaborator of Andrija
      Stampar. At the School he held different positions: senior officer, lecturer in
      postgraduate courses, assistant, counselor, and from the 1959 School secretary.
      After the Second World War, he was delegated by the Yugoslav government to
      participate in various expert groups. Thanks to his very broad education,
      especially his knowledge of many foreign languages, he was able to help in the
      international presentation and recognition of the School of Public Health in the
      extraordinary post-war conditions. He is credited for the establishment and
      operation of the European Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPHER). He
      was buried in the arcades of the Zagreb cemetery Mirogoj, reserved for prominent
      national figures.

PMID- 27639042
TI  - [Humanities as a means of survival: the testimony of a Siberian prisoner of war
      in the First World War].
AB  - This article looks into the autobiography of the Croatian chemist and
      pharmacognosist Antun Vrgoc (1881-1949) entitled My Memories of the World War
      1914-1920 and published in Zagreb in 1937. The author was captured in October
      1914 and deported to Siberia, where he remained prisoner of war until 1920. Since
      there are few memoirs describing the life of Siberian prisoners during the First
      World War, this work is a precious testimony about the attitude towards the
      prisoners of war, human relations, and the survival of an AustroHungarian army
      officer. The book shows a striking lack of civilian or military hostility towards
      the prisoners and the respect of the Geneva Convention. Antun Vrgoc adopted the
      culture, customs and language of his formal enemies, took part in their civilian
      life, and taught at their university. His cathartic experience of survival
      includes a clear message about the absurdity of war.

PMID- 27639043
TI  - [Stampar's contemporary Josip Silovic: the founder of the Colonization fund for
      orphans from hunger-stricken Croatian areas and the Fund for orphans of Croatian
      emigrants during World War I].
AB  - This article gives a brief review of the scientific, academic, and political
      activity of Josip Silovic, and most importantly of his humanitarian work. He will
      be remembered for saving thousands of children who lost their fathers or brothers
      to World War I and who were left to starve to death. To this end Silovic and his
      associates established several funds and organisations, most notably Narodna
      zastita. He continued with his humanitarian activities until he died in Zagreb in
      1939.

PMID- 27639044
TI  - [Dr Alfred Sindik: the life and work of the first epidemiology specialist in
      Croatia].
AB  - This article is dedicated to Alfred Sindik (1890-1976), the first Croat
      specialised in epidemiology. As a student he volunteered at the Institute of
      Hygiene in Zagreb in its early days. He took his degree from the University of
      Zagreb School of Medicine in 1929. For many years, he worked at the Institute of
      Epidemiology, of which ten as its director, having succeeded Dr Cernozubov on
      this position. On 23 July 1949, he received his specialisation degree in
      epidemiology to become our first epidemiologist. On 14 December 1957, he was
      promoted to chief physician. Most of his time he spent working in the field,
      suppressing epidemic outbreaks, and sharing his experiences through scientific
      publications and teaching, especially at the School for Medical Assistants since
      its establishment in 1930. He has written a number textbooks for students. Here
      we list his most important articles and textbooks.

PMID- 27639045
TI  - [Anthropology of the individual, sex, and race in the works of Fran Gundrum
      Oriovcanin (1856-1919)].
AB  - By analysing his unpublished and published works, we have identified
      anthropological elements in the studies of Croatian physician Fran Gundrum
      Oriovcanin (1856-1919) that distinguish him as one of the rare researchers in
      Croatia who attempted to synthesize cultural and biological anthropology. Gundrum
      collected comparative data on biological characteristics of various ethnic
      groups, searched for a connection between biological structures and cultural
      development, and assessed certain social facts and customs from the perspective
      of medical teleology. This article presents the four most frequent
      anthropological issues raised in his work: anatomy and physiology of individuals,
      ethnic groups and "races"; attitudes on prostitution; Jews as a model of alcohol
      abstinence; and the "degeneration" of Western culture/civilisation. In spite of
      pronounced linear evolutionism, his work compares social and medical practices
      between Western and non-Western nations.

PMID- 27639046
TI  - [The establishment of Medical school in Zagreb in World War I].
AB  - World War I irrevocably changed the face of the world, including Croatia and its
      capital Zagreb. While between 1880 and 1910 Zagreb became a modern European city,
      World War I (1914-1918) was marked by new municipal regulations that overturned
      the everyday life of the city. Social conditions reached catastrophic
      proportions, especially in the later years of the war. Soldiers and refugees
      swarmed the city, and famine and the Spanish flu epidemic hit it hard. In such
      harsh social and economic circumstances Milan Rojc, head of the Theology and
      Education Department and three doctors from the Sisters of Mercy Hospital,
      namely, Theodor Wikerhauser, Miroslav Cackovic pl. Vrhovinski, and Dragutin
      Masek, finally started the School of Medicine in December 1917. The School had
      formally been founded 43 years before, on January 5th, 1874., when the Croatian
      Parliament, passed the law concerning the establishment of the University, which
      was to have four faculties: Theology, Philosophy, Law, and Medicine.

PMID- 27639047
TI  - [World war I as seen by Franciscans of Slavonski Brod].
AB  - There is a profound and permanent connection between Franciscans and Slavonski
      Brod (formerly known as Brod na Savi). It has lasted for centuries, as
      Franciscans were present in the town even during the Turkish occupation. They
      were the first town pastors after its independence from the Turks in 1691 and are
      present today with churches, monasteries, and the Franciscan High School, which
      opened in 1995. Their chronicles describing the events from 1706 to 1932 are an
      important source of historical information, especially for local historians. This
      article describes the life of Franciscans in Brod na Savi during the First World
      War. Initially, they were loyal Austro-Hungarian citizens who passionately
      believed in the ultimate victory on all fronts. However, war circumstances
      quickly lead to a disappointment and doubt. Slavic solidarity increased as the
      war progressed, and in the end Franciscans were delighted with the establishment
      of the new country of South Slavs, which they perceived as a means to free the
      nation from the Austrian and Hungarian authorities. Throughout the war, the
      Convent served as a reserve military hospital with 145 beds for the soldiers and
      21 beds for officers.

PMID- 27639048
TI  - [Finderle, Svalba, Blecic, Bakasun: the Rijeka cascade of the Stamparian
      waterfall].
AB  - The "infectious" ardour of Andrija Stampar's doctrine is well known, not only
      through the accounts of his contemporaries but also from domestic and foreign
      literature. After all, this ardour has become ingrained in people and
      institutions, who have carried it on for decades. This article follows the life
      of prominent bearers of Stampar's ardour in Rijeka's history of medicine - the
      obstetrician and inventor Viktor Finderle (1902-1964), the epidemiologist Ante
      Svalba (1903-1989), the long-time director of the People's Health Centre Kajetan
      Blecic (1917-2005), and the former director of the Public Health Institute
      Vjekoslav Bakasun (b. 1929).

PMID- 27639049
TI  - Does heightened fear of crime lead to poorer mental health in new suburbs, or
      vice versa?
AB  - Fear of crime is implicated as a risk factor for poorer mental health, yet few
      studies have explored whether there is a causal relationship between fear of
      crime and health, or tested the direction of the relationship. Does, for example,
      heightened fear of crime lead to poorer mental health, or could poorer mental
      health exacerbate fear of crime? RESIDE participants in Perth, Australia,
      completed a questionnaire three years after moving to their neighbourhood (2007
      2008, n = 1230), and again four years later (2011-2012, n = 531). The impact of
      fear of crime on psychological distress (Kessler-6) was examined in SAS using the
      Proc Mixed procedure (marginal repeated measures model with unrestricted variance
      pattern). Models controlled for demographics and time, and progressively adjusted
      for avoidance behaviours (i.e., walking, community participation, social
      cohesion). This approach was repeated with psychological distress as the
      independent variable and fear of crime as the outcome. For each increase in one
      standard deviation (SD) in fear of crime, psychological distress increased by
      0.680 (p = 0.0001), however in the reversed models, for each one SD increase in
      psychological distress, fear of crime increased by 0.152 (p = 0.0001). To help
      explain these results, temporal order models examined whether baseline values
      predicted follow-up values. There was a significant association between
      psychological distress (at baseline) and fear of crime (at follow-up), but no
      association between fear of crime (at baseline) and psychological distress (at
      follow-up). The findings suggest a bi-directional relationship exists between
      fear of crime and mental health, however it appears that higher psychological
      distress over time leads to higher fear of crime, rather than the reverse.
      Furthermore, the pathway connecting fear of crime and mental health appears to be
      direct, rather than via constrained social and physical activities.

PMID- 27639050
TI  - The association between overweight and internalizing and externalizing behavior
      in early childhood.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine bidirectional associations
      between overweight and behavior problems during early childhood taking into
      account the adiposity rebound, which is the turning point in the nonlinear
      development of Body Mass Index in early childhood. METHODS: Longitudinal data
      from 6624 Dutch children in the Generation R Study were used to analyze the
      association between measured overweight and scores on the internalizing and
      externalizing scale of the Child Behavior Checklist between one-and-a-half, three
      and six years. The adiposity rebound was determined for each child by estimating
      the lowest point in their growth curve. Cross-lagged modeling was used to test
      (bi)directional associations. RESULTS: Both body mass and behavior problems were
      modest to highly stable from age one-and-a-half to six years. Externalizing and
      internalizing behavior were both associated with later overweight, although
      effect sizes were small (betas ranged between 0.06 and 0.07, ps < 0.05). No
      significant associations in the other direction were found. Controlling for
      adiposity rebound did not change the pattern of associations. There was a
      moderating effect of gender, and ethnicity, and timing of adiposity rebound.
      CONCLUSION: Behavior problems in early childhood may put children at risk for
      overweight at a later age. This implies that young children with behavior
      problems may benefit from careful monitoring of eating behavior and weight
      development. Future studies should take the adiposity rebound into account.

PMID- 27639051
TI  - Comprehensive primary health care under neo-liberalism in Australia.
AB  - This paper applies a critical analysis of the impact of neo-liberal driven
      management reform to examine changes in Australian primary health care (PHC)
      services over five years. The implementation of comprehensive approaches to
      primary health care (PHC) in seven services: five state-managed and two non
      government organisations (NGOs) was tracked from 2009 to 2014. Two questions are
      addressed: 1) How did the ability of Australian PHC services to implement
      comprehensive PHC change over the period 2009-2014? 2) To what extent is the
      ability of the PHC services to implement comprehensive PHC shaped by neo-liberal
      health sector reform processes? The study reports on detailed tracking and
      observations of the changes and in-depth interviews with 63 health service
      managers and practitioners, and regional and central health executives. The
      documented changes were: in the state-managed services (although not the NGOs)
      less comprehensive service coverage and more focus on clinical services and
      integration with hospitals and much less development activity including community
      development, advocacy, intersectoral collaboration and attention to the social
      determinants. These changes were found to be associated with practices typical of
      neo-liberal health sector reform: considerable uncertainty, more directive
      managerial control, budget reductions and competitive tendering and an emphasis
      on outputs rather than health outcomes. We conclude that a focus on clinical
      service provision, while highly compatible with neo-liberal reforms, will not on
      its own produce the shifts in population disease patterns that would be required
      to reduce demand for health services and promote health. Comprehensive PHC is
      much better suited to that task.

PMID- 27639052
TI  - The costs of 'free': Experiences of facility-based childbirth after Benin's
      caesarean section exemption policy.
AB  - As one of many similar policies in the region, in 2009 Benin launched a free c
      section policy in publicly funded hospitals intended to decrease the barriers to
      facility delivery and the heavy financial burdens on women and their families. We
      conducted a qualitative study for eight months between 2012 and 2014 to
      understand women's experiences of care in maternity wards. We carried out semi
      structured interviews with 30 women who had delivered via c-section at five
      hospitals. Two of these hospitals became case study sites where in-depth research
      was undertaken that consisted of participant observation in each maternity ward
      and 32 further interviews with women who had complicated, vaginal and c-section
      deliveries. Overall, women continue to pay for care, both in the form of under
      the-table payments to health workers and prescribed payments for services not
      covered by the policy, though they consider the costs reasonable compared to what
      the charges were before. Lifting the fees has facilitated conditions for midwives
      to alert doctors that the procedure might be needed. Partly because c-sections
      are still feared by most women, in one hospital this led to some women perceiving
      them as a threat if their labour was progressing more slowly. Implementation of
      the policy differed greatly between the two case study hospitals. We conclude
      that some burdens on women's access to care have been addressed but deterrents
      remain to the improved perception of quality of care on the part of women.
      Findings detail how important context is to the implementation of the policy, and
      suggest that similar user-fee removal policies should be accompanied by other
      measures addressing staff management and quality of care.

PMID- 27639053
TI  - A practical clinical recording system for cases of desquamative gingivitis.

PMID- 27639054
TI  - Analysis of intensity and spatial patterns of public use in natural treatment
      systems using geotagged photos from social media.
AB  - Patterns of public use in 273 natural treatment systems worldwide are
      investigated by means of geotagged data from two popular photo-sharing websites,
      using spatial analysis and regression techniques. Standardized Major Axis (SMA)
      regression is found to perform better than other univariate calibration models in
      terms of goodness of fit with reported visitation frequencies and predictive
      accuracy, and is used to predict visitation rates in 139 systems that are
      associated with at least one geotagged photograph. High visitation rates are
      found in free-water surface (FWS) constructed wetlands and mixed pond-constructed
      wetlands systems, as well as systems treating surface water or stormwater runoff.
      Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques are used to map hot and cold spots
      of public use in two highly visited systems. Binomial logit regression reveals
      that the probability to be associated with at least one geotagged photograph is a
      function of system size, system type, and influent water quality. The findings
      are discussed in terms of their implications for the evaluation of public use in
      multifunctional ecologically engineered systems as well as the applicability of
      the proposed methodology to other natural and man-made ecosystems.

PMID- 27639055
TI  - It's official - Cryptosporidium is a gregarine: What are the implications for the
      water industry?
AB  - Parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium are a major cause of diarrhoea and ill
      health in humans and animals and are frequent causes of waterborne outbreaks.
      Until recently, it was thought that Cryptosporidium was an obligate intracellular
      parasite that only replicated within a suitable host, and that faecally shed
      oocysts could survive in the environment but could not multiply. In light of
      extensive biological and molecular data, including the ability of Cryptosporidium
      to complete its life cycle in the absence of a host and the production of novel
      extracellular stages, Cryptosporidium has been formally transferred from the
      Coccidia, to a new subclass, Cryptogregaria, with gregarine parasites. In this
      review, we discuss the close relationship between Cryptosporidium and gregarines
      and discuss the implications for the water industry.

PMID- 27639056
TI  - Ammonia inhibition on hydrogen enriched anaerobic digestion of manure under
      mesophilic and thermophilic conditions.
AB  - Capturing of carbon dioxide by hydrogen derived from excess renewable energy
      (e.g., wind mills) to methane in a microbially catalyzed process offers an
      attractive technology for biogas production and upgrading. This bioconversion
      process is catalyzed by hydrogenotrophic methanogens, which are known to be
      sensitive to ammonia. In this study, the tolerance of the biogas process under
      supply of hydrogen, to ammonia toxicity was studied under mesophilic and
      thermophilic conditions. When the initial hydrogen partial pressure was 0.5 atm,
      the methane yield at high ammonia load (7 g NH4+-N L-1) was 41.0% and 22.3% lower
      than that at low ammonia load (1 g NH4+-N L-1) in mesophilic and thermophilic
      condition, respectively. Meanwhile no significant effect on the biogas
      composition was observed. Moreover, we found that hydrogentrophic methanogens
      were more tolerant to the ammonia toxicity than acetoclastic methanogens in the
      hydrogen enriched biogas production and upgrading processes. The highest methane
      production yield was achieved under 0.5 atm hydrogen partial pressure in batch
      reactors at all the tested ammonia levels. Furthermore, the thermophilic
      methanogens at 0.5 atm of hydrogen partial pressure were more tolerant to high
      ammonia levels (>=5 g NH4+-N L-1), compared with mesophilic methanogens. The
      present study offers insight in developing resistant hydrogen enriched biogas
      production and upgrading processes treating ammonia-rich waste streams.

PMID- 27639057
TI  - Population-based study shows that Hirschsprung disease does not have a negative
      impact on education and income.
AB  - AIM: Hirschsprung disease is a multifactorial disease, which is mainly treated
      during childhood. There is a risk of impaired bowel function for a long time
      after surgery, and its impact on adult life has not been well studied. This study
      assessed whether having Hirschsprung disease affected social parameters such as
      educational level and income. METHODS: This nationwide, population-based cohort
      study included all patients with Hirschsprung disease, registered in the Swedish
      National Patient Register from 1964 and 2013, who were each matched by age and
      sex to ten individuals randomly selected from the Swedish Population Register.
      The study outcomes were the highest educational level and individual disposable
      income in 2013 registered by Statistics Sweden. RESULTS: The study comprised 389
      patients and 3847 controls, both 76% male, with a median age of 25 years. There
      were no statistically significant differences in highest educational level
      between the groups (p = 0.327). The median individual disposable income was 142
      200 (0-817 200) Swedish Krona in the patient group and 159 000 (0-3 418 900) in
      the control group (p = 0.615). CONCLUSION: The highest educational level and the
      individual disposable income did not differ between patients with Hirschsprung
      disease and controls, indicating that the disease had a low impact on these
      parameters.

PMID- 27639058
TI  - The effects of autonomy support on salivary alpha-amylase: The role of individual
      differences.
AB  - The empirical evidence for the relationship between autonomy-supportive
      environments and physiological stress is inconsistent. Whereas some studies
      report a decrease in stress in autonomy-supportive environments, other studies
      show a negative effect of autonomy on physiological stress. As previous research
      has not considered individual differences within this relationship, the present
      research aims to close this empirical gap by proposing that an implicit autonomy
      disposition, which is defined as a dispositional preference for self
      determination, serves as a moderator. In an experiment, we tested whether the
      autonomy disposition moderates the effect of different teaching styles
      (controlling, autonomy-supportive, and neutral) on the acute physiological stress
      response (salivary alpha-amylase) in adolescents (N=69). The study revealed that
      participants with a high implicit autonomy disposition displayed lower salivary
      alpha-amylase responses when exposed to autonomy-supportive vignettes compared to
      when they were exposed to controlling or neutral teaching styles. The opposite
      pattern was found in students with a low implicit autonomy disposition. The
      results illustrate that experimentally induced variations in autonomy support
      lead to different physiological stress responses, depending on individual
      differences in the implicit autonomy disposition.

PMID- 27639059
TI  - Dominance rank causally affects personality and glucocorticoid regulation in
      female rhesus macaques.
AB  - Low social status is frequently associated with heightened exposure to social
      stressors and altered glucocorticoid regulation by the hypothalamic-pituitary
      adrenal (HPA) axis. Additionally, personality differences can affect how
      individuals behave in response to social conditions, and thus may aggravate or
      protect against the effects of low status on HPA function. Disentangling the
      relative importance of personality from the effects of the social environment on
      the HPA axis has been challenging, since social status can predict aspects of
      behavior, and both can remain stable across the lifespan. To do so here, we
      studied an animal model of social status and social behavior, the rhesus macaque
      (Macaca mulatta). We performed two sequential experimental manipulations of
      dominance rank (i.e., social status) in 45 adult females, allowing us to
      characterize personality and glucocorticoid regulation (based on sensitivity to
      the exogenous glucocorticoid dexamethasone) in each individual while she occupied
      two different dominance ranks. We identified two behavioral characteristics,
      termed 'social approachability' and 'boldness,' which were highly social status
      dependent. Social approachability and a third dimension, anxiousness, were also
      associated with cortisol dynamics in low status females, suggesting that
      behavioral tendencies may sensitize individuals to the effects of low status on
      HPA axis function. Finally, we found that improvements in dominance rank
      increased dexamethasone-induced acute cortisol suppression and glucocorticoid
      negative feedback. Our findings indicate that social status causally affects both
      behavioral tendencies and glucocorticoid regulation, and that some behavioral
      tendencies also independently affect cortisol levels, beyond the effects of rank.
      Together, they highlight the importance of considering personality and social
      status together when investigating their effects on HPA axis function.

PMID- 27639060
TI  - MiR-143-3p controls TGF-beta1-induced cell proliferation and extracellular matrix
      production in airway smooth muscle via negative regulation of the nuclear factor
      of activated T cells 1.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that function in diverse biological
      processes. However, little is known about the precise role of microRNAs in the
      functioning of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs). Here, we investigated the
      potential role and mechanisms of the miR-143 -3p on proliferation and the
      extracellular matrix (ECM) protein production of ASMCs. We demonstrated that miR
      143-3p was aberrantly lower in ASMCs isolated from individuals with asthma than
      in individuals without asthma. Meanwhile, TGF-beta1 caused a marked decrease in a
      time-dependent manner in miR-143-3p expression in ASMCs from asthmatics.
      Additionally, the overexpression of miR- 143-3p robustly reduced TGF-beta1
      induced ASMCs proliferation and downregulated CDK and cyclin expression, whereas
      the inhibition of miR-143-3p significantly enhanced ASMCs proliferation and
      upregulated the level of CDKs and cyclins. Re-expression of miR-143-3p attenuated
      ECM protein deposition reflected as a marked decrease in the expression of type I
      collagen and fibronectin, whereas miR-143-3p downregulation caused an opposite
      effect on the expression of type I collagen and fibronectin. Moreover, qRT-PCR
      and western blot analysis indicated that miR-143-3p negatively regulated the
      expression of nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATc1). Subsequent analyses
      demonstrated that NFATc1 was a direct and functional target of miR-143-3p, which
      was validated by the dual luciferase reporter assay. Most importantly, the
      overexpression of NFATc1 effectively reversed the inhibition of miR-143-3p on TGF
      beta1-induced proliferation, and strikingly abrogated the effect of miR-143-3p on
      the expression of CDK4 and Cyclin D1. Together, miR-143-3p may function as an
      inhibitor of asthma airway remodeling by suppressing proliferation and ECM
      protein deposition in TGF-beta1-mediated ASMCs via the negative regulation of
      NFATc1 signaling, suggesting miR-143-3p as a potential therapeutic target for
      asthma.

PMID- 27639061
TI  - Improved protocol for the isolation of naive follicular dendritic cells.
AB  - Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) in lymphoid organs play an important role in
      the humoral immune response. However, because the isolation of FDCs is difficult
      due to their very small population size and fragility under mechanical and
      chemical stresses, the genetic and biochemical characteristics of FDCs remain
      unclear. Previously, we identified FDCs as ICAM-1+ cells in the CD45- non
      hematopoietic cell fraction from naive mouse spleen after cell separation by
      means of digestion with a combination of enzymes. In the present study, using a
      new combination of enzymes, we found that FDCs are highly enriched in the CD45
      ICAM-1+CD21/35+ cell fraction. CD45-ICAM-1+CD21/35+ cells in the mouse spleen
      retained an antigen administered in vivo for more than 7 days. Moreover, CD45
      ICAM-1+CD21/35+ cells isolated from the spleen of mice administered with a
      cognate antigen enhanced the survival and proliferation of antigen-specific B
      cells in vitro. Our improved protocol for the isolation of naive FDCs will be
      useful for the analysis of FDCs in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27639062
TI  - Relationships between marbling measures across principal muscles.
AB  - As marbling is a principal input into many grading systems it is important to
      have an accurate and reliable measurement procedure. This paper compares three
      approaches to measuring marbling: trained personnel, near infrared spectroscopy
      (NIR) and image analysis. One 25mm slice of meat was utilised from up to 12 cuts
      from 48 carcasses processed in Poland and France. Each slice was frozen to enable
      a consistent post-slaughter period then thawed for image analysis. The images
      were appraised by experienced beef graders and the sample used to determine fat
      content by NIR. We find that image analysis based marbling measures are capturing
      something different to trained personnel and that there is a strong relationship
      between near infrared spectroscopy and trained personnel. Finally, we demonstrate
      that marbling measures taken on one muscle can be predictive of marbling in other
      muscles in the same carcase. This is particularly important for cut based models
      such as the Meat Standards Australia system.

PMID- 27639063
TI  - The design and implementation of a CBT-based intervention for sensory processing
      difficulties in adolescents on the autism spectrum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unusual reactions to sensory input now form part of the diagnostic
      criteria for autism. These features are common and can have an often-devastating
      impact on autistic individuals and their families. Yet there are few validated
      interventions that help to remediate or support autistic individuals' adverse
      sensory experiences. To date, both measurement of sensory experiences and the
      resulting interventions have been based on assumptions of neurological
      sensitivities and largely ignored the role of cognition. This study therefore
      sought to assess the feasibility of a new 8-week CBT-based group intervention for
      self-regulation of sensory processing difficulties. METHOD: Seven cognitively
      able adolescents diagnosed with autism aged 11-16 years from one mainstream
      secondary school received the 8-week intervention. Measures of sensory
      reactivity, anxiety and repetitive behaviours were taken at baseline, post
      intervention and follow-up, 8 weeks after the intervention had ceased. Semi
      structured interviews and focus groups were also conducted with adolescents and
      their parents to examine further the acceptability of the intervention. RESULTS:
      The results showed that the intervention itself was feasible - both in its
      implementation and its acceptability to participants. Qualitative analysis
      clearly showed that the intervention was effective in raising meta-conscious
      awareness and self-regulation in these autistic adolescents. Analysis of outcome
      variables showed no significant change over the intervention period, although
      effect sizes were moderate-to-large. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results are
      encouraging and should inform the design of a future pilot randomized controlled
      trial to test its efficacy with a larger group of participants.

PMID- 27639064
TI  - Hepatic stellate cells induce hepatocellular carcinoma cell resistance to
      sorafenib through the laminin-332/alpha3 integrin axis recovery of focal adhesion
      kinase ubiquitination.
AB  - : In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving sorafenib, drug
      resistance is common. HCC develops in a microenvironment enriched with
      extracellular matrix proteins including laminin (Ln)-332, produced by hepatic
      stellate cells (HSCs). Ln-332 is the ligand of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta4
      integrins, differently expressed on the HCC cell surface, that deliver
      intracellular pathways. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Ln
      332 on sorafenib's effectiveness. HCC cells were challenged with sorafenib in the
      presence of Ln-332 and of HSC conditioned medium (CM). Sorafenib impaired HCC
      cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. HSC-CM or Ln-332 inhibited sorafenib's
      effectiveness in HCC cells expressing both alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta4.
      Inhibiting alpha3 but not alpha6 integrin subunit using blocking antibodies or
      small interfering RNA abrogated the protection induced by Ln-332 and HSC-CM.
      Hep3B cells expressing alpha6beta4 but lacking the alpha3 integrin were
      insensitive to Ln-332 and HSC-CM protective effects. Hep3B alpha3-positive, but
      not wild-type and scramble transfected, cells acquired protection by sorafenib
      when plated on Ln-332-CM or HSCs. Sorafenib dephosphorylated focal adhesion
      kinase (FAK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2, whereas Ln-332 and
      HSC-CM partially restored the pathways. Silencing FAK, but not extracellular
      signal-regulated kinases 1/2, abrogated the protection induced by Ln-332 and HSC
      CM, suggesting a specific role for FAK. Sorafenib down-regulated total FAK,
      inducing its proteasomal degradation, while Ln-332 and HSC-CM promoted the escape
      of FAK from ubiquitination, probably inducing a preferential membrane
      localization. CONCLUSION: This study unveils a novel mechanism of sorafenib
      resistance depending on the alpha3beta1/Ln-332 axis and requiring FAK
      ubiquitination, providing new insights into personalizing therapy for patients
      with HCC. (Hepatology 2016;64:2103-2117).

PMID- 27639065
TI  - Role of sugars under abiotic stress.
AB  - Sugars are the most important regulators that facilitate many physiological
      processes, such as photosynthesis, seed germination, flowering, senescence, and
      many more under various abiotic stresses. Exogenous application of sugars in low
      concentration promote seed germination, up regulates photosynthesis, promotes
      flowering, delayed senescence under various unfavorable environmental conditions.
      However, high concentration of sugars reverses all these physiological process in
      a concentration dependent manner. Thus, this review focuses the correlation
      between sugars and their protective functions in several physiological processes
      against various abiotic stresses. Keeping in mind the multifaceted role of
      sugars, an attempt has been made to cover the role of sugar-regulated genes
      associated with photosynthesis, seed germination and senescence. The
      concentration of sugars determines the expression of these sugar-regulated genes.
      This review also enlightens the interaction of sugars with several phytohormones,
      such as abscisic acid, ethylene, cytokinins and gibberellins and its effect on
      their biosynthesis under abiotic stress conditions.

PMID- 27639066
TI  - Watching Eyes effects: When others meet the self.
AB  - The perception of direct gaze-that is, of another individual's gaze directed at
      the observer-is known to influence a wide range of cognitive processes and
      behaviors. We present a new theoretical proposal to provide a unified account of
      these effects. We argue that direct gaze first captures the beholder's attention
      and then triggers self-referential processing, i.e., a heightened processing of
      stimuli in relation with the self. Self-referential processing modulates incoming
      information processing and leads to the Watching Eyes effects, which we classify
      into four main categories: the enhancement of self-awareness, memory effects, the
      activation of pro-social behavior, and positive appraisals of others. We advance
      that the belief to be the object of another's attention is embedded in direct
      gaze perception and gives direct gaze its self-referential power. Finally, we
      stress that the Watching Eyes effects reflect a positive impact on human
      cognition; therefore, they may have a therapeutic potential, which future
      research should delineate.

PMID- 27639067
TI  - Early intravenous immunoglobulin replacement in hypogammaglobulinemic heart
      transplant recipients: results of a clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunoglobulin G (IgG) hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG) is a risk factor
      for development of severe infections after heart transplantation. We performed a
      clinical trial to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy and safety of early
      administration of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for prevention of severe
      infection in heart recipients with post-transplant IgG HGG. METHODS: Twelve heart
      recipients with IgG HGG detected in a screening phase of the clinical trial (IgG
      <500 mg/dL) were recruited. Patients received IVIG (Flebogamma 5%), as follows: 2
      doses of 200 mg/kg followed by up to 5 additional doses of 300 mg/kg to maintain
      IgG >750 mg/dL. IgG and specific antibody titers to distinct microorganisms were
      tested during follow-up. The primary outcome measure was development of severe
      infection during the study period. Data on the primary outcome were matched with
      those of 13 recipients with post-transplant HGG who were not included in the
      clinical trial and with those of 11 recipients who did not develop HGG during the
      same study period. RESULTS: Mean time to detection of HGG was 15 days. IgG and
      specific antibody reconstitution (anti-cytomegalovirus, anti-Haemophilus
      influenza, and anti-hepatitis B surface antigen antibodies) was observed in IVIG
      treated patients. Severe infection was detected in 3 of 12 (25%) IVIG-treated
      recipients, in 10 of 13 (77%) HGG non-IVIG patients, and in 2 of 11 (18%) non-HGG
      patients (log-rank, 15.31; P=.0005). No severe IVIG-related side effects were
      recorded. CONCLUSION: Data from this study demonstrate that prophylactic IVIG
      replacement therapy safely modulates HGG and specific antimicrobial antibodies.
      Our data also preliminarily suggest that IVIG replacement therapy might decrease
      the incidence of severe infection in heart recipients with HGG.

PMID- 27639068
TI  - Regional asymmetry, obesity and gender determines tactile acuity of the knee
      regions: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Alterations in central somatosensory function (e.g. cortical
      reorganisation) occurs secondary to chronic knee pain. The reorganization can be
      quantified using a clinical signatory measure, the two-point discrimination
      threshold (TPDT). In order to differentiate normal variability of TPDT against
      abnormal thresholds for clinical practice, development of body region specific
      reference values are required and the factors that determine the TPDT have to be
      established. OBJECTIVE: To establish reference values for TPDT of the knee region
      in healthy individuals and to determine the factors that influence the TPDT of
      the knee regions. METHODS: Participants across four decades (18-59 years; n = 79)
      were recruited. TPDT estimates for medial and lateral knee regions were
      determined using a mechanical calliper. Descriptive statistics, and linear
      regression analyses were performed to establish reference TPDT values, and to
      investigate associations between demographics, anthropometric variables, and TPDT
      estimates respectively. RESULTS: Participants' Mean (SD) age = 38.3 (12.2);
      females (n = 56); and right lower limb dominant (n = 72). Mean TPDT threshold
      ranges included: lateral right knee, 36.7 (14.3); medial right knee, 28.6 (9.7);
      lateral left knee, 37.7 (12.9); and medial left knee, 27.9 (11.4). Fifteen
      percent of the threshold variance (R2 = 0.148) of TPDT estimates was explained by
      the medial aspect (beta = -8.9; p = 0.000) and male gender (beta = 3.1; p =
      0.057), weighted by anthropometric factors. CONCLUSIONS: Age-stratified knee TPDT
      estimates have been reported to aid clinical interpretation. Regional asymmetry,
      gender, and obesity indices are factors that determine the TPDT of the knee.
      Normal TPDT asymmetry observed at medial aspect of the knee has significantly
      greater acuity compared to the lateral knee.

PMID- 27639069
TI  - Human Brain Malignant Glioma (BMG-1) 3D Aggregate Morphology and Screening for
      Cytotoxicity and Anti-Proliferative Effects.
AB  - Two interesting aspects of cell lines grown in 3 Dimensional (3D) conditions are
      their distinct morphology and production of extracellular matrix (ECM). Also, it
      is known that 3D aggregates have different susceptibilities to damage-inducing
      agents compared to their 2D monolayer counterparts. We describe the effect of ECM
      on 3D aggregate morphology, the effect of cisplatin, bleomycin, and UV on the 3D
      aggregates and 2 Dimensional (2D) monolayers of the BMG-1 cell line. We also
      present a rapid method for analyzing cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative effects
      of 3D aggregates in 96-well plates. We utilized a single-step protocol using the
      dye resazurin. BMG-1 cells formed floating aggregates on 1% agarose hydrogels.
      The extent of ECM formed by them was dependent on number of cells seeded
      irrespective of the seeding density, which in turn directed the 3D aggregate
      compactness. The 3D aggregates were less susceptible to cisplatin and UV-induced
      cytotoxicity compared to 2D counterparts. The IC50 value of cisplatin was
      elevated at 210 MUg/ml for the aggregates compared to 170 MUg/ml for the
      monolayers. Exposure to UV for 0, 10, 20, and 30 min gave inhibition values of
      2.98%, 8%, 22.99%, and 31.8% for the aggregates as compared to 3.06%, 7.5%,
      39.4%, and 46.7% for the monolayers. While bleomycin-induced effects were
      unapparent when analyzed by vital staining for the doses used, the rapid, single
      step method in 96-well plates was able to provide a dose-response for
      cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative effects. Also, comparative analysis of
      results obtained from vital staining and the single-step method demonstrates the
      reliability of the assay described. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 685-690, 2017. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27639070
TI  - T helper (Th)1, Th17 and Th2 imbalance in mesenchymal stem cells of adult
      patients with atopic dermatitis: at the origin of the problem.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and inflammatory disease
      characterized by a marked imbalance of T helper (Th)2 vs. Th1/Th17 cells in the
      early phase of AD, whereas a mixed Th1/Th2 pattern of inflammation is usually
      found at the chronic stage. These features have not been extensively evaluated in
      undifferentiated skin cells of patients affected by AD. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate
      the relative expression of 22 genes encoding Th1, Th2 and Th17 cytokines and the
      secretion of the corresponding proteins in cutaneous mesenchymal stem cells
      (MSCs) isolated from skin of patients with AD (AD-MSCs) and their role in AD
      onset. METHODS: AD-MSCs were isolated, characterized and profiled by polymerase
      chain reaction array and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the relative
      expression and secretion of cytokines involved in the Th1, Th2 and Th17 pathways.
      MSCs isolated from the skin of healthy people were used as controls (C-MSCs).
      RESULTS: AD-MSCs showed an upregulation of many Th1/Th17 cytokines [interleukin
      (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-17F, transforming growth factor-beta,
      interferon-gamma], while Th2 chemokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-23A) were
      downregulated in AD-MSCs. Finally, some genes/proteins (CCL1, IL-17C, tumour
      necrosis factor-alpha) did not show variations between C-MSCs and AD-MSCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: The profile of MSCs obtained from patients with chronic AD retraces
      the Th1/Th17 cell environment observed in differentiated cells of chronic AD.
      This evidence could open a new scenario in the pathogenesis of AD, according to
      which the inflammatory process may involve MSCs early on.

PMID- 27639071
TI  - Noninvasive tools and risk of clinically significant portal hypertension and
      varices in compensated cirrhosis: The "Anticipate" study.
AB  - : In patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD), the
      presence of clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) and varices needing
      treatment (VNT) bears prognostic and therapeutic implications. Our aim was to
      develop noninvasive tests-based risk prediction models to provide a point-of-care
      risk assessment of cACLD patients. We analyzed 518 patients with cACLD from five
      centers in Europe/Canada with paired noninvasive tests (liver stiffness
      measurement [LSM] by transient elastography, platelet count, and spleen diameter
      with calculation of liver stiffness to spleen/platelet score [LSPS] score and
      platelet-spleen ratio [PSR]) and endoscopy/hepatic venous pressure gradient
      measurement. Risk of CSPH, varices, and VNT was modeled with logistic regression.
      All noninvasive tests reliably identified patients with high risk of CSPH, and
      LSPS had the highest discrimination. LSPS values above 2.65 were associated with
      risks of CSPH above 80%. None of the tests identified patients with very low risk
      of all-size varices, but both LSPS and a model combining TE and platelet count
      identified patients with very low risk (<5%) risk of VNT, suggesting that they
      could be used to triage patients requiring screening endoscopy. LSPS values of
      <1.33 were associated with a <5% risk of VNT, and 26% of patients had values
      below this threshold. LSM combined with platelet count predicted a risk <5% of
      VNT in 30% of the patients. Nomograms were developed to facilitate point-of-care
      risk assessment. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of patients with a very
      high risk of CSPH, and a population with a very low risk of VNT can be identified
      with simple, noninvasive tests, suggesting that these can be used to
      individualize medical care. (Hepatology 2016;64:2173-2184).

PMID- 27639073
TI  - A novel, sensitive and selective method of UPLC/MS-MS for rapid simultaneous
      determination of midodrine and its active metabolite desglymidodrine in human
      plasma: Application to support bioequivalence study in healthy human volunteers.
AB  - A specific, rapid, sensitive and selective ultra-performance liquid
      chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the simultaneous
      determination of midodrine and desglymidodrine in human plasma. The analytes and
      its deuterated analogs were quantitatively extracted from 100MUL of human plasma
      by solid phase extraction technique. Separation of analytes was achieved on the
      Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 (50*2.1mm, 1.7MUm) column using acetonitrile-4.0mM
      ammonium formate, pH 2.5(90:10, v/v) as mobile phase. The protonated analytes
      were quantified by selected reaction monitoring in the positive ionization mode
      by triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The calibration plots were linear over
      the concentration range of 0.050-50.0ng/mL. The intra-batch and inter-batch
      precision (%CV) across quality control levels was <4.0 and the% mean relative
      recovery was >=96%. Various other parameters like stability in different
      conditions; matrix effect and reproducibility of the method were performed in
      accordance with the guidelines specified by the USFDA for bioanalytical method
      development and validation. The developed method was successfully administered to
      the pharmacokinetics study of 5 mg midodrine tablet in 12 healthy subjects.
      Reproducibility of assay was proved by reanalysis of 48 incurred samples.

PMID- 27639072
TI  - Biosimilars for psoriasis: clinical studies to determine similarity.
AB  - Biosimilars are drugs that are similar, but not identical, to originator
      biologics. Preclinical analytical studies are required to show similarity on a
      molecular and structural level, but efficacy and safety studies in humans are
      essential to determining biosimilarity. In this review, written by members of the
      International Psoriasis Council, we discuss how biosimilars are evaluated in a
      clinical setting, with emphasis on extrapolation of indication,
      interchangeability and optimal clinical trial design.

PMID- 27639074
TI  - Patients with hidradenitis suppurativa have no increased risk of Alzheimer
      disease.

PMID- 27639075
TI  - Size effect of SnO2 nanoparticles on bacteria toxicity and their membrane damage.
AB  - Semiconductor SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) are being exploited for various
      applications, including those in the environmental context. However, toxicity
      studies of SnO2 NPs are very limited. This study evaluated the toxic effect of
      two sizes of spherical SnO2 NPs (2 and 40 nm) and one size of flower-like SnO2
      NPs (800 nm) towards the environmental bacteria E. coli and B. subtilis. SnO2 NPs
      were synthesized using a hydrothermal or calcination method and they were well
      characterized prior to toxicity assessment. To evaluate toxicity, cell viability
      and membrane damage were determined in cells (1 * 109 CFU mL-1) exposed to up to
      1000 mg L-1 of NPs, using the plate counting method and confocal laser scanning
      microscopy. Spherical NPs of smaller primary size (E2) had the lowest
      hydrodynamic size (226 +/- 96 nm) and highest negative charge (-30.3 +/- 10.1
      mV). Smaller spherical NPs also showed greatest effect on viability (IC50 > 500
      mg L-1) and membrane damage of B. subtilis, whereas E. coli was unaffected.
      Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the membrane damage of exposed B. subtilis
      and also exhibited the attachment of E2 NPs to the cell surface, as well as the
      elongation of cells. It was also apparent that toxicity was caused solely by NPs,
      as released Sn4+ was not toxic to B. subtilis. Thus, surface charge interaction
      between negatively charged SnO2 NPs and positively charged molecules on the
      membrane of the Gram positive B. subtilis was indicated as the key mechanism
      related to toxicity of NPs.

PMID- 27639076
TI  - Effects of binary mixtures of benzo[a]pyrene, arsenic, cadmium, and lead on
      oxidative stress and toxicity in HepG2 cells.
AB  - Mixed contamination of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and
      lead (Pb) is a major environmental and human health concern. The mixture toxicity
      data on these co-contaminants are important for their risk assessment. In this
      study, we have determined the mixture toxicity of As, Cd and Pb, and B[a]P with
      As, Cd or Pb in HepG2 cells. The binary mixtures of Cd + As, Cd + Pb and As + Pb
      and B[a]P + metals (B[a]P + As, B[a]P + Cd and B[a]P + Pb) were evaluated for
      their interaction on the cytotoxicity using the MTS assay. A full factorial
      design (4 * 5) was used to determine the interaction toxicity and all the six
      mixtures showed significant interaction on the cytotoxicity. We further
      investigated the role of oxidative stress (reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      generation) and antioxidant defense mechanism (total glutathione (GSH) level)
      with the observed cytotoxicity. The mixtures of metals reduced the total GSH
      level and increased the ROS generation, respectively. In the case of mixtures of
      B[a]P and metals, both total GSH level and ROS generation were increased.
      Overall, the binary mixtures of metals and B[a]P with metals caused a dose
      dependent toxicity to HepG2 cells. The results also showed a significant
      contribution of oxidative stress to the observed toxicity and the potential
      protective role of the total GSH level against this mixture toxicity. The
      findings of interaction between B[a]P and metals might have an impact on the
      potential human health risk of this mixtures at contaminated sites.

PMID- 27639077
TI  - Effects of clay minerals on diethyl phthalate degradation in Fenton reactions.
AB  - Phthalate esters are a group of plasticizers, which are commonly detected in
      China's soils and surface water. Fenton reactions are naturally occurring and
      widely applied in the degradation of contaminants. However, limited research was
      considered the effects of clay minerals on contaminants degradation with OH
      oxidation. In this study, batch experiments were conducted to investigate the
      degradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) in Fenton reactions in the presence of
      clay minerals, and the effects of clay type, Fe content in clay structure. The
      results showed the clay adsorption inhibited total degradation of DEP, and Fe
      content in clay structure played an important role in DEP degradation, including
      in solution and adsorbed in clay minerals. Clay minerals with less Fe content
      (<3%) quenched OH radical, while nontronite with Fe content 19.2% improved OH
      radical generation and accelerated DEP degradation in solution. The degradation
      of clay-adsorbed DEP was much slower than DEP in solution. Six main products of
      DEP degradation were identified, including monoethyl phthalate, phthalate acid,
      hydroxyl diethyl phthalate, etc. This study implied that phthalate ester's
      degradation would be much slower in natural water than expected in the presence
      of clay minerals.

PMID- 27639078
TI  - Biosorbents based on agricultural wastes for ionic liquid removal: An approach to
      agricultural wastes management.
AB  - Modified biochars produced from different agricultural wastes were used as low
      cost biosorbents to remove hydrophilic ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium
      chloride ([BMIM][Cl]). Herein, the biosorbents based on peanut shell, corn stalk
      and wheat straw (denoted as PB-K-N, CB-K-N and WB-K-N) all exhibited higher
      [BMIM][Cl] removal than many other carbonaceous adsorbents and the adsorption
      capacities were as the following: PB-K-N > CB-K-N > WB-K-N. The characterizations
      of biosorbents indicated that they had great deal of similarity in morphological,
      textural and surface chemical properties such as possessing simultaneously
      accessible microporous structure and abundant oxygen-containing functional
      groups. Additionally, adsorption of [BMIM][Cl] onto PB-K-N, CB-K-N and WB-K-N
      prepared from the modified process, which was better described by pseudo-second
      order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models. Therefore, the viable approach
      could also be applied in other biomass materials treatment for the efficient
      removal of ILs from aqueous solutions, as well as recycling agricultural wastes
      to ease their disposal pressure.

PMID- 27639080
TI  - Quantitative Assessment of Food Effect on the Pharmacokinetics of Nano
      Crystallized Megestrol Acetate.
AB  - Megestrol acetate, an appetite stimulant with low bioavailability, shows
      increased bioavailability when taken together with food. However, the
      pharmacokinetic characteristics of megestrol acetate and its relation with food
      are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the food effect on the
      pharmacokinetics (PK) of the recently developed nano-crystallized megestrol
      acetate (NCMA), using a model-based approach. Data were obtained from an NCMA PK
      study consisting of a single dose in fasting (39 individuals) and fed conditions
      (40 individuals). Plasma concentrations were measured up to 120 hr after dosing.
      With the incorporation of body-weight via allometry, NONMEM 7.3 was used to
      develop a PK model, which was then used to simulate an optimal fasting dose
      yielding an area under concentration (AUC) and maximum concentration (Cmax ) of
      NCMA close to those obtained with the fed dose. NCMA concentrations were best
      characterized by a two-compartment model with first-order absorption linked to a
      recycling compartment to account for the multiple concentration peaks observed.
      Food increased bioavailability 2.2 times and decreased the absorption rate
      constant 0.58 times. Recycling event times were estimated to be 3.56, 7.99 and
      24.0 hr. The optimal fast dose was 2.0 times higher than the fed dose, and the
      resulting difference in drug exposure between the fasting and fed dose was 7.5%.
      This work suggests that the PK model developed can be applied to an optimal
      dosage regimen design for NCMA treatment.

PMID- 27639081
TI  - The questions not the answers: Outcomes after pediatric liver transplantation.

PMID- 27639079
TI  - Forkhead box A2 regulates biliary heterogeneity and senescence during cholestatic
      liver injury in mice?.
AB  - : Biliary-committed progenitor cells (small mouse cholangiocytes; SMCCs) from
      small bile ducts are more resistant to hepatobiliary injury than large mouse
      cholangiocytes (LGCCs) from large bile ducts. The definitive endoderm marker,
      forkhead box A2 (FoxA2), is the key transcriptional factor that regulates cell
      differentiation and tissue regeneration. Our aim was to characterize the
      translational role of FoxA2 during cholestatic liver injury. Messenger RNA
      expression in SMCCs and LGCCs was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      array analysis. Liver tissues and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) from primary
      sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) patients were
      tested by real-time PCR for methylation, senescence, and fibrosis markers. Bile
      duct ligation (BDL) and multidrug resistance protein 2 (MDR2) knockout mice (MDR2
      /- ) were used as animal models of cholestatic liver injury with or without
      healthy transplanted large or small cholangiocytes. We demonstrated that FoxA2
      was notably enhanced in murine liver progenitor cells and SMCCs and was silenced
      in human PSC and PBC liver tissues relative to respective controls that are
      correlated with the epigenetic methylation enzymes, DNA methyltransferase (DNMT)
      1 and DNMT3B. Serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase
      levels in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency mice engrafted with
      SMCCs post-BDL showed significant changes compared to vehicle-treated mice, along
      with improved liver fibrosis. Enhanced expression of FoxA2 was observed in BDL
      mouse liver after SMCC cell therapy. Furthermore, activation of fibrosis
      signaling pathways were observed in BDL/MDR2-/- mouse liver as well as in
      isolated HSCs by laser capture microdissection, and these signals were recovered
      along with reduced hepatic senescence and enhanced hepatic stellate cellular
      senescence after SMCC engraft. CONCLUSION: The definitive endoderm marker and the
      positive regulator of biliary development, FoxA2, mediates the therapeutic effect
      of biliary-committed progenitor cells during cholestatic liver injury.
      (Hepatology 2017;65:544-559).

PMID- 27639082
TI  - Exenatide improves both hepatic and adipose tissue insulin resistance: A dynamic
      positron emission tomography study.
AB  - : Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (GLP-1-RAs) act on multiple
      tissues, in addition to the pancreas. Recent studies suggest that GLP-1-RAs act
      on liver and adipose tissue to reduce insulin resistance (IR). Thus, we evaluated
      the acute effects of exenatide (EX) on hepatic (Hep-IR) and adipose (Adipo-IR)
      insulin resistance and glucose uptake. Fifteen male subjects (age = 56 +/- 8
      years; body mass index = 29 +/- 1 kg/m2 ; A1c = 5.7 +/- 0.1%) were studied on two
      occasions, with a double-blind subcutaneous injection of EX (5 MUg) or placebo
      (PLC) 30 minutes before a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). During OGTT,
      we measured hepatic (HGU) and adipose tissue (ATGU) glucose uptake with [18 F]2
      fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose/positron emission tomography, lipolysis (RaGly) with [U
      2 H5 ]-glycerol, oral glucose absorption (RaO) with [U-13 C6 ]-glucose, and
      hepatic glucose production (EGP) with [6,6-2 H2 ]-glucose. Adipo-IR and Hep-IR
      were calculated as (FFA0-120min ) * (Ins0-120min ) and (EGP0-120min ) * (Ins0
      120min ), respectively. EX reduced RaO, resulting in reduced plasma glucose and
      insulin concentration from 0 to 120 minutes postglucose ingestion. EX decreased
      Hep-IR (197 +/- 28 to 130 +/- 37; P = 0.02) and increased HGU of orally
      administered glucose (23 +/- 4 to 232 +/- 89 [MUmol/min/L]/[MUmol/min/kg]; P =
      0.003) despite lower insulin (23 +/- 5 vs. 41 +/- 5 mU/L; P < 0.02). EX enhanced
      insulin suppression of RaGly by decreasing Adipo-IR (23 +/- 4 to 13 +/- 3; P =
      0.009). No significant effect of insulin was observed on ATGU (EX = 1.16 +/- 0.15
      vs. PLC = 1.36 +/- 0.13 [MUmol/min/L]/[MUmol/min/kg]). CONCLUSION: Acute EX
      administration (1) improves Hep-IR, decreases EGP, and enhances HGU and (2)
      reduces Adipo-IR, improves the antilipolytic effect of insulin, and reduces
      plasma free fatty acid levels during OGTT. (Hepatology 2016;64:2028-2037).

PMID- 27639084
TI  - Rigidosticha italiensis n. gen., n. sp. (Ciliophora, Spirotricha), a novel large
      hypotrich ciliate from the soil of Lombardia, Italy.
AB  - The morphology of Rigidosticha italiensis n. gen., n. sp., which was found in a
      soil sample collected from an uncultivated field in Lombardia, Italy, was
      investigated using live observation and protargol staining. Rigidosticha n. gen.
      is characterised by a rigid body, undulating membranes resembling a Steinia
      pattern, oxytrichid frontal ciliature, distinct mid-ventral cirral pairs,
      transverse cirri, one right and one left row of marginal cirri, absence of dorsal
      kinety 3 fragmentation, more than two dorsomarginal rows, and caudal cirri. The
      new species shows the following features: size in vivo 230-330*100-170MUm, on
      average 230*115MUm in protargol preparations; two ellipsoidal macronuclear
      nodules; 51 adoral membranelles; one buccal cirrus; one parabuccal cirrus; two
      frontoterminal cirri; 16 mid-ventral cirral pairs; and three transverse cirri.
      Rigidosticha mainly differs from Rigidothrix, Afrophrya, Uroleptus, and
      Territricha, in having the undulating membranes in Rigidosticha (vs. oxytrichid
      and cyrtohymenid) pattern. The oxytrichid frontal ciliature and midventral
      pattern in the present species further support the CEUU (Convergent Evolution of
      Urostylids and Uroleptids) hypothesis.

PMID- 27639083
TI  - Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of the Calcimimetic
      Etelcalcetide in Chronic Kidney Disease and Secondary Hyperparathyroidism
      Receiving Hemodialysis.
AB  - Etelcalcetide is a novel calcimimetic in development for the treatment of
      secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). A population
      pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model was developed relating
      etelcalcetide exposures to markers of efficacy (parathyroid hormone [PTH]) and
      safety (calcium) using data from three clinical studies. The semimechanistic
      model was developed that included allosteric activation pharmacology and
      understanding of calcium homeostasis. The temporal profiles for all biomarkers
      were well described by the model. The cooperativity constant was 4.94, confirming
      allosteric activation mechanism. Subjects with more severe disease (higher PTH
      baseline) were predicted to experience less pronounced reduction in PTH
      (percentage change from baseline), but more reduction in calcium (Ca; percentage
      change from baseline). There was no evidence that dose adjustment by any
      covariate was needed. Model-based simulations provided quantitative support to
      several elements of dosing, such as starting dose, monitoring, and titration
      timing for registration trials.

PMID- 27639086
TI  - Volume-rendering on a 3D hyperwall: A molecular visualization platform for
      research, education and outreach.
AB  - We present a unique platform for molecular visualization and design that uses
      novel subatomic feature detection software in tandem with 3D hyperwall
      visualization technology. We demonstrate the fleshing-out of pharmacophores in
      drug molecules, as well as reactive sites in catalysts, focusing on subatomic
      features. Topological analysis with picometer resolution, in conjunction with
      interactive volume-rendering of the Laplacian of the electronic charge density,
      leads to new insight into docking and catalysis. Visual data-mining is done
      efficiently and in parallel using a 4*4 3D hyperwall (a tiled array of 3D
      monitors driven independently by slave GPUs but displaying high-resolution,
      synchronized and functionally-related images). The visual texture of images for a
      wide variety of molecular systems are intuitive to experienced chemists but also
      appealing to neophytes, making the platform simultaneously useful as a tool for
      advanced research as well as for pedagogical and STEM education outreach
      purposes.

PMID- 27639085
TI  - Genotype-phenotype correlation of F484L mutation in three Italian families with
      Thomsen myotonia.

PMID- 27639087
TI  - Integration of ligand and structure based approaches for identification of novel
      MbtI inhibitors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and molecular dynamics simulation
      studies.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an obligate pathogen of mammals and is responsible
      for more than two million deaths annually. The ability to acquire iron from the
      extracellular environment is a key determinant of pathogenicity in mycobacteria.
      M. tuberculosis acquires iron exclusively through the siderophores. Several lines
      of evidence suggest that siderophores have a critical role in bacterial growth
      and virulence. Hence, in the present study, we have used a combined ligand and
      structure-based drug design approach for identification of novel inhibitors
      against salicylate synthase MbtI, a unique and essential enzyme for the
      biosynthesis of siderophores in M. tuberculosis. We have generated the ligand
      based and structure based pharmacophores and validated exhaustively. From the
      validation results it was found that GH (Goodness of Hit) scores for the selected
      ligand based and structure based pharmacophore models were 0.89 and 0.97,
      respectively, which indicate that the quality of the pharmacophore models are
      acceptable as GH value is >0.7. The validated pharmacophores were used for
      screening the ZINC database. A total of 73 hits, obtained through various
      insilico screening techniques, were further enriched to 17 hits using docking
      studies. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to compare the binding
      mode and stability of complexes of MbtI bound with substrate, known inhibitors,
      and three top ranked hits. The results obtained in this study gave assurance
      about the identified hits as prospective inhibitors of MbtI.

PMID- 27639088
TI  - Improved noninvasive prediction of liver fibrosis by liver stiffness measurement
      in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease accounting for controlled
      attenuation parameter values.
AB  - : Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) frequently overestimates the severity of
      liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Controlled
      attenuation parameter (CAP) is a new parameter provided by the same machine used
      for LSM and associated with both steatosis and body mass index, the two factors
      mostly affecting LSM performance in NAFLD. We aimed to determine whether
      prediction of liver fibrosis by LSM in NAFLD patients is affected by CAP values.
      Patients (n = 324) were assessed by clinical and histological (Kleiner score)
      features. LSM and CAP were performed using the M probe. CAP values were grouped
      by tertiles (lower 132-298, middle 299-338, higher 339-400 dB/m). Among patients
      with F0-F2 fibrosis, mean LSM values, expressed in kilopascals, increased
      according to CAP tertiles (6.8 versus 8.6 versus 9.4, P = 0.001), and along this
      line the area under the curve of LSM for the diagnosis of F3-F4 fibrosis was
      progressively reduced from lower to middle and further to higher CAP tertiles
      (0.915, 0.848-0.982; 0.830, 0.753-0.908; 0.806, 0.723-0.890). As a consequence,
      in subjects with F0-F2 fibrosis, the rates of false-positive LSM results for F3
      F4 fibrosis increased according to CAP tertiles (7.2% in lower versus 16.6% in
      middle versus 18.1% in higher). Consistent with this, a decisional flowchart for
      predicting fibrosis was suggested by combining both LSM and CAP values.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with NAFLD, CAP values should always be taken into
      account in order to avoid overestimations of liver fibrosis assessed by transient
      elastography. (Hepatology 2017;65:1145-1155).

PMID- 27639089
TI  - Adenovirus sensing by the immune system.
AB  - The host immune system developed multiple ways for recognition of viral
      pathogens. Upon disseminated adenovirus infection, the immune system senses
      adenovirus invasion from the moment it enters the bloodstream. The soluble blood
      factors, FX, antibodies, and complement, can bind and activate plethora of host
      protective immune responses. Adenovirus binding to the cellular beta3 integrin
      and endosomal membrane rupture trigger activation of IL-1alpha/IL-1R1
      proinflammatory cascade leading to attraction of cytotoxic immune cells to the
      site of infection. Upon cell entry, adenovirus exposes its DNA genome in the
      cytoplasm and triggers DNA sensors signaling. Even when inside the nucleus, the
      specialized cellular machinery that recognizes the double-strand DNA breaks
      become activated and triggers viral DNA replication arrest. Thus, the host
      employs very diverse mechanisms to prevent viral dissemination.

PMID- 27639090
TI  - Molecular tools for acute spatiotemporal manipulation of signal transduction.
AB  - The biochemical activities involved in signal transduction in cells are under
      tight spatiotemporal regulation. To study the effects of the spatial patterning
      and temporal dynamics of biochemical activities on downstream signaling,
      researchers require methods to manipulate signaling pathways acutely and rapidly.
      In this review, we summarize recent developments in the design of three broad
      classes of molecular tools for perturbing signal transduction, classified by
      their type of input signal: chemically induced, optically induced, and
      magnetically induced.

PMID- 27639092
TI  - Canadian Stroke Congress Abstracts 2016; Quebec City, 15-17 September 2016.

PMID- 27639091
TI  - Optimization of Clonazepam Therapy Adjusted to Patient's CYP3A Status and NAT2
      Genotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The shortcomings of clonazepam therapy include tolerance, withdrawal
      symptoms, and adverse effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, and confusion
      leading to increased risk of falls. Inter-individual variability in the incidence
      of adverse events in patients partly originates from the differences in
      clonazepam metabolism due to genetic and nongenetic factors. METHODS: Since the
      prominent role in clonazepam nitro-reduction and acetylation of 7-amino
      clonazepam is assigned to CYP3A and N-acetyl transferase 2 enzymes, respectively,
      the association between the patients' CYP3A status (CYP3A5 genotype, CYP3A4
      expression) or N-acetyl transferase 2 acetylator phenotype and clonazepam
      metabolism (plasma concentrations of clonazepam and 7-amino-clonazepam) was
      evaluated in 98 psychiatric patients suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar
      disorders. RESULTS: The patients' CYP3A4 expression was found to be the major
      determinant of clonazepam plasma concentrations normalized by the dose and
      bodyweight (1263.5+/-482.9 and 558.5+/-202.4ng/mL per mg/kg bodyweight in low and
      normal expressers, respectively, P<.0001). Consequently, the dose requirement for
      the therapeutic concentration of clonazepam was substantially lower in low-CYP3A4
      expresser patients than in normal expressers (0.029+/-0.011 vs 0.058+/-0.024mg/kg
      bodyweight, P<.0001). Furthermore, significantly higher (about 2-fold) plasma
      concentration ratio of 7-amino-clonazepam and clonazepam was observed in the
      patients displaying normal CYP3A4 expression and slower N-acetylation than all
      the others. CONCLUSION: Prospective assaying of CYP3A4 expression and N-acetyl
      transferase 2 acetylator phenotype can better identify the patients with higher
      risk of adverse reactions and can facilitate the improvement of personalized
      clonazepam therapy and withdrawal regimen.

PMID- 27639093
TI  - Plant programmed cell death from a chromatin point of view.
AB  - Programmed cell death (PCD) is a ubiquitous genetically regulated process
      consisting of the activation of finely controlled signalling pathways that lead
      to cellular suicide. PCD can be part of a developmental programme (dPCD) or be
      triggered by environmental conditions (ePCD). In plant cells, as in animal cells,
      extensive chromatin condensation and degradation of the nuclear DNA are among the
      most conspicuous features of cells undergoing PCD. Changes in chromatin
      condensation could either reflect the structural changes required for
      internucleosomal fragmentation of nuclear DNA or relate to large-scale chromatin
      rearrangements associated with a major transcriptional switch occurring during
      cell death. The aim of this review is to give an update on plant PCD processes
      from a chromatin point of view. The first part will be dedicated to chromatin
      conformational changes associated with cell death observed in various
      developmental and physiological conditions, whereas the second part will be
      devoted to histone dynamics and DNA modifications associated with critical
      changes in genome expression during the cell death process.

PMID- 27639094
TI  - Physiological, genomic and transcriptional diversity in responses to boron
      deficiency in rapeseed genotypes.
AB  - Allotetraploid rapeseed (Brassica napus L. AnAnCnCn, 2n=4x=38) is highly
      susceptible to boron (B) deficiency, a widespread limiting factor that causes
      severe losses in seed yield. The genetic variation in the sensitivity to B
      deficiency found in rapeseed genotypes emphasizes the complex response
      architecture. In this research, a B-inefficient genotype, 'Westar 10' ('W10'),
      responded to B deficiencies during vegetative and reproductive development with
      an over-accumulation of reactive oxygen species, severe lipid peroxidation,
      evident plasmolysis, abnormal floral organogenesis, and widespread sterility
      compared to a B-efficient genotype, 'Qingyou 10' ('QY10'). Whole-genome re
      sequencing (WGS) of 'QY10' and 'W10' revealed a total of 1 605 747 single
      nucleotide polymorphisms and 218 755 insertions/deletions unevenly distributed
      across the allotetraploid rapeseed genome (~1130Mb). Digital gene expression
      (DGE) profiling identified more genes related to B transporters, antioxidant
      enzymes, and the maintenance of cell walls and membranes with higher transcript
      levels in the roots of 'QY10' than in 'W10' under B deficiency. Furthermore,
      based on WGS and bulked segregant analysis of the doubled haploid (DH) line pools
      derived from 'QY10' and 'W10', two significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for
      B efficiency were characterized on chromosome C2, and DGE-assisted QTL-seq
      analyses then identified a nodulin 26-like intrinsic protein gene and an ATP
      binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene as the corresponding candidates
      regulating B efficiency. This research facilitates a more comprehensive
      understanding of the differential physiological and transcriptional responses to
      B deficiency and abundant genetic diversity in rapeseed genotypes, and the DGE
      assisted QTL-seq analyses provide novel insights regarding the rapid dissection
      of quantitative trait genes in plant species with complex genomes.

PMID- 27639096
TI  - Sex Differences and Drug Dose Influence the Role of the alpha7 Nicotinic
      Acetylcholine Receptor in the Mouse Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis Model.
AB  - Introduction: alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play an important
      role in vagus nerve-based cholinergic anti-inflammatory effects. This study was
      designed to assess the role of alpha7 nAChRs in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)
      induced colitis in male and female mouse. We first compared disease activity and
      pathogenesis of colitis in alpha7 knockout and wild-type mice. We then evaluated
      the effect of several alpha7 direct and indirect agonists on the severity of
      disease in the DSS-induced colitis. Methods: Male and female adult mice were
      administered 2.5% DSS solution freely in the drinking water for 7 consecutive
      days and the colitis severity (disease activity index) was evaluated as well as
      colon length, colon histology, and levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha colonic
      levels. Results: Male, but not female, alpha7 knockout mice displayed a
      significantly increased colitis severity and higher tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      levels as compared with their littermate wild-type mice. Moreover, pretreatment
      with selective alpha7 ligands PHA-543613, choline, and PNU-120596 decreased
      colitis severity in male but not female mice. The anti-colitis effects of these
      alpha7 compounds dissipated when administered at higher doses. Conclusions: Our
      results suggest the presence of a alpha7-dependent anti-colitis endogenous tone
      in male mice. Finally, our results show for the first time that female mice are
      less sensitive to the anti-colitis activity of alpha7 agonists. Ovarian hormones
      may play a key role in the sex difference effect of alpha7 nAChRs modulation of
      colitis in the mouse. Implications: Our collective results suggest that targeting
      alpha7 nAChRs could represent a viable therapeutic approach for intestinal
      inflammation diseases such as ulcerative colitis with the consideration of sex
      differences.

PMID- 27639095
TI  - Cost-Effectiveness of a Health System-Based Smoking Cessation Program.
AB  - Introduction: Project CLIQ (Community Link to Quit) was a proactive population
      outreach strategy using an electronic health records-based smoker registry and
      interactive voice recognition technology to connect low- to moderate-income
      smokers with cessation counseling, medications, and social services. A randomized
      trial demonstrated that the program increased cessation. We evaluated the cost
      effectiveness of CLIQ from a provider organization's perspective if implemented
      outside the trial framework. Methods: We calculated the cost, cost per smoker,
      incremental cost per additional quit, and, secondarily, incremental cost per
      additional life year saved of the CLIQ system compared to usual care using data
      from a 2011-2013 randomized trial assessing the effectiveness of the CLIQ system.
      Sensitivity analyses considered economies of scale and initial versus ongoing
      costs. Results: Over a 20-month period (the duration of the trial) the program
      cost US $283 027 (95% confidence interval [CI] $209 824-$389 072) more than usual
      care in a population of 8544 registry-identified smokers, 707 of whom
      participated in the program. The cost per smoker was $33 (95% CI 28-40),
      incremental cost per additional quit was $4137 (95% CI $2671-$8460), and
      incremental cost per additional life year saved was $7301 (95% CI $4545-$15 400).
      One-time costs constituted 28% of costs over 20 months. Ongoing costs were
      dominated by personnel costs (71% of ongoing costs). Sensitivity analyses showed
      sharp gains in cost-effectiveness as the number of identified smokers increased
      because of the large initial costs. Conclusions: The CLIQ system has favorable
      cost-effectiveness compared to other smoking cessation interventions. Cost
      effectiveness will be greatest for health systems with high numbers of smokers
      and with the high smoker participation rates. Implications: Health information
      systems capable of establishing registries of patients who are smokers are
      becoming more prevalent. This economic analysis illustrates the cost implications
      for health care systems adopting a proactive tobacco treatment outreach strategy
      for low- and middle-income smokers. We find that under many circumstances, the
      CLIQ system has a favorable cost-per-quit compared to other population-based
      tobacco treatment strategies. The strategy could be widely disseminable if health
      systems leverage economies of scale.

PMID- 27639097
TI  - Wireless Capsule Enteroscopy in Healthy Volunteers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of our prospective study was to define endoscopy appearance
      of the small bowel in healthy volunteers. METHOD: Forty-two healthy volunteers
      underwent wireless capsule endoscopy, clinical investigation, laboratory tests,
      and completed a health-status questionnaire. All subjects were available for a 36
      month clinical follow-up. RESULTS: Eleven subjects (26%) had fully normal
      endoscopy findings. Remaining 31 persons (74%), being asymptomatic, with normal
      laboratory results, had some minor findings at wireless capsule endoscopy. Most
      of those heterogeneous findings were detected in the small intestine (27/31;
      87%), like erosions and/or multiple red spots, diminutive polyps and tiny
      vascular lesions. During a 36-month clinical follow-up, all these 42 healthy
      volunteers remained asymptomatic, with fully normal laboratory control.
      CONCLUSIONS: Significant part of healthy subjects had abnormal findings at
      wireless capsule endoscopy. These findings had no clinical relevance, as all
      these persons remained fully asymptomatic during a 36-month follow-up. Such an
      endoscopic appearance would be previously evaluated as "pathological". This is a
      principal report alerting that all findings of any control group of wireless
      capsule endoscopic studies must be evaluated with caution.

PMID- 27639098
TI  - Developmental genetics in emerging rodent models: case studies and perspectives.
AB  - For decades, mammalian developmental genetic studies have focused almost entirely
      on two laboratory models: Mus and Rattus, species that breed readily in the
      laboratory and for which a wealth of molecular and genetic resources exist. These
      species alone, however, do not capture the remarkable diversity of morphological,
      behavioural and physiological traits seen across rodents, a group that represents
      >40% of all mammal species. Due to new advances in molecular tools and genomic
      technologies, studying the developmental events underlying natural variation in a
      wide range of species for a wide range of traits has become increasingly
      feasible. Here we review several recent studies and discuss how they not only
      provided technical resources for newly emerging rodent models in developmental
      genetics but also are instrumental in further encouraging scientists, from a wide
      range of research fields, to capitalize on the great diversity in development
      that has evolved among rodents.

PMID- 27639099
TI  - Degree of obesity influences the relationship of PAI-1 with body fat distribution
      and metabolic variables in African women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although the relationship of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI
      1) with obesity has been well established, the relationship of PAI-1 with
      different body fat distribution patterns is less clear particularly in non-white
      ethnicities. METHODS: We investigated the cross-sectional association of PAI-1act
      with body fat % and two different body fat distribution patterns, namely
      sarcopenic obesity (SO) and visceral (VAT) compared to subcutaneous (SCAT)
      abdominal obesity, in 246 healthy African women by creating sub-groups according
      to different body fat distribution patterns. RESULTS: The PAI-1act level of the
      SO group did not differ significantly from that of the excessive % body fat, non
      sarcopenic group (p=0.8). The relationship of PAI-1act, with body fat %, insulin,
      triglycerides and appendicular skeletal mass (ASM) was influenced by body fat
      distribution patterns and degree of obesity. PAI-1act was higher (1.65 vs
      0.16U/ml; p=0.001) in women with a proportionally higher abdominal VAT compared
      to higher abdominal SCAT compartment in the total study population, but not in
      the centrally obese sub-group (1.72 vs 0.83U/ml; p=0.5). Multiple regression
      models indicated that body fat % per se did not contribute significantly to PAI
      1act variance in women with increased fat mass. CONCLUSION: Fat distribution
      patterns and degree of obesity influenced the association of PAI-1act with
      insulin, triglycerides, ASM and body fat % in African women. In centrally obese
      women, abdominal VAT no longer contributed more to plasma PAI-1act, than
      abdominal SCAT. Inflammation and endothelial dysfunction contributed more to PAI
      1act variance in obese African women than did body fat % per se.

PMID- 27639100
TI  - Urinary free cortisol and androgens in the population-Hormone interactions and
      the relationship with body composition and bone status.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Abnormal secretion of thyroid hormones, growth hormone, cortisol and
      androgens influences body composition. We hypothesised that higher cortisol
      excretion, in combination with higher androgen and IGF-I concentrations, had a
      synergistic, favourable effect on body mass and bone. DESIGN, PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study on a population sample of 290 women and
      93men. The mean age was 65.4+/-7.2yearsinwomen and 59.7+/-10.0yearsinmen. Body
      composition was assessed with bioimpedance, and skeletal health with calcaneal
      quantitative ultrasound and fracture rate. The influence of urinary free cortisol
      (UFC), serum DHEAs (women), testosterone (men), free T4andIGF-I on the outcome
      was studied with regression analyses adjusted for age and body mass index.
      RESULTS: In women, higher concentrations of UFC, DHEAs, IGF-I and lower free T4,
      were associated with higher fat-free mass. Only a higher UFC concentration was
      associated with favourable calcaneal measurements. In men, higher testosterone
      was associated with higher fat-free mass and lower fat mass. Higher IGF-I
      concentration, but not UFC, was independently associated with higher fat-free
      mass in men. Interaction analyses did not reveal any additive effects of hormones
      on body composition or bone in either sex. In both men and women, only age was
      associated with osteoporotic fractures. CONCLUSION: Serum concentrations of
      androgens together with IGF-I were positively associated with body composition in
      both sexes. Urinary cortisol was positively associated with fat-free mass and
      bone status in women only. Increasing age, but not hormones, was the major
      determinant of osteoporotic fractures in this population sample.

PMID- 27639101
TI  - Solvent-free synthesis of novel steroidal 2-aminopyridines.
AB  - The synthesis of novel steroidal 3-cyano-2-aminopyridines using enaminonitrile
      and various primary amines was established under solvent-free condition.
      Structures of the new compounds were characterized by MS, 1H and 13C NMR data and
      the structure of 2-aminopyridine of the product 5b was further confirmed by X-ray
      analysis. The reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of the key
      intermediate obtained. The adjacent amine and nitrile groups existed in the final
      products have the potential for late stage functionalization, which would provide
      efficient access to steroidal compound collections with structural diversity and
      complexity.

PMID- 27639102
TI  - Chemical and ruminal in vitro evaluation of Canadian canola meals produced over 4
      years.
AB  - To test the effects of year and processing plant on the nutritional value of
      canola meal (CM), 3 CM samples/yr were collected from each of 12 Canadian
      production plants over 4yr (total=144). Samples of CM were analyzed for
      differences in chemical composition and for in vitro ruminal protein
      degradability using the Michaelis-Menten inhibitor in vitro (MMIIV) method. In
      the MMIIV method, protein degradation rate (kd) was estimated by 2 methods: from
      net release (i.e., blank corrected) of (1) ammonia plus AA determined by o
      phthaldialdehyde fluorescence (OPAF) assay or (2) ammonia, AA, plus oligopeptides
      determined by o-phthaldialdehyde absorbance (OPAA) assay; rumen-undegradable
      protein (RUP) was computed assuming passage rates of 0.16 and 0.06/h for,
      respectively, soluble and insoluble protein. Casein, solvent soybean meal (SSBM),
      and expeller soybean meal (ESBM) were included in all incubations as standard
      proteins. Differences among years and plants were assessed using the mixed
      procedures of SAS. Small but significant differences were found in CM among years
      for chemical composition, including N solubility; some of these differences may
      have been related to changes in our analytical methods over time. However,
      adjustment of degradation activity of individual in vitro incubations based on
      the mean degradation activity over all incubations yielded kd and RUP that did
      not differ by year using either assay. Simultaneously incubating CM samples from
      2yr in the same in vitro runs confirmed that no year effects existed for kd or
      RUP. Differences existed in chemical composition of CM among the 12 processing
      plants over the 4yr of sample collection. Moreover, consistent differences in kd
      and RUP were observed among plants: kd ranged from 0.069 to 0.113/h (OPAA assay)
      and 0.075 to 0.120/h (OPAF assay), and RUP estimates ranged from 51 to 43% (OPAA
      assay) and 49 to 41% (OPAF assay). Regression of kd on insoluble N content of CM
      yielded correlation coefficients (R(2))=0.40 (OPAA assay) and 0.42 (OPAF assay),
      and regressions of kd on NDIN and N-fraction B3 yielded R(2)<0.02. Mean estimates
      from both OPAA and OPAF assays for casein, SSBM, ESBM, and CM were, respectively,
      kd=0.764, 0.161, 0.050, and 0.093/h and RUP=18, 33, 56, and 45%. A range of 8
      percentage units from lowest to highest RUP suggests that substantial differences
      exist in metabolizable protein content of CM produced by different processing
      plants. 

PMID- 27639103
TI  - 2D sandbox experiments of surfactant foams for mobility control and enhanced
      LNAPL recovery in layered soils.
AB  - The ability of surfactant foam to enhance mobility control and LNAPL recovery in
      a heterogeneous porous media was investigated through sandbox experiments with p
      xylene used as LNAPL. A layered heterogeneous porous media was represented in a
      2D sandbox filled with two layers of coarse and medium silica sand. Based on
      previous tests, the surfactant solution used was Ammonyx Lo at a concentration of
      0.1% (w/w). The sandbox experimental program included tracer tests done under
      both uncontaminated and contaminated conditions, foam injection under
      uncontaminated conditions and surfactant solution and foam injection under
      contaminated conditions. Tracer tests indicated that the permeability contrast
      between sand layers was increased by LNAPL contamination. Foam injection under
      uncontaminated conditions presented a S-shaped front that indicated a better
      mobility control than the piston-shaped front obtained during tracer tests.
      During foam injection, complete sweep of the sandbox was achieved with 1.8pore
      volume (PV) compared to 2.8PV during tracer injection, thus indicating better
      mobility control with foam. Pre-flush of the contaminated sandbox with surfactant
      solution initiated p-xylene mobilization but no free phase was recovered at the
      effluent. A negligible p-xylene residual saturation was reached following foam
      injection in the contaminated sandbox. However, mass balance indicated a total
      recovery of only 48% of the initial p-xylene, thus indicating an underestimation
      of the recovery by volatilization. Recovery by volatilization was corrected,
      which gave the following proportions of LNAPL recovery mechanisms: 19% by
      mobilization, 16% by dissolution and 65% by volatilization. Results show the
      potential efficiency of foam remediation of LNAPL source zones in heterogeneous
      porous media. Still, further developments are needed prior to field scale
      application, which could benefit from in situ foam production that would simplify
      on-site operations.

PMID- 27639104
TI  - Income inequality and depressive symptoms in South Africa: A longitudinal
      analysis of the National Income Dynamics Study.
AB  - Research suggests that income inequality may detrimentally affect mental health.
      We examined the relationship between district-level income inequality and
      depressive symptoms among individuals in South Africa-one of the most unequal
      countries in the world-using longitudinal data from Wave 1 (2008) and Wave 3
      (2012) of the National Income Dynamics Study. Depressive symptoms were measured
      using the Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression Short Form while
      district Gini coefficients were estimated from census and survey sources. Age,
      African population group, being single, being female, and having lower household
      income were independently associated with higher depressive symptoms. However, in
      longitudinal, fixed-effects regression models controlling for several factors,
      district-level Gini coefficients were not significantly associated with
      depressive symptoms scores. Our results do not support the hypothesis of a causal
      link between income inequality and depressive symptoms in the short-run. Possible
      explanations include the high underlying levels of inequality in all districts,
      or potential lags in the effect of inequality on depression.

PMID- 27639107
TI  - Bioresorbable scaffolds are here, please handle with care.

PMID- 27639106
TI  - Multiple health benefits of urban tree canopy: The mounting evidence for a green
      prescription.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to enhance the understanding of the health
      promoting potential of trees in an urbanized region of the United States. This
      was done using high-resolution LiDAR and imagery data to quantify tree cover
      within 250m of the residence of 7910 adult participants in the California Health
      Interview Survey, then testing for main and mediating associations between tree
      cover and multiple health measures. The results indicated that more neighborhood
      tree cover, independent from green space access, was related to better overall
      health, primarily mediated by lower overweight/obesity and better social
      cohesion, and to a lesser extent by less type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure,
      and asthma. These findings suggest an important role for trees and nature in
      improving holistic population health in urban areas.

PMID- 27639105
TI  - Cross-sector analysis of socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and urban/rural
      disparities in food policy enactment in the United States.
AB  - We examined racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and urban/rural disparities in food
      policy enactment across different sectors, as well as retail food access,
      throughout the United States. Policy and retail food store data were obtained
      from 443 communities as part of the Bridging the Gap Community Obesity Measures
      Project. Our results indicated that median household income was inversely
      associated with healthier retail food zoning policies in Hispanic communities,
      where competitive food policies for schools were also healthier and mean
      fruit/vegetable access in stores was higher. In contrast, income was positively
      associated with healthier retail food zoning in rural communities, where
      competitive food policies were weaker. Black communities had low scores across
      all policy domains. Overall, Hispanic communities had the strongest food policies
      across sectors. Barriers to policy adoption in both rural and Black communities
      must be explored further.

PMID- 27639108
TI  - Development and production of good manufacturing practice grade human embryonic
      stem cell lines as source material for clinical application.
AB  - From 2006 to 2011, Roslin Cells Ltd derived 17 human embryonic stem cells (hESC)
      while developing (RCM1, RC-2 to -8, -10) and implementing (RC-9, -11 to -17)
      quality assured standards of operation in a facility operating in compliance with
      European Union (EU) directives and United Kingdom (UK) licensure for procurement,
      processing and storage of human cells as source material for clinical
      application, and targeted to comply with an EU Good Manufacturing Practice
      specification. Here we describe the evolution and specification of the facility,
      its operation and outputs, complementing hESC resource details communicated in
      Stem Cell Research Lab Resources.

PMID- 27639109
TI  - The sp2 and sp3 fractions of unknown carbon materials: electron energy-loss near
      edge structure analysis of C-K spectra acquired under the magic-angle condition
      by the electron nanobeam technique.
AB  - A method is described for the quantification of the sp2, sp3 and intermediate
      hybridizations in several carbon (C) material samples. Electron energy-loss near
      edge spectra were acquired using fast electrons (120keV) in an electron
      microscope in nanobeam configuration under the so-called "magic-angle" condition,
      and were analysed to extract the sp2 and sp3 fractions, and identify the possible
      mixed sp2+epsilon hybridizations. The method consists in projecting the unknown
      spectra on a basis made up of pure sp2 and sp3 spectra, obtained under the same
      experimental conditions from graphite and diamond crystals, respectively. The
      residual spectra contain information about the intermediate hybridizations
      sp2+epsilon occurring in the samples. The method was successfully tested on "ab
      initio" numerically generated spectra relative to amorphous C materials. Finally,
      it was applied to actual C amorphous and pyrolytic samples, and results were
      compared to those obtained by the most commonly used, conventional "three
      Gaussian" method. The combined application of electron diffraction and
      spectroscopy, in the nanobeam configuration, yielded useful information about the
      atomic and electronic structure from very small volumes of the unknown C
      material.

PMID- 27639110
TI  - Ethnic and racial differences in clinically relevant symptoms in active duty
      military personnel with posttraumatic stress disorder.
AB  - Previous research has shown racial/ethnic differences in Vietnam veterans on
      symptoms related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study
      explored racial/ethnic differences in PTSD symptoms and clinically relevant
      symptoms. Resilience and social support were tested as potential moderators of
      racial/ethnic differences in symptoms. The sample included 303 active duty male
      service members seeking treatment for PTSD. After controlling for age, education,
      military grade, and combat exposure, Hispanic/Latino and African American service
      members reported greater PTSD symptoms compared to non-Hispanic White service
      members. Higher alcohol consumption was endorsed by Hispanic/Latino service
      members compared to non-Hispanic White or African American service members, even
      after controlling for PTSD symptom severity. No racial/ethnic differences were
      found with regard to other variables. These results suggest that care should be
      made to thoroughly assess PTSD patients, especially those belonging to minority
      groups, for concurrent substance use problems that may impede treatment
      utilization or adherence.

PMID- 27639111
TI  - Anti-Mullerian Hormone Levels and Urinary Cortisol in Women With Chronic
      Abdominal Pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity
      with ovarian functioning in women with and without chronic abdominal pain (CAP).
      DESIGN AND SETTING: A secondary data analysis was performed with data from female
      participants in a natural history protocol at the National Institutes of Health.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 36 women (age range = 19-39 years, mean = 27.11 years)
      were included in the study. METHODS: This pilot study was conducted with a subset
      of participants enrolled in a natural history protocol conducted in the Hatfield
      Clinical Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. The parent study
      included participants with and without CAP who provided a 5-hour urine sample for
      determination of cortisol levels and serum samples for determination of
      circulating levels of cortisol, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating
      hormone. CAP was defined as presence or absence of chronic pain for at least 6
      months and was determined via self-report. RESULTS: Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH)
      concentrations declined significantly with age as expected. When AMH levels were
      dichotomized as normal or abnormal (defined as higher or lower than age-specific
      normative ranges, respectively), there were significant associations between
      abnormal AMH levels and CAP and urine cortisol levels. Participants with CAP or
      low urine cortisol levels were significantly more likely to have abnormal AMH
      levels. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that chronic abdominal pain and hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal dysregulation may be associated with abnormal AMH levels.

PMID- 27639112
TI  - Effects of dietary fatty acids and cholesterol excess on liver injury: A
      lipidomic approach.
AB  - Lipid accumulation is the hallmark of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
      and has been suggested to play a role in promoting fatty liver inflammation.
      Previous findings indicate that during oxidative stress conditions excess
      cholesterol autoxidizes to oxysterols. To date, the role of oxysterols and their
      potential interaction with fatty acids accumulation in NASH pathogenesis remains
      little investigated. We used the nutritional model of high fatty acids (HFA),
      high cholesterol (HCh) or high fat and high cholesterol (HFA+FCh) diets and
      explored by a lipidomic approach, the blood and liver distribution of fatty acids
      and oxysterols in response to dietary manipulation. We observed that HFA or HCh
      diets induced fatty liver without inflammation, which was otherwise observed only
      after supplementation of HFA+HCh. Very interestingly, the combination model was
      associated with a specific oxysterol fingerprint. The present work provides a
      complete analysis of the change in lipids and oxysterols profile induced by
      different lipid dietary model and their association with histological alteration
      of the liver. This study allows the generation of interesting hypotheses on the
      role of interaction of lipid and cholesterol metabolites in the liver injury
      during NAFLD development and progression. Moreover, the changes in the
      concentration and quality of oxysterols induced by a combination diet suggest a
      novel potential pathogenic mechanism in the progression from simple steatosis to
      steatohepatitis.

PMID- 27639113
TI  - Novel antioxidant capability of titanium induced by UV light treatment.
AB  - The intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a representative
      form of cellular oxidative stress and plays an important role in triggering
      adverse cellular events, such as the inflammatory reaction and delayed or
      compromised differentiation. Osteoblastic reaction to titanium with particular
      focus on ROS production remains unknown. Ultraviolet (UV) light treatment
      improves the physicochemical properties of titanium, specifically the induction
      of super hydrophilicity and removal of hydrocarbon, and eventually enhances its
      osteoconductivity. We hypothesized that there is a favorable regulatory change of
      ROS production within osteoblasts in contact with UV-treated titanium.
      Osteoblasts were cultured on titanium disks with or without UV-pretreatment. The
      intracellular production of ROS was higher on acid-etch-created rough titanium
      surfaces than on machine-prepared smooth ones. The ROS production was reduced by
      40-50% by UV pretreatment of titanium regardless of the surface roughness.
      Oxidative DNA damage, as detected by 8-OHdG expression, was alleviated by 50% on
      UV-treated titanium surfaces. The expression of inflammatory cytokines was
      consistently lower in osteoblasts cultured on UV-treated titanium. ROS scavenger,
      glutathione, remained more without being depleted in osteoblasts on UV-treated
      titanium. Bio-burden test further showed that culturing osteoblasts on UV-treated
      titanium can significantly reduce the ROS production even with the presence of
      hydrogen peroxide, an oxidative stress inducer. These data suggest that the
      intracellular production of ROS and relevant inflammatory reaction, which
      unavoidably occurs in osteoblasts in contact with titanium, can be significantly
      reduced by UV pretreatment of titanium, implying a novel antioxidant capability
      of the particular titanium.

PMID- 27639114
TI  - Aqueous synthesized quantum dots interfere with the NF-kappaB pathway and confer
      anti-tumor, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects.
AB  - The NF-kappaB pathway plays crucial roles in inflammatory responses and cell
      survival. Aberrant constitutive NF-kappaB activation is associated with various
      human diseases including cancer and inflammatory and auto-immune diseases.
      Consequently, it is highly desirable to develop new kinds of inhibitors, which
      are highly efficacious for blocking the NF-kappaB pathway. In this study, by
      using a typical kind of aqueous synthesized quantum dots (QDs), i.e., CdTe QDs,
      as a model, we for the first time demonstrated that the QDs could selectively
      affect the cellular nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway, but do
      not affect the AKT or ERK pathways. Typically, the QDs efficiently inhibited the
      activation of IKKalpha and IKKbeta, resulting in the suppression of both the
      canonical and the non-canonical NF-kappaB signaling pathways. Inhibition of NF
      kappaB by QDs downregulates anti-apoptotic genes and promotes apoptosis in cancer
      cells. The QDs induced NF-kappaB inhibition and cytotoxicity could be blocked by
      N-acetylcysteine due to the reduced cellular uptake of QDs. Importantly,
      inhibition of NF-kappaB by QDs displayed promising effects against the viral
      replication and in vivo bacterial endotoxin-induced inflammatory responses. These
      data suggest the QDs as potent inhibitors of the NF-kappaB signaling pathway,
      both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings highlight the potential of using QDs in
      the development of anti-cancer, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory approaches, and
      also facilitate better understanding of QDs-related cellular behavior under the
      molecular level.

PMID- 27639116
TI  - Clustering of contacts relevant to the spread of infectious disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Infectious disease spread depends on contact rates between infectious
      and susceptible individuals. Transmission models are commonly informed using
      empirically collected contact data, but the relevance of different contact types
      to transmission is still not well understood. Some studies select contacts based
      on a single characteristic such as proximity (physical/non-physical), location,
      duration or frequency. This study aimed to explore whether clusters of contacts
      similar to each other across multiple characteristics could better explain
      disease transmission. METHODS: Individual contact data from the POLYMOD survey in
      Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, Finland and Italy were grouped into clusters by
      the k medoids clustering algorithm with a Manhattan distance metric to stratify
      contacts using all four characteristics. Contact clusters were then used to fit a
      transmission model to sero-epidemiological data for varicella-zoster virus (VZV)
      in each country. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Across the five countries, 9-15 clusters
      were found to optimise both quality of clustering (measured using average
      silhouette width) and quality of fit (measured using several information
      criteria). Of these, 2-3 clusters were most relevant to VZV transmission,
      characterised by (i) 1-2 clusters of age-assortative contacts in schools, (ii) a
      cluster of less age-assortative contacts in non-school settings. Quality of fit
      was similar to using contacts stratified by a single characteristic, providing
      validation that single stratifications are appropriate. However, using clustering
      to stratify contacts using multiple characteristics provided insight into the
      structures underlying infection transmission, particularly the role of age
      assortative contacts, involving school age children, for VZV transmission between
      households.

PMID- 27639117
TI  - How the brain processes violations of the grammatical norm: An fMRI study.
AB  - Native speakers of Dutch do not always adhere to prescriptive grammar rules in
      their daily speech. These grammatical norm violations can elicit emotional
      reactions in language purists, mostly high-educated people, who claim that for
      them these constructions are truly ungrammatical. However, linguists generally
      assume that grammatical norm violations are in fact truly grammatical, especially
      when they occur frequently in a language. In an fMRI study we investigated the
      processing of grammatical norm violations in the brains of language purists, and
      compared them with truly grammatical and truly ungrammatical sentences.
      Grammatical norm violations were found to be unique in that their processing
      resembled not only the processing of truly grammatical sentences (in left medial
      Superior Frontal Gyrus and Angular Gyrus), but also that of truly ungrammatical
      sentences (in Inferior Frontal Gyrus), despite what theories of grammar would
      usually lead us to believe.

PMID- 27639115
TI  - Mechanisms of cyanobactin biosynthesis.
AB  - Cyanobactins are a diverse collection of natural products that originate from
      short peptides made on a ribosome. The amino acids are modified in a series of
      transformations catalyzed by multiple enzymes. The patellamide pathway is the
      most well studied and characterized example. Here we review the structures and
      mechanisms of the enzymes that cleave peptide bonds, macrocyclise peptides,
      heterocyclise cysteine (as well as threonine and serine) residues, oxidize five
      membered heterocycles and attach prenyl groups. Some enzymes operate by novel
      mechanisms which is of interest and in addition the enzymes uncouple recognition
      from catalysis. The normally tight relationship between these factors hinders
      biotechnology. The cyanobactin pathway may be particularly suitable for
      exploitation, with progress observed with in vivo and in vitro approaches.

PMID- 27639118
TI  - Longitudinal trajectories and predictors of anxiety symptoms among adolescent
      survivors exposed to Wenchuan earthquake.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the developmental trajectories and associated
      predictors of anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents exposed to Wenchuan
      earthquake. 1573 adolescent survivors were followed up at 6, 12, 18, and 24
      months post-earthquake. Self-report measures were used to evaluate earthquake
      exposure, anxiety symptoms, negative life events, social support, and trait
      resilience. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) and multi-nominal logistic regression
      were used to analyze data. The results showed that 45.6%, 50.9%, 39.2%, and 39.9%
      of participants showed clinical levels of anxiety symptoms at 6, 12, 18, and 24
      months post-earthquake, respectively. Four developmental trajectories were
      identified: resistance, recovery, delayed-onset anxiety, and chronic anxiety.
      Gender, injury of family members, negative life events, social support, and trait
      resilience were significant predictors for distinct anxiety trajectories.
      Individualized and appropriate psychosocial interventions should be provided for
      adolescents affected by natural disasters, especially those at higher risk for
      chronic or delayed mental problem symptoms.

PMID- 27639119
TI  - A ketogenic diet accelerates neurodegeneration in mice with induced mitochondrial
      DNA toxicity in the forebrain.
AB  - Mitochondrial genome maintenance plays a central role in preserving brain health.
      We previously demonstrated accumulation of mitochondrial DNA damage and severe
      neurodegeneration in transgenic mice inducibly expressing a mutated mitochondrial
      DNA repair enzyme (mutUNG1) selectively in forebrain neurons. Here, we examine
      whether severe neurodegeneration in mutUNG1-expressing mice could be rescued by
      feeding the mice a ketogenic diet, which is known to have beneficial effects in
      several neurological disorders. The diet increased the levels of superoxide
      dismutase 2, and mitochondrial mass, enzymes, and regulators such as SIRT1 and
      FIS1, and appeared to downregulate N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor
      subunits NR2A/B and upregulate gamma-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptor
      subunits alpha1. However, unexpectedly, the ketogenic diet aggravated
      neurodegeneration and mitochondrial deterioration. Electron microscopy showed
      structurally impaired mitochondria accumulating in neuronal perikarya. We propose
      that aggravation is caused by increased mitochondrial biogenesis of generally
      dysfunctional mitochondria. This study thereby questions the dogma that a
      ketogenic diet is unambiguously beneficial in mitochondrial disorders.

PMID- 27639120
TI  - Cerebral amyloid is associated with greater white-matter hyperintensity accrual
      in cognitively normal older adults.
AB  - Cross-sectional studies show that elevated cerebral amyloid is associated with
      greater white-matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden in cognitively normal (CN) older
      adults. However, the relative time courses of amyloid and WMH accrual are
      unclear. To address this, we tested the associations between known WMH correlates
      age, hypertension, and amyloid-with WMH accrual rate. We used brain magnetic
      resonance imaging to measure WMH change in 112 CN Alzheimer's Disease
      Neuroimaging Initiative (GO/2) participants over a 2-year period. A linear mixed
      effects model assessed baseline cerebrospinal fluid amyloid beta (Abeta) 1-42,
      hypertension, age, and their interactions, as predictors of greater WMH accrual.
      Greater amyloid burden was associated with greater WMH accrual over time. Those
      with hypertension showed a stronger association between greater amyloid burden
      and WMH accrual rate. Greater age was not significantly associated with greater
      WMH accrual in this model. Although the direction of the relationship cannot be
      tested in this model, CN individuals harboring cerebral amyloid had greater
      accrual of WMH over a 2-year period after accounting for hypertension and age.
      Impaired amyloid clearance and cerebral small vessel disease may both underlie
      the more rapid emergence of WM lesions. The role of cerebral amyloid burden in
      white-matter injury should thus be considered as a relevant factor when WMHs are
      detected clinically.

PMID- 27639121
TI  - Classifying anatomical subtypes of subjective memory impairment.
AB  - We aimed to categorize subjective memory impairment (SMI) individuals based on
      their patterns of cortical thickness and to propose simple models that can
      classify each subtype. We recruited 613 SMI individuals and 613 age- and gender
      matched normal controls. Using hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis, SMI
      individuals were divided into 3 subtypes: temporal atrophy (12.9%), minimal
      atrophy (52.4%), and diffuse atrophy (34.6%). Individuals in the temporal atrophy
      (Alzheimer's disease-like atrophy) subtype were older, had more vascular risk
      factors, and scored the lowest on neuropsychological tests. Combination of these
      factors classified the temporal atrophy subtype with 73.2% accuracy. On the other
      hand, individuals with the minimal atrophy (non-neurodegenerative) subtype were
      younger, were more likely to be female, and had depression. Combination of these
      factors discriminated the minimal atrophy subtype with 76.0% accuracy. We suggest
      that SMI can be largely categorized into 3 anatomical subtypes that have distinct
      clinical features. Our models may help physicians decide next steps when
      encountering SMI patients and may also be used in clinical trials.

PMID- 27639122
TI  - Protective effects of TES trioleate, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2, on
      reactive oxygen species and UVA-induced cell damage.
AB  - 2-[Tris(oleoyloxymethyl)methylamino]-1-ethane sulfonic acid (TES trioleate) is an
      inhibitor of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), which hydrolyzes cell membrane
      phospholipids to produce arachidonic acid (AA) and lysophospholipids (LysoPLs).
      Here, we investigated the protective effects of TES trioleate on cell damage
      caused by ultraviolet A (UVA) light and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Pre
      incubation with 250-1000MUM TES trioleate resulted in concentration-dependent
      protection from UVA-induced damage in HaCaT cells. Additionally, 25-1000MUM TES
      trioleate provided protection against H2O2 in a concentration-dependent manner.
      In human erythrocytes treated with 1O2, 10-100MUM TES trioleate showed
      concentration-dependent protective effects, similar to but stronger than the
      controls, 4-BPB and lipophilic antioxidant (+)-alpha-tocopherol at 100MUM. TES
      trioleate did not have detectable radical scavenging activity. Moreover, compared
      with (+)-alpha-tocopherol and rutin, TES trioleate showed low ROS scavenging
      activity. Thus, although TES trioleate showed cell protective effects against
      UVA, H2O2, and 1O2-induced damages, these effects were not caused by the
      scavenging ability of the radical or ROS. Finally, pretreatment of HaCaT cells
      and human erythrocytes with l-alpha-lysophosphatidylcholine produced by PLA2
      promoted increased cell damage at low concentrations. Thus, the protective
      effects of TES trioleate on cellular damage by UVA and ROS may be associated with
      inhibition of PLA2-dependent cell damage rather than ROS scavenging.

PMID- 27639123
TI  - Genetic variations in TCF7L2 influence therapeutic response to sulfonylureas in
      Indian diabetics.
AB  - Sulfonylureas are widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, with considerable inter
      individual variation in the hypoglycaemic response to sulfonylureas. Genetic
      variants in the gene encoding for transcription factor-7-like 2 (TCF7L2) have
      been associated with type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to study the effect of
      variations in TCF7L2 on therapeutic response to sulfonylureas in Type 2 diabetes
      mellitus patients. The effect of TCF7L2 rs12255372, rs7903146 and rs4506565
      genotypes on glycaemic response was observed in 250 diabetic patients treated
      with sulfonylureas and sulfonylureas along with metformin. The genotyping tests
      were done by allele-specific multiplex PCR. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels
      were used as phenotypic marker. 60% of sulfonylurea users did not achieve a
      target HbA1c levels of ?6.5% (48mmol/mol) (which denotes good control in
      diabetics). Genotype influenced response to sulfonylureas, with more treatment
      failure in the TT homozygotes in case of rs12255372 and rs4506565. The GG
      genotype at rs12255372 favourably influences treatment success with sulfonylurea
      therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes (p?0.05). At rs12255372, 70.5% GT or TT
      genotype failed to achieve therapeutic target, an absolute difference of 19%
      compared to GG homozygotes. Our preliminary data show that genetic variation at
      rs12255372 has a direct correlation with therapeutic success with sulfonylureas
      in type 2 diabetes, hence paving the way for better treatment outcomes in
      diabetics.

PMID- 27639124
TI  - Hyperprolactinemia, prolactin-related side effects and quality of life in Chinese
      psychiatric patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the frequency of hyperprolactinemia and the socio
      demographic, clinical, and quality of life (QOL) correlates. The frequency of
      prolactin-related side effects and associated subjective experiences were also
      examined. METHODS: A cohort of 1364 psychiatric inpatients were consecutively
      recruited and evaluated. Basic socio-demographic and clinical data were
      collected. Psychopathology, prolactin-related side effects were measured using
      standardized instruments. QOL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Short
      Form 12. RESULTS: The frequency of hyperprolactinemia was 61.3% in the whole
      sample; 61.6% in female and 60.8% in male patients. There was no significant
      association between hyperprolactinemia and any QOL domain. In the whole sample,
      15.1% of patients reported moderately severe breast symptoms and lactation, and
      53.9% reported moderate or severe discomfort. Nearly a third of female patients
      (30.4%) reported at least moderate menstrual changes and 50.2% moderate or severe
      discomfort, while 24.2% of male patients reported at least moderate erectile
      dysfunction and 52.6% moderate or severe discomfort. Multiple logistic regression
      analysis revealed that patients with hyperprolactinemia were less likely to be
      married, diagnosed with mood disorders, or treated with clozapine, aripiprazole,
      or antidepressants but more likely to receive risperidone. CONCLUSIONS: Effective
      measures to lower the frequency of hyperprolactinemia and the related side
      effects should be considered in Chinese psychiatric facilities.

PMID- 27639125
TI  - Skin picking in a non-clinical sample of young Polish adults. Prevalence and
      characteristics.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence and
      characteristics of skin picking behaviors in a sample of young Polish adults.
      METHODS: Five hundred and thirty-four participants completed measurements of skin
      picking frequency and severity. They also retrospectively rated the intensity of
      affective states experienced before, during and after skin picking episodes.
      RESULTS: In total, 46.07% of the participants endorsed some forms of skin
      picking, and the prevalence of skin picking disorder (SPD) in the study sample
      amounted to 7.67%. The characteristics of skin picking episodes in young Polish
      adults were similar to those reported in previous studies conducted on different
      cultures. The results also showed that for the majority of individuals with skin
      picking, the intensity of particular emotions (i.e. fear, anxiety, guilt, shame,
      self-aversion, boredom, and sadness) decreased significantly in the period from
      before to after picking. CONCLUSION: Larger community studies are needed to
      assess the SPD prevalence in Polish general population.

PMID- 27639126
TI  - Adiponectin protects palmitic acid induced endothelial inflammation and insulin
      resistance via regulating ROS/IKKbeta pathways.
AB  - Endothelial inflammation and insulin resistance (IR) has been closely associated
      with endothelial dysfunction. Adiponectin (APN), an adipocyte-secreted hormone
      from adipose tissues, showed cardioprotective effects. Here, the protective
      effect of APN on palmitic acid (PA)-induced endothelial inflammation and IR was
      investigated. Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were
      treated with PA without or without APN pretreatment. The expression of
      inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6, adhesion molecule ICAM-1 were determined
      by western blotting, ELISA, and real-time PCR. The protein expression and protein
      protein interaction were determined by western blotting and immunoprecipitation.
      The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production
      were monitored with fluorescence probes. PA-induced secretion of TNF-alpha, IL-6,
      and expression of ICAM-1 at protein and mRNA levels, which was significantly
      inhibited by APN. PA treatment caused increase of ROS generation, NOX2, p
      IKKbeta, p-IkappaBalpha, p-p65 expression, and p-IkappaBalpha-IKKbeta
      interaction, which were all partly reversed by APN. ROS scavenger N
      acetylcysteine (NAC) and NF-kappaB inhibitor PDTC showed similar effect on PA
      induced secretion of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and expression of ICAM-1. Furthermore, APN
      and NAC pretreatment restored PA-induced increase of p-IRS-1(S307), decrease of p
      IRS-1(Tyr). In addition, insulin-triggered expression of p-IRS-1(Tyr), p-PI3K, p
      AKT, p-eNOS and NO generation were inhibited by PA, which were also restored by
      both APN and NAC. These results suggested that APN ameliorated endothelial
      inflammation and IR through ROS/IKKbeta pathway. This study shed new insights
      into the mechanisms of APN's cardiovascular protective effect.

PMID- 27639127
TI  - Time interval providing highest yield for initial EEG in patients with new onset
      seizures.
AB  - PURPOSE: Timing providing highest yield of initial electroencephalogram (EEG)
      after new onset unprovoked seizures, is an important and practical issue both in
      diagnosis and patient care. Current guidelines suggest routine EEG is the
      standard of care in work-up. However, yield of the initial EEG and exact
      timeframe in which to perform remain unclear and standardization in both adult
      and pediatric populations is still lacking. Our objective was to determine a
      concrete timeframe to perform initial EEG in patients with new onset unprovoked
      seizures and provide greater yield of EEG benefits in patient management. METHOD:
      This is a retrospective chart review study of both pediatric and adult patients
      identified from EEG Database over 1999-2014 located at Kaleida Health at Buffalo
      using keyword "new onset seizure". RESULTS: The percentage of EEGs revealing
      epileptiform discharges is much higher if EEGs are performed within 12hours after
      the seizure onset compared to studies done beyond this timeframe (53.1% versus
      23.9%). There was no significant difference in the presence of epileptiform
      discharges if the study is done 12hours after the seizure onset. Odds ratio was
      3.599 (the presence of epileptiform discharges) with a Confidence Interval of
      1.691-7.660 (p=0.001) within first 12hours of initial event. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrated statistical significance in yield of epileptiform discharges
      by performing EEG within the first 12hours of seizure onset, in both adult and
      pediatric populations, which should be considered for clinical practice and
      patient care.

PMID- 27639129
TI  - Does marijuana "blunt" smoking contribute to nicotine exposure?: Preliminary
      product testing of nicotine content in wrappers of cigars commonly used for blunt
      smoking.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An increasingly popular method of consuming marijuana is through
      the smoking of "blunts," cigar products in which some or all of the tobacco
      filler is removed and repacked with marijuana. Even if all tobacco filler is
      removed from the cigar product in the process of making blunts, nicotine may be
      present in the wrapper of the cigar product. This preliminary analysis quantified
      the nicotine content in wrappers of cigar products commonly used for blunt
      smoking. METHODS: Five cigar products (3 large cigars, 2 cigarillos) were tested,
      yielding physical characteristics of cigar length, diameter, weight, and wrapper
      weight. Nicotine concentration in the wrapper of each cigar product was analyzed
      via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Total nicotine content in the wrapper
      of each cigar product was computed as the product of cigar wrapper weight and
      nicotine concentration in wrapper. RESULTS: Depending on the product, the cigar
      wrapper contributed between 8 and 18% of the weight of the entire cigar article.
      Total nicotine content in the cigar wrapper ranged from 1.2 to 6.0mg per cigar.
      DISCUSSION: All 5 tested cigar products had wrappers that contain quantifiable
      levels of nicotine, indicating that users of blunts may expose themselves to some
      degree of nicotine, the addictive component of tobacco. Future experimental
      studies that examine the efficiency of nicotine delivery from typical blunt
      smoking, as well as surveillance studies that quantify the number of blunts
      smoked by an individual per day, are needed to evaluate the contribution of blunt
      smoking to nicotine dependence.

PMID- 27639128
TI  - Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric assay for therapeutic drug
      monitoring of the B-Raf inhibitor encorafenib, the EGFR inhibitors afatinib,
      erlotinib and gefitinib and the O-desmethyl metabolites of erlotinib and
      gefitinib in human plasma.

PMID- 27639130
TI  - Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on craving, heart-rate
      variability and prefrontal hemodynamics during smoking cue exposure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Drug-related cue exposure elicits craving and risk for relapse during
      recovery. Transcranial direct current stimulation is a promising research tool
      and possible treatment for relapse prevention. Enhanced functional
      neuroconnectivity is discussed as a treatment target. The goal of this research
      was to examine whether transcranial direct current stimulation affected cortical
      hemodynamic indicators of functional connectivity, craving, and heart rate
      variability during smoking-related cue exposure in non-treatment-seeking smokers.
      METHOD: In vivo smoking cue exposure supported by a 2mA transcranial direct
      current stimulation (anode: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cathode:
      orbitofrontal cortex; placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind) in 29 (age:
      M=25, SD=5) German university students (smoking at least once a week). Cue
      reactivity was assessed on an autonomous (heart rate variability) and a
      subjective level (craving ratings). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
      measured changes in the concentration of deoxygenated hemoglobin, and seed-based
      correlation analysis was used to quantify prefrontal connectivity of brain
      regions involved in cue reactivity. RESULTS: Cue exposure elicited increased
      subjective craving and heart rate variability changes in smokers. Connectivity
      between the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was increased in
      subjects receiving verum compared to placebo stimulation (d=0.66). Hemodynamics
      in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, however, increased in the group
      receiving sham stimulation (eta2=0.140). Transcranial direct current stimulation
      did not significantly alter craving or heart rate variability during cue
      exposure. CONCLUSION: Prefrontal connectivity - between regions involved in the
      processing of reinforcement value and cognitive control - was increased by anodal
      transcranial direct current stimulation during smoking cue exposure. Possible
      clinical implications should be considered in future studies.

PMID- 27639131
TI  - Personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards the use of nonmedical
      prescription stimulants to improve academic performance among university students
      in seven European countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overestimations of non-prescribed stimulant use of peers are well
      documented in the USA and have also been identified as predictive of personal
      stimulant consumption. This study aimed to examine whether overestimations of
      peer use and approval of the use are associated with personal use and attitude
      towards the use of non-prescribed stimulants among European university students.
      METHOD: The EU funded 'Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug
      usE (SNIPE)' study was conducted in seven European countries. In a web-based
      questionnaire, 4482 students were asked about their personal use and their
      attitude towards non-prescribed stimulant use, as well as the perceived peer use
      and peer attitude. RESULTS: 59% of students thought that the majority of their
      peers used non-prescribed stimulants more frequently than themselves, and only 4%
      thought that the use of the majority was lower than their personal use. The
      perception that the majority of peers had used non-prescribed stimulants at least
      once was significantly associated with higher odds for personal use of non
      prescribed stimulants (OR: 3.30, 95% CI: 2.32-4.71). In addition, the perception
      that the majority of peers approved of the non-prescribed use of stimulants was
      associated with a 4.03 (95% CI: 3.35-4.84) times higher likelihood for personal
      approval. DISCUSSION: European university students generally perceived the non
      prescribed use of stimulants of peers to be higher than their personal use. This
      perception, as well as a perception of higher approval in the peer group, was
      associated with a higher likelihood of personal non-prescribed stimulant
      medication use and approval.

PMID- 27639133
TI  - Interpretation of colposcopy in population-based cervical screening services in
      north-eastern Italy: an online interregional agreement study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An innovative web-based colposcopy quality assurance programme was
      implemented in population-based cervical screening services in three north
      eastern Italian administrative regions with different colposcopists' training
      background. In this study, the levels of intra- and interregional
      intercolposcopist diagnostic agreement were evaluated. STUDY DESIGN: Of the 158
      registered colposcopists, 125 accessed the website of the programme, logged-in,
      viewed a posted set of 50 digital colpophotographs selected by an expert steering
      committee, and classified them for the colposcopic impression, the visibility of
      the squamocolumnar junction, and the need for biopsy. Anonymous data were
      downloaded and analysed using the crude, or observed, proportion of agreement and
      the kappa coefficient. RESULTS: There were 113 eligible colposcopists. Overall,
      crude agreement on the colposcopic impression, the visibility of the
      squamocolumnar junction, and the need for biopsy was 0.72, 0.72, and 0.87, with
      kappa values of 0.60, 0.36, and 0.69, respectively. The homologous kappa values
      were 0.61, 0.41, and 0.69 in one region, 0.57, 0.36, and 0.69 in another, and
      0.66, 0.38, and 0.74 in the third. Total intra- and interregional agreement were
      nearly identical, with kappa values of 0.59 and 0.60 for the colposcopic
      impression, 0.38 and 0.35 for the visibility of the squamocolumnar junction, and
      0.69 and 0.69 for the need for biopsy. The width of 95% confidence intervals
      around the above kappa values was <=0.01. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of agreement
      varied between moderate and substantial both within and between regions. Regional
      differences in training background had minor effects. The interpretation of
      colposcopy is potentially well-reproducible.

PMID- 27639132
TI  - Maternal pre-pregnancy risk factors for miscarriage from a prevention
      perspective: a cohort study in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship of the pre-pregnancy modifiable risks with
      miscarriage. STUDY DESIGN: We randomly selected 51 communities or villages from
      January 2013 to December 2014 in Anhui, China. We calculated incidence rate
      ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each risk factor for
      miscarriage. RESULTS: The incidence rate of miscarriage was 7.45%, and pre
      embryonic loss account for 12.66%, embryonic loss account for 38%, and fetal
      losses account for 49.34% of all loss. In multivariate analysis, women with
      hypertension (RR=2.272, 95% CI=1.27-4.04), women had a family history of abortion
      in their mother (RR=1.96, 95% CI=1.22-3.14) prior to pregnancy had significantly
      higher adjusted risk ratio for miscarriage. Obese, overweight, and underweight
      prior to pregnancy were about 2.01 (95% CI=1.1-3.68), 1.71 (95% CI=1.04-2.81),
      and 2.05 (95% CI=1.3-3.23) times more likely to end in miscarriage compared with
      normal weight. Some physical examination indicators, for example pH value of
      leucorrhea >=4.5 (RR=2.13, 95% CI=1.48-3.07), red blood cell count <5 10(12)/L
      (RR=1.52, 95% CI=1.02-2.26), and positive LgG antibodies to human cytomegalovirus
      (RR=1.45, 95% CI=1.02-3.14) prior to pregnancy had good prediction effect on
      miscarriage. We also found remarkable differences on risk factors between non
      fetal losses and fetal losses. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that these
      modifiable risks should be included into pre-conception counseling as important
      risk factors for screening high-risk population and reducing the rate of
      spontaneous abortion.

PMID- 27639134
TI  - A daily process examination of the relationship between childhood trauma and
      stress-reactivity.
AB  - Childhood trauma (CT) has been associated with various forms of emotion
      dysregulation (ED), including stress-reactivity, which is believed to be one of
      the mechanisms underlying the link between CT and psychological disorders. The
      purpose of the present study was to further this line of research by using an
      intensive longitudinal research design to examine among college students (N=1634,
      53.7% women) whether reports of interpersonal CT, specifically emotional abuse
      and neglect, uniquely moderate the within-person association between repeated
      assessments of daily stress and negative affect (NA)(i.e., stress-reactivity).
      The study also examined whether the link between CT and stress-reactivity is
      stronger for discrete forms of NA and whether the effects of emotional abuse and
      neglect CT are unique from other trauma types and distinct from recent life
      stress and neuroticism. Results indicated that individuals with more severe
      histories of emotional abuse CT showed stronger stress-reactivity for anxiety,
      but not for other forms of affect when control variables were introduced. Neglect
      also moderated this association but in the opposite direction, such that those
      with more extensive histories of neglect exhibited lower anxiety in response to
      daily stress. Results highlight the unique and complex associations between
      various forms of interpersonal CT and stress-reactivity.

PMID- 27639135
TI  - "It was only a mild concussion": Exploring the description of sports concussion
      in online news articles.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Concussion is widely discussed in online sports news articles,
      but the terms used to report this injury vary. This study aimed to use a
      systematic search strategy and explore the description of sports concussion in
      online sports news articles. METHODS: A systematic approach was employed to
      obtain online articles related to sports concussion from four sports associated
      with concussion (hockey, football, soccer, and rugby). Included articles were
      evaluated for the descriptors used in relation to concussion and possible
      consequences associated with concussion. Data was analysed to determine trends
      between each sport as well between the countries of origin of the articles.
      RESULTS: From 200 articles retrieved, 153 were included for analysis. The terms
      "Head injury" (30.1%) and "Brain injury" (20.9%) were most used to describe a
      concussive injury, and the most frequently mentioned consequence of concussion
      was "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy" (15%). Modifiers which potentially play
      down the importance of the injury were noted in 9.8% of the articles, with
      journalists the primary source of these terms. CONCLUSIONS: The variability in
      reporting of concussion by online news articles may limit the transmission of
      correct concussion information to the public. To improve the consistency of this
      reporting, the "Media Concussion Checklist" was developed.

PMID- 27639136
TI  - Multidimensional NMR approaches towards highly resolved, sensitive and high
      throughput quantitative metabolomics.
AB  - Multi-dimensional NMR is an appealing approach for dealing with the challenging
      complexity of biological samples in metabolomics. This article describes how
      spectroscopists have recently challenged their imagination in order to make 2D
      NMR a powerful tool for quantitative metabolomics, based on innovative pulse
      sequences combined with meticulous analytical chemistry approaches. Clever time
      saving strategies have also been explored to make 2D NMR a high-throughput tool
      for metabolomics, relying on alternative data acquisition schemes such as
      ultrafast NMR. Currently, much work is aimed at drastically boosting the NMR
      sensitivity thanks to hyperpolarisation techniques, which have been used in
      combination with fast acquisition methods and could greatly expand the
      application potential of NMR metabolomics.

PMID- 27639137
TI  - Pharmacokinetic profile of extended-release versus immediate-release oral
      naproxen sodium after single and multiple dosing under fed and fasting
      conditions: two randomized, open-label trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: Extended-release (ER) naproxen sodium provides pain relief for up to 24
      hours with a single dose (660 mg/day). Its pharmacokinetic profile after single
      and multiple dosing was compared to immediate release (IR) naproxen sodium in two
      randomized, open-label, crossover studies, under fasting and fed conditions.
      METHODS: Eligible healthy subjects were randomized to ER naproxen sodium 660-mg
      tablet once daily or IR naproxen sodium 220-mg tablet twice daily (440 mg
      initially, followed by 220 mg 12 hours later). Primary variables: pharmacokinetic
      parameters after singleday administration (day 1) and at steady state after
      multiple-day administration (day 6). RESULTS: Total exposure was comparable for
      both treatments under fasting and fed conditions. After fasting: peak naproxen
      concentrations were slightly lower with ER naproxen sodium than with IR naproxen
      sodium but were reached at a similar time. Fed conditions: mean peak
      concentrations were comparable but reached after a longer time with ER vs. IR
      naproxen sodium. ER naproxen sodium was well tolerated, with a similar safety
      profile to IR naproxen sodium. CONCLUSIONS: The total exposure of ER naproxen
      sodium (660 mg) is comparable to IR naproxen sodium (220 mg) when administered at
      the maximum over the counter (OTC) dose of 660-mg daily dose on a single day and
      over multiple days. The rate of absorption is delayed under fed conditions.

PMID- 27639138
TI  - Study of cross-resistance mediated by antibiotics, chlorhexidine and Rhizoma
      coptidis in Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - This study aimed to determine whether selection by antibiotics, chlorhexidine
      (CHX) and Rhizoma coptidis extract (RCE) would lead to cross-resistance or
      decreased susceptibility in Staphylococcus aureus. The S. aureus reference strain
      ATCC 25923 as well as 14 clinical isolates were exposed to antibiotics, CHX and
      RCE at sublethal doses for up to 14 days. Changes in susceptibility were
      determined by analysis of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). All isolates
      were cross-resistant to more than one other antibiotic following tetracycline
      exposure, and increased resistance (>=4-fold MIC increase) to RCE and CHX was
      observed in six and three isolates, respectively. Following selection by CHX,
      most of the treated strains showed no significant change in sensitivity to CHX.
      However, all strains developed cross-resistance to at least one antibiotic, and
      decreased susceptibility (>=4-fold MIC increase) to RCE appeared in seven
      strains. Following exposure to RCE, 11 isolates showed cross-resistance to at
      least one antibiotic. In addition, three RCE-exposed strains showed reduced
      susceptibility to CHX (4- or 8-fold MIC increase). The results obtained in this
      study imply that antibiotics, biocides and antimicrobial Chinese herbs might
      employ some of the same mechanisms of action against bacteria, triggering mutual
      cross-resistance to further foster the development of bacterial resistance.

PMID- 27639139
TI  - On-line coupling of physiologically relevant bioaccessibility testing to
      inductively coupled plasma spectrometry: Proof of concept for fast assessment of
      gastrointestinal bioaccessibility of micronutrients from soybeans.
AB  - In-vitro physiologically relevant gastrointestinal extraction based on the
      validated Unified BARGE Method (UBM) is in this work hyphenated to inductively
      coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry in a batch-flow configuration for
      real-time monitoring of oral bioaccessibility assays with high temporal
      resolution. A fully automated flow analyzer is designed to foster in-line
      filtration of gastrointestinal extracts at predefined times (<=15 min) followed
      by on-line multi-elemental analysis of bioaccessible micro-nutrients, viz., Cu,
      Fe and Mn, in well-defined volumes of extracts (300 MUL) of transgenic and non
      transgenic soybean seeds taken as model samples. The hyphenated flow setup allows
      for recording of temporal extraction profiles to gain full knowledge of the
      kinetics of the gastrointestinal digestion processes, including element leaching
      and concomitant precipitation and complexation reactions hindering
      bioavailability. Simplification of the overall standard procedure is also
      feasible by identification of steady-state extraction conditions. Our findings
      indicate that reliable measurement of oral bioaccessible pools of Cu, Fe and Mn
      in soybean might be obtained in less than 180 min rather than 240 min as endorsed
      by UBM. Using a matrix-matched external calibration, limits of detection
      according to the 3s criteria were 0.5 MUg/g for Mn, 0.6 MUg/g for Cu and 2.3
      MUg/g for Fe. Trueness of the automatic bioaccessibility method was confirmed by
      mass balance validation with recoveries ranging from 87 to 116% regardless of the
      target element and sample. Cu was the micronutrient with the highest oral
      bioaccessibility ranging from 73% to 83% (7.5-7.9 MUg/g) for non-transgenic and
      transgenic soybeans, respectively, followed by Mn and Fe within the ranges of 29
      31% (10.8-11.4 MUg/g) and 11-15% (8-14 MUg/g), respectively, regardless of
      transgenesis. The proposed kinetic method is proven suitable for fast and
      expedient estimation of the nutritional value of soybeans and elucidation of the
      potential effect of transgenesis onto bioaccessible fractions of elements.

PMID- 27639140
TI  - Recent trends in the determination of biogenic amines in fermented beverages - A
      review.
AB  - Biogenic amines (BA) are generally considered as a food hazard, even though there
      is not a threshold for these biomolecules in the European legislation, except for
      histamine in fishery products. These compounds are formed during the storage and
      processing of certain foods through microbiological activity, and when present in
      high concentrations, could have toxicological effects, causing health problems in
      consumers, especially to sensitive persons. This fact, in addition to the
      economical concern involved, makes it necessary to control the amounts of
      biogenic amines in foods. For all these reasons, literature on biogenic amines in
      different food products, especially in fermented beverages, is extensive. This
      review provides an overview of the most recent trends in the determination of
      biogenic amines in fermented beverages focusing on novelty, improvement and
      optimization of analytical methods. Hence, the different sample treatment
      procedures (including derivatization), the most important analytical techniques
      and the most frequent applications are described and discussed. Although biogenic
      amines have been determined in wine and other fermented beverages for decades,
      new advancements and technical possibilities have allowed to increase the
      accuracy and sensitivity of analytical methods, in order to overcome the
      challenges posed by the complex matrices and their high intrinsic variability.
      Thus, the different purposes of BA determination (food safety, production process
      or food microbiology research) and the most widely employed analytical techniques
      have been reviewed. 

PMID- 27639141
TI  - Are metal-organic frameworks able to provide a new generation of solid-phase
      microextraction coatings? - A review.
AB  - Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a powerful technique commonly used in
      sample preparation for extraction/preconcentration of analytes from a wide
      variety of samples. Among the trends in improving SPME applications, current
      investigations are focused on the development of novel coatings able to improve
      the extraction efficiency, sensitivity, and thermal and mechanical stability,
      within other properties, of current commercial SPME fibers. Metal-organic
      frameworks (MOFs) merit to be highlighted as promising sorbent materials in SPME
      schemes. MOFs are porous hybrid materials composed by metal ions and organic
      linkers, presenting the highest surface areas known, with ease synthesis and high
      tuneability, together with adequate chemical and thermal stability. For MOF based
      SPME fibers, it results important to pretreat adequately the SPME supports to
      ensure the correct formation of the MOF onto the fiber or the attachment MOF
      support. This, in turn, will increase the final stability of the fiber while
      generating uniform coatings. This review provides a critical overview of the
      current state of the use of MOFs as SPME coatings, not only highlighting the
      advantages of these materials versus commercial SPME coatings in terms of
      stability, selectivity, and sensitivity; but also insightfully describing the
      current methods to obtain reproducible MOF-based SPME coatings. 

PMID- 27639142
TI  - Analytical solution and meaning of feasible regions in two-component three-way
      arrays.
AB  - Although many efforts have been directed to the development of approximation
      methods for determining the extent of feasible regions in two- and three-way data
      sets; analytical determination (i.e. using only finite-step direct calculation(s)
      instead of the less exact numerical ones) of feasible regions in three-way arrays
      has remained unexplored. In this contribution, an analytical solution of
      trilinear decomposition is introduced which can be considered as a new direct
      method for the resolution of three-way two-component systems. The proposed
      analytical calculation method is applied to the full rank three-way data array
      and arrays with rank overlap (a type of rank deficiency) loadings in a mode.
      Close inspections of the analytically calculated feasible regions of rank
      deficient cases help us to make clearer the information gathered from multi-way
      problems frequently emerged in physics, chemistry, biology, agricultural,
      environmental and clinical sciences, etc. These examinations can also help to
      answer, e.g., the following practical question: "Is two-component three-way data
      with proportional loading in a mode actually a three-way data array?" By the aid
      of the additional information resulted from the investigated feasible regions of
      two-component three-way data arrays with proportional profile in a mode, reasons
      for the inadequacy of the seemingly trilinear data treatment methods published in
      the literature (e.g., U-PLS/RBL-LD that was used for extraction of quantitative
      and qualitative information reported by Olivieri et al. (Anal. Chem. 82 (2010)
      4510-4519)) could be completely understood. 

PMID- 27639143
TI  - A novel polymeric ionic liquid-coated magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes for
      the solid-phase extraction of Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase.
AB  - A novel magnetic adsorbent, benzyl groups functionalized imidazolium-based
      polymeric ionic liquid (PIL)-coated magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes
      (MWCNTs) (m-MWCNTs@PIL), has been successfully synthesized and applied for the
      extraction of Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu, Zn-SOD). The m-MWCNTs@PIL were
      characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry
      (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron
      microscopy (FESEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and zeta-potential
      nanoparticles. In this method, the m-MWCNTs@PIL could interact with Cu, Zn-SOD
      through hydrogen bonding, pi-pi and electrostatic interactions. The extraction
      performance of the m-MWCNTs@PIL in the magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE)
      procedure was investigated, coupled with the determination by UV-vis
      spectrophotometer. Compared with m-MWCNTs@IL and m-MWCNTs, the m-MWCNTs@PIL
      exhibited the highest extraction capacity of 29.1 mg/g for Cu, Zn-SOD. The
      adsorbed Cu, Zn-SOD remained high specific activity after being eluted from m
      MWCNTs@PIL by 1 moL/L NaCl solution. Besides, the m-MWCNTs@PIL could be easily
      recycled and successfully employed in the extraction of Cu, Zn-SOD from real
      samples. Under the optimal conditions, the precision, repeatability and stability
      of the proposed method were investigated and the RSDs were 0.29%, 1.68% and
      0.54%, respectively. Recoveries were in the range of 82.7-102.3%, with the RSD
      between 3.47% and 5.35%. On the basis of these results, the developed method has
      great potential in the extraction of Cu, Zn-SOD or other analytes from biological
      samples. 

PMID- 27639145
TI  - Urinary exposure marker discovery for toxicants using ultra-high pressure liquid
      chromatography coupled with Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry and three
      untargeted metabolomics approaches.
AB  - Human biomonitoring is the assessment of actual internal contamination of
      chemicals by measuring exposure markers, chemicals or their metabolites, in human
      urine, blood, serum, and other body fluids. However, the metabolism of chemicals
      within an organism is extremely complex. Therefore, the identification of
      metabolites is often difficult and laborious. Several untargeted metabolomics
      methods have been developed to perform objective searching/filtering of accurate
      mass-based LC-MS data to facilitate metabolite identification. In this study,
      three metabolomics data processing approaches were used for chemical exposure
      marker discovery in urine with an LTQ-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry
      (HRMS) dataset; di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) was used as an example. The data
      processing techniques included the SMAIT, mass defect filtering (MDF), and XCMS
      Online. Sixteen, 83, and 139 probable DINP metabolite signals were obtained using
      the SMAIT, MDF, and XCMS procedures, respectively. Fourteen probable metabolite
      signals mined simultaneously by the three metabolomics approaches were confirmed
      as DINP metabolites by structural information provided by LC-MS/MS. Among them,
      13 probable metabolite signals were validated as exposure-related markers in a
      rat model. Six (m/z 319.155, 361.127, 373.126, 389.157, 437.112 and 443.130) of
      the 13 exposure-related DINP metabolite signals have not previously been reported
      in the literature. Our data indicate that SMAIT provided an efficient method to
      discover effectively and systematically urinary exposure markers of toxicant. The
      DINP metabolism information can provide valuable information for further
      investigations of DINP toxicity, toxicokinetics, exposure assessment, and human
      health effects. 

PMID- 27639144
TI  - Determination of ion mobility collision cross sections for unresolved isomeric
      mixtures using tandem mass spectrometry and chemometric deconvolution.
AB  - Ion mobility (IM) is an important analytical technique for determining ion
      collision cross section (CCS) values in the gas-phase and gaining insight into
      molecular structures and conformations. However, limited instrument resolving
      powers for IM may restrict adequate characterization of conformationally similar
      ions, such as structural isomers, and reduce the accuracy of IM-based CCS
      calculations. Recently, we introduced an automated technique for extracting
      "pure" IM and collision-induced dissociation (CID) mass spectra of IM overlapping
      species using chemometric deconvolution of post-IM/CID mass spectrometry (MS)
      data [J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom., 2014, 25, 1810-1819]. Here we extend those
      capabilities to demonstrate how extracted IM profiles can be used to calculate
      accurate CCS values of peptide isomer ions which are not fully resolved by IM. We
      show that CCS values obtained from deconvoluted IM spectra match with CCS values
      measured from the individually analyzed corresponding peptides on uniform field
      IM instrumentation. We introduce an approach that utilizes experimentally
      determined IM arrival time (AT) "shift factors" to compensate for ion
      acceleration variations during post-IM/CID and significantly improve the accuracy
      of the calculated CCS values. Also, we discuss details of this IM deconvolution
      approach and compare empirical CCS values from traveling wave (TW)IM-MS and drift
      tube (DT)IM-MS with theoretically calculated CCS values using the projected
      superposition approximation (PSA). For example, experimentally measured
      deconvoluted TWIM-MS mean CCS values for doubly-protonated RYGGFM, RMFGYG,
      MFRYGG, and FRMYGG peptide isomers were 288.8 A(2), 295.1 A(2), 296.8 A(2), and
      300.1 A(2); all four of these CCS values were within 1.5% of independently
      measured DTIM-MS values. 

PMID- 27639147
TI  - Trace detection of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with a SERS-based capillary
      platform prepared by the in situ microwave synthesis of AgNPs.
AB  - In the present study, an ultra-sensitive and highly reproducible novel SERS-based
      capillary platform was developed and utilized for the trace detection of
      tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The approach combines the advantages of microwave
      assisted nanoparticle synthesis, plasmonics and capillary forces. By employing a
      microwave-assisted preparation method, glass capillaries were reproducibly coated
      with silver nanoparticles in a batch fabrication process that required a
      processing time of 3 min without needing to use any pre-surface modifications or
      add surfactants. The coated capillaries exhibited an excellent SERS activity with
      a high reproducibility and enabled the detection of low concentrations of target
      molecules. At the same time, only a small amount of analyte and a short and
      simple incubation process was required. The developed platform was applied to the
      spectroscopic characterization of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its
      identification at concentration levels down to 1 nM. Thus, a highly efficient
      detection system for practical applications, e.g., in drug monitoring/detection,
      is introduced, which can be fabricated at low cost by using microwave-assisted
      batch synthesis techniques. 

PMID- 27639146
TI  - High-performance fluorescence-encoded magnetic microbeads as microfluidic protein
      chip supports for AFP detection.
AB  - Fluorescence-encoded magnetic microbeads (FEMMs), with the fluorescence encoding
      ability of quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic enrichment and separation functions of
      Fe3O4 nanoparticles, have been widely used for multiple biomolecular detection as
      microfluidic protein chip supports. However, the preparation of FEMMs with long
      term fluorescent encoding and immunodetection stability is still a challenge. In
      this work, we designed a novel high-temperature chemical swelling strategy. The
      QDs and Fe3O4 nanoparticles were effectively packaged into microbeads via the
      thermal motion of the polymer chains and the hydrophobic interaction between the
      nanoparticles and microbeads. The FEMMs obtained a highly uniform fluorescent
      property and long-term encoding and immunodetection stability and could be
      quickly magnetically separated and enriched. Then, the QD-encoded magnetic
      microbeads were applied to alpha fetoprotein (AFP) detection via sandwich
      immunoreaction. The properties of the encoded microspheres were characterized
      using a self-designed detecting apparatus, and the target molecular concentration
      in the sample was also quantified. The results suggested that the high
      performance FEMMs have great potential in the field of biomolecular detection. 

PMID- 27639148
TI  - Application of MoS2 modified screen-printed electrodes for highly sensitive
      detection of bovine serum albumin.
AB  - The present work reports the application of a new molybdenum disulphide (MoS2)
      based electrochemical platform for highly sensitive quantitation of an iron
      binding protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA). The gold screen-printed electrodes
      were modified with MoS2 nanoflakes, followed by bioconjugation with anti-BSA
      antibodies. Using the above bioelectrode, cyclic voltammetric analysis was
      carried out in the presence of a Fe(3+)/Fe(2+) redox probe which exhibited a
      linear response of peak current with varying concentrations of BSA up to 10 ng/mL
      (with a detection limit of 0.006 ng/mL). This study is novel in that it shows a
      considerable enhancement of signal during electrochemical sensing of a protein. 

PMID- 27639149
TI  - Chitosan-iron oxide nanocomposite based electrochemical aptasensor for
      determination of malathion.
AB  - An electrochemical aptasensor based on chitosan-iron oxide nanocomposite (CHIT
      IO) film deposited on fluorine tin Oxide (FTO) was developed for the detection of
      malathion. Iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method and
      characterized by Transmission electron microscopy and UV-Visible spectroscopy.
      The biotinylated DNA aptamer sequence specific to the malathion was immobilized
      onto the iron oxide doped-chitosan/FTO electrode by using streptavidin as linking
      molecule. Various characterization studies like Field Emission-Scanning Electron
      Microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), and
      Electrochemical studies were performed to attest the successful fabrication of
      bioelectrodes. Experimental parameters like aptamer concentration, response time,
      stability of electrode and reusability studies were optimized. Aptamer
      immobilized chitosan-iron oxide nanocomposite (APT/SA/CHIT-IO/FTO) bioelectrodes
      exhibited LOD of about 0.001 ng/mL within 15 min and spike-in studies revealed
      about 80-92% recovery of malathion from the lettuce leaves and soil sample. 

PMID- 27639150
TI  - Chromatographic selectivity of poly(alkyl methacrylate-co-divinylbenzene)
      monolithic columns for polar aromatic compounds by pressure-driven capillary
      liquid chromatography.
AB  - In this study, divinylbenzene (DVB) was used as the cross-linker to prepare alkyl
      methacrylate (AlMA) monoliths for incorporating pi-pi interactions between the
      aromatic analytes and AlMA-DVB monolithic stationary phases in capillary LC
      analysis. Various AlMA/DVB ratios were investigated to prepare a series of 30%
      AlMA-DVB monolithic stationary phases in fused-silica capillaries (250-MUm i.d.).
      The physical properties (such as porosity, permeability, and column efficiency)
      of the synthesized AlMA-DVB monolithic columns were investigated for
      characterization. Isocratic elution of phenol derivatives was first employed to
      evaluate the suitability of the prepared AlMA-DVB columns for small molecule
      separation. The run-to-run (0.16-1.20%, RSD; n = 3) and column-to-column (0.26
      2.95%, RSD; n = 3) repeatabilities on retention times were also examined using
      the selected AlMA-DVB monolithic columns. The pi-pi interactions between the
      aromatic ring and the DVB-based stationary phase offered better recognition on
      polar analytes with aromatic moieties, which resulted in better separation
      resolution of aromatic analytes on the AlMA-DVB monolithic columns. In order to
      demonstrate the capability of potential environmental and/or food safety
      applications, eight phenylurea herbicides with single benzene ring and seven
      sulfonamide antibiotics with polyaromatic moieties were analyzed using the
      selected AlMA-DVB monolithic columns. 

PMID- 27639152
TI  - Letter from Frisch Re: Examining Penile Sensitivity in Neonatally Circumcised and
      Intact Men Using Quantitative Sensory Testing: J. A. Bossio, C. F. Pukall and S.
      S. Steele J Urol 2016;195:1848-1853.

PMID- 27639151
TI  - Droplet Digital PCR Analysis of GSTM1 Deletion Polymorphism in Psoriatic Subjects
      Treated with Goeckerman Therapy.
AB  - Goeckerman therapy (GT) represents an effective treatment of psoriasis including
      a combination of pharmaceutical grade crude coal tar (CCT) and ultraviolet
      irradiation (UV-R). Coal tar contains a mixture of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons. The best known carcinogenic polyaromate - benzo[a]pyrene is
      metabolized into a highly reactive benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE).
      Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) catalyses the conjugation of drugs, toxins
      and products of oxidative stress with glutathione. The aim of the study is to
      found possible associations between GSTM1 genotypes and the level of BPDE-DNA
      adducts in 46 psoriatic patients treated with GT. For genotyping, droplet digital
      PCR was applied. The GSTM1 copy number was normalized to beta-globin reference
      gene. In five GSTM1*1/*1 subjects, the GSTM1 to beta-globin ratio moved from 0.99
      to 1.03 with a median of 1.01. GSTM1*0/*1 heterozygotes (n = 20) contained only
      one GSTM1 function allele which conditioned the ratio 0.47-0.53 (median 0.50).
      GSTM1*0/*0 individuals (n = 21) showed no amplification of the null variants
      because of the large deletion in GSTM1. BPDE-DNA concentrations ranged from 1.8
      to 66.3 ng/ug with a median of 12.3 ng/ug. GSTM1*0/*0 and GSTM1*0/*1 genotypes
      showed non-significantly higher concentrations of BPDE-DNA adducts than the
      GSTM1*1/*1 one (12.3 and 12.4 vs 7.8 ng/ug). The non-significant relationship
      between BPDE-DNA adducts and GSTM1 genotypes in psoriatic patients could be
      associated with relatively low doses of CCT and short-term UV-R exposures used in
      GT.

PMID- 27639153
TI  - Hemimandibular Elongation: Is the Corrected Occlusion Maintained Long-Term? Does
      the Mandible Continue to Grow?
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess for the maintenance of a
      corrected occlusion and ongoing mandibular growth in a group of patients younger
      than 26 years with hemimandibular elongation (HME) who underwent bimaxillary
      orthognathic reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective
      cohort study of HME patients operated on by a single surgeon at 1 institution
      between 1999 and 2013. At a minimum, all patients underwent Le Fort I and
      bilateral sagittal ramus osteotomies. Study exclusions included patients aged 26
      years or older; those with clefts, craniofacial disorders, or tumors; and those
      with a history of temporomandibular joint or orthognathic surgery. The study
      variables included age, gender, side of condylar hyperactivity, premolar
      extractions, extent of mandibular deformity and malocclusion, planned surgical
      change, and longitudinal follow-up. The outcome variables studied were the
      achievement and maintenance of a corrected occlusion and the occurrence of
      continued mandibular growth after surgery. We compared the occlusion at intervals
      including the following: before surgery (T1), 5 weeks postoperatively (T2), and
      either 6 to 24 months after surgery (T3) or more than 2 years after surgery (T4).
      Anterior occlusion assessment included evaluation of overjet, overbite, and
      dental midline position. Posterior occlusion assessment included the Angle
      classification, first molar vertical position, and first molar transverse
      position. If the corrected anterior occlusion remained stable and no posterior
      open bite occurred, then no clinically significant condylar hyperactivity and/or
      ongoing mandibular growth was judged to have occurred. RESULTS: Seventy-six
      consecutive patients met the inclusion criteria. Age at operation averaged 18
      years (range, 14.5 to 25 years), and the study included 44 female patients (58%).
      T3 patients (10 of 76, 13%) had documentation of occlusion at a mean of 19 months
      after surgery. T4 patients (66 of 76, 87%) had documentation of occlusion at a
      mean of 5 years 8 months after surgery. Only 1 of the 76 study patients (1%) was
      judged to have clinically significant ongoing mandibular growth after
      reconstruction. For all other patients, a corrected anterior occlusion was
      maintained long-term, and a posterior open bite did not develop in any. In 7 of
      the 76 patients (9%), there was a recurrent posterior crossbite by 1 year after
      completion of orthodontics but without the need for retreatment. An association
      was confirmed between mandibular setback and long-term posterior malocclusion
      even with simultaneous maxillary advancement (P = .05). CONCLUSIONS: In HME, a
      favorable occlusion can be reliably achieved and maintained long-term in most
      cases using standard bimaxillary orthognathic technique. The need for mandibular
      setback, even in the presence of simultaneous maxillary advancement, proved to be
      a factor in the recurrence of long-term posterior malocclusion, although the risk
      remains low. The results clarify that in patients with HME, by use of the
      described techniques and timing for surgery, there is no need for an ablative
      open joint procedure to arrest condylar growth.

PMID- 27639154
TI  - Ascending Facial Necrotizing Fasciitis in a Patient Taking a Bisphosphonate.
AB  - Facial necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a rare fulminant infection of the soft and
      connective tissues that spreads along the fascial planes of the face. Its origins
      most commonly involve odontogenic infection and it is usually associated with a
      history of dentoalveolar surgery, such as tooth extraction or implant placement.
      We present a case of ascending facial NF with odontogenic origin in a patient
      taking a bisphosphonate.

PMID- 27639155
TI  - Evaluation of OK-432 Injection Therapy as Possible Primary Treatment of Intraoral
      Ranula.
AB  - PURPOSE: A ranula is a pseudocyst caused by mucous extravasation from the
      sublingual gland. Recently, a sclerosing agent, OK-432 (picibanil), has been
      reported to be highly effective for treating lymphangioma and cervical cystic
      lesions. The present study assessed the effectiveness of OK-432 injection therapy
      for intraoral ranula to clarify whether it can be used as the primary treatment.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present study was a retrospective clinical study of
      patients with intraoral ranula who received OK-432 injection therapy from 2005 to
      2015. The ranula size was measured on computed tomography or magnetic resonance
      imaging studies. We dissolved 1 Klinische Einheit (KE) unit of OK-432 powder in
      normal saline equal to the aspiration volume. The primary endpoint was the
      treatment results. The secondary endpoints were the relation between the
      treatment results and the lesion length and aspiration volume. RESULTS: A total
      of 23 patients received OK-432 injection therapy for an intraoral ranula. The
      mean lesion size was 19.96 mm. The mean aspiration volume was 2.14 mL. The number
      of injections was 1 to 4 (mean 1.70). The treatment results were complete
      regression (CR) in 18 (78.2%), partial regression (PR) in 3 (13.0%), and no
      response (NR) in 2 (8%) patients after the last injection. The overall efficacy
      rate was 91.2% (21 of 23). No serious complications were observed. The lesion
      length and aspiration volume of the CR group was 17.38 mm and 1.40 mL,
      respectively. The lesion length and aspiration volume of the PR/NR group was
      29.20 mm and 4.80 mL, respectively. The PR/NR group lesions were significantly
      larger than the CR group lesions. CONCLUSIONS: OK-432 injection therapy for
      intraoral ranula is safe and effective compared with other surgical therapies.
      This therapy could potentially become a primary treatment of intraoral ranula.

PMID- 27639156
TI  - The role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded, endogenous non-coding small RNAs, ranging
      from 18 to 25 nucleotides in length. Growing evidence suggests that miRNAs are
      essential in regulating gene expression, cell development, differentiation and
      function. Autoimmune diseases are a family of chronic systemic inflammatory
      diseases. Recent findings on miRNA expression profiles have been suggesting their
      role as biomarkers in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus,
      rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. In this review, we summarize the
      characteristics of miRNAs and their functional role in the immune system and
      autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus, primary Sjogren's
      syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, multiple sclerosis and
      psoriasis; moreover, we depict the advantages of miRNAs in modern diagnostics.

PMID- 27639158
TI  - Cruising With Sexual Medicine Reviews.

PMID- 27639159
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27639157
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of valvular heart disease in patients with systemic
      lupus erythematosus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the frequency, severity and predictors of valvular
      heart disease (VHD) in our lupus cohort. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 211 patients were
      included. A transthoracic echocardiogram was used for this study. Significant
      valvular lesions were classified into two groups: valvular thickening and
      valvular dysfunction. Univariate logistic regression was performed in order to
      find associations with valvular thickening and dysfunction. Those variables with
      a p value <=0.1 in the univariate analysis were subsequently included in multiple
      logistic regression models. RESULTS: Significant valve lesions were found in 53
      patients (25%). The independent predictors of valvular thickening were the age at
      the time of the echocardiogram (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.7), lymphopenia (OR 3.6,
      95%CI 1.4-9.5), thrombocytopenia (OR 2.65, 95%CI 1.24-5.72), and anti-Sm
      antibodies (OR 3.28, 95%CI 1.44-7.33). The independent predictors of valvular
      dysfunction were age at the time of the echocardiogram (OR 1.045, 95%CI 1.009
      1.083), thrombocytopenia (OR 5, 95%CI 1.66-14.86), hypertension (OR 6.2, 95%CI
      2.1-18.4) and aPL (OR 6.2, 95%CI 2.1-18.4). Regarding the latter, the independent
      relation with valvular dysfunction was only seen for the double positivity
      aCL/LA, (OR 13.2, 95%CI 3.8-45.2, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the
      high prevalence of significant VHD in SLE patients. Clinical variables related
      with persistent inflammatory activity were associated with VHD. The association
      between VHD and aPL positivity was confirmed. Double-positive aCL/LA patients
      were most likely to suffer from valvular dysfunction.

PMID- 27639160
TI  - Clinical Decision Support at the Point-of-Order Entry: An Education Simulation
      Pilot with Medical Students.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: We have been called to reform radiology undergraduate
      medical education (UME) curricula. Clinically available clinical decision support
      provides an opportunity to improve education regarding appropriate imaging
      utilization, patient safety, and cost-effective care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      created an education simulation portal utilizing integrated clinical decision
      support. The portal was then piloted with 34 volunteer medical students at our
      institution in a blended learning environment. A program assessment was performed
      utilizing the results from a qualitative survey, pre-test, and post-test.
      RESULTS: The large majority of medical students felt this supplemental education
      resource should be included in our UME curriculum (85.29%). All students
      perceived value in the education simulation portal. The students performed
      significantly better on the post-test in multiple categories (overall P <.0001),
      including Choosing Wisely topics (P = .0207). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our program
      assessment from this pilot program, we believe this innovative educational
      resource has significant potential to fill curricular gaps in radiology UME
      curricula. This platform is scalable and can be further customized to fill needs
      across the continuum of medical education.

PMID- 27639162
TI  - Body distortions in Anorexia Nervosa: Evidence for changed processing of
      multisensory bodily signals.
AB  - Body size and shape distortion is a core feature of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) -
      patients experience their body as fat while objectively being very thin. The
      cause of this distortion is unclear and disturbances in body perception could be
      involved. Body perception comprises estimating shape and location of one's body
      and requires integrating multisensory signals. We investigated if and how body
      location perception is changed and tested 23 AN patients and 23 healthy controls
      (HC) in a Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) reaching paradigm. We presented two types of
      multisensory conflicts (visual-proprioceptive hand location; visual-tactile touch
      synchrony) and tested if the impact of visual-proprioceptive and visual-tactile
      signals on hand location perception differs between AN and HC groups. We found
      significant group differences in shifts of reaching trajectories, indicating that
      the influence of proprioceptive signals on hand location estimates is reduced in
      AN. Hand location estimates were relatively more biased towards external visual
      information, and shorter illness durations predicted a larger visual bias.
      Although touch synchrony also significantly influenced hand location estimates,
      this effect did not differ between groups. Our findings provide compelling
      evidence that multisensory body location perception - specifically the processing
      of visual-proprioceptive signals - is changed in AN.

PMID- 27639161
TI  - West African Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes harbor a taxonomically diverse virome
      including new insect-specific flaviviruses, mononegaviruses, and totiviruses.
AB  - Anopheles gambiae are a major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Viruses
      that naturally infect these mosquitoes may impact their physiology and ability to
      transmit pathogens. We therefore used metagenomics sequencing to search for
      viruses in adult Anopheles mosquitoes collected from Liberia, Senegal, and
      Burkina Faso. We identified a number of virus and virus-like sequences from
      mosquito midgut contents, including 14 coding-complete genome segments and 26
      partial sequences. The coding-complete sequences define new viruses in the order
      Mononegavirales, and the families Flaviviridae, and Totiviridae. The
      identification of a flavivirus infecting Anopheles mosquitoes broadens our
      understanding of the evolution and host range of this virus family. This study
      increases our understanding of virus diversity in general, begins to define the
      virome of a medically important vector in its natural setting, and lays
      groundwork for future studies examining the potential impact of these viruses on
      anopheles biology and disease transmission.

PMID- 27639163
TI  - The effects of working memory training on enhancing hedonic processing to
      affective rewards in individuals with high social anhedonia.
AB  - Anhedonia is a core feature of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and is less
      responsive to antipsychotic medication. Little is known whether anhedonia could
      be alleviated by cognitive training. The present study aimed to examine whether
      hedonic deficits observed in individuals with high social anhedonia could be
      reduced by working memory (WM) training. Thirty-four individuals with high social
      anhedonia were randomly assigned to either a WM training group or a control
      group. The WM training group received 20 sessions of dual n-back task training
      for four weeks. The affective incentive delay task was administered in all
      participants before the training and one month later. The results showed that
      individuals who received the WM training showed significant improvement in WM
      performance (F(19, 304)=55.80, p<0.001) and they also showed significant
      improvement in approach sensitivity to rewards (p=0.004). These preliminary
      findings suggest that hedonic processing could be improved through WM training in
      individuals with high social anhedonia. These results may have important
      implications for the development of non-pharmacological interventions to
      alleviate anhedonia in patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 27639164
TI  - Cellular Prion Protein Mediates Pancreatic Cancer Cell Survival and Invasion
      through Association with and Enhanced Signaling of Notch1.
AB  - Up-regulation of human prion protein (PrP) in patients with pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with a poor prognosis. However, the
      underlying molecular mechanism of PrP-mediated tumorigenesis is not completely
      understood. In this study, we found that PDAC cell lines can be divided into
      either PrP high expresser or PrP low expresser. In addition to filamin A (FLNA),
      PrP interacts with Notch1, forming a PrP/FLNA/Notch1 complex. Silencing PrP in
      high-expresser cells decreases Notch1 expression and Notch1 signaling. These
      cells exhibited decreased proliferation, xenograft growth, and tumor invasion but
      show increased tumor apoptosis. These phenotypes were rescued by ectopically
      expressed and activated Notch1. By contrast, overexpression of PrP in low
      expressers increases Notch1 expression and signaling, enhances proliferation, and
      increases tumor invasion and xenograft growth that can be blocked by a Notch
      inhibitor. Our data further suggest that PrP increases Notch1 stability likely
      through suppression of Notch proteosome degradation. Additionally, we found that
      targeting PrP combined with anti-Notch is much more effective than singularly
      targeted therapy in retarding PDAC growth. Finally, we show that coexpression of
      PrP and Notch1 confers an even poorer prognosis than PrP expression alone. Taken
      together, our results have unraveled a novel molecular pathway driven by
      interactions between PrP and Notch1 in the progression of PDAC, supporting a
      critical tumor-promoting role of Notch1 in PrP-expressing PDAC tumors.

PMID- 27639165
TI  - Role of Integrins alpha1beta1 and alpha2beta1 in Wound and Tumor Angiogenesis in
      Mice.
AB  - Integrins are transmembrane receptors composed of one alpha subunit and one beta
      subunit and are involved in cellular growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. The
      collagen-binding integrins alpha1beta1 and alpha2beta1 have been shown to
      regulate wound and tumor vascularization by different mechanisms. In this study,
      we assessed wound and tumor vascularization in mice with genetic ablation of both
      integrin subunits alpha1 and alpha2, which resulted in loss of integrins
      alpha1beta1 and alpha2beta1. Wound angiogenesis was investigated in excisional
      wounds that were inflicted on the back skin of control and mice lacking integrin
      alpha1beta1 and alpha2beta1. Mutant mice displayed reduced wound angiogenesis,
      which correlated with decreased macrophage numbers at 3 and 7 days after injury,
      and showed significantly attenuated vascularization of sponge implants.
      Angiogenesis induced by tumors arising from intradermal injection of B16 F1
      melanoma cells was also reduced in comparison to controls 7 days after injection.
      This reduction in angiogenesis correlated with increased levels and activity of
      circulating matrix metalloproteinase 9 and elevated angiostatin levels in plasma
      of mutant mice, which reduced endothelial cell proliferation. Ex vivo mutant
      aortic ring explants developed significantly fewer and thinner aortic sprouts
      with fewer branch points than controls because of impaired endothelial cell
      proliferation. In conclusion, the loss of integrins alpha1beta1 and alpha2beta1
      in mice results in reduced wound and tumor angiogenesis by cell-autonomous and
      extrinsic mechanisms.

PMID- 27639168
TI  - Plasmonic Bi metal as cocatalyst and photocatalyst: The case of Bi/(BiO)2CO3 and
      Bi particles.
AB  - Semimetal bismuth with plasmonic properties has triggered increased interests. In
      this work, a facile strategy was developed to synthesize the Bi/(BiO)2CO3 (Bi
      BOC) nanocomposites and Bi elemental photocatalysts. The Bi nanoparticles were
      produced via the insitu reduction of (BiO)2CO3 by NaBH4. The catalysts were
      utilized for the photocatalytic NO removal under visible light and UV
      illumination. Significantly, the photocatalytic capability of the Bi-BOC was
      highly enhanced with an unprecedented NO removal of 63.6%. The Bi metal
      demonstrated a direct plasmonic photocatalytic NO removal ratio of 53.6% under UV
      irradiation. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic capability of Bi-BOC can
      be ascribed to the synergistic effects of the SPR effect, enhanced visible-light
      harvesting and the efficient electron-hole separation induced by Bi
      nanoparticles. The Bi nanoparticles can perform as a non-noble metal-based
      plasmonic cocatalyst for advancing photocatalytic ability. The mechanism of
      photocatalytic NO oxidation was proposed and compared under both visible light
      and UV illumination. Furthermore, the Bi-BOC photocatalysts showed good
      photochemical stability under repeated tests. This work could not only offer new
      insights into in-situ fine-tune reduction strategy for Bi-based photocatalysts,
      but also proves the potentials of utilizing low cost Bi cocatalysts as a
      substitute for noble metals to improve other photocatalysts.

PMID- 27639167
TI  - Hes1 Controls Exocrine Cell Plasticity and Restricts Development of Pancreatic
      Ductal Adenocarcinoma in a Mouse Model.
AB  - Perturbation of pancreatic acinar cell state can lead to acinar-to-ductal
      metaplasia (ADM), a precursor lesion to the development of pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In the pancreas, Notch signaling is active both during
      development and in adult cellular differentiation processes. Hes1, a key
      downstream target of the Notch signaling pathway, is expressed in the
      centroacinar compartment of the adult pancreas as well as in both preneoplastic
      and malignant lesions. In this study, we used a murine genetic in vivo approach
      to ablate Hes1 in pancreatic progenitor cells (Ptf1a+/Cre; Hes1fl/fl). Using this
      model, we studied the role of Hes1 in both acinar cell plasticity and pancreatic
      regeneration after caerulein-induced pancreatitis and in KrasG12D-driven PDAC
      development. We show that, although pancreatic development is not perturbed on
      the deletion of Hes1, terminal acinar differentiation in the adult pancreas is
      compromised. Moreover, the loss of Hes1 leads to the impaired regeneration of the
      exocrine compartment, accelerated fatty metaplasia, and persistent ADM after
      acute caerulein-induced pancreatitis. In KrasG12D-driven carcinogenesis, Hes1
      ablation resulted in increased ADM, decreased formation of high-grade pancreatic
      intraepithelial neoplasias, and accelerated development of PDAC with shortened
      survival time. In conclusion, Hes1 plays a key role in acinar cell integrity and
      plasticity on cellular insults. Furthermore, Hes1 is an essential component of
      the pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias-to-PDAC route in KrasG12D-driven mouse
      pancreatic carcinogenesis.

PMID- 27639166
TI  - Formaldehyde Is a Potent Proteotoxic Stressor Causing Rapid Heat Shock
      Transcription Factor 1 Activation and Lys48-Linked Polyubiquitination of
      Proteins.
AB  - Endogenous and exogenous formaldehyde (FA) has been linked to cancer,
      neurotoxicity, and other pathophysiologic effects. Molecular and cellular
      mechanisms that underlie FA-induced damage are poorly understood. In this study,
      we investigated whether proteotoxicity is an important, unrecognized factor in
      cell injury caused by FA. We found that irrespective of their cell cycle phases,
      all FA-treated human cells rapidly accumulated large amounts of proteins with
      proteasome-targeting K48-linked polyubiquitin, which was comparable with levels
      of polyubiquitination in proteasome-inhibited MG132 controls. Both nuclear and
      cytoplasmic proteins were damaged and underwent K48-polyubiquitination. There
      were no significant changes in the nonproteolytic K63-polyubiquitination of
      soluble and insoluble cellular proteins. FA also rapidly induced nuclear
      accumulation and Ser326 phosphorylation of the main heat shock-responsive
      transcription factor HSF1, which was not a result of protein polyubiquitination.
      Consistent with the activation of the functional heat shock response, FA strongly
      elevated the expression of HSP70 genes. In contrast to the responsiveness of the
      cytoplasmic protein damage sensor HSF1, FA did not activate the unfolded protein
      response in either the endoplasmic reticulum or mitochondria. Inhibition of HSP90
      chaperone activity increased the levels of K48-polyubiquitinated proteins and
      diminished cell viability after FA treatment. Overall, our results indicate that
      FA is a strong proteotoxic agent, which helps explain its diverse pathologic
      effects, including injury in nonproliferative tissues.

PMID- 27639169
TI  - Microstructure and rheology of particle stabilized emulsions: Effects of particle
      shape and inter-particle interactions.
AB  - Using fumed and spherical silica particles of similar hydrodynamic size, we
      investigated the effects of particle shape and inter-particle interactions on the
      formation, stability and rheology of bromohexadecane-in-water Pickering
      emulsions. The interparticle interactions were varied from repulsive to
      attractive by modifying the salt concentration in the aqueous phase. Optical
      microscope images revealed smaller droplet sizes for the fumed silica stabilized
      emulsions. All the emulsions remained stable for several weeks. Cryo-SEM images
      of the emulsion droplets showed a hexagonally packed single layer of particles at
      oil-water interfaces in emulsions stabilized with silica spheres, irrespective of
      the nature of the inter-particle interactions. Thus, entropic, excluded volume
      interactions dominate the fate of spherical particles at oil-water interfaces. On
      the other hand, closely packed layers of particles were observed at oil-water
      interfaces for the fumed silica stabilized emulsions for both attractive and
      repulsive interparticle interactions. At the high salt concentrations, attractive
      inter-particles interactions led to aggregation of fumed silica particles, and
      multiple layers of these particles were then observed on the droplet surfaces. A
      network of fumed silica particles was also observed between the emulsion
      droplets, suggesting that enthalpic interactions are responsible for the
      determining particle configurations at oil-water interfaces as well as in the
      aqueous phase. Steady shear viscosity measurements over a range of shear
      stresses, as well as oscillatory shear measurements at 1Hz confirm the presence
      of a network in fumed silica suspensions and emulsions, and the lack of such a
      network when spherical particles are used. The fractal structure of fumed silica
      leads to several contact points and particle interlocking in the water as well as
      on the bromohexadecane-water interfaces, with corresponding effects on the
      structure and rheology of the emulsions. The attenuation of droplet motion due to
      the formation of a particle network can be exploited for stabilizing emulsions
      and for modulating their rheology.

PMID- 27639170
TI  - Fabrication of magnetic field induced structural colored films with tunable
      colors and its application on security materials.
AB  - A flexible, magnetic field induced structurally colored films with brilliant
      colors and high physical rigidity were reported in this article. Using an
      external magnetic field, the photocurable colloidal suspensions that containing
      superparamagnetic Fe3O4@C colloidal nanocrystal clusters (CNCs) could polymerize
      under UV light. After polymerization, the films with different colors (red,
      green, blue) were obtained. Through combination of suspensions which contains
      Fe3O4@C CNCs with different sizes, a series of multi-colored films were obtained.
      Moreover, these structural colors can be patterned easily by photolithography and
      various structural colored patterns were shown in the article. The structural
      colored patterns could conceal or display its color according to the changing of
      background which makes them hold significant potential applications for security
      materials.

PMID- 27639171
TI  - Terbium-doped manganese carbonate nanoparticles with intrinsic photoluminescence
      and magnetic resonance imaging capacity.
AB  - Herein, we present the first example of manganese carbonate (MnCO3) nanoparticles
      (NPs) featuring intrinsic photoluminescence (PL) and magnetic resonance (MR)
      imaging capacity by Terbium (Tb) doping. The Tb-doped MnCO3 NPs were prepared by
      one-step thermal decomposition of Mn-oleate precursor in the presence of Tb
      oleate. The oleate capped Tb-doped MnCO3 NPs are in rhombohedral shape with an
      average size of about 13nm. When endowed with high water-dispersible via
      replacing oleate with carboxylic silane, the Tb-doped MnCO3 NPs exhibit distinct
      intrinsic PL originated from the doped Tb3+ ions. Meanwhile, the MR imaging
      capacity of Tb-doped MnCO3 NPs is well retained, as demonstrated by a high r1
      relaxivity of 4.0428mM-1s-1 and a significant MR contrast enhancement effect
      towards tiny brain glioma in mice.

PMID- 27639172
TI  - Recent developments on titania nanoparticle as photocatalytic cancer cells
      treatment.
AB  - This review provides a background, fundamental and advanced application of
      titania nanoparticles (TiO2) on the disinfection and killing of cancer cell
      through photocatalytic chemistry. It starts with the characteristic properties
      focused on the surface, light sensitivity, crystallinity and toxicology of TiO2
      as a photocatalyst. Consequently, outline and design of photocatalytic reactor
      has been figured out based on the target organisms, including bacteria, viruses,
      fungi and cancer cells. Despite a large number of studies undertaken, limited
      selectivity and efficacy of TiO2 photocatalyst are still widely accepted
      problems. An ideal TiO2 photocatalyst should have the combined properties of
      highly stable reactive oxygen species yield and a greater degree of selectivity
      towards cancerous cell without damaging the healthy tissues. Hybridization of
      TiO2 with metal, metal oxide and carbon nano materials significantly improved
      both of stability and selectivity of TiO2, whilst maintaining its high
      Photodynamic reactivity. 

PMID- 27639173
TI  - A qualitative analysis of low income smokers' responses to tobacco excise tax
      increases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While increasing the excise tax applied to tobacco products reduces
      consumption and smoking prevalence, it may also cause hardship among smokers who
      do not quit. We explored how smokers living on a low income respond to increasing
      tobacco excise taxes. METHODS: Using a social justice perspective, we explored
      the increasing costs of tobacco with a sample of 27 adult smokers who live below
      the poverty line (i.e., with an income less than 60% of the median New Zealand
      income). Face-to-face interviews were conducted in Dunedin, New Zealand, a city
      with marked income differences, and were undertaken shortly after a further
      tobacco excise tax increase. The interview guide explored participants' smoking
      practices, their perceptions of excise tax as a strategy to reduce smoking
      prevalence, and the strategies they used to manage their tobacco needs. RESULTS:
      We identified three key themes: depriving the poor; tobacco as a precious
      commodity, and desperation. While many participants described smoking as a
      pleasure or coping mechanism, they also saw it as a burden that they struggled to
      manage. Despite trying to quit, most had failed to become smokefree and felt
      victimised by a punitive policy system that coerced change without supporting it.
      They managed financial pressure by reducing their tobacco consumption but also
      used increasingly desperate measures, including recycling waste tobacco;
      participants reported feeling demeaned by measures they saw as their only option.
      CONCLUSION: Providing intensive cessation support for lower income smokers could
      avoid further alienating a group already experiencing considerable disadvantage.

PMID- 27639174
TI  - Spacial and Temporal Patterns of Gene Expression After Cardiac MEK1 Gene Transfer
      Improve Post-Infarction Remodeling Without Inducing Global Hypertrophy.
AB  - Alteration of mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling in transgenic mice
      can ameliorate post-myocardial infarction (MI) remodeling. However, pre-existing
      changes in transgenic hearts and clinically unrealistic transgene expression
      likely affect the response to injury; it is unknown whether clinically relevant
      induction of transgene expression in an otherwise normal heart can yield similar
      benefits. Constitutively active MEK1 (aMEK1) or LacZ adeno-associated virus 9
      (AAV9) vectors were injected into the left ventricular (LV) chambers of mice
      either just before or after coronary ligation. Hearts were evaluated via Western
      blot, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, histology, and echocardiography.
      AAV9-mediated aMEK1 delivery altered ERK1/2 expression/activation as in
      transgenic mice. Transgene expression was not immediately detectable but
      plateaued at 17 days, and therefore did not likely impact acute ischemia as it
      would in transgenics. With AAV9-aMEK1 injection just prior to MI, robust
      expression in the infarct border zone during post-MI remodeling increased border
      zone wall thickness and reduced infarct size versus controls at 4 weeks, but did
      not induce global hypertrophy. Significant improvements in local and global LV
      function were observed, as were trends toward a preservation of LV volume.
      Delivery after ligation significantly lowered transgene expression in the infarct
      border zone and did not yield structural or functional benefits. The primary
      benefits observed in transgenic mice, ameliorated remodeling, and reduced chronic
      infarct size, were achievable via clinically relevant gene transfer of aMEK1,
      supporting ongoing translational efforts. Important differences, however, were
      observed, and consideration must be given to the timing and distribution of
      transgene delivery and expression. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 775-784, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27639175
TI  - NCSTN mutations in hidradenitis suppurativa/acne inversa do not influence
      cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

PMID- 27639177
TI  - Early dietary therapy for long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
      can maintain vision despite subnormal retinal function.

PMID- 27639176
TI  - Incidence of BK polyomavirus infection after kidney transplantation is
      independent of type of immunosuppressive therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: BK polyomavirus (BKV) infection and BKV nephropathy (BKVN) are risk
      factors for allograft function and survival. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed
      BK viremia and BKVN in 348 patients who received a kidney transplantation donated
      after brain death (n=232) or living donation (n=116) between 2008 and 2013. A
      total of 266 patients were treated with standard immunosuppression consisting of
      basiliximab induction, calcineurin inhibitor (CNI), and mycophenolic acid (MPA,
      n=219) or everolimus (n=47); 82 patients received more intense immunosuppression
      with lymphocyte depletion, CNI and MPA (n=38) or everolimus (n=44). RESULTS: BK
      viremia occurred in 33 (9.5%) patients in the first year and in 7 (2.0%)
      recipients in the second year after transplantation. BKVN occurred in 4 (1.1%)
      patients in the first year. Donor and recipient age, diabetes, previous
      transplantation, and type of transplantation (donated after brain death vs living
      donation) were not risk factors (P>.05). BK incidence did not differ depending on
      induction or maintenance immunosuppression. CONCLUSION: Incidence of BK viremia
      is independent of recipient characteristics, type of transplantation as well as
      induction and maintenance immunosuppression.

PMID- 27639178
TI  - Extracellular vesicles released by hepatocytes from gastric infusion model of
      alcoholic liver disease contain a MicroRNA barcode that can be detected in blood.
AB  - : Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released during cell stress, or demise, can
      contain a barcode of the cell origin, including specific microRNAs (miRNAs).
      Here, we tested the hypothesis that during early alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH)
      development, hepatocytes (HCs) release EVs with an miRNA signature that can be
      measured in circulation. A time-course experiment showed that after 2 weeks of
      intragastric infusion, a time point that results in isolated steatosis, there was
      no increase of blood EVs. After 4 weeks of infusion, mice developed features of
      early ASH accompanied by a marked increase in the level of EVs in blood (P <
      0.05), as well as in culture media of isolated HCs (P < 0.001) and hepatic
      macrophages (P < 0.001), with HCs being the predominant source of EVs. The
      transcriptome analysis of HC-EVs from ASH mice detected differentially expressed
      miRNAs, including nine significantly up-regulated and four significantly down
      regulated miRNAs. Target prediction and pathway analyses of the up-regulated
      miRNAs identified 121 potential target genes involved in inflammatory and cancer
      pathways, such as nuclear factor kappa B, EGF, Wnt, and B-cell lymphoma 2. Three
      miRNAs, let7f, miR-29a, and miR-340, were increased in blood EVs from ASH mice (P
      < 0.05), but not in blood EVs from three other models of chronic liver injury,
      including bile duct ligation, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and obese mice, as
      well as EVs released from hepatocytes exposed to ethanol. Blood EV level (P <
      0.01) and three miRNAs (P < 0.05) were significantly increased in patients with
      ambulatory mild ALD as compared to nonalcoholics. CONCLUSION: Damaged hepatocytes
      from ASH mice are a key EV source with a specific miRNA cargo, which are specific
      for ASH-related liver injury. These findings uncover EVs as a potentially novel
      diagnostic for ASH. (Hepatology 2017;65:475-490).

PMID- 27639179
TI  - Beta-catenin causes fibrotic changes in the extracellular matrix via upregulation
      of collagen I transcription.

PMID- 27639181
TI  - Monitoring vitamin D in the patient with melanoma: impact of sun avoidance on
      vitamin D levels of patients with melanoma at a U.K. tertiary-referral melanoma
      service.

PMID- 27639180
TI  - Pathological alterations involve the entire skin physiological milieu in
      infantile and early-childhood port-wine stain.

PMID- 27639182
TI  - Effects of kinsenoside, a potential immunosuppressive drug for autoimmune
      hepatitis, on dendritic cells/CD8+ T cells communication in mice.
AB  - : The central purpose of this study was to investigate therapeutic effects of the
      botanical derivative, kinsenoside (KD), in experimental autoimmune hepatitis
      (AIH). Treatment with KD substantially reduced hepatic histopathological damage,
      induced by lymphocyte infiltration and proinflammatory cytokines, in concanavalin
      A-induced T-cell-mediated hepatitis, and in dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with
      hepatocellular carcinoma cells (DC/Hepa1-6) induced murine AIH. Interactions
      between immune cells after KD treatment in AIH were detected by anti-CD8 antibody
      blocking, CD8+ T cell sorting, and vaccinated mice with KD-pretreated DCs in a
      DC/Hepa1-6 model. These results showed that KD inhibited the elevated expressions
      of CD86 and major histocompatibility complex II, densities of chemokine receptor
      C-C chemokine receptor type 7, and extensive migration to lymph nodes, and
      increased the programmed death ligand 1 level of DCs, followed by suppressing
      CD8+ T cells, characterized as low differentiation and cytotoxicity, and
      eliciting cytokines balance. Furthermore, biochemical analysis, two-dimensional
      fingerprint screen and three-dimensional molecular docking results showed that KD
      bound to the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) kinase
      domain, which inhibited the metabolism-related phosphatidylinositol 3
      kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) pathway in DCs and DC-modulated CD8+ T cells
      to lower the mitochondrial membrane potential and glucose/lipid utilization ratio
      in both cells. KD reversed activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway by 740 Y-P (PI3K
      agonist), thereby impeding the translocation and dimerization of signal
      transducer and activators of transcription (STAT) 3 and synergistically blocking
      the inflammation-related Janus kinase (JAK) 2/STAT3 pathway in DCs and DC
      modulated T cells. CONCLUSION: KD treatment elicits immunosuppression against
      autoimmune liver injury by targeting VEGFR2, followed by diminishing the cross
      talk of metabolism-related PI3K-AKT and inflammation-related JAK2-STAT3 pathways,
      and thereby disrupts DC-induced cross-priming of CD8+ T cell responses.
      (Hepatology 2016;64:2135-2150).

PMID- 27639184
TI  - Students and Doctors are Unaware of the Cost of Drugs they Frequently Prescribe.
AB  - Given the increasing healthcare costs of an ageing population, there is growing
      interest in rational prescribing, which takes costs of medication into account.
      We aimed to gain insight into the attitude to and knowledge of medication costs
      of medical students and doctors in daily practice. This was a cross-sectional
      electronic survey among medical students (bachelor/master) and doctors
      (consultants/registrars). Attitude to costs was evaluated using a cost
      consciousness scale. In open questions, the participants estimated the cost of
      commonly prescribed (generic/non-generic) drugs (including separate pharmacy
      dispensing costs). They were asked where they could find information about drug
      costs. Overall, a reasonable cost-consciousness was found. Students were less
      conscious of the cost than were doctors (15.56 SD 3.25 versus 17.81 SD 2.25;
      scale 0-24; p = 0.001). In contrast to this consciousness, actual estimated drug
      costs were within a 25% margin for only 5.4% of generic and 13.7% of proprietary
      drugs (Wilcoxon signed-rank, p < 0.001). The price of generic drugs was
      frequently overestimated (77.5%) and that of proprietary drugs was underestimated
      (51.4%). The dispensing costs were estimated correctly for 30% of the drugs. Most
      doctors (84%) and a minority of students (40%) were able to identify at least one
      source of information about drug costs. While doctors and students considered it
      important to be aware of the cost of drugs, this attitude is not reflected in
      their ability to estimate the cost of frequently prescribed drugs. Cost awareness
      is important in therapeutic reasoning and cost-effective prescribing. Both should
      be better addressed in (undergraduate) pharmacotherapy education.

PMID- 27639183
TI  - Sofosbuvir and ribavirin for 6 weeks is not effective among people with recent
      hepatitis C virus infection: The DARE-C II study.
AB  - : While interferon-based therapy has excellent efficacy in acute and recent
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the side effect profile limits implementation.
      Sofosbuvir and ribavirin for 12-24 weeks is safe and well tolerated in chronic
      HCV, with efficacy dependent on genotype and disease stage. The aim of this study
      was to assess the efficacy of sofosbuvir and ribavirin for 6 weeks in individuals
      with recent HCV infection. In this open-label study conducted in Australia and
      New Zealand, adults with recent HCV (duration of infection <12 months) received
      sofosbuvir 400 mg daily and weight-based ribavirin (<75 kg, 1,000 mg/day; >=75
      kg, 1,200 mg/day) for 6 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was sustained
      virological response at posttreatment week 12 (SVR12). Nineteen participants
      commenced sofosbuvir and ribavirin (89% male, 74% with human immunodeficiency
      virus, 68% genotype 1a). Four (21%) reported a symptomatic HCV seroconversion
      illness, including 2 with jaundice. At baseline, median HCV RNA was 5.4 log10
      IU/mL (interquartile range 4.4-6.8) and median estimated duration of infection
      was 37 weeks (interquartile range 27-41). At the end of treatment, HCV RNA was
      nonquantifiable in 89% (n = 17). SVR4 and SVR12 were 42% (n = 8) and 32% (n = 6),
      respectively. Treatment failure was due to nonresponse (n = 2), posttreatment
      relapse (n = 9), reinfection (n = 1), and loss to follow-up (n = 1). The regimen
      was well tolerated with minimal hematological toxicity. SVR12 was related to
      baseline HCV RNA (<=6 log10 IU/mL, P = 0.018) and early on-treatment viral
      kinetics (HCV RNA below the level of quantitation at week 1, P = 0.003).
      CONCLUSION: Six weeks of sofosbuvir and ribavirin was safe and well tolerated,
      but efficacy was suboptimal; further research is needed to determine whether more
      potent interferon-free direct-acting antiviral regimens will allow treatment
      duration to be shortened in recent, predominantly asymptomatic HCV infection.
      (Hepatology 2016;64:1911-1921).

PMID- 27639186
TI  - A visual literacy course for dermatology trainees.

PMID- 27639187
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27639185
TI  - Valproic Acid and Lithium Meditate Anti-Inflammatory Effects by Differentially
      Modulating Dendritic Cell Differentiation and Function.
AB  - Valproic acid (VPA), with inhibition activity mainly toward histone deacetylase
      (HDAC) and Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK)-3, and lithium, with inhibition
      activity mainly toward GSK-3, are both prescribed in clinical as mood-stabilizers
      and anticonvulsants for the control of bipolar disorder. This study aims to
      compare the immuno-modulation activities of VPA and lithium, especially on the
      differentiation and functions of dendritic cells (DC). Our data show that
      treatment with VPA or lithium effectively alleviated the severity of collagen
      induced arthritis triggered by LPS in mice. Both agents reduced the serum level
      of IL-6 and IL-10 after LPS challenge in mice. VPA and lithium both induce
      significant down-regulation of group I CD1 expression and secretion of IL-6
      during differentiation of human monocyte-derived immature DC, while they differ
      in the induction of CD83 and CD86 expression, secretion of IL-8, IL-10, and TNF
      alpha. Upon stimulation of immature DC with LPS, VPA, and lithium both reduced
      the secretion of IL-6 and TNF-alpha. However, only lithium significantly
      increased the production of IL-10, while VPA increased the production of IL-8 but
      substantially reduce the secretion of IL-10 and IL-23. Treatment with VPA
      resulted in a reduced capacity of LPS-stimulated DC to promote the
      differentiation of T helper 17 cells that are critical in the promotion of
      inflammatory responses. Taken together, our results suggest that VPA and lithium
      may differentially modulate inflammation through regulating the capacity of DC to
      mediate distinct T cell responses, and they may provide a complementary
      immunomodulatory effects for the treatment of inflammation-related diseases. J.
      Cell. Physiol. 232: 1176-1186, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27639188
TI  - Skin absorption through atopic dermatitis skin: a systematic review.
AB  - Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) have skin barrier impairment in both
      lesional and nonlesional skin. They are typically exposed daily to emollients and
      intermittently to topical anti-inflammatory medicaments, thereby increasing the
      risk of developing contact allergy and systemic exposure to chemical ingredients
      found in these topical preparations. We systematically searched for studies that
      investigated skin absorption of various penetrants, including medicaments, in
      patients with AD, but also in animals with experimentally-induced dermatitis. We
      identified 40 articles: 11 human studies examining model penetrants, 26 human
      studies examining AD drugs, and three animal studies. We conclude that patients
      with AD have almost twofold increased skin absorption compared with healthy
      controls. There is a need for well-designed epidemiological and
      dermatopharmacokinetic studies that examine to what extent AD causes patients to
      be systemically exposed to chemicals compared with nonatopic dermatitis.

PMID- 27639189
TI  - Octamer 4/microRNA-1246 signaling axis drives Wnt/beta-catenin activation in
      liver cancer stem cells.
AB  - : Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is activated in CD133 liver cancer stem cells
      (CSCs), a subset of cells known to be a root of tumor recurrence and therapy
      resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the regulatory mechanism
      of this pathway in CSCs remains unclear. Here, we show that human microRNA
      (miRNA), miR-1246, promotes cancer stemness, including self-renewal, drug
      resistance, tumorigencity, and metastasis, by activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin
      pathway through suppressing the expression of AXIN2 and glycogen synthase kinase
      3beta (GSK3beta), two key members of the beta-catenin destruction complex.
      Clinically, high endogenous and circulating miR-1246 was identified in HCC
      clinical samples and correlated with a worse prognosis. Further functional
      analysis identified octamer 4 (Oct4) to be the direct upstream regulator of miR
      1246, which cooperatively drive beta-catenin activation in liver CSCs.
      CONCLUSION: These findings uncover the noncanonical regulation of Wnt/beta
      catenin in liver CSCs by the Oct4/miR-1246 signaling axis, and also provide a
      novel diagnostic marker as well as therapeutic intervention for HCC. (Hepatology
      2016;64:2062-2076).

PMID- 27639191
TI  - GPS for QSP: A Summary of the ACoP6 Symposium on Quantitative Systems
      Pharmacology and a Stage for Near-Term Efforts in the Field.
AB  - Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) is experiencing increased application in
      the drug discovery and development process. Like its older sibling, systems
      biology, the QSP field is comprised of a mix of established disciplines and
      methods, from molecular biology to engineering to pharmacometrics. As a result,
      there exist critical segments of the discipline that differ dramatically in
      approach and a need to bring these groups together toward a common goal.

PMID- 27639190
TI  - Early Conversion to Prednisolone/Everolimus as an Alternative Weaning Regimen
      Associates With Beneficial Renal Transplant Histology and Function: The
      Randomized-Controlled MECANO Trial.
AB  - In renal transplantation, use of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) is associated with
      nephrotoxicity and immunosuppression with malignancies and infections. This trial
      aimed to minimize CNI exposure and total immunosuppression while maintaining
      efficacy. We performed a randomized controlled, open-label multicenter trial with
      early cyclosporine A (CsA) elimination. Patients started with basiliximab,
      prednisolone (P), mycophenolate sodium (MPS), and CsA. At 6 months,
      immunosuppression was tapered to P/CsA, P/MPS, or P/everolimus (EVL). Primary
      outcomes were renal fibrosis and inflammation. Secondary outcomes were estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and incidence of rejection at 24 months. The
      P/MPS arm was prematurely halted. The trial continued with P/CsA (N = 89) and
      P/EVL (N = 96). Interstitial fibrosis and inflammation were significantly
      decreased and the eGFR was significantly higher in the P/EVL arm. Cumulative
      rejection rates were 13% (P/EVL) and 19% (P/CsA), (p = 0.08). A post hoc analysis
      of HLA and donor-specific antibodies at 1 year after transplantation revealed no
      differences. An individualized immunosuppressive strategy of early CNI
      elimination to dual therapy with everolimus was associated with decreased
      allograft fibrosis, preserved allograft function, and good efficacy, but also
      with more serious adverse events and discontinuation. This can be a valuable
      alternative regimen in patients suffering from CNI toxicity.

PMID- 27639192
TI  - Changes in blood microbiota profiles associated with liver fibrosis in obese
      patients: A pilot analysis.
AB  - : The early detection of liver fibrosis among patients with nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD) is an important clinical need. In view of the suggested
      role played by bacterial translocation in liver disease and obesity, we sought to
      investigate the relationship between blood microbiota and liver fibrosis (LF) in
      European cohorts of patients with severe obesity. We carried out a cross
      sectional study of obese patients, well characterized with respect to the
      severity of the NAFLD, in the cohort FLORINASH. This cohort has been divided into
      a discovery cohort comprising 50 Spanish patients and then in a validation cohort
      of 71 Italian patients. Blood bacterial DNA was analyzed both quantitatively by
      16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) quantitative polymerase chain reaction and qualitatively
      by 16S rDNA targeted metagenomic sequencing and functional metagenome prediction.
      Spanish plasma bile acid contents were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass
      spectrometry. The 16S rDNA concentration was significantly higher in patients of
      the discovery cohort with LF. By 16S sequencing, we found specific differences in
      the proportion of several bacterial taxa in both blood and feces that correlate
      with the presence of LF, thus defining a specific signature of the liver disease.
      Several secondary/primary bile acid ratios were also decreased with LF in the
      discovery cohort. We confirmed, in the validation cohort, the correlation between
      blood 16S rDNA concentration and LF, whereas we did not confirm the specific
      bacterial taxa signature, despite a similar trend in patients with more-severe
      fibrosis. CONCLUSION: Changes in blood microbiota are associated with LF in obese
      patients. Blood microbiota analysis provides potential biomarkers for the
      detection of LF in this population. (Hepatology 2016;64:2015-2027).

PMID- 27639193
TI  - Observational study of compliance with Queensland bicycle helmet laws.
AB  - Mandatory bicycle helmet laws have been found to increase helmet wearing rates in
      Australia and internationally. However, much of the research on factors
      influencing compliance with the Australian helmet laws is dated or focuses on
      commuters and city areas only. To address this gap, video recordings of bicycle
      riders were undertaken at 17 sites across Queensland, Australia, representing a
      mixture of on- and off-road locations, speed limits and regions. Helmet status
      was able to be determined for 98% of riders observed. The level of compliance
      with the laws was very high, with 98.3% of the more than 27,000 riders observed
      wearing helmets. Riders riding on roads were less compliant than those riding on
      bicycle paths, but no significant differences were observed between the school
      holiday and school-term periods. Among the on-road riders, boys were less
      compliant than girls and overall children were less compliant than adults. Higher
      compliance levels were found for group riders, road bike riders, lycra-clad
      riders, during morning hours, and on 50km/h or lower speed limit roads. While the
      overall level of compliance was very high, certain subgroups were identified as a
      possible focus for interventions to further improve the compliance level, for
      example children (particularly boys) riding mountain bikes away from groups
      during the afternoon hours on 60km/h roads.

PMID- 27639194
TI  - Heterogeneous treatment effects of speed cameras on road safety.
AB  - This paper analyses how the effects of fixed speed cameras on road casualties
      vary across sites with different characteristics and evaluates the criteria for
      selecting camera sites. A total of 771 camera sites and 4787 potential control
      sites are observed for a period of 9 years across England. Site characteristics
      such as road class, crash history and site length are combined into a single
      index, referred to as a propensity score. We first estimate the average effect at
      each camera site using propensity score matching. The effects are then estimated
      as a function of propensity scores using local polynomial regression. The results
      show that the reduction in personal injury collisions ranges from 10% to 40%
      whilst the average effect is 25.9%, indicating that the effects of speed cameras
      are not uniform across camera sites and are dependent on site characteristics, as
      measured by propensity scores. We further evaluate the criteria for selecting
      camera sites in the UK by comparing the effects at camera sites meeting and not
      meeting the criteria. The results show that camera sites which meet the criteria
      perform better in reducing casualties, implying the current site selection
      criteria are rational.

PMID- 27639195
TI  - Cooperative warning systems: The impact of false and unnecessary alarms on
      drivers' compliance.
AB  - Cooperative warning systems have a great potential to prevent traffic accidents.
      However, because of their predictive nature, they might also go along with an
      increased frequency of incorrect alarms that could limit their effectiveness. To
      better understand the consequences associated with incorrect alarms, a driving
      simulator study with N=80 drivers was conducted to investigate how situational
      context and warning urgency jointly influence drivers' compliance with an
      unreliable advisory warning system (AWS). The participants encountered several
      critical urban driving situations and were either assisted by a 100% reliable
      AWS, a 60% reliable AWS that generated false alarms (without obvious reason) or a
      60% reliable AWS that generated unnecessary alarms (with plausible reason). A
      baseline drive without any assistance was also introduced to the study. The
      warnings were presented either only visually or visual-auditory. In line with
      previous research, drivers' compliance and effectiveness of the AWS was reduced
      by false alarms but not by unnecessary alarms. However, this so-called cry wolf
      effect (Breznitz, 1984) was only found in the visual-auditory condition, whereas
      there was no effect of warning reliability in the condition with visual AWS.
      Furthermore, false but not unnecessary alarms caused the participants to rate the
      AWS less favourably during a follow-up interview. In spite of these negative
      effects of false alarms, a reduction in the frequency of safety-critical events
      (SCEs) and an earlier braking onset were evident in all assisted drives compared
      with that of non-assisted driving, even when the AWS was unreliable. The results
      may thus lower concerns about the negative consequences of warning drivers
      unnecessarily about upcoming traffic conflicts if the reasons of these alarms are
      comprehensible. From a perspective of designing AWS, we recommend to use less
      urgent warnings to prevent the cry wolf effect.

PMID- 27639196
TI  - Associations of blood mercury, inorganic mercury, methyl mercury and bisphenol A
      with dental surface restorations in the U.S. population, NHANES 2003-2004 and
      2010-2012.
AB  - The potential adverse health effects of mercury from amalgam and bisphenol A
      (BPA) from composite resin have been significant concerns. It is unclear whether
      dental restorative materials significantly contribute to mercury or BPA levels.
      The purpose of this study is to use NHANES data including 14,703 subjects (2003
      2004: n=7514; 2011-2012: n=7189) to examine the association between Dental
      Surface Restorations (DSR) and blood total mercury (THg), inorganic mercury
      (IHg), methyl mercury (MeHg) and urinary BPA through the stratification of
      covariates and multivariate analysis. Subjects were divided into three groups
      based on the number of dental surface restorations (DSRs, 0, 1-8, >8). Blood THg
      and IHg in 2003-2004 were significantly higher in the subjects with DSR
      (geometric mean of 0.48, 0.69 and 1.17MUg/l for THg; 0.32, 0.33 and 0.39MUg/l for
      IHg with DSR 0, 1-8 and >8). Similarly, increases of THg, IHg and MeHg were also
      observed in 2013-2014 (geometric mean of 0.51, 0.69 and 0.99MUg/l for THg; 0.40,
      0.49 and 0.66MUg/l for MeHg; 0.20, 0.22 and 0.29MUg/l for IHg with DSR 0, 1-8 and
      >8). Linear regression model analysis revealed blood THg and IHg in 2003-2004 and
      THg, IHg and MeHg in 2011-2012 were quantitatively associated with the number of
      DSRs. A dramatic decrease in urinary BPA from 2003 to 2004-2011-2012 was
      observed, but no significant increase with DSRs in either period of study. In
      conclusion, significant increases in blood THg, IHg, and MeHg in the subjects
      with DSRs are confirmed in a nationally representative population, a critical
      step in assessing the potential risk of adverse effects from dental restorative
      materials, but no association between dental fillings and urinary BPA was found.

PMID- 27639197
TI  - Toxicity of cerium and thorium on Daphnia magna.
AB  - Cerium (Ce) and thorium (Th) are always thought to be chemically similar and have
      comparable toxic properties on living organisms. In the present study, the acute
      and chronic toxicity of these two elements to freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna
      were investigated in the modified reconstituted water (6mg/L KCl, 123mg/L
      MgSO4.7H2O, and 294mg/L CaCl2.2H2O in Milli-Q water, pH 7.8). It seemed that Ce
      and Th had comparable acute toxicity on Daphnia: 24/48h EC50 for Th and Ce were
      7.3/4.7MUM and 16.4/10.7MUM, respectively. However, Ce was present as soluble
      ions while all of Th was present as particulate ThO2 in the exposure medium.
      Considering their different chemical forms and bioavailability, the toxic
      mechanisms of Ce3+ and ThO2 on Daphnia would be totally different. To our
      knowledge, this is the first time to investigate the aquatic toxicity of thorium
      and cerium based on their actual chemical speciation in the exposure medium. The
      results also suggest that more attention should be paid on the detrimental effect
      of Th in the form of particulate ThO2.

PMID- 27639198
TI  - Low doses of gamma-radiation induce SOS response and increase mutation frequency
      in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium cells.
AB  - This study addresses use of two bacterial test systems (the Ames test and the SOS
      chromotest) to estimate the effects of low doses of gamma-radiation. The most
      substantial increases in induction of SOS response and mutation frequencies were
      observed in the first 24h of exposure to gamma-radiation as compared to the cells
      in the exposure-free control. Gamma-radiation also impaired growth and survival
      of S. typhimurium cells in the first 24h. The effects were attenuated at lower
      exposure doses and at longer exposure times. In the experiments conducted in this
      study, at 96h of exposure, the values of some of the gamma-radiation effects were
      lower than the MID (minimum inducing dose) detection limits and, thus, were
      neglected. Long-term exposure to gamma-radiation could also result in combined
      effects of gamma-radiation and the death of cells in the culture.

PMID- 27639199
TI  - Differential subcellular distribution and chemical forms of cadmium and copper in
      Brassica napus.
AB  - Metal subcellular fractions and chemical profile highly reflect their level of
      toxicity to plants. Cadmium and Cu, two different but potentially toxic metals,
      were compared in the present study for their subcellular distribution and
      chemical forms in two Brassica napus cultivars (Zheda 622 and ZS 758). Five-week
      old seedlings were hydroponically exposed to metal stress and analyzed after 15
      days of treatment. In both cultivars, Cd was less retained at cell wall, thus
      major part of Cd accumulated in the soluble fraction. By contrast, handsome
      amount of Cu was sequestrated in both cell wall and vacuole containing fraction.
      Across sensitive organelles, Cu preferentially accumulated in chloroplasts, while
      Cd was equally distributed in chloroplasts and mitochondria; the two metals
      intruded nucleus at lesser degree. Further, Cd and Cu differentially interacted
      with various cellular ligands, and the extent of interaction was higher in the
      tolerant cultivar ZS 758. Copper was remarkably sequestrated by phosphates, and
      secondarily by peptide-ligands; inversely, the role of phosphates was secondary
      in Cd complexation, which was mainly achieved by peptide-ligands. Additional
      amount of Cu was aggregated with oxalates, but oxalate-bound Cd was scarcely
      detected. Current results have demonstrated varied toxicological and
      detoxification pathways of Cd and Cu in B. napus, suggesting that the efficiency
      of different alleviation strategies could vary against Cd and Cu toxicity to
      plants.

PMID- 27639201
TI  - Fluorescence enhancement of glutathione capped CdTe/ZnS quantum dots by embedding
      into cationic starch for sensitive detection of rifampicin.
AB  - In this study, we describe the synthesis of a new quantum dots (QDs) by embedding
      glutathione capped CdTe/ZnS QDs into cationic starch biopolymer (CS-GSH-CdTe/ZnS
      QDs). The fluorescence intensity of prepared QDs was significantly enhanced. When
      QDs interacted with rifampicin, the fluorescence intensity of the CS-GSH-CdTe/ZnS
      QDs was highly quenched compared with GSH-CdTe/ZnS QDs. Based on the above, a new
      fluorescent nanosensor for simple, sensitive and selective detection of
      rifampicin was developed. The fluorescence quenching was well described by the
      typical Stern-Volmer equation. After optimization, the linear range of the as
      prepared QDs fluorescence intensity versus the concentration of rifampicin was
      F0/F=0.0422Q+1.109 (R2=0.99). The detection limit was 0.06*10-6mol/L. The
      proposed method with satisfactory results was used to detect rifampicin in
      commercial capsules and tablets.

PMID- 27639202
TI  - The effect of hospital/physician integration on hospital choice.
AB  - In this paper, we estimate how hospital ownership of physicians' practices
      affects their patients' hospital choices. We match data on the hospital
      admissions of Medicare beneficiaries, including the identity of their physician,
      with data on the identity of the owner of their physician's practice. We find
      that a hospital's ownership of a physician dramatically increases the probability
      that the physician's patients will choose the owning hospital. We also find that
      patients are more likely to choose a high-cost, low-quality hospital when their
      physician is owned by that hospital.

PMID- 27639200
TI  - The Clinical Implications of Inconsistently Methylated Results from Glioblastoma
      MGMT Testing by Replicate Methylation-Specific PCR.
AB  - The methylation status of the promoter of the O6-methylguanine DNA
      methyltransferase gene (MGMT) is an established prognostic and predictive
      biomarker of glioblastoma (GBM). At the Center for Advanced Molecular
      Diagnostics, MGMT testing is performed by methylation-specific PCR with multiple
      replicates, leading to three types of reportable results: methylated,
      unmethylated, and inconsistently methylated. An inconsistently methylated result
      is reported when a methylated peak is seen in some but not all of the PCR
      replicates from a single DNA sample. To better understand the clinical
      implications of these results, we performed a retrospective review of all MGMT
      testing at our laboratory over a 5-year period, and correlated test results with
      outcome and specimen-quality data. This review yielded several novel findings.
      First, inconsistent MGMT methylation on replicate methylation-specific PCR is not
      uncommon, composes 12% (58/465) of our GBM results. Second, inconsistently
      methylated GBM cases are associated with relatively poor overall survival (more
      similar to unmethylated than to methylated cases). Third and interestingly, there
      appears to be a dose-response relationship between patient survival and the
      extent of methylation in inconsistently methylated GBMs. Finally, our analyses of
      specimen-quality data suggest that a combination of technical factors (eg, small
      samples) and tumor biology may explain inconsistent MGMT results on replicate
      methylation-specific PCR testing.

PMID- 27639203
TI  - Primary anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma in adults. Case report and
      review of literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) classified as a low Grade (WHO
      II) astrocytic neoplasm. It is known for its relatively favorable prognosis. It
      most commonly occurs in young adults. Malignant progression in PXA has been
      frequently reported since its first description in 1979; however, the
      presentation of a primary anaplastic PXA tumor with an aggressive clinical course
      in adults is rare especially in the later age group. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present
      a case of primary anaplastic PXA in a 53 year old male that manifested with an
      early recurrence pattern at 9 weeks. Treatment performed was surgical excision
      and external beam radiotherapy. The aforementioned tumor followed an aggressive
      clinical course. Tumor cells exhibited the characteristic expression of GFAP
      (Glial fibrillary acidic protein), higher proliferative index (8-10%) on Ki-67
      staining along with the presence of increased mitoses ( >5/10hpf). A review of
      previously reported primary anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma cases in
      adults with histological features was also done. CONCLUSION: Our review of all
      reported cases of APXA in adults concludes that the clinical behavior of this
      tumor varies considerably from its benign variant. Early disease recurrence in
      anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas is associated with fatal outcomes. As
      per our review of literature it is seen that anaplastic variant of PXA shows
      histological characteristics as well as clinical course comparable with Grade III
      astrocytomas. We recommend further evaluation of PXA with anaplastic features
      regarding their genetic characteristics to understand the origin as well as
      behavior of this tumor.

PMID- 27639204
TI  - Chondroblastic osteosarcoma of breast in a case of phyllodes tumour with
      recurrence, a rare case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Primary extra osseous osteogenic sarcomas have been reported in
      many tissues of the body but their occurrence in the breast is extremely rare. It
      can arise as a result of osseous metaplasia in a pre-existing benign or malignant
      neoplasm of the breast. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24 year-old young lady was diagnosed
      to have mass in right breast.Tru cut biopsy showed it was malignant phyllodes
      tumour. There was no distant metastasis or any axillary lymph nodes palpable.
      Simple mastectomy was done. The histology report of biopsy showed a malignant
      phyllodes with chondrosarcomatous differentiation an myxoid changes. She was
      given 6 cycles of chemotherapy. There was recurrence after 6 months of surgery.
      Then radical mastectomy with latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap was used to
      cover the anterior chest wall defect. Sections from the mastectomy specimen
      confirmed the diagnosis of chondroblastic osteosarcoma. Axillary nodes free of
      tumour cells. Now the patient again came with recurrence after 5 months, and
      disseminate subcutaneous nodules. CONCLUSION: A diagnosis of chondroblastic
      osteosarcoma of the breast was made based on histology report and after excluding
      any osteogenic sarcoma arising from underlying ribs and sternum. It is a very
      rare disease with only few case reports in literature.

PMID- 27639205
TI  - Forgotten goiter: Diagnosis and management. A case report and literature review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A mediastinal thyroid mass discovered years after a total
      thyroidectomy represents an unusual and uncommon clinical situation. Few cases
      have been reported and controversy exists regarding the etiology of this ectopic
      thyroid tissue as well as the optimal surgical approach for resection. We herein
      describe a case of a mediastinal thyroid goiter discovered five years after a
      total thyroidectomy. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 54-year-old Hispanic female was
      diagnosed with a diffuse cervical goiter secondary to Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and
      subsequently underwent a total thyroidectomy. Five years later the patient had a
      chest X-ray as part of a preoperative evaluation for an unrelated and elective
      surgical procedure. Significant tracheal deviation was identified. A computed
      tomography scan was obtained and demonstrated a well encapsulated mass in the
      superior mediastinum resulting in tracheal deviation and compression. This
      "forgotten" goiter was successfully resected utilizing a standard cervical
      approach and the patient recovered uneventfully. DISCUSSION: A thyroid mass
      within the mediastinum following a total thyroidectomy is a condition often
      referred to as "forgotten goiter". Prior reported cases are few, and data is
      limited, with some uncertainty remaining as to the exact origin of this ectopic
      thyroid tissue. Possible etiologies include an incomplete removal of the thyroid
      gland during initial cervical thyroidectomy, or perhaps an autonomous
      intrathoracic goiter (AIG) - a thyroid gland located in the mediastinum,
      independent and with no parenchymatous or vascular connection with the cervical
      thyroid gland. CONCLUSION: A trans-thoracic or sternal splitting approach is
      generally not required for resection of a mediastinal goiter and our experience
      confirms that the case of the "forgotten goiter" can be safely approached through
      a cervical incision as well.

PMID- 27639206
TI  - Mortality burden of ambient fine particulate air pollution in six Chinese cities:
      Results from the Pearl River Delta study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have reported significant association between
      ambient fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) and mortality, however, few
      studies have investigated the relationship of mortality with PM2.5 and associated
      mortality burden in China, especially in a multicity setting. METHODS: We
      investigated the PM2.5-mortality association in six cities of the Pearl River
      Delta region from 2013 to 2015. We used generalized additive Poisson models
      incorporating penalized smoothing splines to control for temporal trend,
      temperature, and relative humidity. We applied meta-analyses using random-effects
      models to pool the effect estimates in the six cities. We also examined these
      associations in stratified analyses by sex, age group, education level and
      location of death. We further estimated the mortality burden (attributable
      fraction and attributable mortality) due to ambient PM2.5 exposures. RESULTS:
      During the study period, a total of 316,305 deaths were recorded in the study
      area. The analysis revealed a significant association between PM2.5 and
      mortality. Specifically, a 10MUg/m3 increase in 4-day averaged (lag03) PM2.5
      concentration corresponded to a 1.76% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.47%,
      2.06%) increase in total mortality, 2.19% (95% CI: 1.80%, 2.59%) in
      cardiovascular mortality, and 1.68% (95% CI: 1.00%, 2.37%) in respiratory
      mortality. The results were generally robust to model specifications and
      adjustment of gaseous air pollutants. We estimated that 0.56% (95% CI: 0.47%,
      0.66%) and 3.79% (95% CI: 3.14%, 4.45%) of all-cause mortalities were
      attributable to PM2.5 using China's and WHO's air quality standards as the
      reference, corresponding to 1661 (95% CI: 1379, 1946) and 11,176 (95% CI: 9261,
      13,120) attributable premature mortalities, respectively. CONCLUSION: This
      analysis adds to the growing body of evidence linking PM2.5 with daily mortality,
      and mortality burdens, particularly in one Chinese region with high levels of air
      pollution.

PMID- 27639207
TI  - A combined microbial desalination cell and electrodialysis system for copper
      containing wastewater treatment and high-salinity-water desalination.
AB  - A new concept for heavy metal removal by forming hydroxide precipitation using
      alkalinity produced by microbial desalination cell (MDC) was proposed. Four five
      chamber MDCs were hydraulically connected to concurrently produce alkalinity to
      treat synthetic copper-containing wastewater and salt removal. There was nearly
      complete removal of copper, with a maximum removal rate of 5.07kg/(m3d) under the
      initial copper concentration of 5000mg/L (final pH of 7). The final copper
      concentration met the emission standard for electroplating of China (0.5mg/L, GB
      21900-2008). XRD analysis indicated copper was precipitated as Cu2Cl(OH)3. The
      best performance of MDCs in terms of average power density, salt removal and COD
      removal rate achieved in stage 3 were 737.3+/-201.1mW/m2, 53.6+/-0.8kg/(m3d), and
      1.84+/-0.05 kgCOD/(m3d) respectively. For purposes of water recovery, an
      electrodialysis (ED) system was presented based on in-situ utilization of
      generated electricity by MDCs as post-desalination treatment for salt effluent
      after sedimentation. The maximum discharging voltage of 12.75+/-1.26V at
      switching time (Ts) of 15min using a capacitor-based circuit produced a maximum
      desalination efficiency of 30.4+/-2.6%. These results indicated that this
      combined system holds great promise for real-world treatment of copper-containing
      wastewater and deep desalination of high-salinity-water.

PMID- 27639208
TI  - Stabilization of fly ash using cementing bacteria. Assessment of cementation and
      trace element mobilization.
AB  - Fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) was treated with
      microorganisms (Sporosarcina pasteurii and Myxococcus xanthus) to assess their
      capacity for cementing this waste material. Leaching tests on the samples treated
      with bacteria were also performed to assess the possibility of recovering and
      recycling trace elements from the fly ash. Sequential extractions combined with
      mineralogical studies demonstrated that Pb is mobile in water when associated
      with portlandite. Also, Cd, Pb, and Zn are primarily associated with carbonates
      and are mobile in acidic environments (up to 4.8, 13.9 and 248mg/l of Cd, Pb and
      Zn, respectively, extracted with acetic acid). Microbial treatment of the fly
      ash, especially with Sporosarcina pasteurii, led to its cementation and
      stabilization, preventing its dispersion into the environment. But samples
      treated with bacteria exhibited a higher capacity for trace element leaching than
      did untreated fly ash. The ability of these bacteria to mobilize metals can be
      applied to recover those of economic interest. The use of low cost
      biotechnologies can be an alternative to chemical treatments currently utilized
      for the recovery and reuse of these wastes.

PMID- 27639209
TI  - Decontamination of spent ion-exchangers contaminated with cesium radionuclides
      using resorcinol-formaldehyde resins.
AB  - The origin of the emergence of radioactive contamination not removable in the
      process of acid-base regeneration of ion-exchange resins used in treatment of
      technological media and liquid radioactive waste streams has been determined. It
      has been shown that a majority of cesium radionuclides not removable by
      regeneration are bound to inorganic deposits on the surface and inside the ion
      exchange resin beads. The nature of the above inorganic inclusions has been
      investigated by means of the methods of electron microscopy, IR spectrometry and
      X-ray diffraction. The method of decontamination of spent ion-exchange resins and
      zeolites contaminated with cesium radionuclides employing selective resorcinol
      formaldehyde resins has been suggested. Good prospects of such an approach in
      deep decontamination of spent ion exchangers have been demonstrated.

PMID- 27639210
TI  - Microscopical characterization of known postmortem root bands using light and
      scanning electron microscopy.
AB  - A postmortem root band (PMRB) is a distinct microscopic feature that is
      postulated to occur in hair remaining in the follicle during the postmortem
      interval [1] (Petraco et al., 1998). The scientific validity of this premise has
      been highlighted in two recent high-profile criminal cases involving PMRBs [2,3]
      (State of Florida v. Casey Marie Anthony, 2008; People v. Kogut, 2005). To better
      understand the fundamental aspects of postmortem root banding, the microscopical
      properties of known PMRBs1 were characterized by light microscopy, and scanning
      electron microscope (SEM) imaging of microtomed sections of hairs showing root
      banding. The results from this study show that the appearance of the PMRB may be
      due to the degradation of the chemically labile, non-keratin intermacrofibrillar
      matrix (IMM) in the pre-keratin/keratogenous region of anagen hairs. In addition,
      this degradation is confined to the cortex of the hair, with no apparent damage
      to the layers of the cuticle. These results could provide valuable information
      for determining the mechanism of band formation, as well as identify a set of
      microscopic features that could be used to distinguish hairs with known PMRBs
      from similarly looking environmentally degraded hairs.

PMID- 27639211
TI  - Satisfaction and gains perceived by nursing students with medium and high
      fidelity simulation: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of simulation to reproduce the experience of health care
      settings and its use as a strategy in the teaching of nurses has grown at an
      unprecedented rate. There is little scientific evidence to examine the
      differences in satisfaction and gains perceived by the students with the use of
      medium and high fidelity. OBJECTIVES: To analyse and benchmark gains and
      satisfaction perceived by nursing students, according to their participation in
      medium- and high-fidelity simulated practice. DESIGN: Randomized control trial
      post-test only design with control group. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Students of
      the 4th year of the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing who performed medium and high
      fidelity simulated practice in a Simulation Centre environment. METHODS: A
      satisfaction scale and a scale of perceived gains from the simulation were
      applied to the students who underwent simulated practice in a medium-fidelity
      environment (control group) and high-fidelity environment (experimental group).
      Statistical analysis was performed and a significance level of p<0.05 was
      established. RESULTS: Of the 85 students who participated in the study, the
      majority were female (92.94%), with an average age of 21.89years (SD=2.81years).
      Satisfaction is statistically significant in the realism dimension and overall
      satisfaction. In the gains perceived with the simulation there is a statistically
      significant difference in the dimension recognition/decision. CONCLUSION:
      Students are very satisfied with the realism of high-fidelity simulated practice
      and consider that this helps them more with recognition and decision compared
      with the medium-fidelity simulation.

PMID- 27639212
TI  - Supporting student mental health nurses in clinical placement through virtual in
      practice support (VIPS): Innovation uptake and the 'VIPS' project.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The integration of technology in nurse education has become an
      essential element of academic practice. Yet innovation uptake between academic
      institutions across the four countries of the UK and their clinical practice
      partners has proved problematic, leading to a slow introduction of digitally
      enhanced teaching and learning innovations, particularly in the area of clinical
      decision making and leadership. PARTICIPANTS: The Virtual in Practice Support
      (VIPS) project involved two academic institutions working with the same mental
      health care service partner aiming to maximise student clinical placement
      learning. Student nurses in their final year of training were invited to take
      part in testing the viability of distance e-tutoring (via computer access to
      academic nurse lecturers) for facilitated critical reflection. DESIGN: An
      evaluation of the use of video linked conference sessions, set up for students to
      undertake a group based online (i.e. virtual) group tutorial is presented.
      METHODS: All participants completed an evaluation data sheet using a five point
      Likert scale and free text evaluation feedback form completed at the end of each
      online tutorial session. Students were also invited to a focus group and all
      tutors were interviewed at the completion of the project. RESULTS: The VIPS
      project findings highlight; i) the importance of a clear project vision for
      innovation uptake ii) consequences of working with innovation champions and iii)
      how technology can be used to maximise student learning across geographical
      distance through online facilitated group critical discussion. CONCLUSION: VIPS'
      participants were able to articulate positive outcomes as a result of engaging in
      a multi-institutional project that capitalised on the richness of nursing
      clinical practice learning experience for both the students and the academics
      involved as innovation champions.

PMID- 27639213
TI  - Improved estimates for the role of grey matter volume and GABA in bistable
      perception.
AB  - Across a century or more, ambiguous stimuli have been studied scientifically
      because they provide a method for studying the internal mechanisms of the brain
      while ensuring an unchanging external stimulus. In recent years, several studies
      have reported correlations between perceptual dynamics during bistable perception
      and particular brain characteristics such as the grey matter volume of areas in
      the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and the relative GABA concentration in the
      occipital lobe. Here, we attempt to replicate previous results using similar
      paradigms to those used in the studies first reporting the correlations. Using
      the original findings as priors for Bayesian analyses, we found strong support
      for the correlation between structure-from-motion percept duration and anterior
      SPL grey matter volume. Correlations between percept duration and other parietal
      areas as well as occipital GABA, however, were not directly replicated or
      appeared less strong than previous studies suggested. Inspection of the posterior
      distributions (current "best guess" based on new data given old data as prior)
      revealed that several original findings may reflect true relationships although
      no direct evidence was found in support of them in the current sample.
      Additionally, we found that multiple regression models based on grey matter
      volume at 2-3 parietal locations (but not including GABA) were the best
      predictors of percept duration, explaining approximately 35% of the inter
      individual variance. Taken together, our results provide new estimates of
      correlation strengths, generally increasing confidence in the role of the aSPL
      while decreasing confidence in some of the other relationships.

PMID- 27639214
TI  - Monte Carlo study of neutron-ambient dose equivalent to patient in treatment
      room.
AB  - This paper presents an analytical method for the calculation of the neutron
      ambient dose equivalent H* (10) regarding patients, whereby the different
      concrete types that are used in the surrounding walls of the treatment room are
      considered. This work has been performed according to a detailed simulation of
      the Varian 2300C/D linear accelerator head that is operated at 18MV, and silver
      activation counter as a neutron detector, for which the Monte Carlo MCNPX 2.6
      code is used, with and without the treatment room walls. The results show that,
      when compared to the neutrons that leak from the LINAC, both the scattered and
      thermal neutrons are the major factors that comprise the out-of field neutron
      dose. The scattering factors for the limonite-steel, magnetite-steel, and
      ordinary concretes have been calculated as 0.91+/-0.09, 1.08+/-0.10, and 0.371+/
      0.01, respectively, while the corresponding thermal factors are 34.22+/-3.84,
      23.44+/-1.62, and 52.28+/-1.99, respectively (both the scattering and thermal
      factors are for the isocenter region); moreover, the treatment room is composed
      of magnetite-steel and limonite-steel concretes, so the neutron doses to the
      patient are 1.79 times and 1.62 times greater than that from an ordinary concrete
      composition. The results also confirm that the scattering and thermal factors do
      not depend on the details of the chosen linear accelerator head model. It is
      anticipated that the results of the present work will be of great interest to the
      manufacturers of medical linear accelerators.

PMID- 27639216
TI  - Physico-mechanical, morphological and biomedical properties of a novel natural
      wound dressing material.
AB  - Wound healing as a complex biological process greatly affects the quality of
      patients' lives. The high initial cost of wound treatment using advanced wound
      dressing is a major concern that warrants more attention. Because of the
      similarities between body macromolecules and polysaccharides and proteoglycans,
      gelatin and starch were used extensively as wound dressings; however their
      solubility in aqueous environment is known as a major drawback. Crosslinking, as
      a common method for enhancing mechanical properties, has its own limitation as
      some chemical cross-likers reduce biocompatibility. In this research, a simple
      and economical method for the fabrication of a novel wound dressing foam based on
      natural polymers of starch and gelatin with borax as the crosslinking agent is
      introduced. To evaluate the utility of the foams for wound dressing application,
      morphology, swelling behaviour and kinetics of swelling, vapour permeability,
      dimension stability, their mechanical properties and cytotoxicity as well as
      their ability to control release properties were examined as a function of
      crosslinking density. It was found that however, all borax-induced-samples show
      acceptable biocompatibility, incorporation of 30% borax solution optimises their
      mechanical properties.

PMID- 27639217
TI  - Composite lateral electric field excited piezoelectric resonator.
AB  - The novel method of suppression of parasitic oscillations in lateral electric
      field excited piezoelectric resonator is suggested. Traditionally such resonator
      represents the piezoelectric plate with two electrodes on one side of the plate.
      The crystallographic orientation of the plate is selected so that the tangential
      components of electric field excite bulk acoustic wave with given polarization
      travelling along the normal to the plate sides. However at that the normal
      components of field excite the parasitic Lamb waves and bulk waves of other
      polarization which deteriorate the resonant properties of the resonator. In this
      work we suggest to separate the source of the HF electric field and resounded
      piezoelectric plate by air gap. In this case the tangential components of the
      field in piezoelectric plate do not practically weaken but normal components
      significantly decrease. This method is realized on the composite resonator having
      the structure "glass plate with rectangular electrodes - air gap - plate of 128 Y
      X lithium niobate." It has been shown that there exist the optimal value of the
      width gap which ensure the good quality of series and parallel resonances in
      frequency range 3-4MHz with record values of Q-factor of ~15,000 in both cases.

PMID- 27639215
TI  - Conformal invariants for multiply connected surfaces: Application to landmark
      curve-based brain morphometry analysis.
AB  - Landmark curves were widely adopted in neuroimaging research for surface
      correspondence computation and quantified morphometry analysis. However, most of
      the landmark based morphometry studies only focused on landmark curve shape
      difference. Here we propose to compute a set of conformal invariant-based shape
      indices, which are associated with the landmark curve induced boundary lengths in
      the hyperbolic parameter domain. Such shape indices may be used to identify which
      surfaces are conformally equivalent and further quantitatively measure surface
      deformation. With the surface Ricci flow method, we can conformally map a
      multiply connected surface to the Poincare disk. Our algorithm provides a stable
      method to compute the shape index values in the 2D (Poincare Disk) parameter
      domain. The proposed shape indices are succinct, intrinsic and informative.
      Experimental results with synthetic data and 3D MRI data demonstrate that our
      method is invariant under isometric transformations and able to detect brain
      surface abnormalities. We also applied the new shape indices to analyze brain
      morphometry abnormalities associated with Alzheimer' s disease (AD). We studied
      the baseline MRI scans of a set of healthy control and AD patients from the
      Alzheimer' s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI: 30 healthy control subjects
      vs. 30 AD patients). Although the lengths of the landmarks in Euclidean space,
      cortical surface area, and volume features did not differ between the two groups,
      our conformal invariant based shape indices revealed significant differences by
      Hotelling' s T2 test. The novel conformal invariant shape indices may offer a new
      sensitive biomarker and enrich our brain imaging analysis toolset for studying
      diagnosis and prognosis of AD.

PMID- 27639218
TI  - Postural stabilization after single-leg vertical jump in individuals with chronic
      ankle instability.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact different ways to define reference balance
      can have when analysing time to stabilization (TTS). Secondarily, to investigate
      the difference in TTS between people with chronic ankle instability (CAI) and
      healthy controls. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Laboratory.
      PARTICIPANTS: Fifty recreational athletes (25 CAI, 25 controls). MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: TTS of the center of pressure (CoP) after maximal single-leg vertical
      jump using as reference method the single-leg stance, pre-jump period, and post
      jump period; and the CoP variability during the reference methods. RESULTS: The
      post-jump reference period had lower values for TTS in the anterior-posterior
      (AP) direction when compared to single-leg stance (P = 0.001) and to pre-jump (P
      = 0.002). For TTS in the medio-lateral (ML) direction, the post-jump reference
      period showed lower TTS when compared to single-leg stance (P = 0.01). We found
      no difference between CAI and control group for TTS for any direction. The CAI
      group showed more CoP variability than control group in the single-leg stance
      reference period for both directions. CONCLUSIONS: Different reference periods
      will produce different results for TTS. There is no difference in TTS after a
      maximum vertical jump between groups. People with CAI have more CoP variability
      in both directions during single-leg stance.

PMID- 27639219
TI  - Three-dimensional kinematics of upper limb anatomical movements in asymptomatic
      adults: Dominant vs. non-dominant.
AB  - The effect of dominance on upper limb (UL) kinematics has only been studied on
      scapular movements. Moreover, when an anatomical UL movement is performed in a
      specific plane, secondary movements in the remaining planes involuntarily occur.
      These secondary movements have not been previously evaluated. The aim of this
      study was to compare the kinematics of primary and secondary angles of dominant
      and non-dominant UL during anatomical movements in asymptomatic adults. 25
      asymptomatic adults performed 6 anatomical movements bilaterally: shoulder
      flexion-extension, abduction-adduction, horizontal abduction-adduction, internal
      external rotation, elbow flexion-extension and wrist pronation-supination.
      Kinematics of the dominant and non-dominant UL were compared by their ranges of
      motion (ROM) and their angular waveforms (Coefficient of Multiple Correlations,
      CMC). The comparison between dominant and non-dominant UL kinematics showed
      different strategies of movement, most notably during elbow flexion-extension
      (CMC=0.29): the dominant UL exhibited more pronation at maximal elbow flexion.
      Significant secondary angles were found on most of the UL anatomical movements;
      e.g. a secondary ROM of shoulder (humero-thoracic) external-internal rotation (69
      degrees +/-16 degrees ) was found when the subject intended to perform maximal
      shoulder abduction-adduction (119 degrees +/-21 degrees ). Bias of dominance
      should be considered when comparing pathological limb to the controlateral one.
      Normative values of primary and secondary angles during anatomical movements
      could be used as a reference for future studies on UL of subjects with
      neurological or orthopedic pathologies.

PMID- 27639220
TI  - Antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of Ebola virus infection.
AB  - There have been significant developments in Ebola virus therapeutics. While the
      efficacy of several products was evaluated in the recent West Africa outbreak, a
      licensed treatment for EBOV disease remains elusive. Factors that negatively
      impacted the execution of clinical trials included an overall lack of world
      readiness to conduct clinical trials in an outbreak setting, ethical concerns
      limiting implementation of the randomized controlled trials in an outbreak
      setting, and a decline in case numbers by the time resources were mobilized to
      conduct clinical trials. We summarize relevant therapeutics that underwent
      clinical trials during the West Africa outbreak and highlight promising
      candidates under advanced development.

PMID- 27639221
TI  - Evaluation of sludge reduction of three metabolic uncouplers in laboratory-scale
      anaerobic-anoxic-oxic process.
AB  - To evaluate the sludge reduction of three metabolic uncouplers (3,3',4',5
      tetrachlorosalicylanilide (TCS), 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), and tetrakis
      (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium sulfate (THPS)), we conducted continuous experiments
      on laboratory-scale anaerobic-anoxic-oxic processes. The three metabolic
      uncouplers were separately added in each oxic tank of the three systems, and a
      system without uncoupler addition was used as control. During the 85-day
      operation, sludge production and observed growth yields decreased to 38.6% and
      16.98%, 43.4% and 17.55%, and 39.3% and 17.04% by the addition of TCS, DCP, and
      THPS, respectively. The addition of metabolic uncouplers slightly reduced the
      wastewater treatment efficiencies of the system (about 1.1-8.7%) and increased
      sludge SVIs (about 69.9-80.6%). Meanwhile, the differences among three metabolic
      uncouplers were little. Besides metabolic uncoupling and maintenance metabolism,
      which exist in the TCS- and DCP-added systems, lysis-cryptic growth also exists
      in the THPS-added system.

PMID- 27639222
TI  - Integrated anaerobic ammonium oxidization with partial denitrification process
      for advanced nitrogen removal from high-strength wastewater.
AB  - In this study, a novel integrated anaerobic ammonium oxidization with partial
      denitrification process (termed as ANAMMOX-PD) was developed for advanced
      nitrogen removal from high-strength wastewater, which excess NO3--N produced by
      ANAMMOX was fed into PD reactor for NO2--N production and then refluxing to
      ANAMMOX reactor for further removal. Results showed that total nitrogen (TN)
      removal efficiency as high as 97.8% was achieved and effluent TN-N was below
      20mg/L at influent TN-N of 820mg/L. Furthermore, the feasibility of
      simultaneously treating domestic wastewater was demonstrated in ANAMMOX-PD
      process, and NH4+-N removal efficiency of 96.7% was obtained. The nitrogen
      removal was mainly carried out through ANAMMOX pathway, and high-throughput
      sequencing revealed that Candidatus_Brocadia was the major ANAMMOX species. The
      presented process could effectively solve the problem of excess nitrate residual
      in ANAMMOX effluent, which hold a great potential in application of currently
      ANAMMOX treating high-strength wastewater (e.g. sludge digestion supernatant).

PMID- 27639223
TI  - Composting of 4-nonylphenol-contaminated river sediment with inocula of
      Phanerochaete chrysosporium.
AB  - A composting study was performed to investigate the degradation of 4-nonylphenol
      (4-NP) in river sediment by inoculating Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Pc). Pc was
      inoculated into composting Reactor A, C and D, while Reactor B without inocula
      was used as control. The results showed that composting with Pc accelerated the
      degradation of 4-NP, increased the catalase and polyphenol oxidase enzyme
      activities in contaminated sediment. The dissipation half-life (t1/2) of 4-NP in
      Reactor A, C and D with inocula of Pc were 2.079, 2.558, 2.424days, while in
      Reactor B without inocula of Pc it was 3.239days, respectively. Correlation
      analysis showed that the contents of 4-NP in sediment in Reactor A and D were
      negatively correlated with the actives of laccase, whereas no obvious correlation
      was observed in Reactor B and C. All these findings also indicated that Pc
      enhanced the maturity of compost, and the best composting C/N ratio was 25.46:1.

PMID- 27639224
TI  - In-situ transesterification of wet spent coffee grounds for sustainable biodiesel
      production.
AB  - This work addresses in-situ transesterification of wet spent coffee grounds
      (SCGs) for the production of biodiesel. For in-situ transesterification process,
      the methanol, organic solvent and acid catalyst were mixed with wet SCG in one
      pot and the mixture was heated for simultaneous lipid extraction and
      transesterification. Maximum yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) was
      16.75wt.% based on the weight of dry SCG at 95 degrees C. Comprehensive
      experiments were conducted with varying temperatures and various amounts of
      moisture, methanol, co-solvent and acid catalyst. Moderate polar and alcohol
      miscible organic solvent is suitable for the high FAME yield. Unsaturated FAMEs
      are subject to oxidative cleavage by nitric acid and shorter chain (C6 and C10)
      FAMEs were mainly produced while sulfuric acid yielded long chain unsaturated
      FAMEs (C16 and C18). Utilization of wet SCGs as a biodiesel feedstock gives
      economic and environmental benefits by recycling the municipal waste.

PMID- 27639225
TI  - Two stage bioethanol refining with multi litre stacked microbial fuel cell and
      microbial electrolysis cell.
AB  - Ethanol, electricity, hydrogen and methane were produced in a two stage
      bioethanol refinery setup based on a 10L microbial fuel cell (MFC) and a 33L
      microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). The MFC was a triple stack for ethanol and
      electricity co-generation. The stack configuration produced more ethanol with
      faster glucose consumption the higher the stack potential. Under electrolytic
      conditions ethanol productivity outperformed standard conditions and reached
      96.3% of the theoretically best case. At lower external loads currents and
      working potentials oscillated in a self-synchronized manner over all three MFC
      units in the stack. In the second refining stage, fermentation waste was
      converted into methane, using the scale up MEC stack. The bioelectric
      methanisation reached 91% efficiency at room temperature with an applied voltage
      of 1.5V using nickel cathodes. The two stage bioethanol refining process
      employing bioelectrochemical reactors produces more energy vectors than is
      possible with today's ethanol distilleries.

PMID- 27639226
TI  - Electro-biocatalytic treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater using microbial
      fuel cell (MFC) in continuous mode operation.
AB  - Refinery wastewater (RW) treatment in microbial fuel cell (MFC) was studied in
      batch mode operation followed by continuous mode operation with 8h and 16h
      hydraulic retention time (HRT). The MFC performance was evaluated in terms of
      power density, organics removal, specific contaminants (oil & grease, phenol and
      sulfide) removal and energy conversion efficiency with respect to operation mode.
      Higher power density of 225+/-1.4mW/m2 was observed during continuous mode
      operation with 16h HRT along with a substrate degradation of 84.4+/-0.8%
      including the 95+/-0.6 of oil content. The columbic efficiency during this
      operation was about 2+/-0.8% and the projected power yield was 340+/-20kWh/kg
      CODR/day. Batch mode operation also showed good substrate degradation (81+/-1.8%)
      but took longer HRT which resulted in significantly low substrate degradation
      rate (0.036+/-0.002kgCODR/m3-day) over continuous mode operation (1.05+/
      0.01kgCODR/m3-day). Overall, current study depicted the possibility of utilizing
      RW as substrate in MFC for power generation along with its treatment.

PMID- 27639227
TI  - The effect of low-temperature pretreatment on the solubilization and biomethane
      potential of microalgae biomass grown in synthetic and wastewater media.
AB  - Microalgae have been suggested as a sustainable raw material for biofuel
      production in the form of methane via anaerobic digestion. Here, pretreatments at
      60-80 degrees C were investigated, aiming to study the impact of algae culture
      media on biomethane potential and pretreatment efficiency. Chlorella vulgaris and
      mixed culture of native algae species (dominating by Scenedesmus sp.) were grown
      in synthetic medium, wastewater (sterilized and non-sterilized) and digestate
      from anaerobic digestion of pulp and paper biosludge (sterilized and non
      sterilized). The biomethane potential for native microalgal biomass varied
      between 154 and 252LCH4kg-1 VS depending on culture media. The efficiency of the
      low-temperature pretreatment (80 degrees C, 3h) for solubilization (9-12%) of C.
      vulgaris and native algae biomass was similar for algae grown in sterilized and
      non-sterilized wastewater media. The pretreatment increased the biomethane
      potential of native algae biomass by 11-24%.

PMID- 27639228
TI  - Development of partial nitrification as a first step of nitrite shunt process in
      a Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) using Ammonium Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB)
      controlled by mixing regime.
AB  - Shortcut biological nitrogen removal is a non-conventional way of removing
      nitrogen from wastewater using two processes either nitrite shunt or
      deammonification. In the nitrite shunt process, the ammonia oxidation step stops
      at the nitrite stage, which is known as partial nitrification, then nitrite is
      directly reduced to nitrogen gas. Effective partial nitrification could be
      achieved by accumulating Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) and inhibiting Nitrite
      Oxidizing Bacteria (NOB). In this research, a novel control strategy has been
      developed to control the DO using the variable mixing regime in a suspended
      growth system using a Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) in order to achieve a stable
      ammonia removal efficiency (ARE) and nitrite accumulation rate (NAR) at a high
      nitrogen loading rate (NLR). The new controlled SBR system has been successfully
      running at NLR up to 1.2kg/(m3.day) and achieved an ARE of 98.6+/-2.8% and NAR of
      93.0+/-0.7%.

PMID- 27639229
TI  - Continuous treatment of high strength wastewaters using air-cathode microbial
      fuel cells.
AB  - Treatment of low strength wastewaters using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has been
      effective at hydraulic retention times (HRTs) similar to aerobic processes, but
      treatment of high strength wastewaters can require longer HRTs. The use of two
      air-cathode MFCs hydraulically connected in series was examined to continuously
      treat high strength swine wastewater (7-8g/L of chemical oxygen demand) at an HRT
      of 16.7h. The maximum power density of 750+/-70mW/m2 was produced after 12daysof
      operation. However, power decreased by 85% after 185d of operation due to serious
      cathode fouling. COD removal was improved by using a lower external resistance,
      and COD removal rates were substantially higher than those previously reported
      for a low strength wastewater. However, removal rates were inconsistent with
      first order kinetics as the calculated rate constant was an order of magnitude
      lower than rate constant for the low strength wastewater.

PMID- 27639230
TI  - Co-extraction of soluble and insoluble sugars from energy sorghum based on a
      hydrothermal hydrolysis process.
AB  - A process for co-extraction of soluble and insoluble sugars from energy sorghum
      (ES) was developed based on hydrothermal hydrolysis (HH). Two series of ES were
      investigated: one (N) with a high biomass yield displayed a higher recalcitrance
      to sugar release, whereas the second (T) series was characterized by high sugar
      extraction. The highest total xylose recoveries of 87.2% and 98.7% were obtained
      for N-11 and T-106 under hydrolysis conditions of 180 degrees C for 50min and 180
      degrees C for 30min, respectively. Moreover, the T series displayed higher
      enzymatic digestibility (ED) than the N series. The high degree of branching
      (arabinose/xylose ratio) and acetyl groups in the hemicellulose chains of T-106
      would be expected to accelerate sugar release during the HH process. In addition,
      negative correlations between ED and the lignin content, crystallinity index
      (CrI) and syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) lignin ratio were observed. Furthermore,
      finding ways to overcome the thickness of the cell wall and heterogeneity of its
      chemical composition distribution would make cellulose more accessible to the
      enzyme.

PMID- 27639231
TI  - Simultaneous aerobic denitrification and Cr(VI) reduction by Pseudomonas
      brassicacearum LZ-4 in wastewater.
AB  - Inorganic nitrogen and heavy metals pervasively co-exist in industrial and
      domestic wastewaters. In this work, Pseudomonas brassicacearum LZ-4 was tested
      for the simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and nitrate. Nitrate was found to be the
      best inorganic nitrogen source for strain LZ-4, and could promote Cr(VI)
      reduction. Cr(VI) had a low degree of inhibition on denitrification, and even
      50mgL-1 Cr(VI) did not inhibit reduction of 100mgL-1 NO3--N. The capability of
      simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and nitrate was illustrated by the reductase
      genes contained in the LZ-4 genome. Application in a batch membrane bioreactor
      showed that the immobilized strain LZ-4 could remove over 95% of 500mgL-1 NO3--N,
      80% of 10mgL-1 Cr(VI), and 96% of 5000mgL-1 COD in each batch of 46days. In
      summary, the strain LZ-4 is an ideal candidate for remediation of co
      contaminants.

PMID- 27639232
TI  - An optimized regulating method for composting phosphorus fractions transformation
      based on biochar addition and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria inoculation.
AB  - The study was conducted to investigate the influence of biochar and/or phosphate
      solubilizing bacteria (PSB) inoculants on microbial biomass, bacterial community
      composition and phosphorus (P) fractions during kitchen waste composting amended
      with rock phosphate (RP). There were distinct differences in the physic-chemical
      parameters, the proportion of P fractions and bacterial diversity in different
      treatments. The contribution of available P fractions increased during composting
      especially in the treatment with the addition of PSB and biochar. Redundancy
      analysis showed that bacterial compositions were significantly influenced by P
      content, inoculation and biochar. Variance partitioning further showed that
      synergy of inoculated PSB and indigenous bacterial communities and the joint
      effect between biochar and bacteria explained the largest two proportion of the
      variation in P fractions. Therefore, the combined application of PSB and biochar
      to improve the inoculation effect and an optimized regulating method were
      suggested based on the distribution of P fractions.

PMID- 27639233
TI  - Evaluation of co-pyrolysis petrochemical wastewater sludge with lignite in a
      thermogravimetric analyzer and a packed-bed reactor: Pyrolysis characteristics,
      kinetics, and products analysis.
AB  - Co-pyrolysis characteristics of petrochemical wastewater sludge and Huolinhe
      lignite were investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer and packed-bed reactor
      coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and gas chromatography. The
      pyrolysis characteristics of the blends at various sludge blending ratios were
      compared with those of the individual materials. Thermogravimetric experiments
      showed that the interactions between the blends were beneficial to generate more
      residues. In packed-bed reactor, synergetic effects promoted the release of gas
      products and left less liquid and solid products than those calculated by
      additive manner. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer analysis showed that
      main functional groups in chars gradually disappeared with pyrolysis temperatures
      increasing, and H2O, CH4, CO, and CO2 appeared in volatiles during pyrolysis. Gas
      compositions analysis indicated that, the yields of H2 and CO clearly increased
      as the pyrolysis temperature and sludge blending ratio increasing, while the
      changes of CH4 and CO2 yields were relatively complex.

PMID- 27639234
TI  - Reduction and biofixation of carbon dioxide in palm oil mill effluent using
      developed microbial granules containing photosynthetic pigments.
AB  - The developed microbial granules containing photosynthetic pigments had
      successfully achieved approximately 18-21% of carbon dioxide (CO2) removal in
      POME for one complete SBR cycle. Also, the granules had reached CO2 removal at 15
      29% within 24h and removal of 25% after 5 days. Both results were inconsistent
      possibly due to the slow mass transfer rate of CO2 from gas to liquid as well as
      the simultaneous effect of CO2 production and respiration among the microbes.
      Furthermore, results showed the removal of CO2 from air increases proportionally
      with the CO2 removed in liquid. The CO2 biofixation of granules attained was
      approximately 0.23g/L/day for a week. Using the regression model, the removal of
      CO2 between liquid and gas, CO2 biofixation rate were highly correlated with the
      treatment time. A statistically significant relationship was obtained between CO2
      concentration in liquid, biomass productivity and treatment time for the CO2
      biofixation rate of the granules.

PMID- 27639235
TI  - The performance of microbial anodes in municipal wastewater: Pre-grown
      multispecies biofilm vs. natural inocula.
AB  - In this study, different inoculation strategies for continuously operated
      microbial anodes are analyzed and compared. After 20daysof operation with
      municipal wastewater anodes pre-incubated with a biofilm of the exoelectrogenic
      species Geobacter and Shewanella showed current densities of (65+/-8) MUA/cm2.
      This is comparable to the current densities of non-inoculated anodes and anodes
      inoculated with sewage sludge. Analysis of the barcoded pre-grown multispecies
      biofilms reveal that 99% of the original biofilm was detached after 20daysof
      operation with municipal wastewater. This is in contrast to previous experiments
      where a pre-grown biofilm of exoelectrogens was operated in batch mode. To
      implement pre-grown biofilms in continuous systems it will thus be necessary to
      reveal a window of process parameters in which typical exoelectrogenic
      microorganisms including model organisms can be kept and/or enriched on anodes.

PMID- 27639236
TI  - Soybean protein as a cost-effective lignin-blocking additive for the
      saccharification of sugarcane bagasse.
AB  - Addition of surfactants, polymers, and non-catalytic proteins can improve the
      enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials by blocking the exposed lignin
      surfaces, but involves extra expense. Here, soybean protein, one of the cheapest
      proteins available, was evaluated as an alternative additive for the enzymatic
      hydrolysis of pretreated sugarcane bagasse. The effect of the enzyme source was
      investigated using enzymatic cocktails from A. niger and T. reesei cultivated
      under solid-state, submerged, and sequential fermentation. The use of soybean
      protein led to approximately 2-fold increases in hydrolysis, relative to the
      control, for both A. niger and T. reesei enzymatic cocktails from solid-state
      fermentation. The effect was comparable to that of BSA. Moreover, the use of
      soybean protein and a 1:1 combination of A. niger and T. reesei enzymatic
      cocktails resulted in 54% higher glucose release, compared to the control.
      Soybean protein is a potential cost-effective additive for use in the biomass
      conversion process.

PMID- 27639238
TI  - Optimization of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation for more
      efficient ethanol production by Jerusalem artichoke stalk.
AB  - Jerusalem artichoke (JA) is a potential energy crop for biorefinery due to its
      unique agronomic traits such as resistance to environmental stresses and high
      biomass yield in marginal lands. Although JA tubers have been explored for inulin
      extraction and biofuels production, there is little concern on its stalk (JAS).
      In this article, the pretreatment of JAS by alkaline hydrogen peroxide was
      optimized using the response surface methodology to improve sugars yield and
      reduce chemicals usage. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and
      thermogravimetric analysis were applied to characterize the structures of the
      pretreated JAS to evaluate the effectiveness of the pretreatment. Furthermore,
      the feeding of the pretreated JAS and cellulase was performed for high solid
      uploading (up to 30%) to increase ethanol titer, and simultaneous
      saccharification and fermentation with 55.6g/L ethanol produced, 36.5% more than
      that produced through separate hydrolysis and fermentation, was validated to be
      more efficient.

PMID- 27639239
TI  - Quadratic adaptive algorithm for solving cardiac action potential models.
AB  - An adaptive integration method is proposed for computing cardiac action potential
      models accurately and efficiently. Time steps are adaptively chosen by solving a
      quadratic formula involving the first and second derivatives of the membrane
      action potential. To improve the numerical accuracy, we devise an extremum
      locator (el) function to predict the local extremum when approaching the peak
      amplitude of the action potential. In addition, the time step restriction (tsr)
      technique is designed to limit the increase in time steps, and thus prevent the
      membrane potential from changing abruptly. The performance of the proposed method
      is tested using the Luo-Rudy phase 1 (LR1), dynamic (LR2), and human O'Hara-Rudy
      dynamic (ORd) ventricular action potential models, and the Courtemanche atrial
      model incorporating a Markov sodium channel model. Numerical experiments
      demonstrate that the action potential generated using the proposed method is more
      accurate than that using the traditional Hybrid method, especially near the peak
      region. The traditional Hybrid method may choose large time steps near to the
      peak region, and sometimes causes the action potential to become distorted. In
      contrast, the proposed new method chooses very fine time steps in the peak
      region, but large time steps in the smooth region, and the profiles are smoother
      and closer to the reference solution. In the test on the stiff Markov ionic
      channel model, the Hybrid blows up if the allowable time step is set to be
      greater than 0.1ms. In contrast, our method can adjust the time step size
      automatically, and is stable. Overall, the proposed method is more accurate than
      and as efficient as the traditional Hybrid method, especially for the human ORd
      model. The proposed method shows improvement for action potentials with a non
      smooth morphology, and it needs further investigation to determine whether the
      method is helpful during propagation of the action potential.

PMID- 27639237
TI  - Effects of copper on the abundance and diversity of ammonia oxidizers during
      dairy cattle manure composting.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of adding Cu(II) at two exposure levels (50
      and 500mgkg-1, i.e., Cu50 and Cu500 treatments, respectively) on the activity of
      ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms during dairy cattle manure composting. The
      results showed that the pH, NH4+-N, NO3--N, and potential ammonia oxidation
      values were inhibited significantly by the addition of Cu(II). Furthermore, the
      abundances of the ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) amoA gene and ammonia-oxidizing
      bacteria (AOB) amoA gene were determined by quantitative PCR, and their
      compositions were evaluated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE).
      AOA was the dominant ammonia oxidizing microorganism, of which the abundance was
      much higher than AOB during composting. Cu50 and Cu500 had significant inhibitory
      effects on the abundance of the amoA gene. The DGGE profile and statistical
      analysis showed that Cu(II) changed the AOA and AOB community structure and
      diversity, where Nitrosomonas and Crenarchaeota dominated throughout the
      composting process.

PMID- 27639241
TI  - Therapeutic effect of monophosphoryl lipid A administration on Paracoccidioides
      brasiliensis-infected mice.
AB  - The lack of antifungals with low toxicity and short-term therapy for patients
      with paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) led us to evaluate adjuvants in
      immunotherapeutic intervention. We have previously shown complete Freund's
      adjuvant (CFA) to be therapeutic on experimental PCM. Owing to CFA toxicity, here
      we tested adjuvants approved for clinical use or in preclinical phase in
      experimental mouse PCM. Of all, only monophosporyl lipid A (MPLA) demonstrates a
      beneficial effect, by reducing the fungal burden and increasing the
      concentrations of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, which are immunoprotective in PCM.
      These results suggest that MPLA might improve intervention in PCM.

PMID- 27639240
TI  - Modulating carbohydrate-protein interactions through glycoengineering of
      monoclonal antibodies to impact cancer physiology.
AB  - Diverse glycans on proteins impact cell and organism physiology, along with drug
      activity. Since many protein-based biotherapeutics are glycosylated and these
      glycans have biological activity, there is a desire to engineer glycosylation for
      recombinant protein-based biotherapeutics. Engineered glycosylation can impact
      the recombinant protein efficacy and also influence many cell pathways by first
      changing glycan-protein interactions and consequently modulating disease
      physiologies. However, its complexity is enormous. Recent advances in
      glycoengineering now make it easier to modulate protein-glycan interactions.
      Here, we discuss how engineered glycans contribute to therapeutic monoclonal
      antibodies (mAbs) in the treatment of cancers, how these glycoengineered
      therapeutic mAbs affect the transformed phenotypes and downstream cell pathways.
      Furthermore, we suggest how systems biology can help in the next generation mAb
      glycoengineering process by aiding in data analysis and guiding engineering
      efforts to tailor mAb glycan and ultimately drug efficacy, safety and
      affordability.

PMID- 27639242
TI  - Aspergillus vaccines: Hardly worth studying or worthy of hard study?
AB  - Vaccines rank among the greatest advances in the history of public health. Yet,
      despite the need, there are no licensed vaccines to protect humans against fungal
      diseases, including aspergillosis. In this focused review, some of the major
      scientific and logistical challenges to developing vaccines to protect at-risk
      individuals against aspergillosis are discussed. Approaches that have shown
      promise in animal models include vaccines that protect against multiple fungal
      genera and those that are specifically directed to Aspergillus Advances in
      proteomics and glycomics have facilitated identification of candidate antigens
      for use in subunit vaccines. Novel adjuvants and delivery systems are becoming
      available that can skew vaccine responses toward those associated with
      protection. Immunotherapy consisting of adoptive transfer of Aspergillus-specific
      T cells to allogeneic hematopoietic transplant recipients has advanced to human
      testing but is technically difficult and of unproven benefit. While progress has
      been impressive, much work still needs to be done if vaccines against
      aspergillosis are to become a reality.

PMID- 27639247
TI  - Serum biomarkers for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Are we there yet?

PMID- 27639246
TI  - Multicenter evaluation of efficacy and safety of low-dose versus high-dose
      valganciclovir for prevention of cytomegalovirus disease in donor and recipient
      positive (D+/R+) renal transplant recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cytomegalovirus (CMV) donor-positive/recipient-positive (D+/R+)
      population is the largest proportion of renal transplant recipients (RTR).
      Guidelines for prevention of CMV in the intermediate-risk D+/R+ population
      include prophylaxis with valganciclovir (VGCV) 900 mg/day for 3 months. This
      study is the first head-to-head analysis, to our knowledge, comparing the
      efficacy and safety CMV prophylaxis of VGCV 450 vs 900 mg/day for 3 months in
      D+/R+ RTR. METHODS: A multicenter, retrospective analysis evaluated 478 adult RTR
      between January 2008 and October 2011. Study participants received VGCV 450
      mg/day (Group 1; n=398) or 900 mg/day (Group 2; n=89)*3 months for CMV
      prophylaxis. All VGCV was adjusted for renal function. All groups included in
      this study received study-approved induction and maintenance immunosuppression
      regimens. The primary endpoint was incidence of CMV disease at 12 months.
      RESULTS: The rates of graft loss, patient survival, T-cell and/or antibody
      mediated rejection, hematological adverse events, opportunistic infections, and
      early VGCV discontinuation were evaluated. Patient demographics were comparable,
      but had significant differences in ethnicity and donor type between the groups.
      CONCLUSION: The occurrence of CMV disease at 12 months was similar between the
      groups (3.5% vs 3.4%; P=1.000). Log-rank test found no statistically significant
      difference in the time to development of CMV between the 2 groups (P=.939).

PMID- 27639248
TI  - Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Exposure Reduces Hypoxia and Inflammation Damage in
      Neuron-Like and Microglial Cells.
AB  - In the present study, the effect of low-frequency, low-energy pulsed
      electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) has been investigated by using different cell
      lines derived from neuron-like cells and microglial cells. In particular, the
      primary aim was to evaluate the effect of PEMF exposure in inflammation- and
      hypoxia-induced injury in two different neuronal cell models, the human
      neuroblastoma-derived SH-SY5Y cells and rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells and in N9
      microglial cells. In neuron-like cells, live/dead and apoptosis assays were
      performed in hypoxia conditions from 2 to 48 h. Interestingly, PEMF exposure
      counteracted hypoxia damage significantly reducing cell death and apoptosis. In
      the same cell lines, PEMFs inhibited the activation of the hypoxia-inducible
      factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha), the master transcriptional regulator of cellular
      response to hypoxia. The effect of PEMF exposure on reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production in both neuron-like and microglial cells was investigated considering
      their key role in ischemic injury. PEMFs significantly decreased hypoxia-induced
      ROS generation in PC12, SH-SY5Y, and N9 cells after 24 or 48 h of incubation.
      Moreover, PEMFs were able to reduce some of the most well-known pro-inflammatory
      cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)
      1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 release in N9 microglial cells stimulated with different
      concentrations of LPS for 24 or 48 h of incubation time. These results show a
      protective effect of PEMFs on hypoxia damage in neuron-like cells and an anti
      inflammatory effect in microglial cells suggesting that PEMFs could represent a
      potential therapeutic approach in cerebral ischemic conditions. J. Cell. Physiol.
      232: 1200-1208, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27639249
TI  - Incidence and survival trends of cervical adenocarcinoma in Italy: Cytology
      screening has become more effective in downstaging the disease but not in
      detecting its precursors.

PMID- 27639251
TI  - Efficacies of biological therapies at week 12 in patients with plaque psoriasis
      in real-world academic clinical practice: a Canadian multicentre retrospective
      study.

PMID- 27639250
TI  - Sirtuin 1 activation alleviates cholestatic liver injury in a cholic acid-fed
      mouse model of cholestasis.
AB  - : Sirtuin1 (Sirt1; mammalian homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae enzyme Sir2) is
      a transcriptional and transactivational regulator of murine farnesoid X receptor
      (Fxr), which is the primary bile acid (BA) sensor, and critical regulator of BA
      metabolism in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Previous studies
      have suggested compromised Sirt1 expression in rodent models of cholestatic liver
      injury. We hypothesized that Sirt1 could be potentially targeted to alleviate
      cholestatic liver injury. In cultured primary human hepatocytes, SIRT1 messenger
      RNA was down-regulated after GCA treatment, potentially through induction of
      microRNA (miR)-34a, whereas tauroursodeoxycholic acid induced SIRT1 expression
      without affecting miR-34a expression. Sirt1 expression was also significantly
      down-regulated in three mouse models of liver injury (bile duct ligation, 1%
      cholic acid [CA] fed, and the Mdr2-/- mouse). Mice fed CA diet also demonstrated
      hepatic FXR hyperacetylation and induction of the Janus kinase/p53 pathway. Mice
      fed a CA diet and concurrently administered the Sirt1 activator, SRT1720 (50
      mg/kg/day, orally), demonstrated 40% and 45% decrease in plasma alanine
      aminotransferase and BA levels, respectively. SRT1720 increased hepatic BA
      hydrophilicity by increasing tri- and tetrahydroxylated and decreasing the
      dihydroxylated BA fraction. SRT1720 administration also inhibited hepatic BA
      synthesis, potentially through ileal fibroblast growth factor 15- and Fxr
      mediated inhibition of cytochrome p450 (Cyp) 7a1 and Cyp27a1, along with
      increased hepatic BA hydroxylation in association with Cyp2b10 induction. SRT1720
      administration significantly induced renal multidrug resistance-associated
      protein 2 and 4, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1
      alpha, and constitutive androstance receptor expression along with ~2-fold
      increase in urinary BA concentrations. CONCLUSION: SRT1720 administration
      alleviates cholestatic liver injury in mice by increasing hydrophilicity of
      hepatic BA composition and decreasing plasma BA concentration through increased
      BA excretion into urine. Thus, use of small-molecule activators of Sirt1 presents
      a novel therapeutic target for cholestatic liver injury. (Hepatology 2016;64:2151
      2164).

PMID- 27639252
TI  - Hepatitis B virus X protein crosses out Smc5/6 complex to maintain covalently
      closed circular DNA transcription.

PMID- 27639253
TI  - Identification of Domains for Efficient Notch Signaling Activity in Immobilized
      Notch Ligand Proteins.
AB  - Notch is a critical signaling pathway that controls cell fate and tissue
      homeostasis, but the functional characterization of Notch ligand domains that
      activate Notch receptors remains incomplete. Here, we established a method for
      immobilizing Notch ligand proteins onto beads to measure time-dependent Notch
      activity after the addition of Notch ligand-coated beads. A comparison between
      activities by the Notch ligand found on the cell surface to that of the ligand
      immobilized on beads showed that immobilized Notch ligand protein produces
      comparable signal activity during the first 10 h. Follow-up truncation studies
      showed that the N-terminal epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeat three region of
      delta like canonical Notch ligand 4 (DLL4) or jagged 1 (JAG1) is the minimum
      region for activating Notch signaling, and the DLL4 EGF repeat three domain may
      have a role in activation through a mechanism other than by increasing binding
      affinity. In addition, we found that reconstruction of the DLL4 delta and OSM-11
      (DOS) motif (N257P) resulted in an increase in both binding affinity and
      signaling activity, which suggests that the role of the DOS motif is conserved
      among Notch ligands. Furthermore, active DLL4 protein on beads promoted T cell
      differentiation or inhibited B cell differentiation in vitro, whereas JAG1
      proteins on beads did not have any effect. Taken together, our findings provide
      unambiguous evidence for the role of different Notch ligands and their domains in
      Notch signal activation, and may be potential tools for controlling Notch
      signaling activation. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 785-796, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27639255
TI  - Nonlinear effects of potassium channel blockers on endothelium-dependent
      hyperpolarization.
AB  - In a number of published studies on endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization and
      relaxation, the results of the effects of K+ blockers have been difficult to
      interpret. When the effects of two blockers have been studied, often either
      blocker by itself had little effect, whereas the two blockers combined tended to
      abolish the responses. Explanations suggested in the literature include an
      unusual pharmacology of the K+ channels, and possible blocker binding
      interactions. In contrast, when we applied the same blockers to segments of small
      blood vessels under voltage clamp, the blockers reduced the endothelium-dependent
      K+ current in a linearly additive manner. Resolution of these contrasting results
      is important as endothelium-derived hyperpolarization (EDH) makes its greatest
      contribution to vasorelaxation in arterioles and small resistance arteries, where
      it can exert a significant role in tissue perfusion and blood pressure
      regulation. Furthermore, EDH is impaired in various diseases. Here, we consider
      why the voltage-clamp results differ from earlier free-running membrane potential
      and contractility studies. We fitted voltage-clamp-derived current-voltage
      relationships with mathematical functions and considered theoretically the
      effects of partial and total block of endothelium-derived K+ -currents on the
      membrane potential of small blood vessels. When the K+ -conductance was partially
      reduced, equivalent to applying a single blocker, the effect on EDH was small.
      Total block of the endothelium-dependent K+ conductance abolished the
      hyperpolarization, in agreement with various published studies. We conclude that
      nonlinear summation of the hyperpolarizing response evoked by endothelial
      stimulation can explain the variable effectiveness of individual K+ channel
      blockers on endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization and resulting relaxation.

PMID- 27639254
TI  - Impact of a Clinical Pharmacy Service on the Management of Patients in a Sickle
      Cell Disease Outpatient Center.
AB  - Ambulatory care clinical pharmacy services have expanded beyond primary care
      settings, but literature supporting the benefits of clinical pharmacy involvement
      with patients who have rare diseases such as sickle cell disease (SCD) is
      lacking. Hydroxyurea is the only agent approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
      Administration for the treatment of SCD; full benefit in controlling pain
      episodes and other complications is achieved through monitored escalation to a
      maximum tolerated dose. The primary objective of this analysis was to evaluate
      the impact of a newly implemented clinical pharmacy service on the management of
      patients with SCD. We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 385
      adults with SCD who received care between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014,
      at a single Sickle Cell Outpatient Center that implemented a clinical pharmacy
      service in August 2013. Data were collected on hydroxyurea dose escalation,
      immunization completion rates, and health maintenance metrics (screening for
      nephropathy with microalbuminuria testing, retinopathy with annual retinal
      examinations, and pulmonary hypertension with echocardiography). The impact of
      the clinical pharmacy service on quality measurements was evaluated by using
      univariate and multivariate analyses. The number of pharmacist encounters,
      defined as a clinic visit when a clinical pharmacist interacted with a patient as
      documented in the medical records, was associated with an improved hydroxyurea
      dose escalation rate (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07
      2.05, p=0.02). Immunization rates for the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide
      vaccine, the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and influenza vaccine were
      66%, 47%, and 62%, respectively. The number of pharmacist encounters was
      associated with improved immunization completion rates (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.17
      1.62, p<0.001). Improved screening for microalbuminuria (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.60
      2.86, p<0.001) and sickle cell retinopathy (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.00-1.35, p=0.05)
      were also associated with the number of pharmacist encounters. A new clinical
      pharmacy service implemented in managing a rare disease, SCD, was associated with
      an improved hydroxyurea dose escalation rate, immunization completion rates, and
      health maintenance metrics.

PMID- 27639257
TI  - Palmoplantar keratoderma and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: combination of two
      independent genetic diseases? Identification of two point mutations in the MPZ
      and KRT1 genes by whole-exome sequencing.

PMID- 27639259
TI  - Home self-administration of omalizumab for chronic spontaneous urticaria.

PMID- 27639256
TI  - Skin biopsy utilization and melanoma incidence among Medicare beneficiaries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Melanoma incidence has increased in recent decades in the U.S.A.
      Uncertainty remains regarding how much of this increase is attributable to
      greater melanoma screening activities, potential detection bias and
      overdiagnosis. OBJECTIVES: To use a cross-sectional ecological analysis to
      evaluate the relationship between skin biopsy and melanoma incidence rates over a
      more recent time period than prior reports. METHODS: Examination of the
      association of biopsy rates and melanoma incidence (invasive and in situ) in SEER
      Medicare data (including 10 states) for 2002-2009. RESULTS: The skin biopsy rate
      increased by approximately 50% (6% per year) throughout this 8-year period, from
      7012 biopsies per 100 000 persons in 2002 to 10 528 biopsies per 100 000 persons
      in 2009. The overall melanoma incidence rate increased approximately 4% (< 1% per
      year) over the same time period. The incidence of melanoma in situ increased
      approximately 10% (1% per year), while the incidence of invasive melanoma
      increased from 2002 to 2005 then decreased from 2006 to 2009. Regression models
      estimated that, on average, for every 1000 skin biopsies performed, an additional
      5.2 (95% confidence interval 4.1-6.3) cases of melanoma in situ were diagnosed
      and 8.1 (95% confidence interval 6.7-9.5) cases of invasive melanoma were
      diagnosed. When considering individual states, some demonstrated a positive
      association between biopsy rate and invasive melanoma incidence, others an
      inverse association, and still others a more complex pattern. CONCLUSIONS:
      Increased skin biopsies over time are associated with increased diagnosis of in
      situ melanoma, but the association with invasive melanoma is more complex.

PMID- 27639258
TI  - Expression of innate immune defence genes in healthy and onychomycotic nail and
      stratum corneum.

PMID- 27639261
TI  - Do we need to correct coagulation abnormalities prophylactically in patients with
      cirrhosis undergoing invasive procedures? a dilemma.

PMID- 27639260
TI  - A Population Pharmacokinetic Model for Vancomycin in Adult Patients Receiving
      Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Therapy.
AB  - The literature on the pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in patients undergoing
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy is sparse. A population
      pharmacokinetic (PK) model for vancomycin in ECMO patients was developed using a
      nonlinear mixed effects modeling on the concentration-time profiles of 14 ECMO
      patients who received intravenous vancomycin. Model selection was based on log
      likelihood criterion, goodness of fit plots, and scientific plausibility.
      Identification of covariates was done using a full covariate model approach. The
      pharmacokinetics of vancomycin was adequately described with a two-compartment
      model. Parameters included clearance of 2.83 L/hr, limited central volume of
      distribution 24.2 L, and low residual variability 0.67%. Findings from the
      analysis suggest that standard dosing recommendations for vancomycin in non-ECMO
      patients are adequate to achieve therapeutic trough concentrations in ECMO
      patients. This further shows that ECMO minimally affects the PK of vancomycin in
      adults including in higher-weight patients.

PMID- 27639263
TI  - Modeling fatty liver disease in animals: Is there an optimal approach, and is the
      effort worthwhile?

PMID- 27639262
TI  - Preliminary Single-Center Canadian Experience of Human Normothermic Ex Vivo Liver
      Perfusion: Results of a Clinical Trial.
AB  - After extensive experimentation, outcomes of a first clinical normothermic
      machine perfusion (NMP) liver trial in the United Kingdom demonstrated
      feasibility and clear safety, with improved liver function compared with standard
      static cold storage (SCS). We present a preliminary single-center North American
      experience using identical NMP technology. Ten donor liver grafts were procured,
      four (40%) from donation after circulatory death (DCD), of which nine were
      transplanted. One liver did not proceed because of a technical failure with
      portal cannulation and was discarded. Transplanted NMP grafts were matched 1:3
      with transplanted SCS livers. Median NMP was 11.5 h (range 3.3-22.5 h) with one
      DCD liver perfused for 22.5 h. All transplanted livers functioned, and serum
      transaminases, bilirubin, international normalized ratio, and lactate levels
      corrected in NMP recipients similarly to controls. Graft survival at 30 days
      (primary outcome) was not statistically different between groups on an intent-to
      treat basis (p = 0.25). Intensive care and hospital stays were significantly more
      prolonged in the NMP group. This preliminary experience demonstrates feasibility
      as well as potential technical risks of NMP in a North American setting and
      highlights a need for larger, randomized studies.

PMID- 27639264
TI  - Relationship between linear velocity and tangential push force while turning to
      change the direction of the manual wheelchair.
AB  - Wheelchair propulsion is a major cause of upper limb pain and injuries for manual
      wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Few studies have investigated
      wheelchair turning biomechanics on natural ground surfaces. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the relationship between tangential push force and
      linear velocity of the wheelchair during the turning portions of propulsion.
      Using an instrumented handrim, velocity and push force data were recorded for 25
      subjects while they propel their own wheelchairs on a concrete floor along a
      figure-eight-shaped course at a maximum velocity. The braking force (1.03 N) of
      the inside wheel while turning was the largest of all other push forces (p<0.05).
      Larger changes in squared velocity while turning were significantly correlated
      with higher propulsive and braking forces used at the pre-turning, turning, and
      post-turning phases (p<0.05). Subjects with less change of velocity while turning
      needed less braking force to maneuver themselves successfully and safely around
      the turns. Considering the magnitude and direction of tangential force applied to
      the wheel, it seems that there are higher risks of injury and instability for
      upper limb joints when braking the inside wheel to turn. The results provide
      insight into wheelchair setup and mobility skills training for wheelchair users.

PMID- 27639265
TI  - An investigation of the effects of suture patterns on mechanical strength of
      intestinal anastomosis: an experimental study.
AB  - How the distance of sutures from the edge of tissue and the horizontal distance
      between stitches affect the mechanical strength of anastomosis is investigated.
      In this study, 180 bovine intestines were used to investigate the optimum pattern
      in 18 groups by considering a 4, 6, and 8 mm horizontal distance between
      stitches, and a 3, 5, and 7 mm distance from the edge of tissue with 3-0 Silk and
      3-0 PDS sutures to maximize the strength of anastomosis (10 specimens in each
      group). Also, 80 specimens were used to investigate the maximum effective
      distance of sutures from the edge of tissue in eight groups of: 3, 5, 7, and 10
      mm distance from the edge, with the same type of sutures. Tensile tests with an
      elongation rate of 5 mm/min were performed for all the groups. Based on the
      results, the pattern of 7-6 (distance from the edge-distance between stitches)
      for both 3-0 Silk and 3-0 PDS, 5-6 and 7-4 for 3-0 Silk, and 5-6 and 7-4 for 3-0
      PDS can be considered as the best options among 18 different combinations. It was
      also found that increasing the distance from the edge from 7 mm to 10 mm does not
      cause a significant difference in mechanical strength. Results can help surgeons
      to improve the intestinal anastomosis and employ it as an input for automatic
      suturing devices.

PMID- 27639266
TI  - Placental malperfusion as a possible mechanism of preterm birth in patients with
      Mullerian anomalies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mullerian anomalies are associated with increased risk of miscarriage,
      intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preterm birth. While a commonly
      implicated cause is restricted expansion of endometrial cavity, alternatively it
      could be due to abnormal placentation. We sought to examine clinical and
      histopathologic factors associated with preterm delivery in women with Mullerian
      anomalies. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred and eleven singleton pregnancies in 85 women
      were analyzed retrospectively. There were 42 pregnancies with bicornaute, 24 with
      unicornuate, 24 with septate, 19 with didelphys and one each with arcuate and T
      shaped uterus. Primary outcomes included gestational age at delivery, placental
      histopathology, placenta previa and accreta. RESULTS: Twenty-eight (25.2%) of
      pregnancies were delivered prior to term. Of those, only 14 (50%) were due to
      preterm labor or preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Histological
      evidence of placental malperfusion was present in 22% of all pregnancies and
      those delivered at an earlier median gestational age [34 (IQR 31-37) vs. 37 weeks
      (IQR 34-39); P=0.001]. Malperfusion was more common in preterm than in full term
      births (46% vs. 14%; P=0.04). Conversely, inflammation was not more common in
      preterm compared to term deliveries (17.9% vs. 16.9%; P=0.89). Five pregnancies
      had placenta previa, three of which were complicated by accreta. CONCLUSION:
      Placental malperfusion, rather than inflammation, was more commonly associated
      with preterm births in women with uterine anomalies.

PMID- 27639268
TI  - Examination of YouTube videos related to synthetic cannabinoids.
AB  - The popularity of synthetic cannabinoids (SCBs) is increasing the chance for
      adverse health issues in the United States. Moreover, social media platforms such
      as YouTube that provided a platform for user-generated content can convey
      misinformation or glorify use of SCBs. The aim of this study was to fill this gap
      by describing the content of the most popular YouTube videos containing content
      related to the SCBs. Videos with at least 1000 or more views found under the
      search terms "K2" and "spice" included in the analysis. The collective number of
      views was over 7.5 million. Nearly half of videos were consumer produced (n=42).
      The most common content in the videos was description of K2 (n=69), followed by
      mentioning dangers of using K2 (n=47), mentioning side effects (n=38) and showing
      a person using K2 (n=37). One-third of videos (n=34) promoted use of K2, while 22
      videos mentioned risk of dying as a consequence of using K2. YouTube could be
      used as a surveillance tool to combat this epidemic, but instead, the most widely
      videos related to SCBs are uploaded by consumers. The content of these consumer
      videos on YouTube often provide the viewer with access to view a wide array of
      uploaders describing, encouraging, participating and promoting use.

PMID- 27639267
TI  - Glucose tolerance in singleton, twin and triplet pregnancies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data regarding the effects of multifetal pregnancy on the incidence
      of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are inconsistent and even conflicting.
      Twin pregnancies have been associated with no increase, a marginal increase or a
      higher incidence of gestational diabetes. In triplet pregnancies, these effects
      have not been investigated yet. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the results of the glucose
      challenge and tolerance tests in singleton, twin and triplet pregnancies. STUDY
      DESIGN: A retrospective database analysis of pregnant women with singletons,
      twins or triplets who had complete results of the 50 g glucose challenge test
      (GCT) and the 100 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The cohort included
      12,382 singletons, 515 twins and 39 triplets. RESULTS: There were significantly
      higher rates of abnormal GCTs in twins and triplets compared to singletons (45.4%
      and 33.3%, respectively vs. 13.7%, P<0.001 and P<0.05). Significantly higher
      rates of gestational diabetes in twins (10.1% vs. 2.9 %, P<0.001) and triplets
      (12.8% vs. 2.9%, P<0.05) compared to singletons were observed. Mean glucose
      levels after the GCT were higher in twins compared to singletons, and even more
      in triplets (108 mg/dL in singletons vs. 120 mg/dL in twins vs. 129 mg/dL in
      triplets, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Glucose intolerance is aggravated in multifetal
      pregnancies. The likelihood of an abnormal GCT and gestational diabetes is higher
      in twins and triplets compared to singletons.

PMID- 27639269
TI  - More like him, me, or us: the impact of trait similarity on adolescent women's
      sexual risk behaviors in relationships.
AB  - Ideal partner traits and how they relate to a young woman's current partner and
      relationship is a knowledge gap in the literature. The objectives of this study
      were 1) to assess any differences in interpersonal characteristics between a
      young woman or her partner and relationship and 2) to examine the impact of this
      difference on sexual monogamy, condom use and frequency of vaginal sex. Study
      participants (n=387, 14-17 years at enrollment, 90% African American) were
      recruited from three primary care adolescent health clinics serving areas with
      high rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI); data
      were drawn from a longitudinal cohort study of sexual relationships and behaviors
      among young women. Nineteen interpersonal characteristics, including physical,
      financial, communication and personal characteristic variables, were found to
      have varying influences on relationships and sexual behaviors with 'like him' and
      'like us' as referents. Monogamy increased as a male partner wanted to get
      somewhere in life [OR 5.41, (1.25, 23.52, p<0.05)], was intelligent [OR 3.42,
      (1.09, 10.76, p<0.05)] and had money [OR 1.55, (0.272, 0.595, p<0.001)] in a
      partnership; monogamy similarly increased when a partner wanted to get somewhere
      in life [OR 6.77, (1.51, 30.36, p<0.01)], was intelligent [OR 4.02, (1.23, 13.23,
      p<0.05)], and had money [OR 2.41, (1.51, 3.84, p<0.001)] compared to the young
      woman. The likelihood of using a condom at last sex increased when the male
      partner had a nice body [OR 1.42, (1.02, 1.99, p<0.05)], was popular [OR 1.60,
      (1.12, 2.29, p<0.01)], cared for others [OR 3.43, (1.32, 8.98, p<0.01)], was good
      at sports [OR 1.35, (1.06, 1.73, p<0.05)] and expressed his feelings [OR 2.03,
      (1.14, 3.60, p<0.01)]. The condom use ratio increased when the male partner was
      able to take care of himself [OR 0.076, (0.017, 0.136, p<0.01)], was cute [OR
      0.190, (0.082, 0.30, p<0.001)], and had a nice body [OR 0.044, (0.001, 0.09,
      p<0.05)] in a dyad; the condom use ratio also increased when a male partner could
      take care of himself [OR 0.091, (0.014, 0.168, p<0.05)], was cute [OR 0.194,
      (0.077, 0.311, p<0.001)] compared to the young woman. Coital frequency increased
      when the male partner was described as being able to take care of himself [OR
      3.33, (0.138, 6.52, p<0.05)]. Such influences are important in discussions with
      young women regarding personal and partner choices in sexual health as partners,
      behaviors and motivations for choice frequently change.

PMID- 27639270
TI  - A latent class approach to understanding patterns of peer victimization in four
      low-resource settings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peer victimization is a common form of aggression among school-aged
      youth, but research is sparse regarding victimization dynamics in low- and middle
      income countries (LMIC). Person-centered approaches have demonstrated utility in
      understanding patterns of victimization in the USA. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to
      empirically identify classes of youth with unique victimization patterns in four
      LMIC settings using latent class analysis (LCA). METHODS: We used data on past
      year exposure to nine forms of victimization reported by 3536 youth (aged 15
      years) from the Young Lives (YL) study in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh and
      Telangana states), Peru, and Vietnam. Sex and rural/urban context were examined
      as predictors of class membership. RESULTS: LCA supported a 2-class model in
      Peru, a 3-class model in Ethiopia and Vietnam, and a 4-class model in India.
      Classes were predominantly ordered by severity, suggesting that youth who
      experienced one form of victimization were likely to experience other forms as
      well. In India, two unordered classes were also observed, characterized by direct
      and indirect victimization. Boys were more likely than girls to be in the highly
      victimized (HV) class in Ethiopia and India. Urban contexts, compared with rural,
      conferred higher risk of victimization in Ethiopia and Peru, and lower risk in
      India and Vietnam. CONCLUSION: The identified patterns of multiple forms of
      victimization highlight a limitation of common researcher-driven classifications
      and suggest avenues for future person-centered research to improve intervention
      development in LMIC settings.

PMID- 27639271
TI  - Strong pH dependence of coupling efficiency of the Na+ - translocating
      NADH:quinone oxidoreductase (Na+-NQR) of Vibrio cholerae.
AB  - The Na+-translocating NADH:quinone oxidoreductase (NQR) is the entry site for
      electrons into the respiratory chain of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of
      cholera disease. NQR couples the electron transfer from NADH to ubiquinone to the
      translocation of sodium ions across the membrane. We investigated the pH
      dependence of electron transfer and generation of a transmembrane voltage
      (DeltaPsi) by NQR reconstituted in liposomes with Na+ or Li+ as coupling cation.
      DeltaPsi formation was followed with the voltage-sensitive dye oxonol. With Na+,
      DeltaPsi was barely influenced by pH (6.5-8.5), while Q reduction activity
      exhibited a maximum at pH 7.5-8.0. With Li+, DeltaPsi was generally lower, and
      the pH profile of electron transfer activity did not reveal a pronounced maximum.
      We conclude that the coupling efficiency of NQR is influenced by the nature of
      the transported cation, and by the concentration of protons. The 3D structure of
      NQR reveals a transmembrane channel in subunit NqrB. It is proposed that partial
      uncoupling of the NQR observed with the smaller Li+, or with Na+ at pH 7.5-8.0,
      is caused by the backflow of the coupling cation through the channel in NqrB.

PMID- 27639272
TI  - LHRH receptor expression in sarcomas of bone and soft tissue.
AB  - AIM: Luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) is a neurohormone, secreted by
      the hypothalamus, which regulates the secretion of gonadotropins, luteinizing
      hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) from the pituitary. LHRH acts
      by binding to receptors located in the pituitary gland. These receptors (LHRH
      receptors) have also been found in the cytoplasm of many tumor cells that involve
      both the reproductive and non-reproductive organs. These receptors have been
      demonstrated in prostate and breast cancers, endometrial carcinomas, renal cell
      carcinoma, lymphoma, carcinoma of liver, pancreas and skin. So far, the
      expression of LHRH receptors on sarcomas (i.e. malignant tumors of mesenchymal
      origin) has not been studied, except for endometrial sarcomas. It has also been
      demonstrated that both LHRH agonists and antagonists can down-regulate these
      receptors and thus inhibit these tumor cells. Another major therapeutic
      implication is that these receptors can be targeted specifically by peptides
      conjugated to anti-cancer drugs. The purpose of this study was to determine if
      LHRH receptors are expressed in primary and/or metastatic sarcomas of human
      origin. METHODS: We looked at LHRH receptor expression in 38 consecutive sarcoma
      specimens, using immunohistochemistry. The specimens were either from office
      biopsy or from resected tumor; these were confirmed as sarcomas by
      histopathological examination. The receptor staining characteristics and the
      staining intensity were also documented. The pattern of staining was classified
      either as "focal or diffuse staining of the cytoplasm" and the intensity of
      staining was graded on a scale from 1+ to 4+. RESULTS: Positive receptor staining
      was seen in 25 of the 38 (66%) specimens. Twelve of the specimens stained
      diffusely and 13 had focally positive staining. Three tumors had 1+ staining, 10
      had 2+ staining, six had 3+ staining, and six tumors had 4+ staining. The tumors
      included undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, synovial sarcoma, osteosarcoma,
      myofibroblastic sarcoma, myxofibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma
      protuberans, metastatic chondrosarcoma and chordoma. CONCLUSION: Sarcomas express
      LHRH receptors with a varying incidence and degree. Our study suggests that those
      sarcomas that are LHRH receptor positive could potentially be treated with
      targeted chemotherapy.

PMID- 27639273
TI  - Motivational Aspects and Critical Issues of a Pedometer Intervention in
      Adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Existing research shows significant effects of pedometer
      interventions on students' physical activity (PA). The current study investigates
      motivational aspects of quantitative increases in PA in the course of a school
      based pedometer intervention for adolescents using qualitative data analysis. In
      addition, critical issues regarding pedometer use in adolescence were examined.
      METHOD: Data were obtained in the "lauft." evaluation trial. Students of the
      intervention group received pedometers and took part in class competitions over a
      time period of 12 weeks. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups (n
      = 34) with students of the intervention group as well as through in-depth
      interviews with teachers (n = 33) who implemented the intervention. A grounded
      theory approach was used to analyze qualitative data. RESULTS: Five major
      motivational aspects for subsequent increases in PA were examined among students
      participating in the "lauft." PA program issues: (1) affordance of the pedometer,
      (2) awareness of the own PA, (3) self-determination with regard to time and type
      of PA, (4) individual goal setting, and (5) social comparison and competition.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide a deeper understanding of which aspects of
      pedometer interventions might be especially important in adolescence and help
      design effective future interventions for the promotion of PA.

PMID- 27639275
TI  - Understanding Biological Roles of Venoms Among the Caenophidia: The Importance of
      Rear-Fanged Snakes.
AB  - Snake venoms represent an adaptive trophic response to the challenges confronting
      a limbless predator for overcoming combative prey, and this chemical means of
      subduing prey shows several dominant phenotypes. Many front-fanged snakes,
      particularly vipers, feed on various vertebrate and invertebrate prey species,
      and some of their venom components (e.g., metalloproteinases, cobratoxin) appear
      to have been selected for "broad-brush" incapacitation of different prey taxa.
      Using proteomic and genomic techniques, the compositional diversity of front
      fanged snakes is becoming well characterized; however, this is not the case for
      most rear-fanged colubroid snakes. Because these species consume a high diversity
      of prey, and because venoms are primarily a trophic adaptation, important clues
      for understanding specific selective pressures favoring venom component
      composition will be found among rear-fanged snake venoms. Rear-fanged snakes
      typically (but not always) produce venoms with lower complexity than front-fanged
      snakes, and there are even fewer dominant (and, arguably, biologically most
      relevant) venom protein families. We have demonstrated taxon-specific toxic
      effects, where lizards and birds show high susceptibility while mammals are
      largely unaffected, for both Old World and New World rear-fanged snakes, strongly
      indicating a causal link between toxin evolution and prey preference. New data
      are presented on myotoxin a, showing that the extremely rapid paralysis induced
      by this rattlesnake toxin is specific for rodents, and that myotoxin a is
      ineffectual against lizards. Relatively few rear-fanged snake venoms have been
      characterized, and basic natural history data are largely lacking, but directed
      sampling of specialized species indicates that novel compounds are likely among
      these specialists, particularly among those species feeding on invertebrate prey
      such as scorpions and centipedes. Because many of the more than 2200 species of
      colubroid snakes are rear-fanged, and many possess a Duvernoy's venom gland,
      understanding the nature of their venoms is foundational to understanding venom
      evolution in advanced snakes.

PMID- 27639274
TI  - Resources and Recommendations for Using Transcriptomics to Address Grand
      Challenges in Comparative Biology.
AB  - High-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology has become an important tool
      for studying physiological responses of organisms to changes in their
      environment. De novo assembly of RNA-seq data has allowed researchers to create a
      comprehensive catalog of genes expressed in a tissue and to quantify their
      expression without a complete genome sequence. The contributions from the
      "Tapping the Power of Crustacean Transcriptomics to Address Grand Challenges in
      Comparative Biology" symposium in this issue show the successes and limitations
      of using RNA-seq in the study of crustaceans. In conjunction with the symposium,
      the Animal Genome to Phenome Research Coordination Network collated comments from
      participants at the meeting regarding the challenges encountered when using
      transcriptomics in their research. Input came from novices and experts ranging
      from graduate students to principal investigators. Many were unaware of the
      bioinformatics analysis resources currently available on the CyVerse platform.
      Our analysis of community responses led to three recommendations for advancing
      the field: (1) integration of genomic and RNA-seq sequence assemblies for
      crustacean gene annotation and comparative expression; (2) development of
      methodologies for the functional analysis of genes; and (3) information and
      training exchange among laboratories for transmission of best practices. The
      field lacks the methods for manipulating tissue-specific gene expression. The
      decapod crustacean research community should consider the cherry shrimp,
      Neocaridina denticulata, as a decapod model for the application of transgenic
      tools for functional genomics. This would require a multi-investigator effort.

PMID- 27639276
TI  - Two cheers for a small giant? Why we need better ways of seeing data: A
      commentary on: 'Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among White non
      Hispanic Americans in the 21st century'.

PMID- 27639277
TI  - Cohort Profile: Prediction and prevention of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth
      restriction (PREDO) study.

PMID- 27639278
TI  - Lung and stomach cancer associations with groundwater radon in North Carolina,
      USA.
AB  - Background: The risk of indoor air radon for lung cancer is well studied, but the
      risks of groundwater radon for both lung and stomach cancer are much less
      studied, and with mixed results. Methods: Geomasked and geocoded stomach and lung
      cancer cases in North Carolina from 1999 to 2009 were obtained from the North
      Carolina Central Cancer Registry. Models for the association with groundwater
      radon and multiple confounders were implemented at two scales: (i) an ecological
      model estimating cancer incidence rates at the census tract level; and (ii) a
      case-only logistic model estimating the odds that individual cancer cases are
      members of local cancer clusters. Results: For the lung cancer incidence rate
      model, groundwater radon is associated with an incidence rate ratio of 1.03 [95%
      confidence interval (CI) = 1.01, 1.06] for every 100 Bq/l increase in census
      tract averaged concentration. For the cluster membership models, groundwater
      radon exposure results in an odds ratio for lung cancer of 1.13 (95% CI = 1.04,
      1.23) and for stomach cancer of 1.24 (95% CI = 1.03, 1.49), which means
      groundwater radon, after controlling for multiple confounders and spatial auto
      correlation, increases the odds that lung and stomach cancer cases are members of
      their respective cancer clusters. Conclusion: Our study provides epidemiological
      evidence of a positive association between groundwater radon exposure and lung
      cancer incidence rates. The cluster membership model results find groundwater
      radon increases the odds that both lung and stomach cancer cases occur within
      their respective cancer clusters. The results corroborate previous biokinetic and
      mortality studies that groundwater radon is associated with increased risk for
      lung and stomach cancer.

PMID- 27639279
TI  - [Sarcopenia in the elderly with a history of COPD/asthma: Results of the SABE
      Bogota study].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It has been reported that sarcopenia frequently co-exists with
      COPD/asthma, and can significantly affect quality of life and the control of
      chronic diseases. The aim of this study is to describe the association between
      COPD/asthma and sarcopenia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data was used from the SABE
      Bogota study, which included 2,000 older adults aged 60 years or more. It is a
      cross-probabilistic cluster sample with 81.9% coverage. The dependent variable
      was COPD/asthma. An analysis was performed to determine the association with
      sarcopenia and the other variables using univariate and bivariate analysis and
      logistic regression adjusted to confusion variables. RESULTS: The self-reported
      prevalence of COPD/asthma in the total sample was 16.7%, and Sarcopenia was
      estimated as 6,96%, but in COPD/asthma patients it was 11.2% (P=.004). In the
      multivariate analysis an association was found between COPD/asthma and sarcopenia
      (2.01, 95% CI: 1,21-3,35). CONCLUSIONS: Screening of sarcopenia in older adults
      with COPD/asthma, as well as interventions such as nutrition and exercise, are
      important, and ideally in the context of pulmonary rehabilitation programs, due
      the significant independent association that was found between COPD/asthma and
      sarcopenia.

PMID- 27639280
TI  - Use of administrative records to assess pneumococcal conjugate vaccine impact on
      pediatric meningitis and pneumonia hospitalizations in Rwanda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ongoing surveillance is critical to assessing pneumococcal conjugate
      vaccine (PCV) impact over time. However, robust prospective studies are difficult
      to implement in resource-poor settings. We evaluated retrospective use of
      routinely collected data to estimate PCV impact in Rwanda. METHODS: We collected
      data from admission registers at five district hospitals on children age
      <5yearsadmitted for suspected meningitis and pneumonia during 2002-2012. We
      obtained clinical and laboratory data on meningitis from sentinel surveillance at
      the national reference hospital in Kigali. We developed multivariable logistic
      regression models to estimate PCV effectiveness (VE) against severe pneumonia and
      probable bacterial meningitis and Poisson models to estimate absolute rate
      reductions. Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine was introduced in January 2002,
      PCV7 in April 2009 and PCV13 in August 2011. RESULTS: At the district hospitals,
      the severe pneumonia and suspected meningitis hospitalization rates decreased by
      70/100,000 and 11/100,000 children for 2012 compared to baseline, respectively.
      VE against severe pneumonia calculated from logistic regression was 54% (95% CI
      42-63%). In Kigali, from 2002 to 2012, annual suspected meningitis cases
      decreased from 170 pre-PCV7 to 40 post-PCV13 and confirmed pneumococcal
      meningitis cases from 7 to 0. VE against probable bacterial meningitis was 42%
      (95% CI -4% to 68%). CONCLUSION: In a resource-poor African setting, analysis of
      district hospital admission logbooks and routine sentinel surveillance data
      produced results consistent with more sophisticated impact studies conducted
      elsewhere. Our findings support applying this methodology in other settings and
      confirm the benefits of PCV in Rwanda.

PMID- 27639281
TI  - The primary immune response to Vaccinia virus vaccination includes cells with a
      distinct cytotoxic effector CD4 T-cell phenotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smallpox was eradicated by a global program of inoculation with
      Vaccinia virus (VV). Robust VV-specific CD4 T-cell responses during primary
      infection are likely essential to controlling VV replication. Although there is
      increasing interest in cytolytic CD4 T-cells across many viral infections, the
      importance of these cells during acute VV infection is unclear. METHODS: We
      undertook a detailed functional and genetic characterization of CD4 T-cells
      during acute VV-infection of humans. VV-specific T-cells were identified by up
      regulation of activation markers directly ex vivo and through cytokine and co
      stimulatory molecule expression. At day-13-post primary inoculation with VV,
      CD38highCD45RO+ CD4 T-cells were purified by cell sorting, RNA isolated and
      analysed by microarray. Differential expression of up-regulated genes in
      activated CD4 T-cells was confirmed at the mRNA and protein levels. We compared
      analyses of VV-specific CD4 T-cells to studies on 12 subjects with primary HIV
      infection (PHI). VV-specific T-cells lines were established from PBMCs collected
      post vaccination and checked for cytotoxicity potential. RESULTS: A median 11.9%
      CD4 T-cells were CD38highCD45RO+ at day-13 post-VV inoculation, compared to 3.0%
      prior and 10.4% during PHI. Activated CD4 T-cells had an up-regulation of genes
      related to cytolytic function, including granzymes K and A, perforin, granulysin,
      TIA-1, and Rab27a. No difference was seen between CD4 T-cell expression of
      perforin or TIA-1 to VV and PHI, however granzyme k was more dominant in the VV
      response. At 25:1 effector to target ratio, two VV-specific T-cell lines
      exhibited 62% and 30% cytotoxicity respectively and CD107a degranulation.
      CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time that CD4 CTL are prominent in the early
      response to VV. Understanding the role of CD4 CTL in the generation of an
      effective anti-viral memory may help develop more effective vaccines for diseases
      such as HIV.

PMID- 27639283
TI  - Evaluation of frameworks for ecotoxicological hazard classification of waste.
AB  - A new harmonized EU regulation for the classification of waste came into effect
      on 1st June 2015, in which the criteria and assessment methods for the
      classification of hazardous waste are harmonized with other internationally
      agreed-upon systems for hazard classification of chemicals (CLP). However,
      criteria and guidance for the assessment of ecotoxicological hazard (Hazard
      Property 14, HP14) are still lacking for waste classification. This paper have
      evaluated and compared two HP14 classification frameworks: (i) a calculation
      method (summation) for mixtures, and (ii) leaching tests. The two frameworks were
      evaluated by surveying and evaluating ecotoxicological data for Cu, Zn, K and Ca
      species in bottom ash from incinerated waste, together with geochemical
      speciation modelling. Classification based on the summation method proved to be
      highly sensitive to the choice of speciation and ecotoxicological classification.
      This results in a wide range of critical concentrations triggering hazardous
      classification (in particular for Cu and Zn). Important parameters governing the
      availability of toxic elements, such as transformation from one species to
      another and complexation on organic or inorganic sorbents, are not accounted for.
      Geochemical modelling revealed that a testing strategy built on CLP based
      leaching tests (liquid/solid ratio (L/S)?10,000, pH range 5.5-8.5) avoids bias
      and is superior to the summation method with respect to both precision and
      accuracy. A testing strategy built on leaching tests, designed for risk
      assessment purposes, (L/S ratio of 10, natural pH of the ash) severely
      underestimate the hazard associated with the presence of toxic compounds (Cu and
      Zn), while simultaneously falsely indicate a hazardousness due to the presence of
      non-toxic compounds (Ca and K). However, the testing methods adopted by CLP are
      problematic from a practical and functional point of view. To conclude, the L/S
      ratio and pH were found to be critical for hazard classification based on
      leaching test methods. Further studies are needed to develop a relevant,
      practical and functional testing strategy for HP14 hazardous waste
      classification.

PMID- 27639282
TI  - Vaccination with a DeltanorD DeltaznuA Brucella abortus mutant confers potent
      protection against virulent challenge.
AB  - There remains a need for an improved livestock vaccine for brucellosis since
      conventional vaccines are only ~70% efficacious, making some vaccinated animals
      susceptible to Brucella infections. To address this void, a vaccine capable of
      evoking protective immunity, while still being sufficiently attenuated to produce
      minimal disease, is sought. In this pursuit, the DeltanorD DeltaznuA B. abortus
      lacZ (termed as znBAZ) was developed to be devoid of functional norD and znuA B.
      abortus genes, and to contain the lacZ as a marker gene. The results show that
      znBAZ is highly attenuated in mouse and human macrophages, and completely cleared
      from mouse spleens within eight weeks post-vaccination. Producing less splenic
      inflammation, znBAZ is significantly more protective than the conventional RB51
      vaccine by more than four orders of magnitude. Vaccination with znBAZ elicits
      elevated numbers of IFN-gamma+, TNF-alpha+, and polyfunctional IFN-gamma+ TNF
      alpha+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in contrast to RB51-vaccinated mice, which show
      reduced numbers of proinflammatory cytokine-producing T cells. These results
      demonstrate that znBAZ is a highly efficacious vaccine candidate capable of
      eliciting diverse T cell subsets that confer protection against parenteral
      challenge with virulent, wild-type B. abortus.

PMID- 27639285
TI  - Dental treatment and employment outcomes among social assistance recipients in
      Ontario, Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Policy advocates continue to argue for the expansion of dental care
      services for people on social assistance in order to meet their health needs and
      to promote the move from welfare-to-work. However, there is little to no evidence
      to support the idea that receiving dental care ultimately improves employment
      outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was designed using administrative
      data from five Ontario regions and from the province's social assistance
      ministry. Employment outcomes among treatment and no-treatment cohorts were
      assessed at three, six and 12 months from baseline. Multivariable regression
      modeling was performed. RESULTS: We received data for 8742 people (2742
      treatment, 6000 no-treatment). At one year, employment outcomes were not
      significantly different between the two groups (adjusted odds ratio=0.93; 95% CI:
      0.83-1.03). Post-hoc analysis show that the change in proportion of individuals
      leaving social assistance for employment over time was significantly higher
      (p=0.0014) among those receiving treatment (13-29%; 124% increase) than those not
      receiving treatment (18-33%; 83% increase). CONCLUSION: At one year, dental
      treatment alone does not appear to be significantly associated with leaving
      assistance for employment in this population. However, this study suggests that
      people who received dental treatment may have been particularly disadvantaged and
      dental treatment may help to level them up in terms of employment outcomes over
      time.

PMID- 27639284
TI  - Heterochromatic histone modifications at transposons in Xenopus tropicalis
      embryos.
AB  - Transposable elements are parasitic genomic elements that can be deleterious for
      host gene function and genome integrity. Heterochromatic histone modifications
      are involved in the repression of transposons. However, it remains unknown how
      these histone modifications mark different types of transposons during embryonic
      development. Here we document the variety of heterochromatic epigenetic
      signatures at parasitic elements during development in Xenopus tropicalis, using
      genome-wide ChIP-sequencing data and ChIP-qPCR analysis. We show that specific
      subsets of transposons in various families and subfamilies are marked by
      different combinations of the heterochromatic histone modifications H4K20me3,
      H3K9me2/3 and H3K27me3. Many DNA transposons are marked at the blastula stage
      already, whereas at retrotransposons the histone modifications generally
      accumulate at the gastrula stage or later. Furthermore, transposons marked by
      H3K9me3 and H4K20me3 are more prominent in gene deserts. Using intra-subfamily
      divergence as a proxy for age, we show that relatively young DNA transposons are
      preferentially marked by early embryonic H4K20me3 and H3K27me3. In contrast,
      relatively young retrotransposons are marked by increasing H3K9me3 and H4K20me3
      during development, and are also linked to piRNA-sized small non-coding RNAs. Our
      results implicate distinct repression mechanisms that operate in a transposon
      selective and developmental stage-specific fashion.

PMID- 27639286
TI  - Is the six-minute walk test a useful tool to prescribe high-intensity exercise in
      patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is not yet completely known whether the 6MWT can be used to
      prescribe high-intensity exercise for patients with COPD. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate
      the ability of the six-minute walk test (6MWT) to prescribe high-intensity
      exercise for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS:
      Lung function, maximal inspiratory strength, symptoms and exercise capacity were
      evaluated in patients with COPD (n = 27) before and after a 12-week high
      intensity exercise program. Criteria for high-intensity training were: 1) >=75%
      of the 6MWT average speed; 2) American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory
      Society (ATS/ERS) criteria (>=60% of the maximal incremental shuttle walk test
      speed). RESULTS: The 6MWT showed good positive and negative predictive values
      (0.69 and 0.71, respectively), and accuracy (0.70), good reliability (ICC 0.70
      [95%CI 0.45-0.85]) and moderate agreement (k 0.41 [95%CI 0.13-0.67]) with the
      ATS/ERS criteria. CONCLUSION: The 6MWT has good predictive ability and accuracy
      in relation to high-intensity exercise for patients with COPD.

PMID- 27639287
TI  - Negative affect and a fluctuating jumping to conclusions bias predict subsequent
      paranoia in daily life: An online experience sampling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Negative affect and a tendency to "jump to
      conclusions" (JTC) are associated with paranoia. So far, only negative affect has
      been examined as a precursor of subsequent paranoia in daily life using
      experience sampling (ESM). We addressed this research gap and used ESM to test
      whether JTC fluctuates in daily life, whether it predicts subsequent paranoia,
      and whether it mediates the effect of negative affect on paranoia. METHODS:
      Thirty-five participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders repeatedly self
      reported negative affect, JTC, and paranoia via online questionnaires on two
      consecutive days. We measured JTC with a paradigm consisting of ambiguous written
      scenarios. Multilevel linear models were conducted. RESULTS: Most participants
      showed JTC consistently on two days rather than only on one day. When time was
      used as a predictor of JTC, significant slope variance indicated that for a
      subgroup of participants JTC fluctuated over time. For 48% of participants, these
      fluctuations equaled changes of approximately +/-1 point on the four-point JTC
      scale within one day. There was no mediation. However, negative affect and JTC
      both significantly predicted subsequent paranoia. LIMITATIONS: The ESM assessment
      period was short and encompassed few assessments (8 in total). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings indicate that JTC is both stable (regarding its mere occurrence) and
      fluctuating simultaneously (regarding its magnitude). Although JTC was not a
      mediator linking negative affect and paranoia, it did predict paranoia. Further
      ESM studies on JTC are needed to confirm our findings in longer assessment
      periods and with other JTC paradigms.

PMID- 27639288
TI  - The ACE Gene Is Associated with Late-Life Major Depression and Age at Dementia
      Onset in a Population-Based Cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Depression and dementia in the elderly have been suggested to share
      similar risk factors and pathogenetic background, and recently the authors
      reported that the APOEE4 allele is a risk factor for both disorders in the
      general population. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of
      the well-known polymorphisms rs1799752 in the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)
      and rs5186 in the angiotensin receptor II type 1 (AGTR1) on late-life depression
      and dementia in a population-based Swedish cohort of older individuals followed
      over 12 years. METHODS: In 2000-2001, 900 individuals underwent neuropsychiatric
      and neuropsychological examinations. Follow-up evaluations were performed in 2005
      2006 and 2009-2010, and register data on dementia to 2012 were included. Cross
      sectional associations between genotypes/alleles and depression and dementia at
      baseline and between genotypes/alleles and depression on at least one occasion
      during the study period and dementia onset to 2012 were investigated. RESULTS: As
      previously found for rs1799752 in ACE, rs5186 in AGTR1 was associated with
      dementia at baseline (OR: 3.25 [CI: 1.42-7.06], z = 2.90, p = 0.004). These
      associations became substantially weaker, or disappeared, when dementia onset to
      2012 was included. For rs1799752 this could be explained by a significant
      association with age at onset (mean: 79.5 [SD: 6.45] years for risk-genotype
      carriers and 81.7 [SD: 7.12] years for carriers of other genotypes, b = -2.43, t
      = -2.38, df = 192, p = 0.02). When individuals with major depression on at least
      one occasion were analyzed, a significant association (OR: 2.14 [95% CI: 1.13
      4.20], z = 2.28, p = 0.02), remaining after exclusion of dementia, with rs1799752
      in ACE was found. CONCLUSION: In this population-based sample of older
      individuals, genetic variations in ACE seem to be important both for late-life
      major depression and dementia.

PMID- 27639289
TI  - Mortality in Mild Cognitive Impairment Diagnosed with DSM-5 Criteria and with
      Petersen's Criteria: A 17-Year Follow-Up in a Community Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the possibility that the mortality risk of mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI) as diagnosed using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria (DSM-5-MCI) will be higher than using
      Petersen's criteria (P-MCI) and to report the population-attributable fraction
      (PAF) of mortality due to MCI. METHODS: A representative community sample of
      4,803 individuals aged 55 or more years was interviewed and then followed for 17
      years. Standardized instruments were used in the assessment, including the
      Geriatric Mental State-AGECAT, and research psychiatrists diagnosed P-MCI and DSM
      5-MCI cases following operationalized criteria. Mortality information was
      obtained from the official population registry. Kaplan-Meier age-adjusted
      survival curves were built for the MCI diagnostic groups, and Cox proportional
      hazards regression models were used to calculate the hazard ratio of death in
      participants with MCI relative to those without. We also estimated the PAF of
      mortality due to specific MCI diagnostic groups. RESULTS: Compared with noncases,
      the mortality rate ratio was approximately double in DSM-5-MCI individuals (2.3)
      than in P-MCI individuals (1.2). In the multivariate statistical analysis, a
      significant association between each diagnostic category and mortality was
      observed but was only maintained in the final model in DSM-5-MCI cases (hazard
      ratio: 1.24). The PAF of mortality due to MCI was approximately 1% in both MCI
      categories. CONCLUSION: The mortality risk in comparison with noncases was higher
      in DSM-5-MCI than in P-MCI. The PAF of mortality in DSM-5-MCI individuals was ~
      1% over a 17-year period.

PMID- 27639291
TI  - Labile glutamate signaling onto CA1 pyramidal cells in the developing hippocampus
      depends mechanistically on input pathway.
AB  - The apical dendrite of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells receives information from
      the entorhinal cortex via the dentate gyrus and CA3 (Schaffer-collateral (SC)
      input) proximally within the stratum radiatum (SR) and directly from the
      entorhinal cortex/thalamus distally within the stratum lacunosum-moleculare
      (SLM). During the early postnatal development, very low/low frequency (0.033-1Hz)
      activation of previously non-stimulated (naive) SC synapses (SR-CA1 synapses)
      results in a stimulus-, but not frequency-, dependent depression which is
      explained by postsynaptic alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic
      acid (AMPA) silencing. This lability of AMPA signaling has been suggested to play
      a role in the activity-dependent organization of the SR synaptic input. Compared
      with the SR region the SLM region is matured earlier and may become organized in
      a different manner. Here, using field recordings of synaptic activity in
      hippocampal slices from 2nd postnatal week rats, we found that SLM-CA1 synapses
      are also readily depressed by activity in the very low/low frequency range (0.033
      1Hz). The depression was, however, quite distinct from that of SR-CA1 synapses,
      being frequency dependent and reversing faster following stimulus interruption.
      Bath application of an AMPA receptor agonist produced only a small (-8%) post
      application (10min) depression of SLM-CA1 synapses in contrast to that of SR-CA1
      synapses (-33%). The SLM-CA1 synapses did also exhibit less long-term depression
      than the SR-CA1 synapses. We conclude that in the developing hippocampus the
      labile glutamate signaling onto CA1 pyramidal cell depends mechanistically on
      input pathway. The labile AMPA signaling at SLM-CA1 synapses is most likely
      explained by a presynaptic mechanism with limited amount of postsynaptic AMPA
      silencing.

PMID- 27639292
TI  - Variation in the flavonolignan composition of fruits from different Silybum
      marianum chemotypes and suspension cultures derived therefrom.
AB  - Mature fruits collected from different milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.)
      Gaertn.) plants, grown in various habitats in Europe, were analysed for silymarin
      content and variation in component composition. Two different German and Polish
      cultivars each, as well as fruits from Hungary and Bulgaria have been compared
      with respect to their ratio of flavonolignan regioisomers. Besides differences in
      total silymarin content (0.8%-4.9%), three distinct chemotypical variations in
      fruit flavonolignan regioisomer composition in the cultivars have been observed.
      Although the differences in the diastereomer ratios of silybin A/B and isosilybin
      A/B were not significant, they never appeared in a 1:1 ratio. In vitro cultures
      have been established from seedlings of three typical chemotypes for further
      insights into flavonolignan content and composition in suspension cultures and
      the release of these specialized compounds to the extracellular space. The
      differences in the three Silybum marianum chemotypes were also observed in the
      composition of the intracellular silymarin of suspension-cultured cells.
      Silymarin components released to the cell culture medium, however, showed a
      highly differing composition with only low amounts of silychristin and
      silydianin. Assays with crude protein extracts prepared from suspension cells or
      habituated medium of these three chemotypes did not result in differences in
      silymarin content or composition. In in vitro assays the formation of the
      regioisomers silydianin and silychristin were strongly influenced by the
      taxifolin:coniferyl alcohol concentration ratio.

PMID- 27639290
TI  - Racial Variation in Depression Risk Factors and Symptom Trajectories among Older
      Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess racial variation in depression risk factors and symptom
      trajectories among older women. METHODS: Using Nurses' Health Study data,
      participants (29,483 non-Hispanic white and 288 black women) aged 60 years or
      older, free of depression in 2000, were followed until 2012. Data on race and
      risk factors, selected a priori, were obtained from biennial questionnaires.
      Incident depression was defined as depression diagnosis, antidepressant use, or
      presence of severe depressive symptoms. Group-based trajectories of depressive
      symptoms were determined using latent variable modeling approaches. RESULTS:
      Black participants had lower risk (hazard ratio: 0.76; 95% confidence interval:
      0.57-0.99) of incident late-life depression compared with whites. Although blacks
      had higher prevalence than whites of some risk factors at study baseline,
      distributions of major contributors to late-life depression risk (low exercise,
      sleep difficulty, physical/functional limitation, pain) were comparable. There
      was evidence of effect modification by race for relations of region of birth
      (Southern birthplace), smoking, and medical comorbidity to depression risk;
      however, wide confidence intervals occurred among blacks because of smaller
      sample size. Four trajectories were identified: minimal symptoms-stable (58.3%),
      mild symptoms-worsening (31.4%), subthreshold symptoms-worsening (4.8%), and
      subthreshold symptoms-improving (5.5%). Probabilities of trajectory types were
      similar for blacks and whites. CONCLUSION: Although overall trajectories of late
      life depressive symptoms were comparable by race, there was racial variation in
      depression risk estimates associated with less-studied factors, such as U.S.
      region of birth. Future work may address unmeasured health and resilience
      determinants that may underlie observed findings and that could inform clinical
      assessment of late-life depression risk factors.

PMID- 27639293
TI  - 25 years of HBM in the Czech Republic.
AB  - Since 1991 a human biomonitoring network has been established in the Czech
      Republic as part of the Environmental Health Monitoring System, which was set out
      by the Government Resolution. During the last quarter-century, important data was
      obtained to characterize exposure to both children and adult populations to
      significant toxic substances from the environment, to development trends over
      time, to establish reference values and compare them with existing health-related
      values. Moreover, the saturation of population with several essential substances
      as selenium, zinc, copper or iodine has also been monitored. Development of
      analytical and statistical methods led to increase the capacity building,
      improvement of QA/QC in analytical laboratories and interpretation of results.
      The obtained results are translated to policy actions and are used in health risk
      assessment processes at local and national levels.

PMID- 27639294
TI  - Dose and Fractionation in Radiation Therapy of Curative Intent for Non-Small Cell
      Lung Cancer: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: The optimum dose and fractionation in radiation therapy of curative
      intent for non-small cell lung cancer remains uncertain. We undertook a published
      data meta-analysis of randomized trials to examine whether radiation therapy
      regimens with higher time-corrected biologically equivalent doses resulted in
      longer survival, either when given alone or when given with chemotherapy. METHODS
      AND MATERIALS: Eligible studies were randomized comparisons of 2 or more
      radiation therapy regimens, with other treatments identical. Median survival
      ratios were calculated for each comparison and pooled. RESULTS: 3795 patients in
      25 randomized comparisons of radiation therapy dose were studied. The median
      survival ratio, higher versus lower corrected dose, was 1.13 (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 1.04-1.22) when radiation therapy was given alone and 0.83 (95% CI
      0.71-0.97) when it was given with concurrent chemotherapy (P for
      difference=.001). In comparisons of radiation therapy given alone, the survival
      benefit increased with increasing dose difference between randomized treatment
      arms (P for trend=.004). The benefit increased with increasing dose in the lower
      dose arm (P for trend=.01) without reaching a level beyond which no further
      survival benefit was achieved. The survival benefit did not differ significantly
      between randomized comparisons where the higher-dose arm was hyperfractionated
      and those where it was not. There was heterogeneity in the median survival ratio
      by geographic region (P<.001), average age at randomization (P<.001), and year
      trial started (P for trend=.004), but not for proportion of patients with
      squamous cell carcinoma (P=.2). CONCLUSIONS: In trials with concurrent
      chemotherapy, higher radiation therapy doses resulted in poorer survival,
      possibly caused, at least in part, by high levels of toxicity. Where radiation
      therapy was given without chemotherapy, progressively higher radiation therapy
      doses resulted in progressively longer survival, and no upper dose level was
      found above which there was no further benefit. These findings support the
      consideration of further radiation therapy dose escalation trials, making use of
      modern treatment methods to reduce toxicity.

PMID- 27639295
TI  - The split crest technique and dental implants: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - This systematic review aimed to determine: (1) the expected bone volume gain with
      the split crest technique, and (2) how the use of surgical instruments affects
      the performance of this technique. An electronic search was performed in the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, Embase,
      PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Twenty-seven articles met
      the selection criteria and were subjected to meta-analysis of bone gain and
      survival rate; 17 reported the use of conventional surgical instruments and nine
      the use of surgical ultrasound. A total of 4115 implants were installed in 1732
      patients (average patient age 52 years). The overall implant survival rate was
      97%. The average bone gain in studies that used conventional surgical instruments
      was 3.61mm, while this was 3.69mm in those that used ultrasound. Only two studies
      presented a low risk of bias. The greatest problems identified during the
      qualitative analysis were related to random selection of the population and the
      absence of statistical analysis. The split crest technique appears to be a
      promising and effective technique to gain bone width, regardless of the surgical
      instruments used. Considering the diversity of the studies and implant types, no
      definitive recommendations can be made, especially with regard to the best
      instruments and implant design to be used.

PMID- 27639296
TI  - Tamsulosin for urolithiasis: a review of the recent literature and current
      controversies.
AB  - In the United States, urolithiasis affects approximately 1 in 11 people, and
      there is evidence that the prevalence is increasing. A relatively recent
      treatment strategy for urolithiasis involves using medical expulsive therapy
      (MET) to increase the likelihood of spontaneous passage of ureteral stones. The 2
      leading drug classes for MET are alpha-1-andrenergic receptor blockers and
      calcium channel blockers. Tamsulosin, an alpha-1-adrenocepter blocking agent, is
      thought to induce spontaneous stone passage by relaxing ureteral smooth muscle
      tone. However, tamsulosin has not been proven effective for increasing ureteral
      stone passage and is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this
      indication. There is a relative paucity of data on the efficacy of tamsulosin for
      urolithiasis, and of the published results, there are conflicting conclusions
      from the data. Because of the acute and often severe nature of symptoms from
      urolithiasis, emergency medicine physicians are frequently the first to diagnose
      and treat this condition. This has led to tamsulosin being frequently prescribed
      from the emergency department (ED) for off-label use without the support of high
      quality evidence. If tamsulosin is proven effective, its use in the treatment of
      urolithiasis could offer several important advantages. The number of procedures,
      length of hospital stay, and health care costs after the initial ED visit could
      potentially be reduced. Tamsulosin may also increase patient satisfaction by
      reducing the invasive treatment and decreasing the time to stone passage. This
      review focuses on the efficacy of tamsulosin based on stone location, after shock
      wave lithotripsy, compared with other MET drugs and in the acute setting of the
      ED.

PMID- 27639298
TI  - Short-term esmolol attenuates remodeling of the thoracic aorta in hypertensive
      rats by decreasing concentrations of ADMA down-regulated by oxidative stress.
AB  - Esmolol produces early regression of left ventricular hypertrophy and improves
      coronary artery remodeling, although the impact of short-term treatment with this
      beta-blocker on remodeling in large arteries has not yet been studied. We
      hypothesized that even a short (48h) course of esmolol might alter remodeling of
      the aorta in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Fourteen-month-old male
      SHRs were treated intravenously with vehicle (SHR, n=8) or esmolol (SHR-E, n=8)
      (300MUg/kg/min). Age-matched, vehicle-treated male Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY, n=8)
      served as controls. After 48h, we studied the structure, volume density of
      elastic fibers, and passive mechanical properties of the aorta. Determination of
      asymmetrical dimethylarginine concentrations and total protein carbonyls in the
      aorta were analyzed. Esmolol significantly attenuated abnormal aortic wall
      thickness, cross-sectional area, wall-to-lumen ratio, volume density of elastic
      fibers, and wall stiffness. The protective effect of esmolol could be related to
      a decrease in asymmetrical dimethylarginine levels after down-regulation by
      oxidative stress. These findings could play a key role in the selection of
      antihypertensive therapy in patients with hypertension and aortic remodeling.

PMID- 27639297
TI  - Ester to amide substitution improves selectivity, efficacy and kinetic behavior
      of a benzodiazepine positive modulator of GABAA receptors containing the alpha5
      subunit.
AB  - We have synthesized and characterized MP-III-022 ((R)-8-ethynyl-6-(2
      fluorophenyl)-N,4-dimethyl-4H-benzo[f]imidazo[1,5-a][1,4]diazepine-3-carboxamide)
      in vitro and in vivo as a binding- and efficacy-selective positive allosteric
      modulator of GABAA receptors containing the alpha5 subunit (alpha5GABAARs). By
      approximation of the electrophysiological responses which the estimated free rat
      brain concentrations can induce, we demonstrated that convenient systemic
      administration of MP-III-022 in the dose range 1-10mg/kg may result in a
      selective potentiation, over a wide range from mild to moderate to strong, of
      alpha5betagamma2 GABAA receptors. For eliciting a comparable range of
      potentiation, the widely studied parent ligand SH-053-2'F-R-CH3 containing an
      ester moiety needs to be administered over a much wider dose range (10-200mg/kg),
      but at the price of activating non-alpha5 GABAARs as well as the desired
      alpha5GABAARs at the highest dose. At the dose of 10mg/kg, which elicits a strong
      positive modulation of alpha5GABAARs, MP-III-022 caused mild, but significant
      muscle relaxation, while at doses 1-10mg/kg was devoid of ataxia, sedation or an
      influence on the anxiety level, characteristic for non-selective benzodiazepines.
      As an amide compound with improved stability and kinetic properties, MP-III-022
      may represent an optimized tool to study the influence of alpha5GABAARs on the
      neuronal pathways related to CNS disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's
      disease, Down syndrome or autism.

PMID- 27639299
TI  - Efficiency of basalt zeolite and Cuban zeolite to adsorb ammonia released from
      poultry litter.
AB  - Confined poultry production is an important livestock activity, which generates
      large amounts of waste associated with the potential for environmental pollution
      and ammonia (NH3) emissions. The release of ammonia negatively affects poultry
      production and decreases the N content of wastes that could be used as soil
      fertilizers. The objective of this study was to evaluate a low-cost, simple and
      rapid method to simulate ammonia emissions from poultry litter as well as to
      quantify the reduction in the ammonia emissions to the environment employing two
      adsorbent zeolites, a commercial Cuban zeolite (CZ) and a ground basalt Brazilian
      rock containing zeolite (BZ). The experiments were conducted in a laboratory, in
      2012-2013. The zeolites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray
      fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), physical adsorption of N2 (BET) and scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM). Ammonia released from poultry litter and its
      simulation from NH4OH solution presented similar capture rates of 7.99 * 10-5 and
      7.35 * 10-5 mg/h, respectively. Both zeolites contain SiO2 and Al2O3 as major
      constituents, with contents of 84% and 12% in the CZ, and 51% and 12% in the BZ,
      respectively, besides heulandite groups. Their BET surface areas were 89.4 and
      11.3 m2 g-1, respectively, and the two zeolites had similar surface morphologies.
      The zeolites successfully adsorbed the ammonia released, but CZ was more
      efficient than BZ, since to capture all of the ammonia 5 g of CZ and 20 g of BZ
      were required. This difference is due to higher values for the superficial area,
      porosity, CEC and acid site strength of CZ relatively to BZ. The proposed
      methodology was shown to be an efficient method to simulate and quantify the
      ammonia released from poultry litter.

PMID- 27639301
TI  - Use of wastewater treatment plant biogas for the operation of Solid Oxide Fuel
      Cells (SOFCs).
AB  - Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) perform well on light hydrocarbon fuels, and the
      use of biogas derived from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of municipal wastewater
      sludges could provide an opportunity for the CH4 produced to be used as a
      renewable fuel. Greenhouse gas (GHG), NOx, SOx, and hydrocarbon pollutant
      emissions would also be reduced. In this study, SOFCs were operated on AD derived
      biogas. Initially, different H2 dilutions were tested (N2, Ar, CO2) to examine
      the performance of tubular SOFCs. With inert gases as diluents, a decrease in
      cell performance was observed, however, the use of CO2 led to a higher decrease
      in performance as it promoted the reverse water-gas shift (WGS) reaction,
      reducing the H2 partial pressure in the gas mixture. A model was developed to
      predict system efficiency and GHG emissions. A higher electrical system
      efficiency was noted for a steam:carbon ratio of 2 compared to 1 due to the
      increased H2 partial pressure in the reformate resulting from higher H2O
      concentration. Reductions in GHG emissions were estimated at 2400 tonnes CO2, 60
      kg CH4 and 18 kg N2O. SOFCs were also tested using a simulated biogas reformate
      mixture (66.7% H2, 16.1% CO, 16.5% CO2, 0.7% N2, humidified to 2.3 or 20 mol%
      H2O). Higher humidification yielded better performance as the WGS reaction
      produced more H2 with additional H2O. It was concluded that AD-derived biogas,
      when cleaned to remove H2S, Si compounds, halides and other contaminants, could
      be reformed to provide a clean, renewable fuel for SOFCs.

PMID- 27639300
TI  - Kinetics of atrazine, deisopropylatrazine, and deethylatrazine soil
      biodecomposers.
AB  - Twenty-two experimental sets were used to determine the biodecomposition
      parameters of atrazine (ATZ), deisopropylatrazine (DIATZ), and deethylatrazine
      (DEATZ) by inverse solution of Michaelis-Menten-Monod kinetic equations. The
      averaged maximum specific growth rate (MU), Michaelis-Menten half-saturation
      concentration (K), and biomass yield (Y) ranged between 2.00 * 10-7 and 4.62 * 10
      5 1/s, 3.43 * 10-6 and 1.39 * 101 mol/L, and 1.20 * 102 and 2.98 * 105 mg-wet
      Bio/mol-Subs, respectively. Parameters grouped by reaction pathway appeared
      clustered by aerobic and anaerobic catabolic breakdown, and were poorly
      correlated between each other (R ranging from -0.27 to 0.63, p >= 0.05). The
      tested bacterial strains decomposed ATZ, DIATZ, and DEATZ relatively rapidly in
      laboratory conditions, with an half-life (t1/2) ranging between 3 and 6 days.
      Numerical modeling showed that ATZ, DIATZ, and DEATZ half-lives were particularly
      sensitive to their initial concentration and the initial microbial biomass
      concentration. This study suggests that these bacterial strains can effectively
      be used or enhanced for bioremediation of agricultural soils where atrazine has
      been applied as long as these bacteria already coexist in or can integrate with
      the local soil microbial population at a given location.

PMID- 27639302
TI  - What explains the demand for collective forest rights amidst land use conflicts?
AB  - This article presents one of the first empirical studies of the demand for
      collective forest rights by forest-dependent groups locked in longstanding
      conflicts with government forestry agencies, which is a common feature of
      forested regions in the Global South. This analysis shows that (1) past
      engagements with community-based forest protection help foster demand for
      collective forest management rights despite the longstanding land use conflicts;
      (2) large areas of forest land affected by land use conflicts undermine the
      propensity of community groups to demand collective forest rights; (3) after the
      area affected by land use conflicts is controlled for, a larger number of land
      rights claimants is associated with a greater probability that a village group
      will claim collective forest rights; and (4) micro-institutional variables,
      particularly financial autonomy of village groups engaged in forest protection
      efforts, are likely to be among the main drivers of the local demand for
      collective forest management rights. The main finding is that community-based
      forest management is not merely an agenda that is imposed from the top by donors.
      Rather, recognizing the agency of rural residents in the process of adjudication
      of land use conflicts and providing them with autonomous spaces for management of
      local resources is likely to significantly boost the local demand for
      environmental stewardship.

PMID- 27639303
TI  - Evaluation of anionic surfactant removal in anaerobic reactor with Fe(III)
      supplementation.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of linear alkylbenzene
      sulfonate (LAS) associated with Fe(III) supplementation using an expanded
      granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor. The reactor was inoculated with a granular
      sludge and fed with synthetic wastewater containing a specific LAS load rate
      (SLLR) of 1.5 mg gVS-1 d-1 (~16.4 mgLAS L-1 influent) and supplied with 7276
      MUMol L-1 of Fe(III). The biomasses from the inoculum and at the end of the EGSB
      Fe operation (127 days) were characterized using 16S rRNA Ion Tag sequencing. An
      increase of 20% in the removal efficiency was observed compared to reactors
      without Fe(III) supplementation that was reported in the literature, and the LAS
      removal was approximately 84%. The Fe(III) reduction was dissimilatory (the total
      iron concentration in the influent and effluent were similar) and reached
      approximately 64%. The higher Fe(III) reduction and LAS removal were corroborated
      by the enrichment of genera, such as Shewanella (only EGSB-Fe - 0.5%) and
      Geobacter (1% - inoculum; 18% - EGSB-Fe). Furthermore, the enrichment of genera
      that degrade LAS and/or aromatic compounds (3.8% - inoculum; 29.6% - EGSB-Fe of
      relative abundance) was observed for a total of 20 different genera.

PMID- 27639304
TI  - Low Short-Stem Revision Rates: 1-11 Year Results From 1888 Total Hip
      Arthroplasties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In total hip arthroplasty, short stems were developed as a bone
      conserving alternative to traditional cementless stems. So far, there have been
      very few recorded medium to long-term results of these comparatively new
      implants. The aim of our retrospective study was to report on the survival of
      calcar-loading short stems. METHODS: All Metha stem implantations from 2004 to
      2014 were recorded from the operation protocols (n = 1888). Due to the
      chronological development of the stem, 3 different versions were implanted:
      modular titanium stems with neck adapters from titanium or cobalt-chrome and
      monoblock stems. Patients were questioned by post about revision, dislocation,
      and satisfaction. RESULTS: Data were complete for 93% of the procedures (1090
      monoblock stems, 314 modular stems with titanium neck, and 230 modular stems with
      cobalt chrome neck). Mean follow-up was 6 years (1-11 years). Fifteen modular
      titanium implants were affected by cone fractures (4%). Therefore, monoblock,
      modular cobalt chrome, and modular titanium implants were analyzed separately.
      The 7-year revision rate for monoblock stems was 1.5%; for modular cobalt-chrome
      stems it was 1.8%, and for modular titanium stems it was 5.3%. CONCLUSION: Our
      data show the midterm survival of the monoblock and modular cobalt-chrome
      implants equivalent to the traditional cementless stems. These might, therefore,
      be considered as a bone-conserving alternative for young and active patients.

PMID- 27639305
TI  - Assessing Minimal Detectable Changes and Test-Retest Reliability of the Timed Up
      and Go Test and the 2-Minute Walk Test in Patients With Total Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two-minute walk test (2MWT) and the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) are
      simple, quick, and can be applied in a short time as part of the routine medical
      examination. They were shown to be reliable and valid tests in many patient
      groups. The aims of the present study were: (1) to determine test-retest
      reliability of data for the TUG and 2MWT and (2) to determine minimal detectable
      change (MDC) scores for the TUG and 2MWT in patients with TKA. METHODS: Forty
      eight patients with total knee arthroplasty, operated by the same surgeon, were
      included in this study. Patients performed trials for TUG and 2MWT twice on the
      same day. Between the first and second trials, patients waited for an hour on
      sitting position to prevent fatigue. RESULTS: The TUG and 2MWT showed an
      excellent test-retest reliability in this study. Intraclass correlation
      coefficient [ICC(2,1)] for TUG and 2MWT were 0.98 and 0.97, respectively.
      Standard error of measurement and MDC95 for TUG were 0.82 and 2.27, respectively.
      Standard error of measurement and MDC95 for 2MWT were 5.40 and 14.96,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The TUG and 2MWT have an excellent test-retest
      reliability in patients with TKA. Clinicians and researchers can be confident
      that changes in TUG time above 2.27 seconds and changes in 2MWT distances above
      14.96 meters, represent a "real" clinical change in an individual patient with
      TKA. We, therefore, recommend the use of these 2 tests as complementary outcome
      measures for functional evaluation in patients TKA.

PMID- 27639306
TI  - The Extended Direct Anterior Approach for Column Augmentation in the Deficient
      Pelvis: A Novel Surgical Technique, and Case Series Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior column deficiency of the pelvis may pose a serious threat to
      the stability of the acetabular component after total hip arthroplasty and, thus,
      jeopardize the overall success of the procedure. METHODS: After Institutional
      Review Board approval, a retrospective review was undertaken to identify all
      patients undergoing revision total hip arthroplasty with anterior column
      augmentation through an extended direct anterior approach. Demographics and
      surgical details were collected, and subjects were followed for a 2-year minimum
      period to measure patient outcomes and to evaluate for the stability of construct
      fixation. A novel surgical procedure description was provided and supplemented
      with an illustrative case example. RESULTS: At 2 years post augmentation,
      patients had favorable functional outcomes with radiologic evidence of stable
      fixation. CONCLUSION: Proximal extension of the direct anterior approach to the
      hip can facilitate anterior column access and augmentation to improve stability
      of the hip reconstruction. This treatment may be an alternative to spanning
      constructs such as cup-cage constructs and custom implants, affording the
      potential for long-term biologic fixation. Further investigation into this
      technique is warranted.

PMID- 27639307
TI  - Outcomes of Surgical Management of Supracondylar Periprosthetic Femur Fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fracture location is an important consideration in managing
      supracondylar periprosthetic femur fractures. The outcomes of locked plating and
      intramedullary (IM) nail fixation were therefore compared based on fracture
      location, being above or at/below the total knee arthroplasty (TKA) flange.
      METHODS: Fifty-seven patients were identified from surgical records as being
      treated for supracondylar periprosthetic femur fracture with either a locking
      plate (n = 38) or IM nail (n = 19). Based on fracture location, either above or
      at/below the TKA flange, both groups were assessed for time to full weight
      bearing, time to radiographic union, number of postoperative complications,
      subsequent surgery, transfusion requirements, as well as range of motion, pain,
      and instability at most recent follow-up. Radiographs were reviewed to assess
      fracture alignment with comparisons made immediately postoperative to most
      recent. RESULTS: Mean follow-up for IM nail and locking plate fixation was 13.9
      and 15.6 months, respectively. There was no statistical difference between groups
      in the mean time to fully weight bear, the incidence of postoperative pain, range
      of motion, use of gait aids, time to full radiographic union, or the overall
      radiographic alignment of a healed fracture (P > .05). Comparison based on
      fracture location yielded similar outcomes. Nonunion was only demonstrated in the
      IM nail cohort, particularly for fractures below the TKA flange (n = 2).
      CONCLUSION: The use of either IM nail or locking plate fixation for supracondylar
      periprosthetic fractures provides comparable clinical outcomes. Caution is
      recommended in using IM nails for fractures below the flange where limited
      fixation may increase the risk of nonunion.

PMID- 27639308
TI  - Role of protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 in cardiac beta adrenergic pathway.
AB  - Phosphoproteomic studies have shown that about one third of all cardiac proteins
      are reversibly phosphorylated, affecting virtually every cellular signaling
      pathway. The reversibility of this process is orchestrated by the opposing
      enzymatic activity of kinases and phosphatases. Conversely, imbalances in
      subcellular protein phosphorylation patterns are a hallmark of many
      cardiovascular diseases including heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. While
      numerous studies have revealed excessive beta-adrenergic signaling followed by
      deregulated kinase expression or activity as a major driver of the latter cardiac
      pathologies, far less is known about the beta-adrenergic regulation of their
      phosphatase counterparts. In fact, most of the limited knowledge stems from the
      detailed analysis of the endogenous inhibitor of the protein phosphatase 1 (I-1)
      in cellular and animal models. I-1 acts as a nodal point between adrenergic and
      putatively non-adrenergic cardiac signaling pathways and is able to influence
      widespread cellular functions of protein phosphatase 1 which are contributing to
      cardiac health and disease, e.g. Ca2+ handling, sarcomere contractility and
      glucose metabolism. Finally, nearly all of these studies agree that I-1 is a
      promising drug target on the one hand but the outcome of its pharmacological
      regulation maybe extremely context-dependent on the other hand, thus warranting
      for careful interpretation of past and future experimental results. In this
      respect we will: 1) comprehensively review the current knowledge about
      structural, functional and regulatory properties of I-1 within the heart 2)
      highlight current working hypothesis and potential I-1 mediated disease
      mechanisms 3) discuss state-of-the-art knowledge and future prospects of a
      potential therapeutic strategy targeting I-1 by restoring the balance of cardiac
      protein phosphorylation.

PMID- 27639309
TI  - Glycome complexity of human seminal plasma high molecular mass components:
      Evaluation of the contribution of acid-soluble glycoproteins/mucins and
      extracellular vesicles.
AB  - This study was aimed at evaluation of the contribution of acid-soluble
      glycoproteins (ASG)/mucins and extracellular vesicles (EVs), yet unexplored
      components of human seminal plasma (hSP) to the complexity of its glycome.
      Gaining insight into the native presentation and distribution of glycans across
      hSP could help establish molecular environments supporting specific biological
      activities based on unique ligand capacities. Soluble and particulate fractions
      of hSP from healthy subjects were analyzed by gel filtration, electrophoresis,
      ion-exchange chromatography and a solid phase assay with immobilized charge
      resolved glycospecies to test their reactivity with plant lectins, carbohydrate
      binding antibodies and selected human lectins. Common O- and N-glycosylated
      species were detected on mixed or overlapped underlying protein scaffolds in both
      soluble and particulate fractions of hSP. Siaalpha2,6Gal and N-glycans were
      concentrated on EVs, whereas Siaalpha2,3Gal, T and Tn antigens were selectively
      associated with distinct glycospecies of ASG/mucins. Accessible ligands for the
      lectins, DC-SIGN and Siglec-9, were detected in all hSP components, but they
      preferentially bound to EVs glycospecies. Insight into the complexity of hSP
      glycans as recognition signals under normal physiological conditions could be of
      interest for regulation and possible modulation of its biological activity, as
      well as for biomarker potential related to male health.

PMID- 27639310
TI  - Low adiponectin levels at baseline and decreasing adiponectin levels over 10
      years of follow-up predict risk of the metabolic syndrome.
AB  - AIM: Adiponectin is the most abundant adipokine and may play a key role in the
      interplay between obesity, inflammation, insulin resistance and the metabolic
      syndrome (MetS). Thus, this large population-based cohort investigated whether
      adiponectin at baseline and/or a decrease in adiponectin during follow-up is
      associated prospectively with the risk of incident MetS. METHODS: Using a
      prospective study design, the development of MetS was examined in 1134 healthy
      participants from the community. Plasma adiponectin was measured at study entry
      and again after a median follow-up of 9.4 years (IQR: 9.2-9.7). During follow-up,
      187 participants developed MetS, and 439 presented with at least two components
      of MetS. RESULTS: During follow-up, adiponectin decreased in participants who
      developed MetS, whereas adiponectin was increased in those who did not develop
      MetS (P<0.001). Those with low adiponectin levels (quartile 1) at baseline had an
      increased risk of developing MetS (OR: 2.92, 2.08-6.97; P<0.001) compared with
      those with high levels (quartile 4). After adjusting for confounding variables,
      low adiponectin levels at baseline remained independently associated with MetS
      (OR: 2.24, 1.11-4.52; P=0.017). Similarly, participants with a decrease in
      adiponectin during follow-up also had an increased risk of MetS (OR: 2.96, 2.09
      4.18; P<0.001). This association persisted after multivariable adjustments,
      including for baseline adiponectin (OR: 4.37, 2.77-6.97; P<0.001). Finally,
      adiponectin levels at follow-up were inversely associated with an increase in the
      number of components of MetS (P<0.001); geometric mean adiponectin levels were
      9.5mg/L (95% CI: 9.0-10.0) for participants with no components vs 7.0mg/L (95%
      CI: 6.3-7.9) for those with four to five components. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION:
      Low plasma adiponectin levels at baseline and decreasing adiponectin levels
      during follow-up are both associated with an increased risk of MetS.

PMID- 27639311
TI  - 3D silicon doped hydroxyapatite scaffolds decorated with Elastin-like
      Recombinamers for bone regenerative medicine.
AB  - : The current study reports on the manufacturing by rapid prototyping technique
      of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds based on silicon substituted hydroxyapatite
      with Elastin-like Recombinamers (ELRs) functionalized surfaces. Silicon doped
      hydroxyapatite (Si-HA), with Ca10(PO4)5.7(SiO4)0.3(OH)1.7h0.3 nominal formula,
      was surface functionalized with two different types of polymers designed by
      genetic engineering: ELR-RGD that contain cell attachment specific sequences and
      ELR-SNA15/RGD with both hydroxyapatite and cells domains that interact with the
      inorganic phase and with the cells, respectively. These hybrid materials were
      subjected to in vitro assays in order to clarify if the ELRs coating improved the
      well-known biocompatible and bone regeneration properties of calcium phosphates
      materials. The in vitro tests showed that there was a total and homogeneous
      colonization of the 3D scaffolds by Bone marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells
      (BMSCs). In addition, the BMSCs were viable and able to proliferate and
      differentiate into osteoblasts. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Bone tissue
      engineering is an area of increasing interest because its main applications are
      directly related to the rising life expectancy of the population, which promotes
      higher rates of several bone pathologies, so innovative strategies are needed for
      bone tissue regeneration therapies. Here we use the rapid prototyping technology
      to allow moulding ceramic 3D scaffolds and we use different bio-polymers for the
      functionalization of their surfaces in order to enhance the biological response.
      Combining the ceramic material (silicon doped hydroxyapatite, Si-HA) and the
      Elastin like Recombinamers (ELRs) polymers with the presence of the integrin
      mediate adhesion domain alone or in combination with SNA15 peptide that possess
      high affinity for hydroxyapatite, provided an improved Bone marrow Mesenchymal
      Stromal Cells (BMSCs) differentiation into osteoblastic linkage.

PMID- 27639314
TI  - Estrogen-induced collagen reorientation correlates with sympathetic denervation
      of the rat myometrium.
AB  - Estrogen inhibits the growth and causes the degeneration (pruning) of sympathetic
      nerves supplying the rat myometrium. Previous cryoculture studies evidenced that
      substrate-bound signals contribute to diminish the ability of the estrogenized
      myometrium to support sympathetic nerve growth. Using electron microscopy, here
      we examined neurite-substrate interactions in myometrial cryocultures, observing
      that neurites grew associated to collagen fibrils present in the surface of the
      underlying cryosection. In addition, we assessed quantitatively the effects of
      estrogen on myometrial collagen organization in situ, using ovariectomized rats
      treated with estrogen and immature females undergoing puberty. Under low estrogen
      levels, most collagen fibrils were oriented in parallel to the muscle long axis
      (83% and 85%, respectively). Following estrogen treatment, 89% of fibrils was
      oriented perpendicularly to the muscle main axis; while after puberty, 57% of
      fibrils acquired this orientation. Immunohistochemistry combined with histology
      revealed that the vast majority of fine sympathetic nerve fibers supplying the
      myometrium courses within the areas where collagen realignment was observed.
      Finally, to assess whether depending on their orientation collagen fibrils can
      promote or inhibit neurite outgrowth, we employed cryocultures, now using as
      substrate tissue sections of rat-tail tendon. We observed that neurites grew
      extensively in the direction of the parallel-aligned collagen fibrils in the
      tendon main axis but were inhibited to grow perpendicularly to this axis.
      Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that collagen reorientation
      may be one of the factors contributing to diminish the neuritogenic capacity of
      the estrogen-primed myometrial substrate.

PMID- 27639312
TI  - Selective etching of injection molded zirconia-toughened alumina: Towards
      osseointegrated and antibacterial ceramic implants.
AB  - : Due to their outstanding mechanical properties and excellent biocompatibility,
      zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) ceramics have become the gold standard in
      orthopedics for the fabrication of ceramic bearing components over the last
      decade. However, ZTA is bioinert, which hampers its implantation in direct
      contact with bone. Furthermore, periprosthetic joint infections are now the
      leading cause of failure for joint arthroplasty prostheses. To address both
      issues, an improved surface design is required: a controlled micro- and nano
      roughness can promote osseointegration and limit bacterial adhesion whereas
      surface porosity allows loading and delivery of antibacterial compounds. In this
      work, we developed an integrated strategy aiming to provide both osseointegrative
      and antibacterial properties to ZTA surfaces. The micro-topography was controlled
      by injection molding. Meanwhile a novel process involving the selective
      dissolution of zirconia (selective etching) was used to produce nano-roughness
      and interconnected nanoporosity. Potential utilization of the porosity for
      loading and delivery of antibiotic molecules was demonstrated, and the impact of
      selective etching on mechanical properties and hydrothermal stability was shown
      to be limited. The combination of injection molding and selective etching thus
      appears promising for fabricating a new generation of ZTA components implantable
      in direct contact with bone. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Zirconia-toughened
      alumina (ZTA) is the current gold standard for the fabrication of orthopedic
      ceramic components. In the present work, we propose an innovative strategy to
      provide both osseointegrative and antibacterial properties to ZTA surfaces: we
      demonstrate that injection molding allows a flexible design of surface micro
      topography and can be combined with selective etching, a novel process that
      induces nano-roughness and surface interconnected porosity without the need for
      coating, avoiding reliability issues. These surface modifications have the
      potential to improve osseointegration. Furthermore, our results show that the
      porosity can be used for drug delivery and suggest that the etched surface could
      reduce bacterial adhesion.

PMID- 27639313
TI  - Lung adenocarcinomas: correlation of computed tomography and pathology findings.
AB  - Adenocarcinoma is the most common histologic type of lung cancer. Recent lung
      adenocarcinoma classifications from the International Association for the Study
      of Lung cancer, the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory
      Society (IASLC/ETS/ERS, 2011) and World Health Organization (WHO, 2015) define a
      wide range of adenocarcinoma types and subtypes featuring different prognosis and
      management. This spectrum of lesions translates into various CT presentations and
      features, which generally show good correlation with histopathology, stressing
      the key role of the radiologist in the diagnosis and management of those
      patients. This review aims at helping radiologists to understand the basics of
      the up-to-date adenocarcinoma pathological classifications, radio-pathological
      correlations and how to use them in the clinical setting, as well as other
      imaging-related correlations (radiogenomics, quantitative analysis, PET-CT).

PMID- 27639315
TI  - Molecular characterization and immunological response analysis of toll-like
      receptors from the blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).
AB  - The innate immunity serves as the primary line of defense against pathogen
      invasion. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a pivotal role in the innate immunity
      by sensing specific pathogen-associated molecular patterns and activating immune
      responses. In this study, 14 TLRs (TLR1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8a, 8b, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21
      and 22) were identified and characterized in a cyprinid fish Megalobrama
      amblycephala. A majority of MaTLRs possessed the typical structural features of
      the TLR protein family: LRR domain, TM region and TIR domain. Phylogenetic
      analyses confirmed the existence of six TLR families and revealed close
      relationships with other cyprinid orthologs. All TLRs were constitutively
      expressed in all eight examined tissues. After Aeromonas hydrophila challenge,
      the expression profiles of MaTLR mRNAs were analyzed in liver, spleen and head
      kidney: MaTLR1, 2, 5, 9, 21 and 22 were up-regulated, MaTLR3, 7, 8a, 8b and 19
      were down-regulated, and MaTLR4, 18 and 20 expression patterns varied among
      tissues. These results indicate that most of MaTLRs are likely to be involved in
      the immune responses against bacterial infection.

PMID- 27639316
TI  - The recruitment order of scapular muscles depends on the characteristics of the
      postural task.
AB  - Previous studies show that the scapular muscle recruitment order could possibly
      change according to the characteristics of the postural task. We aimed to compare
      the activation latencies of serratus anterior (SA), upper, middle, and lower
      trapezius (UT, MT and LT, respectively) between an unpredictable perturbation
      (sudden arm destabilization) and a predictable task (voluntary arm raise) and, to
      determine the differences in the muscle recruitment order in each task. The
      electromyographic signals of 23 participants were recorded while the tasks were
      performed. All scapular muscles showed earlier onset latency in the voluntary arm
      raise than in the sudden arm destabilization. No significant differences were
      observed in the muscle recruitment order for the sudden arm destabilization
      (p>0.05). Conversely, for voluntary arm raise the MT, LT SA and anterior deltoid
      (AD) were activated significantly earlier than the UT (p<0.001). Scapular muscles
      present a specific recruitment order during a predictable task: SA was activated
      prior to the AD and the UT after the AD, in a recruitment order of SA, AD, UT,
      MT, and LT. While in an unpredictable motor task, all muscles were activated
      after the destabilization without a specific recruitment order, but rather a
      simultaneous activation.

PMID- 27639318
TI  - Management of immune thrombocytic purpura and acute coronary syndrome: A double
      edged sword!
AB  - Treating patients known to have immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) presenting
      with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) pose challenges, especially if they undergo
      percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting, as they require certain period
      of dual anti-platelet medication based up on the type of stent been deployed. Co
      existence of therapies to increase platelet number as well as anti-platelet
      efficacy at the same time appears contradictory; imbalance in antagonistic
      treatment approach of increasing platelet number to treat ITP and inhibiting
      their activity to treat ACS can result in life threatening complications.

PMID- 27639319
TI  - Successful catheter ablation of an incessant ventricular tachycardia originating
      from the posterior papillary muscle in a structurally normal right ventricle.

PMID- 27639320
TI  - Long-term clinical outcomes in implantable cardioverter defibrillator recipients
      on the island of Crete.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the current study is to disseminate long-term "real-world"
      data on mortality and device therapies in primary and secondary prevention
      implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) recipients on the island of Crete.
      METHODS: We analyzed data for all consecutive patients who received an ICD in our
      tertiary university hospital from 1993 until December 2013. Follow-up visits were
      performed every 6 months or more frequently when indicated. Survival status was
      recorded, and all stored episodes during interrogation were registered and
      classified as appropriate or inappropriate. RESULTS: In total, 854 patients
      received an ICD; 623 (73%) for primary and 231 (27%) for secondary prevention.
      Most of these patients (490) suffered from ischemic cardiomyopathy. During the
      mean follow-up of 12.4+/-7.8 years, 218 (25.5%) patients died; 19.7% in the
      primary prevention group (p=0.008) and 41.1% in the secondary prevention group.
      Overall, 248 patients (29%) received appropriate therapy; however, the percentage
      was significantly higher in the secondary prevention group (44.2%) than in
      primary prevention group (23.4%). The cumulative incidence of inappropriate
      therapies during the mean follow-up period was 11.6%. Lead-related complications
      were noted in 49 patients (5.7%), while only 13 patients (1.5%) suffered device
      related infections. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term data related to clinical outcomes
      in ICD recipients in our center are in accordance with those of other
      international centers and confirm the high efficacy and safety of these devices
      in preventing sudden cardiac death.

PMID- 27639321
TI  - The decrease of NMDAR subunit expression and NMDAR EPSC in hippocampus by
      neonatal exposure to desflurane in mice.
AB  - Desflurane is one of the third generation inhaled anesthetics and can be used in
      obstetric and pediatric medicine. However, effects of exposure to desflurane on
      neonatal brain are largely unknown. In this work, 6-day-old C57BL/6J mice were
      exposed to 1MAC or 1.5MAC desflurane for 2h. When the mice were 28-day-old, the
      open-field, spontaneous alternation Y-maze and fear conditioning tests were
      performed to evaluate general activity, working memory and long term memory,
      respectively. Levels of NMDAR subunits NR1, NR2A, and NR2B expression in
      hippocampus were evaluated by western blot. NMDAR-mediated excitatory
      postsynaptic current (EPSC) in mouse hippocampal slice was recorded by whole-cell
      patch clamp record. Mice exposed to 1.5MAC desflurane had significantly impaired
      working memory and fear conditioning memory. The protein expression of NMDAR
      subunits (NR1, NR2B) and NMDAR-mediated EPSC in hippocampus were significantly
      decreased. However no significant difference was detected between mice exposed to
      1.0MAC desflurane and control mice. In conclusion, in an animal model, 6-day-old
      mice exposed to 1.5MAC desflurane have significant impairments in working memory
      and contextual fear memory at postnatal day 28, and the decrease of NMDAR
      subunits expression and NMDAR EPSC in hippocampus may be involved in this
      process.

PMID- 27639317
TI  - Vascular targeting of nanoparticles for molecular imaging of diseased
      endothelium.
AB  - This review seeks to highlight the enormous potential of targeted nanoparticles
      for molecular imaging applications. Being the closest point-of-contact,
      circulating nanoparticles can gain direct access to targetable molecular markers
      of disease that appear on the endothelium. Further, nanoparticles are ideally
      suitable to vascular targeting due to geometrically enhanced multivalent
      attachment on the vascular target. This natural synergy between nanoparticles,
      vascular targeting and molecular imaging can provide new avenues for diagnosis
      and prognosis of disease with quantitative precision. In addition to the obvious
      applications of targeting molecular signatures of vascular diseases (e.g.,
      atherosclerosis), deep-tissue diseases often manifest themselves by continuously
      altering and remodeling their neighboring blood vessels (e.g., cancer). Thus, the
      remodeled endothelium provides a wide range of targets for nanoparticles and
      molecular imaging. To demonstrate the potential of molecular imaging, we present
      a variety of nanoparticles designed for molecular imaging of cancer or
      atherosclerosis using different imaging modalities.

PMID- 27639322
TI  - Kinematic gait parameters are highly sensitive measures of motor deficits and
      spinal cord injury in mice subjected to experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis.
AB  - The preclinical selection of therapeutic candidates for progressive multiple
      sclerosis (MS) would be aided by the development of sensitive behavioural
      measures that accurately reflect the impact of autoimmune-mediated spinal cord
      damage on locomotion. Neurological deficits in mice subjected to experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) are typically scored using a clinical scale
      with 5-10 levels of increased disease severity. This ordinal scale represents a
      general impression of paralysis and impaired gait. By contrast, kinematic gait
      analyses generate ratio level data that have frequently been used to characterize
      walking deficits for MS patients and test the efficacy of treatments designed to
      improve them. Despite these advantages, kinematic gait analyses have not been
      systematically applied to the study of walking deficits for EAE mice. We have
      therefore used high speed video recordings (250 frames/s) of EAE mice walking on
      a treadmill to measure 8 kinematic parameters in the sagittal plane: average hip
      height (1), average toe height during swing (2), and average angle and range of
      motion for the hip (3-4), knee (5-6) and ankle (7-8). Kinematic measures of hip,
      knee and ankle movements were found to be early detectors of impaired locomotion
      for mice with mild EAE (median clinical score=1.0 at day post-immunization 26;
      DPI 26). These deficits occurred in the absence of reduced rotarod performance
      with impaired hip and knee movements observed 3days before disease onset as
      determined by clinical scores. Gait deficits for mild EAE mice were minor and
      often recovered fully by DPI 30. By contrast, severe EAE mice (median clinical
      score=2.5 at DPI 26) displayed much larger movement impairments for the knee and
      ankle that failed to completely recover by DPI 44. Moreover, impaired ankle
      movement was highly correlated with white matter loss in the spinal cords of EAE
      mice (r=0.96). Kinematic analyses therefore yield highly sensitive measures of
      motor deficits that predict spinal cord injury in EAE mice. These behavioural
      techniques should assist the selection of promising therapeutic candidates for
      clinical testing in progressive MS.

PMID- 27639325
TI  - High Volume Lactated Ringer's for Post-Endoscopic Retrograde
      Cholangiopancreatography Pancreatitis Prophylaxis: Ready for Prime Time?

PMID- 27639324
TI  - Lunasin is a redox sensitive intrinsically disordered peptide with two
      transiently populated alpha-helical regions.
AB  - Lunasin is a 43 amino acid peptide with anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti
      inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering properties. Although the mechanism of
      action of lunasin has been characterized to some extent, its exact three
      dimensional structure as well as the function of the N-terminal sequence remains
      unknown. We established a novel method for the production of recombinant lunasin
      that allows efficient isotope labeling for NMR studies. Initial studies showed
      that lunasin can exist in a reduced or oxidized state with an intramolecular
      disulfide bond depending on solution conditions. The structure of both forms of
      the peptide at pH 3.5 and 6.5 was characterized by CD spectroscopy and
      multidimensional NMR methods. The data indicate that lunasin belongs to the class
      of intrinsically disordered proteins. The analysis of secondary structure
      propensities indicates the presence of two helical regions and an extended (beta
      strand) conformation at the C-terminus. We hypothesize that the transient
      secondary structure elements could be stabilized upon interaction with the
      histones H3 and H4. The newly discovered redox properties of lunasin could
      explain its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

PMID- 27639323
TI  - Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-immunoreactive (IR) axon varicosities
      target a subset of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH)-IR neurons in the
      human hypothalamus.
AB  - It is a general consensus that stress is one of the major factors that suppresses
      growth. Previous studies revealed that the catecholaminergic and neuropeptide Y
      (NPY) systems, involved in the activation of stress-related neuronal circuits,
      influence growth hormone (GH)-release via modulating growth hormone-releasing
      hormone (GHRH) secretion. Indeed, catecholaminergic and NPY-immunoreactive (IR)
      axon varicosities abut on the surface of the GHRH neurons forming contacts. These
      juxtapositions appear to be real synapses and may represent the morphological
      substrate of the impact of stress on growth. In addition to catecholamines and
      NPY, there is a vast amount of evidence that corticotropin-releasing hormone
      (CRH), a major stress hormone, also influences GH secretion. Whether this
      modulatory effect is direct, or indirect, via the hypothalamic GHRH system, has
      not been elucidated yet. In the present study, we examined the possibility that
      CRH influences GH secretion via modulating the GHRH release by direct synaptic
      mechanisms. Since the verification of these synapses by electron microscopy is
      problematic in human due to the long post mortem time, in order to reveal the
      putative CRH-GHRH juxtapositions, light microscopic double label
      immunohistochemistry was utilized. In the infundibular nucleus, a subset (6%) of
      the GHRH perikarya received abutting CRH fiber varicosities forming multiple
      contacts while passing by. No gaps appeared between the contacting elements. The
      morphology of these CRH-GHRH juxtapositions suggests that, among other
      neurotransmitters/neuromodulators, CRH influences growth by modulating the
      hypothalamic GHRH secretion via direct synaptic mechanisms.

PMID- 27639326
TI  - Duodenal Diverticular Bleeding Missed Repeatedly at Endoscopy.

PMID- 27639328
TI  - Patients With Nonpolypoid (Flat and Depressed) Colorectal Neoplasms at Increased
      Risk for Advanced Neoplasias, Compared With Patients With Polypoid Neoplasms.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Nonpolypoid colorectal neoplasms (NP-CRNs) are more likely to
      contain high-grade dysplasia or early-stage cancer than polypoid neoplasms. We
      aimed to determine the long-term outcomes of patients with at least 1 NP-CRN.
      METHODS: We performed a longitudinal cohort study of 4454 patients at a Veterans'
      Affairs hospital who underwent colonoscopy from 2000 through 2005; 341 were found
      to have 1 or more NP-CRNs and were matched (3:1) with patients found to have 1 or
      more polypoid neoplasms (controls, n = 1025). We collected and analyzed data on
      baseline colonoscopy findings and first follow-up colonoscopy results through
      August 2014. We calculated the incidence of advanced neoplasia at first follow-up
      colonoscopy, as defined by the presence of >=1 tubular or sessile serrated
      adenomas >=10 mm in diameter, tubulovillous adenoma, high-grade dysplasia, or
      invasive cancer. RESULTS: A significantly higher proportion of patients with 1 or
      more NP-CRNs (16.0%) were found to have advanced neoplasia at their first follow
      up colonoscopy than controls (8.6%); the adjusted risk ratio was 1.6 (95%
      confidence interval, 1.05-2.6; P = .03). A significantly higher proportion of
      patients with 1 or more NP-CRNs were found to have additional NP-CRNs at the
      follow-up colonoscopy (17%) than controls (7%; relative risk, 2.3; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.5-3.5; P < .001). Similar proportions of patients in each group
      developed cancers after colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: In a longitudinal cohort study,
      we found that patients with NP-CRN were more likely to develop additional NP-CRNs
      and to have advanced neoplasms at their first follow-up colonoscopy than patients
      with only polypoid neoplasms. However, patients with NP-CRN were not more likely
      to develop cancers after colonoscopy when surveillance guidelines were followed.
      Larger studies are needed to determine risk of colorectal cancer in patients with
      NP-CRN.

PMID- 27639327
TI  - Efficacy of Vedolizumab Induction and Maintenance Therapy in Patients With
      Ulcerative Colitis, Regardless of Prior Exposure to Tumor Necrosis Factor
      Antagonists.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The efficacy and safety of vedolizumab, a humanized
      immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody against the integrin alpha4beta7, were
      demonstrated in multicenter, phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled trials in
      patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's
      disease. We analyzed data from 1 of these trials to determine the effects of
      vedolizumab therapy in patients with UC, based on past exposure to anti-tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) antagonists. METHODS: We performed a post hoc
      analysis of data from the GEMINI 1 study, collected from 464 patients who
      received vedolizumab or placebo but had not received a previous TNF antagonist
      (naive to TNF antagonists) and 367 patients with an inadequate response, loss of
      response, or intolerance to TNF antagonists (failure of TNF antagonists).
      Predefined outcomes of GEMINI 1 were evaluated in these subpopulations. RESULTS:
      At Week 6, there were greater absolute differences in efficacy between
      vedolizumab and placebo in patients naive to TNF antagonists than patients with
      failure of TNF antagonists, although the risk ratios (RRs) for efficacy were
      similar for each group. Week 6 rates of response to vedolizumab and placebo were
      53.1% and 26.3%, respectively, among patients naive to TNF antagonists (absolute
      difference, 26.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 12.4-40.4; RR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3
      3.0); these rates were 39.0% and 20.6%, respectively, in patients with failure of
      TNF antagonists (absolute difference, 18.1%; 95% CI, 2.8-33.5; RR, 1.9; 95% CI,
      1.1-3.2). During maintenance therapy, the absolute differences were similar but
      the RR for efficacy was higher for patients with failure of TNF antagonists than
      for patients naive to TNF antagonists, for most outcomes. Week 52 rates of
      remission with vedolizumab and placebo were 46.9% and 19.0%, respectively, in
      patients naive to TNF antagonists (absolute difference, 28.0%; 95% CI, 14.9-41.1;
      RR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.5-4.0) and 36.1% and 5.3%, respectively, in patients with
      failure of TNF antagonists (absolute difference, 29.5%; 95% CI, 12.8-46.1; RR,
      6.6; 95% CI, 1.7-26.5). No differences in adverse events were observed among
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Vedolizumab demonstrated significantly greater efficacy as
      induction and maintenance therapy for UC than placebo in patients naive to TNF
      antagonists and patients with TNF antagonist failure. There were numerically
      greater treatment differences at Week 6 among patients receiving vedolizumab who
      were naive to TNF antagonists than patients with TNF antagonist failure.
      ClinicalTrials.gov no: NCT00783718.

PMID- 27639329
TI  - Endoscopic Ultrasound Fine-Needle Aspiration Diagnosis of Cryptococcus
      neoformans.

PMID- 27639330
TI  - Single-Operator Cholangioscopy for the Diagnosis of Portal Carvernoma
      Cholangiopathy.

PMID- 27639331
TI  - Does Transfusion Effectively Counter Antiplatelet Agents in Patients With
      Gastrointestinal Bleeding?

PMID- 27639332
TI  - Total Pancreatectomy With Islet Autotransplantation Improves Quality of Life in
      Patients With Refractory Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis.

PMID- 27639334
TI  - Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Patients With Dementia: Data From
      SveDem, the Swedish Dementia Registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to (1) study factors that determine the use of invasive
      procedures in the management of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients
      with dementia and (2) determine whether the use of invasive procedures was
      associated with their better survival. DESIGN: Cohort study based on patients
      registered in the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem), 2007-2012. Median follow-up
      time was 228 days. SETTING: Patients diagnosed with dementia in specialist memory
      clinics and primary care units in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 525 patients
      with dementia who suffered AMI (mean age 89 years, 54% women). MEASUREMENTS:
      Information on AMI and use of invasive procedures (coronary angiography and
      percutaneous coronary intervention) was obtained from Swedish national health
      registers. Binary logistic regression was applied to study associations of
      patients' characteristics with the use of invasive procedures; odds ratios (ORs)
      with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Survival was analyzed with
      Kaplan-Meier curves; log-rank test was used to compare survival of patients who
      received an invasive procedure versus those who did not receive it. Cox
      regression was applied to study association of the invasive procedures with all
      cause mortality; hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were calculated. RESULTS: One
      hundred ten patients (21%) with dementia received an invasive procedure in the
      management of AMI. After multivariate adjustment, lower age and higher global
      cognitive status were associated with the use of invasive procedures. The
      invasively managed patients survived longer (P = .001). The use of invasive
      procedures was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, adjusting for
      type of AMI and dementia disorder, age, gender, registration unit, history of AMI
      and comorbidity score (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.21-0.59), or total number of drugs (HR
      0.34, 95% CI 0.20-0.58). CONCLUSION: Age and cognitive status determine the use
      of invasive procedures in patients with dementia. This study suggests that the
      invasive management of AMI has a benefit for survival of patients with dementia.

PMID- 27639335
TI  - Investing in Post-Acute Care Transitions: Electronic Information Exchange Between
      Hospitals and Long-Term Care Facilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic health information exchange (HIE) is expected to help
      improve care transitions from hospitals to long-term care (LTC) facilities. We
      know little about the prevalence of hospital LTC HIE in the United States and
      what contextual factors may motivate or constrain this activity. RESEARCH DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional analysis of U.S. acute-care hospitals responding to the 2014 AHA
      IT Supplement survey and with available readmissions data (n = 1,991). We
      conducted multivariate logistic regression to explore the relationship between
      hospital LTC HIE and selected IT and policy characteristics. RESULTS: Over half
      of the hospitals in our study (57.2%) reported engaging in some form of HIE with
      LTC providers: 33.9% send-only, 0.5% receive-only, and 22.8% send and receive.
      Hospitals that engaged in some form of LTC HIE were more likely than those that
      did not engage to have attested to meaningful use (odds ratio [OR], 1.87; P = .01
      for stage 1 and OR, 2.05; P < .01 for stage 2), participate in a regional HIE
      effort (OR, 1.34; P = .021), and exchange information electronically with other
      hospitals or ambulatory providers (OR, 4.54; P < .01). Organizational affiliation
      with a skilled nursing facility (OR, 1.29; P = .041) and higher 30-day
      readmission rates (OR, 1.19; P = .016) were also associated with LTC HIE, but not
      accountable care organization nor bundled payment participation. CONCLUSIONS: As
      payment to LTC providers and hospitals increasingly emphasizes total patient care
      and paying for value, those leading these organizations have new incentives to
      pursue collaborative relationships. Hospitals appear to be investing in
      electronic information exchange with LTCs as part of a general strategy to adopt
      EHRs and engage in HIE, but also potentially to strengthen ties to LTC providers
      and to reduce readmissions. To achieve widespread connectivity, continued focus
      on adoption of related health IT infrastructure and greater emphasis on aligning
      incentives for hospital-LTC care transitions would be valuable.

PMID- 27639333
TI  - Gelatin scaffold combined with bone morphogenetic protein-4 induces odontoblast
      like cell differentiation involving integrin profile changes, autophagy-related
      gene 10, and Wnt5 sequentially in human induced pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - While human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells have potential use in
      regenerative medicine, there are no reports on odontoblastic differentiation of
      hiPS cells. In the current study, to examine integrin profiles and explore the
      early signaling cascade of odontoblastic differentiation in hiPS cells, we
      investigated the regulation of autophagy-related gene (Atg) and wingless/int1
      (Wnt) signaling in gelatin scaffold (GS) combined with bone morphogenetic protein
      (BMP)-4 (GS/BMP-4)-mediated odontoblastic differentiation. Following GS/BMP-4
      treatment, there was a dramatic loss of alpha3 and alpha6 integrins, and
      reciprocal strong induction of alpha1 integrin expression in the differentiated
      cells. GS/BMP-4 increased the mRNA and protein levels of Atg10, Lrp5/Fzd9 (an
      Atg10 receptor), and Wnt5 together with the amount of autophagosomes and
      autophagic fluxes. Treatment with siRNAs against Atg10 and Wnt5a individually
      suppressed the GS/BMP-4-induced increase in odontoblastic differentiation. The
      odontoblastic phenotype was inhibited by chloroquine, but increased after
      treatment with rapamycin (an autophagy enhancer). Taken together with our
      previous findings, we have replicated our results from the rodent system in a
      novel human system. We have revealed a unique sequential cascade involving Atg10,
      Wnt5a, alpha1 integrin, and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in GS/BMP-4-induced
      differentiation of hiPS cells into odontoblast-like cells at a relatively early
      stage.

PMID- 27639337
TI  - Synthesis and structure of a carbohydrate-fused [15]-macrodilactone.
AB  - The design, synthesis and structural characterization of a new alpha-d-glucose
      fused [15]-macrodilactone is reported. The macrolide was synthesized by a route
      involving sequential acylations of glucose at the C4' and C6' hydroxyl groups
      followed by an intramolecular Stille reaction previously established for other
      [15]-macrodilactones. Analysis of the X-ray crystallographic structure of the
      macrolide revealed a unique conformation of this macrocycle that differs from
      earlier models for [13]- and [15]-macrodilactones. Organizing the three planar
      units and the pyranose moiety into a macrocyclic ring resulted in a cup-shaped
      structure with planar chirality. Further, the gt conformation of the exocyclic
      hydroxymethyl group in the glucose unit was found to be crucial for controlling
      the planar chirality and, hence, governing the molecular shape and overall
      topology of the compound.

PMID- 27639336
TI  - Preparation of glycosyl thiourea derivatives from glycosyl azides using sulfamic
      acid and sodium iodide in one-pot.
AB  - Novel one-pot reaction conditions have been developed for the preparation of
      glycosyl thiourea derivatives directly from glycosyl azides mediated by a
      combination of sulfamic acid and sodium iodide. The reaction conditions were
      clean, non-toxic and the products were isolated in good to excellent yield.

PMID- 27639338
TI  - Convenient stereocontrolled amidoglycosylation of alcohols with acetylated
      glycals and trichloroethoxysulfonamide.
AB  - A regio- and stereo-controlled, rhodium(II)-catalyzed amidoglycosylation of
      alcohols has been developed using O-acetylated glycals,
      trichloroethoxysulfonamide, and iodosobenzene. This one-pot amidoglycosylation
      was applied to a variety of primary and secondary alcohols to afford the beta-O
      glycosides with acceptable yields up to 84%. The reaction would proceed via
      stereoselective intermolecular aziridination of the glycal from the alpha-face
      followed by SN2 reaction with alcohol at C-1 from the beta-face to give 1,2:2,3
      di-trans-substituted isomer only.

PMID- 27639339
TI  - Rapid screening and identification of the differences between metabolites of
      Cistanche deserticola and C. tubulosa water extract in rats by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS
      combined pattern recognition analysis.
AB  - Cistanches Herba is a famous traditional Chinese medicine that has been in use
      for treating kidney deficiency, impotence, female infertility, morbid leucorrhea,
      profuse metrorrhagia, and senile constipation. With the exception of studies
      available for a few single active ingredients such as echinacoside, acteoside,
      and poliumoside, comprehensive and systematic studies on in vivo metabolism of
      Cistanches Herba are lacking despite its widespread clinical application. There
      is no comparative study yet on the metabolites resulting from the traditional
      usage of Cistanche deserticola and C. tubulosa water extract - two species that
      are recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. This further restricts research on the
      therapeutic effect of Cistanches Herba to a great extent. In this study, a robust
      and unbiased UPLC-Q-TOF-MS combined pattern recognition analysis (orthogonal
      partial least squared discriminant analysis, OPLS-DA) was employed to rapidly
      screen prototype components and metabolites of C. deserticola and C. tubulosa
      water extract in rat urine, feces, and serum. A total of 71 metabolites from C.
      deserticola including 25 prototype components and 46 metabolites, and 45
      metabolites from C. tubulosa including 18 prototype components and 27 metabolites
      were tentatively identified. Out of these, 10 metabolites were characterized for
      the first time in these two species. Results of this study indicate that
      phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) are mainly metabolized into degradation products
      in the gastrointestinal tract of rats. The chemical components cistanoside B, C,
      D, and E exist only in C. deserticola and release methylated hydroxytyrosol (HT)
      following metabolism. This factor contributes to the difference between
      metabolites of C. deserticola and C. tubulosa water extract in rats and is
      responsible for the differential therapeutic effect that these two species of
      Cistanches Herba have on the same diseases.

PMID- 27639341
TI  - The potential use of shear viscosity to monitor polymer conditioning of sewage
      sludge digestates.
AB  - The work assessed the use of shear viscosity at 0.1 s-1 ( [Formula: see text] )
      as a parameter to detect changes in the conditioning and dewatering of
      digestates. Total and soluble fractions of organic matter of digestate samples
      before and after storage were also assessed in regards to their conditioning and
      dewatering performance. Digestate from a conventional mesophilic anaerobic
      digestion (CMAD) and advanced anaerobic digestion (AAD) plants were used. Linear
      regression and correlation analysis of 29 different parameters showed that
      soluble and total fractions of organic matter (Norg, Sc, Sp, Tp, TKN/COD, tCOD
      and sCOD) during plant operation and storage conditions correlated (r between
      0.80 and 0.99) with the variation in polymer dose, floc strength and CST of
      conditioned digestate samples. The variations occurred within the content of
      soluble and total fractions of organic matter, and showed to correlate with both
      conditioning requirements and the variation in [Formula: see text] . The work
      concluded that [Formula: see text] measurements of unconditioned digestate
      samples have the potential to be used as a parameter to monitor conditioning
      requirements during digestate storage or during process changes. It was found
      important to analyse soluble and total fractions of organic matter in order to
      understand the changes in [Formula: see text] within specific process conditions.

PMID- 27639340
TI  - Exploratory analysis of the potential relationship between urinary molybdenum and
      bone mineral density among adult men and women from NHANES 2007-2010.
AB  - Human exposure to molybdenum (Mo) may play a role in reducing bone mineral
      density (BMD) by interfering with steroid sex hormone levels. To begin to address
      gaps in the literature on this topic, the potential relationship between urinary
      Mo (U-Mo) and BMD at the femoral neck (FN-BMD) and lumbar spine (LS-BMD) was
      explored in a sample of 1496 adults participating in the 2007-2010 cycles of the
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Associations were assessed
      using multiple linear regression models stratified on sex and age. In adjusted
      models for 50-80+ year-old women, there was a statistically significant inverse
      relationship between natural log-U-Mo and LS-BMD (p-value: 0.002), and a
      statistically significant dose-dependent decrease in LS-BMD with increasing U-Mo
      quartiles (trend p-value: 0.002). A suggestive (trend p-value: 0.08), dose
      dependent decrease in FN-BMD with increasing U-Mo quartiles was noted in this
      group of women as well. All other adjusted models revealed no statistically
      significant or suggestive relationships between U-Mo and FN-BMD or LS-BMD. Bone
      health is important for overall human health and well-being and, given the
      exploratory nature of this work, additional studies are needed to confirm the
      results in other populations, and clarify the potential underlying mechanisms of
      Mo on BMD.

PMID- 27639342
TI  - The tortoise versus the hare - Possible advantages of microparticulate zerovalent
      iron (mZVI) over nanoparticulate zerovalent iron (nZVI) in aerobic degradation of
      contaminants.
AB  - A comparative study of the ability of microparticulate zerovalent iron (mZVI) and
      nanoparticulate zerovalent iron (nZVI) to oxidize a target compound (in this
      study, 14C-labelled formate) under aerobic conditions has been conducted with
      specific consideration given to differences in reaction mechanisms. Results of Fe
      K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy showed that
      mZVI underwent a slow transformation to ferrihydrite while nZVI, in contrast,
      rapidly transformed into lepidocrocite. The behavior of mZVI (compared to nZVI)
      could be attributed to either (i) a lower reactivity with oxygen and/or water,
      (ii) surface passivation by ferrihydrite resulting in reduced electron
      conductivity, and/or (iii) the relatively low concentration of Fe(II) which, in
      the case of nZVI, catalyzed the transformation of ferrihydrite to lepidocrocite.
      The influence of these structural transformations on contaminant removal was
      profound with the ferrihydrite that formed on mZVI inducing rapid adsorption of
      formate and moderating reactions of mZVI with oxygen and/or water. Although
      surface passivation of mZVI was significant, the effectiveness of the ensuing
      heterogeneous redox reactions in the mZVI/O2 system, as characterized by the
      molar ratio of oxidized formate to consumed Fe(0) (i.e., 13.7 +/- 0.8 MUM/M), was
      comparable to that for nZVI (16.5 +/- 1.4 MUM/M). The results of this study
      highlight the potential of mZVI for the oxidative degradation of target organics
      in preference to nZVI despite its lower intrinsic reactivity though some means
      (either natural or engineered) of inducing continual depassivation of the iron
      oxyhydroxide-coated mZVI would be required in order to maintain ongoing oxidant
      production.

PMID- 27639344
TI  - The effect of flow modes and electrode combinations on the performance of a
      multiple module microbial fuel cell installed at wastewater treatment plant.
AB  - A larger (6.1 L) MFC stack made in a scalable configuration was constructed with
      four anode modules and three (two-sided) cathode modules, and tested at a
      wastewater treatment plant for performance in terms of chemical oxygen demand
      (COD) removal and power generation. Domestic wastewater was fed either in
      parallel (raw wastewater to each individual anode module) or series (sequentially
      through the chambers), with the flow direction either alternated every one or two
      days or kept fixed in a single direction over time. The largest impact on
      performance was the wastewater COD concentration, which greatly impacted power
      production, but did not affect the percentage of COD removal. With higher COD
      concentrations (~500 mg L-1) and alternating flow conditions, power generation
      was primarily limited by the cathode specific area. In alternating flow
      operation, anode modules connected to two cathodes produced an average maximum
      power density of 6.0 +/- 0.4 W m-3, which was 1.9 +/- 0.2 times that obtained for
      anodes connected to a single cathode. In fixed flow operation, a large subsequent
      decrease in COD influent concentration greatly reduced power production
      independent of reactor operation in parallel or serial flow modes. Anode modules
      connected to two cathodes did not consistently produce more power than the anodes
      connected to a single cathode, indicating power production became limited by
      restricted anode performance at low CODs. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical
      impedance spectroscopy data supported restricted anode performance with low COD.
      These results demonstrate that maintaining power production of MFC stack requires
      higher influent and effluent COD concentrations. However, overall performance of
      the MFC in terms of COD removal was not affected by operational modes.

PMID- 27639343
TI  - Formation of aerobic granules for the treatment of real and low-strength
      municipal wastewater using a sequencing batch reactor operated at constant
      volume.
AB  - This study aimed at evaluating the formation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for
      the treatment of real and low-strength municipal wastewater using a column
      sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated in fill-draw mode (constant volume). The
      focus was on understanding how the wastewater upflow velocity (VWW) applied
      during the anaerobic feeding influenced the sludge properties and in turn the
      substrate conversion. Two different strategies were tested: (1) washing-out the
      flocs by imposing high wastewater upflow velocities (between 5.9 and 16 m h-1)
      during the anaerobic feeding (Approach #1) and (2) selective utilization of
      organic carbon during the anaerobic feeding (1 m h-1) combined with a selective
      sludge withdrawal (Approach #2). A column SBR of 190 L was operated in constant
      volume during 1500 days and fed with real and low-strength municipal wastewater.
      The formation of AGS with SVI30 of around 80 mL gTSS-1 was observed either at
      very low (1 m h-1) or at high VWW (16 m h-1). At 16 m h-1 the AGS was mainly
      composed of large and round granules (d > 0.63 mm) with a fluffy surface, while
      at 1 m h-1 the sludge was dominated by small granules (0.25 < d < 0.63 mm). The
      AGS contained a significant fraction of flocs during the whole operational
      period. A considerable and continuous washout of biomass occurred at VWW higher
      than 5.9 m h-1 (Approach #1) due to the lower settling velocity of the AGS fed
      with municipal wastewater. The low sludge retention observed at VWW higher than
      5.9 m h-1 deteriorated the substrate conversion and in turn the effluent quality.
      High solid concentrations (and thus solid retention time) were maintained during
      Approach #2 (VWW of 1 m h-1), which resulted in an excellent effluent quality.
      The study demonstrated that the formation of AGS is possible during the treatment
      of real and low-strength municipal wastewater in a SBR operated at constant
      volume. Low wastewater upflow velocities should be applied during the anaerobic
      feeding phase in order to ensure enough biomass retention and efficient substrate
      removal.

PMID- 27639345
TI  - Fractal features of carbon-nickel composite thin films.
AB  - This work analyses the three-dimensional (3-D) surface texture of carbon-nickel
      (C-Ni) films grown by radio frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering on glass
      substrates. The C-Ni thin films were deposited under different deposition times,
      from 50 to 600 s, at room temperature. Atomic force microscopy was employed to
      characterize the 3-D surface texture data in connection with the statistical, and
      fractal analyses. It has been found that up to 180 s the sputtering occurs in
      more metal content mode and in greater than 180 s it occurs in more non-metal
      content mode. This behavior demonstrated a strong link between the structural and
      morphological properties of C-Ni composite films and facilitates a deeper
      understanding of structure/property relationships and surface defects in prepared
      samples. Furthermore, these findings can be applied to research on the mechanisms
      to prepare and control high-quality C-Ni films.

PMID- 27639346
TI  - Resolving the physiological conditions in bioavailability and bioequivalence
      studies: Comparison of fasted and fed state.
AB  - In the present study temperature, pH and pressure profiles of nine healthy human
      volunteers were investigated after ingestion of the SmartPill(r) under conditions
      simulating the fasted state treatment in bioavailability and bioequivalence
      studies. In a previously published study the same subjects received the
      SmartPill(r) under fed conditions as recommended by the FDA. Since large non
      digestible objects are mainly emptied during phase III of the interdigestive
      migrating motor complex, the gastric residence time of the SmartPill(r) was found
      to be clearly shorter under fasting conditions. Intragastric pH values during the
      initial 5min were similar with an identical median value of pH 4.6.
      Interestingly, the median lowest observed intragastric pH value in fasted state
      was about one pH unit higher than that under fed conditions. Highest pressure
      activity was observed within the stomach, in relation to gastric emptying. In
      fasted state, pressure values upon gastric emptying varied strongly between
      30mbar and 304mbar, whereas after fed state ingestion values of at least 240mbar
      could always be observed. The data showed highly variable gastrointestinal
      parameters even under fasting conditions which must be considered when evaluating
      clinical studies and developing biorelevant in vitro test methods especially for
      large non-disintegrating dosage forms.

PMID- 27639347
TI  - Data systems and record linkage: considerations for pharmacoepidemiologic studies
      examining cancer risk.

PMID- 27639348
TI  - High frequency oscillations for lateralizing suspected bitemporal epilepsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In some cases of single focus epilepsy, conventional video
      electroencephalography (EEG) cannot reveal the epileptogenic focus even when
      intracranial electrodes are used. Here, we tested whether analyzing high
      frequency oscillations (HFOs) can be used to determine the ictal onset zone in
      suspected bitemporal epilepsy and improve seizure outcome. METHODS: We
      prospectively studied 13 patients with refractory temporal seizures who were
      treated over a 4-year period and underwent bilateral placement of intracranial
      electrodes. Subdural strips were used in all cases, and depth electrodes were
      implanted into mesial temporal lobes in 10 patients. The mean patient age was
      30.92 years, and 30.7% of patients were male. Patients were monitored by
      conventional and wide-band frequency amplifiers. RESULTS: Conventional invasive
      EEG monitoring of interictal periods showed bilateral epileptiform abnormalities
      in 12 patients (92.3%) and unilateral epileptiform abnormalities in one (7.7%),
      and monitoring of ictal periods revealed unilateral seizure origins in nine
      patients (69.2%) and bilateral origins in four (30.8%). In contrast, high
      frequency invasive EEG monitoring of interictal periods showed bilateral HFOs in
      seven patients (53.8%) and unilateral HFOs in six (46.2%), and monitoring of
      ictal periods revealed unilateral HFOs in all 10 patients who were tested. Three
      patients were not monitored during ictal periods because of time limitations. All
      13 patients subsequently underwent a standard unilateral temporal lobectomy and
      have been followed-up for a minimum of 12 months. Eleven (84%) had a Class I
      outcome, one (8%) a Class II outcome, and one a Class III outcome. SIGNIFICANCE:
      Bilateral placement of subdural strip and depth electrodes for seizure monitoring
      in patients with suspected bitemporal epilepsy is both safe and effective.
      Monitoring high frequency oscillations can help determine the laterality of the
      onset zone when localization using conventional EEG or brain MRI fails.

PMID- 27639349
TI  - Subconvulsant doses of pentylenetetrazol uncover the epileptic phenotype of
      cultured synapsin-deficient Helix serotonergic neurons in the absence of
      excitatory and inhibitory inputs.
AB  - Synapsins are a family of presynaptic proteins related to several processes of
      synaptic functioning. A variety of reports have linked mutations in synapsin
      genes with the development of epilepsy. Among the proposed mechanisms, a main one
      is based on the synapsin-mediated imbalance towards network hyperexcitability due
      to differential effects on neurotransmitter release in GABAergic and
      glutamatergic synapses. Along this line, a non-synaptic effect of synapsin
      depletion increasing neuronal excitability has recently been described in Helix
      neurons. To further investigate this issue, we examined the effect of synapsin
      knock-down on the development of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced epileptic-like
      activity using single neurons or isolated monosynaptic circuits reconstructed on
      microelectrode arrays (MEAs). Compared to control neurons, synapsin-silenced
      neurons showed a lower threshold for the development of epileptic-like activity
      and prolonged periods of activity, together with the occurrence of spontaneous
      firing after recurrent PTZ-induced epileptic-like activity. These findings
      highlight the crucial role of synapsin on neuronal excitability regulation in the
      absence of inhibitory or excitatory inputs.

PMID- 27639351
TI  - Impact of spillover from white matter by partial volume effect on quantification
      of amyloid deposition with [11C]PiB PET.
AB  - High non-specific uptake of [11C]Pittsburgh compound B ([11C]PiB) in white matter
      and signal spillover from white matter, due to partial volume effects, confound
      radioactivity measured in positron emission tomography (PET) with [11C]PiB. We
      aimed to reveal the partial volume effect in absolute values of kinetic
      parameters for [11C]PiB, in terms of spillover from white matter. Dynamic data
      acquired in [11C]PiB PET scans with five healthy volunteers and eight patients
      with Alzheimer's disease were corrected with region-based and voxel-based partial
      volume corrections. Binding potential (BPND) was estimated using the two-tissue
      compartment model analysis with a plasma input function. Partial volume
      corrections significantly decreased cortical BPND values. The degree of decrease
      in healthy volunteers (-52.7+/-5.8%) was larger than that in Alzheimer's disease
      patients (-11.9+/-4.2%). The simulation demonstrated that white matter spillover
      signals due to the partial volume effect resulted in an overestimation of
      cortical BPND, with a greater degree of overestimation for lower BPND values.
      Thus, an overestimation due to partial volume effects is more severe in healthy
      volunteers than in Alzheimer's disease patients. Partial volume corrections may
      be useful for accurately quantifying Abeta deposition in cortical regions.

PMID- 27639352
TI  - Acute stress increases risky decisions and dampens prefrontal activation among
      adolescent boys.
AB  - Adolescence is characterized by increased risky decision-making, enhanced
      mesolimbic response to risk and reward, increased perceived stress, and
      heightened physiological response to stress relative to other age groups. In
      adults, evidence suggests that acute stress increases risky decision-making by
      stress-induced increases of dopamine in regions implicated in reward processing
      and decision-making. Acute stress also increases risky decision-making in
      adolescents, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remained unexplored.
      In this study, daily self-reports of stress were documented in adolescents and
      adults. Participants completed two fMRI visits during which they performed a
      risky decision-making task: once each when they endorsed a high and low level of
      stress. Results revealed that adolescent males took more advantageous risks under
      high stress relative to low stress whereas adult males took fewer non
      advantageous risks under high stress relative to low stress. Adolescent males
      also showed a stress-related decrease in prefrontal activation when making risky
      decisions from high stress to low stress while adult males maintained prefrontal
      activation when making risky decisions across stress conditions. Adolescent and
      adult females did not exhibit stress-related changes in risky decisions.
      Moreover, greater prefrontal activation under stress was associated with fewer
      non-advantageous risks taken under stress. Implications for risk-taking under
      stress are discussed in light of these findings.

PMID- 27639350
TI  - Investigating white matter fibre density and morphology using fixel-based
      analysis.
AB  - Voxel-based analysis of diffusion MRI data is increasingly popular. However, most
      white matter voxels contain contributions from multiple fibre populations (often
      referred to as crossing fibres), and therefore voxel-averaged quantitative
      measures (e.g. fractional anisotropy) are not fibre-specific and have poor
      interpretability. Using higher-order diffusion models, parameters related to
      fibre density can be extracted for individual fibre populations within each voxel
      ('fixels'), and recent advances in statistics enable the multi-subject analysis
      of such data. However, investigating within-voxel microscopic fibre density alone
      does not account for macroscopic differences in the white matter morphology (e.g.
      the calibre of a fibre bundle). In this work, we introduce a novel method to
      investigate the latter, which we call fixel-based morphometry (FBM). To obtain a
      more complete measure related to the total number of white matter axons,
      information from both within-voxel microscopic fibre density and macroscopic
      morphology must be combined. We therefore present the FBM method as an integral
      piece within a comprehensive fixel-based analysis framework to investigate
      measures of fibre density, fibre-bundle morphology (cross-section), and a
      combined measure of fibre density and cross-section. We performed simulations to
      demonstrate the proposed measures using various transformations of a numerical
      fibre bundle phantom. Finally, we provide an example of such an analysis by
      comparing a clinical patient group to a healthy control group, which demonstrates
      that all three measures provide distinct and complementary information. By
      capturing information from both sources, the combined fibre density and cross
      section measure is likely to be more sensitive to certain pathologies and more
      directly interpretable.

PMID- 27639353
TI  - Bayesian EEG source localization using a structured sparsity prior.
AB  - This paper deals with EEG source localization. The aim is to perform spatially
      coherent focal localization and recover temporal EEG waveforms, which can be
      useful in certain clinical applications. A new hierarchical Bayesian model is
      proposed with a multivariate Bernoulli Laplacian structured sparsity prior for
      brain activity. This distribution approximates a mixed l20 pseudo norm
      regularization in a Bayesian framework. A partially collapsed Gibbs sampler is
      proposed to draw samples asymptotically distributed according to the posterior of
      the proposed Bayesian model. The generated samples are used to estimate the brain
      activity and the model hyperparameters jointly in an unsupervised framework. Two
      different kinds of Metropolis-Hastings moves are introduced to accelerate the
      convergence of the Gibbs sampler. The first move is based on multiple dipole
      shifts within each MCMC chain, whereas the second exploits proposals associated
      with different MCMC chains. Experiments with focal synthetic data shows that the
      proposed algorithm is more robust and has a higher recovery rate than the
      weighted l21 mixed norm regularization. Using real data, the proposed algorithm
      finds sources that are spatially coherent with state of the art methods, namely a
      multiple sparse prior approach and the Champagne algorithm. In addition, the
      method estimates waveforms showing peaks at meaningful timestamps. This
      information can be valuable for activity spread characterization.

PMID- 27639355
TI  - Defining thalamic nuclei and topographic connectivity gradients in vivo.
AB  - The thalamus consists of multiple nuclei that have been previously defined by
      their chemoarchitectual and cytoarchitectual properties ex vivo. These form
      discrete, functionally specialized, territories with topographically arranged
      graduated patterns of connectivity. However, previous in vivo thalamic
      parcellation with MRI has been hindered by substantial inter-individual
      variability or discrepancies between MRI derived segmentations and histological
      sections. Here, we use the Euclidean distance to characterize probabilistic
      tractography distributions derived from diffusion MRI. We generate 12 feature
      maps by performing voxel-wise parameterization of the distance histograms (6
      feature maps) and the distribution of three-dimensional distance transition
      gradients generated by applying a Sobel kernel to the distance metrics. We use
      these 12 feature maps to delineate individual thalamic nuclei, then extract the
      tractography profiles for each and calculate the voxel-wise tractography
      gradients. Within each thalamic nucleus, the tractography gradients were
      topographically arranged as distinct non-overlapping cortical networks with
      transitory overlapping mid-zones. This work significantly advances quantitative
      segmentation of the thalamus in vivo using 3T MRI. At an individual subject
      level, the thalamic segmentations consistently achieve a close relationship with
      a priori histological atlas information, and resolve in vivo topographic
      gradients within each thalamic nucleus for the first time. Additionally, these
      techniques allow individual thalamic nuclei to be closely aligned across large
      populations and generate measures of inter-individual variability that can be
      used to study both basic function and pathological processes in vivo.

PMID- 27639354
TI  - Measurement of dynamic task related functional networks using MEG.
AB  - The characterisation of dynamic electrophysiological brain networks, which form
      and dissolve in order to support ongoing cognitive function, is one of the most
      important goals in neuroscience. Here, we introduce a method for measuring such
      networks in the human brain using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Previous network
      analyses look for brain regions that share a common temporal profile of activity.
      Here distinctly, we exploit the high spatio-temporal resolution of MEG to measure
      the temporal evolution of connectivity between pairs of parcellated brain
      regions. We then use an ICA based procedure to identify networks of connections
      whose temporal dynamics covary. We validate our method using MEG data recorded
      during a finger movement task, identifying a transient network of connections
      linking somatosensory and primary motor regions, which modulates during the task.
      Next, we use our method to image the networks which support cognition during a
      Sternberg working memory task. We generate a novel neuroscientific picture of
      cognitive processing, showing the formation and dissolution of multiple networks
      which relate to semantic processing, pattern recognition and language as well as
      vision and movement. Our method tracks the dynamics of functional connectivity in
      the brain on a timescale commensurate to the task they are undertaking.

PMID- 27639356
TI  - Dynamic causal modelling of seizure activity in a rat model.
AB  - This paper presents a physiological account of seizure activity and its evolution
      over time using a rat model of induced epilepsy. We analyse spectral activity
      recorded in the hippocampi of three rats who received kainic acid injections in
      the right hippocampus. We use dynamic causal modelling of seizure activity and
      Bayesian model reduction to identify the key synaptic and connectivity parameters
      that underlie seizure onset. Using recent advances in hierarchical modelling
      (parametric empirical Bayes), we characterise seizure onset in terms of slow
      fluctuations in synaptic excitability of specific neuronal populations. Our
      results suggest differences in the pathophysiology - of seizure activity in the
      lesioned versus the non-lesioned hippocampus - with pronounced changes in
      excitation-inhibition balance and temporal summation on the lesioned side. In
      particular, our analyses suggest that marked reductions in the synaptic time
      constant of the deep pyramidal cells and the self-inhibition of inhibitory
      interneurons (in the lesioned hippocampus) are sufficient to explain changes in
      spectral activity. Although these synaptic changes are consistent over rats, the
      resulting electrophysiological phenotype can be quite diverse.

PMID- 27639358
TI  - Diffusion kurtosis metrics as biomarkers of microstructural development: A
      comparative study of a group of children and a group of adults.
AB  - The most common modality of diffusion MRI used in the ageing and development
      studies is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) providing two key measures, fractional
      anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Here, we investigated diffusional changes
      occurring between childhood (average age 10.3 years) and mitddle adult age
      (average age 54.3 years) with the help of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), a
      recent novel extension of DTI that provides additional metrics quantifying non
      Gaussianity of water diffusion in brain tissue. We performed voxelwise
      statistical between-group comparison of diffusion tensor and kurtosis tensor
      metrics using two methods, namely, the tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and
      the atlas-based regional data analysis. For the latter, fractional anisotropy,
      mean diffusivity, mean diffusion kurtosis, and other scalar diffusion tensor and
      kurtosis tensor parameters were evaluated for white matter fibres provided by the
      Johns-Hopkins-University Atlas in the FSL toolkit
      (http://fsl.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/fslwiki/Atlases). Within the same age group, all
      evaluated parameters varied depending on the anatomical region. TBSS analysis
      showed that changes in kurtosis tensor parameters beyond adolescence are more
      widespread along the skeleton in comparison to the changes of the diffusion
      tensor metrics. The regional data analysis demonstrated considerably larger
      between-group changes of the diffusion kurtosis metrics than of diffusion tensor
      metrics in all investigated regions. The effect size of the parametric changes
      between childhood and middle adulthood was quantified using Cohen's d. We used
      Cohen's d related to mean diffusion kurtosis to examine heterogeneous maturation
      of various fibres. The largest changes of this parameter (interpreted as
      reflecting the lowest level of maturation by the age of children group) were
      observed in the association fibres, cingulum (gyrus) and cingulum (hippocampus)
      followed by superior longitudinal fasciculus and inferior longitudinal
      fasciculus. The smallest changes were observed in the commissural fibres, forceps
      major and forceps minor. In conclusion, our data suggest that DKI is sensitive to
      developmental changes in local microstructure and environment, and is
      particularly powerful to unravel developmental differences in major association
      fibres, such as the cingulum and superior longitudinal fasciculus.

PMID- 27639360
TI  - When expectation confounds iconic memory.
AB  - In response to the methodological criticism (Bachmann & Aru, 2015) of the
      interpretation of their earlier experimental results (Mack, Erol, & Clarke, 2015)
      Mack, Erol, Clarke, and Bert (2016) presented new results that they interpret
      again in favor of the stance that an attention-free phenomenal iconic store does
      not exist. Here we once more question their conclusions. When their subjects were
      unexpectedly asked to report the letters instead of the post-cued circles in the
      101th trial where letters were actually absent, they likely failed to see the
      empty display area because prior experience with letters in the preceding trials
      produced expectancy based illusory experience of letter-like objects.

PMID- 27639357
TI  - Functional segregation and integration within fronto-parietal networks.
AB  - Experimental data on monkeys and functional studies in humans support the
      existence of a complex fronto-parietal system activating for cognitive and motor
      tasks, which may be anatomically supported by the superior longitudinal
      fasciculus (SLF). Advanced tractography methods have recently allowed the
      separation of the three branches of the SLF but are not suitable for their
      functional investigation. In order to gather comprehensive information about the
      functional organisation of these fronto-parietal connections, we used an
      innovative method, which combined tractography of the SLF in the largest dataset
      so far (129 participants) with 14 meta-analyses of functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) studies. We found that frontal and parietal functions can be
      clustered into a dorsal spatial/motor network associated with the SLF I, and a
      ventral non-spatial/motor network associated with the SLF III. Further, all the
      investigated functions activated a middle network mostly associated with the SLF
      II. Our findings suggest that dorsal and ventral fronto-parietal networks are
      segregated but also share regions of activation, which may support flexible
      response properties or conscious processing. In sum, our novel combined approach
      provided novel findings on the functional organisation of fronto-parietal
      networks, and may be successfully applied to other brain connections.

PMID- 27639359
TI  - Differential brain responses to gradual intragastric nutrient infusion and
      gastric balloon distension: A role for gut peptides?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rapid gastric balloon distension to discomfort threshold activates
      the "pain neuromatrix" and deactivates exteroceptive sensory and "default mode
      network" regions. However, little is known about brain mechanisms underlying
      tolerance of meal-induced gastric distension. We aimed to directly compare brain
      responses to gradual balloon distension and intragastric nutrient infusion and to
      explore the role of differential gut peptide release in these responses.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Brain responses to balloon- and nutrient-induced
      distension (to individually titrated pain or maximal satiation threshold) were
      measured in 15 healthy volunteers using H215O-PET on 2 separate days in
      counterbalanced order. The effects of increasing gastric distension and plasma
      levels of ghrelin and peptide YY3-36 (PYY3-36) on neural activity were assessed.
      RESULTS: Balloon distension progressively activated pain-responsive regions and
      deactivated exteroceptive sensory and "default mode network" areas. During
      nutrient infusion, "pain neuromatrix" regions and the orbitofrontal cortex were
      progressively deactivated, while the midbrain was activated. Plasma levels of
      PYY3-36 and ghrelin increased and decreased, respectively, during nutrient
      infusion only; decreasing ghrelin levels correlated with increasing midbrain
      activity. CONCLUSION: Different brain responses to gastric balloon distension and
      intragastric nutrient infusion are associated with nutrient-induced gut-brain
      signals, particularly to the midbrain, where these signals may interfere with
      both descending pain modulatory and mesolimbic reward processes. Deactivation of
      the "pain neuromatrix" during nutrient infusion may constitute the
      neurophysiological mechanism underlying the tolerance of normal meal volumes in
      health without induction of (painful) symptoms. Nutrient-induced deactivation of
      the orbitofrontal cortex may represent a key interoceptive meal termination
      signal.

PMID- 27639361
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel hybrids of highly potent and
      selective alpha4beta2-Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonists.
AB  - We previously reported the cyclopropylpyridine and isoxazolylpyridine ether
      scaffolds to be versatile building blocks for creating potent alpha4beta2
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonists with excellent
      selectivity over the alpha3beta4 subtype. In our continued efforts to develop
      therapeutic nicotinic ligands, seven novel hybrid compounds were rationally
      designed, synthesized, and evaluated in [3H]epibatidine binding competition
      studies. Incorporation of a cyclopropane- or isoxazole-containing side chain onto
      the 5-position of 1-(pyridin-3-yl)-1,4-diazepane or 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-2,5
      diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane led to highly potent and selective alpha4beta2* nAChR
      partial agonists with Ki values of 0.5-51.4 nM for alpha4beta2 and negligible
      affinities for alpha3beta4 and alpha7. Moreover, compounds 21, 25, and 30
      maintained the functional profiles (EC50 and IC50 values of 15-50 nM) of the
      parent azetidine-containing compounds 3 and 4 in the 86Rb+ ion flux assays. In
      vivo efficacy of the most promising compound 21 was confirmed in the mouse
      SmartCube(r) platform and classical forced swim tests, supporting the potential
      use of alpha4beta2 partial agonists for treatment of depression.

PMID- 27639362
TI  - Novel broad-spectrum and long-acting parenteral cephalosporins having an acyl
      cyanamide moiety at the C-3 terminal: Synthesis and structure-activity
      relationships.
AB  - A series of novel 7beta-[2-(2-aminothiazole-4-yl)-2-(Z)-(alkoxyimino)acetamido]
      cephalosporins having pyridinium-linked acyl cyanamide at the C-3 position were
      prepared and their antibacterial activities and pharmacokinetics profiles were
      evaluated. Most of the compounds exhibited potent antibacterial activities
      against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) and beta-lactamase
      non-producing penicillin-resistant Haemophilus influenzae (BLNAR). Introduction
      of a propenyl group between the cephalospoin core and the side chains at the C-3
      position improved the pharmacokinetics profile. Among these compounds, 7beta-[2
      (2-aminothiazole-4-yl)-2-(Z)- (alkoxyimino)acetamido]-3-(pyridin-1-ium-1-yl)prop
      1-en-1-yl)cephalosporins (32j) showed well-balanced antibacterial activity
      against S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae which included resistant strains and also
      other Gram-positive or Gram-negative pathogens. Furthermore, 32j showed a long
      half-life comparable to that of Ceftriaxone in mice and monkeys.

PMID- 27639363
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of new 6-hydroxypyridazinone benzisoxazoles:
      Potential multi-receptor-targeting atypical antipsychotics.
AB  - In recent years, multi-targeting directed ligands have attracted great interest
      as possible new atypical antipsychotics. Combinations of dopamine and serotonin
      receptor ligands within single molecules might afford new therapeutic
      opportunities. Herein, we describe the synthesis of a novel series of 6
      hydroxypyridazinone benzisoxazoles and their binding behaviors to different
      receptors in terms of atypical antipsychotic behaviors. The most potent compound
      (46) exhibited excellent affinities for certain receptors (D2, Ki = 0.5 +/- 0.07
      nM; 5-HT1A, Ki = 5.9 +/- 0.8 nM; 5-HT2A, Ki = 0.3 +/- 0.01 nM; 5-HT6, Ki = 0.5 +/
      0.04 nM) and combined with low affinities for the H1, 5-HT2C, and adrenergic
      alpha1 receptors. In contrast to risperidone, compound 46 exhibited a high
      cataleptic threshold; this may be useful in the development of a novel class of
      drugs treating schizophrenia.

PMID- 27639364
TI  - Benzophenone-nucleoside derivatives as telomerase inhibitors: Design, synthesis
      and anticancer evaluation in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Based on telomerase, thirteen novel phenstatin moiety linked stavudine
      derivatives (8a~8e and 11a~11f) were synthesized. The structures were determined
      by NMR and TOF-HRMS. The screening results showed that some compounds had better
      anti-cancer activity in vivo and in vitro. Among them, Compound 8d showed high
      inhibitory activity against telomerase and showed good antiproliferative activity
      against SGC-7901 cell with IC50 value 0.77 MUM by inducing cell cycle arrest at
      G2 phase. It also could improve SGC-7901 cell apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane
      potential assay indicated that the dissipation of MMP might participate in
      apoptosis induced by title compound. In vivo studies showed that compound 8d
      displayed potent anticancer activity with inhibition tumor growth.

PMID- 27639365
TI  - Antileishmanial effect of new indeno-1,5-naphthyridines, selective inhibitors of
      Leishmania infantum type IB DNA topoisomerase.
AB  - Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected disease of poor and developing countries.
      The current therapeutic approach is based on pentavalent antimonial (SbV) drugs
      and amphotericin B, both nephrotoxic and parenterally administered drugs.
      Therefore, there is a real need of new antileishmanial drugs. Eukaryotic type I
      DNA topoisomerases (TopIB) have been identified as druggable targets against
      leishmaniasis. These enzymes are involved in solving topological problems
      generated during replication, transcription and recombination of DNA. Leishmanial
      TopIB is a unique heterodimeric protein structurally different than that found in
      the mammalian host, thus making it an interesting target for drug discovery.
      Tetrahydro indeno-1,5-naphthyridines 5 and indeno[1,5]naphthyridines 6 were
      synthesized. The inhibition of Leishmania and human TopIB of these polycyclic
      heterocycles were studied and their antileishmanial activity on promastigotes and
      amastigote-infected splenocytes of Leishmania infantum were evaluated. In this
      regard, it is noteworthy that some of the prepared heterocycles, as compounds 6b,
      6i and 5 h, showed selective inhibition of LtopIB while no inhibition of hTopIB
      was observed at evaluated conditions. In addition, the cytotoxic effects of newly
      synthesized compounds were assessed on host murine splenocytes in order to
      calculate the corresponding selective indexes (SI). Tetrahydro indeno-1,5
      naphthyridines 5e and 5h showed good antileishmanial activity (IC50 values of
      0.67 +/- 0.06 and 0.54 +/- 0.17 MUM) with similar activity than the standard drug
      amphotericin B (0.32 +/- 0.05 MUM) and even tetrahydro indeno-1,5-naphthyridine
      5h showed higher (SI) towards L. Infantum amastigotes. Likewise, in the family of
      indeno-[1,5]-naphthyridines 6, compound 6b showed good antileishmanial activity
      (IC50 value 0.74 +/- 0.08 MUM) and higher selective index (SI) towards L.
      Infantum amastigotes than amphotericin B.

PMID- 27639366
TI  - Design and synthesis of chiral 2H-chromene-N-imidazolo-amino acid conjugates as
      aldose reductase inhibitors.
AB  - Aldose reductase (ALR2) inhibitors provide a viable mode to fight against
      diabetic complications. ALR2 exhibit plasticity in the active site vicinities and
      possible shifts in the nearby two supporting alpha helices. Therefore, a novel
      series of amino acid conjugates of chromene-3-imidazoles (13-15) were designed
      and synthesized based on natural isoflavonoids. The compounds were identified on
      the basis of spectral (1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS) data and tested in vitro for ALR2
      inhibitory activity with an IC50 value ranges from 0.031 +/- 0.082 MUM to 4.29 +/
      0.55 MUM. Our in silico and biochemical studies confirmed that 15e has the best
      inhibition activity among the synthesized compounds with a high selective index
      against the Aldehyde reductase (ALR1). Supplementation of 15e to STZ induced rats
      decreased the blood glucose levels and delayed the progression of cataract in a
      dose-dependent manner. The present study thus provides novel series of compounds
      with a promising inhibitor to prevent or delay the cataract progression.

PMID- 27639367
TI  - 2-Arylbenzothiazoles labeled with [CpRe/99mTc(CO)3] and evaluated as beta-amyloid
      imaging probes.
AB  - An array of complexes, 99mTc/Re-labeled cyclopentadienyl tricarbonyl and 2
      phenyl/pyridylbenzothiazoles, conjugated through an ester linkage were tested as
      potential beta-amyloid (Abeta) probes for SPECT imaging. The [CpRe/99mTc(CO)3]
      complexes were prepared by double ligand transfer reactions from ferrocene
      precursors, and the X-ray structure of one rhenium surrogate revealed a classical
      "piano stool" like geometry. Several of the rhenium complexes displayed high
      affinity for Abeta1-42 aggregates in in vitro inhibition assays, and they could
      intensely stain Abeta deposits on brain sections from transgenic mice and
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Complex [99mTc]4h strongly binds to Abeta
      deposits in blood vessels of the brain section of AD patients in in vitro
      autoradiography. Biodistribution experiments in normal mice revealed that 99mTc
      labeled tracers exhibited moderate degree of initial brain uptake (0.54%-1.06%
      ID/g at 2 min). These tracers targeting Abeta plaques of AD patients warrant
      further structure optimization to improve their ability to penetrate blood-brain
      barrier, moreover, they may be suitable for developing imaging probes for
      targeting amyloid aggregates outside of the brain.

PMID- 27639369
TI  - Synthesis and apoptosis inducing studies of triazole linked 3-benzylidene isatin
      derivatives.
AB  - In our venture towards the development of effective cytotoxic agents, a panel of
      triazole linked 3-benzylidene isatin hybrids were synthesized and characterized
      by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and Mass spectral analysis. All the newly synthesized
      target compounds were assessed against DU145 (prostate), PC-3 (prostate), MDA-MB
      231 (breast), BT549 (breast), A549 (lung) and HeLa (cervical) human cancer cell
      lines by employing MTT assay for their cytotoxic potential. Significantly,
      compound Z-8l was found to be most potent amongst all the tested compounds with
      an IC50 value of (3.7 +/- 0.05 MUM) on DU145 cells. The most active compound (Z
      8l) was also tested on RWPE-1 (normal prostate) cells and was found to be safe
      compared to the DU145 cells. The influence of the cytotoxic compound Z-8l on the
      cell cycle distribution was assessed on the DU145 cell line, exhibiting a cell
      cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Additionally, treatment with compound Z-8l caused
      collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (DPsim) in DU145 cells. Moreover,
      acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, DAPI nuclear staining, DCFDA staining
      and annexin V binding assay confirmed that compound Z-8l can induce cell
      apoptosis in DU145 cells. Western blotting was performed to examine the
      appearance of active forms of cytochrome c, Bax, Bcl2 and PARP (Poly ADP ribose
      polymerase), indicator proteins of apoptosis in DU145 cells; the study confirmed
      the triggering of mitochondrial mediated apoptotic pathway upon exposure of
      compound Z-8l.

PMID- 27639368
TI  - Identification of an indol-based derivative as potent and selective varicella
      zoster virus (VZV) inhibitor.
AB  - We report the synthesis and antiviral activity of a new family of non-nucleoside
      antivirals, derived from the indole nucleus. Modifications of this template
      through Mannich and Friedel-Crafts reactions, coupled with nucleophilic
      displacement and reductive aminations led to 23 final derivatives, which were
      pharmacologically tested. Tryptamine derivative 17a was found to have a selective
      inhibitory activity against human varicella zoster virus (VZV) replication in
      vitro, being inactive against a variety of other DNA and RNA viruses. A structure
      activity relationship (SAR) study showed that the presence of a biphenyl ethyl
      moiety and the acetylation at the amino group of tryptamine are a prerequisite
      for anti-VZV activity. The novel compound shows the same activity against
      thymidine kinase (TK)-competent (TK+) and TK-deficient (TK-) VZV strains,
      pointing to a novel mechanism of antiviral action.

PMID- 27639370
TI  - Synthesis, in vitro anticancer and antibacterial activities and in silico studies
      of new 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazole-coumarin hybrids.
AB  - The 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazole core in designed coumarin hybrids (4-35) with
      diverse physicochemical properties was introduced by eco-friendly copper(I)
      catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition under microwave irradiation. Coumarin
      1,2,3-triazole-benzofused heterocycle hybrids emerged as the class of compounds
      exhibiting the highest antiproliferative activity. The strong relationship
      between lipophilicity and antiproliferative activities was observed indicating
      that lipophilic 1,2,3-triazole-coumarin hybrids containing phenylethyl (13), 3,5
      difluorophenyl (14), 5-iodoindole (30) and benzimidazole (33 and 35) subunits
      showed the most potent cytostatic effects. The 7-methylcoumarin-1,2,3-triazole-2
      methylbenzimidazole hybrid 33 can be highlighted as a lead that exerted the
      highest cytotoxicity against hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells with IC50 value
      of 0.9 MUM and high selectivity (SI = 50). This compound induced cell death,
      mainly due to early apoptosis. Strong antiproliferative effect of 33 could be
      associated with its inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) activity and perturbation
      of sphingolipid signaling by interfering with intracellular acid ceramidase
      (ASAH) activity. Outlined considerable effect of lipophilicity on
      antiproliferative activity was not observed for antibacterial activity. The
      compounds with p-pentylphenyl (17), 2-chloro-4-fluorobenzenesulfonamide (23) and
      dithiocarbamate (27) moiety were endowed with high selectivity against
      Enterococcus species. Moreover, these compounds were found to be superior in
      inhibiting the growth of clinically isolated vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus
      faecium, while the reference antibiotics exhibited the lack of activity. Our
      findings indicate that coumarin-1,2,3-triazole could be used as the scaffold for
      structural optimization to develop more potent and selective anticancer agents
      and encourage further development of novel structurally related analogs of 33 as
      more effective 5-LO inhibitors.

PMID- 27639371
TI  - Antiviral strategies to eliminate hepatitis B virus covalently closed circular
      DNA (cccDNA).
AB  - It has been over 50 years since the discovery of hepatitis B virus (HBV), yet 240
      million people worldwide live with chronic HBV, resulting in up to 800000 deaths
      per year. A cure is yet to be achieved, due largely to a viral nuclear reservoir
      of transcriptionally active covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). While
      current antiviral therapies are effective at reducing viral replication, they
      have no impact on the existing cccDNA reservoir. Identifying mechanisms to either
      eliminate (complete cure) or inactivate (functional cure) HBV cccDNA are a major
      focus of HBV research worldwide. This review discusses recent advances in efforts
      to eliminate and/or regulate cccDNA, as well as future directions that may be
      considered in efforts to cure chronic HBV.

PMID- 27639372
TI  - Occupational exposure to anesthetics leads to genomic instability, cytotoxicity
      and proliferative changes.
AB  - Data on the genotoxic and mutagenic effects of occupational exposure to the most
      frequently used volatile anesthetics are limited and controversial. The current
      study is the first to evaluate genomic instability, cell death and proliferative
      index in exfoliated buccal cells (EBC) from anesthesiologists. We also evaluated
      DNA damage and determined the concentrations of the anesthetic gases most
      commonly used in operating rooms. This study was conducted on physicians who were
      allocated into two groups: the exposed group, which consisted of
      anesthesiologists who had been exposed to waste anesthetic gases (isoflurane,
      sevoflurane, desflurane and nitrous oxide - N2O) for at least two years; and the
      control group, which consisted of non-exposed physicians matched for age, sex and
      lifestyle with the exposed group. Venous blood and EBC samples were collected
      from all participants. Basal DNA damage was evaluated in lymphocytes by the comet
      assay, whereas the buccal micronucleus (MN) cytome (BMCyt) assay was applied to
      evaluate genotoxic and cytotoxic effects. The concentrations of N2O and
      anesthetics were measured via a portable infrared spectrophotometer. The average
      concentration of waste gases was greater than 5 parts per million (ppm) for all
      of the halogenated anesthetics and was more than 170ppm for N2O, expressed as a
      time-weighted average. There was no significant difference between the groups in
      relation to lymphocyte DNA damage. The exposed group had higher frequencies of
      MN, karyorrhexis and pyknosis, and a lower frequency of basal cells compared with
      the control group. In conclusion, exposure to modern waste anesthetic gases did
      not induce systemic DNA damage, but it did result in genomic instability,
      cytotoxicity and proliferative changes, which were detected in the EBC of
      anesthesiologists. Thus, these professionals can be considered at risk for
      developing genetic alterations resulting from occupational exposure to these
      gases, suggesting the need to minimize this exposure.

PMID- 27639373
TI  - Phase II trial of hypofractionated VMAT-based treatment for early stage breast
      cancer: 2-year toxicity and clinical results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To report toxicity and early clinical outcomes of hypofractionated
      simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) approach with Volumetric Modulated Arc
      Therapy (VMAT) as adjuvant treatment after breast-conserving surgery. METHODS:
      Patients presenting early-stage breast cancer were enrolled in a phase II trial.
      ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: age > 18 years old, invasive cancer or ductal carcinoma in
      situ (DCIS), Stage I-II (T < 3 cm and N <= 3), breast-conserving surgery without
      oncoplastic reconstruction. Any systemic therapy was allowed in neoadjuvant or
      adjuvant setting. All patients underwent VMAT-SIB technique to irradiate the
      whole breast and the tumor bed. Doses to whole breast and surgical bed were 40.5
      Gy and 48 Gy, respectively, delivered in 15 fractions over 3 weeks. Acute and
      late skin toxicities were recorded. Cosmetic outcome was assessed as
      excellent/good or fair/poor. RESULTS: The present study focused on results of a
      cohort of 144 patients with a minimum follow-up of 24 months (median 37, range 24
      55 months). Median age was 62 years old (range 30-88). All patients had an
      invasive carcinoma (no patients with DCIS were present in this subset). At one
      year, the highest reported skin toxicity was G1, in 14 % of the patients; this
      data dropped to 4 % at the last follow-up, after more than 2 years. Breast pain
      was recorded in 21.6 % of the patients 6 months after treatment, while it was
      present in 3.5 % of the patients at the last follow-up, showing a significant
      improvement with time. Correlation between liponecrosis and boost target volume
      was found not significant. Breast pain was correlated with breast volume. No
      pulmonary or cardiological toxicities were recorded. After an early evaluation of
      clinical outcomes, only one case presented disease relapse, as liver metastases.
      CONCLUSIONS: The 3-week VMAT-SIB course as adjuvant treatment after breast
      conserving surgery showed to be well tolerated and was associated with optimal
      local control. Long-term follow-up data are needed to assess late toxicity and
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27639374
TI  - Comprehensive genomic characterization of five canine lymphoid tumor cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leukemia/lymphoma cell lines have been critical in the investigation
      of the pathogenesis and therapy of hematological malignancies. While human LL
      cell lines have generally been found to recapitulate the primary tumors from
      which they were derived, appropriate characterization including cytogenetic and
      transcriptional assessment is crucial for assessing their clinical predictive
      value. RESULTS: In the following study, five canine LL cell lines, CLBL-1, Ema,
      TL-1 (Nody-1), UL-1, and 3132, were characterized using extensive
      immunophenotyping, karyotypic analysis, oligonucleotide array comparative genomic
      hybridization (oaCGH), and gene expression profiling. Genome-wide DNA copy number
      data from the cell lines were also directly compared with 299 primary canine
      round cell tumors to determine whether the cell lines represent primary tumors,
      and, if so, what subtype each most closely resembled. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      integrated analyses, CLBL-1 was classified as B-cell lymphoma, Ema and TL-1 as T
      cell lymphoma, and UL-1 as T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 3132, originally
      classified as a B-cell lymphoma, was reclassified as a histiocytic sarcoma based
      on characteristic cytogenomic properties. In combination, these data begin to
      elucidate the clinical predictive value of these cell lines which will enhance
      the appropriate selection of in vitro models for future studies of canine
      hematological malignancies.

PMID- 27639375
TI  - Lipid microdomain modification sustains neuronal viability in models of
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Decreased neuronal insulin receptor (IR) signaling in Alzheimer's disease is
      suggested to contribute to synaptic loss and neurodegeneration. This work shows
      that alteration of membrane microdomains increases IR levels and signaling, as
      well as neuronal viability in AD models in vitro and in vivo. Neuronal membrane
      microdomains are highly enriched in gangliosides. We found that inhibition of
      glucosylceramide synthase (GCS), the key enzyme of ganglioside biosynthesis,
      increases viability of cortical neurons in 5xFAD mice, as well as in cultured
      neurons exposed to oligomeric amyloid-beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs). We
      furthermore demonstrate a molecular mechanism explaining how gangliosides mediate
      ADDL-related toxic effects on IR of murine neurons. GCS inhibition increases the
      levels of functional dendritic IR on the neuronal surface by decreasing caveolin
      1-mediated IR internalization. Consequently, IR signaling is increased in neurons
      exposed to ADDL stress. Thus, we propose that GCS inhibition constitutes a
      potential target for protecting neurons from ADDL-mediated neurotoxicity and
      insulin resistance in Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 27639376
TI  - Prevalence of osteoporosis in the Italian population and main risk factors:
      results of BoneTour Campaign.
AB  - BACKGROUND: BoneTour is a campaign conducted throughout the Italian territory for
      the assessment of Italian people bone status and for the prevention of
      osteoporosis. METHODS: A total of 7305 sequential subjects of both sexes were
      screened, collecting clinical data through the FRAXTM questionnaire, and
      measuring heel bone stiffness by Quantitative Ultrasonography (QUS). The 10-year
      risk for hip and major osteoporotic fractures was calculated taking into account
      personal or family history of fragility fracture, smoking, alcohol abuse,
      rheumatoid arthritis, prolonged steroids assumption. Additional risk factors were
      evaluated, including early menopause, poor sunlight exposure, low dietary calcium
      intake, physical inactivity, number of pregnancies, months of lactation, tobacco
      cigarettes smoked per year, specific causes of secondary osteoporosis. Through a
      correlation study, the influence of each factor on the development of
      osteoporosis was analyzed. RESULTS: As many as 18 % of women suffer from
      osteoporosis, as defined by QUS T-score. The calculation of FRAXTM confirmed the
      weight of the already known risk factors. The correlation study revealed the
      significance of some additional factors, such as hyperthyroidism,
      nephrolithiasis, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, poor sun
      exposure, and oophorectomy before age 50. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of
      secondary osteoporosis in the Italian population clearly indicates the importance
      of additional risk factors not yet included in the FRAXTM algorithm, for which
      preventive measures should be considered. Screening campaigns may allow both
      early diagnosis and access to treatment.

PMID- 27639377
TI  - Total average diastolic longitudinal displacement by colour tissue doppler
      imaging as an assessment of diastolic function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current method for a non-invasive assessment of diastolic
      dysfunction is complex with the use of algorithms of many different
      echocardiographic parameters. Total average diastolic longitudinal displacement
      (LD), determined by colour tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) via the measurement of LD
      during early diastole and atrial contraction, can potentially be used as a simple
      and reliable alternative. METHODS: In 206 patients, using GE Healthcare Vivid E7
      and 9 and Echopac BT11 software, we determined both diastolic LD, measured in the
      septal and lateral walls in the apical 4-chamber view by TDI, and the degree of
      diastolic dysfunction, based on current guidelines. Of these 206 patients, 157
      had cardiac anomalies that could potentially affect diastolic LD such as severe
      systolic heart failure (n = 45), LV hypertrophy (n = 49), left ventricular (LV)
      dilation (n = 30), and mitral regurgitation (n = 33). Intra and interobserver
      variability of diastolic LD measures was tested in 125 patients. RESULTS: A
      linear relationship between total average diastolic LD and the degree of
      diastolic dysfunction was found. A total average diastolic LD of 10 mm was found
      to be a consistent threshold for the general discrimination of patients with or
      without diastolic dysfunction. Using linear regression, total average diastolic
      LD was estimated to fall by 2.4 mm for every increase in graded severity of
      diastolic dysfunction (beta = -0.61, p-value <0.001). Patients with LV
      hypertrophy had preserved total average diastolic LD despite being classified as
      having diastolic dysfunction. Reproducibility of LD measures was acceptable.
      CONCLUSIONS: There is strong evidence suggesting that patients with a total
      average diastolic LD under 10 mm have diastolic dysfunction.

PMID- 27639380
TI  - Structural alignment of protein descriptors - a combinatorial model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Structural alignment of proteins is one of the most challenging
      problems in molecular biology. The tertiary structure of a protein strictly
      correlates with its function and computationally predicted structures are
      nowadays a main premise for understanding the latter. However, computationally
      derived 3D models often exhibit deviations from the native structure. A way to
      confirm a model is a comparison with other structures. The structural alignment
      of a pair of proteins can be defined with the use of a concept of protein
      descriptors. The protein descriptors are local substructures of protein
      molecules, which allow us to divide the original problem into a set of
      subproblems and, consequently, to propose a more efficient algorithmic solution.
      In the literature, one can find many applications of the descriptors concept that
      prove its usefulness for insight into protein 3D structures, but the proposed
      approaches are presented rather from the biological perspective than from the
      computational or algorithmic point of view. Efficient algorithms for
      identification and structural comparison of descriptors can become crucial
      components of methods for structural quality assessment as well as tertiary
      structure prediction. RESULTS: In this paper, we propose a new combinatorial
      model and new polynomial-time algorithms for the structural alignment of
      descriptors. The model is based on the maximum-size assignment problem, which we
      define here and prove that it can be solved in polynomial time. We demonstrate
      suitability of this approach by comparison with an exact backtracking algorithm.
      Besides a simplification coming from the combinatorial modeling, both on the
      conceptual and complexity level, we gain with this approach high quality of
      obtained results, in terms of 3D alignment accuracy and processing efficiency.
      CONCLUSIONS: All the proposed algorithms were developed and integrated in a
      computationally efficient tool descs-standalone, which allows the user to
      identify and structurally compare descriptors of biological molecules, such as
      proteins and RNAs. Both PDB (Protein Data Bank) and mmCIF (macromolecular
      Crystallographic Information File) formats are supported. The proposed tool is
      available as an open source project stored on GitHub (
      https://github.com/mantczak/descs-standalone ).

PMID- 27639378
TI  - Time-kill curve analysis and pharmacodynamic modelling for in vitro evaluation of
      antimicrobials against Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the Gram
      negative bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Resistance to first-line empirical
      monotherapy has emerged, so robust methods are needed to evaluate the activity of
      existing and novel antimicrobials against the bacterium. Pharmacodynamic models
      describing the relationship between the concentration of antimicrobials and the
      minimum growth rate of the bacteria provide more detailed information than the
      MIC only. RESULTS: In this study, a novel standardised in vitro time-kill curve
      assay was developed. The assay was validated using five World Health Organization
      N. gonorrhoeae reference strains and a range of ciprofloxacin concentrations
      below and above the MIC. Then the activity of nine antimicrobials with different
      target mechanisms was examined against a highly antimicrobial susceptible
      clinical strain isolated in 1964. The experimental time-kill curves were analysed
      and quantified with a previously established pharmacodynamic model. First, the
      bacterial growth rates at each antimicrobial concentration were estimated with
      linear regression. Second, we fitted the model to the growth rates, resulting in
      four parameters that describe the pharmacodynamic properties of each
      antimicrobial. A gradual decrease of bactericidal effects from ciprofloxacin to
      spectinomycin and gentamicin was found. The beta-lactams ceftriaxone, cefixime
      and benzylpenicillin showed bactericidal and time-dependent properties.
      Chloramphenicol and tetracycline were purely bacteriostatic as they fully
      inhibited the growth but did not kill the bacteria. We also tested ciprofloxacin
      resistant strains and found higher pharmacodynamic MICs (zMIC) in the resistant
      strains and attenuated bactericidal effects at concentrations above the zMIC.
      CONCLUSIONS: N. gonorrhoeae time-kill curve experiments analysed with a
      pharmacodynamic model have potential for in vitro evaluation of new and existing
      antimicrobials. The pharmacodynamic parameters based on a wide range of
      concentrations below and above the MIC provide information that could support
      improving future dosing strategies to treat gonorrhoea.

PMID- 27639379
TI  - Computational inference of a genomic pluripotency signature in human and mouse
      stem cells.
AB  - Recent analyses of next-generation sequencing datasets have shown that cell
      specific regulatory elements in stem cells are marked with distinguishable
      patterns of transcription factor (TF) binding and epigenetic marks. For example,
      we recently demonstrated that promoters of cell-specific genes are covered with
      expanded trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) marks (i.e., broad
      H3K4me3 domains). Moreover, binding of specific TFs, such as OCT4, NANOG, and
      SOX2, have been shown to play a critical role in maintaining the pluripotency of
      stem cells. Despite these observations, a systematic exploration of genomic and
      epigenomic features of stem-cell-specific gene promoters has not been conducted.
      Advanced machine-learning models can capture distinguishable genomic and
      epigenomic characteristics of stem-cell-specific promoters by taking advantage of
      the wealth of publicly available datasets. Here, we propose a three-step
      framework to discover novel data characteristics of high-throughput next
      generation sequencing datasets that distinguish pluripotency genes in human and
      mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Our framework involves: i) feature extraction
      to identify novel features of genomic datasets; ii) feature selection using a
      logistic regression model combined with the Least Absolute Shrinkage and
      Selection Operator (LASSO) method to find the most critical datasets and
      features; and iii) cross validation with features selected using LASSO method to
      assess the predictive power of selected data features in distinguishing
      pluripotency genes. We show that specific epigenetic marks, and specific features
      of these marks, are enriched at pluripotency gene promoters. Moreover, we also
      assess both the individual and combined effect of TF binding, epigenetic mark
      deposition, gene expression datasets for marking pluripotency genes. Our findings
      are consistent with the existence of a conserved, complex and integrative genomic
      signature in ESCs that can be exploited to flag important candidate pluripotency
      genes. They also validate our computational framework for fostering a deeper
      understanding of genomic datasets in stem cells, in the future, could be extended
      to study cell-type-specific genomic landscapes in other cell types. REVIEWERS:
      This article was reviewed by Zoltan Gaspari and Piotr Zielenkiewicz.

PMID- 27639381
TI  - Regulation of antibody effector functions through IgG Fc N-glycosylation.
AB  - Immunoglobulin gamma (IgG) antibodies are key effector proteins of the immune
      system. They recognize antigens with high specificity and are indispensable for
      immunological memory following pathogen exposure or vaccination. The constant,
      crystallizable fragment (Fc) of IgG molecules mediates antibody effector
      functions such as complement-dependent cytotoxicity, antibody-mediated cellular
      cytotoxicity, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis. These functions
      are regulated by a single N-linked, biantennary glycan of the heavy chain, which
      resides just below the hinge region, and the presence of specific sugar moieties
      on the glycan has profound implications on IgG effector functions. Emerging
      knowledge of how Fc glycans contribute to IgG structure and functions has opened
      new avenues for the therapeutic exploitation of defined antibody glycoforms in
      the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. Here, we review recent advances
      in understanding proinflammatory IgG effector functions and their regulation by
      Fc glycans.

PMID- 27639382
TI  - Association between XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      risk: evidence from a large-scale case-control study and a meta-analysis.
AB  - The X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) Thr241Met polymorphism
      (rs861539, C > T) has drawn wide attentions as its association with cancer risk
      and its involvement in DNA repair. Several studies have attempted to link
      rs861539 to nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) risk; however, the sample sizes of these
      studies are small and the results are controversial. To investigate the
      relationship of rs861539 and NPC susceptibility, we conducted a large-scale case
      control study involving 4001 NPC cases and 2967 controls of southern Chinese.
      Logistic regression analysis revealed significant association for rs861539 and
      NPC risk under the recessive model (TT vs. CT + CC) with adjustment of age and
      gender (odds ratio, OR = 2.72; 95 % CI 1.10-6.72; P = 0.03). Further, meta
      analysis involving 4457 NPC cases and 4132 controls from four studies showed
      consistent association of TT carriers and NPC risk (OR = 3.12; 95 % CI 1.58-6.13;
      P = 0.001). Taken together, our findings based on large-scale sample size
      suggested rs861539 at XRCC3 to be associated with NPC risk through recessive
      model.

PMID- 27639383
TI  - Addition of the p110alpha inhibitor BYL719 overcomes targeted therapy resistance
      in cells from Her2-positive-PTEN-loss breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for women worldwide. Among
      various subtypes of breast cancer, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
      (HER2)-positive and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) loss breast cancer is a
      cause of great concern in terms of its resistance to HER2-targeted therapies and
      its poor prognosis. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT hyperphosphorylation
      is considered one of key mechanisms leading to this resistance, thus combination
      therapy of PI3K inhibitors and HER2 antibodies is promising for overcoming this
      problem, and more specific regimens should be designed in this age of precision
      medicine. In this study, we established an HER2-positive and PTEN loss cell line
      and confirmed it by western blot analysis. This cell line and its orthotopic
      xenograft models were exposed to p110alpha-specific inhibitor BYL719, p110beta
      specific inhibitor AZD6482, or pan-PI3K inhibitor BKM120, respectively, and the
      results showed sensitivity to both BYL719 and BKM120 but not AZD6482, which
      indicated a p110alpha-reliance for HER2-positive-PTEN-loss breast cancer. Then,
      the addition of BYL719 to HER2 antibody greatly reduced tumor growth both in
      vitro and in vivo, accompanied by inhibited PI3K effector phosphorylation.
      Therefore, our findings suggest that the combination of p110alpha-selective
      inhibitor BYL719 with HER2 antibody could be a potential strategy for more
      personalized treatment of HER2-posistive-PTEN-loss breast cancer; and in
      addition, the optimal schedule of this combination therapy needs to be further
      explored.

PMID- 27639384
TI  - Antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of a specific anti-insulin-like growth
      factor I receptor single chain antibody on breast cancer cells.
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) is expressed on breast cancer
      cells and involves in metastasis, survival, and proliferation. Currently,
      application of IGF-IR-targeting monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), alone or in
      combination with other drugs, is a promising strategy for breast cancer therapy.
      Single-chain fragment variable (scFv) antibodies have been introduced as
      appropriate tools for tumor-targeting purposes because of their advantages over
      whole antibodies. In the present study, we employed a naive phage library and
      isolated scFvs against a specific epitope from extracellular domain of IGF-IR by
      panning process. The selected scFvs were further characterized using polyclonal
      and monoclonal phage ELISA, soluble monoclonal ELISA, and colony PCR and
      sequencing. Antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of selected scFv antibodies
      on breast cancer cell lines were also evaluated by MTT and Annexin V/PI assays.
      The results of ELISA indicated specific reactions of the isolated scFvs against
      the IGF-IR peptide, and analyses of PCR product and sequencing confirmed the
      presence of full length VH and Vkappa inserts. Treatment of MCF7 and SKBR3 cells
      with anti-IGF-IR scFv led to a significant growth inhibition. The results also
      showed that scFv treatment significantly augmented trastuzumab growth inhibitory
      effects on SKBR3 cells. The percentage of the apoptotic MCF7 and SKBR3 cells
      after 24-h treatment with scFv was 39 and 30.70 %, respectively. Twenty-four-hour
      treatment with scFv in combination with trastuzumab resulted in 44.75 % apoptosis
      of SKBR3 cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the targeting of IGF
      IR by scFv can be an effective strategy in the treatment of breast cancer and
      provide further evidence for effectiveness of dual targeting of HER2 and IGF-IR
      in breast cancer therapy.

PMID- 27639385
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of human retinoblastoma.
AB  - Retinoblastoma is a rare type of eye cancer of the retina that commonly occurs in
      early childhood and mostly affects the children before the age of 5. It occurs
      due to the mutations in the retinoblastoma gene (RB1) which inactivates both
      alleles of the RB1. RB1 was first identified as a tumor suppressor gene, which
      regulates cell cycle components and associated with retinoblastoma. Previously,
      genetic alteration was known as the major cause of its occurrence, but later, it
      is revealed that besides genetic changes, epigenetic changes also play a
      significant role in the disease. Initiation and progression of retinoblastoma
      could be due to independent or combined genetic and epigenetic events. Remarkable
      work has been done in understanding retinoblastoma pathogenesis in terms of
      genetic alterations, but not much in the context of epigenetic modification.
      Epigenetic modifications that silence tumor suppressor genes and activate
      oncogenes include DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling, histone modification and
      noncoding RNA-mediated gene silencing. Epigenetic changes can lead to altered
      gene function and transform normal cell into tumor cells. This review focuses on
      important epigenetic alteration which occurs in retinoblastoma and its current
      state of knowledge. The critical role of epigenetic regulation in retinoblastoma
      is now an emerging area, and better understanding of epigenetic changes in
      retinoblastoma will open the door for future therapy and diagnosis.

PMID- 27639386
TI  - Postoperative radiation therapy of pT2-3N0M0 esophageal carcinoma-a review.
AB  - Esophageal cancer is one of the most malignant gastrointestinal cancers
      worldwide. Despite advances in surgical technique, 5-year survival in pathologic
      stage T2-3N0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients who are treated with
      surgery alone is still poor. The addition of adjuvant radiotherapy may confer a
      benefit for these patients. However, not all patients could get a benefit from
      radiotherapy and patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma receiving
      radiotherapy seem to have a disparity in treatment response. Thus, identifying
      effective prognostic indicator to complement current clinical staging approaches
      is extremely important. Those prognostic factors could give rise to a novel
      prognostic stratification system, which serve as criteria for selecting patients
      for adjuvant therapy. Consequently, it may help to define the subgroups who are
      more likely to benefit from postoperative radiation therapy.

PMID- 27639387
TI  - A double-blind placebo controlled study of acotiamide hydrochloride for efficacy
      on gastrointestinal motility of patients with functional dyspepsia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acotiamide is widely used to improve symptoms in patients with
      functional dyspepsia (FD) in multiple large-scale clinical studies, but there are
      few reports about the drug's mechanism of action. The aim of this study was to
      assess the effects of acotiamide on gastric accommodation and gastric emptying,
      gastrointestinal symptoms, and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in a
      placebo-controlled study. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind
      placebo-controlled study. Fifty Japanese FD patients were randomly assigned to
      either placebo (n = 25) or acotiamide 100 mg * 3/day for 2 weeks (n = 25). At
      baseline and at 2 weeks of treatment, we evaluated the patients' gastric motility
      using scintigraphy to determine the accommodation and emptying values,
      gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS), HR-QOL (SF-8), and anxiety and
      depression scale (HADS). RESULTS: Four patients failed to complete the medication
      regimen and were omitted from analysis; data from 24 placebo patients and 22
      acotiamide patients were analyzed. Acotiamide significantly increased gastric
      accommodation compared to the placebo (p = 0.04 vs. p = 0.08; respectively).
      Acotiamide significantly accelerated gastric emptying (50 % half-emptying time)
      (p = 0.02 vs. p = 0.59). Acotiamide significantly improved the total GSRS scores
      compared to placebo (p = 0.0007 vs. p = 0.14). HR-QOL did not differ
      significantly between the two groups, but acotiamide significantly improved the
      HADS anxiety score compared to placebo (p = 0.04 vs. p = 0.20). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      placebo-controlled study demonstrated that acotiamide significantly increased
      both gastric accommodation and gastric emptying in Japanese FD patients.
      Acotiamide also improved the patients' dyspeptic symptoms and anxiety score.
      Clinical Trials Registry no: UMIN000013544.

PMID- 27639388
TI  - Ex vivo quantitative multiparametric MRI mapping of human meniscus degeneration.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of T1, T1rho, T2, T2*, and UTE
      T2* (ultrashort-echo time-enhanced T2*) mapping in the refined graduation of
      human meniscus degeneration with histology serving as standard-of-reference.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This IRB-approved intra-individual comparative ex vivo
      study was performed on 24 lateral meniscus body samples obtained from 24 patients
      undergoing total knee replacement. Samples were assessed on a 3.0-T MRI scanner
      using inversion-recovery (T1), spin-lock multi-gradient-echo (T1rho), multi-spin
      echo (T2) and multi-gradient-echo (T2* and UTE-T2*) sequences to determine
      relaxation times of quantitative MRI (qMRI) parameters. Relaxation times were
      calculated on the respective maps, averaged to the entire meniscus and to its
      zones. Histologically, samples were analyzed on a four-point score according to
      Williams (0-III). QMRI results and Williams (sub)scores were correlated using
      Spearman's rho, while Williams grade-dependent differences were assessed using
      Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's tests. Sensitivities and specificities in the detection
      of intact (Williams grade [WG]-0) and severely degenerate meniscus (WG-II-III)
      were calculated. RESULTS: Except for T2*, significant increases in qMRI
      parameters with increasing Williams grades were observed. T1, T1rho, T2, and UTE
      T2* exhibited high sensitivity and variable specificity rates. Significant marked
      to-strong correlations were observed for these parameters with each other, with
      histological WGs and the subscores tissue integrity and cellularity. CONCLUSIONS:
      QMRI mapping holds promise in the objective evaluation of human meniscus.
      Although sufficient discriminatory power of T1, T1rho, T2, and UTE-T2* was only
      demonstrated for the histological extremes, these data may aid in the future MRI
      based parameterization and quantification of human meniscus degeneration.

PMID- 27639390
TI  - Tobacco Use by Middle and High School Chinese Adolescents and their Friends.
AB  - Understanding the similarity of the tobacco use of youth and their friends and
      unraveling the extent to which this similarity results from selection or
      socialization is central to peer influence models of tobacco use. The similarity
      between the tobacco use of Chinese adolescents and their friends were explored in
      middle (880, 13.3 years, 399 girls) and high school (849, 16.6 years, 454 girls)
      cohorts assessed yearly at three times. Boys were more similar to their friends
      in tobacco use than were girls. Growth curve models revealed escalation of use
      during middle school and stable use during high school for boys, whereas models
      for girls could not be computed. Evidence of selection effects emerged from cross
      lagged panel analyses revealing pathways from boys' tobacco use to subsequent
      changes in their friends' use; assessment of selection and influence processes
      could not be assessed for girls. The results from this study suggest that peer
      influence processes may differ for Chinese boys and girls and that further
      quantitative and qualitative research is necessary to understand these processes.

PMID- 27639389
TI  - Blood group antigen expression is involved in C. albicans interaction with buccal
      epithelial cells.
AB  - Human blood group polymorphisms are known to be determined by the expression of
      A, B or H antigens and the Lewis antigens. Protection against microbial
      infections has been associated with inheritance of polymorphisms in genes
      encoding and regulating the expression of ABH and Lewis antigens in bodily
      secretions and epithelial tissue surfaces, subsequently resulting in the
      presentation of different glycosylated terminal antigens on the cell surface. We
      investigated the role of blood group antigens in diversifying the glycosylation
      of buccal epithelial cells (BEC) that line the oral cavity. Specifically, we
      characterized and statistically evaluated the expression of histo-blood group (A,
      B, O) antigens on N-and O-linked glycans from BEC membrane proteins of various
      individuals that represented different blood group type and secretor status using
      a porous graphitic carbon liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass
      spectrometry (PGC-LC-ESI-MS) based glycomics approach. From these BEC membrane
      proteins a total of 77 N-glycan and 96 O-glycan structures were structurally
      characterized from 19 individuals and relatively quantitated. The N-glycans from
      the secretor individuals did not express any A/B blood group determinants, but
      contained several terminal H-antigens. Apart from the non-secretors, the N-glycan
      profiles of BEC from all blood groups displayed similar glycan types, while
      varying in their relative intensities between individuals. However, multivariate
      analysis of the O-glycans from individuals displayed segregation patterns clearly
      associated with their blood group type and secretor status. In adhesion assays
      the oral pathogen Candida albicans showed a significantly higher interaction to
      blood group O type BECs relative to other blood groups.

PMID- 27639391
TI  - Association of Nutritional Parameters with Clinical Outcomes in Patients with
      Acute Myeloid Leukemia Undergoing Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients undergoing allogeneic
      haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), there is uncertainty about the
      extent of influence nutritional parameters have on clinical outcomes. In this
      study, we investigated the association between initial body mass index (BMI) and
      weight loss during HSCT on clinical outcomes in a well-characterised cohort of
      AML patients. METHODS: We analysed data of the Basel stem-cell transplantation
      registry ('KMT Kohorte') including all patients with AML undergoing first
      allogeneic HSCT from January 2003 to January 2014. We used multivariable
      regression models adjusted for prognostic indicators (European Group for Blood
      and Marrow Transplantation risk score and cytogenetics). RESULTS: Mortality in
      the 156 AML patients (46% female, mean age 46 years) over the 10 years of follow
      up was 57%. Compared to patients with a baseline BMI (kg/m2) of 20-25, a low BMI
      <20 was associated with higher long-term mortality (70 vs. 49%, adjusted hazard
      ratio 1.97, 95% CI 1.04-3.71, p = 0.036). A more pronounced weight loss during
      HSCT (>7 vs. <2%) was associated with higher risk for bacterial infections (52
      vs. 28%, OR 2.8, 95% CI 0.96-8.18, p = 0.059) and fungal infections (48 vs. 23%,
      OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.11-10.19, p = 0.032), and longer hospital stays (64 vs. 38
      days, adjusted mean difference 25.6 days (15.7-35.5), p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In
      patients with AML, low initial BMI and more pronounced weight loss during HSCT
      are strong prognostic indicators associated with lower survival and worse disease
      outcomes. Intervention research is needed to investigate whether nutritional
      therapy can reverse these associations.

PMID- 27639392
TI  - Enhancement of Exochitinase Production by Bacillus licheniformis AT6 Strain and
      Improvement of N-Acetylglucosamine Production.
AB  - A strain producing chitinase, isolated from potato stem tissue, was identified as
      Bacillus licheniformis by biochemical properties and 16S RNA sequence analysis.
      Statistical experimental designs were used to optimize nine independent variables
      for chitinase production by B. licheniformis AT6 strain in submerged
      fermentation. Using Plackett-Burman design, (NH4)2SO4, MgSO4.7H2O, colloidal
      chitin, MnCl2 2H2O, and temperature were found to influence chitinase production
      significantly. According to Box-Behnken response surface methodology, the optimal
      fermentation conditions allowing maximum chitinase production were (in gram per
      liter): (NH4)2SO4, 7; K2HPO4, 1; NaCl, 1; MgSO4.7H2O, 0.1; yeast extract, 0.5;
      colloidal chitin, 7.5; MnCl2.2H2O, 0.2; temperature 35  degrees C; pH medium 7.
      The optimization strategy led to a 10-fold increase in chitinase activity (505.26
      +/- 22.223 mU/mL versus 50.35 +/- 19.62 mU/mL for control basal medium). A major
      protein band with a molecular weight of 61.9 kDa corresponding to chitinase
      activity was clearly detected under optimized conditions. Chitinase activity
      produced in optimized medium mainly releases N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc)
      monomer from colloidal chitin. This enzyme also acts as an exochitinase with beta
      N-acetylglucosaminidase. These results suggest that B. licheniformis AT6
      secreting exochitinase is highly efficient in GlcNAc production which could in
      turn be envisaged as a therapeutic agent or as a conservator against the
      alteration of several ailments.

PMID- 27639393
TI  - A Novel Heptapeptide with Tyrosinase Inhibitory Activity Identified from a Phage
      Display Library.
AB  - Peptidic inhibition of the enzyme tyrosinase, responsible for skin pigmentation
      and food browning, would be extremely useful for the food, cosmetics, and
      pharmaceutical industries. In order to identify novel inhibitory peptides, a
      library of short sequence oligopeptides was screened to reveal direct interaction
      with the tyrosinase. A phage displaying heptapeptide (IQSPHFF) was found to bind
      most strongly to tyrosinase. The inhibitory activity of the heptapeptide was
      evaluated using mushroom tyrosinase. The results showed that the peptide
      inhibited both the monophenolase and diphenolase activities of mushroom
      tyrosinase with IC50 values of 1.7 and 4.0 mM, respectively. The heptapeptide is
      thought to be a reversible competitive inhibitor of diphenolase with the
      inhibition constants (Ki) of 0.765 mM. To further investigate how the
      heptapeptide exerts its inhibitory effect, a docking study between tyrosinase and
      heptapeptide was performed. The simulation showed that the heptapeptide binds in
      the active site of the enzyme near the catalytically active Cu ions and forms
      hydrogen bonds with five histidine residues on the active site. Phage display
      technology is thus a useful approach for the screening of potential tyrosinase
      inhibitors and could be widely applicable to a much wider range of enzymes.

PMID- 27639394
TI  - Smells Like Home: Chemically Mediated Co-Habitation of Two Termite Species in a
      Single Nest.
AB  - Termite nests often are referred to as the most elaborate constructions of
      animals. However, some termite species do not build a nest at all and instead
      found colonies inside the nests of other termites. Since these so-called
      inquilines do not need to be in direct contact with the host population, the two
      colonies usually live in separate parts of the nest. Adaptations of both the
      inquiline and its host are likely to occur to maintain the spatial exclusion and
      reduce the costs of potential conflicts. Among them, mutual avoidance, based on
      chemical cues, is expected. We investigated chemical aspects of cohabitation
      between Constrictotermes cavifrons (Nasutitermitinae) and its obligatory
      inquiline Inquilinitermes inquilinus (Termitinae). Inquiline soldiers produce in
      their frontal glands a blend of wax esters, consisting of the C12 alcohols (3Z)
      dodec enol, (3Z,6Z)-dodecadienol, and dodecanol, esterified with different fatty
      acids. The C12 alcohols appear to be cleaved gradually from the wax esters, and
      they occur in the frontal gland, in soldier headspace, and in the walls of the
      inquiline part of the nest. Electrophysiological experiments revealed that (3Z)
      dodecenol and (3Z,6Z)-dodecadienol are perceived by workers of both species.
      Bioassays indicated that inquiline soldier heads, as well as the two synthetic
      compounds, are attractive to conspecific workers and elicit an arresting
      behavior, while host soldiers and workers avoid these chemicals at biologically
      relevant amounts. These observations support the hypothesis that chemically
      mediated spatial separation of the host and the inquiline is an element of a
      conflict-avoidance strategy in these species.

PMID- 27639395
TI  - Sensorimotor Intervention Recovers Noradrenaline Content in the Dentate Gyrus of
      Cortical Injured Rats.
AB  - Nowadays, a consensus has been reached that designates the functional and
      structural reorganization of synapses as the primary mechanisms underlying the
      process of recovery from brain injury. We have reported that pontine
      noradrenaline (NA) is increased in animals after cortical ablation (CA). The aim
      of the present study was to explore the noradrenergic and morphological response
      after sensorimotor intervention (SMI) in rats injured in the motor cortex. We
      used male Wistar adult rats allocated in four conditions: sham-operated, injured
      by cortical ablation, sham-operated with SMI and injured by cortical ablation
      with SMI. Motor and somatosensory performance was evaluated prior to and 20 days
      after surgery. During the intervening period, a 15-session, SMI program was
      implemented. Subsequently, total NA analysis in the pons and dentate gyrus (DG)
      was performed. All groups underwent histological analysis. Our results showed
      that NA content in the DG was reduced in the injured group versus control, and
      this reduction was reverted in the injured group that underwent SMI. Moreover,
      injured rats showed reduction in the number of granule cells in the DG and
      decreased dentate granule cell layer thickness. Notably, after SMI, the loss of
      granule cells was reverted. Locus coeruleus showed turgid cells in the injured
      rats. These results suggest that SMI elicits biochemical and structural
      modifications in the hippocampus that could reorganize the system and lead the
      recovery process, modulating structural and functional plasticity.

PMID- 27639397
TI  - Erratum to: Immunohistochemical techniques for the human inner ear.

PMID- 27639396
TI  - Role of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Oligodendrocyte Differentiation.
AB  - During development, the secreted molecule Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is required for
      lineage specification and proliferation of oligodendrocyte progenitors (OLPs),
      which are the glia cells responsible for the myelination of axons in the central
      nervous system (CNS). Shh signaling has been implicated in controlling both the
      generation of oligodendrocytes (OLGs) during embryonic development and their
      production in adulthood. Although, some evidence points to a role of Shh
      signaling in OLG development, its involvement in OLG differentiation remains to
      be fully determined. The objective of this study was to assess whether Shh
      signaling is involved in OLG differentiation after neural stem cell commitment to
      the OLG lineage. To address these questions, we manipulated Shh signaling using
      cyclopamine, a potent inhibitor of Shh signaling activator Smoothened (Smo),
      alone or combined with the agonist SAG in OLG primary cultures and assessed
      expression of myelin-specific markers. We found that inactivation of Shh
      signaling caused a dose-dependent decrease in myelin basic protein (MBP) and
      myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) in differentiating OLGs. Co-treatment of the
      cells with SAG reversed the inhibitory effect of cyclopamine on both myelin
      specific protein levels and morphological changes associated with it. Further
      experiments are required to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which Shh
      signaling regulates OLG differentiation.

PMID- 27639398
TI  - The Cancer Research Network: a platform for epidemiologic and health services
      research on cancer prevention, care, and outcomes in large, stable populations.
AB  - PURPOSE: The ability to collect data on patients for long periods prior to,
      during, and after a cancer diagnosis is critical for studies of cancer etiology,
      prevention, treatment, outcomes, and costs. We describe such data capacities
      within the Cancer Research Network (CRN), a cooperative agreement between the
      National Cancer Institute (NCI) and organized health care systems across the
      United States. METHODS: Data were extracted from each CRN site's virtual data
      warehouse using a centrally written and locally executed program. We computed the
      percent of patients continuously enrolled >=1, >=5, and >=10 years before cancer
      diagnosis in 2012-2015 (year varied by CRN site). To describe retention after
      diagnosis, we computed the cumulative percentages enrolled, deceased, and
      disenrolled each year after the diagnosis for patients diagnosed in 2000.
      RESULTS: Approximately 8 million people were enrolled in ten CRN health plans on
      December 31, 2014 or 2015 (year varied by CRN site). Among more than 30,000
      recent cancer diagnoses, 70 % were enrolled for >=5 years and 56 % for >=10 years
      before diagnosis. Among 25,274 cancers diagnosed in 2000, 28 % were still
      enrolled in 2010, 45 % had died, and 27 % had disenrolled from CRN health
      systems. CONCLUSIONS: Health plan enrollment before cancer diagnosis was
      generally long in the CRN, and the proportion of patients lost to follow-up after
      diagnosis was low. With long enrollment histories among cancer patients pre
      diagnosis and low post-diagnosis disenrollment, the CRN provides an excellent
      platform for epidemiologic and health services research on cancer incidence,
      outcomes, and costs.

PMID- 27639399
TI  - Noninvasive pulmonary artery pressure monitoring by EIT: a model-based
      feasibility study.
AB  - Current monitoring modalities for patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) are
      limited to invasive solutions. A novel approach for the noninvasive and
      unsupervised monitoring of pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) in patients with PH
      was proposed and investigated. The approach was based on the use of electrical
      impedance tomography (EIT), a noninvasive and safe monitoring technique, and was
      tested through simulations on a realistic 4D bio-impedance model of the human
      thorax. Changes in PAP were induced in the model by simulating multiple types of
      hypertensive conditions. A timing parameter physiologically linked to the PAP via
      the so-called pulse wave velocity principle was automatically estimated from the
      EIT data. It was found that changes in PAP could indeed be reliably monitored by
      EIT, irrespective of the pathophysiological condition that caused them. If
      confirmed clinically, these findings could open the way for a new generation of
      noninvasive PAP monitoring solutions for the follow-up of patients with PH.

PMID- 27639400
TI  - Posture interacts with arm weight support to modulate corticomotor excitability
      to the upper limb.
AB  - The use of arm weight support (WS) to optimize movement quality may be an avenue
      for improved upper limb stroke rehabilitation; however, the underlying
      neurophysiological effects of WS are not well understood. Rehabilitation
      exercises may be performed when sitting or standing, but the interaction of
      posture with WS has not been examined until now. We explored the effect of
      posture with WS on corticomotor excitability (CME) in healthy adults. Thirteen
      participants performed static shoulder abduction in two postures (sitting and
      standing) at three levels of WS (0, 45, and 90 % of full support). Transcranial
      magnetic stimulation of primary motor cortex was used to elicit motor-evoked
      potentials (MEPs) in eight upper limb muscles. Stimulus-response (SR) curves were
      fitted to the MEP data using nonlinear regression. Whole-body posture interacted
      with WS to influence tonic activity and CME in all muscles examined. SR curve
      parameters revealed greater CME when standing compared to sitting for upper arm
      muscles, but lower CME to the shoulder, forearm, and hand. Distal to the
      shoulder, tonic activity and CME were modulated independent of any explicit
      differences in task requirements. Overall, these results support a model of
      integrated upper limb control influenced by whole-body posture and WS. These
      findings have implications for the application of WS in settings such as upper
      limb rehabilitation after stroke.

PMID- 27639402
TI  - Adipokines and bone metabolism: an interplay to untangle.

PMID- 27639401
TI  - Who has the worst attitudes toward sexual minorities? Comparison of transphobia
      and homophobia levels in gender dysphoric individuals, the general population and
      health care providers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To date, few studies have addressed attitudes toward transgender
      individuals. In addition, little is known about health care providers' (HCP)
      attitudes toward sexual minorities. The aim of the present study is to compare
      attitudes toward homosexual and transgender individuals between gender dysphoric
      individuals (GDs), general population controls (C) and HCP. METHODS: A total of
      310 subjects were considered, including 122 GDs (63 transwomen and 59 transmen),
      53 heterosexual HCP (26 males and 27 females) and 135 C. Participants completed
      the Modern Homophobia Scale (MHS) and the Attitudes Toward Transgendered
      Individuals Scale (ATTI) in order to assess attitudes toward gay men and lesbian
      women and toward transgender individuals, respectively. In addition, GDs
      completed the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire (GIDYQ-AA) and ATTI
      to measure, respectively, gender dysphoria levels and internalized transphobia.
      Religious attitudes were evaluated by means of the Religious Fundamentalism Scale
      (RFS), and Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC-12) was used to measure
      perceived discrimination. RESULTS: (1) Men showed significantly higher levels of
      homophobia and transphobia when compared to women (p < 0.001); (2) perceived
      discrimination was higher in lesbian women compared to gay men and in transwomen
      compared to transmen (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively); and (3) religious
      fundamentalism was associated with both homophobia and transphobia (both p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results underline the need to promote awareness and
      acceptance of the sexual minorities, who are more at risk of discriminatory
      attitudes, which are strongly dependent on religious precepts and dogma.

PMID- 27639406
TI  - 'Six Memos' for Lymph Node Fine-Needle Cytology and Flow Cytometry.

PMID- 27639403
TI  - Effects of high-intensity interval training on physical capacities and substrate
      oxidation rate in obese adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of a 3-week weight-management program
      entailing moderate energy restriction, nutritional education, psychological
      counseling and three different exercise training (a: low intensity, LI: 40 %
      V'O2max; b: high intensity, HI: 70 % V'O2max; c: high-intensity interval
      training, HIIT), on body composition, energy expenditure and fat oxidation rate
      in obese adolescents. METHODS: Thirty obese adolescents (age: 15-17 years, BMI:
      37.5 kg m-2) participated in this study. Before starting (week 0, W0) and at the
      end of the weight-management program (week 3, W3), body composition was assessed
      by an impedancemeter; basal metabolic rate (BMR), energy expenditure and
      substrate oxidation rate were measured during exercise and post-exercise recovery
      by indirect calorimetry. RESULTS: At W3, body mass (BM) and fat mass (FM)
      decreased significantly in all groups, the decreases being significantly greater
      in the LI than in the HI and HIIT subgroups (BM: -8.4 +/- 1.5 vs -6.3 +/- 1.9 vs 
      4.9 +/- 1.3 kg and FM: -4.2 +/- 1.9 vs -2.8 +/- 1.2 vs -2.3 +/- 1.4 kg, p < 0.05,
      respectively). V'O2peak, expressed in relative values, changed significantly only
      in the HI and HIIT groups by 0.009 +/- 0.005 and 0.007 +/- 0.004 L kg FFM-1 min-1
      (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the HI and HIIT subgroups exhibited a greater absolute
      rate of fat oxidation between 50 and 70 % V'O2peak at W3. No significant changes
      were observed at W3 in BMR, energy expenditure during exercise and post-exercise
      recovery. CONCLUSION: A 3-week weight-management program induced a greater
      decrease in BM and FM in the LI than in the HI and HIIT subgroups, and greater
      increase in V'O2peak and fat oxidation rate in the HI and HIIT than in the LI
      subgroup.

PMID- 27639405
TI  - Predictors of self-reported knee instability among patients with knee
      osteoarthritis: results of the Amsterdam osteoarthritis cohort.
AB  - The aims of the study were to (i) determine the prevalence and course of self
      reported knee instability at 2-year follow-up and (ii) identify factors
      predictive of retention of self-reported knee instability among patients with
      established knee osteoarthritis (OA). Among 201 patients from the Amsterdam
      Osteoarthritis (AMS-OA) cohort, demographic characteristics, self-reported knee
      instability, muscle strength, proprioception, pain, and physical function were
      assessed at baseline and at 2 years. Exercise over the past 2 years was assessed
      by evaluating the medical files. The course of self-reported knee instability was
      determined in patients reporting instability at baseline. Baseline predictors of
      self-reported knee instability were determined by uni- and multivariable logistic
      regression analyses. At baseline, 123 (61 %) patients reported knee instability,
      and of these, 85 (64 %) patients reported instability 2 years later, while 38 (29
      %) reported no instability 2 years later. Poor proprioception and high pain
      assessed at baseline predicted retention of self-reported knee instability at 2
      years among patients with self-reported instability at baseline. Knee instability
      is highly prevalent among patients with knee osteoarthritis. In patients with
      self-reported knee instability, the majority retained instability over 2 years.
      Poor proprioception and high pain predicted retention of self-reported knee
      instability over time.

PMID- 27639404
TI  - Partner-Level Factors Associated with Insertive and Receptive Condomless Anal
      Intercourse Among Transgender Women in Lima, Peru.
AB  - Condomless anal intercourse among transgender women (TW) in Peru has been shown
      to vary by the type of partner involved (e.g. primary vs. casual vs.
      transactional sex partner), but no previous studies have explored variations in
      partner-level patterns of condom use according to type of anal intercourse. We
      evaluated the relationship between partnership characteristics and condom use
      during insertive (IAI) versus receptive anal intercourse (RAI) among TW with
      recent, non-female partners. Condomless IAI was more common with transactional
      and casual sex partners and by TW who self-reported HIV-uninfected serostatus (p
      < 0.05), alcohol use disorders, or substance use before sex. Condomless RAI was
      more common with primary partners and by TW who described their HIV serostatus as
      unknown (p < 0.05). Examining partner-level differences between condomless IAI
      and RAI reveals distinct patterns of HIV/STI risk among TW, suggesting a need for
      HIV prevention strategies tailored to the specific contexts of partners,
      practices, and networks.

PMID- 27639407
TI  - Consensus Document of the Spanish Society of Cardiology and the Spanish Society
      of Internal Medicine on the diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency in heart
      failure.
AB  - Iron deficiency in patients with heart failure is a medical problem of recent
      particular interest. This interest has resulted from the publication of several
      clinical trials that demonstrated that the administration of intravenous iron to
      such patients improved their functional capacity and even reduced the number of
      hospitalisations for heart failure decompensation. However, applying the evidence
      from these studies in clinical practice is still controversial, both in terms of
      the diagnostic criteria for iron deficiency (absolute and functional) and the
      optimal method for iron replenishment. This article is a consensus document that
      integrates the recommendations of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine and
      the Spanish Society of Cardiology. The article reviews the scientific evidence
      and proposes a diagnostic and therapeutic performance protocol for iron
      deficiency in heart failure.

PMID- 27639408
TI  - Coexisting with Sharks: A Response to Carter and Linnell.

PMID- 27639409
TI  - Giant Right Atrial Myxoma and Refractory Hypoxia: An Unexpected Combination.

PMID- 27639410
TI  - Launch of British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons book: Important
      oral and maxillofacial presentations for the primary care clinician-educating and
      promoting our specialty to general practitioners across the UK.

PMID- 27639411
TI  - Minimally-invasive neck dissection and free flap reconstruction in patients with
      cancer of the head and neck.
AB  - We describe our experience of cervical lymphadenectomy with microvascular
      anastomoses involving levels I to V through a minimally-invasive neck dissection.
      We retrospectively studied 12 patients who had levels I to IV neck dissection
      with free flap reconstruction between July 2013 and April 2015 at Poole Hospital
      (male:female ratio 8:4, mean (range) age 66 (49 - 83) years). The mean (range)
      operating time was 7 (5 - 8) hours, and the total volume drained from the neck
      was 105 (60-300) ml. The mean (range) number of harvested lymph nodes was 26 (13
      39) from levels I to III, and 33 (20-42) from levels I to IV. Four patients
      developed weakness of the marginal mandibular nerve, but there were no serious
      complications. All flaps were successful, there was no regional recurrence, and
      most patients were discharged on postoperative day 15. This technique provides
      adequate exposure for lymphadenectomy and anastomosis, and we think that head and
      neck surgeons should include it in the armamentarium of reconstruction.

PMID- 27639412
TI  - [Psychosocial problems in emergency health care].

PMID- 27639413
TI  - Evaluation of primary health care by users and non-users of drugs hospitalized
      for primary care-sensitive conditions.

PMID- 27639414
TI  - [Comprehensive assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary
      care. Quality of life and mortality associated comorbidity].

PMID- 27639415
TI  - Brazilian Tabernaemontana genus: Indole alkaloids and phytochemical activities.
AB  - The Tabernaemontana genus belongs to the family Apocynaceae comprising about 100
      species spread throughout tropical and subtropical regions around the world
      including Brazil, which contains around 40 species spread all over its territory.
      Because of the territorial space and climate diversity, these species already
      identified in Brazil are the largest collection of Tabernaemontana, which are
      representative (about 30%) of worldwide distribution. The monoterpene indole
      alkaloids present as major secondary components in all parts of the plants of the
      genus Tabernaemontana, have attracted the attention of the scientific community
      for new alkaloids derivatives and bioactivities. This review covers relevant
      references about Tabernaemontana species found in Brazil, its geographical
      distribution, occurrence of monoterpene alkaloids and phytochemical activities.
      Additional information about the South American species activities are also
      reported in this review.

PMID- 27639416
TI  - When should resuscitation at birth cease?
AB  - It is rare for newborn infants to require prolonged resuscitation at birth. While
      there are detailed national and international guidelines on when and how to
      provide resuscitation to newborns, there is little existing guidance on when
      newborn resuscitation should be stopped. In this paper we review current guidance
      surrounding adult, paediatric and neonatal resuscitation as well as recent
      evidence of outcome for newborn infants requiring prolonged resuscitation. We
      discuss the ethical principles that can potentially guide decisions surrounding
      resuscitation and post-resuscitation care. We also propose a structured approach
      to stopping resuscitation.

PMID- 27639417
TI  - The effectiveness of a community-based fundamental motor skill intervention in
      children aged 3-8 years: Results of the "Multimove for Kids" project.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a 30
      week fundamental motor skill program in typically developing young children and
      to investigate possible sex differences. DESIGN: A multicenter quasi experimental
      design was set up for this study which involved 992 children aged 3-8 years.
      METHODS: All participants received their typical Physical Education curriculum
      and habitual movement activities. The intervention group (n=523; 53.5% boys)
      received a weekly 60-min motor skill session provided by trained local
      instructors in existing child settings; the control group (n=469; 49.7% boys)
      received no additional practice. Fundamental motor skills were assessed using the
      Test of Gross Motor Development, 2nd Edition before and after the intervention.
      To assess the effect of the intervention and possible sex differences,
      hierarchical linear regressions analyses were conducted for locomotor and object
      control gain scores. RESULTS: The intervention group demonstrated a higher gain
      in both locomotor (beta=3.78, SE=1.08, p<0.001) and object control (beta=4.46,
      SE=1.06, p<0.001) skills than the control group. Girls demonstrated a lower gain
      in object control skills (beta=-3.50, SE=0.49, p<0.001) and higher gain in
      locomotor skills (beta=1.01, SE=0.44, p=0.022) than boys, regardless of group.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated the effectiveness of a wide-scale
      community-based intervention in typically developing children. The sex
      differences reported may indicate the need to use different pedagogical and
      instructional strategies to enable boys and girls to develop and master a wide
      range of motor skills.

PMID- 27639418
TI  - Saccadic eye movements as markers of schizophrenia spectrum: Exploration in at
      risk mental states.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disease with cognitive and motor
      impairments. Motor dysfunctions, such as eye movements or Neurological Soft Signs
      (NSS), are proposed as endophenotypic markers. Antisaccade (AS) and memory-guided
      saccades (MGS), two markers of inhibitory control mechanism, are altered in both
      patients with schizophrenia and their relatives, although these tools may have
      different sensitivities. Recently, emphasis has been put on identifying markers
      predictive of psychosis transition in subjects with ultra-high-risk psychosis in
      order to develop targeted prevention. This study investigates AS and MGS in 46
      patients with schizophrenia, 23 ultra-high-risk subjects, and 39 full siblings
      compared to 47 healthy volunteers. NSS were assessed as a marker of abnormal
      neurodevelopment. The results revealed more errors in MGS in patients, ultra-high
      risk subjects and siblings, than in controls, and more specifically ultra-high
      risk subjects with high NSS scores. By contrast, the error rate in AS was
      significantly higher only in patients with schizophrenia compared to controls.
      These findings suggest that MGS could be more accurate to detect deficient
      inhibitory processes as a marker of vulnerability before the onset of
      schizophrenia. The use of the different paradigms (AS, MGS) revealed distinct
      profiles depending on the stage of the disease, indicating that some alterations
      could be pure endophenotypic markers of vulnerability for schizophrenia, while
      others could be markers of the disease progression.

PMID- 27639419
TI  - The prognostic value of formal thought disorder following first episode
      psychosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Formal thought disorder (FTD) is associated with poor outcome in
      established psychotic illnesses and it can be assessed as a categorical or
      dimensional variable. However, its influence on functional outcome and
      hospitalisation patterns in early psychosis has not been investigated. We
      evaluated the relationship between FTD and these outcomes in a first episode
      psychosis (FEP) sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mixed diagnostic FEP cohort was
      recruited through an Early Intervention in Psychosis Service in Ireland.
      Participants were assessed at initial presentation and one year later with the
      MIRECC GAF to evaluate social and occupational functioning domains.
      Disorganisation (disFTD), verbosity (verFTD) and poverty (povFTD) dimensions of
      FTD were examined at both time points, as well as a unitary FTD construct.
      Analyses were controlled for demographic, clinical and treatment variables.
      RESULTS: DisFTD was the only FTD dimension associated with functional outcome,
      specifically social functioning, on multivariate analysis (beta=0.13, P<0.05).
      The unitary FTD construct was not associated with functional outcome. DisFTD at
      FEP presentation predicted a greater number of hospitalisations (adjusted
      beta=0.24, P<0.001) and prolonged inpatient admission (adjusted OR=1.08, 95% CI
      1.02-1.15, P<0.05) following FEP. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal and dimensional
      evaluation of FTD has a clinical utility that is distinct from a cross-sectional
      or unitary assessment. Dimensions of FTD may map onto different domains of
      functioning. These findings are supportive of some of the changes in DSM-V with
      an emphasis on longitudinal and dimensional appraisal of psychopathology.
      Communication disorders may be considered a potential target for intervention in
      psychotic disorders.

PMID- 27639420
TI  - Circumflex scapular vessels: A rescue strategy in case of internal mammary
      anastomosis failure.

PMID- 27639421
TI  - Nowadays a histological sub-typing of thin melanoma is demanded for a proper
      patient management.

PMID- 27639422
TI  - A five year experience of measuring clinical effectiveness in a breast
      reconstruction service using the BREAST-Q patient reported outcomes measure: A
      cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical effectiveness of breast reconstruction and the
      utility of the BREAST-Q patient-reported outcomes measure for routine patient
      care. METHODS: The BREAST-Q was administered to all patients attending a breast
      reconstructive service (n = 343) at a University Hospital at each visit. RESULTS:
      The BREAST-Q was easy to administer in a clinic setting, with a high
      participation rate (64.2% completing the minimum dataset of three BREAST-Qs). Pre
      operatively, women with invasive cancer scored lower than those with DCIS or high
      risk status (eg. mean psychosocial well-being scores 51.45 vs 63.74 vs 65.56, p <
      0.05). At six months post-mound reconstruction the mean values for immediate and
      delayed timing of reconstruction were similar, with the change in quality of life
      from pre-reconstruction to this time-point post-reconstruction being greater in
      the delayed group (eg. mean improvement in psychosocial well-being scores for
      immediate 8.90 vs delayed 19.87, p < 0.05). Women with autologous flaps had
      greater improvements than women with implant-based reconstruction (eg. mean
      increase in psychosocial well-being scores 20.29 vs 9.58, p < 0.05). Breast
      reconstruction was highly effective in terms of improving psychosocial (mean pre
      op 55.44 vs post-op 71.47, p < 0.001), physical (mean pre-op 69.82 vs post-op
      74.78, p < 0.001), and sexual well-being (mean pre-op 38.74 vs post-op 54.17, p <
      0.001), as well as satisfaction with breasts (mean pre-op 44.99 vs post-op 64.92,
      p < 0.001), in this non-selected cohort of patients. CONCLUSION: Breast
      reconstruction is highly effective in improving the well-being of women
      undergoing mastectomy. The BREAST-Q is well suited for clinical effectiveness
      research and easily incorporated into routine patient care.

PMID- 27639423
TI  - Body contouring surgery decreases long-term weight regain following laparoscopic
      adjustable gastric banding: A matched retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) surgery is the safest
      yet least effective method for massive weight loss. Thirty to 50 percent of
      patients undergoing LAGB will regain part of their lost weight. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the effect of body contouring plastic surgery (BCPS) following LAGB on
      long-term body mass index (BMI) control. SETTING: Department of Surgery A, Soroka
      University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel. METHODS: A retrospective cohort
      study of patients aged 18-50 years, who underwent LAGB surgery between 1997 and
      2007, was performed. Out of 2405 patients undergoing LAGB during those years, 861
      were excluded and 1544 were recruited by phone. The final group included 72
      patients matched for age and gender. Long-term weight regain was evaluated and
      compared between a group of patients who underwent subsequent body contouring
      plastic surgery (LBCPS) and a group of LAGB only (LAGBO). Groups were matched for
      age, gender, and pre-operative body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: LBCPS (n = 18) had
      lower endpoint BMI and BMI regain percentage compared with LAGBO (n = 54) (24.64
      +/- 3.76 vs. 31.0 +/- 7.2 kg/m2, p < 0.001; 13 +/- 14% vs. 34+/- 31%. p < 0.001,
      respectively). BCPS had an independent strong protective effect for endpoint BMI
      regain over 25% and BMI >=30 kg/m2 (HR = 0.19, p = 0.025; HR = 0.13, p = 0.046,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: When compared with patients who did not undergo BCPS
      following LAGB, patients who underwent BCPS following LAGB had improved long-term
      BMI control.

PMID- 27639424
TI  - Best Clinical Practice: Blood Culture Utility in the Emergency Department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacteremia affects 200,000 patients per year, with the potential for
      significant morbidity and mortality. Blood cultures are considered the most
      sensitive method for detecting bacteremia and are commonly obtained in patients
      with fever, chills, leukocytosis, focal infections, and sepsis. OBJECTIVE: We
      sought to provide emergency physicians with a review of the literature concerning
      blood cultures in the emergency department. DISCUSSION: The utility of blood
      cultures has been a focus of controversy, prompting research evaluating effects
      on patient management. Bacteremia is associated with increased mortality, and
      blood cultures are often obtained for suspected infection. False-positive blood
      cultures are associated with harm, including increased duration of stay and cost.
      This review suggests that blood cultures are not recommended for patients with
      cellulitis, simple pyelonephritis, and community-acquired pneumonia, because the
      chance of a false-positive culture is greater than the prevalence of true
      positive cultures. Blood cultures are recommended for patients with sepsis,
      meningitis, complicated pyelonephritis, endocarditis, and health care-associated
      pneumonia. Clinical prediction rules that predict true positive cultures may
      prove useful. The clinical picture should take precedence. If cultures are
      obtained, two bottles of >=7 mL should be obtained from separate peripheral
      sites. CONCLUSIONS: Blood cultures are commonly obtained but demonstrate low
      yield in cellulitis, simple pyelonephritis, and community-acquired pneumonia. The
      Shapiro decision rule for predicting true bacteremia does show promise, but
      clinical gestalt should take precedence. To maximize utility, blood cultures
      should be obtained before antibiotic therapy begins. At least two blood cultures
      should be obtained from separate peripheral sites.

PMID- 27639425
TI  - Sarcomeric lesions and remodeling proximal to intercalated disks in overload
      induced cardiac hypertrophy.
AB  - Pressure overload induces cardiac remodeling involving both the contractile
      machinery and intercalated disks (IDs). Filamin C (FlnC) and Xin actin-binding
      repeat-containing proteins (XIRPs) are multi-adapters localizing in IDs of higher
      vertebrates. Knockout of the gene encoding Xin (Xirp1) in mice leads to a mild
      cardiac phenotype with ID mislocalization. In order to amplify this phenotype, we
      performed transverse aortic constriction (TAC) on control and Xirp1-deficient
      mice. TAC induced similar left ventricular hypertrophy in both genotypes,
      suggesting that the lack of Xin does not lead to higher susceptibility to cardiac
      overload. However, in both genotypes, FlnC appeared in "streaming" localizations
      across multiple sarcomeres proximal to the IDs, suggesting a remodeling response.
      Furthermore, FlnC-positive areas of remodeling, reminiscent of sarcomeric lesions
      previously described for skeletal muscles (but so far unreported in the heart),
      were also observed. These adaptations reflect a similarly strong effect of the
      pressure induced by TAC in both genotypes. However, 2 weeks post-operation TAC
      treated knockout hearts had reduced levels of connexin43 and slightly increased
      incidents of ventricular tachycardia compared to their wild-type (WT)
      counterparts. Our findings highlight the FlnC-positive sarcomeric lesions and ID
      proximal streaming as general remodeling responses in cardiac overload-induced
      hypertrophy.

PMID- 27639426
TI  - Inhibition of autophagy by andrographolide resensitizes cisplatin-resistant non
      small cell lung carcinoma cells via activation of the Akt/mTOR pathway.
AB  - Resistance to cisplatin is a major obstacle for the success of non-small cell
      lung cancer therapy. The mechanisms underlying cisplatin resistance are not fully
      understood. In this study, we found that the increase of basal auotophagy
      accompanied the development of cisplatin resistance. Meanwhile the blockade of
      the Akt/mTOR pathway occurred in the process. Inhibition of this pathway was
      induced by cisplatin treatment in the resistant non-small cell lung carcinoma
      cells. Andrographolide, a natural diterpenoid, promoted the activation of the
      Akt/mTOR signaling by downregulating PTEN and suppressed autophagy, which
      subsequently resensitized the resistant cells to cisplatin-mediated apoptosis.
      Cisplatin treatment in combination with andrographolide significantly prevented
      the growth of the resistant cells in vivo. These results highlight the
      involvement of autophagy in cisplatin-resistance development and suggest that
      inhibition of autophagy via tuning the Akt/mTOR signaling could be a promising
      strategy in the therapy for cisplatin-resistant non-small cell lung cancer.

PMID- 27639427
TI  - Propagation of damage in the rat brain following sarin exposure: Differential
      progression of early processes.
AB  - Sarin is an irreversible organophosphate cholinesterase inhibitor and a highly
      toxic warfare agent. Following the overt, dose-dependent signs (e.g. tremor,
      hyper secretion, seizures, respiratory depression and eventually death), brain
      damage is often reported. The goal of the present study was to characterize the
      early histopathological and biochemical events leading to this damage. Rats were
      exposed to 1LD50 of sarin (80MUg/kg, i.m.). Brains were removed at 1, 2, 6, 24
      and 48h and processed for analysis. Results showed that TSPO (translocator
      protein) mRNA increased at 6h post exposure while TSPO receptor density increased
      only at 24h. In all brain regions tested, bax mRNA decreased 1h post exposure
      followed by an increase 24h later, with only minor increase in bcl2 mRNA. At this
      time point a decrease was seen in both anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 and pro
      apoptotic Bax, followed by a time and region specific increase in Bax. An
      immediate elevation in ERK1/2 activity with no change in JNK may indicate an
      endogenous "first response" mechanism used to attenuate the forthcoming
      apoptosis. The time dependent increase in the severity of brain damage included
      an early bi-phasic activation of astrocytes, a sharp decrease in intact neuronal
      cells, a time dependent reduction in MAP2 and up to 15% of apoptosis. Thus,
      neuronal death is mostly due to necrosis and severe astrocytosis. The data
      suggests that timing of possible treatments should be determined by early events
      following exposure. For example, the biphasic changes in astrocytes activity
      indicate a possible beneficial effects of delayed anti-inflammatory intervention.

PMID- 27639428
TI  - Toxicity of ricin A chain is reduced in mammalian cells by inhibiting its
      interaction with the ribosome.
AB  - Ricin is a potent ribotoxin that is considered a bioterror threat due to its ease
      of isolation and possibility of aerosolization. In yeast, mutation of arginine
      residues away from the active site results in a ricin toxin A chain (RTA) variant
      that is unable to bind the ribosome and exhibits reduced cytotoxicity. The goal
      of the present work was to determine if these residues contribute to ribosome
      binding and cytotoxicity of RTA in mammalian cells. The RTA mutant R193A/R235A
      did not interact with mammalian ribosomes, while a G212E variant with a point
      mutation near its active site bound ribosomes similarly to wild-type (WT) RTA.
      R193A/R235A retained full catalytic activity on naked RNA but had reduced
      activity on mammalian ribosomes. To determine the effect of this mutant in intact
      cells, pre R193A/R235A containing a signal sequence directing it to the
      endoplasmic reticulum and mature R193A/R235A that directly targeted cytosolic
      ribosomes were each expressed. Depurination and protein synthesis inhibition were
      reduced by both pre- and mature R193A/R235A relative to WT. Protein synthesis
      inhibition was reduced to a greater extent by R193A/R235A than by G212E. Pre
      R193A/R235A caused a greater reduction in caspase activation and loss of
      mitochondrial membrane potential than G212E relative to WT RTA. These findings
      indicate that an RTA variant with reduced ribosome binding is less toxic than a
      variant with less catalytic activity but normal ribosome binding activity. The
      toxin-ribosome interaction represents a novel target for the development of
      therapeutics to prevent or treat ricin intoxication.

PMID- 27639429
TI  - Nrf2 but not autophagy inhibition is associated with the survival of wild-type
      epidermal growth factor receptor non-small cell lung cancer cells.
AB  - Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignancies in the
      world. Icotinib and Gefitinib are two epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that have been used to treat NSCLC. While it is
      well known that mutations of EGFR can affect the sensitivity of NSCLC to the EGFR
      TKI, other mechanisms may also be adopted by lung cancer cells to develop
      resistance to EGFR-TKI treatment. Cancer cells can use multiple adaptive
      mechanisms such as activation of autophagy and Nrf2 to protect against various
      stresses and chemotherapeutic drugs. Whether autophagy or Nrf2 activation
      contributes to the resistance of NSCLC to EGFR-TKI treatment in wild-type EGFR
      NSCLC cells remains elusive. In the present study, we confirmed that Icotinib and
      Gefitinib induced apoptosis in EGFR mutant HCC827 but not in EGFR wild-type A549
      NSCLC cells. Icotinib and Gefitinib did not induce autophagic flux or inhibit
      mTOR in A549 cells. Moreover, suppression of autophagy by chloroquine, a
      lysosomal inhibitor, did not affect Icotinib- or Gefitinib-induced cell death in
      A549 cells. In contrast, Brusatol, an Nrf2 inhibitor, significantly suppressed
      the cell survival of A549 cells. However, Brusatol did not further sensitize A549
      cells to EGFR TKI-induced cell death. Results from this study suggest that
      inhibition of Nrf2 can decrease cell vitality of EGFR wild-type A549 cells
      independent of autophagy.

PMID- 27639430
TI  - Prognostic factors and survival in non-central nervous system rhabdoid tumors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Non-central nervous system (non-CNS) rhabdoid tumors tend to
      present at a young age and have an extremely aggressive course, with dismal
      overall survival rates. Inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene SMARCB1 has
      been shown in rhabdoid tumors regardless of anatomic location, suggesting a
      common genetic basis. We retrospectively analyzed our institutional experience
      with non-CNS rhabdoid tumors to determine overall survival and prognostic
      variables. METHODS: We reviewed records of pediatric patients (age<22y) with non
      CNS rhabdoid tumor at our institution between 1980 and 2014. Variables evaluated
      for correlation with survival included: age > or <1.5years (median) at diagnosis,
      M1 status, and radiation therapy. The log-rank test was used to compare Kaplan
      Meier probability distributions with P values adjusted for multiple testing using
      the false discovery rate approach. RESULTS: Nineteen consecutive patients (10
      female) with histologically verified rhabdoid tumor were identified. Mean age at
      diagnosis was 3.2years (median 1.5y, range 1.3mo-21.8y). Primary tumors were
      located in the kidney (n=10), head and neck (n=5), and in the liver, thigh,
      mediastinum and retroperitoneum (n=1 each). SMARCB1 expression was absent in all
      10 patients tested. Eight patients had distant metastases at diagnosis. Median
      overall survival was 1.2years. Age greater than the median and radiation therapy
      were associated with better outcome, with a median overall survival of 2.7years
      (P=0.049 and P=0.003, respectively). CONCLUSION: Survival rates for rhabdoid
      tumor remain poor, but prognosis is better in older children, regardless of
      primary tumor location. Because of its rarity, clinical trials with present
      agents are difficult to conduct. Further progress will require a focus on
      therapies targeted at tumor biology rather than anatomic location for non-CNS
      rhabdoid tumors.

PMID- 27639431
TI  - Performance of Lung Ultrasound in Detecting Peri-Operative Atelectasis after
      General Anesthesia.
AB  - The aim of this prospective observational study was to evaluate the performance
      of lung ultrasound (LUS) in detecting post-operative atelectasis in adult
      patients under general anesthesia. Forty-six patients without pulmonary
      comorbidities who were scheduled for elective neurosurgery were enrolled in the
      study. A total of 552 pairs of LUS clips and thoracic computed tomography (CT)
      images were ultimately analyzed to determine the presence of atelectasis in 12
      prescribed lung regions. The accuracy of LUS in detecting peri-operative
      atelectasis was evaluated with thoracic CT as gold standard. Levels of agreement
      between the two observers for LUS and the two observers for thoracic CT were
      analyzed using the kappa reliability test. The quantitative correlation between
      LUS scores of aeration and the volumetric data of atelectasis in thoracic CT were
      further evaluated. LUS had reliable performance in post-operative atelectasis,
      with a sensitivity of 87.7%, specificity of 92.1% and diagnostic accuracy of
      90.8%. The levels of agreement between the two observers for LUS and for thoracic
      CT were both satisfactory, with kappa coefficients of 0.87 (p < 0.0001) and 0.93
      (p < 0.0001), respectively. In patients in the supine position, LUS scores were
      highly correlated with the atelectasis volume of CT (r = 0.58, p < 0.0001). Thus,
      LUS provides a fast, reliable and radiation-free method to identify peri
      operative atelectasis in adults.

PMID- 27639432
TI  - Ultrasonographic Changes after Indirect Revascularization Surgery in Pediatric
      Patients with Moyamoya Disease.
AB  - The marked cerebral hypoperfusion of moyamoya disease (MMD) can be treated with
      encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS), an indirect revascularization surgery.
      Collateral establishment after the surgery is a gradual process; thus, easy
      access to serial assessment is of great importance. We prospectively recruited 15
      pediatric moyamoya patients who underwent EDAS surgeries on a total of 19
      hemispheres. Ultrasonography of extracranial and intracranial arteries was
      performed pre-operatively and post-operatively at 1, 3 and 6 mo. Among the
      extracranial arteries, the superficial temporal artery had the most pronounced
      increase in flow velocity and decrease in flow resistance from 1 mo post-surgery
      (p < 0.01). Among the large intracranial arteries, a significant increase in peak
      systolic velocity was observed in the anterior cerebral artery from 3 mo post
      surgery (p < 0.05). These findings indicate significant hemodynamic changes on
      ultrasonography in pediatric moyamoya patients after indirect revascularization
      surgery.

PMID- 27639433
TI  - Transbulbar B-Mode Sonography in Multiple Sclerosis: Clinical and Biological
      Relevance.
AB  - Optic nerve sheath diameter quantification by transbulbar B-mode sonography is a
      recently validated technique, but its clinical relevance in relapse-free multiple
      sclerosis patients remains unexplored. In an open-label, comparative, cross
      sectional study, we aimed to assess possible differences between patients and
      healthy controls in terms of optic nerve sheath diameter and its correlation with
      clinical/paraclinical parameters in this disease. Sixty unselected relapse-free
      patients and 35 matched healthy controls underwent transbulbar B-mode sonography.
      Patients underwent routine neurologic examination, brain magnetic resonance
      imaging and visual evoked potential tests. The mean optic nerve sheath diameter 3
      and 5 mm from the eyeball was 22-25% lower in patients than controls and
      correlated with the Expanded Disability Status Scale (r = -0.34, p = 0.048, and r
      = -0.32, p = 0.042, respectively). We suggest that optic nerve sheath diameter
      quantified by transbulbar B-mode sonography should be included in routine
      assessment of the disease as an extension of the neurologic examination.

PMID- 27639434
TI  - Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Cervical Lymph Nodes in Rats with EAE: A Pilot
      Study.
AB  - In this pilot study, focused ultrasound (FUS) was used to produce hyperthermia in
      cervical lymph nodes of rats having experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
      (EAE) to alleviate symptoms associated with EAE. EAE was induced in dark agouti
      rats, and EAE scores were recorded over 21 d. At the onset of EAE symptoms, rats
      were treated with FUS to induce temperatures of 43-44 degrees C for 20 min in the
      superficial cervical lymph nodes. An EAE remittance score was tallied for all
      rats, defined as the maximum EAE score observed minus the minimum EAE score
      observed after the maximum EAE was reached. On average, the peak remittance score
      for FUS-treated rats was 1.14 +/- 0.48 versus 0.33 +/- 0.27 for sham-treated
      rats. These differences were statistically significant (p = 0.037). Therefore,
      FUS treatment of cervical lymph nodes in rats with EAE resulted in a significant
      reduction in EAE score.

PMID- 27639435
TI  - [Repeated in vitro fertilization failure: Abnormalities identified in the
      diagnostic assessment].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Investigate the proportion of abnormalities identified on the
      diagnostic assessment performed after at least two previous failed IVF attempts.
      Discuss the real benefit of this evaluation. METHODS: Retrospective descriptive
      study. Between January 2008 and January 2012, 205 couples with at least two
      consecutive failed IVF attempts had a diagnosis evaluation which consisted in
      couple's karyotypes; autoimmune and haemostasis biological check-up, pelvic
      ultrasound-Doppler and hysteroscopy for women. RESULTS: The main biological
      anomalies were autoimmune for 23.9% of women: antinuclear antibodies (5.7%),
      antithyroid peroxidase (11.5%) and antithyroglobulin (8.3%); thrombotic with
      antiphospholipid antibodies for 8.2% of women (1.4% lupus anticoagulant and 6.8%
      anticardiolipin antibodies), and heterozygous prothrombin gene mutation for 9.5%.
      Karyotypes were abnormal for 2.1% of women and 0% of men. Ultrasound-Doppler
      appeared to be abnormal in 44.7% of cases (pulsatility index of uterine artery>=3
      and/or protodiastolic notch), and diagnostic hysteroscopy was abnormal in 14.6%
      of cases. In order to target the real implantation failure, we compared the
      groups "<8 embryos transferred" versus ">=8 embryos transferred" and "pregnancy
      after the third or fourth IVF cycle" versus "no pregnancy", but no statistically
      significant difference was found. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic assessment carried
      out for recurrent IVF failure can detect biological, karyotypic and morphological
      abnormalities, in the same proportion that in previous studies. Further studies
      will have to be conducted to evaluate the real impact of these abnormalities in
      the recurrent implantation failure and the effectiveness of therapeutic care.

PMID- 27639436
TI  - Crystal Structure of Human General Transcription Factor TFIIE at Atomic
      Resolution.
AB  - In eukaryotes, RNA polymerase II requires general transcription factors to
      initiate mRNA transcription. TFIIE subunits alpha and beta form a heterodimer and
      recruit TFIIH to complete the assembly of the pre-initiation complex. Here, we
      have determined the crystal structure of human TFIIE at atomic resolution. The N
      terminal half of TFIIEalpha forms an extended winged helix (WH) domain with an
      additional helix, followed by a zinc-finger domain. TFIIEbeta contains the WH2
      domain, followed by two coiled-coil helices intertwining with TFIIEalpha. We also
      showed that TFIIEalpha binds to TFIIEbeta with nanomolar affinity using
      isothermal titration calorimetry. In addition, mutations on the residues involved
      in the interactions resulted in severe growth defects in yeast. Lack of the C
      terminal region of yeast TFIIEbeta causes a mild growth defect in vivo. These
      findings provide a structural basis for understanding the functional mechanisms
      of TFIIE in the context of pre-initiation complex formation and transcription
      initiation.

PMID- 27639437
TI  - The Power of Force: Insights into the Protein Folding Process Using Single
      Molecule Force Spectroscopy.
AB  - One of the major challenges in modern biophysics is observing and understanding
      conformational changes during complex molecular processes, from the fundamental
      protein folding to the function of molecular machines. Single-molecule techniques
      have been one of the major driving forces of the huge progress attained in the
      last few years. Recent advances in resolution of the experimental setups, aided
      by theoretical developments and molecular dynamics simulations, have revealed a
      much higher degree of complexity inside these molecular processes than previously
      reported using traditional ensemble measurements. This review sums up the
      evolution of these developments and gives an outlook on prospective discoveries.

PMID- 27639439
TI  - Comparison of Peritendinous Hyaluronan Injections Versus Extracorporeal Shock
      Wave Therapy in the Treatment of Painful Achilles' Tendinopathy: A Randomized
      Clinical Efficacy and Safety Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the safety and efficacy of hyaluronan (HA) injections with
      standard extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in the treatment of painful
      midportion Achilles' tendinopathy. DESIGN: Multinational, prospective, randomized
      controlled, blinded-observer trial. SETTING: Ambulatory care. PARTICIPANTS:
      Adults (N=62) with Achilles' midportion tendinopathy for >=6 weeks and a pain
      score of at least 40mm (Huskisson visual analog scale [VAS], 100mm) were
      randomized, and 59 were analyzed in the intention-to-treat data set. There were
      no withdrawals because of adverse effects. INTERVENTIONS: Two peritendinous HA
      injections versus 3 ESWT applications at weekly intervals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Primary efficacy criterion was changed from the Victorian Institute of Sports
      Assessment-Achilles' questionnaire (VISA-A) score to the percent change in pain
      (VAS) at 3 months posttreatment, compared with baseline values. Main secondary
      parameters were VISA-A, Clinical Global Impression (CGI), and clinical
      parameters. RESULTS: HA treatment provided a clinically relevant improvement in
      Achilles' midportion tendinopathy. A large superiority of the HA group, compared
      with ESWT application, was observed for percent change in pain (VAS), and this
      superiority was proven to be statistically significant (Mann-Whitney statistic
      [MW]=.7507 with P=.0030 lower than required alpha=.025 significance level 1
      sided; Mann-Whitney U test) at 3 months posttreatment. Similar findings for HA
      were also observed at 4 weeks (MW=.6425, P=.0304) and 6 months (MW=.7172,
      P=.0018). Advantage of HA treatment was confirmed by VISA-A questionnaire, CGI,
      and clinical parameters. Ten adverse events, 4 in the HA group and 6 in the ESWT
      group, were reported, but none were classified as serious. CONCLUSIONS: Two
      peritendinous HA injections showed greater treatment success in Achilles'
      midportion tendinopathy compared with standard ESWT.

PMID- 27639440
TI  - Easily Administered Patient-Reported Outcome Measures: Adolescents' Perceived
      Functional Changes After Completing an Intensive Chronic Pain Rehabilitation
      Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patient-reported measures would be clinically
      sensitive and useful for identifying functional change within an intensive
      chronic pain program setting by examining 2 patient-reported measures
      administered as part of physical and occupational therapy for chronic pain.
      DESIGN: A retrospective data analysis of children and adolescents with chronic
      pain treated over a single calendar year. Paired t tests evaluated change in
      perceived function measures and pain over time. Standardized residual change
      scores were used in subsequent regression to assess associations between change
      scores. SETTING: An interdisciplinary pediatric pain rehabilitation program that
      supports children and adolescents with chronic pain by increasing strength,
      flexibility, and endurance; facilitating a return to daily life activities; and
      using appropriate self-directed coping and pain management skills. PARTICIPANTS:
      Children and adolescents (N=109; age range, 8-19y; 83% girls) with various
      chronic pain diagnoses who were admitted to a 3- to 4-week intensive pain
      rehabilitation program. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were involved in physical and
      occupational therapy for 3 hours daily, as well as recreation therapy,
      psychology, school, aquatics, art therapy, and music therapy for a total of 8
      hours daily. Parents were involved in parent education with therapists from all
      disciplines in conjunction with their child's programming. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), Upper Extremity Functional Index (UEFI),
      and self-reported pain severity rating on 0-to-10 numerical rating scale.
      RESULTS: Data demonstrated significant gains in LEFS and UEFI during the program.
      Improvement in perceived functioning was significantly correlated with a
      reduction in pain. CONCLUSIONS: The LEFS and UEFI provide a meaningful way to
      track progress in chronic pain rehabilitation. Using self-perceived measures,
      children and adolescents noted significant functional improvement, associated
      with less pain intensity. These findings increase our understanding of the
      rehabilitation process and point to goals for clinical improvement.

PMID- 27639441
TI  - Human teratogens and genetic phenocopies. Understanding pathogenesis through
      human genes mutation.
AB  - Exposure to teratogenic drugs during pregnancy is associated with a wide range of
      embryo-fetal anomalies and sometimes results in recurrent and recognizable
      patterns of malformations; however, the comprehension of the mechanisms
      underlying the pathogenesis of drug-induced birth defects is difficult, since
      teratogenesis is a multifactorial process which is always the result of a complex
      interaction between several environmental factors and the genetic background of
      both the mother and the fetus. Animal models have been extensively used to assess
      the teratogenic potential of pharmacological agents and to study their
      teratogenic mechanisms; however, a still open issue concerns how the information
      gained through animal models can be translated to humans. Instead, significant
      information can be obtained by the identification and analysis of human genetic
      syndromes characterized by clinical features overlapping with those observed in
      drug-induced embryopathies. Until now, genetic phenocopies have been reported for
      the embryopathies/fetopathies associated with prenatal exposure to warfarin,
      leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, fluconazole, thalidomide and ACE inhibitors.
      In most cases, genetic phenocopies are caused by mutations in genes encoding for
      the main targets of teratogens or for proteins belonging to the same molecular
      pathways. The aim of this paper is to review the proposed teratogenic mechanisms
      of these drugs, by the analysis of human monogenic disorders and their molecular
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 27639442
TI  - Cognitive behavioral therapy in 22q11.2 microdeletion with psychotic symptoms:
      What do we learn from schizophrenia?
AB  - The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is one of the most common microdeletion
      syndromes, with a widely underestimated prevalence between 1 per 2000 and 1 per
      6000. Since childhood, patients with 22q11.2DS are described as having
      difficulties to initiate and maintain peer relationships. This lack of social
      skills has been linked to attention deficits/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and
      depression. A high incidence of psychosis and positive symptoms is observed in
      patients with 22q11.2DS and remains correlated with poor social functioning,
      anxiety and depressive symptoms. Because 22q11.2DS and schizophrenia share
      several major clinical features, 22q11.2DS is sometimes considered as a genetic
      model for schizophrenia. Surprisingly, almost no study suggests the use of
      cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT) in this indication. We reviewed what
      should be learned from schizophrenia to develop specific intervention for
      22q11.2DS. In our opinion, the first step of CBT approach in 22q11.2DS with
      psychotic symptoms is to identify precisely which tools can be used among the
      already available ones. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) targets integrated
      disorders, i.e. reasoning biases and behavior disorders. In 22q11.2DS, CBT
      targeted behavior disorders may take the form of social avoidance and withdrawal
      or, in the contrary, a more unusual disinhibition and aggressiveness. In our
      experience, other negative symptoms observed in 22q11.2DS, such as motivation
      deficit or anhedonia, may also be reduced by CBT. Controlled trials have been
      studying the benefits of CBT in schizophrenia and several meta-analyses proved
      its effectiveness. Therefore, it is legitimate to propose this tool in 22q11.2DS,
      considering symptoms similarities. Overall, CBT is the most effective
      psychosocial intervention on psychotic symptoms and remains a relevant complement
      to pharmacological treatments such as antipsychotics.

PMID- 27639444
TI  - Commentary - Re: Hemi-Mandibular Elongation: Is the Corrected Occlusion
      Maintained Long Term? Does the Mandible Continue to Grow?

PMID- 27639443
TI  - Mycophenolate mofetil embryopathy: A newly recognized teratogenic syndrome.
AB  - Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is probably the most common employed
      immunosuppressant drug in recipients of solid organ transplant and in many
      autoimmune diseases. In vitro studies, a significant number of single clinical
      observations and a recent study from a group of different European teratogen
      information services, have provided very consistent data supporting the existence
      of a specific MMF embryopathy. The typical malformative pattern of MMF
      embryopathy includes external ear anomalies ranging from hypoplastic pinna
      (microtia) to complete absence of pinna (anotia); cleft lip, with or without
      cleft palate, and ocular anomalies as iris or chorioretinal coloboma and
      anophthalmia/microphthalmia. Other less frequent features are congenital heart
      defects, distal limbs anomalies, esophageal atresia, vertebral malformations,
      diaphragmatic hernia, and kidney and central nervous system anomalies.
      Neurodevelopmental outcome seems favorable in the small number of patients where
      information about this issue is available, but neurological deficits have been
      documented. Physicians in charge of women under MMF therapy should be aware of
      the potential risk of this drug to cause a specific embryopathy and the need of
      interrupting the treatment at least six weeks before becoming pregnant.

PMID- 27639438
TI  - Heralding a new paradigm in 3D tumor modeling.
AB  - Numerous studies to date have contributed to a paradigm shift in modeling cancer,
      moving from the traditional two-dimensional culture system to three-dimensional
      (3D) culture systems for cancer cell culture. This led to the inception of tumor
      engineering, which has undergone rapid advances over the years. In line with the
      recognition that tumors are not merely masses of proliferating cancer cells but
      rather, highly complex tissues consisting of a dynamic extracellular matrix
      together with stromal, immune and endothelial cells, significant efforts have
      been made to better recapitulate the tumor microenvironment in 3D. These
      approaches include the development of engineered matrices and co-cultures to
      replicate the complexity of tumor-stroma interactions in vitro. However, the
      tumor engineering and cancer biology fields have traditionally relied heavily on
      the use of cancer cell lines as a cell source in tumor modeling. While cancer
      cell lines have contributed to a wealth of knowledge in cancer biology, the use
      of this cell source is increasingly perceived as a major contributing factor to
      the dismal failure rate of oncology drugs in drug development. Backing this
      notion is the increasing evidence that tumors possess intrinsic heterogeneity,
      which predominantly homogeneous cancer cell lines poorly reflect. Tumor
      heterogeneity contributes to therapeutic resistance in patients. To overcome this
      limitation, cancer cell lines are beginning to be replaced by primary tumor cell
      sources, in the form of patient-derived xenografts and organoids cultures. Moving
      forward, we propose that further advances in tumor engineering would require that
      tumor heterogeneity (tumor variants) be taken into consideration together with
      tumor complexity (tumor-stroma interactions). In this review, we provide a
      comprehensive overview of what has been achieved in recapitulating tumor
      complexity, and discuss the importance of incorporating tumor heterogeneity into
      3D in vitro tumor models. This work carves out the roadmap for 3D tumor
      engineering and highlights some of the challenges that need to be addressed as we
      move forward into the next chapter.

PMID- 27639445
TI  - Splicing factor gene mutations in the myelodysplastic syndromes: impact on
      disease phenotype and therapeutic applications.
AB  - Splicing factor gene mutations are the most frequent mutations found in patients
      with the myeloid malignancy myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), suggesting that
      spliceosomal dysfunction plays a major role in disease pathogenesis. The
      aberrantly spliced target genes and deregulated cellular pathways associated with
      the commonly mutated splicing factor genes in MDS (SF3B1, SRSF2 and U2AF1) are
      being identified, illuminating the molecular mechanisms underlying MDS. Emerging
      data from mouse modeling studies indicate that the presence of splicing factor
      gene mutations can lead to bone marrow hematopoietic stem/myeloid progenitor cell
      expansion, impaired hematopoiesis and dysplastic differentiation that are
      hallmarks of MDS. Importantly, recent evidence suggests that spliceosome
      inhibitors and splicing modulators may have therapeutic value in the treatment of
      splicing factor mutant myeloid malignancies.

PMID- 27639446
TI  - Social manipulation in nonhuman primates: Cognitive and motivational
      determinants.
AB  - Social interactions are the result of individuals' cooperative and competitive
      tendencies expressed over an extended period of time. Although social
      manipulation, i.e., using another individual to achieve one's own goals, is a
      crucial aspect of social interactions, there has been no comprehensive attempt to
      differentiate its various types and to map its cognitive and motivational
      determinants. For this purpose, we survey in this article the experimental
      literature on social interactions in nonhuman primates. We take social
      manipulation, illustrated by a case study with orangutans (Pongo abelii), as our
      starting point and move in two directions. First, we will focus on a
      flexibility/sociality axis that includes technical problem solving, social tool
      use and communication. Second, we will focus on a motivational/prosociality axis
      that includes exploitation, cooperation, and helping. Combined, the two axes
      offer a way to capture a broad range of social interactions performed by human
      and nonhuman primates.

PMID- 27639447
TI  - Vertigo and the processing of vestibular information: A review in the context of
      predictive coding.
AB  - This article investigates the processing of vestibular information by
      interpreting current experimental knowledge in the framework of predictive
      coding. We demonstrate that this theoretical framework give us insights into
      several important questions regarding specific properties of the vestibular
      system. Particularly, we discuss why the vestibular network is more spatially
      distributed than other sensory networks, why a mismatch in the vestibular system
      is more clinically disturbing than in other sensory systems, why the vestibular
      system is only marginally affected by most cerebral lesions, and whether there is
      a primary vestibular cortex. The use of predictive coding as a theoretical
      framework further points to some problems with the current interpretation of
      results that are gained from vestibular stimulation studies. In particular, we
      argue that cortical responses of vestibular stimuli cannot be interpreted in the
      same way as responses of other sensory modalities. Finally, we discuss the
      implications of the new insights, hypotheses and problems that were identified in
      this review on further directions of research of vestibular information
      processing.

PMID- 27639449
TI  - Reliable tool for detection of novel Coxiella burnetii antigens, using
      immobilized human polyclonal antibodies.
AB  - Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) is the etiological agent of a Q fever-the re
      emerging disease with considerable economic impact. Due to many similar symptoms
      with commonly occurring infections, its clinical diagnosis is very difficult.
      Thus, a strong effort should be taken to raise the awareness and develop a robust
      strategy for an accurate diagnosis. The identification of specific C. burnetii
      biomarkers could be valuable for a sensitive and selective diagnosis of the
      disease. Herein, we described a workflow to identify immunoreactive proteins of
      C. burnetii with a high confidence. It is based on immunocapturing of bacterial
      antigens by biofunctionalized magnetic microspheres, followed by tandem mass
      spectrometry (MS/MS) identification. We detected dozens of previously reported
      antigens and proposed 15 novel biomarkers, which specificity was confirmed by in
      silico epitope analysis. Among them, the cardiolipin synthetase participating in
      the synthesis of cardiolipin was recognized. This biomarker could play a critical
      role in the early management of acute Q fever and prevention of Q fever
      endocarditis.

PMID- 27639451
TI  - Characterization of cervical lymph-nodes using a multi-parametric and multi-modal
      approach for an early prediction of tumor response to chemo-radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the treatment of Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC), the
      early prediction of residual malignant lymph nodes (LNs) is currently required.
      Here, we investigated the potential of a multi-modal characterization
      (combination of CT, T2w-MRI and DW-MRI) at baseline and at mid-treatment, based
      on texture analysis (TA), for the early prediction of LNs response to chemo
      radiotherapy (CRT). METHODS: 30 patients with pathologically confirmed HNSCC
      treated with CRT were considered. All patients underwent a planning CT and two
      serial MR examinations (including T2w and DW images), one before and one at mid
      CRT. For each patient the largest malignant LN was selected and within each LN,
      morphological and textural features were estimated from T2w-MRI and CT, besides a
      quantification of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) from DW-MRI. After a
      median follow-up time of 26.6months, 19 LNs showed regional control, while 11 LNs
      showedregional failure at a median time of 4.6months. Linear discriminant
      analysis was used to test the accuracy of the image-based features in predicting
      the final response. RESULTS: Pre-treatment features showed higher predictive
      power than mid-CRT features, the ADC having the highest accuracy (80%); CT-based
      indices were found not predictive. When ADC was combined with TA, the
      classification performance increased (accuracy=82.8%). If only T2w-MRI features
      were considered, the best combination of pre-CRT indices and their variation
      reached an equivalent accuracy (81.8%). CONCLUSION: Our results may suggest that
      TA on T2w-MRI and ADC can be combined together to obtain a more accurate
      prediction of response to CRT.

PMID- 27639452
TI  - Candida pyelonephritis on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography.

PMID- 27639453
TI  - Microhematospermia in acute Zika virus infection.

PMID- 27639450
TI  - A novel mouse model for the identification of thioredoxin-1 protein interactions.
AB  - Thiol switches are important regulators of cellular signaling and are coordinated
      by several redox enzyme systems including thioredoxins, peroxiredoxins, and
      glutathione. Thioredoxin-1 (Trx1), in particular, is an important signaling
      molecule not only in response to redox perturbations, but also in cellular
      growth, regulation of gene expression, and apoptosis. The active site of this
      enzyme is a highly conserved C-G-P-C motif and the redox mechanism of Trx1 is
      rapid which presents a challenge in determining specific substrates. Numerous in
      vitro approaches have identified Trx1-dependent thiol switches; however, these
      findings may not be physiologically relevant and little is known about Trx1
      interactions in vivo. In order to identify Trx1 targets in vivo, we generated a
      transgenic mouse with inducible expression of a mutant Trx1 transgene to
      stabilize intermolecular disulfides with protein substrates. Expression of the
      Trx1 "substrate trap" transgene did not interfere with endogenous thioredoxin or
      glutathione systems in brain, heart, lung, liver, and kidney. Following
      immunoprecipitation and proteomic analysis, we identified 41 homeostatic Trx1
      interactions in perinatal lung, including previously described Trx1 substrates
      such as members of the peroxiredoxin family and collapsin response mediator
      protein 2. Using perinatal hyperoxia as a model of oxidative injury, we found 17
      oxygen-induced interactions which included several cytoskeletal proteins which
      may be important to alveolar development. The data herein validates this novel
      mouse model for identification of tissue- and cell-specific Trx1-dependent
      pathways that regulate physiological signals in response to redox perturbations.

PMID- 27639448
TI  - Seeing through the smoke: Human and animal studies of cannabis use and
      endocannabinoid signalling in corticolimbic networks.
AB  - Public opinion surrounding the recreational use and therapeutic potential of
      cannabis is shifting. This review describes new work examining the behavioural
      and neural effects of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system, highlighting key
      regions within corticolimbic brain circuits. First, we consider the role of human
      genetic factors and cannabis strain chemotypic differences in contributing to
      interindividual variation in the response to cannabinoids, such as THC, and
      review studies demonstrating that THC-induced impairments in decision-making
      processes are mediated by actions at prefrontal CB1 receptors. We further
      describe evidence that signalling through prefrontal or ventral hippocampal CB1
      receptors modulates mesolimbic dopamine activity, aberrations of which may
      contribute to emotional processing deficits in schizophrenia. Lastly, we review
      studies suggesting that endocannabinoid tone in the amygdala is a critical
      regulator of anxiety, and report new data showing that FAAH activity is integral
      to this response. Together, these findings underscore the importance of
      cannabinoid signalling in the regulation of cognitive and affective behaviours,
      and encourage further research given their social, political, and therapeutic
      implications.

PMID- 27639454
TI  - Antimicrobial drug use in primary healthcare clinics: a retrospective evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the appropriateness of antibiotics prescribed for acute
      infection based on the Malaysian national antibiotic guidelines and the defined
      daily dose (DDD) system of the World Health Organization (WHO). This study also
      aimed to describe the factors influencing the drug use pattern and to investigate
      the procurement patterns of antibiotics in the primary healthcare setting.
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort follow-up study of randomly selected patients
      from all patients who received any antibiotic between January and December 2013
      was conducted at three primary healthcare clinics in Selangor State of Malaysia.
      For each patient, the following information was recorded: name of the antibiotic,
      frequency and dose, and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) group. The defined
      daily dose per 1000 inhabitants per day was calculated for each antibiotic. The
      national antibiotic guidelines were used to assess the appropriateness of each
      antibiotic prescription. RESULTS: A total of 735 patients were included in the
      study. The five most used antibiotics were amoxicillin (1.36g, 35.2%),
      cloxacillin (0.68g, 26.3%), erythromycin (0.32g, 22.3%), bacampicillin (0.13g,
      7.2%), and cephalexin (0.11g, 6.9%). Respiratory tract infections were the most
      commonly treated infections, and the doctors' preferred antibiotic for the
      treatment of these infections was amoxicillin. More than 18% of all amoxicillin
      prescriptions were deemed inappropriate according to the national antibiotic
      guidelines. In terms of procurement costs, USD 88885 was spent in 2011, USD
      219402 in 2012, and USD 233034 in 2013 at the three primary healthcare clinics,
      an average of USD 180440 per year for the three clinics. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      reports the antibiotic usage at three primary healthcare clinics in Klang
      Province. The most prescribed antibiotic was amoxicillin in capsules (250mg),
      which was mainly prescribed for respiratory infections. Although the national
      antibiotic guidelines state that amoxicillin is a preferred drug for acute
      bacterial rhinosinusitis, this drug is also being prescribed for other disease
      conditions, such as acute pharyngitis and acute tonsillitis. This result shows
      that current practice is not following the current antibiotic guidelines, which
      state that phenoxypenicillin should be the preferred drug.

PMID- 27639455
TI  - Mechanism of syncope without prodromes with normal heart and normal
      electrocardiogram.
AB  - BACKGROUND: "Unexplained syncope, no prodromes, and normal heart" has been
      described as a distinct clinical and biological entity. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of
      this study was to assess the mechanism of syncope. METHODS: In this prospective
      multicenter study, 58 patients presenting with unexplained syncope, no prodromes,
      and a normal heart received an implantable loop recorder (ILR) and were followed
      up until a diagnosis was established. Their outcomes were compared with those of
      389 patients affected by reflex syncope with prodromes who received an ILR.
      RESULTS: During a mean observation period of 16 +/- 13 months, a diagnostic event
      was documented by the ILR in 29 patients (50%); an asystolic pause of 11 +/- 5
      seconds (range 3.5-22 seconds) was present at the time of the diagnostic event in
      19 patients (66%). Compared with patients affected by reflex syncope with
      prodromes, patients with unexplained syncope, no prodromes, and a normal heart
      more frequently had an asystolic syncope (66% vs 47%; P = .001), and this was
      more frequently due to idiopathic paroxysmal atrioventricular block (47% vs 21%;
      P = .04). Ten patients with asystolic pauses underwent cardiac pacing, and 8
      patients underwent oral theophylline treatment. During the subsequent 17 +/- 12
      months of follow-up, syncope recurred in 1 patient on theophylline and presyncope
      occurred in 1 patient with pacemaker. CONCLUSION: A long asystolic pause,
      frequently due to idiopathic paroxysmal atrioventricular block, played a role in
      the mechanism of syncope in two-thirds of patients who had electrocardiographic
      documentation of a diagnostic event. When a specific therapy was administered in
      patients with asystolic syncope, the short outcome was favorable.

PMID- 27639456
TI  - Developmental changes in electrophysiological characteristics of human-induced
      pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies proposed that throughout differentiation of human
      induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs), only 3 types of
      action potentials (APs) exist: nodal-, atrial-, and ventricular-like. OBJECTIVES:
      To investigate whether there are precisely 3 phenotypes or a continuum exists
      among them, we tested 2 hypotheses: (1) During culture development a cardiac
      precursor cell is present that-depending on age-can evolve into the 3 phenotypes.
      (2) The predominant pattern is early prevalence of a nodal phenotype, transient
      appearance of an atrial phenotype, evolution to a ventricular phenotype, and
      persistence of transitional phenotypes. METHODS: To test these hypotheses, we (1)
      performed fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of nodal, atrial, and
      ventricular markers; (2) recorded APs from 280 7- to 95-day-old iPSC-CMs; and (3)
      analyzed AP characteristics. RESULTS: The major findings were as follows: (1)
      fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of 30- and 60-day-old cultures
      showed that an iPSC-CMs population shifts from the nodal to the
      atrial/ventricular phenotype while including significant transitional
      populations; (2) the AP population did not consist of 3 phenotypes; (3) culture
      aging was associated with a shift from nodal to ventricular dominance, with a
      transient (57-70 days) appearance of the atrial phenotype; and (4) beat rate
      variability was more prominent in nodal than in ventricular cardiomyocytes, while
      pacemaker current density increased in older cultures. CONCLUSION: From the onset
      of development in culture, the iPSC-CMs population includes nodal, atrial, and
      ventricular APs and a broad spectrum of transitional phenotypes. The most readily
      distinguishable phenotype is atrial, which appears only transiently yet dominates
      at 57-70 days of evolution.

PMID- 27639457
TI  - Neuroprotective efficacy of poly-arginine R18 and NA-1 (TAT-NR2B9c) peptides
      following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in the rat.
AB  - We examined the efficacy of R18 in a transient MCAO model and compared its
      effectiveness to the well-characterized neuroprotective NA-1 peptide. R18 and NA
      1 peptides were administered intravenously (30, 100, 300, 1000nmol/kg), 60min
      after the onset of 90min of MCAO. Infarct volume, cerebral swelling and
      functional outcomes (neurological score, adhesive tape and rota-rod) were
      measured 24h after MCAO. R18 reduced total infarct volume by 35.1% (p=0.008),
      24.8% (p=0.059), 12.2% and 9.6% for the respective 1000 to 30nmol/kg doses, while
      the corresponding doses of NA-1 reduced lesion volume by 26.1% (p=0.047), 16.6%,
      16.5% and 7%, respectively. R18 also reduced hemisphere swelling by between 46.1%
      (1000 and 300nmol/kg; p=0.009) and 24.4% (100nmol/kg; p=0.066), while NA-1
      reduced swelling by 25.7% (1000nmol/kg; p=0.054). In addition, several R18 and NA
      1 treatment groups displayed a significant improvement in at least one parameter
      of the adhesive tape test. These results confirm the neuroprotective properties
      of R18, and suggest that the peptide is a more effective neuroprotective agent
      than NA-1. This provides strong justification for the continuing development of
      R18 as a neuroprotective treatment for stroke.

PMID- 27639459
TI  - Is progesterone the key regulatory factor behind ovulation rate in sheep?
AB  - Ovarian antral follicles in the ewe grow in an orderly succession, producing 3 to
      4 waves per estrous cycle. In prolific sheep, some large antral follicles from
      the second-to-last wave of the estrous cycle are added to the ovulatory follicles
      emerging just before estrus to give a higher ovulation rate; it is feasible that
      regression of these follicles is prevented by an increase in serum concentrations
      of FSH or LH pulsatility at proestrus. Prolific sheep tend to have a shorter
      luteal phase than nonprolific ewes and there is a great deal of evidence that
      luteal progesterone (P4), in addition to regulating LH release, may govern the
      secretion of FSH heralding the emergence of follicular waves. The specific
      purpose of this study was to determine whether or not extending the duration of
      the luteal phase in prolific sheep to that typically seen in nonprolific breeds
      would alter the follicle wave dynamics and ovulation rate. In 2 separate
      experiments, exogenous P4 (7.5 mg per ewe intramuscularly) was administered on
      day 11 at PM and day 12 at AM (day 0 = first ovulation of the interovulatory
      interval studied) in moderately prolific Rideau Arcott * Polled Dorset ewes
      (experiment 1, n = 8) and highly prolific Olkuska ewes (experiment 2, n = 7;
      TRT), whereas the equinumerous groups of animals served as controls (CTR).
      Transrectal ovarian ultrasonography was performed daily, and jugular blood
      samples were drawn twice a day from day 9 until the next ovulation. Progesterone
      injections resulted in relatively uniform increments in serum P4 levels, but the
      mean duration of the interovulatory interval did not differ (P > 0.05) between
      TRT and CTR groups of ewes in either experiment. The mean ovulation rate post
      treatment was 1.6 +/- 0.2 vs 3.2 +/- 0.4 (experiment 1, P < 0.001) and 3.2 +/-
      0.8 vs 4.0 +/- 1.0 (experiment 2, P > 0.05) in TRT vs CTR, respectively. The
      number and percentage of ovulating follicles from the penultimate wave of the
      interovulatory interval studied was 0.25 +/- 0.16 vs 1.75 +/- 0.45 (P < 0.01) and
      25.0 +/- 16.4% vs 75.0 +/- 16.4% (P < 0.05) in experiment 1, and 0.50 +/- 0.30 vs
      1.60 +/- 0.40 (P < 0.05) and 13.8 +/- 9.0% vs 53.4 +/- 16.7% (P < 0.05) in
      experiment 2, for TRT vs CTR, respectively. In summary, administration of P4 at
      the end of diestrus decreased the incidence of ovulations from the penultimate
      wave of the estrous cycle in both the moderately and highly prolific strains of
      sheep, but it reduced the ovulation rate only in moderately prolific ewes.

PMID- 27639460
TI  - Facile synthesis of high-thermostably ordered mesoporous TiO2/SiO2
      nanocomposites: An effective bifunctional candidate for removing arsenic
      contaminations.
AB  - High-thermostably ordered mesoporous TiO2/SiO2 nanocomposites are successfully
      prepared through evaporation-induced self-assembly method combined with
      ethylenediamine bounding strategy and subsequent high-temperature calcinations
      (700 degrees C). The prepared samples are characterized in detail by
      thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, Raman,
      transmission electron microscopy and N2 adsorption. The results indicate that the
      samples are ordered mesostructure and the presence of SiO2 inhibits the anatase
      to-rutile phase transformation at high temperature. Significantly, the
      experimental results show that the high-thermostably ordered mesoporous TiO2/SiO2
      nanocomposites play bifunctional roles on effectively adsorbing As (III) and
      completely oxidizing higher toxic As (III) to lower toxic As (V) under various pH
      values by one time. Moreover, after recycling for ten times the composites still
      keep wonderful photocatalytic and adsorption performance. The subtly
      nanostructured bifunctional composites will have broad application prospects in
      contaminated water treatment.

PMID- 27639458
TI  - Pulmonary Effects of Maternal Smoking on the Fetus and Child: Effects on Lung
      Development, Respiratory Morbidities, and Life Long Lung Health.
AB  - Maternal smoking during pregnancy is the largest preventable cause of abnormal in
      utero lung development. Despite well known risks, rates of smoking during
      pregnancy have only slightly decreased over the last ten years, with rates
      varying from 5-40% worldwide resulting in tens of millions of fetal exposures.
      Despite multiple approaches to smoking cessation about 50% of smokers will
      continue to smoke during pregnancy. Maternal genotype plays an important role in
      the likelihood of continued smoking during pregnancy and the degree to which
      maternal smoking will affect the fetus. The primary effects of maternal smoking
      on offspring lung function and health are decreases in forced expiratory flows,
      decreased passive respiratory compliance, increased hospitalization for
      respiratory infections, and an increased prevalence of childhood wheeze and
      asthma. Nicotine appears to be the responsible component of tobacco smoke that
      affects lung development, and some of the effects of maternal smoking on lung
      development can be prevented by supplemental vitamin C. Because nicotine is the
      key agent for affecting lung development, e-cigarette usage during pregnancy is
      likely to be as dangerous to fetal lung development as is maternal smoking.

PMID- 27639461
TI  - Biotransformation of Dimethenamid-P by the basidiomycete Irpex consors.
AB  - Twenty-nine basidiomycetes were screened in surface and liquid cultures for their
      capability to biotransform the chloroacetamide herbicide Dimethenamid-P (DMTA-P).
      The basidiomycete Irpex consors converted 70% of the herbicide (0.5 g L-1 DMTA-P)
      in liquid cultures within 6 days, applying a minimal medium under non
      ligninolytic conditions. Nine transformation products of DMTA-P were identified
      by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the culture supernatants.
      The four main metabolites were isolated and subjected to GC-MS analysis and NMR
      spectroscopy. The analyses revealed that the thiophene ring was oxidized at three
      different positions. Metabolite M1 was identified as the S-oxide, which was
      isolable and relatively stable at room temperature. In metabolite M2, one methyl
      substituent of the thiophene ring was hydroxylated. The two metabolites M3A and
      M3B were diastereomers, but fully separated by HPLC. Here, oxidation of the
      aromatic CH carbon resulted in prototropic rearrangement to an alphabeta
      unsaturated thiolactone. None of the three major metabolites of DMTA-P has been
      described before.

PMID- 27639462
TI  - Vertical profile, contamination assessment, and source apportionment of heavy
      metals in sediment cores of Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan.
AB  - Six sediment cores collected at the Kaohsiung Harbor of Taiwan were analyzed to
      evaluate their vertical profiles, enrichments, accumulations, and source
      apportionments of heavy metals. This was performed to investigate any potential
      ecological risks posed by heavy metals. Results indicated that the mean heavy
      metal content (mg kg-1) in the six sediment cores was as follows: Hg (0.4-6.4),
      Cd (<0.05-2.4), Cr (18-820), Cu (16-760), Pb (31-140), and Zn (76-1900). The
      patterns of heavy metal content in the sediment cores differed substantially
      among the four river mouths. However, the vertical profiles of metals were
      relatively stable, indicating that wastewater has the constant characteristics
      and has been discharged into the rivers for a long period of time. Results of
      pollution assessment of enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index, and pollution
      load index revealed that river mouths experience severe enrichment, strong
      accumulation, and high contamination from the primary heavy metals. It was not
      consistent in the assessment results of mean effect range median quotient,
      potential ecological risk index, and total toxic unit method. Potential
      ecological risks caused by Hg in the sediments at Canon River and Love River
      mouths on aquatic organisms were extremely high. The estimates derived from the
      receptor modeling of multiple linear regression of the absolute principal
      component scores indicated that the contributions of the composite heavy metals
      derived from the Canon River and the Love River on the potential toxicity and
      risks to the water environment of Kaohsiung Harbor were highest, followed by
      those derived from Salt River and Jen-Gen River.

PMID- 27639463
TI  - The mutual influence of speciation and combination of Cu and Pb on the
      photodegradation of dimethyl o-phthalate.
AB  - Specific industrial application of dimethyl o-phthalate (DMP) in ore flotation
      has led to DMP-heavy metals combined pollution, which causes the abiotic
      degradation of DMP in the environment more complex. This study focused on the
      effect of Cu and Pb on photodegradation of DMP. The major mechanism of inhibiting
      effect of Cu and Pb on degradation of DMP involved their speciation and
      combination. It was found that the Cu (5 mg/L, I = 95.4%) and Pb (5 mg/L, I =
      100%) could inhibit the photodegradation of DMP. The main species that inhibit
      the DMP degradation were Cu(OH)+ and Pb(OH)+, respectively. The intensity of the
      UV-Vis absorbance of DMP was obviously related to the concentration of Cu2+ (R2 =
      0.8655) or Pb2+ (R2 = 0.9019) ions. Fluorescence quenching effect of Cu2+ (R2 >
      0.9946), Pb2+ (R2 > 0.6879) on DMP is strongly correlated with the concentration
      of ions. And the equilibrium membrane dialysis experiment has also verified the
      combination of DMP and Cu, Pb. These results are useful to understand the effect
      mechanism of metal species on the photodegradation of organic chemicals.

PMID- 27639464
TI  - Competitive adsorption of toxic metals on bentonite and use of chitosan as
      flocculent coagulant to speed up the settling of generated clay suspensions.
AB  - Evaluation of modified Algerian clay as mineral adsorbent was done for its
      adsorbing capacity on copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) cations. The results obtained
      show a rapid kinetic adsorption for both metals (less than 2 h) following the
      pseudo-second order model with high elimination rates of 67.2 and 61.8% for Cu
      and Zn respectively. The adsorption isotherms analyzed with Langmuir model
      revealed a correlation with the experimental values. While the use of obtained
      chitosan at room temperature, as flocculent coagulant, accelerates the
      decantation of the colloidal particles in suspension generated after adsorption
      process.

PMID- 27639465
TI  - Transformation and speciation of typical heavy metals in soil aquifer treatment
      system during long time recharging with secondary effluent: Depth distribution
      and combination.
AB  - Soil aquifer treatment (SAT) systems rely on extensive physical and
      biogeochemical processes in the vadose zone and aquifer for water quality
      improvement. In this study, the distribution, quantitative changes, as well as
      the speciation characteristics of heavy metals in different depth of soils of a
      two-year operated lab-scale SAT was explored. A majority of the heavy metals in
      the recharged secondary effluent were efficiently trapped by the steady-state
      operated SAT (removal efficiency ranged from 74.7% to 98.2%). Thus, significant
      accumulations of 31.7% for Cd, 15.9% for Cu, 15.3% for Zn and 8.6% for Cr were
      observed for the top soil after 730 d operation, leading to the concentration (in
      MUg g-1) of those four heavy metals of the packed soil increased from 0.51, 46.7,
      61.0 and 35.7 to 0.66, 54.2, 70.4 and 38.8, respectively. By contrast, the
      accumulation of Mn and Pb were quite low. The residual species were the
      predominant fraction of the six heavy metals (ranged for 59.8-82.4%), followed by
      oxidisable species. Although the Zn, Cr, Cd, Cu and Mn were efficiently bounded
      onto the oxide components within the soil, the percentage of the labile metal
      fractions (water-, acid-exchangeable and reducible metal fractions) exhibited a
      slight increasing after 2 Y operation. Significantly heavy metals accumulation
      and slightly decreasing of the proportion of the stable fractions indicated a
      potentially higher environmental hazard for those six heavy metals after long
      term SAT operation (especially for Cu, Zn and Cd). Finally, a linear relationship
      between the accumulation rate of metal species and the variation of soil organic
      carbon concentration and water extractable organic carbon was demonstrated.

PMID- 27639466
TI  - The rate-determining step in a low temperature PCDD/F formation from oxidative
      breakdown of native carbon in MSWI fly ash.
AB  - We developed a phenomenological approach to explain the kinetic experimental data
      of PCDD/F formation/destruction based on a reaction mechanism model at the
      congener group level. In the present work, we investigated the formation and
      destruction of PCDD/F on fly ash as a function of time at 280  degrees C,
      chlorine mass balance, evolution of the total equivalent toxicity and kinetic
      modelling. We determined that the volatilization process is negligible and that
      the reactive processes at short reaction times only become important above 300 
      degrees C. The results provide a substantial improvement on existing studies. We
      experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, that there is a correlation
      between the oxidative breakdown of native carbon and PCDD/F de novo synthesis.
      Data processing by our kinetic model showed that the formation of oxygen
      complexes C(O) was the determining step for de novo synthesis of PCDD/F. Indeed,
      the calculated reaction time at which the PCDD/F concentration was at a maximum
      (850 min) was greater than that calculated for the oxygen complexes C(O) (435
      min). Moreover, the experimental carbon conversion efficiency for PCDD/F
      production (0.0032% at 600 min maximum) was in a very good agreement with the
      theoretical conversion (0.0041%).

PMID- 27639467
TI  - Oxidative stress responses and insights into the sensitivity of the earthworms
      Metaphire guillelmi and Eisenia fetida to soil cadmium.
AB  - Soil toxicological tests are commonly performed using Eisenia fetida as the
      standard earthworm species, but it is tolerant to a wide range of pollutants.
      Therefore, the inclusion of susceptible species is crucial for the accurate
      estimation of soil contamination. In this study, we examined the sensitivity to
      soil cadmium (Cd) of anecic Metaphire guillelmi and epigeic E. fetida by
      measuring multiple indexes of oxidative stress. Using subcellular partitioning
      analysis, we further elucidated the inherent mechanism underlying the species
      specific sensitivity of the two earthworm species. Among the battery of
      biochemical indexes, reactive oxygen species and protein carbonyl groups served
      as sensitive biomarkers. According to their respective response thresholds, M.
      guillelmi was more sensitive than E. fetida and they differed in their dose
      response relationships. In E. fetida, the activities of three antioxidant
      enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase
      (GST), exhibited a hormesis-like U-shaped dose-response relationship, while in M.
      guillelmi SOD, glutathione peroxidase (an analogue of CAT) and GST showed an
      inverted U-shaped relationship. The concentrations of Cd in the subcellular
      fractions and whole body of the earthworms well fit (R2>0.9) a saturation model
      versus bioavailable Cd concentrations determined by the diffusive gradients in
      thin films technique. Despite the lower accumulation capacity of M. guillelmi,
      the Cd-binding capacity (Cmax) of its subcellular heat-stable protein fraction,
      the so-called biologically detoxified metal pool, was 2.7 times lower than that
      of E. fetida, whereas the Cd binding affinity (logK) of its heat-denatured
      protein fraction, i.e. the metal-sensitive fraction, was 3.0 times higher, which
      accounted for the high susceptibility of M. guillelmi to soil Cd. Our results
      suggest that because of their sensitivity, as exemplified by M. guillelmi, native
      earthworm species should be taken into account in soil risk assessments to avoid
      underestimation of the toxicity of various pollutants.

PMID- 27639468
TI  - Quantity of flowback and produced waters from unconventional oil and gas
      exploration.
AB  - The management and disposal of flowback and produced waters (FP water) is one of
      the greatest challenges associated with unconventional oil and gas development.
      The development and production of unconventional natural gas and oil is projected
      to increase in the coming years, and a better understanding of the volume and
      quality of FP water is crucial for the safe management of the associated
      wastewater. We analyzed production data using multiple statistical methods to
      estimate the total FP water generated per well from six of the major
      unconventional oil and gas formations in the United States. The estimated median
      volume ranges from 1.7 to 14.3millionL (0.5 to 3.8milliongal) of FP per well over
      the first 5-10years of production. Using temporal volume production and water
      quality data, we show a rapid increase of the salinity associated with a decrease
      of FP production rates during the first months of unconventional oil and gas
      production. Based on mass-balance calculations, we estimate that only 4-8% of FP
      water is composed of returned hydraulic fracturing fluids, while the remaining 92
      96% of FP water is derived from naturally occurring formation brines that is
      extracted together with oil and gas. The salinity and chemical composition of the
      formation brines are therefore the main limiting factors for beneficial reuse of
      unconventional oil and gas wastewater.

PMID- 27639470
TI  - On-road vehicle emissions and their control in China: A review and outlook.
AB  - The large (26-fold over the past 25years) increase in the on-road vehicle fleet
      in China has raised sustainability concerns regarding air pollution prevention,
      energy conservation, and climate change mitigation. China has established
      integrated emission control policies and measures since the 1990s, including
      implementation of emission standards for new vehicles, inspection and maintenance
      programs for in-use vehicles, improvement in fuel quality, promotion of
      sustainable transportation and alternative fuel vehicles, and traffic management
      programs. As a result, emissions of major air pollutants from on-road vehicles in
      China have peaked and are now declining despite increasing vehicle population. As
      might be expected, progress in addressing vehicle emissions has not always been
      smooth and challenges such as the lack of low sulfur fuels, frauds over
      production conformity and in-use inspection tests, and unreliable retrofit
      programs have been encountered. Considering the high emission density from
      vehicles in East China, enhanced vehicle, fuel and transportation strategies will
      be required to address vehicle emissions in China. We project the total vehicle
      population in China to reach 400-500 million by 2030. Serious air pollution
      problems in many cities of China, in particular high ambient PM2.5 concentration,
      have led to pressure to accelerate the progress on vehicle emission reduction. A
      notable example is the draft China 6 emission standard released in May 2016,
      which contains more stringent emission limits than those in the Euro 6
      regulations, and adds a real world emission testing protocol and a 48-h
      evaporation testing procedure including diurnal and hot soak emissions. A
      scenario (PC[1]) considered in this study suggests that increasingly stringent
      standards for vehicle emissions could mitigate total vehicle emissions of HC, CO,
      NOX and PM2.5 in 2030 by approximately 39%, 57%, 59% and 79%, respectively,
      compared with 2013 levels. With additional actions to control the future light
      duty passenger vehicle population growth and use, and introduce alternative fuels
      and new energy vehicles, the China total vehicle emissions of HC, CO, NOX and
      PM2.5 in 2030 could be reduced by approximately 57%, 71%, 67% and 84%,
      respectively, (the PC[2] scenario) relative to 2013. This paper provides detailed
      policy roadmaps and technical options related to these future emission reductions
      for governmental stakeholders.

PMID- 27639469
TI  - Distribution of arsenic and other metals in crayfish tissues (Procambarus
      clarkii) under different production practices.
AB  - Louisiana is one of the world's largest producer of crayfish. Arsenic (As) and
      other metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) concentrations were determined in crayfish
      tissues, plant and soil samples collected from Louisiana paddy rice fields, where
      crayfish/rice rotation farming is a common practice. The samples were collected
      from November 2013 to April 2014 from three different crayfish farming systems.
      Concentration of As in rice grain, rice straw, and native vegetation ranged
      between 0.33 and 0.41, 3.14-4.93, and 3.26-5.89mgkg-1, respectively. The highest
      As levels in the crayfish external and internal body parts were found in gill
      (4.04+/-1.70mgkg-1), followed by hepatopancreas (3.42+/-1.57mgkg-1), exoskeleton
      (1.52+/-0.85mgkg-1), and muscle (1.50+/-0.69mgkg-1). Positive correlations
      between As levels in the crayfish muscle and the plant tissue on which they feed
      were found in all farming systems (r=0.405-0.438). The biomagnification factor
      (BMF) of As in different tissues varied between 0.29 and 1.08, having gill and
      hepatopancreas were the highest As accumulation while the lowest biomagnification
      was observed in crayfish muscle tissues which is a food source for human. The As
      levels along with other metals in crayfish muscle tissue were in acceptable
      levels for human consumption under all crayfish/rice rotation practices. Further
      studies are needed in determining the percentage of organic and inorganic arsenic
      in crayfish tissue.

PMID- 27639471
TI  - Legacy and emerging contaminants in meltwater of three Alpine glaciers.
AB  - Meltwater samples collected in early and late summer from three Alpine glaciers
      were analysed to determine the occurrence of POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants:
      DDTs, HCHs and PCBs) and emerging contaminants (current used pesticides and
      polycyclic musk fragrances). For legacy POPs, we reconstructed a concentration
      time series using data from previous surveys in the same areas (starting from
      2000). The results suggest a declining tendency of these compounds, probably
      related to the introduction of international regulations, which has led the
      strong use reduction and ban of these compounds. Among the analysed current used
      pesticides the terbuthylazine and chlorpyrifos were found in all the analysed
      samples. The experimental results were in line with the prediction of the OECD
      tool screening model, which was applied to estimate the potential of these
      substances to undergo regional-scale atmospheric transport processes. Temporal
      and spatial differences in concentrations for these compounds were related to the
      timing of applications, weather conditions and crop distribution along the
      adjacent Po River Plain. Despite model predictions, the herbicide pendimethalin
      was never detected, probably due to the lower use of this compound in the
      agricultural practices. Conversely, concentrations of polycyclic musk fragrances
      galaxolide and tonalide were more homogeneous both temporally and spatially, in
      agreement with their continuous release from emission sources.

PMID- 27639472
TI  - PAHs uptake and translocation in Cinnamomum camphora leaves from Shanghai, China.
AB  - Foliage uptake and inner-leaf translocation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
      (PAHs) by Cinnamomum camphora from different urbanized areas were comparatively
      investigated in this study. Spatial and seasonal variations of ?16PAHs in leaves
      were observed, likely due to the diversity of leaf wax contents sampled in
      different seasons and locations. A negative correlation between the wax contents
      and ?16PAHs concentrations in the cuticular wax was observed. The low values of
      TFf-m (translocation factor from foliar dust to mesophyll) indicated a poor
      translocation ability of PAHs from the foliar dust to the mesophyll. However, the
      transportation of PAHs from the foliar dust to the cuticular wax was the primary
      pathway of leaf accumulation, and TFf-w (translocation factor from foliar dust to
      cuticular wax) values showed an increasing tendency of low molecular weight (LMW)
      PAHs and a decreasing tendency of high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs. This result
      indicated a rapid diffusion of gas-phase PAHs with LMW and a slow desorption of
      the particle-bound PAHs with HMW in the foliar dust. The concentrations of PAHs
      pollutants followed an obvious order of Rural area>Suburb area>Urban area in
      winter, and the higher contaminated locations were associated with some pollution
      sources nearby. Furthermore, the results of principal component analysis with
      multiple linear regression analysis analysis indicated that PAHs in leaves
      derived mainly from vehicle emissions. Overall, the accumulation and
      transformation of PAHs in leaves suggests the extensive amount of atmospheric
      pollutant release in high urbanization area.

PMID- 27639473
TI  - Ecophysiological responses of young mangrove species Rhizophora apiculata (Blume)
      to different chromium contaminated environments.
AB  - Many mangrove forests have suffered from the contaminated environments near
      industrial areas. This study addresses the question how these environments
      influence the renewal of mangrove forests. To this end ecophysiological responses
      of the young mangrove species Rhizophora apiculata (Blume) grown under
      combinations of the factors heavy metals (here chromium), nutrition and
      soil/water environment were analyzed. We tested the hypothesis that soil/water
      conditions and nutrient status of the soil strongly influence the toxic effect of
      chromium. Seedlings of R. apiculata were grown in three different soil/water
      environments (natural saline soil with brackish water, salt-leached soil with
      fresh water and salt-leached-sterilized soil with fresh water) treated with
      different levels of chromium and NPK fertilizer. The system was inundated twice a
      day as similar to natural tidal condition in the mangrove wetland in the south of
      Vietnam. The experiments were carried out for 6months. Growth data of root, leaf
      and stem, root cell number and stomata number were recorded and analyzed. Results
      showed that growth of R. apiculata is slower in natural saline soil/water
      condition. The effect of chromium and of nutrients respectively depends on the
      soil/water condition. Under high concentrations of chromium, NPK fertilizer
      amplifies the toxic effect of chromium. Stomata density increases under chromium
      stress and is largest under the combination of chromium and salty soil/water
      condition. From the data a nonlinear multivariate regression model was derived
      capturing the toxicity threshold of R. apiculata under different treatment
      combinations.

PMID- 27639474
TI  - Combined in situ effects of metals and nutrients on marine biofilms: Shifts in
      the diatom assemblage structure and biological traits.
AB  - The effects of multiple stressors on marine diatom assemblages are still poorly
      understood. The interactive effects of metals and nutrients were assessed in two
      coastal biofilms grown at a reference site and a historically contaminated site.
      The biofilms were exposed in situ to pulse exposures of metals (Zn and Pb) and
      nutrients (N and P) individually and in combination to mimic patterns of
      discharge in the study area. The reference community's structure (composition and
      abundance of taxa) was modified after metals and/or nutrients exposure, but each
      stressor acted in different way. Irrespective of the stressors or scenario, the
      abundance of the dominant species Opephora krumbeinii declined, and it is
      proposed as sensitive species. Nutrient supply favoured the proliferation of
      certain species with high nutrient tolerances (Fragilaria famelica, Tabularia
      ktenoeides), whereas metals promoted the colonisation of metal-tolerant species,
      e.g., Berkeleya fennica, Opephora marina. Simultaneous exposure induced an
      amplification of levels of accumulated metals, chlorophyll a and EPS contents and
      triggered the succession of species towards tolerant species with specific
      growth. Metals seemed to act as a selective factor of metal-tolerant species, and
      nutrients favoured the proliferation of those species forming zig-zag colonies
      (Neosynedra provincialis), mucous tubes (Berkeleya spp.) and motile diatoms
      (Navicula salinicola, Nitzschia incognita), resulting in biofilms with a more
      complex architecture. The diatom communities from the historically contaminated
      site were more resistant to pulse exposure, but metals or nutrients loads induced
      overproduction of mucilage. We propose that growth forms may complement taxonomic
      approaches and provide a quick and easy way to detect community changes related
      to metal and nutrient pollution.

PMID- 27639475
TI  - Nitrogen transforming bacteria within a full-scale partially saturated vertical
      subsurface flow constructed wetland treating urban wastewater.
AB  - The aim of this study was to characterize the nitrogen transforming bacterial
      communities within a partially saturated vertical subsurface flow constructed
      wetland (VF) treating urban wastewater in southern Brazil. The VF had a surface
      area of 3144m2, and was divided into four wetland cells, out of which two were
      operated while the other two rested, alternating cycles of 30days. The nitrifying
      and denitrifying bacterial communities were characterized in wetland cell 3
      (764m2 surface area) over a period of 12months by using the FISH technique.
      Samples were collected monthly (from Feb 2014 to Feb 2015) from different layers
      within the vertical profile, during operation and rest periods, comprising a
      total of 6 sampling campaigns while the cell was in operation and another 6 when
      the cell was at rest. This wetland cell operated with an average organic loading
      rate (OLR) of 4gCODm-2d-1 and a hydraulic loading rate of 24.5mmd-1. The rest
      periods of the wetland cell presented influences on the abundance of ammonia
      oxidizing bacteria (AOB) (8% and 3% for feed and rest periods, respectively), and
      nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) (5% and 2% for feed and rest periods,
      respectively). However, there was no influence of the rest periods on the
      denitrifying bacteria. AOB were only identified in the top layer (AOB beta
      proteobacteria) in both operational and rest periods. On the other hand, the NOB
      (Nistrospirae and Nitrospina gracilis) were identified in feed periods just in
      the top layer and during rest periods just in the intermediate layer. The
      denitrifying bacteria (Pseudomonas spp. and Thiobacillus denitrificans) were
      identified from the intermediate layer downwards, and remained stable in both
      periods. Based on the identified bacterial dynamics, the partially saturated VF
      wetland operated under low OLR enabled favorable conditions for simultaneous
      nitrification and denitrification.

PMID- 27639476
TI  - Uranium contaminated drinking water linked to leukaemia-Revisiting a case study
      from South Africa taking alternative exposure pathways into account.
AB  - The paper presents results of a follow-up to an earlier study which established a
      geospatial link between naturally elevated uranium (U) levels in borehole water
      and haematological abnormalities in local residents serving as a proxy for
      leukaemia prevalent in the area. While the original study focussed on drinking
      water only, this paper also explores alternative exposure pathways including the
      inhalation of dust and the food chain. U-levels in grass and tissue of sheep
      generally reflect U-levels in nearby borehole water and exceed background
      concentrations by 20 to nearly 500 times. U-levels in sheep tissue increase with
      age of the animal. Wool showed the highest U-concentration followed by other non
      consumable tissue such as hooves, teeth and bones. Lower levels occur in edible
      parts such as meat and inner organs. The U-deposition rate in wool is several
      orders of magnitudes higher than in bone as a known target organ. Wool is an easy
      to-sample non-invasive bioindicator for U-levels in meat. Depending on the
      original water content, dried samples show up to 5 times higher U-levels than
      identical fresh material. Contaminated drinking water is the main exposure
      pathway for farm residents resulting in U-uptake rates exceeding the WHO's
      tolerable daily intake (TDI) limit by up to 900%. This is somewhat mitigated by
      the fact that U-speciation is dominated by a neutral calcium-uranyl-carbonate
      complex of relatively low toxicity. Commercially available household filters are
      able to significantly reduce U-levels in well water and are thus recommended as a
      short-term intervention. Based on average consumption rates sheep meat, as local
      staple food, accounts for 34% of the TDI for U. Indoor levels of radon should be
      monitored, too, since it is linked to both, U and leukaemia. With elevated U
      levels being present in other geological formations across South Africa boreholes
      in these areas should be surveyed.

PMID- 27639477
TI  - Mapping the ecosystem service delivery chain: Capacity, flow, and demand
      pertaining to aesthetic experiences in mountain landscapes.
AB  - Accounting for the spatial connectivity between the provision of ecosystem
      services (ES) and their beneficiaries (supply-benefit chain) is fundamental to
      understanding ecosystem functioning and its management. However, the
      interrelationships of the specific chain links within ecosystems and the actual
      benefits that flow from natural landscapes to surrounding land have rarely been
      analyzed. We present a spatially explicit model for the analysis of one cultural
      ecosystem service (aesthetic experience), which integrates the complete ecosystem
      service delivery chain for Puez-Geisler Nature Park (Italy): (1) The potential
      service stock (ES capacity) relies on an expert-based land use ranking matrix,
      (2) the actual supply (ES flow) is based on visibility properties of observation
      points along recreational routes, (3) the beneficiaries of the service (ES
      demand) are derived from socioeconomic data as a measure of the visitation rate
      to the recreation location, and (4) the supply-demand relationship (ES budget)
      addresses the spatially explicit oversupply and undersupply of ES. The results
      indicate that potential ES stocks are substantially higher in core and buffer
      zones of protected areas than in surrounding land owing to the specific landscape
      composition. ES flow maps reveal service delivery to 80% of the total area
      studied, with the highest actual service supply to locations with long and open
      vistas. ES beneficiary analyses show the highest demand for aesthetic experiences
      in all-season tourist destinations like Val Badia and Val Gardena, where both
      recreational amenity and overnight stays are equally high. ES budget maps
      identify ES hot and cold spots in terms of ES delivery, and they highlight ES
      undersupply in nature protection buffer zones although they are characterized by
      highest ES capacity. We show how decision/policy makers can use the presented
      methodology to plan landscape protection measures and develop specific regulation
      strategies for visitors based on the ES delivery chain concept.

PMID- 27639479
TI  - Phylogenetic relationships of Proboscoida Broch, 1910 (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa): Are
      traditional morphological diagnostic characters relevant for the delimitation of
      lineages at the species, genus, and family levels?
AB  - Overlapping variation of morphological characters can lead to misinterpretation
      in taxonomic diagnoses and the delimitation of different lineages. This is the
      case for hydrozoans that have traditionally been united in the family
      Campanulariidae, a group known for its wide morphological variation and
      complicated taxonomic history. In a recently proposed phylogenetic classification
      of leptothecate hydrozoans, this family was restricted to a more narrow sense
      while a larger clade containing most species traditionally classified in
      Campanulariidae, along with members of Bonneviellidae, was established as the
      suborder Proboscoida. We used molecular data to infer the phylogenetic
      relationships among campanulariids and assess the traditional classification of
      the family, as well as the new classification scheme for the group. The congruity
      and relevance of diagnostic characters were also evaluated. While mostly
      consistent with the new phylogenetic classification of Proboscoida, our increased
      taxon sampling resulted in some conflicts at the family level, specially
      regarding the monophyly of Clytiidae and Obeliidae. Considering the traditional
      classification, only Obeliidae is close to its original scope (as subfamily
      Obeliinae). At the genus level, Campanularia and Clytia are not monophyletic.
      Species with Obelia-like medusae do not form a monophyletic group, nor do species
      with fixed gonophores, indicating that these characters do not readily diagnose
      different genera. Finally, the species Orthopyxis integra, Clytia gracilis, and
      Obelia dichotoma are not monophyletic, suggesting that most of their current
      diagnostic characters are not informative for their delimitation. Several
      diagnostic characters in this group need to be reassessed, with emphasis on their
      variation, in order to have a consistent taxonomic and phylogenetic framework for
      the classification of campanulariid hydrozoans.

PMID- 27639478
TI  - Chronic moderate ethanol intake differentially regulates vitamin D hydroxylases
      gene expression in kidneys and xenografted breast cancer cells in female mice.
AB  - Factors affecting vitamin D metabolism may preclude anti-carcinogenic effects of
      its active metabolite calcitriol. Chronic ethanol consumption is an etiological
      factor for breast cancer that affects vitamin D metabolism; however, the
      mechanisms underlying this causal association have not been fully clarified.
      Using a murine model, we examined the effects of chronic moderate ethanol intake
      on tumoral and renal CYP27B1 and CYP24A1 gene expression, the enzymes involved in
      calcitriol synthesis and inactivation, respectively. Ethanol (5% w/v) was
      administered to 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-treated or control mice during one month.
      Afterwards, human breast cancer cells were xenografted and treatments continued
      another month. Ethanol intake decreased renal Cyp27b1 while increased tumoral
      CYP24A1 gene expression.Treatment with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 significantly
      stimulated CYP27B1 in tumors of non-alcohol-drinking mice, while increased both
      renal and tumoral CYP24A1. Coadministration of ethanol and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3
      reduced in 60% renal 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-dependent Cyp24a1 upregulation
      (P<0.05). We found 5 folds higher basal Cyp27b1 than Cyp24a1 gene expression in
      kidneys, whereas this relation was inverted in tumors, showing 5 folds more
      CYP24A1 than CYP27B1. Tumor expression of the calcitriol target cathelicidin
      increased only in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-treated non-ethanol drinking animals
      (P<0.05). Mean final body weight was higher in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 treated
      groups (P<0.001). Overall, these results suggest that moderate ethanol intake
      decreases renal and tumoral 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 bioconversion into calcitriol,
      while favors degradation of both vitamin D metabolites in breast cancer cells.
      The latter may partially explain why alcohol consumption is associated with
      vitamin D deficiency and increased breast cancer risk and progression.

PMID- 27639480
TI  - Cryptic speciation and limited hybridization within Lumbricus earthworms
      (Clitellata: Lumbricidae).
AB  - Cryptic mitochondrial (mt) lineages are known to exist in the earthworm
      morphospecies Lumbricus rubellus and L. terrestris. The latter was recently split
      into two species, L. terrestris and L. herculeus, based on large genetic
      distances and a statistical difference in body size. There is support for the
      separation of some lineages in L. rubellus into species, whereas other lineages,
      separated by similar mt genetic distances, have been found to be part of the same
      species. However, no study has evaluated the status of the cryptic mt lineages in
      L. terrestris-L. herculeus and L. rubellus using nuclear genes. We use a
      combination of methods to reveal extensive cryptic speciation and limited
      hybridization in Lumbricus, based on one nuclear (H3) and one mitochondrial (COI)
      marker. Using a Bayesian multi-locus species delimitation method, as well as
      single gene haplotype networks and gene trees, we delimit seven well supported
      cryptic species within the morphospecies L. rubellus, and confirm the split
      within the species-pair L. terrestris-L. herculeus. Limited hybridization was
      found between the most common species of L. rubellus (A) in northern Europe and
      two other species (B and H) in this complex, as well as between L. terrestris and
      L. herculeus. Deep mt divergence was found within L. terrestris s.str. but no
      support for further splitting of this taxon was found. Both L. rubellus and L.
      terrestris are well studied model organisms, and considering that cryptic species
      and hybridization were found within them, it is important that they are properly
      identified in future studies.

PMID- 27639482
TI  - Transnational ties and the health of sub-Saharan African migrants: The moderating
      role of gender and family separation.
AB  - Recent scholarship has focused on the role that cross-border social and economic
      ties play in shaping health outcomes for migrant populations. Nevertheless, the
      extant empirical work on this topic has paid little attention to the health
      impacts of cross-border separation from close family members. In this paper we
      examine the association between cross-border ties-and cross-border separation
      with the health of sub-Saharan African (SSA) migrant adults living in
      metropolitan France using data from the nationally representative "Trajectoire et
      Origines" survey (n = 1980 SSA migrants). In logistic regression analyses we find
      that remitting money and having a child abroad are each associated with poor
      health among women, but not men. The effect of remittances on health is also
      modified by the location of one's children: remittance sending is associated with
      poor health only for SSA-migrants separated from their children. These findings
      underscore the importance of examining both cross-border connection and cross
      border separation in studies of immigrant health, and also underscore the
      heterogeneous relationships between cross-border ties and health for men and
      women. This is the first study to our knowledge that examines the relationship
      between cross-border ties and health for migrants in Europe, with a focus on SSA
      migrants in France. These findings have important implications for the health of
      the growing immigrant and refugee populations in Europe and around the globe.

PMID- 27639481
TI  - Contraction and stress-dependent growth shape the forebrain of the early chicken
      embryo.
AB  - During early vertebrate development, local constrictions, or sulci, form to
      divide the forebrain into the diencephalon, telencephalon, and optic vesicles.
      These partitions are maintained and exaggerated as the brain tube inflates,
      grows, and bends. Combining quantitative experiments on chick embryos with
      computational modeling, we investigated the biophysical mechanisms that drive
      these changes in brain shape. Chemical perturbations of contractility indicated
      that actomyosin contraction plays a major role in the creation of initial
      constrictions (Hamburger-Hamilton stages HH11-12), and fluorescent staining
      revealed that F-actin is circumferentially aligned at all constrictions. A finite
      element model based on these findings shows that the observed shape changes are
      consistent with circumferential contraction in these regions. To explain why
      sulci continue to deepen as the forebrain expands (HH12-20), we speculate that
      growth depends on wall stress. This idea was examined by including stress
      dependent growth in a model with cerebrospinal fluid pressure and bending
      (cephalic flexure). The results given by the model agree with observed
      morphological changes that occur in the brain tube under normal and reduced eCSF
      pressure, quantitative measurements of relative sulcal depth versus time, and
      previously published patterns of cell proliferation. Taken together, our results
      support a biphasic mechanism for forebrain morphogenesis consisting of
      differential contractility (early) and stress-dependent growth (late).

PMID- 27639483
TI  - The causal effect of increased primary schooling on child mortality in Malawi:
      Universal primary education as a natural experiment.
AB  - The primary objective of this analysis is to investigate the causal effect of
      mother's schooling on under-five health - and the passageways through which
      schooling propagates - by exploiting the exogenous variability in schooling
      prompted by the 1994 universal primary schooling program in Malawi. This
      education policy, which saw the elimination of tuition fees across all primary
      schooling grades, creates an ideal setting for observing the causal influence of
      improved primary school enrollment on the under-five fatality rates of the
      subsequent generation. Our analysis uses data from three waves of the nationally
      representative Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2000, 2004/05,
      and 2010. To address the potential endogeneity of schooling, we employ the
      mother's age at implementation of the tuition-free primary school policy in 1994
      as an instrumental variable for the prospect of finishing primary level
      instruction. The results suggest that spending one year in school translated to a
      3.22 percentage point reduction in mortality for infants and a 6.48 percent
      reduction for children under age five years. For mothers younger than 19 years,
      mortality was reduced by 5.95 percentage points. These figures remained
      approximately the same even after adjusting for potential confounders. However,
      we failed to find any statistically meaningful effect of the mother's education
      on neonatal survival. The juvenile fatality estimates we find are weakly robust
      to several robustness checks. We also explored the potential mechanisms by which
      increased maternal schooling might help enhance child survival. The findings
      indicated that an added year of motherly learning considerably improves the
      prospect of prenatal care use, literacy levels, father's educational level, and
      alters fertility behavior. Our results suggest that increasing the primary
      schooling prospects for young women might help reduce under-five mortality in
      less-industrialized regions experiencing high under-five fatalities such as in
      sub-Saharan Africa.

PMID- 27639484
TI  - First-generation Korean immigrants' barriers to healthcare and their coping
      strategies in the US.
AB  - This paper examines first-generation Korean immigrants' barriers to healthcare in
      the US and their strategies for coping with these issues by analyzing survey data
      from 507 Korean immigrants and in-depth interviews with 120 Korean immigrants in
      the New York-New Jersey area. It reports that more than half of Korean immigrants
      have barriers to healthcare in the US, with the language barrier being the most
      frequent response, followed by having no health insurance. Korean immigrants are
      not passive, but rather active entities who display coping strategies for these
      barriers, such as seeing co-ethnic doctors in the US, seeking Hanbang
      (traditional Korean medicine) in the US, and taking medical tours to the home
      country. However, their coping strategies are far removed from formal US
      healthcare as their behaviors are still restricted to the informal healthcare
      within the ethnic community or home country. This study methodologically and
      theoretically contributes to the literature on immigrants' healthcare behaviors
      by using a mixed-method approach and developing a specific framework for one
      particular immigrant group.

PMID- 27639485
TI  - How does implant distribution affect 3D correction and bone-screw forces in
      thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis spinal instrumentation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optimal implant densities and configurations for thoracic spine
      instrumentation to treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis remain unknown. The
      objective was to computationally assess the biomechanical effects of implant
      distribution on 3D curve correction and bone-implant forces. METHODS: 3D patient
      specific biomechanical spine models based on a multibody dynamic approach were
      created for 9 Lenke 1 patients who underwent posterior instrumentation (main
      thoracic Cobb: 43 degrees -70 degrees ). For each case, a factorial design of
      experiments was used to generate 128 virtual implant configurations
      representative of existing implant patterns used in clinical practice. All
      instances except implant configuration were the same for each surgical scenario
      simulation. FINDINGS: Simulation of the 128 implant configurations scenarios
      (mean implant density=1.32, range: 0.73-2) revealed differences of 2 degrees  to
      10 degrees  in Cobb angle correction, 2 degrees  to 7 degrees  in thoracic
      kyphosis and 2 degrees  to 7 degrees  in apical vertebral rotation. The use of
      more implants, at the concave side only, was associated with higher Cobb angle
      correction (r=-0.41 to -0.90). Increased implant density was associated with
      higher apical vertebral rotation correction for seven cases (r=-0.20 to -0.48).
      It was also associated with higher bone-screw forces (r=0.22 to 0.64), with an
      average difference between the least and most constrained instrumentation
      constructs of 107N per implant at the end of simulated instrumentation.
      INTERPRETATION: Low-density constructs, with implants mainly placed on the
      concave side, resulted in similar simulated curve correction as the higher
      density patterns. Increasing the number of implants allows for only limited
      improvement of 3D correction and overconstrains the instrumentation construct,
      resulting in increased forces on the implants.

PMID- 27639486
TI  - Adaptive fuzzy prescribed performance control for MIMO nonlinear systems with
      unknown control direction and unknown dead-zone inputs.
AB  - In this study, an adaptive fuzzy prescribed performance control approach is
      developed for a class of uncertain multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear
      systems with unknown control direction and unknown dead-zone inputs. The
      properties of symmetric matrix are exploited to design adaptive fuzzy prescribed
      performance controller, and a Nussbaum-type function is incorporated in the
      controller to estimate the unknown control direction. This method has two
      prominent advantages: it does not require the priori knowledge of control
      direction and only three parameters need to be updated on-line for this MIMO
      systems. It is proved that all the signals in the resulting closed-loop system
      are bounded and that the tracking errors converge to a small residual set with
      the prescribed performance bounds. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is
      validated by simulation results.

PMID- 27639487
TI  - Simplified filtered Smith predictor for MIMO processes with multiple time delays.
AB  - This paper proposes a simplified tuning strategy for the multivariable filtered
      Smith predictor. It is shown that offset-free control can be achieved with step
      references and disturbances regardless of the poles of the primary controller,
      i.e., integral action is not explicitly required. This strategy reduces the
      number of design parameters and simplifies tuning procedure because the implicit
      integrative poles are not considered for design purposes. The simplified approach
      can be used to design continuous-time or discrete-time controllers. Three case
      studies are used to illustrate the advantages of the proposed strategy if
      compared with the standard approach, which is based on the explicit integrative
      action.

PMID- 27639488
TI  - Adaptive integral feedback controller for pitch and yaw channels of an AUV with
      actuator saturations.
AB  - Input saturations and uncertain dynamics are among the practical challenges in
      control of autonomous vehicles. Adaptive control is known as a proper method to
      deal with the uncertain dynamics of these systems. Therefore, incorporating the
      ability to confront with input saturation in adaptive controllers can be
      valuable. In this paper, an adaptive autopilot is presented for the pitch and yaw
      channels of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the presence of input
      saturations. This will be performed by combination of a model reference adaptive
      control (MRAC) with integral state feedback with a modern anti-windup (AW)
      compensator. MRAC with integral state feedback is commonly used in autonomous
      vehicles. However, some proper modifications need to be taken into account in
      order to cope with the saturation problem. To this end, a Riccati-based anti
      windup (AW) compensator is employed. The presented technique is applied to the
      non-linear six degrees of freedom (DOF) model of an AUV and the obtained results
      are compared with that of its baseline method. Several simulation scenarios are
      executed in the pitch and yaw channels to evaluate the controller performance.
      Moreover, effectiveness of proposed adaptive controller is comprehensively
      investigated by implementing Monte Carlo simulations. The obtained results verify
      the performance of proposed method.

PMID- 27639489
TI  - Green synthesis of graphene-silver nanocomposites and its application as a potent
      marine antifouling agent.
AB  - Fouling of marine surfaces has been a perpetual problem ever since the days of
      the early sailors. The tenacious attachment of seaweed and invertebrates to man
      made surfaces, notably on ship hulls, has incurred undesirable economic losses.
      Graphene receives great attention in the materials world for its unique
      combination of physical and chemical properties. Herein, we present a novel 2
      step synthesis method of graphene-silver nanocomposites which bypasses the
      formation of graphene oxide (GO), and produces silver nanoparticles supported on
      graphene sheets through a mild hydrothermal reduction process. The graphene-Ag
      (GAg) nanocomposite combines the antimicrobial property of silver nanoparticles
      and the unique structure of graphene as a support material, with potent marine
      antifouling properties. The GAg nanocomposite was composed of micron-scaled
      graphene flakes with clusters of silver nanoparticles. The silver nanoparticles
      were estimated to be between 72 and 86nm (SEM observations) while the crystallite
      size of the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was estimated between 1 and 5nm. The
      nanocomposite also exhibited the SERS effect. GAg was able to inhibit Halomonas
      pacifica, a model biofilm-causing microbe, from forming biofilms with as little
      as 1.3wt.% loading of Ag. All GAg samples displayed significant biofilm
      inhibition property, with the sample recording the highest Ag loading (4.9wt.%
      Ag) associated with a biofilm inhibition of 99.6%. Moreover, GAg displayed
      antiproliferative effects on marine microalgae, Dunaliella tertiolecta and
      Isochrysis sp. and inhibited the growth of the organisms by more than 80% after
      96h. The marine antifouling properties of GAg were a synergy of the biocidal
      AgNPs anchored on the stable yet flexible graphene sheets, providing maximum
      active contact surface areas to the target organisms.

PMID- 27639490
TI  - Microfluidic synthesis of multifunctional liposomes for tumour targeting.
AB  - Nanotechnology has started a new era in engineering multifunctional nanoparticles
      for diagnosis and therapeutics by incorporating therapeutic drugs, targeting
      ligands, stimuli-responsive release and imaging molecules. However, more
      functionality requires more complex synthesis processes, resulting in poor
      reproducibility, low yield and high production cost, hence difficulties in
      clinical translation. Herein we report a one-step microfluidic method for making
      multifunctional liposomes. Three formulations were prepared using this simple
      method, including plain liposomes, PEGylated liposomes and folic acid
      functionalised liposomes, all with a fluorescence dye encapsulated for imaging.
      The size and surface properties of these liposomes can be precisely controlled by
      simply tuning the flow rate ratio and the ratio of the lipids to PEGylated lipid
      (DSPE-PEG2000) and to the DSPE-PEG2000-Folate, respectively. The synthesised
      liposomes remained stable under mimic serum conditions. Compared to the plain
      liposomes and PEGylated liposomes, the targeted folic acid functionalised
      liposomes exhibited enhanced cellular uptake by the FA receptor positive SKOV3
      cells, but not the negative MCF7 cells, and this enhanced uptake could be
      inhibited by adding excess free folic acid, indicating high specificity of FA
      ligand-receptor endocytosis. Further evaluation using the 3D tumour spheroid
      model also showed higher internalisation of the targeted liposome formulation in
      comparison with the PEGylated one. To the best of our knowledge, this work
      demonstrates for the first time the versatility of this microfluidic method for
      making different liposome formulations in a single step, their superior
      physicochemical properties as well as the enhanced cellular uptake and tumour
      spheroid uptake of the targeted liposomes.

PMID- 27639491
TI  - A multitechnique approach on adsorption, self-assembly and quercetin
      solubilization by Tetronics(r) micelles in aqueous solutions modulated by
      glycine.
AB  - Ethylene oxide-propylene oxide (EO-PO) block copolymer micelles are useful
      potential nanoreservoirs for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs. Considering that
      glycine is an excipient and can favorably affect the surface/micellar behavior
      and thus improve solubilization power/dispersion stability/wetting
      characteristics we have reported here studies on aqueous solution behavior of two
      commercially available branched block copolymers (Tetronics(r)) with differing
      hydrophobicities namely Tetronics(r) 1307 and 1304, hereafter referred as T1307
      and T1304, in the presence of glycine. Steady state fluorescence studies using
      pyrene as a probe, equilibrium and dynamic surface tension measurements, wetting
      and dispersion stability studies of Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene; PTFE) and
      solubilization studies of a hydrophobic antioxidant/anticancer drug quercetin
      (QN) have been examined. The cloud point (CP) and critical micelle temperature
      (CMT) decrease while micelle hydrodynamic size (Dh) increases with the addition
      of glycine as well as on loading of the drug in the micelles. Water penetration
      through packed PTFE powder and dynamic surface tension confirm the enhanced
      micellization process for aqueous Tetronic(r) solutions in presence of glycine
      and accordingly restricted diffusion for the surfactant molecules towards air
      water and PTFE-water interface. The contact angles for Tetronic(r) solutions in
      presence of glycine indicate moderate decrease. The pressure-area curves of the
      copolymers in water and glycine solutions were also constructed. Surface and
      micellar properties of copolymers are markedly altered in the presence of glycine
      and can be tuned for use of these nanocarriers in delivery systems.

PMID- 27639492
TI  - Supermolecules of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) complexating Herring sperm DNA with
      bio-multiple hydrogen bonding.
AB  - In this study we used the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) as a medium to
      blend with an organic DNA, herring sperm DNA (HSD), to generate PNIPAAm-HSD
      supramolecular complexes. Bio-multiple hydrogen bonding (BMHB) between PNIPAAm
      and HSD was investigated that changed the temperature responsiveness of PNIPAAm
      relatively to the HSD concentrations. With blending the HSD into PNIPAAm matrix,
      the phase separation in solution is completely opposite from that of neat
      PNIPAAm. Surface property in static water contact angle (SWCA) is also opposite
      from that of pure PNIPAAm upon increasing HSD content over 60%. In addition, we
      found that the PNIPAAm and HSD self-assembled a specific triangle-like structure
      at a PNIPAAm-to-HSD weight ratio of 1:4 at 25 degrees C; while the triangle-like
      structure disappeared with increasing temperature to 45 degrees C. Furthermore,
      both PNIPAAm and HSD could be regarded as insulator, but it transformed into a
      semiconductive matter after blending with the HSD. Incorporation of organic DNA
      with hydrogel could significantly change their properties, which might facilitate
      their use as novel materials in bioelectronics.

PMID- 27639493
TI  - [Bilateral choroidal ischemia in preeclampsia/eclampsia: Report of 6 cases].

PMID- 27639494
TI  - [Reproducibility of visual acuity measurement using the ETDRS chart in daily
      clinical practice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate reproducibility of visual acuity measurements using the
      ETDRS chart at successive monthly visits in patients with stable macular
      pathology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Visual acuity was measured using the ETDRS
      chart at 6 consecutive monthly examinations. Relative standard deviation of
      visual acuity was measured for every patient. Analysis of the results by type of
      pathology, age, sex and examiner experience was performed. RESULTS: One hundred
      and three patients were included. Mean patient age was 72.7+/-12.4 years. A total
      of 68.9% of the patients suffered from AMD. Mean visual acuity was 47.4+/-9.5
      ETDRS letters. Mean reproducibility of the measurement estimated by relative
      standard deviation over the 618 examinations was 5.4+/-2.8% (CI95%: 4.9-6%) with
      extremes values of 0.4 and 7.8 letters. Relative standard deviation corresponding
      to the mean ETDRS score (47.4 letters) was 2.5 letters. Reproducibility of visual
      acuity measurement was better in patients under 76 years, pseudophakes, or with a
      visual acuity better than 50 letters (P<0.05). Variability of the measurement
      increased with age (r2=13%, P=0.001) and with low visual acuity (r2=35%,
      P<0.0001) and was larger in patients suffering from AMD than those suffering from
      other conditions. Examiner experience did not seem to influence reproducibility
      of the measurement.

PMID- 27639495
TI  - [Neuro-ophthalmic emergencies].
AB  - Neuro-ophthalmic emergencies can cause life-threatening or sight-threatening
      complications. Various conditions may have acute neuro-ophthalmic manifestations,
      including inflammatory or ischemic processes, as well as tumoral, aneurysmal
      compression or metabolic and systemic diseases. Diplopia related to a partial
      third nerve palsy with pupillary involvement may reveal an intracranial aneurysm.
      Abnormalities of conjugate gaze may reveal an inflammatory or ischemic lesion,
      most often of the brainstem. An intracranial tumor may also manifest itself as a
      single or multiple oculomotor palsy, or causing various visual field defects, due
      to optic nerve, chiasm or retrochiasmal involvement. Arteritic anterior ischemic
      optic neuropathy may be the first manifestation of giant cell arteritis,
      prompting rapid treatment with steroids to prevent contralateral involvement. A
      (painful) Horner syndrome may be the presenting sign of carotid dissection, or it
      may be a sign of a central or thoracic sympathetic lesion. Beyond these classical
      emergencies, this non-exhaustive review will also present more rare clinical
      situations, describing novel algorithms for quick recognition and prompt
      intervention in acute neuro-ophthalmology.

PMID- 27639496
TI  - Case report from Tours Hospital. A 32-year-old woman with acquired Brown's
      syndrome associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

PMID- 27639497
TI  - Influence of different types of astigmatism on visual acuity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the change in visual acuity (VA) produced by different
      types of astigmatism (on the basis of the refractive power and position of the
      principal meridians) on normal accommodating eyes. METHODS: The lens induced
      method was employed to simulate a set of 28 astigmatic blur conditions on
      different healthy emmetropic eyes. Additionally, 24 values of spherical defocus
      were also simulated on the same eyes for comparison. VA was measured in each case
      and the results, expressed in logMAR units, were represented against of the
      modulus of the dioptric power vector (blur strength). RESULTS: LogMAR VA varies
      in a linear fashion with increasing astigmatic blur, being the slope of the line
      dependent on the accommodative demand in each type of astigmatism. However, in
      each case, we found no statistically significant differences between the three
      axes investigated (0 degrees , 45 degrees , 90 degrees ). Non-statistically
      significant differences were found either for the VA achieved with spherical
      myopic defocus (MD) and mixed astigmatism (MA). VA with simple hyperopic
      astigmatism (SHA) was higher than with simple myopic astigmatism (SMA), however,
      in this case non conclusive results were obtained in terms of statistical
      significance. The VA achieved with imposed compound hyperopic astigmatism (CHA)
      was highly influenced by the eye's accommodative response. CONCLUSIONS: VA is
      correlated with the blur strength in a different way for each type of
      astigmatism, depending on the accommodative demand. VA is better when one of the
      focal lines lie on the retina irrespective of the axis orientation; accommodation
      favors this situation.

PMID- 27639498
TI  - Molecular biomarkers in acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common acute leukemia in adults. The
      pathophysiology of this disease is just beginning to be understood at the
      cellular and molecular level, and currently cytogenetic markers are the most
      important for risk stratification and treatment of AML patients. However, with
      the advent of new technologies, the detection of other molecular markers such as
      point mutations and characterization of epigenetic and proteomic profiles, have
      begun to play an important role in how the disease is approached. Recent evidence
      shows that the identification of new AML biomarkers contributes to a better
      understanding of the molecular basis of the disease, is significantly useful in
      screening, diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of AML, as well as the possibility
      of predicting each individual's response to treatment. This review summarizes the
      most relevant molecular (genetic, epigenetic, and protein) biomarkers associated
      with acute myeloid leukemia and discusses their clinical importance in terms of
      risk prediction, diagnosis and prognosis.

PMID- 27639499
TI  - [Analysis of good practices for inhabitant participation in the clinical
      management units of the Andalusian Health Service (Spain)].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To discover good practices for inhabitant participation in the
      clinical management units (CMUs) of the Andalusian Health Service (AHS) (Spain)
      and to explore the reasons perceived by CMU and AHS professionals that may
      influence the presence and distribution of those good practices among the CMU.
      METHODS: Study with mixed methodology carried out in Andalusia (Spain) in two
      phases (2013-2015). Firstly, an online survey was delivered to the Directors of
      the CMUs which had set up an inhabitant participation commission. In a second
      phase, a qualitative study was carried out through semi-structured interviews
      with professionals from the Andalusian Health Service with previous experience in
      inhabitant participation. A descriptive analysis of the quantitative information
      and a semantic content analysis of the qualitative information were carried out.
      RESULTS: 530 CMUs took part in the survey. The inhabitant participation practices
      more often implemented in the CMUs are those related to the informing and
      consultation levels. Twelve professionals were interviewed in the second phase.
      Other practices with higher inhabitant involvement and delegation are secondary.
      The barriers which were identified by professionals are related to the beliefs
      and attitudes of the inhabitants, the professionals, the health system and the
      environment. CONCLUSION: The main practices for inhabitant participation in the
      CMUs are related to the most basic levels of participation. The method and
      dynamics which facilitate inhabitant empowerment within the health system are not
      clearly recognised.

PMID- 27639501
TI  - Blaptica dubia as sentinels for exposure to chemical warfare agents - a pilot
      study.
AB  - The increased interest of terrorist groups in toxic chemicals and chemical
      warfare agents presents a continuing threat to our societies. Early warning and
      detection is a key component for effective countermeasures against such deadly
      agents. Presently available and near term solutions have a number of major
      drawbacks, e.g. lack of automated, remote warning and detection of primarily low
      volatile chemical warfare agents. An alternative approach is the use of animals
      as sentinels for exposure to toxic chemicals. To overcome disadvantages of
      vertebrates the present pilot study was initiated to investigate the suitability
      of South American cockroaches (Blaptica dubia) as warning system for exposure to
      chemical warfare nerve and blister agents. Initial in vitro experiments with
      nerve agents showed an increasing inhibitory potency in the order tabun -
      cyclosarin - sarin - soman - VX of cockroach cholinesterase. Exposure of
      cockroaches to chemical warfare agents resulted in clearly visible and
      reproducible reactions, the onset being dependent on the agent and dose. With
      nerve agents the onset was related to the volatility of the agents. The blister
      agent lewisite induced signs largely comparable to those of nerve agents while
      sulfur mustard exposed animals exhibited a different sequence of events. In
      conclusion, this first pilot study indicates that Blaptica dubia could serve as a
      warning system to exposure of chemical warfare agents. A cockroach-based system
      will not detect or identify a particular chemical warfare agent but could trigger
      further actions, e.g. specific detection and increased protective status. By
      designing appropriate boxes with (IR) motion sensors and remote control (IR)
      camera automated off-site warning systems could be realized.

PMID- 27639502
TI  - Endometrial and conceptus response to exogenous progesterone treatment in early
      pregnant gilts following hormonally-induced estrus.
AB  - The aim of the study was to determine how supplementation with exogenous
      progesterone (P4) affects the expression of genes important for endometrial
      receptivity and conceptus development during the peri-implantation period in
      pigs. Gilts with PMSG/hCG-induced first estrus received daily injections of corn
      oil (CO; n=7) or P4 (n=7) on days 3 to 10 after insemination. The dose of P4 was
      25mg/100kg BW on days 3 and 4 of gestation, then increased to 50mg/100kg BW on
      days 5 to 10. Blood samples were collected each day to monitor concentrations of
      circulating P4. Animals were slaughtered on day 12 of pregnancy to obtain
      endometrial tissue, conceptuses, and uterine luminal flushing (ULF). Gilts in the
      P4 group had consistently greater P4 concentrations in the blood compared with
      controls. Treatment of gilts with P4 increased uterine weight and enhanced total
      protein content and 6-keto PGF1alpha (a PGI2 metabolite) content in the uterine
      lumen. Moreover, injections of gilts with P4 increased the expression of
      prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase 2, microsomal PGE2 synthase and vascular
      endothelial growth factor A mRNA in the endometrium, but had no effect on gene
      expression in conceptuses. These results indicate that P4 supplementation
      stimulated the secretory activity of the endometrium and increased the expression
      of genes responsible for vascular function and luteotropic PGE2 synthesis, which
      are important components of successful pregnancy establishment in pigs. However,
      no effect of P4 treatment was detected in conceptuses.

PMID- 27639503
TI  - Production of germline transgenic pigs co-expressing double fluorescent proteins
      by lentiviral vector.
AB  - Genomic integration of transgene by lentiviral vector has been proved an
      efficient method to produce single-transgenic animals. But it failed to create
      multi-gene transgenic offspring. Here, we have exploited lentivirus to generate
      the double-transgenic piglets through the female germline. The recombinant
      lentivirus containing fluorescent proteins genes (DsRed1 and Venus) were injected
      into the perivitelline space of 2-cell stage in vitro porcine embryos. Compared
      to control group, there was no significantly decreased in the proportion of
      blastocysts, and the two fluorescent protein genes were co-expressed in almost
      all the injected embryos. Total of 32 injected in vitro embryos were transferred
      to 2 recipients. One recipient gave birth of three live offspring, and one female
      piglet was identified as genomic transgene integration by PCR analysis.
      Subsequently, the female transgenic founder was mated naturally with a wild-type
      boar and gave birth of two litters of total 23 F(1) generation piglets, among
      which Venus and DsRed1 genes were detected in 11 piglets and 10 kinds of organs
      by PCR and RT-PCR respectively. The co-expression of two fluorescent proteins was
      visible in four different frozen tissue sections from the RT-PCR positive
      piglets, and 3 to 5 copies of the transgenes were detected to be integrated into
      the second generation genome by southern blotting analysis. The transgenes were
      heritable and stably integrated in the F(1) generation. The results indicated for
      the first time that lentiviral vector combined with natural mating has the
      potential to become a simple and practical technology to create germline double
      transgenic livestock or biomedical animals.

PMID- 27639500
TI  - Impaired Communication Between the Motor and Somatosensory Homunculus Is
      Associated With Poor Manual Dexterity in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fine motor skill impairments are common in autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD), significantly affecting quality of life. Sensory inputs reaching the
      primary motor cortex (M1) from the somatosensory cortex (S1) are likely involved
      in fine motor skill and specifically motor learning. However, the role of these
      connections has not been directly investigated in humans. This study aimed to
      investigate, for the first time, the role of the S1-M1 connections in healthy
      subjects in vivo and whether microstructural alterations are associated with
      motor impairment in ASD. METHODS: Sixty right-handed neurotypical adult men aged
      18 to 45 years, and 60 right-handed age- and sex-matched subjects diagnosed with
      ASD underwent fine motor skill assessment and scanning with diffusion tensor
      imaging (DTI). The streamlines of the hand region connecting S1-M1 of the motor
      sensory homunculus were virtually dissected using TrackVis, and diffusion
      properties were extracted. The face/tongue region connections were used as
      control tracts. RESULTS: The ASD group displayed lower motor performances and
      altered DTI measurements of the hand-region connection. Behavioral performance
      correlated with hand-region DTI measures in both groups, but not with the
      face/tongue connections, indicating anatomical specificity. There was a left
      hemisphere association of motor ability in the control group and an atypical
      rightward shift in the ASD group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that direct
      interaction between S1 and M1 may contribute to the human ability to precisely
      interact with and manipulate the environment. Because electrophysiological
      evidence indicates that these connections may underpin long-term potentiation in
      M1, our findings may lead to novel therapeutic treatments for motor skill
      disorders.

PMID- 27639505
TI  - [Analysis of the prevalence of atelectasis in patients undergoing bariatric
      surgery].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To observe the prevalence of atelectasis in patients
      undergoing bariatric surgery and the influence of the body mass index (BMI),
      gender and age on the prevalence of atelectasis. METHOD: Retrospective study of
      407 patients and reports on chest X-rays carried out before and after bariatric
      surgery over a period of 14 months. Only patients who underwent bariatric surgery
      by laparotomy were included. RESULTS: There was an overall prevalence of 37.84%
      of atelectasis, with the highest prevalence in the lung bases and with greater
      prevalence in women (RR=1.48). There was a ratio of 30% for the influence of age
      for individuals under the age of 36, and of 45% for those older than 36
      (RR=0.68). There was no significant influence of BMI on the prevalence of
      atelectasis. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of atelectasis in bariatric surgery is
      37% and the main risk factors are being female and aged over 36 years.

PMID- 27639506
TI  - [Pain after major elective orthopedic surgery of the lower limb and type of
      anesthesia: does it matter?]
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty are
      associated with chronic pain development. Of the studies focusing on
      perioperative factors for chronic pain, few have focused on the differences that
      might arise from the anesthesia type performed during surgery. METHODS: This was
      a prospective observational study performed between July 2014 and March 2015 with
      patients undergoing unilateral elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total
      hip arthroplasty (THA) for osteoarthritis. Data collection and pain evaluation
      questionnaires were performed in three different moments: preoperatively, 24hours
      postoperatively and at 6 months after surgery. To characterize pain, Brief Pain
      Inventory (BPI) was used and SF-12v2 Health survey was used to further evaluate
      the sample's health status. RESULTS: Forty and three patients were enrolled:
      25.6% men and 74.4% women, 51,2% for total knee arthroplasty and48.8% for total
      hip arthroplasty, with a mean age of 68 years. Surgeries were performed in 25.6%
      of patients under general anesthesia, 55.8% under neuraxial anesthesia and 18.6%
      under combined anesthesia. Postoperatively, neuraxial anesthesia had a better
      pain control. Comparing pain evolution between anesthesia groups, neuraxial
      anesthesia was associated with a decrease in "worst", "medium" and "now" pain at
      six months. Combined anesthesia was associated with a decrease of "medium" pain
      scores at six months. Of the three groups, only those in neuraxial group showed a
      decrease in level of pain interference in "walking ability". TKA, "worst" pain
      preoperatively and general were predictors of pain development at six months.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with gonarthrosis and severe pain preoperatively may
      benefit from individualized pre- and intraoperative care, particularly
      preoperative analgesia and neuraxial anesthesia.

PMID- 27639504
TI  - 216th ENMC international workshop: Clinical readiness in FKRP related myopathies
      January 15-17, 2016 Naarden, The Netherlands.

PMID- 27639507
TI  - [Histopathologic comparison of dexmedetomidine's and thiopental's cerebral
      protective effects on focal cerebral ischemia in rats].
AB  - This study was designed to investigate whether dexmedetomidine and thiopental
      have cerebral protective effects after focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Thirty
      male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups: control group
      (Group C, n=10), dexmedetomidine group (Group D, n=10), thiopental group (Group
      T, n=10). After all rats were anesthetized, they were intubated, then
      mechanically ventilated. A catheter was inserted into the right femoral artery
      for continuous mean arterial pressure, physiological parameters and blood
      sampling at baseline, 5min after occlusion and 20min after reperfusion. A
      catheter was inserted into the left femoral vein for intravenous (IV) medication
      administration. Right common carotid artery of each rat was isolated and clamped
      for 45min. At the end of the duration common carotid artery were unclamped and
      the brain reperfusion was achieved for 90min. Dexmedetomidine was administered
      for Group D IV infusion, and Group T received thiopental IV. According to
      histopathologic scores cerebral ischemia was documented in all rats in Group C,
      but no ischemia was found in three rats in Group T and in four rats in Group D.
      Grade 3 cerebral ischemia was documented in three rats in Group C, and in only
      one rat in both groups T and D. For histopathologic grades the difference between
      Group T and Group D was not significant (p>0.05). But the differences between
      Group C and Group T (p<0.05) and Group C and Group D (p<0.01) were statically
      significant. In conclusion, we demonstrated that dexmedetomidine and thiopental
      have experimental histopathologic cerebral protective effects on experimental
      focal cerebral ischemia in rats.

PMID- 27639508
TI  - [Cytotoxic effects of local anesthesia through lidocaine/ropivacaine on human
      melanoma cell lines].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local anesthetics (LAs) are generally considered as safe, but
      cytotoxicity has been reported for several local anesthetics used in humans,
      which is not well investigated. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of
      lidocaine, ropivacaine and the combination of lidocaine and ropivacaine were
      evaluated on human melanoma cell lines. Melphalan, a nitrogen mustard alkylating
      agent, was used as a control agent for comparison of cytotoxic activity. METHODS:
      Melanoma cell lines, A375 and Hs294T, were exposed to 1h to different
      concentrations of above agents. Cell-viability after exposure was determined by
      flow cytometry. RESULTS: Investigated LAs showed detrimental cytotoxicity on
      studied melanoma cell lines in time- (p<0.001), concentration- (p<0.001), and
      agent dependant. In both A375 and Hs294T cell lines, minimum cell viability rates
      were found after 72h of exposure to these agents. Lidocaine 2% caused a reduction
      of vital cells to 10%+/-2% and 14%+/-2% in A375 and Hs294T, respectively after
      72h of exposure. Ropivacaine 0.75% after 72h reduced viable cells to 15%+/-3% and
      25%+/-3% in A375 and Hs294T, respectively. Minimum cell viability after 72h
      exposure to the combination was 10%+/-2% and 18%+/-2% in A375 and Hs294T,
      respectively. Minimum cell viability after 72h exposure to melphalan was 8%+/-1%
      and 12%+/-2%, in A375 and Hs294T, respectively. CONCLUSION: LAs have cytotoxic
      activity on human melanoma cell lines in a time-, concentration- and agent
      dependant manner. Apoptosis in the cell lines was mediated through activity of
      caspases-3 and caspases-8.

PMID- 27639510
TI  - [Early prehospital care for pediatric injuries in case of mass-casualty
      situations].

PMID- 27639509
TI  - [Non-invasive mechanical ventilation after the successful weaning: a comparison
      with the venturi mask].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study compared the rates of acute respiratory
      failure, reintubation, length of intensive care stay and mortality in patients in
      whom the non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) was applied instead of the
      routine venturi face mask (VM) application after a successful weaning. METHODS:
      Following the approval of the hospital ethics committee, 62 patients who were
      under mechanical ventilation for at least 48hours were scheduled for this study.
      12 patients were excluded because of the weaning failure during T-tube trial. The
      patients who had optimum weaning criteria after the T-tube trial of 30minutes
      were extubated. The patients were kept on VM for 1hour to observe the hemodynamic
      and respiratory stability. The group of 50 patients who were successful to wean
      randomly allocated to have either VM (n=25), or NIV (n=25). Systolic arterial
      pressure (SAP), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), PaO2, PCO2, and pH values
      were recorded. RESULTS: The number of patients who developed respiratory failure
      in the NIV group was significantly less than VM group of patients (3 reintubation
      vs. 14 NIV+5 reintubation in the VM group). The length of stay in the ICU was
      also significantly shorter in NIV group (5.2+/-4.9 vs. 16.7+/-7.7 days).
      CONCLUSIONS: The ratio of the respiratory failure and the length of stay in the
      ICU were lower when non-invasive mechanical ventilation was used after extubation
      even if the patient is regarded as "successfully weaned". We recommend the use of
      NIMV in such patients to avoid unexpected ventilator failure.

PMID- 27639511
TI  - [S100-B protein: A marketing swindle or a tracer for the future?]

PMID- 27639512
TI  - [Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome: A rare pediatric cause of
      thunderclap headaches].
AB  - Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is characterized by
      thunderclap headaches with diffuse segmental constriction of cerebral arteries
      that resolves spontaneously within 3 months. We report on a case of a 13-year-old
      boy presenting with acute severe headaches, triggered by physical exertion. His
      past medical history was uneventful. Moderate headache persisted between
      exacerbations for 4 weeks. He secondarily presented with signs of intracranial
      hypertension. Brain magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) revealed multifocal
      narrowing of the cerebral arteries. A glucocorticoid treatment was started based
      on the hypothesis of primary angiitis of the CNS. The symptoms rapidly improved,
      and repeat angiography at 3 months showed no vasoconstriction. Although pediatric
      cases are rare, RCVS should be considered in a child complaining of severe
      headache, especially after the use of vasoactive drugs or after Valsalva
      manoeuvres. RCVS is attributed to a transient, reversible dysregulation of
      cerebral vascular tone, which leads to multifocal arterial constriction and
      dilation. Physical examination, laboratory values, and initial cranial computed
      tomography are unremarkable, except when RCVS is associated with complications.
      Thunderclap headaches tend to resolve and then recur over a 1- to 4-week period,
      often with a milder baseline headache persisting between acute exacerbations.
      Angiography shows segmental narrowing and dilatation of one or more arteries,
      like a string of beads. Despite the absence of a proven treatment, important
      steps should be taken during the acute phase: removal of precipitants such as
      vasoactive substances, giving the patient rest, lowering blood pressure, and
      controlling seizures. Drugs targeted at vasospasms, such as calcium channel
      inhibitors, can be considered when cerebral vasoconstriction has been assessed.
      In most patients, the RCVS symptoms resolve spontaneously within days or weeks.
      Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke are the major complications of the syndrome. A
      diagnosis of RCVS can only be confirmed when the reversibility of the
      vasoconstriction is assessed.

PMID- 27639513
TI  - [Classification of children with specific language impairments: What can we think
      about them in 2016?]
AB  - Specific language impairments are characterized by a strong semiological
      heterogeneity. Numerous classifications have been used to bring out this
      heterogeneity and to create subgroups after outlining specific symptoms and
      deficits. However, semiological fixed profiles would not be adequate for these
      disorders related to neurodevelopmental trajectories. This heterogeneity is not
      only semiological: it is also found within underlying mechanisms, as well as in
      the etiopathogenesis, which is still not well understood today. The aim of this
      article is to introduce the main semiological classifications to highlight the
      fact that the symptomatic level alone is not sufficient to characterize specific
      language impairments.

PMID- 27639514
TI  - Voices emerging from the shadows: Radiologic practitioners' experiences of
      challenging conversations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Traditionally, radiologists have practiced their profession behind the
      scenes. Today, radiologic practitioners face mounting expectations to communicate
      more directly with patients. However, their experiences with patient
      communication are not well understood. The aim of this study was to describe the
      challenges of radiologic practitioners when communicating with patients. METHODS:
      Twelve day-long interprofessional communication skills workshops for radiologic
      clinicians were held at Boston Children's Hospital. Prior to each workshop,
      participants were asked to write narratives describing experiences with difficult
      radiologic conversations that they found particularly challenging or satisfying.
      The narratives were transcribed and analyzed through thematic content analysis by
      two researchers. RESULTS: Radiologists, radiology trainees, technologists,
      nurses, and medical interpreters completed 92 narratives. The most challenging
      aspects of healthcare conversations included: Conveying Serious News (n=44/92;
      48%); Expanded Scope of Radiologic Practice (n=37/92; 40%); Inexperience and Gaps
      in Education (n=15/92; 16%); Clinical Uncertainty (n=14/92; 15%); and
      Interprofessional Teamwork (n=9/92; 10%). CONCLUSION: Radiologic clinicians face
      substantial communicative challenges focused on conveying serious, unexpected and
      uncertain diagnoses amid practical challenges and limited educational
      opportunities. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Innovative educational curricula that
      address these challenges may enhance radiologic practitioners' success in
      adopting patient-centered communication.

PMID- 27639515
TI  - Hypovolemia induced systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve in two dogs.
AB  - Systolic anterior (septal) motion of the mitral valve (SAM) is a common secondary
      phenomenon in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in people and cats. In humans, it
      is increasingly recognized that SAM may be found in other cardiac and non-cardiac
      disease states. In small animal cardiology, SAM unassociated with HCM has been
      described in dogs with mitral valve dysplasia and right ventricular pressure
      overload. In this report, we describe two cases of dogs where transient SAM was
      caused by hypovolemia. When SAM was present both dogs showed pseudohypertrophy
      and tachycardia. Important factors in the genesis of SAM in this scenario are
      probably hypovolemia induced changes in left ventricular geometry affecting the
      orientation of the mitral valve apparatus combined with elevated catecholamine
      levels. SAM associated with increased wall thickness is not pathognomonic of HCM;
      this observation is of particular clinical importance when extrapolated to
      species where HCM is highly prevalent, e.g., cats. An echocardiographic diagnosis
      should always be evaluated together with full clinical assessment of history and
      physical examination.

PMID- 27639517
TI  - Role of transcription factor Tgif2 in photoreceptor differentiation in the mouse
      retina.
AB  - 5'TG3'-interacting factors (TGIFs) function as transcriptional repressors.
      Defects in TGIFs cause severe abnormalities in the developing brain and face. We
      found that Tgif2 was highly expressed in the mouse retina at early stages of
      development and examined its role in retinal development. Knockdown of Tgif2 in
      retinal explants at E14 using shRNA (sh-Tgif2) resulted in a decreased number of
      rod photoreceptors, whereas the number of cone photoreceptors increased without
      perturbation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. Concomitantly, the expression
      levels of photoreceptor-related genes were decreased in sh-Tgif2-introduced
      retinal explants. To examine the in vivo effects of Tgif2 overexpression, we
      generated Tgif2 conditional knock-in mice (Tgif2cKI). Although retinal cell
      differentiation, based on the relative proportions of retinal subtypes in the
      mature retina, was not affected, we observed abnormal localization of cone
      photoreceptor cell nuclei in the outer nuclear layer of the Tgif2cKI retina.
      However, electrical retinography suggest that cones in Tgif2cKI were functionally
      equivalent to those of wild mice. Our study revealed that Tgif2 participates in
      photoreceptor cell differentiation in the early stages of retinal development and
      regulates proper subretinal localization of the cone photoreceptors.

PMID- 27639518
TI  - Fixed versus variable internal noise in contrast transduction: The significance
      of Whittle's data.
AB  - A longstanding issue in vision research concerns whether the internal noise
      involved in contrast transduction is fixed or variable in relation to contrast
      magnitude. Previous attempts to resolve the issue have focused on the analysis of
      contrast discrimination data, despite the fact that the effects of internal noise
      on thresholds are necessarily compounded by the shape of the underlying
      transducer function. An alternative approach is to compare data obtained from a
      particular class of scaling experiment - one based on a comparison of perceived
      contrast differences - with data from discrimination experiments gathered across
      the full range of contrast. Data from two studies by the late Paul Whittle
      provide the basis for such an analysis, pointing to the conclusion that contrast
      internal noise is fixed not variable.

PMID- 27639519
TI  - Development of a sperm cryopreservation protocol for the Argentine black and
      white tegu (Tupinambis merianae).
AB  - Of the 934 lizard species evaluated by the International Union for the
      Conservation of Nature (IUCN), at least one-third is threatened with extinction.
      However, there are no reports of semen cryopreservation efforts for lizards.
      Invasive Argentine black and white tegus were captured in the Florida Everglades,
      and sperm was collected postmortem. Initial motility score (IMS; % motile * speed
      of progression2 * 100), plasma membrane integrity (IPL), and acrosome integrity
      (IAC) were recorded. Sperm was diluted in TEST-yolk buffer with a final glycerol
      or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)concentration of 8%, 12%, or 16%, and frozen at 0.3 
      degrees C, 1.0  degrees C, or 6.3  degrees C/min. At thaw, all variables were
      expressed as the percentage of initial (%IMS, %IPL, and %IAC). The 0.3  degrees C
      freeze rate was more successful than 1.0  degrees C and 6.3  degrees C/min in
      preserving %IMS and %IPL. DMSO preserved %IMS, %IPL, and %IAC better than
      glycerol. To determine the best overall cryopreservation protocol, a sperm
      quality index was calculated, giving equal weight to each of the three indicators
      of cryosurvival. Because there were significant interactions between freeze rate
      and cryoprotectant concentration, each treatment was compared with all others.
      The sperm quality index analysis revealed that tegu sperm frozen at 0.3  degrees
      C/min with 12% DMSO exhibited the highest postthaw viability compared with all
      other treatments.

PMID- 27639520
TI  - Amiloride treatment and increased risk of pressure ulcers in hospitalized
      patients.

PMID- 27639521
TI  - Interaction of the antimicrobial peptides caerin 1.1 and aurein 1.2 with intact
      bacteria by 2H solid-state NMR.
AB  - Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is commonly used to probe the effect of
      antimicrobial agents on bacterial membranes using model membrane systems.
      Ideally, considering the complexity of membranes, the interaction of molecules
      with membranes should be studied in vivo. The interactions of two antimicrobial
      peptides (AMPs) with intact Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were
      investigated using deuterium solid-state NMR. Specifically, we studied caerin 1.1
      and aurein 1.2 isolated from the skin of Australian tree frogs. The minimal
      inhibitory concentration value for E. coli and B. subtilis was about 100MUg/mL
      and 30MUg/mL, respectively, for both peptides. A protocol to deuterate the
      membrane phospholipids of non-mutated B. subtilis was established using
      deuterated palmitic acid. 2H NMR spectra combined with spectral moment analysis
      support the interaction of the two AMPs with the hydrophobic core of the
      bacterial membranes. The presence of peptides decreased the order of the lipid
      acyl chains for both E. coli and B. subtilis, but at higher peptide
      concentrations for the Gram(+) bacteria. This may be explained by the presence of
      other cell wall components, such as the negatively-charged teichoic and
      lipoteichoic acids in the peptidoglycan, which would interact with the AMPs and
      decrease their actual concentration on the membrane surface. The mechanism of
      action of the AMPs thus depends on their local concentration as well as the
      membrane environment. The differences between the AMPs interaction with E. coli
      and B. subtilis reveal the importance of studying intact bacteria.

PMID- 27639516
TI  - Biomechanical relationships between the corneal endothelium and Descemet's
      membrane.
AB  - The posterior face of the cornea consists of the corneal endothelium, a monolayer
      of cuboidal cells that secrete and attach to Descemet's membrane, an exaggerated
      basement membrane. Dysfunction of the endothelium compromises the barrier and
      pump functions of this layer that maintain corneal deturgesence. A large number
      of corneal endothelial dystrophies feature irregularities in Descemet's membrane,
      suggesting that cells create and respond to the biophysical signals offered by
      their underlying matrix. This review provides an overview of the bidirectional
      relationship between Descemet's membrane and the corneal endothelium. Several
      experimental methods have characterized a richly topographic and compliant
      biophysical microenvironment presented by the posterior surface of Descemet's
      membrane, as well as the ultrastructure and composition of the membrane as it
      builds during a lifetime. We highlight the signaling pathways involved in the
      mechanotransduction of biophysical cues that influence cell behavior. We present
      the specific example of Fuchs' corneal endothelial dystrophy as a condition in
      which a dysregulated Descemet's membrane may influence the progression of
      disease. Finally, we discuss some disease models and regenerative strategies that
      may facilitate improved treatments for corneal dystrophies.

PMID- 27639522
TI  - 10-Year Institutional Retrospective Case Series of Decompressive Craniectomy for
      Malignant Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction (mMCAI).
AB  - BACKGROUND: A 10-year (2005-2015) retrospective case series of patients
      undergoing decompressive craniectomy for malignant middle cerebral artery
      infarction (mMCAI) was undertaken. METHODS: Patient demographics, comorbidities,
      pre- and postoperative neurologic state, operative timescales, craniectomy
      dimensions, and Glasgow Outcome Scale scores were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall 40
      patients underwent a decompressive craniectomy for mMCAI with a 30-day mortality
      of 17.5% (n = 7). Seventeen patients (42.5%) were male, with a mean age of 43
      years (range: 16-64 years). Patients who survived had a lower mean age of 41
      years (range: 16-59 years) than those who did not of 50 years (range: 42-63
      years). The modal ictal and preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale scores were 14
      (range: 5-15) and 7 (range: 3-12), which corresponded to motor scores of 6 and 5,
      respectively. The mean time from ictus to admission to the Institute of
      Neurological Sciences (INS) was 23.5 hours (range: 0.5-66 hours) and from INS
      admission to decompression 7.5 hours (range: 0.5-46 hours). Approximately 60% of
      patients had an "early" craniectomy (under 48 hours from ictus) and 60% of
      patients had a craniectomy performed less than 24 hours from INS admission. The
      mean maximum anteroposterior craniectomy diameter measured 13 cm (range: 10.93
      15.12 cm) and the mean surface area was 92.68 cm2 (range: 76.14-124.42 cm2).
      Overall 80% of patients had a modal Glasgow Outcome Scale score of 3 (range: 2-5)
      at discharge, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months. The median length of
      stay was 3 days (range: 6 hours to 11 days) for nonsurvivors and 13 days (range:
      1-365 days) for survivors. CONCLUSION: Decompressive craniectomy for mMCAI is
      suitable in selected patients, and the local practice is consistent with current
      evidence.

PMID- 27639523
TI  - Design and construction of nanoscale material for ultrasonic assisted adsorption
      of dyes: Application of derivative spectrophotometry and experimental design
      methodology.
AB  - Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central rotatable experimental design
      was used to investigate the effect of ultrasound assisted simultaneous adsorption
      process variables on Cu: ZnS-NPs-AC from aqueous solution. Cu: ZnS-NPs-AC was
      characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy
      Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). To overcome the
      severe methylene blue (MB) and brilliant green (BG) dyes spectral overlapping,
      derivative spectrophotometric method were successfully applied for the
      simultaneous determination of dyes in their binary solutions. Simultaneous
      determination of the dyes can be carried out using the first-order and second
      order derivative signal at 664 and 663nm for BG and MB, respectively. The factors
      investigated were pH (2.5-8.5), adsorbent mass (0.006-0.030g), sonication time (1
      5min) and initial MB and BG concentration (3-15mgL-1). Five levels, which were
      low level, center point, upper level and two axillar points, were considered for
      each of the factors. The desirability function (DF: 0.9853) on the STATISTICA
      version 10.0 software showed that the optimum removal (99.832 and 99.423% for MB
      and BG, respectively) was obtained at pH 8.0, adsorbent mass 0.024g, sonication
      time 4min and 9mgL-1 initial concentration for each dye. Besides, the results
      show that obtained data were adequately fitted into the second-order polynomial
      model, since the calculated model F value (172.96 and 96.35 for MB and BG,
      respectively) is higher than the critical F value. The values of coefficient of
      determination (0.9968 and 0.9943 for MB and BG, respectively) and adjusted
      coefficient of determination (0.9911 and 0.9840 for MB and BG, respectively) are
      close to 1, indicating a high correlation between the observed and the predicted
      values. The ultrasonic amplitude and adsorbent mass were found to be the most
      effective variable influencing the adsorption process. The adsorption equilibrium
      was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model with maximum adsorption
      capacity of 185.2 and 151.5mgg-1 for MB and BG respectively on adsorbent. The
      results indicate that pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and intra-particle
      diffusion model can better describe the adsorption kinetics.

PMID- 27639524
TI  - Effect of acoustically assisted treatments on vitamins, antioxidant activity,
      organic acids and drying kinetics of pineapple.
AB  - The effects of the application of an acoustically assisted treatment on the
      vitamins (C, B1, B2, B3, and B5), the antioxidant activity (DPPH, FRAP), the
      polyphenol and flavonoid contents, the organic acid contents (citric and malic)
      and drying kinetics of pineapple (Ananas comosus var. Perola) have been studied.
      Treatments were carried out using two different soaking media: distilled water
      and pineapple juice at 30 degrees C during 10, 20 and 30min without and with
      acoustic assistance (23.2W/L). After treatment, samples were dried at 60 degrees
      C and 0.5m/s during 8h. The quality parameters were determined in untreated,
      treated, and treated-dried samples. The acoustic assistance promoted an increment
      of vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B5, total flavonoid and malic acid contents, and a
      reduction of vitamin C, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity and citric
      acid content in treated samples. However, in all treated-dried samples the final
      content of those quality parameters was higher than the observed in the untreated
      dried sample.

PMID- 27639525
TI  - Effect of ultrasound on the function and structure of a membrane protein: The
      case study of photosynthetic Reaction Center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides.
AB  - Ultrasounds are used in many industrial, medical and research applications.
      Properties and function of proteins are strongly influenced by the interaction
      with the ultrasonic waves and their bioactivity can be lost because of alteration
      of protein structure. Surprisingly, to the best of our knowledge no study was
      carried out on Integral Membrane Proteins (IMPs), which are responsible for a
      variety of fundamental biological functions. In this work, the photosynthetic
      Reaction Center (RC) of the bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides has been used as a
      model for the study of the ultrasound-induced IMP denaturation. Purified RCs were
      suspended in i) detergent micelles, in ii) detergent-free buffer and iii)
      reconstituted in liposomes, and then treated with ultrasound at 30W and 20kHz at
      increasing times. The optical absorption spectra showed a progressive and
      irreversible denaturation in all cases, resulting from the perturbation of the
      protein scaffold structure, as confirmed by circular dichroism spectra that
      showed progressive alterations of the RC secondary structure. Charge
      recombination kinetics were studied to assess the protein photoactivity. The
      lifetime for the loss of RC photoactivity was 32min in detergent micelles, ranged
      from 3.8 to 6.5min in the different proteoliposomes formulations, and 5.5min in
      detergent-free buffer. Atomic force microscopy revealed the formation of large RC
      aggregates related to the sonication-induced denaturation, in agreement with the
      scattering increase observed in solution.

PMID- 27639526
TI  - Studies the effects of ultrasonic irradiation and dielectric constants of
      solvents on formation of lead(II) supramolecular polymer; new precursors for
      synthesis of lead(II) oxide nanoparticles.
AB  - In order to evaluation the effects of ultrasonic irradiations and dielectric
      constants of solvents on formation [Pb2(5-Clq-8-ol)2(OAc)2]n (1), [H5-Clq-8-ol=5
      chloroquinolin-8-ol and OAc-=acetate], we designed some experiments and
      synthesized six samples of 1 under different conditions. Microrods of a lead(II)
      supramolecular polymer, were synthesized under these conditions. These
      microstructures were characterized by IR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction
      (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that compound
      1 with the best crystallinity can be obtained in the presence of MeCN and H2O (as
      the bulk sample) and in the presence of MeCN and EtOH (by sonochemical process).
      The least agglomeration of microrods was observed in H2O which is due to high
      dielectric constant of it. By considering all of the factors consist of
      crystallinity and agglomeration of the products and their corresponding
      histograms, it seems that MeCN is the best solvent for synthesis of 1. The
      samples which were synthesized in the presence of MeCN, had been used as new
      precursors for fabricating lead(II) oxide nanoparticles via thermal decomposition
      in oleic acid (OA).

PMID- 27639527
TI  - Treatment of spinal cord injury by an advanced cell transplantation technology
      using brain-derived neurotrophic factor-transfected mesenchymal stem cell
      spheroids.
AB  - Curing spinal cord injury (SCI) is challenging because of the onset of multiple
      and irreversible pathological responses to such injury. To suppress the
      responses, we employed an advanced cell transplantation technology integrating
      three-dimensional spheroid cell transplantation with non-viral gene transfection
      using biodegradable polycations. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
      transfected mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) spheroids were transplanted at thoraces
      level (Th9) to SCI region in mice. BDNF-transfected MSC spheroid transplantation
      led to a significantly enhanced recovery of hindlimb motor function in acute
      phase of SCI with myelinated axons preserved at the SCI region, while use of
      either technology in isolation, BDNF transfection or spheroid culture, exerted
      only a limited therapeutic effect, demonstrating the importance of integrated
      approaches. Secretion of endogenous therapeutic proteins, such as anti
      inflammatory factors, was greater in MSC spheroids than in monolayer culture
      MSCs, and these factors appeared to act synergistically alongside BDNF secretion
      in SCI treatment. This study forms a basis for cell therapy regulating complex
      pathophysiologic processes.

PMID- 27639528
TI  - Ultrastrong trapping of VEGF by graphene oxide: Anti-angiogenesis application.
AB  - Angiogenesis is the process of formation of new blood vessels, which is essential
      to human biology, and also plays a crucial role in several pathologies such as
      tumor growth and metastasis, exudative age-related macular degeneration, and
      ischemia. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in particular, VEGF-A165 is
      the most important pro-angiogenic factor for angiogenesis. Thus, blocking the
      interaction between VEGFs and their receptors is considered an effective anti
      angiogenic strategy. We demonstrate for that first time that bovine serum albumin
      capped graphene oxide (BSA-GO) exhibits high stability in physiological saline
      solution and possesses ultrastrong binding affinity towards VEGF-A165
      [dissociation constant (Kd) ~3 * 10-12 M], which is at least five orders of
      magnitude stronger than that of high-abundant plasma proteins such as human serum
      albumin, fibrinogen, transferrin, and immunoglobulin G. Due to the surprising
      binding specificity of BSA-GO for VEGF-A165 in complex plasma fluid, we have also
      studied the anti-angiogenic effects in vitro and in vivo. Results show that BSA
      GO not only effectively inhibits the proliferation, migration and tube formation
      of human umbilical vein endothelial cells, but also strongly disturbs the
      physiological process of angiogenesis in chick chorioallantoic membrane and
      blocks VEGF-A165-induced blood vessel formation in rabbit corneal
      neovascularization. Our findings indicate that GO nanomaterials can potentially
      act as therapeutic anti-angiogenic agents via ultrastrong VEGF adsorption and its
      activity suppression.

PMID- 27639529
TI  - What Are Parents Willing to Discuss with Their Pediatrician About Firearm Safety?
      A Parental Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if parents are receptive to discussing firearm safety
      with their pediatrician. STUDY DESIGN: Parents completed a self-administered
      paper survey during a pediatric office visit. Responses of those who confirmed
      and denied household firearms were compared using Fisher exact test. RESULTS:
      Between March 23 and May 21, 2015, 1246 of 1363 eligible parents (91.4%)
      completed the survey (22.6% African American, 79.5% at least some college
      education); 36% of respondents reported household firearms (owners). An
      additional 14.3% reported that their child was often in homes that contained
      firearms. Of the 447 owners, 25.1% reported >=1 firearm was stored loaded, and
      17.9% carried a firearm when leaving the house. Seventy-five percent of parents
      thought the pediatrician should advise about safe storage of firearms (owners
      71.1%, others 77.5%), 16.9% disagreed (owners 21.9%, others 13.4%), and 8.2% were
      uncertain. Sixty-six percent thought pediatricians should ask about the presence
      of household firearms (owners 58.4%, others 70.9%), 23.2% disagreed (owners
      31.5%, others 17.8%), and 10.5% were uncertain. Differences in parental opinions
      between owners and other parents were statistically significant. Twenty-two
      percent of owners would ignore advice to not have household firearms for safety
      reasons, and 13.9% would be offended by such advice. Only 12.8% of all parents
      reported a discussion about firearms with the pediatrician. CONCLUSIONS: Avoiding
      direct questioning about firearm ownership and extending the discussion about why
      and how to ensure safe storage of firearms to all parents may be an effective
      strategy to decrease firearm-related injuries and fatalities in children.

PMID- 27639530
TI  - Blood lead levels in young children: US, 2009-2015.

PMID- 27639532
TI  - Biomarkers in Genitourinary Cancers: Blazing the Path Forward.

PMID- 27639531
TI  - Childhood Irritable Bowel Syndrome Characteristics Are Related to Both Sex and
      Pubertal Development.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of both pubertal development and sex to
      childhood irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) clinical characteristics including
      gastrointestinal symptoms (eg, abdominal pain) and psychological factors. STUDY
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with children ages 7-17 years (n = 143) with a
      pediatric Rome III IBS diagnosis recruited from both primary and tertiary clinics
      between January 2009 and January 2014. Subjects completed 14-day prospective pain
      and stool diaries, as well as validated questionnaires assessing several
      psychological factors (somatization, depression, anxiety) and Tanner stage. Stool
      form ratings were completed using the Bristol Stool Form Scale. RESULTS: Girls
      with higher Tanner scores (more mature pubertal development) had both decreased
      pain severity and pain interference; in contrast, boys with higher Tanner scores
      had both increasing pain severity (beta = 0.40, P = .02) and pain interference
      (beta = 0.16, P = .02). Girls (vs boys), irrespective of pubertal status, had
      both increased somatic complaints (P = .005) and a higher percentage (P = .01) of
      hard (Bristol Stool Form Scale type 1 or 2) stools. Pubertal status and sex did
      not significantly relate to IBS subtype, pain frequency, stooling frequency,
      anxiety, or depression. CONCLUSIONS: In children with IBS, both pubertal
      development and/or sex are associated with abdominal pain severity, stool form,
      and somatization. These differences provide insight into the role of pubertal
      maturation during the transition from childhood to adult IBS.

PMID- 27639533
TI  - Sentinel Node Procedure in Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review to Assess
      Diagnostic Accuracy.
AB  - CONTEXT: Extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) is the gold standard for
      detecting lymph node (LN) metastases in prostate cancer (PCa). The benefit of
      sentinel node biopsy (SNB), which is the first draining LN as assessed by imaging
      of locally injected tracers, remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To assess the
      diagnostic accuracy of SNB in PCa. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic literature
      search of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library (1999-2016) was undertaken
      using PRISMA guidelines. All studies of SNB in men with PCa using PLND as
      reference standard were included. The primary outcomes were the nondiagnostic
      rate (NDR), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative
      predictive value (NPV), and false positive (FP) and false negative (FN) rates.
      Relevant sensitivity analyses based on SN definitions, ePLND as reference
      standard, and disease risk were undertaken, including a risk of bias (RoB)
      assessment. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Of 373 articles identified, 21 studies recruiting
      a total of 2509 patients were eligible for inclusion. Median cumulative
      percentage (interquartile range) results were 4.1% (1.5-10.7%) for NDR, 95.2%
      (81.8-100%) for sensitivity, 100% (95.0-100%) for specificity, 100% (87.0-100%)
      for PPV, 98.0% (94.3-100%) for NPV, 0% (0-5.0%) for the FP rate, and 4.8% (0
      18.2%) for the FN rate. The findings did not change significantly on sensitivity
      analyses. Most studies (17/22) had low RoB for index test and reference standard
      domains. CONCLUSIONS: SNB appears to have diagnostic accuracy comparable to
      ePLND, with high sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV, and a low FN rate. With a
      low FP rate (rate of detecting positive nodes outside the ePLND template), SNB
      may not have any additional diagnostic value over and above ePLND, although SNB
      appears to increase nodal yield by increasing the number of affected nodes when
      combined with ePLND. Thus, in high-risk disease it may be prudent to combine
      ePLND with SNB. PATIENT SUMMARY: This literature review showed a high diagnostic
      accuracy for sentinel node biopsy in detecting positive lymph nodes in prostate
      cancer, but further studies are needed to explore the effect of sentinel node
      biopsy on complications and oncologic outcome.

PMID- 27639535
TI  - Re: Nicolo Maria Buffi, Giovanni Lughezzani, Rodolfo Hurle, et al. Robot-assisted
      Surgery for Benign Ureteral Strictures: Experience and Outcomes from Four
      Tertiary Care Institutions. Eur Urol. In press.
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2016.07.022.

PMID- 27639536
TI  - Exposure to depleted uranium during development affects neuronal differentiation
      in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and induces depressive-like behavior in
      offspring.
AB  - The developing brain is known to be sensitive to uranium (U) and exposure to this
      element during postnatal brain development results in behavioral disorders in
      adulthood. Moreover, we have previously shown that U exposure during gestation
      and lactation affects neurogenesis, in particular neural cell proliferation and
      cell death. In this study, we investigated whether exposure to depleted U (DU)
      affects neuronal differentiation during prenatal and postnatal brain development.
      We assessed in situ expression of specific genes involved in neuronal
      differentiation and expression of neuronal protein markers. The effects of DU on
      neurobehavioral function were investigated in parallel. Neuronal differentiation
      involves many signaling pathways that regulate the balance between cell
      proliferation and the transition to neuronal differentiation. In the present
      study pregnant rats were exposed from gestational day (GD) 1 throughout lactation
      to postnatal day (PND) 21. Using in situ hybridization, our results show
      decreased expression of Wnt3a in the hippocampal neuroepithelium in GD 13 embryos
      from DU exposed dams and decreased expression of Notch1 and increased expression
      of Mash1 in the hippocampal and dentate neuroepithelia of GD 18 fetuses from DU
      exposed dams. Expression of the NeuroD and NeuroD2 genes was not modified in the
      hippocampal neuroepithelium of GD18 fetuses from DU exposed dams. There was no
      change in the expression of any of these genes in the dentate gyrus of PND 5 pups
      from DU exposed dams. No change in nestin or doublecortin immunestaining was
      observed in the prenatal or early postnatal stages. However, the number of
      doublecortin-positive cells increased in the granular cell layer of PND 21 pups
      from DU exposed dams. Finally, depressive-like behavior was induced in PND21
      rats, without modification of locomotor and exploratory activities or of spatial
      memory. In conclusion, these results showed that exposure of pregnant and
      lactating rats to DU affects brain development by causing disturbed cell
      proliferation and neuronal differentiation at the prenatal stage. Moreover, this
      exposure increased the pool of immature neurons in the dentate gyrus and induced
      depressive-like behavior in neonatal rats. Therefore, these data strongly suggest
      that exposure to DU during gestation and lactation affects brain development in
      embryos, fetuses and neonates with behavioral consequences in the offspring.

PMID- 27639537
TI  - Clinical relevance of the bile acid receptor TGR5 in metabolism.
AB  - The bile acid receptor TGR5 (also known as GPBAR1) is a promising target for the
      development of pharmacological interventions in metabolic diseases, including
      type 2 diabetes, obesity, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. TGR5 is expressed in
      many metabolically active tissues, but complex enterohepatic bile acid cycling
      limits the exposure of some of these tissues to the receptor ligand. Profound
      interspecies differences in the biology of bile acids and their receptors in
      different cells and tissues exist. Data from preclinical studies show promising
      effects of targeting TGR5 on outcomes such as weight loss, glucose metabolism,
      energy expenditure, and suppression of inflammation. However, clinical studies
      are scarce. We give a summary of key concepts in bile acid metabolism; outline
      different downstream effects of TGR5 activation; and review available data on
      TGR5 activation, with a focus on the translation of preclinical studies into
      clinically applicable findings. Studies in rodents suggest an important role for
      Tgr5 in Glp-1 secretion, insulin sensitivity, and energy expenditure. However,
      evidence of effects on these processes from human studies is less convincing.
      Ultimately, safe and selective human TGR5 agonists are needed to test the
      therapeutic potential of TGR5.

PMID- 27639538
TI  - Multiple scales modelling approaches to social interaction in crowd dynamics and
      crisis management. Comment on "Human behaviours in evacuation crowd dynamics:
      From modelling to "big data" toward crisis management" by Nicola Bellomo et al.

PMID- 27639539
TI  - Crowd dynamics and safety: Reply to comments on "Human behaviours in evacuation
      crowd dynamics: From modelling to "big data" toward crisis management".

PMID- 27639540
TI  - [Erratum to "Use of molecular typing tools for the study of hospital outbreaks of
      candidemia"].

PMID- 27639541
TI  - Interaction of an esophageal MEG protein from schistosomes with a human S100
      protein involved in inflammatory response.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Micro-Exon Gene-14 (MEG-14) displays a remarkable structure that
      allows the generation of antigenic variation in Schistosomes. Previous studies
      showed that the soluble portion of the MEG-14 protein displays features of an
      intrinsically disordered protein and is expressed exclusively in the parasite
      esophageal gland. These features indicated a potential for interaction with host
      proteins present in the plasma and cells from ingested blood. METHODS: A yeast
      two-hybrid experiment using as bait the soluble domain of Schistosoma mansoni MEG
      14 (sMEG-14) against a human leukocyte cDNA library was performed. Pull-down and
      surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments were used to validate the interaction
      between sMEG-14 and human S100A9. Synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD)
      were used to detect structural changes upon interaction between sMEG-14 and human
      S100A9. Feeding of live parasites with S100A9 attached to a fluorophore allowed
      the tracking of the fate of this protein in the parasite digestive system.
      RESULTS: S100A9 interacted with sMEG-14 consistently in yeast two-hybrid assay,
      pull-down and SPR experiments. SRCD suggested that MEG-14 acquired a more regular
      structure as a result of the interaction with S100A9. Accumulation of recombinant
      S100A9 in the parasite's esophageal gland, when ingested by live worms suggests
      that such interaction may occur in vivo. CONCLUSION: S100A9, a protein previously
      described to be involved in modulation of inflammatory response, was found to
      interact with sMEG-14. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our results allow proposing a
      mechanism involving MEG-14 for the parasite to block inflammatory signaling,
      which would occur upon release of S100A9 when ingested blood cells are lysed.

PMID- 27639542
TI  - Latent growth models matched to research questions to answer questions about
      dynamics of change in multiple processes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Given theoretical and methodological advances that propose hypothesis
      about change in one or multiple processes, analytical methods for longitudinal
      data have been developed that provide researchers with various options for
      analyzing change over time. In this paper, we revisited several latent growth
      curve models that may be considered to answer questions about repeated measures
      of continuous variables, which may be operationalized as time-varying covariates
      or outcomes. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: To illustrate each of the models discussed
      and how to interpret parameter estimates, we present examples of each method
      discussed using cognitive and blood pressure measures from a longitudinal study
      of aging, the Origins of Variance in the Old-Old study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
      Although statistical models are helpful tools to test theoretical hypotheses
      about the dynamics between multiple processes, the choice of model and its
      specification will influence results and conclusions made.

PMID- 27639543
TI  - Oral acute and subchronic toxicity studies of the oil extracted from pequi
      (Caryocar brasiliense, Camb.) pulp in rats.
AB  - The Caryocar brasiliense (pequi) is a Brazilian fruit of important geographic
      distribution and of broad popular use for nutritional purposes. This study aimed
      to evaluate the toxicological potential of pequi through the acute and subchronic
      toxicity tests. For the acute toxicity test, female Wistar rats received, orally,
      a single dose of 2000 mg/kg/bw of pequi oil and were observed for 14 days. In
      subchronic toxicity test, Wistar male and female rats received, orally, repeated
      doses of 125, 250, 500 or 1000 mg/kg/bw of the oil, being treated and observed
      for 28 days. In the acute toxicity test, no changes as well as no mortality were
      observed, indicating that the LD50 is higher than 2000 mg/kg/bw. In the
      subchronic toxicity test, the tested doses produced no significant changes in
      behavioral, physiological, biochemical or histopathologic parameters in animals.
      Some hematological abnormalities were found after subchronic exposure and need to
      be clarified. These results demonstrate the low toxicity of acute and subchronic
      to the oil of pequi in rats. However, additional studies are required in order to
      verify if the hematological abnormalities have any relation to the oil exposure
      and also provide sufficient safety evidence for the use of the oil in humans.

PMID- 27639544
TI  - A copper chelate induces apoptosis and overcomes multidrug resistance in T-cell
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia through redox imbalance and inhibition of
      EGFR/PI3K/Akt expression.
AB  - T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive form of cancer and
      the therapeutic outcome for T-ALL patients remains poor. Thus innovative
      therapeutic strategies with less toxic drugs are of immense need. Moreover
      combinational effect of redox imbalance with modulated EGFR/PI3K/Akt axis in T
      ALL is still elusive. To explore more effective drugs we developed and
      characterized 5-SMAG, Cu-5-SMAG and Cu-OBPHA complexes by different spectroscopic
      methods and revealed that introduction of methoxy group and copper to the
      previously synthesized Schiff base ligand, NG can efficiently target leukemia by
      sparing the normal cells and overcomes MDR in T-ALL through induction of caspase3
      dependent apoptosis as assessed by MTT, Cell-cycle, Annexin-V and caspase3
      activation assay. However the ligand 5-SMAG fails to exert significant
      cytotoxicity. Moreover introduction of copper does not increase the efficacy of
      the drug molecule as Cu-OBPHA fails to exert significant effect compared to Cu-5
      SMAG. Moreover Cu-5-SMAG targets T-ALL cells more than Cu-OBPHA because Cu-5-SMAG
      generates greater extent of redox imbalance compared to Cu-OBPHA and when this
      redox imbalance is reduced by application of NAC and PEG-Catalase, highest
      abrogation of apoptosis is observed following Cu-5-SMAG treatment In addition, Cu
      5-SMAG significantly down-regulates the activation and expression of EGFR1, Akt
      and PI3K in drug-resistant T-ALL cells. Furthermore Cu-5-SMAG significantly
      increases the life-span of doxorubicin resistant and sensitive Ehrlich ascites
      carcinoma bearing Swiss albino mice without inducing any significant systemic
      toxicity compared to 5-SMAG and Cu-OBPHA treatment. Therefore typical architect
      of Cu-5-SMAG made it a promising new anti-leukemic agent irrespective of the MDR
      phenotype.

PMID- 27639545
TI  - In vivo proof-of-concept of removal of the huntingtin caspase cleavage motif
      encoding exon 12 approach in the YAC128 mouse model of Huntington's disease.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive autosomal dominant disease, caused by
      a CAG repeat expansion in the HTT gene, resulting in an expanded polyglutamine
      stretch at the N-terminal of the huntingtin protein. An important event in HD
      pathogenesis appears to be the proteolysis of the mutant protein, which forms N
      terminal huntingtin fragments. These fragments form insoluble aggregates and are
      found in nuclei and cytoplasm of affected neurons where they interfere with
      normal cell functioning. Important cleavage sites are encoded by exon 12 of HTT.
      A novel approach is Htt protein modification through exon skipping, which has
      recently been proven effective both in vitro and in vivo. Here we report proof-of
      concept of AON 12.1 in vivo using the YAC128 mouse model of HD. Our results
      support and encourage future longitudinal studies exploring the therapeutic
      effects of sustained infusions in the YAC128 mouse model.

PMID- 27639546
TI  - Nerve Injuries in Gynecologic Laparoscopy.
AB  - Nerve injuries during gynecologic endoscopy are an infrequent but distressing
      complication. In benign gynecologic surgery, most of these injuries are
      associated with patient positioning, although some are related to port placement.
      Most are potentially preventable with attention to patient placement on the
      operating room bed and knowledge of the relative anatomy of the nerves. The
      highest risk group vulnerable to these injuries includes women who have extreme
      body mass index and those with longer surgical times in the Trendelenburg
      position. Upper and lower limb peripheral nerves are the most common nerves
      injured during gynecologic endoscopy. These injuries can result in transient or
      permanent sensory and motor disabilities that can interrupt patient recovery in
      an otherwise successful surgery. Numerous strategies are suggested to reduce the
      frequency of nerve injuries during gynecologic endoscopies. Proper patient
      positioning and proper padding of the pressure areas are mandatory to prevent
      malposition-related nerve injuries. Anatomic knowledge of the course of nerves,
      especially ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric, nerves can minimize injury.

PMID- 27639547
TI  - Clinical Performance Evaluation of Molecular Diagnostic Tests.
AB  - Molecular diagnostic tests with application to clinical diagnostics involve
      studies in infectious diseases, inherited diseases, oncology, predisposition to
      disease, or the description of polymorphisms linked to disease states. General
      considerations in the design of evaluation of diagnostic test trials and
      statistical principles for reporting the results are discussed. A brief overview
      of the general statistical considerations related to the intent of use, test
      development versus validation, different types of biases, and issues with missing
      data are provided. Furthermore, issues related to commonly used but not
      necessarily correct methods to characterize the performance in the presence and
      absence of a clinical reference standard are discussed. These issues are broadly
      applicable to any molecular diagnostic test with a dichotomous result. This
      overview may help the clinical molecular diagnostic community to evaluate tests
      that provide a dichotomous result.

PMID- 27639548
TI  - Multiplexed Reference Materials as Controls for Diagnostic Next-Generation
      Sequencing: A Pilot Investigating Applications for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Diagnostic next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based gene panels are increasingly
      used for prevalent disorders with genetic and clinical heterogeneity. Clinical
      development, validation, and quality management of these panels ideally includes
      reference samples containing prevalent pathogenic variants; however, clinical
      domain expertise to select appropriate variants may not be present, samples are
      often not publicly available, and their inclusion is associated with added cost.
      Expert-designed, multiplexed controls can remedy some of these challenges. One
      approach relies on spiking biosynthetic fragments carrying desired variants into
      human genomic DNA. We piloted the utility of this approach for hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy. Data from >3000 previously sequenced probands were used to select
      10 common pathogenic and/or technically challenging variants in the top
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy genes. Multiplexed controls were constructed across a
      range of ideal and realistic allelic fractions for heterozygous germline
      variants. NGS was performed in quadruplicate, and results were compared with
      diagnostic NGS data for the source patient samples. Overall, results were
      indistinguishable from patient-derived data with variants being detected at or
      reasonably close to the targeted allelic fraction ratios. The exception was a
      common 25-bp deletion in MYBPC3, underscoring the importance of including such
      variants in test development. These controls may be an attractive addition to the
      repertoire of materials for development, validation, and quality monitoring of
      clinical NGS assays.

PMID- 27639549
TI  - The physiological optics of the lens.
AB  - The optical properties of the ocular lens are important to overall vision
      quality. As a transparent biological tissue, the lens contributes to the overall
      and dynamic focussing power of the eye, and corrects for optical errors
      introduced by the cornea. The optical properties of the lens change throughout
      life. Alterations to the refractive properties and transparency of the lens
      result in presbyopia and cataract, respectively. However, it is not well
      understood how changes to lens cellular structure and function initiate these
      changes in refraction and transparency. Here, we attempt to bridge this knowledge
      gap by reviewing how the optical properties of the lens are first established,
      and then maintained at the cellular level throughout the lifetime of an
      individual. Central to this understanding is the fact that the lens has a
      microcirculation system that generates a flux of ions and water that circulates
      through the lens. By supporting ionic and metabolic homeostasis in the lens, the
      system actively maintains lens transparency, and by regulating the steady state
      water content of the lens, controls the two key parameters, lens geometry and the
      gradient of refractive index, which determine the refractive properties of the
      lens. Thus, water transport is emerging as the critical parameter that links the
      transparency and refractive properties of the lens at the cellular level, and
      highlights the need to study how age-related changes in water transport result in
      presbyopia and cataract, the leading causes of refractive error and blindness in
      the world today.

PMID- 27639550
TI  - Expression levels of antimicrobial peptide tachyplesin I in transgenic
      Ornithogalum lines affect the resistance to Pectobacterium infection.
AB  - The genus Ornithogalum includes several ornamental species that suffer
      substantial losses from bacterial soft rot caused by Pectobacteria. The absence
      of effective control measures for use against soft rot bacteria led to the
      initiation of a project in which a small antimicrobial peptide from an Asian
      horseshoe crab, tachyplesin (tpnI), was introduced into two commercial cultivars:
      O. dubium and O. thyrsoides. Disease severity and bacterial colonization were
      examined in transgenic lines expressing this peptide. Disease resistance was
      evaluated in six lines of each species by measuring bacterial proliferation in
      the plant tissue. Three transgenic lines of each species were subjected to
      further analysis in which the expression level of the transgene was evaluated
      using RT-PCR and qRT-PCR. The development of disease symptoms and bacterial
      colonization of the plant tissue were also examined using GFP-expressing strain
      of P. carotovorum subsp. brasiliense Pcb3. Confocal-microscopy imaging revealed
      significantly reduced quantities of bacterial cells in the transgenic plant lines
      that had been challenged with the bacterium. The results clearly demonstrate that
      tpnI expression reduces bacterial proliferation, colonization and disease symptom
      (reduced by 95-100%) in the transgenic plant tissues. The quantity of tpnI
      transcripts, as measured by qRT-PCR, was negatively correlated with the
      protection afforded to the plants, as measured by the reduced severity of disease
      symptoms in the tissue.

PMID- 27639551
TI  - Competitive control of cognition in rhesus monkeys.
AB  - The brain has evolved different approaches to solve problems, but the mechanisms
      that determine which approach to take remain unclear. One possibility is that
      control progresses from simpler processes, such as associative learning, to more
      complex ones, such as relational reasoning, when the simpler ones prove
      inadequate. Alternatively, control could be based on competition between the
      processes. To test between these possibilities, we posed the support problem to
      rhesus monkeys using a tool-use paradigm, in which subjects could pull an object
      (the tool) toward themselves to obtain an otherwise out-of-reach goal item. We
      initially provided one problem exemplar as a choice: for the correct option, a
      food item placed on the support tool; for the incorrect option, the food item
      placed off the tool. Perceptual cues were also correlated with outcome: e.g.,
      red, triangular tool correct, blue, rectangular tool incorrect. Although the
      monkeys simply needed to touch the tool to register a response, they immediately
      pulled it, reflecting a relational reasoning process between themselves and
      another object (Rself-other), rather than an associative one between the
      arbitrary touch response and reward (Aresp-reward). Probe testing then showed
      that all four monkeys used a conjunction of perceptual features to select the
      correct option, reflecting an associative process between stimuli and reward
      (Astim-reward). We then added a second problem exemplar and subsequent testing
      revealed that the monkeys switched to using the on/off relationship, reflecting a
      relational reasoning process between two objects (Rother-other). Because behavior
      appeared to reflect Rself-other rather than Aresp-reward, and Astim-reward prior
      to Rother-other, our results suggest that cognitive processes are selected via
      competitive control dynamics.

PMID- 27639552
TI  - Incremental implicit learning of bundles of statistical patterns.
AB  - Forming an accurate representation of a task environment often takes place
      incrementally as the information relevant to learning the representation only
      unfolds over time. This incremental nature of learning poses an important
      problem: it is usually unclear whether a sequence of stimuli consists of only a
      single pattern, or multiple patterns that are spliced together. In the former
      case, the learner can directly use each observed stimulus to continuously revise
      its representation of the task environment. In the latter case, however, the
      learner must first parse the sequence of stimuli into different bundles, so as to
      not conflate the multiple patterns. We created a video-game statistical learning
      paradigm and investigated (1) whether learners without prior knowledge of the
      existence of multiple "stimulus bundles" - subsequences of stimuli that define
      locally coherent statistical patterns - could detect their presence in the input
      and (2) whether learners are capable of constructing a rich representation that
      encodes the various statistical patterns associated with bundles. By comparing
      human learning behavior to the predictions of three computational models, we find
      evidence that learners can handle both tasks successfully. In addition, we
      discuss the underlying reasons for why the learning of stimulus bundles occurs
      even when such behavior may seem irrational.

PMID- 27639554
TI  - The association between household bed net ownership and all-cause child mortality
      in Madagascar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria continues to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality
      in Madagascar. It has been estimated that the malaria burden costs Madagascar
      over $52 million annually in terms of treatment costs, lost productivity and
      prevention expenses. One of the key malaria prevention strategies of the
      Government of Madagascar consists of large-scale mass distribution campaigns of
      long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLIN). Although there is ample
      evidence that child mortality has decreased in Madagascar, it is unclear whether
      increases in LLIN ownership have contributed to this decline. This study analyses
      multiple recent cross-sectional survey data sets to examine the association
      between household bed net ownership and all-cause child mortality. RESULTS: Data
      on household-level bed net ownership confirm that the percentage of households
      that own one or more bed nets increased substantially following the 2009 and 2010
      mass LLIN distribution campaigns. Additionally, all-cause child mortality in
      Madagascar has declined during the period 2008-2013. Bed net ownership was
      associated with a 22 % reduction in the all-cause child mortality hazard in
      Madagascar. CONCLUSIONS: Mass bed net distributions contributed strongly to the
      overall decline in child mortality in Madagascar during the period 2008-2013.
      However, the decline was not solely attributable to increases in bed net
      coverage, and nets alone were not able to eliminate most of the child mortality
      hazard across the island.

PMID- 27639553
TI  - Unrelated donor versus matched sibling donor in adults with acute myeloid
      leukemia in first relapse: an ALWP-EBMT study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is the only curative option for
      patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) experiencing relapse. Either matched
      sibling donor (MSD) or unrelated donor (UD) is indicated. METHODS: We analyzed
      1554 adults with AML transplanted from MSD (n = 961) or UD (n = 593, HLA-matched
      10/10, n = 481; 9/10, n = 112). Compared to MSD, UD recipients were older (49 vs
      52 years, p = 0.001), transplanted more recently (2009 vs 2006, p = 0.001), and
      with a longer interval to transplant (10 vs 9 months, p = 0.001). Conditioning
      regimen was more frequently myeloablative for patients transplanted with a MSD
      (61 vs 46 %, p = 0.001). Median follow-up was 28 (range 3-157) months. RESULTS:
      Cumulative incidence (CI) of neutrophil engraftment (p = 0.07), grades II-IV
      acute GVHD (p = 0.11), chronic GVHD (p = 0.9), and non-relapse mortality (NRM, p
      = 0.24) was not different according to the type of donor. At 2 years, CI of
      relapse (relapse incidence (RI)) was 57 vs 49 % (p = 0.001). Leukemia-free
      survival (LFS) at 2 years was 21 vs 26 % (p = 0.001), and overall survival (OS)
      was 26 vs 33 % (p = 0.004) for MSD vs UD, respectively. Chronic GVHD as time
      dependent variable was associated with lower RI (HR 0.78, p = 0.05), higher NRM
      (HR 1.71, p = 0.001), and higher OS (HR 0.69, p = 0.001). According to HLA match,
      RI was 57 vs 50 vs 45 %, (p = 0.001) NRM was 23 vs 23 vs 29 % (p = 0.26), and LFS
      at 2 years was 21 vs 27 vs 25 % (p = 0.003) for MSD, 10/10, and 9/10 UD,
      respectively. In multivariate analysis adjusted for differences between the two
      groups, UD was associated with lower RI (HR 0.76, p = 0.001) and higher LFS (HR
      0.83, p = 0.001) compared to MSD. Interval between diagnosis and transplant was
      the other factor associated with better outcomes (RI (HR 0.62, p < 0.001) and LFS
      (HR 0.67, p < 0.001)). CONCLUSIONS: Transplantation using UD was associated with
      better LFS and lower RI compared to MSD for high-risk patients with AML
      transplanted in first relapse.

PMID- 27639555
TI  - Microglial CX3CR1 promotes adult neurogenesis by inhibiting Sirt 1/p65 signaling
      independent of CX3CL1.
AB  - Homo and heterozygote cx3cr1 mutant mice, which harbor a green fluorescent
      protein (EGFP) in their cx3cr1 loci, represent a widely used animal model to
      study microglia and peripheral myeloid cells. Here we report that microglia in
      the dentate gyrus (DG) of cx3cr1 (-/-) mice displayed elevated microglial sirtuin
      1 (SIRT1) expression levels and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of
      activated B cells (NF-kB) p65 activation, despite unaltered morphology when
      compared to cx3cr1 (+/-) or cx3cr1 (+/+) controls. This phenotype was restricted
      to the DG and accompanied by reduced adult neurogenesis in cx3cr1 (-/-) mice.
      Remarkably, adult neurogenesis was not affected by the lack of the CX3CR1-ligand,
      fractalkine (CX3CL1). Mechanistically, pharmacological activation of SIRT1
      improved adult neurogenesis in the DG together with an enhanced performance of
      cx3cr1 (-/-) mice in a hippocampus-dependent learning and memory task. The
      reverse condition was induced when SIRT1 was inhibited in cx3cr1 (-/-) mice,
      causing reduced adult neurogenesis and lowered hippocampal cognitive abilities.
      In conclusion, our data indicate that deletion of CX3CR1 from microglia under
      resting conditions modifies brain areas with elevated cellular turnover
      independent of CX3CL1.

PMID- 27639557
TI  - Guided Act and Feel Indonesia (GAF-ID) - Internet-based behavioral activation
      intervention for depression in Indonesia: study protocol for a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression is a leading cause of disease burden across the world.
      However, in low-middle income countries (LMICs), access to mental health services
      is severely limited because of the insufficient number of mental health
      professionals available. The WHO initiated the Mental Health Gap Action Program
      (mhGAP) aiming to provide a coherent strategy for closing the gap between what is
      urgently needed and what is available in LMICs. Internet-based treatment is a
      promising strategy that can be made available to a large number of people now
      that Internet access is increasing rapidly throughout the world. The present
      study will investigate whether such an Internet-based treatment for depression is
      effective in Indonesia. METHODS: An Internet-based behavioral activation
      treatment, with support by lay counselors who will provide online feedback on the
      assignments and supportive phone contact to encourage participants to work in the
      program (Guided Act and Feel Indonesia/GAF-ID), is compared to an online
      delivered minimal psychoeducation without any support (psychoeducation/PE).
      Initial assessment for inclusion is based on a Patient Health Questionnaire-9
      (PHQ-9) score of at least 10 and meeting criteria for major depressive disorder
      or persistent depressive disorder as assessed using the Structured Clinical
      Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). Participants with depression (N = 312) will be
      recruited and randomly assigned to GAF-ID or PE. Overall assessments will be done
      at baseline, post intervention (10 weeks from baseline) and follow-ups (3 months
      and 6 months from baseline). The primary outcome is the reduction of depression
      symptoms as measured by the PHQ-9 after 10 weeks from baseline. DISCUSSION: To
      our knowledge, this is the first study in Indonesia that examines the
      effectiveness of an Internet-based intervention for depression in a randomized
      controlled trial. The hope is that it can serve as a starting point for bridging
      the mental health gap in Indonesia and other LMICs. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      Nederlands Trial Register ( www.trialregister.nl ): NTR5920 , registered on 1
      July 2016.

PMID- 27639556
TI  - Severity of back pain may influence choice and order of practitioner
      consultations across conventional, allied and complementary health care: a cross
      sectional study of 1851 mid-age Australian women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Back pain is a common, disabling and costly disorder for which
      patients often consult with a wide range of health practitioners. Unfortunately,
      no research to date has directly examined the association between the severity of
      back pain and back pain sufferers' choice of whom and in what order to consult
      different health practitioners. METHODS: This is a sub-study of the large
      nationally representative Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
      (ALSWH). The mid-age cohort women (born 1946-51, n = 13,715) of the ALSWH were
      recruited from the Australian national Medicare database in 1996. These women
      have been surveyed six time, with survey 6 being conducted in 2010 (n = 10,011).
      Mid-age women (n = 1851) who in 2010 had sought help from a health care
      practitioner for their back pain were mailed a self-report questionnaire
      targeting their previous 12 months of health services utilisation, health status
      and their levels of back pain intensity. RESULTS: A total of 1620 women were
      deemed eligible and 1310 (80.9 %) returned completed questionnaires. Mid-age
      women with back pain visited various conventional, allied health and CAM
      practitioners for care: 75.6 % consulted a CAM practitioner; 58.4 % consulted a
      medical doctor; and 54.2 % consulted an allied health practitioner. Women with
      the most severe back pain sought conventional care from a general practitioner,
      and those who consulted a general practitioner first had more severe back pain
      than those who consulted another practitioner first. Following the general
      practitioner visit, the women with more severe back pain were more likely to be
      referred to a conventional specialist, and those with less severe back pain were
      more likely to be referred to a physiotherapist. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings
      suggest that women with more severe back pain are likely to visit a conventional
      practitioner first, whereas women with less severe back pain are likely to
      explore a range of treatment options including CAM practitioners. The improvement
      of back pain over time following the various possible sequencing of consultations
      with different types of health practitioners is a topic with implications for
      ensuring safe and effective back pain care and worthy of further detailed
      investigation.

PMID- 27639558
TI  - nbCNV: a multi-constrained optimization model for discovering copy number
      variants in single-cell sequencing data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Variations in DNA copy number have an important contribution to the
      development of several diseases, including autism, schizophrenia and cancer.
      Single-cell sequencing technology allows the dissection of genomic heterogeneity
      at the single-cell level, thereby providing important evolutionary information
      about cancer cells. In contrast to traditional bulk sequencing, single-cell
      sequencing requires the amplification of the whole genome of a single cell to
      accumulate enough samples for sequencing. However, the amplification process
      inevitably introduces amplification bias, resulting in an over-dispersing portion
      of the sequencing data. Recent study has manifested that the over-dispersed
      portion of the single-cell sequencing data could be well modelled by negative
      binomial distributions. RESULTS: We developed a read-depth based method, nbCNV to
      detect the copy number variants (CNVs). The nbCNV method uses two constraints
      sparsity and smoothness to fit the CNV patterns under the assumption that the
      read signals are negatively binomially distributed. The problem of CNV detection
      was formulated as a quadratic optimization problem, and was solved by an
      efficient numerical solution based on the classical alternating direction
      minimization method. CONCLUSIONS: Extensive experiments to compare nbCNV with
      existing benchmark models were conducted on both simulated data and empirical
      single-cell sequencing data. The results of those experiments demonstrate that
      nbCNV achieves superior performance and high robustness for the detection of CNVs
      in single-cell sequencing data.

PMID- 27639559
TI  - Does the internal jugular vein affect the elasticity of the common carotid
      artery?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arterial stiffness is an early marker of atherosclerosis. The carotid
      arteries are easily accessible by ultrasound and are commonly used for the
      evaluation of atherosclerosis development. However, this stiffness assessment is
      based on the elastic properties of the artery, which may be influenced by the
      adjacent internal jugular vein (IJV). The aim of the present study is to evaluate
      the influence of internal jugular vein morphology on the stiffness of the common
      carotid artery. METHODS: Bilateral carotid ultrasound was performed in 248
      individuals. When no carotid plaque was detected (90.9 % cases), the
      distensibility coefficient and beta - stiffness index were calculated. The global
      and segmental circumferential strain parameters of the carotid wall were
      evaluated with 2D-Speckle Tracking. The cross-sectional area of the IJV and
      degree of its adherence to the carotid wall (angle of adherence) were measured.
      RESULTS: The morphology of the IJV did not influence the standard stiffness
      parameters nor the global circumferential strain. However, segmental analysis
      found the sector adjacent to the IJV to have significantly higher strain
      parameters than its opposite counterpart. In addition, the strain correlated
      significantly and positively with IJV cross-sectional area and angle of
      adherence. CONCLUSIONS: The movement of the carotid artery wall caused by the
      passage of the pulse wave is not homogeneous. The greatest strain is observed in
      a segment adjacent to the IJV, and the degree of wall deformation is associated
      with the size of the vein and the degree of its adherence.

PMID- 27639561
TI  - Soil fertility, crop biodiversity, and farmers' revenues: Evidence from Italy.
AB  - This paper analyzes the interplay between soil fertility, crop biodiversity, and
      farmers' revenues. We use a large, original, farm-level panel dataset. Findings
      indicate that both crop biodiversity and soil fertility have positive effects on
      farmers' revenues. It is also shown that crop biodiversity and soil fertility may
      act as substitutes. These results provide evidence for the important role of
      diversity in the resilience of agroecosystems. Crop diversification can be a
      potential strategy to support productivity when soils are less fertile.

PMID- 27639562
TI  - Popcorn ball calcification.

PMID- 27639560
TI  - Onset of persistent pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in children with cystic
      fibrosis with interval censored data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persistent Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PPA) infection promotes lung
      function deterioration in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Although early CF
      diagnosis through newborn screening (NBS) has been shown to provide
      nutritional/growth benefit, it is unclear whether NBS lowers the risk of PPA
      infection and how the effect of NBS vary with age. Modeling the onset age of PPA
      infection is challenging because 1) the onset age of PPA infection is interval
      censored in patient registry data; and 2) some risk factors such as NBS may have
      time-varying effects. METHODS: This problem fits into the framework of a recently
      developed Bayesian dynamic Cox model for interval censored data, where each
      regression coefficient is allowed to be time-varying to an extent determined by
      the data. RESULTS: Application of the methodology to data from the CF Foundation
      Patient Registry revealed interesting findings. Compared with patients with
      meconium ileus or diagnosed through signs or symptoms, patients diagnosed through
      NBS had significantly lower risks of acquiring PPA infection between age 1 and 2
      years, and the benefit in survival rate was found to last up to age 4 years. Two
      cohorts of five years apart were compared. Patients born in cohort 2003-2004 had
      significantly lower risks of the PPA infections at any age up to 4 years than
      those born in 1998-1999. CONCLUSIONS: The study supports benefits of NBS on PPA
      infection in early childhood. In addition, our analyses demonstrate that patients
      in the more recent cohort had significantly lower risks of acquiring PPA
      infection up to age 4 years, which suggests improved CF treatment and care over
      time.

PMID- 27639563
TI  - Imaging of autoimmune biliary disease.
AB  - Autoimmune biliary diseases are poorly understood but important to recognize.
      Initially, autoimmune biliary diseases are asymptomatic but may lead to
      progressive cholestasis with associated ductopenia, portal hypertension,
      cirrhosis, and eventually liver failure. The three main forms of autoimmune
      biliary disease are primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis,
      and IgG4-associated cholangitis. Although some overlap may occur between the
      three main autoimmune diseases of the bile ducts, each disease typically affects
      a distinct demographic group and requires a disease-specific diagnostic workup.
      For all the autoimmune biliary diseases, imaging provides a means to monitor
      disease progression, assess for complications, and screen for the development of
      hepatobiliary malignancies that are known to affect patients with these diseases.
      Imaging is also useful to suggest or corroborate the diagnosis of primary
      sclerosing cholangitis and IgG4-associated cholangitis. We review the current
      literature and emphasize radiological findings and considerations for these
      autoimmune diseases of the bile ducts.

PMID- 27639564
TI  - Cross sectional and nuclear medicine imaging of pancreatic insulinomas.
AB  - Insulinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors which occur predominantly in the
      pancreas. Although majority of the insulinomas are benign, over-secretion of
      insulin by the tumor leads to debilitating hypoglycemic symptoms. The diagnosis
      is based on clinical and biochemical findings. After the diagnosis is made, the
      principal challenge lies in locating the tumor because most tumors are solitary
      and small in size. Locating the tumor is of paramount importance as complete
      surgical excision is the only curative treatment, and incomplete resection leads
      to persistence of symptoms. Different preoperative and intraoperative imaging
      techniques have been used with varying success rates for the insulinoma imaging.
      Besides localizing the tumor, imaging also helps to guide biopsy, detect
      metastatic lesions, and perform image-guided therapeutic procedures. This review
      will discuss the role of different Cross sectional and nuclear medicine imaging
      modalities in insulinomas.

PMID- 27639565
TI  - Transfer of physical understanding in a non-tool-using parrot.
AB  - Physical cognition has generally been assessed in tool-using species that possess
      a relatively large brain size, such as corvids and apes. Parrots, like corvids
      and apes, also have large relative brain sizes, yet although parrots rarely use
      tools in the wild, growing evidence suggests comparable performances on physical
      cognition tasks. It is, however, unclear whether success on such tasks is
      facilitated by previous experience and training procedures. We therefore
      investigated physical comprehension of object relationships in two non-tool-using
      species of captive neotropical parrots on a new means-end paradigm, the Trap-Gaps
      task, using unfamiliar materials and modified training procedures that precluded
      procedural cues. Red-shouldered macaws (Diopsittaca nobilis) and black-headed
      caiques (Pionites melanocephala) were presented with an initial task that
      required them to discriminate between pulling food trays through gaps while
      attending to the respective width of the gaps and size of the trays. Subjects
      were then presented with a novel, but functionally equivalent, transfer task. Six
      of eight birds solved the initial task through trial-and-error learning. Four of
      these six birds solved the transfer task, with one caique demonstrating
      spontaneous comprehension. These findings suggest that non-tool-using parrots may
      possess capacities for sophisticated physical cognition by generalising
      previously learned rules across novel problems.

PMID- 27639566
TI  - Bone Metabolism and the c.-223C > T Polymorphism in the 5'UTR Region of the
      Osteoprotegerin Gene in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Osteoporosis is more frequent in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. A
      reduction in bone mineral mass in these individuals is caused not only by
      inflammatory processes in the bowel, because osteoporosis occurs already in very
      young IBD patients and in newly diagnosed individuals who have not yet undergone
      any pharmacological treatment. One of individual determinants of the bone
      turnover parameters is osteoprotegerin (OPG) encoded by the TNFRSF11B gene. The
      c.-223C > T polymorphism in this gene has been extensively studied in post
      menopausal osteoporosis patients. However, no such studies exist for osteoporosis
      related to IBD. The aim of our study was to determine whether the c.-223C > T
      (rs2073617) polymorphism in the 5'UTR region of the gene encoding osteoprotegerin
      is a functional polymorphism which may change the gene expression and resulting
      OPG levels, and so be associated with osteopenia and osteoporosis, and impaired
      bone metabolism in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients. Our study
      included 198 IBD patients and 41 healthy controls. Lumbar spine and femoral neck
      bone mineral density, T-score, Z-score as well as OPG, RANKL, vitamin D, calcium
      and interleukin 4 and 10 concentrations were determined for all study subjects.
      Genotyping of the TNFRSF11B polymorphic site was performed by restriction
      fragment length polymorphism technique. Statistical analyses were conducted using
      Statistica software. Odds ratios, 95 % confidence intervals, and P values were
      calculated using the HWE calculator. Our results did not allow determining an
      unequivocal association between the polymorphic variants of the TNFRSF11B 5'UTR
      region and a susceptibility to osteoporosis in IBD patients. We have shown,
      however, that the c.-223T allele was twice as more frequent in Crohn's disease
      (CD) patients than among controls (OR = 1.99, P value = 0.009). Interestingly,
      average osteoprotegerin levels in CD patients did not significantly differ from
      those in controls, whereas in ulcerative colitis patients, OPG levels were
      significantly lower. We have concluded that low OPG levels may be associated with
      osteoporosis in ulcerative colitis, but it is not correlated with the c.-223C > T
      polymorphism in the TNFRSF11B gene. In CD patients, in turn, we observed
      increased RANKL levels. Our observations confirm different pathogeneses of
      Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis as well as different molecular backgrounds
      of osteoporosis associated with these two diseases.

PMID- 27639567
TI  - Optimal healthcare decision making under multiple mathematical models:
      application in prostate cancer screening.
AB  - Important decisions related to human health, such as screening strategies for
      cancer, need to be made without a satisfactory understanding of the underlying
      biological and other processes. Rather, they are often informed by mathematical
      models that approximate reality. Often multiple models have been made to study
      the same phenomenon, which may lead to conflicting decisions. It is natural to
      seek a decision making process that identifies decisions that all models find to
      be effective, and we propose such a framework in this work. We apply the
      framework in prostate cancer screening to identify prostate-specific antigen
      (PSA)-based strategies that perform well under all considered models. We use
      heuristic search to identify strategies that trade off between optimizing the
      average across all models' assessments and being "conservative" by optimizing the
      most pessimistic model assessment. We identified three recently published
      mathematical models that can estimate quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) of
      PSA-based screening strategies and identified 64 strategies that trade off
      between maximizing the average and the most pessimistic model assessments. All
      prescribe PSA thresholds that increase with age, and 57 involve biennial
      screening. Strategies with higher assessments with the pessimistic model start
      screening later, stop screening earlier, and use higher PSA thresholds at earlier
      ages. The 64 strategies outperform 22 previously published expert-generated
      strategies. The 41 most "conservative" ones remained better than no screening
      with all models in extensive sensitivity analyses. We augment current comparative
      modeling approaches by identifying strategies that perform well under all models,
      for various degrees of decision makers' conservativeness.

PMID- 27639568
TI  - A critical evaluation of lymph node ratio in head and neck cancer.
AB  - In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the search for better
      prognostic factors beyond TNM-stage is ongoing. Lymph node ratio (LNR) (positive
      lymph nodes/total lymph nodes) is gaining interest in view of its potential
      prognostic significance. All HNSCC patients at the Netherlands Cancer Institute
      undergoing neck dissection for lymph node metastases in the neck region between
      2002 and 2012 (n = 176) were included. Based on a protocol change in specimen
      processing, the cohort was subdivided in two distinct consecutive periods (pre
      and post 2007). The prognostic value of LNR, N-stage, and number of positive
      lymph nodes for overall survival was assessed. The mean number of examined lymph
      nodes after 2007 was significantly higher (42.3) than before (35.8) (p = 0.024).
      The higher number concerned mostly lymph nodes in level V. The mean number of
      positive lymph nodes before 2007 was 3.3 vs. 3.6 after 2007 (p = 0.745). By
      multivariate analysis of both pre- and post-2007 cohort data, two factors
      remained associated with an increased hazard of dying: N2 [HR 2.1 (1.1-4.1) and
      2.4 (1.0-5.8)] and >3 positive lymph nodes [HR 2.0 (1.1-3.5) and 3.1 (1.4-6.9)].
      Hazard ratio for LNR >7 % was not significantly different: pre 2007 at 2.2 (1.3
      3.8) and post 2007 at 2.1 (1.0-4.8, p = 0.053). In this study, changes in
      specimen processing influenced LNR values, but not the total number of tumor
      positive nodes found. Therefore, in HNSCC, the number of positive nodes seems a
      more reliable parameter than LNR, provided a minimum number of lymph nodes are
      examined.

PMID- 27639569
TI  - A highly Selective Fluorescent Sensor for Monitoring Cu2+ Ion: Synthesis,
      Characterization and Photophysical Properties.
AB  - A new fluorescent sensor, 4-allylamine-N-(N-salicylidene)-1,8-naphthalimide (1),
      anchoring a naphthalimide moiety as fluorophore and a Schiff base group as
      receptor, was synthesized and characterized. The photophysical properties of
      sensor 1 were conducted in organic solvents of different polarities. Our study
      revealed that, depending on the solvent polarity, the fluorescence quantum yields
      varied from 0.59 to 0.89. The fluorescent activity of the sensor was monitored
      and the sensor was consequently applied for the detection of Cu2+ with high
      selectivity over various metal ions by fluorescence quenching in Tris-HCl (pH =
      7.2) buffer/DMF (1:1, v/v) solution. From the binding stoichiometry, it was
      indicated that a 1:1 complex was formed between Cu2+ and the sensor 1. The
      fluorescence intensity was linear with Cu2+ in the concentration range 0.5-5 MUM.
      Moreso, the detection limit was calculated to be 0.32 MUM, which is sufficiently
      low for good sensitivity of Cu2+ ion. The binding mode was due to the
      intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and the coordination of Cu2+ with C = N and
      hydroxyl oxygen groups of the sensor 1. The sensor proved effective for Cu2+
      monitoring in real water samples with recovery rates of 95-112.6 % obtained.

PMID- 27639570
TI  - Fluorescence Turn off Sensor for Brilliant Blue FCF- an Approach Based on Inner
      Filter Effect.
AB  - A nanosensor with fluorometric readout based on L-cysteine capped cadmium
      sulphide quantum dots for discriminative detection and determination of Brilliant
      blue FCF (BB) (in 0.5 M Tris buffer solution of pH 9.5) over other synthetic food
      colourants is developed. Mechanism of the nanosensor is based on inner filter
      effect (IFE). The addition of BB into quantum dot solution might induce the
      quenching of fluorescence. The nanosensor described in this report reveals its
      simplicity and flexibility due to less laborious and more cost-effective
      synthesis. The developed fluorescence sensor showed excellent selectivity towards
      BB, and allows the detection as low as 3.50 * 10-7 M. The developed sensor
      exhibited a linear concentration range of 4.00 * 10-5 to 4.50 * 10-6 M. More
      importantly, the proposed sensor exhibit sensitive responses toward BB in food
      samples such as sports drink and candies, demonstrating its potential in food
      analysis, which might be significant in food quality control in the future.

PMID- 27639571
TI  - Postpartum Health Information Seeking Using Mobile Phones: Experiences of Low
      Income Mothers.
AB  - Objectives To assess low-income mothers' perceptions of their postpartum
      information needs; describe their information seeking behavior; explore their use
      of mobile technology to address those needs; and to contribute to the sparse
      literature on postpartum health and wellness. Methods Exploratory community-based
      qualitative approach. Interviewees were recruited among clients of community
      partners and had children aged 48 months and under. A survey assessing
      demographics was used to identify low-income mothers. 10 low-income mothers were
      recruited from survey participants to complete in-depth interviews regarding
      postpartum information needs, information seeking, and technology use. Interviews
      were transcribed verbatim and coded by three researchers independently.
      Narratives were analyzed along predetermined (etic) and emergent (emic)
      categories. Results Establishing breastfeeding and solving breastfeeding problems
      were central postpartum concerns leading to information seeking. Interviewees
      reported almost exclusive use of mobile phones to access the Internet. Mobile
      applications were widely used during pregnancy, but were not valuable postpartum.
      Face-to-face information from medical professionals was found to be repetitive.
      Online information seeking was mediated by default mobile phone search engines,
      and occurred over short, fragmented time periods. College graduates reported
      searching for authoritative knowledge sources; non-graduates preferred forums.
      Conclusions for Practice Low-income postpartum women rely on their smartphones to
      find online infant care and self-care health information. Websites replace
      pregnancy-related mobile applications and complement face-to-face information.
      Changes in searching behavior and multitasking mean information must be easily
      accessible and readily understood. Knowledge of page-rank systems and use of
      current and emergent social media will allow health-related organizations to
      better engage with low-income mothers online and promote evidence-based
      information.

PMID- 27639572
TI  - Polarized rotavirus entry and release from differentiated small intestinal cells.
AB  - Rotaviruses infect mature enterocytes from small intestine, however most data
      about their cellular entry are from studies carried out in non-intestinal
      polarized or non-polarized cell lines. In this work the entry of porcine
      rotavirus YM strain into small intestinal cell line IPEC-J2 was studied. It was
      found that YM and the human rotavirus Wa strain infect preferentially from the
      basolateral cell surface. Cell infection from the apical and basolateral surfaces
      was dependent on the presence of cholesterol. The treatment with neuraminidase,
      sucrose, and bafilomycin suggests that there are differences in the receptor
      usage and entry mechanism of the virus from the apical and basolateral surface.
      While cell entry is more efficient from basolateral surface, the viruses egressed
      mainly from the apical cell side.

PMID- 27639574
TI  - Comparison of human papillomavirus type 16 replication in tonsil and foreskin
      epithelia.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) is well recognized as a causative agent for anogenital
      and oropharyngeal cancers, however, the biology of HPV infection at different
      mucosal locations, specifically the oral cavity, is not well understood.
      Importantly, it has yet to be determined if oral tissues are permissive for HPV
      infection and replication. We investigated for the first time the titers,
      infectivity, and maturation of HPV16 in oral epithelial versus genital epithelial
      tissue. We show that infectious HPV16 virions can be produced in oral tissue.
      This demonstrates, for the first time, that infectious virus could be spread via
      the oral cavity. HPV16 derived from oral tissue utilize a tissue-spanning redox
      gradient that facilitates the maturation of virions over time. Maturation is
      manifested by virion stability and increased susceptibility to neutralization
      with anti-HPV16 L1 antibodies. However, susceptibility to neutralization by anti
      HPV16 L2 specific antibodies decreases during the maturation of HPV16 virions in
      oral tissue.

PMID- 27639573
TI  - Porphyromonas gingivalis-mediated signaling through TLR4 mediates persistent HIV
      infection of primary macrophages.
AB  - Periodontal infections contribute to HIV-associated co-morbidities in the oral
      cavity and provide a model to interrogate the dysregulation of macrophage
      function, inflammatory disease progression, and HIV replication during co
      infections. We investigated the effect of Porphyromonas gingivalis on the
      establishment of HIV infection in monocyte-derived macrophages. HIV replication
      in macrophages was significantly repressed in the presence of P. gingivalis. This
      diminished viral replication was due partly to a decrease in the expression of
      integrated HIV provirus. HIV repression depended upon signaling through TLR4 as
      knock-down of TLR4 with siRNA rescued HIV expression. Importantly, HIV expression
      was reactivated upon removal of P. gingivalis. Our observations suggest that
      exposure of macrophages to Gram-negative bacteria influence the establishment and
      maintenance of HIV persistence in macrophages through a TLR4-dependent mechanism.

PMID- 27639575
TI  - The Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesvirus orf35 gene product is required for
      efficient lytic virus reactivation.
AB  - Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is implicated in the etiology of
      several human malignancies. KSHV open reading frame (orf) 35 encodes a conserved
      gammaherpesvirus protein with an, as yet, unknown function. Employing the
      bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) system, we generated a recombinant viral
      clone that fails to express ORF35 (BAC16-ORF35-stop) but preserves intact
      adjacent and overlapping reading frames. Using this construct, we studied the
      role of this previously uncharacterized gene product during lytic reactivation of
      KSHV. Upon lytic reactivation, the ORF35-stop recombinant virus displayed
      significantly reduced lytic viral gene expression, viral DNA replication, and
      progeny virus production as compared to control wild-type virus. Exogenous
      expression of ORF35-Flag reversed the effects of ORF35 deficiency. These results
      demonstrate that ORF35 is important for efficient lytic virus reactivation.

PMID- 27639576
TI  - Why do we suffer more ACL injuries in the cold? A pilot study into potential risk
      factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate temperature-related changes in
      different neuro-muscular parameters, to elucidate the reasons for the increased
      likeliness of injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament under cold environmental
      conditions. DESIGN: Repeated measures study design. METHODS: To induce peripheral
      cooling of the knee joint and thigh muscles, ten healthy, female subjects
      underwent 30 min of exposure to a cold environment. Both knee extensor and flexor
      muscles were examined for electromyographic activity, maximum voluntary
      contraction strength, rate of force development and force sense. Measures of knee
      laxity were obtained by computerized arthrometry. RESULTS: Following cold
      exposure, rate of force development of the knee flexor muscles was significantly
      reduced (p = 0.016). Left-shifts of electromyography power spectra indicated
      changes in neural drive to the medial and lateral head of the vastus muscle.
      Maximum strength, force sense and knee laxity were not affected by the
      intervention. CONCLUSION: The reduced capacity of cold knee flexor muscles to
      explosively generate force may limit the hamstrings' capability to counter strong
      and fast contractions of the knee extensor muscles that cause anterior shear
      force on the tibia and, thus, strain the anterior cruciate ligament.

PMID- 27639577
TI  - Differences in carbon source utilisation by orchid mycorrhizal fungi from common
      and endangered species of Caladenia (Orchidaceae).
AB  - Terrestrial orchids depend on orchid mycorrhizal fungi (OMF) as symbionts for
      their survival, growth and nutrition. The ability of OMF from endangered orchid
      species to compete for available resources with OMF from common species may
      affect the distribution, abundance and therefore conservation status of their
      orchid hosts. Eight symbiotically effective OMF from endangered and more common
      Caladenia species were tested for their ability to utilise complex insoluble and
      simple soluble carbon sources produced during litter degradation by growth with
      different carbon sources in liquid medium to measure the degree of OMF variation
      with host conservation status or taxonomy. On simple carbon sources, fungal
      growth was assessed by biomass. On insoluble substrates, ergosterol content was
      assessed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). The OMF grew on
      all natural materials and complex carbon sources, but produced the greatest
      biomass on xylan and starch and the least on bark and chitin. On simple carbon
      sources, the greatest OMF biomass was measured on most hexoses and disaccharides
      and the least on galactose and arabinose. Only some OMF used sucrose, the most
      common sugar in green plants, with possible implications for symbiosis. OMF from
      common orchids produced more ergosterol and biomass than those from endangered
      orchids in the Dilatata and Reticulata groups but not in the Patersonii and
      Finger orchids. This suggests that differences in carbon source utilisation may
      contribute to differences in the distribution of some orchids, if these
      differences are retained on site.

PMID- 27639578
TI  - Depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential is the initial event in non
      nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor efavirenz induced cytotoxicity.
AB  - Efavirenz is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) and an
      active constituent of the highly active antiretroviral therapy regime. It has
      significantly contributed in control and management of human immunodeficiency
      virus propagation. However, EFV administration has also led to severe adverse
      effects, several reports highlighted the role of EFV in mitochondrial dysfunction
      and toxicity but the molecular mechanism has been poorly understood. In present
      study, human hepatoma cells Huh 7.5 were treated with clinically relevant
      concentrations of EFV and parameters like cytotoxicity, mitochondrial
      transmembrane potential, mitochondrial morphology, cytochrome c release,
      mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, mtDNA and mtRNA levels and EFV distribution into
      mitochondrial compartment were evaluated to understand sequence of events leading
      to cell death in EFV-treated cells. EFV at its clinically relevant concentration
      was significantly toxic after 48 and 72 h of treatments. EFV-mediated toxicity is
      initiated with the permeabilization of mitochondrial outer membrane and change in
      mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim) which triggers a series of events
      like cytochrome c release, alteration in mitochondrial morphology and
      mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Total mitochondrial content is reduced after 48
      h of EFV treatment at IC50 concentration which is also reflected in reduced
      mitochondrial DNA and RNA levels. After detecting EFV in mitochondrial
      compartment after 12 h of incubation with EFV, we hypothesize that EFV being a
      lipophilic molecule is internalized into the mitochondrial compartment causing
      depolarization of Deltapsim which subsequently leads to a cascade of events
      causing cell death.

PMID- 27639579
TI  - Recent Advances in Silicon Nanowire Biosensors: Synthesis Methods, Properties,
      and Applications.
AB  - The application of silicon nanowire (SiNW) biosensor as a subtle, label-free, and
      electrical tool has been extensively demonstrated by several researchers over the
      past few decades. Human ability to delicately fabricate and control its chemical
      configuration, morphology, and arrangement either separately or in combination
      with other materials as lead to the development of a nanomaterial with specific
      and efficient electronic and catalytic properties useful in the fields of
      biological sciences and renewable energy. This review illuminates on the various
      synthetic methods of SiNW, with its optical and electrical properties that make
      them one of the most applicable nanomaterials in the field of biomolecule
      sensing, photoelectrochemical conversion, and diseases diagnostics. 

PMID- 27639580
TI  - Effects of Al Doping on the Properties of ZnO Thin Films Deposited by Atomic
      Layer Deposition.
AB  - The tuning of structural, optical, and electrical properties of Al-doped ZnO
      films deposited by atomic layer deposition technique is reported in this work.
      With the increasing Al doping level, the evolution from (002) to (100)
      diffraction peaks indicates the change in growth mode of ZnO films. Spectroscopic
      ellipsometry has been applied to study the thickness, optical constants, and band
      gap of AZO films. Due to the increasing carrier concentration after Al doping, a
      blue shift of band gap and absorption edge can be observed, which can be
      interpreted by Burstein-Moss effect. The carrier concentration and resistivity
      are found to vary significantly among different doping concentration, and the
      optimum value is also discussed. The modulations and improvements of properties
      are important for Al-doped ZnO films to apply as transparent conductor in various
      applications. 

PMID- 27639581
TI  - Effects of Process Parameters on the Characteristics of Mixed-Halide Perovskite
      Solar Cells Fabricated by One-Step and Two-Step Sequential Coating.
AB  - In this paper, two-step sequential spin-dip and spin-spin coating, as well as one
      step spin coating, methods are used to fabricate methylammonium lead mixed-halide
      perovskites to study the effect of process parameters, including the choice of
      the solvent, annealing temperature, spin velocity, and dipping time on the
      characteristics of the perovskite film. Our results show that using a mixture of
      DMF and DMSO, with volume ratio of 1:1, as the organic solvents for PbCl2 results
      in the best mixed-halide perovskite because of the effective coordination between
      DMSO and PbCl2. Surface dewetting due to two effects, i.e., crystallization and
      thin liquid film instability, is observed and discussed, where an intermediate
      spin velocity of about 4000 rpm is found suitable to suppress dewetting. The
      perovskite film fabricated using the one-step method followed by anti-solvent
      treatment shows the best perovskite conversion in XRD patterns, and the planar
      device fabricated using the same method exhibited the highest efficiency among
      the employed methods. The perovskite layer made by sequential spin-dip coating is
      found thicker with higher absorbance, but the device shows a lower efficiency
      because of the challenges associated with perovskite conversion in the sequential
      method. The one-step deposition method is found easier to control and more
      promising than the sequential deposition methods. 

PMID- 27639582
TI  - Biochemical Characterization of the Detoxifying Enzyme Glutathione Transferase P1
      1 from the Camel Camelus Dromedarius.
AB  - Glutathione transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) is a primary line of defense against
      toxicities of electrophile compounds and oxidative stress and therefore is
      involved in stress-response and cell detoxification. In the present study, we
      investigated the catalytic and structural properties of the glutathione
      transferase (GST) isoenzyme P1-1 from Camelus dromedarius (CdGSTP1-1).
      Recombinant CdGSTP1-1 was produced in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and purified to
      electrophoretic homogeneity. Kinetic analysis revealed that CdGSTP1-1 displays
      broad substrate specificity and shows high activity towards halogenated aryl
      compounds, isothiocyanates and hydroperoxides. Computation analysis and
      structural comparison of the catalytic and ligand binding sites of CdGSTP1-1 with
      other pi class GSTs allowed the identification of major structural variations
      that affect the active site pocket and the catalytic mechanism., Affinity
      labeling and kinetic inhibition studies identified key regions that form the
      ligandin-binding site (L-site) and gave further insights into the mechanism of
      non-substrate ligand recognition. The results of the present study provide new
      information into camelid detoxifying mechanism and new knowledge into the
      diversity and complex enzymatic functions of GST superfamily.

PMID- 27639583
TI  - Paradoxical and atypical responses to pasireotide in aggressive ACTH-secreting
      pituitary tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pasireotide is the only pituitary targeted medication registered for the
      treatment of Cushing's disease. Drug efficacy data are largely based on a major
      prospective study in which the vast majority of patients had microadenomas. The
      purpose of this study was to summarize results of pasireotide treatment of ACTH
      secreting macroadenomas from our center. METHODS: Retrospective review of data
      extracted from clinical files. RESULTS: Three patients presented with large and
      invasive macroadenomas that required several surgical interventions and
      radiotherapy treatments. Patient 1 is a 57 year-old male who developed an extreme
      (27-fold) paradoxical response of urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels as measured
      2 weeks after pasireotide institution, which increased further (71-fold) in
      response to dose increment but decreased to baseline levels after treatment
      interruption. Patient 2 is a 44 year old woman with a long standing (26 years)
      ACTH-secreting carcinoma metastatic to bone and after bilateral adrenalectomy.
      After an initial excellent response to pasireotide treatment, ACTH levels escaped
      suppression and a further rebound was noted 6 weeks after treatment interruption.
      Patient 3 is a 53 year old man that after escape from temozolomide therapy was
      started on pasireotide and rapidly responded by almost normalizing UFC excretion
      after 4 weeks, but returned to baseline UFC levels after four additional weeks of
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We describe as yet unreported atypical responses to
      pasireotide treatment in patients with aggressive ACTH-secreting tumors.
      Increased vigilance is recommended during pasireotide treatment of such patients.

PMID- 27639584
TI  - Interaction between gut microbiota and toll-like receptor: from immunity to
      metabolism.
AB  - The human gut contains trillions of commensal bacteria, and similar to pathogenic
      bacteria, the gut microbes and their products can be recognized by toll-like
      receptors (TLRs). It is well acknowledged that the interaction between gut
      microbiota and the local TLRs help to maintain the homeostasis of intestinal
      immunity. High-fat intake or obesity can weaken gut integrity leading to the
      penetration of gut microbiota or their bacterial products into the circulation,
      leading to the activation of TLRs on immune cells and subsequently low-grade
      systemic inflammation in host. Metabolic cells including hepatocytes and
      adipocytes also express TLRs. Although they are able to produce and secrete
      inflammatory molecules, the effectiveness remains low compared with the immune
      cells embedded in the liver and adipose tissue. The interaction of TLRs in these
      metabolic cells or organs with gut microbiota remains unclear, but a few studies
      have suggested that the functions of these TLRs are related to metabolism.
      Alteration of the gut microbiota is associated with body weight change and
      adiposity in human, and the interaction between the commensal gut microbiota and
      TLRs may possibly involve both metabolic and immunological regulation. In this
      review, we will summarize the current findings on the relationship between TLRs
      and gut microbiota with a focus on metabolic regulation and discuss how such
      interaction participates in host metabolism.

PMID- 27639585
TI  - Exercise in the Early Stage after Stroke Enhances Hippocampal Brain-Derived
      Neurotrophic Factor Expression and Memory Function Recovery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise in the early stage after stroke onset has been shown to
      facilitate the recovery from physical dysfunction. However, the mechanism of
      recovery has not been clarified. In this study, the effect of exercise on spatial
      memory function recovery in the early stage was shown, and the mechanism of
      recovery was discussed using a rat model of brain embolism. METHODS: Intra
      arterial microsphere (MS) injection induced small emboli in the rat brain.
      Treadmill exercise was started at 24 hours (early group) or 8 days (late group)
      after MS injection. The non-exercise (NE) and sham-operated groups were included
      as controls. Memory function was evaluated by the Morris water maze test, and
      hippocampal levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were measured by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. To further investigate the effect of BDNF on
      memory function, BDNF was continuously infused into the hippocampus via
      implantable osmotic pumps in the early or late stage after stroke. RESULTS:
      Memory function significantly improved only in the early group compared with the
      late and the NE groups, although hippocampal BDNF concentrations were temporarily
      elevated after exercise in both the early and the late groups. Rats infused with
      BDNF in the early stage exhibited significant memory function recovery; however,
      rats that received BDNF infusion in the late stage showed no improvement.
      CONCLUSION: Exercise elevates hippocampal BDNF levels in the early stage after
      cerebral embolism, and this event facilitates memory function recovery.

PMID- 27639586
TI  - More Time Is Taken to Administer Tissue Plasminogen Activator in Ischemic Stroke
      Patients with Earlier Presentations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In ischemic stroke, administration of tissue plasminogen activator
      (tPA) within 4.5 hours from the time last known well (LKW) improves outcomes,
      with better outcomes seen with earlier administration. However, for patients
      presenting early, a perception of significant remaining time within this window
      may lead to delayed tPA administration. We hypothesized that cases with a shorter
      LKW-to-stroke team activation (code) time will have a longer "code-to-tPA"
      administration time. METHODS: In the Mount Sinai Hospital Stroke Registry (2009
      2015), 122 patients received tPA. The patients were divided by "LKW-to-code" time
      into 3 groups: 0-59 minutes (n = 38), 60-119 minutes (n = 49), and 120 minutes or
      more (n = 35). The code-to-tPA time was compared among these groups, adjusting
      for age, sex, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, and race
      ethnicity. RESULTS: The average code-to-tPA time was 80 minutes in the 0-59
      minutes group, 67 minutes in the 60-119 minutes group, and 52 minutes in the 120
      minutes or more group (analysis of variance P < .0001). There was an average 28
      minute difference (P = .021) between the 0-59 and 120 minutes or more groups.
      CONCLUSION: There was a significant negative correlation between the LKW-to-code
      time and the code-to-tPA time that was independent of age, sex, NIHSS score, and
      race-ethnicity.

PMID- 27639587
TI  - A Novel Imaging Technique (X-Map) to Identify Acute Ischemic Lesions Using
      Noncontrast Dual-Energy Computed Tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether X-map, a novel imaging technique, can visualize
      ischemic lesions within 20 hours after the onset in patients with acute ischemic
      stroke, using noncontrast dual-energy computed tomography (DECT). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Six patients with acute ischemic stroke were included in this study.
      Noncontrast head DECT scans were acquired with 2 X-ray tubes operated at 80 kV
      and Sn150 kV between 32 minutes and 20 hours after the onset. Using these DECT
      scans, the X-map was reconstructed based on 3-material decomposition and compared
      with a simulated standard (120 kV) computed tomography (CT) and diffusion
      weighted imaging (DWI). RESULTS: The X-map showed more sensitivity to identify
      the lesions as an area of lower attenuation value than a simulated standard CT in
      all 6 patients. The lesions on the X-map correlated well with those on DWI. In 3
      of 6 patients, the X-map detected a transient decrease in the attenuation value
      in the peri-infarct area within 1 day after the onset. CONCLUSIONS: The X-map is
      a powerful tool to supplement a simulated standard CT and characterize acute
      ischemic lesions. However, the X-map cannot replace a simulated standard CT to
      diagnose acute cerebral infarction.

PMID- 27639589
TI  - One-Year Rates and Determinants of Poststroke Systolic Blood Pressure Control
      among Ghanaians.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) is potently
      associated with risk of recurrent strokes. In resource-limited settings, there is
      a dearth of data on the rates and determinants of uncontrolled SBP among stroke
      survivors at high risk of recurrent events. The objective of this study is to
      assess the rates and determinants of uncontrolled SBP over the first year post
      stroke. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study involving stroke
      survivors who enrolled into an outpatient neurology clinic in Kumasi, Ghana,
      between January 2012 and June 2014. Baseline demographic features, clinical
      characteristics, antihypertensive medications prescribed at each clinic visit,
      treatment modifications, and clinic blood pressure measurements were recorded.
      Predictors of uncontrolled SBP during follow-up were assessed using a
      multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: A total of 602 stroke survivors
      enrolled for follow-up within the study period of which 89.8% had hypertension.
      Up to 35% of subjects had an SBP above 140 mmHg during follow-up clinic visits.
      Among those with uncontrolled SBP, 17% had antihypertensive treatment
      modifications during follow-up. Predictors of uncontrolled SBP were SBP at
      enrollment into clinic, with an adjusted odds ratio (OR [95% confidence interval
      {CI}]) of 1.31 (1.17-1.47)/10 mmHg increase, and average number of
      antihypertensive medications prescribed, with an adjusted OR (95% CI) of 1.30
      (1.06-1.60) for an increase in the number of antihypertensives prescribed.
      CONCLUSION: A third of stroke survivors had SBP not on target during follow-up
      possibly due to a combination of therapeutic inertia, apparent treatment
      resistance, and poor adherence to therapy. Longer-term prospective interventional
      studies on hypertension control among stroke survivors are warranted in sub
      Saharan Africa.

PMID- 27639588
TI  - Plasma Immunoproteasome Predicts Early Hemorrhagic Transformation in Acute
      Ischemic Stroke Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Currently, blood biomarkers associated with an increased
      hemorrhagic transformation (HT) risk remain uncertain. We aimed to determine the
      significance of immunoproteasome as predictors of early HT in acute ischemic
      stroke patients. METHODS: This study enrolled 316 patients with ischemic stroke.
      HT was assessed by computed tomography examination performed on day 5 +/- 2 after
      stroke onset or immediately in case of clinical deterioration (CD). Plasma
      immunoproteasome subunits low molecular mass peptide 2 (LMP2), multicatalytic
      endopeptidase complex-like 1 (MECL-1), LMP7, interleukin-1beta (IL1beta), and
      high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) were measured with quantitative
      sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Factors associated with HT were
      analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: There were
      42 (13.3%, 42 of 316) patients who experienced HT. Compared with those patients
      without HT, plasma LMP2, MECL-1, LMP7, IL1beta, and Hs-CRP concentrations on
      admission were significantly increased in patients with subsequent HT (P < .001).
      These protein concentrations increased with hemorrhage severity. Patients with CD
      caused by HT had the highest levels of LMP2 (1679.5 [1394.6-136.6] pg/mL), MECL-1
      (992.5 [849.7-1075.8] pg/mL), LMP7 (822.6 [748.6-1009.5] pg/mL), IL1beta (113.2
      [90.6-194.5] pg/mL), and Hs-CRP (30.0 [12.8-75.6] mg/L) (P < .05). Logistic
      regression analysis showed cardioembolism, LMP2, MECL-1, and LMP7 as independent
      predictors of HT (P < .05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis
      demonstrated LMP2 >= 988.3 pg/mL, MECL-1 >= 584.7 pg/mL, and LMP7 >= 509.0 pg/mL
      as independent factors associated with HT (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Evaluation of
      plasma levels of immunoproteasome could be helpful in the early prediction of HT
      in acute ischemic stroke patients.

PMID- 27639590
TI  - What parents don't know: Disclosure and secrecy in a sample of urban adolescents.
AB  - Research with two-parent European households has suggested that secrecy, and not
      disclosure of information per se, predicts adolescent adjustment difficulties.
      The present study attempted to replicate this finding using data from a 4-wave
      study of 358 poor, urban adolescents (47% male; M age = 12 yrs) in the United
      States, most of whom (>92%) were African American. Adolescents self-reported
      secrecy, disclosure, depressive symptoms, and delinquency at each wave.
      Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a two-factor model with secrecy and
      disclosure as separate, but correlated, factors was a better fit than a one
      factor model. However, predictive models differed from previous research. Secrecy
      did not predict depressive symptoms, rather depressive symptoms predicted
      secrecy. For delinquency, there were significant paths from both secrecy to
      delinquency and delinquency to secrecy, as well as from delinquency to
      disclosure. These results did not differ by age or sex. Comparisons with previous
      findings are discussed.

PMID- 27639591
TI  - Evidence for epistatic interaction between VDR and SLC13A2 genes in the
      pathogenesis of hypocitraturia in recurrent calcium oxalate stone formers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic factors play a key role in the pathogenesis of
      hypocitraturia, a common risk factor for nephrolithiasis. The Na+-dicarboxylate
      cotransporter NaDC1, encoded by the sodium-dicarboxylate cotransporter (SLC13A2)
      gene, is a major determinant of urinary citrate excretion and its biological
      functions are regulated also by the vitamin D/Vitamin D receptor (VDR) biological
      system. The aim of this case-control study was to evaluate the possible epistatic
      interaction between VDR rs731236and SLC13A2 rs11567842 allelic variants in the
      pathogenesis of hypocitraturia. METHODS: Recurrent calcium-oxalate stone formers
      (SF) with or without hypocitraturia and healthy controls (C) were genotyped. Gene
      gene interactions were estimated by the 1.0 software package of multifactor
      dimensionality reduction (MDR). RESULTS: The prevalence of VDR TT and SLC13A2 GG
      genotypes was higher in hypocitraturic SF compared to C (odds ratio [OR] 3.24, 95
      % confidence interval [CI] 1.38-7.60 for VDR TT vs. VDR tt and OR 4.06, 95 % CI
      1.75-9.42 for SLC13A2 GG vs. SLC13A2 AA ). MDR analysis indicated a significant
      interaction between VDR TT and SLC13A2 GG in hypocitraturic SF compared to C [OR
      3.81 (2.11-6.88)]. These data are compatible with an epistatic interaction
      between the VDR TT and SLC13A2 GG genotypes with a significant impact on the
      magnitude of the effect (suppressive effect). CONCLUSIONS: These results point to
      an epistatic interaction between the VDR and the SLC13A2 alleles in the
      pathogenesis of idiopathic hypocitraturia in calcium-oxalate SF.

PMID- 27639592
TI  - Receptor-interacting protein 140 overexpression impairs cardiac mitochondrial
      function and accelerates the transition to heart failure in chronically infarcted
      rats.
AB  - Heart failure (HF) is associated with myocardial energy metabolic abnormality.
      Receptor-interacting protein 140 (RIP140) is an important transcriptional
      cofactor for maintaining energy balance in high-oxygen consumption tissues.
      However, the role of RIP140 in the pathologic processes of HF remains to be
      elucidated. In this study, we investigated the role of RIP140 in mitochondrial
      and cardiac functions in rodent hearts under myocardial infarction (MI) stress.
      MI was created by a permanent ligation of left anterior descending coronary
      artery and exogenous expression of RIP140 by adenovirus (Ad) vector delivery.
      Four weeks after MI or Ad-RIP140 treatment, cardiac function was assessed by
      echocardiographic and hemodynamics analyses, and the mitochondrial function was
      determined by mitochondrial genes expression, biogenesis, and respiration rates.
      In Ad-RIP140 or MI group, a subset of metabolic genes changed, accompanied with
      slight reductions in mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration rates but no change
      in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content. Cardiac malfunction was compensated.
      However, under MI stress, rats overexpressing RIP140 exhibited greater
      repressions in mitochondrial genes, state 3 respiration rates, respiration
      control ratio, and ATP content and had further deteriorated cardiac malfunction.
      In conclusion, RIP140 overexpression leads to comparable cardiac function as
      resulted from MI, but RIP140 aggravates metabolic repression, mitochondrial
      malfunction, and further accelerates the transition to HF in response to MI
      stress.

PMID- 27639593
TI  - Steatosis induced CCL5 contributes to early-stage liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease progress.
AB  - The rapidly increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has
      become one of the major public health threats in China and worldwide. However,
      during the development of NAFLD, the key mechanism underlying the progression of
      related fibrosis remains unclear, which greatly impedes the development of
      optimal NAFLD therapy. In the current study, we were endeavored to characterize a
      proinflammatory cytokine, CCL5, as a major contributor for fibrosis in NAFLD. The
      results showed that CCL5 was highly expressed in fatty liver and NASH patients.
      In NAFLD rats induced by 8-week-HFD, CCL5 and its receptor, CCR5, were
      significantly up-regulated and liver fibrosis exclusively occurred in this group.
      In addition, we showed that hepatocytes are the major source contributing to this
      CCL5 elevation. Interestingly, a CCL5 inhibitor Met-CCL5, significantly decreased
      liver fibrosis but not hepatic steatosis. Using a cell model of hepatic
      steatosis, we found that the conditioned medium of lipid-overloaded hepatocytes
      (Fa2N-4 cells) which produced excessive CCL5 stimulated the profibrotic
      activities of hepatic stellate cells (LX-2) as manifested by increased migration
      rate, proliferation and collagen production of LX-2 cells. CCL5 knockdown in Fa2N
      4 cells, Met-CCL5 or CCR5 antibody treatment on LX-2 cells all significantly
      inhibited the conditioned medium of FFA-treated Fa2N-4 cells to exert stimulatory
      effects on LX-2 cells. Consistently, the conditioned medium of Fa2N-4 cells with
      CCL5 over-expression significantly enhanced migration rate, cell proliferation
      and collagen production of LX-2 cells. All these results support that CCL5
      produced by steatotic hepatocytes plays an essential role in fibrotic signaling
      machinery of NAFLD. In addition, we were able to identify C/EBP-beta as the up
      stream regulator of CCL5 gene transcription in hepatocytes treated with free
      fatty acid (FFA). Our data strongly supported that CCL5 plays a pivotal
      regulatory role in hepatic fibrosis during NAFLD, which constitutes a novel and
      exciting observation that may call for potential future development of specific
      CCL5-targeted NAFLD therapy.

PMID- 27639594
TI  - Environmentally benign synthesis of phytochemicals-capped gold nanoparticles as
      nanopriming agent for promoting maize seed germination.
AB  - Application of nanotechnology in agriculture is moving towards to improve the
      cultivation and growth of crop plants. The present study is the first attempt to
      propose a simple, yet cost-effective and ecofriendly synthesis of phytochemicals
      capped GNPs using rhizome extract of galanga plant at room temperature. The
      synthesized GNPs were characterized by various characterization techniques. To
      promote the green nanotechnology applications in agriculture, GNPs solution at
      environmentally realistic dose (5 to 15ppm) as nanopriming agent was used to
      activate the germination and early seedling growth of maize aged seeds. Priming
      with 5ppm GNPs showed the best effects on promoting emergence percentage (83%)
      compared to unprimed control (43%) and hydroprimed groups (56%). Seed priming at
      both 5 and 10ppm GNPs also enhanced seedling vigor index by 3 times over the
      control. Priming with GNPs at 10ppm was found to enhance the best physiological
      and biochemical properties of maize seedlings. Internalization studies by
      inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM) strongly supported that GNPs can
      internalize into seeds. However, ICP-OES analysis revealed that GNPs were not
      present in both shoot and root parts, suggesting that nanopriming approach
      minimizes the Au translocation from seeds into plant vegetative organs.
      Phytosynthesized GNPs were found to be less toxic than chemically synthesized
      GNPs. This is the first report showing phytochemicals-capped GNPs as a promising
      nanopriming agent for activating the germination of naturally aged seeds of crop
      plant.

PMID- 27639595
TI  - Animal models of insulin resistance: A review.
AB  - Insulin resistance can be seen as a molecular and genetic mystery, with a role in
      the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is a basis for a number of
      chronic diseases like hypertension, dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance, coronary
      heart disease, cerebral vascular disease along with T2DM, thus the key is to cure
      and prevent insulin resistance. Critical perspicacity into the etiology of
      insulin resistance have been gained by the use of animal models where insulin
      action has been modulated by various transgenic and non-transgenic models which
      is not possible in human studies. The following review comprises the
      pathophysiology involved in insulin resistance, various factors causing insulin
      resistance, their screening and various genetic and non-genetic animal models
      highlighting the pathological and metabolic characteristics of each.

PMID- 27639596
TI  - Counterselection employing mutated pheS for markerless genetic deletion in
      Bacteroides species.
AB  - Markerless gene deletion is necessary for multiple gene disruptions due to the
      limited number of antibiotic resistant markers for some bacteria. However, even
      in transformable strains, obtaining the expected mutation without a marker
      requires laborious screening of a large number of colonies. Previous studies had
      success in various bacteria with a counter-selection system where a conditional
      lethal gene was incorporated into the vector. We examined the efficacy of the
      mutated pheS gene (pheS*) as a counter-selective marker for gene deletion in
      Bacteroides. This mutation produces an amino acid substitution (A303G) in the
      alpha subunit of Bacteroides phenylalanyl tRNA synthetase, which in E. coli
      alters the specificity of the tRNA synthetase resulting in a conditional lethal
      mutation due to the incorporation of p-chloro-phenylalanine (p-Cl-Phe) into
      protein. B. fragilis YCH46 and B. thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482 transformed with a
      pheS*-harboring shuttle vector were clearly growth-inhibited in the presence of
      >5 mM p-Cl-Phe in liquid defined minimal media (DMM) and on DMM agar plates. A
      targeting plasmid was constructed to delete the genetic region for capsular
      polysaccharide PS2 in B. fragilis or PS1 in B. thetaiotaomicron. After
      counterselection, p-Cl-Phe-resistant colonies were generated at a frequency of
      8.1 * 10-3 for B. fragilis and 1.7 * 10-3 for B. thetaiotaomicron. Of the p-Cl
      Phe-resistant colonies, 4.2% and 72% harbored the correct genetic deletion for B.
      fragilis and B. thetaiotaomicron, respectively. These results indicate that
      mutated pheS is a useful counter-selective gene to construct markerless genetic
      deletions in Bacteroides.

PMID- 27639597
TI  - Mortality after stroke in patients with paroxysmal and chronic atrial
      fibrillation - The FibStroke study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies have reported that patients with paroxysmal atrial
      fibrillation (AF) have lower risk of thromboembolism and better prognosis than
      patients with chronic AF. We sought to address the differences in ischaemic
      events in patients with paroxysmal AF and chronic AF. METHODS: The FibStroke
      study is a cross-sectional observational multicenter registry that included AF
      patients with an ischaemic stroke, TIA (transient ischaemic attack) or
      intracranial bleed during 2003-2012 identified from discharge registries of four
      Finnish hospitals. Altogether 1448 patients with paroxysmal and 1808 patients
      with chronic atrial fibrillation suffered a total of 707 TIA-episodes and 2549
      ischaemic strokes. RESULTS: Mortality within 30days after the index event was
      significantly lower in patients with paroxysmal AF than with chronic AF (7.6% vs
      16.9%, p<0.01). At the onset of event, 62.8% of the patients with paroxysmal AF
      were in sinus rhythm, and these patients had better prognosis after the event
      compared to patients with other rhythm than sinus rhythm (mortality 5.2% vs
      15.7%, p<0.01). In the propensity score matched analysis mortality after stroke
      was significantly lower in patients with paroxysmal AF than in patients with
      chronic AF (11.6% vs 17.8%, p<0.01), while mortality after TIA was also lower,
      but did not reach statistical significance (0.4% vs 1.7%, p=0.31). CONCLUSIONS: A
      significant proportion of strokes in AF patients occur in patients with
      paroxysmal AF, but they have better prognosis than patients with chronic AF. The
      prognosis is also significantly better in patients who are in sinus rhythm at the
      onset of event.

PMID- 27639598
TI  - Both the H2S biosynthesis inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid and the mitochondrially
      targeted H2S donor AP39 exert protective effects in a mouse model of burn injury.
AB  - Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) exerts beneficial as well as deleterious effects in
      various models of critical illness. Here we tested the effect of two different
      pharmacological interventions: (a) inhibition of H2S biosynthesis using the
      cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS)/cystathionine-gamma-lyase (CSE) inhibitor
      aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA) and the mitochondrially targeted H2S donor [10-oxo-10
      [4-(3-thioxo-3H-1,2-dithiol-5-yl)phenoxy]decyl]triphenyl-phosphonium (AP39). A
      30% body surface area burn injury was induced in anesthetized mice; animals were
      treated with vehicle, AOAA (10mg/kg i.p. once or once a day for 6days), or AP39
      (0.3mg/kg/day once or once a day for 6days). In two separate groups, animals were
      sacrificed, at 24h post-burn or on Day 7 post-burn, blood and lungs were
      collected and the following parameters were evaluated: myeloperoxidase (MPO) and
      malondialdehyde (MDA) in lung homogenates, plasma cytokines (Luminex analysis)
      and circulating indicators of organ dysfunction (Vetscan analysis). Lung MPO
      levels (an index of neutrophil infiltration) and MDA levels (an index of
      oxidative stress) were significantly increased in response to burn injury both at
      24h and at 7days; both AOAA and AP39 attenuated these increases. From a panel of
      inflammatory cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, MCP-1, MIP-2, VEGF and
      IFNgamma) in the plasma, IL-6 and IL-10 levels were markedly elevated at 24h and
      VEGF was slightly elevated. IL-6 remained highly elevated at 7days post-burn
      while IL-10 levels decreased, but remained slightly elevated over baseline 7days
      post-burn. The changes in cytokine levels were attenuated both by AP39 and AOAA
      at both time points studied. The burn-induced increases in the organ injury
      markers ALP and ALT, amylase and creatinine were reduced by both AOAA and AP39.
      We conclude that both H2S biosynthesis inhibition (using AOAA) and H2S donation
      (using AP39) suppresses inflammatory mediator production and reduces multi-organ
      injury in a murine model of burn injury, both at an early time point (when
      systemic H2S levels are elevated) and at a later time point (at which time
      systemic H2S levels have returned to baseline). These findings point to the
      complex pathogenetic role of H2S in burns.

PMID- 27639601
TI  - Infection after fracture fixation: Current surgical and microbiological concepts.
AB  - One of the most challenging complications in trauma surgery is infection after
      fracture fixation (IAFF). IAFF may result in permanent functional loss or even
      amputation of the affected limb in patients who may otherwise be expected to
      achieve complete, uneventful healing. Over the past decades, the problem of
      implant related bone infections has garnered increasing attention both in the
      clinical as well as preclinical arenas; however this has primarily been focused
      upon prosthetic joint infection (PJI), rather than on IAFF. Although IAFF shares
      many similarities with PJI, there are numerous critical differences in many
      facets including prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Admittedly, extrapolating
      data from PJI research to IAFF has been of value to the trauma surgeon, but we
      should also be aware of the unique challenges posed by IAFF that may not be
      accounted for in the PJI literature. This review summarizes the clinical
      approaches towards the diagnosis and treatment of IAFF with an emphasis on the
      unique aspects of fracture care that distinguish IAFF from PJI. Finally, recent
      developments in anti-infective technologies that may be particularly suitable or
      applicable for trauma patients in the future will be briefly discussed.

PMID- 27639599
TI  - DLL4+ dendritic cells: Key regulators of Notch Signaling in effector T cell
      responses.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical regulators of adaptive immune responses. DCs
      can elicit primary T cell responses at low DC:T cell ratios through their
      expression of high levels of antigen-presenting molecules and costimulatory
      molecules. DCs are important for induction of functionally diverse T cell subsets
      such as CD4+ T helper (Th)1 and Th17 cells and effector CD8+ T cells able to
      reside in epithelial tissues. Recent studies begin illuminating the underlying
      mechanism by which DCs regulate specialized T cell subsets. DCs are composed of
      subsets that differ in their phenotype, localization and function. DCs expressing
      high levels of DLL4 (DLL4+ DCs), which is a member of Notch ligand family, are
      newly discovered cells that have greater ability than DLL4- DCs to promote the
      generation of Th1 and Th17 CD4+ T cells. DLL4 derived from DLL4+ DCs is also
      important for promoting the differentiation and expansion of effector CD8+ T
      cells. Experimental studies have demonstrated that selective deletion of DLL4 in
      DCs causes impaired antitumor immunity. In contrast, blocking DLL4 leads to
      dramatic reduction of inflammatory T cell responses and their-mediated tissue
      damage. We will discuss emerging functional specialization within the DLL4+ DC
      compartment, DLL4+ DC biology and the impact of pharmacological modulation of
      DLL4 to control inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 27639602
TI  - Early traumatic brain injury screen in 6594 inpatient combat casualties.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to review the inpatient traumatic
      brain injury (TBI) screening program at a Role IV regional resource trauma
      center. TBI has been coined the "signature wound" during current U.S. combat
      operations. All patients injured in Iraq or Afghanistan who transit through
      Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) undergo an initial TBI screen regardless
      of anatomic injury. The incidence and factors associated with positive screening
      for concussion (physical event+alteration of consciousness (AOC)) and TBI
      diagnoses were examined. METHODS: A retrospective review of consecutively
      admitted patients to LRMC who underwent a TBI screen from 5/06 to 7/11 was
      performed. Patient characteristics, self-reported symptoms, and TBI diagnoses
      were analyzed. FINDINGS: Among 43,852 patients screened during the 5-year period,
      6594 were admitted, of whom, 6590 received a complete TBI screen. Predominantly
      male (97.1%), the mean age was 26.7+/-7.4 yrs. The average GCS and ISS at
      admission were 13.9+/-2.8 and 10.1+/-8.6, respectively. Positively screened
      patients averaged 1.8 deployments, 69.5% experienced one or more blasts, 16.1%
      experienced one or more vehicular crashes, with 18.0% reporting a prior head
      injury. Of the 2805 (42.6%) who screened positive for possible concussion, 2393
      (85.3%) were diagnosed with a concussion/TBI during their inpatient stay; the
      remaining 412 (14.7%) were identified by screening only. Of the screened positive
      patients, 1953 (69.6%) reported 1 or more current concussion/TBI-related
      symptoms; of those with symptom(s), 532 (27.2%) reported 5 or more. CONCLUSIONS:
      Early screening based on self-report identified a large number of patients
      admitted directly from the combat zone with possible deployment-related
      concussion and TBI symptoms. Such screening provides valuable information to
      guide decisions about early management and return to duty. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level III, Therapeutic.

PMID- 27639600
TI  - Autoimmune therapeutic chloroquine lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial
      function in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
AB  - It has been suggested that hypertension results from a loss of immunological
      tolerance and the resulting autoimmunity may be an important underlying factor of
      its pathogenesis. This stems from the observations that many of the features
      involved in autoimmunity are also implicated in hypertension. Furthermore, the
      underlying presence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease are frequently
      observed in patients with autoimmune diseases. Antimalarial agents such as
      chloroquine are generally among the first line treatment options for patients
      with autoimmune diseases; however, whether they can improve a hypertensive
      phenotype in a genetic model of essential hypertension remains to be clarified.
      Therefore, we hypothesized that chloroquine treatment would improve endothelial
      function and lower blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We
      treated adult SHR and Wistar-Kyoto rats (12 weeks old), as well as a group of
      young SHR (5 weeks old), with chloroquine (40mg/kg/day via intraperitoneal
      injection) for 21 days. Chloroquine lowered blood pressure in adult SHR, but did
      not impede the development of high blood pressure in young SHR. In isolated
      mesenteric resistance arteries from SHR of both ages, chloroquine treatment
      inhibited cyclooxygenase-dependent contraction to acetylcholine, lowered vascular
      and systemic generation of reactive oxygen species, and improved nitric oxide
      bioavailability. Overall, these data reveal the anti-hypertensive mechanisms of
      chloroquine in the vasculature, which may be important for lowering risk of
      cardiovascular disease in patients with autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, it adds
      to the growing body of evidence suggesting that autoimmunity underlies
      hypertension.

PMID- 27639603
TI  - Italian Advisory Board: sFlt-1/PlGF ratio and preeclampsia, state of the art and
      developments in diagnostic, therapeutic and clinical management.
AB  - Extensive research has been published, showing the usefulness of angiogenic
      markers in both diagnosis and subsequent prediction and management of
      preeclampsia and placenta-related disorders. Recent evidence provides a helpful
      cut off for the Elecsys ratio sFlt-1 to PlGF, that predicts preeclampsia
      development in women with sign and symptoms, before its clinical onset in the
      short term. In Europe, no accordance exists for the use of such kind of test in
      clinical practice; only German guidelines have recently taken it into account, as
      a diagnostic aid for preeclampsia, in conjunction with other clinical findings.
      This panel of Italian experts recently met, in order to review the literature and
      to promote the evaluation of the clinical utility of sFlt-1/PlGF ratio at the
      Italian country level, as regards: prediction of preeclampsia during the first
      trimester, prediction or exclusion of new onset or recurrence in patients with
      risk factors for preeclampsia, triage of patients suffering from gestational
      hypertension, evaluation of disease severity, prediction of adverse maternal and
      fetal outcomes.

PMID- 27639605
TI  - Ten-year trends in prevalence of Down syndrome in a developing country: impact of
      the maternal age and prenatal screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examines trends in total and live birth prevalence of
      trisomy 21 (T21) with regard to increasing maternal age and the introduction of
      prenatal diagnosis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. METHOD: The prenatal detection was
      introduced in January 2008 in 3 hospitals and assessed until December 31, 2015.
      In this study, 99 fetuses and 330 babies were diagnosed with T21 in the studied
      period. RESULTS: On average, each year 33 T21 individuals were born and 13 T21
      fetuses were diagnosed prenatally. The calculated incidence for the live born T21
      individuals in Bosnia is 1:999. The live-birth prevalence of T21 was 9.6 per
      10,000 births and the total prevalence of T21 was 19.1. The total T21 prevalence
      increases exponentially with the advanced maternal age. Prenatal T21 prevalence
      is 1.29 per 10,000 births for mothers <35, but increases exponentially with
      increasing age (32 for >40 years). The most common indications for invasive
      prenatal testing were ultrasound screening combined with biochemical serum
      analysis followed by the advanced maternal age. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of
      liveborn Down syndrome children remained constant. Despite the fact that
      increasing maternal age in the last decade contributed to the rise in the total
      T21 prevalence, the effect of the introduction of prenatal diagnosis on the live
      birth T21 prevalence of T21 was minimal, leading to the conclusion that the
      prenatal screening has to be improved in developing countries.

PMID- 27639604
TI  - Evaluation of the effects of cabergoline (Dostinex) on women with symptomatic
      myomatous uterus: a randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Myoma is one of the most common benign tumors of uterus and one of the
      most common causes of vaginal bleeding in women. The purpose of the present study
      is to evaluate the effect of dopamine receptor agonist cabergoline on the size of
      myoma and the amount of bleeding in the women with myoma of the uterus. STUDY
      DESIGN: The study was performed as a single blind randomized clinical trial on
      the women with symptomatic myoma. The women were randomly assigned in 2 groups.
      In the case group, 0.5mg cabergoline was prescribed weekly for three months, and
      in the control group, nothing was prescribed and the women only had close
      observation for symptoms. The reduction in symptoms including pelvic pain and
      duration and amount of uterine bleeding, and the size of myoma, were compared
      between the 2 groups. RESULTS: 51 women finished the study (26 women in the case
      group and 25 women in the control group). There was no significant difference
      between the 2 groups according to age, gravidity, parity, history of abortion,
      having living children, pretreatment hemoglobin, pain and amount of uterine
      bleeding, uterine size, and the size of myoma. After treatment, hemoglobin levels
      had dropped in the control group but not in the case group (p=0.004). On the
      other hand, pain had also decreased significantly in the case group in comparison
      with the control group (p=0.001). Also, the amount of menstrual bleeding
      (p=0.004), uterine size (p=0.001) and the size of the largest myoma (p=0.013)
      showed significant reduction in the case group. CONCLUSION: Cabergoline can
      decrease the amount of bleeding and pain in the cases of myomatous uterus and can
      be used for the symptomatic women who want to preserve uterus for a certain
      period of time.

PMID- 27639607
TI  - Use of low level laser therapy to control neuropathic pain: A systematic review.
AB  - Neuropathic pain can be defined as pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion
      or dysfunction in the central or peripheral nervous system. The low level laser
      therapy (LLLT) has gained great prominence as a treatment in this type of pain;
      however, the application parameters are still controversial in the literature.
      This study aimed to review the literature on the use of LLLT in neuropathic pain
      with the goal of establishing a "therapeutic window" for the effective use of
      this treatment. We analyzed 14 articles, 10 in experimental animals and 4 in
      humans. The results are presented in three tables, the first being for comparison
      of the studies' application parameters, the second showing the average and median
      parameters experimental studies and third showing the clinical studies
      embodiment. The experimental studies revealed better results for LLLT and
      infrared laser powers above 70mW. Clinical studies are inconclusive as to the
      application parameters, due to the discrepancy; however all demonstrate the
      effectiveness of LLLT. According to the data presented, it was concluded that
      LLLT has positive effects on the control of analgesia for neuropathic pain, but
      further studies with high scientific rigor are needed in order to define
      treatment protocols that optimize the action LLLT in neuropathic pain.

PMID- 27639606
TI  - Glycemic control and maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnant women with type 1
      diabetes according to the type of basal insulin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the potential role of the type of basal insulin on glycemic
      control and maternal and foetal outcomes in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes
      (T1DM). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of pregnancies attended at 18
      Spanish tertiary hospitals. INCLUSION CRITERIA: T1DM, singleton pregnancies,
      delivery between 2002-2010, and use of the same basal and prandial insulin from
      before pregnancy until delivery. RESULTS: A total of 1534 pregnancies were
      included. The basal insulin most commonly used was Neutral Protamine Hagedorn
      (NPH) (51.7%), followed by glargine (23.2%) and continuous subcutaneous insulin
      infusion (CSII) (21.1%). CSII users had longer diabetes duration. Multiple
      logistic regression analysis showed that CSII was independently associated with
      lower doses of insulin, higher glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in all trimesters,
      and higher rates of miscarriage, preterm birth and neonatal hypoglycemia.
      Glargine was related to a higher risk of preterm birth and a small-for
      gestational age infant (SGA). The odds ratios (OR) of the associations between
      insulin type and clinical outcomes (from 0.642 to 4.894) have a relevant
      magnitude. CONCLUSIONS: In this observational study of pregnant women with T1DM,
      the type of basal insulin was independently associated with metabolic variables
      and foetal outcomes.

PMID- 27639608
TI  - Hand hygiene infrastructure and behaviours in resource-limited healthcare
      facilities.

PMID- 27639609
TI  - Who Should Consider Active Surveillance?

PMID- 27639610
TI  - The Xiao Procedure-What Have we Learned?

PMID- 27639611
TI  - Editorial Comment.

PMID- 27639613
TI  - A Basic Approach to Lymph Node and Flow Cytometry Fine-Needle Cytology.
AB  - According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the new classification of
      lymphomas is mainly based on morphological, immunophenotypical, and molecular
      criteria. Consequently, this new approach has led from the substantial role that
      architecture played in the past to a secondary panel highlighting the role of
      fine-needle biopsy (FNB). Applied together with other ancillary techniques, such
      as flow cytometry (FC), FNB is a potential tool for the diagnosis of lymphomas,
      and enlarged lymph nodes represent an excellent target for the implementation of
      this technique. Despite the difficulties inherent in this technology, which might
      pose problems in differential diagnosis, in the majority of cases this joint work
      allows an accurate diagnosis of malignancy and even correct subcharacterization
      in routine lymphomas. Additionally, in selected cases, other molecular techniques
      like FISH and PCR can also be performed on FNB specimens, helping in the
      characterization and diagnosis of lymphomas. In this review, we discuss the basic
      aspects of the combination of FNB cytology and FC in the diagnosis and
      subclassification of lymphomas. The preanalytical phase is extensively discussed.
      The advantages, disadvantages, and technical limitations of this joint work are
      addressed in general and in terms of the accurate subclassification of lymphomas.

PMID- 27639612
TI  - LPS Upregulated VEGFR-3 Expression Promote Migration and Invasion in Colorectal
      Cancer via a Mechanism of Increased NF-kappaB Binding to the Promoter of VEGFR-3.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Lipopolysaccharide(LPS) could promote the progression of
      colorectal cancer, but the specific regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown.
      So, this study aim to clarify the mechanisms that LPS upregulated VEGFR-3, which
      promotes colorectal cancer cells migration and invasion with a mechanism of
      increased NF-kappaB bind to the promoter of VEGFR-3. METHODS: The present study
      examined the VEGFR-3 expression in colorectal cancer tissues and analyzed the
      relationship between the VEGFR-3 expression with clinical parameters. PCR,
      Western blot, CCK-8, colone formation assay, and Transwell assay detected that
      LPS promoted the migration and invasion and the role of VEGFR-3 in the process of
      colorectal carcinoma in vitro. Used the methods of promoter analysis, EMSA assay
      and ChIP assay to explore the mechanisms LPS increased the expression of VEGFR-3.
      RESULTS: VEGFR-3 was significantly high expression in the colorectal cancer
      tissues. And the high expression was associated with the TNM stage and lymph node
      metastasis of colorectal cancer. LPS could promote the migration and invasion,
      which could be blocked by the neutralizing antibody IgG of VEGFR-3. And found
      that -159 nt to +65 nt was the crucial region of VEGFR-3 promoter. And detected
      that the NF-kappaB was important transcription factor for the VEGFR-3 promoter.
      And LPS could increase NF-kappaB binding to VEGFR-3 promoter and upregulated the
      expression of VEGFR-3 to exert biological functions. CONCLUSION: We have
      elucidated the relationship between LPS and the VEGFR-3 expression and revealed
      that VEGFR-3 play very important role in the process of LPS promoting the
      migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells. Further illuminated the
      mechanism that LPS upregulated VEGFR-3 expression via increased NF-kappaB bind to
      the promoter of VEGFR-3.

PMID- 27639614
TI  - Gridded emission inventory of short-chain chlorinated paraffins and its
      validation in China.
AB  - China produces approximately 20%-30% of the total global chlorinated paraffins
      (CPs). The establishment of a short-chain CP (SCCP) emission inventory is a
      significant step toward risk assessment and regulation of SCCPs in China and
      throughout the globe. This study developed a gridded SCCPs emission inventory
      with a 1/4 degrees  longitude by 1/4 degrees  latitude resolution from 2008 to
      2012 for China, which was based on the total annual CPs emissions for the nation.
      The total national SCCPs emission during this 5-year period was 5651.5 tons. An
      additive in metal cutting fluids was a major emission source in China,
      contributing 2680.2 tons to the total atmospheric emissions of SCCPs from 2008 to
      2012, followed by the production of CPs (2281.8 tons), plasticizers (514.3 tons),
      flame retardants (108.6 tons), and net import (66.6 tons). Most of these emission
      sources are located along the eastern seaboard of China and southern China. A
      coupled atmospheric transport model was employed to simulate environmental
      contamination by SCCPs using the gridded emission inventory of SCCPs from 2008 to
      2012 as the model initial conditions. Simulated atmospheric and soil
      concentrations were compared with field monitoring data to validate the emission
      inventory. The results showed good consistency between modeled and field sampling
      data, supporting the reliability and credibility of the gridded SCCPs emission
      inventory that was developed in the present study.

PMID- 27639615
TI  - Occurrence of PBDEs and alternative halogenated flame retardants in sewage sludge
      from the industrial city of Guangzhou, China.
AB  - This study investigated the prevalence and abundance of halogenated flame
      retardants (HFRs) in sludge samples from 5 sewage treatment plants in Guangzhou,
      China. Detection of 18 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 9 alternative HFRs
      including Dechlorane Plus (DP), brominated alkylbenzenes, and polybrominated
      biphenyls, and 2 related degradation products was conducted. Decabromodiphenyl
      ether (BDE 209) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were the dominant HFRs, with
      concentrations ranging from 200 to 2150 ng/g and 680-27,400 ng/g, respectively.
      The DBDPE detected was the highest level reported so far, exceeding those
      previously reported by 10-100 times. PBDEs were surpassed as the dominant HFRs in
      sewage sludge, with mean DBDPE/BDE 209 ratio exceeding 2 in all samples. The
      review of earlier surveys reveals that DBDPE level was surging while BDE 209 was
      declining. Annual emissions of BDE 209, DP, and DBDPE were estimated to be 227.9,
      10.5, and 979.3 kg/yr, respectively. Although ecological risks assessment
      suggested low risks for the examined sludge, the key environmental properties and
      transformation pathways of alternative HFRs remain largely unknown. These
      findings prompt for further investigations on alternative HFR and sustainable
      management practices for HFR-laden biosolids. The HFR emission pattern revealed
      in this study is likely representative of other similarly industrialized regions
      in the post-PBDE era.

PMID- 27639616
TI  - Mercury pollution in the lake sediments and catchment soils of anthropogenically
      disturbed sites across England.
AB  - Sediment cores and soil samples were taken from nine lakes and their catchments
      across England with varying degrees of direct human disturbance. Mercury (Hg)
      analysis demonstrated a range of impacts, many from local sources, resulting from
      differing historical and contemporary site usage and management. Lakes located in
      industrially important areas showed clear evidence for early Hg pollution with
      concentrations in sediments reaching 400-1600 ng g-1 prior to the mid-19th
      century. Control of inputs resulting from local management practices and a
      greater than 90% reduction in UK Hg emissions since 1970 were reflected by
      reduced Hg pollution in some lakes. However, having been a sink for Hg deposition
      for centuries, polluted catchment soils are now the major Hg source for most
      lakes and consequently recovery from reduced Hg deposition is being delayed.

PMID- 27639617
TI  - Uptake and metabolism of 10:2 fluorotelomer alcohol in soil-earthworm (Eisenia
      fetida) and soil-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) systems.
AB  - The behavior of 10:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (10:2 FTOH) in the systems of soil
      earthworm (Eisenia fetida), soil-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soil-earthworm
      wheat, including degradation in soil, uptake and metabolism in wheat and
      earthworms were investigated. Several perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) as
      degradation products of 10:2 FTOH were identified in the soil, plant and
      earthworms. 10:2 FTOH could be biodegraded to perfluorooctanoate (PFOA),
      perfluorononanate (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) in soil in the absence or
      presence of wheat/earthworms, and PFDA was the predominant metabolite.
      Accumulation of initial 10:2 FTOH and its metabolites were observed in the wheat
      and earthworms, suggesting that 10:2 FTOH could be bioaccumulated in wheat and
      earthworms and biotransformed to the highly stable PFCAs. Perfluoropentanoic acid
      (PFPeA), perfluorohexanoic (PFHxA) and PFDA were detected in wheat root, while
      PFDA and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) were detected in shoot. PFNA and PFDA
      were determined in earthworms and the concentration of PFDA was much higher. The
      presence of earthworms and/or plant stimulated the microbial degradation of 10:2
      FTOH in soil. The results supplied important evidence that degradation of 10:2
      FTOH was an important potential source of PFCAs in the environment and in biota.

PMID- 27639618
TI  - Interferon (IFN)-Induced Protein 35 (IFI35), a Type I Interferon-Dependent
      Transcript, Upregulates Inflammatory Signaling Pathways by Activating Toll-Like
      Receptor 3 in Human Mesangial Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Activation of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) signaling followed by
      type I interferon (IFN) expression is crucial in antiviral and "pseudoviral"
      immune reactions in renal mesangial cells (MCs). These reactions are probably
      involved in the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the role
      of IFN-induced 35-kDa protein 35 (IFI35), a type I IFN-dependent transcript, in
      glomerular inflammation is unclear. Here, we aimed to investigate the expression
      and the role of IFI35 in IFN-beta/retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I)/CCL5 and
      IFN-beta/melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5)/CXCL10 axes in MCs.
      METHODS: We treated human MCs with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly IC), an
      authentic double-stranded RNA, then analysed the IFI35 expression by reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. To examine the
      regulation of IFI35 expression, we subjected MCs to RNA interference (siRNA)
      against IFN-beta, RIG-I, and MDA5. RESULTS: Activation of TLR3 by poly IC induces
      the IFI35 expression in MCs. siRNA against IFN-beta inhibited poly IC-induced
      IFI35 expression. Knockdown of IFI35 resulted in a decrease of poly IC-induced
      RIG-I and MDA5 protein as well as decreased CCL5 and CXCL10 mRNA and protein
      expression. However, it did not affect the expression of none of phosphorylated
      signal transducers or activator of transcription (STAT) 1 protein, or RIG-I and
      MDA5 in mRNA levels. CONCLUSION: Regional expression of IFI35 and its
      dysregulation may be involved in the pathogenesis of glomerular inflammation in
      CKD.

PMID- 27639619
TI  - Asp32 and Asp228 determine the selective inhibition of BACE1 as shown by docking
      and molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - Inhibition of beta-site amyloid-beta-protein precursor cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1)
      represents a promising approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      However, the development of a selective BACE1 inhibitor is difficult due to its
      highly flexible catalytic site and homology to other aspartic proteases,
      including BACE2 and Cathepsin D (CTSD). Aiming to better understand the
      structural factors responsible for selective BACE1 inhibition, we performed
      alignment studies, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and docking studies to
      explore the recognition of four selective BACE1 inhibitors by aspartyl proteases.
      The results show that selective BACE1 inhibition may be due to the formation of
      strong electrostatic interactions with Asp32 and Asp228 and a large number of
      hydrogen bonds, pi-pi and Van der Waals interactions with the amino acid residues
      located inside the catalytic cavity, which has different volume and shape
      compared to BACE2 and CTSD. Hindrance effects avoid the accommodation of ligands
      in the small catalytic site of BACE2, resulting in a lower affinity and the high
      cavity of CTSD results in the formation of a small number of interactions with
      the ligands, although they show a similar binding mode with BACE1. These results
      might help to rationalize the design of selective BACE1 inhibitors.

PMID- 27639620
TI  - Results of surgery for pelvic recurrence of rectal cancer. Experience in a
      referral center.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The only curative treatment of pelvic recurrence of rectal cancer
      is radical resection. The aim of this paper is to analyze our experience in
      surgery for local recurrence of rectal cancer. METHODS: We performed a
      descriptive retrospective analysis of patients treated with curative intent for
      local recurrence of rectal cancer from May 2000 to January 2014. The presence of
      resectable liver or lung metastases was not an exclusion criterion. The
      descriptive results, overall survival and disease free survival are presented.
      RESULTS: A total of 35 patients were included. In 18 patients an abdomino
      perineal resection of the remaining rectum was performed. Two of them included
      excision of lower sacral vertebrae, while in 17 patients, sphincter sparing
      surgery was performed. The most frequent postoperative complications were pelvic
      collection and postoperative ileus. Seven patients required reoperation and one
      patient died. Overall survival at one year was 91.2%, at 2 years 75.6% and at 5
      years 37%. CONCLUSIONS: Local recurrence of rectal cancer is a disease with high
      curability rate. The only curative option is radical surgery, with acceptable
      mortality.

PMID- 27639621
TI  - The effect of device resistance and inhalation flow rate on the lung deposition
      of orally inhaled mannitol dry powder.
AB  - The present study investigates the effect of DPI resistance and inhalation flow
      rates on the lung deposition of orally inhaled mannitol dry powder. Mannitol
      powder radiolabeled with 99mTc-DTPA was inhaled from an OsmohalerTM by healthy
      human volunteers at 50-70L/min peak inhalation flow rate (PIFR) using both a low
      and high resistance OsmohalerTM, and 110-130L/min PIFR using the low resistance
      OsmohalerTM (n=9). At 50-70L/min PIFR, the resistance of the OsmohalerTM did not
      significantly affect the total and peripheral lung deposition of inhaled mannitol
      [for low resistance OsmohalerTM, 20% total lung deposition (TLD), 0.3 penetration
      index (PI); for high resistance OsmohalerTM, 17% TLD, 0.23 PI]. Increasing the
      PIFR 50-70L/min to 110-130L/min (low resistance OsmohalerTM) significantly
      reduced the total lung deposition (10% TLD) and the peripheral lung deposition
      (PI 0.21). The total lung deposition showed dependency on the in vitro FPF
      (R2=1.0). On the other hand, the PI had a stronger association with the MMAD
      (R2=1.0) than the FPF (R2=0.7). In conclusion the resistance of OsmohalerTM did
      not significantly affect the total and regional lung deposition at 50-70L/min
      PIFR. Instead, the total and regional lung depositions are dependent on the
      particle size of the aerosol and inhalation flow rate, the latter itself
      affecting the particle size distribution.

PMID- 27639622
TI  - Fast dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs from fluidized bed coated
      nanocomposites: Impact of carrier size.
AB  - Formation of core-shell nanocomposites of Fenofibrate and Itraconazole, model
      poorly water soluble drugs, via fluidized bed (FB) coating of their well
      stabilized high drug loaded nanosuspensions is investigated. Specifically, the
      extent of dissolution enhancement, when fine carrier particles (sub-50MUm) as
      opposed to the traditional large carrier particles (>300MUm) are used, is
      examined. This allows testing the hypothesis that greatly increased carrier
      surface area and more importantly, thinner shell for finer carriers at the same
      drug loading can significantly increase the dissolution rate when spray-coated
      nanosuspensions are well-stabilized. Fine sub-50MUm lactose (GranuLac(r) 200)
      carrier particles were made fluidizable via dry coating with nano-silica,
      enabling decreased cohesion, fluidization and subsequent nanosuspension coating.
      For both drugs, 30% drug loaded suspensions were prepared via wet-stirred media
      milling using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose and sodium dodecyl sulfate as
      stabilizers. The stabilizer concentrations were varied to affect the milled
      particle size and prepare a stable nanosuspension. The suspensions were FB coated
      onto hydrophilic nano-silica (M-5P) dry coated sub-50MUm lactose (GranuLac(r)
      200) carrier particles or larger carrier particles of median size >300MUm
      (PrismaLac(r)40). The resulting finer composite powders (sub-100MUm) based on
      GranuLac(r) 200 were freely flowing, had high bulk density, and had much faster,
      immediate dissolution of the poorly water-soluble drugs, in particular for
      Itraconazole. This is attributed to a much higher specific surface area of the
      carrier and corresponding thinner coating layer for fine carriers as opposed to
      those for large carrier particles.

PMID- 27639623
TI  - Combining gas-phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analysis (GEMMA), light
      scattering, field flow fractionation and cryo electron microscopy in a
      multidimensional approach to characterize liposomal carrier vesicles.
AB  - For drug delivery, characterization of liposomes regarding size, particle number
      concentrations, occurrence of low-sized liposome artefacts and drug encapsulation
      are of importance to understand their pharmacodynamic properties. In our study,
      we aimed to demonstrate the applicability of nano Electrospray Gas-Phase
      Electrophoretic Mobility Molecular Analyser (nES GEMMA) as a suitable technique
      for analyzing these parameters. We measured number-based particle concentrations,
      identified differences in size between nominally identical liposomal samples, and
      detected the presence of low-diameter material which yielded bimodal particle
      size distributions. Subsequently, we compared these findings to dynamic light
      scattering (DLS) data and results from light scattering experiments coupled to
      Asymmetric Flow-Field Flow Fractionation (AF4), the latter improving the
      detectability of smaller particles in polydisperse samples due to a size
      separation step prior detection. However, the bimodal size distribution could not
      be detected due to method inherent limitations. In contrast, cryo transmission
      electron microscopy corroborated nES GEMMA results. Hence, gas-phase
      electrophoresis proved to be a versatile tool for liposome characterization as it
      could analyze both vesicle size and size distribution. Finally, a correlation of
      nES GEMMA results with cell viability experiments was carried out to demonstrate
      the importance of liposome batch-to-batch control as low-sized sample components
      possibly impact cell viability.

PMID- 27639625
TI  - Prospective Randomized Comparison of High-pitch CT at 80 kVp Under Free Breathing
      with Standard-pitch CT at 100 kVp Under Breath-Hold for Detection of Pulmonary
      Embolism.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To prospectively compare high-pitch computed tomography
      (HPCT) under free breathing (FB) with standard-pitch CT (SPCT) under breath-hold
      (BH) for detection of pulmonary embolism (PE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred
      consecutive patients (47 females; mean age 58.7 +/- 16.6) randomly underwent HPCT
      FB (n = 50) or SPCT-BH (n = 50). Radiation doses were documented. One reader
      measured pulmonary artery attenuation and noise; mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
      was calculated. Two readers assessed image quality, diagnostic confidence for
      detection of PE, motion artifacts, assessability of anatomical structures, and
      presence of transient interruption of contrast as sign of Valsalva maneuver.
      Inter-reader agreement was calculated. RESULTS: Radiation dose was significantly
      lower in HPCT compared to SPCT (2.68 +/- 0.60 mGy vs 6.01 +/- 2.26 mGy; P <
      .001). Mean pulmonary artery attenuation and image noise were significantly
      higher in HPCT (attenuation: 479 Hounsfield unit (HU) vs 343HU; P < .001; noise:
      16 HU vs 10 HU; P < .001) whereas SNR was similar between groups (34 HU vs 38 HU;
      P = .258). HPCT had significantly higher diagnostic confidence for PE detection
      (P = .048), less cardiac and breathing artifacts (P < .001), better assessability
      of anatomical structures, and fewer cases of transient interruption of contrast
      (P < .001) compared to the SPCT. CONCLUSIONS: HPCT-FB allows for a significant
      reduction of breathing and motion artifacts compared to SPCT-BH. Diagnostic
      confidence, assessability of vascular and bronchial structures, as well as SNR
      are maintained.

PMID- 27639626
TI  - Determination of the Association Between T2-weighted MRI and Gleason Sub-pattern:
      A Proof of Principle Study.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine the relationship between
      T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal and histologic sub-patterns
      in prostate cancer areas with different Gleason grades. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR
      images of prostates (n = 25) were obtained prior to radical prostatectomy. These
      were processed as whole-mount specimens with tumors and the peripheral zone was
      annotated digitally by two pathologists. Gleason grade 3 was the most prevalent
      grade and was subdivided into packed, intermediate, and sparse based on gland-to
      stroma ratio. Large cribriform, intraductal carcinoma, and small cribriform
      glands (grade 4 group) were separately annotated but grouped together for
      statistical analysis. The log MRI signal intensity for each contoured region (n =
      809) was measured, and pairwise comparisons were performed using the open-source
      software R version 3.0.1. RESULTS: Packed grade 3 sub-pattern has a significantly
      lower MRI intensity than the grade 4 group (P < 0.00001). Sparse grade 3 has a
      significantly higher MRI intensity than the packed grade 3 sub-pattern (P <
      0.0001). No significant difference in MRI intensity was observed between the
      Gleason grade 4 group and the sparse sub-pattern grade 3 group (P = 0.54). In
      multivariable analysis adjusting for peripheral zone, the P values maintained
      significance (packed grade 3 group vs grade 4 group, P < 0.001; and sparse grade
      3 sub-pattern vs packed grade 3 sub-pattern, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated that T2-weighted MRI signal is dependent on histologic sub-patterns
      within Gleason grades 3 and 4 cancers, which may have implications for directed
      biopsy sampling and patient management.

PMID- 27639624
TI  - Long term performance evaluation of small-diameter vascular grafts based on
      polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel and dextran and MSCs-based therapies using the ovine
      pre-clinical animal model.
AB  - The functional and structural performance of a 5cm synthetic small diameter
      vascular graft (SDVG) produced by the copolymerization of polyvinyl alcohol
      hydrogel with low molecular weight dextran (PVA/Dx graft) associated to
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based therapies and anticoagulant treatment with
      heparin, clopidogrel and warfarin was tested using the ovine model during the
      healing period of 24 weeks. The results were compared to the ones obtained with
      standard expanded polyetetrafluoroethylene grafts (ePTFE graft). Blood flow,
      vessel and graft diameter measurements, graft appearance and patency rate (PR),
      thrombus, stenosis and collateral vessel formation were evaluated by B-mode
      ultrasound, audio and color flow Doppler. Graft and regenerated vessels
      morphologic evaluation was performed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM),
      histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. All PVA/Dx grafts could
      maintain a similar or higher PR and systolic/diastolic laminar blood flow
      velocities were similar to ePTFE grafts. CD14 (macrophages) and alpha-actin
      (smooth muscle) staining presented similar results in PVA/Dx/MSCs and ePTFE graft
      groups. Fibrosis layer was lower and endothelial cells were only detected at
      graft-artery transitions where it was added the MSCs. In conclusion, PVA/Dx graft
      can be an excellent scaffold candidate for vascular reconstruction, including
      clinic mechanically challenging applications, such as SDVGs, especially when
      associated to MSCs-based therapies to promote higher endothelialization and lower
      fibrosis of the vascular prosthesis, but also higher PR values.

PMID- 27639627
TI  - Comparison of Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography-Derived vs Invasive
      Fractional Flow Reserve Assessment: Meta-Analysis with Subgroup Evaluation of
      Intermediate Stenosis.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) with fractional
      flow reserve (FFR) assessment is the reference standard for the detection of
      hemodynamically relevant coronary lesions. We have investigated whether coronary
      computed tomography angiography (cCTA)-derived FFR (fractional flow reserve from
      coronary computed tomographic angiography [CT-FFR]) measurement improves
      diagnostic accuracy over cCTA. METHODS AND RESULTS: A literature search was
      performed for studies comparing invasive FFR, cCTA, and CT-FFR. The analysis
      included three prospective multicenter trials and two retrospective single-center
      studies; a total of 765 patients and 1306 vessels were included in the meta
      analysis. Compared to invasive FFR on a per-lesion basis, CT-FFR reached a pooled
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive
      value of 83.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 78.1-89.3), 74.7% (95% CI: 52.2
      97.1), 64.8% (95% CI: 52.1-77.5), and 90.1% (95% CI: 80.8-99.3) compared to 84.6%
      (95% CI: 78.1-91.1), 49.7% (95% CI: 31.1-68.4), 39.0% (95% CI: 28.0-50.1), and
      87.3% (95% CI: 72.5-100.0) for cCTA alone. In 634 vessels with intermediate
      stenosis (30%-70%), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and
      negative predictive value were 81.4% (95% CI: 70.4-92.9), 71.7% (95% CI: 54.5
      89.0), 59.4% (95% CI: 35.5-83.4), and 89.9% (95% CI: 85.0-94.7) compared to 90.2%
      (95% CI: 80.6-99.9), 35.4% (95% CI: 23.5-47.3), 50.7% (95% CI: 30.6-70.8), and
      82.5% (95% CI: 64.5-100.0) for cCTA alone. The summary area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve of CT-FFR was superior to cCTA alone on a per
      vessel (0.90 [95% CI: 0.82-0.98] vs 0.74 [95% CI: 0.63-0.86]; P = .0047) and for
      intermediate stenoses (0.76 [95% CI: 0.65-0.88] vs 0.57 [95% CI: 0.49-0.66]; P =
      .0027). CONCLUSION: CT-FFR significantly improves specificity without noticeably
      altering the sensitivity of cCTA with invasive FFR as a reference standard for
      the detection of hemodynamically relevant stenosis.

PMID- 27639628
TI  - Revisiting the Immunoglobulin Intramolecular Signaling Hypothesis.
AB  - A generation ago, the immunoglobulin intramolecular signaling, or allosteric,
      hypothesis was abandoned in favor of the associative hypothesis, which posited
      that Fc receptor crosslinking produced the increased affinity of antigen-antibody
      complexes. This essay argues that there is sufficient evidence to resuscitate the
      allosteric hypothesis, at least for some antibodies.

PMID- 27639629
TI  - Donald E. Ingber: Engineering the Culture Microenvironment.

PMID- 27639630
TI  - The Future of Cell Biology: Emerging Model Organisms.
AB  - Most current research in cell biology uses just a handful of model systems
      including yeast, Arabidopsis, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, zebrafish,
      mouse, and cultured mammalian cells. And for good reason - for many biological
      questions, the best system for the question is likely to be found among these
      models. However, in some cases, and particularly as the questions that engage
      scientists broaden, the best system for a question may be a little-studied
      organism. Modern research tools are facilitating a renaissance for unusual and
      interesting organisms as emerging model systems. As a result, we predict that an
      ever-expanding breadth of model systems may be a hallmark of future cell biology.

PMID- 27639631
TI  - Progression-free survival, overall survival and quality of life: What is their
      medicoeconomic importance in oncology?
AB  - Medico-economic evaluations estimate, for a given health technology, the added
      cost and the clinical benefit compared to a reference strategy. The objective
      here is to analyze the criteria used to measure clinical benefit as the basis for
      market access and reimbursement decisions for drugs in oncology both in France
      and in Europe. Prolonged overall survival is the criterion of choice to
      demonstrate the benefit of an anticancer drug; a survival gain of 2 to 3 months
      or more would be considered as relevant for a new product versus the comparator.
      In the absence of survival benefit or mature data on survival, progression-free
      survival or symptom-free survival and the availability of alternative curative
      treatments, decrease in drug toxicity and quality of life improvement may be
      considered. Differences in clinical benefit assessment between regulatory
      agencies and payers are not specific to France. Case studies show that it is
      difficult to find a consistency in reimbursement and pricing decisions and to
      identify factors that may fully explain reimbursement decisions when survival
      benefit is not demonstrated.

PMID- 27639632
TI  - Inguinal Hernia in a Preterm Neonate Complicated by Strangulation and
      Subcutaneous Hernia Sac Rupture.

PMID- 27639633
TI  - Clinical evidence supporting genomic tests in early breast cancer: Do all genomic
      tests provide the same information?
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) has historically been treated as a single disease entity;
      however, in the last decade, insights into its molecular heterogeneity have
      underpinned the development/commercialisation of several genomic tools whose goal
      is to guide patient management in early BC. These include the Oncotype DX(r)
      Breast Recurrence ScoreTM assay, MammaPrint(r), Prosigna(r), and EndoPredict(r).
      Although these assays are similar in that they are all multigene assays
      reflecting risk of recurrence, they differ substantially in the technological
      platform used to measure gene expression; the number and identity of genes
      assessed; the patient populations used for development and validation; and the
      level of evidence supporting clinical utility. They also differ in the amount of
      evidence demonstrating their impact on treatment decisions and cost effectiveness
      in different countries. This review discusses these 4 assays, highlighting the
      clinical evidence that supports each of them, while focussing on the Recurrence
      Score assay. This assay has the greatest body of evidence supporting its clinical
      utility and decision impact/effectiveness, and currently is the only one
      validated as a predictor of response to adjuvant chemotherapy in hormone-receptor
      positive early BC patients treated with endocrine therapy and to be included as
      such in international/national BC treatment guidelines. The review also discusses
      ongoing prospective trials investigating the 4 assays, recent outcome studies, as
      well as analyses comparing different assays on the same tumour blocks.

PMID- 27639635
TI  - The physical principles underpinning self-organization in plants.
AB  - Based on laboratory based growth of plant-like structures from inorganic
      materials, we present new theory for the emergence of plant structure at a range
      of scales dictated by levels of ionization, which can be traced directly back to
      proteins transcribed from genetic code and their interaction with external
      sources of charge in real plants. Beyond a critical percolation threshold,
      individual charge induced quantum potentials merge to form a complex,
      interconnected geometric web, creating macroscopic quantum potentials, which lead
      to the emergence of macroscopic quantum processes. The assembly of molecules into
      larger, ordered structures operates within these charge-induced coherent bosonic
      fields, acting as a structuring force in competition with exterior potentials.
      Within these processes many of the phenomena associated with standard quantum
      theory are recovered, including quantization, non-dissipation, self-organization,
      confinement, structuration conditioned by the environment, environmental
      fluctuations leading to macroscopic quantum decoherence and evolutionary time
      described by a time dependent Schrodinger-like equation, which describes models
      of bifurcation and duplication. The work provides a strong case for the existence
      of quintessence-like behaviour, with macroscopic quantum potentials and
      associated forces having their equivalence in standard quantum mechanics. The
      theory offers new insight into evolutionary processes in structural biology, with
      selection at any point in time, being made from a wide range of spontaneously
      emerging potential structures (dependent on conditions), which offer advantage
      for a specific organism. This is valid for both the emergence of structures from
      a prebiotic medium and the wide range of different plant structures we see today.

PMID- 27639634
TI  - Promiscuous antibodies characterised by their physico-chemical properties: From
      sequence to structure and back.
AB  - Human B cells produce antibodies, which bind to their cognate antigen based on
      distinct molecular properties of the antibody CDR loop. We have analysed a set of
      10 antibodies showing a clear difference in their binding properties to a panel
      of antigens, resulting in two subsets of antibodies with a distinct binding
      phenotype. We call the observed binding multiplicity 'promiscuous' and selected
      physico-chemical CDRH3 characteristics and conformational preferences may
      characterise these promiscuous antibodies. To classify CDRH3 physico-chemical
      properties playing a role in their binding properties, we used statistical
      analyses of the sequences annotated by Kidera factors. To characterise structure
      function requirements for antigen binding multiplicity we employed Molecular
      Modelling and Monte Carlo based coarse-grained simulations. The ability to
      predict the molecular causes of promiscuous, multi-binding behaviour would
      greatly improve the efficiency of the therapeutic antibody discovery process.

PMID- 27639637
TI  - Hemostatic Agents in Periapical Surgery: A Randomized Study of Gauze Impregnated
      in Epinephrine versus Aluminum Chloride.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adequate bleeding control is essential for the success of
      periapical surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of 2
      hemostatic agents on the outcome of periapical surgery and their relationship
      with patient and teeth parameters. METHODS: A prospective study was designed with
      2 randomized parallel groups, depending on the hemostatic agent used: gauze
      impregnated in epinephrine (epinephrine group) and aluminum chloride (aluminum
      chloride group). The analysis of the hemorrhage control was judged before and
      after the application of the hemostatic agents by the surgeon, and 2 examiners
      independently recorded it as adequate (complete hemorrhage control) or inadequate
      (incomplete hemorrhage control). RESULTS: Ninety-nine patients with a
      periradicular lesion were enrolled in this study and divided into 2 groups: gauze
      impregnated in epinephrine in 48 patients (epinephrine group) or aluminum
      chloride in 51 (aluminum chloride group). In epinephrine group adequate
      hemostasis was achieved in 25 cases, and in aluminum chloride group it was
      achieved in 37 cases (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The outcome was better in the
      aluminum chloride group than in the gauze impregnated in epinephrine group.

PMID- 27639638
TI  - Regenerative Characteristics of Apical Papilla-derived Cells from Immature Teeth
      with Pulpal and Periapical Pathosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the regenerative
      characteristics of apical papilla-derived cells (APDCs) from immature teeth with
      pulpal and periapical pathosis and thus to provide proof-of-principle evidence
      for further regenerative endodontic research. METHODS: Pulpal and periapical
      pathosis was induced in immature permanent double-rooted premolars of beagles,
      which were randomly assigned to experimental treatment groups: group AO (n = 14),
      pulp disruption and access left open; group PS (n = 14), supragingival plaque
      suspension-soaked cotton pellet was introduced, and access was sealed; and
      control (n = 7), untreated. The teeth were extracted at 2- and 4-week periods
      after experimental treatments. APDCs were cultured from the extracted teeth, and
      their cellular proliferation, differentiation characteristics, and stemness were
      assessed. The data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of
      intentional pulpal and periapical pathosis induction period, all teeth in group
      PS showed features of apical periodontitis with necrotic pulp, and their APDCs
      showed significantly increased proliferation rate and osteogenic/odontogenic
      differentiation capabilities (P < .05). The stemness was maintained in all APDCs,
      although the stem cell population was smaller in group PS at 2-week period when
      the inflammatory responses were most fulminant (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The APDCs
      from immature teeth retained the regenerative characteristics with the
      differences according to their pulpal and periapical pathosis. The results of
      this study partly provide the evidence for regenerative endodontic research.

PMID- 27639636
TI  - Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) transforms how GABA affects nociceptive
      sensitization.
AB  - Noxious input can sensitize pain (nociceptive) circuits within the spinal cord,
      inducing a lasting increase in spinal cord neural excitability (central
      sensitization) that is thought to contribute to chronic pain. The development of
      spinally-mediated central sensitization is regulated by descending fibers and
      GABAergic interneurons. The current study provides evidence that spinal cord
      injury (SCI) transforms how GABA affects nociceptive transmission within the
      spinal cord, recapitulating an earlier developmental state wherein GABA has an
      excitatory effect. In spinally transected rats, noxious electrical stimulation
      and inflammation induce enhanced mechanical reactivity (EMR), a behavioral index
      of nociceptive sensitization. Pretreatment with the GABAA receptor antagonist
      bicuculline blocked these effects. Peripheral application of an irritant
      (capsaicin) also induced EMR. Both the induction and maintenance of this effect
      were blocked by bicuculline. Cellular indices of central sensitization [c-fos
      expression and ERK phosphorylation (pERK)] were also attenuated. In intact (sham
      operated) rats, bicuculline had the opposite effect. Pretreatment with a GABA
      agonist (muscimol) attenuated nociceptive sensitization in intact, but not
      spinally injured, rats. The effect of SCI on GABA function was linked to a
      reduction in the Cl- transporter, KCC2, leading to a reduction in intracellular
      Cl- that would attenuate GABA-mediated inhibition. Pharmacologically blocking the
      KCC2 channel (with i.t. DIOA) in intact rats mimicked the effect of SCI.
      Conversely, a pharmacological treatment (bumetanide) that should increase
      intracellular Cl- levels blocked the effect of SCI. The results suggest that
      GABAergic neurons drive, rather than inhibit, the development of nociceptive
      sensitization after spinal injury.

PMID- 27639640
TI  - Absolute bioavailability and safety of a novel rivastigmine nasal spray in
      healthy elderly individuals.
AB  - AIMS: To test the feasibility of a novel rivastigmine nasal spray as prospective
      treatment for dementia. METHODS: A single dose, crossover absolute
      bioavailability and safety study was conducted with rivastigmine intravenous
      solution (1 mg) and nasal spray (3.126 mg) in eight healthy elderly individuals,
      aged 58-75 years. RESULTS: Absolute bioavailability (F) of the nasal spray was
      significant at 0.62 (0.15) for F > 0 (P < 0.001, n = 8). The systemic dose
      absorbed was 2.0 (0.6) mg, time to maximum plasma concentration was 1.1 (0.5) h
      and maximum plasma concentration was 6.9 (2.0) ng ml-1 . The NAP226-90 to
      rivastigmine AUC0-infinity ratio was 0.78 (0.19). The single dose safety was good
      with two of five mild adverse events related to the nasal spray. Nasal and throat
      irritation were perceived as mild and transient, and both had resolved at 20 min
      post-nasal dose. An estimated dose of two or three sprays twice-daily with nasal
      spray would deliver comparable rivastigmine exposure and efficacy as a 6-9.7 mg
      day-1 oral dose and a 10 cm2 transdermal patch, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The
      rivastigmine nasal spray had superior absolute bioavailability compared to
      historical values for oral capsule and transdermal patch determined by other
      researchers. It had rapid onset of action, low NAP226-90 to rivastigmine exposure
      ratio and a favourable safety and tolerability profile. The ability to achieve
      adjustable, individual, twice-daily dosing during waking hours has good potential
      to minimise undesirable cholinergic burden and sleep disturbances whilst
      delivering an effective dose for the treatment of dementia associated with
      Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 27639639
TI  - Reinforcing Effect of Glass Fiber-incorporated ProRoot MTA and Biodentine as
      Intraorifice Barriers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate the fracture
      resistance of roots by using intraorifice barriers with glass fiber-incorporated
      ProRoot MTA and Biodentine. METHODS: The diametral tensile strength and
      compressive strength of ProRoot MTA and Biodentine were determined after
      incorporation of 5 wt% and 10 wt% alkali resistant (AR) glass fiber powder into
      both cements. On the basis of higher diametral tensile strength and compressive
      strength values, ProRoot MTA and Biodentine with 5 wt% AR glass fiber were
      selected for further testing as intraorifice barriers. The 14-mm-long root
      specimens obtained from extracted mandibular premolars (n = 60) were prepared
      with nickel-titanium rotary files and obturated with gutta-percha + AH Plus
      sealer. After removal of coronal 3 mm of root fillings, the roots were grouped
      with respect to the intraorifice barrier material (n = 12/group): (1) ProRoot
      MTA, (2) ProRoot MTA with 5 wt% AR glass fibers, (3) Biodentine, (4) Biodentine
      with 5 wt% AR glass fibers, and (5) control (no intraorifice barrier). The
      specimens were loaded vertically at 1 mm/min crosshead speed until vertical root
      fracture occurred. The data were evaluated statistically by using 2-way analysis
      of variance and Tukey tests. RESULTS: Both incorporation of glass fiber and the
      type of material significantly affected fracture resistance (both P = .002).
      Roots with glass fiber-reinforced Biodentine barriers showed the highest fracture
      strength (P = .000). CONCLUSIONS: Incorporation of 5 wt% AR glass fiber can
      significantly improve the reinforcement effect of ProRoot MTA and Biodentine when
      used as intraorifice barriers.

PMID- 27639641
TI  - Energy defects in Huntington's disease: Why "in vivo" evidence matters.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited progressive neurodegenerative disorder
      associated with involuntary abnormal movements (chorea), cognitive deficits and
      psychiatric disturbances. The most striking neuropathological change in HD is the
      early atrophy of the striatum. While the disease progresses, other brain
      structures also degenerate, including the cerebral cortex. Changes are also seen
      outside the brain, in particular weight loss/cachexia despite high dietary
      intake. The disease is caused by an abnormal expansion of a CAG repeat in the
      gene encoding the huntingtin protein (Htt). This mutation leads to the expression
      of a poly-glutamine stretch that changes the biological functions of mutant Htt
      (mHtt). The mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in HD are not totally
      elucidated. Here, we discuss recent results obtained in patients, animal and
      cellular models suggesting that early disturbance in energy metabolism at least
      in part associated with mitochondrial defects may play a central role, even
      though all data are not congruent, possibly because most findings were obtained
      in cell culture systems or using biochemical analyses of post mortem tissues from
      rodent models. Thus, we put a particular focus on brain imaging studies that
      could identify biomarkers of energy defects in vivo and would be of prime
      interest in preclinical and clinical trials testing the efficacy of new therapies
      targeting energy metabolism in HD.

PMID- 27639642
TI  - Expression and promoter analysis of the OsHSP16.9C gene in rice.
AB  - Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are molecular chaperones important for stress
      tolerance. In this study, heat induction of a rice sHSP gene OsHSP16.9C is
      analyzed to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying gene expression
      regulation in heat shock responses in rice. Promoter deletion analysis of the
      OsHSP16.9C using the luciferase (LUC) reporter gene in transgenic rice identifies
      a critical role of a promoter fragment containing an imperfect heat shock element
      (HSE) in heat induction. HSE was shown to be important for heat induction of
      AtHSP18.2, a homolog of OsHSP16.9C in Arabidopsis. In addition, the rice
      OsHSP16.9C promoter confers heat induction of the reporter gene expression in
      Arabidopsis. These data suggest that the heat induction mechanisms of OsHSP16.9C
      and AtHSP18.2 are similar in rice and Arabidopsis. The transgenic reporter line
      generated offers a system to genetically dissect signaling events in heat
      induction in rice.

PMID- 27639643
TI  - Charge translocation by mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I)
      from Yarrowia lipolytica measured on solid-supported membranes.
AB  - The charge translocation by purified reconstituted mitochondrial complex I from
      the obligate aerobic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica was investigated after adsorption
      of proteoliposomes to solid-supported membranes. In presence of n-decylubiquinone
      (DBQ), pulses of NADH provided by rapid solution exchange induced charge transfer
      reflecting steady-state pumping activity of the reconstituted enzyme. The signal
      amplitude increased with time, indicating 'deactive->active' transition of the
      Yarrowia complex I. Furthermore, an increase of the membrane-conductivity after
      addition of 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride (EIPA) was detected which questiones
      the use of EIPA as an inhibitor of the Na+/H+-antiporter-like subunits of complex
      I. This investigation shows that electrical measurements on solid-supported
      membranes are a suitable method to analyze transport events and 'active/deactive'
      transition of mitochondrial complex I.

PMID- 27639644
TI  - Overexpression of pro-gastrin releasing peptide promotes the cell proliferation
      and progression in small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Pro-gastrin releasing peptide (ProGRP) plays the role of oncogene in small cell
      lung cancer (SCLC). In this study, we aim to explore the biological function of
      ProGRP in SCLC cells and its potential mechanism. Expression of ProGRP in SCLC
      tissues and cell lines were detected by immunohistochemistry and western blot
      analysis, respectively. The transduced cell lines with ProGRP down-regulation
      were established using RNA interference technology. Cell viability, cologenic,
      apoptosis-associated assay and the biomarker levels determination for cell
      supernatant were performed in the transduced cells to elucidate the biological
      functions and mechanisms of ProGRP in SCLC cells. Our data showed that ProGRP
      protein was demonstrated a higher level in SCLC tissues and cells compared with
      the control, and its diagnostic efficiency was better than NSE, further, the
      higher levels of ProGRP were detected in the patients with extensive disease
      stage (P < 0.05), were also the unfavorable factor to the prognosis of SCLC
      patients. Additionally, the concentration of serum ProGRP is a useful biomarker
      in disease-monitoring of the patients with SCLC. Down-regulation of ProGRP
      significantly reduced SCLC cell growth, repressed colony formation, but increased
      cancer cell apoptosis. Additionally, repression of ProGRP also induced change in
      the cell cycle and output of NSE. Our data indicated that ProGRP serve as the
      useful biomarker in the management of SCLC and might be a potential therapeutic
      target.

PMID- 27639645
TI  - Berberine suppressed epithelial mesenchymal transition through cross-talk
      regulation of PI3K/AKT and RARalpha/RARbeta in melanoma cells.
AB  - Berberine is a natural compound extracted from Coptidis rhizoma, and accumulating
      proof has shown its potent anti-tumor properties with diverse action on melanoma
      cells, including inhibiting cancer viability, blocking cell cycle and migration.
      However, the mechanisms of berberine have not been fully clarified. In this
      study, we identified that berberine reduced the migration and invasion capacities
      of B16 cells, and notably altered pluripotency of epithelial to mesenchymal
      transition associated factors. We found that berberine also downregulation the
      expression level of p-PI3K, p-AKT and retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARalpha) and
      upregulation the expression level of retinoic acid receptor beta and gamma
      (RARbeta and RARgamma). These effects of PI3 kinase inhibitor LY294002 treatment
      mimicked Berberine treatment except the expression level of RARgamma. Moreover,
      Western blot analysis showed that the decreased PI3K and AKT phosphorylation,
      increased the epithelial maker E-cadherin, and upregulation level of RARbeta
      while decreased the mesenchymal markers N-cadherin and downregulation level of
      RARalpha by incubation with LY294002 in mouse melanoma B16 cells. In conclusion,
      Our study reveal that berberine can reverse the epithelial to mesenchymal
      transition of mouse melanoma B16 cells and may be a useful adjuvant therapeutic
      agent in the treatment of melanoma through the PI3K/Akt pathway and inactivation
      PI3K/AKT could regulate RARalpha/RARbeta expression.

PMID- 27639646
TI  - Carbon monoxide stimulates astrocytic mitochondrial biogenesis via L-type Ca2+
      channel-mediated PGC-1alpha/ERRalpha activation.
AB  - Carbon monoxide (CO), derived by the enzymatic reaction of heme oxygenase (HO),
      is a cellular regulator of energy metabolism and cytoprotection; however, its
      underlying mechanism has not been clearly elucidated. Astrocytes pre-exposed to
      the CO-releasing compound CORM-2 increased mitochondrial biogenesis,
      mitochondrial electron transport components (cytochrome c, Cyt c; cytochrome c
      oxidase subunit 2, COX2), and ATP synthesis. The increased mitochondrial function
      was correlated with activation of AMP-activated protein kinase alpha and
      upregulation of HO-1, peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma
      coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha), and estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRalpha).
      These events elicited by CORM-2 were suppressed by Ca2+ chelators, a HO
      inhibitor, and an L-type Ca2+ channel blocker, but not other Ca2+ channel
      inhibitors. Among the HO byproducts, combined CORM-2 and bilirubin treatment
      effectively increased PGC-1alpha, Cyt c and COX2 expression, mitochondrial
      biogenesis, and ATP synthesis, and these increases were blocked by Ca2+
      chelators. Moreover, cerebral ischemia significantly increased HO-1, PGC-1alpha,
      and ERRalpha levels, subsequently increasing Cyt c and COX2 expression, in wild
      type mice, compared with HO-1+/- mice. These results suggest that HO-1-derived CO
      enhances mitochondrial biogenesis in astrocytes by activating L-type Ca2+ channel
      mediated PGC-1alpha/ERRalpha axis, leading to maintenance of astrocyte function
      and neuroprotection/recovery against damage of brain function.

PMID- 27639647
TI  - Pollen structure visualization using high-resolution laboratory-based hard X-ray
      tomography.
AB  - A laboratory-based X-ray microscope is used to investigate the 3D structure of
      unstained whole pollen grains. For the first time, high-resolution laboratory
      based hard X-ray microscopy is applied to study pollen grains. Based on the
      efficient acquisition of statistically relevant information-rich images using
      Zernike phase contrast, both surface- and internal structures of pine pollen -
      including exine, intine and cellular structures - are clearly visualized. The
      specific volumes of these structures are calculated from the tomographic data.
      The systematic three-dimensional study of pollen grains provides morphological
      and structural information about taxonomic characters that are essential in
      palynology. Such studies have a direct impact on disciplines such as forestry,
      agriculture, horticulture, plant breeding and biodiversity.

PMID- 27639648
TI  - Cellular prion protein as a receptor for amyloid-beta oligomers in Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - Soluble oligomers of amyloid-beta (Abetao) are implicated by biochemical and
      genetic evidence as a trigger for Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology. A key
      step is Abetao interaction with the neuronal surface to initiate a cascade of
      altered signal transduction leading to synaptic dysfunction and damage. This
      review discusses neuronal cell surface molecules with high affinity selectively
      for oligomeric disease-associated states of Abeta, with a particular focus on the
      role of cellular prion protein (PrPC) in this process. Additional receptors may
      contribute to mediation of Abetao action, but PrPC appears to play a primary role
      in a number of systems. The specificity of binding, the genetic necessity in
      mouse models of disease and downstream signaling pathways are considered. Signal
      transduction downstream of Abetao complexes with PrPC involves metabotropic
      glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), Fyn kinase and Pyk2 kinase, with deleterious
      effects on synaptic transmission and maintenance. Current data support the
      hypothesis that a substantial portion of Abetao toxicity in AD is mediated after
      initial interaction with PrPC on the neuronal surface. As such, the interaction
      of Abetao with PrPC is a potential therapeutic intervention site for AD.

PMID- 27639650
TI  - Possibility and Risk of Medication Vial Coring in Interventional Spine
      Procedures.
AB  - When a needle is inserted into the stopper of a medication vial, small pieces of
      the stopper could be "cored" inside the bore of the needle, consequently
      aspirated, and then injected into the body. Reported coring rates vary from 3.1%
      to 97%. This article reviews the literature surrounding this topic and covers the
      rate of coring, its risk factors, and particle size, as well as prevention
      techniques to maximize safety during interventional procedures.

PMID- 27639649
TI  - Distribution of alpha-Gustducin and Vimentin in premature and mature taste buds
      in chickens.
AB  - The sensory organs for taste in chickens (Gallus sp.) are taste buds in the oral
      epithelium of the palate, base of the oral cavity, and posterior tongue. Although
      there is not a pan-taste cell marker that labels all chicken taste bud cells,
      alpha-Gustducin and Vimentin each label a subpopulation of taste bud cells. In
      the present study, we used both alpha-Gustducin and Vimentin to further
      characterize chicken taste buds at the embryonic and post-hatching stages (E17
      P5). We found that both alpha-Gustducin and Vimentin label distinct and
      overlapping populations of, but not all, taste bud cells. A-Gustducin
      immunosignals were observed as early as E18 and were consistently distributed in
      early and mature taste buds in embryos and hatchlings. Vimentin immunoreactivity
      was initially sparse at the embryonic stages then became apparent in taste buds
      after hatch. In hatchlings, alpha-Gustducin and Vimentin immunosignals largely co
      localized in taste buds. A small subset of taste bud cells were labeled by either
      alpha-Gustducin or Vimentin or were not labeled. Importantly, each of the markers
      was observed in all of the examined taste buds. Our data suggest that the early
      onset of alpha-Gustducin in taste buds might be important for enabling chickens
      to respond to taste stimuli immediately after hatch and that distinctive
      population of taste bud cells that are labeled by different molecular markers
      might represent different cell types or different phases of taste bud cells.
      Additionally, alpha-Gustducin and Vimentin can potentially be used as molecular
      markers of all chicken taste buds in whole mount tissue.

PMID- 27639651
TI  - Ultrasound-Guided Fasciotomy for Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome: A
      Cadaveric Investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) is a common cause of
      exertional leg pain. It is commonly treated with a surgical fasciotomy, which has
      a surgical complication rate of up to 16% and takes approximately 6-12 weeks to
      return to preprocedure activity levels. Therefore, the development of a less
      invasive, effective outpatient intervention to treat CECS is desirable.
      OBJECTIVE: To describe and validate an ultrasound-guided (USG) fasciotomy
      technique for the anterior and lateral compartments of the lower limb in an
      unembalmed cadaveric model. DESIGN: Prospective, cadaveric laboratory
      investigation. SETTING: Academic institution procedural skills laboratory.
      SUBJECTS: Ten unembalmed cadaveric knee-ankle-foot specimens from 1 female (2
      specimens) and 7 male donors aged 62-91 years (mean 78.6 years) with body mass
      indices of 18.9-35.3 kg/m2 (mean 27.1 kg/m2). METHODS: Two experienced operators
      each performed USG anterior and lateral compartment fasciotomies on 5 unembalmed
      cadaveric legs. A third physician subsequently dissected the legs to assess the
      continuity of the fasciotomies and to identify any neurovascular damage related
      to the procedures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fasciotomy length (in centimeters) and
      classification by completeness (achieved target length or did not achieve target
      length) and continuity (continuous or discontinuous) based on predetermined
      criteria. Muscles, retinaculae, and neurovascular structures were assessed for
      damage. RESULTS: No neurovascular injuries occurred in any of the 20 USG
      fasciotomies. The average fasciotomy length was 22.5 cm. All 20 of the
      fasciotomies achieved the target length. A continuous cephalocaudal fasciotomy
      was accomplished in 13 of 20 fasciotomies. When a fasciotomy was not continuous,
      the average length and number of intact fascial bands was 1.52 cm and 2.3,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: USG fasciotomy of the anterior and lateral leg
      compartments can be safely performed in a cadaveric model and can achieve a
      fasciotomy length comparable to surgical fasciotomy. Most procedures successfully
      achieved a continuous cephalocaudal fasciotomy, although small areas of intact
      fascial bands were identified in approximately one-third of procedures. The
      clinical significance of this finding is indeterminate. Given the safety
      demonstrated with this minimally invasive USG fasciotomy in a cadaveric model,
      further research is warranted to develop and refine the technique for clinical
      application. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Not applicable.

PMID- 27639652
TI  - Demonstration of Lesions Produced by Cooled Radiofrequency Neurotomy for Chronic
      Osteoarthritic Knee Pain: A Case Presentation.
AB  - : This case presentation demonstrates radiographic evidence of lesions created
      following cooled radiofrequency (cRF) neurotomy of the knee. A 67-year-old man
      presented with chronic left knee osteoarthritis, pain, and disability. After a
      failed trial of conservative treatments, the patient underwent diagnostic
      genicular nerve blocks and subsequent cRF neurotomy of the left knee. Shortly
      after cRF, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the left knee was performed. On
      MRI, lesions created by cRF ablation were identified. The images presented in
      this case offer a visual explanation for the success of cRF in the treatment of
      knee osteoarthritis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V.

PMID- 27639654
TI  - "An absolutely necessary piece": A qualitative study of legal perspectives on
      medical affidavits in the asylum process.
AB  - A key challenge for asylum seekers in the United States is being able to provide
      evidence of prior persecution in their home countries. Medical/psychological
      affidavits corroborating applicants' accounts often make the difference between
      successful and unsuccessful applications. The purpose of this study was to
      identify the unmet demand for and features of effective medical/psychological
      affidavits in the asylum process, as well as the personal and systemic barriers
      for asylum seekers. This is a qualitative study of semi-structured interviews
      with legal professionals who work in asylum law. Sixteen asylum lawyers and one
      Board of Immigration Appeals accredited representative practicing in the state of
      Michigan, United States, participated in this study. All participants noted that
      a vast majority of their asylum cases would benefit from a medical affidavit but
      that they have difficulty finding qualified physicians with experience writing
      such affidavits and testifying as expert witnesses. The major barriers to
      obtaining medical/psychological evaluations included inability to pay for
      services, lack of practitioner availability, and lack of practitioner training.
      The participants reported that features of a strong medical affidavit included
      clear, concise, and corroborative accounts that supported the applicant's story
      from a diagnostic perspective and forensic descriptions that reinforced the
      credibility of the applicant. Several also noted that medical/psychological
      evaluations frequently would reveal additional details and incidents of trauma
      beyond those stated in the applicant's preliminary statement. The study results
      suggest substantial unmet need for trained physicians to perform medical and
      psychological evaluations on a pro bono basis. Lawyers' recommendations regarding
      effective medical affidavits and necessary ongoing support for asylum applicants
      should inform current efforts to improve physician and lawyer collaborations on
      asylum cases.

PMID- 27639655
TI  - Experimental investigation and statistical modeling of temperature rise in rotary
      ultrasonic bone drilling.
AB  - Thermal necrosis is one of the major problems associated with the bone drilling
      process in orthopedic/trauma surgical operations. To overcome this problem a new
      bone drilling method has been introduced recently. Studies have been carried out
      with rotary ultrasonic drilling (RUD) on pig bones using diamond coated abrasive
      hollow tools. In the present work, influence of process parameters (rotational
      speed, feed rate, drill diameter and vibrational amplitude) on change in the
      temperature was studied using design of experiment technique i.e., response
      surface methodology (RSM) and data analysis was carried out using analysis of
      variance (ANOVA). Temperature was recorded and measured by using embedded
      thermocouple technique at a distance of 0.5mm, 1.0mm, 1.5mm and 2.0mm from the
      drill site. Statistical model was developed to predict the maximum temperature at
      the drill tool and bone interface. It was observed that temperature increased
      with increase in the rotational speed, feed rate and drill diameter and decreased
      with increase in the vibrational amplitude.

PMID- 27639653
TI  - Assessment of Kinematics and Electromyography Following Arthroscopic Single
      Tendon Rotator Cuff Repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increasing demand for rotator cuff (RC) repair patients to return
      to work as soon as they are physically able has led to exploration of when this
      is feasible. Current guidelines from our orthopedic surgery clinic recommend a
      return to work at 9 weeks postoperation. To more fully define capacity to return
      to work, the current study was conducted using a unique series of quantitative
      tools. To date, no study has combined 3-dimensional (3D) motion analysis with
      electromyography (EMG) assessment during activities of daily living (ADLs),
      including desk tasks, and commonly prescribed rehabilitation exercise. OBJECTIVE:
      To apply a quantitative, validated upper extremity model to assess the kinematics
      and muscle activity of the shoulder following repair of the supraspinatus RC
      tendon compared to that in healthy shoulders. DESIGN: A prospective, cross
      sectional comparison study. SETTING: All participants were evaluated during a
      single session at the Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Orthopaedic
      Surgery's Motion Analysis Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Ten participants who were 9
      12 weeks post-operative repair of a supraspinatus RC tendon tear and 10
      participants with healthy shoulders (HS) were evaluated. METHODS: All
      participants were evaluated with 3D motion analysis using a validated upper
      extremity model and synchronized EMG. Data from the 2 groups were compared using
      multivariate Hotelling T2 tests with post hoc analyses based on Welch t-tests.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Participants' thoracic and thoracohumeral joint
      kinematics, temporal-spatial parameters, and RC muscle activity were measured by
      applying a quantitative upper extremity model during 10 ADLs and 3 rehabilitation
      exercises. These included tasks of hair combing, drinking, writing, computer
      mouse use, typing, calling, reaching to back pocket, pushing a door open, pulling
      a door closed, external rotation, internal rotation, and rowing. RESULTS: There
      were significant differences of the thoracohumeral joint motion in only a few of
      the tested tasks: comb maximal flexion angle (P = .004), pull door
      internal/external rotation range of motion (P = .020), reach abduction/adduction
      range of motion (P = .001), reach flexion/extension range of motion (P = .001),
      reach extension minimal angle (P = .025), active external rotation maximal angle
      (P = .012), and active external rotation minimal angle (P = .004). The thorax
      showed significantly different kinematics of maximal flexion angle during the
      call (P = .011), mouse (P = .007), and drink tasks (P = .005) between the 2
      groups. The EMG data analysis showed significantly increased subscapularis
      activity in the RC repair group during active external rotation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although limited abduction was expected due to repair of the supraspinatus
      tendon, only a single ADL (reaching to back pocket) had a significantly reduced
      abduction range of motion. Thoracic motion was shown to be used as a compensatory
      strategy during seated ADLs. Less flexion of the thorax may create passive
      shoulder flexion at the thoracohumeral joint in efforts to avoid active flexion.
      The RC repair group participants were able to accomplish the ADLs within the same
      time frame and through thoracohumeral joint kinematics similar to those in the
      healthy shoulder group participants. In summary, this study presents a
      quantification of the effects of RC repair and rehabilitation on the ability to
      perform ADLs. It may also point to a need for increased rehabilitation focus on
      either regaining external rotation strength or range of motion following RC
      repair to enhance recovery and return to the workforce. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27639656
TI  - A review of the design and clinical evaluation of the ShefStim array-based
      functional electrical stimulation system.
AB  - Functional electrical stimulation has been shown to be a safe and effective means
      of correcting foot drop of central neurological origin. Current surface-based
      devices typically consist of a single channel stimulator, a sensor for
      determining gait phase and a cuff, within which is housed the anode and cathode.
      The cuff-mounted electrode design reduces the likelihood of large errors in
      electrode placement, but the user is still fully responsible for selecting the
      correct stimulation level each time the system is donned. Researchers have
      investigated different approaches to automating aspects of setup and/or use,
      including recent promising work based on iterative learning techniques. This
      paper reports on the design and clinical evaluation of an electrode array-based
      FES system for the correction of drop foot, ShefStim. The paper reviews the
      design process from proof of concept lab-based study, through modelling of the
      array geometry and interface layer to array search algorithm development.
      Finally, the paper summarises two clinical studies involving patients with drop
      foot. The results suggest that the ShefStim system with automated setup produces
      results which are comparable with clinician setup of conventional systems.
      Further, the final study demonstrated that patients can use the system without
      clinical supervision. When used unsupervised, setup time was 14min (9min for
      automated search plus 5min for donning the equipment), although this figure could
      be reduced significantly with relatively minor changes to the design.

PMID- 27639657
TI  - Evaluation of selected faculties at Tehran University of Medical Sciences using
      CIPP model in students and graduates point of view.
AB  - Evaluation of higher education is an increasing demand for information on
      academic quality, which contributes to accountability among authorities and
      affects universities ranking. In educational institutions, the purpose of
      education is producing knowledgeable students and improving quality of the
      university system. Among many evaluation models, the CIPP model or Context,
      Input, Process, Product model is very beneficial and recommendable method to
      educational evaluation. This is a descriptive study conducted in four selected
      faculties of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) (Public health, Nursing
      and Midwifery, Rehabilitation and Allied Medical Sciences), undergraduate
      educational departments in 2014. This research found out quality level of
      undergraduates courses in viewpoint of students and graduates and determined
      their weak points. Data were collected through researcher- made questionnaires.
      Collected data were then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
      Results showed undesirable situation of context, process and product area and
      undesirable situation for input except for "interest and understanding of
      students towards field and labor market" factor, which had relatively desirable
      situation. At the end, researchers recommend some steps to improve goals and
      mission of programs, allocated budget, curriculum and providing a system for
      communication with graduates.

PMID- 27639658
TI  - Quantifying Uncertainty in the Ratio of Two Measured Variables: A Recap and
      Example.
AB  - Estimating uncertainty in the ratio of 2 measured variables can be achieved via 2
      seemingly different approaches: by determining the variance of the first-order
      Taylor approximation to the ratio, or by the so-called "Propagation of Error"
      approach. This Lesson Learned shows that the 2 approaches are mathematically
      equivalent, and provides an example of the approach.

PMID- 27639659
TI  - Formulation and Characterization of Nanocluster Ceftazidime for the Treatment of
      Acute Pulmonary Melioidosis.
AB  - Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei. The
      disease is responsible for a high proportion of human pneumonia and fatal
      bacteremia in the endemic areas of the world and is highly resistant to most
      commonly available antibiotics. Studies have shown that prophylactic antibiotic
      treatment, when administered 24 h following bacterial challenge, can prevent
      infection in a murine model. Prophylactic treatment against this disease using a
      pulmonary antibiotic formulation has not previously been examined, but may reduce
      the number of treatments required, allow for the delivery of higher doses,
      eliminate the need for intravenous administration, and help to minimize systemic
      side effects. Ceftazidime was formulated as a dry powder aerosol suitable for
      pulmonary delivery using previously developed NanoCluster dry powder technology.
      Pharmacokinetics of aerosolized ceftazidime was analyzed in a mouse model. This
      study demonstrates that ceftazidime can be formulated using NanoCluster
      technology as a dry powder aerosol suitable for pulmonary delivery to humans. We
      have also demonstrated the retention of nebulized ceftazidime in mouse lungs for
      up to 6 h after exposure. The results indicate that this treatment may be useful
      as a prophylactic treatment against melioidosis. Future work will examine the
      efficacy of this treatment against B. pseudomallei aerosol challenge.

PMID- 27639660
TI  - The multiscale entropy: Guidelines for use and interpretation in brain signal
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiscale entropy (MSE) estimates the predictability of a signal
      over multiple temporal scales. It has been recently applied to study brain signal
      variability, notably during aging. The grounds of its application and
      interpretation remain unclear and subject to debate. METHOD: We used both
      simulated and experimental data to provide an intuitive explanation of MSE and to
      explore how it relates to the frequency content of the signal, depending on the
      amount of (non)linearity and stochasticity in the underlying dynamics. RESULTS:
      The scaling and peak-structure of MSE curves relate to the scaling and peaks of
      the power spectrum in the presence of linear autocorrelations. MSE also captures
      nonlinear autocorrelations and their interactions with stochastic dynamical
      components. The previously reported crossing of young and old adults' MSE curves
      for EEG data appears to be mainly due to linear stochastic processes, and relates
      to young adults' EEG dynamics exhibiting a slower time constant. COMPARISON WITH
      EXISTING METHODS: We make the relationship between MSE curve and power spectrum
      as well as with a linear autocorrelation measure, namely multiscale root-mean
      square-successive-difference, more explicit. MSE allows gaining insight into the
      time-structure of brain activity fluctuations. Its combined use with other
      metrics could prevent any misleading interpretations with regard to underlying
      stochastic processes. CONCLUSIONS: Although not straightforward, when applied to
      brain signals, the features of MSE curves can be linked to their power content
      and provide information about both linear and nonlinear autocorrelations that are
      present therein.

PMID- 27639662
TI  - Long-term neurocognitive and functional effects of treatment for childhood acute
      lymphoblastic leukaemia.

PMID- 27639661
TI  - Cognitive, behaviour, and academic functioning in adolescent and young adult
      survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a report from the Childhood
      Cancer Survivor Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) are at
      risk for neurocognitive deficits that affect development in adolescence and young
      adulthood, and influence educational attainment and future independence. We
      examined a large and diverse cohort of survivors to identify risk predictors and
      modifiers of these outcomes. METHODS: In this cohort study, cognitive and
      behaviour symptoms were assessed via a standardised parent questionnaire for 1560
      adolescent survivors of ALL diagnosed between 1970 and 1999. Clinically
      significant symptoms (>=90th percentile) and learning problems were compared
      between survivors and a sibling cohort. Multivariable regression models were used
      to examine associations with demographic and treatment characteristics. Models
      were adjusted for inverse probability of sampling weights to reflect
      undersampling of ALL survivors in the expansion cohort. In a subset of survivors
      with longitudinal data (n=925), we examined associations between adolescent
      symptoms or problems and adult educational attainment. FINDINGS: Compared with
      siblings, survivors treated with chemotherapy only were more likely to
      demonstrate headstrong behaviour (155 [19%] of 752 survivors vs 88 [14%] of 610
      siblings, p=0.010), inattention-hyperactivity (15 [19%] vs 86 [14%], p<0.0001),
      social withdrawal (142 [18%] vs 75 [12%], p=0.002), and had higher rates of
      learning problems (191 [28%] vs 76 [14%], p<0.0001). In multivariable models
      among survivors, increased cumulative dose of intravenous methotrexate (ie, >4.3
      g/m2) conferred increased risk of inattention-hyperactivity (relative risk [RR]
      1.53, 95% CI 1.13-2.08). Adolescent survivors with cognitive or behaviour
      problems and those with learning problems were less likely to graduate from
      college as young adults than adolescent survivors without cognitive or behaviour
      problems. INTERPRETATION: Although modern therapy for childhood ALL has
      eliminated the use of cranial radiation therapy, adolescent survivors treated
      with chemotherapy only remain at increased risk for cognitive, behaviour, and
      academic problems that adversely affect adult education outcomes. FUNDING:
      National Cancer Institute, American Lebanese-Syrian Associated Charities.

PMID- 27639663
TI  - Pituitary adenoma associated with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma: A new form of
      multiple endocrine neoplasia.

PMID- 27639665
TI  - Upholding science in health, safety and environmental risk assessments and
      regulations.
AB  - A public appeal has been advanced by a large group of scientists, concerned that
      science has been misused in attempting to quantify and regulate unmeasurable
      hazards and risks.1 The appeal recalls that science is unable to evaluate hazards
      that cannot be measured, and that science in such cases should not be invoked to
      justify risk assessments in health, safety and environmental regulations. The
      appeal also notes that most national and international statutes delineating the
      discretion of regulators are ambiguous about what rules of evidence ought to
      apply. Those statutes should be revised to ensure that the evidence for
      regulatory action is grounded on the standards of the scientific method, whenever
      feasible. When independent scientific evidence is not possible, policies and
      regulations should be informed by publicly debated trade-offs between socially
      desirable uses and social perceptions of affordable precaution. This article
      explores the premises, implications and actions supporting the appeal and its
      objectives.

PMID- 27639664
TI  - Manipulation of pre and postnatal androgen environments and anogenital distance
      in rats.
AB  - We examined the anogenital distance (AGD) plasticity in rats through the
      manipulation of the androgen environment in utero and during puberty. Dams were
      treated from gestation days 13-20 with vehicle, flutamide (20mg/kg/day), di-(2
      ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP, 750mg/kg/day), or testosterone (1.0mg/kg/day). After
      weaning, male pups were randomly assigned to one of four postnatal groups, which
      received the same treatments given prenatally. Sixteen treatment groups were
      established based on the combination of pre- and postnatal exposures. The
      postnatal treatments were conducted from postnatal days 23-53. In utero flutamide
      and DEHP exposure significantly shortened male AGD, although this effect was more
      pronounced in flutamide-exposed rats. Postnatal flutamide, DEHP, and testosterone
      induced slight but significant reductions in male AGD. Our study indicates that
      AGD is a stable anatomical landmark that reflects the androgen action in utero,
      although it can also be slightly responsive to changes in the androgen
      environment following pubertal exposure.

PMID- 27639666
TI  - [Total en bloc spondylectomy for spinal tumours: Technical aspects and surgical
      details].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the specific surgical details and report the lessons
      learned with a series of patients suffering from spinal tumours that underwent
      total en bloc spondylectomy (TES). METHODS: A retrospective case series review is
      presented, together with an analysis of the clinical and technical variables, as
      well as the outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 10 patients underwent TES (2000-2016)
      for primary (osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, fibrosarcoma and chordoma) and
      secondary spinal tumours (lung, breast, thyroid, oesophagus, and meningioma
      metastases). According to the Tomita classification, 2 patients had intra
      compartmental tumours, and the rest presented as extra-compartmental. All
      patients experienced an improvement in their pain level after surgery. Nine
      patients preserved ambulation post-operatively and one patient developed
      paraplegia. Six patients needed subsequent operations for wound debridement,
      tumour recurrence, or revision of the fixation. Other complications included
      pneumothorax, pleural effusion and venous thrombosis. Four patients remain alive
      (4 months to 15 years follow-up). The rest died due to primary tumour progression
      (6.5 months to 12 years). A detailed description of the surgical steps, tips, and
      pitfalls is provided. Modifications of the technique and adjuncts to resection
      are commented on. Observation of some considerations (selection of candidates,
      careful blunt vertebral dissection, strict blood loss control, careful handling
      of the spinal cord, and maintenance of the radical resection concept at all
      stages) is key for a successful operative performance. CONCLUSION: TES is a
      paradigmatic operation, in which the concept of radical resection provides
      functional effectiveness and improves survival in selected patients suffering
      from spinal tumours. Our preliminary experience allows us to highlight some
      specific and relevant features, especially those favouring a simpler and safer
      operation.

PMID- 27639668
TI  - Dynamic interactions between prophages induce lysis in Propionibacterium acnes.
AB  - Progress in next-generation sequencing technologies has facilitated
      investigations into microbial dynamics. An important bacterium in the dairy
      industry is Propionibacterium freudenreichii, which is exploited to manufacture
      Swiss cheeses. A healthy culture of these bacteria ensures a consistent cheese
      with formed 'eyes' and pleasant flavour profile, and the investigation of
      prophages and their interactions with these bacteria could assist in the
      maintenance of the standard of this food product. Two bacteriophages, termed PFR1
      and PFR2, were chemically induced using mitomycin C from two different dairy
      strains of P. freudenreichii. Both phages have identical genomes; however, PFR2
      was found to contain an insertion sequence, IS204. Host range characterisation
      showed that PFR1 was able to form plaques on a wild type Propionibacterium acnes
      strain, whereas PFR2 could not. The lytic plaques observed on P. acnes were a
      result of PFR1 inducing the lytic cycle of a pseudolysogenic phage in P. acnes.
      Further investigation revealed that both PFR1 and PFR2 could infect P. acnes but
      not replicate. This study demonstrates the dynamic interactions between phages,
      which may alter their lytic capacity under certain conditions. To our knowledge,
      this is the first report of two phages interacting to kill their host.

PMID- 27639667
TI  - Novosphingobium pokkalii sp nov, a novel rhizosphere-associated bacterium with
      plant beneficial properties isolated from saline-tolerant pokkali rice.
AB  - Pokkali rice varieties are known for their saline tolerance when specifically
      grown in coastal saline affected agri-fields of southern Kerala. These fields are
      prone to seawater intrusion. During characterization of phytobeneficial
      rhizobacteria from this pokkali rice, L3E4T was isolated. This strain showed some
      plant growth-promoting functions (production of indole acetic acid (IAA),
      acetoin, and siderophore), biofilm formation and capacity to use a wide range of
      plant-derived organic compounds. In planta assay under axenic conditions showed a
      positive effect of L3E4T on pokkali rice growth; importantly, it was able to
      attach and colonize pokkali rice roots in the presence of natural seawater, a key
      adaptation required for survival in pokkali rice fields. Phylogenetic analysis
      using 16S rRNA, recA, and gyrB gene sequences showed that strain L3E4T belongs to
      the genus Novosphingobium, with Novosphingobium capsulatum GIFU 11526T and
      Novosphingobium rhizosphaerae JM.1T being the nearest phylogenetic relatives. In
      addition, DNA-DNA hybridization analysis and phenotypic traits established that
      this strain belongs to a novel Novosphingobium species, for which we propose the
      name Novosphingobium pokkalii sp. nov. The type strain is represented by strain
      L3E4T (=MTCC 12357T = KCTC 42224T).

PMID- 27639669
TI  - Connecting phenome to genome in Pseudomonas stutzeri 5190: an artwork biocleaning
      bacterium.
AB  - Research on biotechnology applications for cultural heritage restoration has
      shown how microorganisms can be efficient at cleaning particularly complex or
      ingrained substances through the process called "biocleaning". Bacteria are able
      to synthesize groups of specific enzymes for the degradation of complex materials
      present on artwork. Biocleaning has been shown to be less hazardous than some
      traditional mechanical or chemical techniques for the artwork, to be
      environmentally-friendly and safe for restorers to use. In order to improve our
      knowledge of the metabolic mechanisms involved in biocleaning, we analyzed the
      relationship between the genome and phenome of Pseudomonas stutzeri 5190 in order
      to identify and confirm the benefits and drawbacks of this bacterium used on on
      site artwork as a biocleaning agent. Main phenotype microarray (PM) assays showed
      that P. stutzeri 5190 was able to use: i) 51 of the 190 carbon sources tested,
      where 32 were used efficiently, among which there were six amino acids (l
      proline, l-alanine, d-alanine, l-glutamic acid, l-asparagine and l-glutamine);
      ii) 74 of the 95 nitrogen sources tested, where 50 compounds were used
      efficiently, among which were 28 amino acids and the inorganic nitrate and
      nitrite compounds, supporting the hypothesis of the strain's ability to remove
      nitrate salt efflorescence from frescoes. Furthermore, high tolerance to osmotic
      stress, to basic pH and to toxic compounds was revealed by PM. Putative genes
      compatible with these phenotypes are described.

PMID- 27639670
TI  - Solvolysis kinetics of three components of biomass using polyhydric alcohols as
      solvents.
AB  - The solvolysis behavior and reaction kinetics of the three components of biomass
      (cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin) liquefied in polyhydric alcohols (PEG 400
      or glycerol) were investigated in this paper. Three stages were observed during
      the solvolysis process and the main degradation stage could be further divided
      into two zones. The influences of solvents on the liquefaction process of three
      main components were compared. Based on Starink and Malek methods, kinetic
      parameters and mechanism functions were obtained. The derived average activation
      energy of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin were 108.73, 95.66 and 94.13kJmol-1
      in PEG 400, while the values were 102.16, 77.43 and 89.10kJmol-1 in glycerol,
      respectively. Higher efficiency was observed when using glycerol as solvent,
      which could be ascribed to the higher polarity value of glycerol. The conversion
      curves calculated with obtained mechanism models and kinetic parameters were in
      good agreement with the experimental data.

PMID- 27639671
TI  - Effects of enzymatic hydrolysis and ultrasounds pretreatments on corn cob and
      vine trimming shoots for biogas production.
AB  - Due to their lignocellulosic nature, corn cob and vine trimming shoots (VTS)
      could be valorized by anaerobic digestion for biogas production. To enhance the
      digestibility of substrates, pretreatments of lignocellulosic materials are
      recommended. The effect of enzymatic hydrolysis, ultrasounds pretreatments (US)
      and the combination of both was assayed in lignocellulosic composition, methane,
      and biogas yields. The pretreatments leaded to a reduction in lignin and an
      increase in neutral detergent soluble compounds making corn cob and VTS more
      amendable for biogas conversion. The US were negative for biogas production from
      both substrates and in particular strongly detrimental for VTS. On the opposite
      side, the enzymatic hydrolysis was certainly beneficial increasing 59.8% and
      14.6% the methane production from VTS and corn cob, respectively. The prior
      application of US did not potentiate (or not sufficiently) the improvement in the
      methane production reflected by the enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment of VTS and
      corn cob.

PMID- 27639672
TI  - Uncoupling the solids retention times of flocs and granules in mainstream
      deammonification: A screen as effective out-selection tool for nitrite oxidizing
      bacteria.
AB  - This study focused on a physical separator in the form of a screen to out-select
      nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) for mainstream sewage treatment. This separation
      relied on the principle that the NOB prefer to grow in flocs, while anammox
      bacteria (AnAOB) reside in granules. Two types of screens (vacuum and vibrating)
      were tested for separating these fractions. The vibrating screen was preferred
      due to more moderate normal forces and additional tangential forces, better
      balancing retention efficiency of AnAOB granules (41% of the AnAOB activity) and
      washout of NOB (92% activity washout). This operation resulted in increased NOB
      out-selection (AerAOB/NOB ratio of 2.3) and a total nitrogen removal efficiency
      of 70% at influent COD/N ratio of 1.4. An effluent total nitrogen concentration
      <10mgN/L was achieved using this novel approach combining biological selection
      with physical separation, opening up the path towards energy positive sewage
      treatment.

PMID- 27639673
TI  - Using mechanisms of hydrolysis and sorption to reduce siloxanes occurrence in
      biogas of anaerobic sludge digesters.
AB  - Hydrolysis of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4),
      decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) and
      dodecamethylcyclohexasilane (D6_silane) and their sorption to digested sludge was
      studied in batch experiments. Hydrolysis was affected by the type of the compound
      and the applied temperature, while the relevant half-life values ranged between
      0.07+/-0.01d (D3, 55 degrees C) and 48.4+/-17.1d (D6_silane, 4 degrees C). D5
      showed the greatest affinity for sorption to digested sludge (logKd: 3.84+/
      3.42), the lowest LogKd value was found for D3 (1.46+/-0.95). Prediction of
      investigated compounds' fate in a single-stage anaerobic digestion system
      indicated that volatilization seems to be the major fate in both mesophilic and
      thermophilic conditions. The addition of a pre-digester with 3d retention time
      would significantly decrease the expected concentrations of all siloxanes in
      biogas, enhancing their removal through hydrolysis and sorption to sludge.

PMID- 27639674
TI  - Bioremediation of agricultural solid waste leachates with diverse species of Cu
      (II) and Cd (II) by periphyton.
AB  - The aim of this work was to study the bioremediation of agricultural solid waste
      leachates with high-concentrations of Cu (II) and Cd (II) after washing the
      wastes with water and Na2EDTA solution (0.2M). Results indicate that Cu (II) and
      Cd (II) are mainly comprised of Cu2(OH)22+, Cu3(OH)42+, CuOH+, Cu(H2O)4(OH)2,
      Cd2+ and CdOH+ in the water-washed leachates and Cu(EDTA)2-, Cu(HEDTA)-,
      Cd(EDTA)2- and Cd(HEDTA)- in the Na2EDTA-washed leachates. Cu (II) removal
      efficiency by selected native periphyton from the water- and Na2EDTA-washed
      leachates were 80.5% and 68.4% respectively, and for Cd (II) it was 57.1% and
      64.6%, because the periphyton was able to maintain a stable pH of the leachates
      and regulate its microbial composition and carbon metabolic capability to
      acclimate the chemical conditions of the leachates. This study provides a new
      biomeasure to treat leachates with high-concentration Cu2+ and Cd2+, and
      contribute valuable insights into the relationships between periphyton
      characteristics and heavy metals.

PMID- 27639675
TI  - Biodiesel production potential of wastewater treatment high rate algal pond
      biomass.
AB  - This study investigates the year-round production potential and quality of
      biodiesel from wastewater treatment high rate algal pond (WWT HRAP) biomass and
      how it is affected by CO2 addition to the culture. The mean monthly pond biomass
      and lipid productivities varied between 2.0+/-0.3 and 11.1+/-2.5gVSS/m2/d, and
      between 0.5+/-0.1 and 2.6+/-1.1g/m2/d, respectively. The biomass fatty acid
      methyl esters were highly complex which led to produce low-quality biodiesel so
      that it cannot be used directly as a transportation fuel. Overall, 0.9+/
      0.1g/m2/d (3.2+/-0.5ton/ha/year) low-quality biodiesel could be produced from WWT
      HRAP biomass which could be further increased to 1.1+/-0.1g/m2/d (4.0ton/ha/year)
      by lowering culture pH to 6-7 during warm summer months. CO2 addition, had little
      effect on both the biomass lipid content and profile and consequently did not
      change the quality of biodiesel.

PMID- 27639676
TI  - Kinetics of lipid production at lab scale fermenters by a new isolate of Yarrowia
      lipolytica SKY7.
AB  - The objective of this work was to study the kinetics of lipid production at lab
      scale fermenters by a new isolate of Yarrowia lipolytica SKY7. The model terms
      glycerol concentration inoculum and C/N ratio with inoculum were found to be
      significant for lipid production. Lipid production was found to be higher in
      glycerol 82.5g/L, C/N ratio 75 and inoculum volume 6.25%. Optimized culture
      conditions were tested at 15L bench scale reactor. The biomass concentration and
      lipid content obtained was 29.5g/L and 50% (w/w), respectively. The yield
      coefficients were calculated and found to be 0.332g/g (g biomass/g of glycerol)
      of biomass and 0.179g/g (g lipid/g glycerol consumed) for lipid. Observed rates
      of lipid production show lipid production from 30h of fermentation. Out of the
      total glycerol consumed, 41.1% glycerol was converted into biomass, lipid, and
      citric acid.

PMID- 27639677
TI  - EGFR-Co-Mutated Advanced NSCLC and Response to EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The evolution of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has changed
      the landscape of disease for a subset of patients with NSCLC. Most patients with
      an EGFR mutation respond to these drugs; however, a proportion show limited or no
      tumor response. We explored the impact of co-mutation (double or multiple
      mutation), compared with a single mutation, of the EGFR gene on response to TKIs
      in a series of patients with metastatic NSCLC. METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed the mutation profiles of nonsquamous NSCLC tested at Royal Prince Alfred
      Hospital between 2012 and 2015 by MassArray using the OncoCarta v1.0 panel.
      Patients with metastatic disease whose tumors had sensitizing EGFR mutation(s)
      were included. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). We used
      the Kaplan-Meier method for PFS and overall survival; the log rank test was used
      to compare groups with and without co-mutation. Multivariable analysis was done
      for PFS; response rate was assessed using chi-square and logistic regression
      analysis. RESULTS: A total of 62 patients were included, and of these, eight
      (12.9%) had a co-mutation. The median PFS and overall survival times were 11.5
      and 26.3 months, respectively. Patients with EGFR co-mutation had a significantly
      shorter median PFS than those with a single mutation (5.7 months versus 12.3
      months, p = 0.02). The response rate to TKIs was significantly worse in those
      with co-mutation compared with in those without co-mutation (38% versus 89%, p <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Taking into account the small number of patients in this
      study, PFS in patients with EGFR co-mutation appeared significantly shorter, and
      response rate significantly lower, than in patients with a single mutation. Data
      from multipanel testing may identify subgroups of patients who are likely to
      respond poorly to standard treatment. Clarification of these subgroups may
      improve patient care.

PMID- 27639679
TI  - Silibinin triggers yeast apoptosis related to mitochondrial Ca2+ influx in
      Candida albicans.
AB  - Candida albicans is a common yeast that resides in the human body, but can
      occasionally cause systemic fungal infection, namely candidiasis. As this
      infection rate is gradually increasing, it is becoming a major problem to public
      health. Accordingly, we for the first time investigated the antifungal activity
      and mode of action of silibinin, a natural product extracted from Silybum
      marianum (milk thistle), against C. albicans. On treatment with 100MUM silibinin,
      generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from mitochondria, which can cause
      yeast apoptosis via oxidative stress, was increased by 24.17% compared to that in
      untreated cells. Subsequently, we found disturbances in ion homeostasis such as
      release of intracellular K+ and accumulation of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial
      Ca2+. Among these phenomena, mitochondrial Ca2+ overload particularly plays a
      crucial role in the process of apoptosis, promoting the activation of pro
      apoptotic factors. Therefore, we investigated the significance of mitochondrial
      Ca2+ in apoptosis by employing 20mM ruthenium red (RR). Additional apoptosis
      hallmarks such as mitochondrial membrane depolarization, cytochrome c release,
      caspase activation, phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure, and DNA damage were
      observed in response to silibinin treatment, whereas RR pre-treatment seemed to
      block these responses. In summary, our results suggest that silibinin induces
      yeast apoptosis mediated by mitochondrial Ca2+ signaling in C. albicans.

PMID- 27639678
TI  - PD-L1 Expression by Two Complementary Diagnostic Assays and mRNA In Situ
      Hybridization in Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic antibodies to immune checkpoints show promising
      results. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), an immune checkpoint ligand, blocks
      the cancer immunity cycle by binding the PD-L1 receptor (programmed death 1). We
      investigated PD-L1 protein expression and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in SCLC.
      METHODS: PD-L1 protein expression and mRNA levels were determined by
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) with SP142 and Dako 28-8 PD-L1 antibodies and in situ
      hybridization in primary tumor tissue microarrays in both tumor cells and tumor
      infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) obtained from a limited-disease SCLC cohort of
      98 patients. An additional cohort of 96 tumor specimens from patients with
      extensive-disease SCLC was assessed for PD-L1 protein expression in tumor cells
      with Dako 28-8 antibody only. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of PD-L1 protein
      expression in tumor cells was 16.5%. In the limited-disease cohort, the
      prevalences of PD-L1 protein expression in tumor cells with SP142 and Dako 28-8
      were 14.7% and 19.4% (tumor proportion score cutoff >=1%) and PD-L1 mRNA ISH
      expression was positive in 15.5% of tumor samples. Increased PD-L1 protein/mRNA
      expression was associated with the presence of more TIICs (p < 0.05). The
      extensive-disease cohort demonstrated a 14.9% positivity of PD-L1 protein
      expression in tumor cells with Dako 28-8 antibody. CONCLUSIONS: A subset of SCLCs
      is characterized by positive PD-L1 and/or mRNA expression in tumor cells. Higher
      PD-L1 and mRNA expression correlate with more infiltration of TIICs. The
      prevalence of PD-L1 in SCLC is lower than that published for NSCLC. The
      predictive role of PD-L1 expression in SCLC treatment remains to be established.

PMID- 27639681
TI  - Dextran-poly lactide-co-glycolide polymersomes decorated with folate-antennae for
      targeted delivery of docetaxel to breast adenocarcinima in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - In this study, a tumor-targeted, docetaxel encapsulated dextran-poly lactide-co
      glycolide (DEX-PLGA) polymersomes was fabricated for breast cancer chemotherapy.
      To attain active cancer targeting, docetaxel encapsulated polymersomes was
      conjugated with folate for folate receptor guided delivery which is overexpressed
      in various cancer cells including breast adenocarcinoma. Docetaxel was
      encapsulated in the bilayer of DEX-PLGA or folate-conjugated DEX-PLGA (FA-DEX
      PLGA) polymersomes via nanoprecipitation method in order to provide the
      controlled drug release. The size of polymersomes obtained were 178.53+/-2.5nm
      and offered drug encapsulation efficiency and loading content of 78.85+/-3.81%
      and 9.32+/-0.27, respectively. The data demonstrate that the prepared polymersome
      formulations sustained docetaxel release for a period of 6days. Cellular uptake
      study and MTT assay showed that the developed folate-targeted docetaxel-loaded
      polymersomes had higher cytotoxicity than non-targeted ones as well as free form
      of drug and was accumulated in 4T1 and MCF-7 cells in vitro. The in vivo tumor
      inhibitory effect of folate-conjugated docetaxel-loaded DEX-PLGA polymersomes (FA
      DEX-PLGA-DTX-NPs) demonstrated an increased therapeutic potency of targeted
      formulation over both non-targeted (DEX-PLGA-DTX-NPs) and free drug. The
      represented data reveal that the prepared targeted drug delivery system was able
      to control the docetaxel release, and also enhance the antitumor potency of
      docetaxel. This study may open new direction for preparation of folate receptor
      targeted polymersomes based on DEX-PLGA copolymers for translational purposes.

PMID- 27639682
TI  - Tertiary amine mediated targeted therapy against metastatic lung cancer.
AB  - In this work, two tertiary amine-derived 4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin (DMEP)
      conjugates (DC and DP) have been designed and synthesized using N,N,N'-trimethyl
      N'-(4-carboxyl benzyl)-1,3-propanediamine (CPDM) and 4-(4
      methylpiperazinomethyl)benzoic acid (PBA) as the targeting ligands. Both DC and
      DP exhibited strong in vitro cytotoxicity against small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
      and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. Cellular uptake efficiencies
      of DC and DP in human alveolar type II epithelial cells were significantly
      enhanced compared to DMEP and etoposide (VP-16), which were demonstrated to be
      concentration-, time- and energy-dependent. The active transport process of DC
      and DP might be mediated by organic cation transporters (OCTs). After systemic
      administration in mice, both DC and DP selectively accumulated in the lung,
      displaying the highest Cmax and AUC0-t values of all tested tissues. Compared
      with DMEP and VP-16, DC and DP remarkably reduced the lung weight and the number
      of lung metastases of B16 melanoma in mice, and further prolonged the survival of
      tumor-bearing mice. Also, DC and DP exhibited comparable levels of cell cycle
      arrest and cell apoptosis. Furthermore, DC and DP demonstrated minimum toxicity
      towards vital organs and reduced gastrointestinal injury compared to DMEP and VP
      16. Taken together, tertiary amine-derived moieties such as CPDM and PBA
      represent an efficient yet safe strategy to achieve lung-targeted drug delivery.

PMID- 27639683
TI  - Improved topical delivery of tacrolimus: A novel composite hydrogel formulation
      for the treatment of psoriasis.
AB  - We have developed a composite hydrogel for improved topical delivery of the
      poorly soluble drug Tacrolimus (TAC) to psoriasis lesions. TAC is efficiently
      solubilized in methoxy poly- (ethylene glycol) hexyl substituted poly-(lactic
      acid) (mPEGhexPLA) based nanocarriers. For convenient and patient-friendly
      topical administration, TAC loaded polymeric nanocarriers were incorporated in a
      Carbopol(r) based hydrogel, to yield a composite hydrogel formulation (TAC
      composite hydrogel). TAC composite hydrogel was designed to have superior
      pharmaceutical formulation properties, delivery efficiency and local
      bioavailability, compared to currently available paraffin-based TAC ointments.
      Composite hydrogel formulations had good local tolerance and showed no signs of
      immediate toxicity after repeated topical administration in healthy mice. Skin
      delivery of TAC composite hydrogel in an imiquimod-induced psoriasis mouse model
      was found to be twice as high as for the commercial formulation ProtopicTM, used
      as benchmark. TAC composite hydrogel showed significant improvement in the in
      vivo and histopathological features of the imiquimod-induced psoriasis model.

PMID- 27639684
TI  - Shared neural correlates of limb apraxia in early stages of Alzheimer's dementia
      and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia.
AB  - Limb apraxia denotes a cognitive impairment of gesture production. Lesion studies
      in patients with stroke point towards distinct neural processing streams for limb
      imitation and object-pantomime within left parietal and temporal cortex,
      respectively. Despite its frequent occurrence as an early symptom in both,
      Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia
      (bvFTD), neural correlates of limb apraxia within these patient groups remain
      unexplored. Using voxel-based morphometry and multiple regression models,
      associations between limb apraxia and gray matter (GM) volume were investigated
      in 36 dementia patients (18 AD, 18 bvFTD) in early disease stages. Both dementia
      subtypes showed a comparable degree of limb apraxia. Although the patient groups
      showed distinct atrophy patterns with significantly more severe frontal GM loss
      in bvFTD, we found similar neural correlates of limb apraxia within posterior
      brain regions for both dementia subtypes: limb-imitation was associated with
      bilateral atrophy of superior, inferior and medial parietal cortex. Object
      pantomime showed associations with GM volume in right middle temporal and angular
      gyrus. Our results argue for shared neural correlates of limb apraxia in AD and
      bvFTD and validate the syndrome as an important neuropsychological feature across
      different etiologies. Moreover, our results are compatible with neural models
      derived from patients with stroke, suggesting partly distinct neural
      representations of imitation and pantomime. Compared to patients with stroke
      however, AD and bvFTD showed more bilateral or even right lateralized neural
      representations of limb apraxia, proposing a greater influence of visuospatial
      impairments and spatial body representation deficits on praxis performance.

PMID- 27639685
TI  - Comparison of Quantity of Calcific Deposits by Multidetector Computed Tomography
      in the Aortic Valve and Coronary Arteries.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the calcium burden of the aortic valve and
      coronary arteries with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in a propensity
      score-matched population of patients with a bicuspid versus a tricuspid aortic
      valve. From an ongoing clinical registry of patients who underwent MDCT, 70
      patients with bicuspid aortic valve and 210 patients with tricuspid aortic valve
      were matched based on age, gender, cardiovascular risk factors, chest pain
      symptoms, and MDCT indication. Aortic valve calcium and the presence and severity
      of coronary artery disease were analyzed. Patients were divided into age
      quintiles. The median Agatston coronary artery score (27 [0 to 563] vs 0 [0 to
      57], p = 0.003) was higher in patients with a tricuspid aortic valve compared
      with those with a bicuspid aortic valve. In contrast, patients with bicuspid
      aortic valve had a significantly larger calcium volume of the aortic valve than
      those with tricuspid aortic valve (391 [43 to 2,028] mm3 vs 0 [0 to 1,844] mm3, p
      <0.001). In patients with bicuspid aortic valve, the calcification process of the
      aortic valve started at an earlier age (second quintile 35 to 51 years) compared
      with those with tricuspid aortic valve, whereas the coronary atherosclerosis
      process was similar in both groups. In conclusion, patients with bicuspid aortic
      valve show larger aortic valve calcium load and at earlier age than those with
      tricuspid aortic valve, independently from the extent of calcium in the coronary
      arteries. Calcific deposits were heavier in bicuspid than in tricuspid valves.

PMID- 27639680
TI  - Oxidative stress and inflammation in cerebral cavernous malformation disease
      pathogenesis: Two sides of the same coin.
AB  - Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is a vascular disease of proven genetic
      origin, which may arise sporadically or is inherited as an autosomal dominant
      condition with incomplete penetrance and highly variable expressivity. CCM
      lesions exhibit a range of different phenotypes, including wide inter-individual
      differences in lesion number, size, and susceptibility to intracerebral
      hemorrhage (ICH). Lesions may remain asymptomatic or result in pathological
      conditions of various type and severity at any age, with symptoms ranging from
      recurrent headaches to severe neurological deficits, seizures, and stroke. To
      date there are no direct therapeutic approaches for CCM disease besides the
      surgical removal of accessible lesions. Novel pharmacological strategies are
      particularly needed to limit disease progression and severity and prevent de novo
      formation of CCM lesions in susceptible individuals. Useful insights into
      innovative approaches for CCM disease prevention and treatment are emerging from
      a growing understanding of the biological functions of the three known CCM
      proteins, CCM1/KRIT1, CCM2 and CCM3/PDCD10. In particular, accumulating evidence
      indicates that these proteins play major roles in distinct signaling pathways,
      including those involved in cellular responses to oxidative stress, inflammation
      and angiogenesis, pointing to pathophysiological mechanisms whereby the function
      of CCM proteins may be relevant in preventing vascular dysfunctions triggered by
      these events. Indeed, emerging findings demonstrate that the pleiotropic roles of
      CCM proteins reflect their critical capacity to modulate the fine-tuned crosstalk
      between redox signaling and autophagy that govern cell homeostasis and stress
      responses, providing a novel mechanistic scenario that reconciles both the
      multiple signaling pathways linked to CCM proteins and the distinct therapeutic
      approaches proposed so far. In addition, recent studies in CCM patient cohorts
      suggest that genetic susceptibility factors related to differences in vascular
      sensitivity to oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to inter-individual
      differences in CCM disease susceptibility and severity. This review discusses
      recent progress into the understanding of the molecular basis and mechanisms of
      CCM disease pathogenesis, with specific emphasis on the potential contribution of
      altered cell responses to oxidative stress and inflammatory events occurring
      locally in the microvascular environment, and consequent implications for the
      development of novel, safe, and effective preventive and therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 27639686
TI  - A Matched Cohort Study of Patients With End-Stage Heart Failure from
      Anthracycline-Induced Cardiomyopathy Requiring Advanced Cardiac Support.
AB  - Anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy (AIC) may progress to end-stage heart
      failure requiring mechanical circulatory support or orthotopic heart
      transplantation (OHT). Previous studies have described important clinical
      differences between AIC and nonischemic cardiomyopathy (NIC) cohorts requiring
      these advanced interventions. Therefore, we sought to extend this literature by
      comparing echocardiographic parameters, treatment strategies, and the prognosis
      between matched patients from these cohorts. This is a retrospective matched
      cohort study. All patients who received a ventricular assist device or OHT at a
      large Canadian center were reviewed (n = 421; 1988 to 2015) and subjects with
      clinical and pathologic evidence of AIC were included (n = 17, 4.0%). A
      comparison cohort with idiopathic NIC from the same database, matched 3:1 for
      age, gender, ethnicity, and year of heart failure onset was selected. The Mann
      Whitney rank-sum and Fisher's exact tests were used for comparisons. Patients
      with AIC were predominantly women (70.6%) with heart failure diagnosed at age
      40.2 +/- 15.8 and 8.3 +/- 8.9 years after anthracycline treatment. Compared with
      NIC, no differences were seen in co-morbidities, echocardiographic measures, the
      proportion of patients receiving a defibrillator, ventricular assist device, or
      OHT, the incidence of graft failure, and all-cause mortality. In contrast to
      other studies, AIC was not associated with a higher incidence of right
      ventricular dysfunction. A greater proportion of patients with AIC developed
      cancer (recurrence or new primary) post-OHT (21.4% vs 2.3%, p = 0.042). In
      conclusion, we demonstrate that when matched cohorts of patients with end-stage
      heart failure secondary to AIC and idiopathic NIC are compared, they are similar
      with respect to co-morbidities, degree of ventricular dysfunction, and advanced
      therapeutics used. The prognosis with OHT is also similar.

PMID- 27639687
TI  - Effect of Release of the First Pediatric Appropriate Use Criteria on
      Transthoracic Echocardiogram Ordering Practice.
AB  - Pediatric appropriate use criteria (AUC) were recently published for initial
      outpatient transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The purpose of this study was to
      determine the effect of AUC publication on TTE ordering patterns of pediatric
      cardiologists. Data were prospectively collected on patients who had initial
      outpatient TTE ordered before (phase I, April to September 2014) and 3 months
      after (phase II, January to April 2015) AUC document publication at 6 centers.
      Site investigators assessed each study's indication and assigned AUC
      appropriateness as "appropriate" (A), "may be appropriate" (M), "rarely
      appropriate" (R), or "unclassifiable." One hundred three physicians ordered 4,562
      TTEs (2,655 phase I and 1,907 phase II). Overall, there was no statistically
      significant change in the proportion of A, M, or unclassifiable, but R decreased
      (12.0% to 9.6%, p = 0.01). There was significant variability among the centers in
      the percentage of studies for indications rated R (4.9% to 34.8%). There was no
      significant change in any of the appropriateness ratings at 4 centers, a decrease
      in R and an increase in A at 1 and a decrease in R and increase in unclassifiable
      at another. The first pediatric AUC document had only a small impact on physician
      ordering behavior for initial TTEs, including a small decrease in R. There was a
      significant variability in appropriateness of studies among centers. These data
      suggest that active educational interventions are required to substantially
      improve the appropriate use of pediatric TTE in the outpatient setting.

PMID- 27639688
TI  - Trends in the Magnitude of, and Patient Characteristics Associated With, Multiple
      Hospital Readmissions After Acute Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - There are limited contemporary data available describing recent trends in the
      magnitude and characteristics of patients who are rehospitalized multiple times
      after hospital discharge for an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We reviewed
      the medical records of 4,480 residents of the Worcester, Massachusetts,
      metropolitan area, who were discharged from 3 Central Massachusetts medical
      centers after an AMI in 6 biennial periods from 2001 to 2011 and were followed
      for all-cause and cause-specific hospital readmissions over the subsequent 6
      months. The average age of our study population was 68 years, 89% were white, and
      41% were women. Overall, ~1 of every 3 patients had a readmission to the hospital
      within 6 months after hospital discharge for an AMI. The proportion of patients
      who were readmitted to the hospital 1, 2, or 3 times for any cause within 6
      months remained unchanged during the years under study (20%, 8%, and 6%,
      respectively); 59% of these readmissions were cardiac related. Women, elderly
      patients, those with multiple chronic conditions, patients with a prolonged index
      hospitalization, and those who developed heart failure and/or atrial fibrillation
      during hospitalization were at higher risk for being readmitted multiple times
      compared with those who were readmitted once. Six-month hospital readmission
      rates after hospital discharge for an AMI remained stable during the years under
      study. In conclusion, we identified several groups at higher risk for multiple
      hospital readmissions who might be targeted for intensified monitoring efforts
      and tailored educational and treatment approaches.

PMID- 27639689
TI  - Meta-Analysis of Zero or Near-Zero Fluoroscopy Use During Ablation of Cardiac
      Arrhythmias.
AB  - Data regarding the efficacy and safety of zero or near-zero fluoroscopic ablation
      of cardiac arrhythmias are limited. A literature search was conducted using
      PubMed and Embase for relevant studies through January 2016. Ten studies
      involving 2,261 patients were identified. Compared with conventional
      radiofrequency ablation method, zero or near-zero fluoroscopy ablation
      significantly showed reduced fluoroscopic time (standard mean difference [SMD] 
      1.62, 95% CI -2.20 to -1.05; p <0.00001), ablation time (SMD -0.16, 95% CI -0.29
      to -0.04; p = 0.01), and radiation dose (SMD -1.94, 95% CI -3.37 to -0.51; p =
      0.008). In contrast, procedure duration was not significantly different from that
      of conventional radiofrequency ablation (SMD -0.03, 95% CI -0.16 to 0.09; p =
      0.58). There were no significant differences between both groups in immediate
      success rate (odds ratio [OR] 0.99, 95% CI 0.49 to 2.01; p = 0.99), long-term
      success rate (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.42 to 3.02; p = 0.81), complication rates (OR
      0.98, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.96; p = 0.95), and recurrence rates (OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.74
      to 2.24; p = 0.37). In conclusion, radiation was significantly reduced in the
      zero or near-zero fluoroscopy ablation groups without compromising efficacy and
      safety.

PMID- 27639690
TI  - Demystifying the mechanistic and functional aspects of p21 gene activation with
      double-stranded RNAs in human cancer cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recently identified phenomenon of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)
      mediated gene activation (RNAa) has been studied extensively, as it is present in
      humans, mice, and Caenorhabditis elegans, suggesting that dsRNA-mediated RNAa is
      an evolutionarily conserved mechanism. Previous studies have shown that dsP21-322
      can induce tumor suppressor gene p21 expression in several human cancer cells.
      Nonetheless, the role of dsRNAs in the activation of gene expression, including
      their target molecules and associated key factors, remains poorly understood.
      METHODS: Oligonucleotides were used to overexpress dsRNAs and dsControl. Real
      time PCR and Western blotting were used to detect corresponding mRNA and protein
      expression, respectively. Fluorescence microscopy was used to examine the
      kinetics of dsRNA subcellular distribution. Luciferase reporter assays were
      performed to verify dsRNA target molecules. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)
      assays were carried out to determine whether histone modification and other
      associated key factors are involved in saRNA-mediated p21 expression. RESULTS: We
      demonstrated that dsRNA-mediated p21 induction in human cell lines is a common
      phenomenon. This process occurs at the transcriptional level, and the
      complementary p21 promoter is the intended dsRNA target. Additionally, ChIP
      assays indicated that p21 activation was accompanied by an increased enrichment
      of AGO1 and the trimethylation of histone H3K4 at dsRNA-targeted genomic sites.
      CONCLUSION: These data systematically reveal the mechanistic and functional
      aspects of ncRNA-mediated p21 activation in human cancer cells, which may be a
      useful tool to analyze gene function and aid in the development of novel drug
      targets for cancer therapeutics.

PMID- 27639691
TI  - Clinical development of placental malaria vaccines and immunoassays
      harmonization: a workshop report.
AB  - Placental malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum infection constitutes a major
      health problem manifesting as severe disease and anaemia in the mother, impaired
      fetal development, low birth weight or spontaneous abortion. Prevention of
      placental malaria currently relies on two key strategies that are losing efficacy
      due to spread of resistance: long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and
      intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy. A placental malaria vaccine
      would be an attractive, cost-effective complement to the existing control tools.
      Two placental malaria vaccine candidates are currently in Phase Ia/b clinical
      trials. During two workshops hosted by the European Vaccine Initiative, one in
      Paris in April 2014 and the other in Brussels in November 2014, the main actors
      in placental malaria vaccine research discussed the harmonization of clinical
      development plans and of the immunoassays with a goal to define standards that
      will allow comparative assessment of different placental malaria vaccine
      candidates. The recommendations of these workshops should guide researchers and
      clinicians in the further development of placental malaria vaccines.

PMID- 27639692
TI  - Illness perceptions of gout patients and the use of allopurinol in primary care:
      baseline findings from a prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients' perceptions of their illness are dynamic and can directly
      influence aspects of management. Our aim was to examine the illness perceptions
      of gout patients in UK primary care and associations with allopurinol use.
      METHODS: A health questionnaire was sent to 1805 people with gout aged >=18 years
      identified by a gout diagnosis or prescriptions for allopurinol or colchicine in
      their primary care medical records in the preceding 2 years. The questionnaire
      included selected items from the revised illness perception questionnaire (IPQ
      R). Associations between illness perceptions and use of allopurinol were
      calculated using multinomial logistic regression adjusted for age, gender,
      deprivation status, body mass index, alcohol consumption, comorbidities and gout
      characteristics. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred eighty-four participants
      responded to the baseline questionnaire (65.6 %). Approximately half of
      responders perceived that they were able to control (51.2 %) or affect their gout
      through their own actions (44.8 %). Three quarters perceived treatments to be
      effective (76.4 %) and agreed that gout is a serious condition (76.4 %). Patients
      who agreed that they could control their gout (Relative Risk Ratio, 95 %
      confidence interval 1.66 (1.12 to 2.45)) and that treatments were effective (2.24
      (1.32 to 3.81)) were more likely to currently be using allopurinol than not using
      allopurinol. However, this significance was attenuated after adjustment for self
      reported gout characteristics (1.39 (0.89 to 2.17) & 1.78 (0.96 to 3.29)
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients who perceive that they can control their
      gout and that treatments are effective are more likely to be using allopurinol,
      this suggests that better information is needed for the patient from GPs and
      rheumatologist to reassure and support their use of ULT.

PMID- 27639693
TI  - Specific histamine binding activity of a new lipocalin from Hyalomma asiaticum
      (Ixodidae) and therapeutic effects on allergic asthma in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lipocalin proteins are secreted by tick salivary glands as an
      important strategy to interfere with the immune response of hosts. A large number
      of lipocalins are secreted, but the functions of most of these proteins are
      unclear. Here, we report a new lipocalin protein with particular histamine
      binding capacity, which was isolated from the salivary glands of the tick
      Hyalomma asiaticum. METHODS: The full length cDNA of the Ha24 gene was obtained
      by RACE, and Ha24 gene was expressed in E. coli; after protein purification and
      mice immunizations, specific Polyclonal antibodies (PcAb) were created in
      response to the recombinant protein. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR),
      Quantitative PCR (Q-PCR), indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) assay and
      western blot were used to detect the existence of native Ha24 in ticks. To
      confirm the histamine-binding capacity of rHa24, a histamine-binding assay was
      completed in vitro (ELISA) and in vivo by inhibition of allergic asthma in mice.
      RESULTS: Ha24 is coded by 681 bases, contains 227 amino acids, and has a
      molecular weight of 23.3 kDa. Abundant expression in the salivary glands of
      feeding ticks was confirmed by the identification of native Ha24 in ticks. The
      results of a histamine binding assay both in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that
      rHa24 binds specifically with histamine in a dose-dependent manner, and can
      provide relief from allergic asthma in mice. CONCLUSIONS: Ha24 is a new tick
      lipocalin with specific histamine binding activity that can provide relief from
      host inflammation response.

PMID- 27639695
TI  - Input analysis for two public consultations on the EU Clinical Trials Regulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The European Union's (EU) Clinical Trials Directive was replaced by
      an EU-Regulation as of 2016. The policy revision process was subject to a formal
      impact assessment exercised by the European Commission (EC) from 2008 to 2014.
      Following the EU principles of Good Governance, deliberation with stakeholders
      was an integral part of this impact assessment and the policy formulation
      process. Hence, two public consultations (PCs) were held by the EC in 2009 and
      2011, respectively. Various stakeholders contributed and submitted their written
      input to the EC. Though often cited in the further revision process, the input
      gathered in the PC was not communicated with full transparency and it is unclear
      how and to what extent the input has been processed and used in the policy
      formulation. The objective of this study was an analysis of submissions to both
      PCs in order to systematically present what topics have been discussed and which
      possible policy options have been raised by the stakeholders. METHODS: All
      written submissions publicly available were downloaded from the EC's homepage and
      assessed for stakeholder characteristics. Thematic text analysis was applied to
      assess the full text of a random sample of 33% of these submissions. RESULTS: A
      total of 198 different stakeholders from the EU and the United States of America
      contributed to one or both of the two PCs. In total, 44 various themes have been
      addressed that could be clustered under 24 main themes, including the
      articulation of problems as well as possible policy solutions to face these
      problems. CONCLUSION: The two PCs on the Clinical Trials Directive were highly
      appreciated by the various stakeholders and their input allowed an in-depth view
      on their particular interests. This input provided a rich source of information
      for all stakeholders in the field of clinical trials as well as to the EC's
      impact assessment. Although the EC obviously gathered a large quantity of expert
      knowledge on practical implications of trials legislation by consulting
      stakeholders, it remained unclear how this input was used in the development of
      the new regulation. For the sake of transparency, it is recommended that in
      future PCs the EC uses better standardized methods for a more transparent
      analysis and presentation of results.

PMID- 27639694
TI  - Diversifying selection of the anthocyanin biosynthetic downstream gene UFGT
      accelerates floral diversity of island Scutellaria species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adaptive divergence, which usually explains rapid diversification
      within island species, might involve the positive selection of genes. Anthocyanin
      biosynthetic pathway (ABP) genes are important for floral diversity, and are
      related to stress resistance and pollination, which could be responsible for
      species diversification. Previous studies have shown that upstream genes of ABP
      are subject to selective constraints and have a slow evolutionary rate, while the
      constraints on downstream genes are lower. RESULTS: In this study, we confirmed
      these earlier observations of heterogeneous evolutionary rate in upstream gene
      CHS and the downstream gene UFGT, both of which were expressed in Scutellaria sp.
      inflorescence buds. We found a higher evolutionary rate and positive selection
      for UFGT. The codons under positive selection corresponded to the diversified
      regions, and the presence or absence of an alpha-helix might produce conformation
      changes in the Rossmann-like fold structure. The significantly high evolutionary
      rates for UFGT genes in Taiwanese lineages suggested rapid accumulation of amino
      acid mutations in island species. The results showed positive selection in
      closely related species and explained the high diversification of floral patterns
      in these recently diverged species. In contrast, non-synonymous mutation rate
      decreases in long-term divergent species could reduce mutational load and prevent
      the accumulation of deleterious mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Together with the
      positive selection of transcription factors for ABP genes described in a previous
      study, these results confirmed that positive selection takes place at a
      translational level and suggested that the high divergence of ABP genes is
      related to the floral diversity in island Scutellaria species.

PMID- 27639696
TI  - Primary aldosteronism in patients with acute stroke: prevalence and diagnosis
      during initial hospitalization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the prime risk factor for stroke, and primary
      aldosteronism (PA) is the most common cause of secondary hypertension. The
      prevalence of PA in stroke patients has never been reported. The aim of this
      study was to elucidate the prevalence of PA. METHODS: A total of 427 consecutive
      patients with acute stroke were prospectively enrolled for this study. The
      screening tests were performed at the initial visit and a week after admission by
      measuring plasma aldosterone concentration and plasma renin activity. The rapid
      adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) test was performed as the confirmatory test
      when both screening tests were positive. The primary endpoint was a final
      diagnosis of PA. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the dual screening system for the
      diagnosis of PA was 88.2 %, and PA was finally diagnosed in 4.0 % of acute stroke
      patients and in 4.9 % of stroke patients with a history of hypertension. Patients
      with PA were less likely to be male and have diabetes, and they had higher blood
      pressure at the initial visit, lower potassium concentration, and more
      intracerebral hemorrhage. The rapid ACTH test was performed safely even in acute
      stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of PA is not low among acute stroke
      patients. Efficient screening of PA should be performed particularly for patients
      with risk factors. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN-CTR; UMIN000011021 . Trial
      registration date: June 23, 2013 (retrospectively registered).

PMID- 27639698
TI  - Effect of water accommodated fraction of 0# diesel oil and crude oil on EROD
      activity of liver of Sparus macrocephlus and its mRNA expression.
AB  - We studied the effect of water accommodated fractions (WAF) of 0# diesel and
      crude oil on ethoxy resorufin o-deethylase (EROD) activity and CYP1A1 mRNA
      expression quantity in the liver of Sparus macrocephlus. We found that there were
      some differences in the EROD activity and CYP1A1 mRNA induction between these two
      petroleum hydrocarbons. Both the EROD activity and CYP1A1 mRNA expression of fish
      exposed to 0# diesel WAF were higher than those of crude oil WAF fish. The EROD
      activities and CYP1A1 mRNA expressions in the livers 0# diesel WAF exposed group
      declined faster than those of crude oil WAF and the recovery of EROD activity and
      CYP1A1 mRNA expression in the crude oil group was higher than that of 0# diesel
      group.

PMID- 27639699
TI  - Effects of salinity on oil dispersant toxicity in the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes
      pugio.
AB  - Chemical dispersants can be a useful tool to mitigate oil spills, but the
      potential risks to sensitive estuarine species should be carefully considered. To
      improve the decision making process, more information is needed regarding the
      effects of oil spill dispersants on the health of coastal ecosystems under
      variable environmental conditions such as salinity. The effects of salinity on
      the toxicity of two oil dispersants, Corexit(r) 9500 and Finasol(r) OSR 52, were
      examined in this study. Corexit(r) 9500 was the primary dispersant used during
      the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill event, while Finasol(r) OSR 52 is another
      dispersant approved for oil spill response in the U.S., yet considerably less is
      known regarding its toxicity to estuarine species. The grass shrimp, Palaemonetes
      pugio, was used as a model estuarine species. It is a euryhaline species that
      tolerates salinities from brackish to full strength seawater. Adult and larval
      life stages were tested with each dispersant at three salinities, 5, 20, and 30
      ppt. Median acute lethal toxicity thresholds and oxidative stress responses were
      determined. The toxicity of both dispersants was significantly influenced by
      salinity, with greatest toxicity observed at the lowest salinity tested. Larval
      shrimp were significantly more sensitive than adult shrimp to both dispersants,
      and both life stages were significantly more sensitive to Finasol than to
      Corexit. Oxidative stress in adult shrimp, as measured by increased lipid
      peroxidation activity, occurred with exposure to both dispersants. These data
      will assist environmental managers in making informed decisions regarding
      dispersant use in future oil spills.

PMID- 27639700
TI  - Responses of bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) larvae under lethal and sublethal
      scenarios of crude oil exposure.
AB  - Bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) is an ecologically important zooplanktivorous fish
      inhabiting estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico and eastern North America from Maine
      to Florida. Because they have a protracted spawning season (spring through fall)
      and are abundant at all life stages in coastal estuaries, their eggs and larvae
      likely encountered oil that reached the coast during the Deepwater Horizon oil
      spill. We compared responses to oil exposure at different life stages and at
      lethal and sublethal conditions using acute, 24h exposures. In a series of
      experiments, bay anchovy larvae were exposed to high energy water accommodated
      fractions (HEWAF) and chemically-enhanced WAF (CEWAF) at two stages of larval
      development (5 and 21 days post hatch, dph). HEWAF oil exposures induced
      significantly greater life stage dependent sensitivity at 5 dph than at 21 dph
      but chemically dispersed (CEWAF) exposure mortality was more variable and LC50s
      were not significantly different between 5 and 21dph larvae. Acute exposure to
      two low-level concentrations of CEWAF did not result in significant mortality
      over 24h, but resulted in a 25-77% reduction in larval survival and a 12-34%
      reduction in weight specific growth after six days of post-exposure growth
      following the initial 24h exposure. These results show that younger (5 dph) bay
      anchovy larvae are more vulnerable to acute oil exposure than older (21 dph)
      larvae, and that acute responses do not accurately reflect potential population
      level mortality and impacts to growth and development.

PMID- 27639701
TI  - On the equivalent classification of three-dimensional competitive Leslie/Gower
      models via the boundary dynamics on the carrying simplex.
AB  - We study the asymptotic behavior of the competitive Leslie/Gower model (map)
      [Formula: see text]It is shown that T unconditionally admits a globally
      attracting 1-codimensional invariant hypersurface [Formula: see text], called
      carrying simplex, such that every nontrivial orbit is asymptotic to one in
      [Formula: see text]. More general and easily checked conditions to guarantee the
      existence of carrying simplex for competitive maps are provided. An equivalence
      relation is defined relative to local stability of fixed points on [Formula: see
      text] (the boundary of [Formula: see text]) on the space of all three-dimensional
      Leslie/Gower models. Using a formula on the sum of the indices of all fixed
      points on the carrying simplex for three-dimensional maps, we list the 33 stable
      equivalence classes in terms of simple inequalities on the parameters [Formula:
      see text] and [Formula: see text] and draw their orbits on [Formula: see text].
      In classes 1-18, every nontrivial orbit tends to a fixed point on [Formula: see
      text]. In classes 19-25, each map possesses a unique positive fixed point which
      is a saddle on [Formula: see text], and hence Neimark-Sacker bifurcations do not
      occur. Neimark-Sacker bifurcation does occur within each of classes 26-31, while
      it does not occur in class 32. Each map from class 27 admits a heteroclinic
      cycle, which forms the boundary of [Formula: see text]. The criteria on the
      stability of heteroclinic cycles are also given. This classification makes it
      possible to further investigate various dynamical properties in respective class.

PMID- 27639697
TI  - Modulatory effects of happy mood on performance monitoring: Insights from error
      related brain potentials.
AB  - Goal-adaptive behavior requires the rapid detection of conflicts between actions
      and intentions or goals. Although many studies have focused in the past on the
      influence of negative affect on this cognitive control process (and more
      specifically, on error monitoring), little is known about the possible modulatory
      effects of positive affect on it. To address this question, we used a standard
      (positive) mood induction procedure (based on guided imagery) and asked
      participants to carry out a speeded go/no-go task while high-density
      electroencephalography was recorded concurrently. As a control condition, we used
      a group with neutral mood. Event-related potential results showed that the error
      related negativity (ERN) component, reflecting early error detection within the
      dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, was not influenced by happy mood. In contrast,
      the subsequent error positivity (Pe) component, related to the appraisal of the
      motivational significance of errors, was reliably smaller in the happy than in
      the neutral mood group. Complementing source localization analyses showed that
      this effect was explained by decreased activation within the posterior cingulate
      and insular cortices. These results were obtained in the absence of group
      differences regarding behavioral performance and tonic arousal. These findings
      suggest that happy mood likely decreases and changes the motivational
      significance of worse-than-expected events (Pe), while leaving their earlier
      automatic detection (ERN) unaltered. We discuss these new results in terms of
      dynamic changes in the complex interplay of performance monitoring with
      motivation.

PMID- 27639702
TI  - Epidemic spreading on adaptively weighted scale-free networks.
AB  - We introduce three modified SIS models on scale-free networks that take into
      account variable population size, nonlinear infectivity, adaptive weights,
      behavior inertia and time delay, so as to better characterize the actual spread
      of epidemics. We develop new mathematical methods and techniques to study the
      dynamics of the models, including the basic reproduction number, and the global
      asymptotic stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibria. We show the
      disease-free equilibrium cannot undergo a Hopf bifurcation. We further analyze
      the effects of local information of diseases and various immunization schemes on
      epidemic dynamics. We also perform some stochastic network simulations which
      yield quantitative agreement with the deterministic mean-field approach.

PMID- 27639703
TI  - Biomarkers of angiogenesis as prognostic factors in myelodysplastic syndrome
      patients treated with hypomethylating agents.
AB  - Angiogenesis occurs in response to tissue ischemia and wound healing, and
      contributes to the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, such as benign and
      malignant neoplasia. Several studies have measured bone marrow microvessel
      density (MVD) in MDS patients and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients
      transformed from MDS, and MVD was higher in MDS patients than controls, but was
      lower than in AML patients. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is
      expressed in bone marrow blast cells, and an autocrine VEGF signaling mechanism
      has been established in MDS. Increased bone marrow angiogenesis and VEGF
      concentrations are adverse prognostic features in all of these patients. In this
      study, 69 patients were treated in two groups: hypomethylating agents or
      supportive care with oxymetholone+/-pyridoxine. We evaluated the MVD and VEGF
      expression of paraffin-embedded bone marrow samples from patients. We also
      investigated the relationship between angiogenesis-related biomarkers including
      MVD, VEGF expression, and clinical factors. The patient median age was 65 years,
      and the median follow-up duration was 28 months. MVD assessment among subtypes of
      WHO MDS classification showed that the MVD of RCUD was significantly lower than
      in other types (p=0.02). However, there was no significant difference in VEGF
      expression according to the subtype of MDS. Although MVD and VEGF expression did
      not differ between risk groups based on the IPSS, the low risk group tended to
      have lower expression of angiogenesis-related biomarkers. MDS patients receiving
      hypomethylating agents had significantly lower MVD expression in responders than
      in non-responders (6.13+/-3.38 vs. 9.89+/-2.10, respectively, p=0.039). In a
      consecutive evaluation at the time of diagnosis and 3 months after the initial
      treatment, the group with a decrease or no change of MVD had a higher response
      rate compared to that in the group with an increase of MVD (92.9% vs. 58.8%,
      respectively, p=0.045). Adverse prognostic factors included older age, MDS type
      other than RCUD, a higher IPSS risk group, and abnormal cytogenetics. Although
      angiogenesis-related markers did not demonstrate any significant prognostic
      association with survival, MVD (>=10n/mm2) and a strong expression of VEGF seemed
      to be associated with lower survival rate. These data suggested that the MVD
      value might be helpful in predicting responsiveness to treatment, especially in
      MDS patients treated with hypomethylating agents. Although angiogenesis-related
      markers including VEGF did not demonstrate a significant association with
      survival outcomes, we observed that high MVD and strong VEGF expression seemed to
      be associated with lower survival rate. Therefore, biologic markers related to
      angiogenesis might have a potential as prognostic factors for MDS patients.

PMID- 27639704
TI  - A novel CYP24A1 genotype associated to a clinical picture of hypercalcemia,
      nephrolithiasis and low bone mass.
AB  - Mutations of the CYP24A1 gene, encoding for the enzyme 25(OH)D-24-hydroxylase,
      can cause hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria, nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis. We
      report the case of a 22-year-old male patient with recurrent nephrolithiasis,
      nephrocalcinosis, hypercalcemia with low parathyroid hormone levels,
      hypercalciuria and low bone mass. Gene sequencing showed that the patient had
      compound heterozygous mutations including a novel genotype of the CYP24A1 gene.
      Genetic CYP24A1 testing and biochemical analyses were offered to other family
      members; the father was heterozygous for the same novel genotype and was also
      affected with recurrent nephrolithiasis.

PMID- 27639705
TI  - Antifungal and immunomodulatory activity of a novel cochleate for amphotericin B
      delivery against Sporothrix schenckii.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sporotrichosis is an emergent subcutaneous mycoses caused by
      species of the Sporothrix schenckii complex. Amphotericin B (AmB) remains the
      main antifungal drug for the treatment of systemic infections, but its use is
      limited by toxicity reasons. AFCo3 is a novel cochleate containing detoxified
      LPS, which exhibits drug delivery and immunomodulating properties. Here, AFCo3
      was used as the vehicle for AmB to evaluate the immunomodulatory and antifungal
      efficacy against S. schenckii in vitro and in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS: The
      minimum inhibitory concentrations of AFCo3-AmB and AmB were 0.25 and 1MUg/mL
      respectively. The minimum fungicidal concentration was 0.5MUg/mL for AFCo3-AmB
      and 2MUg/mL for AmB. AFCo3-AmB was less cytotoxic than AmB for peritoneal
      macrophages, using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium
      bromide (MTT) method and reduced the AmB-induced hemolysis in murine
      erythrocytes. AFCo3-AmB improved the intracellular killing of phagocytized yeast
      and it enhanced the in vitro production of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and NO in
      peritoneal macrophages. Moreover, AFCo3-AmB was more effective than AmB in
      reducing spleen and liver fungal burden after repeated (five days)
      intraperitoneal administration of 5mg/kg of AmB, in a Balb/c model of systemic
      infection, associated to a significant induction of Th1/Th17 response. Finally,
      blood chemistry revealed that AFCo3-AmB did not cause changes suggestive of
      nephrotoxicity, such as increases in total proteins, albumin, creatinine and
      blood urea nitrogen that were caused by free AmB. CONCLUSIONS: AFCo3-AmB
      exhibited a significant immunomodulator action, reduced toxicity and improved
      antifungal action against S. schenckii, suggesting a potential use as AmB
      delivery for systemic sporotrichosis treatment.

PMID- 27639706
TI  - Comparison of the silicone oil removal rate between vitrectomy and manual syringe
      negative pressure approach.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the silicone oil removal rate between
      vitrectomy and manual syringe negative pressure approach. Thirty-five silicone
      oil-filled eyes were enrolled and allocated for manual (n = 19) and vitrectomy (n
      = 16) removal approaches. For manual approach, a 10-ml syringe was connected to
      the 23-gauge cannula through a short section of blood transfusion tube. Removal
      was started after pulling and fixing the plunger to the end part. The syringe was
      pulled away immediately once the residual of silicone oil cannot be observed
      through the cornea. For vitrectomy approach, the only difference was the source
      of negative pressure, i.e., the blood transfusion tube was connected to the
      cannula directly to remove the silicone oil. Silicone oil removal rate was
      defined as the volume of silicone oil divided by the time taken for removal. The
      mean time taken for silicone oil removal was faster for manual approach than
      vitrectomy approach (4.13 +/- 1.41 vs. 6.14 +/- 1.49, p = 0.001). Furthermore,
      the silicone oil removal rate was larger for manual approach (1.42 +/- 0.30 vs.
      0.90 +/- 0.16 ml/min, p < 0.001). No severe intraoperative or postoperative
      complications were noted for both approaches. The mean IOP at day 1 after surgery
      was significantly lower than that at baseline in both groups (manual group 10.2
      +/- 4.5 vs. 17.6 +/- 5.9, p < 0.001, vitrectomy group 15.1 +/- 7.5 vs. 8.3 +/-
      1.9, p < 0.002). All the eyes were recovered at 1 week after surgery. The best
      corrected visual acuity (LogMar) at 1 month postoperatively improved compared to
      that preoperative for both approaches (manual group: 1.10 +/- 0.62 vs. 1.47 +/-
      0.76, p = 0.07; vitrectomy group: 1.10 +/- 0.47 vs. 1.11 +/- 0.50, p = 0.62).
      Both approaches are safe for silicone oil removal. The manual approach is more
      convenient and efficient.

PMID- 27639707
TI  - The anti-biofilm effect of macrolides in a rat model of S. aureus foreign-body
      infection: Might it be of clinical relevance?
AB  - Using a tissue cage infection rat model, we test the anti-biofilm effect of
      clarithromycin on the efficacy of daptomycin and a daptomycin + rifampicin
      combination against methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In vitro: kill curves, daptomycin exposure studies
      and clarithromycin activity against biofilm were studied. In vivo: the efficacies
      of clarithromycin, daptomycin or daptomycin + clarithromycin, daptomycin +
      rifampicin and daptomycin + rifampicin + clarithromycin combinations were
      evaluated. In vitro: the addition of clarithromycin to daptomycin improved its
      activity only against one MRSA strain. Changes in daptomycin MIC values appeared
      more quickly in MSSA than in MRSA strain, and this was not modified by
      clarithromycin. Clarithromycin prevented biofilm formation but did not eradicate
      it. In vivo: the daptomycin + rifampicin combination was the most effective
      treatment and was not improved by the addition of clarithromycin. Daptomycin and
      daptomycin + clarithromycin had similar effectiveness; the combination protected
      against the appearance of daptomycin resistance only in one MRSA strain. Using a
      staphylococcal foreign-body infection model, we observed a slight effect with the
      addition of clarithromycin to daptomycin, which resulted in protection against
      the appearance of daptomycin-resistant strains. However, efficacy was not
      improved. Overall, our findings do not support a relevant clinical role for
      macrolides in treating device-related staphylococcal infections based on their
      anti-biofilm effect.

PMID- 27639709
TI  - Tessaracoccus defluvii sp. nov., isolated from an aeration tank of a sewage
      treatment plant.
AB  - A Gram-positive, non-motile, aerobic, coccus-shaped bacterium, designated strain
      LNB-140T, was isolated from a sewage treatment plant in the Republic of Korea and
      was characterised using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Comparative 16S rRNA
      gene sequence analysis showed that strain LNB-140T belongs to genus Tessaracoccus
      in the family Propionibacteriaceae of the phylum Actinobacteria. The 16S rRNA
      gene sequence similarities between strain LNB-140T and type strains of the genus,
      Tessaracoccus flavescens SST-39T and Tessaracoccus rhinocerotis YIM101269T are
      97.8 and 97.4 %, respectively. The chemotaxonomic properties of strain LNB-140T
      are consistent with those of members of the genus Tessaracoccus: a quinone system
      with MK-9(H4) as the predominant menaquinone; anteiso-C15:0 and iso C15:0 as the
      predominant cellular fatty acids; and LL-2,6-diaminopimelic acid as the
      diagnostic peptidoglycan diamino acid. The major polar lipids were identified as
      diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The G+C content of the
      genomic DNA was determined to be 67.1 mol%. Differential phenotypic properties
      along with low DNA-DNA relatedness (<30 +/- 3.2 %) with closely related type
      strains show that strain LNB-140T is distinct from previously described members
      of the genus Tessaracoccus and represents a novel species in this genus, for
      which the name Tessaracoccus defluvii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is
      LNB-140T (=KEMB 5401-076T = JCM 17540T).

PMID- 27639710
TI  - Erratum to: A phylogenomic reappraisal of family-level divisions within the class
      Halobacteria: proposal to divide the order Halobacteriales into the families
      Halobacteriaceae, Haloarculaceae fam. nov., and Halococcaceae fam. nov., and the
      order Haloferacales into the families, Haloferacaceae and Halorubraceae fam nov.

PMID- 27639708
TI  - Effect of methanol extract of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seeds on anxiety,
      sedation and motor coordination.
AB  - Currently available anxiolytics cause numerous adverse effects and show craving
      and tolerance during long term treatment. Currently traditional medicines have
      been re-evaluated widely through work on various plant species. Numerous plants
      in traditional system show pharmacological activity with unlimited prospective
      for therapeutic use. Hence we planned to evaluate the effect of methanol extract
      of T. foenum-graecum L. seeds on anxiety, sedation and motor coordination in mice
      at different doses following 15 days of oral feeding. Effect on anxiety was
      assessed by Hole board test and Light and Dark transition models.Phenobarbitone
      induced sleeping time and Rota rod test were performed to assess effect on
      sedation and motor coordination. In Hole board test, T. foenum-graecum L. seeds
      decreased the number of head dips in mice at all the three doses. In Light and
      Dark transition model, T. foenum-graecum L. seeds increased the period spent in
      the light box and the number of moves among the two compartments at 100 and 200
      mg/kg as compared to control animals. In phenobarbitone induced sleeping time, T.
      foenum-graecum L. seeds did not reveal any sedative effect. In Rota rod test,
      extract exhibited significant skeletal muscle relaxant effect at 200 mg/kg (at 90
      min) as compared to the control animals. Results of our study shows significant
      antianxiety effects of T. foenum-graecum L. seeds and may also recommend improved
      adverse effect profile as compared to diazepam.

PMID- 27639711
TI  - EUROSPINE 2016 FULL PAPER AWARD: Wire cerclage can restore the stability of the
      thoracic spine after median sternotomy: an in vitro study with entire rib cage
      specimens.
AB  - PURPOSE: The influence of the anterior rib cage on the stability of the human
      thoracic spine is not completely known. One of the most common surgical
      interventions on the anterior rib cage is the longitudinal median sternotomy and
      its fixation by wire cerclage. Therefore, the purpose of this in vitro study was
      to examine, if wire cerclage can restore the stability of the human thoracic
      spine after longitudinal median sternotomy. METHODS: Six fresh frozen human
      thoracic spine specimens (C7-L1, 56 years in average, range 50-65), including the
      intact rib cage without intercostal muscles, were tested in a spinal loading
      simulator and monitored with an optical motion tracking system. While applying 2
      Nm pure moment in flexion/extension (FE), lateral bending (LB), and axial
      rotation (AR), the range of motion (ROM) and neutral zone (NZ) of the functional
      spinal units of the thoracic spine (T1-T12) were studied (1) in intact condition,
      (2) after longitudinal median sternotomy, and (3) after sternal closure using
      wire cerclage. RESULTS: The longitudinal median sternotomy caused a significant
      increase of the thoracic spine ROM relative to the intact condition (FE: 12
      degrees  +/- 5 degrees , LB: 18 degrees  +/- 5 degrees , AR: 25 degrees  +/- 10
      degrees ) in FE (+12 %) and AR (+22 %). As a result, the sagittal cut faces of
      the sternum slipped apart visibly. Wire cerclage fixation resulted in a
      significant decrease of the ROM in AR (-12 %) relative to condition after
      sternotomy. ROM increased relative to the intact condition, in AR even
      significantly (+8 %). The NZ showed a proportional behavior compared to the ROM
      in all loading planes, but it was distinctly higher in FE (72 %) and in LB (82 %)
      compared to the ROM than in AR (12 %). CONCLUSIONS: In this in vitro study, the
      longitudinal median sternotomy resulted in a destabilization of the thoracic
      spine and relative motion of the sternal cut faces, which could be rectified by
      fixation with wire cerclage. However, the stability of the intact condition could
      not be reached. Nevertheless, a fixation of the sternum should be considered
      clinically to avoid instability of the spine and sternal pseudarthrosis.

PMID- 27639712
TI  - Vibrational stimulation induces osteoblast differentiation and the upregulation
      of osteogenic gene expression in vitro.
AB  - Vibrational stimulation is an accepted non-invasive method used to improve bone
      remodeling. However, the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon remain unclear.
      In this study, we developed a new vibration-loading system to apply vibrational
      stimulation to cells based on a previously reported in vivo study. We
      hypothesized that osteoblasts respond to vibrational strain by expressing
      osteogenic marker genes, such as alkaline-phosphatase (ALP), Runx2, and Osterix.
      To test our hypothesis, we developed a vibration-loading system to apply a
      precise vibrational force to an osteoblast culture on a silicone membrane. The
      system regulated frequency and acceleration of the vibration, and strain on the
      silicone membrane culture surface was measured using the strain gauge method.
      After vibrational stimulation, cellular gene expression was analyzed using real
      time polymerase chain reaction. We obtained clear strain signals from the culture
      surface at vibrational ranges of 1.0-10 m/s2 acceleration and frequencies of 30,
      60, and 90 Hz, respectively. The strain increased in a linear fashion, depending
      on the acceleration magnitude. Vibrational stimulation also significantly
      upregulated expression of the osteogenic marker genes Runx2, Osterix, type I
      collagen, and ALP. In conclusion, we developed a new vibration-loading system
      that can precisely regulate frequency and acceleration, and we established the
      presence of dynamic cellular strain on a culture surface. Our findings suggest
      that vibrational stimulation may directly induce osteoblast differentiation.

PMID- 27639713
TI  - Targeted Biopsy to Detect Gleason Score Upgrading during Active Surveillance for
      Men with Low versus Intermediate Risk Prostate Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: We sought to determine the rate of upgrading to Gleason score 4 + 3 or
      greater using targeted biopsy for diagnosis and monitoring in men undergoing
      active surveillance of prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study subjects
      comprised all 259 men, including 196 with Gleason score 3 + 3 and 63 with Gleason
      score 3 + 4, who were diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging/ultrasound fusion
      guided biopsy from 2009 to 2015 and underwent subsequent fusion biopsy for as
      long as 4 years of active surveillance. The primary end point was the discovery
      of Gleason score 4 + 3 or greater prostate cancer. Followup biopsies included
      targeting of positive sites, which were tracked in an ArtemisTM device. Kaplan
      Meier curves were generated to determine upgrading rates, stratified by initial
      Gleason score and prostate specific antigen density. RESULTS: Based on a Cox
      proportional hazard model, men with Gleason score 3 + 4 were 4.65 times more
      likely to have upgrading than men with an initial Gleason score of 3 + 3 at 3
      years (p <0.01). By the third surveillance year 63% of men with Gleason score 3 +
      4 had been upgraded compared with 18.0% who started with Gleason score 3 + 3 (p
      <0.01). Of all 33 upgrades 32 (97%) occurred at a magnetic resonance imaging
      visible or a tracked site of tumor, rather than at a previously negative
      systematic site. Independent predictors of upgrading were Gleason score 3 + 4,
      prostate specific antigen density 0.15 ng/ml/cm3 or greater and a grade 5 lesion
      on magnetic resonance imaging. The incidence rate ratio of upgrading (Gleason
      score 3 + 4 vs 3 + 3) was 4.25 per year of patient followup (p <0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: During active surveillance of prostate cancer, targeting of tracked
      tumor foci by magnetic resonance imaging/ultrasound fusion biopsy allows for
      heightened detection of Gleason score 4 + 3 or greater cancers. Baseline
      variables directly related to important upgrading that warrant increased
      vigilance include Gleason score 3 + 4, prostate specific antigen density 0.15
      ng/ml/cm3 or greater and grade 5 lesions on magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 27639714
TI  - Precise Characterization and 3-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Autonomic Nerve
      Distribution of the Human Ureter.
AB  - PURPOSE: We sought to characterize and 3-dimensionally reconstruct the
      distribution of the autonomic innervation of the human ureter. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Three male and 3 female pairs of ureters were evaluated at 2 mm serial
      transverse sections along the entire length of the ureter. The location of nerve
      tissue was immunohistochemically identified using the neuronal marker, S100
      protein. ImageJ software was used to calculate nerve count and density in the
      adventitia and smooth muscle. Blender(r) graphics software was used to create a 3
      dimensional reconstruction of autonomic nerve distribution. RESULTS: Within the
      adventitia nerve density was highest in the mid and distal ureter (females 2.87
      and 2.71 nerves per mm2, and males 1.68 and 1.69 nerves per mm2) relative to the
      proximal ureter (females and males 1.94 and 1.22 nerves per mm2, respectively, p
      >0.0005). Females had significantly higher nerve density throughout the
      adventitia, especially in the distal ureter (2.87 vs 1.68 nerves per mm2, p
      <0.0005). In smooth muscle the nerve density progressively increased from the
      proximal to the distal ureter (p >0.0005). Smooth muscle nerve density was
      similar in the 2 genders (p = 0.928). However, in females nerve density was
      significantly higher in the first 2 cm of the distal ureter relative to the
      second 2 cm (3.6 vs 1.5 nerves per mm2, p <0.001) but not in males (3.0 vs 2.1
      nerves per mm2, p = 0.126). CONCLUSIONS: Nerve density was highly concentrated at
      the distal ureter in the adventitia and smooth muscle of the male and female
      human ureters. The female ureter had greater nerve density in the adventitia, and
      in smooth muscle nerves were significantly concentrated at the ureteral orifice
      and the ureteral tunnel.

PMID- 27639715
TI  - Pro: Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologists Should Provide Anesthetic Care for Patients
      With Ventricular Assist Devices Undergoing Noncardiac Surgery.

PMID- 27639716
TI  - CASE 12-2016 Ascending Aorta Dissection in a Jehovah's Witness Patient on
      Warfarin.

PMID- 27639717
TI  - Selection and characterization of single domain antibodies against human CD20.
AB  - CD20 is a membrane protein with four integral membrane regions and a large
      extracellular loop between residues 142 and 187, which serves as a target binding
      region for rituximab (RTX) and most other anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. It is
      highly expressed in B-lymphoma cells and B lymphocytes and often serves as a
      target for immunotherapy. In this study, we developed single domain antibodies
      (sdAbs) for the sensitive detection of CD20. To achieve this, an immune sdAb
      library was prepared from llamas immunized with a fusion between the large loop
      from CD20 and Hoc, a highly antigenic protein from the T4 bacteriophage, (CD20
      Hoc). By subtracting binders to recombinant Hoc during the biopanning, potential
      anti-CD20 sdAbs were selected, sequenced, and characterized for their binding
      affinity to CD20-Hoc fusion versus Hoc. Twenty five clones grouped into three
      different families based on CDR3 sequence were identified as potential CD20
      binders. The binding kinetics of representative sdAbs from each class and RTX
      were evaluated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Most of the sdAbs that were
      evaluated show binding affinities to CD20-Hoc in the nM range, and class A sdAbs,
      exhibited >=40-fold increase in affinity for CD20-Hoc versus Hoc. When the
      binding of the sdAbs to CD20 on SU-DHL-4 cells was evaluated by flow cytometry,
      only class A sdAbs displayed strong binding to CD20 and recognized DHL cells in a
      concentration dependent manner.

PMID- 27639718
TI  - IL-27 suppresses SKOV3 cells proliferation by enhancing STAT3 and inhibiting the
      Akt signal pathway.
AB  - Ovarian cancer continues to be the most lethal gynecologic malignancy worldwide.
      IL-27 is a novel member of the IL-12 cytokine family. The aim of this study was
      to investigate the effects of IL-27 on the ovarian cystadenocarcinoma cell line
      SKOV3 and determine possible mechanisms underlying its effect. We stably
      transfected an IL-27 plasmid, empty vector, IL-27 shRNA or negative control into
      SKOV3 cells. Cell proliferative activity was evaluated using a WST-1 cell
      proliferation assay kit. Cell viability was quantified by measurements of lactate
      dehydrogenase release. The mRNA levels of nine genes were tested by q-PCR.
      Western blotting was used to verify apoptosis and signal pathways. We found that
      the IL-27 plasmid significantly enhanced cytotoxicity and inhibited the
      proliferation of SKOV3 cells. Caspase-3 protein was augmented by IL-27 plasmid
      and abated by IL-27 shRNA. The incremental expression of IL-27 activated the
      STAT3 pathway and attenuated the Akt pathway. The over-expression of IL-27 could
      significantly upregulate a series of antitumor cytokines including IL-6, IL-12
      and interferon-gamma and down-regulate protumor factors such as TLR4 and NF
      kappaB1. Our data show that IL-27 has direct antitumor capacity in ovarian cancer
      cells via enhancing apoptosis by inducing the STAT3 pathway and restraining the
      Akt pathway. Precis: IL-27 enhanced the cytotoxicity and suppressed the
      proliferation of ovarian cancer cells by activating STAT3 and inhibiting the Akt
      signal pathway. IL-27 plays an important role in antitumor activity against
      epithelial ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27639719
TI  - Model-based reinforcement learning with dimension reduction.
AB  - The goal of reinforcement learning is to learn an optimal policy which controls
      an agent to acquire the maximum cumulative reward. The model-based reinforcement
      learning approach learns a transition model of the environment from data, and
      then derives the optimal policy using the transition model. However, learning an
      accurate transition model in high-dimensional environments requires a large
      amount of data which is difficult to obtain. To overcome this difficulty, in this
      paper, we propose to combine model-based reinforcement learning with the recently
      developed least-squares conditional entropy (LSCE) method, which simultaneously
      performs transition model estimation and dimension reduction. We also further
      extend the proposed method to imitation learning scenarios. The experimental
      results show that policy search combined with LSCE performs well for high
      dimensional control tasks including real humanoid robot control.

PMID- 27639720
TI  - From free energy to expected energy: Improving energy-based value function
      approximation in reinforcement learning.
AB  - Free-energy based reinforcement learning (FERL) was proposed for learning in high
      dimensional state and action spaces. However, the FERL method does only really
      work well with binary, or close to binary, state input, where the number of
      active states is fewer than the number of non-active states. In the FERL method,
      the value function is approximated by the negative free energy of a restricted
      Boltzmann machine (RBM). In our earlier study, we demonstrated that the
      performance and the robustness of the FERL method can be improved by scaling the
      free energy by a constant that is related to the size of network. In this study,
      we propose that RBM function approximation can be further improved by
      approximating the value function by the negative expected energy (EERL), instead
      of the negative free energy, as well as being able to handle continuous state
      input. We validate our proposed method by demonstrating that EERL: (1)
      outperforms FERL, as well as standard neural network and linear function
      approximation, for three versions of a gridworld task with high-dimensional image
      state input; (2) achieves new state-of-the-art results in stochastic SZ-Tetris in
      both model-free and model-based learning settings; and (3) significantly
      outperforms FERL and standard neural network function approximation for a robot
      navigation task with raw and noisy RGB images as state input and a large number
      of actions.

PMID- 27639721
TI  - Piece-wise quadratic approximations of arbitrary error functions for fast and
      robust machine learning.
AB  - Most of machine learning approaches have stemmed from the application of
      minimizing the mean squared distance principle, based on the computationally
      efficient quadratic optimization methods. However, when faced with high
      dimensional and noisy data, the quadratic error functionals demonstrated many
      weaknesses including high sensitivity to contaminating factors and dimensionality
      curse. Therefore, a lot of recent applications in machine learning exploited
      properties of non-quadratic error functionals based on L1 norm or even sub-linear
      potentials corresponding to quasinorms Lp (0<p<1). The back side of these
      approaches is increase in computational cost for optimization. Till so far, no
      approaches have been suggested to deal with arbitrary error functionals, in a
      flexible and computationally efficient framework. In this paper, we develop a
      theory and basic universal data approximation algorithms (k-means, principal
      components, principal manifolds and graphs, regularized and sparse regression),
      based on piece-wise quadratic error potentials of subquadratic growth (PQSQ
      potentials). We develop a new and universal framework to minimize arbitrary sub
      quadratic error potentials using an algorithm with guaranteed fast convergence to
      the local or global error minimum. The theory of PQSQ potentials is based on the
      notion of the cone of minorant functions, and represents a natural approximation
      formalism based on the application of min-plus algebra. The approach can be
      applied in most of existing machine learning methods, including methods of data
      approximation and regularized and sparse regression, leading to the improvement
      in the computational cost/accuracy trade-off. We demonstrate that on synthetic
      and real-life datasets PQSQ-based machine learning methods achieve orders of
      magnitude faster computational performance than the corresponding state-of-the
      art methods, having similar or better approximation accuracy.

PMID- 27639722
TI  - Mean-square exponential input-to-state stability of delayed Cohen-Grossberg
      neural networks with Markovian switching based on vector Lyapunov functions.
AB  - This paper studies the mean-square exponential input-to-state stability of
      delayed Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with Markovian switching. By using the
      vector Lyapunov function and property of M-matrix, two generalized Halanay
      inequalities are established. By means of the generalized Halanay inequalities,
      sufficient conditions are also obtained, which can ensure the exponential input
      to-state stability of delayed Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with Markovian
      switching. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the efficiency of the
      derived results.

PMID- 27639723
TI  - Hinfinity state estimation for memristive neural networks with time-varying
      delays: The discrete-time case.
AB  - This paper investigates the Hinfinity state estimation problem for a class of
      discrete-time memristive neural networks (DMNNs) with time-varying delays. For
      the sake of coping with the switched weight matrices, the DMNNs are recast into a
      tractable model by defining a series of state-dependent switched signals. Based
      on the tractable model, the robust analysis method and Lyapunov stability theory
      are developed to devise a sufficient condition which ensures the global
      asymptotical stability of the estimation error system with a prescribed Hinfinity
      performance. The desired state estimator gain matrix and optimal performance
      index can be accomplished via solving a convex optimization problem subject to
      several linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, one numerical example is
      presented to check the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

PMID- 27639724
TI  - Semi-supervised learning for ordinal Kernel Discriminant Analysis.
AB  - Ordinal classification considers those classification problems where the labels
      of the variable to predict follow a given order. Naturally, labelled data is
      scarce or difficult to obtain in this type of problems because, in many cases,
      ordinal labels are given by a user or expert (e.g. in recommendation systems).
      Firstly, this paper develops a new strategy for ordinal classification where both
      labelled and unlabelled data are used in the model construction step (a scheme
      which is referred to as semi-supervised learning). More specifically, the ordinal
      version of kernel discriminant learning is extended for this setting considering
      the neighbourhood information of unlabelled data, which is proposed to be
      computed in the feature space induced by the kernel function. Secondly, a new
      method for semi-supervised kernel learning is devised in the context of ordinal
      classification, which is combined with our developed classification strategy to
      optimise the kernel parameters. The experiments conducted compare 6 different
      approaches for semi-supervised learning in the context of ordinal classification
      in a battery of 30 datasets, showing (1) the good synergy of the ordinal version
      of discriminant analysis and the use of unlabelled data and (2) the advantage of
      computing distances in the feature space induced by the kernel function.

PMID- 27639725
TI  - Feasibility and safety study for the use of wound protectors during robotic
      radical cystectomy and ileal conduit.
AB  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy (RALRC) is increasingly being
      performed for the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. There is increased
      tension while performing the ureteroileal anastomosis through a small incision.
      Patients are at risk to suffer wound and skin complications perioperatively due
      to possible contamination with bowel contents. The Alexis(r) retractor helps with
      retraction of small incisions potentially reducing tension and also reduces wound
      infection rates as reported in the colorectal literature. This pilot study
      evaluates the use of the Alexis(r) wound protector (WP) in RALRC with ileal
      conduit (IC). The WP was used in 15 consecutive patients at a single institution
      who all underwent RALRC with IC. All patients had preoperative bowel
      preparations, antibiotics, and had surgical preparation with chlorhexidine with
      alcohol in the standard fashion. The Alexis(r) device was placed following RALRC
      to protect the skin and fascia during ileal conduit formation. The ileal conduit
      was then created extracorporeally through the WP in the standard fashion. RALRC
      with IC was successfully completed in all 15 patients. Patients had no wound
      complications defined as documentation of cellulitis or hernia on progress or
      follow-up notes. Using our technique with the WP we had no cases of surgical site
      infection. Wound barrier protection has been recommended for use in colorectal
      surgery and we believe that these recommendations translate to RALRC with IC due
      to the use of bowel to form the urinary diversion. Further studies with the use
      of WP in this procedure are necessary to validate our findings.

PMID- 27639726
TI  - Complications following spine fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
AB  - Complications following spine fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis can be
      characterized as either intra-operative or post-operative. The most serious and
      feared complication is neurologic injury, both in the intra- and post-operative
      period. Other intra-operative complications include dural tears and
      ophthalmologic or peripheral nerve deficits, which may be related to positioning.
      Among the most common post-operative complications are surgical site infection,
      venous thromboembolism, gastrointestinal complications, and implant-related
      complications. Significant blood loss requiring transfusion, traditionally
      considered a known sequelae of spine fusion, is now being recognized as a
      "complication" in large national databases. Pediatric spine surgeons who care for
      patients with AIS must be thoroughly familiar with all potential complications
      and their management.

PMID- 27639727
TI  - Arctic Micromonas uses protein pools and non-photochemical quenching to cope with
      temperature restrictions on Photosystem II protein turnover.
AB  - Micromonas strains of small prasinophyte green algae are found throughout the
      world's oceans, exploiting widely different niches. We grew arctic and temperate
      strains of Micromonas and compared their susceptibilities to photoinactivation of
      Photosystem II, their counteracting Photosystem II repair capacities, their
      Photosystem II content, and their induction and relaxation of non-photochemical
      quenching. In the arctic strain Micromonas NCMA 2099, the cellular content of
      active Photosystem II represents only about 50 % of total Photosystem II protein,
      as a slow rate constant for clearance of PsbA protein limits instantaneous
      repair. In contrast, the temperate strain NCMA 1646 shows a faster clearance of
      PsbA protein which allows it to maintain active Photosystem II content equivalent
      to total Photosystem II protein. Under growth at 2  degrees C, the arctic
      Micromonas maintains a constitutive induction of xanthophyll deepoxidation, shown
      by second-derivative whole-cell spectra, which supports strong induction of non
      photochemical quenching under low to moderate light, even if xanthophyll cycling
      is blocked. This non-photochemical quenching, however, relaxes during subsequent
      darkness with kinetics nearly comparable to the temperate Micromonas NCMA 1646,
      thereby limiting the opportunity cost of sustained downregulation of PSII
      function after a decrease in light.

PMID- 27639728
TI  - Facial patterns in a tropical social wasp correlate with colony membership.
AB  - Social insects excel in discriminating nestmates from intruders, typically
      relying on colony odours. Remarkably, some wasp species achieve such
      discrimination using visual information. However, while it is universally
      accepted that odours mediate a group level recognition, the ability to recognise
      colony members visually has been considered possible only via individual
      recognition by which wasps discriminate 'friends' and 'foes'. Using geometric
      morphometric analysis, which is a technique based on a rigorous statistical
      theory of shape allowing quantitative multivariate analyses on structure shapes,
      we first quantified facial marking variation of Liostenogaster flavolineata
      wasps. We then compared this facial variation with that of chemical profiles
      (generated by cuticular hydrocarbons) within and between colonies. Principal
      component analysis and discriminant analysis applied to sets of variables
      containing pure shape information showed that despite appreciable intra-colony
      variation, the faces of females belonging to the same colony resemble one another
      more than those of outsiders. This colony-specific variation in facial patterns
      was on a par with that observed for odours. While the occurrence of face
      discrimination at the colony level remains to be tested by behavioural
      experiments, overall our results suggest that, in this species, wasp faces
      display adequate information that might be potentially perceived and used by
      wasps for colony level recognition. 

PMID- 27639730
TI  - Periprocedural myocardial infarction in stent trials: how universal is the third
      universal definition?

PMID- 27639729
TI  - Oxygen isotope fractionation between bird eggshell calcite and body water:
      application to fossil eggs from Lanzarote (Canary Islands).
AB  - Oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of fossil bird eggshell calcite
      (delta(18)Ocalc and delta(13)Ccalc) are regularly used to reconstruct
      paleoenvironmental conditions. However, the interpretation of delta(18)Ocalc
      values of fossil eggshells has been limited to qualitative variations in local
      climatic conditions as oxygen isotope fractionations between calcite, body
      fluids, and drinking water have not been determined yet. For this purpose,
      eggshell, albumen water, and drinking water of extant birds have been analyzed
      for their oxygen and carbon isotope compositions. Relative enrichments in (18)O
      relative to (16)O between body fluids and drinking water of +1.6 +/- 0.9 0/00 for
      semi-aquatic birds and of +4.4 +/- 1.9 0/00 for terrestrial birds are observed.
      Surprisingly, no significant dependence to body temperature on the oxygen isotope
      fractionation between eggshell calcite and body fluids is observed, suggesting
      that bird eggshells precipitate out of equilibrium. Two empirical equations
      relating the delta(18)Ocalc value of eggshell calcite to the delta(18)Ow value of
      ingested water have been established for terrestrial and semi-aquatic birds.
      These equations have been applied to fossil eggshells from Lanzarote in order to
      infer the ecologies of the Pleistocene marine bird Puffinus sp. and of the
      enigmatic giant birds from the Pliocene. Both delta(13)Ccalc and delta(18)Ocalc
      values of Puffinus eggshells point to a semi-aquatic marine bird ingesting mostly
      seawater, whereas low delta(13)Ccalc and high delta(18)Ocalc values of eggshells
      from the Pliocene giant bird suggest a terrestrial lifestyle. This set of
      equations can help to quantitatively estimate the origin of waters ingested by
      extinct birds as well as to infer either local environmental or climatic
      conditions. 

PMID- 27639731
TI  - Durability of transcatheter heart valves - much ado about nothing.

PMID- 27639732
TI  - Transcatheter aortic valve durability and the dark side of Kaplan-Meier analysis.

PMID- 27639733
TI  - The scientific value of TAVI surveys: insights and perspectives from European
      centres and European patients.

PMID- 27639734
TI  - Magmaris preliminary recommendation upon commercial launch: a consensus from the
      expert panel on 14 April 2016.
AB  - Bioresorbable scaffolds represent an exciting milestone in the development of
      coronary stent technology with the potential to substantially improve the
      management of patients with coronary artery disease. In an attempt to provide
      first recommendations for the technology, experienced experts involved in the
      first-in-man studies met in Zurich on the 14 April 2016 in order to reach
      consensus on a responsible market introduction. This document will be updated
      regularly as new information from clinical trials becomes available and should be
      understood as a review of current data, opportunities, expectations, advice, and
      recommendations for future investigations. 

PMID- 27639735
TI  - Bioresorbable vascular scaffold radial expansion and conformation compared to a
      metallic platform: insights from in vitro expansion in a coronary artery lesion
      model.
AB  - AIMS: This study aimed to compare the acute expansion behaviour of a polymer
      based bioresorbable scaffold and a second-generation metallic DES platform in a
      realistic coronary artery lesion model. Experimental mechanical data with
      conventional methods have so far shown little difference between metallic stents
      and currently available polymer-based bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS).
      Nevertheless, differences in acute results have been observed in clinical studies
      comparing BRS directly with metallic DES platforms. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      examined the expansion behaviour of the bioresorbable vascular scaffold (3.0*18
      mm Absorb BVS; Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and a metallic DES (3.0*18
      mm XIENCE Prime; Abbott Vascular) after expansion at 37 degrees C using identical
      coronary artery stenosis models (in total 12 experiments were performed). Device
      expansion was compared during balloon inflation and after deflation using
      microscopy to allow assessment of plaque recoil. Minimal lumen diameter (MLD) and
      minimal lumen area (MLA) and stent eccentricity were quantified from optical
      coherence tomography (OCT) imaging at nominal diameter and after post-dilation at
      18 atm. The MLA in the models with BVS deployed was 4.92+/-0.17 mm2 while in the
      metallic DES it was 5.40+/-0.13 mm2 (p=0.02) at nominal pressure (NP), and 5.41+/
      0.20 and 6.07+/-0.25 mm2 (p=0.02), respectively, after expansion at 18 atm. Stent
      eccentricity index at the MLA was 0.71+/-0.02 in BVS compared to 0.81+/-0.02 in
      the metal stent at NP (p=0.004), and 0.73+/-0.03 compared to 0.75+/-0.02 at 18
      atm (p=0.39). CONCLUSIONS: Results obtained in this in vitro lesion model were
      comparable to the results in randomised clinical trials comparing BVS and XIENCE
      stents in vivo. Such models may be useful in future BRS developments to predict
      their acute response in vivo in eccentric lesions.

PMID- 27639736
TI  - A computational atlas of normal coronary artery anatomy.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to define the shape variations, including
      diameters and angles, of the major coronary artery bifurcations. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Computed tomographic angiograms from 300 adults with a zero calcium
      score and no stenoses were segmented for centreline and luminal models. A
      computational atlas was constructed enabling automatic quantification of 3D
      angles, diameters and lengths of the coronary tree. The diameter (mean+/-SD) of
      the left main coronary was 3.5+/-0.8 mm and the length 10.5+/-5.3 mm. The left
      main bifurcation angle (distal angle or angle B) was 89+/-21 degrees  for cases
      with, and 75+/-23 degrees  for those without an intermediate artery (p<0.001).
      Analogous measurements of diameter and angle were tabulated for the other major
      bifurcations (left anterior descending/diagonal, circumflex/obtuse marginal and
      right coronary crux). Novel 3D angle definitions are proposed and analysed.
      CONCLUSIONS: A computational atlas of normal coronary artery anatomy provides
      distributions of diameter, lengths and bifurcation angles as well as more complex
      shape analysis. These data define normal anatomical variation, facilitating stent
      design, selection and optimal treatment strategy. These population models are
      necessary for accurate computational flow dynamics, can be 3D printed for bench
      testing bifurcation stents and deployment strategies, and can aid in the
      discussion of different approaches to the treatment of coronary bifurcations.

PMID- 27639737
TI  - The OPTIS Integrated System: real-time, co-registration of angiography and
      optical coherence tomography.
AB  - The efficacy of an IVUS-guided stent implantation strategy to improve acute
      results and clinical outcome has been described previously. OCT is another
      technique which allows high-resolution intracoronary imaging. However, the use of
      invasive imaging modalities to guide PCI has, as yet, played a limited role in
      current clinical practice. This may be partly explained by the expertise required
      for interpretation and clinical decision making. We present a novel technology
      which enables real-time co-registration of OCT images with angiography. This will
      simplify matching cross-sectional images to their geographic position on the
      angiogram, thereby facilitating imaging-guided PCI. 

PMID- 27639738
TI  - Design and rationale for a randomised comparison of everolimus-eluting stents and
      coronary artery bypass graft surgery in selected patients with left main coronary
      artery disease: the EXCEL trial.
AB  - AIMS: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is the standard of care for
      revascularisation of patients with left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD).
      Recent studies have suggested that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with
      drug-eluting stents (DES) may provide comparable outcomes in selected patients
      with LMCAD without extensive CAD. We therefore designed a trial to investigate
      whether PCI with XIENCE cobalt-chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES)
      would result in non-inferior or superior clinical outcomes to CABG in selected
      patients with LMCAD. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Evaluation of XIENCE versus
      Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularization
      (EXCEL) trial is a prospective, open-label, multicentre, international study of
      1,900 randomised subjects. Patients with significant LMCAD with a SYNTAX score
      <=32 and local Heart Team consensus that the subject is appropriate for
      revascularisation by both PCI and CABG are consented and randomised 1:1 to
      undergo PCI using CoCr-EES or CABG. All patients undergo follow-up for five
      years. The primary endpoint is the three-year composite rate of death, stroke or
      myocardial infarction, assessed at a median follow-up of at least three years
      (with at least two-year follow-up in all patients), powered for sequential non
      inferiority and superiority testing. CONCLUSIONS: The EXCEL study will define the
      contemporary roles of CABG and PCI using XIENCE CoCr-EES in patients with LMCAD
      disease with low and intermediate SYNTAX scores.

PMID- 27639739
TI  - Plaque protrusion compromising bioresorbable coronary scaffold patency.

PMID- 27639740
TI  - Unexpected entrapment of a guidewire by bioresorbable vascular scaffold
      deployment at a calcified coronary lesion.

PMID- 27639741
TI  - Redo TAVI: initial experience at two German centres.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and early outcomes of
      transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in dysfunctional TAVI prostheses
      (redo TAVI). METHODS AND RESULTS: Nineteen redo TAVI procedures were performed
      between October 2011 and November 2015 at two German centres. Mean age was 78
      years, 13 (68%) were male, and the mean logistic EuroSCORE was 32%. Median time
      elapsed since index TAVI was 644 days (interquartile range 191-1,831). Failure
      mode of the index TAVI prosthesis was regurgitation (AR) in 16 patients (n=12
      paravalvular AR, n=3 combined paravalvular/valvular AR, n=1 valvular AR) and
      stenosis in three patients. Device success was achieved in 89% (17/19). Median
      invasive post-interventional transprosthetic gradient was 3.0 mmHg. No severe
      prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) was observed. At one year, mean pressure
      gradient was 9+/-1.2 mmHg and no relevant PPM was documented in 90% of the cases.
      All-cause mortality at 30 days and one year was 11% and 33% (6/18, five non
      cardiac deaths), respectively. Mean follow-up time was 404 days. CONCLUSIONS:
      Redo TAVI appears to be feasible. Paravalvular regurgitation was the most common
      indication for a redo procedure. Rates of device success were high with low post
      interventional gradients and no severe PPM. Good functional status of the
      prosthesis was maintained after 12 months, but mortality rates were high in this
      small comorbid patient population.

PMID- 27639742
TI  - MANTA, a novel plug-based vascular closure device for large bore arteriotomies:
      technical report.
AB  - Catheter-based interventions have become a less invasive alternative to
      conventional surgical techniques for a wide array of cardiovascular diseases but
      often create large arteriotomies. A completely percutaneous technique is
      attractive as it may reduce the overall complication rate and procedure time.
      Currently, large bore arteriotomy closure relies on suture-based techniques.
      Access-site complications are not uncommon and often seem related to closure
      device failure. The MANTA VCD is a novel collagen-based closure device that
      specifically targets arteriotomies between 10 and 22 Fr. This technical report
      discusses the MANTA design concept, practical instructions for use and
      preliminary clinical experience. 

PMID- 27639743
TI  - A new transcatheter heart valve concept (the TRISKELE): feasibility in an acute
      preclinical model.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to introduce and demonstrate the feasibility in
      an acute preclinical model of a new transcatheter heart valve concept with a self
      expanding wire frame, polymeric leaflets and a sealing component. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: The TRISKELE valve was developed based on a previously validated
      polymeric leaflet design, an adaptive sealing cuff and a novel nitinol wire frame
      which reduces stress on the leaflets and radial pressure on the surrounding
      tissue. A valve prototype of 26 mm nominal diameter was manufactured by automated
      dip coating of a biostable polymer. The prototype was implanted via
      brachiocephalic approach in orthotopic position in an acute ovine model through a
      highly controllable multistage deployment process. The atraumatic retrievability
      of the valve after full expansion was verified in situ before final release in
      the optimal position. Observation indicated secure valve anchoring, adequate
      leaflet motion, and no interference of coronary flow or mitral valve function.
      CONCLUSIONS: The TRISKELE valve system has the potential to mitigate
      complications related to imprecise valve positioning, and may offer a safer and
      more economical TAVI solution to a broad range of patients. The valve is
      currently under preclinical investigation for its long-term function and
      durability.

PMID- 27639744
TI  - In vitro evaluation of implantation depth in valve-in-valve using different
      transcatheter heart valves.
AB  - AIMS: Transcatheter heart valve (THV) implantation in failed bioprosthetic valves
      (valve-in-valve [ViV]) offers an alternative therapy for high-risk patients.
      Elevated post-procedural gradients are a significant limitation of aortic ViV.
      Our objective was to assess the relationship between depth of implantation and
      haemodynamics. METHODS AND RESULTS: Commercially available THVs used for ViV were
      included in the analysis (CoreValve Evolut, SAPIEN XT and the Portico valve).
      THVs were implanted in small surgical valves (label size 19 mm) to simulate
      boundary conditions. Custom-mounted pulse duplicators registered relevant
      haemodynamic parameters. Twenty-eight experiments were performed (13 CVE, 5 SXT
      and 10 Portico). Ranges of depth of implantation were: CVE: -1.2 mm to 15.7 mm;
      SXT: -2.2 mm to 7.5 mm; Portico: 1.4 mm to 12.1 mm. Polynomial regression
      established a relationship between depth of implantation and valvular mean
      gradients (CVE: p<0.001; SXT: p=0.01; Portico: p=0.002), as well as with EOA
      (CVE: p<0.001; SXT: p=0.02; Portico valve: p=0.003). In addition, leaflet
      coaptation was better in the high implantation experiments for all valves.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current comprehensive bench testing assessment demonstrates the
      importance of high device position for the attainment of optimal haemodynamics
      during aortic ViV procedures.

PMID- 27639745
TI  - Percutaneous repair of the tricuspid valve using a novel cinching device: acute
      and chronic experience in a preclinical large animal model.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety, technical feasibility and
      performance of a new trans-catheter tricuspid repair system. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Thirty-one adult swine underwent implantation of a transcatheter tricuspid
      remodelling system under general anaesthesia. The steerable transcatheter device
      was introduced through a 24 Fr femoral sheath into the right femoral vein and
      delivered to the tricuspid annulus on the beating heart. A fixation element was
      implanted into the tricuspid annulus. Following implantation, a second delivery
      system was used to couple the fixation element with a self-expanding nitinol
      stent. The device was tensioned to reshape the tricuspid valve and increase the
      coaptation length of the valve leaflets under echo guidance. Finally, the stent
      was deployed in the inferior vena cava (IVC) to maintain the tension applied. The
      transcatheter device was successfully implanted in all animals (n=31). Doppler
      echocardiography prior to sacrifice showed that tricuspid valve function was
      stable and normal tricuspid leaflet motion was observed. Cinching of the
      tricuspid annulus resulted in an increase of leaflet coaptation length of 70%
      (4.5+/-0.7 mm to 7.78+/-1.3 mm), an increase in trans-tricuspid peak velocity of
      79% (0.38+/-0.1 m/s to 0.68+/-0.1 m/s), and a reduction in septolateral tricuspid
      valve dimension of 30% (35.2+/-5 mm to 24.8+/-5 mm). At necropsy, the fixation
      element was firmly attached to the annulus within a fibrotic tissue, with no
      coronary lesions observed and no abnormality visible. The stent was fully
      deployed in the IVC, without displacement or change in the stent shape.
      CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous beating heart remodelling of the tricuspid annulus with
      a cinching device is safe and feasible.

PMID- 27639746
TI  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: the importance of an experienced
      multidisciplinary team.

PMID- 27639747
TI  - Percutaneous occlusion of the left atrial appendage with complex anatomy
      facilitated with 3D-printed model of the heart.

PMID- 27639748
TI  - How should I treat this unusual anterolateral ST-elevation myocardial infarction
      with recurrent ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest?

PMID- 27639749
TI  - Surgical Management of Benign Adnexal Masses in the Pediatric/Adolescent
      Population: An 11-Year Review.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare ovarian conservation
      rates and surgical approach in benign adnexal surgeries performed by surgeons vs
      gynecologists at a tertiary care institution. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort
      review. SETTING: Children's and adult tertiary care university-based hospital.
      PARTICIPANTS: Patients 21 years of age and younger who underwent surgery for an
      adnexal mass from January 2003 through December 2013. INTERVENTIONS: Patient age,
      demographic characteristics, menarchal status, clinical symptoms, radiologic
      imaging, timing of surgery, surgeon specialty, mode of surgery, rate of ovarian
      conservation, and pathology were recorded. Patients were excluded if they had a
      uterine anomaly or pathology-proven malignancy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      primary outcome was the rate of ovarian conservation relative to surgical
      specialty; secondary outcome was surgical approach relative to surgical
      specialty. RESULTS: Of 310 potential cases, 194 met inclusion criteria.
      Gynecologists were more likely than surgeons to conserve the ovary (80% vs 63%;
      odds ratio, 2.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-4.48). After adjusting for age,
      body mass index, mass size, and urgency of surgery, the difference was attenuated
      (adjusted odds ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.88-3.84). Surgeons and
      gynecologists performed minimally invasive surgery at similar rates (62% vs 50%;
      P = .11). A patient was more likely to receive surgery by a gynecologist if she
      was older (P < .001) and postmenarchal (P = .005). CONCLUSION: Results of our
      study suggest that gynecologists are more likely to perform ovarian-conserving
      surgery. However, our sample size precluded precise estimates in our
      multivariable model. Educational efforts among all pediatric and gynecologic
      surgeons should emphasize ovarian conservation and fertility preservation
      whenever possible.

PMID- 27639750
TI  - Pediatricians' Attitudes and Beliefs about Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives
      Influence Counseling.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Adolescents are at high risk for unintended pregnancy. Because
      of pediatricians' potential role in contraceptive counseling, understanding their
      attitudes and beliefs and counseling practices about use of long-acting
      reversible contraceptives (LARC; ie, etonogestrel implant and intrauterine
      devices [IUDs]) is vital. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, INTERVENTIONS, AND MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: We interviewed primary care pediatricians (N = 23) in a
      Midwestern city in June-August 2014. We transcribed the interviews, developed a
      coding schema, and analyzed these qualitative data using a priori and open coding
      of transcripts. RESULTS: Few pediatricians had favorable views on adolescent IUD
      use and most did not include IUDs in routine contraception counseling.
      Pediatricians perceived IUDs to impose significant risks for adverse reproductive
      outcomes and to be poorly tolerated by adolescents. Poor and/or outdated
      knowledge influenced inaccurate beliefs and unsupportive attitudes. Whereas some
      pediatricians were advocates for adolescent use of IUDs, many others had concerns
      that IUDs were not appropriate and not favored by adolescents. In contrast,
      participants viewed the etonogestrel implant more favorably and often included it
      in routine counseling. Some pediatricians focused on the familiar and readily
      available methods (injectable and oral contraceptives) or assumed patients had
      predetermined expectations for those methods. Time spent counseling on LARC was
      also perceived as a barrier. Pediatricians described how education and increased
      familiarity with LARC changed viewpoints. CONCLUSION: A variety of beliefs and
      attitudes, as well as factors such as time and personal habits, influence
      pediatricians' contraceptive counseling practices. Until knowledge deficits are
      addressed, uninformed viewpoints and unfavorable attitudes will limit
      adolescents' access to LARC, especially IUDs.

PMID- 27639751
TI  - Novel biomarkers in cancer: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
AB  - The major issues hampering progress in the treatment of cancer patients are
      distant metastases and drug resistance to chemotherapy. Metastasis formation is a
      very complex process, and looking at gene signatures alone is not enough to get
      deep insight into it. This paper reviews traditional and novel approaches to
      identify gene signature biomarkers and intratumoural fluid pressure both as a
      novel way of creating predictive markers and as an obstacle to cancer therapy.
      Finally recently developed in vitro systems to predict the response of individual
      patient derived cancer explants to chemotherapy are discussed.

PMID- 27639752
TI  - Understanding how new evidence influences practitioners' beliefs regarding dry
      cow therapy: A Bayesian approach using probabilistic elicitation.
AB  - This study used probabilistic elicitation and a Bayesian framework to
      quantitatively explore how logically practitioners' update their clinical beliefs
      after exposure to new data. The clinical context was the efficacy of antibiotics
      versus teat sealants for preventing mammary infections during the dry period.
      While most practitioners updated their clinical expectations logically, the
      majority failed to draw sufficient strength from the new data so that their
      clinical confidence afterwards was lower than merited. This study provides
      quantitative insight into how practitioners' update their beliefs. We discuss
      some of the psychological issues that may be faced by practitioners when
      interpreting new data. The results have important implications for evidence-based
      practice and clinical research in terms of the impact that new data may bring to
      the clinical community.

PMID- 27639753
TI  - A phase III randomized trial evaluating alirocumab 300 mg every 4 weeks as
      monotherapy or add-on to statin: ODYSSEY CHOICE I.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In previous phase III studies, the PCSK9 monoclonal antibody
      alirocumab was administered at doses of 75 or 150 mg every 2 weeks (Q2W). CHOICE
      I (NCT01926782) evaluated 300 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W) in patients on either
      maximally tolerated statin or no statin, both +/- other lipid-lowering therapies.
      METHODS: CHOICE I included patients with hypercholesterolemia at moderate-to-very
      high cardiovascular risk. Patients were randomized to alirocumab 300 mg Q4W, 75
      mg Q2W (calibrator arm), or placebo for 48 weeks, with dose adjustment for either
      alirocumab arm to 150 mg Q2W at Week (W) 12 if at W8 LDL-C levels were >70/100
      mg/dL (1.8/2.6 mmol/L) depending on cardiovascular risk or LDL-C reduction was
      <30% from baseline. Co-primary endpoints were percent LDL-C change from baseline
      to W24, and to time-averaged LDL-C over W21-24. RESULTS: Approximately two-thirds
      of randomized patients were receiving statins. At W12, 14.7% (no statin) and
      19.3% (statin) of patients receiving alirocumab 300 mg Q4W required dose
      adjustment. At W24, significant LDL-C reductions from baseline were observed with
      alirocumab 300 mg Q4W: mean differences were -52.7% (no statin; placebo: -0.3%)
      and -58.8% (statin; placebo: -0.1%). Average LDL-C reductions from baseline to
      W21-24 were also significantly greater with alirocumab 300 mg Q4W vs. placebo in
      patients not receiving (-56.9% vs. -1.6%) and receiving statin (-65.8% vs. 
      0.8%). Treatment-emergent adverse event rates ranged from 61.1 to 75.0% (placebo)
      and 71.5 to 78.1% (alirocumab 300 mg Q4W). CONCLUSIONS: Alirocumab 300 mg Q4W is
      a viable additional treatment option in patients requiring LDL-C-lowering.

PMID- 27639755
TI  - Longitudinal effects of single-dose simulation education with structured
      debriefing and verbal feedback on endotracheal suctioning knowledge and skills: A
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - We evaluated the longitudinal effects of single-dose simulation education with
      structured debriefing and verbal feedback on critical care nurses' endotracheal
      suctioning knowledge and skills. To do this we used an experimental design
      without other competing intervention. Twenty-four months after simulation
      education, no significant time and group differences or time * group interactions
      were identified between the study groups. The need for regularly repeated
      educational interventions with audiovisual or individualized performance feedback
      and repeated bedside demonstrations is evident.

PMID- 27639754
TI  - Multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus spp and its impact on patient outcome.
AB  - In order to analyze the outcomes, clinical features, and resistance of
      Staphylococcus spp infections, a prospective cohort study was conducted at a 234
      bed, tertiary care teaching hospital. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections were
      associated with increased mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS), whereas
      methicillin resistance (MRS) was correlated with prolonged LOS after infection.
      These data highlight the importance of infection control and antibiotic
      stewardship to prevent the emergence and spread of MRS and MDR health care
      associated infections.

PMID- 27639756
TI  - Corresponding author's response to letter to the editor on "An adenovirus 4
      outbreak amongst staff in a pediatric ward manifesting as keratoconjunctivitis-a
      possible failure of contact and aerosol infection control".

PMID- 27639757
TI  - Long-Term Prognostic Value of Coronary CT Angiography in Asymptomatic Type 2
      Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study sought to evaluate the long-term prognostic value of
      coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) in asymptomatic patients with type
      2 diabetes mellitus. BACKGROUND: There are limited data on the long-term
      prognostic impact of coronary CTA in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus. METHODS: This study analyzed clinical outcomes of 591 consecutive
      asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who underwent coronary CTA
      (mean age 62.2 +/- 8.3 years and 352 men [59.6%]). A cardiac event was defined as
      a composite of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina
      requiring hospitalization, or late coronary revascularization. Patients were
      categorized into 3 groups according to severity of coronary artery disease (CAD)
      on coronary CTA: normal coronary arteries, nonobstructive CAD (<50%), and
      obstructive CAD (>=50%). RESULTS: One hundred sixty-eight patients (28.4%) had
      normal coronary arteries, whereas 236 (39.9%) patients had nonobstructive CAD and
      187 (31.6%) had obstructive CAD. During the follow-up period (median 5.3 years
      [interquartile range: 4.7 to 5.8 years]), 37 cardiac events occurred in 29
      patents: 10 cardiac deaths, 2 nonfatal myocardial infarctions, 8 cases of
      unstable angina, and 17 late coronary revascularizations. The 6-year event-free
      survival rates were 99.3 +/- 0.7% in patients with normal coronary arteries, 96.7
      +/- 1.2% in patients with nonobstructive CAD, and 86.2 +/- 3.0% in patients with
      obstructive CAD (log-rank p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic patients with
      type 2 diabetes mellitus with normal coronary arteries or nonobstructive CAD on
      coronary CTA show excellent clinical outcomes over a follow-up period of more
      than 5 years, whereas prognosis is worse in patients with obstructive CAD. These
      findings suggest long-term prognostic value of coronary CTA for asymptomatic type
      2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27639758
TI  - Defining Inflammatory Levels of Carotid Artery and Aortic 18FDG Uptake:
      Implications for Clinical Trial Design and Individual Patient Management.

PMID- 27639759
TI  - Thresholds for Arterial Wall Inflammation Quantified by 18F-FDG PET Imaging:
      Implications for Vascular Interventional Studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study assessed 5 frequently applied arterial
      18fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake metrics in healthy control subjects, those
      with risk factors and patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), to derive
      uptake thresholds in each subject group. Additionally, we tested the
      reproducibility of these measures and produced recommended sample sizes for
      interventional drug studies. BACKGROUND: 18F-FDG positron emission tomography
      (PET) can identify plaque inflammation as a surrogate endpoint for vascular
      interventional drug trials. However, an overview of 18F-FDG uptake metrics,
      threshold values, and reproducibility in healthy compared with diseased subjects
      is not available. METHODS: 18F-FDG PET/CT of the carotid arteries and ascending
      aorta was performed in 83 subjects (61 +/- 8 years) comprising 3 groups: 25
      healthy controls, 23 patients at increased CVD risk, and 35 patients with known
      CVD. We quantified 18F-FDG uptake across the whole artery, the most-diseased
      segment, and within all active segments over several pre-defined cutoffs. We
      report these data with and without background corrections. Finally, we determined
      measurement reproducibility and recommended sample sizes for future drug studies
      based on these results. RESULTS: All 18F-FDG uptake metrics were significantly
      different between healthy and diseased subjects for both the carotids and aorta.
      Thresholds of physiological 18F-FDG uptake were derived from healthy controls
      using the 90th percentile of their target to background ratio (TBR) value
      (TBRmax); whole artery TBRmax is 1.84 for the carotids and 2.68 in the aorta.
      These were exceeded by >52% of risk factor patients and >67% of CVD patients.
      Reproducibility was excellent in all study groups (intraclass correlation
      coefficient >0.95). Using carotid TBRmax as a primary endpoint resulted in sample
      size estimates approximately 20% lower than aorta. CONCLUSIONS: We report
      thresholds for physiological 18F-FDG uptake in the arterial wall in healthy
      subjects, which are exceeded by the majority of CVD patients. This remains true,
      independent of readout vessel, signal quantification method, or the use of
      background correction. We also confirm the high reproducibility of 18F-FDG PET
      measures of inflammation. Nevertheless, because of overlap between subject
      categories and the relatively small population studied, these data have limited
      generalizability until substantiated in larger, prospective event-driven studies.
      (Vascular Inflammation in Patients at Risk for Atherosclerotic Disease; NTR5006).

PMID- 27639761
TI  - Cardiac Remodeling: Novel Insights From MESA.

PMID- 27639760
TI  - Natural History of Myocardial Function in an Adult Human Population: Serial
      Longitudinal Observations From MESA.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this longitudinal study was to define the determinants of
      aging-related left ventricular (LV) remodeling and function in a large
      multiethnic population. BACKGROUND: The influence of risk factor exposure on
      myocardial remodeling and function in humans across adult life remains
      incompletely understood. MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) is a
      longitudinal population-based cohort of asymptomatic adults at baseline. METHODS:
      We examined 757 participants who were free of clinical cardiovascular disease and
      underwent tagged cardiac magnetic resonance both at baseline and at the 10-year
      follow-up as part of the MESA study. LV remodeling, circumferential shortening
      (CS), and torsion were assessed by tagged cardiac magnetic resonance.
      Multivariable linear regression was used to determine the association of changes
      in risk factors with changes in cardiac geometry and function. RESULTS: The mean
      age of participants was 63 +/- 9 years at baseline; 50% were women. Overall, the
      LV mass-to-volume ratio increased by 10% over 10 years (p < 0.01). CS was
      unchanged (17.8% to 17.9%, p = 0.246), whereas torsion increased by 13% (3.8
      degrees /cm to 4.3 degrees /cm, p < 0.001). Increased systolic blood pressure was
      associated with reduced CS (-0.02%/mm Hg, p < 0.01). Participants who remained on
      antihypertensive therapy during the whole study had a greater decrease in LV mass
      to-volume ratio (-0.045 vs. no medication, p < 0.05) with a greater increase in
      CS (0.78% vs. no medication, p < 0.01). Moreover, greater LV mass at baseline was
      significantly associated with reduced CS (-0.02%/g, p < 0.01) and torsion (-0.02
      degrees /cm/g, p < 0.01) independently of risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal
      observation demonstrates that LV mass and worsening risk factors are fundamental
      determinants of reduced regional myocardial shortening over 10 years. Increased
      torsion of the myocardial wall is seen with progressive concentric remodeling and
      may explain why systolic function is maintained with aging.

PMID- 27639762
TI  - Deeper Into Cardiac Amyloid: Potential for Improved Outcomes.

PMID- 27639763
TI  - Asymptomatic Severe Aortic Stenosis in the Elderly.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the natural history and optimal timing of
      surgery in elderly patients with severe asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS).
      BACKGROUND: AS is increasingly diagnosed in an aging population, and large
      numbers of elderly patients are undergoing aortic valve procedures. However, the
      average age of patients represented in most natural history studies on AS is
      between 60 and 70 years. METHODS: A total of 103 consecutive patients >70 years
      of age (51 female; mean age 77 +/- 5 years) with asymptomatic severe AS (peak
      aortic jet velocity [AV-Vel] 4.7 +/- 0.6 m/s) were prospectively followed.
      RESULTS: During follow-up, 91 events occurred, including an indication for aortic
      valve replacement in 82 patients and cardiac deaths in 9, respectively. Event
      free survival was 73%, 43%, 23%, and 16% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively.
      Physical mobility was impaired in 29% of the patients, and symptom onset was
      severe (New York Heart Association functional class >=III) in 43% of those who
      developed symptoms. Patients with AV-Vel >=5.0 m/s had event-free survival rates
      of 21% and 6% at 2 and 4 years, respectively, compared with 57% and 23% for
      patients with AV-Vel <5.0 m/s (p < 0.001). Seventy-one patients underwent aortic
      valve replacement, and post-operative survival was 89% and 77% after 1 and 3
      years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In elderly patients with severe but
      asymptomatic AS, mild symptoms may be difficult to detect, particularly when
      mobility is impaired and severe symptom onset is common, warranting close
      clinical follow-up. Furthermore, a very high event rate can be expected, and
      cardiac deaths are not infrequent. Thus, elective aortic valve procedures may be
      considered in selected elderly patients at low procedural risk.

PMID- 27639765
TI  - Should We Reappraise Surgical Indications in Asymptomatic Severe High-Gradient
      Aortic Stenosis?

PMID- 27639764
TI  - Prognosis of Light Chain Amyloidosis With Preserved LVEF: Added Value of 2D
      Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography to the Current Prognostic Staging System.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated whether 2-dimensional speckle-tracking
      echocardiography (2D-STE) has incremental value for prognosis over traditional
      clinical, echocardiographic, and serological markers-with main focus on the
      current prognostic staging system-in light-chain (AL) amyloidosis patients with
      preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. BACKGROUND: Cardiac amyloidosis
      (CA) is the major determinant of outcome in AL amyloidosis. The current
      prognostic staging system is based primarily on serum levels of cardiac troponin
      T (cTnT), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and free light
      chain differential (FLC-diff). METHODS: Consecutive patients with biopsy-proven
      AL amyloidosis and left ventricular ejection fraction >=55% were divided into
      group 1 with CA (n = 63) and group 2 without CA (n = 87). Global longitudinal
      strain (GLS) by 2D-STE was performed with Vivid E9 (GE Healthcare Co., Milwaukee,
      Wisconsin) and syngo Velocity Vector Imaging (VVI) software (Siemens Medical
      Solutions USA, Inc., Malvern, Pennsylvania) (GLSGE and GLSVVI, respectively).
      RESULTS: Thirty-two deaths (51%) occurred in group 1 and 13 (15%) in group 2 (p
      <= 0.001). Group 1 had thicker walls, lower early diastolic tissue Doppler
      velocity at septal mitral annulus, and greater left ventricular mass, left atrial
      volume, glomerular filtration rate, FLC-diff, cTnT, and NT-proBNP (p < 0.001).
      For the entire cohort, GLSGE >= -14.81, GLSVVI >=-15.02, cTnT, NT-proBNP, FLC
      diff, age, left ventricular wall thickness, early diastolic tissue Doppler
      velocity at septal mitral annulus, diastolic dysfunction grade, glomerular
      filtration rate, deceleration time, and left atrial volume were univariate
      predictors of death. In a multivariate Cox model, GLSGE >=-14.81 (hazard ratio
      [HR]: 2.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07 to 7.13; p = 0.03), FLC-diff, NT
      proBNP, and age were independent predictors of survival. There was also a strong
      trend for GLSVVI >=-15.02 (HR: 2.44; 95% CI: 0.98 to 6.33; p = 0.055). Using a
      nested logistic regression model, GLSGE (p = 0.03) and GLSVVI (p = 0.05) provided
      incremental prognostic value over cTnT, NT-proBNP, and FLC-diff. For survival
      analysis limited to group 2 (non-CA), GLSGE and GLSVVI both predicted all-cause
      mortality (GLSGE HR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.47 [p = 0.02]; GLSVVI HR: 1.22; 95%
      CI: 1.01 to 1.49 [p = 0.04], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: 2D-STE predicted outcome
      and provided incremental prognostic information over the current prognostic
      staging system, especially in the group without CA.

PMID- 27639766
TI  - Screening CT Angiography in Asymptomatic Diabetes Mellitus?

PMID- 27639768
TI  - Identification of Circulating MiR-25 as a Potential Biomarker for Pancreatic
      Cancer Diagnosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify novel microRNAs for potential
      use in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (PaC). METHODS: A total of 1063 serum
      samples from 303 patients with PaC were collected, and the expression level of
      miR-25 was measured using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: We found
      that miR-25 had significant diagnostic value for the differential diagnosis of
      PaC in normal controls with an AUC (the area under the ROC curve) of 0.915 (95%
      CI: 0.893-0.937) that was significantly higher compared with an AUC of 0.725 for
      serum tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and an AUC of 0.844 for CA19-9.
      CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that serum miR-25 has strong potential as a novel
      biomarker for the early detection of PaC.

PMID- 27639767
TI  - 18F-FDG-PET/CTA of Prosthetic Cardiac Valves and Valve-Tube Grafts: Infective
      Versus Inflammatory Patterns.

PMID- 27639770
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Case 5].

PMID- 27639769
TI  - Nationwide Evaluation of Congenital Hypothyroidism Screening during Neonatal
      Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid hormone concentrations may deviate from normal values during
      critical illness. This condition is known as nonthyroidal illness syndrome
      (NTIS), and it can influence the results of screening for congenital
      hypothyroidism (CH) during neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
      OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of aberrant CH screening results in ECMO
      treated neonates, to identify possible determinants, and to follow up patients
      with abnormal thyroid hormone concentrations. METHODS: In this retrospective
      cohort study, we included 168 ECMO-treated neonates admitted from 2004 to 2014
      and screened by protocol and divided them into the following 3 groups: group 1
      (screened during ECMO, n = 107), group 2 (screened shortly before ECMO, n = 26),
      and group 3 (screened shortly after ECMO, n = 35). RESULTS: CH screening results
      were aberrant in 67.3% (72/107) of the neonates screened during ECMO, in 73.1%
      (19/26) of the neonates screened before ECMO, and in 31.4% (11/35) of the
      neonates screened after ECMO (p < 0.001). Of the neonates with an aberrant
      screening result, all but 2 (i.e. 98%) had a low thyroxine concentration with a
      normal thyrotropin concentration at screening, as is seen in NTIS. None was
      diagnosed with CH. Mortality did not significantly differ between neonates with
      an aberrant screening result (32.4%) and neonates with a normal screening result
      (22.7%; p = 0.18). Screening before ECMO (OR 5.92; 95% CI 1.93-18.20), screening
      during ECMO (OR 4.49; 95% CI 1.98-10.19), and a higher Pediatric Logistic Organ
      Dysfunction-2 score (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.04-1.66) were associated with an aberrant
      screening result. CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant CH screening results were found in most
      ECMO-treated neonates screened before or during ECMO, which is likely due to
      NTIS. Follow-up of thyroid hormone concentrations is best started after recovery
      from critical illness. Our results suggest that thyroxine therapy is not required
      during ECMO.

PMID- 27639772
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Case 7].

PMID- 27639771
TI  - [Backstage of a massive open online course (MOOC) on cancer diagnosis].
AB  - Massive open online course (or MOOC) is a new online and open access teaching
      approach aimed at unlimited participation and providing interactions among
      students and teaching staff. These academic courses, often still free, lead to
      the delivery of a certificate of attendance and could soon also deliver a
      diploma. The MOOC "Strategies diagnostiques des cancers" will be hosted in autumn
      2016 on the platform "France Universite Numerique" and will have two levels of
      learners: students in the field of health and biology and the general public.
      This MOOC will also be integrated into the teaching program of medical students
      of Paris Diderot University and Paris 13 University. The educational objective of
      this MOOC is to convey to all participants an overview of the diagnostic steps of
      cancers and of the various medical specialties involved in this diagnosis. The
      second week of the MOOC, entitled "tumor samples, macroscopic and microscopic
      analysis", presents the pathology specialty with the technical treatment of
      tissue or cell samples and the basic elements of the tissue section analysis to
      get a diagnosis of benign or malignant tumor. After this MOOC, it is planned to
      assess the impact of this new modality of teaching the pathology specialty or
      pathology, especially by the general public.

PMID- 27639773
TI  - [A case of urothelial carcinoma with trophoblastic differentiation and review of
      the literature].
AB  - We report the case of a 43-year-old woman, who was admitted for intense pelvic
      pains. Biological investigations showed an increase of beta-HCG level. The
      abdomino-pelvic computed tomography revealed a voluminous mass infiltrating the
      bladder. A transurethral resection was performed. The histopathological
      examination evidenced an invasion of the bladder by a massive carcinomatous
      proliferation composed of clear epithelial cells with in some places
      syncytiotrophoblastic cells and rarely cytotrophoblastic cells.
      Immunohistochemical analyses revealed a staining of GATA-3 by the two components,
      an expression of p63 by the clear cell urothelial component and the
      immunoreactivity of beta-HCG by the trophoblastic component. Ki-67 labeling index
      was very high. The diagnosis of mixt urothelial carcinoma with clear cells and
      trophoblastic differentiation was proposed. This is a rare difficult
      histopathological diagnosis which should be known by pathologists. It is
      correlated to a poor clinical outcome with a high tendency to lymph node or
      visceral metastases.

PMID- 27639774
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Case 2].

PMID- 27639775
TI  - Chronic jet lag impairs startle-induced locomotion in Drosophila.
AB  - Endogenous circadian clocks with ~24-h periodicity are found in most organisms
      from cyanobacteria to humans. Daylight synchronizes these clocks to solar time.
      In humans, shift-work and jet lag perturb clock synchronization, and such
      perturbations, when repeated or chronic, are strongly suspected to be detrimental
      to healthspan. Here we investigated locomotor aging and longevity in Drosophila
      melanogaster with genetically or environmentally disrupted clocks. We compared
      two mutations in period (per, a gene essential for circadian rhythmicity in
      Drosophila), after introducing them in a common reference genetic background: the
      arrhythmic per01, and perT which displays robust short 16-h rhythms. Compared to
      the wild type, both per mutants showed reduced longevity and decreased startle
      induced locomotion in aging flies, while spontaneous locomotor activity was not
      impaired. The per01 phenotypes were generally less severe than those of perT,
      suggesting that chronic jet lag is more detrimental to aging than arrhythmicity
      in Drosophila. Interestingly, the adjustment of environmental light-dark cycles
      to the endogenous rhythms of the perT mutant fully suppressed the acceleration in
      the age-related decline of startle-induced locomotion, while it accelerated this
      decline in wild-type flies. Overall, our results show that chronic jet lag
      accelerates a specific form of locomotor aging in Drosophila, and that this
      effect can be alleviated by environmental changes that ameliorate circadian
      rhythm synchronization.

PMID- 27639776
TI  - The efficacy of BCG TICE and BCG Connaught in a cohort of 2,099 patients with
      T1G3 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Potential differences in efficacy of different bacillus Calmette
      Guerin (BCG) strains are of importance for daily practice, especially in the era
      of BCG shortage. OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively compare the outcome with BCG
      Connaught and BCG TICE in a large study cohort of pT1 high-grade non-muscle
      invasive bladder cancer patients. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Individual
      patient data were collected for 2,451 patients with primary T1G3 tumors from 23
      centers who were treated with BCG for the first time between 1990 and 2011.
      OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Using Cox multivariable regression
      and adjusting for the most important prognostic factors in this nonrandomized
      comparison, BCG Connaught and TICE were compared for time to recurrence,
      progression, and the duration of cancer specific survival and overall survival.
      RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Information on the BCG strain was available for 2,099
      patients: 957 on Connaught and 1,142 on TICE. Overall, 765 (36%) patients
      received some form of maintenance BCG, 560 (59%) on Connaught and 205 (18%) on
      TICE. Without maintenance, Connaught was more effective than TICE only for the
      time to first recurrence (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.20-1.82; P<0.001).
      With maintenance, TICE was more effective than Connaught for the time to first
      recurrence (HR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.47-0.93; P = 0.019) with a trend for cancer
      specific survival (HR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.14-0.92; P = 0.033). For time to
      progression and overall survival, Connaught and TICE had a similar efficacy.
      Compared to no maintenance therapy, maintenance BCG significantly reduced the
      risk of recurrence, progression and death, both overall, and disease specific,
      for TICE, but not for Connaught. CONCLUSIONS: We found that BCG Connaught results
      in a lower recurrence rate as compared with BCG TICE when no maintenance is used.
      However, the opposite is true when maintenance is given. PATIENT SUMMARY: As
      there is currently a BCG shortage, information on the efficacy of different BCG
      strains is important. In this nonrandomized retrospective comparison in over
      2,000 patients, we found that BCG Connaught reduces the recurrence rate compared
      to BCG TICE when no maintenance is used, but the opposite is true when
      maintenance is given.

PMID- 27639778
TI  - Plasmodium Oocysts: Overlooked Targets of Mosquito Immunity.
AB  - Although the ability of mosquitoes to limit Plasmodium infection is well
      documented, many questions remain as to how malaria parasites are recognized and
      killed by the mosquito host. Recent evidence suggests that anti-Plasmodium
      immunity is multimodal, with different immune mechanisms regulating ookinete and
      oocyst survival. However, most experiments determine the number of mature
      oocysts, without considering that different immune mechanisms may target
      different developmental stages of the parasite. Complement-like proteins have
      emerged as important determinants of early immunity targeting the ookinete stage,
      yet the mechanisms by which the mosquito late-phase immune response limits oocyst
      survival are less understood. Here, we describe the known components of the
      mosquito immune system that limit oocyst development, and provide insight into
      their possible mechanisms of action.

PMID- 27639777
TI  - Pathologic response in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle
      invasive bladder cancer: Is therapeutic effect owing to chemotherapy or TURBT?
AB  - PURPOSE: We estimated the proportion of patients who received neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer whose tumors were downstaged by
      transurethral resection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified patients with cT2
      N0 urothelial carcinoma who underwent cystectomy at our institution from 2005 to
      2014-overall, 139 underwent transurethral resection without chemotherapy, and 146
      underwent transurethral resection with chemotherapy. Pathologic response was
      defined as<pT2 N0. We used a Poisson regression model to determine relative risk
      (RR) of pathologic response in nonneoadjuvant vs. neoadjuvant patients, adjusting
      for demographic and clinical covariates. This RR was used to estimate the
      response attributable to transurethral resection. RESULTS: Neoadjuvant patients
      were younger than nonneoadjuvant patients (64.4 vs. 71.4 years, P<0.01), with
      higher median body mass index (28.4 vs. 26.6kg/m2, P<0.01), lower prevalence of
      Charlson score>=3 (13.7% vs. 30.2%, P<0.01), and lower prevalence of prior non
      muscle-invasive cancer (7.5% vs. 20.9%, P<0.01). More neoadjuvant patients
      achieved response compared with nonneoadjuvant patients (62.3% vs. 20.1%, RR =
      3.10, P<0.01). Adjustment resulted in a RR of pathologic response in neoadjuvant
      vs. nonneoadjuvant patients of 2.60 (95% CI: 1.81-3.74, P<0.01). This adjusted RR
      indicates that among patients who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy and undergo
      transurethral resection, 38% (95% CI: 27%-55%) of pathologic response can be
      attributed to transurethral resection. CONCLUSIONS: We estimate that in a cohort
      of patients who receive chemotherapy and undergo transurethral resection before
      cystectomy, 38% of pathologic response can be attributed to transurethral
      resection. Understanding who responds to chemotherapy and who responds to
      transurethral resection is needed to measure the effectiveness of both
      interventions.

PMID- 27639779
TI  - Uniparental disomy of chromosome 1 unmasks recessive mutations of PPT1 in a boy
      with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 1.

PMID- 27639780
TI  - Fronto-facial advancement and bipartition in Crouzon-Pfeiffer and Apert
      syndromes: Impact of fronto-facial surgery upon orbital and airway parameters in
      FGFR2 syndromes.
AB  - A major concern in FGFR2 craniofaciosynostosis is oculo-orbital disproportion,
      such that orbital malformation provides poor accommodation and support for the
      orbital contents and peri-orbita, leading to insufficient eyelid closure, corneal
      exposure and eventually to functional visual impairment. Fronto-facial monobloc
      osteotomy followed by distraction osteogenesis aims to correct midfacial growth
      deficiencies in Crouzon-Pfeiffer syndrome patients. Fronto-facial bipartition
      osteotomy followed by distraction is a procedure of choice in Apert syndrome
      patients. These procedures modify the shape and volume of the orbit and tend to
      correct oculo-orbital disproportion. Little is known about the detailed 3D shape
      of the orbital phenotype in CPS and AS, and about how this is modified by fronto
      facial surgery. Twenty-eight patients with CMS, 13 patients with AS and 40
      control patients were included. CT scans were performed before and after fronto
      facial surgery. Late post-operative scans were available for the Crouzon-Pfeiffer
      syndrome group. Orbital morphology was investigated using conventional three
      dimensional cephalometry and shape analysis after mesh-based segmentation of the
      orbital contents. We characterized the 3D morphology of CPS and AS orbits and
      showed how orbital shape is modified by surgery. We showed that monobloc
      distraction in CPS and bipartition-distraction in AS specifically address the
      morphological characteristics of the two syndromes.

PMID- 27639781
TI  - Edaphic factors controlling the distribution of inland halophytes in an ephemeral
      salt lake "Sabkha ecosystem" at North African semi-arid lands.
AB  - This study aims to characterize soil properties and to investigate how these
      parameters, including soil salinity, are related to zonation and distributional
      patterns of halophytic plants occurring at edges of the Djendli Sabkha
      (northeastern Algeria). Soil samples were collected from four stations at Sabkha
      edges with seven samples for each station. Physicochemical soil parameters were
      analysed in each vegetation belt of halophytes. Relationships between soil traits
      were tested to determine spatial variation and their effects on vegetation cover
      of the principal halophyte species. The influence of pedological factors on the
      distribution and establishment of halophytes was considered using a redundancy
      analysis (RDA) and generalized linear models. Positive correlations were found
      between organic matter, carbon and nitrogen which were negatively correlated with
      electrical conductivity (EC), pH, gypsum, Na+ and Cl- concentrations. Sharp
      limits were found between halophyte communities even though there is a gradual
      change in the physicochemical environment along the gradient centre-to-edge of
      the Sabkha. RDA showed that edaphic variables that best explained the data were
      EC, pH, organic matter (OM), carbon and nitrogen contents, Na+ and Cl-
      concentrations. Sarcocornia fruticosa grew under higher soil salinity (EC=7.2
      13.8dS/m) compared to Suaeda fruticosa and Suaeda vermiculata that afford
      moderate soil salinity, than Atriplex halimus established in soils with low EC
      values (5.5-7.3dS/m) but with high values of OM, carbon and nitrogen contents and
      low values of Na+, Cl- and pH. Sarcocornia fruticosa grew in soils characterized
      with high pH, Na+, Cl- values but relatively low in OM, carbon and nitrogen
      contents.

PMID- 27639782
TI  - The grain storage of wet-deposited caesium and strontium by spring wheat - A
      modelling study based on a field experiment.
AB  - The aims of this study were to extend the Tracey model in order to quantify and
      to analyse spring wheat's grain storage dynamics of wet-deposited radionuclides.
      Tracey, a dynamic model of trace element cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, was
      extended with descriptions of wet-deposition, interception, foliar uptake and
      radioactive decay. Radionuclide fluxes were set proportional to corresponding
      water or carbon fluxes, simulated with CoupModel. The extended Tracey was
      calibrated against experimental data, where 134Cs and 85Sr were deposited on
      spring wheat at six growth stages in 2010 and 2011. Sensitivities of grain
      storage to wheat's and radionuclide properties were assessed, using the Eikos
      software, by 1000 Monte Carlo simulations for each of the 48 scenarios
      (combination of 2 radionuclides, 1 foliar uptake, 2 root uptake approaches, 6
      deposition treatments and 2years). Simulations were accepted if simulated grain
      storage values were within 95% confidence intervals (CI) of measurements. We
      found that 15% of 134Cs and 85Sr simulations for 2011, and 6% of the 2010
      simulations met the CI-criterion. Foliar uptake accounted for 99% and 90% of
      total plant uptake of 134Cs and 85Sr, respectively. Mean simulated grain storage
      at harvest increased with lateness of deposition, as the stored proportion of
      radionuclide deposited was 0.02% when deposition was before flowering, 2% between
      flowering and ripening, and 5% (2010) or 10% (2011, late harvest) after ripening,
      respectively. Similarly, the property that governed grain storage depended on the
      growth stage at time of deposition; stem and leaf fixation rates (deposition
      before flowering), grain fixation rates (between flowering and ripening) and
      grains' interception capacity (after ripening). We conclude that grains'
      interception capacities can be used to predict grain storage of radionuclides
      deposited in the riskiest period, i.e. close to harvest.

PMID- 27639783
TI  - Nitration of pollen aeroallergens by nitrate ion in conditions simulating the
      liquid water phase of atmospheric particles.
AB  - Pollen aeroallergens are present in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) where
      they can be found in coarse biological particles such as pollen grains
      (aerodynamic diameter dae>10MUm), as well as fragments in the finest respirable
      particles (PM2.5; dae<2.5MUm). Nitration of tyrosine residues in pollen
      allergenic proteins can occur in polluted air, and inhalation and deposition of
      these nitrated proteins in the human respiratory tract may lead to adverse health
      effects by enhancing the allergic response in population. Previous studies
      investigated protein nitration by atmospheric gaseous pollutants such as nitrogen
      dioxide and ozone. In this work we report, for the first time, a study on protein
      nitration by nitrate ion in aqueous solution, at nitrate concentrations and pH
      conditions simulating those occurring in the atmospheric aerosol liquid water
      phase. Experiments have been carried out on the Bovine serum albumin (BSA)
      protein and the recombinant Phleum pratense allergen (Phl p 2) both in the dark
      and under UV-A irradiation (range 4-90Wm-2) to take into account thermal and/or
      photochemical nitration processes. For the latter protein, modifications in the
      allergic response after treatment with nitrate solutions have been evaluated by
      immunoblot analyses using sera from grass-allergic patients. Experimental results
      in bulk solutions showed that protein nitration in the dark occurs only in dilute
      nitrate solutions and under very acidic conditions (pH<3 for BSA; pH<2.2 for Phl
      p 2), while nitration is always observed (at pH0.5-5) under UV-A irradiation,
      both in dilute and concentrated nitrate solutions, being significantly enhanced
      at the lowest pH values. In some cases, protein nitration resulted in an increase
      of the allergic response.

PMID- 27639785
TI  - A Cluster Randomized Trial of a Personalized Multi-Condition Risk Assessment in
      Primary Care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Personal risk for multiple conditions should be assessed in primary
      care. This study evaluated whether collection of risk factors to generate
      electronic health record (EHR)-linked health risk appraisal (HRA) for coronary
      heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer was associated with
      improved patient-provider communication, risk assessment, and plans for breast
      cancer screening. METHODS: This pragmatic trial recruited adults with upcoming
      visits to 11 primary care practices during 2013-2014 (N=3,703). Pre-visit,
      intervention patients completed a risk factor and perception assessment and
      received an HRA; coded risk factor data were sent to the EHR. Post-visit,
      intervention patients reported risk perception. Pre-visit, control patients only
      completed the risk perception assessment; post-visit they also completed the risk
      factor assessment and received the HRA. No data were sent to the EHR for
      controls. Accuracy/improvement of self-perceived risk was assessed by comparing
      self-perceived to calculated risk. RESULTS: The intervention was associated with
      improvement of patient-provider communication of changes to improve health (78.5%
      vs 74.1%, AOR=1.67, 99% CI=1.07, 2.60). There was a similar trend for discussion
      of risk (54.1% vs 45.5%, AOR=1.34, 95% CI=0.97, 1.85). The intervention was
      associated with greater improvement in accuracy of self-perceived risk for
      diabetes (16.0% vs 12.6%, p=0.006) and colorectal cancer (27.9% vs 17.2%,
      p<0.001) with a similar trend for coronary heart disease and breast cancer. There
      were no changes in plans for breast cancer screening. CONCLUSIONS: Patient
      reported risk factors and EHR-linked multi-condition HRAs in primary care can
      modestly improve communication and promote accuracy of self-perceived risk.

PMID- 27639784
TI  - Unusual case of paediatric septic arthritis of the lumbar facet joints due to
      Kingella kingae.
AB  - A 32-month-old boy presented with febrile limping that had developed over 6days,
      associated with right lumbosacral inflammatory swelling. Magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) showed joint effusion of the right L5-S1 zygapophyseal joint,
      complicated by destructive osteomyelitis of the L5 articular process and
      paraspinal abscess. Surgery was decided to evacuate the fluid accumulation and
      rule out differential diagnoses. The diagnosis of septic arthritis of the facet
      joint was confirmed intraoperatively; real-time quantitative PCR analysis
      identified Kingella kingae. This is the first substantiated paediatric case of
      zygapophyseal joint septic arthritis due to K. kingae. K. kingae is the most
      common pathogen responsible for invasive osteoarticular infection in children
      under 4years of age. Since empiric antibiotics are effective in early stages,
      physicians should consider the possibility of spinal infections due to K. kingae
      when a limping child under 4years of age presents with a fever.

PMID- 27639786
TI  - Use of Immunization Information Systems in Primary Care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Immunization information systems (IISs) are highly effective for
      increasing vaccination rates but information about how primary care physicians
      use them is limited. METHODS: Pediatricians, family physicians (FPs), and general
      internists (GIMs) were surveyed by e-mail and mail from January 2015 to April
      2015 from all states with an existing IIS. Providers were recruited to be
      representative of national provider organization memberships. Multivariable log
      binomial regression examined factors associated with IIS use (October 2015-April
      2016). RESULTS: Response rates among pediatricians, FPs, and GIMs, respectively,
      were 75% (325/435), 68% (310/459), and 63% (272/431). A proportion of
      pediatricians (5%), FPs (14%), and GIMs (48%) did not know there was a
      state/local IIS; 81%, 72%, and 27% reported using an IIS (p<0.0001). Among those
      who used IISs, 64% of pediatricians, 61% of FPs, and 22% of GIMs thought the IIS
      could tell them a patient's immunization needs; 22%, 29%, and 51% did not know.
      The most frequently reported major barriers to use included the IIS not updating
      the electronic medical record (29%, 28%, 35%) and lack of ability to submit data
      electronically (22%, 27%, 31%). Factors associated with lower IIS use included FP
      (adjusted risk ratio=0.85; 95% CI=0.75, 0.97) or GIM (adjusted risk ratio=0.33;
      95% CI=0.25, 0.42) versus pediatric specialty and older versus younger provider
      age (adjusted risk ratio=0.96; 95 CI%=0.94, 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: There are
      substantial gaps in knowledge of IIS capabilities, especially among GIMs;
      barriers to interoperability between IISs and electronic medical records affect
      all specialties. Closing these gaps may increase use of proven IIS functions
      including decision support and reminder/recall.

PMID- 27639788
TI  - Use of Age and Medical Comorbidity to Assess Long-term Other-cause Mortality Risk
      in a Cohort of Men Undergoing Prostate Biopsy at an Academic Medical Center.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess life expectancy and biopsy outcomes in men undergoing
      prostate biopsy at an academic medical center. METHODS: We analyzed men who
      underwent prostate biopsy at our medical center between July 2012 and June 2014.
      Long-term other-cause mortality risk was determined using survival tables.
      Indications for biopsy and biopsy outcomes were assessed, and compared among men
      with varying mortality risks. RESULTS: A total of 417 men underwent prostate
      biopsy, in whom 14-year other-cause mortality risk ranged from 9% to 74%. One
      hundred ninety-three men (46.3%) were considered low-mortality risk (<40% risk of
      14-year mortality), 131 (31.4%) intermediate risk (41%-55% 14-year mortality),
      and 93 (22.3%) high risk (>55% 14-year mortality). Of the 417 patients who
      underwent biopsy, 149 (35.7%) were found to have prostate cancer. There was no
      significant difference in the rate of positive biopsies (P = .72), distribution
      of Gleason scores (P = .60), or percentage of positive biopsy cores (P = .74)
      between mortality risk groups. However, by UCSF Cancer of the Prostate Risk
      Assessment score, there was significant trend toward higher-risk prostate cancer
      in men with intermediate and high-mortality risk (P = .04). CONCLUSION: In this
      analysis, a large number of men with limited life expectancies underwent prostate
      biopsy. The majority of these men had negative biopsies or low-risk cancers,
      suggesting that they were unlikely to benefit from biopsy. To avoid potentially
      unnecessary prostate biopsies, the practitioner must give serious consideration
      to a patient's age and medical comorbidities before making a recommendation as to
      whether biopsy should be performed.

PMID- 27639789
TI  - Author Reply.

PMID- 27639787
TI  - A Most Odd Ratio:: Interpreting and Describing Odds Ratios.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The OR is one of the most commonly used measures of association in
      preventive medicine, and yet it is unintuitive and easily misinterpreted by
      journal authors and readers. METHODS: This article describes correct
      interpretations of ORs, explains how ORs are different from risk ratios (RRs),
      and notes potential supplements and alternatives to the presentation of ORs that
      may help readers avoid confusion about the strength of associations. RESULTS: ORs
      are often interpreted as though they have the same meaning as RRs (i.e., ratios
      of probabilities rather than ratios of odds), an interpretation that is incorrect
      in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Without knowing the base rate of
      the outcome event in such analyses, it is impossible to evaluate the size of the
      absolute or relative change in risk associated with an OR, and misinterpreting
      the OR as an RR leads to the overestimation of the effect size when the outcome
      event is common rather than rare in the study sample. In case-control analyses,
      whether an OR can be interpreted as an RR depends on how the controls were
      selected. CONCLUSIONS: Education, peer reviewer vigilance, and journal reporting
      standards concerning ORs may improve the clarity and accuracy with which this
      common measure of association is described and understood in preventive medicine
      and public health research.

PMID- 27639790
TI  - A Fatal Case of Massive Incarcerated Genital Prolapse.
AB  - Genital prolapse is usually seen as a benign condition warranting treatment only
      when bothersome. We report the case of a 77-year-old woman who presented with
      massive incarcerated pelvic organ prolapse, which led to bladder necrosis,
      cystectomy with bilateral cutaneous ureterostomy, and death from medical
      complications 5 weeks after the initial presentation. This first case report of
      death from bladder necrosis after incarcerated genital prolapse could warrant
      treatment of massive prolapse even when apparently well tolerated.

PMID- 27639791
TI  - Early-stage Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Impairs Erectile Function and Neurite
      Outgrowth From the Major Pelvic Ganglion and Downregulates the Gene Expression of
      Neurotrophic Factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess neurite sprouting and gene expression of neurotrophic
      factors, nerve markers, and apoptosis in the major pelvic ganglia (MPGs) of rats
      with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as it relates to erectile function.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male rats were fed high-fat diet for 2 weeks followed by 2
      low-dose injections of streptozotocin (20 mg/kg). In 3 groups (controls, 3-week,
      or 5-week T2DM), erectile function was measured by ratios of intracavernosal
      pressure to mean arterial pressure after cavernous nerve stimulation. MPGs were
      harvested, and gene expressions of neurotrophic factor 3, nerve growth factor,
      glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor,
      caspase-1, -3, -9, beta tubulin type III, and neuronal nitric oxide synthase were
      quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Additional MPGs were
      harvested and cultured in Matrigel. Neurite outgrowth from the MPG was evaluated
      at 48 hours after culture. RESULTS: Erectile function was significantly decreased
      in all rats with T2DM. Gene expressions of neurotrophic factor 3, nerve growth
      factor, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, and brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor were slightly lower at 3 weeks and significantly lower at 5
      weeks after T2DM induction. Gene expression of apoptotic markers caspase-1, -3, 
      9, and neuronal markers beta tubulin type III and neuronal nitric oxide synthase
      remained unchanged. Rats with T2DM had shorter neurite length and less neurite
      sprouting than did the control MPG. CONCLUSION: Early-stage T2DM downregulates
      neurotrophic factors, induces erectile dysfunction, and impairs MPG neurite
      outgrowth, suggesting that erectile dysfunction may be prevented by supplementing
      neurotrophic factors at early-stage T2DM.

PMID- 27639793
TI  - Single-stage Female Epispadias Repair by Combined Infrasymphyseal Bladder Neck
      Plication and Urethrogenitoplasty: A Novel Technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of infrasymphyseal bladder neck plication and
      suspension from the pubic bone along with urethrogenitoplasty as a single-stage
      procedure for treating isolated cases of female epispadias. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Six patients with female epispadias having grade 3 urinary incontinence
      were treated through bladder neck plication and suspension from the pubic bone
      along with urethrogenitoplasty from December 2013 to March 2016. RESULTS: Of the
      6 patients with a mean age of 5.91 years (3-10 years) and a mean postoperative
      follow-up of 13.17 months (4-29 months), 5 patients stopped wearing diapers and
      were fully continent with a dry period of more than 3 hours from the first week
      of catheter removal. One patient experienced urine leakage while playing or
      crying in the initial postoperative period. However, this patient became
      continent with a dry period of more than 3 hours after 4 months of follow-up. All
      patients had an excellent cosmetic outcome without any considerable postoperative
      complications. All patients were voiding well without significant postvoid
      residual urine. CONCLUSION: The present technique is simple, safe, and effective
      for achieving urinary continence in patients with female epispadias.

PMID- 27639792
TI  - Paratesticular Sarcoma: Typical Presentation, Imaging Features, and Clinical
      Challenges.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the major imaging features, together with clinical data,
      of paratesticular sarcomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was
      performed of available imaging and clinical data of 77 consecutive cases of
      paratesticular sarcoma referred to the soft tissue sarcoma center at the Royal
      Marsden hospital between January 2006 and January 2015. RESULTS: Of the total
      cases, 87% had been referred postoperatively, 43% of which had been imaged
      preoperatively and 24% of which required re-resection due to incomplete initial
      excision. On imaging, abnormal fat was present in 73% of paratesticular
      liposarcomas, with solid or enhancing components indicating high-grade tumors.
      Leiomyosarcomas and rhabdomyosarcomas were all purely solid masses. CONCLUSION:
      Paratesticular sarcomas are rare, and lack of awareness may compromise treatment
      and outcome. They may be mistaken for common clinical problems such as inguinal
      hernias and epididymal cysts. Surgery for these presumed diagnoses may result in
      inadequate clearance and an increased risk of recurrence. A low threshold for
      imaging atypical paratesticular masses is needed, as this may better inform
      management.

PMID- 27639794
TI  - Surgical and Hemodynamic Outcomes in Pheochromocytoma Surgery: A Prospective
      Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the surgical complications of
      pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma surgery and assess perioperative hemodynamic
      outcomes in terms of risk for intraoperative vasodilator use and risk for
      postoperative vasopressor requirements in these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      This was an institutional review board-approved prospective observational study
      of patients undergoing pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma surgery. Operative and
      recovery data for all patients undergoing open, laparoscopic, and robotic surgery
      were analyzed for surgical complications on the modified Clavien-Dindo
      classification. The need for intraoperative vasodilators for pressure spikes of
      greater than 180 mmHg and vasopressor support after surgery was recorded. Factors
      predictive of these parameters were assessed. RESULTS: Forty patients underwent
      45 procedures including five bilateral adrenalectomies over the 2-year study
      period. This included 40 adrenalectomies and 5 paraganglioma excisions. Twenty
      nine patients had minimally invasive surgery (25 laparoscopic, 4 robot-assisted)
      and 11 had open surgery. Sixty percent of patients required intraoperative
      vasodilators for hypertensive crisis, and this was significantly related to the
      size of the tumor (P = .02). The need for postoperative vasopressors was related
      to the number of intraoperative pressure spikes (P = .007). Five percent of the
      patients suffered a complication greater than grade 2 on the Clavien-Dindo
      classification. CONCLUSION: Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma surgeries are
      associated with minimal postoperative morbidity. Larger tumors may be associated
      with greater intraoperative pressure surges, but this does not impact patient
      outcomes.

PMID- 27639795
TI  - Second-look Flexible Nephroscopy Combined With Holmium: Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet
      Laser Lithotripsy Under Local Anesthesia: A Prospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present a prospectively studied series of patients who underwent
      second-look flexible nephroscopy combined with holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet
      (Ho:YAG) laser lithotripsy under local anesthesia for residual stone removal
      after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty
      consecutive eligible patients who underwent a PCNL procedure in the previous 48
      96 hours were included. The inclusion criteria were the following: (1) 1 or 2
      residual stones 0.8-1.5 cm in diameter and (2) age >18 years. Approximately 15 mL
      of a 2% solution of lidocaine hydrochloride was injected through the nephrostomy
      tube, which was then clamped for 15 minutes. Flexible nephroscopy was combined
      with Ho:YAG laser lithotripsy set at 0.8 Joules and 8 Hz. Patients were asked to
      rate their pain intensity using the numeric rating scale (NRS). RESULTS: There
      were 14 (46.7%) men and 16 (53.3%) women in the study, with a mean age of 45.2 +/
      17.5 years. Twenty-one (70%) patients had 1 stone and 9 (30%) had 2 stones
      needing fragmentation. Twenty-eight (93.3%) patients successfully underwent the
      procedure under local anesthesia. The mean NRS value was 1.39 +/- 1.08 (range 0
      5). For the entire group, there was a statistically significant difference
      between those patients with 1 stone vs 2 stones needing fragmentation (NRS scores
      of 1.1 +/- 0.77 vs 2.1 +/- 1.36, respectively, P = .033). Operative time >30
      minutes was associated with higher NRS score. The stone-free rate under local
      anesthesia was 86.7%. CONCLUSION: For patients with a minimal to moderate
      residual stone burden after PCNL, second-look flexible nephroscopy can be
      combined with Ho:YAG laser lithotripsy using only local anesthesia.

PMID- 27639797
TI  - Re: Chien et al: Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Increases the Risk of New-onset
      Hypertension: A Nationwide 6-year Follow-up Study (Urology 2016; doi:
      http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.urology.2016.07.029).

PMID- 27639796
TI  - Impaired Sleep Quality is Associated With More Significant Lower Urinary Tract
      Symptoms in Male Shift Workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between sleep quality and severity of
      lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men working nonstandard shifts, a
      population at risk of poor sleep quality. METHODS: Men who presented to a single
      andrology clinic between July and October 2014 and worked nonstandard shifts
      completed the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and responded to
      questions regarding their work habits, sleep quality, and physical or cognitive
      function. We assessed the relationship between age, sleep quality, physical or
      cognitive function, and severity of LUTS. RESULTS: A total of 228 men with a mean
      +/- standard deviation age of 41.8 +/- 5.7 (range 21-76) years reported working
      nonstandard shifts, with the majority working these shifts for more than 1 year
      (81%). Men with difficulties falling asleep reported more severe LUTS than men
      who did not have difficulty falling asleep (IPSS score 9 vs 6, P <.001). Men who
      reported difficulty staying asleep or falling back asleep after awakening also
      reported more severe LUTS (IPSS scores 6 vs 13, P = .004; 5 vs 13, P <.001,
      respectively). Men with a decreased sense of well-being or decreased physical or
      cognitive function also reported more severe LUTS (IPSS score 6 vs 9, P <.0010; 6
      vs 10, P = .016, respectively). All findings were independent of subject age.
      CONCLUSION: Men working nonstandard shifts who have difficulty falling asleep,
      staying asleep, and falling back asleep report more severe LUTS than men without
      similar sleep difficulties. Men with a decreased sense of well-being or decreased
      physical or cognitive function also report worse LUTS. These findings implicate
      sleep quality as a possible risk factor for LUTS symptom severity.

PMID- 27639798
TI  - A Novel Thermal-activated Shape Memory Penile Prosthesis: Comparative Mechanical
      Testing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare a novel nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) shape memory alloy (SMA)
      penile prosthesis of our own design with commercially available prostheses using
      a format similar to mechanical testing done at major penile prosthesis
      manufacturers. We evaluated the mechanical parameters of commercially available
      penile prostheses and used this information to guide the development of the Ni-Ti
      based physiological penile prosthesis that expands and becomes erect with a small
      amount of heat applied. METHODS: A penile prosthesis consisting of an exoskeleton
      of temperature-tuned Nitinol was designed and prototyped. Mechanical testing was
      performed in a model of penile buckling, penile lateral deviation, and original
      penile shape recovery commonly used by penile prosthesis manufacturers for
      testing. RESULTS: Our SMA penile prosthesis demonstrated useful mechanical
      characteristics, including rigidity to buckling when activated similar to an
      inflatable penile prosthesis (2.62 kgf SMA vs 1.42 kgf inflatable penile
      prosthesis vs 6.45 kgf for a malleable prosthesis). The Ni-Ti also became more
      pliable when deactivated within acceptable mechanical ranges of existing devices.
      It could be repeatedly cycled and generate a restorative force to become erect.
      CONCLUSION: An SMA-based penile prosthesis represents a promising new technology
      in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. We demonstrated that an Ni-Ti-based
      prosthesis can produce the mechanical forces necessary for producing a simulated
      erection without the need for a pump or reservoir, comparable with existing
      prostheses.

PMID- 27639799
TI  - The Open Approach to Severe Stent Encrustation: A Consecutive Case Series.
AB  - Urologists rely heavily on indwelling ureteral stents to manage urinary tract
      obstruction secondary to calculi, malignancy, stricture, congenital anomalies, or
      edematous response to operative procedures (Borboroglu and Kane, 2000). The use
      of a ureteral stent is a temporary intervention and requires removal to prevent
      potential complications. However, patient noncompliance with follow-up may lead
      to encrustation of the ureteral stent. Given the widespread use of indwelling
      ureteral stents in urologic practice, the issue of encrustation secondary to a
      retained stent is a significant clinical challenge.

PMID- 27639800
TI  - EUS-Guided Methylene Blue Injection to Facilitate Pancreatic Duct Access After
      Unsuccessful ERCP.

PMID- 27639801
TI  - An Intestinal Microbiota-Farnesoid X Receptor Axis Modulates Metabolic Disease.
AB  - The gut microbiota is associated with metabolic diseases including obesity,
      insulin resistance, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, as shown by correlative
      studies and by transplant of microbiota from obese humans and mice into germ-free
      mice. Modification of the microbiota by treatment of high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice
      with tempol or antibiotics resulted in decreased adverse metabolic phenotypes.
      This was owing to lower levels of the genera Lactobacillus and decreased bile
      salt hydrolase (BSH) activity. The decreased BSH resulted in increased levels of
      tauro-beta-muricholic acid (MCA), a substrate of BSH and a potent farnesoid X
      receptor (FXR) antagonist. Mice lacking expression of FXR in the intestine were
      resistant to HFD-induced obesity, insulin resistance, and nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease, thus confirming that intestinal FXR is involved in the
      potentiation of metabolic disease. A potent intestinal FXR antagonist, glycine
      beta-MCA (Gly-MCA), which is resistant to BSH, was developed, which, when
      administered to HFD-treated mice, mimics the effect of the altered microbiota on
      HFD-induced metabolic disease. Gly-MCA had similar effects on genetically obese
      leptin-deficient mice. The decrease in adverse metabolic phenotype by tempol,
      antibiotics, and Gly-MCA was caused by decreased serum ceramides. Mice lacking
      FXR in the intestine also have lower serum ceramide levels, and are resistant to
      HFD-induced metabolic disease, and this was reversed by injection of C16:0
      ceramide. In mouse ileum, because of the presence of endogenous FXR agonists
      produced in the liver, FXR target genes involved in ceramide synthesis are
      activated and when Gly-MCA is administered they are repressed, which likely
      accounts for the decrease in serum ceramides. These studies show that ceramides
      produced in the ileum under control of FXR influence metabolic diseases.

PMID- 27639803
TI  - Cell Culture System for Analysis of Genetic Heterogeneity Within Hepatocellular
      Carcinomas and Response to Pharmacologic Agents.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: No targeted therapies have been found to be effective against
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), possibly due to the large degree of intratumor
      heterogeneity. We performed genetic analyses of different regions of HCCs to
      evaluate levels of intratumor heterogeneity and associate alterations with
      responses to different pharmacologic agents. METHODS: We obtained samples of HCCs
      (associated with hepatitis B virus infection) from 10 patients undergoing
      curative resection, before adjuvant therapy, at hospitals in China. We collected
      4-9 spatially distinct samples from each tumor (55 regions total), performed
      histologic analyses, isolated cancer cells, and carried them low-passage culture.
      We performed whole-exome sequencing, copy-number analysis, and high-throughput
      screening of the cultured primary cancer cells. We tested responses of an
      additional 105 liver cancer cell lines to a fibroblast growth factor receptor
      (FGFR) 4 inhibitor. RESULTS: We identified a total of 3670 non-silent mutations
      (3192 missense, 94 splice-site variants, and 222 insertions or deletions) in the
      tumor samples. We observed considerable intratumor heterogeneity and branched
      evolution in all 10 tumors; the mean percentage of heterogeneous mutations in
      each tumor was 39.7% (range, 12.9%-68.5%). We found significant mutation shifts
      toward C>T and C>G substitutions in branches of phylogenetic trees among samples
      from each tumor (P < .0001). Of note, 14 of the 26 oncogenic alterations (53.8%)
      varied among subclones that mapped to different branches. Genetic alterations
      that can be targeted by existing pharmacologic agents (such as those in FGF19,
      DDR2, PDGFRA, and TOP1) were identified in intratumor subregions from 4 HCCs and
      were associated with sensitivity to these agents. However, cells from the
      remaining subregions, which did not have these alterations, were not sensitive to
      these drugs. High-throughput screening identified pharmacologic agents to which
      these cells were sensitive, however. Overexpression of FGF19 correlated with
      sensitivity of cells to an inhibitor of FGFR 4; this observation was validated in
      105 liver cancer cell lines (P = .0024). CONCLUSIONS: By analyzing genetic
      alterations in different tumor regions of 10 HCCs, we observed extensive
      intratumor heterogeneity. Our patient-derived cell line-based model, integrating
      genetic and pharmacologic data from multiregional cancer samples, provides a
      platform to elucidate how intratumor heterogeneity affects sensitivity to
      different therapeutic agents.

PMID- 27639804
TI  - Lifestyle Risk Factors for Serrated Colorectal Polyps: A Systematic Review and
      Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Certain subsets of colorectal serrated polyps (SP) have
      malignant potential. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to
      investigate the association between modifiable lifestyle factors and risk for
      SPs. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of Medline, Embase, and Web of
      Science for observational or interventional studies that contained the terms risk
      or risk factor, and serrated or hyperplastic, and polyps or adenomas, and
      colorectal (or synonymous terms), published by March 2016. Titles and abstracts
      of identified articles were independently reviewed by at least 2 reviewers.
      Adjusted relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were combined using
      random effects meta-analyses to assess the risk of SP, when possible. RESULTS: We
      identified 43 studies of SP risk associated with 7 different lifestyle factors:
      smoking, alcohol, body fatness, diet, physical activity, medication, and hormone
      replacement therapy. When we compared the highest and lowest categories of
      exposure, factors we found to significantly increase risk for SP included tobacco
      smoking (RR, 2.47; 95% CI, 2.12-2.87), alcohol intake (RR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.17
      1.52), body mass index (RR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.22-1.61), and high intake of fat or
      meat. Direct associations for smoking and alcohol, but not body fat, tended to be
      stronger for sessile serrated adenomas/polyps than hyperplastic polyps. In
      contrast, factors we found to significantly decrease risks for SP included use of
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (RR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.65-0.92) or aspirin
      (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.99), as well as high intake of folate, calcium, or
      fiber. No significant associations were detected between SP risk and physical
      activity or hormone replacement therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Several lifestyle factors,
      most notably smoking and alcohol, are associated with SP risk. These findings
      enhance our understanding of mechanisms of SP development and indicate that risk
      of serrated pathway colorectal neoplasms could be reduced with lifestyle changes.

PMID- 27639802
TI  - Fucosylation Deficiency in Mice Leads to Colitis and Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: De novo synthesis of guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-fucose, a
      substrate for fucosylglycans, requires sequential reactions mediated by GDP
      mannose 4,6-dehydratase (GMDS) and GDP-4-keto-6-deoxymannose 3,5-epimerase-4
      reductase (FX or tissue specific transplantation antigen P35B [TSTA3]). GMDS
      deletions and mutations are found in 6%-13% of colorectal cancers; these mostly
      affect the ascending and transverse colon. We investigated whether a lack of
      fucosylation consequent to loss of GDP-fucose synthesis contributes to colon
      carcinogenesis. METHODS: FX deficiency and GMDS deletion produce the same
      biochemical phenotype of GDP-fucose deficiency. We studied a mouse model of
      fucosylation deficiency (Fx-/- mice) and mice with the full-length Fx gene
      (controls). Mice were placed on standard chow or fucose-containing diet
      (equivalent to a control fucosylglycan phenotype). Colon tissues were collected
      and analyzed histologically or by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to measure
      cytokine levels; T cells also were collected and analyzed. Fecal samples were
      analyzed by 16s ribosomal RNA sequencing. Mucosal barrier function was measured
      by uptake of fluorescent dextran. We transplanted bone marrow cells from Fx-/- or
      control mice (Ly5.2) into irradiated 8-week-old Fx-/- or control mice (Ly5.1). We
      performed immunohistochemical analyses for expression of Notch and the hes family
      bHLH transcription factor (HES1) in colon tissues from mice and a panel of 60
      human colorectal cancer specimens (27 left-sided, 33 right-sided). RESULTS: Fx-/-
      mice developed colitis and serrated-like lesions. The intestinal pathology of Fx
      /- mice was reversed by addition of fucose to the diet, which restored
      fucosylation via a salvage pathway. In the absence of fucosylation, dysplasia
      appeared and progressed to adenocarcinoma in up to 40% of mice, affecting mainly
      the right colon and cecum. Notch was not activated in Fx-/- mice fed standard
      chow, leading to decreased expression of its target Hes1. Fucosylation deficiency
      altered the composition of the fecal microbiota, reduced mucosal barrier
      function, and altered epithelial proliferation marked by Ki67. Fx-/- mice
      receiving control bone marrow cells had intestinal inflammation and dysplasia,
      and reduced expression of cytokines produced by cytotoxic T cells. Human sessile
      serrated adenomas and right-sided colorectal tumors with epigenetic loss of MutL
      homolog 1 (MLH1) had lost or had lower levels of HES1 than other colorectal tumor
      types or nontumor tissues. CONCLUSIONS: In mice, fucosylation deficiency leads to
      colitis and adenocarcinoma, loss of Notch activation, and down-regulation of
      Hes1. HES1 loss correlates with the development of human right-sided colorectal
      tumors with epigenetic loss of MLH1. These findings indicate that carcinogenesis
      in a subset of colon cancer is consequent to a molecular mechanism driven by
      fucosylation deficiency and/or HES1-loss.

PMID- 27639805
TI  - Association of Proton Pump Inhibitors With Reduced Risk of Warfarin-Related
      Serious Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) might reduce the risk of serious
      warfarin-related upper gastrointestinal bleeding, but the evidence of their
      efficacy for this indication is limited. A gastroprotective effect of PPIs would
      be particularly important for patients who take warfarin with antiplatelet drugs
      or nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which further
      increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. METHODS: This retrospective
      cohort study of patients beginning warfarin treatment in Tennessee Medicaid and
      the 5% National Medicare Sample identified 97,430 new episodes of warfarin
      treatment with 75,720 person-years of follow-up. The study end points were
      hospitalizations for upper gastrointestinal bleeding potentially preventable by
      PPIs and for bleeding at other sites. RESULTS: Patients who took warfarin without
      PPI co-therapy had 119 hospitalizations for upper gastrointestinal bleeding per
      10,000 person-years of treatment. The risk decreased by 24% among patients who
      received PPI co-therapy (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.76; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.63-0.91). There was no significant reduction in the risk of
      other gastrointestinal bleeding hospitalizations (HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.94-1.22) or
      non-gastrointestinal bleeding hospitalizations (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.84-1.15) in
      this group. Among patients concurrently using antiplatelet drugs or NSAIDs, those
      without PPI co-therapy had 284 upper gastrointestinal bleeding hospitalizations
      per 10,000 person-years of warfarin treatment. The risk decreased by 45% (HR,
      0.55; 95% CI, 0.39-0.77) with PPI co-therapy. PPI co-therapy had no significant
      protective effect for warfarin patients not using antiplatelet drugs or NSAIDs
      (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.70-1.06). Findings were similar in both study populations.
      CONCLUSIONS: In an analysis of patients beginning warfarin treatment in Tennessee
      Medicaid and the 5% National Medicare Sample, PPI co-therapy was associated with
      reduced risk of warfarin-related upper gastrointestinal bleeding; the greatest
      reduction occurred in patients also taking antiplatelet drugs or NSAIDs.

PMID- 27639806
TI  - Proton Pump Inhibitors Increase Risk for Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients With
      Cirrhosis in A Population Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a serious complication of
      cirrhosis and is associated with gut dysbiosis. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs),
      frequently prescribed to patients with cirrhosis, can contribute to small-bowel
      bacterial overgrowth. We investigated whether PPI predisposes patients with
      cirrhosis to HE using a large database of patients. METHODS: We performed a case
      control study nested within a sample of Taiwan National Health Insurance
      beneficiaries (n = 1,000,000), followed up longitudinally from 1998 through 2011.
      Patients with cirrhosis and an occurrence of HE (n = 1166) were selected as the
      case cohort and matched to patients without HE (1:1, controls) for sex,
      enrollment time, end point time, follow-up period, and advanced cirrhosis.
      Information on prescribed drugs, drug dosage, supply days, and numbers of
      dispensed pills was extracted from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database.
      PPI use was defined as more than 30 cumulative defined daily doses (cDDDs); PPI
      nonuse was defined as 30 cDDDs or fewer. We performed logistic regression
      analyses to estimate the association between PPI use and the occurrence of HE.
      RESULTS: Among patients with cirrhosis and an occurrence of HE, 38% (n = 445) had
      a history of PPI use before HE occurrence. We observed a relationship between
      dose of PPI taken and HE risk. The confounder-adjusted odd ratios were 1.41 (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.84), 1.51 (95% CI, 1.11-2.06), and 3.01 (95% CI,
      1.78-5.10) for patients with 30-120 cDDDs, 120-365 cDDDs, and more than 365
      cDDDs, respectively, compared with PPI nonusers. All categories of PPIs, except
      rabeprazole, were associated with an increased risk of HE. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      an analysis of data from Taiwan National Health Insurance beneficiaries, we found
      that use of PPIs in patients with cirrhosis increases the risk for HE; risk
      increases with dose. It therefore is important for health care providers to
      carefully consider prolonged PPI use by patients with cirrhosis.

PMID- 27639808
TI  - Wear, strength, modulus and hardness of CAD/CAM restorative materials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To measure the mechanical properties of several CAD/CAM materials,
      including lithium disilicate (e.max CAD), lithium silicate/zirconia (Celtra Duo),
      3 resin composites (Cerasmart, Lava Ultimate, Paradigm MZ100), and a polymer
      infiltrated ceramic (Enamic). METHODS: CAD/CAM blocks were sectioned into
      2.5mm*2.5mm*16mm bars for flexural strength and elastic modulus testing and 4mm
      thick blocks for hardness and wear testing. E.max CAD and half the Celtra Duo
      specimens were treated in a furnace. Flexural strength specimens (n=10) were
      tested in a three-point bending fixture. Vickers microhardness (n=2, 5 readings
      per specimen) was measured with a 1kg load and 15s dwell time. The CAD/CAM
      materials as well as labial surfaces of human incisors were mounted in the UAB
      wear device. Cusps of human premolars were mounted as antagonists. Specimens were
      tested for 400,000 cycles at 20N force, 2mm sliding distance, 1Hz frequency, 24
      degrees C, and 33% glycerin lubrication. Volumetric wear and opposing enamel wear
      were measured with non-contact profilometry. Data were analyzed with 1-way ANOVA
      and Tukey post-hoc analysis (alpha=0.05). Specimens were observed with SEM.
      RESULTS: Properties were different for each material (p<0.01). E.max CAD and
      Celtra Duo were generally stronger, stiffer, and harder than the other materials.
      E.max CAD, Celtra Duo, Enamic, and enamel demonstrated signs of abrasive wear,
      whereas Cerasmart, Lava Ultimate, Paradigm MZ100 demonstrated signs of fatigue.
      SIGNIFICANCE: Resin composite and resin infiltrated ceramic materials have
      demonstrated adequate wear resistance for load bearing restorations, however,
      they will require at least similar material thickness as lithium disilicate
      restorations due to their strength.

PMID- 27639807
TI  - Rectal Delivery of a DNAzyme That Specifically Blocks the Transcription Factor
      GATA3 and Reduces Colitis in Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: GATA3 is a transcription factor that regulates T-cell
      production of cytokines. We investigated the role of GATA3 in development of
      colitis in mice. METHODS: We performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction and
      immunofluorescence analyses of colon tissues from patients with Crohn's disease
      (n = 61) or ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 74) or from patients without inflammatory
      bowel diseases (n = 22), to measure levels of GATA3. Colitis was induced by
      administration of oxazolone or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid to control
      mice, mice with T-cell-specific deletion of GATA3, and mice with deletion of
      tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) 1 and TNFR2 (TNFR double knockouts); some
      mice were given a GATA3-specific DNAzyme (hgd40) or a control DNAzyme via
      intrarectal administration, or systemic injections of an antibody to TNF before
      or during sensitization and challenge phase of colitis induction. Colon tissues
      were collected and immunofluorescence and histochemical analyses were performed.
      Lamina propria mononuclear cells and T cells were isolated and analyzed by flow
      cytometry or cytokine assays. Colonic distribution of labeled DNAzyme and
      inflammation were monitored by in vivo imaging (endoscopy) of mice. RESULTS:
      Levels of GATA3 messenger RNA were higher in colon tissues from patients with UC,
      but not ileal Crohn's disease, than control tissues; levels of GATA3 correlated
      with levels of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL] 9, IL17A, IL6, IL5, IL4,
      IL13, and TNF). We observed increased expression of GATA3 by lamina propria T
      cells from mice with colitis compared with controls. Mice with T-cell-specific
      deletion of GATA3 did not develop colitis and their colonic tissues did not
      produce inflammatory cytokines (IL6, IL9, or IL13). The DNAzyme hgd40 inhibited
      expression of GATA3 messenger RNA by unstimulated and stimulated T cells, and
      distributed throughout the inflamed colons of mice with colitis. Colon tissues
      from mice given hgd40 had reduced expression of GATA3 messenger RNA, compared
      with mice given a control DNAzyme. Mice given hgd40 did not develop colitis after
      administration of oxazolone or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid; lamina propria
      cells from these mice expressed lower levels of IL6, IL9, and IL13 than cells
      from mice given the control DNAzyme. Mini-endoscopic images revealed that hgd40
      and anti-TNF reduced colon inflammation over 3 days; hgd40 reduced colitis in
      TNFR double-knockout mice. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of GATA3 are increased in patients
      with UC and correlate with production of inflammatory cytokines in mice and
      humans. A DNAzyme that prevents expression of GATA3 reduces colitis in mice,
      independently of TNF, and reduces levels of cytokines in the colon. This DNAzyme
      might be developed for treatment of patients with UC.

PMID- 27639809
TI  - Acid modulation of tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channels in large-sized trigeminal
      ganglion neurons.
AB  - Voltage-gated Na+ channels in primary afferent neurons can be divided into
      tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) and tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) Na+ channels.
      Although previous studies have shown the acid modulation of TTX-R Na+ channels,
      the effect of acidic pH on tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) Na+ channels is still
      unknown. Here we report the effect of acidic pH on TTX-S Na+ channels expressed
      in large-sized trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons using a whole-cell patch clamp
      technique. The application of acidic extracellular solution decreased the peak
      amplitude of TTX-S currents (INa) in a pH-dependent manner, but weak acid (>=pH
      6.0) had no inhibitory effect on TTX-S INa. Acidic pH (pH 6.0) shifted both the
      activation and steady-state fast inactivation relationships of TTX-S Na+ channels
      toward depolarized potentials. However, acidic pH (pH 6.0) had no effect on use
      dependent inhibition in response to high-frequency stimuli, development of
      inactivation, and accelerated the recovery from inactivation of TTX-S Na+
      channels, suggesting that TTX-S Na+ channels in large-sized TG neurons are less
      sensitive to acidic pH. Given that voltage-gated Na+ channels play a pivotal role
      in the generation and conduction of action potentials in neural tissues, the
      insensitivity of TTX-S Na+ channels expressed in large-sized TG neurons to acidic
      pH would ensure transmission of innocuous tactile sensation from orofacial
      regions at acidic pH conditions.

PMID- 27639810
TI  - Potential for brain accessibility and analysis of stability of selected
      flavonoids in relation to neuroprotection in vitro.
AB  - Natural food sources constitute a promising source of new compounds with
      neuroprotective properties, once they have the ability to reach the brain. Our
      aim was to evaluate the brain accessibility of quercetin, epigallocatechin
      gallate (EGCG) and cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) in relation to their
      neuroprotective capability. Primary cortical neuron cultures were exposed to
      oxidative insult in the absence and presence of the selected compounds, and
      neuroprotection was assessed through evaluation of apoptotic-like and necrotic
      like cell death. The brain accessibility of selected compounds was assessed using
      an optimised human blood-brain barrier model. The blood-brain barrier model was
      crossed rapidly by EGCG and more slowly by C3G, but not by quercetin. EGCG
      protected against oxidation-induced neuronal necrotic-like cell death by ~40%,
      and apoptosis by ~30%. Both quercetin and C3G were less effective, since only the
      lowest quercetin concentration was protective, and C3G only prevented necrosis by
      ~37%. Quercetin, EGCG and C3G effectively inhibited alpha-synuclein fibrillation
      over the relevant timescale applied here. Overall, EGCG seems to be the most
      promising neuroprotective compound. Thus, inclusion of this polyphenol in the
      diet might provide an affordable means to reduce the impact of neurodegenerative
      diseases.

PMID- 27639811
TI  - Odanacatib, effects of 16-month treatment and discontinuation of therapy on bone
      mass, turnover and strength in the ovariectomized rabbit model of osteopenia.
AB  - Odanacatib (ODN) a selective and reversible cathepsin K inhibitor, inhibits bone
      resorption, increases bone mass and reduces fracture risk in women with
      osteoporosis. A 16-month (~7-remodeling cycles) study was carried out in
      treatment mode to assess the effects of ODN versus ALN on bone mass, remodeling
      status and biomechanical properties of lumbar vertebrae (LV) and femur in
      ovariectomized (OVX) rabbits. This study also evaluated the impact of
      discontinuing ODN on these parameters. Rabbits at 7.5months post-OVX were dosed
      for 16-months with ODN (7.5MUM.h0-24, in food) or ALN (0.2mg/kg/wk, s.c.) and
      compared to vehicle-treated OVX- (OVX+Veh) or Sham-operated animals. After
      8months, treatment was discontinued in half of the ODN group. ODN treatment
      increased in vivo LV aBMD and trabecular (Tb) vBMD until reaching plateau at
      month 12 by 16% and 23% vs. baseline, respectively, comparable levels to that in
      Sham and significantly above OVX+Veh. LV BMD was also higher in ALN that
      plateaued around month 8 to levels below that in ODN or Sham. ODN treatment
      resulted in higher BMD, structure and improved biomechanical strength of LV and
      central femur (CF) to levels similar to Sham. ALN generally showed less robust
      efficacy compared to ODN. Neither ODN nor ALN influenced material properties at
      these bone sites following ODN or ALN treatment for 7 remodeling cycles in
      rabbits. ODN and ALN persistently reduced the bone resorption marker urinary
      helical peptide over study duration. While ALN reduced the bone formation marker
      BSAP, ODN treatment did not affect this marker. ODN also preserved
      histomorphometry-based bone formation indices in LV trabecular, CF endocortical
      and intracortical surfaces, at the levels of OVX+Veh. Discontinuation of ODN
      returned bone mass, structure and strength parameters to the comparable
      respective levels in OVX+Veh. Together, these data demonstrate efficacy and bone
      safety profile of ODN and suggests the potential long-term benefits of this agent
      over ALN with respect to accrued bone mass without long-term effects on bone
      formation.

PMID- 27639812
TI  - Light to Moderate Habitual Alcohol Consumption Is Associated with Subclinical
      Ventricular and Left Atrial Mechanical Dysfunction in an Asymptomatic Population:
      Dose-Response and Propensity Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of light to moderate alcohol consumption on cardiac
      mechanics remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and left ventricular (LV)
      and left atrial (LA) function using myocardial deformation. METHODS: In total
      3,946 asymptomatic participants (mean age, 49.7 +/- 10.7 years; 65% men) were
      consecutively studied using comprehensive echocardiography and two-dimensional
      speckle-tracking in a cross-sectional, retrospective manner. Global LV
      longitudinal and circumferential strain and LA strain were assessed and related
      to habitual alcohol consumption pattern (fewer than one, one to six, or more than
      six drinks per week) before and after propensity matching. RESULTS: With
      increasing weekly alcohol consumption, participants displayed greater LV
      eccentric remodeling, impaired diastolic function, and more attenuated global
      longitudinal strain, LA strain (adjusted coefficients, -1.07 [95% CI, -1.95 to 
      0.19] and -3.73 [95% CI, -5.36 to -2.11]), and early diastolic strain rates
      (adjusted coefficients, 0.07 [95% CI, 0.03-0.11] and 0.33 [95% CI, 0.24-0.42])
      for one to six and more than six drinks per week, respectively (P < .05 for all)
      in a dose-response manner. Participants with recent alcohol abstinence displayed
      cardiac mechanics intermediate between those of nondrinkers and current drinkers.
      After propensity matching (n = 1,140), participants currently consuming more than
      one drink per week continued to have significantly attenuated global longitudinal
      strain and all LA mechanics compared with those consuming fewer than one drink
      per week (P < .05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Habitual alcohol consumption, even at
      light to moderate doses, is associated with both reduced LV and LA mechanics in a
      dose-dependent manner. Whether such observations are reversible or related to
      future atrial fibrillation deserves further study.

PMID- 27639814
TI  - The course of insomnia in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Insomnia is a debilitating symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD) that
      has been scarcely investigated in a longitudinal design. Knowledge of factors
      associated with occurrence of insomnia may provide clues for an increased
      understanding of underlying pathophysiology and facilitate early detection. The
      objective of this study is to examine the course and factors associated with
      longitudinal changes in insomnia severity in patients with PD. METHODS: Analyses
      were performed in data of the SCOPA-PROPARK cohort, a 5-year longitudinal cohort
      study (2003-2011) of 421 PD patients who have been examined annually. Linear
      mixed models were used to identify factors associated with longitudinal changes
      in scores of the SCOPA-SLEEP-Nighttime sleep (NS) problems section. A generalized
      estimating equations (GEE) analysis was performed to determine which baseline
      variables were associated with the different aspects of insomnia (sleep
      initiation or maintenance difficulty). RESULTS: Baseline SCOPA-SLEEP-NS scores
      were available for 412 patients, of whom 110 (27%) had insomnia (i.e. score >=
      7). Of the remaining 302 patients, 99 (33%) developed insomnia at some point
      during follow-up. More severe depressive symptoms, motor fluctuations, higher
      dopamine agonist doses and sleep medication use were independently associated
      with higher SCOPA-SLEEP-NS scores over time. GEE analysis did not identify an
      unique set of determinants that affected specific aspects of insomnia.
      CONCLUSION: The presence of depressive symptoms, motor fluctuations and the use
      of higher doses of dopamine agonists are associated with more severe insomnia.
      Attention to these aspects could potentially contribute to a better management of
      insomnia symptoms in PD.

PMID- 27639813
TI  - Association of Liability Concerns with Decisions to Order Echocardiography and
      Cardiac Stress Tests with Imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Professional societies have made efforts to curb overuse of cardiac
      imaging and decrease practice variation by publishing appropriate use criteria.
      However, little is known about the impact of physician-level determinants such as
      liability concerns and risk aversion on decisions to order testing. METHODS: A
      web-based survey was administered to cardiologists and general practice
      physicians affiliated with two academic institutions. The survey consisted of
      four clinical scenarios in which appropriate use criteria rated echocardiography
      or stress testing as "may be appropriate." Respondents' degree of liability
      concerns and risk aversion were measured using validated tools. The primary
      outcome variable was tendency to order imaging, calculated as the average
      likelihood to order an imaging test across the clinical scenarios (1 = very
      unlikely, 6 = very likely). Linear regression models were used to evaluate the
      association between tendency to order imaging and physician characteristics.
      RESULTS: From 420 physicians invited to participate, 108 complete responses were
      obtained (26% response rate, 54% cardiologists). There was no difference in
      tendency to order imaging between cardiologists and general practice physicians
      (3.46 [95% CI, 3.12-3.81] vs 3.15 [95% CI, 2.79-3.51], P = .22). On multivariate
      analysis, a higher degree of liability concerns was the only significant
      predictor of decisions to order imaging (mean difference in tendency to order
      imaging, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.09-0.62; P = .01). CONCLUSION: In clinical situations in
      which performance of cardiac imaging is rated as "may be appropriate" by
      appropriate use criteria, physicians with higher liability concerns ordered
      significantly more testing than physicians with lower concerns.

PMID- 27639816
TI  - Schizophrenia, smoking status, and performance on the matrics Cognitive Consensus
      Battery.
AB  - Cognitive deficits and high rates of nicotine dependence are consistently
      documented in the schizophrenia literature. However, there is currently no
      consensus about how regular smoking influences cognition in schizophrenia or
      which cognitive domains are most affected by chronic smoking. Previous studies
      have also failed to disambiguate the effects of chronic nicotine from those of
      acute exposure. The current study uses a novel approach to testing nicotine
      addicted patients at a time-point between acute enhancement and withdrawal and
      implements the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery (MCCB) to compare the overall
      cognitive performance of regular smokers (n=40) and nonsmokers (n=36) with
      schizophrenia. Controlling for age, gender, and education, smokers with
      schizophrenia were significantly more impaired on a visual learning task, the
      Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), than their nonsmoking peers.
      Among smokers, smoking behavior (i.e., exhaled carbon monoxide levels of smokers)
      predicted BVMT-R T score; greater smoking was associated with more impaired
      visual learning. Negative symptom severity was not predictive of greater visual
      learning deficits in smokers or nonsmokers. Future longitudinal research will be
      required to determine if there is a dose-response relationship between chronic
      nicotine and visual learning impairment in patients at various stages of
      psychotic illness.

PMID- 27639815
TI  - Orthostatic hypotension predicts motor decline in early Parkinson disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Orthostatic hypotension is increasingly reported as a risk factor for
      development of late-stage disease features in Parkinson disease (PD). Less is
      known about its significance in individuals with early PD who are often targeted
      for neuroprotective trials. METHODS: Using data from the CALM-PD trial (n = 275),
      we explored whether early orthostatic hypotension predicts a decline in the
      Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) II (activities of daily living)
      or UDPRS III (motor) score after 102 weeks. We also explored risk factors for
      worsening orthostatic hypotension over a nearly 2-year period. RESULTS: After
      controlling for age, disease duration, gender, study drug, change in mini-mental
      status exam score, levodopa equivalent dose, and baseline UPDRS II or III score
      respectively, the degree of orthostatic hypotension at enrollment associated with
      a worsening in UPDRS motor score (t = 2.40, p = 0.017) at week 102 but not with
      UPDRS ADL score (t = 0.83, p = 0.409). Worsening in orthostatic hypotension
      during the study associated with longer disease duration (t = 2.37, p = 0.019)
      and lower body mass index (BMI) (t = -2.96, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Baseline
      orthostatic hypotension is a predictor of UPDRS motor decline in individuals with
      early PD and should be accounted for in clinical trial design. Low BMI may
      predict orthostatic hypotension in PD.

PMID- 27639817
TI  - A model of disturbed eating behavior in men: The role of body dissatisfaction,
      emotion dysregulation and cognitive distortions.
AB  - Comprehensive models, targeting the development of eating disorders (EDs) in
      males, often employ a sociocultural perspective and empathize the importance of
      body dissatisfaction (BD). To further illuminate psychological factors
      contributing to the development of ED pathology, we propose a mediator model of
      disturbed eating and compensatory behavior (DECB) for men. This model suggests
      that emotion dysregulation and the susceptibility to body-related cognitive
      distortions (thought-shape fusion, TSF) mediate the relationship between BD and
      DECB. Based on data from a cross-sectional online-survey we tested our model in a
      non-clinical community sample of young men (N=123, 18-37 years). We found a
      significant positive association between BD and DECB, accounting for
      participant's body mass index (BMI), age and depressive symptoms. While TSF
      partially mediated the relationship between BD and DECB, we did not detect a
      corresponding effect for emotion dysregulation. Based on our findings, we
      concluded that TSF, which describes specific distorted cognitions with respect to
      one's own body triggered by fattening/ forbidden food, contributes to the
      pathological eating- and body-related behavior in men who are dissatisfied with
      their body. We suggest that TSF should be included in etiological models as a
      relevant aspect of cognitive information processing with emotional and behavioral
      consequences.

PMID- 27639818
TI  - Revisiting successful transplantation with marginal lungs: Fourteen years later,
      a new era of extended criteria.

PMID- 27639819
TI  - An analysis of deep vein thrombosis in burn patients (Part 1): Comparison of D
      dimer and Doppler ultrasound as screening tools.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The high prevalence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) reported in
      prospective studies and the unreliability of clinical diagnosis mandates
      prospective screening for DVT in burn patients. Our study seeks to compare D
      dimer and Doppler ultrasound (DUS) in search for a practical, inexpensive and a
      reliable screening tool. METHODS: One hundred burn patients (inclusion criteria:
      30-60% TBSA burn, >18 years of age, admitted within 48h of burn) were computer
      randomized into two equal groups. The study (prophylaxis) group received low
      molecular weight heparin (LMWH) (0.5mg/kg, twice daily-max 60mg/day) from day
      one, till discharge. Screening D-dimer assays and DUS of the lower extremities
      were performed on all 100 patients on day five, and then weekly, till discharge.
      RESULTS: Signs and symptoms simulating DVT (pain, swelling, redness, warmth,
      positive Homans' and Moses' sign) were present in majority of patients with lower
      limb burns. 43/50 patients (86%) in the control group and 38/50 patients (76%) in
      the study (prophylaxis) group had positive D-dimer values (>0.5MUg/ml) on the 5th
      post-burn day. D-dimer was positive in all the four patients identified with DVT.
      However, only 4/100 patients enrolled in the study demonstrated DVT on DUS. Thus,
      the specificity of the D-dimer assay was only 20% with a positive predictive
      value of 5%. Absolute D-dimer values were found to have no correlation to the
      extent of burns. CONCLUSION: We conclude that D-dimer is not a useful screening
      tool for DVT in burns contrary to its accepted value in general trauma and
      medical patients.

PMID- 27639820
TI  - Prevalence of scar contractures after burn: A systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Burn scar contractures are the pathological outcome of excessive
      scarring and ongoing scar contraction. Impairment of joint range of motion is a
      threat to performing activities in daily living. To direct treatment strategies
      to prevent and/or correct such contractures, insight into the prevalence, course,
      and determinants is essential. METHODS: A literature search was conducted
      including Pubmed, Cochrane library, CINAHL, and PEDro. Articles were included if
      they provided burn scar contracture data to calculate the point prevalence. The
      quality of the articles was scored. Data were extracted regarding study, subject
      and burn characteristics, method of scar contracture assessment, point
      prevalence, and possible determinants. RESULTS: Nine articles and one abstract
      could be included for data extraction. The prevalence at discharge was 38-54%,
      but with a longer time after burn, the prevalence was lower. Contractures were
      more likely to occur in more severe burns, flame burns, children, female, the
      cervical spine, and the upper extremity. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of burn scar
      contractures varies considerably between studies. When prevalence is unclear, it
      is also difficult to investigate potential determinants and evaluate changes in
      interventions. There is a need for extensive, well-designed longitudinal
      (inter)national studies that investigate prevalence of scar contractures, their
      evolvement over time, and risk factors.

PMID- 27639821
TI  - Genetic Factors of the Disease Course after Sepsis: A Genome-Wide Study for 28Day
      Mortality.
AB  - Sepsis is the dysregulated host response to an infection which leads to life
      threatening organ dysfunction that varies by host genomic factors. We conducted a
      genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 740 adult septic patients and focused on
      28day mortality as outcome. Variants with suggestive evidence for an association
      (p<=10-5) were validated in two additional GWA studies (n=3470) and gene coding
      regions related to the variants were assessed in an independent exome sequencing
      study (n=74). In the discovery GWAS, we identified 243 autosomal variants which
      clustered in 14 loci (p<=10-5). The best association signal (rs117983287;
      p=8.16*10-8) was observed for a missense variant located at chromosome 9q21.2 in
      the VPS13A gene. VPS13A was further supported by additional GWAS (p=0.03) and
      sequencing data (p=0.04). Furthermore, CRISPLD2 (p=5.99*10-6) and a region on
      chromosome 13q21.33 (p=3.34*10-7) were supported by both our data and external
      biological evidence. We found 14 loci with suggestive evidence for an association
      with 28day mortality and found supportive, converging evidence for three of them
      in independent data sets. Elucidating the underlying biological mechanisms of
      VPS13A, CRISPLD2, and the chromosome 13 locus should be a focus of future
      research activities.

PMID- 27639822
TI  - Significance and Implications of Patient-reported Xerostomia in Sjogren's
      Syndrome: Findings From the National Institutes of Health Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Xerostomia is a chief complaint of patients with Sjogren's syndrome
      (SS). However, newer proposals for SS classification remove xerostomia and
      hyposalivation from the criteria list. Given these developments and the
      importance of patient-centered research outcomes, we sought to evaluate the
      utility of patient-reported xerostomia with implications for classification
      criteria, and clinical trials targeting SS treatment modalities. METHODS: A
      nested case-control study was designed within The National Institute of Dental
      and Craniofacial Research/National Institutes of Health (NIDCR/NIH) SS Cohort -
      one of the largest SS cohorts in the US. Clinical characteristics of those with
      and without xerostomia in SS and other salivary gland dysfunctions were compared.
      Several analytical methods were employed, including multivariable logistic
      regression modeling. FINDINGS: The NIDCR/NIH Sjogren's Syndrome Clinic has an
      open cohort with ongoing enrollment since 1984. This open cohort comprised of
      2046 participants by August 27, 2015. Baseline data of 701 SS, 355 Sicca, and 247
      ISS participants within the source cohort were analyzed. Xerostomia was highest
      among SS participants (87.4%, 95% CI: 84.8%-89.8%) compared to Sicca (72.4%, 95%
      CI: 67.4%-77.0%, p<0.001) and ISS groups (38.1%, 95% CI: 32.0%-44.4%, p<0.001).
      Those with xerostomia were more likely to have SS than Sicca/ISS (OR=4.98, 95%
      CI: 3.78-6.56). The ability of xerostomia to screen for SS among those with
      salivary gland dysfunction was higher than screening for Sicca/ISS. Screening
      diagnostics of xerostomia were of greater utility compared to hyposalivation.
      After adjusting for confounding in multivariable modeling, SS participants with
      xerostomia were more likely to be White (Black/African Americans (OR: 0.40, 95%
      CI: 0.23-0.68, p-value=0.001) and Asians (OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.25-0.96, p
      value=0.038) were less likely to have xerostomia compared to Whites), have dry
      eye symptoms for >3months (OR: 5.80, 95% CI: 3.62-9.28, p-value <0.001), a lower
      Van Bijsterveld score (OR: 0.55, 95%CI: 0.34-0.90, p-value=0.017), a lower
      stimulated salivary flow rate (OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.06-2.65, p-value=0.028), a
      focus score of >2 (OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.20-3.09, p-value=0.007), and salivary
      gland swelling (OR: 49.39, 95% CI: 2.02-1206.30, p-value=0.017). Age, gender,
      fatigue, pain, anxiety, and autoantibodies were not significantly associated with
      xerostomia. INTERPRETATION: Findings from this study indicate that patient
      reported xerostomia is highly prevalent among SS patients and is associated with
      several clinical phenotypes of this complex syndrome, thereby making it an
      important indicator of SS. The evidence also suggests that xerostomia is not
      limited to low salivary flow but might be reflective of compositional changes of
      saliva. Consequently, these findings suggest the need to consider xerostomia in
      the development of SS classification criteria and in patient-centered outcomes
      research in SS intervention trials. This research was supported by the Intramural
      Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute
      of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) Grant # DE000704-15. Dr. Baer is
      supported by RO1-DE-12354-15A1.

PMID- 27639824
TI  - Curing HCV infection with 4 weeks-regimen of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir: To be
      remembered.

PMID- 27639823
TI  - Genetic Factors of the Disease Course After Sepsis: Rare Deleterious Variants Are
      Predictive.
AB  - Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host
      response to infection. For its clinical course, host genetic factors are
      important and rare genomic variants are suspected to contribute. We sequenced the
      exomes of 59 Greek and 15 German patients with bacterial sepsis divided into two
      groups with extremely different disease courses. Variant analysis was focusing on
      rare deleterious single nucleotide variants (SNVs). We identified significant
      differences in the number of rare deleterious SNVs per patient between the ethnic
      groups. Classification experiments based on the data of the Greek patients
      allowed discrimination between the disease courses with estimated sensitivity and
      specificity>75%. By application of the trained model to the German patients we
      observed comparable discriminatory properties despite lower population-specific
      rare SNV load. Furthermore, rare SNVs in genes of cell signaling and innate
      immunity related pathways were identified as classifiers discriminating between
      the sepsis courses. Sepsis patients with favorable disease course after sepsis,
      even in the case of unfavorable preconditions, seem to be affected more often by
      rare deleterious SNVs in cell signaling and innate immunity related pathways,
      suggesting a protective role of impairments in these processes against a poor
      disease course.

PMID- 27639825
TI  - Vedolizumab is an effective alternative in inflammatory bowel disease patients
      with anti-TNF-alpha therapy-induced dermatological side effects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases has been
      revolutionized by the introduction of biological therapy with TNF-alpha blockers.
      However, TNF-alpha blockers are also associated with a wide variety of
      dermatological side effects, such as local skin infections, psoriasis and eczema.
      A new biological therapy, targeting the gut-specific adhesion molecule
      alpha4beta7 integrin, is the humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody vedolizumab.
      Vedolizumab prevents leukocyte migration to the gastrointestinal tract, thereby
      reducing inflammation. This gut-specific therapy has the potential to reduce
      systemic side effects, including dermatological ones. METHODS: We describe 3
      inflammatory bowel disease patients who experience anti-TNF-alpha therapy-induced
      dermatological side effects, consisting of hidradenitis suppurativa, a
      folliculitis, scalp psoriasis and a dissecting folliculitis. RESULTS: In all
      patients, anti-TNF-alpha therapy-induced dermatological side effects diminished
      after switching to vedolizumab. CONCLUSION: Vedolizumab may be a viable
      alternative biological therapy in inflammatory bowel disease patients who
      experience anti-TNF-alpha therapy-induced dermatological side effects.

PMID- 27639827
TI  - White spot lesion remineralization by sugar-free chewing gum containing bio
      available calcium and fluoride: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of chewing gum containing phosphoryl
      oligosaccharides of calcium (POs-Ca) and fluoride on white spot lesion (WSL)
      remineralization in comparison with POs-Ca or placebo (control) chewing gums, in
      double- blind, randomized, controlled trial. METHODS: Thirty-seven healthy
      subjects, who had at least one WSL, with an ICDAS score of 2 or 1, were recruited
      for this study. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups (control,
      POs-Ca, POs-Ca+F) and chewed two slabs of each gum three times every day for 3
      months. WSLs were assessed using ICDAS criteria and optical boundary depth (BD)
      by optical coherence tomography (OCT) system at a monthly recall. Data were
      analyzed by Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Wilcoxon signed rank test with Bonferroni
      corrections at 0.05 significance level. RESULTS: Visual score changes from ICDAS
      score 2 to score 1 over the course of the study were observed; control (30%), POs
      Ca (48%) and POs-Ca+F (45%). Unlike the control gum, chewing POs-Ca and POs-Ca+F
      gums resulted in significant changes in the mean value of BD over the 3 months
      course of the study (p<0.05). There was a significant difference in mean value of
      BD after first month between POs-Ca+F and control groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      This study highlighted the importance of calcium and fluoride ion bioavailability
      in the reinforcement of demineralized enamel lesions by chewing gums.
      Furthermore, adding fluoride to POs-Ca might speed up the remineralization
      progress on natural WSL.

PMID- 27639828
TI  - [From the cockpit to the operating room].

PMID- 27639826
TI  - Peptide-based vaccination against OPN integrin binding sites does not improve
      cardio-metabolic disease in mice.
AB  - Obesity causes insulin resistance via a chronic low-grade inflammation. This
      inflammation is characterized by elevated pro-inflammatory markers and macrophage
      accumulation in the adipose tissue (AT). AT inflammation is a key factor causing
      insulin resistance and thus type 2 diabetes, both linked to atherosclerotic
      cardiovascular disease. Osteopontin (OPN), a well-known inflammatory cytokine, is
      involved in obesity-linked complications including AT inflammation, insulin
      resistance, atherosclerosis and CVD. During inflammation, OPN is proteolytically
      cleaved by matrix metalloproteinases or thrombin leading to increased OPN
      activity. Therefore, OPN provides a new interesting target for immunological
      prevention and treatment of obesity-associated diseases. The aim of our study was
      to evaluate peptide-based vaccines against integrin binding sites of OPN and to
      examine whether these active immunotherapies are functional in reducing metabolic
      tissue inflammation, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis in a cardio
      metabolic (Ldlr-/- mice) and a diet-induced obesity model (WT mice). However,
      atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and AT inflammation were not diminished after
      treatment with OPN-derived peptides in murine models. Lack of efficacy was based
      on a failure to induce antibodies capable to bind epitopes in the context of
      functional OPN protein. In conclusion, our data point to unexpected challenges in
      the immunotherapeutic targeting of adhesive motives, such as RGD containing
      sequences, on endogenous proteins.

PMID- 27639829
TI  - [Improvement in the quality of patient management after the implementation of a
      multidisciplinary committee on endocrine tumors: An analysis of 5-year
      experience].

PMID- 27639830
TI  - Nursing Strategies to Address Maternal Morbidity and Mortality.

PMID- 27639831
TI  - Identifying Potentially Preventable Elements in Severe Adverse Maternal Events.
AB  - Recounting nurse perceptions of events that surround adverse outcomes is vital.
      We describe a tool designed to capture the personal perceptions and experiences
      of nurses specifically related to adverse pregnancy events. These elements may
      have a significant effect on patient outcomes but are not captured in the medical
      record. Complete data are essential to determine probable causes, identify
      potentially preventable occurrences, and highlight opportunities for system and
      practice improvements.

PMID- 27639832
TI  - Re-expression of cell cycle markers in aged neurons and muscles: Whether cells
      should divide or die?
AB  - Emerging evidence revealed that abrogated cell cycle entry into highly
      differentiated mature neurons and muscles is having detrimental consequences in
      response to cell cycle checkpoints disruption, altered signaling cascades,
      pathophysiological and external stimuli, for instance, Abeta, Parkin, p-tau,
      alpha-synuclein, impairment in TRK, Akt/GSK3beta, MAPK/Hsp90, and oxidative
      stress. These factors, reinitiate undesired cell division by triggering new DNA
      synthesis, replication, and thus exquisitely forced mature cell to enter into a
      disturbed and vulnerable state that often leads to death as reported in many
      neuro- and myodegenerative disorders. A pertinent question arises how to reverse
      this unwanted pathophysiological phenomenon is attributed to the usage of cell
      cycle inhibitors to prevent the degradation of crucial cell cycle arresting
      proteins, cyclin inhibitors, chaperones and E3 ligases. Herein, we identified the
      major culprits behind the forceful cell cycle re-entry, elucidated the cyclin re
      expression based on disturbed signaling mechanisms in neuromuscular degeneration
      together with plausible therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 27639833
TI  - Exploring Splicing-Switching Molecules For Seckel Syndrome Therapy.
AB  - The c.2101A>G synonymous change (p.G674G) in the gene for ATR, a key player in
      the DNA-damage response, has been the first identified genetic cause of Seckel
      Syndrome (SS), an orphan disease characterized by growth and mental retardation.
      This mutation mainly causes exon 9 skipping, through an ill-defined mechanism.
      Through ATR minigene expression studies, we demonstrated that the detrimental
      effect of this mutation (6+/-1% of correct transcripts only) depends on the poor
      exon 9 definition (47+/-4% in the ATRwt context), because the change was
      ineffective when the weak 5' or the 3' splice sites (ss) were strengthened
      (scores from 0.54 to 1) by mutagenesis. Interestingly, the exonic c.2101A
      nucleotide is conserved across species, and the SS-causing mutation is predicted
      to concurrently strengthen a Splicing Silencer (ESS) and weaken a Splicing
      Enhancer (ESE). Consistently, the artificial c.2101A>C change, predicted to
      weaken the ESE only, moderately impaired exon inclusion (28+/-7% of correct
      transcripts). The observation that an antisense oligonucleotide (AONATR)
      targeting the c.2101A position recovers exon inclusion in the mutated context
      supports a major role of the underlying ESS. A U1snRNA variant (U1ATR) designed
      to perfectly base-pair the weak 5'ss, rescued exon inclusion (63+/-3%) in the
      ATRSS-allele. Most importantly, upon lentivirus-mediated delivery, the U1ATR
      partially rescued ATR mRNA splicing (from ~19% to ~54%) and protein (from
      negligible to ~6%) in embryonic fibroblasts derived from humanized ATRSS mice.
      Altogether these data elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the ATR c.2101A>G
      mutation and identify two potential complementary RNA-based therapies for Seckel
      syndrome.

PMID- 27639834
TI  - The role of MRI in understanding the underlying mechanisms in obesity associated
      diseases.
AB  - Obesity and its possible association with diseases including diabetes and
      cardiovascular diseases have been studied for decades for its impact on
      healthcare. Recent studies clearly indicate the need for developing accurate and
      reproducible methodologies for assessing body fat content and distribution. Body
      fat distribution plays a significant role in developing an insight in the
      underlying mechanisms in which adipose tissue is linked with various diseases.
      Among imaging technologies including computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT),
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), MRI
      and MRS seem to be the best emerging techniques and together are being considered
      as the gold standard for body fat content and distribution. This paper reviews
      studies up to the present time involving different methodologies of these two
      emerging technologies and presents the basic concepts of MRI and MRS with
      required novel image analysis techniques in accurate, quantitative, and direct
      assessment of body fat content and distribution. This article is part of a
      Special Issue entitled: Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Quality in
      Diabetes/Obesity and Critical Illness Spectrum of Diseases - edited by P.
      Hemachandra Reddy.

PMID- 27639835
TI  - Branched chain amino acid metabolic reprogramming in heart failure.
AB  - Metabolic remodeling is a hall-mark of cardiac maturation and pathology. The
      switch of substrate utilization from glucose to fatty acid is observed during
      post-natal maturation period in developing heart, but the process is reversed
      from fatty acids to glucose in the failing hearts across different clinic and
      experimental models. Majority of the current investigations have been focusing on
      the regulatory mechanism and functional impact of this metabolic reprogramming
      involving fatty acids and carbohydrates. Recent progress in metabolomics and
      transcriptomic analysis, however, revealed another significant remodeled
      metabolic branch associated with cardiac development and disease, i.e. Branched
      Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) catabolism. These findings have established BCAA
      catabolic deficiency as a novel metabolic feature in failing hearts with
      potentially significant impact on the progression of pathological remodeling and
      dysfunction. In this review, we will evaluate the current evidence and potential
      implication of these discoveries in the context of heart diseases and novel
      therapies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The role of post
      translational protein modifications on heart and vascular metabolism edited by
      Jason R.B. Dyck & Jan F.C. Glatz.

PMID- 27639836
TI  - Dry eye disease and uveitis: A closer look at immune mechanisms in animal models
      of two ocular autoimmune diseases.
AB  - Understanding the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases is a
      prerequisite for specific and effective therapeutical intervention. This review
      focuses on animal models of two common ocular inflammatory diseases, dry eye
      disease (DED), affecting the ocular surface, and uveitis with inflammation of the
      inner eye. In both diseases autoimmunity plays an important role, in idiopathic
      uveitis immune reactivity to intraocular autoantigens is pivotal, while in dry
      eye disease autoimmunity seems to play a role in one subtype of disease, Sjogren'
      syndrome (SjS). Comparing the immune mechanisms underlying both eye diseases
      reveals similarities, and significant differences. Studies have shown genetic
      predispositions, T and B cell involvement, cytokine and chemokine signatures and
      signaling pathways as well as environmental influences in both DED and uveitis.
      Uveitis and DED are heterogeneous diseases and there is no single animal model,
      which adequately represents both diseases. However, there is evidence to suggest
      that certain T cell-targeting therapies can be used to treat both, dry eye
      disease and uveitis. Animal models are essential to autoimmunity research, from
      the basic understanding of immune mechanisms to the pre-clinical testing of
      potential new therapies.

PMID- 27639837
TI  - Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS): Descriptive analysis of 500
      patients from the International CAPS Registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical and immunologic manifestations of patients
      with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) from the "CAPS Registry".
      METHODS: The demographic, clinical and serological features of 500 patients
      included in the website-based "CAPS Registry" were analyzed. Frequency
      distribution and measures of central tendency were used to describe the cohort.
      Comparison between groups regarding qualitative variables was undertaken by chi
      square or Fisher exact test while T-test for independent variables was used to
      compare groups regarding continuous variables. RESULTS: 500 patients (female: 343
      [69%]; mean age 38+/-17) accounting for 522 episodes of CAPS were included in the
      analysis. Forty percent of patients had an associated autoimmune disease, mainly
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (75%). The majority of CAPS episodes were
      triggered by a precipitating factor (65%), mostly infections (49%). Clinically,
      CAPS was characterized by several organ involvement affecting kidneys (73%),
      lungs (60%), brain (56%), heart (50%), and skin (47%). Lupus anticoagulant, IgG
      anticardiolipin and IgG anti-beta2-glycprotein antibodies were the most often
      implicated antiphospholipid antibodies (83%, 81% and 78% respectively). Mortality
      accounted for 37% of episodes of CAPS. Several clinical differences could be
      observed based on the age of presentation and its association to SLE. Those cases
      triggered by a malignancy tended to occur in older patients, while CAPS episodes
      in young patients were associated with an infectious trigger and peripheral
      vessels involvement. Additionally, CAPS associated with SLE were more likely to
      have severe cardiac and brain involvement leading to a higher mortality (48%).
      CONCLUSION: Although the presentation of CAPS is characterized by multiorgan
      thrombosis and failure, clinical differences among patients exist based on age
      and underlying chronic diseases, e.g. malignancy and SLE.

PMID- 27639838
TI  - Psoriasis and autoimmunity.
AB  - Psoriasis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory human skin diseases.
      Though clinically well characterized, the exact etiological and pathogenic
      mechanisms are still not known in detail. Current knowledge indicates distinct
      overlap to other inflammatory as well as autoimmune disorders. However, the one
      or more relevant autoantigens could not be characterized so-far. On the other
      side, several autoimmune diseases were shown to be associated with psoriasis. In
      addition, serological autoimmune phenomena, namely diverse circulating specific
      autoantibodies could be demonstrated in the past. A matter of current debate is
      if psoriasis is a primary autoimmune disease or secondarily evolving into
      autoimmunity as seen in other chronic inflammatory diseases. Related to this
      aspect is the concept of autoinflammation versus autoimmunity where psoriasis
      shares mechanisms of both entities. Though T-cells remain among the most
      important cellular players in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and current
      therapeutic strategies successfully target these cells or their products
      irrespective of these concepts, autoimmunity if relevant will add to the
      treatment armamentarium by using protective and prophylactic antigen-specific
      modalities.

PMID- 27639839
TI  - Cognitive disorders and antiphospholipid antibodies.
AB  - Cognitive disorders have frequently been described in the field of
      antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
      Nevertheless, the relationship between those disorders and antiphospholipid
      antibodies (aPL) remains unclear and seems to involve various mechanisms. Overlap
      with systemic lupus erythematosus, the small sample size of studies, and
      discrepancies in antiphospholipid antibodies and cognitive impairment
      determinations complicate analyses of the literature data. In this paper, we
      summarize current knowledge on epidemiologic, clinical data, imaging findings and
      treatment of cognitive dysfunction associated with aPL. We separately analyzed
      data on aPL-positive carriers without history of clinical feature of APS, APS
      patients without overlaps autoimmune disease, and SLE-associated aPL patients.

PMID- 27639840
TI  - Steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (SREAT):
      Characteristics, treatment and outcome in 251 cases from the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Steroid-responsive encephalopathy and associated autoimmune
      thyroiditis (SREAT) is characterized by encephalopathy and the presence of
      antithyroid antibodies. We describe the clinical presentation, outcome and
      treatments for SREAT by a systematic review of the literature. METHODS: MEDLINE
      via PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched for articles
      published until 2015. Inclusion criteria were unexplained encephalopathy with
      antithyroid antibodies. RESULTS: We found reports of 251 patients (median age
      52years [range 18-86], 73% females, 80 [32%] with preexisting thyroiditis).
      Patients presented encephalitis signs with convulsions (n=117; 47%), confusion
      (n=115, 46%), speech disorder (n=91, 37%), memory impairment (n=107, 43%), gait
      disturbance (n=67, 27%) and persecutory delusions (n=61, 25%). Twenty-eight
      patients (11%) presented progressive memory impairment and 26 (10%) isolated
      psychiatric disorders. In serum, 34% of patients were positive for anti-thyroid
      peroxidase (TPO) antibodies, 7% for anti-thyroglobulin (TG) antibodies, and 69%
      both. Thyroid-stimulating hormone levels were usually normal, at 2 UI/ml [0.001
      205]. Cerebrospinal fluid from 10/53 patients (19%) was positive for anti-TPO
      antibodies, 2/53 (4%) anti-TG antibodies and 28 (53%) both.
      Electroencephalography findings were abnormal for 82% of patients, showing
      diffuse slowing consistent with encephalopathy (70%) or epileptic activity (14%).
      The first-line treatment was steroids in 193 patients and other immunosuppressive
      drugs in 10 cases. At a median follow-up of 12months [range 0.2-110], 91% of
      patients showed complete or partial neurological response, with anti-TPO and -TG
      antibody titers at 347 UI/ml [0-825,000] and 110 UI/ml [0-50,892], respectively.
      During follow-up, 40 patients (16%) experienced at least one relapse. Relapse was
      more frequent in patients with initial coma (26% vs 13%, p=0.08). CONCLUSION: The
      diagnosis of SREAT should be suspected in case of encephalopathy without obvious
      cause, to quickly start corticosteroid treatment. The exact modalities of
      treatment must be defined.

PMID- 27639841
TI  - The association of other autoimmune diseases in patients with autoimmune
      thyroiditis: Review of the literature and report of a large series of patients.
AB  - We have evaluated prospectively the prevalence of other autoimmune disorders in
      outpatient clinic in 3069 consecutive patients with diagnosed chronic autoimmune
      thyroiditis (AT), with respect to two age- and sex-matched control groups: a) a
      control group of 1023 subjects, extracted from a random sample of the general
      population without thyroid disorders; b) 1023 patients with non-toxic
      multinodular goiter extracted from the same random sample of the general
      population, with similar iodine intake. The results of our study demonstrate a
      significant increase of the prevalence of autoimmune disorders in AT patients
      (with respect to both controls), for the following diseases: chronic autoimmune
      gastritis (CAG), vitiligo (Vit), rheumatoid arthritis, polymialgia rheumatica
      (Polym), celiac disease, diabetes, sjogren disease, multiple sclerosis, systemic
      lupus erythematosus, sarcoidosis, alopecia, psoriathic arthritis, systemic
      sclerosis, and HCV-related cryoglobulinemia. While the statistical analysis
      reached near the significance for Addison's disease and ulcerative colitis.
      Interestingly, the association of three autoimmune disorders was observed almost
      exclusively in AT patients, and the most frequent associations were AT+CAG+Vit
      and AT+CAG+Polym. We suggest that patients with AT who remain unwell, or who
      develop new not specific symptoms (despite adequate treatment) should be screened
      for other autoimmune disorders, avoiding the delay in the diagnosis of these
      disorders.

PMID- 27639842
TI  - Occurrence, clinical involvement and zoonotic potential of endoparasites
      infecting Swiss pigs.
AB  - In order to estimate the diversity, clinical involvement and zoonotic potential
      of parasites in pigs submitted for diagnosis to the PathoPig project of the Swiss
      Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, faeces (n=125) from suckling piglets
      (n=39), weaners (n=60) and piglets beginning fattening (n=26) from 74 Swiss farms
      were examined by 3 coproscopical methods (i.e. sedimentation/zinc chloride
      flotation; SAFC and Ziehl-Neelsen staining). Samples microscopically positive for
      Cryptosporidium were further tested by PCR/sequencing for species assessment. The
      most frequently detected parasite was Balantidium coli, a facultative pathogenic
      ciliate with zoonotic potential, in 5.1, 36.7 and 50.0% of suckling, weaners and
      fatteners and 43.2% of farms; however, no association with disease was observed.
      Isospora (syn. Cystoisospora) suis infections were detected in 13.3 and 11.1% of
      suckling piglets with and without diarrhoea, and in 10.0 and 13.3% of weaners and
      fatteners with diarrhoea, respectively, and were significant associated with
      emaciation. Cryptosporidium infections were detected in 10.3, 15.0 and 19.2% of
      sucklings, weaners and fatteners, respectively, and in 18.9% of the farms.
      Interestingly, two age-related species were identified: C. suis in younger
      piglets (2 to 6weeks) and C. scrofarum in older ones (6 to 17weeks). None of the
      pigs infected with C. scrofarum (n=8), but 3 of 4 piglets infected with C. suis
      (co-infection with I. suis in 2 cases) had diarrhoea. The zoonotic species C.
      parvum was not detected, nevertheless, sporadic cases of human infection with the
      porcine-adapted species have been reported. Ascaris suum, Trichuris suis and
      Strongylida were rarely detected (<4%) in all age categories.

PMID- 27639843
TI  - Aerobic vs. resistance exercise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Exercise is a first-line therapy for patients with non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We sought to: 1) summarize effective
      aerobic and resistance exercise protocols for NAFLD; and 2) compare the effects
      and energy consumption of aerobic and resistance exercises. METHODS: A literature
      search was performed using PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopas to January 28,
      2016. From a total of 95 articles, 23 studies including 24 aerobic and 7
      resistance exercise protocols were selected for the summary of exercise
      protocols. Twelve articles including 13 aerobic and 4 resistance exercise
      protocols were selected for the comparative analysis. RESULTS: For aerobic
      exercise, the median effective protocol was 4.8 metabolic equivalents (METs) for
      40min/session, 3times/week for 12weeks. For resistance exercise, the median
      effective protocol was 3.5 METs for 45min/session, 3times/week for 12weeks.
      Aerobic and resistance exercise improved hepatic steatosis. No significant
      difference was seen in the duration, frequency, or period of exercise between the
      two exercise groups; however, %VO2max and energy consumption were significantly
      lower in the resistance than in the aerobic group (50% [45-98] vs. 28% [28-28],
      p=0.0034; 11,064 [6394-21,087] vs. 6470 [4104-12,310] kcal/total period,
      p=0.0475). CONCLUSIONS: Resistance exercise improves NAFLD with less energy
      consumption. Thus, resistance exercise may be more feasible than aerobic exercise
      for NAFLD patients with poor cardiorespiratory fitness or for those who cannot
      tolerate or participate in aerobic exercise. These data may indicate a possible
      link between resistance exercise and lipid metabolism in the liver. LAY SUMMARY:
      Both aerobic and resistance exercise reduce hepatic steatosis in non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with similar frequency, duration, and period of
      exercise (40-45min/session 3times/week for 12weeks); however, the two forms of
      exercise have different characteristics. Intensity and energy consumption were
      significantly lower for resistance than for aerobic exercise. Resistance exercise
      may be more feasible than aerobic exercise for NAFLD patients with poor
      cardiorespiratory fitness or for those who cannot tolerate or participate in
      aerobic exercise.

PMID- 27639844
TI  - Reduction of covalently closed circular DNA with long-term nucleos(t)ide analogue
      treatment in chronic hepatitis B.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA
      (cccDNA), a mini-chromosome essential for HBV replication, is supposed to be
      resistant to nucleos(t)ide analogue treatment. We investigated the effect of long
      term nucleos(t)ide analogue treatment on cccDNA. METHODS: Among 129 patients who
      had been enrolled in previous international nucleos(t)ide analogue clinical
      trials and had liver biopsies at baseline and one year after treatment, we
      recruited 43 patients on long-term continuous treatment for 72 to 145months for a
      third liver biopsy. Serum HBV DNA, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels,
      total intrahepatic HBV DNA (ihHBV DNA), cccDNA, HBV pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) as
      well as histologic changes were examined. RESULTS: At the time of the third
      biopsy, serum HBV DNA levels were undetectable in all but one patient. The median
      levels of HBsAg, ihHBV DNA, and cccDNA were 2.88logIU/ml, 0.03copies/cell, and
      0.01copies/cell, respectively. Compared to baseline levels, there was reduction
      of HBsAg levels by 0.54log (71.46%), ihHBV DNA levels by 2.81log (99.84%), and
      cccDNA levels by 2.94log (99.89%), with 49% having cccDNA levels below the
      detection limit. One patient had undetectable HBsAg. The median pgRNA level,
      measured only in the third biopsy, was 0.021copies/cell, with 40% of patients
      having undetectable pgRNA. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term nucleos(t)ide analogue
      treatment induced marked depletion of cccDNA in the majority of patients while
      serum HBsAg levels, though reduced, were detectable in all but one patient.
      Whether cccDNA depletion is sustained and associated with better patient outcome
      requires further study. LAY SUMMARY: It is generally presumed that a form of
      hepatitis B virus DNA, called covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which
      hides inside the nuclei of liver cells of patients with chronic hepatitis B,
      cannot be reduced by antiviral treatment. The present study showed that with
      prolonged treatment (median period 126months), cccDNA can be markedly reduced,
      with 49% of liver biopsies having undetectable cccDNA. This suggests that viral
      replication capacity would be very low after prolonged antiviral treatment.

PMID- 27639845
TI  - Resolving Genetic Test Results for the Patient and the Clinician.

PMID- 27639846
TI  - eEF1Bgamma binds the Che-1 and TP53 gene promoters and their transcripts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that the eukaryotic elongation factor
      subunit 1B gamma (eEF1Bgamma) interacts with the RNA polymerase II (pol II) alpha
      like subunit "C" (POLR2C), alone or complexed, in the pol II enzyme. Moreover, we
      demonstrated that eEF1Bgamma binds the promoter region and the 3' UTR mRNA of the
      vimentin gene. These events contribute to localize the vimentin transcript and
      consequentially its translation, promoting a proper mitochondrial network.
      METHODS: With the intent of identifying additional transcripts that complex with
      the eEF1Bgamma protein, we performed a series of ribonucleoprotein
      immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays using a mitochondria-enriched heavy membrane
      (HM) fraction. RESULTS: Among the eEF1Bgamma complexed transcripts, we found the
      mRNA encoding the Che-1/AATF multifunctional protein. As reported by other
      research groups, we found the tumor suppressor p53 transcript complexed with the
      eEF1Bgamma protein. Here, we show for the first time that eEF1Bgamma binds not
      only Che-1 and p53 transcripts but also their promoters. Remarkably, we
      demonstrate that both the Che-1 transcript and its translated product localize
      also to the mitochondria and that eEF1Bgamma depletion strongly perturbs the
      mitochondrial network and the correct localization of Che-1. In a doxorubicin
      (Dox)-induced DNA damage assay we show that eEF1Bgamma depletion significantly
      decreases p53 protein accumulation and slightly impacts on Che-1 accumulation.
      Importantly, Che-1 and p53 proteins are components of the DNA damage response
      machinery that maintains genome integrity and prevents tumorigenesis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the notion that eEF1Bgamma, besides its canonical
      role in translation, is an RNA-binding protein and a key player in cellular
      stress responses. We suggest for eEF1Bgamma a role as primordial
      transcription/translation factor that links fundamental steps from transcription
      control to local translation.

PMID- 27639847
TI  - Safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic evaluations of a new coated chloroquine
      tablet in a single-arm open-label non-comparative trial in Brazil: a step towards
      a user-friendly malaria vivax treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a major public health problem, with half the world
      population at risk of contracting malaria. The effects of Plasmodium vivax on
      prosperity and longevity have been highlighted in several recent clinical case
      reports. The first line of vivax treatment drugs has seen no radical innovation
      for more than 60 years. This study introduces a subtle incremental innovation to
      vivax treatment: a chloroquine and primaquine co-blister. The co-blister includes
      a new chloroquine formulation incorporating coated tablets to mask the drug's
      bitter taste and user-friendly packaging containing tablets of each drug, which
      may improve patient adherence and facilitate the appropriate use of the drugs.
      This new formulation will replace the non-coated chloroquine distributed in
      Brazil. METHODS: Patients were orally treated with 150 mg coated chloroquine
      tablets for 3 days: an initial 450 mg dose, followed by two 300 mg doses. The
      patients were treated concomitantly with two 15 mg primaquine tablets for 7-9
      days, according to their weight. The primary objective of this study was to prove
      parasitological and clinical cure rates above 90 % by day 28. RESULTS: This
      single-arm open-label non-comparative trial was conducted according to the WHO
      recommended methodology for the surveillance of anti-malarial drug efficacy in
      the Brazilian Amazon. On day 28, the parasitological and clinical response was
      adequate in 98.8 % of patients (CI 95 % 93.4-100 %). The success rate on day 3
      was 100 %, and the cumulative success rate by day 28 was 98.8 % (CI 95 % 91.7
      99.8 %). There were no serious adverse events, with most adverse events
      classified as mild. The pharmacokinetic parameters of chloroquine analysed in
      whole blood dry spot samples showed mean (coefficient of variation) Cmax and AUC0
      t values of 374.44 (0.35) and 3700.43 (0.36) ng/mL, respectively. DISCUSSION:
      This study reports an appropriate safety and efficacy profile of a new
      formulation of coated chloroquine tablets for vivax malaria treatment in the
      Brazilian Amazon. The cure rates meet the WHO efficacy criteria, supporting
      current Brazilian guidelines and the use of the formulation for vivax malaria
      treatment. Nevertheless, further studies should be conducted to address adherence
      and the effectiveness of the formulation. Trial registration RBR-77q7t3-UTN:
      U1111-1121-2982. Registered 10th May 2011.

PMID- 27639848
TI  - Risk factors of early childhood caries among children in Beijing: a case-control
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) among children in
      Beijing, China, has been increasing continuously though slowly. However, there is
      limited information about ECC in Beijing. The aim of this study was to identify
      risk factors of dental caries among preschool children in Beijing. METHODS: For
      this case-control study, using a convenience sampling method, 787 children aged 3
      and 4 years old were recruited; 386 children with caries constituted the early
      childhood caries (ECC) group and 401children without caries formed the caries
      free (CF) group. Dental caries was diagnosed at the tooth surface level by two
      calibrated examiners according to the WHO 1997 criteria. A structured
      questionnaire was filled in by the children's main guardians. Mutans streptococci
      in non stimulated saliva and plaque were measured with the Dentocult SM Strip.
      Negative binomial regression was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS:
      Analysis of the data showed that level of mutans streptococci in dental plaque
      and history of dental visit were significantly correlated with the prevalence of
      caries and the mean dmfs score. CONCLUSIONS: High level of plaque mutans
      streptococci is a risk factor for ECC in preschool children in Beijing. And
      longitudinal studies are needed to identify the causal relationships between the
      levels of mutans streptococci in dental plaque and caries development.

PMID- 27639850
TI  - Critical assessment of the ubiquitous occurrence and fate of the insect repellent
      N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide in water.
AB  - The insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) is among the most frequently
      detected organic chemical contaminants in water across a wide range of
      geographies from around the world. These observations are raising critical
      questions and increasing concerns regarding potential environmental relevance,
      particularly when the emergence of severe neurological conditions attributed to
      the Zika virus has increased the use of insect repellents. After dermal
      application, DEET is washed from the skin when bathing and enters the municipal
      sewer system before discharge into the environment. Mainly measured by gas
      chromatography or liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS or LC
      MS), more than 200 peer-reviewed publications have already reported
      concentrations of DEET ranging ng/L to mg/L in several water matrices from North
      America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and more recently Africa and South America. While
      conventional wastewater treatment technology has limited capacity of removal,
      advanced technologies are capable of better attenuation and could lower the
      environmental discharge of organic contaminants, including DEET. For instance,
      adsorption on activated carbon, desalinating membrane processes (nanofiltration
      and reverse osmosis), ozonation, and advanced oxidation processes can achieve 50%
      to essentially 100% DEET attenuation. Despite the abundant literature on the
      topic, the ubiquity of DEET in the environment still raises questions due to the
      apparent lack of obvious spatio-temporal trends in concentrations measured in
      surface water, which does not fit the expected usage pattern of insect
      repellents. Moreover, two recent studies showed discrepancies between the
      concentrations obtained by GC-MS and LC-MS analyses. While the occurrence of DEET
      in the environment is well established, the concentrations reported should be
      interpreted cautiously, considering the disparities in methodologies applied and
      occurrence patterns observed. Therefore, this manuscript provides a critical
      overview of the origin of DEET in the environment, the relevant analytical
      methods, the occurrence reported in peer-reviewed literature, and the attenuation
      efficacy of water treatment processes.

PMID- 27639851
TI  - A portable mnemonic to facilitate checking for cognitive errors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although a clinician may have the intention of carrying out
      strategies to reduce cognitive errors, this intention may not be realized
      especially under heavy workload situations or following a period of
      interruptions. Implementing strategies to reduce cognitive errors in clinical
      setting may be facilitated by a portable mnemonic in the form of a checklist.
      METHODS: A 2-stage approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods was
      used in the development and evaluation of a mnemonic checklist. In the
      development stage, a focus-driven literature search and a face-to-face discussion
      with a content expert in cognitive errors were carried out. Categories of
      cognitive errors addressed and represented in the checklist were identified. In
      the judgment stage, the face and content validity of the categories of cognitive
      errors represented in the checklist were determined. This was accomplished
      through coding responses of a panel of experts in cognitive errors. RESULTS: From
      the development stage, a preliminary version of the checklist in the form of four
      questions represented by four specific letters was developed. The letter 'T' in
      the TWED checklist stands for 'Threat' (i.e., 'is there any life or limb threat
      that I need to rule out in this patient?'), 'W' for 'Wrong/What else' (i.e.,
      'What if I am wrong? What else could it be?'), 'E' for 'evidences' (i.e., 'Do I
      have sufficient evidences to support or exclude this diagnosis?'), and 'D' for
      'dispositional factors' (i.e., 'is there any dispositional factor that influence
      my decision'). In the judgment stage, the content validity of most categories of
      cognitive errors addressed in the checklist was rated highly in terms of their
      relevance and representativeness (with modified kappa values ranging from 0.65 to
      1.0). Based on the coding of responses from seven experts, this checklist was
      shown to be sufficiently comprehensive to activate the implementation intention
      of checking cognitive errors. CONCLUSION: The TWED checklist is a portable
      mnemonic checklist that can be used to activate implementation intentions for
      checking cognitive errors in clinical settings. While its mnemonic structure
      eases recall, its brevity makes it portable for quick application in every
      clinical case until it becomes habitual in daily clinical practice.

PMID- 27639849
TI  - The biodiversity hotspot as evolutionary hot-bed: spectacular radiation of Erica
      in the Cape Floristic Region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The disproportionate species richness of the world's biodiversity
      hotspots could be explained by low extinction (the evolutionary "museum") and/or
      high speciation (the "hot-bed") models. We test these models using the largest of
      the species rich plant groups that characterise the botanically diverse Cape
      Floristic Region (CFR): the genus Erica L. We generate a novel phylogenetic
      hypothesis informed by nuclear and plastid DNA sequences of c. 60 % of the c. 800
      Erica species (of which 690 are endemic to the CFR), and use this to estimate
      clade ages (using RELTIME; BEAST), net diversification rates (GEIGER), and shifts
      in rates of diversification in different areas (BAMM; MuSSE). RESULTS: The
      diversity of Erica species in the CFR is the result of a single radiation within
      the last c. 15 million years. Compared to ancestral lineages in the Palearctic,
      the rate of speciation accelerated across Africa and Madagascar, with a further
      burst of speciation within the CFR that also exceeds the net diversification
      rates of other Cape clades. CONCLUSIONS: Erica exemplifies the "hotbed" model of
      assemblage through recent speciation, implying that with the advent of the modern
      Cape a multitude of new niches opened and were successively occupied through
      local species diversification.

PMID- 27639852
TI  - Can erythrocytes release biologically active NO?
AB  - Under physiological conditions, endothelial cells and the endothelial nitric
      oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) are the main source of NO in the cardiovascular
      system. However, several other cell types have also been implicated in the NO
      dependent regulation of cell function, including erythrocytes. NO derived from
      red blood cells has been proposed to regulate erythrocyte membrane fluidity,
      inhibit platelet activation and induce vasodilation in hypoxic areas, but these
      proposals are highly controversial. In the current issue of Cell Communication
      and Signaling, an elegant study by Gambaryan et al., assayed NO production by
      erythrocytes by monitoring the activation of the platelet intracellular NO
      receptor, soluble guanylyl cyclase, and its downstream kinase protein kinase G.
      After systematically testing different combinations of erythrocyte/platelet
      suspensions, the authors found no evidence for platelet soluble guanylyl
      cyclase/protein kinase G activation by erythrocytes and conclude that
      erythrocytes do not release biologically active NO to inhibit platelet
      activation.

PMID- 27639853
TI  - Laquinimod efficacy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: how to understand
      why and if studies disagree.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The results of two randomized phase 3 trials that investigated the
      use of laquinimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis were
      analyzed using a propensity score model. METHODS: The propensity score in each
      study was defined as the probability of an individual patient being assigned to
      either the laquinimod or placebo study arm. The analysis included two main
      stages: (1) calculation of a propensity score for each patient, given a broad set
      of baseline covariates that included second-degree interactions, and (2)
      incorporation of the propensity score as another covariate into the predefined
      primary analysis model to test the treatment effect of laquinimod (0.6 mg/d) vs
      placebo on the annualized relapse rate (ARR). RESULTS: The BRAVO study showed
      baseline imbalances for T2 volume and the proportion of patients with gadolinium
      (Gd)-enhancing lesions, both parameters known to correlate with risk of relapse.
      Adjustment using the propensity score as a categorical variable showed that the
      estimated difference in ARR between laquinimod and placebo was 0.078, in favor of
      laquinimod. In ALLEGRO, the baseline Gd-enhancing lesion mean score was higher
      for placebo vs laquinimod. When the primary analysis model was adjusted for the
      propensity score as a categorical variable, the covariate adjusted difference in
      mean ARR between laquinimod and placebo was 0.084, in favor of laquinimod.
      CONCLUSIONS: Propensity scores addressing differences in baseline characteristics
      may be helpful to better understand whether observed treatment effect differences
      in randomized controlled trials are accurate results or result from inherent
      differences between patients with multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27639854
TI  - Identification of lipopeptides in Bacillus megaterium by two-step ultrafiltration
      and LC-ESI-MS/MS.
AB  - A two-step ultrafiltration and liquid chromatography-electronic spray ionization
      tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) were applied to investigate the nature of
      lipopeptides in the methanol extract harvested from marine Bacillus megaterium.
      The structure of lipopeptide homologs were characterized by using collision
      induced dissociation mass spectrometry analysis. Collectively, two kinds of
      linear fengycin A and B with a double bond were characterized for the first time
      besides the popular cyclic fengycin A and B with the difference in the amino acid
      at position 6 of the peptide moiety. It is worth noting that two kinds of linear
      isoforms of surfactins and two kinds of cyclic isoforms of esperin with a smaller
      peptide ring formed by the fifth L-Asp and beta-hydroxy fatty acid were also
      separated and identified in addition to the all seven kinds of cyclic isoforms of
      surfactins. Only one analogue (bacillomycin D) of iturin family was identified in
      this research. To our best knowledge, this is the first report that more than 40
      variants of lipopeptides from one strain of Bacillus were identified using our
      potent purification and identification methods. 

PMID- 27639855
TI  - Sociodemographic Disparities in Intervention Service Utilization in Families of
      Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
AB  - This study investigates whether sociodemographic factors are associated with
      utilization of intervention services for children with autism spectrum disorder
      (ASD) enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment
      Study. Maternal ethnicity, insurance status, and education for 696 families of
      children with ASD were available. Children of Black mothers entered intervention
      earlier compared to White mothers (2 vs. 2.6 years; p = 0.001). Having public
      insurance was associated with receiving <15 h/week of individual services, while
      having a Bachelor degree was associated with receiving <15 h/week of classroom
      based services. These differences suggest that SES may be a factor in utilization
      of services. Efforts should be made to ensure that interventions offered are
      culturally and linguistically accessible.

PMID- 27639856
TI  - Mitochondrial diabetes in Germany and Austria.

PMID- 27639857
TI  - Hyperkalemia in young children: blood pressure checked?
AB  - : Hyperkalemia in young children is a rare phenomenon and in many cases caused by
      hemolysis in the specimen due to difficulties in obtaining a sample. However,
      hyperkalemia can also be a sign of a rare Mendelian syndrome known as familial
      hyperkalemic hypertension or pseudohypoaldosteronism type II. This disease is
      characterized by hyperkalemia, hypertension, and mild hyperchloremic metabolic
      acidosis (with normal anion gap) despite normal glomerular filtration. Full
      recovery of these abnormalities with thiazide diuretics is essential not to miss
      the diagnosis of this syndrome. We describe two young patients with hyperkalemia
      as an incidental finding who were subsequently diagnosed with this rare endocrine
      disorder. Genetic testing revealed mutations in two recently discovered genes,
      the study of which has helped to unravel the pathophysiologic pathways.
      CONCLUSION: In patients with hyperkalemia and a normal glomerular filtration
      rate, the clinician should actively search for abnormalities in blood pressure
      since recognizing this condition can lead to simple, cheap, and effective
      treatment. What is Known: * True Hyperkalemia is rare in pediatrics and can be a
      sign of FHHt. What is New: * KLHL3 & CUL3 are recently discovered genes helping
      unravel the pathophysiologic pathway of FHHt.

PMID- 27639858
TI  - Uropathogen distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility in uncomplicated
      cystitis in Belgium, a high antibiotics prescribing country: 20-year
      surveillance.
AB  - Treatment of cystitis in primary care is usually empirical, guided by the prior
      probability of causal pathogens and their susceptibility. To re-evaluate
      empirical treatment guidelines, the actual distribution and susceptibility of
      uropathogens was examined and compared with two previous surveys in Belgium over
      the past 20 years. Because of the alarming increase in carriage of extended
      spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)- and carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli,
      this specific resistance was explored. From May 2014 to December 2015, 120
      general practitioners collected midstream urine specimens from adult pre- and
      postmenopausal female patients with suspected cystitis. A dipslide was inoculated
      and sent for microbiological analysis. Anal swabs were collected for ESBL and
      carbapenemase detection. Of 265 enrolled patients, 203 (79.3 %) had a positive
      culture. Escherichia coli (81.6 %) was the most frequently isolated uropathogen,
      followed by Staphylococcus saprophyticus (8 %), confirming the results of the
      1995 and 2005 surveys. The susceptibility of E. coli remained nearly 100 % for
      nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin, decreased from nearly 100 % in 1995 to 94.2 % for
      quinolones, from 73.2 to 55.5 % for ampicillin, and from 83.3 to 76.3 % for
      trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX). In E. coli present in positive urine
      cultures, ESBLs were found in 2.5 % and carbapenemases were absent. In fecal
      specimens, ESBL-producing E. coli were found in 7.9 % and carbapenemases were not
      detected. Over a 20-year period, the distribution of uropathogens in women with
      cystitis remained unchanged. Susceptibility remained excellent for nitrofurantoin
      and fosfomycin. For TMP-SMX, ampicillin, and quinolones, there was a decrease.

PMID- 27639860
TI  - Wave of chaos in a spatial eco-epidemiological system: Generating realistic
      patterns of patchiness in rabbit-lynx dynamics.
AB  - In the present paper, we propose and analyze an eco-epidemiological model with
      diffusion to study the dynamics of rabbit populations which are consumed by lynx
      populations. Existence, boundedness, stability and bifurcation analyses of
      solutions for the proposed rabbit-lynx model are performed. Results show that in
      the presence of diffusion the model has the potential of exhibiting Turing
      instability. Numerical results (finite difference and finite element methods)
      reveal the existence of the wave of chaos and this appears to be a dominant mode
      of disease dispersal. We also show the mechanism of spatiotemporal pattern
      formation resulting from the Hopf bifurcation analysis, which can be a potential
      candidate for understanding the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of eco
      epidemiological systems. Implications of the asymptotic transmission rate on
      disease eradication among rabbit population which in turn enhances the survival
      of Iberian lynx are discussed.

PMID- 27639859
TI  - Increasing incidence of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella
      pneumoniae in Belgian hospitals.
AB  - Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae are increasingly reported worldwide.
      The aim of the study was to determine the incidence and molecular epidemiology of
      carbapenemase-producing (CP) Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae (CP-E/K)
      in Belgium. Eleven hospital-based laboratories collected carbapenem non
      susceptible (CNS) isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae detected in clinical
      specimens from January 2013 to December 2014. All CNS strains were tested for
      carbapenemase production and typed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) for a 6
      month period as part of the European Survey on Carbapenemase-Producing
      Enterobacteriaceae in Europe (EuSCAPE) structured survey. In addition, an equal
      number of carbapenem-susceptible isolates collected were preserved as a control
      group for risk factor analysis. The overall incidence rate of CP-E/K isolates in
      hospitals increased from 0.124 in 2013 to 0.223 per 1000 admissions in 2014. From
      November 2013 to April 2014, 30 CP K. pneumoniae [OXA-48 (n = 16), KPC (n = 13),
      OXA-427 (n = 1)] and five CP E. coli [OXA-48 (n = 3), NDM (n = 1), OXA-427 (n =
      1)] isolates were detected in ten hospitals. The 16 OXA-48-producing K.
      pneumoniae strains were distributed into eight sequence types (STs), while the 13
      KPC-producing K. pneumoniae clustered into three STs dominated by ST512 (n = 7)
      and ST101 (n = 5). Compared to controls, we observed among CP-E/K carriers
      significantly higher proportion of males, respiratory origins, previous
      hospitalization, nosocomial setting, and a significantly lower proportion of
      bloodstream infections. Our study confirms the rapid spread of CP-E/K in Belgian
      hospitals and the urgent need for a well-structured and coordinated national
      surveillance plan in order to limit their dissemination.

PMID- 27639861
TI  - Rates and characteristics of elderly suicide in China, 2013-14.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of older adults (OAs) is growing rapidly and the elderly
      suicide rate (ESR) is highest among all age-groups in China. Examining the
      epidemiology of elderly suicide (ES) may facilitate population-specific suicide
      prevention efforts, however, little is known about the patterns of ES in China.
      OBJECTIVE: To describe the rates and characteristics of ES in China during 2013
      14. METHODS: Suicide mortality data by gender, quinquennial age-group, residence
      (urban/rural) and geographic location (east/central/west) were obtained from
      China's Integrated National Mortality Surveillance System for 2013-14. Crude ESRs
      of OAs aged 65 years or above were standardized to the 2010 China's Census
      population and adjusted for under-reporting. RESULTS: While OAs comprised 8.9% of
      the Chinese population, they represented 38.2% of suicide deaths. The average
      annual ESR in China was 34.5 per 100000 in 2013-14. ESRs varied widely across OA
      subgroups, with the highest rates in central rural men (67.1) and women (53.1),
      and the lowest rate in eastern urban women (13.6). Male gender (incident rate
      ratio [IRR]=1.47), every five-year increase in age (IRR=1.33), rural residence
      (IRR=1.83), and geographic location of central China (IRR=1.93) were
      significantly associated with increased number of ESs. LIMITATIONS: Information
      on means of ES are lacking in the data source. CONCLUSIONS: ESs
      disproportionately account for a large portion of China's current total suicides,
      and ESR, particularly in central rural OAs, is very high in China. Prevention of
      ES should be given priority as an important public health issue in China. Central
      rural OAs are key target population for current ES prevention.

PMID- 27639862
TI  - Functional alterations of fronto-limbic circuit and default mode network systems
      in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder: A meta
      analysis of resting-state fMRI data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The neurobiological mechanisms of depression are increasingly being
      explored through resting-state brain imaging studies. However, resting-state fMRI
      findings have varied, perhaps because of differences between study populations,
      which included the disorder course and medication use. The aim of our study was
      to integrate studies of resting-state fMRI and explore the alterations of
      abnormal brain activity in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major
      depressive disorder. METHODS: Relevant imaging reports in English were searched,
      retrieved, selected and subjected to analysis by activation likelihood
      estimation, a coordinate-based meta-analysis technique (final sample, 31
      studies). Coordinates extracted from the original reports were assigned to two
      categories based on effect directionality. RESULTS: Compared with healthy
      controls, the first-episode, medication-naive major depressive disorder patients
      showed decreased brain activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, superior
      temporal gyrus, posterior precuneus, and posterior cingulate, as well as in
      visual areas within the occipital lobe, lingual gyrus, and fusiform gyrus, and
      increased activity in the putamen and anterior precuneus. LIMITATIONS: Not every
      study that has reported relevant data met the inclusion criteria. CONCLUSION:
      Resting-state functional alterations were located mainly in the fronto-limbic
      system, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and putamen, and in the
      default mode network, namely the precuneus and superior/middle temporal gyrus.
      Abnormal functional alterations of the fronto-limbic circuit and default mode
      network may be characteristic of first-episode, drug-naive major depressive
      disorder patients.

PMID- 27639863
TI  - T1-weighted MR imaging of glioma at 3T: a comparative study of 3D MPRAGE vs.
      conventional 2D spin-echo imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate difference between magnetization-prepared
      rapid gradient-echo imaging (MPRAGE) and spin-echo (SE) imaging for evaluating
      glioma on pre-contrast-enhanced (CE) and post-CE T1-weighted images at 3 T.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively assessed pre-CE and post-CE T1-weighted
      images for tumor contrast in 64 consecutive glioma patients. RESULTS: In the
      nonenhancing tumors, the contrast was significantly clearer in MPRAGE than SE. In
      the enhancing tumors, post-CE contrast ratio was significantly higher in SE than
      MPRAGE, but when subtraction images are evaluated, the difference got smaller.
      CONCLUSION: MPRAGE can be a good substitute of SE for T1-weighted imaging of
      glioma.

PMID- 27639864
TI  - The contribution of CT and MRI in staging, treatment planning and prognosis
      prediction of malignant tumors of external auditory canal.
AB  - Carcinomas of external auditory canal (EAC) are rare. Radiological imaging
      particular in computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays
      an important role in the staging, treatment planning and follow up of the
      patients with malignant EAC tumor. This article aims to review the role of CT and
      MRI in the describing different tumor growth pattern, tumor staging, treatment
      planning, follow up and predicting the prognosis of malignant tumors of EAC.

PMID- 27639865
TI  - Erratum to: Molecular Characterization of Cyclamen Species Collected from
      Different Parts of Turkey by RAPD and SRAP Markers.

PMID- 27639866
TI  - Awareness, Perception of Risk and Behaviors Related to Retail Marijuana Among a
      Sample of Colorado Youth.
AB  - Youth marijuana use is a growing concern with increasingly permissive views
      towards marijuana use. Little is known about attitudes and beliefs toward
      marijuana use among youth in the context of legalization. This study describes
      youth attitudes and beliefs about health risks associated with marijuana use,
      social norms of peer use, conversations with parents about marijuana use, and
      knowledge of recreational marijuana laws, using a venue-day-time sampling
      approach with diverse Colorado youth (n = 241) post-legalization. We considered
      demographic (gender, racial/ethnic and geographic) differences in knowledge of
      laws and perceptions of risk using bivariate and multivariate analyses. While
      many youth are knowledgeable about retail marijuana laws in Colorado, males were
      2.12 times more likely to be familiar with laws compared to females. While 40 %
      of the sample perceived a moderate to high risk from weekly marijuana consumption
      and 57 % from daily consumption, fewer males perceived these risks. Over 3/4 of
      the sample indicate they discuss marijuana with parents, but many fewer indicate
      discussing consequences and health effects of use with parents. Results suggest
      opportunities for parents and clinicians to influence youth attitudes and
      behaviors towards marijuana use. It may be worthwhile to target educational
      campaigns to different demographic groups, and to offer training and capacity
      building for parents to discuss marijuana with their teenaged children.

PMID- 27639867
TI  - Prevalence of Sports Injuries Among 13- to 15-Year-Old Students in 25 Low- and
      Middle-Income Countries.
AB  - The goal of this study was to compare the sex-specific prevalence rate of serious
      sports injuries in the past year among students ages 13-15 years from 25 low- and
      middle-income countries (LMICs) globally. Data from 46,922 nationally
      representative students who participated in the Global School-based Student
      Health Survey (GSHS) were analyzed using complex samples analysis. The GSHS
      defines injuries as serious when they cause at least one full day of missed
      school or usual activities or require clinical treatment. Students reporting more
      than one serious injury in the past year are asked about the single most serious
      injury. The proportion of students reporting at least one serious injury in the
      past year ranged from 15-71 % (median 44 %) among boys and 8-70 % (median 30 %)
      among girls. The proportion of most-serious injuries in the past year that were
      sports-related ranged from 25-60 % among injured boys (median 35 %) and 12-56 %
      among injured girls (median 24 %). The most common types of sports-related
      injuries were broken bones and dislocated joints, reported by 13-62 % (median 28
      %) of boys with sports injuries and 10-86 % (median 25 %) of girls with sports
      injuries. Although the annual injury rates among early adolescents vary widely
      between countries, the GSHS shows that sports injuries are common globally among
      both male and female middle school students. Understanding global trends in the
      health risks for various population groups, such as adolescents, allows community
      health partnerships to proactively address health needs in the communities they
      serve.

PMID- 27639868
TI  - Addressing the Health Needs of High-Risk Filipino Americans in the Greater
      Philadelphia Region.
AB  - Filipino Americans represent one of the largest and most diverse immigrant
      populations in the United States. It has been established that chronic diseases
      are a significant public health issue affecting this population. We conducted a
      health needs assessment of 200 Filipino Americans aged 18 years or older residing
      in the greater Philadelphia region. Study participants were recruited from eight
      Filipino community-based organizations in the region. Information about
      demographic and acculturative characteristics, health behaviors, self-reported
      chronic health conditions, and chronic disease perception were collected.
      Participants were older and highly acculturated. With regards to health
      behaviors, several did not meet dietary fruit and vegetables intake and physical
      activity guidelines. The top five health conditions were high blood pressure
      (67.5 %), high blood cholesterol (57.1 %), arthritis (28.9 %), diabetes (21.8 %),
      and cancer (14.7 %). Majority of participants perceived high blood pressure, high
      blood cholesterol, and diabetes to be a concern in their community, and had high
      awareness of the risk factors associated with these diseases. Reported rates of
      hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes suggest that lifestyle interventions
      targeting diet and physical activity, in addition to health education, are needed
      in this population.

PMID- 27639869
TI  - Type 1 diabetes in Sardinia: facts and hypotheses in the context of worldwide
      epidemiological data.
AB  - Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from an autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing
      beta cells that requires lifelong insulin treatment. While significant advances
      have been achieved in treatment, prevention of complications and quality of life
      in diabetic people, the identification of environmental triggers of the disease
      is far more complex. The island of Sardinia has the second highest incidence of
      T1D in the world (45/100,000), right after Finland (64.2/100,000). The genetic
      background as well as the environment of the island's inhabitants makes it an
      ideal region for investigating environmental, immunological and genetic factors
      related to the etiopathogenesis of T1D. Several epidemiological studies,
      conducted over the years, have shown that exposures to important known
      environmental risk factors have changed over time, including nutritional factors,
      pollution, chemicals, toxins and infectious diseases in early life. These
      environmental risk factors might be involved in T1D pathogenesis, as they might
      initiate autoimmunity or accelerate and precipitate an already ongoing beta cell
      destruction. In terms of environmental factors, Sardinia is also particular in
      terms of the incidence of infection with Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis
      (MAP) that recent studies have linked to T1D in the Sardinian population.
      Furthermore, the unique geochemical profile of Sardinia, with its particular
      density of heavy metals, leads to the assumption that exposure of the Sardinian
      population to heavy metals could also affect T1D incidence. These factors lead us
      to hypothesize that T1D incidence in Sardinia may be affected by the exposure to
      multifactorial agents, such as MAP, common viruses and heavy metals.

PMID- 27639870
TI  - The casuistic method of practical ethics.
AB  - This essay concerns itself with the methodology of practical ethics. There are a
      variety of methods employed in ethics. Although none have been firmly established
      as dominant, it is generally agreed that casuistry, or the case-based method, is
      one important strategy commonly used for resolving ethical issues. Casuists
      compare the case under consideration to a relevantly similar (analogous)
      precedent case in which judgements have already been made, and they use these
      earlier judgements to determine the proper resolution of the present case. In
      this article, I try to provide a better understanding of the nature of
      contemporary casuistry. To accomplish this, I explain (in the first section) the
      basic features of casuistic reasoning. The second section focuses on the logic of
      casuistry. By assessing casuistic reasoning from the logical viewpoint, casuistry
      can be reconstructed as a logically correct method of reasoning. The third
      section looks at casuistry from the epistemic point of view and investigates the
      justificatory force of casuistic reasoning. Finally, in the fourth section, I
      show the usefulness of formal casuistry. 

PMID- 27639871
TI  - Sequential Combination Therapy Versus Monotherapy: A Lack of Benefit in Time to
      Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Related Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The benefits of combination therapy with infliximab and azathioprine
      have been demonstrated in clinical trials of patients with ulcerative colitis
      (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Concerns remain regarding the ideal duration and
      benefits of adding therapies in a sequential manner. AIMS: We aim to compare long
      term outcomes among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with
      sequentially added combination therapy or monotherapy strategies . METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective cohort study involving adult patients with UC and CD.
      One cohort included patients treated with infliximab, adalimumab, or a thiopurine
      as monotherapy. A second cohort included patients treated with sequentially added
      combination therapy including infliximab or adalimumab and a thiopurine. The
      primary outcome was the rate of IBD-related surgery. RESULTS: Among 462 patients,
      181 (39 %) were treated with combination therapy. 12 % of patients treated with
      combination therapy underwent an IBD-related surgery compared to 18 % of patients
      treated with monotherapy (p = 0.091), with no overall difference in time to IBD
      related surgery demonstrated (log-rank test, p = 0.063). When evaluating the
      subtypes of IBD, there was a significant benefit in time to IBD-related surgery
      among patients with CD treated with sequentially added combination therapy (HR
      0.46, 95 % CI 0.25-0.85) but not UC (HR 0.82, 95 % CI 0.30-2.22). CONCLUSIONS:
      The benefits of sequentially added combination therapy seem blunted when
      evaluating long-term clinical outcomes. This may be due to a decreased
      effectiveness of sequential combination therapy, a loss of benefit over time, or
      a differential effect between subtypes of IBD.

PMID- 27639872
TI  - Association of Serum Magnesium on Mortality in Patients Admitted to the Intensive
      Cardiac Care Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although electrolyte disturbances may affect cardiac action
      potential, little is known about the association between serum magnesium and
      corrected QT (QTc) interval as well as clinical outcomes. METHODS: A consecutive
      8498 patients admitted to the Mayo Clinic Hospital-Rochester cardiac care unit
      (CCU) from January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2013 with 2 or more documented
      serum magnesium levels, were studied to test the hypothesis that serum magnesium
      levels are associated with in-hospital mortality, sudden cardiac death, and QTc
      interval. RESULTS: Patients were 67 +/- 15 years; 62.2% were male. The primary
      diagnoses for CCU admissions were acute myocardial infarction (50.7%) and acute
      decompensated heart failure (42.5%), respectively. Patients with higher magnesium
      levels were older, more likely male, and had lower glomerular filtration rates.
      After multivariate analyses adjusted for clinical characteristics including
      kidney disease and serum potassium, admission serum magnesium levels were not
      associated with QTc interval or sudden cardiac death. However, the admission
      magnesium levels >=2.4 mg/dL were independently associated with an increase in
      mortality when compared with the reference level (2.0 to <2.2 mg/dL), having an
      adjusted odds ratio of 1.80 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.25-2.59. The
      sensitivity analysis examining the association between postadmission magnesium
      and analysis that excluded patients with kidney failure and those with abnormal
      serum potassium yielded similar results. CONCLUSION: This retrospective study
      unexpectedly observed no association between serum magnesium levels and QTc
      interval or sudden cardiac death. However, serum magnesium >=2.4 mg/dL was an
      independent predictor of increased hospital morality among CCU patients.

PMID- 27639874
TI  - Disposing of Unused Medications: Have We Been Doing It All Wrong?

PMID- 27639875
TI  - Use of Ultrasound by Internists to Improve Diagnostic Small Joint Aspiration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary care internists are often the first to see patients with an
      initial episode of crystalline arthritis. Timely aspiration of the affected joint
      for definitive diagnosis and treatment in the office is desirable but can be
      difficult, especially if the joint is small, surrounded by soft tissue swelling
      distorting landmarks, and is very painful to move or palpate. METHODS: We
      compared the likelihood of successful aspiration of the great toe
      metatarsophalangeal joint by primary care internists for the diagnosis of
      potential crystalline arthritis by either landmark identification of the joint
      space or by employing ultrasound to identify the joint space. RESULTS: Aspiration
      was performed by one of 2 primary care internists using landmarks and palpation
      to identify the joint space in 27 patients with suspected crystalline arthritis
      affecting the first metatarsophalangeal joint. A sample adequate for diagnosis by
      polarized light microscopic crystal analysis was obtained in 14 of the 27
      aspirations (52%) when landmarks alone were used to locate the joint space. In an
      additional 27 patients with suspected crystalline arthritis affecting the first
      metatarsophalangeal joint, ultrasound was used to identify the joint space and
      resulted in a significant increase in the success of obtaining an adequate
      diagnostic sample, which was obtained in 25 of the 27 aspirations (93%).
      CONCLUSIONS: The primary care internist can easily provide quality and timely
      small joint diagnostic aspiration when ultrasound is used to identify the
      location of the joint space.

PMID- 27639873
TI  - Isolated Systolic Hypertension: An Update After SPRINT.
AB  - Isolated systolic hypertension is the most common hemodynamic form of
      hypertension in the elderly. With a rapidly aging population, the prevalence of
      hypertension, particularly isolated systolic hypertension, is expected to
      increase substantially. This phenomenon of increasing systolic pressure in the
      elderly is believed to be secondary to pathophysiological changes of aging as
      well as modifiable risk factors. Isolated systolic hypertension is associated
      with substantial mortality and morbidity, particularly of cerebrovascular
      disease. It is a rapidly growing public health concern and its management
      continues to remain a challenge to practicing physicians. Recent studies like the
      Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) and Heart Outcomes Prevention
      Evaluation (HOPE)-3 have implications for antihypertensive therapy in general and
      for the management of isolated systolic hypertension in particular. In this
      article we will review: 1) epidemiology and pathophysiologic mechanisms, 2)
      impact of isolated systolic hypertension on cardiovascular outcomes, 3) optimal
      management strategies, and 4) systolic blood pressure goals in the light of
      SPRINT and HOPE 3 trials.

PMID- 27639876
TI  - Nutritional status is a predictor of outcome in cancer patients, irrespective of
      stage.

PMID- 27639877
TI  - Mammographic extent of microcalcifications and oestrogen receptor expression
      affect preoperative breast carcinoma in situ size estimation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to establish which clinical, radiologic and
      pathologic factors could predict the risk of under- and overestimation of the
      breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) size when preoperatively measuring the
      maximum mammographic extent of microcalcifications (MEM). METHODS: We made a
      retrospective review of patients with a DCIS treated in our Breast Unit between
      May 2005 and May 2012. Clinical, pathologic and radiologic data were evaluated as
      possible predictive factors for over- or underestimation of DCIS size when
      measuring MEM. RESULTS: We obtained precise measurements of MEM in 82 patients
      (84 DCIS lesions). Maximum MEM measurement correctly estimated maximum pathology
      size in 57 lesions (68.7 %). Patients with a correctly estimated DCIS, with an
      underestimated DCIS and with an overestimated DCIS significantly differed in DCIS
      ER expression (p = 0.022) and in maximum MEM measurement (p = 0.000).
      Constructing two ROC curves, we found that a maximum MEM measurement >=25 mm and
      ER expression >=90 % were both discrimination points for overestimation and ER <=
      45 % was a discrimination point for underestimation. Using these cutoff points,
      we defined four groups of patients with different risks of over- and
      underestimation. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of over- or underestimation of DCIS size
      through MEM measurement depends on DCIS ER expression and MEM itself. Identifying
      which patients are at a significant risk of over- or underestimation could help
      the breast surgeon when discussing the surgical options with the patient.

PMID- 27639878
TI  - Main anatomical and histological features of the tonsils in the camel (Camelus
      dromedarius).
AB  - The tonsils, located around the pharyngeal cavity, constitute the first defence
      barrier against intruding microorganisms and antigens. The present work aimed to
      study the anatomical and histological aspects of camel tonsils in order to
      elucidate their role. The study was carried out on 12 camel heads fixed by
      infusion with 10 % neutral buffered formalin. A careful dissection of the oral
      cavity, the soft palate and the pharynx was conducted to explore the
      morphological aspect of different tonsils. Sagittal sections of some camel heads
      were also performed to explore their internal conformation, whereas the
      histological study was carried out on five specimens. All the six types of
      tonsils exist in the camel. Compared to other domestic species, they are well
      developed and all visible particularly the palatine one. The lingual, palatine,
      velar and paraepiglottic tonsils are arranged into closely assembled lymphoid
      follicles and show multitude crypt opennings into the oropharyngeal tube. The
      crypts epithelium is infiltrated with lymphoid cells allowing close contact with
      antigens. While the nasopharynx tonsils (pharyngeal and tubal) include loosely
      connected follicles which extend into the overlaying epithelium. The relatively
      great development and particular arrangement of the tonsils in the camel as well
      as the abundance of cryptic formations in all these tonsils constitute another
      aspect of adaptation and resistance of this species to its environment.

PMID- 27639880
TI  - Affective touch awareness in mental health and disease relates to autistic traits
      - An explorative neurophysiological investigation.
AB  - Affective touch is important for social interaction within families and groups
      and there is evidence that unmyelinated C tactile fibers are involved in this
      process. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders show alterations in the
      perception and processing of affective touch. sThus, we hypothesized that
      affective touch awareness based on C tactile fiber activation is impaired in
      individuals with high levels of autistic trait. The pleasantness perception of
      optimal and suboptimal C tactile stimuli was tested in an explorative study in 70
      patients recruited from an outpatient psychotherapy clinic and 69 healthy
      comparison subjects. All participants completed questionnaires about autistic
      traits, depressive symptomatology, childhood maltreatment, and about the daily
      amount of touch. Relative to comparison subjects, patients reported engaging in
      touch less frequently in daily life and rated touch less pleasant. Reduced
      valence ratings of touch were explained by childhood maltreatment but not by any
      particular disorder or depression severity. Among all tested variables, the
      affective touch awareness correlated with autistic traits only - in patients as
      well as in comparison subjects. Taken together, individuals with mental health
      issues have a lower baseline of expression and reception of affective touch.
      Autistic traits and childhood maltreatment modulate the experience of affective
      touch.

PMID- 27639879
TI  - Mid-term results for metaphyseal sleeves in revision knee surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Metaphyseal titanium sleeves have been used to provide cementless
      fixation in challenging bone defects in revision knee arthroplasty. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the mid-term results of radiological and clinical
      outcomes, for metaphyseal sleeves in type 1B and 2 defects of tibia and femur
      under the hypothesis that they would provide stable and prolonged fixation.
      METHODS: One hundred and thirty-four patients were included in a prospective
      study to evaluate the outcomes of knee revision with sleeves, together with stems
      and varus-valgus constrained mobile bearing prosthesis. Median follow-up was 71.5
      months (range 36-107). Analysis included American Knee Society Score (KSS),
      Western Ontario and Mcmaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), SF12
      Health Survey and radiographic assessment. RESULTS: All clinical scores improved
      significantly in all patients during the follow-up. The median of Knee KSS
      increased from 33 to 78 and functional KSS from 30 to 80. The median of WOMAC
      pain index changed from 12 to 4; pre-operative median of WOMAC stiffness and
      WOMAC function score improved from 5 to 2 and from 45 to 14, respectively. The
      median of physical SF12 varied from 27 to 44, while mental SF-12 from 43 to 54.
      Radiological evaluation showed optimal osseous integration in all patients, and
      neither implant migration nor progressive radiolucency around components was
      observed. Complications included three cases of end-of-stem pain at tibial side
      and two revisions due to septic loosening in the first post-operative year. No
      aseptic loosening was reported. CONCLUSION: The use of metaphyseal sleeves, in
      combination with uncemented stems and varus-valgus constrained components with
      rotating platform, has shown excellent mid-term results allowing osseous ingrowth
      with no evidence of osteolysis or displacement. This is a promising option for
      better implant fixation in revision TKA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Case series with no
      comparison group, Level IV.

PMID- 27639881
TI  - Isoacceptor specific characterization of tRNA aminoacylation and misacylation in
      vivo.
AB  - Amino acid misincorporation during protein synthesis occurs due to misacylation
      of tRNAs or defects in decoding at the ribosome. While misincorporation of amino
      acids has been observed in a variety of contexts, less work has been done to
      directly assess the extent to which specific tRNAs are misacylated in vivo, and
      the identity of the misacylated amino acid moiety. Here we describe tRNA
      isoacceptor specific aminoacylation profiling (ISAP), a method to identify and
      quantify the amino acids attached to a tRNA species in vivo. ISAP allows
      compilation of aminoacylation profiles for specific isoacceptors tRNAs. To
      demonstrate the efficacy and broad applicability of ISAP, tRNAPhe and tRNATyr
      species were isolated from total aminoacyl-tRNA extracted from both yeast and
      Escherichia coli. Isolated aminoacyl-tRNAs were washed until free of detectable
      unbound amino acid and subsequently deacylated. Free amino acids from the
      deacylated fraction were then identified and quantified by mass spectrometry.
      Using ISAP allowed quantification of the effects of quality control on the
      accumulation of misacylated tRNA species under different growth conditions.

PMID- 27639883
TI  - [Care avoiders between two stools].

PMID- 27639882
TI  - Determining the fidelity of tRNA aminoacylation via microarrays.
AB  - The fidelity of tRNA aminoacylation is a critical determinant for the ultimate
      accuracy of protein synthesis. Although aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are assumed to
      consistently maintain high tRNA charging fidelity, recent evidence has
      demonstrated that the fidelity of the aminoacylation reaction can be actively
      regulated and liable to change. Accordingly, the ability to conveniently assay
      the fidelity of tRNA charging is becoming increasingly relevant for studying
      mistranslation. Here we describe a combined radioactivity and microarray based
      method that can quantitatively elucidate which individual cognate or noncognate
      tRNA isoacceptors are charged with amino acid. In this technique, in vitro tRNA
      charging reactions or in vivo pulse-labeling is performed using a radiolabeled
      amino acid and tRNA microarrays are used to distinguish tRNA isoacceptors in
      total tRNA. During the tRNA array hybridization, each tRNA will hybridize to its
      unique probe and subsequent phosphorimaging of the array can determine which
      tRNAs were aminoacylated with the radiolabeled amino acid. The method can be used
      to assess the fidelity of tRNA charging in vivo or in vitro and can be applied to
      any organism with annotated tRNA genes.

PMID- 27639884
TI  - [Working methods of ambulatory psychiatric emergency services in the
      Netherlands].
AB  - BACKGROUND: No recent information is available concerning the working methods of
      the ambulatory psychiatric emergency services in The Netherlands.<br/> AIM: To
      obtain insight into the working methods of the ambulatory psychiatric emergency
      services.<br/> METHOD: We performed a descriptive research.<br/> RESULTS: Twenty
      of the 28 ambulatory psychiatric emergency services participated in our study
      (more than 71 %). The study revealed that some of the ambulatory psychiatric
      emergency services used differing procedures. However, all the services had a
      common target: they dealt with young people, adults and the elderly. In half of
      the organisations it was the community mental health nurse who initially went
      alone to visit a prospective patient. There are large differences in the number
      of face-to-face contacts made by emergency services and in the type of medication
      provided before the patient was taken by ambulance to a psychiatric
      hospital.<br/> CONCLUSION: In our study we describe the working methods used by
      several of the ambulatory psychiatric emergency services in the Netherlands.
      However, our investigation produced only limited information because
      participating institutions were often unable to provide the information we
      requested and/or they did not record the methods they had used. More attention
      needs to be given to the best way of dealing with patients who already have an
      official 'emergency card'; in addition, more information is required about
      whether the medication used by the emergency services influenced the subsequent
      course of the treatment that a patient received. In view of the current situation
      certain important features of the emergency services such as the quality of care
      they provided remains underexposed.

PMID- 27639885
TI  - [Associations of short-term evaluation assessments and patient characteristics
      with the use of coercive measures].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dutch mental health care institutes are currently making a tremendous
      effort to reduce the number of coercive measures they impose, such as seclusion.
      Despite this effort, a group of patients are still being subjected to enforced
      medication or seclusion. AIM: To obtain more knowledge about which patient
      characteristics are associated with coercive measures and thereby to identify
      signs that could be acted upon at an earlier stage to prevent deterioration of
      the patient's condition and reduce the need for coercive measures. METHOD: We
      performed a prospective, naturalistic three-month study involving patients in two
      acute psychiatric admission wards. To collect the data we required, we used two
      short-term risk-assessment instruments: the Broset Violence Checklist (BVC) and
      the Kennedy Axis V (KA-V). By means of statistical analyses we investigated which
      patient characteristics were associated with the use of coercive measures.
      RESULTS: Of the 179 patients, 52 patients (29%) were subjected to a coercive
      measure during the admission procedure. The following patient characteristics
      were found to be associated with coercive measures: a bipolar disorder,
      involuntarily admission, display of physical violence just before admission,
      scores on the BVC and the KA-V items assessing 'social skills' and 'violence'.
      The two BVC items 'attacks on objects' and 'display of physical violence just
      before admission' were the ones most strongly associated with seclusion.
      CONCLUSION: Although the sensitivity of the regression model was modest, the
      associated patient characteristics, combined with the two short-term risk
      assessment scores, may be helpful for identifying at an early stage those
      patients who run a high risk of being subjected to coercive measures.

PMID- 27639886
TI  - [Prolactin, antipsychotics and breast cancer: is there a connection?].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of antipsychotics can result in elevated prolactin levels or
      hyperprolactinemia. An increasing number of studies suggests that prolactin plays
      a role in mammary carcinogenesis, leading to concerns about a possible
      relationship between antipsychotics and breast cancer.<br/> AIM: To provide an
      overview of recent literature regarding the relationship between prolactin,
      antipsychotics and breast cancer and an association between schizophrenia and
      breast cancer.<br/> METHOD: We used PubMed to search for English- or Dutch
      language articles concerning breast cancer risk (factors), prolactin,
      antipsychotics and schizophrenia.<br/> RESULTS: Studies have not shown any causal
      link between antipsychotics and the development of breastcancer. Moreover,
      antipsychotic medication seems to have no influence on locally produced prolactin
      - which some experts believe plays a role in the tumor genesis - and certain
      antipsychotics actually provide protection against breast cancer. There are
      conflicting reports on the prevalence of breast cancer among patients with
      schizophrenia. Nevertheless, research has revealed that several well-known risk
      factors for breast cancer (such as an unhealthy lifestyle) are more prevalent in
      patients with schizophrenia.<br/> CONCLUSION: There is no conclusive evidence
      that antipsychotic medication that raises prolactin levels increases the risk of
      breast cancer. Nevertheless, clinicians should always be cautious about
      prescribing antipsychotics for breast cancer patients. In our view, clinicians
      should always treat breast cancer risk factors as efficiently as possible,
      particularly when attending to patients who have schizophrenia.

PMID- 27639887
TI  - [Compulsory admissions from a psychiatric ward and an A&E ward in a general
      hospital (2005-2014)].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Very little information is available regarding the number of
      compulsory admissions (ca) from psychiatric wards and a&e wards. Nevertheless,
      the incidence of such admissions seems to be increasing. AIM: To estimate the
      incidence of ca and identify the underlying diagnoses of patients in the
      Psychiatric ward and the a&e ward of the Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden over a 10
      year period. METHOD: We studied the records of all patients who were compulsorily
      referred from the psychiatric ward and the a&e ward over the period 2005-2014.
      RESULTS: There was an increase in the number of ca from both the the psychiatric
      and the a&e ward. The procedure for ca was instituted slightly more often for men
      than for women. Patients in the a&e ward suffered mainly from psychotic disorders
      and disorders related to substance abuse. Patients in the psychiatric ward had
      mainly mood and psychotic disorders. CONCLUSION: The results closely resemble the
      data from comparable studies. It was very unusual for patients admitted
      compulsory from the Psychiatric ward to be suffering from substance-related
      disorders.

PMID- 27639888
TI  - [Megacisterna magna as incidental finding in a boy with ADHD].
AB  - In this case report we describe how a 13-year-old boy with a complex development
      profile was diagnosed with adhd and who was also found to have a megacisterna
      magna, a posterior fossa anomaly in the Dandy-Walker continuum. We searched the
      literature for reports of other patients who had this (mild) brain anomaly along
      with psychiatric problems in general and attention problems in particular. Our
      search of the literature suggested a possible link between the two diagnostic
      entities. 

PMID- 27639889
TI  - ['Giving inappropriate and/or misleading answers'; is the era of the Ganser
      syndrome finally over?].
AB  - The Ganser syndrome was long regarded as an entity that had as its core symptom
      'giving inappropriate and/or misleading answers' to questions. In the literature
      we found confusion regarding the diagnostic and etiological criteria. We describe
      the case of an 53-year-old male patient who displayed a number of remarkable
      symptoms during a delirious episode which ended when the symptoms faded. By
      reviewing the recent literature, we outline the evolution in the use of the
      symptom and syndrome diagnosis. 

PMID- 27639890
TI  - Hydrothermal carbon nanosphere-based agglomerated anion exchanger for ion
      chromatography.
AB  - This work reports the application of hydrothermal carbon nanospheres (HCNSs) as
      stationary phases in ion chromatography. HCNSs were facilely quaternized through
      polycondensation of methylamine and 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether. The
      quaternization was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy. Owing to the electrostatic interaction, quaternized
      HCNSs were equably attached onto the surface of sulfonated polystyrene
      divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) beads to construct the anion exchangers. The aggregation
      was verified by scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis. Common
      anions, aliphatic monocarboxylic acids, polarizable anions, and aromatic acids
      were well separated on the stationary phases with good stability and symmetry.
      The prepared column was further applied to detect phosphate content in Cola drink
      samples. The limit of detection (S/N=3) was 0.09mg/L, and the relative standard
      deviation (n=10) of retention time was 0.31%. The average recovery was 99.58%.

PMID- 27639892
TI  - Risk of second non-breast cancer among patients treated with and without
      postoperative radiotherapy for primary breast cancer: A systematic review and
      meta-analysis of population-based studies including 522,739 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiotherapy plays an essential role in early breast
      cancer treatment, but is also associated with an increased risk of second
      malignancies decades after the exposure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically
      searched the data-bases Medline/Pubmed, Cochrane, Embase, and Cinahl, for cohort
      studies estimating the risk of second non-breast cancer after primary breast
      cancer. Every included study was to report the standardized incidence ratio [SIR]
      of second cancers, comparing the risk among either irradiated or unirradiated
      female breast cancer patients to the risk of the general female population. From
      each study the SIRs were extracted and then pooled using random-effects meta
      analysis. SIRs were pooled as an overall estimate and according to time since
      breast cancer diagnosis. RESULTS: 22 studies were eligible for inclusion,
      comprising 245,575 irradiated and 277,164 non-irradiated women. Irradiated
      patients had an overall increased risk of second non-breast cancer, with a SIR of
      1.23 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-1.36). For non-irradiated patients the
      SIR was 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03-1.13). For irradiated patients the incidence of second
      cancers including the lung, esophagus, thyroid and connective tissues
      progressively increased over time, peaking at 10-15years following breast cancer
      diagnosis. Summary estimates at ?15years after breast cancer irradiation were
      1.91 for lung, 2.71 for esophagus, 3.15 for thyroid and 6.54 at ?10years for
      second sarcomas. Non-irradiated patients had no increased risk of second lung or
      esophagus cancer, neither overall nor over time. For non-irradiated patients'
      risk of second thyroid cancer (SIR 1.21) and sarcomas (SIR 1.42) were increased
      overall, but with no remaining risk ?10 after breast cancer. CONCLUSION:
      Radiotherapy for breast cancer is associated with an excess risk of second non
      breast cancer, overall and in organs adjacent to the previous treatment fields.
      The growing number of long-term survivors after breast cancer highlights the need
      for an improved individualized approach toward identifying patients with an
      expected benefit from radiation and patients with no added radiation-benefit.

PMID- 27639891
TI  - Benefit of particle therapy in re-irradiation of head and neck patients. Results
      of a multicentric in silico ROCOCO trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In this multicentric in silico trial we compared photon,
      proton, and carbon-ion radiotherapy plans for re-irradiation of patients with
      squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) regarding dose to tumour and
      doses to surrounding organs at risk (OARs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-five
      HNSCC patients with a second new or recurrent cancer after previous irradiation
      (70Gy) were included. Intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) and ion therapy
      (IMIT) re-irradiation plans to a second subsequent dose of 70Gy were compared to
      photon therapy delivered with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). RESULTS:
      When comparing IMIT and IMPT to VMAT, the mean dose to all investigated 22 OARs
      was significantly reduced for IMIT and to 15 out of 22 OARs (68%) using IMPT. The
      maximum dose to 2% volume (D2) of the brainstem and spinal cord were
      significantly reduced using IMPT and IMIT compared to VMAT. The data are
      available on www.cancerdata.org. CONCLUSIONS: In this ROCOCO in silico trial, a
      reduction in mean dose to OARs was achieved using particle therapy compared to
      photons in the re-irradiation of HNSCC. There was a dosimetric benefit favouring
      carbon-ions above proton therapy. These dose reductions may potentially translate
      into lower severe complication rates related to the re-irradiation.

PMID- 27639893
TI  - Roles of immune microenvironment heterogeneity in therapy-associated biomarkers
      in lung cancer.
AB  - Lung cancer development is a complex and dynamic progression with cancer cell
      mutations itself and its' orchestrate with the tumor microenvironment. Targeted
      therapies have been stated to heterogeneous lung cancer mutations while have a
      modest consequence. The tumor immune microenvironment influences lung cancer
      outcome by balancing the suppressive versus cytotoxic responses. The immune
      microenvironment heterogeneity may play an important role in lung cancer
      heterogeneity. In this review, we summarized the immune cells, its related
      cytokines and partial immune genes diversity in tumor microenvironment and its
      targeted potential mono and combined therapies. It will help us to make better
      understand the lung cancer heterogeneity and mechanisms of the drug resistance to
      find a way out.

PMID- 27639894
TI  - Physiological and pathological functions of neuroserpin: Regulation of cellular
      responses through multiple mechanisms.
AB  - It is 27 years since neuroserpin was first discovered in the nervous system and
      identified as a member of the serpin superfamily. Since that time potential roles
      for this serine protease inhibitor have been identified in neuronal and non
      neuronal systems. Many are linked to inhibition of neuroserpin's principal enzyme
      target, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), although some have been suggested to
      involve alternate non-inhibitory mechanisms. This review focuses mainly on the
      inhibitory roles of neuroserpin and discusses the evidence supporting tPA as the
      physiological target. While the major sites of neuroserpin expression are neural,
      endocrine and immune tissues, most progress on characterizing functional roles
      for neuroserpin have been in the brain. Roles in emotional behaviour, synaptic
      plasticity and neuroprotection in stroke and excitotoxicity models are discussed.
      Current knowledge on three neurological diseases associated with neuroserpin
      mutation or activity, Familial Encephalopathy with Neuroserpin Inclusion Bodies
      (FENIB), Alzheimer's disease and brain metastasis is presented. Finally, we
      consider mechanistic studies that have revealed a distinct inhibitory mechanism
      for neuroserpin and its possible implications for neuroserpin function.

PMID- 27639895
TI  - Security and privacy preserving approaches in the eHealth clouds with disaster
      recovery plan.
AB  - Cloud computing was introduced as an alternative storage and computing model in
      the health sector as well as other sectors to handle large amounts of data. Many
      healthcare companies have moved their electronic data to the cloud in order to
      reduce in-house storage, IT development and maintenance costs. However, storing
      the healthcare records in a third-party server may cause serious storage,
      security and privacy issues. Therefore, many approaches have been proposed to
      preserve security as well as privacy in cloud computing projects. Cryptographic
      based approaches were presented as one of the best ways to ensure the security
      and privacy of healthcare data in the cloud. Nevertheless, the cryptographic
      based approaches which are used to transfer health records safely remain
      vulnerable regarding security, privacy, or the lack of any disaster recovery
      strategy. In this paper, we review the related work on security and privacy
      preserving as well as disaster recovery in the eHealth cloud domain. Then we
      propose two approaches, the Security-Preserving approach and the Privacy
      Preserving approach, and a disaster recovery plan. The Security-Preserving
      approach is a robust means of ensuring the security and integrity of Electronic
      Health Records, and the Privacy-Preserving approach is an efficient
      authentication approach which protects the privacy of Personal Health Records.
      Finally, we discuss how the integrated approaches and the disaster recovery plan
      can ensure the reliability and security of cloud projects.

PMID- 27639896
TI  - Corrigendum to "Quadrupolar transients, cosine correlation functions, and two
      dimensional exchange spectra of non-selectively excited spin-3/2 nuclei: A 7Li
      NMR study of the superionic conductor lithium indium phosphate" [J. Magn. Reson.
      260 (2015) 116-126].

PMID- 27639898
TI  - Delivering on quality measures: Six new CMS SNF quality measures.

PMID- 27639897
TI  - Low-power slice selective imaging of broad signals.
AB  - One of the major challenges in using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study
      immobile samples, such as solid materials or rigid tissues like bone or
      ligaments, is that the images appear dark due to these samples' short-lived
      signals. Although it is well known that narrowband signals can be excited in
      inhomogeneously-broadened lines, it is less well known that similar effects can
      be observed in dipolar-broadened systems. These long-lived signals have not been
      used much, mainly because their description frequently does not match intuition.
      While 3D imaging with these signals has previously been reported, here we focus
      on the demonstration of faster, 2D slice-selective imaging. The faster imaging
      provides more flexibility for visualizing these rigid objects. We also focus on
      the frequently-encountered regime wherein the maximum power achievable for rf
      pulses is significantly weaker than the linewidth. This regime is typically
      encountered in clinical MRI scans or large volume setups. When compared to UTE
      and conventional slice-selective spin echo methods, this technique provides
      better representations of the sample considered here (an eraser sample), and
      higher signal-to-noise ratios than spin-echo techniques in both the high and low
      power regimes.

PMID- 27639900
TI  - The Future of Endovascular Therapy: A View From the Cockpit.

PMID- 27639899
TI  - The Anticancer Agent, Di-2-Pyridylketone 4,4-Dimethyl-3-Thiosemicarbazone
      (Dp44mT), Up-Regulates the AMPK-Dependent Energy Homeostasis Pathway in Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a cellular energy
      sensor that monitors ATP levels. There is also evidence that AMPK has onco
      suppressive properties. Iron plays a crucial role in cellular energy transducing
      pathways and tumor cell proliferation. Therefore, metals (e.g., iron) could play
      an important role in the regulation of AMPK-dependent pathways. Hence, this
      investigation examined the effect of the iron and copper chelator and potent anti
      cancer agent, di-2-pyridylketone 4,4-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (Dp44mT), on
      the AMPK-mediated pathway. These studies demonstrated that Dp44mT, which forms
      intracellular redox-active complexes with iron and copper, significantly
      activated AMPK (i.e., p-AMPK/AMPK ratio) in 5 different tumor cell-types.
      Furthermore, examination of the Dp44mT-metal complexes demonstrated that the
      effect of Dp44mT on AMPK was due to a dual mechanism: (1) its ability to chelate
      metal ions; and (2) the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The
      activation of the AMPK-pathway by Dp44mT was mediated by the upstream kinase,
      liver kinase B1 (LKB1) that is a known tumor suppressor. Moreover, using
      AMPKalpha1-selective silencing, we demonstrated that Dp44mT activated AMPK,
      resulting in inhibition of acetyl CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and raptor, and
      activation of Unc-51 like kinase (ULK1). These effects are vital for inhibition
      of fatty acid synthesis, suppression of protein synthesis and autophagic
      activation, respectively. Together, this AMPK-mediated repair response aims to
      rescue the loss of metal ions via chelation and the induction of cytotoxic damage
      mediated by redox cycling of the Dp44mT-metal ion complex. In conclusion, this
      study demonstrates for the first time that chelators target the AMPK-dependent
      pathway.

PMID- 27639901
TI  - Aortic Root Intussusception During Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

PMID- 27639903
TI  - Severe Lower Extremity Edema Caused by Inferior Vena Cava Metallic Clip and
      Enlarged Uterine Fibroids.

PMID- 27639902
TI  - Successful Retrieval of Entrapped Balloon With Optical Coherence Tomography
      Guidance.

PMID- 27639904
TI  - Feasibility and Safety of Robotic Peripheral Vascular Interventions: Results of
      the RAPID Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of
      a robotic-assisted platform (CorPath 200, Corindus Vascular Robotics, Waltham,
      Massachusetts) for treating peripheral artery disease. BACKGROUND: A robotic
      assisted platform for percutaneous coronary intervention is available for
      treating coronary artery disease. METHODS: In this prospective single-arm trial,
      patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease (Rutherford class 2 to 5)
      affecting the femoropoplital artery were enrolled. Endpoints evaluated were: 1)
      device technical success, defined as successful cannulation of the target vessel
      with the robotic system; 2) device safety, defined as absence of device related
      serious adverse event (hospitalization, prolonged hospitalization, life
      threatening, or resulted in death); and 3) clinical procedural success, defined
      as <50% residual stenosis without an unplanned switch to manual assistance or
      device-related serious adverse event in the periprocedural period. RESULTS: The
      study enrolled 20 subjects (65.5 +/- 9.3 years of age; 70% male) with primarily
      Rutherford class 2 to 3 (90%) symptoms. A total of 29 lesions (lesion length:
      33.1 +/- 15.5 mm) were treated with the majority (89.7%) being located in the
      superficial femoral artery. Device technical success, safety and clinical
      procedural success were all 100% with provisional stenting required in 34.5% of
      lesions. Fluoroscopy time (7.1 +/- 3.2 min) and contrast use (73.3 +/- 9.2 ml)
      compared favorably with studies in similar patient cohorts. There were no adverse
      events associated with the use of the robotic system. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      demonstrate the feasibility and safety of using a robotic-assisted platform for
      performing peripheral arterial revascularization.

PMID- 27639905
TI  - A Novel Mechanism of Atrioventricular Block Following Transcatheter Closure of an
      Atrial Septal Defect.

PMID- 27639906
TI  - Sympathetic Activity in Patients With Secondary Symptomatic Mitral Regurgitation
      or End-Stage Systolic Heart Failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study shows the impact of secondary mitral regurgitation (sMR)
      and transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) with the MitraClip system on
      sympathetic nerve activity (SNA). BACKGROUND: An increase in SNA is associated
      with worse outcomes and limited survival in patients with chronic heart failure
      (CHF). METHODS: Twenty CHF-patients without relevant sMR and 30 CHF patients with
      symptomatic sMR were enrolled prospectively. All patients underwent standardized
      laboratory testing and microneurography. Sixteen patients from the sMR group
      underwent the MitraClip procedure; 10 patients after TMVR and 9 untreated sMR
      patients completed 6 months of follow-up. RESULTS: Comparing groups according to
      presence of sMR, we found no differences in left ventricular dimensions, and
      serum levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and
      noradrenaline; sMR was associated with increased MSNA (106 +/- 60 burst/min vs.
      74 +/- 48 burst/min, d = 0.58), an impaired sympathetic baroreflex gain (10 +/- 7
      burst/mm Hg vs. 5 +/- 5 burst/mm Hg, d = 0.61), and a higher heart rate (90 +/-
      27/beats/min vs. 78 +/- 12/beats/min, d = 0.58). TMVR led to improved New York
      Heart Association functional class (d > 0.05), reduced levels of NT-proBNP (5,251
      +/- 3,760 pg/ml vs. 3,710 +/- 2,464 pg/ml; d = 0.58) improvement in 6-minute walk
      test (204 +/- 33 m vs. 288 +/- 45 m, d = 0.64), but unchanged levels of
      noradrenaline. TMVR decreased MSNA burst-frequency (130 +/- 78 bursts/min vs. 74
      +/- 21 bursts/min; d = 0.58) and baroreflex gain (7 +/- 4 burst/mm Hg vs. 4 +/- 1
      burst/mm Hg; d = 0.61). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with CHF, concomitant sMR is
      associated with increased sympathetic nerve activity, which was independent from
      measured levels of NT-proBNP, noradrenaline, and left ventricular dimensions.
      Reduction of sMR with the MitraClip procedure reduced SNA and improved baroreflex
      gain, in line with improvements of functional capacity.

PMID- 27639907
TI  - [Rituximab-induced acute thrombocytopenia in a patient with chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rituximab is a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody generally
      well tolerated. However, a severe but rare rituximab-related immune-toxic
      syndrome, associating fever, chills and thrombocytopenia can occur shortly after
      the infusion. CASE REPORT: We report a case of severe acute rituximab-induced
      thrombocytopenia with favorable outcome in a patient with chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia and discuss the possible underlying mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Despite the
      potential initial severity of rituximab-induced thrombocytopenia in CLL,
      chemotherapy should not be discontinued; tolerance might increase as the
      hematologic disorder is controlled.

PMID- 27639908
TI  - [Erythromelalgia: Diagnosis and therapeutic approach].
AB  - Erythromelalgia is a rare intermittent vascular acrosyndrome characterized by the
      combination of recurrent burning pain, warmth and redness of the extremities. It
      is considered in its primary form as an autosomal dominant neuropathy related to
      mutations of SCN9A, the encoding gene of a voltage-gated sodium channel subtype
      Nav1.7. Secondary erythromelalgia is associated with myeloproliferative
      disorders, drugs (bromocriptine, calcium channel blockers), or clinical
      conditions such as rheumatic diseases or viral infection. Primary familial
      erythromelalgia include genetics and sporadic forms associated with small fibers
      neuropathy. Aspirin is a useful treatment of erythromelagia associated with
      myeloproliferative disorders. Treatment of primary erythromelalgia is difficult,
      individualized, with sodium channel blockers such as lidocaine, carbamazepine and
      mexiletine.

PMID- 27639909
TI  - [Liver abscess].
AB  - Liver abscess is a rare and severe infection. Incidence increases because of
      aging of population, advances in liver and biliary surgery including liver
      transplantation, and immunodeficiency factors. Diagnosis depends mainly on
      imaging and needle aspiration for microbiological identification. Treatment is
      based on antibiotics, percutaneous or surgical drainage, and control of the
      primary source.

PMID- 27639910
TI  - [Opportunistic infections and sarcoidosis].
AB  - Opportunistic infections (OI) are uncommon in sarcoidosis (1 to 10%) and mostly
      occur in patients with previously diagnosed disease or can rarely be the
      presenting manifestation. The most common OIs are, in descending order:
      aspergillosis, cryptococcosis, and mycobacterial infections. Treatment with
      corticosteroids is the most frequent risk factor for OI occurrence during
      sarcoidosis but immunosuppressive drugs and therapy with anti-TNFalpha are also
      risk factors. Overall, clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome are
      identical to that occur in other conditions complicated with the occurrence of
      OIs. However, some atypical presentations of OIs can mimic sarcoidosis
      exacerbation and misdiagnosis may lead clinicians to increase immunosuppression,
      causing worsening of the OI. The meticulous collection of patient's history along
      with factors differentiating OI from sarcoidosis exacerbation is key factor to
      optimally manage these patients.

PMID- 27639911
TI  - [Routine screening of splenic or portal vein thrombosis after splenectomy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Portal and/or splenic vein thrombosis (PSVT) is common after
      splenectomy. It can be a life-threatening complication, with a risk of bowel
      ischemia and portal hypertension. An early diagnosis allows an effective medical
      treatment and prevents life-threatening complications. There is no consensus
      regarding the benefit of systematic screening of patients after splenectomy for
      PSVT. We started in January 2012 a routine screening of PSVT after elective
      splenectomy. The aim of this study was to assess this policy. METHODS: Since
      January 2012, all patients undergoing an elective splenectomy had an abdominal CT
      scan on postoperative-day 7. Demographic data, pathology, type of surgery,
      platelet counts before and after surgery, outcome, results of medical imaging,
      and management of PSVT and its results were recorded. RESULTS: Over 3 years, 52
      patients underwent an elective splenectomy. All of them had a CT-scan at
      postoperative-day 7. A PSVT was found in 11 patients (21.2 %). They were all
      asymptomatic. Lymphoma and splenomegaly were the main factors associated with
      PSVT in the univariate analysis. All patients with PSVT were treated with
      anticoagulation and no complication of PSVT occurred. The follow-up CT confirmed
      the efficacy of anticoagulation therapy in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Routine
      screening of PSVT after elective splenectomy is warranted because it allows to
      start anticoagulant therapy and avoid further life-threatening complications. The
      incidence of PSVT is particularly high among patients operated on for lymphoma or
      with splenomegaly.

PMID- 27639913
TI  - [Interleukin-1, inflammasome and autoinflammatory diseases].
AB  - Interleukin-1 is a major cytokine of innate immunity and inflammation. It exerts
      various systemic effects during the inflammatory response, such as fever
      induction, thrombopoiesis and granulopoiesis, or leukocyte recruitment. Its
      involvement has been demonstrated in many inflammatory-mediated diseases, such as
      diabetes or gout. Moreover, interleukin-1 plays a pivotal role in some
      autoinflammatory diseases, such as cryopyrinopathies or familial Mediterranean
      fever. In these diseases, a constitutional defect of the inflammasome, a protein
      complex responsible for the activation of interleukin-1, explains the
      hypersecretion of interleukin-1. Other autoinflammatory diseases have a more
      complex pathophysiology involving deregulation of the interleukin-1 pathway,
      upstream or downstream of the inflammasome, or through more complex mechanisms.
      In this review, we are detailing the synthesis, the activation, the signalling,
      and the regulation of interleukin-1. We then describe the autoinflammatory
      diseases or related-diseases where the pathological role of interleukin-1 has
      been demonstrated.

PMID- 27639914
TI  - [Unusual cause of chronic swelling of the knee].

PMID- 27639912
TI  - [Ecchymosis as the presenting manifestation of Wilson disease: A case report].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The presence of a psychiatric disorder during the course of an
      organic disease is a common cause of delayed diagnosis. CASE REPORT: We report a
      16-year-old girl who was admitted with thrombocytopenia and had a two-year
      history of neuropsychiatric disorder which was attributed to a difficult family
      situation. Neurological examination showed a frontal lobe disorder and
      extrapyramidal manifestations. The thrombocytopenia was attributed to liver
      cirrhosis. These neurological and hepatic injuries were consistent with a
      metabolic disease, most likely Wilson disease. This was supported by the presence
      of a corneal Kayser-Fleischer ring and a decreased ceruloplasmin concentration.
      An urgent liver transplantation was required due to worsening neurological
      symptoms. CONCLUSION: Wilson disease is a rare genetic disease caused by copper
      toxicity. It is characterized by combined hepatic and neurologic damage to
      varying degrees and can develop at any age. Urgent treatment is required, but the
      diagnosis may be delayed by prevailing psychiatric symptoms.

PMID- 27639915
TI  - [Edema and fever in a 31-year-old woman].

PMID- 27639916
TI  - [Treatment-related cardiotoxicity in childhood cancer survivors: Risk factors and
      follow-up].
AB  - Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (ACT) is a severe complication in children
      and young adults that may lead to congestive heart failure. Some risk factors
      have been identified: high anthracycline cumulative dose, high radiation dose
      delivered on the cardiac area, or young age during the treatment. Primary
      prevention is not clearly defined in children. The dexrazoxane iron chelator
      seems to be interesting based on its short-term cardioprotective property in
      patients receiving doxorubicin-containing regimens. However, its long-term
      benefits remain to be determined, as well as the risk of secondary cancer.
      Childhood cancer survivors treated with anthracyclines are annually followed in
      the long-term. Trans-thoracic echocardiography is classically performed every 2
      to 5 years for assessing the ventricular hemodynamics and function. Recent modern
      techniques including echocardiography with strain assessment and cardiac MRI
      seems to be promising for an early detection of myocardial impairment. Further
      studies are mandatory for validating their usefulness in the setting of
      anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy. Recently, ACT predisposing variants in
      genes involved in oxydative stress and in metabolism and transport of
      anthracyclines have been identified. Their use in clinical practice could improve
      ACT risk stratification of children treated with anthracyclines-containing
      regimens. Predictive models combining replicated genetic variants and clinical
      factors need to be validated with the challenge to identify patients at high risk
      of cardiomyopathy. The objective is to personalize treatment strategy according
      to individual genetic background.

PMID- 27639917
TI  - Facet joint injection versus epidural steroid injection for lumbar spinal
      stenosis: intra-individual study.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of facet joint injection (FJI) for patients with
      lumbar central canal stenosis (LCS) in comparison with epidural steroid injection
      (ESI) in the same individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-two
      patients who underwent both FJI and ESI for LCS between January 2014 and December
      2014 were considered for enrolment in the study. A radiologist retrospectively
      conducted a chart review and recorded which injection was chosen as the third
      injection after sequential injections of FJI and ESI, and why clinicians chose
      the particular injection method. The response was measured via the use of a five
      point satisfaction scale. RESULTS: Among 252 patients, only 73 patients were
      included in the study (the remaining patients did not fulfil the inclusion
      criteria). Out of 73 patients (mean age, 69.7 years; range, 49~87 years), 50
      patients had received a third injection, 33 patients (66%) underwent FJIs as a
      third injection. Out of 19 patients who had experienced an ineffective first ESI,
      13 (68.4%) patients reported the second FJI as effective. Out of six patients for
      whom the first FJI had been ineffective, three (50%) patients reported the second
      ESI as effective. CONCLUSION: FJIs can be administered as an alternative to ESIs
      in cases of LCS.

PMID- 27639919
TI  - Commentary on 'Are Sonographically Measured Vascular Haemodynamic Parameters
      Reproducible Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging?'

PMID- 27639918
TI  - Modeling Caries Experience: Advantages of the Use of the Hurdle Model.
AB  - In dental epidemiology, the decayed (D), missing (M), and filled (F) teeth or
      surfaces index (DFM index) is a frequently used measure. The DMF index is
      characterized by a strongly positive skewed distribution with a large stack of
      zero counts for those individuals without caries experience. Therefore, standard
      generalized linear models often lead to a poor fit. The hurdle regression model
      is a highly suitable class to model a DMF index, but its use is subordinated. We
      aim to overcome the gap between the suitability of the hurdle model to fit DMF
      indices and the frequency of its use in caries research. A theoretical
      introduction to the hurdle model is provided, and an extensive comparison with
      the zero-inflated model is given. Using an illustrative data example, both types
      of models are compared, with a special focus on interpretation of their
      parameters. Accompanying R code and example data are provided as online
      supplementary material.

PMID- 27639920
TI  - Summary of special issue on gadolinium bioeffects and toxicity with a look to the
      future.
AB  - This summary attempts to provide forward-looking concepts regarding gadolinium
      related toxicity, as discussed in further detail in this issue.

PMID- 27639921
TI  - Corrigendum to "Revised phylogeny of Bacteroidetes and proposal of sixteen new
      taxa and two new combinations including Rhodothermaeota phyl. nov." [Syst. Appl.
      Microbiol. 39 (5) (2016) 281-296].

PMID- 27639922
TI  - Obesity, Type 1 Diabetes, and Psoriasis: An Autoimmune Triple Flip.
AB  - Obesity, type 1 diabetes, and psoriasis are wide-ranging health problems.
      Genetics, epigenetics, and environmental factors together with immune
      disturbances are involved in these diseases. The white adipose tissue is an
      active endocrine organ, secreting a wide variety of soluble mediators called
      adipokines that have a central role in the relationship between adipose tissue
      and immune system. Inflammatory cytokines, including the IL-23/IL-17 and IL-18
      axes, and microRNAs are involved in many processes, including immunity and
      inflammation, thus having a major role in the onset of these three diseases. In
      this review, we present an overview of the roles of adipokines, cytokines, and
      microRNAs in the pathogenesis and the progression of these three diseases.

PMID- 27639923
TI  - TNFalpha in the regulation of Treg and Th17 cells in rheumatoid arthritis and
      other autoimmune inflammatory diseases.
AB  - TNFalpha is a principal pro-inflammatory cytokine vital for immunity to
      infections. However, its excessive production is involved in chronic inflammation
      and disease pathology in autoimmune diseases. Evidence for its pathogenic role is
      validated by the fact that its neutralisation by therapeutic agents in vivo is
      beneficial in ameliorating disease and controlling symptoms. Paradoxically,
      however, treatment with TNFalpha inhibitors can either have no clinical effects,
      or even exacerbate disease in some patients. The explanation for such
      contradictory outcomes may lay in how and which downstream signalling pathways
      are activated and drive disease. TNFalpha causes its effects by binding to either
      or both of two membrane-bound receptors, TNFR1 and TNFR2. Engagement of the
      receptors can induce cell death or cell proliferation. T cells both produce and
      respond to TNFalpha and depending on whether the cytokine is membrane-bound or
      soluble and the level of expression of its two receptors, the biological outcome
      can be distinct. In addition, polymorphisms in genes encoding TNFalpha and T cell
      signalling proteins can significantly impact the outcome of TNFalpha receptor
      engagement. Early studies revealed that effector T cells in patients with
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are hyporesponsive due to chronic exposure to TNFalpha.
      However, recent evidence indicates that the relationship between TNFalpha and T
      cell responses is complex and, at times, can be paradoxical. In addition, there
      is controversy as to the specific effects of TNFalpha on different T cell
      subsets. This review will summarise knowledge on how TNFalpha modulates T cell
      responses and the effect of engaging either of its two receptors. Furthermore, we
      discuss how such interactions can dictate the outcome of treatment with TNFalpha
      inhibitors.

PMID- 27639924
TI  - Should refractory Kawasaki disease be considered occult macrophage activation
      syndrome?

PMID- 27639925
TI  - Repeated low-dose courses of rituximab in SLE-associated antiphospholipid
      syndrome: Data from a tertiary dedicated centre.

PMID- 27639926
TI  - Soft tissue shaver technique for early tophaceous lesions intervention.

PMID- 27639928
TI  - Reflections on Whole Woman's Health v Hellerstedt: savoring victory, anticipating
      further challenges.

PMID- 27639929
TI  - Coming full circle: a reflection on the Supreme Court's decision in Whole Woman's
      Health v. Hellerstedt.

PMID- 27639927
TI  - Psychometric properties and refinement of the Reproductive Coercion Scale.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Identification and refinement of psychometric properties of the
      Reproductive Coercion Scale (RCS) for use in survey research and clinical
      practice. STUDY DESIGN: Young women aged 16-29 years seeking services in 24
      Pennsylvania and 5 California family planning clinics completed questionnaires.
      Data were pooled for analysis (n=4674), and underlying domains were assessed
      using Horn's Parallel Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis. Multidimensional
      Item Response Theory was used to refine the scale and assess reliability and
      validity of a short-form RCS. RESULTS: The full, nine-item RCS had two underlying
      domains: pregnancy coercion and condom manipulation. Five items were retained in
      the short form: three about pregnancy coercion (e.g., "told you not to use birth
      control...") and two for condom manipulation (e.g., "taken off the condom while
      you were having sex..."; one of these items is the combination of two original
      items on damaging the condom that were combined because of similar statistical
      properties and face validity and a third item on removing the condom was retained
      on its own). Recent reproductive coercion was reported by 6.7% and 6.3% of the
      sample with the full and short-form RCS, respectively. Characteristics of women
      reporting reproductive coercion were similar with both forms. CONCLUSION:
      Findings indicate that reproductive coercion includes pregnancy coercion and
      deliberate manipulation of condoms to promote pregnancy. Moreover, women
      experience reproductive coercion across a continuum of severity. We selected
      items that varied in RC severity and discrimination to generate a five-item short
      form RCS for survey research and clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS: This study
      assesses the psychometric properties of the RCS, identifying pregnancy coercion
      and condom manipulation as underlying domains of reproductive coercion.
      Recommendations for using the RCS in research and clinical practice are
      discussed.

PMID- 27639930
TI  - Will rejecting woman-protective justifications for antiabortion laws increase
      harassment and violence?

PMID- 27639931
TI  - Do not mess with Texas: A landmark victory for abortion access and the road
      ahead.

PMID- 27639932
TI  - New Rickettsia species in soft ticks Ornithodoros hasei collected from bats in
      French Guiana.
AB  - In French Guiana, located on the northeastern coast of South America, bats of
      different species are very numerous. The infection of bats and their ticks with
      zoonotic bacteria, especially Rickettsia species, is so far unknown. In order to
      improve knowledge of these zoonotic pathogens in this French overseas department,
      the presence and diversity of tick-borne bacteria was investigated with molecular
      tools in bat ticks. In the beginning of 2013, 32 bats were caught in Saint-Jean
      du-Maroni, an area close to the coast of French Guiana, and the ticks of these
      animals were collected. A total of 354 larvae of Argasidae soft ticks
      (Ornithodoros hasei) from 12 bats (Noctilio albiventris) were collected and 107
      of them were analysed. DNA was extracted from the samples and quantitative real
      time PCR was carried out to detect Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., Borrelia
      spp. and Coxiella burnetii. All tested samples were negative for Bartonella spp.,
      Borrelia spp. and Coxiella burnetii. Rickettsia DNA was detected in 31 (28.9%)
      ticks. An almost entire (1118 base pairs long) sequence of the gltA gene was
      obtained after the amplification of some positive samples on conventional PCR and
      sequencing. A Bayesian tree was constructed using concatenated rrs, gltA, ompA,
      ompB, and gene D sequences. The study of characteristic sequences shows that this
      Rickettsia species is very close (98.3-99.8%) genetically to R. peacockii.
      Nevertheless, the comparative analysis of sequences obtained from gltA, ompA,
      ompB, rrs and gene D fragments demonstrated that this Rickettsia is different
      from the other members of the spotted fever group. The sequences of this new
      species were deposited in GenBank as Candidatus Rickettsia wissemanii. This is
      the first report showing the presence of nucleic acid of Rickettsia in
      Ornithodoros hasei ticks from South American bats.

PMID- 27639933
TI  - Rickettsia lusitaniae associated with Ornithodoros yumatensis (Acari: Argasidae)
      from two caves in Yucatan, Mexico.
AB  - The genus Rickettsia includes obligate intracellular bacteria transmitted by
      several hematophagous arthropods such as ticks, fleas and sucking lice. In
      particular hard ticks (Ixodidae) have been cited as the main vectors of
      pathogenic rickettsiae in Mexico. However, there have been only two records of a
      single Rickettsia species associated with Mexican soft ticks (Argasidae). In this
      study, we searched for rickettsial DNA in argasid ticks (13 adults and eight
      nymphs of Ornithodoros yumatensis) from two bat caves in the state of Yucatan,
      Mexico. Additionally one larva collected in a cave from Chiapas, Mexico, and
      associated with Desmodus rotundus was used to corroborate the tick taxonomic
      determination. Of these, nine ticks (43%) yielded expected PCR products for the
      rickettsial gltA gene. These PCR-positive ticks were tested with additional PCR
      protocols targeting the rickettsial genes gltA, ompA and ompB. DNA partial
      sequences from these genes showed 99-100% identities with Rickettsia lusitaniae,
      an agent isolated from O. erraticus in Portugal, and closely related to R. felis
      and R. hoogstraalii. Based on the results from this study, the inventory of
      rickettsiae distributed in Mexico increases from six to seven species.

PMID- 27639934
TI  - Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events among patients receiving omalizumab:
      Results from EXCELS, a prospective cohort study in moderate to severe asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: EXCELS, a postmarketing observational cohort study, was a commitment
      to the US Food and Drug Administration to assess the long-term safety of
      omalizumab in an observational setting, focusing predominantly on malignancies.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine a potential association between
      omalizumab and cardiovascular (CV)/cerebrovascular (CBV) events in EXCELS.
      METHODS: Patients (>=12 years of age) with moderate to severe allergic asthma and
      who were being treated with omalizumab (n = 5007) or not (n = 2829) at baseline
      were followed up for <=5 years. Analyses included overall CV/CBV events, but
      focused on the subset of arterial thromboembolic events (ATEs), comprising CV
      death, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, and
      unstable angina. A prespecified analysis of the end point of ATE was conducted to
      control for available potential confounders. A blinded independent expert panel
      adjudicated all events. RESULTS: At baseline, the 2 cohorts had similar
      demographic characteristics, but severe asthma was more common in the omalizumab
      versus the non-omalizumab group (50% vs 23%). Omalizumab-treated patients had a
      higher rate of CV/CBV serious adverse events (13.4 per 1,000 person years [PYs])
      than did non-omalizumab-treated patients (8.1 per 1,000 PYs). The ATE rates per
      1,000 PYs were 6.66 (101 patients/15,160 PYs) in the omalizumab cohort and 4.64
      (46 patients/9,904 PYs) in the non-omalizumab cohort. After control for available
      confounding factors, the hazard ratio was 1.32 (95% CI, 0.91-1.91). CONCLUSION:
      This observational study demonstrated a higher incidence rate of CV/CBV events in
      the omalizumab versus the non-omalizumab cohort. Differences in asthma severity
      between cohorts likely contributed to this imbalance, but some increase in risk
      cannot be excluded.

PMID- 27639936
TI  - Increased immune reactivity to central nervous system-derived naturally presented
      peptides in patients with active multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27639935
TI  - IL-17 enhances the migration of B cells during asthma by inducing CXCL13
      chemokine production in structural lung cells.

PMID- 27639937
TI  - MUC4 impairs the anti-inflammatory effects of corticosteroids in patients with
      chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current evidence suggests that membrane-tethered mucins could mediate
      corticosteroid efficacy, interacting with glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in
      patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). Mucin 4 (MUC4)
      tethered mucin is expressed in nasal polyp (NP) epithelial cells and upregulated
      under inflammatory conditions. Moreover, MUC4beta has the capacity to interact
      with other intracellular proteins. We hypothesized that MUC4 modulates
      corticosteroid efficacy of patients with CRSwNP. OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze
      the role of MUC4 in corticosteroid effectiveness in different cohorts of patients
      with CRSwNP and elucidate the possible mechanisms involved. METHODS: Eighty-one
      patients with CRSwNP took oral corticosteroids for 15 days. Corticosteroid
      resistance was evaluated by using nasal endoscopy. Expression of MUC4 and
      MUC4beta was evaluated by means of real-time PCR, Western blotting, and
      immunohistochemistry. BEAS-2B knockdown with RNA interference for MUC4 (small
      interfering RNA [siRNA]-MUC4) was used to analyze the role of MUC4 in the anti
      inflammatory effects of dexamethasone. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients had NPs
      resistant to oral corticosteroids. MUC4 expression was upregulated in these
      patients. In siRNA-MUC4 BEAS-2B airway epithelial cells dexamethasone produced
      higher anti-inflammatory effects, increased inhibition of phospho-extracellular
      signal-regulated kinase 1/2, increased mitogen-activated protein kinase
      phosphatase 1 expression, and increased glucocorticoid response element
      activation. Immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence experiments revealed that
      MUC4beta forms a complex with GRalpha in the nuclei of NP epithelial cells from
      corticosteroid-resistant patients. CONCLUSION: MUC4beta participates in the
      corticosteroid resistance process, inhibiting normal GRalpha nuclear function.
      The high expression of MUC4 in patients with CRSwNP might participate in
      corticosteroid resistance.

PMID- 27639938
TI  - In utero exposure to 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of childhood asthma, wheeze,
      and respiratory tract infections: A meta-analysis of birth cohort studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of the associations between in utero 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      (25[OH]D) exposure and risk of childhood asthma, wheeze, and respiratory tract
      infections are inconsistent and inconclusive. OBJECTIVES: We sought to assess
      associations between 25(OH)D levels in cord blood or maternal venous blood and
      risk of offspring's asthma, wheeze, and respiratory tract infections. METHODS:
      Data were derived from PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, references from relevant
      articles, and de novo results from published studies until December 2015. A
      random-effects meta-analysis was conducted among 16 birth cohort studies.
      RESULTS: Comparing the highest with the lowest category of 25(OH)D levels, the
      pooled odds ratios were 0.84 (95% CI, 0.70-1.01; P = .064) for asthma, 0.77 (95%
      CI, 0.58-1.03; P = .083) for wheeze, and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.66-1.09; P = .187) for
      respiratory tract infections. The observed inverse association for wheeze was
      more pronounced and became statistically significant in the studies that measured
      25(OH)D levels in cord blood (0.43; 95% CI, 0.29-0.62; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Accumulated evidence generated from this meta-analysis suggests that increased in
      utero exposure to 25(OH)D is inversely associated with the risk of asthma and
      wheeze during childhood. These findings are in keeping with the results of 2
      recently published randomized clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation during
      pregnancy.

PMID- 27639939
TI  - Heterogeneous inflammatory patterns in chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal
      polyps in Chicago, Illinois.

PMID- 27639940
TI  - Rethinking chronic rhinosinusitis phenotypes.

PMID- 27639941
TI  - Physiological costs during the first maternal care in the wolf spider Pardosa
      saltans (Araneae, Lycosidae).
AB  - Many arachnids like other terrestrial arthropods, provide extensive maternal
      care. Few studies have quantified the underlying physiological costs of maternal
      care. We investigated how maternal care affects the free-moving wolf spider's
      (Pardosa saltans) energy requirements. We described in detail their basic
      reproduction biology (i.e. carrying cocoon and young) and we evaluated the
      variation in the females' energy reserves during maternal care. Our results show
      that mothers guard eggs until hatching and then guard their spiderlings for 27-30
      more days. Laboratory observations indicated that spiderlings start leaving the
      maternal abdomen gradually 5-7days after hatching. Females carry an egg sac
      (cocoon) that can weigh up to 77% of their post-reproduction weight and carry
      young that weigh 87-100% of their body mass. Females lost weight over time
      despite regular food intake, while carrying cocoon and young; but their weights
      increased gradually during the dispersal of young. The contributions of proteins,
      glucose and triglycerides to maintain females' energy were calculated. Their
      energetic state varied during maternal care, in particular lipid levels declined,
      during the care of spiderlings when the females' predatory behaviour was
      inhibited. Our results show that the maternal care provided by P. saltans females
      is particularly costly physiologically, during the 30days following egg sac
      formation and development of spiderlings, even when food is available.

PMID- 27639942
TI  - A look inside odorant-binding proteins in insect chemoreception.
AB  - Detection of chemical signals from the environment through olfaction is an
      indispensable mechanism for maintaining an insect's life, evoking critical
      behavioral responses. Among several proteins involved in the olfactory perception
      process, the odorant binding protein (OBP) has been shown to be essential for a
      normally functioning olfactory system. This paper discusses the role of OBPs in
      insect chemoreception. Here, structural aspects, mechanisms of action and binding
      affinity of such proteins are reviewed, as well as their promising application as
      molecular targets for the development of new strategies for insect population
      management and other technological purposes.

PMID- 27639943
TI  - Cloning of heat shock protein genes (hsp70, hsc70 and hsp90) and their expression
      in response to larval diapause and thermal stress in the wheat blossom midge,
      Sitodiplosis mosellana.
AB  - Sitodiplosis mosellana Gehin, one of the most important pests of wheat, undergoes
      obligatory diapause as a larva to survive unfavorable temperature extremes during
      hot summers and cold winters. To explore the potential roles of heat shock
      proteins (hsp) in this process, we cloned full-length cDNAs of hsp70, hsc70 and
      hsp90 from S. mosellana larvae, and examined their expression in response to
      diapause and short-term temperature stresses. Three hsps included all signature
      sequences of corresponding protein family and EEVD motifs. They showed high
      homology to their counterparts in other species, and the phylogenetic analysis of
      hsp90 was consistent with the known classification of insects. Expression of
      hsp70 and hsp90 were highly induced by diapause, particularly pronounced during
      summer and winter. Interestingly, hsp70 was more strongly expressed in summer
      than in winter whereas hsp90 displayed the opposite pattern. Abundance of hsc70
      mRNA was comparable prior to and during diapauses and was highly up-regulated
      when insects began to enter the stage of post-diapause quiescence. Heat-stressed
      over-summering larvae (?30 degrees C) or cold-stressed over-wintering larvae (?0
      degrees C) could further elevate expression of these three genes, but temperature
      extremes i.e. as high as 45 degrees C or as low as -15 degrees C failed to
      trigger such expression patterns. Notably, hsp70 was most sensitive to heat
      stress and hsp90 was most sensitive to cold stress. These results suggested that
      hsp70 and hsp90 play key roles in diapause maintenance and thermal stress; the
      former may be more prominent contributor to heat tolerance and the latter for
      cold tolerance. In contrast, hsc70 most likely is involved in developmental
      transition from diapause to post-diapause quiescence, and thus may serve as a
      molecular marker to predict diapause termination.

PMID- 27639944
TI  - Assessing anti-T. cruzi candidates in vitro for sterile cidality.
AB  - Total clearance of the T. cruzi infection - referred to herein as "sterile cure" 
      seems to be a critical prerequisite for new drug candidates for Chagas disease,
      ensuring long-term beneficial effects for patients in the chronic indeterminate
      stage. This requirement is notably supported by the recent findings of clinical
      studies involving posaconazole and fosravuconazole, where the majority of
      patients treated eventually relapsed after an apparent clearance of parasitaemia
      at the end of treatment. We have adapted an in vitro system to predict the
      ability of a compound to deliver sterile cure. It relies on mouse peritoneal
      macrophages as host cells for Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes. The macrophages do
      not proliferate, allowing for long-term testing and wash-out experiments. Giemsa
      staining followed by microscopy provides a highly sensitive and specific tool to
      quantify the numbers of infected host cells. Combining macrophages as host cells
      and Giemsa staining as the read-out, we demonstrate that posaconazole and other
      CYP51 inhibitors are unable to achieve complete clearance of an established T.
      cruzi infection in vitro in spite of the fact that these compounds are active at
      significantly lower concentrations than the reference drugs benznidazole and
      nifurtimox. Indeed, a few macrophages remained infected after 96 h of drug
      incubation in the presence of CYP51 inhibitors-albeit at a very low parasite
      load. These residual T. cruzi amastigotes were shown to be viable and infective,
      as demonstrated by wash-out experiments. We advocate characterizing any new anti
      T. cruzi early stage candidates for sterile cidality early in the discovery
      cascade, as a surrogate for delivery of sterile cure in vivo.

PMID- 27639946
TI  - [Sub-maximal aerobic capacity and quality of life of patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies about sub-maximal aerobic capacity of patients with
      rheumatoid arthritis are scarce. AIMS: To assess the sub-maximal aerobic capacity
      of these patients through the 6-min walk test, estimated age of the "muscular and
      cardiorespiratory" chain. METHODS: Thirty-seven consecutive patients (aged 20 to
      60 years) with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis will be included. Non
      inclusion criteria will be: use of drugs (e.g.; methotrexate, beta-blockers),
      orthopaedic or rheumatologic conditions (other than rheumatoid arthritis) that
      may alter walking ability and recent infections. Exclusion criteria will be: 6
      min walking test contra-indications and imperfect performance of the required
      lung function and walking maneuvers. Signs of walking intolerance will be: test
      interruption, distance <=lower limit of normal, dyspnea score >=5/10 (visual
      analogue scale) at the end of the test, haemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO2) drop
      >=5%, cardiac frequency at the end of the test <=60% of maximum predicted. An
      estimated "muscular and cardiorespiratory chain" age higher than the
      chronological one will be considered as a sign of accelerated ageing. EXPECTED
      RESULTS: A high percentage of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis would
      show evidences of walking limitation and accelerated "muscular and
      cardiorespiratory chain" ageing. There would be a significant correlation between
      the walking test and clinical, biological, radiological and pulmonary function
      data and the patients' quality-of-life status.

PMID- 27639947
TI  - [Limitations of active therapeutic and palliative care in chronic respiratory
      disease].
AB  - The issue of intensive and palliative care in patients with chronic disease
      frequently arises. This review aims to describe the prognostic factors of chronic
      respiratory diseases in stable and in acute situations in order to improve the
      management of these complex situations. The various laws on patients' rights
      provide a legal framework and define the concept of unreasonable obstinacy. For
      patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the most robust decision
      factors are good knowledge of the respiratory disease, the comorbidities, the
      history of previous exacerbations and patient preferences. In the case of
      idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, it is necessary to know if there is a prospect of
      transplantation and to assess the reversibility of the respiratory distress. In
      the case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, treatment decisions depend on the
      presence of advance directives about the use of intubation and tracheostomy. For
      lung cancer patients, general condition, cancer history and the tumor treatment
      plan are important factors. A multidisciplinary discussion that takes into
      account the patient's medical history, wishes and the current state of knowledge
      permits the taking of a coherent decision.

PMID- 27639945
TI  - Metabolic profiling and in vitro assessment of anthelmintic fractions of Picria
      fel-terrae Lour.
AB  - Anthelmintic resistance is widespread in gastrointestinal nematode populations,
      such that there is a consistent need to search for new anthelmintics. However,
      the cost of screening for new compounds is high and has a very low success rate.
      Using the knowledge of traditional healers from Borneo Rainforests (Sarawak,
      Malaysia), we have previously shown that some traditional medicinal plants are a
      rich source of potential new anthelmintic drug candidates. In this study, Picria
      fel-terrae Lour. plant extract, which has previously shown promising anthelmintic
      activities, was fractionated via the use of a solid phase extraction cartridge
      and each isolated fraction was then tested on free-living nematode Caenorhabditis
      elegans and the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus. We found that a single
      fraction was enriched for nematocidal activity, killing >=90% of C. elegans
      adults and inhibiting the motility of exsheathed L3 of H. contortus, while having
      minimal cytotoxic activity in mammalian cell culture. Metabolic profiling and
      chemometric analysis of the effective fraction indicated medium chained fatty
      acids and phenolic acids were highly represented.

PMID- 27639948
TI  - [Pulmonary infection with Mycobacterium malmoense. Difficulties in diagnosis and
      treatment].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary infection due to Mycobacterium malmoense can be difficult
      to diagnose. These difficulties can be responsible for a delay in the
      implementation of optimal treatment. Moreover, the treatment is not standardized.
      OBSERVATION: We report the case of a 56-year-old patient who developed a
      Mycobacterium malmoense pulmonary infection whose diagnosis was delayed due to
      initial suspicion of pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Once the
      diagnosis was confirmed, the patient was treated empirically with rifampicin,
      ethambutol, and clarithromycin for 12 months after culture conversion, giving a
      total of 15 months. The clinical and radiological outcomes were favorable.
      DISCUSSION: This clinical case highlights the difficulties of diagnosing
      pulmonary atypical mycobacterial infection according to the American Thoracic
      Society criteria, particularly Mycobacterium malmoense, a non-tuberculous
      mycobacterium (NTM) quite uncommon in France. Currently, there are new diagnostic
      techniques such as GenoType Mycobacteria Direct(r). The second issue is the
      poorly standardized treatment of this NTM and many others, that are based on the
      recommendations of the British Thoracic Society. A national register has been set
      up by the MycoMed network, based essentially on the work of microbiologists but
      this register is unfortunately not exhaustive. CONCLUSION: A more systematic
      reporting strategy could allow cohort studies and therefore provide us with data
      on the most efficient drugs in the treatment of the rarest NTM infections.

PMID- 27639949
TI  - [Progressive paralysis of the diaphragm following intra-abdominal chemotherapy].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In patients presenting with intra-abdominal tumor and peritoneal
      carcinomatosis, cytoreductive surgery associated with hyperthermic chemotherapy
      may offer improved survival. We describe a case of diaphragmatic paralysis
      following that kind of procedure. CASE REPORT: A 60-year-old woman presented with
      respiratory insufficiency following cytoreductive surgery and intra-abdominal
      hyperthermic chemotherapy performed for pseudomyxoma intraperitonei. Pulmonary
      function assessment demonstrated a restrictive pattern. Three successive chest CT
      scans demonstrated a thinning diaphragm muscle. Respiratory insufficiency
      eventually led to the death of our patient. CONCLUSION: We conclude in favor of a
      muscular degeneration of the diaphragm consecutive to the combined effect of
      cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Owing to the unusual
      nature of this complication, we did not consider it as a hypothesis at an early
      point in this patient's management. We think physicians should be aware of such a
      complication in order to consider it in a timely way. We recommend performing a
      biopsy of the diaphragm for pathology examination to assess muscular
      degeneration.

PMID- 27639950
TI  - A biomechanical study on suture anchor insertion angle: Which is better, 90
      degrees  or 45 degrees ?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to compare the pullout strength of
      anchors inserted at 90 degrees  and 45 degrees  to the bone surface using
      synthetic bones and porcine humeri. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Pullout tests were
      performed by universal testing machine. Synthetic cancellous bones of 0.08, 0.16,
      and 0.24 g/cm3 (defining as low, medium and high density, respectively) with 2-mm
      thick cortical bone model attached on one side and the greater tuberosity of
      porcine humeri (average bone density, 270 mg/cm3) were chosen for pullout tests.
      Metallic anchors were inserted at 90 degrees  or 45 degrees  to the surface and
      pulled at 90 degrees  or 45 degrees  from the surface. The maximum load to
      failure for each condition was recorded. Differences in pullout failure loads
      between insertion angle, pulling angle, and bone density were analyzed. RESULTS:
      When the sutures were pulled at 90 degrees  in low, medium, high density bones,
      and porcine humeri, 90 degrees -inserted-anchors showed higher pullout strength
      than the 45 degrees -inserted-anchors (534.6 +/- 28.9 N vs. 488.1 +/- 25.3 N (p <
      0.05), 636.8 +/- 25.3 N vs. 517.5 +/- 27.4 N (p < 0.01), 735.6 +/- 45.1 N vs.
      557.0 +/- 42.5 N (p < 0.01), and 285.6 +/- 47.2 N vs. 181.4 +/- 31.3 N (p <
      0.01), respectively). When the sutures were pulled at 45 degrees  in low, medium
      density bones and porcine humeri, 90 degrees -inserted-anchors showed higher
      pullout strength than the 45 degrees -inserted-anchors (651.1 +/- 38.3 N vs.
      529.4 +/- 37.6 N (p < 0.01), 711.4 +/- 25.3 N vs. 599.2 +/- 29.8 N (p < 0.01),
      and 265.3 +/- 49.0 N vs. 181.5 +/- 29.4 N (p < 0.01), respectively). CONCLUSION:
      Pullout strength of the anchors inserted at 90 degrees  to the bone surface was
      greater than the anchors inserted at 45 degrees  regardless of the bone density.

PMID- 27639951
TI  - Domestication and Breeding of Jatropha curcas L.
AB  - Jatropha curcas L. (jatropha) has a high, untapped potential to contribute
      towards sustainable production of food and bioenergy, rehabilitation of degraded
      land, and reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Tremendous progress in
      jatropha domestication and breeding has been achieved during the past decade.
      This review: (i) summarizes current knowledge about the domestication and
      breeding of jatropha; (ii) identifies and prioritizes areas for further research;
      and (iii) proposes strategies to exploit the full genetic potential of this plant
      species. Altogether, the outlook is promising for accelerating the domestication
      of jatropha by applying modern scientific methods and novel technologies
      developed in plant breeding.

PMID- 27639952
TI  - Sustained, Low-Intensity Exercise Achieved by a Dynamic Feeding System Decreases
      Body Fat in Ponies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity in horses is increasing in prevalence and can be associated
      with insulin insensitivity and laminitis. Current treatment strategies for
      obesity include dietary restriction and exercise. However, whether exercise alone
      is effective for decreasing body fat is uncertain. HYPOTHESIS: Our hypothesis was
      that twice daily use of a dynamic feeding system for 3 months would induce
      sustained, low-intensity exercise thereby decreasing adiposity and improving
      insulin sensitivity (SI). ANIMALS: Eight, university-owned, mixed-breed, adult
      ponies with body condition scores (BCS) >=5/9 were used. METHODS: Two treatments
      ("feeder on" or "feeder off") were administered for a 3-month period by a
      randomized, crossover design (n = 4/treatment). An interim equilibration period
      of 6 weeks at pasture separated the 2 study phases. Measurements of body mass
      (body weight, BCS, cresty neck score [CrNS], and morphometry), body fat
      (determined before and after the "feeder on" treatment only), triglycerides, and
      insulin sensitivity (SI; combined glucose-insulin test) were undertaken before
      and after treatments. RESULTS: The dynamic feeding system induced a 3.7-fold
      increase in the daily distance travelled (n = 6), compared to with a stationary
      feeder, which significantly decreased mean BCS (6.53 +/- 0.94 to 5.38 +/- 1.71),
      CrNS (2.56 +/- 1.12 to 1.63 +/- 1.06) and body fat (by 4.95%). An improvement in
      SI did not occur in all ponies. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: A dynamic
      feeding system can be used to induce sustained (daily), low-intensity exercise
      that promotes weight loss in ponies. However, this exercise may not be sufficient
      to substantially improve SI.

PMID- 27639953
TI  - Where economics and epidemics collide: migrant workers and emerging infections.

PMID- 27639954
TI  - Neglected tropical diseases: progress towards addressing the chronic pandemic.
AB  - The concept of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) emerged more than a decade ago
      and has been recognised as a valid way to categorise diseases that affect the
      poorest individuals. Substantial progress in control and elimination has been
      achieved and policy momentum has been generated through continued bilateral,
      philanthropic, and non-governmental development organisation (NGDO) support, and
      donations of drugs from pharmaceutical companies. WHO has defined a Roadmap to
      reach 2020 targets, which was endorsed by member states in a World Health
      Assembly Resolution in 2013. NTDs have been included within the Sustainable
      Development Goal targets and are a crucial component of universal health
      coverage, conceptualised as "leaving no one behind". WHO reported that more than
      1 billion people in 88 countries have benefited from preventive chemotherapy in
      2014. The research agenda has defined the need for affordable products
      (diagnostics, drugs and insecticides). However challenges such as insecurity and
      weak health systems continue to prevail in the poorest countries, inhibiting
      progress in scaling up and also in achieving Roadmap goals.

PMID- 27639955
TI  - Generation and Characterization of Eptesicus fuscus (Big brown bat) kidney cell
      lines immortalized using the Myotis polyomavirus large T-antigen.
AB  - It is speculated that bats are important reservoir hosts for numerous viruses,
      with 27 viral families reportedly detected in bats. Majority of these viruses
      have not been isolated and there is little information regarding their biology in
      bats. Establishing a well-characterized bat cell line supporting the replication
      of bat-borne viruses would facilitate the analysis of virus-host interactions in
      an in vitro model. Currently, few bat cell lines have been developed and only Tb1
      Lu, derived from Tadarida brasiliensis is commercially available. Here we
      describe a method to establish and immortalize big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
      kidney (Efk3) cells using the Myotis polyomavirus T-antigen. Subclones of this
      cell line expressed both epithelial and fibroblast markers to varying extents.
      Cell clones expressed interferon beta in response to poly(I:C) stimulation and
      supported the replication of four different viruses, namely, vesicular stomatitis
      virus (VSV), porcine epidemic diarrhea coronavirus (PED-CoV), Middle-East
      respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV). To
      our knowledge, this is the first bat cell line from a northern latitude
      insectivorous bat developed using a novel technology. The cell line has the
      potential to be used for isolation of bat viruses and for studying virus-bat
      interactions in culture.

PMID- 27639956
TI  - Complexities in understanding and addressing the serious public health issues
      related to the nonmedical use of prescription drugs.

PMID- 27639957
TI  - [Neuropsychological performance in neurofibromatosis type 1].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder with various
      clinical manifestations that affect the peripheral and central nervous system, as
      well as the skin, bones and endocrine and vascular system. There is still
      insufficient knowledge of neuropsychological effects of NF1 on children, and
      there is some controversy about the cognitive deficits that defines the cognitive
      profile of patients affected by this disorder. AIMS: In this study an analysis is
      made of the neuropsychological performance of a group of patients affected by
      NF1, compared with a control group of healthy children. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A
      comparison was made between the neuropsychological performance of a group of 23
      boys and girls with a mean age of 8.7 years (+/-1.39) and diagnosed with NF1, and
      a control group consisting of 21 healthy children, with mean age of 8.9 years (+/
      1.41) and with similar socio-demographic characteristics. The Wechsler
      Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) was applied to evaluate the subjects of
      both groups. RESULTS: The group of patients affected with NF1 showed a lower
      performance in every primary index of WISC IV: Verbal Comprehension Index, Fluid
      Reasoning Index, Working Memory Index, Processing Speed Index, and full Scale IQ.
      Only in two subscales were no statistically significant differences observed:
      similarities and coding. CONCLUSION: The results show subtle and generalised
      neuropsychological alterations in the sample of children affected with NF1, which
      affect most of cognitive domains that have been evaluated. Proper specific and
      early neuropsychological treatment should be provided in order to prevent the
      high risk for these children of presenting learning difficulties and school
      failure.

PMID- 27639958
TI  - Light deprivation produces a sexual dimorphic effect on neural excitability and
      depression-like behavior in mice.
AB  - Light sensory experience plays a crucial role in the regulation of mood, and
      light deficiency is considered as one important factor potentially leading to
      depression. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. However,
      the physiological mechanism underlying sex differences in the prevalence,
      incidence and morbidity risk of depression is still poorly understood. The
      potential causal relationship between sex dimorphic behavioral deficits and
      altered intrinsic electrophysiological properties of Layer V pyramidal cells
      (L5PCs) in the motor cortex was investigated using a mouse model with depression
      like behavior that was induced by light deprivation. The depression-like behavior
      was characterized by increased immobility and decreased activity in the forced
      swimming test and tail suspension test. Compared with male depressive-like mice,
      light deprivation (LD) induced longer immobile behavior while shorter active
      behavior in female depressive-like mice, indicating that LD produces a sexual
      dimorphic effect on depression-like behavior with more severe depressive-like
      symptoms in females. LD induced lower locomotor activity in female depressive
      like mice as evidenced by the significant decrease in pole-climbing and swimming
      during the anti-static fatigue test and exhaustive swimming test correspondingly.
      LD also significantly decreased the intrinsic excitability of L5PCs in female
      depressive-like mice, which may explain the reduced active behavior and locomotor
      activity of female mice. Collectively, it indicates that LD produces a sexual
      dimorphic effect on the depression-like behavior, locomotor activity and neural
      excitability in mice, and may suggest a causal relationship between the more
      severe depressive conditions and decreased neural excitability of L5PCs in female
      mice. These divergent findings from male and female depressive-like mice may
      provide one potential route to the physiological mechanism underlying sex
      differences in the prevalence of depression at a level of single neurons.

PMID- 27639959
TI  - Decreased CB receptor binding and cannabinoid signaling in three brain regions of
      a rat model of schizophrenia.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a serious mental health disorder characterized by several
      behavioral and biochemicel abnormalities. In a previous study we have shown that
      mu-opioid (MOP) receptor signaling is impaired in specific brain regions of our
      three-hit animal model of schizophrenia. Since the cannabinoid system is
      significantly influenced in schizophrenic patients, in the present work we
      investigated cannabinoid (CB) receptor binding and G-protein activation in
      cortical, subcortical and cerebellar regions of control and 'schizophrenic' rats.
      Cannabinoid agonist (WIN-55,212-2 mesylate) mediated G-protein activation was
      consistently decreased in all areas tested, and the difference was extremely
      significant in membranes prepared from the cerebellum. Interestingly, the
      cerebellar activity of WIN-55,212-2 stimulated G-proteins was substantially
      higher than those of cerebral cortex and subcortical region in control animals,
      indicating a primordial role of the cannabinoid system in the cerebellum. At the
      level of radioligand binding, the affinities of the CB receptors were also
      markedly decreased in the model animals. Capacity of the [3H]WIN-55,212-2 binding
      was only higher in the cerebellum of 'schizophrenic' model rats. Taken together,
      in all three brain areas of model rats both cannabinoid receptor binding and
      cannabinoid agonist-mediated G-protein activation were regularly decreased. Our
      results revealed that besides the opioids, the endocannabinoid - cannabis
      receptor system also shows impairment in our rat model, increasing its face
      validity and translational utility.

PMID- 27639960
TI  - Lack of insulin results in reduced seladin-1 expression in primary cultured
      neurons and in cerebral cortex of STZ-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - Several studies demonstrated that Diabetes mellitus (DM) enhances the risk for
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although hyperglycemia and perturbed function of
      insulin signaling have been proposed to contribute to AD pathogenesis, the
      molecular mechanisms behind this association is not clear yet. Seladin-1 is an
      enzyme catalyzing the last step in cholesterol biosynthesis converting
      desmosterol to cholesterol. The neuroprotective function of seladin-1 has gained
      interest in AD research recently. Seladin-1 has anti-apoptotic properties and
      regulates the expression of beta-secretase (BACE-1). Here we measured seladin-1
      mRNA and protein expressions in rat primary cultured neurons under diabetic
      conditions and also in the brains of rats with streptozotocine (STZ)-induced
      diabetes. We show that constant lack of insulin for 5days decreased seladin-1
      levels in cultured rat primary neurons. Similarly, a decrease in seladin-1 was
      found in the brains of rats with STZ-induced diabetes. However, if the lack of
      insulin and/or high glucose treatment was intermittent, neuronal seladin-1 levels
      were not affected in vitro. On the other hand, treatment of neurons with
      metformin resulted in a significant increase in seladin-1. Constant lack of
      insulin for 5days, as well as high glucose treatment, increased the neuronal
      expression of BACE-1 in vitro, but not in the in vivo model. Our study defines
      insulin as a regulator of seladin-1 expression for the first time. The relevance
      of these findings for the association of DM with AD is discussed.

PMID- 27639961
TI  - Marsupial tammar wallaby delivers milk bioactives to altricial pouch young to
      support lung development.
AB  - Our research is exploiting the marsupial as a model to understand the signals
      required for lung development. Marsupials have a unique reproductive strategy,
      the mother gives birth to altricial neonate with an immature lung and the changes
      in milk composition during lactation in marsupials appears to provide bioactives
      that can regulate diverse aspects of lung development, including branching
      morphogenesis, cell proliferation and cell differentiation. These effects are
      seen with milk collected between 25 and 100days postpartum. To better understand
      the temporal effects of milk composition on postnatal lung development we used a
      cross-fostering technique to restrict the tammar pouch young to milk composition
      not extending beyond day 25 for 45days of its early postnatal life. These
      particular time points were selected as our previous study showed that milk
      protein collected prior to ~day 25 had no developmental effect on mouse embryonic
      lungs in culture. The comparative analysis of the foster group and control young
      at day 45 postpartum demonstrated that foster pouch young had significantly
      reduced lung size. The lungs in fostered young were comprised of large
      intermediate tissue, had a reduced size of airway lumen and a higher percentage
      of parenchymal tissue. In addition, expression of marker genes for lung
      development (BMP4, WNT11, AQP-4, HOPX and SPB) were significantly reduced in
      lungs from fostered young. Further, to identify the potential bioactive expressed
      by mammary gland that may have developmental effect on pouch young lungs, we
      performed proteomics analysis on tammar milk through mass-spectrometry and listed
      the potential bioactives (PDGF, IGFBP5, IGFBPL1 and EGFL6) secreted in milk that
      may be involved in regulating pouch young lung development. The data suggest that
      postnatal lung development in the tammar young is most likely regulated by
      maternal signalling factors supplied through milk.

PMID- 27639962
TI  - Overexpression of a glyoxalase gene, OsGly I, improves abiotic stress tolerance
      and grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa L.).
AB  - Glyoxalase I (Gly I) is a component of the glyoxalase system which is involved in
      the detoxification of methylglyoxal, a byproduct of glycolysis. In the present
      study, a gene of rice (Oryza sativa L., cv. Nipponbare) encoding Gly I was cloned
      and characterized. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that rice
      Gly I (OsGly I) was ubiquitously expressed in root, stem, leaf, leaf sheath and
      spikelet with varying abundance. OsGly I was markedly upregulated in response to
      NaCl, ZnCl2 and mannitol in rice seedlings. For further functional investigation,
      OsGly I was overexpressed in rice using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.
      Transgenic rice lines exhibited increased glyoxalase enzyme activity, decreased
      methylglyoxal level and improved tolerance to NaCl, ZnCl2 and mannitol compared
      to wild-type plants. Enhancement of stress tolerance in transgenic lines was
      associated with reduction of malondialdehyde content which was derived from
      cellular lipid peroxidation. In addition, the OsGly I-overexpression transgenic
      plants performed higher seed setting rate and yield. Collectively, these results
      indicate the potential of bioengineering the Gly I gene in crops.

PMID- 27639963
TI  - Responses of photosynthesis, nitrogen and proline metabolism to salinity stress
      in Solanum lycopersicum under different levels of nitrogen supplementation.
AB  - In the present study, effect of different levels of nitrogen (N0, deprived; N25,
      sub-optimum; N75, optimum and N150, supra-optimum) in Solanum lycopersicum L.
      seedlings under NaCl (NaCl1, 0.3 g kg-1 sand and NaCl2, 0.5 g kg-1sand) stress
      was investigated. Biomass accumulation, pigments, K+ concentration, nitrate and
      nitrite contents were declined by NaCl in dose dependent manner. As compared to
      control (N75 without NaCl), fresh weight declined by 4% and 11%, and dry weight
      by 7 and 13% when seedlings were grown under N75+NaCl1 and N75+NaCl2
      combinations, respectively. Furthermore, fluorescence parameters (JIP-test): the
      size and number of active reaction centres of photosynthetic apparatus (Fv/F0),
      efficiency of water splitting complex (F0/Fv), quantum yield of primary
      photochemistry (phiP0 or Phi_P0), yield of electron transport per trapped
      excitation (Psi0 or Psi_0), the quantum yield of electron transport (phiE0), and
      performance index of PS II (PIABS) and parameters related to energy fluxes per
      reaction centre (ABS/RC, TR0/RC, ET0/RC and DI0/RC) were also affected by NaCl.
      However, toxic effect of NaCl on photosystem II photochemistry was ameliorated by
      N. The lower dose (NaCl1) of NaCl exerts damaging effect on oxidation side of PS
      II, while higher dose (NaCl2) damages PS II reaction centre and its reduction
      side. Moreover, control seedlings (N75 without NaCl) when exposed to NaCl1 and
      NaCl2 exhibited a significant enhancement in respiration rate by 6 and 16%, Na+
      accumulation by 111 and 169% in shoot, and 141 and 223% in root and ammonium
      contents by 19 and 34% respectively. Nitrate and ammonium assimilating enzymes
      such as nitrate reductase (NR), nitrite reductase (NiR), glutamine synthetase
      (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) were adversely affected by NaCl stress while
      glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) showed reverse trend. N addition caused further
      enhancement in free proline, and activity of Delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate
      synthetase (P5CS), while activity of proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) decreased. The
      results indicate that different levels of N significantly modulated NaCl-induced
      damaging effects in tomato seedlings. Furthermore, the results suggest that after
      N addition Na+, nitrite, nitrate, ammonium contents, nitrogen metabolic enzymes,
      proline content, and activity of P5CS are favourably regulated, which might be
      associated with mitigation of NaCl stress and effect was more pronounced with
      supra-optimum level of N (N150).

PMID- 27639964
TI  - Insights into an efficient light-driven hybrid P450 BM3 enzyme from
      crystallographic, spectroscopic and biochemical studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to perform selective CH functionalization upon visible light
      irradiation, Ru(II)-diimine functionalized P450 heme enzymes have been developed.
      The sL407C-1 enzyme containing the Ru(bpy)2PhenA (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine and PhenA=5
      acetamido-1,10-phenanthroline) photosensitizer (1) covalently attached to the non
      native single cysteine L407C of the P450BM3 heme domain mutant, displays high
      photocatalytic activity in the selective CH bond hydroxylation of several
      substrates. METHODS: A combination of X-ray crystallography, site-directed
      mutagenesis, transient absorption measurements and enzymatic assays was used to
      gain insights into its photocatalytic activity and electron transfer pathway.
      RESULTS: The crystal structure of the sL407C-1 enzyme was solved in the open and
      closed conformations revealing a through-space electron transfer pathway
      involving highly conserved, F393 and Q403, residues. Several mutations of these
      residues (F393A, F393W or Q403W) were introduced to probe their roles in the
      overall reaction. Transient absorption measurements confirm rapid electron
      transfer as heme reduction is observed in all four hybrid enzymes. Compared to
      the parent sL407C-1, photocatalytic activity was negligible in the dF393A-1
      enzyme while 60% increase in activity with total turnover numbers of 420 and 90%
      product conversion was observed with the dQ403W-1 mutant. CONCLUSIONS: In the
      sL407C-1 enzyme, the photosensitizer is ideally located to rapidly deliver
      electrons, using the naturally occurring electron transfer pathway, to the heme
      center in order to activate molecular dioxygen and sustain photocatalytic
      activity. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results shed light on the design of efficient
      light-driven biocatalysts and the approach can be generalized to other members of
      the P450 superfamily.

PMID- 27639966
TI  - Substitutions of Amino Acids with Large Number of Contacts in the Native State
      Have no Effect on the Rates of Protein Folding.
AB  - Various effects of amino acid substitutions on properties of globular proteins
      have been described in a large number of research papers. Nevertheless, no
      definite "rule" has been formulated as of yet that could be used by
      experimentalists to introduce desirable changes in the properties of proteins.
      Herein we attempt to establish such a "rule". To this end, a hypothesis is
      proposed on the effects of substitutions of hydrophobic residues with large
      number of contacts on free energies of different states of a globular protein.
      The hypothesis states: Substitutions of hydrophobic residues engaged in a large
      number of residue-residue contacts would not change the folding rate of a protein
      but could affect its unfolding rate. This hypothesis was verified by both
      theoretical and experimental analyses, generating a general rule that can
      facilitate the work of experimentalists on constructing mutant forms of proteins.

PMID- 27639967
TI  - Stearoyl CoA desaturase-1: New insights into a central regulator of cancer
      metabolism.
AB  - The processes of cell proliferation, cell death and differentiation involve an
      intricate array of biochemical and morphological changes that require a finely
      tuned modulation of metabolic pathways, chiefly among them is fatty acid
      metabolism. The critical participation of stearoyl CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1), the
      fatty acyl Delta9-desaturing enzyme that converts saturated fatty acids (SFA)
      into monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), in the mechanisms of replication and
      survival of mammalian cells, as well as their implication in the biological
      alterations of cancer have been actively investigated in recent years. This
      review examines the growing body of evidence that argues for a role of SCD1 as a
      central regulator of the complex synchronization of metabolic and signaling
      events that control cellular metabolism, cell cycle progression, survival,
      differentiation and transformation to cancer.

PMID- 27639965
TI  - Inhibition and conformational change of SERCA3b induced by Bcl-2.
AB  - An interaction of Bcl-2 with SERCA had been documented in vitro using the SERCA1a
      isoform isolated from rat skeletal muscle [Dremina, E. S., Sharov, V. S., Kumar,
      K., Azidi, A., Michaelis, E. K., Schoneich, C. (2004) Biochem. J. 383 (361-370)].
      Here, we demonstrate the interaction of Bcl-2 with the SERCA3b isoform both in
      vitro and in cell culture. In vitro, the interaction of Bcl-2 with SERCA3b was
      studied using Bcl-2?21, a truncated form of human Bcl-2, and microsomes isolated
      from SERCA3b-overexpressing HEK-293 cells. For these experiments, SERCA3b was
      quantified by a combination of amino acid analysis and Western blotting. We
      observed that Bcl-2?21 both inactivates SERCA3b and co-immunoprecipitates with
      SERCA3b. The incubation with Bcl-2?21 changes the distribution of SERCA3b during
      sucrose density gradient centrifugation, likely as the result of Bcl-2?21-induced
      conformational change of SERCA3b. When SERCA3b-overexpressing HEK-293 cells were
      co-transfected with Bcl-2, Bcl-2-dependent SERCA3b inactivation was observed. In
      these cells, Bcl-2 interaction with SERCA3b was demonstrated by co
      immunoprecipitation. Furthermore, overexpression of Bcl-2 reduced fluorescein
      isothiocyanate (FITC) labeling of SERCA3b. Together, our data provide evidence
      for the interaction of Bcl-2 with SERCA3b in vitro and in cell culture, and for
      Bcl-2-dependent conformational and functional changes of SERCA3b.

PMID- 27639968
TI  - Molecular imaging of the extracellular matrix in the context of atherosclerosis.
AB  - This review summarizes the current status of molecular imaging of the
      extracellular matrix (ECM) in the context of atherosclerosis. Apart from cellular
      components, the ECM of the atherosclerotic plaque plays a relevant role during
      the initiation of atherosclerosis and its' subsequent progression. Important
      structural and signaling components of the ECM include elastin, collagen and
      fibrin. However, the ECM not only plays a structural role in the arterial wall
      but also interacts with different cell types and has important biological
      signaling functions. Molecular imaging of the ECM has emerged as a new diagnostic
      tool to characterize biological aspects of atherosclerotic plaques, which cannot
      be characterized by current clinically established imaging techniques, such as X
      ray angiography. Different types of molecular probes can be detected in vivo by
      imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission
      tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The
      modality specific signaling component of the molecular probe provides information
      about its spatial location and local concentration. The successful introduction
      of molecular imaging into clinical practice and guidelines could open new
      pathways for an earlier detection of disease processes and a better understanding
      of the disease state on a biological level. Quantitative in vivo molecular
      parameters could also contribute to the development and evaluation of novel
      cardiovascular therapeutic interventions and the assessment of response to
      treatment.

PMID- 27639970
TI  - Curbing the urge to care: A Bourdieusian analysis of the effect of the caring
      disposition on nurse middle managers' clinical leadership in patient safety
      practices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nurse managers play an important role in implementing patient safety
      practices in hospitals. However, the influence of their professional background
      on their clinical leadership behaviour remains unclear. Research has demonstrated
      that concepts of Bourdieu (dispositions of habitus, capital and field) help to
      describe this influence. It revealed various configurations of dispositions of
      the habitus in which a caring disposition plays a crucial role. OBJECTIVES: We
      explore how the caring disposition of nurse middle managers' habitus influences
      their clinical leadership behaviour in patient safety practices. DESIGN: Our
      paper reports the findings of a Bourdieusian, multi-site, ethnographic case
      study. SETTINGS: Two Dutch and two American acute care, mid-sized, non-profit
      hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 16 nurse middle managers of adult care units.
      METHODS: Observations were made over 560h of shadowing nurse middle managers,
      semi-structured interviews and member check meetings with the participants.
      RESULTS: We observed three distinct configurations of dispositions of the habitus
      which influenced the clinical leadership of nurse middle managers in patient
      safety practices; they all include a caring disposition: (1) a configuration with
      a dominant caring disposition that was helpful (via solving urgent matters) and
      hindering (via ad hoc and reactive actions, leading to quick fixes and
      'compensatory modes'); (2) a configuration with an interaction of caring and
      collegial dispositions that led to an absence of clinical involvement and
      discouraged patient safety practices; and (3) a configuration with a dominant
      scientific disposition showing an investigative, non-judging, analytic stance, a
      focus on evidence-based practice that curbs the ad hoc repertoire of the caring
      disposition. CONCLUSIONS: The dispositions of the nurse middle managers' habitus
      influenced their clinical leadership in patient safety practices. A dominance of
      the caring disposition, which meant 'always' answering calls for help and
      reactive and ad hoc reactions, did not support the clinical leadership role of
      nurse middle managers. By perceiving the team of staff nurses as pseudo-patients,
      patient safety practice was jeopardized because of erosion of the clinical
      disposition. The nurse middle managers' clinical leadership was enhanced by
      leadership behaviour based on the clinical and scientific dispositions that was
      manifested through an investigative, non-judging, analytic stance, a focus on
      evidence-based practice and a curbed caring disposition.

PMID- 27639969
TI  - Existence of Neural Crest-Derived Progenitor Cells in Normal and Fuchs
      Endothelial Dystrophy Corneal Endothelium.
AB  - Human corneal endothelial cells are derived from neural crest and because of
      postmitotic arrest lack competence to repair cell loss from trauma, aging, and
      degenerative disorders such as Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD).
      Herein, we identified a rapidly proliferating subpopulation of cells from the
      corneal endothelium of adult normal and FECD donors that exhibited features of
      neural crest-derived progenitor (NCDP) cells by showing absence of senescence
      with passaging, propensity to form spheres, and increased colony forming efficacy
      compared with the primary cells. The collective expression of stem cell-related
      genes SOX2, OCT4, LGR5, TP63 (p63), as well as neural crest marker genes PSIP1
      (p75(NTR)), PAX3, SOX9, AP2B1 (AP-2beta), and NES, generated a phenotypic
      footprint of endothelial NCDPs. NCDPs displayed multipotency by differentiating
      into microtubule-associated protein 2, beta-III tubulin, and glial fibrillary
      acidic protein positive neurons and into p75(NTR)-positive human corneal
      endothelial cells that exhibited transendothelial resistance of functional
      endothelium. In conclusion, we found that mitotically incompetent ocular tissue
      cells contain adult NCDPs that exhibit a profile of transcription factors
      regulating multipotency and neural crest progenitor characteristics.
      Identification of normal NCDPs in FECD-affected endothelium holds promise for
      potential autologous cell therapies.

PMID- 27639971
TI  - Management of suspected acute heart failure dyspnea in the emergency department:
      results from the French prospective multicenter DeFSSICA survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An appropriate diagnostic process is crucial for managing patients
      with acute heart failure (AHF) in emergency department (ED). Our study aims to
      describe the characteristics and therapeutic management of patients admitted to
      the ED for dyspnea suspected to have AHF, their in-hospital pathway of care and
      their in-hospital outcome. METHODS: Consecutive patients admitted in 26 French ED
      for dyspnea suspected to be the consequence of AHF, prior to in hospital
      diagnostic test, were prospectively included at the time of their admission in
      the DeFSSICA Survey. Clinical characteristics at admission were recorded by the
      ED physicians. At discharge from ED, patients were categorized as AHF or non-AHF
      based on the final diagnosis reported in the discharge summary. The completeness
      of the data was controlled by the local investigator. RESULTS: From 16/6/2014 to
      7/7/2014, 699 patients were included, of whom 537 (77 %) had a final diagnosis of
      AHF at discharge. Patients with AHF were older (median 83 vs 79 years, p =
      0.0007), more likely to have hypertension (71 % vs 57 %, p = 0.002), chronic HF
      (54 % vs 37 %, p = 0.0004), atrial fibrillation (45 % vs 34 %, p = 0.02) and
      history of hospitalization for AHF in the previous year (40 % vs 18 %, p <
      0.0001) when compared to patients without AHF. Furosemide and oxygen were used in
      approximately 2/3 of the patients in the ED (respectively 75 and 68 %) whereas
      nitrates were in 19 % of the patients. Diagnostic methods used to confirm AHF
      included biochemistry (100 %), pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (90 %),
      electrocardiography (98 %), chest X-ray (94 %), and echography (15 %) which only
      18 % of lung ultrasound. After the ED visit, 13 % of AHF patients were
      transferred to the intensive care unit, 28 % in cardiology units and 12 % in
      geriatric units. In-hospital mortality was lower in AHF vs non-AHF patients (5.6
      % vs 14 %, p = 0.003). DISCUSSION: DeFSSICA, a large French observational survey
      of acute HF, provides information on HF presentation and the French pathway of
      care. Patients in DeFSSICA were elderly, with a median age of 83 years. Compared
      with the French OFICA study, patients in DeFSSICA were more likely to have
      hypertension (71 % vs 62 %) and atrial fibrillation (45 % vs 38 %). As atrial
      fibrillation and a rapid heart rate have been closely linked to mortality,
      detection of atrial fibrillation should be considered systematically.The limited
      use of nitrates in DeFSSICA may be related to the median SBP of 140 (121-160)
      mmHg. However, our use of nitrates was similar to those in the EAHFE (20.7 %) and
      OPTIMIZE-HF (14.3 %) registries. In line with guidelines, the proportions of
      patients who underwent ECG, biological analysis, or chest X-ray were all >90 % in
      DeFSSICA. Similarly, BNP or pro-BNP was measured in 93 % of patients, compared
      with 82 % of patients in the OFICA study. Although BNP may be helpful when the
      diagnosis of HF is in doubt, ultrasound remains the gold standard. The use of
      ultrasound in the ED has been reported to accelerate the diagnosis of HF and the
      initiation of treatment, and shorten the length of stay. In-hospital mortality of
      HF patients in DeFSSICA was 6.4 %, slightly lower than in the OFICA study (8.2
      %). Improved interdisciplinary cooperation has been highlighted as a key factor
      for the improvement of HF patient care. CONCLUSIONS: DeFSSICA shows that patients
      admitted for dyspnea suspected to be the consequence of AHF are mostly elderly.
      The diagnosis of AHF is difficult to ascertain based on clinical presentation in
      patients with dyspnea. Novel diagnostic techniques such as thoracic ultrasound
      are warranted to provide the right treatment to the right patients in the ED as
      early as possible.

PMID- 27639973
TI  - Isolation of alpha-linolenic acid from Sutherlandia frutescens and its inhibition
      of Mycobacterium tuberculosis' shikimate kinase enzyme.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sutherlandia frutescens (L) R.Br. is one of traditional herbal
      medicines that formed the basis of primary health care systems since the earliest
      days and is still widely used. Sutherlandia is prescribed for people with
      tuberculosis (TB), but is still not known which compound(s) acts against M.
      tuberculosis and its mode of action. The aim of this study was to identify and
      isolate antimycobacterial compounds from S. frutescens extracts against shikimate
      kinase, a drug target for M. tuberculosis. METHODS: S. frutescens were dried,
      ground and extracted with ethanol, dichloromethane: methanol and water.
      Fractionation and separation of compounds was done with column chromatography.
      Chromatograms were developed in butanol/acetic acid/water (BAW) [21:6:3];
      chloroform/methanol/water/formic acid (CMWF1) [60:15:2:1] and (CMWF2)
      [21:9:1:0.3]. Separation and isolation of active compounds were done using
      preparative HPLC. The activity of the plant extracts were also screened against
      shikimate kinase enzyme (MtbSK) using the MtbSK inhibition assay. RESULTS: The
      DCM: MeOH (1:1) extract showed a high percentage inhibition (with an IC50 of 0.1
      MUg/ml) of MtbSK and the purified inhibitor was an Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA)
      compound and it had a significant IC50 of 3.7 MUg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrated that ALA from S. frustescens is an inhibitor of shikimate kinase a
      good drug target for M. tuberculosis.

PMID- 27639972
TI  - Cedrol, a malaria mosquito oviposition attractant is produced by fungi isolated
      from rhizomes of the grass Cyperus rotundus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cedrol, a sesquiterpene alcohol, is the first identified oviposition
      attractant for African malaria vectors. Finding the natural source of this
      compound might help to elucidate why Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis
      prefer to lay eggs in habitats containing it. Previous studies suggest that
      cedrol may be a fungal metabolite and the essential oil of grass rhizomes have
      been described to contain a high amount of different sesquiterpenes. RESULTS:
      Rhizomes of the grass Cyperus rotundus were collected in a natural malaria
      mosquito breeding site. Two fungi were isolated from an aqueous infusion with
      these rhizomes. They were identified as Fusarium falciforme and a species in the
      Fusarium fujikuroi species complex. Volatile compounds were collected from the
      headspace above fungal cultures on Tenax traps which were analysed by gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS). Cedrol and a cedrol isomer were detected
      in the headspace above the F. fujikuroi culture, while only cedrol was detected
      above the F. falciforme culture. CONCLUSION: Cedrol an oviposition attractant for
      African malaria vectors is produced by two fungi species isolated from grass
      rhizomes collected from a natural mosquito breeding site.

PMID- 27639975
TI  - Contaminant point source localization error estimates as functions of data
      quantity and model quality.
AB  - We develop empirically-grounded error envelopes for localization of a point
      contamination release event in the saturated zone of a previously uncharacterized
      heterogeneous aquifer into which a number of plume-intercepting wells have been
      drilled. We assume that flow direction in the aquifer is known exactly and
      velocity is known to within a factor of two of our best guess from well
      observations prior to source identification. Other aquifer and source parameters
      must be estimated by interpretation of well breakthrough data via the advection
      dispersion equation. We employ high performance computing to generate numerous
      random realizations of aquifer parameters and well locations, simulate well
      breakthrough data, and then employ unsupervised machine optimization techniques
      to estimate the most likely spatial (or space-time) location of the source.
      Tabulating the accuracy of these estimates from the multiple realizations, we
      relate the size of 90% and 95% confidence envelopes to the data quantity (number
      of wells) and model quality (fidelity of ADE interpretation model to actual
      concentrations in a heterogeneous aquifer with channelized flow). We find that
      for purely spatial localization of the contaminant source, increased data
      quantities can make up for reduced model quality. For space-time localization, we
      find similar qualitative behavior, but significantly degraded spatial
      localization reliability and less improvement from extra data collection. Since
      the space-time source localization problem is much more challenging, we also
      tried a multiple-initial-guess optimization strategy. This greatly enhanced
      performance, but gains from additional data collection remained limited.

PMID- 27639976
TI  - Implications of the change in confinement status of a heterogeneous aquifer for
      scale-dependent dispersion and mass-transfer processes.
AB  - A series of experimental tracer tests were performed to explore the implications
      of the change in the pressure status of a heterogeneous bimodal aquifer for scale
      dependent dispersion and mass-transfer processes. The sandbox was filled with
      sands and gravel channels and patches to form an alluvial-like bimodal aquifer.
      We performed multiple injections of a conservative tracer from 26 different
      locations of the sandbox and interpreted the resulting depth-integrated
      breakthrough curves (BTCs) at the central pumping well to obtain a scale
      dependent distribution of local and field-integrated apparent longitudinal
      dispersivity (respectively, alphaLloc and alphaLapp). We repeated the experiments
      under confined (CS) and unconfined (UNS) pressure status, keeping the same
      heterogeneous configuration. Results showed that alphaLloc(associated with
      transport through gravel zones) was poorly influenced by the change in aquifer
      pressure and the presence of channels. Instead, alphaLapp(i.e. macrodispersion)
      strongly increased when changing from CS to UNS. In specific, we found
      alphaLapp~0.03r for the CS and alphaLapp~0.15r for the UNS (being r the distance
      from the well). Second-to-fourth-order temporal moments showed strong spatial
      dependence in the UNS and no spatial dependence in the CS. These results seem
      consistent with a "vadose-zone-driven" kinetic mass-transfer process occurring in
      the UNS but not in the CS. The vadose zone enhances vertical flow due to the
      presence of free surface and large contrasts in hydraulic conductivity triggered
      by the desaturation of gravel channels nearby the pumping well. The vadose zone
      enhances vertical mixing between gravel and sands and generates BTC tailing. In
      the CS vertical mixing is negligible and anomalous transport is not observed.

PMID- 27639977
TI  - Foreign bodies in the sigmoid colon of a psychiatric patient following self
      mutilation: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The act of deliberate injury to one's own body without the help of
      others is a well-known phenomenon in psychiatric patients. Insertion of foreign
      bodies into one or more orifices is not uncommon but insertion into a body cavity
      or the gastrointestinal tract by self-inflicted injury is quite rare. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A 32-year-old Ethiopian psychiatric patient presented with left
      lower abdominal pain of three months' duration following the insertion of foreign
      bodies via a self-inflicted wound in the left lower quadrant of his abdomen.
      Radiological evaluation demonstrated the presence of foreign bodies. A laparotomy
      revealed two metallic and three wooden materials in his sigmoid colon and a hole
      in his sigmoid that was tightly sealed with omentum. The foreign bodies were
      successfully removed, the hole was closed primarily, and our patient was
      discharged uneventfully. CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates that a foreign body
      can be inserted into the colon through a self-inflicted wound in psychiatric
      patients, and patients may present months later without having developed
      generalized peritonitis.

PMID- 27639978
TI  - Existence of various human parvovirus B19 genotypes in Chinese plasma pools:
      genotype 1, genotype 3, putative intergenotypic recombinant variants and new
      genotypes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a frequent contaminant of blood and
      plasma-derived medicinal products. Three distinct genotypes of B19V have been
      identified. The distribution of the three B19V genotypes has been investigated in
      various regions or countries. However, in China, data on the existence of
      different B19V genotypes are limited. METHODS: One hundred and eighteen B19V-DNA
      positive source plasma pool samples collected from three Chinese blood products
      manufacturers were analyzed. The subgenomic NS1/VP1u region junction of B19V was
      amplified by nested PCR. These amplified products were then cloned and
      subsequently sequenced. For genotyping, their phylogenetic inferences were
      constructed based on the NS1/VP1-unique region. Then putative recombination
      events were analyzed and identified. RESULTS: Phylogenetic analysis of 118 B19V
      sequences attributed 61.86 % to genotype 1a, 10.17 % to genotype 1b, and 17.80 %
      to genotype 3b. All the genotype 3b sequences obtained in this study grouped as a
      specific, closely related cluster with B19V strain D91.1. Four 1a/3b recombinants
      and 5 new atypical B19V variants with no recombination events were identified.
      CONCLUSIONS: There were at least 3 subtypes (1a, 1b and 3b) of B19V circulating
      in China. Furthermore, putative B19V 1a/3b recombinants and unclassified strains
      were identified as well. Such recombinant and unclassified strains may contribute
      to the genetic diversity of B19V and consequently complicate the B19V infection
      diagnosis and NAT screening. Further studies will be required to elucidate the
      biological significance of the recombinant and unclassified strains.

PMID- 27639979
TI  - Prevalence of stroke in children admitted with sickle cell anaemia to Mulago
      Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke is a major complication of sickle cell anaemia (SCA). It
      occurs commonly in childhood with about 10 % of children with sickle cell anaemia
      getting affected by this complication. In Uganda, there is paucity of data on the
      prevalence of stroke in children admitted in a tertiary institution. We
      determined the prevalence of stroke amongst children with SCA admitted to Mulago
      National Referral Hospital in Uganda and described the ir co-morbidities.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective record review of children with SCA admitted
      from August 2012 to August 2014 to the Paediatric Haematology Ward of Mulago
      Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. The target population was SCA children age 6 months
      17 years of age. A descriptive analysis was used to summarize the demographic
      characteristics and clinical diagnosis. RESULTS: There were 2,176 children with
      SCA admitted who were included in this study. There were 147 children with
      stroke. Their mean age 6.1, (SD 3), with a male to female ratio was 1:1 (71 males
      and 76 females). The M: F ratio of non-stroke children was 1.1:1 (1084 males and
      945 females) with a mean age of 5.2, (SD 3). The prevalence of stroke was 6.8 %
      (147 of 2176). Amongst the children with stroke, 72.1 % (106 of 147) had co
      morbidities which included severe anaemia 21.7 % (23 of 106), bacteraemia and
      vaso-occlusive crisis 17 % (18 of 106), pneumonia 8.4 % (9 of 106) and malaria
      6.6 % (7 of 106). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of stroke in hospitalized Ugandan
      children with SCA was 6.8 %. Children with stroke were often admitted with other
      medical conditions such as severe anaemia, bacteraemia and vaso-occlusion.

PMID- 27639980
TI  - Associations Between Neurocognitive Impairment and Biomarkers of Poor Physiologic
      Reserve in a Clinic-Based Sample of Older Adults Living with HIV.
AB  - Data from a cross-sectional study of a clinic-based sample of older people living
      with HIV (PLWH; n = 100) were used to examine associations between biomarkers of
      physical health and neurocognitive impairment (NCI). In this sample, anemia,
      chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 4-5, and hypocalcemia were associated with
      impairment in executive functioning or processing speed. Furthermore,
      participants with anemia were more likely to have CD4+ T cell counts <200
      cells/mm3 (chi2 [1] = 19.57, p < .001); hypocalcemia (chi2 [1] = 17.55, p <
      .001); and CKD 4-5 (chi2 [2] = 10.12, p = .006). Black and Hispanic participants
      were more likely to be anemic compared to other races and ethnicities (chi2 [3] =
      12.76, p = .005). Common medical conditions (e.g., anemia, hypocalcemia, CKD)
      should be investigated as potential contributors to NCI in older PLWH.
      Additionally, laboratory testing in racial/ethnic minority PLWH may help inform
      NCI screening.

PMID- 27639974
TI  - Allyl-isothiocyanate treatment induces a complex transcriptional reprogramming
      including heat stress, oxidative stress and plant defence responses in
      Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are degradation products of the plant
      secondary metabolites glucosinolates (GSLs) and are known to affect human health
      as well as plant herbivores and pathogens. To investigate the processes engaged
      in plants upon exposure to isothiocyanate we performed a genome scale
      transcriptional profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana at different time points in
      response to an exogenous treatment with allyl-isothiocyanate. RESULTS: The
      treatment triggered a substantial response with the expression of 431 genes
      affected (P < 0.05 and log2 >= 1 or <= -1) already after 30 min and that of 3915
      genes affected after 9 h of exposure, most of the affected genes being
      upregulated. These are involved in a considerable number of different biological
      processes, some of which are described in detail: glucosinolate metabolism,
      sulphate uptake and assimilation, heat stress response, oxidative stress
      response, elicitor perception, plant defence and cell death mechanisms.
      CONCLUSION: Exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana to vapours of allyl-isothiocyanate
      triggered a rapid and substantial transcriptional response affecting numerous
      biological processes. These include multiple stress stimuli such as heat stress
      response and oxidative stress response, cell death and sulphur secondary defence
      metabolism. Hence, effects of isothiocyanates on plants previously reported in
      the literature were found to be regulated at the gene expression level. This
      opens some avenues for further investigations to decipher the molecular
      mechanisms underlying the effects of isothiocyanates on plants.

PMID- 27639981
TI  - Impact of chloride and strong ion difference on ICU and hospital mortality in a
      mixed intensive care population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal chloride levels are commonly observed in critically ill
      patients, but their clinical relevance remains a matter of debate. We examined
      the association between abnormal chloremia and ICU and hospital mortality. To
      further refine findings and integrate them into the ongoing discussion on the
      detrimental effects of chloride-rich solutions, the impact of strong ion
      difference (SID) on the same end points was assessed. METHODS: Retrospective
      cohort study in an academic tertiary intensive care unit on 8830 adult patients
      who stayed at least 24 h in the ICU was carried out. Patients admitted after
      elective cardiac surgery were treated as a separate subgroup (n = 2350). Analyses
      were performed using multivariable logistic regression. All statistical models
      were extensively adjusted for confounders, including comorbidity, admission
      diagnosis, other electrolytes and acid-base parameters. RESULTS: Severe
      hyperchloremia (>110 mmol/L), but not low (SID) was significantly associated with
      increased mortality in the ICU (odds ratio vs. normochloremia 1.81; 95 % CI 1.32
      2.50; p < 0.001) and the hospital (odds ratio 1.49; 95 % CI 1.14-1.96; p =
      0.003). Hyperchloremia and low (SID) were encountered in the majority of patients
      admitted after cardiac surgery (in 86.9 and 47.2 %, respectively), but were not
      negatively associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In the ICU, hyperchloremia at
      admission was associated with negative outcome. On the other hand, decreased
      strong ion difference did not have an impact on mortality, precluding a simple
      extrapolation of these findings to the ongoing discussion on the detrimental
      effects of chloride-rich solutions. This notion is fueled by the finding that
      hyperchloremia after cardiac surgery, frequently encountered and probably fluid
      induced, did not seem to be deleterious.

PMID- 27639982
TI  - Barium swallow for hiatal hernia detection is unnecessary prior to primary sleeve
      gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hiatal hernia (HH) is common in the bariatric population. Its
      presence imposes various degrees of difficulty in performing laparoscopic sleeve
      gastrectomy (LSG). Preoperative upper gastrointestinal evaluation consists of
      fluoroscopic and or endoscopic studies OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of
      routine, preoperative barium swallow in identifying HH in patients undergoing
      LSG, and determine if such foreknowledge changes operative and immediate
      postoperative course regarding operative time, intraoperative adverse events, and
      length of hospital stay (LOS). In addition, to quantify HH prevalence in these
      patients and correlate preoperative patient characteristics with its presence.
      SETTING: High-volume bariatric practice in a private hospital in Israel METHODS:
      Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data between October 2010 and
      March 2015: anthropometrics, co-morbidities, previous barium swallow,
      preoperative HH workup (type and result), operative and immediate postoperative
      course. RESULTS: Primary LSG was performed in 2417 patients. The overall
      prevalence of HH was 7.3%. Preoperative diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux
      disease and female gender were independent risk factors for HH presence.
      Operative times were significantly longer when HH was concomitantly repaired but
      "foreknowledge" thereof did not assist in shortening this time. Looking for an HH
      that was suggested in preoperative upper gastrointestinal evaluation slightly
      prolonged surgery. LOS was not changed in a significant fashion by HH presence
      and repair, whether suspected or incidentally found. CONCLUSION: Routine, pre-LSG
      barium swallow does not seem to offer an advantage over selective intraoperative
      hiatal exploration, in the discovery and management of HH. Conversely, when
      preoperative workup yields a false-positive result, surgery is slightly
      prolonged.

PMID- 27639983
TI  - Development of consensus-derived quality indicators for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y
      gastric bypass surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Synoptic operative reporting is a solution to the poor quality of
      narrative reports. OBJECTIVE: To develop operative report quality indicators (QI)
      for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) to generate validated
      parameters by which these reports can be evaluated and improved. SETTING:
      University hospital in Canada. METHODS: A Delphi protocol was used to determine
      QIs for LRYGB reporting. Bariatric surgeons across Canada were recruited along
      with key physician stakeholders to participate via a secure web-based platform.
      Participants initially submitted potential QIs. These were grouped by theme.
      Items were rated on 9-point Likert scales in subsequent rounds. Scores of 70% or
      greater were used for inclusion consensus, and 30% or less denoted exclusion.
      Elements scoring 30% to 70% were recirculated by runoff in subsequent rounds to
      generate the final list of QIs. RESULTS: Four community and 4 academic bariatric
      surgeons were invited, representing all provinces performing LRYGB. The 4
      multidisciplinary invitees included 1 minimally invasive/acute care surgeon, 1
      tertiary abdominal radiologist, 1 gastroenterologist performing advanced
      endoscopy, and 1 general surgeon with expertise in synoptic reporting. Round 1
      achieved an 83.3% (10/12) response and identified 91 potential items for
      consideration. Round 2 had a 100% response, and 69 items reached inclusion
      consensus. The third round achieved a 100% response and resulted in 75 QIs
      reaching final inclusion consensus. CONCLUSION: This study established consensus
      derived multidisciplinary QIs for LRYGB operative reports. This will allow
      further assessment of the quality of narrative reports and afford the development
      of a synoptic operative report that may ameliorate identified deficiencies.

PMID- 27639984
TI  - Efficiency of preoperative esophagogastroduodenoscopy in identifying operable
      hiatal hernia for bariatric surgery patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) is a symptom frequently found in obese
      patients, and often is related to the presence of a hiatal hernia (HH). Surgeons
      may evaluate for the presence of HH on esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). However,
      preoperative endoscopic presence or absence of a significant HH does not always
      correlate with intraoperative findings. OBJECTIVE: To compare the rate of
      detection of repairable HH between clinical, endoscopic, and intraoperative
      methods SETTING: Independent, university-affiliated teaching hospital METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review of all consecutive patients who had undergone a
      primary bariatric procedure sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, or
      biliopancreatic diversion/duodenal switch with routine preoperative EGD in a
      single institution from 2009-2013 was performed. Data points included the
      diagnosis of GERD/heartburn/proton pump inhibitor or histamine antagonist from
      history, the diagnosis of HH from preoperative EGD, and the diagnosis of HH
      intraoperatively that merited repair. RESULTS: 1570 consecutive patients were
      included in the study. Eight hundred fifty-seven (55%) had diagnosis of GERD or
      heartburn, and 713 (45%) were asymptomatic (negative for GERD or heartburn).
      Hiatal hernia repair was performed in 153 (18%) patients with the diagnosis of
      GERD or heartburn and in 107 (15%) patients without the diagnosis of GERD and or
      heartburn. In all, 434 (28%) out of 1570 patients had a finding of HH on EGD; 204
      (47%) were repaired. On endoscopy, 326 (75%) were defined as small, 87 (20%) as
      moderate, and 21(5%) as large HH. Of these, repairs were done on 128 (39%), 60
      (70%), and 16 (76%). The sensitivity of detecting repairable HH by clinical
      indicators such as GERD or heartburn was 55% (P = .123) and sensitivity of EGD
      findings was 78% (P = .000). Specificity was 46% and 82%, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Small HH are over-diagnosed with EGD, as most do not require repair.
      However, moderate and large HH are accurately detected.

PMID- 27639986
TI  - A percutaneous technique of liver retraction in laparoscopic bariatric & upper
      abdominal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic bariatric surgery requires retraction of the left lobe
      of the liver to provide adequate exposure of the hiatus and the stomach.
      Currently used approaches utilize retractors that require additional incisions
      and prolong operative time. OBJECTIVES: A retrospective evaluation of the
      efficacy and safety of a percutaneous liver retractor in a large series of
      patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery. SETTING: Private practice,
      United States. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 2601
      patients undergoing bariatric surgery from January 2011 to September 2015. A
      percutaneously introduced grasper (Teleflex MiniLap Percutaneous Surgical System,
      Morrisville, NC) was used to retract the left lobe of the liver in all cases. The
      retractor could be repositioned as necessary by releasing and regrasping the
      diaphragm at different locations. RESULTS: This technique was used in 2601
      patients from January 2011 until September 2015. The average body mass index was
      43.1 (range: 20.6-80.3). In all patients, this new method was found to be
      satisfactory to complete the bariatric procedure. The majority of procedures
      included laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric
      band placement. No intraoperative liver injuries occurred with use of the
      Teleflex retractor. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous retraction of the liver using the
      Teleflex MiniLap Percutaneous Surgical System was found to be safe and effective
      in this large series of morbidly obese patients. The rate of complications
      involving this technique is extremely low. This novel method provides safe and
      effective retraction with less trauma and better cosmesis than conventional
      technique.

PMID- 27639985
TI  - Psychological contributors to noncompletion of an adolescent preoperative
      bariatric surgery program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Noncompletion of preoperative bariatric programs is a significant
      problem among adolescents. Adult studies suggest that psychological factors
      contribute to noncompletion of preoperative bariatric programs. OBJECTIVE: The
      aim of this study was to determine the association between adolescent
      psychological functioning and completion of the preoperative phase of a bariatric
      program. SETTING: The study was conducted at a tertiary care children's hospital
      affiliated with a university medical center. METHODS: Seventy-four adolescents
      and their parents completed an assessment measure of psychological functioning
      with the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition. We compared
      these scores between adolescents who completed the preoperative phase of the
      bariatric program and proceeded to surgery (completers) to those who did not
      (noncompleters) using multivariate analysis of covariance and logistic regression
      analyses, adjusting for demographic characteristics and baseline body mass index.
      RESULTS: The mean age was 16.0 (1.1) years, most were female (79.8%), and the
      group was diverse (48.6%, Caucasian; 33.8%, black; 17.6%, other, including
      Hispanic, Asian, and biracial). Average body mass index was 50.5 (7.6) kg/m2.
      Forty-two percent of participants were noncompleters. Noncompleters were reported
      by parents to have more clinically significant externalizing and internalizing
      behaviors and fewer adaptive behaviors. Noncompleters self-reported more
      clinically significant internalizing symptoms, emotional problems, and poor
      personal adjustment. CONCLUSION: Adolescents who did not complete the
      preoperative phase of a bariatric surgery program had more clinically significant
      psychological symptoms across multiple domains compared with those who
      successfully proceeded to bariatric surgery. Early identification and treatment
      of psychological symptoms may be important in helping adolescents successfully
      proceed to surgery.

PMID- 27639987
TI  - Effect of bariatric surgery on urinary and fecal incontinence: prospective
      analysis with 1-year follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have established that obesity promotes all types of
      urinary incontinence and disorders of the pelvic floor. The role of bariatric
      surgery in urinary incontinence remains poorly studied. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      the effect of bariatric surgery on urinary incontinence, dysuria, and fecal
      incontinence before and 1 year after bariatric surgery. SETTING: University
      hospital expert in bariatric surgery METHODS: This was an observational cohort
      study of 140 patients who underwent bariatric surgery between September 2013 and
      September 2014. Patients prospectively completed 4 questionnaires, 2 for urinary
      symptoms and 2 for fecal incontinence. Eighty-three women and 33 men completed 4
      questionnaires the day before surgery when arriving in the department and 1 year
      after surgery. RESULTS: Of the 140 patients, 116 completely responded to the 4
      questionnaires. The rate of urinary incontinence was 50.9% before surgery and 19%
      at 1-year follow-up (P<.0001). After bariatric surgery, there was improvement in
      the rate of stress urinary incontinence: 39.7% before surgery versus 15.5% at 1
      year (P<.0001). In addition, there was an improvement in urinary urge
      incontinence: 36.8% versus 7.9% at 1 year (P<.0001). The dysuria rate was 19.8%
      before surgery versus 3.4% at 1 year (P<.0001). Bariatric surgery improved the
      quality of life related to urinary symptoms (P<.0001). One year after surgery,
      there was no significant difference in terms of prevalence and severity of fecal
      incontinence. CONCLUSION: We confirmed with our study that weight loss after
      bariatric surgery improves stress urinary incontinence, urge incontinence,
      dysuria, and quality of life. However, we did not find any positive effect on
      fecal incontinence.

PMID- 27639988
TI  - Pharmacogenetic reactivation of the original engram evokes an extinguished fear
      memory.
AB  - Fear memory extinction has several characteristic behavioral features, such as
      spontaneous recovery, renewal, and reinstatement, suggesting that extinction
      training does not erase the original association between the conditioned stimulus
      (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US). However, it is unclear whether
      reactivation of the original physical record of memory (i.e., memory trace) is
      sufficient to produce conditioned fear response after extinction. Here, we
      performed pharmacogenetic neuronal activation using transgenic mice expressing
      hM3Dq DREADD (designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug) under the
      control of the activity-dependent c-fos gene promoter. Neuronal ensembles
      activated during fear-conditioned learning were tagged with hM3Dq and
      subsequently reactivated after extinction training. The mice exhibited
      significant freezing, even when the fear memory was no longer triggered by
      external CS, indicating that the artificial reactivation of a specific neuronal
      ensemble was sufficient to evoke the extinguished fear response. This freezing
      was not observed in non-fear-conditioned mice expressing hM3dq in the same brain
      areas. These results directly demonstrated that at least part of the original
      fear memory trace remains after extinction, and such residual plasticity might
      reflect the persistent memory.

PMID- 27639989
TI  - Positive allosteric modulation of A1 adenosine receptors as a novel and promising
      therapeutic strategy for anxiety.
AB  - Activation of A1 adenosine receptors (ARs) has been associated with anxiolytic
      like effects in different behavioral tests, but development of A1AR agonists for
      therapeutic use has been hampered, most likely due to the presence of side
      effects. With the aim to identify a safer approach for the treatment of anxiety,
      we investigated, in mice, the anxiolytic-like properties of a novel A1AR positive
      allosteric modulator, TRR469. Acute administration of TRR469 (0.3-3 mg/kg)
      resulted in robust anxiolytic-like effects in the elevated plus maze, the
      dark/light box, the open field and the marble burying tests. The magnitude of the
      anxiolytic action of TRR469 was comparable to that obtained with benzodiazepine
      diazepam (1 mg/kg). The use of the A1AR antagonist DPCPX (3 mg/kg) suggested that
      the effects of TRR469 were mediated by this receptor subtype. In contrast to
      diazepam, the novel positive allosteric modulator did not potentiate the sedative
      effect of ethanol (3.5 g/kg) evaluated by the loss of righting reflex. While
      diazepam produced motor coordination impairment in the rotarod test, this effect
      being enhanced by the presence of ethanol (1.5 g/kg), TRR469 did not elicit
      locomotor disturbances either when administered alone or in the presence of
      ethanol. In vitro, TRR469 was able to increase the number of A1AR recognizable by
      the agonist radioligand [3H]-CCPA in mouse brain regions involved in emotional
      processes. TRR469 markedly increased the affinity of the agonist CCPA, suggesting
      the capability, in vivo, to increase the affinity of endogenous adenosine. Taken
      together, these findings indicate that the positive allosteric modulation of A1AR
      may represent a promising approach for the treatment of anxiety-related
      disorders.

PMID- 27639991
TI  - Perrhenate sorption kinetics in zerovalent iron in high pH and nitrate media.
AB  - Technetium(Tc)-99 is one of major risk drivers in low level radioactive liquid
      waste at the U.S. Department of Energy sites. Cementitious waste technology (CWT)
      has been considered immobilizing pertechnetate, Tc(VII)O4-, in brine and alkaline
      waste solutions, as Tc(IV) oxides and/or sulfides with the use of reducing agents
      like slag. In this study, zero valent iron (ZVI) was evaluated as a potential
      reducing agent in CWT as a function of pH and [nitrate] (0-0.1M) using
      perrhenate, Re(VII)O4-, as an analogue for Tc(VII)O4-. Batch Re(VII)O4- sorption
      experiments in conjunction with X-ray absorption spectroscopic analysis showed
      that the Re(VII) sorption occurred via the reductive precipitation of Re(IV)O2(s)
      and the extent of sorption decreased with increasing pH from 8 to 10.
      Interestingly, pseudo 2nd order kinetic rates increased with increasing [nitrate]
      which was attributed to co-adsorption of NH4+ (i.e., a reaction product of
      reduced nitrate by ZVI), facilitating electrostatic attraction towards ReO4-
      under alkaline conditions. Considering the thermodynamically favorable reduction
      of Tc(VII) over Re(VII), ZVI might have potential for improving the reduction
      capacity of the current CWT.

PMID- 27639990
TI  - Ibutilide protects against cardiomyocytes injury via inhibiting endoplasmic
      reticulum and mitochondrial stress pathways.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a complex disease with multiple inter-relating causes
      culminating in rapid atrial activation and atrial structural remodeling. The
      contribution of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria stress to AF has been
      highlighted. As the class III antiarrhythmic agent, ibutilide are widely used to
      AF. This study was designed to explore whether ibutilide could treat AF by
      inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways and mitochondria stress. The
      neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were isolated and exposed to H2O2, ibutilide was add
      to the culture medium 12 h. Then the cell viability, oxidative stress levels and
      apoptotic rate were analyzed. In addition, endoplasmic reticulum stress related
      protein (GRP78, GRP94, CHOP), mitochondria-dependent protein (Bax, Bcl-2) and
      caspase-3/9/12 were identified by real-time PCR and western blot analysis. In our
      results, remarkable decreased cell viability and oxidative stress levels were
      detected in cardiomyocytes after treating with H2O2. The apoptotic rate and the
      expression of proteins involved in mitochondrial stress and endoplasmic reticulum
      stress pathways increased. While ibutilide significantly inhibited these changes.
      These data suggested that ibutilide serves a protective role against H2O2-induced
      apoptosis of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, and the mechanism is related to
      suppression of mitochondrial stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress.

PMID- 27639992
TI  - Fabrication of magnetically responsive HKUST-1/Fe3O4 composites by dry gel
      conversion for deep desulfurization and denitrogenation.
AB  - Selective adsorption by use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an effective
      method for purification of hydrocarbon fuels. In consideration that the
      adsorption processes proceed in liquid phases, separation and recycling of
      adsorbents should be greatly facilitated if MOFs were endowed with magnetism. In
      the present study, we reported for the first time a dry gel conversion (DGC)
      strategy to fabricate magnetically responsive MOFs as adsorbents for deep
      desulfurization and denitrogenation. The solvent is separated from the solid
      materials in the DGC strategy, and vapor is generated at elevated temperatures to
      induce the growth of MOFs around magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles. This strategy can
      greatly simplify the complicated procedures of the well-known layer-by-layer
      method and avoid the blockage of pores confronted by introducing magnetic Fe3O4
      nanoparticles to the pores of MOFs. Our results show that the adsorbents are
      capable of efficiently removing aromatic sulfur and nitrogen compounds from model
      fuels, for example removing 0.62mmolg-1S and 0.89mmolg-1N of thiophene and
      indole, respectively. In addition, the adsorbents are facile to separate from
      liquid phases by use of an external field. After 6 cycles, the adsorbents still
      show a good adsorption capacity that is comparable to the fresh one.

PMID- 27639993
TI  - Pancreatic tumors in children and young adults with tuberous sclerosis complex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are not included in the diagnostic
      criteria for tuberous sclerosis complex, although an association has been
      described. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of pancreatic neuroendocrine
      tumor in children and young adults with tuberous sclerosis complex and define MRI
      characteristics of the tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated
      the abdominal MRI scans of 55 children and young adults with tuberous sclerosis
      complex for the presence of a pancreatic mass. The scans were performed over a
      period of 7 years to monitor renal pathology. We obtained each patient's clinical
      history and treatment protocol from the hospital's electronic medical records.
      RESULTS: A solid pancreatic mass was identified in 5/55 (9%, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 3-20%) patients (4 male) with a mean age of 12.6 years. Four of the
      lesions were located in the pancreatic tail and one in the pancreatic body. All
      of the lesions were solid, ovoid and well demarcated, with a mean diameter of 3.1
      cm. The masses uniformly demonstrated T1 and T2 prolongation, but their diffusion
      behavior and post-contrast enhancement varied. The two surgically resected
      lesions were synaptophysin (+) non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors on
      pathology. Two of the patients who did not have surgery were treated with
      everolimus; one of the lesions has shown interval decrease in size and the other
      has remained stable. CONCLUSION: Pancreatic tumor is relatively common in
      children and young adults with tuberous sclerosis complex.

PMID- 27639994
TI  - Legal high industry business and lobbying strategies under a legal market for new
      psychoactive substances (NPS, 'legal highs') in New Zealand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The establishment of a regulated legal market for new psychoactive
      substances (NPS, 'legal highs') under New Zealand's Psychoactive Substances Act
      (PSA) 2013 created a new commercial sector for psychoactive products, previously
      limited to alcohol and tobacco. AIM: To explore how the newly-recognised 'legal
      high' industry (LHI) viewed and responded to the changing regulatory and market
      environment. METHODS: In-depth interviews with six key informants (KI) from the
      LHI: a leading entrepreneur, chemist, industry spokesperson, retailer, product
      buyer and a researcher commissioned by the LHI - were conducted, transcribed and
      analysed thematically. Formative work for the study included review of official
      LHI documents (websites, public submissions, self-regulation documents). RESULTS:
      The LHI stakeholders espoused an idealistic mission of shifting recreational
      users of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs towards "safer alternatives". Passage
      of the PSA was viewed as a success after years of lobbying led by pioneering LHI
      actors. The growth and professionalisation of the LHI resulted in an increasingly
      commercial market which challenged idealistic views of the original operators.
      LHI KI reported the targeting of young and low income customers, price cutting
      and increasing the strength of products as business strategies. Attempts by the
      LHI to self-regulate did not prevent escalation in the strength of products and
      fall in retail prices. The LHI reported outsourcing of manufacturing and
      exporting of their products to other countries, demonstrating an international
      business model. CONCLUSION: There was a tension between profit and idealistic
      motivations within the LHI and this increased as the sector became more
      commercialised. While the LHI distanced itself from both alcohol and tobacco,
      they reported the use of similar marketing, business and political lobbying
      strategies. Rules for engagement with new 'addictive consumption industries' are
      required to clarify the role they are permitted to play in the development of
      regulatory regimes for new psychoactive substances.

PMID- 27639995
TI  - The complex interplay of social networks, geography and HIV risk among Malaysian
      Drug Injectors: Results from respondent-driven sampling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV is primarily concentrated among people who inject drugs (PWID) in
      Malaysia, where currently HIV prevention and treatment coverage is inadequate. To
      improve the targeting of interventions, we examined HIV clustering and the role
      that social networks and geographical distance play in influencing HIV
      transmission among PWID. METHODS: Data were derived from a respondent-driven
      survey sample (RDS) collected during 2010 of 460 PWID in greater Kuala Lumpur.
      Analysis focused on socio-demographic, clinical, behavioural, and network
      information. Spatial probit models were developed based on a distinction between
      the influence of peers (individuals nominated through a recruitment network) and
      neighbours (residing a close distance to the individual). The models were
      expanded to account for the potential influence of the network formation.
      RESULTS: Recruitment patterns of HIV-infected PWID clustered both spatially and
      across the recruitment networks. In addition, HIV-infected PWID were more likely
      to have peers and neighbours who inject with clean needles were HIV-infected and
      lived nearby (<5km), more likely to have been previously incarcerated, less
      likely to use clean needles (26.8% vs 53.0% of the reported injections, p<0.01),
      and have fewer recent injection partners (2.4 vs 5.4, p<0.01). The association
      between the HIV status of peers and neighbours remained significantly correlated
      even after controlling for unobserved variation related to network formation and
      sero-sorting. CONCLUSION: The relationship between HIV status across networks and
      space in Kuala Lumpur underscores the importance of these factors for
      surveillance and prevention strategies, and this needs to be more closely
      integrated. RDS can be applied to identify injection network structures, and this
      provides an important mechanism for improving public health surveillance,
      accessing high-risk populations, and implementing risk-reduction interventions to
      slow HIV transmission.

PMID- 27639996
TI  - Re-implantation of cryopreserved ovarian cortex resulting in restoration of
      ovarian function, natural conception and successful pregnancy after
      haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for Wilms tumour.
AB  - With the improvement of long-term cancer survival rates, growing numbers of
      female survivors are suffering from treatment-related premature ovarian
      insufficiency (POI). Although pre-treatment embryo and oocyte storage are
      effective fertility preservation strategies, they are not possible for pre
      pubertal girls or women who cannot delay treatment. In these cases, the only
      available treatment option is ovarian cortex cryopreservation and subsequent re
      implantation. A 32-year-old woman had ovarian cortex cryopreserved 10 years
      previously before commencing high-dose chemotherapy and undergoing a
      haematopoietic stem cell transplant for recurrent adult Wilms tumour, which
      resulted in POI. She underwent laparoscopic orthotopic transplantation of
      cryopreserved ovarian cortex to the original site of biopsy on the left ovary.
      She ovulated at 15 and 29 weeks post-re-implantation with AMH detectable, then
      rising, from 21 weeks, and conceived naturally following the second ovulation.
      The pregnancy was uncomplicated and a healthy male infant was born by elective
      Caesarean section at 36+4 weeks gestation. This is the first report of ovarian
      cortex re-implantation in the UK. Despite the patient receiving low-risk
      chemotherapy prior to cryopreservation and the prolonged tissue storage duration,
      the re-implantation resulted in rapid restoration of ovarian function and natural
      conception with successful pregnancy.

PMID- 27639997
TI  - Developmental ability of embryos produced from oocytes with fragile oolemma by
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
AB  - PURPOSE: In intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) of oocytes with a fragile
      oolemma (fragile oocytes), breakage can occur at injection. In this study, we
      produced embryos from oocytes with a fragile and normal oolemma (normal oocytes)
      by ICSI and compared their ability to be fertilized and develop in vitro. We also
      investigated whether fragile oocyte-derived embryos could implant after
      blastocyst transfer to determine whether fragile oocytes should be used for
      assisted reproductive technology treatment. METHODS: Oocytes were divided into
      three groups-normal oocytes from cycles containing no fragile oocytes (group A),
      normal oocytes from cycles containing at least one fragile oocyte (group B), and
      fragile oocytes (group C), and their fertilization abilities after ICSI and the
      developmental abilities of resultant embryos were compared. RESULTS: The
      fertilization rate in group C (65.3 %) was significantly (P < 0.01) lower than
      those in groups A (84.6 %) and B (86.9 %), and the degeneration rate in group C
      (24.2 %) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher than those in groups A (0.71 %) and
      B (0.28 %). However, there were no significant differences in the blastocyst
      formation rates (59.7-67.5 %) of embryos among the different groups. In addition,
      the pregnancy rate after transfer of blastocysts in group C (50.0 %) was not
      significantly different from those in groups A (35.6 %) and B (45.8 %).
      CONCLUSIONS: The fertilization ability after ICSI of fragile oocytes is lower
      than that of normal oocytes but the resultant embryos have the same developmental
      ability as those of normal oocyte-derived embryos.

PMID- 27639998
TI  - Carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone (FCCP) pre-exposure ensures
      follicle integrity during in vitro culture of ovarian tissue but not during
      cryopreservation in the domestic cat model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Temporary and reversible downregulation of metabolism may improve the
      survival of tissues exposed to non-physiological conditions during transport, in
      vitro culture, and cryopreservation. The objectives of the study were to (1)
      optimize the concentration and duration of carbonyl cyanide 4
      (trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone (FCCP-a mitochondrial uncoupling agent)
      exposures for biopsies of domestic cat ovarian tissue and (2) examine the effects
      of FCCP pre-exposures on follicle integrity after tissue culture and/or
      cryopreservation. METHODS: Biopsies of cat ovarian tissue were first treated with
      various concentrations of FCCP (0, 10, 40, or 200 nM) for 10 or 120 min to
      determine the most suitable pre-exposure conditions. Based on these results,
      tissues were pre-exposed to 200 nM FCCP for 120 min for the subsequent studies on
      culture and cryopreservation. In all experiments and for each treatment group,
      tissue activity and integrity were measured by mitochondrial membrane potential
      (relative optical density of rhodamine 123 fluorescence), follicular viability
      (calcein assay), follicular morphology (histology), granulosa cell proliferation
      (Ki-67 immunostaining), and follicular density. RESULTS: Ovarian tissues
      incubated with 200 nM FCCP for 120 min led to the lowest mitochondrial activity
      (1.17 +/- 0.09; P < 0.05) compared to control group (0 nM; 1.30 +/- 0.12) while
      maintaining a constant percentage of viable follicles (75.3 +/- 7.8 %) similar to
      the control group (71.8 +/- 11.7 %; P > 0.05). After 2 days of in vitro culture,
      percentage of viable follicles (78.8 +/- 8.9 %) in similar pre-exposure
      conditions was higher (P < 0.05) than in the absence of FCCP (61.2 +/- 12.0 %)
      with percentages of morphologically normal follicles (57.6 +/- 17.3 %) not
      different from the fresh tissue (70.2 +/- 7.1 %; P > 0.05). Interestingly,
      percentages of cellular proliferation and follicular density were unaltered by
      the FCCP exposures. Based on the indicators mentioned above, the FCCP-treated
      tissue fragments did not have a better follicle integrity after freezing and
      thawing. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-exposure to 200 nM FCCP during 120 min protects and
      enhances the follicle integrity in cat ovarian tissue during short-term in vitro
      culture. However, FCCP does not appear to exert a beneficial or detrimental
      effect during ovarian tissue cryopreservation.

PMID- 27639999
TI  - Effect of additional warning sounds on pedestrians' detection of electric
      vehicles: An ecological approach.
AB  - Virtually silent electric vehicles (EVs) may pose a risk for pedestrians. This
      paper describes two studies that were conducted to assess the influence of
      different types of external sounds on EV detectability. In the first study,
      blindfolded participants had to detect an approaching EV with either no warning
      sounds at all or one of three types of sound we tested. In the second study,
      designed to replicate the results of the first one in an ecological setting, the
      EV was driven along a road and the experimenters counted the number of people who
      turned their heads in its direction. Results of the first study showed that
      adding external sounds improve EV detection, and modulating the frequency and
      increasing the pitch of these sounds makes them more effective. This improvement
      was confirmed in the ecological context. Consequently, pitch variation and
      frequency modulation should both be taken into account in future AVAS design.

PMID- 27640001
TI  - Progression of erosive lesions after Nd:YAG laser and fluoride using optical
      coherence tomography.
AB  - This study aimed to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) to assess the
      progression of erosive lesions after irradiation with Nd:YAG laser and
      application of topical fluoride. One-hundred and twenty dentin samples (4 * 4 * 2
      mm) obtained from bovine incisors were used. Samples were protected with acid
      resistant nail varnish, with exception of a central circular area 2 mm in
      diameter. All samples were submitted to erosive cycles with citric acid solution
      0.05 M (citric acid monohydrate-C6H8O7.H2O); M = 210.14 g/mol) pH 2.3, at room
      temperature, for 20 min, 2*/day, throughout 20 days. After 10 days of acid
      challenges, lesions became visible, and each group received a different treatment
      (n = 15): control (without treatment), topical application of sodium fluoride 2 %
      for 4 min; Nd:YAG laser with different irradiation parameters (1, 0.7, and 0.5
      W); and the association of fluoride with the laser parameters. OCT readouts were
      performed on day 01 (before the first acid challenge-OCT1), on day 05 (OCT2), day
      10 (OCT3-after treatment), day 15 (OCT4), day 17 (OCT5), and day 20 (OCT6). The
      OCT images generated made it possible to measure the amount of tooth tissue loss
      over the 20 days of erosive cycle, before and after treatments, and to monitor
      early dentin demineralization progression. After statistical analysis, the
      fluoride group was observed to be the one that showed smaller loss of tissue over
      time. The OCT technique is promising for diagnosing and monitoring erosive lesion
      damage; however, further in vitro and in vivo research is needed to improve its
      use.

PMID- 27640000
TI  - Photobiomodulation therapy reduces apoptotic factors and increases glutathione
      levels in a neuropathic pain model.
AB  - Neuropathic pain (NP) is caused by damage to the nervous system due to reactive
      oxygen spices (ROS) increase, antioxidants reduction, ATP production imbalance,
      and induction of apoptosis. In this investigation, we applied low-level laser 660
      nm (photobiomodulation therapy) as a new strategy to modulate pain. In order to
      study the effects of photobiomodulation therapy (660 nm) on NP, chronic
      constriction injury (CCI) model was selected. Low-level laser of 660 nm was used
      for 2 weeks. Thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia were measured before and after
      surgery on days 7 and 14, respectively. Paw withdrawal thresholds were also
      evaluated. Expression of p2x3, Bax, and bcl2 protein was measured by western
      blotting. The amount of glutathione (GSH) was measured in the spinal cord by
      continuous spectrophotometric rate determination method. The results are
      presented as mean +/- SD. Statistical analysis of data was carried out using SPSS
      21. CCI decreased the pain threshold, 2-week photobiomodulation therapy
      significantly increased mechanical and thermal threshold, decreased P2X3
      expression (p < 0.001), and increased bcl2 expression (p < 0.01), but it was not
      effective on the Bax expression. We speculated that although photobiomodulation
      therapy increased ROS generation, it increased antioxidants such as GSH. Increase
      in bcl2 is another mitochondrial protection mechanism for cell survival and that
      pain relief and decrease in P2X3 expression confirm it.

PMID- 27640004
TI  - Refractive Errors and Amblyopia in the UCLA Preschool Vision Program; First Year
      Results.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the outcomes of full ophthalmic examination for preschool
      children in LA County who failed screening with the Retinomax Autorefractor.
      DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional study. METHODS: Between August 2012 and
      May 2013, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) preschool vision
      program screened 11 260 preschool children aged 3-5 years in Los Angeles County
      using the Retinomax Autorefractor only. Of those, 1007 children who failed the
      screening were examined by an ophthalmologist on the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic. Data
      from the eye examination were recorded for all children. Amblyopia was defined as
      unilateral if there was >=2 line interocular difference in the best-corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) and as bilateral if BCVA was <20/50 for children <4 years
      old and <20/40 for children >=4 years old. RESULTS: Glasses were prescribed for
      740 (74%) of those examined. Uncorrected visual acuity for all examined children
      was 0.4 +/- 0.2 (logMAR mean +/- SD), and BCVA was 0.2 +/- 0.1. Of the 88% who
      underwent cycloplegia, 58% had hyperopia (spherical equivalent [SE] >=+0.50
      diopter [D]), mean of +2.50 D, and 21% had myopia (SE <=-0.50 D), mean of -1.40
      D. A total of 69% had astigmatism >=1.50 D, mean of 1.97 D (range 0-5.75).
      Spherical and cylindrical anisometropia >=1.00 D were each found in 26% of those
      examined. Refractive amblyopia was found in 9% of those examined, or 0.8% of the
      original population. Of the amblyopic subjects, 77% were unilateral. CONCLUSIONS:
      Screening of preschoolers with the Retinomax led to diagnosis and early treatment
      of uncorrected refractive errors and amblyopia. By treating children early,
      amblyopia may be prevented, quality of life improved, and academic achievements
      enhanced.

PMID- 27640003
TI  - The ratio of cancer cells to stroma after induction therapy in the treatment of
      non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Induction therapy induces degenerative changes of various degrees in
      both cancerous and non-cancerous cells of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The
      effect of induction therapy on histological characteristics, in particular the
      ratio of residual cancer cells to non-cancerous components, is unknown. METHODS:
      Seventy-four NSCLC patients treated with induction therapy followed by surgery
      were enrolled. Residual cancer cells were identified using anti-pan-cytokeratin
      antibody (AE1/AE3). We analyzed and quantified the following three factors via
      digital image analysis; (1) the tumor area containing cancer cells and non
      cancerous components (TA), (2) the total area of AE1/AE3 positive cancer cells
      (TACC), (3) the percentage of TACC to TA (%TACC). These factors were also
      analyzed in a matched control group (surgery alone, n = 80). RESULTS: The median
      TACC of the induction therapy group was significantly lower than that of the
      control group (p < 0.01). In addition, the median %TACC of the induction therapy
      group (5.9 %) was significantly lower than that of the control group (58.6 %) (p
      < 0.01). TACC had a strong positive correlation with TA in the control group (r =
      0.93), but not in the induction therapy group. Conversely, TACC had a strong
      positive correlation with %TACC in the induction therapy group (r = 0.95), but
      not in the control group. CONCLUSION: Unlike the control group, the smaller the
      total area of residual cancer cells, the higher residual tumor contained non
      cancerous components in the induction group, which may be the characteristic
      histological feature of NSCLC after induction therapy.

PMID- 27640002
TI  - Comparison of two dose levels of cyclophosphamide for successful stem cell
      mobilization in myeloma patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Even in the era of proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory
      drugs, the autologous stem cell transplantation after high-dose melphalan
      continues to represent a standard approach for myeloma patients in first-line
      therapy. Different mobilization chemotherapies before stem cell apheresis have
      been published while cyclophosphamide at a dose level of up to 4 g/m2 has been
      evaluated and is commonly applied. In contrast, lower dose levels of
      cyclophosphamide (e.g., 1.5 g/m2) did not result in a sufficient collection of
      stem cells. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the impact of "intermediate
      dose" (ID-CY, 2.5 g/m2) versus "high-dose" (HD-CY, 4 g/m2) cyclophosphamide in
      101 (48 vs. 53) consecutively evaluable myeloma patients (median age 59 years,
      range 32-72 years) who underwent stem cell mobilization after induction
      chemotherapy. Successful stem cell harvest was defined as a stem cell yield of at
      least 5 million CD34 cells per kg bodyweight. Evaluation of toxicity especially
      considered infectious complications and hematological toxicity in both subgroups.
      RESULTS: Successful stem cell mobilization was achieved in 40 of 48 (83 %) and 44
      of 53 (83 %) patients, respectively. The median time to apheresis (11 vs. 12
      days) and the median CD34 content of stem cell harvest (8.3 vs. 7.6 million CD34
      cells per kg bodyweight) did not differ significantly between both groups. There
      was a significant difference of WBC nadir in favor of the cyclophosphamide
      regimen with 2.5 g/m2 (0.8 vs. 0.3 Gpt/L, p = 0.021), and neutropenic fever was
      more often observed in patients who received 4 g/m2 cyclophosphamide (34 vs. 15
      %, p = 0.078). Importantly, after induction chemotherapy using the VCD regimen
      (bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, dexamethasone), successful stem cell mobilization
      was achieved in 26 of 29 (90 %) patients treated with 2.5 g/m2 and 21 of 25 (84
      %) patients receiving 4 g/m2 cyclophosphamide, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: ID-CY
      is safe and highly effective for stem cell mobilization in patients with newly
      diagnosed myeloma and associated with a reduced toxicity compared to HD-CY.

PMID- 27640005
TI  - Very Low Prevalence of Keratoconus in a Large Series of Vernal
      Keratoconjunctivitis Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the prevalence of keratoconus (KC) and other corneal
      abnormalities by means of videokeratography and tomography in a large series of
      patients affected by vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC). DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      study. METHODS: Setting: Single-center children's hospital. STUDY POPULATION: A
      total of 651 consecutive patients with VKC and a control group of 500 were
      prospectively recruited between May 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013, with a
      minimum follow-up of 12 months. OBSERVATION PROCEDURE: All patients were
      evaluated by means of a Scheimpflug camera combined with a Placido corneal
      topographer. Keratoconus, suspected keratoconus, or its absence were determined
      in each patient. The corneal symmetry index of front (SIf) and back curvature
      (SIb), shape indices, and thicknesses were compared between the 2 groups. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of keratoconus and corneal indices modifications.
      RESULTS: Five out of 651 patients (0.77%) demonstrated topographic signs of KC.
      Two of them were bilateral. All patients were older than 7 years of age, and the
      mean age was 11.54 years. Four other patients (0.61%) were classified as KC
      suspects by the screening program. Of 304 patients older than 11 years (mean age
      14.4 years), 4 (1.32%) were found to have KCN, and 4 (1.32%) were KC suspects.
      The corneal indices of patients in the VKC group were extremely similar to those
      in the control group. (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of KC in our patient
      population, compared with previous reports in the literature, is much lower. The
      similar corneal indices in both groups suggest the absence of permanent corneal
      deformation due to VKC.

PMID- 27640006
TI  - Clinical Characteristics, Choroidal Neovascularization, and Predictors of Visual
      Outcomes in Acquired Vitelliform Lesions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify the temporal properties of the acquired vitelliform lesion
      (AVL) life cycle, define the clinical characteristics of choroidal
      neovascularization (NV) in this setting, and determine the predictors of long
      term visual outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Clinical and
      imaging data from 199 eyes of 124 consecutive patients with AVLs associated with
      age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and adult-onset foveomacular vitelliform
      dystrophy (AOFVD) were analyzed. Volumetric calculations of vitelliform material
      were determined using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and the
      temporal properties of the AVL life cycle were quantified. The clinical
      characteristics of NV were assessed, as were the predictors of final best
      corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and change in BCVA. RESULTS: Mean age was 79.2 +/-
      12.1 years. AVLs grew and collapsed at approximately the same rate (P = .275).
      Fifteen eyes (7.5%) developed NV, of which all were type 1. In 13 of these eyes,
      NV occurred during the collapse phase of the AVL life cycle, after the peak AVL
      volume was reached. The risk of NV (P = .006) and the decline in BCVA (P = .001)
      were both significantly greater among eyes with AMD. Foveal atrophy was the
      characteristic most significantly associated with final BCVA and change in BCVA
      from baseline (both P < .0005). The development of NV was not predictive of long
      term visual outcomes (all P = .216). CONCLUSIONS: Complications associated with
      AVLs typically occur during the collapse phase of the AVL life cycle. Visual
      outcomes and risk of NV are related to the underlying disease associated with
      AVLs.

PMID- 27640007
TI  - Myopia is Inversely Associated With the Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy in the
      South Korean Population.
AB  - PURPOSE: Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of irreversible vision loss.
      Recent studies have suggested that myopia may be negatively correlated with the
      prevalence of diabetic retinopathy. We sought to further investigate the
      association between refractive error and the likelihood of having diabetic
      retinopathy in a cross-sectional, population-based study of the South Korean
      population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Data were included from right
      eyes of 13 424 participants who were 40 years and older with gradable fundus
      photographs of the Fourth and the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey. Diabetic retinopathy was graded using standard fundus
      photographs. Autorefraction data were collected to calculate spherical equivalent
      of refraction in diopters (D) and further classified into 4 groups: hyperopia
      (>=1.0 D), emmetropia (-0.99 D to 0.99 D), mild myopia (-1.0 D to -2.99 D), and
      moderate to high myopia (<=-3.0 D). Demographic, comorbidity, and health-related
      behavior information was obtained via interview. A multivariate model was used to
      evaluate the association between the diagnosis of any diabetic retinopathy and
      the refractive status. RESULTS: Mild myopia and moderate to high myopia groups
      were negatively associated with development of any diabetic retinopathy (odds
      ratio [OR] 0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.18-0.97 and OR 0.14; 95% CI 0.02
      0.88, respectively). In addition, for every 1 D increase in spherical equivalent,
      there was a 30% increase of having diabetic retinopathy (OR 1.30; 95% CI, 1.08
      1.58). CONCLUSIONS: Our results from a population-based study suggest that myopic
      status is associated with lower odds of having diabetic retinopathy in the South
      Korean population.

PMID- 27640008
TI  - High-level expression and biochemical characterization of a novel cold-active
      lipase from Rhizomucor endophyticus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify novel cold-active lipases from fungal sources and improve
      their production by heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris. RESULTS: A novel
      cold-active lipase gene (ReLipB) from Rhizomucor endophyticus was cloned. ReLipB
      was expressed at a high level in Pichia pastoris using high cell-density
      fermentation in a 5-l fermentor with the highest lipase activity of 1395 U/ml.
      The recombinant lipase (RelipB) was purified and biochemically characterized.
      ReLipB was most active at pH 7.5 and 25  degrees C. It was stable from pH 4.5
      9.0. It exhibited broad substrate specificity towards p-nitrophenyl (pNP) esters
      (C2-C16) and triacylglycerols (C2-C12), showing the highest specific activities
      towards pNP laurate (231 U/mg) and tricaprylin (1840 U/mg), respectively. In
      addition, the enzyme displayed excellent stability with high concentrations of
      organic solvents including cyclohexane, n-hexane, n-heptane, isooctane and
      petroleum ester and surfactants. CONCLUSIONS: A novel cold-active lipase from
      Rhizomucor endophyticus was identified, expressed at a high level and
      biochemically characterized. The high yield and unique enzymatic properties make
      this lipase of some potential for industrial applications.

PMID- 27640009
TI  - Regioselective C-H hydroxylation of omeprazole sulfide by Bacillus megaterium
      CYP102A1 to produce a human metabolite.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To find a simple enzymatic strategy for the efficient synthesis of
      the expensive 5'-hydroxyomeprazole sulfide, a recently identified minor human
      metabolite, from omeprazole sulfide, which is an inexpensive substrate. RESULTS:
      The practical synthetic strategy for the 5'-OH omeprazole sulfide was
      accomplished with a set of highly active CYP102A1 mutants, which were obtained by
      blue colony screening from CYP102A1 libraries with a high conversion yield. The
      mutant and even the wild-type enzyme of CYP102A1 catalyzed the high
      regioselective (98 %) C-H hydroxylation of omeprazole sulfide to 5'-OH omeprazole
      sulfide with a high conversion yield (85-90 %). CONCLUSIONS: A highly efficient
      synthesis of 5'-OH omeprazole sulfide was developed using CYP102A1 from Bacillus
      megaterium as a biocatalyst.

PMID- 27640010
TI  - Diet and Blood Pressure Control in Chinese Canadians: Cultural Considerations.
AB  - Hypertension is highly prevalent in Chinese Canadians and diet has been
      identified as an important modifiable risk factor for hypertension. The current
      anti-hypertensive dietary recommendations in hypertension care guidelines lack
      examination of cultural factors, are not culturally sensitive to ethnic
      populations, and cannot be translated to Chinese Canadian populations without
      cultural considerations. Guided by Leininger's Sunrise Model of culture care
      theory, this paper investigates how cultural factors impact Chinese Canadians'
      dietary practice. It is proposed that English language proficiency, health
      literacy, traditional Chinese diet, migration and acculturation, and Traditional
      Chinese Medicine influence Chinese Canadians' dietary practices. A culturally
      congruent nursing intervention should be established and tailored according to
      related cultural factors to facilitate Chinese Canadians' blood pressure control.
      In addition, further study is needed to test the model adapted from Sunrise Model
      and understand its mechanism.

PMID- 27640011
TI  - Factors Influencing Suicide Behaviours in Immigrant and Ethno-Cultural Minority
      Groups: A Systematic Review.
AB  - This paper reviews recent literature on factors influencing suicide behaviours,
      including thoughts, plans, and attempts, in immigrant and ethno-cultural minority
      groups, to inform a more comprehensive understanding of suicide behaviours in
      increasingly culturally diverse populations. Thirty-three studies published
      between 2002 and 2013 were identified through digital databases searches and
      included in this review. Analysis of study findings focused on impacts of ethno
      cultural identity and acculturation, other cultural and immigration influences,
      and family and community supports on suicide behaviours. Policy, practice, and
      research recommendations are identified, to inform relevant suicide prevention
      efforts and enhance mental health supports for immigrant and ethno-cultural
      minority populations.

PMID- 27640012
TI  - Postpartum Depression Among Somali Women in Norway.
AB  - Postpartum depression (PPD) has been described as the most common complication
      experienced postpartum, affecting about 10-15 % of all new mothers. Factors like
      a history of mental illness, and experienced recent adverse life events has been
      associated with an increased risk for developing PPD. Immigrant women in Western
      countries have been found to have a marked higher prevalence of PPD compared to
      the general population. In Norway the prevalence of PPD in the general population
      has been found to be around 8-10 %, and among Pakistani immigrants a rate of 7.6
      % was found. Somali people in Norway are the second largest immigrant group in
      Norway with a non-Western background. No study on PPD and associated factors
      among Somali women has been found in the literature. The aim of the study was to
      assess PPD and associated factors among Somali women in greater Oslo region,
      Norway. A cross-sectional survey was conducted; recruiting new mothers through
      all maternity wards in the Oslo region. Data was collected with interview
      administrated questionnaires. PPD was assessed using Edinburgh Postnatal
      Depression Scale (EPDS), defining those scoring >=10 to have a possible PPD. Of
      the 80 eligible women identified, 39 (49 %) consented to participate, and
      completed the study. Of the 39 respondents 3 (7.7 %) were assessed to have a
      possible PPD. Most important associated factors found were history of mental
      illness, having experienced technical assistance during delivery, self-rated
      health and experienced economical problems last 12 months. A low prevalence of
      PPD was found, and both the prevalence and its associated factors should be
      interpreted with caution. The associated factors do not have enough power to give
      any strength to the associations. However, some of the results can be used in
      develop new hypotheses with regard to PPD among Somali women as immigrants in a
      Western society.

PMID- 27640013
TI  - Phytochemicals prevent mitochondrial membrane permeabilization and protect SH
      SY5Y cells against apoptosis induced by PK11195, a ligand for outer membrane
      translocator protein.
AB  - Epidemiological studies present the beneficial effects of dietary habits on
      prevention of aging-associated decline of brain function. Phytochemicals, the
      second metabolites of food, protect neuronal cells from cell death in cellular
      models of neurodegenerative disorders, and the neuroprotective activity has been
      ascribed to the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory functions. In this paper, the
      cellular mechanism of neuroprotection by phytochemicals was investigated, using
      the cellular model of mitochondrial apoptosis induced by PK11195, a ligand of
      outer membrane translocator protein, in SH-SY5Y cells. PK11195 induced
      mitochondrial membrane permeabilization with rapid transit production of
      superoxide (superoxide flashes) and calcium release from mitochondria, and
      activated apoptosis signal pathway. Study on the structure-activity relationship
      of astaxanthin, ferulic acid derivatives, and sesame lignans revealed that these
      phytochemicals inhibited mitochondrial membrane permeabilization and protected
      cells from apoptosis. Ferulic acid derivatives and sesame lignans inhibited or
      enhanced the mitochondrial pore formation and cell death by PK11195 according to
      their amphiphilic properties, not directly depending on the antioxidant activity.
      Regulation of pore formation at mitochondrial membrane is discussed as a novel
      mechanism behind neuroprotective activity of phytochemicals in aging and age
      associated neurodegenerative disorders, and also behind dual functions of
      phytochemicals in neuronal and cancer cells.

PMID- 27640014
TI  - Use of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in the diagnosis of rheumatoid
      arthritis: a pilot study.
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease leading to joint
      cartilage, bone degradation and limitation of mobility. Diagnosis of RA is
      difficult and complex. There are also no effective methods for clear
      discrimination between RA patients and non-RA individuals. In this work we use IR
      spectroscopy to differentiate RA patients and blood donors' sera. We found
      differences between investigated sera (RA and non-RA) in range of 3000-2800 and
      1800-800 cm-1 (W1-W5 regions). Based on mathematical analysis we developed a K-NN
      model characterized by 85 % of sensitivity and 100 % of specificity. Also we
      found that, wavenumber 1424 cm-1, comprising in W3 region, was the most effective
      in human sera distinguishing. We conclude that IR spectroscopy may serve as a
      fast and easy method useful in RA serology.

PMID- 27640016
TI  - Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis on nonstandard microcrustacean
      species isolated from field zooplankton communities.
AB  - The toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis on zooplanktonic
      microcrustaceans was evaluated using individuals collected in coastal wetlands
      where this larvicide has been used for mosquito control over the last decades. We
      tested five zooplankton species that coexist with mosquito larvae: two copepods
      (both nauplii and adults of Tropocyclops prasinus and Acantocyclops americanus),
      and three cladocerans (Ceriodaphnia reticulata, Chydorus sphaericus, and Daphnia
      cf. pulex). Our experiments included seven replicates of six concentrations (Bti
      Vectobac12AS 1200 Bti ITU/mg): 0, 5, 25, 50, 250, and 500 mg L-1. We analyzed
      acute and sub-chronic effects after a single inoculation. Despite the high
      variability of responses among our tested organisms, we found a general pattern
      of increasing mortality with concentration and time. We conclude that negative
      effects at the community level are not unlikely as some species were affected at
      doses close to those used in field applications.

PMID- 27640015
TI  - Evaluating anti-oxidant potential of ganoderic acid A in STAT 3 pathway in
      prostate cancer.
AB  - Evaluating anti-oxidant potential of Ganoderic acid A in STAT 3 pathway in
      Prostate cancer. Molecular docking and ADMET activities of different isoforms of
      ganoderic acid on STAT 3 pathway were performed by Maestro 9.6 (Schrodinger Inc).
      The ganoderic acid A is best-docked among isoforms which analyses the expression
      level of antioxidant and STAT 3 pathway in PC-3 cells. The receptor-based
      molecular docking reveals the best binding interaction of SH2 domain of STAT3 and
      ganoderic acid A with GScore (-6.134), kcal/mol, Lipophilic EvdW (-1.83), Electro
      (-1.1), Glide emodel (-31.857), H bond (1.98), MM-GBSA (-69.555). The molecular
      docking QikProp analyzed the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and
      toxicity (ADME/T). The ganoderic acid A is best-docked among isoforms which
      downregulates the expression of STAT 3 in PC-3 cells. Moreover, ganoderic acid A
      inhibits proliferation, viability, ROS, DPPH, and analyzed the expression of
      SOD1, SOD2, and SOD3 by Real time PCR in a PC-3 cell in a dose-dependent manner.
      Molecular docking revealed the mechanistic binding of Ganoderic acid A in STAT3
      signaling, which inhibits the proliferation, viability, and ROS in PC-3 cells.

PMID- 27640017
TI  - Surgical mitral valve intervention following a failed MitraClip procedure.
AB  - The MitraClip procedure has shown promising results in patients with high
      surgical risk. However, data concerning outcomes of open mitral valve surgery for
      failed MitraClip procedures are sparse. In a retrospective clinical
      investigation, baseline characteristics, intraoperative and histopathological
      findings, surgical indications and results of patients who required surgery after
      a failed MitraClip procedure were collected. Between March 2010 and May 2016, 25
      patients presented at our department with severe mitral valve regurgitation
      following a failed MitraClip procedure. Leaflet destruction or severe adhesions
      between leaflets and the implanted clip were the commonest intraoperative
      findings. Upon surgery, the mitral valve was either repaired (n=5, 20%) or
      replaced (n=20, 80%) with a biological prosthesis. Four patients who had
      presented in cardiogenic shock prior to the operation died within the first 30
      days. In the majority of cases, mitral valve replacement is preferred over repair
      due to severe leaflet damage following the MitraClip procedure. Only those
      patients who present in cardiogenic shock are at extremely high risk for in
      hospital mortality. 

PMID- 27640018
TI  - Percutaneous interventional options for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation.

PMID- 27640019
TI  - Transcatheter interventions for tricuspid regurgitation: MitraClip.

PMID- 27640020
TI  - Transcatheter interventions for tricuspid regurgitation: TriCinch (4Tech).

PMID- 27640021
TI  - Transcatheter interventions for tricuspid regurgitation: the FORMA Repair System.

PMID- 27640022
TI  - Transcatheter interventions for tricuspid regurgitation - heterotopic technology:
      TricValve.

PMID- 27640023
TI  - Transcatheter interventions for tricuspid regurgitation: Trialign and Mitralign.

PMID- 27640024
TI  - Calcification of the aortic valve and mitral apparatus: location, quantification
      and implications for device selection.
AB  - The treatment of both aortic and now mitral valvular disease has been transformed
      through transcatheter valvular interventions. TAVR has rapidly become the
      treatment of choice for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis in both high, and now
      intermediate-risk patients. Building upon this success the last two years have
      seen the clinical introduction of transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR),
      with a number of devices being utilised in first-in-man and feasibility studies.
      These experiences have helped determine the anatomical requirements and
      specifications that enable successful device deployment and avoidance of
      complications. A unique strength of cardiac CT is the ability to identify and
      characterise calcification of the aortic and mitral apparatus, en-abling a deeper
      understanding of the relationship of calcification and procedural complications. 

PMID- 27640025
TI  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: there is still much to know.

PMID- 27640026
TI  - TAVI with current CE-marked devices: strategies for optimal sizing and valve
      delivery.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has evolved from an exclusive,
      highly complex and hazardous procedure into a mature, safe and streamlined
      therapy for patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Various successive device
      iterations and product refinements have created a dynamic and competitive field
      with a spectrum of different CE-marked transcatheter heart valve (THV) designs.
      This review provides a practical overview of current CE-marked THVs with a focus
      on respective sizing algorithms and delivery strategies. 

PMID- 27640027
TI  - Leaflet motion abnormality after TAVI: genuine threat or much ado about nothing?
AB  - Symptomatic transcatheter heart valve (THV) thrombosis is noted in up to 1% of
      patients after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Recently, hypoattenuated
      leaflet thickening and reduced leaflet motion of bioprosthetic aortic valves
      associated with normal transvalvular gradients (and possibly related to
      subclinical leaflet thrombosis) have been reported. While trans-thoracic
      echocardiography is a useful initial screening imaging modality for the detection
      of symptomatic THV thrombosis associated with elevated transvalvular gradients,
      it has limited utility in the detection of subclinical THV thrombosis. In the
      present article, we describe the incidence, clinical presentation and strategies
      for the prevention and treatment of THV thrombosis, as well as the role of
      imaging modalities in the diagnosis and management of this phenomenon. 

PMID- 27640028
TI  - Late degeneration of transcatheter aortic valves: pathogenesis and management.
AB  - There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the durability of current
      transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) devices up to 5 years. However, it
      is well known that transcatheter aortic valves can degenerate in a manner similar
      to surgical bioprostheses. In this review we briefly discuss the modes of failure
      of trans-catheter aortic valves and their potential management. 

PMID- 27640029
TI  - TAVI device selection: time for a patient-specific approach.
AB  - Individualised, patient-centred care is a central tenet of modern medicine. The
      variety of transcatheter heart valves currently available affords the opportunity
      to select the most appropriate device for each individual patient. Prosthesis
      selection should be based on operator experience and pre-procedural multimodal
      three-dimensional imaging. Herein, we outline a number of clinical scenarios
      where specific transcatheter heart valve technologies have the potential to
      optimise clinical outcome. 

PMID- 27640030
TI  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in bicuspid aortic valve stenosis.
AB  - Bicuspid aortic stenosis (AS) is not rare in patients treated with transcatheter
      aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Bicuspid valves have unique anatomy which could
      affect the results of TAVI; however, multiple recent reports have shown that TAVI
      is safe and effective in this population. Paravalvular aortic regurgitation was
      initially found to be more frequent in bicuspid patients, but newer-generation
      devices have shown superior results in this respect. Higher rates of pacemaker
      implantation after TAVI in bicuspid AS do require further investigation. Current
      data suggest that bicuspid valves should not be a contraindication for TAVI, but
      future specific trials are needed to support this assertion. 

PMID- 27640032
TI  - Welcome to PCR London Valves 2016: back to the UK.

PMID- 27640031
TI  - Patient selection for TAVI in 2016: should we break through the low-risk barrier?
AB  - The earliest evidence supporting transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
      was derived from its comparison with conservative therapy in inoperable patients
      and with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in extremely high risk
      patients. TAVI had a relative advantage in these situations being less invasive
      and hence less prone to the classic early postoperative devastating
      complications. To prove as effective in less fragile and less morbid patients,
      the long-term durability of the haemodynamic and clinical gains from TAVI needs
      to be confirmed. In this report we will discuss three aspects of the dilemma of
      expanding TAVI indications to lower-risk patients: first, available data on early
      and late outcomes after TAVI; second, durability issues; and third, TAVI
      complications and procedural refinements. 

PMID- 27640034
TI  - Transcatheter mitral valve interventions: Eldorado or Waterloo for interventional
      cardiologists?

PMID- 27640033
TI  - Upcoming TAVI trials: rationale, design and impact on clinical practice.
AB  - Over the past decade, approximately 15,000 patients have been randomised in
      clinical trials of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), and as many
      patients will be randomised in ongoing and future investigations aimed at
      broadening indications, comparing devices, simplifying the procedure, and
      optimising clinical outcomes. The purpose of this review is to summarise the
      rationale and design of upcoming studies in the field of TAVI. 

PMID- 27640035
TI  - The MitraClip system: strategies for optimal patient selection and optimised
      results.

PMID- 27640036
TI  - The Cardioband: strategies for optimal patient selection and optimised results.

PMID- 27640037
TI  - The Carillon: strategies for optimal patient selection and optimised results.

PMID- 27640038
TI  - The Mitralign: strategies for optimal patient selection and optimised results.

PMID- 27640039
TI  - Integrated imaging: a new skill for interventional cardiologists.

PMID- 27640040
TI  - Transcatheter mitral valve implantation: Tiara.

PMID- 27640041
TI  - Transcatheter mitral valve implantation: CardiAQ.

PMID- 27640042
TI  - Transcatheter mitral valve implantation: Tendyne.

PMID- 27640043
TI  - Intrepid transcatheter mitral valve replacement system: technical and product
      description.

PMID- 27640044
TI  - HighLife transcatheter mitral valve replacement.

PMID- 27640045
TI  - Emerging technologies for direct and indirect percutaneous mitral annuloplasty.

PMID- 27640046
TI  - Fluoroscopic "heart chamber" anatomy - the case for imaging modality-independent
      terminology.
AB  - Interventional cardiologists have traditionally relied upon fluoro-scopic imaging
      for percutaneous coronary interventions. Transcatheter structural heart
      interventions, however, require additional imaging modalities such as
      echocardiography and multislice computed tomography (MSCT) for pre-, intra- and
      post-procedural assistance. MSCT has emerged as the critical imaging modality for
      patient and device selection prior to transcatheter structural heart
      interventions. MSCT is unique as it provides a complete 3-dimensional (3D)
      dataset of the heart and vasculature that is amenable to multiplanar
      reconstruction for 2-dimensional (2D) or volume-rendered interpretations. Herein,
      we present a modality-independent terminology for understanding volumetric images
      in the context of transcatheter heart valve therapies. The goal of this system is
      to allow physicians to readily interpret the orientation of fluoroscopic, MSCT,
      echocardiographic and MRI images, thus generalising their understanding of
      cardiac anatomy to all imaging modalities. 

PMID- 27640047
TI  - A double shot at the mitral valve: combined transcatheter mitral valve repair
      techniques to optimise results.

PMID- 27640048
TI  - Mitral valve-in-valve and valve-in-ring: technical aspects and procedural
      outcomes.
AB  - There is a growing practice of transcatheter treatment of failed mitral valves
      after cardiac surgery, including valve-in-valve and valve-in-ring. Although
      commonly successful, these procedures can be associated with device malposition
      (including delayed malposition) and elevated post-procedural gradients
      (especially when performed inside small surgical valves). Valve-in-ring
      procedures have elevated risks of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and
      post-procedural regurgitation. Careful patient selection and meticulous
      evaluation of patient anatomy and surgical implant characteristics are essential
      to achieve optimal clinical results with mitral valve-in-valve and valve-in-ring
      implantation. 

PMID- 27640049
TI  - Percutaneous mitral valve repair and replacement: complementary or competitive
      techniques?
AB  - As transcatheter mitral replacement technologies have recently been applied in
      early clinical trials, the question as to whether valve implantation would have
      the potential to become the leading percutaneous mitral valve therapy has been
      raised. The aim of this report is to give an overview of the different
      peculiarities of percutaneous replacement and repair techniques, and to predict
      whether the two approaches will have a complementary rather than a competitive
      clinical role in the near future. 

PMID- 27640050
TI  - Identification and characterization of a novel amidase signature family amidase
      from Parvibaculum lavamentivorans ZJB14001.
AB  - Amidase signature (AS) family amidases are known to exhibit broad substrate
      specificity. According to the available genome sequence data, a novel AS family
      amidase, Pl-Ami, was identified and cloned from the genome of Parvibaculum
      lavamentivorans ZJB14001. The recombinant amidase was overexpressed in
      Escherichia coli BL21, purified and functionally characterized. The optimal pH
      and temperature for Pl-Ami were 9.5 and 45  degrees C, respectively. Pl-Ami
      preferred long chain aliphatic amides as substrates, while no activity was
      detected towards aromatic, heterocyclic and other amides. The highest enzyme
      activity of 128 U/mg was obtained when hexanoamide was used as substrate. Kinetic
      analysis indicated that the extension of chain length of aliphatic amides
      considerably decreased the Km values, and the turnover number (kcat) was higher
      with long chain aliphatic amides as substrates. The obtained results provided a
      distinct understanding of substrate specificity of AS family amidases.

PMID- 27640051
TI  - Rare mediastinal leiomyoma in a child.
AB  - Leiomyoma of the mediastinum is rare. They are thought to arise from the smooth
      muscle cells of the media of mediastinal vascular structures and structure
      containing smooth muscle. Most mediastinal leiomyomas are seen in association
      with oesophagus in the posterior mediastinum. We present a case of huge leiomyoma
      in a 1.5 years old male child arising in the lower anterior mediastinum with
      compression of heart, liver and deformity of rib cage. Median sternotomy and a
      separate concomitant right mini-thoracotomy was done and tumor excised.
      Histopathology proved it to be a leiomyoma.

PMID- 27640053
TI  - Waste minimization in the remediation of contaminated sites: using the oil belt
      skimmer technology for the removal of heavy hydrocarbons from groundwater.
AB  - Modern society increasingly requires achieving the goal of remediation and at the
      same time minimizing the waste to be disposed. Although the pump and treat is a
      consolidated technology option for the decontamination of groundwater polluted by
      heavy hydrocarbons, it generates an excessive amount of waste (typically,
      dangerous). With the intent of reducing such waste, our study is concerned with
      the verification of the oil belt skimmer technology for the decontamination of a
      heavy hydrocarbon-polluted groundwater. For this purpose, several tests at
      laboratory scale and full-scale experimentations with duration greater than 1
      year were carried out. The obtained results showed the feasibility of the
      investigated technology for groundwater decontamination in the cases where the
      water mobility (of the aquifer) was low and in the presence of oil thicknesses
      greater than 2 cm. The heavy hydrocarbon recovery capacities were in the range of
      33.3-85.5 l/h with the best performances in the cases of supernatant thickness
      >=2 cm and pumping of the water table in such a way that the oil acquires a
      higher mobility in the aquifer. Moreover, the recovery capacity was found to be
      dependent on the rainfall pattern as well as on the groundwater fluctuation.
      Compared to the pump-and-treat system, the investigated technology allowed
      reducing by 98.7 % the amount of waste to be disposed suggesting the use in
      presence of high thickness of the oils. Finally, in a view of system
      optimization, treatment trains based on the combination of the oil belt skimmer
      technology and the pump-and-treat system should be carefully assessed.

PMID- 27640052
TI  - Retention of the cellophane wall of a patency capsule by intestinal stenosis: a
      report of three cases.
AB  - Here we report three cases in which the cellophane wall of the PillCam(r) patency
      capsule (tag-less PC), lacking a radio frequency identification tag, was
      retained. Case 1 A 33-year-old man with Crohn's disease (CD) who was administered
      the tag-less PC, subsequently underwent resection for perforated colon. We
      recovered the cellophane wall that could perforate the intestine and cause
      peritonitis. Case 2 A 34-year-old man with a recurring intestinal obstruction of
      unknown cause was administered the tag-less PC test. Computed tomography (CT)
      detected the cellophane wall at the oral side of an ileal stenosis. He was
      subsequently diagnosed with CD. Case 3 A 60-year-old woman with recurrent
      diarrhea was examined using CT, which revealed a thickened ileal wall. She was
      administered the tag-less PC test. CT detected the cellophane wall at the oral
      side of an ileal stenosis. Double-balloon enteroscopy revealed that the stenosis
      was caused by a malignant lymphoma, and the cellophane wall was simultaneously
      removed. Although there are numerous studies that report the usefulness and
      safety of tag-less PCs, few studies mention entrapment of the cellophane wall.
      Our present report indicated that tag-less PCs may cause such adverse effects and
      illustrated the usefulness of CT for detecting the trapped cellophane wall.

PMID- 27640054
TI  - Chemical fraction, leachability, and bioaccessibility of heavy metals in
      contaminated soils, Northeast China.
AB  - Heavy metals in urban soils may pose risks to both urban environment and human
      health. However, only a fraction of heavy metals in soil is mobile and/or
      bioavailable for plant uptake and human ingestion. This study evaluates the
      chemical fraction and potential mobility and bioaccessibility of heavy metals
      (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in the contaminated urban topsoils from steel-industrial
      city (Anshan), Northeastern China. Chemical forms of heavy metals in soils are
      determined using Tessier sequential extraction technique. The toxicity
      characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA),
      and US Pharmacopeia methodology (USPM) are used to determine the operationally
      defined potentially mobile and bioaccessible metal fractions, respectively.
      Sequential extraction results show that Cd has the highest percentage of
      exchangeable form, whereas Cr primarily exists in residual form. The non-residual
      fraction of heavy metals increases in the order of Cr < Cu < Pb < Zn < Cd. The
      leachability of heavy metals evaluated by TCLP test indicates that Cd, Zn, Cu,
      and Pb have much higher mobile than Cr. The bioavailability of heavy metals
      determined by EDTA extraction decreases in the order of Pb > Cu ? Zn > Cd > Cr.
      The order of bioaccessibility determined by USPM extraction is Pb = Cu > Zn > Cd
      > Cr. The Cr exhibits the lowest leachability and bioaccessibility among the
      investigated metals. The Pb has the highest bioaccessibility, indicating higher
      potential hazard for the human health. There are significant relationships
      between the EDTA- and USPM-extractable metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) and the sum of
      first three steps of sequential extraction. Highly significant correlation is
      found between amounts of EDTA-extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn and USPM-extractable
      metals. The result suggests that EDTA extraction can be helpful to estimate the
      bioaccessibility of heavy metals for human ingestion. Introduction of mobile and
      human bioaccessible concentrations into risk assessments can give more realistic
      implications for urban environmental management.

PMID- 27640055
TI  - Pragmatic evaluation of odour emissions from a rendering plant in southern
      Brazil.
AB  - In the food industry and linked activities, environmental impacts relate mainly
      to the generation of liquid and gaseous effluents. Rendering plants, which
      process animal by-products, are strongly associated with malodorous emissions.
      Thus, effective odour-control technologies are required to minimise odour
      annoyance in nearby communities and thereby public complaints. In this paper, the
      effectiveness of a biofilter for the treatment of odours from a meat-rendering
      plant located in southern Brazil was evaluated based on German guideline VDI
      3477:2004-11. Samples were collected upstream and downstream of the gas treatment
      system using a pragmatic approach in order to minimise the cost of such a study.
      Odour concentration was determined according to European standard EN 13725:2003.
      The results showed an OER of 8.82 * 108 ouE h-1 and odour removal efficiency
      lower than the established benchmark set by SEMA Resolution 054/2006, taken as
      reference for being the only Brazilian regulation to establish quantitative odour
      emission criteria. Enhancement of the biofiltration system and/or association
      with other odour abatement technologies are required to increase odour removal,
      limit impacts and comply with regulatory requirements. The paper also includes a
      discussion on the current odour regulation in Brazil.

PMID- 27640056
TI  - Occupational exposure to phthalates in relation to gender, consumer practices and
      body composition.
AB  - The aim of our work was to find associations between urinary phthalate metabolite
      concentrations and occupation, consumer practices and body composition. We
      divided our cohort (n = 129) into occupationally exposed subjects, community
      service workers (group A; n = 45) and workers from plastic industry (group B; n =
      35) and group of general population (control group C, n = 49). To estimate levels
      of five phthalate metabolites, we used high-performance liquid chromatography and
      tandem mass spectrometry analysis. We found in plastic industry workers compared
      to community service workers and subjects of the control group significantly
      higher urinary concentration mono (2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP),
      mono (2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), mono (2-etylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP),
      sum di-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (DEHP), mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP) and
      mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP). We identified by multivariate analysis of
      covariance inverse relationship between MEHP and body parameters as waist-to
      height ratio, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, hip circumference and waist
      circumference among females, whereas in males, no significant association was
      found. Results of our study show, despite of variability in terms of occupational
      exposure to phthalates, that plastic manufactory represents a higher occupational
      risk in comparison with waste management. The differences in anthropometric
      parameters between the two occupationally exposed groups and the general
      population are suggesting a detrimental effect of occupational exposure on body
      weight homeostasis.

PMID- 27640057
TI  - Study of the degradation performance (TOC, BOD, and toxicity) of bisphenol A by
      the photo-Fenton process.
AB  - Degradation of bisphenol A (BPA, 0.5 L, 30 mg L-1) was studied by photo-Fenton
      treatment, while Fenton reagents were variables. The efficiency of the
      degradation process was evaluated by the reduction of total organic carbon (TOC),
      the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and toxicity. For toxicity analysis,
      bacterial methods were found infeasible, but the in vitro assay of VERO cells
      culture was successfully applied. Experiments according to a 22 design of
      experiments (DOE) with star points and three center points for statistical
      validity allowed selecting those process conditions (Fe(II) and H2O2 load) that
      maximized the process performance. Photo-Fenton process effectively eliminated
      BPA and partly degraded its by-products (residual TOC <15 %) under
      substoichiometric H2O2 dose (100.62 mg L-1) and at least 4 mg L-1 Fe(II), after a
      90-min treatment. All treated samples were at least partially biodegradable. The
      cytotoxic concentration (LD50) of BPA for VERO cells was 7 mg L-1. With small
      H2O2 amount (15.24 mg L-1), only low BPA mineralization (TOC = 92 %) was
      attained. Toxicity was also detected to 50 % of cellular mortality even at long
      reaction times. However, 40.25 mg L-1 of H2O2 decreased residual TOC to 70 %
      while cell mortality decreased down to 25 %. With more H2O2, the residual TOC
      decreased down to 15 % but cell mortality remained within the 20-25 % level.
      Photo-Fenton increased the biodegradability and reduced the toxicity of the
      studied sample.

PMID- 27640059
TI  - Use of the landfill water pollution index (LWPI) for groundwater quality
      assessment near the landfill sites.
AB  - The purpose of the paper is to assess the groundwater quality near the landfill
      sites using landfill water pollution index (LWPI). In order to investigate the
      scale of groundwater contamination, three landfills (E, H and S) in different
      stages of their operation were taken into analysis. Samples of groundwater in the
      vicinity of studied landfills were collected four times each year in the period
      from 2004 to 2014. A total of over 300 groundwater samples were analysed for pH,
      EC, PAH, TOC, Cr, Hg, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, as required by the UE legal acts for
      landfill monitoring system. The calculated values of the LWPI allowed the
      quantification of the overall water quality near the landfill sites. The obtained
      results indicated that the most negative impact on groundwater quality is
      observed near the old Landfill H. Improper location of piezometer at the Landfill
      S favoured infiltration of run-off from road pavement into the soil-water
      environment. Deep deposition of the groundwater level at Landfill S area reduced
      the landfill impact on the water quality. Conducted analyses revealed that the
      LWPI can be used for evaluation of water pollution near a landfill, for
      assessment of the variability of water pollution with time and for comparison of
      water quality from different piezometers, landfills or time periods. The applied
      WQI (Water Quality Index) can also be an important information tool for landfill
      policy makers and the public about the groundwater pollution threat from
      landfill.

PMID- 27640058
TI  - Degradation alternatives for a commercial fungicide in water: biological, photo
      Fenton, and coupled biological photo-Fenton processes.
AB  - Imazalil (IMZ) is a widely used fungicide for the post-harvest treatment of
      citrus, classified as "likely to be carcinogenic in humans" for EPA, that can be
      only partially removed by conventional biological treatment. Consequently,
      specific or combined processes should be applied to prevent its release to the
      environment. Biological treatment with adapted microorganism consortium, photo
      Fenton, and coupled biological photo-Fenton processes were tested as alternatives
      for the purification of water containing high concentration of the fungicide and
      the coadjutants present in the commercial formulation. IMZ-resistant consortium
      with the capacity to degrade IMZ in the presence of a C-rich co-substrate was
      isolated from sludge coming from a fruit packaging company wastewater treatment
      plant. This consortium was adapted to resist and degrade the organics present in
      photo-Fenton-oxidized IMZ water solution. Bacteria colonies from the consortia
      were isolated and identified. The effect of H2O2 initial concentration and dosage
      on IMZ degradation rate, average oxidation state (AOS), organic acid
      concentration, oxidation, and mineralization percentage after photo-Fenton
      process was determined. The application of biological treatment to the oxidized
      solutions notably decreased the total organic carbon (TOC) in solution. The
      effect of the oxidation degree, limited by H2O2 concentration and dosage, on the
      percentage of mineralization obtained after the biological treatment was
      determined and explained in terms of changes in AOS. The concentration of H2O2
      necessary to eliminate IMZ by photo-Fenton and to reduce TOC and chemical oxygen
      demand (COD) by biological treatment, in order to allow the release of the
      effluents to rivers with different flows, was estimated.

PMID- 27640060
TI  - Fast photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutants and
      ecotoxicological effects.
AB  - Aqueous solutions of ciprofloxacin (CP) and ibuprofen (IBP) in the presence of
      LaFeO3 photocatalyst, of H2O2, and of both LaFeO3 and H2O2 were irradiated under
      visible light. The degradation rate in the presence of both LaFeO3 and H2O2 after
      5 h irradiation was more than 90 % for CP and 40 % for IBP, much higher than that
      with only H2O2 under visible light. For the sake of comparison, the experiments
      were also carried out in the dark, and both CP and IBP were not significantly
      converted. The degradation rate was enhanced by the simultaneous presence of
      small concentration of LaFeO3 (130 mg L-1) and H2O2 (0.003 M). However, tests on
      the aquatic acute toxicity indicate that the degradation products of CP and IBP
      induce toxic effects on aquatic organisms, consequently indicating incomplete
      detoxification after 5 h irradiation. The main degradation product of IBP was 4
      isobutylacetophenone (4-IBAP), detected in the irradiated solutions by using
      UV/vis spectrophotometry. 4-IBAP was more toxic and showed a slower
      photocatalytic degradation than the parent compound. On the contrary, the
      toxicity of CP degradation products, although not negligible, was comparable to
      that of CP itself.

PMID- 27640061
TI  - Thinning increases understory diversity and biomass, and improves soil properties
      without decreasing growth of Chinese fir in southern China.
AB  - Sustainable forestry requires adopting more ecosystem-informed perspectives. Tree
      thinning improves forest productivity by encouraging the development of the
      understory, which in turn improves species diversity and nutrient cycling,
      thereby altering the ecophysiological environment of the stand. This study aimed
      to quantify tree growth, understory vegetation, and soil quality of 9- and 16
      year-old Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) plantations in South
      China, 1-7 years after pre-commercial thinning. The quadratic mean diameter (QMD)
      and individual tree volume were greatly increased and compensated for the reduced
      stand yield in thinned stands. In 2011, the stand volume in unthinned and thinned
      stands were 276.33 and 226.46 and 251.30 and 243.64 m3 ha-1, respectively, for
      young and middle stage. Therefore, we predicted that over time, the stand volume
      in thinned stands should exceed that in unthinned stands. The composition,
      diversity, and biomass of understory vegetation of the plantation monocultures
      significantly increased after thinning. The effects of thinning management on
      understory development were dynamic and apparent within 1-2 years post-thinning.
      Some light-demanding plant species such as Styrax faberi, Callicarpa formosana,
      Lophatherum gracile, and Gahnia tristis emerged in the shrub and herb layer and
      became dominant with the larger gaps in the canopy in thinned stands. The trigger
      effects of thinning management on understory and tree growth were more pronounced
      in the young stage. The beneficial effects on soil physical and chemical
      properties were measurable at later stages (7 years after thinning). The strong
      positive relationship between understory biomass and volume increment (at the
      tree and stand levels) indicated that understory improvement after thinning did
      not restrict productivity within Chinese fir stands but rather, benefited soil
      water content and nutrient status and promoted tree growth.

PMID- 27640062
TI  - Insulin monotherapy compared with the addition of oral glucose-lowering agents to
      insulin for people with type 2 diabetes already on insulin therapy and inadequate
      glycaemic control.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether people with type 2 diabetes mellitus on insulin
      monotherapy who do not achieve adequate glycaemic control should continue insulin
      as monotherapy or can benefit from adding oral glucose-lowering agents to the
      insulin therapy. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of insulin monotherapy
      compared with the addition of oral glucose-lowering agents to insulin monotherapy
      for people with type 2 diabetes already on insulin therapy and inadequate
      glycaemic control. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, the World
      Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP)
      and reference lists of articles. The date of the last search was November 2015
      for all databases. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled clinical trials of
      at least two months' duration comparing insulin monotherapy with combinations of
      insulin with one or more oral glucose-lowering agent in people with type 2
      diabetes. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected
      trials, assessed risk of bias, extracted data and evaluated overall quality of
      the evidence using GRADE. We summarised data statistically if they were
      available, sufficiently similar and of sufficient quality. We performed
      statistical analyses according to the statistical guidelines in the Cochrane
      Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. MAIN RESULTS: We included 37
      trials with 40 treatment comparisons involving 3227 participants. The duration of
      the interventions ranged from 2 to 12 months for parallel trials and two to four
      months for cross-over trials.The majority of trials had an unclear risk of bias
      in several risk of bias domains. Fourteen trials showed a high risk of bias,
      mainly for performance and detection bias. Insulin monotherapy, including once
      daily long-acting, once-daily intermediate-acting, twice-daily premixed insulin,
      and basal-bolus regimens (multiple injections), was compared to insulin in
      combination with sulphonylureas (17 comparisons: glibenclamide = 11, glipizide =
      2, tolazamide = 2, gliclazide = 1, glimepiride = 1), metformin (11 comparisons),
      pioglitazone (four comparisons), alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (four comparisons:
      acarbose = 3, miglitol = 1), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4 inhibitors)
      (three comparisons: vildagliptin = 1, sitagliptin = 1, saxagliptin = 1) and the
      combination of metformin and glimepiride (one comparison). No trials assessed all
      cause mortality, diabetes-related morbidity or health-related quality of life.
      Only one trial assessed patients' treatment satisfaction and showed no
      substantial differences between the addition of either glimepiride or metformin
      and glimepiride to insulin compared with insulin monotherapy.Insulin
      sulphonylurea combination therapy (CT) compared with insulin monotherapy (IM)
      showed a MD in glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of -1% (95% confidence
      interval (CI) -1.6 to -0.5); P < 0.01; 316 participants; 9 trials; low-quality
      evidence. Insulin-metformin CT compared with IM showed a MD in HbA1c of -0.9%
      (95% CI -1.2 to -0.5); P < 0.01; 698 participants; 9 trials; low-quality
      evidence. We could not pool the results of adding pioglitazone to insulin.
      Insulin combined with alpha-glucosidase inhibitors compared with IM showed a MD
      in HbA1c of -0.4% (95% CI -0.5 to -0.2); P < 0.01; 448 participants; 3 trials;
      low-quality evidence). Insulin combined with DPP-4 inhibitors compared with IM
      showed a MD in HbA1c of -0.4% (95% CI -0.5 to -0.4); P < 0.01; 265 participants;
      2 trials; low quality evidence. In most trials the participants with CT needed
      less insulin, whereas insulin requirements increased or remained stable in
      participants with IM.We did not perform a meta-analysis for hypoglycaemic events
      because the included studies used different definitions.. In most trials the
      insulin-sulphonylurea combination resulted in a higher number of mild episodes of
      hypoglycaemia, compared to the IM group (range: 2.2 to 6.1 episodes per
      participant in CT versus 2.0 to 2.6 episodes per participant in IM; low-quality
      evidence). Pioglitazone CT also resulted in more mild to moderate hypoglycaemic
      episodes compared with IM (range 15 to 90 episodes versus 9 to 75 episodes,
      respectively; low-quality evidence. The trials that reported hypoglycaemic
      episodes in the other combinations found comparable numbers of mild to moderate
      hypoglycaemic events (low-quality evidence).The addition of sulphonylureas
      resulted in an additional weight gain of 0.4 kg to 1.9 kg versus -0.8 kg to 2.1
      kg in the IM group (220 participants; 7 trials; low-quality evidence).
      Pioglitazone CT caused more weight gain compared to IM: MD 3.8 kg (95% CI 3.0 to
      4.6); P < 0.01; 288 participants; 2 trials; low-quality evidence. Metformin CT
      was associated with weight loss: MD -2.1 kg (95% CI -3.2 to -1.1), P < 0.01; 615
      participants; 7 trials; low-quality evidence). DPP-4 inhibitors CT showed weight
      gain of -0.7 to 1.3 kg versus 0.6 to 1.1 kg in the IM group (362 participants; 2
      trials; low-quality evidence). Alpha-glucosidase CT compared to IM showed a MD of
      -0.5 kg (95% CI -1.2 to 0.3); P = 0.26; 241 participants; 2 trials; low-quality
      evidence.Users of metformin CT (range 7% to 67% versus 5% to 16%), and alpha
      glucosidase inhibitors CT (14% to 75% versus 4% to 35%) experienced more gastro
      intestinal adverse effects compared to participants on IM. Two trials reported a
      higher frequency of oedema with the use of pioglitazone CT (range: 16% to 18%
      versus 4% to 7% IM). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The addition of all oral glucose
      lowering agents in people with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycaemic control
      who are on insulin therapy has positive effects on glycaemic control and insulin
      requirements. The addition of sulphonylureas results in more hypoglycaemic
      events. Additional weight gain can only be avoided by adding metformin to
      insulin. Other well-known adverse effects of oral glucose-lowering agents have to
      be taken into account when prescribing oral glucose-lowering agents in addition
      to insulin therapy.

PMID- 27640063
TI  - Bladder stones in vesicovaginal fistula: is concurrent repair an option?
      Experience with 87 patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective was to assess the outcomes of a one
      stage approach to bladder stones in the setting of a vesicovaginal fistula,
      performing fistula repair concurrently with stone extraction. METHODS:
      Retrospective review of urogenital fistula surgeries at Evangel VVF Center in
      Jos, Nigeria, between December 2003 and April 2014, identified 87 women with
      bladder stones accompanying their fistulas and 2,979 repaired without stones.
      Concurrent stone extraction and fistula repair were performed in 51 patients.
      Outcomes were compared with respect to fistula size, classification, and
      fibrosis. RESULTS: Women presenting with bladder stones were older and had larger
      fistulas than those without stones (P < 0.001). Additionally, their fistulas were
      more often classifiable as large and less often as high (P = 0.02), and were more
      fibrotic (P = 0.003). Twenty-six (51 %) patients with concurrent repair
      successfully became dry. Comparing results by classification, concurrent repair
      of high fistulas with stones was very likely to be successful (OR 8.8, 95% CI 1.0
      78.2), whereas low fistulas were not (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.02-0.7). Outcomes were
      similar to those of patients without stones, except for low fistulas, which were
      5 times more likely to fail (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Concurrent closure of
      vesicovaginal fistula at the time of bladder stone extraction is possible and, in
      many respects, preferable to a staged approach, particularly among high or
      midvaginal fistulas.

PMID- 27640065
TI  - Factors associated with urinary incontinence in middle-aged women: a population
      based household survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective was to determine the prevalence of
      urinary incontinence (UI) and factors associated in a sample of Brazilian middle
      aged women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2012
      and June 2013 with 749 women. UI was defined as any complaint of involuntary loss
      of urine. The independent variables were sociodemographic data and health-related
      habits and problems. Statistical analysis was carried out using Chi-squared test
      and Poisson regression. RESULTS: The mean age was 52.5 (+/-4.4) years. The
      prevalence of UI was 23.6 %. Of these, 48 (6.4 %) had stress urinary
      incontinence, 59 (7.8 %) urinary urgency, and 70 (9.5 %) had mixed urinary
      incontinence. In the final statistical model, self-perception of health as
      fair/poor/very poor (PR: 1.90; 95 % CI, 1.45-2.49; P < 0.001), >=1 vaginal
      deliveries (PR: 1.84; 95 % CI, 1.35-2.50; P < 0.001), higher body mass index (PR:
      1.04; 95 % CI, 1.02-1.06; P = 0.001), vaginal dryness (PR: 1.60; 95 % CI, 1.23
      2.08; P = 0.001), current or previous hormone therapy (PR: 1.38; 95 % CI, 1.06
      1.81; P = 0.019), pre-/perimenopause (PR: 1.42; 95 % CI, 1.06-1.91; P = 0.021),
      and previous hysterectomy (PR: 1.41; 95 % CI, 1.03-1.92; P = 0.031) were
      associated with a greater prevalence of UI. Current or previous use of soy
      products to treat menopausal symptoms was associated with a lower prevalence of
      UI (PR: 0.43; 95 % CI, 0.24-0.78; P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Several factors are
      associated with UI in middle-aged Brazilian women. The results highlight the
      importance of carrying out interventions aimed at reducing modifiable factors.

PMID- 27640064
TI  - Paravaginal defect: anatomy, clinical findings, and imaging.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The paravaginal defect has been a topic of active
      discussion concerning what it is, how to diagnose it, its role in anterior
      vaginal wall prolapse, and if and how to repair it. The aim of this article was
      to review the existing literature on paravaginal defect and discuss its role in
      the anterior vaginal wall support system, with an emphasis on anatomy and
      imaging. METHODS: Articles related to paravaginal defects were identified through
      a PubMed search ending 1 July 2015. RESULTS: Support of the anterior vaginal wall
      is a complex system involving levator ani muscle, arcus tendineus fascia pelvis
      (ATFP), pubocervical fascia, and uterosacral/cardinal ligaments. Studies conclude
      that physical examination is inconsistent in detecting paravaginal defects.
      Ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been used to describe
      patterns in the appearance of the vagina and bladder when a paravaginal defect is
      suspected. Different terms have been used (e.g., sagging of bladder base, loss of
      tenting), which all represent changes in pelvic floor support but that could be
      due to both paravaginal and levator ani defects. CONCLUSION: Paravaginal support
      plays a role in supporting the anterior vaginal wall, but we still do not know
      the degree to which it contributes to the development of prolapse. Both MRI and
      US are useful in the diagnosis of paravaginal defects, but further studies are
      needed to evaluate their use.

PMID- 27640066
TI  - Long-term follow-up of the outcome of supracervical versus total abdominal
      hysterectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Hysterectomy for benign indications can be performed
      either as a supracervical or a total procedure. It is controversial whether
      removing the cervix is beneficial or not. This study aimed at comparing long-term
      outcomes after supracervical (n = 107) and total (n = 105) abdominal
      hysterectomy. METHODS: Two prospective questionnaire-based studies were conducted
      among the original 212 patients operated on between February 1978 and May 1979 at
      Turku University Hospital, Finland. In the first study in 1997, a nonvalidated
      questionnaire was mailed to 193 patients to inquire about any postoperative
      symptoms. In the second study in 2011, a validated questionnaire and an
      invitation to a follow-up visit were sent to 153 women. During the visit, pelvic
      support was assessed using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system.
      Additionally, hospital records were reviewed to identify any gynecological
      operations at both evaluation times. RESULTS: In the first evaluation, the
      response rate was 94 %, and in the second, the rate was 62 %. Objective
      evaluation was possible in 75 women in 2011, 37 in the supracervical group and 38
      in the total hysterectomy group. There were no significant differences in the
      rates of subjective urinary and sexual symptoms or subsequent operations for
      urinary incontinence and genital prolapse between women in the supracervical
      group and women in the total hysterectomy group. Four patients in the
      supracervical group required a re-operation: three for a prolapsed cervical stump
      and one for a cervical abscess. CONCLUSIONS: Supracervical and total
      hysterectomies resulted in similar postoperative outcomes regarding subjective
      symptoms and subsequent gynecological operations during a follow-up of 33 years.
      CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( www.clinicaltrials.gov ):
      NCT02166749.

PMID- 27640067
TI  - The effects of a CXCR1/CXCR2 antagonist on neutrophil migration in mild atopic
      asthmatic subjects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neutrophils are effector cells recruited to airways in patients with
      asthma. Migration of neutrophils occurs predominantly through activation of the
      CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors by CXC chemokines, including IL-8 and Gro-alpha. The
      dual CXCR1/CXCR2 antagonist SCH 527123 has been developed to target neutrophil
      migration to alleviate airway neutrophilia. This study investigated the effects
      of SCH 527123 on neutrophil levels within the bone marrow, peripheral blood and
      airways, and on isolated bone marrow and peripheral blood neutrophil migration
      from mild allergic asthmatics. METHODS: Thirteen subjects with mild allergic
      asthma completed a double blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center crossover study
      and were randomized to daily dosing of 30 mg SCH 527123 and placebo for 8 days.
      Subjects provided bone marrow, peripheral blood and sputum samples pre-dosing and
      on the last day of dosing. Neutrophil numbers were quantified in all samples and
      chemotaxis assays were performed on neutrophils purified from bone marrow and
      peripheral blood. RESULTS: Neutrophil numbers fell significantly in the
      peripheral blood and sputum following treatment with SCH 527123 compared to
      placebo treatment. No change in neutrophil numbers was observed in bone marrow.
      SCH 527123 reduced IL-8-induced migration of purified peripheral blood
      neutrophils (p < 0.05), but had limited effects on migration of neutrophils
      purified from bone marrow. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study demonstrate
      that oral administration of the dual CXCR1/CXCR2 antagonist SCH 527123 reduces
      neutrophil levels in the circulation and airways through inhibition of migration.
      There were no toxic effects of SCH 527123 on granulocytic progenitor cells in the
      bone marrow.

PMID- 27640068
TI  - Urinary bisphenol A is associated with dysregulation of HPA-axis function in
      pregnant women: Findings from the APrON cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA) is associated with dysregulation of hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in rodents, but evidence in humans is
      lacking. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether BPA exposure during pregnancy is
      associated with dysregulation of the HPA-axis, we examined the association
      between urinary BPA concentrations and diurnal salivary cortisol in pregnant
      women. Secondary analyses investigated whether the association between BPA and
      cortisol was dependent on fetal sex. METHODS: Diurnal salivary cortisol and
      urinary BPA were collected during pregnancy from 174 women in a longitudinal
      cohort study, the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study.
      Associations between BPA and daytime cortisol and the cortisol awakening response
      (CAR) were estimated using mixed models after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS:
      Higher concentrations of total BPA uncorrected for urinary creatinine were
      associated with dysregulation of the daytime cortisol pattern, including reduced
      cortisol at waking, beta=-.055, 95% CI (-.100, -.010) and a flatter daytime
      pattern, beta=.014, 95% CI (.006, .022) and beta=-.0007 95% CI (-.001, -.0002)
      for the linear and quadratic slopes, respectively. Effect sizes in creatinine
      corrected BPA models were slightly smaller. None of the interactions between
      fetal sex and BPA were significant (all 95% CI's include zero). CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings provide the first human evidence suggesting that BPA exposure is
      associated with dysregulation of HPA-axis function during pregnancy.

PMID- 27640070
TI  - Association between serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and
      gestational diabetes mellitus in primiparous women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
      may play an important role in increasing the risk of gestational diabetes
      mellitus (GDM). OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the association
      between polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, 10 congeners) and polybrominated
      diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, 8 congeners) and GDM in primiparous women with no family
      history of diabetes in first-degree relatives during the third trimester of
      pregnancy. METHODS: This case-control study was performed among the three
      university hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Serum samples were
      collected from cases (n=70) that were diagnosed with GDM and from controls (n=70)
      with a normal pregnancy that attended the same hospital for a routine prenatal
      visit. Pollutant levels were analyzed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry
      (GC/MS). RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses manifested the positive
      association between total POPs (sum of total PCBs and PBDEs) (Odds ratio
      (OR)=1.61, 95% CI: 1.31-1.97, p-value <0.0001) and total PCBs (OR=1.75, 95% CI:
      1.35-2.27, p-value<0.0001) and GDM considering confounding variables (age,
      gestational age, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), and total maternal serum
      lipid). In addition, we found a positive association between total PBDEs and GDM
      (OR =2.21; 95% CI: 1.48-3.30, p-value <0.0001). Finally, we found a positive
      association between Ln PCB 187, 118 and Ln PBDE 99, 28 with GDM. Meanwhile a
      negative association between Ln PCB 28 and GDM was established. CONCLUSION: Our
      data suggest that exposure to certain POPs (PCBs and PBDEs) could be a potential
      modifying risk factor for GDM.

PMID- 27640069
TI  - Effects of CeO2 nanoparticles on sludge aggregation and the role of extracellular
      polymeric substances - Explanation based on extended DLVO.
AB  - The extended DLVO (XDLVO) theory was applied to elucidate the potential effects
      of CeO2 nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) on sludge aggregation and the role of
      extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). In this study, seven different
      concentrations of CeO2 NPs were added to activated sludge cultured in sequencing
      batch reactors (SBRs) and compared with a control test that received no CeO2 NPs.
      After exposure to 50mg/L CeO2 NPs, a negligible change (p>0.1) occurred in the
      sludge volume index (SVI), whereas the flocculability and aggregation of the
      sludge decreased by 18.8% and 11.2%, respectively, resulting in a high effluent
      turbidity. The XDLVO theory demonstrated that the adverse effects of the CeO2 NPs
      on sludge aggregation were due to an enhanced barrier energy. Compared to the van
      der Waals energies (WA) and the electric double layer (WR), the acid-base
      interaction (WAB) markedly changed for the various concentrations of CeO2 NPs.
      The EPS played a decisive role in the sludge surface characteristics, as the
      removal of EPS equals to the negative effects induced by 5-10mg/L CeO2 NPs on the
      sludge flocculability and aggregation. The presence of CeO2 NPs induced negative
      contributions to the tight boundary EPS (TB-EPS) and core bacteria while positive
      contributions to the total interaction energy of the loose boundary EPS (LB-EPS).

PMID- 27640071
TI  - Gene-environment interactions linking air pollution and inflammation in
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Both air pollution exposure and systemic inflammation have been linked to
      Parkinson's disease (PD). In the PASIDA study, 408 incident cases of PD diagnosed
      in 2006-2009 and their 495 population controls were interviewed and provided DNA
      samples. Markers of long term traffic related air pollution measures were derived
      from geographic information systems (GIS)-based modeling. Furthermore, we
      genotyped functional polymorphisms in genes encoding proinflammatory cytokines,
      namely rs1800629 in TNFalpha (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and rs16944 in IL1B
      (interleukin-1beta). In logistic regression models, long-term exposure to NO2
      increased PD risk overall (odds ratio (OR)=1.06 per 2.94MUg/m3 increase, 95%
      CI=1.00-1.13). The OR for PD in individuals with high NO2 exposure (?75th
      percentile) and the AA genotype of IL1B rs16944 was 3.10 (95% CI=1.14-8.38)
      compared with individuals with lower NO2 exposure (<75th percentile) and the GG
      genotype. The interaction term was nominally significant on the multiplicative
      scale (p=0.01). We did not find significant gene-environment interactions with
      TNF rs1800629. Our finds may provide suggestive evidence that a combination of
      traffic-related air pollution and genetic variation in the proinflammatory
      cytokine gene IL1B contribute to risk of developing PD. However, as statistical
      evidence was only modest in this large sample we cannot rule out that these
      results represent a chance finding, and additional replication efforts are
      warranted.

PMID- 27640072
TI  - H-bond and dipole-dipole interactions between water and COO functional group in
      methyl benzoate derivatives: Substituent and heteroatom effects.
AB  - Interactions of COOCH3 functional group of methyl benzoate (MB) and its
      derivatives can substantially be affected by substituents and heteroatoms. The
      substituent and heteroatom effects on the intermolecular interactions in the
      complexes of MB and its derivatives with the water molecule have been
      investigated by the quantum mechanical calculations in the present study.
      Electron donating (ED)/electron withdrawing (EW) substituents increase/decrease
      the binding energy (DeltaEbin) between mentioned functional group and hydrogen
      bond donor, and the N heteroatom in the six membered ring weakens the effect. The
      effects of the N heteroatoms depend on their positions in the ring, and the
      effects of substituents depend on the number and the positions of heteroatoms.
      Some relations were obtained between the dipole moment of carbonyl group, results
      obtained from the natural bond orbital (NBO) and the atoms in molecules (AIM)
      analysis, binding energy and Hammett constants of substituents. The results can
      be used to predict the factors affect the intermolecular interactions, and to
      improve the ligand-protein bindings in biological systems.

PMID- 27640073
TI  - Positive affect and regional cerebral blood flow in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Quality of life (QOL) has been recently recognized as the central purpose of
      healthcare, and positive affect is one of the core dimension of QOL. However,
      positive affect among patients with dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD) has not
      received much attention in the medical research field. One hundred sixteen
      consecutive patients with AD were recruited from the outpatient units of the
      Memory Clinic of Okayama University Hospital. The positive affect score was
      evaluated using the positive affect domain of the Quality of Life questionnaire
      for Dementia (QOL-D). Patients underwent brain SPECT with 99mTc-ethylcysteinate
      dimer. Positive affect scores were inversely related to apathy scores, subjective
      depressive scores, and delusion scores. After removing the effects of age, sex,
      duration of education, and cognitive function, positive affect scores showed a
      significant correlation with regional cerebral blood flow in the left premotor
      and superior frontal gyri. The left premotor and superior frontal area is
      significantly involved in the pathogenesis of the decrease of positive affect in
      AD. Apathy and depression are closely related to the prefrontal area in AD, and
      they may affect the relationship between positive affect and the left prefrontal
      area.

PMID- 27640075
TI  - Single-center Series of Bone Marrow Biopsy-Defined Large Granular Lymphocyte
      Leukemia: High Rates of Sustained Response to Oral Methotrexate.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia is a rare chronic
      lymphoproliferative disorder, with few large series reported to date. Series
      using stringent diagnostic criteria incorporating bone marrow biopsy (BMB),
      immunophenotyping, and T-cell receptor rearrangements are even scarcer. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: The present study was a single-center series of 39 patients with LGL
      leukemia diagnosed using immunohistochemical analysis of BMB samples and flow
      cytometric and molecular data. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 3.2 years
      (range, 1.0-15.1 years), 15 patients (38%) never required treatment. Of the
      remaining 24 patients requiring treatment, 13 were initially treated with
      prednisolone, for an overall response rate (ORR) of 84.6% and a median duration
      of response (DOR) of 13.5 months (range, 5.7-70.3 months). Of the 24 patients, 9
      received oral low-dose weekly methotrexate as first-line therapy, with 8 (89%)
      achieving a hematologic response and a median DOR of 132.7 months (range, 6.7
      180.5 months). Another 5 patients received methotrexate after prednisolone
      failure; all 5 responded, with a median DOR of 14 months (range, 4-96 months).
      Only 2 patients developed progression during methotrexate therapy, and 4 patients
      experienced responses lasting >= 5 years. CONCLUSION: Single-agent oral
      methotrexate appears to be highly efficacious, resulting in long response
      durations and minimal toxicity.

PMID- 27640076
TI  - Vitamin K intake and all-cause and cause specific mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Vitamin K has been associated with various health outcomes,
      including non-fatal cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancer. However, little is
      known about the association between vitamin K intake and all-cause and cause
      specific mortality. This study aims to investigate the association between
      vitamin K intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. METHODS: This
      prospective cohort study included 33,289 participants from the EPIC-NL cohort,
      aged 20-70 years at baseline and recruited between 1993 and 1997. Dietary intake
      was assessed at baseline with a validated food frequency questionnaire and
      intakes of phylloquinone, and total, short chain and long chain menaquinones were
      calculated. Information on vital status and causes of death was obtained through
      linkage to several registries. The association between the different forms of
      vitamin K intake and mortality was assessed with Cox proportional hazards,
      adjusted for risk factors for chronic diseases and nutrient intake. RESULTS:
      During a mean follow-up of 16.8 years, 2863 deaths occurred, including 625 from
      CVD (256 from coronary heart disease (CHD)), 1346 from cancer and 892 from other
      causes. After multivariable adjustment, phylloquinone and menaquinones were not
      associated with all-cause mortality with hazard ratios for the upper vs. the
      lowest quartile of intake of 1.04 (0.92;1.17) and 0.94 (0.82;1.07) respectively.
      Neither phylloquinone intake nor menaquinone intake was associated with risk of
      CVD mortality. Higher intake of long chain menaquinones was borderline
      significantly associated (ptrend = 0.06) with lower CHD mortality with a HR10MUg
      of 0.86 (0.74;1.00). None of the forms of vitamin K intake were associated with
      cancer mortality or mortality from other causes. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin K intake
      was not associated with all-cause mortality, cancer mortality and mortality from
      other causes.

PMID- 27640077
TI  - Effect of high-frequency yoga breathing on pulmonary functions in patients with
      asthma: A randomized clinical trial.

PMID- 27640074
TI  - Rare variants analysis of cutaneous malignant melanoma genes in Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - A shared genetic susceptibility between cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) and
      Parkinson's disease (PD) has been suggested. We investigated this by assessing
      the contribution of rare variants in genes involved in CMM to PD risk. We studied
      rare variation across 29 CMM risk genes using high-quality genotype data in 6875
      PD cases and 6065 controls and sought to replicate findings using whole-exome
      sequencing data from a second independent cohort totaling 1255 PD cases and 473
      controls. No statistically significant enrichment of rare variants across all
      genes, per gene, or for any individual variant was detected in either cohort.
      There were nonsignificant trends toward different carrier frequencies between PD
      cases and controls, under different inheritance models, in the following CMM risk
      genes: BAP1, DCC, ERBB4, KIT, MAPK2, MITF, PTEN, and TP53. The very rare TYR
      p.V275F variant, which is a pathogenic allele for recessive albinism, was more
      common in PD cases than controls in 3 independent cohorts. Tyrosinase, encoded by
      TYR, is the rate-limiting enzyme for the production of neuromelanin, and has a
      role in the production of dopamine. These results suggest a possible role for
      another gene in the dopamine-biosynthetic pathway in susceptibility to
      neurodegenerative Parkinsonism, but further studies in larger PD cohorts are
      needed to accurately determine the role of these genes/variants in disease
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 27640078
TI  - The application of protein microarray assays in psychoneuroimmunology.
AB  - Protein microarrays are miniaturized multiplex assays that exhibit many
      advantages over the commonly used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This
      article aims to introduce protein microarrays to readers of Brain, Behavior, and
      Immunity and demonstrate its utility and validity for use in
      psychoneuroimmunological research. As part of an ongoing investigation of
      psychological and behavioral influences on influenza vaccination responses, we
      optimized a novel protein microarray to quantify influenza-specific antibody
      levels in human sera. Reproducibility was assessed by calculating intra- and
      inter-assay coefficients of variance on serially diluted human IgG
      concentrations. A random selection of samples was analyzed by microarray and
      ELISA to establish validity of the assay. For IgG concentrations, intra-assay and
      inter-assay precision profiles demonstrated a mean coefficient of variance of
      6.7% and 11.5% respectively. Significant correlations were observed between
      microarray and ELISA for all antigens, demonstrating the microarray is a valid
      alternative to ELISA. Protein microarrays are a highly robust, novel assay method
      that could be of significant benefit for researchers working in
      psychoneuroimmunology. They offer high throughput, fewer resources per analyte
      and can examine concurrent neuro-immune-endocrine mechanisms.

PMID- 27640079
TI  - Comparison of livestock-associated and health care-associated MRSA-genes,
      virulence, and resistance.
AB  - Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) may
      colonize and infect humans with close contact to pigs. We compared phenotypic and
      genotypic differences in resistance and virulence of LA-MRSA isolates from farms
      and farmers with hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (HA-MRSA) and
      assessed carriage rates. Samples from pigs (n=330), occupationally exposed
      personnel (n=63), the farm environment (n=134), and hospital patients (n=220)
      were obtained. Approximately 50% (166/330) of pigs were MRSA positive. All LA
      MRSA were resistant to tetracycline, compared to only 8% of HA-MRSA (P<0.001). In
      contrast, HA-MRSA isolates showed significantly higher resistance rates to
      quinolones (81% versus 7%; P<0.001). All strains isolated from occupationally
      exposed personnel (61.9%; 39/63) belonged to CC398. HA-MRSA isolates were
      diversely distributed, with predominance of CC5 (62.7%). Human strains carried
      significantly more virulence genes than porcine strains, especially exotoxins
      (P<0.001) and immune-evasion cluster genes (P<0.001). There were significant
      differences in resistance patterns and recognized genotypic virulence loci
      between LA-MRSA and HA-MRSA.

PMID- 27640080
TI  - Cephalothin is not a reliable surrogate marker for oral cephalosporins in
      susceptibility testing of Enterobacteriaceae causing urinary tract infection.
AB  - Vitek(r) 2 (bioMerieux) is a widely used commercial antimicrobial susceptibility
      test (AST) system. AST-N244 card includes cephalothin as first-generation
      cephalosporin. We compared the cephalothin susceptibility results obtained with
      Vitek(r) 2 AST-N244 to those obtained by broth microdilution (BMD) and disk
      diffusion (DD) for 212 urinary Enterobacteriaceae. We also evaluated the
      differences between cefazolin and cephalothin susceptibility results. The overall
      performance of Vitek(r) 2 for cephalothin testing was 74.5% and 76.4% category
      agreement compared to BMD and DD, respectively; 84.4% essential agreement; very
      major errors 15.2% and 11.1% compared to BMD and DD; major errors 0% compared to
      both methods; and minor errors 22.2% and 21.7% compared to BMD and DD. Regarding
      correlation between cephalothin and cefazolin, the differences observed were
      statistically significant (P<0.0001) for the 167 Escherichia coli included (39.5%
      cephalothin susceptible versus 92.2% cefazolin susceptible by BMD; 41.9%
      cephalothin susceptible versus 93.4% cefazolin susceptible by DD). Vitek(r) 2
      should provide cefazolin instead of cephalothin as a surrogate marker for oral
      cephalosporins on the urinary AST-244 cards in order to follow the CLSI (2016)
      recommendations.

PMID- 27640081
TI  - Comparison of molecular typing methods for the analyses of Acinetobacter
      baumannii from ICU patients.
AB  - Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important cause of healthcare
      associated infections causing great morbidity and mortality. Despite its clinical
      importance, it is still unknown which molecular typing method is the best to
      determine or confirm institutional outbreaks as well as to identify
      epidemiologically related isolates from different geographical areas. To
      determine the most discriminatory molecular typing method, we isolated A.
      baumannii from perianal swabs collected from intensive care unit (ICU) patients
      in a cohort study during 2002 and 2008. Strains from each year were analyzed by
      pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), and
      multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). Genetic relatedness of
      the isolates was consistent between PFGE and MLST as well as between analyses of
      loci containing MLVA and MLST. Our data show that PFGE and MLVA are similar when
      discriminating between isolates and are both good methods to use when questioning
      whether two isolates are indistinguishable.

PMID- 27640082
TI  - Role of birth spacing, family planning services, safe abortion services and post
      abortion care in reducing maternal mortality.
AB  - Access to contraception reduces maternal deaths by preventing or delaying
      pregnancy in women who do not intend to be pregnant or those at higher risk of
      complications. However, not all unintended pregnancies can be prevented through
      increase in contraceptive use, and access to safe abortion is needed to prevent
      unsafe abortions. Despite not preventing the problem, provision of emergency care
      for complications can help prevent deaths from such unsafe abortions. Safe
      abortion in early pregnancy can be provided at primary care level and by non
      physician providers, and the risks of mortality associated with such safe, legal
      abortions are minimal. Although entirely preventable, unsafe abortions continue
      to occur because of numerous barriers such as legal and policy restrictions,
      service delivery issues and provider attitudes to abortion stigma. Overall, the
      provision of contraception and safe abortion is important not just to prevent
      maternal deaths but as a measure of our ability to respect women's decisions and
      ensure that they have access to timely, evidence-based care that protects their
      health and human rights.

PMID- 27640083
TI  - Vesivirus 2117: Cell line infectivity range and effectiveness of amplification of
      a potential adventitious agent in cell culture used for biological production.
AB  - Vesivirus 2117 (VV-2117) has been recently described as a contaminant of cell
      culture operations in several biologics manufacturing facilities. VV-2117 has
      been poorly studied and little information exists about its biology,
      pathogenicity and infectivity range in cell culture settings. In this study we
      evaluated the potential in vitro viral infectivity of VV-2117 using a range of
      established mammalian cell lines from various species, the effectiveness of virus
      amplification in CHO-K1 cells at differing infection levels, and the relative
      sensitivity of two test methods (cytopathic effect [CPE] and polymerase chain
      reaction [PCR]) to detect infection and viral amplification. Of eight cell
      culture systems studied, two originating from hamster (CHO-K1 and BHK-21) and one
      from canine (MDCK) were positive for CPE and also showed a marked increase of
      viral RNA in a reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) test. CHO-K1 cell
      cultures inoculated at 10, 1 and 0.1 genome copies per cell (gc/cell) showed both
      CPE and amplification of VV-2117 RNA, indicating that infection had occurred in
      these cultures. CHO-K1 cultures inoculated at 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001 and 0.00001 gc
      per cell showed neither CPE nor VV-2117, indicating that infection had not
      occurred. Therefore, the minimum dose necessary for infection of CHO-K1 cells was
      approximately 0.1 genome copies per cell. At any infection level where VV-2117
      amplification was observed by RT-qPCR, the cultures also showed CPE. There was no
      low-level infection that could be detected by RT-qPCR without developing signs of
      CPE. However, the RT-qPCR assay appeared more sensitive in that it detected VV
      2117 infection earlier than the onset of observable CPE.

PMID- 27640084
TI  - MT1-MMP and its potential role in the vertebrate intestinal morphogenesis.
AB  - Membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is involved in numerous
      biological processes, including morphogenesis. However, the role of MT1-MMP in
      the development of the vertebrate intestine is poorly understood. This study
      aimed to evaluate the expression of MT1-MMP in the intestine of rats and chickens
      along the embryonic and postnatal periods using immunohistochemistry. Results
      revealed a remarkable spatiotemporal correlation between MT1-MMP expression and
      intestinal villi morphogenesis in both vertebrates. However, the villi
      morphogenesis process was found to be different in chickens to that of rats.
      Moreover, extensive MT1-MMP labeling was observed in the entire villus epithelium
      from birth until the complete maturation of the small intestinal mucosa in both
      vertebrates. From these results, we suggest that MT1-MMP contributes to
      intestinal development, particularly to villi morphogenesis, in both vertebrates.
      However, further studies are necessary to confirm the role of MT1-MMP in this
      cellular process. In addition, we performed validation of the primary antibody
      against human MT1-MMP for adult chickens.

PMID- 27640085
TI  - The Efficacy of Clinical Predictors for Patients with Intermediate Risk of
      Choledocholithiasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: For the suspected choledocholithiasis, the American Society for
      Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has proposed guidelines to assign risk based on
      clinical predictors. The study aimed to assess the usefulness of clinical
      predictors of choledocholithiasis set forth by the guidelines in patients with
      intermediate risk of choledocholithiasis. METHODS: In 2014, 109 patients with
      intermediate risk of choledocholithiasis underwent endoscopic ultrasound. Their
      medical records were retrospectively reviewed. The gold standard for
      choledocholithiasis was endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography or
      clinical follow-up. RESULTS: Based on endoscopic ultrasound findings,
      choledocholithiasis was suspected in 18 patients, and it was removed in 17
      patients. Choledocholithiasis was absent in the remaining 91 who did not show any
      signs from endoscopic ultrasound. Among the 2 strong (common bile duct (CBD)
      diameter >6 mm and bilirubin 1.8-4 mg/dl) and 3 moderate (abnormal liver
      biochemical test other than bilirubin, age >55 years and gallstone pancreatitis)
      clinical predictors, 28.8% of patients with one of the strong predictors had
      choledocholithiasis; however, only 3.5% of patients with any one of the moderate
      predictors had choledocholithiasis. As a result, only strong clinical predictors
      showed predictability: increased bilirubin level (OR 3.23; 90% CI 0.85-12.28) and
      dilated CBD diameter (OR 5.83; 90% CI 1.93-17.57). CONCLUSION: Only strong
      clinical predictors of choledocholithiasis showed predictability for patients
      with intermediate risk of choledocholithiasis.

PMID- 27640086
TI  - Neural crest stem cells and their potential therapeutic applications.
AB  - The neural crest (NC) is a remarkable transient structure generated during early
      vertebrate development. The neural crest progenitors have extensive migratory
      capacity and multipotency, harboring stem cell-like characteristics such as self
      renewal. They can differentiate into a variety of cell types from craniofacial
      skeletal tissues to the trunk peripheral nervous system (PNS). Multiple
      regulators such as signaling factors, transcription factors, and migration
      machinery components are expressed at different stages of NC development. Gain-
      and loss-of-function studies in various vertebrate species revealed epistatic
      relationships of these molecules that could be assembled into a gene regulatory
      network defining the processes of NC induction, specification, migration, and
      differentiation. These basic developmental studies led to the subsequent
      establishment and molecular validation of neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) derived
      by various strategies. We provide here an overview of the isolation and
      characterization of NCSCs from embryonic, fetal, and adult tissues; the
      experimental strategies for the derivation of NCSCs from embryonic stem cells,
      induced pluripotent stem cells, and skin fibroblasts; and recent developments in
      the use of patient-derived NCSCs for modeling and treating neurocristopathies. We
      discuss future research on further refinement of the culture conditions required
      for the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into axial-specific NC
      progenitors and their derivatives, developing non-viral approaches for the
      generation of induced NC cells (NCCs), and using a genomic editing approach to
      correct genetic mutations in patient-derived NCSCs for transplantation therapy.
      These future endeavors should facilitate the therapeutic applications of NCSCs in
      the clinical setting.

PMID- 27640087
TI  - Modeling infectious diseases and host-microbe interactions in gastrointestinal
      organoids.
AB  - Advances in stem cell research have allowed the development of 3-dimensional (3D)
      primary cell cultures termed organoid cultures, as they closely mimic the in vivo
      organization of different cell lineages. Bridging the gap between 2-dimensional
      (2D) monotypic cancer cell lines and whole organisms, organoids are now widely
      applied to model development and disease. Organoids hold immense promise for
      addressing novel questions in host-microbe interactions, infectious diseases and
      the resulting inflammatory conditions. Researchers have started to use organoids
      for modeling infection with pathogens, such as Helicobacter pylori or Salmonella
      enteritica, gut-microbiota interactions and inflammatory bowel disease. Future
      studies will broaden the spectrum of microbes used and continue to establish
      organoids as a standard model for human host-microbial interactions. Moreover,
      they will increasingly exploit the unique advantages of organoids, for example to
      address patient-specific responses to microbes.

PMID- 27640088
TI  - Comparison of Clinical Efficacy of Cytarabine with Different Regimens in
      Postremission Consolidation Therapy for Adult t(8;21) AML Patients: A Multicenter
      Retrospective Study in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with
      t(8;21) was reported to be shorter in China than in other countries. PATIENTS: We
      analyzed the correlation between different cytarabine (Ara-c) regimens and
      outcome in 255 t(8;21) AML patients in China who received postremission
      consolidation chemotherapy only. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival (OS) of the
      high-dose Ara-c group (HDAC; 2<= Ara-c <=3 g/m2), intermediate-dose Ara-c group
      (MDAC; 1.0<= Ara-c <2.0 g/m2), low-dose Ara-c group (LDAC; 0.2< Ara-c <1.0 g/m2)
      and standard-dose Ara-c group (SDAC; 0.1<= Ara-c <=0.2 g/m2) were 65.3, 39.4,
      25.2 and 27.9%, respectively (p = 0.003). In the HDAC group, but not in the MDAC
      group, the 5-year OS of patients who achieved 3-4 cycles of chemotherapy was
      superior to those who underwent 1-2 cycles (84.4 vs. 43.6%, p < 0.05), and the 3
      year OS of patients who achieved an accumulated 36 g/m2 of Ara-c was
      significantly higher compared to those who did not (85.3 vs. 39.2%, p < 0.05).
      Multivariate analysis indicated that factors such as WBC >3.5 * 109/l, PLT <=30 *
      109/l, and extramedullary infiltration were associated with a poor prognosis.
      CONCLUSION: The survival of t(8;21) AML patients treated with high-dose Ara-c
      (>=2 g/m2) was superior to other dose levels in postremission consolidation
      chemotherapy. Patient survival was improved by 3-4 cycles of chemotherapy with an
      accumulated concentration of 36 g/m2 of Ara-c. WBC >3.5 * 109/l, PLT <=30 * 109/l
      and extramedullary infiltration could be indicative of a poor clinical prognosis.

PMID- 27640089
TI  - An easy-to-follow algorithm to improve pre-operative diagnosis for appendicitis
      in children.
AB  - GOAL: To evaluate physician compliance with use of a diagnostic algorithm for
      appendicitis in children. Our secondary objective was to determine the impact of
      the algorithm on diagnostic accuracy and morbidity. METHODS: We conducted a
      clustered randomized trial in eight centers. A total of 866 patients were
      included and, depending on the period of randomization at particular centers, 543
      patients were managed before the formal institution of the diagnostic algorithm;
      their diagnostic management was compared to that of the subsequent 323 patients.
      RESULTS: There was a 29.1% mean increase in the use of imaging studies included
      in the algorithm after algorithm set-up, rising from 50.8 to 79.9% (P<0.02). When
      we used a composite endpoint of "poor results" (grouping patients with incorrect
      diagnoses and/or post-operative complications), no statistically significant
      difference was found between the two periods (85/543 (15.6%) before vs. 45/323
      (13.9%) after set-up, P=0.5). But when the number of incorrect diagnoses of
      appendicitis made without the use of the algorithm was compared to that of
      patients who took advantage of the algorithm, the difference was highly
      significant (67/332 [20.2%] vs. 63/534 [11.8%], P<0.001), and the rate of
      unnecessary appendectomy decreased from 11.9 to 5.3% (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      diagnostic algorithm improved the adherence to good practice for the diagnosis of
      appendicitis in children, reducing the rates of unnecessary appendectomy and
      morbidity. This strategy, combining laboratory tests and imaging, should permit
      pediatric surgeons to adapt their therapeutic approaches to specific cases.

PMID- 27640090
TI  - Preparation and properties of a novel thermo-sensitive hydrogel based on
      chitosan/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose/glycerol.
AB  - Chitosan-based thermosensitive hydrogels are known as injectable in situ gelling
      thermosensitive polymer solutions which are suitable for biomaterials. In this
      study, a novel thermosensitive hydrogel gelling under physiological conditions
      was prepared using chitosan together with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and
      glycerol. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose is to facilitate the thermogelation
      through large amounts of hydrophobic interactions. Glycerol in heavy
      concentration destroys the polymer water sheaths promoting the formation of the
      hydrophobic regions, and lowering the phase transition temperature. The
      thermosensitive hydrogels showed a physiological pH ranging from 6.8 to 6.9 and
      gelation time within 15min at 37 degrees C. The prepared hydrogels were
      characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, and rheological studies, mechanical studies and
      contact angle studies. The properties of degradability, cytotoxicity and protein
      release behaviors of the hydrogels were investigated. The results indicate this
      thermosensitive hydrogel possess good fluidity, thermosensitivity and
      biodegradability, as well as low-cytotoxicity and controlled release, showing the
      potential use in biomedical applications.

PMID- 27640091
TI  - Dipeptidyl peptidase-II from probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici: Purification and
      functional characterization.
AB  - Dipeptidylpeptidase-II (DPP-II, E.C. 3.4.14.2), an exopeptidase was purified 15.4
      fold with specific activity and yield of 15.4U/mg/mL and 14.68% respectively by a
      simple two step procedure from a probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici. DPP-II is
      38.7KDa homodimeric serine peptidase with involvement of His and subunit mass of
      18.9KDa. The enzyme exhibited optimal activity at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C with
      activation energy of 24.97kJ/mol. The enzyme retained more than 90% activity upto
      50 degrees C thus adding industrial importance. DPP-II hydrolysed Lys-Ala
      4mbetaNA with KM of 50MUM and Vmax of 30.8nmol/mL/min. In-silico characterization
      studies of DPP-II on the basis of peptide fragments obtained by MALDI-TOF
      revealed an evolutionary relationship between DPP-II of prokaryotes and phosphate
      binding proteins. Secondary and three-dimensional structure of enzyme was also
      deduced by in-silico approach. Functional studies of DPP-II by TLC and HPLC
      analysis of collagen degraded products revealed that enzyme action released free
      amino acids and other metabolites. Microscopic and SDS-PAGE analysis of enzyme
      treated analysis of chicken's chest muscle (meat) hydrolysis revealed change and
      hydrolysis of myofibrils. This may affect the flavor and texture of meat thereby
      suggesting its role in meat tenderization. Being a protein of LAB (Lactic acid
      bacteria), it is also expected to be safe.

PMID- 27640092
TI  - Preparation and characterization of chitosan microparticles for immunoaffinity
      extraction and determination of enrofloxacin.
AB  - The use of chitosan microparticles as chromatographic support has received much
      attention. In this study, the effects of process parameters, namely, chitosan
      molecular weight, chitosan concentration, molar ratio of amino group to aldehyde
      group, volume ratio of water to oil phase and stirring speed on the size and size
      distribution of chitosan microparticles and their application for immunoaffinity
      extraction were extensively investigated. Size distribution analysis indicated
      that the average diameter of the microparticles was 124MUm with Span value of
      1.1. The obtained microparticles exhibited low non-specific adsorption and kept
      stable in the pH range 4.0-10.0. Immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) column was
      prepared by coupling antibody against enrofloxacin (ENR) with chitosan
      microparticles. Further characterization indicated that the binding capacity of
      the column was 4392ng ENR/mL gel and the variation of ENR extraction efficiency
      among columns was less than 5.2%. When challenged with ENR-fortified bovine milk
      samples, recoveries of ENR by immunoaffinity extraction were found to be in the
      range of 85.9% to 101.9%, demonstrated the feasibility of the prepared IAC
      columns for sample clean-up in ENR residue determination.

PMID- 27640093
TI  - Evolutionary Analyses of Hanwoo (Korean Cattle)-Specific Single-Nucleotide
      Polymorphisms and Genes Using Whole-Genome Resequencing Data of a Hanwoo
      Population.
AB  - Advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have enabled population
      level studies for many animals to unravel the relationships between genotypic
      differences and traits of specific populations. The objective of this study was
      to perform evolutionary analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in
      genes of Korean native cattle Hanwoo in comparison to SNP data from four other
      cattle breeds (Jersey, Simmental, Angus, and Holstein) and four related species
      (pig, horse, human, and mouse) obtained from public databases through NGS-based
      resequencing. We analyzed population structures and differentiation levels for
      the five cattle breeds and estimated species-specific SNPs with their origins and
      phylogenetic relationships among species. In addition, we identified Hanwoo
      specific genes and proteins, and determined distinct changes in protein-protein
      interactions among five species (cattle, pig, horse, human, mouse) in the STRING
      network database by additionally considering indirect protein interactions. We
      found that the Hanwoo population was clearly different from the other four cattle
      populations. There were Hanwoo-specific genes related to its meat trait. Protein
      interaction rewiring analysis also confirmed that there were Hanwoo-specific
      protein-protein interactions that might have contributed to its unique meat
      quality. 

PMID- 27640095
TI  - Reply to the letter "The relation between inflammation and coronary artery
      ectasia".

PMID- 27640094
TI  - A Proteome-Derived Longitudinal Pharmacodynamic Biomarker for Diffuse Systemic
      Sclerosis Skin.
AB  - In this study we systematically investigated alterations in the serum proteome of
      patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis and identified differentially
      expressed proteins that correlated with disease severity. Our goal was to
      identify a combination of serum proteins that would provide a biological measure
      for the extent of skin disease and that could be combined into a longitudinal
      pharmacodynamic biomarker. We found that 16% of the sera proteins analyzed by
      SOMAscan aptamer technology, from two cohorts of patients with diffuse cutaneous
      systemic sclerosis, were identified as differentially regulated between diffuse
      cutaneous systemic sclerosis and controls and correlated with modified Rodnan
      skin score. This dataset showed tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IFN-gamma,
      transforming growth factor-beta, and IL-13 as potential upstream regulators of
      the serum protein patterns in the sera of patients with diffuse cutaneous
      systemic sclerosis. By ELISA, two analytes (ST2 and Spondin-1) best described
      longitudinal change in modified Rodnan skin score, using linear mixed models.
      This model was then validated in three independent cohorts. In this study we
      discovered a large array of proteins not previously associated with systemic
      sclerosis that provide insight into pathogenesis and potential targets for
      therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, we show that two of these proteins can be
      combined to form a robust longitudinal biomarker that might be used in clinical
      trials to assess changes in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis skin disease
      over time.

PMID- 27640096
TI  - Compacting knowledge in left ventricular non-compaction.

PMID- 27640097
TI  - Validation of the qSOFA score for identification of septic patients: A
      retrospective study.

PMID- 27640099
TI  - How the different material and shape of the blood collection tube influences the
      Concentrated Growth Factors production.
AB  - Platelet concentrates, such as Concentrated Growth Factors (CGF), are autologous
      preparations obtained from the patient's own blood and rich in platelets, growth
      factors and cytokines involved in the key processes of tissue regeneration. These
      autologous concentrates differ in the way of preparation and also in the content
      of platelets, growth factors and leucocytes, as well as in the fibrin network
      architecture. So it is difficult to have a standardized product. The aim of the
      present study was to evaluate how the use of test tubes of different material,
      for blood collection, could influence the CGF production. Three different test
      tubes were used and the obtained CGFs were subjected to histomorphological and
      immunohistochemical analyses. Results showed that the tube material and shape
      influenced the CGF composition. In fact, according to the type of tube used, the
      obtained CGFs showed differences in morphology, in the fibrin network
      architecture and in blood cell localization and distribution.

PMID- 27640098
TI  - A retrospective analysis of long term outcomes in patients undergoing hepatic
      resection for large (>5 cm) hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: The treatment of large (>5 cm) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains
      controversial. The aim of this study was to report short and long term outcomes
      and analyze the factors associated with long term survival for patients who
      underwent hepatic resection for large HCC. METHODS: All patients who underwent
      hepatic resection for large HCC at the department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary
      Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University between
      August 2005 and December 2011 were identified and included for analysis.
      Demographic and operative data, pathological findings and post-operative outcomes
      were entered into a computer database. Prognostic factors were analyzed by
      univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-nine patients were included
      for analysis. Two patients died within 30 days of surgery secondary to hepatic
      failure. The 1-, 3-, 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates
      following hepatic resection were 67%, 49%, 37% and 77%, 56%, 43%, respectively.
      Poor histological grade was the only independent predictor of a reduced 5-year
      disease-free survival. Spontaneous tumor rupture and tumor recurrence were
      independent predictors of a reduced 5-year overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: For
      selected patients with large HCC, hepatic resection can be performed safely and
      effectively with moderate expectation of long term survival. True cure however
      remains rare.

PMID- 27640100
TI  - Pathogenic conversion of regulatory B10 cells into osteoclast-priming cells in
      rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Regulatory B10 cells were functionally impaired in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), yet
      the mechanisms were unclear. B cells are recently recognized as important
      participants in osteoclastogenesis by producing RANKL. In this study, we
      investigated whether regulatory B10 cells could convert into RANKL-producing
      cells, thus impairing their immunosuppressive functions in RA and exacerbating
      the disease progression. Our results showed that human regulatory B10 cells could
      ectopically express RANKL. Under RA circumstance, RANKL-producing B10 cells
      expanded dramatically, partially induced by TNF-alpha. The frequencies of these
      cells were positively correlated with RA patient disease activities and tender
      joint counts, but negatively correlated with the frequencies of regulatory B10
      cells. Strikingly, RANKL-producing B10 cells from RA patients, but not healthy
      individuals significantly promoted osteoclast differentiation and bone erosion in
      a paracrine and cell-cell contact-dependent manner. Moreover, these pathogenic
      RANKL-producing B10 cells declined while regulatory IL-10-producing B10 cells
      increased in RA patients with disease remission after therapy. Collectively,
      these results showed that in RA, regulatory B10 cells demonstrated the potential
      of converting into RANKL-producing cells, thus exacerbating osteoclast formation,
      bone destruction and disease progression. Modulating the status of B10 cells
      might provide novel therapeutic strategies for RA.

PMID- 27640101
TI  - Pathways of emotional autonomy, self-care behaviors, and depressive symptoms on
      health adaptation in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) need to adapt
      physically and psychologically to the impact of diabetes. PURPOSE: The purpose of
      this study was to examine the pathways of emotional autonomy, depressive
      symptoms, and self-care behaviors to glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and
      quality of life (QoL) in adolescents with T1DM. METHODS: Cross-sectional design
      was used in this study. Self-reported questionnaires and medical records were
      used to collect data from 265 adolescents with T1DM by convenience sampling in
      Taiwan. DISCUSSION: Structural equation modeling indicated that self-care
      behaviors directly positively influenced life satisfaction QoL but negatively
      influenced HbA1c levels. Depressive symptoms directly negatively influenced self
      care behaviors and life satisfaction QoL. Emotional autonomy directly negatively
      influenced self-care behaviors and life-satisfaction QoL but directly positively
      influenced depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Emotional autonomy seems to be a risk
      factor contributing to poor health adaptation. Health care providers need to help
      adolescents with T1DM to balance the pursuit of emotional autonomy and health
      adaptation.

PMID- 27640102
TI  - Filovirus proteins for antiviral drug discovery: A structure/function analysis of
      surface glycoproteins and virus entry.
AB  - This review focuses on the recent progress in our understanding of filovirus
      protein structure/function and its impact on antiviral research. Here we focus on
      the surface glycoprotein GP1,2 and its different roles in filovirus entry. We
      first describe the latest advances on the characterization of GP gene-overlapping
      proteins sGP, ssGP and Delta-peptide. Then, we compare filovirus surface GP1,2
      proteins in terms of structure, synthesis and function. As they bear potential in
      drug-design, the discovery of small organic compounds inhibiting filovirus entry
      is a currently very active field. Although it is at an early stage, the
      development of antiviral drugs against Ebola and Marburg virus entry might prove
      essential to reduce outbreak-associated fatality rates through post-exposure
      treatment of both suspected and confirmed cases.

PMID- 27640103
TI  - Retrospective analysis of oncogenic human papilloma virus and Epstein-Barr virus
      prevalence in Turkish nasopharyngeal cancer patients.
AB  - Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
      Human papilloma virus (HPV) has also been detected in NPC cases. In this
      retrospective study, we analyze the frequency of EBV and HPV infection in 82
      Turkish patients with NPC. A total of 82 were evaluated for EBV and HPV. In situ
      hybridization (ISH) was performed for EBV. HPV-ISH and P16 immunohistochemistry
      used to determine the HPV status. Seventy-two of the 82 (87%) NPC patients were
      EBV-positive. The highest rate of EBV-positivity was found in undifferentiated
      NPC patients, which accounted for 65 of 68 (95.6%) undifferentiated cases. One of
      the 82 NPC patients whose tumor was non-keratinizing differentiated, contained
      HPV. Our data shows that EBV is closely associated with NPC in Turkey. We found
      lower rates of HPV-positivity in NPC patients than in North American populations.
      In addition, both EBV and HPV-negativity were more associated with decreased
      survival than EBV-positive cases.

PMID- 27640104
TI  - Ampullary carcinosarcoma with osteosarcomatous, small cell neuroendocrine
      carcinoma and conventional adenocarcinoma components; First report.
AB  - Caracinosarcomas are tumours with diverse epithelial and mesenchymal
      differentiation. They most commonly occur in the female reproductive organs and
      upper aero digestive tract. They are relatively rare in the gastrointestinal
      tract and affect the oesophagus most commonly. Ampullary carcinosarcomas are
      exceptionally rare. We report a case of ampullary carcinosarcoma in a 67-year-old
      male, with osteosarcomatous, small cell carcinoma and conventional adenocarcinoma
      components. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of its
      kind.

PMID- 27640105
TI  - The great unknown, Whipple's disease.

PMID- 27640107
TI  - [Computer assisted prescription of labile blood products: What are we expecting?]
AB  - Computer assisted prescription of labile blood products is just at its beginning.
      Current programs already allow embedding automatically such data as patient's and
      prescribers' identification or ward details to produce readable prescriptions,
      also complying with part of Good Practice guidelines. Now prescriptions can also
      be sent electronically to the Etablissement Francais du Sang, the French blood
      products services. Usually they are computer programs specialised in transfusion
      and interfaced with the main patient's file software. Hardly ever the main
      software is able to manage transfusion itself. Next step would consist in
      performing checks, calculations or displaying warning or help messages based on
      academic or local medical recommendations or even tailored to pre-defined
      individual requirements. But these call for direct access to patient's data such
      as diagnosis or tests results, that must be accurately classified and coded
      before use. The main software could provide such functionalities: but actually
      that would be infrequent and difficult to transpose from one hospital to the
      other, regarding to the diversity of main software and their settings. Another
      solution would be to enhance the very few transfusion specialised programs in
      order to assist prescribers. Data could be prepared and sent by the main software
      according to a standardised format each time a prescription is to be entered.
      This standardised format should be independent from software in order to ensure
      interoperability, whatever the main and specialised programs. The content and
      format of this data exchange has to be defined, but this would allow hundreds of
      hospitals to provide a comprehensive tool for prescription of labile blood
      products, regardless of their main patient's file software.

PMID- 27640106
TI  - [Patient blood management].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In a context of regular review of transfusion practice, the aim of
      this review is to present an update of the scientific basis of the so-called
      "patient blood management" (PBM), the state of its development in Europe, and
      possible ways to progress its development further in France. METHODS: Analysis
      and synthesis of the data from scientific literature on the scientific basis of
      PBM (methods, indications, efficacy, risks, efficiency). RESULTS: PBM appears as
      an evidence-based, patient centred, multidisciplinary approach, aiming to
      optimise the care of patients who might need transfusion and, consequently, the
      use of blood products. PBM is based on three pillars: optimise the patient's own
      blood supplies, minimise blood loss, optimise patient's tolerance of anaemia.
      Available scientific evidence can be considered as sufficient to consider PBM
      guidelines and practices as an indispensable complement to the transfusion
      medicine guidelines and practices. Several countries have launched PBM programmes
      (alternatives to allogeneic transfusion and optimisation of the use of blood
      components). Although current French national transfusion guidelines contain some
      PBM measures, PBM programmes should be further developed in France, primarily for
      medical reasons. CONCLUSIONS: Possible ways, using the existing basis having
      proved to be effective, are proposed to further develop PBM in France, as a
      complement to transfusion medicine, with the participation of involved
      stakeholders, including experts from relevant medical specialties, both at local
      and national levels.

PMID- 27640108
TI  - Early and repeated use of plasma for the management of Ebola patients: Reflection
      around a case.
AB  - In December 2013, the most widespread epidemic of Ebola virus disease began in
      Guinea and continued for over 2 years. At the request of the Guinean state,
      France deployed a military field hospital to treat Ebola infected healthcare
      workers. From January to July 2015, our center supported 26 healthcare workers
      suffering from Ebola virus disease. Despite an individualized care and optimal
      treatment, the fatality rate remained high at 30.7%. Improved therapies are
      required to reduce mortality risk in Ebola virus disease. We report the case of a
      patient admitted to the hospital on the 4th day after onset, who survived despite
      several clinical and biological predictors of fatal outcome. We transfused plasma
      at a high dose and spread over time. This innovative therapeutic approach was
      based on our clinical experience of Ebola patients' management, literature review
      and knowledge of plasma ability to restore coagulation disorders and
      endotheliopathy. Even without any bleeding sign, coagulopathy and endothelial
      permeability disorders participate in hypovolemia and fatal multi-system organ
      failure. Early intake of therapeutic plasma at repeated doses seems to reduce the
      endothelial permeability and coagulation disorders related to Ebola virus
      disease.

PMID- 27640109
TI  - [The practice evaluation of prescriptions in the French establishments of health
      (Berry) for deliveries of labile blood products].

PMID- 27640110
TI  - Exceptional blood collection at the Armed Forces Blood Institute after the
      attacks of Paris.

PMID- 27640112
TI  - Kinetic characterization and molecular docking of novel allosteric inhibitors of
      aminoglycoside phosphotransferases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacterial antibiotic resistance often leads to treatment failure
      which may have serious consequences, especially in critically sick patients.
      Resistance to aminoglycosides is mainly due to the expression of antibiotic
      modifying enzymes. One important mechanism of aminoglycoside modification is the
      ATP/GTP-dependent O-phosphorylation catalyzed by aminoglycoside
      phosphotransferases, APHs. The aim of this study is to identify specific
      inhibitors of APHs that could restore bacterial susceptibility to
      aminoglycosides. METHODS: We focused on the search for allosteric inhibitors that
      bind to small cavities of the protein and block the enzyme function by perturbing
      its dynamics. RESULTS: From normal mode analysis, a cavity of variable volume
      belonging to a large groove which splits the protein into two parts was chosen as
      target. By molecular docking, we screened a large library of commercially
      available compounds. Seventeen of the highest ranked compounds were tested by in
      vitro kinetic experiments in order to evaluate their ability to inhibit APHs.
      Site-directed mutagenesis was carried out with the aim of confirming the
      inhibition mechanism determined kinetically and the interactions with the protein
      predicted by in silico studies. These interactions were also confirmed by the use
      of structurally-related molecules. CONCLUSIONS: Two compounds showed interesting
      inhibition properties, and one was able to block two different classes of APH.
      GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: This study gives new insights into the inhibition of APHs
      by such allosteric inhibitors, and provides the basis for the future development
      of combined therapies, antibiotic plus APH inhibitor, which may reverse the
      resistance to aminoglycosides in a clinical context.

PMID- 27640111
TI  - Study of DNA binding and bending by Bacillus subtilis GabR, a PLP-dependent
      transcription factor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: GabR is a transcriptional regulator belonging to the MocR/GabR
      family, characterized by a N-terminal wHTH DNA-binding domain and a C-terminal
      effector binding and/or oligomerization domain, structurally homologous to
      aminotransferases (ATs). In the presence of gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA) and
      pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), GabR activates the transcription of gabT and gabD
      genes involved in GABA metabolism. METHODS: Here we report a biochemical and
      atomic force microscopy characterization of Bacillus subtilis GabR in complex
      with DNA. Complexes were assembled in vitro to study their stoichiometry,
      stability and conformation. RESULTS: The fractional occupancy of the GabR cognate
      site suggests that GabR binds as a dimer with Kd of 10nM. Upon binding GabR bends
      the DNA by 80 degrees  as measured by anomalous electrophoretic mobility. With
      GABA we observed a decrease in affinity and conformational rearrangements
      compatible with a less compact nucleo-protein complex but no changes of the DNA
      bending angle. By employing promoter and GabR mutants we found that basic
      residues of the positively charged groove on the surface of the AT domain affect
      DNA affinity. CONCLUSIONS: The present data extend current understanding of the
      GabR-DNA interaction and the effect of GABA and PLP. A model for the GabR-DNA
      complex, corroborated by a docking simulation, is proposed. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE:
      Characterization of the GabR DNA binding mode highlights the key role of DNA
      bending and interactions with bases outside the canonical direct repeats, and
      might be of general relevance for the action mechanism of MocR transcription
      factors.

PMID- 27640113
TI  - Exosome levels in human body fluids: A tumor marker by themselves?
AB  - Despite considerable research efforts, the finding of reliable tumor biomarkers
      remains challenging and unresolved. In recent years a novel diagnostic biomedical
      tool with high potential has been identified in extracellular nanovesicles or
      exosomes. They are released by the majority of the cells and contain detailed
      molecular information on the cell of origin including tumor hallmarks. Exosomes
      can be isolated from easy accessible body fluids, and most importantly, they can
      provide several biomarkers, with different levels of specificity. Recent clinical
      evidence shows that the levels of exosomes released into body fluids may
      themselves represent a predictive/diagnostic of tumors, discriminating cancer
      patients from healthy subjects. The aim of this review is to highlight these
      latest challenging findings to provide novel and groundbreaking ideas for
      successful tumor early diagnosis and follow-up.

PMID- 27640115
TI  - Bibliometric assessment of global research on Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis: A
      latent threat for the Americas.

PMID- 27640114
TI  - Evaluation of photo-activated disinfection effectiveness with methylene blue
      against Porphyromonas gingivalis involved in endodontic infection: An in vitro
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eradication or suppression of microbial pathogens is a major goal in
      endodontic infection therapy. Sub-lethal doses of photo-activated disinfection
      (sPAD) as a new treatment method might be able to control the microorganisms
      involved in endodontic infections normally treated with PAD. This study evaluated
      the effect of sPAD using methylene blue (MB) in combination with diode laser
      irradiation on the growth and biofilm formation ability of Porphyromonas
      gingivalis as an endodontic pathogen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The anti-microbial
      and anti-biofilm potential of sPAD against P. gingivalis were assessed at sub
      lethal doses of MB and irradiation by diode laser on colony forming unit and
      crystal violet assays, respectively. RESULTS: MB-sPAD using 25MUg/mL at a fluency
      of 117.18J/cm2 and 50-100MUg/mL at a fluency of 93.75J/cm2 significantly P.
      gingivalis growth when compared to the control. MB at 100MUg/mL at a fluency of
      117.18J/cm2 in MB-mediated PAD showed a significant inhibitory effect on biofilm
      formation in P. gingivalis compared with MB-sPAD. CONCLUSION: High doses of MB
      mediated sPAD exhibited anti-microbial and anti-biofilm potential activity,
      whereas lower doses of MB-mediated sPAD did not display this ability. Therefore,
      the dose of PAD used in vivo should be taken into account for endodontic
      treatment.

PMID- 27640116
TI  - The impact of crowd control measures on the occurrence of stampedes during Mass
      Gatherings: The Hajj experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mass gatherings present enormous challenges for emergency
      preparedness. Planners must anticipate and prepare for communicable and non
      communicable disease outbreaks, illnesses, and injuries to participants, crowd
      control, and disaster responses to unforeseen natural or man-made threats. The
      Hajj, the largest annually recurring mass gathering event on earth. It attracts
      about 3 million pilgrims from over 180 countries who assemble in Mecca over a 1
      week period. METHODS: A literature review was conducted using Medline and OVID,
      while searching for published data concerning human stampedes and crowd control
      measures implemented to prevent human stampedes. The review was further extended
      to include media reports and published numbers and reports about Hajj from the
      Saudi Arabian government, in both the English and Arabic languages. RESULTS:
      Because millions of pilgrims undertake their religious ritual within strict
      constraints in term of space and time; this rigour and strictness have led to a
      series of large crowd disasters over several years, thus putting pressure on the
      authorities. In the past few years, the government of Saudi Arabia have put an
      enormous effort to solve this difficulty using state of the art innovative
      scientific means. The use of crowd simulation models, assessment of the best ways
      of grouping and scheduling pilgrims, crowd management and control engineering
      technologies, luggage management, video monitoring, and changes in the
      construction of the transport system for the event. CONCLUSIONS: A large
      gathering such as the Hajj still holds an increasing risk for future disasters.
      International collaboration and continued vigilance in planning efforts remains
      an integral part of these annual preparations. The development of educational
      campaigns for pilgrims regarding the possible dangers is also crucial. Lessons
      gleaned from experiences at the Hajj may influence planning for mass gatherings
      of any kind, worldwide.

PMID- 27640117
TI  - A questionnaire based assessment of numbers, motivation and medical care of UK
      patients undergoing liver transplant abroad.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical tourism, where patients travel abroad intentionally to access
      medical treatment, is a growing trend. Some of these patients travel to undergo
      organ transplantation. This study aims to quantify the number of UK patients who
      undergo liver transplantation abroad, assessing their motivations and management.
      METHODS: Questionnaires were sent to all seven UK liver transplant units
      enquiring about liver patients receiving transplant abroad. Included were
      questions on destination, motivation, and pre and post-transplant care. RESULTS:
      Responses were received from six of the seven transplant centres (86%). A total
      of 12 patients were identified as having undergone liver transplantation
      overseas. The top destinations were India, China and Egypt. Four units responded
      to questions regarding pre-transplant screening. One unit reported Hepatitis B
      and C screening not taking place. Four units responded to questions regarding
      post-transplant antimicrobial therapy. This revealed examples of patients
      inappropriately not receiving valganciclovir, co-trimoxazole, anti-fungal
      treatment and Hepatitis B immunoglobulins. CONCLUSIONS: UK patients are
      undergoing liver transplant abroad, albeit in small numbers. Pre and post
      transplant management of these patients is of a lower standard than that provided
      to those undergoing transplantation in the UK. Information transfer between
      overseas and UK based transplant teams is poor.

PMID- 27640118
TI  - Association of aldose reductase gene (AKR1B1) polymorphism with diabetic
      retinopathy.
AB  - AIMS: Present study aimed to investigate the association of aldose reductase
      (AKR1B1) gene polymorphism (-106C>T; rs759853) with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients from north India. METHODS: The present
      case-control association study recruited 926 subjects, including 487 DR patients
      and 439 individuals with confirmed T2DM as controls (CDR). AKR1B1 -106C>T
      polymorphism analysis in these 926 subjects was performed by polymerase chain
      reaction and direct DNA sequence analysis. Statistical analysis was performed
      using SPSS package. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were observed
      between the two analyzed groups in the age of onset of diabetes (p=0.000) and
      duration of diabetes (p=0.000). Genotype distribution of AKR1B1 -106C>T
      polymorphism differed significantly between DR and CDR groups (p=0.02), however,
      distribution of allele frequency did not differ significantly (p=0.19). Binary
      logistic regression analyses showed an association of homozygous recessive TT
      genotype with diabetic retinopathy (OR: 1.61%, 95% CI, 1.39-2.284, p<0.01) in
      comparison to wild type CC genotype. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a
      statistically significant association of AKR1B1 -106C>T polymorphism with
      retinopathy in North Indian patients. To our knowledge, this is the first report
      of association of -106C>T polymorphism in AKR1B1 in DR patients from India.

PMID- 27640120
TI  - Coronary angiography and failure to rescue after postoperative myocardial
      infarction in patients with coronary stents undergoing noncardiac surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We evaluated coronary angiography use among patients with coronary
      stents suffering postoperative myocardial infarction (MI) and the association
      with mortality. METHODS: Patients with prior coronary stenting who underwent
      inpatient noncardiac surgery in Veterans Affairs hospitals between 2000 and 2012
      and experienced postoperative MI were identified. Predictors of 30-day post-MI
      mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: Following 12,096 operations, 353 (2.9%)
      patients had postoperative MI and 58 (16.4%) died. Post-MI coronary angiography
      was performed in 103 (29.2%) patients. Coronary angiography was not associated
      with 30-day mortality (odds ratio [OR]: .70, 95% CI: .35-1.42). Instead, 30-day
      mortality was predicted by revised cardiac risk index >=3 (OR 1.91, 95% CI: 1.04
      3.50) and prior bare metal stent (OR 2.12, 95% CI: 1.04-4.33). CONCLUSIONS: Less
      than one-third of patients with coronary stents suffering postoperative MI
      underwent coronary angiography. Significant predictors of mortality were higher
      revised cardiac risk index and prior bare metal stent. These findings highlight
      the importance of comorbidities in predicting mortality following postoperative
      MI.

PMID- 27640119
TI  - Clinical assessment of hepatic de novo lipogenesis in non-alcoholic fatty liver
      disease.
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is heralded as the next big global
      epidemic. Hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL), the synthesis of new fatty acids
      from non-lipid sources, is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of
      NAFLD. While there is currently no NAFLD-specific therapeutic agent available,
      pharmaceutical drugs aimed at reducing hepatic fat accretion may prove to be a
      powerful ally in the treatment and management of this disease. With a focus on
      NAFLD, the present review summarizes current techniques examining DNL from a
      clinical perspective, and describes the merits and limitations of three commonly
      used assays; stable-label isotope tracer studies, fatty acid indexes and indirect
      calorimetry as non-invasive measures of hepatic DNL. Finally, the application of
      DNL assessments in the pharmacological and nutraceutical treatment of NAFLD/NASH
      is summarized. In a clinical research setting, measures of DNL are an important
      marker in the development of anti-NAFLD treatments. 

PMID- 27640122
TI  - Dual oral agent therapy for type 2 diabetes: Why don't our patients stick with
      it?

PMID- 27640121
TI  - Design and validation of a questionnaire to assess organizational culture in
      French hospital wards.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although many organizational culture questionnaires have been
      developed, there is a lack of any validated multidimensional questionnaire
      assessing organizational culture at hospital ward level and adapted to health
      care context. Facing the lack of an appropriate tool, a multidisciplinary team
      designed and validated a dimensional organizational culture questionnaire for
      healthcare settings to be administered at ward level. METHODS: A database of
      organizational culture items and themes was created after extensive literature
      review. Items were regrouped into dimensions and subdimensions (classification
      validated by experts). Pre-test and face validation was conducted with 15 health
      care professionals. In a stratified cluster random sample of hospitals, the
      psychometric validation was conducted in three phases on a sample of 859
      healthcare professionals from 36 multidisciplinary medicine services: 1) the
      exploratory phase included a description of responses' saturation levels, factor
      and correlations analyses and an internal consistency analysis (Cronbach's alpha
      coefficient); 2) confirmatory phase used the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM);
      3) reproducibility was studied by a test-retest. RESULTS: The overall response
      rate was 80 %; the completion average was 97 %. The metrological results were: a
      global Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.93, higher than 0.70 for 12 sub
      dimensions; all Dillon-Goldstein's rho coefficients higher than 0.70; an
      excellent quality of external model with a Goodness of Fitness (GoF) criterion of
      0.99. Seventy percent of the items had a reproducibility ranging from moderate
      (Intra-Class Coefficient between 50 and 70 % for 25 items) to good (ICC higher
      than 70 % for 33 items). CONCLUSIONS: COMEt (Contexte Organisationnel et
      Managerial en Etablissement de Sante) questionnaire is a validated
      multidimensional organizational culture questionnaire made of 6 dimensions, 21
      sub-dimensions and 83 items. It is the first dimensional organizational culture
      questionnaire, specific to healthcare context, for a unit level assessment
      showing robust psychometric properties (validity and reliability). This tool is
      suited for research purposes, especially for assessing organizational context in
      research analysing the effectiveness of hospital quality improvement strategies.
      Our tool is also suited for an overall assessment of ward culture and could be a
      powerful trigger to improve management and clinical performance. Its psychometric
      properties in other health systems need to be tested.

PMID- 27640123
TI  - Modeling background radiation using geochemical data: A case study in and around
      Cameron, Arizona.
AB  - This study compares high resolution forward models of natural gamma-ray
      background with that measured by high resolution aerial gamma-ray surveys. The
      ability to predict variations in natural background radiation levels should prove
      useful for those engaged in measuring anthropogenic contributions to background
      radiation for the purpose of emergency response and homeland security operations.
      The forward models are based on geologic maps and remote sensing multi-spectral
      imagery combined with two different sources of data: 1) bedrock geochemical data
      (uranium, potassium and thorium concentrations) collected from national
      databases, the scientific literature and private companies, and 2) the low
      spatial resolution NURE (National Uranium Resource Evaluation) aerial gamma-ray
      survey. The study area near Cameron, Arizona, is located in an arid region with
      minimal vegetation and, due to the presence of abandoned uranium mines, was the
      subject of a previous high resolution gamma-ray survey. We found that, in
      general, geologic map units form a good basis for predicting the geographic
      distribution of the gamma-ray background. Predictions of background gamma
      radiation levels based on bedrock geochemical analyses were not as successful as
      those based on the NURE aerial survey data sorted by geologic unit. The less
      successful result of the bedrock geochemical model is most likely due to a number
      of factors including the need to take into account the evolution of soil
      geochemistry during chemical weathering and the influence of aeolian addition.
      Refinements to the forward models were made using ASTER visualizations to create
      subunits of similar exposure rate within the Chinle Formation, which contains
      multiple lithologies and by grouping alluvial units by drainage basin rather than
      age.

PMID- 27640124
TI  - Non-linear interactions between candidate genes of myocardial infarction revealed
      in mRNA expression profiles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alterations in gene expression are key events in disease etiology and
      risk. Poor reproducibility in detecting differentially expressed genes across
      studies suggests individual genes may not be sufficiently informative for complex
      diseases, such as myocardial infarction (MI). Rather, dysregulation of the
      'molecular network' may be critical for pathogenic processes. Such a dynamic
      network can be built from pairwise non-linear interactions. RESULTS: We
      investigate non-linear interactions represented in mRNA expression profiles that
      integrate genetic background and environmental factors. Using logistic
      regression, we test the association of individual GWAS-based candidate genes and
      non-linear interaction terms (between these mRNA expression levels) with MI.
      Based on microarray data in CATHGEN (CATHeterization in GENetics) and FHS
      (Framingham Heart Study), we find individual genes and pairs of mRNAs, encoded by
      41 MI candidate genes, with significant interaction terms in the logistic
      regression model. Two pairs replicate between CATHGEN and FHS (CNNM2|GUCY1A3 and
      CNNM2|ZEB2). Analysis of RNAseq data from GTEx (Genotype-Tissue Expression) shows
      that 20 % of these disease-associated RNA pairs are co-expressed, further
      prioritizing significant interactions. Because edges in sparse co-expression
      networks formed solely by the 41 candidate genes are unlikely to represent direct
      physical interactions, we identify additional RNAs as links between network pairs
      of candidate genes. This approach reveals additional mRNAs and interaction terms
      significant in the context of MI, for example, the path
      CNNM2|ACSL5|SCARF1|GUCY1A3, characterized by the common themes of magnesium and
      lipid processing. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support a role for non
      linear interactions between genes in MI and provide a basis for further study of
      MI systems biology. mRNA expression profiles encoded by a limited number of
      candidate genes yield sparse networks of MI-relevant interactions that can be
      expanded to include additional candidates by co-expression analysis. The non
      linear interactions observed here inform our understanding of the clinical
      relevance of gene-gene interactions in the pathophysiology of MI, while providing
      a new strategy in developing clinical biomarker panels.

PMID- 27640125
TI  - Intestinal microbiota in pediatric patients with end stage renal disease: a
      Midwest Pediatric Nephrology Consortium study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with uremia and
      increased systemic inflammation. Alteration of the intestinal microbiota may
      facilitate translocation of endotoxins into the systemic circulation leading to
      inflammation. We hypothesized that children with ESRD have an altered intestinal
      microbiota and increased serum levels of bacterially derived uremic toxins.
      METHODS: Four groups of subjects were recruited: peritoneal dialysis (PD),
      hemodialysis (HD), post-kidney transplant and healthy controls. Stool bacterial
      composition was assessed by pyrosequencing analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Serum
      levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), D-lactate, p-cresyl sulfate and indoxyl
      sulfate were measured. RESULTS: Compared to controls, the relative abundance of
      Firmicutes (P = 0.0228) and Actinobacteria (P = 0.0040) was decreased in PD
      patients. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes was increased in HD patients (P
      = 0.0462). Compared to HD patients the relative abundance of Proteobacteria (P =
      0.0233) was increased in PD patients. At the family level, Enterobacteriaceae was
      significantly increased in PD patients (P = 0.0020) compared to controls;
      whereas, Bifidobacteria showed a significant decrease in PD and transplant
      patients (P = 0.0020) compared to control. Alpha diversity was decreased in PD
      patients and kidney transplant using both phylogenetic and non-phylogenetic
      diversity measures (P = 0.0031 and 0.0003, respectively), while beta diversity
      showed significant separation (R statistic = 0.2656, P = 0.010) between PD
      patients and controls. ESRD patients had increased serum levels of p-cresyl
      sulfate and indoxyl sulfate (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). The data
      suggests that no significant correlation exists between the alpha diversity of
      the intestinal microbiota and CRP, D-lactate, or uremic toxins. Oral iron
      supplementation results in expansion of the phylum Proteobacteria. CONCLUSIONS:
      Children with ESRD have altered intestinal microbiota and increased bacterially
      derived serum uremic toxins.

PMID- 27640126
TI  - Printed educational messages fail to increase use of thiazides as first-line
      medication for hypertension in primary care: a cluster randomized controlled
      trial [ISRCTN72772651].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence on the effectiveness of printed educational messages in
      contributing to increasing evidence-based clinical practice is contradictory.
      Nonetheless, these messages flood physician offices, in an attempt to promote
      treatments that can reduce costs while improving patient outcomes. This study
      evaluated the ability of printed educational messages to promote the choice of
      thiazides as the first-line treatment for individuals newly diagnosed with
      hypertension, a practice supported by good evidence and included in guidelines,
      and one which could reduce costs to the health care system. METHODS: The study
      uses a pragmatic, cluster randomized controlled trial (randomized by physician
      practice group). SETTING: The setting involves all Ontario general/family
      practice physicians. Messages advising the use of thiazides as the first-line
      treatment of hypertension were mailed to each physician in conjunction with a
      widely read professional newsletter. Physicians were randomized to receive
      differing versions of printed educational messages: an "insert" (two-page
      evidence-based article) and/or one of two different versions of an "outsert"
      (short, directive message stapled to the outside of the newsletter). One outsert
      was developed without an explicit theory and one with messages developed
      targeting factors from the theory of planned behaviour or neither (newsletter
      only, with no mention of thiazides). The percentage of patients aged over 65 and
      newly diagnosed with hypertension who were prescribed a thiazide as the sole
      initial prescription medication. The effect of the intervention was estimated
      using a logistic regression model estimated using generalized estimating equation
      methods to account for the clustering of patients within physician practices.
      RESULTS: Four thousand five hundred four physicians (with 23,508 patients) were
      randomized, providing 97 % power to detect a 5 % absolute increase in
      prescription of thiazides. No intervention effect was detected. Thiazides were
      prescribed to 27.6 % of the patients who saw control physicians, 27.4 % for the
      insert, 26.8 % for the outsert and 28.3 % of the patients who saw insert +
      outsert physicians, p = 0.54. CONCLUSIONS: The study conclusively failed to
      demonstrate any impact of the printed educational messages on increasing
      prescribing of thiazide diuretics for first-line management of hypertension.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN72772651.

PMID- 27640127
TI  - The association between workplace bullying and depressive symptoms: the role of
      the perpetrator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the
      depressive symptoms of the bullied respondents differed according to who the
      perpetrator was. METHODS: We used cross-sectional questionnaire data from two
      representative cohorts: the Danish Working Environment Cohort Study (DWECS 2010)
      and the Work and Health Study (WH 2012). After excluding respondents not having a
      leader, or being self-employed, assisting spouses, and those reporting multiple
      perpetrators in WH 2012, the statistical analysis included 2478 bullied
      individuals. We compared respondents reporting being bullied by their (1) leader,
      (2) subordinates, (3) clients / customers / patients / students, or (4)
      colleagues, respectively. The occurrence of depressive symptoms was measured by
      the Major Depression Inventory (MDI). RESULTS: The most frequent perpetrator of
      bullying was clients (41.5 %) in DWECS 2010 and colleagues (60.3 %) in WH 2012.
      In DWECS 2010, the MDI score of those being bullied by clients were significantly
      lower than the MDI scores of the other groups. In WH 2012, respondents who
      reported bullying from leaders had a significantly higher mean MDI score than
      participants being bullied by colleagues. Also in WH 2012, our results indicated
      that those who were bullied by leaders had a higher MDI score than those bullied
      by clients, although this difference was not statistically significant at
      conventional levels. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated a similar pattern in the
      two cohorts, with a tendency of more severe depressive symptoms among employees
      who are exposed to bullying by their leaders, and the least severe symptoms among
      those who are bullied by clients.

PMID- 27640128
TI  - Endovascular therapy for ascending aorta pseudoaneurysm.
AB  - Ascending Aortic pseudoaneurysms (AAP) are often formed as a result of prior
      thoracic surgery. In patients with large AAP, surgical correction is the
      established therapy. However, a group of patients are not suitable surgical
      candidates because of advanced age or multiple comorbidities. Instead,
      endovascular approach represents a viable option in this population. Here, we
      review the literature of the surgical and trans-catheter therapy for AAP.
      Additionally, we complement the review with a case presentation of a prohibitive
      surgical risk case that was treated with endovascular options including an
      unsuccessful septal occluder deployment, but final excellent angiographic AAP
      exclusion with coil embolization.

PMID- 27640129
TI  - Odonata Diversity and Synanthropy in Urban Areas: A Case Study in Avellaneda
      City, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
AB  - The increase of human population, especially in urban areas, correlates with an
      alarming destruction of green spaces. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by
      which urbanization processes affect biodiversity is crucial in integrating the
      environment in a proper urban planning. The main urban center of Argentina is
      known as the Greater Buenos Aires (GBA), and it includes the autonomous city of
      Buenos Aires and 24 surrounding districts. Avellaneda, one of the districts of
      the GBA, is an important urban and industrial center with green areas and low
      level of urbanization on the coastal area of the Rio de la Plata. This paper
      provides the first Odonata inventory for Avellaneda, determines the species'
      level of synanthropy with the Nuorteva index, and assess the Odonata species
      replacement along a latitudinal gradient on the occidental margin of the Rio de
      la Plata.

PMID- 27640130
TI  - The mechanism of 5-lipoxygenase in the impairment of learning and memory in rats
      subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the mechanism of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) in the learning and
      memory dysfunction in rats subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS).
      METHODS: Eighty rats were divided into eight groups: the 0.5% sodium
      carboxymethyl cellulose solution (NaCMC)-treated group, empty vector (LV-Mock)
      treated group, CUMS+NaCMC-treated group, CUMS+sertraline-treated group,
      CUMS+caffeic acid (10mg/kg)-treated group, CUMS+caffeic acid (30mg/kg)-treated
      group, CUMS+LV-Mock-treated group, and CUMS+5-LO-silencers lentiviral vectors (LV
      si-5-LO)-treated group, n=10. Sucrose preference tests were performed to assess
      depression-like behavior. The Morris water maze and step-down tests were used to
      evaluate learning and memory performance. The levels of inflammatory cytokines,
      malondialdehyde, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected to
      estimate inflammation and oxidative stress. Changes in 5-LO mRNA and protein were
      detected using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western
      blotting. The expression of synaptophysin, postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95), and
      brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus were measured using
      immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: Treatment with caffeic acid or LV-si-5-LO
      increased sucrose consumption, decreased escape latency and increased the number
      of platform crosses in the Morris water maze test, and decreased the number of
      errors and prolonged the latency in the step-down test. We observed a decreased
      expression of 5-LO, and levels of malondialdehyde, leukotriene-B4, tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha, and interleukin-6, while the protein levels of synaptophysin, PSD
      95, BDNF, and the activity of SOD were increased in the hippocampus of the CUMS
      treated rats. CONCLUSIONS: CUMS-induced impairment in learning and memory could
      be triggered by an inflammatory response in the rat hippocampus, which results in
      oxidative stress injury and impacts the synaptic plasticity of hippocampal
      neurons. Inhibition of the activity or expression of 5-LO could suppress
      hippocampal inflammation, enhance synaptic plasticity, and improve learning and
      memory function in depressed rats.

PMID- 27640131
TI  - The psychobiology of social pain: Evidence for a neurocognitive overlap with
      physical pain and welfare implications for social animals with special attention
      to the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

PMID- 27640132
TI  - Differential effects of early-life NMDA receptor antagonism on aspartame-impaired
      insulin tolerance and behavior.
AB  - : We have previously showed that lifetime exposure to aspartame, commencing in
      utero via the mother's diet, may impair insulin tolerance and cause behavioral
      deficits in adulthood via mechanisms which are incompletely understood. The role
      of the CNS in regulating glucose homeostasis has been highlighted by recent
      delineation of the gut-brain axis, in which N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptors
      (NMDARs) are important in maintaining glucose homeostasis, in addition to
      regulating certain aspects of behavior. Since the gut-brain axis can be modulated
      by fetal programming, we hypothesized that early-life NMDAR antagonism may affect
      aspartame-induced glucose deregulation in adulthood, and may alter the aspartame
      behavioral phenotype. Accordingly, C57Bl/6J mice were chronically exposed to
      aspartame commencing in utero, in the presence and absence of maternal
      administration of the competitive NMDAR antagonist CGP 39551, from conception
      until weaning. Drug/diet interactions in adulthood glucocentric and behavioral
      parameters were assessed. Aspartame exposure elevated blood glucose and impaired
      insulin-induced glucose disposal during an insulin tolerance test, which could be
      normalized by NMDAR antagonism. The same effects were not observed in control
      diet mice, suggesting an early-life drug/diet interaction. Behavioral analysis of
      adult offspring indicated that NMDAR antagonism of control diet mice caused
      hyperlocomotion and impaired spatial navigation. Conversely hypolocomotion,
      reduced exploratory activity and increased anxiety-related behavior were apparent
      in aspartame diet mice with early-life NMDAR antagonism. CONCLUSION: significant
      drug/diet interactions in glucocentric and behavioral parameters were identified
      in aspartame-exposed mice with early-life NMDAR antagonism. This suggests a
      possible involvement of early NMDAR interactions in aspartame-impaired glucose
      homeostasis and behavioral deficits.

PMID- 27640133
TI  - p,p'-Dichlordiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) can elicit antiandrogenic and
      estrogenic modes of action in the amphibian Xenopus laevis.
AB  - p,p'-Dichlordiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) is a metabolite of the insecticide
      dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), an organochloride which was massively used
      from its discovery in 1939 until the early 1970's. Due to the tremendous half
      life of DDT and DDE, both substances are to date environmentally relevant.
      Furthermore, DDT is still employed in many African countries in the context of
      the WHO's antimalaria campaign. In amphibians, DDE was found to act as
      antiandrogenic endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), whereas in other species DDE
      was found to act as an estrogen. To determine the mode of action (MOA) of DDE in
      adult male Xenopus laevis, we exposed adult male frogs to different
      concentrations of DDE, as well as to the estrogenic EDC ethinylestradiol (EE2)
      and the antiandrogenic fungicide vinclozolin (VIN) for four consecutive nights.
      We then analyzed the mate calling behavior, which was previously shown to be
      affected by (anti)androgenic and (anti)estrogenic EDC in a MOA-specific manner,
      in order to assess whether DDE exposure results in estrogen-specific or
      antiandrogen-specific alterations of the mate calling behavior. Our results
      demonstrate that DDE alters the reproductive behavior of male X. laevis. Lowered
      sexual arousal of exposed males was indicated by a decreased production of
      advertisement calls and higher amounts of calls that suggest a sexually unaroused
      state of the males. Our results further indicate that DDE can display both,
      estrogenic and antiandrogenic MOA, either of which can have adverse effects on
      reproductive physiology and behavior in X. laevis. The disruption of the affected
      mating behavior, which is crucial for a successful reproduction, might result in
      a reduced reproductive success of DDE exposed animals.

PMID- 27640134
TI  - Preweaning iron deficiency increases non-contingent responding during cocaine
      self-administration in rats.
AB  - Iron deficiency (ID) is the most prevalent single-nutrient deficiency worldwide.
      There is evidence that ID early in development (preweaning in rat) causes
      irreversible neurologic, behavioral, and motor development deficits. Many of
      these effects have been attributed to damage to dopamine systems, including ID
      induced changes in transporter and receptor numbers in the striatum and nucleus
      accumbens. These mesolimbic dopaminergic neurons are, in part, responsible for
      mediating reward and thus play a key role in addiction. However, there has been
      relatively little investigation into the behavioral effects of ID on drug
      addiction. In 2002, we found that rats made ID from weaning (postnatal day 21)
      and throughout the experiment acquired cocaine self-administration significantly
      more slowly than controls and failed to increase responding when the dose of the
      drug was decreased. In the present study, we assessed addiction for self
      administered cocaine in rats with a history of preweaning ID only during
      postnatal days 4 through 21, and iron replete thereafter. The results showed that
      while ID did not affect the number of cocaine infusions or the overall addiction
      like behavior score, ID rats scored higher on a measure of continued responding
      for drug than did iron replete controls. This increase in responding, however,
      was less goal-directed as ID rats also responded more quickly to the non-rewarded
      manipulandum than did control rats. Thus, while ID early in infancy did not
      significantly increase addiction-like behaviors for cocaine in this small study,
      the pattern of data suggests a possible underlying learning or performance
      impairment. Future studies will be needed to elucidate the exact neuro-behavioral
      deficits that lead to the increase in indiscriminate responding for drug in rats
      with a history of perinatal ID.

PMID- 27640135
TI  - A higher baseline somatization score at sea level as an independent predictor of
      acute mountain sickness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to identify the predictive values of
      psychological factors that are evaluated by the Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90)
      for acute mountain sickness (AMS). METHODS: The subjects (n=285, non-acclimatized
      young Chinese men), who were recruited in July 2013, completed a case report
      questionnaire. In addition, their vital signs (heart rate [HR], blood pressure
      and pulse oxygen saturation) were measured, and their psychological factors were
      examined using the SCL-90 at sea level. AMS was diagnosed using the Lake Louise
      self-assessment scoring system in the morning of the second day after their
      arrival at 3450m. RESULTS: Of the nine factors of the SCL-90, the AMS patients
      (AMS score>=3) were characterized by significantly higher scores for baseline
      somatization [14.0 (5.0) vs. 13.0 (3.0), p<0.001], obsession-compulsion,
      depression, anxiety and hostility compared with the non-AMS group (all p
      values<0.05). Spearman's correlation analyses revealed associations between AMS
      scores and somatization (r=0.316, p<0.001), depression, anxiety, obsession
      compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid
      ideation and psychoticism scores (all p values<0.001). Although all nine factors
      were associated with AMS in a univariate regression (all p<0.05), a further
      adjusted logistic regression analysis indicated that only baseline somatization
      score (odds ratio=1.129, p=0.001) was an independent predictor of AMS.
      Furthermore, some non-AMS often-occurred symptoms (paresthesia, shortness of
      breath, reduced activity and tinnitus) were also found to be associated with the
      baseline SCL-90 scores. CONCLUSION: AMS is correlated with the baseline
      somatization score at sea level, which was measured using the SCL-90. A higher
      baseline somatization score is also an independent predictor of AMS.

PMID- 27640136
TI  - Associations between childhood height and morphologically different variants of
      melanoma in adulthood.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Melanoma subtypes have different aetiological characteristics.
      Child height is positively associated with adult melanoma; however, a
      clarification of associations with specific melanoma variants is necessary for an
      improved understanding of risk factors underlying the histologic entities. This
      study investigated associations between childhood height and future development
      of cutaneous melanoma variants. METHOD: A cohort study of 316,193 individuals
      from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register, with measured heights at ages
      7-13 years who were born from 1930 to 1989. Melanoma cases were identified via
      linkage to the national Danish Cancer Registry and subdivided into subtypes. Cox
      proportional hazards regressions were performed. RESULTS: A total of 2223 cases
      of melanoma distributed as 60% superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), 27.5%
      melanoma not otherwise specified (NOS), 8.5% nodular melanoma (NM), and 2%
      lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM). The remaining rare melanoma forms were not
      analysed. Childhood height was positively and significantly associated with SSM,
      melanoma NOS, and NM, but not LMM, in adulthood. Per height z-score at age 13
      years, the hazard ratios were 1.20 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.13-1.27) for
      SSM, 1.19 (95% CI: 1.09-1.29) for melanoma NOS, and 1.21 (95% CI: 1.04-1.41) for
      NM. Further, growth patterns were linked to the melanoma variants with
      persistently tall children having an increased risk of developing SSM, melanoma
      NOS, or NM. CONCLUSION: Childhood height is positively associated with the
      majority of the melanoma variants. These results suggest that the underlying
      processes contributing to childhood height and growth patterns interconnect early
      life events with the predisposition to melanomagenesis in adulthood.

PMID- 27640137
TI  - Impact of completion axillary lymph node dissection in patients with breast
      cancer and isolated tumour cells or micrometastases in sentinel nodes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Omission of completion axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is a
      standard practice in patients with breast cancer (BC) and negative sentinel nodes
      (SNs) but has shown insufficient evidence to be recommended in those with SN
      invasion. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of a cohort of patients with BC and
      micrometastases (Mic) or isolated tumour cells (ITCs) in SN. Factors associated
      with ALND were identified, and patients with ALND were matched to patients
      without ALND. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were
      estimated in the overall population, in Mic and in ITC cohorts. FINDINGS: Among
      2009 patients analysed, 1390 and 619 had Mic and ITC in SN, respectively. Factors
      significantly associated with ALND were SN status, histological type, age, number
      of SN harvested and absence of adjuvant chemotherapy. After a median follow-up of
      60.4 months, ALND omission was independently associated with reduced OS (hazard
      ratio [HR] 2.41, 90 confidence interval [CI] 1.36-4.27, p = 0.0102), but not with
      increased RFS (HR 1.21, 90 CI 0.74-2.0, p = 0.52) in the overall population. In
      matched patients, the increased risk of death in case of ALND omission was found
      only in the Mic cohort (HR 2.88, 90 CI 1.46-5.69), not in the ITC cohort. The
      risk of recurrence was also significantly increased in the subgroup of matched
      Mic patients (HR 1.56, 90 CI 0.90-2.73). INTERPRETATION: A separate analysis of
      Mic and ITC groups, matched for the determinants of ALND, suggested that patients
      with Mic had increased recurrence rates and shorter OS when ALND was not
      performed. Our results are consistent with those of previous studies for patients
      with ITC but not for those with Mic. Randomised controlled clinical trials are
      still warranted to show with a high level of evidence if ALND can be safely
      omitted in patients with micrometastatic disease in SN.

PMID- 27640139
TI  - Modulation of scene consistency and task demand on language-driven eye movements
      for audio-visual integration.
AB  - Previous psycholinguistic studies have demonstrated that people tend to direct
      fixations toward the visual object to which spoken input refers during language
      comprehension. However, it is still unclear how the visual scene, especially the
      semantic consistency between object and background, affects the word-object
      mapping process during comprehension. Two visual world paradigm experiments were
      conducted to investigate how the scene consistency dynamically influenced the
      language-driven eye movements in a speech comprehension and a scene comprehension
      task. In each trial, participants listened to a spoken sentence while viewing a
      picture with two critical objects: one is the mentioned target object (e.g.,
      tiger), which was embedded in either a consistent (e.g., field), inconsistent
      (e.g., sky) or blank background; the other is an unmentioned non-target object
      (e.g., eagle), which was always consistent with its background. The results
      showed that the fixation proportion of the inconsistent target was higher than
      the consistent target, and the task demand can affect the strength and the
      direction of the inconsistency effect before and after the target had been
      mentioned. In summary, the spoken language, scene-based knowledge and task demand
      were intertwined to determine eye movements during audio-visual integration for
      comprehension.

PMID- 27640138
TI  - Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic marker in locally advanced
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A pooled analysis of two randomised controlled trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)
      in patients with International Union Against Cancer (UICC)-staged III/IVA,B
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), who were enrolled into two randomised controlled
      trials of concurrent/adjuvant chemotherapy when added to radiotherapy (SQNP01),
      and induction chemotherapy when added to chemoradiotherapy (NCC0901). MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A post hoc analysis of pooled cohorts from SQNP01 (N = 221) and
      NCC0901 (N = 172) was performed. We employed a threshold of pre-treatment NLR =
      3.0 (median) to stratify patients. Survival outcomes were compared using log-rank
      test. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to assess association
      between NLR and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), distant
      metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and locoregional recurrence-free survival
      (LRFS). RESULTS: High NLR (>=3.0) was associated with advanced T-status (p =
      0.002), N-status (p = 0.002), overall UICC stage (p = 0.004), and high pre
      treatment Epstein-Barr virus DNA titre (p = 0.001). High NLR was not associated
      with OS (0.94 [0.67-1.32], p = 0.7), DFS (0.98 [0.73-1.33], p = 0.9), DMFS (1.02
      [0.66-1.57], p = 0.9), and LRFS (1.37 [0.84-2.22], p = 0.2) on univariable and
      multivariable analyses, while conventional clinical indices (T-status, N-status,
      and overall UICC stage) were prognostic of clinical outcomes. High NLR also did
      not predict for a treatment effect with the experimental arms in both trials.
      CONCLUSION: Our pooled analyses that were confined to a homogenous patient
      population of locally advanced NPC do not suggest that NLR adds prognostic value
      to conventional clinical indices in identifying patients with unfavourable
      disease.

PMID- 27640140
TI  - Sensory-integration system rather than approximate number system underlies
      numerosity processing: A critical review.
AB  - It is widely accepted that human and nonhuman species possess a specialized
      system to process large approximate numerosities. The theory of an evolutionarily
      ancient approximate number system (ANS) has received converging support from
      developmental studies, comparative experiments, neuroimaging, and computational
      modelling, and it is one of the most dominant and influential theories in
      numerical cognition. The existence of an ANS system is significant, as it is
      believed to be the building block of numerical development in general. The acuity
      of the ANS is related to future arithmetic achievements, and intervention
      strategies therefore aim to improve the ANS. Here we critically review current
      evidence supporting the existence of an ANS. We show that important shortcomings
      and confounds exist in the empirical studies on human and non-human animals as
      well as the logic used to build computational models that support the ANS theory.
      We conclude that rather than taking the ANS theory for granted, a more
      comprehensive explanation might be provided by a sensory-integration system that
      compares or estimates large approximate numerosities by integrating the different
      sensory cues comprising number stimuli.

PMID- 27640141
TI  - Work-up of globus: assessing the benefits of neck ultrasound and
      videofluorography.
AB  - Globus patients with normal ear, nose, and throat (ENT) status are a diagnostic
      challenge. The symptom may be long lasting and cause concern about malignancy,
      leading to possibly unnecessary further investigation. The aim of the study was
      to assess whether radiological examinations are useful in globus diagnostics, how
      often patients suffer from persistent globus, and whether globus patients with
      normal ENT status develop a malignancy during a follow-up. We reviewed medical
      records of all 76 globus patients referred to Helsinki University Hospital,
      Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in 2009. Patient history
      and findings in physical and radiological examinations were registered. A
      questionnaire concerning patients' present pharyngeal symptoms was sent 3 and 6
      years after their initial visit. Data from the Finnish Cancer Registry revealed
      whether patients developed malignancies within a 3-year follow-up. Based on
      medical records, neck ultrasound was performed for 37 (49 %) and
      videofluorography for 22 patients (29 %), with nonsignificant findings. After a 3
      and 6-year follow-up, half patients indicated that they were asymptomatic or had
      fewer symptoms, whereas the rest had persistent symptoms. The Finnish Cancer
      Registry data confirmed that globus patients developed no head and neck
      malignancies during a 3-year follow-up. In the present study, neck ultrasound and
      videofluorography showed no additional benefit to evaluate the globus etiology in
      patients whose ENT status was normal. Half the globus patients suffered from
      persistent symptoms after a 3- and 6-year follow-up, indicating that globus may
      cause discomfort chronically. However, no patients developed malignancies during
      a 3-year follow-up.

PMID- 27640142
TI  - The comparison of edema and ecchymosis after piezoelectric and conventional
      osteotomy in rhinoplasty.
AB  - The basic aim of our study is to compare the results of the conventional and
      piezoelectric osteotomy in rhinoplasty by complete subperiosteal degloving of
      nasal bone to minimize soft-tissue injury. The study was designed as a
      prospective, double-blind, randomized, and controlled study. Setting is a
      tertiary referral hospital in Turkey. Ninety patients who underwent primary open
      rhinoplasty with osteotomy, performed by either the conventional instruments or
      the piezoelectric device. The complete subperiosteal degloving of the entire
      nasal bone was done up to the nasal maxillary sulcus, medial canthus, and nasion
      in all patients, independent of the type of osteotomy device used. Patients
      subsequently underwent median-oblique and lateral osteotomy, either with an
      ultrasonic device or a conventional 2-mm guarded, straight osteotome. The
      postoperative edema and ecchymosis were evaluated by another surgeon who was
      blinded to the osteotomy procedure on postoperative days 2 and 7. The edema
      scores were significantly increased on the second day compared with the seventh
      day in both groups 1 and 2. However, there was no significant difference between
      groups. The ecchymosis scores were slightly higher in postoperative day 2,
      compared with day 7, in both groups 1 and 2, but statistically not significant.
      This study showed that the main reason edema and ecchymosis are seen post
      rhinoplasty is related to soft-tissue injury during osteotomy.

PMID- 27640143
TI  - Tropomyosin movement is described by a quantitative high-resolution model of X
      ray diffraction of contracting muscle.
AB  - Contraction of skeletal and cardiac muscle is controlled by Ca2+ ions via
      regulatory proteins, troponin (Tn) and tropomyosin (Tpm) associated with the thin
      actin filaments in sarcomeres. In the absence of Ca2+, Tn-C binds actin and
      shifts the Tpm strand to a position where it blocks myosin binding to actin,
      keeping muscle relaxed. According to the three-state model (McKillop and Geeves
      Biophys J 65:693-701, 1993), upon Ca2+ binding to Tn, Tpm rotates about the
      filament axis to a 'closed state' where some myosin heads can bind actin. Upon
      strong binding of myosin heads to actin, Tpm rotates further to an 'open'
      position where neighboring actin monomers also become available for myosin
      binding. Azimuthal Tpm movement in contracting muscle is detected by low-angle X
      ray diffraction. Here we used high-resolution models of actin-Tpm filaments based
      on recent cryo-EM data for calculating changes in the intensities of X-ray
      diffraction reflections of muscle upon transitions between different states of
      the regulatory system. Calculated intensities of actin layer lines provide a much
      improved fit to the experimental data obtained from rabbit muscle fibers in
      relaxed and rigor states than previous lower-resolution models. We show that the
      intensity of the second actin layer line at reciprocal radii from 0.15 to 0.3 nm
      1 quantitatively reports the transition between different states of the
      regulatory system independently of the number of myosin heads bound to actin.

PMID- 27640144
TI  - Dynamics of surface of lipid membranes: theoretical considerations and the ESR
      experiment.
AB  - The effect of the surface layer of model membranes on their physical properties
      was discussed in this paper. The research involved a physical ESR experiment with
      the use of spin probes and computer simulation based on the Monte Carlo
      technique. Liposomes formed during the process of sonication of lecithin were
      scanned in an ESR spectrometer. The membrane surface layer model, represented by
      the system of electric dipoles arranged in rectangular or hexagonal matrices, was
      studied. The final states of computer simulations were presented as textures. It
      was found that in the gel phase some ordered domain structures are formed, while
      in the liquid-crystal phase we got complex textures comprising a plurality of
      gaps. The process of forming domain structures during the changing of the
      temperature and the phase transitions taking place in a dipole system as a
      function of dipole mobility (k-parameter) was presented. The results obtained
      imply that the head groups (represented by electric dipoles in the computer
      model) of the surface layer play a key role in membranes, affecting the
      properties of the entire membrane, which is particularly essential for transport
      processes. It also modified the characteristics of the membrane gel-liquid
      crystalline transition phase.

PMID- 27640145
TI  - Dynamin-Related Protein 1 Deficiency Leads to Receptor-Interacting Protein Kinase
      3-Mediated Necroptotic Neurodegeneration.
AB  - Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that divide and fuse to modulate their number
      and shape. We have previously reported that the loss of dynamin-related protein 1
      (Drp1), which mediates mitochondrial division, leads to the degeneration of
      cerebellar Purkinje cells in mice. Because Drp1 has been shown to be important
      for apoptosis and necroptosis, it is puzzling how Purkinje neurons die in the
      absence of Drp1. In this study, we tested whether neurodegeneration involves
      necrotic cell death by generating Purkinje cell-specific Drp1-knockout (KO) mice
      that lack the receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (Rip3), which regulates
      necroptosis. We found that the loss of Rip3 significantly delays the degeneration
      of Drp1-KO Purkinje neurons. In addition, before neurodegeneration, mitochondrial
      tubules elongate because of unopposed fusion and subsequently become large
      spheres as a result of oxidative damage. Surprisingly, Rip3 loss also helps Drp1
      KO Purkinje cells maintain the elongated morphology of the mitochondrial tubules.
      These data suggest that Rip3 plays a role in neurodegeneration and mitochondrial
      morphology in the absence of mitochondrial division.

PMID- 27640147
TI  - Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Development of
      Disease-Modifying Osteoarthritis Drugs.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis disorders, but the
      identification of therapeutic targets to effectively prevent OA has been
      increasingly difficult. The goal of this investigation is to provide experimental
      evidence that discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) may be an ideal target for the
      development of disease-modifying OA drugs. Ddr2 was conditionally deleted from
      articular cartilage of adult mouse knee joints. Aggrecan-CreERT2;floxed Ddr2
      mice, which were generated by crossing Aggrecan-CreERT2 mice with floxed Ddr2
      mice, then received tamoxifen injections at the age of 8 weeks. The mice were
      then subjected to destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) surgery. At 8 and
      16 weeks after DMM, mice were euthanized for the collection of knee joints. In a
      separate experiment, Aggrecan-CreERT2;floxed Ddr2 mice were subjected to DMM at
      the age of 10 weeks. The mice then received tamoxifen injections at 8 weeks after
      DMM. The mice were euthanized for the collection of knee joints at 16 weeks after
      DMM. The progressive process of articular cartilage degeneration was
      significantly delayed in the knee joints of Ddr2-deficient mice in comparison to
      their control littermates. Articular cartilage damage in the knee joints of the
      mice was associated with increased expression profiles of both Ddr2 and matrix
      metalloproteinase 13. These findings suggest that DDR2 may be an ideal target for
      the development of disease-modifying OA drugs.

PMID- 27640146
TI  - Endothelin-1 Treatment Induces an Experimental Cerebral Malaria-Like Syndrome in
      C57BL/6 Mice Infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65.
AB  - Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection of C57BL/6 mice is a widely used model of
      experimental cerebral malaria (ECM). By contrast, the nonneurotropic P. berghei
      NK65 (PbN) causes severe malarial disease in C57BL/6 mice but does not cause ECM.
      Previous studies suggest that endothelin-1 (ET-1) contributes to the pathogenesis
      of ECM. In this study, we characterize the role of ET-1 on ECM vascular
      dysfunction. Mice infected with 106 PbN-parasitized red blood cells were treated
      with either ET-1 or saline from 2 to 8 days postinfection (dpi). Plasmodium
      berghei ANKA-infected mice served as the positive control. ET-1-treated PbN
      infected mice exhibited neurological signs, hypothermia, and behavioral
      alterations characteristic of ECM, dying 4 to 8 dpi. Parasitemia was not affected
      by ET-1 treatment. Saline-treated PbN-infected mice did not display ECM,
      surviving until 12 dpi. ET-1-treated PbN-infected mice displayed leukocyte
      adhesion to the vascular endothelia and petechial hemorrhages throughout the
      brain at 6 dpi. Intravital microscopic images demonstrated significant brain
      arteriolar vessel constriction, decreased functional capillary density, and
      increased blood-brain barrier permeability. These alterations were not present in
      either ET-1-treated uninfected or saline-treated PbN-infected mice. In summary,
      ET-1 treatment of PbN-infected mice induced an ECM-like syndrome, causing brain
      vasoconstriction, adherence of activated leukocytes in the cerebral
      microvasculature, and blood-brain barrier leakage, indicating that ET-1 is
      involved in the genesis of brain microvascular alterations that are the hallmark
      of ECM.

PMID- 27640148
TI  - C-C Motif Chemokine 5 Attenuates Angiotensin II-Dependent Kidney Injury by
      Limiting Renal Macrophage Infiltration.
AB  - Inappropriate activation of the renin angiotensin system (RAS) is a key
      contributor to the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. During RAS activation,
      infiltration of immune cells into the kidney exacerbates hypertension and renal
      injury. However, the mechanisms underpinning the accumulation of mononuclear
      cells in the kidney after RAS stimulation remain unclear. C-C motif chemokine 5
      (CCL5) drives recruitment of macrophages and T lymphocytes into injured tissues,
      and we have found that RAS activation induces CCL5 expression in the kidney
      during the pathogenesis of hypertension and renal fibrosis. We therefore
      evaluated the contribution of CCL5 to renal damage and fibrosis in hypertensive
      and normotensive models of RAS stimulation. Surprisingly, during angiotensin II
      induced hypertension, CCL5-deficient (knockout, KO) mice exhibited markedly
      augmented kidney damage, macrophage infiltration, and expression of
      proinflammatory macrophage cytokines compared with wild-type controls. When
      subjected to the normotensive unilateral ureteral obstruction model of endogenous
      RAS activation, CCL5 KO mice similarly developed more severe renal fibrosis and
      greater accumulation of macrophages in the kidney, congruent with enhanced renal
      expression of the macrophage chemokine CCL2. In turn, pharmacologic inhibition of
      CCL2 abrogated the differences between CCL5 KO and wild-type mice in kidney
      fibrosis and macrophage infiltration after unilateral ureteral obstruction. These
      data indicate that CCL5 paradoxically limits macrophage accumulation in the
      injured kidney during RAS activation by constraining the proinflammatory actions
      of CCL2.

PMID- 27640149
TI  - Predicting drug-induced liver injury in human with Naive Bayes classifier
      approach.
AB  - Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is one of the major safety concerns in drug
      development. Although various toxicological studies assessing DILI risk have been
      developed, these methods were not sufficient in predicting DILI in humans. Thus,
      developing new tools and approaches to better predict DILI risk in humans has
      become an important and urgent task. In this study, we aimed to develop a
      computational model for assessment of the DILI risk with using a larger scale
      human dataset and Naive Bayes classifier. The established Naive Bayes prediction
      model was evaluated by 5-fold cross validation and an external test set. For the
      training set, the overall prediction accuracy of the 5-fold cross validation was
      94.0 %. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative
      predictive value were 97.1, 89.2, 93.5 and 95.1 %, respectively. The test set
      with the concordance of 72.6 %, sensitivity of 72.5 %, specificity of 72.7 %,
      positive predictive value of 80.4 %, negative predictive value of 63.2 %.
      Furthermore, some important molecular descriptors related to DILI risk and some
      toxic/non-toxic fragments were identified. Thus, we hope the prediction model
      established here would be employed for the assessment of human DILI risk, and the
      obtained molecular descriptors and substructures should be taken into
      consideration in the design of new candidate compounds to help medicinal chemists
      rationally select the chemicals with the best prospects to be effective and safe.

PMID- 27640150
TI  - "Hypermethylation" of anthranilic acid-labeled sugars confers the selectivity
      required for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
AB  - Analysis of the monosaccharides of complex carbohydrates is often performed by
      liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Unfortunately, methylated
      sugars, unusual amino- or deoxysugars and incomplete hydrolysis can lead to
      erroneous assignments of peaks. Here, we demonstrate that a volatile buffer
      system is suitable for the separation of anthranilic acid labeled sugars. It
      allows off-line examination of peaks by electrospray mass spectrometry.
      Approaches towards on-line mass spectrometric detection using reversed-phase or
      porous graphitic carbon columns fell short of achieving sufficient separation of
      the relevant isobaric sugars. Adequate chromatographic performance for isomeric
      sugars was achieved with reversed-phase chromatography of "hyper"-methylated
      anthranilic acid-labeled monosaccharides. Deuteromethyl iodide facilitates the
      discovery of naturally methylated sugars and identification of their parent
      monosaccharide as demonstrated with N-glycans of the snail Achatina fulica, where
      two thirds of the galactoses and a quarter of the mannoses were methylated.

PMID- 27640152
TI  - Onabotulinumtoxin-A treatment in Greek patients with chronic migraine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic migraine is a disabling condition, with limited treatment
      options. We conducted an open label, single arm, prospective clinical trial, to
      assess the efficacy and safety of onabotulinumtoxin-A in Greek patients with
      chronic migraine. Since recent evidence suggests that a meaningful clinical
      response may be delayed until after a third onabotulinumtoxin-A administration,
      we aimed at assessing outcomes at this time point. METHODS: A total of 119
      patients with CM, scheduled to be treated with Onabotulinumtoxin-A (Botox (r))
      every 3 months, according to the approved indication and standard clinical
      practice, were prospectively enrolled. Data documenting changes from baseline (T0
      trimester before Onabotulinumtoxin-A first administration) to the period after
      its third administration (T3) in (i) mean number of monthly headache days (ii)
      migraine severity as expressed by the mean number of days with peak headache
      intensity of >4/10 in a 0-10 numerical scale, and (iii) mean number of days with
      use of any acute headache medication, were collected from patients' headache
      diaries at each visit. RESULTS: Of the 119 patients, a total of 81 received 3
      courses of onabotulinumtoxin-A and were included in the efficacy population. In
      those 81 patients, there was a significant decrease in mean headache days/month
      between T0 and T3 (21.3 +/- 5.4 vs 7.7 +/- 4.8; P < 0.001); a significant
      decrease in days with peak headache intensity of >4/10 (11.9 +/- 5.5 vs 3.7 +/-
      3.3; P < 0.001) and finally, the change in days using acute headache medications
      per month between was also significant (16.2 +/- 7.8 vs 5.2 +/- 4.3; P < 0.001).
      Adverse events were few and of non- serious nature. CONCLUSION: Our results
      strongly support the use of onabotulinumtoxin-A for the prophylaxis of CM, as
      this intervention proved effective, safe and well tolerated in our cohort of
      Greek patients.

PMID- 27640151
TI  - Recombinant Sj16 from Schistosoma japonicum contains a functional N-terminal
      nuclear localization signal necessary for nuclear translocation in dendritic
      cells and interleukin-10 production.
AB  - Sj16 is a Schistosoma japonicum-derived protein (16 kDa in molecular weight) that
      has been identified as an immune modulation molecule, but the mechanisms of
      modulation of immune responses are not known. In this report, we aimed to
      investigate the host immune regulation mechanism by recombinant Sj16 (rSj16) and
      thus illuminate the molecular mechanism of immune evasion by S. japonicum. The
      effect of rSj16 and rSj16 mutants on the biology of dendritic cells (DCs) was
      assessed by examining DC maturation, cytokine production, and expression of
      surface markers by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found
      that rSj16 significantly stimulated interleukin (IL)-10 production and inhibited
      LPS-induced bone marrow-derived dendrite cell (BMDC) maturation in a dose
      dependent manner. By using antibody neutralization experiments and IL-10
      deficient (knockout) mice, we confirmed that the inhibitory effect of rSj16 on
      LPS-induced BMDCs is due to its induction of IL-10 production. To understand how
      rSj16 induces the production of IL-10, we analyzed the protein sequence and
      revealed two potential nuclear localization signals (NLS) in Sj16. The N-terminal
      NLS (NLS1) is both necessary and sufficient for translocation of rSj16 to the
      nucleus of BMDCs and is important for subsequent induction of IL-10 production
      and the inhibition of BMDC maturation by rSj16. The results of our study
      concluded that the ability of rSj16 to inhibit DC functions is IL-10 dependent
      which is operated by IL-10R signal pathway. This study also confirmed that NLS is
      an important domain associated with increased production of IL-10. Our findings
      will extend the current understanding on host-schistosome relationship and
      provide insight about bottleneck of parasitic control.

PMID- 27640153
TI  - A Bayesian network model for predicting aquatic toxicity mode of action using two
      dimensional theoretical molecular descriptors.
AB  - The mode of toxic action (MoA) has been recognized as a key determinant of
      chemical toxicity, but development of predictive MoA classification models in
      aquatic toxicology has been limited. We developed a Bayesian network model to
      classify aquatic toxicity MoA using a recently published dataset containing over
      one thousand chemicals with MoA assignments for aquatic animal toxicity. Two
      dimensional theoretical chemical descriptors were generated for each chemical
      using the Toxicity Estimation Software Tool. The model was developed through
      augmented Markov blanket discovery from the dataset of 1098 chemicals with the
      MoA broad classifications as a target node. From cross validation, the overall
      precision for the model was 80.2%. The best precision was for the AChEI MoA
      (93.5%) where 257 chemicals out of 275 were correctly classified. Model precision
      was poorest for the reactivity MoA (48.5%) where 48 out of 99 reactive chemicals
      were correctly classified. Narcosis represented the largest class within the MoA
      dataset and had a precision and reliability of 80.0%, reflecting the global
      precision across all of the MoAs. False negatives for narcosis most often fell
      into electron transport inhibition, neurotoxicity or reactivity MoAs. False
      negatives for all other MoAs were most often narcosis. A probabilistic
      sensitivity analysis was undertaken for each MoA to examine the sensitivity to
      individual and multiple descriptor findings. The results show that the Markov
      blanket of a structurally complex dataset can simplify analysis and
      interpretation by identifying a subset of the key chemical descriptors associated
      with broad aquatic toxicity MoAs, and by providing a computational chemistry
      based network classification model with reasonable prediction accuracy.

PMID- 27640154
TI  - Biodynamics of copper oxide nanoparticles and copper ions in an oligochaete -
      Part II: Subcellular distribution following sediment exposure.
AB  - The use and likely incidental release of metal nanoparticles (NPs) is steadily
      increasing. Despite the increasing amount of published literature on metal NP
      toxicity in the aquatic environment, very little is known about the biological
      fate of NPs after sediment exposures. Here, we compare the bioavailability and
      subcellular distribution of copper oxide (CuO) NPs and aqueous Cu (Cu-Aq) in the
      sediment-dwelling worm Lumbriculus variegatus. Ten days (d) sediment exposure
      resulted in marginal Cu bioaccumulation in L. variegatus for both forms of Cu.
      Bioaccumulation was detected because isotopically enriched 65Cu was used as a
      tracer. Neither burrowing behavior or survival was affected by the exposure. Once
      incorporated into tissue, Cu loss was negligible over 10 d of elimination in
      clean sediment (Cu elimination rate constants were not different from zero). With
      the exception of day 10, differences in bioaccumulation and subcellular
      distribution between Cu forms were either not detectable or marginal. After 10 d
      of exposure to Cu-Aq, the accumulated Cu was primarily partitioned in the
      subcellular fraction containing metallothionein-like proteins (MTLP, ~40%) and
      cellular debris (CD, ~30%). Cu concentrations in these fractions were
      significantly higher than in controls. For worms exposed to CuO NPs for 10 d,
      most of the accumulated Cu was partitioned in the CD fraction (~40%), which was
      the only subcellular fraction where the Cu concentration was significantly higher
      than for the control group. Our results indicate that L. variegatus handle the
      two Cu forms differently. However, longer-term exposures are suggested in order
      to clearly highlight differences in the subcellular distribution of these two Cu
      forms.

PMID- 27640156
TI  - A reliable method for enrichment of neutrophils from peripheral blood in
      barramundi (Lates calcarifer).
AB  - Neutrophils are a short-lived, terminally differentiated, innate immune cell,
      that are critical first responders during infection. Research into neutrophil
      pathogen interactions in fish has primarily employed cells derived from the pro
      nephros and nephros. Since these sites are also the location of neutrophil and
      other immune cell development, there may be some ambiguity in maturation and
      functional ability of these cells, and difficulty in differentiating the effects
      of neutrophils from those of macrophages and monocytes. In contrast, peripheral
      blood circulating neutrophils are mature and ready to respond, thus it may be
      more physiologically relevant to use these cells for immune studies when
      evaluating interactions with blood-borne pathogens. The enrichment of tropical,
      euryhaline fish blood cells cannot follow classic mammalian enrichment methods
      for several reasons: Fish have nucleated red blood cells (RBC's), a high number
      of reticulocytes, a very low number of granulocytic leukocytes and an osmotic
      tolerance, rendering techniques such as water lysis ineffective. Enrichment of
      neutrophils, while minimizing RBC contamination, is imperative for studies where
      luminescence or fluorescence signals may be confounded by background from an
      overabundance of RBC's. We have optimized a method for enriching neutrophils from
      peripheral blood, with an initial settlement step employing 6% dextran (Mr
      450,000-650,000), for 30-60 min at room temperature, followed by density
      separation on an 8-step Percoll density gradient. This method provides a cell
      suspension comprising 20-50% neutrophils, free of contamination from
      reticulocytes. These are then suitable for luminometric or fluorometric
      downstream analyses.

PMID- 27640155
TI  - Characterization and expression analysis of a thioredoxin-like protein gene in
      the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus.
AB  - As the most important disulfide bond reducates of intracellular oxidordeuctase,
      thioredoxin (TRX) plays a crucial role in maintaining reducing state of
      intracellular proteins to normally perform their function. In this study, a cDNA
      of TRX-like protein gene from Apostichopus japonicus (denoted as AjTRX) was
      cloned and characterized. The full-length cDNA of AjTRXwas of 1870 bp, consisting
      of a 5'-UTR of 101 bp, a long 3'-UTR of 887 bp and a 882 bp open reading frame
      (ORF) encoding a 293 amino acids. The predicted molecular mass and the
      theoretical PI of the deduced amino acids of AjTRX were 32.3 kDa and 5.52,
      respectively. Phylogenetic trees showed that AjTRX had a closer evolution
      relationship with TRX from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. AjTRX was found to be
      ubiquitously expressed in all examined tissues including longitudinal muscle,
      coelomocytes, tube feet, intestine, respiratory tree and body wall indicating a
      general role in physiological processes. Temporal expression pattern of AjTRX in
      coelomocytes showed that AjTRX reached two peak expression levels at 8 h and 48 h
      after Vibrio splendidus challenge with a 8.6 and 9.3-fold increase compared to
      their control groups, respectively. The recombinant AjTRX protein (rAjTRX)
      displayed obvious antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner, and the higher
      reducing activity was detected in 20 MUM experimental group. All these results
      strongly suggested that AjTRX could play an important role as an antioxidant in a
      physiological context, and might be involved in the process of bacterial
      challenge.

PMID- 27640157
TI  - Identification and expression analysis of suppressors of cytokine signaling
      (SOCS) of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus.
AB  - Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family members are key regulators of the
      immune system, particularly cytokine action, and have now been discovered in a
      number of fish species. Here we identified eight SOCS proteins (CISH, SOCS1a,
      SOCS1b, SOCS3a, SOCS3b, SOCS5, SOCS6 and SOCS9) in the Japanese flounder and
      analyzed their mRNA expressions after injection of poly (I:C) and formalin-killed
      cells (FKC) of Edwardsiella tarda. The expressions of all eight SOCS genes were
      detected in all the tissues examined. Stimulation of Japanese flounder reared at
      15 or 25  degrees C with poly (I:C) affected the gene expressions of CISH,
      SOCS1a, SOCS1b and SOCS3a. All SOCS genes mRNA levels were significantly changed
      after FKC injection. Significant up-regulation of SOCS1a, SOCS1b, SOCS3a and
      SOCS3b genes was detected at 3, 12 and 24 hpi. SOCS5 and SOCS6 genes were
      significantly down-regulated at 3 hpi. SOCS9 gene was significantly up-regulated
      at 12 hpi. These results suggest that all eight of the SOCS genes are involved in
      immune responses, and that the CISH, SOCS1 and SOCS3 genes have functions
      distinct from those of the other SOCS members.

PMID- 27640158
TI  - Altered Resting-State EEG Microstate Parameters and Enhanced Spatial Complexity
      in Male Adolescent Patients with Mild Spastic Diplegia.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the resting-state EEG microstate
      parameters and spatial complexity in male adolescent patients with mild spastic
      diplegia (MSD). Resting-state EEG data were collected from male adolescent
      patients with MSD and healthy controls with eyes closed. EEG microstate and omega
      complexity analysis were performed. Microstate analysis revealed that the
      occurrence rate of microstate class A and D were significantly higher and the
      duration of microstate class B was significantly lower in the patients compared
      to healthy controls, which indicated that the temporal complexity may be higher
      and certain cognitive functions may be impaired in these patients. Omega
      complexity analysis showed that the global omega complexity of alpha-2 band was
      significantly higher in the patients than the controls. Besides, compared to the
      anterior regional omega complexities, the posterior regional omega complexities
      were significantly lower in the delta, theta, alpha-1 and alpha-2 bands, but
      significantly higher in the beta-2 and gamma-1 bands. And the regional omega
      complexities in the delta, theta and alpha-1 bands were significantly higher in
      the patients than controls. The present study reveals that in male adolescent
      patients with MSD, the temporal and spatial complexities of EEG signal are
      enhanced, which may be closely associated with the altered brain functions in
      these patients.

PMID- 27640159
TI  - Analysis of Security Protocols for Mobile Healthcare.
AB  - Mobile Healthcare (mHealth) continues to improve because of significant
      improvements and the decreasing costs of Information Communication Technologies
      (ICTs). mHealth is a medical and public health practice, which is supported by
      mobile devices (for example, smartphones) and, patient monitoring devices (for
      example, various types of wearable sensors, etc.). An mHealth system enables
      healthcare experts and professionals to have ubiquitous access to a patient's
      health data along with providing any ongoing medical treatment at any time, any
      place, and from any device. It also helps the patient requiring continuous
      medical monitoring to stay in touch with the appropriate medical staff and
      healthcare experts remotely. Thus, mHealth has become a major driving force in
      improving the health of citizens today. First, we discuss the security
      requirements, issues and threats to the mHealth system. We then present a
      taxonomy of recently proposed security protocols for mHealth system based on
      features supported and possible attacks, computation cost and communication cost.
      Our detailed taxonomy demonstrates the strength and weaknesses of recently
      proposed security protocols for the mHealth system. Finally, we identify some of
      the challenges in the area of security protocols for mHealth systems that still
      need to be addressed in the future to enable cost-effective, secure and robust
      mHealth systems. 

PMID- 27640160
TI  - Theoretical investigation of loratadine reactivity in order to understand its
      degradation properties: DFT and MD study.
AB  - Antihistamines are frequently used pharmaceuticals that treat the symptoms of
      allergic reactions. Loratadine (LOR) is an active component of the second
      generation of selective antihistaminic pharmaceutical usually known as Claritin.
      Frequent usage of this type of pharmaceuticals imposes the need for understanding
      their fundamental reactive properties. In this study we have theoretically
      investigated reactive properties of LOR using both density functional theory
      (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. DFT study is used for
      collecting information related to the molecule stability, structure, frontier
      molecular orbitals, quantum molecular descriptors, charge distribution, molecular
      electrostatic potential surfaces, charge polarization, and local reactivity
      properties according to average local ionization energy surfaces. Based on these
      results, N24 atom of pyridine ring and oxygen atom O1 were identified with
      nucleophilic nature. In order to collect the information necessary for the
      proposition of degradation compounds we also calculated bond dissociation
      energies (BDE) for hydrogen abstraction and single acyclic bonds as well.
      According to BDE, the oxidation is likely to occur in the piperidine and
      cycloheptane rings. MD simulations were used in order to understand the
      interactions with water through radial distribution functions (RDF). Based on
      RDFs the most important interactions with solvent are determined for carbon atom
      C5, chlorine atom Cl15, and oxygen atom O1. Collected results based on DFT
      calculations and MD simulations provided information important for suggestion of
      possible degradation compounds. Covalent and noncovalent interactions between LOR
      and (*)OH have also been investigated. 

PMID- 27640162
TI  - Erratum to: Hydrogeochemical investigations in a drained lake area: the case of
      Xynias basin (Central Greece).

PMID- 27640161
TI  - Unusual Species of Dermatophytes: Rarely Identified or New?
AB  - Dermatophytes are causing superficial mycosis in animals and humans. Depending on
      the geophilic, zoophilic or anthropophilic origin of the fungus but also on the
      immunological status of the patient, symptomatology can widely differ.
      Nevertheless, each species is currently associated with typical clinical
      manifestations, even if atypical localizations and/or clinical pictures are
      sometimes also reported. Diagnostic tools applied to species identification have
      been changing since the last two decades with the more frequent use of molecular
      methods currently considered nowadays as reference methods for species
      identification. It becomes obvious that the algorithm used for the distinction of
      closely related species needs to combine phenotypic and genomic methods. All
      these different points are discussed, and the most recent novel species causing
      or involved in human dermatophytosis are reported.

PMID- 27640163
TI  - Transect based analysis versus area based analysis to quantify shoreline
      displacement: spatial resolution issues.
AB  - Field surveys, aerial photographs, and satellite images are the most commonly
      employed sources of data to analyze shoreline position, which are further
      compared by area based analysis (ABA) or transect based analysis (TBA) methods.
      The former is performed by computing the mean shoreline displacement for the
      identified coastal segments, i.e., dividing the beach area variation by the
      segment length; the latter is based on the measurement of the distance between
      each shoreline at set points along transects. The present study compares, by
      means of GIS tools, the ABA and TBA methods by computing shoreline displacements
      recorded on two stretches of the Tuscany coast (Italy): the beaches of Punta Ala,
      a linear coast without shore protection structures, and the one at Follonica,
      which is irregular due to the presence of groins and detached breakwaters.
      Surveys were carried out using a differential global positioning system (DGPS) in
      RTK mode. For each site, a 4800-m-long coastal segment was analyzed and divided
      into ninety-six 50-m-long sectors for which changes were computed using both the
      ABA and TBA methods. Sectors were progressively joined to have a length of 100,
      200, 400, and 800 m to examine how this influenced results. ABA and TBA results
      are highly correlated for transect distance and sector length up to 100 m at both
      investigated locations. If longer transects are considered, the two methods still
      produce good correlated data on the smooth shoreline (i.e. at Punta Ala), but
      correlation became significantly lower on the irregular shoreline (i.e., at
      Follonica). 

PMID- 27640164
TI  - vanA-targeted oligonucleotide DNA probe designed to monitor vancomycin- and
      teicoplanin-resistant bacteria in surface waters.
AB  - The glycopeptide antibiotics teicoplanin and vancomycin are common to treat
      severe Gram-positive bacterial infections. The gene vanA confers high-level
      resistance to these antibiotics, and these phenomena have been shown to be
      transferable. Release of vancomycin- and teicoplanin-resistant bacteria to
      surface waters is, therefore, of particular concern since they might proliferate
      and spread in different environments. Monitoring of the fate of vanA gene in
      these waters provides information on the exposure and potential threats of those
      bacteria for the environment and public health. Therefore, this study aimed at
      preparing a 25-mer-oligonucleotide DNA probe based on the 909 bp BamHI-ClaI
      fragment from Enterococcus faecium plasmids pVEF1 and pVEF2 through the use of
      Vector NTI Express Software. The newly designed vanA probe displayed highly
      specific hybridization with vanA-positive Enterococcus faecalis tested at 46 
      degrees C, 55 % formamide, and 0.020 M NaCl stringency conditions. In situ
      fluorescein hybridizations under the same stringency conditions were also used to
      monitor river water samples by using fluorescein microscopy. The results showed
      that the vanA-targeted oligonucleotide DNA probe prepared was not only highly
      specific but also quantitative tool for monitoring vancomycin- and teicoplanin
      resistant bacteria in surface waters. 

PMID- 27640165
TI  - Cardiovascular, respiratory, and total mortality attributed to PM2.5 in Mashhad,
      Iran.
AB  - Poor air quality is one of the most important environmental problems in many
      large cities of the world, which can cause a wide range of acute and chronic
      health effects, including partial physiological disorders and cardiac death due
      to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. According to the latest edition of
      the national standard for air quality, maximum contamination level is 15 MUg/m(3)
      per year and 35 MUg/m(3) per day. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      cardiovascular, respiratory, and total mortality attributed to PM2.5 in the city
      of Mashhad during 2013. To this end, the Air Q model was used to assess health
      impacts of PM2.5 and human exposure to it. In this model, the attributable
      proportion of health outcome, annual number of excess cases of mortality for all
      causes, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were estimated. The results
      showed that the number of excess cases of mortality for all causes and
      cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributable to PM2.5 was 32, 263, and
      332 MUg/m(3), respectively. Moreover, the annual average of PM2.5 in Mashhad was
      obtained to be 37.85 MUg/m(3). This study demonstrated that a high percentage of
      mortality resulting from this pollutant could be due to the high average
      concentration of PM2.5 in the city during 2013. In this case, using the particle
      control methods, such as optimal use of fuel, management of air quality in urban
      areas, technical inspection of vehicles, faster development of public transport,
      and use of industrial technology can be effective in reducing air pollution in
      cities and turning existing situations into preferred ones. 

PMID- 27640166
TI  - Occurrence and distribution of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) and the
      impact on macrobenthic community structure in Lagos lagoon, Nigeria.
AB  - The widespread distribution of petroleum products arising from the rapid growth
      of the petroleum industry in Nigeria has resulted in the pollution of the
      environment through oil spills involving leakages from tankers, pipelines, tank
      farms, and dumping of waste petroleum products. The impacts and distribution of
      major toxic components (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX)) of
      petroleum products in water and sediment samples collected from sampling stations
      in the Lagos lagoon was investigated over a 2-year period (February 2009-July
      2010). The distribution of benthic communities in the different sampling stations
      of the Lagos lagoon was assessed. The determination of hydrocarbon levels in the
      samples showed that the levels of total hydrocarbon content (THC) in the water
      samples around the Atlas Cove and Apapa were high with values ranging from 2.03
      to 31.38 mg/l and 4.04 to 22.89 mg/l, respectively. The highest value of total
      BTEX in the lagoon sediment was also recorded in the Apapa station (450.53
      MUg/kg), where oil depots and tank farm facilities are located. The study of the
      macrobenthic community structure showed that the species richness ranged from
      1.57 to 2.02 in the reference station, Unilag, while in the Atlas Cove, Iddo, and
      Apapa stations, it ranged from 1.80 to 2.89, 1.95 to 3.03, and 1.86 to 2.95,
      respectively. The highest number of organisms (183) was recorded in the reference
      stations, while the least number (46) was recorded in Apapa. The main hydrocarbon
      pollution indicator species identified in the impacted aquatic stations were Nais
      eliguis and Heteromastus filiformis. The levels of hydrocarbon observed in the
      aquatic environment showed that there is widespread contamination as a result of
      petroleum product importation, storage, and distribution. The assessment of the
      monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and benthic community will therefore provide
      important tools for early detection, diagnosis, and management of hydrocarbon
      pollution in the Lagos lagoon. 

PMID- 27640167
TI  - Distribution, enrichment, and source identification of selected heavy metals in
      surface sediments of the Siran River, Mansehra, Pakistan.
AB  - To assess the trace metal pollution in the Siran River, sediments were collected
      from 12 sites, from the left and right banks of the river in 2013. The
      concentrations, accumulation, distribution pattern, and pollution status of heavy
      metals in sediments were investigated using geoaccumulation index (I geo) and
      enrichment factor (EF). The toxic risk of heavy metals was assessed using interim
      sediment quality guidelines (ISQGs), portable effect level (PEL), threshold
      effect level (TEL), and toxic effect threshold (TET). I geo and EF values showed
      that sediments were loaded with Ni, Cd, Pb, and Co and no obvious variations were
      found among the left and right banks of the river. The EF and I geo values were
      found in order of Co > Pb > Ni > As > Cd > Cu > Zn > Fe and Cd > Co > Pb > Ni >
      As > Fe > Zn > Cu > Mn, respectively. Furthermore, multivariate statistical
      analysis like inter-metal correlation, cluster analysis (CA), and principal
      component analysis (PCA) results revealed that geogenic and anthropogenic
      activities were major sources of sediment contamination in the study area. These
      results indicated that more attention should be paid to the inner loads of
      sediment in order to achieve improvements in reservoir water quality after the
      control of external pollution. 

PMID- 27640168
TI  - Effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on lipids metabolism in the salivary
      glands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is one of the most common metabolic diseases. Moreover,
      previous studies indicate that diabetes may cause changes in the salivary glands
      phenotype and in the composition of saliva itself. Therefore, the main objective
      of this study was to determine the effects of streptozotocin induced diabetes on
      lipid profile of the rat salivary glands. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were divided
      into two groups: control and STZ-induced diabetes. At the end of the experiment
      all animals were sacrificed and samples of the parotid and submandibular salivary
      glands were excised. Major lipid fractions concentrations were determined by
      means of chromatography (TLC and GC). RESULTS: We observed a significant increase
      (~3.5 fold) in the level of triacylglycerol in both the parotid and submandibular
      salivary glands of diabetic rats. The abovementioned changes were accompanied by
      significant, although less dramatic (i.e. from -60% to -90%), decrements in the
      levels of other lipid classes (phospholipids, free fatty acids and
      diacylglycerol). CONCLUSIONS: In our study we have showed, presumably for the
      first time, that streptozotocin induced diabetes causes decrement in PH content
      with subsequent atrophy and malfunction in both parotid and submandibular
      salivary glands. Another novel finding of our research is that diabetic rats were
      characterized by an increased TG accumulation in both parotid and submandibular
      salivary glands. The later one could be a clinical manifestation of diabetes.

PMID- 27640170
TI  - Designing of Epitope-Focused Vaccine by Targeting E6 and E7 Conserved Protein
      Sequences: An Immuno-Informatics Approach in Human Papillomavirus 58 Isolates.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a DNA virus that belongs to the papillomavirus
      family and is capable of infecting humans. Currently, few vaccines are available
      to prevent infection by HPV. However, they are not so much effective and provide
      little benefit to women who have already been infected with HPV. The aim of this
      study was to design epitope-based vaccines of HPV58 by targeting E6 and E7
      proteins of HPV58. Proteomic sequences were retrieved from different isolates at
      different time periods and later analyzed by performing alignment of these
      sequences. To ensure the capacity of humoral and cell-mediated immunity, both B
      cell and T cell immunity were checked for the peptides. For E6 protein, the
      peptide sequence from 48 to 54 amino acids and one 9-m epitope ETSVHEIEL were the
      most potential B cell and T cell epitopes, respectively. This peptide could
      interact with as many as eight MHC-1 alleles and showed high population coverage
      up to 90.31 %. On the other hand, the peptide region for the E7 protein ranged
      from 27 to 33 amino acids and two 9-m epitopes QAQPATANY, SSDEDEIGL were found as
      the most potential B cell and T cell epitopes, respectively. The peptide
      sequences could interact with as many as seven MHC-1 alleles and showed
      population coverage up to 90.31 %. Furthermore, conservancy analysis was also
      performed using in silico tools and showed a conservancy of 100 % for all the
      selected epitopes. In addition to this, the allergenicity of the epitopes was
      also evaluated. Although the study requires further in vitro and in vivo
      screening, this epitope-focused peptide vaccine designing opens up a new skyline
      that holds a prospective future in HPV research.

PMID- 27640169
TI  - Salivary Amylase: Digestion and Metabolic Syndrome.
AB  - Salivary amylase is a glucose-polymer cleavage enzyme that is produced by the
      salivary glands. It comprises a small portion of the total amylase excreted,
      which is mostly made by the pancreas. Amylases digest starch into smaller
      molecules, ultimately yielding maltose, which in turn is cleaved into two glucose
      molecules by maltase. Starch comprises a significant portion of the typical human
      diet for most nationalities. Given that salivary amylase is such a small portion
      of total amylase, it is unclear why it exists and whether it conveys an
      evolutionary advantage when ingesting starch. This review will consider the
      impact of salivary amylase on oral perception, nutrient signaling, anticipatory
      metabolic reflexes, blood sugar, and its clinical implications for preventing
      metabolic syndrome and obesity.

PMID- 27640172
TI  - Production and purification of Scandium-47: A potential radioisotope for cancer
      theranostics.
AB  - In this study, production of 47Sc radionuclide by irradiating the natural
      titanium dioxide powder (TiO2) in the fast neutron flux (~3*1013ncm-2s-1) for 4
      days in Tehran Research Reactor (TRR, Iran) and separation from titanium target
      was investigated. The study showed the feasibility of production 47Sc by TRR. The
      separation efficiency and radiochemical purity (ScCl3) of radio-scandium, 47Sc
      radionuclide purity were obtained 98%, 99% and 88% respectively.

PMID- 27640173
TI  - Geometrical parameters and scattered radiation effects on the extrinsic
      sensitivity and counting efficiency of a rectangular gamma camera.
AB  - A point source is used to investigate the effect of water phantom thickness and
      source-to-detector distance (SDD) on the sensitivity and counting efficiency of a
      rectangular detector gamma camera. The increase in water thickness resulted in an
      increase in scatter fraction, a decrease in sensitivity, and counting efficiency.
      The increase in SDD resulted in a decrease in sensitivity and an increase in
      counting efficiency. An SDD of 0.79+/-0.02m is found to provide a good compromise
      for acceptable sensitivity and reasonable counting efficiency.

PMID- 27640171
TI  - LPRP: A Gene-Gene Interaction Network Construction Algorithm and Its Application
      in Breast Cancer Data Analysis.
AB  - The importance of the construction of gene-gene interaction (GGI) network to
      better understand breast cancer has previously been highlighted. In this study,
      we propose a novel GGI network construction method called linear and
      probabilistic relations prediction (LPRP) and used it for gaining system level
      insight into breast cancer mechanisms. We construct separate genome-wide GGI
      networks for tumor and normal breast samples, respectively, by applying LPRP on
      their gene expression datasets profiled by The Cancer Genome Atlas. According to
      our analysis, a large loss of gene interactions in the tumor GGI network was
      observed (7436; 88.7 % reduction), which also contained fewer functional genes
      (4757; 32 % reduction) than the normal network. Tumor GGI network was
      characterized by a bigger network diameter and a longer characteristic path
      length but a smaller clustering coefficient and much sparse network connections.
      In addition, many known cancer pathways, especially immune response pathways, are
      enriched by genes in the tumor GGI network. Furthermore, potential cancer genes
      are filtered in this study, which may act as drugs targeting genes. These
      findings will allow for a better understanding of breast cancer mechanisms.

PMID- 27640174
TI  - Method for organically bound tritium analysis from sediment using a combustion
      bomb.
AB  - The method consisted in combustion, using a Parr bomb type 1121, of a sediment -
      tritium free promoter mixture. The proper ratio sediment to promoter in our
      experiments was between 1:3 and 1:2, higher ratio resulting in unreliable
      results, due to incomplete combustion of the sample. The described method was
      used to measure the estuarine sediment sample from the 2nd International OBT
      Intercomparison Exercise, the average reported value being 163+/-12Bqkg-1 dry
      matter (k=2).

PMID- 27640176
TI  - Calculation of the ambient dose equivalent H*(10) from gamma-ray spectra obtained
      with scintillation detectors.
AB  - The measurement of the ambient dose equivalent H*(10) with automatic real-time
      radioactivity monitors using gamma-ray spectrometry provides valuable information
      at short integration times and serves as an alternative to conventional peak
      analysis of spectra. In this paper, a full methodology for the calculation of
      this quantity using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations is described and applied to real
      spectrometric measurements with LaBr3(Ce) scintillation detectors. The
      methodology involves the calculation of the fluence-to-H*(10) conversion factors
      and a method for obtaining the fluence from gamma-ray spectra. The combination of
      these two elements makes it possible to calculate the H*(10). The obtained
      results are compared with the H*(10) measurements of a Geiger-Muller (GM)
      detector. Finally, the necessary activity concentration to produce a certain
      increment on the H*(10) is discussed for some isotopes. This is used to discuss
      the analysis capabilities of the spectrometric detectors when compared to GM
      ones.

PMID- 27640175
TI  - Design of thermal neutron beam based on an electron linear accelerator for BNCT.
AB  - An electron linear accelerator (Linac) can be used for boron neutron capture
      therapy (BNCT) by producing thermal neutron flux. In this study, we used a Varian
      2300 C/D Linac and MCNPX.2.6.0 code to simulate an electron-photoneutron source
      for use in BNCT. In order to decelerate the produced fast neutrons from the
      photoneutron source, which optimize the thermal neutron flux, a beam-shaping
      assembly (BSA) was simulated. After simulations, a thermal neutron flux with
      sharp peak at the beam exit was obtained in the order of 3.09*108n/cm2 s and
      6.19*108n/cm2 s for uranium and enriched uranium (10%) as electron-photoneutron
      sources respectively. Also, in-phantom dose analysis indicates that the simulated
      thermal neutron beam can be used for treatment of shallow skin melanoma in time
      of about 85.4 and 43.6min for uranium and enriched uranium (10%) respectively.

PMID- 27640179
TI  - Amino-functionalized cotton fiber for enhanced adsorption of active brilliant red
      X-3B from aqueous solution.
AB  - An amino-functionalized sorbent (ACF) was prepared by grafting amine group onto
      cotton fiber (CF) using tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA). The resulting composite
      was characterized using various instrumental techniques such as scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and pHpzc analysis. FTIR
      spectrum and pHpzc analysis illustrated the involvement of amine groups in the X
      3B sorption process. ACF sorbent was tested for its ability to remove X-3B from
      an aqueous solution in batch experiments. The adsorption efficiency of ACF was
      100% in comparison with 5.52% of raw cotton fiber when initial concentration of
      active brilliant red X-3B was 30 mg/l. Results suggested that solution pH hardly
      affected the removal of X-3B, and ACF remained stable sorption efficiency in the
      pH range of 3.0-12.0. High values of correlation coefficients indicated the
      adsorption kinetics could best described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic
      equation. The sorption isotherm of ACF fitted the Langmuir equilibrium model,
      with the maximum adsorption capacity of 270.27 mg/g at 293K. The obtained
      thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption of X-3B onto the adsorbent
      was spontaneous and exothermic. The excellent regeneration performance provided
      strong evidence of the potential of ACF for technological applications of dye
      removal.

PMID- 27640178
TI  - Upregulated miR-17 Regulates Hypoxia-Mediated Human Pulmonary Artery Smooth
      Muscle Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis by Targeting Mitofusin 2.
AB  - BACKGROUND Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease characterized
      by impaired regulation of pulmonary artery vascular growth and remodeling.
      Aberrant expression of miR-17 has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis
      of PAH, but its underlying molecular mechanism has not been elucidated. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS Mitofusin 2 (MFN2) expression was determined by qRT-PCR. The protein
      expression levels of MFN2, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and pro
      apoptotic protein cleaved Caspase-3 were measured using Western blot analysis.
      Cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed by CellTiter-Glo reagent and flow
      cytometry, respectively. Caspase-3/7 activity was measured using an Apo-ONE
      Homogeneous Caspase-3/7 assay kit. The regulation of miR-17 on MFN2 expression
      was assessed using luciferase reporter assay system. RESULTS miR-17 expression
      was upregulated in human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (hPASMCs) treated
      with hypoxia and lung tissues of PAH patients. Inhibition of miR-17 suppressed
      hypoxia-induced proliferation and promoted apoptosis in hPASMCs. miR-17 inhibited
      MFN2 expression by binding to its 3'-UTR. Decreased cell viability and increased
      apoptosis and Caspase-3 activity were observed in the anti-miR-17 + siNC group
      compared with the anti-miR-NC + siNC group. The expression of cleaved Caspase-3
      was upregulated and the expression of PCNA was downregulated in the anti-miR-17 +
      siNC group. Moreover, these alterations were attenuated by knockdown of MFN2.
      CONCLUSIONS miR-17 regulates proliferation and apoptosis in hPASMCs through MFN2
      modulation. We found that miR-17 acts as a potential regulator of proliferation
      and apoptosis of hPASMCs, and that it might be developed as a promising new
      strategy for the treatment of PAH. 

PMID- 27640180
TI  - Survival Impact of Extracolorectal Malignancies in Colorectal Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients are at high risk for developing
      extracolorectal malignancies (EMs). Although development of a second primary
      cancer and deaths thereof are included as events of disease-free survival (DFS)
      and overall survival (OS), the role of EMs in these survival end points has not
      been fully investigated. METHODS: A total of 1,625 CRC patients who underwent
      surgery from April 2004 to March 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. EMs were
      classified as preoperative metachronous EMs (pre-MEMs), synchronous EMs (SEMs)
      and postoperative metachronous EMs (post-MEMs). RESULTS: A total of 145 pre-MEMs
      (134 patients), 132 SEMs (125 patients) and 97 post-MEMs (89 patients) were
      observed. The incidence of SEM correlated with male sex, age >70 years and
      absence of distant metastasis. In patients undergoing curative surgery (n =
      1,550), the 5-year CRC- and EM-related death, CRC-specific recurrence and post
      MEM development rates were 10.4, 2.6, 27.9 and 7.3%, respectively. SEM strongly
      and independently correlated with shorter OS and DFS (hazard ratios, 2.52 and
      1.54, respectively). Moreover, patients with SEM or those aged >70 years were at
      high risk for developing post-MEM. CONCLUSIONS: Because the presence of SEM
      strongly indicates shorter DFS and OS, exploration of EMs prior to colorectal
      surgery is important.

PMID- 27640181
TI  - Intensive Home Hemodialysis Results in Regression of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy
      and Better Clinical Outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent risk factor for
      mortality and cardiovascular events in patients with end-stage renal disease.
      Studies have shown that frequent hemodialysis leads to LVH regression, but the
      impact of left ventricular mass (LVM) regression on clinical outcomes remains
      unknown. METHODS: This observational cohort study assessed the impact of LVH
      regression on the composite outcome of time to all-cause mortality, technique
      failure or cardiovascular hospitalization in patients on home hemodialysis. LVH
      regression was defined as either a reduction of more than 10% in LVM in patients
      with LVH at baseline or prevention of LVH in those without LVH at baseline. Risk
      factors associated with progression of LVM were also examined. RESULTS: We
      studied 144 intensive hemodialysis patients between 1999 and 2012 with a mean
      follow-up of 4.7 years. Eighty-seven patients (60.4%) had LVH regression or
      prevention and 57 patients (39.6%) had LVH progression. In a multivariate
      analysis, smoking (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.06-7.36) and presence of LVH at baseline (OR
      2.21, 95% CI 1.06-4.59) were significant predictors for LVM progression. Sixteen
      patients (18.4%) in the regressor group and 19 patients (33.3%) in the progressor
      group developed the composite end point. When adjusted for age and diabetes,
      regression was significantly associated with a decreased risk (hazards ratio (HR)
      0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.84) for the composite end point. Regression was also
      significantly associated with a decreased risk of death in the adjusted analysis
      (HR 0.20, 95% CI 0.06-0.67). CONCLUSIONS: Regression of LVH with intensive
      hemodialysis is associated with favorable clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27640177
TI  - Toward early estimation and treatment of addiction vulnerability: radial arm maze
      and N-acetyl cysteine before cocaine sensitization or nicotine self
      administration in neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion rats.
AB  - RATIONAL: Prefrontal cortical (PFC)-hippocampal-striatal circuits, interconnected
      via glutamatergic signaling, are dysfunctional in mental illnesses that involve
      addiction vulnerability. OBJECTIVES: In healthy and neurodevelopmentally altered
      rats, we examined how Radial Arm Maze (RAM) performance estimates addiction
      vulnerability, and how starting a glutamatergic modulating agent, N-acetyl
      cysteine (NAC) in adolescence alters adult mental illness and/or addiction
      phenotypes. METHODS: Rats with neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions (NVHL) vs.
      SHAM-operated controls were randomized to NAC vs. saline in adolescence followed
      by cognitive testing (RAM) in early adulthood and then cocaine behavioral
      sensitization (experiment 1; n = 80) or nicotine self-administration (experiment
      2; n = 12). RESULTS: In experiment 1, NVHL rats showed over-consumption of food
      (Froot-Loops (FL)) baiting the RAM with poor working memory (low-arm entries to
      repeat (ETR)), producing an elevated FL to ETR ratio ("FLETR"; p < 0.001). FLETR
      was the best linear estimator (compared to FL or ETR) of magnitude of long-term
      cocaine sensitization (R 2 = 0.14, p < 0.001). NAC treatment did not alter FL,
      ETR, FLETR, or cocaine sensitization. In experiment 2, FLETR also significantly
      and uniquely correlated with subsequent drug seeking during nicotine-induced
      reinstatement after extinction of nicotine self-administration (R 2 = 0.47, p <
      0.01). NAC did not alter RAM performance, but significantly reversed NVHL-induced
      increases in nicotine seeking during extinction and reinstatement. CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings demonstrate the utility of animal models of mental illness with
      addiction vulnerability for developing novel diagnostic measures of PFC
      hippocampal-striatal circuit dysfunction that may reflect addiction risk. Such
      tests may direct pharmacological treatments prior to adulthood and addictive drug
      exposure, to prevent or treat adult addictions.

PMID- 27640183
TI  - Erythropoietin does not activate erythropoietin receptor signaling or lipolytic
      pathways in human subcutaneous white adipose tissue in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erythropoietin (Epo) exerts direct effects on white adipose tissue
      (WAT) in mice in addition to its erythropoietic effects, and in humans Epo
      increases resting energy expenditure and affect serum lipid levels, but direct
      effects of Epo in human WAT have not been documented. We therefore investigated
      the effects of acute and prolonged Epo exposure on human WAT in vivo. METHOD:
      Data were obtained from two clinical trials: 1) acute Epo exposure (rHuEpo, 400
      IU/kg) followed by WAT biopsies after 1 h and 2) 10 weeks treatment with the
      erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) Darbepoietin-alpha. Biopsies were analyzed
      by PCR for Epo receptor (Epo-R) mRNA. A new and highly specific antibody (A82,
      Amgen) was used to evaluate the presence of Epo-R by western blot analysis in
      addition to Epo-R signaling proteins (Akt, STAT5, p70s6k, LYN, and p38MAPK),
      activation of lipolytic pathways (ATGL, HSL, CGI-58, G0S2, Perilipin, Cidea,
      Cidec, AMPK, and ACC), and mitochondrial biogenesis (VDAC, HSP90, PDH, and SDHA).
      RESULTS: No evidence of in vivo activation of the Epo-R in WAT could be
      documented despite detectable levels of Epo-R mRNA. CONCLUSION: Thus, in
      contradiction to animal studies, Epo treatment within a physiological relevant
      range in humans does not exert direct effects in a subcutaneous WAT.

PMID- 27640185
TI  - Targeted next-generation sequencing of TP53 in oral tongue carcinoma from non
      smokers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known regarding the etiology and genomic underpinnings of
      Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OTSCC) in patients who lack traditional risk
      factors, yet the incidence is increasing. In particular, the rate, and role, of
      TP53 mutations in this cohort has been heavily debated in the literature.
      METHODS: Tumor DNA from forty-three non-smokers with OTSCC underwent next
      generation sequencing of TP53. RESULTS: Sixty percent of samples contained a TP53
      mutation. The G > T transversion rate was 5.7 %. TP53 status did not differ by
      age. CONCLUSIONS: OTSCC in non-smokers have TP53 mutation rates similar to other
      Head and Neck cancers yet these mutations do not appear related to carcinogen
      exposure based on the mutational spectrum and clinical history. The mechanisms
      driving tumorigenesis in this cohort, including mutations in TP53, remain elusive
      and further studies are needed.

PMID- 27640184
TI  - Efficient generation and reversion of chromosomal translocations using CRISPR/Cas
      technology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chromosomal translocations are a hallmark of cancer cells and give
      rise to fusion oncogenes. To gain insight into the mechanisms governing
      tumorigenesis, adequate model cell lines are required. RESULTS: We employ the
      versatile CRISPR/Cas system to engineer cell lines in which chromosomal
      translocations are either generated de novo (CD74-ROS1) or existing
      translocations are reverted back to the original configuration (BCR-ABL1). To
      this end, we co-apply two guide RNAs to artificially generate two breakpoints and
      screen for spontaneous fusion events by PCR. CONCLUSIONS: The approach we use is
      efficient and delivers clones bearing translocationsin a predictable fashion.
      Detailed analysis suggests that the clones display no additional undesired
      alterations, implying that the approach is robust and precise.

PMID- 27640182
TI  - The critical care management of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage: a
      contemporary review.
AB  - Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), defined as nontraumatic bleeding into
      the brain parenchyma, is the second most common subtype of stroke, with 5.3
      million cases and over 3 million deaths reported worldwide in 2010. Case fatality
      is extremely high (reaching approximately 60 % at 1 year post event). Only 20 %
      of patients who survive are independent within 6 months. Factors such as chronic
      hypertension, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and anticoagulation are commonly
      associated with ICH. Chronic arterial hypertension represents the major risk
      factor for bleeding. The incidence of hypertension-related ICH is decreasing in
      some regions due to improvements in the treatment of chronic hypertension.
      Anticoagulant-related ICH (vitamin K antagonists and the newer oral anticoagulant
      drugs) represents an increasing cause of ICH, currently accounting for more than
      15 % of all cases. Although questions regarding the optimal medical and surgical
      management of ICH still remain, recent clinical trials examining hemostatic
      therapy, blood pressure control, and hematoma evacuation have advanced our
      understanding of ICH management. Timely and aggressive management in the acute
      phase may mitigate secondary brain injury. The initial management should include:
      initial medical stabilization; rapid, accurate neuroimaging to establish the
      diagnosis and elucidate an etiology; standardized neurologic assessment to
      determine baseline severity; prevention of hematoma expansion (blood pressure
      management and reversal of coagulopathy); consideration of early surgical
      intervention; and prevention of secondary brain injury. This review aims to
      provide a clinical approach for the practicing clinician. 

PMID- 27640186
TI  - Role of Counseling to Promote Adherence in Healthy Lifestyle Medicine: Strategies
      to Improve Exercise Adherence and Enhance Physical Activity.
AB  - Although healthy lifestyles (HL) offer a number of health benefits, nonadherence
      to recommended lifestyle changes remains a frequent and difficult obstacle to
      realizing these benefits. Behavioral counseling can improve adherence to an HL.
      However, individuals' motivation for change and resistance to altering unhealthy
      habits must be considered when developing an effective approach to counseling. In
      the present article, we review psychological, behavioral, and environmental
      factors that may promote adherence and contribute to nonadherence. We discuss two
      established models for counseling, motivational interviewing and the
      transtheoretical model of behavior change, and provide an example of how these
      approaches can be used to counsel patients to exercise and increase their levels
      of physical activity.

PMID- 27640187
TI  - High impact of implementation on school-based smoking prevention: the X:IT study
      a cluster-randomized smoking prevention trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implementation fidelity describes how well an intervention is
      implemented in the real-world setting. Assessing implementation fidelity is
      essential in the understanding of intervention results. In most studies,
      implementation fidelity is measured insufficiently, though, not taking into
      account the complexity of the concept nor the intervention. The objective of the
      present study was to develop an overall quantitative measure of implementation
      fidelity, to examine the degree of implementation fidelity and the association of
      implementation and effect of a randomized school-based smoking prevention trial
      the X:IT study. METHODS: A cluster-randomized trial testing is a multi-component
      intervention to prevent smoking among adolescents in 94 Danish elementary schools
      (51 intervention, 43 control schools). Participants were grade 7 pupils (mean age
      12.5 years). Data was collected by electronic questionnaires among pupils at
      baseline (n = 4161), the first follow-up (n = 3764), and the second follow-up (n
      = 3269) and among school coordinators at intervention schools at the first and
      second follow-up (50 and 39 coordinators). INTERVENTION: The intervention
      included three components: (1) smoke-free school grounds, (2) smoke-free
      curriculum, and (3) parental involvement, contracts, and dialogues.
      Implementation fidelity was assessed by four domains: adherence, dose, quality of
      delivery, and participant responsiveness. These were combined into an overall
      school-wise implementation index. The association of implementation and smoking
      was examined by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: One fourth of the schools
      was characterized as high implementers of the program (all three components) at
      both first (12 schools, 24.0 %) and second follow-up (11 schools, 28.2 %).
      Implementation fidelity was strongly associated with smoking at the first and
      second follow-up, e.g., the odds for smoking at schools with high implementation
      both years were OR = 0.44 (95 % CI 0.32 to 0.68). CONCLUSIONS: Using an overall
      measure based on several aspects of implementation fidelity, we showed a negative
      graded association between implementation and smoking. This study suggests that
      higher degrees of implementation will improve the effect of the X:IT
      intervention. Studying the association between implementation and effect is
      extremely important; only by doing so, we can distinguish the quality of the
      intervention from the success of the implementation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current
      Controlled Trials ISRCTN77415416.

PMID- 27640188
TI  - Prospective two-year subsidence analysis of 100 cemented polished straight stems 
      a short-term clinical and radiological observation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cemented stems show good long-term results and the survival of new
      implants can be predicted by their early subsidence. With EBRA-FCA (Femoral
      Component Analysis using Einzel-Bild-Rontgen-Analyse) early subsidence as an
      early indicator for later aseptic loosening can be analysed. For the cemented
      TwinSys stem mid- and long-term data is only avalible from the New Zeeland
      Arthroplasty register, thus close monitoring of this implant system is still
      mandatory. METHODS: We conducted a 2 year follow up of 100 consecutive hybrid THA
      (Total hip arthroplasty) of a series of 285 primary THA operated between Jan 2009
      und Oct 2010. These 100 received a polished, cemented collarless straight stem
      (twinSys(r), Mathys AG(r) Bettlach, Switzerland) with an uncemented monobloc
      pressfit cup (RM pressfit(r), Mathys AG(r) Bettlach, Switzerland). The other
      patients were treated with the uncemented version of this stem and the same cup.
      Clinical (Harris Hip Score) and radiological (ap and axial x-rays, cementing
      quality according to Barrack, alignment) outcomes besides an EBRA-FCA subsidence
      analysis were performed. RESULTS: Median age at operation was 78 (68 to 93)
      years. 5 patients died in the course of follow-up unrelated to surgery. The KM
      (Kaplan-Meier) survival at 2 years for the endpoint reoperation for any reason
      was 94.9 (95 % confidence interval 90.6-100 %). Survival for the endpoint aseptic
      loosening at 2 years was 100 %. The HHS (Harris Hip Score) improved from 56 (14
      86) preoperatively to 95 (60-100) 2 years after the operation. Cementing results
      were judged 47 % Grade A, 45 % Grade B and 7 % Grade C. Osteolysis was found in 2
      stems without clinical symptoms or correlation to subsidence or cementing
      quality. The EBRA-FCA analysis showed an average subsidence of -0.30 mm (95 % CI 
      0.5 mm to -0.1 mm). 11 patients showed a subsidence of more than 1 mm. In this
      group one patient showed a subsidence of 1.5 mm and one of 3.1 mm without further
      radiological changes. CONCLUSIONS: The twinSys stem showed excellent clinical and
      radiologic short term results at 2 years follow-up and seems to be a reliable
      implant.

PMID- 27640190
TI  - The genetic evidence for human origin of Jivaroan shrunken heads in collections
      from the Polish museums.
AB  - Advances in forensic identification using molecular genetics are helpful in
      resolving some historical mysteries. The aim of this study was to confirm the
      authenticity of shrunken-head artifacts exhibited by two Polish museums. Shrunken
      heads, known as tsantsas, were headhunting trophies of South American Indians
      (Jivaroan). A special preparation preserved their hair and facial appearance.
      However, it was quite common to offer counterfeit shrunken heads of sloths or
      monkeys to collectors of curiosities. We sampled small skin specimens of four
      shrunken-head skin from the museum collection from Warsaw and Krakow, Poland.
      Following genomic DNA isolation, highly polymorphic short tandem repeats were
      genotyped using a commercial chemistry and DNA sequencing analyzer. Haplogroups
      of human Y chromosome were identified. We obtained an informative genetic profile
      of genomic short tandem repeats from all the samples of shrunken heads. Moreover,
      amplification of amelogenin loci allowed for sex determination. All four studied
      shrunken heads were of human origin. In two ones, a shared Y-chromosome
      haplogroup Q characteristic for Indigenous Americans was detected. Another
      artifact was counterfeited because Y-chromosome haplogroup I2 was found,
      characteristic for the Southeastern European origin. Commercial genetic methods
      of identification can be applied successfully in studies on the origin and
      authenticity of some unusual collection items.

PMID- 27640189
TI  - Multiple Sclerosis in Pediatrics: Current Concepts and Treatment Options.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune, inflammatory, demyelinating
      disease of the central nervous system. MS is increasingly recognized in the
      pediatric population, and it is usually diagnosed around 15 years of age. The
      exact etiology of MS is still not known, although autoimmune, genetic, and
      environmental factors play important roles in its development, making it a
      multifactorial disease. The disease in children almost always presents in the
      relapsing-remittent form. The therapy involves treatment of relapses, and
      immunomodulatory and symptomatic treatment. The treatment of children with MS has
      to be multidisciplinary and include pediatric neurologists, ophthalmologists,
      psychologists, physiotherapists, and if necessary, pediatric psychiatrists and
      pharmacologists. The basis of MS therapy should rely on drugs that are able to
      modify the course of the disease, i.e. immunomodulatory drugs. These drugs can be
      subdivided into two general categories: first-line immunomodulatory therapy
      (interferon beta-1a, interferon beta-1b, glatiramer acetate) and second-line
      immunomodulatory therapy (natalizumab, mitoxantrone, fingolimod, teriflunomide,
      azathioprine, rituximab, dimethyl fumarate, daclizumab). Treatment of relapses
      involves the use of high intravenous doses of corticosteroids, administration of
      intravenous immunoglobulins, and plasmapheresis. We summarize here the current
      available information related to the etiology and treatment options in MS. Early
      administration of immunomodulatory therapy is beneficial in adults, while more
      studies are needed to prove their effectiveness in pediatric populations.
      Therefore, pediatric MS still represents a great challenge for both, the early
      and correct diagnosis, as well as its treatment.

PMID- 27640191
TI  - Dental development in patients with agenesis.
AB  - AIM: Recent research concerning tooth development and dental agenesis suggests
      that specific genes are associated with agenesis, and that these genetic factors
      could also cause delayed dental development of the remaining teeth. The objective
      of this study was to evaluate whether dental development of patients with
      agenesis is delayed, compared to a control group. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Panoramic
      radiographs of 1145 patients with dental agenesis were collected (452 males, 693
      females) aged 6.2 to 24.8 years. The control group included 2032 panoramic
      radiographs (977 males, 1055 females) aged 6.0 to 24.4 years. A total of 3177
      orthopantomograms were staged according to Demirjian. All left permanent teeth
      present in the mandible (except third molars) were considered. In order to
      evaluate the difference between patients with and without agenesis, a
      developmental score (DS) was calculated. The association between the DS and the
      number of agenetic teeth was evaluated with a Spearman correlation. RESULTS:
      Based on the DS, patients with agenesis have a delayed development compared to
      patients in the control group (p < 0.0001). Within the agenesis group, there is a
      weak relation between the number of agenetic teeth and the DS: the higher the
      number of teeth with agenesis, the lower the DS (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.06 for
      females and males, respectively). CONCLUSION: The obtained results can be an
      important factor for treatment planning in patients with dental agenesis.
      Moreover, the presence of agenesis needs to be taken into account when using age
      estimation methods based on permanent tooth development.

PMID- 27640192
TI  - Genetic engineering of probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 for clinical
      application.
AB  - Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 (EcN) has been used as a probiotic. Genetic
      engineering has enhanced the utility of EcN in several vaccine and pharmaceutical
      preparations. We discuss in this mini review the genetics and physical properties
      of EcN. We also discuss the numerous genetic engineering strategies employed for
      EcN-based vaccine development, including recombinant plasmid transfer, genetic
      engineering of cryptic plasmids or the EcN chromosome, EcN bacterial ghosts and
      its outer membrane vesicles. We also provide a current update on the progress and
      the challenges regarding the use of EcN in vaccine development. 

PMID- 27640193
TI  - Differential sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to suppression of
      hepatocystin transcription under hypoxic conditions.
AB  - Mutations in the gene encoding hepatocystin/80 K-H (PRKCSH) cause autosomal
      dominant polycystic liver disease. Hepatocystin deficiency impairs glucosidase II
      activity, which is critical for processing and folding glycoproteins in the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Hypoxia is known as a strong stimulus for generating
      survival signals in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. However, hypoxia may
      induce cell apoptosis under conditions of severe ER stress. Thus, we hypothesized
      that suppression of hepatocystin transcription induces HCC cell death under
      hypoxic conditions due to excessive ER stress. A new human HCC cell line, SNU
      3058, was established following primary culture of tumor cells harvested from a
      Korean patient with rapidly growing hypovascular HCC. In cell culture, human HCC
      cells (Huh-7, SNU-761, and SNU-3058) were treated with control siRNA or
      hepatocystin siRNA with or without doxorubicin under hypoxic conditions. Cell
      viability, ER stress, unfolded protein response (UPR), and apoptosis were
      assessed using the MTS assay, immunoblot assay, and RT-PCR. Suppression of
      hepatocystin transcription attenuated proliferation in Huh-7 and SNU-761 cells,
      while proliferation was amplified in SNU-3058 cells. Similar results were
      observed following treatment with doxorubicin. Hepatocystin siRNA transfection
      increased cell death in Huh-7 and decreased cell death in SNU-3058. In SNU-3058,
      hepatocystin siRNA amplified GRP78, known as a pro-survival and cyto-protective
      signal, and attenuated the pro-apoptotic signal CHOP. These findings suggest that
      suppression of hepatocystin transcription induce the UPR, which alleviates damage
      associated with ER stress in SNU-3058. UPR had a limited role in protecting SNU
      761 cells, resulting in cell death through apoptosis. In addition, blocking of
      pro-survival UPR signal by bacitracin or GRP78 knockdown, attenuated hepatocystin
      siRNA-induced proliferation in SNU-3058 cells under hypoxia. In this study, we
      demonstrated that different sensitivities to hepatocystin siRNA among human HCC
      cell lines are dependent on appropriate UPRs to hypoxia-induced ER stress
      following hepatocystin siRNA transfection. Because UPR is the main evasive
      mechanism for apoptosis induced by suppression of hepatocystin, targeting
      hepatocystin via UPR suppression could be a strategy for treating HCC.

PMID- 27640195
TI  - Muslim Scholars' Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceived Barriers Towards Polio
      Immunization in Pakistan.
AB  - Pakistan is one of the two countries where polio remains endemic. Among multiple
      reasons of polio prevalence, false religious beliefs are accounted as major
      barriers towards polio immunization in Pakistan. Within this context, religious
      scholars are now engaged in polio immunization campaigns to dismantle the myths
      and battle the resurgence of polio in Pakistan. The objective of this study was
      to assess knowledge, attitudes and perceived barriers of Muslim scholars towards
      polio immunization in Pakistan. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey of Muslim
      scholars was conducted in Quetta and Peshawar divisions of Pakistan. From October
      to December 2015, a convenience sample of 770 Muslim scholars was recruited from
      the local mosques and religious institutions to participate in this study.
      Knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers were assessed by using self
      administered, anonymous and pretested questionnaire. Descriptive and regression
      analyses were used to express the results with p < 0.05 taken as significant.
      Three hundred and forty-eight (45.2 %) participants exhibited good knowledge
      about polio with a mean score of 7.16 +/- 2.12 (based on 14 questions). Knowledge
      gaps were identified about the transmission (32.6 %) and consequences of
      poliovirus (39.9 %). Overall, 527 (68.4 %) participants showed positive attitudes
      towards polio immunization with a mean attitude score of 27.35 +/- 2.68 (based on
      nine statements). The majority of participants agreed on the need of
      depoliticizing polio immunization issues (87.1 %), while reservations were noted
      about their willingness to participate in future polio immunization programs
      (44.6 %). Security (75.8 %) and vaccine management issues (64 %) were reported by
      the participants as the major barriers towards polio immunization in Pakistan.
      The findings showed poor knowledge of Muslim scholars towards polio; however,
      their attitudes were positive towards polio immunization. More studies are
      required to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Muslim scholars at the national
      level to validate the findings of this study.

PMID- 27640194
TI  - Genome-wide identification and functional analysis of the TIFY gene family in
      response to drought in cotton.
AB  - Jasmonates control many aspects of plant biological processes. They are important
      for regulating plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses, including
      drought, which is one of the most serious threats to sustainable agricultural
      production. However, little is known regarding how jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ)
      proteins mediate jasmonic acid signals to improve stress tolerance in cotton.
      This represents the first comprehensive comparative study of TIFY transcription
      factors in both diploid A, D and tetraploid AD cotton species. In this study, we
      identified 21 TIFY family members in the genome of Gossypium arboretum, 28
      members from Gossypium raimondii and 50 TIFY genes in Gossypium hirsutum. The
      phylogenetic analyses indicated the TIFY gene family could be divided into the
      following four subfamilies: TIFY, PPD, ZML, and JAZ subfamilies. The cotton TIFY
      genes have expanded through tandem duplications and segmental duplications
      compared with other plant species. Gene expression profile revealed temporal and
      tissue specificities for TIFY genes under simulated drought conditions in
      Gossypium arboretum. The JAZ subfamily members were the most highly expressed
      genes, suggesting that they have a vital role in responses to drought stress.
      Over-expression of GaJAZ5 gene decreased water loss, stomatal openings, and the
      accumulation of H2O2 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Additionally, the results of
      drought tolerance assays suggested that this subfamily might be involved in
      increasing drought tolerance. Our study provides new data regarding the genome
      wide analysis of TIFY gene families and their important roles in drought
      tolerance in cotton species. These data may form the basis of future studies
      regarding the relationship between drought and jasmonic acid.

PMID- 27640197
TI  - Brown tumor of secondary hyperparathyroidism: surgical approach and clinical
      outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Secondary hyperparathyroidism is a frequent complication of chronic
      renal failure. The brown tumor is an unusual presentation of fibrous osteitis
      that represents a serious complication of renal osteodystrophy, affecting
      predominantly the hands, feet, skull, and facial bones. CASE REPORT: The aim of
      this paper is to describe the case of a 53-year-old female patient, with renal
      failure who has been on dialysis for 6 years and developed severe secondary
      hyperparathyroidism and brown tumor of the maxilla and mandible, confirmed by
      incisional biopsy. Parathyroidectomy was indicated as a result of rapid growth of
      the tumor and the maintenance of laboratory findings. Despite the normalization
      of serum parathyroid hormone and alkaline phosphatase, tumor regression was slow
      and patient's important functional and esthetic deficits persisted. Excision of
      the mandible tumor was conservative. Osteoplasty was recommended because during a
      5-year follow-up there was regression of the lesion, decreased pain, bleeding,
      and tooth mobility.

PMID- 27640196
TI  - Patterns of multidisciplinary care in the management of non-metastatic invasive
      breast cancer in the United States Medicare patient.
AB  - PURPOSE: Multidisciplinary care (MDC) in managing breast cancer is resource
      intensive and growing in prevalence anecdotally, although care patterns are
      poorly characterized. We sought to determine MDC patterns and effects on care in
      the United States Medicare patient. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with non
      metastatic invasive breast cancer from 1992-2009 were reviewed using the
      Survival, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked dataset. MDC was
      defined as a post-diagnosis, preoperative visit with a surgical, medical, and
      radiation oncologist. Same-day MDC (MDCSD) was the MDC subset having all three
      visits on one date. RESULTS: Among 88,865 patients, MDC was utilized in 2.9 %,
      with 14.1 % of these having MDCSD. MDC use did not vary by stage, but MDC
      patients were more likely to be younger, black, receive lumpectomy, have fewer
      nodes examined, and receive radiotherapy. MDCSD patients were more likely than
      non-MDC patients to be black, receive mastectomy, and receive radiotherapy. MDC
      and MDCSD use increased over time and varied by geographic region, with rural
      patients less likely to receive MDC (OR 0.54 [95 % CI 0.45-0.65]) and MDCSD (OR
      0.32 [95 % CI 0.19-0.54]). Radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery, used in
      86.2 % of non-MDC patients, was administered to 90.2 % of MDC (p < 0.001) and
      92.6 % of MDC(SD) (p = 0.096) patients. Post-mastectomy radiotherapy was
      administered in 52.0 % of non-MDC patients, 63.8 % of MDC (p = 0.050), and 89.1 %
      of MDC(SD) (p = 0.011) patients after propensity score adjustment. CONCLUSION:
      While increasing, few Medicare patients undergo MDC and MDCSD is rare. MDC may
      improve quality and MDCSD should be considered for patient convenience. While not
      yet widespread, efforts should integrate MDC and MDCSD across the U.S.

PMID- 27640199
TI  - Jab1 promotes glioma cell proliferation by regulating Siah1/beta-catenin pathway.
AB  - Jab1 (Jun activation domain-binding protein 1), also known as CSN5 (COP9
      signalosome subunit 5), is frequently overexpressed in several cancer types.
      However, the biological functions and the molecular mechanisms of the Jab1
      protein in human gliomas have not been investigated. In this study, we found that
      Jab1 protein was increasingly expressed in human glioma tissues comparing with
      normal brain tissues (Non-tumor). This suggested that Jab1 might be involved in
      the development of glioma. Thus, the role of Jab1 in glioma cell proliferation
      was investigated using Jab1 loss- and gain-of-function. The results showed that
      downregulation of Jab1 significantly inhibited glioma cell proliferation, while
      overexpression of Jab1 promoted it. Further investigation on molecular targets
      revealed that silencing of Jab1 obviously increased the p53 protein level thereby
      promoting the transcription of ubiquitin ligase Siah1 (Seven in absentia homolog
      1), which aggravates the degradation of beta-catenin. In contrast, overexpression
      of Jab1 had the opposite effect. Taken together, these findings suggest that Jab1
      promotes glioma cell proliferation and increased expression of Jab1 in glioma
      patients may amplify beta-catenin signaling to contribute to glioma cell
      proliferation.

PMID- 27640198
TI  - Clinical and prognostic role of annexin A2 in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma.
AB  - Annexin A2 (AnxA2) is a highly conserved Ca2+-regulated membrane binding protein,
      which affects cell mobility and tumor progression. Adamantinomatous
      craniopharyngioma (AdaCP) are a kind of epithelial tumors of the sellar region
      with high tendency to recur. Robust biomarkers are required to predict tumor
      behavior and to establish follow-up individualized treatment approaches. In this
      study, we firstly compared four surgical AdaCP samples with normal brain by two
      dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) proteomic analysis. Potential prognostic
      biomarkers were further validated in a large cohort of 65 AdaCPs by
      immunohistochemistry. The effects of AnxA2 on AdaCP cells proliferation and
      migration were analyzed in vitro with isolated primary AdaCP cells as well as
      SV40T-immortalized cells. Finally, the gefitinib sensitivity of AdaCPs with
      differentially expressed AnxA2 and the potential molecular mechanisms were
      examined by flow cytometric analysis, Real-time PCR and immunoblot assays.
      Proteomic analysis indicated that AnxA2 was the protein spot with the most
      elevated expression in AdaCP samples. Immunohistochemistry assays indicated the
      expression level of AnxA2 was significantly higher in recurrent AdaCPs compared
      with primary ones. Moreover, AnxA2+ AdaCP cells exhibited enhanced proliferation
      and migration ability compared with AnxA2- AdaCP cells in vitro. Further, we show
      that AnxA2+ AdaCP cells exhibited elevated expression of EGFR and downstream p
      AKT (S308) and p-AKT (S473), and were more sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      gefitinib. Our data suggest that AnxA2 may serve as a promising biomarker for
      AdaCP progression, recurrence and drug susceptibility. Our data support potential
      clinical implications for the follow-up treatment of AdaCP patients with high
      AnxA2 expression.

PMID- 27640200
TI  - Evidence of scrapie transmission to sheep via goat milk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies confirmed that classical scrapie can be transmitted
      via milk in sheep. The current study aimed to investigate whether scrapie can
      also be transmitted via goat milk using in vivo (new-born lambs fed milk from
      scrapie-affected goats due to the unavailability of goat kids from guaranteed
      scrapie-free herds) and in vitro methods (serial protein misfolding cyclic
      amplification [sPMCA] on milk samples). RESULTS: In an initial pilot study, new
      born lambs of two different prion protein gene (PRNP) genotypes (six VRQ/VRQ and
      five ARQ/ARQ) were orally challenged with 5 g brain homogenate from two scrapie
      affected goats to determine susceptibility of sheep to goat scrapie. All sheep
      challenged with goat scrapie brain became infected based on the
      immunohistochemical detection of disease-associated PrP (PrP(sc)) in lymphoid
      tissue, with an ARQ/ARQ sheep being the first to succumb. Subsequent feeding of
      milk to eight pairs of new-born ARQ/ARQ lambs, with each pair receiving milk from
      a different scrapie-affected goat, resulted in scrapie in the six pairs that
      received the largest volume of milk (38-87 litres per lamb), whereas two pairs
      fed 8-9 litres per lamb, and an environmental control group raised on sheep milk
      from healthy ewes, did not show evidence of infection when culled at up to 1882
      days of age. Infection in those 12 milk recipients occurred regardless of the
      clinical status, PrP(sc) distribution, caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus
      infection status and PRNP polymorphisms at codon 142 (II or IM) of the donor
      goats, but survival time was influenced by PRNP polymorphisms at codon 141.
      Serial PMCA applied to a total of 32 milk samples (four each from the eight donor
      goats collected throughout lactation) detected PrP(sc) in one sample each from
      two goats. CONCLUSIONS: The scrapie agent was present in the milk from infected
      goats and was able to transmit to susceptible species even at early preclinical
      stage of infection, when PrP(sc) was undetectable in the brain of the donor
      goats. Serial PMCA as a PrP(sc) detection method to assess the risk of scrapie
      transmission via milk in goats proved inefficient compared to the bioassay.

PMID- 27640201
TI  - New insights on the history of canids in Oceania based on mitochondrial and
      nuclear data.
AB  - How and when dingoes arrived in Oceania poses a fascinating question for
      scientists with interest in the historical movements of humans and dogs. The
      dingo holds a unique position as top terrestrial predator of Australia and exists
      in a wild state. In the first geographical survey of genetic diversity in the
      dingo using whole mitochondrial genomes, we analysed 16,428 bp in 25 individuals
      from five separate populations. We also investigated 13 nuclear loci to compare
      with the mitochondrial population history patterns. Phylogenetic analyses based
      upon mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA support the hypothesis that there are at
      least two distinct populations of dingo, one of which occurs in the northwest and
      the other in the southeast of the continent. Conservative molecular dating based
      upon mitochondrial DNA suggest that the lineages split approximately 8300 years
      before present, likely outside Australia but within Oceania. The close
      relationship between dingoes and New Guinea Singing Dogs suggests that plausibly
      dingoes spread into Australia via the land bridge between Papua New Guinea and
      Australia although seafaring introductions cannot be rejected. The geographical
      distribution of these divergent lineages suggests there were multiple independent
      dingo immigrations. Importantly, the observation of multiple dingo populations
      suggests the need for revision of existing conservation and management programs
      that treat dingoes as a single homogeneous population.

PMID- 27640204
TI  - Identification of detergents for forensic fiber analysis.
AB  - Trace fibers are an important form of trace evidence, and identification of
      exogenous substances on textile fibers provides valuable information about the
      origin of the fiber. Laundering textiles can provide a unique fluorescent
      spectral signature of the whitening agent in the detergent that adsorbs to the
      fiber. Using fluorescence microscopy, the spectral characteristics of seven
      detergents adsorbed to single fibers drawn from laundered textiles were
      investigated, and principal component analysis of clusters was used to
      characterize the type of detergent on the fiber. On dyed nylon fibers, spectra
      from eight different detergent pairs could be resolved and washed validation
      fibers correctly classified. On dyed acrylic fibers, five different detergent
      pairs could be resolved and identified. Identification of the detergent type may
      prove useful in matching a trace fiber to its bulk specimen of origin.

PMID- 27640203
TI  - Clinician and Parent Perspectives on Educational Needs for Increasing Adolescent
      HPV Vaccination.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related morbidity and mortality remain a significant
      public health burden despite the availability of HPV vaccines for cancer
      prevention. We engaged clinicians and parents to identify barriers and
      opportunities related to adolescent HPV vaccination within a focused geographic
      region. This mixed-method study design used an interviewer-administered semi
      structured interview with clinicians (n = 52) and a written self-administered
      survey with similar items completed by parents (n = 54). Items focused on
      experiences, opinions, and ideas about HPV vaccine utilization in the clinical
      setting, family, and patient perceptions about HPV vaccination and potential
      future efforts to increase vaccine utilization. Quantitative items were analyzed
      using descriptive statistics, while qualitative content was analyzed
      thematically. Suggested solutions for achieving higher rates of HPV vaccination
      noted by clinicians included public health education, the removal of stigma
      associated with vaccines, media endorsements, and targeting parents as the
      primary focus of educational messages. Parents expressed the need for more
      information about HPV-related disease, HPV vaccines, vaccine safety, sexual
      concerns, and countering misinformation on social media. Results from this mixed
      method study affirm that educational campaigns targeting both health care
      professionals and parents represent a key facilitator for promoting HPV
      vaccination; disease burden and cancer prevention emerged as key themes for this
      messaging.

PMID- 27640205
TI  - Succinic anhydride functionalized microcantilevers for protein immobilization and
      quantification.
AB  - Microcantilever-based systems have been proposed as sensing platforms owing to
      their high sensitivity when used as mass sensors. The controlled immobilization
      on a surface of biomolecules used as recognition elements is fundamental in order
      to realize a highly specific and sensitive biosensor. Here, we introduce for the
      first time the application to a microcantilever-based system of a reliable
      chemical functionalization consisting of silanization with an aminosilane
      followed by a modification resulting in a carboxylated thin film. This chemical
      functionalization was tested for reproducibility of molecule deposition and for
      its protein grafting ability. Finally, this system was employed for the
      quantification of grafted proteins on the microcantilever surface. Moreover, a
      theoretical surface density of immobilized proteins estimated with bioinformatics
      tools was compared with the experimental surface density data, providing
      information about the orientation that the biomolecules assumed with respect to
      the sensing surface.

PMID- 27640206
TI  - Shedding light on the structures of lignin compounds: photo-oxidation under
      artificial UV light and characterization by high resolution mass spectrometry.
AB  - Lignin is the second most abundant natural polymer and a promising alternative
      energy source for conventional fossil fuels. In this study, we investigated
      transformations of lignin compounds under artificial UV light conditions at the
      molecular level. Such light-induced changes of composition profiles in nature
      after sun exposure have been studied for crude oil in the petroleomics field. We
      applied a similar high resolution mass spectrometry experimental strategy to
      lignin and demonstrated various data processing methods to reveal the
      characteristic differences between the extremely complex data sets of two sample
      sets, one native control before and one sample after photo-irradiation, using
      Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry. Graphical abstract
      Kendrick mass defect versus nominal Kendrick mass for mass spectra of a control
      and UV-oxidized lignin sample.

PMID- 27640202
TI  - Sleep-Disordered Breathing-Do We Have to Change Gears in Heart Failure?
AB  - The majority of patients with heart failure have sleep-disordered breathing (SDB)
      with central (rather than obstructive) sleep apnoea becoming the predominant form
      in those with more severe disease. Cyclical apnoeas and hypopnoeas are associated
      with sleep disturbance, hypoxaemia, haemodynamic changes, and sympathetic
      activation. Such patients have a worse prognosis than those without SDB. Mask
      based therapies of positive airway pressure targeted at SDB can improve measures
      of sleep quality and partially normalise the sleep and respiratory physiology,
      but recent randomised trials of cardiovascular outcomes in central sleep apnoea
      have been neutral or suggested the possibility of harm, likely from increased
      sudden death. Further randomised outcome studies (with cardiovascular mortality
      and hospitalisation endpoints) are required to determine whether mask-based
      treatment for SDB is appropriate for patients with chronic systolic heart failure
      and obstructive sleep apnoea, for those with heart failure with preserved
      ejection fraction, and for those with decompensated heart failure. New therapies
      for sleep apnoea-such as implantable phrenic nerve stimulators-also require
      robust assessment. No longer can the surrogate endpoints of improvement in
      respiratory and sleep metrics be taken as adequate therapeutic outcome measures
      in patients with heart failure and sleep apnoea.

PMID- 27640207
TI  - Workflow for multi-analyte bioprocess monitoring demonstrated on inline NIR
      spectroscopy of P. chrysogenum fermentation.
AB  - Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy combined with multivariate
      analysis has been applied in bioprocesses for a couple of decades. Nevertheless
      the papers published in this field are case-specific and do not focus on
      providing the community generic workflows to conduct experiments, especially as a
      standard Design of Experiment (DoE) for a multi-analyte process might require
      overwhelming amount of measurements. In this paper, a workflow for feasibility
      studies and inline implementation of FT-NIR spectrometer in multi-analyte
      fermentation processes is presented. The workflow is applied to Penicillium
      crysogenum fermentation, where the similarities in chemical structures and growth
      trends between the key analytes together with the aeration and growing fungi make
      the task challenging: first, the pure analytes are measured off-line with FT-NIR
      and clustered using principal component analysis. To study the separability of
      the gained clusters, a DoE approach by spiking is applied. The multivariate
      modelling of the separable analytes is conducted using the off-line and inline
      data followed by a comparison of the properties of the different models. Finally,
      the model output constraints are set by means of outlier diagnostics. As a
      result, biomass, penicillin (PEN), phenoxyacetic acid (POX), ammonia and biomass
      were shown to be separable with root mean square error of predictions of 2.62
      g/l, 0.34 g/l, 0.51 g/l and 18.3 mM, respectively. Graphical abstract Flowchart
      illustrating the workflow for feasibility studies and implementation of models
      for inline monitoring of Ammonia, Biomass, Phenoxyacetic acid and Penicillin.

PMID- 27640208
TI  - Implementation of a quantum cascade laser-based gas sensor prototype for sub-ppmv
      H2S measurements in a petrochemical process gas stream.
AB  - The implementation of a sensitive and selective as well as industrial fit gas
      sensor prototype based on wavelength modulation spectroscopy with second harmonic
      detection (2f-WMS) employing an 8-MUm continuous-wave distributed feedback
      quantum cascade laser (CW-DFB-QCL) for monitoring hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at sub
      ppm levels is reported. Regarding the applicability for analytical and industrial
      process purposes aimed at petrochemical environments, a synthetic methane (CH4)
      matrix of up to 1000 ppmv together with a varying H2S content was chosen as the
      model environment for the laboratory-based performance evaluation performed at TU
      Wien. A noise-equivalent absorption sensitivity (NEAS) for H2S targeting the
      absorption line at 1247.2 cm-1 was found to be 8.419 * 10-10 cm-1 Hz-1/2, and a
      limit of detection (LOD) of 150 ppbv H2S could be achieved. The sensor prototype
      was then deployed for on-site measurements at the petrochemical research
      hydrogenation platform of the industrial partner OMV AG. In order to meet the
      company's on-site safety regulations, the H2S sensor platform was installed in an
      industry rack and equipped with the required safety infrastructure for protected
      operation in hazardous and explosive environments. The work reports the
      suitability of the sensor prototype for simultaneous monitoring of H2S and CH4
      content in the process streams of a research hydrodesulfurization (HDS) unit.
      Concentration readings were obtained every 15 s and revealed process dynamics not
      observed previously.

PMID- 27640209
TI  - The Administration of Celecoxib as an Analgesic after Liver Resection Is Safe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are a few studies that have evaluated postoperative analgesia.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of administering celecoxib to
      manage postoperative pain after liver surgery. METHODS: The cases of patients who
      underwent liver resection at Nara Medical University from April 2008 to December
      2015 were retrospectively analyzed. From January 2013 to December 2015, celecoxib
      was routinely administered (600 mg/day on postoperative day (POD) 2 and 400
      mg/day from POD 3-7), whereas celecoxib was not administered from April 2008 to
      December 2012. The patients' baseline characteristics, the operative procedures,
      and postoperative complications were analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 207 patients
      were administered celecoxib (celecoxib group), whereas 246 were not (non
      celecoxib group). The preoperative serum total bilirubin and creatinine levels
      and indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min values of the 2 groups were
      similar. Similar incidences of overall and major complications (Clavien-Dindo
      classification >=grade IIIa) were seen in both groups (33.8 vs. 36.2%, p = 0.601
      and 12.1 vs. 12.6%, p = 0.866, respectively). No significant differences in the
      incidences of gastrointestinal bleeding, acute renal failure, or portal vein
      thrombosis were observed between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The use of celecoxib
      for postoperative analgesia in the early period after liver resection is safe.

PMID- 27640212
TI  - Light-Directed Reversible Assembly of Plasmonic Nanoparticles Using Plasmon
      Enhanced Thermophoresis.
AB  - Reversible assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles can be used to modulate their
      structural, electrical, and optical properties. Common and versatile tools in
      nanoparticle manipulation and assembly are optical tweezers, but these require
      tightly focused and high-power (10-100 mW/MUm2) laser beams with precise optical
      alignment, which significantly hinders their applications. Here we present light
      directed reversible assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles with a power intensity
      below 0.1 mW/MUm2. Our experiments and simulations reveal that such a low-power
      assembly is enabled by thermophoretic migration of nanoparticles due to the
      plasmon-enhanced photothermal effect and the associated enhanced local electric
      field over a plasmonic substrate. With software-controlled laser beams, we
      demonstrate parallel and dynamic manipulation of multiple nanoparticle
      assemblies. Interestingly, the assemblies formed over plasmonic substrates can be
      subsequently transported to nonplasmonic substrates. As an example application,
      we selected surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy, with tunable
      sensitivity. The advantages provided by plasmonic assembly of nanoparticles are
      the following: (1) low-power, reversible nanoparticle assembly, (2) applicability
      to nanoparticles with arbitrary morphology, and (3) use of simple optics. Our
      plasmon-enhanced thermophoretic technique will facilitate further development and
      application of dynamic nanoparticle assemblies, including biomolecular analyses
      in their native environment and smart drug delivery.

PMID- 27640210
TI  - Modulation of Binge-like Ethanol Consumption by IL-10 Signaling in the
      Basolateral Amygdala.
AB  - Excessive ethanol consumption alters the neuroimmune system and particularly
      impacts the cytokine milieu of the CNS. Cytokine dysregulation has been shown to
      underlie addictive-like behaviors including alcohol abuse; however, many studies
      focus primarily on the proinflammatory cytokine profile during alcohol
      dependence. The current study furthers this research by determining the impact of
      excessive ethanol consumption on interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-4 (IL-4)
      activity in a model of non-dependent binge consumption called the "drinking in
      the dark" (DID) paradigm. Furthermore, the ability of IL-10 to modulate ethanol
      consumption was tested using site-directed pharmacology. Immunohistochemistry
      analyses determined that ethanol decreased IL-10 by 50 % in the basolateral
      amygdala (BLA) but had no effect on IL-4. Neither IL-10 nor IL-4, however, were
      altered in the central amygdala (CEA). Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays
      confirmed that IL-10 was decreased in the amygdala but not in the serum,
      suggesting changes of this cytokine with the DID paradigm are restricted to the
      central nervous system. Finally, bilateral infusions of IL-10 into the BLA, but
      not CeA, reduced binge-like drinking and corresponding blood ethanol
      concentrations without impacting either locomotor activity or anxiety-like
      behavioral correlates. Together, these data support the idea that alcohol abuse
      dysregulates specific anti-inflammatory cytokines; however, ameliorating alcohol
      induced effects on cytokines, like IL-10, may prove to be an effective therapy in
      curbing excessive consumption.

PMID- 27640213
TI  - Docking and Molecular Dynamics of Steviol Glycoside-Human Bitter Receptor
      Interactions.
AB  - Stevia is one of the sweeteners with the greatest consumer demand because of its
      natural origin and minimal calorie content. Steviol glycosides (SG) are the main
      active compounds present in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana and are responsible
      for its sweetness. However, recent in vitro studies in HEK 293 cells revealed
      that SG specifically activate the hT2R4 and hT2R14 bitter taste receptors,
      triggering this mouth feel. The objective of this study was to characterize the
      interaction of SG with these two receptors at the molecular level. The results
      showed that SG have only one site for orthosteric binding to these receptors. The
      binding free energy (DeltaGbinding) between the receptor and SG was negatively
      correlated with SG bitterness intensity, for both hT2R4 (r = -0.95) and hT2R14 (r
      = -0.89). We also determined, by steered molecular dynamics simulations, that the
      force required to extract stevioside from the receptors was greater than that
      required for rebaudioside A, in accordance with the DeltaG values obtained by
      molecular docking. Finally, we identified the loop responsible for the activation
      by SG of both receptors. As a whole, these results contribute to a better
      understanding of the resulting off-flavor perception of these natural sweeteners
      in foods and beverages, allowing for better prediction, and control, of the
      resulting bitterness.

PMID- 27640211
TI  - Complexes of Peptide Blockers with Kv1.6 Pore Domain: Molecular Modeling and
      Studies with KcsA-Kv1.6 Channel.
AB  - Potassium voltage-gated Kv1.6 channel, which is distributed primarily in neurons
      of central and peripheral nervous systems, is of significant physiological
      importance. To date, several high-affinity Kv1.6-channel blockers are known, but
      the lack of selective ones among them hampers the studies of tissue localization
      and functioning of Kv1.6 channels. Here we present an approach to advanced
      understanding of interactions of peptide toxin blockers with a Kv1.6 pore. It
      combines molecular modeling studies and an application of a new bioengineering
      system based on a KcsA-Kv1.6 hybrid channel for the quantitative fluorescent
      analysis of blocker-channel interactions. Using this system we demonstrate that
      peptide toxins agitoxin 2, kaliotoxin1 and OSK1 have similar high affinity to the
      extracellular vestibule of the K+-conducting pore of Kv1.6, hetlaxin is a low
      affinity ligand, whereas margatoxin and scyllatoxin do not bind to Kv1.6 pore.
      Binding of toxins to Kv1.6 pore has considerable inverse dependence on the ionic
      strength. Model structures of KcsA-Kv1.6 and Kv1.6 complexes with agitoxin 2,
      kaliotoxin 1 and OSK1 were obtained using homology modeling and molecular
      dynamics simulation. Interaction interfaces, which are formed by 15-19 toxin
      residues and 10 channel residues, are described and compared. Specific sites of
      Kv1.6 pore recognition are identified for targeting of peptide blockers. Analysis
      of interactions between agitoxin 2 derivatives with point mutations (S7K, S11G,
      L19S, R31G) and KcsA-Kv1.6 confirms reliability of the calculated complex
      structure.

PMID- 27640214
TI  - Enzymology in Chemical Toxicology: Beyond P450s.

PMID- 27640216
TI  - Effects of the Molecular Structure of a Self-Assembled Monolayer on the Formation
      and Morphology of Surface Nanodroplets.
AB  - The formation and morphology of microscopic droplets on a chemically modified
      surface are important for many droplet-related applications. In this study, we
      examined the formation and morphological characteristics of nanodroplets produced
      in the same process of solvent exchange on a gold surface coated with a methyl
      terminated alkanethiol monolayer. From atomic force microscopy images, we
      obtained the contact angles of polymerized nanodroplets in 12 combinations of the
      length of a straight alkyl chain and the type of droplet liquid. Our results show
      a significant decrease in the number density of the droplets as the number of
      methyl groups extends from 8 to 12 or 14. The contact angle of the droplets on
      octanethiol is significantly larger than that on dodecanethiol or
      tetradecanethiol, possibly because of the screening effect from the monolayer.
      Our results demonstrate that under the same solution conditions the morphology of
      surface nanodroplets is sensitive to the detailed molecular structures of the
      monolayer on the substrate. This finding has important implications for
      understanding static wetting on the microscopic scale and the origin of three
      phase contact line pinning.

PMID- 27640217
TI  - Can Paramedics Safely Refuse Transport of Non-Urgent Patients?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this search was to review the current literature regarding
      paramedic triage of primary care patients and the safety of paramedic-initiated
      non-transport of non-urgent patients. METHODS: A narrative literature review was
      conducted using the Medline (Medline Industries, Inc.; Mundelein, Illinois USA)
      database and a manual search of Google Scholar (Google; Mountain View, California
      USA). RESULTS: Only 11 studies were found investigating paramedic triage and
      safety of non-transport of non-urgent patients. It was found that triage
      agreement between paramedic and emergency department staff generally is poor and
      that paramedics are limited in their abilities to predict the ultimate admission
      location of their patients. However, these triage decisions and admission
      predictions are much more accurate when the patient's condition is the result of
      trauma and when the patient requires critical care services. Furthermore, the
      literature provides very limited support for the safety of paramedic triage in
      the refusal of non-urgent patient transport, especially without physician
      oversight. Though many non-transported patients are satisfied with the quality of
      non-urgent treatment that they receive from paramedics, the rates of under-triage
      and subsequent hospitalization reported in the literature are too high to suggest
      that this practice can be adopted widely. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient
      evidence to suggest that non-urgent patients can safely be refused transport
      based on paramedic triage alone. Further attempts to implement paramedic
      initiated non-transport of non-urgent patients should be approached with careful
      triage protocol development, paramedic training, and pilot studies. Future
      primary research and systematic reviews also are required to build on the
      currently limited literature. Fraess-Phillips AJ . Can paramedics safely refuse
      transport of non-urgent patients? Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):667-674.

PMID- 27640218
TI  - Silence is golden.

PMID- 27640219
TI  - Corrigendum to "Clinician assessment, advice and referral for multiple health
      risk behaviours: Prevalence and predictors of delivery by primary health care
      nurses and allied health professionals" [Patient Educ. Couns. 94 (2014) 193-201].

PMID- 27640220
TI  - Rethinking N2 disease in the era of uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery.
AB  - Third Mediterranean Symposium on Thoracic Surgical Oncology, Catania, Italy, 21
      22 April 2016 The primary justification for mediastinal lymphadenectomy is that
      it provides more complete nodal staging to help select best adjuvant treatments.
      There is a secondary argument that dissection of nodes might remove otherwise
      unrecognized nodal disease to increase the chance of cure. They have to be
      thought through again as patients look for less invasive treatments for their
      cancers such as videothoracoscopy and stereotactic radiotherapy. Evidence from
      analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results data indicated that
      sampling or dissection can be performed adequately by surgeons using
      videothoracoscopy but stereotactic radiotherapy of its nature precludes
      intraoperative lymph node dissection and yet is being promoted as equivalent
      treatment. Consideration of these issues requires re-examination of the evidence
      that lymphadenectomy influences survival.

PMID- 27640243
TI  - The Microwave Spectrum and Molecular Structure of (E)-1-Chloro-2-Fluoroethylene
      HF: Revealing the Balance among Electrostatics, Sterics, and Resonance in
      Intermolecular Interactions.
AB  - The structure of the gas-phase bimolecular complex formed between (E)-1-chloro-2
      fluoroethylene and hydrogen fluoride is determined via Fourier transform
      microwave spectroscopy from 6.9-21.6 GHz. Although the complex adopts a geometry
      very similar to that of previously studied dihalosubstituted ethylene-HF species,
      trends observed in the values of structural parameters such as bond lengths, bond
      angles, and deviations of the primary hydrogen-bonding interaction from linearity
      provide information regarding the balance among electrostatic, steric, and
      resonance effects in the structures of these complexes. Consideration of the ab
      initio interaction potential between (E)-1-chloro-2-fluoroethylene and hydrogen
      fluoride suggests that it is the strength of the intermolecular bond formed
      between the hydrogen atom of HF and the fluorine atom of the substituted ethylene
      that plays the significant role in determining the geometry. In addition to
      determining the complete nuclear quadrupole coupling constant tensor for the (E)
      1-chloro-2-fluoroethylene-HF complex, the corresponding tensor for (E)-1-chloro-2
      fluoroethylene itself was measured with greater precision than previously
      availabe, including the first reported determination of the single, nonzero off
      diagonal element, chiab.

PMID- 27640221
TI  - The development of pain medicine in Italy and the rest of Europe 40 years after
      the first International Association for the Study of Pain Congress.
AB  - Professor Giustino Varrassi and Antonella Paladini speak to Jade Parker,
      Commissioning Editor: Professor Giustino Varrassi is Full Professor of
      Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine in the LUdeS University, Valletta, Malta. He
      graduated at the Medical School of the University 'La Sapienza' (Rome, Italy) in
      1973, and became board certified in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care in 1976 and
      in Pneumology in 1978, both in the same Medical School. He is currently President
      of the European League Against Pain and of the Paolo Procacci Foundation, and is
      a founding member of both of these. He is also a member of the World Institute of
      Pain, and a member of the Board of the Associazione Italiana per lo Studio del
      Dolore. He has been an invited speaker at more than 500 congresses (national and
      international), mainly in obstetric anesthesia and pain medicine. He is also the
      author of approximately 500 papers, published in international and national
      scientific journals, and 46 book chapters, mainly on obstetric anesthesia and
      pain medicine. He is the editor of 31 books and congress proceedings, including a
      textbook on obstetric anesthesia. He has also been the organizer of around 40
      congresses, including European and World congresses on Pain Medicine. Professor
      Antonella Paladini is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
      at the L'Aquila University, Italy. She has recently been nominated as Associate
      Professor of Anesthesiology in the LUdeS University, in Valletta, Malta. She
      graduated in medicine at L'Aquila University in 1989, and has got her Board
      Certification with laude in Anesthesia in 1992 and served as anesthetist in few
      teaching hospitals, mainly in cardiac surgery departments. Since 2000, she is in
      charge of the L'Aquila University, and has addressed her interests toward pain
      medicine. In 2004, she got the Board Certificate in Pain Medicine, with laude, in
      the University of Verona. She has a huge scientific production, with over 60
      papers published in international and national journals. She is especially
      interested in the phenomenon of neuroinflammation and pain, and has published
      interesting review articles and meta-analysis on the topic. She has also co
      authored few chapters of international books.

PMID- 27640244
TI  - A comparison between conventional liposome and drug-cyclodextrin complex in
      liposome system.
AB  - A drug-cyclodextrin complex in liposome system was prepared in order to make a
      comparison with conventional risperidone-loaded liposome. Thin film hydration,
      reverse phase evaporation and ethanol injection methods were taken as preparation
      means to obtain the two types of liposome. Differential thermal analysis (DTA)
      and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the thermal
      characters of inclusion complexes and morphology of liposome, respectively.
      Particle size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency were studied by light
      scattering analysis and ultrafiltration. In vitro release was carried out in the
      pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution and samples were collected at the certain time.
      As a result, drug-cyclodextrin complex in liposome prepared by various methods
      displayed lower encapsulation efficiency than conventional liposome. However,
      size was larger and its stability was better than the latter. The second release
      phase of novel delivery system was slightly slower after initial burst release at
      the first phase, while the conventional liposome displayed a more regular trait.
      Thus, the novel liposome have potential to be developed as co-administration
      formulation with long-acting injection.

PMID- 27640245
TI  - Current advances in electrospun gelatin-based scaffolds for tissue engineering
      applications.
AB  - The development of biomimetic highly-porous scaffolds is essential for successful
      tissue engineering. Electrospun nanofibers are highly versatile platforms for a
      broad range of applications in different research areas. In the biomedical field,
      micro/nanoscale fibrous structures have gained great interest for wound
      dressings, drug delivery systems, soft and hard-tissue engineering scaffolds,
      enzyme immobilization, among other healthcare applications. In this mini-review,
      electrospun gelatin-based scaffolds for a variety of tissue engineering
      applications, such as bone, cartilage, skin, nerve, and ocular and vascular
      tissue engineering, are reviewed and discussed. Gelatin blends with natural or
      synthetic polymers exhibit physicochemical, biomechanical, and biocompatibility
      properties very attractive for scaffolding. Current advances and challenges on
      this research field are presented.

PMID- 27640246
TI  - Adaptation of pharmaceutical excipients to FDM 3D printing for the fabrication of
      patient-tailored immediate release tablets.
AB  - This work aims to employ fused deposition modelling 3D printing to fabricate
      immediate release pharmaceutical tablets with several model drugs. It
      investigates the addition of non-melting filler to methacrylic matrix to
      facilitate FDM 3D printing and explore the impact of (i) the nature of filler,
      (ii) compatibility with the gears of the 3D printer and iii) polymer: filler
      ratio on the 3D printing process. Amongst the investigated fillers in this work,
      directly compressible lactose, spray-dried lactose and microcrystalline cellulose
      showed a level of degradation at 135 degrees C whilst talc and TCP allowed
      consistent flow of the filament and a successful 3D printing of the tablet. A
      specially developed universal filament based on pharmaceutically approved
      methacrylic polymer (Eudragit EPO) and thermally stable filler, TCP (tribasic
      calcium phosphate) was optimised. Four model drugs with different physicochemical
      properties were included into ready-to-use mechanically stable tablets with
      immediate release properties. Following the two thermal processes (hot melt
      extrusion (HME) and fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing), drug contents
      were 94.22%, 88.53%, 96.51% and 93.04% for 5-ASA, captopril, theophylline and
      prednisolone respectively. XRPD indicated that a fraction of 5-ASA, theophylline
      and prednisolone remained crystalline whilst captopril was in amorphous form. By
      combining the advantages of thermally stable pharmaceutically approved polymers
      and fillers, this unique approach provides a low cost production method for on
      demand manufacturing of individualised dosage forms.

PMID- 27640301
TI  - Hepatocellular carcinoma in the adult Fontan patient.
AB  - In this study, we describe the case of a 36-year-old woman who was diagnosed with
      hepatocellular carcinoma on a background of Fontan procedure for tricuspid
      atresia. She had worsening heart failure in the months before presentation, and
      early investigations noted derangement in liver enzymes and hepatomegaly. Liver
      biopsy confirmed a hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a rare
      but recognised consequence of cardiac cirrhosis in Fontan patients.

PMID- 27640247
TI  - Opsonisation of nanoparticles prepared from poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) and
      poly(trimethylene carbonate)-b-poly(malic acid) amphiphilic diblock copolymers:
      Impact on the in vitro cell uptake by primary human macrophages and HepaRG
      hepatoma cells.
AB  - The present work reports the investigation of the biocompatibility, opsonisation
      and cell uptake by human primary macrophages and HepaRG cells of nanoparticles
      (NPs) formulated from poly(beta-malic acid)-b-poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) (PMLA-b
      PHB) and poly(beta-malic acid)-b-poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PMLA-b-PTMC)
      diblock copolymers, namely PMLA800-b-PHB7300, PMLA4500-b-PHB4400, PMLA2500-b
      PTMC2800 and PMLA4300-b-PTMC1400. NPs derived from PMLA-b-PHB and PMLA-b-PTMC do
      not trigger lactate dehydrogenase release and do not activate the secretion of
      pro-inflammatory cytokines demonstrating the excellent biocompatibility of these
      copolymers derived nano-objects. Using a protein adsorption assay, we demonstrate
      that the binding of plasma proteins is very low for PMLA-b-PHB-based nano
      objects, and higher for those prepared from PMLA-b-PTMC copolymers. Moreover, a
      more efficient uptake by macrophages and HepaRG cells is observed for NPs
      formulated from PMLA-b-PHB copolymers compared to that of PMLA-b-PTMC-based NPs.
      Interestingly, the uptake in HepaRG cells of NPs formulated from PMLA800-b
      PHB7300 is much higher than that of NPs based on PMLA4500-b-PHB4400. In addition,
      the cell internalization of PMLA800-b-PHB7300 based-NPs, probably through
      endocytosis, is strongly increased by serum pre-coating in HepaRG cells but not
      in macrophages. Together, these data strongly suggest that the binding of a
      specific subset of plasmatic proteins onto the PMLA800-b-PHB7300-based NPs favors
      the HepaRG cell uptake while reducing that of macrophages.

PMID- 27640302
TI  - The challenges of asymmetric mating - the influence of male and female size on
      the reproductive output of Acanthochondria cornuta (Chondracanthidae).
AB  - The reproductive strategy of Acanthochondria cornuta, a parasitic copepod with
      dwarf, hyperparasitic males, is described in detail. The potential impact of male
      parasitism on the reproductive output was evaluated by determining the size of
      each sex and the female's fecundity, egg size and total reproductive effort for
      each pair/trio throughout the four seasons of the year. Marked seasonal
      differences were observed in female size and reproductive output, suggesting two
      distinct generations, but no differences were observed for male size. No
      statistically significant correlations were observed between male size and any
      measure of reproductive effort, but females with larger males had lower
      fecundity. A trade-off between egg number and egg size was recorded. Overall, the
      reproductive effort in A. cornuta seems to be determined mostly by female size,
      and larger females do not hold smaller males.

PMID- 27640303
TI  - Effectiveness of a community-based diabetes self-management education (DSME)
      program in a rural agricultural setting.
AB  - : Introduction The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of
      diabetes self-management education (DSME) in a rural agricultural town. METHODS:
      In this prospective, education-intervention trial, 85 adults with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus from villages randomly assigned to DSME and 70 from villages assigned to
      standard care participated. The DSME group underwent a curriculum delivered by
      peer educators; those in the standard group received usual advice. Outcome
      measures were anthropometric, biochemical, health behaviors, and medication use
      data taken at baseline then after three and six months. RESULTS: DSME group had a
      lower median A1C after three and six months. After six months, there was a 0.5%
      median A1C reduction in DSME group and a 0.25% increase in the standard group.
      There were more participants in DSME group with A1C ?7.0% after three and six
      months. By the third month, there were more participants in DSME group performing
      foot examination. CONCLUSION: DSME in this rural agricultural town improved
      glycemic control and promoted foot examination.

PMID- 27640305
TI  - Biallelic SUN5 Mutations Cause Autosomal-Recessive Acephalic Spermatozoa
      Syndrome.
AB  - Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome is a rare and severe form of teratozoospermia
      characterized by a predominance of headless spermatozoa in the ejaculate. Family
      clustering and consanguinity suggest a genetic origin; however, causative
      mutations have yet to be identified. We performed whole-exome sequencing in two
      unrelated infertile men and subsequent variant filtering identified one
      homozygous (c.824C>T [p.Thr275Met]) and one compound heterozygous (c.1006C>T
      [p.Arg356Cys] and c.485T>A [p.Met162Lys]) SUN5 (also named TSARG4) variants.
      Sanger sequencing of SUN5 in 15 additional unrelated infertile men revealed four
      compound heterozygous (c.381delA [p.Val128Serfs*7] and c.824C>T [p.Thr275Met];
      c.381delA [p.Val128Serfs*7] and c.781G>A [p.Val261Met]; c.216G>A [p.Trp72*] and
      c.1043A>T [p.Asn348Ile]; c.425+1G>A/c.1043A>T [p.Asn348Ile]) and two homozygous
      (c.851C>G [p.Ser284*]; c.350G>A [p.Gly114Arg]) variants in six individuals. These
      10 SUN5 variants were found in 8 of 17 unrelated men, explaining the genetic
      defect in 47.06% of the affected individuals in our cohort. These variants were
      absent in 100 fertile population-matched control individuals. SUN5 variants lead
      to absent, significantly reduced, or truncated SUN5, and certain variants altered
      SUN5 distribution in the head-tail junction of the sperm. In summary, these
      results demonstrate that biallelic SUN5 mutations cause male infertility due to
      autosomal-recessive acephalic spermatozoa syndrome.

PMID- 27640306
TI  - Are Interactions between cis-Regulatory Variants Evidence for Biological
      Epistasis or Statistical Artifacts?
AB  - The importance of epistasis-or statistical interactions between genetic variants
      to the development of complex disease in humans has been controversial. Genome
      wide association studies of statistical interactions influencing human traits
      have recently become computationally feasible and have identified many putative
      interactions. However, statistical models used to detect interactions can be
      confounded, which makes it difficult to be certain that observed statistical
      interactions are evidence for true molecular epistasis. In this study, we
      investigate whether there is evidence for epistatic interactions between genetic
      variants within the cis-regulatory region that influence gene expression after
      accounting for technical, statistical, and biological confounding factors. We
      identified 1,119 (FDR = 5%) interactions that appear to regulate gene expression
      in human lymphoblastoid cell lines, a tightly controlled, largely genetically
      determined phenotype. Many of these interactions replicated in an independent
      dataset (90 of 803 tested, Bonferroni threshold). We then performed an exhaustive
      analysis of both known and novel confounders, including ceiling/floor effects,
      missing genotype combinations, haplotype effects, single variants tagged through
      linkage disequilibrium, and population stratification. Every interaction could be
      explained by at least one of these confounders, and replication in independent
      datasets did not protect against some confounders. Assuming that the confounding
      factors provide a more parsimonious explanation for each interaction, we find it
      unlikely that cis-regulatory interactions contribute strongly to human gene
      expression, which calls into question the relevance of cis-regulatory
      interactions for other human phenotypes. We additionally propose several best
      practices for epistasis testing to protect future studies from confounding.

PMID- 27640308
TI  - Response to: Sivanandan et al. Prostate Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Trial
      Results Need to be Interpreted with Caution due to Undertreatment of the Control
      Arm in the CHHiP Trial.

PMID- 27640309
TI  - Structure and Function of AmtR in Mycobacterium smegmatis: Implications for Post
      Transcriptional Regulation of Urea Metabolism through a Small Antisense RNA.
AB  - Soil-dwelling bacteria of the phylum actinomycetes generally harbor either GlnR
      or AmtR as a global regulator of nitrogen metabolism. Mycobacterium smegmatis
      harbors both of these canonical regulators; GlnR regulates the expression of key
      genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, while the function and signal transduction
      pathway of AmtR in M. smegmatis remains largely unknown. Here, we report the
      structure and function of the M. smegmatis AmtR and describe the role of AmtR in
      the regulation of nitrogen metabolism in response to nitrogen availability. To
      determine the function of AmtR in M. smegmatis, we performed genome-wide
      expression profiling comparing the wild-type versus an ?amtR mutant and
      identified significant changes in the expression of 11 genes, including an operon
      involved in urea degradation. An AmtR consensus-binding motif (CTGTC-N4-GACAG)
      was identified in the promoter region of this operon, and ligand-independent,
      high-affinity AmtR binding was validated by both electrophoretic mobility shift
      assays and surface plasmon resonance measurements. We confirmed the transcription
      of a cis-encoded small RNA complementary to the gene encoding AmtR under nitrogen
      excess, and we propose a post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism for AmtR. The
      three-dimensional X-ray structure of AmtR at 2.0A revealed an overall TetR-like
      dimeric structure, and the alignment of the M. smegmatis AmtR and Corynebacterium
      glutamicum AmtR regulatory domains showed poor structural conservation, providing
      a potential explanation for the lack of M. smegmatis AmtR interaction with the
      adenylylated PII protein. Taken together, our data suggest an AmtR
      (repressor)/GlnR (activator) competitive binding mechanism for transcriptional
      regulation of urea metabolism that is controlled by a cis-encoded small antisense
      RNA.

PMID- 27640311
TI  - Preface: Special Issue on Air Pollution.

PMID- 27640307
TI  - Recurrent De Novo and Biallelic Variation of ATAD3A, Encoding a Mitochondrial
      Membrane Protein, Results in Distinct Neurological Syndromes.
AB  - ATPase family AAA-domain containing protein 3A (ATAD3A) is a nuclear-encoded
      mitochondrial membrane protein implicated in mitochondrial dynamics, nucleoid
      organization, protein translation, cell growth, and cholesterol metabolism. We
      identified a recurrent de novo ATAD3A c.1582C>T (p.Arg528Trp) variant by whole
      exome sequencing (WES) in five unrelated individuals with a core phenotype of
      global developmental delay, hypotonia, optic atrophy, axonal neuropathy, and
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We also describe two families with biallelic
      variants in ATAD3A, including a homozygous variant in two siblings, and biallelic
      ATAD3A deletions mediated by nonallelic homologous recombination (NAHR) between
      ATAD3A and gene family members ATAD3B and ATAD3C. Tissue-specific overexpression
      of borR534W, the Drosophila mutation homologous to the human c.1582C>T
      (p.Arg528Trp) variant, resulted in a dramatic decrease in mitochondrial content,
      aberrant mitochondrial morphology, and increased autophagy. Homozygous null bor
      larvae showed a significant decrease of mitochondria, while overexpression of
      borWT resulted in larger, elongated mitochondria. Finally, fibroblasts of an
      affected individual exhibited increased mitophagy. We conclude that the
      p.Arg528Trp variant functions through a dominant-negative mechanism that results
      in small mitochondria that trigger mitophagy, resulting in a reduction in
      mitochondrial content. ATAD3A variation represents an additional link between
      mitochondrial dynamics and recognizable neurological syndromes, as seen with
      MFN2, OPA1, DNM1L, and STAT2 mutations.

PMID- 27640310
TI  - 'Care in a chair' - The impact of an overcrowded Emergency Department on the time
      to treatment and length of stay of self-presenting patients with abdominal pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim in this study was to investigate the impact of overcrowding
      on the Australasian Triage Score's (ATS) time to treatment target and the
      National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) for patients who self-present to the
      Emergency Department (ED) with abdominal pain. BACKGROUND: The causes and effects
      of ED overcrowding have been well described in the literature. It is a widespread
      phenomenon throughout the world and it can cause serious harm to patients and
      have a negative impact on access to emergency care. There is however, little
      research investigating the effect of overcrowding when patients self-present to
      the ED and experience a delay in being allocated a cubicle. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis of 12-months of computerised records was carried out in
      order to determine if self-presenting patients with abdominal pain allocated a
      category 3 triage score who were required to 'queue' for a cubicle would meet ATS
      target and NEAT requirements. A multiple regression analysis was used to
      determine whether or not queuing for an ED cubicle, age and gender were
      predictors of meeting the ATS guidelines and NEAT requirements. RESULTS: Three
      hundred and five patients met the inclusion criteria and were included in the
      study. Of these 149 patients waited more than 15min to be allocated a cubicle
      while 156 did not experience any delay. A multiple regression analysis revealed
      that gender and age were not predictive of meeting the ATS target and NEAT
      requirements, while delay in allocation to a cubicle was a significant predictor
      of not being assessed within 30min and discharged within 4h. Furthermore, 61.2%
      of patients allocated to the waiting room queue for any amount of time were
      admitted to the ward. CONCLUSION: Queuing in the waiting room for an ED bed was a
      significant predictor of whether or not category three patients with abdominal
      pain had treatment commenced within 30min of presentation and was associated with
      a longer total ED length of stay.

PMID- 27640313
TI  - Sport performance success or failure depends on degree of modified training time.

PMID- 27640304
TI  - Evidence that the 5p12 Variant rs10941679 Confers Susceptibility to Estrogen
      Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer through FGF10 and MRPS30 Regulation.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have revealed increased breast cancer
      risk associated with multiple genetic variants at 5p12. Here, we report the fine
      mapping of this locus using data from 104,660 subjects from 50 case-control
      studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). With data for 3,365
      genotyped and imputed SNPs across a 1 Mb region (positions 44,394,495-45,364,167;
      NCBI build 37), we found evidence for at least three independent signals: the
      strongest signal, consisting of a single SNP rs10941679, was associated with risk
      of estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer (per-g allele OR ER+ = 1.15;
      95% CI 1.13-1.18; p = 8.35 * 10-30). After adjustment for rs10941679, we detected
      signal 2, consisting of 38 SNPs more strongly associated with ER-negative (ER-)
      breast cancer (lead SNP rs6864776: per-a allele OR ER- = 1.10; 95% CI 1.05-1.14;
      p conditional = 1.44 * 10-12), and a single signal 3 SNP (rs200229088: per-t
      allele OR ER+ = 1.12; 95% CI 1.09-1.15; p conditional = 1.12 * 10-05). Expression
      quantitative trait locus analysis in normal breast tissues and breast tumors
      showed that the g (risk) allele of rs10941679 was associated with increased
      expression of FGF10 and MRPS30. Functional assays demonstrated that SNP
      rs10941679 maps to an enhancer element that physically interacts with the FGF10
      and MRPS30 promoter regions in breast cancer cell lines. FGF10 is an oncogene
      that binds to FGFR2 and is overexpressed in ~10% of human breast cancers, whereas
      MRPS30 plays a key role in apoptosis. These data suggest that the strongest
      signal of association at 5p12 is mediated through coordinated activation of FGF10
      and MRPS30, two candidate genes for breast cancer pathogenesis.

PMID- 27640312
TI  - Disulfide-crosslinked nanomicelles confer cancer-specific drug delivery and
      improve efficacy of paclitaxel in bladder cancer.
AB  - Chemotherapy commonly used in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer is only
      moderately effective and associated with significant toxicity. There has been no
      appreciable improvement in overall survival over the last three decades. The goal
      of this project is to develop and characterize bladder cancer-specific nanometer
      scale micelles loaded with the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX) and
      determine the anti-tumor activity and toxicity. Micelle-building-material
      telodendrimers were synthesized through the stepwise conjugation of eight cholic
      acid units at one terminus of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and a bladder cancer
      specific targeting peptide named PLZ4 at the other terminus. To synthesize
      disulfide-crosslinked PLZ4 nanomicelles (DC-PNM), cysteine was introduced between
      the cholic acid and PEG. DC-PNM-PTX was synthesized through the evaporation
      method by loading PTX in the core. The loading capacity of PTX in DC-PNM was 25%
      (W/W). The loading efficiency was over 99%. DC-PNM-PTX was spherical with the
      median size of 25 nm. The stability of DC-PNM-PTX was determined in a solution
      containing sodium docecyl sulfate (SDS). It was stable in a SDS solution, but
      dissolved within 5 min after the addition of glutathione at the physiological
      intracellular concentration of 10 mM. In vivo targeting and anti-tumor activity
      were determined in immunodeficient mice carrying patient-derived bladder cancer
      xenografts (PDXs). After intravenous administration, DC-PNM specifically targeted
      the bladder cancer PDXs, but very little to the lung cancer xenografts in the
      same mice (p < 0.001). DC-PNM loaded with PTX overcame cisplatin resistance, and
      improved the median survival from 55 d with free PTX to 69.5 d (p = 0.03) of mice
      carrying PDXs. In conclusion, DC-PNM remained stable in the SDS solution,
      specifically targeted the bladder cancer xenografts in vivo, and improved the
      anti-cancer efficacy of PTX. 

PMID- 27640314
TI  - Tuberous sclerosis complex: Hamartin and tuberin expression in renal cysts and
      its discordant expression in renal neoplasms.
AB  - Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) results from mutation of TSC1 or TSC2 that
      encode for hamartin and tuberin. It affects the kidneys often in advance of extra
      renal stigmata. We studied 14 TSC cases, and 4 possible TSC cases with multiple
      angiomyolipomas (AMLs) for hamartin and tuberin protein expression to determine
      if the staining profile could predict mutation status or likelihood of TSC with
      renal-limited disease. The 18 cases included 15 nephrectomies and 1 section of 6
      TSC-associated renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Controls included the non-neoplastic
      kidney in 5 tumor nephrectomies, 4 sporadic cases of AML and 6 clear cell RCCs.
      In the 14 TSC cases, 9 had AMLs, 9 had RCCs, 5 had polycystic kidney disease and
      8 had eosinophilic cysts (EC) lined by large eosinophilic cells. The controls and
      study cases showed luminal staining of proximal tubules (PT) and peripheral
      membrane staining in distal tubules/collecting ducts for hamartin and cytoplasmic
      staining for tuberin. Eosinophilic cysts had a luminal PT-like stain with
      hamartin and a cytoplasmic reaction for tuberin. Hamartin stained myoid cells in
      all AMLs. Tuberin was negative in all but 1AML, an epithelioid AML. All but 1 RCC
      were positive for tuberin; 13 RCCs (7 TSC/6 non-TSC) were negative for hamartin
      and 4 showed a weak reaction. We conclude that the ECs of TSC are proximal tubule
      derived. The hamartin and tuberin staining profiles of AMLs and most RCCs are
      reciprocal precluding prediction of the mutation in TSC, and fail to predict if a
      patient with multifocal AML has TSC.

PMID- 27640315
TI  - The industrial food additive, microbial transglutaminase, mimics tissue
      transglutaminase and is immunogenic in celiac disease patients.
AB  - Microbial transglutaminase (mTg) is capable of cross-linking numerous molecules.
      It is a family member of human tissue transglutaminase (tTg), and is involved in
      CD. Despite declarations of the safety of mTg for industrial use, direct evidence
      for immunogenicity of the enzyme is lacking. The serological activity of mTg,
      tTg, gliadin complexed mTg (mTg neo-epitope) and gliadin complexed tTg (tTg neo
      epitope) were studied in 95 pediatric celiac patients (CD), 99 normal children
      (NC), 79 normal adults (NA) and 45 children with nonspecific abdominal pain (AP).
      Sera were tested by ELISAs, detecting IgA, IgG or both IgA and IgG (check):
      AESKULISA(r) tTg (tTg), AESKULISA(r) tTg New Generation (tTg neo-epitope (tTg
      neo)), microbial transglutaminase (mTg) and mTg neo-epitope (mTg-neo). Marsh
      criteria were used for the degree of intestinal injury. Parallel, mTg and tTg neo
      epitopes were purified by asymmetric field flow fractionation, confirmed by multi
      light-scattering and SDS-PAGE, and analyzed in adult CD and control groups by
      competition ELISAs. No sequence homology but active site similarity were detected
      on alignment of the 2 Tgs. Comparing pediatric CD patients with the 2 normal
      groups: mTg-neo IgA, IgG and IgA+IgG antibody activities exceed the comparable
      mTg ones (p<0.0001). All mTg-neo and tTg-neo levels were higher (p<0.001). tTg
      IgA and IgG+IgA were higher than mTg IgA and IgA+IgG (p<0.0001). The levels of
      tTg-neo IgA/IgG were higher than tTg IgA/IgG (p<0.0001). The sequential antibody
      activities best reflecting the increased intestinal damage were tTg-neo check>tTg
      neo IgA>=mTg-neo IgG>tTg-neo IgG>mTg-neo check>mTg-neo IgA. Taken together, tTg
      neo check, tTg-neo IgA and mTg-neo IgG correlated best with intestinal pathology
      (r2=0.6454, r2=0.6165, r2=0.5633; p<0.0001, p<0.0001, p<0.0001, respectively).
      Purified mTg-neo IgG and IgA showed an increased immunoreactivity compared to
      single mTg and gliadin (p<0.001) but similar immunoreactivity to the tTg-neo IgG
      and IgA ELISA. Using competition ELISA, the mTg neo-epitopes and tTg neo-epitopes
      have identical outcomes in CD sera both showing a decrease in optical density of
      55+/-6% (p<0.0002). mTg is immunogenic in children with CD and, by complexing to
      gliadin, its immunogenicity is enhanced. Anti-mTg-neo-epitope IgG antibodies
      correlate with intestinal damage to a comparable degree as anti-tTg-neo IgA. mTg
      and tTg display a comparable immunopotent epitope. mTg-neo IgG is a new marker
      for CD. Further studies are needed to explore the pathogenic potential of anti
      mTg antibodies in CD.

PMID- 27640316
TI  - International diagnostic guidelines for patients with HCV-related extrahepatic
      manifestations. A multidisciplinary expert statement.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is responsible for both hepatic and extra
      hepatic disorders (HCV-EHDs); these latter are correlated on one hand clearly
      with HCV lymphotropism causing immune-system dysregulation as well as with viral
      oncogenic potential, and on the other hand probably with chronic inflammatory
      status causing cardio-metabolic complications as well as neurocognitive
      disturbances. The spectrum of HCV-EHDs ranges from mild or moderate
      manifestations, such as arthralgia, sicca syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, to
      severe, life-threatening complications, mainly vasculitis and neoplastic
      conditions. Given the clinical heterogeneity of HCV-EHDs, HCV-infected
      individuals are inevitably referred to different specialists according to the
      presenting/prevalent symptom(s); therefore, the availability of comprehensive
      diagnostic guidelines is necessary for a patient's whole assessment that is
      decisive for early diagnosis and correct therapeutic approach of various hepatic
      and HCV-EHDs, regardless of the specific competencies of different physicians or
      referral centers. In this respect, a multidisciplinary network of experts, the
      International Study Group of Extrahepatic Manifestations Related to Hepatitis C
      Virus Infection (ISG-EHCV), was organized with the intention to formulate
      diagnostic guidelines for the work-up of possible HCV-EHDs. There was a broad
      consensus among ISG-EHCV members on the proposed guidelines, which essentially
      are based on two main levels of patient's assessment. At the referral stage, it
      is proposed that all patients with HCV infection should be invariably examined by
      means of first-line diagnostic procedures including virological and hepatic
      parameter evaluation, as well as the detection of clinical findings that may
      suggest one or more HCV-EHDs. This preliminary assessment should reveal specific
      HCV-EHDs, which will be deeper analyzed by means of second-line, targeted
      investigations. The proposed multidisciplinary expert statement represents the
      first attempt to draw comprehensive diagnostic guidelines for HCV-infected
      individuals encompassing the entire spectrum of HCV-related disorders, namely
      typical hepatic manifestations along with less common, often unpredictable HCV
      EHDs. The HCV-EHDs may compromise to a substantial degree the overall disease
      outcome in a significant number of HCV-infected individuals that renders their
      timely identification and treatment an imperative. In conclusion, the application
      of standardized but thorough diagnostic guidelines of HCV-EHDs is advisable at
      the referral stage as well as during the follow-up period of HCV infected
      patients. It is envisioned that the proposed strategy will result in improvement
      of clinical outcomes in such patients.

PMID- 27640317
TI  - Statin-associated autoimmune myopathy: A distinct new IFL pattern can increase
      the rate of HMGCR antibody detection by clinical laboratories.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Statin-associated autoimmune myopathy (SAAM) with anti
      HMGCR antibodies has recently been described. Several specific immunoassays are
      in use to detect HMGCR antibodies. In the course of systematic autoantibody
      screening we recognized a new distinct IFL staining pattern on rat liver sections
      that regularly coincided with anti-HMGCR antibodies. In this study we
      investigated whether this new IFL pattern is specifically associated to statin
      associated autoimmune myopathy and corresponds to anti-HMGCR antibodies. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients positive for anti-HMGCR antibodies (14
      diagnosed with SAAM) were investigated for anti-HMGCR antibodies by two ELISA
      assays and confirmed by immmunoblot. HMGCR associated liver IFL pattern (HALIP)
      was detected by indirect IFL and the reactivity against HMGCR was confirmed by
      immunoabsorption using purified human HMGCR antigen. 90 patients with other
      autoimmune diseases and 45 non-autoimmune statin treated patients were studied as
      controls. RESULTS: 21 out of 23 (91%) anti-HMGCR positive patients were HALIP
      positive. The staining was completely and specifically removed by
      immunoabsorption with human purified HMGCR. None of the control sera from
      autoimmune patients or non-autoimmune statin treated subjects was positive for
      HALIP. Statistical concordance between HALIP and anti-HMGCR antibody specific
      tests was 98.7%, kappa 0.95. CONCLUSIONS: A new and distinct IFL staining pattern
      (HALIP) is associated to HMGCR associated myopathy. Absorption and concordance
      studies indicate that the antigen recognized in the liver by HALIP is HMGCR or a
      closely related protein. Awareness of this new pattern can help to detect HMGCR
      autoantibodies in statin treated patients tested for autoimmune serology.

PMID- 27640318
TI  - T cell subpopulations in juvenile idiopathic arthritis and their modifications
      after biotherapies.
AB  - Inflammatory T cells are thought to be central to the pathogenesis of juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis. In particular, recent evidence has underlined the
      importance of a balance between Th17 and Treg cells. Several mechanisms have come
      to light that control this reciprocal relationship. Moreover, it has been shown
      that in certain conditions, Th17 cells can shift toward a nonclassic Th1
      phenotype. Anti-rheumatic biologic therapies may interfere with these mechanisms
      and re-establish immune tolerance.

PMID- 27640319
TI  - Treatment of Chronic Enterovirus Encephalitis With Fluoxetine in a Patient With X
      Linked Agammaglobulinemia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Enterovirus may result in a devastating chronic encephalitis in
      immunocompromised patients, particularly in patients with X-linked
      agammaglobulinemia. Prognosis for patients with chronic enterovirus encephalitis
      is poor, almost invariably resulting in mortality without specific treatment.
      There are currently no approved antiviral agents for enterovirus, but the
      antidepressant drug fluoxetine has been identified through library-based compound
      screening as a potential anti-enteroviral agent in vitro. However, use of
      fluoxetine has not previously been studied in humans with enteroviral disease.
      PATIENT DESCRIPTION: A five year old boy with X-linked agammaglobulinemia
      presented with progressive neurological deterioration and was found to have
      chronic enterovirus encephalitis by brain biopsy. He failed to respond to
      standard treatment with high dose intravenous immunoglobulin, but showed
      stabilization and improvement following treatment with fluoxetine. CONCLUSIONS:
      This is the first report to describe the use of fluoxetine as a potential therapy
      for chronic enterovirus infection. Further investigation of fluoxetine as a
      treatment option for chronic enterovirus encephalitis is necessary.

PMID- 27640320
TI  - Immunostaining of Sulfatide-Storing Macrophages in Gallbladder of a Patient With
      Metachromatic Leukodystrophy.

PMID- 27640321
TI  - Subacute Retrograde TAVI Migration Successfully Treated With a Valve-in-valve
      Procedure.

PMID- 27640322
TI  - Dispersal of Lutzomyia longipalpis and expansion of canine and human visceral
      leishmaniasis in Sao Paulo State, Brazil.
AB  - Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected disease, is a serious public health
      problem that affects millions of people worldwide. The objectives of the study
      were to evaluate the sensitivity of Lutzomyia longipalpis and canine VL (CVL)
      autochthony early detection and describe the spatial and temporal dispersal of
      vector and expansion of VL in a Brazilian state. We obtained data on the
      leishmaniasis vector and VL cases in Sao Paulo State (SP), Brazil, from the
      Division of Endemic Disease Control and from the Epidemiological Surveillance
      Center of the Sao Paulo State Department of Health. Data were analyzed for 645
      municipalities and 63 microregions and presented as thematic and flow maps.
      Following the verified presence of L. longipalpis in Aracatuba in 1997, the first
      autochthonous cases of canine VL (CVL) (1998) and of human VL (HVL) (1999) in Sao
      Paulo were reported, both in Aracatuba. From 1997 to 2014, the urban presence of
      the leishmaniasis vector was verified in 167 (25.9%) municipalities with cases of
      CVL reported in 108 (16.7%) and cases of HVL in 84 (13%). The sensitivities for
      vector presence early detection in relation to the identification of CVL and HVL
      autochthony were, respectively, equal to 76.4 and 92.5%. The sensitivity for CVL
      autochthony early detection in relation to the HVL autochthony identification was
      75.8%. Vector dispersal and expansion of CVL and HVL were from the northwest to
      the southeast of the state, primarily flanking the Marechal Rondon highway at a
      constant rate of progression of 10, seven, and six new municipalities affected
      per year, respectively. We concluded that the sensitivity for vector presence and
      CVL autochthony presented reasonable accuracy and most of the time the vector
      presence and, specially, the CVL and HVL autochthony were identified in the main
      cities of the microregions of SP. Vector dispersal and expansion of VL started in
      1997 near the state border of SP with the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It has
      advanced from the northwest to the southeast flanking the Marechal Rondon highway
      at an arithmetic progression rate outward from the main cities of the
      microregions. Autochthonous cases of CVL and HVL emerged in SP, in general, after
      the verified presence of L. longipalpis.

PMID- 27640324
TI  - Balancing the Promise and Risks of Ketamine Treatment for Mood Disorders.

PMID- 27640323
TI  - Raw sewage as breeding site to Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Diptera, culicidae).
AB  - The selection of oviposition sites by females of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti is a
      key factor for the larval survival and egg dispersion and has a direct influence
      in vector control programs. In this study, we evaluated the aspects of
      reproductive physiology of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes tested in the presence of raw
      sewage. Ae. aegypti females were used in oviposition bioassays according to two
      methodologies: (i) choice assay, in which three oviposition substrates were
      offered in the same cage: treatment (raw sewage), positive control (distilled
      water) and negative control (1% sodium hypochlorite) and; (ii) no choice assay,
      in which only one substrate was available. The physicochemical and
      microbiological analysis of the raw sewage used in this study indicated virtually
      no levels of chlorine, low levels of dissolved oxygen and high levels of
      nitrogenous compounds as well as the presence of Escherichia coli and total fecal
      coliforms. After 72h of oviposition, the eggs were counted and there was no
      statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in the oviposition rate between raw
      sewage and positive control in both methodologies. In addition, females were
      dissected to evaluate egg-retention and also there were no appreciable
      differences in egg retention even when raw sewage was the only substrate offered.
      The data also showed that egg hatching and larvae development occurred normally
      in the raw sewage. Therefore, the present study suggests that Ae. aegypti can
      adapt to new sites and lay eggs in polluted water, such as the raw sewage. These
      findings are of particular importance for the control and surveillance programs
      against Ae. aegypti in countries where the conditions of poor infrastructure and
      lack of basic sanitation are still an issue.

PMID- 27640325
TI  - [Incidence and risk factors of 30-day readmission in neurosurgical patients].
AB  - AIM: The 30-day readmission rate has become an important indicator of health care
      quality. This study focuses on the incidence of 30-day readmission in
      neurosurgical patients and related risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      retrospective review was performed on patients treated in a neurosurgery
      department between 1 January 2012 and the 31 December 2013. Patients requiring
      readmission within 30 days of discharge and the readmission diagnosis were
      identified, and the factors related to their readmission were analysed. RESULTS:
      A total of 1,854 interventions were carried out on 1,739 patients during the
      aforementioned (study) period. Of the remaining patients, 174 (10.2%) required
      readmission within 30 days of discharge. The main causes of readmission were
      problems related to the surgical wound (21.2% of all readmissions), followed by
      respiratory processes (18.8%). A total of 73.9% of readmissions occurred in
      patients who had undergone cranial surgery. Multiple comorbidities estimated by
      Charlson comorbidity index and length of hospital stay were identified as factors
      related to a higher readmission rate. CONCLUSIONS: The 30-day readmission rate
      observed in our series was 10.2%. Multiple comorbidity expressed by the Charlson
      comorbidity index and length of hospital stay were related to readmission.

PMID- 27640326
TI  - Glypican4 modulates lateral line collective cell migration non cell-autonomously.
AB  - Collective cell migration is an essential process during embryonic development
      and diseases such as cancer, and still much remains to be learned about how cell
      intrinsic and environmental cues are coordinated to guide cells to their targets.
      The migration-dependent development of the zebrafish sensory lateral line proves
      to be an excellent model to study how proteoglycans control collective cell
      migration in a vertebrate. Proteoglycans are extracellular matrix glycoproteins
      essential for the control of several signaling pathways including Wnt/beta
      catenin, Fgf, BMP and Hh. In the lateral line primordium the modified sugar
      chains on proteoglycans are important regulators of cell polarity, ligand
      distribution and Fgf signaling. At least five proteoglycans show distinct
      expression patterns in the primordium; however, their individual functions have
      not been studied. Here, we describe the function of glypican4 during zebrafish
      lateral line development. glypican4 is expressed in neuromasts, interneuromast
      cells and muscle cells underlying the lateral line. knypekfr6/glypican4 mutants
      show severe primordium migration defects and the primordium often U-turns and
      migrates back toward the head. Our analysis shows that Glypican4 regulates the
      feedback loop between Wnt/beta-catenin/Fgf signaling in the primordium
      redundantly with other Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans. In addition, the primordium
      migration defect is caused non-cell autonomously by the loss of cxcl12a
      expressing muscle precursors along the myoseptum via downregulation of Hh. Our
      results show that glypican4 has distinct functions in primordium cells and cells
      in the environment and that both of these functions are essential for collective
      cell migration.

PMID- 27640327
TI  - The Prevalence of Postgraduate Education in Youth Health Among High School
      Clinicians and Associated Student Health Outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Despite numerous calls to improve training in adolescent health, there
      is little known about the prevalence or effectiveness of specialized training in
      adolescent health. METHODS: A two-stage random sampling cluster design was used
      to collect nationally representative data from 8,500 students from 91 high
      schools. Student data were linked to data from a survey of school health
      clinicians from participating schools on their level of training in youth health.
      Multilevel models accounting for demographic characteristics of students were
      used to estimate the association between nurses and physicians training in youth
      health and health outcomes among students. RESULTS: Almost all nurses and
      physicians reported some training in youth health, either having attended
      lectures or study days in youth health (n = 60, 80%) or completed postgraduate
      papers in youth health (n = 13, 17.3%). Students in schools where the nurses and
      physicians had received postgraduate training in youth health were less likely
      than students from schools with clinicians having attended lectures or study days
      in youth health to report emotional and behavior difficulties (11.8 vs. 12.7, p =
      .002) and binge drinking (19.6% vs. 24.9%, p = .03). There were no significant
      associations between depressive symptoms, suicide risk, cigarette, marijuana,
      contraception use, or motor vehicle risk behaviors among students and level of
      training among clinicians in their schools' health service. CONCLUSIONS:
      Postgraduate training in youth health among nurses and physicians in school
      health services is associated with fewer students reporting mental health
      difficulties and binge alcohol use. These findings support specialized training
      in youth health for clinicians working predominantly with young people.

PMID- 27640328
TI  - Acute intraoperative HIT during heart surgery: Why so rare?

PMID- 27640329
TI  - Corrigendum to 'Microvesicle-associated tissue factor procoagulant activity for
      the preoperative diagnosis of ovarian cancer", [Thromb. Res. 141 (2016) 39-48].

PMID- 27640330
TI  - Ayurvedic drugs in case: Claims, evidence, regulations and ethics.

PMID- 27640332
TI  - A historical perspective: Simian AIDS-an accidental windfall.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For the past 30 years, Simian AIDS has provided an indispensible
      animal model for the human disease. This historical perspective highlights the
      circumstances leading to the creation of this experimental model. METHODS:
      Historical information and stored non-human primate (NHP) specimens, including
      isolates of Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), were analyzed by molecular
      epidemiologic methods to trace the lineage and transmission of SIV among NHPs at
      US primate centers. RESULTS: The rhesus and stump-tailed macaque models of Simian
      AIDS are the result of the accidental transmission of SIV from healthy sooty
      mangabey carriers to naive macaques during the course of human kuru experimental
      transmission studies at UC Davis during the 1960s. CONCLUSIONS: Simian AIDS,
      first recognized in the 1980s, is the accidental result of experimental kuru
      transmission experiments carried out in the 1960s, which led to the discovery of
      infectious prions but inadvertently transmitted SIV, unknown at that time, from
      sooty mangabeys to macaques.

PMID- 27640331
TI  - The inter-relationship of symptom severity and quality of life in 2055 patients
      with primary biliary cholangitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Age at presentation with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is
      associated with differential response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy.
      Younger-presenting patients are less likely to respond to treatment and more
      likely to need transplant or die from the disease. PBC has a complex impact on
      quality of life (QoL), with systemic symptoms often having significant impact.
      AIM: To explain the impact of age at presentation on perceived QoL and the inter
      related symptoms which impact upon it. METHODS: Using the UK-PBC cohort, symptoms
      were assessed using the PBC-40 and other validated tools. Data were available on
      2055 patients. RESULTS: Of the 1990 patients reporting a global PBC-QoL score,
      66% reported good/neutral scores and 34% reported poor scores. Each 10-year
      increase in age at presentation was associated with a 14% decrease in risk of
      poor perceived QoL (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.75-0.98, P < 0.05). All symptom domains
      were similarly age-associated (P < 0.01). Social dysfunction was the symptom
      factor with the greatest impact on QoL. Median (interquartile range) PBC-40
      social scores for patients with good perceived QoL were 18 (14-23) compared with
      34 (29-39) for those with poor QoL. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients with
      primary biliary cholangitis do not feel their QoL is impaired, although
      impairment is reported by a sizeable minority. Age at presentation is associated
      with impact on perceived QoL and the symptoms impairing it, with younger patients
      being more affected. Social dysfunction makes the greatest contribution to QoL
      impairment, and it should be targeted in trials aimed at improving life quality.

PMID- 27640333
TI  - Dietary vitamin C deficiency depressed the gill physical barriers and immune
      barriers referring to Nrf2, apoptosis, MLCK, NF-kappaB and TOR signaling in grass
      carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) under infection of Flavobacterium columnare.
AB  - This study explored the effects of vitamin C on the physical barriers and immune
      barriers, and relative mRNA levels of signaling molecules in the gill of grass
      carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) under infection of Flavobacterium columnare. The
      results indicated that compared with optimal vitamin C supplementation, vitamin C
      deficiency (2.9 mg/kg diet) (1) increased reactive oxygen species,
      malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl (PC) contents (P < 0.05), decreased the
      copper/zinc superoxide dismutase, manganese superoxide dismutase, catalase,
      glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase activities and mRNA levels (P <
      0.05), and glutathione and vitamin C contents (P < 0.05), down-regulated NF-E2
      related factor 2 mRNA level (P < 0.05), and up-regulated Kelch-like ECH
      associating protein (Keap) 1a (rather than Keap1b) mRNA level (P < 0.05) in the
      gill of grass carp under infection of F. columnare, suggesting that vitamin C
      deficiency induced oxidative injury in fish gill; (2) up-regulated caspase-3, -7,
      -8, -9, Fas ligand, B-cell lymphoma protein 2 associated X protein, apoptotic
      protease activating factor-1 mRNA levels (P < 0.05), and down-regulated inhibitor
      of apoptosis protein and B-cell lymphoma-2 (rather than myeloid cell leukemia-1)
      mRNA level (P < 0.05) in the gill of grass carp under infection of F. columnare,
      suggesting that vitamin C deficiency aggravated cell apoptosis in fish gill; (3)
      up-regulated pore-forming TJs Claudin-12, 15a, -15b, and related signaling
      molecules myosin light chain kinase, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (rather
      than c-Jun N-terminal kinases) mRNA levels (P < 0.05), and down-regulated barrier
      forming TJs Occludin, zonula occludens (ZO) 1, ZO-2, Claudin-c, -3c, -7a, -7b
      mRNA levels (P < 0.05) in the gill of grass carp under infection of F. columnare,
      suggesting that vitamin C deficiency disrupted tight junctional complexes in fish
      gill; (4) decreased lysozyme and acid phosphatase (ACP) activities, and
      complement 3 (C3), C4 and IgM contents (P < 0.05), down-regulated the mRNA levels
      of antimicrobial peptides liver expressed antimicrobial peptide (LEAP) 2A, LEAP
      2B, Hepcidin, beta-defensin mRNA levels (P < 0.05) in the gill of grass carp
      under infection of F. columnare, suggesting that vitamin C deficiency decrease
      fish gill immune function; (5) down-regulated the mRNA levels of anti
      inflammatory cytokines-related factors interleukin 10 (IL-10), IL-11,
      transforming growth factor (TGF) beta1, TGF-beta2, inhibitor of kappaBa and eIF4E
      binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) (rather than 4E-BP2) (P < 0.05), and up-regulated pro
      inflammatory cytokines-related factors interferon gamma2, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8,
      IL-12 P35, IL-12 P40, nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) p65 (rather than NF
      kappaB p52), IkappaB kinases (IKK) (only IKKalpha and IKKgamma), target of
      rapamycin and ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 mRNA levels (P < 0.05) in the gill of
      grass carp under infection of F. columnare, suggesting that vitamin C deficiency
      aggravated fish gill inflammation. In conclusion, vitamin C deficiency disrupted
      physical barriers and immune barriers, and regulated relative mRNA levels of
      signaling molecules in fish gill. The vitamin C requirement for against gill rot
      morbidity of grass carp (264-1031 g) was estimated to be 156.0 mg/kg diet. In
      addition, based on the gill biochemical indices (antioxidant indices MDA, PC and
      vitamin C contents, and immune indices LA and ACP activity) the vitamin C
      requirements for grass carp (264-1031 g) were estimated to be 116.8, 156.6,
      110.8, 57.8 and 134.9 mg/kg diet, respectively.

PMID- 27640334
TI  - Identification and expressional analysis of NLRC5 inflammasome gene in smolting
      Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).
AB  - The NOD-like receptors (NLRs) were recently identified as an intracellular
      pathogen recognition receptor family in vertebrates. While the immune system
      participation of NLRs has been characterized and analyzed in various mammalian
      models, few studies have considered NLRs in teleost species. Therefore, this
      study analyzed the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) NLRC5. Structurally, Atlantic
      salmon NLRC5 presented leucine-rich repeat subfamily genes. Phylogenetically,
      NLRC5 was moderately conserved between S. salar and other species. Real-time
      quantitative PCR revealed NLRC5 expression in almost all analyzed organs, with
      greatest expressions in the head kidney, spleen, and hindgut. Furthermore, NLRC5
      gene expression decreased during smolt stage. These data suggest that NLRC5
      participates in the Atlantic salmon immune response and is regulated, at least
      partly, by the smoltification process, suggesting that there is a depression of
      immune system from parr at smolt stage. This is the first report on the NLRC5
      gene in salmonid smolts.

PMID- 27640335
TI  - Physical Restraints: Consensus of a Research Definition Using a Modified Delphi
      Technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To develop an internationally accepted research definition of
      physical restraint. DESIGN: Comprehensive literature search followed by a web
      based, three-round, modified Delphi technique comprising reviews and feedback.
      SETTING: Clinical care settings. PARTICIPANTS: An international group of 48
      experts consisting of researchers and clinicians from 14 countries who have made
      sustained contribution to research and clinical application in the field of
      physical restraint in clinical care. MEASUREMENTS: Data were collected using an
      online survey program and one in-person meeting. Results of the online survey and
      the in-person meeting were used for distribution in subsequent rounds until
      consensus on a definition was reached. Consensus was defined as 90% of the
      participating experts agreeing with the proposed definition of physical
      restraint. RESULTS: Thirty-four different definitions were identified during the
      literature search and served as a starting point for the modified Delphi
      technique. After three rounds, 45 (95.7%) of 47 remaining experts agreed with the
      newly proposed definition: "Physical restraint is defined as any action or
      procedure that prevents a person's free body movement to a position of choice
      and/or normal access to his/her body by the use of any method, attached or
      adjacent to a person's body that he/she cannot control or remove easily."
      CONCLUSION: A multidisciplinary, internationally representative panel of experts
      reached consensus on a research definition for physical restraints in older
      persons. This is a necessary step toward improved comparisons of the prevalence
      of physical restraint use across studies and countries. This definition can
      further guide research interventions aimed at reducing use of physical
      restraints.

PMID- 27640336
TI  - Enhanced Crystallization Behaviors of Silicon-Doped Sb2Te Films: Optical
      Evidences.
AB  - The optical properties and structural variations of silicon (Si) doped Sb2Te
      (SST) films as functions of temperature (210-620 K) and Si concentration (0-33%)
      have been investigated by the means of temperature dependent Raman scattering and
      spectroscopic ellipsometry experiments. Based upon the changes in Raman phonon
      modes and dielectric functions, it can be concluded that the temperature ranges
      for intermediates and transition states are estimated to 150, 120, 90, and 0 K,
      corresponding to ST, SST25%, SST28%, and SST33% films, respectively. The
      phenomenon also can be summarized by the thermal evolutions of interband
      electronic transition energies (En) and partial spectral weight integral (I). The
      disappearance of intermediate (INT) state for SST33% film between amorphous (AM)
      and hexagonal (HEX) phases can be attributed to the acceleratory crystallization
      of HEX phase by Si introduction. It illustrates that the risk of phase separation
      (Sb and Te) during the cyclic phase-change processes decreases with the
      increasing Si concentration. The enhanced crystallization behaviors can optimize
      the data retention ability and the long term stability of ST by Si doping, which
      are important indicators for phase change materials. The performance improvement
      has been analyzed qualitatively from the optical perspective.

PMID- 27640337
TI  - Hybrid bright-field and hologram imaging of cell dynamics.
AB  - Volumetric observation is essential for understanding the details of complex
      biological phenomena. In this study, a bright-field microscope, which provides
      information on a specific 2D plane, and a holographic microscope, which provides
      information spread over 3D volumes, are integrated to acquire two complementary
      images simultaneously. The developed system was successfully applied to capture
      distinct T-cell adhesion dynamics on inflamed endothelial layers, including
      capture, rolling, crawling, transendothelial migration, and subendothelial
      migration.

PMID- 27640338
TI  - Characterization of the discriminative stimulus effects of lorcaserin in rats.
AB  - Lorcaserin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating obesity
      and is under consideration for treating substance use disorders; it has agonist
      properties at serotonin (5-HT)2C receptors and might also have agonist properties
      at other 5-HT receptor subtypes. This study used drug discrimination to
      investigate the mechanism(s) of action of lorcaserin. Male Sprague-Dawley rats
      discriminated 0.56 mg/kg i.p. lorcaserin from saline while responding under a
      fixed-ratio 5 schedule for food. Lorcaserin (0.178-1.0 mg/kg) dose-dependently
      increased lorcaserin-lever responding. The 5-HT2C receptor agonist mCPP and the 5
      HT2A receptor agonist DOM each occasioned greater than 90% lorcaserin-lever
      responding in seven of eight rats. The 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT
      occasioned greater than 90% lorcaserin-lever responding in four of seven rats.
      The 5-HT2C receptor selective antagonist SB 242084 attenuated lorcaserin-lever
      responding in all eight rats and the 5-HT2A receptor selective antagonist MDL
      100907 attenuated lorcaserin-lever responding in six of seven rats. These results
      suggest that, in addition to agonist properties at 5-HT2C receptors, lorcaserin
      also has agonist properties at 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors. Because some drugs
      with 5-HT2A receptor agonist properties are abused, it is important to fully
      characterize the behavioral effects of lorcaserin while considering its potential
      for treating substance use disorders.

PMID- 27640339
TI  - Paraoxonase 1 gene polymorphisms and enzyme activities in coronary artery disease
      and its relationship to serum lipids and glycemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Oxidative stress and inflammation are important processes in
      development of atherosclerosis. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is a bioscavenger enzyme
      associated with inflammation and oxidative stress. We evaluate the association of
      two single nucleotide polymorphisms in PON1 gene, and enzyme activities with
      lipid profile and glycemia. METHODS: This case-control study consisted of 126
      patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 203 healthy controls. PON Q192R
      and L55M polymorphisms were detected by real-time PCR. Paraoxonase and
      arylesterase activities were determined spectrophotometrically. Blood glucose,
      cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, and LDL were measured. RESULTS: PON1 QR192
      polymorphism had a major effect on paraoxonase but no effect on arylesterase
      serum activities. Paraoxonase activity was higher in RR genotype and lowest in QQ
      genotype. Paraoxonase and arylesterase activities were higher in LL and lower in
      MM genotypes of PON1 LM55 polymorphism. RQ and LM variants showed intermediate
      activities between respective homozygous. Elevated concentrations of
      triglycerides in cases correlate with QQ variant or the presence of M allele.
      Glucose levels were elevated in cases with QQ variant or with the presence of M
      allele. Cholesterol and LDL did not show variations in control and cases with any
      variant of both polymorphisms. HDL is lower in cases with respect to controls
      independently of genotypes. All differences were significant with p<0.05.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the relationship between variations in PON1
      activities and lipid metabolism, and showed that genetically programmed low PON1
      activities would have certain responsibility in the increase in glycemia and
      concomitantly the aggravation of atherosclerotic disease.

PMID- 27640340
TI  - Cytokeratin-positive fibroblastic reticular cell: a pitfall for
      dermatopathologists assessing lymph nodes for Merkel cell carcinoma.

PMID- 27640341
TI  - Use of Indwelling Urinary Catheters in Nursing Homes: Implications for Quality
      Improvement Efforts.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology of indwelling urinary catheter use in
      nursing homes (NHs). DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: A purposeful
      sampling strategy was used to identify a diverse sample of 28 Connecticut NHs,
      defined in terms of ownership, quality ratings, and bed size. PARTICIPANTS: Long
      stay (>100 days) residents of study NHs with an indwelling urinary catheter
      present at any time over a 1-year period. MEASUREMENTS: Duration of catheter use
      was determined, and indications for catheter placement were documented.
      Indications considered appropriate included urinary retention or outlet
      obstruction, pressure ulcer (Stage 3 or 4 with risk of contamination by urine),
      hospice care, and need for accurate measurement of input and output. During
      quarterly follow-up assessments, whether the catheter was still in place or had
      been removed for any reason other than routine maintenance was determined.
      RESULTS: The overall rate of any urinary catheter use per 100 resident-beds over
      a 1-year period was 4.8 (range 1.0-9.9, median 5.1). Of the 228 residents meeting
      eligibility criteria, a documented indication for the catheter was present in the
      NH record for 195 (86%). Of those with a documented indication, 99% (n = 193) had
      one or more indications deemed appropriate, including urinary retention (83%),
      pressure ulcer (21%), hospice care (10%), and need for accurate measurement of
      input and output (6%). The urinary catheter was removed at some point during the
      period of observation in 49% (n = 111) of participants; those with a shorter
      duration of catheter use before study enrollment were more likely to have the
      catheter removed during the follow-up period. Of the 111 residents who had the
      catheter removed, 58 (52.3%) had it reinserted at some point during follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that indwelling urinary catheter use in long
      stay NH residents is uncommon and generally appropriate and that efforts to
      improve catheter care and outcomes should extend beyond a singular focus on
      reducing use.

PMID- 27640342
TI  - The effectiveness of payment for performance in health care: A meta-analysis and
      exploration of variation in outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pay for performance (P4P) incentive schemes are increasingly used
      world-wide to improve health system performance but results of evaluations vary
      considerably. A systematic analysis of this variation in the effects of P4P
      schemes is needed. METHODS: Evaluations of P4P schemes from any country were
      identified by searching for and updating systematic reviews of P4P schemes in
      health care in four bibliographic databases. Outcomes using different measures of
      effect were converted into standardized effect sizes (standardized mean
      difference, SMD) and each study was categorized as to whether or not it found a
      positive effect. Subgroup analysis, meta-regression and multilevel logistic
      regression were used to investigate factors explaining heterogeneity. Random
      effects models were used because they take into account heterogeneity likely to
      be due to differences between studies rather than just chance. Sensitivity
      analysis was used to test the effect of different assumptions. FINDINGS: 96
      primary studies were identified; 37 were included in the meta-analysis and meta
      regression and all 96 in the logistic regression. The proportion of observed
      variation in study results that can be explained by true heterogeneity (I2) was
      99.9%. Estimates of effect of P4P schemes were lower in evaluations using
      randomized controlled trials (SMD=0.08; 95% CI: 0.01-0.15) compared to no
      controls (0.15; 95% CI: 0.09-0.21), and lower for those measuring outcomes (e.g.,
      smoking cessation) (SMD=0.0; 95% CI: -0.01 to 0.01) compared to process measures
      (e.g., giving cessation advice) (0.18; 95% CI: 0.06-0.31). Adjusting for other
      design features and the evaluation method, the odds of showing a positive effect
      was three times higher for schemes with larger incentives (>5% of salary/usual
      budget) (OR=3.38; 95% CI: 1.07-10.64). There were non-statistically significant
      increases in the odds of success if the incentive is paid to individuals (as
      opposed to groups) (OR=2.0; 95% CI: 0.62-6.56) and if there is a lower perceived
      risk of not earning the incentive (OR=2.9; 95% CI: 0.78-10.83). Schemes evaluated
      using less rigorous designs were 24 times more likely to have positive estimates
      of effect than those using randomized controlled trials (OR=24; 95% CI: 6.3
      92.8). INTERPRETATION: Estimates of the effectiveness of incentive schemes on
      health outcomes are probably inflated due to poorly designed evaluations and a
      focus on process measures rather than health outcomes. Larger incentives and
      reducing the perceived risk of non-payment may increase the effect of these
      schemes on provider behavior.

PMID- 27640343
TI  - Long-term sick leave and graded return to work: What do we know about the follow
      up effects?
AB  - The implementation of a graded return-to-work (RTW) program to reintegrate those
      in long-term sickness started in Germany in 1971. Based on a return plan by the
      physician and insured, participants increase their working hours slowly over a
      specified period of time. Using data on sick leaves from claims data of the
      Techniker Krankenkasse, we consider sick-leave spells starting from October 2010
      to January 2011 with a successful return to work within 517 days. We applied a
      propensity score matching between participants and non-participants to further
      analyze differences in sickness spells, medical demand and treatment costs in a
      follow-up period of 540 days and hence estimate the average treatment effect on
      the treated (ATT) for the RTW participation with respect to sickness time,
      sickness benefits and medical expenditures. We found significant but rather small
      differences in medical costs between treatment and control group. In detail, RTW
      participants showed slightly lower expenditures on hospitals but higher for
      ambulatory services and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, differences in expenditure
      were related to the condition of the initial sickness spell. Reasons behind this
      findings may be a different perception of the own health care status and a higher
      need for medical services. Overall, our findings differ between diagnosis groups
      of the initial sickness period.

PMID- 27640344
TI  - Fecal neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a biomarker for inflammatory
      bowel disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Accurate, noninvasive biomarkers are needed to diagnose and
      monitor inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Neutrophil gelatinase-associated
      lipocalin (NGAL), also known as lipocalin 2, is expressed in inflamed colonic
      epithelium and neutrophilic granulocytes. This study explores its properties as a
      biomarker in feces and plasma and, for the first time, compares fecal NGAL
      systematically with the existing fecal biomarker calprotectin. METHODS:
      Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin was measured in feces from 73 patients
      with IBD, 21 patients with infectious enterocolitis, 21 patients with irritable
      bowel syndrome, and 23 healthy subjects using ELISA. The results were correlated
      to calprotectin, clinical score, endoscopic score, and high-sensitive C-reactive
      protein. Plasma from 119 patients with IBD and 28 healthy controls was analyzed
      for NGAL. RESULTS: Fecal NGAL levels (median and interquartile range) were
      significantly elevated in active ulcerative colitis (UC) 6.05 (3.6-15.1) mg/kg
      and Crohn's disease (CD) 4.9 (1.5-7.7) mg/kg, compared with patients with
      inactive UC 1.3 (0.4-2.6) mg/kg, inactive CD 1.5 (0.5-1.7) mg/kg, irritable bowel
      syndrome 0.4 (0.2-0.6) mg/kg, and healthy controls (HC) 0.3 (0.1-0.4) mg/kg.
      Patients with infectious enterocolitis had significantly higher fecal-NGAL
      levels, 2.7 (1.4-5.6) mg/kg than HC. Sensitivity and specificity was 94.7% and
      95.7%, respectively, for distinguishing between active IBD and HC. Stability of
      NGAL in stool was excellent for 7 days in room temperature. Plasma NGAL was
      significantly elevated in UC and CD compared with HC. CONCLUSIONS: Fecal NGAL is
      a promising biomarker for IBD. As existing biomarkers are expressed mainly in
      granulocytes, NGAL's epithelial localization may give supplementary diagnostic
      information.

PMID- 27640345
TI  - Assimilation of virtual legs and perception of floor texture by complete
      paraplegic patients receiving artificial tactile feedback.
AB  - Spinal cord injuries disrupt bidirectional communication between the patient's
      brain and body. Here, we demonstrate a new approach for reproducing lower limb
      somatosensory feedback in paraplegics by remapping missing leg/foot tactile
      sensations onto the skin of patients' forearms. A portable haptic display was
      tested in eight patients in a setup where the lower limbs were simulated using
      immersive virtual reality (VR). For six out of eight patients, the haptic display
      induced the realistic illusion of walking on three different types of floor
      surfaces: beach sand, a paved street or grass. Additionally, patients experienced
      the movements of the virtual legs during the swing phase or the sensation of the
      foot rolling on the floor while walking. Relying solely on this tactile feedback,
      patients reported the position of the avatar leg during virtual walking.
      Crossmodal interference between vision of the virtual legs and tactile feedback
      revealed that patients assimilated the virtual lower limbs as if they were their
      own legs. We propose that the addition of tactile feedback to neuroprosthetic
      devices is essential to restore a full lower limb perceptual experience in spinal
      cord injury (SCI) patients, and will ultimately, lead to a higher rate of
      prosthetic acceptance/use and a better level of motor proficiency.

PMID- 27640346
TI  - Ptaquiloside from bracken (Pteridium spp.) inhibits tumour-infiltrating CD8+ T
      cells in HPV-16 transgenic mice.
AB  - Bracken is a fern with worldwide distribution. Exposure to bracken toxins such as
      ptaquiloside is hypothesized to increase the risk of papillomavirus-related
      cancers of the upper digestive tract. Ptaquiloside is thought to be an
      immunosupressor, thus allowing for the development of viral lesions. We have used
      a human papillomavirus type 16-transgenic (K14-HPV16) mouse model to study the
      effects of ptaquiloside on tumour-infiltrating CD8+ T lymphocytes, which are
      critical players in anti-tumour immunity. HPV16+/- mice received ptaquiloside
      (0.5 mg/mouse/week) for 10 weeks. These were then euthanized at 30 weeks of age,
      along with age-matched untreated controls. Skin samples were enzymatically
      digested and CD8+ T cells analysed for CD107a and CD44 surface expression.
      Ptaquiloside-exposed HPV16+/- mice showed a significantly decreased percentage (P
      < 0.05) of CD8+CD107a+ and CD8+CD44 + T cells when compared with untreated
      HPV16+/- animals. Histologically, 100% of ptaquilosidetreated mice showed diffuse
      epidermal dysplasia, compared with 50% of the untreated mice. These findings
      suggest that ptaquiloside exerts an immunosuppressive role by decreasing CD8+ T
      cell activation and degranulation in HPV-induced lesions. Given the key role of
      CD8+ T lymphocytes against HPV-induced lesions, this effect is likely to
      contribute for viral persistence, tumour progression and increased aggressiveness
      in patients with HPV-related malignancies.

PMID- 27640348
TI  - X-ray-generated heralded macroscopical quantum entanglement of two nuclear
      ensembles.
AB  - Heralded entanglement between macroscopical samples is an important resource for
      present quantum technology protocols, allowing quantum communication over large
      distances. In such protocols, optical photons are typically used as information
      and entanglement carriers between macroscopic quantum memories placed in remote
      locations. Here we investigate theoretically a new implementation which employs
      more robust x-ray quanta to generate heralded entanglement between two crystal
      hosted macroscopical nuclear ensembles. Mossbauer nuclei in the two crystals
      interact collectively with an x-ray spontaneous parametric down conversion photon
      that generates heralded macroscopical entanglement with coherence times of
      approximately 100 ns at room temperature. The quantum phase between the entangled
      crystals can be conveniently manipulated by magnetic field rotations at the
      samples. The inherent long nuclear coherence times allow also for mechanical
      manipulations of the samples, for instance to check the stability of entanglement
      in the x-ray setup. Our results pave the way for first quantum communication
      protocols that use x-ray qubits.

PMID- 27640347
TI  - A contaminant-free assessment of Endogenous Retroviral RNA in human plasma.
AB  - Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) comprise 6-8% of the human genome. HERVs are
      silenced in most normal tissues, up-regulated in stem cells and in placenta but
      also in cancer and HIV-1 infection. Crucially, there are conflicting reports on
      detecting HERV RNA in non-cellular clinical samples such as plasma that suggest
      the study of HERV RNA can be daunting. Indeed, we find that the use of real-time
      PCR in a quality assured clinical laboratory setting can be sensitive to low
      level proviral contamination. We developed a mathematical model for low-level
      contamination that allowed us to design a laboratory protocol and standard
      operating procedures for robust measurement of HERV RNA. We focus on one family,
      HERV-K HML-2 (HK2) that has been most recently active even though they invaded
      our ancestral genomes almost 30 millions ago. We extensively validated our
      experimental design on a model cell culture system showing high sensitivity and
      specificity, totally eliminating the proviral contamination. We then tested 236
      plasma samples from patients infected with HIV-1, HCV or HBV and found them to be
      negative. The study of HERV RNA for human translational studies should be
      performed with extensively validated protocols and standard operating procedures
      to control the widespread low-level human DNA contamination.

PMID- 27640349
TI  - Central and peripheral administrations of levothyroxine improved memory
      performance and amplified brain electrical activity in the rat model of
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with cognitive impairments and a decline
      in the spontaneous neuronal discharge. In the current study, we evaluated the
      effect of subcutaneous (S.C.) and intrahippocampal (I.H.) administrations of
      levothyroxine (LT-4) on the passive avoidance and spatial memory, as well as
      electrophysiological activity in an animal model of AD. One hundred-sixty male
      Wistar rats were divided into two main groups. The S.C. group included two Sham
      and four AD (vehicle or L-T4 25, 50 & 100MUg/kg); and the I.H. had consisted of
      two Sham and two AD (vehicle or L-T4 10MUg/kg) subgroups. To make an animal model
      of AD, amyloid beta (Abeta) plus ibotenic acid (Ibo) were injected I.H. Rats were
      treated with L-T4 and/or normal saline for ten days. Passive avoidance and
      spatial memory were evaluated in shuttle box and Morris water maze, respectively.
      Neuronal single unit recording was assessed from hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG).
      Results showed that the mean latency time (s) increased significantly (p<0.001)
      in AD animals and decreased significantly in both S.C. and I.H. L-T4 injected AD
      animals, compared with the AD group (p<0.001). The percentage of total time that
      animals spent in goal quarter and the step through latency decreased
      significantly in AD rats (p<0.001) and increased significantly in both S.C. and
      I.H. L-T4 injected AD animals in comparison with the AD group (p<0.01, p<0.001).
      Data showed that the average number of spikes/bin significantly decreased in the
      AD group (p<0.001). The S.C. and I.H. L-T4 injections in AD rats significantly
      increased the spike rate in comparison to the AD group (p<0.001). In conclusion,
      both S.C. and I.H. injections of L-T4 alleviated memory deficits and spontaneous
      neuronal activity in Abeta-induced AD rats. Also, I.H. microinjection of L-T4 had
      more beneficial effects on memory and neuronal electrophysiological activity in
      comparison to S.C. administration.

PMID- 27640351
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27640350
TI  - Males with Paternally Inherited MKRN3 Mutations May Be Asymptomatic.
AB  - Ten girls with sporadic central precocious puberty were screened for mutations in
      the maternally imprinted gene MKRN3. We detected 1 novel frameshift mutation
      (p.Arg351Serfs*44) and a previously described mutation (p.Pro161Argfs*10). In the
      course of investigating the family, genetic analysis found 2 asymptomatic males
      with paternally inherited MKRN3 mutations, which has not been reported in
      previous studies.

PMID- 27640352
TI  - Starting the Debate: Rethinking Well-Child Care in Europe.

PMID- 27640353
TI  - Prevalence of Vertebral Fractures in Children with Suspected Osteoporosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore the prevalence and anatomic distribution of vertebral
      fractures in disease groups investigated for primary and secondary osteoporosis,
      using vertebral fracture assessment (VFA). STUDY DESIGN: VFA was performed
      independently by 2 nonradiologists, in 165 children (77 males, 88 females) as
      part of their investigation for osteoporosis. Vertebral bodies from T6 to L4 were
      assessed for vertebral fractures using the Genant scoring system. The common
      readings for the presence of vertebral fractures were used for evaluating the
      prevalence and anatomic distribution of vertebral fractures. RESULTS: The median
      age of the subjects was 13.4 years (range, 3.6, 18). Of the 165 children, 24
      (15%) were being investigated for primary bone disease, and the remainder had a
      range of chronic diseases known to affect bone health. Vertebral fractures were
      identified in 38 (23%) children. The distribution of the vertebral fractures was
      bimodal, with vertebral fractures peaks centered at T9 and L4. Conditions
      associated with increased odds for vertebral fractures were inflammatory bowel
      disease (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4, 8.0; P = .018) and osteogenesis imperfecta (OR,
      2.3; 95% CI, 1.04, 5.8; P = .022). Among children with vertebral fractures, those
      with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (P = .015) and osteogenesis imperfecta (P =
      .023) demonstrated higher number of vertebral fractures than the other disease
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: VFA identified the presence of vertebral fractures, in a
      bimodal distribution, in both primary bone disease and chronic disease groups.
      VFA is a practical screening tool for identification of vertebral fractures in
      children and adolescents at risk of fragility fractures.

PMID- 27640354
TI  - Higher Diet Quality in Adolescence and Dietary Improvements Are Related to Less
      Weight Gain During the Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the previously validated A Priori Diet Quality Score
      (APDQS), and weight change among adolescents transitioning into young adulthood.
      STUDY DESIGN: Young people were recruited in middle/high schools and followed for
      10 years. Participants reported diet and weight in 1999 (mean age, 15 years),
      2004 (20 years), and 2009 (25 years). The analytic sample (n = 2656) had dietary
      intake assessments in 1999 and at least one other assessment. The APDQS (without
      alcoholic items) was based on 13 beneficial food groups, 12 adverse food groups,
      and 9 neutral food groups to capture aspects of Mediterranean/prudent diets,
      focusing on foods that are varied, based on nutritionally rich plants, and less
      processed. RESULTS: From mean age 15 to 25 years, mean (SD) weight increased from
      61.0 (14.7) kg to 76.1 (18.8) kg, and APDQS increased from 43.1 (11.1) points to
      45.6 (10.7) points. Within-person tracking correlation of the APDQS was 0.35 at
      mean age 15-20 years, increasing to 0.49 at 20-25 years. Independent of lifestyle
      factors and energy intake, a 15-point (IQR) higher APDQS in 1999 was associated
      with 1.5 kg (95% CI, 0.7-2.3 kg) less weight gain over 10 years, The increase in
      APDQS over time was similarly associated with less concurrent weight gain.
      Findings were stronger for models of excess weight gain. CONCLUSION: Higher diet
      quality, based on an assessment of dietary patterns in and after adolescence, was
      associated with reduced weight gain during the next 10 years. Establishment of
      high-quality dietary patterns in adolescence may help mitigate excess weight gain
      by young adulthood.

PMID- 27640355
TI  - Infantile Cirrhosis, Growth Impairment, and Neurodevelopmental Anomalies
      Associated with Deficiency of PPP1R15B.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of whole-exome sequencing (WES) in a sibling
      pair with undetermined liver disease and describe the phenotype associated with
      mutations discovered therein. STUDY DESIGN: Next-generation WES was performed on
      2 siblings (S1 and S2) who were born to nonconsanguineous parents of European
      extraction. Both siblings developed cirrhosis of indeterminate etiology and
      required liver transplantation; S1 at 7 months and S2 at 22 months. RESULTS:
      Sequencing of germline DNA identified compound heterozygous mutations in PPP1R15B
      resulting in increased levels of phosphorylated eukaryotic translation initiation
      factor 2alpha. CONCLUSIONS: The first demonstration of PPP1R15B associated with
      liver disease expands the phenotypic spectrum of PPP1R15B related diseases. Our
      findings validate the application of WES in the diagnosis of children with
      undetermined liver disease. Understanding the genetic basis of liver disease may
      allow the development of targeted therapies for treatment and adequate counseling
      of families.

PMID- 27640356
TI  - Sensitivity and Specificity of Red Reflex Test in Newborn Eye Screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To validate the sensitivity of an isolated red reflex test in
      detection of ocular abnormalities of the anterior and posterior segments in
      newborns. STUDY DESIGN: Red reflex test and comprehensive eye examinations
      including external inspection, pupil examination, hand-held slit lamp
      examination, and RetCam fundus imaging (Clarity Medical Systems, Pleasanton,
      California) were performed in 7641 newborns. All results were documented as
      negative or positive. Sensitivity and specificity of red reflex test were
      calculated by the use of comprehensive eye examinations as the reference
      standard. Anterior abnormalities were separated from posterior abnormalities, and
      the sensitivity of red reflex test for each group was calculated. RESULTS: The
      proportion of abnormalities that were correctly classified by red reflex test was
      greater in anterior segment group (sensitivity = 99.6%, 95% CI 97.1%-100%) than
      in the posterior group (sensitivity = 4.1%, 95% CI 3.3%-5.1%, chi2 = 1521.382,
      phi = 0.836, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The red reflex test was a useful universal
      screening tool in detection of anterior abnormalities; however, the test has
      limitations in detection of posterior abnormalities. The generalization of these
      results to infants and children and observers with varying levels of expertise
      may need to be established further.

PMID- 27640357
TI  - Measuring Erythrocyte Thiopurine Methyltransferase Activity in Children-Is It
      Helpful?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the profile of thiopurine transmethyltransferase (TPMT)
      enzyme activities in children and discuss the utility of measuring TPMT levels
      before commencing azathioprine therapy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study in a
      single pediatric center of all patients who had TPMT enzyme assay measured during
      a 3-year period before the start of azathioprine therapy. Patients' TPMT enzyme
      activities were classified as normal (26-50 pmol/h/mgHb), intermediate (10-25
      pmol/h/mgHb), and deficient (<10 pmol/h/mgHb). Medical and electronic prescribing
      records were studied, with records of patients' demographic data, diagnoses,
      dosages, and adverse drug reactions monitored. RESULTS: A total of 228 (45%
      female) patients ages 1-18 years (median 10 years) were tested for TPMT activity.
      They were all subsequently commenced on azathioprine. Erythrocyte TPMT activities
      were 14-76 (median 33.7) pmol/h/mgHb with 88% and 12% of patient having normal
      and intermediate activity respectively (none were deficient). The initial
      prescribed dosage of azathioprine was 0.7-3.5 (median 2.0) mg/kg/day. Only 2
      patients developed mild neutropenia and required reduction of azathioprine
      dosage. CONCLUSION: This large cohort study demonstrates that the majority of
      pediatric patients had normal TMPT activities. We would recommend close
      monitoring of full blood counts after instituting azathioprine therapy but would
      question the cost-effectiveness of pretreatment TPMT activity in pediatric
      practice.

PMID- 27640359
TI  - Extended retroauricular access to the medial temporomandibular joint space.

PMID- 27640358
TI  - Phenotype Differentiation of FOXG1 and MECP2 Disorders: A New Method for
      Characterization of Developmental Encephalopathies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To differentiate developmental encephalopathies by creating a novel
      quantitative phenotyping tool. STUDY DESIGN: We created the Developmental
      Encephalopathy Inventory (DEI) to differentiate disorders with complex
      multisystem neurodevelopmental symptoms. We then used the DEI to study the
      phenotype features of 20 subjects with FOXG1 disorder and 11 subjects with MECP2
      disorder. RESULTS: The DEI identified core domains of fine motor and expressive
      language that were severely impaired in both disorders. Individuals with FOXG1
      disorder were overall more severely impaired. Subjects with FOXG1 disorder were
      less able to walk, had worse fine motor skills, more disability in receptive
      language and reciprocity, and had more disordered sleep than did subjects with
      MECP2 disorder (P <.05). Covariance, cluster, and principal component analysis
      confirmed a relationship between impaired awareness, reciprocity, and language in
      both disorders. In addition, abnormal ambulation was a first principal component
      for FOXG1 but not for MECP2 disorder, suggesting that impaired ambulation is a
      strong differentiating factor clinically between the 2 disorders. CONCLUSIONS: We
      have developed a novel quantitative developmental assessment tool for
      developmental encephalopathies and propose this tool as a method to identify and
      illustrate core common and differential domains of disability in these complex
      disorders. These findings demonstrate clear phenotype differences between FOXG1
      and MECP2 disorders.

PMID- 27640360
TI  - Frosted branch angiitis in an AIDS patient with cytomegalovirus retinitis.
AB  - A case of frosted branch angiitis in an AIDS patient with cytomegalovirus (CMV)
      retinitis is reported. The use of PCR techniques for CMV DNA detection in
      intraocular fluid was helpful in this situation. The appropriate therapy was
      given promptly due to the timely diagnosis based on this assay.

PMID- 27640361
TI  - Suture pattern formation in ammonites and the unknown rear mantle structure.
AB  - Ammonite shells have complex patterns of suture lines that vary across species.
      The lines are formed at the intersection of the outer shell wall and the septa.
      The wavy septa can form if the rear mantle of the ammonite, which functions as
      the template, has a complex shape. Previous hypotheses assumed that the rear
      mantle is like a flexible membrane that can be folded by some physical force. The
      elucidation of the mechanism of septa formation requires that the detailed shape
      of the septa should be known. We developed a new protocol of X-ray micro-computed
      tomography (CT) and obtained high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) images of the
      septa of the Upper Cretaceous ammonite Damesites cf. damesi. The obtained image
      suggested that the wavy and branched structures of the rear mantle grew
      autonomously. We found that some extant sea slugs have branched structures and
      showed similar shape and growth sequence as those in fossils, suggesting that the
      mantle of molluscs basically has the potential to form branched projections.
      Based on the characteristics of the obtained 3D structure, we explain how
      ammonites might have formed the complex suture patterns.

PMID- 27640362
TI  - CD14+ monocyte-derived galectin-9 induces natural killer cell cytotoxicity in
      chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - : Natural killer (NK) cell activation is associated with both liver injury and
      persistent infection in chronic hepatitis C (CHC); however, the detailed
      mechanism of this activation has not yet been fully elucidated. Because galectin
      9 (Gal-9) has been reported to be increased in the serum and liver tissue of CHC
      patients, we investigated the function of Gal-9 in NK cell activation in CHC.
      First, we evaluated the function of Gal-9 on NK cytotoxicity in vitro. Gal-9
      treatment resulted in increased cytotoxicity of naive NK cells, and the Gal-9
      activated NK cells demonstrated cytotoxicity toward hepatoma cells and T cells.
      Additionally, coculturing peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with JFH
      1/Huh7.5.1 cells increased both Gal-9 production and NK cell cytotoxicity. Next,
      we investigated the source of Gal-9 and the mechanism of Gal-9 production.
      Deletion of CD14+ monocytes from PBMCs resulted in reduced Gal-9 production in
      the coculture with JFH-1/Huh7.5.1 cells. Gal-9 production was driven by
      coculturing of PBMCs with apoptotic hepatocytes. Blocking integrin alphav beta3 ,
      a receptor for phosphatidylserine expressed on apoptotic cells, also resulted in
      decreased Gal-9 production. Finally, we found that serum Gal-9 levels were
      significantly higher in CHC patients than in healthy donors and patients who
      achieved sustained virologic response. Among CHC patients, serum Gal-9 levels
      were significantly higher in patients with elevated alanine aminotransferase
      (ALT) than in those with normal ALT. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that
      CD14+ monocyte-derived Gal-9 increases NK cell cytotoxicity in HCV infection,
      which might be associated with liver injury and persistent infection. (Hepatology
      2017;65:18-31).

PMID- 27640365
TI  - Estimating the palliative effect of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in an
      observational registry using principal stratification and generalized propensity
      scores.
AB  - Clinical disease registries offer a rich collection of valuable patient
      information but also pose challenges that require special care and attention in
      statistical analyses. The goal of this paper is to propose a statistical
      framework that allows for estimating the effect of surgical insertion of a
      percutaneous endogastrostomy (PEG) tube for patients living with amyotrophic
      lateral sclerosis (ALS) using data from a clinical registry. Although all ALS
      patients are informed about PEG, only some patients agree to the procedure which,
      leads to the potential for selection bias. Assessing the effect of PEG is further
      complicated by the aggressively fatal disease, such that time to death competes
      directly with both the opportunity to receive PEG and clinical outcome
      measurements. Our proposed methodology handles the "censoring by death"
      phenomenon through principal stratification and selection bias for PEG treatment
      through generalized propensity scores. We develop a fully Bayesian modeling
      approach to estimate the survivor average causal effect (SACE) of PEG on BMI, a
      surrogate outcome measure of nutrition and quality of life. The use of propensity
      score methods within the principal stratification framework demonstrates a
      significant and positive effect of PEG treatment, particularly when time of
      treatment is included in the treatment definition.

PMID- 27640364
TI  - Lack of adrenomedullin in mouse endothelial cells results in defective
      angiogenesis, enhanced vascular permeability, less metastasis, and more brain
      damage.
AB  - Adrenomedullin (AM) is a vasodilating peptide involved in the regulation of
      circulatory homeostasis and in the pathophysiology of certain cardiovascular
      diseases. AM plays critical roles in blood vessels, including regulation of
      vascular stability and permeability. To elucidate the autocrine/paracrine
      function of AM in endothelial cells (EC) in vivo, a conditional knockout of AM in
      EC (AM(EC-KO)) was used. The amount of vascularization of the matrigel implants
      was lower in AM(EC-KO) mice indicating a defective angiogenesis. Moreover,
      ablation of AM in EC revealed increased vascular permeability in comparison with
      wild type (WT) littermates. In addition, AM(EC-KO) lungs exhibited significantly
      less tumor growth than littermate WT mice using a syngeneic model of metastasis.
      Furthermore, following middle cerebral artery permanent occlusion, there was a
      significant infarct size decrease in animals lacking endothelial AM when compared
      to their WT counterparts. AM is an important regulator of EC function,
      angiogenesis, tumorigenesis, and brain response to ischemia. Studies of AM should
      bring novel approaches to the treatment of vascular diseases.

PMID- 27640366
TI  - Phenotypic plasticity to altered apical bud temperature in Cucumis sativus: more
      leaves-smaller leaves and vice versa.
AB  - Many studies investigated temperature effects on leaf initiation and expansion by
      relating these processes to air temperature or the temperature of a specific
      organ (e.g. leaf temperature). In reality plant temperature is hardly ever equal
      to air temperature or spatially uniform. Apical bud temperature (Tbud ), for
      example, may greatly differ from the temperature of the rest of the plant (Tplant
      ) dependent on the environment. Recent research in Cucumis sativus showed that
      Tbud influences leaf initiation independent of Tplant . These findings trigger
      the question if such spatial temperature differences also influence leaf
      expansion and plant phenotype. In a 28 day study, we maintained temperature
      differences between Tbud and Tplant ranging from -7 to +8  degrees C using a
      custom-made bud temperature control system. Leaf expansion did not only depend on
      leaf temperature but also on the difference between bud and leaf temperature.
      Differences between Tbud and Tplant considerably influenced vertical leaf area
      distribution over the shoot: increasing Tbud beyond Tplant resulted in more and
      smaller leaves, while decreasing Tbud below Tplant resulted in less and larger
      leaves. The trade-off between leaf number and leaf area resulted in phenotypic
      alterations that cannot be predicted, for example, by crop models, when assuming
      plant temperature uniformity.

PMID- 27640363
TI  - Olive and grape seed extract prevents post-traumatic osteoarthritis damages and
      exhibits in vitro anti IL-1beta activities before and after oral consumption.
AB  - Polyphenols exert a large range of beneficial effects in the prevention of age
      related diseases. We sought to determine whether an extract of olive and grape
      seed standardized according to hydroxytyrosol (HT) and procyanidins (PCy)
      content, exerts preventive anti-osteoathritic effects. To this aim, we evaluated
      whether the HT/PCy mix could (i) have in vitro anti-inflammatory and
      chondroprotective actions, (ii) exert anti-osteoarthritis effects in two post
      traumatic animal models and (iii) retain its bioactivity after oral
      administration. Anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective actions of HT/PCy were
      tested on primary cultured rabbit chondrocytes stimulated by interleukin-1 beta
      (IL-1beta). The results showed that HT/PCy exerts anti-inflammatory and
      chondroprotective actions in vitro. The preventive effect of HT/PCy association
      was assessed in two animal models of post-traumatic OA in mice and rabbits. Diet
      supplementation with HT/PCy significantly decreased the severity of post
      traumatic osteoarthritis in two complementary mice and rabbit models. The
      bioavailability and bioactivity was evaluated following gavage with HT/PCy in
      rabbits. Regular metabolites from HT/PCy extract were found in sera from rabbits
      following oral intake. Finally, sera from rabbits force-fed with HT/PCy conserved
      anti-IL-1beta effect, suggesting the bioactivity of this extract. To conclude,
      HT/PCy extract may be of clinical significance for the preventive treatment of
      osteoarthritis.

PMID- 27640367
TI  - Word catheter and marsupialisation in women with a cyst or abscess of the
      Bartholin gland (WoMan-trial): a randomised clinical trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare recurrence of a cyst or abscess of the Bartholin gland
      after surgical treatment using a Word catheter or marsupialisation. DESIGN:
      Multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Eighteen hospitals
      in the Netherlands and one hospital in England. POPULATION: Women with a
      symptomatic cyst or abscess of the Bartholin gland. METHODS: Women were
      randomised to treatment with Word catheter or marsupialisation. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The primary outcome was recurrence of the cyst or abscess within 1 year
      of treatment. The secondary outcomes included pain during and after treatment
      (measured on a 10-point scale), use of analgesics, and time from diagnosis to
      treatment. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. To assess whether marsupialisation
      would reduce the recurrence rate by 5% (from 20 to 15%) we needed to include 160
      women (alpha error 0.05, beta error 0.2). RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-one
      women were randomly allocated to treatment by Word catheter (n = 82) or
      marsupialisation (n = 79) between August 2010 and May 2014. Baseline
      characteristics were comparable. Recurrence occurred in 10 women (12%) allocated
      to Word catheter versus eight women (10%) allocated to marsupialisation: relative
      risk (RR) 1.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64-1.91; P = 0.70. Pain scores
      after treatment were also comparable. In the first 24 hours after treatment, 33%
      used analgesics in the Word catheter group versus 74% in the marsupialisation
      group (P < 0.001). Time from diagnosis to treatment was 1 hour for placement of
      Word catheter versus 4 hours for marsupialisation (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In
      women with an abscess or cyst of the Bartholin gland, treatment with Word
      catheter and marsupialisation results in comparable recurrence rates. TWEETABLE
      ABSTRACT: Comparable recurrence rates for treatment of Bartholinic abscess/cyst
      with Word catheter and marsupialisation.

PMID- 27640370
TI  - Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Storage: the Good and the Bad.
AB  - A critical view on the outcome of research in nanomaterials for electrochemical
      energy storage devices (batteries and supercapacitors) is provided through
      selected examples. The nano- approach traces back to the early battery research
      and its benefits realized even before the nano- term was coined. It has enabled
      important progresses which have translated, for instance, in the possibility of
      using LiFePO4 as electrode material. On the other hand, the nano- approach has
      also been oversold at all levels and hence some examples are also shown on the
      detrimental side effects of the use of nano-materials which should be taken into
      account if steady progress is to be made that finally results in practical
      benefits in energy storage devices.

PMID- 27640369
TI  - Alterations in the serotonergic and substance P systems in posttraumatic stress
      disorder.

PMID- 27640368
TI  - Analysis of apolipoprotein genes and their involvement in disease response of
      channel catfish after bacterial infection.
AB  - Apolipoproteins are protein component of plasma lipoproteins. They exert crucial
      roles in lipoprotein metabolism and serve as enzyme cofactors, receptor ligands,
      and lipid transfer carriers in mammals. In teleosts, apolipoproteins are also
      involved in diverse processes including embryonic and ontogenic development,
      liver and digestive system organogenesis, and innate immunity. In this study, we
      identified a set of 19 apolipoprotein genes in channel catfish (Ictalurus
      punctatus). Phylogenetic analysis and syntenic analysis were conducted to
      determine their identities and evolutionary relationships. The expression
      signatures of apolipoproteins in channel catfish were determined in healthy
      tissues and after infections with two major bacterial pathogens, Edwardsiella
      ictaluri and Flavobacterium columnare. In healthy channel catfish, most
      apolipoprotein genes exhibited tissue-specific expression patterns in channel
      catfish. After ESC and columnaris infections, 5 and 7 apolipoprotein genes were
      differentially expressed respectively, which presented a pathogen-specific and
      time-dependent pattern of regulation. After ESC infection, three exchangeable
      apolipoproteins (apoA-IB, apoC-I, and apoE-B) were suppressed in catfish
      intestine, while two nonexchangeable apolipoproteins (apoB-A and apoB-B) were
      slightly up-regulated. After columnaris infection, apoB-B, apoD-B, and apoE-A
      were significantly down-regulated in catfish gill, while apoF, apoL-IV, apoO
      like, and apo-14 kDa showed significantly up-regulation. Taken together, these
      results suggested that apolipoprotein genes may play significant roles in innate
      immune responses to bacterial pathogens in channel catfish.

PMID- 27640371
TI  - How to Study Protein-protein Interactions.
AB  - Physical and functional interactions between molecules in living systems are
      central to all biological processes. Identification of protein complexes
      therefore is becoming increasingly important to gain a molecular understanding of
      cells and organisms. Several powerful methodologies and techniques have been
      developed to study molecular interactions and thus help elucidate their nature
      and role in biology as well as potential ways how to interfere with them. All
      different techniques used in these studies have their strengths and weaknesses
      and since they are mostly employed in in vitro conditions, a single approach can
      hardly accurately reproduce interactions that happen under physiological
      conditions. However, complementary usage of as many as possible available
      techniques can lead to relatively realistic picture of the biological process.
      Here we describe several proteomic, biophysical and structural tools that help us
      understand the nature and mechanism of these interactions.

PMID- 27640373
TI  - Basic Electrochemical Performance of Pure LiMnPO4: a Comparison with Selected
      Conventional Insertion Materials.
AB  - We compare the basic electrochemical performance of a LiMnPO4 battery material
      with the performance of its much more researched olivine counterpart - LiFePO4.
      To get a wider picture, we also included another well understood material,
      LiCoO2. Based on chronopotentiometric (galvanostatic) experiments, we discuss the
      materials performance in terms of cell energy efficiency and electrode
      polarization. We propose and justify the use of the "inflection point criterion"
      for determination of total overpotential (etatotal). We further demonstrate that
      the general current-overpotential characteristics can be represented by
      introducing the total resistance of the cell - Rtotal.We find consistently that
      whereas in LCO the general current-overpotential characteristics is more or less
      linear, there is significant deviation from linearity in LiFePO4 and even bigger
      in LiMnPO4. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of state-of-the art knowledge
      about phase transformation phenomena in these materials.

PMID- 27640372
TI  - Chemistry of Metal-organic Frameworks Monitored by Advanced X-ray Diffraction and
      Scattering Techniques.
AB  - The research on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) experienced rapid progress in
      recent years due to their structure diversity and wide range of application
      opportunities. Continuous progress of X-ray and neutron diffraction methods
      enables more and more detailed insight into MOF's structural features and
      significantly contributes to the understanding of their chemistry. Improved
      instrumentation and data processing in high-resolution X-ray diffraction methods
      enables the determination of new complex MOF crystal structures in powdered form.
      By the use of neutron diffraction techniques, a lot of knowledge about the
      interaction of guest molecules with crystalline framework has been gained in the
      past few years. Moreover, in-situ time-resolved studies by various diffraction
      and scattering techniques provided comprehensive information about
      crystallization kinetics, crystal growth mechanism and structural dynamics
      triggered by external physical or chemical stimuli. The review emphasizes most
      relevant advanced structural studies of MOFs based on powder X-ray and neutron
      scattering.

PMID- 27640374
TI  - Nanostructured ZnFe2O4 as Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries: Ionic Liquid
      Assisted Synthesis and Performance Evaluation with Special Emphasis on
      Comparative Metal Dissolution.
AB  - In this work, a ZnFe2O4 anode material was successfully synthesized by a novel
      ionic liquid-assisted synthesis method followed by a carbon coating procedure.
      The as-prepared ZnFe2O4 particles demonstrate a relatively homogeneous particle
      size distribution with particle diameters ranging from 40 to 80 nm. This
      material, which is well known to offer an interesting combination of an alloying
      and conversion mechanism, is capable of accommodating nine equivalents of lithium
      per unit formula, resulting in a high specific capacity (>= 1,000 mAh g-1). The
      resulting composite anode material displayed a stable capacity of ca. 1,091 mAh g
      1 for 190 cycles at a medium de-lithiation potential of 1.7 V and at a
      charge/discharge rate of 1C. Furthermore, the material displays an excellent high
      rate capability up to 20C, displaying a reversible capacity of still 216 mAh g-1.
      Studies on Fe and Zn losses of the ZnFe2O4 active material by dissolution in the
      electrolyte were performed and compared to those of silicon-, germanium- and tin
      based high-capacity anode materials. In conclusion, ion dissolution from metal
      containing anode materials should not be underestimated in view of its impact on
      the overall cell performance and cycling stability.

PMID- 27640375
TI  - Conformational NMR Study of Bistriazolyl Anion Receptors.
AB  - Conformational features of pyridine- and pyrimidine-based bistriazolyl anion
      receptors dissolved in acetonitrile-d3 were assessed by multidimensional,
      heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. NOESY correlation signals suggested
      preorganization of both host molecules in solution in the absence of anions. In
      addition, only a single set of signals was observed in the 1H NMR spectra, which
      suggested a symmetrical conformation of anion receptors or their conformational
      exchange that is fast on the NMR time-scale. Furthermore, the predominant
      conformations of the pyridine- and pyrimidine-based anion receptors are preserved
      upon addition of chloride, bromide, and acetate anions. Chemical shift changes
      observed upon addition of anions showed that the NH (thio)urea and triazole
      protons are involved in anion-receptor interactions through hydrogen bonding.

PMID- 27640376
TI  - Space Charge Layer Effect in Solid State Ion Conductors and Lithium Batteries:
      Principle and Perspective.
AB  - The space charge layer (SCL) effects were initially developed to explain the
      anomalous conductivity enhancement in composite ionic conductors. They were
      further extended to qualitatively as well as quantitatively understand the
      interfacial phenomena in many other ionic-conducting systems. Especially in
      nanometre-scale systems, the SCL effects could be used to manipulate the
      conductivity and construct artificial conductors. Recently, existence of such
      effects either at the electrolyte/cathode interface or at the interfaces inside
      the composite electrode in all solid state lithium batteries (ASSLB) has
      attracted attention. Therefore, in this article, the principle of SCL on basis of
      defect chemistry is first presented. The SCL effects on the carrier transport and
      storage in typical conducting systems are reviewed. For ASSLB, the relevant
      effects reported so far are also reviewed. Finally, the perspective of interface
      engineer related to SCL in ASSLB is addressed.

PMID- 27640377
TI  - The Synthesis of Diquinone and Dihydroquinone Derivatives of Calix[4]arene and
      Electrochemical Characterization on Au(111) surface.
AB  - Several new electroactive diquinone and dihydroquinone derivatives of
      calix[4]arene bearing anchor functional groups were designed, synthesized and
      characterized. A method for selective protection of the hydroquinone -OH groups
      with trimethylsilyl groups (TMS) either on lower-rim or on upper-rim was
      developed. Four selected molecules - with sulfide anchor groups and carboxylic
      anchor groups - were adsorbed onto Au(111) single crystal surface using ex-situ
      and insitu self-assembly methods. Adsorbed molecules were then electrochemically
      probed with cyclic voltammetry. All adsorbed molecules showed redox response
      which changed during cycling. After conditioning CVs stabilized and showed two
      distinct current peaks for all molecules. Synthesized and electrochemically
      probed molecules are of interest to: Li-ion batteries (as cathode materials and
      overcharge protection), beyond Li-ion batteries and redox-flow batteries.

PMID- 27640378
TI  - The Chemical Capacitance as a Fingerprint of Defect Chemistry in Mixed Conducting
      Oxides.
AB  - The oxygen stoichiometry of mixed conducting oxides depends on the oxygen
      chemical potential and thus on the oxygen partial pressure in the gas phase. Also
      voltages may change the local oxygen stoichiometry and the amount to which such
      changes take place is quantified by the chemical capacitance of the sample.
      Impedance spectroscopy can be used to probe this chemical capacitance. Impedance
      measurements on different oxides ((La,Sr)FeO3-delta = LSF, Sr(Ti,Fe)O3-delta =
      STF, and Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 = PZT) are presented, and demonstrate how the chemical
      capacitance may affect impedance spectra in different types of electrochemical
      cells. A quantitative analysis of the spectra is based on generalized equivalent
      circuits developed for mixed conducting oxides by J. Jamnik and J. Maier. It is
      discussed how defect chemical information can be deduced from the chemical
      capacitance.

PMID- 27640379
TI  - Properties and Structure of the LiCl-films on Lithium Anodes in Liquid Cathodes.
AB  - Lithium anodes passivated by LiCl layers in different types of liquid cathodes
      (catholytes) based on LiAlCl4 in SOCl2 or SO2 have been studied by means of
      impedance spectroscopy. The impedance spectra have been fitted with two
      equivalent circuits using a nonlinear least squares fit program. Information
      about the ionic conductivity and the structure of the layers has been extracted.
      A new physical description, which is able to explain the circuit parameters, is
      proposed. It assumes that the LiCl-layer contains a large number of narrow
      tunnels and cracks filled with liquid catholyte. It is explained why such tunnels
      probably are formed, and for a typical case it is shown that tunnels associated
      with most of the LiCl grain boundaries of the fine crystalline layer near the Li
      surface are requested in order to explain the impedance response. The LiCl
      production rate and through this, the growth rate of the LiCl-layer, is limited
      by the electron conductivity of the layer. Micro-calorimetry data parallel with
      impedance spectra are used for determination of the electron conductivity of the
      LiCl-layer.

PMID- 27640380
TI  - Effect of ZnO on the Thermal Degradation Behavior of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)
      Nanocomposites.
AB  - The influence of ZnO nanoparticles on the thermal degradation behavior of
      poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was tested using thermoanalytical techniques.
      The studied materials were investigated using TG, DTA, EGA, XRD, SEM and TEM. The
      ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via precipitation by adding LiOH into Zn2+
      water/ethylene glycol solutions. The ZnO-PMMA nanocomposites were prepared by
      adding the appropriate amount of ZnO into MMA and subsequent MMA radical
      polymerization. According to the experimental results and model-free
      isoconversional activation energy calculations, the addition of ZnO into PMMA
      played a double role. The ZnO concentrations up to 0.15% stabilized the composite
      by shifting the degradation interval toward higher temperatures and increasing
      the apparent activation energy relative to pure PMMA. At higher concentrations,
      the catalytic effect of ZnO started to prevail and was reflected in the lower
      temperature intervals of intense PMMA degradation and lower apparent activation
      energy. The addition of ZnO generally did not change the nature of the PMMA
      decomposition process.

PMID- 27640381
TI  - Effect of Mercapto and Methyl Groups on the Efficiency of Imidazole and
      Benzimidazole-based Inhibitors of Iron Corrosion.
AB  - We report on the combined experimental and computational study of imidazole- and
      benzimidazole-based corrosion inhibitors containing methyl and/or mercapto
      groups. Electrochemical measurements and long-term immersion tests were performed
      on iron in NaCl solution, whilst computational study explicitly addresses the
      molecular level details of the bonding on iron surface by means of density
      functional theory calculations (DFT). Experimental data were the basis for the
      determination of inhibition efficiency and mechanism. Methyl group combined with
      mercapto group has a beneficial effect on corrosion inhibition at all inhibitor
      concentrations. The beneficial effect of mercapto group combined with benzene
      group is not so pronounced as when combined with methyl group. The latter is in
      stark contrast with the behaviour found previously on copper, where the effect of
      methyl group was detrimental and that of mercapto and benzene beneficial.
      Explicit DFT calculations reveal that methyl-group has a small effect on the
      inhibitor-surface interaction. In contrast, the presence of mercapto group
      involves the strong S-surface bonding and consequently the adsorption of
      inhibitors with mercapto group is found to be more exothermic.

PMID- 27640382
TI  - Transport of External Lithium Along Phase Boundary in LiF-Ti Nanocomposite Thin
      Films.
AB  - The electronic and ionic conductivity of the LiF-Ti nanocomposite films prepared
      by the co-sputtering have been investigated by the method of impedance spectrum
      (IS), current-voltage curves (IV) and isothermal transient ionic current (ITIC)
      measurements. It is found that the ionic conductivity of the obtained LiF-Ti
      nanocomposite film is very low. After electrochemical and chemical lithiation,
      ionic conductivities of the lithiated composite films are increased to be 10-3
      and 10-4 S/cm separately. This phenomenon indicates that the phase boundary
      between LiF and Ti could be the ionic conducting channels for external lithium in
      the LiF-Ti nanocomposite. Our results suggest a new strategy to design ionic or
      mixed ionic conductor.

PMID- 27640383
TI  - Sulphured Polyacrylonitrile Composite Analysed by in operando UV-Visible
      Spectroscopy and 4-electrode Swagelok Cell.
AB  - The electrochemical characteristics of sulfurized polyacrylonitrile composite
      (PAN/S) cathodes were compared with the commonly used carbon/S-based composite
      material. The difference in the working mechanism of these composites was
      examined. Analytical investigations were performed on both kinds of cathode
      electrode composites by using two reliable analytical techniques, in-situ UV
      Visible spectroscopy and a four-electrode Swagelok cell. This study
      differentiates the working mechanisms of PAN/S composites from conventional
      elemental sulphur/carbon composite and also sheds light on factors that could be
      responsible for capacity fading in the case of PAN/S composites.

PMID- 27640384
TI  - Electrochemical Circuit Elements.
AB  - The vast majority of electrochemical processes can be modelled by resistors and
      capacitors. These will then be, in addition to usual circuit elements,
      electrochemical and chemical resistors or chemical capacitors. The paper shows
      the significance of understanding these parameters and their connections in given
      systems for a variety of timely scientific examples. This rationale mirrors one
      of the intellectual facets, if not the most important one, of Janko Jamnik's
      scientific work.

PMID- 27640385
TI  - Linear Conductances of Gated Graphene Structures with Selected Connectivity.
AB  - The ratio of conductances through carbon-ring based molecules are calculated for
      various positions of source-drain electrode leads on the molecule. These ratios
      are usually integers the so-called magic numbers. We find that deviations of the
      magic number ratios are either zero or quadratic in ratios of tight-binding model
      parameters.

PMID- 27640386
TI  - Interactions of L-Aspartic Acid with Aqueous Solution of 1,2-Propanediol at
      Different Temperatures: A Volumetric, Compressibility and Viscometric Approach.
AB  - The volumetric, acoustic and viscometric methods are used for investigating the
      interactions of L-aspartic acid (Asp) in aqueous solution of 1,2-propanediol (PD)
      over a temperature of (298.15, 303.15 and 308.15) K at atmospheric pressure.
      Using the experimental results, the apparent molar volume, Vphi, limiting
      apparent molar volume, V0phi, the slope, Sv, and partial molar volume of
      transfer, V0phi,tr, have been calculated from density data. The apparent molar
      isentropic compressibility, K phi,s, limiting apparent molar isentropic
      compressibility, K0phi,s, its slope, Sk, and partial molar compressibility of
      transfer, K0phi,s, tr, have been calculated from speed of sound data. These
      values are also used for calculating the number of water molecules hydrated, nH,
      to the Asp. The viscosity data has also been used to determine relative viscosity
      etar, viscosity B-coefficients, temperature derivative of B-coefficients, dB/dT
      and viscosity B-coefficients of transfer, Btr. The calculated parameters have
      been discussed in terms of various solute-solute and solute-solvent interactions
      prevailing in these solutions. Further, a detailed insight into the
      physicochemical interactions between Asp and aqueous PD, e.g., ion-hydrophilic
      and hydrophilic-hydrophilic interactions along with the structure-making tendency
      have been retrieved through the perusal of these calculated parameters.

PMID- 27640387
TI  - Carbon Nanotube-Supported Butyl 1-Sulfonic Acid Groups as a Novel and
      Environmentally Compatible Catalyst for the Synthesis of 1,8-Dioxo
      octahydroxanthenes.
AB  - A novel multiwalled carbon nanotube catalyst with -SO3H functional groups was
      easily prepared from its starting materials and used as an efficient
      heterogeneous catalyst for one-pot Knoevenagel condensation, Michael addition,
      and cyclodehydration of 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione (dimedone) with various
      aromatic aldehydes. Using this method 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes were obtained
      in excellent yields at room temperature. The present method is superior in terms
      of reaction temperature, reaction time, easy work-up, high yields, and ease of
      recovery of catalyst.

PMID- 27640388
TI  - Heteroannelation of Cyclic Ketones: Synthesis, Characterization and Antitumor
      Evaluation of Some Condensed Azine Derivatives.
AB  - A series of pyrimidine and thiazine derivatives was synthesized by one-pot
      reaction of cyclopentanone with a mixture of an aromatic aldehyde, namely o
      anisaldehyde, and different ureas, namely urea, guanidine and thiourea,
      respectively. Furthermore, cycloaddition reaction of active methylene reagents,
      namely acetyl acetone, malononitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, cyanoacetamide and N
      phenyl cyanoacetamide with 2,6-bis(2-methoxybenzylidene)cyclohexanone afforded
      chromene and quinoline derivatives in basic medium. The antitumor evaluation of
      some new compounds against three human cell lines, namely MCF-7, NCI-H460 and SF
      268 showed significant and moderate activity compared with the positive control
      doxorubicin.

PMID- 27640389
TI  - Crystal Structure, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis and Computational Studies of
      Thiazolidin-4-one derivative: (Z)-5-(4-Chlorobenzylidene)-3-(2-ethoxyphenyl)-2
      thioxothiazolidin-4-one.
AB  - The title compound (Z)-5-(4-chlorobenzylidene)-3-(2-ethoxyphenyl)-2
      thioxothiazolidin-4-one (CBBTZ) was characterized by X-ray single crystal
      diffraction, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra. Theoretical investigations were carried
      out using HF and DFT levels of theory at 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The X-ray
      structure is compared with that computed. The calculated geometrical parameters
      are in good agreement with those determined by X-ray diffraction. The dihedral
      angle between the two benzene rings is 16.89(5) degrees  indicating that the
      structure is non planar. The molecule exhibits intraand intermolecular contacts
      of type C-H...O, C-H...S and C-H...Cl. The intercontacts in the crystal structure
      are explored using Hirshfeld surfaces analysis method.

PMID- 27640390
TI  - Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2 Nanocomposite as a Robust and Effective Catalyst for the One-pot
      Synthesis of Polysubstituted Dihydropyridines.
AB  - A practical, simple and efficient method for the synthesis of polysubstituted
      dihydropyridines was described via multicomponent reactions of aldehydes,
      arylamines, dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and malononitrile/ethyl acetoacetate
      in the presence of Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2 nanocomposites. The present methodology
      provides a novel and efficient method for the synthesis of dihydropyridine
      derivatives with some advantages, such as excellent yields, short reaction times,
      recoverability and low catalyst loading. The nanomagnetic catalyst could be
      readily recovered using an external magnet and reused several times without any
      significant loss in activity. The catalyst was fully characterized by FT-IR, SEM,
      XRD, EDX and VSM analysis.

PMID- 27640391
TI  - Synthesis of 6-N-R-Tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazolin-5(6H)-ones and Their Anticancer
      Activity.
AB  - Chemical compounds with tetrazole ring are very interesting systems that can be
      valuable in pharmaceutical and clinical applications, especially as anticancer
      agents. In this work, novel 6-N-R-tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazolin-5(6H)-ones were
      synthesized. A large set of IR, LC-, EI-MS, 1H, 13C NMR and elemental analysis
      data were collected and evaluated for their structures and purity. Details of
      synthesis, namely the N-alkylation, are discussed, including reactions with
      secondary and tertiary amides. Four new synthesized compounds (2.7, 3.2, 5.2,
      5.3) were tested in vitro for anticancer activity at 10 MUM against 60 cell lines
      of nine different cancer types: leukemia, melanoma, lung, colon, CNS, ovarian,
      renal, prostate, and breast cancers. Further synthesis of substances within the
      series of substituted tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazoline systems will be attempted to
      develop improved compounds with better anticancer activity.

PMID- 27640392
TI  - Synthesis, Characterization and DFT-Based Investigation of a Novel Trinuclear
      Singly-Chloro-Bridged Copper(II)-1-Vinylimidazole Complex.
AB  - A novel trinuclear copper(II) complex [Cu3(MU-Cl)2Cl4(1-Vim)6] with monodentate 1
      vinylimidazole (1-Vim) and chloro ligands has been prepared and experimentally
      characterized by elemental analysis, thermogravimetry (TGA, DTG, DTA), X-ray
      single crystal diffractometry, TOF-MS and FT-IR spectroscopies. The electronic
      and structural properties of the complex were further investigated by DFT/TD-DFT
      methods. Density functional hybrid method (B3LYP) was applied throughout the
      calculations. The calculated UV-Vis results based on TD-DFT approach were
      simulated and compared with experimental spectrum. Based on the data obtained,
      DFT calculations have been found in reasonable accordance with experimental data.

PMID- 27640393
TI  - Study on the Complex Equilibria of Molybdenum(VI) with 3,5-Dinitrocatechol and
      Ditetrazolium Salt.
AB  - The complex formed between an anionic chelate of Mo(VI)-3,5-dinitrocatechol (3,5
      DNC) with the cation of 3,3'-(3,3'-dimethoxy-4,4'-biphenylene)bis(2,5-diphenyl-2H
      tetrazolium chloride) (Blue Tetrazolium Chloride, BTC) in the liquid-liquid
      extraction system Mo(VI)-3,5-DNC-BTC-H2O-CHCl3 was studied. The optimum
      conditions for the complex formation and extraction of the ion-associated complex
      were established by spectrophotometry. The molar ratio of the reagents was
      determined by independent methods. The validity of Beer's law was checked and
      some analytical characteristics were calculated. The association process in
      aqueous phase and the extraction equilibria were investigated and quantitatively
      characterized. The following key constants of the processes were calculated:
      association constant, distribution constant, extraction constant and recovery
      factor. Based on this, a reaction scheme, a general formula and a structure of
      the complex were suggested.

PMID- 27640394
TI  - Simultaneous GC-MS Determination of Free and Bound Phenolic Acids in Slovenian
      Red Wines and Chemometric Characterization.
AB  - Several phenolic acids (PAs), caffeic, vanillic, syringic, p-coumaric and ferulic
      acid, found in Slovenian red wines were studied using gas chromatography and mass
      spectrometry. For isolation of the PAs from wine samples, solid phase extraction
      using hydrophilic modified styrene - HLB cartridges was used. The bound PAs were
      extracted after basic hydrolysis and o-coumaric acid was used as the internal
      standard. The developed method was validated and the linear concentration range
      for all analytes was from 1 to 100 mg L-1 with correlation coefficients above
      0.999. We show that the method is repeatable (RSD<2%), recoveries were above 96%,
      and LOD and LOQ values were acceptable. In all of the wine samples tested,
      caffeic and p-coumaric acid were determined to be the predominant PAs (17-72 mg L
      1), while other compounds were found in lower concentrations. Principal Component
      Analysis and Cluster Analysis were used to study differences between wines
      related towards varieties and Slovenian wine regions. The results demonstrate
      that variety has more influence on PAs content than wine regions in Slovenian red
      wines.

PMID- 27640395
TI  - 4-Fluoro-N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene) benzohydrazide and its
      Oxidovanadium(V) Complex: Syntheses, Crystal Structures and Insulin-enhancing
      Activity.
AB  - A hydrated hydrazone compound, 4-fluoro-N'-(2-hydroxy-3
      methoxybenzylidene)benzohydrazide monohydrate (H2L . H2O), was prepared and
      characterized by elemental analysis, HRMS, IR, UV-Vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy.
      Reaction of H2L, kojic acid (5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4H-pyran-4-one; Hka) and
      VO(acac)2 in methanol afforded a novel oxidovanadium(V) complex, [VO(ka)L]. The
      complex was characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-Vis and 1H NMR
      spectroscopy. Thermal analysis was also performed. Structures of H2L and the
      complex were further confirmed by single crystal structural X-ray diffraction.
      The vanadium complex is the first structurally characterized vanadium complex of
      kojic acid. Insulin-mimetic tests on C2C12 muscle cells indicate that the complex
      significantly stimulated cell glucose utilization with cytotoxicity at 0.11 g L
      1.

PMID- 27640396
TI  - Bioaccumulation of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers by Tubifex Tubifex.
AB  - The selective uptake of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) by oligochaetes
      makes it possible to assess the bioaccumulation of individual congeners in
      commercial mixtures. Twenty-one congeners from three BDE commercial mixtures
      (TBDE-71, TBDE-79 and TBDE-83R) and as individual congeners (BDE-77, BDE-126, BDE
      198 and BDE-204) were tested on Tubifex tubifex in accordance with the OECD TG
      315 "Bioaccumulation in Sediment-Dwelling Benthic Oligochaetes". All the
      congeners that were spiked in the sediment were detected at the end of the uptake
      phase and at the end of the experiment. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF), the
      kinetic bioaccumulation factor (BAFK) and the biotasediment accumulation factor
      (BSAF) were calculated, and indicate a high bioaccumulation potential for tri- to
      hexa-BDEs and a lower bioaccumulation potential for hepta- to deca-BDEs. The
      penta-homologues BDE-99 and BDE-100 showed the highest BSAFs of 4.84 and 5.85
      (BAFs of 7.34 and 9.01), while the nona- and deca-BDEs exhibit bioaccumulation in
      up to one-order-lower concentrations. The change in the bioaccumulation potential
      between the group of trito hexa-BDEs and hepta- to deca-BDEs correlated with the
      generally accepted molecular-mass threshold for the molecular transition through
      biological membranes (700 g/mol).

PMID- 27640397
TI  - [Tesla's First Footsteps into Chemical Sciences].
AB  - For the first time a complete list of Tesla's High School professors is provided.
      The excellency of his lecturers of chemistry and related sciences is put into the
      limelight. The books and articles about chemistry which Tesla read in his High
      School times are focused together with the related published works of his
      teachers. The pioneering spectroscopic research of Kirchhoff and Bunsen began in
      Tesla's early youth and had a considerable impact on Tesla's professors,
      especially on Martin Sekulic.

PMID- 27640398
TI  - Validation Is Critical for Genome-Wide Association Study-Based Associations.

PMID- 27640399
TI  - The Predictive Value of Preendoscopic Risk Scores to Predict Adverse Outcomes in
      Emergency Department Patients With Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Systematic
      Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Risk stratification of emergency department (ED) patients with upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) using preendoscopic risk scores can aid ED
      physicians in disposition decision-making. We conducted a systematic review to
      assess the predictive value of preendoscopic risk scores for 30-day serious
      adverse events. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane
      Database of Systematic Reviews from inception to March 2015. We included studies
      involving adult ED UGIB patients evaluating preendoscopic risk scores and
      excluded reviews, case reports, and animal studies. The composite outcome
      included 30-day mortality, recurrent bleeding, and need for intervention. In two
      phases (screening and full review), two reviewers independently screened articles
      for inclusion and extracted patient-level data. The consensus data were used for
      analysis. We reported sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive
      value, and positive and negative likelihood ratios with 95% confidence intervals.
      RESULTS: We identified 3,173 articles, of which 16 were included: three studied
      Glasgow Blatchford score (GBS); one studied clinical Rockall score (cRockall);
      two studied AIMS65; six compared GBS and cRockall; three compared GBS, a
      modification of the GBS, and cRockall; and one compared the GBS and AIMS65.
      Overall, the sensitivity and specificity of the GBS were 0.98 and 0.16,
      respectively; for the cRockall they were 0.93 and 0.24, respectively; and for the
      AIMS65 they were 0.79 and 0.61, respectively. The GBS with a cutoff point of 0
      had a sensitivity of 0.99 and a specificity of 0.08. CONCLUSION: The GBS with a
      cutoff point of 0 was superior over other cutoff points and risk scores for
      identifying low-risk patients but had a very low specificity. None of the risk
      scores identified by our systematic review were robust and, hence, cannot be
      recommended for use in clinical practice. Future prospective studies are needed
      to develop robust new scores for use in ED patients with UGIB.

PMID- 27640400
TI  - Management of congenital quantitative fibrinogen disorders: a Delphi consensus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: No evidence-based guidelines for the management of patients
      suffering from afibrinogenaemia and hypofibrinogenaemia are available. AIM AND
      METHOD: The aim of this study was to harmonize patient's care among invited
      haemophilia experts from Belgium, France and Switzerland. A Delphi-like
      methodology was used to reach a consensus on: prophylaxis, bleeding, surgery,
      pregnancy and thrombosis management. RESULTS: The main final statements are as
      follows: (i) a secondary fibrinogen prophylaxis should be started after a first
      life-threatening bleeding in patients with afibrinogenaemia; (ii) during
      prophylaxis the target trough fibrinogen level should be 0.5 g L-1 ; (iii) if an
      adaptation of dosage is required, the frequency of infusions rather than the
      fibrinogen amount should be modified; (iv) afibrinogenaemic patients undergoing a
      surgery at high bleeding risk should receive fibrinogen concentrates regardless
      of the personal or family history of bleeding; (v) moderate hypofibrinogenaemic
      patients (i.e. >=0.5 g L-1 ) without previous bleeding (despite haemostatic
      challenges) undergoing a surgery at low bleeding risk may not receive fibrinogen
      concentrates as prophylaxis; (vi) monitoring the trough fibrinogen levels should
      be performed at least once a month throughout the pregnancy and a foetal growth
      and placenta development close monitoring by ultrasound is recommended; (vii)
      fibrinogen replacement should be started concomitantly to the introduction of
      anticoagulation in afibrinogenaemic patients suffering from a venous
      thromboembolic event; and (viii) low-molecular-weight heparin is the
      anticoagulant of choice in case of venous thromboembolism. CONCLUSION: The
      results of this initiative should help clinicians in the difficult management of
      patients with congenital fibrinogen disorders.

PMID- 27640401
TI  - Managing Family Accommodation of OCD in the Context of Adolescent Treatment
      Refusal: A Case Example.
AB  - Family accommodation is a common and widely studied phenomenon in families of
      youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Family accommodation has been
      associated with increased symptom severity, poorer functional outcomes, and
      reduced treatment response. While family accommodation is increasingly targeted
      in family-based treatment of OCD, there are cases where youth refuse treatment.
      In these circumstances, parent-focused treatments that target reduction of family
      accommodation can be used to improve outcomes for youth with OCD. This case study
      illustrates the conceptualization and treatment of family accommodation in
      childhood OCD in the context of treatment refusal. Treatment was implemented
      without explicit involvement of the child. Parents reported moderate improvement
      in OCD symptoms at the end of treatment and a decrease in overall parent-child
      conflict. The findings illustrate how exposure and response principles can be
      implemented without direct involvement of the child in cases where youth show low
      motivation or refusal of treatment.

PMID- 27640402
TI  - Objective severity does not capture the impact of rosacea, acne scarring and
      photoaging in patients seeking laser therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measures of quality of life (QOL) and patient satisfaction are of
      great importance in dermatology, as both impact upon treatment adherence and
      health outcomes. Patients' assessment of QOL often differs from their doctors'
      predictions and their assessments of skin disease severity do not correlate with
      patients' own perceptions. The development of laser technology has facilitated
      successful treatment of many skin conditions, but studies on patient satisfaction
      are lacking. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to determine the extent of discordance
      between patient and dermatologist-assessed disease severity and assess the impact
      of acne scarring, rosacea and photoaging on QOL. Our secondary aim was to assess
      patient satisfaction with laser therapy. METHODS: A prospective study of patients
      undergoing laser treatment for acne scarring, rosacea and photoaging was
      conducted over 1 year at the Skin & Cancer Foundation Australia. Subjective
      disease severity was determined using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Two
      dermatologists determined objective severity using validated grading scales to
      score photographs. QOL impact was measured by Skindex-16, satisfaction was
      measured using an amended Comprehensive Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ-18).
      RESULTS: A total of 147 individuals sought laser therapy for acne scarring,
      rosacea and photoaging. Dermatologists' subjective disease severity correlated
      weakly with patient-reported severity. All conditions negatively impacted upon
      QOL. Patients with rosacea had the most symptomatic impact; acne scarring was
      associated with the greatest self-esteem and social functioning issues;
      photoaging patients were the least affected. There were significant correlations
      between subjective severity assessment and Skindex-16 scores. There was notable
      discordance between dermatologist's skin severity assessment and patient's self
      reported QOL impact. CONCLUSION: Skin conditions can have a profound impact on
      patient QOL, which is affected by patients' perception of disease severity and
      not fully appreciated by dermatologists' own severity assessments. Laser therapy
      is associated with high patient satisfaction.

PMID- 27640403
TI  - ASXL1 and JAK2V617F gene mutation screening in Iranian patients with chronic
      myeloid leukemia.
AB  - AIM: In recent years, a few cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have been
      reported with both BCR-ABL and JAK2V617F mutations. Moreover, mutations in the
      additional sex comb-like 1 (ASXL1) gene were recently shown in various myeloid
      malignancies.There were no previous studies investigating the incidence of the
      ASXL1 and JAK2V617F mutations in Iranian patients with CML. Consequently, this
      study focuses on the analysis of these mutations in patients with CML. METHODS:
      In total, 66 patients with a clinical diagnosis of CML were examined at the time
      of diagnosis. Thirty healthy subjects were checked as controls. Exon 12 of ASXL1
      was amplified from genomic DNA and bidirectionally sequenced. We also performed
      JAK2V617F screening by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain
      reaction and sequencing. RESULTS: Mutations in the ASXL1 gene were found in five
      out of 66 CML patients (7.6%). We identified a novel variant (c.1968G > A,
      p.Asp656Asn) in one of the patients that has not been reported before. We also
      identified BCR-ABL and JAK2V617F mutations simultaneously in four patients (6%).
      CONCLUSION: Our demonstration of ASXL1 mutation, a putative tumor suppressor
      gene, represents an important molecular abnormality in CML. We also showed that
      concomitant detection of BCR-ABL and JAK2V617F mutations has a relatively high
      incidence in Iranian patients.

PMID- 27640404
TI  - Migrating persistent pulmonary consolidation in a child: A case of follicular
      bronchiolitis.
AB  - Migrating pulmonary lesions in children are uncommon, and most are caused by
      eosinophilic lung disease and parasite, fungus, and tuberculosis infections. A 12
      year-old boy was referred to our hospital because of an abnormal chest x-ray.
      Serial computed tomography scans performed over several months showed a migrating
      pulmonary consolidation in the left lung, although the patient remained
      asymptomatic. Finally, surgical biopsy was performed and follicular bronchiolitis
      was diagnosed. The consolidation disappeared 17 months later without treatment,
      and the patient has remained asymptomatic. Primary follicular bronchiolitis could
      be considered as one of the differential diagnosis in patients with pulmonary
      reticulo-nodular consolidation. It should also be noted that follicular
      bronchiolitis can migrate. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:E22-E25. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27640405
TI  - How to review and edit scientific manuscripts.

PMID- 27640406
TI  - Announcing the IEAM best paper award 2015.

PMID- 27640407
TI  - Advancing research and policy in the field of environmental radiation safety.

PMID- 27640408
TI  - A transformational approach to improve interpretation of environmental data.

PMID- 27640409
TI  - Author's response to Shappell (2016).

PMID- 27640410
TI  - Societal and ethical aspects of the Fukushima accident.
AB  - The Fukushima Nuclear Power Station accident in Japan in 2011 was a poignant
      reminder that radioactive contamination of the environment has consequences that
      encompass far more than health risks from exposure to radiation. Both the
      accident and remediation measures have resulted in serious societal impacts and
      raise questions about the ethical aspects of risk management. This article
      presents a brief review of some of these issues and compares similarities and
      differences with the lessons learned from the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
      accident in Ukraine. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:651-653. (c) 2016 SETAC.

PMID- 27640411
TI  - Concentration of radiocaesium in rice and irrigation water, and soil management
      practices in Oguni, Date, Fukushima.
AB  - The concentration of radiocaesium ((134) Cs and (137) Cs) in brown rice collected
      from Oguni, Date, Fukushima in 2011 was over 500 Bq kg(-1) , which was the
      provisional regulation value in 2011, and rice cultivation was prohibited in
      2012. Rice culture was resumed following the application of K fertilizer as a
      countermeasure in 2013. The concentration of (137) Cs in soils and irrigation
      water in 2013 was in the range of 1200 to 4000 Bq kg(-1) (n = 31) and 0.078 to
      1.1 Bq L(-1) (n = 7), respectively. The concentration of (137) Cs in the
      dissolved fraction in irrigation water filtered with 0.45 um pore-size membrane
      filter was a relatively constant at 0.019 to 0.038 Bq L(-1) (n = 7). The
      concentration of (137) Cs in brown rice cultivated in the paddy fields after
      implementing the countermeasure was 1.1 to 24 Bq kg(-1) dry weight (n = 29),
      which was lower than the Standard Limits (100 Bq kg(-1) ). However, the
      concentration of Cs in rice cultivated under a similar agricultural management as
      in 2011 and prior to the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' (TEPCO) Fukushima
      accident was over the Standard Limits. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:659
      661. (c) 2016 SETAC. 

PMID- 27640412
TI  - Agricultural land management options after the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents:
      The articulation of science, technology, and society.
AB  - The options adopted for recovery of agricultural land after the Chernobyl and
      Fukushima accidents are compared by examining their technical and socio-economic
      aspects. The analysis highlights commonalities such as the implementation of
      tillage and other types of countermeasures and differences in approach, such as
      preferences for topsoil removal in Fukushima and the application of K fertilizers
      in Chernobyl. This analysis shows that the recovery approach needs to be context
      specific to best suit the physical, social, and political environment. The
      complex nature of the decision problem calls for a formal process for engaging
      stakeholders and the development of adequate decision support tools. Integr
      Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:662-666. (c) 2016 SETAC. 

PMID- 27640414
TI  - The need to integrate laboratory- and ecosystem-level research for assessment of
      the ecological impact of radiation.
AB  - Despite the fact that the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents have both stimulated
      research on the environmental impact of radiation, interpretations about the
      occurrence of ecological effects in the contaminated areas still do not converge.
      In an effort to improve the situation and progress toward better general
      scientific understanding of ecological impacts of radiation, reasons that may
      explain the disagreements and discrepancies are explored. The divergence in
      interpretations of the impacts from both nuclear accidents arises from
      differences in methodological and conceptual inference strategies (a cultural
      issue) more so than fundamental differences in the processes governing ecological
      harm. Improved integration of scientific communities that use different study
      approaches should be encouraged to better understand and monitor the
      determination of the ecological impacts of radiation. Integr Environ Assess Manag
      2016;12:673-676. (c) 2016 SETAC. 

PMID- 27640413
TI  - Fukushima's lessons from the blue butterfly: A risk assessment of the human
      living environment in the post-Fukushima era.
AB  - A series of studies on the pale grass blue butterfly that were carried out to
      assess the biological effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident teach 3 important
      lessons. First, it is necessary to have an environmental indicator species, such
      as the pale grass blue butterfly in Japan, that is common (not endangered),
      shares a living environment (air, water, and soil) with humans, and is amenable
      to laboratory experiments. The monitoring of such indicator species before and
      immediately after a nuclear accident likely reflects acute impacts caused by
      initial exposure. To assess transgenerational and chronic effects, continuous
      monitoring over time is encouraged. Second, it is important to understand the
      actual health status of a polluted region and comprehend the whole picture of the
      pollution impacts, rather than focusing on the selected effects of radiation
      alone. In our butterfly experiments, plant leaves from Fukushima were fed to
      larval butterflies to access whole-body effects, focusing on survival rate and
      morphological abnormalities (rather than focusing on a specific disease or
      biochemical marker). Our results revealed that ionizing radiation is unlikely to
      be the exclusive source of environmental disturbances. Airborne particulate
      matter from a nuclear reactor, regardless of its radioactivity, is likely equally
      important. Finally, our butterfly experiments demonstrate that there is
      considerable variation in sensitivities to nuclear pollution within a single
      species or even within a local population. Based on these results, it is
      speculated that high pollution sensitivity in humans may be caused not only by
      low levels of functional DNA repair enzymes but also by immunological responses
      to particulate matter in the respiratory tract. These lessons from the pale grass
      blue butterfly should be integrated in studying future nuclear pollution events
      and decision making on nuclear and environmental policies at the local and
      international levels in the postFukushima era. Integr Environ Assess Manag
      2016;12:667-672. (c) 2016 SETAC. 

PMID- 27640415
TI  - The importance of early investigation and publishing in an emergent health and
      environment crisis.
AB  - To minimize the damage resulting from a long-term environmental disaster such as
      the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, early disclosure of research data
      by scientists and prompt decision making by government authorities are required
      in place of careful, time-consuming research and deliberation about the
      consequences and cause of the accident. A Bayesian approach with flexible
      statistical modeling helps scientists and encourages government authorities to
      make decisions based on environmental data available in the early stages of a
      disaster. It is evident from Fukushima and similar accidents that classical
      research methods involving statistical methodologies that require rigorous
      experimental design and complex data sets are too cumbersome and delay important
      actions that may be critical in the early stages of an environmental disaster.
      Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:680-682. (c) 2016 SETAC. 

PMID- 27640417
TI  - Learned discourses: Timely scientific opinions.

PMID- 27640416
TI  - Development of a bioavailability-based risk assessment approach for nickel in
      freshwater sediments.
AB  - To assess nickel (Ni) toxicity and behavior in freshwater sediments, a large
      scale laboratory and field sediment testing program was conducted. The program
      used an integrative testing strategy to generate scientifically based threshold
      values for Ni in sediments and to develop integrated equilibrium partitioning
      based bioavailability models for assessing risks of Ni to benthic ecosystems. The
      sediment testing program was a multi-institutional collaboration that involved
      extensive laboratory testing, field validation of laboratory findings,
      characterization of Ni behavior in natural and laboratory conditions, and
      examination of solid phase Ni speciation in sediments. The laboratory testing
      initiative was conducted in 3 phases to satisfy the following objectives: 1)
      evaluate various methods for spiking sediments with Ni to optimize the relevance
      of sediment Ni exposures; 2) generate reliable ecotoxicity data by conducting
      standardized chronic ecotoxicity tests using 9 benthic species in sediments with
      low and high Ni binding capacity; and, 3) examine sediment bioavailability
      relationships by conducting chronic ecotoxicity testing in sediments that showed
      broad ranges of acid volatile sulfides, organic C, and Fe. A subset of 6 Ni
      spiked sediments was deployed in the field to examine benthic colonization and
      community effects. The sediment testing program yielded a broad, high quality
      data set that was used to develop a Species Sensitivity Distribution for benthic
      organisms in various sediment types, a reasonable worst case predicted no-effect
      concentration for Ni in sediment (PNECsediment ), and predictive models for
      bioavailability and toxicity of Ni in freshwater sediments. A bioavailability
      based approach was developed using the ecotoxicity data and bioavailability
      models generated through the research program. The tiered approach can be used to
      fulfill the outstanding obligations under the European Union (EU) Existing
      Substances Risk Assessment, EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and
      Regulation of Chemicals (REACH), and other global regulatory initiatives. Integr
      Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:735-746. (c) 2015 SETAC. 

PMID- 27640418
TI  - Simple but effective model calibration for nitrite in northern lakes.

PMID- 27640419
TI  - Nitrate and nitrite holding time study completed for a northern Canadian mine.

PMID- 27640420
TI  - Long-term field data set supports the chloride-dependent nitrite guideline.

PMID- 27640421
TI  - Is commercial harvesting of beach-cast seaweed ecologically sustainable?

PMID- 27640422
TI  - A dark side of nature: Natural substances as dangerous for the aquatic
      environment.

PMID- 27640423
TI  - Uterus human leucocyte antigen expression in the perspective of transplantation.
AB  - AIM: To describe class I and II human leucocyte antigen (HLA) expression using
      different uterine tissues in the perspective of uterus transplantation. METHODS:
      Human uterine tissues were obtained from 12 women who had undergone hysterectomy
      for the treatment of benign disease. HLA class I and HLA-antigen D related (DR)
      expression were assessed via immunochemistry. HLA class I expression in the
      uterus was compared with expression in other organs and tissues, including kidney
      and myocardium samples. RESULTS: HLA class I expression was strong in the
      endometrial glands and mild in the myometrium. Staining of endometrial glands was
      similar to glomerular staining in the kidney. The myometrium seems to express HLA
      class I similarly to hepatocytes and myocardial cells. HLA class I expression in
      the uterus did not differ in younger or post-menopausal women. HLA-DR was
      expressed in the endometrial glands, but not in the myometrium. A lack of HLA-DR
      expression seemed to be correlated with cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: HLA
      expression in the endometrium and myometrium is different. The endometrium should
      be the major target of alloreactive response. As for other transplanted organs,
      assessment of HLA unacceptable antigens and multiple immunosuppressive treatments
      is necessary in uterus transplantation.

PMID- 27640425
TI  - Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid galactomannan as a diagnostic biomarker for IPA:
      still a long way to go.

PMID- 27640424
TI  - What are the threats from antimicrobial resistance for maternity units in low-
      and middle- income countries?

PMID- 27640426
TI  - The Big Five Personality Traits and Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From a
      Large, Nationally Representative Sample.
AB  - Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. Thus, it is
      vital to identify factors, such as individuals' personality traits, that may
      place men and women at risk for experiencing IPV. This study used data from Wave
      4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 7,187), to examine
      the association between the Big Five personality traits and IPV perpetration and
      victimization among men and women. High openness, extraversion, and neuroticism
      emerged as the three most important risk factors associated with IPV. Although
      risk factors were found to be relatively similar for IPV perpetration and IPV
      victimization, some gender differences emerged, showing that extraversion was
      only connected to IPV for women but not for men. The present findings may bear
      important considerations for researchers and practitioners working with
      individuals and couples affected by IPV.

PMID- 27640427
TI  - Sporadic adult acute viral hepatitis in Northeast India is predominantly
      hepatitis A virus related.

PMID- 27640428
TI  - Thermal Rate Constants for the O(3P) + CH4 -> OH + CH3 Reaction: The Effects of
      Quantum Tunneling and Potential Energy Barrier Shape.
AB  - The rate constants and kinetic isotope effects for the O(3P) + CH4 reaction have
      been investigated with the quantum instanton method in full dimensionality. The
      calculated rate constants are in good agreement with the experimental values
      above 400 K, below which the measured values are scattered. Compared to other
      theoretical approaches, the quantum instanton method predicts the largest quantum
      tunneling effect, so it gives the largest rate constants at low temperatures. The
      calculated kinetic isotope effects are always much larger than 1 and increase
      with decreasing temperature, due to the zero-point energy and quantum tunneling.
      Our calculations on different potential energy surfaces demonstrate that the
      potential energy barrier shape dominates the magnitude of quantum tunneling and
      has a great effect on the kinetic isotope effect.

PMID- 27640429
TI  - Shape-Tunable Charge Carrier Dynamics at the Interfaces between Perovskite
      Nanocrystals and Molecular Acceptors.
AB  - Hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites have recently emerged as an important class
      of materials and have exhibited remarkable performance in photovoltaics. To
      further improve their device efficiency, an insightful understanding of the
      interfacial charge transfer (CT) process is required. Here, we report the first
      direct experimental observation of the tremendous effect that the shape of
      perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) has on interfacial CT in the presence of a
      molecular acceptor. A dramatic change in CT dynamics at the interfaces of three
      different NC shapes, spheres, platelets, and cubes, is recorded. Our results
      clearly demonstrate that the mechanism of CT is significantly affected by the NC
      shape. More importantly, the results demonstrate that complexation on the NC
      surface acts as an additional driving force not only to tune the CT dynamics but
      also to control the reaction mechanism at the interface. This observation opens a
      new venue for further developing perovskite NCs-based applications.

PMID- 27640430
TI  - Sub-Picosecond Auger-Mediated Hole-Trapping Dynamics in Colloidal CdSe/CdS
      Core/Shell Nanoplatelets.
AB  - Quasi-two-dimensional colloidal nanoplatelets (NPLs) have recently emerged as a
      class of semiconductor nanomaterials whose atomically precise monodisperse
      thicknesses give rise to narrow absorption and emission spectra. However, the sub
      picosecond carrier dynamics of NPLs at the band edge remain largely unknown,
      despite their importance in determining the optoelectronic properties of these
      materials. Here, we use a combination of femtosecond transient absorption
      spectroscopy and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the
      early time carrier dynamics of CdSe/CdS core/shell NPLs. Band-selective probing
      reveals sub-picosecond Auger-mediated trapping of holes with an effective second
      order rate constant of 3.5 +/- 1.0 cm2/s. Concomitant spectral blue shifts that
      are indicative of Auger hole heating are found to occur on the same time scale as
      the sub-picosecond trapping dynamics, whereas spectral red shifts that emerge at
      low excitation densities furnish an electron-cooling time scale of 0.84 +/- 0.09
      ps. Finally, nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations relate the observed sub
      picosecond Auger-mediated hole-trapping dynamics to a shallow trap state that
      originates from the incomplete passivation of dangling bonds on the NPL surface.

PMID- 27640431
TI  - Molecular characterization of a first begomovirus associated with lentil (Lens
      culinaris) from India.
AB  - A disease of lentil with symptoms of distortion, mottling and chlorosis in the
      leaves, shortening of internodes and excessive branching was noticed in lentil at
      Kanpur, India, during 2012-2014. Results of polymerase chain reaction and reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction employed to detect suspected RNA and DNA
      viruses indicated involvement of a geminivirus, which was further characterized
      by sequencing of full genome amplified by rolling circle amplification. Analysis
      of full length DNA-A revealed 96.4-96.7% nucleotide similarity with bitter gourd
      yellow vein virus (BGYVV) isolates and tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV)
      isolate. As per the recent revision of begomovirus species demarcation criteria,
      if a new virus isolate shares >=91% nt sequence identity with any other isolate
      of an existing species, it should be treated as an isolate of that species, even
      if it is <91% identical to all other isolates from that species. This made BGYVV
      an isolate of ToLCNDV and resulted in the de-recognizing of the BGGYV. Hence, the
      present virus has been named as a strain of ToLCNDV and designated as Tomato leaf
      curl New Delhi virus-Lentil-[India:Kanpur:Lentil:2014] with the acronym as
      ToLCNDV-Lentil-[IN:Knp:Len:14]. This is the first report of a begomovirus found
      associated with a disease in lentil from India. 

PMID- 27640432
TI  - Yellow mosaic symptom caused by the nuclear shuttle protein gene of mungbean
      yellow mosaic virus is associated with single-stranded DNA accumulation and
      mesophyll spread of the virus.
AB  - Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-[India:Vigna] (MYMV-[IN:Vig]), a blackgram isolate
      of MYMV, causes yellow mosaic disease in blackgram and mungbean. Two variable DNA
      B components, KA22 and KA27, cause distinct symptoms in blackgram [V. mungo (L.)
      Hepper] with the same DNA-A component. KA22 + DNA-A-agroinoculated blackgram
      plants displayed yellow mosaic symptom and accumulated high levels of viral
      single-stranded (ss) DNA. KA27 + DNA-A-agroinoculated blackgram plants displayed
      severe stunting symptom and accumulated very low levels of viral ssDNA. However,
      in mungbean [V. radiata (L.) Wilczek], KA27 + DNA-A caused yellow mosaic symptom
      and a high level of viral ssDNA accumulated. Swapping of KA27 DNA-B with the
      nuclear shuttle protein gene (NSP) of KA22 DNA-B (KA27xKA22 NSP) caused yellow
      mosaic symptom in blackgram, suggesting that KA22 NSP is the determinant of
      yellow mosaic symptom. Interestingly, KA27xKA22 NSP-infected blackgram plants
      accumulated high levels of viral ssDNA, comparable to that of KA22 DNA-B
      infection, suggesting that the KA22 NSP is responsible for accumulation of high
      levels of viral ssDNA. MYMV distribution was studied in blackgram and mungbean
      plants by leaf tissue hybridization, which showed mesophyll spread of the virus
      in KA22-infected blackgram leaflets and in KA27-infected mungbean leaflets, both
      of which displayed yellow mosaic symptom. However, the virus did not accumulate
      in the mesophyll in the case of KA27-infected blackgram leaflets. Interestingly,
      the swapped KA27xKA22 NSP-infected blackgram leaflets showed mesophyll
      accumulation of the virus, suggesting that KA22 NSP determines its mesophyll
      spread. 

PMID- 27640433
TI  - Immunogenicity and antigenicity of a recombinant chimeric protein containing
      epitopes of poliovirus type 1.
AB  - To design a vaccine that simultaneously prevents both rotavirus (RV) and
      poliovirus (PV), a PV type 1 (PV1) chimeric protein using RV VP6 as a vector
      (VP6F) was constructed, expressed in Escherichia coli expression system and
      characterized by SDS-PAGE, Western blot, immunofluorescence assay and
      neutralization test. The results showed that the chimeric protein reacted with
      anti-VP6F and anti-PV1 antibodies and elicited production of serum antibodies
      against the chimeric protein in guinea pigs. Antibodies against the chimeric
      protein neutralized RV Wa and PV1 infection in vitro. The results provided a
      relevant possibility of developing novel approaches in the rational design of
      vaccines effective against both RV and PV. 

PMID- 27640434
TI  - The possible role of NS3 protease activity of hepatitis C virus on fibrogenesis
      and miR-122 expression in hepatic stellate cells.
AB  - The various roles of hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3 protein in viral pathogenesis
      are emphasized, especially in the progression of fibrosis and tumors. The levels
      of miR-122 have been widely accepted as a critical factor in viral pathogenesis
      and disease progression. However, the possible correlation between miR-122 levels
      and fibrosis state has been less investigated. Therefore, in this study, plasmids
      expressing protease competent and protease mutated non-structural proteins 3
      (NS3) were transfected into LX-2 cell line. Subsequently, the total RNA was
      extracted and real-time PCR was performed to measure the expression level of miR
      122, collagen type 1 alpha 1 (COL1A1), alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), and
      tissue inhibitor of metaloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1). Moreover, the transforming
      growth factor beta (TGF-beta) levels in the supernatants of transfected cells
      were evaluated by ELISA. The gene expression analysis of fibrotic genes and TGF
      beta cytokine in LX-2 cells showed that protease competent NS3 had a significant
      fibrogenic impact when compared to protease defective NS3 or GFP control plasmids
      (P <0.001). The results also demonstrated that the expression of miR-122 was
      downregulated in both versions of the cells transfected with NS3 plasmids (P
      <0.01) irrespective of protease function. These results suggested that the
      protease function of NS3 protein is a crucial factor for the induction of hepatic
      fibrosis but it doesn't play a complete role in the expression of miR-122. 

PMID- 27640435
TI  - Relative contribution of dengue prM- and E-specific polyclonal antibodies to
      neutralization and enhancement.
AB  - Viral surface proteins, premembrane protein (prM) and envelope (E) protein have
      been shown to induce a production of antibodies that are involved in both
      enhancement and neutralization. To explore the feasibility of modifying the
      relative immune responses to prM and E proteins, four DNA constructs were created
      and administered into groups of Balb/c mice; pPW01 contains prM and E genes of
      DENV1, pPW02 contains prM and E genes of DENV2, pPW03 contains DENV1 prM and
      DENV2 E, and pPW04 contains DENV2 prM and DENV1 E. Exchange of either prM or E
      from a heterologous serotype does not appear to have an effect on the
      immunogenicity of the proteins. We have proved that the chimeric pPW03 and pPW04
      constructs can produce humoral response in mice. Immunized sera were subjected to
      neutralization and enhancement assays against DENV2. The results showed that only
      serotype-specific anti-E antibodies conferred protective function, while the
      cross-reactive anti-E and anti-prM enhanced infection. In addition, the
      enhancement of DENV2 infection exhibited a serotype-preference for anti-E
      antibodies while such response was not observed with anti-prM, reflecting a
      degree of structural conservation of prM. Taken together, neutralization and
      enhancement appeared to occur at the same time during the course of infection.
      Successful prevention of severe symptoms of DENV infection depends on the ability
      to induce high levels of neutralizing antibodies to subdue the effect of
      enhancing antibodies. 

PMID- 27640436
TI  - Sequence analysis and structural implications of rotavirus capsid proteins.
AB  - Rotavirus is the major cause of severe virus-associated gastroenteritis worldwide
      in children aged 5 and younger. Many children lose their lives annually due to
      this infection and the impact is particularly pronounced in developing countries.
      The mature rotavirus is a non-enveloped triple-layered nucleocapsid containing 11
      double stranded RNA segments. Here a global view on the sequence and structure of
      the three main capsid proteins, VP2, VP6 and VP7 is shown by generating a
      consensus sequence for each of these rotavirus proteins, for each species
      obtained from published data of representative rotavirus genotypes from across
      the world and across species. Degree of conservation between species was
      represented on homology models for each of the proteins. VP7 shows the highest
      level of variation with 14-45 amino acids showing conservation of less than 60%.
      These changes are localised to the outer surface alluding to a possible mechanism
      in evading the immune system. The middle layer, VP6 shows lower variability with
      only 14-32 sites having lower than 70% conservation. The inner structural layer
      made up of VP2 showed the lowest variability with only 1-16 sites having less
      than 70% conservation across species. The results correlate with each protein's
      multiple structural roles in the infection cycle. Thus, although the nucleotide
      sequences vary due to the error-prone nature of replication and lack of proof
      reading, the corresponding amino acid sequence of VP2, 6 and 7 remain relatively
      conserved. Benefits of this knowledge about the conservation include the ability
      to target proteins at sites that cannot undergo mutational changes without
      influencing viral fitness; as well as possibility to study systems that are
      highly evolved for structure and function in order to determine how to generate
      and manipulate such systems for use in various biotechnological applications. 

PMID- 27640437
TI  - Modified recombinant adenoviruses increase porcine circovirus 2 capsid protein
      expression and induce enhanced immune responses in mice.
AB  - Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the primary viral pathogen of porcine
      circovirus associated disease (PCVAD) and vaccination is an important method to
      prevent and control the disease. The expression of PCV2 capsid protein (Cap) in
      adenovirus vector system has been investigated, but the poor immune responses
      limit its application. In this study, transcriptional enhancer element largest
      intron of the human cytomegalovirus (Intron A) and woodchuck hepatitis virus post
      transcriptional regulatory element (WPRE) were applied to increase the
      immunogenicity of PCV2 Cap adenovirus-based vaccine. Western blot and indirect
      immunofluorescence assay (IFA) analysis showed that modified adenoviruses with
      Intron A and WPRE alone or both could significantly increase the expression of
      Cap compared to the unmodified adenoviruses. Furthermore, the humoral and
      cellular immune responses of the constructed recombinant adenoviruses were
      evaluated in mice. Indirect ELISA, virus neutralizing test and western blot
      showed that modified adenoviruses elicited higher humoral immune responses than
      unmodified adenovirus, and Intron A-WPRE-modified virus immunized group had
      better immune response than the others. Besides, the results of lymphocyte
      proliferation response and cytokines release assay showed that enhanced cellular
      immune responses were induced by modified adenoviruses. These results
      demonstrated that Intron A and WPRE significantly improved the expression of the
      Cap protein in adenovirus vector system and enhanced the immune responses in
      mice, making the adenovirus vector system more applicable against PCV2. 

PMID- 27640438
TI  - Functional characterization of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus mutant lacking
      late expression factor 9.
AB  - Baculoviridae is a family of invertebrate viruses with large double-stranded DNA
      genomes. Proteins encoded by some late expression factor (lef ) genes are
      involved in the regulation of viral gene expression. Lef-9 is one of four
      transcription-specific Lefs, which are components of the virus-encoded RNA
      polymerase, and can initiate and transcribe late and very late genes. As a
      multifunctional protein encoded by the Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV),
      Lef-9 may be involved in the regulation of viral propagation. However, the
      underlying mechanism remains unclear. To determine the role of lef-9 in
      baculovirus infection, lef-9-knockout virus (lef-9-KO-Bacmid virus) was
      constructed using the Red recombination system, and the Bac-to-Bac system was
      used to prepare lef-9-repaired virus (lef-9-Re-Bacmid virus). The lef-9-KO virus
      did not produce infectious viruses or show infection activity, while the lef-9
      repaired virus recovered both. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction
      (qRT-PCR) analysis of the transcription levels in wild-type-Bacmid, lef-9-KO
      Bacmid, and lef-9-Re-Bacmid viruses showed that the lef-9-KO bacmid had little
      effect on viral genome replication. However, the transcription levels of the
      early and late viral genes, lef-3, ie-1, vp39, and p10, were significantly lower
      in BmN cells transfected with lef-9-KO-Bacmids than in the controls. Electron
      microscopy showed no visible enveloped virions in cells transfected with lef-9-KO
      Bacmids, while many mature virions in cells transfected with lef-9-Re-Bacmid and
      wt-Bacmid were present. Thus, lef-9 was not essential for viral genome
      replication, but significantly affected viral gene transcription and expression
      in all periods of cell life cycle. 

PMID- 27640439
TI  - Recombinant beta interferon could clear the low-dose infected porcine
      reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in MARC-145 cells.
AB  - Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes one of the
      most economically devastating and pandemic porcine diseases. Previous study has
      shown that MARC-145 cells pretreated with recombinant IFN-beta (rIFN-beta)
      couldn't develop cytopathic effect (CPE) of PRRSV. However, up to date, it is not
      clear whether MARC-145 cells post-treated with rIFN-beta could develop CPE of
      PRRSV. The present work showed that the MARC-145 cells didn't develop the CPE at
      120 hr post-infection (p.i.) with low-dose of PRRSV when the cells were pre
      treated with rIFN-beta (Group 1), post-treated with rIFN-beta at 4 hr p.i. (Group
      2), or post-treated with rIFN-beta at 8 hr p.i. (Group 3), while the MARC-145
      cells could develop CPE when the cells were infected with high-dose PRRSV and
      then treated with rIFN-beta at 24 hr p.i.. Furthermore, the indirect
      immunofluorescence assay confirmed that there were a few N protein-positive cells
      in the high-dose infected cells in Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3, while there were
      no N protein-positive cells in the low-dose infected cells in all rIFN-beta
      treatment groups. In addition, the numbers of N protein-positive cells in high
      dose infected cells (MOI = 10) in Group 1 were lower than that in Group 2 and
      Group 3. The results above demonstrated that both pre-treatment with rIFN-beta
      and an earlier post-treatment with rIFN-beta could inhibit the PRRSV replication
      and could clear the low-dose infected PRRSV, which indicated that the rIFN-beta
      had efficient antiviral activities when the cells have been infected with PRRSV. 

PMID- 27640440
TI  - Diet-induced obesity reduces the production of influenza vaccine-induced
      antibodies via impaired macrophage function.
AB  - Obesity is a metabolic disease characterized by low-level chronic inflammation.
      Obese individuals are susceptible to infection by viruses, and vaccination
      against these pathogens is less effective than in nonobese individuals. Here, we
      sought to explore the immunological environment in a mouse model of obesity
      induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). HFD treatment increased the body weight and
      epididymal fat mass. The proportion of activated B cells, T cells, and
      macrophages was similar between mice in the HFD group and the regular-fat diet
      (RFD) group. The Th1 cell subpopulation in the HFD group was increased, whereas
      the proportion of Treg cells was reduced compared with the RFD group. Moreover, T
      cell proliferation and cytokine production did not differ between the groups when
      cells were stimulated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies in vitro. In
      macrophages, phagocytic activity was higher in mice fed an HFD than in those fed
      an RFD, but expression levels of CD86 and MHC class II antigens were similar.
      When macrophages were cultured in vitro, the proportion of CD86-expressing
      macrophages was lower in those isolated from mice in the HFD group than in those
      isolated from the RFD group. Furthermore, lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin
      6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha secretions were significantly reduced in
      macrophages isolated from the HFD group. In addition, influenza vaccine-induced
      antibodies in the HFD group diminished more rapidly than in the RFD group. These
      results suggest that poor functionality of macrophages during obesity might
      contribute to a reduction in vaccine efficacy. 

PMID- 27640441
TI  - Protective efficacy of a prime-boost protocol using H5-DNA plasmid as prime and
      inactivated H5N2 vaccine as the booster against the Egyptian avian influenza
      challenge virus.
AB  - In this study, a recombinant DNA plasmid was constructed, encoding for HA1 of a
      selected Egyptian H5N1 virus (isolated during the 2012 outbreaks). In the
      immunization and challenge experiments, SPF chickens received 1 or 2 doses of H5
      DNA plasmid prime, and boosted with the inactivated H5N2 vaccine.
      Haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers, protection levels, and the magnitude of
      virus shedding were compared to that of the chickens that received either DNA
      plasmid or inactivated H5N2 vaccine alone. H5N1 virus A/chicken/Egypt/128s/2012
      (H5N1) highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) clade 2.2.1/C was used for the
      challenge. Chickens immunized with 1 or 2 doses of H5-DNA vaccine failed to
      overcome the challenge with 0% and 10% protection, respectively. Quantitative
      real-time reverse transcription-PCR revealed virus shedding of 2.2 x 104 PCR
      copies/ml 3 days post challenge (dpc) in the only surviving bird from the group
      that received 2 doses of plasmid. However, chickens immunized with 1 or 2 doses
      of H5-DNA plasmid as prime and inactivated H5N2 vaccine as booster, showed 80%
      protection after challenge, with a viral shedding of 1.2 x 104 PCR copies/ml (1
      dose) and 1.6 x 104 PCR copies/ml (2 doses) 3 dpc. The surviving birds in both
      groups did not shed the virus at 5 and 7 dpc. In H5N2-vaccinated chickens,
      protection levels were 70% with relatively high virus shedding (1.8 x 104 PCR
      copies/ml) 3 dpc. HI titers were protective to the surviving chickens. This study
      reports the efficacy of H5-DNA plasmid to augment reduction in viral shedding and
      to provide better protection when applied in a prime-boost program with the
      inactivated AI vaccine. 

PMID- 27640443
TI  - The synergistic antiviral effects of GSH in combination with acyclovir against
      BoHV-1 infection in vitro.
AB  - We have recently reported that bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1)-induced
      overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) partially depends on NADPH
      oxidases (Noxs). In this study, we found that the decreased levels of main
      intracellular non-enzymatic antioxidant glutathione (GSH) during BoHV-1 infection
      also contributed to ROS production. Exogenous GSH administration dramatically
      inhibited BoHV-1 replication, indicating the critical role of decreased GSH for
      BoHV-1 replication. Interestingly, GSH synergistically enhanced the antiviral
      effects of acyclovir (ACV) against BoHV-1 infection in vitro. This study not only
      illuminates the effect of GSH on BoHV-1 infection but also provides evidence that
      pharmacological modulation of GSH-mediated ROS production in combination with
      specific antiviral drugs is a viable therapeutic approach to fighting virus
      infection. 

PMID- 27640442
TI  - Immunization with live nonpathogenic H5N3 duck influenza virus protects chickens
      against highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.
AB  - Development of an effective, broadly-active and safe vaccine for protection of
      poultry from H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) remains an
      important practical goal. In this study we used a low pathogenic wild aquatic
      bird virus isolate A/duck/Moscow/4182/2010 (H5N3) (dk/4182) as a live candidate
      vaccine. We compared this virus with four live 1:7 reassortant anti-H5N1
      candidate vaccine viruses with modified hemagglutinin from either
      A/Vietnam/1203/04 (H5N1) or A/Kurgan/3/05 (H5N1) and the rest of the genes from
      either H2N2 cold-adapted master strain A/Leningrad/134/17/57 (rVN-Len and rKu
      Len) or H6N2 virus A/gull/Moscow/3100/2006 (rVN-gull and rKu-gull). The viruses
      were tested in parallel for pathogenicity, immunogenicity and protective
      effectiveness in chickens using aerosol, intranasal and oral routes of
      immunization. All five viruses showed zero pathogenicity indexes in chickens.
      Viruses rVN-gull and rKu-gull were immunogenic and protective, but they were
      insufficiently attenuated and caused significant mortality of 1-day-old chickens.
      The viruses with cold-adapted backbones (rVN-Len and rKu-Len) were completely
      nonpathogenic, but they were significantly less immunogenic and provided lower
      protection against lethal challenge with HPAIV A/Chicken/Kurgan/3/05 (H5N1) as
      compared with three other vaccine candidates. Unlike other four viruses, dk/4182
      was both safe and highly immunogenic in chickens of any age regardless of
      inoculation route. Single administration of 106 TCID50 of dk/4182 virus via
      drinking water provided complete protection of 30-days-old chickens from 100 LD50
      of the challenge virus. Our results suggest that low pathogenic viruses of wild
      aquatic birds can be used as safe and effective live poultry vaccines against
      highly pathogenic avian viruses. 

PMID- 27640444
TI  - Isolation and characterization of a goose parvovirus from Yan goose.
AB  - NO ABSTRACT Keywords: goose parvovirus; Yan goose; isolation; characterization.

PMID- 27640445
TI  - Colonization of Polystyrene Microparticles by Vibrio crassostreae: Light and
      Electron Microscopic Investigation.
AB  - Microplastics collected at sea harbor a high diversity of microorganisms,
      including some Vibrio genus members, raising questions about the role of
      microplastics as a novel ecological niche for potentially pathogenic
      microorganisms. In the present study, we investigated the adhesion dynamics of
      Vibrio crassostreae on polystyrene microparticles (micro-PS) using electronic and
      fluorescence microscopy techniques. Micro-PS were incubated with bacteria in
      different media (Zobell culture medium and artificial seawater) with or without
      natural marine aggregates. The highest percentage of colonized particles (38
      100%) was observed in Zobell culture medium, which may be related to nutrient
      availability for production of pili and exopolysaccharide adhesion structures. A
      longer bacterial attachment (6 days) was observed on irregular micro-PS compared
      to smooth particles (<10 h), but complete decolonization of all particles
      eventually occurred. The presence of natural marine agreggates around micro-PS
      led to substantial and perennial colonization featuring monospecific biofilms at
      the surface of the aggregates. These exploratory results suggest that V.
      crassostreae may be a secondary colonizer of micro-PS, requiring a multispecies
      community to form a durable adhesion phenotype. Temporal assessment of microbial
      colonization on microplastics at sea using imaging and omics approaches are
      further indicated to better understand the microplastics colonization dynamics
      and species assemblages.

PMID- 27640446
TI  - Changes in Wine Ethanol Content Due to Evaporation from Wine Glasses and
      Implications for Sensory Analysis.
AB  - The relative proportion of water and ethanol present in alcoholic beverages can
      significantly influence the perception of wine sensory attributes. This study
      therefore investigated changes in wine ethanol concentration due to evaporation
      from wine glasses. The ethanol content of commercial wines exposed to ambient
      conditions while in wine glasses was monitored over time. No change in wine
      ethanol content was observed where glasses were covered with plastic lids, but
      where glasses were not covered, evaporation had a significant impact on wine
      ethanol content, with losses from 0.9 to 1.9% alcohol by volume observed for
      wines that received direct exposure to airflow for 2 h. Evaporation also resulted
      in decreases in the concentration of some fermentation volatiles (determined by
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) and a perceptible change in wine aroma. The
      rate of ethanol loss was strongly influenced by exposure to airflow (i.e., from
      the laboratory air-conditioning unit), together with certain glass shape and wine
      parameters; glass headspace in particular. This is the first study to demonstrate
      the significant potential for ethanol evaporation from wine in wine glasses.
      Research findings have important implications for the technical evaluation of
      wine sensory properties; in particular, informal sensory trials and wine show
      judging, where the use of covers on wine glasses is not standard practice.

PMID- 27640447
TI  - A porous Si-emitter crystalline-Si solar cell with 18.97% efficiency.
AB  - A p-n junction was made on p-type Si<100> wafer (15 * 15 * 0.2 mm(3) in size) via
      phosphorous diffusion at 900  degrees C. Porous Si (PSi) with ultralow
      reflectivity (<0.3% in the ultraviolet and visible regimes) was achieved by
      etching a Ag-coated n(+) Si emitter in a solution of HF, H2O2 and H2O. The PSi
      was found to mainly consist of Si nanocrystallites with bandgap widths larger
      than that of bulk Si. Compared to other micro- or nanostructured Si-based
      crystalline-Si solar cells found in the literature, this PSi one possessed the
      feature of a graded band gap, which helped to suppress the surface recombination.
      In addition, the preparation method was readily applicable on large-scale-sized
      Si wafers. Also, the PSi acted as a down-shifter that absorbed the
      ultraviolet/violet light to which the Si solar cell responded poorly, and emitted
      a red one to which the cell responded well. Front and rear surface passivations
      were conducted by using SiO2 and Al2O3, respectively, to suppress the surface
      recombination and to facilitate the charge transfer. Indium-tin-oxide was used as
      the front electrode that was in good contact with the PSi, and Al was used as the
      rear one. For such a PSi-emitter crystalline-Si solar cell, enhancements of the
      photovoltaic responses from the ultraviolet to near-infrared regimes were
      observed; the open-circuit voltage was 606.8 mV, the short-circuit current
      density was 40.13 mA cm(-2), the fill factor was 0.779 and the conversion
      efficiency was 18.97%. 

PMID- 27640448
TI  - Managing adverse events associated with vismodegib in the treatment of basal cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - Basal cell carcinomas are the most common form of skin cancer. Some develop into
      advanced cases not suitable for standard therapy. Vismodegib is the first-in
      class oral hedgehog pathway inhibitor (which is dysregulated in 90% of basal cell
      carcinomas), and has demonstrated efficacy for advanced disease in clinical
      trials. An UK expert panel met to discuss management strategies for adverse
      events associated with vismodegib (most commonly taste disturbances, muscle
      cramps and alopecia). Managing patient expectations and implementing treatment
      breaks were considered important strategies. Quinine was useful to alleviate
      muscle cramps. For taste disturbances, food swaps alongside dietician referral
      were suggested. The experts concluded that these common adverse events can be
      successfully managed to allow optimum treatment duration of vismodegib.

PMID- 27640516
TI  - Editorial (Thematic Selection: Inflammatory and Immune Responses in Depression).

PMID- 27640517
TI  - Stress, the Autonomic Nervous System, and the Immune-kynurenine Pathway in the
      Etiology of Depression.
AB  - The autonomic nervous system is one of the major neural pathways activated by
      stress. In situations that are often associated with chronic stress, such as
      major depressive disorder, the sympathetic nervous system can be continuously
      activated without the normal counteraction of the parasympathetic nervous system.
      As a result, the immune system can be activated with increased levels of
      proinflammatory cytokines. These inflammatory conditions have been repeatedly
      observed in depression. In the search for the mechanism by which the immune
      system might contribute to depression, the enhanced activity of indoleamine 2,3-
      dioxygenase by pro-inflammatory cytokines has been suggested to play an important
      role. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase is the first enzyme in the kynurenine pathway
      that converts tryptophan to kynurenine. Elevated activity of this enzyme can
      cause imbalances in downstream kynurenine metabolites. This imbalance can induce
      neurotoxic changes in the brain and create a vulnerable glial-neuronal network,
      which may render the brain susceptible to depression. This review focuses on the
      interaction between stress, the autonomic nervous system and the immune system
      which can cause imbalances in the kynurenine pathway, which may ultimately lead
      to major depressive disorder. 

PMID- 27640518
TI  - Inflammation in Depression and the Potential for Anti-Inflammatory Treatment.
AB  - Accumulating evidence supports an association between depression and inflammatory
      processes, a connection that seems to be bidirectional. Clinical trials have
      indicated antidepressant treatment effects for anti-inflammatory agents, both as
      add-on treatment and as monotherapy. In particular, nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and cytokine-inhibitors have shown antidepressant
      treatment effects compared to placebo, but also statins, poly-unsaturated fatty
      acids, pioglitazone, minocycline, modafinil, and corticosteroids may yield
      antidepressant treatment effects. However, the complexity of the inflammatory
      cascade, limited clinical evidence, and the risk for side effects stress
      cautiousness before clinical application. Thus, despite proof-of-concept studies
      of anti-inflammatory treatment effects in depression, important challenges remain
      to be investigated. Within this paper, we review the association between
      inflammation and depression together with the current evidence on use of anti
      inflammatory treatment in depression. Based on this, we address the questions and
      challenges that seem most important and relevant to future studies, such as
      timing, most effective treatment lengths and identification of subgroups of
      patients potentially responding better to different anti-inflammatory treatment
      regimens. 

PMID- 27640520
TI  - Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Departure Interval: Does Patient Age
      Matter?
AB  - : Introduction The concept of response time with minimal interval is intimately
      related to the practice of emergency medicine. The factors influencing this time
      interval are poorly understood. Problem In a process of improvement of response
      time, the impact of the patient's age on ambulance departure intervals was
      investigated. METHOD: This was a 3-year observational study. Departure intervals
      of ambulances, according to age of patients, were analyzed and a multivariate
      analysis, according to time of day and suspected medical problem, was performed.
      RESULTS: A total of 44,113 missions were included, 2,417 (5.5%) in the pediatric
      group. Mean departure delay for the adult group was 152.9 seconds, whereas it was
      149.3 seconds for the pediatric group (P =.018). CONCLUSION: A statistically
      significant departure interval difference between missions for children and
      adults was found. The difference, however, probably was not significant from a
      clinical point of view (four seconds). Schnegg B , Pasquier M , Carron PN ,
      Yersin B , Dami F . Prehospital Emergency Medical Services departure interval:
      does patient age matter? Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):608-613.

PMID- 27640519
TI  - Zika in Singapore: insights from One Health and social medicine.

PMID- 27640521
TI  - Importance of anatomical dominance in the evaluation of coronary dilatation in
      Kawasaki disease.
AB  - : Introduction In Kawasaki disease, although coronary dilatation is attributed to
      vasculitis, the effect of myocardial inflammation is underestimated. Coronary
      dilatations are determined by Z-scores, which do not take into account dominance.
      The aim of the present study was to describe the impact of coronary dominance on
      dilatation in Kawasaki disease. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of
      coronary dilatations according to angiography categorisation of dominance.
      RESULTS: Of 28 patients (2.6 [0.2-10.1] years), right dominance was present in 15
      patients and left in 13. Early dilatation was present in all patients, of whom 11
      were ipsilateral to the dominant segment and 17 contralateral. Ipsilateral
      dilatations were present at diagnosis (9/11 versus 6/17, p=0.02) compared with
      contralateral dilatations, which developed 2 weeks after diagnosis (9/11 versus
      16/17, p=0.29). Coronary artery Z-scores of patients with contralateral
      dilatation increased at 2 weeks, before returning to baseline values (2.0+/-2.2
      at diagnosis, 4.1+/-1.8 at 2 weeks, 1.8+/-1.2 at 3-6 months, p=0.001), compared
      with patients with ipsilateral dilatation in whom Z-scores were maximal at
      diagnosis and remained stable (3.0+/-0.9, 2.7+/-1.1 and 2.6+/-1.5, respectively,
      p=0.13). Dominant coronary artery Z-scores were higher compared with non-dominant
      segments at diagnosis (3.0+/-0.9 versus 1.0+/-0.8, p<0.001) and at late follow-up
      (2.6+/-1.5 versus 0.4+/-1.4, p=0.002) in patients with ipsilateral dilatation.
      CONCLUSION: Progression of coronary dilatation after diagnosis may be a sign of
      dilatation secondary to vasculitis, as opposed to regression of Z-scores in
      ipsilateral dilatations, probably related to physiological vasodilatation in
      response to carditis. This needs to be validated in larger studies against
      vasculitic and myocardial inflammatory markers.

PMID- 27640522
TI  - Healthcare personnel's experiences using video consultation in primary healthcare
      in rural areas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients living in rural areas often need to travel long distances
      for access to specialist care. To increase access to specialist care, video
      consultation between patients in primary healthcare and specialist care has been
      used. In order for this new method to be developed and used to the fullest, it is
      important to understand healthcare personnel's experiences with this
      intervention. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe healthcare
      personnel's experiences using video consultation in their work in primary
      healthcare. METHOD: A mixed methods design was used, and the data were analysed
      using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Interviews were conducted
      with eight general practitioners and one district nurse, all of whom had
      conducted a video consultation with a patient and a specialist physician or a
      cardiac specialist nurse. After each video consultation, the participants
      completed a consultation report/questionnaire. RESULTS: Healthcare personnel
      considered video consultation to provide quicker access to specialist care for
      the patient, and greater security when the video consultation encounter was
      conducted at their own primary healthcare centre. They considered video
      consultation an opportunity to provide education and for the patients to ask
      questions. CONCLUSION: Video consultation is a satisfactory tool for healthcare
      personnel, and the technology is a new, useful method, especially for the
      district nurses. Further, video consultation is an opportunity for healthcare
      personnel to learn. However, for it to work as an accepted method, the technology
      must function well and be user friendly. It must also be clear that it is
      beneficial for the patients and the healthcare personnel.

PMID- 27640523
TI  - Emotional intelligence and non-social cognition in schizophrenia and bipolar I
      disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The different patterns of Emotional Intelligence (EI) deficits in
      schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder are are not yet well understood. This study
      compares EI levels among these groups and highlights the potential impact of non
      social cognition on EI. METHOD: Fifty-eight schizophrenia and 60 bipolar
      outpatients were investigated using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional
      Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia
      (BACS). Analyses of covariance were performed with adjustment for the BACS
      composite score. RESULTS: Compared to bipolar subjects, schizophrenia patients
      showed significantly lower levels in both EI and non-social cognition. After
      adjustment for the BACS composite score, the difference in EI was lost. The
      mediation analysis revealed that differences between schizophrenia and bipolar
      patients in strategic EI are almost fully attributable to the mediating effect of
      non-social cognition. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that in both
      schizophrenia and bipolar patients EI is strongly influenced by non-social
      cognitive functioning. This has to be taken into account when interpreting MSCEIT
      data in comparative studies in serious mental illness and emphasizes the
      importance of cognitive remediation.

PMID- 27640525
TI  - Postsynthetic and Selective Control of Lead Halide Perovskite Microlasers.
AB  - The control of photoluminescence and absorption of lead halide perovskites plays
      a key role in their applications in micro- and nano-sized light emission devices
      and photodetectors. To date, the wavelength controls of lead halide perovskite
      microlasers are mostly realized by changing the halide mixture in solution.
      Herein, we report the postsynthetic and selective control of the optical
      properties of lead halide perovskites with conventional semiconductor technology.
      By selectively exposing a CH3NH3PbBr3 microstructure with chlorine in inductively
      coupled plasma, we find that the wavelengths of absorption, photoluminescence,
      and laser emissions of exposed structures are blue-shifted around 50 nm. Most
      importantly, the device characteristics such as the photoluminescence intensities
      and laser thresholds are well maintained during the reaction process. We believe
      our finding will significantly boost the practical applications of lead halide
      perovskite based optoelectronics.

PMID- 27640524
TI  - Online Miniaturized Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation and Inductively
      Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry for Metalloprotein Analysis of Plasma from
      Patients with Lung Cancer.
AB  - Metalloproteins (metal-binding proteins) refer to proteins containing metal ion
      cofactors. The importance of these proteins has increased owing to their
      involvement in many biological processes. Here, we introduce an analytical
      platform based on online coupling of miniaturized asymmetrical flow field-flow
      fractionation (mAF4) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) for
      size separation of proteins followed by the detection of metals associated with
      plasma metalloproteins. Not only did the mild separation of mAF4 get carried out
      in a biological buffer solution to minimize disruption of the metal-complex
      structure but free metal ions and salts from complicated biological samples were
      also removed during separation by crossflow. The relative quantities of
      metalloproteins detected by mAF4-ICPMS between plasma samples from patients with
      lung cancer and healthy controls were compared by determining the peak areas of
      detected elements and retention times; among these, 7 (55Mn, 60Ni, 63Cu, 66Zn,
      90Zr, 127I, and 137Ba) out of 16 elements showed substantial changes in patients
      with lung cancer. For the quantitative comparison of metalloproteins, protein
      fractions during mAF4 were collected and analyzed by nanoflow liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using isotope-coded carbamidomethylation.
      Quantitative analysis showed that some metalloproteins associated with 55Mn,
      60Ni, 63Cu, and 66Zn exhibited changes similar to those in patients. These
      findings demonstrated the potential of mAF4-ICPMS as a powerful high-speed
      screening method for targeted metalloproteins related to diseases.

PMID- 27640526
TI  - Work of breathing, not dysoxia, as the cause of low central venous blood O2
      saturation in sepsis.

PMID- 27640527
TI  - Effect-Directed Analysis of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Agonists in Sediments from
      the Three Gorges Reservoir, China.
AB  - The construction of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in the Yangtze River raises great
      concern in ecotoxicological research since large amounts of pollutants enter the
      Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) water bodies after TGD impoundment. In this work,
      effect-directed analysis (EDA), combining effect assessment, fractionation
      procedure, and target and nontarget analyses, was used to characterize aryl
      hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists in sediments of the TGR. Priority polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) containing four to five aromatic rings were found to
      contribute significantly to the overall observed effects in the area of
      Chongqing. The relatively high potency fractions in the Kaixian area were
      characterized by PAHs and methylated derivatives thereof and heterocyclic
      polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) such as dinaphthofurans. Benzothiazole and
      derivatives were identified as possible AhR agonists in the Kaixian area based on
      nontarget liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). To
      our knowledge, this study is the first one applying the EDA approach and
      identifying potential AhR agonists in TGR.

PMID- 27640528
TI  - Metabolomes of Potato Root Exudates: Compounds That Stimulate Resting Spore
      Germination of the Soil-Borne Pathogen Spongospora subterranea.
AB  - Root exudation has importance in soil chemical ecology influencing rhizosphere
      microbiota. Prior studies reported root exudates from host and nonhost plants
      stimulated resting spore germination of Spongospora subterranea, the powdery scab
      pathogen of potato, but the identities of stimulatory compounds were unknown.
      This study showed that potato root exudates stimulated S. subterranea resting
      spore germination, releasing more zoospores at an earlier time than the control.
      We detected 24 low molecular weight organic compounds within potato root exudates
      and identified specific amino acids, sugars, organic acids, and other compounds
      that were stimulatory to S. subterranea resting spore germination. Given that
      several stimulatory compounds are commonly found in exudates of diverse plant
      species, we support observations of nonhost-specific stimulation. We provide
      knowledge of S. subterranea resting spore biology and chemical ecology that may
      be useful in formulating new disease management strategies.

PMID- 27640529
TI  - Treatments for compulsive buying: A systematic review of the quality,
      effectiveness and progression of the outcome evidence.
AB  - Background and aims This review appraises the progression and status of the
      evidence base for the treatment of compulsive buying disorder (CBD), in order to
      highlight what currently works and to prompt useful future research. Methods
      Online databases ISI Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, and PubMed via Ovid were
      searched at two time points. Two quality checklists and an established model of
      therapy evaluation (hourglass model) evaluated the quality and progression of
      both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy treatments for CBD. Uncontrolled effect
      sizes were calculated and meta-regression analyses were performed regarding
      treatment duration. Results A total of 29 articles met the inclusion criteria,
      which were divided into psychotherapy (n = 17) and pharmacotherapy treatments (n
      = 12). Of the 29 studies, only 5 studies have been tested under conditions of
      high methodological quality. Both forms of treatment had been evaluated in a
      haphazard manner across the stages of the hourglass model. Although large effects
      were demonstrated for group psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, such evidence of
      effectiveness was undermined by poor study quality and risk of publication bias.
      Long-term CBD treatment was associated with improved outcome with
      pharmacotherapy, but not when delivering psychotherapy. Discussion Group
      psychotherapy currently appears the most promising treatment option for CBD. Poor
      methodological control and sporadic evaluation of specific treatments have slowed
      the generation of a convincing evidence base for CBD treatment. Defining the
      active ingredients of effective CBD treatment is a key research goal. 

PMID- 27640531
TI  - Actinomyces spp. gene expression in root caries lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The studies of the distribution of Actinomyces spp. on carious and
      non-carious root surfaces have not been able to confirm the association of these
      bacteria with root caries, although they were extensively implicated as a prime
      suspect in root caries. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to observe the gene
      expression of Actinomyces spp. in the microbiota of root surfaces with and
      without caries. DESIGN: The oral biofilms from exposed sound root surface (SRS;
      n=10) and active root caries (RC; n=30) samples were collected. The total
      bacterial RNA was extracted, and the mRNA was isolated. Samples with low RNA
      concentration were pooled, yielding a final sample size of SRS=10 and RC=9.
      Complementary DNA (cDNA) libraries were prepared and sequenced on an
      Illumina((r)) HiSeq 2500 system. Sequence reads were mapped to eight Actinomyces
      genomes. Count data were normalized using DESeq2 to analyse differential gene
      expression applying the Benjamini-Hochberg correction (false discovery rate
      [FDR]<0.001). RESULTS: Actinomyces spp. had similar numbers of reads (Mann
      Whitney U-test; p>0.05), except for Actinomyces OT178 (p=0.001) and Actinomyces
      gerencseriae (p=0.004), which had higher read counts in the SRS. Genes that code
      for stress proteins (clp, dnaK, and groEL), enzymes of glycolysis pathways
      (including enolase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase), adhesion (Type-2
      fimbrial and collagen-binding protein), and cell growth (EF-Tu) were highly - but
      not differentially (p>0.001) - expressed in both groups. Genes with the most
      significant upregulation in RC were those coding for hypothetical proteins and
      uracil DNA glycosylase (p=2.61E-17). The gene with the most significant
      upregulation in SRS was a peptide ABC transporter substrate-binding protein
      (log2FC=-6.00, FDR=2.37E-05). CONCLUSION: There were similar levels of
      Actinomyces gene expression in both sound and carious root biofilms. These
      bacteria can be commensal in root surface sites but may be cariogenic due to
      survival mechanisms that allow them to exist in acid environments and to
      metabolize sugars, saving energy.

PMID- 27640550
TI  - A high-response ethanol gas sensor based on one-dimensional TiO2/V2O5 branched
      nanoheterostructures.
AB  - Hierarchical nanostructures with much increased surface-to-volume ratio have been
      of significant interest for prototypical gas sensors. Herein we report a novel
      resistive gas sensor based on TiO2/V2O5 branched nanoheterostructures fabricated
      by a facile one-step synthetic process, in which well-matched energy levels
      induced by the formation of effective heterojunctions between TiO2 and V2O5, a
      large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and complete electron depletion for the
      V2O5 nanobranches induced by the branched-nanofiber structures are all beneficial
      to the change of resistance upon ethanol exposure. As a result, the ethanol
      sensing performance of this device shows a lower operating temperature, faster
      response/recovery behavior, better selectivity and about seven times higher
      sensitivity compared with pure TiO2 nanofibers. This study not only confirms the
      gas sensing mechanism for performing enhancement of branched
      nanoheterostructures, but also proposes a rational approach to the design of
      nanostructure-based chemical sensors with desirable performance. 

PMID- 27640551
TI  - Association of polymorphisms in Dickopff (DKK) gene towards modulating risk for
      lung cancer in north Indians.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the association between the genetic variants of DKK4
      (rs2073664), DKK3 (rs2291599, rs3206824 and rs7391689) and DKK2 (rs447372,
      rs419558 and rs17037102) and lung cancer predisposition in north Indians.
      MATERIALS & METHODS: A total of 600 subjects were genotyped using PCR restriction
      fragment length polymorphism technique. Association analysis was carried out
      using logistic regression approach. RESULTS: DKK3 rs7396187 showed a protective
      effect (p = 0.01). Subjects with heterozygous genotype of DKK2 rs17037102 and
      rs419558 showed an increased risk. The variant genotype of the genotypic
      combination, DKK3 rs3206824 and DKK2 rs419558 showed a twofold increased risk (p
      = 0.008). Lung cancer risk increased four-times in subjects with variant genotype
      of all the three DKK2 variants. CONCLUSION: DKK2 is certainly playing a crucial
      role in modulating cancer susceptibility.

PMID- 27640530
TI  - Phage therapy against Enterococcus faecalis in dental root canals.
AB  - Antibiotic resistance is an ever-growing problem faced by all major sectors of
      health care, including dentistry. Recurrent infections related to multidrug
      resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,
      carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci
      (VRE) in hospitals are untreatable and question the effectiveness of notable
      drugs. Two major reasons for these recurrent infections are acquired antibiotic
      resistance genes and biofilm formation. None of the traditionally known effective
      techniques have been able to efficiently resolve these issues. Hence, development
      of a highly effective antibacterial practice has become inevitable. One example
      of a hard-to-eradicate pathogen in dentistry is Enterococcus faecalis, which is
      one of the most common threats observed in recurrent root canal treatment
      failures, of which the most problematic to treat are its biofilm-forming VRE
      strains. An effective response against such infections could be the use of
      bacteriophages (phages). Phage therapy was found to be highly effective against
      biofilm and multidrug-resistant bacteria and has other advantages like ease of
      isolation and possibilities for genetic manipulations. The potential of phage
      therapy in dentistry, in particular against E. faecalis biofilms in root canals,
      is almost unexplored. Here we review the efforts to develop phage therapy against
      biofilms. We also focus on the phages isolated against E. faecalis and discuss
      the possibility of using phages against E. faecalis biofilm in root canals. 

PMID- 27640552
TI  - Epidemiology of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Utilization in Four Indian
      Emergency Departments.
AB  - : Introduction Without a universal Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system in
      India, data on the epidemiology of patients who utilize EMS are limited. This
      retrospective chart review aimed to quantify and describe the burden of disease
      and patient demographics of patients who arrived by EMS to four Indian emergency
      departments (EDs) in order to inform a national EMS curriculum. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review was performed on patients transported by EMS over a
      three-month period in 2014 to four private EDs in India. A total of 17,541
      patient records were sampled from the four sites over the study period. Of these
      records, 1,723 arrived by EMS and so were included for further review. RESULTS: A
      range of 1.4%-19.4% of ED patients utilized EMS to get to the ED. The majority of
      EMS patients were male (59%-64%) and adult or geriatric (93%-99%). The most
      common chief complaints and ED diagnoses were neurological, pulmonary,
      cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, trauma, and infectious disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      Neurological, pulmonary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, trauma, and infectious
      disease are the most common problems found in patients transported by EMS in
      India. Adult and geriatric male patients are the most common EMS utilizers.
      Emergency Medical Services curricula should emphasize these knowledge areas and
      skills. Wijesekera O , Reed A , Chastain PS , Biggs S , Clark EG , Kole T ,
      Chakrapani AT , Ashish N , Rajhans P , Breaud AH , Jacquet GA . Epidemiology of
      Emergency Medical Services (EMS) utilization in four Indian emergency
      departments. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):675-679.

PMID- 27640605
TI  - Microbleeds in Alzheimer's Disease: A Neuropsychological Overview and Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - The current literature on the role of brain microbleeds (MB) on the
      neuropsychological outcomes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is heterogeneous. We
      therefore meta-analytically examined the neuropsychological literature pertaining
      to MBs in AD. Using a priori selected criteria, studies with cross-sectional
      neuropsychological assessment on MBs and AD were reviewed. Six of 122 studies met
      selection criteria and provided neuropsychological data on either AD with MB and
      without MB, or in contrast to healthy controls. The global neuropsychological
      difference between AD with MB and AD without MB based on random effect model was
      nonsignificant, heterogeneous, and small (Effect Size =-0.155; 95% confidence
      interval =-0.465 to 0.155; p value =0.326; Heterogenity: Q-value =12.744; degrees
      of freedom =5; p =0.026; I2 =61%). The contribution of MBs to cognitive deficits
      in AD remains unclear. Future studies of MB in AD should strive to use
      standardized neuroimaging techniques with high sensitivity for MB, a common
      standard for MB definition, and neuropsychological tests sensitive for detecting
      subtle cognitive impairment.

PMID- 27640606
TI  - Evaluation of an Ultrafast Molecular Rotor, Auramine O, as a Fluorescent Amyloid
      Marker.
AB  - Recently, Auramine O (AuO) has been projected as a fluorescent fibril sensor, and
      it has been claimed that AuO has an advantage over the most extensively utilized
      fibril marker, Thioflavin-T (ThT), owing to the presence of an additional large
      red-shifted emission band for AuO, which was observed exclusively for AuO in the
      presence of fibrillar media and not in protein or buffer media. As fibrils are
      very rich in beta-sheet structure, a fibril sensor should be more specific toward
      the beta-sheet structure so as to produce a large contrast between the fibril
      form and native protein form, for efficient detection and in vitro mechanistic
      studies of fibrillation. However, in this report, we show that AuO interacts
      significantly with the native form of bovine serum albumin (BSA), which is an all
      alpha-helical protein and lacks the beta-sheet structure, which are the hallmarks
      of a fibrillar structure. This strong interaction of AuO with the native form of
      BSA leads to a large emission enhancement of AuO for the native protein itself,
      and leads to a low contrast between the BSA protein and its fibrils. More
      importantly, the large red-shifted emission band of AuO, reported in the presence
      of human insulin fibrils, and which was projected as its major advantage over
      ThT, is not observed in the presence of BSA fibrils as well as fibrils from other
      proteins, such as lysozyme, human serum albumin, and beta-lactoglobulin. Thus,
      our results provide information on the universal applicability of the distinctive
      and claimed-to-be-advantageous photophysical features reported for AuO in human
      insulin fibrils towards fibrils from other proteins. Time-resolved fluorescence
      measurements also support the proposition of a strong interaction of AuO with
      native BSA. Additionally, tryptophan emission of the protein has been explored to
      further elucidate the binding mechanism of AuO with native BSA. Evaluation of
      thermodynamic parameters revealed that the binding of AuO with native BSA
      involved positive enthalpy and entropy changes, suggesting dominant contributions
      from hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions toward the association of AuO
      with native BSA. Molecular docking calculations have been performed to identify
      the principal binding location of AuO in native BSA.

PMID- 27640607
TI  - Comparison of naproxen with cyclobenzaprine, oxycodone-acetaminophen, and placebo
      for the treatment of acute low back pain.
AB  - Clinical Question Does the addition of cyclobenzaprine or oxycodone with
      acetaminophen to naproxen result in improved functional outcomes at one week when
      compared to placebo in patients with acute low back pain? Article Chosen Friedman
      B, Dym A, Davitt, M, et al. Naproxen with cyclobenzaprine,
      oxycodone/acetaminophen, or placebo for treating acute low back pain: a
      randomized clinical trial. JAMA 2015:20;314(15):1572-80. Study Objective The
      primary objective of this study was to compare functional outcomes at one week
      and three months after emergency department (ED) presentation for acute low back
      pain among patients prescribed naproxen plus one of the following: (1)
      oxycodone/acetaminophen; (2) cyclobenzaprine; or (3) placebo.

PMID- 27640608
TI  - Gastroschisis: A Review of Management and Outcomes.
AB  - We performed an evidence-based review of the obstetrical management of
      gastroschisis. Gastroschisis is an abdominal wall defect, which has increased in
      frequency in recent decades. There is variation of prevalence by ethnicity and
      several known maternal risk factors. Herniated intestinal loops lacking a
      covering membrane can be identified with prenatal ultrasonography, and maternal
      serum alpha-fetoprotein level is commonly elevated. Because of the increased risk
      for growth restriction, amniotic fluid abnormalities, and fetal demise, antenatal
      testing is generally recommended. While many studies have aimed to identify
      antenatal predictors of neonatal outcome, accurate prognosis remains challenging.
      Delivery by 37 weeks appears reasonable, with cesarean delivery reserved for
      obstetric indications. Postnatal surgical management includes primary surgical
      closure, staged reduction with silo, or sutureless umbilical closure. Overall
      prognosis is good with low long-term morbidity in the majority of cases, but
      approximately 15% of cases are very complex with complicated hospital course,
      extensive intestinal loss, and early childhood death. 

PMID- 27640609
TI  - Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Gynecologic Malignancies.
AB  - IMPORTANCE: Positron emission tomography/Computed tomography(PET/CT) is widely
      used for gynecologic cancers. OBJECTIVE: To determine when PET/CT should be used
      for gynecologic cancers. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: PubMed was reviewed for articles
      on PET/CT of all gynecologic cancers. National Comprehensive Cancer Network,
      Society of Gynecologic Oncology, and American College of Radiology guidelines
      were reviewed. RESULTS: Whole-body PET/CT is useful for (1) initial staging of
      cervical and endometrial cancer, posttherapy assessment, radiation therapy
      planning, and posttreatment surveillance of cervical cancer, and (2) assessment
      of recurrence of cervical, endometrial, or ovarian cancer in the presence of
      symptoms. It is also useful for staging and recurrence of uterine sarcomas, and
      for staging of vulvar and vaginal cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Positron emission
      tomography/Computed tomography is clinically valuable for a variety of
      gynecologic cancers. RELEVANCE: PET/CT plays an important role in detection of
      initial disease and recurrence of gynecologic malignancies.

PMID- 27640611
TI  - Effectiveness of Global, Low-Degree Polynomial Transformations for GCxGC Data
      Alignment.
AB  - As columns age and differ between systems, retention times for comprehensive two
      dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) may vary between runs. To properly analyze
      GCxGC chromatograms, it often is desirable to align the retention times of
      chromatographic features, such as analyte peaks, between chromatograms. Previous
      work by the authors has shown that global, low-degree polynomial transformation
      functions, namely affine, second-degree polynomial, and third-degree polynomial,
      are effective for aligning pairs of two-dimensional chromatograms acquired with
      dual second columns and detectors (GC*2GC). This work assesses the experimental
      performance of these global methods on more general GCxGC chromatogram pairs and
      compares their performance to that of a recent, robust, local alignment algorithm
      for GCxGC data [ Gros Anal. Chem. 2012 , 84 , 9033 ]. Measuring performance with
      the root-mean-square (RMS) residual differences in retention times for matched
      peaks suggests that global, low-degree polynomial transformations outperform the
      local algorithm given a sufficiently large set of alignment points, and are able
      to improve misalignment by over 95% based on a lower-bound benchmark of inherent
      variability. However, with small sets of alignment points, the local method
      demonstrated lower error rates (although with greater computational overhead).
      For GCxGC chromatogram pairs with only slight initial misalignment, none of the
      global or local methods performed well. In some cases with initial misalignment
      near the inherent variability of the system, these methods worsened alignment,
      suggesting that it may be better not to perform alignment in such cases.

PMID- 27640613
TI  - Bioinspired Polymeric Photonic Crystals for High Cycling pH-Sensing Performance.
AB  - Artificial photonic crystals (PCs) have been extensively studied to improve the
      sensing performance of poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc), as it can transform the PAAc
      volume change into optical signal which is easier to read. Nevertheless, these
      PCs are limited by the monostructure. We herein developed new photonic crystals
      (PCs) by coating acrylic acid and acrylamide (AAm) via in situ copolymerization
      onto Papilio paris wings having hierarchical, lamellar structure. Our PCs
      exhibited high performance of color tunability to environmental pH, as detected
      by reflectance spectra and visual observation. The introduction of AAm into the
      system created covalent bonding which robustly bridged the polymer with the
      wings, leading to an accurate yet broad variation of reflection wavelength to
      gauge environmental pH. The reflection wavelength can be tailored by the
      refractive index of the lamellar interspacing due to the swelling/deswelling of
      the polymer. The mechanism is not only supported by experimenta but proved by
      finite-difference time-domain simulation. Moreover, It is worth noting that the
      covalent bonding has provided the PCs-based pH sensor with high cycling
      performance, implying great potential in practical applications. The simple
      fabrication process is applicable to the development of a wide variety of stimuli
      responsive PCs taking advantage of other polymers.

PMID- 27640614
TI  - [Editor's Commentary].

PMID- 27640610
TI  - The Impact of Adenomyosis on Women's Fertility.
AB  - Until recently, adenomyosis has been associated with multiparity, not impaired
      fertility. Currently, adenomyosis is diagnosed with increasing frequency in
      infertile patients since women delay their first pregnancy until their late 30s
      or early 40s. Although an association between adenomyosis and infertility has not
      been fully established, based on the available information, recent studies
      suggested that adenomyosis has a negative impact on female fertility. Several
      uncontrolled studies with limited data also suggested that treatment of
      adenomyosis may improve fertility. This article discusses (i) the hypothesis and
      epidemiology of adenomyosis, (ii) diagnostic techniques, (iii) clinical evidence
      of correlation between adenomyosis and infertility, (iv) proposed mechanism of
      infertility in women with adenomyosis, (v) different treatment strategies and
      reproductive outcomes, and (vi) assisted reproductive technology outcome in women
      with adenomyosis. 

PMID- 27640612
TI  - The HOME Team: Evaluating the Effect of an EMS-based Outreach Team to Decrease
      the Frequency of 911 Use Among High Utilizers of EMS.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The San Francisco Fire Department's (SFFD; San Francisco, California
      USA) Homeless Outreach and Medical Emergency (HOME) Team is the United States'
      first Emergency Medical Services (EMS)-based outreach effort using a specially
      trained paramedic to redirect frequent users of EMS to other types of services.
      The effectiveness of this program at reducing repeat use of emergency services
      during the first seven months of the team's existence was examined. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis of EMS use frequency and demographic characteristics of
      frequent users was conducted. Clients that used emergency services at least four
      times per month from March 2004 through May 2005 were contacted for intervention.
      Patterns for each frequent user before and after intervention were analyzed.
      Changes in EMS use during the 15-month study interval was the primary outcome
      measurement. RESULTS: A total of 59 clients were included. The target population
      had a median age of 55.1 years and was 68% male. Additionally, 38.0% of the
      target population was homeless, 43.4% had no primary care, 88.9% had a substance
      abuse disorder at time of contact, and 83.0% had a history of psychiatric
      disorder. The HOME Team undertook 320 distinct contacts with 65 frequent users
      during the study period. The average EMS use prior to HOME Team contact was 18.72
      responses per month (SD=19.40), and after the first contact with the HOME Team,
      use dropped to 8.61 (SD=10.84), P<.001. CONCLUSION: Frequent users of EMS suffer
      from disproportionate comorbidities, particularly substance abuse and psychiatric
      disorders. This population responds well to the intervention of a specially
      trained paramedic as measured by EMS usage. Tangherlini N , Villar J , Brown J ,
      Rodriguez RM , Yeh C , Friedman BT , Wada P . The HOME Team: evaluating the
      effect of an EMS-based outreach team to decrease the frequency of 911 use among
      high utilizers of EMS. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):603-607.

PMID- 27640615
TI  - [Current therapy of the acute coronary syndrome - 2016].
AB  - Acute coronary syndrome is a life threatening disease with high mortality rate
      without optimal therapy. Due to the continuous development in the treatment of
      the disease, the prognosis has dramatically improved over the last 30 years.
      Apart from the improvement of the medication, the most important factor is the
      availability of an immediate coronary intervention for everyone, at any time.
      Currently, nineteen interventional centers provide this care in Hungary, 24 hours
      a day. Thanks to the European guidelines, the care system is now more efficient
      in determining who and when needs the treatment. This article summarises the
      principles of the treatment currently in use. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(38), 1500
      1506. 

PMID- 27640616
TI  - [Direct oral anticoagulants in cardiology].
AB  - Antithrombotic drug therapy is a main cornerstone - sometimes a fairly uneven
      cornerstone - of today's clinical practice. Patients treated with antithrombotic
      drugs appear sometimes unawaited at those of our colleagues, who are not
      necessarily experts of this narrow field. Furthermore, new and newer molecules of
      antiplatelet and anticoagulant medicines have come into practice, frequently in
      combination. This dramatic development has been important to patients;
      pharmacological - and recently nonpharmacological - antithrombotic treatment has
      paved the way to improve current modalities in cardiology. Combining elements of
      the "old four" (heparin, coumadin, aspirin, clopidogrel) have been the basis of
      any improvement for a long time. Nowadays, there has been an involvement of new
      drugs, direct oral anticoagulants into practice. It is time now to catch up in
      using new anticoagulants, regardless of our current speciality in medicine. Orv.
      Hetil., 2016, 157(38), 1507-1510. 

PMID- 27640617
TI  - [Risk of thromboembolism in atrial fibrillation].
AB  - Atrial fibrillation is considered as one of the cardiovascular pandemics of our
      days due to its increasing prevalence and the significant burden on healthcare
      systems. Management, especially prevention of thromboembolism associated with the
      arrhythmia is still a challenge even with recently available treatment options.
      Herein, the author reviews the possibilities of risk stratification and stroke
      prevention, which are important to all medical professionals who potentially
      encounter patients with this arrhythmia. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(38), 1511-1515. 

PMID- 27640618
TI  - [Novelties in the pharmacological treatment of chronic heart failure].
AB  - Recently, results of several novel clinical trials on the pharmacological
      treatment of chronic heart failure have been published. In addition, the new
      European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of
      acute and chronic heart failure and a focused update by the ACC/AHA/HFSA on new
      pharmacological therapy for heart failure has been reported in 2016. This paper
      intends to provide an overview of the current state of the pharmacological
      treatment of chronic heart failure in the light of the new guidelines which
      incorporate the results of the new clinical trials. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(38),
      1517-1521. 

PMID- 27640619
TI  - [Changes in the 2015 guideline of pulmonary hypertension].
AB  - The new 2015 ESC/ERS Guideline refined the diagnostic criteria of pulmonary
      hypertension. A new diagnostic algorithm is suggested. The therapeutic algorithm
      is renewed on the basis of newly registered drugs. Besides the usual sequential
      combination, the immediate (initial) combination is proposed as an alternative
      way. Pulmonary hypertension should be treated in expert referral centers. Orv.
      Hetil., 2016, 157(38), 1522-1525. 

PMID- 27640620
TI  - [Cardiovascular prevention - 2016].
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of premature death worldwide despite
      the fact that cardiovascular mortality decreased significantly in the last few
      decades in financially developed countries. This reduction is partly due to the
      modern medical and revascularisation treatments, and partly because of the
      effectiveness of prevention strategies such as lowering blood pressure and
      cholesterol level, as well as successful strategies against smoking. However,
      this positive trend is undermined by the striking growth in obesity and in type 2
      diabetes mellitus, which could also be successfully controlled by lifestyle
      changes. This summary is based on an overview of the recent (2016) European
      Guideline for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases. Here the authors
      describe preventive strategies and goals to be achieved, the most important
      lifestyle suggestions, and the secondary prevention medical treatment for
      patients with already established cardiovascular disease. Orv. Hetil., 2016,
      157(38), 1526-1531. 

PMID- 27640621
TI  - [Miscellaneous].

PMID- 27640622
TI  - Contribution of Human Oral Cells to Astringency by Binding Salivary
      Protein/Tannin Complexes.
AB  - The most widely accepted mechanism to explain astringency is the interaction and
      precipitation of salivary proteins by food tannins, in particular proline-rich
      proteins. However, other mechanisms have been arising to explain astringency,
      such as binding of tannins to oral cells. In this work, an experimental method
      was adapted to study the possible contribution of both salivary proteins and oral
      cells to astringency induced by grape seed procyanidin fractions. Overall, in the
      absence of salivary proteins, the extent of procyanidin complexation with oral
      cells increased with increasing procyanidin degree of polymerization (mDP).
      Procyanidin fractions rich in monomers were the ones with the lowest ability to
      bind to oral cells. In the presence of salivary proteins and for procyanidins
      with mDP 2 the highest concentrations (1.5 and 2.0 mM) resulted in an increased
      binding of procyanidins to oral cells. This was even more evident for fractions
      III and IV at 1.0 mM and upper concentrations. Regarding the salivary proteins
      affected, it was possible to observe a decrease of P-B peptide and aPRP proteins
      for fractions II and III. This decrease is greater as the procyanidins' mDP
      increases. In fact, for fraction IV an almost total depletion of all salivary
      proteins was observed. This decrease is due to the formation of insoluble
      salivary protein/procyanidin complexes. Altogether, these data suggest that some
      procyanidins are able to bind to oral cells and that the salivary proteins
      interact with procyanidins forming salivary protein/procyanidin complexes that
      are also able to link to oral cells. The procyanidins that remain unbound to oral
      cells are able to bind to salivary proteins forming a large network of salivary
      protein/procyanidin complexes. Overall, the results presented herein provide one
      more step to understand food oral astringency onset.

PMID- 27640623
TI  - Innate immunity: Threat level adjustments.

PMID- 27640625
TI  - Innate lymphoid cells: Human ILCs face redundancy.

PMID- 27640642
TI  - Schottky nanocontact of one-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures probed by
      using conductive atomic force microscopy.
AB  - To develop the advanced electronic devices, the surface/interface of each
      component must be carefully considered. Here, we investigate the electrical
      properties of metal-semiconductor nanoscale junction using conductive atomic
      force microscopy (C-AFM). Single-crystalline CdS, CdSe, and ZnO one-dimensional
      nanostructures are synthesized via chemical vapor transport, and individual
      nanobelts (or nanowires) are used to fabricate nanojunction electrodes. The
      current-voltage (I -V) curves are obtained by placing a C-AFM metal (PtIr) tip as
      a movable contact on the nanobelt (or nanowire), and often exhibit a resistive
      switching behavior that is rationalized by the Schottky (high resistance state)
      and ohmic (low resistance state) contacts between the metal and semiconductor. We
      obtain the Schottky barrier height and the ideality factor through fitting
      analysis of the I-V curves. The present nanojunction devices exhibit a lower
      Schottky barrier height and a higher ideality factor than those of the bulk
      materials, which is consistent with the findings of previous works on
      nanostructures. It is shown that C-AFM is a powerful tool for characterization of
      the Schottky contact of conducting channels between semiconductor nanostructures
      and metal electrodes. 

PMID- 27640641
TI  - Size-Exclusion Chromatography-based isolation minimally alters Extracellular
      Vesicles' characteristics compared to precipitating agents.
AB  - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have become an attractive field among the scientific
      community. Yet, a major challenge is to define a consensus method for EVs
      isolation. Ultracentrifugation has been the most widely used methodology but
      rapid methods, including Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) and/or precipitating
      agents such as Polyethylene glycol (PEG) or PRotein Organic Solvent PRecipitation
      (PROSPR) have emerged. To evaluate the impact of these different methods on the
      resulting EV preparations, plasma EVs were isolated using SEC, PEG and PROSPR,
      and their total protein content, NTA and Cryo-electron microscopy profiles, and
      EV-markers were compared. Also, their effect on recipient cells was tested. Low
      protein content and Cryo-EM analysis showed that SEC removed most of the
      overabundant soluble plasma proteins, which were not removed using PEG and
      partially by PROSPR. Moreover, only SEC allowed the detection of the EV-markers
      CD9, CD63 and CD81, LGALS3BP and CD5L, suggesting a putative interference of the
      precipitating agents in the structure/composition of the EVs. Furthermore, PEG
      and PROSPR-based EV isolation resulted in reduced cell viability in vitro. These
      results stress that appropriate EV-isolation method should be considered
      depending on the forthcoming application of the purified EVs.

PMID- 27640643
TI  - Editorial (Thematic Issue: Phytochemicals for Human Diseases: An Update).

PMID- 27640624
TI  - Interleukin-33 in health and disease.
AB  - Interleukin-33 (IL-33) - a member of the IL-1 family - was originally described
      as an inducer of type 2 immune responses, activating T helper 2 (TH2) cells and
      mast cells. Now, evidence is accumulating that IL-33 also potently stimulates
      group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), regulatory T (Treg) cells, TH1 cells, CD8+
      T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. This pleiotropic nature is reflected in
      the role of IL-33 in tissue and metabolic homeostasis, infection, inflammation,
      cancer and diseases of the central nervous system. In this Review, we highlight
      the molecular and cellular characteristics of IL-33, together with its major role
      in health and disease and the potential therapeutic implications of these
      findings in humans.

PMID- 27640645
TI  - Medicinal Plants Used in Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM) as Contraceptive
      Agents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, rapid population growth and unsafe abortions have
      emerged as controversial health issues in some countries. Hence, safe and
      effective contraceptive methods or agents have attracted a great deal of
      attention and the corresponding market has been widely expanded. OBJECTIVE: In
      this study, we present a review profiting from Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM)
      to introduce expedient plants as efficient contraceptive agents. METHODS:
      Medicinal plants suggested as contraceptive agents were obtained from ITM text
      books and they were also investigated using search engines to confirm their in
      vitro and in vivo efficacy. RESULTS: According to credible Iranian medical
      literature a wide spectrum of plants possesses contraceptive activity and among
      them, Ruta graveolens, Ricinus communis, Piper nigrum, and Physalis alkekengi
      were found to be more efficient. CONCLUSION: Complementary and Alternative
      Medicine (CAM), particularly herbal remedies have received a lot of attention
      because of their truly healing properties. Focusing on ITM knowledge, there are
      various comments based on medicinal plants to reduce unsafe abortions leading to
      better public health in the society.

PMID- 27640644
TI  - An Updated Review of Natural Products Intended to Prevent or Treat Oral Mucositis
      in Patients Undergoing Radio-Chemotherapy.
AB  - Oral mucositis is a major clinical challenge in oncology and is characterized by
      pain and inflammation of the mucous membrane surface resulting from radiotherapy
      for head and neck cancer or from chemotherapeutic agents. Manifestations range
      from a burning sensation to ulcer formation that affect the patients' quality of
      life by producing pain and discomfort on swallowing, ultimately leading to
      malnutrition and dehydration. Due to complications arising from the use of
      chemical drugs, in recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to natural
      based agents. The results from several studies evaluating natural products for
      the prevention or reduction of chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-induced oral
      mucositis are promising. This comprehensive review aims to provide updated
      information concerning the natural agents that are effective against mucositis in
      cancer patients receiving radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. 

PMID- 27640646
TI  - Wound Healing Effects of Curcumin: A Short Review.
AB  - Wound healing is a complex process that consists of several phases that range
      from coagulation, inflammation, accumulation of radical substances, to
      proliferation, formation of fibrous tissues and collagen, contraction of wound
      with formation of granulation tissue and scar. Since antiquity, vegetable
      substances have been used as phytotherapeutic agents for wound healing, and more
      recently natural substances of vegetable origin have been studied with the
      attempt to show their beneficial effect on wound treatment. Curcumin, the most
      active component of rhizome of Curcuma longa L. (common name: turmeric), has been
      studied for many years due to its bio-functional properties, especially
      antioxidant, radical scavenger, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities,
      which play a crucial role in the wound healing process. Moreover, curcumin
      stimulated the production of the growth factors involved in the wound healing
      process, and so curcumin also accelerated the management of wound restoration.
      The aim of the present review is collecting and evaluating the literature data
      regarding curcumin properties potentially relevant for wound healing. Moreover,
      the investigations on the wound healing effects of curcumin are reported. In
      order to produce a more complete picture, the chemistry and sources of curcumin
      are also discussed. 

PMID- 27640650
TI  - The importance of spirituality in caring for patients.

PMID- 27640647
TI  - Multiplexed, targeted profiling of single-cell proteomes and transcriptomes in a
      single reaction.
AB  - We present a scalable, integrated strategy for coupled protein and RNA detection
      from single cells. Our approach leverages the DNA polymerase activity of reverse
      transcriptase to simultaneously perform proximity extension assays and
      complementary DNA synthesis in the same reaction. Using the Fluidigm C1TM system,
      we profile the transcriptomic and proteomic response of a human breast
      adenocarcinoma cell line to a chemical perturbation, benchmarking against in situ
      hybridizations and immunofluorescence staining, as well as recombinant proteins,
      ERCC Spike-Ins, and population lysate dilutions. Through supervised and
      unsupervised analyses, we demonstrate synergies enabled by simultaneous
      measurement of single-cell protein and RNA abundances. Collectively, our
      generalizable approach highlights the potential for molecular metadata to inform
      highly-multiplexed single-cell analyses.

PMID- 27640649
TI  - The miR-33 gene is identified in a marine teleost: a potential role in regulation
      of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in Siganus canaliculatus.
AB  - As the first marine teleost demonstrated to have the ability to biosynthesize
      long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) from C18 PUFA precursors,
      rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus provides a good model for studying the
      regulatory mechanisms of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in teleosts. Here the potential
      roles of miR-33 in such regulation were investigated. The miR-33 gene was
      identified within intron 16 of the gene encoding sterol regulatory element
      binding protein 1 (Srebp1), an activator of LC-PUFA biosynthesis. Expression of
      miR-33 in rabbitfish tissues correlated with that of srebp1, while its expression
      in liver was highly responsive to ambient salinities and PUFA components, factors
      affecting LC-PUFA biosynthesis. Srebp1 activation promoted the expression of
      Delta4 and Delta6 Delta5 fatty acyl desaturases (Fad), key enzymes for LC-PUFA
      biosynthesis, accompanied by elevated miR-33 abundance in rabbitfish hepatocytes.
      miR-33 overexpression induced the expression of the two fad, but suppressed that
      of insulin-induced gene 1 (insig1), which encodes a repressor blocking Srebp
      proteolytic activation and has targeting sites of miR-33. These results indicated
      that miR-33, cooperating with Srebp1, may be involved in regulation of LC-PUFA
      biosynthesis by facilitating fad expression, probably through targeting insig1.
      To our knowledge, this is the first report of the participation of miR-33 in LC
      PUFA biosynthesis in vertebrates.

PMID- 27640651
TI  - New oral drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27640652
TI  - Clinical News.

PMID- 27640648
TI  - A multicenter study: how do medical students perceive clinical learning climate?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between students and instructors is of crucial
      importance for the development of a positive learning climate. Learning climate
      is a multifaceted concept, and its measurement is a complicated process. The aim
      of this cross-sectional study was to determine medical students' perceptions
      about the clinical learning climate and to investigate differences in their
      perceptions in terms of various variables. METHODS: Medical students studying at
      six medical schools in Turkey were recruited for the study. All students who
      completed clinical rotations, which lasted for 3 or more weeks, were included in
      the study (n=3,097). Data were collected using the Clinical Learning Climate
      Scale (CLCS). The CLCS (36 items) includes three subscales: clinical environment,
      emotion, and motivation. Each item is scored using a 5-point Likert scale (1:
      strongly disagree to 5: strongly agree). RESULTS: The response rate for the
      trainees was 69.67% (n=1,519), and for the interns it was 51.47% (n=917). The
      mean total CLCS score was 117.20+/-17.19. The rotation during which the clinical
      learning climate was perceived most favorably was the Physical Therapy and
      Rehabilitation rotation (mean score: 137.77). The most negatively perceived
      rotation was the General Internal Medicine rotation (mean score: 104.31). There
      were significant differences between mean total scores in terms of trainee/intern
      characteristics, internal medicine/surgical medicine rotations, and perception of
      success. CONCLUSION: The results of this study drew attention to certain aspects
      of the clinical learning climate in medical schools. Clinical
      teacher/instructor/supervisor, clinical training programs, students' interactions
      in clinical settings, self-realization, mood, students' intrinsic motivation, and
      institutional commitment are important components of the clinical learning
      climate. For this reason, the aforementioned components should be taken into
      consideration in studies aiming to improve clinical learning climate.

PMID- 27640653
TI  - Testing nerves: an overview of investigations for neuropathy.
AB  - This article reviews the main investigations available to assess and diagnose
      patients with neuropathy. It details the most commonly used as well as
      investigations now becoming routine in neuromuscular centres, and those which are
      less widely available. Current practice and recent developments are discussed. 

PMID- 27640654
TI  - The patient with left ventricular systolic dysfunction now and in the future.
AB  - This review provides a concise overview of the current understanding of chronic
      heart failure, focusing on the landmark clinical trials that form the basis of
      clinical management of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. 

PMID- 27640655
TI  - The rise of liaison psychiatry: challenges and implications for sustainability.
AB  - Liaison or general hospital psychiatry is experiencing unprecedented expansion in
      the UK. A liaison psychiatry team in a typical general hospital may deliver
      savings of up to L5 million a year. However, liaison psychiatry faces challenges
      associated with this pace of change, with consequences for its long-term
      sustainability. 

PMID- 27640656
TI  - Traumatic cervical spine fractures in the adult.
AB  - This article reviews fractures of the cervical spine, highlighting the pertinent
      goals of initial management, the indications for different imaging modalities and
      the different fracture patterns. Basic principles of management of these
      different fracture patterns are outlined. 

PMID- 27640657
TI  - Quality improvement in health care: how to do it.
AB  - This article outlines the steps to success in quality improvement and explains
      how quality improvement can help you, your patients and your institution.
      Although many tactics can be used to drive quality improvement, some tactics
      deliver results that are short term and unsustainable and that fail to embed a
      culture of quality improvement within organizations. Consensus is emerging that a
      bottom-up approach may be better - where the intrinsic motivations of clinical
      staff are harnessed to drive quality improvement. This is an ideal opportunity
      for clinical staff at all levels to join in. The steps involved in quality
      improvement include choosing a topic, choosing tools to measure the problem,
      using plan, do, study, act cycles to drive improvement, and then writing up and
      sharing the project. Quality improvement projects can achieve multiple outcomes
      including improved patient experience and saved costs. 

PMID- 27640658
TI  - James Lind: pioneer of naval medicine.

PMID- 27640659
TI  - Recurrent hypoglycaemia and cognitive impairment: a 14-year follow up.

PMID- 27640660
TI  - Rhabdomyolysis caused by knee push-ups with whole body electromyostimulation.

PMID- 27640661
TI  - A fractured peripherally inserted central catheter line: a rare but serious
      complication.

PMID- 27640662
TI  - Digital clubbing: forms, associations and pathophysiology.

PMID- 27640663
TI  - ERRATA.

PMID- 27640664
TI  - Clinical coding: a collective responsibility.

PMID- 27640666
TI  - Rapid sequence induction in patients with acute appendicitis: is it always
      justified?

PMID- 27640667
TI  - Hyperglycaemic hyperosmolar state.

PMID- 27640668
TI  - Seizure: acute investigation and management.

PMID- 27640669
TI  - HIV testing in the acute medical unit.

PMID- 27640670
TI  - Management of patients presenting with self-harm.

PMID- 27640671
TI  - Interpretation of pleural fluid biochemistry.

PMID- 27640672
TI  - Turning the fate of reprogramming cells from retinal disorder to regeneration by
      Pax6 in newts.
AB  - The newt, a urodele amphibian, has an outstanding ability- even as an adult -to
      regenerate a functional retina through reprogramming and proliferation of the
      retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, even though the neural retina is
      completely removed from the eye by surgery. It remains unknown how the newt
      invented such a superior mechanism. Here we show that disability of RPE cells to
      regenerate the retina brings about a symptom of proliferative vitreoretinopathy
      (PVR), even in the newt. When Pax6, a transcription factor that is re-expressed
      in reprogramming RPE cells, is knocked down in transgenic juvenile newts, these
      cells proliferate but eventually give rise to cell aggregates that uniformly
      express alpha smooth muscle actin, Vimentin and N-cadherin, the markers of
      myofibroblasts which are a major component of the sub-/epi-retinal membranes in
      PVR. Our current study demonstrates that Pax6 is an essential factor that directs
      the fate of reprogramming RPE cells toward the retinal regeneration. The newt may
      have evolved the ability of retinal regeneration by modifying a mechanism that
      underlies the RPE-mediated retinal disorders.

PMID- 27640674
TI  - Energy Conservation and the Promotion of Legionella pneumophila Growth: The
      Probable Role of Heat Exchangers in a Nosocomial Outbreak.
AB  - OBJECTIVE To determine the source of a Legionella pneumophila serogroup 5
      nosocomial outbreak and the role of the heat exchanger installed on the hot water
      system within the previous year. SETTING A 400-bed tertiary care university
      hospital in Sherbrooke, Canada. METHODS Hot water samples were collected and
      cultured for L. pneumophila from 25 taps (baths and sinks) within wing A and 9
      taps in wing B. Biofilm (5) and 2 L water samples (3) were collected within the
      heat exchangers for L. pneumophila culture and detection of protists. Sequence
      based typing was performed on strain DNA extracts and pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis patterns were analyzed. RESULTS Following 2 cases of hospital
      acquired legionellosis, the hot water system investigation revealed a large
      proportion of L. pneumophila serogroup 5 positive taps (22/25 in wing A and 5/9
      in wing B). High positivity was also detected in the heat exchanger of wing A in
      water samples (3/3) and swabs from the heat exchanger (4/5). The outbreak
      genotyping investigation identified the hot water system as the source of
      infections. Genotyping results revealed that all isolated environmental strains
      harbored the same related pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern and sequence
      based type. CONCLUSIONS Two cases of hospital-acquired legionellosis occurred in
      the year following the installation of a heat exchanger to preheat hospital hot
      water. No cases were reported previously, although the same L. pneumophila strain
      was isolated from the hot water system in 1995. The heat exchanger promoted L.
      pneumophila growth and may have contributed to confirmed clinical cases. Infect.
      Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;1475-1480.

PMID- 27640673
TI  - Structural basis of synaptic vesicle assembly promoted by alpha-synuclein.
AB  - alpha-synuclein (alphaS) is an intrinsically disordered protein whose fibrillar
      aggregates are the major constituents of Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease.
      Although the specific function of alphaS is still unclear, a general consensus is
      forming that it has a key role in regulating the process of neurotransmitter
      release, which is associated with the mediation of synaptic vesicle interactions
      and assembly. Here we report the analysis of wild-type alphaS and two mutational
      variants linked to familial Parkinson's disease to describe the structural basis
      of a molecular mechanism enabling alphaS to induce the clustering of synaptic
      vesicles. We provide support for this 'double-anchor' mechanism by rationally
      designing and experimentally testing a further mutational variant of alphaS
      engineered to promote stronger interactions between synaptic vesicles. Our
      results characterize the nature of the active conformations of alphaS that
      mediate the clustering of synaptic vesicles, and indicate their relevance in both
      functional and pathological contexts.

PMID- 27640675
TI  - DNA barcoding reveal patterns of species diversity among northwestern Pacific
      molluscs.
AB  - This study represents the first comprehensive molecular assessment of
      northwestern Pacific molluscs. In total, 2801 DNA barcodes belonging to 569
      species from China, Japan and Korea were analyzed. An overlap between intra- and
      interspecific genetic distances was present in 71 species. We tested the efficacy
      of this library by simulating a sequence-based specimen identification scenario
      using Best Match (BM), Best Close Match (BCM) and All Species Barcode (ASB)
      criteria with three threshold values. BM approach returned 89.15% true
      identifications (95.27% when excluding singletons). The highest success rate of
      congruent identifications was obtained with BCM at 0.053 threshold. The analysis
      of our barcode library together with public data resulted in 582 Barcode Index
      Numbers (BINs), 72.2% of which was found to be concordantly with morphology-based
      identifications. The discrepancies were divided in two groups: sequences from
      different species clustered in a single BIN and conspecific sequences divided in
      one more BINs. In Neighbour-Joining phenogram, 2,320 (83.0%) queries fromed 355
      (62.4%) species-specific barcode clusters allowing their successful
      identification. 33 species showed paraphyletic and haplotype sharing. 62 cases
      are represented by deeply diverged lineages. This study suggest an increased
      species diversity in this region, highlighting taxonomic revision and
      conservation strategy for the cryptic complexes.

PMID- 27640676
TI  - Synchrotron microbeam irradiation induces neutrophil infiltration, thrombocyte
      attachment and selective vascular damage in vivo.
AB  - Our goal was the visualizing the vascular damage and acute inflammatory response
      to micro- and minibeam irradiation in vivo. Microbeam (MRT) and minibeam
      radiation therapies (MBRT) are tumor treatment approaches of potential clinical
      relevance, both consisting of parallel X-ray beams and allowing the delivery of
      thousands of Grays within tumors. We compared the effects of microbeams (25-100
      MUm wide) and minibeams (200-800 MUm wide) on vasculature, inflammation and
      surrounding tissue changes during zebrafish caudal fin regeneration in vivo.
      Microbeam irradiation triggered an acute inflammatory response restricted to the
      regenerating tissue. Six hours post irradiation (6 hpi), it was infiltrated by
      neutrophils and fli1a(+) thrombocytes adhered to the cell wall locally in the
      beam path. The mature tissue was not affected by microbeam irradiation. In
      contrast, minibeam irradiation efficiently damaged the immature tissue at 6 hpi
      and damaged both the mature and immature tissue at 48 hpi. We demonstrate that
      vascular damage, inflammatory processes and cellular toxicity depend on the beam
      width and the stage of tissue maturation. Minibeam irradiation did not
      differentiate between mature and immature tissue. In contrast, all irradiation
      induced effects of the microbeams were restricted to the rapidly growing immature
      tissue, indicating that microbeam irradiation could be a promising tumor
      treatment tool.

PMID- 27640722
TI  - Ultra-sensitive detection of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the
      brain of freely moving mice using an interdigitated microelectrode (IME)
      biosensor.
AB  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a critical role in cognitive
      processes including learning and memory. However, it has been difficult to detect
      BDNF in the brains of behaving animals because of its extremely low
      concentration, i.e., at the sub-nanogram/mL level. Here, we developed an
      interdigitated microelectrode (IME) biosensor coated with an anti-BDNF an anti
      BDNF antibody in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic channel chip.
      This sensor could detect BDNF from microliter volumes of liquid samples even at
      femtogram/mL concentrations with high selectivity over other growth factors.
      Using this biosensor, we examined whether BDNF is detectable from periodical
      collection of cerebrospinal fluid microdialysate, sampled every 10 min from the
      hippocampus of mice during the context-dependent fear-conditioning test. We found
      that the IME biosensor could detect a significant increase in BDNF levels after
      the memory task. This increase in BDNF levels was prevented by gene silencing of
      BDNF, indicating that the IME biosensor reliably detected BDNF in vivo. We
      propose that the IME biosensor provides a general-purpose probe for
      ultrasensitive detection of biomolecules with low abundance in the brains of
      behaving animals.

PMID- 27640724
TI  - Evidence for Bulk Ripplocations in Layered Solids.
AB  - Plastically anisotropic/layered solids are ubiquitous in nature and understanding
      how they deform is crucial in geology, nuclear engineering, microelectronics,
      among other fields. Recently, a new defect termed a ripplocation-best described
      as an atomic scale ripple-was proposed to explain deformation in two-dimensional
      solids. Herein, we leverage atomistic simulations of graphite to extend the
      ripplocation idea to bulk layered solids, and confirm that it is essentially a
      buckling phenomenon. In contrast to dislocations, bulk ripplocations have no
      Burgers vector and no polarity. In graphite, ripplocations are attracted to other
      ripplocations, both within the same, and on adjacent layers, the latter resulting
      in kink boundaries. Furthermore, we present transmission electron microscopy
      evidence consistent with the existence of bulk ripplocations in Ti3SiC2.
      Ripplocations are a topological imperative, as they allow atomic layers to glide
      relative to each other without breaking the in-plane bonds. A more complete
      understanding of their mechanics and behavior is critically important, and could
      profoundly influence our current understanding of how graphite, layered
      silicates, the MAX phases, and many other plastically anisotropic/layered solids,
      deform and accommodate strain.

PMID- 27640723
TI  - Tin doped indium oxide anodes with artificially controlled nano-scale roughness
      using segregated Ag nanoparticles for organic solar cells.
AB  - Nano-scale surface roughness in transparent ITO films was artificially formed by
      sputtering a mixed Ag and ITO layer and wet etching of segregated Ag
      nanoparticles from the surface of the ITO film. Effective removal of self
      segregated Ag particles from the grain boundaries and surface of the crystalline
      ITO film led to a change in only the nano-scale surface morphology of ITO film
      without changes in the sheet resistance and optical transmittance. A nano-scale
      rough surface of the ITO film led to an increase in contact area between the hole
      transport layer and the ITO anode, and eventually increased the hole extraction
      efficiency in the organic solar cells (OSCs). The heterojunction OSCs fabricated
      on the ITO anode with a nano-scale surface roughness exhibited a higher power
      conversion efficiency of 3.320%, than that (2.938%) of OSCs made with the
      reference ITO/glass. The results here introduce a new method to improve the
      performance of OSCs by simply modifying the surface morphology of the ITO anodes.

PMID- 27640725
TI  - Emergency Medical Services Utilization in EMS Priority Conditions in Beirut,
      Lebanon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early activation and use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are
      associated with improved patient outcomes in EMS priority conditions in developed
      EMS systems. This study describes patterns of EMS use and identifies predictors
      of EMS utilization in EMS priority conditions in Lebanon METHODS: This was a
      cross-sectional study of a random sample of adult patients presenting to the
      emergency department (ED) of a tertiary care center in Beirut with the following
      EMS priority conditions: chest pain, major trauma, respiratory distress, cardiac
      arrest, respiratory arrest, and airway obstruction. Patient/proxy survey (20
      questions) and chart review were completed. The responses to survey questions
      were "disagree," "neutral," or "agree" and were scored as one, two, or three with
      three corresponding to higher likelihood of EMS use. A total scale score ranging
      from 20 to 60 was created and transformed from 0% to 100%. Data were analyzed
      based on mode of presentation (EMS vs other). RESULTS: Among the 481 patients
      enrolled, only 112 (23.3%) used EMS. Mean age for study population was 63.7 years
      (SD=18.8 years) with 56.5% males. Mean clinical severity score (Emergency
      Severity Index [ESI]) was 2.5 (SD=0.7) and mean pain score was 3.1 (SD=3.5) at ED
      presentation. Over one-half (58.8%) needed admission to hospital with 21.8% to an
      intensive care unit care level and with a mortality rate of 7.3%. Significant
      associations were found between EMS use and the following variables: severity of
      illness, degree of pain, familiarity with EMS activation, previous EMS use,
      perceived EMS benefit, availability of EMS services, trust in EMS response times
      and treatment, advice from family, and unavailability of immediate private mode
      of transport (P<=.05). Functional screening, or requiring full assistance
      (OR=4.77; 95% CI, 1.85-12.29); acute symptoms onset <= one hour (OR=2.14; 95% CI,
      1.08-4.26); and higher scale scores (OR=2.99; 95% CI, 2.20-4.07) were significant
      predictors of EMS use. Patients with lower clinical severity (OR=0.53; 95% CI,
      0.35-0.81) and those with chest pain (OR=0.05; 95% CI, 0.02-0.12) or respiratory
      distress (OR=0.15; 95% CI, 0.07-0.31) using cardiac arrest as a reference were
      less likely to use EMS. CONCLUSION: Emergency Medical Services use in EMS
      priority conditions in Lebanon is low. Several predictors of EMS use were
      identified. Emergency Medical Services initiatives addressing underutilization
      should result from this proposed assessment of the perspective of the EMS
      system's end user. El Sayed M , Tamim H , Al-Hajj Chehadeh A , Kazzi AA .
      Emergency Medical Services utilization in EMS priority conditions in Beirut,
      Lebanon. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):621-627.

PMID- 27640726
TI  - SCOP/PHLPP1beta in the basolateral amygdala regulates circadian expression of
      mouse anxiety-like behavior.
AB  - While disruption of the circadian clock triggers a spectrum of affective
      abnormalities, how the clock regulates mammalian emotionality remains unclear.
      Here, we characterized the time-of-day-dependent regulation of mouse anxiety-like
      behaviors. We show that anxiety-like behaviors are expressed in a circadian
      manner in mice and demonstrate that the clock machineries in the dorsal
      telencephalon (dTel) are required for the time-of-day-dependent regulation of
      anxiety-like behaviors. We identify suprachiasmatic nucleus circadian oscillatory
      protein (SCOP/PHLPP1beta) as an essential intracellular signaling molecule
      mediating this temporal regulation downstream of the clock. Using viral-mediated,
      basolateral amygdala (BLA)-specific knockout of Scop, we demonstrate that
      deletion of SCOP in the BLA exerts anxiolytic effects on the elevated plus maze
      at early subjective night, thereby blunting the circadian variation in the
      anxiety-like behavior. We conclude that the circadian expression of SCOP in the
      BLA plays a key role in generating circadian rhythmicity in the anxiety-like
      behavior. Our results demonstrate SCOP as a regulator of anxiety-like behaviors
      and reveal its key roles in the anxiogenic functions of the BLA.

PMID- 27640727
TI  - A Prospective Study of Hypodermoclysis Performed by Caregivers in the Home
      Setting.
AB  - CONTEXT: Decreased oral intake is very common at the end of life. Dehydration can
      aggravate symptoms, such as fatigue, myoclonus, and confusion. Intravenous
      hydration at home can be logistically difficult and expensive. Hypodermoclysis is
      easy to provide and inexpensive; however, it is rarely used to provide hydration
      at the end of life in the home setting. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was
      to determine if caregivers were capable of administering hypodermoclysis in the
      home hospice setting. METHODS: All caregivers underwent a 45-minute training
      session on hypodermoclysis administration and assessment of infusion site
      delivered by a specially trained nurse. Caregivers received daily calls and on
      site evaluation on Day 8. RESULTS: A total of 21 patient/caregivers dyads were
      admitted to this preliminary study: 10 (48%) female patients and 16 (76%) female
      caregivers. All patients had advanced cancer, receiving hospice care at home. All
      caregivers who received training were able to start the infusion. The infusion
      was facilitated by gravity or weight. Side effects were minimal with one (5%)
      because of the care of the needle and leakage. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study
      suggests that subcutaneous hydration could be administered by caregivers at home
      with minimal burden, equipment, and technical support.

PMID- 27640728
TI  - Impact of Gene Editing Tools, Like CRISPR/Cas9, on the Public Health Response to
      Disease Outbreaks.
AB  - The purpose of this communication is to explore the implications of genome
      editing techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas9, on public health-related responses to
      outbreaks of disease. The recent commercialization of genome editing techniques
      makes the creation and release of genetically altered pathogens a much easier
      task, increasing the possibility to the point of needing discussion. Three areas
      need to be addressed: predictions concerning potential genetic alterations,
      predictions and implications concerning the release of genetically altered
      pathogens, and the short- and long-term implications of the release of
      genetically altered pathogens. Full discourse on these topics among professionals
      in the area of public health will help to combat harm from the use of any
      genetically altered biologic weapons. The topics covered here include a review of
      the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique, including a discussion of which
      possibilities utilize genome editing. We then address predictions about the
      application of gene alterations in the context of bioweapons. We discuss a few
      basic concepts about the evolution of an intentionally released genetically
      altered organism based on circumstances and patterns gleaned from observing
      nature in the hope that this will aid in the public health response to
      bioterrorism attack. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:155-159).

PMID- 27640729
TI  - The eustachian tube: a new renaissance.

PMID- 27640730
TI  - Intubation of Profoundly Agitated Patients Treated with Prehospital Ketamine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Profound agitation in the prehospital setting confers substantial
      risk to patients and providers. Optimal chemical sedation in this setting remains
      unclear. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to describe intubation rates among
      profoundly agitated patients treated with prehospital ketamine and to
      characterize clinically significant outcomes of a prehospital ketamine protocol.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients who received
      prehospital ketamine, per a predefined protocol, for control of profound
      agitation and who subsequently were transported to an urban Level 1 trauma center
      from May 1, 2010 through August 31, 2013. Identified records were reviewed for
      basic ambulance run information, subject characteristics, ketamine dosing, and
      rate of intubation. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance run data were
      matched to hospital-based electronic medical records. Clinically significant
      outcomes are characterized, including unadjusted and adjusted rates of
      intubation. RESULTS: Overall, ketamine was administered 227 times in the
      prehospital setting with 135 cases meeting study criteria of use of ketamine for
      treatment of agitation. Endotracheal intubation was undertaken for 63% (85/135)
      of patients, including attempted prehospital intubation in four cases. Male
      gender and late night arrival were associated with intubation in univariate
      analyses (chi2=12.02; P=.001 and chi2=5.34; P=.021, respectively). Neither
      ketamine dose, co-administration of additional sedating medications, nor evidence
      of ethanol (ETOH) or sympathomimetic ingestion was associated with intubation.
      The association between intubation and both male gender and late night emergency
      department (ED) arrival persisted in multivariate analysis. Neither higher dose
      (>5mg/kg) ketamine nor co-administration of midazolam or haloperidol was
      associated with intubation in logistic regression modeling of the 120 subjects
      with weights recorded. Two deaths were observed. Post-hoc analysis of intubation
      rates suggested a high degree of provider-dependent variability. CONCLUSIONS:
      Prehospital ketamine is associated with a high rate of endotracheal intubation in
      profoundly agitated patients; however, ketamine dosing is not associated with
      intubation rate when adjusted for potential confounders. It is likely that
      factors not included in this analysis, including both provider comfort with post
      ketamine patients and anticipated clinical course, play a role in the decision to
      intubate patients who receive prehospital ketamine. Olives TD , Nystrom PC , Cole
      JB , Dodd KW , Ho JD . Intubation of profoundly agitated patients treated with
      prehospital ketamine. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):593-602.

PMID- 27640731
TI  - Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption Ionization of Phospholipids on Gold
      Nanoparticles for Mass Spectrometric Immunoassay.
AB  - High-throughput and sensitive detection of proteins are essential for clinical
      diagnostics and biomarker discovery. We develop a novel high-throughput,
      multiplexed, sensitive mass spectrometric (MS) immunoassay method, which utilizes
      antibody-modified phospholipid bilayer coated gold nanoparticles (PBL-AuNPs) as
      the detection label and antibody-immobilized magnetic beads as the capture
      reagent. This method enables magnetic enrichment of the PBL-AuNPs label specific
      to target protein, allowing sensitive surface enhanced laser desorption
      ionization (SELDI)-TOF MS detection of the protein via its specific label. AuNPs
      act as not only the support but also the matrix for the phospholipids in SELDI
      TOF MS detection. Moreover, with phospholipids with varying molecular weights as
      the encoded MS reporters, this method allows multiplexed detection of multiple
      proteins. With the use of a predefined phospholipids internal standard, this
      method also affords excellent reproducibility in protein quantification. We have
      demonstrated this method using the assays of two tumor biomarkers, and the
      results reveal that it provides a sensitive platform for multiplexed protein
      detection with detection limits in the picomolar ranges. This method may provide
      a useful platform for high-throughput and sensitive detection of protein
      biomarkers for clinical diagnostics.

PMID- 27640732
TI  - 200 GHz Maximum Oscillation Frequency in CVD Graphene Radio Frequency
      Transistors.
AB  - Graphene is a promising candidate in analog electronics with projected operation
      frequency well into the terahertz range. In contrast to the intrinsic cutoff
      frequency (fT) of 427 GHz, the maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of graphene
      device still remains at low level, which severely limits its application in radio
      frequency amplifiers. Here, we develop a novel transfer method for chemical vapor
      deposition graphene, which can prevent graphene from organic contamination during
      the fabrication process of the devices. Using a self-aligned gate deposition
      process, the graphene transistor with 60 nm gate length exhibits a record high
      fmax of 106 and 200 GHz before and after de-embedding, respectively. This work
      defines a unique pathway to large-scale fabrication of high-performance graphene
      transistors, and holds significant potential for future application of graphene
      based devices in ultra high frequency circuits.

PMID- 27640733
TI  - The in vitro effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy with indocyanine green
      on Enterococcus faecalis: Influence of a washing vs non-washing procedure.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effect of
      washing and non-washing of indocyanine green (ICG) as photosensitizer (PS) on
      bacterial count, biofilm formation, development and degradation of Enterococcus
      faecalis. METHODS: The anti-bacterial, anti-biofilm formation, anti-biofilm
      development and biofilm degradation of anti-microbial photodynamic therapy (aPDT)
      against E. faecalis was determined at concentrations of 3 to 2000MUg/mL of ICG,
      subject to 18J/cm2 dose of diode laser (808nm) in washing and non-washing
      producers. Bacterial viability measurements and biofilm assays were evaluated by
      broth microdilution method and crystal violet assays, respectively. RESULTS: ICG
      mediated aPDT, using 25 to 2000MUg/mL and 50 to 2000MUg/mL showed significant
      reduction in E. faecalis growth when compared to the control in non-washing and
      washing producers, respectively (P<0.05). Also, ICG-mediated aPDT showed a
      significantly inhibitory effect on biofilm formation of E. faecalis in
      concentration of 6 to 2000MUg/mL and 100 to 2000MUg/mL in non-washing and washing
      groups (P<0.05). The biofilm development was inhibited by concentrations of 12 to
      2000MUg/mL and 100 to 2000MUg/mL in non-washing and washing groups. The biofilm
      degradation increased from concentrations of 12 to 2000MUg/mL and 250 to
      2000MUg/mL in non-washing and washing groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: This
      study shows that the application of ICG should be accompanied by laser
      irradiation without being washed out to achieve better result for bacterial count
      reduction and anti-biofilm effects.

PMID- 27640734
TI  - Spectroscopy and Photochemistry of Triplet 1,3-Dimethylpropynylidene (MeC3Me).
AB  - Photolysis (lambda > 472 nm) of 2-diazo-3-pentyne (11) affords triplet 1,3
      dimethylpropynylidene (MeC3Me, (3)3), which was characterized spectroscopically
      in cryogenic matrices. The infrared, electronic absorption, and electron
      paramagnetic resonance spectra of MeC3Me ((3)3) are compared with those of the
      parent system (HC3H) to ascertain the effect of alkyl substituents on delocalized
      carbon chains of this type. Quantum chemical calculations (CCSD(T)/ANO1) predict
      an unsymmetrical equilibrium structure for triplet MeC3Me ((3)3), but they also
      reveal a very shallow potential energy surface. The experimental IR spectrum of
      triplet MeC3Me ((3)3) is best interpreted in terms of a quasilinear, axially
      symmetric structure. EPR spectra yield zero-field splitting parameters that are
      typical for triplet carbenes with axial symmetry (|D/hc| = 0.63 cm(-1), |E/hc| =
      ~ 0 cm(-1)), while theoretical analysis suggests that the methyl substituents
      confer significant spin polarization to the carbon chain. Upon irradiation into
      the near-UV electronic absorption (lambdamax 350 nm), MeC3Me ((3)3) undergoes 1,2
      hydrogen migration to yield pent-1-en-3-yne (4), a photochemical reaction that is
      typical of carbenes bearing a methyl substituent. This facile process apparently
      precludes photoisomerization to other interesting C5H6 isomers, in contrast to
      the rich photochemistry of the parent C3H2 system.

PMID- 27640735
TI  - Statistical Power.

PMID- 27640736
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27640737
TI  - Lactate: Friend or Foe? First, We Need to Establish Lactate Threshold Concepts
      Adequately.

PMID- 27640738
TI  - Diffuse Cerebral Edema After CT Myelography Causing Focal Neurological Symptoms.

PMID- 27640740
TI  - Best Practice Advisories Should Not Replace Good Clinical Acumen.

PMID- 27640741
TI  - Outcomes in newly diagnosed epilepsy in adolescents and adults: Insights across a
      generation in Scotland.
AB  - The outpatient services at the Epilepsy Unit in the Western Infirmary, Glasgow,
      Scotland was set up in September 1982. From the outset patient data were
      collected prospectively. A focused approach to patients with newly diagnosed
      epilepsy was developed and a series of 4 analyses have been undertaken over the
      intervening years, with results from the latest still being written up for
      publication. A total of 16 published papers have described patient outcomes over
      the years, focusing on response to different drug schedules. A number of factors
      contributing to a poorer prognosis has been identified and follow up data over 30
      years has confirmed the lack of overall improvement in prognosis despite the
      introduction of 14 new AEDs for the common epilepsies in the UK with different
      mechanisms of action over this time. Patterns of response have confirmed that a
      majority of patients will go into remission with around 25% of the population
      appearing to have refractory epilepsy de novo. Since all available options are
      antiseizure and not antiepilepsy drugs, some patients, who are initially well
      controlled, are seen to relapse over time and to develop refractory epilepsy. A
      new approach in identifying and treating epileptogenesis is necessary, if this
      disappointing scenario is to be reversed with the next generation of
      antiepileptic drugs.

PMID- 27640742
TI  - Multiscale Treatment for the Molecular Mechanism of a Diels-Alder Reaction in
      Solution: A QM/MM-MD Study.
AB  - Thermodynamics and the solvent role in the acceleration of the Diels-Alder
      reaction between cyclopentadiene (CPD) and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) have been
      revisited. In this work we use an ab initio hybrid QM/MM-MD scheme combined with
      multiple steered molecular dynamics to extract the free energy pofile in water
      and methanol using the bidirectional Minh-Adib estimator. We obtain 18.7 kcal mol
      1 and 20.8 kcal mol-1 free energy barrier for the reaction in water and methanol,
      respectively. This methodology reproduces experimental values with an absolute
      error of about 0.8 kcal mol-1. The experimental difference between the activation
      free-energy barriers of water and methanol is also reproduced with an absolute
      error of about 0.1 kcal mol-1. We explore the charge transfer evolution along
      reaction coordinates to characterize the electronic behavior for this reaction.
      It is shown that the solvent molecules around the reaction system produce a
      global polarization along the reaction coordinate which is consistent with the
      solvent polarity. The results highlight the role of hydrogen bonding formed in
      the transition state to stabilize the system charge reorganization in the
      reaction process.

PMID- 27640739
TI  - Associations of Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine Intake with Coronary Artery
      Calcification and Cardiovascular Events.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coffee and tea are 2 of the most commonly consumed beverages in the
      world. The association of coffee and tea intake with coronary artery calcium and
      major adverse cardiovascular events remains uncertain. METHODS: We examined 6508
      ethnically diverse participants with available coffee and tea data from the Multi
      Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Intake for each was classified as never,
      occasional (<1 cup per day), and regular (>=1 cup per day). A coronary artery
      calcium progression ratio was derived from mixed effect regression models using
      loge(calcium score+1) as the outcome, with coefficients exponentiated to reflect
      coronary artery calcium progression ratio versus the reference. Cox proportional
      hazards analyses were used to evaluate the association between beverage intake
      and incident cardiovascular events. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 5.3 years
      for coronary artery calcium and 11.1 years for cardiovascular events,
      participants who regularly drank tea (>=1 cup per day) had a slower progression
      of coronary artery calcium compared with never drinkers after multivariable
      adjustment. This correlated with a statistically significant lower incidence of
      cardiovascular events for >=1 cup per day tea drinkers (adjusted hazard ratio
      0.71; 95% confidence interval 0.53-0.95). Compared with never coffee drinkers,
      regular coffee intake (>=1 cup per day) was not statistically associated with
      coronary artery calcium progression or cardiovascular events (adjusted hazard
      ratio 0.97; 95% confidence interval 0.78-1.20). Caffeine intake was marginally
      inversely associated with coronary artery calcium progression. CONCLUSIONS:
      Moderate tea drinkers had slower progression of coronary artery calcium and
      reduced risk for cardiovascular events. Future research is needed to understand
      the potentially protective nature of moderate tea intake.

PMID- 27640743
TI  - Central and peripheral neurotoxicity induced by the Jack Bean Urease (JBU) in
      Nauphoeta cinerea cockroaches.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ureases of Canavalia ensiformis are natural insecticides with a still
      elusive entomotoxic mode of action. We have investigated the mechanisms involved
      in the neurotoxicity induced by Jack Bean Urease (JBU) in Nauphoeta cinerea
      (Olivier). METHODS: To carry out this study we have employed biochemical and
      neurophysiological analysis of different cockroach organ systems. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSIONS: The injection of the insects with JBU (0.75-6MUg/g animal), although
      not lethal within 24h, caused significant inhibition of the brain
      acetylcholinesterase activity (60+/-5%, p<0.05, n=6). JBU (1.5MUg/200MUL),
      acetylcholine (0.3MUg/200MUL) or neostigmine (0.22MUg/200MUL), induced a positive
      cardiac chronotropism (~25%) in the cockroaches (p<0.05, n=9). JBU (6MUg/g)
      increased the insects' grooming activity (137+/-7%), similarly to octopamine
      (15MUg/g) (p<0.05, n=30, respectively). Pretreating the insects with phentolamine
      (0.1MUg/g) prevented the JBU- or octopamine-induced increase of grooming
      activity. JBU (6MUg/g) caused 65+/-9% neuromuscular blockade in the cockroaches,
      an effect prevented by bicuculline (5MUg/g) (p<0.05, n=6). JBU (6MUg/g) decreased
      the frequency whilst increasing the amplitude of the spontaneous neural compound
      action potentials (1425+/-52.60min-1, controls 1.102+/-0.032mV, p<0.05, n=6,
      respectively). Altogether the results indicate that JBU induces behavioral
      alterations in Nauphoeta cinerea cockroaches probably by interfering with the
      cholinergic neurotransmission. The neuromuscular blocking activity of JBU
      suggests an interplay between acetylcholine and GABA signaling. GENERAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: The search for novel natural molecules with insecticide potential
      has become a necessity more than an alternative. Understanding the mode of action
      of candidate molecules is a crucial step towards the development of new
      bioinsecticides. The present study focused on the neurotoxicity of Canavalia
      ensiformis urease, a natural insecticide, in cockroaches and revealed
      interferences on the cholinergic, octopaminergic and GABA-ergic pathways as part
      of its entomotoxic mode of action.

PMID- 27640744
TI  - Mechanisms underlying effect of the mycotoxin cytochalasin B on induction of
      cytotoxicity, modulation of cell cycle, Ca2+ homeostasis and ROS production in
      human breast cells.
AB  - Cytochalasin B, a cell-permeable mycotoxin isolated from the fungus Phoma spp.,
      shows a wide range of biological effects, among which its potent antitumor
      activity has raised great interests in different models. However, the cytotoxic
      activity of cytochalasin B and its underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated
      in breast cells. This study examined the effect of cytochalasin B on MCF 10A
      human breast epithelial cells and ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells. Cytochalasin
      B (10-20MUM) concentration-dependently induced cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest,
      and [Ca2+]i rises in ZR-75-1 cells but not in MCF 10A cells. In ZR-75-1 cells,
      cytochalasin B triggered G2/M phase arrest through the modulation of CDK1, cyclin
      B1, p53, p27 and p21 expressions. The Ca2+ signal response induced by
      cytochalasin B was reduced by removing extracellular Ca2+ and was inhibited by
      the store-operated Ca2+ channel blocker 2-APB and SKF96365. In Ca2+-free medium,
      cytochalasin B induced Ca2+ release through thapsigargin-sensitive endoplasmic
      reticulum stores. Moreover, cytochalasin B increased H2O2 levels but reduced GSH
      levels. The apoptotic effects evoked by cytochalasin B were partially inhibited
      by prechelating cytosolic Ca2+ with BAPTA-AM and the antioxidant NAC. Together,
      in ZR-75-1 cells but not in MCF 10A cells, cytochalasin B activated Ca2+
      associated mitochondrial apoptotic pathways that involved G2/M phase arrest and
      ROS signaling. Furthermore, cytochalasin B induced [Ca2+]i rises by releasing
      Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum and causing Ca2+ influx through 2-APB or
      SKF96365-sensitive store-operated Ca2+ entry. Our findings provide new insights
      into the possible application of cytochalasin B in human breast cancer therapy.

PMID- 27640745
TI  - Matrine ameliorates adriamycin-induced nephropathy in rats by enhancing renal
      function and modulating Th17/Treg balance.
AB  - Matrine (MAT) is an active alkaloid extracted from Radix Sophora flavescens. The
      present study was to investigate whether MAT could effectively treat Adriamycin
      induced nephropathy (AIN). AIN was induced in rats using a single injection of
      Adriamycin (ADR). Renal interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-17 and transforming
      growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) levels, and the expression of forkhead box protein
      3 (Foxp3) and retinoid-related orphan nuclear receptor gammat (Rorgammat) was
      measured. AIN rats developed severe albuminuria, hypoalbuminaemia,
      hyperlipidaemia and podocyte injury. Daily administration of MAT (100mg/kg or
      200mg/kg) significantly prevented ADR-induced podocyte injury, decreased AIN
      symptoms and improved renal pathology manifestations. Of note, treatment with MAT
      (100mg/kg) plus prednisone (Pre, 5mg/kg) had equivalent efficacy to that of Pre
      alone (10mg/kg). Additional findings showed that ADR triggered a disordered
      cytokine network and abnormal expression of Foxp3 and Rorgammat in rats, as
      reflected by increased levels of IL-6, IL-10, TGF-beta, Rorgammat and decreased
      levels of IL-10 and Foxp3. Interestingly, MAT weakened the disordered cytokine
      network and normalized the expression of Foxp3 and Rorgammat. In addition, a
      significant negative correlation was observed between the values of
      Foxp3/Rorgammat and renal pathology scores. Finally, MAT normalized regulatory T
      cells (Treg)/ T-helper17 cells (Th17) ratio in peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      of AIN rats. These data indicate MAT prevents AIN through the modification of
      disordered plasma lipids and recovery of renal function, and this bioactivity is
      at least partly attributed to the suppression of renal inflammation and the
      regulation of the Treg/Th17 imbalance.

PMID- 27640746
TI  - 5-Acetyl goniothalamin suppresses proliferation of breast cancer cells via
      Wnt/beta-catenin signaling.
AB  - Styryl lactones are plant-derived compounds from genus Goniothalamus with
      promising anti-proliferation and anticancer properties. However, the exact
      mechanism and the target for their activities remained unclear. In the present
      study, we investigated the effect of 5-acetyl goniothalamin (5GTN) from
      Goniothalamus marcanii on Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway which is a key
      regulator in controlling cell proliferation in breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA
      MB-231). 5GTN, a naturally occurring derivative of goniothalamin (GTN) mediated
      the toxicity to MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose- and time- related manner,
      and was more potent than that of GTN. 5GTN strongly inhibited cell proliferation
      and markedly suppressed transcriptional activity induced by beta-catenin in
      luciferase reporter gene assay. In consistent with this view, the expression of
      Wnt/beta-catenin signaling target genes including c-Myc, cyclin D1 and Axin2 in
      MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were suppressed after treatment with 5GTN. It was
      concomitant with cell cycle arrest at G1 phase and cell apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.
      In addition, 5GTN enhanced glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3beta) activity and
      therefore reduced the expression of active form of beta-catenin protein in MCF-7
      and MDA-MB-231 cells. Taken together, 5GTN exhibited a promising anticancer
      effect against breast cancer cells through an inhibition of Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling. This pathway may be served as a potential chemotherapeutic target for
      breast cancer by 5GTN.

PMID- 27640747
TI  - HHX-5, a derivative of sesquiterpene from Chinese agarwood, suppresses innate and
      adaptive immunity via inhibiting STAT signaling pathways.
AB  - Induction of excessive, prolonged, or dysregulated immune responses causes
      immunological disorders, such as inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases,
      allergic diseases, and organ-graft rejections. In the present study, we
      investigated the inhibitory effects of HHX-5, a derivative of sesquiterpene from
      Chinese agarwood, on innate and adaptive immunity for revealing its potential to
      treat above immunological disorders. The results showed that HHX-5 significantly
      inhibited the activation of macrophages and neutrophils which play important
      roles in innate immunity. Furthermore, HHX-5 strongly suppressed adaptive
      immunity via inhibiting differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells into Th1, Th2, and
      Th17 cells and suppressing activation, proliferation and differentiation of CD8+
      T cells and B cells. The mechanism study showed that HHX-5 significantly
      inhibited STAT1 signaling pathway in macrophages and suppressed STAT1, STAT4,
      STAT5, and STAT6 signaling pathways in naive CD4+ T cells. In conclusion, we
      demonstrated that HHX-5 can strongly inhibit innate and adaptive immunity via
      suppressing STAT signaling pathways and has potential to be developed into
      therapeutic drug for treat immunological disorders.

PMID- 27640748
TI  - Enhanced visual adaptation in cochlear implant users revealed by concurrent EEG
      fNIRS.
AB  - Previous studies have observed lower visual cortex activation for visual
      processing in cochlear implant (CI) users compared to normal hearing controls,
      while others reported enhanced visual speechreading abilities in CI users. The
      present work investigated whether lower visual cortical activation for visual
      processing can be explained by a more efficient visual sensory encoding in CI
      users. Specifically, we investigated whether CI users show enhanced stimulus
      specific adaptation for visual stimuli compared to controls. Auditory sensory
      adaptation was also investigated to explore the sensory specificity of the
      predicted effect. Twenty post-lingually deafened adult CI users and twenty age
      matched controls were presented with repeated visual and auditory stimuli during
      simultaneous acquisition of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near
      infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). By integrating EEG and fNIRS signals we found
      significantly enhanced visual adaptation and lower visual cortex activation in CI
      users compared to controls. That is, responses to repeated visual stimuli
      decreased more prominently in CI users than in controls. The results suggest that
      CI users process visual stimuli more efficiently than controls.

PMID- 27640749
TI  - Individual-specific features of brain systems identified with resting state
      functional correlations.
AB  - Recent work has made important advances in describing the large-scale systems
      level organization of human cortex by analyzing functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) data averaged across groups of subjects. However, new findings
      have emerged suggesting that individuals' cortical systems are topologically
      complex, containing small but reliable features that cannot be observed in group
      averaged datasets, due in part to variability in the position of such features
      along the cortical sheet. This previous work has reported only specific examples
      of these individual-specific system features; to date, such features have not
      been comprehensively described. Here we used fMRI to identify cortical system
      features in individual subjects within three large cross-subject datasets and one
      highly sampled within-subject dataset. We observed system features that have not
      been previously characterized, but 1) were reliably detected across many scanning
      sessions within a single individual, and 2) could be matched across many
      individuals. In total, we identified forty-three system features that did not
      match group-average systems, but that replicated across three independent
      datasets. We described the size and spatial distribution of each non-group
      feature. We further observed that some individuals were missing specific system
      features, suggesting individual differences in the system membership of cortical
      regions. Finally, we found that individual-specific system features could be used
      to increase subject-to-subject similarity. Together, this work identifies
      individual-specific features of human brain systems, thus providing a catalog of
      previously unobserved brain system features and laying the foundation for
      detailed examinations of brain connectivity in individuals.

PMID- 27640751
TI  - Preparation and Physicochemical Characterization of an Inclusion Complex Between
      Dimethylated beta-Cyclodextrin and a Drug Lead From a New Class of Orally Active
      Antimalarial 3,5-Diaryl-2-Aminopyridines.
AB  - Cyclodextrins (CDs) were used to increase the aqueous solubility of a recently
      discovered orally active 3,5-diaryl-2-aminopyridine antimalarial drug lead (MMP).
      Phase-solubility studies using beta-CD, hydroxypropyl-beta-CD, and heptakis(2,6
      di-O-methyl)-beta-CD (DIMEB) as potential solubilizers for MMP yielded solubility
      enhancement factors of 17, 49, and 65, respectively, at 25 degrees C with CD
      concentrations ~20 mM. A crystalline complex, DIMEB?MMP?2H2O, was prepared and
      characterized by thermal and single-crystal X-ray analyses. The latter technique
      revealed preferential encapsulation of the hydrophobic methylsulfonylphenyl
      moiety of MMP within the CD cavity and protrusion of the more polar
      methoxypyridinyl and aminopyridine residues from the cavity. This inclusion mode
      results in a DIMEB complex with a new packing arrangement and an intricate
      network of intermolecular hydrogen bonds linking guest residues that protrude
      from 21-related host cavities. A summary of the results of the performance of the
      inclusion complex in preliminary pharmacokinetic and efficacy tests in mouse
      models is provided.

PMID- 27640752
TI  - Virtual Clinical Trial Toward Polytherapy Safety Assessment: Combination of
      Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic-Based Modeling and
      Simulation Approach With Drug-Drug Interactions Involving Terfenadine as an
      Example.
AB  - A Quantitative Systems Pharmacology approach was utilized to predict the cardiac
      consequences of drug-drug interaction (DDI) at the population level. The Simcyp
      in vitro-in vivo correlation and physiologically based pharmacokinetic platform
      was used to predict the pharmacokinetic profile of terfenadine following co
      administration of the drug. Electrophysiological effects were simulated using the
      Cardiac Safety Simulator. The modulation of ion channel activity was dependent on
      the inhibitory potential of drugs on the main cardiac ion channels and a
      simulated free heart tissue concentration. ten Tusscher's human ventricular
      cardiomyocyte model was used to simulate the pseudo-ECG traces and further
      predict the pharmacodynamic consequences of DDI. Consistent with clinical
      observations, predicted plasma concentration profiles of terfenadine show
      considerable intra-subject variability with recorded Cmax values below 5 ng/mL
      for most virtual subjects. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of
      inhibitors were predicted with reasonable accuracy. In all cases, a combination
      of the physiologically based pharmacokinetic and physiology-based pharmacodynamic
      models was able to differentiate between the terfenadine alone and terfenadine +
      inhibitor scenario. The range of QT prolongation was comparable in the clinical
      and virtual studies. The results indicate that mechanistic in vitro-in vivo
      correlation can be applied to predict the clinical effects of DDI even without
      comprehensive knowledge on all mechanisms contributing to the interaction.

PMID- 27640750
TI  - Role of Sex Steroids in beta Cell Function, Growth, and Survival.
AB  - The gonads have long been considered endocrine glands, producing sex steroids
      such as estrogens, androgens, and progesterone (P4) for the sole purpose of
      sexual differentiation, puberty, and reproduction. Reproduction and energy
      metabolism are tightly linked, however, and gonadal steroids play an important
      role in sex-specific aspects of energy metabolism in various physiological
      conditions. In that respect, gonadal steroids also influence the secretion of
      insulin in a sex-specific manner. This review presents a perspective on the
      physiological roles of estrogens, androgens, and P4 via their receptors in
      pancreatic beta cells in the gender-specific tuning of insulin secretion. I also
      discuss potential gender-specific therapeutic avenues that this knowledge may
      open in the future.

PMID- 27640753
TI  - Protein Internal Dynamics Associated With Pre-System Glass Transition Temperature
      Endothermic Events: Investigation of Insulin and Human Growth Hormone by Solid
      State Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange.
AB  - Lyophilized proteins are generally stored below their glass transition
      temperature (Tg) to maintain long-term stability. Some proteins in the (pure)
      solid state showed a distinct endotherm at a temperature well below the glass
      transition, designated as a pre-Tg endotherm. The pre-Tg endothermic event has
      been linked with a transition in protein internal mobility. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the internal dynamics of 2 proteins, insulin and human growth
      hormone (hGH), both of which exhibit the pre-Tg endothermic event with onsets at
      50 degrees C-60 degrees C. Solid state hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange of both
      proteins was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy over a
      temperature range from 30 degrees C to 80 degrees C. A distinct sigmoidal
      transition in the extent of H/D exchange had a midpoint of 56.1 +/- 1.2 degrees C
      for insulin and 61.7 +/- 0.9 degrees C for hGH, suggesting a transition to
      greater mobility in the protein molecules at these temperatures. The data support
      the hypothesis that the pre-Tg event is related to a transition in internal
      protein mobility associated with the protein dynamical temperature. Exceeding the
      protein dynamical temperature is expected to activate protein internal motion and
      therefore may have stability consequences.

PMID- 27640754
TI  - CD44: More than a mere stem cell marker.
AB  - CD44 is a cell adhesion molecule that plays an important role in tumor
      progression and metastasis. The role of CD44 in tumorigenesis is due to its
      binding to extracellular matrix components, including hyaluronan (HA) and
      osteopontin (OPN), and to messenger molecules, such as growth factors present in
      the tumor microenvironment. HA and OPN are highly abundant in the leukemic stem
      cell niche and in solid tumors of various cancer types, where they contribute to
      the maintenance of the stemness of malignant cells. CD44 has consequently been
      recognized as a cancer stem cell marker in several types of cancers, which has
      been a topic of much recent research. In this review we have addressed the
      question of how CD44 might promote cancer cell stemness by interacting with
      extracellular matrix components, growth factors and cytokines.

PMID- 27640755
TI  - Integration of superoxide formation and cristae morphology for mitochondrial
      redox signaling.
AB  - The mitochondrial network provides the central cell's energetic and regulatory
      unit, which besides ATP and metabolite production participates in cellular
      signaling through regulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and various
      protein/ion fluxes. The inner membrane forms extensive folds, called cristae,
      i.e. cavities enfolded from and situated perpendicularly to its inner boundary
      membrane portion, which encompasses an inner cylinder within the outer membrane
      tubule. Mitochondrial cristae ultramorphology reflects various metabolic,
      physiological or pathological states. Since the mitochondrion is typically a
      predominant superoxide source and generated ROS also serve for the creation of
      information redox signals, we review known relationships between ROS generation
      within the respiratory chain complexes of cristae and cristae morphology.
      Notably, it is emphasized that cristae shape is governed by ATP-synthase dimers,
      MICOS complexes, OPA1 isoforms and the umbrella of their regulation, and also
      dependent on local protonmotive force (electrical potential component) in
      cristae. Cristae are also affected by redox-sensitive kinases/phosphatases or
      p66SHC. ATP-synthase dimers decrease in the inflated intracristal space,
      diminishing pH and hypothetically having minimal superoxide formation. Matrix
      released signaling superoxide/H2O2 is predominantly integrated along
      mitochondrial tubules, whereas the diffusion of intracristal signaling ROS
      species is controlled by crista junctions, the widening of which enables specific
      retrograde redox signaling such as during hypoxic cell adaptation. Other
      physiological cases of H2O2 release from the mitochondrion include the modulation
      of insulin release in pancreatic beta-cells, enhancement of insulin signaling in
      peripheral tissues, signaling by T-cell receptors, retrograde signaling during
      the cell cycle and cell differentiation, specifically that of adipocytes.

PMID- 27640756
TI  - Reconciling cognitive and affective neuroscience perspectives on the brain basis
      of emotional experience.
AB  - The "affective" and "cognitive" neuroscience approaches to understanding emotion
      (AN and CN, respectively) represent potentially synergistic, but as yet
      unreconciled, theoretical perspectives, which may in part stem from the methods
      that these distinct perspectives routinely employ-one focusing on animal brain
      emotional systems (AN) and one on diverse human experimental approaches (CN).
      Here we present an exchange in which each approach (1) describes its own
      theoretical perspective, (2) offers a critique of the other perspective, and then
      (3) responds to each other's critique. We end with a summary of points of
      agreement and disagreement, and describe possible future experiments that could
      help resolve the remaining controversies. Future work should (i) further
      characterize the structure/function of subcortical circuitry with respect to its
      role in generating emotion, and (ii) further investigate whether sub-neocortical
      activations alone are sufficient (as opposed to merely necessary) for affective
      experiences, or whether subsequent cortical representation of an emotional
      response is also required.

PMID- 27640757
TI  - Division of labour in microorganisms: an evolutionary perspective.
AB  - The division of labour, whereby individuals within a group specialize in certain
      tasks, has long been appreciated as central to the evolution of complex
      biological societies. In recent years, several examples of division of labour in
      microorganisms have arisen, which suggests that this strategy may also be
      important in microbial species. In this Opinion article, we explore the set of
      conditions that define division of labour and propose that cooperation between
      different phenotypes is a defining feature of division of labour. Furthermore, we
      discuss how clarifying what constitutes division of labour highlights key
      evolutionary questions, including what form division of labour takes and why it
      is favoured by natural selection.

PMID- 27640759
TI  - Evidence for persistent organic pollutants released from melting glacier in the
      central Tibetan Plateau, China.
AB  - Glacier alluvial deposits record persistent organic pollutants (POPs) not only
      derived from the atmospheric deposition but also from the release of glacial
      melting. The evidence for melting glacier in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) as a
      secondary source of pollutants is introduced through investigating the
      concentration of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in four deposited profiles
      collected at the edge of the Changwengluozha glacier. Two concentration peaks
      were observed for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and
      hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in the past century. The first peak was observed in
      the 1970s, corresponding with the heavy usage of HCHs and DDTs in the surrounding
      countries and regions. The second one was in 2000 when the production and usage
      of DDTs and HCHs were strictly limited, which possibly indicated a significant
      release from melting glacier. This result was further supported by the
      enantiomeric fraction values for alpha-HCH and o,p'-DDT. On the other hand, the
      dramatic increase of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from atmospheric
      deposition, which was associated with the socioeconomic development in Tibet,
      shaded the release of PAHs from melting glacier. This study reveals not only the
      air deposition history of legacy POPs but also a substantial release of OCPs from
      glacier to the adjacent environment. Our research supports the hypothesis that
      the melting glacier in the TP represents a secondary source of OCPs, which is
      consistent with the findings in the Alps glaciers.

PMID- 27640758
TI  - Competing endogenous RNAs: a target-centric view of small RNA regulation in
      bacteria.
AB  - Many bacterial regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) have several mRNA targets, which
      places them at the centre of regulatory networks that help bacteria to adapt to
      environmental changes. However, different mRNA targets of any given sRNA compete
      with each other for binding to the sRNA; thus, depending on relative abundances
      and sRNA affinity, competition for regulatory sRNAs can mediate cross-regulation
      between bacterial mRNAs. This 'target-centric' perspective of sRNA regulation is
      reminiscent of the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis, which posits that
      competition for a limited pool of microRNAs (miRNAs) in higher eukaryotes
      mediates cross-regulation of mRNAs. In this Opinion article, we discuss evidence
      that a similar network of RNA crosstalk operates in bacteria, and that this
      network also includes crosstalk between sRNAs and competition for RNA-binding
      proteins.

PMID- 27640760
TI  - Polyhalogenated carbazoles in sediments from Lake Tai (China): Distribution,
      congener composition, and toxic equivalent evaluation.
AB  - Polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZs) have attracted mounting environmental concerns
      since they were recently discovered in sediments and soil. Current knowledge on
      their occurrence, environmental behavior and fate remains very limited in
      general. In the present study, 11 PHCZ congeners were screened in surface
      sediments of Lake Tai, an important freshwater system located in the Yangtze
      River Delta, China. Total concentrations of PHCZs (?PHCZs) ranged up to 15.8 ng/g
      dry weight (median: 1.54 ng/g dw), rivaling those of polybrominated diphenyl
      ethers (?PBDEs, 0.07-15.9 ng/g dw) in the same sediments. The PHCZ congener
      composition profiles revealed a dominance of 3,6-dichlorocarbazole and 3,6
      dibromocarbazole with comparable concentrations. These two dominant congeners
      differed in spatial distribution patterns in Lake Tai, indicating different
      sources or origins. Potential toxic effects associated with the levels of PHCZs
      in the sediments were evaluated via the toxic equivalent (TEQ) approach. The TEQs
      of PHCZs in Lake Tai sediments ranged up to 1.36 pg TEQ/g dw. As the first report
      on the occurrence of PHCZs in an Asian waterbody, our findings suggest that PHCZs
      should be given more attention during environmental monitoring and risk
      assessments of hazardous chemicals, as they may represent another group of
      persistent organic pollutants with dioxin-like effects and wide distributions.

PMID- 27640761
TI  - Validation of an updated fractionation and indirect speciation procedure for
      inorganic arsenic in oxic and suboxic soils and sediments.
AB  - A sequential extraction procedure (SEP) for the speciation analysis of As(III)
      and As(V) in oxic and suboxic soils and sediments was validated using a natural
      lake sediment and three certified reference materials, as well as spike
      recoveries of As(III) and As(V). Many of the extraction steps have been
      previously validated making the procedure useful for comparisons to similar
      previous SEP studies. The novel aspect of this research is the validation for the
      SEP to maintain As(III) and As(V) species. The proposed five step extraction
      procedure includes the extraction agents (NH4)2SO4, NH4H2PO4, H3PO4 + NH2OH.HCl,
      oxalate + ascorbic acid (heated), and HNO3 + HCl + HF, targeting operationally
      defined easily exchangeable, strongly sorbed, amorphous Fe oxide bound,
      crystalline Fe oxide bound, and residual As fractions, respectively. The third
      extraction step, H3PO4 + NH2OH.HCl, has not been previously validated for
      fraction selectivity. We present evidence for this extraction step to target As
      complexed with amorphous Fe oxides when used in the SEP proposed here. All
      solutions were analyzed on ICP-MS. The greatest concentrations of As were
      extracted from the amorphous Fe oxide fraction and the dominant species was
      As(V). Lake sediment materials were found to have higher As(III) concentrations
      than the soil materials. Because different soils/sediments have different
      chemical characteristics, maintenance of As species during extractions must be
      validated for specific soil/sediment types using spiking experiments.

PMID- 27640762
TI  - Laccase-mediated transformation of triclosan in aqueous solution with metal
      cations and humic acid.
AB  - Triclosan (TCS) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that is found extensively
      in natural aquatic environments. Enzyme-catalyzed oxidative coupling reactions
      (ECOCRs) can be used to remove TCS in aqueous solution, but there is limited
      information available to indicate how metal cations (MCs) and natural organic
      matter (NOM) influence the environmental fate of TCS during laccase-mediated
      ECOCRs. In this study, we demonstrated that the naturally occurring laccase from
      Pleurotus ostreatus was effective in removing TCS during ECOCRs, and the
      oligomerization of TCS was identified as the dominant reaction pathway by high
      resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The growth inhibition studies of green algae
      (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Scenedesmus obliquus) proved that laccase-mediated
      ECOCRs could effectively reduce the toxicity of TCS. The presence of dissolved
      MCs (Mn2+, Al3+, Ca2+, Cu2+, and Fe2+ ions) influenced the removal and
      transformation of TCS via different mechanisms. Additionally, the transformation
      of TCS in systems with NOM derived from humic acid (HA) was hindered, and the
      apparent pseudo first-order kinetics rate constants (k) for TCS decreased as the
      HA concentration increased, which likely corresponded to the combined effect of
      both noncovalent (sorption) and covalent binding between TCS and humic molecules.
      Our results provide a novel insight into the fate and transformation of TCS by
      laccase-mediated ECOCRs in natural aquatic environments in the presence of MCs
      and NOM.

PMID- 27640763
TI  - Tracking aquaculture-derived fluoroquinolones in a mangrove wetland, South China.
AB  - Aquaculture in mangrove wetlands has been developed rapidly, causing various
      environmental problems (e.g., antibiotic residue). In the present study, the
      levels and distributions of a well-known class of antibiotics (fluoroquinolones;
      FQs), including norfloxacin (NOR), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and enrofloxacin (ENR),
      were examined in sediment and mangrove plant (Aegiceras corniculatum) from a
      mangrove wetland in the Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve, South China.
      NOR and CIP were detected in all sediment samples, with concentrations ranging
      from 4.3 to 64.2 ng/g and from 7.62 to 68.5 ng/g on a basis of dry weight (dw),
      respectively, whereas ENR was found with relatively lower frequency (<78%) and
      lower concentrations (<19.3 ng/g). Sediments in mangrove rhizosphere area
      contained considerably higher concentrations of all FQs (except for ENR). FQs
      were largely varied in mangrove plant tissues; NOR and ENR were not detected in
      leaf and root samples, respectively. CIP featured an increasing tendency from the
      root to the upper parts of plants, whereas a decreasing trend was found for NOR.
      Three bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of FQs, including BCFs for roots (BCFr),
      branches (BCFb), and leaves (BCFl) were calculated, and most of them exceeded 1.
      Especially for NOR, its BCFr can reach up to 9.9, indicating that Aegiceras
      corniculatum has a strong ability to accumulate FQs from sediment and/or
      surrounding environment. For NOR and CIP, strong positive relationships were
      observed between BCFr and concentrations in root, but no significant correlations
      were observed between BCFr and root lipid of mangrove plant. More studies are
      needed to investigate the uptake mechanism of antibiotics in mangrove plants.

PMID- 27640783
TI  - Transverse Alpine Speciation Driven by Glaciation.
AB  - The allopatric model of biological speciation involves fracturing of a pre
      existing species distribution and subsequent genetic divergence in isolation.
      Accumulating global evidence from the Pyrenees, Andes, Himalaya, and the Southern
      Alps in New Zealand shows the Pleistocene to be associated with the generation of
      new alpine lineages. By synthesising a large number of genetic analyses and
      incorporating tectonic, climatic, and population-genetic models, we show here how
      glaciation is the likely driver of speciation transverse to the Southern Alps.
      New calibrations for rates of molecular evolution and tectonic uplift both
      suggest a ~2 million-year (Ma) time frame. Although glaciation is often seen as
      destructive for biodiversity, here we demonstrate its creativity, and suggest a
      general model for speciation on temperate mountain systems worldwide.

PMID- 27640785
TI  - Optimal timing for hepatitis C therapy in US patients eligible for liver
      transplantation: a cost-effectiveness analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) following liver transplantation
      (LT) is universal for those with ongoing viraemia and is associated with higher
      rates of allograft failure and death. However, the optimal timing of HCV
      treatment for patients awaiting transplant remains unclear. AIM: To evaluate the
      comparative cost-effectiveness of treating HCV pre-LT vs. post-LT (pre-emptive or
      after HCV recurrence). METHODS: A Markov state-transition model was created to
      simulate the progression of a cohort of HCV-genotype 1 or 4 cirrhotic patients
      from the time of transplant listing until death. We then used this model to study
      the cost-effectiveness of ledipasvir-sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF) with ribavirin for 12
      weeks, administered for three separate treatment strategies: (i) pre-LT; (ii)
      post-LT preemptively prior to HCV recurrence; or (iii) post-LT after HCV
      recurrence. RESULTS: In the base-case analysis using a median model for end-stage
      liver disease (MELD) score <25 at the time of transplant, we found that pre-LT
      treatment of HCV led to more QALYs for fewer dollars compared to other
      strategies. Analysis limited to living donor LT recipients revealed that pre-LT
      treatment was also the most cost-effective strategy. When the analysis was
      repeated for MELD >=25, decompensated disease (Child-Pugh class B or C), and
      hepatocellular carcinoma cases, preemptive post-LT strategy was more cost
      effective. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of HCV prior to liver transplantation appears
      to be the most cost-effective strategy for patients with a MELD score <25. For
      patients with a MELD >=25 or decompensated cirrhosis, preemptive post-liver
      transplantation treatment before HCV recurrence is the most cost-effective
      strategy.

PMID- 27640784
TI  - When Climate Reshuffles Competitors: A Call for Experimental Macroecology.
AB  - Climate change will likely reshuffle ecological communities, causing novel
      species interactions that could profoundly influence how populations and
      communities respond to changing conditions. Nonetheless, predicting the impacts
      of novel interactions is challenging, partly because many methods of inference
      are contingent on the current configuration of climatic variables and species
      distributions. Focusing on competition, we argue that experiments designed to
      quantify novel interactions in ways that can inform species distribution models
      are urgently needed, and suggest an empirical agenda to pursue this goal,
      illustrated using plants. An emerging convergence of ideas from macroecology and
      demographically focused competition theory offers opportunities to
      mechanistically incorporate competition into species distribution models, while
      forging closer ties between experimental ecology and macroecology.

PMID- 27640786
TI  - Influence of walking speed on gait parameters of bipedal locomotion in rhesus
      monkeys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primate model of bipedal locomotion has been extensively used to
      study human evolution and played a critical role in exploring the pathological
      mechanisms of human neurologic disease and spinal cord injury. Speed has great
      influence on both walking posture and gait parameters in human walking; however,
      how speed changes the gait pattern of bipedal locomotion in primates remains
      unclear. METHODS: We chose six adult female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and
      collected the gait parameters of these animals during their treadmill locomotion
      over a wide range of speed. Using a 3D motion analysis system, we studied the
      spatiotemporal characteristics of the gait pattern. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We
      have built an efficient and time-saving primate model and shown that speed
      significantly impacts kinematic parameters. This may present a thorough
      description of speed-related changes in the gait pattern of rhesus and shed light
      on the control of bipedal locomotion in primates.

PMID- 27640787
TI  - [Effects of LCL161, a Smac mimetic on the proliferation and apoptosis in
      hepatocellular carcinoma cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of LCL161, a Smac mimetic, on the
      proliferation and apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the underlying
      mechanisms. ? METHODS: The effect of LCL161 on the cell viability of HepG2 and
      SMMC7721 cells was measured by MTT assay. The effect of LCL161 at lower
      concentrations on the proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells was
      detected by colony formation assay. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry with
      PI staining. The mitochondrial membrane potential was measured by JC-1 staining.
      The expression of PARP, p-Akt, cIAP1 and XIAP protein was analyzed by Western
      blot.? RESULTS: LCL161 displayed notable antiproliferative activity on HCC cells
      at the concentrations of 1-16 MUmol/L (P<0.01), with IC50 values of 4.3 and 4.9
      MUmol/L for HepG2 and SMMC7721 cells, respectively, after treatment for 48 h.
      LCL161 at lower concentrations obviously inhibited the colony formation of HCC
      cells. LCL161 induced significant apoptosis in HCC cells (P<0.01), and resulted
      in the apoptotic rate at (1.5+/-0.8)% or (1.8+/-0.6)% , (15.2+/-2.8)% or (12.2+/
      2.4)%, (28.7+/-3.0)% or (22.4+/-2.7)%, (34.6+/-2.3)% or (30.2+/-2.4)% for HepG2
      cells or SMMC7721 cells at the concentration of 0, 2, 4 or 8 MUmol/L,
      respectively. The result of JC-1 staining indicated that the mitochondrial
      membrane potential of HCC cells was reduced by LCL161. In addition, LCL161
      promoted the cleavage of PARP, down-regulated the protein expression of p-Akt,
      and degraded cIAP1.? CONCLUSION: LCL161 possesses significant anti-proliferative
      activity and pro-apoptotic action in HepG2 and SMMC7721 cells, which might be
      correlated with reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential, down-regulation of
      p-Akt and degradation of cIAP1.

PMID- 27640788
TI  - [MicroRNA-33b inhibits cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma via
      targeting SALL4].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of miR-33b in hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC) and to explore regulatory mechanism of miR-33b for cell proliferation of
      HCC.? METHODS: HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues were collected for this
      study (n=32 for each). Real-time PCR and Western blot were conducted to examine
      the mRNA and protein expression, respectively. MTT assay was used to detect the
      cell proliferation. Luciferase reporter gene assay was performed to verify the
      target relationship between miR-33b and Sal-like 4 (SALL4).? RESULTS: MiR-33b was
      significantly downregulated in HCC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor
      tissues. Overexpression of miR-33b decreased the proliferation of HCC LH86 cells.
      SALL4 was identified as a target gene of miR-33b, and its protein expression was
      negatively regulated by miR-33b. Overexpression of SALL4 reversed the suppressive
      effect of miR-33b on LH86 cell proliferation. SALL4 was significantly upregulated
      in HCC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues.? CONCLUSION: The miR-33b
      suppresses HCC cell proliferation through down-regulation of SALL4.

PMID- 27640789
TI  - [Combination of triptolide with sodium cantharidinate synergistically enhances
      apoptosis on? hepatoma cell line 7721].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the combined cytotoxic effect and the molecular basis of
      triptolide and sodium cantharidinate on hepatoma cell line 7721.? METHODS: After
      treating the hepatoma cell line 7721 with triptolide(9, 18, or 36 MUg/mL) and/or
      sodium cantharidinate (2, 5, or 10 MUg/mL), cell viability assay and apoptosis
      were examined by MTT and flocytometry, respectively. The protein levels of
      caspase 3 and nuclear factor kappaB were analyzed by Western blot.? RESULTS:
      Viability of hepatoma cell line 7721 was inhibited by either the therapy of
      triptolide and/or sodium cantharidinate (P<0.05) in a time- and dose-dependent
      manner. The combined effects of both drugs were better than those of the single
      drug (P<0.05). The combined therapy down-regulated the expression of NF-kappaB
      p65 (P<0.05) while up-regulated the expression of caspase-3 (P<0.05).?
      CONCLUSION: Triptolide and sodium cantharidinate exert a synergistic toxic effect
      on hepatoma cell line 7721, which is related to increasing capase-3 activity and
      suppression of NF- kappaB.

PMID- 27640790
TI  - [Limb remote ischemic preconditioning attenuates liver ischemia reperfusion
      injury by activating autophagy via modulating PPAR-gamma pathway].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of limb remote ischemic preconditioning
      (RIPC) on hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury and the underlying
      mechanisms.? METHODS: Rats were subjected to partial hepatic IR (60 min ischemia
      followed by 24 hours reperfusion) with or without RIPC, which was achieved by 3
      cycles of 10 min-occlusion and 10 min-?reperfusion at the bilateral femoral
      arteries interval 30 min before ischemia. Some rats were treated with a new PPAR
      gamma inhibitor, T0070907, before RIPC.? RESULTS: At the end of reperfusion,
      liver injury was significantly increased (increases in Suzike's injury score, AST
      and ALT release), concomitant with elevated oxidative stress (increases in MDA
      formation, MPO activity, as well as the decrease in SOD activity) and
      inflammation (increases in TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels, decrease in IL-10 content).
      RIPC improved liver function and reduced histologic damage, accompanied by the
      increased PPAR-gamma activation and autophagosome formation as well as the
      reduced autophagosome clearance. The beneficial effects of RIPC were markedly
      attenuated by T0070907, an inhibitor of PPAR-gamma.? CONCLUSION: RIPC exerts the
      protective effects on liver by activation of autophagy via PPAR-gamma.

PMID- 27640791
TI  - [Calpain mediated pulmonary vascular remodeling in hypoxia induced pulmonary
      hypertension].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of calpain in pulmonary vascular remodeling in
      hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and the underlying mechanisms.? METHODS:
      Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the hypoxia group and the normoxia
      control group. Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and mean pulmonary
      artery pressure (mPAP) were monitored by a method with right external jugular
      vein cannula. Right ventricular hypertrophy index was presented as the ratio of
      right ventricular weight to left ventricular weight (left ventricle plus septum
      weight). Levels of calpain-1, -2 and -4 mRNA in pulmonary artery were determined
      by real-time PCR. Levels of calpain-1, -2 and -4 protein were determined by
      Western blot. Primary rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) were
      divided into 4 groups: a normoxia control group, a normoxia+MDL28170 group, a
      hypoxia group and a hypoxia+MDL28170 group. Cell proliferation was detected by
      MTS and flow cytometry. Levels of Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen
      (PCNA) mRNA were determined by real-time PCR.? RESULTS: RVSP, mPAP and right
      ventricular remodeling index were significantly elevated in the hypoxia group
      compared to those in the normoxia group. In the hypoxia group, pulmonary vascular
      remodeling was significantly developed, accompanied by up-regulation of calpain
      1, -2 and -4. MDL28170 significantly inhibited hypoxia-induced proliferation of
      PASMCs concomitant with the suppression of Ki-67 and PCNA mRNA expression.?
      CONCLUSION: Calpain mediates vascular remodeling via promoting proliferation of
      PASMCs in hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.

PMID- 27640792
TI  - [Interaction between functional nano-hydroxyapatite and cells and the underlying
      mechanisms].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the interaction between arginine functionalized
      hydroxyapatite (HAP/Arg) nanoparticles and endothelial cells, and to investigate
      mechanisms for endocytosis kinetics and endocytosis.? METHODS: Human umbilical
      vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were selected as the research model.Cellular
      uptake of HAP/Arg nanoparticles were observed by laser scanning confocal
      microscopy.Average fluorescence intensity of cells after ingestion with different
      concentrations of HAP/Arg nanoparticles were determined by flow cytometer and
      atomic force microscopy.? RESULTS: The HAP/Arg nanoparticles with doped terbium
      existed in cytoplasm, and most of them distributed around the nucleus area after
      cellular uptake by HUVECs. Cellular uptake process of HAP/Arg nanoparticles in
      HUVECs was in a time and concentration dependent manner. 4 h and 50 mg/L was the
      best condition for uptake. HAP/Arg nanoparticles were easier to be up-taken into
      the cells than HAP nanoparticles without arginine functionalized.? CONCLUSION:
      HAP/Arg nanoparticles are internalized by HUVECs cells through an active
      transport and energy-dependent endocytosis process, and it is up-taken by cells
      mainly through caveolin-mediated endocytosis, but the clathrin-dependent
      endocytic pathway is also involved..

PMID- 27640793
TI  - [An experimental study on a slow-release complex with rifampicin-polylactic-co
      glycolic acid-calcium ?phosphate cement].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To prepare the slow-release complex with rifampicin (RFP)-polylactic
      co-glycolic acid (PLGA)-calcium phosphate cement (CPC) (RFP-PLGA-CPC complex),
      and to study its physical and chemical properties and drug release properties in
      vitro.? METHODS: The emulsification-solvent evaporation method was adopted to
      prepare rifampicin polylactic acid-glycolic acid (RFP-PLGA) slow-release
      microspheres, which were divided into 3 groups: a calcium phosphate bone cement
      group (CPC group), a CPC embedded with RFP group (RFP-CPC group), and a PLGA slow
      release microspheres carrying RFP and the self-curing CPC group (RFP- PLGA-CPC
      complex group). The solidification time and porosity of materials were
      determined. The drug release experiments in vitro were carried out to observe the
      compressive strength, the change of section morphology before and after drug
      release. ? RESULTS: The CPC group showed the shortest solidification time, while
      the RFP-PLGA-CPC complex group had the longest one. There was statistical
      difference in the porosity between the CPC group and the RFP-CPC group (P<0.05);
      Compared to the RFP-PLGA-CPC complex group, the porosity in the CPC group and the
      RFP-CPC group were significantly changed (both P<0.01). There was significant
      difference in the compressive strength between the RFP- PLGA-CPC complex group
      and the CPC group (P<0.01), while there was significant difference in the
      compressive strength between the RFP-CPC group and the CPC group (3 days: P<0.05;
      30 and 60 days: P<0.01). The change of the compressive strength in the CPC was
      not significant in the whole process of degradation. The sizes of PLGA
      microspheres were uniform, with the particle size between 100-150 MUm. The
      microspheres were spheres or spheroids, and their surface was smooth without the
      attached impurities. There was no significant change in the section gap in the
      CPC group after soaking for 3 to 60 days. The microstructure change in the RFP
      CPC group was small, and the cross section was formed by small particles. The
      pores of section in the RFP-PLGA-CPC complex group increased obviously, and PLGA
      microspheres gradually disappeared until the 60th day when there were only empty
      cavities left. The RFP-PLGA-CPC complex group had no obvious drugs sudden
      release, and the cumulative drug release rate was nearly 95% in the 60 days. The
      linear fitting was conducted for the drug release behavior of the complex, which
      was in accordance with zero order kinetics equation F=0.168*t.? CONCLUSION: The
      porosity of RFP-PLGA-CPC complex is significantly higher than that of CPC, and it
      can keep slow release of the effective anti-tuberculosis drugs and maintain a
      certain mechanical strength for a long time.

PMID- 27640794
TI  - [Clinical effect of total knee arthroplasty on patients with knee osteoarthritis
      combined with mild to moderate valgus knee deformity].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of total knee arthroplasty on
      patients with knee osteoarthritis combined with mild to moderate valgus knee
      deformity.? METHODS: A total of 15 patients received total knee arthroplasty for
      correcting mild (10 degrees -15 degrees ) to moderate (15 degrees -30 degrees )
      valgus knee between January 2011 and February 2014 in Xiangya Hospital of Central
      South University. We adopted a stable prosthesis surgery through patellar medial
      approach, osteophytes cleaning, conventional osteotomy, a selective soft tissue
      release and balance technical correcting of knee valgus deformity. Then
      conventional anticoagulation and symptomatic rehabilitation was utilized.
      Preoperative and postoperative X-ray was conducted in patients with measuring
      femor-tibial angle (FTA) and inspecting the prosthesis position. FTA, visual
      analog scale (VAS) standard, and parallel knee scoring system (KSS) were used to
      evaluate the clinical effect.? RESULTS: Fifteen patients were followed up for 14
      to 36 (22.40+/-11.88) months. The hospitalization time was 7-13 (7.73+/-1.58) d;
      operative time was 58-110 (81.8+/-16.85) min, the dominant blood loss was 140-600
      (337.30+/-143.65) mL. Two cases had knee extension hysteresis, and the knee
      activity recovered after exercise. Leg power lines were normal. Three
      postoperative cases suffered anterior knee pain. They were subjected to celecoxib
      analgesic treatment and the pain gradually eased after 3 months. One
      postoperative case showed incision discharge and swelling, which was healed after
      change of dressing. During follow-up, review of X-ray film does not show
      prosthesis loose, subsidence and other complications. The knee valgus angle
      (8.1+/-1.8) degrees , knee motion range (107.33+/-9.61) degrees , KSS knee score
      (74.7+/-14.5, 75.3+/-2.7) and pain score (2.5+/-0.9) were significantly better
      than the preoperative (P<0.05). The clinical and function KSS scores showed that
      the improvement rate was 80%. ? CONCLUSION: Total knee arthroplasty is an
      effective way to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis combined with mild to
      moderate valgus knee deformity. The correction of deformity and improvement of
      joint function can be achieved significantly. The clinical result is satisfactory
      and patients' quality of life is improved.

PMID- 27640795
TI  - [Efficacy of reconstruction with modular endoprosthesis after resection of
      periacetabular malignant tumors].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy of the resection of periacetabular malignant
      tumors and the reconstruction with modular endoprosthesis.? METHODS: From August
      2006 to December 2012, 22 patients with periacetabular malignant tumors, who
      received the resection and reconstruction with modular prosthesis, were
      retrospectively reviewed. There were 11 males and 11 females, and the average age
      was 44 (16-65) years old. Pathological results showed there were 13 cases of
      chondrosarcoma, 5 cases of osteosarcoma, 2 cases of Ewing's sarcoma, 1 case of
      maligant fibrous histiocytoma, and 1 case of giant cell tumor. According to the
      classification system by Enneking, there were 11 cases of Type II+III resection,
      5 cases of Type I+II+III resection, 3 cases of Type I+II resection, and 3 cases
      of Type II resection.? RESULTS: All patients were followed up. The average time
      for follow-up was 49 (11-103) months. At the last time of follow-up, 13 patients
      (59%) were still alive, 9 patients (41%) died due to their primary disease.
      Metastasis occurred in 8 patients (36%), and local recurrence occurred in 5
      patients (23%). The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score for 13 cases
      of alive patients at the latest time of follow-up was (18.5+/-5.7) months. The
      mean score for 11 patients, whose limb salvage were successful, was 20.7+/-2.0.?
      CONCLUSION: Reconstruction with modular prosthesis after wide resection for
      periacetabular malignant tumor can achieve satisfied outcome.

PMID- 27640796
TI  - [Elevated serum levels of betatrophin in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome
      and the influential factors].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine serum levels of betatrophin in patients with polycystic
      ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the influential factors. ? METHODS: A total of 100 PCOS
      patients were enrolled randomly as a PCOS group, and 40 age-matched healthy women
      were recruited as a normal control (NC) group. Primary clinical or biochemical
      parameters of the subjects were detected. The results were analyzed by SPSS
      19.0.? RESULTS: Serum betatrophin levels were elevated in the PCOS group compared
      with the NC group. Serum betatrophin levels were positively correlated with age
      and Whole Body Insulin Sensitivity Index (WBISI),and negatively correlated with
      body mass index, fasting insulin(FINS), homeostatic model assessment insulin
      resistance (HOMA-IR) and homeostatic model assessment beta cell function (HOMA
      beta). Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that age and waist hip
      ratio (WHR) were independent influential factors for the level of betatrophin.
      PCOS was more likely to occur in women with higher betatrophin levels.?
      CONCLUSION: Serum betatrophin levels increase in women with PCOS and they are
      independently associated with age and WHR. There is no significant correlation
      between betatrophin and insulin resistance or insulin levels.

PMID- 27640797
TI  - [Comparison among measures to prevent intrauterine adhesions after artificial
      abortion].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of oral medicine and sodium
      hyaluronate in prevention of intrauterine adhesions after artificial abortion.?
      METHODS: A total of 572 patients with early pregnancy termination through
      artificial abortion, who experienced two or more times of abortion, were
      retrospectively analyzed. Patients were randomly and voluntarily divided into 4
      groups: an artificial cycle group, a drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets
      group, a sodium hyaluronate group, and a control group. The thickness of the
      endometrium, return time of menses, and the status of intrauterine adhesions were
      observed.? RESULTS: The thickness of the endometrium in the artificial period
      group was greater than that in the control group (P<0.001). It was less in the
      drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets group comparing with that in the
      control group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the thickness of
      the endometrium between the sodium hyaluronate group and the control group
      (P=0.717). Return time of menses in the artificial menstrual cycle group and the
      drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets group was shorter than that in the
      control group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in return time of
      menses between the sodium hyaluronate group and the control group (P=0.813). The
      incidence of intrauterine adhesions could be reduced by the 3 preventive measures
      (All P<0.01).? CONCLUSION: Drugs for artificial cycle and drospirenone and
      ethinylestradiol tablets medication immediately after artificial abortion can
      effectively promote endometrial repair and reduce the incidence of intrauterine
      adhesions. However, for the patients with poor compliance, drospirenoneand
      ethinylestradiol tablets are the first choice for prevention of intrauterine
      adhesion.

PMID- 27640798
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and influential factors for 308 nm excimer
      laser in the treatment of stable vitiligo patients.? METHODS: A total of 207
      stable vitiligo patients with 1 763 patches were treated with 308 nm excimer
      laser. Open-label study was carried out to investigate the efficacy and safety
      regarding the treatment with 308 nm excimer laser, and to compare the response
      under different conditions including gender, age, duration, lesion location, and
      hair color.? RESULTS: After treatment, 560 (31.8%) patches achieved 100%
      repigmentation, 650 (36.9%) lesions showed 75%-99% repigmentation, 189(10.7%)
      showed 50%-75% repigmentation, 231(13.1%) showed 25%-49% repigmentation,
      108(6.1%) showed 1%-24% repigmentation, 25(1.4%) displayed no response. The rates
      of total excellent response (50%-100% repigmentation) in underage patients was
      86.9%, much higher than that in adult patients (P<0.001). Total excellent
      response rates was 90.6% in disease duration <2 years, and 40.7% in disease
      duration >=2 years. Lesions on the faciocervical region responded better than
      trunk and limbs, showing 95.4%, 70.3%, and 41.7% total excellent response,
      respectively. Patients with poliosis showed 54.9% in total excellent response
      rate, much lower than 84.5% in patients without poliosis(P<0.001). No significant
      response differences in gender were found.? CONCLUSION: 308 nm excimer laser is
      effective and safe in treatment of vitiligo. Aging, disease duration, lesion
      location, and hair color in lesion may be the influential factors for 308 nm
      excimer laser in treatment of vitiligo patients.

PMID- 27640799
TI  - [Comparison analysis of muscle enzymes in children with myocarditis and
      Duchene/Becker muscular dystrophy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the changes in muscle enzyme between children with
      myocarditis and Duchene/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD), and to seek the
      explanations for variation.? METHODS: The retrospective analysis for 83
      myocarditis children (myocarditis group) and 69 DMD/BMD children (DMD/BMD group),
      who were collected from Department of Pediatric of Shengjing Hospital affiliated
      to China Medical University since January 2008 to May 2015, was carried out. At
      the same time, 24 healthy children from the Department of Pediatric Development
      served as a control group. The examination indexes included creatine kinase (CK),
      creatine kinase-isoenzyme MB (CK-MB), creatine kinase isoenzyme MB mass (CK-MB
      mass), cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and high-sensitive-cTnT (hs-cTnT).? RESULTS: 1)
      In the myocarditis group, the CK increased from 100 to 1 000 U/L, reached a peak
      after 5 days, which lasted for a week and then dropped to the normal; the CK-MB
      reached a peak after 5 to 7 days and dropped to the normal a month later; the CK
      MB mass reached a peak on the first day and dropped to the normal after 3 weeks;
      the cTn reached to a peak after 5 days and dropped to the normal after about 17
      days; hs-cTnT reached to a peak on the first day and dropped to the normal after
      about 19 days. 2) In the DMD/BMD group, the CK increased significantly and 27
      cases had a CK value of more than 10 000 U/L. After the treatment for 1 to 2
      weeks, their enzyme rose again after a slight drop. In terms of cTnI, 6 cases
      showed a moderate increase, 5 of them couldn't drop to the normal level until
      more than 3 weeks later; the hs-cTnT increased in the 45 cases, which lasted for
      more than 3 weeks in the 31 cases of them and showed a tendency of persisting
      increase.? CONCLUSION: The cTnI and hs-cTnT rise significantly and possess wider
      observation window than CK and CK-MB mass in myocarditis children, with more
      sensitive and specific changes. The myocardial damage can occur before myasthenia
      and keep this trend for a long time in the DMD/BMD children. The trend of cTnI
      change in myocarditis children is similar to hs-cTnT, while hs-cTnT in DMD/BMD
      children is more sensitive than cTnI.

PMID- 27640800
TI  - [Association between drinking patterns and injuries in emergency room in three
      domestic general hospitals].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between drinking patterns (the volume of
      drinking and frequency) and injury type (intentional injury and unintentional
      traffic injury).? METHODS: A total of 1 539 patients (age>=18 years), who were
      treated for the first time in the emergency room within 6 h after the injury,
      were included. The American National Institute of Health questionnaire was used
      to investigate the injury type, time point of drinking, drinking volume, and
      drinking history in the past years and so on. The case-crossover method and
      logistic regression was used to analyze the data.? RESULTS: Comparing with the
      control, people with alcohol consuming 6 h before the injury showed a higher risk
      of intentional injury (OR=3.63). Comparing with people without drinking in the
      past year, subjects who drank alcohol more than once in the past year displayed a
      higher risk of intentional injury (OR=1.986). Comparing with non-drinkers,
      subjects who drank alcohol 5-11 standard drinks or 12 and more drinks on one
      occasion in the past year had a higher risk of intentional injury (OR=1.854 or
      1.572). Comparing with the non-drinkers, victims who drank alcohol 6 h before
      injury had a higher risk of unintentional traffic injury (OR=2.091). Comparing
      with non-drinkers in the past year, subjects who drank alcohol more than once in
      the past year had a higher risk of unintentional traffic injuries (OR=1.533).
      Comparing with the non-drinkers, subjects who drank alcohol 6 h before injury had
      a higher risk of injury (OR=5.15). Subjects who drank Less than 6 standard
      drinks, 6-9 standard drinks and more than 9 standard drinks of alcohol 6 h
      separately before injury had higher risk than non-drinkers (OR=3.83, 8.64 or
      9.58). ? CONCLUSION: Drinking alcohol before injury is associated with higher
      risk of intentional injury and unintentional traffic injury. Over the past year,
      subjects who drank alcohol at least once have higher risk of intentional injuries
      and unintentional traffic injury. Drinking alcohol 6 h before injury is
      associated with higher risk of injuries. The risk is increasing with the volume
      of drinking before injury. The study demonstrates that drinking 6 h before injury
      and drinking patterns in the past year are closely associated with injuries,
      which provides scientific evidences for making policy relevant to alcohol
      consuming.

PMID- 27640801
TI  - A case of autologous pericardium patch in treatment of aortoesophageal fistula.
AB  - Aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) is a rare but fatal complication caused by foreign
      body ingestion. Aortic replacement and endovascular stent graft are the common
      repair surgeries. The materials to repair an aortic defect in AEF are typically
      homograft or allograft, but the use of an autologous pericardium patch is rarely
      reported. Here we reported a patient with AEF and severe mediastinal infection
      induced by chicken bone ingestion. In this case, the autologous pericardium patch
      was used as the repair material. 

PMID- 27640802
TI  - [A case of combination therapy by vacuum assisted closure along with skin graft
      for scleroderma with common wart].
AB  - Scleroderma is a kind of connective tissue disease characterized by skin and
      other systems fibrosis. The underlying mechanisms for this disease are poorly
      understood due to its complexity. It is very difficult for scleroderma patient to
      heal the wound due to the special pathological characteristic of scleroderma. 

PMID- 27640804
TI  - [Construction of bromodomain-deleted BRD7 mutation vector based on homologous
      recombination and reverse PCR amplification].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To construct a eukaryotic expression vector of bromodomain-containing
      protein 7 (BRD7) with deletion of bromodomain (BRD7?brd) using the homologous
      recombination and reverse PCR amplification techniques. METHODS: The linear DNA
      fragments of bromodomain-deleted mutation of BRD7 (pIRES2-EGFP- 3Flag/BRD7?brd)
      were amplified by one pair of reverse PCR primers using high-fidelity enzyme, and
      then these fragments were transformed into E.coli to obtain the eukaryotic
      expression vector expressing BRD7?brd protein based on homologous recombination
      and plasmid cyclization. RESULTS: Bromodomain-deleted clones were identified by
      digestion with restrictive enzymes, and then the sequence and protein expression
      were further confirmed by sequencing and Western blot assays. The results suggest
      that pIRES2-EGFP-3Flag/BRD7?brd was successfully constructed. CONCLUSION: We
      establish a simple and quick method to construct plasmids with pIRES2-EGFP-
      3Flag/BRD7?brd using reverse PCR amplification and homologous recombination
      techniques. We also found that the concentration of template in PCR reaction
      system is one of the critical factors that affect the rate of homologous
      recombination. Of all, this improved technique could be widely used in the
      construction of gene mutations.

PMID- 27640803
TI  - [A case of left atria subendocardial thrombus with ?sick sinus syndrome].
AB  - The clinical data for a patient with sick sinus syndrome was retrospectively
      analyzed. The patient was treated because of his heart palpitations and the
      increased chest pain. The patient admitted to the hospital under consideration
      for the left atrial tumor dependent on the echocardiography findings. After the
      CT scan and the dynamic ECG examination, the patient successfully underwent the
      left atrial tumor resection, atrial septal repair and cardiac pacing lead
      installation. The postoperative pathological diagnosis showed that the infective
      endocarditis and left atrial thrombus in left atrium was cured. The patient was
      discharged after postoperative anti-inflammatory therapy. By analyzing the
      reasons for misdignosis before or during surgery, the possible mechanisms for
      left atrial subendocardial thrombus have been found. This study suggests that it
      is necessary to combine imaging diagnosis and clinical observations to
      distinguish tumor from excrescence. 

PMID- 27640805
TI  - Association of TNFRSF1B +676 gene polymorphism with the risk of rheumatoid
      arthritis in Han Chinese population in Hunan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the association of TNFRSF1B +676 gene (rs1061622)
      polymorphism with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA ) in Han Chinese
      population of Hunan. METHODS: A total of 112 patients with RA from Han Chinese
      population in Hunan were recruited, along with 129 healthy controls. TNFRSF1B
      +676 (rs1061622) gene polymorphisms were examined by PCR-RFLP. Serum levels of
      soluble TNFR II were analyzed by ELISA. RESULTS: RA patients displayed a similar
      TNFRSF1B +676 genotype to controls (GG/TG/TT: 5/62/45 vs 9/56/64, P=0.167), but
      signifi cant diff erence was found between female RA patients and female controls
      (GG/TG/TT: 3/49/24 vs 8/28/48, P<0.001). No significant difference was found in
      the frequency of TNFRSF1B +676 T or G allele between RA patients and controls
      (P>0.05). RA patients showed a signifi cantly higher level of serum soluble tumor
      necrosis factor receptor II (sTNFR II) than controls [(7.83+/-2.61) ng/mL vs
      (4.32+/-1.67) ng/mL, P<0.001], but there was no diff erence among the three
      genotypes (P>0.05). No association was found between TNFRSF1B+676 gene
      polymorphism and RA clinical characteristics. CONCLUSION: In Han Chinese
      population of Hunan province, TNFRSF1B+676 gene polymorphisms are not associated
      with the genetic risk of RA .

PMID- 27640808
TI  - Resolution criteria in double-slit microscopic imaging experiments.
AB  - Double-slit imaging is widely used for verifying the resolution of high
      resolution and super-resolution microscopies. However, due to the fabrication
      limits, the slit width is generally non-negligible, which can affect the claimed
      resolution. In this paper we theoretically calculate the electromagnetic field
      distribution inside and near the metallic double slit using waveguide mode
      expansion method, and acquire the far-field image by vectorial Fourier optics. We
      find that the slit width has minimal influence when the illuminating light is
      polarized parallel to the slits. In this case, the claimed resolution should be
      based on the center-to-center distance of the double-slit.

PMID- 27640806
TI  - Combining Exosomes Derived from Immature DCs with Donor Antigen-Specific Treg
      Cells Induces Tolerance in a Rat Liver Allograft Model.
AB  - Allograft tolerance is the ultimate goal in the field of transplantation
      immunology. Immature dendritic cells (imDCs) play an important role in
      establishing tolerance but have limitations, including potential for maturation,
      short lifespan in vivo and short storage times in vitro. However, exosomes
      (generally 30-100 nm) from imDCs (imDex) retain many source cell properties and
      may overcome these limitations. In previous reports, imDex prolonged the survival
      time of heart or intestine allografts. However, tolerance or long-term survival
      was not achieved unless immune suppressants were used. Regulatory T cells (Tregs)
      can protect allografts from immune rejection, and our previous study showed that
      the effects of imDex were significantly associated with Tregs. Therefore, we
      incorporated Tregs into the treatment protocol to further reduce or avoid
      suppressant use. We defined the optimal exosome dose as approximately 20 MUg (per
      treatment before, during and after transplantation) in rat liver transplantation
      and the antigen-specific role of Tregs in protecting liver allografts. In the co
      treatment group, recipients achieved long-term survival, and tolerance was
      induced. Moreover, imDex amplified Tregs, which required recipient DCs and were
      enhanced by IL-2. Fortunately, the expanded Tregs retained their regulatory
      ability and donor-specificity. Thus, imDex and donor-specific Tregs can
      collaboratively induce graft tolerance.

PMID- 27640807
TI  - Single-Center Experience with Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation in 114
      Individuals Aged 70 and Older in the New Millennium.

PMID- 27640809
TI  - Gain enhanced Fano resonance in a coupled photonic crystal cavity-waveguide
      structure.
AB  - Systems with coupled cavities and waveguides have been demonstrated as optical
      switches and optical sensors. To optimize the functionalities of these optical
      devices, Fano resonance with asymmetric and steep spectral line shape has been
      used. We theoretically propose a coupled photonic crystal cavity-waveguide
      structure to achieve Fano resonance by placing partially reflecting elements in
      waveguide. To enhance Fano resonance, optical gain material is introduced into
      the cavity. As the gain increases, the transmission line shape becomes steepened
      and the transmissivity can be six times enhanced, giving a large contrast by a
      small frequency shift. It is prospected that the gain enhanced Fano resonance is
      very useful for optical switches and optical sensors.

PMID- 27640811
TI  - Evaluating feature-selection stability in next-generation proteomics.
AB  - Identifying reproducible yet relevant features is a major challenge in biological
      research. This is well documented in genomics data. Using a proposed set of three
      reliability benchmarks, we find that this issue exists also in proteomics for
      commonly used feature-selection methods, e.g. [Formula: see text]-test and
      recursive feature elimination. Moreover, due to high test variability, selecting
      the top proteins based on [Formula: see text]-value ranks - even when restricted
      to high-abundance proteins - does not improve reproducibility. Statistical
      testing based on networks are believed to be more robust, but this does not
      always hold true: The commonly used hypergeometric enrichment that tests for
      enrichment of protein subnets performs abysmally due to its dependence on
      unstable protein pre-selection steps. We demonstrate here for the first time the
      utility of a novel suite of network-based algorithms called ranked-based network
      algorithms (RBNAs) on proteomics. These have originally been introduced and
      tested extensively on genomics data. We show here that they are highly stable,
      reproducible and select relevant features when applied to proteomics data. It is
      also evident from these results that use of statistical feature testing on
      protein expression data should be executed with due caution. Careless use of
      networks does not resolve poor-performance issues, and can even mislead. We
      recommend augmenting statistical feature-selection methods with concurrent
      analysis on stability and reproducibility to improve the quality of the selected
      features prior to experimental validation.

PMID- 27640810
TI  - A longitudinal study of depression and gestational diabetes in pregnancy and the
      postpartum period.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Depression and glucose intolerance commonly co-occur among non
      pregnant individuals; however, the temporal relationship between gestational
      diabetes (GDM) and depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period is less
      understood. Our objective was to assess longitudinal associations between
      depression early in pregnancy and GDM risk, as well as GDM and subsequent risk of
      postpartum depression. METHODS: Data came from the prospective National Institute
      of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies-Singleton cohort (2009
      2013), and had been collected at 12 US clinical centres. Pregnant women without
      psychiatric disorders, diabetes or other chronic conditions before pregnancy were
      followed throughout pregnancy (n = 2477). Only women with GDM and matched
      controls were followed up at 6 weeks postpartum (n = 162). GDM was ascertained by
      a review of the medical records. Depression was assessed in the first (8-13
      gestational weeks) and second (16-22 weeks) trimesters and at 6 weeks postpartum
      using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Postpartum depression was defined
      as a depressive symptom score >=10 or antidepressant medicine use after delivery.
      RR and 95% CI were adjusted for pre-pregnancy BMI and other risk factors. GDM was
      considered to be the outcome for the first set of analyses, with depression in
      the first and second trimesters as the exposures. Postpartum depression was
      considered as the outcome for the second set of analyses, with GDM as the
      exposure. RESULTS: Overall, comparing the highest and lowest quartiles of first
      trimester depression scores, the scores from the highest quartile were associated
      with a significant twofold (95% CI 1.06, 3.78) increased risk of GDM, but this
      was attenuated to 1.72-fold (95% CI 0.92, 3.23) after adjustment; the second
      trimester results were similar. The risk was stronger and significant in both
      trimesters among non-obese women (p for trend 0.02 and 0.01, respectively), but
      null for obese women. Women with persistently high depression scores in both
      trimesters had the greatest risk of GDM (highest vs lowest quartile in both
      trimesters: adjusted RR 3.21, 95% CI 1.00, 10.28). GDM was associated with an
      adjusted 4.62-fold (95% CI 1.26, 16.98) increased risk of subsequent postpartum
      depression. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: This prospective study demonstrates a
      modest association between depressive symptoms early in pregnancy and an
      increased risk of incident GDM, as well as between GDM and subsequent postpartum
      depression risk, highlighting pregnancy and the postpartum period as an important
      susceptible time window during the life course for the interplay between
      depression and glucose intolerance phenotypes. GDM risk associated with elevated
      depressive symptoms was particularly high among non-obese women and women with
      symptoms persisting across the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

PMID- 27640812
TI  - Close-packed polymer crystals from two-monomer-connected precursors.
AB  - The design of crystalline polymers is intellectually stimulating and
      synthetically challenging, especially when the polymerization of any monomer
      occurs in a linear dimension. Such linear growth often leads to entropically
      driven chain entanglements and thus is detrimental to attempts to realize the
      full potential of conjugated molecular structures. Here we report the
      polymerization of two-monomer-connected precursors (TMCPs) in which two pyrrole
      units are linked through a connector, yielding highly crystalline polymers. The
      simultaneous growth of the TMCP results in a close-packed crystal in polypyrrole
      (PPy) at the molecular scale with either a hexagonal close-packed or face-centred
      cubic structure, as confirmed by high-voltage electron microscopy, and the
      structure that formed could be controlled by simply changing the connector. The
      electrical conductivity of the TMCP-based PPy is almost 35 times that of single
      monomer-based PPy, demonstrating its promise for application in diverse fields.

PMID- 27640813
TI  - "Bundle" Practices and Ventilator-Associated Events: Not Enough.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Ventilator-associated events (VAEs) are nosocomial events correlated
      with length of stay, costs, and mortality. Current ventilator bundle practices
      target the older definition of ventilator-associated pneumonia and have not been
      systematically evaluated for their impact on VAEs. DESIGN Retrospective cohort
      study. SETTING Tertiary medical center between January 2012 and August 2014.
      PARTICIPANTS All adult patients ventilated for at least 24 hours at our
      institution. INTERVENTIONS We conducted univariate analyses for compliance with
      each element; we focused on VAEs occurring within a 2-day window of failure to
      meet any ventilator bundle element. We used Cox proportional hazard models to
      assess the effect of stress ulcer prophylaxis, deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
      prophylaxis, oral care, and sedation breaks on VAEs. We adjusted models for
      gender, age, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) III
      scores. RESULTS Our cohort comprised 2,660 patients with 16,858 ventilator days
      and 77 VAEs. Adjusting for APACHE score and gender, only oral care was associated
      with a reduction in the risk of VAE (hazard ratio [HR], 0.44; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 0.26-0.77). The DVT prophylaxis and sedation breaks did not show
      any significant impact on VAEs. Stress ulcer prophylaxis trended toward an
      increased risk of VAE (HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.00-2.56). CONCLUSION Although limited
      by a low baseline rate of VAEs, existing ventilator bundle practices do not
      appear to target VAEs well. Oral care is clearly important, but the impact of DVT
      prophylaxis, sedation breaks, and especially stress ulcer prophylaxis are
      questionable at best. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1453-1457.

PMID- 27640815
TI  - Endoscopic Denker's approach for resection of lesions involving the
      anteroinferior maxillary sinus and infratemporal fossa.

PMID- 27640814
TI  - Prognostic significance of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 polymorphisms on
      biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy in a Chinese population.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) is a transmembrane receptor with
      ligand-induced tyrosine kinase activity and is involved in various biological and
      pathological processes. Several polymorphisms of FGFR4 are associated with the
      incidence and mortality of numerous cancers, including prostate cancer. In this
      study, we investigated whether the polymorphisms of FGFR4 influence the
      biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer in Chinese men after radical
      prostatectomy. Three common polymorphisms (rs1966265, rs2011077, and rs351855) of
      FGFR4 were genotyped from 346 patients with prostate cancer by using the Sequenom
      MassARRAY system. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard models were
      used for survival analysis. Results showed biochemical recurrence (BCR) free
      survival was significantly affected by the genotypes of rs351855 but not
      influenced by rs1966265 and rs2011077. After adjusting for other variables in
      multivariable analysis, patients with rs351855 AA/AG genotypes showed
      significantly worse BCR-free survival than those with the GG genotype (HR =
      1.873; 95% CI, 1.209-2.901; P = 0.005). Hence, FGFR4 rs351855 could be a novel
      independent prognostic factor of BCR after radical prostatectomy in the Chinese
      population. This functional polymorphism may also provide a basis for
      surveillance programs. Additional large-scale studies must be performed to
      validate the significance of this polymorphism in prostate cancer.

PMID- 27640816
TI  - Dopaminergic neurons differentiating from LRRK2 G2019S induced pluripotent stem
      cells show early neuritic branching defects.
AB  - Some mutations of the LRRK2 gene underlie autosomal dominant form of Parkinson's
      disease (PD). The G2019S is a common mutation that accounts for about 2% of PD
      cases. To understand the pathophysiology of this mutation and its possible
      developmental implications, we developed an in vitro assay to model PD with human
      induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) reprogrammed from skin fibroblasts of PD
      patients suffering from the LRKK2 G2019S mutation. We differentiated the hiPSCs
      into neural stem cells (NSCs) and further into dopaminergic neurons. Here we show
      that NSCs bearing the mutation tend to differentiate less efficiently into
      dopaminergic neurons and that the latter exhibit significant branching defects as
      compared to their controls.

PMID- 27640817
TI  - Predictors of Place of Death of Individuals in a Home-Based Primary and
      Palliative Care Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate factors associated with place of death of individuals
      in the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program (MSVD). DESIGN: A retrospective chart
      review was performed of all MSVD participants who died in 2012 to assess
      predictors of place of death in the last month of life. SETTING: MSVD, a home
      based primary and palliative care program in New York. PARTICIPANTS: MSVD
      participants who were discharged from the program because of death between
      January 2012 and December 2012 and died at home, in inpatient hospice, or in the
      hospital (N = 183). MEASUREMENTS: Electronic medical records were reviewed to
      collect information on demographic characteristics, physician visits, and end-of
      life conversations. RESULTS: Of 183 participants, 103 (56%) died at home,
      approximately twice the national average; 28 (15%) died in inpatient hospice; and
      52 (28%) died in the hospital. Bivariate analyses showed that participants who
      were white, aged 90 and older, non-Medicaid, or had a recorded preference for
      place of death were more likely to die outside the hospital. Diagnoses and living
      situation were not significantly associated with place of death. Multivariate
      logistic regression analysis showed no statistical association between place of
      death and home visits in the last month of life (odds ratio = 1.21, 95%
      confidence interval = 0.52-2.77). CONCLUSION: Home-based primary and palliative
      care results in a high likelihood of nonhospital death, although certain
      demographic characteristics are strong predictors of death in the hospital. For
      MSVD participants, home visits in the last month of life were not associated with
      death outside the hospital.

PMID- 27640818
TI  - The Asymmetric Active Coupler: Stable Nonlinear Supermodes and Directed
      Transport.
AB  - We consider the asymmetric active coupler (AAC) consisting of two coupled
      dissimilar waveguides with gain and loss. We show that under generic conditions,
      not restricted by parity-time symmetry, there exist finite-power, constant
      intensity nonlinear supermodes (NS), resulting from the balance between gain,
      loss, nonlinearity, coupling and dissimilarity. The system is shown to possess
      non-reciprocal dynamics enabling directed power transport functionality.

PMID- 27640819
TI  - Prevalence and characteristics of adverse drug reactions at admission to
      hospital: a prospective observational study.
AB  - AIMS: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) contribute to poorer patient outcomes and
      additional burden to the healthcare system. However, data on the true burden,
      relevant types and drugs causing ADRs are lacking. The aim of this study was to
      determine the prevalence of ADR-related hospitalization in the general adult
      population in Singapore and to investigate their characteristics. METHODS: We
      prospectively recruited 1000 adult patients with unplanned admission to a large
      tertiary-care hospital. Two independent reviewers evaluated all suspected ADRs
      for causality, type, severity and avoidability. The prevalence of ADR-related
      hospitalization was calculated based on 'definite' and 'probable' ADRs. Logistic
      regression was used to evaluate predictors for having an ADR at admission.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of all ADRs at admission was 12.4% (95% CI: 10.5-14.6%)
      and ADRs causing admission was 8.1% (95% CI: 6.5-10.0%). The most common ADRs
      were gastrointestinal-related. The most common drug category causing ADRs were
      cardiovascular drugs. Patients with ADRs had a longer length of stay than those
      who did not (median 4 vs. 3 days, P = 1.70 * 10-3 ). About 30% of ADRs at
      admission were caused by at least one drug with a clinical annotation in the
      Pharmacogenomics KnowledgeBase (PharmGKB), suggesting that some of these ADRs may
      have been predicted by pharmacogenetic testing. CONCLUSIONS: We have quantified
      the burden and characteristics of clinically impactful ADRs in the Singaporean
      general adult population. Our results will provide vital information for efforts
      in reducing ADRs through targeted vigilance, patient education and
      pharmacogenomics in Singapore.

PMID- 27640871
TI  - Pendulating-A grounded theory explaining patients' behavior shortly after having
      a leg amputated due to vascular disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although the group of vascular leg amputated patients constitutes
      some of the most vulnerable and frail on the orthopedic wards, previous research
      of amputated patients has focused on patients attending gait training in
      rehabilitation facilities leaving the patient experience shortly after surgery
      unexplored. Understanding patients' behavior shortly after amputation could
      inform health professionals in regard to how these vulnerable patients' needs at
      hospital can be met as well as how to plan for care post-discharge. AIM: To
      construct a grounded theory (GT) explaining patients' behavior shortly after
      having a leg amputated as a result of vascular disease. METHOD: In line with
      constructivist GT methodology, data from ethnographic observations and interviews
      were simultaneously collected and analyzed using the constant comparative method
      covering the patients' experiences during the first 4 weeks post-surgery. Data
      collection was guided by theoretical sampling and comprised 11 patients. A GT was
      constructed. RESULTS: Patients went through a three-phased process as they
      realized they were experiencing a life-changing event. The first phase was
      "Losing control" and comprised the sub-categories "Being overwhelmed" and "Facing
      dependency." The second phase was "Digesting the shock" and comprised the sub
      categories "Swallowing the life-changing decision," "Detecting the amputated
      body" and "Struggling dualism." The third phase was "Regaining control" and
      comprised the sub-categories "Managing consequences" and "Building-up hope and
      self-motivation." "Pendulating" was identified as the core category describing
      the general pattern of behavior and illustrated how patients were swinging both
      cognitively and emotionally throughout the process. CONCLUSION: The theory of
      "Pendulating" offers a tool to understand the amputated patients' behavior and
      underlying concerns and to recognize where they are in the process. Concepts from
      the theory could be used by health professionals who support patients coping with
      the situation by offering terms to express and recognize patients' reactions.

PMID- 27640873
TI  - Extended half-life factor VIII for immune tolerance induction in haemophilia.

PMID- 27640872
TI  - Impact of antipsychotic review and non-pharmacological intervention on health
      related quality of life in people with dementia living in care homes: WHELD-a
      factorial cluster randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Very few interventional studies have directly examined the impact of
      treatment approaches on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in people with
      dementia. This is of particular importance in therapies to address behavioural
      symptoms, where HRQL is often severely affected. METHODS: Analysis within the
      WHELD cluster randomised factorial study in 16 UK care homes examining the impact
      of person-centred care in combination with antipsychotic review, social
      interaction and exercise interventions. This study analysed impact on HRQL
      through the DEMQOL-Proxy. RESULTS: Data on HRQL were available for 187
      participants. People receiving antipsychotic review showed a significant
      worsening in two DEMQOL-Proxy domains (negative emotion: p = 0.02; appearance: p
      = 0.04). A best-case scenario analysis showed significant worsening for total
      DEMQOL-Proxy score. Social interaction intervention resulted in a significant
      benefit to HRQL (p = 0.04). There was no deterioration in HRQL in groups
      receiving both antipsychotic review and social interaction (p = 0.62).
      CONCLUSIONS: This demonstrates an important detrimental impact of discontinuation
      of antipsychotics in dementia on HRQL, highlighting the need for careful review
      of best practice guidelines regarding antipsychotic use and emphasising the
      importance of providing evidence-based non-pharmacological interventions in
      conjunction with antipsychotic review. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27640874
TI  - Optimal sequential enrichment designs for phase II clinical trials.
AB  - In the early phase development of molecularly targeted agents (MTAs), a commonly
      encountered situation is that the MTA is expected to be more effective for a
      certain biomarker subgroup, say marker-positive patients, but there is no
      adequate evidence to show that the MTA does not work for the other subgroup, that
      is, marker-negative patients. After establishing that marker-positive patients
      benefit from the treatment, it is often of great clinical interest to determine
      whether the treatment benefit extends to marker-negative patients. The authors
      propose optimal sequential enrichment (OSE) designs to address this practical
      issue in the context of phase II clinical trials. The OSE designs evaluate the
      treatment effect first in marker-positive patients and then in marker-negative
      patients if needed. The designs are optimal in the sense that they minimize the
      expected sample size or the maximum sample size under the null hypothesis that
      the MTA is futile. An efficient, accurate optimization algorithm is proposed to
      find the optimal design parameters. One important advantage of the OSE design is
      that the go/no-go interim decision rules are specified prior to the trial
      conduct, which makes the design particularly easy to use in practice. A
      simulation study shows that the OSE designs perform well and are ethically more
      desirable than the commonly used marker-stratified design. The OSE design is
      applied to an endometrial carcinoma trial. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons,
      Ltd.

PMID- 27640875
TI  - DNA-guided genome editing using structure-guided endonucleases.
AB  - The search for novel ways to target and alter the genomes of living organisms
      accelerated rapidly this decade with the discovery of CRISPR/Cas9. Since the
      initial discovery, efforts to find alternative methods for altering the genome
      have expanded. A new study presenting an alternative approach has been
      demonstrated that utilizes flap endonuclease 1 (FEN-1) fused to the Fok1
      endonuclease, which shows potential for DNA-guided genome targeting in vivo.

PMID- 27640876
TI  - Oxidative stresses-mediated apoptotic effects of ginsenoside Rb1 on pre- and post
      implantation mouse embryos in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Ginsenoside Rb1, the major saponin component of ginseng root, has a wide range of
      therapeutic application. Previous studies have established that ginsenoside Rb1
      inhibits the cell cycle and induces apoptosis. However, its side-effects,
      particularly those on embryonic development, have not been well characterized to
      date. In the current study, we examined whether ginsenoside Rb1 exerts a
      cytotoxic effect on mouse embryos at the blastocyst stage, and affects subsequent
      embryonic development in vitro and in vivo. Blastocysts treated with 25-100 MUg
      mL-1 ginsenoside Rb1 exhibited significantly increased apoptosis and a
      corresponding decrease in total cell number. Notably, the implantation success
      rate of blastocysts pretreated with ginsenoside Rb1 was lower than that of their
      control counterparts. Moreover, in vitro treatment with 25-100 MUg mL-1
      ginsenoside Rb1 was associated with increased resorption of post-implantation
      embryos and decreased fetal weight. In an in vivo model, intravenous injection
      with ginsenoside Rb1 (1, 3, 5 mg kg-1 body weight/day) for 4 days resulted in
      apoptosis of blastocyst stage embryos and early embryonic developmental injury.
      In addition, ginsenoside Rb1 appeared to induce injury in mouse blastocysts
      through oxidative stresses-triggered intrinsic apoptotic signaling processes to
      impair sequent embryonic development. The collective results strongly indicate
      that ginsenoside Rb1 induces apoptosis and retards early pre- and post
      implantation development of mouse embryos, both in vitro and in vivo. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 1990-2003, 2017.

PMID- 27640878
TI  - Surface Control of Doping in Self-Doped Nanocrystals.
AB  - Self-doped nanocrystals raise great interest for infrared (IR) optoelectronics
      because their optical properties span from near to far IR. However, their
      integration for photodetection requires a fine understanding of the origin of
      their doping and also a way to control the magnitude of the doping. In this
      paper, we demonstrate that a fine control of the doping level between 0.1 and 2
      electrons per dot is obtained through ligand exchange. The latter affects not
      only the interparticle coupling but also their optical properties because of the
      band-shift resulting from the presence of surface dipoles. We demonstrate that
      self-doping is a bulk process and that surface dipoles can control its magnitude.
      We additionally propose a model to quantify the dipole involved with each ligand.
      We eventually use the ligand design rule previously evidenced to build a near
      infrared photodetector on a soft and transparent substrate. The latter
      significantly improves the performance compared to previously reported colloidal
      quantum dot-based photodetectors on plastic substrates operated in the telecom
      wavelength range.

PMID- 27640877
TI  - Associations of Emergency Department Length of Stay With Publicly Reported
      Quality-of-care Measures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Institute of Medicine identified emergency department (ED)
      crowding as a critical threat to patient safety. We assess the association
      between changes in publicly reported ED length of stay (LOS) and changes in
      quality-of-care measures in a national cohort of hospitals. METHODS: Longitudinal
      analysis of 2012 and 2013 data from the American Hospital Association (AHA)
      Survey, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Cost Reports, and CMS
      Hospital Compare. We included hospitals reporting Hospital Compare timeliness
      measure of LOS for admitted patients. We used AHA and CMS data to incorporate
      hospital predictors of interest. We used the method of first differences to test
      for relationships in the change over time between timeliness measures and six
      hospital-level measures. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 2,619 hospitals. Each
      additional hour of ED LOS was associated with a 0.7% decrease in proportion of
      patients giving a top satisfaction rating, a 0.7% decrease in proportion of
      patients who would "definitely recommend" the hospital, and a 6-minute increase
      in time to pain management for long bone fracture (p < 0.01 for all). A 1-hour
      increase in ED LOS is associated with a 44% increase in the odds of having an
      increase in left without being seen (95% confidence interval = 25% to 68%). ED
      LOS was not associated with hospital readmissions (p = 0.14) or time to
      percutaneous coronary intervention (p = 0.14). CONCLUSION: In this longitudinal
      study of hospitals across the United States, improvements in ED timeliness
      measures are associated with improvements in the patient experience.

PMID- 27640879
TI  - A 3-year Health Care Coalition Experience in Advancing Hospital Evacuation
      Preparedness.
AB  - This report outlines a 3-year health care coalition effort to advance and test
      community capacity for a large-scale hospital evacuation. The multi-year effort
      utilized a variety workshops, seminars, webinars, tabletops, functional
      exercises, and culminated with a full-scale exercise testing hospital evacuation.
      While most hospital evacuation exercises focus on internal movement of patients,
      this exercise process tested command-level decision making and it tested external
      partners such as transportation agencies, law enforcement, receiving hospitals,
      and local emergency management. This process delivered key coalition-building
      activities and offered a variety of training and exercise opportunities to assist
      a number of organizations, all at different stages of hospital evacuation
      planning. The 2012 Hospital Preparedness Program outlined the incorporation of
      health care coalition activities to transform individual organization
      preparedness to community-level readiness. This report outlines a health care
      coalition effort to deliver training and exercises to advance community capacity
      for a large-scale hospital evacuation. Lowe JJ , Hansen KF , Sanger KK , Obaid JM
      . A 3-year health care coalition experience in advancing hospital evacuation
      preparedness. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):658-662.

PMID- 27640880
TI  - Morphological examination of highly porous polylactic acid/Bioglass(r) scaffolds
      produced via nonsolvent induced phase separation.
AB  - In this study, we produce highly porous (up to ~91%) composite scaffolds of
      polylactic acid (PLA) containing 2 wt % sol-gel-derived 45S5 Bioglass(r)
      particles via nonsolvent induced phase separation at -23 degrees C with no
      sacrificial phases involved. Before the incorporation of the bioglass with PLA,
      the particles are surface modified with a silane coupling agent which effectively
      diminishes agglomeration between them leading to a better dispersion of bioactive
      particles throughout the scaffold. Interestingly, the incorporation route (via
      solvent dichloromethane or nonsolvent hexane) of the surface modified particles
      in the foaming process has the greatest impact on porosity, crystallinity, and
      morphology of the scaffolds. The composite scaffolds with a morphology consisting
      of both mesopores and large macropores, which is potentially beneficial for bone
      regeneration applications, are examined further. SEM images show that the surface
      modified bioglass particles take-up a unique configuration within the mesoporous
      structure of these scaffolds ensuring that the particles are well interlocked but
      not completely covered by PLA such that they can be in contact with physiological
      fluids. The results of preliminary in vitro tests confirm that this PLA/bioglass
      configuration promotes the interaction of the bioactive phase with physiological
      fluids. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl
      Biomater, 105B: 2433-2442, 2017.

PMID- 27640881
TI  - "Hep C, where art thou": What are the remaining (fundable) questions in hepatitis
      C virus research?
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has dominated the field of hepatology for the past 25
      years, and its cure in the majority of treated patients is one of the greatest
      achievements in all of medicine. However, the latter has led to the belief by
      some that HCV research should be shelved for other, more pressing areas. The
      mission for HCV eradication is far from accomplished. As a historical reference,
      we should consider that disease elimination has required vaccination with all
      previously controlled infections including smallpox and polio and that simple,
      effective treatment is not sufficient in most infections to lead to substantial
      control. Syphilis is the best example, for which a single dose of penicillin
      (which literally costs pennies and that we have had since 1945) is curative in
      early stages. Not only have we not eradicated syphilis, rates of infection have
      increased in many places within the United States in recent years. Most HCV
      infected subjects are unaware of their infection, remaining at risk for
      transmission to others and disease progression, including cirrhosis and
      hepatocellular carcinoma. In the era of highly effective direct-acting antivirals
      (DAAs), many questions pertaining to HCV remain, but they are more complex and
      difficult to answer. Here, I provide my perspective on some of these salient
      issues: the residual risk for disease progression after sustained virologic
      response, the optimal approach to current DAA failures, the impact of targeting
      people who inject drugs with DAAs, vaccine prospects, and application of
      neutralizing HCV glycoprotein antibodies. (Hepatology 2017;65:341-349).

PMID- 27640882
TI  - Mutation analysis of circulating plasma DNA to determine response to EGFR
      tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy of lung adenocarcinoma patients.
AB  - Long-lasting success in lung cancer therapy using tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      (TKIs) is rare since the tumors develop resistance due to the occurrence of
      molecularly altered subclones. The aim of this study was to monitor tumors over
      time based on the quantity of mutant plasma DNA and to identify early indications
      for therapy response and tumor progression. Serial plasma samples from lung
      adenocarcinoma patients treated with TKIs were used to quantify EGFR and KRAS
      mutations in circulating DNA by digital PCR. Mutant DNA levels were compared with
      the courses of responses to treatment with TKIs, conventional chemotherapy,
      radiotherapy, or combinations thereof. Variations in plasma DNA mutation levels
      over time were found in 15 patients. We categorize three major courses: First,
      signs of therapy response are associated with a fast clearing of plasma DNA
      mutations within a few days. Second, periods of stable disease are accompanied by
      either absence of mutations or fluctuation at low levels. Finally, dramatic
      increase of mutational load is followed by rapid tumor progression and poor
      patient survival. In summary, the serial assessment of EGFR mutations in the
      plasma of NSCLC patients allows conclusions about controlled disease and tumor
      progression earlier than currently available methods.

PMID- 27640884
TI  - C-peptide and diabetic kidney disease.
AB  - Kidney disease is a serious development in diabetes mellitus and poses an
      increasing clinical problem. Despite increasing incidence and prevalence of
      diabetic kidney disease, there have been no new therapies for this condition in
      the last 20 years. Mounting evidence supports a biological role for C-peptide,
      and findings from multiple studies now suggest that C-peptide may beneficially
      affect the disturbed metabolic and pathophysiological pathways leading to the
      development of diabetic nephropathy. Studies of C-peptide in animal models and in
      humans with type 1 diabetes all suggest a renoprotective effect for this peptide.
      In diabetic rodents, C-peptide reduces glomerular hyperfiltration and
      albuminuria. Cohort studies of diabetic patients with combined islet and kidney
      transplants suggest that maintained C-peptide secretion is protective of renal
      graft function. Further, in short-term studies of patients with type 1 diabetes,
      administration of C-peptide is also associated with a lowered hyperfiltration
      rate and reduced microalbuminuria. Thus, the available information suggests that
      type 1 diabetes should be regarded as a dual hormone deficiency disease and that
      clinical trials of C-peptide in diabetic nephropathy are both justified and
      urgently required.

PMID- 27640885
TI  - Diagnosis and surgical treatment of mediastinal solitary fibrous tumor.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features as well as
      the diagnosis and treatment methods for mediastinal solitary fibrous tumor
      (MSFT). METHODS: The clinical data of 13 patients treated for pathologically
      confirmed MSFT were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical symptoms were mainly
      cough, chest tightness, chest pain and chest discomfort. It was difficult to
      distinguish MSFT from other types of tumors simply via imaging results, hence,
      the confirmative diagnosis required pathological and immunohistochemistry
      analysis. RESULTS: The tumors were completely resected for all patients. All
      patients were discharged after surgery and followed up for 2-85 months. One
      patient died of cerebral hemorrhage 2 months after the surgery, and the rest of
      the patients experienced no recurrence or metastasis during the follow-up period.
      CONCLUSIONS: MSFT is a rare type of mediastinal tumor, and the diagnosis requires
      pathological and immunohistochemical analysis. Surgical treatment is preferred,
      and a complete resection can achieve a good prognosis; however, postoperative
      adjuvant radiotherapy might be necessary for cases with extensive external
      invasion.

PMID- 27640883
TI  - A simple and cost-saving phenotypic drug susceptibility testing of HIV-1.
AB  - It is essential to monitor the occurrence of drug-resistant strains and to
      provide guidance for clinically adapted antiviral treatment of HIV/AIDS. In this
      study, an individual patient's HIV-1 pol gene encoding the full length of
      protease and part of the reverse transcriptase was packaged into a modified
      lentivirus carrying dual-reporters ZsGreen and luciferase. The optimal
      coefficient of correlation between drug concentration and luciferase activity was
      optimized. A clear-cut dose-dependent relationship between lentivirus production
      and luciferase activity was found in the phenotypic testing system. Fold changes
      (FC) to a wild-type control HIV-1 strain ratios were determined reflecting the
      phenotypic susceptibility of treatment-exposed patient's HIV-1 strains to 12 HIV
      1 inhibitors including 6 nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), 4
      non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and 2 protease
      inhibitors (PIs). Phenotypic susceptibility calls from 8 HIV-1 infected patients
      were consistent with 80-90% genotypic evaluations, while phenotypic assessments
      rectified 10-20% genotypic resistance calls. By a half of replacement with
      ZsGreen reporter, the consumption of high cost Bright-Glo Luciferase Assay is
      reduced, making this assay cheaper when a large number of HIV-1 infected
      individuals are tested. The study provides a useful tool for interpreting
      meaningful genotypic mutations and guiding tailored antiviral treatment of
      HIV/AIDS in clinical practice.

PMID- 27640886
TI  - dl-3-n-Butylphthalide attenuation of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity in SH
      SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - AIMS: Methamphetamine (Meth) abuse causes neural injury in the brain. There are
      no efficacious therapies available to treat Meth-induce neural injury. The
      present study intended to test the therapeutic potential of dl-3-n-butylphthalide
      (NBP), a chemical compound extracted originally from the seeds of Chinese Celery,
      in the amelioration and prevention of Meth-induced neural injury. MAIN METHODS:
      Experiments were carried out on SH-SY5Y cells. Neuronal injury and apoptotic cell
      death were detected by MTT assay and analysis of nuclear morphology.
      Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was evaluated by dichloro-dihydro
      fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay and protein expression levels of the
      apoptosis-related cleaved caspase-3, bcl2 and Bax were determined by western
      blotting. KEY FINDINGS: Treatment of SH-SY5Y cells with Meth induced cell injury
      and apoptosis. NBP attenuated Meth-associated cell injury and apoptosis via
      blockage of Meth-mediated upregulation of intracellular ROS production and
      inhibition of Meth-induced decrease of cleaved caspase-3/caspase-3 and Bcl-2/Bax
      ratios. SIGNIFICANCE: The results presented in this study indicate that NBP may
      have therapeutic benefits in the treatment of Meth-induced neuronal injury in the
      central nervous system.

PMID- 27640887
TI  - Comparing the effects of endogenous and synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists
      on survival of gastric cancer cells.
AB  - AIMS: Anti-neoplastic activity induced by cannabinoids has been extensively
      documented for a number of cancer cell types; however, this topic has been
      explored in gastric cancer cells only in a limited number of approaches. Thus,
      the need of integrative and comparative studies still persists. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In this study we tested and compared the effects of three different
      cannabinoid receptor agonists-anandamide (AEA), (R)-(+)-methanandamide (Meth-AEA)
      and CP 55,940 (CP)- on gastric cancer cell morphology, viability and death events
      in order to provide new insights to the use of these agents for therapeutic
      purposes. KEY FINDINGS: The three agents tested exhibited similar concentration
      dependent effects in the induction of changes in cell morphology and cell loss,
      as well as in the decrease of cell viability and DNA laddering in the human
      gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS). Differences among the cannabinoids tested
      were mostly observed in the density of cells found in early and late apoptosis
      and necrosis, favoring AEA and CP as the more effective inducers of apoptotic
      mechanisms, and Meth-AEA as a more effective inducer of necrosis through
      transient and rapid apoptosis. SIGNIFICANCE: Through a comparative approach, our
      results support and confirm the therapeutic potential that cannabinoid receptor
      agonists exert in gastric cancer cells and open possibilities to use cannabinoids
      as part of a new gastric cancer therapy.

PMID- 27640888
TI  - EEG power as a biomarker to predict the outcome after cardiac arrest and
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation induced global ischemia.
AB  - AIMS: Cardiac arrest (CA) is a major cause of mortality and survivors often
      develop neurologic deficits. The objective of this study was to determine the
      effect of CA and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in mice on the EEG and
      neurologic outcomes, and identify biomarkers that can prognosticate poor
      outcomes. MAIN METHODS: Video-EEG records were obtained at various periods
      following CA-CPR and examined manually to determine the presence of spikes and
      sharp-waves, and seizures. EEG power was calculated using a fast Fourier
      transform (FFT) algorithm. KEY FINDINGS: Fifty percent mice died within 72h
      following CA and successful CPR. Universal suppression of the background EEG was
      observed in all mice following CA-CPR, however, a more severe and sustained
      reduction in EEG power occurred in the mice that did not survive beyond 72h than
      those that survived until sacrificed. Spikes and sharp wave activity appeared in
      the cortex and hippocampus of all mice, but only one out of eight mice developed
      a purely electrographic seizure in the acute period after CA-CPR. Interestingly,
      none of the mice that died experienced any acute seizures. At 10days after the CA
      CPR, 25% of the mice developed spontaneous convulsive and nonconvulsive seizures
      that remained restricted to the hippocampus. The frequency of nonconvulsive
      seizures was higher than that of convulsive seizures. SIGNIFICANCE: A strong
      association between changes in EEG power and mortality following CA-CPR were
      observed in our study. Therefore, we suggest that the EEG power can be used to
      prognosticate mortality following CA-CPR induced global ischemia.

PMID- 27640890
TI  - Outcomes of labor epidural analgesia among women aged over 40: A single
      institution retrospective study.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of labor epidural
      analgesia (LEA) on maternal and neonatal outcomes among parturients aged 40 years
      or older. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all laboring,
      singleton and cephalic deliveries at >=36 weeks' gestation at the Saitama Medical
      Center from April 2003 to September 2012. Women aged >=40 years who received LEA
      (>=40 with LEA group) were compared with women aged >=40 years who delivered
      without LEA (>=40 without LEA group) and women <40 years who received LEA (<40
      with LEA group). Extracted outcomes included mode of delivery, oxytocin
      augmentation, duration of labor, amount of estimated blood loss, umbilical artery
      pH, Apgar scores, and neonatal intensive care unit admission. RESULTS: This study
      included 4441 women. There were 74 women in the >=40 with LEA group, 369 in the
      >=40 without LEA group, and 601 in the <40 with LEA group. The maternal outcomes
      of emergency cesarean delivery rate (9.5%, 12.5%, 9.0%), instrumental delivery
      rate (33.8%, 10.3%, 28.3%), duration of labor (521 min, 321 min, 565 min), and
      estimated blood loss (524 g, 351 g, 412 g) were reported for the >=40 with LEA,
      >=40 without LEA, and <40 with LEA groups, respectively. Neonatal outcomes were
      not different between these groups. LEA use was not associated with emergency
      cesarean delivery in the multivariable analysis. CONCLUSION: Our study showed
      that parturients aged >=40 with LEA can expect similar LEA-associated labor
      outcomes to younger parturients with LEA.

PMID- 27640889
TI  - Oleanolic acid-loaded PLGA-TPGS nanoparticles combined with heparin sodium-loaded
      PLGA-TPGS nanoparticles for enhancing chemotherapy to liver cancer.
AB  - AIM: Heparin sodium (HS)-loaded polylactic-co-glycolic acid-D-alpha-tocopheryl
      polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (PLGA-TPGS) nanoparticles (HPTNs) were
      prepared as sustained and targeted delivery carriers and combined with oleanolic
      acid (OA)-loaded PLGA-TPGS nanoparticles (OPTNs) that had been investigated in
      our previous work to form a combination therapy system for the treatment of liver
      cancer. MAIN METHODS: To inspect cellular uptake and evaluate liver-targeting
      performance by analysing drug concentrations and cryosections, fluorescent probe
      coumarin-6 and eosin was used in preparations of HS/eosin-loaded, HS/coumarin-6
      loaded, and OA/coumarin-6-loaded PLGA-TPGS nanoparticles. All of these NPs were
      characterized in terms of size, size distribution, surface charge, drug loading,
      encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro release profile. The apoptosis of HepG2
      cells induced by OPTNs combined with HPTNs was determined by Annexin V-FITC
      staining and PI labelling. KEY FINDINGS: Transmission electron microscopy
      indicated that all of the nanoparticles were stably dispersed spheres with
      diameters ranging from 100 to 200nm. The results demonstrated that fluorescent
      nanoparticles were efficiently internalized into HepG2 and HCa-F cells, and that
      they exhibited enhanced liver targeting. The combination of HPTNs and OPTNs
      resulted in effective cell inhibition in vitro and a remarkable synergistic
      anticancer effect in vivo. The cell apoptosis results indicated that OPTNs
      combined with HPTNs could induce HepG2 cell apoptosis and exert synergistic
      effects. In vivo pharmacodynamics analysis using a solid tumour-bearing mouse
      model indicated that OPTNs combined with HPTNs could suppress tumour growth by
      67.61%. SIGNIFICANCE: This research suggests that the combined therapy system of
      OPTNs and HPTNs could be a new means of hepatoma therapy.

PMID- 27640891
TI  - Preparing Emergency Physicians for Acute Disaster Response: A Review of Current
      Training Opportunities in the US.
AB  - : Study Objective This study aimed to review available disaster training options
      for health care providers, and to provide specific recommendations for developing
      and delivering a disaster-response-training program for non-disaster-trained
      emergency physicians, residents, and trainees prior to acute deployment. METHODS:
      A comprehensive review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature of the existing
      training options for health care providers was conducted to provide specific
      recommendations. RESULTS: A comprehensive search of the Pubmed, Embase, Web of
      Science, Scopus, and Cochrane databases was performed to identify publications
      related to courses for disaster preparedness and response training for health
      care professionals. This search revealed 7,681 unique titles, of which 53
      articles were included in the full review. A total of 384 courses were found
      through the grey literature search, and many of these were available online for
      no charge and could be completed in less than six hours. The majority of courses
      focused on management and disaster planning; few focused on clinical care and
      acute response. CONCLUSION: There is need for a course that is targeted toward
      emergency physicians and trainees without formal disaster training. This course
      should be available online and should utilize a mix of educational modalities,
      including lectures, scenarios, and virtual simulations. An ideal course should
      focus on disaster preparedness, and the clinical and non-clinical aspects of
      response, with a focus on an all-hazards approach, including both terrorism
      related and environmental disasters. Hansoti B , Kellogg DS , Aberle SJ ,
      Broccoli MC , Feden J , French A , Little CM , Moore B , Sabato J Jr. , Sheets T
      , Weinberg R , Elmes P , Kang C . Preparing emergency physicians for acute
      disaster response: a review of current training opportunities in the US. Prehosp
      Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):643-647.

PMID- 27640892
TI  - Navigating the Fine Line Between the Bad and Worse: The Issue Is Not the Number,
      and the Message Is Not "All or Nothing".

PMID- 27640893
TI  - Monitored Anesthesia Care for Subcutaneous Cardioverter-Defibrillator
      Implantation: A Single-Center Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, general anesthesia has been suggested as the preferred
      approach for implantation of a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator (S-ICD). The purpose of this study was to assess the use of
      monitored anesthesia care (MAC) for S-ICD implantation. The goals were to assess
      adequate sedation and analgesia (efficacy endpoints) and major perioperative
      airway or hemodynamic compromise (safety endpoints). The authors hypothesized
      that MAC may provide adequate sedation and analgesia and no major perioperative
      airway or hemodynamic compromise during S-ICD implantation and multiple
      defibrillation threshold (DFT) testing. METHODS: Prospectively collected data of
      patients who underwent S-ICD implantation with MAC from 2015 to 2016 were
      analyzed retrospectively. The efficacy endpoints were the provision of an optimal
      depth of sedation and analgesia to facilitate S-ICD implantation without intra
      procedure patient discomfort or awareness, and the absence of "severe" pain at
      the lead tunneling and the generator insertion sites post-procedure. The safety
      endpoints included: (1) periprocedural hypotension, as defined by a mean arterial
      pressure (MAP)<60 mmHg refractory to conventional pharmacotherapy, (2) heart rate
      (HR)<45 bpm requiring pharmacologic support, and (3) sedation-induced airway
      compromise requiring endotracheal intubation. MEASUREMENTS: MAP and HR were
      recorded during S-ICD implantation and DFT testing. The maximum and minimum
      infusion rates of propofol, supplemental sedatives, and analgesics, and doses of
      vasopressor and/or inotropic agents administered intra-procedurally were
      recorded. Post-procedure pain scores also were noted. RESULTS: Ten patients
      underwent S-ICD implantation with MAC (mean age, 56 years; 50% men; mean left
      ventricular ejection fraction was 39%). Implantation of the S-ICD system using
      MAC was successful in all patients without any major adverse events. The mean
      baseline MAP was 92.8 mmHg, and the mean end-procedure MAP was 88 mmHg (p =
      0.26). When compared to baseline and end-procedure, the mean lowest intra
      procedure MAP was significantly lower (67.4 mmHg; p = 0.0001). The mean baseline
      HR was 65.7 bpm, and the mean end-procedure HR was 70.1 bpm (p = 0.28). When
      compared to baseline and end-procedure, the mean lowest intra-procedure HR was
      significantly lower (55.8 bpm; p<0.001). MAC was not associated with airway
      compromise in any patient, and post-procedure pain was rated as no greater than
      "mild". CONCLUSIONS: Among a heterogeneous patient population undergoing S-ICD
      implantation and DFT testing, the use of MAC is efficacious, feasible, and safe.

PMID- 27640894
TI  - CASE 10-2016: Hemoglobinopathies and Cardiac Surgery.

PMID- 27640895
TI  - Pro: Dexmedetomidine Sedation Should Be Used Routinely for All Post-Cardiac
      Surgical Patients in the Intensive Care Unit.

PMID- 27640896
TI  - Con: Dexmedetomidine Sedation Should Not Be Used Routinely for All Post-cardiac
      Surgical Patients in the Intensive Care Unit.

PMID- 27640897
TI  - Adult social outcomes of extremely low birth weight survivors of childhood sexual
      abuse.
AB  - Preterm birth and exposure to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are early
      physiological and psychological adversities that have been linked to reduced
      social functioning across the lifespan. However, the joint effects of being born
      preterm and being exposed to CSA on adult social outcomes remains unclear. We
      sought to determine the impact of exposure to both preterm birth and CSA on adult
      social functioning in a group of 179 extremely low birth weight (ELBW; 2500 g)
      participants in the fourth decade of life. Social outcome data from a
      prospective, longitudinal, population-based Canadian birth cohort initiated
      between the years of 1977 and 1982 were examined. At age 29-36 years, ELBW
      survivors who experienced CSA reported poorer relationships with their partner,
      worse family functioning, greater loneliness, lower self-esteem and had higher
      rates of avoidant personality problems than those who had not experienced CSA.
      Birth weight status was also found to moderate associations between CSA and self
      esteem (P=0.032), loneliness (P=0.021) and family functioning (P=0.060), such
      that the adverse effects of CSA were amplified in ELBW survivors. Exposure to CSA
      appears to augment the adult social risks associated with perinatal adversity.
      Individuals born preterm and exposed to CSA appear to be a group at particularly
      high risk for adverse social outcomes in adulthood.

PMID- 27640898
TI  - Sensory deprivation increases phagocytosis of adult-born neurons by activated
      microglia in the olfactory bulb.
AB  - The olfactory bulb (OB) is a highly plastic structure that can change
      organizational networks depending on environmental inputs in adult mammals.
      Particularly, in rodents, adult neurogenesis underlies plastic changes in the OB
      circuitry by continuously adding new interneurons to the network. We addressed
      the question of whether microglia, the immune cells of the brain, were involved
      in pruning OB neurons. Using lentiviral labeling of neurons in neonatal or adult
      mice and confocal analysis, we showed that microglia engulfed parts of neonatal
      born and adult-born neurons in the healthy OB. We demonstrated that OB
      deafferentation by Dichlobenil administration induced sensory deprivation. It
      also increased phagocytosis of adult-born, but not neonatal-born neurons, by
      activated microglia. Conversely, intranasal lipopolysaccharide administration
      induced activation of microglia but changed neither adult neurogenesis nor
      olfaction. Our data reveal that steady-state microglia eliminate adult-born
      neurons and their synapses in both healthy and sensory deprived OBs, thereby
      adapting neuronal connections to the sensory experience.

PMID- 27640899
TI  - TNFAIP3, a negative regulator of the TLR signaling pathway, is a potential
      predictive biomarker of response to antidepressant treatment in major depressive
      disorder.
AB  - Inflammation and abnormalities in Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression and
      activation have been linked to major depressive disorder (MDD). However, negative
      regulators of TLR pathways have not been previously investigated in this context.
      Here, we sought to investigate the association of depression severity, measured
      by the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), with mRNA expression
      levels of negative regulators of the TLR pathway, including SOCS1, TOLLIP,
      SIGIRR, MyD88s, NOD2 and TNFAIP3, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
      from 100 patients with MDD and 53 healthy controls, before and after treatment
      with antidepressants. Positive regulators of the TLR4 pathway, including Pellino
      1, TRAF6 and IRAK1, were also investigated. Among all patients, MyD88s, and
      TNFAIP3 mRNAs were expressed at lower levels in PBMCs from patients with MDD.
      Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that TNFAIP3 mRNA expression before
      treatment was inversely correlated with severity of depression and effectively
      predicted improvement in HAMD-17 scores. Among 79 treatment-completers, only
      TNFAIP3 mRNA was significantly increased by treatment with antidepressants for 4
      weeks. Treatment of human monocytes (THP-1) and mouse microglia (SIM-A9) cell
      lines with fluoxetine significantly increased TNFAIP3 mRNA expression and
      suppressed IL-6 levels. The suppressive effect of fluoxetine on IL-6 was
      attenuated by knockdown of TNFAIP3 expression. These findings suggest that both
      dysfunction of the negative regulatory system in patients with MDD and
      antidepressant treatment exert anti-inflammatory effects, at least in part
      through increased expression of the TNFAIP3 gene. They also indicate that
      modulating expression of the TNFAIP3 gene to rebalance TLR-mediated inflammatory
      signaling may be potential therapeutic strategy for treating MDD.

PMID- 27640900
TI  - Dietary interventions that reduce mTOR activity rescue autistic-like behavioral
      deficits in mice.
AB  - Enhanced mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in the brain has been
      implicated in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Inhibition of
      the mTOR pathway improves behavior and neuropathology in mouse models of ASD
      containing mTOR-associated single gene mutations. The current study demonstrated
      that the amino acids histidine, lysine, threonine inhibited mTOR signaling and
      IgE-mediated mast cell activation, while the amino acids leucine, isoleucine,
      valine had no effect on mTOR signaling in BMMCs. Based on these results, we
      designed an mTOR-targeting amino acid diet (Active 1 diet) and assessed the
      effects of dietary interventions with the amino acid diet or a multi-nutrient
      supplementation diet (Active 2 diet) on autistic-like behavior and mTOR signaling
      in food allergic mice and in inbred BTBR T+Itpr3tf/J mice. Cow's milk allergic
      (CMA) or BTBR male mice were fed a Control, Active 1, or Active 2 diet for 7
      consecutive weeks. CMA mice showed reduced social interaction and increased self
      grooming behavior. Both diets reversed behavioral impairments and inhibited the
      mTOR activity in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala of CMA mice. In BTBR mice,
      only Active 1 diet reduced repetitive self-grooming behavior and attenuated the
      mTOR activity in the prefrontal and somatosensory cortices. The current results
      suggest that activated mTOR signaling pathway in the brain may be a convergent
      pathway in the pathogenesis of ASD bridging genetic background and environmental
      triggers (food allergy) and that mTOR over-activation could serve as a potential
      therapeutic target for the treatment of ASD.

PMID- 27640901
TI  - Immediate and Catastrophic Antibody-Mediated Rejection in a Lung Transplant
      Recipient With Anti-Angiotensin II Receptor Type 1 and Anti-Endothelin-1 Receptor
      Type A Antibodies.
AB  - Preexisting donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSAs) have been associated with
      reduced survival of lung allografts. However, antibodies with specificities other
      than HLA may have a detrimental role on the lung transplant outcome. A young man
      with cystic fibrosis underwent lung transplantation with organs from a suitable
      deceased donor. At the time of transplantation, there were no anti-HLA DSAs.
      During surgery, the patient developed a severe and intractable pulmonary
      hypertension associated with right ventriular dysfunction, which required
      arteriovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. After a brief period of
      clinical improvement, a rapid deterioration in hemodynamics led to the patient's
      death on postoperative day 5. Postmortem studies showed that lung specimens taken
      at the end of surgery were compatible with antibody-mediated rejection (AMR),
      while terminal samples evidenced diffuse capillaritis, blood extravasation,
      edema, and microthrombi, with foci of acute cellular rejection (A3).
      Immunological investigations demonstrated the presence of preexisting antibodies
      against the endothelin-1 receptor type A (ETA R) and the angiotensin II receptor
      type 1 (AT1 R), two of the most potent vasoconstrictors reported to date, whose
      levels slightly rose after transplantation. These data suggest that preexisting
      anti-ETA R and anti-AT1 R antibodies may have contributed to the onset of AMR and
      to the catastrophic clinical course of this patient.

PMID- 27640903
TI  - Sex differences after NICU discharge in infants with BPD: Observations from one
      center.

PMID- 27640902
TI  - Hierarchical nanoporosity enhanced reversible capacity of bicontinuous nanoporous
      metal based Li-O2 battery.
AB  - High-energy-density rechargeable Li-O2 batteries are one of few candidates that
      can meet the demands of electric drive vehicles and other high-energy
      applications because of the ultra-high theoretical specific energy. However, the
      practical realization of the high rechargeable capacity is usually limited by the
      conflicted requirements for porous cathodes in high porosity to store the solid
      reaction products Li2O2 and large accessible surface area for easy formation and
      decomposition of Li2O2. Here we designed a hierarchical and bicontinuous
      nanoporous structure by introducing secondary nanopores into the ligaments of
      coarsened nanoporous gold by two-step dealloying. The hierarchical and
      bicontinuous nanoporous gold cathode provides high porosity, large accessible
      surface area and sufficient mass transport path for high capacity and long
      cycling lifetime of Li-O2 batteries.

PMID- 27640904
TI  - Intelligent Mixing of Proteomes for Elimination of False Positives in Affinity
      Purification-Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Protein complexes are essential in all organizational and functional aspects of
      the cell. Different strategies currently exist for analyzing such protein
      complexes by mass spectrometry, including affinity purification (AP-MS) and
      proximal labeling-based strategies. However, the high sensitivity of current mass
      spectrometers typically results in extensive protein lists mainly consisting of
      nonspecifically copurified proteins. Finding the true positive interactors in
      these lists remains highly challenging. Here, we report a powerful design based
      on differential labeling with stable isotopes combined with nonequal mixing of
      control and experimental samples to discover bona fide interaction partners in AP
      MS experiments. We apply this intelligent mixing of proteomes (iMixPro) concept
      to overexpression experiments for RAF1, RNF41, and TANK and also to engineered
      cell lines expressing epitope-tagged endogenous PTPN14, JIP3, and IQGAP1. For all
      baits, we confirmed known interactions and found a number of novel interactions.
      The results for RNF41 and TANK were compared to a classical affinity purification
      experiment, which demonstrated the efficiency and specificity of the iMixPro
      approach.

PMID- 27640905
TI  - The erasure of gender in academic surgery: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of women in surgery has steadily increased, yet their
      numbers in academic surgery positions and in high-ranking leadership roles remain
      low. To create strategies to address and improve this problem, it is essential to
      examine how gender plays into the advancement of a woman's career in academic
      surgery. METHODS: Focus group (1) and one-on-one qualitative interviews (8) were
      conducted with women academic surgeons from various subspecialties in a large
      university setting. Interviews examined women surgeons' accounts of their
      experiences as women in surgery. Audio-recorded data were transcribed verbatim
      and coded thematically. NVivo10 software was used for cross-referencing of data
      and categorization of data into themes. RESULTS: Focus group data suggested that
      gender discrimination was pervasive in academic surgery. However, in interviews,
      most interviewees strongly disavowed the possibility that their gender had any
      bearing on their professional lives. These surgeons attempted to distance
      themselves from the possibility of discrimination by suggesting that differences
      in men and women surgeons' experiences are due to personality issues and personal
      choices. However, their narratives highlighted deep contradiction; they both
      affirmed and denied the relevance of gender for their experience as surgeons.
      CONCLUSIONS: As overt acts of discrimination become less acceptable in society,
      it does not necessarily disappear but rather manifests itself in covert forms. By
      disavowing and distancing themselves from discrimination, these women exposed the
      degree to which these issues continue to be pervasive in surgery. Women surgeons'
      ability to both identify and resist discrimination was hobbled by narratives of
      individualism, gender equality, and normative ideas of gender difference.

PMID- 27640906
TI  - Short-term, postoperative breast cancer outcomes in patients with advanced age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study compares early postoperative breast cancer outcomes
      between patients 80 years and older (older patients) and those younger than 80
      years (<80 years). METHODS: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      database was used to identify patients who had breast surgery between 2005 and
      2013 for malignancy. RESULTS: Older patients had a significantly higher
      percentage of comorbidities and partial mastectomies. Postoperatively, they had
      higher rates of pneumonia, urinary tract infection, cardiac arrest, and mortality
      but had lower rates of wound dehiscence, deep wound, and organ space infections.
      Thirty-day mortality is independently associated with hypertension, coronary
      artery disease, American Society of Anesthesiology class IV, and older age.
      CONCLUSIONS: The overall perioperative morbidity and mortality after breast
      surgery, regardless of age, is low. Older patients had a significantly higher
      rate of mortality and systemic complications but a lower rate of wound
      complications, likely because of less invasive surgical procedures.

PMID- 27640907
TI  - All for knots: evaluating the effectiveness of a proficiency-driven, simulation
      based knot tying and suturing curriculum for medical students during their third
      year surgery clerkship.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We evaluated the effectiveness of implementing a proficiency-driven,
      simulation-based knot tying and suturing curriculum for medical students during
      their 3rd-year surgery clerkship. METHODS: Medical students on the 3rd-year
      surgical clerkship completed a proficiency-driven, simulation-based knot tying
      and suturing curriculum consisting of 6 tasks. The effectiveness was evaluated by
      comparing the initial presession scores to the final postsession scores on an 8
      item self-efficacy scale and evaluating pass rates on end of clerkship skills
      testing. A paired t test was used to analyze data. RESULTS: Sixty-five students
      had matched preintervention and postintervention questionnaires for analysis.
      Pass rates approached 100% by the 3rd attempt on all tasks. Significant gains on
      all 8 items of the self-efficacy questionnaire from pretraining to post-training
      were noted. Timing of the general surgery rotation did not impact results.
      CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a simulation-based training, proficiency-driven
      knot tying and suturing curriculum for 3rd-year medical students during the
      surgery clerkship is feasible and effective in improving student self-efficacy
      and objective proficiency toward performance of the tasks taught.

PMID- 27640908
TI  - Resident and attending assessments of operative involvement: Do we agree?
AB  - BACKGROUND: General surgery residents' (GSRs') operative experience likely
      improves with increased involvement. We explored GSRs and attending surgeons'
      (ASs') perceptions of GSRs' operative roles. METHODS: GSRs and ASs completed
      surveys postoperatively regarding responsibility for several operative tasks
      (incision opening, dissection of minor and major structures, major suturing, and
      incision closure). Analyses used chi-square test (P < .05) and Spearman's rank
      correlation (rho). RESULTS: A total of 151 pairs of surveys were collected.
      Interpair agreement on GSRs involvement varied for each category (rho range: .30
      to .67), and GSRs underestimated their involvement for every step. GSRs
      frequently performed the majority of each task (range: 86% to 97%). Decreasing
      operational complexity, acute operations, and junior ASs (<5 years in practice)
      were each associated with increased agreement and GSRs involvement in operative
      tasks. CONCLUSIONS: GSRs involvement was extensive, and agreement with ASs was
      high overall. Some discrepancies remain in several categories based on
      operational complexity, acuity, and ASs experience.

PMID- 27640909
TI  - Outcomes of trauma admission for falls: influence of race and age on inhospital
      and post-discharge mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Racial disparities in trauma outcomes occur, but disparities in fall
      mortality are unknown. The objective of this study was to determine inhospital
      and 1-year fall mortality among patients discharged from an urban trauma center.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of fall patients in our trauma
      registry (1997 to 2008) linked to the National Death Index to determine
      postdischarge mortality. Statistical analysis included chi-square tests,
      multivariable logistic regression, and Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS:
      There were 7,541 fall admissions. There was no clinically significant difference
      in inhospital mortality between blacks and whites with age stratification. One
      year after discharge, blacks younger than 65 years were more likely to die of
      disease (hazard ratio, 1.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.14 to 1.62). CONCLUSIONS:
      Although rates of inhospital mortality are similar, blacks younger than 65 years
      have a higher risk of dying after discharge due to disease when stratified by age
      highlighting the need for continued medical follow-up and prevention efforts.

PMID- 27640910
TI  - Weekly e-mailed teaching tips and reading material influence teaching among
      general surgery residents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A nonintrusive e-mail reminder incorporating teaching tips and
      manuscripts was developed to supplement resident-as-teacher curricula. METHODS:
      Ten high-yield manuscripts and 10 teaching tips exemplifying the themes of
      mentorship or role modeling, teaching methods, adult learning theory, feedback,
      and the resident role of teaching were distributed to general surgery house staff
      through a weekly e-mail series. House staff completed surveys before and after
      the 20-week e-mail series. RESULTS: Thirty (43%) and 28 (40%) respondents
      completed the pre-e-mail and post-e-mail survey, respectively. Residents found
      teaching tips to be more helpful than manuscripts. Weekly e-mail reminders were
      "just right" in frequency according to 74% of respondents. Forty percent of
      residents felt the weekly e-mails helped them teach more often and 50% of
      residents changed their teaching style. CONCLUSIONS: Weekly reminders are an easy
      way to encourage resident teaching without a significant resident time
      commitment. Residents typically find teaching tips to be more useful than
      manuscripts.

PMID- 27640911
TI  - Predictive value of preoperative serum C-reactive protein for recurrence after
      definitive surgical repair of enterocutaneous fistula.

PMID- 27640912
TI  - On-Chip Step-Mixing in a T-Nanomixer for Liquid Chromatography in Extended
      Nanochannels.
AB  - Miniaturization of liquid chromatography separation columns is a key trend in
      chemical and biochemical areas, particularly in genomics, proteomics, and single
      cell analysis. The work at this level relies upon a novel analytical platform
      that can deal with sample volumes that are much smaller than a cell. An extended
      nanospace is within a scale of 101-103 nm and defines the space between a single
      molecule and normal liquid. Our group has realized high-performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC) separation in extended-nanospace with sample injections of
      hundreds of attoliters and a separation efficiency of hundreds of thousands of
      plates/m that can overcome the limitations of a conventional packed column by a
      magnitude of several orders. However, gradient flow is needed to improve the
      separation performance, and in this work we present reversed-phase chromatography
      with step-mixing in extended-nanospace and describe its application. Six
      fluorescently labeled amino acids were separated in 16 s, followed by separation
      of 17 labeled amino acids in only 50 s with a plate height for most of the peaks
      of less than 1 MUm.

PMID- 27640913
TI  - Anemia management in cancer patients with chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Anemia is a common complication of cancer and chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      associated with decreased physical performance as well as poor prognosis for life
      expectancy. Renal and cancer-induced anemia share common features regarding
      pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies. It is typically treated with iron
      substitution, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) and in refractory cases
      with red blood cell transfusions. However, studies of the past few years unveiled
      numerous setbacks in the use of ESAs. These included a higher risk of
      cerebrovascular events and increased mortality without the improvement of
      cardiovascular outcomes in patients with CKD. Moreover, particularly negative
      results were observed in patients with previous cancer history under ESA therapy.
      These unfavorable findings have forced the clinicians to reevaluate the
      management of renal anemia. This led to decrease of ESA usage, while iron
      substitution and alternative therapeutic options gained more significance. Iron
      supplementation is also accompanied with certain risks ranging from
      gastrointestinal complications to severe allergic reactions and increased rate of
      infections. Furthermore, the evaluation of the long-term safety of excessive iron
      therapy is still lacking, especially in CKD patients with cancer. In the absence
      of these clinical studies, this review aims to summarize the currently available
      therapeutic strategies in anemia management of CKD patients with concomitant
      cancer.

PMID- 27640914
TI  - Health care utilization of patients with multiple chronic diseases in the
      Netherlands: Differences and underlying factors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine health care utilization of people with multiple chronic
      diseases in The Netherlands compared to people with a single chronic disease, and
      to identify subgroups of multimorbid patients according to health care
      utilization. METHODS: All patients diagnosed with one or more chronic diseases in
      2008-2009 (N=54,051) were selected from the nationwide NIVEL Primary Care
      Database, and data on their GP contacts and medication in 2010 were retrieved.
      Data on hospital admissions, household size and income were added. Chi-square
      tests and multivariate regression analyses were performed to analyze differences
      between multimorbid patients and patients with a single chronic disease, and
      between subgroups of multimorbid patients derived from cluster analysis. RESULTS:
      Multimorbid patients (37% of all patients) had more GP contacts, prescribed
      medications, and hospital admissions (all p<.0001) than patients with a single
      chronic disease. The largest cluster of multimorbid patients (57%) had a
      relatively low level of health care utilization, a smaller cluster (36%) had
      higher levels of health care utilization, and 7.6% of patients were heavy health
      care users (p<.0001 for all variables). The latter were older, more often female,
      had a lower income, lived in a smaller household, had more chronic diseases, and
      more often had specific chronic diseases such as COPD, diabetes and heart
      failure. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of multimorbid patients have only slightly
      higher health care utilization than patients with a single chronic disease.
      Extensive health care utilization among multimorbid patients seems to be related
      to patient characteristics as well as chronic disease numbers and patterns.

PMID- 27640916
TI  - Editorial (Thematic Issue: Current Status of Stem Cell Research in Regenerative
      Medicine - How Close We Are from Bench Side to Bedside?).

PMID- 27640915
TI  - Conjugated Porphyrin Dimers: Cooperative Effects and Electronic Communication in
      Supramolecular Ensembles with C60.
AB  - Two new conjugated porphyrin-based systems (dimers 3 and 4) endowed with suitable
      crown ethers have been synthesized as receptors for a fullerene-ammonium salt
      derivative (1). Association constants in solution have been determined by UV-vis
      titration experiments in CH2Cl2 at room temperature. The designed hosts are able
      to associate up to two fullerene-based guest molecules and present association
      constants as high as ~5 * 108 M-1. Calculation of the allosteric cooperative
      factor alpha for supramolecular complexes [3.12] and [4.12] showed a negative
      cooperative effect in both cases. The interactions accounting for the formation
      of the associates are based, first, on the complementary ammonium-crown ether
      interaction and, second, on the pi-pi interactions between the porphyrin rings
      and the C60 moieties. Theoretical calculations have evidenced a significant
      decrease of the electron density in the porphyrin dimers 3 and 4 upon
      complexation of the first C60 molecule, in good agreement with the negative
      cooperativity found in these systems. This negative effect is partially
      compensated by the stabilizing C60-C60 interactions that take place in the more
      stable syn-disposition of [4.12].

PMID- 27640917
TI  - Stretchable degradable and electroactive shape memory copolymers with tunable
      recovery temperature enhance myogenic differentiation.
AB  - : Development of flexible degradable electroactive shape memory polymers (ESMPs)
      with tunable switching temperature (around body temperature) for tissue
      engineering is still a challenge. Here we designed and synthesized a series of
      shape memory copolymers with electroactivity, super stretchability and tunable
      recovery temperature based on poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) with different
      molecular weight and conductive amino capped aniline trimer, and demonstrated
      their potential to enhance myogenic differentiation from C2C12 myoblast cells. We
      characterized the copolymers by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR),
      proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), cyclic voltammetry (CV), ultraviolet
      visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), shape
      memory test, tensile test and in vitro enzymatic degradation study. The
      electroactive biodegradable shape memory copolymers showed great elasticity,
      tunable recovery temperature around 37 degrees C, and good shape memory
      properties. Furthermore, proliferation and differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts
      were investigated on electroactive copolymers films, and they greatly enhanced
      the proliferation, myotube formation and related myogenic differentiation genes
      expression of C2C12 myoblasts compared to the pure PCL with molecular weight of
      80,000. Our study suggests that these electroactive, highly stretchable,
      biodegradable shape memory polymers with tunable recovery temperature near the
      body temperature have great potential in skeletal muscle tissue engineering
      application. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Conducting polymers can regulate cell
      behavior such cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation with or without
      electrical stimulation. Therefore, they have great potential for electrical
      signal sensitive tissue regeneration. Although conducting biomaterials with
      degradability have been developed, highly stretchable and electroactive
      degradable copolymers for soft tissue engineering have been rarely reported. On
      the other hand, shape memory polymers (SMPs) have been widely used in biomedical
      fields. However, SMPs based on polyesters usually are biologically inert. This
      work reported the design of super stretchable electroactive degradable SMPs based
      on polycaprolactone and aniline trimer with tunable recovery temperature around
      body temperature. These flexible electroactive SMPs facilitated the proliferation
      and differentiation of C2C12 myoblast cells compared with polycaprolactone,
      indicating that they are excellent scaffolding biomaterials in tissue engineering
      to repair skeletal muscle and possibly other tissues.

PMID- 27640918
TI  - Graphene oxide induces apoptotic cell death in endothelial cells by activating
      autophagy via calcium-dependent phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases.
AB  - : Despite the rapid expansion of the biomedical applications of graphene oxide
      (GO), safety issues related to GO, particularly with regard to its effects on
      vascular endothelial cells (ECs), have been poorly evaluated. To explore possible
      GO-mediated vasculature cytotoxicity and determine lateral GO size relevance, we
      constructed four types of GO: micrometer-sized GO (MGO; 1089.9+/-135.3nm),
      submicrometer-sized GO (SGO; 390.2+/-51.4nm), nanometer-sized GO (NGO; 65.5+/
      16.3nm), and graphene quantum dots (GQDs). All types but GQD showed a significant
      decrease in cellular viability in a dose-dependent manner. Notably, SGO or NGO,
      but not MGO, potently induced apoptosis while causing no detectable necrosis.
      Subsequently, SGO or NGO markedly induced autophagy through a process dependent
      on the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-mediated phosphorylation of B-cell lymphoma
      2 (Bcl-2), leading to the dissociation of Beclin-1 from the Beclin-1-Bcl-2
      complex. Autophagy suppression attenuated the SGO- or NGO-induced apoptotic cell
      death of ECs, suggesting that SGO- or NGO-induced cytotoxicity is associated with
      autophagy. Moreover, SGO or NGO significantly induced increased intracellular
      calcium ion (Ca2+) levels. Intracellular Ca2+ chelation with BAPTA-AM
      significantly attenuated microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3-II
      accumulation and JNK phosphorylation, resulting in reduced autophagy.
      Furthermore, we found that SGO or NGO induced Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic
      reticulum through the PLC beta3/IP3/IP3R signaling axis. These results elucidate
      the mechanism underlying the size-dependent cytotoxicity of GOs in the
      vasculature and may facilitate the development of a safer biomedical application
      of GOs. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Graphene oxide (GO) have received considerable
      attention with respect to their utilization in biomedical applications. However,
      GO-related safety issues concerning human vasculature are very limited. In this
      manuscript, we report for the first time the differential size-related biological
      effects of GOs on endothelial cells (ECs). Notably, Subnanometer- and
      nanometersized GOs induce apoptotic death in ECs via autophagy activation. We
      propose a molecular mechanism for the GO-induced autophagic cell death through
      the PLCbeta3/IP3/Ca2+/JNK signaling axis. Our findings could be provide a better
      understanding of the GO sizedependent cytotoxicity in vasculature and facilitate
      the future development of safer biomedical applications of GOs.

PMID- 27640919
TI  - Physicochemical fabrication of antibacterial calcium phosphate submicrospheres
      with dispersed silver nanoparticles via coprecipitation and photoreduction under
      laser irradiation.
AB  - : We achieved rapid, surfactant-free, and one-pot fabrication of antibacterial
      calcium phosphate (CaP) submicrospheres containing silver nanoparticles by
      combining physical laser and chemical coprecipitation processes. In this
      physicochemical process, weak pulsed laser irradiation (20min) was performed on a
      labile CaP reaction mixture supplemented with silver ions as a light-absorbing
      agent. The silver content in the submicrospheres was controlled for a wide range
      (Ag/P elemental ratio varied from 0.60 to 62.0) by tuning the initial
      concentration of silver ions (from 5 to 20mM) in the CaP reaction mixture. At the
      silver concentration of 5mM, we obtained unique nanocomposite particles: CaP
      submicrospheres (average diameter of approximately 500nm) containing metallic
      silver nanoparticles dispersed throughout, as a result of CaP and silver
      coprecipitation with simultaneous photoreduction of silver ions and
      spheroidization of the coprecipitates. These CaP submicrospheres containing
      silver nanoparticles (ca. 0.3mg silver per 1mg submicrospheres) exhibited
      antibacterial activity against major pathogenic oral bacteria, i.e.,
      Streptococcus mutans, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, and Porphyromonas
      gingivalis. Moreover, the CaP submicrospheres dissolved and neutralized the
      acidic environment generated by Streptococcus mutans, demonstrating their
      potential as acid-neutralizing and remineralizing agents. The present process and
      resulting antibacterial CaP-based submicrospheres are expected to be useful in
      dental healthcare and infection control. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Nano- and
      microsized spheres of calcium phosphate (CaP) containing silver nanoparticles
      have great potential in dental applications. Conventional fabrication processes
      were time-consuming or weak regarding the size/shape control of the spheres. In
      this study, we achieved a simple (one-pot), rapid (20-min irradiation), and
      surfactant-free fabrication of CaP submicrospheres containing silver
      nanoparticles by pulsed laser irradiation to a mixture of calcium, phosphate, and
      silver ion solutions. The resulting CaP submicrospheres contained metallic silver
      nanoparticles dispersed throughout in a sequence of reactions: CaP and silver
      coprecipitation, laser-induced melting and spheroidization of the coprecipitates,
      and photoreduction of silver ions. These submicrospheres showed antibacterial
      activity against oral bacteria and acid-neutralizing property in the bacterial
      suspension, and hence are worth considering for dental applications.

PMID- 27640920
TI  - A novel homozygous HOXB1 mutation in a Turkish family with hereditary congenital
      facial paresis.
AB  - Hereditary congenital facial paresis (HCFP) is characterized by isolated
      dysfunction of the facial nerve (CN VII) due to congenital cranial dysinnervation
      disorders. HCFP has genetic heterogeneity and HOXB1 is the first identified gene.
      We report the clinical, radiologic and molecular investigations of three patients
      admitted for HCFP in a large consanguineous Turkish family. High-throughput
      sequencing and Sanger sequencing of all patients revealed a novel homozygous
      mutation p.Arg230Trp (c.688C>T) within the HOXB1 gene. The report of the mutation
      brings the total number of HOXB1 mutations identified in HCFP to four. The
      results of this study emphasize that in individuals with congenital facial palsy
      accompanied by hearing loss and dysmorphic facial features, HOXB1 mutation
      causing HCFP should be kept in mind.

PMID- 27640921
TI  - Genetic polymorphism of 15 STR loci in 3 ethnics groups of Guerrero State,
      Mexico.

PMID- 27640922
TI  - Shockwave treatment for medial tibial stress syndrome: A randomized double blind
      sham-controlled pilot trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Up to 35% of runners develop medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS)
      which often results in lengthy disruption to training and sometimes affects daily
      activities. There is currently no high quality evidence to support any particular
      intervention for MTSS. This study aims to investigate the effect of shockwave
      therapy for MTSS. DESIGN: A randomized, sham-controlled, pilot trial in a
      university-based health clinic including 28 active adults with MTSS. METHODS:
      Intervention included standard dose shockwave therapy for the experimental group
      versus sham dose for the control group, delivered during Week 1-3, 5 and 9. Main
      outcome measures were pain measured during bone and muscle pressure as well as
      during running using a numerical rating scale (0-10) and running was measured as
      pain-limited distance (m), at Week 1 (baseline) and Week 10 (post-intervention).
      Self-perception of change was measured using the Global Rating of Change Scale (
      7 to +7) at Week 10 (post-intervention). RESULTS: Pain (palpation) was reduced in
      the experimental group by 1.1 out of 10.0 (95% CI -2.3 to 0.0) less than the
      control group. There were no other statistically significant differences between
      the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Standard dose shockwave therapy is not more effective
      than sham dose at improving pain or running distance in MTSS. However, the sham
      dose may have had a clinical effect. Further investigation including a no
      intervention control is warranted to evaluate the effect of shockwave therapy in
      the management of MTSS.

PMID- 27640923
TI  - Time and brain health both matter in multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27640924
TI  - Brain health: time matters in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We present international consensus recommendations for improving
      diagnosis, management and treatment access in multiple sclerosis (MS). Our vision
      is that these will be used widely among those committed to creating a better
      future for people with MS and their families. METHODS: Structured discussions and
      literature searches conducted in 2015 examined the personal and economic impact
      of MS, current practice in diagnosis, treatment and management, definitions of
      disease activity and barriers to accessing disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).
      RESULTS: Delays often occur before a person with symptoms suggestive of MS sees a
      neurologist. Campaigns to raise awareness of MS are needed, as are initiatives to
      improve access to MS healthcare professionals and services. We recommend a clear
      treatment goal: to maximize neurological reserve, cognitive function and physical
      function by reducing disease activity. Treatment should start early, with DMT and
      lifestyle measures. All parameters that predict relapses and disability
      progression should be included in the definition of disease activity and
      monitored regularly when practical. On suboptimal control of disease activity,
      switching to a DMT with a different mechanism of action should be considered. A
      shared decision-making process that embodies dialogue and considers all
      appropriate DMTs should be implemented. Monitoring data should be recorded
      formally in registries to generate real-world evidence. In many jurisdictions,
      access to DMTs is limited. To improve treatment access the relevant bodies should
      consider all costs to all parties when conducting economic evaluations and
      encourage the continuing investigation, development and use of cost-effective
      therapeutic strategies and alternative financing models. CONCLUSIONS: The
      consensus findings of an international author group recommend a therapeutic
      strategy based on proactive monitoring and shared decision-making in MS. Early
      diagnosis and improved treatment access are also key components.

PMID- 27640926
TI  - Occupational Exposure of the Eye Lens in Interventional Procedures: How to Assess
      and Manage Radiation Dose.
AB  - Occupational exposure from interventional x-ray procedures is one of the areas in
      which increased eye lens exposure may occur. Accurate dosimetry is an important
      element to investigate the correlation of observed radiation effects with
      radiation dose, to verify the compliance with regulatory dose limits, and to
      optimize radiation protection practice. The objective of this work is to review
      eye lens dose levels in clinical practice that may occur from the use of ionizing
      radiation. The use of a dedicated eye lens dosimeter is the recommended
      methodology; however, in practice it cannot always be easily implemented.
      Alternatively, the eye lens dose could be assessed from measurements of other
      dosimetric quantities or other indirect parameters, such as patient dose. The
      practical implementation of monitoring eye lens doses and the use of adequate
      protective equipment still remains a challenge. The use of lead glasses with a
      good fit to the face, appropriate lateral coverage, and/or ceiling-suspended
      screens is recommended in workplaces with potential high eye lens doses.

PMID- 27640925
TI  - Multiple Types of Childhood and Adult Violence Among Homeless and Unstably Housed
      Women in San Francisco.
AB  - This study examined the relationship between different forms of childhood
      violence (emotional, physical, and sexual) and these same forms of violence in
      adulthood, using a crosssectional baseline survey of 298 homeless and unstably
      housed women in San Francisco, California. We also examined other related
      factors, including mental illnesses diagnosis, sex exchange, jail time, HIV
      status, and sociodemographic information. Regression analysis indicated that
      although several of these factors were associated with experiences of violence as
      an adult, specific types of child violence (e.g., sexual violence) predicted
      instances of that same type of violence as an adult but not necessarily other
      types. Thus, risk of adult violence among low-income women may be better
      predicted and addressed through histories of same-type childhood violence,
      despite years of intervening exposures and stressors.

PMID- 27640927
TI  - 2016 ACR Presidential Address: Things Change: Patient- and Family-Centered Care.

PMID- 27640928
TI  - [Congenital haemangioma: Further incidence of protein G involvement].

PMID- 27640929
TI  - [Barthelemy's "a vacuo" palatal purpura (1928) revisited].

PMID- 27640930
TI  - Medial Displacement Calcaneal Osteotomy: A Comparison of Screw Versus Locking
      Plate Fixation.
AB  - Locking plate fixation is becoming more popular for fixation of lower extremity
      osteotomies. The present study evaluated locking plate fixation compared with
      screw fixation in the medial displacement calcaneal osteotomy procedure,
      measuring the outcomes and rate of hardware removal. The procedure was performed
      on 30 patients, 31 times, with 17 undergoing single screw fixation and 14
      undergoing locking plate fixation. The return to activity was 6.87 +/- 1.43
      months, including some patients for whom running was their main activity. No
      malunions, nonunions, displacements, or infections developed. In 3 patients
      (21.4%), the locking plate was removed compared with 1 patient (5.9%) who
      required screw removal. The difference was not significant (p = .30). No
      differences were found in their postoperative American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle
      Scale scores (91.9 +/- 7.7 with plates versus 94.4 +/- 5.8 with screws; p = .36).
      The Roles and Maudsley scores were the same in the 2 groups preoperatively at 4.0
      +/- 0.0, with the postoperative scores improving to 1.50 +/- 0.5 and 1.41 +/- 0.5
      for the plate and screw group, respectively (p = .62). No significant increase
      was seen for patients undergoing hardware removal, regardless of the adjunctive
      procedure used (i.e., flexor digitorum longus/Kidner, Lapidus or midfoot fusion,
      subtalar arthroereisis, and endoscopic gastrocnemius recession). The stage of
      posterior tibialis dysfunction had no significant difference in the postoperative
      scores. From the results of the present study, we have concluded that using a
      locking plate or a single screw for fixation of the medial displacement calcaneal
      osteotomy provides acceptable patient outcomes and that the differences in the
      rate of hardware removal were not statistically significant between the 2 groups.

PMID- 27640931
TI  - Incidence and risk factors of phlebitis associated to peripheral intravenous
      catheters.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and risk factors of phlebitis associated to
      the care of peripheral vascular catheters (PVC). METHOD: Prospective cohort study
      at the Central University Hospital of Asturias (Spain). A total of 178PVC were
      observed daily until their extraction. The incidence of phlebitis was measured
      using the Visual Infusion Phlebitis Scale, that distinguishes between gradei
      (possible phlebitis) andii (phlebitis). The independent diagnoses of phlebitis
      made by staff nurses were also collected. Finally, data about the insertion and
      the care of the PVC was also obtained. The incidence of phlebitis and the
      validity of the diagnoses made by staff nurses were calculated and the risk
      factors of phlebitis were determined by means of logistic regression. RESULTS:
      5.6% of the PVC presented phlebitis, 21.3% possible phlebitis and 11.2% had
      phlebitis according to nurses' criteria. The staff nurses had a sensitivity of
      100%, a specificity of 94% and a positive predictive value of 50% in the
      diagnosis of phlebitis. After adjusting for potential confounders, the use of an
      extension tube as an accessory of the PVC was an independent predictor of
      phlebitis (odds ratio: 4.8; P=.04), but a PVC size of 22/24 gauges was associated
      with lower phlebitis incidence (odds ratio: 0.2; P=.02). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical
      phlebitis assessment is difficult because the agreement for phlebitis diagnosis
      is low. To minimize the incidence of phlebitis would be recommended to choose the
      smallest PVC size possible and to avoid using an extension tube as an accessory
      of the PVC.

PMID- 27640932
TI  - [Vaccine cold chain interruption in a primary care center and economic
      evaluation].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cold chain control is one of the most important facts to ensure the
      effectiveness of vaccines links, which requires specific material and human
      resources for management. The principal objective is to evaluate the
      interruptions in cold chain of the last 6 years and the possible cost savings
      that would result in further improvements. METHOD: A retrospective and
      descriptive study based on a review of all cold chain interruptions during the
      last 6 years, at Valdefierro Primary Health Center. RESULTS: We had 5
      interruptions, the maximum temperature reached was 23.1+/-3.4 degrees C and the
      longest interruption lasted 25.2+/-20.7hours. 1611 vaccines were affected and 165
      discarded. Total economic loss was 2.098,10 ? and 33.611,64 ? were savings. The
      electrical failure was the disruption cause in 5 cases. CONCLUSIONS: Equipment
      and staff are essential. The center did some corrective actions, such as
      minimizing refrigerator time control, minimum stock control, considering
      population changes, and the center has requested a electrical supply system.

PMID- 27640933
TI  - Patients without ST elevation after return of spontaneous circulation may benefit
      from emergent percutaneous intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The American Heart Association recommends that post-arrest patients
      with evidence of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) on electrocardiogram
      (ECG) be emergently taken to the catheterization lab for percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI). However, recommendations regarding the utility of emergent
      PCI for patients without ST elevation are less specific. This review examined the
      literature on the utility of PCI in post-arrest patients without ST elevation
      compared to patients with STEMI. METHODS: A systematic review of the English
      language literature was performed for all years to March 1, 2015 to examine the
      hypothesis that a percentage of post-cardiac arrest patients without ST elevation
      will benefit from emergent PCI as defined by evidence of an acute culprit
      coronary lesion. RESULTS: Out of 1067 articles reviewed, 11 articles were
      identified that allowed for analysis of data to examine our study hypothesis.
      These studies show that patients presenting post cardiac arrest with STEMI are
      thirteen times more likely to be emergently taken to the catheterization lab than
      patients without STEMI; OR 13.8 (95% CI 4.9-39.0). Most importantly, the
      cumulative data show that when taken to the catheterization lab as much as 32.2%
      of patients without ST elevation had an acute culprit lesion requiring
      intervention, compared to 71.9% of patients with STEMI; OR 0.15 (95% CI 0.06
      0.34). CONCLUSION: The results of this systematic review demonstrate that nearly
      one third of patients who have been successfully resuscitated from
      cardiopulmonary arrest without ST elevation on ECG have an acute lesion that
      would benefit from emergent percutaneous coronary intervention.

PMID- 27640934
TI  - Customer pyramid framework for CAR T-cell therapies in immuno-oncology.

PMID- 27640935
TI  - Synthesis of Trisubstituted Vinyl Sulfides via Oxidative Thiolation Initiated
      Cascade Reaction of Alkynoates with Thiols.
AB  - A thiolation initiated cascade reaction of aryl alkynoates has been developed
      with thiol as a coupling partner. This radical process has been demonstrated to
      proceed through S-H bond cleavage, thiolation of alkynoate, aryl migration, and
      decarboxylation. This reaction tolerates a wide scope of substrates resulting in
      good chemical yields, which provides an easy and practical strategy for
      preparation of trisubstituted vinyl sulfides.

PMID- 27640937
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27640938
TI  - Bowel injury in robotic gynecologic surgery: risk factors and management options.
      A systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze the published literature on bowel injuries in
      patients undergoing gynecologic robotic surgery with the aim to determine its
      incidence, predisposing factors, and treatment options. DATA SOURCES: Studies
      included in this analysis were identified by searching PubMed Central, OVID
      Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. References for all
      studies were also reviewed. Time frame for data analysis spanned from November
      2001 through December 2014. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: All English-language
      studies reporting the incidence of bowel injury or complications during robotic
      gynecologic surgery were included. Studies with data duplication, not in English,
      case reports, or studies that did not explicitly define bowel injury incidence
      were excluded. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: The Guidelines for Meta
      Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies were used to complete
      the systematic review with the exception of scoring study quality and a single
      primary reviewer. RESULTS: In all, 370 full-text articles were reviewed and 144
      met the inclusion criteria. There were 84 bowel injuries recorded in 13,444
      patients for an incidence of 1 in 160 (0.62%; 95% confidence interval, 0.50
      0.76%). There were no significant differences in incidence of bowel injury by
      procedure type. The anatomic location of injury, etiology, and management were
      rarely reported. Of the bowel injuries, 87% were recognized intraoperatively and
      the majority (58%) managed via a minimally invasive approach. Of 13,444 patients,
      3 (0.02%) (95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.07%) died in the immediate
      postoperative period and no deaths were a result of a bowel injury. CONCLUSION:
      The overall incidence of bowel injury in robotic-assisted gynecologic surgery is
      1 in 160. When the location of bowel injuries were specified, they most commonly
      occurred in the colon and rectum and most were managed via a minimally invasive
      approach.

PMID- 27640936
TI  - Resistance of Transmitted Founder HIV-1 to IFITM-Mediated Restriction.
AB  - Interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) restrict the entry of diverse
      enveloped viruses through incompletely understood mechanisms. While IFITMs are
      reported to inhibit HIV-1, their in vivo relevance is unclear. We show that IFITM
      sensitivity of HIV-1 strains is determined by the co-receptor usage of the viral
      envelope glycoproteins as well as IFITM subcellular localization within the
      target cell. Importantly, we find that transmitted founder HIV-1, which
      establishes de novo infections, is uniquely resistant to the antiviral activity
      of IFITMs. However, viral sensitivity to IFITMs, particularly IFITM2 and IFITM3,
      increases over the first 6 months of infection, primarily as a result of
      neutralizing antibody escape mutations. Additionally, the ability to evade IFITM
      restriction contributes to the different interferon sensitivities of transmitted
      founder and chronic viruses. Together, these data indicate that IFITMs constitute
      an important barrier to HIV-1 transmission and that escape from adaptive immune
      responses exposes the virus to antiviral restriction.

PMID- 27640939
TI  - Twin cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy treated with systemic and local
      methotrexate.

PMID- 27640940
TI  - Tension compared to no tension on a Foley transcervical catheter for cervical
      ripening: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical ripening of an unfavorable cervix can be achieved by
      placement of a transcervical catheter. Advantages of this method include both
      lower cost and lower risk of tachysystole than other methods. Despite widespread
      use with varying degrees of applied tension, an unanswered question is whether
      there is an advantage to placing the transcervical catheter to tension compared
      with placement without tension. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to
      determine whether tension placed on a transcervical balloon catheter that is
      inserted for cervical ripening results in a faster time to delivery. STUDY
      DESIGN: This was a prospective, randomized controlled trial; 140 women who
      underwent cervical ripening (Bishop score, <=6) were assigned randomly to a
      balloon catheter with applied tension vs no tension. Tension was created when the
      catheter was taped to the patient's thigh and tension was reapplied in 30-minute
      increments. There were 67 patients in the tension group and 73 patients in the no
      tension group. Low-dose oxytocin (maximum, 6 mU/min) was administered after
      catheter placement. The primary outcome was time from catheter insertion to
      delivery. A secondary outcome was time from insertion to catheter expulsion. The
      Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine whether the data were distributed
      normally. Survival curves that used lifetables were constructed from time of
      catheter insertion to delivery and from time of catheter insertion to catheter
      expulsion and were compared with the use of the Wilcoxon (Gehan) Breslow
      statistic. A probability value of <.05 was set to denote statistical
      significance. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. The
      median time from catheter insertion to delivery was not significantly different
      between the tension group and the no tension group (16.2 vs 16.9 hours; P=.814).
      The median time from catheter insertion to expulsion, however, was significantly
      less in the tension group vs the no tension group (2.6 vs 4.6 hours; P<.001),
      respectively. Vaginal delivery within 24 hours was not significantly different
      between the tension and no tension groups (41/52 [79%] vs 37/52 [71%]; P=.365)
      nor were there significant differences in cesarean delivery rates between the
      tension and no tension groups (17/67 [25%] vs 27/73 [37%]; P=.139). CONCLUSION:
      Application of tension did not result in faster delivery times but did result in
      faster times to catheter expulsion.

PMID- 27640941
TI  - Virtual ultrasonographic hysteroscopy followed by conventional operative
      hysteroscopy, enabling pregnancy.

PMID- 27640943
TI  - The role of aspirin dose on the prevention of preeclampsia and fetal growth
      restriction: systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction are major causes of
      perinatal death and handicap in survivors. Randomized clinical trials have
      reported that the risk of preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and fetal growth
      restriction can be reduced by the prophylactic use of aspirin in high-risk women,
      but the appropriate dose of the drug to achieve this objective is not certain.
      OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate the impact of aspirin dosage on the prevention
      of preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and fetal growth restriction. STUDY DESIGN:
      We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled
      trials comparing the effect of daily aspirin or placebo (or no treatment) during
      pregnancy. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials up to December 2015, and study bibliographies were
      reviewed. Authors were contacted to obtain additional data when needed. Relative
      risks for preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and fetal growth restriction were
      calculated with 95% confidence intervals using random-effect models. Dose
      response effect was evaluated using meta-regression and reported as adjusted R2.
      Analyses were stratified according to gestational age at initiation of aspirin
      (<=16 and >16 weeks) and repeated after exclusion of studies at high risk of
      biases. RESULTS: In all, 45 randomized controlled trials included a total of
      20,909 pregnant women randomized to between 50-150 mg of aspirin daily. When
      aspirin was initiated at <=16 weeks, there was a significant reduction and a dose
      response effect for the prevention of preeclampsia (relative risk, 0.57; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.43-0.75; P < .001; R2, 44%; P = .036), severe preeclampsia
      (relative risk, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-0.83; P = .009; R2, 100%; P =
      .008), and fetal growth restriction (relative risk, 0.56; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.44-0.70; P < .001; R2, 100%; P = .044) with higher dosages of aspirin
      being associated with greater reduction of the 3 outcomes. Similar results were
      observed after the exclusion of studies at high risk of biases. When aspirin was
      initiated at >16 weeks, there was a smaller reduction of preeclampsia (relative
      risk, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.99; P = .04) without relationship
      with aspirin dosage (R2, 0%; P = .941). Aspirin initiated at >16 weeks was not
      associated with a risk reduction or a dose-response effect for severe
      preeclampsia (relative risk, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-1.14; P = .28;
      R2, 0%; P = .838) and fetal growth restriction (relative risk, 0.95; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.86-1.05; P = .34; R2, not available; P = .563).
      CONCLUSION: Prevention of preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction using aspirin
      in early pregnancy is associated with a dose-response effect. Low-dose aspirin
      initiated at >16 weeks' gestation has a modest or no impact on the risk of
      preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and fetal growth restriction. Women at high
      risk for those outcomes should be identified in early pregnancy.

PMID- 27640942
TI  - Trends of and factors associated with live-birth and abortion rates among HIV
      positive and HIV-negative women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about fertility choices and pregnancy outcome rates
      among HIV-infected women in the current combination antiretroviral treatment era.
      OBJECTIVE: We sought to describe trends and factors associated with live-birth
      and abortion rates among HIV-positive and high-risk HIV-negative women enrolled
      in the Women's Interagency HIV Study in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: We
      analyzed longitudinal data collected from Oct. 1, 1994, through Sept. 30, 2012,
      through the Women's Interagency HIV Study. Age-adjusted rates per 100 person
      years live births and induced abortions were calculated by HIV serostatus over 4
      time periods. Poisson mixed effects models containing variables associated with
      live births and abortions in bivariable analyses (P < .05) generated adjusted
      incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: There were 1356
      pregnancies among 2414 women. Among HIV-positive women, age-adjusted rates of
      live birth increased from 1994 through 1997 to 2006 through 2012 (2.85-7.27/100
      person-years, P trend < .0001). Age-adjusted rates of abortion in HIV-positive
      women remained stable over these time periods (4.03-4.29/100 person-years, P
      trend = .09). Significantly lower live-birth rates occurred among HIV-positive
      compared to HIV-negative women in 1994 through 1997 and 1997 through 2001,
      however rates were similar during 2002 through 2005 and 2006 through 2012. Higher
      CD4+ T cells/mm3 (>=350 adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.39 [95% CI 1.03-1.89] vs
      <350) were significantly associated with increased live-birth rates, while
      combination antiretroviral treatment use (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.35
      [95% CI 0.99-1.83]) was marginally associated with increased live-birth rates.
      Younger age, having a prior abortion, condom use, and increased parity were
      associated with increased abortion rates among both HIV-positive and HIV-negative
      women. CD4+ T-cell count, combination antiretroviral treatment use, and viral
      load were not associated with abortion rates. CONCLUSION: Unlike earlier periods
      (pre-2001) when live-birth rates were lower among HIV-positive women, rates are
      now similar to HIV-negative women, potentially due to improved health status and
      combination antiretroviral treatment. Abortion rates remain unchanged,
      illuminating a need to improve contraceptive services.

PMID- 27640944
TI  - Definitions of apical vaginal support loss: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify and summarize definitions of apical support loss
      utilized for inclusion, success, and failure in surgical trials for treatment of
      apical vaginal prolapse. BACKGROUND: Pelvic organ prolapse is a common condition
      affecting more than 3 million women in the US, and the prevalence is increasing.
      Prolapse may occur in the anterior compartment, posterior compartment or at the
      apex. Apical support is considered paramount to overall female pelvic organ
      support, yet apical support loss is often underrecognized and there are no
      guidelines for when an apical support procedure should be performed or
      incorporated into a procedure designed to address prolapse. STUDY DESIGN: A
      systematic literature search was performed in 8 search engines: PubMed 1946-,
      Embase 1947-, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Database of
      Abstracts of Review Effects, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,
      ClinicalTrials.gov, Proquest Dissertations and Theses, and FirstSearch
      Proceedings, using key words for apical pelvic organ prolapse and apical
      suspension procedures through April 2016. Searches were limited to human beings
      using human filters and articles published in English. Study authors (M.R.L.M.,
      J.L.L.) independently reviewed publications for inclusion based on predefined
      variables. Articles were eligible for inclusion if they satisfied any of the
      following criteria: (1) apical support loss was an inclusion criterion in the
      original study, (2) apical support loss was a surgical indication, or (3) an
      apical support procedure was performed as part of the primary surgery. RESULTS: A
      total of 4469 publications were identified. After review, 35 articles were
      included in the analysis. Prolapse-related inclusion criteria were: (1) apical
      prolapse (n = 20, 57.1%); (2) overall prolapse (n = 8, 22.8%); or (3) both (n =
      6, 17.1%). Definitions of apical prolapse (relative to the hymen) included: (1)
      apical prolapse >-1 cm (n = 13, 50.0%); (2) apical prolapse >+1 cm (n = 7,
      26.9%); (3) apical prolapse >50% of total vaginal length (-[total vaginal
      length/2]) (n = 4, 15.4%); and (4) cervix/apex >0 cm (n = 2, 7.7%). Sixteen of
      the 35 studies (45.7%) required the presence of symptoms for inclusion. A
      measurement of the apical compartment (relative to the hymen) was used as a
      measure of surgical success or failure in 17 (48.6%) studies. Definitions for
      surgical success included: (1) prolapse stage >2 in each compartment (n = 5,
      29.4%); (2) prolapse >-[total vaginal length/2] (n = 2, 11.8%); (3) apical
      support >-[total vaginal length/3] (n = 1, 5.9%); (4) absence of prolapse beyond
      the hymen (n = 1, 5.9%); and (5) point C at >=-5 cm (n = 2, 11.8%). Surgical
      failure was defined as: (1) apical prolapse >=0 cm (n = 2, 11.8%); (2) apical
      prolapse >=-1 cm (n = 2, 11.8%); (3) apical prolapse >-[total vaginal length/2]
      (n = 3, 17.6%); and (4) recurrent apical prolapse surgery (n = 1, 5.9%). Ten
      (28.6%) of the 35 studies also included symptomatic outcomes in the definition of
      success or failure. CONCLUSION: Among randomized, controlled surgical trials
      designed to address apical vaginal support loss, definitions of clinically
      significant apical prolapse for study inclusion and surgical success or failure
      are either highly variable or absent. These findings provide limited evidence of
      consensus and little insight into current expert opinion.

PMID- 27640945
TI  - Adult comorbidity evaluation 27 score in endometrial cancer patient.

PMID- 27640946
TI  - Fairness in heart allocation.

PMID- 27640948
TI  - Discussion.

PMID- 27640947
TI  - The "right" way to repair recoarctation after the Norwood operation.

PMID- 27640949
TI  - Prior, proper planning prevents poor performance.

PMID- 27640950
TI  - Oxygenation of the cerebrospinal fluid with artificial cerebrospinal fluid can
      ameliorate a spinal cord ischemic injury in a rabbit model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effect of cerebrospinal fluid oxygenation for the
      prevention of spinal cord ischemic injury after infrarenal aortic occlusion in a
      rabbit model. METHODS: Twenty white Japanese rabbits were categorized into the
      following 4 groups (5 in each): group S (sham), balloon catheter insertion on to
      the aorta; group C (control), spinal cord ischemic injury by infrarenal abdominal
      aortic balloon occlusion for 15 minutes; group N (nonoxygenated), spinal cord
      ischemic injury with cerebrospinal fluid replacement by nonoxygenated artificial
      cerebrospinal fluid; and group O (oxygenated), spinal cord ischemic injury with
      cerebrospinal fluid replacement by nanobubble-oxygenated artificial cerebrospinal
      fluid. The changes in cerebrospinal fluid partial pressure of oxygen during the
      peri-ischemic period, modified Tarlov score, and histopathology of the spinal
      cord 48 hours after aortic maneuvers were evaluated. RESULTS: Cerebrospinal fluid
      partial pressure of oxygen significantly increased in group O compared with group
      N after cerebrospinal fluid replacement (254.5 +/- 54.8 mm Hg vs 136.1 +/- 43.5
      mm Hg, P = .02). After 15 minutes of spinal cord ischemic injury, cerebrospinal
      fluid partial pressure of oxygen in group C decreased to 65.8 +/- 18.6 mm Hg
      compared with baseline (148.8 +/- 20.6 mm Hg, P < .01), whereas cerebrospinal
      fluid partial pressure of oxygen in group O was maintained at remarkably high
      levels after spinal cord ischemic injury (291.9 +/- 51.8 mm Hg), which was
      associated with improved neurologic function, with 20% of spinal cord ischemic
      injury having a Tarlov score less than 5 compared with 100% of spinal cord
      ischemic injury in group C. Preservation of anterior horn neurons in groups N and
      O was confirmed by histopathologic analysis with significant reduction of
      degenerated neurons compared with group C. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebrospinal fluid
      oxygenation with artificial cerebrospinal fluid can exert a protective effect
      against spinal cord ischemic injury in rabbits.

PMID- 27640951
TI  - Hidden diversity in the Podarcis tauricus (Sauria, Lacertidae) species subgroup
      in the light of multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation.
AB  - The monophyletic species subgroup of Podarcis tauricus is distributed in the
      western and southern parts of the Balkans, and includes four species with
      unresolved and unstudied inter- and intra-specific phylogenetic relationships.
      Using sequence data from two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes and applying
      several phylogenetic methods and species delimitation approaches to an extensive
      dataset, we have reconstructed the phylogeny of the Podarcis wall lizards in the
      Balkans, and re-investigated the taxonomic status of the P. tauricus species
      subgroup. Multilocus analyses revealed that the aforementioned subgroup consists
      of five major clades, with P. melisellensis as its most basal taxon. Monophyly of
      P. tauricus sensu stricto is not supported, with one of the subspecies (P. t.
      ionicus) displaying great genetic diversity (hidden diversity or cryptic
      species). It comprises five, geographically distinct, subclades with genetic
      distances on the species level. Species delimitation approaches revealed nine
      species within the P. tauricus species subgroup (P. melisellensis, P. gaigeae, P.
      milensis, and six in the P. tauricus complex), underlining the necessity of
      taxonomic re-evaluation. We thus synonymize some previously recognized subspecies
      in this subgroup, elevate P. t. tauricus and P. g. gaigeae to the species level
      and suggest a distinct Albanian-Greek clade, provisionally named as the P.
      ionicus species complex. The latter clade comprises five unconfirmed candidate
      species that call for comprehensive studies in the future.

PMID- 27640952
TI  - Phylogeny of Helieae (Gentianaceae): Resolving taxonomic chaos in a Neotropical
      clade.
AB  - The monophyletic and Neotropical tribe Helieae of the worldwide family
      Gentianaceae (Gentianales, Asterids, Angiospermae) is well known for its
      problematic generic classifications. An initial phylogenetic analysis of Helieae
      shed light onto the relationships between genera, and indicated that traditional
      generic limits did not correspond to monophyletic groups. In order to obtain a
      more thorough understanding of generic relationships within the group, we
      enhanced sampling within the so-called Symbolanthus clade and performed
      phylogenetic analyses from DNA sequences from one plastid region (matK) and two
      nuclear regions (ITS and 5S-NTS), plus 112 morphological characters, which were
      analyzed separately and in combination, using parsimony and Bayesian approaches.
      A total of 83 individuals representing 20 genera and 51 species of Helieae were
      sampled; 13 species were included in this study solely based on their
      morphological characters. Ancestral character reconstructions were performed to
      identify potential synapomorphies of clades and patterns of homoplasy in the
      morphological dataset. Our results demonstrate that Prepusa is sister to the
      remainder of Helieae. Furthermore, the Macrocarpaea clade, the Irlbachia clade
      and the Symbolanthus clade were also recovered. Within the Symbolanthus clade,
      our results confirm that Calolisianthus and Chelonanthus are not monophyletic,
      and also contest the monophyly of Irlbachia as currently circumscribed.
      Specifically, two species of Calolisianthus group with the type species of
      Chelonanthus, while the other Calolisianthus species are more closely related to
      Tetrapollinia and Symbolanthus. Moreover, the green-white-flowered Chelonanthus
      species and Adenolisianthus are undoubtedly related to Helia and several analyses
      support Irlbachia pratensis as more closely related to the lineage including the
      type species of Chelonanthus described above The addition of new characters and
      taxa led to higher confidence in the relative position of some clades, as well as
      provided further support for a new generic circumscription of Calolisianthus,
      Chelonanthus, and Helia. Even though several morphological characters
      traditionally used in the taxonomy of the group were shown to be homoplasious,
      most clades can be diagnosed by a combination of morphological character states.

PMID- 27640953
TI  - Lineage diversification of fringe-toed lizards (Phrynosomatidae: Uma notata
      complex) in the Colorado Desert: Delimiting species in the presence of gene flow.
AB  - Multi-locus nuclear DNA data were used to delimit species of fringe-toed lizards
      of the Uma notata complex, which are specialized for living in wind-blown sand
      habitats in the deserts of southwestern North America, and to infer whether
      Quaternary glacial cycles or Tertiary geological events were important in shaping
      the historical biogeography of this group. We analyzed ten nuclear loci collected
      using Sanger sequencing and genome-wide sequence/single-nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) data collected using restriction-associated DNA (RAD) sequencing. A
      combination of species discovery methods (concatenated phylogenies, parametric
      and non-parametric clustering algorithms) and species validation approaches
      (coalescent-based species tree/isolation-with-migration models) were used to
      delimit species, infer phylogenetic relationships, and to estimate effective
      population sizes, migration rates, and speciation times. Uma notata, U. inornata,
      U. cowlesi, and an undescribed species from Mohawk Dunes, Arizona (U. sp.) were
      supported as distinct in the concatenated analyses and by clustering algorithms,
      and all operational taxonomic units were decisively supported as distinct species
      by ranking hierarchical nested speciation models with Bayes factors based on
      coalescent-based species tree methods. However, significant unidirectional gene
      flow (2NM>1) from U. cowlesi and U. notata into U. rufopunctata was detected
      under the isolation-with-migration model. Therefore, we conservatively delimit
      four species-level lineages within this complex (U. inornata, U. notata, U.
      cowlesi, and U. sp.), treating U. rufopunctata as a hybrid population (U.
      notata*cowlesi). Both concatenated and coalescent-based estimates of speciation
      times support the hypotheses that speciation within the complex occurred during
      the late Pleistocene, and that the geological evolution of the Colorado River
      delta during this period was an important process shaping the observed
      phylogeographic patterns.

PMID- 27640954
TI  - Genetics, morphology and ecology reveal a cryptic pika lineage in the Sikkim
      Himalaya.
AB  - Asian pika species are morphologically ~similar and have overlapping ranges. This
      leads to uncertainty and species misidentification in the field. Phylogenetic
      analyses of such misidentified samples leads to taxonomic ambiguity. The ecology
      of many pika species remains understudied, particularly in the Himalaya, where
      sympatric species could be separated by elevation and/or substrate. We sampled,
      measured, and acquired genetic data from pikas in the Sikkim Himalaya. Our
      analyses revealed a cryptic lineage, Ochotona sikimaria, previously reported as a
      subspecies of O. thibetana. The results support the elevation of this lineage to
      the species level, as it is genetically divergent from O. thibetana, as well as
      sister species, O. cansus (endemic to central China) and O. curzoniae (endemic to
      the Tibetan plateau). The Sikkim lineage diverged from its sister species' about
      1.7-0.8myrago, coincident with uplift events in the Himalaya. Our results add to
      the recent spate of cryptic diversity identified from the eastern Himalaya and
      highlight the need for further study within the Ochotonidae.

PMID- 27640955
TI  - Divergence of cryptic species of Doryteuthis plei Blainville, 1823 (Loliginidae,
      Cephalopoda) in the Western Atlantic Ocean is associated with the formation of
      the Caribbean Sea.
AB  - Although recent years have seen an increase in genetic analyses that identify new
      species of cephalopods and phylogeographic patterns, the loliginid squid of South
      America remain one of the least studied groups. The suggestion that Doryteuthis
      plei may represent distinct lineages within its extensive distribution along the
      western Atlantic coasts from Cape Hatteras, USA (36 degrees N) to northern
      Argentina (35 degrees S) is consistent with significant variation in a number of
      environmental variables along this range including in both temperature and
      salinity. In the present study D. plei samples were obtained from a large number
      of localities along the western Atlantic coasts to investigate the distribution
      of these possible species in a phylogeographic context. Phylogeographic analyses
      were performed using the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I gene and nuclear
      Rhodopsin gene. Divergence times were estimated using Bayesian strict clock
      dating with calibrations based on fossil records for divergence from the lineage
      containing Vampyroteuthis infernalis (162mya), the probable origins of the North
      American loliginids (45mya), and the European loliginids (20mya) and fossil
      statolith from Doryteuthis opalescens (3mya). Our results suggest a deep genetic
      divergence within Doryteuthis plei. The currently described specie consists of
      two genetically distinct clades (pair-wise genetic divergence of between 7.7 and
      9.1%). One clade composed of individuals collected in northwestern Atlantic and
      Central Caribbean Atlantic waters and the other from southwestern Atlantic
      waters. The divergence time and sampling locations suggest the speciation process
      at approximately 16Mya, which is in full agreement with the middle Miocene
      orogeny of the Caribbean plate, ending up with the formation of the Lesser
      Antilles and the adjacent subduction zone, coinciding with a particularly low
      global sea level, resulting in the practical absence of continental shelves at
      the area, and therefore an effective geographic barrier for D. plei. Furthermore,
      this study also provides evidence of previously undocumented sub-population
      structuring in the Gulf of Mexico.

PMID- 27640956
TI  - Usp2-69 overexpression slows down the progression of rat anti-Thy1.1 nephritis.
AB  - Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis is characterized by proliferation of
      mesangial cells (MCs) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)-dependent
      stimulation of abnormal extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation. We previously
      showed that Decorin--a leucine-rich proteoglycan inhibiting the progression of
      glomerulonephritis and glomerular sclerosis--can be degraded by the ubiquitin
      proteasome pathway and deubiquitinated and stabilized by ubiquitin-specific
      processing protease 2-69(Usp2-69). Usp2-69 is highly expressed in the kidney and
      has been implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis.
      However, its role in mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis remains unclear.
      Here, we explored the effect of Usp2-69 on MC proliferation and ECM deposition by
      transfecting Usp2-69 plasmid into rat anti-Thy1.1 nephritis model and into
      cultured MCs, as well as detected Usp2-69 and Decorin in rat anti-Thy1.1
      nephritis model by western blot. Overexpressing Usp2-69 at the early stage, but
      not advanced stage, of anti-Thy1.1 nephritis alleviated cell proliferation and
      ECM deposition, which was shown by decreased Ki-67, Collagen IV and Fibronectin
      detected by immunohistochemistry. Overexpression also increased Decorin and
      decreased TGF-beta1 and Collagen IV both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our
      findings suggest that Usp2-69 overexpression alleviates the progression of rat
      anti-Thy1.1 nephritis and, therefore, that exogenous plasmid injection via the
      renal artery enhanced by electrotransfer technology could be a promising avenue
      for glomerular disease research.

PMID- 27640957
TI  - Process optimization for an industrial-scale production of Diphtheria toxin by
      Corynebacterium diphtheriae PW8.
AB  - In this study, several parameters affecting the toxin production of
      Corynebacterium diphtheriae Parke Williams 8 (PW8) were investigated in detail.
      The comparison studies of amino acid profile in NZ Amine A-based medium (NZ
      medium) and beef digest-based medium (BD medium) suggested that an insufficient
      supply of amino acids was not responsible for low toxin yield observed in NZ
      medium. Supplementation of additional amino acids and growth promoting nutrient
      (in a form of yeast extract) into NZ medium enhanced only cell growth but not
      toxin production. Thus, BD medium was selected as the most suitable base medium
      for toxin production as it gave a significantly higher limit of flocculation (93
      +/- 0 Lf/ml) than NZ medium (46 +/- 0 Lf/ml). Interestingly, a supplementation of
      0.2% YE into BD medium resulted in a significant increase in growth as well as
      toxin production (235 +/- 5 Lf/ml). In conclusion, consistently high toxin titer
      (174-239 Lf/ml) could be obtained from BD medium at a 5 L-scale production as
      long as 1) the protein content of BD medium was at least 24 g/L, 2) the iron
      content was below 0.15 ppm and 3) 0.2% YE was supplemented into the medium.

PMID- 27640958
TI  - Giant fornix syndrome: Case report and literature review.

PMID- 27640959
TI  - [Oncocytoma: An uncommon lesion of the lacrimal gland].

PMID- 27640960
TI  - Protective effect of betulin on cognitive decline in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced
      diabetic rats.
AB  - Betulin is extracted from birch tree bark and exerts diverse pharmacological
      activities. The present study was designed to investigate the protective effect
      of betulin (BE) on cognitive decline in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic
      rats. The diabetic model was built by streptozotocin (STZ) (30mg/kg, ip). After 4
      weeks, the diabetic rats were treated with vehicle or BE (20mg/kg, 40mg/kg) for 4
      weeks. The oral glucose tolerance (OGTT) and serum insulin were detected. Three
      days later, Morris water maze (MWM) test was used to evaluate memory function.
      Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in
      hippocampus were examined. Inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-1beta (IL
      1beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in serum
      and hippocampus were measured. The protein expressions of nuclear factor
      erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NF-kappaB
      pathways-related molecules in hippocampus were examined. As a results, BE could
      improve glucose intolerance and modify basal learning performance. Treatment with
      BE significantly restored SOD activity and decreased MDA content in hippocampus.
      BE also markedly reduced the contents of inflammatory cytokines in serum and
      hippocampus. Furthermore, administration of BE effectively upregulated the
      expressions of Nrf2, HO-1 and blocked the phosphorylations of IkappaB, NF-kappaB.
      In summary, BE might exhibit protective effect on cognitive decline in STZ
      induced diabetic rats through HO-1/Nrf-2/NF-kappaB pathway.

PMID- 27640961
TI  - Disparities in standard of care treatment and associated survival decrement in
      patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Standard of care (SOC) treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer
      includes pelvic external beam radiation (EBRT) with chemotherapy and
      interdigitated brachytherapy. We evaluated national utilization trends and
      factors associated with receiving SOC therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We utilized
      the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to identify women with locally advanced
      cervical cancer treated with definitive radiation or chemoradiation therapy and
      stratified these patients by treatment received. RESULTS: We identified 15,194
      patients. Only 44.3% of patients received SOC treatment and this group had
      significantly improved OS. High volume centers, academic centers, comprehensive
      community cancer centers, private insurance, and higher income, were all
      associated with an increased likelihood of receiving SOC, whereas Black patients
      were less likely to receive SOC. We found 26.8% of patients received no radiation
      boost, 23.8% received an EBRT boost only, and 49.5% of patients received EBRT
      with brachytherapy. Although an EBRT boost was advantageous over no boost at all
      (HR 0.720, p<0.001), OS was superior in patients who received brachytherapy (HR
      0.554, p<0.001). Patients were more likely to receive no radiotherapy boost if
      they had lower incomes, Medicaid, were treated at low volume centers, or were
      treated at non-comprehensive community cancer centers. CONCLUSIONS: SOC for
      locally advanced cervical cancer offers superior outcomes, yet less than half of
      patients receive SOC and there are disparities in which patients receive SOC
      treatment. No additional treatment, including sophisticated EBRT techniques
      including IMRT or SBRT, can make up for the survival decrement from lack of
      brachytherapy as a component of definitive care.

PMID- 27640979
TI  - Ion channels: A warm response.

PMID- 27640962
TI  - Is chemotherapy necessary for patients with molar pregnancy and human chorionic
      gonadotropin serum levels raised but falling at 6months after uterine evacuation?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcomes of Brazilian patients with molar pregnancy who
      continue human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) surveillance with those treated with
      chemotherapy when hCG was still positive, but falling at 6months after uterine
      evacuation. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 12,526 patients with
      hydatidiform mole treated at one of nine Brazilian reference centers from January
      1990 to May 2016. RESULTS: At 6months from uterine evacuation, 96 (0.8%) patients
      had hCG levels raised but falling. In 15/96 (15.6%) patients, chemotherapy was
      initiated immediately per FIGO 2000 criteria, while 81/96 (84.4%) patients were
      managed expectantly. Among the latter, 65/81 (80.2%) achieved spontaneous
      remission and 16 (19.8%) developed postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia
      (GTN). Patients who received chemotherapy following expectant management required
      more time for remission (11 versus 8months; p=0.001), had a greater interval
      between uterine evacuation and initiating chemotherapy (8 versus 6months;
      p<0.001), and presented with a median WHO/FIGO risk score higher than women
      treated according to FIGO 2000 criteria (4 versus 2, p=0.04), but there were no
      significant differences in the need for multiagent treatment regimens (1/15
      versus 3/16 patients, p=0.60). None of the women relapsed, and no deaths occurred
      in either group. CONCLUSION: In order to avoid unnecessary exposure of women to
      chemotherapy, we no longer follow the FIGO 2000 recommendation to treat all
      patients with molar pregnancy and hCG raised but falling at 6months after
      evacuation. Instead, we pursue close hormonal and radiological surveillance as
      the best strategy for these patients.

PMID- 27640978
TI  - Neural development: Sight development.

PMID- 27640980
TI  - Techniques: Neuronal barcoding.

PMID- 27640981
TI  - Neurophysiology: Inhibitory consumption.

PMID- 27640982
TI  - Cerebral cortex: Cortical connections.

PMID- 27640983
TI  - An interview with...: The Kavli prize winners.

PMID- 27640985
TI  - Distribution of disease phase, treatment prescription and severe liver disease
      among 1598 patients with chronic hepatitis B in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort
      Study, 2006-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited information exists regarding the distribution of disease
      phases, treatment prescription and severe liver disease among patients with
      chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in US general healthcare settings. AIM: To determine
      the distribution of disease phases, treatment prescription and severe liver
      disease among patients with CHB in general US healthcare settings. METHODS: We
      analysed demographic and clinical data collected during 2006-2013 from patients
      with confirmed CHB in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, an observational cohort
      study involving patients from healthcare organisations in Michigan, Pennsylvania,
      Oregon and Hawaii. CHB phases were classified according to American Association
      for the Study of Liver Disease guidelines. RESULTS: Of 1598 CHB patients with
      >=12 months of follow-up (median 6.3 years), 457 (29%) were immune active during
      follow-up [11% hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive, 16% HBeAg-negative, and 2%
      HBeAg status unknown], 10 (0.6%) were immune tolerant, 112 (7%) were inactive
      through the duration of follow-up and 886 (55%) were phase indeterminate.
      Patients with cirrhosis were identified within each group (among 21% of immune
      active, 3% of inactive and 9% of indeterminate phase patients) except among those
      with immune-tolerant CHB. Prescription of treatment was 59% among immune active
      patients and 84% among patients with cirrhosis and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA
      >2000 IU/mL. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately, one-third of the cohort had active
      disease during follow-up; 60% of eligible patients were prescribed treatment. Our
      findings underscore the importance of ascertainment of fibrosis status in
      addition to regular assessment of ALT and HBV DNA levels.

PMID- 27640986
TI  - Leading the Way on Diversity: Community Psychology's Evolution from Invisible to
      Individual to Contextual.
AB  - To take up the AJCP editor's call to think forward in this article, I offer up
      three challenges that revolve around further contextualizing our understandings
      of diversity, i.e., reconsidering the notion of "difference" between discrete
      categories; more fully emphasizing diversity as socially situated; and further
      delving into local, setting-specific practices that shape the meanings of
      diversity. Enhanced attention to these three challenges can transform theory,
      research, and action about diversity as we move into community psychology's next
      50 years.

PMID- 27640988
TI  - Room-temperature exciton-polaritons with two-dimensional WS2.
AB  - Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit strong optical
      transitions with significant potential for optoelectronic devices. In particular
      they are suited for cavity quantum electrodynamics in which strong coupling leads
      to polariton formation as a root to realisation of inversionless lasing,
      polariton condensation and superfluidity. Demonstrations of such strongly
      correlated phenomena to date have often relied on cryogenic temperatures, high
      excitation densities and were frequently impaired by strong material disorder. At
      room-temperature, experiments approaching the strong coupling regime with
      transition metal dichalcogenides have been reported, but well resolved exciton
      polaritons have yet to be achieved. Here we report a study of monolayer WS2
      coupled to an open Fabry-Perot cavity at room-temperature, in which polariton
      eigenstates are unambiguously displayed. In-situ tunability of the cavity length
      results in a maximal Rabi splitting of hOmegaRabi = 70 meV, exceeding the exciton
      linewidth. Our data are well described by a transfer matrix model appropriate for
      the large linewidth regime. This work provides a platform towards observing
      strongly correlated polariton phenomena in compact photonic devices for ambient
      temperature applications.

PMID- 27640987
TI  - Hypertension Treatment and Concern About Falling: Baseline Data from the Systolic
      Blood Pressure Intervention Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of concern about falling in older adults with
      hypertension, whether lower blood pressure (BP) and greater use of
      antihypertensive medications are associated with greater concern about falling,
      and whether lower BP has a greater effect on concern about falling in older and
      more functionally impaired individuals. DESIGN: Secondary analysis involving
      cross-sectional study of baseline characteristics of participants enrolled in the
      Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). SETTING: Approximately 100
      outpatient sites. PARTICIPANTS: SPRINT enrollees aged 50 and older (mean age 69)
      diagnosed with hypertension (N = 2,299). MEASUREMENTS: Concern about falling was
      determined using the shortened version of the Falls Efficacy Scale International
      as measured at the baseline examination. RESULTS: Mild concern about falling was
      present in 29.3% of participants and moderate to severe concern in 17.9%. Neither
      low BP (systolic BP<120 mmHg, diastolic BP <70 mmHg) nor orthostatic hypotension
      was associated with concern about falling (P > .10). Participants with moderate
      to severe concern about falling were taking significantly more antihypertensive
      medications than those with mild or no concern. After adjusting for baseline
      characteristics, no associations were evident between BP, medications, and
      concern about falling. Results were similar in older and younger participants;
      interactions between BP and age and functional status were not significantly
      associated with concern about falling. CONCLUSION: Although concern about falling
      is common in older adults with hypertension, it was not found to be associated
      with low BP or use of more antihypertensive medications in baseline data from
      SPRINT.

PMID- 27640989
TI  - Third Trimester foetal complications in pregnancy with diabetes.
AB  - Diabetes in pregnancy starts affecting the foetus even in the pre-conception
      period. The complications encountered in third trimester are foetal macrosomia
      and intrauterine foetal demise; birth of a macrosomic baby further leads to
      shoulder dystocia, birth trauma, brachial plexus injury. Additionally,
      pregnancies with overt/pregestational diabetes may be complicated with foetal
      growth restriction, congenital abnormalities diagnosed in third trimester and
      foetal hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Even minor degrees of
      hyperglycaemia is associated with adverse pregnancy outcome. Optimizing maternal
      glycaemic control and foetal surveillance is crucial for optimizing the perinatal
      outcome and minimizing aforesaid complications. The management of macrosomia is
      controversial regarding timing and mode of delivery, but most authorities agree
      for primary caesarean if estimated foetal weight at the end of pregnancy is 4500
      gram or more.

PMID- 27640984
TI  - The effects of childhood maltreatment on brain structure, function and
      connectivity.
AB  - Maltreatment-related childhood adversity is the leading preventable risk factor
      for mental illness and substance abuse. Although the association between
      maltreatment and psychopathology is compelling, there is a pressing need to
      understand how maltreatment increases the risk of psychiatric disorders. Emerging
      evidence suggests that maltreatment alters trajectories of brain development to
      affect sensory systems, network architecture and circuits involved in threat
      detection, emotional regulation and reward anticipation. This Review explores
      whether these alterations reflect toxic effects of early-life stress or
      potentially adaptive modifications, the relationship between psychopathology and
      brain changes, and the distinction between resilience, susceptibility and
      compensation.

PMID- 27640990
TI  - Management of labour in pregnancy complicated by diabetes.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus complicates <5% of all pregnancies in Pakistan, but is a major
      cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality, as well as maternal morbidity.
      Appropriate glycaemic control is not only important throughout pregnancy but is
      equally important during the intra-partum period. Increased blood glucose levels
      4-6 hours prior to delivery increase the chances of hypoglycaemia in neonates. It
      is essential to optimize blood glucose levels during the intra-partum period as
      avoiding maternal hyperglycaemia will prevent foetal hyperglycaemia, and hence
      reduce the chances of neonatal hypoglycaemia and foetal acidaemia. Infants who
      develop neonatal hypoglycaemia, have a 2-3.5 times higher risk of developing
      neuro-developmental impairment on follow-up at 18 months to 7 years of age.

PMID- 27640991
TI  - Novel Solvent-free Perovskite Deposition in Fabrication of Normal and Inverted
      Architectures of Perovskite Solar Cells.
AB  - We introduced a new approach to deposit perovskite layer with no need for
      dissolving perovskite precursors. Deposition of Solution-free perovskite (SFP)
      layer is a key method for deposition of perovskite layer on the hole or electron
      transport layers that are strongly sensitive to perovskite precursors. Using
      deposition of SFP layer in the perovskite solar cells would extend possibility of
      using many electron and hole transport materials in both normal and invert
      architectures of perovskite solar cells. In the present work, we synthesized
      crystalline perovskite powder followed by successful deposition on TiO2 and
      cuprous iodide as the non-sensitve and sensitive charge transport layers to PbI2
      and CH3NH3I solution in DMF. The post compressing step enhanced the efficiency of
      the devices by increasing the interface area between perovskite and charge
      transport layers. The 9.07% and 7.71% cell efficiencies of the device prepared by
      SFP layer was achieved in respective normal (using TiO2 as a deposition
      substrate) and inverted structure (using CuI as deposition substrate) of
      perovskite solar cell. This method can be efficient in large-scale and low cost
      fabrication of new generation perovskite solar cells.

PMID- 27640992
TI  - Process quality indicators for chronic kidney disease risk management: a
      systematic literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Quality indicators (QIs) can be used for measuring the
      quality of actions of healthcare providers. This systematic review gives an
      overview of such QIs measuring processes of care for chronic kidney disease
      (CKD), and identifies the QIs that have content, face, operational and/or
      predictive validity. METHODS: PubMed and Embase were searched using a strategy
      combining the terms "quality of care," "quality indicators" and "chronic kidney
      disease". Papers were included if they focused on developing, testing or applying
      QIs for assessing the quality of care in adult patients with CKD not on renal
      replacement therapy. RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-three QIs from thirty-one
      papers were extracted, including QIs on adequate monitoring of kidney function
      and vascular risk factors, on indicated treatment, drug safety, adherence and
      referral to a specialist. The QIs that were considered content, face and
      operational valid focused on monitoring of glomerular filtration rate, albumin
      creatinine ratio, lipid levels and blood pressure, the use of non-steroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs, nitrofurantoin and biphosphonates in patients with CKD, and
      QIs on monitoring haemoglobin and treatment with angiotensin-converting-enzyme
      inhibitors/angiotensin-receptor-II-blockers in patients with CKD and
      comorbidities. No QIs were tested for predictive validity. In addition, only two
      QIs focused on diet and no other QIs focused on lifestyle management.
      CONCLUSIONS: Based on this review, sufficiently validated QIs can be selected for
      measuring the quality of CKD care. This review provides insight in QIs that need
      further validation, and in areas of care where QIs are still lacking.

PMID- 27640993
TI  - Evaluation of the Impact of Cancer Treatment on the Adoption and Consolidation of
      Pro-Health Attitudes in the Field of Cancer in Treated Patients with Colon
      Cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
      Although progress in the development of new drugs over the last two decades has
      expanded treatment options for this disease, many significant problems relating
      to their optimization remain to be solved. Data on the cancer knowledge and the
      healthy behavior and lifestyle in patients with colorectal cancer in Poland is
      missing. We analyzed the course and results of treatment of first-line
      chemotherapy in 165 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer treated between May
      2010 and December 2013. The respondent's knowledge in the field of cancer and
      their lifestyle before and after the treatment were rated. The results were
      compared with a control group. Mean age was 60.89 +/- 8.69 years, median 59
      years. The general knowledge about cancer and the level of healthy lifestyle
      before treatment were low. After treatment, both the knowledge about cancer and
      the level of healthy lifestyle increased compared to the control group. There was
      a clear relationship between the level of knowledge about cancer and the
      willingness to adopt attitudes and healthy behavior by patients. In our analysis,
      the overall quality of life in patients treated with first-line palliative
      chemotherapy of colorectal cancer did not change during treatment. Our results
      indicate the need to implement an educational program on cancer prevention in
      treated patients, and the analysis of quality of life and other factors than
      treatment effect remains controversial.

PMID- 27640994
TI  - Crystal nuclei templated nanostructured membranes prepared by solvent
      crystallization and polymer migration.
AB  - Currently, production of porous polymeric membranes for filtration is
      predominated by the phase-separation process. However, this method has reached
      its technological limit, and there have been no significant breakthrough over the
      last decade. Here we show, using polyvinylidene fluoride as a sample polymer, a
      new concept of membrane manufacturing by combining oriented green solvent
      crystallization and polymer migration is able to obtain high performance
      membranes with pure water permeation flux substantially higher than those with
      similar pore size prepared by conventional phase-separation processes. The new
      manufacturing procedure is governed by fewer operating parameters and is, thus,
      easier to control with reproducible results. Apart from the high water permeation
      flux, the prepared membranes also show excellent stable flux after fouling and
      superior mechanical properties of high pressure load and better abrasion
      resistance. These findings demonstrate the promise of a new concept for green
      manufacturing nanostructured polymeric membranes with high performances.

PMID- 27640995
TI  - Association between Giardia and arthritis or joint pain in a large health
      insurance cohort: could it be reactive arthritis?
AB  - This study aimed to assess the association between giardiasis and subsequent
      development of arthritis or joint pain using a retrospective cohort of
      individuals from a large administrative claims database in the United States.
      Using 2006-2010 data from MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters, we
      conducted a retrospective cohort study in people with an ICD-9-CM code for
      giardiasis (n = 3301) and persons without giardiasis (n = 14 612) individually
      matched on age, sex, and enrolment length. We used conditional logistic
      regression to model the association between giardiasis and arthritis or joint
      pain documented in the 6 months following initial giardiasis diagnosis or index
      date for matched controls. After adjusting for healthcare utilization rate,
      giardiasis was associated with a 51% increase in claims for arthritis or joint
      pain (odds ratio 1.51, 95% confidence interval 1.26-1.80). In age- and sex
      stratified adjusted analyses, the association remained significant across all
      subgroups (age 0-19 years, age 20-64 years, males, and females). Findings from
      this study lend epidemiological support for the association between giardiasis
      and subsequent development of arthritis. Reactive arthritis might occur more
      frequently than has been reported in the literature. Further research is
      necessary to determine the mechanisms by which giardiasis could lead to
      arthritis.

PMID- 27640996
TI  - Participation, both a means and an end: a conceptual analysis of processes and
      outcomes in childhood disability.
AB  - This review outlines a conceptual approach to inform research and practice aimed
      at supporting children whose lives are complicated by impairment and/or chronic
      medical conditions, and their families. 'Participation' in meaningful life
      activities should be an essential intervention goal, to meet the challenges of
      healthy growth and development, and to provide opportunities to help ensure that
      young people with impairments reach their full potential across their lifespan.
      Intervention activities and research can focus on participation as either an
      independent or dependent variable. The proposed framework and associated
      hypotheses are applicable to children and young people with a wide variety of
      conditions, and to their families. In taking a fresh 'non-categorical'
      perspective to health for children and young people, asking new questions, and
      exploring issues in innovative ways, we expect to learn lessons and to develop
      creative solutions that will ultimately benefit children with a wide variety of
      impairments and challenges, and their families, everywhere.

PMID- 27640998
TI  - Extraordinary transmission of gigahertz surface acoustic waves.
AB  - Extraordinary transmission of waves, i.e. a transmission superior to the amount
      predicted by geometrical considerations of the aperture alone, has to date only
      been studied in the bulk. Here we present a new class of extraordinary
      transmission for waves confined in two dimensions to a flat surface. By means of
      acoustic numerical simulations in the gigahertz range, corresponding to acoustic
      wavelengths lambda ~ 3-50 MUm, we track the transmission of plane surface
      acoustic wave fronts between two silicon blocks joined by a deeply subwavelength
      bridge of variable length with or without an attached cavity. Several resonant
      modes of the structure, both one- and two-dimensional in nature, lead to
      extraordinary acoustic transmission, in this case with transmission efficiencies,
      i.e. intensity enhancements, up to ~23 and ~8 in the two respective cases. We
      show how the cavity shape and bridge size influence the extraordinary
      transmission efficiency. Applications include new metamaterials and subwavelength
      imaging.

PMID- 27640997
TI  - ATP from synaptic terminals and astrocytes regulates NMDA receptors and synaptic
      plasticity through PSD-95 multi-protein complex.
AB  - Recent studies highlighted the importance of astrocyte-secreted molecules, such
      as ATP, for the slow modulation of synaptic transmission in central neurones.
      Biophysical mechanisms underlying the impact of gliotransmitters on the strength
      of individual synapse remain, however, unclear. Here we show that purinergic P2X
      receptors can bring significant contribution to the signalling in the individual
      synaptic boutons. ATP released from astrocytes facilitates a recruitment of P2X
      receptors into excitatory synapses by Ca(2+)-dependent mechanism. P2X receptors,
      co-localized with NMDA receptors in the excitatory synapses, can be activated by
      ATP co-released with glutamate from pre-synaptic terminals and by glia-derived
      ATP. An activation of P2X receptors in turn leads to down-regulation of
      postsynaptic NMDA receptors via Ca(2+)-dependent de-phosphorylation and
      interaction with PSD-95 multi-protein complex. Genetic deletion of the PSD-95 or
      P2X4 receptors obliterated ATP-mediated down-regulation of NMDA receptors.
      Impairment of purinergic modulation of NMDA receptors in the PSD-95 mutants
      dramatically decreased the threshold of LTP induction and increased the net
      magnitude of LTP. Our findings show that synergistic action of glia- and neurone
      derived ATP can pre-modulate efficacy of excitatory synapses and thereby can have
      an important role in the glia-neuron communications and brain meta-plasticity.

PMID- 27641000
TI  - In response to Neck abscess: An unusual clinical presentation of immunoglobulin
      G4-related disease.

PMID- 27640999
TI  - Alcohol acutely enhances decoding of positive emotions and emotional concern for
      positive stimuli and facilitates the viewing of sexual images.
AB  - RATIONALE: Social cognition influences social interactions. Alcohol reportedly
      facilitates social interactions. However, the acute effects of alcohol on social
      cognition are relatively poorly studied. METHODS: We investigated the effects of
      alcoholic or non-alcoholic beer on emotion recognition, empathy, and sexual
      arousal using the dynamic face emotion recognition task (FERT), Multifaceted
      Empathy Test (MET), and Sexual Arousal Task (SAT) in a double-blind, random
      order, cross-over study in 60 healthy social drinkers. We also assessed
      subjective effects using visual analog scales (VASs), blood alcohol
      concentrations, and plasma oxytocin levels. RESULTS: Alcohol increased VAS
      ratings of stimulated, happy, talkative, open, and want to be with others. The
      subjective effects of alcohol were greater in participants with higher trait
      inhibitedness. Alcohol facilitated the recognition of happy faces on the FERT and
      enhanced emotional empathy for positive stimuli on the MET, particularly in
      participants with low trait empathy. Pictures of explicit sexual content were
      rated as less pleasant than neutral pictures after non-alcoholic beer but not
      after alcoholic beer. Explicit sexual pictures were rated as more pleasant after
      alcoholic beer compared with non-alcoholic beer, particularly in women. Alcohol
      did not alter the levels of circulating oxytocin. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol biased
      emotion recognition toward better decoding of positive emotions and increased
      emotional concern for positive stimuli. No support was found for a modulatory
      role of oxytocin. Alcohol also facilitated the viewing of sexual images,
      consistent with disinhibition, but it did not actually enhance sexual arousal.
      These effects of alcohol on social cognition likely enhance sociability. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02318823.

PMID- 27641002
TI  - Soil surface temperatures reveal moderation of the urban heat island effect by
      trees and shrubs.
AB  - Urban areas are major contributors to air pollution and climate change, causing
      impacts on human health that are amplified by the microclimatological effects of
      buildings and grey infrastructure through the urban heat island (UHI) effect.
      Urban greenspaces may be important in reducing surface temperature extremes, but
      their effects have not been investigated at a city-wide scale. Across a mid-sized
      UK city we buried temperature loggers at the surface of greenspace soils at 100
      sites, stratified by proximity to city centre, vegetation cover and land-use.
      Mean daily soil surface temperature over 11 months increased by 0.6  degrees C
      over the 5 km from the city outskirts to the centre. Trees and shrubs in non
      domestic greenspace reduced mean maximum daily soil surface temperatures in the
      summer by 5.7  degrees C compared to herbaceous vegetation, but tended to
      maintain slightly higher temperatures in winter. Trees in domestic gardens, which
      tend to be smaller, were less effective at reducing summer soil surface
      temperatures. Our findings reveal that the UHI effects soil temperatures at a
      city-wide scale, and that in their moderating urban soil surface temperature
      extremes, trees and shrubs may help to reduce the adverse impacts of urbanization
      on microclimate, soil processes and human health.

PMID- 27641001
TI  - Two-Year Mortality in Homebound Older Adults: An Analysis of the National Health
      and Aging Trends Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between homebound status and mortality.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Annual, in-person interviews. PARTICIPANTS: A
      nationally representative sample of community-dwelling, Medicare beneficiaries
      aged 65 and older enrolled in the National Health and Aging Trends Study between
      2011 and 2013 (N = 6,400). MEASUREMENTS: Two-year mortality and prevalence of
      homebound status in the year before death are described using three categories of
      homebound status: homebound (never or rarely left home in the last month),
      semihomebound (left home with assistance, needed help or had difficulty), and
      nonhomebound (left home without help or difficulty). RESULTS: In unadjusted
      analyses, 2-year mortality was 40.3% in homebound participants, 21.3% in those
      who were semihomebound and 5.8% in those who were nonhomebound. Homebound status
      was associated with greater 2-year mortality, adjusted for sociodemographic
      characteristics, comorbidities, and functional status (hazard ratio = 2.08; 95%
      confidence interval = 1.63-2.65, P < .001). Half of older community-dwelling
      Medicare beneficiaries were homebound in the year before death. CONCLUSION:
      Homebound status is associated with greater risk of death independent of
      functional impairment and comorbidities. To improve outcomes for homebound older
      adults and the many older adults who will become homebound in the last year of
      life, providers and policymakers need to extend healthcare services from
      hospitals and clinics to the homes of vulnerable individuals.

PMID- 27641004
TI  - An Analysis of Adverse Beliefs About Cyberbullying Among Taiwanese Adolescents.
AB  - Cyberbullying has emerged as a new threat to adolescents' well-being in modern
      society; yet, little is known about adolescents' alternative views on this
      virtual form of aggression. This study investigated Taiwanese students'
      misconceptions about cyberbullying and the logics behind. We first surveyed 8,547
      students nationwide (4th-12th grades) on potential misconceptions. Then, we
      administrated 6 focus group interviews to further explore students' adverse
      beliefs on justifying cyberbullying, not reporting, and disseminating
      cyberbullying contents. We also found that students did not associate
      cyberbullying with anonymity as past research suggested. These findings extend
      the existing knowledge about cyberbullying in school-age youth in East Asian
      contexts and could lead to appropriate and effective intervention and prevention.

PMID- 27641003
TI  - Population pharmacokinetics and dosing recommendations for the use of deferiprone
      in children younger than 6 years.
AB  - AIMS: Despite long clinical experience with deferiprone, there is limited
      information on its pharmacokinetics in children aged <6 years. Here we assess the
      impact of developmental growth on the pharmacokinetics of deferiprone in this
      population using a population approach. Based on pharmacokinetic bridging
      concepts, we also evaluate whether the recommended doses yield appropriate
      systemic exposure in this group of patients. METHODS: Data from a study in which
      18 paediatric patients were enrolled were available for the purposes of this
      analysis. Patients were randomised to three deferiprone dose levels (8.3, 16.7
      and 33.3 mg kg-1 ). Blood samples were collected according to an optimised
      sampling scheme in which each patient contributed to a maximum of five samples. A
      population pharmacokinetic model was developed using NONMEM v.7.2. Model
      selection criteria were based on graphical and statistical summaries. RESULTS: A
      one-compartment model with first-order absorption and first-order elimination
      best described the pharmacokinetics of deferiprone. Drug disposition parameters
      were affected by body weight, with both clearance and volume increasing
      allometrically with size. Simulation scenarios show that comparable systemic
      exposure (AUC) is achieved in children and adults after similar dose levels in mg
      kg-1 , with median (5-95th quantiles) AUC values, respectively, of 340.6 (223.2
      520.0) MUmol l-1  h and 318.5 (200.4-499.0) MUmol l-1  h at 75 mg kg-1 day-1 ,
      and 453.7 (297.3-693.0) MUmol l-1  h and 424.2 (266.9-664.0) MUmol l-1  h at 100
      mg kg-1  day-1 given as three times daily (t.i.d.) doses. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      the current findings, a dosing regimen of 25 mg kg-1  t.i.d. is recommended in
      children aged <6 years, with the possibility of titration up to 33.3 mg kg-1 
      t.i.d.

PMID- 27641049
TI  - Conservation implications of physiological carry-over effects in bats recovering
      from white-nose syndrome.
AB  - Although it is well documented that infectious diseases can pose threats to
      biodiversity, the potential long-term consequences of pathogen exposure on
      individual fitness and its effects on population viability have rarely been
      studied. We tested the hypothesis that pathogen exposure causes physiological
      carry-over effects with a pathogen that is uniquely suited to this question
      because the infection period is specific and time limited. The fungus
      Pseudogymnoascus destructans causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating
      bats, which either die due to the infection while hibernating or recover
      following emergence from hibernation. The fungus infects all exposed individuals
      in an overwintering site simultaneously, and bats that survive infection during
      hibernation clear the pathogen within a few weeks following emergence. We
      quantified chronic stress during the active season, when bats are not infected,
      by measuring cortisol in bat claws. Free-ranging Myotis lucifugus who survived
      previous exposure to P. destructans had significantly higher levels of claw
      cortisol than naive individuals. Thus, cryptic physiological carry-over effects
      of pathogen exposure may persist in asymptomatic, recovered individuals. If these
      effects result in reduced survival or reproductive success, they could also
      affect population viability and even act as a third stream in the extinction
      vortex. For example, significant increases in chronic stress, such as those
      indicated here, are correlated with reduced reproductive success in a number of
      species. Future research should directly explore the link between pathogen
      exposure and the viability of apparently recovered populations to improve
      understanding of the true impacts of infectious diseases on threatened
      populations.

PMID- 27641050
TI  - The impact of a haemophilia education intervention on the knowledge and health
      related quality of life of parents of Indian children with haemophilia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The impact of haemophilia education on the quality of life of
      parents of children with haemophilia from low income settings has not been
      studied. AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an
      education intervention on health related quality of life (HRQOL) of parents of
      children with haemophilia, parent's knowledge about haemophilia and its
      management, and to determine whether education about haemophilia can positively
      impact these outcomes. METHODS: One hundred thirty-three parents from across
      Maharashtra state, India were provided information about haemophilia, care of
      child and self-care. The impact of the intervention was measured as changes
      occurring from baseline to 6 months and 1 year after intervention. Knowledge and
      practice of management of bleeding was measured using pretested structured
      questionnaires. HRQOL was measured using a validated Peds Quality of LifeTM
      Family Impact Module (PedsQLTM FIM) tool. RESULTS: There was improvement in
      knowledge scores immediately after intervention, which remained significantly
      higher than baseline 1 year after intervention. HRQOL showed significant
      improvement at 6 months but reduced to baseline levels 1 year after intervention.
      There were statistically significant changes in terms of practice of management
      of bleeding episodes at 6 months and 1 year after intervention. CONCLUSION:
      Education about haemophilia resulted in improvement of knowledge, and practice of
      management of bleeding which was retained till a year after the intervention.
      However, a long-term effect on the HRQOL of parents could not be observed after
      administration of a single education intervention.

PMID- 27641051
TI  - Second vascular access after failure of the first fistula in the elderly?.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with failure of an initial arteriovenous fistula (AVF), a
      subsequent vascular access is needed before hemodialysis (HD) initiation.
      METHODS: To assess the optimal access strategy after a failed AVF, we linked data
      from the US Renal Data System with Medicare claims data identifying 21,436
      patients >= 67 years old who started HD between January 1, 2005, and December 31,
      2008, with an AVF placed as their first predialysis access. Of the 10,568
      subjects whose AVF failed, 1,796 patients had an AVF placed as a second access
      predialysis (AVF2 group) and 399 patients had an arteriovenous graft placed as a
      second access predialysis (AVG2 group). Second access success was defined as HD
      initiation for the first HD session using this access avoiding need for a
      catheter. RESULTS: The mean age for AVF2 and AVG2 groups was 75.9 +/- 6.0 and
      75.9 +/- 5.9 years with a significantly greater percentage of men and whites in
      the AVF2 group and women and blacks in the AVG2 group. Overall, 53% of AVF2 group
      initiated dialysis using AVF2, and 66% of AVG2 group started dialysis using AVG2
      (p < 0.001). The following variables were found to be associated with AVF2
      failure: female gender, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), interventional
      procedures, and the absence of pre-ESRD nephrology care. AVG2 failure was
      associated with white race, lower body mass index (BMI), and the absence of pre
      ESRD (end-stage renal disease) nephrology care. CONCLUSION: Since the success
      rate to avoid the use of a catheter was significantly higher in the AVG2 group
      than in the AVF2 group, an AVG may be a preferable choice of second access in
      certain patients, especially in females, blacks and those with PVD.?.

PMID- 27641052
TI  - Modulation of circulating endothelial progenitor cells by erythropoiesis
      stimulating agents in patients with chronic kidney disease stage G5 and 5D?.
AB  - AIMS: Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a pivotal role in
      vasculogenesis and promote angiogenesis by secreting growth factors. Recent
      studies have suggested that erythropoietin (EPO) may accelerate not only
      angiogenesis but also vasculogenesis, beyond erythropoiesis. The aim of this
      study was to investigate whether two erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs)
      modulate vascular-related factors and EPC mobilization in patients with chronic
      kidney disease stage G5 and dialysis (CKD G5 and 5D). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      conducted a 12-week prospective study in 63 patients; 21 patients received
      recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) (EPO group, 4,565.5 +/- 1,994.4
      IU/week), 21 patients received darbepoetin (DA) (DA group, 40.1 +/- 13.8
      ug/week), and 21 patients received no ESAs (no-ESA group). Vascular mediators,
      including EPCs, vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase-2
      (MMP-2), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and asymmetric dimethyl arginine,
      were measured at 0 and 12 weeks. EPCs were measured by flow cytometry as
      CD45<sup>low</sup>CD34<sup>+</sup>CD133<sup>+</sup> cells. We also performed a
      subanalysis of dialysis (5D) patients (n = 32) in the three groups. RESULTS: In
      the EPO group, EPC count increased significantly from 0 to 12 weeks in a dose
      dependent manner (r = 0.62, p = 0.005), and the increase was more conspicuous in
      the subgroup of dialysis 5D patients. In the DA group, the EPC number did not
      change at 12 weeks. Neither rhEPO nor DA affected the serum levels of the
      aforementioned biomarkers other than EPC. ;Conclusion: We speculate that the
      pleiotropic effects of rhEPO and DA beyond their hematopoietic effects may differ
      between CKD G5 and 5D patients.?.

PMID- 27641053
TI  - Data completeness as an unmeasured confounder in dialysis facility performance
      comparison with 1-year follow-up?.
AB  - : ;Aims: Standardized mortality and hospitalization ratios (SMRs, SHRs) are used
      to measure dialysis facility performance in the US, with adjustment for
      demographics and comorbid conditions derived from the end-stage renal disease
      (ESRD) Medical Evidence (ME) Report. Sensitivities are low for ME-based
      comorbidity, and levels of under-reporting may differ among facilities. We aimed
      to assess the effect of data inaccuracy on performance comparison. METHODS: Using
      the United States Renal Data System ESRD database, we included patients who
      initiated hemodialysis July 1 - December 31 in each of the years 2006 - 2010, had
      Medicare as primary payer, were aged >= 66 years, and had no prior transplant.
      Patients were followed from dialysis initiation to the earliest of death,
      transplant, modality change, or 1 year. SMRs and SHRs were calculated for for
      profit/non-profit and rural/urban facilities for ME-based and claims-based
      comorbidity, separately. Cox models were used for expected number of deaths and
      piecewise Poison models for expected number of hospitalizations. Comorbidity
      agreement was measured by kappa-statistic. Testing of differences between ME
      based and claims-based SMRs/SHRs was performed by bootstrap. RESULTS: In all,
      73,950 incident hemodialysis patients were included. kappa-values for comorbidity
      agreement were low, < 0.5, except for diabetes (0.77). Percentages of claims
      based comorbidity were similar for for-profit and non-profit facilities; ME-based
      comorbidity was lower for for-profit facilities. Differences between ME-based and
      claims-based SMRs/SHRs were statistically significant. Compared with ME-based
      SMRs/SHRs, claims-based ratios decreased 0.9/0.6% for for-profit and 1/0.7% for
      urban facilities and increased 3.4/2.8% for non-profit and 5.9/4.1% for rural
      facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidity data source may affect performance
      evaluation. The impact is larger for smaller groups.?.

PMID- 27641054
TI  - 30-year follow-up study of IgA nephritis in a Southeast Asian population: an
      evaluation of the Oxford histological classification?.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1985 we reported that 11% of a cohort of 151 patients with IgA
      nephritis (IgAN) had developed end-stage renal disease (ESRD) after a follow-up
      period of 5 years. 15 years later, 35% had developed ESRD. METHODS: We retrieved
      125 stored renal biopsy paraffin blocks of the original cohort. From these, 102
      patients were included in the present study and scored according to the Oxford
      classification as 21 specimens with less than 8 glomeruli were excluded and in 2
      others, tissue samples were too tiny for a re-block. ESRD was ascertained by
      linking the study cohort to the Singapore Renal Registry at the National Registry
      of Diseases Office. RESULTS: Renal survival curves for each of the Oxford MEST
      lesions: endocapillary proliferation (E) (p < 0.04), segmental glomerulosclerosis
      (S) (p < 0.05), tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis (p < 0.0001) were
      significantly associated with ESRD. Mesangial hypercellularity, less commonly
      associated with progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the study, was
      independently associated with ESRD at 30 years (p < 0.03). In this cohort, E and
      S were associated with lower eGFR at presentation and doubling of serum
      creatinine in the first 5 years. This study's initial 5 years was representative
      of the "natural history" of IgAN since no renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers
      or immunosuppression were administered. This represents the early phase of
      disease progression. E and S may be considered "early disease activity
      predictors". CONCLUSION: Mesangial hypercellularity and tubular
      atrophy/interstitial fibrosis (M1 and T1/T2 lesion) of the Oxford classification
      independently predicted long term ESRD.?.

PMID- 27641056
TI  - Protein profile of seminal plasma and functionality of spermatozoa during the
      reproductive season in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and rainbow trout
      (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
AB  - The purpose of the study was to analyze seminal plasma composition, sperm
      production, and sperm motility over the course of the spawning season in the
      common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The
      highest mean percent of motile sperm (carp, 98.3 +/- 1.6%; rainbow trout, 92.8 +/
      5.6%) and highest spermatozoon velocity (carp, 286.3 +/- 7.8 MUm sec-1 ; rainbow
      trout, 245.3 +/- 8.3 MUm sec-1 ) were observed in the middle phase of the
      spawning period, at 5 sec post-activation. Sperm volume and concentration
      increased in the early spawning period, then decreased significantly toward the
      end of the season in both species. Seminal plasma osmolality was 262-270 mOsmol
      kg-1 from carp and 232-248 mOsmol kg-1 from rainbow trout, with little variation
      over the spawning period. Protein concentration in carp seminal plasma was stable
      throughout the reproductive season, whereas the highest protein level (2.1 +/-
      0.3 mg mL-1 ) in rainbow trout was observed in the middle phase of the spawning
      period. Seminal plasma composition in both species was analyzed using two
      dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry.
      Thirteen differentially expressed protein spots in carp seminal plasma and
      sixteen spots in rainbow trout seminal plasma varied over the course of the
      reproductive season. The unique proteins identified are involved in the
      regulation of spermatogenesis, sperm motility, maintenance of sperm membrane
      lipid stability, and antioxidant protection. These results provide a deeper
      understanding of the role of fish seminal plasma proteins as well as a list of
      novel markers of sperm quality. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 83: 968-982, 2016 (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641055
TI  - Concise Review: The Use of Adipose-Derived Stromal Vascular Fraction Cells and
      Platelet Rich Plasma in Regenerative Plastic Surgery.
AB  - Tissue engineering has emerged at the intersection of numerous disciplines to
      meet a global clinical need for technologies to promote the regeneration of
      tissues. Recently, many authors have focused their attention on mesenchymal
      stem/stromal cells (MSCs) for their capacity to differentiate into many cell
      lineages. The most widely studied cell types are bone marrow mesenchymal stem
      cells and adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), which display similar results.
      Biomaterials, cells, and growth factors are needed to design a regenerative
      plastic surgery approach in the treatment of organ and tissue defects, but not
      all tissues are created equal. The aim of this article is to describe the
      advances in tissue engineering through the use of ASCs, platelet rich plasma, and
      biomaterials to enable regeneration of damaged complex tissue. Stem Cells
      2017;35:117-134.

PMID- 27641057
TI  - Serum free immunoglobulin light chain fingerprint identifies a subset of newly
      diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with worse outcome.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) is a multi-subclonal malignancy with relatively high
      heterogeneity. Patients who initially presented with both monoclonal-protein (MP)
      and free light chain (FLC) secretion but then relapsed with a light chain escape
      pattern have been shown to reflect disease clonal evolution and to bare a worse
      prognosis. We hypothesized that a discordant MP/FLC pattern at diagnosis may
      reflect a similar clonal evolution that had occurred prior to diagnosis of active
      myeloma, conferring a worse outcome. We analyzed 255 consecutive newly diagnosed
      MM patients who received first line bortezomib-based therapy between 2007 and
      2014, hypothesizing that their MP/FLC fingerprint at diagnosis reflects clonal
      heterogeneity and, therefore, affects outcome. An involved FLC level >= 700 mg/L
      and MP >= 2.5 g/L were used as cutoffs for low vs high FLC and MP levels,
      respectively. Patients were divided into 4 subgroups according to their involved
      FLC and MP blood levels at diagnosis: HiLC and HiMP for patients with either a
      predominant FLC or a predominant MP, respectively, and HiLC-MP and LoLC-MP when
      both FLC and MP were increased or decreased, respectively. There were 68 (27%)
      patients with HiLC, which presented more often with International Staging System
      3 stage (P < .0001). Multivariate analysis showed that HiLC was associated with a
      5.1-fold risk for mortality in a multivariate model (95% confidence interval
      [CI], 1.34-19.68). Both HiLC and HiLC-MP phenotypes were associated with shorter
      progression-free survival (hazard ratio of 2.66 [95% CI, 1.33-5.32] and 2.82 [95%
      CI, 1.37-5.83], respectively), independently of other prognostic factors,
      including the use of autograft. Thus, we identified an LC predominant secretory
      fingerprint (HiLC phenotype) at diagnosis as a potential independent risk factor
      that may affect disease control and survival in newly diagnosed MM patients
      treated with bortezomib-based induction therapy; this may represent increased
      subclonal heterogeneity.

PMID- 27641058
TI  - Identification of arginine and its "Downstream" molecules as potential markers of
      breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide.
      Arginine is a semiessential amino acid in humans and is essential for several
      biological pathways in malignant and normal cells, such as ornithine and N1, N12
      diacetylspermine (DiAcSpm). This study aimed to determine the role of arginine
      and these downstream molecules in BC. Plasma arginine, ornithine, and arginine-to
      ornithine ratio (AOR) were analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Urine samples were measured by the colloid gold
      aggregation to test determination of urinary diAcSpm. A principal component
      analysis was performed to evaluate the results observed between breast tumor and
      control characteristics. Differences in individual metabolite concentrations
      between BC patients and controls were tested by receiver operating
      characteristics (ROC) analyses. Student's t tests were used to detect the
      differences between two groups of normally distributed variables, and Wilcoxon
      sign rank tests were performed for asymmetrically distributed variables. As we
      analyzed, BC patients had lower plasma arginine and arginine/ornithine level, and
      higher plasma ornithine and urinary DiAcSpm concentrations as compared with
      control patients (P = 0.028, 0.020, 0.002, and 0.011, respectively). And the ROC
      curve was drawn and the area under the curve of the metabolites was calculated to
      be 0.659 (P = 0.028), 0.645 (P = 0.045), 0.7233 (P = 0.002), 0.683 (P = 0.011),
      respectively. In addition, our analysis showed that arginine concentrations and
      AOR had a positive correlation with ER status, while ornithine had a negative
      correlation with T stage (P = 0.042, 0.023, respectively).In conclusion, arginine
      and these downstream molecules were biomarkers for BC. More studies are needed to
      highlight the theoretical strengths. (c) 2016 IUBMB Life, 68(10):817-822, 2016.

PMID- 27641059
TI  - The Right to Left Atrial Volume Ratio Predicts Outcomes after Circumferential
      Pulmonary Vein Isolation of Longstanding Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to identify the predictors of clinical outcomes after
      circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) without any substrate
      modification for longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation (LSP-AF). METHODS:
      This study retrospectively analyzed 70 consecutive LSP-AF patients who underwent
      an initial CPVI and were followed-up for more than 1 year. The right and left
      atrial volumes indexed to the body surface areas (right atrial volume index
      [RAVI] and left atrial volume index [LAVI]) were determined by preacquired
      contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). The %RAVI/LAVI was obtained as 100 *
      RAVI/LAVI. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 15 months (interquartile
      range, 13-19 months), 21 patients (30%) had arrhythmia recurrences after the
      CPVI. Antiarrhythmic drugs were continued in 34 patients (48%). In the Cox
      proportional hazard model, the %RAVI/LAVI was a significant positive predictor of
      arrhythmia recurrences (hazard ratio, 1.048; P = 0.039). A receiver-operating
      characteristic analysis demonstrated that at an optimal cutoff of 100.1 for the
      %RAVI/LAVI, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting arrhythmia recurrences
      were 85.7% and 71.4%, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that
      arrhythmia recurrences were less frequent in patients with a %RAVI/LAVI of <100.1
      than in those with a %RAVI/LAVI of >=100.1 (P < 0.0001), and the arrhythmia-free
      survival rate at 12 months was 89.7% and 45.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The
      ratio of the RAVI to LAVI on CT may be a useful predictor of clinical outcomes
      after CPVI of LSP-AF. LSP-AF patients with a less predominant right atrial
      enlargement relative to the left atrial enlargement may be good candidates for
      successful treatment with CPVI alone as the ablation strategy for LSP-AF.

PMID- 27641060
TI  - The Impact of Emergency Department Census on the Decision to Admit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effect of emergency department (ED) census on
      disposition decisions made by ED physicians. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective analysis using 18 months of all adult patient encounters seen in
      the main ED at an academic tertiary care center. Patient census information was
      calculated at the time of physician assignment for each individual patient and
      included the number of patients in the waiting room (waiting room census) and
      number of patients being managed by the patient's attending (physician load
      census). A multiple logistic regression model was created to assess the
      association between these census variables and the disposition decision,
      controlling for potential confounders including Emergency Severity Index acuity,
      patient demographics, arrival hour, arrival mode, and chief complaint. RESULTS: A
      total of 49,487 patient visits were included in this analysis, of whom 37% were
      admitted to the hospital. Both census measures were significantly associated with
      increased chance of admission; the odds ratio (OR) per patient increase for
      waiting room census was 1.011 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.001 to 1.020),
      and the OR for physician load census was 1.010 (95% CI = 1.002 to 1.019). To put
      this in practical terms, this translated to a modeled rise from 35.3% to 40.1%
      when shifting from an empty waiting room and zero patient load to a 12-patient
      wait and 16-patient load for a given physician. CONCLUSION: Waiting room census
      and physician load census at time of physician assignment were positively
      associated with the likelihood that a patient would be admitted, controlling for
      potential confounders. Our data suggest that disposition decisions in the ED are
      influenced not only by objective measures of a patient's disease state, but also
      by workflow-related concerns.

PMID- 27641061
TI  - Surgical treatment of a giant unruptured aneurysm of the noncoronary sinus of
      Valsalva: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A sinus of Valsalva aneurysm is a rare cardiac anomaly which may be
      acquired or congenital. The main associated symptoms are conduction disturbances,
      myocardial ischemia, and syncopes. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report we describe
      a 52-year-old Albanian woman from Kosovo with an unruptured aneurysm of 74*60 mm
      of the noncoronary sinus of Valsalva presenting dyspnea, jugular distension, and
      tachycardia due to cardiac compression. She underwent successful closure of the
      orifice and sinus remodeling with a Dacron patch. CONCLUSION: To the best of our
      knowledge this is the largest reported isolated unruptured aneurysm of the
      coronary sinus causing severe compression of the cardiac chambers undergoing
      successful surgical correction.

PMID- 27641063
TI  - Parasitic Capacitance Effect on Dynamic Performance of Aerosol-Jet-Printed Sub 2
      V Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Electrolyte-Gated Transistors.
AB  - Printed, low-voltage poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) electrolyte-gated transistors
      (EGTs) have favorable quasi-static characteristics, including sub 2 V operation,
      carrier mobility (MU) of 1 cm2/(V s), ON/OFF current ratio of 106, and static
      leakage current density of 10-6 A/cm2. Here we study the dynamic performance of
      P3HT EGTs in which the semiconductor, dielectric, and gate electrode were
      deposited using aerosol-jet printing; the source and drain electrodes were
      patterned by conventional microlithography. With a source-to-drain separation of
      2.5 MUm, the highest theoretical achievable switching frequency is ~10 MHz,
      assuming the movement of charge through the semiconductor is the limiting step.
      However, the measured maximum switching frequency of P3HT EGTs to date is ~1 kHz,
      implying that another process is slowing the response. By systematically varying
      the device geometry, we show that the frequency is limited by the capacitance
      between the gate and drain (i.e., parasitic capacitance). The traditional scaling
      of switching time with the square of channel length (L) does not hold for P3HT
      EGTs. Rather, minimizing the size of the drain electrode increases the maximum
      switching speed. We achieve 10 kHz for P3HT EGTs with source/drain electrode
      dimensions of 2.5 MUm * 50 MUm and channel dimensions of 2.5 MUm * 50 MUm.
      Further improvements will require additional shrinkage of electrode dimensions as
      well as consideration of other factors such as ion gel thickness and carrier
      mobility.

PMID- 27641062
TI  - Practical alternatives to chronic caloric restriction for optimizing vascular
      function with ageing.
AB  - Calorie restriction (CR) in the absence of malnutrition exerts a multitude of
      physiological benefits with ageing in model organisms and in humans including
      improvements in vascular function. Despite the well-known benefits of chronic CR,
      long-term energy restriction is not likely to be a feasible healthy lifestyle
      strategy in humans due to poor sustained adherence, and presents additional
      concerns if applied to normal weight older adults. This review summarizes what is
      known about the effects of CR on vascular function with ageing including the
      underlying molecular 'energy- and nutrient-sensing' mechanisms, and discusses the
      limited but encouraging evidence for alternative pharmacological and lifestyle
      interventions that may improve vascular function with ageing by mimicking the
      beneficial effects of long-term CR.

PMID- 27641065
TI  - Benefit Finding in Cardiac Patients: Relationships with Emotional Well-Being and
      Resources after Controlling for Physical Functional Impairment.
AB  - Benefit finding (BF) is defined as the individual's perception of positive change
      as a result of coping with an adverse life event. The beneficial effects of BF on
      well-being could be because BF favors the improvement of resources like self
      efficacy, social support and effective coping. The main objective of this
      longitudinal 8 week study was to explore, in a sample of cardiac patients (n =
      51), the combined contribution of BF and these resources to the positive affect.
      Moreover, we wanted to check whether these resources were derived from BF or, on
      the contrary, these resources were antecedents of BF. Results showed that after
      controlling for functional capacity, only effective coping could predict the
      positive affect at Time 1 (beta = .32, p < .05), while the BF predicted it at
      Time 2 (beta = .23, p < .001). Only social support predicted BF (beta = .26, p <
      .05), but not the opposite. We discussed the desirability of promoting these
      processes to improve the emotional state of cardiac patients. 

PMID- 27641064
TI  - N-Glycosylation of integrin alpha5 acts as a switch for EGFR-mediated complex
      formation of integrin alpha5beta1 to alpha6beta4.
AB  - N-Glycosylation of integrin alpha5beta1 is involved in multiple cell behaviors.
      We previously reported that the N-glycosylations of the calf domain on integrin
      alpha5 (S3-5,10-14) are essential for its inhibitory effect on EGFR signaling in
      regulating cell proliferation. However, the importance of the individual N
      glycosylation and the underlying mechanisms of inhibition remain unclear. Here,
      we characterize the S3-5,10-14 mutants in detail and found that the N
      glycosylation of site-11 (Asn712) is key for cell growth. The restoration of site
      11, unlike the other individual sites, significantly suppressed cell growth and
      EGFR signaling in a manner that was similar to that of wild-type (WT).
      Mechanistically, this N-glycosylation inhibited the response abilities upon EGF
      stimulation and EGFR dimerization. Interestingly, we found this N-glycosylation
      controlled the EGFR complex formation with integrin alpha5beta1 or alpha6beta4;
      i.e., the loss of site-11 switched EGFR-alpha5beta1 to EGFR-alpha6beta4, which is
      well known to promote cellular signaling for cell growth. Moreover, the site-11 N
      glycan exhibited a more branching structure compared with other sites, which may
      be required for EGFR-alpha5beta1 formation. Taken together, these data clearly
      demonstrate that the site-11 N-glycosylation on alpha5 is most important for its
      inhibitory effect on EGFR signaling, which may provide a novel regulatory
      mechanism for crosstalks between integrins and EGFR.

PMID- 27641067
TI  - New player in tumor-stromal interaction: Granulin as a novel therapeutic target
      for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma liver metastasis.

PMID- 27641066
TI  - KLRC3, a Natural Killer receptor gene, is a key factor involved in glioblastoma
      tumourigenesis and aggressiveness.
AB  - Glioblastoma is the most lethal brain tumour with a poor prognosis. Cancer stem
      cells (CSC) were proposed to be the most aggressive cells allowing brain tumour
      recurrence and aggressiveness. Current challenge is to determine CSC signature to
      characterize these cells and to develop new therapeutics. In a previous work, we
      achieved a screening of glycosylation-related genes to characterize specific
      genes involved in CSC maintenance. Three genes named CHI3L1, KLRC3 and PRUNE2
      were found overexpressed in glioblastoma undifferentiated cells (related to CSC)
      compared to the differentiated ones. The comparison of their roles suggest that
      KLRC3 gene coding for NKG2E, a protein initially identified in NK cells, is more
      important than both two other genes in glioblastomas aggressiveness. Indeed,
      KLRC3 silencing decreased self-renewal capacity, invasion, proliferation,
      radioresistance and tumourigenicity of U87-MG glioblastoma cell line. For the
      first time we report that KLRC3 gene expression is linked to glioblastoma
      aggressiveness and could be a new potential therapeutic target to attenuate
      glioblastoma.

PMID- 27641069
TI  - A nomogram for prediction of prostate cancer on multi-core biopsy using age,
      serum prostate-specific antigen, prostate volume and digital rectal examination
      in Singapore.
AB  - AIM: To develop and internally validate two nomograms for predicting the
      probability of overall and clinically-significant prostate cancer on initial
      biopsy in a Singaporean population. METHODS: Data were collected from men
      undergoing initial prostate biopsy at a single center. The indications for biopsy
      were serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >=4.0 ng/mL or suspicious digital
      rectal examination (DRE) findings. Men with PSA >30 ng/mL were excluded. Age,
      PSA, prostate volume (PV) and DRE were predictors included in our logistic
      regression model and used to construct two nomograms for overall prostate cancer
      and clinically-significant (Gleason sum >=7) cancer detection. Predictive
      accuracies of our nomograms were assessed using area under curve (AUC) of their
      receiver-operator characteristic curves. Internal validation was performed using
      the bootstrap method. Our nomograms were compared to a model based on PSA alone
      using AUC and decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: Out of 672 men analyzed,
      our positive biopsy rate was 26.2% (n = 176), of which 63.6% (n = 112) had
      clinically significant disease. Age, PSA, PV and DRE status were all independent
      risk factors for both overall prostate cancer detection as well as clinically
      significant cancer detection (all P < 0.05). Our nomogram outperformed serum PSA
      for both overall and clinically-significant cancer detection (0.736 vs 0.642, P <
      0.001 and 0.793 vs 0.696, P < 0.001, respectively). Using DCA, our nomograms had
      superior net benefit and net reduction in biopsy rate compared to PSA alone.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our nomograms have been shown to be superior to PSA alone, on both
      AUC and DCA. However, it warrants external validation.

PMID- 27641068
TI  - Mesenchymal stem cells can be recruited to wounded tissue via hepatocyte growth
      factor-loaded biomaterials.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are precursor cells of mesodermal tissue and,
      because of their trophic phenotype, they are known to play beneficial roles in
      wound healing. In addition, various tissue engineering strategies are based on
      MSC/biomaterial constructs. As the isolation and expansion of MSCs is a long-term
      process, a major goal is to develop an endogenous stem cell recruitment system
      that circumvents all ex vivo steps generally used for tissue engineering.
      Therefore collagen and silk fibroin were loaded with hepatocyte growth factor
      (HGF), a chemoattractant for MSCs. Collagen was mixed with HGF during
      polymerization, while silk fibroin and HGF were produced as fusion proteins by
      transgenic silkworms. To demonstrate release of active HGF, enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay, in vitro migration assays and animal studies were performed
      to demonstrate MSC migration in vivo, followed by detailed examinations of the
      immunological effects of the biomaterials. Hepatocyte growth factor was released
      burst-like, both from silk fibroin and collagen during the first 8 h and
      gradually for up to 168 h in vitro. Directed migration in vitro was demonstrated
      when MSCs were exposed to HGF. In vivo, HGF-loaded collagen and silk fibroin were
      tolerated as subcutaneous implants. In addition, it was proved that endogenous
      MSCs were recruited from the local environment. These results show for the first
      time recruitment of endogenous MSCs to HGF-loaded collagen (fast degradable) and
      silk fibroin scaffolds (long-term degradable) in vitro and in vivo. This
      knowledge could be applied to make off-the-shelf, readily available constructs
      for use in patients with chronic wound or burns. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27641071
TI  - Cervical cytological abnormalities and human papilloma virus infection in women
      infected with HIV in Southern India.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the association between CD4 count,
      human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, and the risk of cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia among HIV-infected women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was
      conducted among 104 HIV-infected women attending an antiretroviral therapy
      clinic. They underwent Pap smear and cervical HPV DNA testing. RESULTS: The
      overall prevalence of HPV infection was 57.7%. HPV 16 was the commonest genotype
      found (38.5%); HPV 16 and 18 put together contributed to 73.3% of HPV infection;
      27.5% of HIV-infected women had squamous cell abnormalities. Cervical
      intraepithelial neoplasia was less likely among women with CD4 count > 500/mm3
      (12%) and in those without opportunistic infections (17.8%). The prevalence of
      high-risk HPV infection was higher in women with high-grade squamous
      intraepithelial lesions or greater lesions (85.7%) as compared to women with
      normal cytology (52.1%). CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of HPV infection and
      cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in HIV-infected women warrants the need for
      regular Pap smear screening in these women and routine HPV vaccination for
      adolescents to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in India.

PMID- 27641070
TI  - Inhibition promotes long-term potentiation at cerebellar excitatory synapses.
AB  - The ability of the cerebellar cortex to learn from experience ensures the
      accuracy of movements and reflex adaptation, processes which require long-term
      plasticity at granule cell (GC) to Purkinje neuron (PN) excitatory synapses. PNs
      also receive GABAergic inhibitory inputs via GCs activation of interneurons;
      despite the involvement of inhibition in motor learning, its role in long-term
      plasticity is poorly characterized. Here we reveal a functional coupling between
      ionotropic GABAA receptors and low threshold CaV3 calcium channels in PNs that
      sustains calcium influx and promotes long-term potentiation (LTP) at GC to PN
      synapses. High frequency stimulation induces LTP at GC to PN synapses and CaV3
      mediated calcium influx provided that inhibition is intact; LTP is mGluR1,
      intracellular calcium store and CaV3 dependent. LTP is impaired in CaV3.1
      knockout mice but it is nevertheless recovered by strengthening inhibitory
      transmission onto PNs; promoting a stronger hyperpolarization via GABAA receptor
      activation leads to an enhanced availability of an alternative Purkinje-expressed
      CaV3 isoform compensating for the lack of CaV3.1 and restoring LTP. Accordingly,
      a stronger hyperpolarization also restores CaV3-mediated calcium influx in PNs
      from CaV3.1 knockout mice. We conclude that by favoring CaV3 channels
      availability inhibition promotes LTP at cerebellar excitatory synapses.

PMID- 27641074
TI  - Scaling-up services for psychosis, depression and epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa
      and South Asia: development and application of a mental health systems planning
      tool (OneHealth).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although financing represents a critical component of health system
      strengthening and also a defining concern of efforts to move towards universal
      health coverage, many countries lack the tools and capacity to plan effectively
      for service scale-up. As part of a multi-country collaborative study (the Emerald
      project), we set out to develop, test and apply a fully integrated health systems
      resource planning and health impact tool for mental, neurological and substance
      use (MNS) disorders. METHODS: A new module of the existing UN strategic planning
      OneHealth Tool was developed, which identifies health system resources required
      to scale-up a range of specified interventions for MNS disorders and also
      projects expected health gains at the population level. We conducted local
      capacity-building in its use, as well as stakeholder consultations, then tested
      and calibrated all model parameters, and applied the tool to three priority
      mental and neurological disorders (psychosis, depression and epilepsy) in six low
      and middle-income countries. RESULTS: Resource needs for scaling-up mental
      health services to reach desired coverage goals are substantial compared with the
      current allocation of resources in the six represented countries but are not
      large in absolute terms. In four of the Emerald study countries (Ethiopia, India,
      Nepal and Uganda), the cost of delivering key interventions for psychosis,
      depression and epilepsy at existing treatment coverage is estimated at US$ 0.06
      0.33 per capita of total population per year (in Nigeria and South Africa it is
      US$ 1.36-1.92). By comparison, the projected cost per capita at target levels of
      coverage approaches US$ 5 per capita in Nigeria and South Africa, and ranges from
      US$ 0.14-1.27 in the other four countries. Implementation of such a package of
      care at target levels of coverage is expected to yield between 291 and 947
      healthy life years per one million populations, which represents a substantial
      health gain for the currently neglected and underserved sub-populations suffering
      from psychosis, depression and epilepsy. CONCLUSIONS: This newly developed and
      validated module of OneHealth tool can be used, especially within the context of
      integrated health planning at the national level, to generate contextualised
      estimates of the resource needs, costs and health impacts of scaled-up mental
      health service delivery.

PMID- 27641075
TI  - A Systematic Review of Health Outcomes Among Disaster and Humanitarian
      Responders.
AB  - : Introduction Disaster and humanitarian responders are at-risk of experiencing a
      wide range of physical and psychological health conditions, from minor injuries
      to chronic mental health problems and fatalities. This article reviews the
      current literature on the major health outcomes of responders to various
      disasters and conflicts in order to better inform individuals of the risks and to
      inform deploying agencies of the health care needs of responders. METHODS: In
      March 2014, an EMBASE search was conducted using pre-defined search criteria. Two
      reviewers screened the resultant 2,849 abstracts and the 66 full-length
      manuscripts which are included in the review. RESULTS: The majority of research
      on health outcomes of responders focused on mental health (57 of 66 articles).
      Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression were the most studied
      diagnoses with prevalence of PTSD ranging from 0%-34% and depression from 21%
      53%. Physical health outcomes were much less well-studied and included a wide
      range of environmental, infectious, and traumatic conditions such as heat stroke,
      insect bites, dermatologic, gastrointestinal, and respiratory diseases, as well
      as burns, fractures, falls, and other traumatic injuries. CONCLUSIONS: The
      prevalence of mental health disorders in responders may vary more and be higher
      than previously suggested. Overall health outcomes of responders are likely
      poorly monitored and under-reported. Improved surveillance systems and risk
      mitigation strategies should be employed in all disaster and conflict responses
      to better protect individual responders. Garbern SC , Ebbeling LG , Bartels SA .
      A systematic review of health outcomes among disaster and humanitarian
      responders. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):635-642.

PMID- 27641072
TI  - Preclinical development of moxidectin as a novel therapeutic for alcohol use
      disorder.
AB  - Current pharmacotherapies for alcohol used disorder (AUD) are few and relatively
      ineffective illustrating the need for the development of new, effective
      medications. Using a translational approach, our laboratory reported that
      ivermectin, an FDA-approved, human and animal anti-parasitic agent, can
      significantly reduce ethanol intake in male and female mice across different
      drinking paradigms. Extending this line of investigation, the current paper
      investigated the utility of moxidectin (MOX), an analogue of ivermectin, to
      reduce ethanol intake. Notably, MOX is widely held to have lower neurotoxicity
      potential and improved margin of safety compared to ivermectin. Using a 24-h-two
      bottle choice paradigm, MOX significantly reduced ethanol intake in a dose
      dependent manner in both male and female C57BL/6J mice, respectively (1.25-7.5
      mg/kg) and (1.25-10 mg/kg). Further, multi-day administration of MOX (2.5 mg/kg;
      intraperitoneal injection) for 5 consecutive days significantly reduced ethanol
      intake in both the 24-h-two-bottle choice and Drinking-in-the-Dark paradigms in
      female mice. No overt signs of behavioral toxicity were observed. Notably in both
      male and female mice, MOX significantly reduced ethanol intake starting
      approximately 4 h post-injection. Using a Xenopus oocyte expression system, we
      found that MOX significantly potentiated P2X4 receptor (P2X4R) function and
      antagonized the inhibitory effects of ethanol on ATP-gated currents in P2X4Rs.
      This latter finding represents the first report of MOX having activity on P2X4Rs.
      In addition, MOX potentiated GABAA receptors, but to a lesser degree as compared
      to ivermectin supporting the hypothesis that MOX would be advantageous (compared
      to ivermectin) with respect to reducing contraindications. Overall, the results
      illustrate the potential for development of MOX as a novel pharmacotherapy for
      the treatment of AUD.

PMID- 27641076
TI  - Single-Molecule Imaging Reveals the Activation Dynamics of Intracellular Protein
      Smad3 on Cell Membrane.
AB  - Smad3 is an intracellular protein that plays a key role in propagating
      transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) signals from cell membrane to nucleus.
      However whether the transient process of Smad3 activation occurs on cell membrane
      and how it is regulated remains elusive. Using advanced live-cell single-molecule
      fluorescence microscopy to image and track fluorescent protein-labeled Smad3, we
      observed and quantified, for the first time, the dynamics of individual Smad3
      molecules docking to and activation on the cell membrane. It was found that Smad3
      docked to cell membrane in both unstimulated and stimulated cells, but with
      different diffusion rates and dissociation kinetics. The change in its membrane
      docking dynamics can be used to study the activation of Smad3. Our results reveal
      that Smad3 binds with type I TGF-beta receptor (TRI) even in unstimulated cells.
      Its activation is regulated by TRI phosphorylation but independent of receptor
      endocytosis. This study offers new information on TGF-beta/Smad signaling, as
      well as a new approach to investigate the activation of intracellular signaling
      proteins for a better understanding of their functions in signal transduction.

PMID- 27641077
TI  - Interspecies comparison of the functional characteristics of plasma membrane
      monoamine transporter (PMAT) between human, rat and mouse.
AB  - Plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT) is a newly discovered monoamine
      transporter belonging to the equilibrative nucleoside transporter family. Highly
      expressed in the brain, PMAT represents a major uptake2 transporter that may play
      a role in monoamine clearance. Although human PMAT has been functionally
      characterized at the molecular level, rodent models are often used to evaluate
      PMAT function in ex vivo and in vivo studies. The aim of this study was to
      examine if there is potential species difference in the functional
      characteristics of PMAT between human, rat and mouse. A set of transfected cells
      stably expressing human PMAT (MDCK/hPMAT), rat Pmat (MDCK/rPmat) and mouse Pmat
      (Flp293/mPmat) were constructed. In MDCK/hPMAT, MDCK/rPmat and Flp293/mPmat
      cells, cellular localization analyses revealed that hPMAT, rPmat and mPmat are
      expressed and mainly localized to the plasma membranes of cells. The uptake of
      MPP+, serotonin and dopamine by MDCK/hPMAT, MDCK/rPmat and Flp293/mPmat cells was
      significantly increased compared with those by the mock transfection control. In
      contrast, two nucleosides, uridine and adenosine, minimally interacted with
      PMAT/Pmat in all species. The hPMAT-, rPmat- and mPmat-mediated uptakes of MPP+,
      serotonin and dopamine were saturable, with Km values of 33.7MUM, 70.2MUM and
      49.5MUM (MPP+), 116MUM, 82.9MUM and 231MUM (serotonin), and 201MUM, 271MUM and
      466MUM (dopamine), respectively, suggesting similar substrate affinities between
      human and rodent PMAT/Pmat. The prototypical inhibitors, decynium 22 and
      GBR12935, also showed similar inhibition potencies between species. In
      conclusion, the present study demonstrated interspecies similarities in the
      functional characteristics of human and rodent PMAT/Pmat, which indicate a
      practical utility of rat and mouse animal models for further investigating and
      extrapolating the in vivo function of PMAT in humans.

PMID- 27641078
TI  - A comparison of virtual bronchoscopy versus flexible bronchoscopy in the
      diagnosis of tracheobronchomalacia in children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Flexible bronchoscopy (FB) is the current gold standard for
      diagnosing tracheobronchomalacia. However, it is not always feasible and virtual
      bronchoscopy (VB), acquired from chest multi-detector CT (MDCT) scan is an
      alternative diagnostic tool. We determined the sensitivity, specificity, and
      positive and negative predictive values of VB compared to FB in diagnosing
      tracheobronchomalacia. METHODS: Children aged <18-years scheduled for FB and MDCT
      were recruited. FB and MDCT were undertaken within 30-min to 7-days of each
      other. Tracheobronchomalacia (mild, moderate, severe, very severe) diagnosed on
      FB were independently scored by two pediatric pulmonologists; VB was
      independently scored by two pairs (each pair = pediatric pulmonologist and
      radiologist), in a blinded manner. RESULTS: In 53 children (median age = 2.5
      years, range 0.8-14.3) evaluated for airway abnormalities, tracheomalacia was
      detected in 37 (70%) children at FB. Of these, VB detected tracheomalacia in 20
      children, with a sensitivity of 54.1% (95%CI 37.1-70.2), specificity = 87.5%
      (95%CI 60.4-97.8), and positive predictive value = 90.9% (95%CI 69.4-98.4). The
      agreement between pediatric pulmonologists for diagnosing tracheomalacia by FB
      was excellent, weighted kappa = 0.8 (95%CI 0.64-0.97); but only fair between the
      pairs of pediatric pulmonologists/radiologists for VB, weighted kappa = 0.47
      (95%CI 0.23-0.71). There were 42 cases of bronchomalacia detected on FB. VB had a
      sensitivity = 45.2% (95%CI 30.2-61.2), specificity = 95.5% (95%CI 94.2-96.5), and
      positive predictive value = 23.2 (95%CI 14.9-34.0) compared to FB in detecting
      bronchomalacia. CONCLUSION: VB cannot replace FB as the gold standard for
      detecting tracheobronchomalacia in children. However, VB could be considered as
      an alternative diagnostic modality in children with symptoms suggestive of
      tracheobronchomalacia where FB is unavailable. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:480-486.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641079
TI  - Overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer in the Marne and Ardennes Departments of France
      from 1975 to 2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Incidence of thyroid cancer has increased considerably in France in
      recent years, but the mortality rate has declined only slightly. Part of this
      increased incidence could be attributable to overdiagnosis. We aimed to estimate
      the contribution of overdiagnosis to the incidence of papillary thyroid cancer.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Incidence rates were calculated based on data from the
      specialised Marnes-Ardennes thyroid cancer registry, for cancers diagnosed
      between 1975 and 2014, by age category and by five-year period. The population
      was divided into two groups according to pTNM classification at diagnosis (i.e.
      localised or invasive). Overdiagnosis was defined as the difference in incidence
      rates between the invasive cancer and localised cancer groups. This rate was then
      divided by the incidence rate in the localised cancer group for the most recent
      period (2010-2014) to obtain the proportion of cancers attributable to
      overdiagnosis. RESULTS: In total, 2008 patients were included. The proportion of
      incidence attributable to overdiagnosis for the period 2010-2014 was estimated at
      7 and 62% in men and women aged < 50 years respectively, and at 65 and 73%
      respectively in men and women aged >= 50 years. CONCLUSION: We observed a high
      proportion of cancers attributable to overdiagnosis. This finding raises the
      issue of patient management, with the risk of overtreatment, and the
      repercussions on quality of life for patients diagnosed with cancer.

PMID- 27641080
TI  - Long-term outcome of macroprolactinomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Management of macroprolactinomas has dramatically changed in recent
      decades, from surgical to medical treatment as first-line therapy, with the
      development of dopamine agonists (DA). But few data exist on the long-term
      outcome of these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective descriptive
      multicenter study of patients with macroprolactinoma followed for at least 5
      years between 1973 and 2008 at the University Hospitals of Strasbourg and
      Marseille. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were included with 27 men,
      hypopituitarism in 33.3% of all patients and mean serum prolactin (PRL) level at
      diagnosis 2218.2+/-4154.7MUg/L. Among the patients, 58.3% received medical
      treatment, 25% had additional surgery and 12.5% surgery and radiotherapy. The
      mean follow-up duration was 196+/-100 months. At the end of follow-up, 10
      patients (20.8%) were cured (i.e. normal PRL level and normal imaging, no
      symptoms and withdrawal of DA>=1 year), 33 (68.8%) were controlled (i.e. normal
      PRL level, normal or abnormal imaging, no symptoms, DA in progress) and 5 (10.4%)
      were uncontrolled. Uncontrolled patients had significant higher baseline PRL
      level (P=0.0412) and cabergoline cumulative dose (P=0.0065) compared to the
      controlled group. There was no increase in frequency of hypopituitarism.
      Clinically significant valvular heart disease was found in 2 patients but
      screening was not systematic. CONCLUSIONS: Macroprolactinoma is currently most
      often a chronic disease controlled with DA. However, uncertainty about the
      adverse effects associated with high cumulative doses and the lack of data on the
      prognosis at very long-term should incite to revisit current strategies,
      including the role of surgery combined to medical treatment.

PMID- 27641081
TI  - The prediction roles of asymmetric dimethyl-arginine, adiponectin and apelin for
      macroangiopathy in patients with impaired glucose regulation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of asymmetric dimethyl-arginine (ADMA),
      adiponectin (APN) and apelin in predicting macroangiopathy in impaired glucose
      regulation (IGR) patients. METHODS: A total of 210 patients undergoing oral
      glucose tolerance test were included in this study. They were classified to
      normal glucose tolerance (NGT, n=42), impaired fasting glucose (IFG, n=36),
      impaired glucose tolerance (IGT, n=92, including 44 IGT1 and 48 IGT2 patients)
      and IFG+IGT (n=40) groups. APN, apelin and ADMA levels, blood pressure, blood
      lipid, insulin, body mass index (BMI), and homeostasis model assessment of
      insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were detected. The severity and extent of coronary
      atherosclerosis were determined by the Gensini score. RESULTS: The prevalence of
      coronary heart disease and Gensini scores in IGT and IFG+IGT groups were similar
      but both were higher than NGT and IFG groups (all P<0.05). Lower APN, higher ADMA
      and apelin levels were witnessed in IGT and IGT+IFG groups compared with NGT and
      IFG groups (all P<0.05). IGT2 group had higher 2-h PG and apelin levels and
      Gensini scores but lower APN levels than IGT1 group (all P<0.05). Gensini score
      was positively correlated with apelin (r=0.669) and ADMA (r=0.764), but were
      negatively correlated with APN (r=-0.555, all P<0.001). ADMA and APN were the
      independent factors affecting Gensini score. CONCLUSION: ADMA and APN levels
      could be predictive factors for macroangiopathy in IGR patients, especially in
      IGT cases.

PMID- 27641082
TI  - Association between DNA methylation of SORL1 5'-flanking region and mild
      cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we examined whether DNA methylation of the
      sortilin-related receptor 1 (SORL1) 5'-flanking region is associated with the
      manifestation and clinical presentation of mild cognitive impairment in type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: Of 84 diabetic patients with mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI group), 78 diabetic patients without mild cognitive impairment
      (NMCI group) and 80 age-matched normal controls (NC group), the DNA methylation
      of the SORL1 5'-flanking region was completely analyzed. The SORL1 methylation
      ratios of the above three groups were compared statistically. Next, we
      investigated the correlation between the DNA methylation status and the clinical
      presentation of diabetes with or without cognitive impairment (MCI and NMCI
      groups). RESULTS: The methylation ratio (86.9%) of MCI patients was significantly
      higher than that in the NMCI patients (35.9%, P<0.05) and in the NC group (11.3%,
      P<0.05). Moreover, the diabetic patients with methylation alleles had greater
      ages, longer diabetes duration, lower MOCA scores and higher plasma amyloid Abeta
      1-42 levels than those with unmethylation alleles (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: These
      results suggested that the DNA methylation of the SORL1 5'-flanking region may
      significantly influence the manifestation of mild cognitive impairment in T2DM,
      and might be associated with its neurocognitive presentation.

PMID- 27641083
TI  - Testing for Multivariate Normality in Mass Spectrometry Imaging Data: A Robust
      Statistical Approach for Clustering Evaluation and the Generation of Synthetic
      Mass Spectrometry Imaging Data Sets.
AB  - Spatial clustering is a powerful tool in mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and has
      been demonstrated to be capable of differentiating tumor types, visualizing
      intratumor heterogeneity, and segmenting anatomical structures. Several
      clustering methods have been applied to mass spectrometry imaging data, but a
      principled comparison and evaluation of different clustering techniques presents
      a significant challenge. We propose that testing whether the data has a
      multivariate normal distribution within clusters can be used to evaluate the
      performance when using algorithms that assume normality in the data, such as k
      means clustering. In cases where clustering has been performed using the cosine
      distance, conversion of the data to polar coordinates prior to normality testing
      should be performed to ensure normality is tested in the correct coordinate
      system. In addition to these evaluations of internal consistency, we demonstrate
      that the multivariate normal distribution can then be used as a basis for
      statistical modeling of MSI data. This allows the generation of synthetic MSI
      data sets with known ground truth, providing a means of external clustering
      evaluation. To demonstrate this, reference data from seven anatomical regions of
      an MSI image of a coronal section of mouse brain were modeled. From this, a set
      of synthetic data based on this model was generated. Results of r2 fitting of the
      chi-squared quantile-quantile plots on the seven anatomical regions confirmed
      that the data acquired from each spatial region was found to be closer to
      normally distributed in polar space than in Euclidean. Finally, principal
      component analysis was applied to a single data set that included synthetic and
      real data. No significant differences were found between the two data types,
      indicating the suitability of these methods for generating realistic synthetic
      data.

PMID- 27641084
TI  - Vomiting with patient-controlled epidural analgesia secondary to an unrecognised
      intrathecal catheter.

PMID- 27641085
TI  - Corrigendum to "Assessment of endothelial glycocalyx disruption in term
      parturients receiving a fluid bolus before spinal anesthesia: a prospective
      observational study" [Int J Obstet Anesth 2014;23:330-4].

PMID- 27641086
TI  - Case reports and consent to publication.

PMID- 27641087
TI  - Nine-year audit of post-dural puncture headache in a tertiary obstetric hospital
      in Singapore.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The KK Women's and Children's Hospital is a tertiary obstetric unit
      with approximately 11000 deliveries per year. Epidural analgesia is used in about
      40% of laboring women. We reviewed the incidence and management of post-dural
      puncture headache over a nine-year period. METHODS: A retrospective audit of
      labor epidural analgesia database records from 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2014 was
      conducted, identifying an "event" as an accidental dural puncture, an inadvertent
      intrathecal catheter insertion and/or development of a post-dural puncture
      headache. RESULTS: A total of 43434 epidural records were reviewed. Sixty-three
      events were identified (an incidence of 0.15%). Women had median age of 30years
      and median body mass index of 27.6kg/m2; 69.8% (44/63) delivered vaginally.
      Procedures performed by less experienced anesthesiologists and those performed
      outside office hours were associated with a higher incidence of accidental dural
      puncture. An intrathecal catheter was inserted in 52 of 58 women (89.7%).
      Headache developed in 24 of 38 (63.1%) women in whom there was a witnessed
      accidental dural puncture. Most women who developed post-dural puncture headache
      presented during the primary admission (36/39; 92.3%). Paracetamol and non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the most commonly prescribed medications.
      Six women (9.5%) received an epidural blood patch which led to resolution of
      headache. CONCLUSION: A retrospective audit over a nine-year period at a tertiary
      teaching hospital found the overall incidence of post-dural puncture headache and
      associated events to be 0.15%, with a decreasing trend coinciding with
      improvement in the teaching and supervision of trainees in labor epidural
      procedures.

PMID- 27641088
TI  - Ultrasound to identify the lumbar space in women with impalpable bony landmarks
      presenting for elective caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia: a randomised
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasound can facilitate neuraxial blockade in patients with poorly
      defined anatomical surface landmarks, but there are no studies comparing an
      ultrasound-guided technique with landmark palpation for spinal anaesthesia. The
      objective of this study was to compare pre-procedural lumbar ultrasonography with
      landmark palpation to locate the needle insertion point in women with impalpable
      lumbar spinous processes presenting for caesarean delivery. METHODS: After
      institutional ethics committee approval, 20 women with impalpable lumbar spinous
      processes presenting for elective caesarean delivery were recruited. Patients
      were randomised to palpation or ultrasound. The primary outcome of the study was
      the number of needle passes to achieve lumbar puncture. Secondary outcomes were
      the overall procedural time and patient satisfaction score. RESULTS: There was no
      difference in mean (+/-SD) body mass index of both groups (ultrasound 39.1 +/-
      5.02kg/m2 vs. palpation 38.3+/-3.77kg/m2). There were significantly fewer needle
      passes in the ultrasound group (median 3 [IQR 1.8-3.2]) compared to the palpation
      group (median 5.5 [IQR 3.2-7.2] (P=0.03)). More time was required to locate the
      needle insertion point in the ultrasound group (ultrasound 91.8+/-30.8s vs.
      palpation 32.6+/-11.4s, P<0.001). There was no difference in the total procedural
      time between groups (ultrasound 191.8+/-49.4s vs. palpation 192+/-110.9s,
      P=0.99). CONCLUSION: The use of ultrasonography to locate the needle insertion
      point reduced the number of needle passes in women with impalpable lumbar spinous
      processes undergoing elective caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia. Its
      use did not prolong overall procedural time.

PMID- 27641089
TI  - Severe maternal morbidity in a general intensive care unit in Nigeria: clinical
      profiles and outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on outcomes of obstetric admissions to intensive care units can
      serve as useful markers for assessing the quality of maternal care. We evaluated
      the intensive care unit utilization rate, diagnoses, case-fatality rate,
      mortality rate and associated factors among obstetric patients. METHODS: A
      prospective observational study of obstetric patients admitted to the general
      intensive care unit was performed. Women at 24 or more weeks of gestation, or
      within six weeks postpartum, who were admitted to the intensive care unit
      constituted the study population. RESULTS: A total of 101 obstetric patients were
      admitted to the intensive care unit. Obstetric patients accounted for
      approximately 12% of all intensive care unit admissions. Over 90% of admissions
      were from direct obstetric morbidity such as hypertensive disorders (41.6%),
      major obstetric haemorrhage (37.6%) and sepsis (11.9%). Forty-three women (42.6%)
      died, giving an overall mortality rate of 1 in 2.4. Sepsis had the highest case
      fatality rate (1 in 1.7) followed by obstetric haemorrhage (1 in 2.1) and
      hypertensive disorders (1 in 3.6). In univariable logistic regression analysis,
      abdominal delivery and/or peripartum hysterectomy, had 2.7-fold (95% CI 1.1 to
      6.5) increased risk of maternal death as compared to vaginal delivery.
      CONCLUSION: Direct obstetric morbidities constituted the leading reasons for
      obstetric admissions to the intensive care unit, with sepsis accounting for the
      highest case-fatality rate. Abdominal delivery and/or peripartum hysterectomy
      increased risk of death among obstetric admissions.

PMID- 27641090
TI  - Remifentanil for labour analgesia: an evidence-based narrative review.

PMID- 27641091
TI  - Determination of ED50 of hydromorphone for postoperative analgesia following
      cesarean delivery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Morphine is the most common opioid injected into the intrathecal
      space for postoperative analgesia following cesarean delivery, but ongoing
      medication shortages have resulted in limited availability. One proposed morphine
      alternative is hydromorphone. Studies investigating its use in post-cesarean
      analgesia are limited. This study was conducted to determine the median effective
      dose of intrathecal hydromorphone 12h postpartum. METHODS: Twenty healthy women
      undergoing elective cesarean delivery were recruited into this study.
      Hydromorphone doses were determined using the up-down sequential method. The
      study dose of hydromorphone started at 6MUg and was raised or lowered by 2MUg
      depending on the 12-h efficacy of the preceding participant's dose. Pain scores
      of <3/10 were considered successful and the subsequent patient received a lower
      dose. Participants received 0.5% bupivacaine 12.5mg, fentanyl 25MUg, and the
      study dose of hydromorphone as a single intrathecal injection. RESULTS: Ten of 20
      participants reported an effective hydromorphone dosage 12h post-injection. The
      median effective hydromorphone dosage was 4.6MUg (95% CI 3.72 to 5.48MUg) based
      on participants' reported visual analog pain scores of <3/10. No significant side
      effects or adverse outcomes were observed. CONCLUSION: Intrathecal hydromorphone
      may be an effective alternative to morphine for post-cesarean pain management.
      The amount of intrathecal hydromorphone necessary to provide analgesia at 12h
      postoperatively may be significantly lower than doses currently in use. Further
      research should be performed to identify the optimal dose of intrathecal
      hydromorphone for post-surgical pain relief.

PMID- 27641092
TI  - Performance of the GenoType MTBDRplus assay (v2.0) and a new extended GenoType
      MTBDRsl assay (v2.0) for the molecular detection of multi- and extensively drug
      resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis on isolates primarily from Lithuania.
AB  - The emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) hampers
      infection control. To assess the performance of an extended rapid novel molecular
      analysis for the detection of resistance conferring mutations to fluoroquinolones
      (gyrA, gyrB genes) and aminoglycosides/cyclic peptides (16S rRNA rrs gene, eis
      promotor region) compared to phenotypic susceptibility and sequencing, 43
      multidrug-resistant (MDR) and 10 susceptible clinical isolates were analyzed.
      Results were compared to a previous version. Molecular rifampin (rpoB gene) and
      isoniazid (katG gene, inhA promotor region) resistance was also analyzed. XDR-TB
      was confirmed in 13 (30%) MDR isolates. Molecular resistance was detected in 91%
      ofloxacin-, 83% aminoglycoside/cyclic peptide- and 100% kanamycin-resistant
      isolates. In conclusion, the novel assay is a useful supplement to phenotypic
      susceptibility testing in determining the presence of XDR-TB. Molecular kanamycin
      resistance detection was immensely improved compared to the previous version.
      Aminoglycoside/cyclic peptide susceptible isolates revealed eis promotor region
      resistance in 29%, reflecting low-level kanamycin susceptibility challenges.

PMID- 27641093
TI  - Computational inference of gene regulatory networks: Approaches, limitations and
      opportunities.
AB  - Gene regulatory networks lie at the core of cell function control. In E. coli and
      S. cerevisiae, the study of gene regulatory networks has led to the discovery of
      regulatory mechanisms responsible for the control of cell growth, differentiation
      and responses to environmental stimuli. In plants, computational rendering of
      gene regulatory networks is gaining momentum, thanks to the recent availability
      of high-quality genomes and transcriptomes and development of computational
      network inference approaches. Here, we review current techniques, challenges and
      trends in gene regulatory network inference and highlight challenges and
      opportunities for plant science. We provide plant-specific application examples
      to guide researchers in selecting methodologies that suit their particular
      research questions. Given the interdisciplinary nature of gene regulatory network
      inference, we tried to cater to both biologists and computer scientists to help
      them engage in a dialogue about concepts and caveats in network inference.
      Specifically, we discuss problems and opportunities in heterogeneous data
      integration for eukaryotic organisms and common caveats to be considered during
      network model evaluation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant
      Gene Regulatory Mechanisms and Networks, edited by Dr. Erich Grotewold and Dr.
      Nathan Springer.

PMID- 27641094
TI  - Management of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Geriatric Patients.
AB  - The mean age of patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been
      increasing steadily in the last decades, so managing very old patients has become
      common practice. The oldest patients are under-represented in clinical trials, so
      specific evidence is scarce. Still, antithrombotic therapy and invasive strategy
      are the pillars of appropriate treatment even in the oldest patients. However,
      the elderly population is a heterogeneous group showing important divergences
      between chronological and biological age, which needs specific evaluation.
      Physical, and social function, geriatric syndromes, such as frailty or cognitive
      decline, and comorbidities must be taken into consideration for clinical decision
      making but this requires evaluation beyond the traditional cardiologic approach.
      In general, elderly patients with ACS who are functional and independent should
      be treated with the same methods as younger patients although more cautiously.
      However, specific measures should be put in place to prevent functional decline
      and delirium, two of the most frequent and devastating specific complications in
      older patients. Multidisciplinary approaches are needed for that. In general, a
      new paradigm for the management of very old patients with ACS is warranted, in
      which evaluation of outcomes traditionally ignored by cardiologists should be
      considered.

PMID- 27641095
TI  - Severe Functional Mitral Regurgitation Secondary to Dilated Cardiomyopathy
      Treated Successfully With Four MitraClips: An Australian First.

PMID- 27641096
TI  - Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma in a Prosthetic Aortic Graft.
AB  - We describe the case of a 70-year-old man with Marfan Syndrome who was found to
      have Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) within an ascending aortic graft, his
      native aortic arch and arch vessels. Ten years previously he had undergone a
      Bentall's Procedure for a dilated aortic root. He presented with a left middle
      cerebral artery stroke. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed multiple filling
      defects within the aortic arch and branch vessels suggestive of thrombus.
      Following the stroke, his neurological deficit improved. A decision was made to
      perform an aortic arch replacement to reduce the risk of a further embolic event.
      Subsequent histopathology confirmed DLBCL. Intravascular DLBCL is an extremely
      rare entity but an important diagnosis to consider in patients with intra-aortic
      thrombus in proximity to prosthetic graft material.

PMID- 27641097
TI  - Surgical Removal of an Unusual Massive Mediastinal Tumour Preceded by
      Interventional Embolisation.
AB  - Massive mediastinal tumours are rare in clinical practice and complete surgical
      resection may be associated with serious complications. Preoperative angiography
      and embolisation are valuable adjuncts in the management of giant tumours to
      decrease perioperative blood loss, provide a clear operative field and facilitate
      complete resection. We report the safe use of preoperative embolisation which
      facilitated excision via clamshell incision, of a highly vascular massive
      anterior mediastinal tumour with an unusual final diagnosis.

PMID- 27641098
TI  - LDHA-Associated Lactic Acid Production Blunts Tumor Immunosurveillance by T and
      NK Cells.
AB  - Elevated lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) expression is associated with poor
      outcome in tumor patients. Here we show that LDHA-associated lactic acid
      accumulation in melanomas inhibits tumor surveillance by T and NK cells. In
      immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice, tumors with reduced lactic acid production
      (Ldhalow) developed significantly slower than control tumors and showed increased
      infiltration with IFN-gamma-producing T and NK cells. However, in Rag2-/-gammac-/
      mice, lacking lymphocytes and NK cells, and in Ifng-/- mice, Ldhalow and control
      cells formed tumors at similar rates. Pathophysiological concentrations of lactic
      acid prevented upregulation of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) in T
      and NK cells, resulting in diminished IFN-gamma production. Database analyses
      revealed negative correlations between LDHA expression and T cell activation
      markers in human melanoma patients. Our results demonstrate that lactic acid is a
      potent inhibitor of function and survival of T and NK cells leading to tumor
      immune escape.

PMID- 27641099
TI  - AMPK/alpha-Ketoglutarate Axis Dynamically Mediates DNA Demethylation in the
      Prdm16 Promoter and Brown Adipogenesis.
AB  - Promoting brown adipose tissue (BAT) development is an attractive strategy for
      the treatment of obesity, as activated BAT dissipates energy through
      thermogenesis; however, the mechanisms controlling BAT formation are not fully
      understood. We hypothesized that as a master regulator of energy metabolism, AMP
      activated protein kinase (AMPK) may play a direct role in the process and found
      that AMPKalpha1 (PRKAA1) ablation reduced Prdm16 expression and impaired BAT
      development. During early brown adipogenesis, the cellular levels of alpha
      ketoglutarate (alphaKG), a key metabolite required for TET-mediated DNA
      demethylation, were profoundly increased and required for active DNA
      demethylation of the Prdm16 promoter. AMPKalpha1 ablation reduced isocitrate
      dehydrogenase 2 activity and cellular alphaKG levels. Remarkably, postnatal AMPK
      activation with AICAR or metformin rescued obesity-induced suppression of brown
      adipogenesis and thermogenesis. In summary, AMPK is essential for the epigenetic
      control of BAT development through alphaKG, thus linking a metabolite to
      progenitor cell differentiation and thermogenesis.

PMID- 27641102
TI  - Morphologic Assessment of the Left Atrial Appendage in Patients with Atrial
      Fibrillation by Gray Values-Inverted Volume-Rendered Imaging of Three-Dimensional
      Transesophageal Echocardiography: A Comparative Study with Computed Tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of left atrial appendage (LAA) morphology is
      crucial in determining an LAA occlusion strategy. The aim of this study was to
      develop a novel echocardiographic volume-rendered imaging technique to visualize
      LAA morphology. METHODS: This was a retrospective study. Forty patients with
      atrial fibrillation who underwent three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal
      echocardiography (TEE) and cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) before
      catheter ablation were enrolled. Full-volume 3D data were acquired and displayed
      in gray values-inverted (GVI) mode. Threshold segmentation and interactive
      segmentation were used to create 3D digital replicas of the LAA chambers. The
      morphologic classification, number of lobes, and dimensions of the LAA were
      analyzed and compared with the data obtained with CCTA. RESULTS: LAA morphology
      and measurements were successfully acquired via CCTA and 3D GVI TEE in all 40
      cases. In terms of LAA morphologic classifications, 19 cases of chicken wing,
      eight of windsock, nine of cauliflower, and four of cactus morphology were
      determined using 3D GVI TEE, and 20 cases of chicken wing, eight of windsock,
      eight of cauliflower, and four of cactus morphology were determined using CCTA.
      The kappa value between these two methods was 0.963. Measurements of maximal
      diameter, minimal diameter, and area of the ostia and the depth of the LAAs were
      larger when based on the 3D GVI transesophageal echocardiographic data than when
      using cardiac computed tomographic angiographic data (P < .01); however, there
      was agreement between the results. Formed thrombi were well displayed by both
      computed tomography and 3DGVI TEE. CONCLUSIONS: Three-dimensional GVI TEE can be
      used to acquire LAA morphologic volume-rendered images that are similar to
      computed tomographic volume-rendered images, and it shows promise as a feasible
      and valuable modality for planning individual LAA occlusion procedures.

PMID- 27641101
TI  - Pulmonary Artery Acceleration Time Provides a Reliable Estimate of Invasive
      Pulmonary Hemodynamics in Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary artery acceleration time (PAAT) is a noninvasive method to
      assess pulmonary hemodynamics, but it lacks validity in children. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the accuracy of Doppler echocardiography-derived PAAT in
      predicting right heart catheterization (RHC)-derived pulmonary artery pressure
      (PAP), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and compliance in children. METHODS:
      Prospectively acquired and retrospectively measured Doppler echocardiography
      derived PAAT and RHC-derived systolic PAP, mean PAP (mPAP), indexed PVR (PVRi),
      and compliance were compared using regression analysis in a derivation cohort of
      75 children (median age, 5.3 years; interquartile range, 1.3-12.6 years) with
      wide ranges of pulmonary hemodynamics. To account for heart rate variability,
      PAAT was adjusted for right ventricular ejection time and corrected by the RR
      interval. Regression equations incorporating PAAT and PAAT/right ventricular
      ejection time from the derivation cohort were then evaluated for the accuracy of
      their predictive values for invasive pulmonary hemodynamics in a validation
      cohort of 50 age- and weight-matched children with elevated PAP and PVR. RESULTS:
      There were significant inverse correlations between PAAT and RHC-derived mPAP (r
      = -0.82) and PVRi (r = -0.78) and a direct correlation (r = 0.78) between PAAT
      and pulmonary compliance in the derivation cohort. For detection of pulmonary
      hypertension (PRVi > 3 Wood units . m2 and mPAP > 25 mm Hg), PAAT < 90 msec and
      PAAT/right ventricular ejection time < 0.31 resulted in sensitivity of 97% and
      specificity of 95%. In the derivation cohort, the regression equations relating
      PAAT with mPAP and PVRi were mPAP = 48 - 0.28 * PAAT and PVRi = 9 - 0.07 * PAAT.
      These PAAT-integrated equations predicted RHC-measured pulmonary hemodynamics in
      the validation cohort with good correlations (r = 0.88 and r = 0.83,
      respectively), small biases (<10%), and minimal coefficients of variation (<8%).
      CONCLUSIONS: PAAT inversely correlates with RHC-measured pulmonary hemodynamics
      and directly correlates with pulmonary arterial compliance in children. The study
      established PAAT-based regression equations in children to accurately predict RHC
      derived PAP and PVR.

PMID- 27641103
TI  - Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Carrying a Multimodality Reporter Gene for
      Fluorescence, Bioluminescence, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Vitro and In
      Vivo.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of imaging
      or tracking hepatocellular carcinoma cells by modifying these cells to carry a
      multimodality reporter gene, enabling fluorescence, bioluminescence, and magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) in vitro and in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HepG2 cells
      were labeled with the enhanced green fluorescent protein
      (EGFP)/luciferase2/ferritin-the multimodality reporter gene (labeled HepG2
      cells). The labeled and unlabeled HepG2 cells were cultured in vitro and then
      injected subcutaneously into mice as a hepatoma model in vivo. The expressions of
      EGFP, luciferase2, and ferritin in HepG2 cell suspensions and hepatoma model were
      investigated using fluorescence, bioluminescence, and MRI. RESULTS: Individual
      HepG2 cells expressing EGFP were identified under blue laser excitation. The
      linear coefficient between the optical signal intensity of luciferase2 and the
      number of labeled cells was 0.993. MRI was used to distinguish the T2* signal of
      2 * 107 cells/mL between the labeled (6.67 +/- 1.88 ms) and unlabeled cells
      (10.66 +/- 2.22 ms) (P = 0.034). In vivo, individual HepG2 cells expressing EGFP
      in frozen sections were observed. Labeled cells expressing luciferase2 have been
      detected since the second day after injection, and the bioluminescence increased
      with the tumor size. The T2* signal was significantly different between the
      labeled (6.04 +/- 1.60 ms) and unlabeled cells (17.06 +/- 2.17 ms) (P <0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: A multimodality reporter gene consisting of EGFP, luciferase2, and
      ferritin was successfully integrated into the HepG2 cell genome via a lentiviral
      vector and was highly expressed in the daughter cells. These cells could be
      detected by fluorescence, bioluminescence, and MRI in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27641100
TI  - One-Carbon Metabolism in Health and Disease.
AB  - One-carbon (1C) metabolism, mediated by the folate cofactor, supports multiple
      physiological processes. These include biosynthesis (purines and thymidine),
      amino acid homeostasis (glycine, serine, and methionine), epigenetic maintenance,
      and redox defense. Both within eukaryotic cells and across organs, 1C metabolic
      reactions are compartmentalized. Here we review the fundamentals of mammalian 1C
      metabolism, including the pathways active in different compartments, cell types,
      and biological states. Emphasis is given to recent discoveries enabled by modern
      genetics, analytical chemistry, and isotope tracing. An emerging theme is the
      biological importance of mitochondrial 1C reactions, both for producing 1C units
      that are exported to the cytosol and for making additional products, including
      glycine and NADPH. Increased clarity regarding differential folate pathway usage
      in cancer, stem cells, development, and adult physiology is reviewed and
      highlights new opportunities for selective therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 27641104
TI  - [Patient safety recommendations for out of operating room procedure sedation].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is an increasing and more complex demand for sedation for
      procedures out of the operating room. For different reasons, nowadays the
      administration of sedation varies considerably. We believe that a patient safety
      approach rather an approach out of corporate or economic interests is desirable.
      METHOD: We created a working group of experts within the Spanish Anaesthesia and
      Reanimation Incident Reporting System (SENSAR) to prepare a series of
      recommendations through a non-systematic review. These recommendations were
      validated by an expert panel of 31 anaesthesiologists through two rounds of an
      adaptation of the Delphi Method where more than 70% agreement was required.
      RESULTS: The resulting recommendations include previous evaluation, material and
      staffing needs for sedation for procedures, post-sedation recommendations and
      activity and quality control advice. CONCLUSION: We present patient centred
      recommendations for the safe use of sedation for out of the operating room
      procedures from the point of view of the professionals with the most experience
      in its administration. We believe that these can be used as a guide to reduce
      variability and increase patient safety in the organisation of healthcare.

PMID- 27641105
TI  - Examining Change in Adolescent Street Efficacy and Its Association With Violent
      Outcomes.
AB  - Research suggests that street efficacy-the perceived ability to avoid dangerous
      situations in one's neighborhood-is related to violent outcomes. We investigated
      change in street efficacy using data from the Project on Human Development in
      Chicago Neighborhoods. Measures of street efficacy and violence (offending,
      victimization, secondary exposure) were constructed at Waves 2 (1997-2000) and 3
      (2000-2002) from youth interviews and parent reports. Results from hierarchical
      overdispersed Poisson models indicated that street efficacy was a malleable
      construct with stronger contemporaneous than enduring effects. Furthermore, rates
      of all three violent outcomes were reduced as individuals increased their levels
      of street efficacy. Findings support (a) teaching youths to safely navigate
      violent neighborhood situations and (b) continuously reinforcing youths'
      perceived ability to navigate danger.

PMID- 27641107
TI  - Studies toward Total Synthesis of (+/-)-Caldaphnidine C via One-Pot Sequential
      Intramolecular Vilsmeier-Haack and Azomethine Ylide 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition.
AB  - An application of a one-pot sequential Vilsmeier-Haack cyclization and
      intramolecular azomethine ylide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition toward the total
      synthesis of (+/-)-caldaphnidine C is presented. It allowed an efficient
      formation of three cycles with perfect control of four of the five newly created
      stereogenic centers including one all-carbon quaternary center. Two synthetic
      strategies to produce the key-step precursor, the investigation and optimization
      of the cyclization partners (nucleophile, azomethine ylide, and dipolarophile),
      and further derivatization of the cycloadduct are reported.

PMID- 27641106
TI  - Haemosporidian blood parasite diversity and prevalence in the semi-collared
      flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) from the eastern Balkans.
AB  - We present the first survey on prevalence and diversity of haemosporidian
      parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus in a poorly studied migratory
      passerine, the semi-collared flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata). In total, 110
      individuals were sampled during two breeding seasons in Eastern Bulgaria. We
      collected both blood samples for PCR identification and blood films for
      microscopic identification of haemosporidians. We found six distinctive parasite
      cyt b lineages present in the blood of the semi-collared flycatcher (three
      Haemoproteus and three Plasmodium). Two of the lineages, i.e. pWW3 of Plasmodium
      sp. and hCCF2 of Haemoproteus sp., are recorded for the first time in the family
      Muscicapidae. The overall prevalence ranged between 12.2 and 15.9% and we did not
      find co-infections. We hypothesize that the low prevalence of haemosporidians in
      this species might be linked to its small population size and relatively
      restricted geographical range.

PMID- 27641108
TI  - Atlas of susceptibility to pollution in marinas. Application to the Spanish
      coast.
AB  - An atlas of susceptibility to pollution of 320 Spanish marinas is provided.
      Susceptibility is assessed through a simple, fast and low cost empirical method
      estimating the flushing capacity of marinas. The Complexity Tidal Range Index
      (CTRI) was selected among eleven empirical methods. The CTRI method was selected
      by means of statistical analyses because: it contributes to explain the system's
      variance; it is highly correlated to numerical model results; and, it is
      sensitive to marinas' location and typology. The process of implementation to the
      Spanish coast confirmed its usefulness, versatility and adaptability as a tool
      for the environmental management of marinas worldwide. The atlas of
      susceptibility, assessed through CTRI values, is an appropriate instrument to
      prioritize environmental and planning strategies at a regional scale.

PMID- 27641109
TI  - Long-term perspective on the relationship between phytoplankton and nutrient
      concentrations in a southeastern Australian estuary.
AB  - Sixteen years (1997-2013) of physicochemical, nutrient and phytoplankton biomass
      (Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a)) data and a decade (2003-2013) of phytoplankton
      composition and abundance data were analyzed to assess how the algal community in
      a temperate southeastern Australian estuary has responded to decreased chronic
      point source nitrogen loading following effluent treatment upgrade works in 2003.
      Nitrogen concentrations were significantly lower (P<0.05) following enhanced
      effluent treatment and Chl-a levels decreased (P<0.05) during the warmer months.
      Temperature and nutrient concentrations significantly influenced temporal changes
      of Chl-a (explaining 55% of variability), while salinity, temperature, pH and
      nutrient concentrations influenced phytoplankton abundance and composition (25%
      explained). Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) dynamics differed between sites likely
      influenced by physical attributes of the estuary. This study demonstrates that
      enhanced effluent treatment can significantly decrease chronic point source
      nitrogen loading and that Chl-a concentrations can be lowered during the warmer
      months when the risk of blooms and HABs is greatest.

PMID- 27641110
TI  - Newly discovered reefs in the southern Abrolhos Bank, Brazil: Anthropogenic
      impacts and urgent conservation needs.
AB  - The Abrolhos Bank is an area of high ecological, socio-economic importance and
      harbour the richest and most-extensive coral reefs in the South Atlantic. Here we
      report the discovery of shallow (12-25m depth) reef complex with ten large
      biogenic structures, intermediate between the typical mushroom-shaped pinnacles
      of the northern Abrolhos Bank (17 degrees -18 degrees  S) and the small patch
      reefs found on the central/southern coast of the Espirito Santo State (19 degrees
      -20 degrees  S). The newly discovered reefs harbour a relatively rich and
      abundant reef community, with 73 fish and 14 benthic cnidarian species, including
      endangered and commercially important ones. We discuss on urgent needs of
      properly mapping and understanding the ecological functioning of this reef
      system. Information provided here is a baseline for future impact evaluations,
      particularly considering the recent worst environmental disaster of Brazil from a
      dam collapse in Doce river that affected the region.

PMID- 27641111
TI  - Aptamer-graphene oxide for highly sensitive dual electrochemical detection of
      Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase.
AB  - A 90 mer ssDNA aptamer (P38) enriched against Plasmodium falciparum lactate
      dehydrogenase (PfLDH) through SELEX process was immobilized over glassy carbon
      electrode (GCE) using graphene oxide (GO) as an immobilization matrix, and the
      modified electrode was investigated for detection of PfLDH. The GO was
      synthesized from powdered pencil graphite and characterized by XRD based on the
      increased interlayer distance between graphitic layers from 0.345 nm for graphite
      to 0.829 nm for GO. The immobilization of P38 on GO was confirmed by ID/IG
      intensity ratio in Raman spectra where, the ratio were 0.67, 0.915, and 1.35 for
      graphite, GO and P38-GO, respectively. The formation of the P38 layer over GO-GCE
      was evident from an increase in the surface height in AFM analysis of the
      electrode from ~3.5 nm for GO-GCE to ~27 nm for P38-GO-GCE. The developed
      aptasensor when challenged with the target, a detection of as low as 0.5 fM of
      PfLDH was demonstrated. The specificity of the aptasensor was confirmed through a
      voltametric measurement at 0.65 V of the reduced co-factor generated from the
      PfLDH catalysis. Studies on interference from some common proteins, storage
      stability, repeatability and analysis of real samples demonstrated the practical
      application potential of the aptasensor.

PMID- 27641112
TI  - Monitoring intra- and extracellular redox capacity of intact barley aleurone
      layers responding to phytohormones.
AB  - Redox regulation is important for numerous processes in plant cells including
      abiotic stress, pathogen defence, tissue development, seed germination and
      programmed cell death. However, there are few methods allowing redox homeostasis
      to be addressed in whole plant cells, providing insight into the intact in vivo
      environment. An electrochemical redox assay that applies the menadione
      ferricyanide double mediator is used to assess changes in the intracellular and
      extracellular redox environment in living aleurone layers of barley (Hordeum
      vulgare cv. Himalaya) grains, which respond to the phytohormones gibberellic acid
      and abscisic acid. Gibberellic acid is shown to elicit a mobilisation of
      electrons as detected by an increase in the reducing capacity of the aleurone
      layers. By taking advantage of the membrane-permeable menadione/menadiol redox
      pair to probe the membrane-impermeable ferricyanide/ferrocyanide redox pair, the
      mobilisation of electrons was dissected into an intracellular and an
      extracellular, plasma membrane-associated component. The intracellular and
      extracellular increases in reducing capacity were both suppressed when the
      aleurone layers were incubated with abscisic acid. By probing redox levels in
      intact plant tissue, the method provides a complementary approach to assays of
      reactive oxygen species and redox-related enzyme activities in tissue extracts.

PMID- 27641113
TI  - Pharmacokinetic applications of cutaneous microdialysis: Continuous+intermittent
      vs continuous-only sampling.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Microdialysis is a technique that allows interstitial-fluid
      sampling with minimal tissue-damage. In a microdialysis study, samples are
      collected serially (continuous microdialysis, CMD) and participant's movements
      are reduced for the entire study. Intermittent Cutaneous Microdialysis (IMD) is a
      modified version of CMD, which allows for unrestrained periods in between
      samples. However, in separate experiments, pharmacokinetic parameters estimated
      with IMD showed higher variability than with CMD. The purpose of this study is to
      simultaneously assess and compare the skin pharmacokinetic profiles obtained with
      a combination of CMD and IMD with those obtained with traditional CMD sampling
      only, in the same experiment. METHODS: Two linear microdialysis (MD) probes were
      inserted into the shaved dorsal skin of three rabbits. Following the oral
      administration of three different doses (20, 40 and 80mg/kg) of ciprofloxacin
      (CPLX), for the first 2h, samples were collected from both probes according to
      traditional CMD in order to assess intrinsic differences between the two sites.
      After 2h, one of the probes was switched to IMD schedule. Skin-exposure
      parameters were estimated with non-compartmental analysis. RESULTS: Two of the
      nine experiments showed a difference larger than 30% between the concentrations
      measured from the two probes when both were on the CMD schedule. Otherwise, the
      skin concentration profiles were almost superimposable. Pharmacokinetic
      parameters were not statistically different. CONCLUSION: The results of this
      study show that skin pharmacokinetic parameters measured via a combination of CMD
      and IMD were not statistically different from those estimated via traditional CMD
      sampling alone.

PMID- 27641114
TI  - Hydrogen sulfide inhibits MPP+-induced aldehyde stress and endoplasmic reticulum
      stress in PC12 cells: involving upregulation of BDNF.
AB  - We have previously demonstrated the protective action of hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
      in 1-Methy-4-Phenylpyridinium Ion (MPP+)-induced neurotoxicity. However, the
      exact mechanisms of this protection remain largely unknown. Aldehyde stress and
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress play significant roles in the neurotoxicity of
      MPP+. Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important endogenous
      neuroprotectant. Therefore, we speculated that the protection of H2S against MPP+
      neurotoxicity results from inhibiting MPP+-induced aldehyde stress and ER stress
      via upregulation of BDNF. In the present study, we found that NaHS, a donor of
      H2S, inhibited MPP+-induced aldehyde stress (the accumulations of the
      intracellular 4-HNE and MDA) and ER stress (the increases in the expressions of
      GRP78 and Cleaved-caspase-12) in PC12 cells and upregulated the BDNF expression
      in MPP+-exposed PC12 cells. Furthermore, we found that pretreatment of PC12 cells
      with K252a, an inhibitor of the BDNF receptor TrkB, not only markedly reversed
      the inhibitiory role of NaHS in MPP+-induced aldehyde stress and ER stress, but
      also ablated the protection of NaHS against MPP+-induced neurotoxicity. These
      data demonstrated that the protective role of H2S against MPP+-induced
      neurotoxicity by inhibiting aldehyde stress and ER stress, which is involved in
      upregulation of BDNF.

PMID- 27641115
TI  - [Management of vascular anomalies in children].
AB  - Vascular anomalies, which are broadly identified as "angiomas", are rare entities
      and often unknown by the medical sphere. They are divided in two different
      categories which carry different prognosis and management: "vascular tumors" and
      "vascular malformations". Their precise identification is crucial and involves a
      good knowledge of the biological classification published by Mulliken and
      Glowacki and that has recently been updated by the International Society for the
      Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA). Vascular tumors are benign, common, inborn
      or not and most of the time disappear with growth. Vascular malformations are
      always congenital and growth with the child. They can involve type of vessels
      solely or combined with others. A rheologic differentiation between slow and fast
      flow malformations is essential in order to characterize the seriousness of the
      lesion. Frequently, their diagnosis is clinically established and the anamnesis
      is conducted to answer three questions that are the time of revelation of the
      lesion ("When?"), its aspect ("What?") and its evolution ("How?"). Further
      investigations are usually not required but a non-invasive imaging technique such
      as Doppler ultrasound could be useful if a doubt exists. Surgery is not mandatory
      and must always be well thought because its consequences might be disastrous. It
      must be left to cosmetic sequelae of these lesions or to lesions that are totally
      resectable without causing any unacceptable deformation.

PMID- 27641116
TI  - Corrigendum to "Measuring the micromechanical properties of embryonic tissues"
      [Methods 94 (2016) 120-128].

PMID- 27641117
TI  - Evaluation of the Ultra-VTM (ultraviolet) decontamination system as an adjunct to
      cleaning in a district general hospital.

PMID- 27641132
TI  - Development: Celsr1 and Vangl2 team up to pattern the kidney.

PMID- 27641119
TI  - The impact of a history of asthma on long-term outcomes of people with newly
      diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A population study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the natural history of chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) that has developed from airway remodeling due to asthma,
      as compared with other COPD phenotypes. OBJECTIVE: We compared long-term health
      outcomes of individuals with COPD with and without a history of asthma in a
      population-based cohort study. METHODS: All individuals with physician-diagnosed
      COPD between the ages 40 and 55 years from 2009 and 2011 were identified and
      followed until March 2013 through provincial health administrative data (Ontario,
      Canada). The exposure was a history of asthma at least 2 years before the
      diagnosis of COPD to ensure it preceded COPD. The hazards of COPD-, respiratory-,
      and cardiovascular (CV)-related hospitalizations and all-cause mortality were
      compared between groups using a Cox regression model controlling for demographic
      characteristics, comorbidities, and level of health care. RESULTS: Among 9053
      patients with COPD, 2717 (30%) had a history of asthma. Over a median of 2.9
      years, 712 (8%) individuals had a first COPD hospitalization, 964 (11%) a first
      respiratory-related and 342 (4%) a first CV-related hospitalization, and 556 (6%)
      died. Controlling for confounding, a history of asthma was significantly
      associated with COPD and respiratory-related hospitalizations (hazard ratio, 1.53
      [95% CI, 1.29-1.82] and hazard ratio, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.14-1.88], respectively),
      but not with CV-related hospitalizations or all-cause mortality. Additional
      analyses confirmed that these findings were not likely a result of unmeasured
      confounding or misclassification. CONCLUSIONS: Middle-aged individuals with
      physician-diagnosed COPD and a history of asthma had a higher hazard of
      hospitalizations due to COPD and other respiratory diseases than did those
      without.

PMID- 27641133
TI  - Diabetic nephropathy: Role of podocyte SHP-1 in hyperglycaemic memory.

PMID- 27641118
TI  - A novel approach for targeted delivery to motoneurons using cholera toxin-B
      modified protocells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trophic interactions between muscle fibers and motoneurons at the
      neuromuscular junction (NMJ) play a critical role in determining motor function
      throughout development, ageing, injury, or disease. Treatment of neuromuscular
      disorders is hindered by the inability to selectively target motoneurons with
      pharmacological and genetic interventions. NEW METHOD: We describe a novel
      delivery system to motoneurons using mesoporous silica nanoparticles encapsulated
      within a lipid bilayer (protocells) and modified with the atoxic subunit B of the
      cholera toxin (CTB) that binds to gangliosides present on neuronal membranes.
      RESULTS: CTB modified protocells showed significantly greater motoneuron uptake
      compared to unmodified protocells after 24h of treatment (60% vs. 15%,
      respectively). CTB-protocells showed specific uptake by motoneurons compared to
      muscle cells and demonstrated cargo release of a surrogate drug. Protocells
      showed a lack of cytotoxicity and unimpaired cellular proliferation. In isolated
      diaphragm muscle-phrenic nerve preparations, preferential axon terminal uptake of
      CTB-modified protocells was observed compared to uptake in surrounding muscle
      tissue. A larger proportion of axon terminals displayed uptake following
      treatment with CTB-protocells compared to unmodified protocells (40% vs. 6%,
      respectively). COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Current motoneuron targeting
      strategies lack the functionality to load and deliver multiple cargos. CTB
      protocells capitalizes on the advantages of liposomes and mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles allowing a large loading capacity and cargo release. The ability of
      CTB-protocells to target motoneurons at the NMJ confers a great advantage over
      existing methods. CONCLUSIONS: CTB-protocells constitute a viable targeted
      motoneuron delivery system for drugs and genes facilitating various therapies for
      neuromuscular diseases.

PMID- 27641134
TI  - Transplantation: Utilizing the transcriptome to predict allograft fibrosis.

PMID- 27641136
TI  - Chronic kidney disease: Should sodium intake be restricted in patients with CKD?

PMID- 27641135
TI  - Scleroderma renal crisis and renal involvement in systemic sclerosis.
AB  - Scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) is a rare, potentially life-threatening
      complication that affects 2-15% of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc, also
      known as scleroderma). SRC typically presents in patients with early, rapidly
      progressive, diffuse cutaneous SSc within the first 3-5 years after the onset of
      a non-Raynaud sign or symptom. SRC is characterized by an acute, usually
      symptomatic increase in blood pressure, a rise in serum creatinine levels,
      oliguria and thrombotic microangiopathy in about 50% of patients. The prognosis
      of SRC substantially improved in the 1980s with the introduction of angiotensin
      converting-enzyme inhibitors for rapid blood pressure control, with additional
      antihypertensive agents as required. However, the survival of patients with SRC
      can still be improved. Current patient survival is 70-82% at 1 year, but
      decreases to 50-60% at 5 years despite dialysis support. Patients with SRC who
      show no signs of renal functional recovery despite timely blood pressure control
      are candidates for transplantation. In this Review, we discuss progress made in
      the identification and proactive management of patients at risk of SRC and make
      recommendations aimed at optimizing management for those who progress to chronic
      kidney failure.

PMID- 27641138
TI  - Management of a Concurrent Influenza A and Parainfluenza 1 Outbreak in a
      Residential Care Facility.

PMID- 27641137
TI  - Exploring the transcriptome of Staphylococcus aureus in its natural niche.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen and commensal, where the
      human nose is the predominant reservoir. To better understand its behavior in
      this environmental niche, RNA was extracted from the anterior nares of three
      documented S. aureus carriers and the metatranscriptome analyzed by RNAseq. In
      addition, the in vivo transcriptomes were compared to previously published
      transcriptomes of two in vitro grown S. aureus strains. None of the in vitro
      conditions, even growth in medium resembling the anterior nares environment,
      mimicked in vivo conditions. Survival in the nose was strongly controlled by the
      limitation of iron and evident by the expression of iron acquisition systems. S.
      aureus populations in different individuals clearly experience different
      environmental stresses, which they attempt to overcome by the expression of
      compatible solute biosynthetic pathways, changes in their cell wall composition
      and synthesis of general stress proteins. Moreover, the expression of adhesins
      was also important for colonization of the anterior nares. However, different S.
      aureus strains also showed different in vivo behavior. The assessment of general
      in vivo expression patterns and commonalities between different S. aureus strains
      will in the future result in new knowledge based strategies for controlling
      colonization.

PMID- 27641139
TI  - Radiotherapy management of brain metastases using conventional linear
      accelerator.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: As treatments for primary cancers continue to improve life
      expectancy, unfortunately, brain metastases also appear to be constantly
      increasing and life expectancy for patients with brain metastases is low. Longer
      survival and improved quality of life may be achieved using localised
      radiological and surgical approaches in addition to low dose corticosteroids.
      Stereotactic brain radiotherapy is one rapidly evolving localized radiation
      treatment. This article describes our experience with stereotactic radiotherapy
      using a linear accelerator. METHODS: We reviewed patients treated with
      stereotactic radiotherapy, from the time of its introduction into daily practice
      in our Department of Oncology in 2014. We collected the data on patient treatment
      and predicted survival based on prognostic indices and actual patient outcome.
      RESULTS: A total of 10 patients were treated by stereotactic radiotherapy, in one
      case in combination with whole brain radiotherapy and hippocampal sparing. There
      was no significant treatment related toxicity during the treatment or follow-up
      and due to the small number of fractions, the overall tolerance of the treatment
      was excellent. The patient intrafractional movement in all cases was under 1 mm
      suggesting that 1 mm margin around the CTV to create the PTV is sufficient and
      also that patient immobilization using the thermoplastic mask compared with
      invasive techniques, is feasible. We also found that prognostic indices such as
      the Graded Prognostic Assessment provide accurate predictions of patient
      survival. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our current evidence, patients with brain
      metastases fit enough, should be considered for stereotactic radiotherapy
      treatment.

PMID- 27641140
TI  - Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) using new negative per-oral
      contrast agent based on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for
      extrahepatic biliary duct visualization in liver cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is often
      used for imaging of the biliary tree and is required by surgeons before liver
      transplantation. Advanced liver cirrhosis and ascites in patients however present
      diagnostic problems for MRCP. The aim of this study was to find out if the use of
      our negative per-oral contrast agent containing superparamagnetic iron oxide
      nanoparticles (SPIO) in MRCP is helpful for imaging of hepatobiliary tree in
      patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: Forty patients with liver cirrhosis were
      examined on a 1.5 T MR unit using standard MRCP protocol. Twenty patients (group
      A) underwent MRCP after administration of per-oral SPIO contrast agent 30 min
      before examination. In group B, twenty patients were examined without per-oral
      bowel preparation. Ascites was present in eleven patients from group A and in
      thirteen patients in group B. Four radiologists analyzed MR images for visibility
      and delineation of the biliary tree. chi2 tests were used for comparison of the
      visibility of intrahepatic and extrahepatic biliary ducts in patients with and
      without ascites. RESULTS: Better extrahepatic biliary duct visualization and
      visibility of extraluminal pathologies in patients with ascites was proved after
      administration of SPIO contrast agent. No statistically significant difference
      between group A and B was found for visualization of extrahepatic biliary ducts
      in patients without ascites. Delineation of intrahepatic biliary ducts was
      independent on bowel preparation. CONCLUSIONS: Application of our negative per
      oral SPIO contrast agent before MRCP improves the visualization of extrahepatic
      biliary ducts in patients with ascites which is helpful during the liver surgery,
      mainly in liver transplantation.

PMID- 27641141
TI  - Macrophages facilitate the excystation and differentiation of Toxoplasma gondii
      sporozoites into tachyzoites following oocyst internalisation.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite of humans and animals, which is
      transmitted via oocysts in cat faeces or tissue cysts in contaminated meat. The
      robust oocyst and sporocyst walls protect the infective sporozoites from
      deleterious external attacks including disinfectants. Upon oocyst acquisition,
      these walls lose their integrity to let the sporozoites excyst and invade host
      cells following a process that remains poorly understood. Given the resistance of
      the oocyst wall to digestive enzymes and the ability of oocysts to cause
      parenteral infections, the present study investigated the possible contribution
      of macrophages in supporting sporozoite excystation following oocyst
      internalisation. By using single cell micromanipulations, real-time and time
      point imaging techniques, we demonstrated that RAW macrophages could interact
      rapidly with oocysts and engulfed them by remodelling of their actin
      cytoskeleton. Internalised oocysts were associated to macrophage acidic
      compartments and showed evidences of wall disruption. Sporozoites were observed
      in macrophages containing oocyst remnants or in new macrophages, giving rise to
      dividing tachyzoites. All together, these results highlight an unexpected role of
      phagocytic cells in processing T. gondii oocysts, in line with non-classical
      routes of infection, and open new perspectives to identify chemical factors that
      lead to oocyst wall disruption under physiological conditions.

PMID- 27641142
TI  - Electrophilic Activation of Silicon-Hydrogen Bonds in Catalytic Hydrosilations.
AB  - Hydrosilation reactions represent an important class of chemical transformations
      and there has been considerable recent interest in expanding the scope of these
      reactions by developing new catalysts. A major theme to emerge from these
      investigations is the development of catalysts with electrophilic character that
      transfer electrophilicity to silicon by Si-H activation. This type of mechanism
      has been proposed for catalysts ranging from Group 4 transition metals to Group
      15 main group species. Additionally, other electrophilic silicon species, such as
      silylene complexes and eta3 -H2 SiRR' complexes, have been identified as
      intermediates in hydrosilation reactions. In this Review, different types of
      catalysts are compared to highlight the range of hydrosilation mechanisms that
      feature electrophilic silicon centers. The importance of these catalysts to the
      development of new hydrosilation reactions is also discussed.

PMID- 27641143
TI  - Romosozumab Treatment in Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Romosozumab, a monoclonal antibody that binds sclerostin, increases
      bone formation and decreases bone resorption. METHODS: We enrolled 7180
      postmenopausal women who had a T score of -2.5 to -3.5 at the total hip or
      femoral neck. Patients were randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous injections
      of romosozumab (at a dose of 210 mg) or placebo monthly for 12 months;
      thereafter, patients in each group received denosumab for 12 months, at a dose of
      60 mg, administered subcutaneously every 6 months. The coprimary end points were
      the cumulative incidences of new vertebral fractures at 12 months and 24 months.
      Secondary end points included clinical (a composite of nonvertebral and
      symptomatic vertebral) and nonvertebral fractures. RESULTS: At 12 months, new
      vertebral fractures had occurred in 16 of 3321 patients (0.5%) in the romosozumab
      group, as compared with 59 of 3322 (1.8%) in the placebo group (representing a
      73% lower risk with romosozumab; P<0.001). Clinical fractures had occurred in 58
      of 3589 patients (1.6%) in the romosozumab group, as compared with 90 of 3591
      (2.5%) in the placebo group (a 36% lower risk with romosozumab; P=0.008).
      Nonvertebral fractures had occurred in 56 of 3589 patients (1.6%) in the
      romosozumab group and in 75 of 3591 (2.1%) in the placebo group (P=0.10). At 24
      months, the rates of vertebral fractures were significantly lower in the
      romosozumab group than in the placebo group after each group made the transition
      to denosumab (0.6% [21 of 3325 patients] in the romosozumab group vs. 2.5% [84 of
      3327] in the placebo group, a 75% lower risk with romosozumab; P<0.001). Adverse
      events, including instances of hyperostosis, cardiovascular events,
      osteoarthritis, and cancer, appeared to be balanced between the groups. One
      atypical femoral fracture and two cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw were observed
      in the romosozumab group. CONCLUSIONS: In postmenopausal women with osteoporosis,
      romosozumab was associated with a lower risk of vertebral fracture than placebo
      at 12 months and, after the transition to denosumab, at 24 months. The lower risk
      of clinical fracture that was seen with romosozumab was evident at 1 year.
      (Funded by Amgen and UCB Pharma; FRAME ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01575834 .).

PMID- 27641144
TI  - High burden of genetic conditions diagnosed in a cardiac neurodevelopmental
      clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a known high prevalence of genetic and clinical syndrome
      diagnoses in the paediatric cardiac population. These disorders often have
      multisystem effects, which may have an important impact on neurodevelopmental
      outcomes. Taken together, these facts suggest that patients and families may
      benefit from consultation by genetic specialists in a cardiac neurodevelopmental
      clinic. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the burden of genetic disorders and
      utility of genetics evaluation in a cardiac neurodevelopmental clinic. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review was conducted of patients evaluated in a cardiac
      neurodevelopmental clinic from 6 December, 2011 to 16 April, 2013. All patients
      were seen by a cardiovascular geneticist with genetic counselling support.
      RESULTS: A total of 214 patients were included in this study; 64 of these
      patients had a pre-existing genetic or syndromic diagnosis. Following genetics
      evaluation, an additional 19 were given a new clinical or laboratory-confirmed
      genetic diagnosis including environmental such as teratogenic exposures,
      malformation associations, chromosomal disorders, and single-gene disorders.
      Genetic testing was recommended for 112 patients; radiological imaging to screen
      for congenital anomalies for 17 patients; subspecialist medical referrals for 73
      patients; and non-genetic clinical laboratory testing for 14 patients. Syndrome
      specific guidelines were available and followed for 25 patients with known
      diagnosis. American Academy of Pediatrics Red Book asplenia guideline
      recommendations were given for five heterotaxy patients, and family-based cardiac
      screening was recommended for 23 families affected by left ventricular outflow
      tract obstruction. CONCLUSION: Genetics involvement in a cardiac
      neurodevelopmental clinic is helpful in identifying new unifying diagnoses and
      providing syndrome-specific care, which may impact the patient's overall health
      status and neurodevelopmental outcome.

PMID- 27641145
TI  - Cortical dynamics during cell motility are regulated by CRL3(KLHL21) E3 ubiquitin
      ligase.
AB  - Directed cell movement involves spatial and temporal regulation of the cortical
      microtubule (Mt) and actin networks to allow focal adhesions (FAs) to assemble at
      the cell front and disassemble at the rear. Mts are known to associate with FAs,
      but the mechanisms coordinating their dynamic interactions remain unknown. Here
      we show that the CRL3(KLHL21) E3 ubiquitin ligase promotes cell migration by
      controlling Mt and FA dynamics at the cell cortex. Indeed, KLHL21 localizes to FA
      structures preferentially at the leading edge, and in complex with Cul3,
      ubiquitylates EB1 within its microtubule-interacting CH-domain. Cells lacking
      CRL3(KLHL21) activity or expressing a non-ubiquitylatable EB1 mutant protein are
      unable to migrate and exhibit strong defects in FA dynamics, lamellipodia
      formation and cortical plasticity. Our study thus reveals an important mechanism
      to regulate cortical dynamics during cell migration that involves ubiquitylation
      of EB1 at focal adhesions.

PMID- 27641147
TI  - The microprocessor component, DGCR8, is essential for early B-cell development in
      mice.
AB  - microRNAs (miRNAs) are important posttranscriptional regulators during
      hematopoietic lineage commitment and lymphocyte development. Mature miRNAs are
      processed from primary miRNA transcripts in two steps by the microprocessor
      complex, consisting of Drosha and its partner DiGeorge Critical Region 8 (DGCR8),
      and the RNAse III enzyme, Dicer. Conditional ablations of Drosha and Dicer have
      established the importance of both RNAses in B- and T-cell development. Here, we
      show that a cre-mediated B-cell specific deletion of DGCR8 in mice results in a
      nearly complete maturation block at the transition from the pro-B to the pre-B
      cell stage, and a failure to upregulate Ig MU heavy chain expression in pro-B
      cells. Furthermore, we found that the death of freshly isolated DGCR8-deficient
      pro-B cells could be partially prevented by enforced Bcl2 expression. We conclude
      from these findings that the microprocessor component DGCR8 is essential for
      survival and differentiation of early B-cell progenitors.

PMID- 27641148
TI  - High Cycle-life Shape Memory Polymer at High Temperature.
AB  - High cycle-life is important for shape memory materials exposed to numerous
      cycles, and here we report shape memory polyimide that maintained both high shape
      fixity (Rf) and shape recovery (Rr) during the more than 1000 bending cycles
      tested. Its critical stress is 2.78 MPa at 250  degrees C, and the shape recovery
      process can produce stored energy of 0.218 J g(-1) at the efficiency of 31.3%.
      Its high Rf is determined by the large difference in storage modulus at rubbery
      and glassy states, while the high Rr mainly originates from its permanent phase
      composed of strong pi-pi interactions and massive chain entanglements. Both
      difference in storage modulus and overall permanent phase were preserved during
      the bending deformation cycles, and thus high Rf and Rr were observed in every
      cycle and the high cycle-life will expand application areas of SMPs enormously.

PMID- 27641146
TI  - Structural Analysis of the Hg(II)-Regulatory Protein Tn501 MerR from Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa.
AB  - The metalloprotein MerR is a mercury(II)-dependent transcriptional repressor
      activator that responds to mercury(II) with extraordinary sensitivity and
      selectivity. It's widely distributed in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive
      bacteria but with barely detectable sequence identities between the two sources.
      To provide structural basis for the considerable biochemical and biophysical
      experiments previously performed on Tn501 and Tn21 MerR from Gram-negative
      bacteria, we analyzed the crystal structure of mercury(II)-bound Tn501 MerR. The
      structure in the metal-binding domain provides Tn501 MerR with a high affinity
      for mercury(II) and the ability to distinguish mercury(II) from other metals with
      its unique planar trigonal coordination geometry, which is adopted by both Gram
      negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The mercury(II) coordination state in the C
      terminal metal-binding domain is transmitted through the allosteric network
      across the dimer interface to the N-terminal DNA-binding domain. Together with
      the previous mutagenesis analyses, the present data indicate that the residues in
      the allosteric pathway have a central role in maintaining the functions of Tn501
      MerR. In addition, the complex structure exhibits significant differences in
      tertiary and quaternary structural arrangements compared to those of Bacillus
      MerR from Gram-positive bacteria, which probably enable them to function with
      specific promoter DNA with different spacers between -35 and -10 elements.

PMID- 27641150
TI  - Repair of an Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography-Related Large
      Duodenal Perforation Using Double Endoscopic Band Ligation and Endoclipping.
AB  - Endoscopic closure techniques have been introduced for the repair of duodenal
      wall perforations that occur during endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). We report a case of successful repair of a large
      duodenal wall perforation by using double endoscopic band ligation (EBL) and an
      endoclip. Lateral duodenal wall perforation occurred during ERCP in a 93-year-old
      woman with acute calculous cholangitis. We switched to a forward endoscope that
      had a transparent band apparatus. A 2.0-cm oval-shaped perforation was found at
      the lateral duodenal wall. We repaired the perforation by sequentially performing
      double EBL and endoclipping. The first EBL was performed at the proximal edge of
      the perforation orifice, and two-thirds of the perforation were repaired. The
      second EBL, which also included the contents covered under the first EBL,
      repaired the defect almost completely. Finally, to account for the possible
      presence of a residual perforation, an endoclip was applied at the distal end of
      the perforation. The detection and closure of the perforation were completed
      within 10 minutes. We suggest that double EBL is an effective method for closure.

PMID- 27641149
TI  - External Validation of the Endoscopic Features of Sessile Serrated Adenomas in
      Expert and Trainee Colonoscopists.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is unclear whether the endoscopic features of sessile
      serrated adenomas (SSAs) would be useful to trainee colonoscopists to predict
      SSA. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify features that expert and
      trainee colonoscopists can use to independently and reliably predict SSA by using
      high-resolution white-light endoscopy. METHODS: Endoscopic images of 81 polyps
      (39 SSAs, 22 hyperplastic polyps, and 20 tubular adenomas) from 43 patients were
      retrospectively evaluated by 10 colonoscopists (four experts and six trainees).
      Eight endoscopic features of SSAs were assessed for each polyp. RESULTS:
      According to multivariable analysis, a mucous cap (odds ratio [OR], 10.44; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 5.72 to 19.07), indistinctive borders (OR, 4.21; 95%
      CI, 2.74 to 7.16), dark spots (OR, 3.64; 95% CI, 1.89 to 7.00), and cloud-like
      surface (OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.27 to 4.668) were independent predictors of SSAs.
      Among these, a mucous cap, indistinctive borders, and cloud-like surface showed
      moderate interobserver agreement (mean kappa >0.40) among experts and trainees.
      When >=1 of the three predictors was observed, the sensitivity and specificity
      for diagnosing SSAs were 79.0% and 81.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Colonoscopy
      trainees and experts can use several specific endoscopic features to
      independently and reliably predict SSAs.

PMID- 27641151
TI  - Mediastinal Pancreatic Pseudocysts.
AB  - Mediastinal pseudocysts are a rare complication of acute pancreatitis. Lack of
      uniform treatment standards makes the management of this condition a clinical
      challenge. We report the case of a 43-year-old patient who presented with a left
      pleural effusion. Pleural fluid revealed a high amylase concentration consistent
      with a pancreaticopleural fistula. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
      (ERCP) revealed a disruption of the pancreatic duct with free outflow of contrast
      medium into the thoracic cavity. A pancreatic stent was placed. The second day
      after the ERCP, the patient developed septic shock and was admitted to the
      intensive care unit. Computed tomography (CT) revealed mediastinal pseudocysts
      and bilateral pleural effusions. After bilateral drainage of the pleural
      cavities, the patient improved clinically, and a follow-up CT scan showed that
      the fluid collection and pseudocysts had resolved. We discuss the optimal
      strategies for diagnosing and treating patients with pancreatic thoracic
      pseudocysts and fistulas, as well as review the management of these conditions.

PMID- 27641152
TI  - Towards a Model-Based Dose Recommendation for Doxorubicin in Children.
AB  - Following the publication of our paper regarding a population-based model of
      doxorubicin pharmacokinetics in children in Clinical Pharmacokinetics last year
      (Voller et al. 54:1139-1149, 2015), we have received many inquiries on the
      practical clinical consequences of this model; however, a population-based model
      is only one of the aspects to be taken into account when developing dosing
      algorithms. In addition, any new method of dose calculation would need clinical
      validation and, subsequently, a new clinical trial. However, such a trial,
      especially with regard to burden to the children involved, requires optimal
      preparation and the selection of the best hypotheses. The European Paediatric
      Oncology Off-Patent Medicines Consortium (EPOC), represented by the authors,
      would therefore like to initiate an interdisciplinary discussion on the clinical
      and pharmacological goals for dose calculation. This current opinion summarizes
      the existing knowledge on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of
      doxorubicin. Our aim was to define the clinical needs as precisely as possible,
      with the intention of stimulating discussion between the clinical pediatric
      oncologist and the pediatric pharmacologist. By doing so, we hope to define
      surrogates for best practice of a common doxorubicin dose in children. The intent
      is for a trial to validate a rational dose calculation rule, leading to a
      regulatory process and subsequent labeling.

PMID- 27641155
TI  - More than just tissue diagnosis in a patient with maxillofacial bony lesions and
      hypercalcemia.
AB  - Brown tumors are a definitive feature of hyperparathyroidism. They are well
      demarcated osteolytic lesions commonly in the appendicular skeleton. Primary
      hyperparathyroidism is typically suggested by hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia
      on routine labs. Much more rarely do these cases present with a craniofacial
      mass. Here we investigate a unique presentation of terminal stage primary
      hyperparathyroidism with a growing maxillary mass emphasizing the importance of a
      broad differential diagnosis and key diagnostic studies. Hyperparathyroidism can
      present in very unique ways. As otolaryngologists in the frontline, we must think
      beyond just tissue diagnoses so that appropriate and expedited care may be
      implemented. Laryngoscope, 127:1318-1321, 2017.

PMID- 27641153
TI  - Genetic Polymorphisms Affecting the Pharmacokinetics of Antiretroviral Drugs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral treatment is highly effective in enhancing HIV
      positive patients' survival and quality of life. Despite an increased
      tolerability in recent years, a substantial amount of patients experience side
      effects. Antiretrovirals' efficacy and tolerability have been associated with
      plasma concentrations and single nucleotide polymorphisms in selected genes
      involved in drug disposition. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to review the current
      knowledge in genetic polymorphisms affecting plasma, intracellular or
      compartmental concentrations of antiretrovirals. METHODS: A search of the PubMed
      database was conducted to identify relevant articles, using the following terms:
      'pharmacogenetics' or 'pharmacogenomics' or 'single nucleotide polymorphisms' or
      'genetic/allelic variants' and 'pharmacokinetics' or 'concentrations' and 'HIV'
      or 'antiretroviral'. Abstracts from the main HIV conferences during 2015 and 2016
      were also searched using the same keywords. Abstracts were manually checked and,
      if relevant, full papers were obtained. Only articles published in English were
      selected. RESULTS: Several genetic polymorphisms in genes coding enzymes involved
      in drug metabolism (cytochrome P450 isoenzymes and uridine diphosphate
      glucuronosyltransferases) and transport (P-glycoprotein, anionic and cationic
      transporters, other transporters), as well as nuclear receptors (pregnane X
      receptor and the constitutive androstane receptor), have been associated with
      concentrations of antiretrovirals. The extent of such influence, the conflicting
      data, and the potential clinical relevance are discussed in the main section of
      this article. CONCLUSION: Genetic polymorphisms may affect antiretroviral
      disposition, as well as both efficacy and toxicity. Despite a large amount of
      data, such precious knowledge has seldom been applied in patients. Studies on the
      clinical relevance and cost effectiveness of tailoring antiretroviral regimens to
      patients' genetic assets are lacking, but their importance may grow with the
      increasing age and complexity of persons living with HIV/AIDS.

PMID- 27641156
TI  - Building strong relationships between conservation genetics and primary industry
      leads to mutually beneficial genomic advances.
AB  - Several reviews in the past decade have heralded the benefits of embracing high
      throughput sequencing technologies to inform conservation policy and the
      management of threatened species, but few have offered practical advice on how to
      expedite the transition from conservation genetics to conservation genomics.
      Here, we argue that an effective and efficient way to navigate this transition is
      to capitalize on emerging synergies between conservation genetics and primary
      industry (e.g., agriculture, fisheries, forestry and horticulture). Here, we
      demonstrate how building strong relationships between conservation geneticists
      and primary industry scientists is leading to mutually-beneficial outcomes for
      both disciplines. Based on our collective experience as collaborative New Zealand
      based scientists, we also provide insight for forging these cross-sector
      relationships.

PMID- 27641157
TI  - Palliative Care Consultations in Nursing Homes and Reductions in Acute Care Use
      and Potentially Burdensome End-of-Life Transitions.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate how receipt and timing of nursing home (NH) palliative
      care consultations (primarily by nurse practitioners with palliative care
      expertise) are associated with end-of-life care transitions and acute care use
      DESIGN: Propensity score-matched retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Forty-six
      NHs in two states. PARTICIPANTS: Nursing home residents who died from 2006 to
      2010 stratified according to days between initial consultation and death (<=7, 8
      30, 31-60, 61-180). Propensity score matching identified three controls (n =
      1,174) according to strata for each consultation recipient (n = 477).
      MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were hospitalizations in the last 7, 30, and 60 days of
      life; emergency department (ED) visits in the last 30 and 60 days; and any
      potentially burdensome care transition, defined as hospitalization or hospice
      admission within 3 days of death or two or more hospitalizations or ED visits
      within 30 days. Weighted multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to
      evaluate outcomes. RESULTS: Residents with consultations had lower rates of
      hospitalization than controls, with rates lowest when initial consultations were
      furthest from death. For instance, in residents with initial consultations 8 to
      30 days before death, the adjusted hospitalization rate in the last 7 days of
      life was 11.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 9.8-12.4%), vs 22.0% (95% CI =
      20.6-23.4%) in controls, although in those with initial consultations 61 to 180
      days before death, rates were 6.9% (95% CI = 5.5-8.4%), vs 22.9% (95% CI = 20.5
      25.4%). Potentially burdensome transition rates were lower when consultations
      were 61 to 180 days before death (16.2%, 95% CI = 13.7-18.6%), vs 28.2% (95% CI =
      25.8-30.6%) for controls. CONCLUSION: Palliative care consultations improve end
      of-life NH care by reducing acute care use and potentially burdensome care
      transitions.

PMID- 27641154
TI  - Genotypes Affecting the Pharmacokinetics of Anticancer Drugs.
AB  - Cancer treatment is becoming more and more individually based as a result of the
      large inter-individual differences that exist in treatment outcome and toxicity
      when patients are treated using population-based drug doses. Polymorphisms in
      genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters can significantly
      influence uptake, metabolism, and elimination of anticancer drugs. As a result,
      the altered pharmacokinetics can greatly influence drug efficacy and toxicity.
      Pharmacogenetic screening and/or drug-specific phenotyping of cancer patients
      eligible for treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs, prior to the start of
      anticancer treatment, can identify patients with tumors that are likely to be
      responsive or resistant to the proposed drugs. Similarly, the identification of
      patients with an increased risk of developing toxicity would allow either dose
      adaptation or the application of other targeted therapies. This review focuses on
      the role of genetic polymorphisms significantly altering the pharmacokinetics of
      anticancer drugs. Polymorphisms in DPYD, TPMT, and UGT1A1 have been described
      that have a major impact on the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil,
      mercaptopurine, and irinotecan, respectively. For other drugs, however, the
      association of polymorphisms with pharmacokinetics is less clear. To date, the
      influence of genetic variations on the pharmacokinetics of the increasingly used
      monoclonal antibodies has hardly been investigated. Some studies indicate that
      genes encoding the Fcgamma-receptor family are of interest, but more research is
      needed to establish if screening before the start of therapy is beneficial.
      Considering the profound impact of polymorphisms in drug transporters and drug
      metabolizing enzymes on the pharmacokinetics of chemotherapeutic drugs and hence,
      their toxicity and efficacy, pharmacogenetic and pharmacokinetic profiling should
      become the standard of care.

PMID- 27641159
TI  - Traumatic injuries of the diaphragm: overview of imaging findings and diagnosis.
AB  - Injuries to the diaphragm muscle occur in penetrating and severe blunt trauma and
      can lead to delayed hernia formation. Computed tomography is the mainstay in the
      diagnosis of these injuries, which may be subtle at presentation. Imaging
      findings differ between blunt and penetrating trauma. Key features in blunt
      trauma include diaphragm fragment distraction and organ herniation because of
      increased intra-abdominal pressure. In penetrating trauma, herniation is
      uncommon, and the trajectory of the object is critical in making the diagnosis of
      diaphragm injury in these patients. Radiologists must keep a high index of
      suspicion for injury to the diaphragm in cases of trauma to the chest or abdomen.

PMID- 27641158
TI  - Ginsenoside Rd attenuates breast cancer metastasis implicating derepressing
      microRNA-18a-regulated Smad2 expression.
AB  - Metastasis remains a major cause of mortality and poor prognosis in breast cancer
      patients. Anti-metastatic therapies are in great need to achieve optimal clinical
      outcome in breast cancer patients. Panax Notoginseng Saponins (PNS) has
      previously been shown to inhibit breast cancer metastasis in mouse. Here the
      potential anti-metastatic effect of one of the chemical compounds of PNS,
      ginsenoside Rd (Rd), was further evaluated in mouse mammary carcinoma 4T1 cells.
      The results revealed that Rd treatment dose-dependently suppressed cell migration
      and invasion in cultured 4T1 cells. In 4T1 cell-inoculated mice, Rd treatment led
      to decreased number of tumor lesions in lungs in both spontaneous and
      experimental metastasis models. Rd treatment resulted in increased expression of
      Smad2 in cultured 4T1 cells and in tumors grown from inoculated 4T1 cells. Rd
      treatment decreased the expression of microRNA (miR)-18a in cultured 4T1 cells
      and in tumors derived from inoculated 4T1 cells. Smad2 was further verified to be
      a direct target of miR-18a in 4T1 cells. The significant impact of Rd on
      counteracting miR-18a-medidated downregulation of Smad2 expression was also
      demonstrated. Together, the current work shows for the first time that Rd
      treatment attenuates breast cancer metastasis in part through derepressing miR
      18a-mediated Smad2 expression regulation.

PMID- 27641209
TI  - Stop only advising physical activity in adults with haemophilia... prescribe it
      now! The role of exercise therapy and nutrition in chronic musculoskeletal
      diseases.

PMID- 27641160
TI  - Seasonal morphometry of the vomeronasal organ in the marsupial mouse, Antechinus
      subtropicus.
AB  - The vomeronasal system consists of a peripheral organ and the connected central
      neuronal networks. The central connections are sexually dimorphic in rodents, and
      in some species, parameters of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) vary with sex,
      hormonal exposure, body size and seasonality. The VNO of the dasyurid marsupial
      mouse, Antechinus subtropicus is presumed to be functional. The unusual life
      history (male semelparity) is marked by distinct seasonality with differences in
      hormonal environments both between males and females, and in males at different
      time points. Body size parameters (e.g., length, weight) display sexual
      dimorphism and, in males, a pronounced weight gain before breeding is followed by
      a rapid decline during the single, short reproductive season. VNO morphometry was
      investigated in male and female A. subtropicus to identify possible life cycle
      associated activity. The overall length of the VNO is positively correlated with
      the size of the animal. The amount of sensory epithelium exhibits a negative
      correlation, decreasing with increasing size of the animal. The effects of sex
      and breeding condition are not obvious, although they do suggest that sensory
      vomeronasal epithelium mass declines in the breeding period. The VNO may be more
      important in A. subtropicus before breeding when it may participate in
      synchronising reproduction and in the development of the male stress response. J.
      Morphol. 277:1517-1530, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641210
TI  - Setting conservation priorities for migratory networks under uncertainty.
AB  - Conserving migratory species requires protecting connected habitat along the
      pathways they travel. Despite recent improvements in tracking animal movements,
      migratory connectivity remains poorly resolved at a population level for the vast
      majority of species, thus conservation prioritization is hampered. To address
      this data limitation, we developed a novel approach to spatial prioritization
      based on a model of potential connectivity derived from empirical data on species
      abundance and distance traveled between sites during migration. We applied the
      approach to migratory shorebirds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
      Conservation strategies that prioritized sites based on connectivity and
      abundance metrics together maintained larger populations of birds than strategies
      that prioritized sites based only on abundance metrics. The conservation value of
      a site therefore depended on both its capacity to support migratory animals and
      its position within the migratory pathway; the loss of crucial sites led to
      partial or total population collapse. We suggest that conservation approaches
      that prioritize sites supporting large populations of migrants should, where
      possible, also include data on the spatial arrangement of sites.

PMID- 27641211
TI  - Gender Differences in Workplace Disclosure and Supports for Domestic Violence:
      Results of a Pan-Canadian Survey.
AB  - Although domestic violence is increasingly identified as a workplace issue,
      little is known about workplace supports and the role of gender in workplace
      disclosure experiences. Using a subset of 2,831 people who experienced domestic
      violence, we examined (a) who discloses at work and to whom, and reasons for not
      disclosing; (b) helpfulness of disclosure recipients, including types of supports
      received; and (c) overall outcomes of disclosing, including negative
      consequences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content
      analysis. More than 40% of participants disclosed domestic violence at work,
      usually to coworkers or supervisors. They received various supports which were
      generally seen as helpful. Although not common, negative consequences of
      disclosure were reported. Men were less likely to disclose, but few other gender
      differences emerged. Implications for improving workplace supports are discussed.

PMID- 27641212
TI  - An Lysophosphatidic Acid Receptors 1 and 3 Axis Governs Cellular Senescence of
      Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Promotes Growth and Vascularization of Multiple
      Myeloma.
AB  - Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells and there is
      much interest in how MSCs contribute to the regulation of the tumor
      microenvironment. Whether MSCs exert a supportive or suppressive effect on tumor
      progression is still controversial, but is likely dependent on a variety of
      factors that are tumor-type dependent. Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by
      growth of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow. It has been shown that the
      progression of MM is governed by MSCs, which act as a stroma of the myeloma
      cells. Although stroma is created via mutual communication between myeloma cells
      and MSCs, the mechanism is poorly understood. Here we explored the role of
      lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) signaling in cellular events where MSCs were
      converted into either MM-supportive or MM-suppressive stroma. We found that
      myeloma cells stimulate MSCs to produce autotaxin, an indispensable enzyme for
      the biosynthesis of LPA, and LPA receptor 1 (LPA1) and 3 (LPA3) transduce
      opposite signals to MSCs to determine the fate of MSCs. LPA3-silenced MSCs
      (siLPA3-MSCs) exhibited cellular senescence-related phenotypes in vitro, and
      significantly promoted progression of MM and tumor-related angiogenesis in vivo.
      In contrast, siLPA1-MSCs showed resistance to cellular senescence in vitro, and
      efficiently delayed progression of MM and tumor-related angiogenesis in vivo.
      Consistently, anti-MM effects obtained by LPA1-silencing in MSCs were completely
      reproduced by systemic administration of Ki6425, an LPA1 antagonist.
      Collectively, our results indicate that LPA signaling determines the fate of MSCs
      and has potential as a therapeutic target in MM. Stem Cells 2017;35:739-753.

PMID- 27641213
TI  - Development of human albumin-based nanoparticles for diagnostic optical molecular
      imaging of early inflammation and adenocarcinoma?.

PMID- 27641215
TI  - Making use of modeling and simulations: Towards individualized tamoxifen therapy
      in breast cancer?.

PMID- 27641214
TI  - Knowledge-based approach to identify key determinants of cisplatin sensitivity?.

PMID- 27641216
TI  - Agonistic anti-CD40 therapy synergizes with LAG-3-blocking antibodies?.

PMID- 27641217
TI  - The efficacy of febuxostat 10 mg for the prevention of hyperuricemia associated
      with tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) in Japanese patients with non-Hodgkin's
      lymphoma?.
AB  - Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a life-threatening oncologic emergency. The control
      of serum uric acid level (UA) is important for prevention of TLS. Febuxostat has
      demonstrated its superiority over allopurinol in decreasing UA level. We
      retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of febuxostat 10 mg in prevention of
      hyperuricemia associated with TLS (HU-TLS) in 12 patients with non-Hodgkin's
      lymphoma (NHL). Mean UA levels were found to significantly decrease (p = 0.003).
      HU-TLS was prevented in all patients. Thus, febuxostat 10 mg is effective in
      prevention of HU-TLS. Future study is need to determine whether the incidence of
      HU-TLS change with dosage of febuxostat.?.

PMID- 27641218
TI  - Usefulness of thyroglobulin in cervical lymph node fine-needle aspirations at
      initial thyroidectomy for the diagnosis of metastases in papillary thyroid
      cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the role of fine-needle aspiration biopsy and thyroglobulin
      measurement (FNAB-Tg) in diagnosing cervical lymph node (CLN) metastases in
      patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) before thyroidectomy. METHODS:
      Ultrasonography (US)-guided FNAB was performed on 92 patients with PTCs with 105
      CLNs before surgery. The wash-out of the FNAB-Tg level was detected. RESULTS:
      Based on the final pathology, 67 lymph nodes (LNs) were positive for metastasis,
      and 38 LNs were negative for metastasis. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy,
      positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of FNAB-Tg in
      thyroidectomized patients was 100%, 86.8%, 95.2%, 97.3%, and 95.2%, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: FNAB-Tg is a useful technique for diagnosing CLN metastasis of PTC
      before thyroidectomy.?.

PMID- 27641219
TI  - Short- and long-term efficacy and safety of triple vs. dual antithrombotic
      therapy in patients with drug-eluting stent implantation and an indication for
      oral anticoagulation: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal antithrombotic regimen after coronary stenting in
      patients taking oral anticoagulants (OACs) is still unclear. Therefore, this meta
      analysis focused on the short- and long-term efficacy and safety of triple
      therapy (TT: OAC, aspirin, and thienopyridine) and dual therapy (DT: OAC plus
      single antiplatelet drug or aspirin plus thienopyridine). METHODS: We searched
      PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Wangfang database, and Google Scholar up to
      December 1, 2015 (January 1, 2000 - December 2015), from randomized and
      nonrandomized studies comparing TT and DT in patients with OACs undergoing drug
      eluting stent (DES) implantation. Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular
      events (MACCE) were the main outcome. Safety outcome was major bleeding (MB).
      RESULTS: Of 964 publications identified, 1 randomized study and 27 nonrandomized
      studies of 31,346 patients were included. Overall, TT and OAC plus clopidogrel
      were associated with a lower risk of MACCE, stroke, MI, and allcause mortality
      compared with dual antiplatelet therapy or OAC plus aspirin. Additionally, short
      term use of triple antithrombotic regimen with OAC, aspirin, and clopidogrel is
      associated with equivalent risk of major bleeding and decreased rate of MACCE.
      Long-term use of OAC plus clopidogrel after TT was associated with equal or
      better benefit and safety outcomes. CONCLUSION: For patients on OAC after
      coronary stenting, triple therapy (OAC, aspirin, clopidogrel) should be
      considered in the short term, followed by more long-term therapy with OAC plus
      clopidogrel. More randomized studies are needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 27641220
TI  - Increasing use of nonsurgical therapy in advanced-stage oral cavity cancer: A
      population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: National guidelines support surgical-based treatment and offer
      nonsurgical therapy as an alternative for advanced-stage oral cavity squamous
      cell carcinoma (SCC). There are limited data evaluating current utilization of
      these therapies and their survival outcomes. METHODS: A total of 5856 patients
      were found in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database
      from 1988 to 2008 with resectable advanced-stage oral cavity SCC tumors. Outcomes
      were disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Surgical
      therapy had significantly improved mean DSS and OS (115 and 71 months,
      respectively) compared to nonsurgical therapy (63 and 35 months, respectively; p
      < .001). The use of nonsurgical therapy was significantly associated with the
      hard palate, and patients who were single, divorced, and black, with T3, T4, and
      N3 tumors, and the percent utilization has significantly increased from 12% to
      20% (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Utilization of nonsurgical therapy for advanced-stage
      oral cavity SCC is increasing and is independently associated with a reduction in
      survival, as well as patient factors traditionally associated with reduced access
      to medical care and advanced T and N classifications. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc. Head Neck 39: 82-91, 2017.

PMID- 27641221
TI  - Heal rate of metatarsal fractures: A propensity-matching study of patients
      treated with low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) vs. surgical and other
      treatments.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Whether to treat metatarsal fractures conservatively or surgically
      is controversial. We test a hypothesis that metatarsal fractures treated
      conservatively with non-invasive low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) obtain
      heal rates comparable to current surgical techniques. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      is a retrospective observational cohort study, using patient outcomes from a
      prospectively-collected LIPUS registry required by the U.S. Food & Drug
      Administration. Registry data were collected over a 5-year period and were
      reviewed and validated by a registered nurse. Data required for analysis were
      days-to-treatment (DTT) with LIPUS and a dichotomous outcome of healed versus
      failed, as assessed by clinical and radiographic criteria. Registry patients
      (DTT<365days) were propensity-matched to metatarsal fracture patients from a
      health claims database that includes medical and drug expenses for ~90.1 million
      patients. The propensity match was based on patient demographic data (age,
      gender, body weight, fracture severity, and smoking status). RESULTS: A total of
      594 metatarsal fractures were treated with LIPUS, including 161 Jones fractures.
      Compared to patients in the claims database, LIPUS-treated patients were more
      likely to: be overweight or obese; be male; have open fracture; and smoke (all,
      P<0.0001), suggesting that these variables were perceived as nonunion risk
      factors by prescribing physicians. After propensity-matching, none of these
      differences between the registry and the health claims database remained
      significant. The heal rate with LIPUS treatment was 97.3%, comparable to the heal
      rate of 95.3% among claims patients in 2011 who did not receive LIPUS (P=0.0654).
      When fresh fractures (0-90days) and delayed unions (91-365days) were analyzed
      separately, the LIPUS fresh fracture heal rate was superior to claims patients
      (P=0.0381), and the delayed union heal rate was comparable. After exclusion of
      registry patients who received surgery, heal rate with LIPUS alone (97.4%) was
      significantly better (P<0.0097) than the heal rate for matched patients in 2011
      (94.2%). CONCLUSIONS: LIPUS significantly improved the heal rate of metatarsal
      fractures <1year old without surgery (P=0.0097). Metatarsal fractures treated
      with LIPUS alone have a heal rate comparable to fractures treated by surgical
      intervention.

PMID- 27641222
TI  - Experience of implementing a National pre-hospital Code Red bleeding protocol in
      Scotland.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Scottish Transfusion and Laboratory Support in Trauma Group
      (TLSTG) have introduced a unified National pre-hospital Code Red protocol. This
      paper reports the results of a study aiming to establish whether current pre
      hospital Code Red activation criteria for trauma patients successfully predict
      need for in hospital transfusion or haemorrhagic death, the current admission
      coagulation profile and Concentrated Red Cell (CRC): Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP)
      ratio being used, and whether use of the protocol leads to increased blood
      component discards? METHODS: Prospective cohort study. Clinical and transfusion
      leads for each of Scotland's pre-hospital services and their receiving hospitals
      agreed to enter data into the study for all trauma patients for whom a pre
      hospital Code Red was activated. Outcome data collected included survival 24h
      after Code Red activation, survival to hospital discharge, death in the Emergency
      Department and death in hospital. RESULTS: Between June 1st 2013 and October 31st
      2015 there were 53 pre-hospital Code Red activations. Median Injury Severity
      Score (ISS) was 24 (IQR 14-37) and mortality 38%. 16 patients received pre
      hospital blood. The pre-hospital Code Red protocol was sensitive for predicting
      transfusion or haemorrhagic death (89%). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and
      negative predictive values of the pre-hospital SBP <90mmHg component were 63%,
      33%, 86% and 12%. 19% had an admission prothrombin time >14s and 27% had a
      fibrinogen <1.5g/L. CRC: FFP ratios did not drop to below 2:1 until 150min after
      arrival in the ED. 16 red cell units, 33 FFP and 6 platelets were discarded. This
      was not significantly increased compared to historical data. CONCLUSIONS: A
      National pre-hospital Code Red protocol is sensitive for predicting transfusion
      requirement in bleeding trauma patients and does not lead to increased blood
      component discards. A significant number of patients are coagulopathic and there
      is a need to improve CRC: FFP ratios and time to transfusion support especially
      FFP provision. Training clinicians to activate pre-hospital Code Red earlier
      during the pre-hospital phase may give blood bank more time to thaw and prepare
      FFP and may improve FFP administration times and ratios so long as components are
      used upon their availability.

PMID- 27641223
TI  - High-Resolution Imaging by Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy Reveals
      Two Morphologically Distinct Types of Retinal Hard Exudates.
AB  - Histological studies from autopsy specimens have characterized hard exudates as a
      composition of lipid-laden macrophages or noncellular materials including lipid
      and proteinaceous substances (hyaline substances). However, the characteristics
      of hard exudates in living patients have not been examined due to insufficient
      resolution of existing equipment. In this study, we used adaptive optics scanning
      laser ophthalmoscopy (AO-SLO) to examine the characteristics of hard exudates in
      patients with retinal vascular diseases. High resolution imaging using AO-SLO
      enables morphological classification of retinal hard exudates into two types,
      which could not be distinguished either on fundus examination or by spectral
      domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). One, termed a round type, consisted
      of an accumulation of spherical particles (average diameter of particles: 26.9 +/
      4.4 MUm). The other, termed an irregular type, comprised an irregularly shaped
      hyper-reflective deposition. The retinal thickness in regions with round hard
      exudates was significantly greater than the thickness in regions with irregular
      hard exudates (P = 0.02). This differentiation of retinal hard exudates in
      patients by AO-SLO may help in understanding the pathogenesis and clinical
      prognosis of retinal vascular diseases

PMID- 27641224
TI  - Endovascular "neobranching" to manage acute aortic syndrome.
AB  - Acute aortic syndrome was coined in 2001 to describe a spectrum of acute aortic
      wall pathologies. The syndrome represents a cluster of aortic conditions such as
      aortic dissection, intramural hematoma and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer.
      Acute aortic dissection is more common than the latter two pathologies with an
      incidence of up to 6 cases per 100,000 per year. The following report focuses on
      an unusual case presentation emphasizing the newest management techniques
      including "neobranching" whilst dealing with challenging patient anatomy and
      refractory hypertension. We believe this case report eventually broadens our
      understanding of acute aortic syndrome whilst addressing an entry tear outside
      the aorta by placing "neobranches". (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641225
TI  - Epidemiology and risk factors of invasive fungal infections in a large cohort of
      patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

PMID- 27641227
TI  - Prevalence and clinical aspects of immigrants with myasthenia gravis in northern
      Europe.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Multiethnic studies can provide etiological clues toward the
      genetic and environmental influence of a disease. The aim of this study was to
      determine prevalence and clinical features of myasthenia gravis (MG) in
      immigrants compared with native patients in 2 population-based cohorts. METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study included 843 MG patients (375 from Norway and 468 from
      the Netherlands). Ethnic background was defined by questionnaires. RESULTS: Among
      the participating MG patients, 163 of 843 (19.3%) were first or second generation
      immigrants, mainly from Europe, Asia, and South America. No marked prevalence
      differences were found between immigrants and native ethnic groups. MG with
      muscle specific kinase antibodies and MG with thymoma were more frequent in Asian
      MG immigrants compared with other ethnic groups (8% vs. 0-4%; P < 0.001 and 21%
      vs. 6-10%; P < 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that
      Asian immigrant MG patients carry genetic factors or environmental/lifestyle
      factors which contribute to their specific phenotype, even after migration.
      Muscle Nerve 55: 819-827, 2017.

PMID- 27641229
TI  - Paraaortic node recurrence 25 years after removal of epithelial ovarian
      carcinoma.
AB  - In epithelial ovarian carcinoma, very late (more than 20 years) recurrence is an
      unusual event. In patients experiencing such a recurrence, the effectiveness of
      platinum/taxane chemotherapy has been questioned. A 54-year old woman presented
      with paraaortic node swelling that appeared 25 years after treatment of stage I
      epithelial ovarian carcinoma. She underwent a partial resection of the nodes and
      histologic examination showed high-grade serous carcinoma. She received
      paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapy and a partial response was initially
      observed on imaging studies; however, serum cancer antigen125 levels increased
      thereafter. She received radiation therapy to the paraaortic nodal disease with
      doses of 45 Gy and achieved a complete response. She was disease-free more than
      eight years after the detection of recurrence. In conclusion, radiation therapy
      may be an effective treatment option in patients with very late recurrence of
      epithelial ovarian carcinoma refractory to platinum/taxane chemotherapy.

PMID- 27641230
TI  - The Use of Testosterone/Cortisol Ratio in Response to Acute Stress as an
      Indicator of Propensity to Anger in Informal Caregivers.
AB  - Caring for an offspring diagnosed with a psychological chronic disorder is used
      in research as a model of chronic stress. Indeed, it is usually associated with
      disturbances in the salivary cortisol (Csal) levels of the caregiver. An
      imbalance between salivary testosterone (Tsal) and Csal levels is a marker of
      proneness to social aggression. Given this, we aimed to establish whether the
      salivary testosterone/cortisol (Tsal/Csal) ratio response to acute stress could
      be employed as a marker of proneness to anger in informal caregivers of offspring
      with autism spectrum (ASD). Tsal/Csal ratio and anger responses to a set of
      different cognitive tasks as well as anger trait and expression were compared in
      these informal caregivers and controls. Caregivers, particularly those of
      offspring with ASD, had higher Tsal/Csal ratios than controls in response to
      acute stress, concretely after the stress in the case of fathers (p = .05) and
      before stress when analyzing mothers (p = .05). Moreover, ASD fathers and mothers
      obtained higher magnitude of the T/C ratio response to stress (p = .03 and p
      =.04, respectively), anger state (p = .02 and p = .02, respectively) and
      expression scores (p = .05 and p = .05, respectively) than controls. Finally,
      high Tsal/Csal ratio levels and response to stress were significantly associated
      with high anger feelings increases (p .05, respectively) and expression (p .05,
      respectively) in caregivers. 

PMID- 27641231
TI  - Hypovolemic Shock After Starting Hemodialysis due to Malposition of Femoral
      Double-Lumen Catheter.

PMID- 27641228
TI  - Global analysis of transcription in castration-resistant prostate cancer cells
      uncovers active enhancers and direct androgen receptor targets.
AB  - Androgen receptor (AR) is a male sex steroid-activated transcription factor (TF)
      that plays a critical role in prostate cancers, including castration-resistant
      prostate cancers (CRPC) that typically express amplified levels of the AR. CRPC
      derived VCaP cells display an excessive number of chromatin AR-binding sites
      (ARBs) most of which localize to distal inter- or intragenic regions. Here, we
      analyzed direct transcription programs of the AR in VCaP cells using global
      nuclear run-on sequencing (GRO-seq) and integrated the GRO-seq data with the ARB
      and VCaP cell-specific TF-binding data. Androgen immediately activated
      transcription of hundreds of protein-coding genes, including IGF-1 receptor and
      EGF receptor. Androgen also simultaneously repressed transcription of a large
      number of genes, including MYC. As functional enhancers have been postulated to
      produce enhancer-templated non-coding RNAs (eRNAs), we also analyzed the eRNAs,
      which revealed that only a fraction of the ARBs reside at functional enhancers.
      Activation of these enhancers was most pronounced at the sites that also bound
      PIAS1, ERG and HDAC3, whereas binding of HDAC3 and PIAS1 decreased at androgen
      repressed enhancers. In summary, our genome-wide data of androgen-regulated
      enhancers and primary target genes provide new insights how the AR can directly
      regulate cellular growth and control signaling pathways in CPRC cells.

PMID- 27641233
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27641232
TI  - Affinity maturation of a broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibody that
      prevents acute hepatitis C virus infection in mice.
AB  - : Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have led to a high cure rate in treated
      patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but this still leaves a
      large number of treatment failures secondary to the emergence of resistance
      associated variants (RAVs). To increase the barrier to resistance, a
      complementary strategy is to use neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies (HMAbs)
      to prevent acute infection. However, earlier efforts with the selected antibodies
      led to RAVs in animal and clinical studies. Therefore, we identified an HMAb that
      is less likely to elicit RAVs for affinity maturation to increase potency and,
      more important, breadth of protection. Selected matured antibodies show improved
      affinity and neutralization against a panel of diverse HCV isolates. Structural
      and modeling studies reveal that the affinity-matured HMAb mediates virus
      neutralization, in part, by inducing conformational change to the targeted
      epitope, and that the maturated light chain is responsible for the improved
      affinity and breadth of protection. A matured HMAb protected humanized mice when
      challenged with an infectious HCV human serum inoculum for a prolonged period.
      However, a single mouse experienced breakthrough infection after 63 days when the
      serum HMAb concentration dropped by several logs; sequence analysis revealed no
      viral escape mutation. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that a single broadly
      neutralizing antibody can prevent acute HCV infection without inducing RAVs and
      may complement DAAs to reduce the emergence of RAVs. (Hepatology 2016;64:1922
      1933).

PMID- 27641235
TI  - Hemispheric asymmetry of ERPs and MMNs evoked by slow, fast and abrupt auditory
      motion.
AB  - The current MMN study investigates whether brain lateralization during automatic
      discrimination of sound stimuli moving at different velocities is consistent with
      one of the three models of asymmetry: the right-hemispheric dominance model, the
      contralateral dominance model, or the neglect model. Auditory event-related
      potentials (ERPs) were recorded for three patterns of sound motion produced by
      linear or abrupt changes of interaural time differences. The slow motion
      (450deg/s) was used as standard, and the fast motion (620deg/s) and the abrupt
      sound shift served as deviants in the oddball blocks. All stimuli had the same
      onset/offset spatial positions. We compared the effects of the recording side
      (left, right) and of the direction of sound displacement (ipsi- or contralateral
      with reference to the side of recording) on the ERPs and mismatch negativity
      (MMN). Our results indicated different patterns of asymmetry for the ERPs and MMN
      responses. The ERPs showed a velocity-independent right-hemispheric dominance
      that emerged at the descending limb of N1 wave (at around 120-160ms) and could be
      related to overall context of the preattentive spatial perception. The MMNs
      elicited in the left hemisphere (at around 230-270ms) exhibited a contralateral
      dominance, whereas the right-hemispheric MMNs were insensitive to the direction
      of sound displacement. These differences in contralaterality between MMN
      responses produced by the left and the right hemisphere favour the neglect model
      of the preattentive motion processing indexed by MMN.

PMID- 27641234
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers of exercise-induced improvement of
      oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain of old high-fat-fed ApoE-/- mice.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Vascular brain lesions and atherosclerosis are two similar conditions
      that are characterized by increased inflammation and oxidative stress. Non
      invasive imaging in a murine model of atherosclerosis showed vascular brain
      damage and peripheral inflammation. In this study, exercise training reduced
      magnetic resonance imaging-detected abnormalities, insulin resistance and markers
      of oxidative stress and inflammation in old ApoE-/- mice. Our results demonstrate
      the protective effect of exercise on neurovascular damage in the ageing brain of
      ApoE-/- mice. ABSTRACT: Vascular brain lesions, present in advanced
      atherosclerosis, share pathological hallmarks with peripheral vascular lesions,
      such as increased inflammation and oxidative stress. Physical activity reduces
      these peripheral risk factors, but its cerebrovascular effect is less documented,
      especially by non-invasive imaging. Through a combination of in vivo and post
      mortem techniques, we aimed to characterize vascular brain damage in old ApoE-/-
      mice fed a high-cholesterol (HC) diet with dietary controlled intake. We then
      sought to determine the beneficial effects of exercise training on oxidative
      stress and inflammation in the brain as a treatment option in an ageing
      atherosclerosis mouse model. Using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and
      biological markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, we evaluated the
      occurrence of vascular abnormalities in the brain of HC-diet fed ApoE-/- mice >70
      weeks old, its association with local and systemic oxidative stress and
      inflammation, and whether both can be modulated by exercise. Exercise training
      significantly reduced both MRI-detected abnormalities (present in 71% of
      untrained vs. 14% of trained mice) and oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation, 9.1
      +/- 1.4 vs. 5.2 +/- 0.9 MUmol mg-1 ; P < 0.01) and inflammation (interleukin
      1beta, 226.8 +/- 27.1 vs. 182.5 +/- 21.5 pg mg-1 ; P < 0.05) in the brain, and
      the mortality rate. Exercise also decreased peripheral insulin resistance,
      oxidative stress and inflammation, but significant associations were seen only
      within brain markers. Highly localized vascular brain damage is a frequent
      finding in this ageing atherosclerosis model, and exercise is able to reduce this
      outcome and improve lifespan. In vivo MRI evaluated both the neurovascular damage
      and the protective effect of exercise.

PMID- 27641237
TI  - Sensitive detection and estimation of cell-derived peroxynitrite fluxes using
      fluorescein-boronate.
AB  - The specific and sensitive detection of peroxynitrite (ONOO-/ONOOH) in biological
      systems is a great challenge due to its high reactivity towards several
      biomolecules. Herein, we validated the advantages of using fluorescein-boronate
      (Fl-B) as a highly sensitive fluorescent probe for the direct detection of
      peroxynitrite under biologically-relevant conditions in two different cell
      models. The synthesis of Fl-B was achieved by a very simply two-step conversion
      synthetic route with high purity (>99%) and overall yield (~42%). Reactivity
      analysis of Fl-B with relevant biological oxidants including hydrogen peroxide
      (H2O2), hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and peroxynitrite were performed. The rate
      constant for the reaction of peroxynitrite with Fl-B was 1.7*106M-1s-1, a million
      times faster than the rate constant measured for H2O2 (k=1.7M-1s-1) and 2,700
      faster than HOCl (6.2*102M-1s-1) at 37 degrees C and pH 7.4. The reaction of Fl-B
      with peroxynitrite was significant even in the presence of physiological
      concentrations of CO2, a well-known peroxynitrite reactant. Experimental and
      simulated kinetic analyses confirm that the main oxidation process of Fl-B takes
      place with peroxynitrite itself via a direct bimolecular reaction and not with
      peroxynitrite-derived radicals. Fl-B was successfully applied for the detection
      of endogenously-generated peroxynitrite by endothelial cells and in macrophage
      phagocyted parasites. Moreover, the generated data allowed estimating the actual
      intracellular flux of peroxynitrite. For instance, ionomycin-stimulated
      endothelial cells generated peroxynitrite at a rate of ~ 0.1MUMs-1, while
      immunostimulated macrophages do so in the order of ~1MUMs-1 inside T. cruzi
      infected phagosomes. Fl-B revealed not to be toxic in concentrations up to 1mM
      for 24h. Cellular peroxynitrite detection was achieved by conventional laboratory
      fluorescence-based methods including flow cytometry and epi-fluorescence
      microscopy. Fl-B was shown to be more sensitive than the coumarin boronate due to
      a higher molar absorption coefficient and quantum yield. Overall, our results
      show that Fl-B is a kinetically selective and highly sensitive probe for the
      direct detection of cell-derived peroxynitrite.

PMID- 27641236
TI  - Shared Decision Making in the Emergency Department Among Patients With Limited
      Health Literacy: Beyond Slower and Louder.
AB  - Although studies suggest that patients with limited health literacy and/or low
      numeracy skills may stand to gain the most from shared decision making (SDM), the
      impact of these conditions on the effective implementation of SDM in the
      emergency department (ED) is not well understood. In this article from the
      proceedings of the 2016 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on
      Shared Decision Making in the Emergency Department we discuss knowledge gaps
      identified and propose consensus-driven research priorities to help guide future
      work to improve SDM for this patient population in the ED.

PMID- 27641238
TI  - Gradual downhill running improves age-related skeletal muscle and bone weakness:
      implication of autophagy and bone morphogenetic proteins.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? Exercise training by
      running has an effect on age-related muscle and bone wasting that improves
      physical activity and quality of life in the elderly. However, the effect of
      downhill running on age-related muscle and bone wasting, and its mechanisms, are
      unclear. What is the main finding and its importance? Gradual downhill running
      can improve skeletal muscle growth and bone formation by enhancing autophagy and
      bone morphogenetic protein signalling in aged rats. Therefore, downhill running
      exercise might be a practical intervention to improve skeletal muscle and bone
      protection in the elderly. Recent evidence suggests that autophagy and the bone
      morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling pathway regulate skeletal muscle growth
      and bone formation in aged rats. However, the effect of downhill running on
      muscle growth and bone formation is not well understood. Thus, we investigated
      the effect of downhill and uphill running on age-related muscle and bone
      weakness. Young and late middle-aged rats were randomly assigned to control
      groups (young, YC; and late middle-aged, LMC) and two types of running training
      groups (late middle-aged downhill, LMD; and late middle-aged uphill, LMU).
      Training was progressively carried out on a treadmill at a speed of 21 m min-1
      with a slope of +10 deg for uphill training versus 16 m min-1 with a slope of -16
      deg for downhill training, both for 60 min day-1 , 5 days week-1 for 8 weeks.
      Downhill and uphill training increased autophagy-related protein 5, microtubule
      associated protein light chain, Beclin-1 and p62 proteins in aged rats. In
      addition, superoxide dismutase, haem oxygenase-1 and the BMP signalling pathway
      were elevated. Phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin and myogenic
      differentiation were increased significantly in the LMD and LMU groups.
      Consequently, in the femur, BMP-2, BMP-7 and autophagy molecules were highly
      expressed in the LMD and LMU groups. These results suggest that both downhill and
      uphill training appear to have a positive effect on expression of autophagy
      molecules and BMPs. In particular, these physiological adaptations from gradual
      downhill exercise have an effect on bone morphological changes and muscle quality
      similar to gradual uphill training interventions in ageing.

PMID- 27641239
TI  - Thoracic Spine Fracture in a Survivor of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest with
      Mechanical CPR.
AB  - This is a report of a thoracic vertebral fracture in a 79-year-old male survivor
      of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with chest compressions provided by a LUCAS 2
      (Physio-Control Inc.; Lund Sweden) device. This is the first such report in the
      literature of a vertebral fracture being noted in a survivor of cardiac arrest
      where an automated compression device was used. Marshall RT , Kotecha H , Chiba T
      , Tennyson J . Thoracic spine fracture in a survivor of out-of-hospital cardiac
      arrest with mechanical CPR. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):684-686.

PMID- 27641242
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 27641241
TI  - Twin studies for the investigation of the relationships between genetic factors
      and brain abnormalities in bipolar disorder.
AB  - The pathogenesis of bipolar disorder (BD) is to date not entirely clear.
      Classical genetic research showed that there is a contribution of genetic factors
      in BD, with high heritability. Twin studies, thanks to the fact that confounding
      factors as genetic background or family environment are shared, allow etiological
      inferences. In this work, we selected twin studies, which focus on the
      relationship between BD, genetic factors and brain structure, evaluated with
      magnetic resonance imaging. All the studies found differences in brain structure
      between BD patients and their co-twins, and also in respect to healthy controls.
      Genetic effects are predominant in white matter, except corpus callosum, while
      gray matter resulted more influenced by environment, or by the disease itself.
      All studies found no interactions between BD and shared environment between
      twins. Twin studies have been demonstrated to be useful in exploring BD
      pathogenesis and could be extremely effective at discriminating the neural
      mechanisms underlying BD.

PMID- 27641240
TI  - iPSC-derived mesenchymal stem cells exert SCF-dependent recovery of cigarette
      smoke-induced apoptosis/proliferation imbalance in airway cells.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as a potential cell-based therapy for
      pulmonary emphysema in animal models. Our previous study demonstrated that human
      induced pluripotent stem cell-derived MSCs (iPSC-MSCs) were superior over bone
      marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) in attenuating cigarette smoke (CS)-induced
      airspace enlargement possibly through mitochondrial transfer. This study further
      investigated the effects of iPSC-MSCs on inflammation, apoptosis, and
      proliferation in a CS-exposed rat model and examined the effects of the secreted
      paracrine factor from MSCs as another possible mechanism in an in vitro model of
      bronchial epithelial cells. Rats were exposed to 4% CS for 1 hr daily for 56
      days. At days 29 and 43, human iPSC-MSCs or BM-MSCs were administered
      intravenously. We observed significant attenuation of CS-induced elevation of
      circulating 8-isoprostane and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 after
      iPSC-MSC treatment. In line, a superior capacity of iPSC-MSCs was also observed
      in ameliorating CS-induced infiltration of macrophages and neutrophils and
      apoptosis/proliferation imbalance in lung sections over BM-MSCs. In support, the
      conditioned medium (CdM) from iPSC-MSCs ameliorated CS medium-induced
      apoptosis/proliferation imbalance of bronchial epithelial cells in vitro.
      Conditioned medium from iPSC-MSCs contained higher level of stem cell factor
      (SCF) than that from BM-MSCs. Deprivation of SCF from iPSC-MSC-derived CdM led to
      a reduction in anti-apoptotic and pro-proliferative capacity. Taken together, our
      data suggest that iPSC-MSCs may possess anti-apoptotic/pro-proliferative capacity
      in the in vivo and in vitro models of CS-induced airway cell injury partly
      through paracrine secretion of SCF.

PMID- 27641243
TI  - Linked color imaging application for improving the endoscopic diagnosis accuracy:
      a pilot study.
AB  - Endoscopy has been widely used in diagnosing gastrointestinal mucosal lesions.
      However, there are still lack of objective endoscopic criteria. Linked color
      imaging (LCI) is newly developed endoscopic technique which enhances color
      contrast. Thus, we investigated the clinical application of LCI and further
      analyzed pixel brightness for RGB color model. All the lesions were observed by
      white light endoscopy (WLE), LCI and blue laser imaging (BLI). Matlab software
      was used to calculate pixel brightness for red (R), green (G) and blue color (B).
      Of the endoscopic images for lesions, LCI had significantly higher R compared
      with BLI but higher G compared with WLE (all P < 0.05). R/(G + B) was
      significantly different among 3 techniques and qualified as a composite LCI
      marker. Our correlation analysis of endoscopic diagnosis with pathology revealed
      that LCI was quite consistent with pathological diagnosis (P = 0.000) and the
      color could predict certain kinds of lesions. ROC curve demonstrated at the
      cutoff of R/(G+B) = 0.646, the area under curve was 0.646, and the sensitivity
      and specificity was 0.514 and 0.773. Taken together, LCI could improve efficiency
      and accuracy of diagnosing gastrointestinal mucosal lesions and benefit target
      biopsy. R/(G + B) based on pixel brightness may be introduced as a objective
      criterion for evaluating endoscopic images.

PMID- 27641244
TI  - Alteration of timing of nursing continuing education units for ultrasound-guided
      intravenous education does not increase utilization.

PMID- 27641245
TI  - Tracheal intubation with a Macintosh laryngoscope with and without chest
      compressions, performed by nurses.

PMID- 27641246
TI  - Introduction of a centrally anti-hypertensive, clonidine, reduces noradrenaline
      requirements in septic shock caused by necrotizing enterocolitis.

PMID- 27641247
TI  - Doxapram reversal of suspected gamma-hydroxybutyrate-induced coma.

PMID- 27641248
TI  - The role of alcohol intoxication in psychiatrists' recension of emergency
      physicians' involuntary admissions.

PMID- 27641249
TI  - Impact of prospective verification of intravenous antibiotics in an ED.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delay in appropriate antibiotic therapy is associated with an
      increase in mortality and prolonged length of stay. Automatic dispensing machines
      decrease the delivery time of intravenous (IV) antibiotics to patients in the
      emergency department (ED). However, when IV antibiotics are not reviewed by
      pharmacists before being administered, patients are at risk for receiving
      inappropriate antibiotic therapy. The objective of this study was to determine if
      a difference exists in the time to administration of appropriate antibiotic
      therapy before and after implementation of prospective verification of
      antibiotics in the ED. METHODS: This retrospective, institutional review board
      approved preimplementation vs postimplementation study evaluated patients 18years
      or older who were started on IV antibiotics in the ED. Patients were excluded if
      pregnant, if the patient is a prisoner, if no cultures were drawn, or if the
      patient was transferred from an outside facility. Appropriate antibiotic therapy
      was based on empiric source-specific evidence-based guidelines, appropriate
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, and microbiologic data. The
      primary end point was the time from ED arrival to administration of appropriate
      antibiotic therapy. RESULTS: Of the 1628 evaluated, 128 patients met the
      inclusion criteria (64 pre vs 64 post). Patients were aged 65.2+/-17.0years, with
      most of infections being pneumonia (44%) and urinary tract infections (18%) and
      most patients being noncritically ill. Time to appropriate antibiotic therapy was
      reduced in the postgroup vs pregroup (8.1+/-8.6 vs 15.2+/-22.8hours,
      respectively, P=.03). In addition, appropriate empiric antibiotics were initiated
      more frequently after the implementation (92% post vs 66% pre; P=.0001). There
      was no difference in mortality or length of stay between the 2 groups.
      CONCLUSION: Prompt administration of the appropriate antibiotics is imperative in
      patients with infections presenting to the ED. The impact of prospective
      verification of antibiotics by pharmacists led to significant improvement on both
      empiric selection of and time to appropriate antibiotic therapy.

PMID- 27641250
TI  - Retrospective study of compliance with secondary survey standards in management
      of major trauma patients.

PMID- 27641251
TI  - First case of chronic wasting disease in Europe in a Norwegian free-ranging
      reindeer.
AB  - Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal contagious prion disease in cervids that
      is enzootic in some areas in North America. The disease has been found in deer,
      elk and moose in the USA and Canada, and in South Korea following the importation
      of infected animals. Here we report the first case of CWD in Europe, in a
      Norwegian free-ranging reindeer in Southern Norway. The origin of the disease is
      unknown. Until now a low number of cervids, and among them a few reindeer, have
      been tested for CWD in Norway. Therefore the prevalence of CWD is unknown.

PMID- 27641252
TI  - Microbial community analysis using MiSeq sequencing in a novel configuration
      fluidized bed reactor for effective denitrification.
AB  - A novel configured fluidized bed reactor (FBR) with granular rubber as the
      fluidized media was operated without internal recirculation to achieve
      denitrification. This FBR could operate under a low hydraulic retention time
      (HRT) of 50min due to the low rubber media density and absence of recirculation.
      Synthetic nitrate-rich wastewater with a fixed nitrate (NO3--N) concentration and
      varying COD concentrations was fed into the FBR. The nitrate removal profile
      showed a rapid nitrate reduction at the bottom of the reactor with a high
      performance under the low HRT. Different microbial communities were identified
      using Illumina Miseq sequencing. The dominant microorganisms belonged to the Beta
      and Gamma-proteobacteria classes and played important roles in nitrate
      reduction. Acidovorax was abundant at low COD: NO3--N ratios, while Rhizobium and
      Zoogloea were dominant at high COD: NO3--N ratios. The COD: NO3--N ratio strongly
      influenced the composition of the microbial community including the dominant
      species.

PMID- 27641253
TI  - Synthesis of Taste-Active gamma-Glutamyl Dipeptides during Sourdough Fermentation
      by Lactobacillus reuteri.
AB  - This study aimed to assess whether peptides influence the taste of sourdough
      bread. gamma-Glutamyl dipeptides with known kokumi taste threshold, namely gamma
      Glu-Glu, gamma-Glu-Leu, gamma-Glu-Ile, gamma-Glu-Phe, gamma-Glu-Met, and gamma
      Glu-Val, were identified in sourdough by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry in MRM mode. gamma-Glutamyl dipeptides were found in higher
      concentrations in sourdough fermented with Lactobacillus reuteri when compared to
      the chemically acidified controls. Proteolysis was an important factor for
      generation of gamma-glutamyl dipeptides. Sourdoughs fermented with four strains
      of L. reuteri had different concentrations of gamma-Glu-Glu, gamma-Glu-Leu, and
      gamma-Glu-Met, indicating strain-specific differences in enzyme activity. Buffer
      fermentations with L. reuteri confirmed the ability of the strains to convert
      amino acids to gamma-glutamyl dipeptides as well as the strain-specific
      differences. Sensory evaluation of bread revealed that sourdough bread with
      higher concentrations of gamma-glutamyl dipeptides ranked higher with respect to
      the taste intensity when compared to regular bread and type I sourdough bread.
      Sourdough breads fermented with L. reuteri LTH5448 and L. reuteri 100-23 differed
      with respect to the intensity of the salty taste; this difference corresponded to
      a different concentration of gamma-glutamyl dipeptides. These results suggest a
      strain-specific contribution of gamma-glutamyl dipeptides to the taste of bread.
      The use of sourdough fermented with glutamate and kokumi peptide accumulating
      lactobacilli improved the taste of bread without adverse effect on other taste or
      quality attributes.

PMID- 27641254
TI  - Microsurgical Resection of Cervical Spinal Cord Arteriovenous Malformations:
      Report of 6 Cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize the experience in microsurgical resection of cervical
      spinal cord arteriovenous malformation (AVM). METHODS: Six patients undergoing
      microsurgical resection of cervical intramedullary AVM in the Third Affiliated
      Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China, between March 2005 and March 2015 were
      reviewed retrospectively, and their clinical manifestations, imaging data,
      surgical treatment, and results of long-term follow-up were analyzed. RESULTS: Of
      the 6 patients who underwent AVM resection, 2 had compact AVMs and 4 had diffuse
      AVMs. All 6 patients were reexamined with spinal magnetic resonance imaging
      within 48 hours after surgery, and 1 patient was examined with digital
      subtraction angiography. The average patient age was 40.7 +/- 10.4 years (range,
      29-60 years). Three patients had chronic onset, of whom 2 developed sensory
      disturbances and 1 had muscle weakness. The other 3 patients had acute onset,
      including 1 with sudden quadriplegia, 1 with idiopathic severe headache and
      altered consciousness, and 1 with idiopathic neck pain. The average duration of
      follow-up was 48.5 +/- 38.9 months (range, 15-119 months). One patient
      experienced complete recovery, and the other 5 patients showed improvement. No
      patient exhibited deterioration. CONCLUSION: Microsurgical resection of cervical
      intramedullary AVMs has obtained satisfactory clinical results. Preoperative
      magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography, and digital
      subtraction angiography are useful for evaluating the angioarchitecture, which is
      key to the success of surgery. Intraoperative indocyanine green fluorescence
      angiography is an important aid in the surgical treatment of spinal AVMs.

PMID- 27641255
TI  - Initial Technical Experience with the SMART Coil for the Embolization of
      Intracranial Aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Traditional platinum coils used for cerebral aneurysm
      embolization have a uniform degree of softness throughout an individual coil's
      length. Recently, SMART Coils (Penumbra Inc., Alameda, California, USA) have been
      developed, which transition in softness along the length of their coils. We
      report the initial clinical results with this technology. METHODS: A
      retrospective study of all patients undergoing aneurysm coiling with SMART Coils
      at 2 centers was performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this new
      technology. Outcome and angiographic data were self-reported by individual
      treatment centers. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients underwent treatment for cerebral
      aneurysms with SMART Coils (44% in the setting of subarachnoid hemorrhage). Mean
      aneurysm size was 5.9 +/- 2 mm * 4.5 +/- 2 mm. Mean neck size was 3.4 +/- 1 mm.
      More than half (54.2%) of the patients underwent coiling exclusively with SMART
      Coils. The remainder used either framing or finishing coils of another type.
      About one third (33.9%) underwent balloon-assisted coiling, and 47.5% underwent
      stent-assisted coiling. There were no device malfunctions in any of the patients.
      Six (10.1%) minor complications without clinical sequelae occurred. Raymond I or
      II occlusion was achieved in 71.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate adequate
      device safety in a variety of both ruptured and unruptured aneurysm locations.
      This design enables progressive changes in softness along the length of an
      individual coil, which offers several potential advantages in the clinical use.
      This initial investigation of SMART Coil technology demonstrates safety and
      efficacy in the treatment of a wide range of aneurysm sizes, locations, and
      morphologies in both ruptured and unruptured settings.

PMID- 27641256
TI  - "Bloodless" Neurosurgery Among Jehovah's Witnesses: A Comparison with Matched
      Concurrent Controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) are a Christian faith with >1 million
      members in the United States who do not accept autologous blood transfusions. The
      optimal management of these patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures is not
      well defined. Here, we examined the feasibility and safety of JW undergoing
      neurosurgery in a blood management program. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Sixty-eight
      JW patients including 23 men and 45 women (mean age 53 +/- 12 years) who
      underwent a variety of cranial (n = 19) and spinal (n = 49) neurosurgical
      procedures during a 5-year period were identified retrospectively and their
      hospital charts, anesthetic records, and operative reports reviewed. A concurrent
      cohort of sex-, age-, and procedure-matched non-JW controls also was identified.
      RESULTS: Among JW patients, a cell-saving system was used in 27 cases, with blood
      retransfused in 13 cases. Lactated Ringers solution was used extensively
      intraoperatively; albumin was given to 15 patients. The median decrease in
      hemoglobin was 2.1 g/dL. One patient had a postoperative hemoglobin value <7
      g/dL. One patient returned to the operating room to revise a lumbar pedicle
      screw, and one patient had postoperative seizures. No cardiopulmonary
      complications, sepsis, pneumonia, or wound infection were observed. Compared with
      the matched control group, similar outcome results were observed. Blood loss and
      operative time also were similar in JW patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS:
      Neurosurgical procedures in Jehovah's Witnesses are feasible, safe, and have
      similar outcomes to patients willing to accept transfusion when managed within a
      multidisciplinary blood-management program.

PMID- 27641257
TI  - Properties and Storage Methods of the Stratathane ST-504-Based Neurosurgical
      Tumor Model: Comprehensive Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constrains on neurosurgical residents' work hours demand innovative
      teaching models to complement the traditional "in the operating room" model.
      Stratathane ST-504 (Strata-Tech, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, USA) has been proposed
      as a useful artificial neurosurgical tumor model. The consistency,
      dissectability, and radio-opacity of this model strongly depend on its
      preparation and storage. However, little work has addressed the interplay of
      these properties. Hence our study was undertaken to explore the properties of ST
      504, its preparation, and storage and how these interactions affect its radio
      opacity and consistency. METHODS: Tumor mixture was prepared by mixing 4.5 mL of
      water, 1.5 mL of computed tomography contrast medium, 2 mL of ST-504, and 0.5 mg
      turmeric powder. The tumor mixture was either allowed to solidify, yielding solid
      tumor blocks, or injected into an anatomic specimen to create a tumor model. Both
      tumor blocks and tumor model were stored at different temperature, under
      different storage conditions and for different time. Their volumes, computed
      tomography appearance, and consistency were evaluated. RESULTS: The tumor blocks
      stored in water or ethanol absorbed fluid, resulting in enlargement and
      associated decrease in radiodensity and consistency. The same results were
      displayed by the tumor implanted in cadaveric specimen. CONCLUSION: For any given
      ratio of ST-504/water, the time sequence after polymer solidification and the
      storage method determine the computed tomography appearance and consistency of
      the tumor block/model. When taking these properties into consideration, ST-504
      based artificial tumor models can be customized for different dissection
      practices, from more solid (meningioma-like) to less solid (schwannoma-like)
      models.

PMID- 27641258
TI  - The Value of Short-Term Pain Relief in Predicting the One-Month Outcome of Lumbar
      Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical management after epidural steroid injections of patients
      with radiculopathy secondary to a lumbar disc herniation is uncertain. It is the
      aim of this study to determine whether short-term alleviation of leg pain after
      computed tomography-guided transforaminal epidural steroid injections can predict
      the 1-month outcome. METHODS: Prospective observational study of 57 patients at a
      tertiary radiological department. Study components were visual analog scale leg
      and back pain at baseline, 15, 30, 45 minutes, 1, 2, and 4 hours, on days 1-14,
      as well as at 1 month. Health-related Quality of Life and functional impairment
      were assessed with the Short Form-12 and Oswestry Disability Index. Patients who
      reported >80% persisting leg pain, as well as patients who underwent a second
      injection or an operation within 1 month, were defined as nonresponders. Logistic
      regression was used to analyze the effect size of the relationship between >50%
      pain relief at any given study visit and responder status. RESULTS: Patients
      experiencing a >50% pain reduction 4 hours after the injection were 3.38 times as
      likely to be responders as those experiencing <=50% pain reduction (odds ratio
      3.38, 95% confidence interval 1.07-10.65). The effect decreased between days 1
      and 2, reappeared on day 3, was strongest on day 6 (odds ratio 6.87, 95%
      confidence interval 1.99-23.72), and remained significant until day 14.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study can guide physicians in managing patients
      with lumbar disc herniation: a <=50% leg pain relief within 1 week after a
      transforaminal epidural steroid injection predicts an unfavorable 1-month outcome
      and suggests that other treatment options may be considered.

PMID- 27641259
TI  - Neurosurgical Postgraduate Training in China: Moving Toward a National Training
      Standard.
AB  - China currently has the most populous and rapidly aging nation in the world. In
      the next few decades, China will have to increase the throughput, quality, and
      scope of its neurosurgical training programs to meet forecasted demand. Until
      recently, China lacked national education standards in neurosurgery that fostered
      imbalances in medical and pedagogical resources, quality of care, and education
      between different regions and introduced significant heterogeneity in
      neurosurgical competency. In 2010, Shanghai implemented the first new standards
      based comprehensive neurosurgery training program, which spans 7 years broken
      down into 2 blocks. This model was selected subsequently for nationwide adoption
      by the Chinese Congress of Neurological Surgeons, with initial implementation in
      2015 and full nationwide adoption by 2020. Establishment of a national
      standardized training system represents a significant milestone in the
      development and evolution of neurosurgery in China and establishes a
      comprehensive standards-based system that will help reduce nationwide diversity
      in neurosurgical training. Although this program is still in its infancy and will
      not see its first graduating class until 2017 in Shanghai, it represents an
      essential step toward meeting China's growing demand for quality and consistent
      neurosurgical care. We review the history of neurosurgical training in Mainland
      China and describe the new Neurosurgical Specialist Standardized Training
      Program.

PMID- 27641260
TI  - Risky Cerebrovascular Anatomic Orientation: Implications for Brain
      Revascularization.
AB  - This study documents a risky vascular anatomic orientation that might play an
      important role in the postoperative hemodynamics following anterior cerebral
      artery (ACA) revascularization. A 71-year-old woman presented with uncontrollable
      frequent right lower limb transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) attributed to a left
      cerebral ischemic lesion due to severe left ACA stenosis. She underwent
      successful left-sided superficial temporal artery-ACA bypass using interposed
      vascular graft. The patient awoke satisfactory from anesthesia; however, on
      postoperative day 1, she developed right-sided hemiparesis. Extensive
      postoperative investigations disclosed that watershed shift infarction was
      considered the etiology for this neurologic deterioration.

PMID- 27641262
TI  - A Theoretical Consideration of the Surgical Treatment of Small Unruptured
      Intracranial Aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment of small, unruptured intracranial aneurysms
      remains a controversial topic. Recently, some authors have doubted the validity
      of the low rupture rates of small aneurysms reported in the literature and
      advocate aggressive surgical treatment of small unruptured aneurysms; however,
      some theoretical elucidation is necessary to determine whether such aggressive
      treatment is appropriate. METHODS: On certain theoretical assumptions, a
      simulation was performed to examine whether the low rupture rates for small
      aneurysms could produce a reasonable size distribution of ruptured aneurysms.
      Second, considering a hypothetical population in which all the unruptured
      aneurysms over a certain cut-off size are treated, the effect of this policy on
      reducing the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was mathematically
      analyzed. Then, the contribution of each individual operation to this reduction
      of SAH incidence was calculated. RESULTS: The low rupture rates reported in the
      literature produced a reasonable size distribution of ruptured aneurysms (median
      diameter of 10 mm) in the simulated population. The analysis of the treatment cut
      off size showed that, as the cut-off size was progressively lowered to the range
      of 3-5 mm, further reduction of the incidence of SAH became almost negligible.
      The contribution of each individual surgery on unruptured aneurysms decreased
      rapidly as the aneurysm size decreased, and this reduction was proportional to
      the reduction of the rupture rate of the aneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: These results
      suggest that we should be prudent in providing surgical treatment to small
      unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

PMID- 27641261
TI  - Upper Lumbar Mature Cystic Teratoma: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intradural extramedullary spinal teratoma (IEST) is a rare condition
      in adults, with a male predominance. It is commonly associated with spinal
      dysraphism, lumbar puncture, and previous spinal surgery. This case is a 37-year
      old male diagnosed with a mature cystic IEST without dysraphism or previous
      surgical interventions. CASE DESCRIPTION: The patient's symptoms included a
      lumbar backache that progressed to the toes, as well as the anterior region of
      both thighs. Subsequently, he could not walk for >3 minutes and experienced
      saddle paresthesias, heaviness, and numbness in both lower limbs. The teratoma
      was diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which showed a mixed signal
      intensity mass with a fatty component in the conus medullaris at the L1-L2 level.
      The treatment strategy included total surgical excision of the teratoma, followed
      by histopathological examination, at which the mass was diagnosed as a mature
      cystic teratoma. On postoperative follow-up, the patient reported urinary and
      fecal incontinence. Neurologic examination of both the lower limbs revealed
      hyperreflexia of the left knee and atrophy of the left calf muscles, but no
      residual mass at the site of surgery. CONCLUSIONS: MRI is a standard tool for
      diagnosing IEST, but the diagnosis is confirmed by histopathological examination.
      Total surgical excision is the treatment of choice, but when adhesions to the
      neural tissue are present, subtotal excision should be attempted. The patient
      should be followed up with serial clinical and radiologic examinations to ensure
      the absence of residual mass at the site of surgery.

PMID- 27641263
TI  - Assessment of Dual-Antiplatelet Regimen for Pipeline Embolization Device
      Placement: A Survey of Major Academic Neurovascular Centers in the United States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Flow diversion with the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED)
      currently is adopted for treatment of a variety of intracranial aneurysms. The
      elevated risk of thromboembolic complications associated with the device
      necessitates the need for administration of antiplatelet agents. We sought to
      assess current dual-antiplatelet therapy practices patterns and their associated
      costs after PED placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online questionnaire that
      assessed dual-antiplatelet regimens after flow diversion for treatment of
      intracranial aneurysms was developed and disseminated to 80 neurosurgeons at
      major academic cerebrovascular centers. Pricing information from 2 of the largest
      prescription payers in Massachusetts was used to calculate the monthly cost of
      these agents. RESULTS: Twenty-six responses (32.5%) were received. All
      respondents (100%) affirmed using clopidogrel and aspirin dual-antiplatelet
      therapy as a first-line regimen. Twenty-three (88.5%) routinely use platelet
      function testing. Eleven respondents (42.3%) each identified that they administer
      aspirin/ticagrelor and aspirin/prasugrel to clopidogrel hypo- or nonresponders.
      For uninsured patients, prasugrel was found to have the highest cumulative
      monthly cost ($471), followed by ticagrelor ($396), clopidogrel ($149), and
      ticlopidine ($110). CONCLUSIONS: Significant heterogeneity in dual-antiplatelet
      regimens after PED placement and associated costs exists at major academic
      neurovascular centers. The most commonly used first-line dual-antiplatelet
      regimen consists of aspirin and clopidogrel. Two major alternate protocols
      involving ticagrelor and prasugrel are administered to clopidogrel
      hyporesponders. The optimal dual-antiplatelet regimen for patients with
      cerebrovascular conditions has not been established, given limited prospective
      data within the neurointerventional literature.

PMID- 27641264
TI  - Minimally Invasive Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion with Spinal Endoscope
      Assistance: Technical Note.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this report is to describe the surgical methodology and
      effectiveness of minimally invasive oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF)
      assisted by spinal endoscopy, which can treat disk herniation from the central to
      contralateral foramen. OLIF showed indirect decompression effects on reduction of
      spondylolisthesis and a foraminal widening effect on disk height restoration.
      METHODS: In this study, the indirect decompression effect of OLIF was augmented
      by direct endoscopic decompression and spinal endoscopy for removal of herniated
      disk materials. RESULTS: Twelve patients with confirmed degenerative lumbar
      stenosis, herniated lumbar disks, and degenerative spondylolisthesis were treated
      using OLIF with spinal endoscopic discectomy. Direct ventral decompression was
      achieved by removal of herniated disk materials. The symptoms of all patients
      improved postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: OLIF with spinal endoscopic discectomy can
      achieve neural decompression without additional posterior decompression and can
      be used as an alternative treatment in selected cases.

PMID- 27641265
TI  - Usefulness of Early Stenting for Symptomatic Extracranial Carotid Stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) have become an
      established procedure, outcomes of early CAS for symptomatic extracranial carotid
      stenosis (SECS) remain poorly understood. The present study aimed at determining
      the effectiveness of early CAS in SECS. METHODS: Herein, 224 SECS patients
      underwent elective CAS between January 2008 and June 2015. The study population
      was stratified based on the time from symptom onset to the procedure (early CAS
      group: within 14 days; delayed CAS group: later than 14 days). Subgroup analysis
      (chi-square test, Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test, and analysis of covariance)
      evaluated the demographics, incidence of periprocedural thromboembolic
      complications, cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS), intracranial bleeding, and
      treatment outcomes on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). RESULTS: Symptomatic
      thromboembolic complications and CHS were noted in 2.68% and 0.89% of patients,
      respectively. The initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS)
      score was significantly higher in patients who underwent early CAS than in those
      who underwent delayed CAS (2.50 +/- 3.97 vs. 0.97 +/- 2.08, P = 0.001). After
      adjusting for age, duration of preprocedural dual antiplatelet therapy, initial
      NIHSS score, and preprocedural NIHSS score, the groups did not differ
      significantly regarding the incidence of symptomatic thromboembolic complications
      (P = 0.195), incidence of CHS (P = 0.950), incidence of intracranial bleeding (P
      = 0.970), 30-day mRS score (P = 0.124), and mRS score at final follow-up (P =
      0.132). CONCLUSIONS: For SECS patients who cannot undergo early carotid
      endarterectomy, early CAS is effective and safe if selectively indicated
      considering disease severity. Early and delayed CAS provide comparable mRS
      scores, incidence of symptomatic thromboembolic complications, CHS, and
      intracranial bleeding.

PMID- 27641266
TI  - Transnasal Penetration of a Ballpoint Pen: Case Report and Review of Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transnasal penetration by a nonmissile foreign body is a rare injury.
      Consequently, appropriate management remains controversial. We report a case of
      transnasal penetration by a ballpoint pen and review the literature. To our
      knowledge, this is the first living patient who sustained carotid artery damage
      from a transnasal penetrating intracranial injury. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 56-year
      old female presented with a ballpoint pen lodged through her left nostril. She
      exhibited right cranial nerve palsies (III, IV, VI, and V1). A computed
      tomography (CT) scan of the head revealed a foreign body in the left nasal cavity
      traversing the ethmoid/sphenoid and likely through the right superior orbital
      fissure and cavernous sinus, with the distal tip adjacent to the right atrium. CT
      angiography revealed nonopacification of the right internal carotid artery (ICA)
      from the mid-petrous segment to the ophthalmic segment. Subsequently, she
      underwent coil embolization of the proximal right ICA, followed by a right
      frontotemporal craniotomy with anterior temporal lobectomy to skeletonize the pen
      and right distal ICA, and finally clipping of the ICA distal to the pen and
      prompt transnasal endoscopic removal of the pen. There were no hemorrhagic
      complications. She awoke at her neurologic preoperative baseline. CONCLUSION:
      Injuries such as the one described here should be managed through a
      multidisciplinary approach. The trajectory of the foreign body should be
      delineated through CT imaging, along with vascular imaging if appropriate. If
      there are signs of vascular injury, then attempts to maintain proximal and distal
      control are prudent to avoid hemorrhagic complications. This combined
      endovascular-endoscopic-open craniotomy approach has not been reported previously
      in the literature.

PMID- 27641267
TI  - Angioglioma of the Spinal Cord.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Angiogliomas are rare low-grade glial tumors with significant
      vascular components. These tumors are usually seen in the brain, and spinal cord
      angiogliomas have not been reported in the literature until now. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: We report the case of a 15-year-old boy with an angioglioma of the
      medulla and cervicodorsal spine, which was completely excised through a combined
      suboccipital craniotomy and cervicodorsal laminotomy. The patient experienced
      excellent clinical recovery after the surgery, and follow-up contrast magnetic
      resonance imaging showed complete excision of the tumor. CONCLUSION: The fact
      that increased vascularity in a glioma does not always indicate a higher grade is
      confirmed by the unique histology of angiogliomas. These tumors can present with
      intratumoral bleeding. Awareness of these entities is extremely important.
      Complete excision can be attempted, and the postoperative prognosis is very good.

PMID- 27641268
TI  - Upholding standards of reporting in the synthesis of dance epidemiology
      literature: Letter to the editor re: Prevalence and profile of musculoskeletal
      injuries in ballet dancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PMID- 27641270
TI  - Human Dignity: Respect and Incivility.

PMID- 27641269
TI  - Is Pneumococcal Serotype Replacement Impending?

PMID- 27641271
TI  - Community Change for Crystallizing Nursing's Focus.
AB  - The authors in this article retrospectively analyze the community change process
      undertaken by an American Nurses Association appointed Steering Committee
      mandated to revise the 2001 Code of Ethics for nursing. The authors identify the
      community change phases as the following: organizing for diversity of thinking;
      scanning the horizon of ethical thought; developing unifying discourse; creating
      new languaging; anticipating an emerging future; and, bearing witness to
      community innovation. The humanbecoming community change processes are used to
      expand understanding of these phases of change. 

PMID- 27641272
TI  - Capturing Truth for the Moment.

PMID- 27641274
TI  - Abiding With Reverence in Nurse Practice.
AB  - Reverence has been known as a forgotten virtue of human flourishing dating back
      thousands of years. Yet it remains as a concept pertinent to the discipline of
      nursing. The author of this column explores the ethical concept and its
      importance with specific application to the practice of nursing from a discipline
      specific humanbecoming philosophical-theoretical perspective. 

PMID- 27641273
TI  - Parsesciencing: A Basic Science Mode of Inquiry.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to introduce the language for the mode of inquiry,
      now known as Parsesciencing. The language for the Humanbecoming Hermeneutic
      Sciencing was introduced in an earlier volume of Nursing Science Quarterly.
      Language both reflects and cocreates meaning. The language of sciencing is
      everchanging; it is an evolutionary emergent, shifting as new ideas cocreate
      horizons beyond. The language set forth here is to articulate more explicitly
      meanings of the modes of inquiry consistent with the humanbecoming paradigm and
      distinct from modes of inquiry in other disciplines. In dwelling with the
      findings of published and unpublished studies that were guided by humanbecoming,
      new insights arose, and with creative conceptualizing these new insights gave
      birth to new meanings, thus different language. The language introduced here
      includes the following: Parsesciencing as coming to know the meanings of
      universal humanuniverse living experiences, horizon of inquiry, foreknowings,
      inquiry stance, mode of inquiry, historians, dialoging-engaging, scholar,
      distilling-fusing, discerning extant moment, transmogrifying,
      transsubstantiating, and newknowings. Note: an example of the new language with a
      Parsesciencing inquiry on the universal humanuniverse living experience of
      feeling unsure by Sandra Bunkers appears later in this issue. 

PMID- 27641275
TI  - The Challenge of Writing for Publication: Implications for Teaching-Learning
      Nursing.
AB  - Disseminating new scientific knowledge through publication is critical for any
      discipline, including nursing. The challenge for nurse faculty is preparing
      emerging nurses with the skills, enthusiasm, and disposition to fully assume
      professional roles as nurse scientists and scholars, including that of author.
      Exploring how students learn to write for publication and barriers to writing for
      publication, recommendations are offered for teaching-learning as a guide to
      faculty in planning programs, developing curriculum, and identifying teaching
      learning strategies. 

PMID- 27641276
TI  - Evidence-Based Practice and Nursing Theory.

PMID- 27641277
TI  - Nursing Knowledge Driving Person-Centered Care.
AB  - The dialogue between two scholars explores the concept of person-centered care in
      healthcare. The importance of nursing knowledge and nursing leadership to drive
      the integration of the broader person-focused perspective is emphasized. 

PMID- 27641278
TI  - The Living Experience of Feeling Unsure: A Parsesciencing Inquiry.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to report the discovery of a Parsesciencing
      inquiry on the universal humanuniverse living experience of feeling unsure. In
      discussion with the scholar, 10 historians described their experiences. The
      discerning extant moment of the living experience of feeling unsure was found to
      be as follows: Feeling unsure is disquieting trepidation with pursuing endeavors
      arising with joining with-distancing from affiliations. 

PMID- 27641279
TI  - Experience of Events of Truth in Hermeneutic Conversation With Text: Ethics and
      Ontology.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to explore what the experience of events of truth
      can entail in hermeneutic dialogue with text as well as the significance this can
      have for hermeneutic methodology in caring science. Experience of events of truth
      is discussed based on Hans-Georg Gadamer's ontological perspective and on
      Emmanuel Levinas's ethical perspective. A veritable experience of an event of
      truth is a testimony to the responsibility we take for the Other and to our
      humanity. Experience of events of truth requires that there is a connection of
      esteem between ethics and ontology in the reader's understanding of what Hans
      Georg Gadamer calls the subject matter (Sache). The experience of events of truth
      has methodological significance for caring science in that it can contribute to
      the disclosure of ontological evidence and inform caregiving and caring science. 

PMID- 27641280
TI  - The Living Experience of Suffering: A Parse Method Study With Older Adults.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the living experience of suffering.
      Parse's research method was used to answer the question: What is the structure of
      the living experience of suffering? The participants were 10 community-dwelling
      older adults living in the United States. The central finding of the study is as
      follows: The living experience of suffering is resolve amid permeating anguish of
      diverse affiliations with the blissful reprieve of tranquil acquiescence. The
      living experience of suffering is discussed in relation to the principles of the
      humanbecoming paradigm and in relation to how it can inform further research. 

PMID- 27641281
TI  - Patient Advocacy in an Obstetric Setting.
AB  - A correlation study design was used to examine the interrelatedness of power,
      attitudes regarding intermittent fetal monitoring, and perceived barriers to
      research utilization with a labor and delivery nurse's attitude toward patient
      advocacy using the conceptual framework of the science of unitary human beings.
      The linear combination of the three independent variables was significantly
      correlated to attitude toward patient advocacy and power as knowing participation
      in change had the greatest impact on patient advocacy. 

PMID- 27641283
TI  - Professional Practice Models: A Way to Guide the Leading-Following Process.
AB  - In the following article, Dr. Kimberly Glassman describes leading-following
      through the development and implementation of a nursing professional practice
      model within a large healthcare system that was grounded in different nursing
      concepts, professional values, and Magnet recognition elements. 

PMID- 27641282
TI  - Graduate Nurse Education in Haiti: Lessons Taught and Learned.
AB  - The plight of the people of Haiti that came to the world's attention following
      the devastating earthquake there in 2010 has for the most part receded into the
      background amid other issues despite their continuing economic and health
      problems. The purpose of this article is to explore the experiences of the first
      graduate nurse students in Haiti. The program is funded and operated by a
      nonprofit, nongovernment nursing organization, Promoting Health in Haiti, based
      in New York City. A narrative was generated by doing focus groups and interviews
      with 10 of the students in the program. Three themes found in the narrative are
      pressing on amid uncertainty and unanswered questions, living and learning amid
      competing responsibilities, and enjoying support while learning new skills that
      can make a difference. The implications for graduate nurse education in low
      resource countries are discussed. 

PMID- 27641284
TI  - Developing and Implementing a Professional Practice Model.
AB  - Professional practice models guide nursing practice by giving meaning to the work
      of nurses. They elevate the practice from tasks to theory, from skills to
      knowledge, and remind us that the patient and family are at the center of our
      practice. Professional practice models are one of the foundations of the Magnet
      Recognition Program. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and
      implementation of a professional practice model in a healthcare system, which
      includes three hospitals and over 80 ambulatory practices in the New York City
      region. 

PMID- 27641285
TI  - Thoughts About Health Policy Content in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs.
AB  - We describe a framework used to analyze health policy content in baccalaureate
      nursing program courses that combines the conceptual model for nursing and health
      policy and the Adams influence model to account for knowledge and skills needed
      for health policy work. Our analysis of health policy content in courses in one
      baccalaureate nursing program focused on what policies were emphasized and how
      educational content supported the development of personal influence. The analysis
      revealed course content focused on public sources of health policies and lack of
      overt course content about policies from organizational and professional sources.
      Additionally, we identified little course content about the development of
      personal influence skills except for communication and message articulation
      components. As the nursing profession continues to build influence in the policy
      arena, educators must continue to prepare future nurses for such work. 

PMID- 27641286
TI  - More Paradigm Shifting: The DNP and Research-Oh My!

PMID- 27641289
TI  - Nursing Science Quarterly Best Paper Award: 2015.

PMID- 27641290
TI  - Teaching robotic surgery: Making progress.

PMID- 27641291
TI  - Bioprosthetic valve thrombosis: Are we not seeing the wood for the trees?

PMID- 27641292
TI  - Bioprosthetic valve thrombosis following surgical aortic valve replacement: Did
      we all miss it?

PMID- 27641293
TI  - Treating obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-what's best, what's next?

PMID- 27641294
TI  - Deconstructing robotic lobectomy.

PMID- 27641295
TI  - A modified technique of laryngotracheal reconstruction without the need for
      prolonged postoperative stenting.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Repair of laryngotracheal stenosis with pronounced side-to-side
      narrowing and involvement of the glottis is challenging and usually requires
      laryngotracheal reconstruction with rib cartilage interpositions. This technique,
      as first described by Couraud, needs prolonged postoperative stabilization with
      Montgomery T-tubes, imposing significant morbidity and discomfort on patients. We
      describe our initial experience with a modified laryngotracheal reconstruction
      technique that avoids the need for prolonged postoperative stenting. METHODS:
      From November 2012 through May 2015, a series of 5 adult patients with
      glottosubglottic stenosis were operated in our institution. All patients had
      pronounced scar formation in combination with advanced side-to-side narrowing
      extending up to the level of the vocal folds. Operative technique consisted of a
      complete anterior and posterior laryngeal split followed by rib cartilage
      interposition in the cricoid plate posteriorly to enlarge the glottosubglottic
      diameter. The lateral edges of the rib graft were trimmed in such a way that
      lateral flanges were created, which allowed stable positioning of the graft. The
      distal trachea was then slid into the larynx, and the posterior defect was
      completely covered with a liberal membranous flap. The anterior part of the
      larynx was enlarged with a V-shaped segment of the anterior tracheal wall.
      RESULTS: This technique provided immediate stability without the need for
      temporary endoluminal stenting. The perioperative course was uneventful in all
      patients, and functional outcome was excellent. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that
      this modified technique of laryngotracheal reconstruction represents a valid
      treatment option for patients with complex glottosubglottic stenosis, avoiding
      the need for prolonged postoperative stenting.

PMID- 27641296
TI  - Discussion.

PMID- 27641298
TI  - To be followed ... A comparison of minimally invasive and standard aortic valve
      replacement.

PMID- 27641297
TI  - Management of small aortic annulus in the era of sutureless valves: A comparative
      study among different biological options.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with a small aortic annulus
      is a challenging problem. The objective of this study was to compare 4 surgical
      approaches in terms of hemodynamics and perioperative outcomes. METHODS: A
      retrospective single-center study included 351 consecutive patients with a small
      aortic annulus (<=21 mm) who underwent aortic valve surgery between January 2007
      and December 2014. Surgical techniques included standard AVR in 259 (74%)
      patients, aortic root enlargement in 20 (6%), implantation of a stentless
      bioprosthesis in 23 (6%), and sutureless AVR in 49 (13%). RESULTS: Three hundred
      and eleven (89%) patients were female. The mean Logistic EuroSCORE II varied
      significantly among the groups and ranged from 6.5% +/- 5.4% in the standard AVR
      group to 9.2% +/- 4.7% in the stentless group. Early mortality occurred in 26
      (7%) patients. Patients in the stentless group had the lowest aortic valve mean
      gradients on predischarge transthoracic echocardiography (10.9 +/- 6.2 mm Hg; P <
      .001). In the stented group, the Trifecta prosthesis displayed the lowest
      postoperative mean transaortic gradient (10.3 +/- 3.6; P < .001) with no severe
      prosthesis-patient mismatch. Postoperative gradients of the sutureless group were
      comparable with stented prostheses. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, stentless AVR and
      Trifecta bioprostheses had the best hemodynamic outcomes. The Perceval sutureless
      prosthesis provides reasonable hemodynamic performance and is a safe alternative.

PMID- 27641299
TI  - Using the forest (plots) to see the trees.

PMID- 27641300
TI  - Performance of allogeneic bioengineered replacement pulmonary valves in rapidly
      growing young lambs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac allometric organ growth after pediatric valve replacement can
      lead to patient-prosthesis size mismatch and valve re-replacement, which could be
      mitigated with allogeneic decellularized pulmonary valves treated with collagen
      conditioning solutions to enhance biological and mechanical performance, termed
      "bioengineered valves." In this study, we evaluated functional, dimensional, and
      biological responses of these bioengineered valves compared with traditional
      cryopreserved valves implanted in lambs during rapid somatic growth. METHODS:
      From a consanguineous flock of 13 lambs, the pulmonary valves of 10 lambs (mean
      weight, 19.6 +/- 1.4 kg) were replaced with 7 bioengineered valves or 3
      classically cryopreserved valves. After 6 months, the 10 lambs with implanted
      valves and 3 untreated flock mates were compared by echocardiography, cardiac
      catheterization, and explant pathology. RESULTS: Increases in body mass, valve
      geometric dimensions, and effective orifice areas were similar in the 2 groups of
      lambs. The bioengineered valves had higher median cusp-to-cusp coaptation areas
      (34.6%; interquartile range, 21.00%-35.13%) and were more similar to native
      valves (43.4%; interquartile range, 42.59%-44.01%) compared with cryopreserved
      valves (13.2%; interquartile range, 7.07%-13.91%) (P = .043). Cryopreserved
      valves cusps, but not bioengineered valve cusps, were thicker than native valve
      cusps (P = .01). Histologically, cryopreserved valves demonstrated less than
      native cellularity, whereas bioengineered valves that were acellular at the time
      of surgery gained surface endothelium and subsurface myofibroblast interstitial
      cells in pulmonary artery, sinus wall, and cusp base regions. CONCLUSIONS:
      Biological valve conduits can enlarge via passive dilatation without matrix
      synthesis, but this would result in decreased cusp coaptational areas.
      Bioengineered valves demonstrated similar annulus enlargement as cryopreserved
      valves but usually retained larger areas of cuspal coaptation. Heat-shock protein
      47-positive (collagen-synthesizing) cells were present in previously acellular
      bioengineered sinus walls and cusp bases, but rarely in more distal cusp
      matrices.

PMID- 27641301
TI  - Outcome benefits after coronary artery bypass graft in low- versus high-volume
      centers: Is it all about the surgery?

PMID- 27641303
TI  - Second stage of hybrid pathway: Have we reached a conclusion?

PMID- 27641302
TI  - Peri- and postoperative care after coronary artery bypass grafting in low versus
      high volume centers.

PMID- 27641304
TI  - CD82 Is a Marker for Prospective Isolation of Human Muscle Satellite Cells and Is
      Linked to Muscular Dystrophies.
AB  - Cell-surface markers for prospective isolation of stem cells from human skeletal
      muscle have been difficult to identify. Such markers would be powerful tools for
      studying satellite cell function during homeostasis and in pathogenesis of
      diseases such as muscular dystrophies. In this study, we show that the
      tetraspanin KAI/CD82 is an excellent marker for prospectively isolating stem
      cells from human fetal and adult skeletal muscle. Human CD82+ muscle cells
      robustly engraft into a mouse model of muscular dystrophy. shRNA knockdown of
      CD82 in myogenic cells reduces myoblast proliferation, suggesting it is
      functionally involved in muscle homeostasis. CD82 physically interacts with
      alpha7beta1 integrin (alpha7beta1-ITG) and with alpha-sarcoglycan, a member of
      the Dystrophin-Associated Glycoprotein Complex (DAPC), both of which have been
      linked to muscular dystrophies. Consistently, CD82 expression is decreased in
      Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients. Together, these findings suggest that CD82
      function may be important for muscle stem cell function in muscular disorders.

PMID- 27641305
TI  - Induction of Expandable Tissue-Specific Stem/Progenitor Cells through Transient
      Expression of YAP/TAZ.
AB  - The ability to induce autologous tissue-specific stem cells in culture could have
      a variety of applications in regenerative medicine and disease modeling. Here we
      show that transient expression of exogenous YAP or its closely related paralogue
      TAZ in primary differentiated mouse cells can induce conversion to a tissue
      specific stem/progenitor cell state. Differentiated mammary gland, neuronal, and
      pancreatic exocrine cells, identified using a combination of cell sorting and
      lineage tracing approaches, efficiently convert to proliferating cells with
      properties of stem/progenitor cells of their respective tissues after YAP
      induction. YAP-induced mammary stem/progenitor cells show molecular and
      functional properties similar to endogenous MaSCs, including organoid formation
      and mammary gland reconstitution after transplantation. Because YAP/TAZ function
      is also important for self-renewal of endogenous stem cells in culture, our
      findings have implications for understanding the molecular determinants of the
      somatic stem cell state.

PMID- 27641307
TI  - Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction in COPD: Novelties in The Last Decade.

PMID- 27641306
TI  - DNA Damage-Induced HSPC Malfunction Depends on ROS Accumulation Downstream of IFN
      1 Signaling and Bid Mobilization.
AB  - Mouse mutants with an impaired DNA damage response frequently exhibit a set of
      remarkably similar defects in the HSPC compartment that are of largely unknown
      molecular basis. Using Mixed-Lineage-Leukemia-5 (Mll5)-deficient mice as
      prototypical examples, we have identified a mechanistic pathway linking DNA
      damage and HSPC malfunction. We show that Mll5 deficiency results in accumulation
      of DNA damage and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HSPCs. Reduction of ROS
      efficiently reverses hematopoietic defects, establishing ROS as a major cause of
      impaired HSPC function. The Ink4a/Arf locus also contributes to HSPC phenotypes,
      at least in part via promotion of ROS. Strikingly, toxic ROS levels in Mll5-/-
      mice are critically dependent on type 1 interferon (IFN-1) signaling, which
      triggers mitochondrial accumulation of full-length Bid. Genetic inactivation of
      Bid diminishes ROS levels and reverses HSPC defects in Mll5-/- mice. Overall,
      therefore, our findings highlight an unexpected IFN-1 > Bid > ROS pathway
      underlying DNA damage-associated HSPC malfunction.

PMID- 27641308
TI  - Geographic disparities in adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy in Appalachian
      women with breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Appalachia is a largely rural, mountainous, poor and underserved
      region of the United States. Adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy among
      Appalachian women with breast cancer is suboptimal. OBJECTIVES: To explore small
      area geographic variations and clustering patterns of breast cancer patient
      adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy and associated factors in Appalachia.
      METHODS: In this retrospective study, we analyzed Medicare claims data linked
      with cancer registries from four Appalachian states (PA, OH, KY, and NC) in 2006
      2008. We included adult women who were diagnosed with stage I-III, hormone
      receptor positive, primary breast cancer and who newly started adjuvant endocrine
      therapy after the primary treatment for breast cancer. Hot spot analysis was
      conducted to explore geographic variations in adjuvant endocrine therapy
      adherence. Geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR) was used to examine
      whether the impacts of factors associated with adherence varied across the
      region. RESULTS: Breast cancer patients living in PA and OH showed higher
      adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy than those living in KY and NC. We
      identified clusters of high adherence in most of PA but poor adherence in Erie
      County, PA and in Buncombe, Transylvania, Henderson, and Polk Counties, NC.
      Adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy was significantly associated with the
      Health Professional Shortage Area designation, catastrophic coverage, dual
      eligibility status of Medicaid and Medicare, adjuvant endocrine therapy drug
      class, and side effects. And among these factors, the impacts of dual-eligibility
      status and the use of pain medications to treat side effects on adherence were
      more pronounced in KY and NC than in PA. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant
      geographic disparities in adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy in the
      Appalachian counties in PA, OH, KY, and NC. This study explored these geographic
      areas with poor adherence as well as geographically varying effects of predictors
      on adherence; our results may provide more localized information that may be used
      to improve adjuvant therapy use and breast cancer care in these high-risk and
      underserved areas.

PMID- 27641309
TI  - Comparative effectiveness of adalimumab and etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis
      in the Brazilian Public Health System.
AB  - AIM: Biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are used to treat
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with adalimumab and etanercept the most used bDMARDs in
      Brazil. This open prospective cohort study evaluated their effectiveness and
      safety among RA patients in the Brazilian Public Health System given their costs.
      METHODS: The Clinical Disease Activity Index was primarily used to assess their
      effectiveness after 6 and 12 months of follow-up. The Health Assessment
      Questionnaire and EuroQol-5D were also used. RESULTS: A total of 266 RA patients
      started treatment with adalimumab or etanercept. Adalimumab was the most widely
      used bDMARD (70%). In total, 46% achieved remission or low-disease activity at 12
      months with no difference in effectiveness between them (p = 0.306). bDMARDs were
      more effective in patients who had better functionality at treatment onset and
      had spent longer in education. CONCLUSION: This real-world study demonstrated
      that adalimumab and etanercept are equal alternatives for RA treatment and both
      were well tolerated.

PMID- 27641310
TI  - [Vaccination against community acquired pneumonia in adult patients. A position
      paper by Neumoexpertos en Prevencion].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of morbidity
      and mortality in adults. The annual incidence of CAP in adults in Spain ranges
      from 3 to 14 cases per 1,000 inhabitants. Current clinical guidelines primarily
      focus on the therapeutic approach to CAP rather than its prevention. The aim of
      this study is to develop and propose a practical guide for CAP prevention through
      vaccination in Spain according to available vaccines and evidence. METHODS: A
      literature review and expert opinion. RESULTS: Pneumococcal and influenza
      vaccines are the main preventive tools available against CAP. Age, chronic
      diseases, and immunosuppression are risk factors for pneumonia, so these
      populations should be a priority for vaccination. In addition, influenza and
      pneumococcal vaccination is considered advisable in healthy adults under 60 years
      of age, and anyone with risk condition for CAP, irrespective of age. The
      influenza vaccine will be administered seasonally, while pneumococcal vaccination
      can be administered at any time of the year. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination against
      pneumococcus and influenza in adults can help to reduce the burden of CAP and its
      associated complications. The available evidence supports the priority
      indications set out in this guide, and it would be advisable to try to achieve a
      wide circulation and practical implementation of these recommendations.

PMID- 27641311
TI  - The Association Between a History of Lifetime Traumatic Events and Pain Severity,
      Physical Function, and Affective Distress in Patients With Chronic Pain.
AB  - : Evidence suggests that pain patients who report lifetime abuse experience
      greater psychological distress, have more severe pain and other physical
      symptoms, and greater functional disability. The aim of the present study was to
      determine the associations between a history of lifetime abuse and affective
      distress, fibromyalgianess (measured using the 2011 Fibromyalgia Survey), pain
      severity and interference, and physical functioning. A cross-sectional analysis
      of 3,081 individuals presenting with chronic pain was performed using validated
      measures and a history of abuse was assessed via patient self-report.
      Multivariate logistic regression showed that individuals with a history of abuse
      (n = 470; 15.25%) had greater depression, greater anxiety, worse physical
      functioning, greater pain severity, worse pain interference, higher
      catastrophizing, and higher scores on the Fibromyalgia Survey criteria (P < .001
      for all comparisons). Mediation models showed that the Fibromyalgia Survey score
      and affective distress independently mediate the relationship between abuse and
      pain severity and physical functioning (Ps < .001). Our mediation models support
      a novel biopsychosocial paradigm wherein affective distress and fibromyalgianess
      interact to play significant roles in the association between abuse and pain. We
      posit that having a centralized pain phenotype underlies the mediation of
      increased pain morbidity in individuals with a history of abuse. PERSPECTIVE:
      This article examines the associations between a history of lifetime abuse and
      affective distress, fibromyalgianess, pain severity and interference, and
      physical functioning in chronic pain patients. Our findings support a novel
      biopsychosocial paradigm in which affective distress and fibromyalgianess
      interact to play roles in the association between abuse and pain.

PMID- 27641314
TI  - Editorial: The cutting edge of zinc biology.

PMID- 27641312
TI  - Altered Pain Perception and Fear-Learning Deficits in Subjects With Posttraumatic
      Stress Disorder.
AB  - : There is growing evidence that fear-learning abnormalities are involved in the
      development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain. More than
      50% of PTSD patients suffer from chronic pain. This study aimed to examine the
      role of fear-learning deficits in the link between pain perception and PTSD. We
      included 19 subjects with PTSD and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy control
      subjects in a fear-conditioning experiment. The conditioned stimulus (CS)
      consisted of visual signs flashed upon a screen in front of each subject. The
      unconditioned stimulus was either a low or high temperature impulse delivered
      through a thermal contact thermode on the subjects' hand. A designation of 'CS-'
      was assigned to CS always followed by nonpainful low-temperature stimuli; a
      designation of 'CS+' was given to CS that were randomly followed by either a low
      or a more painful high temperature. Skin conductance was used as a physiological
      marker of fear. In healthy control subjects, CS+ induced more fear than CS-, and
      a low-temperature stimulus induced less subjective pain after CS- than after CS+.
      PTSD subjects failed to demonstrate such adaptive conditioning. Fear ratings
      after CS presentation were significantly higher in the PTSD group than in the
      control group. There were significant interaction effects between group and the
      type of CS on fear and pain ratings. Fear-learning deficits are a potentially
      promising, specific psychopathological factor in altered pain perception
      associated with PTSD. Deficits in safety learning may increase fear and,
      consequently, pain sensations. These findings may contribute to elucidating the
      pathogenesis behind the highly prevalent comorbidity that exists between PTSD and
      pain disorders, and to developing new treatments. PERSPECTIVE: This study
      provides new insights into the pathogenesis of chronic pain in patients with
      PTSD. The findings may help to develop new treatment strategies for this highly
      prevalent comorbidity in PTSD.

PMID- 27641313
TI  - Microhematuria assessment an IBCN consensus-Based upon a critical review of
      current guidelines.
AB  - RATIONALE: Assessment of patients with asymptomatic microhematuria (aMh) has been
      a challenge to urologists for decades. The aMh is a condition with a high
      prevalence in the general population and also an established diagnostic indicator
      of bladder cancer. Acknowledging aMh needs to be assessed within a complex
      context, multiple guidelines have been developed to identify individuals at high
      risk of being diagnosed with bladder cancer. MATERIAL & METHODS: This structured
      review and consensus of the International Bladder Cancer Network (IBCN)
      identified and examined 9 major guidelines. These recommendations are partly
      based on findings from a long-term study on the effects of home dipstick testing,
      but also on the assumption that early detection of malignancy might be
      beneficial. RESULTS: Despite similar designs, these guidelines differ in a
      variety of parameters including definition of aMh, rating of risks, use of
      imaging modalities, and the role of urine cytology. In addition, recommendations
      for further follow-up after negative initial assessment are controversial. In
      this review, different aspects for aMh assessment are analyzed based upon the
      evidence currently available. DISCUSSION: We question whether adherence to the
      complicated algorithms as recommended by most guidelines is practical for routine
      use. Based upon a consensus, the authors postulate a need for better tools. New
      concepts for risk assessment permitting improved risk stratification and prepone
      cystoscopy before refined imaging procedures (computed tomography scan and
      magnetic resonance imaging) are suggested.

PMID- 27641315
TI  - There is no virtue in vagueness: Comment on: Causal Identification: A Charge of
      Epidemiology in Danger of Marginalization by Sharon Schwartz, Nicolle M. Gatto,
      and Ulka B. Campbell.

PMID- 27641317
TI  - The role of counterfactual theory in causal reasoning.
AB  - In this commentary I review the fundamentals of counterfactual theory and its
      role in causal reasoning in epidemiology. I consider if counterfactual theory
      dictates that causal questions must be framed in terms of well-defined
      interventions. I conclude that it does not. I hypothesize that the
      interventionist approach to causal inference in epidemiology stems from elevating
      the randomized trial design to the gold standard for thinking about causal
      inference. I suggest that instead the gold standard we should use for thinking
      about causal inference in epidemiology is the thought experiment that, for
      example, compares an actual disease frequency under one exposure level with a
      counterfactual disease frequency under a different exposure level (as discussed
      in Greenland and Robins (1986) and Maldonado and Greenland (2002)). I also remind
      us that no method should be termed "causal" unless it addresses the effect of
      other biases in addition to the problem of confounding.

PMID- 27641316
TI  - Does water kill? A call for less casual causal inferences.
AB  - "Can this number be interpreted as a causal effect?" is a key question for
      scientists and decision makers. The potential outcomes approach, a quantitative
      counterfactual theory, describes conditions under which the question can be
      answered affirmatively. This article reviews one of those conditions, known as
      consistency, and its implications for real world decisions.

PMID- 27641318
TI  - Effects of tianeptine on the development and maintenance of mechanical allodynia
      in a rat model of neuropathic pain.
AB  - We validate the analgesic efficacy of tianeptine by different administration
      routes and timing in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain was
      induced by ligating the L5 and L6 spinal nerves in male Sprague-Dawley rats, and
      mechanical allodynia was assessed using von Frey filaments. The effects of orally
      administered tianeptine and pretreatment with tianeptine (intrathecally or
      intraperitoneally) on mechanical allodynia were assessed. Oral and preemptive
      intrathecal administration of tianeptine significantly increased the paw
      withdrawal threshold but preemptive intraperitoneal administration did not.
      Nevertheless, intraperitoneal pretreatment of tianeptine potentiated the
      antiallodynic effects of subsequently administered tianeptine. These findings
      suggest that tianeptine may be effective for preventing and treating neuropathic
      pain and that it can be used more widely in clinical pain practice.

PMID- 27641319
TI  - Transcranial flavoprotein-autofluorescence imaging of sound-evoked responses in
      the mouse auditory cortex under three types of anesthesia.
AB  - The effects of anesthesia on the functional auditory characteristics of cortical
      neurons, such as spatial and temporal response properties, vary between an
      anesthetized and an awake subject. However, studies have shown that an
      appropriate anesthetic method that approaches the awake condition is still useful
      because of its greater stability and controllability. The present study compared
      neural response properties from two core fields of the mouse auditory cortex
      under three anesthetic conditions: urethane; ketamine and xylazine hydrochloride
      (KX) mixture; and a combination of medetomidine, midazolam, and butorphanol
      (MMB). To measure sound stimulation in vivo, we recorded flavoprotein
      autofluorescent images of endogenous green fluorescence. Under all conditions,
      fluorescence changes in auditory core subfields in response to tones were
      observed, and response properties, such as peak intensity, latency, duration, and
      activated areas were analyzed. Results showed larger response peak intensity,
      latency, and duration in the core subfields under urethane compared with KX and
      MMB, with no significant differences between KX and MMB. Conversely, under KX
      anesthesia the activated areas showed characteristic response properties in a
      subfield-dependent manner. These results demonstrated the varied effects of
      anesthesia on response properties in the core subfields of the auditory cortex.

PMID- 27641320
TI  - No Survival Difference with Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Compared with
      Chemotherapy in Resectable Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junction
      Adenocarcinoma: Results from the National Cancer Data Base.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant treatment improves survival in resectable esophageal
      adenocarcinoma, but the optimal regimen has not been defined. Neoadjuvant
      chemoradiation (nCRT) is associated with higher pathologic complete response
      (pCR) relative to chemotherapy (nCTX), but has not been shown to improve
      survival; however, previous studies have been underpowered to demonstrate a
      survival difference. The objective of this study was to determine if nCRT is
      associated with increased survival relative to nCTX in patients with resectable
      esophageal adenocarcinoma. STUDY DESIGN: The National Cancer Data Base (2006 to
      2013) was retrospectively reviewed for patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma
      who underwent neoadjuvant treatment followed by resection. Data were collected
      regarding patient, disease, and treatment variables. Outcomes included 3- and 5
      year overall survival (OS), pCR rate, and short-term postoperative outcomes.
      Propensity-adjusted analysis was conducted to account for baseline differences
      between treatment groups. RESULTS: Six hundred fifty patients received nCTX and
      6,336 received nCRT. Patients who underwent nCTX had slightly smaller tumors, and
      fewer were clinical stage III at baseline. Pathologic complete response was 17.2%
      with nCTX and 31.6% with nCRT (p < 0.001). Receiving nCRT was associated with
      fewer nodes examined, fewer nodes involved, fewer T3/4 tumors, and fewer positive
      margins than nCTX. There was no significant difference in OS between the 2 groups
      (hazard ratio [HR] 1.08 nCRT vs nCTX, 95% CI 0.95, 1.21, p = 0.228). There was no
      significant difference in short-term postoperative outcomes by treatment
      modality. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant chemoradiation is not associated with improved
      survival relative to nCTX for resectable esophageal adenocarcinoma. Radiation may
      potentially be omitted in some patients with this disease.

PMID- 27641321
TI  - Double Palladium Catalyzed Reductive Cyclizations. Synthesis of 2,2'-, 2,3'-, and
      3,3'-Bi-1H-indoles, Indolo[3,2-b]indoles, and Indolo[2,3-b]indoles.
AB  - A palladium catalyzed, carbon monoxide mediated, double reductive cyclization of
      1,4-, 1,3-, and 2,3-bis(2-nitroaryl)-1,3-butadienes to afford 2,2'-, 2,3'-, and
      3,3'-biindoles, respectively, was developed. In contrast, reductive cyclizations
      of 1,2-bis(2-nitroaryl)ethenes were nonselective, affording mixtures of
      monocyclized indoles, indolo[3,2-b]indole, indolo[1,2-c]quinazolin-6(5H)-ones,
      and 5,11-dihydro-6H-indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6-ones. Nonselective product formation
      was also observed from reductive cyclization of 1,1-bis(2-nitroaryl)ethenes,
      producing indolo[2,3-b]indoles and indolo[2,3-c]quinolin-6-ones. Carbon monoxide
      insertion to give the carbonyl containing products was the major or sole reaction
      path starting from 1,1- or 1,2-bis(2-nitroaryl)ethenes.

PMID- 27641322
TI  - A new model of nerve injury in the rat reveals a role of Regulator of G protein
      Signaling 4 in tactile hypersensitivity.
AB  - Tactile hypersensitivity is one of the most debilitating symptoms of neuropathic
      pain syndromes. Clinical studies have suggested that its presence at early
      postoperative stages may predict chronic (neuropathic) pain after surgery.
      Currently available animal models are typically associated with consistent
      tactile hypersensitivity and are therefore limited to distinguish between
      mechanisms that underlie tactile hypersensitivity as opposed to mechanisms that
      protect against it. In this study we have modified the rat model of spared nerve
      injury, restricting the surgical lesion to a single peripheral branch of the
      sciatic nerve. This modification reduced the prevalence of tactile
      hypersensitivity from nearly 100% to approximately 50%. With this model, we here
      also demonstrated that the Regulator of G protein Signaling 4 (RGS4) was
      specifically up-regulated in the lumbar dorsal root ganglia and dorsal horn of
      rats developing tactile hypersensitivity. Intrathecal delivery of the RGS4
      inhibitor CCG63802 was found to reverse tactile hypersensitivity for a 1h period.
      Moreover, tactile hypersensitivity after modified spared nerve injury was most
      frequently persistent for at least four weeks and associated with higher
      reactivity of glial cells in the lumbar dorsal horn. Based on these data we
      suggest that this new animal model of nerve injury represents an asset in
      understanding divergent neuropathic pain outcomes, so far unravelling a role of
      RGS4 in tactile hypersensitivity. Whether this model also holds promise in the
      study of the transition from acute to chronic pain will have to be seen in future
      investigations.

PMID- 27641324
TI  - Long-lasting monoaminergic and behavioral dysfunctions in a mice model of socio
      environmental stress during adolescence.
AB  - Adolescence is one of the critical periods of development and has great
      importance to health for an individual as an adult. Stressors or traumatic events
      during this period are associated with several psychiatric disorders as related
      to anxiety or depression and cognitive impairments, but whether negative
      experiences continue to hinder individuals as they age is not as well understood.
      We determined how stress during adolescence affects behavior and neurochemistry
      in adulthood. Using an unpredictable paradigm (2 stressors per day for 10days) in
      Balb/c mice, behavioral, hormonal, and neurochemical changes were identified
      20days after the cessation of treatment. Adolescent stress increased motor
      activity, emotional arousal and vigilance, together with a reduction in anxiety,
      and also affected recognition memory. Furthermore, decreased serotonergic
      activity on hippocampus, hypothalamus and cortex, decreased noradrenergic
      activity on hippocampus and hypothalamus, and increased the turnover of dopamine
      in cortex. These data suggest behavioral phenotypes associated with emotional
      arousal, but not depression, emerge after cessation of stress and remain in
      adulthood. Social-environmental stress can induce marked and long-lasting changes
      in HPA resulting from monoaminergic neurotransmission, mainly 5-HT activity.

PMID- 27641323
TI  - Learning and generalization from reward and punishment in opioid addiction.
AB  - This study adapts a widely-used acquired equivalence paradigm to investigate how
      opioid-addicted individuals learn from positive and negative feedback, and how
      they generalize this learning. The opioid-addicted group consisted of 33
      participants with a history of heroin dependency currently in a methadone
      maintenance program; the control group consisted of 32 healthy participants
      without a history of drug addiction. All participants performed a novel variant
      of the acquired equivalence task, where they learned to map some stimuli to
      correct outcomes in order to obtain reward, and to map other stimuli to correct
      outcomes in order to avoid punishment; some stimuli were implicitly "equivalent"
      in the sense of being paired with the same outcome. On the initial training
      phase, both groups performed similarly on learning to obtain reward, but as
      memory load grew, the control group outperformed the addicted group on learning
      to avoid punishment. On a subsequent testing phase, the addicted and control
      groups performed similarly on retention trials involving previously-trained
      stimulus-outcome pairs, as well as on generalization trials to assess acquired
      equivalence. Since prior work with acquired equivalence tasks has associated
      stimulus-outcome learning with the nigrostriatal dopamine system, and
      generalization with the hippocampal region, the current results are consistent
      with basal ganglia dysfunction in the opioid-addicted patients. Further, a
      selective deficit in learning from punishment could contribute to processes by
      which addicted individuals continue to pursue drug use even at the cost of
      negative consequences such as loss of income and the opportunity to engage in
      other life activities.

PMID- 27641325
TI  - Gating at early cortical processing stages is associated with changes in
      behavioural performance on a sensory conflict task.
AB  - While there is evidence to show early enhancement of modality-specific
      somatosensory cortical event-related potentials (ERP) when two stimuli are task
      relevant, less is understood about the cortical and behavioural correlates of
      early modality-specific sensory gating. This study sought to understand how
      attentional gating affects cortical processing of visual and tactile stimuli at
      early stages of modality-specific representation. Specifically, alterations in
      early somatosensory and visual processing based on attentional relevance were
      examined, along with the effect of an unattended sensory stimulus on cortical
      processing and behavioural performance. Electroencephalography (EEG) was
      collected from healthy participants as they performed a sensory selection task.
      This task required participants to make a scaled motor response to the amplitudes
      of visual and tactile stimuli presented individually or concurrently. Results
      showed that the somatosensory N70 ERP was significantly attenuated when tactile
      stimuli were unattended. When visual stimuli were unattended, modulation of
      visual potentials occurred later, at the visual P2 potential. Since unattended
      tactile stimuli were gated at early cortical processing stages, when they were
      used as distractors, no changes in cortical responses to target stimuli were
      observed. Additionally, there was no decrease in task accuracy when grading
      attended stimuli in the presence of a tactile distractor. However, since early
      gating was not observed in the visual modality, a visual stimulus used as an
      unattended distractor resulted in smaller-amplitude cortical responses to
      attended tactile stimuli and less accurate task performance when grading attended
      stimuli. In conclusion, this study suggests that early gating of unattended
      stimuli supports modality-specific cortical processing of target stimuli and
      maintains behavioural task performance.

PMID- 27641326
TI  - Altered premotor cortical oscillations during repetitive movement in persons with
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Premotor areas play a critical role in the control of repetitive movements. While
      research has shown that movement-related oscillations are abnormal during
      repetitive movements in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD), there is limited
      research examining the contribution of premotor areas, such as the contralateral
      dorsal premotor area (PMd) and supplementary motor area (SMA), to this
      impairment. This study compared movement-related oscillations over premotor
      regions between participants with PD and control participants. Nine participants
      with PD off and on medication and nine matched control participants were studied.
      Participants performed cued index finger movements. Spectral power was derived
      from electroencephalographic recordings from electrodes FC3/FC4 and Cz over the
      regions of the contralateral PMd and SMA respectively. Movement-related alpha and
      beta band oscillations were suppressed over electrode FC3/FC4 (contralateral PMd)
      in participants with PD, particularly at higher movement rates, in both the off
      and on medication conditions compared to control subjects. The pattern of
      movement-related oscillations recorded from Cz (SMA) was similar between PD and
      control groups. This would suggest that the region of the contralateral PMd may
      be preferentially involved with the control of externally cued repetitive
      movements and that changes in this activity may contribute to the deterioration
      of repetitive finger movements at higher rates in persons with PD.

PMID- 27641327
TI  - Forster resonance energy transfer and protein-induced fluorescence enhancement as
      synergetic multi-scale molecular rulers.
AB  - Advanced microscopy methods allow obtaining information on (dynamic)
      conformational changes in biomolecules via measuring a single molecular distance
      in the structure. It is, however, extremely challenging to capture the full depth
      of a three-dimensional biochemical state, binding-related structural changes or
      conformational cross-talk in multi-protein complexes using one-dimensional
      assays. In this paper we address this fundamental problem by extending the
      standard molecular ruler based on Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) into a
      two-dimensional assay via its combination with protein-induced fluorescence
      enhancement (PIFE). We show that donor brightness (via PIFE) and energy transfer
      efficiency (via FRET) can simultaneously report on e.g., the conformational state
      of double stranded DNA (dsDNA) following its interaction with unlabelled proteins
      (BamHI, EcoRV, and T7 DNA polymerase gp5/trx). The PIFE-FRET assay uses
      established labelling protocols and single molecule fluorescence detection
      schemes (alternating-laser excitation, ALEX). Besides quantitative studies of
      PIFE and FRET ruler characteristics, we outline possible applications of ALEX
      based PIFE-FRET for single-molecule studies with diffusing and immobilized
      molecules. Finally, we study transcription initiation and scrunching of E. coli
      RNA-polymerase with PIFE-FRET and provide direct evidence for the physical
      presence and vicinity of the polymerase that causes structural changes and
      scrunching of the transcriptional DNA bubble.

PMID- 27641328
TI  - Beta-adrenergic signaling promotes tumor angiogenesis and prostate cancer
      progression through HDAC2-mediated suppression of thrombospondin-1.
AB  - Chronic behavioral stress and beta-adrenergic signaling have been shown to
      promote cancer progression, whose underlying mechanisms are largely unclear,
      especially the involvement of epigenetic regulation. Histone deacetylase-2
      (HDAC2), an epigenetic regulator, is critical for stress-induced cardiac
      hypertrophy. It is unknown whether it is necessary for beta-adrenergic signaling
      promoted cancer progression. Using xenograft models, we showed that chronic
      behavioral stress and beta-adrenergic signaling promote angiogenesis and prostate
      cancer progression. HDAC2 was induced by beta-adrenergic signaling in vitro and
      in mouse xenografts. We next uncovered that HDAC2 is a direct target of cAMP
      response element-binding protein (CREB) that is activated by beta-adrenergic
      signaling. Notably, HDAC2 is necessary for beta-adrenergic signaling to induce
      angiogenesis. We further demonstrated that, upon CREB activation, HDAC2 represses
      thrombospondin-1 (TSP1), a potent angiogenesis inhibitor, through epigenetic
      regulation. Together, these data establish a novel pathway that HDAC2 and TSP1
      act downstream of CREB activation in beta-adrenergic signaling to promote cancer
      progression.

PMID- 27641329
TI  - FERMT1 mediates epithelial-mesenchymal transition to promote colon cancer
      metastasis via modulation of beta-catenin transcriptional activity.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that fermitin family member 1 (FERMT1) was
      significantly overexpressed in colon cancer (CC) and associated with poor
      metastasis-free survival. This study aimed to investigate the precise role of
      FERMT1 in CC metastasis and the mechanism by which FERMT1 is involved in the
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Correlations between FERMT1 and EMT
      markers (E-cadherin, Slug, N-cadherin and beta-catenin) were examined via
      immunohistochemistry in a cohort of CC tissues and adjacent normal colon mucosae.
      A series of in vitro and in vivo assays were performed to elucidate the function
      of FERMT1 in CC metastasis and underlying mechanisms. The upregulated expression
      of FERMT1 in CC tissues correlated positively with that of Slug, N-cadherin and
      beta-catenin, but correlated inversely with E-cadherin expression. Altered FERMT1
      expression led to marked changes in the proliferation, migration, invasion and
      EMT markers of CC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Investigations of underlying
      mechanisms found that FERMT1 interacted directly with beta-catenin and activated
      the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway by decreasing the phosphorylation level of
      beta-catenin, enhancing beta-catenin nuclear translocation and increasing the
      transcriptional activity of beta-catenin/TCF/LEF. Activation of the Wnt/beta
      catenin pathway by CHIR99021 reversed the effect of FERMT1 knockdown, whereas
      inhibition of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway by XAV939 impaired the effect of
      FERMT1 overexpression on EMT and cell motility. In conclusion, findings of this
      study suggest that FERMT1 activates the beta-catenin transcriptional activity to
      promote EMT in CC metastasis.

PMID- 27641331
TI  - Restoration of tumor suppression in prostate cancer by targeting the E3 ligase
      E6AP.
AB  - Restoration of tumor suppression is an attractive onco-therapeutic approach. It
      is particularly relevant when a tumor suppressor is excessively degraded by an
      overactive oncogenic E3 ligase. We previously discovered that the E6-associated
      protein (E6AP; as classified in the human papilloma virus context) is an E3
      ligase that has an important role in the cellular stress response, and it
      directly targets the tumor-suppressor promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) for
      proteasomal degradation. In this study, we have examined the role of the E6AP-PML
      axis in prostate cancer (PC). We show that knockdown (KD) of E6AP expression
      attenuates growth of PC cell lines in vitro. We validated this finding in vivo
      using cell line xenografts, patient-derived xenografts and mouse genetics. We
      found that KD of E6AP attenuates cancer cell growth by promoting cellular
      senescence in vivo, which correlates with restoration of tumor suppression by
      PML. In addition, we show that KD of E6AP sensitizes cells to radiation-induced
      death. Overall, our findings demonstrate a role for E6AP in the promotion of PC
      and support E6AP targeting as a novel approach for PC treatment, either alone or
      in combination with radiation.

PMID- 27641330
TI  - Translational research in neuroendocrine tumors: pitfalls and opportunities.
AB  - Interest in research on neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) has grown in the past 10
      years, coinciding with improvements in our understanding of the molecular
      pathogenesis of NETs. In addition, NETs have become one of the most exciting
      settings for drug development. Two targeted agents for the management of advanced
      pancreatic NETs have been approved, but the development of targeted agents for
      NETs is limited by problems with both patient selection and demonstration of
      activity. In this review, we analyze these limitations and discuss ways to
      increase the predictive value of preclinical models for target discovery and drug
      development. The role of translational research and 'omics' methodologies is
      emphasized, with the final aim of developing personalized medicine. Because NETs
      usually grow slowly and metastatic tumors are found at easily accessible
      locations, and owing to improvements in techniques for liquid biopsies, NETs
      provide a unique opportunity to obtain tumor samples at all stages of the
      evolution of the disease and to adapt treatment to changes in tumor biology.
      Combining clinical and translational research is essential to achieve progress in
      the NET field. Slow growth and genetic stability limit and challenge both the
      availability and further development of preclinical models of NETs, one of the
      most crucial unmet research needs in the field. Finally, we suggest some useful
      approaches for improving clinical drug development for NETs: moving from
      classical RECIST-based response end points to survival parameters; searching for
      different criteria to define response rates (for example, antiangiogenic effects
      and metabolic responses); implementing randomized phase II studies to avoid
      single-arm phase II studies that produce limited data on drug efficacy; and using
      predictive biomarkers for patient selection.

PMID- 27641332
TI  - ODZ1 allows glioblastoma to sustain invasiveness through a Myc-dependent
      transcriptional upregulation of RhoA.
AB  - Long-term survival remains low for most patients with glioblastoma (GBM), which
      reveals the need for markers of disease outcome and novel therapeutic targets. We
      describe that ODZ1 (also known as TENM1), a type II transmembrane protein
      involved in fetal brain development, plays a crucial role in the invasion of GBM
      cells. Differentiation of glioblastoma stem-like cells drives the nuclear
      translocation of an intracellular fragment of ODZ1 through proteolytic cleavage
      by signal peptide peptidase-like 2a. The intracellular fragment of ODZ1 promotes
      cytoskeletal remodelling of GBM cells and invasion of the surrounding environment
      both in vitro and in vivo. Absence of ODZ1 by gene deletion or downregulation of
      ODZ1 by small interfering RNAs drastically reduces the invasive capacity of GBM
      cells. This activity is mediated by an ODZ1-triggered transcriptional pathway,
      through the E-box binding Myc protein, that promotes the expression and
      activation of Ras homolog family member A (RhoA) and subsequent activation of Rho
      associated, coiled-coil containing protein kinase (ROCK). Overexpression of ODZ1
      in GBM cells reduced survival of xenografted mice. Consistently, analysis of 122
      GBM tumour samples revealed that the number of ODZ1-positive cells inversely
      correlated with overall and progression-free survival. Our findings establish a
      novel marker of invading GBM cells and consequently a potential marker of disease
      progression and a therapeutic target in GBM.

PMID- 27641333
TI  - Full-length p53 tetramer bound to DNA and its quaternary dynamics.
AB  - P53 is a major tumor suppressor that is mutated and inactivated in ~50% of all
      human cancers. Thus, reactivation of mutant p53 using small molecules has been a
      long sought-after anticancer therapeutic strategy. Full structural
      characterization of the full-length oligomeric p53 is challenging because of its
      complex architecture and multiple highly flexible regions. To explore p53
      structural dynamics, here we developed a series of atomistic integrative models
      with available crystal structures of the full-length p53 (fl-p53) tetramer bound
      to three different DNA sequences: a p21 response element, a puma response element
      and a nonspecific DNA sequence. Explicitly solvated, all-atom molecular dynamics
      simulations of the three complexes (totaling nearly 1 MUs of aggregate simulation
      time) yield final structures consistent with electron microscopy maps and, for
      the first time, show the direct interactions of the p53 C-terminal with DNA.
      Through a collective principal component analysis, we identify sequence-dependent
      differential quaternary binding modes of the p53 tetramer interfacing with DNA.
      Additionally, L1 loop dynamics of fl-p53 in the presence of DNA is revealed, and
      druggable pockets of p53 are identified via solvent mapping to aid future drug
      discovery studies.

PMID- 27641334
TI  - Non-canonical NFkappaB mutations reinforce pro-survival TNF response in multiple
      myeloma through an autoregulatory RelB:p50 NFkappaB pathway.
AB  - Environmental drug resistance constitutes a serious impediment for therapeutic
      intervention in multiple myeloma. Tumor-promoting cytokines, such as tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF), induce nuclear factor-kappaB (NFkappaB)- driven expression
      of pro-survival factors, which confer resistance in myeloma cells to apoptotic
      insults from TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and other
      chemotherapeutic drugs. It is thought that RelA:p50 dimer, activated from
      IkappaBalpha-inhibited complex in response to TNF-induced canonical NFkappaB
      signal, mediates the pro-survival NFkappaB function in cancerous cells. Myeloma
      cells additionally acquire gain-of-function mutations in the non-canonical
      NFkappaB module, which induces partial proteolysis of p100 into p52 to promote
      RelB:p52/NFkappaB activation from p100-inhibited complex during immune cell
      differentiation. However, role of non-canonical NFkappaB signaling in the drug
      resistance in multiple myeloma remains unclear. Here we report that myeloma
      associated non-canonical aberrations reinforce pro-survival TNF signaling in
      producing a protracted TRAIL-refractory state. These mutations did not act
      through a typical p52 NFkappaB complex, but completely degraded p100 to
      reposition RelB under IkappaBalpha control, whose degradation during TNF
      signaling induced an early RelB:p50 containing NFkappaB activity. More so,
      autoregulatory RelB synthesis prolonged this TNF-induced RelB:p50 activity in
      myeloma cells harboring non-canonical mutations. Intriguingly, TNF-activated
      RelB:p50 dimer was both necessary and sufficient, and RelA was not required, for
      NFkappaB-dependent pro-survival gene expressions and suppression of apoptosis.
      Indeed, high RelB mRNA expressions in myeloma patients correlated with the
      augmented level of pro-survival factors and resistance to therapeutic
      intervention. In sum, we provide evidence that cancer-associated mutations
      perpetuate TNF-induced pro-survival NFkappaB activity through autoregulatory RelB
      control and thereby exacerbate environmental drug resistance in multiple myeloma.

PMID- 27641335
TI  - A point mutation in the extracellular domain of L1 blocks its capacity to confer
      metastasis in colon cancer cells via CD10.
AB  - The neural L1 transmembrane cell adhesion receptor of the immunoglobulin-like
      family is a target gene of Wnt-beta-catenin signaling in human colorectal cancer
      (CRC) cells and is expressed at the invasive edge of the tumor tissue. L1
      overexpression in cultured CRC cells confers enhanced proliferation, motility and
      liver metastasis. We have analyzed the mechanisms of L1-mediated signaling in CRC
      cells by using various point mutations in the L1 ectodomain that are known to
      cause severe genetically inherited mental retardation disorders in patients. We
      found that all such L1 ectodomain mutations abolish the ability of L1 to confer
      metastatic properties in CRC cells. Using gene array analysis, we identified L1
      mutation-specific gene expression signatures for the L1/H210Q and L1/D598N
      mutations. We identified CD10, a metalloprotease (neprilysin, neutral
      endopeptidase) and a gene that is specifically induced in CRC cells by L1 in an
      L1/H210Q mutation-specific manner. CD10 expression was required for the L1
      mediated induction of cell proliferation, motility and metastasis, as suppression
      of CD10 levels in L1-expressing CRC cells abolished the L1 effects on CRC
      progression. The signaling from L1 to CD10 was mediated through the L1-ezrin-NF
      kappaB pathway. In human CRC tissue L1 and CD10 were localized in partially
      overlapping regions in the more invasive areas of the tumor tissue. The results
      suggest that CD10 is a necessary component conferring the L1 effects in CRC
      cells. The identification of gene expression patterns of L1-domain-specific point
      mutations may provide novel markers and targets for interfering with L1-mediated
      CRC progression.

PMID- 27641336
TI  - The microRNA-182-PDK4 axis regulates lung tumorigenesis by modulating pyruvate
      dehydrogenase and lipogenesis.
AB  - Reprogrammed metabolism is one of the hallmarks of cancer. The dysregulation of
      glycolysis in cancer has been heavily studied. However, it remains largely
      unclear how other metabolic processes are regulated in cancer cells. Here we show
      that microRNA-182 (miR-182) suppresses pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) kinase 4
      (PDK4) and promotes lung tumorigenesis. miR-182 is dysregulated and inversely
      correlated with PDK4 in human lung adenocarcinomas. The miR-182-PDK4 axis
      regulates lung cancer cell growth by modulating the activity of PDH, the
      gatekeeping enzyme of pyruvate flux into acetyl-CoA, and subsequently de novo
      lipogenesis of cancer cells. Suppression of lipogenesis by silencing ATP citrate
      lyase (ACLY) and fatty acid synthase (FASN) or by chemical inhibitors diminishes
      the effects of miR-182-PDK4 in tumor growth. Alteration of de novo lipogenesis
      also affects reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the downstream JNK
      signaling pathway. Hence, our work suggests that the miR-182-PDK4 axis is a
      crucial regulator of cancer cell metabolism and a potential target for antitumor
      therapy.

PMID- 27641337
TI  - INO80 is required for oncogenic transcription and tumor growth in non-small cell
      lung cancer.
AB  - Epigenetic regulators are attractive targets for the development of new cancer
      therapies. Among them, the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes control
      the chromatin architecture and have important roles in gene regulation. They are
      often found to be mutated and de-regulated in cancers, but how they influence the
      cancer gene expression program during cancer initiation and progression is not
      fully understood. Here we show that the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex is
      required for oncogenic transcription and tumor growth in non-small-cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). Ino80, the SWI/SNF ATPase in the complex, is highly expressed in
      NSCLC cells compared with normal lung epithelia cells. Further, its expression,
      as well as that of another subunit Ino80B, negatively correlates with disease
      prognosis in lung cancer patients. Functionally, INO80 silencing inhibits NSCLC
      cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth in vitro and tumor formation
      in mouse xenografts. It occupies enhancer regions near lung cancer-associated
      genes, and its occupancy correlates with increased genome accessibility and
      enhanced expression of downstream genes. Together, our study defines a critical
      role of INO80 in promoting oncogenic transcription and NSCLC tumorigenesis, and
      reveals a potential treatment strategy for inhibiting the cancer transcription
      network by targeting the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex.

PMID- 27641355
TI  - Directed self-assembly of sub-10 nm particle clusters using topographical
      templates.
AB  - Directed self-assembly of nanoparticles (DSA-n) is an approach that creates
      suitable conditions to capture nanoparticles randomly dispersed in a liquid and
      position them into predefined locations on a solid template. Although DSA-n is
      emerging as a potential bottom-up patterning technique to build nanostructures
      using nanoparticles of various sizes, geometries and material compositions, there
      are still several outstanding challenges. In this paper, we focus on the DSA-n of
      sub-10 nm particles using topographical templates to guide them into 1D and 2D
      ordered arrays. The process mechanism leading DSA-n at sub-10 nm size scale has
      been reviewed and experimental evidence of the impact of the template on the
      positioning both individual and clusters of particles with low level of structure
      defects have also been demonstrated. Furthermore, by controlling the drying
      direction of the liquid within polygonal traps, we are also able to tune the
      spacing between the trapped nanoparticle clusters. This self-structuring
      phenomenon is of crucial importance for various applications such as plasmonics
      and charge transport within quantum circuits, whereby the coupling effects are
      highly dependent on the size of the nanoparticles and their separation.

PMID- 27641338
TI  - Pathobiological implications of the d16HER2 splice variant for stemness and
      aggressiveness of HER2-positive breast cancer.
AB  - We have previously shown that the d16HER2 splice variant is linked to HER2
      positive breast cancer (BC) tumorigenesis, progression and response to
      Trastuzumab. However, the mechanisms by which d16HER2 contributes to HER2-driven
      aggressiveness and targeted therapy susceptibility remain uncertain. Here, we
      report that the d16HER2-positive mammary tumor cell lines MI6 and MI7, derived
      from spontaneous lesions of d16HER2 transgenic (tg) mice and resembling the
      aggressive features of primary lesions, are enriched in the expression of Wnt,
      Notch and epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathways related genes compared with
      full-length wild-type (WT) HER2-positive cells (WTHER2_1 and WTHER2_2) derived
      from spontaneous tumors arising in WTHER2 tg mice. MI6 cells exhibited increased
      resistance to anoikis and significantly higher mammosphere-forming efficiency
      (MFE) and self-renewal capability than the WTHER2-positive counterpart.
      Furthermore, d16HER2-positive tumor cells expressed a higher fraction of
      CD29High/CD24+/SCA1Low cells and displayed greater in vivo tumor engraftment in
      serial dilution conditions than WTHER2_1 cells. Accordingly, NOTCH inhibitors
      impaired mammosphere formation only in MI6 cells. A comparative analysis of
      stemness-related features driven by d16HER2 and WTHER2 in ad hoc engineered human
      BC cells (MCF7 and T47D) revealed a higher MFE and aldehyde dehydrogenase
      positive staining in d16HER2- vs WTHER2-infected cells, sustaining consistent BC
      initiating cell enrichment in the human setting. Moreover, marked CD44 expression
      was found in MCF7_d16 and T47D_d16 cells vs their WTHER2 and Mock counterparts.
      Clinically, BC cases from two distinct HER2-positive cohorts characterized by
      high levels of expression of the activated-d16HER2 metagene were significantly
      enriched in the Notch family and signal transducer genes vs those with low levels
      of the metagene.

PMID- 27641354
TI  - Association Between Negative Age Stereotypes and Accelerated Cellular Aging:
      Evidence from Two Cohorts of Older Adults.

PMID- 27641357
TI  - Short sheath benefit in radial artery injury after PCI - optical coherence
      tomography serial study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Transradial catheterization is the predominant access site
      for coronary catheterization and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).
      Previous studies have reported a high incidence of radial artery (RA) injury. The
      aim of this investigation was to evaluate the incidence of RA injury using last
      generation optical coherence tomography (OCT) intravascular imaging in a serial
      manner. METHODS: 100 patients with a diagnosis of non-ST-elevation myocardial
      infarction (nSTEMI) treated by PCI were enrolled. OCT of RA was performed
      immediately after the index PCI. OCT was repeated 9 months later. RESULTS: There
      were 11 patients with RA injuries (11.0%) at baseline, including 3 patients with
      RA medial dissection and 8 patients with intimal tears. In the follow-up OCT
      data, the number of RA injuries was 10 (10.0%), including 7 patients with RA
      medial dissection and 3 patients with intimal tear. All injuries were clinically
      asymptomatic and there was no finding of vessel perforation. There was no
      significant difference between the baseline and follow-up procedure in terms of
      number of injuries. CONCLUSION: The study showed no significant difference
      between baseline and follow-up RA injury incidence. There was a higher risk of
      radial injury for repeated catheterization in women. The conclusion is that
      radial catheterization is a very safe procedure in terms of radial artery damage.
      This is evidenced by considerably fewer injuries compared to published studies.
      The use of the short radial sheath (7 cm in this study) is protective and reduces
      the incidence of radial injury.

PMID- 27641356
TI  - Drought response transcriptomes are altered in poplar with reduced tonoplast
      sucrose transporter expression.
AB  - Transgenic Populus tremula x alba (717-1B4) plants with reduced expression of a
      tonoplast sucrose efflux transporter, PtaSUT4, exhibit reduced shoot growth
      compared to wild type (WT) under sustained mild drought. The present study was
      undertaken to determine whether SUT4-RNAi directly or indirectly altered poplar
      predisposition and/or response to changes in soil water availability. While
      sucrose and hexose levels were constitutively elevated in shoot organs,
      expression responses to drought were most altered in the root tips of SUT4-RNAi
      plants. Prior to any drought treatment, constitutively elevated transcript levels
      of abscisic acid biosynthetic genes and bark/vegetative storage proteins
      suggested altered metabolism in root tips of RNAi plants. Stronger drought
      stimulation of stress-inducible genes encoding late-embryogenesis-abundant
      proteins in transgenic roots was consistent with increased vulnerability to soil
      drying. Transcript evidence suggested an RNAi effect on intercellular water
      trafficking by aquaporins in stem xylem during soil drying and recovery. Co
      expression network analysis predicted altered integration of abscisic acid
      sensing/signaling with ethylene and jasmonate sensing/signaling in RNAi compared
      to WT roots. The overall conclusion is that steepened shoot-root sugar gradient
      in RNAi plants increased sensitivity of root tips to decreasing soil water
      availability.

PMID- 27641358
TI  - A Longitudinal Analysis of the Criminal Careers of Intimate Partner Violence
      Offender Subtypes: Results From a Prospective Survey of Males.
AB  - Using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a prospective
      longitudinal survey of more than 400 males in the United Kingdom followed from
      age 8 years to age 48 years, we investigated the role of Cluster B personality
      traits and the association with violent offending groups based on a typology
      theory of male intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators: those who committed
      family-only violence and the generally violent offender. We also considered
      whether offending/violent groups could be predicted using risk factors measured
      in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Our findings suggest that those men who
      are violent both within and outside the home (the generally violent men) are
      distinguished from those who are involved in IPV within the home only. The
      differences appear to be more in degree than in kind. We discuss these findings
      in relation to the idea of specific interventions and policy.

PMID- 27641359
TI  - Building Better Bones with Biologics - A New Approach to Osteoporosis?

PMID- 27641361
TI  - Renal thromboembolism from a large pulmonary artery to a pulmonary vein fistula
      in an asymptomatic adolescent.
AB  - Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula is a rare vascular anomaly that can cause
      significant morbidity and mortality. The presence and significance of symptoms
      are dependent on the size of the right-to-left shunt. Thromboembolic events may
      result in cerebrovascular accidents or systemic vascular occlusions. We present a
      case of an adolescent without cardiorespiratory symptoms, who developed flank
      pain due to renal infarction, followed by a brief literature review.

PMID- 27641360
TI  - Local microRNA delivery targets Palladin and prevents metastatic breast cancer.
AB  - Metastasis is the primary cause for mortality in breast cancer. MicroRNAs, gene
      expression master regulators, constitute an attractive candidate to control
      metastasis. Here we show that breast cancer metastasis can be prevented by miR-96
      or miR-182 treatment, and decipher the mechanism of action. We found that miR
      96/miR-182 downregulate Palladin protein levels, thereby reducing breast cancer
      cell migration and invasion. A common SNP, rs1071738, at the miR-96/miR-182
      binding site within the Palladin 3'-UTR abolishes miRNA:mRNA binding, thus
      diminishing Palladin regulation by these miRNAs. Regulation is successfully
      restored by applying complimentary miRNAs. A hydrogel-embedded, gold-nanoparticle
      based delivery vehicle provides efficient local, selective, and sustained release
      of miR-96/miR-182, markedly suppressing metastasis in a breast cancer mouse
      model. Combined delivery of the miRNAs with a chemotherapy drug, cisplatin,
      enables significant primary tumour shrinkage and metastasis prevention. Our data
      corroborate the role of miRNAs in metastasis, and suggest miR-96/miR-182 delivery
      as a potential anti-metastatic drug.

PMID- 27641362
TI  - Linear biocompatible glyco-polyamidoamines as dual action mode virus infection
      inhibitors with potential as broad-spectrum microbicides for sexually transmitted
      diseases.
AB  - The initial steps of viral infections are mediated by interactions between viral
      proteins and cellular receptors. Blocking the latter with high-affinity ligands
      may inhibit infection. DC-SIGN, a C-type lectin receptor expressed by immature
      dendritic cells and macrophages, mediates human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      infection by recognizing mannose clusters on the HIV-1 gp120 envelope
      glycoprotein. Mannosylated glycodendrimers act as HIV entry inhibitors thanks to
      their ability to block this receptor. Previously, an amphoteric, but prevailingly
      cationic polyamidoamine named AGMA1 proved effective as infection inhibitor for
      several heparan sulfate proteoglycan-dependent viruses, such as human papilloma
      virus HPV-16 and herpes simplex virus HSV-2. An amphoteric, but prevailingly
      anionic PAA named ISA23 proved inactive. It was speculated that the substitution
      of mannosylated units for a limited percentage of AGMA1 repeating units, while
      imparting anti-HIV activity, would preserve the fundamentals of its HPV-16 and
      HSV-2 infection inhibitory activity. In this work, four biocompatible linear PAAs
      carrying different amounts of mannosyl-triazolyl pendants, Man-ISA7, Man-ISA14,
      Man-AGMA6.5 and Man-AGMA14.5, were prepared by reaction of 2-(azidoethyl)-alpha-D
      mannopyranoside and differently propargyl-substituted AGMA1 and ISA23. All
      mannosylated PAAs inhibited HIV infection. Both Man-AGMA6.5 and Man-AGMA14.5
      maintained the HPV-16 and HSV-2 activity of the parent polymer, proving broad
      spectrum, dual action mode virus infection inhibitors.

PMID- 27641363
TI  - Odor diversity decreases with inbreeding in the ant Hypoponera opacior.
AB  - Reduction in heterozygosity can lead to inbreeding depression. This loss of
      genetic variability especially affects diverse loci, such as immune genes or
      those encoding recognition cues. In social insects, nestmates are recognized by
      their odor, that is their cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Genes underlying
      hydrocarbon production are thought to be under balancing selection. If so,
      inbreeding should result in a loss of chemical diversity. We show here that
      cuticular hydrocarbon diversity decreases with inbreeding. Studying an ant with a
      facultative inbreeding lifestyle, we found inbred workers to exhibit both a lower
      number of hydrocarbons and less diverse, that is less evenly proportioned
      profiles. The association with inbreeding was strong for methyl-branched alkanes,
      which play a major role in nestmate recognition, and for n-alkanes, whereas
      unsaturated compounds were unaffected. Shifts in allocation strategies with
      inbreeding in our focal species indicate that these ants can detect their
      inbreeding level and use this information to adjust their reproductive strategy.
      Our study is the first to demonstrate that odor profiles can encode information
      on inbreeding, with broad implications not only for social insects, but for
      sexual selection and mate choice in general. Odor profiles may constitute an
      honest signal of inbreeding, a fitness-relevant trait in many species.

PMID- 27641364
TI  - Three-dimensional bulk electronic structure of the Kondo lattice CeIn3 revealed
      by photoemission.
AB  - We show the three-dimensional electronic structure of the Kondo lattice CeIn3
      using soft x-ray angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy in the paramagnetic
      state. For the first time, we have directly observed the three-dimensional
      topology of the Fermi surface of CeIn3 by photoemission. The Fermi surface has a
      complicated hole pocket centred at the Gamma-Z line and an elliptical electron
      pocket centred at the R point of the Brillouin zone. Polarization and photon
      energy dependent photoemission results both indicate the nearly localized nature
      of the 4f electrons in CeIn3, consistent with the theoretical prediction by means
      of the combination of density functional theory and single-site dynamical mean
      field theory. Those results illustrate that the f electrons of CeIn3, which is
      the parent material of CeMIn5 compounds, are closer to the localized description
      than the layered CeMIn5 compounds.

PMID- 27641365
TI  - Acute sleep restriction increases dietary intake in preschool-age children.
AB  - Epidemiological findings suggest short sleep duration is associated with
      overweight and obesity across the lifespan. In adults, experimental sleep loss
      increases caloric intake more than total daily energy needs, thus leading to
      weight gain. To date, little is known about the relationship between sleep
      restriction and dietary intake in preschool children. Healthy children (n = 10;
      41.2 +/- 5.4 months; 5 females) followed a strict sleep schedule for 5 days
      before each experimental condition: 1 day of baseline sleep (nap and scheduled
      bedtime/wake time) and 1 day of sleep restriction (no-nap and ~2.3 h bedtime
      delay). Standardized parent-report dietary intake measures were obtained on
      baseline, sleep restriction and sleep recovery (ad libitum sleep opportunity in
      the 24-h following sleep restriction) days. As designed, children slept ~3 h less
      on the sleep restriction than the baseline day (P < 0.001), with no significant
      differences in sleep between baseline and recovery days (verified with
      actigraphy). Repeated-measures anovas indicated differences across conditions in
      total kilocalories, sugar, carbohydrate and fat intake (all P < 0.05; no
      differences in protein). Post hoc tests revealed that compared with baseline,
      children consumed 21% more kilocalories, 25% more sugar and 26% more
      carbohydrates on the day of sleep restriction, as well as 14% more kilocalories
      and 23% more fat on the day of sleep recovery (all P < 0.05). Findings suggest
      that acute sleep loss increases dietary intake in preschoolers both on the day of
      and the day after sleep restriction. Increased kilocalorie intake may promote
      weight gain over time and be a mechanism through which short sleep contributes to
      childhood obesity risk.

PMID- 27641366
TI  - Temporal trends in inpatient pediatric sleep apnea surgery: 1993-2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We sought to characterize changes in the patterns of
      inpatient surgical sleep care over time and ascertain if these changes were
      consistent with previously reported trends in adult surgical sleep care. STUDY
      DESIGN: Repeated cross-sectional study. METHODS: Discharge data from the U.S.
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample for 125,691 nasal, palatal, or hypopharyngeal
      procedures in children for sleep-disordered breathing or obstructive sleep apnea
      (OSA) from 1993 to 2010 were analyzed using cross-tabulations and multivariate
      regression modeling. RESULTS: Inpatient surgical sleep procedures increased from
      45,671 performed in 1993 to 2000 (study period 1) to 80,020 in 2001 to 2010
      (study period 2). Overall, patients were commonly male (61.3%), privately insured
      (46.8%), 2 to 6 years old (39.4%), and white (36.4%). Obesity was reported in
      4.6% and 6.7% of children during study periods 1 and 2, respectively (P < .0001).
      Tonsillectomy (with and without adenoidectomy) was the most commonly performed
      procedure in both study periods. With the exception of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
      and tracheostomy, all sleep procedures increased over time; however, multilevel
      surgery did not significantly increase (P = .28). Children who underwent sleep
      surgery during study period 2 were more likely to receive a supraglottoplasty (P
      = .0125) and to undergo procedures at high-volume hospitals (P = .0311), and less
      likely to undergo a tracheostomy (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: These data reflect
      changing trends in the surgical management of pediatric OSA, with significant
      increases in nasal and hypopharyngeal procedures, particularly lingual
      tonsillectomy and supraglottoplasty. Unlike the trend in adults, multilevel
      surgery in children with sleep disordered breathing or OSA has not yet been
      integrated into routine clinical practice. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2C Laryngoscope,
      127:1235-1241, 2017.

PMID- 27641367
TI  - Unraveling the Relationship Between Delirium, Brain Damage, and Subsequent
      Cognitive Decline in a Cohort of Individuals Undergoing Surgery for Hip Fracture.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between serum S100B levels (a marker of
      brain damage), delirium, and subsequent cognitive decline. DESIGN: Substudy of a
      multicenter randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Surgical, orthopedic, and
      trauma surgery wards of two teaching hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 65
      and older (range 65-102) admitted for hip fracture surgery (N = 385).
      MEASUREMENTS: During hospitalization, presence of delirium was assessed daily.
      S100B was assayed in repeated serum samples. Twelve months after discharge,
      cognitive decline and mortality were evaluated. Cognitive decline was defined as
      an increase in Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline Short Form score of 1
      standard deviation or more or a decrease in Mini Mental State Examination score
      of 3 points or more between admission and 12 months after discharge. RESULTS:
      Premorbid cognitive impairment was present in 226 (58.7%) participants, and 127
      (33.0%) experienced perioperative delirium. Multivariable analysis showed that
      older age and presence of infection, but not of delirium, were associated with
      higher S100B levels. Levels were also higher after surgery than before. Of
      participants with perioperative delirium, 58.6% experienced cognitive decline or
      death, and only age was a risk factor; 36.5% of participants without
      perioperative delirium experienced cognitive decline or death in the following
      year, and higher S100B, premorbid cognitive impairment, and older age were risk
      factors. CONCLUSION: In a cohort of older adults with hip fracture, no
      association was found between serum S100B levels and occurrence of delirium.
      S100B was associated with cognitive decline or death in the first year after hip
      fracture only in participants without perioperative delirium. S100B seems to be
      of limited value as a biomarker of brain damage associated with delirium.

PMID- 27641420
TI  - Gastrodin Pretreatment Impact on Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Transport ATPase
      (SERCA) and Calcium Phosphate (PLB) Expression in Rats with Myocardial Ischemia
      Reperfusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND Calcium overload, inflammation, and apoptosis play important roles in
      myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI). Gastrodin pretreatment can
      alleviate MIRI. This study observed sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium transport
      ATPase (Ca2+-ATPase, SERCA) and calcium phosphate (PLB) protein expression in the
      ventricular remodeling process after myocardial infarction to explore the effect
      of gastrodin pretreatment on MIRI. MATERIAL AND METHODS Healthy 7-week-old male
      SD rats were randomly divided into a sham group (A), a model group (B), and
      gastrodin pretreatment groups C, D, and E (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg, respectively)
      with 20 in each group. Anterior descending coronary artery ligation method was
      used to establish a rat MIRI model with 30-min ischemia and 120-min reperfusion.
      Cardiac electrophysiological activity was recorded. Serum IL-6 and IL10 levels
      were determined by ELISA. SERCA activity was tested by colorimetric phosphorus
      method. SERCA, PLB, and pSer-PLB protein expression were detected by Western
      blot. RESULTS Compared with the sham group, IL-6 and IL-10 levels were elevated,
      SERCA2a expression was downregulated, and PLB protein was elevated in the model
      group (P<0.05). pSer16-PLB showed no significant difference among groups, and the
      ratio of pSer16-PLB/PLB obviously decreased (P<0.05). IL-6 level gradually
      declined and IL-10 increased in the gastrodin group following concentration
      elevation. SERCA 2a expression rose in the gastrodin group in a dose-dependent
      manner (P<0.05). Elevated PLB protein expression showed no significant
      difference, while pSer16-PLB protein increased (P<0.05), leading to elevated
      pSer16 PLB/PLB ratio (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Gastrodin pretreatment alleviates MIRI
      and inflammation injury by regulating SERCA and PLB expression to decrease
      calcium overload. 

PMID- 27641368
TI  - The use of cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) to study Crizotinib resistance in
      ALK-expressing human cancers.
AB  - Various forms of oncogenic ALK proteins have been identified in various types of
      human cancers. While Crizotinib, an ALK inhibitor, has been found to be
      therapeutically useful against a subset of ALK(+) tumours, clinical resistance to
      this drug has been well recognized and the mechanism of this phenomenon is
      incompletely understood. Using the cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), we
      measured the Crizotinib-ALK binding in a panel of ALK(+) cell lines, and
      correlated the findings with the ALK structure and its interactions with specific
      binding proteins. The Crizotinib IC50 significantly correlated with Crizotinib
      ALK binding. The suboptimal Crizotinib-ALK binding in Crizotinib-resistant cells
      is not due to the cell-specific environment, since transfection of NPM-ALK into
      these cells revealed substantial Crizotinib-NPM-ALK binding. Interestingly, we
      found that the resistant cells expressed higher protein level of beta-catenin and
      siRNA knockdown restored Crizotinib-ALK binding (correlated with a significant
      lowering of IC50). Computational analysis of the crystal structures suggests that
      beta-catenin exerts steric hindrance to the Crizotinib-ALK binding. In
      conclusion, the Crizotinib-ALK binding measurable by CETSA is useful in
      predicting Crizotinib sensitivity, and Crizotinib-ALK binding is in turn dictated
      by the structure of ALK and some of its binding partners.

PMID- 27641421
TI  - A retrospective cephalometric study on pharyngeal airway space changes after
      rapid palatal expansion and Herbst appliance with or without skeletal anchorage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to investigate the pharyngeal airway space
      changes in patients treated with rapid palatal expansion (RPE) and Herbst
      appliance with or without skeletal anchorage. METHODS: A 40-patient study group
      treated with the Herbst RME combination was included; moreover, a comparison
      between two subgroups based on whether miniscrews were used was evaluated. A
      subgroup 1 included 20 patients who were treated with RPE and an acrylic splint
      Herbst with miniscrews, and subgroup 2 included 20 patients who were treated with
      RPE and an acrylic splint Herbst. A cephalometric analysis was performed before
      (T1) and after (T2) treatment. The skeletal parameters of the sagittal occlusion
      analysis of Pancherz were utilized together with some extra measurements to
      evaluate the airways. RESULTS: An increased nasopharyngeal airway space was
      observed in group 1 (p < 0.05) from T1 to T2. Furthermore, the increase in
      nasopharyngeal airway space was significantly higher in subgroup 1 (p < 0.05) in
      comparison to the subgroup 2. Oropharyngeal (OA) and laryngopharyngeal (LA)
      dimensions were significantly increased in the subgroup 1 at the end of the
      treatment. In the subgroup 1, a significant decrease in SNA, a significant
      increase in SNB, and a significant decrease in ANB were observed from T1 to T2.
      In the subgroup 2, the treatment resulted in a significant decrease in ANB. In
      both groups, Pogonion increased significantly from T1 to T2. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results suggest that the RPE and the Herbst appliance allow a slight improvement
      of the sagittal dimensions of the airways. The oropharyngeal dimension increased
      significantly more in the skeletal anchorage group.

PMID- 27641423
TI  - Long-term remission of acquired von Willebrand syndrome associated with multiple
      myeloma using bortezomib and dexamethasone therapy.

PMID- 27641424
TI  - The Journal of Rural Health Reviewers, July 2015-June 2016.

PMID- 27641422
TI  - Three-dimensional evaluation of root dimensions and alveolar ridge width of
      maxillary lateral incisors in patients with unilateral agenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this retrospective case-control study was to measure
      the maxillary lateral incisor root dimensions and quantify the labial and palatal
      bone in patients with unilateral maxillary lateral incisor agenesis (MLIA) after
      orthodontic treatment and compare them to non-agenesis controls using cone beam
      computed tomography. METHODS: The labiopalatal and mesiodistal root dimensions,
      mesiodistal coronal dimensions, and labiopalatal bone and alveolar ridge widths
      of the maxillary lateral incisor were assessed on posttreatment cone beam
      computed tomography scans of 15 patients (mean age 16.5 +/- 3.4 years, 9 females
      and 6 males) with maxillary lateral incisor agenesis and 15 gender-matched
      patients (mean age 16.08 +/- 3.23 years) with no dental agenesis or anterior
      Bolton discrepancy. The Mann-Whitney test was used to distinguish any differences
      in root width, crown width, or changes in labial or palatal bone width between
      the two groups. RESULTS: The median labiopalatal root width was narrower in the
      MLIA group at the level of the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) to 8 mm apical of the
      CEJ compared to controls (p <= 0.009). The mesiodistal root width was
      significantly reduced in the MLIA group at the CEJ and at 4 mm apical to the CEJ.
      The labiopalatal alveolar ridge width was significantly decreased at 2 mm apical
      to the CEJ in MLIA group. The mesiodistal crown width was significantly smaller
      in the MLIA group at both the incisal edge and at the crown midpoint. The bone
      thickness was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Coronal and root dimensions in
      patients with MLIA were reduced compared to controls. Alveolar ridge width was
      also reduced in patients with MLIA, although bone thickness was not different
      than controls.

PMID- 27641425
TI  - Utility of a simple prognostic stratification based on platelet counts and serum
      albumin levels in elderly patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
AB  - Few studies have examined the prognostic impact of blood markers [other than the
      five factors in the enhanced International Prognostic Index (NCCN-IPI)] in
      elderly patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We retrospectively
      analyzed 391 DLBCL patients receiving rituximab plus anthracycline-containing
      chemotherapy to examine the prognostic impact of simple blood markers. The NCCN
      IPI was more accurate for discriminating prognoses than the original IPI.
      Multivariate analysis identified platelet count (<100,000/MUl) and albumin (<3.5
      g/dl) levels as significantly associated with lower overall survival (OS),
      independently of the NCCN-IPI. These parameters stratified patients into three
      risk groups: platelet-albumin (PA) score low (platelet count >=100,000/MUl,
      albumin >=3.5 g/dl, n = 243); intermediate (platelet count <100,000/MUl, albumin
      >=3.5 g/dl or platelet count >=100,000/MUl, albumin <3.5 g/dl, n = 125); and high
      (platelet count <100,000/MUl, albumin <3.5 g/dl, n = 23). The 5-year OS rates
      were 81.5, 48.6, and 20.2 %, respectively (p < 0.001). Notably, most patients
      with a low platelet count (n = 30) were stratified into the high-risk subgroup,
      suggesting that platelet count was prognostic for high-risk patients with a
      dismal outcome. In elderly patients (n = 291), the prognostic value of the NCCN
      IPI might be diminished because the low-risk category was excluded; however, the
      PA score was predictive of survival: the 5-year OS rates for PA score low (n =
      171), intermediate (n = 101), and high (n = 19) groups were 77.6, 47.9, and 19.0
      %, respectively (p < 0.001). Platelet count and albumin levels are useful
      prognostic factors, and their combined use can predict survival, even in elderly
      patients.

PMID- 27641426
TI  - Anal incontinence and fecal urgency following vaginal delivery with episiotomy
      among primiparous patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate anal incontinence following mediolateral or lateral
      episiotomy during a first vaginal delivery. METHODS: The present prospective
      follow-up study enrolled primiparous patients who underwent vaginal delivery
      including mediolateral or lateral episiotomy between April 1, 2010 and March 31,
      2012. Participants completed interviews before delivery, and were given anal
      incontinence questionnaires to be returned for analysis at 3 months and 6 months
      postpartum. Anal incontinence was defined as a St Mark's incontinence score above
      four and individual anal-incontinence components were analyzed separately;
      results were compared between the two episiotomy techniques. RESULTS:
      Questionnaires were returned by 300 and 366 patients who underwent mediolateral
      and lateral episiotomies, respectively; baseline characteristics were similar.
      Anal incontinence at 3 months and 6 months was recorded among 21 (7.0%) and 9
      (3.0%) patients who underwent mediolateral and 27 (7.4%) and 20 (5.5%) who
      underwent lateral episiotomy, respectively. The study was underpowered to confirm
      equivalence between the groups; however, no statistically significant differences
      were observed in the rates of anal incontinence, flatus, solid or liquid
      incontinence, and de novo incontinence. Fecal urgency (P=0.017) and de novo fecal
      urgency (P=0.008) were more prevalent among patients who underwent lateral
      episiotomies at 6 months. CONCLUSION: Anal incontinence was comparable between
      primiparous patients who underwent mediolateral or lateral episiotomy. The
      association between lateral episiotomy and fecal urgency merits further
      scientific interest.

PMID- 27641428
TI  - Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for maxillary bone radiation-induced injury: A 15-year
      single-center experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used to treat chronic
      radiation tissue injury, clinical evidence supporting its use in maxillary bone
      osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to
      report our results of collected patient outcomes from a single center's large
      experience using HBOT to treat maxillary bone ORN. METHODS: From 1999 to 2015, 21
      patients received treatment for maxillary bone ORN at our center. The medical
      records were retrospectively reviewed for the following variables: age, sex,
      comorbidities, tumor stage and site, previous surgery, previous radiotherapy or
      chemoradiation therapy, HBOT data, response to treatment and further management.
      RESULTS: A positive clinical outcome from HBOT occurred in 85.7% of patients with
      ORN and was proven radiologically in 14 of 15 patients (93.3%). In 5 patients,
      reconstructive surgery was required thereafter. CONCLUSION: Controversy exists
      regarding the management of ORN of the maxillofacial skeleton. Our large, single
      center experience probably supports the efficacy of HBOT for maxillary bone ORN.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 275-278, 2017.

PMID- 27641427
TI  - Concise Review: Liver Regenerative Medicine: From Hepatocyte Transplantation to
      Bioartificial Livers and Bioengineered Grafts.
AB  - Donor organ shortage is the main limitation to liver transplantation as a
      treatment for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure. Liver regenerative
      medicine may in the future offer an alternative form of therapy for these
      diseases, be it through cell transplantation, bioartificial liver (BAL) devices,
      or bioengineered whole organ liver transplantation. All three strategies have
      shown promising results in the past decade. However, before they are incorporated
      into widespread clinical practice, the ideal cell type for each treatment
      modality must be found, and an adequate amount of metabolically active,
      functional cells must be able to be produced. Research is ongoing in hepatocyte
      expansion techniques, use of xenogeneic cells, and differentiation of stem cell
      derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs). HLCs are a few steps away from clinical
      application, but may be very useful in individualized drug development and
      toxicity testing, as well as disease modeling. Finally, safety concerns including
      tumorigenicity and xenozoonosis must also be addressed before cell
      transplantation, BAL devices, and bioengineered livers occupy their clinical
      niche. This review aims to highlight the most recent advances and provide an
      updated view of the current state of affairs in the field of liver regenerative
      medicine. Stem Cells 2017;35:42-50.

PMID- 27641429
TI  - Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy: an unresolved complication of
      unrelated allogeneic transplant for hematologic diseases.

PMID- 27641430
TI  - A mixed solution-processed gate dielectric for zinc-tin oxide thin-film
      transistor and its MIS capacitance.
AB  - Solution-processed gate dielectrics were fabricated with the combined ZrO2 and
      Al2O3 (ZAO) in the form of mixed and stacked types for oxide thin film
      transistors (TFTs). ZAO thin films prepared with double coatings for solid gate
      dielectrics were characterized by analytical tools. For the first time, the
      capacitance of the oxide semiconductor was extracted from the capacitance-voltage
      properties of the zinc-tin oxide (ZTO) TFTs with the combined ZAO dielectrics by
      using the proposed metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure model. The
      capacitance evolution of the semiconductor from the TFT model structure described
      well the threshold voltage shift observed in the ZTO TFT with the ZAO (1:2) gate
      dielectric. The electrical properties of the ZTO TFT with a ZAO (1:2) gate
      dielectric showed low voltage driving with a field effect mobility of 37.01
      cm(2)/Vs, a threshold voltage of 2.00 V, an on-to-off current ratio of 1.46 *
      10(5), and a subthreshold slope of 0.10 V/dec.

PMID- 27641431
TI  - Infective endocarditis after device closure of atrial septal defects: Case report
      and review of the literature.
AB  - We report a case of late infective endocarditis in an 8-year-old boy 3 years
      after transcatheter closure of an atrial septal defect with the Amplatzer Atrial
      Septal Occluder Device. Echocardiography showed a very thick pannus lining the
      left atrial disc of the prosthesis, with some mobile elements. MRI showed several
      cerebral microemboli. The patient had dental caries and blood cultures found
      Staphylococcus aureus. Patient was treated with gentamicin and oxacillin before
      surgical removal of the prosthesis. Twenty-one cases of infective endocarditis
      after atrial defect device closure have been reported in the literature (13
      ostium secundum ASD and 8 patent foramen ovale). Seven pediatric cases were
      reported. S. aureus was the most frequent bacterium. Antibiotics were
      administered in all cases and most patients (n = 18) underwent surgical removal
      of the device. Incomplete endothelialization of the prosthesis was a suggested
      mechanism. Two patients died after surgery. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641433
TI  - Sphenoid bone: a rare site for giant cell tumor - case report with literature
      review.
AB  - While giant cell tumor is commonly a tumor of long bones, involvement of sphenoid
      bone is very rare. Clinically and radiologically, it mimics other neoplasms of
      this site. Endochondral ossification of this bone during development explains its
      curious preferential involvement in comparison to the rest of the skull bones. We
      describe an example of such a tumor arising in the sphenoid bone in a young woman
      and discuss the differential diagnosis. Recognizing its characteristic features
      is important for correct interpretation.?.

PMID- 27641432
TI  - The Morality of Men Convicted of Domestic Violence: How It Supports the
      Maintenance of the Moral Self-Concept.
AB  - The phenomenon of abuse toward women is a prevalent social problem in most
      societies. In the present work, we take into consideration the abusive man's
      point of view with particular reference to the sphere of their morality and set
      as aims: (a) to show that high levels of self-deception are mediating between an
      extreme moral worldview, called moral absolutism, and a functional high moral
      self-concept, (b) to analyze the relation of the five moral foundations (Harm,
      Fairness, Ingroup, Authority, and Purity) with this moral absolutism, and (c) to
      test a comprehensive model of the relationships between the individuated
      variables in the preceding hypotheses. Participants are 264 men convicted of
      domestic violence offenses, who, having begun court-mandated psychological
      treatment lasting 12 weeks, have filled out a self-report questionnaire during
      the second meeting. The results reveal that (a) self-deception is as a full
      mediator between moral absolutism and moral self-concept in men convicted of
      domestic violence and in such a way that the more they felt right about their
      moral beliefs, the more they deceived themselves, and the more they felt good
      about themselves, (b) the moral foundations could be explaining moral absolutism
      understood as a rigid moral vision of the world, and (c) the tested model
      produces satisfying fit indices. Finally, we discuss the applied implications,
      for example, a key role can be played by the family and the school: Moral
      socialization begins within the family and there finds the first push that will
      accompany it the rest of life.

PMID- 27641434
TI  - Suspected factitious hypoglycemia.

PMID- 27641435
TI  - Tetrahydrobiopterin Supplementation Improves Phenylalanine Metabolism in a Murine
      Model of Severe Malaria.
AB  - Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is an essential cofactor for both phenylalanine
      hydroxylase and nitric oxide synthase. Patients with severe malaria have low
      urinary BH4, elevated plasma phenylalanine, and impaired endothelium-dependent
      vasodilation, suggesting that BH4 depletion may limit phenylalanine metabolism
      and nitric oxide synthesis. We infected C57BL/6 mice with Plasmodium berghei ANKA
      to characterize BH4 availability and to investigate the effects of BH4
      supplementation. P. berghei ANKA infection lowered BH4 in plasma, erythrocytes,
      and brain tissue but raised it in aorta and liver tissue. The ratio of BH4 to 7,8
      BH2 (the major product of BH4 oxidation) was decreased in plasma, erythrocytes,
      and brain tissue, suggesting that oxidation contributes to BH4 depletion. The
      continuous infusion of sepiapterin (a BH4 precursor) and citrulline (an arginine
      precursor) raised the concentrations of BH4 and arginine in both blood and tissue
      compartments. The restoration of systemic BH4 and arginine availability in
      infected mice produced only a minor improvement in whole blood nitrite
      concentrations, a biomarker of NO synthesis, and failed to prevent the onset of
      severe disease symptoms. However, sepiapterin and citrulline infusion reduced the
      ratio of phenylalanine to tyrosine in plasma, aortic tissue, and brain tissue. In
      summary, BH4 depletion in P. berghei infection may compromise both nitric oxide
      synthesis and phenylalanine metabolism; however, these findings require further
      investigation in human patients with severe malaria.

PMID- 27641437
TI  - Violence as a Public Health Issue ... An Invitation to Act.

PMID- 27641436
TI  - Physicochemistry and cardiovascular toxicity of metal fume PM2.5: a study of
      human coronary artery endothelial cells and welding workers.
AB  - Occupational exposure to welding fumes causes a higher incidence of
      cardiovascular disease; however, the association remains unclear. To clarify the
      possible association, exposure assessment of metal fumes with an aerodynamic
      diameter of <2.5 MUm (PM2.5) in welding and office areas was characterized in a
      shipyard in Taiwan. Cardiovascular toxicity caused by PM2.5 was determined in
      workers (in both the welding and office areas). Significant amounts of bimodal
      metal fume particles with count median diameters (CMDs) of 14.1~15.1 and
      126.3~135.8 nm were produced in the shipyard. Metal fume PM2.5 resulted in
      decreased cell viability and increased levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8
      OHdG), interleukin (IL)-6, and nitric oxide (NO) in human coronary artery
      epithelial cells (HCAECs). We recruited 118 welding workers and 45 office workers
      for a personal PM2.5 exposure assessment and determination of urinary levels of 8
      OHdG, 8-iso-prostaglandin F2alpha (8-iso-PGF2alpha), and various metals. We
      observed that a 10-MUg/m(3) increase in the mean PM2.5 concentration was
      associated with a 2.15% increase in 8-OHdG and an 8.43% increase in 8-iso
      PGF2alpha in welding workers. Both 8-OHdG and 8-iso-PGF2alpha were associated
      with Fe and Zn in the urine. In conclusion, metal fume PM2.5 could increase the
      risk of cardiovascular toxicity after inhalation.

PMID- 27641438
TI  - Whetting disadvantaged adults' appetite for nutrition education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the features of a nutrition education programme for
      disadvantaged adults deemed most attractive and useful by participants. DESIGN: A
      two-year, multi-method, qualitative evaluation of pre and post data collected
      from programme participants. Data were imported into NVivo10 for coding to
      facilitate a thematic analysis. SETTING: Western Australia. Participants
      Individuals attending the Western Australian FOODcents nutrition education
      programme that is designed to provide knowledge and skills needed to consume a
      healthy diet on a budget. Focus groups were conducted several weeks after course
      completion (five groups, forty-seven participants), observations were conducted
      during FOODcents sessions (thirty-one observation episodes, 237 participants),
      and open-ended questions were asked in pre-post hard-copy surveys administered in
      sessions (n 927) and an online survey administered on average six weeks after
      course completion (n 114). RESULTS: The course attributes that were found to be
      especially important to participants were: (i) user-friendly, practical
      information that could be immediately translated to their daily lives; (ii)
      experiential learning that involved direct contact with food products; and (iii)
      opportunities for social interaction. These aspects of nutrition education were
      described as being highly influential in the decision to participate in the
      course, the application of the information in their subsequent food purchase and
      preparation activities, and their word-of-mouth communications with others about
      the course. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating aspects of most importance to participants
      into nutrition education programme delivery and promotion may increase joining
      rates, enjoyment, satisfaction with course content and, ultimately, the uptake of
      recommended behaviours.

PMID- 27641439
TI  - The dendritic cell-T helper 17-macrophage axis controls cholangiocyte injury and
      disease progression in murine and human biliary atresia.
AB  - : Biliary atresia (BA) is a fibroinflammatory obstruction of the extrahepatic
      biliary tree in neonates. While intrahepatic bile duct proliferation is universal
      at diagnosis, bile duct paucity develops later. We hypothesized that polarized T
      helper lymphocyte responses orchestrate progression of intrahepatic biliary
      injury in this disease. Interleukin 17A (IL-17A)-green fluorescent protein,
      cluster of differentiation 11c (CD11c)/diphtheria toxin receptor, and IL-17
      receptor A-/- mice were used to examine T-lymphocyte polarization, inflammatory
      leukocyte recruitment, and biliary injury in rhesus rotavirus-induced BA.
      Multiparameter flow cytometry and automated image analysis of immunostaining were
      applied to liver tissue samples from infants with BA. In the mouse model,
      activated CD4+ lymphocytes started to emerge in the liver on day 8 after viral
      challenge, while innate immune responses were waning. Plasma IL-17A levels rose
      concomitantly with hepatic accumulation of T helper 17 lymphocytes and myeloid
      dendritic cells. Targeted depletion of CD11c+ dendritic cells diminished hepatic
      IL-17A production and ameliorated intrahepatic bile duct injury. Recombinant IL
      17A induced expression of chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 in neonatal
      cholangiocytes in vitro, and blockade of the corresponding chemokine (C-C motif)
      receptor 2 reduced recruitment of inflammatory macrophages to the liver in vivo.
      Genetic disruption of IL-17A signaling was associated with down-regulation of
      hepatic Ccl2/Ccr2 messenger RNA expression, reduced infiltration of the liver
      with inflammatory Ly6Chi macrophages, and improved survival. In the liver of
      infants with BA, cholangiocytes were found to express IL-17 receptor A, and the
      prevalence of IL-17A+ cells was positively correlated with the degree of CD68+
      macrophage infiltration at diagnosis. Hepatic CD4+ lymphocytes were chief
      producers of IL-17A in patients with progressive disease undergoing liver
      transplantation. CONCLUSION: These findings identify the dendritic cell-T helper
      17-macrophage axis as a target for the development of strategies to block
      progression of intrahepatic bile duct injury in patients with BA. (Hepatology
      2017;65:174-188).

PMID- 27641440
TI  - Unusual location of a plexiform neurofibroma in the fallopian tube: A case
      report.
AB  - It is rare for neurofibromatosis to occur in the female genital tract. We report
      a case of a plexiform neurofibroma in the left fallopian tube in a 50-year-old
      postmenopausal woman. The initial diagnosis was a pedunculated leiomyoma or a
      fallopian tube tumor. Laparotomy was performed and a solid mass approximately 90
      x 60 x 40 mm in size was found in the left fallopian tube. Total abdominal
      hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with an appendectomy,
      lymphadenectomy and omentectomy was performed. The histopathological diagnosis
      was plexiform neurofibroma. Although neurofibromatosis may involve various
      gynecological structures, to the best of our knowledge, localized plexiform
      neurofibroma in the fallopian tube has not previously been reported. The
      presented case is the first report of clinical, ultrasound and histopathological
      findings in a fallopian tube neurofibroma. Neurofibroma is a neoplasm that should
      be taken into consideration when diagnosing pelvic masses.

PMID- 27641442
TI  - CD95-mediated apoptosis in Burkitt's lymphoma B-cells is associated with Pim-1
      down-regulation.
AB  - B-cells of the high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma Burkitt's lymphoma (BL)
      overexpress survival oncoproteins, including the proviral integration site for
      Moloney murine leukaemia virus kinase (Pim)-1, and become apoptosis resistant.
      Activated death receptor CD95 after ligation with anti-CD95 monoclonal antibody
      (mAb) resulted in the regression of BL via induction of apoptosis, suggesting a
      decrease of survival protein expression. Here, CD95-mediated apoptotic pathways
      in BL B-cell lines (Raji and Daudi) following treatment with anti-CD95 mAb was
      investigated with the cause-and-effects on pim-1 gene expression, in comparison
      with leukemic cell line (K562) used as CD95-negative cells. Immunohistochemical
      staining for CD95 and Pim-1 was performed, and the effects of anti-CD95 mAb on
      apoptotic signalling using western blotting, on caspase activity and cell
      survival of BL B-cell and leukemic cell lines were determined. We showed that
      Raji cells expressed more CD95 receptors than Daudi cells. Half of each
      population underwent apoptosis accompanied by decreased cell viability after anti
      CD95 mAb treatment. Distinct extrinsic and intrinsic CD95-mediated apoptotic
      pathways in Raji and Daudi cells were revealed by high caspase activity and
      mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization, respectively. We observed
      decreased Pim-1 transcript and protein expression levels with increased heat
      shock protein (Hsp)70 and decreased Hsp90 expression in anti-CD95 mAb-treated
      cells. Throughout the study, K562 cells did not undergo apoptosis upon anti-CD95
      mAb treatment. Pim-1 knockdown following to stable transfection with plasmid
      vectors induced apoptosis and decreased viability of BL and K562 cells.
      Therefore, CD95-mediated apoptosis induces Pim-1 down-regulation in BL B-cells,
      but Pim-1 down-regulation cannot fully eradicate BL and leukaemia.

PMID- 27641444
TI  - Cramp Training Induces a Long-Lasting Increase of the Cramp Threshold Frequency
      in Healthy Subjects.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A low cramp threshold frequency (CTF) is associated with an increased
      cramp susceptibility. Recent data indicate that the CTF can be substantially
      increased by a cramp training consisting of electrically induced muscle cramps
      (EIMCs). This study investigated if four cramp training sessions induce sustained
      effects on the CTF. METHODS: In ten healthy male subjects, EIMCs were induced in
      the gastrocnemius medialis of one leg (intervention leg, IL) twice a week, while
      the opposite leg served as control leg (CL). The stimulation protocol consisted
      of three sets of six bipolar rectangular wave pulsed currents (5 sec on, 10 sec
      off) at 30 Hz above the individual CTF. RESULTS: After four cramp training
      sessions (2 weeks) the CTF differed (p < 0.001) from pre-values in the IL (pre:
      19.2 +/- 1.4 Hz post 29.8 +/- 8.0 Hz) but not in the CL (pre: 18.2 +/- 1.5 Hz
      post 19.6 +/- 2.8 Hz; p > 0.05). Thereafter, the CTF remained elevated in the IL
      for 22 days (22 days post: 22.2 +/- 3.2 Hz; p < 0.05) when compared to pre and
      was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of the CL 5, 10, and 14 days after
      the intervention. CONCLUSION: The applied cramp training induced a long-term CTF
      increase of 14 days.

PMID- 27641446
TI  - Abstracts of the Annual Scientific Meeting of the British Blood Transfusion
      Society, 21-23 September 2016, Harrogate International Centre, North Yorkshire,
      UK.

PMID- 27641443
TI  - Progesterone induces progesterone receptor gene (PGR) expression via rapid
      activation of protein kinase pathways required for cooperative estrogen receptor
      alpha (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) genomic action at ER/PR target genes.
AB  - Progesterone Receptors (PRs) are critical effectors of estrogen receptor (ER)
      signaling required for mammary gland development and reproductive proficiency. In
      breast and reproductive tract malignancies, PR expression is a clinical
      prognostic marker of ER action. While estrogens primarily regulate PR expression,
      other factors likely contribute to a dynamic range of receptor expression across
      diverse tissues. In this study, we identified estrogen-independent but progestin
      (R5020)-dependent regulation of ER target genes including PGR in ER+/PR+ cancer
      cell lines. R5020 (10nM-10MUM range) induced dose-dependent PR mRNA and protein
      expression in the absence of estrogen but required both PR and ERalpha.
      Antagonists of either PR (RU486, onapristone) or ERalpha (ICI 182,780) attenuated
      R5020 induction of TFF1, CTSD, and PGR. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)
      assays performed on ER+/PR+ cells demonstrated that both ERalpha and PR were
      recruited to the same ERE/Sp1 site-containing region of the PGR proximal promoter
      in response to high dose progestin (10MUM). Recruitment of ERalpha and PR to
      chromatin and subsequent PR mRNA induction were dependent upon rapid activation
      of MAPK/ERK and AKT; inhibition of these kinase pathways via U0126 or LY294002
      blocked these events. Overall, we have identified a novel mechanism of ERalpha
      activation initiated by rapid PR-dependent kinase pathway activation and
      associated with phosphorylation of ERalpha Ser118 for estrogen-independent but
      progestin-dependent ER/PR cross talk. These studies may provide insight into
      mechanisms of persistent ER-target gene expression during periods of hormone
      (i.e. estrogen) ablation and suggest caution following prolonged treatment with
      aromatase or CYP17 inhibitors (i.e. contexts when progesterone levels may be
      abnormally elevated).

PMID- 27641441
TI  - Gut instincts: microbiota as a key regulator of brain development, ageing and
      neurodegeneration.
AB  - There is a growing realisation that the gut-brain axis and its regulation by the
      microbiota may play a key role in the biological and physiological basis of
      neurodevelopmental, age-related and neurodegenerative disorders. The routes of
      communication between the microbiota and brain are being unravelled and include
      the vagus nerve, gut hormone signalling, the immune system, tryptophan metabolism
      or by way of microbial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids. The
      importance of early life gut microbiota in shaping future health outcomes is also
      emerging. Disturbances of this composition by way of antibiotic exposure, lack of
      breastfeeding, infection, stress and the environmental influences coupled with
      the influence of host genetics can result in long-term effects on physiology and
      behaviour, at least in animal models. It is also worth noting that mode of
      delivery at birth influences microbiota composition with those born by Caesarean
      section having a distinctly different microbiota in early life to those born per
      vaginum. At the other extreme of life, ageing is associated with a narrowing in
      microbial diversity and healthy ageing correlates with a diverse microbiome.
      Recently, the gut microbiota has been implicated in a variety of conditions
      including depression, autism, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. There is
      still considerable debate as to whether or not the gut microbiota changes are
      core to the pathophysiology of such conditions or are merely epiphenomenal. It is
      plausible that such neuropsychiatric disorders might be treated in the future by
      targeting the microbiota either by microbiota transplantation, antibiotics or
      psychobiotics.

PMID- 27641445
TI  - Multivariate analysis of the volatile components in tobacco based on infrared
      assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry.
AB  - A novel infrared-assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase
      microextraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method has
      been developed for the rapid determination of the volatile components in tobacco.
      The optimal extraction conditions for maximizing the extraction efficiency were
      as follows: 65 MUm polydimethylsiloxane-divinylbenzene fiber, extraction time of
      20 min, infrared power of 175 W, and distance between the infrared lamp and the
      headspace vial of 2 cm. Under the optimum conditions, 50 components were found to
      exist in all ten tobacco samples from different geographical origins. Compared
      with conventional water-bath heating and nonheating extraction methods, the
      extraction efficiency of infrared-assisted extraction was greatly improved.
      Furthermore, multivariate analysis including principal component analysis,
      hierarchical cluster analysis, and similarity analysis were performed to evaluate
      the chemical information of these samples and divided them into three
      classifications, including rich, moderate, and fresh flavors. The above-mentioned
      classification results were consistent with the sensory evaluation, which was
      pivotal and meaningful for tobacco discrimination. As a simple, fast, cost
      effective, and highly efficient method, the infrared-assisted extraction coupled
      to headspace solid-phase microextraction technique is powerful and promising for
      distinguishing the geographical origins of the tobacco samples coupled to
      suitable chemometrics.

PMID- 27641448
TI  - A Survey of Disaster Medical Education in Osteopathic Medical School Curricula.
AB  - Parrillo SJ , Christensen D , Teitelbaum HS , Glassman ES . A survey of disaster
      medical education in osteopathic medical school curricula. Prehosp Disaster Med.
      2016;31(6):581-582.

PMID- 27641447
TI  - MicroRNA-181b negatively regulates the proliferation of human epidermal
      keratinocytes in psoriasis through targeting TLR4.
AB  - Our study aims to explore the role of microRNA-181b (miR-181b) and TLR in the
      regulation of cell proliferation of human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs) in
      psoriasis. Twenty-eight patients diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris were selected
      as a case group with their lesional and non-lesional skin tissues collected. A
      control group consisted of 20 patients who underwent plastic surgery with their
      healthy skin tissues collected. Real-time quantitative fluorescence polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-qPCR), in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were
      used to detect the expressions of miR-181b and TLR4 in HEKs of healthy skin,
      psoriatic lesional skin and non-lesional skin respectively. The 3' untranslated
      region (3'UTR) of TLR4 combined with miR-181b was verified by a dual-luciferase
      reporter assay. Western blotting and bromodeoxyuridine were applied for
      corresponding detection of TLR4 expression and cell mitosis. The expression of
      miR-181b in HEKs of psoriatic lesional skin was less than healthy skin and
      psoriatic non-lesional skin. In psoriatic lesional and non-lesional skin, TLR4
      positive cell rates and the number of positive cells per square millimetre were
      higher than healthy skin. The dual-luciferase reporter assay verified that miR
      181b targets TLR4. HEKs transfected with miR-181b mimics had decreased expression
      of TLR4, along with the decrease of mitotic indexes and Brdu labelling indexes.
      However, HEKs transfected with miR-181b inhibitors showed increased TLR4
      expression, mitotic indexes and Brdu labelling indexes. HEKs transfected with
      both miR-181b inhibitors and siTLR4 had decreased mitotic indexes and Brdu
      labelling indexes. These results indicate that miR-181b can negatively regulate
      the proliferation of HEKs in psoriasis by targeting TLR4.

PMID- 27641449
TI  - Global mental health and psychiatric institutions in the 21st century.
AB  - In the 19th century, psychiatric institutions were the focus of thousands of
      articles in the leading English-language medical and psychiatric journals. This
      area of concern remained important through the first half of the 20th century,
      with some decline in the number of published articles in the second half of the
      20th century as de-institutionalisation gathered pace. The number of articles
      about this topic has declined sharply in the past 25 years, and psychiatric
      institutions are not the focus of any of the Grand Challenges in Global Mental
      Health even though psychiatric institutions of all kinds are widely acknowledged
      to be the among the main sites of human rights abuses. In this commentary we
      present examples of impressive transformations of institutions in Sri Lanka and
      Vietnam, and suggest that the field of global mental health should devote more of
      its efforts to improving the lives of persons with mental disorders who have been
      incarcerated in a variety of settings, often under the care of mental health
      specialists.

PMID- 27641450
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 27641451
TI  - Urinary Drainage Procedures in Interventional Radiology.
AB  - Urinary drainage procedures are used to treat a wide range of clinical situations
      including pyonephrosis, preservation of renal function in patients with ureteral
      obstruction, as a means to access the collecting system for stone retrieval or
      lithotripsy and to divert urine from a distal leak or fistula. Several different
      drainage devices are available and include those that provide obligatory external
      drainage (nephrostomy), both internal and external drainage (nephroureteral
      stent) and internal drainage (double-J stent). Each device requires some
      maintenance and effort on the patient's part-from having to undergo routine
      exchange of double-J stents every 3-6 months to the daily management of an
      external catheter and drainage bag. Ideally, the desired outcome can be attained
      with minimal effect on patient lifestyle. In this article, we present our
      approach to patients who require urinary drainage, with a focus on choosing and
      placing the most appropriate device in a variety of clinical scenarios. 

PMID- 27641452
TI  - Ureteral Interventions.
AB  - Interventional radiologists are commonly called upon to manage patients with
      benign and malignant ureteral pathologic conditions. Unfortunately, treatments
      for both cure and palliation can be fraught with problems causing patients to be
      undesirably maintained with lifelong catheters. This review describes outcomes
      for antegrade and retrograde therapeutic options and techniques for patients with
      most types of ureteral pathologic conditions that the interventional radiologist
      would encounter in practice. 

PMID- 27641453
TI  - Managing Complications Following Nephron-Sparing Procedures for Renal Masses.
AB  - Small renal malignancies are commonly treated with nephron-sparing procedures
      including partial nephrectomy and percutaneous ablation. Although these
      procedures offer faster patient recovery and preserve renal function, a variety
      of complications can occur. Here, we review vascular and nonvascular
      complications associated with nephron-sparing renal mass treatments and discuss
      options for minimally invasive image-guided management. 

PMID- 27641454
TI  - Arterial Embolization for the Treatment of Renal Masses and Traumatic Renal
      Injuries.
AB  - Renal artery embolization (RAE) for a variety of indications has been performed
      for several decades. RAE techniques have been refined over time for clinical
      efficacy and a more favorable safety profile. Owing to improved catheters,
      embolic agents for precise delivery, and clinical experience, RAE is increasingly
      used as an adjunct to, or as the preferred alternative to surgical interventions.
      The indications for RAE are expanding for many urologic and medical conditions.
      In this article, we focus on the role and technical aspects of RAE in the
      treatment of renal masses and traumatic renal injuries. 

PMID- 27641455
TI  - Management of Renovascular Hypertension.
AB  - Renal artery stenosis is a potentially reversible cause of hypertension, and
      transcatheter techniques are essential to its treatment. Angioplasty remains a
      first-line treatment for stenosis secondary to fibromuscular dysplasia. Renal
      artery stenting is commonly used in atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis,
      although recent trials have cast doubts upon its efficacy. Renal denervation is a
      promising procedure for the treatment of resistant hypertension, and in the
      future, its indications may expand. 

PMID- 27641456
TI  - Interventional Management of Nonvascular Renal Transplant Complications.
AB  - Nonvascular complications represent a significant source of morbidity following
      renal transplantation and can be seen in up to 20% of patients. Postoperative
      problems include urinary tract obstruction or leakage and the development of
      peritransplant fluid collections. Interventional radiologists play a key role in
      the management of these patients. Image-guided interventions are used to identify
      the underlying anatomical problem, relieve immediate symptoms, and allow planning
      for long-term resolution. In this article, we review the urinary tract anatomy
      relevant to renal transplantation, procedural techniques for image-guided urinary
      tract interventions and interventions on peritransplant fluid collections, and
      expected outcomes following image-guided interventions. 

PMID- 27641457
TI  - Interventional Management of Vascular Renal Transplant Complications.
AB  - Renal transplantation is the therapy of choice in patients with end stage renal
      disease. Although transplant rejection remains the most common complication after
      renal transplantation, vascular anatomical complications occur in 1%-23% of renal
      transplant recipients. Interventional radiologists play an important role in the
      management of these complications. This review discusses the role of image-guided
      interventions within the context of multidisciplinary patient management.
      Particular emphasis is given to anatomical considerations unique to this patient
      population, techniques used for image-guided interventions, and outcomes of image
      guided interventions. 

PMID- 27641458
TI  - Kidney, Ureter, and Bladder Biopsy.
AB  - Percutaneous urologic biopsy is a safe and effective technique and can comprise a
      significant proportion of the daily workload of the interventional radiologist.
      This article discusses the indications and rationale for the performance of
      renal, ureter, and bladder biopsy as well as the approach to performing such
      biopsies, pitfalls, and potential complications. 

PMID- 27641460
TI  - A beta-Turn Motif in the Steroid Hormone Receptor's Ligand-Binding Domains
      Interacts with the Peptidyl-prolyl Isomerase (PPIase) Catalytic Site of the
      Immunophilin FKBP52.
AB  - The immunophilin FKBP52 interacts with nuclear steroid hormone receptors.
      Studying the crystal structure of human estrogen receptor alpha (hERalpha) and
      using nuclear magnetic resonance, we show here that the short V(364)PGF(367)
      sequence, which is located within its ligand-binding domain and adopts a type II
      beta-turn conformation in the protein, binds the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase
      (PPIase or rotamase) FK1 domain of FKBP52. Interestingly, this turn motif
      displays strong similarities with the FKBP52 FK1 domain-binding moiety of
      macrolide immunomodulators such as rapamycin and GPI-1046, an immunophilin ligand
      with neuroprotective characteristics. An increase in the hydrophobicity of the
      residue preceding the proline and cyclization of the VPGF peptide strengthen its
      recognition by the FK1 domain of FKBP52. Replacement of the Pro residue with a
      dimethylproline also enhances this interaction. Our study not only contributes to
      a better understanding of how the interaction between the FK1 domain of FKBP52
      and steroid hormone receptors most likely works but also opens new avenues for
      the synthesis of FKBP52 FK1 peptide ligands appropriate for the control of
      hormone-dependent physiological mechanisms or of the functioning of the Tau
      protein. Indeed, it has been shown that FKBP52 is involved in the intraneuronal
      dynamics of the Tau protein.

PMID- 27641459
TI  - beta-Hairpin of Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Bound to an Aggregation Inhibitor.
AB  - In type 2 diabetes, the formation of islet amyloid consisting of islet amyloid
      polypeptide (IAPP) is associated with reduction in beta-cell mass and contributes
      to the failure of islet cell transplantation. Rational design of inhibitors of
      IAPP amyloid formation has therapeutic potential, but is hampered by the lack of
      structural information on inhibitor complexes of the conformationally flexible,
      aggregation-prone IAPP. Here we characterize a beta-hairpin conformation of IAPP
      in complex with the engineered binding protein beta-wrapin HI18. The beta-strands
      correspond to two amyloidogenic motifs, 12-LANFLVH-18 and 22-NFGAILS-28, which
      are connected by a turn established around Ser-20. Besides backbone hydrogen
      bonding, the IAPP:HI18 interaction surface is dominated by non-polar contacts
      involving hydrophobic side chains of the IAPP beta-strands. Apart from monomers,
      HI18 binds oligomers and fibrils and inhibits IAPP aggregation and toxicity at
      low substoichiometric concentrations. The IAPP beta-hairpin can serve as a
      molecular recognition motif enabling control of IAPP aggregation.

PMID- 27641461
TI  - Electrocatalytic Reduction of Oxygen on Platinum Nanoparticles in the Presence
      and Absence of Interactions with the Electrode Surface.
AB  - We report that ultraviolet/ozone (UV/O3) treatment can be used to remove sixth
      generation, hydroxyl-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers from
      dendrimer-encapsulated Pt nanoparticles (Pt DENs) previously immobilized onto a
      pyrolyzed photoresist film (PPF) electrode. Results from X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical
      experiments indicate that removal of the dendrimer proceeds without changes to
      the size, shape, or electrocatalytic properties of the encapsulated
      nanoparticles. The UV/O3 treatment did not damage the PPF electrode. The
      electrocatalytic properties of the DENs before and after removal of the dendrimer
      were nearly identical.

PMID- 27641462
TI  - [Osimertinib (Tagrisso(r)): Activity, indication and modality of use in non-small
      cell lung cancer].
AB  - The acquisition of a resistance EGFR mutation in exon 20 (T790M) occurs in half
      of the cases of secondary resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI),
      given in first-line treatment in advanced EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung
      cancers (NSCLC). Osimertinib (AZD9291, Tagrisso(r)) is a third-generation,
      irreversible EGFR TKI, active in case of T790M mutation. A large phase I trial
      showed the efficacy of osimertinib after failure of first-generation EGFR TKI
      (erlotinib, gefitinib), with response rate at 51% and up to 61% in case of T790M
      mutation. Progression-free survival was 9.6 months in case of T790M. Toxicity
      profile was acceptable, with mainly digestive (diarrhea) and skin (rash) side
      effects. Preliminary data from a phase II trial confirmed these efficacy and
      safety data. Screening of T790M mutation at the time of progression with TKI can
      be performed in circulating tumor DNA in plasma, with good diagnostic
      performances.

PMID- 27641463
TI  - [High-dose chemotherapy as a strategy to overcome drug resistance in solid
      tumors].
AB  - The concept of high-doses chemotherapy was developed in the 1980s based on in
      vitro scientific observations. Exposure of tumor cells to increasing
      concentrations of alkylating agents resulted in increased cell death in a strong
      dose-response manner. Moreover, the acquired resistance of tumor cells could be
      overcome by dose intensification. In clinic, dose intensification of alkylating
      agents resulted in increased therapeutic responses, however associated with
      significant hematological toxicity. Following the development of autologous stem
      cells transplantation harvesting from peripheral blood, the high-doses of
      chemotherapy, initially associated with marked toxic effects, could be more
      easily tolerated. As a result, the approach was evaluated in different types of
      solid tumors, including breast, ovarian and germ cell tumors, small cell lung
      carcinoma, soft tissue sarcomas and Ewing sarcoma. To date, high-doses
      chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem cells support is only used as a salvage
      therapy to treat poor prognosis germ cell tumors patients with chemo-sensitive
      disease. Regarding breast and ovarian cancer, high-doses chemotherapy should be
      considered only in the context of clinical trials. However, intensive therapy as
      an approach to overcome resistance to standard treatments is still relevant.
      Numerous efforts are still ongoing to identify novel therapeutic combinations and
      active treatments to improve patients' responses.

PMID- 27641464
TI  - Challenges and opportunities in limiting abdominal aortic aneurysm growth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This review describes ongoing efforts to develop a medical therapy to
      limit abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) growth. METHODS: Data from animal model
      studies, human investigations, and clinical trials are described. RESULTS:
      Studies in rodent models and human samples have suggested a number of potential
      targets for slowing or halting AAA growth. A number of clinical trials are now
      examining the value of medications targeting some of the pathways identified.
      These trials have a number of challenges, including identifying medications safe
      to use in older patients with multiple comorbidities, developing accurate outcome
      assessments, and minimizing the dropout of patients during the trials. Three
      recent trials have reported no benefit of the antibiotic doxycycline, a mast cell
      inhibitor, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, or a calcium channel
      blocker in limiting AAA growth. A number of other trials examining angiotensin
      receptor blockers, cyclosporine, and an antiplatelet agent are currently
      underway. CONCLUSIONS: Further refinement of drug discovery pathways and testing
      paradigms are likely needed to develop effective nonsurgical therapies for AAA.

PMID- 27641466
TI  - Resting energy expenditure in obese women: comparison between measured and
      estimated values.
AB  - Assessing energy requirements is a fundamental activity in clinical dietetic
      practice. The aim of this study was to investigate which resting energy
      expenditure (REE) predictive equations are the best alternatives to indirect
      calorimetry before and after an interdisciplinary therapy in Brazilian obese
      women. In all, twelve equations based on weight, height, sex, age, fat-free mass
      and fat mass were tested. REE was measured by indirect calorimetry. The
      interdisciplinary therapy consisted of nutritional, physical exercise,
      psychological and physiotherapy support during the course of 1 year. The average
      differences between measured and predicted REE, as well as the accuracy at the +/
      10 % level, were evaluated. Statistical analysis included paired t tests,
      intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots. Validation was based
      on forty obese women (BMI 30-39.9 kg/m2). Our major findings demonstrated a wide
      variation in the accuracy of REE predictive equations before and after weight
      loss in non-morbid, obese women. The equations reported by Harris-Benedict and
      FAO/WHO/United Nations University (UNU) were the only ones that did not show
      significant differences compared with indirect calorimetry and presented a bias
      <5 %. The Harris-Benedict equation provided 40 and 47.5 % accurate predictions
      before and after therapy, respectively. The FAO equation provided 35 and 47.5 %
      accurate predictions. However, the Bland-Altman analysis did not show good
      agreement between these equations and indirect calorimetry. Therefore, the Harris
      Benedict and FAO/WHO/UNU equations should be used with caution for obese women.
      The need to critically re-assess REE data and generate regional and more
      homogeneous REE databases for the target population is reinforced.

PMID- 27641467
TI  - A druggable target for rescuing microRNA defects.
AB  - Despite immense promise, development of microRNA (miRNA) therapeutics remains
      limited by pharmacodynamic challenges that have hindered progress of related
      oligonucleotide-based technologies. Recent discovery of enzymes that mediate
      miRNA metabolism represent potential pharmacological targets for directing miRNA
      function, circumventing barriers associated with oligonucleotides. We previously
      identified the Translin/Trax (TN/TX) ribonuclease complex as a pre-miRNA
      degrading enzyme that competes with pre-miRNA processing by Dicer. Here, we
      establish a high-throughput TN/TX assay and screened 2320 drug and natural
      product compounds for inhibitors of TN/TX. Secondary analyses demonstrate small
      molecule mediated inhibition of pre-miRNA degradation by TN/TX and enhanced miRNA
      processing by Dicer. This application of traditional enzyme-inhibitor
      pharmacology to the miRNA pathway establishes a druggable target for rescuing
      global miRNA defects, providing an important complement to current approaches
      towards miRNA therapeutics. More broadly, demonstrating feasibility of
      pharmacological targeting of the 'ribonucleome' is particularly important given
      emerging classes of regulatory RNA and growing understanding of their importance
      in health and disease.

PMID- 27641465
TI  - Clinical importance of minimal enhancement of type B intramural hematoma of the
      aorta on computed tomography imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the instability, morphology, natural course, and
      prognostic value of enhancement of the thrombosed false lumen on contrast
      enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans in patients with type B intramural
      hematoma of the aorta (IMH). METHODS: A total of 65 patients (42 men; mean age,
      75 years) with type B IMH were evaluated retrospectively. On initial CT scans,
      attenuation of the false lumen (AFL) was determined before enhancement and in the
      early and delayed phases of contrast enhancement. Then enhancement of the false
      lumen (EFL) was calculated (AFL in the delayed image - AFL in the precontrast
      image). The Cox proportional hazards model was employed to estimate the risk of
      IMH-related events, including death or surgical repair. RESULTS: The mean AFL for
      precontrast CT, arterial phase enhanced CT, and delayed phase enhanced CT was
      56.3 +/- 10.5, 59.9 +/- 10.8, and 63.7 +/- 11.1 Hounsfield units, respectively,
      whereas the mean EFL was 7.4 +/- 9.0 Hounsfield units. EFL was the only
      independent predictor of IMH-related events (n = 23; hazard ratio, 1.008; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.03-1.15; P = .0044) and IMH-related death/surgical repair
      (n = 10; hazard ratio, 1.111; 95% confidence interval, 1.017-1.213; P = .0197).
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with IMH, EFL is the most powerful predictor of IMH
      related events, as well as IMH-related death or surgical repair.

PMID- 27641468
TI  - Conditional changes enhanced production of bioactive metabolites of marine
      derived fungus Eurotium rubrum.
AB  - Metabolites of marine derived fungus Eurotium rubrum MPUC136 differed between
      cultivation on wheat medium and Czapek-Dox agar medium. Melanin synthesis
      inhibitory activity of crude extract of culture on wheat medium showed stronger
      activity than that of crude extract of culture on Czapek-Dox agar medium. A new
      diketopiperazine compound isoechinulin D (1) and eight reported diketopiperazines
      (2-9) were isolated from the crude extract of wheat medium. The structure of 1
      was established using NMR, MS and IR methods. 2-5 inhibited melanogenesis using
      B16 melanoma cells (IC50=68, 2.4, 83, 9.1MUM each). Structure-Activity
      Relationships of diketopiperazines (1-10) indicated the importance of the prenyl
      groups at C-2, C-5 and C-7, the vinyl group at C-12 to C-25 and the sp2 carbons
      at C-8 and C-9. Isolated compounds (1-9) were not or slightly observed from the
      extracts of Czapek-Dox agar medium by HPLC analysis, suggesting that different
      cultivation processes could affect metabolism and enhance bioactivities.

PMID- 27641469
TI  - Gabosines P and Q, new carbasugars from Streptomyces sp. and their alpha
      glucosidase inhibitory activity.
AB  - Two new polyoxygenated cyclohexenone 'ketocarbasugars', named gabosines P and Q
      (1 and 2), were isolated from the culture of the actinomycete Streptomycetes
      strain no. 8, along with two known cyclic dipeptides. The structures and absolute
      configurations of the new metabolites were determined by spectroscopic data (1D-
      and 2D-NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and IR), chemical transformation, and electronic circular
      dichroism (ECD). These compounds were evaluated for alpha-glucosidase inhibitory
      activity in vitro. Only compound 1 exhibited IC50 values of 9.07MUM, with potency
      higher than that of the control acarbose. Molecular docking studies revealed the
      existence of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction between the enzyme and
      gabosine P. The results will be useful in designing new anti-diabetes control
      agents.

PMID- 27641471
TI  - A simple, one pot synthesis of furo[3,2-c]chromenes and evaluation of
      antimicrobial activity.
AB  - Synthesis of a number of 2-cyano-4-oxo-3-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-furo[3,2
      c]chromene-2-carboxylate compounds (5) have been accomplished by a simple,
      multicomponent one pot reaction and evaluated for in vitro antimicrobial activity
      against different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. The outcome
      of the screening study showed that compound 5c exhibited promising activity
      against Micrococcus luteus MTCC 2470 and Klebsiella planticola MTCC 530. Whereas,
      compound 5g exhibited excellent activity against Bacillus subtilis MTCC 121,
      Micrococcus luteus MTCC 2470, Klebsiella planticola MTCC 530, Escherichia coli
      MTCC 739 and displayed a moderate activity against Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 96
      and Candida albicans MTCC 3017 when compared with Ciprofloxacin (standard
      control).

PMID- 27641470
TI  - Discovery of anabaenopeptin 679 from freshwater algal bloom material: Insights
      into the structure-activity relationship of anabaenopeptin protease inhibitors.
AB  - Cyanobacteria possess a unique capacity for the production of structurally novel
      secondary metabolites compared to the biosynthetic abilities of other
      environmental prokaryotes such as bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. Two
      different strategies to explore cyanobacteria-derived natural products have been
      explored previously: (1) cultivation of single cyanobacterial strains, in
      bioreactors for example; (2) bulk collections from the environment of so called
      'algal blooms' that are dominated by cyanobacteria. In this study a new
      environmentally friendly collection technique for obtaining large quantities of
      algal bloom biomass was utilized. Algal biomass derived from eight million liters
      of lake water was concentrated using a novel continuous countercurrent filtration
      system. Analysis of this freshwater algal bloom from Grand Lake-Saint Marys, Ohio
      led to the discovery of anabaenopeptin 679 (1), as well as the known
      anabaenopeptins B, F, H and 908. Anabaenopeptin 679 is unusual in that it
      possesses the classical anabaenopeptin-like cyclic pentapeptide core, but lacks
      the typical sidechain attached to the constitutive ureido group. Screening of all
      anabaenopeptin derivatives in an enzymatic assay for inhibitory activity toward
      carboxypeptidase A identified anabaenopeptin 679 as a strong inhibitor of
      carboxypeptidase A with an IC50 value of 4.6MUg/mL. This result defines a new
      minimal core structure for carboxypeptidase activity among the anabaenopeptin
      class, and provides further insight into the structure-activity relationship of
      anabaenopeptin-like carboxypeptidase A inhibitors.

PMID- 27641472
TI  - Investigation of the structure activity relationship of flufenamic acid
      derivatives at the human TRESK channel K2P18.1.
AB  - TRESK (Twik RElated Spinal cord K+ channel) is a member of the Twin Pore Domain
      potassium channel (K2P) family responsible for regulating neuronal excitability
      in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and trigeminal (TG) neurons, peripheral neurons
      involved in pain transmission. As channel opening causes an outward K+ current
      responsible for cell hyperpolarisation, TRESK represents a potentially
      interesting target for pain treatment. However, as no crystal structure exists
      for this protein, the mechanisms involved in the opening action of its ligands
      are still poorly understood, making the development of new potent and selective
      openers challenging. In this work we present a structure activity relationship
      (SAR) of the known TRESK opener flufenamic acid (FFA) and some derivatives,
      investigating the functional effects of chemical modifications to build a TRESK
      homology model to support the biological results. A plausible binding mode is
      proposed, providing the first predictive hypothesis of a human TRESK opener
      binding site.

PMID- 27641473
TI  - Effect of Fermentation and Cooking on Soluble and Bound Phenolic Profiles of
      Finger Millet Sour Porridge.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the soluble and bound phenolic content of
      finger millet and the impact of process induced changes on phenolic profiles of
      their sour porridge. Finger millet porridge and intermediate products were
      collected from four groups of households in the Hwedza communal area, Zimbabwe,
      after which soluble and bound phenolic compounds (PC) including condensed tannins
      (CT) were quantified. Bound PC and CT contributed 95% of the total PC and CT. The
      CT were only detected in the red varieties. Major individual PC identified were
      catechin occurring in the soluble fraction only, while ferulic, sinapic, and
      salicylic acid were mainly present in the bound fraction. Fermentation and
      cooking caused a more than 2-fold increase in soluble PC, CT, and individual PC.
      Improved traditional processing techniques optimized for improved bioavailability
      and health benefits of phenolics are highly relevant for the low income
      populations.

PMID- 27641474
TI  - Gender differences in a reference database of age-related femoral neck geometric
      parameters for Chinese population and their association with femoral neck
      fractures.
AB  - Femoral neck geometric parameters (FNGPs) are closely related to the strength of
      the femoral neck and the risk of fragility fractures. No reference database is
      available for FNGPs for Chinese population, and gender-related differences in
      FNGPs as well as their association with the risk of femoral neck fractures are
      unknown. This investigation aimed to set up reference databases for FNGPs,
      understand gender-related differences in FNGPs, and examine the association
      between FNGPs and the risk of osteoporotic fractures of the femoral neck. This
      study included 5268 females and 2156 males (aged 15-91years) from Chinese
      population. A total of 384 patients (282 females and 102 males) had sustained
      femoral neck fractures; 384 age- and sex-matched individuals without any
      fractures served as controls. Femoral neck DXA images were used to measure bone
      mineral density (BMD) and eight FNGPs. Our results showed that the age-related
      trends of FNGPs were fitted with the best goodness-of-fit by applying the cubic
      regression model. The trends shown by FNGPs were significantly different between
      male and female subjects, and the fitting curves were significantly higher in
      male subjects. After adjustments were made for age, height, weight, and body mass
      index, Cox regression analysis showed that changes in all FNGPs were related to
      increased hazard ratios (HRs) of femoral neck fractures. After further adjustment
      was made for BMD of the femoral neck, the HRs related to a cortical thickness
      (CT) decrease and buckling ratio (BR) increase in females went up by 3.35-folds
      (95% CI: 2.75-4.07) and 1.86-folds (95% CI: 1.33-2.60), respectively. In males,
      the HRs related to the decrease in CT and cross-sectional area (CSA) increased by
      3.21-folds (95% CI: 2.32-4.45) and 1.88-folds (95% CI: 1.03-3.44), respectively.
      In conclusions, the reference databases of FNGPs established in this study will
      assist in the evaluation and prediction of femoral neck fracture risk in the
      clinic. The decrease in CT and increase in BR of the femoral neck were
      independent risk factors for osteoporotic fractures of the femoral neck in
      females from mainland China, while a decrease in CT and CSA were risk factors in
      male.

PMID- 27641476
TI  - Carfilzomib therapy improves quality of life in multiple myeloma.

PMID- 27641477
TI  - Cord blood transplant improves outcomes in leukaemia.

PMID- 27641478
TI  - Mutational subgroups for oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27641479
TI  - Construction of novel electrochemical immunosensor for detection of prostate
      specific antigen using ferrocene-PAMAM dendrimers.
AB  - In this study, an immunosensor was designed to utilize for the detection of
      prostate specific antigen (PSA) based on three different generations (G1, G2 and
      G3) of ferrocene (Fc) cored polyamidiamine dendrimers (Fc-PAMAM) gold (Au)
      electrode. The self-assembled monolayer principle (SAM) was used to fabricate the
      sensitive, selective and disposable immunosensor electrodes. In electrode
      fabrication cysteamine (Cys) was the first agent covalently linked on the Au
      electrode surface. Immobilized redox center (ferrocene) cored PAMAM dendrimers
      served as a layer for the further binding of biological components. The
      monoclonal antibody of PSA (anti-PSA) was covalently immobilized on dendrimers
      which were attached onto the modified Au surface (Au/Cys/Fc-PAMAMs/anti-PSA). PSA
      levels were quantitatively analyzed by using electrochemical differential pulse
      voltammetry (DPV) whose lowest detection limit was calculated as 0.001ngmL(-1).
      The Au/Cys/FcPAMAM/anti-PSA immunosensor showed excellent performance for PSA at
      the pulse amplitude; 50mV and the scan rate; 10mV/s in a wide linear
      concentration range of 0.01ng-100ngmL(-1). Analytical performance and specificity
      assays were carried out using human serum and different proteins. 

PMID- 27641480
TI  - Mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with reversible splenial lesion (MERS)
      associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae Bacteraemia.
AB  - Mild encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion (MERS) is a clinico
      radiological syndrome that can be related to infectious and non-infectious
      conditions. Patients present with mild neurological symptoms, and magnetic
      resonance imaging typically demonstrate a reversible lesion with transiently
      reduced diffusion in the splenium of the corpus callosum. Here, we describe MERS
      in a 10-year-old boy who presented with fever and consciousness and who
      completely recovered within a few days. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the
      causative agent. Although viruses (especially influenza A and B) are the most
      common pathogen of MERS, for proper management, bacteria should be considered, as
      they may also lead to this condition.

PMID- 27641475
TI  - Single dose of bisphosphonate preserves gains in bone mass following cessation of
      sclerostin antibody in Brtl/+ osteogenesis imperfecta model.
AB  - Sclerostin antibody has demonstrated a bone-forming effect in pre-clinical models
      of osteogenesis imperfecta, where mutations in collagen or collagen-associated
      proteins often result in high bone fragility in pediatric patients. Cessation
      studies in osteoporotic patients have demonstrated that sclerostin antibody, like
      intermittent PTH treatment, requires sequential anti-resorptive therapy to
      preserve the anabolic effects in adult populations. However, the persistence of
      anabolic gains from either drug has not been explored clinically in OI, or in any
      animal model. To determine whether cessation of sclerostin antibody therapy in a
      growing OI skeleton requires sequential anti-resorptive treatment to preserve
      anabolic gains in bone mass, we treated 3week old Brtl/+ and wild type mice for
      5weeks with SclAb, and then withdrew treatment for an additional 6weeks.
      Trabecular bone loss was evident following cessation, but was preserved in a dose
      dependent manner with single administration of pamidronate at the time of
      cessation. In vivo longitudinal near-infrared optical imaging of cathepsin K
      activation in the proximal tibia suggests an anti-resorptive effect of both SclAb
      and pamidronate which is reversed after three weeks of cessation. Cortical bone
      was considerably less susceptible to cessation effects, and showed no structural
      or functional deficits in the absence of pamidronate during this cessation
      period. In conclusion, while SclAb induces a considerable anabolic gain in the
      rapidly growing Brtl/+ murine model of OI, a single sequential dose of
      antiresorptive drug is required to maintain bone mass at trabecular sites for
      6weeks following cessation.

PMID- 27641481
TI  - Building predictive models for MERS-CoV infections using data mining techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, the outbreak of MERS-CoV infections caused worldwide
      attention to Saudi Arabia. The novel virus belongs to the coronaviruses family,
      which is responsible for causing mild to moderate colds. The control and command
      center of Saudi Ministry of Health issues a daily report on MERS-CoV infection
      cases. The infection with MERS-CoV can lead to fatal complications, however
      little information is known about this novel virus. In this paper, we apply two
      data mining techniques in order to better understand the stability and the
      possibility of recovery from MERS-CoV infections. METHOD: The Naive Bayes
      classifier and J48 decision tree algorithm were used to build our models. The
      dataset used consists of 1082 records of cases reported between 2013 and 2015. In
      order to build our prediction models, we split the dataset into two groups. The
      first group combined recovery and death records. A new attribute was created to
      indicate the record type, such that the dataset can be used to predict the
      recovery from MERS-CoV. The second group contained the new case records to be
      used to predict the stability of the infection based on the current status
      attribute. RESULTS: The resulting recovery models indicate that healthcare
      workers are more likely to survive. This could be due to the vaccinations that
      healthcare workers are required to get on regular basis. As for the stability
      models using J48, two attributes were found to be important for predicting
      stability: symptomatic and age. Old patients are at high risk of developing MERS
      CoV complications. Finally, the performance of all the models was evaluated using
      three measures: accuracy, precision, and recall. In general, the accuracy of the
      models is between 53.6% and 71.58%. CONCLUSION: We believe that the performance
      of the prediction models can be enhanced with the use of more patient data. As
      future work, we plan to directly contact hospitals in Riyadh in order to collect
      more information related to patients with MERS-CoV infections.

PMID- 27641482
TI  - Extended carboplatin infusion does not reduce frequency of hypersensitivity
      reaction at initiation of retreatment in patients with recurrent platinum
      sensitive ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27641484
TI  - Haploidentical related donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with post
      transplantation cyclophosphamide for DOCK8 deficiency.

PMID- 27641483
TI  - School Environmental Intervention to Reduce Particulate Pollutant Exposures for
      Children with Asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Home-based interventions to improve indoor air quality have
      demonstrated benefits for asthma morbidity, yet little is known about the effect
      of environmental interventions in the school setting. OBJECTIVE: We piloted the
      feasibility and effectiveness of a classroom-based air cleaner intervention to
      reduce particulate pollutants in classrooms of children with asthma. METHODS: In
      this pilot randomized controlled trial, we assessed the effect of air cleaners on
      indoor air particulate pollutant concentrations in 18 classrooms (9 control, 9
      intervention) in 3 urban elementary schools. We enrolled 25 children with asthma
      (13 control, 12 intervention) aged 6 to 10 years. Classroom air pollutant
      measurements and spirometry were completed once before and twice after
      randomization. Asthma symptoms were surveyed every 3 months. RESULTS: Baseline
      classroom levels of fine particulate matter (particulate matter with diameter of
      <2.5 MUm [PM2.5]) and black carbon (BC) were 6.3 and 0.41 MUg/m3, respectively.
      When comparing the intervention to the control group, classroom PM2.5 levels were
      reduced by 49% and 42% and BC levels were reduced by 58% and 55% in the first and
      second follow-up periods, respectively (P < .05 for all comparisons). When
      comparing the children randomized to intervention and control classrooms, there
      was a modest improvement in peak flow, but no significant changes in forced
      expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and asthma symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      pilot study, a classroom-based air cleaner intervention led to significant
      reductions in PM2.5 and BC. Future large-scale studies should comprehensively
      evaluate the effect of school-based environmental interventions on pediatric
      asthma morbidity.

PMID- 27641485
TI  - Impact of institutional volume and experience with CT interpretation on sizing of
      transcatheter aortic valves: A multicenter retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) has become the standard imaging modality for
      pre-procedural aortic annular sizing prior to transcatheter aortic valve
      replacement (TAVR). We hypothesized that the accuracy of CT derived annular
      measurements would be greater at sites with higher TAVR procedural volume.
      METHODS: Within a large integrated health system, TAVR was performed at low (<40
      cases), intermediate (40-75 cases), and high-volume sites (>75 cases). 181
      patients underwent TAVR with a Sapien XT transcatheter heart valve (THV). Two
      blinded experienced readers independently remeasured the annulus on CT and
      compared their measurements to site reported measurements. Hypothetical THV sizes
      were chosen based on measurements from site CT reports and independent readers'
      measurements, and compared to the implanted THV size. RESULTS: Correlation
      between site reported measurements and independent readers measurements of mean
      annulus size varied between low-volume (r=0.31, p=0.18), intermediate-volume
      (r=0.34, p=0.01), and high-volume sites (r=0.96, p<0.01). On multivariate
      analysis, interpretation of >=20 CT scans (OR 0.29; 95% CI 0.03-0.81; p 0.02) and
      high-volume site (OR 0.16; 95% CI 0.10-0.82; p 0.02) were associated with reduced
      mismatch between the site predicted THV size and independent readers predicted
      THV size. Mismatch between site predicted THV size and implanted THV size was
      associated with a worse 30-day composite of mortality, dialysis-dependent renal
      failure, cerebrovascular accident, new permanent pacemaker, and hospital
      readmission (55.3 vs. 38.7%; p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Accuracy of CT aortic annular
      sizing is improved with higher individual experience and site TAVR volume. These
      findings should be confirmed in larger, prospective studies.

PMID- 27641486
TI  - [Prevalence and factors associated with cryptococcal antigenemia in HIV-infected
      patients in Cotonou/Benin].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Determine the prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia and associated
      factors in HIV-infected patients in Cotonou in order to introduce systematic
      screening in national guidelines. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a cross
      sectional, descriptive and analytical study conducted from June to September 2015
      in four outpatient treatment centers with adult patients infected with HIV,
      receiving or not antiretroviral treatment with a number of CD4<=200cell/MUL and
      who have given their informed consent to participate in the study. For each
      enrolled patient, after signing the informed consent form, it was made a clinical
      examination and administration of a questionnaire to collect general information,
      treatment and biological data. Then a blood sample for counting CD4 lymphocytes
      and the search of cryptococcal antigenemia were done. RESULTS: In total, 355
      patients were included in the study with a mean age of 40+/-10.2years. The
      overall prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia is 1.7%. All patient with
      cryptococcal antigenemia have a CD4 count below 100cells/MUL with a majority
      having CD4 count below 50cells/MUL. Body mass index<18.5kg/m2, an alteration of
      the general condition with a CD4 lymphocyte counts<50cells/MUL are the main
      factors associated with the occurrence of cryptococcal antigenemia. CONCLUSION:
      This pilot study showed a low prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia in the study
      population, but higher in highly immuno-deficient patients with CD4
      counts<50cells/MUl. Given the results obtained, the introduction of routine
      screening among patients infected with HIV could be reserved to those with CD4
      counts<50cells/MUl.

PMID- 27641487
TI  - Holothurians antifungal and antibacterial activity to human pathogens in the
      Persian Gulf.
AB  - Pharmaceutical industries now accept that oceans contain a vast array of
      organisms with unique biological properties. As investigation of antimicrobial
      activity, three species of Holothuria sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra,
      Holothuria parva and Holothuria leucospilota) from the Persian Gulf, Iran, were
      obtained, their different organs: gonads (G), body wall (BW), intestine tract
      (IT), respiratory tree (RT) were isolated and extracted with organic solvents:
      ethyl acetate and methanol. Antifungal and antibacterial activities of each
      fraction was estimated with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and disk
      diffusion method against the number (i.e. n=10) of human pathogenic microbes
      (eight pathogenic Gram-positive/negative bacteria strains and two fungi). All the
      sea cucumbers extracts confirmed their strong potential antagonistic effect
      against the bacterial and fungal indicators, except for three relatively
      resistant microbial strains: Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
      Klebsiella pneumonia. Most effective antifungal and antibacterial activities were
      recorded for methanolic extract of intestine tract organs of H. parva against
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae (MIC=0.09mg/ml, IZ=22+/-0.8mm) and Staphylococcus
      epidermidis (MIC=0.04mg/ml and IZ=30+/-0.9mm), compared the other extracts.
      Nevertheless, the differences between species can result from a variety of their
      natural habits. The finding suggests that marine Holothuria sea cucumber specie,
      especially H. parva, has a potential source for the discovery of natural
      antibiotic compounds and drug development.

PMID- 27641488
TI  - A slap on the back and a pat on the head.

PMID- 27641489
TI  - Commentary on 'Monitoring of Foot Oxygenation with Near-infrared Spectroscopy in
      Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia Undergoing Percutaneous Transluminal
      Angioplasty: A Pilot Study'.

PMID- 27641490
TI  - Control of human VDAC-2 scaffold dynamics by interfacial tryptophans is position
      specific.
AB  - Membrane proteins employ specific distribution patterns of amino acids in their
      tertiary structure for adaptation to their unique bilayer environment. The
      solvent-bilayer interface, in particular, displays the characteristic 'aromatic
      belt' that defines the transmembrane region of the protein, and satisfies the
      amphipathic interfacial environment. Tryptophan-the key residue of this aromatic
      belt-is known to influence the folding efficiency and stability of a large number
      of well-studied alpha-helical and beta-barrel membrane proteins. Here, we have
      used functional and biophysical techniques coupled with simulations, to decipher
      the contribution of strategically placed four intrinsic tryptophans of the human
      outer mitochondrial membrane protein, voltage-dependent anion channel isoform-2
      (VDAC-2). We show that tryptophans help in maintaining the structural and
      functional integrity of folded hVDAC-2 barrel in micellar environments. The
      voltage gating characteristics of hVDAC-2 are affected upon mutation of
      tryptophans at positions 75, 86 and 221. We observe that Trp-160 and Trp-221 play
      a crucial role in the folding pathway of the barrel, and once folded, Trp-221
      helps stabilize the folded protein in concert with Trp-75 and Trp-160. We further
      demonstrate that substituting Trp-86 with phenylalanine leads to the formation of
      stable barrel. We find that the region comprising strand beta4 (Trp-86) and
      beta10-14 (Trp-160 and Trp-221) display slower and faster folding kinetics,
      respectively, providing insight into a possible directional folding of hVDAC-2
      from the C-terminus to N-terminus. Our results show that residue selection in a
      protein during evolution is a balancing compromise between optimum stability,
      function, and regulating protein turnover inside the cell.

PMID- 27641491
TI  - HIV-1 matrix-31 membrane binding peptide interacts differently with membranes
      containing PS vs. PI(4,5)P2.
AB  - Efficient assembly of HIV-1 at the plasma membrane (PM) of the T-cell
      specifically requires PI(4,5)P2. It was previously shown that a highly basic
      region (HBR) of the matrix protein (MA) on the Gag precursor polyprotein Pr55Gag
      is required for membrane association. MA is N-terminally myristoylated, which
      enhances its affinity to membranes. In this work we used X-ray scattering and
      neutron reflectivity to determine how the physical properties and structure of
      lipid bilayers respond to the addition of binding domain peptides, either in the
      myristoylated form (MA31myr) or without the myristoyl group (MA31). Neutron
      reflectivity measurements showed the peptides predominantly located in the
      hydrocarbon interior. Diffuse X-ray scattering showed differences in membrane
      properties upon addition of peptides and the direction of the changes depended on
      lipid composition. The PI(4,5)P2-containing bilayers softened, thinned and became
      less ordered as peptide concentration increased. In contrast, POPS-containing
      bilayers with equivalent net charge first stiffened, thickened and became more
      ordered with increasing peptide concentration. As softening the host cell's PM
      upon contact with the protein lowers the free energy for membrane restructuring,
      thereby potentially facilitating budding of viral particles, our results suggest
      that the role of PI(4,5)P2 in viral assembly goes beyond specific stereochemical
      membrane binding. These studies reinforce the importance of lipids in virology.

PMID- 27641492
TI  - Place of death in children and young people with cancer and implications for end
      of life care: a population-based study in England, 1993-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Efforts to improve end of life care (EoLC) have made tangible impacts
      on care in adults, including enabling more people to die at their preferred place
      of death (PoD), usually home or hospices. Little is known how the PoD in children
      and young people (CYP, <=24 years) has changed over time, especially in the
      context of a series of national initiatives for EoLC improvement since the late
      1990s. To inform evidence-based policy-making and service development, we
      evaluated the national trends of PoD and the associated factors in CYP who died
      with cancer. METHODS: Population-based observational study in the National Health
      Service (NHS) England, 1993-2014. All non-accidental CYP deaths with cancer (N =
      12,774) were extracted from the death registration database of the Office for
      National Statistics (ONS). RESULTS: Hospital deaths reduced from >50 to 45 %,
      hospice deaths were rare but more than doubled from 6 % in 1993-2000 to 13 % in
      2005-2014, and home deaths fluctuated at around 40 %. Those aged 0-19 years were
      more likely to die at home than young adults (adjusted proportion ratio (PRs):
      1.23-1.62); haematological cancer patients or those with 2+ comorbid conditions
      had higher chances of hospital death (PRs for home: 0.18-0.75, hospice: 0.04
      0.37); deprivation was associated with a reduced chance of home death (PRs: 0.76
      0.84). The residential region affected hospice but not home deaths. The
      variations of PoD by cause of death, comorbid conditions and deprivation slightly
      decreased with time. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals and home were the main EoLC settings
      for CYP with cancer. Home death rates barely changed in the past two decades;
      deaths in hospitals remained the most common but slightly shifted towards
      hospices. CYP with haematological malignancy or with comorbid conditions had
      persistently high hospital deaths; these cases had an even lower chance of deaths
      in hospices (50 %) than at home. There were deprivation- and area-related
      inequalities in PoD which may need service- and/or policy-level intervention. The
      findings highlight a need for CYP specific initiatives to enhance EoLC support
      and capacities both at home and in hospices.

PMID- 27641494
TI  - Mechanism of Assembly and Cooperativity of Homomeric and Heteromeric Metabotropic
      Glutamate Receptors.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate cellular responses to a wide variety
      of extracellular stimuli. GPCR dimerization may expand signaling diversity and
      tune functionality, but little is known about the mechanisms of subunit assembly
      and interaction or the signaling properties of heteromers. Using single-molecule
      subunit counting on class C metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), we map
      dimerization determinants and define a heterodimerization profile. Intersubunit
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements reveal that interactions
      between ligand-binding domains control the conformational rearrangements
      underlying receptor activation. Selective liganding with photoswitchable tethered
      agonists conjugated to one or both subunits of covalently linked mGluR2
      homodimers reveals that receptor activation is highly cooperative. Strikingly,
      this cooperativity is asymmetric in mGluR2/mGluR3 heterodimers. Our results lead
      to a model of cooperative activation of mGluRs that provides a framework for
      understanding how class C GPCRs couple extracellular binding to dimer
      reorganization and G protein activation.

PMID- 27641493
TI  - Precise Somatotopic Thalamocortical Axon Guidance Depends on LPA-Mediated PRG
      2/Radixin Signaling.
AB  - Precise connection of thalamic barreloids with their corresponding cortical
      barrels is critical for processing of vibrissal sensory information. Here, we
      show that PRG-2, a phospholipid-interacting molecule, is important for
      thalamocortical axon guidance. Developing thalamocortical fibers both in PRG-2
      full knockout (KO) and in thalamus-specific KO mice prematurely entered the
      cortical plate, eventually innervating non-corresponding barrels. This misrouting
      relied on lost axonal sensitivity toward lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), which
      failed to repel PRG-2-deficient thalamocortical fibers. PRG-2 electroporation in
      the PRG-2-/- thalamus restored the aberrant cortical innervation. We identified
      radixin as a PRG-2 interaction partner and showed that radixin accumulation in
      growth cones and its LPA-dependent phosphorylation depend on its binding to
      specific regions within the C-terminal region of PRG-2. In vivo recordings and
      whisker-specific behavioral tests demonstrated sensory discrimination deficits in
      PRG-2-/- animals. Our data show that bioactive phospholipids and PRG-2 are
      critical for guiding thalamic axons to their proper cortical targets.

PMID- 27641495
TI  - Dysfunction of Somatostatin-Positive Interneurons Associated with Memory Deficits
      in an Alzheimer's Disease Model.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by cognitive decline and neuronal
      network dysfunction, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In the
      hippocampus, microcircuit activity during learning and memory processes is
      tightly controlled by O-LM interneurons. Here, we investigated the effect of beta
      amyloidosis on O-LM interneuron structural and functional connectivity, combining
      two-photon in vivo imaging of synaptic morphology, awake Ca2+ imaging, and
      retrograde mono-transsynaptic rabies tracing. We find severely impaired synaptic
      rewiring that occurs on the O-LM interneuron input and output level in a mouse
      model of AD. Synaptic rewiring that occurs upon fear learning on O-LM interneuron
      input level is affected in mice with AD-like pathology. This process requires the
      release of acetylcholine from septo-hippocampal projections. We identify
      decreased cholinergic action on O-LM interneurons in APP/PS1 mice as a key
      pathomechanism that contributes to memory impairment in a mouse model, with
      potential relevance for human AD.

PMID- 27641497
TI  - Development and content of the biopsychosocial primary care intervention 'Back on
      Track' for a subgroup of people with chronic low back pain.
AB  - : Biopsychosocial interventions provided in multidisciplinary settings are
      promising for improving functional disability levels in patients with chronic low
      back pain (CLBP). These multidisciplinary biopsychosocial interventions mainly
      focus on cognitive-behavioural approaches that aim to change negative cognitions,
      emotions, behaviour, work and social factors. As some patients with CLBP treated
      in primary care settings also experience psychosocial factors that influence
      their level of disability, these patients may benefit from the provision of a
      biopsychosocial intervention in primary care. This paper will provide a detailed
      description of the development and content of the biopsychosocial primary care
      intervention 'Back on Track' for this specific subgroup of patients. The Back on
      Track intervention was developed based on available scientific evidence and
      clinical experience from multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation programmes, and
      its effectiveness is currently being tested. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT02220543.

PMID- 27641496
TI  - Neuregulin-1/ErbB4 Signaling Regulates Visual Cortical Plasticity.
AB  - Experience alters cortical networks through neural plasticity mechanisms. During
      a developmental critical period, the most dramatic consequence of occluding
      vision through one eye (monocular deprivation) is a rapid loss of excitatory
      synaptic inputs to parvalbumin-expressing (PV) inhibitory neurons in visual
      cortex. Subsequent cortical disinhibition by reduced PV cell activity allows for
      excitatory ocular dominance plasticity. However, the molecular mechanisms
      underlying critical period synaptic plasticity are unclear. Here we show that
      brief monocular deprivation during the critical period downregulates neuregulin
      1(NRG1)/ErbB4 signaling in PV neurons, causing retraction of excitatory inputs to
      PV neurons. Exogenous NRG1 rapidly restores excitatory inputs onto deprived PV
      cells through downstream PKC-dependent activation and AMPA receptor exocytosis,
      thus enhancing PV neuronal inhibition to excitatory neurons. NRG1 treatment
      prevents the loss of deprived eye visual cortical responsiveness in vivo. Our
      findings reveal molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms of NRG1/ErbB4 in
      regulating the initiation of critical period visual cortical plasticity.

PMID- 27641498
TI  - Do isometric pull-down exercises increase the acromio-humeral distance?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of isometric shoulder extension in 90 degrees 
      shoulder flexion on the acromio-humeral distance, to establish the force required
      to achieve a clinically important increase in the acromio-humeral distance, and
      to investigate the practicality and reliability of real-time ultrasound
      measurement of the acromio-humeral distance in 90 degrees  shoulder forward
      flexion. DESIGN: Prospective single-group intervention. SETTING: King's College
      London, Guy's Campus. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty healthy volunteers [five males and 15
      females (40 shoulders)] with a mean age of 32 (standard deviation 10, range 19 to
      55) years were recruited from the faculty and staff at King's College London.
      INTERVENTIONS: The acromio-humeral distance in asymptomatic participants was
      measured using real-time ultrasound in the neutral position at rest, at 90
      degrees  shoulder flexion at rest, and while performing an isometric pull-down
      exercise at 100%, 50%, 30% and 10% maximal voluntary isometric contraction. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Real-time ultrasound measures of the acromio-humeral distance.
      RESULTS: Of the 20 participants, 38 shoulders were imaged. In 90 degrees 
      shoulder flexion, pull-down exercises at all levels of force increased the
      acromio-humeral distance compared with no pull-down (P<0.05), but this was only
      clinically significant in males. Measures had excellent short-term intra-operator
      reliability. CONCLUSIONS: Isometric pull-down exercises lead to an increase in
      the acromio-humeral distance in asymptomatic males that may be clinically
      important, and therefore may be an appropriate exercise for patients with
      shoulder pathology. Ultrasound measurement of the acromio-humeral distance in 90
      degrees  shoulder flexion is practical and reliable.

PMID- 27641499
TI  - Natural history of frozen shoulder: fact or fiction? A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1940s, it was proposed that frozen shoulder progresses through a
      self-limiting natural history of painful, stiff and recovery phases, leading to
      full recovery without treatment. However, clinical evidence of persistent
      limitations lasting for years contradicts this assumption. OBJECTIVES: To assess
      evidence for the natural history theory of frozen shoulder by examining: (1)
      progression through recovery phases, and (2) full resolution without treatment.
      DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, PubMed, EBSCO CINAHL and PEDro database searches augmented
      by hand searching. STUDY SELECTION: Cohort or randomised controlled trials with
      no-treatment comparison groups including adults with frozen shoulder who received
      no treatment and reporting range of motion, pain or function for >=6 months. DATA
      EXTRACTION: Reviewers assessed study eligibility and quality, and extracted data
      before reaching consensus. Limited early range-of-motion improvements and greater
      late improvements defined progression through recovery phases. Restoration of
      normal range of motion and previous function defined full resolution. RESULTS: Of
      508 citations, 13 articles were reviewed and seven were included in this review.
      Low-quality evidence suggested that no treatment yielded some, but not complete,
      improvement in range of motion after 1 to 4 years of follow-up. No evidence
      supported the theory of progression through recovery phases to full resolution
      without treatment. On the contrary, moderate-quality evidence from three
      randomised controlled trials with longitudinal data demonstrated that most
      improvement occurred early, not late. LIMITATIONS: Low-quality evidence revealed
      the weakness of longstanding assumptions about frozen shoulder. CONCLUSION:
      Contradictory evidence and a lack of supporting evidence shows that the theory of
      recovery phases leading to complete resolution without treatment for frozen
      shoulder is unfounded.

PMID- 27641502
TI  - A Potassium-Dependent Oxygen Sensing Pathway Regulates Plant Root Hydraulics.
AB  - Aerobic organisms survive low oxygen (O2) through activation of diverse
      molecular, metabolic, and physiological responses. In most plants, root water
      permeability (in other words, hydraulic conductivity, Lpr) is downregulated under
      O2 deficiency. Here, we used a quantitative genetics approach in Arabidopsis to
      clone Hydraulic Conductivity of Root 1 (HCR1), a Raf-like MAPKKK that negatively
      controls Lpr. HCR1 accumulates and is functional under combined O2 limitation and
      potassium (K(+)) sufficiency. HCR1 regulates Lpr and hypoxia responsive genes,
      through the control of RAP2.12, a key transcriptional regulator of the core
      anaerobic response. A substantial variation of HCR1 in regulating Lpr is observed
      at the Arabidopsis species level. Thus, by combinatorially integrating two soil
      signals, K(+) and O2 availability, HCR1 modulates the resilience of plants to
      multiple flooding scenarios.

PMID- 27641501
TI  - Inhibition of Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase Overcomes Differentiation Blockade in
      Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
AB  - While acute myeloid leukemia (AML) comprises many disparate genetic subtypes, one
      shared hallmark is the arrest of leukemic myeloblasts at an immature and self
      renewing stage of development. Therapies that overcome differentiation arrest
      represent a powerful treatment strategy. We leveraged the observation that the
      majority of AML, despite their genetically heterogeneity, share in the expression
      of HoxA9, a gene normally downregulated during myeloid differentiation. Using a
      conditional HoxA9 model system, we performed a high-throughput phenotypic screen
      and defined compounds that overcame differentiation blockade. Target
      identification led to the unanticipated discovery that inhibition of the enzyme
      dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) enables myeloid differentiation in human and
      mouse AML models. In vivo, DHODH inhibitors reduced leukemic cell burden,
      decreased levels of leukemia-initiating cells, and improved survival. These data
      demonstrate the role of DHODH as a metabolic regulator of differentiation and
      point to its inhibition as a strategy for overcoming differentiation blockade in
      AML.

PMID- 27641500
TI  - Epithelia Use Butyrophilin-like Molecules to Shape Organ-Specific gammadelta T
      Cell Compartments.
AB  - Many body surfaces harbor organ-specific gammadelta T cell compartments that
      contribute to tissue integrity. Thus, murine dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs)
      uniquely expressing T cell receptor (TCR)-Vgamma5 chains protect from cutaneous
      carcinogens. The DETC repertoire is shaped by Skint1, a butyrophilin-like (Btnl)
      gene expressed specifically by thymic epithelial cells and suprabasal
      keratinocytes. However, the generality of this mechanism has remained opaque,
      since neither Skint1 nor DETCs are evolutionarily conserved. Here, Btnl1
      expressed by murine enterocytes is shown to shape the local TCR-Vgamma7(+)
      gammadelta compartment. Uninfluenced by microbial or food antigens, this activity
      evokes the developmental selection of TCRalphabeta(+) repertoires. Indeed, Btnl1
      and Btnl6 jointly induce TCR-dependent responses specifically in intestinal
      Vgamma7(+) cells. Likewise, human gut epithelial cells express BTNL3 and BTNL8
      that jointly induce selective TCR-dependent responses of human colonic Vgamma4(+)
      cells. Hence, a conserved mechanism emerges whereby epithelia use organ-specific
      BTNL/Btnl genes to shape local T cell compartments.

PMID- 27641503
TI  - A Cortical Circuit for Sexually Dimorphic Oxytocin-Dependent Anxiety Behaviors.
AB  - The frequency of human social and emotional disorders varies significantly
      between males and females. We have recently reported that oxytocin receptor
      interneurons (OxtrINs) modulate female sociosexual behavior. Here, we show that,
      in male mice, OxtrINs regulate anxiety-related behaviors. We demonstrate that
      corticotropin-releasing-hormone-binding protein (CRHBP), an antagonist of the
      stress hormone CRH, is specifically expressed in OxtrINs. Production of CRHBP
      blocks the CRH-induced potentiation of postsynaptic layer 2/3 pyramidal cell
      activity of male, but not female, mice, thus producing an anxiolytic effect. Our
      data identify OxtrINs as critical for modulation of social and emotional
      behaviors in both females and males and reveal a molecular mechanism that acts on
      local medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) circuits to coordinate responses to OXT and
      CRH. They suggest that additional studies of the impact of the OXT/OXTR and
      CRHBP/CRH pathways in males and females will be important in development of
      gender-specific therapies.

PMID- 27641504
TI  - A Biobank of Breast Cancer Explants with Preserved Intra-tumor Heterogeneity to
      Screen Anticancer Compounds.
AB  - The inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity of breast cancer needs to be adequately
      captured in pre-clinical models. We have created a large collection of breast
      cancer patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDTXs), in which the morphological and
      molecular characteristics of the originating tumor are preserved through
      passaging in the mouse. An integrated platform combining in vivo maintenance of
      these PDTXs along with short-term cultures of PDTX-derived tumor cells (PDTCs)
      was optimized. Remarkably, the intra-tumor genomic clonal architecture present in
      the originating breast cancers was mostly preserved upon serial passaging in
      xenografts and in short-term cultured PDTCs. We assessed drug responses in PDTCs
      on a high-throughput platform and validated several ex vivo responses in vivo.
      The biobank represents a powerful resource for pre-clinical breast cancer
      pharmacogenomic studies (http://caldaslab.cruk.cam.ac.uk/bcape), including
      identification of biomarkers of response or resistance.

PMID- 27641505
TI  - The DEAD-Box Protein Dhh1p Couples mRNA Decay and Translation by Monitoring Codon
      Optimality.
AB  - A major determinant of mRNA half-life is the codon-dependent rate of
      translational elongation. How the processes of translational elongation and mRNA
      decay communicate is unclear. Here, we establish that the DEAD-box protein Dhh1p
      is a sensor of codon optimality that targets an mRNA for decay. First, we find
      mRNAs whose translation elongation rate is slowed by inclusion of non-optimal
      codons are specifically degraded in a Dhh1p-dependent manner. Biochemical
      experiments show Dhh1p is preferentially associated with mRNAs with suboptimal
      codon choice. We find these effects on mRNA decay are sensitive to the number of
      slow-moving ribosomes on an mRNA. Moreover, we find Dhh1p overexpression leads to
      the accumulation of ribosomes specifically on mRNAs (and even codons) of low
      codon optimality. Lastly, Dhh1p physically interacts with ribosomes in vivo.
      Together, these data argue that Dhh1p is a sensor for ribosome speed, targeting
      an mRNA for repression and subsequent decay.

PMID- 27641506
TI  - Integrative genomic and network analysis identified novel genes associated with
      the development of advanced cervical squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CSCC is one of the most common cancer affecting women globally.
      Though it is caused by the infection of hrHPV but long latency period for
      malignant outcome in only a subset of hrHPV infected women indicates involvement
      of additional alterations, primarily CNVs. Here, we showed how CNVs played a
      crucial role in development of advanced tumors (stage III/IV) in Indian patients.
      METHODS: Initially, high-resolution CGH-SNP microarray analysis pointed out
      frequent CNVs followed by significantly altered genes. After comparison with TCGA
      dataset, expressions of the genes were checked in three CSCC datasets to identify
      key genes followed by Ingenuity(r) Pathway analysis. Then node effect property
      analysis was applied on the constructed PPI network to rank the key proteins.
      Finally, validations in independent samples were performed. RESULTS: For the
      first time, frequent chromosomal amplifications at 3q13.13-3q29, 1p36.11-1p31.1,
      1q21.1-1q44 and 5p15.33-5p12 followed by common deletions at 11q14.1-11q25, 2q34
      2q37.3, 4p16.3-4p12 and 13q13.3-13q14.3 were identified in Indian CSCC patients.
      Integrative analysis found 78 key genes including several novel ones, which were
      mostly associated with 'Cancer' and may regulate DNA repair and metabolic
      pathways. Analysis showed PARP1 and ATR were among the top ranking protein
      interactors. CONCLUSIONS: Frequent amplification and over-expression of ATR and
      PARP1 were further confirmed in cervical lesions, indicating their association
      with poor prognosis of advanced CSCC patients. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our novel
      approach identified precise CNVs along with several novel genes within these loci
      and showed that PARP1 and ATR, having biologically significant interactions, may
      be involved in development of advanced CSCC.

PMID- 27641508
TI  - Is structural remodeling in regions governing memory an univocal correlate of
      memory?
AB  - Advances in our ability to visualize changes in single neuron morphology during
      or after training have largely contributed to renew the interest into the
      structural basis of memory. Nevertheless the idea that structural alterations in
      memory-specific neural circuits can be univocally considered as correlates of
      memory needs to be carefully considered in view of evidence showing that a
      variety of sensorial/motor/emotional stimuli also alter the morphology of neurons
      in those circuits. The aim of this review is to examine the respective impact of
      memory vs other forms of experiences in triggering structural plasticity in the
      rodent brain, the challenge being to disentangle alterations due to the formation
      of declarative/relational memories from those developing in the same regions in
      relation to non-memory functions.

PMID- 27641507
TI  - Papain gel containing methylene blue for simultaneous caries removal and
      antimicrobial photoinactivation against Streptococcus mutans biofilms.
AB  - This study intended to evaluate the effects of a papain-gel with a red-light
      absorbing pigment (methylene blue - MB) to mediate photodynamic therapy (PDT)
      against Streptococcus mutans biofilms. The PapaMBlue was compared with free MB to
      generate reactive oxygen species using fluorescence probes (SOSG and HPF). PDT
      (660-nm light) was carried out against S. mutans biofilms grown on either plastic
      dishes or on collagen membrane and assayed by CFU, live-dead staining using
      confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and H&E staining for
      collagen films. Cytotoxicity and subcellular localization was studied in human
      fibroblasts. Sponges of bioabsorbable type I collagen membrane were exposed to
      papain based gel, irradiated with laser and analyzed about their integrity by ATR
      FTIR. The PapaMBlue produced higher amounts of singlet oxygen and hydroxyl
      radicals than free MB, possibly due to better disaggregation of the dye in
      solution. The PapaMBlue antimicrobial effects on biofilms proved to be capable of
      reducing the S. mutans. Both MTT and PrestoBlue assays showed higher cell
      viability and metabolism scores in fibroblasts treated with PapaMBlue and MB,
      possibly due to stimulation of mitochondrial activity and that collagen triple
      helix is unaffected. The PapaMBlue is equally effective as MB in destroying S.
      mutans biofilms growing on plastic or collagen without affecting fibroblasts.

PMID- 27641511
TI  - Deuterodechlorination of Aryl/Heteroaryl Chlorides Catalyzed by a
      Palladium/Unsymmetrical NHC System.
AB  - The catalytic deuterodechlorination of aryl/heteroaryl chlorides was developed
      with a palladium/unsymmetrical NHC system, and the precisely controlled
      introduction of deuterium into a variety of aryl/heteroaryl compounds was
      achieved with a high level of efficiency, selectivity, and deuteration degree.
      This method was also successfully applied to the transformation of bioactive
      agents even in a gram-scale synthesis. The crystal structure analysis of Pd-NHC
      complexes led to the observation of Pd-arene interaction.

PMID- 27641513
TI  - A computational workflow for designing silicon donor qubits.
AB  - Developing devices that can reliably and accurately demonstrate the principles of
      superposition and entanglement is an on-going challenge for the quantum computing
      community. Modeling and simulation offer attractive means of testing early device
      designs and establishing expectations for operational performance. However, the
      complex integrated material systems required by quantum device designs are not
      captured by any single existing computational modeling method. We examine the
      development and analysis of a multi-staged computational workflow that can be
      used to design and characterize silicon donor qubit systems with modeling and
      simulation. Our approach integrates quantum chemistry calculations with
      electrostatic field solvers to perform detailed simulations of a phosphorus
      dopant in silicon. We show how atomistic details can be synthesized into an
      operational model for the logical gates that define quantum computation in this
      particular technology. The resulting computational workflow realizes a design
      tool for silicon donor qubits that can help verify and validate current and near
      term experimental devices.

PMID- 27641510
TI  - Similar Efficacy of Proton-Pump Inhibitors vs H2-Receptor Antagonists in Reducing
      Risk of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding or Ulcers in High-Risk Users of Low-Dose
      Aspirin.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: It is not clear whether H2-receptor antagonists (H2RAs) reduce
      the risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in aspirin users at high risk. We
      performed a double-blind randomized trial to compare the effects of a proton pump
      inhibitor (PPI) vs a H2RA antagonist in preventing recurrent upper GI bleeding
      and ulcers in high-risk aspirin users. METHODS: We studied 270 users of low-dose
      aspirin (<=325 mg/day) with a history of endoscopically confirmed ulcer bleeding
      at 8 sites in Hong Kong and Japan. After healing of ulcers, subjects with
      negative results from tests for Helicobacter pylori resumed aspirin (80 mg) daily
      and were assigned randomly to groups given a once-daily PPI (rabeprazole, 20 mg;
      n = 138) or H2RA (famotidine, 40 mg; n = 132) for up to 12 months. Subjects were
      evaluated every 2 months; endoscopy was repeated if they developed symptoms of
      upper GI bleeding or had a reduction in hemoglobin level greater than 2 g/dL and
      after 12 months of follow-up evaluation. The adequacy of upper GI protection was
      assessed by end points of recurrent upper GI bleeding and a composite of
      recurrent upper GI bleeding or recurrent endoscopic ulcers at month 12. RESULTS:
      During the 12-month study period, upper GI bleeding recurred in 1 patient
      receiving rabeprazole (0.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.1%-5.1%) and in 4
      patients receiving famotidine (3.1%; 95% CI, 1.2%-8.1%) (P = .16). The composite
      end point of recurrent bleeding or endoscopic ulcers at month 12 was reached by 9
      patients receiving rabeprazole (7.9%; 95% CI, 4.2%-14.7%) and 13 patients
      receiving famotidine (12.4%; 95% CI, 7.4%-20.4%) (P = .26). CONCLUSIONS: In a
      randomized controlled trial of users of low-dose aspirin at risk for recurrent GI
      bleeding, a slightly lower proportion of patients receiving a PPI along with
      aspirin developed recurrent bleeding or ulcer than of patients receiving an H2RA
      with the aspirin, although this difference was not statistically significant.
      ClincialTrials.gov no: NCT01408186.

PMID- 27641514
TI  - The effect of the intensity of lipid-lowering medications on the LDL cholesterol
      treatment goals of Asian patients with dyslipidaemia in primary care.
AB  - WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Dyslipidaemia is the key risk factor for
      arthrosclerosis, leading to myocardial infarctions and strokes. Achieving LDL
      cholesterol (LDL-C) treatment goals using lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) mitigates
      such cardiovascular risks. This study aimed to determine the proportions and
      factors influencing patients with dyslipidaemia on LLT who achieved their
      recommended LDL-C treatment goals. METHODS: Adult Asian patients with
      dyslipidaemia, aged 31-80 years, were enrolled in a questionnaire survey. Using
      simplified Framingham risk scores, these patients were classified into low (LR),
      medium (MR) and high (HR) cardiovascular risk groups. Their lipid-lowering
      therapy was classified into low-intensity (LI), medium-intensity (MI) and high
      intensity (HI) groups according to the 2013 American College of Cardiology and
      American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Blood Cholesterol Guidelines. Data on their
      demographic, clinical, self-reported attitude and adherence to LLT were
      correlated with their latest lipid profiles from their electronic health records.
      These data were analysed using chi-square test, or independent t-test where
      appropriate for categorical variables and continuous data. Logistic regression
      was used to identify factors relating to LDL-C goal attainment. RESULTS AND
      DISCUSSION: Amongst the 917 patients treated with LLT, 60.9% were females and
      56.2% aged >60 years. The commonest statins prescribed were simvastatin (77.7%),
      atorvastatin (15.3%), rosuvastatin (4.3%) and lovastatin (3.4%). Those who
      attained LDL-C treatment goals included 89.4%, 77.4% and 70% of the LR, MR and HR
      groups. Overall, 72.4% of the patients achieved LDL-C treatment goals. Despite
      98.4% of them self-reported LLT adherence, only 85.5%, 69.5% and 50% of the LI,
      MI and HI subgroups attained the desired outcomes, respectively. WHAT IS NEW AND
      CONCLUSION: Overall, 27.6% of patients with dyslipidaemia, including 30% of the
      HR group, did not achieve LDL-C treatment goals, despite on LLT. Addressing their
      concerns and adjusting medication doses of their LLT are needed for better
      outcomes.

PMID- 27641509
TI  - Eradication of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients With Cirrhosis Reduces
      Risk of Liver and Non-Liver Complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: We performed a prospective study to investigate the effects of
      a sustained viral response (SVR) on outcomes of patients with hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) infection and compensated cirrhosis. METHODS: We collected data from 1323
      patients included in the prospective Agence Nationale pour la Recherche sur le
      SIDA et les hepatites virales (ANRS) viral cirrhosis (CirVir) cohort, recruited
      from 35 clinical centers in France from 2006 through 2012. All patients had HCV
      infection and biopsy-proven cirrhosis, were Child-Pugh class A, and had no prior
      liver complications. All patients received anti-HCV treatment before or after
      inclusion (with interferon then with direct antiviral agents) and underwent an
      ultrasound examination every 6 months, as well as endoscopic evaluations. SVR was
      considered as a time-dependent covariate; its effect on outcome was assessed by
      the Cox proportional hazard regression method. We used a propensity score to
      minimize confounding by indication of treatment and capacity to achieve SVR.
      RESULTS: After a median follow-up period of 58.2 months, 668 patients (50.5%)
      achieved SVR. SVR was associated with a decreased incidence of hepatocellular
      carcinoma (hazard ratio [HR] compared with patients without an SVR, 0.29; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 0.19-0.43; P < .001) and hepatic decompensation (HR,
      0.26; 95% CI, 0.17-0.39; P < .001). Patients with SVRs also had a lower risk of
      cardiovascular events (HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.69; P = .001) and bacterial
      infections (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.29-0.68; P < .001). Metabolic features were
      associated with a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with SVRs,
      but not in patients with viremia. SVR affected overall mortality (HR, 0.27
      compared with patients without SVR; 95% CI, 0.18-0.42; P < .001) and death from
      liver-related and non-liver-related causes. Similar results were obtained in a
      propensity score-matched population. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed a reduction in
      critical events, liver-related or not, in a prospective study of patients with
      HCV infection and compensated cirrhosis included in the CirVir cohort who
      achieved an SVR. We found an SVR to reduce overall mortality and risk of death
      from liver-related and non-liver-related causes. A longer follow-up evaluation is
      required to accurately describe and assess specific risk factors for
      complications in this population.

PMID- 27641515
TI  - Uncovering the lipidic basis for the preparation of functional nicotinic
      acetylcholine receptor detergent complexes for structural studies.
AB  - This study compares the lipid composition, including individual phospholipid
      molecular species of solubilized nAChR detergent complexes (nAChR-DCs) with those
      of the bulk lipids from their source, Torpedo californica (Tc) electric tissue.
      This lipidomic analysis revealed seventy-seven (77) phospholipid species in the
      Tc tissue. Analysis of affinity-purified nAChR-DCs prepared with C-12 to C-16
      phospholipid analog detergents alkylphosphocholine (FC) and lysofoscholine (LFC)
      demonstrated that nAChR-DCs prepared with FC12, LFC14, and LFC16 contained >60
      phospholipids/nAChR, which was more than twice of those prepared with FC14, FC16,
      and LFC12. Significantly, all the nAChR-DCs lacked ethanolamine and anionic
      phospholipids, contained only four cholesterol molecules, and a limited number of
      phospholipid molecular species per nAChR. Upon incorporation into oocytes, FC12
      produce significant functionality, whereas LFC14 and LFC16 nAChR-DCs displayed an
      increased functionality as compared to the crude Tc membrane. All three nAChR-DCs
      displayed different degrees of alterations in macroscopic activation and
      desensitization kinetics.

PMID- 27641516
TI  - Characterization of the mechanism of prolonged adaptation to osmotic stress of
      Jeotgalibacillus malaysiensis via genome and transcriptome sequencing analyses.
AB  - Jeotgalibacillus malaysiensis, a moderate halophilic bacterium isolated from a
      pelagic area, can endure higher concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) than
      other Jeotgalibacillus type strains. In this study, we therefore chose to
      sequence and assemble the entire J. malaysiensis genome. This is the first report
      to provide a detailed analysis of the genomic features of J. malaysiensis, and to
      perform genetic comparisons between this microorganism and other halophiles. J.
      malaysiensis encodes a native megaplasmid (pJeoMA), which is greater than 600
      kilobases in size, that is absent from other sequenced species of
      Jeotgalibacillus. Subsequently, RNA-Seq-based transcriptome analysis was utilised
      to examine adaptations of J. malaysiensis to osmotic stress. Specifically, the
      eggNOG (evolutionary genealogy of genes: Non-supervised Orthologous Groups) and
      KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes) databases were used to elucidate
      the overall effects of osmotic stress on the organism. Generally, saline stress
      significantly affected carbohydrate, energy, and amino acid metabolism, as well
      as fatty acid biosynthesis. Our findings also indicate that J. malaysiensis
      adopted a combination of approaches, including the uptake or synthesis of
      osmoprotectants, for surviving salt stress. Among these, proline synthesis
      appeared to be the preferred method for withstanding prolonged osmotic stress in
      J. malaysiensis.

PMID- 27641517
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of an extended-release formulation of eprinomectin in healthy
      adult alpacas and its use in alpacas confirmed with mange.
AB  - The study objective was to determine the pharmacokinetics and clinical effects of
      an extended-release 5% eprinomectin formulation (Longrange(r) ) following
      subcutaneous (s.c.) injection in healthy (n = 6) and mange-infected (n = 4) adult
      alpacas. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to analyze plasma
      samples obtained at regular intervals for 161 days following a single 5 mg/kg
      injection s.c. in healthy alpacas, and for 5 days following each dose (3
      treatments, 2 months apart) in mange-affected animals. Skin scrapings and
      biopsies were performed pre- and post-treatment at two comparable sites in
      alpacas with mange. Four alpacas served as healthy controls. Eprinomectin plasma
      concentrations showed a biphasic peak (CMAX -1: 5.72 +/- 3.25 ng/mL; CMAX -2:
      6.06 +/- 2.47 ng/mL) in all animals at 3.88 +/- 5.16 days and 77 +/- 12.52 days,
      respectively. Eprinomectin plasma concentrations remained above 1.27 +/- 0.96
      ng/mL for up to 120 days. Hematocrit (35.8 vs. 31.3%, P < 0.003) and albumin (3.5
      vs. 2.8 g/dL P < 0.006) reduced significantly over 6 months in multidose animals,
      while fecal egg counts did not differ between groups. Self-limiting injection
      site reactions occurred in 9 of 10 animals. Pre- and post-treatment skin biopsies
      showed reduced hyperkeratosis, but increased fibrosis, with 1 of 4 alpacas
      remaining positive on skin scraping for mange. In conclusion, alpacas require a
      higher eprinomectin dose (5.0 mg/kg s.c.) than cattle, to reach comparable plasma
      concentrations.

PMID- 27641535
TI  - Response to: Comment on "The Effects of Hemodialysis on Tear Osmolarity".

PMID- 27641537
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27641536
TI  - Evaluation of the introduction of the OSCE to the fifth-year Geriatric Medicine
      Teaching Programme.
AB  - AIM: An Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was integrated into the
      assessment for senior medical students undertaking a 4.5-week geriatric medicine
      teaching block at one campus. The feasibility and acceptability of an OSCE were
      examined. METHODS: Students completed eight questions regarding the OSCE using a
      6-point Likert scale and two additional questions, using free text, highlighting
      the strengths and potential areas for improvement. Changes were made every 6
      months over a two-year period in response to student evaluation. RESULTS:
      Improvements included adjusting the format to conform with end-of-year
      examinations and introducing simulated patients. Following these improvements,
      students perceived improved structure and sequence to the assessments, improved
      opportunity for demonstration of skills and knowledge and that the assessment was
      fair. CONCLUSION: This preliminary research provides evidence that it is feasible
      to introduce OSCE as a form of assessment into a geriatric medicine teaching
      programme and student evaluation can be used to inform improvements.

PMID- 27641539
TI  - eHealth literacy and preferences for eHealth resources in parents of children
      with complex CHD.
AB  - : Introduction This study aimed to (a) examine eHealth literacy, beliefs, and
      behaviours in parents of children with complex CHD, and (b) identify parents'
      preferences for the content, format, features, and functions of eHealth resources
      for CHD. Materials and methods Families (n=198) of children born between 2008 and
      2011 and diagnosed with CHD requiring surgery were mailed a survey assessing a
      range of variables including eHealth literacy, beliefs, and behaviours as well as
      preferences for the format, functions, features, and content of eHealth resources
      for CHD. RESULTS: A total of 132 parents (83 mothers, 49 fathers) completed the
      survey (response rate: 50%). Mothers (96%) were more likely to access eHealth
      resources than fathers (83%, chi2=6.74, p=0.009). Despite high eHealth resource
      use, eHealth literacy was relatively low, with results demonstrating considerable
      and widespread gaps in awareness of, access to, and communication about eHealth
      resources. Over 50% of parents reported that decisions regarding their child's
      healthcare were influenced, to some extent, by web-based resources. Barriers to
      doctor-patient communication about eHealth included limited consultation time and
      concern about doctors' disapproval. Participants demonstrated a strong desire for
      "eHealth prescriptions" from their child's healthcare team, and perceived a wide
      range of eHealth topics as highly important, including treatment-related
      complications as well as physical, cognitive, and emotional development in
      children with CHD. Discussion Results suggest a need for stronger, more proactive
      partnerships between clinicians, researchers, educators, technologists, and
      patients and families to bring about meaningful innovations in the development
      and implementation of eHealth interventions in paediatric cardiology.

PMID- 27641538
TI  - N-glycosylation enables high lateral mobility of GPI-anchored proteins at a
      molecular crowding threshold.
AB  - The protein density in biological membranes can be extraordinarily high, but the
      impact of molecular crowding on the diffusion of membrane proteins has not been
      studied systematically in a natural system. The diversity of the membrane
      proteome of most cells may preclude systematic studies. African trypanosomes,
      however, feature a uniform surface coat that is dominated by a single type of
      variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). Here we study the density-dependence of the
      diffusion of different glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored VSG-types on living
      cells and in artificial membranes. Our results suggest that a specific molecular
      crowding threshold (MCT) limits diffusion and hence affects protein function.
      Obstacles in the form of heterologous proteins compromise the diffusion
      coefficient and the MCT. The trypanosome VSG-coat operates very close to its MCT.
      Importantly, our experiments show that N-linked glycans act as molecular
      insulators that reduce retarding intermolecular interactions allowing membrane
      proteins to function correctly even when densely packed.

PMID- 27641540
TI  - Controlling Directionality and Dimensionality of Radiation by Perturbing
      Separable Bound States in the Continuum.
AB  - A bound state in the continuum (BIC) is an unusual localized state that is
      embedded in a continuum of extended states. Here, we present the general
      condition for BICs to arise from wave equation separability. Then we show that by
      exploiting perturbations of certain symmetry such BICs can be turned into
      resonances that radiate with a tailorable directionality and dimensionality.
      Using this general framework, we construct new examples of separable BICs and
      resonances that can exist in optical potentials for ultracold atoms, photonic
      systems, and systems described by tight binding. Such resonances with easily
      reconfigurable radiation allow for applications such as the storage and release
      of waves at a controllable rate and direction, as well systems that switch
      between different dimensions of confinement.

PMID- 27641541
TI  - Reasons for success: Rapid evolution for desiccation resistance and life-history
      changes in the polyphagous fly Anastrepha ludens.
AB  - Species that exhibit broad ranges of distribution may successfully navigate
      environmental changes by modifying some of their life-history traits.
      Environmental humidity imposes a critical stress that organisms may overcome by
      increasing their resistance to desiccation. We used experimental evolution to
      investigate adaptation to desiccation in the tephritid Anastrepha ludens, a
      species with high fecundity, late maturation, and long lifespan. We measured
      morphological, physiological, developmental as well as demographic changes
      involved in the adaptation to desiccation. Notwithstanding a low heritability (h2
      = 0.237), desiccation resistance evolved extremely rapidly and few negative trade
      offs were detected. Selected flies exhibited correlated increases in longevity,
      body size, the amount of body lipids, and bulk water content, and in the duration
      of the pupal stage. Females further delayed sexual maturation, decreased daily
      fecundity but retained high lifetime reproductive potential. No differences in
      male mating competitiveness were found. Selected and control lines differed in
      longevity but not in total female fecundity, demonstrating that A. ludens flies
      have the capability for fast adaptation to desiccation without loosing their
      reproductive capability. Thus, it seems that a rapid evolutionary response to
      desiccation in this polyphagous insect works as a buffer for environmental
      variation and reduces the strength of selection on reproductive traits.

PMID- 27641542
TI  - Satellite data lift the veil on offshore platforms in the South China Sea.
AB  - Oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea (SCS) has garnered global
      attention recently; however, uncertainty regarding the accurate number of
      offshore platforms in the SCS, let alone their detailed spatial distribution and
      dynamic change, may lead to significant misjudgment of the true status of
      offshore hydrocarbon production in the region. Using both fresh and archived
      space-borne images with multiple resolutions, we enumerated the number,
      distribution, and annual rate of increase of offshore platforms across the SCS.
      Our results show that: (1) a total of 1082 platforms are present in the SCS,
      mainly located in shallow-water; and (2) offshore oil/gas exploitation in the SCS
      is increasing in intensity and advancing from shallow to deep water, and even to
      ultra-deep-water. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that oil and gas exploration
      in the SCS may have been over-estimated by one-third in previous reports.
      However, this overestimation does not imply any amelioration of the potential for
      future maritime disputes, since the rate of increase of platforms in disputed
      waters is twice that in undisputed waters.

PMID- 27641544
TI  - Should adult surgical tracheostomies include a Bjork flap?

PMID- 27641543
TI  - Weight Loss Interventions in Older Adults with Obesity: A Systematic Review of
      Randomized Controlled Trials Since 2005.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify geriatric obesity interventions that can guide clinical
      recommendations. DESIGN: Systematic review using Medline (PubMed), Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, CINAHL, EMBASE (Ovid), and
      PsycINFO (Proquest) from January 1, 2005, to October 12, 2015, to identify
      English-language randomized controlled trials. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 60
      and older (mean age >=65) and classified as having obesity (body mass index >=30
      kg/m2 ). INTERVENTIONS: Behavioral weight loss interventions not involving
      pharmacological or procedural therapies lasting 6 months or longer. MEASUREMENTS:
      Two investigators performed the systematic review using the Preferred Reporting
      Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses criteria and achieved a high
      concordance rate (97.3%) in summarizing the primary outcomes. The three primary
      outcomes were weight loss, physical performance, and quality of life. RESULTS: Of
      5,741 citations, 19 were included. (Six studies were unique, and the remaining 13
      were based on the same study population.) Duration ranged from 6 to 18 months (n
      = 405 participants, age range 66.7-71.1). Weight loss in the intervention groups
      ranged from 0.5 to 10.7 kg (0.1-9.3%). Five studies had a resistance exercise
      program accompanying a dietary component. Greater weight loss was observed in
      groups with a dietary component than those with exercise alone. Exercise alone
      led to better physical function but no significant weight loss. Combined dietary
      and exercise components led to the greatest improvement in physical performance
      measures and quality of life and mitigated reductions in muscle and bone mass
      observed in diet-only study arms. Heterogeneous outcomes were observed, which
      limited the ability to synthesize the data quantitatively. CONCLUSIONS: The
      evidence supporting geriatric obesity interventions to improve physical function
      and quality of life is of low to moderate quality. Well-designed trials are
      needed in this population.

PMID- 27641545
TI  - Depletion of SHANK2 inhibited the osteo/dentinogenic differentiation potentials
      of stem cells from apical papilla.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the biological function of SHANK2 on the
      osteo/dentinogenic differentiation potentials of human stem cells from apical
      papilla (SCAPs). Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of SHANK2 in
      human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Small hairpin RNA (shRNA) was used to
      knockdown the SHANK2 in SCAPs. The knockdown efficiency was determined by real
      time RT-PCR and Western Blot. The in vitro osteo/dentinogenic differentiation
      potentials of SCAPs were investigated using ALP staining, ALP activity, alizarin
      red staining, quantitative calcium, the expression levels of DSPP, DMP1, RUNX2
      and OSX. In vivo transplantation experiments in immunocompromised mice were used
      to evaluate the capacity of SCAPs to form bone/dentine-like structure. SHANK2 was
      highly expressed in dental tissue-derived MSCs compared with cells of other
      origins. Silencing of SHANK2 inhibited the ALP activity, mineralization, and the
      expressions of DSPP, DMP1, RUNX2 and OSX in SCAPs. Furthermore, in vivo
      transplantation experiments indicated that knock-down of SHANK2 in SCAPs
      generated less bone/dentin-like mineralized tissue compared with the control
      group. The present study demonstrated that depletion of SHANK2 inhibited the
      osteo/dentinogenic differentiation potentials in SCAPs, explored the new function
      of SHANK2, and provided useful information to elucidate the molecular mechanism
      underlying directed differentiation in dental tissue-derived MSCs.

PMID- 27641546
TI  - Reactive oxygen species do not contribute to ObgE*-mediated programmed cell
      death.
AB  - Programmed cell death (PCD) in bacteria is considered an important target for
      developing novel antimicrobials. Development of PCD-specific therapies requires a
      deeper understanding of what drives this process. We recently discovered a new
      mode of PCD in Escherichia coli that is triggered by expression of a mutant
      isoform of the essential ObgE protein, ObgE*. Our previous findings demonstrate
      that ObgE*-mediated cell death shares key characteristics with apoptosis in
      eukaryotic cells. It is well-known that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are formed
      during PCD in eukaryotes and play a pivotal role as signaling molecules in the
      progression of apoptosis. Therefore, we explored a possible role for ROS in
      bacterial killing by ObgE*. Using fluorescent probes and genetic reporters, we
      found that expression of ObgE* induces formation of ROS. Neutralizing ROS by
      chemical scavenging or by overproduction of ROS-neutralizing enzymes did not
      influence toxicity of ObgE*. Moreover, expression of ObgE* under anaerobic
      conditions proved to be as detrimental to bacterial viability as expression under
      aerobic conditions. In conclusion, ROS are byproducts of ObgE* expression that do
      not play a role in the execution or progression of ObgE*-mediated PCD. Targeted
      therapies should therefore look to exploit other aspects of ObgE*-mediated PCD.

PMID- 27641549
TI  - Government must act now to prevent looming winter crisis.
AB  - It may seem odd to be talking about winter pressures now, but there are signs
      that the next 6-8 months are going to be challenging in the extreme. A report
      from the RCN and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine suggests that emergency
      department staff are locked in a cycle of permanent crisis. Add a spell of icy
      weather into the mix and the NHS could collapse under the strain. 

PMID- 27641550
TI  - Call for front line nurses to replace A&E doctors.
AB  - Nurses are central to easing the biggest crisis in emergency medicine in a
      decade, say experts. 

PMID- 27641548
TI  - Laparoscopic ventral rectopexy in male patients with external rectal prolapse is
      associated with a high reoperation rate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic ventral rectopexy has been used to treat male patients
      with external rectal prolapse, but evidence to support this approach is scarce.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of this new abdominal rectopexy
      surgical technique in men. METHODS: This was a retrospective multicenter study.
      Adult male patients who were operated on for external rectal prolapse using
      ventral rectopexy in five tertiary hospitals in Finland between 2006 and 2014
      were included in the study. Patient demographics, detailed operative,
      postoperative and short-term follow-up data were collected from patient registers
      in participating hospitals. A questionnaire and informed consent form was sent to
      all patients. The questionnaire included scores for anal incontinence, obstructed
      defecation syndrome, urinary symptoms and sexual dysfunction. The main outcome
      measure was the incidence of recurrent rectal prolapse. Surgical morbidity, the
      need for surgical repair due to recurrent symptoms and functional outcomes were
      secondary outcome measures. RESULTS: A total of 52 adult male patients with
      symptoms caused by external rectal prolapse underwent ventral rectopexy. The
      questionnaire response rate was 64.4 %. Baseline clinical characteristics and
      perioperative results were similar in the responder and non-responder groups. A
      total of 9 (17.3 %) patients faced complications. There were two (3.8 %) serious
      surgical complications during the 30-day period after surgery that necessitated
      reoperation. None of the complications were mesh related. Recurrence of the
      prolapse was noticed in nine patients (17 %), and postoperative mucosal anal
      prolapse symptoms persisted in 11 patients (21 %). As a result, the reoperation
      rate was high. Altogether, 17 patients (33 %) underwent reoperation during the
      follow-up period due to postoperative complications or recurrent rectal or
      mucosal prolapse. According to the postoperative questionnaire data, patients
      under 40 had good functional results in terms of anal continence, defecation,
      urinary functions and sexual activity. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic ventral
      rectopexy is a safe surgical procedure in male patients with external prolapse.
      However, a high overall reoperation rate was noticed due to recurrent rectal and
      residual mucosal prolapse. This suggests that the ventral rectopexy technique
      should be modified or combined with other abdominal or perineal methods when
      treating male rectal prolapse patients.

PMID- 27641547
TI  - Embryonically inspired scaffolds regulate tenogenically differentiating cells.
AB  - Tendon injuries heal as scar tissue with significant dysfunction and propensity
      to re-injure, motivating efforts to develop stem cell-based therapies for tendon
      regeneration. For these therapies to succeed, effective cues to guide tenogenesis
      are needed. Our aim is to identify these cues within the embryonic tendon
      microenvironment. We recently demonstrated embryonic tendon elastic modulus
      increases during development and is substantially lower than in adult. Here, we
      examined how these embryonic mechanical properties influence tenogenically
      differentiating cells, by culturing embryonic tendon progenitor cells (TPCs)
      within alginate gel scaffolds fabricated with embryonic tendon mechanical
      properties. We showed that nano- and microscale moduli of RGD-functionalized
      alginate gels can be tailored to that of embryonic tendons by adjusting polymer
      concentration and crosslink density. These gels differentially regulated
      morphology of encapsulated TPCs as a function of initial elastic modulus.
      Additionally, higher initial elastic moduli elicited higher mRNA levels of
      scleraxis and collagen type XII but lower levels of collagen type I, whereas late
      tendon markers tenomodulin and collagen type III were unaffected. Our results
      demonstrate the potential to engineer scaffolds with embryonic mechanical
      properties and to use these scaffolds to regulate the behavior of tenogenically
      differentiating cells.

PMID- 27641552
TI  - Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey accused of concealing high temperature.
AB  - Pauline Cafferkey, the nurse who was infected with the Ebola virus while caring
      for sick people in west Africa, has been accused of concealing her temperature
      during checks on her return to the UK. 

PMID- 27641551
TI  - Poster fame.
AB  - Nurse practitioners have posed for a poster inspired by the film Trainspotting to
      promote their new uniforms. 

PMID- 27641554
TI  - Government plan for nurses to tackle obesity.
AB  - Nurses should be prepared to have difficult conversations with parents about diet
      in a bid to tackle child obesity, the government has said. 

PMID- 27641553
TI  - Better language test for non-UK staff.
AB  - All nurses, doctors and dentists who come from abroad to work in the UK should
      demonstrate the same level of general and clinical English language skills, the
      Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has urged. 

PMID- 27641556
TI  - High demand for nursing places after A-level results.
AB  - University hotlines were inundated with calls from prospective nursing students
      after school leavers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their A
      level results. 

PMID- 27641559
TI  - Longest-serving rep has seen nurses' goodwill 'exploited'.
AB  - Working more hours for less pay has led to a deterioration in morale among
      nurses, according to the RCN's longest-serving rep. 

PMID- 27641560
TI  - Star shines a spotlight on Alzheimer's, as new map reveals care inequalities.
AB  - Wide inequalities in standards of care for people with dementia in England have
      been laid bare in an interactive map. 

PMID- 27641561
TI  - Fate of specialist degrees hangs in the balance.
AB  - It has been a year and a half since the Shape of Caring review was published,
      which comprised 34 recommendations that aimed to shake up education for nurses
      over the next 15 years. 

PMID- 27641564
TI  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - Essential facts Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an excess of fat in
      the liver that is not the result of excessive alcohol consumption or other
      secondary causes, such as hepatitis C. According to the National Institute for
      Health and Care Excellence, fatty liver - steatosis - affects between 20% and 30%
      of the population and its prevalence is increasing. 

PMID- 27641565
TI  - A&E fails to detect delirium in advanced cancer patients.
AB  - Delirium is the most common neuro-psychiatric syndrome in patients with advanced
      cancer, but it often goes undetected in the emergency department, research
      suggests. 

PMID- 27641567
TI  - Exercise helps tackle schizophrenia symptoms.
AB  - Aerobic exercise can improve brain function in people with schizophrenia, say
      University of Manchester researchers who looked at data from 10 clinical trials
      involving 385 patients. 

PMID- 27641566
TI  - Research links Zika virus to severe joint condition at birth.
AB  - Research has shown a possible link between Zika virus infection in the womb and
      arthrogryposis - a condition that causes joint deformities at birth, particularly
      in the arms and legs. 

PMID- 27641569
TI  - Impaired sense of smell linked to dementia risk.
AB  - Decreased ability to identify smells could be an early indicator of cognitive
      decline and dementia, say researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in
      the US. 

PMID- 27641568
TI  - Pain profiling could improve quality of life for older people.
AB  - Pain profiling in older people can improve quality of life and help target
      healthcare resources, suggest University of Limerick researchers. 

PMID- 27641570
TI  - A new approach to alcohol misuse.
AB  - Alcohol misuse is the third largest preventable cause of ill health and premature
      death in England. There are more than a million alcohol-related hospital
      admissions each year. Nationally, the cost of alcohol to the NHS, equates to L21
      billion each year and more than 11 million people drink at hazardous levels. 

PMID- 27641571
TI  - Blazing a trail.
AB  - These are challenging times in the NHS,' says RCN north west regional director
      Estephanie Dunn. 'We are endeavouring to safeguard already diminishing budgets
      and services while there are increasing pressures on staff. 

PMID- 27641572
TI  - Be open with patients about life after cancer.
AB  - It is vital to tell patients about potential long-term side effects after cancer
      diagnosis. Thousands of people who have already had the devastation of a cancer
      diagnosis might be completely unaware they are at increased risk of developing
      serious illnesses such as heart disease, lymphoedema or fertility issues. 

PMID- 27641573
TI  - The erosion of safe staffing and the nursing voice.
AB  - NHS Improvement chief executive Jim Mackay recently came under fire from the RCN
      for his comments suggesting finances are more important than patient care. 

PMID- 27641574
TI  - Should I appear in a marketing video?
AB  - It has been a long-standing principle that nurses, midwives, and other healthcare
      workers should uphold the integrity of their own professional reputation, as well
      as the reputation of their profession as a whole. 

PMID- 27641575
TI  - Time to ditch the cliche image.
AB  - I read a tweet today that stated that a person had failed their Personal
      Independence Payment assessment because they 'didn't look depressed enough'. 

PMID- 27641577
TI  - Nurses and the obesity plan.
AB  - I have joined a slimming club. Despite the encouragement, the education and the
      peer support, it is a slow struggle to lose weight. 

PMID- 27641579
TI  - The best job in the world.
AB  - New nursing students are about to enter a unique profession. 

PMID- 27641580
TI  - Advice for new students.
AB  - Congratulations to the people who are about to start their nursing degree. 

PMID- 27641581
TI  - What's in a name? Esoteric lingo speaks volumes about nurses.
AB  - When we refer to our work schedule, why do we call it our 'off duty' when it is
      telling us when we are on duty? 

PMID- 27641582
TI  - Readers' panel - Has the #hellomynameis campaign changed NHS staff?
AB  - Our experts consider a hot topic of the day. 

PMID- 27641585
TI  - My Health Guide.
AB  - This app enables healthcare professionals to improve their communication with
      adults with learning disabilities. It was devised after the parents of a man
      living with profound learning disabilities were encouraged to summarise their
      son's care needs by gathering all the information in an iBook. 

PMID- 27641586
TI  - Student life - Steer clear of cheating.
AB  - Data gathered by the Times shows UK universities have punished at least 1,706
      nursing students over the past three academic years. 

PMID- 27641588
TI  - How to support a colleague.
AB  - In an average week, you may see more of your workmates than your family, so it is
      natural to want to support each other through everyday work challenges. 

PMID- 27641587
TI  - Punch from a patient led to correct diagnosis.
AB  - During a recent placement on an older people's ward, I was punched in the face by
      a patient. It was during visiting time, and the patient - who I will call Jim -
      had come out of his room and was trying to enter another patient's room. 

PMID- 27641589
TI  - Keeping community nurses safe from harm.
AB  - In 2015, an RCN survey of more than 1,300 nurses working in community-based roles
      found that 48% had been subjected to some form of abuse in the previous 2 years. 

PMID- 27641590
TI  - Going the extra 200 miles.
AB  - Yana Richens OBE is a consultant midwife at University College London Hospital
      (UCLH). She trained as a nurse in 1979 and as a midwife in 1984. 

PMID- 27641591
TI  - Role of care pathways in interprofessional teamwork.
AB  - Cohesive interprofessional teamwork is essential to successful healthcare
      services. Interprofessional teamwork is the means by which different healthcare
      professionals - with diverse knowledge, skills and talents - collaborate to
      achieve a common goal. Several interventions are available to improve teamwork in
      the healthcare setting. This article explores the role of care pathways in
      improving interprofessional teamwork. Care pathways enhance teamwork by promoting
      coordination, collaboration, communication and decision making to achieve optimal
      healthcare outcomes. They result in improved staff knowledge, communication,
      documentation and interprofessional relations. Care pathways also contribute to
      patient-centred care and increase patient satisfaction. 

PMID- 27641592
TI  - How to use PRICE treatment for soft tissue injuries.
AB  - Rationale and key points This article assists nurses to use the acronym PRICE
      (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation) to guide the treatment of
      patients with uncomplicated soft tissue injuries to their upper or lower limbs. "
      Treatment of soft tissue injuries to limbs is important to reduce complications
      following injury, alleviate pain and ensure normal limb function is restored
      promptly. " Nurses should have an understanding of the rationale and evidence
      base supporting PRICE treatment of soft tissue injuries. " Providing accurate
      information to patients and carers about the management of soft tissue injuries
      and anticipated recovery time is an important aspect of treatment. " Further
      research is required to develop best practice in the treatment of soft tissue
      injuries. Reflective activity 'How to' articles can help you update your practice
      and ensure it remains evidence based. Apply this article to your practice.
      Reflect on and write a short account of: 1. How this article might change your
      practice when managing patients with soft tissue injuries to upper or lower
      limbs. 2. Positive elements of your current practice and those that could be
      enhanced. Subscribers can upload their reflective accounts at:
      rcni.com/portfolio. 

PMID- 27641593
TI  - Intravenous cannula site management.
AB  - Intravenous cannulation is becoming one of the most common procedures in
      healthcare as increasing numbers of patients are treated for acute and chronic
      illnesses. The use of an intravenous cannula is not without risk, so it is
      essential that the healthcare practitioner can justify why the patient requires
      cannulation, as well as being able to safely manage and provide ongoing care for
      patients with the device. This article provides an overview of intravenous
      cannulation, including the selection of appropriate cannulation sites,
      identification of the different types and sizes of cannula used, and cannula
      maintenance. Specific complications related to intravenous cannulation are
      discussed and guidance is given on how to recognise and avoid potential
      complications to ensure that practice is safe and effective. 

PMID- 27641594
TI  - Risks of moving and handling.
AB  - What was the nature of the CPD activity, practice-related feedback and/or event
      and/or experience in your practice? The CPD article discussed the use of a
      structured approach to manual handling risk assessment, which would simplify the
      process and reduce the risk of injury when undertaking handling tasks. 

PMID- 27641595
TI  - How a nursing sister helped when my baby's heart stopped beating.
AB  - Sister Jane Lynch is one of the most incredibly caring nurses I have come across.

PMID- 27641596
TI  - Treading the boards with clinical nursing students.
AB  - Can a drama and theatre workshop help nursing students inform clinical practice? 

PMID- 27641597
TI  - Why I love my job.
AB  - 'It is easy to forget how valuable a kind word or caring gesture is to a grieving
      relative. But these are the acts that people remember, often years later'. 

PMID- 27641598
TI  - Big picture.
AB  - RCNi has produced an animation explaining everything nurses need to know about
      revalidation, the process all UK nurses and midwives must follow to maintain
      their registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. 

PMID- 27641599
TI  - Managing good hydration care requirements.
AB  - Considering that dehydration is a vital patient safety issue in acute hospitals,
      how can nurses best manage patients' fluid intake? 

PMID- 27641600
TI  - Acknowledging personal grief.
AB  - There is a paucity of studies about nurses' personal experiences of grief,
      however in Learning Disability Practice, Paul Keenan and Ciara Mac Dermott
      explore the personal grief of nurses who care for the palliative needs of
      children with a learning disability. The authors argue that organisations must
      acknowledge that nurses should be allowed the opportunity to attend funerals for
      children who die in their care. While the study is small-scale, the research
      study highlights the need for education and support for nurses in the learning
      disability sector who care for children and families before and after a child's
      death. 

PMID- 27641601
TI  - The Cellular Prion Protein Controls Notch Signaling in Neural Stem/Progenitor
      Cells.
AB  - The prion protein is infamous for its involvement in a group of neurodegenerative
      diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies. In the longstanding
      quest to decipher the physiological function of its cellular isoform, PrPC , the
      discovery of its participation to the self-renewal of hematopoietic and neural
      stem cells has cast a new spotlight on its potential role in stem cell biology.
      However, still little is known on the cellular and molecular mechanisms at play.
      Here, by combining in vitro and in vivo murine models of PrPC depletion, we
      establish that PrPC deficiency severely affects the Notch pathway, which plays a
      major role in neural stem cell maintenance. We document that the absence of PrPC
      in a neuroepithelial cell line or in primary neurospheres is associated with
      drastically reduced expression of Notch ligands and receptors, resulting in
      decreased levels of Notch target genes. Similar alterations of the Notch pathway
      are recovered in the neuroepithelium of Prnp-/- embryos during a developmental
      window encompassing neural tube closure. In addition, in line with Notch defects,
      our data show that the absence of PrPC results in altered expression of Nestin
      and Olig2 as well as N-cadherin distribution. We further provide evidence that
      PrPC controls the expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      downstream from Notch. Finally, we unveil a negative feedback action of EGFR on
      both Notch and PrPC . As a whole, our study delineates a molecular scenario
      through which PrPC takes part to the self-renewal of neural stem and progenitor
      cells. Stem Cells 2017;35:754-765.

PMID- 27641603
TI  - Puncturing the myths of acupuncture.
AB  - Acupuncture is a widely practiced system of medicine that has been in place for
      thousands of years. Consumer interest and use of acupuncture are becoming
      increasingly popular in the United States, as it is used to treat a multitude of
      symptoms and disease processes as well as to maintain health and prevent illness.
      A growing body of evidence increasingly validates the practice of acupuncture.
      Further developing scientific data will play an important role in the future of
      acupuncture and other complementary and alternative medicines in public health.
      Acupuncture is commonly used concurrently with conventional medicine. Although
      acupuncture is embraced by consumers and medical professionals, misconceptions
      abound. We have explored and dispelled ten misconceptions common to the practice
      of acupuncture, utilizing an evidence-based approach. As the trend of merging
      conventional medical care with acupuncture treatment grows, it is important to
      develop a conceptual model of integrative medicine. Using a scientific evidence
      approach will create a structure from which to begin and grow confidence among
      conventional medical providers. Acupuncture is a safe and effective modality when
      performed properly by trained professionals. Educating both the consumer and
      medical community is important to enable appropriate and evidence-based
      applications of acupuncture and integration with conventional medicine for high
      quality patient care. 

PMID- 27641602
TI  - Feline Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency: A Retrospective Study of 150 Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little information is available about the clinical presentation and
      response to treatment of cats with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI).
      OBJECTIVES: To describe the signalment, clinical signs, concurrent diseases, and
      response to treatment of cats with EPI. ANIMALS: One hundred and fifty cats with
      EPI. METHODS: Retrospective case series. RESULTS: Questionnaires were sent to 261
      veterinarians, and 150 (57%) were returned with data suitable for statistical
      analysis. The median age of the cats with EPI was 7.7 years. The median body
      condition score was 3 of 9. Ninety-two of 119 cats (77%) had hypocobalaminemia,
      and 56 of 119 cats (47%) had increased and 6 of 119 cats (5%) had decreased serum
      folate concentrations. Clinical signs included weight loss (91%), unformed feces
      (62%), poor hair coat (50%), anorexia (45%), increased appetite (42%), lethargy
      (40%), watery diarrhea (28%), and vomiting (19%). Eighty-seven cats (58%) had
      concurrent diseases. Treatment response was reported to be good in 60%, partial
      in 27%, and poor in 13% of 121 cats. Trypsin-like immunoreactivity <4 MUg/L was
      associated with a positive response to treatment (OR, 3.2; 95% CI, 1.5-7.0; P =
      .004). Also, cobalamin supplementation improved the response to treatment (OR,
      3.0; 95% CI, 1.4-6.6; P = .006). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Exocrine
      pancreatic insufficiency in cats often has a different clinical presentation than
      in dogs. The age range for EPI in cats is wide, and many cats can be <=5 years of
      age. Most cats respond well to appropriate treatment for EPI, and cobalamin
      supplementation appears to be necessary for a good response.

PMID- 27641604
TI  - The questionnaire on autonomic regulation: a useful concept for integrative
      medicine?
AB  - The concept of autonomic regulation (aR) reflects the relevance of the function
      of different autonomic systems for health. aR can be captured by questionnaires.
      We differentiate between a trait or constitutional aR questionnaire version
      including 12 (short-version) or 18 items, respectively, with three subscales
      (orthostatic-circulatory, rest/activity and digestive regulation), and an 18-item
      state aR questionnaire on the preceding week with four subscales (rest/activity,
      orthostatic-circulatory, thermo- and digestive regulation). The validated
      questionnaires show satisfying to good reliability and robust validity with clear
      construct validity. In this article, we summarized the actually available
      literature on aR and the use of aR questionnaires in clinical and observational
      studies. We described the relationship of high aR with health and in case of low
      aR or loss of regulation with disease and functional disorder in the three (four)
      different subscales and functional systems, such as rest/activity, orthostatic
      circulatory or digestive regulation (thermoregulation) with the consecutive
      therapeutic need. Finally, we gave perspectives of its further application in
      clinical research. 

PMID- 27641605
TI  - Post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with hematologic
      disorders: Chinese herbal medicine for an unmet need.
AB  - While much progress has been made in the field of hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT), headway in the promotion of recovery following this
      procedure has been limited. Data regarding the potential of Chinese herbal
      medicine (CHM) for patients with hematologic disorders who received HSCT are
      gradually increasing; however, these data are mostly in Chinese. Therefore, we
      set out to summarize the existing data. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library
      and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and retrieved 9 clinical studies
      related to this group of patients, in whom CHM was used as an intervention. Of
      the 9 papers, 6 were published by the same group of researchers. The focus of the
      reviewed studies was heterogeneous, and the objectives varied widely. With the
      exception of one randomized control trial, all of the studies were retrospective
      and observational; the median number of patients was 11.5, with the largest study
      containing 104 patients. CHM treatment was largely divided into two stages: (1)
      pre-HSCT, which was initiated as soon as conditioning chemotherapy was
      administered and aimed to counterbalance the adverse effects of these potent
      agents; (2) post-HSCT, which began immediately after transplantation and was
      intended to promote engraftment, control graft-versus-host disease and prolong
      survival. In addition, the 9 Chinese materia medica most commonly prescribed
      (appearing in four studies) were: Shengdihuang (Rehmannia glutinosa), Baizhu
      (Atractylodes macrocephala), Renshen (Panax ginseng), Dangshen (Codonopsis
      pilosula), Maimendong (Ophiopogon japonicus), Danggui (Angelica sinensis),
      Taizishen (Pseudostellaria heterophylla), Huangqi (Astragalus membranaceus) and
      Ejiao (Equus asinus). 

PMID- 27641606
TI  - Assessment of traditional knowledge of the antidiabetic plants of Darjeeling and
      Sikkim Himalayas in the context of recent phytochemical and pharmacological
      advances.
AB  - Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas, a part of Eastern Himalayan Hotspot, is
      characterized by its richness of plant diversity. Herbal medicine has been one of
      the most popular and reliable healing practices among the different ethnic groups
      of this region for ages. However, the lack of documentation practice by the
      traditional healers has led to obscurity regarding the efficacy of herbal
      medicine among the present generation, though they have to depend on the same
      quite often. Meanwhile, several reviews have attempted to document the plants
      used for the treatment of diabetes from this region, but interestingly, very few
      research works can be obtained regarding the characterization of antidiabetic
      properties of the plants of this region. Therefore, it demands a better
      understanding of the potentiality of these plants in the purview of scientific
      evidence. This review article reports 55 such plant species which have been
      reported to be frequently used in the treatment of hyperglycemia and our
      objective was to validate the potentiality of the plants in the light of recent
      phytochemical and pharmacological researches being carried out locally or
      elsewhere. 

PMID- 27641608
TI  - Complementary and alternative medicine practices, traditional healing practices,
      and cultural competency in pediatric oncology in Hawai' i.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hawai'i is an ethnically diverse island state with a high rate of both
      traditional healing (TH) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use.
      The aim of this project was to assess TH and CAM use within the pediatric
      oncology population in Honolulu and improve the delivery of culturally competent
      care. METHODS: A 9-item survey was distributed to all pediatric oncology patients
      at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children for 3 months. The survey
      inquired about patient ethnicity, TH practices, CAM practices and perception of
      cultural competence of the care received. Descriptive statistics were calculated
      for the survey items. Qualitative analysis was done with participant comments to
      identify themes. RESULTS: Sixty-two surveys were completed. TH was used by 39% of
      the respondents in the home, and 10% in the hospital (top method was traditional
      foods). CAM was used by 27% of the respondents in the home, and 68% in the
      hospital (top method was healing touch). Ninety-seven percent of the respondents
      reported receiving culturally competent care. Areas for improvement included
      language services and dietary choices. CONCLUSION: CAM and TH are used frequently
      by pediatric oncology patients in Hawai'i, and the vast majority of patients and
      families felt that the care they received was culturally competent.

PMID- 27641607
TI  - Phytochemical profile and biological activity of Juglans regia.
AB  - Juglans regia Linn. (Juglandaceae), popularly known as English or Persian walnut,
      is a valuable medicinal plant with a potency to cure various diseases in
      traditional medicine. Since ancient time, different local ethnic groups have used
      various part of J. regia for a wide array of ailments including helminthiasis,
      diarrhea, sinusitis, stomach ache, arthritis, asthma, eczema, scrofula, skin
      disorders, diabetes mellitus, anorexia, thyroid dysfunction, cancer and
      infectious diseases. Biological activities of J. regia have been reported in
      several peer review journals and scientific attention is increasing. The present
      review attempts to provide comprehensive information on plant description,
      ethnobotanical use, toxicity, phytochemical profile, pharmacology, clinical
      studies and current research prospective of the J. regia. Currently, there is an
      immense interest on isolation/identification of active constituents from walnut
      and screening those active compounds for pharmacological activities. In addition,
      researchers are performing clinical trials as well as screening various solvent
      extracts or fractions of J. regia in several animal diseases models to identify
      promising therapeutic benefits. In the present work, we review the latest
      information based on published scientific investigations of J. regia. 

PMID- 27641609
TI  - Perceptions of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine among
      conventional healthcare practitioners in Accra, Ghana: Implications for
      integrative healthcare.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Integrative medicine refers to ongoing efforts to combine the best of
      conventional and evidence-based complementary therapies. While this effort for
      collaboration is increasing, traditional complementary and alternative medicine
      (TM-CAM) remains poorly integrated into the current healthcare system of Ghana.
      At present, it is not clear if practitioners of mainstream medicine favor
      integrative medicine. The present study, therefore, sought to explore the
      perceptions of conventional healthcare professionals on integrative medicine.
      METHODS: A qualitative design composed of semi-structured interviews was
      conducted with 23 conventional healthcare professionals comprising pharmacists,
      physicians, nurses and dieticians from two quasi-government hospitals in Accra,
      Ghana. RESULTS: Participants' knowledge of TM-CAM was low, and although they
      perceived alternative medicine as important to current conventional healthcare in
      Ghana, they expressed anxieties about the potential negative effects of the use
      of TM-CAM. This paradox was found to account for the low levels of use among
      these professionals, as well as the low level of recommendation to their
      patients. The practitioners surveyed recommended that alternative medicine could
      be integrated into mainstream allopathic healthcare in Ghana through improving
      knowledge, training as well as addressing concerns of safety and efficacy. These
      findings are discussed under the themes: the knowledge gap, the paradox of TM
      CAM, experience of use and prescription, and guided integration. We did not
      observe any differences in views among the participants. CONCLUSION: The
      conventional healthcare professionals were ready to accept the idea of
      integrative medicine based on knowledge of widespread use and the potential role
      of TM-CAM products and practices in improving healthcare delivery in the country.
      However, to achieve an institutional integration, practitioners' understanding of
      TM-CAM must be improved, with specific attention to issues of safety, regulation
      and evidence-based practice of TM-CAM products and services in Ghana.

PMID- 27641610
TI  - Human biofield therapy does not affect tumor size but modulates immune responses
      in a mouse model for breast cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of human biofield therapy, an integrative
      medicine modality, on the development of tumors and metastasis, and immune
      function in a mouse breast cancer model. METHODS: Mice were injected with 66cl4
      mammary carcinoma cells. In study one, mice received biofield therapy after cell
      injection. In study two, mice were treated by the biofield practitioner only
      prior to cell injection. Both studies had two control groups of mock biofield
      treatments and phosphate-buffered saline injection. Mice were weighed and tumor
      volume was determined. Blood samples were collected and 32 serum
      cytokine/chemokine markers were measured. Spleens/popliteal lymph nodes were
      isolated and dissociated for fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis
      of immune cells or metastasis assays in cell culture. RESULTS: No significant
      differences were found in weight, tumor size or metastasis. Significant effects
      were found in the immune responses in study one but no additional effects were
      found in study two. In study one, human biofield treatment significantly reduced
      percentage of CD4(+)CD44loCD25(+) and percentage of CD8(+) cells, elevated by
      cancer in the lymph nodes, to control levels determined by FACS analysis. In the
      spleen, only CD11b(+) macrophages were increased with cancer, and human biofield
      therapy significantly reduced them. Of 11 cytokines elevated by cancer, only
      interferon-gamma, interleukin-1, monokine induced by interfer-gamma, interleukin
      2 and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 were significantly reduced to control
      levels with human biofield therapy. CONCLUSION: Human biofield therapy had no
      significant effect on tumor size or metastasis but produced significant effects
      on immune responses apparent in the down-regulation of specific lymphocytes and
      serum cytokines in a mouse breast cancer model.

PMID- 27641611
TI  - Aphrodisiac activity of aqueous extract of Anthonotha macrophylla P. Beauv.
      leaves in female Wistar rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the aphrodisiac activity of aqueous extract of
      Anthonotha macrophylla leaves (AEAML) in female Wistar rats. METHODS: Thirty
      female rats were assigned into five groups of six animals each, such that rats in
      groups A, B, C, D and E received orally 1 mL of distilled water only, 5.7 mg/kg
      body weight (BW) of Exus Ginseng (a polyherbal formulation), 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg
      BW of AEAML, respectively. After 1 h of treatment, female sexual behaviour
      parameters were monitored for 30 min. Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle
      stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E) and testosterone were also determined
      using standard methods. RESULTS: Six secondary metabolites were detected in AEAML
      with alkaloids (13.00 mg/L) being the highest. AEAML at 25 and 50 mg/kg BW
      significantly (P<0.05) increased the darting frequency, hopping frequency,
      lordosis frequency, anogenital grooming, genital grooming and licking behaviour,
      whereas the darting latency, hopping latency and lordosis latency decreased
      (P<0.05) in a manner comparable with Exus Ginseng. The 25 and 50 mg/kg BW of
      AEAML increased (P<0.05) the serum concentrations of FSH, LH and E, like Exus
      Ginseng, whereas testosterone content was not altered (P>0.05). The 100 mg/kg BW
      of AEAML did not alter (P>0.05) the sexual behaviour parameters, serum FSH, LH
      and E contents, whereas testosterone content increased significantly. The ovarian
      histology of the animals treated with Exus Ginseng, AEAML at 25 and 50 mg/kg BW
      revealed developing and ruptured follicles with numerous corpora lutea in the
      stroma, whereas the 100 mg/kg BW of AEAML produced fewer follicles and corpora
      lutea. CONCLUSION: The enhanced proceptive, receptive and orientation components
      of the female sexual behaviour by the 25 and 50 mg/kg BW of AEAML confers sexual
      invigorating potential on the plant. This study thus justifies the folkloric
      claim of the plant as a female aphrodisiac.

PMID- 27641615
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27641612
TI  - Mortality and survival patterns of childhood lymphomas: geographic and age
      specific patterns in Southern-Eastern European and SEER/US registration data.
AB  - Childhood (0-14 years) lymphomas, nowadays, present a highly curable malignancy
      compared with other types of cancer. We used readily available cancer
      registration data to assess mortality and survival disparities among children
      residing in Southern-Eastern European (SEE) countries and those in the United
      States. Average age-standardized mortality rates and time trends of Hodgkin (HL)
      and non-Hodgkin (NHL; including Burkitt [BL]) lymphomas in 14 SEE cancer
      registries (1990-2014) and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
      Program (SEER, United States; 1990-2012) were calculated. Survival patterns in a
      total of 8918 cases distinguishing also BL were assessed through Kaplan-Meier
      curves and multivariate Cox regression models. Variable, rather decreasing,
      mortality trends were noted among SEE. Rates were overall higher than that in
      SEER (1.02/106 ), which presented a sizeable (-4.8%, P = .0001) annual change.
      Additionally, remarkable survival improvements were manifested in SEER (10 years:
      96%, 86%, and 90% for HL, NHL, and BL, respectively), whereas diverse, still
      lower, rates were noted in SEE. Non-HL was associated with a poorer outcome and
      an amphi-directional age-specific pattern; specifically, prognosis was inferior
      in children younger than 5 years than in those who are 10 to 14 years old from
      SEE (hazard ratio 1.58, 95% confidence interval 1.28-1.96) and superior in
      children who are 5 to 9 years old from SEER/United States (hazard ratio 0.63, 95%
      confidence interval 0.46-0.88) than in those who are 10 to 14 years old. In
      conclusion, higher SEE lymphoma mortality rates than those in SEER, but overall
      decreasing trends, were found. Despite significant survival gains among developed
      countries, there are still substantial geographic, disease subtype-specific, and
      age-specific outcome disparities pointing to persisting gaps in the
      implementation of new treatment modalities and indicating further research needs.

PMID- 27641614
TI  - The application of apoptotic inhibitor in apoptotic pathways of MII stage porcine
      oocytes after vitrification.
AB  - Apoptosis is one of the main drivers of the decline in developmental potential of
      porcine oocytes after vitrification. However, which apoptotic pathways are
      engaged after vitrification remains poorly understood. To distinguish among the
      possible apoptotic pathways induced by vitrification of MII stage porcine
      oocytes, this study detected activity and expression levels of several key
      proteins and genes in both the death receptor and mitochondrial pathways using in
      situ fluorescence staining and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) following the addition of
      specific inhibitors of either the death receptor or the mitochondrial apoptotic
      pathway (Z-IETD-FMK or Z-LEHD-FMK, respectively) into the incubation solution.
      Survival and parthenogenetic developmental ability were also examined. The
      results showed the following: (i) compared with the vitrified group, the
      activities of pan-caspase, caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase 9 as well as the
      early apoptotic rate were significantly lower in the Z-IETD-FMK and Z-LEHD-FMK
      groups (p < .05); (ii) After vitrification, mitochondrial DeltaPsim decreased
      from 1.33 for fresh oocytes to 0.90 for vitrified oocytes, while the addition of
      Z-IETD-FMK or Z-LEHD-FMK following vitrification increased mitochondrial
      DeltaPsim to 1.09 and 1.05, respectively (p < .05); (iii) Relative expression
      levels of apoptotic-related genes from both the death receptor pathway (caspase 8
      and TNF-alpha) and the mitochondrial pathway (caspase 9, Bcl-2 and CuZnSOD)
      changed substantially after the addition of Z-IETD-FMK or Z-LEHD-FMK into the
      incubation solution; (iv) Survival, cleavage and blastocyst rates were higher in
      the Z-IETH-FMK or Z-LEHD-FMK groups than in the vitrified group (p < .05). In
      summary, both the death receptor and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathways
      participate in the apoptosis of MII stage porcine oocytes after vitrification.

PMID- 27641613
TI  - A Triazolopyrimidine-Based Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor with Improved
      Drug-like Properties for Treatment and Prevention of Malaria.
AB  - The emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites continues to hamper efforts to
      control this lethal disease. Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase has recently been
      validated as a new target for the treatment of malaria, and a selective inhibitor
      (DSM265) of the Plasmodium enzyme is currently in clinical development. With the
      goal of identifying a backup compound to DSM265, we explored replacement of the
      SF5-aniline moiety of DSM265 with a series of CF3-pyridinyls while maintaining
      the core triazolopyrimidine scaffold. This effort led to the identification of
      DSM421, which has improved solubility, lower intrinsic clearance, and increased
      plasma exposure after oral dosing compared to DSM265, while maintaining a long
      predicted human half-life. Its improved physical and chemical properties will
      allow it to be formulated more readily than DSM265. DSM421 showed excellent
      efficacy in the SCID mouse model of P. falciparum malaria that supports the
      prediction of a low human dose (<200 mg). Importantly DSM421 showed equal
      activity against both P. falciparum and P. vivax field isolates, while DSM265 was
      more active on P. falciparum. DSM421 has the potential to be developed as a
      single-dose cure or once-weekly chemopreventative for both P. falciparum and P.
      vivax malaria, leading to its advancement as a preclinical development candidate.

PMID- 27641617
TI  - Transient receptor potential channel 1/4 reduces subarachnoid hemorrhage-induced
      early brain injury in rats via calcineurin-mediated NMDAR and NFAT
      dephosphorylation.
AB  - Transient receptor potential channel 1/4 (TRPC1/4) are considered to be related
      to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-induced cerebral vasospasm. In this study, a SAH
      rat model was employed to study the roles of TRPC1/4 in the early brain injury
      (EBI) after SAH. Primary cultured hippocampal neurons were exposed to
      oxyhemoglobin to mimic SAH in vitro. The protein levels of TRPC1/4 increased and
      peaked at 5 days after SAH in rats. Inhibition of TRPC1/4 by SKF96365 aggravated
      SAH-induced EBI, such as cortical cell death (by TUNEL staining) and degenerating
      (by FJB staining). In addition, TRPC1/4 overexpression could increase calcineurin
      activity, while increased calcineurin activity could promote the
      dephosphorylation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). Calcineurin
      antagonist FK506 could weaken the neuroprotection and the dephosphorylation of
      NMDAR induced by TRPC1/4 overexpression. Contrarily, calcineurin agonist
      chlorogenic acid inhibited SAH-induced EBI, even when siRNA intervention of
      TRPC1/4 was performed. Moreover, calcineurin also could lead to the nuclear
      transfer of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), which is a transcription
      factor promoting the expressions of TRPC1/4. TRPC1/4 could inhibit SAH-induced
      EBI by supressing the phosphorylation of NMDAR via calcineurin. TRPC1/4-induced
      calcineurin activation also could promote the nuclear transfer of NFAT,
      suggesting a positive feedback regulation of TRPC1/4 expressions.

PMID- 27641619
TI  - Isolation and Characterization of Fast-Migrating Human Glioma Cells in the
      Progression of Malignant Gliomas.
AB  - Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors. The most malignant form, the
      glioblastoma multiforme (GBM; WHO IV), is characterized by an invasive phenotype,
      which enables the tumor cells to infiltrate into adjacent brain tissue. When
      investigating GBM migration and invasion properties in vitro, in most cases GBM
      cell lines were analyzed. Comprehensive investigations focusing on progression
      dependent characteristics of migration processes using fresh human glioma samples
      of different malignancy grades do not exist. Thus, we isolated fast-migrating
      tumor cells from fresh human glioma samples of different malignancy grades
      (astrocytomas WHO grade II, grade III, GBM, and GBM recurrences) and
      characterized them with regard to the transcription of genes involved in the
      migration and invasion, tumor progression, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition,
      and stemness. In addition, we transferred our results to GBM cell lines and
      glioma stem-like cells and examined the influence of temozolomide on the
      expression of the above-mentioned genes in relation to migratory potential. Our
      results indicate that "evolutionary-like" expression alterations occur during
      glioma progression when comparing slow- and fast-migrating cells of fresh human
      gliomas. Furthermore, a close relation between migratory and stemness properties
      seems to be most likely. Variations in gene expression were also identified in
      GBM cell lines, not only when comparing fast- and slow-migrating cells but also
      regarding temozolomide-treated and untreated cells. Moreover, these differences
      coincided with the expression of stem cell markers and their migratory potential.
      Expression of migration-related genes in fast-migrating glioma cells is not only
      regulated in a progression-dependent manner, but these cells are also
      characterized by specific stem cell-like features.

PMID- 27641618
TI  - Food and beverage purchases in corner stores, gas-marts, pharmacies and dollar
      stores.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Little is known about customer purchases of foods and beverages from
      small and non-traditional food retailers (i.e. corner stores, gas-marts, dollar
      stores and pharmacies). The present study aimed to: (i) describe customer
      characteristics, shopping frequency and reasons for shopping at small and non
      traditional food retailers; and (ii) describe food/beverage purchases and their
      nutritional quality, including differences across store type. DESIGN: Data were
      collected through customer intercept interviews. Nutritional quality of
      food/beverage purchases was analysed; a Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010)
      score for purchases was created by aggregating participant purchases at each
      store. SETTING: Small and non-traditional food stores that were not WIC
      authorized in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, USA. SUBJECTS: Customers (n 661) from
      105 food retailers. RESULTS: Among participants, 29 % shopped at the store at
      least once daily; an additional 44 % shopped there at least once weekly. Most
      participants (74 %) cited convenient location as the primary draw to the store.
      Customers purchased a median of 2262 kJ (540 kcal), which varied by store type
      (P=0.04). The amount of added sugar far surpassed national dietary
      recommendations. At dollar stores, participants purchased a median of 5302 kJ
      (1266 kcal) for a median value of $US 2.89. Sugar-sweetened beverages were the
      most common purchase. The mean HEI-2010 score across all stores was 36.4.
      CONCLUSIONS: Small and non-traditional food stores contribute to the urban food
      environment. Given the poor nutritional quality of purchases, findings support
      the need for interventions that address customer decision making in these stores.

PMID- 27641620
TI  - Disaster Impact on Impoverished Area of US: An Inter-Professional Mixed Method
      Study.
AB  - : Introduction In the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, in central
      Appalachia (a region that spans 13 states in the US), sits an economically
      distressed and rural community of the United States. Once a thriving coal-mining
      area, this region now is reported as one of the hardest places to live in the US.
      Southeastern Kentucky, located in a remote, rocky, mountainous area surrounded by
      rivers and valleys and prone to flooding, experienced a major flood in Spring
      2013 causing significant damage to homes and critical infrastructure. Purpose
      Aims of the study were to: (1) identify and better understand the contextual
      variables compounding the impact of a disaster event that occurred in Spring
      2013; (2) identify ways participants managed antecedent circumstances, risk, and
      protective factors to cope with disaster up to 12 months post-event; and (3)
      further determine implications for community-focused interventions that may
      enhance recovery for vulnerable populations to promote greater outcomes of
      adaptation, wellness, and readiness. METHODS: Using an ethnographic mixed-methods
      approach, an inter-collaborative team conducted face-to-face interviews with
      (N=12) Appalachian residents about their disaster experience, documented
      observations and visual assessment of need on an observation tool, and used
      photography depicting structural and environmental conditions. A Health and
      Emergency Preparedness Assessment Survey Tool was used to collect demographic,
      health, housing, environment, and disaster readiness assessment data. Community
      stakeholders facilitated purposeful sampling through coordination of scheduled
      home visits. RESULTS: Triangulation of all data sources provided evidence that
      the community had unique coping strategies related to faith and spirituality,
      cultural values and heritage, and social support to manage antecedent
      circumstances, risk, and protective factors during times of adversity that, in
      turn, enhanced resilience up to 12 months post-disaster. The community was found
      to have an innate capacity to persevere and utilize resources to manage and
      transcend adversity and restore equilibrium, which reflected components of
      resilience that deserve greater recognition and appreciation. CONCLUSION:
      Resilience is a foundational concept for disaster science. A model of resilience
      for the rural Appalachia community was developed to visually depict the
      encompassing element of community-based interventions that may enhance coping
      strategies, mitigate risk factors, integrate protective factors, and strengthen
      access. Community-based interventions are recommended to strengthen resilience,
      yielding improved outcomes of adaptation, health and wellness, and disaster
      readiness. Banks LH , Davenport LA , Hayes MH , McArthur MA , Toro SN , King CE ,
      Vazirani HM . Disaster impact on impoverished area of US: an inter-professional
      mixed method study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):583-592.

PMID- 27641616
TI  - TSPO ligands stimulate ZnPPIX transport and ROS accumulation leading to the
      inhibition of P. falciparum growth in human blood.
AB  - After invading red blood cells (RBCs), Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) can export its
      own proteins to the host membrane and activate endogenous channels that are
      present in the membrane of RBCs. This transport pathway involves the Voltage
      Dependent Anion Channel (VDAC). Moreover, ligands of the VDAC partner
      TranSlocator PrOtein (TSPO) were demonstrated to inhibit the growth of the
      parasite. We studied the expression of TSPO and VDAC isoforms in late erythroid
      precursors, examined the presence of these proteins in membranes of non-infected
      and infected human RBCs, and evaluated the efficiency of TSPO ligands in
      inhibiting plasmodium growth, transporting the haem analogue Zn-protoporphyrin-IX
      (ZnPPIX) and enhancing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). TSPO
      and VDAC isoforms are differentially expressed on erythroid cells in late
      differentiation states. TSPO2 and VDAC are present in the membranes of mature
      RBCs in a unique protein complex that changes the affinity of TSPO ligands after
      Pf infection. TSPO ligands dose-dependently inhibited parasite growth, and this
      inhibition was correlated to ZnPPIX uptake and ROS accumulation in the infected
      RBCs. Our results demonstrate that TSPO ligands can induce Pf death by increasing
      the uptake of porphyrins through a TSPO2-VDAC complex, which leads to an
      accumulation of ROS.

PMID- 27641623
TI  - Major depressive disorder is associated with subsequent adult-onset asthma: a
      population-based cohort study.
AB  - AIM: To examine the incidence of asthma in adult patients with major depressive
      disorder (MDD). METHODS: From the National Health Insurance database of Taiwan,
      we identified 30 169 adult patients who were newly diagnosed with MDD between
      2000 and 2010. Individuals without depression were randomly selected four times
      and frequency matched for sex, age and year of diagnosis. Both cohorts were
      followed-up for the occurrence of asthma up to the end of 2011. Adjusted hazard
      ratios (aHRs) of asthma were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards method.
      RESULTS: The overall incidence of asthma was 1.91-fold higher in the MDD cohort
      than in the non-depression cohort (7.55 v. 3.96 per 1000 person-years), with an
      aHR of 1.66 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.55-1.78). In both cohorts, the
      incidence of asthma was higher in patients and controls who were female, aged,
      with comorbidities and users of aspirin or beta-adrenergic receptor blockers. No
      significant difference was observed in the occurrence of asthma between patients
      with MDD treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and those
      treated with non-SSRIs (SSRIs to non-SSRIs aHR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.91-1.17).
      CONCLUSION: Adult patients with MDD are at a higher risk of asthma than those
      without depression are.

PMID- 27641622
TI  - Na+ /H+ exchange via the Drosophila vesicular glutamate transporter mediates
      activity-induced acid efflux from presynaptic terminals.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Intracellular pH regulation is vital to neurons as nerve activity
      produces large and rapid acid loads in presynaptic terminals. Rapid clearance of
      acid loads is necessary to maintain control of neurotransmission, but neuronal
      acid clearance mechanisms remain poorly understood. Glutamate is loaded into
      synaptic vesicles via the vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT), a mechanism
      conserved across phyla, and this study reports a previously unknown role for
      VGLUT as an acid-extruding protein when deposited in the plasmamembrane during
      exocytosis. The finding was made in Drosophila (fruit fly) larval motor neurons
      through a combined pharamacological and genetic dissection of presynaptic pH
      homeostatic mechanisms. A dual role for VGLUT serves to integrate neuronal
      activity and pH regulation in presynaptic nerve terminals. ABSTRACT: Neuronal
      activity can result in transient acidification of presynaptic terminals, and such
      shifts in cytosolic pH (pHcyto ) probably influence mechanisms underlying forms
      of synaptic plasticity with a presynaptic locus. As neuronal activity drives acid
      loading in presynaptic terminals, we hypothesized that the same activity might
      drive acid efflux mechanisms to maintain pHcyto homeostasis. To better understand
      the integration of neuronal activity and pHcyto regulation we investigated the
      acid extrusion mechanisms at Drosophila glutamatergic motorneuron terminals.
      Expression of a fluorescent genetically encoded pH indicator, named 'pHerry', in
      the presynaptic cytosol revealed acid efflux following nerve activity to be
      greater than that predicted from measurements of the intrinsic rate of acid
      efflux. Analysis of activity-induced acid transients in terminals deficient in
      either endocytosis or exocytosis revealed an acid efflux mechanism reliant upon
      synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Pharmacological and genetic dissection in situ and
      in a heterologous expression system indicate that this acid efflux is mediated by
      conventional plasmamembrane acid transporters, and also by previously
      unrecognized intrinsic H+ /Na+ exchange via the Drosophila vesicular glutamate
      transporter (DVGLUT). DVGLUT functions not only as a vesicular glutamate
      transporter but also serves as an acid-extruding protein when deposited on the
      plasmamembrane.

PMID- 27641621
TI  - Nerve Guidance by a Decellularized Fibroblast Extracellular Matrix.
AB  - Spinal cord and peripheral nerve injuries require the regeneration of nerve
      fibers across the lesion site for successful recovery. Providing guidance cues
      and soluble factors to promote neurite outgrowth and cell survival can enhance
      repair. The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a key role in tissue repair by
      controlling cell adhesion, motility, and growth. In this study, we explored the
      ability of a mesenchymal ECM to support neurite outgrowth from neurons in the
      superior cervical ganglia (SCG). Length and morphology of neurites extended on a
      decellularized fibroblast ECM were compared to those on substrates coated with
      laminin, a major ECM protein in neural tissue, or fibronectin, the main component
      of a mesenchymal ECM. Average radial neurite extension was equivalent on laminin
      and on the decellularized ECM, but contrasted with the shorter, curved neurites
      observed on the fibronectin substrate. Differences between neurites on
      fibronectin and on other substrates were confirmed by fast Fourier transform
      analyses. To control the direction of neurite outgrowth, we developed an ECM with
      linearly aligned fibril organization by orienting the fibroblasts that deposit
      the matrix on a polymeric surface micropatterned with a striped chemical
      interface. Neurites projected from SCGs appeared to reorient in the direction of
      the pattern. These results highlight the ability of a mesenchymal ECM to enhance
      neurite extension and to control the directional outgrowth of neurites. This
      micropatterned decellularized ECM architecture has potential as a regenerative
      microenvironment for nerve repair.

PMID- 27641624
TI  - Determination and removal of sulfonamides and quinolones from environmental water
      samples using magnetic adsorbents.
AB  - In this study, the magnetic materials known as polymerized ionic liquid@3
      (trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate@Fe3 O4 nanoparticles were synthesized and
      utilized as potential adsorbents. First, these nanoparticles were applied to the
      analysis of sulfonamides and quinolones present in different water samples using
      magnetic solid phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography. Under
      optimized conditions, the developed method showed excellent detection
      sensitivity, with limits of detection (S/N = 3) and quantification limits (S/N =
      10) within 0.2-1.0 and 0.8-3.4 MUg/L, respectively. The spiked recoveries of the
      SAs and QNs in environmental water samples ranged from 83.5 to 103.0%, with RSDs
      of less than 4.5%. In addition, the adsorbents effectively removed
      sulfamethoxazole and ofloxacin present in existing aquatic environments. The
      adsorption kinetics and isotherms of sulfamethoxazole and ofloxacin on the
      magnetic adsorbents were studied to assess removal performance. The results
      indicate that the adsorption process follows a pseudo-second-order mechanism,
      which reveals that the sorption mechanism is the rate-limiting step and produces
      high qmax values (sulfamethoxazole = 70.35 mg/g and ofloxacin = 48.95 mg/g), thus
      demonstrating the enormous adsorption capacity of these magnetic adsorbents.

PMID- 27641625
TI  - Generation of glucagon-like peptide-2-expressing Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its
      improvement of the intestinal health of weaned rats.
AB  - We aimed to assess the feasibility of enhancing the intestinal development of
      weaned rats using glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2)-expressing Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). GLP-2-expressing S. cerevisiae (GLP2-SC) was
      generated using a recombinant approach. The diet of weaned rats was supplemented
      with the GLP2-SC strain. The average daily gain (ADG), the intestinal morphology
      and the activities of the digestive enzymes in the jejunum were tested to assess
      the influence of the GLP2-SC strain on intestinal development. The proliferation
      of rat enterocytes was also assessed in vitro. The study revealed that the ADG of
      the weaned rats that received GLP2-SC was significantly greater than that of the
      controls fed a basal diet (Control) and S. cerevisiae harbouring an empty vector
      (EV-SC) (P < 0.05) but was equivalent to that of positive control rats fed
      recombinant human GLP-2 (rh-GLP2) (P > 0.05). Furthermore, GLP2-SC significantly
      increased villous height (P < 0.01) and digestive enzyme activity (P < 0.05) in
      the jejunum. Immunohistochemistry analysis further affirmed that enterocyte
      proliferation was stimulated in rats fed the GLP2-SC strain, as indicated by the
      greater number of enterocytes stained with proliferative cell nuclear antigen (P
      < 0.05). In vitro, the proliferation of rat enterocytes was also stimulated by
      GLP-2 expressed by the GLP2-SC strain (P < 0.01). Herein, the combination of the
      GLP-2 approach and probiotic delivery constitute a possible dietary supplement
      for animals after weaning.

PMID- 27641627
TI  - Mechanisms of tramadol-related neurotoxicity in the rat: Does diazepam/tramadol
      combination play a worsening role in overdose?
AB  - Poisoning with opioid analgesics including tramadol represents a challenge.
      Tramadol may induce respiratory depression, seizures and serotonin syndrome,
      possibly worsened when in combination to benzodiazepines. Our objectives were to
      investigate tramadol-related neurotoxicity, consequences of diazepam/tramadol
      combination, and mechanisms of drug-drug interactions in rats. Median lethal
      doses were determined using Dixon-Bruce's up-and-down method. Sedation, seizures,
      electroencephalography and plethysmography parameters were studied.
      Concentrations of tramadol and its metabolites were measured using liquid
      chromatography-high-resolution-mass-spectrometry. Plasma, platelet and brain
      monoamines were measured using liquid-chromatography coupled to fluorimetry.
      Median lethal-doses of tramadol and diazepam/tramadol combination did not
      significantly differ, although time-to-death was longer with combination
      (P=0.04). Tramadol induced dose-dependent sedation (P<0.05), early-onset seizures
      (P<0.001) and increase in inspiratory (P<0.01) and expiratory times (P<0.05). The
      diazepam/tramadol combination abolished seizures but significantly enhanced
      sedation (P<0.01) and respiratory depression (P<0.05) by reducing tidal volume
      (P<0.05) in addition to tramadol-related increase in respiratory times,
      suggesting a pharmacodynamic mechanism of interaction. Plasma M1 and M5
      metabolites were mildly increased, contributing additionally to tramadol-related
      respiratory depression. Tramadol-induced early-onset increase in brain
      concentrations of serotonin and norepinephrine was not significantly altered by
      the diazepam/tramadol combination. Interestingly neither pretreatment with
      cyproheptadine (a serotonin-receptor antagonist) nor a benserazide/5
      hydroxytryptophane combination (enhancing brain serotonin) reduced tramadol
      induced seizures. Our study shows that diazepam/tramadol combination does not
      worsen tramadol-induced fatality risk but alters its toxicity pattern with
      enhanced respiratory depression but abolished seizures. Drug-drug interaction is
      mainly pharmacodynamic but increased plasma M1 and M5 metabolites may also
      contribute to enhancing respiratory depression. Tramadol-induced seizures are
      independent of brain serotonin.

PMID- 27641626
TI  - Quantitative and combinatory determination of in situ phosphorylation of tau and
      its FTDP-17 mutants.
AB  - Tau is hyperphosphorylated in the brains of patients with tauopathies, such as
      Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to
      chromosome 17 (FTDP-17). However, neither the mechanism of hyperphosphorylation
      nor its contribution to pathogenesis is known. We applied Phos-tag SDS-PAGE, a
      phosphoaffinity electrophoresis, to the analysis of tau phosphorylation in vitro
      by Cdk5, in cultured cells and in mouse brain. Here, we found that Cdk5-p25
      phosphorylated tau in vitro at Ser404, Ser235, Thr205 and Ser202 in this order.
      In contrast in cultured cells, Ser404 was preferentially phosphorylated by Cdk5
      p35, whereas Thr205 was not phosphorylated. Ser202 and Ser235 were phosphorylated
      by endogenous kinases. Tau exhibited ~12 phosphorylation isotypes in COS-7 cells
      with different combinations of phosphorylation at Thr181, Ser202, Thr231, Ser235
      and Ser404. These phosphorylation sites were similar to tau phosphorylated in
      mouse brains. FTDP-17 tau with a mutation in the C-terminal region had different
      banding patterns, indicating a different phosphorylation pattern. In particular,
      it was clear that the R406W mutation causes loss of Ser404 phosphorylation. These
      results demonstrate the usefulness of the Phos-tag technique in the quantitative
      analysis of site-specific in vivo phosphorylation of tau and provide detailed
      information on in situ combinatory phosphorylation of tau.

PMID- 27641628
TI  - A mouse model of alcoholic liver fibrosis-associated acute kidney injury
      identifies key molecular pathways.
AB  - Clinical data strongly indicate that acute kidney injury (AKI) is a critical
      complication in alcoholic hepatitis, an acute-on-chronic form of liver failure in
      patients with advanced alcoholic fibrosis. Development of targeted therapies for
      AKI in this setting is hampered by the lack of an animal model. To enable
      research into molecular drivers and novel therapies for fibrosis- and alcohol
      associated AKI, we aimed to combine carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced fibrosis
      with chronic intra-gastric alcohol feeding. Male C57BL/6J mice were administered
      a low dose of CCl4 (0.2ml/kg 2* week/6weeks) followed by alcohol intragastrically
      (up to 25g/kg/day for 3weeks) and with continued CCl4. We observed that combined
      treatment with CCl4 and alcohol resulted in severe liver injury, more pronounced
      than using each treatment alone. Importantly, severe kidney injury was evident
      only in the combined treatment group. This mouse model reproduced distinct
      pathological features consistent with AKI in human alcoholic hepatitis.
      Transcriptomic analysis of kidneys revealed profound effects in the combined
      treatment group, with enrichment for damage-associated pathways, such as
      apoptosis, inflammation, immune-response and hypoxia. Interestingly, Havcr1 and
      Lcn2, biomarkers of AKI, were markedly up-regulated. Overall, this study
      established a novel mouse model of fibrosis- and alcohol-associated AKI and
      identified key mechanistic pathways.

PMID- 27641630
TI  - Mutational analysis of 29 patients with autosomal-recessive woolly hair and
      hypotrichosis: LIPH mutations are extremely predominant in autosomal-recessive
      woolly hair and hypotrichosis in Japan.

PMID- 27641632
TI  - Pivotal role of glutamine synthetase in ammonia detoxification.
AB  - : Glutamine synthetase (GS) catalyzes condensation of ammonia with glutamate to
      glutamine. Glutamine serves, with alanine, as a major nontoxic interorgan ammonia
      carrier. Elimination of hepatic GS expression in mice causes only mild
      hyperammonemia and hypoglutaminemia but a pronounced decrease in the whole-body
      muscle-to-fat ratio with increased myostatin expression in muscle. Using GS
      knockout/liver and control mice and stepwise increments of enterally infused
      ammonia, we show that ~35% of this ammonia is detoxified by hepatic GS and ~35%
      by urea-cycle enzymes, while ~30% is not cleared by the liver, independent of
      portal ammonia concentrations <=2 mmol/L. Using both genetic (GS-knockout/liver
      and GS-knockout/muscle) and pharmacological (methionine sulfoximine and
      dexamethasone) approaches to modulate GS activity, we further show that
      detoxification of stepwise increments of intravenously (jugular vein) infused
      ammonia is almost totally dependent on GS activity. Maximal ammonia-detoxifying
      capacity through either the enteral or the intravenous route is ~160 MUmol/hour
      in control mice. Using stable isotopes, we show that disposal of glutamine-bound
      ammonia to urea (through mitochondrial glutaminase and carbamoylphosphate
      synthetase) depends on the rate of glutamine synthesis and increases from ~7% in
      methionine sulfoximine-treated mice to ~500% in dexamethasone-treated mice
      (control mice, 100%), without difference in total urea synthesis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Hepatic GS contributes to both enteral and systemic ammonia detoxification.
      Glutamine synthesis in the periphery (including that in pericentral hepatocytes)
      and glutamine catabolism in (periportal) hepatocytes represents the high-affinity
      ammonia-detoxifying system of the body. The dependence of glutamine-bound ammonia
      disposal to urea on the rate of glutamine synthesis suggests that enhancing
      peripheral glutamine synthesis is a promising strategy to treat hyperammonemia.
      Because total urea synthesis does not depend on glutamine synthesis, we
      hypothesize that glutamate dehydrogenase complements mitochondrial ammonia
      production. (Hepatology 2017;65:281-293).

PMID- 27641631
TI  - Project conducted in Hirakata to improve cervical cancer screening rates in 20
      year-old Japanese: Influencing parents to recommend that their daughters undergo
      cervical cancer screening.
AB  - AIM: In Japan, the rate of routine cervical cancer screening is quite low, and
      the incidence of cervical cancer has recently been increasing. Our objective was
      to investigate ways to effectively influence parental willingness to recommend
      that their 20-year-old daughters undergo cervical cancer screening. METHODS: We
      targeted parents whose 20-year-old daughters were living with them. In fiscal
      year 2013, as usual, the daughter received a reminder postcard several months
      after they had received a free coupon for cervical cancer screening. In fiscal
      year 2014, the targeted parents received a cervical cancer information leaflet,
      as well as a cartoon about cervical cancer to show to their daughters, with a
      request that they recommend to their daughter that she undergo cervical cancer
      screening. The subsequent screening rates for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 were
      compared. RESULTS: The cervical cancer screening rate of 20-year-old women whose
      parents received the information packet in fiscal year 2014 was significantly
      higher than for the women who, in fiscal year 2013, received only a simple
      reminder postcard (P < 0.001). As a result, the total screening rate for 20-year
      old women for the whole of the 2014 fiscal year was significantly increased over
      2013 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: For the first time, we have shown that the parents
      of 20-year-old daughters can be motivated to recommend that their daughters
      receive their first cervical cancer screening. This was achieved by sending a
      cervical cancer information leaflet and a cartoon about cervical cancer for these
      parents to show to their daughters. This method was significantly effective for
      improving cervical cancer screening rates.

PMID- 27641629
TI  - High-dose wogonin exacerbates DSS-induced colitis by up-regulating effector T
      cell function and inhibiting Treg cell.
AB  - Wogonin exerts anti-tumour activities via multiple mechanisms. We have identified
      that high-dose wogonin (50 or 100 mg/kg) could inhibit the growth of transplanted
      tumours by directly inducing tumour apoptosis and promoting DC, T and NK cell
      recruitment into tumour tissues to enhance immune surveillance. However, wogonin
      (20-50 MUM) ex vivo prevents inflammation by inhibiting NF-kappaB and Erk
      signalling of macrophages and epithelial cells. It is elusive whether high-dose
      wogonin promotes or prevents inflammation. To investigate the effects of high
      dose wogonin on murine colitis induced by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS), mice
      were co-treated with DSS and various doses of wogonin. Intraperitoneal
      administration of wogonin (100 mg/kg) exacerbated DSS-induced murine colitis.
      More CD4+ CD44+ and CD8+ CD44+ cells were located in the inflamed colons in the
      wogonin (100 mg/kg) treatment group than in the other groups. Frequencies of CD4+
      CD25+ CD127- and CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ cells in the colons and spleen respectively,
      were reduced by wogonin treatment. Ex vivo stimulations with high-dose wogonin
      (50-100 MUg/ml equivalent to 176-352 MUM) could synergize with IL-2 to promote
      the functions of CD4+ and CD8+ cells. However, regulatory T cell induction was
      inhibited. Wogonin stimulated the activation of NF-kappaB and Erk but down
      regulated STAT3 phosphorylation in the CD4+ T cells. Wogonin down-regulated Erk
      and STAT3-Y705 phosphorylation in the regulatory T cells but promoted NF-kappaB
      and STAT3-S727 activation. Our study demonstrated that high-dose wogonin
      treatments would enhance immune activity by stimulating the effector T cells and
      by down-regulating regulatory T cells.

PMID- 27641633
TI  - Biophysical Activity of Impaired Lung Surfactant upon Exposure to Polymer
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - Colloidal drug carriers could improve the therapy of numerous airway diseases.
      However, it remains unclear to what extent nanoscale particulate matter affects
      the biophysical function of the essential surface-active lining layer of the
      lungs, especially under predisposed conditions of airway diseases. Accordingly,
      the current study investigated the impact of defined polymer nanoparticles on
      impaired lung surfactants. Admixtures of plasma proteins (albumin and fibrinogen)
      to Curosurf led to a controllable decrease in surface activity (i.e., adsorption
      and minimal surface tension of >25 and >5 mN/m, respectively), which served as
      models for dysfunctional lung surfactants. Next, Curosurf preincubated with
      plasma proteins was challenged with negatively- and positively charged
      poly(lactide) nanoparticles. Negatively charged nanoparticles significantly
      perturbed the biophysical function of impaired Curosurf in a dose-dependent
      manner, most-likely due to a binding of essential surfactant components. By
      contrast, addition of positively charged nanoparticles led to no further loss of
      surface activity, but a remarkable depletion of plasma protein content. Once
      adsorbed to the surface of polymer nanoparticles, plasma proteins were hindered
      to displace relevant surfactant components from the air/liquid interface.
      Overall, the current study indicated that, depending on their physicochemical
      properties, colloidal drug carriers could compromise the biophysical function of
      impaired lung surfactants. Notably, a positive surface charge represents a
      parameter for the rationale design of polymer nanomedicines causing negligible
      adverse events on an impaired surface-active lining layer in the lungs.

PMID- 27641634
TI  - Highly Branched Poly(beta-amino esters) for Non-Viral Gene Delivery: High
      Transfection Efficiency and Low Toxicity Achieved by Increasing Molecular Weight.
AB  - A successful polymeric gene delivery vector is denoted by both transfection
      efficiency and biocompatibility. However, the existing vectors with combined high
      efficacy and minimal toxicity still fall short. The most widely used polyethylene
      imine (PEI), polyamidoamine (PAMAM) and poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)
      (PDMAEMA) suffer from the correlation: either too toxic or little effective.
      Here, we demonstrate that with highly branched poly(beta-amino esters) (HPAEs), a
      type of recently developed gene delivery vector, the high gene transfection
      efficiency and low cytotoxicity can be achieved simultaneously at high molecular
      weight (MW). The interactions of HPAE/DNA polyplexes with cell membrane account
      for the favorable correlation between molecular weight and biocompatibility. In
      addition to the effect of molecular weight, the molecular configuration of linear
      and branched segments in HPAEs is also pivotal to endow high transfection
      efficiency and low cytotoxicity. These findings provide renewed perspective for
      the further development of clinically viable gene delivery vectors.

PMID- 27641637
TI  - Associations between free sugars and nutrient intakes among children and
      adolescents in the UK.
AB  - This study explored associations between free sugars intake (using non-milk
      extrinsic sugars as proxy) and nutrient intakes among children aged 1.5-18 years
      in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2008-2012. Dietary records were
      completed by 2073 children (95 % completed 4 d). Mean free sugars intakes (%
      energy) were 11.8, 14.7 and 15.4 % in the 1.5-3, 4-10 and 11-18 years age groups,
      respectively. Nutrient intakes and nutrient density were compared across
      quintiles (Q1-Q5) of free sugars intake (% energy) within each age group. Energy
      intake rose from Q1 to Q5 of free sugars, whereas percentages of energy intake
      from fat, SFA and protein dropped. Associations with micronutrients (mg/d or
      mcg/d) were mostly non-significant, but among 11-18-year-olds there were
      significant negative associations with Zn, Se, Fe, Cu, and vitamin A and D. There
      were stronger negative associations with micronutrient density (mg/mcg per 4.18
      MJ) for most nutrients in all age groups. Associations with vitamin C were
      positive. Results were similar after excluding misreporters. Children aged 4-18
      years who consumed average amounts of free sugars or above (>13 % energy or Q3
      Q5) had lower diet quality than those consuming <10 % free sugars (Q1), but there
      were insufficient data to assess diets with 5 % free sugars. High consumers
      obtained a higher proportion of free sugars from soft drinks, fruit juice and
      sugar confectionery and less from breakfast cereals. Ultimately, nutrient intakes
      depend on the total dietary pattern; however, reducing overconsumption of sugary
      foods and drinks with low nutrient density may help improve diet quality.

PMID- 27641635
TI  - Interactions between canonical Wnt signaling pathway and MAPK pathway regulate
      differentiation, maturation and function of dendritic cells.
AB  - Antigen-presenting dendritic cells interpret environmental signals to orchestrate
      local and systemic immune responses. In this study, the roles of Wnt proteins and
      their signaling pathway members in the maturation and function of monocyte
      derived DCs were investigated. The present study showed higher expression of beta
      catenin, as well as pGSK-3beta in DCs than those in monocytes. Wnt3a, Wnt5a and
      inhibition of GSK-3beta promoted differentiation of DCs, but inhibited maturation
      of DCs. GSK-3beta induced DCs maturation with unconventional phenotypes. Together
      with beta-catenin silence, these treatment lead to reduced secretion of cytokines
      and chemokines except for IL-10 in comparison with LPS treatment, and
      significantly promoted proliferation of T cells. Wnt3a and inhibition of GSK
      3beta increased expression of MAPK signalings (p-ERK, p-p38, p-JNK). However,
      inhibition of MAPK signalings in turn differently regulated Wnt signaling
      proteins expression. These data suggest that Wnt pathway regulates DCs
      differentiation, maturation and function with interaction of MAPK signaling
      pathways.

PMID- 27641636
TI  - Significant role for IRF3 in both T cell and APC effector functions during T cell
      responses.
AB  - Interferon Regulatory Factor (IRF)3 is a crucial transcription factor during
      innate immune responses. Here we show IRF3 also has a role in adaptive T cell
      immune responses. Expression of IFN-gamma, IL-17, and Granzyme B (GrB) during in
      vitro T cell responses was impaired when either dendritic cells (DCs) or T cells
      were derived from IRF3KO mice. Unexpectedly, IRF3-dependent NK-activating
      molecule (INAM), which is an NK cell activating factor of the DC innate immune
      response, was induced during the T cell response. Additionally, supernatants from
      responding T cells induced ISG54 in the RAW264.7 macrophage cell line in an IRF3
      dependent manner. Moreover, addition of anti-IFN-gamma prevented supernatant
      induction of ISG54 and recombinant IFN-gamma stimulated ISG54 expression. Thus,
      IRF3 in APCs and T cells is required for optimal T-cell effector function and the
      ability of T cells to influence innate immune function of APCs.

PMID- 27641638
TI  - Risk Factors for 30-Day Readmission Following Shoulder Arthroscopy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a large population of shoulder
      arthroscopy cases in order to provide insight into the risk factors associated
      with readmission following this common orthopaedic procedure. METHODS: The
      American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      (NSQIP) database was queried using current procedural terminology (CPT) billing
      codes to identify all patients older than 18 years of age who underwent shoulder
      arthroscopy between 2011 and 2013. Univariate and multivariate analyses were
      conducted to identify factors associated with 30-day readmission. RESULTS: We
      identified 15,015 patients who had undergone shoulder arthroscopy, with a 30-day
      readmission rate of 0.98%. The most common reason for readmission was pulmonary
      embolism (0.09%). On multivariate analysis, operative time > 1.5 hours (odds
      ratio [OR], 1.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29 to 2.50), age 40 to 65 years
      (OR, 3.80; 95% CI, 1.37 to 10.59), age > 65 years (OR, 3.91; 95% CI, 1.35 to
      11.35), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 3 (OR, 4.53; 95% CI,
      1.90 to 10.78), ASA class 4 (OR, 7.73; 95% CI, 2.91 to 27.25), chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.54 to 4.55), and chronic
      steroid use (OR, 2.96; 95% CI, 1.46 to 6.01) were identified as independent risk
      factors for readmission. CONCLUSIONS: Operative time > 1.5 hours, age > 40 years,
      ASA classes 3 or 4, COPD, and chronic steroid use are independent risk factors
      for readmission following elective arthroscopic shoulder surgery, although the
      readmission rate following these procedures is low. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III,
      retrospective comparative study.

PMID- 27641639
TI  - Breast cancer-associated venous thromboembolism: Methodological and statistical
      issues.

PMID- 27641640
TI  - Urinary Excretion of the beta-Adrenergic Feed Additives Ractopamine and
      Zilpaterol in Breast and Lung Cancer Patients.
AB  - beta2-Adrenergic agonists (beta-agonists) have been legally used in the U.S. for
      almost two decades to increase lean muscle mass in meat animals. Despite a
      cardiotoxic effect after high-dose exposure, there has been limited research on
      human beta-agonist exposures related to meat consumption. We quantified urinary
      concentrations of ractopamine and zilpaterol, two FDA-approved beta-agonist feed
      additives, and examined the extent to which the concentrations were associated
      with estimated usual meat intake levels. Overnight urine samples from 324 newly
      diagnosed breast cancer patients and spot urine samples from 46 lung cancer
      patients at the time of diagnosis, prior to treatment, were collected during 2006
      2010 and 2014-2015, respectively. Urinary ractopamine and zilpaterol
      concentrations were measured by LC-MS/MS. Ractopamine and zilpaterol,
      respectively, were detected in 8.1% and 3.0% of the urine samples collected (n =
      370). Only 1.1% (n = 4) of the urine samples had zilpaterol concentrations above
      the limit of quantification, with the mean value of 0.07 ng/mL in urine. The
      presence of detectable ractopamine and zilpaterol levels were not associated with
      meat consumption estimated from a food frequency questionnaire, including total
      meat (P = 0.13 and 0.74, respectively), total red meat (P = 0.72 and 0.74),
      unprocessed red meat (P = 0.74 and 0.73), processed red meat (P = 0.72 and 0.15),
      and poultry intake (P = 0.67 for ractopamine). Our data suggest that the amount
      of meat-related exposure of beta-agonists was low.

PMID- 27641641
TI  - Renal Cell Carcinoma Metastatic to the Liver: Early Response Assessment after
      Intraarterial Therapy Using 3D Quantitative Tumor Enhancement Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Liver metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are not uncommon in the
      course of disease. However, data about tumor response to intraarterial therapy
      (IAT) are scarce. This study assessed whether changes of enhancing tumor volume
      using quantitative European Association for the Study of the Liver (qEASL) on
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) can evaluate tumor
      response and predict overall survival (OS) early after therapy. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Fourteen patients with liver metastatic RCC treated with IAT
      (transarterial chemoembolization: n= 9 and yttrium-90: n= 5) were retrospectively
      included. All patients underwent contrast-enhanced imaging (MRI: n= 10 and CT: n=
      4) 3 to 4 weeks pre- and posttreatment. Response to treatment was evaluated on
      the arterial phase using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST),
      World Health Organization, modified RECIST, EASL, tumor volume, and qEASL. Paired
      t test was used to compare measurements pre- and post-IAT. Patients were
      stratified into responders (>=65% decrease in qEASL) and nonresponders (<65%
      decrease in qEASL). OS was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank test
      and the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: Mean qEASL (cm3) decreased from
      93.5 to 67.2 cm3 (P= .004) and mean qEASL (%) from 63.1% to 35.6% (P= .001). No
      significant changes were observed using other response criteria. qEASL was the
      only significant predictor of OS when used to stratify patients into responders
      and nonresponders with median OS of 31.9 versus 11.1 months (hazard ratio [HR],
      0.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19-0.97; P= .042) for qEASL (cm3) and 29.9
      versus 10.2 months (HR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.74; P= .025) for qEASL (%).
      CONCLUSION: Three-dimensional (3D) quantitative tumor analysis is a reliable
      predictor of OS when assessing treatment response after IAT in patients with RCC
      metastatic to the liver. qEASL outperforms conventional non-3D methods and can be
      used as a surrogate marker for OS early after therapy.

PMID- 27641642
TI  - Altered Expression of Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors and NKG2D on Peripheral
      Blood NK Cell Subsets in Breast Cancer Patients.
AB  - Human natural killer (NK) cells are considered professional cytotoxic cells that
      are integrated into the effector branch of innate immunity during antiviral and
      antitumoral responses. The purpose of this study was to examine the peripheral
      distribution and expression of NK cell activation receptors from the fresh
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 30 breast cancer patients prior to any form
      of treatment (including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy), 10 benign
      breast pathology patients, and 24 control individuals. CD3-CD56dimCD16bright NK
      cells (CD56dim NK) and CD3-CD56brightCD16dim/- NK cells (CD56bright NK) were
      identified using flow cytometry. The circulating counts of CD56dim and CD56bright
      NK cells were not significantly different between the groups evaluated, nor were
      the counts of other leukocyte subsets between the breast cancer patients and
      benign breast pathology patients. However, in CD56dim NK cells, NKp44 expression
      was higher in breast cancer patients (P = .0302), whereas NKp30 (P = .0005),
      NKp46 (P = .0298), and NKG2D (P = .0005) expression was lower with respect to
      healthy donors. In CD56bright NK cells, NKp30 (P = .0007), NKp46 (P = .0012), and
      NKG2D (P = .0069) expression was lower in breast cancer patients compared with
      control group. Only NKG2D in CD56bright NK cells (P = .0208) and CD56dim NK cells
      (P = .0439) showed difference between benign breast pathology and breast cancer
      patients. Collectively, the current study showed phenotypic alterations in
      activation receptors on CD56dim and CD56bright NK cells, suggesting that breast
      cancer patients have decreased NK cell cytotoxicity.

PMID- 27641643
TI  - MRI of acute osteomyelitis in long bones of children: Pathophysiology study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The classic pathophysiology of acute osteomyelitis in children
      described by Trueta has a metaphyseal infection as the starting point. This
      hypothesis was recently brought into question by Labbe's study, which suggested a
      periosteal origin. Thus, we wanted to study this disease's pathophysiology
      through early MRI examinations and to look for prognostic factors based on
      abnormal findings. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a prospective, multicentre
      study that included cases of long bone osteomyelitis in children who underwent an
      MRI examination within 7days of the start of symptoms and within 24hours of the
      initiation of antibiotic therapy. We also collected clinical, laboratory and
      treatment-related data. RESULTS: Twenty patients were included, including one
      with a bifocal condition. The lower limb was involved in most cases (19/21).
      Staphylococcus aureus was found most frequently. Metaphyseal involvement was
      present in all cases. No isolated periosteal involvement was found in any of the
      cases. No prognostic factors were identified based on the various abnormal
      findings on MRI. CONCLUSION: Our study supports the metaphyseal origin of acute
      osteomyelitis in children. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 27641644
TI  - Adolescent stalking and risk of violence.
AB  - Stalking perpetration and the associated risk for violence among adolescents has
      generally been neglected. In the present study, 1236 youth completed surveys
      assessing empirically established stalking indicators, threats and aggression
      toward stalking victims, dating violence, and violent delinquency. Latent Profile
      Analysis identified 3 latent classes of boys: non-perpetrators (NP), hyper
      intimate pursuit (HIP), and comprehensive stalking perpetrators (CSP) and, and 2
      classes for girls: NP and HIP. Boys in the CSP class were the most violent youth
      on nearly all indices with boys in the HIP class demonstrating an intermediate
      level of violence compared to NP boys. Girls in the HIP class were more violent
      than NP girls on all indices. These findings suggest stalking in adolescence
      merits attention by violence prevention experts. In particular, juvenile stalking
      may signify youth at risk for multiple forms of violence perpetrated against
      multiple types of victims, not just the object of their infatuation.

PMID- 27641645
TI  - We're number 3!

PMID- 27641646
TI  - Lack of T Cell Response to iPSC-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from HLA
      Homozygous Donors.
AB  - Allografts of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells have been considered for the
      treatment of ocular diseases. We recently started the transplantation of induced
      pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived RPE cells for patients with age-related
      macular degeneration (autogenic grafts). However, there are at least two problems
      with this approach: (1) high cost, and (2) uselessness for acute patients. To
      resolve these issues, we established RPE cells from induced iPSCs in HLA
      homozygote donors. In vitro, human T cells directly recognized allogeneic iPSC
      derived RPE cells that expressed HLA class I/II antigens. However, these T cells
      failed to respond to HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1-matched iPSC-derived RPE cells from HLA
      homozygous donors. Because of the lack of T cell response to iPSC-derived RPE
      cells from HLA homozygous donors, we can use these allogeneic iPSC-derived RPE
      cells in future clinical trials if the recipient and donor are HLA matched.

PMID- 27641647
TI  - Parkin and PINK1 Patient iPSC-Derived Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Exhibit
      Mitochondrial Dysfunction and alpha-Synuclein Accumulation.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the selective loss of dopamine
      neurons in the substantia nigra; however, the mechanism of neurodegeneration in
      PD remains unclear. A subset of familial PD is linked to mutations in PARK2 and
      PINK1, which lead to dysfunctional mitochondria-related proteins Parkin and
      PINK1, suggesting that pathways implicated in these monogenic forms could play a
      more general role in PD. We demonstrate that the identification of disease
      related phenotypes in PD-patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)
      derived midbrain dopamine (mDA) neurons depends on the type of differentiation
      protocol utilized. In a floor-plate-based but not a neural-rosette-based directed
      differentiation strategy, iPSC-derived mDA neurons recapitulate PD phenotypes,
      including pathogenic protein accumulation, cell-type-specific vulnerability,
      mitochondrial dysfunction, and abnormal neurotransmitter homeostasis. We propose
      that these form a pathogenic loop that contributes to disease. Our study
      illustrates the promise of iPSC technology for examining PD pathogenesis and
      identifying therapeutic targets.

PMID- 27641648
TI  - Distinctive Roles of Canonical and Noncanonical Wnt Signaling in Human Embryonic
      Cardiomyocyte Development.
AB  - Wnt signaling is a key regulator of vertebrate heart development; however,
      specific roles for human cardiomyocyte development remain uncertain. Here we use
      human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to analyze systematically in human
      cardiomyocyte development the expression of endogenous Wnt signaling components,
      monitor pathway activity, and dissect stage-specific requirements for canonical
      and noncanonical Wnt signaling mechanisms using small-molecule inhibitors. Our
      analysis suggests that WNT3 and WNT8A, via FZD7 and canonical signaling, regulate
      BRACHYURY expression and mesoderm induction; that WNT5A/5B, via ROR2 and
      noncanonical signaling, regulate MESP1 expression and cardiovascular development;
      and that later in development WNT2, WNT5A/5B, and WNT11, via FZD4 and FZD6,
      regulate functional cardiomyocyte differentiation via noncanonical Wnt signaling.
      Our findings confirm in human development previously proposed roles for canonical
      Wnt signaling in sequential stages of vertebrate cardiomyogenesis, and identify
      more precise roles for noncanonical signaling and for individual Wnt signal and
      Wnt receptor genes in human cardiomyocyte development.

PMID- 27641649
TI  - Successful Transplantation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from MHC
      Homozygote iPSCs in MHC-Matched Models.
AB  - There is an ongoing controversy as to whether major histocompatibility complex
      (MHC) matching is a solution for allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In the
      present study, we established retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells from induced
      pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in MHC homozygote donors. We observed no rejection
      signs in iPSC-derived RPE allografts of MHC-matched animal models without
      immunosuppression, whereas there were immune attacks around the graft and retinal
      tissue damage in MHC-mismatched models. In an immunohistochemical examination of
      MHC-mismatched allografts, the transplanted RPE sheets/cells were located in the
      subretinal space, but the RPE exhibited inflammatory and hypertrophic changes,
      and many inflammatory cells, e.g., Iba1+ cells, MHC class II+ cells, and CD3+ T
      cells, invaded the graft area. Conversely, these inflammatory cells poorly
      infiltrated the area around the transplanted retina if MHC-matched allografts
      were used. Thus, cells derived from MHC homozygous donors could be used to treat
      retinal diseases in histocompatible recipients.

PMID- 27641651
TI  - Process optimization for microcystin-LR degradation by Response Surface
      Methodology and mechanism analysis in gas-liquid hybrid discharge system.
AB  - A gas-liquid hybrid discharge system was applied to microcystin-LR (MC-LR)
      degradation. MC-LR degradation was completed after 1 min under a pulsed high
      voltage of 16 kV, gas-liquid interface gap of 10 mm and oxygen flow rate of 160
      L/h. The Box-Behnken Design was proposed in Response Surface Methodology to
      evaluate the influence of pulsed high voltage, electrode distance and oxygen flow
      rate on MC-LR removal efficiency. Multiple regression analysis, focused on
      multivariable factors, was employed and a reduced cubic model was developed. The
      ANOVA analysis shows that the model is significant and the model prediction on MC
      LR removal was also validated with experimental data. The optimum conditions for
      the process are obtained at pulsed voltage of 16 kV, gas-liquid interface gap of
      10 mm and oxygen flow rate of 120 L/h with ta removal efficiency of MC-LR of
      96.6%. The addition of catalysts (TiO2 or Fe2+) in the gas-liquid hybrid
      discharge system was found to enhance the removal of MC-LR. The intermediates of
      MC-LR degradation were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The
      degradation pathway proposed envisaged the oxidation of hydroxyl radicals and
      ozone, and attack of high-energy electrons on the unsaturated double bonds of
      Adda and Mdha, with MC-LR finally decomposing into small molecular products.

PMID- 27641650
TI  - iPSC-MSCs with High Intrinsic MIRO1 and Sensitivity to TNF-alpha Yield
      Efficacious Mitochondrial Transfer to Rescue Anthracycline-Induced
      Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can donate mitochondria and rescue anthracycline
      induced cardiomyocyte (CM) damage, although the underlying mechanisms remain
      elusive. We determined that the superior efficiency of mitochondrial transfer by
      human induced-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived MSCs (iPSC-MSCs) compared with bone
      marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) is due to high expression of intrinsic Rho GTPase 1
      (MIRO1). Further, due to a higher level of TNFalphaIP2 expression, iPSC-MSCs are
      more responsive to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced tunneling
      nanotube (TNT) formation for mitochondrial transfer to CMs, which is regulated
      via the TNF-alpha/NF-kappaB/TNFalphaIP2 signaling pathway. Inhibition of
      TNFalphaIP2 or MIRO1 in iPSC-MSCs reduced the efficiency of mitochondrial
      transfer and decreased CMs protection. Compared with BM-MSCs, transplantation of
      iPSC-MSCs into a mouse model of anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy resulted in
      more human mitochondrial retention and bioenergetic preservation in heart tissue.
      Efficacious transfer of mitochondria from iPSC-MSCs to CMs, due to higher MIRO1
      expression and responsiveness to TNF-alpha-induced nanotube formation,
      effectively attenuates anthracycline-induced CM damage.

PMID- 27641652
TI  - Measuring recreational visitation at U.S. National Parks with crowd-sourced
      photographs.
AB  - Land managers rely on visitation data to inform policy and management decisions.
      However, visitation data is often costly and burdensome to obtain, and provides a
      limited depth of information. In this paper, we assess the validity of using
      crowd-sourced, online photographs to infer information about the habits and
      preferences of recreational visitors by comparing empirical data from the
      National Park Service to photograph data from the online platform Flickr for 38
      National Parks in the western United States. Using multiple regression analysis,
      we find that the number of photos posted monthly in a park can reliably indicate
      the number of visitors to a park in a given month. Through additional statistical
      testing we also find that the home locations of photo-takers, provided
      voluntarily on an online profile, accurately show the home origins of park
      visitors. Together, these findings validate a new method for measuring
      recreational visitation, opening an opportunity for land managers worldwide to
      track and understand visitation by augmenting current data collection methods
      with crowd-sourced, online data that is easy and inexpensive to obtain. In
      addition, it enables future research on how visitation rates change with changes
      in access, management or infrastructure, weather events, or ecosystem health, and
      facilitates valuation research, such as travel cost studies.

PMID- 27641654
TI  - Risk analysis of the governance system affecting outcomes in the Great Barrier
      Reef.
AB  - The state and trend of the Great Barrier Reef's (GBR's) ecological health remains
      problematic, influencing United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
      Organization (UNESCO) statements regarding GBR governance. While UNESCO's
      concerns triggered separate strategic assessments by the Australian and
      Queensland governments, there has been no independent and integrated review of
      the key risks within the overall system of governance influencing GBR outcomes.
      As a case study of international significance, this paper applies Governance
      Systems Analysis (GSA), a novel analytical framework that identifies the
      governance themes, domains and subdomains most likely to influence environmental
      and socio-economic outcomes in complex natural systems. This GBR-focussed
      application of GSA identifies governance subdomains that present high, medium, or
      low risk of failure to produce positive outcomes for the Reef. This enabled us to
      determine that three "whole of system" governance problems could undermine GBR
      outcomes. First, we stress the integrative importance of the Long Term
      Sustainability Plan (LTSP) Subdomain. Sponsored by the Australian and Queensland
      governments, this subdomain concerns the primary institutional arrangements for
      coordinated GBR planning and delivery, but due to its recent emergence, it faces
      several internal governance challenges. Second, we find a major risk of
      implementation failure in the achievement of GBR water quality actions due to a
      lack of system-wide focus on building strong and stable delivery systems at
      catchment scale. Finally, we conclude that the LTSP Subdomain currently has too
      limited a mandate/capacity to influence several high-risk subdomains that have
      not been, but must be more strongly aligned with Reef management (e.g. the
      Greenhouse Gas Emission Management Subdomain). Our analysis enables exploration
      of governance system reforms needed to address environmental trends in the GBR
      and reflects on the potential application of GSA in other complex land and sea
      scapes across the globe.

PMID- 27641655
TI  - Removal of ammonia from poultry manure by aluminosilicates.
AB  - The aim of the study was to test the possibility of using aluminosilicates as
      natural sorbents of ammonia from poultry manure. The ammonia-absorbing properties
      of sodium bentonite and zeolite were confirmed in ex situ conditions. The most
      significant reduction in the level of ammonia with respect to the control was
      noted for 2% bentonite and 1% zeolite. The mean reduction for the entire period
      of the experiment ranged from 26.41% to 29.04%. The aluminosilicates tested can
      be used to neutralize ammonia released on poultry farms.

PMID- 27641653
TI  - Root application of selenite can simultaneously reduce arsenic and cadmium
      accumulation and maintain grain yields, but show negative effects on the grain
      quality of paddy rice.
AB  - Most current technologies can hardly simultaneously reduce the accumulation of
      arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) in crops. In this study, root application of
      selenite [Se (IV)] and selenate [Se (VI)] was used to assess their abilities to
      reduce the accumulation of As and Cd, and maintain the yields and quality of rice
      grains. The results show that Se (IV) showed a weaker ability than Se (VI) to
      maintain the grain contents of many essential elements, but a stronger ability to
      decrease As and Cd contents in rice grains, and maintain the yields,
      photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance, and increase the grain contents of
      several amino acids (AAs), total Se, selenomethionine (SeMet) and selenocysteine
      (SeCys). The best outcomes resulted at a relatively high application of 5 mg kg-1
      Se (IV), reflecting in the highest total Se, SeCys and SeMet content (14.95,
      118.70 and 864.73 MUg kg-1, respectively) in the grains, highest grain yield, and
      lowest grain As and Cd content (0.36 and 0.07 mg kg-1, respectively). In
      addition, the application of 1-5 mg kg-1 Se (IV) seemed to facilitate the
      formation of SeMet in the grains, but most inorganic Se in the grains were
      transformed into SeCys and SeMet under Se (VI) treatments. This study provides a
      new idea to resolve the problems of high accumulation of As and Cd in rice grains
      and insufficiency of Se intake in China.

PMID- 27641656
TI  - Assessment of health benefits related to air quality improvement strategies in
      urban areas: An Impact Pathway Approach.
AB  - Air pollution is, increasingly, a concern to our society given the threats to
      human health and the environment. Concerted actions to improve air quality have
      been taken at different levels, such as through the development of Air Quality
      Plans (AQPs). However, air quality impacts associated with the implementation of
      abatement measures included in AQPs are often neglected. In order to identify the
      major gaps and strengths in current knowledge, a literature review has been
      performed on existing methodologies to estimate air pollution-related health
      impacts and subsequent external costs. Based on this review, the Impact Pathway
      Approach was adopted and applied within the context of the MAPLIA research
      project to assess the health impacts and benefits (or avoided external costs)
      derived from improvements in air quality. Seven emission abatement scenarios,
      based on individual and combined abatement measures, were tested for the major
      activity sectors (traffic, residential and industrial combustion and production
      processes) of a Portuguese urban area (Grande Porto) with severe particular
      matter (PM10) air pollution problems. Results revealed a strong positive
      correlation between population density and health benefits obtained from the
      assessed reduction scenarios. As a consequence, potential health benefits from
      reduction scenarios are largest in densely populated areas with high anthropic
      activity and, thus, where air pollution problems are most alarming.
      Implementation of all measures resulted in a reduction in PM10 emissions by
      almost 8%, improving air quality by about 1% and contributing to a benefit of 8.8
      million ?/year for the entire study domain. The introduction of PM10 reduction
      technologies in industrial units was the most beneficial abatement measure. This
      study intends to contribute to policy support for decision-making on air quality
      management.

PMID- 27641657
TI  - Case Report: Spironolactone Withdrawal Associated With a Dramatic Response in a
      Patient With Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

PMID- 27641658
TI  - Adverse Features and Competing Risk Mortality in Patients With High-Risk Prostate
      Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess survival and competing causes of mortality in prostate cancer
      (PCa) patients referred to radical prostatectomy through a combination of
      unfavorable characteristics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated 615 PCa patients
      referred to radical prostatectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection at single
      tertiary-care center with at least one adverse feature (AF): preoperative
      prostate-specific antigen >= 20 ng/mL, pathologic Gleason score 8 to 10, and no
      organ-confined disease at final pathology (seminal vesicle involvement, positive
      surgical margins, and/or lymph node invasion). Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to
      assess cancer-specific mortality (CSM)-free survival rates by stratifying
      patients into 3 risk categories according to the number of AFs (namely, 1, 2, and
      3 AFs). Multivariable competing risk Cox regression analyses were used to assess
      CSM and other cause of mortality. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in
      terms of preoperative and pathologic tumor characteristics, adjuvant therapies,
      and biochemical recurrence (BCR). Men with 1 AF had higher CSM-free survival
      estimates compared to those with 2 and 3 AFs (92.8% vs. 84.2% vs. 27.7% at 10
      years' follow-up, P < .001). Moreover, the presence of 3 AFs (hazard ratio [HR],
      2.96), postoperative adjuvant treatment status (HR, 2.44), and time to BCR (HR,
      0.96) were all independent predictors of CSM (P <= .04). Age at surgery and time
      to BCR were the only independent predictors of other causes of mortality (P <=
      .0009). CONCLUSION: The risk group stratification according to the number of AFs
      could help physicians to accurately predict oncologic outcomes and to select PCa
      patients for the most appropriate postoperative strategies.

PMID- 27641659
TI  - Numerical prediction of peri-implant bone adaptation: Comparison of mechanical
      stimuli and sensitivity to modeling parameters.
AB  - Long term durability of osseointegrated implants depends on bone adaptation to
      stress and strain occurring in proximity of the prosthesis. Mechanical
      overloading, as well as disuse, may reduce the stability of implants by provoking
      bone resorption. However, an appropriate mechanical environment can improve
      integration. Several studies have focused on the definition of numerical methods
      to predict bone peri-implant adaptation to the mechanical environment. Existing
      adaptation models differ notably in the type of mechanical variable adopted as
      stimulus but also in the bounds and shape of the adaptation rate equation.
      However, a general comparison of the different approaches on a common benchmark
      case is still missing and general guidelines to determine physically sound
      parameters still need to be developed. This current work addresses these themes
      in two steps. Firstly, the histograms of effective stress, strain and strain
      energy density are compared for rat tibiae in physiological (homeostatic)
      conditions. According to the Mechanostat, the ideal stimulus should present a
      clearly defined, position and tissue invariant lazy zone in homeostatic
      conditions. Our results highlight that only the octahedral shear strain presents
      this characteristic and can thus be considered the optimal choice for
      implementation of a continuum level bone adaptation model. Secondly, critical
      modeling parameters such as lazy zone bounds, type of rate equation and bone
      overloading response are classified depending on their influence on the numerical
      predictions of bone adaptation. Guidelines are proposed to establish the dominant
      model parameters based on experimental and simulated data.

PMID- 27641660
TI  - Morphology based anisotropic finite element models of the proximal femur
      validated with experimental data.
AB  - Finite element analysis (FEA) of bones scanned with Quantitative Computed
      Tomography (QCT) can improve early detection of osteoporosis. The accuracy of
      these models partially depends on the assigned material properties, but
      anisotropy of the trabecular bone cannot be fully captured due to insufficient
      resolution of QCT. The inclusion of anisotropy measured from high resolution
      peripheral QCT (HR-pQCT) could potentially improve QCT-based FEA of the femur,
      although no improvements have yet been demonstrated in previous experimental
      studies. This study analyzed the effects of adding anisotropy to clinical
      resolution femur models by constructing six sets of FE models (two isotropic and
      four anisotropic) for each specimen from a set of sixteen femurs that were
      experimentally tested in sideways fall loading with a strain gauge on the
      superior femoral neck. Two different modulus-density relationships were tested,
      both with and without anisotropy derived from mean intercept length analysis of
      HR-pQCT scans. Comparing iso- and anisotropic models to the experimental data
      resulted in nearly identical correlation and highly similar linear regressions
      for both whole bone stiffness and strain gauge measurements. Anisotropic models
      contained consistently greater principal compressive strains, approximately 14%
      in magnitude, in certain internal elements located in the femoral neck, greater
      trochanter, and femoral head. In summary, anisotropy had minimal impact on
      macroscopic measurements, but did alter internal strain behavior. This suggests
      that organ level QCT-based FE models measuring femoral stiffness have little to
      gain from the addition of anisotropy, but studies considering failure of internal
      structures should consider including anisotropy to their models.

PMID- 27641662
TI  - Ventricular assist devices and sleep-disordered breathing.
AB  - Congestive heart failure is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality
      in the United States, and left ventricular assist devices have revolutionized
      treatment of end-stage heart failure. Given that sleep apnea results in
      significant morbidity in these patients with advanced heart failure, practicing
      sleep physicians need to have an understanding of left ventricular assist
      devices. In this review, we summarize what is known about ventricular assist
      devices as they relate to sleep medicine.

PMID- 27641661
TI  - An Immunoassay to Rapidly Measure Acetaminophen Protein Adducts Accurately
      Identifies Patients With Acute Liver Injury or Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: A rapid and reliable point-of-care assay to detect
      acetaminophen protein adducts in the serum of patients with acute liver injury
      could improve diagnosis and management. AcetaSTAT is a competitive immunoassay
      used to measure acetaminophen protein adducts formed by toxic metabolites in
      serum samples from patients. We compared the accuracy of AcetaSTAT vs high
      pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC; a
      sensitive and specific quantitative analytic assay) to detect acetaminophen
      protein adducts. METHODS: We collected serum samples from 19 healthy individuals
      (no liver injury, no recent acetaminophen use), 29 patients without acetaminophen
      associated acute liver injury, and 33 patients with acetaminophen-associated
      acute liver injury participating in the Acute Liver Failure Study Group registry.
      Each serum sample was analyzed by AcetaSTAT (reported as test band amplitude) and
      HPLC-EC (the reference standard). We also collected data on patient age, sex,
      weight, level of alanine aminotransferase on test day and peak values,
      concentration of acetaminophen, diagnoses (by site investigator and causality
      review committee), and outcome after 21 days. Differences between groups were
      analyzed using the Fisher exact test for categoric variables and the Kruskal
      Wallis test or rank-sum test for continuous variables. RESULTS: AcetaSTAT
      discriminated between patients with and without acetaminophen-associated acute
      liver injury; the median AcetaSTAT test band amplitude for patients with
      acetaminophen-associated acute liver injury was 584 (range, 222-1027) vs 3678
      (range, 394-8289) for those without (P < .001). AcetaSTAT identified patients
      with acetaminophen-associated acute liver injury with 100% sensitivity, 86.2%
      specificity, a positive predictive value of 89.2%, and a negative predictive
      value of 100%. Results from AcetaSTAT were positive in 4 subjects who received a
      causality review committee diagnosis of non-acetaminophen-associated acute liver
      injury; HPLC-EC and biochemical profiles were consistent with acetaminophen
      associated acute liver injury in 3 of these cases. CONCLUSIONS: The competitive
      immunoassay AcetaSTAT shows a high degree of concordance with HPLC-EC results in
      identifying patients with acetaminophen-associated acute liver injury. This rapid
      and simple assay could increase early detection of this disorder and aid clinical
      management.

PMID- 27641663
TI  - The regulation of soluble receptor for AGEs contributes to carbonyl stress in
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Our previous study showed that enhanced carbonyl stress is closely related to
      schizophrenia. The endogenous secretory receptor for advanced glycation end
      products (esRAGE) is a splice variant of the AGER gene and is one of the soluble
      forms of RAGE. esRAGE is considered to be a key molecule for alleviating the
      burden of carbonyl stress by entrapping advanced glycation end-products (AGEs).
      In the current study, we conducted genetic association analyses focusing on AGER,
      in which we compared 212 schizophrenic patients to 214 control subjects. We also
      compared esRAGE levels among a subgroup of 104 patients and 89 controls and
      further carried out measurements of total circulating soluble RAGE (sRAGE) in 25
      patients and 49 healthy subjects. Although the genetic association study yielded
      inconclusive results, multiple regression analysis indicated that a specific
      haplotype composed of rs17846798, rs2071288, and a 63 bp deletion, which were in
      perfect linkage disequilibrium (r2 = 1), and rs2070600 (Gly82Ser) were
      significantly associated with a marked decrease in serum esRAGE levels.
      Furthermore, compared to healthy subjects, schizophrenia showed significantly
      lower esRAGE (p = 0.007) and sRAGE (p = 0.03) levels, respectively. This is the
      first study to show that serum esRAGE levels are regulated by a newly identified
      specific haplotype in AGER and that a subpopulation of schizophrenic patients are
      more vulnerable to carbonyl stress.

PMID- 27641665
TI  - Adipose-derived stem cell exosomes alleviate pathology of amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis in vitro.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative disorder that involves the
      death of motor neurons in the cortex, brain stem, and spinal cord. Adipose
      derived stem cells (ADSCs) are considered as a perspective remedy for therapy of
      neurodegenerative diseases including ALS. Stem cells secrete various factors
      which can modulate a hostile environment, called paracrine effect. Exosomes are
      small extracellular vesicles containing cell derived factors and mediate
      paracrine effect of cells. Thus, exosomes from ADSCs (ADSC-exo) can be a
      potential candidate of therapeutic effects of stem cells. To investigate the
      effect of ADSC-exo on the cellular phenotypes of ALS, we used neuronal stem cells
      (NSCs), which can be differentiated into neuronal cells, isolated from wild type
      or G93A ALS mice model. ADSC-exo was treated to neuronal cells from G93A ALS mice
      model. Immunocytochemistry and dot-blot assay result showed that ADSC-exo
      alleviated aggregation of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). Reduction of cytosolic
      SOD1 level by ADSC-exo was also confirmed by western blot. Mitochondria display
      various abnormalities in ALS and the decrease of phospho-CREB and PGC-1alpha were
      observed in the G93A cells. ADSC-exo treatment showed normalization of phospho
      CREB/CREB ratio and PGC-1alpha expression level. Our results suggest that ADSC
      exo modulates cellular phenotypes of ALS including SOD-1 aggregation and
      mitochondrial dysfunction, and can be a therapeutic candidate for ALS.

PMID- 27641666
TI  - Microglial response to LPS increases in wild-type mice during aging but
      diminishes in an Alzheimer's mouse model: Implication of TLR4 signaling in
      disease progression.
AB  - Microglia-mediated clearance of amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) via Toll-like
      receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling may play an important role in the pathogenesis of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, as the disease progresses, activated microglia
      appear to become incapable of clearing Abeta deposits. Because repeated exposure
      to a TLR4 ligand leads to a diminished response of monocytes/macrophages to
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and because aggregated Abeta is a TLR4 ligand, we
      hypothesize that chronic exposure of microglia to Abeta deposits may induce a
      state of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling dysfunction, leading to decreased
      Abeta clearance and accelerated disease progression. LPS or phosphate-buffered
      saline (PBS) was injected into the hippocampus of AD-model (TgAPP/PS1) and wild
      type (non-Tg) mice before and after the onset of Abeta deposition, at age 2 and
      12 months, respectively. Brain specimens were collected 7 days post-injection and
      analyzed for microglial activation and Abeta load. While LPS-injected 2-month-old
      non-Tg mice showed 48-fold and 11-fold greater Iba1 immunoreactivity in the
      neocortex and hippocampus, respectively, compared with PBS-injected mice, LPS
      injected 2-month-old TgAPP/PS1 mice had 61-fold and 13-fold increases in the
      neocortex and hippocampus, respectively. LPS injection activated microglia more
      strongly in TgAPP/PS1 mice than in non-Tg mice at 2 months of age. In contrast,
      at 12 months of age, Iba1 immunoreactivity of microglia was increased 541-fold
      and 38-fold in the neocortex and hippocampus, respectively, in LPS-injected non
      Tg mice and 2.7-fold and 3.3-fold in the neocortex and hippocampus, respectively,
      in LPS-injected TgAPP/PS1 mice. Surprisingly, LPS injection decreased CD45
      immunoreactivity in TgAPP/PS1 mice but increased it in non-Tg mice at 12 months.
      Although microglia in 12-month-old non-Tg mice showed stronger response to LPS
      than 2-month-old non-Tg mice, microglia in TgAPP/PS1 mice exhibited diminished
      immune response to LPS during aging. Our data indicate that microglial TLR4
      signaling is altered in an AD mouse model and suggest that altered TLR4 signaling
      may contribute to Abeta accumulation in the brain.

PMID- 27641664
TI  - Dysregulation of neuronal calcium homeostasis in Alzheimer's disease - A
      therapeutic opportunity?
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the disease of lost memories. Synaptic loss is a
      major reason for memory defects in AD. Signaling pathways involved in memory loss
      in AD are under intense investigation. The role of deranged neuronal calcium
      (Ca2+) signaling in synaptic loss in AD is described in this review. Familial AD
      (FAD) mutations in presenilins are linked directly with synaptic Ca2+ signaling
      abnormalities, most likely by affecting endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ leak
      function of presenilins. Excessive ER Ca2+ release via type 2 ryanodine receptors
      (RyanR2) is observed in AD spines due to increase in expression and function of
      RyanR2. Store-operated Ca2+ entry (nSOC) pathway is disrupted in AD spines due to
      downregulation of STIM2 protein. Because of these Ca2+ signaling abnormalities, a
      balance in activities of Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) and Ca2+
      dependent phosphatase calcineurin (CaN) is shifted at the synapse, tilting a
      balance between long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD)
      synaptic mechanisms. As a result, synapses are weakened and eliminated in AD
      brains by LTD mechanism, causing memory loss. Targeting synaptic calcium
      signaling pathways offers opportunity for development of AD therapeutic agents.

PMID- 27641667
TI  - miR-361-5p inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion by
      targeting VEGFA.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the pathogenesis of many types of
      cancers by negatively regulating gene expression at posttranscriptional level.
      Here, we found that miR-361-5p is down-regulated in 135 patients with HCV-related
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, the expressions of miR-361-5p were
      highly correlated with VEGFA in these HCC patients. Further, CCK-8 proliferation
      assay indicated that miR-361-5p mimics inhibited the cell proliferation of HepG2
      and SNU-398 HCC cells. Transwell assay showed that miR-361-5p mimics inhibited
      the invasion and migration of HepG2 and SNU-398 HCC cells. Luciferase assays
      revealed that miR-361-5p directly bound to the 3'untranslated region of VEGFA,
      and western blotting showed that miR-361-5p inhibited the expression of VEGFA.
      Generally, this study indicated that miR-361-5p is down-regulated in HCC and
      inhibits proliferation and invasion of HCC cell lines via VEGFA. In future, miR
      361-5p will be a potential therapeutic agent for HCC.

PMID- 27641668
TI  - Differential phosphorylation-based regulation of alphaB-crystallin chaperone
      activity for multipass transmembrane proteins.
AB  - We have previously shown that alphaB-crystallin (CRYAB), a small heat shock
      protein (sHsp) that prevents irreversible aggregation of unfolded protein by an
      ATP-independent chaperone activity, plays a pivotal role in the biogenesis of
      multipass transmembrane proteins (TMPs) assisting their folding from the
      cytosolic side of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (D'Agostino et al., 2013). Here
      we present evidence, based on phosphomimetic substitutions, that the three
      phosphorytable serine residues at position 19, 45 and 59 of CRYAB play a
      different regulatory role in this novel chaperone activity: S19 and S45 have a
      strong inhibitory effect, either alone or in combination, while S59 has not and
      counteracts the inhibition caused by single phosphomimetic substitutions at S19
      and S45. Interestingly, all phosphomimetic substitutions determine the formation
      of smaller oligomeric complexes containing CRYAB, indicating that the inhibitory
      effect seen for S19 and S45 cannot be ascribed to the reduction of
      oligomerization frequently associated to a decreased chaperone activity. These
      results indicate that phosphorylation finely regulates the chaperone activity of
      CRYAB with multipass TMPs and suggest a pivotal role for S59 in this process.

PMID- 27641669
TI  - p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms are involved in (E)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)
      3-(2-methoxynaphthalen-1-yl)prop-2-en-1-one (HMP)-induced apoptosis in HCT116
      colon cancer cells.
AB  - (E)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-(2-methoxynaphthalen-1-yl)prop-2-en-1-one (HMP) is a
      novel synthetic naphthal chalcone derivative. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the mode of action underlying the antitumor activity of HMP. We found
      that treatment with HMP potently inhibited the clonogenicity and triggered cell
      death in HCT116 colon cancer cells. Flow cytometry showed that HMP induced an
      increase in the population of sub-G0/G1-phase cells. Annexin V binding assay
      revealed that HMP triggered apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, HMP stimulated the
      cleavages of caspase-7 and its substrate poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). HMP
      promoted gamma-H2AX formation and the production of reactive oxygen species
      (ROS), and up-regulated expression of the tumor suppressor p53. Interestingly,
      HMP-induced caspase-7 processing was not completely abrogated in p53-null (p53-/
      ) HCT116 cells, suggesting that p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms are
      involved in HMP-induced apoptosis. Egr-1, a zinc finger transcription factor, was
      upregulated by HMP. Silencing of Egr-1 by shRNA significantly reduced HMP-induced
      caspase-7 and PARP cleavages, regardless of p53 status. These results suggest
      that HMP triggers caspase-mediated apoptosis through two distinct mechanisms
      involving p53-dependent and p53-independent, Egr-1-dependent pathways.

PMID- 27641671
TI  - Intracellular chloride ion concentration in differentiating neuronal cell and its
      role in growing neurite.
AB  - Chloride ion (Cl-) is one of the most abundant anions in our body. Increasing
      evidence suggests that Cl- plays fundamental roles in various cellular functions.
      We have previously reported that electroneutral cation-chloride cotransporters,
      such as Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) and K+-Cl- cotransporter 1 (KCC1),
      are involved in neurite outgrowth during neuronal differentiation. In the present
      study, we studied if there is correlation between intracellular Cl-
      concentrations ([Cl-]i) and the length of growing neurites. We measured [Cl-]i in
      the cell body and growing neurite tips using halide-sensitive fluorescent dye N
      (ethoxycarbonylmethyl)-6-methoxyquinolinium bromide (MQAE), revealing that [Cl-]i
      in the tip of growing neurite was higher than that in cell body in a single cell.
      Importantly, there was a significant positive correlation between the length of
      growing neurite and [Cl-]i in neurite tip. Bumtanide (BMT), an inhibitor of
      NKCC1, significantly inhibited neurite outgrowth and decreased [Cl-]i in neurite
      tip. The results obtained in the present study and our previous studies together
      strongly suggest that high [Cl-]i in neurite tip region is crucial for efficient
      neurite outgrowth.

PMID- 27641672
TI  - Structure, anti-Phytophthora and anti-tumor activities of a nortriterpenoid from
      the rhizome of Phlomis purpurea (Lamiaceae).
AB  - To investigate bioactive compounds potentially involved in the biotic
      interactions exhibited by Phlomis purpurea (Lamiaceae) in rhizospheres infested
      with Phytophthora cinnamomi, the plant rhizome was chemically analysed. The
      nortriterpenoid (17S)-2alpha,3alpha,11alpha,23,24-pentahydroxy-19(18 -> 17)-abeo
      28-norolean-12-en-18-one, was isolated and its structure was elucidated by
      comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, chiefly using 2D NMR experiments, and X-ray
      analysis. It was shown to be exuded by roots and to exhibit anti-Phytophthora and
      antitumor activities.

PMID- 27641673
TI  - Arginine intake is associated with oxidative stress in a general population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the association between protein
      and arginine from meat intake and oxidative stress in a general population.
      METHODS: Data came from the Health Survey for Sao Paulo (ISA-Capital), a cross
      sectional population-based study in Brazil (N = 549 adults). Food intake was
      estimated by a 24-h dietary recall. Oxidative stress was estimated by
      malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in plasma. Analyses were performed using
      general linear regression models adjusted for some genetic, lifestyle, and
      biochemical confounders. RESULTS: MDA levels were associated with meat intake (P
      for linear trend = 0.031), protein from meat (P for linear trend = 0.006), and
      arginine from meat (P for linear trend = 0.044) after adjustments for
      confounders: age, sex, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, intake of
      fruit and vegetables, energy and heterocyclic amines, C-reactive protein levels,
      and polymorphisms in GSTM1 (glutathione S-transferase Mu 1) and GSTT1
      (glutathione S-transferase theta 1) genes. Results were not significant for total
      protein and protein from vegetable intake (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High protein
      and arginine from meat intake were associated with oxidative stress independently
      of genetic, lifestyle, and biochemical confounders in a population-based study.
      Our results suggested a novel link between high protein/arginine intake and
      oxidative stress, which is a major cause of age-related diseases.

PMID- 27641674
TI  - Comparison of Particulate Embolization after Femoral Artery Treatment with
      IN.PACT Admiral versus Lutonix 035 Paclitaxel-Coated Balloons in Healthy Swine.
AB  - PURPOSE: Different carrier excipients unique to individual drug-coated balloons
      (DCBs) may influence embolic safety characteristics in peripheral vascular
      territories through embolization of released particulates. A comparator study of
      IN.PACT Admiral vs Lutonix 035 balloons in healthy swine was therefore performed
      to assess which balloon produces more downstream emboli. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Single or overlapping 80-mm IN.PACT and Lutonix 035 DCBs were assessed in the
      femoral arteries of 21 swine with 28- and 90-day follow-up, with standard balloon
      angioplasty as a control. Histologic analysis of arterial wall and downstream
      skeletal muscle and coronary band was performed. This analysis was supported by
      an analytic measurement of paclitaxel levels. RESULTS: IN.PACT DCBs demonstrated
      a more pronounced change in medial wall composition, characterized by a
      paclitaxel-induced loss of medial smooth muscle cells accompanied by increased
      proteoglycans. The percentage of sections with arterioles exhibiting paclitaxel
      associated fibrinoid necrosis in downstream tissues was higher at 90 days with
      overlapping IN.PACT DBCs compared with Lutonix 035 DCBs (46.2% [interquartile
      range, 19.2-57.7] vs 0.0% [0.0-11.5]; P = .01), with similar trends noted for 28
      day single and overlapping DCBs. Drug analysis in parallel tissues further
      confirmed higher paclitaxel concentrations in nontarget tissues for IN.PACT than
      Lutonix 035 balloons for single and overlapping configurations at both time
      points. Rare embolic crystalline material was observed in downstream tissues, but
      only for IN.PACT balloons. CONCLUSIONS: There was more fibrinoid necrosis in
      tissues treated with IN.PACT DCBs compared with Lutonix DCBs, suggesting
      increased emboli debris with higher paclitaxel levels.

PMID- 27641670
TI  - Identification of early gene expression changes in primary cultured neurons
      treated with topoisomerase I poisons.
AB  - Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) poisons like camptothecin (CPT) are currently used in
      cancer chemotherapy but these compounds can have damaging, off-target effects on
      neurons leading to cognitive, sensory and motor deficits. To understand the
      molecular basis for the enhanced sensitivity of neurons to CPT, we examined the
      effects of compounds that inhibit TOP1-CPT, actinomycin D (ActD) and beta
      lapachone (beta-Lap)-on primary cultured rat motor (MN) and cortical (CN) neurons
      as well as fibroblasts. Neuronal cells expressed higher levels of Top1 mRNA than
      fibroblasts but transcript levels are reduced in all cell types after treatment
      with CPT. Microarray analysis was performed to identify differentially regulated
      transcripts in MNs in response to a brief exposure to CPT. Pathway analysis of
      the differentially expressed transcripts revealed activation of ERK and JNK
      signaling cascades in CPT-treated MNs. Immediate-early genes like Fos, Egr-1 and
      Gadd45b were upregulated in CPT-treated MNs. Fos mRNA levels were elevated in all
      cell types treated with CPT; Egr-1, Gadd45b and Dyrk3 transcript levels, however,
      increased in CPT-treated MNs and CNs but decreased in CPT-treated fibroblasts.
      These transcripts may represent new targets for the development of therapeutic
      agents that mitigate the off-target effects of chemotherapy on the nervous
      system.

PMID- 27641675
TI  - Impact of Yttrium-90 Microsphere Density, Flow Dynamics, and Administration
      Technique on Spatial Distribution: Analysis Using an In Vitro Model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate material density, flow, and viscosity effects on
      microsphere distribution within an in vitro model designed to simulate hepatic
      arteries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A vascular flow model was used to compare
      distribution of glass and resin surrogates in a clinically derived flow range (60
      120 mL/min). Blood-mimicking fluid (BMF) composed of glycerol and water (20%-50%
      vol/vol) was used to simulate a range of blood viscosities. Microsphere
      distribution was quantified gravimetrically, and injectate solution was dyed to
      enable quantification by UV spectrophotometry. Microsphere injection rate (5-30
      mL/min) and the influence of contrast agent dilution of injection solution (0%
      60% vol/vol) were also investigated. RESULTS: No significant differences in
      behavior were observed between the glass and resin surrogate materials under any
      tested flow conditions (P = .182; n = 144 injections). Microspheres tend to align
      more consistently with the saline injection solution (r2 = 0.5712; n = 144)
      compared with total BMF flow distribution (r2 = 0.0104; n = 144). The most
      predictable injectate distribution (ie, greatest alignment with BMF flow, < 5%
      variation) was demonstrated with > 10-mL/min injection rates of pure saline
      solution, although < 20% variation with glass microsphere distribution was
      observed with injection solution containing as much as 30% contrast medium when
      injected at > 20 mL/min. CONCLUSIONS: Glass and resin yttrium-90 surrogates
      demonstrated similar distribution in a range of clinically relevant flow
      conditions, suggesting that microsphere density does not have a significant
      influence on microsphere distribution. Injection parameters that enhanced the
      mixing of the spheres with the BMF resulted in the most predictable distribution.

PMID- 27641676
TI  - Progesterone, estrogen, and androgen receptors in the corpus luteum of the
      domestic cat, Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx).
AB  - In contrast to the species studied, the corpus luteum (CL) of Iberian and
      Eurasian lynx physiologically persists in the ovary for more than 2 years and
      continues to secrete progesterone. Such persistent CL (perCL) transition into the
      next cycle and are present in the ovary together with the freshly formed CL
      (frCL) of a new ovulation. To date, the mechanisms supporting such CL persistence
      are not known. We analyzed the potential receptivity of feline CL to sex steroids
      through mRNA measurements of progesterone receptor (PGR), progesterone receptor
      membrane components (PGRMC) 1 and 2, estrogen receptor (ESR) 1 and ESR2, G
      protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1), and androgen receptor (AR). All
      receptors were present in domestic cat CL during pregnancy and the nonpregnant
      luteal phase, in frCL and perCL of post-mating Iberian lynx and in perCL of pre
      mating Eurasian lynx. Mass spectrometry detected the presence of PGRMC1 protein
      in frCL and perCL of the Iberian lynx. In both domestic cat and lynx CL, PGR,
      PGRMC1, and ESR1 proteins were localized in luteal cells by immunohistochemistry.
      The mRNA levels of PGR, PGRMC1, PGRMC2, ESR1, and AR changed significantly
      throughout the domestic cat luteal phase. This may indicate involvement of these
      receptors in the processes of formation, maintenance, and regression of feline
      CL. In Iberian lynx, expression of PGRMC1, PGRCM2, ESR1, GPER1, and AR was
      significantly higher in perCL compared with frCL, whereas ESR2 was reversed. High
      mRNA amounts of these receptors in perCL suggest that physiological persistence
      of lynx CL may be partly regulated by actions of sex steroids through their
      nuclear and/or membrane receptors.

PMID- 27641677
TI  - Embryo splitting affects the transcriptome during elongation stage of in vitro
      produced bovine blastocysts.
AB  - Embryo splitting has been used for the production of identical twins and to
      increase the pregnancy rate per available embryo. Split blastocysts can develop
      to term; however, little is known about the impact on gene expression of split
      embryos, especially at the whole transcriptome level. This work was aimed to
      evaluate the effect of blastocyst splitting on global gene expression profile at
      the elongation stage. For that, split and time-matched nonsplit (control group)
      bovine blastocysts were transferred to a bovine recipient and recovered at Day 17
      of development. The number of collected embryos, their size, and global gene
      expression was compared between both groups. From 16 transferred split embryos,
      six (37.5%) were collected, whereas nine elongated were recovered from 17
      nonsplit (52.9%). Neither the recovery rate nor the average length of the
      elongated embryos was significantly different between both groups. However more
      than 50% of embryos from the control group had a length surpassing 100 mm,
      whereas only 33% of the split embryos reached that size. Global gene expression
      was performed in individual elongated embryos from both groups using Two-Color
      Microarray-Based Gene Expression Analysis. From detected genes, 383 (1.31%) were
      differentially expressed between both groups, among them, 185 (0.63%) were
      downregulated and 198 (0.67%) genes were upregulated in split embryos.
      Bioinformatic analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed that embryo
      splitting affects transcriptomes of resulting elongated embryos, mainly
      downregulating genes involved in matrix remodelation, control of growth,
      detoxification, and transport of metabolites. These in turns might have a
      detrimental impact on the developmental potential of produced embryos.

PMID- 27641678
TI  - [Impact of childhood sexual abuse on the sexual and affective relationships of
      adult women].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse perceived sexual satisfaction, sexual dysfunction,
      satisfaction with affective relationships and confidence and communication in
      existing relationships, related to a past history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA)
      and type suffered, among women treated as part of the Catalonian Sexual and
      Reproductive Health Care Programme (PASSIR). METHOD: Multicentric, descriptive,
      cross-sectional study. A total of 1,013 women over the age of 18 years, who
      underwent psychological therapy at any of the 24 PASSIR centres, were enrolled. A
      structured, anonymised, self-administered Sex History Questionnaire adapted from
      Wyatt (1985) & Dube et al. (2005), and the Female Sexual Function Index (Rosen,
      2000), were used. Statistical analysis was descriptive, bivariate and
      multivariate. RESULTS: Women who suffered childhood sexual abuse had a
      significantly higher prevalence of sexual dysfunction, with lower perceived
      sexual satisfaction. CSA with penetration or attempted penetration was associated
      with greater arousal difficulties and greater rejection. Women who experienced
      CSA were less confident and experienced greater communication difficulties with
      their partner. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to identify potential childhood
      sexual abuse among women who seek therapy due to relationship problems. It is
      also necessary to continue research into protective factors and therapeutic
      interventions to alleviate the consequences of CSA in adult life.

PMID- 27641679
TI  - Functional Recovery of AQP2 Recessive Mutations Through Hetero-Oligomerization
      with Wild-Type Counterpart.
AB  - Aquaporin-2 (AQP2) is a homotetrameric water channel responsible for the final
      water reuptake in the kidney. Mutations in the protein induce nephrogenic
      diabetes insipidus (NDI), which challenges the water balance by producing large
      urinary volumes. Although recessive AQP2 mutations are believed to generate non
      functional and monomeric proteins, the literature identifies several mild
      mutations which suggest the existence of mixed wt/mut tetramers likely to carry
      function in heterozygotes. Using Xenopus oocytes, we tested this hypothesis and
      found that mild mutants (V24A, D150E) can associate with wt-AQP2 in mixed
      heteromers, providing clear functional gain in the process (62 +/- 17% and 63 +/-
      17% increases, respectively), conversely to the strong monomeric R187C mutant
      which fails to associate with wt-AQP2. In kidney cells, both V24A and D150E
      display restored targeting while R187C remains in intracellular stores. Using a
      collection of mutations to expand recovery analyses, we demonstrate that inter
      unit contacts are central to this recovery process. These results not only
      present the ground data for the functional recovery of recessive AQP2 mutants
      through heteromerization, which prompt to revisit the accepted NDI model, but
      more importantly describe a general recovery process that could impact on all
      multimeric systems where recessive mutations are found.

PMID- 27641680
TI  - Effect of Recipient Age and Stem Cell Source on the Association between Donor
      Telomere Length and Survival after Allogeneic Unrelated Hematopoietic Cell
      Transplantation for Severe Aplastic Anemia.
AB  - We previously showed an association between donor leukocyte relative telomere
      length (RTL) and post-hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survival in
      patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) who received bone marrow grafts at
      ages <40 years. Here, we tested the generalizability of the prior findings in an
      independent validation cohort and by recipient age and stem cell source in the
      combined discovery and validation cohorts. We used monoplex quantitative real
      time PCR to measure RTL in: (1) a new SAA validation cohort of 428 patients (age
      range, .2 to 77 years) with available pretransplantation donor blood samples in
      the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research repository, and
      (2) 278 patients from the original cohort who had sufficient DNA to repeat RTL
      testing. We used Cox proportional hazard models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs),
      and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) across categories of donor RTL. Data from the
      validation cohort showed no association between donor RTL and patient survival,
      but further analysis identified differences by recipient age and stem cell source
      as the likely explanation. In patients <40 years, the HR comparing longest with
      shortest and middle RTL tertiles = .75; 95% CI,  .44 to 1.30 versus HR = 1.05;
      95% CI, .59 to 1.89 for patients >=40 years, P interaction = .37. In bone marrow
      recipients, the HR = .68; 95% CI, .72 to 1.10 versus HR = 1.29; 95% CI, .64 to
      2.62 for peripheral blood stem cell grafts; P interaction = .88. Analyses using
      data from the 2 cohorts showed a statistically significant survival benefit only
      in <40-year-old patients receiving bone marrow graft (HR comparing longest and
      middle RTL tertiles with shortest = .69; 95% CI, .50 to .95, P = .02). The study
      suggested that the association between donor RTL and post-HCT outcomes in
      recipients with SAA may vary by recipient age and stem cell source. A larger
      study is needed to account for multiple comparisons and to further test the
      generalizability of our findings.

PMID- 27641681
TI  - A Detection-Theoretic Analysis of Auditory Streaming and Its Relation to Auditory
      Masking.
AB  - Research on hearing has long been challenged with understanding our exceptional
      ability to hear out individual sounds in a mixture (the so-called cocktail party
      problem). Two general approaches to the problem have been taken using sequences
      of tones as stimuli. The first has focused on our tendency to hear sequences,
      sufficiently separated in frequency, split into separate cohesive streams
      (auditory streaming). The second has focused on our ability to detect a change in
      one sequence, ignoring all others (auditory masking). The two phenomena are
      clearly related, but that relation has never been evaluated analytically. This
      article offers a detection-theoretic analysis of the relation between multitone
      streaming and masking that underscores the expected similarities and differences
      between these phenomena and the predicted outcome of experiments in each case.
      The key to establishing this relation is the function linking performance to the
      information divergence of the tone sequences, DKL (a measure of the statistical
      separation of their parameters). A strong prediction is that streaming and
      masking of tones will be a common function of DKL provided that the statistical
      properties of sequences are symmetric. Results of experiments are reported
      supporting this prediction.

PMID- 27641682
TI  - Clinically Paired Electrodes Are Often Not Perceived as Pitch Matched.
AB  - For bilateral cochlear implant (CI) patients, electrodes that receive the same
      frequency allocation often stimulate locations in the left and right ear that do
      not yield the same perceived pitch, resulting in a pitch mismatch. This pitch
      mismatch may be related to degraded binaural abilities. Pitch mismatches have
      been found for some bilateral CI users and the goal of this study was to
      determine whether pitch mismatches are prevalent in bilateral CI patients,
      including those with extensive experience with bilateral CIs. To investigate this
      possibility, pitch matching was conducted with 16 bilateral CI patients. For 14
      of the 16 participants, there was a significant difference between those
      electrodes in the left and right ear that yielded the same pitch and those that
      received the same frequency allocation in the participant's clinical map. The
      results suggest that pitch mismatches are prevalent with bilateral CI users. The
      results also indicated that pitch mismatches persist even with extended bilateral
      CI experience. Such mismatches may reduce the benefits patients receive from
      bilateral CIs.

PMID- 27641683
TI  - Photoperiod modulates the reproductive axis of European sea bass through
      regulation of kiss1 and gnrh2 neuronal expression.
AB  - The onset of puberty is characterized by activation of the brain-pituitary-gonad
      axis. However, the molecular and endocrine mechanism involved in the process of
      puberty and the influence of environmental conditions, such as photoperiod
      signalling, are not well understood in fish. In this study, 1-year-old male
      European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) were exposed to photoperiod manipulation
      in combination with size-sorting. Two treatment groups, a puberty accelerating
      photoperiod (AP) group and a continuous light (LL) group, were studied from
      August to February. Our results indicate that AP and LL are able to entrain the
      rhythms of both kiss1 and gnrh2 mRNA levels in the brain, while kiss2 and gnrh1
      mRNA expression does not seem to be directly affected by the photoperiod, at
      least during testicular growth. It is likely that AP and LL photoperiod regimes
      affected both plasma Fsh and 11-KT profiles, which might explain, respectively,
      the phase shift and reduction of testes maturation seen under these conditions.
      We therefore hypothesize that the unbalanced production of this androgen
      regulated by circulating Fsh might be limiting the stimulation of germ cell
      proliferation in European sea bass males. In summary, our study establishes that
      photoperiod modulates the expression of kiss1 and gnrh2 in the forebrain
      midbrain, which may be involved in the translation of the light stimulus to
      activate the reproductive axis.

PMID- 27641684
TI  - Comparison of in vitro bioactivity of chicken prolactin and mammalian lactogenic
      hormones.
AB  - Recombinant chicken prolactin, expressed in Escherichia coli as an unfolded
      protein, was successfully refolded and purified to homogeneity as a monomeric
      protein. Its biological activity was evidenced by its ability to interact with
      rabbit prolactin receptor extracellular domain and stimulate prolactin receptor
      mediated proliferation in three cell types possessing mammalian prolactin
      receptors. Chicken prolactin activity in those assays was 20-100-fold lower than
      that of mammalian lactogenic hormones, likely due to lower affinity for mammalian
      prolactin receptors and not to improper refolding, because in two homologous
      bioassays, chicken prolactin activity was equal to or higher than that of ovine
      prolactin and the CD spectra of chicken and human prolactin were almost
      identical. Our results using seven mammalian lactogenic hormones from five
      species in three bioassays revealed the major role of species specificity in
      testing biological activity in vitro. Heterologous bioassays may be misleading
      and homologous assays are strongly recommended for predicting the activity of
      species-specific lactogenic hormones in vivo.

PMID- 27641685
TI  - Molecular characterization of neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors (Y1, Y4 and Y6) and
      investigation of the tissue expression of their ligands (NPY, PYY and PP) in
      chickens.
AB  - Neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors and its ligands, NPY, peptide YY (PYY) and
      pancreatic polypeptide (PP), are suggested to regulate many physiological
      processes including food intake in birds. However, our knowledge regarding this
      avian NPY system remains rather limited. Here, we examined the tissue expression
      of NPY, PYY and PP and the gene structure, expression and signaling of three NPY
      receptors (cY1, cY4 and cY6) in chickens. The results showed that 1) NPY is
      widely expressed in chicken tissues with abundance noted in the hypothalamus via
      quantitative real-time PCR, whereas PYY is highly expressed in the pancreas,
      gastrointestinal tract and various brain regions, and PP is expressed almost
      exclusively in the pancreas; 2) cY1, cY4 and cY6 contain novel non-coding exon(s)
      at their 5'-UTR; 3) The wide tissue distribution of cY1 and cY4 and cY6 were
      detected in chickens by quantitative real-time PCR and their expression is
      controlled by the promoter near exon 1, which displays strong promoter activity
      in DF-1 cells as demonstrated by Dual-luciferase reporter assay; 4) Monitored by
      luciferase reporter assays, activation of cY1 and cY4 expressed in HEK293 cells
      by chicken NPY1-36, PYY1-37, and PP1-36 treatment inhibits cAMP/PKA and activates
      MAPK/ERK signaling pathways, while cY6-expressing cells show little response to
      peptide treatment, indicating that cY1 and cY4, and not cY6, can transmit signals
      in vitro. Taken together, our study offers novel information about the expression
      and functionality of cY1, cY4, cY6 and their ligands in birds, and helps to
      decipher their conserved roles in vertebrates.

PMID- 27641687
TI  - CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutics in cancer: promising strategies and present challenges.
AB  - Cancer is characterized by multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations that drive
      malignant cell proliferation and confer chemoresistance. The ability to correct
      or ablate such mutations holds immense promise for combating cancer. Recently,
      because of its high efficiency and accuracy, the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing
      technique has been widely used in cancer therapeutic explorations. Several
      studies used CRISPR-Cas9 to directly target cancer cell genomic DNA in cellular
      and animal cancer models which have shown therapeutic potential in expanding our
      anticancer protocols. Moreover, CRISPR-Cas9 can also be employed to fight
      oncogenic infections, explore anticancer drugs, and engineer immune cells and
      oncolytic viruses for cancer immunotherapeutic applications. Here, we summarize
      these preclinical CRISPR-Cas9-based therapeutic strategies against cancer, and
      discuss the challenges and improvements in translating therapeutic CRISPR-Cas9
      into clinical use, which will facilitate better application of this technique in
      cancer research. Further, we propose potential directions of the CRISPR-Cas9
      system in cancer therapy.

PMID- 27641686
TI  - Depression and Anxiety Screens as Simultaneous Predictors of 10-Year Incidence of
      Diabetes Mellitus in Older Adults in Primary Care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine depression and anxiety screens and their individual items
      as simultaneous predictors of incident diabetes mellitus. DESIGN: Ten-year follow
      up study of individuals screened for the Improving Mood-Promoting Access to
      Collaborative Treatment (IMPACT) trial. SETTING: Two large urban primary care
      clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana. PARTICIPANTS: Diverse sample (53% African
      American, 80% of lower socioeconomic status) of 2,156 older adults initially free
      of diabetes mellitus. MEASUREMENTS: Depression and anxiety screens were completed
      during routine primary care visits between 1999 and 2001. Incident diabetes
      mellitus data were obtained from an electronic medical record system and the
      Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services analytical files though 2009. RESULTS:
      Over the 10-year period, 558 (25.9%) participants had diabetes mellitus onset.
      Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for demographic and diabetes mellitus
      risk factors revealed that a positive screen for anxiety, but not for depression,
      predicted incident diabetes mellitus when entered into separate models (anxiety:
      hazard ratio (HR) = 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15-1.61, P < .001;
      depression: HR = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.95-1.46, P = .13) and when entered
      simultaneously into one model (anxiety: HR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.12-1.61, P < .001;
      depression: HR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.83-1.31, P = .73). The feeling anxious (P =
      .03) and the worry (P = .02) items predicted incident diabetes mellitus
      independent of the depression screen. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that
      screening positive for anxiety is a risk factor for diabetes mellitus in older
      adults independent of depression and traditional diabetes mellitus risk factors.
      Anxiety requires greater consideration and awareness in the context of diabetes
      mellitus risk assessment and primary prevention.

PMID- 27641689
TI  - Intragenic modification of maize.
AB  - The discovery of plant DNA recombination techniques triggered the development of
      a wide range of genetically modified crops. The transgenics were the first
      generation of modified plants; however, these crops were quickly questioned due
      to the artificial combination of DNA between different species. As a result, the
      second generation of modified plants known as cisgenic and/or intragenic crops
      arose as an alternative to genetic plant engineering. Cisgenic and/or intragenic
      crops development establishes the combination of DNA from the plant itself or
      related species avoiding the introduction of foreign genetic material, such as
      selection markers and/or reporter genes. Nowadays it has been made successful
      cisgenic and/or intragenic modifications in crops such as potato and apple. The
      present study shows the possibility of reaching similar approach in corn plants.
      This research was focused on achieve intragenic overexpression of the maize
      Rubisco activase (Rca) protein. The results were compared with changes in the
      expression of the same protein, in maize plants grown after 23 cycles of
      conventional selection and open field planting. Experimental evidence shows that
      maize intragenic modification is possible for increasing specific gene
      expression, preserving plant genome free of foreign DNA and achieving further
      significant savings in time and man labor for crop improvement.

PMID- 27641690
TI  - Strong terahertz absorption in all-dielectric Huygens' metasurfaces.
AB  - We propose an all dielectric metamaterial that acts as a perfect terahertz
      absorber without a ground plane. The unit cell consists of a dielectric cylinder
      embedded in a low index material. In order to achieve near-perfect terahertz
      absorption (99.5%) we employ impedance matching of the electric and magnetic
      resonances within the cylinders of the Huygens' metasurface. The impedance
      matching is controlled by changing the aspect ratio between the height and
      diameter of the cylinder. We show that the absorption resonance can be tuned to
      particular frequencies from 0.3 to 1.9 THz via changing the geometry of the
      structure while keeping a nearly constant aspect ratio of the cylinders.

PMID- 27641688
TI  - TIF-IA: An oncogenic target of pre-ribosomal RNA synthesis.
AB  - Cancer cells devote the majority of their energy consumption to ribosome
      biogenesis, and pre-ribosomal RNA transcription accounts for 30-50% of all
      transcriptional activity. This aberrantly elevated biological activity is an
      attractive target for cancer therapeutic intervention if approaches can be
      developed to circumvent the development of side effects in normal cells. TIF-IA
      is a transcription factor that connects RNA polymerase I with the UBF/SL-1
      complex to initiate the transcription of pre-ribosomal RNA. Its function is
      conserved in eukaryotes from yeast to mammals, and its activity is promoted by
      the phosphorylation of various oncogenic kinases in cancer cells. The depletion
      of TIF-IA induces cell death in lung cancer cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts
      but not in several other normal tissue types evaluated in knock-out studies.
      Furthermore, the nuclear accumulation of TIF-IA under UTP down-regulated
      conditions requires the activity of LKB1 kinase, and LKB1-inactivated cancer
      cells are susceptible to cell death under such stress conditions. Therefore, TIF
      IA may be a unique target to suppress ribosome biogenesis without significantly
      impacting the survival of normal tissues.

PMID- 27641691
TI  - Hybrid hepatocyte: A newly identified player for regeneration in hepatic
      injuries.

PMID- 27641692
TI  - Interoceptive Ability Predicts Survival on a London Trading Floor.
AB  - Interoception is the sensing of physiological signals originating inside the
      body, such as hunger, pain and heart rate. People with greater sensitivity to
      interoceptive signals, as measured by, for example, tests of heart beat
      detection, perform better in laboratory studies of risky decision-making.
      However, there has been little field work to determine if interoceptive
      sensitivity contributes to success in real-world, high-stakes risk taking. Here,
      we report on a study in which we quantified heartbeat detection skills in a group
      of financial traders working on a London trading floor. We found that traders are
      better able to perceive their own heartbeats than matched controls from the non
      trading population. Moreover, the interoceptive ability of traders predicted
      their relative profitability, and strikingly, how long they survived in the
      financial markets. Our results suggest that signals from the body - the gut
      feelings of financial lore - contribute to success in the markets.

PMID- 27641693
TI  - Plasma and serum concentrations of cytarabine administered via continuous
      intravenous infusion to dogs with meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown etiology.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the plasma and serum concentrations
      of cytarabine (CA) administered via constant rate infusion (CRI) in dogs with
      meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown etiology (MUE). Nineteen client-owned dogs
      received a CRI of CA at a dose of 25 mg/m2 /h for 8 h as treatment for MUE. Dogs
      were divided into four groups, those receiving CA alone and those receiving CA in
      conjunction with other drugs. Blood samples were collected at 0, 1, 8, and 12 h
      after initiating the CRI. Plasma (n = 13) and serum (n = 11) cytarabine
      concentrations were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The mean
      peak concentration (CMAX ) and area under the curve (AUC) after CRI
      administration were 1.70 +/- 0.66 MUg/mL and 11.39 +/- 3.37 h.MUg/mL,
      respectively, for dogs receiving cytarabine alone, 2.36 +/- 0.35 MUg/mL and 16.91
      + 3.60 h.MUg/mL for dogs administered cytarabine and concurrently on other drugs.
      Mean concentrations for all dogs were above 1.0 MUg/mL at both the 1- and 8-h
      time points. The steady-state achieved with cytarabine CRI produces a consistent
      and prolonged exposure in plasma and serum, which is likely to produce
      equilibrium between blood and the central nervous system in dogs with a clinical
      diagnosis of MUE. Other medications commonly used to treat MUE do not appear to
      alter CA concentrations in serum and plasma.

PMID- 27641695
TI  - Opportunities for multiparametric MRI with PI-RADS v2 to make a difference.

PMID- 27641694
TI  - Thermal stress depletes energy reserves in Drosophila.
AB  - Understanding how environmental temperature affects metabolic and physiological
      functions is of crucial importance to assess the impacts of climate change on
      organisms. Here, we used different laboratory strains and a wild-caught
      population of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to examine the effect of
      temperature on the body energy reserves of an ectothermic organism. We found that
      permanent ambient temperature elevation or transient thermal stress causes
      significant depletion of body fat stores. Surprisingly, transient thermal stress
      induces a lasting "memory effect" on body fat storage, which also reduces
      survivorship of the flies upon food deprivation later after stress exposure.
      Functional analyses revealed that an intact heat-shock response is essential to
      protect flies from temperature-dependent body fat decline. Moreover, we found
      that the temperature-dependent body fat reduction is caused at least in part by
      apoptosis of fat body cells, which might irreversibly compromise the fat storage
      capacity of the flies. Altogether, our results provide evidence that thermal
      stress has a significant negative impact on organismal energy reserves, which in
      turn might affect individual fitness.

PMID- 27641696
TI  - Comment on "Puerarin Improves Diabetic Aorta Injury by Inhibiting NADPH Oxidase
      Derived Oxidative Stress in STZ-Induced Diabetic Rats".

PMID- 27641697
TI  - Looking after researchers.
AB  - The theme papers in this issue focus on engaging participants in research and the
      importance of considering their needs. Notwithstanding the importance of these
      issues for participants in research, the paper in this issue by Ramjan et al
      highlights the importance of also looking after the research team. 

PMID- 27641698
TI  - Research would not be possible without participants.
AB  - Research would not be possible without participants. While this may seem like an
      obvious statement, all too often researchers underestimate the importance of the
      participants in their work, and the impact that researcher relationships can have
      on participation and data quality.

PMID- 27641699
TI  - RAPID Research Methods for Nurses, Midwives and Health Professionals Rees Colin
      RAPID Research Methods for Nurses, Midwives and Health Professionals 144pp L19.99
      Wiley Blackwell 9781119048411 1119048419 [Formula: see text].
AB  - In the era of evidence-based care provision, nurses must be able to understand
      research language. This user-friendly reference book provides extremely
      accessible information for this purpose. 

PMID- 27641701
TI  - Classic Grounded Theory: Applications with Qualitative & Quantitative Data Holton
      Judith A and Walsh Isabelle Classic Grounded Theory: Applications with
      Qualitative & Quantitative Data 256pp L28.99 Sage 9781483372549 1483372545
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - This text fulfils its aim to 'take the reader back to the roots of grounded
      theory' without compromising its three tenets: exploration, emergence and
      constant comparative analysis. 

PMID- 27641702
TI  - The research relationship in narrative enquiry.
AB  - Background Many nurse researchers have embraced narrative methods because of the
      power of the stories they produce. Narrative enquiry relies on stories for data.
      Stories are the tools with which people build a sense of their experience of the
      world and the vehicle by which they share that sense with others. In narrative
      research, it is essential to follow themes beyond individual stories through to
      analysis at the social level. The researcher must understand the significance of
      the narrative for others and for society. Narrative lends itself particularly
      well to studies of changes in a society and societal groups. Aim To define and
      describe approaches to narrative enquiry, address their uses and usefulness, and
      identify potential issues. Discussion Narrative methods require the development
      of trust. Researchers and participants must understand their roles as well as the
      processes and intent of the research. While narrative approaches provide powerful
      stories through which issues can be understood, they must be approached with
      careful consideration of the power imbalance in the relationship, the
      vulnerability of the participant and the potential misuse of empathy in
      influencing outcomes. Conclusion Narrative enquiry provides powerful data to
      answer important research questions meaningfully. Researchers using narrative
      enquiry must be mindful of the power of the bond formed in the sharing of stories
      and not encourage participants to share more than they intend. Implications for
      practice Nurse researchers need to understand their role as researcher in their
      relationships with participants and view the powerful stories they are told as a
      way of answering research questions, not as a call to engage therapeutically to
      solve problems. 

PMID- 27641703
TI  - A partnership model for a reflective narrative for researcher and participant.
AB  - Background Conceptual frameworks are important to ensure a clear underpinning
      research philosophy. Further, the use of conceptual frameworks can support
      structured research processes. Aim To present a partnership model for a
      reflective narrative for researcher and participant. Discussion This paper
      positions the underpinning philosophical framework of the model in social
      constructionism (the idea that jointly constructed understandings form the basis
      for shared assumptions) and narrative enquiry. The model has five stages - study
      design, invitation to share a research space and partnership, a metaphorical
      research space, building a community story, and reading the community story to
      others. Core principles of the partnership model are continual reflection by the
      researcher, potential reflections by participants, reciprocal sharing, and
      partnership in research. Conclusion A 'trajectory of self' for both participants
      and researchers can be enhanced within reflective partnerships. Implications for
      practice This model can be applied to studies that use narrative enquiry and are
      seeking a humanistic approach with participant engagement. 

PMID- 27641704
TI  - Debriefing as a form of reflection and catharsis for researchers.
AB  - Background The collection of sensitive data can arouse emotional reactions and
      researchers may have difficulty distancing themselves from personal stories.
      Debriefing can address the emotional effect of an experience on researchers. Aim
      To explore the debrief responses of three research assistants who were involved
      in the review of retrospective charts and medical notes in a study that examined
      the risk factors for readmission in young people with anorexia nervosa.
      Discussion Based on a review of the responses, the principal research team
      reflected on the value and effectiveness of a debrief tool for research
      assistants entering sensitive quantitative data. The paper highlights these
      reflections. Conclusion The use of an electronic debrief tool, while not without
      its challenges, provides an opportunity for individual reflection and a platform
      for emotional release for researchers engaged in sustained and intensive
      collection of sensitive data. This type of tool may serve as a guide for research
      teams and assist them in monitoring the well-being of those collecting sensitive
      data. We also advocate that a debriefing tool may contribute to closure for
      research assistants who become emotionally invested and affected by meticulous
      quantitative data entry. Implications for practice This paper provides
      recommendations for future use of an electronic debrief tool for researchers
      collecting sensitive data. 

PMID- 27641705
TI  - Staying theoretically sensitive when conducting grounded theory research.
AB  - Background Grounded theory (GT) is founded on the premise that underlying social
      patterns can be discovered and conceptualised into theories. The method and need
      for theoretical sensitivity are best understood in the historical context in
      which GT was developed. Theoretical sensitivity entails entering the field with
      no preconceptions, so as to remain open to the data and the emerging theory.
      Investigators also read literature from other fields to understand various ways
      to construct theories. Aim To explore the concept of theoretical sensitivity from
      a classical GT perspective, and discuss the ontological and epistemological
      foundations of GT. Discussion Difficulties in remaining theoretically sensitive
      throughout research are discussed and illustrated with examples. Emergence - the
      idea that theory and substance will emerge from the process of comparing data -
      and staying open to the data are emphasised. Conclusion Understanding theoretical
      sensitivity as an underlying guiding principle of GT helps the researcher make
      sense of important concepts, such as delaying the literature review, emergence
      and the constant comparative method (simultaneous collection, coding and analysis
      of data). Implications for practice Theoretical sensitivity and adherence to the
      GT research method allow researchers to discover theories that can bridge the gap
      between theory and practice. 

PMID- 27641706
TI  - Lessons learned on approaches to data collection and analysis from a pilot study.
AB  - Background Pilot studies are more commonly associated with quantitative research,
      and their use is under-reported in qualitative approaches. This paper discusses
      the value of undertaking a pilot study in a doctoral research project to examine
      nursing students' understanding of recovery in mental health by adopting what is
      called a phenomenographic approach, which in research is concerned with the
      variation in how particular phenomena are experienced. Aim To explore the
      usefulness of three different methods of collecting data - interviewing,
      completed exam papers and a written response to a scenario - and the Dahlgren and
      Fallsberg ( 1991 ) framework for phenomenographic data analysis. Discussion
      Methodological issues experienced during the collection and analysis of data in
      the project are discussed. Conclusion The pilot study provided an opportunity for
      valuable insights to be gained into the methodological issues related to
      phenomenography and to revise the research plan for the larger study.
      Implications for practice While it may not be generalised to other qualitative
      studies, this paper may help others undertaking studies that adopt this approach
      and points to the general value of pilot studies in qualitative research. 

PMID- 27641707
TI  - Visualising nursing data using correspondence analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Digitally stored, large healthcare datasets enable nurses to use 'big
      data' techniques and tools in nursing research. Big data is complex and multi
      dimensional, so visualisation may be a preferable approach to analyse and
      understand it. AIM: To demonstrate the use of visualisation of big data in a
      technique called correspondence analysis. DISCUSSION: In the authors' study,
      relations among data in a nursing dataset were shown visually in graphs using
      correspondence analysis. The case presented demonstrates that correspondence
      analysis is easy to use, shows relations between data visually in a form that is
      simple to interpret, and can reveal hidden associations between data. CONCLUSION:
      Correspondence analysis supports the discovery of new knowledge. Implications for
      practice Knowledge obtained using correspondence analysis can be transferred
      immediately into practice or used to foster further research.

PMID- 27641708
TI  - Mechanosensory neurons control sweet sensing in Drosophila.
AB  - Animals discriminate nutritious food from toxic substances using their sense of
      taste. Since taste perception requires taste receptor cells to come into contact
      with water-soluble chemicals, it is a form of contact chemosensation. Concurrent
      with that contact, mechanosensitive cells detect the texture of food and also
      contribute to the regulation of feeding. Little is known, however, about the
      extent to which chemosensitive and mechanosensitive circuits interact. Here, we
      show Drosophila prefers soft food at the expense of sweetness and that this
      preference requires labellar mechanosensory neurons (MNs) and the mechanosensory
      channel Nanchung. Activation of these labellar MNs causes GABAergic inhibition of
      sweet-sensing gustatory receptor neurons, reducing the perceived intensity of a
      sweet stimulus. These findings expand our understanding of the ways different
      sensory modalities cooperate to shape animal behaviour.

PMID- 27641709
TI  - Improving methane production in cow dung and corn straw co-fermentation systems
      via enhanced degradation of cellulose by cabbage addition.
AB  - The effects of cabbage waste (CW) addition on methane production in cow dung and
      corn straw co-fermentation systems were investigated. Four experimental groups,
      each containing 55 g of substrate, were set up as follows: 100% cow dung (C); 36%
      cabbage and 64% cow dung (CC); 36% straw and 64% cow dung (SC); and 18% cabbage,
      18% straw, and 64% cow dung (CSC). After seven days of fermentation, the maximum
      methane yield was 134 mL in the CSC group, which was 2.81-fold, 1.78-fold, and
      1340-fold higher than that obtained in the CC, SC, and C groups, respectively. CW
      treatment of the CSC group enhanced cellulase activity and enriched culturable
      cellulose-degrading bacterial strains. Miseq sequencing data revealed that the
      predominant phylum in the CSC group was Bacteroidetes, which contains most of the
      cellulose-degrading bacteria. Our results suggested that CW treatment elevated
      cellulose degradation and promoted methane production.

PMID- 27641710
TI  - How should we diagnose and differentiate hearts with double-outlet right
      ventricle?
AB  - Many, if not most, of the controversies regarding the description of the
      congenitally malformed heart have been resolved over the turn of the 20th
      century. A group of lesions that remains contentious is the situation in which
      both arterial trunks, in their greater part, are supported by the morphologically
      right ventricle. It was considered, for many years, that presence of bilateral
      infundibulums, or conuses, was a necessity for such a diagnosis. It has now been
      appreciated that this suggestion founders on many counts. In the first instance,
      such bilateral infundibulums are to be found in patients with other ventriculo
      arterial connections, including the otherwise normal heart. In the second
      instance, it is clear that such an approach abrogates the important principle now
      known as the morphological method. This states that entities should be defined in
      terms of their intrinsic morphology and not on the basis of other variable
      features. It is now also clear that, when assessed simply on the basis of the
      ventricular origin of the arterial trunks, a significant number of patients
      fulfil the criteria for so-called "200%" origin of the trunks from the right
      ventricle when there is fibrous continuity between the leaflets of the
      atrioventricular and arterial valves. In this review, we show how attention to
      the morphology of the channel between the ventricles now provides the key to
      accurately diagnose the ventriculo-arterial connection in patients with suspected
      double-outlet right ventricle. This is because, when both arterial trunks arise
      exclusively or predominantly from the morphologically right ventricle, the outlet
      septum, of necessity, is itself a right ventricular structure. The channel
      between the ventricles, therefore, is roofed by the inner heart curvature,
      whether that structure is fibrous or muscular. Our observations then confirm that
      it is the attachment of the outlet septum, which itself can be muscular or
      fibrous, which determines the commitment of the interventricular communication to
      the subarterial outlets. The interventricular communication itself, when directly
      committed to the ventricular outlets, opens between the limbs of the
      septomarginal trabeculation or septal band. The defect is subaortic when the
      outlet septum is attached to the cranial limb of the trabeculation, subpulmonary
      when attached to the caudal limb, and doubly committed when attached to the inner
      heart curvature in the roof of the defect. Non-committed defects are no longer
      positioned within the limbs of the septomarginal trabeculation. Although readily
      demonstrable by a skilled echocardiographer, we show how these anatomical
      features are more easily demonstrated with added accuracy when using CT data
      sets.

PMID- 27641713
TI  - Rural residents' perspectives on the rural 'good death': a scoping review.
AB  - The 'good death' is one objective of palliative care, with many 'good death'
      viewpoints and research findings reflecting the urban voice. Rural areas are
      distinct and need special consideration. This scoping review identified and
      charted current research knowledge on the 'good' rural death through the
      perspectives of rural residents, including rural patients with a life-limiting
      illness, to identify evidence and gaps in the literature for future studies. A
      comprehensive literature search of English language articles (no date filter
      applied) was conducted in 2016 (2 January to 14 February) using five library
      databases. Reference lists of included articles, recent issues of eight relevant
      journals and three grey literature databases were also hand-searched. Twenty
      articles (for 17 studies and one systematic review) were identified after a two
      phase screening process by two reviewers, using pre-determined inclusion
      criteria. Data from each study were extracted and charted, analysed using a
      thematic analysis of the included articles' content, and with a quantitative
      analysis of the scoping review. These papers revealed data collected from rural
      patients with a life-limiting illness and family caregivers, rural healthcare
      providers, the wider rural community, rural community leaders and rural health
      administrators and policy makers. Rural locations were heterogeneous. Residents
      from developed and developing countries believe a 'good death' is one that is
      peaceful, free of pain and without suffering; however, this is subjective and
      priorities are based on personal, cultural, social and religious perspectives.
      Currently, there is insufficient data to generalise rural residents' perspectives
      and what it means for them to die well. Given the extreme importance of a 'good
      death', there is a need for further studies to elicit rural patient and family
      caregiver perspectives.

PMID- 27641712
TI  - Delayed dispersal and the costs and benefits of different routes to independent
      breeding in a cooperatively breeding bird.
AB  - Why sexually mature individuals stay in groups as nonreproductive subordinates is
      central to the evolution of sociality and cooperative breeding. To understand
      such delayed dispersal, its costs and benefits need to be compared with those of
      permanently leaving to float through the population. However, comprehensive
      comparisons, especially regarding differences in future breeding opportunities,
      are rare. Moreover, extraterritorial prospecting by philopatric individuals has
      generally been ignored, even though the factors underlying this route to
      independent breeding may differ from those of strict philopatry or floating. We
      use a comprehensive predictive framework to explore how various costs, benefits
      and intrinsic, environmental and social factors explain philopatry, prospecting,
      and floating in Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). Not only
      floaters more likely obtained an independent breeding position before the next
      season than strictly philopatric individuals, but also suffered higher mortality.
      Prospecting yielded similar benefits to floating but lower mortality costs,
      suggesting that it is overall more beneficial than floating and strict
      philopatry. While prospecting is probably individual-driven, although limited by
      resource availability, floating likely results from eviction by unrelated
      breeders. Such differences in proximate and ultimate factors underlying each
      route to independent breeding highlight the need for simultaneous consideration
      when studying the evolution of delayed dispersal.

PMID- 27641711
TI  - Dissemination of IMP-4-encoding pIMP-HZ1-related plasmids among Klebsiella
      pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Chinese teaching hospital.
AB  - A total of 26 blaIMP-4-carrying strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella
      pneumoniae were isolated from 2009 to 2013 in a Chinese teaching hospital, and
      these strains can be assigned into multiple sequence types or allelic profiles as
      determined by multilocus sequence typing. Of these strains, P. aeruginosa P378
      and K. pneumoniae 1220 harbor the IMP-4-encoding plasmids pP378-IMP and p1220
      IMP, respectively, whose complete nucleotide sequences are determined to be
      genetically closely related to the IncN1-type plasmid pIMP-HZ1. pP378-IMP/p1220
      IMP-like plasmids are hinted to be present in all the other blaIMP-4-carrying
      strains, indicating the dissemination of pIMP-HZ1-related plasmids among K.
      pneumoniae or P. aeruginosa of different genotypes in this hospital. pP378-IMP
      carries two distinct accessory resistance regions, a blaIMP-4-carrying class 1
      integron In823b, and a truncated Tn3-family unit transposon DeltaTn6292-3'
      harboring the quinolone resistance gene qnrS1. Massive fragmentation and
      rearrangement of these accessory genetic contents occur among p1220-IMP and IMP
      HZ1 relative to pP378-IMP. blaIMP-4 is also present in the In823b remnants from
      p1220-IMP and IMP-HZ1, while qnrS1 is located in a Tn6292-derive fragment from
      pIMP-HZ1 but not found in p1220-IMP. pP378-IMP represents the first fully
      sequenced IncN-type plasmid from P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 27641714
TI  - Granular parakeratosis induced by benzalkonium chloride exposure from laundry
      rinse aids.
AB  - Benzalkonium chloride is a quaternary ammonium cationic detergent present in a
      number of household products, which can act as a major skin irritant. We present
      the case of six children who developed granular parakeratosis after exposure to
      benzalkonium chloride in laundry rinse aids, presenting as a brightly
      erythematous, tender but minimally pruritic, intertriginous eruption followed by
      superficial desquamation. The eruptions resolved over 3-4 weeks after cessation
      of exposure.

PMID- 27641716
TI  - Female Sex Offenders: Public Awareness and Attributions.
AB  - Traditional gender roles, sex scripts, and the way female sex offenders are
      portrayed in the media may lead to misconceptions about who can commit sexual
      offenses. Sexual crimes by women may go unnoticed or unreported if there is a
      general lack of awareness that females commit these crimes. Data from the 2012
      Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey were used to determine whether the
      public perceives women as capable sex offenders and the perceived causes of
      female sex offending. The traditional focus on male sex offenders by researchers,
      media, and politicians, in addition to gender stereotypes, introduces the
      possibility of group differences (e.g., between men and women) in perceptions of
      female sex offenders. Consequently, two secondary analyses were conducted that
      tested for group differences in both the public's perception of whether females
      can commit sex offenses and the explanations selected for why females sexually
      offend. The findings suggest that the public does perceive women as capable sex
      offenders, although there were group differences in the causal attributions for
      female sex offending.

PMID- 27641718
TI  - Local versus general anaesthesia for adults undergoing pars plana vitrectomy
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitrectomy surgery is one of the commonest ophthalmic procedures
      performed across the world. It may be performed using general or local
      anaesthesia encompassing regional or topical anaesthesia depending on a number of
      factors, including patient suitability, and patient, surgeon or anaesthetist
      preference. There have so far been no evidence-based recommendations on the best
      form of anaesthesia for this intervention. There is no clear collated evidence
      base as to the best type of anaesthesia to reduce harm, and provide best surgical
      conditions and optimal outcome for patients. OBJECTIVES: To compare local with
      general anaesthesia for adults undergoing pars plana vitrectomy. SEARCH METHODS:
      We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the
      Cochrane Library and the reference lists of updated studies on the 25th of July
      2016; MEDLINE via Ovid SP (1972 to July 2016) and Embase via Ovid SP (1972 to
      July 2016). In addition we searched the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT),
      ClinicalTrials.gov and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
      (ICTRP) in July 2016. We searched the proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the
      Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) up to July 2016 for
      information about other relevant studies.We also searched appropriate databases
      for ongoing reviews. We did not apply any language restriction. We assessed the
      search as up-to-date on the 25th of July 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We planned to
      include all published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving comparison of
      different modalities of local anaesthesia with general anaesthesia for pars plana
      vitrectomy. We considered the following different modalities of local
      anaesthesia: sub-Tenon's anaesthesia, retrobulbar anaesthesia, topical
      anaesthesia, peribulbar anaesthesia. We planned to include cluster-randomized
      controlled trials. We excluded quasi-RCT trials. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
      Two review authors conducted independent searches and assessed identified studies
      for inclusion according to the prespecified selection criteria. Two review
      authors assessed trial quality and planned to extract the data. MAIN RESULTS: We
      found no eligible studies that met our inclusion criteria and were therefore
      unable to perform a meta-analysis or conduct a methodological quality assessment.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review failed to locate relevant clinical
      evidence to support or refute a pars plana vitrectomy performed with various
      modalities of local anaesthesia versus general anaesthesia. Good-quality clinical
      trials are needed to define the role of local versus general anaesthesia for pars
      plana vitrectomy.

PMID- 27641715
TI  - Breastfeeding improvement following tongue-tie and lip-tie release: A prospective
      cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Numerous symptoms may arise that prevent mother-infant
      dyads from maintaining desired breastfeeding intervals. Investigations into
      treatments that positively influence breastfeeding outcomes allow for improved
      patient counseling for treatment decisions to optimize breastfeeding quality.
      This investigation aimed to determine the impact of surgical tongue-tie/lip-tie
      release on breastfeeding impairment. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, cohort study from
      June 2014 to April 2015 in a private practice setting. METHODS: Study
      participants consisted of breastfeeding mother-infant (0-12 weeks of age) dyads
      with untreated ankyloglossia and/or tethered maxillary labial frenula who
      completed preoperative, 1 week, and 1 month postoperative surveys consisting of
      the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF), visual analog scale
      (VAS) for nipple pain severity, and the revised Infant Gastroesophageal Reflux
      Questionnaire (I-GERQ-R). Breastmilk intake was measured preoperatively and 1
      week postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 237 dyads were enrolled after self
      electing laser lingual frenotomy and/or maxillary labial frenectomy. Isolated
      posterior tongue-tie was identified in 78% of infants. Significant postoperative
      improvements were reported between mean preoperative scores compared to 1 week
      and 1 month scores of the BSES-SF (F(2) = 212.3; P < .001), the I-GERQ-R (F(2) =
      85.3; P < .001), and VAS pain scale (F(2) = 259.8; P < .001). Average breastmilk
      intake improved 155% from 3.0 (2.9) to 4.9 (4.5) mL/min (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Surgical release of tongue-tie/lip-tie results in significant improvement in
      breastfeeding outcomes. Improvements occur early (1 week postoperatively) and
      continue to improve through 1 month postoperatively. Improvements were
      demonstrated in both infants with classic anterior tongue-tie and less obvious
      posterior tongue-tie. This study identifies a previously under-recognized patient
      population that may benefit from surgical intervention if abnormal breastfeeding
      symptoms exist. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2c Laryngoscope, 127:1217-1223, 2017.

PMID- 27641719
TI  - Rapid determination of meldonium in urine samples by capillary electrophoresis
      with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity
      detection (CE-C4D) was employed for fast determination of meldonium (MEL) in
      urine samples. Background electrolyte consisting of 2M acetic acid (pH 2.3) was
      used for separation of MEL from cationic compounds present in urine samples and
      the overall analysis time was less than 4min per sample. Direct injection of
      urine samples was possible after 1:9 dilution with deionized water. This simple
      sample pretreatment was sufficient to eliminate possible matrix effects on CE
      performance and allowed for precise and sensitive determination of free MEL in
      urine. Excellent linearity (r2>=0.9998) was obtained for two concentration
      ranges, 0.02-4MUgmL-1 and 2-200MUgmL-1, by simply changing injection time from 10
      to 2s without the need for additional dilution of urine samples. Limit of
      detection was 0.015MUgmL-1 and average recoveries from urine samples spiked at
      0.02-123.5MUgmL-1 MEL ranged from 97.6-99.9%. Repeatability of migration times
      and peak areas was better than 0.35% and 4.2% for intraday and 0.95% and 4.7% for
      interday measurements, respectively. The above reported data proved good
      applicability of the CE-C4D method to determination of various MEL concentrations
      in urine samples and good long-term performance of the analytical system. The
      method might be particularly useful in analyses of large batches of samples for
      initial testing of MEL-positive vs. MEL-negative urine samples.

PMID- 27641717
TI  - Lactobacillus plantarum attenuates anxiety-related behavior and protects against
      stress-induced dysbiosis in adult zebrafish.
AB  - The consumption of probiotics has become increasingly popular as a means to try
      to improve health and well-being. Not only are probiotics considered beneficial
      to digestive health, but increasing evidence suggests direct and indirect
      interactions between gut microbiota (GM) and the central nervous system (CNS).
      Here, adult zebrafish were supplemented with Lactobacillus plantarum to determine
      the effects of probiotic treatment on structural and functional changes of the
      GM, as well as host neurological and behavioral changes. L. plantarum
      administration altered the beta-diversity of the GM while leaving the major core
      architecture intact. These minor structural changes were accompanied by
      significant enrichment of several predicted metabolic pathways. In addition to GM
      modifications, L. plantarum treatment also significantly reduced anxiety-related
      behavior and altered GABAergic and serotonergic signaling in the brain. Lastly,
      L. plantarum supplementation provided protection against stress-induced dysbiosis
      of the GM. These results underscore the influence commensal microbes have on
      physiological function in the host, and demonstrate bidirectional communication
      between the GM and the host.

PMID- 27641720
TI  - Unexpected retention and efficiency behaviors in supercritical fluid
      chromatography: A thermodynamic interpretation.
AB  - Experimental conditions leading to unexpected shift in retention, band
      compression, and to band enlargement of small molecules in supercritical fluid
      chromatography are reported. The stationary phase is a 3.0mm*150mm column packed
      with 1.8MUm fully porous high strength silica (HSS) StableBond (SB) C18
      particles. The mobile phase is pure carbon dioxide preheated at 107 degrees C and
      the column back pressure is set at 100bar. The column was thermally insulated in
      a vacuum chamber at a pressure of 10-5Torr in order to maintain the integrity of
      the peak symmetry. The sample solution was prepared by dissolving seven n
      alkylbenzenes (from benzene to dodecylbenzene) in pure acetonitrile. The injected
      sample volume (1MUL) was three orders of magnitude smaller than the column
      volume. Remarkably, the retention time of octylbenzene is found 15% smaller than
      that expected for this series of homologous compounds. Most strikingly, the plate
      counts change from about 20000 for the three least retained analytes (benzene,
      ethylbenzene, and butylbenzene) to 60000 for hexylbenzene and to only 5000 for
      the three most retained compounds (octylbenzene, decylbenzene, and
      dodecylbenzene). These unexpectedly high (reduced plate height of 1.3) and low
      (reduced plate height of 15) column efficiencies observed for closely related
      compounds are consistent with the overlap between the spatial concentration zone
      of the sample solvent (acetonitrile, Langmuir isotherm, k?2) and those of the
      analytes (competitive linear isotherms, 0<k<10). The present observations are
      fully supported by chromatogram simulations which assume that the Henry's
      constants of the infinitely diluted analytes are strongly dependent on the
      concentration of the sample solvent in the mobile phase.

PMID- 27641721
TI  - Peak deformations in preparative supercritical fluid chromatography due to co
      solvent adsorption.
AB  - In supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) the mobile phase comprises of carbon
      dioxide (CO2) as main solvent and smaller amounts of an organic polar solvent
      (often an alcohol) as co-solvent. The co-solvent is considered to function by
      changing the overall polarity of the eluent, i.e. by acting as a "modifier".
      However, recent studies indicate that the co-solvent methanol can also adsorb to
      some common SFC stationary phases. Hence, the co-solvent should also be able to
      function as an "adsorbing additive", i.e. an eluent component that competes with
      the injected solutes about the stationary phase surface. In this study it was
      found by fitting different mechanistic models to systematic experimental data,
      that the co-solvent methanol can have both functions: at low co-solvent
      fractions, methanol acts as an additive whereas at larger fractions it acts as a
      modifier. Moreover, it was found that when the co-solvent adsorbs more strongly
      to the stationary phase than the solute, "bizarre" deformations of the
      preparative band shapes can occur. This is illustrated by a solute that converts
      from a normal "Langmuirian" band shape to an "anti-Langmuirian" shape when
      changing from neat carbon dioxide (CO2) to an eluent containing co-solvent. This
      peak shape transition is dependent on both (i) the relative retention of the
      solute and co-solvent to the stationary phase in eluent containing neat CO2 and
      on (ii) the relative retention of the additive perturbation peak and the solute
      peak in eluent containing also co-solvent.

PMID- 27641722
TI  - Optimal experimental designs for estimating Henry's law constants via the method
      of phase ratio variation.
AB  - When measuring Henry's law constants (kH) using the phase ratio variation (PRV)
      method via headspace gas chromatography (GC), the value of kH of the compound
      under investigation is calculated from the ratio of the slope to the intercept of
      a linear regression of the inverse GC response versus the ratio of gas to liquid
      volumes of a series of vials drawn from the same parent solution. Thus, an
      experimenter collects measurements consisting of the independent variable (the
      gas/liquid volume ratio) and dependent variable (the GC-1 peak area). A review of
      the literature found that the common design is a simple uniform spacing of liquid
      volumes. We present an optimal experimental design which estimates kH with
      minimum error and provides multiple means for building confidence intervals for
      such estimates. We illustrate performance improvements of our design with an
      example measuring the kH for Naphthalene in aqueous solution as well as
      simulations on previous studies. Our designs are most applicable after a trial
      run defines the linear GC response and the linear phase ratio to the GC-1 region
      (where the PRV method is suitable) after which a practitioner can collect
      measurements in bulk. The designs can be easily computed using our open source
      software optDesignSlopeInt, an R package on CRAN.

PMID- 27641723
TI  - Physiotherapy and the management of complex regional pain syndrome.

PMID- 27641724
TI  - Concise Review: Organ Engineering: Design, Technology, and Integration.
AB  - Engineering complex tissues and whole organs has the potential to dramatically
      impact translational medicine in several avenues. Organ engineering is a
      discipline that integrates biological knowledge of embryological development,
      anatomy, physiology, and cellular interactions with enabling technologies
      including biocompatible biomaterials and biofabrication platforms such as three
      dimensional bioprinting. When engineering complex tissues and organs, core design
      principles must be taken into account, such as the structure-function
      relationship, biochemical signaling, mechanics, gradients, and spatial
      constraints. Technological advances in biomaterials, biofabrication, and
      biomedical imaging allow for in vitro control of these factors to recreate in
      vivo phenomena. Finally, organ engineering emerges as an integration of
      biological design and technical rigor. An overall workflow for organ engineering
      and guiding technology to advance biology as well as a perspective on necessary
      future iterations in the field is discussed. Stem Cells 2017;35:51-60.

PMID- 27641726
TI  - Erratum to: Sarcopenia in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease: Can It Be Altered
      by Diet and Exercise?

PMID- 27641725
TI  - Activation of the astrocytic Nrf2/ARE system ameliorates the formation of
      demyelinating lesions in a multiple sclerosis animal model.
AB  - Oxidative stress critically contributes to the pathogenesis of a variety of
      neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Astrocytes are the main
      regulators of oxidative homeostasis in the brain and dysregulation of these cells
      likely contributes to the accumulation of oxidative damage. The nuclear factor
      erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is the main transcriptional regulator of the
      anti-oxidant stress defense. In this study, we elucidate the effects of
      astrocytic Nrf2-activation on brain-intrinsic inflammation and lesion
      development. Cells deficient for the Nrf2 repressor kelch-like ECH-associated
      protein 1 (Keap1) are characterized by hyperactivation of Nrf2-signaling.
      Therefore, wild type mice and mice with a GFAP-specific Keap1-deletion were fed
      with 0.25% cuprizone for 1 or 3 weeks. Cuprizone intoxication induced pronounced
      oligodendrocyte loss, demyelination and reactive gliosis in wild type animals. In
      contrast, astrocyte-specific Nrf2-activation was sufficient to prevent
      oligodendrocyte loss and demyelination, to ameliorate brain intrinsic
      inflammation and to counteract axonal damage. Our results highlight the potential
      of the Nrf2/ARE system for the treatment of neuroinflammation in general and of
      multiple sclerosis in particular. (c) GLIA 2016;64:2219-2230.

PMID- 27641727
TI  - Vemurafenib in combination with cobimetinib in relapsed and refractory
      extramedullary multiple myeloma harboring the BRAF V600E mutation.
AB  - BRAF mutations are present in a variety of cancers and cause constitutive
      activation of the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. In cutaneous malignant
      melanoma, combined treatment with BRAF and MEK inhibitors is associated with high
      response rates and has been shown to improve progression free as well as overall
      survival compared to BRAF inhibition alone. In multiple myeloma, BRAF mutations
      are detectable only in a minority of patients. Only few data are available
      regarding the clinical activity of BRAF inhibitors in BRAF-positive multiple
      myeloma patients, including some anecdotal reports on remarkable responses in
      individuals being resistant to all other available anti-myeloma treatment
      approaches. We here present the first report on the combination of vemurafenib
      and cobimetinib in a young patient with highly resistant and rapidly progressing
      multiple myeloma harboring the BRAF V600E mutation who achieved a rapid and
      sustained response to this combination therapy.

PMID- 27641728
TI  - Alkaline phosphatase and OCT-3/4 as useful markers for predicting susceptibility
      of human deciduous teeth-derived dental pulp cells to reprogramming factor
      induced iPS cells.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present study was to prove that primary cells enriched with
      stem cells are more easily reprogrammed to generate induced pluripotent stem
      (iPS) cells than those with scarce numbers of stem cells. METHODS: We surveyed
      the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in five primarily-isolated human
      deciduous teeth-derived dental pulp cells (HDDPC) with cytochemical staining to
      examine the possible presence of stem cells. Next, the expression of stemness
      specific factors, such as OCT(Octumer-binding transcription factor)3/4, NANOG,
      SOX2(SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2), CD90, muscle segment homeodomain
      homeobox (MSX) 1, and MSX2, was assessed with a reverse transcription polymerase
      chain reaction method. Finally, these isolated HDDPC were transfected with
      plasmids carrying genes coding Yamanaka factors to determine whether these cells
      could be reprogrammed to generate iPS cells. RESULTS: Of the five primarily
      isolated HDDPC, two (HDDPC-1 and -5) exhibited higher degrees of ALP activity.
      OCT-3/4 expression was also prominent in those two lines. Furthermore, these two
      lines proliferated faster than the other three lines. The transfection of HDDPC
      with Yamanaka factors resulted in the generation of iPS cells from HDDPC-1 and 
      5. CONCLUSION: The number of cells with the stemness property of HDDPC differs
      among individuals, which suggests that HDDPC showing an increased expression of
      both ALP and OCT-3/4 can be more easily reprogrammed to generate iPS cells after
      the forced expression of reprogramming factors.

PMID- 27641729
TI  - Saliviruses-the first knowledge about a newly discovered human picornavirus.
AB  - The salivirus, first discovered in the year 2009, is a member of the large and
      growing family Picornaviridae. At present, the genus Salivirus contains 1 species
      Salivirus A and 2 genotypes, Salivirus A1 and Salivirus A2. Salivirus has been
      identified in humans and chimpanzees and may cause acute gastroenteritis in
      humans, having been detected in 0% to 8.7% of fecal samples collected from
      gastroenteritis in different human populations. Salivirus is ubiquitous in
      wastewater of human origin and river water specimens worldwide and represents a
      potential indicator human RNA virus for monitoring of environmental samples. This
      review summarizes the current knowledge on saliviruses including discovery,
      taxonomy, genome structure, and genetic diversity; covers all aspects of
      infection including epidemiology, molecular epidemiology, clinical feature, host
      species, environmental characteristics, and laboratory diagnosis; and gives a
      summary of possible future perspectives.

PMID- 27641730
TI  - Random sex determination: When developmental noise tips the sex balance.
AB  - Sex-determining factors are usually assumed to be either genetic or
      environmental. The present paper aims at drawing attention to the potential
      contribution of developmental noise, an important but often-neglected component
      of phenotypic variance. Mutual inhibitions between male and female pathways make
      sex a bistable equilibrium, such that random fluctuations in the expression of
      genes at the top of the cascade are sufficient to drive individual development
      toward one or the other stable state. Evolutionary modeling shows that stochastic
      sex determinants should resist elimination by genetic or environmental sex
      determinants under ecologically meaningful settings. On the empirical side, many
      sex-determination systems traditionally considered as environmental or polygenic
      actually provide evidence for large components of stochasticity. In reviewing the
      field, I argue that sex-determination systems should be considered within a three
      ends continuum, rather than the classical two-ends continuum.

PMID- 27641731
TI  - Effect of climate region and stocking density on ostrich (Struthio camelus)
      productive performances.
AB  - The effects of three climates (hot and dry, mild and humid and Alpine) and three
      flock densities (<100, 100-300 and >300 m2 ) on ostrich reproductive and
      productive traits were studied. Data were compared with the benchmark target sets
      by the World Ostrich Association (Ostrich benchmark Performance Targets. Version
      2, May, 2008) for reproductive qualifications of ostrich. No significant
      difference was observed on egg production, weight, fertility, hatchability and
      day-old chicks weight among the three climate conditions; however, the Alpine
      climate had a lower performance trend. Mild and humid climates had a significant
      effect of age at sexual maturity for both males and females as well as on the
      duration of egg production season. Stocking density did not show significant
      difference on egg production, hatchability, age of male and female at sexual
      maturity and on duration of egg production season, while an area >300 m2 showed a
      reduction in egg weight and day-old chick weight. Further, an area <100 m2 led to
      a weaker ostrich fertility rate. Results showed that the ostrich would have a
      better performance under hot and dry and mild and humid climates as compared to
      Alpine climate with a stocking density of 100-300 m2 area per breeder bird. Thus,
      climatic intervention strategies at Alpine regions may be carried out for
      maintaining optimal reproductive qualification of ostrich so as to improve the
      productivity in this sector.

PMID- 27641732
TI  - Altered Neural Correlates of Emotion Associated Pain Processing in Persistent
      Somatoform Pain Disorder: An fMRI Study.
AB  - Patients with persistent somatoform pain disorder (PSPD) suffer from long-term
      pain and emotional conflicts. Recently, accumulating evidence indicated that
      emotion has a significant role in pain perception of somatoform pain disorder. To
      further understand the association between emotion and pain-related brain
      activities, functional activities of patients with PSPD fulfilling ICD-10
      criteria and healthy controls were assessed using functional magnetic resonance
      imaging technology, while participants viewed a series of positive, neutral, or
      negative pictures with or without pinprick pain stimulation. Results showed that
      patients with PSPD had altered brain activities in the parietal gyrus, temporal
      gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and parahippocampus in
      response to pinprick pain stimuli during different emotions compared with the
      healthy control group. Moreover, patients with PSPD consistently showed
      hyperactivities in the prefrontal, the fusiform gyrus and the insula in response
      to negative stimuli under pinprick pain vs. non-pain condition. The current
      findings provide some insights into the underlying relationship between emotion
      and pain-related brain activity in patients with PSPD, which is of both
      theoretical and clinical importance.

PMID- 27641733
TI  - Decompressing vein and bilateral superior venae cavae in a patient with
      hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
AB  - The levoatrial cardinal vein (LACV), first described in 1926, acts as a
      decompressing vessel for pulmonary venous return in cases of severe left-sided
      obstruction with an intact or significantly restrictive atrial septum. The LACV
      and the persistent left superior vena cava (LSVC) are thought to share similar
      embryologic origins. To challenge this notion, we present a unique case of a
      neonate with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, cor triatriatum, and a
      decompressing LACV in the presence of bilateral superior venae cavae. 

PMID- 27641734
TI  - Biochemical features of the adhesion G protein-coupled receptor CD97 related to
      its auto-proteolysis and HeLa cell attachment activities.
AB  - CD97 belongs to the adhesion GPCR family characterized by a long ECD linked to
      the 7TM via a GPCR proteolytic site (GPS) and plays important roles in modulating
      cell migration and invasion. CD97 (EGF1-5) is a splicing variant of CD97 that
      recognizes a specific ligand chondroitin sulfate on cell membranes and the
      extracellular matrix. The aim of this study was to elucidate the extracellular
      molecular basis of the CD97 EGF1-5 isoform in protein expression, auto
      proteolysis and cell adhesion, including epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like
      domain, GPCR autoproteolysis-inducing (GAIN) domain, as well as GPS mutagenesis
      and N-glycosylation. Both wild-type (WT) CD97-ECD and its truncated, GPS mutated,
      PNGase F-deglycosylated, and N-glycosylation site mutated forms were expressed
      and purified. The auto-proteolysis of the proteins was analyzed with Western
      blotting and SDS-PAGE. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and molecular modeling
      were used to determine a structural profile of the properly expressed receptor.
      Potential N-glycosylation sites were identified using MS and were modulated with
      PNGase F digestion and glyco-site mutations. A flow cytometry-based HeLa cell
      attachment assay was used for all aforementioned CD97 variants to elucidate the
      molecular basis of CD97-HeLa interactions. A unique concentration-dependent GPS
      auto-proteolysis was observed in CD97 EGF1-5 isoform with the highest
      concentration (4 mg/mL) per sample was self-cleaved much faster than the lower
      concentration (0.1 mg/mL), supporting an intermolecular mechanism of auto
      proteolysis that is distinct to the reported intramolecular mechanism for other
      CD97 isoforms. N-glycosylation affected the auto-proteolysis of CD97 EGF1-5
      isoform in a similar way as the other previously reported CD97 isoforms. SAXS
      data for WT and deglycosylated CD97ECD revealed a spatula-like shape with GAIN
      and EGF domains constituting the body and handle, respectively. Structural
      modeling indicated a potential interaction between the GAIN and EGF5 domains
      accounting for the absence of expression of the GAIN domain itself, although EGF5
      GAIN was expressed similarly in the wild-type protein. For HeLa cell adhesion,
      the GAIN-truncated forms showed dramatically reduced binding affinity. The PNGase
      F-deglycosylated and GPS mutated forms also exhibited reduced HeLa attachment
      compared with WT CD97. However, neither N-glycosylation mutagenesis nor auto
      proteolysis inhibition caused by N-glycosylation mutagenesis affected CD97-HeLa
      cell interactions. A comparison of the HeLa binding affinities of PNGase F
      digested, GPS-mutated and N-glycosylation-mutated CD97 samples revealed diverse
      findings, suggesting that the functions of CD97 ECD were complex, and various
      technologies for function validation should be utilized to avoid single-approach
      bias when investigating N-glycosylation and auto-proteolysis of CD97. A unique
      mechanism of concentration-dependent auto-proteolysis of the CD97 EGF1-5 isoform
      was characterized, suggesting an intermolecular mechanism that is distinct from
      that of other previously reported CD97 isoforms. The EGF5 and GAIN domains are
      likely associated with each other as CD97 expression and SAXS data revealed a
      potential interaction between the two domains. Finally, the GAIN and EGF domains
      are also important for CD97-HeLa adhesion, whereas N-glycosylation of the CD97
      GAIN domain and GPS auto-proteolysis are not required for HeLa cell attachment.

PMID- 27641736
TI  - Associations of MDR1, TBXA2R, PLA2G7, and PEAR1 genetic polymorphisms with the
      platelet activity in Chinese ischemic stroke patients receiving aspirin therapy.
AB  - AIM: Aspirin resistance has an incidence of 5%-65% in patients with ischemic
      stroke, who receive the standard dose of aspirin, but the platelet function is
      inadequately inhibited, thereby leading to thrombotic events. Numerous evidence
      shows that thromboxane A2 receptor (TXA2 receptor, encoded by TBXA2R),
      lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2, encoded by PLA2G7) and platelet
      endothelial aggregation receptor-1 (PEAR1, encoded by PEAR1) are crucial in
      regulating platelet activation, and P-glycoprotein (P-gp, encoded by MDR1)
      influences the absorption of aspirin in the intestine. In this study we examined
      the correlation between MDR1, TBXA2R, PLA2G7, PEAR1 genetic polymorphisms and
      platelet activity in Chinese ischemic stroke patients receiving aspirin therapy.
      METHODS: A total of 283 ischemic stroke patients receiving 100 mg aspirin for 7 d
      were genotyped for polymorphisms in MDR1 C3435T, TBXA2R (rs1131882), PLA2G7
      (rs1051931, rs7756935), and PEAR1 (rs12566888, rs12041331). The platelet
      aggregation response was measured using an automatic platelet aggregation
      analyzer and a commercially available TXB2 ELISA kit. RESULTS: Thirty-three
      patients (11.66%) were insensitive to aspirin treatment. MDR1 3435TT genotype
      carriers, whose arachidonic acid (AA) or adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced
      platelet aggregation was lower than that of CC+CT genotype carriers, were less
      likely to suffer from aspirin resistance (odds ratio=0.421, 95% CI: 0.233-0.759).
      The TBXA2R rs1131882 CC genotype, which was found more frequently in the aspirin
      insensitive group (81.8% vs 62.4%) than in the sensitive group, was identified as
      a risk factor for aspirin resistance (odds ratio=2.712, 95% CI: 1.080-6.810) with
      a higher level of AA-induced platelet aggregation. Due to the combined effects of
      PLA2G7 rs1051931 and rs7756935, carriers of the AA-CC haplotype had a higher
      level of ADP-induced platelet aggregation, and were at considerably higher risk
      of aspirin resistance than noncarriers (odds ratio=8.233, 95% CI: 1.590-42.638).
      CONCLUSION: A considerable portion (11.66%) of Chinese ischemic stroke patients
      are insensitive to aspirin treatment, which may be correlated with the MDR1
      C3435T, TBXA2R (rs1131882), and PLA2G7 (rs1051931-rs7756935) polymorphisms.

PMID- 27641735
TI  - MicroRNA-1304 suppresses human non-small cell lung cancer cell growth in vitro by
      targeting heme oxygenase-1.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that microRNA-1304 (miR-1304) is dysregulated in
      certain types of cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and might
      be involved in tumor survival and/or growth. In this study we investigated the
      direct target of miR-1304 and its function in NSCLC in vitro. Human lung
      adenocarcinoma cell lines (A549 and NCI-H1975) were studied. The cell
      proliferation and survival were investigated via cell counting, MTT and colony
      formation assays. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were examined using annexin V
      PE/7-AAD and PI staining assays, respectively. The dual-luciferase reporter assay
      was used to verify post-transcriptional regulation of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) by
      miR-1304. CRISPR/Cas9 was used to deplete endogenous miR-1304. Overexpression of
      MiR-1304 significantly decreased the number and viability of NSCLC cells and
      colony formation, and induced cell apoptosis and G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest.
      HO-1 was demonstrated to be a direct target of miR-1304 in NSCLC cells.
      Restoration of HO-1 expression by hemin (20 MUmol/L) abolished the inhibition of
      miR-1304 on cell growth and rescued miR-1304-induced apoptosis in A549 cells.
      Suppression of endogenous miR-1304 with anti-1304 significantly increased HO-1
      expression and promoted cell growth and survival in A549 cells. In 17 human NSCLC
      tissue samples, miR-1304 expression was significantly decreased, while HO-1
      expression was significantly increased as compared to normal lung tissues.
      MicroRNA-1304 is a tumor suppressor and HO-1 is its direct target in NSCLC. The
      results suggest the potential for miR-1304 as a therapeutic target for NSCLC.

PMID- 27641739
TI  - An ecological model for refugee mental health: implications for research.

PMID- 27641737
TI  - Multiple unexplained fractures in infants and child physical abuse.
AB  - When an infant presents with X-rays showing multiple unexplained fractures in
      various stages of healing (MUFVSH), the child is usually diagnosed with child
      abuse based on criteria of the Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Child Abuse
      and Neglect (AAPCCAAN). Almost always, the infant is subsequently removed from
      the home and civil or criminal proceeding commence. It may be that healing
      infantile rickets or other poorly understood metabolic bone disorders of infancy
      are responsible for these x-rays. Activated vitamin D is a seco-steroid hormone,
      whose mechanism of action is genetic regulation. Lack of it can result in
      musculoskeletal defects known as rickets. Low calcium can also cause rickets.
      However, it is clear that experts for the state believe that the x-rays in these
      cases are so definitive as to be pathognomonic for child abuse. Therefore, if the
      caregivers deny abusing their infants, experts following American Academy of
      Pediatric's Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect. guidelines are essentially
      claiming that x-rays showing multiple unexplained fractures in various stages of
      healing are lie detector tests. However, it is not widely appreciated that the
      gold standard for the diagnosis of rickets is a bone biopsy, not x-rays, as
      radiologists miss biopsy proven rickets 80% of the time; that is, 4 out of 5
      infants with rickets will have normal x-rays. In this article we provide reports
      of two cases and their outcomes. We discuss information about healing infantile
      rickets and an example of common sense medical conclusions in these cases. This
      information could lead to a significant reduction in the number of innocent
      parents having their infant removed or sent to prison.

PMID- 27641738
TI  - Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an oxidized plasma cysteine redox
      potential in critically Ill children.
AB  - Critically ill populations incur high levels of oxidative stress and commonly
      present with vitamin D deficiency. This study aimed to investigate the
      relationship between vitamin D status and plasma markers of glutathione (GSH) and
      cysteine (Cys) redox and immunity in critically ill children. This was a cross
      sectional study of n=50 PICU patients. Subjects were categorized according to
      their plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations: (<20, 20-30, and
      >=30ng/dL). Plasma GSH, glutathione disulfide (GSSG), Cys, and cystine (CySS)
      were measured with high-performance liquid chromatography, and their associated
      redox potentials determined (EhGSSG and EhCySS, respectively). Plasma LL-37, an
      indicator of innate immune function, was assayed with ELISA. Data were analyzed
      using general linear regression before and after adjustment for age, sex, and
      race. Results showed that EhCySS was more reduced in subjects with plasma 25(OH)D
      concentrations >=30ng/mL compared to those with 25(OH)D concentrations <20ng/mL
      (P=0.009). Plasma GSH, GSSG, and total GSH decreased with increasing 25(OH)D
      category (P=0.06, 0.03, and 0.01, respectively), and plasma glutamine levels were
      lowest in subjects with plasma 25(OH)D concentrations >=30ng/mL (P=0.004). Plasma
      LL-37 concentrations did not significantly differ by vitamin D status (P=0.08).
      In conclusion, vitamin D sufficiency was associated with more reduced plasma
      EhCySS, indicative of lower oxidative stress in critically ill children. Plasma
      GSH, GSSG, and glutamine, however, were lower in the vitamin D sufficient group.
      The role of vitamin D in maintaining redox status during pediatric critical
      illness requires further study.

PMID- 27641740
TI  - Women's Mental Health and Intimate Partner Violence Following Natural Disaster: A
      Scoping Review.
AB  - : Introduction Survivors of natural disasters in the United States experience
      significant health ramifications. Women particularly are vulnerable to both post
      disaster posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and research has
      documented that these psychopathological sequelae often are correlated with
      increased incidence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Understanding the link
      between these health concerns is crucial to informing adequate disaster response
      and relief efforts for victims of natural disaster. Purpose The purpose of this
      review was to report the results of a scoping review on the specific mental
      health effects that commonly impact women following natural disasters, and to
      develop a conceptual framework with which to guide future research. METHODS: A
      scoping review of mental and physical health effects experienced by women
      following natural disasters in the United States was conducted. Articles from
      2000-2015 were included. Databases examined were PubMed, PsycInfo, Cochrane,
      JSTOR, Web of Science, and databases available through ProQuest, including
      ProQuest Research Library. RESULTS: A total of 58 articles were selected for
      inclusion, out of an original 149 that were selected for full-text review. Forty
      eight articles, or 82.8%, focused on mental health outcomes. Ten articles, or
      17.2%, focused on IPV. Discussion Certain mental health outcomes, including PTSD,
      depression, and other significant mental health concerns, were recurrent issues
      for women post-disaster. Despite the strong correlation between experience of
      mental health consequences after disaster and increased risk of domestic
      violence, studies on the risk and mediating factors are rare. The specific
      challenges faced by women and the interrelation between negative mental health
      outcomes and heightened exposure to IPV following disasters require a solid
      evidence base in order to facilitate the development of effective interventions.
      Additional research informed by theory on probable health impacts is necessary to
      improve development/implementation of emergency relief policy. Bell SA , Folkerth
      LA . Women's mental health and intimate partner violence following natural
      disaster: a scoping review. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):648-657.

PMID- 27641741
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27641742
TI  - Nuclear localization of tricellulin promotes the oncogenic property of pancreatic
      cancer.
AB  - Accumulating evidence has shown that dysregulation of tight junctions (TJs) is
      involved in tumor development and progression. In this study, we investigated the
      expression and subcellular distribution of tricellulin, which constitutes
      tricellular TJs, using human pancreatic adenocarcinomas. In well-differentiated
      pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues, tricellulin immunostaining was prominent in
      the cytoplasm and the plasma membrane. In contrast, in poorly differentiated
      tissues, its immunostaining was predominantly observed in the nuclei and was
      almost absent in the plasma membrane. The distinct immunostaining of tricellulin
      successfully distinguished poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma from moderately
      and well-differentiated adenocarcinomas with high levels of sensitivity and
      specificity. Nuclear tricellulin expression significantly correlated with lymph
      node metastasis, lymphatic invasion and poor survival. In pancreatic cancer cell
      lines, tricellulin localization shifted from the membrane to nucleus with
      decreasing differentiation status. Nuclear localization of tricellulin promoted
      cell proliferation and invasiveness possibly in association with MAPK and PKC
      pathways in pancreatic cancers. Our results provide new insights into the
      function of tricellulin, and its nuclear localization may become a new prognostic
      factor for pancreatic cancers.

PMID- 27641743
TI  - Ecological study on solid fuel use and pneumonia in young children: A worldwide
      association.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia constitutes one of the major causes of
      worldwide mortality in young children. Poverty has been traditionally assigned as
      the underlying factor accounting for these trends. However, the independent role
      of solid fuel use yielding biomass pollution on pneumonia rates among young
      children has not been extensively examined. METHODS: Independent socio-economic
      variables, and the percentage of solid fuel use, tobacco consumption, improved
      water access source and sanitation facilities were extracted for each country
      from the available public databases. Multivariate regression analyses were
      performed to assess potential associations between these recognized risk factors
      and country pneumonia incidence in young children <5 years of age. RESULTS:
      Multivariate linear regression analyses yielded two models that accounted for
      approximately 87% of the variance, and included solid fuel use, tobacco
      consumption, sanitation access, measles immunization, life expectancy, access to
      electricity and the Human Development Index (HDI) as being independently
      associated with the number of annual pneumonia cases per child <5 years of age.
      CONCLUSION: In this ecological study, current country rates of pneumonia among
      young children are independently associated with the use of solid fuels. We
      postulate that interventions aimed at reducing indoor solid fuel biomass
      pollution through implementation of efficient stoves will translate into
      meaningful decreases in child mortality and morbidity.

PMID- 27641744
TI  - Circulating tumor DNA detection in lung cancer patients before and after surgery.
AB  - Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in peripheral blood is a "liquid biopsy" that
      contains representative tumor information including gene mutations. Additionally,
      repeated ctDNA samples can be easily obtained to monitor response to treatment
      and disease progression, which may be especially valuable to lung cancer patients
      with tumors that cannot be easily biopsied or removed. To investigate the changes
      in ctDNA after surgical tumor resection, tumor and blood samples obtained before
      and after surgery were collected prospectively from 41 non-small lung cancer
      (NSCLC) patients. Somatic driver mutations in tumor DNA (tDNA) and pre- and post
      op plasma ctDNA sample pairs were identified by targeted sequencing in several
      genes including EGFR, KRAS, and TP53 with an overall study concordance of 78.1%
      and sensitivity and specificity of 69.2% and 93.3%, respectively. Importantly,
      the frequency of 91.7% of ctDNA mutations decreased after surgery and these
      changes were observed as little as 2 days post-op. Moreover, the presence of
      ctDNA had a higher positive predictive value than that of six tumor biomarkers in
      current clinical use. This study demonstrates the use of targeted sequencing to
      reliably identify ctDNA changes in response to treatment, indicating a potential
      utility of this approach in the clinical management of NSCLC.

PMID- 27641746
TI  - Novel Polarizing Method for Light Microscopy.
AB  - A test of the qualities of polarizing filters was performed for a set of
      specimens including a bulk Nicol prism, standard polaroids, and special polyvinyl
      alcohol (PVA)-iodine thin-film filters coated on both sides by vertically
      oriented carbon nanotubes. The residual transmission of polarizing filters
      depending on the incidence angle of polarized light was examined in detail. The
      superior quality of polarizing film filters treated with carbon nanotubes was
      found. This fact allows us to propose a new application for polarizing films with
      carbon nanotubes for a polarizing cover glass. In such a way the cover glass may
      serve as an analyzer in a light polarizing microscope. Some features of optical
      scheme arrangement for the polarizing technique are discussed. The polarizing
      cover glass allows elimination of depolarization of light, which is inserted in a
      microscope objective. Test results of the proposed polarizing technique attest to
      the efficiency of using the polarizing cover glass. The new scheme for polaroid
      arrangement shows image-contrast enhancement by several percent in comparison
      with the standard layout.

PMID- 27641747
TI  - Update on the defensive chemicals of the little black ant, Monomorium minimum
      (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
AB  - Alkaloids, including 2,5-dialkylpyrrolidines and 2,5-dialkylpyrrolines, have been
      reported to be components in the venom of little black ants, Monomorium minimum
      (Buckley). Two fatty amines were recently reported as minor compounds. By
      analyzing the discharge collected from the stinger apparatus (milking), this
      study revealed the presence of an additional seven compounds in the defensive
      secretion of this ant species. Compounds identified were 9-decenyl-1-amine, N
      methylenedecan-1-amine, N-methylenedodecan-1-amine, 2-(1-non-8-enyl)-5-(1-hex-5
      enyl)-1-pyrroline, N-methyl-2-(hex-5-enyl)-5-nonanyl-1-pyrrolidine, beta
      springene ((E,E)-7,11,15-trimethyl-3-methylene-1,6,10,14-hexadecatetraene) and
      neocembrene ((E,E,E)-1-isopropenyl-4,8,12-trimethylcyclotetradeca-3,7,11-triene).
      beta-springene and neocembrene were found only in the defensive secretion of
      queens. Analyses of the contents of isolated poison and Dufour's glands of the
      queen indicated that all amines and alkaloids were from the poison gland and that
      beta-springene and neocembrene were from the Dufour's gland. This demonstrated
      that the defensive secretion in M. minimum queens consists of components from
      both glands. This is also the first report on the natural occurrence of 9-decenyl
      1-amine, N-methylenedecan-1-amine, and N-methyllenedodecan-1-amine.

PMID- 27641748
TI  - Neutralization of toxicological activities of medically-relevant Bothrops snake
      venoms and relevant toxins by two polyvalent bothropic antivenoms produced in
      Peru and Brazil.
AB  - Snakebite envenoming is a neglected public pathology, affecting especially rural
      communities or isolated areas of tropical and subtropical Latin American
      countries. The parenteral administration of antivenom is the mainstay and the
      only validated treatment of snake bite envenoming. Here, we assess the efficacy
      of polyspecific anti-Bothrops serum (alpha-BS) produced in the Instituto Nacional
      de Salud (INS, Peru) and at the Fundacao Ezequiel Dias (FUNED, Brazil), to
      neutralize the main toxic activities induced by five medically-relevant venoms
      of: Bothrops atrox, B. barnetti, and B. pictus from Peru, and the Brazilian B.
      jararaca and B. leucurus, all of them inhabiting different geographical
      locations. Protein electrophoretic patterns of these venoms showed significant
      differences in composition, number and intensity of bands. Another goal was to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of lyophilized alpha-BS developed at INS to
      neutralize the detrimental effects of these venoms using in vivo and in vitro
      assays. The availability of lyophilized alpha-BS has relevant significance in its
      distribution to distant rural communities where the access to antivenom in health
      facilities is more difficult. Despite the fact that different antigen mixtures
      were used for immunization during antivenom production, our data showed high
      toxin-neutralizing activity of alpha-BS raised against Bothrops venoms. Moreover,
      the antivenom cross-reacted even against venoms not included in the immunization
      mixture. Furthermore, we have evaluated the efficacy of both alpha-BS to
      neutralize key toxic compounds belonging to the predominant protein families of
      Bothrops snakes. Most significantly, both alpha-BS cross-specifically neutralized
      the main toxicological activities e.g. lethality and hemorrhage induced by these
      venoms. Thus, our data indicate that both alpha-BS are equally effective to treat
      snake bite victims inflicted by Bothrops snakes particularly B. atrox,
      responsible for the largest numbers of human envenomations in the Amazon regions
      of some South American countries including Peru and Brazil.

PMID- 27641745
TI  - Cannabinoid signalling inhibits sarcoplasmic Ca2+ release and regulates
      excitation-contraction coupling in mammalian skeletal muscle.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Marijuana was found to cause muscle weakness, although the exact
      regulatory role of its receptors (CB1 cannabinoid receptor; CB1R) in the
      excitation-contraction coupling (ECC) of mammalian skeletal muscle remains
      unknown. We found that CB1R activation or its knockout did not affect muscle
      force directly, whereas its activation decreased the Ca2+ -sensitivity of the
      contractile apparatus and made the muscle fibres more prone to fatigue. We
      demonstrate that CB1Rs are not connected to the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate
      pathway either in myotubes or in adult muscle fibres. By contrast, CB1Rs
      constitutively inhibit sarcoplasmic Ca2+ release and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+
      ATPase during ECC in a Gi/o protein-mediated way in adult skeletal muscle fibres
      but not in myotubes. These results help with our understanding of the
      physiological effects and pathological consequences of CB1R activation in
      skeletal muscle and may be useful in the development of new cannabinoid drugs.
      ABSTRACT: Marijuana was found to cause muscle weakness, although it is unknown
      whether it affects the muscles directly or modulates only the motor control of
      the central nervous system. Although the presence of CB1 cannabinoid receptors
      (CB1R), which are responsible for the psychoactive effects of the drug in the
      brain, have recently been demonstrated in skeletal muscle, it is unclear how CB1R
      mediated signalling affects the contraction and Ca2+ homeostasis of mammalian
      skeletal muscle. In the present study, we demonstrate that in vitro CB1R
      activation increased muscle fatigability and decreased the Ca2+ -sensitivity of
      the contractile apparatus, whereas it did not alter the amplitude of single
      twitch contractions. In myotubes, CB1R agonists neither evoked, nor influenced
      inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3 )-mediated Ca2+ transients, nor did they alter
      excitation-contraction coupling. By contrast, in isolated muscle fibres of wild
      type mice, although CB1R agonists did not evoke IP3 -mediated Ca2+ transients
      too, they significantly reduced the amplitude of the depolarization-evoked
      transients in a pertussis-toxin sensitive manner, indicating a Gi/o protein
      dependent mechanism. Concurrently, on skeletal muscle fibres isolated from CB1R
      knockout animals, depolarization-evoked Ca2+ transients, as well qas Ca2+ release
      flux via ryanodine receptors (RyRs), and the total amount of released Ca2+ was
      significantly greater than that from wild-type mice. Our results show that CB1R
      mediated signalling exerts both a constitutive and an agonist-mediated inhibition
      on the Ca2+ transients via RyR, regulates the activity of the sarcoplasmic
      reticulum Ca2+ ATPase and enhances muscle fatigability, which might decrease
      exercise performance, thus playing a role in myopathies, and therefore should be
      considered during the development of new cannabinoid drugs.

PMID- 27641749
TI  - Venoms of Micrurus coral snakes: Evolutionary trends in compositional patterns
      emerging from proteomic analyses.
AB  - The application of proteomic tools to the study of snake venoms has led to an
      impressive growth in the knowledge about their composition (venomics),
      immunogenicity (antivenomics), and toxicity (toxicovenomics). About one-third of
      all venomic studies have focused on elapid species, especially those of the Old
      World. The New World elapids, represented by coral snakes, have been less
      studied. In recent years, however, a number of venomic studies on Micrurus
      species from North, Central, and South America have been conducted. An overview
      of these studies is presented, highlighting the emergence of some patterns and
      trends concerning their compositional, functional, and immunological
      characteristics. Results gathered to date, encompassing 18 out of the
      approximately 85 species of Micrurus, reveal a dichotomy of venom phenotypes
      regarding the relative abundance of the omnipresent phospholipases A2 (PLA2) and
      'three-finger' toxins (3FTx): a group of species express a PLA2-predominant venom
      composition, while others display a 3FTx-predominant compositional pattern. These
      two divergent toxin expression phenotypes appear to be related to phylogenetic
      positions and geographical distributions along a North-South axis in the
      Americas, but further studies encompassing a higher number of species are needed
      to assess these hypotheses. The two contrasting phenotypes also show correlations
      with some toxic functionalities, complexity in the diversity of proteoforms, and
      immunological cross-recognition patterns. The biological significance for the
      emergence of a dichotomy of venom compositions within Micrurus, in some cases
      observed even among sympatric species that inhabit relatively small geographic
      areas, represents a puzzling and challenging area of research which warrants
      further studies.

PMID- 27641751
TI  - Isolation and biochemical characterization of a gamma-type phospholipase A2
      inhibitor from Macropisthodon rudis snake serum.
AB  - A novel phospholipaseA2 (PLA2) inhibitory protein (PLI) was purified from the
      serum of Macropisthodon rudis, a non-venomous snake mainly found in southern
      China. The molecular mass of the purified PLI was 160 kDa as determined by
      Superdex 200HR; however, the PLI protein had only one subunit of 25.4 kDa as
      determined by 12% SDS-PAGE, indicating an oligomeric protein. PLI cDNA obtained
      by PCR from the liver of Macropisthodon rudis, revealed 549 bps coding for a
      mature protein of 183 amino acid residues. Based on an amino acid sequence
      alignment with venomous and non-venomous snakes, this inhibitor was determined to
      be in the gamma type family of PLI. In vitro experiments showed that PLIgamma
      inhibited enzymatic, inflammatory, and antibacterial activities of snake venom
      PLA2 isolated from Agkistrodon acutus.

PMID- 27641750
TI  - Expression, purification, and analysis of three recombinant ECD disintegrins (r
      colombistatins) from P-III class snake venom metalloproteinases affecting
      platelet aggregation and SK-MEL-28 cell adhesion.
AB  - Crotalid venoms are rich sources of components that affect the hemostatic system.
      Snake venom metalloproteinases are zinc-dependent enzymes responsible for
      hemorrhage that also interfere with hemostasis. The disintegrin domain is a part
      of snake venom metalloproteinases, which involves the binding of integrin
      receptors. Integrins play an essential role in cancer survival and invasion, and
      they have been major targets for drug development and design. Both native and
      recombinant disintegrins have been widely investigated for their anti-cancer
      activities in biological systems as well as in vitro and in vivo systems. Here,
      three new cDNAs encoding ECD disintegrin-like domains of metalloproteinase
      precursor sequences obtained from a Venezuelan mapanare (Bothrops colombiensis)
      venom gland cDNA library have been cloned. Three different N- and C-terminal
      truncated ECD disintegrin-like domains of metalloproteinases named colombistatins
      2, 3, and 4 were amplified by PCR, cloned into a pGEX-4T-1 vector, expressed in
      Escherichia coli BL21, and tested for inhibition of platelet aggregation and
      inhibition of adhesion of human skin melanoma (SK-Mel-28) cancer cell lines on
      collagen I. Purified recombinant colombistatins 2, 3, and 4 were able to inhibit
      ristocetin- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. r-Colombistatins 2 showed
      the most potent inhibiting SK-Mel-28 cancer cells adhesion to collagen. These
      results suggest that colombistatins may have utility in the development of
      therapeutic tools in the treatment of melanoma cancers and also thrombotic
      diseases.

PMID- 27641752
TI  - iRSpot-DACC: a computational predictor for recombination hot/cold spots
      identification based on dinucleotide-based auto-cross covariance.
AB  - Meiotic recombination presents an uneven distribution across the genome. Genomic
      regions that exhibit at relatively high frequencies of recombination are called
      hotspots, whereas those with relatively low frequencies of recombination are
      called coldspots. Therefore, hotspots and coldspots would provide useful
      information for the study of the mechanism of recombination. In this study, we
      proposed a computational predictor called iRSpot-DACC to predict hot/cold spots
      across the yeast genome. It combined Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and a feature
      called dinucleotide-based auto-cross covariance (DACC), which is able to
      incorporate the global sequence-order information and fifteen local DNA
      properties into the predictor. Combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA),
      its performance was further improved. Experimental results on a benchmark dataset
      showed that iRSpot-DACC can achieve an accuracy of 82.7%, outperforming some
      highly related methods.

PMID- 27641754
TI  - Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: systemic spread is rare while cutaneous
      relapses and secondary malignancies are frequent.

PMID- 27641753
TI  - Thymus vulgaris alleviates UVB irradiation induced skin damage via inhibition of
      MAPK/AP-1 and activation of Nrf2-ARE antioxidant system.
AB  - Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced reactive oxidative species is mainly
      responsible for the development of photoageing. Rosmarinic acid was one of the
      main bioactive components detected in Thymus vulgaris (TV) we extracted. In this
      study, UVB-induced skin damages have been shown to be ameliorated by treatment
      with TV in hairless mice (HR-1) skin, demonstrated by decreased matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) and increased collagen production. However, the
      underlying molecular mechanism on which TV acted was unclear. We examined the
      photoprotective effects of TV against UVB and elucidated the molecular mechanism
      in normal human dermal fibroblasts. Thymus vulgaris remarkably prevented the UVB
      induced reactive oxygen species and lactate dehydrogenase. Dose-dependent
      increase in glutathione, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase1 and heme oxygenase-1,
      by TV was confirmed by increased nuclear accumulation of Nrf2. Furthermore, 5
      Methoxyindole-2-carboxylic acid was introduced as a specific inhibitor of
      dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (DLD). We demonstrated that Nrf2 expression was
      regulated by DLD, which was a tricarboxylic acid cycle-associated protein that
      decreased after UVB exposure. Besides, TV significantly diminished UVB induced
      phosphorylation of mitogen activated protein kinases pathway, containing
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase, Jun N-terminal kinase and p38, which
      consequently reduced phosphorylated c-fos and c-jun. Our results suggest that TV
      is a potential botanical agent for use against UV radiation-induced oxidative
      stress mediated skin damages.

PMID- 27641755
TI  - Addition of adjuvant progesterone to physical-exam-indicated cervical cerclage to
      prevent preterm birth.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of vaginal progesterone as an
      adjuvant therapy to physical-exam-indicated cervical cerclage (PEICC). METHODS:
      This retrospective cohort study included 53 consecutive singleton women who
      underwent PEICC because of acute cervical insufficiency at 17-24 gestational
      weeks. The study population was divided into two groups: the adjuvant
      progesterone group (n = 18) and the non-adjuvant group (n = 35). A 200-mg dose of
      vaginal micronized natural progesterone was administered after cerclage in the
      adjuvant progesterone group. Primary outcome measure was spontaneous preterm
      birth (SPTB) at <36 weeks. RESULTS: The SPTB rate at <36 weeks in the adjuvant
      group was significantly lower than in the non-adjuvant group (17% vs 51%, P <
      0.05). Adjuvant progesterone therapy was significantly associated with a
      reduction in SPTB at <36 weeks (adjusted odds ratio, 0.12; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.02-0.69, P < 0.05) even after adjusting for known covariates,
      including a visible membrane size of >=4 cm, gestational age, prior SPTB, and use
      of amnioreduction. The frequency of SPTB at <32 weeks, birthweight < 2500 g, and
      neonatal intensive care unit admission was significantly lower in the adjuvant
      progesterone group than in the non-adjuvant group (P < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSION:
      Adjuvant vaginal progesterone therapy with PEICC was associated with reductions
      in SPTB, low birthweight, and neonatal intensive care unit admission.

PMID- 27641756
TI  - WITHDRAWN: C1qTNF related protein 4 (CTRP4) promotes pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma cell proliferation and migration via activation of EGFR-PI3K-NF
      kappaB pathway.
AB  - In this study, the role of C1qTNF related protein 4 (CTRP4) in the progression of
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) was explored. We found that, compared
      with the adjacent non-cancerous tissues and normal pancreatic cells, CTRP4 was
      markedly upregulated in human PDAC tissues and cell lines. CTRP4 siRNA or pcDNA
      CTRP4 expression vectors were transfected into PANC-1 PDAC cells. CTRP4 knockdown
      sharply reduced IL-8 secretion, causing inactivation of EGFR/PI3K/NF-kappaB, and
      suppressing the proliferation and migration of PANC-1 cells. In contrast, CTRP4
      overexpression increased IL-8 secretion and EGFR/PI3K/NF-kappaB activation, thus
      promoting cell proliferation and migration. Our data also revealed that IL-8 had
      a positive effect on cell proliferation and migration, as well as EGFR/PI3K/NF
      kappaB activation. Moreover, CTRP4 overexpression and IL-8 stimulus did not alter
      PANC-1 cell proliferation and migration when the cells were pretreated with EGFR
      inhibitor PD153035 or PI3K inhibitor LY294002.

PMID- 27641757
TI  - Low-grade endotoxemia and platelet activation in cirrhosis.
AB  - : Patients with cirrhosis may display impaired or enhanced platelet activation,
      but the reasons for these equivocal findings are unclear. We investigated if
      bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is implicated in platelet activation. In a
      cross-sectional study, conducted in an ambulatory care clinic and hospital,
      comparing 69 cirrhosis patients and 30 controls matched for sex, age, and
      atherosclerotic risk factors, serum levels of LPS, soluble cluster of
      differentiation 40 ligand and p-selectin (two markers of platelet activation),
      and zonulin (a marker of gut permeability) were investigated. Ex vivo and in
      vitro studies were also performed to explore the effect of LPS on platelet
      activation. Compared to controls, cirrhosis patients displayed higher serum
      levels of LPS (6.0 [4.0-17.5] versus 57.4 [43.4-87.2] pg/mL, P < 0.0001), soluble
      cluster of differentiation 40 ligand (7.0 +/- 2.2 versus 24.4 +/- 13.3 ng/mL, P <
      0.0001), soluble p-selectin (14.2 +/- 4.05 versus 33.2 +/- 15.2 ng/mL, P <
      0.0001), and zonulin (1.87 +/- 0.84 versus 2.54 +/- 0.94 ng/mL, P < 0.006). LPS
      significantly correlated with zonulin (r = 0.45, P < 0.001). Ex vivo studies
      showed that platelets from cirrhosis patients were more responsive to the
      agonists independently from platelet count; this phenomenon was blunted by
      incubation with an inhibitor of Toll-like receptor 4. In vitro study by normal
      platelets showed that LPS alone (50-150 pg/mL) did not stimulate platelets but
      amplified platelet response to the agonists; Toll-like receptor 4 inhibitor
      blunted this effect. CONCLUSION: LPS may be responsible for platelet activation
      and potentially contributes to thrombotic complications occurring in cirrhosis.
      (Hepatology 2017;65:571-581).

PMID- 27641759
TI  - Model Lung Surfactant Films: Why Composition Matters.
AB  - Lung surfactant replacement therapies, Survanta and Infasurf, and two lipid-only
      systems both containing saturated and unsaturated phospholipids and one
      containing additional palmitic acid were used to study the impact of buffered
      saline on the surface activity, morphology, rheology, and structure of Langmuir
      monolayer model membranes. Isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy show that
      buffered saline subphases induce a film expansion, except when the cationic
      protein, SP-B, is present in sufficient quantities to already screen
      electrostatic repulsion, thus limiting the effect of changing pH and adding
      counterions. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction results indicate an expansion
      not only of the liquid expanded phase but also an expansion of the lattice of the
      condensed phase. The film expansion corresponded in all cases with a significant
      reduction in the viscosity and elasticity of the films. The viscoelastic
      parameters are dominated by liquid expanded phase properties and do not appear to
      be dependent on the structure of the condensed phase domains in a phase separated
      film. The results highlight that the choice of subphase and film composition is
      important for meaningful interpretations of measurements using model systems.

PMID- 27641758
TI  - Gene expression profiling of CD8+ T cells induced by ovarian cancer cells
      suggests a possible mechanism for CD8+ Treg cell production.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate a possible mechanism of CD8+
      regulatory T-cell (Treg) production in an ovarian cancer (OC) microenvironment.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Agilent microarray was used to detect changes in gene
      expression between CD8+ T cells cultured with and without the SKOV3 ovarian
      adenocarcinoma cell line. QRT-PCR was performed to determine glycolysis gene
      expression in CD8+ T cells from a transwell culturing system and OC patients. We
      also detected protein levels of glycolysis-related genes using Western blot
      analysis. RESULTS: Comparing gene expression profiles revealed significant
      differences in expression levels of 1420 genes, of which 246 were up-regulated
      and 1174 were down-regulated. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and
      Genomes analysis indicated that biological processes altered in CD8+ Treg are
      particularly associated with energy metabolism. CD8+ Treg cells induced by co
      culture with SKOV3 had lower glycolysis gene expression compared to CD8+ T cells
      cultured alone. Glycolysis gene expression was also decreased in the CD8+ T cells
      of OC patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide a comprehensive
      bioinformatics analysis of DEGs in CD8+ T cells cultured with and without SKOV3
      and suggests that metabolic processes may be a possible mechanism for CD8+ Treg
      induction.

PMID- 27641760
TI  - Chemical Composition of Aerosol from an E-Cigarette: A Quantitative Comparison
      with Cigarette Smoke.
AB  - There is interest in the relative toxicities of emissions from electronic
      cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes. Lists of cigarette smoke priority toxicants
      have been developed to focus regulatory initiatives. However, a comprehensive
      assessment of e-cigarette chemical emissions including all tobacco smoke Harmful
      and Potentially Harmful Constituents, and additional toxic species reportedly
      present in e-cigarette emissions, is lacking. We examined 150 chemical emissions
      from an e-cigarette (Vype ePen), a reference tobacco cigarette (Ky3R4F), and
      laboratory air/method blanks. All measurements were conducted by a contract
      research laboratory using ISO 17025 accredited methods. The data show that it is
      essential to conduct laboratory air/method measurements when measuring e
      cigarette emissions, owing to the combination of low emissions and the associated
      impact of laboratory background that can lead to false-positive results and
      overestimates. Of the 150 measurands examined in the e-cigarette aerosol, 104
      were not detected and 21 were present due to laboratory background. Of the 25
      detected aerosol constituents, 9 were present at levels too low to be quantified
      and 16 were generated in whole or in part by the e-cigarette. These comprised
      major e-liquid constituents (nicotine, propylene glycol, and glycerol),
      recognized impurities in Pharmacopoeia-quality nicotine, and eight thermal
      decomposition products of propylene glycol or glycerol. By contrast,
      approximately 100 measurands were detected in mainstream cigarette smoke.
      Depending on the regulatory list considered and the puffing regime used, the
      emissions of toxicants identified for regulation were from 82 to >99% lower on a
      per-puff basis from the e-cigarette compared with those from Ky3R4F. Thus, the
      aerosol from the e-cigarette is compositionally less complex than cigarette smoke
      and contains significantly lower levels of toxicants. These data demonstrate that
      e-cigarettes can be developed that offer the potential for substantially reduced
      exposure to cigarette toxicants. Further studies are required to establish
      whether the potential lower consumer exposure to these toxicants will result in
      tangible public health benefits.

PMID- 27641761
TI  - Management of breast carcinoma in ectopic axillary breast tissue.

PMID- 27641762
TI  - Soyamilk fermented with riboflavin-producing Lactobacillus plantarum CRL 2130
      reverts and prevents ariboflavinosis in murine models.
AB  - It has been previously shown that Lactobacillus plantarum CRL 2130 is able to
      produce riboflavin in soyamilk. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the
      efficiency of this riboflavin-bio-enriched soyamilk to revert and/or prevent the
      nutritional deficiency of riboflavin using different animal models. When used to
      supplement the diets of previously depleted animals, it was shown that the
      growth, riboflavin status and morphology of the small intestines reverted to
      normal parameters and were similar to animals supplemented with commercial
      riboflavin. In the prevention model, the same tendency was observed, where
      animals that received soyamilk fermented with L. plantarum CRL 2130 did not show
      signs of riboflavin deficiency. This new bio-fortified soya-based product could
      be used as part of normal diets to provide a more natural alternative to
      mandatory fortification with riboflavin for the prevention of its deficiency.

PMID- 27641763
TI  - [Contribution of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of pulmonary dragging].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bronchoscopy is recommended into the exploration of chronic lung
      diseases. This one is expensive and invasive. We conducted this study in order to
      assess the benefit of the bronchoscopy in the etiologic diagnosis of chronic lung
      diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was retrospective, descriptive and
      analytical, using medical records of outpatients and in patients who has done the
      bronchoscopy in Pneumology Clinic, Fann hospital, Dakar from January 2010 to
      December 2014. RESULTS: We have reported 159 cases. The sex ratio was 2.2. Middle
      age was 44 years. Fever was found in 32.7%. Alveolar syndrome was found in 64.8%.
      The white blood cells (WBC) were normal in 80.7%. Bronchoscopy was contributive
      in 74.1%. Specimen analysis isolated banals germs in 69.2%, mainly bacteria in
      51.6%. Parasitology of the fluid of broncho-alveolar lavage was positive in
      28.6%. CONCLUSION: Bronchoscopy stills a use full exploration while diagnosing
      chronic lung diseases. It should be systematic in chronic lung diseases with or
      not fever, this, when sputum microscopy a sputum PCR are negative.

PMID- 27641764
TI  - A-type Lamins Form Distinct Filamentous Networks with Differential Nuclear Pore
      Complex Associations.
AB  - The nuclear lamina is a universal feature of metazoan nuclear envelopes (NEs)
      [1]. In mammalian cells, it appears as a 10-30 nm filamentous layer at the
      nuclear face of the inner nuclear membrane (INM) and is composed primarily of A-
      and B-type lamins, members of the intermediate filament family [2]. While
      providing structural integrity to the NE, the lamina also represents an important
      signaling and regulatory platform [3]. Two A-type lamin isoforms, lamins A and C
      (LaA and LaC), are expressed in most adult human cells. Encoded by a single gene,
      these proteins are largely identical, diverging only in their C-terminal tail
      domains. By contrast with that of LaC, the unique LaA tail undergoes extensive
      processing, including farnesylation and endo-proteolysis [4, 5]. However,
      functional differences between LaA and LaC are still unclear. Compounding this
      uncertainty, the structure of the lamina remains ill defined. In this study, we
      used BioID, an in vivo proximity-labeling method to identify differential
      interactors of A-type lamins [6]. One of these, Tpr, a nuclear pore complex (NPC)
      protein, is highlighted by its selective association with LaC. By employing
      superresolution microscopy, we demonstrate that this Tpr association is mirrored
      in enhanced interaction of LaC with NPCs. Further superresolution studies
      visualizing both endogenous A- and B-type lamins have allowed us to construct a
      nanometer-scale model of the mammalian nuclear lamina. Our data indicate that
      different A- and B-type lamin species assemble into separate filament networks
      that together form an extended composite structure at the nuclear periphery
      providing attachment sites for NPCs, thereby regulating their distribution.

PMID- 27641765
TI  - Progressive Decrease of Mitochondrial Motility during Maturation of Cortical
      Axons In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - The importance of mitochondria for neuronal function is evident by the large
      number of neurodegenerative diseases that have been associated with a disruption
      of mitochondrial function or transport (reviewed in [1, 2]). Mitochondria are
      essential for proper biological function as a result of their ability to produce
      ATP through oxidative phosphorylation, buffer cytoplasmic calcium, regulate lipid
      biosynthesis, and trigger apoptosis (reviewed in [2]). Efficient transport of
      mitochondria is thought to be particularly important in neurons in light of their
      compartmentalization, length of axonal processes, and high-energy requirements
      (reviewed in [3]). However, the majority of these results were obtained using
      short-term, in vitro neuronal culture models, and very little is currently known
      about mitochondrial dynamics in mature axons of the mammalian CNS in vitro or in
      vivo. Furthermore, recent evidence has demonstrated that mitochondrial
      immobilization at specific points along the axon, such as presynaptic boutons,
      play critical roles in axon morphogenesis [4, 5]. We report that as cortical
      axons mature, motility of mitochondria (but not other cargoes) is dramatically
      reduced and this coincides with increased localization to presynaptic sites. We
      also demonstrate using photo-conversion that in vitro mature axons display
      surprisingly limited long-range mitochondrial transport. Finally, using in vivo
      two-photon microscopy in anesthetized or awake-behaving mice, we document for the
      first time that mitochondrial motility is also remarkably low in distal cortical
      axons in vivo. These results argue that mitochondrial immobilization and
      presynaptic localization are important hallmarks of mature CNS axons both in
      vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27641766
TI  - Mitochondrial Dynamics in Visual Cortex Are Limited In Vivo and Not Affected by
      Axonal Structural Plasticity.
AB  - Mitochondria buffer intracellular Ca2+ and provide energy [1]. Because synaptic
      structures with high Ca2+ buffering [2-4] or energy demand [5] are often
      localized far away from the soma, mitochondria are actively transported to these
      sites [6-11]. Also, the removal and degradation of mitochondria are tightly
      regulated [9, 12, 13], because dysfunctional mitochondria are a source of
      reactive oxygen species, which can damage the cell [14]. Deficits in
      mitochondrial trafficking have been proposed to contribute to the pathogenesis of
      Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, optic atrophy,
      and Alzheimer's disease [13, 15-19]. In neuronal cultures, about a third of
      mitochondria are motile, whereas the majority remains stationary for several days
      [8, 20]. Activity-dependent mechanisms cause mitochondria to stop at synaptic
      sites [7, 8, 20, 21], which affects synapse function and maintenance. Reducing
      mitochondrial content in dendrites decreases spine density [22, 23], whereas
      increasing mitochondrial content or activity increases it [7]. These
      bidirectional interactions between synaptic activity and mitochondrial
      trafficking suggest that mitochondria may regulate synaptic plasticity. Here we
      investigated the dynamics of mitochondria in relation to axonal boutons of
      neocortical pyramidal neurons for the first time in vivo. We find that under
      these circumstances practically all mitochondria are stationary, both during
      development and in adulthood. In adult visual cortex, mitochondria are
      preferentially localized at putative boutons, where they remain for several days.
      Retinal-lesion-induced cortical plasticity increases turnover of putative boutons
      but leaves mitochondrial turnover unaffected. We conclude that in visual cortex
      in vivo, mitochondria are less dynamic than in vitro, and that structural
      plasticity does not affect mitochondrial dynamics.

PMID- 27641767
TI  - 3D Camouflage in an Ornithischian Dinosaur.
AB  - Countershading was one of the first proposed mechanisms of camouflage [1, 2]. A
      dark dorsum and light ventrum counteract the gradient created by illumination
      from above, obliterating cues to 3D shape [3-6]. Because the optimal
      countershading varies strongly with light environment [7-9], pigmentation
      patterns give clues to an animal's habitat. Indeed, comparative evidence from
      ungulates [9] shows that interspecific variation in countershading matches
      predictions: in open habitats, where direct overhead sunshine dominates, a sharp
      dark-light color transition high up the body is evident; in closed habitats
      (e.g., under forest canopy), diffuse illumination dominates and a smoother
      dorsoventral gradation is found. We can apply this approach to extinct animals in
      which the preservation of fossil melanin allows reconstruction of coloration [10
      15]. Here we present a study of an exceptionally well-preserved specimen of
      Psittacosaurus sp. from the Chinese Jehol biota [16, 17]. This Psittacosaurus was
      countershaded [16] with a light underbelly and tail, whereas the chest was more
      pigmented. Other patterns resemble disruptive camouflage, whereas the chin and
      jugal bosses on the face appear dark. We projected the color patterns onto an
      anatomically accurate life-size model in order to assess their function
      experimentally. The patterns are compared to the predicted optimal countershading
      from the measured radiance patterns generated on an identical uniform gray model
      in direct versus diffuse illumination. These studies suggest that Psittacosaurus
      sp. inhabited a closed habitat such as a forest with a relatively dense canopy.
      VIDEO ABSTRACT.

PMID- 27641768
TI  - Zooplankton Gut Passage Mobilizes Lithogenic Iron for Ocean Productivity.
AB  - Iron is an essential nutrient for phytoplankton, but low concentrations limit
      primary production and associated atmospheric carbon drawdown in large parts of
      the world's oceans [1, 2]. Lithogenic particles deriving from aeolian dust
      deposition, glacial runoff, or river discharges can form an important source if
      the attached iron becomes dissolved and therefore bioavailable [3-5]. Acidic
      digestion by zooplankton is a potential mechanism for iron mobilization [6], but
      evidence is lacking. Here we show that Antarctic krill sampled near glacial
      outlets at the island of South Georgia (Southern Ocean) ingest large amounts of
      lithogenic particles and contain 3-fold higher iron concentrations in their
      muscle than specimens from offshore, which confirms mineral dissolution in their
      guts. About 90% of the lithogenic and biogenic iron ingested by krill is passed
      into their fecal pellets, which contain ~5-fold higher proportions of labile
      (reactive) iron than intact diatoms. The mobilized iron can be released in
      dissolved form directly from krill or via multiple pathways involving microbes,
      other zooplankton, and krill predators. This can deliver substantial amounts of
      bioavailable iron and contribute to the fertilization of coastal waters and the
      ocean beyond. In line with our findings, phytoplankton blooms downstream of South
      Georgia are more intensive and longer lasting during years with high krill
      abundance on-shelf. Thus, krill crop phytoplankton but boost new production via
      their nutrient supply. Understanding and quantifying iron mobilization by
      zooplankton is essential to predict ocean productivity in a warming climate where
      lithogenic iron inputs from deserts, glaciers, and rivers are increasing [7-10].

PMID- 27641769
TI  - Can We Sustainably Harvest Ivory?
AB  - Despite the 1989 ivory trade ban, elephants continue to be killed to harvest
      their tusks for ivory. Since 2008, this poaching has increased to unprecedented
      levels driven by consumer demand for ivory products. CITES is now considering the
      development of a legal ivory trade [1, 2]. The proposal relies on three
      assumptions: (1) harvest regulation will cease all illegal activities, (2)
      defined sustainable quotas can be enforced, and (3) we can define meaningful
      sustainable quotas that come close to the current demand. We know that regulation
      of harvest does not stop illegal takes. Despite whaling regulation after World
      War II, illegal whaling continued for decades [3]. The introduction of wolf culls
      in the US actually increased poaching activities [4], and one-off ivory sales in
      1999 and 2008 did nothing to halt elephant poaching. Governance issues over the
      ivory supply chains, including stockpiling, make enforcing quotas challenging, if
      not impossible [5, 6]. We have not yet adequately assessed what could be a
      sustainable ivory yield. To do so, we develop a compartmental model composed of a
      two-sex age-structured demographic model and an ivory production and harvest
      model. We applied several offtake and quota strategies to define how much ivory
      could be sustainably harvested. We found that the sustainability space is very
      small. Only 100 to 150 kg of ivory could be removed from a reference population
      of 1,360 elephants, levels well below the current demand. Our study shows that
      lifting the ivory ban will not address the current poaching challenge. We should
      instead focus on reducing consumer demand.

PMID- 27641770
TI  - Fecal-Derived Phenol Induces Egg-Laying Aversion in Drosophila.
AB  - Feces is an abundant, rich source of energy, utilized by a myriad of organisms,
      not least by members of the order Diptera, i.e., flies. How Drosophila
      melanogaster reacts to fecal matter remains unclear. Here, we examined
      oviposition behavior toward a range of fecal samples from mammals native to the
      putative Southeast African homeland of the fly. We show that D. melanogaster
      display a strong oviposition aversion toward feces from carnivorous mammals but
      indifference or even attraction toward herbivore dung. We identify a set of four
      predictor volatiles, which can be used to differentiate fecal from non-fecal
      matter, as well as separate carnivore from herbivore feces. Of these volatiles,
      phenol-indicative of carnivore feces-confers egg-laying aversion and is detected
      by a single class of sensory neurons expressing Or46a. The Or46a-expressing
      neurons are necessary and sufficient for oviposition site aversion. We further
      demonstrate that carnivore feces-unlike herbivore dung-contain a high rate of
      pathogenic bacteria taxa. These harmful bacteria produce phenol from L-tyrosine,
      an amino acid specifically enriched in high protein diets, such as consumed by
      carnivores. Finally, we demonstrate that carnivore feces, as well as phenol, is
      also avoided by a ball-rolling species of dung beetle, suggesting that phenol is
      a widespread avoidance signal because of its association with pathogenic
      bacteria.

PMID- 27641771
TI  - The Deep Origin and Recent Loss of Venom Toxin Genes in Rattlesnakes.
AB  - The genetic origin of novel traits is a central but challenging puzzle in
      evolutionary biology. Among snakes, phospholipase A2 (PLA2)-related toxins have
      evolved in different lineages to function as potent neurotoxins, myotoxins, or
      hemotoxins. Here, we traced the genomic origin and evolution of PLA2 toxins by
      examining PLA2 gene number, organization, and expression in both neurotoxic and
      non-neurotoxic rattlesnakes. We found that even though most North American
      rattlesnakes do not produce neurotoxins, the genes of a specialized heterodimeric
      neurotoxin predate the origin of rattlesnakes and were present in their last
      common ancestor (~22 mya). The neurotoxin genes were then deleted independently
      in the lineages leading to the Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox) and Eastern
      Diamondback (C. adamanteus) rattlesnakes (~6 mya), while a PLA2 myotoxin gene
      retained in C. atrox was deleted from the neurotoxic Mojave rattlesnake (C.
      scutulatus; ~4 mya). The rapid evolution of PLA2 gene number appears to be due to
      transposon invasion that provided a template for non-allelic homologous
      recombination.

PMID- 27641772
TI  - Immunity to Rice Blast Disease by Suppression of Effector-Triggered Necrosis.
AB  - Hemibiotrophic pathogens are some of the most destructive plant pathogens,
      causing huge economic losses and threatening global food security. Infection with
      these organisms often involves an initial biotrophic infection phase, during
      which the pathogen spreads in host tissue asymptomatically, followed by a
      necrotrophic phase, during which host-cell death is induced. How hemibiotrophic
      pathogens trigger host necrosis and how plants inhibit the transition from the
      biotrophic stage to the necrotrophic stage in disease symptom expression are
      mainly unknown. The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae spreads in rice
      biotrophically early during infection, but this biotrophic stage is followed by a
      pronounced switch to cell death and lesion formation. Here, we show that the M.
      oryzae effector AvrPiz-t interacts with the bZIP-type transcription factor APIP5
      in the cytoplasm and suppresses its transcriptional activity and protein
      accumulation at the necrotrophic stage. Silencing of APIP5 in transgenic rice
      leads to cell death, and the phenotype is enhanced by the expression of AvrPiz-t.
      Conversely, Piz-t interacts with and stabilizes APIP5 to prevent necrosis at the
      necrotrophic stage. At the same time, APIP5 is essential for Piz-t stability.
      These results demonstrate a novel mechanism for the suppression of effector
      triggered necrosis at the necrotrophic stage by an NLR receptor in plants.

PMID- 27641773
TI  - Symbiotic Fungi Control Plant Root Cortex Development through the Novel GRAS
      Transcription Factor MIG1.
AB  - In an approaching scenario of soil nutrient depletion, root association with soil
      microorganisms can be key for plant health and sustainability [1-3]. Symbiotic
      arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are major players in helping plants growing
      under nutrient starvation conditions. They provide plants with minerals like
      phosphate and, furthermore, act as modulators of plant growth altering the root
      developmental program [4, 5]. However, the precise mechanisms involved in this
      latter process are not well understood. Here, we show that AM fungi are able to
      modulate root cortex development in Medicago truncatula by activating a novel
      GRAS-domain transcription factor, MIG1, that determines the size of cortical root
      cells. MIG1 expression peaks in arbuscule-containing cells, suggesting a role in
      cell remodeling during fungal accommodation. Roots ectopically expressing MIG1
      become thicker due to an increase in the number and width of cortical cells. This
      phenotype is fully counteracted by gibberellin (GA) and phenocopied with a GA
      biosynthesis inhibitor or by expression of a dominant DELLA (Delta18DELLA1)
      protein. MIG1 downregulation leads to malformed arbuscules, a phenotype rescued
      by Delta18DELLA1, suggesting that MIG1 intersects with the GA signaling to
      control cell morphogenesis through DELLA1. DELLA1 was shown to be a central node
      controlling arbuscule branching [6-8]. Now we provide evidence that, together
      with MIG1, DELLA1 is responsible for radial cortical cell expansion during
      arbuscule development. Our data point toward DELLA proteins being not only
      longitudinal root growth repressors [9] but also positive regulators of cortical
      radial cell expansion, extending the knowledge of how DELLAs control root growth.

PMID- 27641774
TI  - Aroma Constituents in Shanxi Aged Vinegar before and after Aging.
AB  - Shanxi aged vinegar is one of the most famous Chinese traditional cereal vinegars
      produced by spontaneous solid-state fermentation. However, the aroma composition
      of Shanxi aged vinegar is still ambiguous. The Shanxi vinegars before and after
      aging were both analyzed by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation combined with gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as gas chromatography
      olfactometry (GC-O) in aroma extract dilution analysis. A total of 87 odor-active
      regions were found by GC-O, and 80 odor-active compounds were identified. By GC
      MS/MS, in selected reaction monitoring mode, 30 important identifications were
      quantitated using authentic standards. In comparison, the aroma molecules for the
      vinegars before and after aging were almost the same; only their levels were
      altered, with mostly the esters and some compounds that produce pungent smells
      being lost and the levels of those from the Maillard reaction, especially the
      pyrazines (e.g., tetramethylpyrazine), being greatly increased. As for the aged
      vinegar, the compounds found to have high flavor dilution factors (>128) were 3
      (methylthio)propanal, vanillin, 2,3-butanedione, tetramethylpyrazine, 3
      methylbutanoic acid, gamma-nonalactone, guaiacol, 3-(methylthio)propyl acetate,
      dimethyl trisulfide, phenylacetaldehyde, 2-ethyl-6-methylpyrazine, 2
      acetylpyrazine, 2,3-dimethylpyrazine, furfural, and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone.
      However, the aroma compounds found at high concentrations (>25 MUg/L) in the aged
      vinegar were acetic acid, followed by 2,3-butanedione, furfural, 3-hydroxy-2
      butanone, tetramethylpyrazine, furfuryl alcohol, and 3-methylbutanoic acid.

PMID- 27641775
TI  - Neonate with Mycoplasma hominis meningoencephalitis given moxifloxacin.
AB  - Mycoplasma hominis is a commensal organism in the genitourinary tract that can
      cause life-threatening CNS infections in neonates after intrauterine infection or
      through vertical transmission during birth. We present a case of an 11-day-old
      neonate presenting with fever and supporting laboratory evidence of a CNS
      infection. No systemic maternal infection or maternal genitourinary tract
      infection occurred at the time of delivery. Empirical treatment was initiated,
      consisting of amoxicillin, cefotaxime, and aciclovir. After clinical
      deterioration, 16S ribosomal DNA PCR in cerebrospinal fluid detected M hominis,
      antibiotic treatment was switched to moxifloxacin, and pharmacokinetic data were
      obtained. This Grand Round illustrates the challenges that exist in the diagnosis
      and treatment of M hominis meningoencephalitis: bacterial cultures are often
      negative and recommended empirical antimicrobials do not provide adequate
      antimicrobial coverage. Optimal antimicrobial treatment regimens for M hominis
      meningoencephalitis are unknown. Although we describe successful treatment of a
      neonate with a complicated M hominis meningoencephalitis with moxifloxacin,
      caution with fluoroquinolone monotherapy (including moxifloxacin) has to be taken
      into account because resistance to fluoroquinolones has previously been
      described.

PMID- 27641776
TI  - More pieces to the microcephaly-Zika virus puzzle in Brazil.

PMID- 27641777
TI  - Association between Zika virus infection and microcephaly in Brazil, January to
      May, 2016: preliminary report of a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The microcephaly epidemic, which started in Brazil in 2015, was
      declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO in 2016. We
      report the preliminary results of a case-control study investigating the
      association between microcephaly and Zika virus infection during pregnancy.
      METHODS: We did this case-control study in eight public hospitals in Recife,
      Brazil. Cases were neonates with microcephaly. Two controls (neonates without
      microcephaly), matched by expected date of delivery and area of residence, were
      selected for each case. Serum samples of cases and controls and cerebrospinal
      fluid samples of cases were tested for Zika virus-specific IgM and by
      quantitative RT-PCR. Laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection during pregnancy
      was defined as detection of Zika virus-specific IgM or a positive RT-PCR result
      in neonates. Maternal serum samples were tested by plaque reduction
      neutralisation assay for Zika virus and dengue virus. We estimated crude odds
      ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs using a median unbiased estimator for binary data in an
      unconditional logistic regression model. We estimated ORs separately for cases
      with and without radiological evidence of brain abnormalities. FINDINGS: Between
      Jan 15, 2016, and May 2, 2016, we prospectively recruited 32 cases and 62
      controls. 24 (80%) of 30 mothers of cases had Zika virus infection compared with
      39 (64%) of 61 mothers of controls (p=0.12). 13 (41%) of 32 cases and none of 62
      controls had laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection; crude overall OR 55.5
      (95% CI 8.6-infinity); OR 113.3 (95% CI 14.5-infinity) for seven cases with brain
      abnormalities; and OR 24.7 (95% CI 2.9-infinity) for four cases without brain
      abnormalities. INTERPRETATION: Our data suggest that the microcephaly epidemic is
      a result of congenital Zika virus infection. We await further data from this
      ongoing study to assess other potential risk factors and to confirm the strength
      of association in a larger sample size. FUNDING: Brazilian Ministry of Health,
      Pan American Health Organization, and Enhancing Research Activity in Epidemic
      Situations.

PMID- 27641778
TI  - MRI of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients: comparison with CT.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pneumonia is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in
      immunocompromised patients. Computed tomography (CT) is the most sensitive
      imaging modality for the diagnosis and surveillance of these patients. Since CT
      exposes the patient to ionizing radiation, we investigated the utility of
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis and surveillance of
      immunocompromised patients with pneumonia. METHODS: The study included 40
      immunocompromised patients with pneumonia documented on CT. The patients were
      examined by MRI within 48 hours of CT examination. All images were obtained with
      three different sequences: balanced fast field echo, T1-weighted turbo spin-echo
      (TSE), and T2-weighted TSE. Lung abnormalities were evaluated using CT and MRI.
      RESULTS: Infection was determined in 36 patients (90%), while the causative
      organism remained unknown in four patients (10%). In all the patients, the CT
      findings were consistent with infection, although three patients showed no
      abnormal findings on MRI. CT was superior to MRI in the detection of the tree-in
      bud nodules, centrilobular nodules, and halo sign (P < 0.001, for all). A
      significant difference was observed between the MRI sequences and CT in terms of
      the number of detected nodules (P < 0.001). The nodule detection rate of MRI
      significantly increased in proportion to the size of the nodule (P < 0.001). All
      MRI sequences had almost perfect agreement with CT for the detection of
      consolidation (k=0.950, P < 0.001), patchy increased density (k=1, P < 0.001),
      pleural effusion (k=0.870, P < 0.001), pericardial effusion (k=1, P < 0.001),
      reverse halo sign, (k=1 P < 0.001), 10-20 mm, nodules (k=0.896, P < 0.001 for CT
      and B-FFE; k=0.948, P < 0.001 for CT and T1- or T2-weighted imaging) 10-20 mm,
      >20 mm nodules (k=0.844, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although CT is superior to MRI
      in the diagnosis of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients, MRI is an important
      imaging modality that can be used, particularly in the follow-up of these
      patients, thus decreasing to avoid ionizing radiation exposure.

PMID- 27641779
TI  - Contemporary issues regarding nutrition in cardiovascular rehabilitation.
AB  - In this article, we discuss certain contemporary and controversial topics in
      cardiovascular (CV) nutrition including recent data regarding the health benefits
      of the Mediterranean diet, the role of saturated fatty acids, red meat and the
      microbiome in CV disease and the current role of personalized CV nutrition.
      Findings from the PREDIMED study now demonstrate the health benefits of the
      Mediterranean diet even in the absence of heart disease. The study highlighted
      that even small, sustained and easily implementable changes to diet can provide
      significant health benefits even in Mediterranean regions. Likewise,
      observational data in secondary prevention show that increased adherence to the
      Mediterranean diet is associated with good long-term clinical outcomes among
      subjects with stable coronary heart disease. The role of saturated fats in the
      development of CV disease remains controversial, although data suggest that these
      fats are associated with modestly increased risk of CV events. In contrast, the
      obesity epidemic currently driving the CV risk worldwide is in large part due to
      excess consumption of refined carbohydrates. Furthermore, a growing body of
      evidence suggests that the intestinal microbiome is highly sensitive to lifestyle
      choices and may play a pivotal role in modulating CV disease development. For
      example, recent evidence linking processed and unprocessed meats to increased CV
      risk pointed to the gut microbial metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide as a
      potential culprit. Finally, given the high interindividual variability in
      response to interventions including diet, personalized nutrition has potential to
      play a major role in tailoring diets based on genetic make-up to maximize health
      benefits. This approach is still in its infancy but is highly promising.

PMID- 27641781
TI  - Continuous glucose monitoring for patients with type 1 diabetes and impaired
      awareness of hypoglycaemia (IN CONTROL): a randomised, open-label, crossover
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with type 1 diabetes who have impaired awareness of
      hypoglycaemia have a three to six times increased risk of severe hypoglycaemia.
      We aimed to assess whether continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) improves glycaemia
      and prevents severe hypoglycaemia compared with self-monitoring of blood glucose
      (SMBG) in this high-risk population. METHODS: We did a randomised, open-label,
      crossover trial (IN CONTROL) at two medical centres in the Netherlands. Eligible
      participants were patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes according to American
      Diabetes Association criteria, aged 18-75 years, with impaired awareness of
      hypoglycaemia as confirmed by a Gold score of at least 4, and treated with either
      continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion or multiple daily insulin injections and
      doing at least three SMBG measurements per day. After screening, re-education
      about diabetes management, and a 6-week run-in phase (to obtain baseline CGM
      data), we randomly assigned patients (1:1) with a computer-generated allocation
      sequence (block size of four) to either 16 weeks of CGM followed by 12 weeks of
      washout and 16 weeks of SMBG, or 16 weeks of SMBG followed by 12 weeks of washout
      and 16 weeks of CGM (where the SMBG phase was the control). During the CGM phase,
      patients used a real-time CGM system consisting of a Paradigm Veo system with a
      MiniLink transmitter and an Enlite glucose sensor (Medtronic, CA, USA). During
      the SMBG phase, patients were equipped with a masked CGM device, consisting of an
      iPro 2 continuous glucose monitor and an Enlite glucose sensor, which does not
      display real-time glucose values. The number of SMBG measurements per day and
      SMBG systems were not standardised between patients, to mimic real-life
      conditions. During both intervention periods, patients attended follow-up visits
      at the centres each month and had telephone consultations 2 weeks after each
      visit inquiring about adverse events, episodes of hypoglycaemia, etc. The primary
      endpoint was the mean difference in percentage of time spent in normoglycaemia (4
      10 mmol/L) over the total intervention periods, analysed on an intention-to-treat
      basis. Severe hypoglycaemia (requiring third party assistance) was a secondary
      endpoint. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01787903.
      FINDINGS: Between March 4, 2013, and Feb 9, 2015, we recruited and randomly
      assigned 52 patients to either the CGM-SMBG sequence (n=26) or the SMBG-CGM
      sequence (n=26). The last patient visit was on March 21, 2016. Time spent in
      normoglycaemia was higher during CGM than during SMBG: 65.0% (95% CI 62.8-67.3)
      versus 55.4% (53.1-57.7; mean difference 9.6%, 95% CI 8.0-11.2; p<0.0001), with
      reductions in both time spent in hypoglycaemia (ie, blood glucose <=3.9 mmol/L
      [6.8% vs 11.4%, mean difference 4.7%, 3.4-5.9; p<0.0001]) and time spent in
      hyperglycaemia (ie, blood glucose >10 mmol/L [28.2% vs 33.2%, mean difference
      5.0%, 3.1-6.9; p<0.0001]). During CGM, the number of severe hypoglycaemic events
      was lower (14 events vs 34 events, p=0.033). Five serious adverse events other
      than severe hypoglycaemia occurred during the trial, but all were deemed
      unrelated to the trial intervention. Additionally, no mild to moderate adverse
      events were related to the trial intervention. INTERPRETATION: CGM increased time
      spent in normoglycaemia and reduced severe hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1
      diabetes and impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia, compared with SMBG. Our results
      support the concept of using CGM in this high-risk population. FUNDING: Eli Lilly
      and Sanofi.

PMID- 27641782
TI  - IN CONTROL of type 1 diabetes, despite hypoglycaemia unawareness.

PMID- 27641783
TI  - Quantification of coronary artery motion and internal risk volume from ECG gated
      radiotherapy planning scans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiotherapy for carcinoma of breast and thoracic structures involves
      inadvertent radiation to heart and coronary arteries (CA). Coronary artery
      stenosis in high radiation dose segments has been documented. Cardiac and
      respiratory motion induced displacement of CA and internal risk volume (IRV)
      margin remains inadequately quantified. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty cases of
      carcinoma breast, lung and lung metastasis were enrolled in this study. ECG gated
      intravenous contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) scans were performed in
      inspiratory breath hold (IBH) and expiratory breath hold (EBH). The images were
      segregated into inspiratory systole (IS), inspiratory diastole (ID), expiratory
      systole (ES) and expiratory diastole (ED) sets. Left anterior descending (LAD),
      limited segment of LAD close to chest wall (short LAD), right coronary artery
      (RCA), Left circumflex artery (LCX) and left ventricle (LV) were delineated in
      all four sets. Mean displacements in systole versus diastole and inspiration
      versus expiration were calculated in three co-ordinates [anterio-posterior (Z),
      left-right (X) and cranio-caudal (Y)]. RESULTS: Mean of displacement (mm) between
      systole and diastole (IS versus ID; and ES versus ED) in X, Y, Z co-ordinates
      were: LAD 3.0(+/-1.6), 2.8(+/-1.5), 3.6(+/-2.0); Short-LAD 3.0(+/-1.1), 0.8(+/
      0.4), 2.4(+/-0.6); LV 2.4(+/-1.6), 1.7(+/-1), 5.0(+/-1.5); LCX 4.9(+/-1.6),
      2.9(+/-1.3), 5.1(+/-1.9); RCA 6.6(+/-2.2), 3.6(+/-2.1), 5.9(+/-2.2). Mean
      displacement between inspiration and expiration (IS versus ES; and ID versus ED)
      in X, Y, Z axes were: LAD 3.3(+/-1.5), 8.0(+/-3.4), 3.8(+/-1.8); Short-LAD 2.7(+/
      1), 12.2(+/-4.4), 3.3(+/-1.5); LV 2.9(+/-1.4), 9.8(+/-3.3), 4.7(+/-1.9); LCX
      2.9(+/-.8), 9.7(+/-3.2), 6.2(+/-2.5); RCA 2.6(+/-1.3), 7.6(+/-2.5), 3.8(+/-1.7).
      CONCLUSION: Radial (RM), cranio-caudal margin (CC) of 7mm, 4mm in breath-hold
      radiotherapy whereas RM, CC of 7mm, 13mm respectively in free breath radiotherapy
      will cover the range of motions of CA, LV and can be recommended as IRV for these
      structures.

PMID- 27641785
TI  - Risk of pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator after radiotherapy
      for early-stage breast cancer in Denmark, 1982-2005.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To examine the risk of cardiac conduction abnormalities
      or severe ventricular arrhythmias requiring implantation of a cardiac implantable
      electronic device (CIED), either a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator, subsequent to breast cancer (BC) radiotherapy (RT). MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: All women treated for early-stage BC in Denmark from 1982 to 2005 were
      identified from the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group. By record linkage to
      the Danish Pacemaker and ICD Registry information was retrieved on CIED implants
      subsequent to RT. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) of CIED implantation were
      estimated for women receiving RT and compared to women not receiving RT for BC.
      Uni- and multivariate Poisson regression models were used to estimate incidence
      rate ratios (IRR) among irradiated women compared to non-irradiated. RESULTS: Of
      44,423 BC patients, 179 had a CIED implanted among 18,251 women who received RT,
      and 401 had a CIED in 26,172 who did not receive RT. The unadjusted IRR was 1.09
      (0.91-1.30 95% CI) for CIED implants among women receiving RT compared to non
      irradiated women and the IRR was 1.13 (0.93-1.38 95% CI) when adjustments were
      made. CONCLUSIONS: BC RT as practiced in Denmark in 1982-2005 did not increase
      the risk of CIED implants. This indicates that RT for BC does not increase the
      risk of severe ventricular arrhythmias or cardiac conduction abnormalities.

PMID- 27641784
TI  - Toward a model-based patient selection strategy for proton therapy: External
      validation of photon-derived normal tissue complication probability models in a
      head and neck proton therapy cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To externally validate head and neck cancer (HNC) photon-derived
      normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models in patients treated with
      proton beam therapy (PBT). METHODS: This prospective cohort consisted of HNC
      patients treated with PBT at a single institution. NTCP models were selected
      based on the availability of data for validation and evaluated by using the leave
      one-out cross-validated area under the curve (AUC) for the receiver operating
      characteristics curve. RESULTS: 192 patients were included. The most prevalent
      tumor site was oropharynx (n=86, 45%), followed by sinonasal (n=28),
      nasopharyngeal (n=27) or parotid (n=27) tumors. Apart from the prediction of
      acute mucositis (reduction of AUC of 0.17), the models overall performed well.
      The validation (PBT) AUC and the published AUC were respectively 0.90 versus 0.88
      for feeding tube 6months PBT; 0.70 versus 0.80 for physician-rated dysphagia
      6months after PBT; 0.70 versus 0.68 for dry mouth 6months after PBT; and 0.73
      versus 0.85 for hypothyroidism 12months after PBT. CONCLUSION: Although a drop in
      NTCP model performance was expected for PBT patients, the models showed
      robustness and remained valid. Further work is warranted, but these results
      support the validity of the model-based approach for selecting treatment for
      patients with HNC.

PMID- 27641786
TI  - Trends in use and outcome of postoperative radiotherapy following mastectomy: A
      population-based study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of the present population-based study was to evaluate the
      role and effectiveness of postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) in clinical
      practice. METHODS: The study included 16,675 patients diagnosed with invasive
      breast cancer from 1988 to 2012 and resident within the catchment area of the
      Munich Cancer Registry. Use of PMRT, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS),
      cumulative incidence of time to local recurrence, relative survival and
      conditional overall survival (cOS), were analysed for different time periods
      (1988-1997 and 1998-2012). RESULTS: Variables favouring the use of PMRT on
      multivariate logistic regression analysis included young age, large tumour size,
      positive resection margin and positive nodal status. Over time, a significant
      increase of PMRT was registered for patients with ?4 positive lymph nodes.
      Moreover, the present findings track a less frequent use of PMRT in elderly
      patients. After adjusting for age, tumour characteristics and therapies, the Cox
      regression analysis for LRFS identified PMRT as an independent predictor for
      improved local control (HR: 2.145; 95% CI: 1.787-2.574, p<0.0001). Patients with
      1-3 involved lymph nodes had a 10-year cumulative incidence of local recurrence
      of 13.7% following mastectomy, compared to 6.5% following PMRT (p=0.0001).
      Comparable findings were obtained for patients presenting with ?4 positive lymph
      nodes. All effects were smaller or extinct in elderly patients aged ?70years. On
      multivariate analysis for cOS, no significant advantage for PMRT could be
      detected (HR: 1.084; 95% CI: 0.986-1.191, p=0.095). CONCLUSION: The present study
      was useful in providing an overview on trends in the adoption of PMRT over a 25
      year period. An increase in the use of PMRT from 1988 to 2012 was observed,
      especially in high-risk patients with ?4 positive lymph nodes. Patients selected
      for PMRT had an improved local control and an equivalent relative survival
      compared to patients who had no indication for PMRT.

PMID- 27641787
TI  - Reply from Authors re: Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, Howard I. Scher. Do Patients With
      AR-V7-Positive Prostate Cancer Benefit from Novel Hormonal Therapies? It All
      Depends on Definitions. Eur Urol 2017;71:4-6: Unsplicing a Conflict.

PMID- 27641788
TI  - Re: Jakob Damsgaard, Ulla N. Joensen, Elisabeth Carlsen, et al. Varicocele Is
      Associated with Impaired Semen Quality and Reproductive Hormone Levels: A Study
      of 7035 Healthy Young Men from Six European Countries. Eur Urol 2016;70:1019-29:
      Treating varicocele and when to treat? That is the question today and maybe for
      some time yet.

PMID- 27641789
TI  - Reply to Marc A. Bjurlin, Lee C. Zhao, and Michael D. Stifelman's Letter to the
      Editor Re: Nicolo Maria Buffi, Giovanni Lughezzani, Rodolfo Hurle, et al. Robot
      assisted Surgery for Benign Ureteral Strictures: Experience and Outcomes from
      Four Tertiary Care Institutions. Eur Urol. In press.
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2016.07.022.

PMID- 27641790
TI  - Re: Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy Versus Open Radical Retropubic
      Prostatectomy: Early Outcomes from a Randomised Controlled Phase 3 Study.

PMID- 27641791
TI  - The influence of sleep deprivation and oscillating motion on sleepiness, motion
      sickness, and cognitive and motor performance.
AB  - Our goal was to determine how sleep deprivation, nauseogenic motion, and a
      combination of motion and sleep deprivation affect cognitive vigilance, visual
      spatial perception, motor learning and retention, and balance. We exposed four
      groups of subjects to different combinations of normal 8h sleep or 4h sleep for
      two nights combined with testing under stationary conditions or during 0.28Hz
      horizontal linear oscillation. On the two days following controlled sleep, all
      subjects underwent four test sessions per day that included evaluations of
      fatigue, motion sickness, vigilance, perceptual discrimination, perceptual
      learning, motor performance and learning, and balance. Sleep loss and exposure to
      linear oscillation had additive or multiplicative relationships to sleepiness,
      motion sickness severity, decreases in vigilance and in perceptual discrimination
      and learning. Sleep loss also decelerated the rate of adaptation to motion
      sickness over repeated sessions. Sleep loss degraded the capacity to compensate
      for novel robotically induced perturbations of reaching movements but did not
      adversely affect adaptive recovery of accurate reaching. Overall, tasks requiring
      substantial attention to cognitive and motor demands were degraded more than
      tasks that were more automatic. Our findings indicate that predicting performance
      needs to take into account in addition to sleep loss, the attentional demands and
      novelty of tasks, the motion environment in which individuals will be performing
      and their prior susceptibility to motion sickness during exposure to provocative
      motion stimulation.

PMID- 27641792
TI  - Orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson's disease: Does it matter if asymptomatic?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) may frequently be asymptomatic in
      patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the relationship between
      symptomatic/asymptomatic status and functional disability remains unclear.
      METHODS: Using orthostatic blood pressure (BP) measurements and the Orthostatic
      Hypotension Symptom Assessment (OHSA) questionnaire, 121 consecutive PD patients
      without history of chronic hypertension and not taking alpha-adrenergic
      antagonists for bladder disorders were classified according to (1) OH symptomatic
      status, based on presence/absence of orthostatic symptoms (symptomatic OH: OHSA
      item 1 >= 1), and (2) OH severity, based on the magnitude of BP fall on the lying
      to-standing test: OH- (<20/10 mmHg); moderate OH+ (>=20/10 mmHg but < 30/15
      mmHg); and severe OH+ (>=30/15 mmHg). The primary endpoints were the activities
      of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living (ADL/iADL) and the
      Ambulatory Capacity Measure (ACM). Secondary endpoints included PD quality of
      life (PDQ-8) and prevalence of falls. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of OH+ was
      30.6% (37/121 patients), with 62.2% symptomatic (23/37) and 37.8% asymptomatic
      (14/37). Symptomatic and asymptomatic OH + patients had similar impairments in
      ADL/iADL and ACM, significantly worse than OH- (p <= 0.035). There was a trend
      for worse ADL/iADL and ACM scores in severe OH + compared to moderate OH+, but
      both were worse than OH- (p <= 0.048). Symptomatic and asymptomatic OH + showed
      similar impairment in PDQ-8 and higher prevalence of falls compared to OH-.
      CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic OH+ was associated with similar impairments in ADL/iADL
      and ACM than symptomatic OH+. These findings support screening for OH in PD
      patients regardless of postural lightheadedness.

PMID- 27641793
TI  - Incidence and predictors of sudden arrhythmic death or ventricular
      tachyarrhythmias after acute coronary syndrome: An asian perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current data on the risk of sudden arrhythmic death (SAD) and
      ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the
      Asian population are limited. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the incidence and predictors of SAD or VT after ACS in a contemporary
      cohort of Chinese patients in the era of early revascularization. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients admitted to our unit for ACS from 2010 to 2015 were
      retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 918 patients (74.8% male, mean age
      65.9 +/- 13.4 years) were included in the study. Of these patients, 864 (94.1%)
      survived to discharge. After a mean of 34.1 +/- 21.8 months, 42 (4.9%) had SAD or
      VT. The event rate was 0.46% in month 1, 0.26% per month in the months 2 to 6,
      0.15% per month in months 6 to 12, and 1.23% per year from the second year
      onward. In multivariate analysis, early VT (hazard ratio [HR] 5.78, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 2.63-12.72, P < .01), left ventricular ejection fraction
      <=35% (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.03-3.73, P = .04), prior coronary artery disease (HR
      2.50, 95% CI 1.29-4.82, P < .01), triple-vessel disease (HR 3.69, 95% CI 1.81
      7.54, P < .01), and chronic kidney disease (HR 2.43, 95% CI 1.21-4.92, P = .01)
      independently predicted SAD or VT. CONCLUSION: This study reports the rate of SAD
      or VT among Asian patients after ACS in the era of early revascularization and
      optimal medical therapy. Aggressive preventive measures should be considered for
      patients with multiple risk factors for SAD or VT, especially in the initial
      period after ACS.

PMID- 27641809
TI  - Topiramate in childhood epileptic encephalopathy with continuous spike-waves
      during sleep: A retrospective study of 21 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Encephalopathy with continuous spike-wave during sleep (CSWS) is a
      particularly difficult-to-treat childhood epileptic syndrome. This study sought
      to present the EEG improvement and clinical efficacy of topiramate (TPM), a broad
      spectrum antiepileptic drug (AED), in a series of 21 children with CSWS
      encephalopathy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the EEG results and clinical
      data of children with CSWS followed-up in our institution and treated with TPM.
      Sleep EEGs were performed 0-3 months prior to TPM introduction and then at 3 and
      12 months. The exclusion criteria were (1) introduction of another AED and (2)
      withdrawal of a potentially aggravating AED during the first 3 months of
      treatment. In addition to spike index (SI), the severity of EEG abnormalities was
      rated using an original scale that also considered the spatial extent of
      interictal epileptiform discharges. RESULTS: 21 patients were included (18 males,
      4-14y, three symptomatic cases). At 3 months, sleep EEG was improved in 14 and
      normalized in four (TPM doses: 2-5.5 mg/kg/day). Among these 18 patients, 16
      manifested cognitive or behavioural improvement. In a subgroup of seven patients
      with frequent seizures, five became seizure-free and one had over 75% decrease in
      seizure frequency. At the one-year follow-up, 20 children were still on TPM and
      10 exhibited persistent EEG improvement without any other AED being introduced,
      most of them with clinical benefits. CONCLUSION: TPM can decrease EEG
      abnormalities in epileptic encephalopathy with CSWS, achieving clinical
      improvement in the majority of patients. However, relapse may occur in the long
      term in nearly half of cases. Otherwise, TPM has proven particularly useful in
      reducing seizure frequency in refractory cases.

PMID- 27641810
TI  - A case of tophaceous pseudogout of the temporomandibular joint extending to the
      base of the skull.
AB  - A case of tophaceous pseudogout (i.e., calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD)
      crystal deposition disease) in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), extending to
      the base of the skull, is reported. A 38-year-old man was referred to the
      hospital with mild pain in the right chin and tip of the tongue. Panoramic
      radiography showed a large calcified mass around the right TMJ. Computed
      tomography imaging revealed a large, granular, calcified mass surrounding the
      right condylar head and extending to the base of the skull. The mass was
      clinically and radiographically suspected to be a pseudogout lesion. A biopsy
      specimen was collected under general anaesthesia to confirm the diagnosis. On
      histology, the mass was found to contain deposits of numerous rod-shaped and
      rhomboid crystals, which suggested tophaceous pseudogout. The deposits were
      identified as CPPD crystal deposition, based on analysis by X-ray diffraction and
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. These two crystallography methods were
      useful in confirming the diagnosis of CPPD crystal deposition disease in the TMJ.

PMID- 27641811
TI  - Internalized Receptor for Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Peptide stimulates
      adenylyl cyclase on early endosomes.
AB  - Until very recently, G-protein dependent signal of GPCRs was thought to originate
      exclusively from the plasma membrane and internalized GPCRs were considered
      silent. Here, we demonstrated that, once internalized and located in the membrane
      of early endosomes, glucose-dependent Insulinotropic receptor (GIPR) continues to
      trigger production of cAMP and PKA activation. Direct evidence is based on
      identification of the active form of Galphas in early endosomes containing GIPR
      using a genetically encoded GFP tagged nanobody, and on detection of a distinct
      FRET signal accounting for cAMP production at the surface of endosomes containing
      GIP, compared to endosomes without GIP. Furthermore, decrease of the sustained
      phase of cAMP production and PKA activation kinetics as well as reversibility of
      cAMP production and PKA activity following GIP washout in cells treated with a
      pharmacological inhibitor of GIPR internalization, and continuous increase of
      cAMP level over time in the presence of dominant-negative Rab7, which causes
      accumulation of early endosomes in cells, were noticed. Hence the GIPR joins the
      few GPCRs which signal through G-proteins both at plasma membrane and on
      endosomes.

PMID- 27641812
TI  - Oxidation of R- and S-omeprazole stereoselectively mediated by liver microsomal
      cytochrome P450 2C19 enzymes from cynomolgus monkeys and common marmosets.
AB  - Racemic omeprazole has been used for clinically treating gastric acid-related
      diseases and also as a typical human cytochrome P450 (P450) 2C19 probe substrate
      in preclinical studies. S-Omeprazole has been developed as a single enantiomer
      medicine, which has been reported not to be associated with polymorphic human
      P450 2C19 phenotypes. In this study, 5-hydroxylation and sulfoxidation
      activities, with respect to stereoselective R- and S-omeprazole oxidations by
      liver microsomes from experimental animals including non-human primates and
      humans, were investigated in vitro. Liver microsomes from humans, cynomolgus
      monkeys, and mice preferentially mediated R-omeprazole 5-hydroxylations, however
      those from marmosets, minipigs, dogs, and rats preferentially mediated S
      omeprazole 5-hydroxylations. High catalytic activities were observed for
      recombinant human P450 2C19 in R-omeprazole 5-hydroxlations, cynomolgus monkey
      P450 2C19 in both R- and S-omeprazole 5-hydroxlations, and marmoset P450 2C19 in
      S-omeprazole 5-hydroxlations. On the other hand, human, cynomolgus monkey, and
      marmoset P450 3A enzymes preferentially mediated S-omeprazole sulfoxidations.
      Correlation and kinetic analyses revealed a high affinity of polymorphic
      cynomolgus monkey and marmoset liver microsomal P450 2C19 enzymes with respect to
      R- and S-omeprazole 5-hydroxylations, respectively, and a high capacity of
      cynomolgus monkey and marmoset liver microsomal P450 3A4 for omeprazole 5
      hydroxylations and sulfoxidations. R-and S-omeprazole 5-hydroxylation activities
      in cynomolgus monkey and marmoset liver microsomes were significantly different
      among wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous animals genotyped for cynomolgus
      monkey P450 2C19 p.[(Phe100Asn; Ala103Val; Ile112Leu)] and for marmoset P450 2C19
      p.[(Phe7Leu; Ser254Leu; Ile469Thr)], respectively. The results of this study
      demonstrate polymorphic cynomolgus monkey and marmoset P450 2C19-dependent
      omeprazole oxidation activities with individual variations similar to humans.

PMID- 27641814
TI  - Antibiotic use and microbiome function.
AB  - Our microbiome should be understood as one of the most complex components of the
      human body. The use of beta-lactam antibiotics is one of the microbiome
      covariates that influence its composition. The extent to which our microbiota
      changes after an antibiotic intervention depends not only on the chemical nature
      of the antibiotic or cocktail of antibiotics used to treat specific infections,
      but also on the type of administration, duration and dose, as well as the level
      of resistance that each microbiota develops. We have begun to appreciate that not
      all bacteria within our microbiota are vulnerable or reactive to different
      antibiotic interventions, and that their influence on both microbial composition
      and metabolism may differ. Antibiotics are being used worldwide on a huge scale
      and the prescription of antibiotics is continuing to rise; however, their effects
      on our microbiota have been reported for only a limited number of them. This
      article presents a critical review of the antibiotics or antibiotic cocktails
      whose use in humans has been linked to changes in the composition of our
      microbial communities, with a particular focus on the gut, oral, respiratory,
      skin and vaginal microbiota, and on their molecular agents (genes, proteins and
      metabolites). We review the state of the art as of June 2016, and cover a total
      of circa 68 different antibiotics. The data herein are the first to compile
      information about the bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses most influenced by the
      main antibiotic treatments prescribed nowadays.

PMID- 27641813
TI  - Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol reverses TNFalpha-induced increase in airway
      epithelial cell permeability through CB2 receptors.
AB  - Despite pharmacological treatment, bronchial hyperresponsiveness continues to
      deteriorate as airway remodelling persists in airway inflammation. Previous
      studies have demonstrated that the phytocannabinoid Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol
      (THC) reverses bronchoconstriction with an anti-inflammatory action. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the effects of THC on bronchial epithelial cell
      permeability after exposure to the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNFalpha. Calu-3
      bronchial epithelial cells were cultured at air-liquid interface. Changes in
      epithelial permeability were measured using Transepithelial Electrical Resistance
      (TEER), then confirmed with a paracellular permeability assay and expression of
      tight junction proteins by Western blotting. Treatment with THC prevented the
      TNFalpha-induced decrease in TEER and increase in paracellular permeability.
      Cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptor-like immunoreactivity was found in Calu-3 cells.
      Subsequent experiments revealed that pharmacological blockade of CB2, but not CB1
      receptor inhibited the THC effect. Selective stimulation of CB2 receptors
      displayed a similar effect to that of THC. TNFalpha decreased expression of the
      tight junction proteins occludin and ZO-1, which was prevented by pre-incubation
      with THC. These data indicate that THC prevents cytokine-induced increase in
      airway epithelial permeability through CB2 receptor activation. This highlights
      that THC, or other cannabinoid receptor ligands, could be beneficial in the
      prevention of inflammation-induced changes in airway epithelial cell
      permeability, an important feature of airways diseases.

PMID- 27641815
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Introduction].

PMID- 27641816
TI  - [Rare tumor of the breast with indeterminate prognosis].

PMID- 27641817
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Case 1].

PMID- 27641818
TI  - [A not so rare co-infection].

PMID- 27641819
TI  - [A hybrid lesion: Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) and sclerosing
      epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF)].
AB  - We report the case of a 34-year-old woman presenting a 10cm axillary mass
      diagnosed as hybrid tumor low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma/sclerosing epithelioid
      fibrosarcoma. Microbiopsy for morphological and immunohistochemical analyses was
      associated with molecular analysis (FISH and PCR) to confirm the diagnosis.

PMID- 27641820
TI  - [Cutaneous melanocytic tumors. Case 4].

PMID- 27641821
TI  - Postoperative delirium in patients with history of alcohol abuse.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Postoperative delirium (POD) is an acute confusional state
      characterized by changes in consciousness and cognition, which may be
      fluctuating, developing in a small period of time. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the relationship between alcohol abuse and the development of POD.
      METHODS: We prospectively evaluated consecutively all postoperative patients
      admitted in the Post-anesthesia Care Unit over a 1-month period for delirium,
      using the Portuguese versions of the the Nursing Delirium Screening Scale. Before
      surgery, alcohol consumption was inquired and alcohol abuse was assessed by the
      CAGE (Cutting Down, Annoyance, Guilt and Eye-opener) questionnaire; a score >=2
      defined alcohol abuse. Fischer exact test or chi-square was applied for
      comparisons. Risk factors were analyzed in a multivariate analysis using a
      logistic regression with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).
      RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-one patients were enrolled. Delirium was seen in 11%
      patients. The incidence of alcohol abuse was 10%. Patients with alcohol abuse
      were more frequently men (P<.001) and had a higher ASA physical status III/IV
      (P=.021). POD was more frequent in patients with alcohol abuse (30% vs. 9%;
      P=.002). Age (OR: 5.9; 95%CI: 2.2-15.9; P<.001 for patients >=65years), ASA
      physical statusIII/IV (OR: 4.2; 95%CI: 1.7-10.7; P=.002) and alcohol abuse (OR:
      4.2; 95%CI: 1.4-12.9; P=.013) were found to be independent predictors for POD.
      CONCLUSIONS: Older patients, higher ASA physical status and alcohol abuse were
      more frequent in patients with POD. Alcohol abuse was considered an independent
      risk factor for POD.

PMID- 27641823
TI  - Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease in Turkish Adults With Obesity and Metabolic
      Syndrome: A Post Hoc Analysis from Chronic Renal Disease in Turkey Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity confers an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD),
      which is increased further by accompanying metabolic abnormalities. OBJECTIVE: To
      investigate the relationship of the risk of CKD with obesity and metabolic
      syndrome (MS) in adults by means of post hoc analysis of data from the Chronic
      Renal Disease in Turkey (CREDIT) study. METHODS: The anthropometric measurements
      of a total of 9,100 adult participants in the CREDIT study were included in the
      analyses. Subjects were classified according to the presence or absence of
      obesity (body mass index [BMI] > 30) and MS. Logistic regression analyses were
      used to estimate odds ratio for CKD. Effect modification analyses were also
      performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity was 20.6% and that of MS was 31.3%.
      The prevalence of CKD was higher among obese subjects compared to those with a
      normal BMI (20.5% vs. 14%; P < .001). The odds ratio (OR) for CKD was 1.296 (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.121-1.498) for subjects who were overweight, 1.718
      (95% CI, 1.444-2.044) for those with class I obesity, 1.983 (95% CI, 1.489-2.641)
      for those with class II obesity and 2.799 (95% CI, 1.719-4.557) for subjects with
      extreme obesity (P < .001 for each subgroup) compared to subjects with a normal
      BMI. CKD was significantly more prevalent in subjects with MS (21.9% vs. 12.3%, P
      < .001). The OR for CKD was higher in obese subjects with MS (adjusted OR, 1.321;
      95% CI, 1.109-1.573; P = .002). CONCLUSION: The stratification of obese
      individuals based on their metabolic phenotype is important for prevention and
      treatment of CKD.

PMID- 27641824
TI  - Biophysical mechanism of rhomboid proteolysis: Setting a foundation for
      therapeutics.
AB  - Rhomboid proteolysis is an important cellular process that involves cleavage of
      transmembrane substrates by membrane-embedded rhomboid proteases. Such proteases
      can cleave substrates with essential roles in the cell, and their action has been
      implicated in human diseases. The remarkable sensitivity of rhomboid proteolysis
      to the lipid membrane environment highlights the usefulness of rhomboid proteases
      as model systems to dissect the role of lipids in reaction mechanisms of membrane
      proteins, including cleavage of substrates by gamma-secretase. I discuss here the
      hydrogen-bond networks likely important for the reaction mechanism of rhomboid
      proteases, and how the composition of the lipid membrane can alter protein
      dynamics.

PMID- 27641822
TI  - Evaluation of Glutathione Peroxidase 4 role in Preeclampsia.
AB  - Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific syndrome that may be lifethreatening to
      pregnancies and fetus. Glutathione Peroxidase 4 (GPx4) is a powerful antioxidant
      enzyme that can provide protection from oxidative stress damage which plays a
      pivotal role in the pathology of PE. Therefore, this study aims to investigate
      the association between Gpx4 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to PE in
      Chinese Han women. TaqMan allelic discrimination real-time PCR was used to
      perform the genotyping of rs713041 and rs4807542 in 1008 PE patients and 1386
      normotensive pregnancies. Obviously statistical difference of genotypic and
      allelic frequencies were found of rs713041 in GPx4 between PE patients and
      controls and the C allele has the higher risk for pathogenesis of PE (chi(2) =
      12.292, P = 0.002 by genotype; chi(2) = 11.035, P = 0.001, OR = 1.216, 95% CI
      1.084-1.365 by allele). Additionally, when subdividing these samples into CC + CT
      and TT groups, we found a significant difference between the two groups (chi(2) =
      11.241, P = 0.001, OR = 1.417, 95% CI 1.155-1.738). Furthermore, the genotype of
      rs713041 was found to be associated with the mild, severe and early-onset PE. Our
      results suggest that rs713041 in GPx4 may play a key role in the pathogenesis of
      PE.

PMID- 27641826
TI  - Assuring the quality of interpretative comments in clinical chemistry.
AB  - The provision of interpretative advice on laboratory results is a post-analytic
      activity and an integral part of clinical laboratory services. It is valued by
      healthcare workers and has the potential to prevent or reduce errors and improve
      patient outcomes. It is important to ensure that interpretative comments provided
      by laboratory personnel are of high quality: comments should be patient-focused
      and answer the implicit or explicit question raised by the requesting clinician.
      Comment providers need to be adequately trained and qualified and be able to
      demonstrate their proficiency to provide advice on laboratory reports. External
      quality assessment (EQA) schemes can play a part in assessing and demonstrating
      the competence of such laboratory staff and have an important role in their
      education and continuing professional development. A standard structure is
      proposed for EQA schemes for interpretative comments in clinical chemistry, which
      addresses the scope and method of assessment including nomenclature and marking
      scales. There is a need for evidence that participation in an EQA program for
      interpretative commenting facilitates improved quality of comments. It is
      proposed that standardizing goals and methods of assessment as well as
      nomenclature and marking scales may help accumulate evidence to demonstrate the
      impact of participation in EQA for interpretative commenting on patient outcome.

PMID- 27641827
TI  - Versatile glycoside hydrolase family 18 chitinases for fungi ingestion and
      reproduction in the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus.
AB  - The glycoside hydrolase family 18 (GH18) of chitinases is a gene family widely
      expressed in archaes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and hydrolyzes the beta-1,4
      linkages in chitin. The pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is one of
      the organisms that produces GH18 chitinases. Notably, B. xylophilus has a higher
      number of GH18 chitinases compared with the obligate plant-parasitic nematodes
      Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne hapla. In this study, seven GH18 chitinases
      were identified and cloned from B. xylophilus based on genomic analyses. The
      deduced amino acid sequences of all these genes contained an N-terminal signal
      peptide and a GH18 catalytic domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the origin
      of B. xylophilus GH18 chitinases was independent of those from fungi and
      bacteria. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis indicated
      that GH18 chitinase genes had discrete expression patterns, representing almost
      all the life stages of B. xylophilus. In situ hybridisation showed that the mRNA
      of GH18 chitinase genes of B. xylophilus were detected mainly in the spermatheca,
      esophageal gland cells, seminal vesicle and eggs. RNA interference (RNAi) results
      revealed different roles of GH18 chitinase genes in B. xylophilus. Bx-chi-1, Bx
      chi-2 and Bx-chi-7 were associated with reproduction, fungal cell-wall
      degradation and egg hatching, respectively. Bx-chi-5 and Bx-chi-6 may be involved
      in sperm metabolism. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that GH18 chitinases
      have multiple functions in the life cycle of B. xylophilus.

PMID- 27641828
TI  - Quantification of the Keto-Hydroperoxide (HOOCH2OCHO) and Other Elusive
      Intermediates during Low-Temperature Oxidation of Dimethyl Ether.
AB  - This work provides new temperature-dependent mole fractions of elusive
      intermediates relevant to the low-temperature oxidation of dimethyl ether (DME).
      It extends the previous study of Moshammer et al. [ J. Phys. Chem. A 2015 , 119 ,
      7361 - 7374 ] in which a combination of a jet-stirred reactor and molecular beam
      mass spectrometry with single-photon ionization via tunable synchrotron-generated
      vacuum-ultraviolet radiation was used to identify (but not quantify) several
      highly oxygenated species. Here, temperature-dependent concentration profiles of
      17 components were determined in the range of 450-1000 K and compared to up-to
      date kinetic modeling results. Special emphasis is paid toward the validation and
      application of a theoretical method for predicting photoionization cross sections
      that are hard to obtain experimentally but essential to turn mass spectral data
      into mole fraction profiles. The presented approach enabled the quantification of
      the hydroperoxymethyl formate (HOOCH2OCH2O), which is a key intermediate in the
      low-temperature oxidation of DME. The quantification of this keto-hydroperoxide
      together with the temperature-dependent concentration profiles of other
      intermediates including H2O2, HCOOH, CH3OCHO, and CH3OOH reveals new
      opportunities for the development of a next-generation DME combustion chemistry
      mechanism.

PMID- 27641825
TI  - Cellular adaptation to biomechanical stress across length scales in tissue
      homeostasis and disease.
AB  - Human tissues are remarkably adaptable and robust, harboring the collective
      ability to detect and respond to external stresses while maintaining tissue
      integrity. Following injury, many tissues have the capacity to repair the damage 
      and restore form and function - by deploying cellular and molecular mechanisms
      reminiscent of developmental programs. Indeed, it is increasingly clear that
      cancer and chronic conditions that develop with age arise as a result of cells
      and tissues re-implementing and deregulating a selection of developmental
      programs. Therefore, understanding the fundamental molecular mechanisms that
      drive cell and tissue responses is a necessity when designing therapies to treat
      human conditions. Extracellular matrix stiffness synergizes with chemical cues to
      drive single cell and collective cell behavior in culture and acts to establish
      and maintain tissue homeostasis in the body. This review will highlight recent
      advances that elucidate the impact of matrix mechanics on cell behavior and fate
      across these length scales during times of homeostasis and in disease states.

PMID- 27641829
TI  - Psychological Well-Being of Older Chinese-American Grandparents Caring for
      Grandchildren.
AB  - The rapid increase in grandparents caring for grandchildren has received growing
      attention, but little research has focused on Chinese-American grandparents and
      their caregiving experiences. Drawing on cross-sectional data from the Population
      Study of Chinese Elderly-a community-engaged, epidemiological study of Chinese
      American adults aged 60 and older, the relationships between caregiving
      experiences and psychological well-being were examined. Of 2,365 older adults who
      answered the question about grandparent caregiving, 818 (35%) were designated as
      caregivers, spending an average of 12 hours a week on childcare. About one in
      five caregivers reported caregiving burden, pressure, or negative health effect
      of caregiving. Caregivers had better psychological well-being than noncaregivers,
      with significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, and
      loneliness. For caregivers, higher levels of caregiving burden, pressure from
      adult children, and perceived negative effect were related to greater rates of
      psychological distress. With a strong cultural expectation of family care,
      grandparent caregiving is generally associated with positive psychological well
      being, but it can also be stressful, especially when older adults feel pressured
      to provide childcare or that doing so is a burden. The study implies that
      cultural values and life transitions may shape grandparent caregiving experiences
      and well-being, indicating the importance of respecting cultural differences in
      family caregiving. Understanding positive and negative aspects of grandparent
      caregiving and the underlying mechanisms will help healthcare professionals
      identify caregivers at risk of psychological distress and provide proper
      interventions to attenuate negative outcomes while maximizing positive
      experiences for Chinese-American older adults.

PMID- 27641830
TI  - Cholinergic circuits in cognitive flexibility.
AB  - Cognitive flexibility, the ability to adjust behavior in response to new and
      unexpected conditions in the environment, is essential for adaptation to new
      challenges and survival. The cholinergic system is an important modulator of this
      complex behavior however, the exact cholinergic circuits involved in this
      modulation and the precise influence of acetylcholine (ACh) in the process is
      still not fully understood. Here we review the role of different cholinergic
      circuits in cognitive flexibility. Strong evidence indicates that cholinergic
      interneurons (CINs) from the dorsomedial striatum are essential for facilitating
      the establishment of a new selected strategy; an effect that seems to depend
      mainly on activation of muscarinic receptors. Cholinergic neurons from the
      nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nBM), which project to the prefrontal cortex,
      seem to modulate the initial inhibition of a previously learned strategy,
      however, this concept is still controversial. Additionally, some studies suggest
      that basal forebrain cholinergic neurons projecting to the hippocampus,
      basolateral amygdala, and posterior parietal cortex may also participate on the
      modulation of cognitive flexibility. We highlight the fact that when
      investigating effects of ACh on behavioral flexibility, or any other behavior,
      one has to keep in mind two important particularities of the cholinergic system:
      (1) Many cholinergic neurons in the brain co-release glutamate or GABA with ACh.
      Methodologies that rely on neuronal silencing or ablation lead to simultaneous
      elimination of both neurotransmitters, making interpretation of results complex.
      (2) The cholinergic gene locus has a unique organization, with the vesicular
      acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) gene present within the intron between the
      first and second exons of the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) gene. Thus,
      behavioral studies using transgenic animals generated with ChAT bacterial
      artificial chromosome (BAC) clones should be considered carefully, taking into
      consideration that these mice may overexpress VAChT and therefore, present a
      hypercholinergic tone that can be a confounder in behavioral studies.

PMID- 27641833
TI  - The ongoing quest to find the appropriate patients to transplant with
      hepatocellular carcinoma: Milan to san Francisco to Toronto and beyond.

PMID- 27641832
TI  - Do nanoparticles have a future in dermal drug delivery?
AB  - More and more investigations confirm that nanoparticles are incapable of
      overcoming the intact skin barrier in vivo. Do nanoparticles still have a future
      in dermal drug delivery? Unlike many other topically applied substances,
      nanoparticles have not been reported to utilize the intercellular penetration
      pathway and preferentially make use of the follicular penetration pathway. Deep
      penetration into the follicular ducts has been described for a variety of
      particles and appears to be strongly influenced by particle size. For targeted
      drug delivery, smart nanoparticles are required which are able to release their
      loaded drugs subsequent to internal or external trigger stimuli, and thereby
      enable the translocation of the active agents into the viable epidermis. In the
      recent manuscript, three nanoparticles systems are summarized and compared which
      release their model drugs upon different trigger mechanisms. The BSA hydrogel
      nanoparticles release their model drug TRITC-dextran by passive diffusion due to
      a concentration gradient via a porous surface. The protease-triggered controlled
      release BSA nanoparticles release their model drug if they are applied
      simultaneously with protease nanoparticles, resulting in an enzymatic degradation
      of the particles and a release of the model drug FITC. Finally, the IR-triggered
      controlled release AuNP-doped BSA nanoparticles release their model drug FITC
      after photoactivation with wIRA. For all three nanoparticle systems, the release
      of their model drugs could be observed. For the first nanoparticle system, only
      low follicular penetration depths were found which might by due do an
      agglomeration effect. For the last two nanoparticle systems, deep follicular
      penetration and even an uptake by the sebaceous glands were verified. In
      conclusion, it could be demonstrated that nanoparticles do have a future in
      dermal drug delivery if smart nanoparticle systems are utilized which are able to
      release their drug at specific times and locations within the hair follicle.

PMID- 27641834
TI  - Application of coupled mode theory and coherent superposition theory to phase
      shift measurements on optical microresonators.
AB  - Several mathematical models exist in the literature to describe the properties of
      optical resonators. Here, coupled mode theory and coherent superposition theory
      are compared and their consistency is demonstrated as they are applied to phase
      shift cavity ring-down measurements in optical (micro-)cavities. In the
      particular case of a whispering gallery mode in a microsphere cavity these models
      are applied to transmission measurements and backscattering measurements through
      the fiber taper that couples light into the microresonator. It is shown that both
      models produce identical relations when applied to these traveling wave cavities.

PMID- 27641831
TI  - Comprehensively priming the tumor microenvironment by cancer-associated
      fibroblast-targeted liposomes for combined therapy with cancer cell-targeted
      chemotherapeutic drug delivery system.
AB  - Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) not only support tumorigenesis and tumor
      metastasis by reciprocal cellular cross-talk with cancer cells, but also remodel
      the extracellular matrix (ECM) and architecture of tumor microenvironment. This
      leads to poor tumor penetration of traditional chemotherapeutic nanomedicines and
      resulting drug resistance. In this study, we use a novel tumor stroma-targeted
      nanovehicle (FH-SSL-Nav) to specifically eradicate CAFs, promote tumor
      penetration of nanomedicines and cut off the stroma's support to cancer cells. FH
      SSL-Nav exhibited excellent and comprehensive tumor microenvironment modulation
      including downregulation ECM deposition, decreasing interstitial fluid pressure
      (IFP) and facilitating blood perfusion. As a result, more chemotherapeutic drug
      delivery systems penetrated deep into tumor spheroids in vitro and tumor tissues
      in vivo. Furthermore, chemotherapeutic drug resistance induced by
      microenvironment was partly reversed by FH-SSL-Nav. In a human Hep G2 xenograft
      nude mouse model, FH-SSL-Nav greatly improved the tumor suppression of cancer
      cell-targeted liposomal doxorubicin (7pep-SSL-DOX) with low dose and low
      toxicity. Since Nav and DOX exhibited no synergy against Hep G2 cells, it was
      clear that the improved antitumor efficacy was basically due to the comprehensive
      tumor microenvironment priming by FH-SSL-Nav.

PMID- 27641835
TI  - Parents' information needs and influential factors when making decisions about
      TNF-alpha inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parents struggle when making treatment decisions for children with
      arthritis or other chronic conditions. Understanding their decision-making
      process is an essential step towards improving the decision-making experience.
      The objective of this study was to describe parents' information needs and the
      influences on their decision making about treatment with TNF-alpha inhibitors.
      METHODS: Survey domains were developed based on qualitative data and cognitive
      interviewing. We mailed the survey to parents of children with juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease who had initiated treatment
      with TNF-alpha inhibitors in the prior 2 years. Data were analyzed using
      descriptive and non-parametric statistics. RESULTS: Survey response rate was 54.9
      %. Each item had <2 % missing responses. Parents used an array of information
      sources when deciding about treatment with TNF-alpha inhibitors. Resources other
      than their child's specialist were most often used to increase confidence in
      parents' decisions or because they wanted to know more about other people's
      experiences being treated with TNF-alpha inhibitors, rather than due to a lack of
      understanding. All but two (cost and route of administration) of the influential
      decision factors were very or extremely important to the majority of participants
      with factors related to long-term side effects, treatment efficacy, and disease
      impact being most important. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes parents'
      information needs and influential factors in treatment decision making. Results
      suggest that future work should be aimed at helping families weigh risks and
      benefits, such as through decision support interventions, as well as developing
      opportunities to include people beyond the family and physician in the decision
      making process.

PMID- 27641837
TI  - Plasma and synovial fluid pharmacokinetics of cefquinome following the
      administration of multiple doses in horses.
AB  - The plasma and synovial fluid pharmacokinetics and safety of cefquinome, a 2
      amino-5-thiazolyl cephalosporin, were determined after multiple intravenous
      administrations in sixteen healthy horses. Cefquinome was administered to each
      horse through a slow i.v. injection over 20 min at 1, 2, 4, and 6 mg/kg (n = 4
      horses per dose) every 12 h for 7 days (a total of 13 injections). Serial blood
      and synovial fluid samples were collected during the 12 h after the
      administration of the first and last doses and were analyzed by a high
      performance liquid chromatography assay. The data were evaluated using
      noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analyses. The estimated plasma pharmacokinetic
      parameters were compared with the hypothetical minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) values (0.125-2 MUg/mL). The plasma and synovial fluid concentrations and
      area under the concentration-time curves (AUC) of cefquinome showed a dose
      dependent increase. After a first dose of cefquinome, the ranges for the mean
      plasma half-life values (2.30-2.41 h), the mean residence time (1.77-2.25 h), the
      systemic clearance (158-241 mL/h/kg), and the volume of distribution at steady
      state (355-431 mL/kg) were consistent across dose levels and similar to those
      observed after multiple doses. Cefquinome did not accumulate after multiple
      doses. Cefquinome penetrated the synovial fluid with AUCsynovial fluid /AUCplasma
      ratios ranging from 0.57 to 1.37 after first and thirteenth doses, respectively.
      Cefquinome is well tolerated, with no adverse effects. The percentage of time for
      which the plasma concentrations were above the MIC was >45% for bacteria, with
      MIC values of <=0.25, <=0.5, and <=1 MUg/mL after the administration of 1, 2, and
      4 or 6 mg/kg doses of CFQ at 12-h intervals, respectively. Further studies are
      needed to determine the optimal dosage regimes in critically ill patients.

PMID- 27641836
TI  - Genome-directed analysis of prophage excision, host defence systems, and central
      fermentative metabolism in Clostridium pasteurianum.
AB  - Clostridium pasteurianum is emerging as a prospective host for the production of
      biofuels and chemicals, and has recently been shown to directly consume electric
      current. Despite this growing biotechnological appeal, the organism's genetics
      and central metabolism remain poorly understood. Here we present a concurrent
      genome sequence for the C. pasteurianum type strain and provide extensive genomic
      analysis of the organism's defence mechanisms and central fermentative
      metabolism. Next generation genome sequencing produced reads corresponding to
      spontaneous excision of a novel phage, designated phi6013, which could be induced
      using mitomycin C and detected using PCR and transmission electron microscopy.
      Methylome analysis of sequencing reads provided a near-complete glimpse into the
      organism's restriction-modification systems. We also unveiled the chief C.
      pasteurianum Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)
      locus, which was found to exemplify a Type I-B system. Finally, we show that C.
      pasteurianum possesses a highly complex fermentative metabolism whereby the
      metabolic pathways enlisted by the cell is governed by the degree of reductance
      of the substrate. Four distinct fermentation profiles, ranging from exclusively
      acidogenic to predominantly alcohologenic, were observed through redox
      consideration of the substrate. A detailed discussion of the organism's central
      metabolism within the context of metabolic engineering is provided.

PMID- 27641839
TI  - The role of MRI in prostate cancer diagnosis and management.
AB  - Multiparametric MRI of the prostate demonstrates strong potential to address many
      limitations of traditional prostate cancer diagnosis and management strategies.
      Recent evidence supports roles for prostate MRI in prebiopsy risk stratification,
      guidance of targeted biopsy and preoperative disease staging. Prostate MRI may
      also assist the planning and follow-up of investigational partial gland ablative
      therapies. This article reviews the impact of prostate MRI on such diagnostic and
      therapeutic paradigms in contemporary prostate cancer management.

PMID- 27641838
TI  - Real-time and label-free monitoring of nanoparticle cellular uptake using
      capacitance-based assays.
AB  - Nanoparticles have shown great potential as vehicles for the delivery of drugs,
      nucleic acids, and therapeutic proteins; an efficient, high-throughput screening
      method to analyze nanoparticle interaction with the cytomembrane would
      substantially improve the efficiency and accuracy of the delivery. Here, we
      developed a capacitance sensor array that monitored the capacitance values of
      nanoparticle-treated cells in a real-time manner, without the need for labeling.
      Upon cellular uptake of the nanoparticles, a capacitance peak was observed at a
      low frequency (e.g., 100 Hz) as a function of time based on zeta potential
      changes. In the high frequency region (e.g., 15-20 kHz), the rate of decreasing
      capacitance slowed as a function of time compared to the cell growth control
      group, due to increased cytoplasm resistance and decreased membrane capacitance
      and resistance. The information provided by our capacitance sensor array will be
      a powerful tool for scientists designing nanoparticles for specific purposes.

PMID- 27641840
TI  - Leishmania infection inhibits macrophage motility by altering F-actin dynamics
      and the expression of adhesion complex proteins.
AB  - Leishmania is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes a broad spectrum of
      clinical manifestations, ranging from self-healing skin lesions to fatal
      visceralizing disease. As the host cells of choice for all species of Leishmania,
      macrophages are critical for the establishment of infections. How macrophages
      contribute to parasite homing to specific tissues and how parasites modulate
      macrophage function are still poorly understood. In this study, we show that
      Leishmania amazonensis infection inhibits macrophage roaming motility. The
      reduction in macrophage speed is not dependent on particle load or on factors
      released by infected macrophages. L. amazonensis-infected macrophages also show
      reduced directional migration in response to the chemokine MCP-1. We found that
      infected macrophages have lower levels of total paxillin, phosphorylated
      paxillin, and phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase when compared to noninfected
      macrophages, indicating abnormalities in the formation of signaling adhesion
      complexes that regulate motility. Analysis of the dynamics of actin
      polymerization at peripheral sites also revealed a markedly enhanced F-actin
      turnover frequency in L. amazonensis-infected macrophages. Thus, Leishmania
      infection inhibits macrophage motility by altering actin dynamics and impairing
      the expression of proteins that function in plasma membrane-extracellular matrix
      interactions.

PMID- 27641898
TI  - Dysferlin-mediated phosphatidylserine sorting engages macrophages in sarcolemma
      repair.
AB  - Failure to repair the sarcolemma leads to muscle cell death, depletion of stem
      cells and myopathy. Hence, membrane lesions are instantly sealed by a repair
      patch consisting of lipids and proteins. It has remained elusive how this patch
      is removed to restore cell membrane integrity. Here we examine sarcolemmal repair
      in live zebrafish embryos by real-time imaging. Macrophages remove the patch.
      Phosphatidylserine (PS), an 'eat-me' signal for macrophages, is rapidly sorted
      from adjacent sarcolemma to the repair patch in a Dysferlin (Dysf) dependent
      process in zebrafish and human cells. A previously unrecognized arginine-rich
      motif in Dysf is crucial for PS accumulation. It carries mutations in patients
      presenting with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2B. This underscores the relevance
      of this sequence and uncovers a novel pathophysiological mechanism underlying
      this class of myopathies. Our data show that membrane repair is a multi-tiered
      process involving immediate, cell-intrinsic mechanisms as well as
      myofiber/macrophage interactions.

PMID- 27641899
TI  - A new insight into the immobilization mechanism of Zn on biochar: the role of
      anions dissolved from ash.
AB  - Biochar is considered to be a promising material for heavy metal immobilization
      in soil. However, the immobilization mechanisms of Zn(2+) on biochars derived
      from many common waste biomasses are not completely understood. Herein, biochars
      (denoted as PN350, PN550, WS350, and WS550) derived from pine needle (PN) and
      wheat straw (WS) were prepared at two pyrolysis temperatures (350  degrees C and
      550  degrees C). The immobilization behaviors and mechanisms of Zn(2+) on these
      biochars were systematically investigated. The results show that compared with
      biochars produced at low temperature, biochars produced at high temperature
      contained higher amounts of ash and exhibited much higher sorption capacities of
      Zn(2+). By using Zn K-edge EXAFS spectroscopy, we find that the formation of
      various Zn precipitates/minerals, which was caused by the release of OH(-), CO3(2
      ), and Si species from biochar, was the immobilization mechanism of Zn(2+) on PN
      and WS biochars. Hydrozincite and Zn(OH)2 were the main species formed on PN350,
      PN550, and WS350; while on WS550, besides hydrozincite, a large fraction of
      hemimorphite was formed. The occurrence of hydrozincite and hemimorphite on
      biochar during Zn(2+) immobilization is firstly reported in our study, which
      provides a new insight into the immobilization mechanism of Zn(2+) on biochar.

PMID- 27641900
TI  - Response to: Comment on "Efficacy of 7-Day and 14-Day Triple Therapy Regimens for
      the Eradication of Helicobacter pylori: A Comparative Study in a Cohort of
      Romanian Patients".

PMID- 27641901
TI  - Traumatic Gerbode ventricular septal defect and third-degree heart block.
AB  - We present an interesting and rare case of traumatic Gerbode ventricular septal
      defect and complete heart block. The multimodality images illustrate the
      diagnosis well. This case is an excellent demonstration of the diagnostic utility
      of multimodality imaging.

PMID- 27641903
TI  - Perspectives of self-direction: a systematic review of key areas contributing to
      service users' engagement and choice-making in self-directed disability services
      and supports.
AB  - Self-directed disability support policies aim to encourage greater choice and
      control for service users in terms of the health and social care they receive.
      The proliferation of self-directed disability support policies throughout the
      developed world has resulted in a growing amount of research exploring the
      outcomes for service users, and their families and carers. Our understanding of
      the issues faced by people with disabilities, particularly how they make health
      and social care decisions and the key areas that determine their engagement with
      service providers within a self-directed environment is limited. A synthesis of
      research is timely and can provide knowledge for service users and health and
      social care support providers to ensure their successful participation. A
      systematic review guided by the PRISMA approach explored (i) the key areas
      determining service users' engagement with self-directed disability services and
      supports, and (ii) how service users make informed decisions about providers. In
      October 2014 and April 2016, three databases - MEDLINE, CINAHL and Web of Science
      - were searched for research and review articles. Eighteen sources met the search
      criteria. Findings were mapped into either: key areas determining service user
      engagement, or service users' informed decision-making. Findings concerning key
      areas determining engagement fell into three themes - personal responsibility for
      budgeting, personalised approaches, and a cultural shift in practice and delivery
      among service providers. Findings about decision-making yielded two themes -
      supporting informed decision-making and inhibiting informed decision-making.
      Literature suggests that self-directed models of care may provide service users
      with increased control over the services that they receive. Increased control for
      some service users and their families requires independent external decision
      making support, particularly around the domains of budgeting, planning and
      hiring. Future research must continue to investigate the perspectives of service
      users pertaining to their engagement, as their participation is central to the
      effectiveness of the approach.

PMID- 27641902
TI  - BMS-708163 and Nilotinib restore synaptic dysfunction in human embryonic stem
      cell-derived Alzheimer's disease models.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Cellular AD models
      derived from human pluripotent stem cells are promising tools in AD research. We
      recently developed human embryonic stem cell-derived AD models which overexpress
      mutant Presenilin1 genes, and which exhibit AD phenotypes, including synaptic
      dysfunction. In this study, we found that our AD models showed reduced levels of
      RAB3A and SV2B proteins in the pre-synapses, which is a possible cause of
      electrophysiological abnormalities. Through the screening of chemical compounds
      using our AD models, we have identified Abeta peptide inhibitors which decrease
      the concentration of Abeta in culture supernatant. Among these, BMS-708163 and
      Nilotinib were found to improve the expression levels of RAB3A and SV2B proteins
      and to recover the electrophysiological function in our AD models. These results
      suggest that the AD models we developed are promising materials for the discovery
      of AD drugs that target the expression of pre-synaptic proteins and synaptic
      function.

PMID- 27641904
TI  - Metabolic profile of 1,5-diaminopentane producing Corynebacterium glutamicum
      under scale-down conditions: Blueprint for robustness to bioreactor
      inhomogeneities.
AB  - Performance losses during scale-up are described since decades, but are still one
      of the major obstacles for industrial bioprocess development. Consequently,
      robustness to inhomogeneous cultivation environments is an important quality of
      industrial production organisms. Especially, Corynebacterium glutamicum was
      proven to have an outstanding resistance against rapid changes of oxygen and
      substrate availability as occurring in industrial scale bioreactors. This study
      focuses on the identification of metabolic key mechanisms for this robustness to
      get a deeper insight and provide future targets for process orientated strain
      development. A 1,5-diaminopentane producing C. glutamicum strain was cultivated
      in a two compartment scale-down device to create short-term environmental changes
      simulating industrial scale cultivation conditions. Using multi omics based
      methods, it is shown, that central metabolism is flexibly rearranged under short
      term oxygen depletion and carbon source excess to overcome shortage in NAD+
      recycling. In order to balance the redox state, key enzymes for the non-oxygen
      dependent fermentative NAD+ regeneration were significantly up-regulated while
      parts of non-essential pathways were down-regulated. The transfer of the cells
      back into the well aerated zones with low substrate concentration triggers an
      additional upregulation of genes for the re-assimilation of previously formed
      side products, showing L-lactate forming and utilizing reactions being active at
      the same time. Especially L-lactate as reversible and flexible external buffer
      for carbon and redox equivalents puts C. glutamicum in a robust position to deal
      with inhomogeneity in large scale processes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 560
      575. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641905
TI  - Prognostic factors for facial nerve palsy in a pediatric population: A
      retrospective study and review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To identify and analyze factors influencing the outcome of
      facial nerve palsy (FNP) in a pediatric population. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective
      study. METHODS: Sixty-seven pediatric patients (72 consecutive cases) diagnosed
      with and treated for FNP were divided into two severity subgroups. Associations
      between recovery in these groups and categorical variables were assessed using
      the Fisher exact test and for age using the t test. RESULTS: Mean age on
      admission was 12.0 +/- 4.5 years. Neither FNP outcome (graded by severity) nor
      improvement rates (expressed as the percentage of patients achieving a higher FNP
      grade over time) were influenced by gender, affected side, presence of
      polyneuropathy, etiology, or recurrent or familial FNP. In cases with comparable
      final outcome, improvement rates of those diagnosed with severe FNP on
      presentation (38.9% of cases) were significantly higher than mild-to-moderate
      FNP. Of the 47 patients who attended a follow-up examination 2 months after
      discharge, 70.2% have already recovered (by at least one House-Brackmann [H-B]
      grade) by the time they were discharged, whereas 90.9% achieved H-B grade <=2,
      and 72.3% fully recovered (H-B grade 1) 2 months postdischarge. Adding antiviral
      medication did not affect FNP improvement rates or outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Rates
      of infectious and traumatic etiology in our patients were higher than reported
      for adults, but the most common etiology-as in those adults-was idiopathic.
      Routine extended diagnostic workup was not helpful, and antiviral medications
      were ineffective. The prognosis of FNP in pediatric patients is excellent, with
      90% recovery by 2 months after initial presentation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4
      Laryngoscope, 127:1175-1180, 2017.

PMID- 27641906
TI  - Interatrial block predicts atrial high rate episodes detected by cardiac
      implantable electronic devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interatrial block which is defined as P wave duration longer than 120
      milliseconds is underappreciated but highly prevalent electrocardiographic
      abnormality and associated with atrial tachyarrhythmias and ischemic stroke.
      Impaired left atrial mechanics and atrial fibrillation are potential mechanisms
      contributing to the embolic events associated with interatrial block. Detection
      of atrial high rate episodes by cardiac implantable electronic devices provides
      clinicians to diagnose asymptomatic atrial fibrillation. The relation between
      interatrial block and asymptomatic atrial fibrillation can provide an insight to
      the increased risk of ischemic stroke in patients with interatrial block.
      METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 367 patients who were implanted dual chamber
      pacemaker due to sinus node dysfunction (SND) between January 2015 and December
      2015. Twelve lead electrocardiograms were analyzed to diagnose interatrial block
      before pacemaker implantation. Six months after the implantation, pacemakers were
      interrogated to detect atrial high rate episodes. Patients were divided into two
      groups in terms of presence or absence of atrial high rate episodes. RESULTS:
      Atrial high rate episodes were detected in 107 (30.1%) patients during their
      device interrogation. Interatrial block was found in 115 (32.4%) patients out of
      total study population. Sixty-seven (27.0%) patients in AHRE (-) group had
      interatrial block while 48 (44.9%) patients had in AHRE (+) group. Prevalence of
      interatrial block was statistically significantly higher in AHRE (+) patients
      (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Occurrence of atrial high rate episodes, a surrogate for
      asymptomatic atrial fibrillation, is statistically significantly higher in
      patients with interatrial block.

PMID- 27641907
TI  - Wake-up stroke-Amendable for thrombolysis-like stroke with known onset time?
AB  - Patients suffering an acute ischemic stroke can be treated with intravenous
      thrombolysis in the absence of contraindications. A known onset time is a
      prerequisite as treatment, according to guidelines, has to be started within 4.5
      hours. In patients awakening with a stroke, the last time they were seen without
      a neurological deficit is assumed to be the time of onset. Thus, despite of lack
      of contraindications on initial brain imaging, these patients are largely
      excluded from therapy. This review discusses the underlying pathophysiological,
      clinical, and radiological evidence surrounding wake-up stroke and its
      consequences for making treatment decisions.

PMID- 27641908
TI  - Creep to inertia dominated stick-slip behavior in sliding friction modulated by
      tilted non-uniform loading.
AB  - Comprehension of stick-slip motion is very important for understanding
      tribological principles. The transition from creep-dominated to inertia-dominated
      stick-slip as the increase of sliding velocity has been described by researchers.
      However, the associated micro-contact behavior during this transition has not
      been fully disclosed yet. In this study, we investigated the stick-slip behaviors
      of two polymethyl methacrylate blocks actively modulated from the creep-dominated
      to inertia-dominated dynamics through a non-uniform loading along the interface
      by slightly tilting the angle of the two blocks. Increasing the tilt angle
      increases the critical transition velocity from creep-dominated to inertia
      dominated stick-slip behaviors. Results from finite element simulation disclosed
      that a positive tilt angle led to a higher normal stress and a higher temperature
      on blocks at the opposite side of the crack initiating edge, which enhanced the
      creep of asperities during sliding friction. Acoustic emission (AE) during the
      stick-slip has also been measured, which is closely related to the different
      rupture modes regulated by the distribution of the ratio of shear to normal
      stress along the sliding interface. This study provided a more comprehensive
      understanding of the effect of tilted non-uniform loading on the local stress
      ratio, the local temperature, and the stick-slip behaviors.

PMID- 27641909
TI  - Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: current status of evidence.

PMID- 27641910
TI  - Reactive Oxygen Species Impair the Function of CD90+ Hematopoietic Progenitors
      Generated from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.
AB  - Cell stressors, such as elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
      adversely affect hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) reconstituting ability. However,
      the effects of ROS have not been evaluated in the context of hematopoietic
      development from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Using our previously
      described in vitro system for efficient derivation of hematopoietic cells from
      hPSCs, we show that the vast majority of generated hematopoietic cells display
      supraphysiological levels of ROS compared to fresh cord blood cells. Elevated ROS
      resulted in DNA damage of the CD34+ hematopoietic fraction and, following
      functional assays, reduced colony formation and impaired proliferative capacity.
      Interestingly, all the proliferative potential of the most primitive
      hematopoietic cells was limited to a small fraction with low ROS levels. We show
      that elevation of ROS in hPSC-derived hematopoietic cells is contributed by
      multiple distinct cellular processes. Furthermore, by targeting these molecular
      processes with 4 unique factors, we could reduce ROS levels significantly,
      yielding a 22-fold increase in the most primitive CD90+ CD34+ hematopoietic cells
      with robust growth capacity. We demonstrate that the ROS reducing factors
      specifically reduced ROS in more primitive hematopoietic fractions, in contrast
      to endothelial cells that maintained low ROS levels in the cultures. We conclude
      that high levels of ROS in in vitro differentiation systems of hPSCs is a major
      determinant in the lack of ability to generate hematopoietic cells with similar
      proliferation/differentiation potential to in vivo hematopoietic progenitors, and
      suggest that elevated ROS is a significant barrier to generating hPSC-derived
      repopulating HSCs. Stem Cells 2017;35:197-206.

PMID- 27641911
TI  - Building Nehemiah's Wall: The North Minneapolis Faith Community's Role in the
      Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence.
AB  - African American women who are victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) often
      rely on faith when exposed to IPV; however, the role of the faith community in
      the lives of IPV victims is less clear. This study uses a community-based
      approach to examine the role of the faith community in addressing IPV in
      heterosexual relationships in North Minneapolis where rates of poverty and IPV
      among African Americans are disproportionately high compared to other cities in
      Minnesota. Five focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with 34 lay and secular
      leaders of mixed genders in the North Minneapolis community. FGDs were evaluated
      using a grounded theory method of analysis. Discussions revealed that some faith
      leaders effectively identified IPV as a community issue and intervened but that
      many remained silent or were not well trained to address the issue safely. Faith
      based solutions were identified to address IPV in the African American community
      and included the faith community speaking openly about IPV, developing programs
      for unmarried and adolescent couples, and coordinating services with secular IPV
      support organizations.

PMID- 27641912
TI  - ATP-induced IL-1beta secretion is selectively impaired in microglia as compared
      to hematopoietic macrophages.
AB  - Under stressful conditions nucleotides are released from dying cells into the
      extracellular space, where they can bind to purinergic P2X and P2Y receptors.
      High concentrations of extracellular ATP in particular induce P2X7-mediated
      signaling, which leads to inflammasome activation. This in turn leads to the
      processing and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, like interleukin (IL)
      1beta. During neurodegenerative diseases, innate immune responses are shaped by
      microglia and we have previously identified microglia-specific features of
      inflammasome-mediated responses. Here, we compared ATP-induced IL-1beta secretion
      in primary rhesus macaque microglia and bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM).
      We assessed the full expression profile of P2 receptors and characterized the
      induction and modulation of IL-1beta secretion by extracellular nucleotides.
      Microglia secreted significantly lower levels of IL-1beta in response to ATP when
      compared to BMDM. We demonstrate that this is not due to differences in
      sensitivity, kinetics or expression of ATP-processing enzymes, but rather to
      differences in purinergic receptor expression levels and usage. Using a combined
      approach of purinergic receptor agonists and antagonists, we demonstrate that ATP
      induced IL-1beta secretion in BMDM was fully dependent on P2X7 signaling, whereas
      in microglia multiple purinergic receptors were involved, including P2X7 and
      P2X4. These cell type-specific features of conserved innate immune responses may
      reflect adaptations to the vulnerable CNS microenvironment. GLIA 2016;64:2231
      2246.

PMID- 27641913
TI  - Changes in the bacterial microbiome of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis after
      endoscopic sinus surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) improves symptoms for many chronic
      rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients by enlarging the size of sinus ostia, improving
      mucociliary clearance, and facilitating access for topical therapies. However,
      the effect of surgery on the sinonasal microbiota remains poorly understood. This
      study examined changes in bacterial communities in CRS patients before and after
      surgery. METHODS: Swab samples were taken from the middle meatus of 23 patients
      undergoing ESS. Follow-up swabs were taken in clinic (mean 120 days postsurgery).
      Symptom scores and antibiotic use were recorded. Bacterial communities were
      characterized using 16s ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene-targeted amplicon sequencing
      and bacterial abundance was measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR). Coexisting asthma, aspirin sensitivity, antibiotic use, and presence of
      polyps were controlled for. RESULTS: Unpredictable shifts in bacterial community
      composition were seen postoperatively. ESS was associated with increased
      bacterial richness. Many taxa had changes in average relative abundance and
      prevalence. Staphylococcus was the only dominant taxa to increase significantly
      in relative abundance (p = 0.002). Changes in bacterial communities were driven
      more by intersubject variability (p = 0.007) than other study factors.
      Finegoldia, a minority taxon, was associated with a reduction in abundance
      following ESS, increases in patients with higher symptoms scores, and reductions
      in patients with reduced total bacterial burden. CONCLUSION: This study
      documented changes in bacterial composition and abundance in the middle meatus
      following ESS. The complexity of these changes reflects the variability between
      patients. Modern molecular techniques highlight the currently limited knowledge
      of the impact of therapies on the microbiology of CRS.

PMID- 27641914
TI  - Synaptic plasticity and context-dependent behavioral responses expand the
      repertoire of stress reactivity (retrospective on DOI 10.1002/bies.201300178).

PMID- 27641917
TI  - Spotlights on our sister journals: Chem. Eur. J. 40/2016.

PMID- 27641915
TI  - The Microbiome: a Revolution in Treatment for Rheumatic Diseases?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The microbiome is the term that describes the microbial
      ecosystem that cohabits an organism such as humans. The microbiome has been
      implicated in a long list of immune-mediated diseases which include rheumatoid
      arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and even gout. The mechanisms to account for
      this effect are multiple. The clinical implications from observations on the
      microbiome and disease are broad. RECENT FINDINGS: A growing number of microbiota
      constituents such as Prevotella copri, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Collinsella
      have been correlated or causally related to rheumatic disease. The microbiome has
      a marked effect on the immune system. Our understanding of immune pathways
      modulated by the microbiota such as the induction of T helper 17 (Th17) cells and
      secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses to segmented filamentous bacteria
      continues to expand. In addition to the gut microbiome, bacterial communities of
      other sites such as the mouth, lung, and skin have also been associated with the
      pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases. Strategies to alter the microbiome or to
      alter the immune activation from the microbiome might play a role in the future
      therapy for rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 27641919
TI  - Editorial Comment Regarding "Multivariate Analyses of the Factors Associated With
      Sexual Intercourse, Marriage, and Paternity of Hypospadias Patients".

PMID- 27641916
TI  - Functional Genomics and Its Bench-to-Bedside Translation Pertaining to the
      Identified Susceptibility Alleles and Loci in Ankylosing Spondylitis.
AB  - Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a highly heritable disease for which there is a
      great unmet need for improved therapies. Genetics research has identified several
      major pathways involved in the disease, from which treatments have either now
      entered clinical practice or are in development. In particular, therapies
      targeting the IL-23 pathway were repositioned for use in AS following the
      discovery of multiple genes in the pathway as determinants of AS risk. Discovery
      of the association of aminopeptidase genes with AS, and subsequently with
      psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and other conditions, has triggered
      research into therapies targeting this pathway. The AS-genetic associations point
      to involvement of gut mucosal immunity in driving disease, and metagenomic
      studies have provided strong support that AS is a disease driven by interaction
      between the gut microbiome and host immune system, providing a rationale for the
      exploration of gut-targeted therapies for the disease.

PMID- 27641918
TI  - A Comparison of Genicular Nerve Treatment Using Either Radiofrequency or
      Analgesic Block with Corticosteroid for Pain after a Total Knee Arthroplasty: A
      Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis is a disease that affects a third of the
      population over 65 years of age, and it is increasingly becoming a motive for
      consultation and a source of pain and disability. The gold standard surgical
      treatment is a total knee arthroplasty; however, 15% to 30% of patients who have
      undergone surgery continue to experience pain and functional limitation. METHODS:
      A double-blind, randomized clinical study compared neurolysis using traditional
      radiofrequency (RF) to local anesthetic and corticosteroid block of the
      superolateral, superomedial, and inferomedial branches of the knee genicular
      nerves in patients who had total knee arthroplasty but still experience pain.
      RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients, 14 on each treatment arm, were followed for over
      a 1-year period. A reduction in pain and significant joint function improvement
      during the first 3 to 6 months was shown, with similar results using both
      techniques. No adverse effects were noted. An improvement in both disability and
      quality of life was observed, as well as a reduction in the need for analgesics
      in both treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Further clinical trials need to be
      undertaken, with a larger sample size, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of
      this technique and to detect the possible appearance of any long-term adverse
      effects.

PMID- 27641920
TI  - Response and Rebuttal to Editorial Comment Regarding "Multivariate Analyses of
      the Factors Associated With Sexual Intercourse, Marriage, and Paternity of
      Hypospadias Patients".

PMID- 27641921
TI  - The Impact of Midurethral Sling Surgery on Sexual Activity and Function in Women
      With Stress Urinary Incontinence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Stress urinary incontinence has a negative impact on sexual
      function. AIM: To assess the effect of midurethral sling surgery on sexual
      activity and function in women with stress urinary incontinence. METHODS: This is
      a secondary analysis of the Value of Urodynamics Prior to Stress Incontinence
      Surgery (VUSIS-II) study, which assessed the value of urodynamics in women with
      (predominantly) stress urinary incontinence. Patients who underwent retropubic or
      transobturator sling surgery were included in the present study if information
      was available on sexual activity before and 12 months after surgery. Data were
      collected from a self-report validated questionnaire combined with non-validated
      questions. The association between midurethral sling surgery and sexual function
      (coital incontinence, satisfaction, and dyspareunia) was compared with McNemar
      chi(2) tests for nominal data and paired t-tests for ordinal data. Potentially
      influential factors were analyzed with univariable and multivariable logistic
      regression analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in sexual activity and sexual
      function after midurethral sling surgery. RESULTS: Information on sexual activity
      was available in 293 of the 578 women (51%) included in the VUSIS-II study. At
      baseline, 252 of 293 patients (86%) were sexually active vs 244 of 293 (83%)
      after 12 months. More patients with cured stress urinary incontinence were
      sexually active postoperatively (213 of 247 [86%] vs 31 of 46 [67%], P < .01).
      There was a significant decrease in coital incontinence (120 of 236 [51%]
      preoperatively vs 16 of 236 [7%] postoperatively, P < .01). De novo dyspareunia
      was present in 21 of 238 women (9%). There was a greater improvement in coital
      incontinence after placement of the retropubic sling compared with the
      transobturator sling (odds ratio = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.10-3.80, P = .02).
      CONCLUSION: These data show that midurethral sling surgery has an overall
      positive influence on sexual function in women with stress urinary incontinence.
      The retropubic sling is more effective than the transobturator sling for
      improvement of coital incontinence. De novo dyspareunia was present in 1 of 11
      women.

PMID- 27641922
TI  - Independent Component Analysis of Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance
      Imaging in Pedophiles.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neuroimaging and other studies have changed the common view that
      pedophilia is a result of childhood sexual abuse and instead is a neurologic
      phenomenon with prenatal origins. Previous research has identified differences in
      the structural connectivity of the brain in pedophilia. AIM: To identify
      analogous differences in functional connectivity. METHODS: Functional magnetic
      resonance images were recorded from three groups of participants while they were
      at rest: pedophilic men with a history of sexual offenses against children (n =
      37) and two control groups: non-pedophilic men who committed non-sexual offenses
      (n = 28) and non-pedophilic men with no criminal history (n = 39). MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were subjected to independent
      component analysis to identify known functional networks of the brain, and groups
      were compared to identify differences in connectivity with those networks (or
      "components"). RESULTS: The pedophilic group demonstrated wide-ranging increases
      in functional connectivity with the default mode network compared with controls
      and regional differences (increases and decreases) with the frontoparietal
      network. Of these brain regions (total = 23), 20 have been identified by meta
      analytic studies to respond to sexually relevant stimuli. Conversely, of the
      brain areas known to be those that respond to sexual stimuli, nearly all emerged
      in the present data as significantly different in pedophiles. CONCLUSION: This
      study confirms the presence of significant differences in the functional
      connectivity of the brain in pedophilia consistent with previously reported
      differences in structural connectivity. The connectivity differences detected
      here and elsewhere are opposite in direction from those associated with anti
      sociality, arguing against anti-sociality and for pedophilia as the source of the
      neuroanatomic differences detected.

PMID- 27641923
TI  - Re: Taurine Supplementation Improves Erectile Function in Rats With
      Streptozotocin-Induced Type 1 Diabetes via Amelioration of Penile Fibrosis and
      Endothelial Dysfunction (J Sex Med 2016;13:778-785).

PMID- 27641924
TI  - Response and Rebuttal to Letter to the Editor regarding "Taurine Supplementation
      Improves Erectile Function in Rats with Streptozotocin-Induced Type 1 Diabetes
      via Amelioration of Penile Fibrosis and Endothelial Dysfunction".

PMID- 27641925
TI  - Submuscular Abdominal Wall Placement of IPP Reservoir.
AB  - The Surgical Techniques Section is sponsored in part by Coloplast.

PMID- 27641926
TI  - Bisphenol A induces hypothalamic down-regulation of the the cannabinoid receptor
      1 and anorexigenic effects in male mice.
AB  - Bisphenol A is an environment-polluting industrial chemical able to interfere
      with the endocrine system. An obesogenic effect in perinatally exposed rodents
      has been described as estrogenic activity. We exposed male mice to Bisphenol A
      during fetal-perinatal period (from 10 days post coitum to 31 days post partum)
      and investigated the effects of this early-life exposure at 78 days of age. Body
      weight, food intake, fat mass, and hypothalamic signals related to anorexigenic
      control of food intake were analyzed. Results show that Bisphenol A exposure
      reduced body weight and food intake. In addition, the exposure decreased
      epididymal fat mass and adiposity, acting negatively on adipocyte volume. At
      hypothalamic level, Bisphenol A exposure reduced the expression of the
      cannabinoid receptor 1 and induced gene expression of cocaine and amphetamine
      regulated transcript-1. This observation suggests that Bisphenol A induces
      activation of anorexigenic signals via down-regulation of the hypothalamic
      cannabinoid receptor 1 with negative impact on food intake.

PMID- 27641927
TI  - Ibrutinib inhibition of Bruton protein-tyrosine kinase (BTK) in the treatment of
      B cell neoplasms.
AB  - The Bruton non-receptor protein-tyrosine kinase (BTK), a deficiency of which
      leads to X-linked agammaglobulinemia, plays a central role in B cell antigen
      receptor signaling. Owing to the exclusivity of this enzyme in B cells, the
      acronym could represent B cell tyrosine kinase. BTK is activated by the Lyn and
      SYK protein kinases following activation of the B cell receptor. BTK in turn
      catalyzes the phosphorylation and activation of phospholipase Cgamma2 leading to
      the downstream activation of the Ras/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway and the NF-kappaB
      pathways. Both pathways participate in the maturation of antibody-producing B
      cells. The BTK domains include a PH (pleckstrin homology) domain that interacts
      with membrane-associated phosphatidyl inositol trisphosphate, a TH (TEC homology)
      domain, which is followed by an SH3, SH2, and finally a protein kinase domain.
      Dysregulation of B cell receptor signaling occurs in several B cell neoplasms
      including mantle cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and Waldenstrom
      macroglobulinemia. Ibrutinib is FDA-approved as first-line or second line
      treatment for these diseases. The drug binds tightly in the ATP-binding pocket of
      BTK making salt bridges with residues within the hinge that connects the two
      lobes of the enzyme; then its unsaturated acrylamide group forms a covalent bond
      with BTK cysteine 481 to form an inactive adduct. In addition to the treatment of
      various B cell lymphomas, ibrutinib is under clinical trials for the treatment of
      numerous solid tumors owing to the role of tumor-promoting inflammation in the
      pathogenesis of neoplastic diseases.

PMID- 27641928
TI  - Protective effect of gedunin on TLR-mediated inflammation by modulation of
      inflammasome activation and cytokine production: Evidence of a multitarget
      compound.
AB  - Activation of toll-like receptors (TLRs) by pathogen-associated molecular
      patterns (PAMPs) triggers an innate immune response, via cytokine production and
      inflammasome activation. Herein, we have investigated the modulatory effect of
      the natural limonoid gedunin on TLR activation in vitro and in vivo.
      Intraperitoneal (i.p.) pre- and post-treatments of C57BL/6 mouse with gedunin
      impaired the influx of mononuclear cells, eosinophils and neutrophils, as well as
      the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6 and
      nitric oxide (NO), triggered by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mouse pleura.
      Accordingly, in vitro post-treatment of immortalized murine macrophages with
      gedunin also impaired LPS-induced production of such mediators. Gedunin
      diminished LPS-induced expression of the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine
      rich repeat protein-3 (NLRP3) on pleural leukocytes in vivo and in immortalized
      macrophages in vitro. In line with this, gedunin inhibited LPS-induced caspase-1
      activation and the production of IL-1beta in vivo and in vitro. In addition,
      gedunin treatment triggered the generation of the anti-inflammatory factors IL-10
      and heme oxigenase-1 (HO-1) at resting conditions or upon stimulation. We also
      demonstrate that gedunin effect is not restricted to TLR4-mediated response,
      since this compound diminished TNF-alpha, IL-6, NO, NLRP3 and IL-1beta, as well
      as enhanced IL-10 and HO-1, by macrophages stimulated with the TLR2 and TLR3
      agonists, palmitoyl-3-Cys-Ser-(Lys)4 (PAM3) and
      polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid (POLY I:C), in vitro. In silico modeling
      studies revealed that gedunin efficiently docked into caspase-1, TLR2, TLR3 and
      to the myeloid differentiation protein-2 (MD-2) component of TLR4. Overall, our
      data demonstrate that gedunin modulates TLR4, TLR3 and TLR2-mediated responses
      and reveal new molecular targets for this compound.

PMID- 27641929
TI  - The effect of maternal nutrition level during the periconception period on fetal
      muscle development and plasma hormone concentrations in sheep.
AB  - The effect of maternal nutrition level during the periconception period on the
      muscle development of fetus and maternal-fetal plasma hormone concentrations in
      sheep were examined. Estrus was synchronized in 55 Karayaka ewes and were either
      fed ad libitum (well-fed, WF, n=23) or 0.5*maintenance (under-fed, UF, n=32) 6
      days before and 7 days after mating. Non-pregnant ewes (WF, n=13; UF, n=24) and
      ewes carrying twins (WF, n=1) and female (WF, n=1; UF, n=3) fetuses were removed
      from the experiment. The singleton male fetuses from well-fed (n=8) and under-fed
      (n=5) ewes were collected on day 90 of gestation and placental characteristics,
      fetal BWs and dimensions, fetal organs and muscles weights were recorded.
      Maternal (on day 7 after mating) and fetal (on day 90 of pregnancy) blood samples
      were collected to analyze plasma hormone concentrations. Placental
      characteristics, BW and dimensions, organs and muscles weights of fetuses were
      not affected by maternal feed intake during the periconception period. Maternal
      nutrition level did not affect fiber numbers and the muscle cross-sectional area
      of the fetal longissimus dorsi (LD), semitendinosus (ST) muscles, but the cross
      sectional area of the secondary fibers in the fetal LD and ST muscles from the UF
      ewes were higher than those from the WF ewes (P<0.05). Also, the ratio of
      secondary to primary fibers in the ST muscle were tended to be lower in the
      fetuses from the UF ewes (P=0.07). Maternal nutrition level during the
      periconception period did not cause any significant changes in fetal plasma
      insulin and maternal and fetal plasma IGF-I, cortisol, progesterone, free T3 and
      T4 concentrations. However, maternal cortisol concentrations were lower while
      insulin concentrations were higher in the WF ewes than those in the UF ewes
      (P<0.05). These results indicate that the reduced maternal feed intake during the
      periconception period may alter muscle fiber diameter without affecting fiber
      types, fetal weights and organ developments and plasma hormone concentrations in
      the fetus. 

PMID- 27641930
TI  - An Observational Study Using English Syndromic Surveillance Data Collected During
      the 2012 London Olympics - What did Syndromic Surveillance Show and What Can We
      Learn for Future Mass-gathering Events?
AB  - : Introduction In preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games, existing
      syndromic surveillance systems operating in England were expanded to include
      daily general practitioner (GP) out-of-hours (OOH) contacts and emergency
      department (ED) attendances at sentinel sites (the GP OOH and ED syndromic
      surveillance systems: GPOOHS and EDSSS). Hypothesis/Problem The further
      development of syndromic surveillance systems in time for the London 2012 Olympic
      Games provided a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of a large mass
      gathering event on public health and health services as monitored in near real
      time by syndromic surveillance of GP OOH contacts and ED attendances. This can,
      in turn, aid the planning of future events. METHODS: The EDSSS and GPOOHS data
      for London and England from July 13 to August 26, 2012, and a similar period in
      2013, were divided into three distinct time periods: pre-Olympic period (July 13
      26, 2012); Olympic period (July 27 to August 12); and post-Olympic period (August
      13-26, 2012). Time series of selected syndromic indicators in 2012 and 2013 were
      plotted, compared, and risk assessed by members of the Real-time Syndromic
      Surveillance Team (ReSST) in Public Health England (PHE). Student's t test was
      used to test any identified changes in pattern of attendance. RESULTS: Very few
      differences were found between years or between the weeks which preceded and
      followed the Olympics. One significant exception was noted: a statistically
      significant increase (P value = .0003) in attendances for "chemicals, poisons,
      and overdoses, including alcohol" and "acute alcohol intoxication" were observed
      in London EDs coinciding with the timing of the Olympic opening ceremony (9:00 pm
      July 27, 2012 to 01:00 am July 28, 2012). CONCLUSIONS: Syndromic surveillance was
      able to provide near to real-time monitoring and could identify hourly changes in
      patterns of presentation during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Reassurance can be
      provided to planners of future mass-gathering events that there was no
      discernible impact in overall attendances to sentinel EDs or GP OOH services in
      the host country. The increase in attendances for alcohol-related causes during
      the opening ceremony, however, may provide an opportunity for future public
      health interventions. Todkill D , Hughes HE , Elliot AJ , Morbey RA , Edeghere O
      , Harcourt S , Hughes T , Endericks T , McCloskey B , Catchpole M , Ibbotson S ,
      Smith G . An observational study using English syndromic surveillance data
      collected during the 2012 London Olympics - what did syndromic surveillance show
      and what can we learn for future mass-gathering events? Prehosp Disaster Med.
      2016;31(6):628-634.

PMID- 27641931
TI  - Comparative analysis of cesarean section rates using Robson Ten-Group
      Classification System and Lorenz curve in the main institutions in Japan.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to clarify the indication for cesarean section
      (CS) using the Robson Ten-Group Classification System (RTGCS) and to clarify the
      center variation using the Lorenz curve in the main institutions in Japan.
      METHODS: The records of 68 702 deliveries, which were performed in 125
      institutions, were extracted from the Japanese perinatal database in 2013 and the
      cases were classified using the RTGCS, which classifies deliveries into one of 10
      groups on the basis of five parameters. The equality of the CS rate of each
      hospital was evaluated by the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient. The standard
      error (SE) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for the Gini coefficient were
      determined by the bootstrap method. The institutions were divided into three
      categories depending on their scale: comprehensive center (CC, Category I),
      regional center (RC, Category II) and others (Category III). RESULTS: The overall
      CS rate was 37.3%. The difference between Categories I (42.6%) and II (34.3%) was
      significant (P = 0.02). The CS rates that were classified as RTGCS group 3
      (multiparous, single cephalic, >=37 weeks, with spontaneous labor) were higher in
      Category I (4.0%) than in Category II (2.7%, P = 0.01). The Gini coefficient of
      Category I (0.119 +/- 0.015; 95%CI, 0.092-0.152) was significantly lower than
      that of Category II (0.189 +/- 0.013; 95%CI, 0.16-0.217). CONCLUSION: We
      clarified the indication of CS and center variation. These two types of methods
      are useful for the evaluation of medical intervention in the perinatal field.

PMID- 27641932
TI  - Comparison of the 7(th) and proposed 8(th) editions of the AJCC/UICC TNM staging
      system for non-small cell lung cancer undergoing radical surgery.
AB  - The present study aims to compare the 7(th) and the proposed 8(th) edition of the
      AJCC/UICC TNM staging system for NSCLC in a cohort of patients from a single
      institution. A total of 408 patients with NSCLC who underwent radical surgery
      were analyzed retrospectively. Survivals were analyzed using the Kaplan -Meier
      method and were compared using the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was
      performed by the Cox proportional hazard model. The Akaike information criterion
      (AIC) and C-index were applied to compare the two prognostic systems with
      different numbers of stages. The 7(th) AJCC T categories, the proposed 8(th) AJCC
      T categories, N categories, visceral pleural invasion, and vessel invasion were
      found to have statistically significant associations with disease-free survival
      (DFS) on univariate analysis. In the 7(th) edition staging system as well as in
      the proposed 8(th) edition, T categories, N categories, and pleural invasion were
      independent factors for DFS on multivariate analysis. The AIC value was smaller
      for the 8(th) edition compared to the 7(th) edition staging system. The C-index
      value was larger for the 8(th) edition compared to the 7(th) edition staging
      system. Based on the data from our single center, the proposed 8(th) AJCC T
      classification seems to be superior to the 7(th) AJCC T classification in terms
      of DFS for patients with NSCLC underwent radical surgery.

PMID- 27641933
TI  - Automatic Bayesian single molecule identification for localization microscopy.
AB  - Single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) is on its way to become a
      mainstream imaging technique in the life sciences. However, analysis of SMLM data
      is biased by user provided subjective parameters required by the analysis
      software. To remove this human bias we introduce here the Auto-Bayes method that
      executes the analysis of SMLM data automatically. We demonstrate the success of
      the method using the photoelectron count of an emitter as selection
      characteristic. Moreover, the principle can be used for any characteristic that
      is bimodally distributed with respect to false and true emitters. The method also
      allows generation of an emitter reliability map for estimating quality of SMLM
      based structures. The potential of the Auto-Bayes method is shown by the fact
      that our first basic implementation was able to outperform all software packages
      that were compared in the ISBI online challenge in 2015, with respect to molecule
      detection (Jaccard index).

PMID- 27641934
TI  - Distance to the anal verge is associated with pathologic complete response to
      neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced rectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Achieving a pathologic complete response (pCR) after
      neoadjuvant therapy has been associated with better prognosis in rectal cancer
      patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between
      distance to the anal verge (DTAV) and pCR. METHODS: Review of a prospectively
      maintained database of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who received
      neoadjuvant treatment was completed. Uni- and multivariate analysis assessed the
      association between DTAV and pCR after neoadjuvant therapy. RESULTS: Of 827
      included patients, 20% had a pCR. We found that pCR rates were 11% for tumors <4
      cm, 24% for tumors 4-6 cm, 30% for tumors at 6-8 cm, 17% for tumors 8-10 cm, and
      14% for tumors >10 cm from the anal verge (P = 0.002). Multivariate analysis also
      showed a strong association between DTAV and pCR (P = 0.008). The bimodal
      distribution of pCR resulted in a lower odds ratio of pCR for tumors <4 and >8 cm
      from the anal verge. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low tumors (<4 cm) and higher
      tumors (>8 cm), were less likely to have a pCR. Further investigation is
      warranted to determine if these observations are related to tumor biology or
      possibly differences in radiation technique. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:637-641.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641935
TI  - Postpercutaneous Nephrolithotomy Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome Is Not
      Associated With Unplanned Readmission.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of systemic inflammatory response
      syndrome (SIRS) following percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and evaluate any
      association with unplanned 90-day readmission. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed consecutive patients undergoing PCNL in 2 dedicated endourologic
      practices between 2009 and 2013. We collected patient demographics, perioperative
      culture data, and operative characteristics. SIRS was defined as having 2 or more
      of the following: maximum white blood cell count >12,000 or <4000, temperature
      >38 or <34 degrees C, heart rate >90, and respiratory rate >20 within the first
      24 hours following PCNL. Proportions between groups were compared to identify
      significant associations. RESULTS: We identified 389 patients undergoing PCNL and
      43% (167 of 389) met SIRS criteria, more commonly in patients with multiple PCNL
      accesses (OR 2.3; CI: 1.1-4.8, P = .025). Readmission was required in 8% (31 of
      389), most commonly for infection (n = 21). Although possession of a struvite
      stone was associated with unplanned readmission (16% vs 4%, P < .01), SIRS in the
      absence of fever within 48 hours postoperative was not associated with
      readmission (29.4% vs 25.8%, P = .837). CONCLUSION: Nearly half of the patients
      undergoing PCNL met the criteria for SIRS within the first postoperative day.
      There was no association between SIRS and unplanned readmission in the
      postoperative PCNL patient. Despite discharge during the first postoperative day,
      patients with SIRS (without fever or struvite stones) had no increased risk for
      unplanned return. Our findings suggest that the development of SIRS immediately
      following PCNL does not preclude safe discharge on the first postoperative day.

PMID- 27641936
TI  - Do Overweight and Obese Pediatric Stone Formers Have Differences in Metabolic
      Abnormalities Compared With Normal-weight Stone Formers?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if 24-hour urinary parameters in children with
      nephrolithiasis across 4 institutions were influenced by body mass index (BMI).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The 24-hour urinary parameters obtained from children with
      nephrolithiasis between 2000 and 2013 were stratified by BMI percentile >=85th
      and <85th (overweight and obese patients vs healthy weight, respectively). A
      total of 206 children were included in the study. Exclusion criteria included
      patients with a history of spina bifida, neurogenic bladder, and cerebral palsy,
      and patients on medical treatment before the first 24-hour urine collection.
      RESULTS: Overweight and obese patients consisted of 35.4% of the cohort (n = 73).
      Metabolic abnormalities were present in 130 children (63.1%). The most common
      abnormality present in the <85th percentile was hypercalciuria (32.3%), and in
      the >=85th percentile, hyperoxaluria (37.0%). Univariable and multivariable
      analyses revealed that overweight and obese children were more likely to have low
      urinary volume and elevated uric acid compared to normal-weight children.
      CONCLUSION: Although there is a link between stone formation and BMI in adults,
      no definitive conclusions have been proven in the pediatric literature. Our study
      indicates that stone-forming children who are overweight or obese have low
      urinary volume and elevated uric acid compared to normal-weight stone-forming
      children.

PMID- 27641940
TI  - Development of a Reference Material for Image Sharpness Evaluation in Scanning
      Electron Microscopy - ERRATUM.

PMID- 27641939
TI  - A Comparative Exposure Assessment of Campylobacter in Ontario, Canada.
AB  - To inform source attribution efforts, a comparative exposure assessment was
      developed to estimate the relative exposure to Campylobacter, the leading
      bacterial gastrointestinal disease in Canada, for 13 different transmission
      routes within Ontario, Canada, during the summer. Exposure was quantified with
      stochastic models at the population level, which incorporated measures of
      frequency, quantity ingested, prevalence, and concentration, using data from
      FoodNet Canada surveillance, the peer-reviewed and gray literature, other Ontario
      data, and data that were specifically collected for this study. Models were run
      with @Risk software using Monte Carlo simulations. The mean number of cells of
      Campylobacter ingested per Ontarian per day during the summer, ranked from
      highest to lowest is as follows: household pets, chicken, living on a farm, raw
      milk, visiting a farm, recreational water, beef, drinking water, pork,
      vegetables, seafood, petting zoos, and fruits. The study results identify
      knowledge gaps for some transmission routes, and indicate that some transmission
      routes for Campylobacter are underestimated in the current literature, such as
      household pets and raw milk. Many data gaps were identified for future data
      collection consideration, especially for the concentration of Campylobacter in
      all transmission routes.

PMID- 27641938
TI  - Gold nanoparticle-conjugated quercetin inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition, angiogenesis and invasiveness via EGFR/VEGFR-2-mediated pathway in
      breast cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Epidermal growth factor plays a critical role in breast malignancies
      by enhancing cell proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis.
      Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial process by which epithelial
      cells lose polarity and acquire migratory mesenchymal properties. Gold
      nanoparticles are an efficient drug delivery vehicle for carrying
      chemotherapeutic agents to target cancer cells and quercetin is an anti-oxidative
      flavonoid known with potent anti-malignant cell activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay, and protein expression was examined by
      Western blotting and immunocytochemistry. Cell invasion was monitored using
      invasion chambers, and cell migration was analysed by scratch wound-healing
      assay. In vitro and ex vivo angiogenesis studies were performed by capillary-like
      tube formation assay and chick embryo angiogenesis assay (CEA). 7,12
      dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced mammary carcinoma in Sprague-Dawley
      rats. RESULTS: We observed a significant reduction in protein expression of
      vimentin, N-cadherin, Snail, Slug, Twist, MMP-2, MMP-9, p-EGFR, VEGFR-2, p-PI3K,
      Akt and p-GSK3beta, and enhanced E-cadherin protein expression in response to
      AuNPs-Qu-5 treatment. AuNPs-Qu-5 inhibited migration and invasion of MCF-7 and
      MDA-MB-231 cells compared to free quercetin. AuNPs-Qu-5-treated HUVECs had
      reduced cell viability and capillary-like tube formation. In vitro and in vivo
      angiogenesis assays showed that AuNPs-Qu-5 suppressed tube and new blood vessel
      formation. Treatment with AuNPs-Qu-5 impeded tumour growth in DMBA-induced
      mammary carcinoma in SD rats compared to treatment with free quercetin.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that AuNPs-Qu-5 inhibited EMT, angiogenesis and
      metastasis of the breast cancer cells tested by targeting the EGFR/VEGFR-2
      signalling pathway.

PMID- 27641937
TI  - Type 2 diabetes alters mesenchymal stem cell secretome composition and angiogenic
      properties.
AB  - This study aimed at characterizing the impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
      on the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMMSC) secretome and angiogenic
      properties. BMMSCs from Zucker diabetic fatty rats (ZDF) (a T2DM model) and
      Zucker LEAN littermates (control) were cultured. The supernatant conditioned
      media (CM) from BMMSCs of diabetic and control rats were collected and analysed.
      Compared to results obtained using CM from LEAN-BMMSCs, the bioactive content of
      ZDF-BMMSC CM (i) differently affects endothelial cell (HUVEC) functions in vitro
      by inducing increased (3.5-fold; P < 0.01) formation of tubule-like structures
      and migration of these cells (3-fold; P < 0.001), as well as promotes improved
      vascular formation in vivo, and (ii) contains different levels of angiogenic
      factors (e.g. IGF1) and mediators, such as OSTP, CATD, FMOD LTBP1 and LTBP2,
      which are involved in angiogenesis and/or extracellular matrix composition.
      Addition of neutralizing antibodies against IGF-1, LTBP1 or LTBP2 in the CM of
      BMMSCs from diabetic rats decreased its stimulatory effect on HUVEC migration by
      approximately 60%, 40% or 40%, respectively. These results demonstrate that
      BMMSCs from T2DM rats have a unique secretome with distinct angiogenic properties
      and provide new insights into the role of BMMSCs in aberrant angiogenesis in the
      diabetic milieu.

PMID- 27641941
TI  - Response to letter to the editor re 'Worldwide prevalence of hypospadias'.

PMID- 27641942
TI  - Starclose SE(r) hemostasis after 6F direct antegrade superficial femoral artery
      access distal to the femoral head for peripheral endovascular procedures in obese
      patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Direct superficial femoral artery (SFA) antegrade puncture is a valid
      alternative to common femoral artery (CFA) access for peripheral vascular
      interventions. Data investigating vascular closure device (VCD) hemostasis of
      distant SFA 6F access are limited. We aimed to investigate the safety and
      effectiveness of the Starclose SE(r) VCD for hemostasis, following direct 6F
      antegrade SFA access distal to the femoral head. METHODS: This prospective,
      single-center study included patients who were not suitable for CFA puncture and
      were scheduled to undergo peripheral endovascular interventions using direct
      antegrade SFA 6F access, at least 2 cm below the inferior edge of femoral head.
      Hemostasis was obtained with the Starclose SE(r) VCD (Abbott Laboratories).
      Primary endpoints were successful hemostasis rate and periprocedural (30-day)
      major complication rate. Secondary endpoint was the rate of minor complications.
      Clinical and Doppler ultrasound follow-up was performed at discharge and at one
      month. RESULTS: Between September 2014 and August 2015, a total of 30 patients
      (21 male; 70.0%) with a mean body mass index of 41.2 kg/m2 were enrolled. Mean
      age was 72+/-9 years (range, 67-88 years). Most patients suffered from critical
      limb ischemia (87.1%) and diabetes (61.3%). Calcifications were present in eight
      cases (26.6%). Reason for direct SFA puncture was obesity (100%). Successful
      hemostasis was achieved in 100% of the cases. No major complications were noted
      after one-month follow-up. Minor complications included two <5 cm hematomas
      (6.6%) not necessitating treatment. CONCLUSION: In this prospective study,
      Starclose SE(r) VCD was safe and effective for hemostasis of antegrade direct SFA
      puncture. Uncomplicated hemostasis was achieved even in cases of puncturing 2 to
      7 cm below the inferior edge of the femoral head.

PMID- 27641944
TI  - Bioengineered and biohybrid bacteria-based systems for drug delivery.
AB  - The use of bacterial cells as agents of medical therapy has a long history.
      Research that was ignited over a century ago with the accidental infection of
      cancer patients has matured into a platform technology that offers the promise of
      opening up new potential frontiers in medical treatment. Bacterial cells exhibit
      unique characteristics that make them well-suited as smart drug delivery agents.
      Our ability to genetically manipulate the molecular machinery of these cells
      enables the customization of their therapeutic action as well as its precise
      tuning and spatio-temporal control, allowing for the design of unique, complex
      therapeutic functions, unmatched by current drug delivery systems. Early results
      have been promising, but there are still many important challenges that must be
      addressed. We present a review of promises and challenges of employing
      bioengineered bacteria in drug delivery systems and introduce the biohybrid
      design concept as a new additional paradigm in bacteria-based drug delivery.

PMID- 27641945
TI  - Diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for the assessment of the
      small bowel in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) compared to standard magnetic
      resonance imaging (sMRI) in the assessment of inflammatory lesions of the small
      bowel. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two readers retrospectively analysed MRI images of
      the small bowel including DWI followed by capsule endoscopy (CE) and
      ileocolonoscopy (ICS) in 30 consecutive patients with a suspected or established
      diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. Small bowel CE and the combination of CE
      + ICS were used as the standards of reference. Inflammatory lesions of the small
      bowel detected at endoscopy were compared with the findings of (1) sMRI alone
      (MRI without DWI), (2) DWI alone, and (3) sMRI in combination with DWI (sMRI +
      DWI). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated for all three
      readouts. The results of the three readouts were compared with each other.
      RESULTS: Using CE + ICS as the standard of reference, the mean sensitivity and
      specificity for the detection of inflammatory lesions of the small bowel at sMRI
      were 55.2% and 99.5%, at DWI 60% and 99%, and at sMRI + DWI 70% and 99%.
      Interobserver agreement between the two readers was very good (k=0.87-0.95). Two
      lesions in different patients were only detected at DWI. CONCLUSION: DWI of the
      small bowel not only allowed for the detection of inflammatory lesions with high
      accuracy, but also enabled the identification of additional lesions that were not
      found using sMRI alone.

PMID- 27641946
TI  - Push-out Bond Strength of Injectable Pozzolan-based Root Canal Sealer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed to rank the bond strength to root dentin of
      a new injectable pozzolan-based root canal sealer, EndoSeal MTA, as compared with
      MTA Fillapex and AH Plus. METHODS: Eighteen dentinal slices (1 +/- 0.1 mm) were
      obtained from the middle third of 6 maxillary incisors previously selected. Three
      canal-like holes with 0.8 mm diameter were drilled perpendicularly on the axial
      surface of each slice. Then, a standardized irrigation was applied for all holes
      that were subsequently filled with 1 of 3 test root canal sealers. After that,
      slices were stored in contact with phosphate-buffered saline solution (pH 7.2)
      for 7 days at 37 degrees C before the push-out assay. Friedman test and Wilcoxon
      signed rank test with a Bonferroni correction were used to rank the results.
      Significance boundary was set at alpha = 5%. RESULTS: Friedman test confirmed a
      significant dissimilarity in push-out ranks among the tested cements (P < .01).
      Wilcoxon signed rank test demonstrated AH Plus had significant superior
      resistance to dislodgment compared with Endo Seal (P < .01) or MTA Fillapex (P <
      .01), whereas MTA Fillapex presented the lowest push-out values as compared with
      Endo Seal (P < .01) or AH Plus (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: EndoSeal presents
      satisfactory bond strength performance for application in endodontic therapy
      compared with MTA Fillapex, and although it displays a new alternative of
      injectable bio-tight root canal sealer, it is not able to improve adhesion
      compared with AH Plus.

PMID- 27641943
TI  - Integrating cardiomyocytes from human pluripotent stem cells in safety
      pharmacology: has the time come?
AB  - : Cardiotoxicity is a severe side effect of drugs that induce structural or
      electrophysiological changes in heart muscle cells. As a result, the heart
      undergoes failure and potentially lethal arrhythmias. It is still a major reason
      for drug failure in preclinical and clinical phases of drug discovery. Current
      methods for predicting cardiotoxicity are based on guidelines that combine
      electrophysiological analysis of cell lines expressing ion channels ectopically
      in vitro with animal models and clinical trials. Although no new cases of drugs
      linked to lethal arrhythmias have been reported since the introduction of these
      guidelines in 2005, their limited predictive power likely means that potentially
      valuable drugs may not reach clinical practice. Human pluripotent stem cell
      derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) are now emerging as potentially more predictive
      alternatives, particularly for the early phases of preclinical research. However,
      these cells are phenotypically immature and culture and assay methods not
      standardized, which could be a hurdle to the development of predictive
      computational models and their implementation into the drug discovery pipeline,
      in contrast to the ambitions of the comprehensive pro-arrhythmia in vitro assay
      (CiPA) initiative. Here, we review present and future preclinical cardiotoxicity
      screening and suggest possible hPSC-CM-based strategies that may help to move the
      field forward. Coordinated efforts by basic scientists, companies and hPSC banks
      to standardize experimental conditions for generating reliable and reproducible
      safety indices will be helpful not only for cardiotoxicity prediction but also
      for precision medicine. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section
      on New Insights into Cardiotoxicity Caused by Chemotherapeutic Agents. To view
      the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.21/issuetoc.

PMID- 27641947
TI  - Adjunctive Steps for Disinfection of the Mandibular Molar Root Canal System: A
      Correlative Bacteriologic, Micro-Computed Tomography, and Cryopulverization
      Approach.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study evaluated the disinfecting ability of chemomechanical
      preparation with rotary nickel-titanium instruments, followed by 2 distinct
      adjunctive procedures in the root canals of extracted mandibular molars by means
      of a correlative analytical approach. METHODS: Twenty-two extracted mandibular
      molars were selected and anatomically matched between groups on the basis of
      micro-computed tomographic analysis. In the first phase of the experiment, root
      canals were contaminated with Enterococcus faecalis and subjected to
      chemomechanical preparation with BT RaCe instruments and 2.5% NaOCl irrigation.
      Then either XP-Endo Finisher instrument or passive ultrasonic irrigation was used
      to supplement disinfection. Micro-computed tomography was used to show whether
      the percentage of unprepared areas correlated to bacterial counts. In the second
      phase, the same teeth were contaminated once again, and the adjunctive procedures
      were used. Samples from the isthmus area of mesial roots and the apical 5-mm
      fragment of distal roots were obtained by cryopulverization. Samples taken before
      and after treatment steps in both phases were evaluated by quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: In phase 1,
      preparation in both groups resulted in substantial decrease of bacterial counts
      (P < .001). The adjunctive approaches led to a further small bacterial reduction,
      which was significant for XP-Endo Finisher (P < .05). No significant differences
      were observed between groups for persisting bacterial counts. Correlative
      analysis revealed no statistically significant relationship between bacterial
      reduction and the percentage of unprepared areas (P > .05). In phase 2, both
      methods had significant antibacterial effects in the main canal, but none of them
      could predictably disinfect the isthmus/recess areas. CONCLUSIONS: Both XP-Endo
      Finisher and passive ultrasonic irrigation exhibited antibacterial effectiveness,
      but only the former caused a significant reduction in the bacterial counts after
      chemomechanical preparation. None of them were effective in predictably
      disinfecting the isthmus/recess areas.

PMID- 27641948
TI  - Revision and Survival Rates After Total Knee Arthroplasty in Individuals Aged 70
      and Older.

PMID- 27641949
TI  - SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DIETARY BEHAVIOUR AMONG YOUNG GHANAIANS
      AGED 15-34 YEARS.
AB  - This study used data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey to
      investigate the association between selected socio-demographic factors and
      dietary behaviour as measured by fruit and vegetable consumption among a sample
      of 6139 young people aged 15-34 years in Ghana. Overall, fruit and vegetable
      consumption was low in young people, but females were likely to consume more
      fruit and vegetables than their male counterparts. Respondents from the Mande
      ethnic group, those who resided in rural areas and those living in the
      Brong/Ahafo, Ashanti and the Eastern regions consumed more fruit and vegetables
      than those from other regions. Females who were Catholic/Anglican,
      Methodist/Presbyterian and Pentecostal/Charismatic were more likely than those of
      other religions to consume fruit and vegetables, while Muslim males generally
      consumed more fruit and vegetables. The findings point to the need for
      interventions to educate young people in Ghana about the health benefits of
      eating fruit and vegetables.

PMID- 27641950
TI  - Identification of a novel mutation in HPS6 in a patient with hemophilia B and
      oculocutaneous albinism.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hemophilia B, an X-linked disease, manifests with recurrent soft tissue
      bleeding episodes. Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, a rare autosomal recessive
      disorder, is characterized by oculocutaneous albinism and an increased tendency
      to bleed due to a platelet storage pool defect. We report a novel mutation in
      HPS6 in a Caucasian man with hemophilia B and oculocutaneous albinism. RESULTS:
      The patient was diagnosed with hemophilia B at age 4months due to recurrent soft
      tissue bleeding episodes, and he was also diagnosed with Hermansky-Pudlak
      syndrome at 32years of age due to unexplained oculocutaneous albinism. His factor
      IX level was markedly reduced at 13%; whole exome and Sanger sequencing showed
      the Durham mutation in F9 (NM_000133.3). The diagnosis of Hermansky-Pudlak
      syndrome subtype 6 was established by demonstrating absence of platelet delta
      granules on whole mount electron microscopy, an abnormal secondary wave in
      platelet aggregation studies, and a novel homozygous c.1114 C>T (p.Arg372*)
      mutation in HPS6 (NM_024747.5) on exome analysis and Sanger sequencing. Clinical
      phenotyping revealed no evidence of recurrent or unusual infections, interstitial
      lung disease or pulmonary fibrosis, or neurological disorders. The patient was
      treated with fresh frozen plasma, recombinant factor IX, and aminocaproic acid.
      Treatment with desmopressin was added to his regimen after he was diagnosed with
      Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Treatment of bleeding episodes results in effective
      hemostasis, and the patient has not required platelet or blood product
      transfusions. CONCLUSIONS: This report highlights the need to consider Hermansky
      Pudlak syndrome as an etiology of oculocutaneous albinism even in patients with
      known hematologic disorders associated with bleeding. Identification of a novel
      mutation in HPS6 in an individual with hemophilia B shows that, although quite
      rare, patients may be diagnosed with two independent inherited bleeding
      disorders. No evidence of lung disease was found in this adult patient with
      Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome subtype 6.

PMID- 27641952
TI  - Detection of Rickettsia aeschlimannii and Rickettsia africae in ixodid ticks from
      Burkina Faso and Somali Region of Ethiopia by new real-time PCR assays.
AB  - In the framework of cooperation for development projects in Burkina Faso and
      Ethiopia, we collected ixodid ticks from cattle, small ruminants and camels. We
      optimized new TaqMan Probe real-time PCR assays to detect Rickettsia
      aeschlimannii and Rickettsia africae OmpA gene in the collected samples.
      Rickettsia africae was identified in 75.0% Amblyomma variegatum (95%CI: 56.6
      88.5), while R. aeschlimannii in 24.0% Hyalomma truncatum (95%CI: 9.4-45.1) and
      50.0% H. rufipes (95%CI: 29.9-70.0) collected from cattle in different provinces
      throughout Burkina Faso. Ticks from the Libaan zone, Somali Region of Ethiopia,
      were also infected by R. africae (28.5% prevalence in Amblyomma gemma, 95%CI:
      14.7-46.0) and R. aeschlimannii (27.0% H. truncatum, 95%CI: 5.0-62.9; 88.3% H.
      rufipes, 95%CI: 60.5-99.3). All tested ticks were adults. The developed
      diagnostic tools were highly sensitive and enabled us to rapidly classify R.
      aeschlimannii and R. africae, which were identified in Burkina Faso and in the
      Somali Region of Ethiopia for the first time. Further studies are needed to
      assess the zoonotic risk and prevalence of infection in local human populations,
      who have high contact rates with ticks and their animal hosts.

PMID- 27641951
TI  - Spontaneous parasitic leiomyoma in a post-partum woman.
AB  - We report a case of spontaneous parasitic leiomyoma in a 30-year-old post-partum
      woman. A subserosal leiomyoma had been noted at the first trimester screening,
      and she had experienced persistent abdominal pain during her previous pregnancy.
      She was referred to hospital with severe abdominal pain at 7 months after
      delivery. We detected a homogenous solid tumor that resembled the subserosal
      leiomyoma but was completely detached from the uterus. On laparoscopy the
      vascularization of the tumor was supplied from the omentum, which was tightly
      adherent to the tumor. Histopathologically, the tumor was surrounded by a fibrous
      vascular capsule, and broadly hyalinized and partially calcified, consistent with
      a degenerated uterine leiomyoma. Detachment of a pedunculated subserosal
      leiomyoma from the uterus following adhesion to other pelvic structures
      throughout pregnancy may result in a parasitic leiomyoma, a rare subtype of
      uterine leiomyoma.

PMID- 27641953
TI  - Pro: The Hepcon HMS Should Be Used Instead of Traditional Activated Clotting Time
      (ACT) to Dose Heparin and Protamine for Cardiac Surgery Requiring Cardiopulmonary
      Bypass.

PMID- 27641954
TI  - [Unilateral vascular acrosyndrome].

PMID- 27641955
TI  - Superficial and deep vascular structure of the retina in diabetic macular
      ischaemia: OCT angiography.

PMID- 27641956
TI  - A Portrait of the Human Organelle Proteome In Space and Time during
      Cytomegalovirus Infection.
AB  - The organelles within a eukaryotic host are manipulated by viruses to support
      successful virus replication and spread of infection, yet the global impact of
      viral infection on host organelles is poorly understood. Integrating microscopy,
      subcellular fractionation, mass spectrometry, and functional analyses, we
      conducted a cell-wide study of organelles in primary fibroblasts throughout the
      time course of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. We used label-free and
      isobaric-labeling proteomics to characterize nearly 4,000 host and 100 viral
      proteins, then classified their specific subcellular locations over time using
      machine learning. We observed a global reorganization of proteins across the
      secretory pathway, plasma membrane, and mitochondria, including reorganization
      and processing of lysosomal proteins into distinct subpopulations and
      translocations of individual proteins between organelles at specific time points.
      We also demonstrate that MYO18A, an unconventional myosin that translocates from
      the plasma membrane to the viral assembly complex, is necessary for efficient
      HCMV replication. This study provides a comprehensive resource for understanding
      host and virus biology during HCMV pathogenesis.

PMID- 27641958
TI  - Analysis of Body-wide Unfractionated Tissue Data to Identify a Core Human
      Endothelial Transcriptome.
AB  - Endothelial cells line blood vessels and regulate hemostasis, inflammation, and
      blood pressure. Proteins critical for these specialized functions tend to be
      predominantly expressed in endothelial cells across vascular beds. Here, we
      present a systems approach to identify a panel of human endothelial-enriched
      genes using global, body-wide transcriptomics data from 124 tissue samples from
      32 organs. We identified known and unknown endothelial-enriched gene transcripts
      and used antibody-based profiling to confirm expression across vascular beds. The
      majority of identified transcripts could be detected in cultured endothelial
      cells from various vascular beds, and we observed maintenance of relative
      expression in early passage cells. In summary, we describe a widely applicable
      method to determine cell-type-specific transcriptome profiles in a whole-organism
      context, based on differential abundance across tissues. We identify potential
      vascular drug targets or endothelial biomarkers and highlight candidates for
      functional studies to increase understanding of the endothelium in health and
      disease.

PMID- 27641957
TI  - Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals that Differentiation and Spatial Signatures
      Shape Epidermal and Hair Follicle Heterogeneity.
AB  - The murine epidermis with its hair follicles represents an invaluable model
      system for tissue regeneration and stem cell research. Here we used single-cell
      RNA-sequencing to reveal how cellular heterogeneity of murine telogen epidermis
      is tuned at the transcriptional level. Unbiased clustering of 1,422 single-cell
      transcriptomes revealed 25 distinct populations of interfollicular and follicular
      epidermal cells. Our data allowed the reconstruction of gene expression programs
      during epidermal differentiation and along the proximal-distal axis of the hair
      follicle at unprecedented resolution. Moreover, transcriptional heterogeneity of
      the epidermis can essentially be explained along these two axes, and we show that
      heterogeneity in stem cell compartments generally reflects this model: stem cell
      populations are segregated by spatial signatures but share a common basal
      epidermal gene module. This study provides an unbiased and systematic view of
      transcriptional organization of adult epidermis and highlights how cellular
      heterogeneity can be orchestrated in vivo to assure tissue homeostasis.

PMID- 27641959
TI  - Defining roles of tandemly arrayed CBF genes in freezing tolerance with new
      genome editing tools.

PMID- 27641960
TI  - Cellulose/callose glucan networks: the key to powdery mildew resistance in
      plants?

PMID- 27641961
TI  - Alternative splicing - an elegant way to diversify the function of repeat
      containing effector proteins?

PMID- 27641962
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27641963
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27641964
TI  - Reduced Expression of Jumonji AT-Rich Interactive Domain 2 (JARID2) in Glioma
      Inhibits Tumor Growth In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - Jumonji AT-rich interactive domain 2 (JARID2) is a member of the Jumonji family
      of proteins and has been proposed as an oncogene in several types of human
      cancer. However, the role of JARID2 in human glioma has not yet been understood.
      The present study was designed to determine the roles of JARID2 in the
      proliferation and migration in human glioma cells and the growth of glioma cells
      in nude mice. Our data indicate that JARID2 is upregulated in human glioma
      tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of JARID2 obviously inhibits the proliferation
      of U87MG cells and tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, knockdown of JARID2
      inhibits migration and invasion as well as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT) process in U87MG cells. Mechanistically, knockdown of JARID2 reduces the
      phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt in U87MG cells. In summary, our study is
      the first one in our knowledge to indicate that JARID2 plays an important role in
      glioma development and progression. Therefore, JARID2 may serve as a potential
      therapeutic target for the treatment of glioma.

PMID- 27641965
TI  - Omnidirectional and broadband absorption enhancement from trapezoidal Mie
      resonators in semiconductor metasurfaces.
AB  - Light trapping in planar ultrathin-film solar cells is limited due to a small
      number of optical modes available in the thin-film slab. A nanostructured thin
      film design could surpass this limit by providing broadband increase in the local
      density of states in a subwavelength volume and maintaining efficient coupling of
      light. Here we report a broadband metasurface design, enabling efficient and
      broadband absorption enhancement by direct coupling of incoming light to resonant
      modes of subwavelengthscale Mie nanoresonators defined in the thin-film active
      layer. Absorption was investigated both theoretically and experimentally in
      prototypes consisting of lithographically patterned, two-dimensional periodic
      arrays of silicon nanoresonators on silica substrates. A crossed trapezoid
      resonator shape of rectangular cross section is used to excite broadband Mie
      resonances across visible and near-IR spectra. Our numerical simulations, optical
      absorption measurements and photocurrent spectral response measurements
      demonstrate that crossed trapezoidal Mie resonant structures enable angle
      insensitive, broadband absorption. A short circuit current density of 12.0
      mA/cm(2) is achieved in 210 nm thick patterned Si films, yielding a 4-fold
      increase compared to planar films of the same thickness. It is suggested that
      silicon metasurfaces with Mie resonator arrays can provide useful insights to
      guide future ultrathin-film solar cell designs incorporating nanostructured thin
      active layers.

PMID- 27641966
TI  - Anti-troponin antibodies following myocardial infarction.
AB  - Recent improvements in medical and surgical coronary revascularization techniques
      have significantly improved outcomes for patients with acute myocardial
      infarction (MI). However, large infarctions are often followed by a poorly
      understood process of pathological ventricular remodelling, which fails to return
      the heart to its premorbid state. Although it remains incompletely understood,
      there is increasing interest in the role of the immune system in this process.
      One hypothesis is that released cardiac proteins become the focus of an immune
      response that results in the formation of functionally significant
      autoantibodies. This review summarizes the current literature, both human and
      animal, relating to the formation and clinical relevance of anti-troponin
      antibodies (ATAs) in patients with MI.

PMID- 27641967
TI  - Effect of sitagliptin on plaque changes in coronary artery following acute
      coronary syndrome in diabetic patients: The ESPECIAL-ACS study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors have anti-atherosclerotic
      and cardioprotective effects in vitro. However, the impact of DPP-4 inhibitors on
      coronary plaque remains unclear. We sought to assess the effect of sitagliptin on
      coronary plaque volume (PV) and stabilization in diabetic patients with acute
      coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: The ESPECIAL-ACS was a prospective, randomized,
      open-label, parallel group study at 4 Japanese centers to assess the effect of 6
      month treatment with sitagliptin on coronary plaque changes in non-culprit lesion
      in diabetic patients with ACS using serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and
      integrated backscatter IVUS (IB-IVUS) analysis. RESULTS: A total of 41 patients
      were randomly allocated to either sitagliptin group (diet and exercise with
      sitagliptin 50-100mg daily, n=21) or control group (diet and exercise, n=20)
      within 72h after percutaneous coronary intervention, and underwent volumetric
      IVUS and IB-IVUS analyses at baseline and 6-month follow-up. At 6-month follow
      up, the percent change in PV as primary endpoint was larger in the sitagliptin
      group than in the control group, but the difference was not statistically
      significant (-4.0+/-8.5% vs. -1.4+/-8.8%, p=0.35). In IB-IVUS analysis, the
      percent change in lipid PV significantly decreased in the sitagliptin group
      compared with the control group (-7.1+/-21.5% vs. 15.6+/-41.8%, p=0.03).
      CONCLUSIONS: Compared with diet and exercise therapy, sitagliptin did not
      significantly reduce coronary PV in diabetic patients with ACS at 6-month follow
      up. However, the percent change in lipid PV significantly decreased in the
      sitagliptin group, suggesting that sitagliptin has a potential to stabilize the
      plaque vulnerability.

PMID- 27641968
TI  - Modulation of nociception by medial pre-optic area orexin a receptors and its
      relation with morphine in male rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have shown that medial pre-optic area (MPOA) of
      hypothalamus are involved in nociception. Orexin A (hypocretin 1) has been found
      to have numerous applications including pain modulation. However, the role of
      orexin A receptors in the MPOA on the nociception has not been yet studied.
      Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of orexin A
      microinjection on MPOA on the nociception transmission and morphine induced
      analgesia in adult male rats. METHODS: Using stereotaxic surgery, a cannula was
      implanted at a site 1mm above the MPOA in the anesthetized rats. After the
      recovery period, tail-flick (TF) latency was measured as 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60min
      following the onset of two experimental protocols. Two experiments were carried
      out. Experiment 1: The male rats received intra-MPOA of 25, 100, 1000,
      10000pmol/0.5MUl orexin A or 0.5MUl of aCSF (control, just 5min before the TF
      assay. Experiment 2: The aim of this experiment was to examine the effect of
      orexin microinjection into MPOA on morphine analgesia (3mg/kg,s.c). Morphine was
      administered 30min before orexin A intra-MPOA microinjection (four doses similar
      to experiment 1) or aCSF, then TF latency was measured. RESULTS: The results
      indicated that microinjection of orexin A into the MPOA showed anti-nociceptive
      effect in a time-dependent manner. Dose response curve results also revealed that
      the maximum effective dose of orexin A injection into MPOA for pain inhibition is
      1000pmol/0.5MUl. Co-administration of systemic morphine and orexin into the MPOA
      has additive analgesia with different time course compared morphine or orexin
      alone. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that MPOA OrexinA receptors play an
      important role in the modulation of pain in normal and morphine treated male
      rats.

PMID- 27641969
TI  - Risk based monitoring (RBM) tools for clinical trials: A systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In November 2016, the Integrated Addendum to ICH-GCP E6 (R2) will
      advise trial sponsors to develop a risk-based approach to clinical trial
      monitoring. This new process is commonly known as risk based monitoring (RBM). To
      date, a variety of tools have been developed to guide RBM. However, a gold
      standard approach does not exist. This review aims to identify and examine RBM
      tools. METHODS: Review of published and grey literature using a detailed search
      strategy and cross-checking of reference lists. This review included academic and
      commercial instruments that met the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
      Development (OECD) classification of RBM tools. RESULTS: Ninety-one potential RBM
      tools were identified and 24 were eligible for inclusion. These tools were
      published between 2000 and 2015. Eight tools were paper based or electronic
      questionnaires and 16 operated as Service as a System (SaaS). Risk associated
      with the investigational medicinal product (IMP), phase of the clinical trial and
      study population were examined by all tools and suitable mitigation guidance
      through on-site and centralised monitoring was provided. CONCLUSION: RBM tools
      for clinical trials are relatively new, their features and use varies widely and
      they continue to evolve. This makes it difficult to identify the "best" RBM
      technique or tool. For example, equivalence testing is required to determine if
      RBM strategies directed by paper based and SaaS based RBM tools are comparable.
      Such research could be embedded within multi-centre clinical trials and conducted
      as a SWAT (Study within a Trial).

PMID- 27641970
TI  - Glucose oxidase stabilization against thermal inactivation using high hydrostatic
      pressure and hydrophobic modification.
AB  - High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) stabilized glucose oxidase (GOx) against thermal
      inactivation. The apparent first-order kinetics of inactivation of GOx were
      investigated at 0.1-300 MPa and 58.8-80.0 degrees C. At 240 MPa and 74.5 degrees
      C, GOx inactivated at a rate 50 times slower than at atmospheric pressure at the
      same temperature. The apparent activation energy of inactivation at 300 MPa was
      281.0 +/- 17.4 kJ mol-1 or 1.3-fold smaller than for the inactivation at
      atmospheric pressure (378.1 +/- 25.6 kJ mol-1 ). The stabilizing effect of HHP
      was greatest at 74.5 degrees C, where the activation volume of 57.0 +/- 12.0 cm3 
      mol-1 was highest compared to all other studied temperatures. Positive apparent
      activation volumes for all the treatment temperatures confirmed that HHP favors
      GOx stabilization. A second approach to increase GOx stability involved
      crosslinking with N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride
      (EDC) and either aniline or benzoate. The modified enzyme remained fully active
      with only slight increases in KM (1.3-1.9-fold increases for aniline and benzoate
      modification, respectively). The thermal stability of GOx increased by 8 degrees
      C with aniline modification, while it decreased by 0.9 degrees C upon
      modification with benzoate. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 516-525. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27641971
TI  - Surface architecture of the oropharyngeal cavity and the digestive tract of
      Mulloidichthys flavolineatus from the red sea, Egypt: A scanning electron
      microscope study.
AB  - Surface architecture of the buccal cavity and the surface organization of the
      luminal mucosa of the oesophagus, stomach, and intestine of the carnivorous fish
      M. flavolineatus from the Red Sea were studied by using SEM. The results revealed
      that M. flavolineatus has four kinds of teeth; curved-blunt, wedge-shaped,
      flattened crowns, molariform and papilliform. Three types of taste buds (type I,
      II and III) were recorded in the oropharyngeal cavity. It was observed that taste
      buds and teeth are co-located in the pharyngeal region. Characteristic patterns
      of microridges of the surface cells in the oral cavity and oesophagus were
      observed. Mucous cells are distributed in the lining of the mouth cavity,
      oesophagus, stomach, and intestine. Characteristic patterns of mucosal folds
      throughout the alimentary canal, concerning oesophagus, stomach, and intestine
      were revealed. Numerous gastric pits, which represents the emergence of the
      gastric glands, were recorded in the anterior and middle regions of the stomach.
      Complex patterns of the folds and mucous cells were recorded in the intestinal
      mucosa. These results were discussed with other teleost fishes.

PMID- 27641972
TI  - Serum Vitamin D Levels in Children with Recurrent Respiratory Infections and
      Chronic Cough: Correspondence.

PMID- 27641973
TI  - Giant Coronary Aneurysms in a one-month-old Infant with Kawasaki Disease.

PMID- 27641975
TI  - Quality Improvement Study on New Endotracheal Tube Securing Device (Neobar) in
      Neonates.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the rate of unplanned extubation (UE) after the
      introduction of NeoBar (endotracheal tube stabilization device) compared to the
      previous tapping method and to analyze the factors associated with UE in the
      neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: A quality improvement study was
      conducted in a tertiary NICU between October 2011 and December 2013. In October
      2012, after many educational sessions NeoBar was introduced as a tool for
      securing endotracheal tube. The UE rate was compared one year before and one year
      after the introduction of NeoBar. The UE rate was reported as UE per 100
      intubation days. Statistical process control charts were used for understanding
      the special cause variation. The authors used Standards for Quality Improvement
      Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) method of reporting for this project. RESULTS: The
      UE rate decreased from 1.47 per 100 intubation days to 1.17 per 100 intubation
      days following the introduction of NeoBar (p=0.91). The UE rate was consistently
      below/at the mean, showing a stable change following the introduction of NeoBar,
      despite no statistically significant difference in UE rate. The common factors
      associated with UE were retaping/adjustment of endotracheal tube, infant
      agitation and performance of other procedures in both time periods. CONCLUSIONS:
      Use of NeoBar as endotracheal tube securing device was associated with similar UE
      rates compared to taping method. Large prospective studies are required to assess
      whether NeoBar reduces the UE rate.

PMID- 27641974
TI  - Risk of Intussusception with Rotavirus Vaccine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the case series for intussusception associated with the
      vaccination of rotavirus vaccine in children. METHODS: The study of spontaneous
      adverse event monitoring such as intussusception due to rotavirus vaccine was
      carried out from the year 2011 through 2015. The individual case safety reports
      (ICSRs) of this event were collated, assessed and recorded as per the requirement
      of Suspected Adverse Drug Reactions Reporting form of Pharmacovigilance Programme
      of India (PvPI). RESULTS: In the present study, 10 ICSRs of intussussception due
      to rotavirus vaccine were reported to PvPI. Of which 3 ICSRs were found to be
      causal relationship with rotavirus vaccine, as evidenced by the adequate
      information provided in ICSRs. CONCLUSIONS: Since intussusception, the emerging
      safety as one of the important safety concern, healthcare professionals are
      advised to monitor and report to the concerned authority for appropriate action.

PMID- 27641976
TI  - Influenza in Children.
AB  - In children, influenza is one among the commonest causes of acute respiratory
      illness and loss of school days. Influenza A, B, and C are 3 types of viruses
      responsible for illness. Type A virus has many subtypes based on antigens but
      Type B and Type C viruses have no known subtypes. Currently, influenza A/H1N1,
      A/H3N2, and influenza type B viruses are circulating in humans. Transmission of
      influenza occurs through droplets from infected person or through direct contact
      with person or fomites. Clinically, influenza is characterized by acute onset
      fever, chills, running nose, cough, sore throat, headache and myalgia. Mostly,
      febrile illness lasts for 3-4 d with resolution of disease in 7-10 d.
      Confirmation of influenza can be done either by virus culture, RT-PCR or specific
      neutralizing antibodies in blood. Basic principles of management include prompt
      institution of infection control measures, early identification of children at
      higher risk, supportive care and antiviral drugs. Vaccine and chemoprophylaxis
      are two commonly used methods for prevention of influenza. Currently, inactivated
      influenza vaccine (IIV) and live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) are
      available for use with good efficacy. Cough etiquette, use of face masks and hand
      hygiene are the most important measures to reduce the risk of infection
      transmission from person to person.

PMID- 27641977
TI  - Preferential association of hepatitis C virus with CD19+ B cells is mediated by
      complement system.
AB  - : Extrahepatic disease manifestations are common in chronic hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) infection. The mechanism of HCV-related lymphoproliferative disorders is
      not fully understood. Recent studies have found that HCV in peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells from chronically infected patients is mainly associated with
      cluster of differentiation 19-positive (CD19+ ) B cells. To further elucidate
      this preferential association of HCV with B cells, we used in vitro cultured
      virus and uninfected peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy blood donors
      to investigate the necessary serum components that activate the binding of HCV to
      B cells. First, we found that the active serum components were present not only
      in HCV carriers but also in HCV recovered patients and HCV-negative, healthy
      blood donors and that the serum components were heat-labile. Second, the
      preferential binding activity of HCV to B cells could be blocked by anti
      complement C3 antibodies. In experiments with complement-depleted serum and
      purified complement proteins, we demonstrated that complement proteins C1, C2,
      and C3 were required to activate such binding activity. Complement protein C4 was
      partially involved in this process. Third, using antibodies against cell surface
      markers, we showed that the binding complex mainly involved CD21 (complement
      receptor 2), CD19, CD20, and CD81; CD35 (complement receptor 1) was involved but
      had lower binding activity. Fourth, both anti-CD21 and anti-CD35 antibodies could
      block the binding of patient-derived HCV to B cells. Fifth, complement also
      mediated HCV binding to Raji cells, a cultured B-cell line derived from Burkitt's
      lymphoma. CONCLUSION: In chronic HCV infection, the preferential association of
      HCV with B cells is mediated by the complement system, mainly through complement
      receptor 2 (CD21), in conjunction with the CD19 and CD81 complex. (Hepatology
      2016;64:1900-1910).

PMID- 27641980
TI  - Hepatitis C virus - A teacher of clinical research, cell biology and immunology.

PMID- 27641979
TI  - Coordinated nuclease activities counteract Ku at single-ended DNA double-strand
      breaks.
AB  - Repair of single-ended DNA double-strand breaks (seDSBs) by homologous
      recombination (HR) requires the generation of a 3' single-strand DNA overhang by
      exonuclease activities in a process called DNA resection. However, it is
      anticipated that the highly abundant DNA end-binding protein Ku sequesters seDSBs
      and shields them from exonuclease activities. Despite pioneering works in yeast,
      it is unclear how mammalian cells counteract Ku at seDSBs to allow HR to proceed.
      Here we show that in human cells, ATM-dependent phosphorylation of CtIP and the
      epistatic and coordinated actions of MRE11 and CtIP nuclease activities are
      required to limit the stable loading of Ku on seDSBs. We also provide evidence
      for a hitherto unsuspected additional mechanism that contributes to prevent Ku
      accumulation at seDSBs, acting downstream of MRE11 endonuclease activity and in
      parallel with MRE11 exonuclease activity. Finally, we show that Ku persistence at
      seDSBs compromises Rad51 focus assembly but not DNA resection.

PMID- 27641978
TI  - Complement component 3 deficiency prolongs MHC-II disparate skin allograft
      survival by increasing the CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells population.
AB  - Recent reports suggest that complement system contributes to allograft rejection.
      However, its underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Herein, we investigate
      the role of complement component 3 (C3) in a single MHC-II molecule mismatched
      murine model of allograft rejection using C3 deficient mice (C3(-/-)) as skin
      graft donors or recipients. Compared with C3(+/+) B6 allografts, C3(-/-) B6
      grafts dramatically prolonged survival in MHC-II molecule mismatched H-2(bm12) B6
      recipients, indicating that C3 plays a critical role in allograft rejection.
      Compared with C3(+/+) allografts, both Th17 cell infiltration and Th1/Th17
      associated cytokine mRNA levels were clearly reduced in C3(-/-) allografts.
      Moreover, C3(-/-) allografts caused attenuated Th1/Th17 responses, but increased
      CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cell expression markedly in local
      intragraft and H-2(bm12) recipients. Depletion of Treg cells by anti-CD25
      monoclonal antibody (mAb) negated the survival advantages conferred by C3
      deficiency. Our results indicate for the first time that C3 deficiency can
      prolong MHC-II molecule mismatched skin allograft survival, which is further
      confirmed to be associated with increased CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg cell population
      expansion and attenuated Th1/Th17 response.

PMID- 27641982
TI  - Management of the patient with SVR.
AB  - In the current era of therapy with direct-acting antiviral (DAAs) drugs,
      achievement of a sustained virological response (SVR) is achievable in ?90% of
      hepatitis C-infected patients. SVR benefits are well-recognized with reductions
      in rates of liver complications, hepatocellular carcinoma and mortality.
      Additional benefits include reduced morbidity related to extrahepatic and
      systemic manifestations of hepatitis C such as renal, dermatologic, and metabolic
      complications. However, not all patients will derive all of these benefits and
      monitoring for progression is necessary, especially in those with more advanced
      fibrosis. To maximize the health benefits of SVR, counseling patients on best
      means to maintain good liver health and prevent reinfection are also important.

PMID- 27641981
TI  - Hepatitis C infection: A multi-faceted systemic disease with clinical, patient
      reported and economic consequences.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) affects approximately 170-200 million
      individuals globally. HCV is one of the primary causes of hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) and cirrhosis and has been identified as the leading indication
      for liver transplantation in most Western countries. Because HCV is a systemic
      disease with hepatic, extrahepatic, economic and patient reported consequences,
      it is important for healthcare practitioners to understand the comprehensive and
      multi-faceted picture of this disease. In this context, it is important to fully
      appreciate the impact of HCV on the individual patient and the society. With the
      recent advent of the new generation of direct antiviral agents, the long standing
      goal of eradicating HCV in most infected patients has been accomplished.
      Therefore, now more than ever, it is critical to assess the total benefits of
      sustained virological response in a comprehensive manner. This should not be
      limited to the clinical benefits of HCV cure, but also to account for the
      improvement of patient reported health and economic outcomes of HCV cure. It is
      only through this comprehensive approach to HCV and its treatment that we will
      understand the full impact of this disease and the tremendous gains that have
      been achieved with the new antiviral regimens.

PMID- 27641983
TI  - Second generation direct-acting antivirals - Do we expect major improvements?
AB  - The rapid progress in the development of direct-acting antiviral agents for
      hepatitis C has allowed the vast majority of patients to receive all oral therapy
      that will eliminate their virus. The success of the new regimens has led many to
      question the need for further developments in this field. Major improvements in
      drugs for hepatitis C are unlikely but we predict incremental improvements in the
      next few years. We hope that the next generation of drugs will address the
      unresolved issues for patients with genotype 3 infection where current treatments
      are still not entirely satisfactory and we anticipate improvements in the
      management of patients with renal failure. Shorter duration treatments, perhaps
      with novel modes of action, may allow simplified 'one-dose' treatments that will
      greatly expand our ability to treat patients who have difficulty accessing
      current services and we anticipate that the clinical community will better define
      the patients with advanced disease who will benefit from therapy prior to liver
      transplantation.

PMID- 27641985
TI  - The history of hepatitis C virus (HCV): Basic research reveals unique features in
      phylogeny, evolution and the viral life cycle with new perspectives for epidemic
      control.
AB  - The discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1989 permitted basic research to
      unravel critical components of a complex life cycle for this important human
      pathogen. HCV is a highly divergent group of viruses classified in 7 major
      genotypes and a great number of subtypes, and circulating in infected individuals
      as a continuously evolving quasispecies destined to escape host immune responses
      and applied antivirals. Despite the inability to culture patient viruses directly
      in the laboratory, efforts to define the infectious genome of HCV resulted in
      development of experimental recombinant in vivo and in vitro systems, including
      replicons and infectious cultures in human hepatoma cell lines. And HCV has
      become a model virus defining new paradigms in virology, immunology and biology.
      For example, HCV research discovered that a virus could be completely dependent
      on microRNA for its replication since microRNA-122 is critical for the HCV life
      cycle. A number of other host molecules critical for HCV entry and replication
      have been identified. Thus, basic HCV research revealed important molecules for
      development of host targeting agents (HTA). The identification and
      characterization of HCV encoded proteins and their functional units contributed
      to the development of highly effective direct acting antivirals (DAA) against the
      NS3 protease, NS5A and the NS5B polymerase. In combination, these inhibitors have
      since 2014 permitted interferon-free therapy with cure rates above 90% among
      patients with chronic HCV infection; however, viral resistance represents a
      challenge. Worldwide control of HCV will most likely require the development of a
      prophylactic vaccine, and numerous candidates have been pursued. Research
      characterizing features critical for antibody-based virus neutralization and T
      cell based virus elimination from infected cells is essential for this effort. If
      the world community promotes an ambitious approach by applying current DAA
      broadly, continues to develop alternative viral- and host- targeted antivirals to
      combat resistant variants, and invests in the development of a vaccine, it would
      be possible to eradicate HCV. This would prevent about 500 thousand deaths
      annually. However, given the nature of HCV, the millions of new infections
      annually, a high chronicity rate, and with over 150 million individuals with
      chronic infection (which are frequently unidentified), this effort remains a
      major challenge for basic researchers, clinicians and communities.

PMID- 27641986
TI  - Host - hepatitis C viral interactions: The role of genetics.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic viral hepatitis that can lead
      to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Only a minority of patients can clear
      the virus spontaneously. Elimination of HCV during acute infection correlates
      with a rapid induction of innate, especially interferon (IFN)-induced genes, and
      a delayed induction of adaptive immune responses. There is a strong association
      between genetic variants in the IFNlambda (IL28B) locus with the rate of
      spontaneous clearance. Individuals with the ancestral IFNlambda4 allele capable
      of producing a fully active IFNlambda4 are paradoxically not able to clear HCV in
      the acute phase and develop chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with more than 90%
      probability. In the chronic phase of HCV infection, the wild-type IFNlambda4
      genotype is strongly associated with an induction of hundreds of classical type
      I/type III IFN stimulated genes in hepatocytes. However, the activation of the
      endogenous IFN system in the liver is ineffective in clearing HCV, and is even
      associated with impaired therapeutic responses to pegylated (Peg)IFNalpha
      containing treatments. While the role of genetic variation in the IFNlambda locus
      to the outcome of CHC treatment has declined, it is clear that variation not only
      at this locus, but also at other loci, modulate clinically important liver
      phenotypes, including inflammation, fibrosis progression and the development of
      hepatocellular cancer. In this review, we summarize current knowledge about the
      role of genetics in the host response to viral hepatitis and the potential future
      evolution of knowledge in understanding host-viral interactions.

PMID- 27641984
TI  - Future landscape of hepatitis C research - Basic, translational and clinical
      perspectives.
AB  - With the latest all-oral interferon- and ribavirin-free regimens based on direct
      acting antivirals against the hepatitis C virus (HCV), sustained virological
      response rates of >90% are achieved, which is equivalent to cure. This has become
      possible for all genotypes and all subgroups of patients, including many of the
      most difficult-to-treat populations so far. Since a prophylactic HCV vaccine is
      not yet available, control of HCV infection will for the time being have to rely
      on the use of effective and safe antiviral treatments as well as their
      accessibility and affordability. Different approaches may apply to different
      parts of the world, eradication of HCV representing a major long-term goal.
      Whether hepatitis C becomes the first chronic viral infection to be eradicated
      without a prophylactic vaccine remains to be shown. Here, we briefly summarize
      advances in the molecular virology of hepatitis C, highlight lessons of
      biological relevance that were learned through the study of HCV, and its
      translational and clinical implications. We have also listed selected unsolved
      challenges, emphasizing that HCV is a unique model and that advances in this
      direction may yield knowledge of broad biological significance, novel
      technologies and insights into related important human pathogens.

PMID- 27641987
TI  - HCV epidemiology in high-risk groups and the risk of reinfection.
AB  - Injecting risk behaviours among people who inject drugs (PWID) and high-risk
      sexual practices among men who have sex with men (MSM) are important routes of
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission. Current direct-acting antiviral treatment
      offers unique opportunities for reductions in HCV-related liver disease burden
      and epidemic control in high-risk groups, but these prospects could be
      counteracted by HCV reinfection due to on-going risk behaviours after successful
      treatment. Based on existing data from small and heterogeneous studies of
      interferon-based treatment, the incidence of reinfection after sustained
      virological response range from 2-6/100 person years among PWID to 10-15/100
      person years among human immunodeficiency virus-infected MSM. These differences
      mainly reflect heterogeneity in study populations with regards to risk
      behaviours, but also reflect variations in study designs and applied virological
      methods. Increasing levels of reinfection are to be expected as we enter the
      interferon-free treatment era. Individual- and population-level efforts to
      address and prevent reinfection should therefore be undertaken when providing HCV
      care for people with on-going risk behaviour. Constructive strategies include
      acknowledgement, education and counselling, harm reduction optimization, scaled
      up treatment including treatment of injecting networks, post-treatment screening,
      and rapid retreatment of reinfections.

PMID- 27641988
TI  - Who to test and how to test for chronic hepatitis C infection - 2016 WHO testing
      guidance for low- and middle-income countries.
AB  - Testing and diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the gateway for
      access to both treatment and prevention services, and crucial for an effective
      hepatitis epidemic response. In contrast to HIV, a systematic approach to
      hepatitis C testing has been fragmented and limited to a few countries, and there
      remains a large burden of undiagnosed cases globally. Key challenges in the
      current hepatitis testing response, include lack of simple, reliable, and low
      cost diagnostic tests, laboratory capacity, and testing facilities; inadequate
      data to guide country-specific hepatitis testing approaches and who to test;
      stigmatization and social marginalization of some groups with or at risk of viral
      hepatitis; and lack of international or national guidelines on hepatitis testing
      for resource-limited settings. New tools to support the hepatitis global response
      include the 2016 Global Hepatitis Health Sector Strategy which include targets
      for testing and diagnosis, and World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 hepatitis
      testing guidelines for adults, adolescents, and children in low- and middle
      income countries. The testing guidance complements recent published WHO guidance
      on the prevention, care and treatment of chronic hepatitis C and hepatitis B
      infection. These testing guidelines outline the public health approach to
      strengthening and expanding current testing practices for HCV and HBV and address
      what serological and virological assays to use, and who to test, as well as
      interventions to promote linkage to prevention and care after testing. They are
      intended for use across all age groups and populations. See boxes for key
      recommendations. Future directions and innovations in viral hepatitis testing
      include use of point-of-care assays for nucleic acid testing (NAT) and core
      antigen; validation of dried blood spots specimens with different commercial
      serological and NAT assays; multiplex and polyvalent platforms for integrated
      testing of HIV, HBV and HCV; and potential for self-testing.

PMID- 27641989
TI  - Diagnostics in hepatitis C: The end of response-guided therapy?
AB  - On-treatment hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA has been used to predict response to
      interferon (IFN)-based therapy. The concept of response-guided treatment (RGT)
      was established to determine optimal treatment duration and to early identify
      patients not responding to futile therapies. RGT helped to improve sustained
      virologic response (SVR) rates and lower the rates of adverse effects. RGT was of
      particular importance for telaprevir- and boceprevir-based triple therapies. RGT
      strategies are dependent on highly sensitive and reproducible HCV RNA
      quantification. However, different HCV RNA assays are used in routine clinical
      practice and these differ significantly in their performance characteristics. The
      development of IFN-free therapies has fundamentally changed the role of on
      treatment HCV RNA for SVR prediction. Given the high efficacy and excellent
      tolerability of IFN-free regimens, the interest in treatment individualization
      has decreased. However, shorter treatment durations may still be desirable,
      particularly with respect to the high costs of current IFN-free direct-acting
      antiviral agents (DAAs). Moreover, some difficult-to-treat patients remain, e.g.,
      those infected with HCV genotype 3 in whom the current standard of care may not
      always be sufficient to achieve SVR, especially in treatment-experienced patients
      with cirrhosis. Here, a RGT extension may be feasible. However, current data on
      the predictive value of on-treatment HCV RNA are limited and have shown
      conflicting results. As more potent DAAs become available, the role of response
      prediction may diminish further. Currently, shorter treatment duration is only
      based on baseline HCV RNA whereas no RGT strategy is recommended for any of the
      approved DAA regimens available.

PMID- 27641990
TI  - Hepatitis C virus infection and chronic kidney disease: Time for reappraisal.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with tremendous morbidity and
      mortality due to liver complications. HCV infection is also associated with many
      extrahepatic manifestations including cardiovascular diseases, glucose metabolism
      impairment, cryoglobulinemia vasculitis, B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic
      kidney disease (CKD). Many studies have shown a strong association between HCV
      and CKD, by reporting (i) an increased prevalence of HCV infection in patients on
      haemodialysis, (ii) an increased incidence of CKD and proteinuria in HCV-infected
      patients, and (iii) the development of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
      secondary to HCV-induced cryoglobulinemia vasculitis. HCV seropositivity is found
      to be associated with an increased relative risk for all-cause and cardiovascular
      mortality in the dialysis population. HCV seropositivity is linked to lower
      patient and graft survival after kidney transplantation. Such poor HCV-associated
      prognosis should have encouraged clinicians to treat HCV in CKD patients.
      However, due to frequent side effects and the poor efficacy of interferon-based
      treatments, very few HCV dialysis patients have received HCV medications until
      now. The emergence of new direct acting, interferon-free antiviral treatment,
      leading to HCV cure in most cases with a satisfactory safety profile, will
      shortly modify the management of HCV infection in CKD patients. In patients with
      a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >30ml/min, the choice of DAA is not
      restricted. In those with a GFR <30 and >15ml/min, only
      paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir/dasabuvir or a grazoprevir plus elbasvir
      regimen are approved. In patients with end stage renal disease (GFR <15ml/min or
      dialysis), current data only allows for the use of a grazoprevir plus elbasvir
      combination. No doubt these data will be modified in the future with the advent
      of new studies including larger cohorts of HCV patients with renal impairment.

PMID- 27641991
TI  - Reversion of disease manifestations after HCV eradication.
AB  - Chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) may lead to hepatic fibrosis
      and eventually cirrhosis, at which stage, patients have a substantial risk of
      liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related death. Moreover,
      HCV infection is associated with several extrahepatic manifestations which impact
      the quality of life and increase the non-liver-related mortality rate. For
      patients with compensated liver disease, interferon (IFN)-based antiviral therapy
      has been a treatment option for over two decades. Long-term follow-up studies
      indicated that among those with sustained virological response (SVR) the extend
      of hepatic fibrosis can regress and that their risk of cirrhosis-related
      complications (including HCC) is reduced, also in case of cirrhosis. Recent
      population-based studies extended these observations for solid extrahepatic
      outcomes, such as end-stage renal failure and cardiovascular events. Most
      importantly, SVR has been associated with prolonged overall survival. These
      results highlight the importance of the development of new direct-acting
      antivirals (DAAs), by which almost all patients are able to eradicate HCV in a
      comfortable manner. Based on the excellent first experiences with the DAAs,
      physicians gained confidence to use these drugs among patients with decompensated
      cirrhosis on a more regular basis as well. This was not possible with interferon
      therapy. Also in this high risk population the DAAs show high SVR rates with
      improvements in biochemical parameters of liver function shortly after therapy,
      especially in case of SVR. In fact, some patients could actually be removed from
      the liver transplantation waiting list due to clinical improvement following DAA
      therapy. How these short-term results translate into a prolonged (long-term)
      survival has yet to be determined, as well as which patients with decompensated
      liver disease are likely or not to benefit from viral eradication. Here we review
      the current data regarding the beneficial clinical outcome with antiviral therapy
      as well the remaining uncertainties in this field, both for patients with
      compensated liver disease and patients with decompensated liver disease.

PMID- 27641992
TI  - Comment on "Management of Atrial Fibrillation in Critically Ill Patients".

PMID- 27641993
TI  - Profiling of DNA and histone methylation reveals epigenetic-based regulation of
      gene expression during retinal differentiation of stem/progenitor cells isolated
      from the ciliary pigment epithelium of human cadaveric eyes.
AB  - Millions of people around the world suffer from retinal degenerative diseases at
      varying degrees of vision loss including, complete blindness that are caused by
      the damage to cells of the retina. The cell replacement therapy could be a
      promising tool in treating these conditions, since the stem/progenitor cells
      could be isolated form adult ciliary pigment epithelial cells and could be
      differentiated into retinal phenotypes in vitro and could be of great importance.
      The present study aims to identify the role of epigenetic regulators during
      cellular differentiation, which involves loss of pluripotency and gain of lineage
      and cell type-specific characteristics. We analyzed DNA methylation and Histone
      methylation-H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 in ciliary body derived lineage committed
      progenitor to terminally differentiated cells. Our results demonstrate that
      several promoters including pluripotency and lineage specific genes become
      methylated in the differentiated population, suggesting that methylation may
      repress the pluripotency in this population. On the other hand, we detect
      bivalent modifications that are involved in the process of differentiation of
      stem/progenitor cells. Therefore, this data suggest a model for studying the
      epigenetic regulation involved in self renewal, pluripotency and differentiation
      potential of ciliary stem/progenitor cells. This work presents the first outline
      of epigenetic modifications in ciliary derived stem/progenitor cells and the
      progeny that underwent differentiation into retinal neurons/glial cells and shows
      that specific DNA methylation and histone methylations are extensively involved
      in gene expression reprogramming during differentiation.

PMID- 27641994
TI  - Olfactory ensheathing glia cell therapy and tubular conduit enhance nerve
      regeneration after mouse sciatic nerve transection.
AB  - The regenerative potential of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is widely
      known, but functional recovery, particularly in humans, is seldom complete.
      Therefore, it is necessary to resort to strategies that induce or potentiate the
      PNS regeneration. Our main objective was to test the effectiveness of Olfactory
      Ensheathing Cells (OEC) transplantation into a biodegradable conduit as a
      therapeutic strategy to improve the repair outcome after nerve injury. Sciatic
      nerve transection was performed in C57BL/6 mice; proximal and distal stumps of
      the nerve were sutured into the collagen conduit. Two groups were analyzed: DMEM
      (acellular grafts) and OEC (1*105/2MUL). Locomotor function was assessed weekly
      by Sciatic Function Index (SFI) and Global Mobility Test (GMT). After eight weeks
      the sciatic nerve was dissected for morphological analysis. Our results showed
      that the OEC group exhibited many clusters of regenerated nerve fibers, a higher
      number of myelinated fibers and myelin area compared to DMEM group. The G-ratio
      analysis of the OEC group showed significantly more fibers on the most suitable
      sciatic nerve G-ratio index. Motor recovery was accelerated in the OEC group.
      These data provide evidence that the OEC therapy can improve sciatic nerve
      functional and morphological recovery and can be potentially translated to the
      clinical setting.

PMID- 27641996
TI  - 2016 Annual Meeting American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

PMID- 27641995
TI  - Inferior frontal gyrus links visual and motor cortices during a visuomotor
      precision grip force task.
AB  - Coordination between vision and action relies on a fronto-parietal network that
      receives visual and proprioceptive sensory input in order to compute motor
      control signals. Here, we investigated with magnetoencephalography (MEG) which
      cortical areas are functionally coupled on the basis of synchronization during
      visuomotor integration. MEG signals were recorded from twelve healthy adults
      while performing a unimanual visuomotor (VM) task and control conditions. The VM
      task required the integration of pinch motor commands with visual sensory
      feedback. By using a beamformer, we localized the neural activity in the
      frequency range of 1-30Hz during the VM compared to rest. Virtual sensors were
      estimated at the active locations. A multivariate autoregressive model was used
      to estimate the power and coherence of estimated activity at the virtual sensors.
      Event-related desynchronisation (ERD) during VM was observed in early visual
      areas, the rostral part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the right IFG,
      the superior parietal lobules, and the left hand motor cortex (M1). Functional
      coupling in the alpha frequency band bridged the regional activities observed in
      motor and visual cortices (the start and the end points in the visuomotor loop)
      through the left or right IFG. Coherence between the left IFG and left M1
      correlated inversely with the task performance. Our results indicate that an
      occipital-prefrontal-motor functional network facilitates the modulation of
      instructed motor responses to visual cues. This network may supplement the
      mechanism for guiding actions that is fully incorporated into the dorsal visual
      stream.

PMID- 27641998
TI  - Aspergillus spp. panophthalmitis with intralenticular invasion in dogs: report of
      two cases.
AB  - This case series describes the ocular, clinical and histologic manifestations of
      disseminated Aspergillosis in two dogs. Two dogs presented for severe unilateral
      panophthalmitis and secondary glaucoma with positive Aspergillus spp. titers.
      Case 1 showed no clinicopathologic systemic symptoms of fungal dissemination,
      however, case 2 was affected with acute renal failure. The affected eye of case 1
      did not respond to medical therapy and was enucleated for comfort. The affected
      eye of case 2 responded to aggressive topical and systemic medical therapies,
      however, the patient was euthanized for acute renal failure. Globes were
      collected for histologic evaluation at the time of death. Histology of both
      revealed panophthalmitis with presence of significant intraocular hemorrhage,
      multifocal fungal granulomas, retinal and optic nerve changes consistent with
      secondary glaucoma, rupture of the anterior lens capsule, and fungal invasion and
      colonization of the intralenticular space. These cases represent a unique and
      devastating ocular manifestation of disseminated Aspergillosis. Cases presenting
      with uveitis and secondary glaucoma of unknown origin, especially with confirmed
      or suspected lens capsular rupture, should have serologic testing for this
      infectious agent.

PMID- 27641997
TI  - Angiogenic microspheres promote neural regeneration and motor function recovery
      after spinal cord injury in rats.
AB  - This study examined sustained co-delivery of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF), angiopoietin-1 and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) encapsulated in
      angiogenic microspheres. These spheres were delivered to sites of spinal cord
      contusion injury in rats, and their ability to induce vessel formation, neural
      regeneration and improve hindlimb motor function was assessed. At 2-8 weeks after
      spinal cord injury, ELISA-determined levels of VEGF, angiopoietin-1, and bFGF
      were significantly higher in spinal cord tissues in rats that received angiogenic
      microspheres than in those that received empty microspheres. Sites of injury in
      animals that received angiogenic microspheres also contained greater numbers of
      isolectin B4-binding vessels and cells positive for nestin or beta III-tubulin (P
      < 0.01), significantly more NF-positive and serotonergic fibers, and more MBP
      positive mature oligodendrocytes. Animals receiving angiogenic microspheres also
      suffered significantly less loss of white matter volume. At 10 weeks after
      injury, open field tests showed that animals that received angiogenic
      microspheres scored significantly higher on the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scale
      than control animals (P < 0.01). Our results suggest that biodegradable,
      biocompatible PLGA microspheres can release angiogenic factors in a sustained
      fashion into sites of spinal cord injury and markedly stimulate angiogenesis and
      neurogenesis, accelerating recovery of neurologic function.

PMID- 27642000
TI  - Patterns of anti-diabetic medication use in patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus in England and Wales.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to characterise how Type 2 Diabetes
      Mellitus (T2DM) is treated in England and Wales and whether this adheres to 2009
      National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on management
      of T2DM. METHODS: Data for T2DM patients aged 18+ years prescribed at least one
      anti-diabetic drug between 01/01/2000-30/06/2012 were extracted from the Clinical
      Practice Research Datalink. We examined the sequences in which anti-diabetic
      drugs were prescribed and, for patients on the most common anti-diabetic drug
      pathways, evaluated average HbA1c values at treatment initiation and at
      progression to a second or third-line anti-diabetic drug class, including
      insulin. RESULTS: The cohort included 123 671 patients, 56% males, 95% aged 40+
      and 79% with at least one recorded HbA1c level. Metformin was the first
      prescription for 98 957 (80%) patients, with mean HbA1c of 8.68% prior to
      initiation (95% confidence interval [CI] 8.67, 8.69). A total of 19 890 (16%)
      patients received sulphonylureas first-line (mean HbA1c = 9.31%, 95%CI 9.27,
      9.35). 1402 (12%) insulin users were prescribed insulin first-line (mean HbA1c =
      9.89%, 95%CI 9.59, 10.19). A total of 96 895 (78%) patients were managed in line
      with one of the treatment pathways recommended by NICE. Patients prescribed
      insulin second-line after metformin had a mean HbA1c of 10.11% (95%CI 9.83,
      10.38) prior to first prescription of insulin and 9.98% (95%CI 9.73, 10.23) at
      baseline. Both values were significantly higher than other groups initiating new
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: In over three-quarters of patients, anti-diabetic drugs
      are being prescribed per NICE guidance. When insulin is being used earlier than
      recommended, there appears to be a need for urgent and rapid glycaemic control.
      (c) 2016 Crown Copyright. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety (c) 2016 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27641999
TI  - Human CB1 Receptor Isoforms, present in Hepatocytes and beta-cells, are Involved
      in Regulating Metabolism.
AB  - Therapeutics aimed at blocking the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor for treatment of
      obesity resulted in significant improvements in liver function, glucose uptake
      and pancreatic beta-cell function independent of weight loss or CB1 receptor
      blockade in the brain, suggesting that peripherally-acting only CB1 receptor
      blockers may be useful therapeutic agents. Neuropsychiatric side effects and lack
      of tissue specificity precluded clinical use of first-generation, centrally
      acting CB1 receptor blockers. In this study we specifically analyzed the
      potential relevance to diabetes of human CB1 receptor isoforms in extraneural
      tissues involved in glucose metabolism. We identified an isoform of the human CB1
      receptor (CB1b) that is highly expressed in beta-cells and hepatocytes but not in
      the brain. Importantly, CB1b shows stronger affinity for the inverse agonist JD
      5037 than for rimonabant compared to CB1 full length. Most relevant to the field,
      CB1b is a potent regulator of adenylyl cyclase activity in peripheral metabolic
      tissues. CB1b blockade by JD-5037 results in stronger adenylyl cyclase activation
      compared to rimonabant and it is a better enhancer of insulin secretion in beta
      cells. We propose this isoform as a principal pharmacological target for the
      treatment of metabolic disorders involving glucose metabolism.

PMID- 27642001
TI  - Chronic dietary salt stress mitigates hyperkalemia and facilitates chill coma
      recovery in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Chill susceptible insects like Drosophila lose the ability to regulate water and
      ion homeostasis at low temperatures. This loss of hemolymph ion and water balance
      drives a hyperkalemic state that depolarizes cells, causing cellular injury and
      death. The ability to maintain ion homeostasis at low temperatures and/or recover
      ion homeostasis upon rewarming is closely related to insect cold tolerance. We
      thus hypothesized that changes to organismal ion balance, which can be achieved
      in Drosophila through dietary salt loading, could alter whole animal cold
      tolerance phenotypes. We put Drosophila melanogaster in the presence of diets
      highly enriched in NaCl, KCl, xylitol (an osmotic control) or sucrose (a dietary
      supplement known to impact cold tolerance) for 24h and confirmed that they
      consumed the novel food. Independently of their osmotic effects, NaCl, KCl, and
      sucrose supplementation all improved the ability of flies to maintain K+ balance
      in the cold, which allowed for faster recovery from chill coma after 6h at 0
      degrees C. These supplements, however, also slightly increased the CTmin and had
      little impact on survival rates following chronic cold stress (24h at 0 degrees
      C), suggesting that the effect of diet on cold tolerance depends on the measure
      of cold tolerance assessed. In contrast to prolonged salt stress, brief feeding
      (1.5h) on diets high in salt slowed coma recovery, suggesting that the long-term
      effects of NaCl and KCl on chilling tolerance result from phenotypic plasticity,
      induced in response to a salty diet, rather than simply the presence of the diet
      in the gut lumen.

PMID- 27642002
TI  - Hidden electronic rule in the "cluster-plus-glue-atom" model.
AB  - Electrons and their interactions are intrinsic factors to affect the structure
      and properties of materials. Based on the "cluster-cluster-plus-glue-atom" model,
      an electron counting rule for complex metallic alloys (CMAs) has been revealed in
      this work (i. e. the CPGAMEC rule). Our results on the cluster structure and
      electron concentration of CMAs with apparent cluster features, indicate that the
      valence electrons' number per unit cluster formula for these CMAs are specific
      constants of eight-multiples and twelve-multiples. It is thus termed as specific
      electrons cluster formula. This CPGAMEC rule has been demonstrated as a useful
      guidance to direct the design of CMAs with desired properties, while its
      practical applications and underlying mechanism have been illustrated on the
      basis of CMAs' cluster structural features. Our investigation provides an
      aggregate picture with intriguing electronic rule and atomic structural features
      of CMAs.

PMID- 27642003
TI  - Oral and oropharyngeal cancer and the role of sexual behaviour: a systematic
      review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This systematic review identified and evaluated the evidence for the
      role of sexual behaviours in the development of oropharyngeal cancers (OPCs) and
      oral cavity cancers (OCCs). METHODS: Following the PRISMA guidelines, we
      identified observational and interventional studies reporting associations
      between several different sexual behaviours and OPC or OCC. Study quality was
      assessed independently by two reviewers using a validated scoring system.
      RESULTS: From 513 papers identified, 21, reporting on 20 studies, fulfilled the
      inclusion criteria. Two cohort studies were rated as moderate quality. The 18
      case-control studies were rated as weak; nine comparing people with OPC or OCC to
      people without cancer, eight comparing HPV-positive to HPV-negative cancer
      patients and one comparing OPCs to other head and neck cancers. One study was a
      pooled analysis of seven of the included studies with some additional
      information. Twelve sexual behaviours were assessed and 69 associations reported.
      The studies differed in the comparisons made, the sexual behaviours assessed, and
      how these were reported and categorized, so no quantitative meta-analyses were
      appropriate. Most studies combined OPC and OCC. Several significantly increased
      risks were seen with a high number of lifetime sexual partners (nine studies) and
      with the practice of oral sex (five studies), although two studies found a
      significant negative association with OCC and ever performing oral sex. Two
      cohort studies of men and women in homosexual relationships found increases in
      oral cancer risk, and a cohort study of men married to women who had a history of
      cervical cancer also showed an increased risk of oral cancers. Results for other
      sexual behaviours were limited and inconsistent, and these included the
      following: younger age at first sexual intercourse, number of lifetime oral sex
      partners, the practice of oral-anal sex, the number of oral-anal sex partners,
      and ever performing anal sex. Only one study assessed casual sex, never or rare
      use of a condom and having a sexual partner with a history of genital warts,
      finding significant associations in the two former behaviours. CONCLUSION: The
      current evidence for sexual behaviours being risk factors for oral and
      oropharyngeal cancer is limited and inconsistent. Evidence suggests that the
      number of sexual partners and performing oral sex are associated with a greater
      risk. Furthermore men whose partners have had cervical cancer may have an
      increased risk. More studies looking at OPC specifically will be useful to
      determine whether these behaviours are subsite-selective.

PMID- 27642005
TI  - Nox2 contributes to the arterial endothelial specification of mouse induced
      pluripotent stem cells by upregulating Notch signaling.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have a crucial role in stem-cell differentiation;
      however, the mechanisms by which ROS regulate the differentiation of stem cells
      into endothelial cells (ECs) are unknown. Here, we determine the role of ROS
      produced by NADPH oxidase 2 (Nox2) in the endothelial-lineage specification of
      mouse induced-pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs). When wild-type (WT) and Nox2
      knockout (Nox2(-/-)) miPSCs were differentiated into ECs (miPSC-ECs), the
      expression of endothelial markers, arterial endothelial markers, pro-angiogenic
      cytokines, and Notch pathway components was suppressed in the Nox2(-/-) cells but
      increased in both WT and Nox2(-/-) miPSCs when Nox2 expression was upregulated.
      Higher levels of Nox2 expression increased Notch signaling and arterial EC
      differentiation, and this increase was abolished by the inhibition of ROS
      generation or by the silencing of Notch1 expression. Nox2 deficiency was
      associated with declines in the survival and angiogenic potency of miPSC-ECs, and
      capillary and arterial density were lower in the ischemic limbs of mice after
      treatment with Nox2(-/-) miPSC-ECs than WT miPSC-EC treatment. Taken together,
      these observations indicate that Nox2-mediated ROS production promotes arterial
      EC specification in differentiating miPSCs by activating the Notch signaling
      pathway and contributes to the angiogenic potency of transplanted miPSC-derived
      ECs.

PMID- 27642006
TI  - Full-length model of the human galectin-4 and insights into dynamics of inter
      domain communication.
AB  - Galectins are proteins involved in diverse cellular contexts due to their
      capacity to decipher and respond to the information encoded by beta-galactoside
      sugars. In particular, human galectin-4, normally expressed in the healthy
      gastrointestinal tract, displays differential expression in cancerous tissues and
      is considered a potential drug target for liver and lung cancer. Galectin-4 is a
      tandem-repeat galectin characterized by two carbohydrate recognition domains
      connected by a linker-peptide. Despite their relevance to cell function and
      pathogenesis, structural characterization of full-length tandem-repeat galectins
      has remained elusive. Here, we investigate galectin-4 using X-ray
      crystallography, small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, molecular modelling,
      molecular dynamics simulations, and differential scanning fluorimetry assays and
      describe for the first time a structural model for human galectin-4. Our results
      provide insight into the structural role of the linker-peptide and shed light on
      the dynamic characteristics of the mechanism of carbohydrate recognition among
      tandem-repeat galectins.

PMID- 27642007
TI  - Prognostic value of occult tumor cells obtained by peritoneal lavage in patients
      with resectable pancreatic cancer and no ascites: A systematic review.
AB  - The poor survival of patients with resectable pancreatic cancer might be related
      to the presence of occult peritoneal tumor cells (OPTC). This systematic review
      studies the prognostic value of cytology and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) by
      real-time polymerase chain reaction in peritoneal fluid. The results suggest that
      presence of OPTC is related to a worse survival in patients with resectable
      pancreatic cancer. Future studies should investigate its possible role in
      selecting patients for specific treatment strategies. J. Surg. Oncol.
      2016;114:743-751. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642004
TI  - Imaging flow cytometry analysis of intracellular pathogens.
AB  - Imaging flow cytometry has been applied to address questions in infection
      biology, in particular, infections induced by intracellular pathogens. This
      methodology, which utilizes specialized analytic software makes it possible to
      analyze hundreds of quantified features for hundreds of thousands of individual
      cellular or subcellular events in a single experiment. Imaging flow cytometry
      analysis of host cell-pathogen interaction can thus quantitatively addresses a
      variety of biological questions related to intracellular infection, including
      cell counting, internalization score, and subcellular patterns of co
      localization. Here, we provide an overview of recent achievements in the use of
      fluorescently labeled prokaryotic or eukaryotic pathogens in human cellular
      infections in analysis of host-pathogen interactions. Specifically, we give
      examples of Imagestream-based analysis of cell lines infected with Toxoplasma
      gondii or Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Furthermore, we illustrate the capabilities
      of imaging flow cytometry using a combination of standard IDEASTM software and
      the more recently developed Feature Finder algorithm, which is capable of
      identifying statistically significant differences between researcher-defined
      image galleries. We argue that the combination of imaging flow cytometry with
      these software platforms provides a powerful new approach to understanding host
      control of intracellular pathogens.

PMID- 27642009
TI  - The SAGA complex in the rice pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi: structure and
      functional characterization.
AB  - Post-translational modification of histones is a crucial mode of transcriptional
      regulation in eukaryotes. A well-described acetylation modifier of certain lysine
      residues is the Spt-Ada-Gcn5 acetyltransferase (SAGA) complex assembled around
      the histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified and
      characterized the SAGA complex in the rice pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi, well
      known for producing a large variety of secondary metabolites (SMs). By using a co
      immunoprecipitation approach, almost all of the S. cerevisiae SAGA complex
      components have been identified, except for the ubiquitinating DUBm module and
      the chromodomain containing Chd1. Deletion of GCN5 led to impaired growth, loss
      of conidiation and alteration of SM biosynthesis. Furthermore, we show that Gcn5
      is essential for the acetylation of several histone 3 lysines in F. fujikuroi,
      that is, H3K4, H3K9, H3K18 and H3K27. A genome-wide microarray analysis revealed
      differential expression of about 30% of the genome with an enrichment of genes
      involved in primary and secondary metabolism, transport and histone modification.
      HPLC-based analysis of known SMs revealed significant alterations in the
      Deltagcn5 mutant. While most SM genes were activated by Gcn5 activity, the
      biosynthesis of the pigment bikaverin was strongly increased upon GCN5 deletion
      underlining the diverse roles of the SAGA complex in F. fujikuroi.

PMID- 27642010
TI  - Timing of sequential use of double-balloon catheter and oral misoprostol for
      induction of labor.
AB  - AIM: The best time to commence cervical ripening with a balloon catheter is
      unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether application of a balloon
      catheter in the morning or in the evening is better when sequential prostaglandin
      application is planned. METHODS: This multicenter historical cohort study
      included 415 women with an unfavorable cervix undergoing labor induction at term.
      Labor was induced with a double-balloon catheter and the sequential use of oral
      misoprostol if necessary. The balloon catheter was placed in the morning group
      between 02:00-15:00 and in the evening group between 15:00-02:00. The primary
      outcome measure was the cesarean section rate. Secondary outcome measures
      included failed labor induction (no vaginal delivery within 72 h). RESULTS: The
      cesarean section rate did not differ between the groups (morning 26.9%, evening
      24.3%; P = 0.5553); however, more women in the morning group did not deliver
      within 72 h (8.8% vs 3.1%; P = 0.0138). In nulliparous women, labor induction
      failed more often in the morning group (12% vs. 4%, P = 0.043). In parous women,
      the induction-to-delivery interval was longer in the morning group (1756 vs. 1349
      min; P = 0.046), and there were fewer deliveries within 24 h (35% vs. 56%, P =
      0.016). CONCLUSIONS: When sequential use of a double-balloon catheter and oral
      misoprostol for labor induction is planned, the preferable time for catheter
      placement is in the evening. This resulted in fewer failed inductions in
      nulliparous women and a shorter induction-to-delivery interval and more
      deliveries within 24 h in parous women.

PMID- 27642008
TI  - Pathological classification of human iPSC-derived neural stem/progenitor cells
      towards safety assessment of transplantation therapy for CNS diseases.
AB  - The risk of tumorigenicity is a hurdle for regenerative medicine using induced
      pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Although teratoma formation is readily
      distinguishable, the malignant transformation of iPSC derivatives has not been
      clearly defined due to insufficient analysis of histology and phenotype. In the
      present study, we evaluated the histology of neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs)
      generated from integration-free human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)
      derived iPSCs (iPSC-NSPCs) following transplantation into central nervous system
      (CNS) of immunodeficient mice. We found that transplanted iPSC-NSPCs produced
      differentiation patterns resembling those in embryonic CNS development, and that
      the microenvironment of the final site of migration affected their maturational
      stage. Genomic instability of iPSCs correlated with increased proliferation of
      transplants, although no carcinogenesis was evident. The histological
      classifications presented here may provide cues for addressing potential safety
      issues confronting regenerative medicine involving iPSCs.

PMID- 27642011
TI  - Regulation of X-linked gene expression during early mouse development by Rlim.
AB  - Mammalian X-linked gene expression is highly regulated as female cells contain
      two and male one X chromosome (X). To adjust the X gene dosage between genders,
      female mouse preimplantation embryos undergo an imprinted form of X chromosome
      inactivation (iXCI) that requires both Rlim (also known as Rnf12) and the long
      non-coding RNA Xist. Moreover, it is thought that gene expression from the single
      active X is upregulated to correct for bi-allelic autosomal (A) gene expression.
      We have combined mouse genetics with RNA-seq on single mouse embryos to
      investigate functions of Rlim on the temporal regulation of iXCI and Xist. Our
      results reveal crucial roles of Rlim for the maintenance of high Xist RNA levels,
      Xist clouds and X-silencing in female embryos at blastocyst stages, while initial
      Xist expression appears Rlim-independent. We find further that X/A upregulation
      is initiated in early male and female preimplantation embryos.

PMID- 27642012
TI  - TP53 copy number expansion is associated with the evolution of increased body
      size and an enhanced DNA damage response in elephants.
AB  - A major constraint on the evolution of large body sizes in animals is an
      increased risk of developing cancer. There is no correlation, however, between
      body size and cancer risk. This lack of correlation is often referred to as
      'Peto's Paradox'. Here, we show that the elephant genome encodes 20 copies of the
      tumor suppressor gene TP53 and that the increase in TP53 copy number occurred
      coincident with the evolution of large body sizes, the evolution of extreme
      sensitivity to genotoxic stress, and a hyperactive TP53 signaling pathway in the
      elephant (Proboscidean) lineage. Furthermore, we show that several of the TP53
      retrogenes (TP53RTGs) are transcribed and likely translated. While TP53RTGs do
      not appear to directly function as transcription factors, they do contribute to
      the enhanced sensitivity of elephant cells to DNA damage and the induction of
      apoptosis by regulating activity of the TP53 signaling pathway. These results
      suggest that an increase in the copy number of TP53 may have played a direct role
      in the evolution of very large body sizes and the resolution of Peto's paradox in
      Proboscideans.

PMID- 27642014
TI  - Ultra-acute diagnostics for stroke: Large-scale implementation of prehospital
      biomarker sampling.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Blood-based biomarkers could enable early and cost-effective
      diagnostics for acute stroke patients in the prehospital setting to support early
      initiation of treatments. To facilitate development of ultra-acute biomarkers, we
      set out to implement large-scale prehospital blood sampling and determine
      feasibility and diagnostic timesavings of this approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel of the Helsinki metropolitan area were
      trained to collect prehospital blood samples from thrombolysis candidates using a
      cannula adapter technique. Time delays, sample quality, and logistics were
      investigated between May 20, 2013 and May 19, 2014. RESULTS: Prehospital blood
      sampling and study recruiting were successfully performed for 430 thrombolysis
      candidates, of which 50% had ischemic stroke, 14.4% TIA, 13.5% hemorrhagic
      stroke, and 22.1% stroke mimics. A total of 66.3% of all samples were collected
      during non-office hours. The median (interquartile range) emergency call to
      prehospital sample time was 33 minutes (25-41), and the median time from reported
      symptom onset or wake-up to prehospital sample was 53 minutes (38-85; n=394).
      Prehospital sampling was performed 31 minutes (25-42) earlier than hospital
      admission blood sampling and 37 minutes (30-47) earlier than admission
      neuroimaging. Hemolysis rate in serum and plasma samples was 6.5% and 9.3% for
      EMS samples, and 0.7% and 1.6% for admission samples. CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital
      biomarker sampling can be implemented in all EMS units and provides a median
      timesaving of more than 30 minutes to first blood sample. Large prehospital
      sample sets will enable development of novel ambulance biomarkers to improve
      early differential diagnosis and treatment of thrombolysis candidates.

PMID- 27642015
TI  - Coercion in maternity care.

PMID- 27642013
TI  - Mechanisms and functional roles of glutamatergic synapse diversity in a
      cerebellar circuit.
AB  - Synaptic currents display a large degree of heterogeneity of their temporal
      characteristics, but the functional role of such heterogeneities remains unknown.
      We investigated in rat cerebellar slices synaptic currents in Unipolar Brush
      Cells (UBCs), which generate intrinsic mossy fibers relaying vestibular inputs to
      the cerebellar cortex. We show that UBCs respond to sinusoidal modulations of
      their sensory input with heterogeneous amplitudes and phase shifts. Experiments
      and modeling indicate that this variability results both from the kinetics of
      synaptic glutamate transients and from the diversity of postsynaptic receptors.
      While phase inversion is produced by an mGluR2-activated outward conductance in
      OFF-UBCs, the phase delay of ON UBCs is caused by a late rebound current
      resulting from AMPAR recovery from desensitization. Granular layer network
      modeling indicates that phase dispersion of UBC responses generates diverse phase
      coding in the granule cell population, allowing climbing-fiber-driven Purkinje
      cell learning at arbitrary phases of the vestibular input.

PMID- 27642016
TI  - July 23, 2016, in Bamyan, Afghanistan.

PMID- 27642017
TI  - Picturing health: challenges for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

PMID- 27642018
TI  - Quality maternity care for every woman, everywhere: a call to action.
AB  - To improve maternal health requires action to ensure quality maternal health care
      for all women and girls, and to guarantee access to care for those outside the
      system. In this paper, we highlight some of the most pressing issues in maternal
      health and ask: what steps can be taken in the next 5 years to catalyse action
      toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target of less than 70 maternal
      deaths per 100 000 livebirths by 2030, with no single country exceeding 140? What
      steps can be taken to ensure that high-quality maternal health care is
      prioritised for every woman and girl everywhere? We call on all stakeholders to
      work together in securing a healthy, prosperous future for all women. National
      and local governments must be supported by development partners, civil society,
      and the private sector in leading efforts to improve maternal-perinatal health.
      This effort means dedicating needed policies and resources, and sustaining
      implementation to address the many factors influencing maternal health-care
      provision and use. Five priority actions emerge for all partners: prioritise
      quality maternal health services that respond to the local specificities of need,
      and meet emerging challenges; promote equity through universal coverage of
      quality maternal health services, including for the most vulnerable women;
      increase the resilience and strength of health systems by optimising the health
      workforce, and improve facility capability; guarantee sustainable finances for
      maternal-perinatal health; and accelerate progress through evidence, advocacy,
      and accountability.

PMID- 27642019
TI  - Beyond too little, too late and too much, too soon: a pathway towards evidence
      based, respectful maternity care worldwide.
AB  - On the continuum of maternal health care, two extreme situations exist: too
      little, too late (TLTL) and too much, too soon (TMTS). TLTL describes care with
      inadequate resources, below evidence-based standards, or care withheld or
      unavailable until too late to help. TLTL is an underlying problem associated with
      high maternal mortality and morbidity. TMTS describes the routine over
      medicalisation of normal pregnancy and birth. TMTS includes unnecessary use of
      non-evidence-based interventions, as well as use of interventions that can be
      life saving when used appropriately, but harmful when applied routinely or
      overused. As facility births increase, so does the recognition that TMTS causes
      harm and increases health costs, and often concentrates disrespect and abuse.
      Although TMTS is typically ascribed to high-income countries and TLTL to low
      income and middle-income ones, social and health inequities mean these extremes
      coexist in many countries. A global approach to quality and equitable maternal
      health, supporting the implementation of respectful, evidence-based care for all,
      is urgently needed. We present a systematic review of evidence-based clinical
      practice guidelines for routine antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care,
      categorising them as recommended, recommended only for clinical indications, and
      not recommended. We also present prevalence data from middle-income countries for
      specific clinical practices, which demonstrate TLTL and increasing TMTS. Health
      care providers and health systems need to ensure that all women receive high
      quality, evidence-based, equitable and respectful care. The right amount of care
      needs to be offered at the right time, and delivered in a manner that respects,
      protects, and promotes human rights.

PMID- 27642021
TI  - The need for innovation and implementation research for maternal and newborn
      health.

PMID- 27642020
TI  - Next generation maternal health: external shocks and health-system innovations.
AB  - In this Series we document the substantial progress in the reduction of maternal
      mortality and discuss the current state of science in reducing maternal
      mortality. However, maternal health is also powerfully influenced by the
      structures and resources of societies, communities, and health systems. We
      discuss the shocks from outside of the field of maternal health that will
      influence maternal survival including economic growth in low-income and middle
      income countries, urbanisation, and health crises due to disease outbreaks,
      extreme weather, and conflict. Policy and technological innovations, such as
      universal health coverage, behavioural economics, mobile health, and the data
      revolution, are changing health systems and ushering in new approaches to affect
      the health of mothers. Research and policy will need to reflect the changing
      maternal health landscape.

PMID- 27642023
TI  - The scale, scope, coverage, and capability of childbirth care.
AB  - All women should have access to high quality maternity services-but what do we
      know about the health care available to and used by women? With a focus on low
      income and middle-income countries, we present data that policy makers and
      planners can use to evaluate whether maternal health services are functioning to
      meet needs of women nationally, and potentially subnationally. We describe
      configurations of intrapartum care systems, and focus in particular on where, and
      with whom, deliveries take place. The necessity of ascertaining actual facility
      capability and providers' skills is highlighted, as is the paucity of information
      on maternity waiting homes and transport as mechanisms to link women to care.
      Furthermore, we stress the importance of assessment of routine provision of care
      (not just emergency care), and contextualise this importance within geographic
      circumstances (eg, in sparsely-populated regions vs dense urban areas). Although
      no single model-of-care fits all contexts, we discuss implications of the models
      we observe, and consider changes that might improve services and accelerate
      response to future challenges. Areas that need attention include minimisation of
      overintervention while responding to the changing disease burden.
      Conceptualisation, systematic measurement, and effective tackling of coverage and
      configuration challenges to implement high quality, respectful maternal health
      care services are key to ensure that every woman can give birth without risk to
      her life, or that of her baby.

PMID- 27642024
TI  - Quality, equity, and dignity for women and babies.

PMID- 27642022
TI  - Diversity and divergence: the dynamic burden of poor maternal health.
AB  - Maternal health is a big issue and is central to sustainable development. Each
      year, about 210 million women become pregnant and about 140 million newborn
      babies are delivered-the sheer scale of maternal health alone makes maternal well
      being and survival vital concerns. In this Series paper, we adopt primarily a
      numerical lens to illuminate patterns and trends in outcomes, but recognise that
      understanding of poor maternal health also warrants other perspectives, such as
      human rights. Our use of the best available evidence highlights the dynamic
      burden of maternal health problems. Increased diversity in the magnitude and
      causes of maternal mortality and morbidity between and within populations
      presents a major challenge to policies and programmes aiming to match varying
      needs with diverse types of care across different settings. This diversity, in
      turn, contributes to a widening gap or differences in levels of maternal
      mortality, seen most acutely in vulnerable populations, predominantly in sub
      Saharan Africa. Strong political and technical commitment to improve equity
      sensitive information systems is required to monitor the gap in maternal
      mortality, and robust research is needed to elucidate major interactions between
      the broad range of health problems. Diversity and divergence are defining
      characteristics of poor maternal health in the 21st century. Progress on this
      issue will be an ultimate judge of sustainable development.

PMID- 27642025
TI  - Maternal health: time for a radical reappraisal.

PMID- 27642027
TI  - Implementation and aspiration gaps: whose view counts?

PMID- 27642028
TI  - Frontline: Helping women deliver in South Sudan.

PMID- 27642026
TI  - Drivers of maternity care in high-income countries: can health systems support
      woman-centred care?
AB  - In high-income countries, medical interventions to address the known risks
      associated with pregnancy and birth have been largely successful and have
      resulted in very low levels of maternal and neonatal mortality. In this Series
      paper, we present the main care delivery models, with case studies of the USA and
      Sweden, and examine the main drivers of these models. Although nearly all births
      are attended by a skilled birth attendant and are in an institution, practice,
      cadre, facility size, and place of birth vary widely; for example, births occur
      in homes, birth centres, midwifery-led birthing units in hospitals, and in high
      intervention hospital birthing facilities. Not all care is evidenced-based, and
      some care provision may be harmful. Fear prevails among subsets of women and
      providers. In some settings, medical liability costs are enormous, human resource
      shortages are common, and costs of providing care can be very high. New
      challenges linked to alteration of epidemiology, such as obesity and older age
      during pregnancy, are also present. Data are often not readily available to
      inform policy and practice in a timely way and surveillance requires greater
      attention and investment. Outcomes are not equitable, and disadvantaged segments
      of the population face access issues and substantially elevated risks. At the
      same time, examples of excellence and progress exist, from clinical interventions
      to models of care and practice. Labourists (who provide care for all the
      facility's women for labour and delivery) are discussed as a potential solution.
      Quality and safety factors are informed by women's experiences, as well as
      medical evidence. Progress requires the ability to normalise birth for most
      women, with integrated services available if complications develop. We also
      discuss mechanisms to improve quality of care and highlight areas where research
      can address knowledge gaps with potential for impact. Evaluation of models that
      provide woman-centred care and the best outcomes without high costs is required
      to provide an impetus for change.

PMID- 27642029
TI  - Evolution in the absence of sex: Ideas revisited in the post-genomics age
      (retrospective on DOI 10.1002/bies.201300155).

PMID- 27642031
TI  - When categorization-based stranger avoidance explains the uncanny valley: A
      comment on MacDorman and Chattopadhyay (2016).
AB  - Artificial objects often subjectively look eerie when their appearance to some
      extent resembles a human, which is known as the uncanny valley phenomenon. From a
      cognitive psychology perspective, several explanations of the phenomenon have
      been put forth, two of which are object categorization and realism inconsistency.
      Recently, MacDorman and Chattopadhyay (2016) reported experimental data as
      evidence in support of the latter. In our estimation, however, their results are
      still consistent with categorization-based stranger avoidance. In this
      Discussions paper, we try to describe why categorization-based stranger avoidance
      remains a viable explanation, despite the evidence of MacDorman and
      Chattopadhyay, and how it offers a more inclusive explanation of the impression
      of eeriness in the uncanny valley phenomenon.

PMID- 27642030
TI  - Cutaneous Adverse Events of New Anti-melanoma Therapies: Classification and
      Management.
AB  - Over the past decade, targeted therapies such as BRAF inhibitors, MEK inhibitors
      and immunotherapies such as anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 antibodies have emerged as
      novel treatments of advanced melanoma. Along with increased use of these
      therapies, a range of cutaneous adverse events have also emerged, varying from
      more serious and frequent cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma to mere cosmetic
      changes such as curly hair or rare severe toxic epidermal necrolysis. Early
      detection and management of these cutaneous adverse events will aid patients to
      receive accurate treatment, avoid unnecessary discontinuation of anti-tumour
      treatment and improve the patient's overall quality of life. This review will
      describe various cutaneous adverse events of anti-melanoma therapies and its
      management.

PMID- 27642032
TI  - How individual Montagu's Harriers cope with Moreau's Paradox during the Sahelian
      winter.
AB  - Hundreds of millions of Afro-Palaearctic migrants winter in the Sahel, a semi
      arid belt south of the Sahara desert, where they experience deteriorating
      ecological conditions during their overwintering stay and have to prepare for
      spring migration when conditions are worst. This well-known phenomenon was first
      described by R.E. Moreau and is known ever since as Moreau's Paradox. However,
      empirical evidence of the deteriorating seasonal ecological conditions is limited
      and little is known on how birds respond. Montagu's Harriers Circus pygargus
      spend 6 months of the year in their wintering areas in the Sahel. Within the
      wintering season, birds move gradually to the south, visiting several distinct
      sites to which they are site-faithful in consecutive years. At the last wintering
      site, birds find themselves at the southern edge of the Sahelian zone and have no
      other options than facing deteriorating conditions. We tracked 36 Montagu's
      Harriers with GPS trackers to study their habitat use and behaviour during winter
      and collected data on the abundance of their main prey, grasshoppers, in Senegal.
      Since grasshopper abundance was positively related to vegetation greenness
      (measured as normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI), we used NDVI values
      as a proxy for prey abundance in areas where no field data were collected. Prey
      abundance (grasshopper counts and vegetation greenness) at wintering sites of
      Montagu's Harriers decreased during the wintering period. Montagu's Harriers
      responded to decreasing food availability by increasing their flight time during
      the second half of the winter. Individuals increased flight time more in areas
      with stronger declines in NDVI values, suggesting that lower food abundance
      required more intense foraging to achieve energy requirements. The apparent
      consequence was that Montagu's Harriers departed later in spring when their final
      wintering site had lower NDVI values and presumably lower food abundance and
      consequently arrived later at their breeding site. Our results confirmed the
      suggestions Moreau made 40 years ago: the late wintering period might be a
      bottleneck during the annual cycle with possible carry-over effects to the
      breeding season. Ongoing climate change with less rainfall in the Sahel region
      paired with increased human pressure on natural and agricultural habitats
      resulting in degradation and desertification is likely to make this period more
      demanding, which may negatively impact populations of migratory birds using the
      Sahel.

PMID- 27642033
TI  - A combination hepatoma-targeted therapy based on nanotechnology: pHRE-Egr1-HSV
      TK/(131)I-antiAFPMcAb-GCV/MFH.
AB  - Combination targeted therapy is a promising cancer therapeutic strategy. Here,
      using PEI-Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles (PEI-MZF-NPs) as magnetic media for MFH
      (magnetic fluid hyperthermia) and gene transfer vector for gene-therapy, a
      combined therapy, pHRE-Egr1-HSV-TK/(131)I-antiAFPMcAb-GCV/MFH, for hepatoma is
      developed. AntiAFPMcAb (Monoclonal antibody AFP) is exploited for targeting. The
      plasmids pHRE-Egr1-HSV-TK are achieved by incorporation of pEgr1-HSV-TK and pHRE
      Egr1-EGFP. Restriction enzyme digestion and PCR confirm the recombinant plasmids
      pHRE-Egr1-HSV-TK are successfully constructed. After exposure to the magnetic
      field, PEI-MZF-NPs/pHRE-Egr1-EGFP fluid is warmed rapidly and then the
      temperature is maintained at 43  degrees C or so, which is quite appropriate for
      cancer treatment. The gene expression reaches the peak when treated with 200 MUCi
      (131)I for 24 hours, indicating that the dose of 200 MUCi might be the optimal
      dose for irradiation and 24 h irradiation later is the best time to initiate MFH.
      The in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that pHRE-Egr1-HSV-TK/(131)I
      antiAFPMcAb-GCV/MFH can greatly suppress hepatic tumor cell proliferation and
      induce cell apoptosis and necrosis and effectively inhibit the tumor growth, much
      better than any monotherapy does alone. Furthermore, the combination therapy has
      few or no adverse effects. It might be applicable as a strategy to treat hepatic
      cancer.

PMID- 27642034
TI  - Efficient delivery of DNA into bovine preimplantation embryos by multiwall carbon
      nanotubes.
AB  - The pellucid zone (PZ) is a protective embryonic cells barrier against chemical,
      physical or biological substances. This put, usual transfection methods are not
      efficient for mammal oocytes and embryos as they are exclusively for somatic
      cells. Carbon nanotubes have emerged as a new method for gene delivery, and they
      can be an alternative for embryos transfection, however its ability to cross the
      PZ and mediated gene transfer is unknown. Our data confirm that multiwall carbon
      nanotubes (MWNTs) can cross the PZ and delivery of pDNA into in vitro-fertilized
      bovine embryos. The degeneration rate and the expression of genes associated to
      cell viability were not affected in embryos exposed to MWNTs. Those embryos,
      however, had lower cell number and higher apoptotic cell index, but this did not
      impair the embryonic development. This study shows the potential utility of the
      MWNT for the development of new method for delivery of DNA into bovine embryos.

PMID- 27642035
TI  - The sweet life: The effect of mindful chocolate consumption on mood.
AB  - Chocolate consumption is anecdotally associated with an increase in happiness,
      but little experimental work has examined this effect. We combined a food type
      manipulation (chocolate vs. crackers) with a mindfulness manipulation (mindful
      consumption vs. non-mindful consumption) and examined the impact on positive
      mood. Participants (N = 258) were randomly assigned to eat a small portion (75
      calories) of chocolate or a control food (crackers) in a mindful or non-mindful
      way. Participants who were instructed to mindfully eat chocolate had a greater
      increase in positive mood compared to participants who were instructed to eat
      chocolate non-mindfully or crackers either mindfully or non-mindfully. Additional
      analyses revealed that self-reported liking of the food partially mediated this
      effect. Chocolate appears to increase positive mood, but particularly when it is
      eaten mindfully.

PMID- 27642036
TI  - Salt appetite is not increased in summer heat.
AB  - We tested the hypothesis that salt appetite increases in summer heat due to
      increased sodium loss due to increased drinking and perspiration. A test battery
      in the same sample of healthy young people tested in summer and winter revealed
      no seasonal differences in salt appetite (or fluid intake) despite a 10  degrees
      C rise in mean environmental temperature. Unexpectedly, sweet preference is
      reduced in summer.

PMID- 27642038
TI  - Transmission blocking effects of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed kernel limonoids
      on Plasmodium berghei early sporogonic development.
AB  - Azadirachta indica, known as neem tree and traditionally called "nature's drug
      store" makes part of several African pharmacopeias and is widely used for the
      preparation of homemade remedies and commercial preparations against various
      illnesses, including malaria. Employing a bio-guided fractionation approach,
      molecules obtained from A. indica ripe and green fruit kernels were tested for
      activity against early sporogonic stages of Plasmodium berghei, the parasite
      stages that develop in the mosquito mid gut after an infective blood meal. The
      limonoid deacetylnimbin (3) was identified as one the most active compounds of
      the extract, with a considerably higher activity compared to that of the close
      analogue nimbin (2). Pure deacetylnimbin (3) appeared to interfere with
      transmissible Plasmodium stages at a similar potency as azadirachtin A.
      Considering its higher thermal and chemical stability, deacetylnimbin could
      represent a suitable alternative to azadirachtin A for the preparation of
      transmission blocking antimalarials.

PMID- 27642037
TI  - The development and effectiveness of an ecological momentary intervention to
      increase daily fruit and vegetable consumption in low-consuming young adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To develop and test the effectiveness of a mobile-phone based
      ecological momentary intervention (EMI) to increase fruit and vegetable (FV)
      consumption in low-consuming young adults. METHODS: A two-week randomised
      controlled trial of low-FV consuming young adults ages 18-25 years (n = 171)
      compared three conditions: ecological momentary intervention (EMI), fruit and
      vegetable intervention (FVI), and a diet-as-usual control
      (ANZCTRN12615000183583). Participants in the EMI condition were sent two targeted
      text messages a day for 13 days and were asked to increase daily FV consumption
      to at least five servings. These messages were designed, using the Health Action
      Process Approach, to address salient beliefs identified as effective in a
      preliminary focus group investigation. Participants in the FVI condition were
      provided two servings of FV a day (carrots, kiwifruit or oranges, and apples) to
      eat in addition to their current diet. Control participants ate their normal
      diet. Participants reported their daily servings of FV each evening during the
      study using a smartphone-delivered survey. Blood samples testing plasma vitamin C
      and total carotenoids were taken pre- and post-intervention as an objective
      biomarker of FV intake. RESULTS: Participants in the EMI and FVI conditions
      reported higher daily servings of FV - approximately +1 serving per day more
      compared to control (EMI = 3.7 servings/day; FVI = 3.7 servings/day; Control =
      2.8 servings/day) and approximately +1.2 servings compared to baseline. Increases
      in objective biomarkers for the experimental conditions supported the validity of
      self-reported FV consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide initial proof of
      concept that EMI strategies (with minor financial assistance) are as effective as
      giving FV in increasing FV consumption in educated, low-consuming young adults.

PMID- 27642039
TI  - 1H NMR spectroscopy-guided isolation of new sucrose esters from Physalis
      alkekengi var. franchetii and their antibacterial activity.
AB  - Ten new sucrose esters, physakengoses A-J (1-10), were isolated from the aerial
      parts of Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii under the guidance of 1H NMR
      spectroscopy. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses
      (HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, and ESIMS) and chemical methods. These new compounds
      were tested for antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus
      subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Among them, compounds 2
      and 5-8 showed potent inhibitory effects against test strains with MIC values
      ranging from 3.5 to 14.9MUg/mL. These findings may indicate that the P. alkekengi
      var. franchetii has potential application as an ingredient in pharmaceuticals.

PMID- 27642040
TI  - Herbal extracts, lichens and biomolecules as natural photo-protection
      alternatives to synthetic UV filters. A systematic review.
AB  - Besides the unquestionable positive effects of solar exposure for human health,
      UV rays have been widely investigated for toxicology aspects related to excessive
      UVB and UVA doses, which involve sunburns, skin aging, DNA skin damage and
      tumorigenesis. At present, synthetic and mineral sunscreens are used to protect
      against these damages but several natural molecules can provide UV protection,
      including also synergic effect or enhanced photo stability. Although a large
      number of herbal extracts and plant origin molecules can deserve potential
      applications, most of the study reported utilizes different method and different
      strategies of investigation, making thus difficult to understand the real versus
      claimed potential. This is possibly one of the reasons why, beside the large body
      of literature there are no officially approved natural commercial sun-filter but
      a consistent number of commercially available solar products (sunscreen) on the
      market that contain herbal derivatives. In this review we have evaluated the
      papers appeared in the last 15years and we have critically collected the most
      significant data. Several databases, namely Scifinder, Pubmed, Google Scholar,
      ISI-Web of Science and Scopus, were used as literature sources; excluding patents
      and symposium or congress papers. Only articles in the English language have been
      selected. New formulation, new skin delivery systems, skin penetration enhancers
      and boosters are most likely the next frontier of investigation in order to
      better understand the role of whole herbal extracts in exerting their photo
      protective activity.

PMID- 27642041
TI  - Compounds from Polyphaga plancyi and their inhibitory activities against JAK3 and
      DDR1 kinases.
AB  - Plancyamides A (1) and B (3), plancypyrazine A (2), and plancyols A (4) and B
      (5), five new compounds (1-5), and three known ones (6-8), were isolated from the
      whole bodies of Polyphaga plancyi Bolivar. Their structures were elucidated by a
      combination of spectroscopic analyses including 1D and 2D NMR, and HRESIMS. Among
      them, compound 3 is racemic, chiral HPLC separation afforded its respective
      enantiomers. The absolute configuration of 1 was assigned by computational
      methods. Biological evaluation of all the compounds with exception of 7 and 8
      discloses that compounds 2 and 4 could inhibit JAK3 kinase with IC50 values of
      12.6 and 5.0MUM, respectively. In addition, compound 4 exhibit inhibitory
      activity towards DDR1 kinase with IC50 value of 4.87MUM.

PMID- 27642042
TI  - Bioactivity-guided isolation of biphenanthrenes from Liparis nervosa.
AB  - Three new biphenanthrenes, Liparisphenanthrenes A-C (1-3), along with three known
      ones were obtained from the ethanolic extract of Liparis nervosa (Orchidaceae) by
      bioactivity-guided fractionation. Their structures were elucidated on the basis
      of extensive spectroscopic analysis. All the compounds obtained were tested in
      vitro for cytotoxic activities against stomach (HGC-27) and colon (HT-29) cancer
      cell lines. 1, 4 and 5 showed potent cytotoxicities to HGC-27 cell line with IC50
      values of 8.21-9.95MUmol/L, and 1 and 5 also exhibited potent cytotoxic
      activities to HT-29 cell line with IC50 values of 8.53-9.27MUmol/L.

PMID- 27642043
TI  - Patellar Height After Total Knee Arthroplasty: Comparison of 3 Methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the gold standard procedure for knee
      osteoarthritis. However, there have been conflicting reports concerning whether
      TKA is associated with modifications in patellar height. This controversy might
      be partially explained by the diversity of methods used to measure patellar
      height. Therefore, we aimed at assessing the reproducibility of 3 radiological
      indices commonly used to evaluate patellar height-Insall-Salvati (IS), Blackburne
      Peel (BP), and Caton-Deschamps (CD) ratios. Additionally, we aimed at evaluating
      the short-term differences between preoperative and postoperative patellar
      heights as measured by those 3 methods. METHODS: Patellar heights were blindly
      measured by 2 researchers using IS, BP, and CD ratios in 203 knees. Interobserver
      agreement was evaluated by determination of intraclass correlation coefficients
      (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. Preoperative and postoperative patellar heights
      were compared with Wilcoxon test. The association between postoperative pain and
      modifications in patellar height was assessed using Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS:
      High interobserver agreement was found for IS (preoperative and postoperative ICC
      = 0.93), BP (preoperative ICC = 0.89; postoperative ICC = 0.91), and CD
      (preoperative ICC = 0.89; postoperative ICC = 0.90) ratios. Preoperative and
      postoperative patellar heights were not significantly different whatever the
      method used. Postoperative pain was reported after 23% procedures and was
      significantly associated with wider patellar height variations as measured by the
      BP ratio (P = .018). CONCLUSION: The methods evaluated appear to be reproducible.
      Although patellar height tended to be lower when measured postoperatively, this
      difference was not significant for any of the methods studied.

PMID- 27642044
TI  - Short to Midterm Follow-Up of the Tritanium Primary Acetabular Component: A Cause
      for Concern.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several acetabular components utilizing novel ultraporous metal
      substrates have been introduced over the past decade. Collectively by design,
      they have a lower modulus of elasticity to reduce stress shielding, a higher
      coefficient of friction to enhance interference fit, and ultraporous surfaces to
      enhance osseointegration. However, little literature exists regarding their
      clinical performance. METHODS: This study compared the clinical and radiographic
      results of 109 hips in 95 patients using a Tritanium primary cup (Stryker,
      Mahwah, NJ) to an age, body mass index, and gender-matched cohort of 100 patients
      that received a contemporary cup (Stryker Trident PSL HA). RESULTS: At an average
      4.24 + 1.49 years, implant survivorship of the Tritanium primary cup was 98.2%,
      with 2 cups revised for failure of osseointegration. One-year radiographs
      revealed radiolucent and radiosclerotic lines in 2 or more DeLee zones in 30.3%
      of cups and 3 zone involvement in 8.2%. These proportions increased (40.0% and
      17.1%, respectively) at minimum 5-year follow-up. A comparison of 1 year and last
      follow-up radiographs revealed progression in 13.8%. Tritanium primary components
      with radiolucency in 2 or more zones exhibited significantly lower HHS at 2 years
      compared to all Trident peripheral self-locking (PSL) components (P < .0001) and
      Tritanium primary components with 1 zone or no radiolucency (P = .026). Scanning
      electron microscopy of a retrieved cup revealed local inflammatory reaction and
      no evidence of osseointegration. CONCLUSION: Despite adequate implant
      survivorship, over one third of Tritanium primary cups had 2 or more zone
      radiolucency at minimum 5-year follow-up with associated lower Harris hip scores.

PMID- 27642045
TI  - Joint Mechanics After Total Knee Arthroplasty While Descending Stairs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modern knee designs do not fully restore the anatomy and kinematics
      of the natural knee. This study evaluates the kinematic and kinetic changes of
      well-functioning patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in comparison to a
      healthy age-matched control group while descending stairs and level walking. The
      aim was to have a baseline for further investigations of TKA patients with
      problems. METHODS: Fifteen patients satisfied with TKA (8?/7?; 66.8 +/- 7.4
      years; body mass index (BMI) 25.9 +/- 2.8 kg/m2; 2.1 +/- 1.3 years postop, LCS
      Complete) and 17 healthy control subjects (7?/10?; 66.6 +/- 6.8 years; BMI 25.0
      +/- 2.2 kg/m2) participated in the study. Kinematic (upper and lower body) and
      kinetic (lower body) data were collected during stair descending (step height 17
      cm) and level walking, using an 8-camera Vicon system and 2 force plates.
      Parameters were compared using a Student t test. RESULTS: Patients after TKA
      showed significantly lower frontal knee moments and a more externally rotated hip
      during stance for both level walking and stair descent. There were 31% more
      significantly different parameters during level walking than during stair
      descent. CONCLUSION: The analysis of stair descending in addition to level
      walking for satisfied patients does not add additional information for the
      understanding of the kinematic and kinetic changes after TKA. It seems more
      important to include the kinematics and kinetics of the hip and ankle joint in
      all 3-dimensional planes.

PMID- 27642046
TI  - Morphometric and molecular descriptions of three new species of Hysterothylacium
      (Nematoda: Raphidascarididae) from Australian marine fish.
AB  - Three new species of Hysterothylacium Ward & Magath, 1917, including H. australe,
      H. kajikiae and H. brucei, from Australian marine fish are described and
      illustrated by light microscopy followed by genetic characterization of their
      first and second internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2, respectively).
      This is the first study reporting ITS sequence data for adult Hysterothylacium
      spp. in Australia, which provides an insight into the identification of some of
      the Hysterothylacium larval types. Alignment of ITS sequences of these species
      with Hysterothylacium larval types previously reported in Australia showed that
      fourth-stage Hysterothylacium larval type XI from Seriola lalandi and third-stage
      Hysterothylacium larval type X from Sphyraene novae-hollandiae are identical with
      ITS sequences of H. australe, suggesting that these fish are natural
      intermediate/paratenic hosts of H. australe.

PMID- 27642047
TI  - Real-Time Tracking of Parental Histones Reveals Their Contribution to Chromatin
      Integrity Following DNA Damage.
AB  - Chromatin integrity is critical for cell function and identity but is challenged
      by DNA damage. To understand how chromatin architecture and the information that
      it conveys are preserved or altered following genotoxic stress, we established a
      system for real-time tracking of parental histones, which characterize the pre
      damage chromatin state. Focusing on histone H3 dynamics after local UVC
      irradiation in human cells, we demonstrate that parental histones rapidly
      redistribute around damaged regions by a dual mechanism combining chromatin
      opening and histone mobilization on chromatin. Importantly, parental histones
      almost entirely recover and mix with new histones in repairing chromatin. Our
      data further define a close coordination of parental histone dynamics with DNA
      repair progression through the damage sensor DDB2 (DNA damage-binding protein 2).
      We speculate that this mechanism may contribute to maintaining a memory of the
      original chromatin landscape and may help preserve epigenome stability in
      response to DNA damage.

PMID- 27642048
TI  - The m-AAA Protease Associated with Neurodegeneration Limits MCU Activity in
      Mitochondria.
AB  - Mutations in subunits of mitochondrial m-AAA proteases in the inner membrane
      cause neurodegeneration in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA28) and hereditary spastic
      paraplegia (HSP7). m-AAA proteases preserve mitochondrial proteostasis,
      mitochondrial morphology, and efficient OXPHOS activity, but the cause for
      neuronal loss in disease is unknown. We have determined the neuronal interactome
      of m-AAA proteases in mice and identified a complex with C2ORF47 (termed MAIP1),
      which counteracts cell death by regulating the assembly of the mitochondrial Ca2+
      uniporter MCU. While MAIP1 assists biogenesis of the MCU subunit EMRE, the m-AAA
      protease degrades non-assembled EMRE and ensures efficient assembly of gatekeeper
      subunits with MCU. Loss of the m-AAA protease results in accumulation of
      constitutively active MCU-EMRE channels lacking gatekeeper subunits in neuronal
      mitochondria and facilitates mitochondrial Ca2+ overload, mitochondrial
      permeability transition pore opening, and neuronal death. Together, our results
      explain neuronal loss in m-AAA protease deficiency by deregulated mitochondrial
      Ca2+ homeostasis.

PMID- 27642049
TI  - The N-Terminal Phosphorylation of RB by p38 Bypasses Its Inactivation by CDKs and
      Prevents Proliferation in Cancer Cells.
AB  - Control of the G1/S phase transition by the Retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor
      is critical for the proliferation of normal cells in tissues, and its
      inactivation is one of the most fundamental events leading to cancer. Cyclin
      dependent kinase (CDK) phosphorylation inactivates RB to promote cell cycle
      regulated gene expression. Here we show that, upon stress, the p38 stress
      activated protein kinase (SAPK) maximizes cell survival by downregulating E2F
      gene expression through the targeting of RB. RB undergoes selective
      phosphorylation by p38 in its N terminus; these phosphorylations render RB
      insensitive to the inactivation by CDKs. p38 phosphorylation of RB increases its
      affinity toward the E2F transcription factor, represses gene expression, and
      delays cell-cycle progression. Remarkably, introduction of a RB phosphomimetic
      mutant in cancer cells reduces colony formation and decreases their proliferative
      and tumorigenic potential in mice.

PMID- 27642052
TI  - Dental treatment of a patient with Opitz G/BBB syndrome.
AB  - Opitz G/BBB syndrome is a genetic condition characterized by several
      abnormalities along the midline of the body, such as hypertelorism, craniofacial
      deformities, and dysphagia. This study reports the clinical features of Optiz
      syndrome and its importance in the knowledge of patients who are developmentally
      challenged as a whole, in order to establish adequate dental treatment for a
      certain clinical case. A 19-year-old patient visited the Paulista University for
      a dental treatment. The extraoral examination revealed ocular hypertelorism (wide
      spaced eyes), oblique eyelids, epicanthus, low-set cart, and intellectual
      disability. During the intraoral examination, large caries lesions were observed
      surrounding the braces of the fixed orthodontic appliance and poor oral hygiene.
      Preventive and restorative treatments were carried out. It was concluded that the
      knowledge of patients with special needs as a whole is mandatory for an adequate
      dental treatment. This is a case report that highlights the importance of dentist
      and interdisciplinary care attendance for all patient systems, the examination
      and analyses should not be restricted to the oral cavity.

PMID- 27642051
TI  - Icariside II, a novel phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor, protects against H2 O2 
      induced PC12 cells death by inhibiting mitochondria-mediated autophagy.
AB  - Oxidative stress is a major cause of cellular injury in a variety of human
      diseases including neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, removal of excessive
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) or suppression of ROS generation may be effective
      in preventing oxidative stress-induced cell death. This study was designed to
      investigate the effect of icariside II (ICS II), a novel phosphodiesterase 5
      inhibitor, on hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 )-induced death of highly differentiated
      rat neuronal PC12 cells, and to further examine the underlying mechanisms. We
      found that ICS II pre-treatment significantly abrogated H2 O2 -induced PC12 cell
      death as demonstrated by the increase of the number of metabolically active cells
      and decrease of intracellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Furthermore,
      ICS II inhibited H2 O2 -induced cell death through attenuating intracellular ROS
      production, mitochondrial impairment, and activating glycogen synthase kinase
      3beta (GSK-3beta) as demonstrated by reduced intracellular and mitochondrial ROS
      levels, restored mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), decreased p-tyr216-GSK
      3beta level and increased p-ser9-GSK-3beta level respectively. The GSK-3beta
      inhibitor SB216763 abrogated H2 O2 -induced cell death. Moreover, ICS II
      significantly inhibited H2 O2 -induced autophagy by the reducing autophagosomes
      number and the LC3-II/LC3-I ratio, down-regulating Beclin-1 expression, and up
      regulating p62/SQSTM1 and HSP60 expression. The autophagy inhibitor 3-methyl
      adenine (3-MA) blocked H2 O2 -induced cell death. Altogether, this study
      demonstrated that ICS II may alleviate oxidative stress-induced autophagy in PC12
      cells, and the underlying mechanisms are related to its antioxidant activity
      functioning via ROS/GSK-3beta/mitochondrial signalling pathways.

PMID- 27642054
TI  - Work, rest and play: professional and social progress of nurses at a British
      mental hospital in the early 20th century.

PMID- 27642050
TI  - Effects of NMDA receptor antagonists on probability discounting depend on the
      order of probability presentation.
AB  - Risky decision making can be measured using a probability-discounting procedure,
      in which animals choose between a small, certain reinforcer and a large,
      uncertain reinforcer. Recent evidence has identified glutamate as a mediator of
      risky decision making, as blocking the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor with
      MK-801 increases preference for a large, uncertain reinforcer. Because the order
      in which probabilities associated with the large reinforcer can modulate the
      effects of drugs on choice, the current study determined if NMDA receptor ligands
      alter probability discounting using ascending and descending schedules. Sixteen
      rats were trained in a probability-discounting procedure in which the odds
      against obtaining the large reinforcer increased (n=8) or decreased (n=8) across
      blocks of trials. Following behavioral training, rats received treatments of the
      NMDA receptor ligands MK-801 (uncompetitive antagonist; 0, 0.003, 0.01, or
      0.03mg/kg), ketamine (uncompetitive antagonist; 0, 1.0, 5.0, or 10.0mg/kg), and
      ifenprodil (NR2B-selective non-competitive antagonist; 0, 1.0, 3.0, or
      10.0mg/kg). Results showed discounting was steeper (indicating increased risk
      aversion) for rats on an ascending schedule relative to rats on the descending
      schedule. Furthermore, the effects of MK-801, ketamine, and ifenprodil on
      discounting were dependent on the schedule used. Specifically, the highest dose
      of each drug decreased risk taking in rats in the descending schedule, but only
      MK-801 (0.03mg/kg) increased risk taking in rats on an ascending schedule. These
      results show that probability presentation order modulates the effects of NMDA
      receptor ligands on risky decision making.

PMID- 27642055
TI  - ESPEN diagnostic criteria for malnutrition - A validation study in hospitalized
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism
      (ESPEN) released a consensus statement for undernutrition diagnosis: ESPEN
      diagnostic criteria for malnutrition (EDC). The EDC lacks validation and
      therefore, the present study aims to assess the concurrent and predictive
      validity of this tool in a cohort of inpatients. METHODS: A prospective
      observational study took place in a university hospital. Concurrent validity of
      EDC was evaluated using the Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG
      SGA) nutrition status classification as the reference method. Sensitivity,
      specificity, positive and negative predictive values were determined. The EDC
      predictive validity was assessed by its independent association with length of
      hospital stay (LOS), applying Cox proportional hazards ratio method. RESULTS: Of
      the 632 included patients, 455 participants (72%) were nutritionally-at-risk
      (Nutritional Risk Screening initial screening). For those that had screened
      positive, 260 (57.1%) and 55 participants (12.1%) were undernourished according
      to PG-SGA and to EDC, respectively. Compared to PG-SGA, the EDC revealed a
      sensitivity of 17.1% and a specificity of 98.3%. Positive and negative predictive
      values were respectively 89.1% and 58.9%. Undernutrition evaluated by EDC was
      independently associated with lower hazard ratio for being discharged home over
      time, 0.695 (95% confidence interval: 0.509; 0.950). CONCLUSIONS: The EDC could
      be used in clinical settings to confirm undernutrition suggested by other
      methods. The independent association of undernutrition by EDC with LOS shows this
      method is of clinical relevance.

PMID- 27642053
TI  - Cluster randomized trial to evaluate the impact of team training on surgical
      outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The application of safety principles from the aviation industry to
      the operating room has offered hope in reducing surgical complications. This
      study aimed to assess the impact on major surgical complications of adding an
      aviation-based team training programme after checklist implementation. METHODS: A
      prospective parallel-group cluster trial was undertaken between September 2011
      and March 2013. Operating room teams from 31 hospitals were assigned randomly to
      participate in a team training programme focused on major concepts of crew
      resource management and checklist utilization. The primary outcome measure was
      the occurrence of any major adverse event, including death, during the hospital
      stay within the first 30 days after surgery. Using a difference-in-difference
      approach, the ratio of the odds ratios (ROR) was estimated to compare changes in
      surgical outcomes between intervention and control hospitals. RESULTS: Some 22
      779 patients were enrolled, including 5934 before and 16 845 after team training
      implementation. The risk of major adverse events fell from 8.8 to 5.5 per cent in
      16 intervention hospitals (adjusted odds ratio 0.57, 95 per cent c.i. 0.48 to
      0.68; P < 0.001) and from 7.9 to 5.4 per cent in 15 control hospitals (odds ratio
      0.64, 0.50 to 0.81; P < 0.001), resulting in the absence of difference between
      arms (ROR 0.90, 95 per cent c.i. 0.67 to 1.21; P = 0.474). Outcome trends
      revealed significant improvements among ten institutions, equally distributed
      across intervention and control hospitals. CONCLUSION: Surgical outcomes improved
      substantially, with no difference between trial arms. Successful implementation
      of an aviation-based team training programme appears to require modification and
      adaptation of its principles in the context of the the surgical milieu.
      Registration number: NCT01384474 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).

PMID- 27642056
TI  - ESPEN guidelines on definitions and terminology of clinical nutrition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A lack of agreement on definitions and terminology used for nutrition
      related concepts and procedures limits the development of clinical nutrition
      practice and research. OBJECTIVE: This initiative aimed to reach a consensus for
      terminology for core nutritional concepts and procedures. METHODS: The European
      Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) appointed a consensus group
      of clinical scientists to perform a modified Delphi process that encompassed e
      mail communication, face-to-face meetings, in-group ballots and an electronic
      ESPEN membership Delphi round. RESULTS: Five key areas related to clinical
      nutrition were identified: concepts; procedures; organisation; delivery; and
      products. One core concept of clinical nutrition is malnutrition/undernutrition,
      which includes disease-related malnutrition (DRM) with (eq. cachexia) and without
      inflammation, and malnutrition/undernutrition without disease, e.g. hunger
      related malnutrition. Over-nutrition (overweight and obesity) is another core
      concept. Sarcopenia and frailty were agreed to be separate conditions often
      associated with malnutrition. Examples of nutritional procedures identified
      include screening for subjects at nutritional risk followed by a complete
      nutritional assessment. Hospital and care facility catering are the basic
      organizational forms for providing nutrition. Oral nutritional supplementation is
      the preferred way of nutrition therapy but if inadequate then other forms of
      medical nutrition therapy, i.e. enteral tube feeding and parenteral (intravenous)
      nutrition, becomes the major way of nutrient delivery. CONCLUSION: An agreement
      of basic nutritional terminology to be used in clinical practice, research, and
      the ESPEN guideline developments has been established. This terminology consensus
      may help to support future global consensus efforts and updates of classification
      systems such as the International Classification of Disease (ICD). The continuous
      growth of knowledge in all areas addressed in this statement will provide the
      foundation for future revisions.

PMID- 27642057
TI  - Effects of exchanging carbohydrate or monounsaturated fat with saturated fat on
      inflammatory and thrombogenic responses in subjects with abdominal obesity: A
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Modification of the amount and type of dietary fat has diverse
      effects on cardiovascular risk. METHODS: We recruited 54 abdominally obese
      subjects to participate in a prospective cross-over design, single-blind trial
      comparing isocaloric 2000 kcal MUFA or carbohydrate-enriched diet with SFA
      enriched diet (control). The control diet consisted of 15E% protein, 53E%
      carbohydrate and 32E% fat (12E% SFA, 13E% MUFA). A total of ~7E% of MUFA or
      refined carbohydrate was exchanged with SFA in the MUFA-rich and carbohydrate
      rich diets respectively for 6-weeks. Blood samples were collected at fasting upon
      trial commencement and at week-5 and 6 of each dietary-intervention phase to
      measure levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-1beta), C-reactive protein (CRP),
      thrombogenic markers (E-selectin, PAI-1, D-dimer) and lipid subfractions. Radial
      pulse wave analysis and a 6-h postprandial mixed meal challenge were carried out
      at week-6 of each dietary intervention. Blood samples were collected at fasting,
      15 and 30 min and hourly intervals thereafter till 6 h after a mixed meal
      challenge (muffin and milkshake) with SFA or MUFA (872.5 kcal, 50 g fat, 88 g
      carbohydrates) or CARB (881.3 kcal, 20 g fat, 158 g carbohydrates)- enrichment
      corresponding to the background diets. RESULTS: No significant differences in
      fasting inflammatory and thrombogenic factors were noted between diets (P >
      0.05). CARB meal was found to increase plasma IL-6 whereas MUFA meal elevated
      plasma D-dimer postprandially compared with SAFA meal (P < 0.05). Comparing the 3
      meals, there were similar postprandial elevations in IL-6 and D-dimer and
      postprandial reductions in PAI-1, augmentation index and pressure (time effect: P
      < 0.05). CARB diet was found to reduce HDL3 by 7.8% and increase small dense HDL
      (sdHDL) by 8.6% compared with SFA diet (P < 0.05). SFA diet increased large HDL
      subfractions compared with both CARB and MUFA diets by 4.9% and 6.6% (P < 0.05),
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the evidence presented in this study suggests
      that the replacement of SFA with MUFA or refined carbohydrates may not improve
      inflammatory and thrombogenic markers in abdominally overweight individuals.
      Indeed increased refined carbohydrates consumption adversely impacts fasting HDL
      subfractions. This trial was registered under ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier no.
      NCT01665482.

PMID- 27642058
TI  - Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) in patients with post-bariatric surgery
      complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Obesity is a worldwide health problem. Bariatric surgery (BS)
      is becoming one of the most commonly used methods for fighting obesity and its
      associated comorbidities. However, current BS techniques can be associated with
      early or late complications that may require nutritional support. The aim of this
      retrospective observational study was to determine the indications and outcomes
      for patients on Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) due to post-bariatric surgery
      complications. METHODS: A specific questionnaire was designed by the ESPEN
      HAN/CIF working group and submitted to HPN centers. This questionnaire included:
      patient demographics, type of surgery, BMI before surgery and at start of HPN,
      indications for HPN including technical and nutritional complications (early
      within 2 months after surgery or late), outcome, PN regimen, and HPN
      complications. Patients were retrospectively included from January 2008 to June
      2014. RESULTS: Eighteen HPN centers responded to the survey. A total of 2880 HPN
      patients were treated during the study period, 77 of whom had BS (65 females;
      mean age 51 +/- 7 years); gastric bypass was performed in 69% of the patients;
      mean BMI was 44.4 before surgery and 23.2 at the start of HPN. Indications for
      HPN were early complications in 17 cases and late complications in 60 cases.
      Early complications were mostly anastomotic leakage/fistula; late complications
      were hypoalbuminemia, and vitamin and trace element deficiencies. Out of 77
      patients, 16 needed a surgical re-intervention, 29 were weaned off HPN, and 6
      died (no HPN-related deaths). During the HPN period, 58% of the patients were re
      hospitalized and central venous complications were observed in 41%. Diabetes
      mellitus was described in 17/77 patients. HPN was supportive in 60 patients and
      exclusive in 17 patients (mean caloric intake: 23 +/- 6 kcal/k BW/day and 1.2
      g/kBW/day). Only 7/77 patients resumed their professional activities on HPN.
      CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest observational multicenter study describing the
      use of HPN in patients with post-BS complications. Severe hypoalbuminemia is a
      major late complication. Rates of re-hospitalization and CVC infection were high.
      HPN may be a "bridge therapy" before surgical revision after BS. The high
      mortality rate reflects the complexity of these cases.

PMID- 27642059
TI  - Kidney transplantation as a therapeutic option for end-stage renal disease
      developing after heart transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Progressive renal failure is a frequent complication after heart
      transplantation (HTx). It may result in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), prompting
      consideration of kidney Tx after HTx (KAH). METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      single-center study of 268 HTx recipients to evaluate outcomes after KAH compared
      with HTx recipients with and without ESRD. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of
      76 months, ESRD developed in 51 patients (19), and 39 of them (76%) underwent
      KAH. The mean time from HTx to ESRD was 83 months. The incidence of switching to
      a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-free regimen based on sirolimus was significantly
      lower among recipients with ESRD (6% vs 57%, p = 0.0001), and prolonged exposure
      to CNI significantly increased the risk for ESRD (hazard ratio, 1.09; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.03-1.15; p < 0.005). Death-censored renal graft survival
      after KAH was 95%, 95%, and 83% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. Median long
      term survival of KAH patients was comparable to HTx recipients without ESRD (17.5
      vs 17.1 years, p = 0.27) and significantly better compared with HTx recipients
      with ESRD (17.5 vs 7.3 years, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged exposure to CNI
      immunosuppression medications significantly increases the risk for ESRD among HTx
      recipients. KAH is a good therapeutic option for HTx recipients with ESRD, with
      survival benefit comparable to HTx without ESRD.

PMID- 27642060
TI  - Hospital length of stay after lung transplantation: Independent predictors and
      association with early and late survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Duration of index hospitalization after lung transplantation (LTx) is
      an important variable that has not received much attention. We sought to
      determine independent predictors of prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS) and
      its association with early and late outcomes. METHODS: The United Network of
      Organ Sharing database was queried for adult patients undergoing LTx between 2006
      and 2014 (N = 14,320). Patients with dual organ or previous transplantation and
      patients who died during the first 25 days after LTx were excluded (n = 12,647,
      mean age 55.2 years +/- 13.1). Primary outcome was prolonged LOS (>25 days)
      (3,251/12,647; 25.7%). Donor, recipient, and procedure-related variables were
      analyzed as potential predictors of prolonged LOS. Association of prolonged LOS
      with 1-year and 5-year survival was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards
      analysis. RESULTS: Independent predictors of prolonged LOS included serum
      albumin, lung allocation score, functional status, and need of extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation or ventilator support at the time of transplant; donor age
      >40 years; gender mismatch (female donor to male recipient); donor body mass
      index; African American ethnicity; ischemic time >6 hours; and double LTx.
      Prolonged LOS was independently associated with increased mortality at 1 year
      (hazard ratio, 3.96; 95% confidence interval, 3.48-4.50; p < 0.001) and 5 years
      (hazard ratio, 2.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.79-2.25; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      A significant proportion of patients have a prolonged LOS after LTx, and several
      recipient, donor, and procedure-related variables are independent predictors of
      this outcome. Patients with prolonged LOS after LTx have significantly increased
      risk of death at 1 year and 5 years.

PMID- 27642061
TI  - Adrenal surgery for oligometastatic tumors improves survival in selected cases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Oligometastatic cancer prognosis is distinct from polymetastatic
      cancer prognosis and surgery can improve survival. The objective of this study
      was to assess the role of adrenalectomy and to look for prognostic or predictive
      factors for the treatment of patients with oligometastatic solid tumors and
      adrenal metastasis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with oligometastatic solid
      tumors undergoing adrenalectomy were selected. Clinical data were retrieved from
      electronic patients records. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival
      (OS) and clinical outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Forty patients were analyzed.
      Median PFS was 7.4 months and PFS was longer for metachronous versus synchronous
      adrenal metastasis (10.8 versus 4.5 months; P=0.008). Median OS was 22.8 months
      and OS was better with laparoscopic adrenalectomy versus open adrenalectomy (24.4
      versus 11.2 months; P=0.05). DISCUSSION: Adrenalectomy part of the treatment plan
      of oligometastatic solid tumors but patients have to be selected. Surgery might
      be indicated for metachronous metastasis when laparoscopic adrenalectomy is
      possible.

PMID- 27642063
TI  - Corrigendum to "Complete genome sequence of the cellulolytic thermophile
      Ruminoclostridium cellulosi wild-type strain DG5 isolated from a thermophilic
      biogas plant" [J. Biotechnol. 188 (2014) 136-137].

PMID- 27642062
TI  - Perinatal outcome in pregnant women with cancer: are there any effects of
      chemotherapy?
AB  - Cancer is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age. During the
      last decades and especially in developed countries, the incidence of cancer is
      increasing dramatically, with an incidence of 1 in 1,000 pregnancies. This is
      mostly related to delay of pregnancy into the late reproductive years. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the outcome of pregnancy in women with diagnosis of
      cancer; in particular, neonatal morbidity and mortality, after in utero exposure
      to chemotherapy, were evaluated. A total of 59 singletons and one twin pregnancy
      complicated by cancer were followed at our tertiary centre over the last 15
      years. A different treatment, based on surgery and/or chemotherapy in pregnancy
      or delayed to the postpartum period, was employed. There were 59 live births
      (97%), one foetal loss and one stillbirth at 28 weeks. The congenital
      malformation rate was 5% (n = 3). The rate of preterm birth was 83%. The mean
      birthweight and mean birthweight percentile were 2,098 g (740-3930) and 46 (7
      93), respectively; 32% of neonates were small for gestational age (SGA). Dividing
      the population into treated or untreated with chemotherapy, the rate of SGA was
      not statistically significant different between the two groups. Our results
      showed that chemotherapy administered during the second trimester or later did
      not influence intrauterine foetal growth, but the high prevalence of SGA neonates
      in the two groups, exposed or not exposed to chemotherapy, suggests an influence
      of maternal cancer per se on foetal growth.

PMID- 27642064
TI  - Be Prepared: Emergency and After-Hours Calls in a Program for Frail Community
      Dwelling Older Adults.

PMID- 27642066
TI  - A Data-Driven Approach to Predicting Successes and Failures of Clinical Trials.
AB  - Over the past decade, the rate of drug attrition due to clinical trial failures
      has risen substantially. Unfortunately it is difficult to identify compounds that
      have unfavorable toxicity properties before conducting clinical trials. Inspired
      by the effective use of sabermetrics in predicting successful baseball players,
      we sought to use a similar "moneyball" approach that analyzes overlooked features
      to predict clinical toxicity. We introduce a new data-driven approach (PrOCTOR)
      that directly predicts the likelihood of toxicity in clinical trials. PrOCTOR
      integrates the properties of a compound's targets and its structure to provide a
      new measure, the PrOCTOR score. Drug target network connectivity and expression
      levels, along with molecular weight, were identified as important indicators of
      adverse clinical events. Our method provides a data-driven, broadly applicable
      strategy to identify drugs likely to possess manageable toxicity in clinical
      trials and will help drive the design of therapeutic agents with less toxicity.

PMID- 27642065
TI  - Primary Double-Strike Therapy for Cancers to Overcome EGFR Kinase Inhibitor
      Resistance: Proposal from the Bench.
AB  - Diverse molecular mechanisms that confer acquired resistance to EGFR tyrosine
      kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in lung cancers with sensitive EGFR mutations have been
      reported. However, it is not realistic to analyze for all these mechanisms at the
      time of resistance in clinical practice and establish adequate treatment
      targeting these numerous resistance mechanisms. Therefore, we believe that we
      should move our research focus from the exploration of "established" diverse
      resistance mechanisms to the elucidation of molecular mechanisms that enable
      cancer cells to remain alive at the early phase of the treatment. Here in this
      review, we summarize up-to-date molecular mechanisms that maintain residual tumor
      cells against EGFR TKI monotherapy in lung cancers with EGFR mutations. We
      classified these mechanisms into three categories. The first is a preexisting
      minor subpopulation with a resistance mechanism such as a pretreatment T790M
      mutation that can be detected by highly sensitivity methods. The second is the
      reversible drug-tolerant state that is often observed in cell line models and
      accounts for the lack of complete response and continued survival of cells
      exposed to EGFR TKIs in patients. And the last is the role of the
      microenvironment, including survival signaling from fibroblasts or dying cancer
      cells and the role of poor vascularization. Primary double-strike cancer therapy,
      or even initial multiple-strike therapy, to cancer cells that cotarget EGFR and
      survival mechanism(s) simultaneously would be a promising strategy to improve the
      outcomes of patients with EGFR mutations.

PMID- 27642067
TI  - Cyclooxygenase-2 Mediated Oxidation of 2-Arachidonoyl-Lysophospholipids
      Identifies Unknown Lipid Signaling Pathways.
AB  - Eicosanoid lipids play important roles in cellular signaling as second messengers
      in inflammation, immune response, vascular tone, and the CNS. Biosynthesis of
      eicosanoid lipids proceeds via hydrolysis of esterified arachidonic acid from
      phospholipids followed by oxidation of the released arachidonic acid by a variety
      of enzymes including cyclooxygenases (COX). Herein, we demonstrate the remarkable
      ability of COX-2, but not COX-1, to directly oxidize 2-arachidonoyl-lysolipids,
      resulting in the generation of previously unknown classes of eicosanoid
      lysolipids, and provide evidence that intracellular lipases can release
      eicosanoids from their eicosanoid-lysolipid precursors. Importantly, genetic
      ablation of a phospholipase, iPLA2gamma, significantly reduced the amounts of
      these eicosanoid-lysolipids in murine hepatic tissue and fibroblasts.
      Furthermore, calcium stimulation of wild-type murine lung fibroblasts produced
      robust increases in these eicosanoid-lysolipids, which were markedly attenuated
      in iPLA2gamma-/- fibroblasts. Collectively, these results identify an iPLA2gamma
      initiated pathway generating new classes of lipid metabolites with potential
      signaling functions resulting from the direct COX-2 catalyzed oxidation of 2
      arachidonoyl-lysolipids.

PMID- 27642068
TI  - Molecular Basis of C-N Bond Cleavage by the Glycyl Radical Enzyme Choline
      Trimethylamine-Lyase.
AB  - Deamination of choline catalyzed by the glycyl radical enzyme choline
      trimethylamine-lyase (CutC) has emerged as an important route for the production
      of trimethylamine, a microbial metabolite associated with both human disease and
      biological methane production. Here, we have determined five high-resolution X
      ray structures of wild-type CutC and mechanistically informative mutants in the
      presence of choline. Within an unexpectedly polar active site, CutC orients
      choline through hydrogen bonding with a putative general base, and through close
      interactions between phenolic and carboxylate oxygen atoms of the protein
      scaffold and the polarized methyl groups of the trimethylammonium moiety. These
      structural data, along with biochemical analysis of active site mutants, support
      a mechanism that involves direct elimination of trimethylamine. This work
      broadens our understanding of radical-based enzyme catalysis and will aid in the
      rational design of inhibitors of bacterial trimethylamine production.

PMID- 27642069
TI  - Histone Demethylase LSD1 Promotes Adipocyte Differentiation through Repressing
      Wnt Signaling.
AB  - Adipose tissue plays important roles in animals. White fat stores energy in
      lipids, while brown fat is responsible for nonshivering thermogenesis through
      UCP1-mediated energy dissipation. Although epigenetic mechanisms modulate
      differentiation in multiple lineages, the epigenetic regulation of brown
      adipocyte differentiation is poorly understood. By screening a collection of
      epigenetic compounds, we found that Lysine-Specific Demethylase 1 (LSD1)
      inhibitors repress brown adipocyte differentiation. RNAi-mediated Lsd1 knockdown
      causes a similar effect, which can be rescued by expression of wild-type but not
      catalytic-inactive LSD1. Mechanistically, LSD1 promotes brown adipogenesis by
      demethylating H3K4 on promoter regions of Wnt signaling components and repressing
      the Wnt pathway. Furthermore, deletion of Lsd1 in mice leads to inhibition of
      brown adipogenesis, validating the pivotal role of LSD1 in brown fat development
      in vivo. Our work identifies LSD1 as a key epigenetic regulator in brown
      adipogenesis. The link between LSD1 and the Wnt pathway provides potential
      opportunities to modulate brown fat differentiation.

PMID- 27642071
TI  - Testing a Social Mechanism: Does Alcohol Outlet Density Moderate the Relationship
      Between Levels of Alcohol Use and Child Physical Abuse?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Parental alcohol use and alcohol outlet density are both associated
      with child abuse. Guided by alcohol availability theory, this article examines
      whether alcohol outlet density moderates the relationship between parental
      alcohol use and child physical abuse. METHODS: A general population telephone
      survey of 3,023 parents or legal guardians 18 years or older was conducted across
      50 California cities, whereas densities of alcohol outlets were measured for by
      zip code. Data were analyzed via overdispersed multilevel Poisson models.
      RESULTS: Ex-drinkers, light drinkers, and heavy drinkers use physical abuse more
      often than lifetime abstainers. Moderate drinking was not related to child
      physical abuse. Proportion of bars was negatively related to frequency of
      physical abuse. Moderating relationships between alcohol outlet density and
      drinking categories were found for all drinking patterns. CONCLUSION: Different
      types of alcohol outlets may be differentially related to drinking patterns,
      indicating that the interaction of drinking patterns and the drinking environment
      may place children at greater risk for being physically abused.

PMID- 27642072
TI  - Genetic engineering of CHO cells for viral resistance to minute virus of mice.
AB  - Contamination by the parvovirus minute virus of mice (MVM) remains a challenge in
      Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) biopharmaceutical production processes. Although
      infrequent, infection of a bioreactor can be catastrophic for a manufacturer, can
      impact patient drug supply and safety, and can have regulatory implications. We
      evaluated engineering a CHO parental cell line (CHOZN(r) GS-/- ) to create a new
      host cell line that is resistant to MVM infection by modifying the major
      receptors used by the virus to enter cells. Attachment to a cell surface receptor
      is a key first step in the infection cycle for many viruses. While the exact
      functional receptor for MVM binding to CHO cell surface is unknown, sialic acid
      on the cell surface has been implicated. In this work, we used the zinc finger
      nuclease gene editing technology to validate the role of sialic acid on the cell
      surface in the binding and internalization of the MVM virus. Our approach was to
      systematically mutate genes involved in cell surface sialylation and then
      challenge each cell line for their ability to resist viral entry and propagation.
      To test the importance of sialylation, the following genes were knocked out: the
      CMP-sialic acid transporter, solute carrier family 35A1 (Slc35a1), the core 1
      beta-1,3-galactosyltransferase-1 specific chaperone (Cosmc), and mannosyl (alpha
      1,3-)-glycoprotein beta-1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (Mgat1) as well as
      members of the sialyltransferase family. Slc35a1 is responsible for transporting
      sialic acid into the Golgi. Knocking out function of this gene in a cell results
      in asialylated glycan structures, thus eliminating the ability of MVM to bind to
      and enter the cell. The complete absence of sialic acid on the Slc35a1 knockout
      cell line led to complete resistance to MVM infection. The Cosmc and Mgat1
      knockouts also show significant inhibition of infection likely due to their
      effect on decreasing cell surface sialic acid. Previously in vitro glycan
      analysis has been used to elucidate the precise sialic acid structures required
      for MVM binding and internalization. In this work, we performed the sequential
      knockout of various sialyltransferases that add terminal sialic acid to glycans
      with different linkage specificities. Cell lines with modifications of the
      various genes included in this study resulted in varying effects on MVM infection
      expanding on the knowledge of MVM receptors. MVM resistant host cell lines were
      also tested for the production of model recombinant proteins. Our data
      demonstrate that resistance against the MVM virus can be incorporated into CHO
      production cell lines, adding another level of defense against the devastating
      financial consequences of MVM infection without compromising recombinant protein
      yield or quality. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 576-588. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642073
TI  - Influence of commercial formulation on leaching of four pesticides through soil.
AB  - Studies with small soil columns (2cm i.d.*5.4cm depth) compared leaching of four
      pesticides added either as technical material or as commercial formulations.
      Pesticides were selected to give a gradient of solubility in water between 7 and
      93mgL-1, comprising azoxystrobin (emulsifiable concentrate, EC, and suspension
      concentrate, SC), cyproconazole (SC), propyzamide (SC) and triadimenol (EC).
      Columns of sandy loam soil were leached with 6 pore volumes of 0.01M CaCl2 either
      1 or 7days after treatment. Separate experiments evaluated leaching of
      triadimenol to full breakthrough following addition of 18 pore volumes of 0.01M
      CaCl2. The mass of pesticide leached from columns treated with commercial
      formulation was significantly larger than that from columns treated with
      technical material for all compounds studied and for both leaching intervals (two
      sided t-tests, p<0.001). This difference was conserved when triadimenol was
      leached to full breakthrough with 79+/-1.2 and 61+/-3.1% of applied triadimenol
      leached from columns treated with formulated and technical material,
      respectively. There were highly significant effects of formulation for all
      pesticides (two-way ANOVA, p<0.001), whereas leaching interval was only
      significant for azoxystrobin EC formulation and cyproconazole (p<0.001 and 0.021,
      respectively) with greater leaching when irrigation commenced 1day after
      treatment. Leaching of azoxystrobin increased in the order technical material
      (6.0% of applied pesticide)<SC formulation (8.5-9.1% of applied)<EC formulation
      (15.8-21.0% of applied). The relative difference between leaching of formulated
      and technical pesticide increased with pesticide solubility in water, increasing
      from a factor of 1.4 for the SC formulation of azoystrobin to 4.3 for the SC
      formulation of triadimenol. Experimental systems differ markedly from field
      conditions (small columns with intense irrigation). Nevertheless, results
      indicate the need to consider further the influence of co-formulants in pesticide
      formulations on behaviour of the active ingredient in soil.

PMID- 27642070
TI  - A Direct Comparison of Two Densely Sampled HIV Epidemics: The UK and Switzerland.
AB  - Phylogenetic clustering approaches can elucidate HIV transmission dynamics.
      Comparisons across countries are essential for evaluating public health policies.
      Here, we used a standardised approach to compare the UK HIV Drug Resistance
      Database and the Swiss HIV Cohort Study while maintaining data-protection
      requirements. Clusters were identified in subtype A1, B and C pol phylogenies. We
      generated degree distributions for each risk group and compared distributions
      between countries using Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) tests, Degree Distribution
      Quantification and Comparison (DDQC) and bootstrapping. We used logistic
      regression to predict cluster membership based on country, sampling date, risk
      group, ethnicity and sex. We analysed >8,000 Swiss and >30,000 UK subtype B
      sequences. At 4.5% genetic distance, the UK was more clustered and MSM and
      heterosexual degree distributions differed significantly by the KS test. The KS
      test is sensitive to variation in network scale, and jackknifing the UK MSM
      dataset to the size of the Swiss dataset removed the difference. Only
      heterosexuals varied based on the DDQC, due to UK male heterosexuals who
      clustered exclusively with MSM. Their removal eliminated this difference. In
      conclusion, the UK and Swiss HIV epidemics have similar underlying dynamics and
      observed differences in clustering are mainly due to different population sizes.

PMID- 27642074
TI  - Assessment of regional air quality resulting from emission control in the Pearl
      River Delta region, southern China.
AB  - To evaluate the impact of emission control measures on the air quality in the
      Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of South China, statistic data including
      atmospheric observations, emissions and energy consumptions during 2006-2014 were
      analyzed, and a Weather Research and Forecasting - Community Multi-scale Air
      Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model was used for various scenario simulations. Although
      energy consumption doubled from 2004 to 2014 and vehicle number significantly
      increased from 2006 to 2014, ambient SO2, NO2 and PM10 were reduced by 66%, 20%
      and 24%, respectively, mainly due to emissions control efforts. In contrast, O3
      increased by 19%. Model simulations of three emission control scenarios,
      including a baseline (a case in 2010), a CAP (a case in 2020 assuming control
      strength followed past control tendency) and a REF (a case in 2020 referring to
      the strict control measures based on recent policy/plans) were conducted to
      investigate the variations of air pollutants to the changes in NOx, VOCs and NH3
      emissions. Although the area mean concentrations of NOx, nitrate and PM2.5
      decreased under both NOx CAP (reduced by 1.8%, 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively) and
      NOx REF (reduced by 7.2%, 1.8% and 0.3%, respectively), a rising of PM2.5 was
      found in certain areas as reducing NOx emissions elevated the atmospheric
      oxidizability. Furthermore, scenarios with NH3 emission reductions showed that
      nitrate was sensitive to NH3 emissions, with decreasing percentages of 0-10.6%
      and 0-48% under CAP and REF, respectively. Controlling emissions of VOCs reduced
      PM2.5 in the southwestern PRD where severe photochemical pollution frequently
      occurred. It was also found that O3 formation in PRD was generally VOCs-limited
      while turned to be NOx-limited in the afternoon (13:00-17:00), suggesting that
      cutting VOCs emissions would reduce the overall O3 concentrations while
      mitigating NOx emissions in the afternoon could reduce the peak O3 levels.

PMID- 27642075
TI  - Liver serine palmitoyltransferase activity deficiency in early life impairs
      adherens junctions and promotes tumorigenesis.
AB  - : Serine palmitoyltransferase is the key enzyme in sphingolipid biosynthesis.
      Mice lacking serine palmitoyltransferase are embryonic lethal. We prepared liver
      specific mice deficient in the serine palmitoyltransferase long chain base
      subunit 2 gene using an albumin-cyclization recombination approach and found that
      the deficient mice have severe jaundice. Moreover, the deficiency impairs
      hepatocyte polarity, attenuates liver regeneration after hepatectomy, and
      promotes tumorigenesis. Importantly, we show that the deficiency significantly
      reduces sphingomyelin but not other sphingolipids in hepatocyte plasma membrane;
      greatly reduces cadherin, the major protein in adherens junctions, on the
      membrane; and greatly induces cadherin phosphorylation, an indication of its
      degradation. The deficiency affects cellular distribution of beta-catenin, the
      central component of the canonical Wnt pathway. Furthermore, such a defect can be
      partially corrected by sphingomyelin supplementation in vivo and in vitro.
      CONCLUSION: The plasma membrane sphingomyelin level is one of the key factors in
      regulating hepatocyte polarity and tumorigenesis. (Hepatology 2016;64:2089-2102).

PMID- 27642076
TI  - In silico and in vitro methods to identify ebola virus VP35-dsRNA inhibitors.
AB  - Ebola virus continues to be problematic as sporadic outbreaks in Africa continue
      to arise, and as terrorist organizations have considered the virus for
      bioterrorism use. Several proteins within the virus have been targeted for
      antiviral chemotherapy, including VP35, a dsRNA binding protein that promotes
      viral replication, protects dsRNA from degradation, and prevents detection of the
      viral genome by immune complexes. To augment the scope of our antiviral research,
      we have now employed molecular modeling techniques to enrich the population of
      compounds for further testing in vitro. In the initial docking of a static VP35
      structure with an 80,000 compound library, 40 compounds were selected, of which
      four compounds inhibited VP35 with IC50 <200MUM, with the best compounds having
      an IC50 of 20MUM. By superimposing 26 VP35 structures, we determined four
      aspartic acid residues were highly flexible and the docking was repeated under
      flexible parameters. Of 14 compounds chosen for testing, five compounds inhibited
      VP35 with IC50 <200MUM and one compound with an IC50 of 4MUM. These studies
      demonstrate the value of docking in silico for enriching compounds for testing in
      vitro, and specifically using multiple structures as a guide for detecting
      flexibility and provide a foundation for further development of small molecule
      inhibitors directed towards VP35.

PMID- 27642077
TI  - Reduced serotonin synthesis and regional cerebral blood flow after anxiolytic
      treatment of social anxiety disorder.
AB  - Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with increased fear-related neural
      activity in the amygdala and we recently found enhanced serotonin synthesis rate
      in the same region. Anxiolytic agents like selective serotonin re-uptake
      inhibitors (SSRIs) and neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) antagonists reduce amygdala
      activity and may attenuate serotonin formation according to animal studies. Here,
      we examined the effects of SSRI pharmacotherapy, NK1R antagonism, and placebo on
      serotonin synthesis rate in relation to neural activity, measured as regional
      cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and symptom improvement in SAD. Eighteen SAD patients
      were randomized to receive daily double-blind treatment for six weeks either with
      the SSRI citalopram (n=6; 40mg), the NK1R antagonist GR205171 (n=6; 5mg; 4 weeks
      following 2 weeks of placebo), or placebo (n=6). Serotonin synthesis rate at rest
      and rCBF during stressful public speaking were assessed, before and after
      treatment, using positron emission tomography with the tracers [11C]5
      hydroxytryptophan and [15O]water respectively. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale
      (LSAS-SR) indexed symptom severity. All groups exhibited attenuated amygdala
      serotonin synthesis rate after treatment, which was associated with reduced
      amygdala rCBF during public speaking and accompanied by symptom improvement.
      These results are consistent with the notion that serotonin in the amygdala
      exerts an anxiogenic influence and, conversely, that anxiolysis is achieved
      through decreased serotonin formation in the amygdala.

PMID- 27642078
TI  - Pleiotrophin overexpression regulates amphetamine-induced reward and striatal
      dopaminergic denervation without changing the expression of dopamine D1 and D2
      receptors: Implications for neuroinflammation.
AB  - It was previously shown that mice with genetic deletion of the neurotrophic
      factor pleiotrophin (PTN-/-) show enhanced amphetamine neurotoxicity and impair
      extinction of amphetamine conditioned place preference (CPP), suggesting a
      modulatory role of PTN in amphetamine neurotoxicity and reward. We have now
      studied the effects of amphetamine (10mg/kg, 4 times, every 2h) in the striatum
      of mice with transgenic PTN overexpression (PTN-Tg) in the brain and in wild type
      (WT) mice. Amphetamine caused an enhanced loss of striatal dopaminergic
      terminals, together with a highly significant aggravation of amphetamine-induced
      increase in the number of GFAP-positive astrocytes, in the striatum of PTN-Tg
      mice compared to WT mice. Given the known contribution of D1 and D2 dopamine
      receptors to the neurotoxic effects of amphetamine, we also performed
      quantitative receptor autoradiography of both receptors in the brains of PTN-Tg
      and WT mice. D1 and D2 receptors binding in the striatum and other regions of
      interest was not altered by genotype or treatment. Finally, we found that
      amphetamine CPP was significantly reduced in PTN-Tg mice. The data demonstrate
      that PTN overexpression in the brain blocks the conditioning effects of
      amphetamine and enhances the characteristic striatal dopaminergic denervation
      caused by this drug. These results indicate for the first time deleterious
      effects of PTN in vivo by mechanisms that are probably independent of changes in
      the expression of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors. The data also suggest that PTN
      induced neuroinflammation could be involved in the enhanced neurotoxic effects of
      amphetamine in the striatum of PTN-Tg mice.

PMID- 27642079
TI  - IL-6, IL-10 and TNFalpha do not improve early detection of post-endoscopic
      retrograde cholangiopancreatography acute pancreatitis: a prospective cohort
      study.
AB  - The most reliable indicators for post-ERCP acute pancreatitis are elevated
      amylase levels and abdominal pain 24 hours after ERCP. As ERCP is often performed
      on an outpatient basis, earlier diagnosis is important. We aimed to identify
      early predictors of post-ERCP pancreatitis. We prospectively analyzed IL-6, IL
      10, TNFalpha, CRP, amylase and lipase before and 4 hours after ERCP, and studied
      their association with abdominal pain. We included 510 patients. Post-ERCP
      pancreatitis occurred in 36 patients (7.1%). IL-6, IL-10, TNFalpha and CRP were
      not associated with post-ERCP pancreatitis. Levels of amylase and lipase were
      higher in patients with pancreatitis (522 U/L and 1808 U/L vs. 78 U/L and 61 U/L,
      respectively; p < 0.001). A cut-off of 218 U/L for amylase (x2.2 ULN) and 355 U/L
      for lipase (x6 ULN) had a negative predictive value of 99.2% and 99.5%,
      respectively. Amylase and lipase present a good correlation (Pearson coefficient
      0.912). Among 342 (67.1%) patients without abdominal pain at 4 hours, post-ERCP
      pancreatitis was diagnosed in 8 (2.3%). Only 4 of these patients presented
      amylase or lipase > 3 ULN. Amylase and lipase were the only markers of post-ERCP
      pancreatitis 4 hours after the procedure.

PMID- 27642081
TI  - Response to: Comment on "Management of Atrial Fibrillation in Critically Ill
      Patients".

PMID- 27642080
TI  - Readmission following liver transplantation: an unwanted occurrence but an
      opportunity to act.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver transplant (LT) patients are at high risk for readmission. This
      study sought to identify predictors of readmission following liver
      transplantation and to evaluate their impact on survival in a region with
      prolonged waiting list times. METHODS: A single center review of adult deceased
      donor LT's from 2005 to 2015 was performed, with linkage to the UNOS Standard
      Transplant Analysis and Research registry. Readmission was defined as
      hospitalization within 90 days of discharge. Logistic regression was used to
      identify independent predictors of readmission and Kaplan-Meier analysis for
      survival. RESULTS: 325 patients underwent LT with an overall 90-day readmission
      rate of 46%. Upon adjusted analysis, predictors of readmission were age (OR 0.97
      per year), male gender (OR 0.48), hospital length of stay (OR 1.03 per day), and
      hepatitis C liver failure (OR 2.37). Readmitted patients demonstrated a
      significantly lower 5-year survival (75% vs. 88%, p = 0.008) with only one
      patient (0.7%) dying during initial readmission. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of all
      patients are readmitted after LT. As readmission portents decreased survival, an
      emphasis should be placed on identifying and optimizing those at increased risk.
      If readmission does occur, however, it presents an opportunity to intervene, as
      virtually no patients died during initial readmission.

PMID- 27642084
TI  - Quality assessment of lymph node sampling in rhabdomyosarcoma: A surveillance,
      epidemiology, and end results (SEER) program study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymph node sampling is integral in the management of extremity and
      paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). The aim of this study was to determine
      overall surgical compliance with treatment protocols and impact of nodal sampling
      outcomes in these tumors. METHODS: A query of the surveillance, epidemiology, and
      end results program (SEER) database was performed from 2003 to 2008 for patients
      <19years of age with RMS. Data obtained included demographics, five-year survival
      and rate of nodal sampling. Analysis was performed utilizing chi-squared, Kaplan
      Meier and hazard ratio modeling. RESULTS: Of 537 patients with extremity RMS,
      nodal sampling was performed in 25.7% (n=138). This lack of nodal sampling had a
      negative outcome on survival (p=0.004). Sixty five patients with paratesticular
      RMS aged greater than 10 were identified and also displayed low rates of lymph
      node sampling (47.7%, n=31). For paratesticular patients, a similar increase in
      survival was seen in patients who underwent nodal evaluation (p=0.024).
      CONCLUSION: Lymph node sampling is the standard of care in RMS. However, surgical
      compliance with treatment protocols is poor. Nodal evaluation correlated
      significantly with overall survival. These findings suggest a need for improved
      education among surgeons and oncologists regarding the need lymph node assessment
      in pediatric oncology patients. Evidence rating/classification: Prognosis study,
      Level III.

PMID- 27642083
TI  - Effect of cation substitution on bridgmanite elasticity: A key to interpret
      seismic anomalies in the lower mantle.
AB  - Seismological observations show that, in some regions of the lower mantle, an
      increase in bulk sound velocity, interestingly, occurs in the same volume where
      there is a decrease in shear velocity. We show that this anti-correlated behavior
      occurs on cation substitution in bridgmanite by making single crystal elasticity
      measurements of MgSiO3 and (Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al)O3 using inelastic x-ray scattering
      in the ambient conditions. Cation substitution of ferrous iron and aluminum may
      explain large low shear velocity provinces in the lower mantle.

PMID- 27642085
TI  - Surface plasmon resonance analysis to detect the beta+IVSI-110 thalassemia
      mutation in circulating cell-free fetal DNA.

PMID- 27642082
TI  - PRMT1-mediated methylation of MICU1 determines the UCP2/3 dependency of
      mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake in immortalized cells.
AB  - Recent studies revealed that mitochondrial Ca(2+) channels, which control energy
      flow, cell signalling and death, are macromolecular complexes that basically
      consist of the pore-forming mitochondrial Ca(2+) uniporter (MCU) protein, the
      essential MCU regulator (EMRE), and the mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake 1 (MICU1).
      MICU1 is a regulatory subunit that shields mitochondria from Ca(2+) overload.
      Before the identification of these core elements, the novel uncoupling proteins 2
      and 3 (UCP2/3) have been shown to be fundamental for mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake.
      Here we clarify the molecular mechanism that determines the UCP2/3 dependency of
      mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake. Our data demonstrate that mitochondrial Ca(2+)
      uptake is controlled by protein arginine methyl transferase 1 (PRMT1) that
      asymmetrically methylates MICU1, resulting in decreased Ca(2+) sensitivity.
      UCP2/3 normalize Ca(2+) sensitivity of methylated MICU1 and, thus, re-establish
      mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake activity. These data provide novel insights in the
      complex regulation of the mitochondrial Ca(2+) uniporter by PRMT1 and UCP2/3.

PMID- 27642086
TI  - A relationship between vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calcium levels and lactose
      intolerance in type 2 diabetic patients and healthy subjects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is chronic metabolic disorder. Common
      gastrointestinal symptoms in type 2 diabetic patients are flatulence,
      constipation and/or diarrhea. Reason for these may be lactose intolerance leading
      to change in vitamin D, Calcium and parathyroid hormone which further regulate
      bone mineralization. AIM: To measure lactose intolerance, vitamin D, calcium and
      parathyroid hormone in type 2 diabetic patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 150 type 2
      diabetic patients attending Endocrinology Clinic in PGI, Chandigarh and 150 age
      and sex matched healthy controls were enrolled. Lactose intolerance was measured
      using non-invasive lactose breath test. 25-hydroxyvitamin D (total) and
      Parathyroid hormone were measured in plasma using immunoassay. Serum calcium was
      measured using auto analyzer. T score was recorded from DXA scan for bone mineral
      density measurement. RESULTS: Lactose intolerance was observed significantly
      higher (p<0.001) diabetic patients (59.3%) as compared to controls (42%). Levels
      of plasma 25-OH vitamin D (total), parathyroid hormone and serum calcium were
      significantly lower in patients as compared to controls. Furthermore, levels of
      plasma 25-OH vitamin D (total), parathyroid hormone and serum calcium were more
      decreased in lactose intolerant diabetic patients than lactose tolerant patients.
      Sixty seven percent (67%) of diabetic patients suffered from osteoporosis and 20%
      of controls. Eighty percent (80%) diabetic patients and 16% controls with
      osteoporosis suffered from lactose intolerance. CONCLUSION: From this study we
      can conclude that measurement of lactose intolerance using non-invasive lactose
      breath test is suggested for type 2 diabetic patients along with timely
      measurement of 25-OH vitamin D (total), calcium and parathyroid hormone levels.

PMID- 27642088
TI  - miR-218 Inhibits Proliferation, Migration, and EMT of Gastric Cancer Cells by
      Targeting WASF3.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in carcinogenesis. miR-218 is one of
      the most known miRNAs and has been demonstrated to inhibit progression in gastric
      cancer. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not established. In this
      study, qRT-PCR and Western blot indicated that miR-218 was downregulated in
      gastric cancer cell lines SGC7901 and BGC823 compared to that in normal gastric
      epithelial cell line GES-1. MTT and wound scratch assays suggested that
      overexpression of miR-218 markedly suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and
      EMT of gastric cancer cells. Furthermore, we proved that WASF3 was a direct
      target of miR-218 by luciferase reporter assay, and restoration of WASF3
      expression impairs miR-218-induced inhibition of proliferation, migration, and
      EMT in gastric cancer cells SGC7901. In summary, our results demonstrated that
      miR-218 functions as one of the tumor-suppressive miRNAs and inhibits gastric
      cancer tumorigenesis by targeting WASF3. miR-218 may serve as a potential
      therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer.

PMID- 27642089
TI  - Foreign DNA acquisition by invertebrate genomes.
AB  - Recent studies have highlighted that the accidental acquisition of DNA from other
      species by invertebrate genomes is much more common than originally thought. The
      transferred DNAs are of bacterial or eukaryote origin and in both cases the
      receiver species may end up utilising the transferred genes for its own benefit.
      Frequent contact with prokaryotic DNA from symbiotic endocellular bacteria may
      predispose invertebrates to incorporate this genetic material into their genomes.
      Increasing evidence also points to viruses as major players in transferring genes
      and mobile elements between the species they infect. Unexpectedly a gene flux
      between Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera mediated by endogenous viruses of parasitic
      wasps has been recently unravelled, suggesting we are probably just seeing the
      tip of the iceberg concerning horizontal gene transfers in invertebrates. In the
      context of insect for feed and food, if the new technology of insect genome
      editing (such as Crisper/Cas9) were used to modify the genome of reared insects
      it is important to take into account the risk that an introduced gene can be
      transferred. More generally, although insects are traditionally consumed in Asia
      and Africa, knowledge on insect viruses is still limited rendering it difficult
      to predict the impact they might have in the context of insect rearing at an
      industrial scale.

PMID- 27642087
TI  - Quantitative Prediction of Drug-Drug Interactions Involving Inhibitory
      Metabolites in Drug Development: How Can Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic
      Modeling Help?
AB  - This subteam under the Drug Metabolism Leadership Group (Innovation and Quality
      Consortium) investigated the quantitative role of circulating inhibitory
      metabolites in drug-drug interactions using physiologically based pharmacokinetic
      (PBPK) modeling. Three drugs with major circulating inhibitory metabolites
      (amiodarone, gemfibrozil, and sertraline) were systematically evaluated in
      addition to the literature review of recent examples. The application of PBPK
      modeling in drug interactions by inhibitory parent-metabolite pairs is described
      and guidance on strategic application is provided.

PMID- 27642091
TI  - Potential pitfalls of mass spectrometry to uncover mutations in childhood soft
      tissue sarcoma: A report from the Children's Oncology Group.
AB  - Mass spectrometry-based methods have been widely applied - often as the sole
      method - to detect mutations in human cancer specimens. We applied this approach
      to 52 childhood soft tissue sarcoma specimens in an attempt to identify
      potentially actionable mutations. This analysis revealed that 25% of the
      specimens harbored high-confidence calls for mutated alleles, including a
      mutation encoding FLT3(I836M) that was called in four cases. Given the
      surprisingly high frequency and unusual nature of some of the mutant alleles, we
      carried out ultra-deep next generation sequencing to confirm them. We confirmed
      only three mutations, which encoded NRAS(A18T), JAK3(V722I) and MET(R970C) in
      three specimens. Beyond highlighting those mutations, our findings demonstrate
      potential pitfalls of primarily utilizing a mass spectrometry-based approach to
      broadly screen for DNA sequence variants in archived, clinical-grade tumor
      specimens. Duplicate mass spectrometric analyses and confirmatory next generation
      sequencing can help diminish false positive calls, but this does not ameliorate
      potential false negatives due in part to evaluating a limited panel of sequence
      variants.

PMID- 27642090
TI  - Occurrence and host specificity of a neogregarine protozoan in four milkweed
      butterfly hosts (Danaus spp.).
AB  - Throughout their global range, wild monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are
      infected with the protozoan Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE). In monarchs, OE
      infection reduces pupal eclosion, adult lifespan, adult body size and flight
      ability. Infection of other butterfly hosts with OE is rare or unknown, and the
      only previously published records of OE infection were on monarch and queen
      butterflies (D. gilippus). Here we explored the occurrence and specificity of OE
      and OE-like parasites in four Danaus butterfly species. We surveyed wild D.
      eresimus (soldier), D. gilippus (queen), D. petilia (lesser wanderer), and D.
      plexippus (monarch) from five countries to determine the presence of infection.
      We conducted five cross-infection experiments, on monarchs and queen butterflies
      and their OE and OE-like parasites, to determine infection probability and the
      impact of infection on their hosts. Our field survey showed that OE-like
      parasites were present in D. gilippus, D. petilia, and D. plexippus, but were
      absent in D. eresimus. Infection probability varied geographically such that D.
      gilippus and D. plexippus populations in Puerto Rico and Trinidad were not
      infected or had low prevalence of infection, whereas D. plexippus from S. Florida
      and Australia had high prevalence. Cross-infection experiments showed evidence
      for host specificity, in that OE strains from monarchs were more effective at
      infecting monarchs than queens, and monarchs were less likely to be infected by
      OE-like strains from queens and lesser wanderers relative to their own natal
      strains. Our study showed that queens are less susceptible to OE and OE-like
      infection than monarchs, and that the reduction in adult lifespan following
      infection is more severe in monarchs than in queens.

PMID- 27642092
TI  - Cutaneous leishmaniasis: An opportunistic infection.

PMID- 27642093
TI  - Biophysical and functional characterization of the human olfactory receptor OR1A1
      expressed in a mammalian inducible cell line.
AB  - Olfactory receptors (ORs) play a crucial role in detecting the odorant molecules
      present in the surrounding environment. These receptors, which belong to class A
      G-protein-coupled receptors, constitute the largest transmembrane protein family
      in the human genome. Functional studies showed that the OR family includes
      members that are able to respond to a large set of odorants and members that are
      activated by a relatively small number of related odorants. To understand the
      molecular mechanisms that govern the receptor-ligand interactions, we
      overexpressed the human OR hOR1A1 in a stable tetracycline-inducible HEK293S cell
      line. This receptor was engineered by inserting a C-terminal rho1D4 epitope tag
      and an N-terminal FLAG epitope tag to allow its purification and detection. The
      functional activity of the FLAG-rho1D4-tagged hOR1A1 in heterologous HEK293S
      cells was analysed using a real-time cAMP assay. A two-step purification using
      monoclonal anti-FLAG immunoaffinity purification and gel filtration was then
      employed to purify the detergent-solubilized receptor. A size exclusion
      chromatography-multi-angle light scattering analysis showed the presence of
      monomeric and dimeric forms of FLAG-rho1D4-tagged hOR1A1. The amounts of the
      monomeric and dimeric forms purified from sixty T175 flasks were approximately
      1.6 and 1.1 mg, respectively. The circular dichroism analysis showed that the
      purified receptor was properly folded. Ligand binding was quantified using an
      intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence assay and revealed that the detergent
      solubilized FLAG-rho1D4-tagged hOR1A1 bound its cognate odorant, dihydrojasmone,
      with an affinity in the micromolar range. These results pave the way for future
      crystallographic and NMR studies.

PMID- 27642095
TI  - Salinity responsive aquaporins in the anal papillae of the larval mosquito, Aedes
      aegypti.
AB  - The larvae of the mosquito, Aedes aegypti normally inhabit freshwater (FW) where
      they face dilution of body fluids by osmotic influx of water. In response, the
      physiological actions of the anal papillae result in ion uptake while the
      Malpighian tubules and rectum work in concert to excrete excess water. In an
      apparent paradox, the anal papillae express aquaporins (AQPs) and are sites of
      water permeability which, if AQPs are expressed by the epithelium, apparently
      exaggerates the influx of water from their dilute environment. Recently,
      naturally breeding populations of A. aegypti were found in brackish water (BW),
      an environment which limits the osmotic gradient. Given that salinization of FW
      is an emerging environmental issue and that these larvae would presumably need to
      adjust to these changing conditions, this study investigates the expression of
      AQPs in the anal papillae and their response to rearing in hypo-osmotic and near
      isosmotic conditions. Transcripts of all six Aedes AQP homologs were detectable
      in the anal papillae and the transcript abundance of three AQP homologs in the
      papillae was different between rearing conditions. Using custom made antibodies,
      expression of two of these AQP homologs (AQP4 and AQP5) was localized to the
      syncytial epithelium of the anal papillae. Furthermore, the changes in transcript
      abundance of these two AQPs between the rearing conditions, were manifested at
      the protein level. Results suggest that AQP4 and AQP5 play an important
      physiological role in larval responses to changes in environmental salinity.

PMID- 27642094
TI  - Regulating gonad inhibition and vitellogenin/vitellin induction in Penaeus
      monodon using mature GIH fusion protein and polyclonal antisera.
AB  - Gonad inhibiting hormone (GIH), type II class of the CHH family neuropeptides, is
      released by the neurohaemal XO-SG complex of the eyestalk. The inhibitory
      function of GIH has a pivotal role in gonad development and reproduction. In this
      study, we report the expression and production of a thioredoxin-fused mature GIH
      protein (mf-PmGIH) of Penaeus monodon in a bacterial system and its use as
      antigen to raise polyclonal antiserum (anti-mf-PmGIH). The mature GIH gene of
      237bp that codes for 79 amino acids, was cloned into the Escherichia coli
      thioredoxin gene fusion expression system. The expression vector construct (mf
      PmGIH+pEt32a+) upon induction produced 32.16kDa mature GIH fusion protein (mf
      PmGIH).The purified fusion protein was used as exogenous GIH and as antigen to
      raise polyclonal antisera. The fusion protein when injected into juvenile shrimp
      significantly reduced vitellogenin/vitellin levels by 31.55% within 72h in
      comparison to the controls showing the gonad inhibiting property.
      Vitellogenin/vitellin levels were significantly induced by 74.10% within 6h when
      polyclonal antiserum (anti-mf-PmGIH - 1:500) was injected in P. monodon. Anti-mf
      PmGIH immunolocalized GIH producing neurosecretory cells in the eyestalk of P.
      monodon. The present manuscript reports an innovative means of gonad inhibition
      and vitellogenin/vitellin induction with thioredoxin fused GIH and antisera
      developed.

PMID- 27642096
TI  - Nonphotic entrainment in fish.
AB  - Organisms that live on the Earth are subjected to environmental variables that
      display cyclic variations, such as light, temperature and tides. Since these
      cyclic changes in the environment are constant and predictable, they have
      affected biological evolution through selecting the occurrence of biological
      rhythms in the physiology of all living organisms, from prokaryotes to mammals.
      Biological clocks confer organisms an adaptive advantage as they can synchronize
      their behavioral and physiological processes to occur at a given moment of time
      when effectiveness and success would be greater and/or the cost and risk for
      organisms would be lower. Among environmental synchronizers, light has been
      mostly widely studied to date. However, other environmental signals play an
      important role in biological rhythms, especially in aquatic animals like fish.
      This review focuses on current knowledge about the role of nonphotic
      synchronizers (temperature, food and tidal cycles) on biological rhythms in fish,
      and on the entrainment of the fish circadian system to these synchronizers.

PMID- 27642097
TI  - Possible role of the leptin system in controlling puberty in the male chub
      mackerel, Scomber japonicus.
AB  - Leptin directly regulates kisspeptin neurons in the hypothalamus and gonadotropin
      secretion from the pituitary, making it a central player in the onset of
      mammalian puberty. Recently, we identified two leptin genes (lepa and lepb) and a
      single leptin receptor (lepr) in the marine perciform fish chub mackerel;
      however, the expression of these genes did not correlate with the expression of
      important reproductive genes or ovarian stage during female puberty. Here, we
      expand upon these initial observations by evaluating the expression of lepa,
      lepb, and lepr during pubertal transition and under differential feeding
      conditions in the male chub mackerel. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) showed that lepa was primarily expressed in the liver of
      pubertal and gonadal recrudescence adults, as well as in the brain of adult fish;
      lepb was primarily expressed in the brain of all fish tested; and lepr was widely
      expressed in a variety of tissues. qRT-PCR analyses revealed significant
      increases in the hepatic expression of lepa in accordance with testicular stage,
      whereas pituitary follicle-stimulating hormone (fshbeta) expression increased in
      unison with hepatic lepa. In contrast, expression of both brain lepa and lepb
      dramatically decreased during pubertal transition, with brain kisspeptin 1
      (kiss1) expression strongly correlating with leptin expression patterns. In pre
      pubertal males, lepa, lepb, and lper gene expression in the brain, pituitary
      gland, and liver decreased in fish given a high feed diet, relative to the
      controlled feeding group. Taken together, these results indicate high sexual
      specificity of leptin expression, suggesting a possible role for leptin signaling
      in endocrine and neuroendocrine functions during spermatogenesis in the pubertal
      male chub mackerel.

PMID- 27642099
TI  - IMAGING DIAGNOSIS-THE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY FEATURES OF A PLEUROPERITONEAL HERNIA
      IN A CAT.
AB  - An 8-year-old female neutered domestic short hair cat presented for investigation
      of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. Thoracic radiographs identified a soft
      tissue opacity in the caudoventral thorax adjacent to the diaphragm. Computed
      tomography (CT) then characterized a pleuroperitoneal hernia with cranial
      displacement of a portion of the liver within the hernia. A pleuroperitoneal
      hernia was confirmed and repaired via exploratory laparotomy. This is the first
      description of the CT features of a pleuroperitoneal hernia in a cat.

PMID- 27642098
TI  - Ramipril attenuates left ventricular remodeling by regulating the expression of
      activin A-follistatin in a rat model of heart failure.
AB  - Prior studies have shown that overexpression of ACT A can lead to ventricular
      remodeling in rat models of heart failure. Furthermore, recently work studying
      demonstrated that stimulation of activin An expression in rat aortic smooth
      muscle (RASM) cells by angiotensin II (Ang II). Ramipril is a recently developed
      angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. To investigate the effects of
      Ramipril on expression of ACT A-FS, we established the rat model of heart failure
      after myocardial infarction (MI), and divided into either a sham operation (SO),
      MI, or MI-Ramipril group. We found that Ramipril significantly attenuates
      collagen-I and III deposition (col-I and III). Notably, we determined that
      expression of ACT A and II activin receptor (ActRII) were significantly down
      regulated in the non-infarcted area of the left ventricle in the Ramipril group,
      whereas the mRNA and protein levels of FS were markedly up-regulated. Our data
      suggested that Ramipril benefited left ventricular remodeling by reducing
      fibrosis and collagen accumulation in the left ventricle of rats after myocardial
      infarction. This observation was also associated with down-regulation of ACT A
      expression. This study elucidated a new protective mechanism of Ramipril and
      suggests a novel strategy for treatment of post-infarct remodeling and subsequent
      heart failure.

PMID- 27642102
TI  - Parental decisions about children's oral health behaviour: relative or absolute?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To test the extent to which parents' judgements about their
      children's oral health behaviour conform to the principles of a specific theory
      of cognitive decision making - Range-frequency Theory. METHODS: Experimental
      study with an opportunity sample of 121 parents of young children (3-6 years old)
      living in areas of relative deprivation in South Wales. Parents were allocated to
      four different experimental groups, and each completed a pen-and-paper exercise,
      which involved being presented with (and rating) how often other parents brushed
      their children's teeth. The brushing frequencies presented varied between the
      groups, directly test the rank and range principle of Range-frequency Theory.
      RESULTS: Parents' ratings of other toothbrushing frequencies were predicted by
      the range and rank principle of Range-frequency Theory. A comparison between
      Group 1 and Group 2 showed that parents' ratings of similar brushing frequencies
      were affected by their relative rank among other brushing frequencies presented.
      A comparison between Group 3 and Group 4 showed that parents in a group who were
      presented with a very high brushing frequency (21 times a week) rated all other
      brushing frequencies as relatively less healthy than the comparison group.
      CONCLUSIONS: The principles of Range-frequency Theory predicted parents'
      judgement about children's oral health behaviour - specifically toothbrushing
      frequency. These findings provide a theoretical framework on which to develop
      future oral health education and interventions aimed at promoting twice-daily
      toothbrushing to parents of young children.

PMID- 27642100
TI  - Systematic Review with Network Meta-Analysis: Antidiabetic Medication and Risk of
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Antidiabetic medication may modify the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC). We aimed to compare the use of different antidiabetic strategies and the
      incidence of HCC. PubMed, Embase.com and Cochrane Library databases were searched
      up to 31 October 2015 and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies or
      case-control studies were included for our analyses. A total of thirteen studies
      enrolling 481358 participants with 240678 HCC cases who received at least two
      different strategies were retrieved in this analysis. Direct comparisons showed
      that use of metformin (risk ratio [RR] 0.49, 95% CI 0.25-0.97) was associated
      with a significant risk reduction of HCC, while insulin (RR = 2.44, 95% CI 1.10-
      5.56) may significantly increase the risk. Indirect evidence also suggested that
      insulin (RR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.21-4.75) was associated with a significantly
      increased risk of HCC. Additionally, metformin was effective in reducing the risk
      of HCC when compared with sulphonylurea (RR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.27-0.74) and insulin
      (RR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.17-0.47). Notably, metformin was hierarchically the best
      when compared with other antidiabetic therapies for the prevention of HCC. In
      summary, available evidence suggests that metformin was the most effective
      strategy to reduce HCC risk when compared with other antidiabetic interventions.

PMID- 27642101
TI  - In Situ Anabolic Activity of Periodontal Pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and
      Filifactor alocis in Chronic Periodontitis.
AB  - Porphyromonas gingivalis and Filifactor alocis are fastidious anaerobic bacteria
      strongly associated with chronic forms of periodontitis. Our understanding of the
      growth activities of these microorganisms in situ is very limited. Previous
      studies have shown that copy numbers of ribosomal-RNA precursor (pre-rRNA) of
      specific pathogen species relative to genomic-DNA (gDNA) of the same species (P:G
      ratios) are greater in actively growing bacterial cells than in resting cells.
      The method, so-called steady-state pre-rRNA-analysis, represents a novel culture
      independent approach to study bacteria. This study employed this technique to
      examine the in situ growth activities of oral bacteria in periodontitis before
      and after non-surgical periodontal therapy. Sub-gingival paper-point samples were
      taken at initial and re-evaluation appointments. Pre-rRNA and gDNA levels of P.
      gingivalis and F. alocis were quantified and compared using reverse-transcriptase
      qPCR. The results indicate significantly reduced growth activity of P.
      gingivalis, but not F. alocis, after therapy. The P:G ratios of P. gingivalis and
      F. alocis were compared and a low-strength, but statistically significant inter
      species correlation was detected. Our study demonstrates that steady-state pre
      rRNA-analysis can be a valuable culture-independent approach to studying
      opportunistic bacteria in periodontitis.

PMID- 27642104
TI  - Differential effects of forward and backward masks on the relationship between
      perception and action.

PMID- 27642103
TI  - Depression and anger in fathers of unsettled infants: A community cohort study.
AB  - AIM: To examine the relationship between unsettled infant behaviour and fathers'
      depressive symptoms, cognitions surrounding infant sleep (anger, doubt), and
      personal sleep, in a community cohort. METHODS: Data were collected from 102
      fathers of healthy infants at 4 weeks, 4 months and 6 months of age. Measures
      included father report of infant sleep and crying problems, depressive symptoms,
      cognitions about infant sleep and own sleep quality and quantity. Data were
      analysed using adjusted regression models. RESULTS: Sleep problems at 4 months of
      age were associated with increased depressive symptoms (adjusted mean difference
      2.64 (1.27-4.00)), doubt (adjusted mean difference 1.82 (0.40-3.25)), anger
      (adjusted mean difference 1.86 (0.51-3.20)), poor personal sleep quantity
      (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.21; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09-0.51) and
      quality (adjusted OR 0.20; 95% CI 0.08-0.51); and at 6 months of age, with
      increased depressive symptoms (adjusted mean difference 2.56 (1.28-3.84)), anger
      (adjusted mean difference 1.63 (0.40-2.87)), poor personal sleep quantity
      (adjusted OR 0.14; 95% CI 0.05-0.38) and quality (adjusted OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.11
      0.72). Infant cry problems at 4 months were associated with increased anger
      (adjusted mean difference 1.98 (0.60-3.36)) and doubt (adjusted mean difference
      1.55 (0.05-3.05)); and at 6 months, with increased depressive symptoms (adjusted
      mean difference 3.04 (1.59-4.69)), anger (adjusted mean difference 2.73 (1.29
      4.17)) and less personal sleep (adjusted OR 0.22; 95% CI 0.07-0.71). CONCLUSION:
      Fathers of unsettled infants reported greater anger towards their infant and
      increased depressive symptoms by 4 months infant age, with these symptoms
      persisting 2 months later. Evidence-based interventions are needed for these
      fathers.

PMID- 27642106
TI  - Transcranial sonography of subcortical structures in patients with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcranial sonography may be applied to assess the basal ganglia
      nuclei and brain atrophy by the measurement of the width of the third ventricle.
      The aim of this study was to assess usefulness of transcranial sonography (TCS)
      in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by examining the echogenicity of
      subcortical structures and the width of the third ventricle. METHOD: Transcranial
      sonography evaluation of substantia nigra, brain stem raphe nuclei, diameter of
      the third ventricle, width of the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle,
      thalamus, lenticular nucleus, and head of the caudate nucleus in 41 patients with
      relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 23 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and 20
      healthy controls was compared. A potential link between the patients' age, sex,
      Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, relapse index, and ultrasound
      parameters was assessed. RESULTS: The following were found in patients with MS,
      as compared to the control group: a greater area of the substantia nigra, a
      longer diameter of the third ventricle and wider frontal horns of the lateral
      ventricles, hypo-echogenicity of the brain stem raphe, and hyperechogenicity of
      the lenticular nucleus. The study group was found to have a significant
      correlation between the area of the substantia nigra, and the age of patients,
      the duration of the illness, EDSS score, and the number of relapses. There was a
      significant correlation between the diameter of the third ventricle and the age
      of patients and EDSS score. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MS reveal ultrasound
      features of subcortical structure atrophy. Selected TCS findings show a
      correlation with disease progression and activity.

PMID- 27642107
TI  - Helicobacter pylori infection and polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescent and
      young adult patients.
AB  - AIM: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of infertility
      among women of reproductive age. Chronic systemic inflammation has been
      considered to play a role in the development of PCOS. Helicobacter pylori has
      been shown to lead to both local gastric and chronic systemic inflammation. In
      the light of this, the aim of the present study was to investigate a possible
      link between H. pylori and PCOS. METHODS: A total of 167 nullipar and single
      adolescent and young adults (AYA) were recruited for the study: 86 (51.5%) had
      PCOS and 81 (48.5%) were age-matched controls. The average age was 18.57 +/- 2.40
      (range, 14-24 years). The recent Amsterdam European Society of Human Reproduction
      and Embryology/American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ESHRE/ASRM) guidelines
      including all three of the Rotterdam criteria were used to diagnose PCOS, and
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit was used to measure H. pylori IgG. RESULTS:
      There was no significant association between the PCOS and non-PCOS groups with
      regard to the presence of H. pylori IgG (P = 0.924), white blood count or C
      reactive protein (P = 0.064; P = 0.383, respectively). CONCLUSION: The prevalence
      of H. pylori was not different with regard to PCOS status in AYA. More studies
      are needed to investigate a possible link between PCOS and H. pylori.

PMID- 27642105
TI  - Value of routine staging imaging studies for patients with stage III breast
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Routine staging imaging studies (RSIS) are optional in
      stage III breast cancer (BC). The impact of RSIS on treatment decisions and
      patient outcomes has not been extensively studied. The goal of this study was to
      determine whether RSIS in stage III BC affected treatment or patient outcomes.
      METHODS: Stage III BC patients from 2000 to 2010 were retrospectively identified.
      RSIS results and treatment plan in response to RSIS results were recorded.
      Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models with time
      dependent covariates were used to assess associations between RSIS use and
      recurrence-free survival (RFS). RESULTS: Of 420 patients, 362 (86.2%) received
      RSIS. RSIS were negative in 264 (72.9%), indeterminate in 77 (18.3%), and
      positive in 21 patients (5.0%) for metastatic disease. Treatment was altered in
      21 (5.8%) patients based on RSIS results (20 with metastatic disease, 1 with
      indeterminate disease). There was no difference in RFS with RSIS use on
      multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 1.3; 95% confidence interval 0.73-2.5, P =
      0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Most stage III BC patients underwent RSIS, but RSIS results
      infrequently affected treatment decisions. There was no significant difference in
      RFS with RSIS use. RSIS to identify metastatic disease for stage III BC has
      limited value. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:917-921. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642108
TI  - Genome-wide linkage disequilibrium and past effective population size in three
      Korean cattle breeds.
AB  - The routine collection and use of genomic data are useful for effectively
      managing breeding programs for endangered populations. Linkage disequilibrium
      (LD) using high-density DNA markers has been widely used to determine population
      structures and predict the genomic regions that are associated with economic
      traits in beef cattle. The extent of LD also provides information about
      historical events, including past effective population size (Ne ), and it allows
      inferences on the genetic diversity of breeds. The objective of this study was to
      estimate the LD and Ne in three Korean cattle breeds that are genetically similar
      but have different coat colors (Brown, Brindle and Jeju Black Hanwoo). Brindle
      and Jeju Black are endangered breeds with small populations, whereas Brown Hanwoo
      is the main breeding population in Korea. DNA samples from these cattle breeds
      were genotyped using the Illumina BovineSNP50 Bead Chip. We examined 13 cattle
      breeds, including European taurines, African taurines and indicines, and hybrids
      to compare their LD values. Brown Hanwoo consistently had the lowest mean LD
      compared to Jeju Black, Brindle and the other 13 cattle breeds (0.13, 0.19, 0.21
      and 0.15-0.22 respectively). The high LD values of Brindle and Jeju Black
      contributed to small Ne values (53 and 60 respectively), which were distinct from
      that of Brown Hanwoo (531) for 11 generations ago. The differences in LD and Ne
      for each breed reflect the breeding strategy applied. The Ne for these endangered
      cattle breeds remain low; thus, effort is needed to bring them back to a
      sustainable tract.

PMID- 27642109
TI  - Seasonal heterogeneity provides a niche opportunity for ascidian invasion in
      subtropical marine communities.
AB  - Implications of changes in environmental conditions caused by seasonality and
      human alterations on the recruitment of non-native species and their biotic
      resistance to predation are poorly understood. Here, through the use of
      experimental recruitment panels and predation exclusion cages, we examined 1)
      whether a subtropical seasonality (i.e., tropical and temperate conditions)
      affects the recruitment and abundance of the non-native ascidian Ciona
      intestinalis, the cryptogenic Styela plicata and Ascidia sydneiensis, and native
      Hermandia momus in fouling communities in Hong Kong, 2) whether human
      environmental alterations (i.e., typhoon shelters and sheltered bays with
      different habitat alteration and seawater quality) affect the abundance of the
      ascidians, and 3) whether predation reduces the abundance of ascidians under
      different environmental conditions caused by seasonality and human alteration.
      Our experimental results indicate that seasonality provides a temporal niche for
      the recruitment of the ascidians; C. intestinalis and S. plicata recruited mostly
      in winter, whereas A. sydneiensis and H. momus recruited in summer. Ciona
      intestinalis was the only ascidian that prospered in anthropogenically altered
      environments where it monopolized communities. The marked seasonal recruitment of
      the ascidians obscured the effect of predation between seasons, whereas human
      alteration did not affect predation. The recruitment of the ascidians in
      subtropical communities appeared to correspond to their original temperate or
      tropical distributions, hence Ciona intestinalis, with a temperate native
      distribution, benefits from a temporal niche opportunity during winter
      conditions. We argue that seasonality, as an important ecological factor for
      recruitment and community ecology dynamics, must also be considered in the
      context of biological invasion.

PMID- 27642110
TI  - Human- and computer-accessible 2D correlation data for a more reliable structure
      determination of organic compounds. Future roles of researchers, software
      developers, spectrometer managers, journal editors, reviewers, publisher and
      database managers toward artificial-intelligence analysis of NMR spectra.
AB  - The introduction of a universal data format to report the correlation data of 2D
      NMR spectra such as COSY, HSQC and HMBC spectra will have a large impact on the
      reliability of structure determination of small organic molecules. These lists of
      assigned cross peaks will bridge signals found in NMR 1D and 2D spectra and the
      assigned chemical structure. The record could be very compact, human and computer
      readable so that it can be included in the supplementary material of publications
      and easily transferred into databases of scientific literature and chemical
      compounds. The records will allow authors, reviewers and future users to test the
      consistency and, in favorable situations, the uniqueness of the assignment of the
      correlation data to the associated chemical structures. Ideally, the data format
      of the correlation data should include direct links to the NMR spectra to make it
      possible to validate their reliability and allow direct comparison of spectra. In
      order to take the full benefits of their potential, the correlation data and the
      NMR spectra should therefore follow any manuscript in the review process and be
      stored in open-access database after publication. Keeping all NMR spectra,
      correlation data and assigned structures together at all time will allow the
      future development of validation tools increasing the reliability of past and
      future NMR data. This will facilitate the development of artificial intelligence
      analysis of NMR spectra by providing a source of data than can be used
      efficiently because they have been validated or can be validated by future users.
      Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27642111
TI  - Meta-Analysis of Individual Patient Data of Sodium Bicarbonate and Sodium
      Chloride for All-Cause Mortality After Coronary Angiography.
AB  - We sought to examine the relation between sodium bicarbonate prophylaxis for
      contrast-associated nephropathy (CAN) and mortality. We conducted an individual
      patient data meta-analysis from multiple randomized controlled trials. We
      obtained individual patient data sets for 7 of 10 eligible trials (2,292 of 2,764
      participants). For the remaining 3 trials, time-to-event data were imputed based
      on follow-up periods described in their original reports. We included all trials
      that compared periprocedural intravenous sodium bicarbonate to periprocedural
      intravenous sodium chloride in patients undergoing coronary angiography or other
      intra-arterial interventions. Included trials were determined by consensus
      according to predefined eligibility criteria. The primary outcome was all-cause
      mortality hazard, defined as time from randomization to death. In 10 trials with
      a total of 2,764 participants, sodium bicarbonate was associated with lower
      mortality hazard than sodium chloride at 1 year (hazard ratio 0.61, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 0.41 to 0.89, p = 0.011). Although periprocedural sodium
      bicarbonate was associated with a reduction in the incidence of CAN (relative
      risk 0.75, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.91, p = 0.003), there exists a statistically
      significant interaction between the effect on mortality and the occurrence of CAN
      (hazard ratio 5.65, 95% CI 3.58 to 8.92, p <0.001) for up to 1-year mortality.
      Periprocedural intravenous sodium bicarbonate seems to be associated with a
      reduction in long-term mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography or
      other intra-arterial interventions.

PMID- 27642114
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27642112
TI  - Temporal Trends, Predictors, and Outcomes of In-Hospital Gastrointestinal
      Bleeding Associated With Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.
AB  - Since the introduction of new antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents in the last
      decade, large-scale data studying gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in patients
      undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are lacking. Using the
      Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we identified all hospitalizations from 2006 to 2012
      that required PCI. Temporal trends in the incidence and multivariate predictors
      of GIB associated with PCI were analyzed. A total of 4,376,950 patients underwent
      PCI in the United States during the study period. The incidence of GIB was 1.1%.
      Mortality rate in the GIB group was significantly higher (9.71% vs 1.1%, p
      <0.0001). Although the incidence of GIB remained stable during the study period
      (0.97% in 2006 to 1.19% in 2012), in-hospital mortality rate increased
      significantly from 7.9% in 2006 to 10.78% in 2012, with a peak of 12% in 2010.
      The GIB group had a longer median length of stay (5.80 vs 1.57 days) and an
      increased median cost of hospitalization ($26,564 vs $16,879). The predictors of
      GIB included cardiovascular co-morbidities such as acute myocardial infarction,
      cardiogenic shock, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, valvular heart
      diseases, and a history of transient ischemic attack/stroke. Gastrointestinal co
      morbidities including diverticulosis, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, small
      intestine cancer, large intestine cancer, rectosigmoid cancer, gastrointestinal
      ulcer, and liver disease were predictors of GIB. Interestingly, a lower risk of
      GIB was associated with obese patients and patients with private insurance. A
      higher risk of GIB was noted in urgent versus elective admissions and weekend
      versus weekday admissions. In conclusion, the incidence of GIB in patients who
      underwent PCI remained stable from 2006 to 2012; however, the in-hospital
      mortality increased significantly. Identifying patients at higher risk for GIB is
      critically important to develop preventive strategies to reduce morbidity and
      mortality.

PMID- 27642115
TI  - Meta-Analysis Comparing Complete Revascularization Versus Infarct-Related Only
      Strategies for Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction and
      Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease.
AB  - Several recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrated better outcomes
      with multivessel complete revascularization (CR) than with infarct-related artery
      only revascularization (IRA-OR) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial
      infarction. It is unclear whether CR should be performed during the index
      procedure (IP) at the time of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or
      as a staged procedure (SP). Therefore, we performed a pairwise meta-analysis
      using a random-effects model and network meta-analysis using mixed-treatment
      comparison models to compare the efficacies of 3 revascularization strategies
      (IRA-OR, CR-IP, and CR-SP). Scientific databases and websites were searched to
      find RCTs. Data from 9 RCTs involving 2,176 patients were included. In mixed
      comparison models, CR-IP decreased the risk of major adverse cardiac events
      (MACEs; odds ratio [OR] 0.36, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.54), recurrent myocardial
      infarction (MI; OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.91), revascularization (OR 0.24, 95% CI
      0.15 to 0.38), and cardiovascular (CV) mortality (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.87).
      However, only the rates of MACEs, MI, and CV mortality were lower with CR-SP than
      with IRA-OR. Similarly, in direct-comparison meta-analysis, the risk of MI was
      66% lower with CR-IP than with IRA-OR, but this advantage was not seen with CR
      SP. There were no differences in all-cause mortality between the 3
      revascularization strategies. In conclusion, this meta-analysis shows that in
      patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary
      artery disease, CR either during primary PCI or as an SP results in lower
      occurrences of MACE, revascularization, and CV mortality than IRA-OR. CR
      performed during primary PCI also results in lower rates of recurrent MI and
      seems the most efficacious revascularization strategy of the 3.

PMID- 27642113
TI  - Assessing Level of Agreement for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk
      Categorization Between Coronary Artery Calcium Score and the American College of
      Cardiology/American Heart Association Cardiovascular Prevention Guidelines and
      the Potential Impact on Treatment Recommendations.
AB  - The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cardiovascular
      prevention guidelines use a new pooled cohort equation (PCE) to predict 10-year
      risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events which form the
      basis of treatment recommendations. Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) has been
      proposed as a means to assess atherosclerotic risk. We sought to study the level
      of agreement in predicted ASCVD risk by CACS and PCE-calculated models and the
      potential impact on therapy of additional CACS testing. We studied 687 treatment
      naive, consecutive patients (mean age 53.5 years, 72% men) who had a CACS study
      at our institution. Clinical and imaging data were recorded. ASCVD risk was
      calculated using the published PCE-based algorithm. CACS-based risk was
      categorized by previously published recommendations. Risk stratification
      comparisons were made and level of agreement calculated. In the cohort, mean
      ASCVD PCE-calculated risk was 5.3 +/- 5.2% and mean CACS was 80 +/- 302 Agatston
      units (AU). Of the intermediate PCE-calculated risk (5% to <7.5%) cohort, 85% had
      CACS <100 AU. Of the cohort categorized as reasonable to treat per the ASCVD
      prevention guidelines, 40% had a CACS of 0 AU and an additional 44% had CACS >0
      but <100 AU. The level of agreement between the new PCE model of ASCVD risk and
      demonstrable coronary artery calcium is low. CACS testing may be most beneficial
      in those with an intermediate risk of ASCVD (PCE-calculated risk of 5% to <7.5%)
      where, in approximately half of patients, CACS testing significantly refined risk
      assessment primarily into a very low-risk category.

PMID- 27642117
TI  - Flexible Neural Electrode Array Based-on Porous Graphene for Cortical
      Microstimulation and Sensing.
AB  - Neural sensing and stimulation have been the backbone of neuroscience research,
      brain-machine interfaces and clinical neuromodulation therapies for decades. To
      date, most of the neural stimulation systems have relied on sharp metal
      microelectrodes with poor electrochemical properties that induce extensive damage
      to the tissue and significantly degrade the long-term stability of implantable
      systems. Here, we demonstrate a flexible cortical microelectrode array based on
      porous graphene, which is capable of efficient electrophysiological sensing and
      stimulation from the brain surface, without penetrating into the tissue. Porous
      graphene electrodes show superior impedance and charge injection characteristics
      making them ideal for high efficiency cortical sensing and stimulation. They
      exhibit no physical delamination or degradation even after 1 million biphasic
      stimulation cycles, confirming high endurance. In in vivo experiments with
      rodents, same array is used to sense brain activity patterns with high spatio
      temporal resolution and to control leg muscles with high-precision electrical
      stimulation from the cortical surface. Flexible porous graphene array offers a
      minimally invasive but high efficiency neuromodulation scheme with potential
      applications in cortical mapping, brain-computer interfaces, treatment of
      neurological disorders, where high resolution and simultaneous recording and
      stimulation of neural activity are crucial.

PMID- 27642119
TI  - Working with service users who are parents - looking beyond risk.

PMID- 27642118
TI  - Portrayal of Brain Death in Film and Television.
AB  - We sought to evaluate whether television and cinematic coverage of brain death is
      educational or misleading. We identified 24 accessible productions that addressed
      brain death using the archives of the Paley Center for Media (160 000 titles) and
      the Internet Movie Database (3.7 million titles). Productions were reviewed by
      two board-certified neurologists. Although 19 characters were pronounced brain
      dead, no productions demonstrated a complete examination to assess for brain
      death (6 included an assessment for coma, 9 included an evaluation of at least 1
      brainstem reflex, but none included an assessment of every brainstem reflex, and
      2 included an apnea test). Subjectively, both authors believed only a small
      fraction of productions (13% A.L., 13% J.W.) provided the public a complete and
      accurate understanding of brain death. Organ donation was addressed in 17
      productions (71%), but both reviewers felt that the discussions about organ
      donation were professional in a paucity of productions (9% for A.L., 27% for
      J.W.). Because television and movies serve as a key source for public education,
      the quality of productions that feature brain death must be improved.

PMID- 27642116
TI  - Defining ADHD symptom persistence in adulthood: optimizing sensitivity and
      specificity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal studies of children diagnosed with ADHD report widely
      ranging ADHD persistence rates in adulthood (5-75%). This study documents how
      information source (parent vs. self-report), method (rating scale vs. interview),
      and symptom threshold (DSM vs. norm-based) influence reported ADHD persistence
      rates in adulthood. METHOD: Five hundred seventy-nine children were diagnosed
      with DSM-IV ADHD-Combined Type at baseline (ages 7.0-9.9 years) 289 classmates
      served as a local normative comparison group (LNCG), 476 and 241 of whom
      respectively were evaluated in adulthood (Mean Age = 24.7). Parent and self
      reports of symptoms and impairment on rating scales and structured interviews
      were used to investigate ADHD persistence in adulthood. RESULTS: Persistence
      rates were higher when using parent rather than self-reports, structured
      interviews rather than rating scales (for self-report but not parent report), and
      a norm-based (NB) threshold of 4 symptoms rather than DSM criteria. Receiver
      Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses revealed that sensitivity and
      specificity were optimized by combining parent and self-reports on a rating scale
      and applying a NB threshold. CONCLUSION: The interview format optimizes young
      adult self-reporting when parent reports are not available. However, the
      combination of parent and self-reports from rating scales, using an 'or' rule and
      a NB threshold optimized the balance between sensitivity and specificity. With
      this definition, 60% of the ADHD group demonstrated symptom persistence and 41%
      met both symptom and impairment criteria in adulthood.

PMID- 27642120
TI  - Investigation of association between IL-8 serum levels and IL8 polymorphisms in
      Chinese patients with sepsis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical relevance of IL8 gene polymorphisms in patients
      with sepsis and its association with systemic IL-8 levels. METHODS: PCR and DNA
      sequencing were used to examine the polymorphism of IL8 in 152 patients with
      sepsis and in 199 healthy volunteers in China. The distribution frequencies of
      the genotype and allele were compared among different groups. The serum IL-8 was
      measured by ELISA and analyzed in relation to polymorphisms of IL8. RESULTS: The
      homozygote TT genotype and T allele of rs4073 (genotype: p=0.01, allele:
      p=0.002), the homozygote CC genotype and C allele (genotype: p=0.03, allele:
      p=0.003) of rs2227306, homozygote AA genotype and A allele of re1126647
      (genotype: p=0.01, allele: p=0.002) were associated with susceptibility to sepsis
      in males. Serum IL-8 levels were significantly increased in patients with sepsis
      but showed no correlation with IL8 rs4073, rs2227306 and rs1126647 polymorphisms.
      CONCLUSIONS: The male population carrying the homozygote TT genotype and T allele
      of rs4073, the homozygote CC genotype and C allele of rs2227306 and homozygote AA
      genotype and A allele of rs1126647 are more susceptible to sepsis, suggesting
      there is a protective effect in females carrying these genotypes and alleles
      respectively. There was no association between rs4073, rs2227306 and rs1126647
      polymorphisms and serum levels of IL-8 in patients with sepsis.

PMID- 27642121
TI  - Metagenomics as a preliminary screen for antimicrobial bioprospecting.
AB  - Since the composition of soil directs the diversity of the contained microbiome
      and its potential to produce bioactive compounds, many studies has been focused
      on sediment types with unique features characteristic of extreme environments.
      However, not much is known about the potential of microbiomes that inhabit the
      highly saline and hot Red Sea lagoons. This case study explores mangrove mud and
      the microbial mat of sediments collected from the Rabigh harbor lagoon and Al
      Kharrar lagoon for antimicrobial bioprospecting. Rabigh harbor lagoon appears the
      better location, and the best sediment type for this purpose is mangrove mud. On
      the other hand, Al Kharrar lagoon displayed increased anaerobic hydrocarbon
      degradation and an abundance of bacterial DNA associated with antibiotic
      resistance. Moreover, our findings show an identical shift in phyla associated
      with historic hydrocarbon contamination exposure reported in previous studies
      (that is, enrichment of Gamma- and Delta-proteobacteria), but we also report that
      bacterial DNA sequences associated with antibiotic synthesis enzymes are derived
      from Gamma-, Delta- and Alpha-proteobacteria. This suggests that selection
      pressure associated with hydrocarbon contamination tend to enrich the bacterial
      classes DNA associated with antibiotic synthesis enzymes. Although Actinobacteria
      tends to be the common target for research when it comes to antimicrobial
      bioprospecting, our study suggests that Firmicutes (Bacilli and Clostridia),
      Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, and Proteobacteria should be antimicrobial
      bioprospecting targets as well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
      metagenomic study that analyzed the microbiomes in Red Sea lagoons for
      antimicrobial bioprospecting.

PMID- 27642122
TI  - A genome-wide assessment of variations of primary colorectal cancer maintained in
      metastases.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly heterogeneous disease that is the third
      leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. This study presents a genome
      wide assessment of variations in primary colorectal cancer maintained in
      metastases, even in distant metastases. The purpose of this study was to
      determine whether intratumor heterogeneity is related to disease progression and
      metastasis in CRC. The results showed that 882 single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) associated genes and 473 copy number variant (CNV) associated genes
      specific to metastasis were found. In addition, 57 SNPs mapped to miRNAs showed
      significant differences between primary tumors and metastases. Functional
      annotation of metastasis-specific genes suggested that adhesion and immune
      regulation may be essential in the development of tumors. Moreover, the locus
      rs12881063 in the fourteenth chromosome was found to have a high rate of the G/C
      type in metastases. The rate of the G/C type in nearby lymph node metastases was
      66.7%, while the rate of the G/C type in distance lymph node metastases was
      83.3%. These results indicate that rs12881063 may be the basis for clinical
      diagnosis of CRC metastasis.

PMID- 27642123
TI  - Comprehensive analysis of epigenetic pattern of long noncoding RNA loci in
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and severe cancers worldwide.
      The occurrence of CRC is developed by accumulation of genetic and epigenetic
      alteration in colon cells. Work over the last decade has proposed that epigenetic
      changes such as DNA methylation, histone modification of protein coding genes
      play an important role in CRC development. However, the epigenetic pattern and
      features of lncRNAs in CRC were unclear. Here, we comprehensively analyze the
      patterns of DNA methylation, H3K4me3, H3K27me3 on both protein coding genes and
      lncRNAs. We found several interesting results which may help to discriminate the
      lncRNAs from protein coding genes. For example, the signals of DNA methylation
      and H3K4me3 are higher on protein coding genes than lncRNAs, but not for
      H3K27me3; the three epigenetic marks show different distribution on promoters,
      termination and across the whole gene between protein coding genes and lncRNAs,
      especially DNA methylation, which show regular signal tendency according to the
      principle of gene transcription. In addition, we further analyzed the affections
      of epigenetic marks on protein coding gene and lncRNA expression in HCT116 colon
      cell. Most of the results were consistent with the previous reports such as
      H3K27me3 is an repressive mark. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationships among
      the three epigenetic marks and found that DNA methylation and H3K4me3 were
      positively correlated in promoter and termination region for both protein coding
      genes and lncRNAs. In a word, our results will give a clue to further study the
      pathologies of CRC.

PMID- 27642124
TI  - Vaccine uptake in the Irish Travelling community: an audit of general practice
      records.
AB  - Background: Compared to the general population, the Traveller community has
      substantial health inequalities. Vaccination coverage in Traveller children is
      estimated to be low and Travellers are at higher risk of vaccine-preventable
      diseases due to their social circumstances. Methods: Audit of vaccination history
      of Traveller (n = 214) and non-Traveller (n = 776) children registered at a
      general practice in England. The Green Book childhood immunization schedule was
      used as a reference standard. Results: There was significantly lower coverage for
      Traveller children compared to non-Traveller children for all vaccinations in the
      routine childhood immunization schedule. The percentage of children completing
      the schedule at all time points was significantly lower in the Traveller
      community. Conclusions: Traveller communities have significantly lower uptake of
      vaccinations, and therefore Travellers' children should be targeted by general
      practitioners for catch-up vaccination to improve outcomes for individuals and
      local herd immunity.

PMID- 27642125
TI  - An extracellular yellow laccase with potent dye decolorizing ability from the
      fungus Leucoagaricus naucinus LAC-04.
AB  - A novel laccase was isolated from fermentation broth of the mycorrhizal fungus
      Leucoagaricus naucinus LAC-04 by using a protocol that comprising ion-exchange
      chromatography steps on DEAE-cellulose, SP-Sepharose, and Q-Sepharose, and
      finally gel filtration by fast protein liquid chromatography on Superdex 75. The
      laccase (LNL) was purified with a purification fold of 21.19 and a recovery rate
      of 19.8%. It is a monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 56kDa. LNL lacks
      absorption around 600nm, which indicates that the purified laccase is a yellow
      laccases. LNL demonstrates an optimal pH of 2.2 and an optimal temperature range
      of 30-60 degrees C using ABTS as the substrate. It is inhibited in the presence
      of EDTA and metal ions including Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+. The Km of the laccase towards
      ABTS is estimated to 50.12MUM at pH 2.2 and 30 degrees C. Moreover, the purified
      laccase manifests effective decolorizing activity towards azo, heterocyclic, and
      aromatic dyes including Bromothymol Blue, Eriochrome Black T, Evans Bue, Fuchsin
      Basic, and Remazol Brilliant Blue R.

PMID- 27642126
TI  - Biochemical characterization of a novel fibrinolytic enzyme from Cordyceps
      militaris.
AB  - A fibrinolytic enzyme was produced by the medicinal mushroom, Cordyceps militaris
      using submerged fermentation. The enzyme was purified from culture supernatant by
      hydrophobic interaction, ion exchange and gel filtration chromatographies. It was
      purified by 36 fold, with a specific activity of 1,467.4U/mg protein and the
      final yield was 5.8%. The molecular weight of the enzyme as determined by SDS
      PAGE and gel filtration was 28kDa and 24.5kDa, respectively, and its isoelectric
      point (pI) was 9.0+/-0.2. It was found to be a glycoprotein with carbohydrate
      content of 1.67% (w/v). The enzyme was optimally active at 37 degrees C and pH
      7.2. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by soybean trypsin inhibitor
      (SBTI) and aprotinin which indicated it to be a serine protease, while other
      inhibitors like N-alpha-tosyl-l-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK), phenyl
      methane sulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), pepstatin and metal chelator EDTA did not
      inhibit its activity. Amino acid sequences of the purified enzyme were determined
      partially by Q-TOF2 and they were IEDFPYQVDLR; ANCGGTVISEK; YVLTAGHCAEGYTGLNIR;
      TNYASVTPITADMICAGFPEGK; KDSCSGDSGGPLVTGGK; VVGIVSFGTGCAR; ANKPGVYSSVASAEIR.
      Sequences of the seven peptides completely matched with those of a trypsin-like
      serine protease from Cordyceps militaris CM01 (accession no. EGX95217.1). The
      purified enzyme degraded alpha chains of fibrinogen first and then beta and gamma
      chains and also activated plasminogen into plasmin. It can act as an
      anticoagulant and prevent clot formation by degrading fibrinogen. Based on these
      studies, the purified enzyme has great potential to be developed as a natural
      agent for prevention and treatment of thrombolytic diseases.

PMID- 27642127
TI  - C-phycocyanin alleviates osteoarthritic injury in chondrocytes stimulated with
      H2O2 and compressive stress.
AB  - During the progression of osteoarthritis (OA), dysregulation of extracellular
      matrix anabolism, abnormal generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      inflammatory cytokines have been shown to accelerate the degradation process of
      cartilage. The potency of c-phycocyanin (C-PC) to protect cellular components
      against oxidative stress, along with its anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis
      effects, are well documented; however, effects of C-PC on OA are still unclear.
      In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of C-PC on OA using H2O2 or
      compression-stimulated OA-like porcine chondrocyte models. The results showed
      that C-PC had the ability to inhibit ROS production, reverse caspase-3 activity,
      and reduce apoptosis cell population. C-PC also reversed aggrecan and type II
      collagen gene expressions after stimulation with 1mM H2O2 or 60psi of
      compression. Inhibition of IL-6 and MMP-13 genes was observed in compression
      stimulated chondrocytes but not in H2O2-treated cells. In dimethylmethylene blue
      assay and alcian blue staining, C-PC maintained the sulfated-glycosaminoglycan
      (sGAG) content after stimulation with compression. We concluded that C-PC can
      prevent early signs of OA caused by compressive stress and attenuate H2O2-induced
      oxidative stress. Therefore, we suggest that C-PC can be used as a potential drug
      candidate for chronic OA treatment.

PMID- 27642128
TI  - Vitamin E induces regular structure and stability of human insulin, more intense
      than vitamin D3.
AB  - Changes in human environment and lifestyle over the last century have caused a
      dramatic increase in the occurrence of diabetes. Research of past decades
      illustrated that vitamin D and E have a key role in the improvement of diabetes
      by reducing oxidative stress, protein glycosylation, insulin resistance and also
      improving beta cell function. Binding properties and conformational changes of
      human insulin upon interaction with vitamins D3 and E (alpha-tocopherol) were
      investigated by spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and
      molecular dynamic simulation. Tyrosine fluorescence quenching studies indicates
      changes in the human insulin conformation in the presence of vitamins. Binding
      constants of vitamins D3 and E for human insulin were determined to be 2.7 and
      1.5 (*10-5M-1) and the corresponding average numbers of binding sites were
      determined to be 1.3 and 1.2, respectively. Far- and near-UV circular dichroism
      studies showed that vitamin E can significantly change the secondary and tertiary
      structures of human insulin via an increase in the content of alpha-helix
      structure. Results of DSC showed that both vitamins D3 and E stabilize the
      structure of human insulin. Molecular dynamic simulation results indicated that
      vitamin D3 decreases the helical and strand structural contents of human insulin,
      but vitamin E stabilizes more regular secondary structures such as helical and
      strand structural contents as shown by experimental results.

PMID- 27642129
TI  - Antimicrobial and cytotoxicity evaluation of colloidal chitosan - silver
      nanoparticles - fluoride nanocomposites.
AB  - The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity
      of colloidal chitosan - silver nanoparticle - fluoride nanocomposites
      (CChAgNpFNc), with different silver nanoparticle shapes and sizes. The syntheses
      of CChAgNpFNc were performed with silver nitrate added to a chitosan solution,
      addition of a sodium borohydride solution and solid sodium fluoride. Solution of
      ascorbic acid was added to synthesize larger silver nanoparticles. CChAgNpFNc
      obtained: S1- 100% spherical, 8.7+/-3.1nm; S2- 97% spherical, 15.0+/-7.9nm and
      2.5% triangular, 22.2+/-9.5nm; S3- 77.3% spherical, 31.8+/-10.4nm, 15.9%
      triangular, 27.1+/-10.1nm and 6.8% elliptical, 33.2+/-7.8nm; and S4- 75.2%
      spherical, 43.2+/-14.3nm; 23.3% triangular 38.2+/-14.8nm, and 1.5% elliptical
      38.4+/-11.6nm. The CChAgNpFNc showed antimicrobial activity against
      Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa and Candida albicans, by microdilution technique. The influence on the
      growth of microorganisms was evaluated using a fluorescence assay, and showed an
      increasing lag phase and a decreasing log phase. Cytotoxicity was investigated
      using Artemia salina and MTT assays. The S3 and S4 samples exhibited low
      cytotoxicity. The S1 and S2 samples inhibited murine macrophages and revealed
      lethal dose concentrations above 1000mg/mL that were classified as moderately
      toxic. Thus, CChAgNpFNc are potential options for the control of multiple-drug
      resistant microorganisms and do not represent substantial risks to human health.

PMID- 27642130
TI  - Immune responses elicited by the GEN-003 candidate HSV-2 therapeutic vaccine in a
      randomized controlled dose-ranging phase 1/2a trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: GEN-003 is a candidate therapeutic HSV-2 vaccine containing a fragment
      of infected cell protein 4 (ICP4.2), a deletion mutant of glycoprotein D2
      (gD2DeltaTMR), and Matrix-M2 adjuvant. In a dose-ranging phase 1/2a clinical
      trial, immunization with GEN-003 reduced viral shedding and the percentage of
      reported herpetic lesion days. Here we examine the immune responses in the same
      trial, to characterize vaccine-related changes in antibody and cell-mediated
      immunity. METHODS: Participants with genital HSV-2 infection were randomized to 1
      of 3 doses of GEN-003, antigens without adjuvant, or placebo. Subjects received 3
      intramuscular doses, three weeks apart, and were monitored for viral shedding,
      lesions and immunogenicity. Antibody titers were measured by ELISA and
      neutralization assay in serum samples collected at baseline and 3weeks post each
      dose. T cell responses were assessed pre-immunization and 1week post each dose by
      IFN-gamma ELISpot and intracellular cytokine staining. Blood was also collected
      at 6 and 12months to monitor durability of immune responses. RESULTS: Antibody
      and T cell responses increased with vaccination and were potentiated by adjuvant.
      Among the doses tested, the rank order of reduction in viral shedding follows the
      ranking of fold change from baseline in T cell responses. Some immune responses
      persisted up to 12months. CONCLUSION: All measures of immunity are increased by
      vaccination with GEN-003; however, a correlate of protection is yet to be
      defined.

PMID- 27642131
TI  - A single-dose antihelminthic treatment does not influence immunogenicity of a
      meningococcal and a cholera vaccine in Gabonese school children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We recently described the effect of a single-dose antihelminthic
      treatment on vaccine immunogenicity to a seasonal influenza vaccine. Here we
      report the effect of antihelminthics on the immunogenicity of a meningococcal
      vaccine and a cholera vaccine in primary school children living in Lambarene,
      Gabon. Since infection with helminths remains a major public health problem and
      the influence on cognitive and physical development as well as the
      immunomodulatory effects are well established, we investigated if a single-dose
      antihelminthic treatment prior to immunization positively influences antibody
      titers and vaccine-specific memory B-cells. METHODS: In this placebo-controlled,
      double-blind trial the effect of a single-dose antihelminthic treatment prior to
      immunization with a meningococcal as well as with a cholera vaccine was
      investigated. Anti-meningococcal antibodies were assessed by serum bactericidal
      assay, cholera vaccine-specific antibody titers by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent
      Assay (ELISA) at baseline (Day 0; vaccination), four weeks (Day 28) and 12weeks
      (Day 84) following vaccination. Meningococcal and cholera vaccine-specific memory
      B-cells were measured at Day 0 and 84 by vaccine-specific Enzyme-linked
      Immunospot (ELISpot) assay. The helminth burden of the participants was assessed
      four weeks before vaccination (Day -28) and at Day 84 by the Merthiolate-Iodine
      Formaldehyde technique. RESULTS: Out of 280 screened school children, 96 received
      a meningococcal vaccine and 89 a cholera vaccine following allocation to either
      the single-dose antihelminthic treatment group or the placebo group. Bactericidal
      antibody titers increased following immunization with the meningococcal vaccine
      at Day 28 and Day 84 in 68 participants for serogroup A, and in 80 participants
      for serogroup C. The cholera vaccine titers increased in all participants with a
      peak at Day 28. The number of memory B-cells increased following vaccination
      compared to baseline. There was no statistically significant difference in
      antibody and B-cell response between children receiving albendazole compared to
      those receiving placebo. CONCLUSION: A single-dose treatment with albendazole
      prior to immunization had no effect on meningococcal or cholera vaccine
      immunogenicity in our study population.

PMID- 27642132
TI  - Safety and immunogenicity of a booster dose of meningococcal (groups A, C, W, and
      Y) polysaccharide diphtheria toxoid conjugate vaccine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines (MenACWY) were
      developed to offer long-term protection against invasive disease caused by
      serogroups A, C, W, and Y. Reduced MenACWY effectiveness within 5 years after
      primary vaccination (likely due to declining bactericidal antibody titers) has
      been described, particularly with respect to C and Y disease in the United
      States. We evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of a single booster dose of
      quadrivalent meningococcal polysaccharide diphtheria toxoid conjugate vaccine
      (MenACWY-D) in adolescents and adults who received a previous dose 4-6 years
      earlier. METHODS: This phase 2, open-label, multicenter study of 834 persons was
      conducted in the United States. Participants received a single 0.5-mL booster
      dose of MenACWY-D. Serogroup-specific bactericidal antibody geometric mean titers
      (GMTs) were measured with a serum bactericidal antibody assay using human
      complement (hSBA). Proportions of participants achieving antibody titers of ?1:8
      for each vaccine serogroup on Days 6 and 28 were determined. Rates of adverse
      events (AEs), including serious adverse events (SAEs), were also assessed.
      RESULTS: Before booster vaccination, 38.7-68.5% of participants had an hSBA titer
      ?1:8, depending on vaccine serogroup. By Day 6 post-vaccination, 98.2-99.1% of
      participants had hSBA titers ?1:8. By Day 28, >99% of participants achieved this
      threshold and the primary hypothesis (lower limit of the one-sided 95% confidence
      limit ?85% for each serogroup) was met. The GMT ratios (post-vaccination divided
      by pre-vaccination) at Day 28 ranged from 47.2 (serogroup A) to 209.1 (serogroup
      Y). Rates of AEs, including SAEs, were similar to those observed among
      adolescents and adults who received a primary dose of MenACWY-D in previous
      studies. There were no study discontinuations due to an AE and no deaths.
      CONCLUSIONS: Booster vaccination with MenACWY-D was safe and induced robust
      bactericidal antibody responses, consistent with immune memory, among adolescents
      and adults 4-6 years after primary vaccination. ClinicalTrials.gov registration:
      NCT01442675.

PMID- 27642133
TI  - Gene expression profiles are different in venous and capillary blood:
      Implications for vaccine studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detailed analysis of the immunological pathways leading to robust
      vaccine responses has become possible with the application of systems biology,
      including transcriptomic analysis. Venous blood is usually obtained for such
      studies but others have obtained capillary blood (e.g. finger-prick). Capillary
      samples are practically advantageous, especially in children. METHODS: The aim of
      this study was to compare gene expression profiles in venous and capillary blood
      before, 12h and 24h after vaccination with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide
      or trivalent inactivated seasonal influenza vaccines. RESULTS: Gene expression at
      baseline was markedly different between venous and capillary samples, with 4940
      genes differentially expressed, and followed a different pattern of changes after
      vaccination. At baseline, multiple pathways were upregulated in venous compared
      to capillary blood, including transforming growth factor-beta receptor signalling
      and toll-like receptor cascades. After vaccination with the influenza vaccine,
      there was enrichment for T and NK cell related signatures in capillary blood, and
      monocyte signatures in venous blood. By contrast, after vaccination with the
      pneumococcal vaccination, there was enrichment of dendritic cells, monocytes and
      interferon related signatures in capillary blood, whilst at 24h there was
      enrichment for T and NK cell related signatures in venous blood. CONCLUSIONS:
      These data show differences between venous and capillary gene expression both at
      baseline, and post vaccination, which may impact on the conclusions regarding
      immunological mechanisms drawn from studies using these different sampling
      methodologies.

PMID- 27642134
TI  - Concomitant Opioid and Laxative Use in Older Adults in Hospice Care in the United
      States: 2007.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine laxative use by individuals in hospice who were taking
      opioids during the last week of life. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional.
      SETTING: 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals in
      hospice aged 65 and older who were taking opioids during the last week of life (N
      = 2,825). MEASUREMENTS: Hospice staff were asked the names of all medications and
      drugs that participants were taking 7 days before and on the day of death while
      in hospice, including any standing, routine, or as-needed medications."
      Medications "used" included medications taken and as-needed medications provided
      in case a symptom developed. Opioids included all opioid-combination drugs.
      Laxatives included fibers, lubricants, stimulants, and suppositories. RESULTS:
      Forty-one percent of participants had cancer as the primary hospice diagnosis,
      13% heart disease, 12% debility, 11% dementia, 8% lung disease, and 15% other.
      Overall, 52% of opioid users used a laxative in the last week of life; the
      proportions of opioid and laxative users did not differ according to diagnosis.
      Racial minorities taking opioids had lower odds than white participants (odds
      ratio (OR) = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.33-0.99) of using laxatives.
      Participants taking opioids enrolled in hospice for 7 days or less had lower odds
      of using laxatives than those enrolled for more than 7 days (OR = 0.65, 95% CI =
      0.37-0.95), as did those in hospice inpatient, hospital, or other settings (OR =
      0.45, 95% CI = 0.43-0.93) than those in long-term care settings. Participants
      using five or fewer medications had lower odds of using laxatives than those
      using six to 10 (OR = 6.01, 95% CI = 3.88-9.32) or 11 to 25 medications (OR =
      13.80, 95% CI = 8.74-21.80). CONCLUSION: In 2007, slightly more than half of
      older adults in hospice who were taking opioids used laxatives during the last
      week of life. Recent quality indicators from the Centers for Medicare and
      Medicaid Services recommend laxative treatment when opioid therapy is initiated
      to prevent opioid-induced constipation and are intended to improve laxative use
      in individuals in hospice treated with opioids.

PMID- 27642135
TI  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension in congenital heart disease: Current perspectives
      and future challenges.
AB  - Medical and scientific research in the field of pulmonary arterial hypertension
      (PAH) in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) has gradually become
      globalized, inclusive and collaborative over the past few years. The education of
      physicians, health administrators and patients on congenital heart disease (CHD),
      specifically in the field of PAH, is of paramount importance. It is also crucial
      for ACHD patients with PAH to be followed in tertiary centers and to benefit from
      a multidisciplinary approach. Shared care models dictate a closer collaboration
      between tertiary expert centers and local non-specialist services, as well as
      networking between expert physicians in CHD and PAH and
      geneticists/epidemiologists, with the inclusion of PAH-CHD patients in national
      and international registries with a detailed genotypic/phenotypic
      characterization.

PMID- 27642137
TI  - Global Landscape and Regulatory Principles of DNA Methylation Reprogramming for
      Germ Cell Specification by Mouse Pluripotent Stem Cells.
AB  - Specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) activates epigenetic reprogramming
      for totipotency, the elucidation of which remains a fundamental challenge. Here,
      we uncover regulatory principles for DNA methylation reprogramming during in
      vitro PGC specification, in which mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are induced
      into epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs) and then PGC-like cells (PGCLCs). While ESCs
      reorganize their methylome to form EpiLCs, PGCLCs essentially dilute the EpiLC
      methylome at constant, yet different, rates between unique sequence regions and
      repeats. ESCs form hypomethylated domains around pluripotency regulators for
      their activation, whereas PGCLCs create demethylation-sensitive domains around
      developmental regulators by accumulating abundant H3K27me3 for their repression.
      Loss of PRDM14 globally upregulates methylation and diminishes the hypomethylated
      domains, but it preserves demethylation-sensitive domains. Notably, female ESCs
      form hypomethylated lamina-associated domains, while female PGCLCs effectively
      reverse such states into a more normal configuration. Our findings illuminate the
      unique orchestration of DNA methylation and histone modification reprogramming
      during PGC specification.

PMID- 27642136
TI  - Circulation of multiple serotypes of highly divergent enterovirus C in the
      Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.
AB  - Poliomyelitis associated with circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs)
      is a serious public health issue in the post-eradication era, and the occurrence
      of recombinant cVDPVs emphasizes the need to elucidate enterovirus C (EV-C)
      epidemiology. Stool samples were collected from 826 healthy children in Southern
      Xinjiang in 2011 to investigate EV-C circulation and epidemiology. Thirty-six EV
      Cs were isolated and assigned to eight EV-C serotypes by molecular serotyping,
      suggesting the circulation of diverse EV-Cs in Xinjiang. Phylogenetic analysis
      showed that the Xinjiang EV-C strains had larger variation compared to the
      prototype and other modern strains. Additionally, the results showed unique
      characteristics of Xinjiang EV-Cs, such as the cytopathicity of CV-A1 strains to
      RD cells; the high divergence in CV-A11, CV-A13, CV-A17, and CV-A20 strains; the
      divergence of Xinjiang CV-A24 from AHC-related CV-A24 variant stains distributed
      worldwide; and the circulation of two novel EV-C serotypes (EV-C96 and EV-C99).
      Evaluations of this dense and diverse EV-C ecosystem will help elucidate the
      processes shaping enteroviral biodiversity. This study will improve our
      understanding of the evolution of enteroviruses and the recombination potential
      between polioviruses and other EV-Cs.

PMID- 27642138
TI  - Detection of bacterial contamination and DNA quantification in stored blood units
      in 2 veterinary hospital blood banks.
AB  - Blood transfusions in veterinary medicine have become increasingly more common
      and are now an integral part of lifesaving and advanced treatment in small and
      large animals. Important risks associated with transfusion of blood products
      include the transmission of various infectious diseases. Several guidelines
      suggest what infectious agents to screen for in canine and feline transfusion
      medicine. However, while the risk of bacterial contamination of blood products
      during storage and administration has not been documented in veterinary medicine,
      it has emerged as a cause of morbidity and mortality in human transfusion
      medicine. Clinical experience shows that the majority of blood component
      bacterial contaminations are caused by only a few species. Unlike other types of
      bacteria, psychrotolerant species like Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. can
      proliferate during the storage of blood units at 4 degrees C from a very low
      titer at the time of blood collection to a clinically significant level (> 10(5)
      CFU/mL) causing clinical sepsis resulting from red blood cell concentrate
      transfusions in human medicine. The purpose of this report was to describe the
      detection and quantification procedures applied in 4 cases of bacterial
      contamination of canine and feline blood units, which suggest the need for
      further investigations to optimize patients' safety in veterinary transfusion
      medicine. 

PMID- 27642140
TI  - Application of a mechanistic model as a tool for on-line monitoring of pilot
      scale filamentous fungal fermentation processes-The importance of evaporation
      effects.
AB  - A mechanistic model-based soft sensor is developed and validated for 550L
      filamentous fungus fermentations operated at Novozymes A/S. The soft sensor is
      comprised of a parameter estimation block based on a stoichiometric balance,
      coupled to a dynamic process model. The on-line parameter estimation block models
      the changing rates of formation of product, biomass, and water, and the rate of
      consumption of feed using standard, available on-line measurements. This
      parameter estimation block, is coupled to a mechanistic process model, which
      solves the current states of biomass, product, substrate, dissolved oxygen and
      mass, as well as other process parameters including kL a, viscosity and partial
      pressure of CO2 . State estimation at this scale requires a robust mass model
      including evaporation, which is a factor not often considered at smaller scales
      of operation. The model is developed using a historical data set of 11 batches
      from the fermentation pilot plant (550L) at Novozymes A/S. The model is then
      implemented on-line in 550L fermentation processes operated at Novozymes A/S in
      order to validate the state estimator model on 14 new batches utilizing a new
      strain. The product concentration in the validation batches was predicted with an
      average root mean sum of squared error (RMSSE) of 16.6%. In addition, calculation
      of the Janus coefficient for the validation batches shows a suitably calibrated
      model. The robustness of the model prediction is assessed with respect to the
      accuracy of the input data. Parameter estimation uncertainty is also carried out.
      The application of this on-line state estimator allows for on-line monitoring of
      pilot scale batches, including real-time estimates of multiple parameters which
      are not able to be monitored on-line. With successful application of a soft
      sensor at this scale, this allows for improved process monitoring, as well as
      opening up further possibilities for on-line control algorithms, utilizing these
      on-line model outputs. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 589-599. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642139
TI  - Genomic diversity in Mycobacterium leprae isolates from leprosy cases in South
      India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Objective of this study was to identify the strain diversity of
      Mycobacterium leprae in terms of SNP types and subtypes stratified as per genomic
      single nucleotide polymorphisms, in clinical isolates of leprosy patients from a
      tertiary care leprosy center in South India. Further, the associations of SNP
      types with clinical outcomes in leprosy were also investigated. METHODS: DNA was
      extracted from excisional skin biopsies of a total of 172 newly diagnosed
      untreated leprosy patients from a clinic in Tamil Nadu, in south India, that also
      serves patients from neighboring states. All the leprosy patients were those who
      voluntarily reported at the clinic during the study period of one year i.e.,
      2015. Clinical and histopathological details were collected at diagnosis and
      leprosy was confirmed through bacteriological smear examination and PCR for M.
      leprae specific RLEP region. SNP types and subtypes were determined by PCR
      amplification and Sanger sequencing of PCR products. RESULTS: M. leprae specific
      RLEP gene amplification was achieved in 160 out of 172 patients. Among 160
      specimens 118(73.75%) were type 1 and 42 (26.25%) were type 2 and on subtyping it
      was noted that 88/160 (55.00%) were 1D, 25/160 (15.62%) 1C, 5/160 (3.12%) 1A,
      33/160 (20.62%) 2G and 9/160 (5.62%) were 2H. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated
      that subtype 1D is predominant in the south Indian population. We also noted 2G,
      1C and 1A in the patient sample tested. Additionally we identified subtype 2H for
      the first time in India.

PMID- 27642142
TI  - A Supplement to TRANSFUSION Abstract Presentations from the AABB Annual Meeting
      Orlando, FL, October 22-25, 2016.

PMID- 27642143
TI  - [Ito hypomelanosis: Four case reports].
AB  - Ito hypomelanosis is a rare neurocutaneous condition. We report on four
      observations in infants aged between 8 and 20 months. They all presented with
      epilepsy, psychomotor delay, and diffuse hypomelanosis. The electroencephalograms
      showed diffuse irritative abnormalities. Brain imaging was normal in two infants
      and showed hemispheric atrophy in another case. Despite antiepileptic treatment
      and physical therapy, no significant progression was noted and all children
      continued to have drug-resistant epilepsy and psychomotor delay.

PMID- 27642141
TI  - Hepatitis C virus double-stranded RNA is the predominant form in human liver and
      in interferon-treated cells.
AB  - : Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is unique among RNA viruses in its ability to establish
      chronic infection in the majority of exposed adults. HCV persists in the liver
      despite interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene (ISG) induction; robust induction
      actually predicts treatment failure and viral persistence. It is unclear which
      forms of HCV RNA are associated with ISG induction and IFN resistance during
      natural infections. To thoroughly delineate HCV RNA populations, we developed
      conditions that fully separate the strands of long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)
      and allow the released RNAs to be quantified in reverse transcription/polymerase
      chain reaction assays. These methods revealed that dsRNA, a pathogen-associated
      molecular pattern (PAMP), comprised 52% (standard deviation, 28%) of the HCV RNA
      in the livers of patients with chronic infection. HCV dsRNA was proportionally
      higher in patients with the unfavorable IL28B TT (rs12979860) genotype. Higher
      ratios of HCV double-stranded to single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) correlated
      positively with ISG induction. In Huh-7.5 cells, IFN treatment increased the
      total amount of HCV dsRNA through a process that required de novo viral RNA
      synthesis and shifted the ratio of viral dsRNA/ssRNA in favor of dsRNA. This
      shift was blocked by ribavirin (RBV), an antiviral drug that reduces relapse in
      HCV patients. Northern blotting established that HCV dsRNA contained genome
      length minus strands. CONCLUSION: HCV dsRNA is the predominant form in the HCV
      infected liver and has features of both a PAMP and a genomic reservoir.
      Interferon treatment increased rather than decreased HCV dsRNA. This unexpected
      finding suggests that HCV produces dsRNA in response to IFN, potentially to
      antagonize antiviral defenses. (Hepatology 2017;66:357-370).

PMID- 27642144
TI  - Macrophagic activation syndrome related to an infection by Rickettsia conorii in
      a child.
AB  - Since the Arab Spring, a resurgence of zoonotic diseases such as rickettsiosis,
      endemic in the Mediterranean basin, has been observed. It preferentially infects
      microvascular endothelial cells of mammalian hosts inducing vasculitis with
      endothelial injury. Rickettsioses are considered benign infectious diseases.
      Severe systemic manifestations have been reported and are often explained by a
      delay in diagnosis. We present a case of hemophagocytic syndrome occurring in a 4
      year-old Libyan girl as a complication of Mediterranean spotted fever.
      Rickettsial infection was confirmed by serology and the patient was treated with
      clarithromycin, with a favorable outcome.

PMID- 27642145
TI  - [Conservative management of tracheal injuries in children: Clinical case and
      literature review].
AB  - Tracheal injuries are a rare but potentially lethal entity, most particularly in
      pediatrics. While standardized management allows quick therapeutic decisions in
      adults, based on the results of the initial bronchoscopy, the use of diagnostic
      exams remains unclear during childhood. We describe the case of a 6-year-old
      patient with a posterior tracheal wall injury due to a car accident, which was
      managed without tracheal endoscopy. Based on our experience and on a literature
      review, we suggest clarifying the management of tracheal injury in children,
      defining the place of computerized tomodensitometry and endoscopy in the decision
      process.

PMID- 27642147
TI  - [Complementary exams in child abuse: A French national study in 2015].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Even if there are HAS (French National Health Authority) guidelines
      on shaken baby syndrome, many other child abuse situations are not included in
      these recommendations. The aim of this study was to invent the complementary
      exams in cases of child abuse in France and compare the practice to existing
      guidelines. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a multicenter study by email to 128
      French hospitals (35 university hospitals and 93 general hospitals) that receives
      children in emergency and hospitalization settings. Three child abuse clinical
      situations were included in a clinical case multiple-choice format concerning the
      further explorations. We described the main results and evaluated their adherence
      to the HAS protocol for case 1. RESULTS: Of 128 hospitals surveyed, 104
      responded, for an 81 % response rate, which corresponded to 274 doctors. Analysis
      of the results showed great heterogeneity in practices. The majority of
      physicians (99 %) performed systematic explorations in the situation of physical
      abuse, while only 27 % undertook such exams in situations of serious neglect. The
      situation of sexual abuse was the most consensual in terms of diagnostic tests
      for the detection of sexually transmitted diseases, but other types of associated
      abuse were not sought. In the first case, the HAS guidelines were respected in
      less than half of the cases for all complementary exams except the eye fundus
      exam. Abdominal imaging was insufficiently performed (40 % of cases).
      Examinations that were not indicated were still prescribed. Moreover, siblings
      under 2 years of age were examined in only one-third of cases (n=88/274; 32 %).
      Practices were not influenced by the age of the child. CONCLUSION: This study
      illustrates the heterogeneity in the use of complementary exams in cases of child
      abuse in France. Common protocols throughout the country would be useful,
      standardizing the most relevant exams for potential medical-legal issues, and
      facilitating exchanges concerning practices between different centers.

PMID- 27642146
TI  - [Nosocomial rotavirus gastroenteritis].
AB  - : Rotavirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in children requiring
      hospitalization. It is a very resistant and contagious virus causing nosocomial
      gastroenteritis. In France, the vaccine against rotavirus has been available
      since 2006, but the vaccine is not recommended for infant vaccination. The aim of
      this retrospective study was to describe nosocomial rotavirus gastroenteritis
      (NRGE) and to assess its impact on children hospitalized in the General
      Pediatrics Department of Robert-Debre Hospital (Paris) between 1 January 2009 and
      31 December 2013. We analyzed the demographic characteristics of children (age,
      term birth, underlying diseases) and the severity of the NRGE (oral or
      intravenous hydration), and assessed whether these children could benefit from
      vaccination against rotavirus. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-six children presented
      nosocomial rotavirus infection, with an incidence of 2.5 NRGE per 1000 days of
      hospitalization. The incidence of NRGE was stable between 2009 and 2013 despite
      the introduction of specific hygiene measures. The average age of the children
      was 7 months (range: 0.5-111 months). Most often NRGE occurred in children
      hospitalized for respiratory diseases (65% of cases) and requiring prolonged
      hospitalization (median: 18 days). One-third of children were born premature
      (25%). Hydration was oral in 80 patients (59%), by intravenous infusion in 18
      patients (13%), and intraosseous in one patient. Half of the patients were aged
      less than 5 months and could benefit from the protection afforded by vaccination.
      CONCLUSION: NRGE are common. Rotavirus mass vaccination should have a positive
      impact on the incidence of NRGE by reducing the number of children hospitalized
      for gastroenteritis, therefore indirectly reducing the number of hospital cross
      infections of hospitalized children who are too young to be vaccinated.

PMID- 27642148
TI  - [Tick-borne encephalitis in a child in a nonendemic country: A case report].
AB  - Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an arbovirus induced by tick-borne encephalitis
      virus (TBEV) transmitted by tick bite. The disease is rare in France (two to
      three cases per year) but endemic zones extend from Western Europe to the east
      coast of Asia (10,000-15,000 cases per year). An 8-year-old boy was admitted to
      our pediatric ward in Strasbourg (France) for febrile headache with diplopia.
      Four days after a tick bite, he declared a febrile headache together with
      maculopapular rash on the elbows, knees, and cheeks. Fourteen days after the
      outbreak of symptoms, he showed confusion, drowsiness, and binocular diplopia.
      Brain MRI was normal and the electroencephalogram found diffuse slow activity
      with no discharge. Lumbar puncture found meningitis with 92 cells (60%
      neutrophils, 40% lymphocytes). The diagnosis was made with specific IgM and IgG
      antibody isolation in the serum (Elisa). Lyme serology was negative. The
      evolution was slowly favorable and the child remained hospitalized for 8 days.
      The neurological control examination 2 weeks later was normal except for a
      moderate left deviation during tandem walk and left Romberg manoeuver. Meningitis
      or meningoencephalitis in a child must raise the diagnosis of TBE in children,
      even in nonendemic countries, given the recent increased incidence of TBE and the
      development of tourism. Recent travel in endemic areas, a history of tick bite,
      and a clinical course in two phases must be sought. The diagnosis is serologic
      and prevention is based on vaccination.

PMID- 27642149
TI  - [Antibiotic consumption and bacterial sensitivity in a teaching hospital: A 5
      year study].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To reduce risks of antibiotic resistance, governmental and learned
      societies decreed the optimal use of antibiotics. The relation between antibiotic
      consumption and bacterial resistance increase has been clearly demonstrated over
      the last several years. Antibiotic consumption data and bacterial sensitivity
      data are regularly published, but very few publications have searched for a
      correlation between these two variables. This study focused on antibiotic use and
      consumption as well as bacterial sensitivity to these antibiotics. OBJECTIVES:
      The main objective was to describe the changes in antibiotic consumption and
      bacterial sensitivity in a mother-child teaching hospital. The secondary
      objectives were to explore whether antibiotic use and bacterial sensitivity were
      correlated and to comment on the usefulness of these data for clinicians.
      METHODS: This was a 5-year retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study. All
      samples from usually sterile biologic liquids of hospitalized pediatric patients
      were included in the study. The samples from outpatient clinics were excluded.
      All types of bacteria identified in more than 30 isolates were included in the
      study. The antibiotics usually used to treat these bacteria were included. To
      assess antibiotic consumption, we calculated the number of days of therapy per
      1000 patient-days for hospitalized pediatric patients and we calculated the
      Pearson correlation coefficient between antibiotic consumption and sensitivity
      rates to these antibiotics. Two scenarios were explored: one with correlation by
      year and one with the next year for bacterial sensitivity. RESULTS: During the
      study period (2010-2011 to 2014-2015), overall antibiotics consumption remained
      relatively stable. Concerning bacterial sensitivity, we noted important changes
      (sensitivity rates increased for 12 antibiotic-bacteria pairs, remained stable
      for five, and decreased for 15). We found three significant correlations for the
      first scenario: Pseudomonas aeruginos-ceftazidime (P=0.01), P. aeruginosa
      ciprofloxacin and fluoroquinolone consumption (P=0.02), Enterococcus sp
      ampicillin and penicillin consumption (P=0.04). For the second scenario, we found
      only two significant correlations: coagulase-negative Staphylococcus-oxacilline
      and penicillin consumption (P=0.02), P. aeruginosa/piperacillin (P=0.04).
      CONCLUSION: This exploratory study allowed us to describe antibiotic consumption
      and bacterial sensitivity progression. To our knowledge, this is the first study
      exploring the correlation between antibiotic consumption and the bacterial
      sensitivity rate in pediatrics in Canada. It remains very difficult to show this
      correlation between these two variables because of the multiple sources of
      bacterial resistance. These data are particularly useful for the antimicrobial
      stewardship programs and for clinicians.

PMID- 27642150
TI  - [Pulmonary complications of sickle cell disease in children].
AB  - Acute and chronic pulmonary complications are frequent in sickle cell disease
      (SCD), with different spectrum and characteristics in children and adults.
      Chronic hypoxia is frequent and plays a role in several respiratory complications
      in SCD. Furthermore, hypoxia has been associated with a higher risk of cerebral
      ischemia. Despite differing oxygen affinity between hemoglobin A and S, standard
      pulse oximetry was shown to be accurate in diagnosing hypoxia in SCD patients.
      Whereas acute hypoxia management is similar to non-SCD patients, chronic hypoxia
      treatment is mainly based on a transfusion program rather than long-term oxygen
      therapy. Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is the foremost reason for admission to the
      intensive care unit and the leading cause of premature death. Guidelines on its
      management have recently been published. Asthma appears to be a different
      comorbidity and may increase the risk of vaso-occlusive crisis, ACS, and early
      death. Its management is not specific in SCD, but systemic steroids must be used
      carefully. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a major risk factor of death in adult
      patients. In children, no association between PH and death has been shown.
      Elevated tricuspid regurgitant velocity was associated with lower performance on
      the 6-min walk test (6MWT) but its long-term consequences are still unknown.
      These differences could be due to different pathophysiology mechanisms.
      Systematic screening is recommended in children. Regarding lung functions,
      although obstructive syndrome appears to be rare, restrictive pattern prevalence
      increases with age in SCD patients. Adaptation to physical exercise is altered in
      SCD children: they have a lower walking distance at the 6MWT than controls and
      can experience desaturation during effort, but muscular blood flow regulation
      maintains normal muscular strength. Sleeping disorders are frequent in SCD
      children, notably Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Because of the
      neurological burden of nocturnal hypoxia, OSAS care is primordial and mainly
      based on adenotonsillectomy, which has been shown to reduce ischemic events. The
      high morbidity and mortality related to pulmonary impairments in SCD require a
      careful pulmonary assessment and follow-up. Mainly based on clinical examination,
      follow-up aims to the diagnosis of SCD-related respiratory complications early in
      these children.

PMID- 27642152
TI  - Permanent caries experience is associated with primary caries experience: a 7
      year longitudinal study in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between caries
      experience in primary teeth and caries experience in permanent teeth in a
      longitudinal study. METHODS: Teeth were examined at 5 years of age and a follow
      up examination was conducted 7 years later at 12 years of age in all children
      from Jiading District, Shanghai, China. A total of 1885 participants were
      recruited in the study; 1683 students were followed up and 202 students (10.7%)
      were lost to follow up. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test, t-test and
      risk ratio. RESULTS: The followed-up samples comprised 883 boys (52.5%) and 800
      girls (47.5%). At initial examination, the prevalence of dental caries was 67.4%
      in boys and 66.5% in girls (chi2 = 0.2, P = 0.70), with mean decayed, missing and
      filled teeth (dmft) scores of 3.5 +/- 0.1 and 3.4 +/- 0.1, respectively (t = 0.1,
      P = 0.90). At follow-up, the prevalence of dental caries was 33.9% in boys and
      37.9% in girls (chi2 = 2.9, P = 0.11), with mean DMFT scores in permanent teeth
      of 0.7 +/- 0.0 and 0.8 +/- 0.1, respectively (t = 1.2, P = 0.24). The group of 5
      year-olds with caries had a significantly higher prevalence of caries in
      permanent teeth (45.5%) at 12 years of age than the group of 5-year-olds without
      caries (16.0%) (chi2 = 141.1, P < 0.001, risk ratio = 1.5). Caries risk in
      permanent teeth was significantly higher with greater dmft scores (chi2 for trend
      = 31.1, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Caries in primary teeth is a major risk factor
      for caries in permanent teeth. The likelihood of caries in permanent teeth is
      higher with greater dmft scores in primary teeth.

PMID- 27642151
TI  - [Infant food diversification. Assessment of practices in relation to French
      recommendations in pediatricians and pediatric residents in southern France].
AB  - : Infant food diversification has undergone a rapid succession of good practice
      recommendations in France, but there has been no assessment of pediatrician
      practices on food diversification. OBJECTIVE: To assess the practices of
      pediatricians in relation to current recommendations of the French Society of
      Pediatrics on infant food diversification. METHODS: This was an observational
      study conducted from 1 November 2014 to 31 March 2015. The study population
      consisted of 97 pediatricians in the Var department and 84 pediatric residents
      assigned to the University of Aix-Marseille in France. A questionnaire was sent
      by email or post to determine physician characteristics, food diversification
      methods in healthy children and those at atopic risk, and how the pediatric
      consultation was conducted. The expected answers were based on the most recent
      recommendations of the French Society of Pediatrics published in 2008, updated
      from 2003. In summary, breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months. Food
      diversification can be started between 4 and 6 months in children with no allergy
      risk. Gluten, honey, legumes and cow's milk are introduced between 4 and 7
      months, after 12 months and after 36 months, respectively. In atopic children,
      food diversification is delayed until after 6 months and the most allergenic
      foods (nuts, exotic fruits, peanuts, and shellfish) are introduced after the age
      of 12 months. RESULTS: Eighty-four responses were obtained (51%): 50
      pediatricians and 34 pediatric residents. Sixteen items were classified depending
      on whether or not an update after 2003 existed. Over 80% of the physicians
      responded as recommended for the recently updated items for the age of
      introduction of "solid food in healthy children", "gluten", "cow's milk protein
      hydrolysates", and "the time until introduction of cow's milk in the atopic
      child". At best, 65% of physicians responded in accordance with recommendations
      for items without a recent update, age of introduction of "cow's milk", "milk
      desserts", "animal proteins", "fats", "vegetables", "use of a hypoallergenic
      infant formula", and "breastfeeding extension with atopic child". Pediatric
      residents had the same responses as pediatricians. Seventy-two physicians did not
      consider the allergenic status of the children to delay the introduction of the
      most allergenic foods. The lack of complete updating the introduction of solid
      foods schedule could explain the differences between pediatrician practices and
      recommendations. Moreover, old recommendations on allergenic food eviction are
      still available. CONCLUSION: Pediatricians and pediatric residents partially
      applied the current recommendations on the introduction of solid food.

PMID- 27642153
TI  - In Situ Nanopressing: A General Approach to Robust Nanoparticles-Polymer Surface
      Structures.
AB  - We report a novel, facile and general approach, in situ nanopressing, to
      integrate nanoparticles and polymers in a thin film configuration, where both
      nanoparticles exposure and film robustness are indispensable for applications. By
      simply pressing silica nanoparticles into a polymer thin film under an external
      force, we successfully attained a nanoparticles-polymer thin film, where the
      silica nanoparticles were partly embedded in the polymer thin film. The
      outstanding characteristic of easy-to-fabricate nanoparticles-polymer thin films
      combined the properties of both materials, giving excellent antireflective and
      antifogging properties, as well as enhanced the robustness of composite thin
      film. This in situ nanopressing may not only provide an alternative to meet the
      challenge of constructing mechanically robust nanoparticles-polymer thin films
      that require nanoparticles on the film surface, but also enrich the methodology
      to integrate nanoparticles and polymers.

PMID- 27642155
TI  - Hypothalamic and pituitary expression of ghrelin receptor message is increased
      during lactation.

PMID- 27642154
TI  - Provider self-disclosure during contraceptive counseling.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Provider self-disclosure (PSD) - defined as providers making
      statements regarding personal information to patients - has not been well
      characterized in the context of contraceptive counseling. In this study, we
      describe the incidence, content and context of contraceptive PSD. STUDY DESIGN:
      This mixed methods analysis used data from the Provider-Patient Contraceptive
      Counseling study, for which 349 family planning patients were recruited from 2009
      to 2012 from six clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area. Audio-recordings from
      their visits were analyzed for the presence or absence of PSD, and those visits
      with evidence of PSD were analyzed using qualitative methods. The associations of
      patient and provider demographics and patient satisfaction measures, obtained
      from survey data, with PSD were analyzed using bivariable and multivariable
      analyses. RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent of providers showed evidence of PSD
      during at least one visit, and PSD occurred in 9% of clinic visits. Fifty-four
      percent of PSD statements were about intrauterine devices. About half of PSD
      statements occurred prior to the final selection of the contraceptive method and
      appeared to influence the choice of method. In post-visit surveys, all patients
      who reported receiving PSD considered it to be appropriate, and patient-reported
      PSD was not statistically associated with measures of patient satisfaction.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some support for the appropriateness of PSD
      during family planning encounters, at least as practiced during the sampled
      visits. Further research could explore whether this counseling strategy has an
      impact on patients' ability to identify the best contraceptive methods for them.
      IMPLICATIONS: In this study, PSD did not have a demonstrated negative effect on
      the provider-patient relationship. In almost half of visits, PSD appeared to
      influence patients' choice of a method; whether this influence is beneficial
      needs further research.

PMID- 27642156
TI  - A Case Report of Harm-Related Obsessions in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive
      Disorder.
AB  - Harm-related, or "aggressive," obsessions are a symptom subtype in obsessive
      compulsive disorder (OCD). Given the violent nature of these thoughts, the stark
      contrast between the child's character and the content of these obsessions often
      results in high levels of distress for not only the patient but also the family.
      This case report illustrates the application of family-based exposure and
      response prevention (ERP) for a 15-year-old male presenting with harm-related
      obsessions and mild depressive symptoms secondary to the OCD. The obsessions
      primarily revolved around the fear of acting on unwanted impulses (e.g., stabbing
      a family member, pushing a friend onto oncoming traffic), and the compulsions
      entailed avoidance (both mental and physical), excessive reassurance seeking, and
      ritualistic confessions. The client underwent a 14-week course of ERP involving
      repeated imaginal and in vivo exposures and behavioral activation to alleviate
      depressive symptoms. Significant improvements in obsessive-compulsive symptom
      severity and depressive symptoms were observed posttreatment, elucidating the
      efficacy of treating harm-related obsessions with a course of ERP.

PMID- 27642157
TI  - Do we still need to take fluoroscopical guidance into account when injecting
      joints?

PMID- 27642158
TI  - A case of refractory dermatomyositis responsive to tofacitinib.

PMID- 27642159
TI  - An Atypical MAGUK GK Target Recognition Mode Revealed by the Interaction between
      DLG and KIF13B.
AB  - The membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) scaffold proteins share a
      signature guanylate kinase (GK) domain. Despite their diverse functional roles in
      cell polarity control and synaptic signaling, the currently known mode of action
      of MAGUK GK is via its binding to phosphorylated short peptides from target
      proteins. Here, we discover that the GK domain of DLG MAGUK binds to an
      unphosphorylated and autonomously folded domain within the stalk region (MAGUK
      binding stalk [MBS] domain) of a kinesin motor KIF13B with high specificity and
      affinity. The structure of DLG4 GK in complex with KIF13B MBS reveals the
      molecular mechanism governing this atypical GK/target recognition mode and
      provides insights into DLG/KIF13B complex-mediated regulation of diverse cellular
      processes such as asymmetric cell division. We further show that binding to non
      phosphorylated targets is another general property of MAGUK GKs, thus expanding
      the mechanisms of action of the MAGUK family proteins.

PMID- 27642160
TI  - Fully Blind Docking at the Atomic Level for Protein-Peptide Complex Structure
      Prediction.
AB  - Protein-peptide interactions play an important role in many cellular processes.
      In silico prediction of protein-peptide complex structure is highly desirable for
      mechanistic investigation of these processes and for therapeutic design. However,
      predicting all-atom structures of protein-peptide complexes without any knowledge
      about the peptide binding site and the bound peptide conformation remains a big
      challenge. Here, we present a docking-based method for predicting protein-peptide
      complex structures, referred to as MDockPeP, which starts with the peptide
      sequence and globally docks the all-atom, flexible peptide onto the protein
      structure. MDockPeP was tested on the peptiDB benchmarking database using both
      bound and unbound protein structures. The results show that MDockPeP successfully
      generated near-native peptide binding modes in 95.0% of the bound docking cases
      and in 92.2% of the unbound docking cases. The performance is significantly
      better than other existing docking methods. MDockPeP is computationally efficient
      and suitable for large-scale applications.

PMID- 27642162
TI  - Crystal Structure of the ERp44-Peroxiredoxin 4 Complex Reveals the Molecular
      Mechanisms of Thiol-Mediated Protein Retention.
AB  - ERp44 controls the localization and transport of diverse proteins in the early
      secretory pathway. The mechanisms that allow client recognition and the source of
      the oxidative power for forming intermolecular disulfides are as yet unknown.
      Here we present the structure of ERp44 bound to a client, peroxiredoxin 4. Our
      data reveal that ERp44 binds the oxidized form of peroxiredoxin 4 via thiol
      disulfide interchange reactions. The structure explains the redox-dependent
      recognition and characterizes the essential non-covalent interactions at the
      interface. The ERp44-Prx4 covalent complexes can be reduced by glutathione and
      protein disulfide isomerase family members in the ER, allowing the two components
      to recycle. This work provides insights into the mechanisms of thiol-mediated
      protein retention and indicates the key roles of ERp44 in this biochemical cycle
      to optimize oxidative folding and redox homeostasis.

PMID- 27642161
TI  - Structures of DNA Polymerase Mispaired DNA Termini Transitioning to Pre-catalytic
      Complexes Support an Induced-Fit Fidelity Mechanism.
AB  - High-fidelity DNA synthesis requires that polymerases display a strong preference
      for right nucleotide insertion. When the wrong nucleotide is inserted, the
      polymerase deters extension from the mismatched DNA terminus. Twenty-three
      crystallographic structures of DNA polymerase beta with terminal template-primer
      mismatches were determined as binary DNA and ternary pre-catalytic substrate
      complexes. These structures indicate that the mismatched termini adopt various
      distorted conformations that attempt to satisfy stacking and hydrogen-bonding
      interactions. The binary complex structures indicate an induced strain in the
      mismatched template nucleotide. Addition of a non-hydrolyzable incoming
      nucleotide stabilizes the templating nucleotide with concomitant strain in the
      primer terminus. Several dead-end ternary complex structures suggest that DNA
      synthesis might occur as the enzyme transitions from an open to a closed complex.
      The structures are consistent with an induced-fit mechanism where a mismatched
      terminus is misaligned relative to the correct incoming nucleotide to deter or
      delay further DNA synthesis.

PMID- 27642163
TI  - Restoration of eye closure in facial paralysis using implantable electromagnetic
      actuator.
AB  - The most devastating outcome of facial nerve paralysis is the inability to
      completely close the eye as it can lead to corneal ulceration and loss of vision.
      Gravity-assisted eye closure with upper lid loading is commonly used; however it
      is limited in replicating physiological eye closure to adequately lubricate the
      cornea. Superior results can be obtained using more advanced reconstructive
      approaches, however they depend on nerve regrowth which may be unpredictable and
      prolonged. This report describes a novel technique for creating an active eye
      closure using an implantable actuator. A generated magnetic field creates lateral
      movement in an electromagnet that is translated to the eyelid through a sling
      design. The device is powered wirelessly through a transcutaneous induction link
      and can be hermetically encapsulated for patient safety. The initial phase of
      device development is presented including data of a fully functioning prototype
      and the results of its application in animal and human cadavers.

PMID- 27642164
TI  - Review of quantitative outcome analysis of cranial morphology in
      craniosynostosis.
AB  - Outcome measures in craniosynostosis surgery have progressed from those based on
      the need for surgical revision to linear anthropometric measurements, 2D CT
      vector analysis and 3D CT vector analysis. However, finding an objective means to
      assess postoperative cranial morphological improvement remains challenging. A
      critical review of previous studies used to measure craniosynostosis surgery
      outcomes is presented. We also introduce and briefly discuss the key features of
      the computational algorithm that is being utilized in our center for evaluating
      craniosynostosis surgical outcomes. This has addressed a number of the previous
      challenges encountered in quantitative measurement of cranial morphological
      change. Point cloud representation and 3D stereophotogrammetry have made it
      possible to compare pre and post-operative images of children undergoing surgical
      correction for craniosynostosis. These pre- and post-operative images can also be
      compared to age, sex and race-matched controls throughout the patient's lifetime
      allowing longitudinal changes to be measured on follow up.

PMID- 27642165
TI  - Modifying the GoPro Hero 4 for recording high definition video in the operating
      room.

PMID- 27642166
TI  - Critical airway obstruction in apparently asymptomatic neonates.
AB  - Central airway obstruction (trachea and major bronchi) in neonates can be caused
      by malacia, stenosis, or compression by masses or vascular structures. These
      abnormalities may be present in the neonatal period but are typically not
      detected until at least 6 months of age. We present four patients (1.6-4.1 kg, 32
      41 weeks gestation) with nonspecific symptoms (e.g., poor weight gain, difficulty
      weaning from CPAP) who underwent bronchoscopy in the neonatal period. Critical
      airway obstruction (>90%) was identified in these relatively asymptomatic
      neonates. We suggest a low threshold for investigation with bronchoscopy in high
      risk neonates. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:E15-E17. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27642167
TI  - Phospholamban is concentrated in the nuclear envelope of cardiomyocytes and
      involved in perinuclear/nuclear calcium handling.
AB  - AIMS: Phospholamban (PLB) regulates the cardiac Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a) in
      sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). However, the localization of PLB at subcellular
      sites outside the SR and possible contributions to Ca2+ cycling remain unknown.
      We examined the intracellular distribution of PLB and tested whether a pool of
      PLB exists in the nuclear envelope (NE) that might regulate perinuclear/nuclear
      Ca2+ (nCa2+) handling in cardiomyocytes (CMs). METHODS AND RESULTS: Using
      confocal immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoblot analyses of CMs and CM
      nuclei, we discovered that PLB was highly concentrated in NE. Moreover, the ratio
      of PLB levels to SERCA levels was greater in NE than in SR. The increased levels
      of PLB in NE were a consistent finding using a range of antibodies, tissue
      samples, and species. To address a possible role in affecting Ca2+ handling, we
      used Fluo-4 based confocal Ca2+ imaging, with scan-lines across cytosol and
      nuclei, and evaluated the effects of PLB on cytosolic and nCa2+ uptake and
      release in mouse CMs. In intact CMs, isoproterenol increased amplitude and
      decreased the decay time of Ca2+ transients not only in cytosol but also in
      nuclear regions. In saponin-permeabilized mouse CMs ([Ca2+]i=400nM), we measured
      spontaneous Ca2+ waves after specific reversal of PLB activity by addition of the
      Fab fragment of an anti-PLB monoclonal antibody (100MUg/ml). This highly
      selective immunological reagent enhanced Ca2+ uptake (faster decay times) and
      Ca2+ release (greater intensity) in both cytosol and across the nuclear regions.
      CONCLUSIONS: Besides SR, PLB is concentrated in NE of CMs, and may be involved in
      modulation of nCa2+ dynamics.

PMID- 27642168
TI  - Quantitative Multiclass Pesticide Residue Analysis in Apple, Pear, and Grape by
      Modified QuEChERS and Liquid Chromatography Coupled to High-Resolution Mass
      Spectrometry.
AB  - Most of the analytical methods currently applied in food control laboratories are
      focused on the determination of target compounds using LC coupled to tandem MS,
      which is an effective technique, but low-resolution MS is limited. Thus, a method
      for determination of pesticide multiresidues in fruits (pear, apple, and grape)
      using a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method and LC
      coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) MS was developed and validated. The
      proposed method showed good linearity (r2 > 0.99) from 1 to 100 MUg/L. Recoveries
      for blank samples spiked at 0.01, 0.04, and 0.10 mg/kg were between 66 and 122%,
      with RSDs <28%. Respective LOQs for apple, pear, and grape matrixes were 0.01
      mg/kg for 112, 120, and 118 compounds, and 0.04 mg/kg for 22, 12, and 17
      compounds, and average mass accuracy error was 3.2 ppm. LC with Q-TOF MS
      detection using protonated molecular ion and/or adducts and mass accuracy
      provided reliability for the method. The proposed method is effective for
      pesticide residue determination in apple, pear, and grape samples, proving that
      high-resolution MS using full scan mode can be a powerful and reliable technique
      for quantification purposes, being adequate for application in the surveillance
      of maximum residue limits set by different legislations.

PMID- 27642169
TI  - Comparison of perinatal outcomes between long-term and short-term use of
      tocolytic agent: a historical cohort study in a single perinatal hospital.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of long-term use of
      tocolytic agents to prevent preterm delivery and improve perinatal outcome.
      METHODS: A historical cohort study was performed in a single perinatal center.
      The maternal characteristics, frequency of preterm labor and prescribed dose of
      tocolytic agents were compared before and after changing the management protocol
      for threatened premature delivery. RESULTS: A total of 1548 deliveries were
      carried out before changing the protocol for the use of tocolytic agents for
      threatened premature delivery and 1444 deliveries afterwards. There was no
      significant difference in the maternal characteristics before and after the
      revision except for maternal age. The total number of ritodrine hydrochloride
      ampules used was reduced from 4654 to 514, and the total vials of magnesium
      sulfate used were reduced from 1574 to 193, but perinatal outcomes, such as rate
      of preterm birth, neonatal weight, and rate of NICU hospitalization were not
      different between the groups. CONCLUSION: There was no significant change in the
      frequency of preterm delivery before and after changing of the protocol for
      threatened premature delivery. Because a decrease in the given dose of tocolytic
      agents did not affect the timing of delivery and neonatal outcomes, long-term
      tocolysis in patients with threatened premature delivery should be restricted to
      prevent maternal and fetal adverse side-effects.

PMID- 27642170
TI  - Surgical excision margin for primary acral melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate treatment outcomes of
      acral melanoma (AM) based on the excision margin. METHODS: A retrospective cohort
      study was conducted for patients with primary AM, analyzing recurrence rates,
      local and in-transit recurrence-free survival (LITRFS), disease-free survival
      (DFS), and melanoma-specific survival (MSS). RESULTS: Data from 129 patients of
      AM were analyzed. In 53 patients with thin AM (thickness <=1 mm), neither
      recurrence nor mortality occurred regardless of whether the excision margin was
      >1 cm or not. Seventy-six patients had thick AM (thickness >1 mm), including 36
      treated with a <2 cm excision margin and 40 with a 2 cm margin. Multivariate
      analyses revealed that a 2 cm margin was associated with a reduced rate of local
      recurrence (HR, 0.120; P-value = 0.023) and LITR (HR, 0.187; P-value = 0.013)
      compared with a <2 cm margin. DFS and MSS did not differ between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Thin AM were successfully treated with a 1 cm excision margin. For
      thick AM, a 2 cm excision margin provided improved local control, compared with a
      <2 cm margin; however, this benefit did not translate into a survival gain. J.
      Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:933-939. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642171
TI  - The Transplantation Society Believes a Policy of Engagement Will Facilitate Organ
      Donation Reform in China.

PMID- 27642173
TI  - Using RNA-Seq SNP data to reveal potential causal mutations related to pig
      production traits and RNA editing.
AB  - RNA-Seq technology is widely used in quantitative gene expression studies and
      identification of non-annotated transcripts. However this technology also can be
      used for polymorphism detection and RNA editing in transcribed regions in an
      efficient and cost-effective way. This study used SNP data from an RNA-Seq assay
      to identify genes and mutations underlying production trait variations in an
      experimental pig population. The hypothalamic and hepatic transcriptomes of nine
      extreme animals for growth and fatness from an (Iberian * Landrace) * Landrace
      backcross were analyzed by RNA-Seq methodology, and SNP calling was conducted.
      More than 125 000 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified in each
      tissue, and 78% were considered to be potential SNPs, those SNVs segregating in
      the context of this study. Potential informative SNPs were detected by
      considering those showing a homozygous or heterozygous genotype in one extreme
      group and the alternative genotype in the other group. In this way, 4396 and 1862
      informative SNPs were detected in hypothalamus and liver respectively. Out of the
      32 SNPs selected for validation, 25 (80%) were confirmed as actual SNPs.
      Association analyses for growth, fatness and premium cut yields with 19 selected
      SNPs were carried out, and four potential causal genes (RETSAT, COPA, RNMT and
      PALMD) were identified. Interestingly, new RNA editing modifications were
      detected and validated for the NR3C1:g.102797 (ss1985401074) and ACSM2B:g.13374
      (ss1985401075) positions and for the COG3:g3.4525 (ss1985401087) modification
      previously identified across vertebrates, which could lead to phenotypic
      variation and should be further investigated.

PMID- 27642174
TI  - Obstetrics and gynecology - a specialty in crisis?

PMID- 27642172
TI  - SPINART study: validation of the extended magnetic resonance imaging scale for
      evaluation of joint status in adult patients with severe haemophilia A using
      baseline data.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Most previous joint imaging scales for haemophilia have focused on
      earlier disease stages observed in younger patients. AIM: We sought to
      demonstrate that the 45-item extended magnetic resonance imaging (eMRI) scale is
      a valid instrument for measuring joint status in adults with severe haemophilia
      A. METHODS: Six scale categories (effusion/haemarthrosis, synovial hypertrophy,
      hemosiderin, erosion, subchondral cysts and cartilage loss) in two domains (soft
      tissue [range = 0-9] and osteochondral [range = 0-36]) were evaluated for each
      joint. eMRI scores were derived using baseline data from a randomized,
      controlled, parallel-group clinical trial (SPINART). Quantitative analysis of
      linearity included assessments of the relationship between scores derived from
      the eMRI scale vs. the 17-point International Prophylaxis Study Group (IPSG) MRI
      scale and Colorado Adult Joint Assessment Scale (CAJAS). RESULTS: Patient eMRI
      scores correlated with age (r = 0.58), consistent with the expectation of
      arthropathy progression and more severe joint changes in older patients. eMRI
      scores demonstrated excellent between-reader agreement for overall patient score
      (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.88) and outstanding agreement for
      knee evaluations (ICC = 0.95). There was a strong linear relationship of the eMRI
      score with the CAJAS (r = 0.7). Adding individual bone evaluations for each joint
      increased the sensitivity of the instrument to detect change at low scores. There
      was minimal ceiling effect (5% maximum scores for all evaluated joints) compared
      with the IPSG MRI scale (20%). Internal reliability was good (overall Cronbach's
      alpha = 0.75). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the eMRI scale represents a valid and
      reliable measure of joint status in adolescents and adults with severe
      haemophilia A.

PMID- 27642175
TI  - Female genital mutilation: an 'old' problem with no place in a modern world.

PMID- 27642176
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27642177
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis and whole genome sequencing: a practical guide and
      online tools available for the clinical microbiologist.
AB  - Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection but the lack of bioinformatic expertise
      among clinical microbiologists is a barrier for adoption. Software products for
      analysis should be simple, free of charge, able to accept data directly from the
      sequencer (FASTQ files) and to provide the basic functionalities all-in-one. The
      main aim of this narrative review is to provide a practical guide for the
      clinical microbiologist, with little or no practical experience of WGS analysis,
      with a specific focus on software products tailor-made for M. tuberculosis
      analysis. With sequencing performed by an external provider, it is now feasible
      to implement WGS analysis in the routine clinical practice of any microbiology
      laboratory, with the potential to detect resistance weeks before traditional
      phenotypic culture methods, but the clinical microbiologist should be aware of
      the limitations of this approach.

PMID- 27642178
TI  - Potential economic burden of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in the
      United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers carbapenem
      resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) an urgent public health threat; however, its
      economic burden is unknown. METHODS: We developed a CRE clinical and economics
      outcomes model to determine the cost of CRE infection from the hospital, third
      party payer, and societal, perspectives and to evaluate the health and economic
      burden of CRE to the USA. RESULTS: Depending on the infection type, the median
      cost of a single CRE infection can range from $22 484 to $66 031 for hospitals,
      $10 440 to $31 621 for third-party payers, and $37 778 to $83 512 for society. An
      infection incidence of 2.93 per 100 000 population in the USA (9418 infections)
      would cost hospitals $275 million (95% CR $217-334 million), third-party payers
      $147 million (95% CR $129-172 million), and society $553 million (95% CR $303
      1593 million) with a 25% attributable mortality, and would result in the loss of
      8841 (95% CR 5805-12 420) quality-adjusted life years. An incidence of 15 per 100
      000 (48 213 infections) would cost hospitals $1.4 billion (95% CR $1.1-1.7
      billion), third-party payers $0.8 billion (95% CR $0.6-0.8 billion), and society
      $2.8 billion (95% CR $1.6-8.2 billion), and result in the loss of 45 261 quality
      adjusted life years. CONCLUSIONS: The cost of CRE is higher than the annual cost
      of many chronic diseases and of many acute diseases. Costs rise proportionally
      with the incidence of CRE, increasing by 2.0 times, 3.4 times, and 5.1 times for
      incidence rates of 6, 10, and 15 per 100 000 persons.

PMID- 27642179
TI  - Binge-eating disorder in the Swedish national registers: Somatic comorbidity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between binge-eating disorder (BED) and
      somatic illnesses and determine whether medical comorbidities are more common in
      individuals who present with BED and comorbid obesity. METHOD: Cases (n = 850)
      were individuals with a BED diagnosis in the Swedish eating disorders quality
      registers. Ten community controls were matched to each case on sex, and year,
      month, and county of birth. Associations of BED status with neurologic, immune,
      respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin, musculoskeletal, genitourinary, circulatory,
      and endocrine system diseases were evaluated using conditional logistic
      regression models. We further examined these associations by adjusting for
      lifetime psychiatric comorbidity. Amongst individuals with BED, we explored
      whether comorbid obesity was associated with risk of somatic disorders. RESULTS:
      BED was associated with most classes of diseases evaluated; strongest
      associations were with diabetes [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) = 5.7 (3.8;
      8.7)] and circulatory systems [1.9 (1.3; 2.7)], likely indexing components of
      metabolic syndrome. Amongst individuals with BED, those with comorbid obesity
      were more likely to have a lifetime history of respiratory [1.5 (1.1; 2.1)] and
      gastrointestinal [2.6 (1.7; 4.1)] diseases than those without comorbid obesity.
      Increased risk of some somatic disease classes in individuals with BED was not
      simply due to obesity or other lifetime psychiatric comorbidity. DISCUSSION: The
      association of BED with many somatic illnesses highlights the morbidity
      experienced by individuals with BED. Clinicians treating patients with BED should
      be vigilant for medical comorbidities. Nonpsychiatric providers may be the first
      clinical contact for those with BED underscoring the importance of screening in
      primary care. (c) 2016 The Authors International Journal of Eating Disorders
      Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2017; 50:58-65).

PMID- 27642181
TI  - Early maladaptive schemas in adult survivors of interpersonal trauma: foundations
      for a cognitive theory of psychopathology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the association between psychological trauma and early
      maladaptive schemas (EMS) is well established in the literature, no study to date
      has examined the relationship of EMS to PTSD and psychopathologies beyond
      depression and anxiety in a sample of adult survivors of interpersonal trauma.
      This information may be useful in helping our understanding on how to best treat
      interpersonal trauma. OBJECTIVE: We set out to investigate the association
      between EMS and common forms of psychopathology in a sample of women with a
      history of interpersonal trauma (n=82). We have hypothesised that survivors of
      interpersonal trauma will present with elevated EMS scores compared to a non
      clinical control group (n=78). We have also hypothesised that unique schemas will
      be associated with unique psychopathological entities and that subgroups of
      interpersonal trauma survivors would be present in our sample, with subgroups
      displaying different profiles of schema severity elevations. METHOD: Participants
      completed measures of trauma, psychopathology, dissociation, self-esteem, and the
      Young Schema Questionnaire. RESULTS: It was found that survivors of interpersonal
      trauma displayed elevated EMS scores across all 15 schemas compared to controls.
      Although the pattern of associations between different psychopathological
      features and schemas appears to be rather complex, schemas in the domains of
      Disconnection and Impaired Autonomy formed significant associations with all
      psychopathological features in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the
      usefulness of cognitive behavioural interventions that target schemas in the
      domains of Disconnection and Impaired Autonomy in an effort to modify existing
      core beliefs and decrease subsequent symptomatology in adult survivors of
      interpersonal trauma.

PMID- 27642182
TI  - An inexpensive programmable illumination microscope with active feedback.
AB  - We have developed a programmable illumination system capable of tracking and
      illuminating numerous objects simultaneously using only low-cost and reused
      optical components. The active feedback control software allows for a closed-loop
      system that tracks and perturbs objects of interest automatically. Our system
      uses a static stage where the objects of interest are tracked computationally as
      they move across the field of view allowing for a large number of simultaneous
      experiments. An algorithmically determined illumination pattern can be applied
      anywhere in the field of view with simultaneous imaging and perturbation using
      different colors of light to enable spatially and temporally structured
      illumination. Our system consists of a consumer projector, camera, 35-mm camera
      lens, and a small number of other optical and scaffolding components. The entire
      apparatus can be assembled for under $4,000.

PMID- 27642180
TI  - Changes in Medication Use After Dementia Diagnosis in an Observational Cohort of
      Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess changes in medication use after a diagnosis of dementia in
      individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus. DESIGN: Difference-in-differences
      analysis of changes in the number of dispensed chronic medications between
      individuals with and without newly diagnosed dementia. SETTING: Integrated
      healthcare delivery system, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. PARTICIPANTS:
      Individuals aged 50 and older without prevalent dementia with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus enrolled in a baseline survey. During 5 years of follow-up, 193
      individuals with a new diagnosis of dementia were identified, and risk-set
      sampling was used to randomly select five reference subjects per case matched on
      5-year age categories and sex (965 matched participants), resulting in an
      analytical sample of 1,158. MEASUREMENTS: The exposure was new diagnosis of
      dementia. The primary outcome was change in number of current chronic medications
      (total, cardiovascular (blood pressure and lipid control), diabetes mellitus) at
      three times: 1 year before index date (preindex date), date of diagnosis of
      dementia or matched reference date (index date), and up to 1 year after index
      date or end of follow-up if censored before 1 year (postindex date). RESULTS:
      After adjustment, the number of chronic medications and the subset of
      cardiovascular medications declined after a dementia diagnosis in the overall
      cohort and in age-, sex-, and time-matched reference individuals, but the decline
      was significantly greater in the group with dementia (0.71 medications fewer than
      the reference group, P = .02). The number of diabetes mellitus medications
      declined in both groups, but the declines were not statistically different (0.18
      medications fewer than the reference group, P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: Use of
      cardiometabolic medications fell after a diagnosis of dementia, as recommended in
      national guidelines.

PMID- 27642183
TI  - Corn Crisps Enriched in Omega-3 Fatty Acids Sensory Characteristic and its
      Changes During Storage.
AB  - Extruded cereal snacks are usually deficient in protein, mineral ingredients,
      valuable fatty acids. With the rise of health awareness among consumers, food
      manufacturers and scientists are pressed to take measures in order to develop new
      functional/health-beneficial foods. The aim of this work was to manufacture
      extruded crisps enriched with alpha-linolenic acid (obtained from linseed oil)
      and to observe whether storage of the product for the period of 6 months would
      cause its disqualification, primarily due to its sensory properties and
      secondarily due to its chemical properties. The research demonstrated that the
      addition of linseed oil to corn crisps at the amount of 5 % enables to obtain
      functional corn crisps containing over 2 g of ALA in a portion of 100 g even
      after 6 months of storage at room temperature. ALA-enriched crisps maintain the
      original sensory profile after 6 months of storage and their sensory profile is
      similar to the profile of crisps without the addition of linseed oil if they are
      packed in barrier packaging filled 100 % with argon. Therefore, they may be a
      healthier alternative to typical corn crisps.

PMID- 27642184
TI  - ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS OBSCURATION FROM WINDS: FROM DUSTY INFRARED-DRIVEN TO
      WARM AND X-RAY PHOTOIONIZED.
AB  - We present calculations of AGN winds at ~parsec scales, along with the associated
      obscuration. We take into account the pressure of infrared radiation on dust
      grains and the interaction of X-rays from a central black hole with hot and cold
      plasma. Infrared radiation (IR) is incorporated in radiation-hydrodynamic
      simulations adopting the flux-limited diffusion approximation. We find that in
      the range of X-ray luminosities L=0.05 - 0.6Ledd, the Compton-thick part of the
      flow (aka torus) has an opening angle of approximately 72 degrees  - 75 degrees 
      regardless of the luminosity. At L ? 0.1 the outflowing dusty wind provides the
      obscuration with IR pressure playing a major role. The global flow consists of
      two phases: the cold flow at inclinations theta ? 70 degrees  and a hot, ionized
      wind of lower density at lower inclinations. The dynamical pressure of the hot
      wind is important in shaping the denser IR supported flow. At luminosities
      <=0.1Ledd episodes of outflow are followed by extended periods when the wind
      switches to slow accretion.

PMID- 27642185
TI  - A Census of X-ray gas in NGC 1068: Results from 450ks of Chandra HETG
      Observations.
AB  - We present models for the X-ray spectrum of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068. These
      are fitted to data obtained using the High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) on
      the Chandra X-ray observatory. The data show line and radiative recombination
      continuum (RRC) emission from a broad range of ions and elements. The models
      explore the importance of excitation processes for these lines including
      photoionization followed by recombination, radiative excitation by absorption of
      continuum radiation and inner shell fluorescence. The models show that the
      relative importance of these processes depends on the conditions in the emitting
      gas, and that no single emitting component can fit the entire spectrum. In
      particular, the relative importance of radiative excitation and
      photoionization/recombination differs according to the element and ion stage
      emitting the line. This in turn implies a diversity of values for the ionization
      parameter of the various components of gas responsible for the emission, ranging
      from log(xi)=1 - 3. Using this, we obtain an estimate for the total amount of gas
      responsible for the observed emission. The mass flux through the region included
      in the HETG extraction region is approximately 0.3 M? yr-1 assuming ordered flow
      at the speed characterizing the line widths. This can be compared with what is
      known about this object from other techniques.

PMID- 27642186
TI  - Radar detectability studies of slow and small Zodiacal Dust Cloud Particles: I.
      The case of Arecibo 430 MHz meteor head echo observations.
AB  - Recent model development of the Zodiacal Dust Cloud (ZDC) model (Nesvorny et al.
      2010, 2011b) argue that the incoming flux of meteoric material into the Earth's
      upper atmosphere is mostly undetected by radars because they cannot detect small
      extraterrestrial particles entering the atmosphere at low velocities due to the
      relatively small production of electrons. In this paper we present a new
      methodology utilizing meteor head echo radar observations that aims to constrain
      the ZDC physical model by ground-based measurements. In particular, for this
      work, we focus on Arecibo 430 MHz observations since this is the most sensitive
      radar utilized for this type of observations to date. For this, we integrate and
      employ existing comprehensive models of meteoroid ablation, ionization and radar
      detection to enable accurate interpretation of radar observations and show that
      reasonable agreement in the hourly rates is found between model predictions and
      Arecibo observations when: 1) we invoke the lower limit of the model predicted
      flux (~16 t/d) and 2) we estimate the ionization probability of ablating metal
      atoms using laboratory measurements of the ionization cross sections of high
      speed metal atom beams, resulting in values up to two orders of magnitude lower
      than the extensively utilized figure reported by Jones (1997) for low speeds
      meteors. However, even at this lower limit the model over predicts the slow
      portion of the Arecibo radial velocity distributions by a factor of 3, suggesting
      the model requires some revision.

PMID- 27642187
TI  - Focused-Ion-Beam-Milled Carbon Nanoelectrodes for Scanning Electrochemical
      Microscopy.
AB  - Nanoscale scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) has emerged as a powerful
      electrochemical method that enables the study of interfacial reactions with
      unprecedentedly high spatial and kinetic resolution. In this work, we develop
      carbon nanoprobes with high electrochemical reactivity and well-controlled size
      and geometry based on chemical vapor deposition of carbon in quartz nanopipets.
      Carbon-filled nanopipets are milled by focused ion beam (FIB) technology to yield
      a flat disk tip with a thin quartz sheath as confirmed by transmission electron
      microscopy. The extremely high electroactivity of FIB-milled carbon nanotips is
      quantified by enormously high standard electron-transfer rate constants of >=10
      cm/s for Ru(NH3)63+. The tip size and geometry are characterized in electrolyte
      solutions by SECM approach curve measurements not only to determine inner and
      outer tip radii of down to ~27 and ~38 nm, respectively, but also to ensure the
      absence of a conductive carbon layer on the outer wall. In addition, FIB-milled
      carbon nanotips reveal the limited conductivity of ~100 nm-thick gold films under
      nanoscale mass-transport conditions. Importantly, carbon nanotips must be
      protected from electrostatic damage to enable reliable and quantitative
      nanoelectrochemical measurements.

PMID- 27642188
TI  - Cultural change and traditional ecological knowledge. An empirical analysis from
      the Tsimane' in the Bolivian Amazon.
AB  - Among the different factors associated to change in traditional ecological
      knowledge, the study of the relations between cultural change and traditional
      ecological knowledge has received scan and inadequate scholarly attention. Using
      data from indigenous peoples of an Amazonian society facing increasing exposure
      to the mainstream Bolivian society, we analyzed the relation between traditional
      ecological knowledge, proxied with individual plant use knowledge (n=484), and
      cultural change, proxied with individual- and village-level (n=47) measures of
      attachment to traditional beliefs and values. We found that both the individual
      level of detachment to traditional values and the village level of agreement in
      detachment to traditional values were associated with individual levels of plant
      use knowledge, irrespective of other proxy measures for cultural change. Because
      both the individual- and the village-level variables bear statistically
      significant associations with plant use knowledge, our results suggest that both
      the individual- and the supra-individual level processes of cultural change are
      related to the erosion of plant use knowledge. Results from our work highlight
      the importance of analyzing processes that happen at intermediary social units 
      the village in our case study- to explain changes in traditional ecological
      knowledge.

PMID- 27642189
TI  - Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative
      assessment of priorities.
AB  - Biodiversity is changing at unprecedented rates, and it is increasingly important
      that these changes are quantified through monitoring programmes. Previous
      recommendations for developing or enhancing these programmes focus either on the
      end goals, that is the intended use of the data, or on how these goals are
      achieved, for example through volunteer involvement in citizen science, but not
      both. These recommendations are rarely prioritized.We used a collaborative
      approach, involving 52 experts in biodiversity monitoring in the UK, to develop a
      list of attributes of relevance to any biodiversity monitoring programme and to
      order these attributes by their priority. We also ranked the attributes according
      to their importance in monitoring biodiversity in the UK. Experts involved
      included data users, funders, programme organizers and participants in data
      collection. They covered expertise in a wide range of taxa.We developed a final
      list of 25 attributes of biodiversity monitoring schemes, ordered from the most
      elemental (those essential for monitoring schemes; e.g. articulate the objectives
      and gain sufficient participants) to the most aspirational (e.g. electronic data
      capture in the field, reporting change annually). This ordered list is a
      practical framework which can be used to support the development of monitoring
      programmes.People's ranking of attributes revealed a difference between those who
      considered attributes with benefits to end users to be most important (e.g.
      people from governmental organizations) and those who considered attributes with
      greatest benefit to participants to be most important (e.g. people involved with
      volunteer biological recording schemes). This reveals a distinction between
      focussing on aims and the pragmatism in achieving those aims. Synthesis and
      applications. The ordered list of attributes developed in this study will assist
      in prioritizing resources to develop biodiversity monitoring programmes
      (including citizen science). The potential conflict between end users of data and
      participants in data collection that we discovered should be addressed by
      involving the diversity of stakeholders at all stages of programme development.
      This will maximize the chance of successfully achieving the goals of biodiversity
      monitoring programmes.

PMID- 27642190
TI  - Fluorination effects on the thermodynamic, thermophysical and surface properties
      of ionic liquids.
AB  - This paper reports the thermal, thermodynamic, thermophysical and surface
      properties of eight ionic liquids with fluorinated alkyl side chain lengths equal
      or greater than four carbon atoms. Melting and decomposition temperatures were
      determined together with experimental densities, surface tensions, refractive
      indices, dynamic viscosities and ionic conductivities in a temperature interval
      ranging from 293.15 to 353.15 K. The surface properties of these fluorinated
      ionic liquids were discussed and several thermodynamic functions, as well as
      critical temperatures, were estimated. Coefficients of isobaric thermal
      expansion, molecular volumes and free volume effects were calculated from
      experimental values of density and refractive index and compared with previous
      data. Finally, Walden plots were used to evaluate the ionicity of the
      investigated ionic liquids.

PMID- 27642192
TI  - Diffusion Dynamics and Creative Destruction in a Simple Classical Model.
AB  - The article explores the impact of the diffusion of new methods of production on
      output and employment growth and income distribution within a Classical one
      sector framework. Disequilibrium paths are studied analytically and in terms of
      simulations. Diffusion by differential growth affects aggregate dynamics through
      several channels. The analysis reveals the non-steady nature of economic change
      and shows that the adaptation pattern depends both on the innovation's factor
      saving bias and on the extent of the bias, which determines the strength of the
      selection pressure on non-innovators. The typology of different cases developed
      shows various aspects of Schumpeter's concept of creative destruction.

PMID- 27642191
TI  - Neurolinguistic Relativity: How Language Flexes Human Perception and Cognition.
AB  - The time has come, perhaps, to go beyond merely acknowledging that language is a
      core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates
      interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide
      whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are), but
      rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to
      understand how language influences-and may be influenced by-nonverbal information
      processing. In an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity, I review
      neurolinguistic studies from our research group showing a link between linguistic
      distinctions and perceptual or conceptual processing. On the basis of empirical
      evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language-idiosyncratic
      relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualization,
      and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a
      neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how
      languages shape human thought.

PMID- 27642193
TI  - Women and citizenship post-trafficking: the case of Nepal.
AB  - This article analyses the relationship between gender, sexuality and citizenship
      embedded in models of citizenship in the Global South, specifically in South
      Asia, and the meanings associated with having - or not having - citizenship. It
      does this through an examination of women's access to citizenship in Nepal in the
      context of the construction of the emergent nation state in the 'new' Nepal 'post
      conflict'. Our analysis explores gendered and sexualized constructions of
      citizenship in this context through a specific focus on women who have
      experienced trafficking, and are beginning to organize around rights to
      sustainable livelihoods and actively lobby for changes in citizenship rules which
      discriminate against women. Building from this, in the final section we consider
      important implications of this analysis of post-trafficking experiences for
      debates about gender, sexuality and citizenship more broadly.

PMID- 27642194
TI  - MIXED-STATUS FAMILIES AND WIC UPTAKE: THE EFFECTS OF RISK OF DEPORTATION ON
      PROGRAM USE.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Develop and test measures of risk of deportation and mixed-status
      families on WIC uptake. Mixed-status is a situation in which some family members
      are U.S. citizens and other family members are in the U.S. without proper
      authorization. METHODS: Estimate a series of logistic regressions to estimate WIC
      uptake by merging data from Fragile Families and Child Well-being Survey with
      deportation data from U.S.-Immigration Customs and Enforcement. RESULTS: The
      findings of this study suggest that risk of deportation is negatively associated
      with WIC uptake and among mixed-status families; Mexican origin families are the
      most sensitive when it comes to deportations and program use. CONCLUSION: Our
      analysis provides a typology and framework to study mixed-status families and
      evaluate their usage of social services by including an innovative measure of
      risk of deportation.

PMID- 27642195
TI  - Diastereoselective syntheses of substituted cis-hydrindanones featuring
      sequential inter- and intramolecular Michael reactions.
AB  - The hydrindane (bicyclo[4.3.0]nonane) structural motif (1) and related cis-1
      hydrindanone skeleton (2) are common substructures in many natural products.
      Herein, we describe efficient access to substituted cis-1-hydrindanones enabled
      by a sequence of Michael reactions. A copper-catalyzed intermolecular Michael
      addition of a cyclic silyl ketene acetal to a beta-substituted-alpha
      alkoxycarbonyl-cyclopentenone enables construction of a quaternary center and is
      followed, after incorporation of an additional Michael acceptor, by a second,
      intramolecular addition of a nucleophilic beta-ketoester. This strategy affords
      stereoselective access to substituted bicyclic cis-hydrindanone ring systems
      containing up to three contiguous stereocenters.

PMID- 27642197
TI  - Model-based analysis of the influence of catchment properties on hydrologic
      partitioning across five mountain headwater subcatchments.
AB  - Ungauged headwater basins are an abundant part of the river network, but dominant
      influences on headwater hydrologic response remain difficult to predict. To
      address this gap, we investigated the ability of a physically based watershed
      model (the Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model) to represent controls on
      metrics of hydrologic partitioning across five adjacent headwater subcatchments.
      The five study subcatchments, located in Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest in
      central Montana, have similar climate but variable topography and vegetation
      distribution. This facilitated a comparative hydrology approach to interpret how
      parameters that influence partitioning, detected via global sensitivity analysis,
      differ across catchments. Model parameters were constrained a priori using
      existing regional information and expert knowledge. Influential parameters were
      compared to perceptions of catchment functioning and its variability across
      subcatchments. Despite between-catchment differences in topography and
      vegetation, hydrologic partitioning across all metrics and all subcatchments was
      sensitive to a similar subset of snow, vegetation, and soil parameters. Results
      also highlighted one subcatchment with low certainty in parameter sensitivity,
      indicating that the model poorly represented some complexities in this
      subcatchment likely because an important process is missing or poorly
      characterized in the mechanistic model. For use in other basins, this method can
      assess parameter sensitivities as a function of the specific ungauged system to
      which it is applied. Overall, this approach can be employed to identify dominant
      modeled controls on catchment response and their agreement with system
      understanding.

PMID- 27642196
TI  - Synthesis and evaluation of functionalized benzoboroxoles as potential anti
      tuberculosis agents.
AB  - Several derivatives of aminobenzoboroxole have been prepared starting from 2
      boronobenzaldehyde. All of these derivatives have been evaluated for their anti
      mycobacterial activity on Mycobacterium smegmatis and cytotoxicity on breast
      cancer cell line MCF7. Based on these studies, all the tested molecules have been
      found to be generally non-toxic and benzoboroxoles with unsubstituted (primary)
      amines have been found to exhibit good anti-mycobacterial activity. Some of the
      key compounds have been evaluated for their anti-tubercular activity on
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using 7H9 and GAST media. 7-Bromo-6
      aminobenzoboroxole 4 has been identified as the lead candidate compound for
      further development.

PMID- 27642199
TI  - An Efficient Approach for Mars Sample Return Using Emerging Commercial
      Capabilities.
AB  - Mars Sample Return is the highest priority science mission for the next decade as
      recommended by the 2011 Decadal Survey of Planetary Science [1]. This article
      presents the results of a feasibility study for a Mars Sample Return mission that
      efficiently uses emerging commercial capabilities expected to be available in the
      near future. The motivation of our study was the recognition that emerging
      commercial capabilities might be used to perform Mars Sample Return with an Earth
      direct architecture, and that this may offer a desirable simpler and lower cost
      approach. The objective of the study was to determine whether these capabilities
      can be used to optimize the number of mission systems and launches required to
      return the samples, with the goal of achieving the desired simplicity. All of the
      major element required for the Mars Sample Return mission are described. Mission
      system elements were analyzed with either direct techniques or by using
      parametric mass estimating relationships. The analysis shows the feasibility of a
      complete and closed Mars Sample Return mission design based on the following
      scenario: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle places a modified version of a
      SpaceX Dragon capsule, referred to as "Red Dragon", onto a Trans Mars Injection
      trajectory. The capsule carries all the hardware needed to return to Earth Orbit
      samples collected by a prior mission, such as the planned NASA Mars 2020 sample
      collection rover. The payload includes a fully fueled Mars Ascent Vehicle; a
      fueled Earth Return Vehicle, support equipment, and a mechanism to transfer
      samples from the sample cache system onboard the rover to the Earth Return
      Vehicle. The Red Dragon descends to land on the surface of Mars using Supersonic
      Retropropulsion. After collected samples are transferred to the Earth Return
      Vehicle, the single-stage Mars Ascent Vehicle launches the Earth Return Vehicle
      from the surface of Mars to a Mars phasing orbit. After a brief phasing period,
      the Earth Return Vehicle performs a Trans Earth Injection burn. Once near Earth,
      the Earth Return Vehicle performs Earth and lunar swing-bys and is placed into a
      Lunar Trailing Orbit - an Earth orbit, at lunar distance. A retrieval mission
      then performs a rendezvous with the Earth Return Vehicle, retrieves the sample
      container, and breaks the chain of contact with Mars by transferring the sample
      into a sterile and secure container. With the sample contained, the retrieving
      spacecraft makes a controlled Earth re-entry preventing any unintended release of
      Martian materials into the Earth's biosphere. The mission can start in any one of
      three Earth to Mars launch opportunities, beginning in 2022.

PMID- 27642198
TI  - 3D-WOVEN FIBER-REINFORCED COMPOSITE FOR CAD/CAM DENTAL APPLICATION.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D)-woven noncrimp fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) was tested
      for mechanical properties in the two principal directions of the main XY plane
      and compared to different Computer-Aided-Design/Computer-Aided-Machining
      (CAD/CAM) Dental Materials. The Dental Materials included ceramic with Vitablock
      Mark II(r), ProCAD(r), InCeram(r) Spinel, InCeram(r) Alumina and InCeram(r)
      Zirconia in addition to a resin-based 3M Corp. Paradigm(r) particulate-filled
      composite. Alternate material controls included Coors 300 Alumina Ceramic and a
      tungsten carbide 22% cobalt cermet. The 3D-woven FRC was vacuum assisted resin
      transfer molding processed as a one-depth-thickness ~19-mm preform with a vinyl
      ester resin and cut into blocks similar to the commercial CAD/CAM Dental
      Materials. Mechanical test samples prepared for a flexural three-point span
      length of 10.0 mm were sectioned for minimum-depth cuts to compare machinability
      and fracture resistance between groups. 3D-woven FRC improved mechanical
      properties with significant statistical differences over all CAD/CAM Dental
      Materials and Coors Alumina Ceramic for flexural strength (p<0.001), resilience
      (p<0.05), work of fracture (p<0.001), strain energy release (p<0.05), critical
      stress intensity factor (p<0.001) and strain (p<0.001).

PMID- 27642200
TI  - Postseismic gravity change after the 2006-2007 great earthquake doublet and
      constraints on the asthenosphere structure in the central Kuril Islands.
AB  - Large earthquakes often trigger viscoelastic adjustment for years to decades
      depending on the rheological properties and the nature and spatial extent of
      coseismic stress. The 2006 Mw8.3 thrust and 2007 Mw8.1 normal fault earthquakes
      of the central Kuril Islands resulted in significant postseismic gravity change
      in GRACE but without a discernible coseismic gravity change. The gravity increase
      of ~4 uGal, observed consistently from various GRACE solutions around the
      epicentral area during 2007-2015, is interpreted as resulting from gradual
      seafloor uplift by ~6 cm produced by postseismic relaxation. The GRACE data are
      best fit with a model of 25-35 km for the elastic thickness and ~1018 Pa s for
      the Maxwell viscosity of the asthenosphere. The large measurable postseismic
      gravity change (greater than coseismic change) emphasizes the importance of
      viscoelastic relaxation in understanding tectonic deformation and fault-locking
      scenarios in the Kuril subduction zone.

PMID- 27642202
TI  - Managing the Endogenous Risk of Disease Outbreaks with Non-Constant Background
      Risk.
AB  - There is a growing concern that risks of disease outbreak and pandemics are
      increasing over time. We consider optimal investments in prevention before an
      outbreak using an endogenous risk approach within an optimal control setting.
      Using the threat of pandemic influenza as an illustrative example, we demonstrate
      that prevention expenditures are relatively small in comparison to the potential
      losses facing the USA, and these expenditures need to be flexible and responsive
      to changes in background risk. Failure to adjust these expenditures to changes in
      background risk poses a significant threat to social welfare into the future.

PMID- 27642201
TI  - Intelligence in youth and mental health at age 50.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few cognitive epidemiology studies on mental health have focused on
      the links between pre-morbid intelligence and self-reports of common mental
      disorders, such as depression, sleep difficulties, and mental health status. The
      current study examines these associations in 50-year-old adults. METHODS: The
      study uses data from the 5793 participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of
      Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY-79) who responded to questions on mental health at age 50
      and had IQ measured with the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) when they
      were aged between 15 and 23 years in 1980. Mental health outcomes were: life-time
      diagnosis of depression; the mental component score of the 12-item short-form
      Health Survey (SF-12); the 7-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression
      Scale (CES-D); and a summary measure of sleep difficulty. RESULTS & CONCLUSION:
      Higher intelligence in youth is associated with a reduced risk of self-reported
      mental health problems at age 50, with age-at-first-interview and sex adjusted Bs
      as follows: CES-depression (B = - 0.16, C.I. - 0.19 to - 0.12, p < 0.001), sleep
      difficulties (B = - 0.11, C.I. - 0.13 to - 0.08, p < 0.001), and SF-12 mental
      health status (OR = 0.78, C.I. 0.72 to 0.85, p < 0.001; r = - 0.03 p = 0.075).
      Conversely, intelligence in youth is linked with an increased risk of receiving a
      diagnosis of depression by the age of 50 (OR 1.11, C.I. 1.01 to 1.22, p = 0.024;
      r = 0.03, p = 0.109). No sex differences were observed in the associations.
      Adjusting for adult SES accounted for most of the association between IQ and the
      mental health outcomes, except for having reported a diagnosis of depression, in
      which case adjusting for adult SES led to an increase in the size of the positive
      association (OR = 1.32, C.I. 1.16 to 1.51, p < 0.001).

PMID- 27642204
TI  - The relativity of Darwinian populations and the ecology of endosymbiosis.
AB  - If there is a single discipline of science calling the basic concepts of biology
      into question, it is without doubt microbiology. Indeed, developments in
      microbiology have recently forced us to rethink such fundamental concepts as the
      organism, individual, and genome. In this paper I show how microorganisms are
      changing our understanding of natural aggregations and develop the concept of a
      Darwinian population to embrace these discoveries. I start by showing that it is
      hard to set the boundaries of a Darwinian population, and I suggest thinking of a
      Darwinian population as a relative property of a Darwinian individual. Then I
      argue, in contrast to the commonly held view, that Darwinian populations are
      multispecies units, and that in order to accept the multispecies account of
      Darwinian populations we have to separate fitness from natural selection.
      Finally, I show how all these ideas provide a theoretical framework leading to a
      more precise understanding of the ecology of endosymbiosis than is afforded by
      poetic metaphors such as 'slavery'.

PMID- 27642203
TI  - Electromechanical properties of orthorhombic 0.24Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3
      0.43Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.33PbTiO3 single-domain crystal.
AB  - Single-domain structure with orthorhombic symmetry has been achieved in
      morphotropic phase boundary composition 0.24Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3 
      0.43Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.33PbTiO3 ternary single crystal by applying a large field
      along the pseudo-cubic direction [011]c. Complete set of elastic, piezoelectric,
      and dielectric constants has been determined with self-consistency. This crystal
      shows very large thickness shear piezoelectric coefficient d15=4324 pC/N and
      extremely high shear electromechanical coupling factor k15=96%. Three-dimensional
      orientation dependence of the longitudinal piezoelectric constant d33 was
      calculated and compared with experimental values, which revealed nearly 20%
      extrinsic contributions in domain engineered [001]c and [111]c poled conditions.

PMID- 27642205
TI  - Recent Immigration to Canada and the United States: A Mixed Tale of Relative
      Selection.
AB  - Using large-scale census data and adjusting for sending-country fixed effect to
      account for changing composition of immigrants, we study relative immigrant
      selection to Canada and the U.S. during 1990-2006, a period characterized by
      diverging immigration policies in the two countries. Results show a gradual
      change in selection patterns in educational attainment and host country language
      proficiency in favor of Canada as its post-1990 immigration policy allocated more
      points to the human capital of new entrants. Specifically, in 1990, new
      immigrants in Canada were less likely to have a B.A. degree than those in the
      U.S.; they were also less likely to have a high-school or lower education. By
      2006, Canada surpassed the U.S. in drawing highly-educated immigrants, while
      continuing to attract fewer low-educated immigrants. Canada also improved its
      edge over the U.S. in terms of host-country language proficiency of new
      immigrants. Entry-level earnings, however, do not reflect the same trend: recent
      immigrants to Canada have experienced a wage disadvantage compared to recent
      immigrants to the U.S., as well as Canadian natives. One plausible explanation is
      that, while the Canadian points system has successfully attracted more educated
      immigrants, it may not be effective in capturing productivity-related traits that
      are not easily measurable.

PMID- 27642206
TI  - A MULTIVARIATE FINITE MIXTURE LATENT TRAJECTORY MODEL WITH APPLICATION TO
      DEMENTIA STUDIES.
AB  - Dementia patients exhibit considerable heterogeneity in individual trajectories
      of cognitive decline, with some patients showing rapid decline following
      diagnoses while others exhibiting slower decline or remaining stable for several
      years. Dementia studies often collect longitudinal measures of multiple
      neuropsychological tests aimed to measure patients' decline across a number of
      cognitive domains. We propose a multivariate finite mixture latent trajectory
      model to identify distinct longitudinal patterns of cognitive decline
      simultaneously in multiple cognitive domains, each of which is measured by
      multiple neuropsychological tests. EM algorithm is used for parameter estimation
      and posterior probabilities are used to predict latent class membership. We
      present results of a simulation study demonstrating adequate performance of our
      proposed approach and apply our model to the Uniform Data Set (UDS) from the
      National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) to identify cognitive decline
      patterns among dementia patients.

PMID- 27642208
TI  - Maternal work conditions and child development.
AB  - How do maternal work conditions, such as psychological stress and physical
      hazards, affect children's development? Combining data from the Child Development
      Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Occupational Information
      Network allows us to shed some light on this question. We employ various
      techniques including OLS with extensive controls, a value added approach and
      individual fixed effects in order to address potential endogeneity problems. Our
      results reveal that mothers' exposure to work-related hazards negatively affects
      children's cognitive development and to work-related stress negatively affects
      children's behavioral development. While maternal time investments play a small
      but significant role in mediating these negative associations, paternal time
      investments neither reinforce nor compensate these associations.

PMID- 27642207
TI  - What matters in semantic feature processing for persons with stroke-aphasia:
      Evidence from an auditory concept-feature verification task.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between object concept domains (living vs.
      nonliving) and their underlying feature structures is a frequent area of
      investigation regarding semantic processing in healthy individuals and some
      individuals with neuropsychological impairment resulting from herpes simplex
      encephalitis, semantic dementia and Alzheimer's disease. However, this
      relationship has been less well-investigated in persons with stroke-aphasia
      (PWA), even though many treatments for anomia following stroke are predicated on
      the use of semantic feature cues. AIMS: As part of a larger investigation into
      the influence of semantic feature processing on naming for PWA, this study
      examined the ability of PWA to confirm the relations between object concepts and
      associated semantic features. METHODS & PROCEDURES: 15 native English-speaking,
      right handed individuals with post-stroke-aphasia responded yes or no via button
      press to feature-verification questions designed to probe the relationships
      between concept domain and feature type and distinctiveness. OUTCOMES & RESULTS:
      PWA were more accurate and quicker to confirm concept-feature relationships when
      features contained function/action, rather than visual-perceptual, information
      about concepts and when features were distinctive to concepts rather than shared.
      The truthfulness (i.e., veracity) of concept-feature pairings was demonstrated to
      differentially affect living versus nonliving concepts. Within domain, only
      nonliving concepts were verified more accurately and more quickly when pairings
      were true (rather than false). Between domains, true nonliving concept-feature
      pairings were more accurately and more quickly verified than true living concept
      feature pairings. Also with respect to veracity, correlations were observed
      between aphasia severity and accuracy and speed of response to false concept
      feature pairings. CONCLUSIONS: Findings have implications for the way in which
      semantic processing is probed with PWA, as well as providing preliminary
      information regarding responsivity of PWA to differing types of semantic
      information for living versus nonliving concepts. The fact that PWA demonstrated
      disproportionate difficulty responding to certain types of semantic information
      also suggests preliminary implications for the utility of different types of
      semantic cues in semantically-based treatments for word retrieval impairment.

PMID- 27642209
TI  - School-based Screening to Identify Children At Risk for Attention
      Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Barriers and Implications.
AB  - This report describes a school-based screening project to improve early
      identification of children at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
      (ADHD) and communicate these concerns to parents, recommending that they contact
      their child's primary care provider (PCP). Of 17,440 eligible children in first
      through fifth grades in five school districts, 47.0% of parents provided required
      written consent, and teachers completed 70.4% of the online screeners (using the
      Vanderbilt AD/HD Diagnostic Teacher Rating Scale). Of 5,772 screeners completed,
      18.1% of children (n = 1,044) were identified as at risk. Parents of at-risk
      children were contacted to explain risk status and recommended to visit their
      child's PCP for further evaluation. It was not possible to contact 39.1% of
      parents of at-risk children. Of the 636 parents of at-risk children who could be
      contacted, 53.1% (n = 338) verbally accepted the recommendation to follow-up with
      their PCP, which was not related to ADHD symptom severity. Parents of children
      with IEPs or related services were more likely to accept the recommendation to
      visit the PCP. Our exploration of the potential for school-based screening for
      ADHD identified a number of barriers to successful execution, but the data also
      indicated that this is an important problem to address.

PMID- 27642210
TI  - Synthesis and Reactivity of Four- and Five-Coordinate Low-Spin Cobalt(II) PCP
      Pincer Complexes and Some Nickel(II) Analogues.
AB  - Anhydrous CoCl2 or [NiCl2(DME)] reacts with the ligand PCPMe-iPr (1) in the
      presence of nBuLi to afford the 15e and 16e square planar complexes [Co(PCPMe
      iPr)Cl] (2) and [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)Cl] (3), respectively. Complex 2 is a paramagnetic
      d7 low-spin complex, which is a useful precursor for a series of Co(I), Co(II),
      and Co(III) PCP complexes. Complex 2 reacts readily with CO and pyridine to
      afford the five-coordinate square-pyramidal 17e complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(CO)Cl]
      (4) and [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(py)Cl] (5), respectively, while in the presence of Ag+ and
      CO the cationic complex [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(CO)2]+ (6) is afforded. The effective
      magnetic moments MUeff of all Co(II) complexes were derived from the temperature
      dependence of the inverse molar magnetic susceptibility by SQUID measurements and
      are in the range 1.9 to 2.4 MUB. This is consistent with a d7 low-spin
      configuration with some degree of spin-orbit coupling. Oxidation of 2 with CuCl2
      affords the paramagnetic Co(III) PCP complex [Co(PCPMe-iPr)Cl2] (7), while the
      synthesis of the diamagnetic Co(I) complex [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(CO)2] (8) was achieved
      by stirring 2 in toluene with KC8 in the presence of CO. Finally, the cationic
      16e Ni(II) PCP complex [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(CO)]+ (10) was obtained by reacting complex
      3 with 1 equiv of AgSbF6 in the presence of CO. The reactivity of CO addition to
      Co(I), Co(II), and Ni(II) PCP square planar complexes of the type [M(PCPMe
      iPr)(CO)] n (n = +1, 0) was investigated by DFT calculations, showing that
      formation of the Co species, 6 and 8, is thermodynamically favorable, while
      Ni(II) maintains the 16e configuration since CO addition is unfavorable in this
      case. X-ray structures of most complexes are provided and discussed. A structural
      feature of interest is that the apical CO ligand in 4 deviates significantly from
      linearity, with a Co-C-O angle of 170.0(1) degrees . The DFT-calculated value is
      172 degrees , clearly showing that this is not a packing but an electronic
      effect.

PMID- 27642211
TI  - Efficient Hydrogenation of Ketones and Aldehydes Catalyzed by Well-Defined
      Iron(II) PNP Pincer Complexes: Evidence for an Insertion Mechanism.
AB  - We have prepared and structurally characterized a new class of Fe(II) PNP pincer
      hydride complexes [Fe(PNP-iPr)(H)(CO)(L)] n (L = Br-, CH3CN, pyridine, PMe3, SCN
      , CO, BH4-; n = 0, +1) based on the 2,6-diaminopyridine scaffold where the PiPr2
      moieties of the PNP ligand are connected to the pyridine ring via NH and/or NMe
      spacers. Complexes [Fe(PNP-iPr)(H)(CO)(L)] n with labile ligands (L = Br-, CH3CN,
      BH4-) and NH spacers are efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of both
      ketones and aldehydes to alcohols under mild conditions, while those containing
      inert ligands (L = pyridine, PMe3, SCN-, CO) are catalytically inactive.
      Interestingly, complex [Fe(PNPMe-iPr)(H)(CO)(Br)], featuring NMe spacers, is an
      efficient catalyst for the chemoselective hydrogenation of aldehydes. The first
      type of complexes involves deprotonation of the PNP ligand as well as heterolytic
      dihydrogen cleavage via metal-alkoxide cooperation, but no reversible
      aromatization/deprotonation of the PNP ligand. In the case of the N-methylated
      complex the mechanism remains unclear, but obviously does not allow bifunctional
      activation of dihydrogen. The experimental results complemented by DFT
      calculations strongly support an insertion of the C=O bond of the carbonyl
      compound into the Fe-H bond.

PMID- 27642212
TI  - Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of Co(II) and Ni(II) PCP Pincer Borohydride
      Complexes.
AB  - The 15e square-planar complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)Cl] (2a) and [Co(PCP-tBu)Cl] (2b),
      respectively, react readily with NaBH4 to afford complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(eta2
      BH4)] (4a) and [Co(PCP-tBu)(eta2-BH4)] (4b) in high yields, as confirmed by IR
      spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and elemental analysis. The borohydride
      ligand is symmetrically bound to the cobalt center in eta2-fashion. These
      compounds are paramagnetic with effective magnetic moments of 2.0(1) and 2.1(1)
      MUB consistent with a d7 low-spin system corresponding to one unpaired electron.
      None of these complexes reacted with CO2 to give formate complexes. For
      structural and reactivity comparisons, we prepared the analogous Ni(II)
      borohydride complex [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(eta2-BH4)] (5) via two different synthetic
      routes. One utilizes [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)Cl] (3) and NaBH4, the second one makes use of
      the hydride complex [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)H] (6) and BH3.THF. In both cases, 5 is
      obtained in high yields. In contrast to 4a and 4b, the borohydride ligand is
      asymmetrically bound to the nickel center but still in an eta2-mode. [Ni(PCPMe
      iPr)(eta2-BH4)] (5) loses readily BH3 at elevated temperatures in the presence of
      NEt3 to form 6. Complexes 5 and 6 are both diamagnetic and were characterized by
      a combination of 1H, 13C{1H}, and 31P{1H} NMR, IR spectroscopy, and elemental
      analysis. Additionally, the structure of these compounds was established by X-ray
      crystallography. Complexes 5 and 6 react with CO2 to give the formate complex
      [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(OC(C=O)H] (7). The extrusion of BH3 from [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(eta2-BH4)]
      (4a) and [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(eta2-BH4)] (5) with the aid of NH3 to yield the
      respective hydride complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)H] and [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)H] (6) and BH3NH3
      was investigated by DFT calculations showing that formation of the Ni hydride is
      thermodynamically favorable, whereas the formation of the Co(II) hydride, in
      agreement with the experiment, is unfavorable. The electronic structures and the
      bonding of the borohydride ligand in [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(eta2-BH4)] (4a) and [Ni(PCPMe
      iPr)(eta2-BH4)] (5) were established by DFT computations.

PMID- 27642213
TI  - Synthesis and Properties of "Sandwich" Diimine-Coinage Metal Ethylene Complexes.
AB  - Synthesis and full characterization of cationic isostructural "sandwich" diimine
      coinage metal ethylene complexes are reported. Ethylene self-exchange kinetics
      proceeds by an associative exchange mechanism for Cu and Au complexes. The
      fastest ligand exchange was observed for Ag complex 8a. The upper limit of
      DeltaG?, assuming associative ligand exchange, was found to be ca. 5.0 kcal/mol.
      Ethylene self-exchange in Cu complex 7b proceeds with DeltaG298? = 12.9 +/- 0.1
      kcal/mol, while the exchange is the slowest in Au complex 9, with DeltaG298? =
      16.7 +/- 0.1 kcal/mol. Copper complex 7b is unusually stable and can survive in
      air for years.

PMID- 27642214
TI  - Uroplakin II Expression in Breast Carcinomas Showing Apocrine Differentiation:
      Putting Some Emphasis on Invasive Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma as a Potential
      Mimic of Urothelial Carcinoma at Metastatic Sites.
AB  - Uroplakin II antibody is exclusively specific for urothelial carcinoma.
      Nonurothelial carcinoma has not been reported to be immunoreactive for uroplakin
      II. In the present study, we hypothesized that breast carcinoma showing apocrine
      differentiation, such as invasive pleomorphic lobular carcinoma (IPLC) and
      apocrine carcinoma (AC), stains positive for uroplakin II. We identified 6 cases
      of IPLC between 2000 and 2014 by searching a computerized pathological database.
      We randomly selected 10 cases of each classic invasive lobular carcinoma (cILC)
      and AC and five cases of apocrine metaplasia (AM) that coexisted in a surgically
      resected breast carcinoma specimen. Immunohistochemistry was performed for
      uroplakin II, GATA3, CK7, CK20, and other representative markers positive for
      urothelial carcinoma. All cases of IPLC, AC, and AM, except those of cILC, showed
      immunoreactivity for uroplakin II. Poorly differentiated urothelial carcinoma
      sometimes shows similar morphology to IPLC with the following immunophenotype:
      CK7+, CK20-, GATA3+, and uroplakin II+. In the present study, this
      immunophenotype was observed in all the cases of IPLC and AC. Therefore, when
      studying metastatic, poorly differentiated carcinoma showing the aforementioned
      immunophenotype, we should consider the possibility of it being IPLC in addition
      to metastatic urothelial carcinoma. 

PMID- 27642216
TI  - The Role of Fecal Calprotectin in Evaluating Intestinal Involvement of Behcet's
      Disease.
AB  - One of the regions of involvement of Behcet's disease (BD), a systematic
      inflammatory vasculitis with unknown etiology, is the gastrointestinal (GI)
      tract. Upper GI endoscopy, colonoscopy, and capsule endoscopy are frequently used
      methods to diagnose the intestinal involvement of BD. The aim of this study was
      to investigate the role of fecal calprotectin (FC) in the evaluation of
      intestinal involvement in BD. Material and Method. A total of 30 patients who
      were diagnosed with BD and had no GI symptoms and 25 individuals in the control
      group were included in this study. Results. Levels of FC were statistically
      significantly higher in patients with BD compared to the control group (p <
      0.001). The correlation analysis performed including FC and markers of disease
      activity revealed a positive and statistically significant correlation between FC
      level and CRP and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r: 0.255, p < 0.049, and r:
      0.404, p < 0.001, resp.). FC levels in patients who were detected to have ulcers
      in the terminal ileum and colon in the colonoscopic examination were
      statistically significantly higher compared to the patients with BD without
      intestinal involvement (p = 0.01). Conclusion. The measurement of FC levels, in
      patients with BD who are asymptomatic for GI involvement, may be helpful to
      detect the possible underlying intestinal involvement. 

PMID- 27642218
TI  - Vanishing Knowledge of Plant Species in the Wadi Allaqi Desert Area of Egypt.

PMID- 27642217
TI  - CEACAM1: Expression and Role in Melanocyte Transformation.
AB  - Metastases represent the main cause of death in melanoma patients. Despite the
      current optimized targeted therapy or immune checkpoint inhibitors the treatment
      of metastatic melanoma is unsatisfactory. Because of the poor prognosis of
      advanced melanoma there is an urgent need to identify new biomarkers to
      differentiate melanoma cells from normal melanocytes, to stratify patients
      according to their risk, and to identify subgroups of patients that require close
      follow-up or more aggressive therapy. Furthermore, melanoma progression has been
      associated with the dysregulation of cell adhesion molecules. We have reviewed
      the literature and have discussed the important role of the expression of the
      carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) in the development of
      melanoma. Thus, novel insights into CEACAM1 may lead to promising strategies in
      melanoma treatment, in monitoring melanoma patients, in assessing the response to
      immunotherapy, and in completing the standard immunohistochemical panel used in
      melanoma examination. 

PMID- 27642219
TI  - Selection of latent variables for multiple mixed-outcome models.
AB  - Latent variable models have been widely used for modeling the dependence
      structure of multiple outcomes data. However, the formulation of a latent
      variable model is often unknown a priori, the misspecification will distort the
      dependence structure and lead to unreliable model inference. Moreover, multiple
      outcomes with varying types present enormous analytical challenges. In this
      paper, we present a class of general latent variable models that can accommodate
      mixed types of outcomes. We propose a novel selection approach that
      simultaneously selects latent variables and estimates parameters. We show that
      the proposed estimator is consistent, asymptotically normal and has the oracle
      property. The practical utility of the methods is confirmed via simulations as
      well as an application to the analysis of the World Values Survey, a global
      research project that explores peoples' values and beliefs and the social and
      personal characteristics that might influence them.

PMID- 27642215
TI  - From Normal Skin to Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Quest for Novel Biomarkers.
AB  - Squamous cells carcinoma (SCC) is the second most frequent of the keratinocyte
      derived malignancies after basal cell carcinoma and is associated with a
      significant psychosocial and economic burden for both the patient himself and
      society. Reported risk factors for the malignant transformation of keratinocytes
      and development of SCC include ultraviolet light exposure, followed by chronic
      scarring and inflammation, exposure to chemical compounds (arsenic, insecticides,
      and pesticides), and immune-suppression. Despite various available treatment
      methods and recent advances in noninvasive or minimal invasive diagnostic
      techniques, the risk recurrence and metastasis are far from being negligible,
      even in patients with negative histological margins and lymph nodes. Analyzing
      normal, dysplastic, and malignant keratinocyte proteome holds special promise for
      novel biomarker discovery in SCC that could be used in the future for early
      detection, risk assessment, tumor monitoring, and development of targeted
      therapeutic strategies. 

PMID- 27642220
TI  - Social in, social out: How the brain responds to social language with more social
      language.
AB  - Social connection is a fundamental human need. As such, people's brains are
      sensitized to social cues, such as those carried by language, and to promoting
      social communication. The neural mechanisms of certain key building blocks in
      this process, such as receptivity to and reproduction of social language,
      however, are not known. We combined quantitative linguistic analysis and
      neuroimaging to connect neural activity in brain regions used to simulate the
      mental states of others with exposure to, and re-transmission of, social
      language. Our results link findings on successful idea transmission from
      communication science, sociolinguistics and cognitive neuroscience to
      prospectively predict the degree of social language that participants utilize
      when re-transmitting ideas as a function of 1) initial language inputs and 2)
      neural activity during idea exposure.

PMID- 27642221
TI  - Uniformly Most Powerful Tests for Simultaneously Detecting a Treatment Effect in
      the Overall Population and at Least One Subpopulation.
AB  - We take the perspective of a researcher planning a randomized trial of a new
      treatment, where it is suspected that certain subpopulations may benefit more
      than others. These subpopulations could be defined by a risk factor or biomarker
      measured at baseline. We focus on situations where the overall population is
      partitioned into two, predefined subpopulations. When the true average treatment
      effect for the overall population is positive, it logically follows that it must
      be positive for at least one subpopulation. Our goal is to construct multiple
      testing procedures that maximize power for simultaneously rejecting the overall
      population null hypothesis and at least one subpopulation null hypothesis. We
      show that uniformly most powerful tests exist for this problem, in the case where
      outcomes are normally distributed. We construct new multiple testing procedures
      that, to the best of our knowledge, are the first to have this property. These
      procedures have the advantage of not requiring any sacrifice for detecting a
      treatment effect in the overall population, compared to the uniformly most
      powerful test of the overall population null hypothesis.

PMID- 27642222
TI  - Rigorous Error Control Methods for Estimating Means of Bounded Random Variables.
AB  - In this article, we propose rigorous sample size methods for estimating the means
      of random variables, which require no information of the underlying distributions
      except that the random variables are known to be bounded in a certain interval.
      Our sample size methods can be applied without assuming that the samples are
      identical and independent. Moreover, our sample size methods involve no
      approximation. We demonstrate that the sample complexity can be significantly
      reduced by using a mixed error criterion. We derive explicit sample size formulae
      to ensure the statistical accuracy of estimation.

PMID- 27642223
TI  - Densities, Viscosities and Derived Thermophysical Properties of Water-Saturated
      Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids.
AB  - In order to evaluate the impact of the alkyl side chain length and symmetry of
      the cation on the thermophysical properties of water-saturated ionic liquids
      (ILs), densities and viscosities as a function of temperature were measured at
      atmospheric pressure and in the (298.15 to 363.15) K temperature range, for
      systems containing two series of bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-based
      compounds: the symmetric [C n C n im][NTf2] (with n = 1-8 and 10) and asymmetric
      [C n C1im][NTf2] (with n = 2-5, 7, 9 and 11) ILs. For water-saturated ILs, the
      density decreases with the increase of the alkyl side chain length while the
      viscosity increases with the size of the aliphatic tails. The saturation water
      solubility in each IL was further estimated with a reasonable agreement based on
      the densities of water-saturated ILs, further confirming that for the ILs
      investigated the volumetric mixing properties of ILs and water follow a near
      ideal behaviour. The water-saturated symmetric ILs generally present lower
      densities and viscosities than their asymmetric counterparts. From the
      experimental data, the isobaric thermal expansion coefficient and energy barrier
      were also estimated. A close correlation between the difference in the energy
      barrier values between the water-saturated and pure ILs and the water content in
      each IL was found, supporting that the decrease in the viscosity of ILs in
      presence of water is directly related with the decrease of the energy barrier.

PMID- 27642224
TI  - Surface Tensions of Ionic Liquids: Non-Regular Trend Along the Number of Cyano
      Groups.
AB  - Ionic liquids (ILs) with cyano-functionalized anions are a set of fluids that are
      still poorly characterized despite their remarkably low viscosities and potential
      applications. Aiming at providing a comprehensive study on the influence of the
      number of -CN groups through the surface tension and surface organization of ILs,
      the surface tensions of imidazolium-based ILs with cyano-functionalized anions
      were determined at atmospheric pressure and in the (298.15 to 343.15) K
      temperature range. The ILs investigated are based on 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium
      cations (alkyl = ethyl, butyl and hexyl) combined with the [SCN]-, [N(CN)2]-,
      [C(CN)3]- and [B(CN)4]-anions. Although the well-known trend regarding the
      surface tension decrease with the increase of the size of the aliphatic moiety at
      the cation was observed, the order obtained for the anions is more intricate. For
      a common cation and at a given temperature, the surface tension decreases
      according to: [N(CN)2]- > [SCN]- > [C(CN)3]- > [B(CN)4]-. Therefore, the surface
      tension of this homologous series does not decrease with the increase of the
      number of -CN groups at the anion as has been previously shown by studies
      performed with a more limited matrix of ILs. A maximum in the surface tension and
      critical temperature was observed for [N(CN)2]-based ILs. Furthermore, a minimum
      in the surface entropy, indicative of a highly structured surface, was found for
      the same class of ILs. All these evidences seem to be a result of stronger
      hydrogen-bonding interactions occurring in [N(CN)2]-based ILs, when compared with
      the remaining CN-based counterparts, and as sustained by cation-anion interaction
      energies derived from the Conductor Like Screening Model for Real Solvents (COSMO
      RS).

PMID- 27642225
TI  - Miniaturized supercapacitors: key materials and structures towards autonomous and
      sustainable devices and systems.
AB  - Supercapacitors (SCs) are playing a key role for the development of self-powered
      and self-sustaining integrated systems for different fields ranging from remote
      sensing, robotics and medical devices. SC miniaturization and integration into
      more complex systems that include energy harvesters and functional devices are
      valuable strategies that address system autonomy. Here, we discuss about novel SC
      fabrication and integration approaches. Specifically, we report about the results
      of interdisciplinary activities on the development of thin, flexible SCs by an
      additive technology based on Supersonic Cluster Beam Deposition (SCBD) to be
      implemented into supercapacitive electrolyte gated transistors and
      supercapacitive microbial fuel cells. Such systems integrate at materials level
      the specific functions of devices, like electric switch or energy harvesting with
      the reversible energy storage capability. These studies might open new frontiers
      for the development and application of new multifunction-energy storage elements.

PMID- 27642226
TI  - Positive Affect and Social Anxiety Across the Lifespan: An Investigation of Age
      as a Moderator.
AB  - Recent literature has supported a moderate, inverse relationship between social
      anxiety and positive affect. It has been proposed, but not clearly established,
      that the inverse relationship between the constructs may be stronger in younger
      adults than in adults who are older. We tested this hypothesis in two archival
      data sets of community participants. The expected age-related interaction was not
      found in Study 1, which used a measure capturing a conflation of valence and
      arousal known as activated positive affect. Conversely, the interaction was
      present in Study 2, in which the positive affect measure was primarily based on
      valence. We found only partial support for the hypothesis, and results highlight
      the need for a more comprehensive measure of positive affect.

PMID- 27642227
TI  - PSINET: Assisting HIV Prevention Amongst Homeless Youth by Planning Ahead.
AB  - Homeless youth are prone to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) due to their
      engagement in high risk behavior such as unprotected sex, sex under influence of
      drugs, etc. Many non-profit agencies conduct interventions to educate and train a
      select group of homeless youth about HIV prevention and treatment practices and
      rely on word-of-mouth spread of information through their social network.
      Previous work in strategic selection of intervention participants does not handle
      uncertainties in the social network's structure and evolving network state,
      potentially causing significant shortcomings in spread of information. Thus, we
      developed PSINET, a decision support system to aid the agencies in this task.
      PSINET includes the following key novelties: (i) it handles uncertainties in
      network structure and evolving network state; (ii) it addresses these
      uncertainties by using POMDPs in influence maximization; and (iii) it provides
      algorithmic advances to allow high quality approximate solutions for such POMDPs.
      Simulations show that PSINET achieves ~60% more information spread over the
      current state-of-the-art. PSINET was developed in collaboration with My Friend's
      Place (a drop-in agency serving homeless youth in Los Angeles) and is currently
      being reviewed by their officials.

PMID- 27642230
TI  - HLA ASSOCIATIONS IN OBESE WHITE AND BLACK ADULTS.
AB  - We summarized HLA-A and -B data from 1095 black and white adult men and women
      with or without obesity to determine if specific HLA tissue types are
      overrepresented in obese individuals compared with nonobese. None of the three
      HLA types (Aw30, B18, Bw35) previously reported to relate to obesity was
      overrepresented in obese subjects in our study. However, B14 and B41 haplotypes
      were overrepresented in obese white men compared with nonobese men, and B7 was
      overrepresented in obese black men compared with nonobese men. Additional
      research will be required to confirm the HLA associations we found and to
      determine if methodologic differences could account for the differences among the
      previous studies.

PMID- 27642228
TI  - Assessing the Straightforwardly-Worded Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale
      for Differential Item Functioning Across Gender and Ethnicity.
AB  - The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE; Leary Personality and Social
      Psychology Bulletin, 9, 371-375, 1983) assesses fear and worry about receiving
      negative evaluation from others. Rodebaugh et al. Psychological Assessment, 16,
      169-181, (2004) found that the BFNE is composed of a reverse-worded factor (BFNE
      R) and straightforwardly-worded factor (BFNE-S). Further, they found the BFNE-S
      to have better psychometric properties and provide more information than the BFNE
      R. Currently there is a lack of research regarding the measurement invariance of
      the BFNE-S across gender and ethnicity with respect to item thresholds. The
      present study uses item response theory (IRT) to test the BFNE-S for differential
      item functioning (DIF) related to gender and ethnicity (White, Asian, and Black).
      Six data sets consisting of clinical, community, and undergraduate participants
      were utilized (N=2,109). The factor structure of the BFNE-S was confirmed using
      categorical confirmatory factor analysis, IRT model assumptions were tested, and
      the BFNE-S was evaluated for DIF. Item nine demonstrated significant non-uniform
      DIF between White and Black participants. No other items showed significant
      uniform or non-uniform DIF across gender or ethnicity. Results suggest the BFNE-S
      can be used reliably with men and women and Asian and White participants. More
      research is needed to understand the implications of using the BFNE-S with Black
      participants.

PMID- 27642229
TI  - Global patterns and controls of soil organic carbon dynamics as simulated by
      multiple terrestrial biosphere models: Current status and future directions.
AB  - Soil is the largest organic carbon (C) pool of terrestrial ecosystems, and C loss
      from soil accounts for a large proportion of land-atmosphere C exchange.
      Therefore, a small change in soil organic C (SOC) can affect atmospheric carbon
      dioxide (CO2) concentration and climate change. In the past decades, a wide
      variety of studies have been conducted to quantify global SOC stocks and soil C
      exchange with the atmosphere through site measurements, inventories, and
      empirical/process-based modeling. However, these estimates are highly uncertain,
      and identifying major driving forces controlling soil C dynamics remains a key
      research challenge. This study has compiled century-long (1901-2010) estimates of
      SOC storage and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) from 10 terrestrial biosphere
      models (TBMs) in the Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison
      Project and two observation-based data sets. The 10 TBM ensemble shows that
      global SOC estimate ranges from 425 to 2111 Pg C (1 Pg = 1015 g) with a median
      value of 1158 Pg C in 2010. The models estimate a broad range of Rh from 35 to 69
      Pg C yr-1 with a median value of 51 Pg C yr-1 during 2001-2010. The largest
      uncertainty in SOC stocks exists in the 40-65 degrees N latitude whereas the
      largest cross-model divergence in Rh are in the tropics. The modeled SOC change
      during 1901-2010 ranges from -70 Pg C to 86 Pg C, but in some models the SOC
      change has a different sign from the change of total C stock, implying very
      different contribution of vegetation and soil pools in determining the
      terrestrial C budget among models. The model ensemble-estimated mean residence
      time of SOC shows a reduction of 3.4 years over the past century, which
      accelerate C cycling through the land biosphere. All the models agreed that
      climate and land use changes decreased SOC stocks, while elevated atmospheric CO2
      and nitrogen deposition over intact ecosystems increased SOC stocks-even though
      the responses varied significantly among models. Model representations of
      temperature and moisture sensitivity, nutrient limitation, and land use partially
      explain the divergent estimates of global SOC stocks and soil C fluxes in this
      study. In addition, a major source of systematic error in model estimations
      relates to nonmodeled SOC storage in wetlands and peatlands, as well as to old C
      storage in deep soil layers.

PMID- 27642231
TI  - Multifunctional Polymer-Coated Carbon Nanotubes for Safe Drug Delivery.
AB  - Though progress in the use carbon nanotubes in medicine has been most encouraging
      for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, any translational success must
      involve overcoming the toxicological and surface functionalization challenges
      inherent in the use of such nanotubes. Ideally, a carbon nanotube-based drug
      delivery system would exhibit low toxicity, sustained drug release, and persist
      in circulation without aggregation. We report a carbon nanotube (CNT) coated with
      a biocompatible block-co-polymer composed of poly(lactide)-poly(ethylene glycol)
      (PLA-PEG) to reduce short-term and long-term toxicity, sustain drug release of
      paclitaxel (PTX), and prevent aggregation. The copolymer coating on the surface
      of CNTs significantly reduces in vitro toxicity in human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVEC) and U-87 glioblastoma cells. Moreover, coating reduces
      in vitro inflammatory response in rat lung epithelial cells. Compared to non
      coated CNTs, in vivo studies show no long-term inflammatory response with CNT
      coated with PLA-PEG (CLP) and the surface coating significantly decreases acute
      toxicity by doubling the maximum tolerated dose in mice. Using polymer coatings,
      we can encapsulate PTX and release over one week to increase the therapeutic
      efficacy compared to free drugs. In vivo biodistribution and histology studies
      suggests a lower degree of aggregation in tissues in that CLP accumulate more in
      the brain and less in the spleen than the CNT-PLA (CL) formulation.

PMID- 27642233
TI  - Effects of Nasal Occlusion and Oral Contact on Perception of Metallic Taste from
      Metal Salts.
AB  - Iron and copper salts have complex olfactory and gustatory properties including a
      metallic flavor component that is decreased by nasal occlusion. To examine the
      sensory properties of ferrous sulfate and copper sulfate, a trained descriptive
      panel evaluated these compounds at equal molarity and perceived equal intensity
      with and without nasal occlusion. Ferrous sulfate exhibited a metallic taste and
      metallic aftertaste and copper sulfate exhibited a more pronounced metallic
      aftertaste. Metallic sensations were decreased by nasal occlusion, which in the
      absence of any orthonasal metallic smell, implies that the sensations were
      retronasally perceived volatiles in the nose open condition. Ferrous sulfate
      showed a larger effect of nasal occlusion. A second experiment isolated ferrous
      sulfate solutions from oral contact via a plastic barrier. In comparison to a
      condition in which oral contact was allowed, intensity ratings were decreased.
      This result is consistent with the hypothesis that rinses with solutions of metal
      salts, particularly ferrous sulfate, generate volatile lipid oxidation products
      in the mouth that are perceived retronasally as metallic flavors.

PMID- 27642232
TI  - Advances in Anticancer Protein Delivery Using Micro-/ Nanoparticles.
AB  - Proteins exhibiting anticancer activities, especially those capable of
      discriminately killing cancer cells, have attracted increasing interest in
      developing protein-based anticancer therapeutics. This progress report surveys
      recent advances in delivering anticancer proteins directly to tumor tissue for
      inducing apoptosis/necrosis or indirectly to antigen presenting cells for
      provoking immune responses. Protein delivery carriers such as inorganic
      particles, lipid particles, polymeric particles, DNA/protein based
      biomacromolecular particles as well as cell based carriers are reviewed with
      comments on their advantages and limitations. Future challenges and opportunities
      are also discussed.

PMID- 27642234
TI  - A review of the impact of processing on nutrient bioaccessibility and digestion
      of almonds.
AB  - Almond kernels contain phytochemicals and nutrients that potentially have
      positive health benefits in relation to heart disease, diabetes and obesity. One
      important mechanism associated with these benefits is an imposed limit on
      bioaccessibility (release) of nutrients, such as lipids, from almond tissue
      during mastication and digestion. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance
      of food structure during the digestion of plant foods. In particular, in the
      almond kernel, depending on its structure and degree of processing, the amount of
      lipid released from the almond tissue matrix and the fatty acids produced from
      lipolysis has been found to vary substantially. This review aims at discussing
      the commercial methods of almond processing and the different almond forms
      produced for human consumption, mainly with respect to their impact on nutrient
      composition, digestion and metabolism.

PMID- 27642235
TI  - Depletion of Neutrophils Exacerbates the Early Inflammatory Immune Response in
      Lungs of Mice Infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.
AB  - Neutrophils predominate during the acute phase of the Paracoccidioides
      brasiliensis infection. Herein, we determined the role of the neutrophil during
      the early stages of experimental pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis using a
      monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for neutrophils. Male BALB/c mice were
      inoculated intranasally with 1.5 * 10(6) or 2 * 10(6) P. brasiliensis yeast
      cells. The mAb was administered 24 h before infection, followed by doses every 48
      h until mice were sacrificed. Survival time was evaluated and mice were
      sacrificed at 48 h and 96 h after inoculation to assess cellularity, fungal load,
      cytokine/chemokine levels, and histopathological analysis. Neutrophils from mAb
      treated mice were efficiently depleted (99.04%). Eighty percent of the mice
      treated with the mAb and infected with 1.5 * 10(6) yeast cells died during the
      first two weeks after infection. When mice were treated and infected with 2 *
      10(6) yeast cells, 100% of them succumbed by the first week after infection.
      During the acute inflammatory response significant increases in numbers of
      eosinophils, fungal load and levels of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines were
      observed in the mAb-treated mice. We also confirmed that neutrophils are an
      important source of IFN-gamma and IL-17. These results indicate that neutrophils
      are essential for protection as well as being important for regulating the early
      inflammatory immune response in experimental pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis. 

PMID- 27642236
TI  - Advantages of Extracellular Ubiquitin in Modulation of Immune Responses.
AB  - T and B lymphocytes play a central role in protecting the human body from
      infectious pathogens but occasionally they can escape immune tolerance, become
      activated, and induce autoimmune diseases. All deregulated cellular processes are
      associated with improper functioning of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in
      eukaryotic cells. The role of ubiquitin in regulation of immune responses and in
      autoimmune diseases is only beginning to emerge. Ubiquitin is found in intra- and
      extracellular fluids and is involved in regulation of numerous cellular
      processes. Extracellular ubiquitin ascribed a role in lymphocyte differentiation.
      It regulates differentiation and maturation of hematopoietic cell lines.
      Ubiquitination is involved in initiation, propagation, and termination of immune
      responses. Disrupted ubiquitination can lead to autoimmunity. Recent observations
      showed that it can suppress immune response and prevent inflammation. Exogenous
      ubiquitin may provide good potential as a new tool for targeted therapy for
      immune mediated disorders of various etiologies. 

PMID- 27642237
TI  - A Novel Oxidative Stress Mediator in Acute Appendicitis: Thiol/Disulphide
      Homeostasis.
AB  - Aim. To investigate the role of a novel oxidative stress marker, thiol/disulphide
      homeostasis, in patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis (AA). Methods. In this
      study, seventy-one (43 male and 28 female) patients diagnosed with AA and 71 (30
      male and 41 female) healthy volunteers were included. Age, gender, body mass
      index (BMI), haemoglobin (Hb), white blood cell (WBC), c-reactive protein (CRP),
      and thiol/disulphide homeostasis parameters (native thiol, total thiol,
      disulphide, disulphide/native thiol, native thiol/total thiol, and
      disulphide/total thiol ratios) were compared between the groups. Thiol/disulphide
      homeostasis was determined by a newly developed method by Erel and Neselioglu.
      Results. The native thiol, total thiol, and the native thiol/total thiol ratio
      levels were statistically significantly decreased in the AA compared with the
      control group (p < 0.001). Disulphide level and the ratios of disulphide/native
      thiol and disulphide/total thiol were higher in the AA group than in the control
      group (p < 0.001). There was a negative correlation of CRP with native thiol,
      total thiol, and native thiol/total thiol ratio while there was a positive
      correlation of CRP with disulphide/native thiol and disulphide/total thiol in the
      AA group. In the stepwise regression model, risk factors as disulphide/native
      thiol (OR = 1.368; p = 0.018) and CRP (OR = 1.635; p = 0.003) were determined as
      predictors of perforated appendicitis compared to the nonperforated group.
      Conclusion. This is the first study examining the thiol/disulphide homeostasis as
      a diagnostic aid in AA and establishing thiol/disulphide homeostatis balance
      shifted towards the disulphide formation due to thiol oxidation. Further studies
      are needed to optimize the use of this novel oxidative stress marker in AA. 

PMID- 27642239
TI  - Holding the Inflammatory System in Check: TLRs and NLRs.

PMID- 27642238
TI  - Plasma Leptin Is Elevated in Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
AB  - Background. The natural history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is very
      complex and unpredictable. Some patients will experience acute exacerbation (AE)
      and fatal outcomes. Methods. The study included 30 AE-IPF patients, 32 stable IPF
      (S-IPF) patients, and 12 healthy controls. We measured the plasma concentrations
      of leptin and KL-6. Simple correlation was used to assess associations between
      leptin and other variables. Plasma leptin levels were compared between AE-IPF and
      S-IPF subjects, decedents, and survivors. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to
      display survival and Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine risk
      factors for survival. Results. In subjects with AE-IPF, plasma leptin was
      significantly greater than in subjects with S-IPF (p = 0.0003) or healthy
      controls (p < 0.0001). Plasma leptin was correlated with BMI, KL-6, LDH, CRP, and
      PaO2/FiO2 (p = 0.007; p = 0.005; p = 0.003; p = 0.033; and p = 0.032, resp.).
      Plasma leptin was significantly greater in 33 decedents than in the 23 survivors
      (p = 0.007). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed leptin (>13.79 ng/mL)
      was an independent predictor of survival (p = 0.004). Conclusions. Leptin could
      be a promising plasma biomarker of AE-IPF occurrence and predictor of survival in
      IPF patients. 

PMID- 27642241
TI  - Mechanism and Function of Angiogenin in Apoptosis Regulation.
AB  - Angiogenin (ANG), a secreted ribonuclease, has been characterized recently as an
      anti-apoptosis factor involved in a variety of cellular anti-apoptosis process.
      ANG regulates intrinsic pathways-related major molecules such as anti-apoptotic
      protein Bcl-2, as well as extrinsic signaling pathways. Moreover, ANG regulates
      p53-regulated apoptosis, a process considered to be important in regulating both
      the extrinsic and the intrinsic pathways.

PMID- 27642240
TI  - Molecular Modeling and Structural Analysis of Arylesterase of Ancylostoma
      Duodenale.
AB  - Parasitic worm infection of humans is one of the most commonly prevalent helminth
      infection that has imposed great impact on society and public health in the
      developing world. The two species of hookworm, namely Ancylostoma duodenale and
      Necator americanus may be primarily responsible for causing parasitic infections
      in human beings. The highly prevalent areas for Ancylostoma duodenale infections
      are mainly India, Middle East, Australia, northern Africa and other parts of the
      world. The serum arylesterases/paraoxonases are family of enzymes that is
      involved in the hydrolysis of a number of organophosphorus insecticides to the
      nontoxic products. The participation of the enzymes in the breakdown of a variety
      of organophosphate substrates that is generally made up of paraoxon and numerous
      aromatic carboxylic acid esters (e.g., phenyl acetate), and hence combats the
      toxic effect of organophosphates. The aim of the present investigation is to
      evaluate the arylesterases of Ancylostoma duodenale giving special importance to
      structure generation, validation of the generated models, distribution of
      secondary structural elements and positive charge distribution over the
      structure. By the implementation of comparative modeling approach we propose the
      first molecular model structure of arylesterases of Ancylostoma duodenale.

PMID- 27642242
TI  - PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION AND LAWFUL SPECIFICATION.
AB  - When a listener can also see a talker, audible and visible properties are
      ineluctably combined, perceptually. This perceptual disposition to audiovisual
      integration has received widely ranging explanations. At one extreme, accounts
      have likened perception to a blind listener and a deaf viewer combined within a
      single skin, resolving discrepancies in identification by each modality. At the
      other extreme, perception has been described as necessarily and automatically
      synesthetic. Useful descriptive and explanatory evidence was provided in a study
      of auditory-haptic presentation by Fowler and Dekle (1991), showing that neither
      familiarity nor congruence is required for perceptual integration to occur across
      modalities. Instead, the notion of conjoint lawful specification was proposed as
      a governing constraint. This principle treats sensory activity as proximal
      sampling of the properties of distal objects and events, and this essay notes
      that its corollaries offer a broadly applicable guide in contemporary
      investigations of perception.

PMID- 27642243
TI  - A Culture of Mutual Support: The Impact of Giving and Receiving of Practical and
      Emotional Support on African American Marital Satisfaction.
AB  - While the literature has discussed the extensive family network ties of African
      Americans and its implications for marital satisfaction, few studies incorporate
      primarily African American samples in studies of marital satisfaction and social
      networks. This study draws on a sample of African American married couples from
      the National Survey of American Life and explores the impact of mutual support,
      giving and receiving of practical and emotional support, on the marital
      satisfaction of husbands and wives. Results from the ordinal logistic regression
      analyses reveal that emotional support received from family and support given to
      friends are significantly related to husbands' marital satisfaction while
      emotional support received from family and negative interaction with family
      contributes to wives' marital satisfaction. Research and practice implications
      with African American married couples are discussed.

PMID- 27642244
TI  - Addressing Increases in Gonorrhea Diagnoses in South Dakota: A Collaboration
      between the State, IHS, Tribes, and CDC.

PMID- 27642245
TI  - Factors Associated with Hormonal and Intrauterine Contraceptive Use among HIV
      Infected Men and Women in Lilongwe, Malawi: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - Background. Understanding the factors associated with the use of hormonal and
      intrauterine contraception among HIV-infected men and women may lead to
      interventions that can help reduce high unintended pregnancy rates. Materials and
      Methods. This study is a subanalysis of a cross-sectional survey of 289 women and
      241 men who were sexually active and HIV-infected and were attending HIV care
      visits in Lilongwe, Malawi. We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) to
      evaluate factors associated with hormonal and intrauterine contraceptive use for
      men and women in separate models. Results and Discussion. 39.8% of women and
      33.2% of men (p = 0.117) reported that they were using hormonal or intrauterine
      contraception at last intercourse. Having greater than 3 children was the only
      factor associated with hormonal and intrauterine contraceptive use among men.
      Among women, younger age, not wanting a pregnancy in 2 years, being with their
      partner for more than 4 years, and being able to make family planning decisions
      by themselves were associated with hormonal and intrauterine contraceptive use.
      Conclusions. The men and women in our study population differed in the factors
      associated with hormonal and intrauterine contraceptive use. Understanding these
      differences may help decrease unmet FP needs among HIV-infected men and women.

PMID- 27642246
TI  - Infrared Methods for Assessment of the Activity of Natural Enamel Caries Lesions.
AB  - New diagnostic methods are needed for the accurate assessment of caries lesion
      activity to establish the need for surgical treatment. Detection of the highly
      mineralized surface layer that forms near the surface of the lesions as a result
      of remineralization is important for diagnosis of the lesion activity. Previous
      studies have demonstrated that novel imaging methods can be used to detect
      remineralization of artificial enamel caries lesions. In this paper, the activity
      of natural enamel caries lesions was assessed in-vitro via detection of the
      surface layer with PS-OCT and dehydration rate measurements with NIR reflectance
      and thermal imaging modalities. An automated approach for detecting the surface
      layer with PS-OCT yielded high sensitivity (= 0.79) and high specificity (= 0.93)
      with moderate correlation (R2 = 0.5920) with histology. Significant differences
      in dehydration rate measurements were found between the active and the arrested
      lesions using both the NIR reflectance and thermal imaging modalities. These
      results demonstrate that these novel imaging methods are ideally suited for
      nondestructive, noninvasive and quantitative measurement of lesion activity
      during a single clinical examination in real-time.

PMID- 27642248
TI  - Polymorph Discrimination using Low Wavenumber Raman Spectroscopy.
AB  - Characterization of crystalline polymorphs and their quantitation has become an
      integral part of the pre-clinical drug development process. Raman spectroscopy is
      a powerful technique for the rapid identification of phases of pharmaceuticals.
      In the present work we demonstrate the use of low wavenumber Raman vibrational
      spectroscopy (including phonon measurement) for discrimination among polymorphs.
      A total of 10 polymorphic pharmaceuticals were employed to conduct a critical
      assessment. Raman scattering in the low frequency region (10-400 cm-1), which
      includes crystal lattice vibrations, has been analyzed and the results indicate
      lattice phonon Raman scattering can be used for rapid discrimination of
      polymorphic phases with additional discriminating power compared to conventional
      collection strategies. Moreover structural insight and conformational changes can
      be detected with this approach.

PMID- 27642247
TI  - Development of the Juvenile Justice Anger Management Treatment for Girls.
AB  - Female juvenile offenders exhibit high levels of anger, relational aggression,
      and physical aggression, but the population has long been ignored in research and
      practice. No anger management treatments have been developed specifically for
      this population, and no established anger management treatments are empirically
      supported for use with delinquent girls. Thus, to alleviate anger and reduce the
      frequency and severity of aggressive behaviors in this underserved population, we
      developed the gender-specific, Juvenile Justice Anger Management (JJAM) Treatment
      for Girls. This cognitive-behavioral intervention was adapted from the Coping
      Power Program (Lochman & Wells, 2002), a school-based anger management treatment
      for younger children that has established efficacy and effectiveness findings
      with its target populations. This paper describes how the content of JJAM was
      developed to meet the unique needs of adolescent girls in residential juvenile
      justice placements. It also traces the process of developing a manualized
      treatment and the steps taken to enhance efficacy and clinical utility. An
      overview of the treatment, a session-by-session outline, an example session
      activity, and an example homework assignment are provided. A randomized
      controlled trial is currently being conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the
      JJAM Treatment for Girls.

PMID- 27642249
TI  - Conservative Surgical Management for Pulmonary Hydatid Cyst: Analysis and Outcome
      of 148 Cases.
AB  - Background. Hydatid cyst (HC) disease is endemic in many developing countries,
      like Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, especially in the rural regions. The disease
      has a variable clinical courses and even might be asymptomatic for many years.
      Objectives. In giant and large pulmonary hydatid cysts, pulmonary resection is
      the usual method of surgical treatment. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the
      lung conservative surgery in treatment of cases with giant and large hydatid lung
      cysts, as an effective method of management. Patients and Methods. Between
      January 2009 and August 2014, a total of 148 patients with pulmonary hydatid
      cysts were operated and their data was reviewed retrospectively and analyzed. Out
      of these cases, 52 (35.14%) cysts with more than 10 cm in diameter and 36
      (24.32%) cysts with 5-9 cm were regarded as giant and large hydatid lung cysts,
      respectively. The small cysts less than 5 cm were presented in 8 (5.4%) cases
      only; other cases had ruptured cysts. Preservation of the lung tissues during
      surgery by cystotomy and Capitonnage was our conservative surgical methods of
      choice. Results. Eight patients developed bronchopleural fistula (BPF); of them,
      4 BPFs have healed with chest tube and physiotherapy, but in the other 4 patients
      reoperation was done for the closure of persistent BPF. No mortality was observed
      in the present study. Conclusion. We conclude that conservative surgical
      procedure can achieve complete removal of the pulmonary hydatid cyst. Enucleation
      of the intact huge cysts is safe. Careful and secured closure of the bronchial
      communication should be done by purse string or figure-of-8 sutures, with or
      without Teflon pledgets. These simple procedures are safe, reliable, and
      successful. 

PMID- 27642250
TI  - Development of Long-term Spatiotemporal Models for Ambient Ozone in Six
      Metropolitan regions of the United States: The MESA Air Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current epidemiologic studies rely on simple ozone metrics which may
      not appropriately capture population ozone exposure. For understanding health
      effects of long-term ozone exposure in population studies, it is advantageous for
      exposure estimation to incorporate the complex spatiotemporal pattern of ozone
      concentrations at fine scales. OBJECTIVE: To develop a geo-statistical exposure
      prediction model that predicts fine scale spatiotemporal variations of ambient
      ozone in six United States metropolitan regions. METHODS: We developed a modeling
      framework that estimates temporal trends from regulatory agency and cohort
      specific monitoring data from MESA Air measurement campaigns and incorporates
      land use regression with universal kriging using predictor variables from a large
      geographic database. The cohort-specific data were measured at home and community
      locations. The framework was applied in estimating two-week average ozone
      concentrations from 1999 to 2013 in models of each of the six MESA Air
      metropolitan regions. RESULTS: Ozone models perform well in both spatial and
      temporal dimensions at the agency monitoring sites in terms of prediction
      accuracy. City-specific leave-one (site)-out cross-validation R2 accounting for
      temporal and spatial variability ranged from 0.65 to 0.88 in the six regions. For
      predictions at the home sites, the R2 is between 0.60 and 0.91 for cross
      validation that left out 10% of home sites in turn. The predicted ozone
      concentrations vary substantially over space and time in all the metropolitan
      regions. CONCLUSION: Using the available data, our spatiotemporal models are able
      to accurately predict long-term ozone concentrations at fine spatial scales in
      multiple regions. The model predictions will allow for investigation of the long
      term health effects of ambient ozone concentrations in future epidemiological
      studies.

PMID- 27642252
TI  - Determining transformation distance in similarity: Considerations for assessing
      representational changes a priori.
AB  - The Representational Distortion (RD) approach to similarity (e.g., Hahn, Chater,
      & Richardson, 2003) proposes that similarity is computed using the transformation
      distance between two entities. We argue that researchers who adopt this approach
      need to be concerned with how representational transformations can be determined
      a priori. We discuss several roadblocks to using this approach. Specifically, we
      demonstrate the difficulties inherent in determining what transformations are
      psychologically salient and the importance of considering the directionality of
      transformations.

PMID- 27642253
TI  - Single-Step Purification of Ovalbumin from Egg White Using Aqueous Biphasic
      Systems.
AB  - The ability of aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) composed of polyethylene glycols of
      different molecular weights (PEG 400, 600 and 1000) and buffered aqueous
      solutions of potassium citrate/citric acid (pH = 5.0 - 8.0) to selectively
      extract ovalbumin from egg white was here investigated. Phase diagrams, tie-lines
      and tie-line lengths were determined at 25oC and the partitioning of ovalbumin in
      these systems was then evaluated. Aiming at optimizing the selective extraction
      of ovalbumin in the studied ABS, factors such as pH, PEG molecular weight and
      amount of the phase-forming components were initially investigated with pure
      commercial ovalbumin. In almost all ABS, it was observed a preferential
      partitioning of ovalbumin to the polymer-rich phase, with extraction efficiencies
      higher than 90%. The best ABS were then applied in the purification of ovalbumin
      from the real egg white matrix. In order to ascertain on the ovalbumin purity and
      yield, sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and
      size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) analyses were
      conducted, confirming that the isolation/purification of ovalbumin from egg white
      was completely achieved in a single-step with a recovery yield of 65%. The
      results obtained show that polymer-salt-based ABS allow the selective extraction
      of ovalbumin from egg white with a simpler approach and better performance than
      previously reported. Finally, it is shown that ovalbumin can be completely
      recovered from the PEG-rich phase by an induced precipitation using an
      inexpensive and sustainable separation platform which can be easily applied on an
      industrial scale.

PMID- 27642251
TI  - Scripted drives: A robust protocol for generating exposures to traffic-related
      air pollution.
AB  - Commuting in automobiles can contribute substantially to total traffic-related
      air pollution (TRAP) exposure, yet measuring commuting exposures for studies of
      health outcomes remains challenging. To estimate real-world TRAP exposures, we
      developed and evaluated the robustness of a scripted drive protocol on the NJ
      Turnpike and local roads between April 2007 and October 2014. Study participants
      were driven in a car with closed windows and open vents during morning rush hours
      on 190 days. Real-time measurements of PM2.5, PNC, CO, and BC, and integrated
      samples of NO2, were made in the car cabin. Exposure measures included in-vehicle
      concentrations on the NJ Turnpike and local roads and the differences and ratios
      of these concentrations. Median in-cabin concentrations were 11 MUg/m3 PM2.5, 40
      000 particles/cm3, 0.3 ppm CO, 4 MUg/m3 BC, and 20.6 ppb NO2. In-cabin
      concentrations on the NJ Turnpike were higher than in-cabin concentrations on
      local roads by a factor of 1.4 for PM2.5, 3.5 for PNC, 1.0 for CO, and 4 for BC.
      Median concentrations of NO2 for full rides were 2.4 times higher than ambient
      concentrations. Results were generally robust relative to season, traffic
      congestion, ventilation setting, and study year, except for PNC and PM2.5, which
      had secular and seasonal trends. Ratios of concentrations were more stable than
      differences or absolute concentrations. Scripted drives can be used for
      generating reasonably consistent in-cabin increments of exposure to traffic
      related air pollution.

PMID- 27642254
TI  - The effects of racial attitudes on affect and engagement in racially discordant
      medical interactions between non-Black physicians and Black patients.
AB  - The association between physicians' and patients' racial attitudes and poorer
      patient-physician communication in racially discordant medical interactions is
      well-documented. However, it is unclear how physicians' and patients' racial
      attitudes independently and jointly affect their behaviors during these
      interactions. In a secondary analysis of video-recorded medical interactions
      between non-Black physicians and Black patients, we examined how physicians'
      explicit and implicit racial bias and patients' perceived past discrimination
      influenced their own as well as one another's affect and level of engagement.
      Affect and engagement were assessed with a "thin slice" method. For physicians,
      the major findings were significant three-way interactions: physicians' affect
      and engagement were influenced by their implicit and explicit racial bias (i.e.,
      aversive racism), but only when they interacted with patients who reported any
      incidence of prior discrimination. In contrast, patients' affect was influenced
      only by perceived discrimination. Theoretical and clinical implications of
      current findings are discussed.

PMID- 27642255
TI  - Advantages and limitations of classic and 3D QSAR approaches in nano-QSAR studies
      based on biological activity of fullerene derivatives.
AB  - In this contribution, the advantages and limitations of two computational
      techniques that can be used for the investigation of nanoparticles activity and
      toxicity: classic nano-QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships
      employed for nanomaterials) and 3D nano-QSAR (three-dimensional Quantitative
      Structure-Activity Relationships, such us Comparative Molecular Field Analysis,
      CoMFA/Comparative Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis, CoMSIA analysis employed
      for nanomaterials) have been briefly summarized. Both approaches were compared
      according to the selected criteria, including: efficiency, type of experimental
      data, class of nanomaterials, time required for calculations and computational
      cost, difficulties in the interpretation. Taking into account the advantages and
      limitations of each method, we provide the recommendations for nano-QSAR
      modellers and QSAR model users to be able to determine a proper and efficient
      methodology to investigate biological activity of nanoparticles in order to
      describe the underlying interactions in the most reliable and useful manner.

PMID- 27642256
TI  - Optimization of a transferred arc reactor for metal nanoparticle synthesis.
AB  - The demand for metal nanoparticles is increasing strongly. Transferred arc
      synthesis is a promising process in this respect, as it shows high production
      rates, good quality particles and the ability of up-scaling. The influence of
      several process parameters on the performance of the process in terms of
      production rate and particle size is investigated. These parameters are the
      electrode design and adjustment, the gas flow rate and power input. A novel
      feeding mechanism allows process operation over an extended time period. It is
      shown that the process is capable of producing pure metal nanoparticles with
      variable primary particle sizes and comparatively high production rates. Optimal
      process conditions for a single transferred arc electrode pair are found, which
      allow further scale-up by numbering up.

PMID- 27642257
TI  - New, rapid method to measure dissolved silver concentration in silver
      nanoparticle suspensions by aggregation combined with centrifugation.
AB  - It is unclear whether the antimicrobial activities of silver nanoparticles
      (AgNPs) are exclusively mediated by the release of silver ions (Ag+) or, instead,
      are due to combined nanoparticle and silver ion effects. Therefore, it is
      essential to quantify dissolved Ag in nanosilver suspensions for investigations
      of nanoparticle toxicity. We developed a method to measure dissolved Ag in
      Ag+/AgNPs mixtures by combining aggregation of AgNPs with centrifugation. We also
      describe the reproducible synthesis of stable, uncoated AgNPs. Uncoated AgNPs
      were quickly aggregated by 2 mM Ca2+, forming large clusters that could be
      sedimented in a low-speed centrifuge. At 20,100g, the sedimentation time of AgNPs
      was markedly reduced to 30 min due to Ca2+-mediated aggregation, confirmed by the
      measurements of Ag content in supernatants with graphite furnace atomic
      absorption spectrometry. No AgNPs were detected in the supernatant by UV-Vis
      absorption spectra after centrifuging the aggregates. Our approach provides a
      convenient and inexpensive way to separate dissolved Ag from AgNPs, avoiding long
      ultracentrifugation times or Ag+ adsorption to ultrafiltration membranes.

PMID- 27642258
TI  - A halogen-free synthesis of gold nanoparticles using gold(III) oxide.
AB  - Gold nanoparticles are one of the most used nanomaterials. They are usually
      synthesized by the reduction of gold(III) chloride. However, the presence of
      halide ions in the reaction mixture is not always welcome. In some cases, these
      ions have detrimental influence on the morphology and structure of resulting
      nanoparticles. Here, we present a simple and halogen-free procedure to prepare
      gold nanoparticles by reduction of gold(III) oxide in neat oleylamine. The method
      provides the particles with an average size below 10 nm and dispersity of tens of
      percent. The process of nanoparticle formation was monitored using UV-Vis
      spectroscopy. The structure and chemical composition of the nanoparticles was
      determined by SEM, XPS and EDX. We also proposed the mechanism of reduction of
      gold(III) oxide based on MS, IR and NMR data. Importantly, the synthetic protocol
      is general and applicable for the preparation of other coinage metal
      nanoparticles from the corresponding metal oxides. For instance, we demonstrated
      that the absence of halogen enables efficient alloying of metals when preparing
      gold-silver bimetallic nanoparticles.

PMID- 27642259
TI  - Subjective wellbeing and income: Empirical patterns in the rural developing
      world.
AB  - A commonality in the economics of happiness literature is that absolute income
      matters more for the subjective wellbeing of people at low income levels. In this
      article, we use a large sample of people in rural areas of developing countries
      with relatively low income levels to test whether subjective wellbeing an
      increasing function of absolute income in our sample, and to analyze the
      existence of adaptation and social comparison effects on subjective wellbeing.
      Our sample includes 6973 rural households in 23 countries throughout Asia,
      Africa, and Latin America. The average total income per adult equivalent in our
      sample was US$1555, whereas levels of subjective wellbeing resembled levels found
      in previous research using cross-country data. We find that, despite low levels
      of absolute income, levels of subjective wellbeing of our respondents resemble
      levels found in previous research using cross-country data. We also find
      remarkable similarities in many of the determinants of subjective wellbeing
      previously tested. Our data show that absolute income covariates with subjective
      wellbeing, but -as for richer samples- the magnitude of the association is lower
      once we control for adaptation and social comparison. Finally, our results
      suggest that social comparison has a stronger effect than adaptation in
      explaining the subjective wellbeing of our sample. Our findings highlight the
      importance of adaptation and social comparison even at low levels of absolute
      income.

PMID- 27642260
TI  - Cycloaddition of Arynes and Cyclic Enol Ethers as a Platform for Access to
      Stereochemically Defined 1,2-Disubstituted Benzocyclobutenes.
AB  - Benzocyclobutenes (BCBs) are important entities in a multitude of areas, such as
      complex organic synthesis, materials and polymer chemistry, and electronics.
      Whereas reactions between arynes and ketene acetals have been well studied,
      reactions with cyclic enol ethers are unknown. A cis olefin geometry in cyclic
      enol ethers makes them well suited for formal [2 + 2] cycloaddition with arynes
      than for competing ene reactions, making them effective reactants. Reactions of
      2,3-dihydrofuran, 2,3-dihydro-3H-pyran, 5-butyl-2,3-dihydrofuran, (S)-2
      ((benzyloxy)methyl)-2,3-dihydrofuran, and 1,4-dioxene with various arynes were
      successful. An advantage of the use of cyclic enol ethers is that despite the
      plausible intermediacy of zwitterionic intermediates, the products are limited to
      a cis ring junction. This can be exploited for potential access to
      stereochemically-defined 1,2-disubstituted BCBs. As a demonstration, ether ring
      cleavage with BBr3 provided trans-functionalized BCBs and displacement with azide
      then provided cis derivatives. DFT computations have been utilized to understand
      the structures of three arynes in relation to the cycloadditions and for a
      predictive evaluation of product ratios in two cases. A comparative evaluation of
      the HOMO energies of a related series of cyclic olefins has also been performed
      by DFT computations.

PMID- 27642261
TI  - Isomer Separation of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Metabolites using nanoESI-TIMS
      MS.
AB  - In this paper, high-resolution nano-electrospray ionization-trapped ion mobility
      spectrometry coupled to mass spectrometry (nESI-TIMS-MS) is used for the study of
      hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ether (OH-PBDE) metabolites. In particular,
      experimental ion-neutral collision cross sections (CCS) were measured for five
      structural OH-PBDE isomers using TIMS-MS. Candidate structures were proposed for
      each IMS band observed in good agreement with the experimental CCS measurements
      (5% error). The analytical power of TIMS-MS to baseline and partially separate
      structural isomers of OH-BDE in binary and ternary mixtures is shown for single
      charge species with a mobility resolving power of RIMS ~ 400. This work provides
      the proof of concept for the analysis of low concentration OH-PBDE in
      environmental samples based on accurate collision cross section and mass
      measurements without the need for derivatization and pre-fractionation protocols,
      thus significantly reducing the cost and analysis time.

PMID- 27642262
TI  - Improved extraction of fluoroquinolones with recyclable ionic-liquid-based
      aqueous biphasic systems.
AB  - In the past few years, the improvement of advanced analytical tools allowed to
      confirm the presence of trace amounts of metabolized and unchanged active
      pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as well
      as in freshwater surfaces. It is known that the continuous contact with APIs,
      even at very low concentrations (ng L-1-MUg L-1), leads to serious human health
      problems. In this context, this work shows the feasibility of using ionic-liquid
      based aqueous biphasic systems (IL-based ABS) in the extraction of quinolones
      present in aqueous media. In particular, ABS composed of imidazolium- and
      phosphonium-based ILs and aluminium-based salts (already used in water treatment
      plants) were evaluated in one-step extractions of six fluoroquinolones (FQs),
      namely ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin and
      sarafloxacin, and extraction efficiencies up to 98% were obtained. Despite the
      large interest devoted to IL-based ABS as extractive systems of outstanding
      performance, their recyclability/reusability has seldomly been studied. An
      efficient extraction/cleaning process of the IL-rich phase is here proposed by
      FQs induced precipitation. The recycling of the IL and its further reuse without
      losses in the ABS extractive performance for FQs were established, as confirmed
      by the four consecutive removal/extraction cycles evaluated. This novel recycling
      strategy supports IL-based ABS as sustainable and cost-efficient extraction
      platforms.

PMID- 27642263
TI  - Attentional Predictors of 5-month-olds' Performance on a Looking A-not-B Task.
AB  - In the first year of life, the ability to search for hidden objects is an
      indicator of object permanence and, when multiple locations are involved,
      executive function (i.e. inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory).
      The current study was designed to examine attentional predictors of search in 5
      month-old infants (as measured by the looking A-not-B task), and whether levels
      of maternal education moderated the effect of the predictors. Specifically, in a
      separate task, the infants were shown a unique puppet, and we measured the
      percentage of time attending to the puppet, as well as the length of the longest
      look (i.e., peak fixation) directed towards the puppet. Across the entire sample
      (N =390), the percentage of time attending to the puppet was positively related
      to performance on the visual A-not-B task. However, for infants whose mothers had
      not completed college, having a shorter peak looking time (after controlling for
      percentage of time) was also a predictor of visual A-not-B performance. The role
      of attention, peak fixation and maternal education in visual search is discussed.

PMID- 27642264
TI  - Tracking the weathering of basalts on Mars using lithium isotope fractionation
      models.
AB  - Lithium (Li), the lightest of the alkali elements, has geochemical properties
      that include high aqueous solubility (Li is the most fluid mobile element) and
      high relative abundance in basalt-forming minerals (values ranking between 0.2
      and 12 ppm). Li isotopes are particularly subject to fractionation because the
      two stable isotopes of lithium-7Li and 6Li-have a large relative mass difference
      (~15%) that results in significant fractionation between water and solid phases.
      The extent of Li isotope fractionation during aqueous alteration of basalt
      depends on the dissolution rate of primary minerals-the source of Li-and on the
      precipitation kinetics, leading to formation of secondary phases. Consequently, a
      detailed analysis of Li isotopic ratios in both solution and secondary mineral
      lattices could provide clues about past Martian weathering conditions, including
      weathering extent, temperature, pH, supersaturation, and evaporation rate of the
      initial solutions in contact with basalt rocks. In this paper, we discuss ways in
      which Martian aqueous processes could have lead to Li isotope fractionation. We
      show that Li isotopic data obtained by future exploration of Mars could be
      relevant to highlighting different processes of Li isotopic fractionation in the
      past, and therefore to understanding basalt weathering and environmental
      conditions early in the planet's history.

PMID- 27642266
TI  - Biocompatible Pressure Sensing Skins for Minimally Invasive Surgical Instruments.
AB  - This paper presents 800-MUm thick, biocompatible sensing skins composed of arrays
      of pressure sensors. The arrays can be configured to conform to the surface of
      medical instruments so as to act as disposable sensing skins. In particular, the
      fabrication of cylindrical geometries is considered here for use on endoscopes.
      The sensing technology is based on polydimethylsiloxane synthetic silicone
      encapsulated microchannels filled with a biocompatible salt-saturated glycerol
      solution, functioning as the conductive medium. A multi-layer manufacturing
      approach is introduced that enables stacking sensing microchannels, mechanical
      stress concentration features, and electrical routing via flexcircuits in a
      thickness of less than 1 mm. The proposed approach is inexpensive and does not
      require clean room tools or techniques. The mechanical stress concentration
      features are implemented using a patterned copper layer that serves to improve
      sensing range and sensitivity. Sensor performance is demonstrated experimentally
      using a sensing skin mounted on a neuroendoscope insertion cannula and is shown
      to outperform previously developed non-biocompatible sensors.

PMID- 27642265
TI  - Recent Advances in Biosensing With Photonic Crystal Surfaces: A Review.
AB  - Photonic crystal surfaces that are designed to function as wavelength-selective
      optical resonators have become a widely adopted platform for label-free
      biosensing, and for enhancement of the output of photon-emitting tags used
      throughout life science research and in vitro diagnostics. While some
      applications, such as analysis of drug-protein interactions, require extremely
      high resolution and the ability to accurately correct for measurement artifacts,
      others require sensitivity that is high enough for detection of disease
      biomarkers in serum with concentrations less than 1 pg/ml. As the analysis of
      cells becomes increasingly important for studying the behavior of stem cells,
      cancer cells, and biofilms under a variety of conditions, approaches that enable
      high resolution imaging of live cells without cytotoxic stains or photobleachable
      fluorescent dyes are providing new tools to biologists who seek to observe
      individual cells over extended time periods. This paper will review several
      recent advances in photonic crystal biosensor detection instrumentation and
      device structures that are being applied towards direct detection of small
      molecules in the context of high throughput drug screening, photonic crystal
      fluorescence enhancement as utilized for high sensitivity multiplexed cancer
      biomarker detection, and label-free high resolution imaging of cells and
      individual nanoparticles as a new tool for life science research and single
      molecule diagnostics.

PMID- 27642268
TI  - Comparative analysis of NOAA REFM and SNB3GEO tools for the forecast of the
      fluxes of high-energy electrons at GEO.
AB  - Reliable forecasts of relativistic electrons at geostationary orbit (GEO) are
      important for the mitigation of their hazardous effects on spacecraft at GEO. For
      a number of years the Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA has provided
      advanced online forecasts of the fluence of electrons with energy >2 MeV at GEO
      using the Relativistic Electron Forecast Model (REFM). The REFM forecasts are
      based on real-time solar wind speed observations at L1. The high reliability of
      this forecasting tool serves as a benchmark for the assessment of other
      forecasting tools. Since 2012 the Sheffield SNB3GEO model has been operating
      online, providing a 24 h ahead forecast of the same fluxes. In addition to solar
      wind speed, the SNB3GEO forecasts use solar wind density and interplanetary
      magnetic field Bz observations at L1.The period of joint operation of both of
      these forecasts has been used to compare their accuracy. Daily averaged
      measurements of electron fluxes by GOES 13 have been used to estimate the
      prediction efficiency of both forecasting tools. To assess the reliability of
      both models to forecast infrequent events of very high fluxes, the Heidke skill
      score was employed. The results obtained indicate that SNB3GEO provides a more
      accurate 1 day ahead forecast when compared to REFM. It is shown that the
      correction methodology utilized by REFM potentially can improve the SNB3GEO
      forecast.

PMID- 27642267
TI  - Gender-Focused HIV and Pregnancy Prevention for School-Going Adolescents: The
      Mpondombili Pilot Intervention in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
AB  - : This pilot study evaluated a 15 session classroom intervention for HIV and
      pregnancy prevention among grade 8-10 boys and girls (ages 14-17) in rural South
      Africa, guided by gender-empowerment theory and implemented by teachers, nurses,
      and youth peer educators. Pre- and post-intervention surveys included 933 male
      and female students in two intervention and two comparison schools. MAIN OUTCOME:
      condom use at last sex; secondary outcomes: partner communication; gender beliefs
      and values; perceived peer behaviors; self-efficacy for safer sex. At five months
      post-intervention, change in condom use did not differ between intervention and
      comparison schools. Intervention school youth had greater increases in self
      efficacy for unsafe sex refusal [OR=1.61; 95% CI=1.01, 2.57] and condom use
      [OR=1.76; 95% CI=1.07, 2.89], partner communication [OR=2.42; 95% CI=1.27, 4.23],
      and knowledge of HIV testing opportunities [OR=1.76; 95% CI=1.08, 2.87]. This
      gender-focused pilot intervention increased adolescents' self-efficacy and
      partner communication, and has potential to improve preventive behaviors.

PMID- 27642269
TI  - Resources, mortality, and disease ecology: Importance of positive feedbacks
      between host growth rate and pathogen dynamics.
AB  - Resource theory and metabolic scaling theory suggest that the dynamics of a
      pathogen within a host should strongly depend upon the rate of host cell
      metabolism. Once an infection occurs, key ecological interactions occur on or
      within the host organism that determine whether the pathogen dies out, persists
      as a chronic infection, or grows to densities that lead to host death. We
      hypothesize that, in general, conditions favoring rapid host growth rates should
      amplify the replication and proliferation of both fungal and viral pathogens. If
      a host population experiences an increase in mortality, to persist it must have a
      higher growth rate, per host, often reflecting greater resource availability per
      capita. We hypothesize that this could indirectly foster the pathogen, which also
      benefits from increased within-host resource turnover. We first bring together in
      a short review a number of key prior studies which illustrate resource effects on
      viral and fungal pathogen dynamics. We then report new results from a semi
      continuous cell culture experiment with SHIV, demonstrating that higher mortality
      rates indeed can promote viral proliferation. We develop a simple model that
      illustrates dynamical consequences of these resource effects, including
      interesting effects such as alternative stable states and oscillatory dynamics.
      Our paper contributes to a growing body of literature at the interface of ecology
      and infectious disease epidemiology, emphasizing that host abundances alone do
      not drive community dynamics: the physiological state and resource content of
      infected hosts also strongly influence host-pathogen interactions.

PMID- 27642270
TI  - Ichthyotoxic Karlodinium veneficum (Ballantine) J Larsen in the Upper Swan River
      Estuary (Western Australia): Ecological conditions leading to a fish kill.
AB  - Ichthyotoxic Karlodinium veneficum has become a persistent problem in the
      eutrophic Swan River Estuary (SRE) near Perth, Western Australia. Karlotoxin
      (KmTx) concentrations and K. veneficum were sampled from March to July 2005,
      spanning a bloom confirmed by microscopy and genetics (ITS sequence), and a fish
      kill coincident with end of the bloom. The objective of this study was to
      investigate K. veneficum cell and toxin dynamics, and water quality conditions,
      leading up to the bloom and fish kill in this estuarine system. Abundance of K.
      veneficum increased as diatom abundance decreased over a 3-month period (Jan-Mar)
      preceding the bloom. Low freshwater flow to the SRE characterized the bloom
      initiation period, while elevated seasonal flows altered water quality and
      preceded the end of the bloom and fish kill. The bloom of K. veneficum was
      localized over a bottom layer of hypoxic water in a stratified water column. Low
      nitrate levels, DIN:DIP (mol) near unity, and particulate C:N:P of K. veneficum
      rich water samples were consistent with nitrogen limitation of phytoplankton. A
      KmTx 2 congener was present in the concentration range 0-1052 ng KmTx mL-1,
      levels that were sufficient to kill larval fish in the laboratory within 4 h. A
      KmTx cell quota of 2.8 pg KmTx cell-1 was estimated for the bloom, which is
      moderately high for the species. Gill histopathology of fish from this fish kill
      showed signs of damage similar to those caused by KmTx in the lab. Results from
      this study suggest that conditions in the SRE, including elevated K. veneficum
      abundance and KmTx cell quotas, as well as hypoxia in the upper SRE, likely
      contribute to seasonal fish kills observed in this system.

PMID- 27642271
TI  - Metabolomics enables precision medicine: "A White Paper, Community Perspective".
AB  - INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND TO METABOLOMICS: Metabolomics is the comprehensive study
      of the metabolome, the repertoire of biochemicals (or small molecules) present in
      cells, tissues, and body fluids. The study of metabolism at the global or "
      omics" level is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to have a profound
      impact upon medical practice. At the center of metabolomics, is the concept that
      a person's metabolic state provides a close representation of that individual's
      overall health status. This metabolic state reflects what has been encoded by the
      genome, and modified by diet, environmental factors, and the gut microbiome. The
      metabolic profile provides a quantifiable readout of biochemical state from
      normal physiology to diverse pathophysiologies in a manner that is often not
      obvious from gene expression analyses. Today, clinicians capture only a very
      small part of the information contained in the metabolome, as they routinely
      measure only a narrow set of blood chemistry analytes to assess health and
      disease states. Examples include measuring glucose to monitor diabetes, measuring
      cholesterol and high density lipoprotein/low density lipoprotein ratio to assess
      cardiovascular health, BUN and creatinine for renal disorders, and measuring a
      panel of metabolites to diagnose potential inborn errors of metabolism in
      neonates. OBJECTIVES OF WHITE PAPER-EXPECTED TREATMENT OUTCOMES AND METABOLOMICS
      ENABLING TOOL FOR PRECISION MEDICINE: We anticipate that the narrow range of
      chemical analyses in current use by the medical community today will be replaced
      in the future by analyses that reveal a far more comprehensive metabolic
      signature. This signature is expected to describe global biochemical aberrations
      that reflect patterns of variance in states of wellness, more accurately describe
      specific diseases and their progression, and greatly aid in differential
      diagnosis. Such future metabolic signatures will: (1) provide predictive,
      prognostic, diagnostic, and surrogate markers of diverse disease states; (2)
      inform on underlying molecular mechanisms of diseases; (3) allow for sub
      classification of diseases, and stratification of patients based on metabolic
      pathways impacted; (4) reveal biomarkers for drug response phenotypes, providing
      an effective means to predict variation in a subject's response to treatment
      (pharmacometabolomics); (5) define a metabotype for each specific genotype,
      offering a functional read-out for genetic variants: (6) provide a means to
      monitor response and recurrence of diseases, such as cancers: (7) describe the
      molecular landscape in human performance applications and extreme environments.
      Importantly, sophisticated metabolomic analytical platforms and informatics tools
      have recently been developed that make it possible to measure thousands of
      metabolites in blood, other body fluids, and tissues. Such tools also enable more
      robust analysis of response to treatment. New insights have been gained about
      mechanisms of diseases, including neuropsychiatric disorders, cardiovascular
      disease, cancers, diabetes and a range of pathologies. A series of ground
      breaking studies supported by National Institute of Health (NIH) through the
      Pharmacometabolomics Research Network and its partnership with the
      Pharmacogenomics Research Network illustrate how a patient's metabotype at
      baseline, prior to treatment, during treatment, and post-treatment, can inform
      about treatment outcomes and variations in responsiveness to drugs (e.g.,
      statins, antidepressants, antihypertensives and antiplatelet therapies). These
      studies along with several others also exemplify how metabolomics data can
      complement and inform genetic data in defining ethnic, sex, and gender basis for
      variation in responses to treatment, which illustrates how pharmacometabolomics
      and pharmacogenomics are complementary and powerful tools for precision medicine.
      CONCLUSIONS KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRECISION MEDICINE:
      Our metabolomics community believes that inclusion of metabolomics data in
      precision medicine initiatives is timely and will provide an extremely valuable
      layer of data that compliments and informs other data obtained by these important
      initiatives. Our Metabolomics Society, through its "Precision Medicine and
      Pharmacometabolomics Task Group", with input from our metabolomics community at
      large, has developed this White Paper where we discuss the value and approaches
      for including metabolomics data in large precision medicine initiatives. This
      White Paper offers recommendations for the selection of state of-the-art
      metabolomics platforms and approaches that offer the widest biochemical coverage,
      considers critical sample collection and preservation, as well as standardization
      of measurements, among other important topics. We anticipate that our
      metabolomics community will have representation in large precision medicine
      initiatives to provide input with regard to sample acquisition/preservation,
      selection of optimal omics technologies, and key issues regarding data
      collection, interpretation, and dissemination. We strongly recommend the
      collection and biobanking of samples for precision medicine initiatives that will
      take into consideration needs for large-scale metabolic phenotyping studies.

PMID- 27642272
TI  - Guinea pig genital tract lipidome reveals in vivo and in vitro regulation of
      phosphatidylcholine 16:0/18:1 and contribution to Chlamydia trachomatis serovar D
      infectivity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct), is the leading cause of sexually
      transmitted infections worldwide. Host transcriptomic- or proteomic profiling
      studies have identified key molecules involved in establishment of Ct infection
      or the generation of anti Ct-immunity. However, the contribution of the host
      metabolome is not known. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine
      the contribution of host metabolites in genital Ct infection. METHODS: We used
      high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and mapped lipid
      profiles in genital swabs obtained from female guinea pigs at days 3, 9, 15, 30
      and 65 post Ct serovar D intravaginal infection. RESULTS: Across all time points
      assessed, 13 distinct lipid species including choline, ethanolamine and glycerol
      were detected. Amongst these metabolites, phosphatidylcholine (PC) was the
      predominant phospholipid detected from animals actively shedding bacteria i.e.,
      at 3, 9, and 15 days post infection. However, at days 30 and 65 when the animals
      had cleared the infection, PC was observed to be decreased compared to previous
      time points. Mass spectrometry analyses of PC produced in guinea pigs (in vivo)
      and 104C1 guinea pig cell line (in vitro) revealed distinct PC species following
      Ct D infection. Amongst these, PC 16:0/18:1 was significantly upregulated
      following Ct D infection (p < 0.05, >twofold change) in vivo and in vitro
      infection models investigated in this report. Exogenous addition of PC 16:0/18:1
      resulted in significant increase in Ct D in Hela 229 cells. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrates a role for host metabolite, PC 16:0/18:1 in regulating genital
      Ct infection in vivo and in vitro.

PMID- 27642273
TI  - Soil C and N models that integrate microbial diversity.
AB  - Industrial agriculture is yearly responsible for the loss of 55-100 Pg of
      historical soil carbon and 9.9 Tg of reactive nitrogen worldwide. Therefore,
      management practices should be adapted to preserve ecological processes and
      reduce inputs and environmental impacts. In particular, the management of soil
      organic matter (SOM) is a key factor influencing C and N cycles. Soil
      microorganisms play a central role in SOM dynamics. For instance, microbial
      diversity may explain up to 77 % of carbon mineralisation activities. However,
      soil microbial diversity is actually rarely taken into account in models of C and
      N dynamics. Here, we review the influence of microbial diversity on C and N
      dynamics, and the integration of microbial diversity in soil C and N models. We
      found that a gain of microbial richness and evenness enhances soil C and N
      dynamics on the average, though the improvement of C and N dynamics depends on
      the composition of microbial community. We reviewed 50 models integrating soil
      microbial diversity. More than 90 % of models integrate microbial diversity with
      discrete compartments representing conceptual functional groups (64 %) or
      identified taxonomic groups interacting in a food web (28 %). Half of the models
      have not been tested against an empirical dataset while the other half mainly
      consider fixed parameters. This is due to the difficulty to link taxonomic and
      functional diversity.

PMID- 27642274
TI  - Bio-Orthogonally Crosslinked, Engineered Protein Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanics
      and Biochemistry for Cell Encapsulation.
AB  - Covalently-crosslinked hydrogels are commonly used as 3D matrices for cell
      culture and transplantation. However, the crosslinking chemistries used to
      prepare these gels generally cross-react with functional groups present on the
      cell surface, potentially leading to cytotoxicity and other undesired effects.
      Bio-orthogonal chemistries have been developed that do not react with
      biologically relevant functional groups, thereby preventing these undesirable
      side reactions. However, previously developed biomaterials using these
      chemistries still possess less than ideal properties for cell encapsulation, such
      as slow gelation kinetics and limited tuning of matrix mechanics and
      biochemistry. Here, engineered elastin-like proteins (ELPs) are developed that
      cross-link via strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) or Staudinger
      ligation. The SPAAC-crosslinked materials form gels within seconds and complete
      gelation within minutes. These hydrogels support the encapsulation and phenotypic
      maintenance of human mesenchymal stem cells, human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells, and murine neural progenitor cells. SPAAC-ELP gels exhibit independent
      tuning of stiffness and cell adhesion, with significantly improved cell viability
      and spreading observed in materials containing a fibronectin-derived arginine
      glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) domain. The crosslinking chemistry used permits
      further material functionalization, even in the presence of cells and serum.
      These hydrogels are anticipated to be useful in a wide range of applications,
      including therapeutic cell delivery and bioprinting.

PMID- 27642275
TI  - Event-Based Tone Mapping for Asynchronous Time-Based Image Sensor.
AB  - The asynchronous time-based neuromorphic image sensor ATIS is an array of
      autonomously operating pixels able to encode luminance information with an
      exceptionally high dynamic range (>143 dB). This paper introduces an event-based
      methodology to display data from this type of event-based imagers, taking into
      account the large dynamic range and high temporal accuracy that go beyond
      available mainstream display technologies. We introduce an event-based tone
      mapping methodology for asynchronously acquired time encoded gray-level data. A
      global and a local tone mapping operator are proposed. Both are designed to
      operate on a stream of incoming events rather than on time frame windows.
      Experimental results on real outdoor scenes are presented to evaluate the
      performance of the tone mapping operators in terms of quality, temporal
      stability, adaptation capability, and computational time. 

PMID- 27642276
TI  - The Mechanism of Long Non-coding RNA MEG3 for Neurons Apoptosis Caused by
      Hypoxia: Mediated by miR-181b-12/15-LOX Signaling Pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: lncRNAs are recently thought to play a significant role in cellular
      homeostasis during pathological process of diseases by competing inhibiting miRNA
      function. The aim of present study was to assess the function of long non-coding
      RNA (lncRNA) MEG3 and its functional interaction with microRNA-181b in cerebral
      ischemic infarct of mice and hypoxia-induced neurons apoptosis. METHODS: To
      address this question, we performed the experiments with in vivo middle cerebral
      artery occlusion (MCAO) mice model and in vitro oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)
      cultured neuronal HT22 cell line. Relative expression of MEG3, miR-181b, and
      12/15-LOX (lipoxygenase) mRNA was determined using quantitative RT-PCR. Western
      blot was used to evaluate 12/15-LOX protein expression. TUNEL assay was performed
      to assess cell apoptosis. RESULTS: In both MCAO mice and OGD-cultured HT22 cell,
      ischemia, or hypoxia treatment results in a time-dependent increase in MEG3 and
      12/15-LOX expression and decrease in miR-181b expression. Knockdown of MEG3
      contributes to attenuation of hypoxia-induced apoptosis of HT22 cell. Also,
      expression level of MEG3 negatively correlated with miR-181b expression and
      positively correlated with 12/15-LOX expression. In contrary to MEG3, miR-181b
      overexpression attenuated hypoxia-induced HT22 cell apoptosis, as well as
      suppressed hypoxia-induced increase in 12/15-LOX expression. By luciferase
      reporter assay, we concluded that miR-181b directly binds to 12/15-LOX 3'-UTR,
      thereby negatively regulates 12/15-LOX expression. CONCLUSION: Our data suggested
      that long non-coding RNA MEG3 functions as a competing endogenous RNA for miR
      181b to regulate 12/15-LOX expression in middle cerebral artery occlusion-induced
      ischemic infarct of brain nerve cells.

PMID- 27642277
TI  - Blockade of Apoptosis Signal-Regulating Kinase 1 Attenuates Matrix
      Metalloproteinase 9 Activity in Brain Endothelial Cells and the Subsequent
      Apoptosis in Neurons after Ischemic Injury.
AB  - Conditions of increased oxidative stress including cerebral ischemia can lead to
      blood-brain barrier dysfunction via matrix metalloproteinase (MMP). It is known
      that MMP-9 in particular is released from brain endothelial cells is involved in
      the neuronal cell death that occurs after cerebral ischemia. In the intracellular
      signaling network, apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is the main
      activator of the oxidative stress that is part of the pathogenesis of cerebral
      ischemia. ASK1 also promotes apoptotic cell death and brain infarction after
      ischemia and is associated with vascular permeability and the formation of brain
      edema. However, the relationship between ASK1 and MMP-9 after cerebral ischemia
      remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine whether
      blocking ASK1 would affect MMP-9 activity in the ischemic brain and cultured
      brain endothelial cells. Our results showed that ASK1 inhibition efficiently
      reduced MMP-9 activity in vivo and in vitro. In endothelial cell cultures, ASK1
      inhibition upregulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/nuclear factor erythroid
      2 [NF-E2]-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 signals and downregulated
      cyclooxygenase-2 signals after hypoxia/reperfusion. Additionally, in neuronal
      cell cultures, cell death occurred when neurons were incubated with endothelial
      cell-conditioned medium (EC-CM) obtained from the hypoxia/reperfusion group.
      However, after incubation with EC-CM and following treatment with the ASK1
      inhibitor NQDI-1, neuronal cell death was efficiently decreased. We conclude that
      suppressing ASK1 decreases MMP-9 activity in brain endothelial cells, and leads
      to decreased neuronal cell death after ischemic injury. 

PMID- 27642278
TI  - Biophysical Properties of Optogenetic Tools and Their Application for Vision
      Restoration Approaches.
AB  - Optogenetics is the use of genetically encoded light-activated proteins to
      manipulate cells in a minimally invasive way using light. The most prominent
      example is channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), which allows the activation of electrically
      excitable cells via light-dependent depolarization. The combination of ChR2 with
      hyperpolarizing-light-driven ion pumps such as the Cl(-) pump halorhodopsin
      (NpHR) enables multimodal remote control of neuronal cells in culture, tissue,
      and living animals. Very soon, it became obvious that this method offers a chance
      of gene therapy for many diseases affecting vision. Here, we will give a brief
      introduction to retinal function and retinal diseases; optogenetic vision
      restoration strategies will be highlighted. We will discuss the functional and
      structural properties of rhodopsin-based optogenetic tools and analyze the
      potential for the application of vision restoration. 

PMID- 27642279
TI  - Sensorimotor Oscillations Prior to Speech Onset Reflect Altered Motor Networks in
      Adults Who Stutter.
AB  - Adults who stutter (AWS) have demonstrated atypical coordination of motor and
      sensory regions during speech production. Yet little is known of the speech-motor
      network in AWS in the brief time window preceding audible speech onset. The
      purpose of the current study was to characterize neural oscillations in the
      speech-motor network during preparation for and execution of overt speech
      production in AWS using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Twelve AWS and 12 age
      matched controls were presented with 220 words, each word embedded in a carrier
      phrase. Controls were presented with the same word list as their matched AWS
      participant. Neural oscillatory activity was localized using minimum-variance
      beamforming during two time periods of interest: speech preparation (prior to
      speech onset) and speech execution (following speech onset). Compared to
      controls, AWS showed stronger beta (15-25 Hz) suppression in the speech
      preparation stage, followed by stronger beta synchronization in the bilateral
      mouth motor cortex. AWS also recruited the right mouth motor cortex significantly
      earlier in the speech preparation stage compared to controls. Exaggerated motor
      preparation is discussed in the context of reduced coordination in the speech
      motor network of AWS. It is further proposed that exaggerated beta
      synchronization may reflect a more strongly inhibited motor system that requires
      a stronger beta suppression to disengage prior to speech initiation. These novel
      findings highlight critical differences in the speech-motor network of AWS that
      occur prior to speech onset and emphasize the need to investigate further the
      speech-motor assembly in the stuttering population. 

PMID- 27642280
TI  - The Neuro-Mechanical Processes That Underlie Goal-Directed Medio-Lateral APA
      during Gait Initiation.
AB  - Gait initiation (GI) involves passing from bipedal to unipedal stance. It
      requires a rapid movement of the center of foot pressure (CoP) towards the future
      swing foot and of the center of mass (CoM) in the direction of the stance foot
      prior to the incoming step. This anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) allows
      disengaging the swing leg from the ground and establishing favorable conditions
      for stepping. This study aimed to describe the neuro-mechanical process that
      underlies the goal-directed medio-lateral (ML) APA. We hypothesized that
      controlled knee flexion of the stance leg contributes to the initial ML
      displacement of the CoP and to the calibration of the first step. Fourteen
      subjects initiated gait starting from three different initial stance widths of 15
      cm (Small), 30 cm (Medium), and 45 cm (Large). Optoelectronic, force platform and
      electromyogram (EMG) measurements were performed. During APA, soleus activity
      diminished bilaterally, while tibialis anterior (TA) activity increased, more so
      in the stance leg than in the swing leg, and to a larger extent with increasing
      initial stance width. Knee flexion of the stance leg was observed during APA and
      correlated with the ML CoP displacement towards the swing leg. ML CoP and CoM
      displacements during APA increased with increasing stance width. The activity of
      stance-leg TA was correlated with the degree of knee flexion. Swing-leg tensor
      fasciae latae (TFL) was also active during APA. Across subjects, when stance-leg
      tibialis activity was low, TFL activity was large and vice versa. The modulation
      of the ML CoP position during APA allowed the gravity-driven torque to place the
      CoM just lateral to the stance foot during step execution. Accordingly, the
      gravity-driven torque, the ML CoM velocity during step execution, and the step
      width at foot contact (FC) were lower in the Small and greater in the Large
      condition. Consequently, the position of the stepping foot at FC remained close
      to the sagittal plane in all three conditions. Conclusively, coordinated
      activation of hip abductors and ankle dorsiflexors during APA displaces the CoP
      towards the swing leg, and sets the contact position for the swing foot. 

PMID- 27642281
TI  - Humans and Deep Networks Largely Agree on Which Kinds of Variation Make Object
      Recognition Harder.
AB  - View-invariant object recognition is a challenging problem that has attracted
      much attention among the psychology, neuroscience, and computer vision
      communities. Humans are notoriously good at it, even if some variations are
      presumably more difficult to handle than others (e.g., 3D rotations). Humans are
      thought to solve the problem through hierarchical processing along the ventral
      stream, which progressively extracts more and more invariant visual features.
      This feed-forward architecture has inspired a new generation of bio-inspired
      computer vision systems called deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN), which
      are currently the best models for object recognition in natural images. Here, for
      the first time, we systematically compared human feed-forward vision and DCNNs at
      view-invariant object recognition task using the same set of images and
      controlling the kinds of transformation (position, scale, rotation in plane, and
      rotation in depth) as well as their magnitude, which we call "variation level."
      We used four object categories: car, ship, motorcycle, and animal. In total, 89
      human subjects participated in 10 experiments in which they had to discriminate
      between two or four categories after rapid presentation with backward masking. We
      also tested two recent DCNNs (proposed respectively by Hinton's group and
      Zisserman's group) on the same tasks. We found that humans and DCNNs largely
      agreed on the relative difficulties of each kind of variation: rotation in depth
      is by far the hardest transformation to handle, followed by scale, then rotation
      in plane, and finally position (much easier). This suggests that DCNNs would be
      reasonable models of human feed-forward vision. In addition, our results show
      that the variation levels in rotation in depth and scale strongly modulate both
      humans' and DCNNs' recognition performances. We thus argue that these variations
      should be controlled in the image datasets used in vision research. 

PMID- 27642282
TI  - Polyphenol Rich Extract of Garcinia pedunculata Fruit Attenuates the
      Hyperlipidemia Induced by High Fat Diet.
AB  - Fatty foods, the most common diet today are the crux of many metabolic disorders
      which need urgent attention. Garcinia pedunculata Roxb. (GP, Clusiaceae) is a
      plant found available in Northeast (NE) region of India, is considered to have
      versatile therapeutic properties. The people of this region has been using dried
      pulp of GP fruit for the treatment of different stomach related diseases
      traditionally. This study aimed at evaluating the potential therapeutic action of
      the polyphenol-rich methanolic extract of the fruit in experimental induced obese
      rats. In vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activity of GP extracts, i.e., fruit
      extract (GF) and seed extract (GS) were determined by using various methods viz.,
      1,1-diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-Azinobis (3-ethyl benzthiazoline-6
      sulphonic acid) (ABTS(*+)), nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) and alpha-glucosidase
      inhibition assay for detection of antihyperglycemic activity. In vivo
      antilipidemic and antiobesity activities were evaluated by administrating oral
      dose of GF for 60 days on a high-fat diet (HFD) induced hyperlipidemia in the
      rat. GF showed higher antioxidant activity than GS by DPPH radical scavenging
      (IC50 = 4.01 MUg/ml), ABTS(*+) (IC50 = 0.82 MUg/ml), NBT (IC50 = 0.07 MUg/ml) and
      also showed notable alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 19.26 MUg/ml).
      Furthermore, GF treated rat revealed a reduction in the body weight (~60%), serum
      total cholesterol (33%), triglycerides (32%), low-density lipoprotein (38%) and
      liver biomarker enzymes after 60 days HFD fed animals. Simultaneously, GF
      supplementation significantly protected the HFD induced changes in hematological
      parameters. Histological observations clearly differentiate the structural
      changes in liver of HFD and GF treated group. This novel dietary lipid adsorbing
      agent of GF exhibited prevention of hyperlipidemia induced by HFD in the rat. 

PMID- 27642283
TI  - A Lumped-Parameter Subject-Specific Model of Blood Volume Response to Fluid
      Infusion.
AB  - This paper presents a lumped-parameter model that can reproduce blood volume
      response to fluid infusion. The model represents the fluid shift between the
      intravascular and interstitial compartments as the output of a hypothetical
      feedback controller that regulates the ratio between the volume changes in the
      intravascular and interstitial fluid at a target value (called "target volume
      ratio"). The model is characterized by only three parameters: the target volume
      ratio, feedback gain (specifying the speed of fluid shift), and initial blood
      volume. This model can obviate the need to incorporate complex mechanisms
      involved in the fluid shift in reproducing blood volume response to fluid
      infusion. The ability of the model to reproduce real-world blood volume response
      to fluid infusion was evaluated by fitting it to a series of data reported in the
      literature. The model reproduced the data accurately with average error and root
      mean-squared error (RMSE) of 0.6 and 9.5% across crystalloid and colloid fluids
      when normalized by the underlying responses. Further, the parameters derived for
      the model showed physiologically plausible behaviors. It was concluded that this
      simple model may accurately reproduce a variety of blood volume responses to
      fluid infusion throughout different physiological states by fitting three
      parameters to a given dataset. This offers a tool that can quantify the fluid
      shift in a dataset given the measured fractional blood volumes. 

PMID- 27642284
TI  - Measuring Implicit European and Mediterranean Landscape Identity: A Tool
      Proposal.
AB  - This study presents a tool - the Landscape Identity Implicit Association Test (LI
      IAT) - devoted to measure the implicit identification with European and
      Mediterranean landscapes. To this aim, a series of prototypical landscapes was
      selected as stimulus, following an accurate multi-step procedure. Participants (N
      = 174), recruited in two Italian cities, performed two LI-IATs devoted to assess
      their identification with European vs. Not-European and Mediterranean vs. Not
      Mediterranean prototypical landscapes. Psychometric properties and criterion
      validity of these measures were investigated. Two self-report measures,
      assessing, respectively, European and Mediterranean place identity and
      pleasantness of the target landscapes, were also administered. Results showed:
      (1) an adequate level of internal consistency for both LI-IATs; (2) a higher
      identification with European and Mediterranean landscapes than, respectively,
      with Not-European and Not-Mediterranean ones; and (3) a significant positive
      relationship between the European and Mediterranean LI-IATs and the corresponding
      place identity scores, also when pleasantness of landscapes was controlled for.
      Overall, these findings provide a first evidence supporting the reliability and
      criterion validity of the European and Mediterranean LI-IATs. 

PMID- 27642285
TI  - Rubberband Effect in Temporal Control of Mismatch Negativity.
AB  - Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a difference event-related potential (ERP) wave
      reflecting the brain's automatic reaction to deviant sensory stimuli, and it has
      been proven to be a useful tool in research on cognitive functions or clinical
      disorders. In most MMN studies, amplitude, peak latency, or the integral of the
      responses, in rare cases also the slopes of the responses, have been employed as
      parameters of the ERP responses for quantitative analyses. However, little is
      known about correlations between these parameters. To better understand the
      relations between different ERP parameters, we extracted and correlated several
      different parameters characterizing the MMN waves. We found an unexpected
      correlation which gives new insight into the temporal control of MMN: response
      amplitudes are positively correlated with downside slopes, whereas barely
      correlated with upside slopes. This result suggests an efficient feedback
      mechanism for the MMN to return to the baseline within a predefined time window,
      contradicting an exponential decay function as one might expect. As a metaphor we
      suggest a rubberband effect for the MMN responses, i.e., the larger the distance
      of the response from neural equilibrium, the stronger the return force to
      equilibrium. 

PMID- 27642286
TI  - The Fermentation Analogy: A Point of View for Understanding the Intriguing Role
      of Proline Accumulation in Stressed Plants.

PMID- 27642287
TI  - Rhizospheric Bacterial Community of Endemic Rhododendron arboreum Sm. Ssp.
      delavayi along Eastern Himalayan Slope in Tawang.
AB  - Information on rhizosphere microbiome of endemic plants from high mountain
      ecosystems against those of cultivated plantations is inadequate. Comparative
      bacterial profiles of endemic medicinal plant Rhododendron arboreum Sm. subsp.
      delavayi rhizosphere pertaining to four altitudinal zonation Pankang Thang
      (PTSO), Nagula, Y-junction and Bum La (Indo-China border; in triplicates each)
      along cold adapted Eastern slope of Himalayan Tawang region, India is described
      here. Significant differences in DGGE profile between below ground bulk vs.
      rhizospheric community profile associated with the plant was identified. Tagged
      16S amplicon sequencing from PTSO (3912 m) to Bum La (4509 m), revealed that soil
      pH, total nitrogen (TN), organic matter (OM) significantly influenced the
      underlying bacterial community structure at different altitudes. The relative
      abundance of Acidobacteria was inversely related to pH, as opposed to TN which
      was positively correlated to Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria abundance. TN was
      also the significant predictor for less abundant taxonomic groups Chloroflexi,
      Gemmatimonadetes, and Nitrospirae. Bum La soil harbored less bacterial diversity
      compared to other sites at lower altitudes. The most abundant phyla at 3% genetic
      difference were Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria amongst others.
      Analysis of similarity indicated greater similarity within lower altitudinal than
      higher altitudinal group (ANOSIM, R = 0.287, p = 0.02). Constraining the
      ordination with the edaphic factor explained 83.13% of variation. Unique
      phylotypes of Bradyrhizobium and uncultured Rhizobiales were found in significant
      proportions at the four regions. With over 1% relative abundance Actinobacteria
      (42.6%), Acidobacteria (24.02%), Proteobacteria (16.00%), AD3 (9.23%), WPS-2
      (5.1%), and Chloroflexi (1.48%) dominated the core microbiome. 

PMID- 27642288
TI  - Isolation and Characterization of ScGluD2, a New Sugarcane beta-1,3-Glucanase D
      Family Gene Induced by Sporisorium scitamineum, ABA, H2O2, NaCl, and CdCl2
      Stresses.
AB  - Beta-1,3-glucanases (EC 3.2.1.39), commonly known as pathogenesis-related (PR)
      proteins, play an important role not only in plant defense against fungal
      pathogens but also in plant physiological and developmental processes. However,
      only a limited number of sugarcane beta-1,3-glucanase genes have been isolated.
      In the present study, we identified and characterized a new beta-1,3-glucanase
      gene ScGluD2 (GenBank Acc No. KF664181) from sugarcane. An X8 domain was present
      at the C terminal region of ScGluD2, suggesting beta-1,3-glucan-binding function.
      Phylogenetic analysis showed that the predicted ScGluD2 protein was classified
      into subfamily D beta-1,3-glucanase. Localization of the ScGluD2 protein in the
      plasma membrane was determined by tagging it with green fluorescent protein. The
      expression of ScGluD2 was more up-regulated in sugarcane smut-resistant cultivars
      in the early stage (1 or 3 days) than in the susceptible ones after being
      challenged by the smut pathogen, revealing that ScGluD2 may be involved in
      defense against the invasion of Sporisorium scitamineum. Transient overexpression
      of ScGluD2 in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves induced a defense response and
      exhibited antimicrobial action on the tobacco pathogens Pseudomonas solanacearum
      and Botrytis cinerea, further demonstrating that ScGluD2 was related to the
      resistance to plant pathogens. However, the transcripts of ScGluD2 partially
      increased (12 h) under NaCl stress, and were steadily up-regulated from 6 to 24 h
      upon ABA, H2O2, and CdCl2 treatments, suggesting that ABA may be a signal
      molecule regulating oxidative stress and play a role in the salt and heavy metal
      stress-induced stimulation of ScGluD2 transcripts. Taken together, ScGluD2, a
      novel member of subfamily D beta-1,3-glucanase, was a stress-related gene of
      sugarcane involved in plant defense against smut pathogen attack and salt and
      heavy metal stresses. 

PMID- 27642289
TI  - Characterization of the Promoter Region of Biosynthetic Enzyme Genes Involved in
      Berberine Biosynthesis in Coptis japonica.
AB  - The presence of alkaloids is rather specific to certain plant species. However,
      berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, is relatively broadly distributed in the
      plant kingdom. Thus, berberine biosynthesis has been intensively investigated,
      especially using Coptis japonica cell cultures. Almost all biosynthetic enzyme
      genes have already been characterized at the molecular level. Particularly, two
      transcription factors (TFs), a plant-specific WRKY-type TF, CjWRKY1, and a basic
      helix-loop-helix TF, CjbHLH1, were shown to comprehensively regulate berberine
      biosynthesis in C. japonica cells. In this study, we characterized the promoter
      region of some biosynthetic enzyme genes and associated cis-acting elements
      involved in the transcriptional regulation via two TFs. The promoter regions of
      three berberine biosynthetic enzyme genes (CYP80B2, 4'OMT and CYP719A1) were
      isolated, and their promoter activities were dissected by a transient assay
      involving the sequentially truncated promoter::luciferase (LUC) reporter
      constructs. Furthermore, transactivation activities of CjWRKY1 were determined
      using the truncated promoter::LUC reporter constructs or constructs with mutated
      cis-elements. These results suggest the involvement of a putative W-box in the
      regulation of biosynthetic enzyme genes. Direct binding of CjWRKY1 to the W-box
      DNA sequence was also confirmed by an electrophoresis mobility shift assay and by
      a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. In addition, CjbHLH1 also activated
      transcription from truncated 4'OMT and CYP719A1 promoters independently of
      CjWRKY1, suggesting the involvement of a putative E-box. Unexpected
      transcriptional activation of biosynthetic enzyme genes via a non-W-box sequence
      and by CjWRKY1 as well as the possible involvement of a GCC-box in berberine
      biosynthesis in C. japonica are discussed. 

PMID- 27642290
TI  - Machine learning to predict rapid progression of carotid atherosclerosis in
      patients with impaired glucose tolerance.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Prediabetes is a major epidemic and is associated with adverse cardio
      cerebrovascular outcomes. Early identification of patients who will develop rapid
      progression of atherosclerosis could be beneficial for improved risk
      stratification. In this paper, we investigate important factors impacting the
      prediction, using several machine learning methods, of rapid progression of
      carotid intima-media thickness in impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) participants.
      METHODS: In the Actos Now for Prevention of Diabetes (ACT NOW) study, 382
      participants with IGT underwent carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) ultrasound
      evaluation at baseline and at 15-18 months, and were divided into rapid
      progressors (RP, n = 39, 58 +/- 17.5 MUM change) and non-rapid progressors (NRP,
      n = 343, 5.8 +/- 20 MUM change, p < 0.001 versus RP). To deal with complex multi
      modal data consisting of demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables, we
      propose a general data-driven framework to investigate the ACT NOW dataset. In
      particular, we first employed a Fisher Score-based feature selection method to
      identify the most effective variables and then proposed a probabilistic Bayes
      based learning method for the prediction. Comparison of the methods and factors
      was conducted using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC)
      analyses and Brier score. RESULTS: The experimental results show that the
      proposed learning methods performed well in identifying or predicting RP. Among
      the methods, the performance of Naive Bayes was the best (AUC 0.797, Brier score
      0.085) compared to multilayer perceptron (0.729, 0.086) and random forest (0.642,
      0.10). The results also show that feature selection has a significant positive
      impact on the data prediction performance. CONCLUSIONS: By dealing with multi
      modal data, the proposed learning methods show effectiveness in predicting
      prediabetics at risk for rapid atherosclerosis progression. The proposed
      framework demonstrated utility in outcome prediction in a typical
      multidimensional clinical dataset with a relatively small number of subjects,
      extending the potential utility of machine learning approaches beyond extremely
      large-scale datasets.

PMID- 27642291
TI  - An Efficient Adaptive Window Size Selection Method for Improving Spectrogram
      Visualization.
AB  - Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) is an important technique for the time
      frequency analysis of a time varying signal. The basic approach behind it
      involves the application of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to a signal multiplied
      with an appropriate window function with fixed resolution. The selection of an
      appropriate window size is difficult when no background information about the
      input signal is known. In this paper, a novel empirical model is proposed that
      adaptively adjusts the window size for a narrow band-signal using spectrum
      sensing technique. For wide-band signals, where a fixed time-frequency resolution
      is undesirable, the approach adapts the constant Q transform (CQT). Unlike the
      STFT, the CQT provides a varying time-frequency resolution. This results in a
      high spectral resolution at low frequencies and high temporal resolution at high
      frequencies. In this paper, a simple but effective switching framework is
      provided between both STFT and CQT. The proposed method also allows for the
      dynamic construction of a filter bank according to user-defined parameters. This
      helps in reducing redundant entries in the filter bank. Results obtained from the
      proposed method not only improve the spectrogram visualization but also reduce
      the computation cost and achieves 87.71% of the appropriate window length
      selection. 

PMID- 27642292
TI  - Applying Cost-Sensitive Extreme Learning Machine and Dissimilarity Integration to
      Gene Expression Data Classification.
AB  - Embedding cost-sensitive factors into the classifiers increases the
      classification stability and reduces the classification costs for classifying
      high-scale, redundant, and imbalanced datasets, such as the gene expression data.
      In this study, we extend our previous work, that is, Dissimilar ELM (D-ELM), by
      introducing misclassification costs into the classifier. We name the proposed
      algorithm as the cost-sensitive D-ELM (CS-D-ELM). Furthermore, we embed rejection
      cost into the CS-D-ELM to increase the classification stability of the proposed
      algorithm. Experimental results show that the rejection cost embedded CS-D-ELM
      algorithm effectively reduces the average and overall cost of the classification
      process, while the classification accuracy still remains competitive. The
      proposed method can be extended to classification problems of other redundant and
      imbalanced data. 

PMID- 27642293
TI  - The Combination Therapy of Dissolution Using Carbonated Liquid and Endoscopic
      Procedure for Bezoars: Pragmatical and Clinical Review.
AB  - Bezoars are relatively rare foreign bodies of gastrointestinal tract and often
      cause ileus and ulcerative lesions in the stomach and subsequent bleeding and
      perforation due to their size and stiffness. Therefore, the removal of bezoars is
      essential and recent development of devices, the endoscopic removal procedure, is
      often applied. However, due to their stiffness, simple endoscopic removal failed
      in not a few cases, and surgical removal has also been used. Recently, the
      efficacy of a combination therapy of endoscopic procedure and dissolution using
      carbonated liquid has been reported. To develop the safe and effective removal
      procedure, we carefully reviewed a total of 55 reported cases in this study
      including our 3 additional cases, successfully treated with dissolution with
      endoscopic fragmentation. In summary, the data showed the efficiency in the
      combination therapy, treating the larger size of bezoar and reducing the length
      of hospital stay. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest pragmatical
      and clinical review for the combination therapy of dissolution and endoscopic
      treatment for bezoars. This review should help physicians to manage bezoars more
      efficiently. 

PMID- 27642294
TI  - The RIP and block-RIP analysis of Nyquist folding receiver for recovering
      signals.
AB  - Modern radar and communication systems require the detection and parameter
      estimation of signal under a broadband radio frequency (RF) environment. The
      Nyquist folding receiver (NYFR) is an efficient analog-to-information (A2I)
      architecture. It can use the compressive sensing (CS) techniques to break the
      limitations of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This paper demonstrates the
      restricted isometry property (RIP) of the NYFR deterministically by applying the
      Gershgorin circle theory. And, the NYFR suffers a poor RIP for the broadband
      signal, which will lead the conventional CS algorithms to be invalid. So, we
      derive the Fourier spectrum of the broadband signal, which covered multiple
      Nyquist zones and received by the NYFR. Then, the broadband signal can be
      regarded as the block-sparse signal. And, the block CS algorithms are applied for
      recovering the signal based on the analysis of the block-RIP. Finally, the
      simulation experiments demonstrate the validity of the findings.

PMID- 27642295
TI  - Differential Regulation of Morphology and Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Expression in
      the Vagina of Ovariectomized Adult Virgin Rats by Estrogen Replacement: A
      Histological Study.
AB  - Background. To determine the exact role of estrogen in vaginal tissue morphology
      and estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) distribution in the vagina, which remains
      controversial. Methods. Sixty rats were randomly categorized: sham-operated
      (sham), ovariectomy (OVX), and four estradiol treatments (estradiol valerate at
      0.4, 0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 mg/kg/day) for 2 weeks. Thereafter, vaginal samples were
      biopsied from the distal- and proximal-half portions. The percentage of ERalpha
      immunoreactive cells and the ERalpha score were quantified using
      immunohistochemistry to assess changes in ERalpha expression and distribution.
      Results. OVX induced significant vaginal atrophy and organic index. Estrogen
      replacement therapy (ERT) reversed vaginal atrophy. The vaginal distal-half areas
      showed lower ERalpha% than the proximal-half areas. The ERalpha% increased
      sharply 4 weeks after OVX, especially in the epithelial layer (P = 0.023). ERT
      elicited different degrees of reductions in tissues after the 2-week treatment,
      but the ERalpha% in only the epithelium recovered in parallel with that in the
      sham group (P = 0.001). The OVX group showed higher ERalpha histological scores
      than the sham group, and the distal-half area changed more evidently than the
      proximal-half area. ERalpha expression was nearly unchanged after ERT (P > 0.05).
      Conclusions. ERT is effective for treating obesity and vulvovaginal atrophy
      caused by hypoestrogenism and advancing age in menopausal women but cannot
      recover the distribution and expression of ERalpha. 

PMID- 27642296
TI  - Polymorphisms of Vitamin D Signaling Pathway Genes and Calcium-Sensing Receptor
      Gene in respect to Survival of Hemodialysis Patients: A Prospective Observational
      Study.
AB  - We evaluated in the 7-year prospective study whether variants in vitamin D
      pathway genes and calcium-sensing receptor gene (CASR) are determinants of
      mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients (n = 532). HRM analysis was used for GC
      rs2298849, GC rs1155563, RXRA rs10776909, RXRA rs10881578, and CASR rs7652589
      genotyping. GC rs7041, RXRA rs749759, VDR rs2228570, and VDR rs1544410 were
      genotyped using PCR-RFLP analysis. The minor allele in GC rs2298849 was
      associated with all-cause mortality in univariate analysis (HR 1.330, 95% CI
      1.046-1.692, P = 0.020). Bearers of the minor allele in GC rs2298849 demonstrated
      higher infection/neoplasm mortality than major allele homozygotes also in
      multivariate analysis (HR 2.116, 95% CI 1.096-4.087, P = 0.026). Cardiovascular
      mortality was associated with major homozygosity (CC) in VDR rs2228570 (HR 1.896,
      95% CI 1.163-3.091, P = 0.010). CC genotype patients were more often dyslipidemic
      than TT genotype subjects (46.1% versus 31.9%, P = 0.047). Dyslipidemics showed
      higher frequency of rs1544410_rs2228570 haplotype AC than nondyslipidemics (26
      versus 18%, P corr = 0.005), whereas TT genotype patients were at lower risk of
      dyslipidemia compared with CC/CT genotype patients (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.37-0.96, P
      = 0.04). In conclusion, GC rs2298849 and VDR rs2228570 SNPs are associated with
      survival on HD. VDR-related cardiovascular mortality may occur due to connections
      of rs2228570 with dyslipidemia. 

PMID- 27642297
TI  - Myoinositol as a Safe and Alternative Approach in the Treatment of Infertile PCOS
      Women: A German Observational Study.
AB  - The use of 2 * 2000 mg myoinositol + 2 * 200 MUg folic acid per day is a safe and
      promising tool in the effective improvement of symptoms and infertility for
      patients with a polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Using a questionnaire an
      observational study was performed under German gynecologists to collect data on
      ovulation and pregnancy rates in PCOS patients with infertility. In this
      observational study, 3602 infertile women used myoinositol and folic acid between
      2 and 3 months in a dosage of 2 * 2000 mg myoinositol + 2 * 200 MUg folic acid
      per day. In a subgroup of 32 patients, hormonal values for testosterone, free
      testosterone, and progesterone were analyzed before and after 12 weeks of
      treatment. The mean time of use was 10.2 weeks. During this time 70% of these
      women had a restored ovulation, and 545 pregnancies were obtained. This means a
      pregnancy rate of 15.1% of all the myoinositol and folic acid users. In 19 cases
      a concomitant medication with clomiphene or dexamethasone was used. One twin
      pregnancy was documented. Testosterone levels changed from 96.6 ng/ml to 43.3
      ng/ml and progesterone from 2.1 ng/ml to 12.3 ng/ml (p < 0.05) after 12 weeks of
      treatment. No relevant side effects were present among the patients. This study
      could show that a new treatment option for patients with a PCOS and infertility
      is available. The achieved pregnancy rates are at least in an equivalent or even
      superior range than those reported by the use of metformin. 

PMID- 27642299
TI  - Myocardial Infarction and Aortic Root Mycotic Aneurysm Complicating Aortic Valve
      Endocarditis: Utility of Cardiac CT.
AB  - Aortic mycotic aneurysms are a rare but life-threatening potential complication
      of infective endocarditis. Rapid deterioration of the vascular wall in highly
      focal areas makes these pseudoaneurysms particularly prone to rupture, resulting
      in uncontrolled aortic hemorrhage. While computed tomography angiography (CTA) is
      the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of mycotic aneurysms, it is not
      routinely performed in patients with known or suspected infective endocarditis
      (IE). However, current valvular heart disease guidelines support the use of
      cardiac CTA in cases of IE and suspected perivalvular extension when there is
      inadequate or ambiguous visualization on echocardiography. Here, we describe a
      case of IE in which cardiac CTA was used for two purposes: to assess perivalvular
      complications and to define coronary anatomy in a patient with a suspected
      embolic myocardial infarction. Subsequent detection of an aortic root mycotic
      aneurysm not previously demonstrated on transthoracic or transesophageal
      echocardiography allowed for timely and uncomplicated surgical intervention,
      while avoiding invasive coronary angiography. 

PMID- 27642298
TI  - Connexin's Connection in Breast Cancer Growth and Progression.
AB  - Gap junctions are cell-to-cell junctions that are located in the basolateral
      surface of two adjoining cells. A gap junction channel is composed of a family of
      proteins called connexins. Gap junction channels maintain intercellular
      communication between two cells through the exchange of ions, small metabolites,
      and electrical signals. Gap junction channels or connexins are widespread in
      terms of their expression and function in maintaining the development,
      differentiation, and homeostasis of vertebrate tissues. Gap junction connexins
      play a major role in maintaining intercellular communication among different cell
      types of normal mammary gland for proper development and homeostasis. Connexins
      have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Differential
      expression pattern of connexins and their gap junction dependent or independent
      functions provide pivotal cross talk of breast tumor cells with the surrounding
      stromal cell in the microenvironment. Substantial research from the last 20 years
      has accumulated ample evidences that allow us a better understanding of the roles
      that connexins play in the tumorigenesis of primary breast tumor and its
      metastatic progression. This review will summarize the knowledge about the
      connexins and gap junction activities in breast cancer highlighting the
      differential expression and functional dynamics of connexins in the pathogenesis
      of the disease. 

PMID- 27642300
TI  - Supine Frequent Ventricular Extrasystoles in a Pregnant Woman without Structural
      Heart Disease.
AB  - Arrhythmias are the most common cardiac complication during gestational period
      and may occur in women with or without known structural heart disease. Premature
      extra beats and sustained tachyarrhythmias are the most common arrhythmias in
      pregnancy. Symptomatic episodes occur in 20-44% of pregnant women, usually as
      palpitations, dizziness, or syncope. We searched on Pubmed for ventricular
      premature complexes (VPC) in pregnant women and found no case reporting increased
      incidence of this arrhythmia while supine. The aim of this study is to report a
      case of a pregnant woman without previous structural heart disease that presented
      a great number of VPC when supine. The arrhythmogenesis increase during pregnancy
      is multifactorial. In the reported case, we believe that augmented venous return
      was the most important pathophysiologic process. When the patient changes to left
      lateral decubitus, there could be a sudden release of the inferior vena cava,
      causing an abrupt augmentation of venous return to the right heart chambers and
      increasing the risk of arrhythmias. Obstetricians and primary care physicians
      should be aware of palpitations and related patient complains while they are
      asleep or supine. 

PMID- 27642301
TI  - Idiopathic Sclerosing Encapsulating Peritonitis: A Rare Cause of Subacute
      Intestinal Obstruction.
AB  - We present a case of a previously healthy 50-year-old gentleman who had recurrent
      vomiting and abdominal pain of two-month duration. The patient was subsequently
      diagnosed with abdominal cocoon on computed tomography. Idiopathic sclerosing
      encapsulating peritonitis, also known as abdominal cocoon, is a rare cause of
      small bowel obstruction. Visualization of variable encasement of the small bowel
      loops by a characteristic membranous sac, either preoperatively with cross
      sectional imaging or intraoperatively, is the key to diagnosis. This is a highly
      treatable condition; surgical excision of the sac with adhesiolysis facilitates a
      full recovery in affected patients. 

PMID- 27642302
TI  - Whole-Genome Expression Analysis and Signal Pathway Screening of Synovium-Derived
      Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
AB  - Synovium-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (SMSCs) may play an important role in
      the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and show promise for therapeutic
      applications in RA. In this study, a whole-genome microarray analysis was used to
      detect differential gene expression in SMSCs from RA patients and healthy donors
      (HDs). Our results showed that there were 4828 differentially expressed genes in
      the RA group compared to the HD group; 3117 genes were upregulated, and 1711
      genes were downregulated. A Gene Ontology analysis showed significantly enriched
      terms of differentially expressed genes in the biological process, cellular
      component, and molecular function domains. A Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and
      Genomes analysis showed that the MAPK signaling and rheumatoid arthritis pathways
      were upregulated and that the p53 signaling pathway was downregulated in RA
      SMSCs. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was applied to verify the
      expression variations of the partial genes mentioned above, and a western blot
      analysis was used to determine the expression levels of p53, p-JNK, p-ERK, and p
      p38. Our study found that differentially expressed genes in the MAPK signaling,
      rheumatoid arthritis, and p53 signaling pathways may help to explain the
      pathogenic mechanism of RA and lead to therapeutic RA SMSC applications. 

PMID- 27642303
TI  - Modeling of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: An Overview of In Vivo Murine and Human
      Xenograft Models.
AB  - Over the past years, a wide variety of in vivo mouse models have been generated
      in order to unravel the molecular pathology of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and
      to develop and improve therapeutic approaches. These models range from
      (conditional) transgenic models, knock-in models, and murine bone marrow
      retroviral transduction models followed by transplantation. With the advancement
      of immunodeficient xenograft models, it has become possible to use human
      stem/progenitor cells for in vivo studies as well as cells directly derived from
      CML patients. These models not only mimic CML but also have been instrumental in
      uncovering various fundamental mechanisms of CML disease progression and tyrosine
      kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance. With the availability of iPSC technology, it
      has become feasible to derive, maintain, and expand CML subclones that are at
      least genetically identical to those in patients. The following review provides
      an overview of all murine as well as human xenograft models for CML established
      till date. 

PMID- 27642304
TI  - Modeling CNS Development and Disease.

PMID- 27642305
TI  - Innate Immune Response of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Fibroblasts and
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Periodontopathogens.
AB  - Periodontitis involves complex interplay of bacteria and host immune response
      resulting in destruction of supporting tissues of the tooth. Toll-like receptors
      (TLRs) play a role in recognizing microbial pathogens and eliciting an innate
      immune response. Recently, the potential application of multipotent stem cells
      and pluripotent stem cells including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in
      periodontal regenerative therapy has been proposed. However, little is known
      about the impact of periodontopathogens on hESC-derived progenies. This study
      investigates the effects of heat-killed periodontopathogens, namely,
      Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, on TLR and
      cytokine expression profile of hESC-derived progenies, namely, fibroblasts (hESC
      Fib) and mesenchymal stem cells (hESC-MSCs). Additionally, the serotype-dependent
      effect of A. actinomycetemcomitans on hESC-derived progenies was explored. Both
      hESC-Fib and hESC-MSCs constitutively expressed TLR-2 and TLR-4. hESC-Fib upon
      exposure to periodontopathogens displayed upregulation of TLRs and release of
      cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8). In contrast, hESC-MSCs were largely
      nonresponsive to bacterial challenge, especially in terms of cytokine production.
      Further, exposure of hESC-Fib to A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype c was
      associated with higher IL-8 production than serotype b. In contrast, the hESC
      MSCs displayed no serotype-dependent response. Differential response of the two
      hESC progenies implies a phenotype-dependent response to periodontopathogens and
      supports the concept of immunomodulatory properties of MSCs. 

PMID- 27642306
TI  - Differentiation and Molecular Properties of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from
      Murine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived on Gelatin or Collagen.
AB  - The generation of induced-pluripotential stem cells- (iPSCs-) derived mesenchymal
      stem cells (iMSCs) is an attractive and promising approach for preparing large,
      uniform batches of applicable MSCs that can serve as an alternative cell source
      of primary MSCs. Appropriate culture surfaces may influence their growth and
      differentiation potentials during iMSC derivation. The present study compared
      molecular properties and differentiation potential of derived mouse iPS-MSCs by
      deriving on gelatin or collagen-coated surfaces. The cells were derived by a one
      step method and expressed CD73 and CD90, but CD105 was downregulated in iMSCs
      cultured only on gelatin-coated plates with increasing numbers of passages. A
      pairwise scatter analysis revealed similar expression of MSC-specific genes in
      iMSCs derived on gelatin and on collagen surfaces as well as in primary mouse
      bone marrow MSCs. Deriving iMSCs on gelatin and collagen dictated their
      osteogenic and adipose differentiation potentials, respectively. Derived iMSCs on
      gelatin upregulated Bmp2 and Lif prior to induction of osteogenic or adipose
      differentiation, while PPARgamma was upregulated by deriving on collagen. Our
      results suggest that extracellular matrix components such as gelatin biases
      generated iMSC differentiation potential towards adipose or bone tissue in their
      derivation process via up- or downregulation of these master genes. 

PMID- 27642307
TI  - Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance in Salmonella and Shigella Species
      Isolated from Outpatients, Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest
      Ethiopia.
AB  - This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella and Shigella
      among outpatients in Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia.
      Cross-sectional study was conducted involving a total of 176 outpatients. Stool
      specimens from both adult and pediatric outpatients were collected and analyzed
      for the presence of presumptive Salmonella and Shigella colonies followed by
      confirmation by biochemical tests. Pure cultures of Salmonella and Shigella
      species were further subjected to test for antibiotic resistance against the
      commonly used antibiotics. Furthermore, growth potential of the isolates in
      selected foods items was assessed following standard procedures. The result
      indicated that the prevalence of Salmonella and Shigella among outpatients in the
      study area was 19 (10.8%) and 2 (1.1%), respectively. In addition, Salmonella
      species were resistant to ampicillin (100%) followed by tetracycline (47.4%) and
      nalidixic acid (26.3%) while Shigella species were highly resistant to ampicillin
      and tetracycline (100%, each). Multidrug resistance towards maximum of four drugs
      was observed in both pathogens. The pathogens were observed growing to their
      infective dose within 24 hours. In conclusion, Salmonella and Shigella are still
      among microbes of public health importance in the study area. Thus, this calls
      for frequent monitory and evaluation of their prevalence and drug resistance
      patterns besides awareness development on water sanitation and hygienic food
      handling practices to the public at large. 

PMID- 27642308
TI  - Vitamin D Intake and its Protective Role in Multiple Sclerosis: The Checkmate to
      Survivin?

PMID- 27642309
TI  - In-Vitro Characterization and Oral Bioavailability of Organic Solvent-free Solid
      Dispersions Containing Telmisartan.
AB  - Poorly water-soluble drugs often suffer from limited or irreproducible clinical
      response due to their low solubility and dissolution rate. In this study, organic
      solvent-free solid dispersions (OSF-SDs) containing telmisartan (TEL) were
      prepared using polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 (PVP K30) and polyethylene glycol 6000
      (PEG 6000) as hydrophilic polymers, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as an alkalizer, and
      poloxamer 188 as a surfactant by a lyophilization method. In-vitro dissolution
      rate and physicochemical properties of the OSF-SDs were characterized using the
      USP I basket method, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray
      diffractometry (XRD) and fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. In
      addition, the oral bioavailability of OSF-SDs in rats was evaluated by using TEL
      bulk powder as a reference. The dissolution rates of the OSF-SDs were
      significantly enhanced as compared to TEL bulk powder. The results from DSC, XRD
      showed that TEL was molecularly dispersed in the OSF-SDs as an amorphous form.
      The FT-IR results suggested that intermolecular hydrogen bonding had formed
      between TEL and its carriers. The OSF-SDs exhibited significantly higher AUC0-24
      h and Cmax, but similar Tmax as compared to the reference. This study
      demonstrated that OSF-SDs can be a promising method to enhance the dissolution
      rate and oral bioavailability of TEL. 

PMID- 27642310
TI  - Application of Taguchi Method to Investigate the Effects of Process Factors on
      the Production of Industrial Piroxicam Polymorphs and Optimization of Dissolution
      Rate of Powder.
AB  - Piroxicam has two different crystalline forms (known as needle and cubic forms),
      that they are different in physicochemical properties such as biological
      solubility. In the current research, using Taguchi experimental design approach
      the influences of five operating variables on formation of the piroxicam
      polymorph shapes in recrystallization were studied. The variables include type of
      solvent, cooling methods, type of mixture paddle, pH, and agitator speed.
      Statistical analysis of results revealed the significance order of factors
      affecting the product quality and quantity. At first using the Taguchi
      experimental method, the influence of process factors on the yield, particle size
      and dissolution rate of piroxicam powder was statistically investigated. The
      optimum conditions to achieve the best dissolution rate of piroxicam were
      determined experimentally. The results were analyzed using Qualitek4 software and
      it was revealed that the type of solvent and method of cooling respectively are
      the most important factors that affect the dissolution rate. It was also
      experimentally achieved that some factors such as type of agitator paddle, pH and
      agitation rate have no significant effects on dissolution rate. 

PMID- 27642311
TI  - The Role of Nanoparticle in Brain Permeability: An in-vitro BBB Model.
AB  - Membrane permeability and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) efflux system are regulating
      factors in the drug brain penetration. Recently, some drug delivery systems have
      been developed to overcome these limitations. In this study, Metoclopramid has
      been encapsulated in PLGA nanoparticles using the emulsification/solvent
      evaporation technique for in-viro evaluation of the effect of PLGA nanoparticles
      on BBB permeability. Subsequently, prepared nanoparticles were characterized
      using PCS, TEM, FT-IR, DSC and XRD techniques and in-viro cell permeability of
      optimum formulation was evaluated using MDCK cell line as BBB model. Data
      investigation showed that prepared nanoparticles have the entrapment efficiency
      of 50 %. PCS investigation showed that prepared nanoparticles have an average
      size of approximately 150 +/- 14 nm and a relatively monodisperse distribution.
      TEM micrographs of the samples showed spherical shape and smooth surface with a
      particle size of nanometric range. Through DSC thermograms and XRD diffractograms
      analysis, it was demonstrated that there was no crystalline form of the drug in
      the loaded formulation. Moreover, our results showed that the greater crossing of
      metoclopramide in the form of nanoparticle in comparison with the free form. The
      widely used rhodamine-123 transport assay performed in the MDCK cells
      demonstrated the presence of P-glycoprotein in this model. 

PMID- 27642312
TI  - Synthesis, Radiolabeling, and Biological Evaluation of Peptide LIKKPF
      Functionalized with HYNIC as Apoptosis Imaging Agent.
AB  - A noninvasive method of detecting exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the
      external surface of the plasma membrane such as nuclear imaging could assist the
      diagnosis and therapy of apoptosis related pathologies. The most studied imaging
      agent for apoptosis is Annexin V so far. Because of limitations of Annexin V
      other agents have been introduced such as small peptides and molecules.
      Radiopeptides that have affinity and bind to PS are good candidates for
      noninvasive imaging of apoptosis. The LIKKPF, introduced by Burtea et al, with
      nanomolar affinity for PS, was used as templete. The biological properties of
      LIKKPF radiolabeled with Tc-99 m was assessed in-vitro using apoptotic Jurkat
      cells and in-vivo using mouse model of liver apoptosis. The radiolabeled LIKKPF
      with (99m)Tc was stable in human serum at 37C for at least 2 h. Results showed
      that the radiolabeled LIKKPF has less affinity to PS compare to original phage
      peptide, but high enough for specific binding to apoptotic cells in-vitro and in
      vivo. It is concluded that the less affinity of radiolabeled LIKKPF might be
      attributed to hydrophobicity of peptide. The future peptides should be more
      hydrophobic compare to LIKKPF. 

PMID- 27642313
TI  - Comparative QSAR Analysis of 3,5-bis (Arylidene)-4-Piperidone Derivatives: the
      Development of Predictive Cytotoxicity Models.
AB  - 1-[4-(2-Alkylaminoethoxy) phenylcarbonyl]-3,5-bis(arylidene)-4-piperidones are a
      novel class of potent cytotoxic agents. These compounds demonstrate low
      micromolar to submicromolar IC50 values against human Molt 4/C8 and CEM T
      lymphocytes and murine leukemia L1210 cells. In this study, a comparative QSAR
      investigation was performed on a series of 3,5-bis (arylidene)-4-piperidones
      using different chemometric tools to develop the best predictive models for
      further development of analogs with improved cytotoxicity. All the QSAR models
      were validated by internal validation tests. The QSAR models obtained by GA-PLS
      method were considered the best as compared to MLR method. The best QSAR model
      obtained by GA-PLS analysis on L1210, CEM and Molt4/C8 demonstrated good
      predictively with R(2) pred values ranging from 0.94-0.80. Molecular density,
      topological (X2A) and geometrical indices of the molecules were found to be the
      most important factors for determining cytotoxic properties. 

PMID- 27642314
TI  - QSAR Analysis for Some 1, 2-Benzisothiazol-3-one Derivatives as Caspase-3
      Inhibitors by Stepwise MLR Method.
AB  - Caspase-3 inhibitory activities of some 1, 2-benzisothiazol-3-one derivatives
      were modeled by quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) using
      stepwise-multiple linear regression (SW-MLR) method. The built model was robust
      and predictive with correlation coefficient (R(2)) of 0.91 and 0.59 for training
      and test groups, respectively. The quality of the model was evaluated by leave
      one out (LOO) cross validation (LOO correlation coefficient, Q(2)) of 0.80). The
      results indicate that the descriptors related to the electronegativity, the
      atomic masses, the atomic van der Waals volumes and R--CX--R Atom-centered
      fragments play a more significant role in caspase-3 inhibitory activity. 

PMID- 27642315
TI  - Synthesizing and Characterizing Functionalized Short Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes
      with Folate, Magnetite and Polyethylene Glycol as Multi- targeted Nanocarrier of
      Anti-cancer Drugs.
AB  - Multifunctional nanomaterials showed great advantages in drug delivery. Folic
      acid (FA) binding protein, a glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol anchored cell surface
      receptor for folate, is overexpressed in several human tumors, whereas it is
      highly restricted in normal tissues. Therefore, in this study, FA, polyethylene
      glycol (PEG), and Fe3O4 nanoparticles multifunctionalized short multiwall carbon
      nanotubes (PEG-FA-SMWCNT@Fe3O4) were synthesized by conjugating folate, PEG, and
      magnetite nanoparticles with carboxylated multiwall carbon nanotubes. The
      prepared c-SMWCNT@Fe3O4 was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and
      vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) in order to investigate crystal and magnetic
      properties, respectively. The images obtained by scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM) showed that the magnetite nanoparticles were attached to the surfaces of
      carbon nanotubes and SMWCNT@Fe3O4 was formed. Investigation of functional groups
      using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra indicated that PEG-FA was
      successfully linked to SMWCNT@Fe3O4. 

PMID- 27642316
TI  - Simultaneous Determination of Six Benzodiazepines in Spiked Soft Drinks by High
      Performance Liquid Chromatography with Ultra Violet Detection (HPLC-UV).
AB  - A high performance liquid chromatographic method with ultra violet detection for
      simultaneous analysis of six benzodiazepines (BZDs) (chlordiazepoxide, diazepam,
      clonazepam, midazolam , flurazpam, and lorazepam) has been developed for forensic
      screening of adulterated non-alcoholic drinks. Samples were analyzed after a
      simple procedure for preparation using pH adjustment and filtering. Isocratic
      elution on a C18 column (250mm * 4.6 mm, 5MUm) in the temperature 45oC with a
      mobile phase consisting of 15mM phosphate buffer: methanol (50:50 v/v) at a flow
      rate 1.4 mL/min has been done. The column eluent was monitored with a UV detector
      at 245 nm. This allowed a rapid detection and identification as well as
      quantization of the eluting peaks. Calibration curves for all drugs in the range
      of 0.5- 10 ug/ mL that all the linear regression and has more than 0.996.
      Recovery rates for the BZDs were in the range 93.7- 108.7%. The limits of
      detection were calculated between 0.01- 0.02 ug/ mL. Also, the limits of
      quantification were 0.03- 0.05 ug/mL. Within-day and between -day coefficient of
      variation for all BZDs at all concentrations in the range of 0.45 - 7.69 % was
      calculated. The procedure can provide a simple, sensitive and fast method for the
      screening of six BZDs in adulterated soft drinks in forensic analysis. 

PMID- 27642317
TI  - Validation of an Analytical Method for Determination of Benzo[a]pyrene Bread
      using QuEChERS Method by GC-MS.
AB  - A fast and simple modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, rugged and safe)
      extraction method based on spiked calibration curves and direct sample
      introduction was developed for determination of Benzo [a] pyrene (BaP) in bread
      by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry single quadrupole selected ion monitoring
      (GC/MS-SQ-SIM). Sample preparation includes: extraction of BaP into acetone
      followed by cleanup with dispersive solid phase extraction. The use of spiked
      samples for constructing the calibration curve substantially reduced adverse
      matrix-related effects. The average recovery of BaP at 6 concentration levels was
      in range of 95-120%. The method was proved to be reproducible with relative
      standard deviation less than 14.5% for all of the concentration levels. The limit
      of detection and limit of quantification were 0.3 ng/g and 0.5 ng/g,
      respectively. Correlation coefficient of 0.997 was obtained for spiked
      calibration standards over the concentration range of 0.5-20 ng/g. To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first time that a QuEChERS method is used for the
      analysis of BaP in breads. The developed method was used for determination of BaP
      in 29 traditional (Sangak) and industrial (Senan) bread samples collected from
      Tehran in 2014. These results showed that two Sangak samples were contaminated
      with BaP. Therefore, a comprehensive survey for monitoring of BaP in Sangak bread
      samples seems to be needed. This is the first report concerning contamination of
      bread samples with BaP in Iran. 

PMID- 27642318
TI  - Simultaneous Determination of 13 Priority Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in
      Tehran's Tap Water and Water for Injection Samples Using Dispersive Liquid-Liquid
      Micro Extraction Method and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are classified as persistent and
      carcinogenic organic pollutants. PAHs contamination has been reported in water.
      Many of relevant regulatory bodies such as EU and EPA have regulated the limit
      levels for PAHs in drinking water. In this study, 13 priority polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in tap water samples of Tehran and water for
      injection. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction procedure combined with gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for the extraction and determination of
      PAHs in the samples. Under the optimized conditions, the range of extraction
      recoveries and relative standard deviations (RSDs) of PAHs in water using
      internal standard (anthracene-d10) were in the range of 71-90% and 4-16%,
      respectively. Limit of detection for different PAHs were between 0.03 and 0.1
      ngmL(-1). The concentration of PAHs in all tap water as well as water for
      injection samples were lower than the limit of quantification of PAHs. This is
      the first study addressing the occurrence of PAHs in water for injection samples
      in Iran using dispersive liquid-liquid micro extraction procedure combined with
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 

PMID- 27642319
TI  - Celecoxib Treatment Alters p53 and MDM2 Expression via COX-2 Crosstalk in A549
      Cells.
AB  - Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of the lung
      cancer. It is known that COX-2 negatively regulates the activity of a number of
      tumor suppressors, including p53. Consequently, inhibition of COX-2 signaling is
      anticipated to be a promising approach to stabilize p53 functionality. In this
      regard, we investigated the effect of COX-2 signaling blockade on p53 and COX
      2expression in A549 cells. Cell viability was assessed using MTT and protein
      expression was measured using Western Blot assay. Results revealed that Celecoxib
      dose-dependently induced growth inhibition within 24 h. However, prolonged
      exposure to the drug up to 48 h led to increase cell viability compared to the
      corresponding control. Western blot analysis demonstrated that Celecoxib could
      augment p53 expression within 24 h, independently of COX-2 inhibition. In
      contrast, Celecoxib treatment not only returned p53 to the control level, but
      also strikingly induced COX-2 expression within 48 h. Of further relevance,
      Celecoxib exposure could significantly result in MDM2 elevation at 48 h. These
      findings represent p53 as a molecular target being interconnected with COX-2
      signaling axis upon Celecoxib treatment. Moreover, our data point toward the
      possibility that Celecoxib treatment may not be a proper therapeutic strategy in
      lung cancer cells owing to its potential role in the activation of oncogenes,
      including COX-2 and MDM2 which seemingly confers a chemoresistance circumstance
      to the cell. Consequently, these results underscore intensive preclinical
      assessment prior to applying COX-2 inhibitors in the treatment of lung tumors. 

PMID- 27642320
TI  - Matrine inhibits diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC proliferation in rats through
      inducing apoptosis via p53, Bax-dependent caspase-3 activation pathway and down
      regulating MLCK overexpression.
AB  - The proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells is one of the leading
      causes of liver cancer mortality in humans. The inhibiting effects of matrine on
      HCC cell proliferation have been studied, but the mechanism of that inhibition
      has not been fully elucidated. Since, apoptosis plays an important role in HCC
      cell proliferation. We examined the apoptosis-inducing effect of matrine on tumor
      cells. Western blot analysis of p53, Bax, cleaved caspase-3 and myosin light
      chain kinase (MLCK) revealed that matrine induced tumor cell apoptosis by
      controlling anoikis. It activated p53, Bax-dependent caspase-3 and blocked the
      ECM-integrin mediated cell survival pathway through down-regulating MLCK over
      expression in the liver of rats with diethyl nitrosamine (DENA)-induced HCC. Our
      results suggest that matrine can inhibit the proliferation of HCC cells through
      inducing tumor cell apoptosis via activation of the p53 pathway and inhibition of
      MLCK overexpression. Matrine may thus be used as a potentially promising reagent
      to inhibit HCC cell proliferation and MLCK may be a novel target for the
      treatment of HCC. 

PMID- 27642321
TI  - The Effect of Noscapine on Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation on Primary Murine Cortical
      Neurons in High Glucose Condition.
AB  - In the present work we set out to investigate the neuroprotective effects of
      noscapine (0.5-2 uM) in presence of D-glucose on primary murine foetal cortical
      neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation/24 h. recovery. Cell viability, nitric
      oxide production and intracellular calcium ((ca(2+))i) levels were evaluated by
      MTT assay, the modified Griess method and Fura-2 respectively. 25 and 100 mM D
      glucose could, in a concentration dependent manner, improve cell viability and
      decrease NO production and (ca(2+))i level in neuronal cells after ischemic
      insult. Moreover, pre-incubation of cells with noscapine, noticeably enhanced
      protective effects of 25 and 100 mM D-glucose compared to similar conditions
      without noscapine pre-treatment. In fact, noscapine attenuated NO production in a
      dose-dependent fashion, after 30 minutes (min) OGD, during high-glucose (HG)
      condition in cortical neurons. Pretreatment with 2 MUM noscapine and 25 or 100 mM
      D-glucose, was shown to decrease the rise in (ca(2+))i induced by Sodium
      azide/glucose deprivation (chemical OGD) model. These effects were more
      pronounced than that of 25 or 100 mM D-glucose alone. The present study
      demonstrated that the neuroprotective effects of HG before an ischemic insult
      were augmented by pre-treatment with noscapine. Our results also suggested that
      the neuroprotection offered by both HG and noscapine involve attenuation of NO
      production and (ca(2+))i levels stimulated by the experimental ischemia in
      cortical neurons. 

PMID- 27642322
TI  - Down-Regulation of Glycosyl Transferase Genes in Streptococcus Mutans by Punica
      Granatum L. Flower and Rhus Coriaria L. Fruit Water Extracts.
AB  - In our previous studies, we showed the inhibitory effects of Punica granatum L.
      flower and Rhus coriaria L. fruit water extracts on dental plaque accumulation by
      several bacteria, especially Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), on orthodontic
      wire by in-vitro assays. In this study, the anti-cariogenic properties of the
      extracts were evaluated by assessing their effects on expression of
      glycosyltransferase (gtf) genes, which are responsible for initial biofilm
      formation by S. mutans. In this study, the effect of herbal extracts on
      expression of gtfB, C (encoding enzymes that produce water-insoluble glucans) and
      D (encoding enzymes that produce water-soluble glucans) genes in S. mutans
      growing in planktonic state was evaluated quantitatively by real-time polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) method. The minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC)
      of understudied herbal water extracts significantly suppressed gtfB, C and D gene
      expression by 85.3 +/- 7.5%, 33.3 +/- 6.4% and 25 +/- 14%, respectively for
      Punica granatum L. extract and 73.4 +/- 7.3%, 93.8 +/- 2.7% and 59.3 +/- 9.8%,
      respectively for Rhus coriaria L. extract compared to the non-treated control
      group (P < 0.05). Also, the real-rime PCR showed that the inhibitory effect of
      Rhus coriaria L. extract on gtfC and D was significantly greater (10.8 and 1.8
      fold, respectively) than that of Punica granatum L. extract. These findings
      suggest that Punica granatum L. and especially Rhus coriaria L. maybe used as
      novel, natural antiplaque agents since they inhibit specific genes associated
      with bacterial biofilm formation without necessarily affecting the growth of oral
      bacteria. 

PMID- 27642323
TI  - Teratogenic Effect of Verbascoside, Main Constituent of Lippia citriodora Leaves,
      in Mice.
AB  - Verbascoside (acteoside), a phenyl propanoid glycoside, comprises 0.5 to 3.5 %
      dry weight of Lippia citriodora leaves. A wide range of biological activities are
      attributed to verbascoside including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti
      bacterial, anti-tumor, anti-fungal, photoprotective as well as chelating effects.
      The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of verbascoside on
      pregnancy outcome in mice. Timed-pregnant mice received doses of 1g/kg/day
      verbascoside or the vehicle control during organogenesis, intraperitoneally.
      Maternal body weights were measured throughout pregnancy. The litters were
      examined for external malformations and skeletal abnormalities. Then they were
      stained with Alizarin red S and Alcian blue. Maternal exposure to verbascoside
      throughout pregnancy did not influence the mean of maternal weight gain.
      Statistically significant difference was not found in mean number of implantation
      sites, live and resorbed fetuses between control and experiment groups. Our data
      demonstrate that the main component of L. citriodora, verbascoside using during
      organogenesis possesses no risk to fetuses. However, more research projects are
      needed to confirm these findings and determine the exact effects of verbascoside
      on human embryo development. 

PMID- 27642324
TI  - Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Potential, and HPLC Analysis of Stictic and Usnic
      Acids of Three Usnea Species from Uludag Mountain (Bursa, Turkey).
AB  - In this study, antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials of Usnea intermedia, U.
      filipendula, and U. fulvoreagens and their stictic and usnic acid contents were
      investigated. Antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents were evaluated in
      acetone, ethanol, and methanol extracts of these three species. Antioxidant
      activity was measured by ABTS [2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic
      acid)] method and total phenolic contents were measured by Folin-Ciocalteu
      method. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for the
      determination of lichen acids. It can be concluded from stictic and usnic acids
      contents that the order of solvent efficiency is acetone > ethanol > methanol and
      acetone > methanol > ethanol, respectively. Broth microdilution method was
      performed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the methanol
      extracts of three Usnea species. The MIC values of all the extracts ranged from
      64 ug/mL to 512 ug/mL for all the bacterial strains that were tested in this
      study, and all the Fluoro quinolone-resistant Escherichia coli isolates (except
      for E101) were sensitive to the methanol extracts of the three Usnea species.
      This paper is the first study to determine the stictic acid content in U.
      intermedia and U. filipendula. Our findings indicate that these three Usnea
      species could be used as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents. 

PMID- 27642325
TI  - Potent Antioxidant Properties of rolB-transformed Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.
      Don.
AB  - Free radicals play an important role in pathological processes such as aging and
      developing cancer; hence, natural products inhibit free radical production, and
      can play an important role in preventing diseases. We aimed to evaluate the
      scavenging activity of free radicals, reducing power, inhibition of lipid
      peroxidation and malondialdehyde (MDA) formation, and the antioxidant composition
      of rolB-transformed hairy roots and leaf callus of Catharanthus roseus. Hairy
      roots of the Catharanthus roseus were induced using Agrobacterium rhizogenes
      strain ATCC 15834 to transfer the rolB gene. Polymerase chain reaction analysis
      was used to identify the presence of the gene in the transformed hairy roots.
      Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, aluminum chloride calorimetry and high performance
      liquid chromatography were used to determine the content of total phenolic,
      flavonoid and gallic acid, respectively. To this end, we assayed the free
      radicals scavenging activity by 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), reducing
      power, inhibition of lipid peroxidation and inhibition of malondialdehyde
      production. The results showed that phenolic, flavonoid, and gallic acid contents
      in the ethanol extract of the hairy roots were significantly higher (p <= 0.01)
      than those naturally found in the extracts of root, leaf, and leaf callus of C.
      roseus. The hairy roots extract showed the lowest IC50 for the inhibition of
      DPPH(*). Furthermore, the ethanol extract showed the best reducing power and had
      the highest potential to inhibit lipid peroxidation and to form the MDA. The
      transformed hairy roots can be considered a rich natural source of antioxidants. 

PMID- 27642326
TI  - Promotion of Hair Growth by Traditionally Used Delphinium Staphisagria Seeds
      through Inducti on of Angiogenesis.
AB  - How the seeds of Delphinium staphisagria promote hair growth in humans is yet to
      be discovered. This lack of information leads us to the investigation of hair
      promoting effects of seeds of Delphinium staphisagria in-vitro. Extract prepared
      from the Seed of Delphinium staphisagria (ESDS) - traditionally used for hair
      loss treatment - was selected and tested for the cytotoxic and angiogenic
      potential in endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cells.
      The effects of extract was determined by using in-vitro colorimetric MTT [3-(4,5
      dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] cytotoxicity assay. To
      identify the compounds that induce angiogenesis, we applied matrigel capillary
      assay in-vitro using HUVECs. Vinegar and water extracts of D. staphisagria seeds
      significantly promoted the proliferation of human keratinocyte cells by 137, 139,
      143, 149 and 147 % at the concentration of 100, 120, 200, 250 and 300 MUg/mL
      compared with vehicle -treated control, respectively at 24 h. HUVECs viability
      remained the same with the control group at the concentration 1, 10, 20 and 40
      MUg/mL after 24 h. Results demonstrated that ESDS did not cause toxicity in human
      keratinocytes and endothelial cells, while inducing the angiogenic activity in
      vitro. D. staphisagria seeds promote hair growth without overt cytotoxicity and
      through inducing angiogenesis. Based on the information from the traditional uses
      and our experimental results, D. staphisagria's seeds appear to be a good
      candidate for the promotion of hair growth. 

PMID- 27642327
TI  - The Aqueous Extract of Portulaca Oleracea Ameliorates Neurobehavioral Dysfunction
      and Hyperglycemia Related to Streptozotocin-Diabetes Induced in Ovariectomized
      Rats.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common causes of neuropathy. Although
      antioxidant and antidiabetic effects of the aqueous extract of purslane
      (Portulaca oleracea) (AEOP) have been demonstrated before by other researchers,
      we did not find any study that assessed the psychobiological effects of AEOP in
      diabetes induced animals. Thirty ovariectomized (OVX) female Wistar rats were
      randomly divided into 3 groups of control, Dia and Dia+AEOP. The latter group was
      orally treated by 300 mg/kg of AEOP for 35 days. Dia and Dia+AEOP groups were
      made diabetic by IP injection of 60 mg/kg of streptozotocin (STZ). The
      psychobiological effects of AEOP were assessed by Morris water maze (MWM),
      elevated plus maze (EPM), forced swimming test (FST) and tail pinch stressor
      (TPS). AEOP significantly decreased hyperglycemia (p<0.001). Diabetes
      significantly decreased their spatial cognitive performance at the training trial
      as well as the total distance traveled at the probe trial in MWM (p<0.05). All
      the diabetes related deficits at training trials were improved by AEOP treatment
      (p<0.05). AEOP treatment not only improved the motor deficit of Dia group in EPM,
      but also showed anxiolytic effects compared to both control and Dia groups
      (p<0.05). In the FST, no differences were observed between any groups (p>0.05).
      Diabetes significantly increased their non-functional masticatory activity in TPS
      (p<=0.001) while it was improved in Dia+AEOP group. We showed that AEOP has
      significant anxiolytic effects and it can improve spatial cognitive performance,
      locomotor deficit and stress in diabetic OVX rats. 

PMID- 27642328
TI  - Immunization Against Cutaneous Leishmaniasis by Alginate Microspheres Loaded With
      Autoclaved Leishmania Major (ALM) and Quillaja Saponins.
AB  - Leishmania antigens are weak immunogens and need to be potentiated by various
      adjuvants and delivery systems. Alginate microspheres as antigen delivery system
      and Quillaja saponins (QS) as immunoadjuvant have been used to enhance the immune
      response against Autoclaved Leishmania major (ALM). Microspheres were prepared by
      an emulsification technique and characterized for size, encapsulation efficiency
      and release profile of encapsulates. BALB/c mice were immunized three times in 3
      weeks intervals using ALM plus QS loaded microspheres [(ALM+QS)ALG], ALM
      encapsulated with alginate microspheres [(ALM)ALG], (ALM)ALG + QS, ALM + QS, ALM
      alone or PBS. The intensity of infection induced by L. major challenge was
      assessed by measuring size of footpad swelling. The strongest protection, showed
      by significantly (P < 0.05) smaller footpad, were observed in mice immunized with
      (ALM)ALG+QS. The (ALM+QS)ALG, ALM and PBS groups showed the least protection and
      highest swelling, while the (ALM)ALG and ALM+QS showed an intermediate protection
      with no significant difference. The mice immunized with (ALM+QS)ALG showed the
      highest IgG2a/IgG1 ratio (P<0.05). The highest IFN-gamma and IL-4 production was
      seen in ALM+QS (P<0.01). It is concluded that QS adjuvant has a mixed Th1/Th2
      effect and has increased both humoral and cellular immune responses. 

PMID- 27642329
TI  - Combined Effects of Retinoic Acid and Hydro-Alcoholic Extract of Rosa Damascena
      Mill on Wound in Diabetic Rats.
AB  - Retinoic acid and Rosa damascena are compounds that have considerable effects in
      the cellular proliferation and synthesis of extracellular matrix. The present
      study was designed to assess the combined effects of retinoic acid and Rosa
      damascena mill on wound in diabetic rats. Seventy-two rats were used in this
      study. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of
      streptozotocin (60 mg. Kg(-1)). Then, a full thickness wound was created on
      dorsal surface of all animals. After that, rats were divided, into three groups;
      control (normal saline), positive control (Phenytoin), and  case (combined of
      0.1% Tretinoein lotion and hydro-alcoholic extract of Rosa damascena mill).
      Afterward, wounds were evaluated macroscopically and microscopically on days 5,
      10 and 15. Macroscopic and microscopic evaluations showed a significant
      improvement (p<0.05) of wounds in case group on 5(th) and 10(th) days when
      compared to positive control and control groups. The combination of Retinoic acid
      and hydro-alcholic extract of Rosa damascena mill can accelerate wound healing in
      diabetic rats. 

PMID- 27642330
TI  - Antibacterial Activity of Polyaniline Coated Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized
      from Piper Betle Leaves Extract.
AB  - Plants or natural resources have been found to be a good alternative method for
      nanoparticles synthesis. In this study, polyaniline coated silver nanoparticles
      (AgNPs) synthesized from Piper betle leaves extract were investigated for their
      antibacterial activity. Silver nanoparticles were prepared from the reduction of
      silver nitrate and NaBH4 was used as reducing agent. Silver nanoparticles and
      extracts were mixed thoroughly and then coated by polyaniline. Prepared
      nanoparticles were characterized by Visual inspection, Ultraviolet-visible
      spectroscopy (UV), Fourier transform infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Transmission
      Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques. Antibacterial activities of the synthesized
      silver nanoparticles were tested against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923,
      Salmonella typhi ATCC 14028, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa ATCC 27853. UV-Vis spectrum of reaction mixture showed strong
      absorption peak with centering at 400 nm. The FT-IR results imply that Ag-NPs
      were successfully synthesized and capped with bio-compounds present in P. betle.
      TEM image showed that Ag-NPs formed were well dispersed with a spherical
      structures and particle size ranging from 10 to 30 nm. The result revealed that
      Ag-Extract NPs showed 32.78+/-0.64 mm zone of inhibition against S. aureus,
      whereas norfloxacin (positive control) showed maximum 32.15+/-0.40 mm zone of
      inhibition for S. aureus. Again, maximum zone of inhibition 29.55+/-0.45 mm was
      found for S. typhi, 27.12+/-0.38 mm for E. coli and 21.95+/-0.45 mm for P.
      aeruginosa. The results obtained by this study can't be directly extrapolated to
      human; so further studies should be undertaken to established the strong
      antimicrobial activity of Ag-Extract NPs for drug development program. 

PMID- 27642331
TI  - Errors Related to Medication Reconciliation: A Prospective Study in Patients
      Admitted to the Post CCU.
AB  - Medication errors are one of the important factors that increase fatal injuries
      to the patients and burden significant economic costs to the health care. An
      appropriate medical history could reduce errors related to omission of the
      previous drugs at the time of hospitalization. The aim of this study, as first
      one in Iran, was evaluating the discrepancies between medication histories
      obtained by pharmacists and physicians/nurses and first order of physician. From
      September 2012 until March 2013, patients admitted to the post CCU of a 550 bed
      university hospital, were recruited in the study. As a part of medication
      reconciliation on admission, the physicians/nurses obtained medication history
      from all admitted patients. For patients included in the study, medication
      history was obtained by both physician/nurse and a pharmacy student (after
      training by a faculty clinical pharmacist) during the first 24 h of admission.
      250 patients met inclusion criteria. The mean age of patients was 61.19 +/- 14.41
      years. Comparing pharmacy student drug history with medication lists obtained by
      nurses/physicians revealed 3036 discrepancies. On average, 12.14 discrepancies,
      ranged from 0 to 68, were identified per patient. Only in 20 patients (8%) there
      was 100 % agreement among medication lists obtained by pharmacist and
      physician/nurse. Comparing the medications by list of drugs ordered by physician
      at first visit showed 12.1 discrepancies on average ranging 0 to 72. According to
      the results, omission errors in our setting are higher than other countries.
      Pharmacy-based medication reconciliation could be recommended to decrease this
      type of error. 

PMID- 27642332
TI  - Annual Antibiotic Related Economic Burden of Healthcare Associated Infections; a
      Cross-Sectional Population Based Study.
AB  - So far, too little attention has been paid to total burden of healthcare
      associated infections (HAIs) in Iran. In the present study, we aimed to assess
      the rate of HAIs, as well as economic burden of hospitalization and antibiotic
      related cost associated with HAIs in ICU at training Taleghani hospital in Iran
      and to compare our results with national nosocomial infections surveillance
      (NNIS) system. This research to date for the first time has tended to focus on
      the economic burden of HAIs rather than epidemiology of HAIs evaluation. The
      total of 474 patients was followed up in this study. Overall, the rate of HAIs
      was 19.2 % in which ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) was dominant HAIs and
      followed by urinary tract infection (UTI). Importantly, mortality rate increased
      significantly in infected patients. The highest total hospitalization economic
      burden and antibiotic related cost were observed for patients having blood stream
      infection (BSI). The results demonstrated significant differences between
      antibiotic related cost in patients and uninfected patients. Antibiotic related
      absolute extra cost for HAIs was 2.09 PPP$ per day. Estimation of direct annually
      HAIs associated economic burden of antibiotic and Total hospitalization was
      433,382.4 PPP$ and 705,024 PPP$ respectively in Iran at intensive care unit
      (ICU). The most obvious findings were a strong relationship between relatively
      heavy antibiotic related financial burden, higher mortality rate, longer
      hospitalization time, and HAIs emergence on the Iranian national health system.
      It also reflects, more fundamentally a shift toward the need for comprehensive
      thinking about HAIs at ICU ward from Iran's hospitals. On the question of the
      research found that: With the implementation of policies and strategies to reduce
      hospital infections, which will benefit; Patient, Society, and/or national health
      system?! 

PMID- 27642333
TI  - Comparison of Dabigatran vs. Warfarin in Acute Vnous Thromboemboly: Systematic
      Review.
AB  - Acute Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) is a common disease associated with the
      significant morbidity and mortality. We reviewed clinical outcomes systematically
      with Dabigatran as a direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) for treatment of acute
      VTE. We used Ovide, PubMed, Cochrane (CENTRAL), EMBASE, Scopus, Science Direct,
      LILAC(for article written not English) and also Iranian database; Magiran, Isc,
      Iran Medex, Iran DOC, Doaj up to May 2014 to identify randomized clinical trials
      of Dabigatran compared with conventional treatment for VTE. Two investigators
      extracted data independently. Number of 5107 patients including two trails were
      selected. The risk of recurrent VTE was similar with the Dabigatran and standard
      treatment (Hazard Ratio, 95% confidence interval 1.09 (0.76-1.57). Dabigatran
      reduced the risk of minor bleeding in comparison with standard treatment;
      Warfarin (0.62) (0.50-0.76). Finally-in minor bleeding-the Dabigatran seemed as
      effective as, and probably safer than standard treatment of acute VTE. But in
      some aspects such as adherence to treatment, pregnant patient, impact on quality
      of life, new researches are needed to be clarified. 

PMID- 27642334
TI  - Analgesic Efficacy of Nephrostomy Tract inFiltration of Bupivacaine and Ketamine
      after Tubeless Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Prospective Randomized Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, the use of ketamine as a systemic and local analgesic drug
      in reducing post-operative pain is studied more frequently. OBJECTIVES: The aim
      of the present study was to assess the analgesic efficacy of IV ketamine
      injection inaddition to nephrostomy tract infiltration of ketamine-bupivacaine on
      postoperative pain relief after tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (n = 100), with renal stone who were candidates
      for PCNL were randomized to five groups with 20 cases in each: Group C, 10 mL of
      saline solution was infiltrated into the nephrostomy tract; Group B, 10 mL of
      0.25% bupivacaine was infiltrated into the nephrostomy tract; Group BK1, 10 mL of
      0.25% bupivacaine plus 0.5 mg/kg ketamine was infiltrated into the nephrostomy
      tract; Group BK2, 10 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine plus 1.5 mg/kg ketamine was
      infiltrated into the nephrostomy tract; Group K, 10 mL of saline solution
      containing 0.5 mg/kg ketamine was intravenously administered. Post-operative pain
      scores were compared between groups as the primary objective. Comparison of
      Sedation Scores, rescue analgesic consumption, time to the first rescue
      analgesics administration, hemodynamic and SpO2 values were regarded as the
      secondary objective. RESULTS: Mean VAS scores in the first 30 min and total
      analgesic consumption in the first 24 h of post-operative period were
      significantly lower in groups BK1 and BK2 in comparison with the other groups (P
      < 0.05). Also, time to first rescue analgesics administration was longer in the
      same groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Infiltration of ketamine plus bupivacaine
      provides superior analgesic effects in PCNL surgery compared with other methods.

PMID- 27642335
TI  - Atorvastatin for Prevention of Amikacin-induced Electrolytes Imbalances; a
      Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Aminoglycosides are still widely used for treatment of gram-negative sepsis in
      critically ill patients. The most reported electrolyte abnormalities related to
      these drugs are hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalcemia.In this study
      potential benefit of atorvastatin in prevention of amikacin-induced electrolytes
      imbalances has been evaluated. In this trial 44 patients were assigned to the
      atorvastatin or placebo group based on the simple randomization method.
      Atorvastatin group received amikacinwith dose of 15 mg/kg/day in two equal
      divided doses every 12 h as intravenous infusion during 30 min and atorvastatin
      40 mg tablet as daily oral dose for 7 days. Patients in the placebo group
      received same dose of amikacinand placebo tablet (Placebo group) for at least 7
      days. Serum electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphor and magnesium)
      concentrations, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels were measured at
      day 0 and end of the study. Baseline mean +/- SDof serum potassium concentration
      in the atorvastatin and placebo group was 4.07+/- 0.37 and 4.15 +/- 0.53 meq/l
      respectively (p=0.88). Serum potassium concentration remained unchanged at the
      end of the study in the atorvastatin group (P=0.61) but significantly decreased
      from 4.15 +/- 0.53 to 3.80 +/- 0.55meq/l in the placebo group at day 7(P =
      0.02).In this pilot study, atorvastatin as 40 mg daily oral dose prevented renal
      potassium loss during course of amikacin therapy in the critically ill patients.
      In the future well designed randomized clinical trials with adequate sample
      size,renoprotective effects of statins should be examined. 

PMID- 27642336
TI  - Long Term Follow up Study on a Large Group of Patients with Congenital Factor
      XIII Deficiency Treated Prophylactically with Fibrogammin P(r).
AB  - Factor XIII deficiency (FXIIID) is an extremely rare hemorrhagic disorder with a
      prevalence of 1/3-5 million. Management of disease is performed by fresh frozen
      plasma (FFP), Cryoprecipitate (CP) or FXIII concentrate (Fibrogammin P(r)). Our
      objective was to assess safety and effectiveness of Fibrogammin P(r) in patients
      with FXIIID. For this purpose we designed this long-term follow up study on a
      large group of patients with FXIIID. This prospective study was conducted on 213
      patients with FXIIID since 2009 to 2013. Administrated dose for Fibrogammin P(r)
      according to clinical situations of patients ranged from 10 to 26 IU/kg every 4 -
      6 weeks. All patients in 6-month intervals were checked for human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis A, B and C viruses (HAV, HBV, HCV).
      Twelve percent of participants had at least one ICH episode until 2008 but after
      administration of Fibrogammin P(r) did not have any major bleeding or episode of
      ICH, except in one patient. We also had 7 females with recurrent miscarriage that
      were managed successfully with a dose of 10 to 26 IU/kg every 4 - 6 weeks. This
      dose also was quite successful in management of major and minor surgery. None of
      the participants showed allergic reaction during treatment. A total of 7155450 IU
      of Fibrogammin P(r) were infused but nobody was positive for HIV, HAV, HBV, and
      HCV. We found that Fibrogammin P(r) is a safe and effective therapeutic choice in
      management of FXIIID. 

PMID- 27642337
TI  - Maternal Side-Effects of Continuous vs. Intermittent Method of EntonoxDuring
      Labor: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Labor pain is one of the most tiresome types of pain. So human has been seeking
      to allay this pain until now. Administration of a suitable agent such as Entonox
      during labor is very beneficial for childbirth outcomes. Entonox can be
      administered in two ways: intermittently and continuously. The aim of this study
      is to demonstrate whether continuous method is as safe as intermittent method?
      This randomized clinical trial was performed in Mobini Hospital, Sabzevar, Iran.
      One hundred admitted women for vaginal delivery were included in this study.
      Fitted patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. After thorough
      training, the patients used Entonox during active phase of labor. Fifty
      parturients used it intermittently and 50 others used it continuously. Then,
      maternal adverse effects, satisfaction and labor progression were registered and
      compared in two groups. Statistical Analysis was performed by spss17 software, t
      test and chi square test. The maternal side effects of Entonox had no significant
      difference in two groups (p>0.05). Mothers' satisfaction rate in continuous group
      was more than the intermittent group significantly (p<0.001). Meantime of active
      phase of labor had no significant difference between two groups (p=0.2). It seems
      that by more investigations, there will be conditions for mothers to choose the
      desired method of Entonox usage, intermittently or continuously. This approach
      leads to reduction of difficult labor and cesarean section and consequently helps
      improvement of maternal health level, both physically and psychologically. 

PMID- 27642338
TI  - Linezolid Induced Twice Pure Red Cell Aplasia in a Patient with Central Nervous
      System Infection after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Linezolid (LZD), severed as the first oxazolidinone antibiotic, was active
      against multidrug-resistant gram-positive strains. LZD can induce
      thrombocytopenia, anemia and leukocytopenia. Currently, reports on pure red cell
      aplasia (PRCA) cases induced by LZD are relatively rare (4-7). In this paper, we
      reported a patient with PRCA twice induced by LZD. A 37-year-old man was
      diagnosed with myelodysplatic syndrome (MDS) and underwent allo-HSCT from an
      unrelated donor with ABO blood type and leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matching. After
      HSCT for 2 years, the patient suffered from refractory fever and headache. He was
      first treated with empirical antifungal agent and antibiotics for central nervous
      system (CNS) infection, but then changed to LZD therapy for little effect. Twenty
      eight days after LZD treatment, the symptom improved significantly but the
      hemoglobin declined to 70 g/L and the reticulocyte level was only 0.23%. The LZD
      therapy was stopped and the fever and headache symptoms reoccurred 1 week latter.
      Then, erythropoietin (EPO) and halved dosage of LZD were used for treatment. The
      CNS infection and the anemia symptom relieved gradually and the level of
      hemoglobin and reticulocyte declined again. After blood transfusion, the half
      dose of LZD was sustained without anaemia recovery. In summary, patients with
      anemia, myelosuppressants history or potential abnormal proliferation of T cells
      may suffer PRCA with long term LZD treatment. The monitoring of complete blood
      count and reticulocyte count were necessary during LZD therapy. If the clinical
      condition permits, LZD dosage reduction and blood transfusion should be
      considered. 

PMID- 27642339
TI  - Effects of Silver Sulphadiazine on Production of Extracellular Proteins by
      Strains of Staphylococcus Aureus Isolated from Burns Wound.
AB  - Previous studies had shown that sub-inhibitory concentrations of silver
      sulphadiazine (AgSD) stimulated the production of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 in
      certain strains (responder strains) of Staphylococcus aureus and that protease
      production was also affected. No changes were detected in other strains (non
      responders). Extracellular proteins from eleven responder and non-responder
      strains grown with and without AgSD were separated by SDS PAGE. There were three
      classes of response, responder strains that showed enhancement of synthesis of
      certain proteins, non-responder strains that showed no change and responder
      strains that showed a general decrease in exoprotein production in the early
      stages of growth. The results showed that the effects of AgSD were complex and
      that S. aureus strains were heterogenous with respect to their response to sub
      inhibitory concentrations of AgSD. 

PMID- 27642340
TI  - Effects of Dietary Honey andArdehCombination on Chemotherapy- Induced
      Gastrointestinal and Infectious Complications in Patients with Acute Myeloid
      Leukemia: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - We aimed to investigate the effects of dietary combination of honey and Ardeh on
      chemotherapy-induced complications in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
      A total of 107 AML patients who underwent chemotherapy for at least 30
      consecutive dayswere recruited to this double-blind randomized placebo-controlled
      clinical-trial which was conducted in the Imam Reza and Ghaem teaching hospitals
      (Mashhad, Iran). They weredivided into two age and sex-matched groups: 58 treated
      and 49 untreated patients. A combination of 50 grams of honey and 150 grams of
      Ardehwas added to the treated group's diet for 30consecutive days, three times
      each day; while the untreated group received their regular diet.Both groups
      received their standard medication for AML as well. After one month, they were
      all examined and lab tests were done on them by an internist and laboratory
      technicians who were blinded to the subject allocations. Mean value of WBC count
      in treated group was significantly lower than that of untreated group. Duration
      of fever and admission in the hospital due to fever were both significantly lower
      in the treated group (P=0.014, P=0.032 respectively). Total gastrointestinal
      complications were significantly less in the treated group one month after
      therapy with the special honey and Ardeh compound.No unusual or unexpected side
      effects were observed. Honey and Ardehare easily accessible materials that can be
      helpfully administered in AML patientsreceiving chemotherapy, since their useful
      effects in ameliorating gastrointestinal complications and reducingfever and
      neutropenia in AML patients have been shown. 

PMID- 27642341
TI  - Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Biogeneric Recombinant Activated Factor VII
      (AryoSevenTM) and Activated Prothrombin Complex Concentrates (FEIBATM) to Treat
      Hemophilia A Patients with Inhibitors in Iran.
AB  - Nowadays, bypassing agents such as recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) and
      activated prothrombin complex concentrates (aPCC) are used to treat bleeding
      episodes in the Hemophilia patients with inhibitors. AryoSeven(r) is an Iranian
      biogeneric rFVIIa with homogeneity of efficacy and the nature to NovoSeven in a
      comparative trial. The current clinical trial aimed to evaluate the cost
      effectiveness of FEIBA and AryoSeven(r) by Decision Analytic Model according to
      the Iranian healthcare system. An open label, multi-center, cross-over clinical
      trial was designed. Patients were categorized into 3 groups based on their prior
      tendency to one or none of the products. To determine the premium therapeutic
      strategy, the Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated.
      Protocol F led to more treatment success in group F than the other groups (P=
      0.03). Also, there was a significant statistical difference between the mean of
      effectiveness scores in the groups using protocol F (P = 0.01). The effectiveness
      of protocol F and A were 89% and 72%, respectively. ICER cost US$ to manage an
      episode of bleeding to get one more unit of effectiveness using FEIBA VS.
      AryoSeven. Although the results showed that AryoSeven was more cost-effective
      compared to FEIBA, the two strategies were undominated. In other words, both
      medicines can be applied in the first line of the treatment if the cost of FEIBA
      was reduced. The present clinical trial was registered at IRCT website, under ID
      No.2013020612380N1. 

PMID- 27642342
TI  - Antenatal Dexamethasone For Women at Risk af Preterm Birth and Intraventricular
      Haemorrhage: What is the Truth?

PMID- 27642343
TI  - Epidemiological Distribution and Genotype Characterization of the Hepatitis C
      Virus Among HIV Patients in Kashan, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parenteral transmission is a common route of transmission for both
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV); therefore,
      hepatitis C viral infection is highly prevalent among people infected with HIV.
      OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to examine the epidemiology and describe the
      clinical manifestation as well as the HCV genotypes in patients from the city of
      Kashan, Iran, who are coinfected with HIV and HCV. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      descriptive study was conducted in 2014 in the city of Kashan. The population
      consisted of all the HIV-infected patients who were referred to the behavioral
      counseling center and jail in Kashan. Demographic information and HCV- and HIV
      related risk behaviors were obtained through the use of an interviewer-assisted
      questionnaire. After the participants gave written informed consent to
      participate, 10 cc venous blood samples were collected. The serum samples were
      screened for HCV infection using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In
      the event of a positive test for HCV, the RNA was then amplified by polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The HCV subtypes were determined via the
      direct sequencing of the amplicons. All data analysis was performed using SPSS
      version 16.0 for the descriptive statistics, and then the chi-square test and
      Pearson coefficient were performed for additional analysis. RESULTS: The results
      of the analysis indicated that 54 (85%) of the 63 HIV-infected patients were
      males who were also HCV positive and who had less than a high school level
      education. There was a significant association between HCV infection and both
      occupation (P < 0.0001) and level of education (P < 0.05). All the HIV/HCV
      coinfected cases had a history of illicit drug use, while 92.6% had a history of
      imprisonment and 40.7% had high risk sexual contacts. Overall, genotype 1 was
      found in 75.9% of HCV patients, while genotype 3 was found in 24.1%. Some 94.4%
      of HCV patients had subtype A. There were no clinical symptoms of chronic
      hepatitis C. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of HIV-infected persons in the city of
      Kashan were also HCV positive. Genotype 1 was the predominant type, alongside
      subtype A. Considering the high prevalence of HCV among the HIV-infected persons,
      as well as the impact of occupation, education, illicit drug use, and
      imprisonment on the incidence of both infections, health policy makers must
      introduce health programs and plans to reduce the prevalence of these infections.

PMID- 27642344
TI  - An Evaluation of the Usefulness of Extracorporeal Liver Support Techniques in
      Patients Hospitalized in the ICU for Severe Liver Dysfunction Secondary to
      Alcoholic Liver Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mortality rate in patients with severe liver dysfunction
      secondary to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) who do not respond to the standard
      treatment is exceptionally high. OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this study was to
      evaluate the usefulness of applying extracorporeal liver support techniques to
      treat this group of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data from 23 hospital
      admissions of 21 patients with ALD who were admitted to the department of
      anesthesiology and intensive therapy (A&IT) at the Dr Wl. Bieganski Regional
      Specialist Hospital in Lodz between March 2013 and July 2015 were retrospectively
      analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 111 liver dialysis procedures were performed during
      the 23 hospitalizations, including 13 dialyses using fractionated plasma
      separation and adsorption (FPSA) with the Prometheus(r) system, and 98 procedures
      using the single pass albumin dialysis (SPAD) system. Upon admission to the
      intensive care unit (ICU), the median (interquartile range [IQR]) Glasgow coma
      scale (GCS), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA), acute physiology and
      chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II, and simplified acute physiology score
      (SAPS) II scores were 15 (14 - 15), 9 (7 - 13), 17 (14 - 24), and 32 (22 - 50),
      respectively. The ICU, 30-day, and three-month mortality rates were 43.48%,
      39.13%, and 73.91%, respectively. As determined by the receiver operative
      characteristic (ROC) analysis for single-factor models, the significant
      predictors of death in the ICU included the patients' SOFA, APACHE II, SAPS II,
      and model of end-stage liver disease modified by the united network for organ
      sharing (MELD UNOS Modification) scores; the duration of stay (in days) in the
      A&IT Department; and bile acid, creatinine and albumin levels upon ICU admission.
      The ROC analysis indicated the significant discriminating power of the SOFA,
      APACHE II, SAPS II, and MELD UNOS modification scores on the three-month
      mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: The application of extracorporeal liver support
      techniques in patients with severe liver dysfunction secondary to ALD appears
      justified in the subset of patients with MELD UNOS Modification scores of 18 -
      30.

PMID- 27642345
TI  - Incidence and Risk Factors for Liver Abscess After Thermal Ablation of Liver
      Neoplasm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are the
      most frequently used thermal ablation methods for the treatment of liver cancer.
      Liver abscess is a common and severe complication of thermal ablation treatment.
      OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the incidence and risk
      factors of liver abscess formation after thermal ablation of liver cancer.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical data of 423 patients who underwent 691
      thermal ablation procedures for liver cancer were collected in order to
      retrospectively analyze the basic characteristics, incidence, and risk factors
      associated with liver abscess formation. Patients with multiple risk factors for
      liver abscess formation were enrolled in a risk factor group, and patients with
      no risk factors were enrolled in a control group. The chi-square test and
      multiple logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the relationship
      between the occurrence of liver abscesses and potential risk factors. RESULTS:
      Two hundred and eight patients underwent 385 RFA procedures, and 185 patients
      underwent 306 MWA procedures. The total incidence of liver abscesses was 1.7%,
      while the rates in the RFA group (1.8%) and MWA groups (1.6%) were similar (P >
      0.05). The rates of liver abscesses in patients who had child-pugh class B and
      class C cirrhosis (P = 0.0486), biliary tract disease (P = 0.0305), diabetes
      mellitus (P = 0.0344), and porta hepatis tumors (P = 0.0123) were 4.0%, 6.7%,
      6.5%, and 13.0%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference
      between these four groups and the control group (all P < 0.05). The incidence of
      liver abscesses in the combined ablation and percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI)
      group (P = 0.0026) was significantly lower than that of the ablation group (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of liver abscesses after liver cancer thermal
      ablation is low. Child-Pugh Class B and Class C cirrhosis, biliary tract disease,
      diabetes mellitus, and porta hepatis tumors are four significant risk factors.
      Combined ablation and PEI reduces the rate of liver abscesses.

PMID- 27642346
TI  - Liver Disease Burden of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Iran and the Potential
      Impact of Various Treatment Strategies on the Disease Burden.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is emerging as the leading
      cause of viral hepatitis-related liver disease in Iran. OBJECTIVES: This study
      estimated the current and future disease burden of HCV infection in Iran and
      assessed the impact of various strategies in access to HCV treatment on reducing
      the disease burden. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A modelling approach was used to
      estimate the size of HCV infected population, and disease progression from 2014
      to 2030. Literature review and expert consensus informed the model parameters.
      Base case scenario assumed the currently utilized Interferon (IFN)-based
      treatment. Five other scenarios assumed utilizing IFN-free direct acting anti
      viral regimens with 1, the base case diagnosis and treatment uptake; 2,
      restricting treatment to severe liver fibrosis; 3, treatment uptake being
      doubled; 4, stepwise increase in treatment uptake (doubled by 2017, quadrupled
      thereafter); 5, targeting at least 90% reduction in HCV infections by 2030.
      RESULTS: In 2014, an estimated 186,500 individuals are living with HCV infection
      in Iran (median age: 30 years). By 2030, this number will increase to 213,700,
      while three to four fold increase is expected in the case numbers of
      decompensated cirrhosis (DC, n = 620), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, n = 510),
      and liver disease death (n = 400), assuming the current diagnosis/treatment
      settings. As compared with the base case scenario, scenarios 1 and 2 will have a
      limited impact on HCV disease burden, while scenarios 3 and 4 will result in 45% 
      49% decrease in the number of individuals living with HCV infection and 60% -
      69% decrease in DC, HCC and liver disease deaths by 2030. For at least 90%
      reduction in HCV infections by 2030 (scenario 5), diagnosis and treatment rates
      should be increased to 12,000 and 9,000 individuals per year in 2016,
      respectively and to 24,000 and 18,000 individuals per year, respectively in 2018
      onward. CONCLUSIONS: An increasing burden of HCV-related liver disease is
      expected in Iran under the current diagnosis and treatment levels. Increased
      diagnosis and treatment uptake is required in combination with enhanced treatment
      efficacy to reduce the HCV burden. The relatively young age of the HCV infected
      population, provides an opportunity for timely interventions to avert the
      projected rising HCV disease burden in Iran.

PMID- 27642347
TI  - Association of Adiponectin Gene Polymorphisms With the Risk of Coronary Artery
      Disease in Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Chinese Han
      Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular events are an independent risk factor for nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is the leading cause of mortality in NAFLD
      patients. Several recent studies demonstrated that adiponectin (Ad) polymorphisms
      were involved in the progression of NAFLD and coronary artery disease (CAD).
      However, reports on the association between Ad polymorphisms and the risk of
      developing CAD in NAFLD patients are lacking in a Northern Han Chinese
      population. OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to evaluate the
      association between Ad gene polymorphisms (rs266729 and rs2241766) and the risk
      of developing CAD in Northern Han Chinese patients with NAFLD. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In this case-control study, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
      Adrs266729 and rs2241766 gene polymorphisms were genotyped in B-type
      ultrasonography-proven NAFLD patients, with (n = 246) or without (n = 247) CAD
      and in healthy controls (n = 304). Serum lipid profiles were determined using
      biochemical methods. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 17.0
      statistical software. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the
      Adrs266729 G allele between the NAFLD patients with and without CAD (P < 0.05).
      In addition, there was a significant difference in the Adrs2241766 G allele of
      the NAFLD patients compared with that of the controls (P < 0.05). In the NAFLD
      CAD population, carriers of the G allele of Adrs266729 had higher serum
      triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and low
      density lipoprotein (LDL) levels and a lower Ad level than their noncarrier
      counterparts (P = 0.031, P = 0.034, P = 0.007, P < 0.001, and P < 0.001,
      respectively). NAFLD patients without CAD had higher TG and serum FPG values and
      a lower Ad level than their noncarrier counterparts (P = 0.014, P = 0.038, and P
      < 0.001, respectively). In the NAFLD patients with/without CAD, the carriers of
      the G allele of Adrs2241766 had higher TG levels (P = 0.039 and P = 0.042,
      respectively) than those of their noncarrier counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      Northern Chinese Han population, the Adrs266729 and rs2241766 G alleles were
      closely associated with the occurrence of NAFLD. However, only NAFLD patients who
      carried the Adrs266729 G allele had an increased risk of developing CAD.

PMID- 27642348
TI  - Fibroscan Compared to FIB-4, APRI, and AST/ALT Ratio for Assessment of Liver
      Fibrosis in Saudi Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is being increasingly
      recognized as a cause of chronic liver disease. It has also been associated with
      devastating outcomes such as decompensated liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular
      carcinoma, as well as diabetes and metabolic syndrome. OBJECTIVES: This study was
      conducted in order to assess liver fibrosis using Fibroscan, and to compare these
      results to the use of Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) scores, AST platelet ratio index (APRI
      scores), and the AST/ALT ratios on NAFLD patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted on NAFLD patients who underwent Fibroscan
      examinations between September 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014. Demographic data was
      collected, including sex, age, and nationality; serum alanine aminotransferase
      levels (ALT, 30 - 65 U/L), serum aspartate aminotransferase levels (AST, 15 - 37
      U/L), and platelet counts (150 - 400 k/MUL) were also determined. The stages of
      fibrosis (F0 1 - 6, F1 6.1 - 7, F2 7 - 9, F3 9.1 - 10.3, and F4 >= 10.4) were
      defined in kPa. For each patient, the AST/ALT ratio was also measured. The
      results of APRI and FIB-4 were compared with the Fibroscan fibrosis scores.
      RESULTS: The results of 122 patients were analyzed, including 65 (53.3%) males
      with a mean age of 50.2 years (SD: 13.7; range: 18 - 86). The males were
      significantly younger than the females (48.7 years (SD: 16.03) versus 51.8 years
      (SD: 10.3 P = 0.05), respectively). The mean stiffness score was 12.02 (SD: 12.7)
      kPa. Forty-four patients (36%) had advanced fibrosis. The mean platelet and serum
      ALT levels were normal. There was a significant positive correlation between the
      Fibroscan results and the AST/ALT ratios, the APRI scores, and the FIB-4 results.
      Similarly, there was a significant positive correlation between age and fibrosis
      score, and a significant negative correlation between platelet count and
      stiffness score. CONCLUSIONS: The data showed that more than one-third of the
      cohort exhibited advanced fibrosis, demonstrating the need for the early
      diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD. The use of Fibroscan with other serum markers
      has been shown to be helpful for the diagnosis of severe fibrosis.

PMID- 27642349
TI  - Rural Residency has a Protective Effect and Marriage is a Risk Factor for NAFLD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the leading
      cause of liver disease worldwide. Although many previous studies have evaluated
      the potential risk factors of NAFLD, few studies have determined the effect of
      residency or marriage status on NAFLD. OBJECTIVES: We aim to evaluate whether
      residency and marriage status increased the risk factors for NAFLD. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We utilized data from 5,052 participants, 18 years and older, from a
      cohort study conducted using 6,140 participants in northern Iran. The population
      was divided into 16 subgroups according to sex and age; the age groups had an
      interval of 10 years. We randomly selected the subjects from each subgroup in
      proportion to the size of each subpopulation group. Logistic regression analyses
      were conducted on NAFLD as an outcome of marriage status, residency (rural vs.
      urban), and other potential risk factors. RESULTS: We found that NAFLD had an
      inverse association with rural living in men (OR = 0.513, 0.422 - 0.622, P value
      < 0.001) and women (OR = 0.431, 0.345 - 0.539, P value < 0.001). Furthermore, we
      determined that NAFLD had a direct association with marriage status for men (OR =
      2.770, 2.004 - 3.831, P value < 0.001) and women (OR = 1.241, 1.033 - 1.490, P
      value = 0.0209). CONCLUSIONS: While rural living has a protective effect on
      NAFLD, marriage may be a potential risk factor for this condition.

PMID- 27642350
TI  - Impacts of the G145R Mutation on the Structure and Immunogenic Activity of the
      Hepatitis B Surface Antigen: A Computational Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vaccine-escaped hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutations occur within the
      "a" determinant area, which is located in the major hydrophilic region (MHR) of
      the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) protein. It is now well established that
      the common G145R mutation is highly capable of escaping from HBsAg immune
      recognition. However, the impacts of this mutation on the structure and
      immunogenic activity of HBsAg have been poorly investigated. OBJECTIVES: The
      present study analyzed the effects of the G145R mutation on the structure and
      immunogenic activity of the HBsAg. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three-dimensional (3D)
      structure of HBsAg for both the wild-type and G145R mutant were predicted and
      refined using several web tools. After quantitative evaluations, the effects of
      the G145R mutation on the secondary and 3D structures of the HBsAg were
      investigated. In parallel, the immunogenic activity of the wild-type and mutant
      HBsAg was also analyzed using a ClusPro docking server as well as the IEDB web
      tool. Further analyses were performed via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
      using the GROMACS v5.0.2 simulation package. RESULTS: The G145R mutation causes a
      considerable reduction in the immunogenic activity of the HBsAg through a
      conformational change in the HBsAg antigenic loops. This mutation inserts a new
      beta-strand in the "a" determinant region of the HBsAg, leading to a reduced
      binding affinity to its monoclonal antibody, MAb12. The G145R mutation also
      increased the compactness and stability of the HBsAg by enhancing the rigidity of
      the "a" determinant. CONCLUSIONS: These data will be beneficial for designing
      more advanced antibodies for the recognition of the HBsAg in diagnostics. In
      addition, the results of this study may assist in the design or development of
      more effective hepatitis B vaccines.

PMID- 27642351
TI  - In Vivo Interrelationship between Insulin Resistance and Interferon Gamma
      Production: Protective and Therapeutic Effect of Berberine.
AB  - This research was conducted to investigate if there is a relation between insulin
      resistance incidence and inhibition of interferon gamma production or not.
      Firstly, insulin resistance was induced by high fat diet (HFD) intake for 6
      weeks. Secondly, berberine was used as protective/curative compound for insulin
      resistance. Results revealed that feeding rats HFD for 6 weeks developed features
      of insulin resistance (IR) syndrome. These features presented in increased body
      weight, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hypercholesterolemia (with increased LDL
      cholesterol and decreased HDL-cholesterol), and hypertriglyceridemia. Level of
      antioxidant enzymes in HFD group was higher than in normal one. Also there was an
      increasing in level of proinflammatory cytokines as interleukin- (IL-) 6 and IL
      12 in HFD group. Feeding rats HFD for 6 weeks also decreased level of interferon
      gamma (IFN-gamma). The decreased level of IFN-gamma has been shown to predict
      infection with infectious diseases especially viral infection. Treatment and
      protection with berberine 50 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks were found to be effective
      against the features of insulin resistance syndrome, improved levels of insulin
      resistance parameters, lipid profile, antioxidant enzymes, proinflammatory
      cytokines, and IFN-gamma. 

PMID- 27642352
TI  - Wen-Luo-Tong Prevents Glial Activation and Nociceptive Sensitization in a Rat
      Model of Oxaliplatin-Induced Neuropathic Pain.
AB  - One of the main dose-limiting complications of the chemotherapeutic agent
      oxaliplatin (OXL) is painful neuropathy. Glial activation and nociceptive
      sensitization may be responsible for the mechanism of neuropathic pain. The
      Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Wen-luo-tong (WLT) has been widely used in
      China to treat chemotherapy induced neuropathic pain. However, there is no study
      on the effects of WLT on spinal glial activation induced by OXL. In this study, a
      rat model of OXL-induced chronic neuropathic pain was established and WLT was
      administrated. Pain behavioral tests and morphometric examination of dorsal root
      ganglia (DRG) were conducted. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)
      immunostaining was performed, glial activation was evaluated, and the excitatory
      neurotransmitter substance P (SP) and glial-derived proinflammatory cytokine
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were analyzed. WLT treatment alleviated
      OXL-induced mechanical allodynia and mechanical hyperalgesia. Changes in the
      somatic, nuclear, and nucleolar areas of neurons in DRG were prevented. In the
      spinal dorsal horn, hypertrophy and activation of GFAP-positive astrocytes were
      averted, and the level of GFAP mRNA decreased significantly. Additionally, TNF
      alpha mRNA and protein levels decreased. Collectively, these results indicate
      that WLT reversed both glial activation in the spinal dorsal horn and nociceptive
      sensitization during OXL-induced chronic neuropathic pain in rats. 

PMID- 27642353
TI  - The Effects of Different Extraction Methods on Antioxidant Properties, Chemical
      Composition, and Thermal Behavior of Black Seed (Nigella sativa L.) Oil.
AB  - The Nigella sativa L. popularly referred to as black seeds are widely used as a
      form of traditional nutrition and medicine. N. sativa seeds were used for the
      extraction of their oil by way of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and cold
      press (CP) to determine the physicochemical properties, antioxidant activity, and
      thermal behavior. The GC-MS results showed the primary constituents in the
      Nigella sativa oil (NSO) were Caryophyllene (17.47%) followed by thymoquinone
      (TQ) (11.80%), 1,4-Cyclohexadiene (7.17%), longifolene (3.5%), and carvacrol
      (1.82%). The concentration of TQ was found to be 6.63 mg/mL for oil extracted
      using SFE and 1.56 mg/mL for oil extracted by CP method. The antioxidant activity
      measured by DPPH and the IC50 was 1.58 mg/mL and 2.30 mg/mL for SFE oil and cold
      pressed oil, respectively. The ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) activity
      for SFE oil and CP oil was 538.67 mmol/100 mL and 329.00 mmol/100 mL,
      respectively. The total phenolic content (TPC) of SFE oil was 160.51 mg/100 mL
      and 94.40 mg/100 mL for CP oil presented as gallic acid equivalents (GAE). This
      research showed that a high level of natural antioxidants could be derived from
      NSO extracted by SFE. 

PMID- 27642354
TI  - The Antidepressant Effect of Angelica sinensis Extracts on Chronic Unpredictable
      Mild Stress-Induced Depression Is Mediated via the Upregulation of the BDNF
      Signaling Pathway in Rats.
AB  - Angelica sinensis (AS), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has pharmaceutical
      effects on menstrual illness, cerebrovascular diseases, cardiovascular diseases,
      and cognitive impairments. However, until recently, few studies had explored its
      antidepressant effect. The current study attempts to investigate the effect of AS
      extracts on chronic unpredictable mild stress- (CUMS-) induced depression in
      rats. Male SD rats were exposed to a CUMS-inducing procedure for 5 weeks,
      resulting in rodent depressive behaviors that included reduced sucrose
      consumption and lessened sucrose preference ratios in sucrose preference test,
      prolonged immobility times and decreased struggling time in force swim test, and
      decreased locomotor activity in open field test. Moreover, the expression of
      brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the phosphorylation of cAMP-response
      element binding protein (CREB) and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase
      (ERK 1/2) were markedly decreased in the hippocampus in depressed rats. However,
      chronically treating the depressed rats with AS (1 g/kg) normalized their
      depression-related behaviors and molecular profiles. In conclusion, in the
      present study, we show that AS extracts exerted antidepressant effects that were
      mediated by the BDNF signaling pathway: in AS-treated depressed rats, the
      expression of the BDNF protein and the phosphorylation of its downstream targets
      (ERK 1/2, CREB) were upregulated in the hippocampus. 

PMID- 27642355
TI  - Primary Investigation for the Mechanism of Biatractylolide from Atractylodis
      Macrocephalae Rhizoma as an Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor.
AB  - Biatractylolide was isolated from ethyl acetate extract of dried Atractylodis
      Macrocephalae Rhizoma root by multistep chromatographic processing. Structure of
      biatractylolide was confirmed by (1)H-NMR and (13)C-NMR. The IC50 on
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was 6.5458 MUg/mL when the control IC50
      value of huperzine A was 0.0192 MUg/mL. Molecular Docking Software (MOE) was used
      to discover molecular sites of action between biatractylolide and AChE protein by
      regular molecular docking approaches. Moreover, biatractylolide downregulated the
      expression of AChE of MEF and 293T cells in a dose-dependent manner. These
      results demonstrated that the molecular mechanisms of inhibitory activities of
      biatractylolide on AChE are not only through binding to AChE, but also via
      reducing AChE expression by inhibiting the activity of GSK3beta. 

PMID- 27642356
TI  - Traditional Preparations and Methanol Extracts of Medicinal Plants from Papua New
      Guinea Exhibit Similar Cytochrome P450 Inhibition.
AB  - The hypothesis underlying this current work is that fresh juice expressed from
      Papua New Guinea (PNG) medicinal plants (succus) will inhibit human Cytochrome
      P450s (CYPs). The CYP inhibitory activity identified in fresh material was
      compared with inhibition in methanol extracts of dried material. Succus is the
      most common method of traditional medicine (TM) preparation for consumption in
      PNG. There is increasing concern that TMs might antagonize or complicate drug
      therapy. We have previously shown that methanol extracts of commonly consumed PNG
      medicinal plants are able to induce and/or inhibit human CYPs in vitro. In this
      current work plant succus was prepared from fresh plant leaves. Inhibition of
      three major CYPs was determined using human liver microsomes and enzyme-selective
      model substrates. Of 15 species tested, succus from 6/15 was found to inhibit
      CYP1A2, 7/15 inhibited CYP3A4, and 4/15 inhibited CYP2D6. Chi-squared tests
      determined differences in inhibitory activity between succus and methanol
      preparations. Over 80% agreement was found. Thus, fresh juice from PNG medicinal
      plants does exhibit the potential to complicate drug therapy in at risk
      populations. Further, the general reproducibility of these findings suggests that
      methanol extraction of dried material is a reasonable surrogate preparation
      method for fresh plant samples. 

PMID- 27642357
TI  - Role of Natural Products in Ameliorating Drugs and Chemicals Toxicity.

PMID- 27642358
TI  - Preventive Effect of Dihydromyricetin against Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity In
      Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - Nephrotoxicity is a frequent severe side effect of cisplatin chemotherapy,
      limiting its clinical use despite being one of the most potent chemotherapy
      drugs. Dihydromyricetin is a highly abundant compound purified from the leaves of
      Ampelopsis grossedentata. Previous studies have demonstrated the anti
      inflammatory and antioxidative effects of Dihydromyricetin both in vitro and in
      vivo, but little is known about the effects of Dihydromyricetin on cisplatin
      induced nephrotoxicity and its underlying mechanisms. In the present study, we
      investigated its potential renoprotective effect and found that Dihydromyricetin
      ameliorated the renal functional impairment and structural damage caused by
      cisplatin. Moreover, Dihydromyricetin markedly attenuated cisplatin-induced
      oxidative stress, as well as protecting against cisplatin-induced inflammation
      and apoptotic cell death in mouse kidney tissues. These results collectively
      highlight the potential of DMY as a rational renoprotective agent against
      cisplatin. 

PMID- 27642359
TI  - Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Xerostomia and Quality of Life during
      Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: A Prospective Pilot Study.
AB  - Xerostomia is one of the most common acute and late complications of radiotherapy
      for head and neck cancer, and it affects quality of life. We conducted a
      prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
      in toxicities and quality of life during radiotherapy. Head and neck cancer
      patients who were scheduled for radiotherapy were checked for inclusion/exclusion
      criteria before enrollment. Patients in the study group (inpatients) were
      hospitalized in a Chinese medicine ward and received concomitant TCM intervention
      during radiotherapy, while those in the control group (outpatients) received only
      conventional cancer treatments at the Western outpatient department. The primary
      end point was amelioration of postradiotherapy side effects. The secondary end
      points were quality of life during the cancer therapy and occurrence of adverse
      events following the TCM treatments. Thirty inpatients and 50 outpatients
      completed the study. Compared to the control group, those in the TCM group had
      decreased severity of xerostomia. There was no treatment-related impairment of
      renal or hepatic function among TCM group. Although better outcomes of social
      contact, dyspnea, physical and emotional function, and financial problems were
      found in the TCM group, we need further confirmation about the impact of
      hospitalization itself on these results. 

PMID- 27642360
TI  - Ethnomedicinal Uses of Honeybee Products in Lithuania: The First Analysis of
      Archival Sources.
AB  - Lithuania has old ethnomedicine traditions, consisting of many recipes with
      herbal, animal, and mineral original ingredients. All these findings were mostly
      collected in Lithuanian language, often in local community's dialects, and stored
      only in archives. We analyzed archival sources about honeybee and its products
      used for medicinal purposes dated from 1886 till 1992 in different parts of
      Lithuania. We systematized and presented the most important information about
      bees and their products: indication for usage, ingredients used in the recipe,
      their preparation techniques, and application for therapeutic purposes.
      Researchers in Lithuania are now looking for new evidence based indications and
      preparation and standardization methods of bee products. Archival sources are a
      foundation for studies in Lithuania. The results can be integrated into
      scientifically approved folk medicine practices into today's healthcare. 

PMID- 27642361
TI  - Euonymus alatus: A Review on Its Phytochemistry and Antidiabetic Activity.
AB  - Euonymus alatus (E. alatus) is a medicinal plant used in some Asian countries for
      treating various conditions including cancer, hyperglycemia, and diabetic
      complications. This review outlines the phytochemistry and bioactivities of E.
      alatus related to antidiabetic actions. More than 100 chemical constituents have
      been isolated and identified from E. alatus, including flavonoids, terpenoids,
      steroids, lignans, cardenolides, phenolic acids, and alkaloids. Studies in vitro
      and in vivo have demonstrated the hypoglycemic activity of E. alatus extracts and
      its certain constituents. The hypoglycemic activity of E. alatus may be related
      to regulation of insulin signaling and insulin sensitivity, involving PPARgamma
      and aldose reductase pathways. Further studies on E. alatus and its bioactive
      compounds may help to develop new agents for treating diabetes and diabetic
      complications. 

PMID- 27642362
TI  - Self-Driven Jamming in Growing Microbial Populations.
AB  - In natural settings, microbes tend to grow in dense populations [1-4] where they
      need to push against their surroundings to accommodate space for new cells. The
      associated contact forces play a critical role in a variety of population-level
      processes, including biofilm formation [5-7], the colonization of porous media
      [8, 9], and the invasion of biological tissues [10-12]. Although mechanical
      forces have been characterized at the single cell level [13-16], it remains
      elusive how collective pushing forces result from the combination of single cell
      forces. Here, we reveal a collective mechanism of confinement, which we call self
      driven jamming, that promotes the build-up of large mechanical pressures in
      microbial populations. Microfluidic experiments on budding yeast populations in
      space-limited environments show that self-driven jamming arises from the gradual
      formation and sudden collapse of force chains driven by microbial proliferation,
      extending the framework of driven granular matter [17-20]. The resulting contact
      pressures can become large enough to slow down cell growth, to delay the cell
      cycle in the G1 phase, and to strain or even destroy the microenvironment through
      crack propagation. Our results suggest that self-driven jamming and build-up of
      large mechanical pressures is a natural tendency of microbes growing in confined
      spaces, contributing to microbial pathogenesis and biofouling [21-26].

PMID- 27642363
TI  - Cancer Feature Selection and Classification Using a Binary Quantum-Behaved
      Particle Swarm Optimization and Support Vector Machine.
AB  - This paper focuses on the feature gene selection for cancer classification, which
      employs an optimization algorithm to select a subset of the genes. We propose a
      binary quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (BQPSO) for cancer feature
      gene selection, coupling support vector machine (SVM) for cancer classification.
      First, the proposed BQPSO algorithm is described, which is a discretized version
      of original QPSO for binary 0-1 optimization problems. Then, we present the
      principle and procedure for cancer feature gene selection and cancer
      classification based on BQPSO and SVM with leave-one-out cross validation
      (LOOCV). Finally, the BQPSO coupling SVM (BQPSO/SVM), binary PSO coupling SVM
      (BPSO/SVM), and genetic algorithm coupling SVM (GA/SVM) are tested for feature
      gene selection and cancer classification on five microarray data sets, namely,
      Leukemia, Prostate, Colon, Lung, and Lymphoma. The experimental results show that
      BQPSO/SVM has significant advantages in accuracy, robustness, and the number of
      feature genes selected compared with the other two algorithms. 

PMID- 27642364
TI  - Microwave Ablation Using Four-Tine Antenna: Effects of Blood Flow Velocity,
      Vessel Location, and Total Displacement on Porous Hepatic Cancer Tissue.
AB  - This research is concerned with microwave ablation analyses using a 2.45 GHz four
      tine (4T) antenna for hepatic cancer tissue. In the study, three-dimensional
      finite-element models were utilized to examine the tissue temperature
      distributions during and after MW ablation. A preliminary study was first carried
      out with regard to the specific absorption rates along the 4T antenna insertion
      depths and the temperature distributions inside the solid and porous liver models
      with either 3 cm-in-diameter tumor or 5 cm-in-diameter tumor. Based on the
      preliminary results, the porous models were further examined for the effect of
      varying blood flow velocities (0-200 cm/s) with a 1 cm-in-diameter blood vessel
      next to the antenna and also for the effect of vessel-antenna locations (0, 0.8,
      and 1.3 cm) with a constant blood flow velocity of 16.7 cm/s. All scenarios were
      simulated under temperature-controlled mode (90 degrees C). The findings revealed
      that the blood flow velocity and vessel location influence the ablation
      effectiveness and that increased blood flow inhibits heat transfer to the vessel
      wall. At the nearest and farthest vessel-antenna locations (0 and 1.3 cm),
      approximately 90.3% and 99.55% of the cancer cells were eradicated except for the
      areas adjacent to the vessel. In addition, total tissue thermal displacement is
      5.9 mm which is 6.59% of the total length of the overall model. 

PMID- 27642365
TI  - A Mass Spectrometric Analysis Method Based on PPCA and SVM for Early Detection of
      Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - Background. Surfaced-enhanced laser desorption-ionization-time of flight mass
      spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) technology plays an important role in the early
      diagnosis of ovarian cancer. However, the raw MS data is highly dimensional and
      redundant. Therefore, it is necessary to study rapid and accurate detection
      methods from the massive MS data. Methods. The clinical data set used in the
      experiments for early cancer detection consisted of 216 SELDI-TOF-MS samples. An
      MS analysis method based on probabilistic principal components analysis (PPCA)
      and support vector machine (SVM) was proposed and applied to the ovarian cancer
      early classification in the data set. Additionally, by the same data set, we also
      established a traditional PCA-SVM model. Finally we compared the two models in
      detection accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. Results. Using independent
      training and testing experiments 10 times to evaluate the ovarian cancer
      detection models, the average prediction accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity
      of the PCA-SVM model were 83.34%, 82.70%, and 83.88%, respectively. In contrast,
      those of the PPCA-SVM model were 90.80%, 92.98%, and 88.97%, respectively.
      Conclusions. The PPCA-SVM model had better detection performance. And the model
      combined with the SELDI-TOF-MS technology had a prospect in early clinical
      detection and diagnosis of ovarian cancer. 

PMID- 27642367
TI  - The Microstructure of Action Perception in Infancy: Decomposing the Temporal
      Structure of Social Information Processing.
AB  - In this article, we review recent evidence of infants' early competence in
      perceiving and interpreting the actions of others. We present a theoretical model
      that decomposes the timeline of action perception into a series of distinct
      processes that occur in a particular order. Once an agent is detected, covert
      attention can be allocated to the future state of the agent (priming), which may
      lead to overt gaze shifts that predict goals (prediction). Once these goals are
      achieved, the consequence of the agents' actions and the manner in which the
      actions were performed can be evaluated (evaluation). We propose that all of
      these processes have unique requirements, both in terms of timing and cognitive
      resources. To understand more fully the rich social world of infants, we need to
      pay more attention to the temporal structure of social perception and ask what
      information is available to infants and how this changes over time.

PMID- 27642366
TI  - Through-skull fluorescence imaging of the brain in a new near-infrared window.
AB  - To date, brain imaging has largely relied on X-ray computed tomography and
      magnetic resonance angiography with limited spatial resolution and long scanning
      times. Fluorescence-based brain imaging in the visible and traditional near
      infrared regions (400-900 nm) is an alternative but currently requires
      craniotomy, cranial windows and skull thinning techniques, and the penetration
      depth is limited to 1-2 mm due to light scattering. Here, we report through-scalp
      and through-skull fluorescence imaging of mouse cerebral vasculature without
      craniotomy utilizing the intrinsic photoluminescence of single-walled carbon
      nanotubes in the 1.3-1.4 micrometre near-infrared window. Reduced photon
      scattering in this spectral region allows fluorescence imaging reaching a depth
      of >2 mm in mouse brain with sub-10 micrometre resolution. An imaging rate of
      ~5.3 frames/s allows for dynamic recording of blood perfusion in the cerebral
      vessels with sufficient temporal resolution, providing real-time assessment of
      blood flow anomaly in a mouse middle cerebral artery occlusion stroke model.

PMID- 27642368
TI  - Local indicators of climate change: The potential contribution of local knowledge
      to climate research.
AB  - Local knowledge has been proposed as a place-based tool to ground-truth climate
      models and to narrow their geographic sensitivity. To assess the potential role
      of local knowledge in our quest to understand better climate change and its
      impacts, we first need to critically review the strengths and weaknesses of local
      knowledge of climate change and the potential complementarity with scientific
      knowledge. With this aim, we conducted a systematic, quantitative meta-analysis
      of published peer-reviewed documents reporting local indicators of climate change
      (including both local observations of climate change and observed impacts on the
      biophysical and the social systems). Overall, primary data on the topic are not
      abundant, the methodological development is incipient, and the geographical
      extent is unbalanced. On the 98 case studies documented, we recorded the mention
      of 746 local indicators of climate change, mostly corresponding to local
      observations of climate change (40%), but also to observed impacts on the
      physical (23%), the biological (19%), and the socioeconomic (18%) systems. Our
      results suggest that, even if local observations of climate change are the most
      frequently reported type of change, the rich and fine-grained knowledge in
      relation to impacts on biophysical systems could provide more original
      contributions to our understanding of climate change at local scale.

PMID- 27642369
TI  - Computational Drafting of Plot Structures for Russian Folk Tales.
AB  - The plots of stories are known to follow general patterns in terms of their
      overall structure. This was the basic tenet of structuralist approaches to
      narratology. Vladimir Propp proposed a procedure for the generation of new tales
      based on his semi-formal description of the structure of Russian folk tales. This
      is one of the first existing instances of a creative process described
      procedurally. The present paper revisits Propp's morphology to build a system
      that generates instances of Russian folk tales. Propp's view of the folk tale as
      a rigid sequence of character functions is employed as a plot driver, and some
      issues that Propp declared relevant but did not explore in detail-such as long
      range dependencies between functions or the importance of endings-are given
      computational shape in the context of a broader architecture that captures all
      the aspects discussed by Propp. A set of simple evaluation metrics for the
      resulting outputs is defined inspired on Propp's formalism. The potential of the
      resulting system for providing a creative story generation system is discussed,
      and possible lines of future work are discussed.

PMID- 27642370
TI  - Mindfulness Interventions Delivered by Technology Without Facilitator
      Involvement: What Research Exists and What Are the Clinical Outcomes?
AB  - New cost-effective psychological interventions are needed to contribute to
      treatment options for psychiatric and physical health conditions. This systematic
      review aims to investigate the current literature on one potentially cost
      effective form of mindfulness-based therapy, those delivered through
      technological platforms without any mindfulness facilitator input beyond the
      initial design of the programme. Three electronic databases (Ovid Medline,
      PsychINFO and Embase) were searched for relevant keywords, titles, medical
      subject headings (MeSH) and abstracts using search terms derived from a
      combination of two subjects: 'mindfulness' and 'technology'. Overall, ten studies
      were identified. The majority of studies were web-based and similar in structure
      and content to face-to-face mindfulness-based stress reduction courses. Clinical
      outcomes of stress (n = 5), depression (n = 6) and anxiety (n = 4) were reported
      along with mindfulness (n = 4), the supposed mediator of effects. All eight
      studies that measured significance found at least some significant effects (p <
      .05). The highest reported effect sizes were large (stress d = 1.57, depression d
      = .95, both ps > .005). However, methodological issues (e.g. selection bias, lack
      of control group and follow-up) which reflect the early nature of the work mean
      these largest effects are likely to be representative of maximal rather than
      average effects. Whilst there are important differences in the construction,
      length and delivery of interventions, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions
      about the most effective models. Suggestions of key characteristics are made
      though, needing further investigation preferably in standardised interventions.
      Given the existing research and the speed at which technology is making new
      platforms and tools available, it seems important that further research explores
      two parallel lines: first, refinement and thorough evaluation of already
      established technology-based mindfulness programmes and second, exploration of
      novel approaches to mindfulness training that combine the latest technological
      advances with the knowledge and skills of experienced meditation teachers.

PMID- 27642371
TI  - Manual Development and Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-Based
      Cognitive Therapy Versus Usual Care for Parents with a History of Depression.
AB  - Parental depression can adversely affect parenting and children's development. We
      adapted mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for parents (MBCT-P) with a
      history of depression and describe its development, feasibility, acceptability
      and preliminary estimates of efficacy. Manual development involved interviews
      with 12 parents who participated in MBCT groups or pilot MBCT-P groups. We
      subsequently randomised 38 parents of children aged between 2 and 6 years to MBCT
      P plus usual care (n = 19) or usual care (n = 19). Parents were interviewed to
      assess the acceptability of MBCT-P. Preliminary estimates of efficacy in relation
      to parental depression and children's behaviour were calculated at 4 and 9 months
      post-randomisation. Levels of parental stress, mindfulness and self-compassion
      were measured. Interviews confirmed the acceptability of MBCT-P; 78 % attended at
      least half the sessions. In the pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT), at 9
      months, depressive symptoms in the MBCT-P arm were lower than in the usual care
      arm (adjusted mean difference = -7.0; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = -12.8 to 
      1.1; p = 0.02) and 11 participants (58 %) in the MBCT-P arm remained well
      compared to 6 (32 %) in the usual care arm (mean difference = 26 %; 95 % CI = -4
      to 57 %; p = 0.02). Levels of mindfulness (p = 0.01) and self-compassion (p =
      0.005) were higher in the MBCT-P arm, with no significant differences in parental
      stress (p = 0.2) or children's behaviour (p = 0.2). Children's behaviour problems
      were significantly lower in the MBCT-P arm at 4 months (p = 0.03). This study
      suggests MBCT-P is acceptable and feasible. A definitive trial is needed to test
      its efficacy and cost effectiveness.

PMID- 27642372
TI  - Trait Self-Compassion Reflects Emotional Flexibility Through an Association with
      High Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability.
AB  - Converging evidence shows a positive effect of self-compassion on self-reported
      well-being and mental health. However, few studies have examined the relation
      between self-compassion and psychophysiological measures. In the present study,
      we therefore examined the relation between trait self-compassion and vagally
      mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) in 53 students (39 female, mean age =
      23.63). Trait self-compassion was assessed using the Self-Compassion Scale, and
      resting vmHRV was measured during a 5-min ECG baseline period. We hypothesized
      that higher levels of trait self-compassion would predict higher levels of
      resting vmHRV. Controlling for potential covariates (including age, gender, and
      BMI), the results confirmed our hypotheses, showing that higher levels of trait
      self-compassion predicted higher vmHRV. These results were validated with a 24-h
      measure of vmHRV, acquired from a subsample of the participants (n = 26, 16
      female, mean age = 23.85), confirming the positive correlation between high trait
      self-compassion and higher vmHRV. The relation between trait self-compassion,
      vmHRV, self-reported trait anxiety (the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety
      Inventory; STAI) and self-reported rumination (the Rumination subscale of the
      Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire; RRQ-Rum) was also investigated. Higher
      levels of trait anxiety and rumination were highly correlated with low levels of
      trait self-compassion. Trait anxiety, but not rumination, correlated marginally
      significantly with the level of vmHRV. The findings of the present study indicate
      that trait self-compassion predicts a better ability to physiologically and
      psychologically adapt emotional responses. Possible implications and limitations
      of the study are discussed.

PMID- 27642373
TI  - Mindfulness and mood stimulate each other in an upward spiral: a mindful walking
      intervention using experience sampling.
AB  - The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of mindful
      walking in nature as a possible means to maintain mindfulness skills after a
      mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) or mindfulness-based stress reduction
      (MBSR) course. Mindful walking alongside the river Rhine took place for 1, 3, 6,
      or 10 days, with a control period of a similar number of days, 1 week before the
      mindful walking period. In 29 mindfulness participants, experience sampling
      method (ESM) was performed during the control and mindful walking period.
      Smartphones offered items on positive and negative affect and state mindfulness
      at random times during the day. Furthermore, self-report questionnaires were
      administered before and after the control and mindful walking period, assessing
      depression, anxiety, stress, brooding, and mindfulness skills. ESM data showed
      that walking resulted in a significant improvement of both mindfulness and
      positive affect, and that state mindfulness and positive affect prospectively
      enhanced each other in an upward spiral. The opposite pattern was observed with
      state mindfulness and negative affect, where increased state mindfulness
      predicted less negative affect. Exploratory questionnaire data indicated
      corresponding results, though non-significant due to the small sample size. This
      is the first time that ESM was used to assess interactions between state
      mindfulness and momentary affect during a mindfulness intervention of several
      consecutive days, showing an upward spiral effect. Mindful walking in nature may
      be an effective way to maintain mindfulness practice and further improve
      psychological functioning.

PMID- 27642374
TI  - Food-Specific Decentering Experiences Are Associated with Reduced Food Cravings
      in Meditators: A Preliminary Investigation.
AB  - This study examined the association of food-specific decentering experiences with
      food cravings in a sample of meditators. Decentering refers to viewing one's
      thoughts as transient mental events and thus experiencing them as less
      subjectively real. This process has been suggested to be a key mechanism
      underlying the effects of mindfulness and many contemplative practices. Although
      most earlier studies have focused on the effects of decentering with regard to
      negative affect, some studies have shown that brief inductions of decentering
      among non-meditators reduce food cravings as well as unhealthy food choices.
      Here, we report a preliminary investigation of whether the food-specific
      decentering experiences that meditators have in daily life are associated with
      fewer food cravings. A small sample of meditators (N = 33, female = 15) answered
      a number of questions about decentering experiences with regard to thoughts about
      food, and they completed the short version of the Food Cravings Questionnaire
      Trait and a measure of meditation experience. Results confirmed that both more
      meditation experience and more food-specific decentering experiences were
      associated with fewer food cravings in daily life. In addition, results suggested
      that when participants had stronger decentering experiences, they experienced
      fewer food cravings, regardless of their level of meditation experience.
      Exploratory analyses further revealed that decentering was more strongly
      associated with reduced cravings in women than in men. These preliminary findings
      suggest that food-specific decentering experiences indeed help meditators deal
      with food desires, and thus extend the evidence for decentering effects into the
      domain of reward. Future research might investigate this in larger samples,
      validate a food-specific measure of decentering, and consider the broader
      implications of decentering experiences in daily life.

PMID- 27642375
TI  - A RCT Comparing Daily Mindfulness Meditations, Biofeedback Exercises, and Daily
      Physical Exercise on Attention Control, Executive Functioning, Mindful Awareness,
      Self-Compassion, and Worrying in Stressed Young Adults.
AB  - Our Western society is characterized by multitasking, competition, and constant
      time pressure. Negative effects of stress for the individual (anxiety,
      depression, somatic complaints) and for organizations and society (costs due to
      work absence) are very high. Thus, time-efficient self-help interventions to
      address these issues are necessary. This study assessed the effects of daily
      mindfulness meditations (MM) versus daily heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV
      BF) and daily physical exercise (PE) on attention control, executive functioning,
      mindful awareness, self-compassion, and worrying. Young adults (n = 75, age range
      18 to 40) with elevated stress levels were randomized to MM, HRV-BF, or PE, and
      measurements were taken at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Interventions in
      all three groups were self-guided and lasted for 5 weeks. Generalized estimating
      equation analyses showed that overall, all three interventions were effective and
      did not differ from each other. However, practice time differed between groups,
      with participants in the PE group practicing much more than participants in the
      other two groups. Therefore, additional analyses were carried out in two
      subsamples. The optimal dose sample included only those participants who
      practiced for at least 70 % of the total prescribed time. In the equal dose
      sample, home practice intensity was equal for all three groups. Again, the
      effects of the three interventions did not differ. In conclusion, MM, HRV-BF, and
      PE are all effective self-help methods to improve attention control, executive
      functioning, mindful awareness, self-compassion, and worrying, and mindfulness
      meditation was not found to be more effective than HRV-biofeedback or physical
      exercise for these cognitive processes.

PMID- 27642377
TI  - Mebendazole Is a Potential Alternative in the Treatment of Giardia duodenalis
      Infection.

PMID- 27642376
TI  - The Association of Mindful Parenting with Glycemic Control and Quality of Life in
      Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Results from Diabetes MILES-The Netherlands.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine associations between the mindful
      parenting style of parents of adolescents (aged 12-18) with type 1 diabetes
      mellitus (T1DM), and the glycaemic control and quality of life (QoL) of the
      adolescents. Chronic health conditions, such as T1DM, that require demanding
      treatment regimens, can negatively impact adolescents' quality of life.
      Therefore, it is important to determine whether mindful parenting may have a
      positive impact in these adolescents. Age, sex and duration of T1DM were examined
      as potential moderators. Parents (N = 215) reported on their own mindful
      parenting style (IM-P-NL) and the adolescents' glycaemic control. Parents and the
      adolescents with T1DM (N = 129) both reported on adolescents' generic and
      diabetes-specific QoL (PedsQLTM). The results showed that a more mindful
      parenting style was associated with more optimal hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values
      for boys. For girls, a more mindful parenting style was associated with not
      having been hospitalized for ketoacidosis. For both boys and girls, a more
      mindful parenting style was associated with better generic and diabetes-specific
      proxy-reported QoL. In conclusion, mindful parenting style may be a factor in
      helping adolescents manage their T1DM. Mindful parenting intervention studies for
      parents of adolescents with T1DM are needed to examine the effects on
      adolescents' glycaemic control and their quality of life.

PMID- 27642378
TI  - Developing a Web-based Tool Using Information and Communication Technologies to
      Expand the Reach and Impact of Photovoice.
AB  - Information and communication technologies are opening up vast new arenas for
      conducting the work of health promotion. Technology-based health promotions
      expand reach, standardize information and its delivery, provide opportunities for
      tailoring, create engaging interactivity within content delivery, provide for
      privacy and autonomy, improve portability, and lower delivery costs. This
      commentary describes the ongoing exploration and development of a web-based tool
      for enhancing the reach and impact of photovoice as a community change
      intervention. Features of the tool use information and communication technologies
      that integrate the use of an online learning management system, tailored
      messaging, gaming technology, interactive features, and the application of social
      media's power to increase the capacity of communities to employ comprehensive
      strategies to improve the health of their communities. It will enable individuals
      and groups to use photos and captions to assess the physical environment, social
      norms and behaviors of communities; raise community awareness of the factors
      contributing to ill-health in their communities, mobilize stakeholders, and
      inform environmental strategies and policy changes. We believe it will enhance
      the delivery of educational content about conducting photovoice projects, provide
      features unavailable without the application of information and communication
      technologies, and will be substantive advancement over existing photovoice
      resources.

PMID- 27642379
TI  - Persistent Homology Analysis of Brain Artery Trees.
AB  - New representations of tree-structured data objects, using ideas from topological
      data analysis, enable improved statistical analyses of a population of brain
      artery trees. A number of representations of each data tree arise from
      persistence diagrams that quantify branching and looping of vessels at multiple
      scales. Novel approaches to the statistical analysis, through various summaries
      of the persistence diagrams, lead to heightened correlations with covariates such
      as age and sex, relative to earlier analyses of this data set. The correlation
      with age continues to be significant even after controlling for correlations from
      earlier significant summaries.

PMID- 27642380
TI  - Structure Prediction of Self-Assembled Dye Aggregates from Cryogenic Transmission
      Electron Microscopy, Molecular Mechanics, and Theory of Optical Spectra.
AB  - Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) studies suggest that TTBC
      molecules self-assemble in aqueous solution to form single-walled tubes with a
      diameter of about 35 A. In order to reveal the arrangement and mutual
      orientations of the individual molecules in the tube, we combine information from
      crystal structure data of this dye with a calculation of linear absorbance and
      linear dichroism spectra and molecular dynamics simulations. We start with
      wrapping crystal planes in different directions to obtain tubes of suitable
      diameter. This set of tube models is evaluated by comparing the resulting optical
      spectra with experimental data. The tubes that can explain the spectra are
      investigated further by molecular dynamics simulations, including explicit
      solvent molecules. From the trajectories of the most stable tube models, the
      short-range ordering of the dye molecules is extracted and the optimization of
      the structure is iteratively completed. The final structural model is a tube of
      rings with 6-fold rotational symmetry, where neighboring rings are rotated by 30
      degrees  and the transition dipole moments of the chromophores form an angle of
      74 degrees  with respect to the symmetry axis of the tube. This model is in
      agreement with cryo-TEM images and can explain the optical spectra, consisting of
      a sharp red-shifted J-band that is polarized parallel to to the symmetry axis of
      the tube and a broad blue-shifted H-band polarized perpendicular to this axis.
      The general structure of the homogeneous spectrum of this hybrid HJ-aggregate is
      described by an analytical model that explains the difference in redistribution
      of oscillator strength inside the vibrational manifolds of the J- and H-bands and
      the relative intensities and excitation energies of those bands. In addition to
      the particular system investigated here, the present methodology can be expected
      to aid the structure prediction for a wide range of self-assembled dye
      aggregates.

PMID- 27642381
TI  - A tool for sexual minority mental health research: The Patient Health
      Questionnaire (PHQ-9) as a depressive symptom severity measure for sexual
      minority women in Viet Nam.
AB  - In a context with limited attention to mental health and prevalent sexual
      prejudice, valid measurements are a key first step to understanding the
      psychological suffering of sexual minority populations. We adapted the Patient
      Health Questionnaire as a depressive symptom severity measure for Vietnamese
      sexual minority women, ensuring its cultural relevance and suitability for
      internet-based research. Psychometric evaluation found that the scale is mostly
      unidimensional and has good convergent validity, good external construct
      validity, and excellent reliability. The sample's high endorsement of scale items
      emphasizes the need to study minority stress and mental health in this
      population.

PMID- 27642382
TI  - [Hyperprolactinemia: unusual association between peripheral hypothyroidism and
      microprolactinoma].
AB  - We report a rare case of hyperprolactinemia revealing the association between
      peripheral hypothyroidism and prolactin pituitary macroadenomas. The patient was
      a 43-year old woman, presenting with spontaneous bilateral galactorrhea over a
      period of 1 year. Hyperprolactinemia was confirmed and etiologic investigation
      revealed peripheral hypothyroidism secondary to autoimmune thyroiditis. Therapy
      consisted of administration of thyroid hormone, with clinical stabilization and
      hormonal normalization three months later. The evolution was marked by the
      persistence of hyperprolactinemia and galactorrhea. The diagnosis of
      microprolactinoma was objectified by pituitary MRI which showed microadenoma,
      justifying the administration of antidopaminergic therapy Six months later, the
      evolution was marked by normalization of prolactin levels and disappearance of
      pituitary microadenoma image. 

PMID- 27642383
TI  - [Neonatal conjunctivitis in the district of Glidji in Southern Togo: a cross
      sectional study about 159 new-borns].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Describe the epidemiology of neonatal conjunctivitis in the Canton
      of Glidji in southern Togo. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 4
      Satellite Health Care Units in the Canton of Glidji from 19 March to 13 May 2009
      (8 weeks). All newborns were included in the study and neonatal conjunctivitis
      was defined by the presence in a newborn of at least two of the following signs:
      conjunctival hyperemia, eyelid swelling, chemosis, purulent discharges,
      lacrimation. The parameters studied were: age, sex, risk factors, medical
      history, presence or absence of conjunctivitis, germs responsible for
      conjunctivitis and evolution under treatment. RESULTS: During the inclusion
      period, 159 newborns were examined. The average age was 10.9 days with 0-28 day
      interval. The study involved 80 boys and 79 girls (sex ratio 1.01). Of the 159
      infants, 7 cases of conjunctivitis were diagnosed, representing an overall
      prevalence of 4.4%. Identified risk factors were: vaginal delivery and the
      presence of STI during pregnancy. Of the 7 cases of conjunctivitis,
      cytobacteriological examination allowed the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus in
      2 cases. The evolution of the cases of conjunctivitis under treatment was
      favorable with regression of the signs since the 3rd day. CONCLUSION: Neonatal
      conjunctivitis had a prevalence of 4.4% in the Canton of Glidji in southern Togo
      and Staphylococcus aureus was the causative germ. Their prevention requires good
      follow-up prenatal visit and the administration of antibiotic eye drops at birth.

PMID- 27642384
TI  - The Spectrum of Paediatric Intestinal Obstruction in Kenya.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intestinal obstruction (IO) occurs when there is impedance to the
      flow of intestinal contents due to a congenital or acquired pathology, and is a
      common paediatric surgical emergency. This study aimed to assess the pattern and
      outcome of paediatric IO in western Kenya. METHODS: A retrospective review of all
      recorded cases of mechanical IO in patients aged 15 years or below admitted at
      Tenwek Hospital between January 2009 and December 2013. RESULTS: The cohort
      included a total of 217 children (130 boys and 87 girls). The mean age was 6.7
      years (range: newborn-15 years), with most (65, 30%) cases aged 1-3 years.
      Vomiting (161, 74.2%), abdominal pain (152, 70%), abdominal tenderness (113,
      52.1%), constipation (111, 51.2%), and abdominal distension (104, 47.9%) were the
      predominant signs and symptoms. The most common causes of IO were ascariasis (96,
      44.2%), adhesions (34, 15.7%), and intussusception (30, 13.8%). Intussusception
      was the leading cause of IO in children aged <= 1 year, ascariasis in children
      aged 1-5 and 6-10 years, and adhesions in children aged 11-15 years. Operative
      management was undertaken in 120 (55.3%) cases with 39 (32.5%) of these having
      gangrenous bowel. The overall mortality rate was 5%. CONCLUSION: The most common
      causes of mechanical bowel obstruction in this series were ascariasis, adhesions,
      and intussusception. Ascariasis remains a significant cause of paediatric IO in
      this region, thus public education, improved sanitation and deworming campaigns
      may be helpful in reducing the worm burden.

PMID- 27642385
TI  - [Secondary cutaneous plasmacytoma revealing multiple myeloma: about a case].
AB  - Secondary metastatic cutaneous plasmacytoma is a multiple extramedullary plasma
      cell proliferation involving skin. Its diagnosis is based on the identification
      of malignant plasma cells proliferation in the bone marrow and in the skin. Its
      occurrence is associated with advanced myeloma and a poor prognosis. 

PMID- 27642386
TI  - [Incidence of strokes in HIV-positive patients treated with long term
      antiretroviral treatment].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: With the introduction of triple therapy regimen in 1996, the
      morbidity and mortality associated with HIV infection decreased significantly.
      Concomitantly with this clinical success, several metabolic changes including
      diabetes, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and lipodystrophy were observed,
      being associated with the risk of stroke. This study aims to determine the
      incidence of strokes in HIV-positive patients treated with long term
      antiretroviral treatment. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of HIV
      positive adult patients receiving long term antiretroviral treatment for at least
      12 months. It was conducted at the Approved Treatment Centres of Douala General
      Hospital (HGD); data collection spanned a 10-year period from May 2001 to April
      2010. Patients were treated according to Cameroon national treatment guidelines.
      The Kaplan-Meyer method was used to determine the time of stroke onset. The Khi-2
      test was used to investigate the association between two qualitative variables.
      The statistical significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: 407 patients were
      included in the study, 62.4% were female, the average age was 40.1 +/- 9.9 years.
      The incidence of strokes was 1.7% over 72 months follow up with no significant
      difference between women and men (P = 0.76). The incidence rate was calculated to
      be 0.3 per 100 person years. 85.7% of cases had an ischemic stroke. The mean time
      from stroke onset was 33.4 months. Factors associated with stroke occurrence
      were: patients who underwent treatment at WHO Clinical Stage III and IV and with
      CD4 count> 100/mm3at the start of antiretroviral therapy. CONCLUSION: The
      incidence of stroke in HIV-positive patients treated with long term
      antiretroviral therapy is similar to that previously reported but these strokes
      occur at an early age and justify increased clinical monitoring. A prospective
      study involving a control population is needed.

PMID- 27642387
TI  - [Osteoid osteoma in the lower extremity of the radius: about a case, rare
      location and review of the literature].
AB  - Osteoid osteoma is a benign but painful bone tumor whose treatment involves
      complete surgical resection. We report the case of a young patient with osteoid
      osteoma in the lower extremity of the radius. 

PMID- 27642388
TI  - Vaccine receipt and vaccine card availability among children of the apostolic
      faith: analysis from the 2010-2011 Zimbabwe demographic and health survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vaccine hesitancy and refusal continue to be a global challenge to
      reaching immunization targets, especially among those in traditional or
      fundamentalist religions. The apostolic faith in Zimbabwe has been historically
      associated with objection to most medical interventions, including immunization.
      METHODS: We conducted a descriptive analysis of socio-demographic characteristics
      and vaccine coverage among apostolic and non-apostolic adults aged 15-49 years
      and children aged 12-23 months using the Demographic and Health Survey conducted
      in Zimbabwe during 2010-2011. We used logistic regression models to estimate
      associations between the apostolic religion and receipt of all four basic
      childhood vaccinations in the Expanded Program on Immunization, receipt of no
      vaccinations, and availability of child vaccination card. RESULTS: Among children
      aged 12-23 months, 64% had received all doses of the four basic vaccinations, and
      12% had received none of the recommended vaccines. A vaccination card was
      available for 68% of children. There was no significant association between
      Apostolic faith and completion of all basic vaccinations (aOR = 0.90, 95% CI:
      0.69-1.17), but apostolic children were almost twice as likely to have received
      no basic vaccinations (aOR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.22-2.77) than non-Apostolic
      children, and they were 32% less likely to have a vaccination card that was
      available and seen by the interviewer (aOR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.52-0.89).
      CONCLUSION: Disparities in childhood vaccination coverage and availability of
      vaccination cards persist for apostolic in Zimbabwe. Continued collaboration with
      apostolic leaders and additional research to better understand vaccine hesitancy
      and refine interventions and messaging strategies are needed.

PMID- 27642389
TI  - Assessment of HIV/AIDS comprehensive correct knowledge among Sudanese university:
      a cross-sectional analytic study 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Comprehensive correct HIV/AIDS knowledge (CCAK) is defined as
      correctly identify the two major ways of preventing the sexual transmission of
      HIV, and reject the most common misconceptions about HIV transmission. There are
      limited studies on this topic in Sudan. In this study we investigated the
      Comprehensive correct HIV/AIDS knowledge among Universities students. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional analytic study was conducted among 556 students from two
      universities in 2014. Data were collected by using the self-administered pre
      tested structured questionnaire. Chi-square was used for testing the significance
      and P. Value of >= 0.05 is considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The
      majority (97.1%) of study subjects have heard about a disease called HIV/AIDS,
      while only 28.6% of them knew anyone who is infected with AIDS in the local
      community. Minority (13.8%) of students had CCAK however, males showed a better
      level of CCAK than females (OR = 2.77) with high significant statistical
      differences (P. Value = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Poor rate of CCAK among university
      students is noticed, especially among females. Almost half of students did not
      know preventive measures of HIV, nearly two thirds had misconception, about one
      third did not know the mode of transmission of HIV.

PMID- 27642390
TI  - Sexual risk related behaviour among youth living with HIV in central Uganda:
      implications for HIV prevention.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: As young people living with HIV grow their sexual behaviour and
      it's implication on HIV prevention is of concern. This study describes the sexual
      risk related-behaviours and factors associated with abstinence among Youth Living
      with HIV in central Uganda. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among
      338 unmarried youth between 15 and 24 years accessing HIV care in central Uganda.
      Data was collected using interviewer administered structured questionnaires.
      Adjusted prevalence proportion ratios (adj. PPRs) of factors associated with
      sexual abstinence for at least six months were determined by multivariable log
      binomial regression. RESULTS: Overall, 79% (269/338) of respondents were
      abstaining from sexual intercourse for atleast six months, although, 45%
      (150/338) had ever been sexually active. Of the 283 respondents who desired to
      get married in future, 40% preferred negative marriage partners. Only 31%
      (39/126) of respondents in boy/girl relationships had disclosed their HIV status
      to their partners. Among those currently sexually active (n = 69), 57% did not
      consistently use condoms and 30% had more than one sexual partner in the past six
      months. The adj.PRR of abstinence was higher among youth between 15 and 19 years
      compared to those between 20 and 24 years (adj. PPR = 1.26, 95% CI; 1.08-1.46).
      The prevalence of abstinence was significantly lower among respondent who
      consumed alcohol (adj. PPR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.16-0.61). CONCLUSION: Tailored
      interventions promoting disclosure, consistent condoms use and discouraging
      alcohol consumption among sero-positive youth could reduce HIV transmission risk.

PMID- 27642391
TI  - [Intradialytic arterial hypotension in a patient on chronic hemodialysis
      revealing ante-hypophyseal insufficiency].

PMID- 27642392
TI  - [The problem of the cost of new oncologic therapies: what about Morocco?].
AB  - Cancer is a major public health problem in Africa. The progress in cancer
      treatment over the past decade is undeniable. The emergence of targeted therapies
      in oncology made it possible to modify the natural history of some cancers
      associated with a poor prognosis. Despite their efficiency, these therapies pose
      a major health care problem that makes them inaccessible to most patients in
      developing countries. In Morocco, cancer is considered a long-term condition and
      for this reasons patients have health insurance coverage. The involvement of
      civil society made it possible even to improve therapy management as well as a
      broader poor patient's access to innovative medicines. 

PMID- 27642393
TI  - Comparison of the complementary feeding practices between mothers with twins and
      mothers with singletons.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Several studies have been done on infant feeding practices but few
      have focused on twins. The aim of this study was to compare the complementary
      feeding practices between mothers with twins and mothers with singletons.
      METHODS: Mother-infant pairs (50 mother-twin pairs and 50 mother-singleton pairs)
      with children aged 6 to 23 months were recruited from two public health clinics
      and communities in Tema and Ashaiman. Information was collected on the background
      characteristics of the mothers. Recumbent length and weight of the children were
      measured. Dietary information on the infants was collected using 24 hour recall.
      The differences between two groups were tested using independent t-student test
      for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables. RESULTS:
      The minimum dietary diversity (4+ food groups) was met by only 32% of the twins
      and 40% of the singletons, and 28% of the twins and 38% of the singletons met the
      requirement for minimum acceptable diet (minimum dietary diversity and the
      minimum meal frequency). Minimum meal frequency was met by 78% of the twins and
      76% of the singletons. There were no significant differences between the two
      groups of infants. Prevalence of undernutrition was not significantly different
      among the two groups (twins versus singletons: underweight-26% versus 24%,
      stunting-20% versus 24% and wasting-14% versus 10%. CONCLUSION: Complementary
      feeding practices were suboptimal in both groups of mothers requiring
      interventions to improve infant feeding practices.

PMID- 27642394
TI  - Pediatric recurrent respiratory tract infections: when and how to explore the
      immune system? (About 53 cases).
AB  - Recurrent respiratory tract infections are one of the most frequent reasons for
      pediatric visits and hospitalization. Causes of this pathology are multiple
      ranging from congenital to acquired and local to general. Immune deficiencies are
      considered as underlying conditions predisposing to this pathology. Our work is
      about to determine when and how to explore the immune system when facing
      recurrent respiratory infections. This was based on the records of 53 children
      hospitalized at the pediatrics unit of Hassan II University Hospital, Fez
      Morocco. Thirty boys and 23 girls with age ranging from 5 months to 12 years with
      an average age of 2 years were involved in this study. Bronchial foreign body was
      the main etiology in children of 3 to 6 year old. Gastro-esophageal reflux, which
      in some cases is a consequence of chronic cough, as well as asthma were most
      frequent in infants (17 and 15% respectively). Immune deficiency was described in
      7.5% of patients and the only death we deplored in our series belongs to this
      group. Recurrent respiratory tract infections have multiple causes. In our series
      they are dominated by foreign body inhalation and gastroesophageal reflux, which
      in some cases is a consequence of a chronic cough. Immune deficiency is not
      frequent but could influence the prognosis. Therefore immune explorations should
      be well codified. 

PMID- 27642395
TI  - Kidney injury molecule-1 and microalbuminuria levels in Zambian population:
      biomarkers of kidney injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Kidney injury affects renal excretion of plasma analytes and
      metabolic waste products with grave pathologic consequences. Early detection,
      thus of kidney injury is essential for injury specific intervention that may
      avert permanent renal damage and delay progression of kidney injury. We aimed to
      evaluate Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1) and Microalbuminuria (MAU), as
      biomarkers of kidney injury, in comparison with creatinine. METHODS: We compared
      the levels of urine MAU, urine KIM-1 and other plasma biochemical tests in
      specimens from 80 individuals with and without kidney disease. RESULTS: We found
      no difference in KIM-1 levels between the kidney disease group (2.82+/-
      1.36ng/mL) and controls (3.29 +/- 1.14ng/mL), p = 0.122. MAU was higher in
      participants with kidney disease (130.809+/- 84.744 ug/mL) than the controls
      (15.983+/- 20.442ug/mL), p ?0.001. KIM-1 showed a weak negative correlation with
      creatinine (r = -0.279, p = 0.09), whereas MAU was positively correlated with
      creatinine in participants with kidney disease with statistical significance (r =
      0.556, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that in Zambian setting MAU
      and creatinine are sensitive biomarkers in the diagnosis of kidney damage. We
      moreover propose further evaluation of KIM-1 as a biomarker of kidney injury.

PMID- 27642396
TI  - [Extravasation of a chemotherapeutic drug].

PMID- 27642397
TI  - [Medical history of a breast cancer: about a case!!! How to react].
AB  - Locally advanced breast cancer is a rare entity in developed countries while we
      continue to treat patients with advanced stage tumor in African countries. Our
      study reports the case of an intellectual patient referring the presence of a
      right breast nodule found during self-examination treated at the military
      hospital of Meknes, Morocco; she was examined only six months after discovery, in
      a historical state of locally advanced breast cancer. Our study aims to detect
      the contemporary anomalies leading to a delayed diagnosis of the breast cancer
      and to propose solutions to increase awareness among population. 

PMID- 27642398
TI  - [Simultaneous bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax].

PMID- 27642399
TI  - [Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea in moroccan population: a retrospective cohort
      study].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in premenopausal
      women and its treatment may affect their fertility. Indeed, chemotherapy used in
      breast cancer may cause transient or permanent amenorrhea in premenopausal women.
      METHOD: We conducted a retrospective study of young patients with localized
      breast canceri in the Department of Medical Oncology, Mohammed VI Inuversity
      Hospital, Oujda, Morocco over a 3-year period from January 2009 to December 2011.
      The aim of our study was to analyse the impact of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea
      (CIA) as well as predictive factors for its occurrence. RESULTS: In our series,
      74% of patients had CIA and 33.6% of patients had definitive chemotherapy-induced
      amenorrhea. Several factors have been studied in search of predictive factors for
      amenorrhea occurrence. With regard to the age factor, our analysis showed that
      women over 40 were more likely to have amenorrhea than those aged less than 40
      years (95.7% versus 56.1%), with a statistically significant difference (p =
      0.003). CONCLUSION: In our study the incidence of ICA seems comparable to that
      found in the literature, while age is the predominant predictor of its
      occurrence.

PMID- 27642400
TI  - Sleeping position and reported night-time asthma symptoms and medication.
AB  - A 49 years old man, known case of bronchial asthma for 43 years, with history of
      frequent asthmatic attacks, usually responding to double dose of intravenous
      Aminophylline and double dose of Hydrocortisone was received at medical emergency
      care unit at midnight with night-time asthma attack. The attack did not settle
      with Aminophylline single Intravenous injection. He was then admitted and put in
      supine sleep position for re-evaluation while his asthma symptoms were monitored
      while waiting for the medical officer's evaluation of his asthma status. After 3
      hours of observation, asthma symptoms were relieved, and patient was discharged
      home and advised to sleep in supine position throughout every night to prevent
      asthma symptoms. The patient was followed up through nighttime sleep diary for
      one month. After one month period of monitoring, the patient had significance
      reduction in asthma symptoms and reduced night time medication, reduced episodes
      of night awakening due to asthma symptoms, and improved capability for normal
      works. This case report describes a novel approach of management and prophylaxis
      of asthmatic episodes through sleeping position that reduces and control asthma
      symptoms resulting in reduced drug consumption. 

PMID- 27642401
TI  - Quality and rural-urban comparison of tuberculosis care in Rivers State, Nigeria.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nigeria ranks among countries with the highest burden of
      tuberculosis. Yet evidence continues to indicate poor treatment outcomes which
      have been attributed to poor quality of care. This study aims to identify some of
      the systemic problems in order to inform policy decisions for improved quality of
      services and treatment outcomes in Nigeria. METHODS: A comparative assessment of
      the quality of TB care in rural and urban health facilities was carried out
      between May and June 2013, employing the Donabedian model of quality assessment.
      Data was analysed using the SPSS software package version 20.0. The level of
      significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Health facility infrastructures were
      more constrained in the urban than rural settings. Both the urban and rural
      facilities lacked adequate facilities for infection control such as, running
      water, air filter respirators, hand gloves and extractor fans. Health education
      and HIV counselling and testing (HCT) were limited in rural facilities compared
      to urban facilities. Although anti-TB drugs were generally available in both
      settings, the DOTS strategy in patient care was completely ignored. Finally,
      laboratory support for diagnosis and patient monitoring was limited in the rural
      facilities. CONCLUSION: The study highlights suboptimal quality of TB care in
      Rivers State with limitations in health education and HCT of patients for HIV as
      well as laboratory support for TB care in rural health facilities. We, therefore,
      recommend that adequate infection control measures, strict observance of the DOTS
      strategy and sufficient laboratory support be provided to TB clinics in the
      State.

PMID- 27642402
TI  - Outcomes and linkage to chronic care of HIV exposed infants among health centers
      and hospitals in Amhara Region, Ethiopia: implications to prevention of mother-to
      child transmission of HIV program: a cross sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Numerous challenges exist in provision of prevention of mother-to
      child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) such as linking HIV exposed infants (HEI) and
      their mothers to chronic cares services, and tackling loss to follow up. Limited
      evidence exists in Ethiopian setting that explains the persisting high HIV
      infection rate among HEIs and extent of linkage to chronic care. The study
      assessed the proportion of HIV infection; children linked to chronic care and
      determinants of HIV infection among HEI in Northern Ethiopia. METHODS: This
      institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in health centers and
      hospitals of Amhara Region. A total of 484 HEI-mother pairs selected by
      multistage random sampling were included in the study. Data were collected from
      PMTCT and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinics using pre-tested and structured
      questionnaires. Quantitative data were entered in Epi Info version 7.0 and
      exported to SPSS 20.0 for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 484 mother-infant pairs
      with a response rate of 92.4% were included in the analysis. About 94.2% of
      infants and women were linked to chronic care follow-up sometime after the
      diagnosis. The proportion of HIV infection was 12.4%. Antenatal care attendance
      had a significant association with HIV infection among HEI (p < 0.0001).
      Delivering in health institution (p < 0.005), mode of delivery (p < 0.032), and
      provision of both infant (p < 0.0001) and maternal (p < 0.0001) prophylaxis
      showed a highly significant association with HIV infection among HIV exposed
      infants. CONCLUSION: Health facilities shall encourage antenatal care that
      increased institutional delivery, leads to timely initiation and high uptake of
      PMTCT to reduce the vertical transmission of HIV infection and meet national
      targets.

PMID- 27642403
TI  - Anaemia and nutritional status of adolescent girls in Babile District, Eastern
      Ethiopia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nutritional status during adolescence plays an important role in
      the human lifecycle that influences growth and development and during this period
      nutrient needs are the greatest. The objective of this study is to assess anaemia
      and nutritional status of adolescent girls in the Babile district, Eastern
      Ethiopia. METHODS: Data were collected from 547 adolescent aged 10-19 years by
      cross sectional study design. WHO Anthro-plus software was used to analyse
      Nutritional statuses of adolescents and magnitudes were determined using WHO 2007
      references point. Haemoglobin was measured on site by hem cue machine.
      Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was carried out depending on the
      nature of variables. RESULTS: The result of the study show that 21.6% thin, 4.8%
      were over weighted and 1.1% was obese, 32% were anaemic and 15% of adolescents
      were stunted/ short stature than normal. Nutritional status of adolescent were
      low both in urban and rural adolescents, but severe thinness were higher among of
      rural (39.3%) compared to urban (37.5%) adolescents. Factors independently
      associated with stunting were place of residence, father occupation source of
      drinking water and age of the adolescents. CONCLUSION: Nutritional status of
      adolescent girls contributes to the nutritional status of the community. There is
      a need to initiate intervention measures to improve the nutritional status of
      adolescent girls who are the future 'mothers-to-be'. Hence, there is a need to
      create awareness among adolescents and their family about nutrition and health.

PMID- 27642404
TI  - Breast cancer patients' presentation for oncological treatment: a single centre
      study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer patients are presenting at advanced stages for
      oncological treatment in Nigeria and World Health Organization predicted
      developing countries' breast cancer incidence and mortality to increase by year
      2020. METHODS: Prospective observational hospital based study that enrolled
      breast cancer patients from catchment area of an oncology service hospital in
      Nigeria between 2007 and 2013. Patients' demographics, breast cancer burden and
      health care giver presentation variables were analysed for causal factors of
      seeking medical help and what determines commencement of effective oncological
      treatment. RESULTS: Forty-six patients were enrolled, 19.6% of them presented
      primarily to oncologist while 80.4% presented secondarily for oncological
      treatment. There is a significant difference in presentation time for oncological
      treatment (t = -3.56, df = 42.90, p = 0.001) between primary (M =11.56 +/- 5.21
      weeks) and secondary presentation (M= 52.56 +/- 10.27weeks). Tumor burden of
      those that presented secondarily were significantly more advanced (U = 78.5, p =
      0.011) and, univariate analysis reveals that: patients' matrimonial setting,
      breast cancer awareness and mode of discovery of breast symptoms are patient
      related factors that determines their choice of health care providers and,
      determinant of effective oncological treatment is patient first contact health
      care provider. CONCLUSION: Patients' bio-characteristics that determine their
      choice of health care provider should be incorporated into community breast
      cancer sensitization drives. Additionally, there is a need for a government
      agency assign the task of accrediting and defining scope of enterprise of health
      care institutions and their health care providers in our pluralist health system.

PMID- 27642405
TI  - Isolated localization of Rosai Dorfman disease as renal mass: a case report and
      review of literature.
AB  - We report a rare case of an elderly woman presented with right renal mass with
      invasion of renal vein and several small lymphadenopathy in the hilar area. The
      diagnosis of kidney cancer is suspected and the patient underwent open radical
      nephrectomy, surrenalectomy and lymphadenectomy dissection. The pathologic
      examinations find a rosai dorfman disease. This unusual benign entity is uncommon
      in the kidney, but in medical imaging, it may simulate an infiltrative renal
      neoplasm, especially a lymphoma or leukemia or even renal cell carcinoma. A
      comprehensive literature review was undertaken to summarize the clinical and
      pathologic features of this disorder. 

PMID- 27642406
TI  - Toxicological assessment of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of clerodendrum
      capitatum in Wistar rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Clerodendrum capitatum (Willd) Schumach. & Thonn (Lamiaceae) is
      used in African traditional medicine for the treatment of malaria, hypertension,
      obesity, jaundice and diabetes however there is lack of experimental data on its
      possible toxicity. This study investigated the acute and 28 days sub-chronic
      toxicity of C. capitatum in Wistar rats. METHODS: In acute toxicity tests, a
      single administration of the hydroethanolic C. capitatum leaf extract (5 g/kg)
      was given orally to 5 female rats. The general behavior, adverse effects and
      mortality were recorded for up to 14 days post treatment. On the 15(th) day, the
      rats were weighed and euthanized for necropsy. In sub-chronic toxicity tests, the
      extract (4, 8 and 16 g/kg/day) was given orally to both male and female rats for
      28 days. The animal body weight was recorded throughout the experiment, while
      hematological and biochemical parameters of blood and relative organs weights
      were evaluated on the 29(th) day. RESULTS: Clerodendrum Capitatum did not cause
      any death or any hazardous symptoms of acute toxicity, showing an LD50 higher
      than 5 g/kg. Sub-chronic administration of C. capitatum resulted in no noticeable
      changes in weight gain and water or food consumption. White blood cells and
      hemoglobin increased while urea concentration, liver enzymes, total cholesterol
      and glucose concentrations significantly decreased in treated animals. No changes
      in macroscopical aspect of organs were observed in the animals. CONCLUSION: These
      results showed that acute or sub-chronic oral administration of the
      hydroethanolic leaf extract of Clerodendrum capitatum may be considered as
      relatively free of toxicity.

PMID- 27642407
TI  - [Clinical signs of malnutrition in children living around a mining area: a case
      study in the city of Lubumbashi and its surrounding].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malnutrition remains to this day a major public health problem,
      particularly in developing countries. This study aimed to determine the clinical
      signs observed in malnourished children admitted to a care unit. METHODS: This is
      a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted from July 2013 to December 2014.
      Our study included 311 cases (182 malnourished children and 129 well-nourished
      children), based on exhaustive sampling, with an active screening of malnourished
      and well-nourished children. The diagnosis was made clinically and was associated
      with anthropometry. RESULTS: The main collected symptoms in malnourished children
      were: cough or pneumonia in 42.50%, gastroenteritis in 38.55%, skin lesions in
      22.91% of cases, fever in 22.35% of cases, edema in 19.0% of children, pallor in
      8.38% of children; finally splenomegaly and hepatomegaly were the less common
      symptoms (1.68% and 2.89% respectively). Well-nourished children, instead, showed
      splenomegaly and fever associated with malaria. CONCLUSION: Malnourished children
      living around a mining area don't differ in symptomatology from the other
      malnourished children, except for hepatomegaly and splenomegaly which are very
      rare in our malnourished children.

PMID- 27642408
TI  - [Battered child syndrome: clinical and radiological aspects].
AB  - Physical child abuse or battered child syndrome is responsible for over 75.000
      deaths per year in France. This public health problem is under-diagnosed in
      Tunisia and in the world. The path toward the recognition of battered child
      syndrom was arduous even in some western societies. This study aims to highlight
      this problem to healthcare practitioners in order that accurate diagnosis and
      appropriate management may be provided. Physical child abuse has wrongly been
      referred to as Silverman syndrome that includes only skeletal lesions in children
      such as fractures. 

PMID- 27642409
TI  - [Large botryomycoma of the big toe].

PMID- 27642410
TI  - Tick bite presenting with acute abdomen.

PMID- 27642411
TI  - [Myositis ossificans circumscripta, an unusual location: about a case and review
      of the literature].
AB  - Myositis ossificans circumscripta (MOC) is a rare condition characterized by
      nontumoral heterotopic ossification of the soft tissues. This condition affects
      young subjects, occurring mainly after trauma. It is ubiquitous, predominantly
      located in girdles and limbs. We report the case of a young patient with
      paravertebral MOC without traumatic context; the aim of this study was to recall
      diagnostic criteria and imaging aspects. 

PMID- 27642412
TI  - [Post traumatic, indirect carotid cavernous fistula: indirect diagnosis in
      limited context].

PMID- 27642413
TI  - [Severe hemorrhagic forms of Rift Valley fever: about 5 cases].
AB  - Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an arbovirus caused by an RNA virus belonging to
      family Bunyaviridae (genus phlebovirus). It is a zoonosis that primarily affects
      animals but it also has the capacity to infect humans, either by handling meat,
      runts of sick animals or, indirectly, by the bite of infected mosquitoes (Aedes
      sp, Anopheles sp, Culex sp). In most cases, RVF infection in humans is
      asymptomatic, but it can also manifest as moderate febrile syndrome with a
      favorable outcome. However, some patients may develop hemorrhagic syndrome and/or
      neurological damages with a fatal evolution. We present a case study of the
      development of 5 patients with RVF associated with hemorrhagic fever syndrome
      admitted to the internal medicine department at National Hospital Center in
      Nouakchott (Mauritania), in October 2015. The outcome was favorable for two of
      the five patients. The other 3 died, two of hemorrhagic shock and one of septic
      shock. 

PMID- 27642414
TI  - Students' perspectives of undergraduate research methods education at three
      public medical schools in Uganda.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this study we used a model of adult learning to explore
      undergraduate students' views on how to improve the teaching of research methods
      and biostatistics. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of survey data of 600
      undergraduate students from three medical schools in Uganda. The analysis looked
      at student's responses to an open ended section of a questionnaire on their views
      on undergraduate teaching of research methods and biostatistics. Qualitative
      phenomenological data analysis was done with a bias towards principles of adult
      learning. RESULTS: Students appreciated the importance of learning research
      methods and biostatistics as a way of understanding research problems;
      appropriately interpreting statistical concepts during their training and post
      qualification practice; and translating the knowledge acquired. Stressful
      teaching environment and inadequate educational resource materials were
      identified as impediments to effective learning. Suggestions for improved
      learning included: early and continuous exposure to the course; more active and
      practical approach to teaching; and a need for mentorship. CONCLUSION: The
      current methods of teaching research methods and biostatistics leave most of the
      students in the dissonance phase of learning resulting in none or poor student
      engagement that results in a failure to comprehend and/or appreciate the
      principles governing the use of different research methods.

PMID- 27642415
TI  - [Hydatic disease affecting the adductors lodge of the thigh: a rare case in the
      literature].

PMID- 27642416
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors associated with tungiasis in Mayuge district, Eastern
      Uganda.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tungiasis is an endemic but neglected health problem in Uganda
      especially in resource poor communities. It is largely affecting rural
      communities in the Eastern, West Nile and Central regions. This study assessed
      prevalence and risk factors associated with tungiasis in Mayuge district, Eastern
      Uganda. METHODS: This was a cross sectional study that used a semi-structured
      questionnaire and observational checklist to collect quantitative data from 422
      households in 12 villages. Prevalence of tungiasis was defined as presence of
      Tunga penetrans in the skin of any household member at the time of data
      collection. RESULTS: The prevalence of tungiasis was 22.5%. However, a big
      percentage 41.5% of households were reported to have had T. penetrans in the
      previous month while 49.5% had T. penetrans for more than one month. Majority
      (90.5%)of the participants used a pin, needle, or thorn to remove sand flea from
      infected body parts. Having dirty feet (AOR 3.86, CI (1.76-8.34)), dirty clothes
      (AOR 3.46, CI (2.00-5.97)), cracked house floor (AOR =6.28, CI (3.28-12.03)),
      dirty floor (AOR 3.21, CI (1.38-7.46)), littered compounds (AOR= 2.95, CI (1.66
      5.26)) and rearing cattle (AOR 2.38, CI (1.28-4.45)) were associated with
      tungiasis. However, practicing preventive measures (AOR 0.51, CI (0.29-0.90)) was
      found protective for disease. CONCLUSION: Tungiasis is still a prevalent health
      problem in rural communities in Eastern Uganda due to a number of individual
      (host) and environmental factors. There is need to increase awareness regarding
      improvement in sanitation and hygiene to enable communities' implements
      interventions for prevention of T. penetrans.

PMID- 27642417
TI  - [Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast: about a case and review of the
      literature].
AB  - Primitive neuroendocrine carcinomas of the breast are rare tumors. They are now
      included in the latest WHO classification of tumors of the breast. We report the
      case of a 39-year old patient with tumor located in the breast. It was a locally
      advanced tumor that required mastectomy and ipsilateral axillary node dissection.
      Adjuvant chemotherapy was indicated. The evolution was marked by local
      progression. The patient died in a state of febrile pancytopenia after a one-year
      survival. 

PMID- 27642418
TI  - [Parietal-scar endometriosis after cesarean section: a rare entity].
AB  - Wall endometriosis is a rare clinical entity whose pathophysiology remains
      unclear. It occurs most frequently after gynecologic or obstetric surgery. We
      report the case of a patient with cyclic pain at the caesarean section scar.
      Clinical examination showed a 5 cm mass in the right iliac fossa.
      Tomodensitometry revealed a tissue density mass (45mm on the major axis). Hence,
      the decision to perform a wide excision of the lesion. Anatomo-pathological
      examination confirmed the diagnosis of parietal endometriosis. Postoperative
      sequelae were simple with a follow-up period of 20 months with no recurrence of
      the mass or of the pain. Our study highlights the characteristics of this disease
      to allow the health practitioner to understand the importance of diagnosis, of
      early treatment of this disease as well as of the possibility to prevent it
      during each gynecologic or obstetric surgery. 

PMID- 27642419
TI  - [Pediatric Burkitt lymphoma revealed by acute intussusception].

PMID- 27642420
TI  - [Formalized consensus: clinical practice recommendations for the management of
      the migraine in African adult patients].
AB  - Migraine is a primary headache disorder (according to the latest International
      Headache Society criteria) affecting approximately 8% of African population.
      Women are more often affected than men and attacks usually occur before the age
      of 40 years Although some treatments, hygienic-dietary measures and other non
      pharmacological methods can reduce the intensity and frequency of attacks,
      medicinal treatment of migraine attack is often necessary. Availability of
      treatments and access to care differ in Africa and led to the implementation of
      the first expert consensus recommendations for the management of the migraine in
      african adult patients. This multinational collaborative study is intended for
      health practitioners. It aims to provide 16 simple, evidence-based
      recommendations and is adapted to african medical practice. 

PMID- 27642421
TI  - [Cardiac manifestations of Takayasu's disease: observation and review of the
      literature].
AB  - Takayasu's disease is a rare inflammatory vascular disease, preferentially
      affecting young woman with predominant involvement of the aorta and its first
      division branches. We here report the case of a patient with ostial left main
      trunk involvement following non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome revealing
      Takayasu's disease and we highlight the various cardiovascular manifestations of
      this disease. 

PMID- 27642422
TI  - [Inventory of unsafe abortions: retrospective study of 451 cases treated in
      Moulay Ismail Military Hospital of instruction, Meknes, Morocco].
AB  - Unsafe abortion is a plague spreading around the world but especially in Africa
      where it is a lucrative market for traditional practitioners which exposes
      patients to serious complications including death. Our retrospective study of 451
      cases represent an exhaustive sample of this practice in Morocco exploring the
      reasons why women experience an unsafe abortion, what age group is most affected,
      conditions and complications inherent in this practice. Our study focuses on the
      need for intervention before pregnancy by developing the concept of contraception
      among girls from their early years to minimize these non-health practices. 

PMID- 27642423
TI  - [Classic Kaposi's disease affecting the palpebral area].

PMID- 27642424
TI  - [Epidemiology and management of heart failure in a Moroccan center].
AB  - This is a prospective observational study of 424 patients hospitalized for heart
      failure. Data were collected from the intensive care unit and Rhythmology
      Depatment of the Mohamed V Military Hospital for Instruction in Rabat, between
      December 2008 and December 2014. The average age was 60.91+/-12.77. The main
      cardiovascular risk factors encountered were: hypertension (46%), smoking (45%),
      and diabetes (43%). Clinically, 63% of patients were admitted for left-sided
      heart failure. The left ventricle was dilated in 58% of cases, with a mean
      ejection fraction estimated at 36.33 +/- 13.5%. The dominant etiology was
      ischemic heart disease (254 cases). In addition to optimal medical treatment,
      14.4% of our patients underwent cardiac resynchronization with or without
      defibrillator system. The intra-hospital evolution under medical treatment was
      marked by 26 deaths. The average length of stay in hospital was 12.1 +/- 6.6
      days. 

PMID- 27642425
TI  - [Spontaneous uterine rupture due to uterine leiomyosarcoma].
AB  - Uterine sarcomas are rare cancers characterized by clinical and histological
      polymorphism. They are malignant tumors of poor prognosis. Inaugural
      manifestation of acute abdomen with hemo-pneumoperitoneum and spontaneous uterine
      rupture remains exceptional. The authors report the case of a uterine
      leiomyosarcoma manifesting itself as an inaugural generalized acute peritonitis
      in a 43 year old woman. Uterine rupture due to malignant tumor was suspected
      during urgent preoperative imaging (ultrasound and CT scan) and confirmed
      histologically. 

PMID- 27642426
TI  - A rare cause of acute urinary retention in women: meatal condyloma accuminata, a
      case report.
AB  - Acute urinary retention in women is a rarely seen phenomenon due to
      pharmacological, neuromuscular, anatomical, functional and infectious causes.
      Human papillomaviruses causing condyloma acuminata is one of the rarely reported
      viral infectious cause of acute urinary retention in case reports. A 45-year-old
      woman with acute urinary retention was found to have a round solid lesion on
      external urethral meatus. Histopathological examination revealed as condyloma
      acuminata. Urethral condyloma can be treated by local excision as an effective
      method for early improvement of voiding function. Even if the genital condyloma
      can be locally excised, patients should be referred to the gynecologists for
      cervical cancer screening. 

PMID- 27642427
TI  - Complete rectal prolapse vs prolapsed hemorrhoids: points to ponder.

PMID- 27642428
TI  - Chronic neck pain and anxiety-depression: prevalence and associated risk factors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic pain in rheumatology often has a psychic impact, which may
      aggravate the daily life of patients. Chronic neck pain, as an example, is a
      frequent reason for consultation. The aim of this study is to assess the
      prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with neck pain, and identify
      risk factors associated with their occurrence. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional
      study that concerned 80 patients with neck pain lasting for more than 3 months,
      seen in rheumatology consultations. All patients with symptomatic neck pain or
      psychological history or receiving psychotropic medication were excluded from the
      study. For each patient, we determined the sociodemographic characteristics and
      clinical ones. The anxious and depressed mood was assessed by the Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). RESULTS: Of the 80 patients, 67 (83.8%) were
      women. Average age of our population was 51.8+/- 11.8 years. Median duration of
      symptoms was 24 months [12, 48]. Mean VAS pain was 63.9% +/- 12.5, mean VAS
      functional discomfort was 60.9% +/- 14.2 and mean VAS disability was 59.8% +/-
      14.7. 32 patients (40%) were illiterate and 18 (22.5%) had university level.
      Anxiety was found in 54 (68.4%) and 44 (55.7%) patients were depressed. In
      univariate analysis, VAS disability was statistically linked to anxiety (OR:1.05;
      95%CI: 1.01-1.08; p = 0.02). The cervicobrachial neuralgia (CBN) was
      significantly associated with depression (OR: 3.33; 95%CI: 1.20-9.23; p = 0.02).
      Primary education level had a statistically significant relationship with anxiety
      (OR: 6.00; 95%CI: 1.03-34.84; p = 0.04) and depression (OR: 5.00; 95%CI: 1.09
      22.82; p = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, VAS disability and CBN were
      independently associated with anxiety and depression respectively. CONCLUSION:
      This study underlines the fact that anxiety and depression are prevalent in
      chronic neck pain (CNP) patients. Furthermore, disability and CBN which are
      linked to CNP can predict which patient is at higher risk of psychological
      distress.

PMID- 27642429
TI  - [Spindle-shaped hemangioma: an unusual location].
AB  - Spindle cell hemangioma, formerly known as spindle cell hemangioendothelioma, was
      described by Weiss and Enzinger in 1986. Since the advent of immunohistochemical
      studies it is no longer considered as low grade angiosarcoma. It is a benign
      vascular tumor It almost exclusively affects the dermis at the distal ends. We
      report the first case of a patient with spindle cell hemangioma located in the
      scapular, breast, thighs and mandibular area. According to the literature, only 9
      cases located in the head and neck were reported. We report a new case of this
      rare and poorly understood entity that can be confused with malignant tumors. Our
      patient suffered from spindle cell hemangioma located in the scapular, breast,
      thighs and mandibular area. He underwent excisional biopsy. The evolution was
      favorable with 6-month follow up, without relapse. 

PMID- 27642430
TI  - [Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis].

PMID- 27642431
TI  - [Carcinoma cuniculatum arising in the plantar region].

PMID- 27642432
TI  - [Retroperitoneal hematoma revealing a tumor of the inferior vena cava: about a
      case].
AB  - Tumors of the inferior vena cava are rare, their most common histology is
      represented by leiomyosarcoma. They have few specific clinical features, however,
      the literature does not report hemorrhagic manifestations. Preoperative diagnosis
      is based on tomodensitometry and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); it is
      confirmed by histology. We report a case with retroperitoneal hematoma revealing
      a tumor of the inferior vena cava. The diagnosis was made on the basis of
      clinical and radiological findings. 

PMID- 27642433
TI  - [Asymptomatic Parasitemia in under five, school age children and households self
      medication, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Long neglected, asymptomatic malaria is currently recognized as a
      potential threat and obstacle to malaria control. In DR Congo, the prevalence of
      this parasite is poorly documented. This study aims to determine the prevalence
      of asymptomatic parasitaemia in children less than 5 years of age as well as in
      those aged over five years for what concerns ongoing mass control interventions
      (LLINs). METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among school age
      children, children less than 5 years of age living in the household of
      Lubumbashi. Schools, students and children less than 5 years of age were selected
      randomly. Thick and thin blood smears and rapid tests were performed and read.
      RESULTS: Out of 350 examined students, 43 (12, 3%), IC 95% (9, 14-16, 04) had
      positive thick smear. Only plasmodium falciparum was identified in all the 43
      cases. 314 households (90.5%) declared that they had administered anti-malarial
      drugs to their children to treat fever at home. More than one-third of households
      (39.9%) declared that they had administered antipyretics to their children to
      relieve fever, 19.7% administered quinine and only less than 2% artemether
      lumefantrine. Considering the use of the TDR technique, the prevalence of
      asymptomatic parasitaemia was 3%, IC 95% (from 2.075 to 4.44), but if we consider
      microscopy as the gold standard, the prevalence was 1.9%, IC 95% (from 1.13 to
      3.01). CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic malaria is not without health consequences, so it
      is important to conduct such investigations to detect new malaria device
      programmes.

PMID- 27642434
TI  - Incidental radiological discovery of a hydroclayx by a reno-vascular obstruction
      in a woman: Fraley's syndrome.

PMID- 27642435
TI  - Anaemia in pregnant adolescent girls with malaria and practicing pica.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pregnancy during the adolescent period is challenging mainly
      because of the nutritional demands of both the adolescent and pregnancy period.
      The risk for anaemia increases especially in developing countries such as Ghana
      where malaria is endemic and the practice of pica is common. In this study, we
      sought to determine the prevalence of anaemia, pica practice and malaria
      infection among pregnant adolescent girls and assess the extent to which these
      factors are associated. METHODS: Two hundred and sixty five (265) pregnant
      adolescent girls were recruited from three hospitals in Accra. Haemoglobin
      levels, malaria infection and the practice of pica were assessed. Pearson's Chi
      squared tests were used to determine associations and logistic regression
      analysis was used to determine the odds of being anaemic. Significance was set at
      p<=0.05. RESULTS: Anaemia prevalence was 76% with severity ranging from mild
      (47.8%) to severe (0.8%). About 27.5% were moderately anaemic. Pica was practiced
      in only 9.1% of the girls. Malaria infection was prevalent in 17.7% of the girls.
      The logistic regression analysis indicated that pregnant girls with malaria
      infection were 3.56 times more likely to be anaemic when compared to those
      without malaria. Also, those who practiced pica were 1.23 times more likely to be
      anaemic when compared to those who did not practice pica. CONCLUSION: Anaemia is
      very prevalent in pregnant adolescent girls and is a public health problem.
      Drastic measures should be taken to reduce the high prevalence.

PMID- 27642436
TI  - [Epidemiologic profile of uveitis: about 105 cases].
AB  - The multiplicity of causes of uveitis makes diagnosis difficult. Determining
      epidemiological factors associated with uveitis allows better diagnostic
      orientation and facilitates therapeutic management. This is a retrospective study
      spanning four years from January 2012 to December 2015. We collected 105 cases
      with uveitis and studied its epidemiological, clinical and etiological aspects.
      The average age was 42 years, the most affected age group was 40-50 years. Men
      were more affected (57.14%) than women (42.86%). Uveitis was unilateral in 60.95%
      of cases. Anterior uveitis was found in 35.24%, intermediate uveitis in 5.71%,
      posterior uveitis in 10.48% and panuveitis in 48.57%. Etiologies were dominated
      by Behcet's disease, sarcoidosis and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. The origin
      remained unknown in 43.81% of cases. The evolution was variable. Uveitis is an
      intraocular inflammation which may represent a real threat to vision. The
      approach to discover its cause needs to be codified and based on several steps.
      Our results are relatively close to those found in the literature. Uveitis is a
      clinical entity where ophthalmology and internal medicine meet. The field of its
      causes and investigations for the diagnosis is extensive or even unlimited. This
      study highlighted the clinical challenges and emphasized the limitations of our
      clinical training in the management of uveitis. 

PMID- 27642437
TI  - [Acute generalized peritonitis due to uterine perforation following abortion:
      case study observation].
AB  - Clandestine abortion is known to be a major contributor to maternal mortality. We
      report a case of a 25-year old patient in her 12th week of amenorrhea with
      peritonitis due to uterine perforation following abortion, admitted with abdomen
      and pelvis pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Clinical examination on admission showed
      asthenic peritonitis. Surgical exploration showed widespread acute peritonitis
      secondary to a perforation of the uterine dome, with collection of 1500 cc of
      purulent material, dilated bowel loops and multiple false membranes. SURGERY: pus
      aspiration, peritoneal lavage; uterine suture, drainage. The postoperative course
      was uneventful, the patient was discharged after 15 days.

PMID- 27642438
TI  - [Renal epithelioid angiomyolipoma mimicking renal carcinoma].
AB  - Epithelioid angiomyolipoma is a rare form of potentially malignant
      angiomyolipoma, recently considered separate entity by the World Health
      Organization classification of renal tumors. This lesion poses a problem in
      differential diagnosis with clear cell carcinomas. There are no clinical or
      radiological specific criteria that characterize this tumor. Immunohistochemistry
      revealing epithelioid cells with positive HMB45 marker is essential for
      diagnosis. Treatment should be discussed during the multidisciplinary
      consultation. 

PMID- 27642439
TI  - [Clavicular tuberculosis revealed by bone gap].

PMID- 27642440
TI  - Atypical imaging of spinal tuberculosis: a case report and review of literature.
AB  - This is a case report of spinal tuberculosis combined with sacroiliac joint
      tuberculosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, chest wall tuberculosis and tuberculous
      pleurisy and the image of the patient is rare, special and not typical and it
      looks like a halo sign. It has an important reference value for the diagnosis of
      spine tuberculosis although it is a rare imaging manifestation and diagnosis was
      confirmed by pathology after the surgery. Therefore atypical imaging is often
      appeared in clinical practice and it is meaningful and necessary for the
      diagnosis of atypical spinal tuberculosis combined with multiple organ
      tuberculosis. 

PMID- 27642441
TI  - A retrospective review of 61 cases of adenomatoid odontogenic tumour seen in five
      tertiary health facilities in Nigeria.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (AOT) is a benign lesion originating
      from the dental lamina or its remnants. It is a relatively uncommon neoplasm
      representing about 3% of all odontogenic tumors. The aim of this study was to
      examine the clinical and radiological characteristics of AOTs in five major
      tertiary centres in Nigeria. METHODS: Archival hospital-based data stores of five
      tertiary health facilities in Nigeria were accessed. Case files and biopsy
      records were retrieved to obtain relevant information. Data was collected
      according to a proforma for standardization and entered into and analysed using
      SPSS for Windows (version 20.0; SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL). RESULTS: 61 (4.5%) cases
      of AOT were documented. The age range was 8-46 years with a mean age of 20.4+/
      9.9 years. Male: Female ratio was 1:1.3. The anterior maxilla had 34 (55.8%)
      cases and the anterior mandible had 20 (32.8%) cases. 40 (65.6%) follicular
      cases, 20 (32.8%) extra-follicular cases and 1(1.6%) extra-osseous case were
      found. 31 cases (61.1%) were associated with impacted teeth and the upper canine
      was involved in 19 (57.6%) cases. CONCLUSION: This study showed AOT to be more
      common in the maxilla, more in females, most often associated with impacted
      canines, however, the suggestion of AOT being a "Two third tumour" was not
      observed in this study.

PMID- 27642442
TI  - [Serological tests for celiac disease in Moroccan patients with type 1 diabetes].
AB  - Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease frequently associated with type 1
      diabetes (T1D). The prevalence of CD in patients with T1D varies from 3 to 6%.
      The clinical manifestation of CD in patients with T1D is classified as
      asymptomatic in about half of cases. Our study aims to determine the frequency of
      anti-tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies (IgA-tTG) and anti-gliadin antibodies
      (AGA) in patients with type 1 diabetes in order to early recommend jejunal biopsy
      and establish a gluten-free diet before the onset of clinical signs and
      complications of celiac disease. Subjects included in this study were patients
      with T1D and untreated CD who showed no signs of this disease. The detection of
      IgG tTG, IgG IgA and IgG AAG was performed using Luminex technology. We enrolled
      31 patients. The study involved 16 men and 15 women. IgA AAG were positive in
      4(13%) patients and IgG were positive in 7(22,5%) patients. IgA tTG were positive
      in 3(10%) patients and IgG was positive in one (3%) patient. In our study the
      association of diabetes type 1 with biomarkers of CD is not uncommon hence the
      importance of systematic screening for type 1 diabetes. The diagnosis of this
      atypical and silent CD form is important given the risk of serious complications
      such as malabsorption and gastrointestinal cancers. 

PMID- 27642443
TI  - [Solid pseudopapillary tumour of the pancreas: about a case and review of the
      literature].
AB  - Solid pseudopapillary tumours of the pancreas are rare tumours of uncertain
      etiology which mostly affects young women. Their prognosis is good especially
      after complete resection. We report a new case of a young woman; abdominal pain
      revealed solid pseudopapillary tumour. The diagnosis is based on histological
      examination associated with immunohistochemistry of the piece of resection
      removed with caudal splenopancreatectomy. 

PMID- 27642444
TI  - [Total hip replacement as a result of coxalgia: about 10 cases].
AB  - Coxalgia causes osteocartilaginous destructions of the hip joint; these lesions
      are responsible for severe pain leading to functional discomfort and limitations
      in everyday life. Their surgical treatment is still not well established. The aim
      of our study was to demonstrate the interest of total hip arthroplasty associated
      with anti-tuberculous chemotherapy to improve patients' quality of life. We
      report a retrospective study of 10 cases of total hip replacement following
      coxalgia at the Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma of Rabat University
      Hospital from 2002 to 2011. The average age of our patients was 38 years. The
      discovery of coxalgia was made under different circumstances according to the
      patients. The surgical approach we used was exclusively posterolateral (Moore).
      All prostheses were cemented. Four patients required acetabulum reconstruction.
      Intraoperative biopsy was positive in a patient, negative in the remaining nine.
      All patients underwent anti-tuberculous treatment. No recurrence was noted after
      a minimum follow-up of 3 years. Results according to Merle d'Aubigne score were
      considered good. In case of advanced bone destruction with badly tolerated
      functional impact in mature subject, total hip arthroplasty always associated
      with effective anti-tuberculous chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for
      sequelae of coxalgia. 

PMID- 27642445
TI  - Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the palate: case report and review of literature.
AB  - Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC) is a rare tumor constitutes for less than 1% of
      head and neck malignancies and 10% of all salivary gland tumors. Palate is the
      most common site to be involved in the oral cavity followed by parotid gland and
      submandibular gland. They are usually asymptomatic, slow growing,
      characteristically shows infiltrative growth and perineural invasion. This paper
      reports a case of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma in a 35 year old female man reported
      with a swelling on the left side of palate involving the hard and soft palate
      since 8 months which was diagnosed histopathologically and review of literature
      of the peculiar clinical, and histopathological features. 

PMID- 27642446
TI  - Another pandemic disaster looms: yellow fever spreading from Angola.

PMID- 27642447
TI  - Use of Vitamins K antagonists in non-valvular atrial fibrillation thromboembolic
      risk prevention in Burkina Faso.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation is the commonest cardiac rythm disorder.
      Thromboembolic accidents are common complications that should be prevented by
      anticoagulant treatment. The aim of our study is to assess the use of vitamins K
      antagonists in the prevention of thromboembolic risk in atrial fibrillation.
      METHODS: It was a descriptive retrospective study of patients folders, performed
      in the cardiology department from January 1st 2010 to December 31st 2011. The
      study included all patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation. Thromboembolic
      risk was assessed through the CHA2DS2VASc score, and hemorrhagic risk through the
      HAS-BLED score. RESULTS: Atrial fibrillation accounted for 10.6% of all
      hospitalizations (103/970). Five patients had contra indication to
      anticoagulants. Non valvular AF was noticed in 68 cases (66%). The non valvular
      AF was chronic in 40 cases (59%) and paroxystic in eight cases (12%). The median
      age of the population was 64.5+13.8 years old. Median CHA2DS2VASc score was 3.9 +
      1.6. Two patients had a score < 1. Sex, place of residence, age > 65, and cardiac
      failure did not interfere with prescription of vitamins K antagonists. Ischemic
      stroke and intra cavity thrombus were the indications for vitamins K antagonists'
      prescriptions. The median HAS-BLED score was 3.5 + 1.5. The rate of vitamins K
      antagonists use was 35.3%. One case of death due to hemorrhagic stroke was
      noticed. CONCLUSION: Guidelines on thromboembolic risk prevention are poorly used
      in the cardiology department. But the use of scoring systems allows the
      assessment of vitamins K antagonists treatment benefit/risk in atrial
      fibrillation, and minimizes the hemorrhagic risk.

PMID- 27642448
TI  - [Manicure and pedicure in the city of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso): practices and
      risks].
AB  - Pedicure-manicure represents the aesthetic care of hands, feet and nails. In
      Burkina Faso, the use of manicure-pedicure products, the techniques used and the
      level of risk remain unknown. The aim of our study was to evaluate the practice
      of manicure-pedicure in the city of Ouagadougou. We conducted a descriptive cross
      sectional study of all practitioners with at least six months experience in
      aesthetic care and customers present at the time of the survey from December 2010
      to November 2012. We interviewed a total of 313 practitioners and 313 clients.
      The average age of practitioners was 19 years and of customers was 32.2 years.
      Fixed location practitioners were mostly women (96.87%) while mobile
      practitioners were mostly men (68.37%); 64.53% of customers were women. The
      percentage of practitioners who did not receive professional training was 93.92%.
      29.7% of practitioners soaked the instruments in javel water for at least ten
      minutes; 75.71% knew that the use of certain tools was dangerous and 26.51% had
      side effects. 40.25% of customers knew that the used equipment may pose some
      risks and 30.35% were victims of accidents. The manicure and pedicure is done in
      hair salons by untrained hairdressers to the professional practice. The origin
      and composition of the products is not known. Not recommended products are used
      (foot soak shampoo, razor blade and scissors for feet scraping). The use of
      manicure and/or pedicure is sometimes necessary but that should not obscure the
      risks to which it exposes customers. Customers education and practitioners
      training seem necessary to minimize risks. 

PMID- 27642449
TI  - [Cutaneous manifestations in patients on chronic hemodialysis in a developing
      country].
AB  - Our study aims to highlight the most common skin disorders in patients on chronic
      hemodialysis at the University Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo (CHU-YO) in
      Ouagadougou. The study, of transverse type descriptive, carried out of September
      15 to December 31, 2014, is unrolled with the CHU-YO. This descriptive
      transversal study was conducted at the CHU-YO from September 15 to December 31,
      2014. It involved patients who had been on chronic dialysis for at least 3
      months. The frequency of hemodialysis sessions was one every five days. The
      significance level of statistical tests was defined as the probability p <= 0.05.
      Eighty-five patients (61.1% men and 38.9% women) with an average age of 42.1
      years were included in the study. The mean duration of hemodialysis was 31.9
      months. The success rate of biological examinations varied from 7,4 to 85,3%.
      Eighty patients (85,3%) had at least one cutaneous manifestation. Cutaneous
      xerosis (67.4%), pruritus (45.3%), and hyperpigmentation (23.2%) were the most
      frequent skin manifestations that may be specific of hemodialysis. Guttate
      hypomelanosis (11.6%), prurigo (11.6%) and folliculitis (8.4%) were the main non
      specific skin manifestations. Skin involvement was frequent but did not seem
      related to seniority in hemodialysis. In Ouagadougou, bad hemodialysis conditions
      and a hot, dry environment promote such conditions, especially xerosis and
      pruritus. A better subvention of health care could help to reduce the prevalence
      of skin diseases and to improve the quality of life of our patients on chronic
      hemodialysis. 

PMID- 27642450
TI  - [Squamous cell carcinoma of the nail apparatus on the hallux without osseous
      involvement: study of a patient treated by amputation].
AB  - The late diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the hallux in an aged patient on
      second-line therapy led to a trans-proximal phalanx amputation. This is a rare
      lesion affecting the toes which may compromise the functional prognosis of the
      foot. This clinical case report with review of the literature aims to highlight
      the difficulties of diagnosis and indications for amputation. 

PMID- 27642451
TI  - Epidemiological aspects of suicide attempts among Moroccan children.
AB  - Suicidal behavior among children has significantly increased in Morocco. We
      conducted a study on the epidemiological aspect to propose a treatment strategy.
      Descriptive retrospective study over a period of 3 years (April 2012-April 2015)
      involving children who visited pediatric medical emergencies of the Children
      Hospital of Rabat after an autolysis attempt. We observed epidemiological
      parameters, history, social and family context, the means used, the presumed
      cause, clinical manifestation, and the management. 66 patients were identified. A
      female predominance was found (sex =15). The average age was 13 years old. This
      was a first episode in 97% of cases. Psychiatric history was found in 6 patients.
      The causes of suicide attempt were unidentified in 65%. The most frequent cause
      was family conflict (35%). The most frequent method was pharmaceutical drug
      ingestion (54.4%). Children were asymptomatic (57.6%). Neurological
      manifestations (30%) were most frequent. Digestive symptoms (12%) and hemodynamic
      (3%) were also discovered. Patients were hospitalized in a general pediatric
      service 92.4% of the times, admitted to intensive care 4.5% of the times, and two
      patients refused to be hospitalized. The treatment consisted of gastric lavage
      (18%) supplemented by symptomatic measures. The outcome was favorable in 95.4% of
      cases. We recorded 2 deaths by rat poison poisoning. All patients were advised in
      writing after leaving to follow up with a psychological treatment. Suicide
      attempts are the result of an ill being, mostly among children living in a family
      with conflict. Upstream treatment is essential to identify children at risk.
      Additionally, a psychiatric care in hospital is essential to avoid recurrences. 

PMID- 27642452
TI  - Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis with unusual presentations in Sagamu,
      Nigeria: a case report and review of the literature.
AB  - A 24-day old female Nigerian neonate presented with protracted vomiting, fever
      and dehydration but without palpable abdominal tumour or visible gastric
      peristalsis. There was no derangement of serum electrolytes. The initial working
      diagnosis was Late-Onset Sepsis but abdominal ultrasonography showed features
      consistent with the diagnosis of IHPS. This case report highlights the atypical
      presentation of this surgical condition and the need to investigate cases of
      protracted vomiting in the newborn with at least, ultrasonography to minimize
      complications and reduce the risk of mortality in a resource-poor setting. 

PMID- 27642454
TI  - Motorcycle injury among secondary school students in the Tiko municipality,
      Cameroon.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Injury from motorcycle is a considerable cause of disability and
      death in the world and especially in low and middle-income countries; it is one
      of the most serious public health problems. In Cameroon, motorcycle is commonly
      used for transportation particularly among students. The aim of this paper is to
      study the risk-factors of the motorcycle-related accidents and injuries among
      secondary school students' in the Tiko municipality, Cameroon. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted in January 2012 on 391 students age 16-24 from
      public and private schools in the Tiko Municipality. Logistic regression was used
      to estimate the association between risk factors and injuries. A closed-ended and
      few open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data. RESULTS: The study showed
      that over 70% of students used motorcycles always or often. Few had undergone any
      formal training for driving a motorcycle. The vast majority reported not wearing
      protective gear while driving or riding a motorcycle. Usage of protective gear
      was particularly low among girls. Over 16% reported using a motorbike always or
      occasionally under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Over 58% of respondents
      reported having an accident and over 35% were injured when driving or riding a
      motorcycle. Those who lived at the Tiko-Douala road have three times higher
      probability to sustain accidents and injuries than students residing elsewhere
      (OR 3.19 (1.20-8.46). CONCLUSION: It is deeply alarming that every second
      respondent in the study reported having been in an accident and every third
      motorcycle user was somehow injured. We therefore call for an immediate attention
      and a deeper investigation into the highlighted situation, particularly at Tiko
      Douala road.

PMID- 27642453
TI  - [Valvular calcifications in a patient on hemodialysis in Morocco].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Valvular calcifications are one of the major cardiovascular
      complications of hemodialysis because of its prevalence and its predictive
      indices of morbidity and mortality. There are many risk factors associated with
      these calcifications. Our study aims to evaluate both the prevalence of valvular
      calcifications in our patients on hemodialysis and their risk factors. METHODS:
      This was a single-center cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study of 111
      adult patients who were on hemodialysis for more than 6 months at the
      hemodialysis center CHU Ibn Rushd, Casablanca and who underwent ETT during the
      year 2013. RESULTS: The average age of our patients was 44 +/- 14 years. The
      average duration of hemodialysis was 146 +/- 80 months. Average systolic blood
      pressure was 123 +/- 23 mmHg and average diastolic blood pressure 72 +/- 13 mmHg
      diastolic, average iPTH was 529 +/- 460 pg/ml, mean serum calcium was 86 +/- 10
      mg/l and mean serum phosphate was 40 +/- 15 mg/l. Mean CRP level was 11+/-19,8
      mg/L. From the therapeutic point of view, 96% of patients were treated with
      calcium carbonate, 11% with 25 OH vitamin D, 55,5% with 1 hydroxy-vitamin D3. The
      prevalence of valvular calcification was 15% with aortic valve location in 41.2%
      and mitral valve location in 41.2%. In univariate analysis, only hemodialysis
      duration seems to be associated with the occurrence of calcifications and
      approaches marginal level of significance (p = 0.09). CONCLUSION: The prevalence
      of valvular calcification in our hemodialysis patients remains high even if it
      seems relatively low compared to the literature data. No known risk factor was
      significantly associated with these calcifications.

PMID- 27642455
TI  - [Renal dimensions in the Nephrology Department of Befelatanana Hospital,
      Antananarivo].
AB  - The knowledge of normale renal sizes specific for each individual and for any
      ethnicity, allows diagnostic and therapeutic medical decision. For a low-income
      country such as Madagascar, ultrasound is an ideal tool for this purpose. This
      study aims to collect data on renal dimensions and to seek the correlation
      between these data and the demographic and anthropometric parameters in
      Malagasies. This is a retrospective study of 200 non-diabetic patients without
      chronic kidney disease, spanning 3 years, conducted in the Nephrology Department
      of Befelatanana Hospital, Antananarivo. The average age of our patients was 45 +/
      16 years, with a sex-ratio of 0,9. On average, the dimensions (length x width x
      thickness) were 98 mm * 42 mm * 30 mm for right kidney, 99 mm * 45 mm * 31 mm for
      the left kidney. We found a significant difference between the right and left
      kidney in length (p<0.00001) and width (p = 0.03). A significant relationship was
      also found between renal length and age (p = 0.0016 and p = 0.04 respectively for
      the right kidney and the left kidney). No significant relationship was found
      between renal dimensions and size and patients weight. Despite its limitations,
      our study would provide important supports for clinical practice as well as for
      further studies. 

PMID- 27642456
TI  - Quality evaluation of processed clay soil samples.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study assessed the microbial quality of clay samples sold on
      two of the major Ghanaian markets. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional
      assessing the evaluation of processed clay and effects it has on the nutrition of
      the consumers in the political capital town of Ghana. The items for the
      examination was processed clay soil samples. RESULTS: Staphylococcus spp and
      fecal coliforms including Klebsiella, Escherichia, and Shigella and
      Enterobacterspp were isolated from the clay samples. Samples from the Kaneshie
      market in Accra recorded the highest total viable counts 6.5 Log cfu/g and
      Staphylococcal count 5.8 Log cfu/g. For fecal coliforms, Madina market samples
      had the highest count 6.5 Log cfu/g and also recorded the highest levels of yeast
      and mould. For Koforidua, total viable count was highest in the samples from the
      Zongo market 6.3 Log cfu/g. Central market samples had the highest count of fecal
      coliforms 4.6 Log cfu/g and yeasts and moulds 6.5 Log cfu/g. "Small" market
      recorded the highest staphylococcal count 6.2 Log cfu/g. The water activity of
      the clay samples were low, and ranged between 0.65+/-0.01 and 0.66+/-0.00 for
      samples collected from Koforidua and Accra respectively. CONCLUSION: The clay
      samples were found to contain Klebsiella spp. Escherichia, Enterobacter, Shigella
      spp. staphylococcus spp., yeast and mould. These have health implications when
      consumed.

PMID- 27642457
TI  - [Fatal acute interstitial lung disease associated with docetaxel administration:
      about a case and review of the literature].
AB  - Docetaxel is a chemotherapeutic agent belonging to the taxane family. This drug
      is widely used to treat cancers. Interstitial lung disease is a rare but serious
      toxicity due to the high mortality risk. We report a case of a patient with
      breast cancer who had fatal acute interstitial lung disease after auxiliary
      chemotherapy with docetaxel. The clinician should be aware of this risk and
      should consider it in differential diagnosis in patients with respiratory
      symptoms treated with docetaxel. 

PMID- 27642458
TI  - Did the call for boycott by the Catholic bishops affect the polio vaccination
      coverage in Kenya in 2015? A cross-sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Polio eradication is now feasible after removal of Nigeria from the
      list of endemic countries and global reduction of cases of wild polio virus in
      2015 by more than 80%. However, all countries must remain focused to achieve
      eradication. In August 2015, the Catholic bishops in Kenya called for boycott of
      a polio vaccination campaign citing safety concerns with the polio vaccine. We
      conducted a survey to establish if the coverage was affected by the boycott.
      METHODS: A cross sectional survey was conducted in all the 32 counties that
      participated in the campaign. A total of 90,157 children and 37,732
      parents/guardians were sampled to determine the vaccination coverage and reasons
      for missed vaccination. RESULTS: The national vaccination coverage was 93%
      compared to 94% in the November 2014 campaign. The proportion of
      parents/guardians that belonged to Catholic Church was 31% compared to 7% of the
      children who were missed. Reasons for missed vaccination included house not being
      visited (44%), children not being at home at time of visit (38%), refusal by
      parents (12%), children being as leep (1%), and various other reasons (5%).
      Compared to the November 2014 campaign, the proportion of children who were not
      vaccinated due to parent's refusal significantly increased from 6% to 12% in
      August 2015. CONCLUSION: The call for boycott did not affect the campaign
      significantly. However, if the call for boycott is repeated in future it could
      have some significant negative implication to polio eradication. It is therefore
      important to ensure that any vaccine safety issues are addressed accordingly.

PMID- 27642459
TI  - Patients with secondary amenorrhea due to tuberculosis endometritis towards the
      induced anti-tuberculosis drug category 1.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease which can affect various organs, including human's
      genital organs such as the endometrium. Tuberculosis endometritis can cause
      clinical symptoms of secondary amenorrhea and infertility. Infertility in genital
      TB caused by the involvement of the endometrium. The case presentation is 33-year
      old woman from dr. Saiful Anwar Public Hospital to consult that she has not
      menstruated since 5 years ago (28 years old). The diagnosis was done by
      performing a clinical examination until the diagnosis of secondary amenorrhea due
      to tuberculosis endometritis is obtained. A treatment by using category I of anti
      tuberculosis drugs was done for 6 months, afterward an Anatomical Pathology
      observation found no signs of the tuberculosis symptoms. Based on that, patient,
      who was diagnosed to have secondary amenorrhea due to tuberculosis endometritis,
      has no signs of tuberculosis process after being treated by using category I of
      anti-tuberculosis drugs for 6 months. 

PMID- 27642460
TI  - [A rare post-traumatic dislocation of the hip: anterior obturator type
      dislocation].

PMID- 27642461
TI  - Reduced plasma concentrations of vitamin B6 and increased plasma concentrations
      of the neurotoxin 3-hydroxykynurenine are associated with nodding syndrome: a
      case control study in Gulu and Amuru districts, Northern Uganda.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nodding syndrome was first reported in Uganda in 2003 among
      internally displaced populations. Risk factors for the syndrome remain unknown.
      We therefore explored vitamin B6 deficiency and resulting high 3
      hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) levels as risk factor for nodding syndrome in Northern
      Uganda. METHODS: Case-control study conducted in Gulu and Amuru districts. Cases
      were children/young adults with nodding syndrome. Healthy children/young adults
      were recruited as controls from same community as cases. Data on socio
      demographic and other risk factors was collected using questionnaires. Whole
      blood was collected in EDTA tubes for assay of 3-HK and vitamin B6 using sandwich
      ELISA. Conditional logistic regression model was used to assess associations.
      RESULTS: 66 cases and 73 controls were studied. Factors associated with nodding
      syndrome were being positive for 3-HK (AOR=4.50, p=0.013), vitamin B6
      concentration below mean (AOR=7.22, P=0.001), child being taken care of by mother
      only (AOR=5.43, p=0.011), child being taken care of by guardian (AOR=5.90,
      p=0.019) and child consuming relief food at weaning (AOR=4.05, p=0.021).
      CONCLUSION: Having low vitamin B6 concentration which leads to a build up of 3
      hydroxykynurenine concentration in cases as a main risk factor. Therefore, cases
      should be treated with vitamin B6 and community members should be sensitise to
      ensure adequate dietary intake of vitamin B6 so that the risk of nodding syndrome
      among children is averted. We encourage future prospective intervention study to
      be conducted to assess the effect of low vitamin B6 on the development of nodding
      syndrome via raised 3-HK concentration.

PMID- 27642462
TI  - Prevalence of erectile dysfunction and possible risk factors among men of South
      Western Nigeria: a population based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is currently one of the most common
      sexual dysfunctions worldwide but it is usually underestimated because it is not
      a life threatening condition. The associated stigma makes men who have it to
      suffer in silence. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of
      erectile dysfunction and the possible associated risk factors among Nigerian men.
      METHODS: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional population based survey
      among men aged 30-80 years in Ogbomoso, South-west, Nigeria. A multistage random
      sampling method was used. The instrument used was the International Index of
      Erectile Function Questionnaire-5 (IIEF-5). Unadjusted odds ratios of possible
      risk factors were calculated by univariate analyses. Binary logistic regression
      analysis was used to eliminate the effect of possible confounders on the risk
      factors to get the adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS: The general prevalence of ED in
      this study was 58.9%. Sixty-seven (47.2%), 16 (11.3%) and 59(41.5%) respondents
      had mild, moderate and severe ED respectively. Age, hypertension, use of anti
      hypertensive drugs, diabetes mellitus and heart disease all had significant
      unadjusted associations with ED, but their adjusted associations were not
      statistically significant. Diabetes mellitus maintained a positive statistically
      significant relationship with ED after adjustment for potential confounders [OR=
      8.31(95% CI 1.02 - 67.65), P= 0.048]. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ED is high
      among south-western Nigeria male adults. Physicians, especially primary care
      ones, need to pay more attention to the sexual history of their patients in order
      to diagnose and manage ED more frequently.

PMID- 27642463
TI  - External quality assessment of AFB smear microscopy performances and its
      associated factors in selected private health facilities in Addis Ababa,
      Ethiopia.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is still a public health problem in sub Saharan African
      countries. In resource-limited settings, TB diagnosis relies on sputum smear
      microscopy, with low and variable sensitivities, especially in paucibacillary
      pediatric and HIV-associated TB patients. Tuberculosis microscopy centers have
      several weaknesses like overworking, insufficiently trained personnel,
      inconsistent reagent supplies, and poorly maintained equipments; thus, there is a
      critical need for investments in laboratory infrastructure, capacity building,
      and quality assurance schemes. The performance of TB microscopy centers in the
      private health facilities in Addis Ababa is not known so far. The main objective
      of the study was to assess laboratory performance of acid fast bacilli (AFB)
      smear microscopy and its associated factors in selected private health facilities
      in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 33 selected
      private health facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia comprising 7 hospitals, 2 NGO
      health centers, 23 higher clinics and 1 diagnostic laboratory that provide AFB
      smear microscopy services. The study was conducted from January to April 2014. A
      total of 283 stained sputum smears were randomly collected from participant
      laboratories for blinded rechecking, 320 panel slides were sent to 32 microscopy
      centers to evaluate their performance on AFB reading, staining and reporting.
      Checklists were used to assess quality issues of laboratories. Data were
      captured, cleaned, and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0; chi(2) tests, kappa
      statistics were used for comparison purpose. P value < 0.05 considered
      statistically significant. Among the 32 participant laboratories, 2-scored 100%,
      15 scored 80-95% & the remaining 15 scored 50-75% for overall proficiency test
      performance. There were 10 (3.15%) major errors and 121 (37.8%) minor errors. The
      sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of panel reading by microscopy centers were
      89%, 96%, 96%, and 90% respectively. Out of 283 randomly selected slides for
      blind rechecking, 11 (3.9%) slides interpreted falsely for AFB, with overall
      agreement of 97.5%, sensitivity of 88.4% and specificity of 99.3%. In terms of
      slide quality assessment, 71.6% of AFB slides were graded as good for evenness,
      cleanness, thickness, size, staining and labeling. The performance score for AFB
      slide evenness was 56.9% (161 slides) and for labeling quality was 90.8% (257
      slides); having significant difference in slide quality (p value < 0.05). On-site
      evaluation indicated problems in terms of infrastructure, standard operating
      procedure, reagent quality; equipment maintenance, data management and training
      issues. Most of the health facilities had poor maintenance scheme for microscope
      (53.5%) and poor inventory management (25.0%) system. Microscopy centers that
      scored a proficiency of 75.5%; which is below the acceptable minimum score of 80%
      and an overall error rate of 3.9% for blinded rechecking needs attention.
      Moreover, there are gaps identified through on site assessment including poor
      SOP, reagent quality, equipment maintenance, data management & lack of updated
      training on AFB microscopy techniques, requiring a concerted effort to alleviate
      the bottle neck problems and strengthening the public private partnership to
      control TB. 

PMID- 27642464
TI  - [Legionnaires' disease complicated by rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure:
      about a case].
AB  - Legionnaires' disease is a bacterial disease of the respiratory system caused by
      a gram-negative germ whose clinical manifestation can be benign limiting to flu
      like syndrome or can be more severe being characterized by pneumonia which may be
      complicated by multisystem disease that can lead to death. We report the case of
      a 48 year-old patient with rhabdomyolysis complicated by acute renal failure
      following Legionella pneumophila pneumonia. We here highlight the
      pathophysiological aspects and treatment of this rare complication during
      Legionella infection. 

PMID- 27642465
TI  - Neurocysticercosis among patients with first time seizure in Northern Namibia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neurocysticercosis is a common cause of seizures in low resource
      countries. There is a paucity of data regarding the extent of this infection in
      Namibia. There are multiple causes of First-time seizure including electrolyte
      abnormalities, infections, trauma, drugs, alcohol and many times no apparent
      cause can be found. We sought to describe the burden of Neurocysticercosis among
      individuals with a first-time seizure in Namibia. METHODS: We recruited 221
      patients with a First-time seizure who presented to the Intermediate Hospital
      Oshakati between August 2012 and March 2014. Patients with seizures due to
      identifiable causes like trauma, electrolytes, intoxications and meningitis were
      excluded. Brain CT scans were done, blood serological testing of
      Neurocysticercosis antibodies, Physical examination and demographic variables
      were collected. Data was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and transferred to
      stata version for analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-six (96) of the participants had
      evidence of Neurocysticercosis on Brain CT scan representing a prevalence of
      51.41%. Consumption of pork and rearing of pigs in the homestead were significant
      factors associated with Neurocysticercosis in our study population with odds of
      3.48(1.45-8.33) and 2.07(1.11-3.86) respectively. Serological testing for
      Cyticercosis IgG had a sensitivity of 65.93% and Specificity of 96.51%. The
      positive and negative predictive values were 95.2% and 72.81% respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Neurocysticercosis is a common cause of Index seizures in Northern
      Namibia, living in a rural area, rearing pigs in homesteads, eating pork and poor
      sanitary practices are the major risk factors for this illness.

PMID- 27642466
TI  - Rural children active trachoma risk factors and their interactions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Trachoma is a serious public health problem in rural Ethiopia. The
      aim of this investigation was to provide in-depth statistical analysis of the
      risk factors associated with active trachoma among children of age 1-9 years of
      Kedida Gamela district, in Ethiopia. METHODS: A community based cross-sectional
      survey of trachoma was conducted in six selected rural kebeles of Kedida Gamela
      district, in Ethiopia from June 10-25, 2014. A total of 377 children (ages 1-9
      years) were included in the study using two stage cluster sampling. All children
      were examined for trachoma by nurse data collectors supervised by ophthalmic
      supervisors using the WHO simplified clinical grading system. Ordinal survey
      logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors. Data analysis was
      done using SAS version 9.3. RESULTS: The best fit proportional odds model was
      identified to be the main effects and two-way and three-way interactios. Keeping
      cattle in the house was found to have a protective effect (OR=0.138, p
      value=0.0003). The household wealth will have a more protective effect if the
      child attends school. Washing face with soap and water once a day has equivalent
      protective effect as washing face three-or-more times a day with water only.
      CONCLUSION: The 2-way and 3-way significant interactions effects unfolded some of
      the controversies derived from similar studies on trachoma risk factors. The
      findings would suggest integrated effort to address two or three factors
      simultaneously is more fruitful than any novel intervention targeted to address a
      single risk factor.

PMID- 27642467
TI  - [Depressed skull fracture following the use of Mayfield headrest in adult
      patients: about a case and review of the literature].
AB  - Many neurosurgical procedures involve the use of a pin-type headrest to
      immobilize the patient's head. We report the case of depressed skull fracture in
      an adult patient secondary to the use of Mayfield headrest. The diagnosis was
      based on postoperative CT scan of the brain following surgical resection of
      medulloblastoma. Several factors seem to increase the risk of complications due
      to Mayfield headrest use. Preventive measures are outlined in our literature
      review. 

PMID- 27642468
TI  - [Nosographic considerations on delusional parasitosis based on three clinical
      observations].
AB  - Ekbom syndrome or delusional parasitosis is a rare disease characterized by the
      unwavering conviction of having cutaneous infestation of insects or parasites.
      This is a monothematic delusion of hallucinatory origin that typically affects
      older women. We report the case of three patients with delusional parasitosis in
      different clinical settings. The first patient suffered from isolated delusional
      parasitosis corresponding to the condition described by Karl Ekbom. The second
      case suffered from secondary delusional parasitosis, occurring in the setting of
      leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Lastly, the third patient appeared in a state
      which was evocative of a depressive episode with psychotic symptom integrating
      delusional parasitosis. These three clinical vignettes perfectly illustrate the
      trans-nosographic dimension of this syndrome and the difficulties in treating
      these patients, both in terms of therapeutic alliance and of choice of
      pharmacological treatment. 

PMID- 27642469
TI  - [Neglected skin nodules revealing pulmonary adenocarcinoma].

PMID- 27642470
TI  - [Osteoid osteoma: about a case].
AB  - Osteoid osteoma is a benign primary bone tumor. This tumor is relatively
      frequent, accounting for 12% of all benign bone tumors and about 2-3% of all bone
      tumors. We report a new case of osteoid osteoma confirmed histologically. A 30
      year old patient was referred for evaluation of chronic ankle pain. Front and
      lateral radiographs of the ankle showed a heterogeneous lesion located in the
      neck of the talus without soft tissue abnormalities. The CT scan of the ankle
      showed a nodular, hypodense lesion located in the neck of the talus with a
      limited osteosclerotic reaction. 

PMID- 27642471
TI  - Cerebral tuberculoma: an entity not to ignore.

PMID- 27642472
TI  - Cutaneous metastasis to the face from lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 27642473
TI  - The role of cervical mediastinoscopy in Nigerian thoracic surgical practice.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cervical mediastinoscopy is the gold standard for obtaining
      histological diagnosis of mediastinal pathology. It has been used for the staging
      of lung cancer as well as to determine the cause of Isolated Mediastinal
      Lymphadenopathy. There is very limited evidence in the literature of its use in
      Nigeria to assess mediastinal pathology. The aim of this study was to describe
      our institutional experience with cervical mediastinoscopy. METHODS: This study
      was a retrospective analysis of 40 patients that underwent cervical
      mediastinoscopy in our institution between March 2007 and February 2013. RESULTS:
      The indication for Cervical Mediastinoscopy was Isolated Mediastinal
      Lymphadenopathy in 24 patients (60%) and lung cancer staging in 16 patient (40%).
      The mean age of the patients was 52.7 + 15.1 years. There were 21 females (52.5%)
      and 19 males (47.5%). The most commonly biopsied lymph nodes were level 4 in 35
      patients (87.5%) and level 7 in 21 patients (52.5%). Malignant diagnosis was made
      in 16 (66.7%) patients with Isolated Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy and in 13
      (81.3%) patients staged for lung cancer. Hospital stay was less than 24 hours in
      all patients and there were no complications. CONCLUSION: Cervical
      Mediastinoscopy is available in Nigeria and has been performed in our institution
      with high diagnostic yield and no complications. Its increased use, along with
      the development of other mediastinal biopsy techniques is advocated to increase
      tissue biopsy of mediastinal pathology, especially for lung cancer and isolated
      mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

PMID- 27642474
TI  - Factors influencing community participation in control and related operational
      research for urogenital schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths in rural
      villages of Kwale County, coastal Kenya.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: helminthic infections caused by soil-transmitted helminths (STH)
      and schistosomes are among the most prevalent afflictions of humans who live in
      areas of poverty. An operational research was undertaken in 5 villages of Kwale
      County during a pilot control programme which included both the adults and school
      going children. Willingness of community members to participate in the treatment
      as well as in the research is critical. A cross sectional study sought to
      determine factors influencing community participation in control and related
      operational research and assess the treatment coverage for urogenital
      schistosomiasis and hookworms in rural villages of Kwale County. METHODS: cross
      sectional survey utilized quantitative and qualitative methods of data
      collection. A total of 220 households were recruited and household heads
      interviewed. Bivariate analysis was used to test association between different
      independent and dependent factors. Multivariate analysis was done using binary
      logistic regression to control for confounders and effect modification.
      Qualitative data was transcribed, coded and analyzed thematically. RESULTS:
      religion and levels of income were significantly (P =0.04 and P = 0.026
      respectively) associated with participation in the research and control
      programme, history of ever suffering from schistosomiasis and intestinal worms
      was found to be significantly (P = 0.008) associated with participation in the
      research. The study established that 82% (178) of the respondents received
      treatment for urogenital schistosomiasis and hookworms and 67% (146) of the
      respondents had participated in the research. CONCLUSION: this information will
      be useful in promoting health, enhancing learning and behaviour changes which
      will lead to increased community participation in similar disease control.

PMID- 27642475
TI  - [Current status of schistosomiasis in Santchou health area, (Santchou Health
      District, Cameroon western region)].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Schistosomiasis, the second endemic parasitic infection in the
      world, is a parasitosis caused by trematodes from the genus Schistosoma. Our
      study aims to assess the prevalence of different species of schistosomes
      (Schistosoma mansoni, haematobium and intercalatum) among schoolchildren and to
      identify risk factors, clinical signs of schistosomiasis, and schistosomiasis
      intermediate host snails in stagnant water. METHODS: We conducted a cross
      sectional study over a three months period. The study consisted of
      sociodemographic and clinical data recording, collection of stool samples and
      urine, molluscan research and treatment of positive students for other helminths.
      Laboratory tests were performed at the Medical Research Institute and the study
      of Medicinal Plants in Yaounde where stool samples and urine were examined using
      KATO KATZ and centrifugation technique respectively, and shellfish species were
      determined by a malacologist. RESULTS: A total of 400 students aged between 8-16
      years, 223 (55.7%) girls and 177 (44.3%) boys attending 4 elementary school were
      enrolled in the study. The social survey revealed that 154 students out of 400
      (or 38.5%) were in contact with the river water at least once a week, 58% from
      around noon. All students had at least one symptom of schistosomiasis although
      nonspecific and dominated by abdominal pain in 72% of cases (n = 288 of 400).
      Biologically, no schistosomiasis eggs were detected. Cercaria releasing rate was
      negative in the 100 watery species found. CONCLUSION: The Santchou health area is
      not an active outbreak of schistosomiasis, but remains a risk area because of
      rice cultivation and stagnant water. The intensification of health education
      campaigns among the general population would delay the onset of this infection in
      the locality.

PMID- 27642476
TI  - [Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in children at the University Hospital Center in
      Dakar: about four cases].
AB  - Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) is a common cause of organic acute renal failure
      (ARF) in children. It is a progressive complication of acute gastroenteritis
      (AGE), especially caused by Escherichia coli in children. This study aimed to
      describe the clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of this affection in
      four children. We collected four cases of HUS. The average age was 10,5 months (5
      15mois), exclusively boys. Clinical examination revealed a hemolytic anemia
      (pallor and jaundice), oligoanuria and edematous syndrome (2 cases), arterial
      hypertension (1 patient), AGE associated with severe dehydration and hypovolemic
      shock (2 patients), consciousness disorders. ARF was found in all patients as
      well as thrombocytopenia and schizocytes smear. Direct Coombs test was negative.
      Hyperkalemia was found in 3 patients, of whom 1 with hyperkalemia level of more
      than 9.2 mmol/L, hyponatremia at 129 mmol/l (1 patient) and hypernatremia at 153
      mmol/l (1 patient). HUS was secondary to pneumococcal pneumonia (1 patient) while
      AGE was secondary to E. coli (1 patient). The treatment was mainly symptomatic
      and included fluid restriction, transfusion of red cell concentrates, diuretics,
      peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. The evolution was marked by the onset of
      chronic renal failure (1 patient) after 6 months of follow-up and by recovery (1
      case). Three patients died. HUS is the most common cause of organic acute renal
      failure in newborns. Diagnosis is essentially biological, treatment is mostly
      symptomatic. 

PMID- 27642477
TI  - [Meningitis after spinal anesthesia].
AB  - Meningitis is a rare but serious complication of epidural and spinal anesthesia.
      Bacterial meningitis is mainly caused by Gram-positive cocci, implying an
      exogenous contamination which suggests a lack of asepsis. The evolution is
      usually favorable after treatment, but at the expense of increased health care
      costs and, sometimes, of significant neurological sequelae. We report a case of
      bacterial meningitis after spinal anesthesia for caesarean section. 

PMID- 27642478
TI  - Cerebral embolism complicating left atrial myxoma: a case report.
AB  - Cardiac myxoma are the most common benign primary cardiac tumors that can lead to
      many complications as described in literature. Here we report the case of a boy
      aged 11 that was referred for etiological diagnosis of ischemic stroke.
      Transthoracic echocardiography reveals a myxoma in the left atrium. Patient was
      referred to surgery. The diagnosis was confirmed and the mass was completely
      resected. 

PMID- 27642479
TI  - Theca lutein cysts and early onset severe preeclampsia.
AB  - Hyperreactio luteinalis (HL) is a rare condition that is characterized by
      bilateral ovarian enlargement and multiple thin walled cysts. Hypersensitivity of
      the ovary to circulating human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is playing the main
      role in pathophysiology. HL observed in cases where there is high serum beta-HCG
      levels, similarly to gestational trophoblastic disease, multiple pregnancies,
      hydrops fetalis and after fertiliy treatment. Most of HL are self limiting
      condition and patients are asymptomatic. Differentiation from ovarian
      malignancies is important. This is a case report of severe preeclampsia prior to
      20 weeks gestation due to hyperreactio luteinalis. 

PMID- 27642480
TI  - [Lynch syndrome: case report and review of the literature].
AB  - Lynch syndrome or hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is the most
      common form of hereditary colorectal cancers. It increases cancer susceptibility,
      the risk of colorectal cancer in first-degree, endometrial cancer in women, and
      to a lesser extent, other cancers (ovarian, small bowel, stomach, urinary tract
      and hepatobiliary). Thus, the cumulative risk of developing colorectal cancer or
      endometrial cancer at the age of 80 years rises to 20 and 40% respectively. These
      cancers are characterized by a positive family history, their occurrence at an
      early age, and by the development of metachronous cancers in the same individual.
      This syndrome is transmitted in an autosomal dominant manner. The genes whose
      alteration is associated with the presence of an HNPCC belong to the family of
      DNA mismatch repair genes (DNA mismatch repair or MMR): MSH2, MLH1, and MSH6 are
      involved, in decreasing order of frequency, in 35%, 25% and 2% of cases
      respectively. Colonoscopic and gynecological monitoring is recommended for
      patients with a constitutional mutation in MSH2, MLH1 or Msh6 genes. We report
      one of the first moroccan case with Lynch syndrome whose constitutional mutation
      in the MLH1 gene was identified in a family member with colon cancer. In reply to
      the inquiry ofother healthy family members, a presymptomatic diagnosis was made
      allowing to formulate an appropriate monitoring strategy. Our study aims to
      highlight the role of oncogenetics in the management of patients with cancer and
      their families. 

PMID- 27642481
TI  - [Etiological diagnosis of central diabetes insipidus: about 41 cases].
AB  - The occurrence of polyuria-polydipsia syndrome with hypotonic urine requires
      careful diagnostic strategy. This study aims to evaluate diagnostic modalities
      for central diabetes insipidus. We conducted a retrospective study of 41 cases
      with central diabetes insipidus (CDI). Data were collected at the Department of
      Endocrinology, University Hospital La Rabta, Tunis, from 1990 to 2013. We
      identified the circumstances for detecting CDI, the abnormalities in anterior
      pituitary assessment and pituitary imaging. CDI occurred in the postoperative
      period in 20 patients. The average urine 24-hour volume was significantly higher
      in patients with CDI outside a surgical setting. Water deprivation test was
      successful in all patients who benefited from it. Outside of neurosurgery,
      infiltration causes were found in 6 patients and tumor causes were found in 6
      patients. CDI was associated with empty sella turcica in 1 case and idiopathic
      sella turcica in 3 patients. Hypothalamic-pituitary magnetic resonance imaging
      and anterior pituitary balance sheet are systematic outside pituitary surgery
      setting and obvious primary polydipsia. 

PMID- 27642482
TI  - Survival of people on antiretroviral treatment in Zambia: a retrospective cohort
      analysis of HIV clients on ART.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Provision of free anti-retroviral therapy in Zambia started in June
      2004. There were only 15,000 people on treatment as at December that year, mainly
      due to lack of access. This number rose to 580,000 people as at December 2013.
      The general objective of this study was to determine survival of people on ART
      and to examine associated predictors for survival. METHODS: The study included
      ART patients enrolled between the year 2002 and 2013 (n=10,395) in 285 health
      facilities in Zambia. Patient files were analyzed retrospectively. The study used
      Kaplan Meier and Cox-proportional hazard models to describe the relationship
      between lost to follow up and age, sex, baseline CD4 cell count and weight.
      RESULTS: Results showed that lost to follow up accounted for 90% of the clients
      that had dropped out, while 10% was to deaths. Low baseline CD4 count (p-value
      0.001, HR 0.9994, (95% CI 0.9993, 0.9996) at initiation was associated with lost
      to follow up together with weight at initiation (p-value 0.031, HR 0.9987 at 95%
      CI (0.9975, 0.9998)) of ART. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that lost to
      follow up is a substantial contributing factor to drop outs among HIV patients on
      treatment. Strengthening of community treatment supporters especially immediate
      family members in emphasizing to the client the need to continue treatment is
      necessary. The health facility could do more in emphasizing the importance of
      treatment especially in the initial stages. Further, in order to reduce
      opportunistic infections and probable deaths during treatment, cotrimoxazole
      prophylaxis should be maintained so as to raise the CD4 levels. Improved
      nutritional assessment and counseling to boost the nutritional status of the
      clients throughout should be encouraged.

PMID- 27642483
TI  - Surgical management for squamous cell carcinoma of vulva.
AB  - To analyze our surgical management and the result of squamous cell carcinoma
      (SCC) of vulva. Retrospectively, we collected 38 cases of SCC; 17 cases of them
      were early SCC and 21 cases were locally advanced. The patients underwent primary
      surgery. The survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log rank
      test. The mean age was 60.78 years. Total vulvectomy was performed in all
      patients. Superficial and deep incision of bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy was
      performed by separates incisions for SCC infiltrating more than 1mm. The average
      tumor size was 53 mm (10 to 140mm). Morbidity was 42.1%. Lateral resection margin
      >=8mm was obtained in 57.1%. Eighteen patients benefited from adjuvant
      radiotherapy. The follow-up median was 19.4 months (6 to 61.5 month) with 05
      recurrences in 12 months. The survival using the Kaplan-Meyer analysis at 5
      years, was 62.1% (71.2%N(-) vs 46.7%N(+); p = 0.13). We identified two groups for
      locally advanced vulva cancer. Primary surgery keeps its place. Neo adjuvant
      radio chemotherapy followed by surgery is the alternative treatment for locally
      extensive lesions. 

PMID- 27642484
TI  - [Differential diagnosis of reduced uptake images revealed by bone scan: about a
      case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia].
AB  - If increased uptake during bone scan usually bring to light many bone
      pathologies, reduced uptakes are a rare occurrence and they require careful
      analysis to avoid erroneous interpretations. We report the case of a 17-year old
      admitted with diffuse bone pain, hypercalcemia and thrombopenia. Bone scan showed
      areas of low uptakes. Bone marrow tests allowed the diagnosis of acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia. This case report aims to discuss the main differential
      diagnoses based on such bone scan abnormalities. 

PMID- 27642485
TI  - [Adenoma of the gallbladder associated with cholesterolosis appearance].

PMID- 27642486
TI  - Health professionals' knowledge about relative prevalence of hospital-acquired
      infections in Delta State of Nigeria.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) constitute a serious global
      public health challenge, causing great suffering to many people across the globe
      at any given time. This study ascertains the knowledge of health professionals on
      the challenge and their compliance with infection control measures. METHODS:
      Validated questionnaires were administered to 660 health professionals and
      supported with face-to-face interview. Data were analyzed using Statistical
      Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 (SPSS Inc, USA). Chi-square was
      used to test association between the independent and the outcome variables. Cut
      off point for statistical significance was 5% (p value<0.05). RESULTS: UTIs
      (61.4%) followed by Hospital-acquired Pneumonia (55.6%) were known to be the most
      prevalent HAIs in government hospitals while Staphylococcus aureus (54.4%) was
      reported the most microbial agent. In private health facilities, Hospital
      acquired Pneumonia was known to be the most common (66.1%) while Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa was the most reported culprit. HAIs were reported to have occurred
      more in government hospitals and catheterization was the commonest modes of
      transmission in both health facilities. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HAIs in
      this state was reported to be high. Although health-care professionals have good
      knowledge of HAIs, active effort is not always made to identify and resolve them.
      Standardized surveillance of HAIs is urgently needed.

PMID- 27642487
TI  - [Pregnancy induced erythroblastopenia: about a case and review of the
      literature].
AB  - Pregnancy induced erythroblastopenia is an exceptional pathologic entity. Only
      isolated cases have been described in English literature. The aim of this study
      is to analyze the characteristics of this extremely rare disease through the
      description of a new case of pregnancy induced erythroblastopenia and through the
      study of the 17 cases reported before. 

PMID- 27642488
TI  - Ulcer like projection: a case report and follow up.
AB  - Here we report the case of a 57-year-old female with an aortic intramural
      hematoma that was treated with medical approach. Follow confirmed the favorable
      clinical evolution. 

PMID- 27642489
TI  - Neonatal respiratory distress in a reference neonatal unit in Cameroon: an
      analysis of prevalence, predictors, etiologies and outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neonatal respiratory distress (NRD) is a main cause of neonatal
      morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Early detection of its risk
      factors and early treatment of its etiologies are major challenges. However, few
      studies in developing countries have provided data needed to tackle it. We aimed
      to determine the prevalence, predictors, etiologies and outcome of NRD in a
      tertiary health care centre of Cameroon. METHODS: We analyzed the hospital files
      of all newborns admitted to the Neonatal unit of Douala General Hospital from
      1(st) January 2011 to 28(th) February 2013. NRD was diagnosed based on the
      presence of one or more of the following signs: an abnormal respiratory rate,
      expiratory grunting, nasal flaring, chest wall recessions and thoraco-abdominal
      asynchrony with or without cyanosis, in their files. Socio-demographic and
      clinical variables of newborns and their mothers were analyzed using logistic
      regression analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of NRD was 47.5% out of the 703
      newborns studied. Acute fetal distress, elective caesarean delivery, APGAR score
      < 7 at the 1(st) minute, prematurity, male gender and macrosomia were independent
      predictors of NRD. The main etiologies were neonatal infections (31%) and
      transient tachypnea of the newborn (25%). Its neonatal mortality rate was 24.5%,
      mainly associated with neonatal sepsis and hyaline membrane disease. CONCLUSION:
      NRD is a frequent emergency and causes high morbidity and mortality. Most of its
      risk factors and etiologies are preventable. Adequate follow-up of pregnancy and
      labor for timely intervention may improve the neonatal outcomes.

PMID- 27642490
TI  - [Uterine rupture in a patient with bicornuate uterus at 12 weeks of amenorrhea:
      about a case].
AB  - The incidence of uterine malformations affecting reproduction is difficult to
      assess. Their identification requires a specific assessment
      (hysterosalpingography, hysteroscopy, laparoscopy). Spontaneous fertility can be
      affected depending on the type of uterine abnormality. All these abnormalities
      can affect the evolution of pregnancy causing early and late miscarriage, ectopic
      pregnancy, threat of premature labour, premature labour, vascular pathologies
      during pregnancy and inadequate intra-uterine growth. Bicornuate uterus is the
      most common uterine malformation and represents about half of all uterine
      anomalies The occurrence of this type of pregnancy is associated with an
      increased risk of maternal mortality, but early diagnosis and proper monitoring
      can lead pregnancies to term on malformed uterus. Ultrasound screening should
      allow for a systematic identification of such cases in order to take the
      necessary preventive measures. We report a case of uterine rupture in a patient
      with unicervical bicornuate uterus at 12 weeks of amenorrhea. 

PMID- 27642491
TI  - Acute flaccid paralysis surveillance indicators in the Democratic Republic of
      Congo during 2008-2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The last wild poliovirus (WPV) case in Africa was reported in July
      2014, thus underscoring the tremendous progress towards polio eradication
      worldwide. This study aimed to analyze the results of a seven-year surveillance
      of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to
      identify potential gaps that need to be addressed. METHODS: Epidemiological and
      virological data obtained from AFP surveillance among AFP cases less than 15
      years from January 2008 to December 2014 in DRC were retrospectively considered
      and analyzed in this study. RESULTS: Of the 13,749 AFP cases investigated, 58.9%
      received at least three doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV), 7.3% never received
      OPV, while the status of 18.3% was unknown. Analysis of surveillance performances
      showed that all, but two, indicators were below the required WHO-specified
      targets. Non-polio enterovirus (NPEV) isolation rate was consistently below the
      minimum requirement at >=10% and the proportions of stool specimens that reached
      the laboratory within 72 hours of being sent were always below 15% (WHO target is
      >=80%). Virus isolation and differentiation showed that 1.5% of AFP cases were
      infected by WPVs, 5.5% by Sabin strains, 0.5% by vaccine-derived polioviruses
      (VDPVs) and 7.2% by NPEVs. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that additional
      efforts are needed to address the timeliness of adequate stool specimens' arrival
      to the laboratory. It remains essential to maintain high polio vaccine coverage
      and high AFP surveillance standards to ensure rapid detection and containment of
      either WPV importation or VDPV re-emergence in DRC.

PMID- 27642492
TI  - Differential Regulation of the Extracellular Cysteine/Cystine Redox State
      (EhCySS) by Lung Fibroblasts from Young and Old Mice.
AB  - Aging is associated with progressive oxidation of plasma cysteine (Cys)/cystine
      (CySS) redox state, expressed as EhCySS. Cultured cells condition their media to
      reproduce physiological EhCySS, but it is unknown whether aged cells produce a
      more oxidized extracellular environment reflective of that seen in vivo. In the
      current study, we isolated primary lung fibroblasts from young and old female
      mice and measured the media EhCySS before and after challenge with Cys or CySS.
      We also measured expression of genes related to redox regulation and fibroblast
      function. These studies revealed that old fibroblasts produced a more oxidizing
      extracellular EhCySS than young fibroblasts and that old fibroblasts had a
      decreased capacity to recover from an oxidative challenge due to a slower rate of
      reduction of CySS to Cys. These defects were associated with 10-fold lower
      expression of the Slc7a11 subunit of the xCT cystine-glutamate transporter.
      Extracellular superoxide dismutase (Sod3) was the only antioxidant or thiol
      disulfide regulating enzyme among 36 examined that was downregulated in old
      fibroblasts by more than 2-fold, but there were numerous changes in extracellular
      matrix components. Thus, aging fibroblasts not only contribute to remodeling of
      the extracellular matrix but also have a profound effect on the extracellular
      redox environment. 

PMID- 27642493
TI  - Protection of Pentoxifylline against Testis Injury Induced by Intermittent
      Hypobaric Hypoxia.
AB  - To investigate the effect of pentoxifylline (PTX) on spermatogenesis dysfunction
      induced by intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IHH) and unveil the underlying
      mechanism, experimental animals were assigned to Control, IHH+Vehicle, and
      IHH+PTX groups and exposed to 4 cycles of 96 h of hypobaric hypoxia followed by
      96 h of normobaric normoxia for 32 days. PTX was administered for 32 days. Blood
      and tissue samples were collected 7 days thereafter. Serum malondialdehyde levels
      were used to assess lipid peroxidation; ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP),
      superoxide dismutase, and catalase and glutathione peroxidase enzyme activities
      were assessed to determine antioxidant capacity in various samples. Testis
      histopathology was assessed after hematoxylin-eosin staining by Johnsen's
      testicular scoring system. Meanwhile, testosterone synthase and vimentin amounts
      were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Sperm count, motility, and density were
      assessed to determine epididymal sperm quality. IHH treatment induced significant
      pathological changes in testicular tissue and enhanced serum lipid peroxide
      levels, while reducing serum FRAP, antioxidant enzyme activities, and
      testosterone synthase expression. Moreover, IHH impaired epididymal sperm quality
      and vimentin structure in Sertoli cells. Oral administration of PTX improved the
      pathological changes in the testis. IHH may impair spermatogenesis function of
      testicular tissues by inducing oxidative stress, but this impairment could be
      attenuated by administration of PTX. 

PMID- 27642494
TI  - Oxidation-Reduction Potential as a Biomarker for Severity and Acute Outcome in
      Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - There are few reliable markers for assessing traumatic brain injury (TBI).
      Elevated levels of oxidative stress have been observed in TBI patients. We
      hypothesized that oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) could be a potent biomarker
      in TBI. Two types of ORP were measured in patient plasma samples: the static
      state of oxidative stress (sORP) and capacity for induced oxidative stress
      (icORP). Differences in ORP values as a function of time after injury, severity,
      and hospital discharge were compared using ANOVAs with significance at p <= 0.05.
      Logit regression analyses were used to predict acute outcome comparing ORP,
      Injury Severity Score (ISS), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), and Glasgow Coma
      Scale (GCS). Antioxidant capacity (icORP) on day 4 was prognostic for acute
      outcomes (p < 0.05). An odds ratio of 4.08 was associated with poor acute outcome
      when icORP > 7.25 MUC. IcORP was a better predictor than ISS, AIS, or GCS scores.
      sORP increased in those with the highest ISS values (p < 0.05). Based on these
      findings ORP is useful biomarker for severity and acute outcome in TBI patients.
      Changes in ORP values on day 4 after injury were the most prognostic, suggesting
      that patients' response to brain injury over time is a factor that determines
      outcome. 

PMID- 27642495
TI  - Hydrogen Sulfide Improves Endothelial Dysfunction via Downregulating BMP4/COX-2
      Pathway in Rats with Hypertension.
AB  - Aims. We object to elucidate that protective effect of H2S on endothelium is
      mediated by downregulating BMP4 (bone morphogenetic protein 4)/cyclooxygenase-
      (COX-) 2 pathway in rats with hypertension. Methods and Results. The hypertensive
      rat model induced by two-kidney one-clip (2K1C) model was used. Exogenous NaHS
      administration (56 MUmol/kg/day, intraperitoneally once a day) reduced mean
      arterial pressure (MAP) of 2K1C rats from 199.9 +/- 3.312 mmHg to 159.4 +/- 5.434
      mmHg, while NaHS did not affect the blood pressure in the Sham rats and
      ameliorated endothelium-dependent contractions (EDCs) of renal artery in 2K1C
      rats. 2K1C reduced CSE level twofold, decreased plasma levels of H2S about 6
      fold, increased BMP4, Nox2, and Nox4 levels 2-fold and increased markers of
      oxidative stress MDA and nitrotyrosine 1.5-fold, upregulated the expression of
      phosphorylation-p38 MAPK 2-fold, and increased protein levels of COX-2 1.5-fold,
      which were abolished by NaHS treatment. Conclusions. Our results demonstrate that
      H2S prevents activation of BMP4/COX-2 pathway in hypertension, which may be
      involved in the ameliorative effect of H2S on endothelial impairment. These
      results throw light on endothelial protective effect of H2S and provide new
      target for prevention and therapy of hypertension. 

PMID- 27642496
TI  - Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) Upregulates Paraoxonase 1 Gene Expression and
      Activity with Concomitant Reduction of Hepatic Steatosis in High-Fat Diet-Fed
      Rats.
AB  - Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), a fruit from the Amazon region, has emerged as a
      promising source of polyphenols. Acai consumption has been increasing owing to
      ascribed health benefits and antioxidant properties; however, its effects on
      hepatic injury are limited. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant effect of
      filtered acai pulp on the expression of paraoxonase (PON) isoforms and PON1
      activity in rats with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The rats were fed
      a standard AIN-93M (control) diet or a high-fat (HF) diet containing 25% soy oil
      and 1% cholesterol with or without acai pulp (2 g/day) for 6 weeks. Our results
      show that acai pulp prevented low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, increased
      serum and hepatic PON1 activity, and upregulated the expression of PON1 and ApoA
      I in the liver. In HF diet-fed rats, treatment with acai pulp attenuated liver
      damage, reducing fat infiltration and triglyceride (TG) content. In rats
      receiving acai, increased serum PON1 activity was correlated with a reduction in
      hepatic steatosis and hepatic injury. These findings suggest the use of acai as a
      potential therapy for liver injuries, supporting the idea that dietary
      antioxidants are a promising approach to enhance the defensive systems against
      oxidative stress. 

PMID- 27642499
TI  - On the use of programmable hardware and reduced numerical precision in earth
      system modeling.
AB  - Programmable hardware, in particular Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs),
      promises a significant increase in computational performance for simulations in
      geophysical fluid dynamics compared with CPUs of similar power consumption. FPGAs
      allow adjusting the representation of floating-point numbers to specific
      application needs. We analyze the performance-precision trade-off on FPGA
      hardware for the two-scale Lorenz '95 model. We scale the size of this toy model
      to that of a high-performance computing application in order to make meaningful
      performance tests. We identify the minimal level of precision at which changes in
      model results are not significant compared with a maximal precision version of
      the model and find that this level is very similar for cases where the model is
      integrated for very short or long intervals. It is therefore a useful approach to
      investigate model errors due to rounding errors for very short simulations (e.g.,
      50 time steps) to obtain a range for the level of precision that can be used in
      expensive long-term simulations. We also show that an approach to reduce
      precision with increasing forecast time, when model errors are already
      accumulated, is very promising. We show that a speed-up of 1.9 times is possible
      in comparison to FPGA simulations in single precision if precision is reduced
      with no strong change in model error. The single-precision FPGA setup shows a
      speed-up of 2.8 times in comparison to our model implementation on two 6-core
      CPUs for large model setups.

PMID- 27642497
TI  - Cell Death and Heart Failure in Obesity: Role of Uncoupling Proteins.
AB  - Metabolic diseases such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type II diabetes are
      often characterized by increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in
      mitochondrial respiratory complexes, associated with fat accumulation in
      cardiomyocytes, skeletal muscle, and hepatocytes. Several rodents studies showed
      that lipid accumulation in cardiac myocytes produces lipotoxicity that causes
      apoptosis and leads to heart failure, a dynamic pathological process. Meanwhile,
      several tissues including cardiac tissue develop an adaptive mechanism against
      oxidative stress and lipotoxicity by overexpressing uncoupling proteins (UCPs),
      specific mitochondrial membrane proteins. In heart from rodent and human with
      obesity, UCP2 and UCP3 may protect cardiomyocytes from death and from a state
      progressing to heart failure by downregulating programmed cell death. UCP
      activation may affect cytochrome c and proapoptotic protein release from
      mitochondria by reducing ROS generation and apoptotic cell death. Therefore the
      aim of this review is to discuss recent findings regarding the role that UCPs
      play in cardiomyocyte survival by protecting against ROS generation and
      maintaining bioenergetic metabolism homeostasis to promote heart protection. 

PMID- 27642500
TI  - Intercomparison of methods of coupling between convection and large-scale
      circulation: 1. Comparison over uniform surface conditions.
AB  - As part of an international intercomparison project, a set of single-column
      models (SCMs) and cloud-resolving models (CRMs) are run under the weak
      temperature gradient (WTG) method and the damped gravity wave (DGW) method. For
      each model, the implementation of the WTG or DGW method involves a simulated
      column which is coupled to a reference state defined with profiles obtained from
      the same model in radiative-convective equilibrium. The simulated column has the
      same surface conditions as the reference state and is initialized with profiles
      from the reference state. We performed systematic comparison of the behavior of
      different models under a consistent implementation of the WTG method and the DGW
      method and systematic comparison of the WTG and DGW methods in models with
      different physics and numerics. CRMs and SCMs produce a variety of behaviors
      under both WTG and DGW methods. Some of the models reproduce the reference state
      while others sustain a large-scale circulation which results in either
      substantially lower or higher precipitation compared to the value of the
      reference state. CRMs show a fairly linear relationship between precipitation and
      circulation strength. SCMs display a wider range of behaviors than CRMs. Some
      SCMs under the WTG method produce zero precipitation. Within an individual SCM, a
      DGW simulation and a corresponding WTG simulation can produce different signed
      circulation. When initialized with a dry troposphere, DGW simulations always
      result in a precipitating equilibrium state. The greatest sensitivities to the
      initial moisture conditions occur for multiple stable equilibria in some WTG
      simulations, corresponding to either a dry equilibrium state when initialized as
      dry or a precipitating equilibrium state when initialized as moist. Multiple
      equilibria are seen in more WTG simulations for higher SST. In some models, the
      existence of multiple equilibria is sensitive to some parameters in the WTG
      calculations.

PMID- 27642498
TI  - The Janus-Faced Role of Antioxidants in Cancer Cachexia: New Insights on the
      Established Concepts.
AB  - Chronic inflammation and excessive loss of skeletal muscle usually occur during
      cancer cachexia, leading to functional impairment and delaying the cure of
      cancer. The release of cytokines by tumor promotes the formation of reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), which in turn regulate catabolic pathways involved in
      muscle atrophy. ROS also exert a dual role within tumor itself, as they can
      either promote proliferation and vascularization or induce senescence and
      apoptosis. Accordingly, previous studies that used antioxidants to modulate these
      ROS-dependent mechanisms, in cancer and cancer cachexia, have obtained
      contradictory results, hence the need to gather the main findings of these
      studies and draw global conclusions in order to stimulate more oriented research
      in this field. Based on the literature reviewed in this paper, it appears that
      antioxidant supplementation is (1) beneficial in cancer cachectic patients with
      antioxidant deficiencies, (2) most likely harmful in cancer patients with
      adequate antioxidant status (i.e., lung, gastrointestinal, head and neck, and
      esophageal), and (3) not recommended when undergoing radiotherapy. At the moment,
      measuring the blood levels of antioxidants may help to identify patients with
      systemic deficiencies. This approach is simple to realize but could not be a gold
      standard method for cachexia, as it does not necessarily reflect the redox state
      in other organs, like muscle. 

PMID- 27642501
TI  - Intercomparison of methods of coupling between convection and large-scale
      circulation: 2. Comparison over nonuniform surface conditions.
AB  - As part of an international intercomparison project, the weak temperature
      gradient (WTG) and damped gravity wave (DGW) methods are used to parameterize
      large-scale dynamics in a set of cloud-resolving models (CRMs) and single column
      models (SCMs). The WTG or DGW method is implemented using a configuration that
      couples a model to a reference state defined with profiles obtained from the same
      model in radiative-convective equilibrium. We investigated the sensitivity of
      each model to changes in SST, given a fixed reference state. We performed a
      systematic comparison of the WTG and DGW methods in different models, and a
      systematic comparison of the behavior of those models using the WTG method and
      the DGW method. The sensitivity to the SST depends on both the large-scale
      parameterization method and the choice of the cloud model. In general, SCMs
      display a wider range of behaviors than CRMs. All CRMs using either the WTG or
      DGW method show an increase of precipitation with SST, while SCMs show
      sensitivities which are not always monotonic. CRMs using either the WTG or DGW
      method show a similar relationship between mean precipitation rate and column
      relative humidity, while SCMs exhibit a much wider range of behaviors. DGW
      simulations produce large-scale velocity profiles which are smoother and less top
      heavy compared to those produced by the WTG simulations. These large-scale
      parameterization methods provide a useful tool to identify the impact of
      parameterization differences on model behavior in the presence of two-way
      feedback between convection and the large-scale circulation.

PMID- 27642502
TI  - Transformation Model Choice in Nonlinear Regression Analysis of Fluorescence
      based Serial Dilution Assays.
AB  - Many modern serial dilution assays are based on fluorescence intensity (FI)
      readouts. We study optimal transformation model choice for fitting five parameter
      logistic curves (5PL) to FI-based serial dilution assay data. We first develop a
      generalized least squares-pseudolikelihood type algorithm for fitting
      heteroscedastic logistic models. Next we show that the 5PL and log 5PL functions
      can approximate each other well. We then compare four 5PL models with different
      choices of log transformation and variance modeling through a Monte Carlo study
      and real data. Our findings are that the optimal choice depends on the intended
      use of the fitted curves.

PMID- 27642503
TI  - Evolution of biomedical ontologies and mappings: Overview of recent approaches.
AB  - Biomedical ontologies are heavily used to annotate data, and different ontologies
      are often interlinked by ontology mappings. These ontology-based mappings and
      annotations are used in many applications and analysis tasks. Since biomedical
      ontologies are continuously updated dependent artifacts can become outdated and
      need to undergo evolution as well. Hence there is a need for largely automated
      approaches to keep ontology-based mappings up-to-date in the presence of evolving
      ontologies. In this article, we survey current approaches and novel directions in
      the context of ontology and mapping evolution. We will discuss requirements for
      mapping adaptation and provide a comprehensive overview on existing approaches.
      We will further identify open challenges and outline ideas for future
      developments. 

PMID- 27635216
TI  - Shark fisheries in the Southeast Pacific: A 61-year analysis from Peru.
AB  - Peruvian waters exhibit high conservation value for sharks. This contrasts with a
      lag in initiatives for their management and a lack of studies about their
      biology, ecology and fishery. We investigated the dynamics of Peruvian shark
      fishery and its legal framework identifying information gaps for recommending
      actions to improve management. Further, we investigated the importance of the
      Peruvian shark fishery from a regional perspective. From 1950 to 2010, 372,015
      tons of sharks were landed in Peru. From 1950 to 1969, we detected a significant
      increase in landings; but from 2000 to 2011 there was a significant decrease in
      landings, estimated at 3.5% per year. Six species represented 94% of landings:
      blue shark ( Prionace glauca), shortfin mako ( Isurus oxyrinchus), smooth
      hammerhead ( Sphyrna zygaena), common thresher ( Alopias vulpinus), smooth-hound
      ( Mustelus whitneyi) and angel shark ( Squatina californica). Of these, the angel
      shark exhibits a strong and significant decrease in landings: 18.9% per year from
      2000 to 2010. Peru reports the highest accumulated historical landings in the
      Pacific Ocean; but its contribution to annual landings has decreased since 1968.
      Still, Peru is among the top 12 countries exporting shark fins to the Hong Kong
      market. Although the government collects total weight by species, the number of
      specimens landed as well as population parameters (e.g. sex, size and weight) are
      not reported. Further, for some genera, species-level identification is deficient
      and so overestimates the biomass landed by species and underestimates the species
      diversity. Recently, regional efforts to regulate shark fishery have been
      implemented to support the conservation of sharks but in Peru work remains to be
      done. 

PMID- 27635219
TI  - Are scientific abstracts written in poetic verse an effective representation of
      the underlying research?
AB  - The central purpose of science is to explain. However, who is that explanation
      for, and how is this explanation communicated once it has been deduced?
      Scientific research is typically communicated via papers in journals, with an
      abstract presented as a summary of that explanation. However, in many instances
      they may be written in a manner which is non-communicatory to a lay reader. This
      study begins to investigate if poetry could be used as an alternative form of
      communication, by first assessing if poetic verse is an effective form of
      communication to other scientists. In order to assess this suitability, a survey
      was conducted in which two different groups of participants were asked questions
      based on a scientific abstract. One group of participants was given the original
      scientific abstract, whilst the second group was instead given a poem written
      about the scientific study. Quantitative analysis found that whilst a scientific
      audience found a poetic interpretation of a scientific abstract to be no less
      interesting or inspiring than the original prose, they did find it to be less
      accessible. However, further qualitative analysis suggested that the poem did a
      good job in conveying a similar meaning to that presented in the original
      abstract. The results of this study indicate that whilst for a scientific
      audience poetry should not replace the prose abstract, it could be used alongside
      the original format to inspire the reader to find out more about the topic.
      Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of this approach for
      a general audience.

PMID- 27635219
TI  - Are scientific abstracts written in poetic verse an effective representation of
      the underlying research?
AB  - The central purpose of science is to explain (Purtill, 1970). However, who is
      that explanation for, and how is this explanation communicated once it has been
      deduced? Scientific research is typically communicated via papers in journals,
      with an abstract presented as a summary of that explanation. However, in many
      instances they may be written in a manner which is non-communicatory to a lay
      reader (Halliday & Martin, 2003). This study begins to investigate if poetry
      could be used as an alternative form of communication, by first assessing if
      poetic verse is an effective form of communication to other scientists. In order
      to assess this suitability, a survey was conducted in which two different groups
      of participants were asked questions based on a scientific abstract. One group of
      participants was given the original scientific abstract, whilst the second group
      was instead given a poem written about the scientific study. Quantitative
      analysis found that whilst a scientific audience found a poetic interpretation of
      a scientific abstract to be no less interesting or inspiring than the original
      prose, they did find it to be less accessible. However, further qualitative
      analysis suggested that the poem did a good job in conveying a similar meaning to
      that presented in the original abstract. The results of this study indicate that
      whilst for a scientific audience poetry should not replace the prose abstract, it
      could be used alongside the original format to inspire the reader to find out
      more about the topic. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness
      of this approach for a non-expert audience. Alternative version: Are scientific
      papers understood, By anyone from outside of the field; And is an abstract really
      any good, If jargon means its secrets aren't revealed? Could poetry present a
      different way, Of summing up research in a nutshell;  Presented in a language for
      the lay, Yet still useful for scientists as well? This study aimed to find if it
      was true, That poems could be a way to convey fact; By splitting sample
      researchers in two: And giving each a different abstract. The findings showed
      that whilst prose was preferred, Related meanings from both were inferred. 

PMID- 27635220
TI  - Case Report: Frontalis sign for early bedside consideration of impending uncal
      herniation.
AB  - It is prudent to have early diagnosis and timely management of uncal herniation
      for better management of neurosurgical patients. There are several clinical and
      radiological armamentariums that aid in early recognition of the condition.
      Through this case report, we try to highlight a simple bedside clinical sign that
      can be a valuable adjunct in early recognition of the impending uncal herniation
      especially in scenarios wherein it is difficult to assess the pupillary size and
      reactivity correctly. The improvement in the sign also confirms the resolution of
      the mass effect in the postoperative period. This is especially helpful for
      doctors working in the periphery or in resource restrained areas, for a timely
      referral of the patient to tertiary centre. 

PMID- 27642504
TI  - Recent Advances in the Rational Design and Optimization of Antibacterial Agents.
AB  - : This review discusses next-generation antibacterial agents developed using
      rational, or targeted, drug design strategies. The focus of this review is on
      small-molecule compounds that have been designed to bypass developing bacterial
      resistance, improve the antibacterial spectrum of activity, and/or to optimize
      other properties, including physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties.
      Agents are discussed that affect known antibacterial targets, such as the
      bacterial ribosome, nucleic acid binding proteins, and proteins involved in cell
      wall biosynthesis; as well as some affecting novel bacterial targets which do not
      have currently marketed agents. The discussion of the agents focuses on the
      rational design strategies employed and the synthetic medicinal chemistry and
      structure-based design techniques utilized by the scientists involved in the
      discoveries, including such methods as ligand- and structure-based strategies,
      structure-activity relationship (SAR) expansion strategies, and novel synthetic
      organic chemistry methods. As such, the discussion is limited to small-molecule
      therapeutics that have confirmed macromolecular targets and encompasses only a
      fraction of all antibacterial agents recently approved or in late-stage clinical
      trials. The antibacterial agents selected have been recently approved for use on
      the U.S. or European markets or have shown promising results in phase 2 or phase
      3 U.S. CLINICAL TRIALS: 

PMID- 27635221
TI  - Respondent driven sampling of wheelchair users: A lack of traction?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internationally, wheelchair users are an emerging demographic
      phenomenon, due to their increased prevalence and rapidly increasing life-span.
      While having significant healthcare implications, basic robust epidemiological
      information about wheelchair users is often lacking due, in part, to this
      population's 'hidden' nature. Increasingly popular in epidemiological research,
      Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) provides a mechanism for generating unbiased
      population-based estimates for hard-to-reach populations, overcoming biases
      inherent within other sampling methods. This paper reports the first published
      study to employ RDS amongst wheelchair users. METHODS: Between October 2015 and
      January 2016, a short, successfully piloted, internet-based national survey was
      initiated. Twenty seeds from diverse organisations were invited to complete the
      survey then circulate it to peers within their networks following a well-defined
      protocol. A predetermined reminder protocol was triggered when seeds or their
      peers failed to respond. All participants were entered into a draw for an iPad.
      RESULTS: Overall, 19 people participated (nine women); 12 initial seeds, followed
      by seven second-wave participants arising from four seeds . Completion time for
      the survey ranged between 7 and 36 minutes. Despite repeated reminders, no
      further people were recruited. DISCUSSION: While New Zealand wheelchair user
      numbers are unknown, an estimated 14% of people have physical impairments that
      limited mobility. The 19 respondents generated from adopting the RDS methodology
      here thus represents a negligible fraction of wheelchair users in New Zealand,
      and an insufficient number to ensure equilibrium required for unbiased analyses.
      While successful in other hard-to-reach populations, applying RDS methodology to
      wheelchair users requires further consideration. Formative research exploring
      areas of network characteristics, acceptability of RDS, appropriate incentive
      options, and seed selection amongst wheelchair users is needed.

PMID- 27635223
TI  - Evaluation of unique identifiers used as keys to match identical publications in
      Pure and SciVal - a case study from health science.
AB  - Unique identifiers (UID) are seen as an effective key to match identical
      publications across databases or identify duplicates in a database. The objective
      of the present study is to investigate how well UIDs work as match keys in the
      integration between Pure and SciVal, based on a case with publications from the
      health sciences. We evaluate the matching process based on information about
      coverage, precision, and characteristics of publications matched versus not
      matched with UIDs as the match keys. We analyze this information to detect
      errors, if any, in the matching process. As an example we also briefly discuss
      how publication sets formed by using UIDs as the match keys may affect the
      bibliometric indicators number of publications, number of citations, and the
      average number of citations per publication.  The objective is addressed in a
      literature review and a case study. The literature review shows that only a few
      studies evaluate how well UIDs work as a match key. From the literature we
      identify four error types: Duplicate digital object identifiers (DOI), incorrect
      DOIs in reference lists and databases, DOIs not registered by the database where
      a bibliometric analysis is performed, and erroneous optical or special character
      recognition. The case study explores the use of UIDs in the integration between
      the databases Pure and SciVal. Specifically journal publications in English are
      matched between the two databases. We find all error types except erroneous
      optical or special character recognition in our publication sets. In particular
      the duplicate DOIs constitute a problem for the calculation of bibliometric
      indicators as both keeping the duplicates to improve the reliability of citation
      counts and deleting them to improve the reliability of publication counts will
      distort the calculation of average number of citations per publication. The use
      of UIDs as a match key in citation linking is implemented in many settings, and
      the availability of UIDs may become critical for the inclusion of a publication
      or a database in a bibliometric analysis. 

PMID- 27642511
TI  - Tandem semi-hydrogenation/isomerization of propargyl alcohols to saturated
      carbonyl analogues by dodecanethiolate-capped palladium nanoparticle catalysts.
AB  - The efficient one-pot conversion of propargyl alcohols to their saturated
      carbonyl analogues is carried out for the first time using metal nanoparticle
      catalysts, dodecanethiolate-capped Pd nanoparticles. Kinetic studies reveal that
      the reaction progresses through a semi-hydrogenation intermediate (allyl
      alcohols) followed by isomerization to carbonyls.

PMID- 27642512
TI  - Enhancing Intracranial Delivery of Clinically Relevant Non-viral Gene Vectors.
AB  - Gene therapy is a promising strategy for the management of various neurological
      disorders that do not respond adequately to conventional therapeutics. The
      development of gene vectors with favorable safety profiles that can achieve
      uniform distribution and high-level transgene expression in the brain remains
      challenging. The rod-shaped, non-viral gene delivery platform based on poly-L
      lysine (PLL) conjugated to a single segment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) has
      shown safe transfection in human nares and mouse brains in vivo. However, we have
      previously demonstrated that a denser PEG coating is required for rapid diffusion
      of nanoparticles in the brain extracellular space. Here, we engineered a densely
      PEGylated version of this platform based on PLL polymers conjugated to branched
      PEG via alkyne-azide cycloaddition. We found that the newly developed gene
      vectors rapidly diffused in the brain parenchyma, providing significantly
      improved vector distribution and overall transgene expression in vivo compared to
      the previously developed platform. These brain-penetrating DNA nanoparticles
      exhibited enhanced cellular uptake presumably due to their ellipsoidal
      morphology. By simultaneously improving delivery to target cells and subsequent
      transfection, our densely PEGylated PLL DNA nanoparticles can provide widespread,
      high levels of transgene expression, essential for effective targeting of highly
      disseminated brain diseases.

PMID- 27642513
TI  - Measurement of Total Antioxidant Capacity in Sub-MUL Blood Samples Using Craft
      Paper-based Analytical Devices.
AB  - Antioxidants play a role in counteracting free radicals and reactive oxygen
      species and are thought to help prevent or slow the progression of many chronic
      diseases, such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and
      neurodegenerative diseases. Herein we report a simple way to make a colorimetric
      assay for measuring total antioxidant capacity (TAC) on craft paper-based
      analytical devices (cPADs) suitable for sub-MUL volume blood samples. We
      incorporated a microfluidic separation mechanism for isolation of plasma from
      interfering blood cells. The whole diagnostic process, including cPAD
      construction, plasma sample preparation, assay, and image thresholding analysis,
      can be completed in fifteen minutes. We applied our approach toward the
      measurement of TAC in mice that model Huntington's disease (HD), a fatal,
      neurodegenerative movement disorder. Results revealed that TAC was significantly
      elevated in R6/2 HD model mice compared to their age-matched wild-type (WT)
      controls. We expect that this method, carrying a simple, fast, and sensitive
      assay on low-cost and disposable paper, will meet the potential needs for point
      of-care (POC) testing of TAC, as well as other disease biomarkers in blood and
      other types of bodily fluids where limited volumes of samples are obtainable.

PMID- 27642514
TI  - Does an improved social environment for sexual and gender minorities have
      implications for a new minority stress research agenda?
AB  - Prejudice and stigma have been central to our understanding of the health and
      well-being of LGBT people using the minority stress perspective. Minority stress
      research has explained adverse health outcomes in LGBT populations and health
      disparities between LGBT and heterosexual cisgender populations. Recent shifts in
      the social environment of LGBT people in some regions of the world allow the
      experience a more accepting and inclusive society. These changes require that
      social scientist adapt their research agenda. The author calls for researchers to
      explore changes in stigma and prejudice toward sexual and gender minorities;
      assess the impact of changes in the social environment on the lived experiences
      of LGBT persons across generations and intersections of race/ethnicity, gender
      and gender expression, and socioeconomic status; describe changes in stress and
      coping of LGBT people; and examine whether social changes lead to reduction in
      health disparities by sexual orientation and gender diversity.

PMID- 27642515
TI  - Best evidence topic: Should ventral hernia repair be performed at the same time
      as bariatric surgery?
AB  - A best evidence topic has been constructed using a described protocol. The three
      part question addressed was: In morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric
      surgery, when a ventral hernia is picked up in clinic or intraoperatively is
      concurrent repair of the hernia better than delayed repair after weight loss with
      regards to complication rates? Using the reported search, 179 papers were found.
      5 studies were deemed to be suitable to answer the question. All 5 studies
      assessed were non randomised studies either retrospective or prospective and the
      overall quality of these studies was poor. The outcomes assessed were incidence
      of complications associated with hernia repair (recurrence, infection) and
      deferral of repair (small bowel obstruction). The patient's symptoms and anatomy
      is important in determining the timing of repair. The evidence does not provide a
      consensus for the optimal timing of ventral hernia repair for patients undergoing
      bariatric surgery, with some of the selected studies contradicting each other.
      However, the studies do affirm the risk of small bowel obstruction if hernias are
      left alone. The reported rate of surgical site infection is low when mesh repair
      is performed at the same time as weight loss surgery. Until large volume, high
      quality randomized control trials can be performed, a case by case approach is
      best, where the patients' symptoms, anatomy, type of bariatric surgery and their
      personal preferences are considered, and an open discussion on the risks and
      benefits of each approach is undertaken. 

PMID- 27642516
TI  - Nurses' actions in response to nursing assistants' observations of signs and
      symptoms of infections among nursing home residents.
AB  - AIMS: To describe what nurses do during episodes of suspected infection in
      elderly nursing home residents and if these actions are linked to who is
      initiating an episode and whether the episode is considered an infection or not.
      DESIGN: Prospective descriptive study. Data were collected in 2008-2010. METHODS:
      Summarized and categorized documentation by nursing assistants and nurses was
      used for summative content analysis. RESULTS: Nurses' actions seem to be related
      to who initiated the episode and if the episodes are categorized as 'non
      infection', 'possible infection' or 'infection'. Actions could be 'observation',
      'screenings', 'engaged in waiting', 'follow-ups', 'nurse-prescribed actions',
      'diagnosing', 'contacting the physician', 'carrying out an action prescribed by
      the physician', 'contacting an ambulance or arranging an emergency visit to the
      hospital' and 'prescribing screening'. As NAs often initiate episodes of
      suspected infection by observing changed conditions, it seems important to
      include the NA in the decision-making process as these observations could detect
      possible early signs and symptoms of infections.

PMID- 27642517
TI  - Different associations of premorbid intelligence vs. current cognition with BMI,
      insulin and diabetes in the homebound elderly.
AB  - Premorbid intelligence does not decline through life even at the early stages of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, other cognitive measures such as Mini Mental
      State Examination (MMSE) decline with aging and severely with dementia. In this
      study, we examine the associations of premorbid intelligence vs. current
      cognition with body mass index (BMI), insulin and diabetes in elderly adults.
      Using a cross-sectional, population-based study, we assessed BMI, plasma insulin
      and the evidence of diabetes in homebound elders. The North American Adult
      Reading Test (NAART) and MMSE were conducted. Associations were assessed by T
      test, linear correlation and multivariate regression analysis. Subjects were
      divided into four subgroups: 1) BMI <25; 2) 25 < BMI <30; 3) 30 < BMI <35 and 4)
      BMI >35. Lower verbal IQ, assessed by NAART, was associated with higher BMI
      (beta=-0.28; P<0.01), elevated insulin (beta= -0.02, P=0.02), and diabetes (beta=
      3.18, P<0.01). Multivariate regression analyses showed that all three clinical
      conditions - obesity, hyperinsulinaemia and diabetes - were associated with lower
      premorbid intelligence assessed by verbal IQ, but only diabetes was associated
      with current cognitive impairment assessed by MMSE. These relationships persisted
      after adjustment for education. Premorbid intelligence is associated with
      diabetes precursors - obesity and high insulin - and diabetes itself, but
      cognitive impairment is related to diabetes only. Understanding the mechanisms
      that link verbal IQ to diabetes precursors might suggest targeted interventions
      for the prevention of diabetes and cognitive decline caused by diabetes.

PMID- 27642519
TI  - Outcomes of Sutureless Iris-Claw Lens Implantation.
AB  - Purpose. To evaluate the indications, refraction, and visual and safety outcomes
      of iris-claw intraocular lens implanted retropupillary with sutureless technique
      during primary or secondary operation. Methods. Retrospective study of case
      series. The Haigis formula was used to calculate intraocular lens power. In all
      cases the wound was closed without suturing. Results. The study comprised 47
      eyes. The mean follow-up time was 15.9 months (SD 12.2). The mean preoperative
      CDVA was 0.25 (SD 0.21). The final mean CDVA was 0.46 (SD 0.27). No hypotony or
      need for wound suturing was observed postoperatively. Mean postoperative
      refractive error was -0.27 Dsph (-3.87 Dsph to +2.85 Dsph; median 0.0, SD 1.28).
      The mean postoperative astigmatism was -1.82 Dcyl (min -0.25, max -5.5; median 
      1.25, SD 1.07). Postoperative complications were observed in 10 eyes. The most
      common complication was ovalization of the iris, which was observed in 8 eyes.
      The mean operation time was 35.9 min (min 11 min, max 79 min; median 34, SD
      15.4). Conclusion. Retropupilary iris-claw intraocular lens (IOL) implantation
      with sutureless wound closing is an easy and fast method, ensuring good
      refractive outcome and a low risk of complication. The Haigis formula proved to
      be predictable in postoperative refraction. 

PMID- 27642520
TI  - Lacrimal Gland, Ocular Surface, and Dry Eye.

PMID- 27642518
TI  - Disease onset and aging in the world of circular RNAs.
AB  - Circular ribonucleic acids (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs of approximately 100
      nucleotides in length with thousands of members in mammalian cells. The presence
      of circRNAs is believed to be even greater than that of messenger RNAs.
      Identification of circRNAs occurred approximately 37 years ago with the
      subsequent demonstration that covalent bonds are necessary for the unique
      circular structure of these ribonucleic acids. However, present understanding of
      the complex biological role of circRNAs remains limited and requires further
      elucidation. CircRNAs may impact aging, multiple disorders, function as
      biomarkers, and are able to regulate gene expression by acting as effective
      microRNA (miRNA) sponges. New work suggests that circRNAs are vital for the
      modulation of cellular senescence and programmed cell death pathways such as
      apoptosis. These non-coding RNAs can control cell cycle progression, cellular
      proliferation, and cellular survival impacting disorders linked to aging,
      cardiovascular disease, and atherosclerosis through pathways that involve cyclin
      dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1 (p21), and
      mammalian forkhead transcription factors. In addition, circRNAs can oversee
      cellular metabolism and disorders such as diabetes mellitus through the
      regulation of insulin signaling as well as limit tumor progression through Wnt
      signaling and beta-catenin pathways. Further understanding of the biology of
      circRNAs offers great promise for the targeting of novel strategies against a
      wide spectrum of disease entities.

PMID- 27642521
TI  - The Value of ABCD2F Scoring System (ABCD2 Combined with Atrial Fibrillation) to
      Predict 90-Day Recurrent Brain Stroke.
AB  - Background. The ABCD2 score is now identified as a useful clinical prediction
      rule to determine the risk for stroke in the days following brain ischemic
      attacks. Aim. The present study aimed to introduce a new scoring system named
      "ABCD2F" and compare its value with the previous ABCD2 system to predict
      recurrent ischemic stroke within 90 days of the initial cerebrovascular accident
      (CVA). Methods. 138 consecutive patients with the final diagnosis of ischemic CVA
      or TIAs who referred to emergency ward of Rasoul-e-Akram general hospital in
      Tehran from September 2012 to December 2013 were eligible. By adding a new score
      in the presence of atrial fibrillation to ABCD2 system, the new scoring system as
      ABCD2F was introduced and the risk stratification was done again on this new
      system. Results. The area under the curve for ABCD2 was 0.434 and for ABCD2F it
      was 0.452 indicating low value of both systems for assessing recurrence of stroke
      within 90 days of primary event. Multivariable logistic regression analysis
      showed that none of the baseline factors could predict 90-day recurrent stroke.
      Conclusion. ABCD2 and/or atrial fibrillation are not good scoring candidates for
      assessing the risk of recurrent stroke within first 90 days. 

PMID- 27642522
TI  - Acute Kidney Injury and Atypical Features during Pediatric Poststreptococcal
      Glomerulonephritis.
AB  - The most common acute glomerulonephritis in children is poststreptococcal
      glomerulonephritis (PSGN) usually occurring between 3 and 12 years old.
      Hypertension and gross hematuria are common presenting symptoms. Most PSGN
      patients do not experience complications, but rapidly progressive
      glomerulonephritis and hypertensive encephalopathy have been reported. This paper
      reports 17 patients seen in 1 year for PSGN including 4 with atypical PSGN, at a
      pediatric tertiary care center. Seventeen children (11 males), mean age of 8
      years, were analyzed. Ninety-four percent had elevated serum BUN levels and
      decreased GFR. Four of the hospitalized patients had complex presentations that
      included AKI along with positive ANA or ANCAs. Three patients required renal
      replacement therapy and two were thrombocytopenic. PSGN usually does not occur as
      a severe nephritis. Over the 12-month study period, 17 cases associated with low
      serum albumin in 53%, acute kidney injury in 94%, and thrombocytopenia in 18%
      were treated. The presentation of PSGN may be severe and in a small subset have
      associations similar to SLE nephritis findings including AKI, positive ANA, and
      hematological anomalies. 

PMID- 27642523
TI  - Risk Factors for Six Types of Disability among the Older People in Thailand in
      2002, 2007, and 2011.
AB  - Background. There is an important need to characterize risk factors for
      disability in Thailand, in order to inform effective prevention and control
      strategies. This study investigated factors associated with risk of 6 types of
      disability in Thailand's ageing population in 2002, 2007, and 2011. Methods. Data
      came from the Cross-Sectional National Surveys of Older Persons in Thailand
      conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2002, 2007, and 2011.
      Stratified two-stage sampling was employed. Interviews of 24,835, 30,427, and
      34,173 elderly people aged 60 and above were conducted in the respective study
      years. Prevalence of disabilities was measured, and factors associated with
      disability risk were assessed with probability-weighted multiple logistic
      regression. Results. Disability prevalence decreased slightly over the study
      period. The characteristics with greatest positive impact on disability
      prevalence were not working over the past week (average impact: 61.2%), age
      (53.7% per decade), and suffering from one or more chronic illnesses (46.3%).
      Conclusions. The strong observed positive impact of not working on disability
      prevalence suggests that raising the mandatory retirement age might result in
      some reduction of disability risk. Also, the observed positive impact of living
      with others (versus alone) on disability risk was somewhat unexpected. 

PMID- 27642524
TI  - Direct Spinal Ventral Root Repair following Avulsion: Effectiveness of a New
      Heterologous Fibrin Sealant on Motoneuron Survival and Regeneration.
AB  - Axonal injuries at the interface between central and peripheral nervous system,
      such as ventral root avulsion (VRA), induce important degenerative processes,
      mostly resulting in neuronal and motor function loss. In the present work, we
      have compared two different fibrin sealants, one derived from human blood and
      another derived from animal blood and Crotalus durissus terrificus venom, as a
      promising treatment for this type of injury. Lewis rats were submitted to VRA (L4
      L6) and had the avulsed roots reimplanted to the surface of the spinal cord, with
      the aid of fibrin sealant. The spinal cords were processed to evaluate neuronal
      survival, synaptic stability, and glial reactivity, 4 and 12 weeks after lesion.
      Sciatic nerves were processed to investigate Schwann cell activity by p75(NTR)
      expression (4 weeks after surgery) and to count myelinated axons and morphometric
      evaluation (12 weeks after surgery). Walking track test was used to evaluate gait
      recovery, up to 12 weeks. The results indicate that both fibrin sealants are
      similarly efficient. However, the snake-derived fibrin glue is a potentially
      safer alternative for being a biological and biodegradable product which does not
      contain human blood derivatives. Therefore, the venom glue can be a useful tool
      for the scientific community due to its advantages and variety of applications.

PMID- 27642525
TI  - Progressive FastICA Peel-Off and Convolution Kernel Compensation Demonstrate High
      Agreement for High Density Surface EMG Decomposition.
AB  - Decomposition of electromyograms (EMG) is a key approach to investigating motor
      unit plasticity. Various signal processing techniques have been developed for
      high density surface EMG decomposition, among which the convolution kernel
      compensation (CKC) has achieved high decomposition yield with extensive
      validation. Very recently, a progressive FastICA peel-off (PFP) framework has
      also been developed for high density surface EMG decomposition. In this study,
      the CKC and PFP methods were independently applied to decompose the same sets of
      high density surface EMG signals. Across 91 trials of 64-channel surface EMG
      signals recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle of 9
      neurologically intact subjects, there were a total of 1477 motor units identified
      from the two methods, including 969 common motor units. On average, 10.6 +/- 4.3
      common motor units were identified from each trial, which showed a very high
      matching rate of 97.85 +/- 1.85% in their discharge instants. The high degree of
      agreement of common motor units from the CKC and the PFP processing provides
      supportive evidence of the decomposition accuracy for both methods. The different
      motor units obtained from each method also suggest that combination of the two
      methods may have the potential to further increase the decomposition yield.

PMID- 27642526
TI  - Mirror Visual Feedback Training Improves Intermanual Transfer in a Sport-Specific
      Task: A Comparison between Different Skill Levels.
AB  - Mirror training therapy is a promising tool to initiate neural plasticity and
      facilitate the recovery process of motor skills after diseases such as stroke or
      hemiparesis by improving the intermanual transfer of fine motor skills in healthy
      people as well as in patients. This study evaluated whether these augmented
      performance improvements by mirror visual feedback (MVF) could be used for
      learning a sport-specific skill and if the effects are modulated by skill level.
      A sample of 39 young, healthy, and experienced basketball and handball players
      and 41 novices performed a stationary basketball dribble task at a mirror box in
      a standing position and received either MVF or direct feedback. After four
      training days using only the right hand, performance of both hands improved from
      pre- to posttest measurements. Only the left hand (untrained) performance of the
      experienced participants receiving MVF was more pronounced than for the control
      group. This indicates that intermanual motor transfer can be improved by MVF in a
      sport-specific task. However, this effect cannot be generalized to motor learning
      per se since it is modulated by individuals' skill level, a factor that might be
      considered in mirror therapy research.

PMID- 27642527
TI  - Endoscopic Ultrasound for the Detection of Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus: A
      Useful Technique in Patients with Transesophageal Echocardiography
      Contraindication.
AB  - Endoscopic ultrasound is a diagnostic and therapeutic technique used in
      specialized centers for patients that have undergone digestive procedures. This
      technique enables highly precise real-time imaging of the digestive tract wall
      and surrounding organs. Endoscopic ultrasound is also useful in patients with
      cardiovascular diseases such as atrial fibrillation. In patients with
      contraindication for transesophageal echocardiography due to high risk of
      esophageal bleeding or complications that may require immediate intervention,
      endoscopic ultrasound may be a safer option for visualizing atrial chambers to
      rule out the presence of left atrial appendage thrombi before cardioversion. 

PMID- 27642528
TI  - Pulmonary Embolism Presenting as Abdominal Pain: An Atypical Presentation of a
      Common Diagnosis.
AB  - Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a frequent diagnosis made in the emergency department
      and can present in many different ways. Abdominal pain is an unusual presenting
      symptom for PE. It is essential to maintain a high degree of suspicion in these
      patients, as a delay in diagnosis can be devastating for the patient and confers
      a high risk of mortality if left untreated. Here, we report the case of a 53-year
      old male who presented to the emergency department with worsening right upper
      quadrant abdominal pain with fevers. Initial imaging was benign, although lab
      work showed worsening leukocytosis and bilirubin. Abdominal pathology seemed most
      likely, but the team kept PE on the differential. Further imaging revealed acute
      pulmonary embolus in the segmental branch of the right lower lobe extending
      distally into subsegmental branches. The patient was started on anticoagulation
      and improved drastically. This case highlights the necessity of keeping a broad
      differential and maintaining a systematic approach when dealing with nonspecific
      complaints. Furthermore, a discussion on the pathophysiology on why PE can
      present atypically as abdominal pain, as well as fevers, is reviewed. Using this
      information can hopefully lead to a subtle diagnosis of PE in the future and lead
      to a life-saving diagnosis. 

PMID- 27642529
TI  - An Unusual Cause of Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Acute Esophageal
      Necrosis.
AB  - Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN), also called "black esophagus," is a condition
      characterized by circumferential necrosis of the esophagus with universal distal
      involvement and variable proximal extension with clear demarcation at the
      gastroesophageal junction. It is an unusual cause of upper gastrointestinal
      bleeding and is recognized with distinct and striking mucosal findings on
      endoscopy. The patients are usually older and are critically ill with shared
      comorbidities, which include atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, diabetes
      mellitus, hypertension, chronic renal insufficiency, and malnutrition. Alcoholism
      and substance abuse could be seen in younger patients. Patients usually have
      systemic hypotension along with upper abdominal pain in the background of
      clinical presentation of hematemesis and melena. The endoscopic findings confirm
      the diagnosis and biopsy is not always necessary unless clinically indicated in
      atypical presentations. Herein we present two cases with distinct clinical
      presentation and discuss the endoscopic findings along with a review of the
      published literature on the management of AEN. 

PMID- 27642530
TI  - Novel Hypomorphic Mutation in FANCD2 Gene Observed in a Fetus with Multiple
      Congenital Anomalies.
AB  - Congenital anomalies affect 1% to 2% of the newborns. The urinary tract and the
      kidneys are involved in 4-5% of the cases while upper-extremities abnormalities
      are present in 10%. Certain anomalies occur in isolation, whereas others are
      associated with systemic conditions. The prenatal detection of fetal anomalies
      compatible with life is a challenge for both the parents and the physician. The
      prognosis for the fetus/newborn and the reproductive decisions of the family
      largely depend on the causes underlying the disease. The reported case is of a
      G2P1 pregnant woman referred for routine ultrasound scan at 24 weeks of gestation
      (w.g.). The fetus had growth retardation, right kidney agenesis, bilateral
      absence of radial bones and thumbs, radial deviation of the wrists, and short
      humeri. Nuchal fold thickness was 5 mm and there was a single umbilical artery.
      After termination of pregnancy, SNP array genotyping and next-generation
      sequencing of targeted candidate-genes were performed trying to clarify the
      etiology of the fetal polymalformative syndrome. A new hypomorphic mutation in
      FANCD2 gene was found to underlie this fetal anomaly. The case illustrates that
      patients/families affected by rare monogenic disorders may benefit from
      application of modern technologies like microarrays and NGS. 

PMID- 27642531
TI  - Cardiac Relapse of Acute Myeloid Leukemia after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem
      Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Secondary or metastatic cardiac tumors are much more common than primary benign
      or malignant cardiac tumors. Any tumor can cause myocardial or pericardial
      metastasis, although isolated or combined tumor invasion of the pericardium is
      more common. Types of neoplasia with the highest rates of cardiac or pericardial
      involvement are melanoma, lung cancer, and breast and mediastinal carcinomas.
      Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults.
      Initial treatment involves chemotherapy followed by consolidation treatment to
      reduce the risk of relapse. In high-risk patients, the treatment of choice for
      consolidation is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Relapse of AML
      is the most common cause of HSCT failure. Extramedullary relapse is rare. The
      organs most frequently affected, called "sanctuaries," are the testes, ovaries,
      and central nervous system. We present a case with extramedullary relapse in the
      form of a solid cardiac mass. 

PMID- 27642532
TI  - Postpartum Granulomatous Hypophysitis: A Case Study, Review of the Literature,
      and Discussion of Pathogenesis.
AB  - Hypophysitis is a rare inflammatory condition of the pituitary gland that has
      three main histologic subtypes: lymphocytic hypophysitis (LH), granulomatous
      hypophysitis (GH), and xanthomatous hypophysitis (XH). Among these, LH is the
      most common and is strongly associated with the postpartum state, while XH is the
      least common. Many hypophysitis cases have been reported in the literature but
      only a few cases of postpartum GH have been discussed. Here, we describe a case
      of GH in a 24-year-old female presenting eleven days postpartum. We also review
      the current literature on postpartum GH and discuss the possible alterations in
      the immune environment during and after pregnancy that could explain this
      phenomenon. With more cases of GH being reported, the commonalities of female
      predominance, postpartum time of presentation, and occasional spontaneous
      resolution between LH and GH lend support to the theory that these two diseases
      likely represent spectrums of a single immunologic disorder. 

PMID- 27642533
TI  - Repository Corticotropin Injection for Treatment of Idiopathic Inflammatory
      Myopathies.
AB  - Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are a group of systemic autoimmune diseases
      that involve inflammation of skeletal muscle. The two most common forms are
      dermatomyositis and polymyositis, the former of which entails a skin component.
      There are few approved therapeutics available for treatment of this group of
      diseases and the first-line therapy is usually corticosteroid treatment.
      Considering that a large proportion of patients do not respond to or cannot
      tolerate corticosteroids, additional treatments are required. There are second
      line therapies available, but many patients are also refractory to those options.
      H.P. Acthar(r) Gel (repository corticotropin injection [RCI]) is a melanocortin
      peptide that can induce steroid-dependent effects and steroid-independent
      effects. Herein, we present a series of cases that involved the use of RCI in the
      management of dermatomyositis and polymyositis. RCI treatments resulted in
      improvement in three of four patients, despite failure with previous therapies.
      The use of RCI did not exacerbate any comorbidity and no significant changes in
      blood pressure, weight, or glycemic control were observed. Overall, these results
      are encouraging and suggest that randomized, controlled clinical trials applying
      RCI to dermatomyositis and polymyositis are warranted. 

PMID- 27642534
TI  - The Effect of Long-Term Exercise on the Production of Osteoclastogenic and
      Antiosteoclastogenic Cytokines by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and on Serum
      Markers of Bone Metabolism.
AB  - Although it is recognized that the mechanical stresses associated with physical
      activity augment bone mineral density and improve bone quality, our understanding
      of how exercise modulates bone homeostasis at the molecular level is lacking. In
      a before and after trial involving 43 healthy adults, we measured the effect of
      six months of supervised exercise training on the spontaneous and
      phytohemagglutinin-induced production of osteoclastogenic cytokines (interleukin
      1alpha, tumor necrosis factor-alpha), antiosteoclastogenic cytokines
      (transforming growth factor-beta1 and interleukins 4 and 10), pleiotropic
      cytokines with variable effects on osteoclastogenesis (interferon-gamma,
      interleukin-6), and T cell growth and differentiation factors (interleukins 2 and
      12) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We also measured lymphocyte phenotypes
      and serum markers of bone formation (osteocalcin), bone resorption (C-terminal
      telopeptides of Type I collagen), and bone homeostasis (25 (OH) vitamin D,
      estradiol, testosterone, parathyroid hormone, and insulin-like growth factor 1).
      A combination of aerobic, resistance, and flexibility exercises done on average
      of 2.5 hours a week attenuated the production of osteoclastogenic cytokines and
      enhanced the production of antiosteoclastogenic cytokines. These changes were
      accompanied by a 16% reduction in collagen degradation products and a 9.8%
      increase in osteocalcin levels. We conclude that long-term moderate intensity
      exercise exerts a favorable effect on bone resorption by changing the balance
      between blood mononuclear cells producing osteoclastogenic cytokines and those
      producing antiosteoclastogenic cytokines. This trial is registered with Clinical
      Trials.gov Identifier: NCT02765945. 

PMID- 27642535
TI  - The Effect of Hyperhomocysteinemia on Motor Symptoms, Cognitive Status, and
      Vascular Risk in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Factors related with hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) and the impact of HHcy in
      Parkinson's disease (PD) are not well understood. We investigated the factors
      associated with increased levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and the relationship
      between HHcy and motor symptoms, cognitive status, and vascular risk in patients
      with Parkinson's disease. Among 60 patients (29 males, 48.3%) with PD, the stage
      of the disease, the severity of clinical symptoms, and the patients' cognitive
      status were measured using a modified Hoehn and Yahr Staging Scale (mHY), Unified
      Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) II and III, and Mini-Mental State
      Examination (MMSE), respectively. Patients were also noted for having dyskinesia
      and hallucinations. Serum vitamin B12, folic acid, and plasma Hcy levels were
      measured. Furthermore, the presence of vascular risk factors was recorded.
      Finally, we investigated carotid artery intima-media thickening and stenosis
      using colour Doppler ultrasonography as well as the presence of ischemic lesions
      using brain imaging techniques. Plasma Hcy levels were higher with advanced age
      and in males. In addition, there was an inverse relationship between Hcy and
      vitamin B12 levels. There was no correlation between HHcy and the stage of the
      disease, severity of motor symptoms, cognitive status as assessed by the MMSE,
      vascular risk factors, carotid artery atherosclerotic findings, and ischemic
      brain lesions. Plasma Hcy levels may rise due to several factors in PD. However,
      the resulting HHcy has no significant effect on the clinical picture in terms of
      motor features, cognitive status, and vascular diseases. 

PMID- 27642536
TI  - Effects of Irrigation and Nitrogen Fertilizer Input Levels on Soil NO3 (-)-N
      Content and Vertical Distribution in Greenhouse Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum
      Mill.).
AB  - The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactions between irrigation
      and fertilizer treatments on soil NO3 (-)-N content and vertical distribution
      under drip fertigation in greenhouse tomatoes. Randomized block design with three
      replications and the treatments consisting of three levels of irrigation and
      three levels of N fertilizer were used. Three irrigation levels were W1 (100% 
      ET0), W2 (75%  ET0), and W3 (50%  ET0) and fertilizer levels were F1 (N240
      P2O5120-K2O150 kg hm(-2)), F2 (N180-P2O590-K2O112.5 kg hm(-2)), and F3 (N120
      P2O560-K2O75 kg hm(-2)). The result demonstrates that dynamics of soil NO3 (-)-N
      and its response to drip fertigation and levels of N moved toward the fore soil
      moist, and the average soil NO3 (-)-N content with W3 treatment was 1.23 times
      higher than that of the W1 treatment in 0-60 cm at 43 days after transplanting.
      The negative correlation between N use efficiency and levels of fertilizer N and
      the N recovery efficiency was increased with increases of N fertilizer
      application. The fertilizer nitrogen rate greatly significantly influenced soil
      NO3 (-)-N content. Avoiding N leaching through controlled matching N fertilizer
      application and controlled irrigation to tomato N demand is the key to maintain
      crop yield and improve N use efficiency. 

PMID- 27642537
TI  - Pd Nanoparticle-Catalyzed Isomerization vs Hydrogenation of Allyl Alcohol:
      Solvent-Dependent Regioselectivity.
AB  - Our previous work has shown that alkanethiolate-capped Pd nanoparticles generated
      from sodium S-dodecylthiosulfate are excellent catalysts for selective
      isomerization of various allyl alcohols to the carbonyl analogues. The present
      work focuses on understanding the mechanism and the regioselectivity of Pd
      nanoparticles in different environments. First, the presence of H2 gas has turned
      out to be essential for the efficient catalytic isomerization reaction. This
      suggests that the mechanism likely involves the Pd-alkyl intermediate rather than
      the eta3 pi-allyl Pd hydride intermediate. Second, the Pd nanoparticles are found
      to convert allyl alcohol selectively to either propanal or 1-propanol depending
      on the type of solvent used for the catalytic reactions. The reaction pathway is
      most likely determined by steric hindrance, which is the result of the
      interaction between substrate and alkylthiolate ligands on Pd nanoparticles.
      Presumably, the conformation of alkylthiolate ligands changes upon the type of
      solvents, resulting in varying degree of available space close to the
      nanoparticle surface. In general, nonpolar or weakly polar solvents such as
      benzene and chloroform, respectively, promote the isomerization of allyl alcohol
      to propanal via the formation of the branched Pd-alkyl intermediate. On the other
      hand, polar protic solvents such as methanol and water foster the hydrogenation
      of allyl alcohol to 1-propanol involving the steric induced formation of a linear
      Pd-alkyl intermediate. Third, the use of sodium S-hexylthiosulfate instead of
      sodium S-dodecylthiosulfate for the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles results in
      nanoparticle catalysts with a lower regioselectivity toward isomerization over
      hydrogenation. This is due to the higher surface ligand density of hexanethiolate
      capped Pd nanoparticles, which negatively impacts the formation of branched Pd
      alkyl intermediate. The results clearly indicate that controlling the structure
      and surface density of alkanethiolate ligands around Pd nanoparticles can provide
      an opportunity to tune the activity and selectivity of nanoparticle catalysts.
      Lastly, the high stability of soluble nanocatalysts is demonstrated by recycling
      dodecanethiolate-capped Pd nanoparticles over 10 times for the isomerization
      reaction of allyl alcohol.

PMID- 27642538
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Metreleptin in Patients with Partial Lipodystrophy:
      Lessons from an Expanded Access Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with lipodystrophy have severe metabolic abnormalities
      (insulin resistance, diabetes, and hypertriglyceridemia) that may increase
      morbidity and mortality. Metreleptin is approved by the United States Food and
      Drug Administration for treatment of generalized forms of lipodystrophy. We aimed
      to determine the efficacy and safety of metreleptin among patients with partial
      lipodystrophy using an expanded-access model. METHODS: Study FHA101
      (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00677313) was an open-label, expanded-access,
      long-term clinical effectiveness and safety study in 23 patients with partial
      lipodystrophy and diabetes and/or hypertriglyceridemia with no prespecified
      leptin level. Metreleptin was administered subcutaneously at 0.02 mg/kg twice
      daily (BID) at Week 1, followed by 0.04 mg/kg BID at Week 2. Dose adjustments
      thereafter were based on patient response (maximum dose of 0.08 mg/kg BID). One
      year changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose,
      triglycerides, alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, and treatment-emergent
      adverse events (TEAEs) were evaluated. RESULTS: HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose,
      and triglycerides were numerically decreased throughout 1 year, with mean
      (standard error) changes from baseline of -0.88 (0.62)%, -42.0 (22.4) mg/dL, and 
      119.8 (84.1) mg/dL, respectively, which were greater among patients with higher
      baseline abnormalities. Liver enzymes did not worsen, and the most frequently
      observed TEAEs (>= 10% incidence) were mild to moderate and included nausea
      (39.1%), hypoglycemia (26.1%), and urinary tract infections (26.1%)-all reported
      previously. There were no reports of clinically significant immune-related
      adverse events or new safety signals. CONCLUSIONS: Our clinical observations
      document the large heterogeneity and disease burden of partial lipodystrophy
      syndromes and suggest that metreleptin treatment benefits may extend to patients
      with partial lipodystrophy. Additional studies are needed to confirm these
      preliminary findings.

PMID- 27642539
TI  - Enhancement of Corneal Visibility in Optical Coherence Tomography Images with
      Corneal Opacification.
AB  - PURPOSE: To establish and to rank the performance of a corneal adaptive
      compensation (CAC) algorithm in enhancing corneal images with scars acquired from
      three commercially available anterior segment optical coherence tomography
      (ASOCT) devices. METHODS: Horizontal B-scans of the cornea were acquired from 10
      patients using three ASOCT devices (Spectralis, RTVue, and Cirrus). We compared
      ASOCT image quality (with and without CAC) by computing the intralayer contrast
      (a measure of shadow removal), the interlayer contrast (a measure of tissue
      boundary visibility), and the tissue/background contrast (a measure of overall
      corneal visibility). All six groups (Spectralis, RTVue, Cirrus, Spectralis+CAC,
      RTVue+CAC, and Cirrus+CAC) were ranked according to a global performance index
      that averaged all contrast quantities. RESULTS: CAC provided mean intralayer
      contrasts improvement for all devices (all P < 0.05). Mean tissue/boundary
      contrasts were also improved for Spectralis and Cirrus (both P < 0.001). Mean
      interlayer contrasts were increased for Spectralis (P = 0.011) only. When
      comparing global performance indices, all CAC groups outperformed their
      corresponding baseline groups significantly. RTVue performed best without CAC,
      but Spectralis+CAC was ranked first. CONCLUSIONS: ASOCT images of corneal scars
      may be enhanced by CAC through shadow removal, improved tissue boundary
      visibility, and enhanced corneal visibility against the image background. RTVue
      produces the finest baseline images but the best image quality can be achieved by
      applying CAC to Spectralis images. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: CAC could enhance
      visibility of corneal images with scars acquired from commercially available
      ASOCT devices and could aid preoperative planning of patients for ophthalmic
      procedures.

PMID- 27642540
TI  - Goldmann Tonometer Prism with an Optimized Error Correcting Applanation Surface.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluate solutions for an applanating surface modification to the
      Goldmann tonometer prism, which substantially negates the errors due to patient
      variability in biomechanics. METHODS: A modified Goldmann or correcting
      applanation tonometry surface (CATS) prism is presented which was optimized to
      minimize the intraocular pressure (IOP) error due to corneal thickness,
      stiffness, curvature, and tear film. Mathematical modeling with finite element
      analysis (FEA) and manometric IOP referenced cadaver eyes were used to optimize
      and validate the design. RESULTS: Mathematical modeling of the optimized CATS
      prism indicates an approximate 50% reduction in each of the corneal biomechanical
      and tear film errors. Manometric IOP referenced pressure in cadaveric eyes
      demonstrates substantial equivalence to GAT in nominal eyes with the CATS prism
      as predicted by modeling theory. CONCLUSION: A CATS modified Goldmann prism is
      theoretically able to significantly improve the accuracy of IOP measurement
      without changing Goldmann measurement technique or interpretation. Clinical
      validation is needed but the analysis indicates a reduction in CCT error alone to
      less than +/-2 mm Hg using the CATS prism in 100% of a standard population
      compared to only 54% less than +/-2 mm Hg error with the present Goldmann prism.
      TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This article presents an easily adopted novel approach
      and critical design parameters to improve the accuracy of a Goldmann applanating
      tonometer.

PMID- 27642541
TI  - Bioptic Telescope Use and Driving Patterns of Drivers with Age-Related Macular
      Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the telescope use and driving patterns of bioptic drivers
      with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: A questionnaire addressing
      telescope use and driving patterns was administered by telephone interview to
      three groups of bioptic drivers: AMD (n = 31; median 76 years); non-AMD first
      licensed with a bioptic (n = 38; 53 years); and non-AMD first licensed without a
      bioptic (n = 47; 37 years). Driving patterns of bioptic AMD drivers were also
      compared with those of normal vision (NV) drivers (n = 36; 74 years) and
      nonbioptic AMD drivers (n = 34; 79 years). RESULTS: Bioptic usage patterns of AMD
      drivers did not differ from those of the younger bioptic drivers and greater
      visual difficulty without the bioptic was strongly correlated with greater
      bioptic helpfulness. Bioptic AMD drivers were more likely to report avoidance of
      night driving than the age-similar NV drivers (P = 0.06). However, they reported
      less difficulty than the nonbioptic AMD drivers in all driving situations (P <=
      0.02). Weekly mileages of bioptic AMD drivers were lower than those of the
      younger bioptic drivers (P < 0.001), but not the NV group (P = 0.54), and were
      higher than those of the nonbioptic AMD group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggest that bioptic telescopes met the visual demands of drivers with
      AMD and that those drivers had relatively unrestricted driving habits.
      TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: Licensure with a bioptic telescope may prolong driving
      of older adults with AMD; however, objective measures of bioptic use, driving
      performance, and safety are needed.

PMID- 27642542
TI  - Latinos and Cancer Information: Perspectives of Patients, Health Professionals
      and Telephone Cancer Information Specialists.
AB  - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 Latino cancer patients
      diagnosed in California; 10 health professionals from the San Francisco Bay Area
      and Fresno, California; and 10 Cancer Information Services (CIS) information
      specialists from the regional offices handling calls from Spanish-speakers.
      Interview guides were designed by the investigators to answer three main research
      questions: 1) How do Latinos obtain information about cancer and what types of
      information do they access?; 2) What sources of cancer information do they seek
      out and find credible?; and 3) What are the barriers and facilitators to Latinos
      obtaining cancer information? Stakeholders generally viewed health professionals
      as the most credible source of cancer information. All groups regarded family and
      friends as important sources of information. Patients and health professionals
      tended to differ on the value of print materials. Although patients found them
      generally useful, health professionals tended to view them as inadequate for
      meeting the informational needs of their Latino patients due to the challenge of
      low health literacy. Health professionals also tended to undervalue Internet
      resources compared to patients and CIS specialists. All stakeholders viewed
      language, ethnic discordance and the impact on patients of the initial diagnosis
      as barriers to effective communication of cancer information. Health
      professionals and CIS specialists, but not patients, mentioned low literacy as a
      barrier. Our findings underscore the importance of the physician-patient
      relationship as a point of intervention to address the unmet informational and
      psychosocial needs of Latino cancer patients.

PMID- 27642543
TI  - Genes, Exomes, Genomes, Copy Number: What is Their Future in Pediatric Renal
      Disease.
AB  - The influence of genetic variation on the pathogenesis of pediatric kidney
      disease extends from the earliest stages of kidney development in utero to
      conditions arising throughout a child's life. Major advances in genomic
      technologies, computing power, and bioinformatics analyses have resulted in the
      accelerated discovery of novel genes and risk loci associated with both inherited
      and sporadic forms of pediatric kidney disease. In this review, we will highlight
      studies over the past year that used diverse approaches to discover novel genes
      and loci associated with pediatric renal disease. We will also discuss reports
      that investigate the association with disease of previously discovered risk
      variants in novel populations, different phenotypes, or in model systems.
      Finally, we will discuss how we believe genomic inquiry will evolve in pediatric
      kidney disease in the future. Together, these studies illustrate that almost
      every child with a kidney condition could participate in some form of genomic
      investigation.

PMID- 27642544
TI  - Daily Actigraphy Profiles Distinguish Depressive and Interepisode States in
      Bipolar Disorder.
AB  - Disruptions in activity are core features of mood states in bipolar disorder
      (BD). This study sought to identify activity patterns that discriminate between
      mood states in BD. Locomotor activity was collected using actigraphy for six
      weeks in participants with inter-episode BD type I (n=37) or participants with no
      lifetime mood disorders (n=39). The 24-hour activity pattern of each participant
      day was characterized and within-person differences in activity patterns were
      examined across mood states. Results show that among participants with BD,
      depressive days are distinguished from other mood states by an overall lower
      activity level, and a pattern of later activity onset, a midday elevation of
      activity, and low evening activity. No distinct within-person activity patterns
      were found for hypomanic/manic days. Since activity can be monitored non
      invasively for extended time periods, activity pattern identification may be
      leveraged to detect mood states in BD, thereby providing more immediate delivery
      of care.

PMID- 27642545
TI  - Is It Possible to Publish a Calibration Function for Radiochromic Film?
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the possibility of using a public calibration function for
      radiochromic film dosimetry in dose QA of highly conformal treatment plans.
      METHODS: EBT3 film calibration strips (3.5 * 20 cm2 from lots A101212 and
      A011713) were exposed on a Varian Trilogy at a facility to a 10 * 10 cm2 open
      field at doses of 80, 160, 320 cGy using 6MV photons. Together with a strip of
      unexposed film from the same lot the exposed films were digitized in a single
      scan using different Epson 10,000 XL scanners at two different facilities. The
      dose-response data for each color-channel from each facility were generated using
      the same calibration function X(D) = a + b/(D - c), where X(D) is the response at
      dose D and a, b and c are the coefficients. Different batches of EBT3 film were
      exposed to a VMAT beam. These films, plus two reference strips exposed to doses
      of zero and 160 cGy, were digitized on the scanners at the two facilities. Using
      the multi-channel dosimetry method and One-scan protocol (Med Phys, 39:6339-49,
      2012) the recorded doses on the VMAT films were calculated and the results were
      compared with the VMAT plan using a Gamma index of 3%/3 mm. RESULTS: The passing
      rates obtained for dose maps calculated for all combinations of VMAT images and
      calibration functions were nearly unchanged, using the One-scan protocol. Also,
      in all cases a passing rate of >99% was obtained for Gamma index of 3%/3 mm. On
      the other hand, if the One-scan protocol was not employed, the dose maps for VMAT
      images and calibration functions from different scanners showed poor correlation
      with the treatment plan. This is probably due to the scan-to-scan variability.
      CONCLUSIONS: The authors have found that it is feasible to use a public
      calibration function for a given radiochromic film lot using the same
      methodology, One-scan protocol, for patient-specific QA.

PMID- 27642546
TI  - Seasonality and interannual variability of CH4 fluxes from the eastern Amazon
      Basin inferred from atmospheric mole fraction profiles.
AB  - The Amazon Basin is an important region for global CH4 emissions. It hosts the
      largest area of humid tropical forests, and around 20% of this area is seasonally
      flooded. In a warming climate it is possible that CH4 emissions from the Amazon
      will increase both as a result of increased temperatures and precipitation. To
      examine if there are indications of first signs of such changes we present here a
      13 year (2000-2013) record of regularly measured vertical CH4 mole fraction
      profiles above the eastern Brazilian Amazon, sensitive to fluxes from the region
      upwind of Santarem (SAN), between SAN and the Atlantic coast. Using a simple mass
      balance approach, we find substantial CH4 emissions with an annual average flux
      of 52.8 +/- 6.8 mg CH4 m-2 d-1 over an area of approximately 1 * 106 km2. Fluxes
      are highest in two periods of the year: in the beginning of the wet season and
      during the dry season. Using a CO:CH4 emission factor estimated from the profile
      data, we estimated a contribution of biomass burning of around 15% to the total
      flux in the dry season, indicating that biogenic emissions dominate the CH4 flux.
      This 13 year record shows that CH4 emissions upwind of SAN varied over the years,
      with highest emissions in 2008 (around 25% higher than in 2007), mainly during
      the wet season, representing 19% of the observed global increase in this year.

PMID- 27642548
TI  - Social Determinants of Population Health: A Systems Sciences Approach.
AB  - Population distributions of health emerge from the complex interplay of health
      related factors at multiple levels, from the biological to the societal level.
      Individuals are aggregated within social networks, affected by their locations,
      and influenced differently across time. From aggregations of individuals, group
      properties can emerge, including some exposures that are ubiquitous within
      populations but variant across populations. By combining a focus on social
      determinants of health with a conceptual framework for understanding how
      genetics, biology, behavior, psychology, society, and environment interact, a
      systems science approach can inform our understanding of the underlying causes of
      the unequal distribution of health across generations and populations, and can
      help us identify promising approaches to reduce such inequalities. In this paper,
      we discuss how systems science approaches have already made several substantive
      and methodological contributions to the study of population health from a social
      epidemiology perspective.

PMID- 27642547
TI  - Genetic and Environmental Factors Associated with Cannabis Involvement.
AB  - Approximately 50-70% of the variation in cannabis use and use disorders can be
      attributed to heritable factors. For cannabis use, the remaining variance can be
      parsed in to familial and person-specific environmental factors while for use
      disorders, only the latter contribute. While numerous candidate gene studies have
      identified the role of common variation influencing liability to cannabis
      involvement, replication has been elusive. To date, no genomewide association
      study has been sufficiently powered to identify significant loci. Despite this,
      studies adopting polygenic techniques and integrating genetic variation with
      neural phenotypes and measures of environmental risk, such as childhood
      adversity, are providing promising new leads. It is likely that the small effect
      sizes associated with variants related to cannabis involvement will only be
      robustly identified in substantially larger samples. Results of such large-scale
      efforts will provide valuable single variant targets for translational research
      in neurogenetic, pharmacogenetic and non-human animal models as well as polygenic
      risk indices that can be used to explore a host of other genetic hypotheses
      related to cannabis use and misuse.

PMID- 27642549
TI  - ROS-based ground stereo vision detection: implementation and experiments.
AB  - This article concentrates on open-source implementation on flying object
      detection in cluttered scenes. It is of significance for ground stereo-aided
      autonomous landing of unmanned aerial vehicles. The ground stereo vision guidance
      system is presented with details on system architecture and workflow. The Chan
      Vese detection algorithm is further considered and implemented in the robot
      operating systems (ROS) environment. A data-driven interactive scheme is
      developed to collect datasets for parameter tuning and performance evaluating.
      The flying vehicle outdoor experiments capture the stereo sequential images
      dataset and record the simultaneous data from pan-and-tilt unit, onboard sensors
      and differential GPS. Experimental results by using the collected dataset
      validate the effectiveness of the published ROS-based detection algorithm.

PMID- 27642550
TI  - Designing Biopolymer Microthreads for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative
      Medicine.
AB  - Native tissue structures possess elaborate extracellular matrix (ECM)
      architectures that inspire the design of fibrous structures in the field of
      regenerative medicine. We review the literature with respect to the successes and
      failures, as well as the future promise of biopolymer microthreads as scaffolds
      to promote endogenous and exogenous tissue regeneration. Biomimetic microthread
      tissue constructs have been proposed for the functional regeneration of tendon,
      ligament, skeletal muscle, and ventricular myocardial tissues. To date,
      biopolymer microthreads have demonstrated promising results as materials to
      recapitulate the hierarchical structure of simple and complex tissues and well as
      biochemical signaling cues to direct cell-mediated tissue regeneration.
      Biopolymer microthreads have also demonstrated exciting potential as a platform
      technology for the targeted delivery of stem cells and therapeutic molecules.
      Future studies will focus on the design of microthread-based tissue analogs that
      strategically integrate growth factors and progenitor cells to temporally direct
      cell-mediated processes that promote enhanced functional tissue regeneration.

PMID- 27642551
TI  - Differential heme release from various hemoglobin redox states and the
      upregulation of cellular heme oxygenase-1.
AB  - Despite advances in our understanding of the oxidative pathways mediated by free
      hemoglobin (Hb), the precise contribution of its highly reactive redox forms to
      tissue and organ toxicities remains ambiguous. Heme, a key degradation byproduct
      of Hb oxidation, has recently been recognized as a damage-associated molecular
      pattern (DAMP) molecule, able to trigger inflammatory responses. Equally damaging
      is the interaction of the highly redox active forms of Hb with other biological
      molecules. We determined the kinetics of heme loss from individual Hb redox
      states-ferrous (Fe(2+)), ferric (Fe(3+)), and ferryl (Fe(4+))-using two different
      heme receptor proteins: hemopexin (Hxp), a naturally occurring heme scavenger in
      plasma, and a double mutant (H64Y/V86F), apomyoglobin (ApoMb), which avidly binds
      heme released from Hb. We show for the first time that ferric Hb (Fe(3+)) loses
      heme at rates substantially higher than that of ferryl Hb (Fe(4+)). This was also
      supported by a higher expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) when ferric Hb was
      added to cultured lung alveolar epithelial cells (E10). The reported cytotoxicity
      of Hb may therefore be attributed to a combination of accelerated heme loss from
      the ferric form and protein radical formation associated with ferryl Hb. Targeted
      therapeutic interventions can therefore be designed to curb specific oxidative
      pathways of Hb in hemolytic anemias and when Hb is used as an oxygen-carrying
      therapeutic. 

PMID- 27642552
TI  - AC-1001 H3 CDR peptide induces apoptosis and signs of autophagy in vitro and
      exhibits antimetastatic activity in a syngeneic melanoma model.
AB  - Antibody-derived peptides modulate functions of the immune system and are a
      source of anti-infective and antitumor substances. Recent studies have shown that
      they comprise amino acid sequences of immunoglobulin complementarity-determining
      regions, but also fragments of constant regions. VH CDR3 of murine mAb AC-1001
      displays antimetastatic activities using B16F10-Nex2 murine melanoma cells in a
      syngeneic model. The peptide was cytotoxic in vitro in murine and human melanoma
      cells inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis by the intrinsic
      pathway. Signs of autophagy were also suggested by the increased expression of
      LC3/LC3II and Beclin 1 and by ultrastructural evidence. AC-1001 H3 bound to both
      G- and F-actin and inhibited tumor cell migration. These results are important
      evidence of the antitumor activity of Ig CDR-derived peptides.

PMID- 27642553
TI  - Elevation of glycoprotein nonmetastatic melanoma protein B in type 1 Gaucher
      disease patients and mouse models.
AB  - Gaucher disease is caused by inherited deficiency of lysosomal
      glucocerebrosidase. Proteome analysis of laser-dissected splenic Gaucher cells
      revealed increased amounts of glycoprotein nonmetastatic melanoma protein B
      (gpNMB). Plasma gpNMB was also elevated, correlating with chitotriosidase and
      CCL18, which are established markers for human Gaucher cells. In Gaucher mice,
      gpNMB is also produced by Gaucher cells. Correction of glucocerebrosidase
      deficiency in mice by gene transfer or pharmacological substrate reduction
      reverses gpNMB abnormalities. In conclusion, gpNMB acts as a marker for
      glucosylceramide-laden macrophages in man and mouse and gpNMB should be
      considered as candidate biomarker for Gaucher disease in treatment monitoring.

PMID- 27642554
TI  - Expression of nephronectin is enhanced by 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.
AB  - The extracellular matrix protein nephronectin (Npnt), also called POEM, is
      considered to play critical roles as an adhesion molecule in development and
      functions of various tissues, such as the kidneys, liver, and bone. In the
      present study, we examined the molecular mechanism of Npnt gene expression and
      found that vitamin D3 (1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3,VD 3) strongly enhanced Npnt
      mRNA expression in MC3T3-E1 cells from a mouse osteoblastic cell line. The VD 3
      induced increase in Npnt expression is both time- and dose-dependent and is
      mediated by the vitamin D receptor (VDR).

PMID- 27642555
TI  - Effect of Tris, MOPS, and phosphate buffers on the hydrolysis of polyethylene
      terephthalate films by polyester hydrolases.
AB  - The enzymatic degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) occurs at mild
      reaction conditions and may find applications in environmentally friendly plastic
      waste recycling processes. The hydrolytic activity of the homologous polyester
      hydrolases LC cutinase (LCC) from a compost metagenome and TfCut2 from
      Thermobifida fusca KW3 against PET films was strongly influenced by the reaction
      medium buffers tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris), 3-(N
      morpholino)propanesulfonic acid (MOPS), and sodium phosphate. LCC showed the
      highest initial hydrolysis rate of PET films in 0.2 m Tris, while the rate of
      TfCut2 was 2.1-fold lower at this buffer concentration. At a Tris concentration
      of 1 m, the hydrolysis rate of LCC decreased by more than 90% and of TfCut2 by
      about 80%. In 0.2 m MOPS or sodium phosphate buffer, no significant differences
      in the maximum initial hydrolysis rates of PET films by both enzymes were
      detected. When the concentration of MOPS was increased to 1 m, the hydrolysis
      rate of LCC decreased by about 90%. The activity of TfCut2 remained low compared
      to the increasing hydrolysis rates observed at higher concentrations of sodium
      phosphate buffer. In contrast, the activity of LCC did not change at different
      concentrations of this buffer. An inhibition study suggested a competitive
      inhibition of TfCut2 and LCC by Tris and MOPS. Molecular docking showed that Tris
      and MOPS interfered with the binding of the polymeric substrate in a groove
      located at the protein surface. A comparison of the K i values and the average
      binding energies indicated MOPS as the stronger inhibitor of the both enzymes. 

PMID- 27642556
TI  - Suppression of liver Apo E secretion leads to HDL/cholesterol immaturity in rats
      administered ethinylestradiol.
AB  - Ethinylestradiol (EE), a main component of the combined oral contraceptive pill,
      is associated with an increased risk of arterial diseases. However, the toxicity
      mechanism of EE is poorly understood. In this study, we found that the exposure
      to EE reduced the serum apolipoprotein E (Apo E) level and high-density
      lipoprotein (HDL)/cholesterol concentration in adult female rats.
      Diethylstilbestrol showed the same effects and both reductions were suppressed by
      coadministration of tamoxifen (TAM). Liver perfusion experiments revealed that
      the secretion rate of Apo E from the liver was significantly reduced. It is
      concluded that EE damages the maturation of HDL/cholesterol by delaying Apo E
      secretion from the liver, and this may lead to an increased risk of arterial
      diseases, such as atheromas. 

PMID- 27642557
TI  - Gene transcription and steviol glycoside accumulation in Stevia rebaudiana under
      polyethylene glycol-induced drought stress in greenhouse cultivation.
AB  - Stevia rebaudiana is a sweet herb of the Astraceae family, which is cultivated
      for the natural sweeteners it contains. The aim of this study was to assess the
      effect of drought, simulated by the application of polyethylene glycol (5%, 10%,
      and 15% w/v), on the content of steviol glycosides (SVglys) and transcription
      levels of six genes involved in the biosynthesis of these natural sweeteners. The
      transcription levels of ent-kaurene synthase, ent-kaurene oxidase, ent-kaurenoic
      acid hydroxylase, and three UDP-dependent glycosyltransferases, UGT85C2,UGT74G1
      and UGT76G1 were downregulated under polyethylene glycol treatment. Polyethylene
      glycol treatment significantly decreased the amount of stevioside, rebaudioside
      A, B, C and F, steviolbioside, dulcoside A, rubusoside, and total SVglys. These
      results strongly suggest a close relationship of SVglys content with the
      transcription of genes involved in the SVglys biosynthesis pathway. Comparing the
      observations of the present study with other reports provided the knowledge that
      the Stevia response to drought stress can be influenced by different
      environmental and experimental factors, in addition to intensity of drought
      stress. In conclusion, these results strongly suggest that polyethylene glycol
      induced drought stress has a negative effect on the content of SVglys and
      transcription of SVglys biosynthetic genes and that this should be investigated
      further. We recommend that sufficient irrigation of Stevia is required to obtain
      a high content of SVglys. 

PMID- 27642558
TI  - Rabbit M1 and M2 macrophages can be induced by human recombinant GM-CSF and M
      CSF.
AB  - Macrophages can change their phenotype in response to environmental cues.
      Polarized macrophages are broadly classified into two groups: classical activated
      M1 and alternative activated M2. Characterization of human macrophages has been
      widely studied, but polarized macrophages in rabbits have not been characterized.
      We characterized rabbit macrophages that were polarized using human recombinant
      GM-CSF and M-CSF. GM-CSF-treated macrophages had higher mRNA expression of
      proinflammatory cytokines (M1 phenotype) than did the M-CSF-treated counterpart.
      By contrast, high levels of TGF-beta and IL-10 expression (M2 phenotype) were
      found in M-CSF-treated macrophages. The present study may be useful to understand
      roles of polarized macrophages in rabbit disease models.

PMID- 27642559
TI  - Upregulation of long noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 correlates with tumor progression
      and poor prognosis in cervical cancer.
AB  - The identification of cancer-associated long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is critical
      for us to understand cancer pathogenesis and development. The aim of this study
      was to evaluate the expression profile of the lncRNA SPRY4-IT1 in cervical cancer
      and to identify its clinical significance in cancer progression. The expression
      levels of SPRY4-IT1 in cervical cancer tissues were measured by quantitative real
      time PCR, and its correlation with overall survival of cervical cancer patients
      was analyzed statistically. Our results showed that the expression levels of
      SPRY4-IT1 were higher in cervical cancer tissues than in adjacent normal tissues.
      Patients with higher SPRY4-IT1 expression had advanced clinical characteristics
      and a shorter overall survival time than those with lower SPRY4-IT1 expression.
      Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that relative SPRY4-IT1 expression was an
      independent predictor of overall survival in patients with cervical cancer. In
      addition, the model we have established shows a good prediction of the
      probability of 5-year overall survival of patients according to the c-index and
      calibration curve. Collectively, our data suggest that lncRNA SPRY4-IT1 may be a
      novel molecule involved in cervical cancer progression, which may be of use as
      both a potential predictor and therapeutic target. 

PMID- 27642561
TI  - Successful treatment of cutaneous protothecosis with liposomal amphotericin and
      oral itraconazole.
AB  - Protothecosis is a rare algal infection, affecting primarily immunocompromised
      hosts. Optimal management is unclear: in-vitro antimicrobial breakpoints are not
      established and therapeutic decisions are primarily based on case reports. We
      present a case of cutaneous Prototheca wickerhamii infection in an
      immunosuppressed 63 year old male, successfully treated with liposomal
      amphotericin and prolonged itraconazole. Inoculation may have been through
      frequent hot-tub use, highlighting hot-tub exposure as an infection risk for the
      immunocompromised host. 

PMID- 27642560
TI  - Inhibition of cyclophilin A suppresses H2O2-enhanced replication of HCMV through
      the p38 MAPK signaling pathway.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection can be accelerated by intracellular and
      extracellular hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) stimulation, mediated by the activation of
      the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. However, it remains
      unknown whether host gene expression is involved in H2O2-upregulated HCMV
      replication. Here, we show that the expression of the host gene, cyclophilin A
      (CyPA), could be facilitated by treatment with H2O2 in a dose-dependent manner.
      Experiments with CyPA-specific siRNA, or with cyclosporine A, an inhibitor of
      CyPA, confirmed that H2O2-mediated upregulation of HCMV replication is
      specifically mediated by upregulation of CyPA expression. Furthermore, depletion
      or inhibition of CyPA reduced H2O2-induced p38 activation, consistent with that
      of H2O2-upregulated HCMV lytic replication. These results show that H2O2 is
      capable of activating ROS-CyPA-p38 MAPK interactions to enhance HCMV replication.

PMID- 27642563
TI  - Life threatening hemoptysis from Hughes Stovin syndrome: Is it that rare?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hughes-Stovin syndrome is a life-threatening disorder of unknown
      etiology. This condition is characterized by vasculitis, deep venous thrombosis
      and aneurysms that mainly involve the pulmonary arteries resulting in hemoptysis.
      It has been described in literature less than 40 times. However, we believe it is
      not very uncommon as it might be diagnosed as pulmonary embolism solely. In such
      cases, anticoagulation therapy augments the risk of life-threatening hemoptysis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report the case of a 35 years old, Egyptian female
      patient with Hughes-Stovin syndrome, who initially presented with lower limb deep
      vein thrombosis and coughing of blood. Anticoagulation regimen for pulmonary
      embolism was given. This resulted in massive hemoptysis that was successfully
      controlled by medical therapy. CONCLUSION: Adults who present with venous
      thrombosis and hemoptoic cough, with no predisposing factors of thrombosis,
      normal platelet count and coagulation, the possibility of Hughes-Stovin syndrome
      has to be considered.

PMID- 27642562
TI  - Successful therapy of Candida pulcherrima fungemia in a premature newborn with
      liposomal amphotericin B and micafungin.
AB  - New Candida species may cause bloodstream infections challenging current
      therapeutic approaches because of unpredictable susceptibility and virulence. In
      the present report, we describe a fungemia case due to Candida pulcherrima in a
      premature neonate. After full in vitro diagnostic workup, the neonate was
      successfully treated with liposomal amphotericin B and micafungin achieving rapid
      fungal eradication from blood. 

PMID- 27642564
TI  - Acute eosinophilic pneumonia following recent cigarette smoking.
AB  - In this report we describe the case of an 18 year old female who presented with
      fever, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Chest X-ray revealed diffuse
      bilateral infiltrates and eosinophilia was reported from her broncholaveolar
      lavage (BAL) fluid. She started smoking 3 weeks prior to the onset of symptoms
      and based on her clinical presentation, BAL findings and dramatic improvement,
      acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) was diagnosed. 

PMID- 27642565
TI  - Recurrent spontaneous pneumothoraces and bullous emphysema. A novel mutation
      causing Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome.
AB  - Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome (BHDS) is a rare form of classically cystic lung disease
      that may present with spontaneous pneumothorax. The associated skin
      manifestations (fibrofolliculomas) are not always present. This article describes
      a case of spontaneous pneumothorax secondary to bullous emphysema in an otherwise
      healthy gentleman caused by a novel mutation in the folliculin (FLCN) gene. 

PMID- 27642566
TI  - Primary spontaneous pneumothorax due to high bleb burden.
AB  - Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) occurs most frequently in young, tall,
      lean, male smokers without any known underlying lung disease. It is an important
      diagnosis to make promptly in order to prevent progression to obstructive shock.
      We present a case report of a young, male, former-smoker and polysubstance abuser
      with no prior lung history that developed acute dyspnea at rest and was found to
      have a large right pneumothorax on chest x-ray. A pig-tail catheter was utilized,
      but his course was complicated by a recurrent tension pneumothorax. Chest
      computed tomography (CT) revealed a significant bleb burden and the patient
      underwent a lung wedge resection with mechanical pleurodesis. What made our case
      unique were the chest x-rays revealing blebs that could have predicted the
      patient's recurrent pneumothorax as well as the multiple potential risk factors
      for developing blebs and a pneumothorax. All patients with recurrent PSPs and
      those with higher risk initial PSPs (e.g. blebs) should undergo preventive
      therapy with pleurodesis. We hope that clinicians can benefit from utilizing
      these representative chest x-ray images showing blebs. 

PMID- 27642567
TI  - Corrigendum to "Transcriptome of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex
      hepatopancreas" [Genomics Data 8 (2016) 91-92].
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.gdata.2016.04.002.]. 

PMID- 27642568
TI  - Comparing the Hemodynamic Effects of Spinal Anesthesia in Preeclamptic and
      Healthy Parturients During Cesarean Section.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite controversies about the safest anesthetic technique for
      cesarean delivery in severely preeclamptic women, there is evidence that supports
      the use of spinal anesthesia in this group of patients. OBJECTIVES: This
      prospective randomized clinical trial was designed to determine the hemodynamic
      effects of low-dose spinal bupivacaine and the incidence of spinal anesthesia
      associated hypotension in severely preeclamptic and healthy parturients
      undergoing cesarean sections. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Spinal anesthesia was
      performed with 10 mg (= 2 mL) hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine plus 2.5 ug sufentanil
      in two groups of patients after they received 500 mL of IV lactated Ringer's
      solution. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded before spinal anesthesia
      and at two minutes intervals for 15 minutes after the block, and then every five
      minutes until the end of the surgery. Hypotension was defined as more than 25% of
      decline in the mean arterial blood pressure compared to the baseline in both
      groups (or systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg in healthy parturients) and was
      treated with 5 mg IV ephedrine. The total amounts of intravenous administered
      fluid and the total doses of ephedrine were recorded for each patient as well.
      RESULTS: The incidence rate of hypotension among the preeclamptic patients was
      lower than that of the healthy parturients, despite the former group receiving
      smaller volumes of intravenous fluids (P < 0.05). The total doses of IV ephedrine
      for treating hypotension were significantly lower among the preeclamptic patients
      (3.2 mg in preeclamptic patients versus 7.6 mg in normotensive patients) (P =
      0.02). The one-minute Apgar score was significantly lower for the preeclamptic
      parturients (8.4 +/- 0.7 versus 7.2 +/- 1.5) (P = 0.001), but there was no
      significant difference in the five-minute Apgar scores between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that low-dose bupivacaine spinal anesthesia is
      associated with a lower risk of hypotension than previously believed, and it can
      therefore be safely used in severe preeclamptic women undergoing cesarean
      delivery.

PMID- 27642569
TI  - The Effect of Green Tea Gargle Solution on Sore Throat After Coronary Artery
      Bypass Grafting: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tracheal intubation is an essential method of keeping the airway open
      in patients under general anesthesia. Sore throat is a prevalent complication
      after endotracheal intubation. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to
      investigate the effect of green tea gargling on sore throat after coronary artery
      bypass grafting (CABG). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a single-blind, randomized
      clinical trial, in which 121 patients who had undergone CABG were divided into
      two groups: those who gargled distilled water and those who gargled a green tea
      solution. An hour after extubation, the patients of the intervention group were
      asked to gargle 30 cc of green tea, and the patients of the control group were
      asked to gargle 30 cc of distilled water, every 6 hours for up to 24 hours (four
      times per patient). A sore throat questionnaire was filled out 6, 12, and 24
      hours after endotracheal extubation. RESULTS: The results showed that there were
      no significant differences between the two groups with regard to patient age,
      sex, body mass index, smoking background, and duration of anesthesia. There was
      no significant difference between the two groups in terms of sore throat before
      the intervention (P = 0.461) and 6 hours after the intervention (P = 0.901).
      However, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of
      sore throat 12 hours (P = 0.047) and 24 hours (P < 0.001) after removing the
      endotracheal tube. CONCLUSIONS: Gargling a green tea solution, an anti
      inflammatory, natural, and harmless substance, can reduce the pain of sore throat
      in patients after endotracheal extubation.

PMID- 27642570
TI  - From Pre-Existing Renal Failure to Perioperative Renal Protection: The
      Anesthesiologist's Dilemmas.
AB  - CONTEXT: Pre-existing renal dysfunction presents specific features that
      anesthesiologists must deal with. Anesthesia and renal function are connected and
      can interfere with each other. Induced hypotension anesthesia and the toxic
      effects of anesthetic drugs can further deteriorate renal function. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: Decreased renal function can prolong anesthetic drug effects by
      decreased elimination of these drugs. Anesthesia can deteriorate renal function
      and decreased renal function can interfere with drug elimination leading to their
      prolonged effect. The anesthesiologist must understand all the physiological
      aspects of the patient, renal protection, and the relationships between
      anesthetic drugs and renal function. This review article aims to summarize these
      aspects. RESULTS: Perioperative renal failure and renal protection is a crucial
      moment in clinical practice of every anesthesiologist. CONCLUSIONS: Good
      knowledges for renal function remain a hallmark of daily practice of the
      anesthesiologist, considering renal function as an important determinant factor
      in anesthesia practice.

PMID- 27642571
TI  - Intrathecal Baclofen Pump Migration Into the Peritoneal Cavity: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intrathecal baclofen pumps are valuable treatment options for those
      with cerebral palsy. Although subfascial baclofen pump placement is generally
      preferred over a subcutaneous pump placement due to lower infection rates, rare
      complications can occur with the subfascial approach such as pump migration. CASE
      PRESENTATION: The authors here describe a case of baclofen pump migration into
      the peritoneal cavity of a 26-year-old male patient with cerebral palsy, shunted
      hydrocephalus, and epilepsy. Because the patient's pump could not be palpated on
      exam and hence refilled, imaging was undertaken, but did not reveal clear
      evidence of pump migration. Surgery afterward confirmed that the pump had
      migrated into the peritoneal cavity through a fascial defect. Baclofen pump had
      to be replaced instead subcutaneously as well as the patient later had to be
      readmitted for 2 ventriculoperitoneal shunt revisions due to progression of his
      hydrocephalus. CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneal migration of a subfascially placed
      baclofen pump is a rare, yet serious complication, which has been reported only
      once in the literature. We advise neurosurgeons to have a low level of threshold
      in confirming the location of a baclofen pump with imaging and surgical
      exploration if necessary in order to avoid detrimental outcomes such as bowel
      perforation.

PMID- 27642572
TI  - Myocardial Infarction in a Young Patient After Acute Exposure to Carbon Monoxide.

PMID- 27642573
TI  - The Role of Caffeine in Pain Management: A Brief Literature Review.
AB  - CONTEXT: Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive legal drug in the world.
      Caffeine's role in controlling pain has received less attention in the past, yet
      is being increasingly considered. This article briefly reviewed the literature to
      clarify the role of caffeine as a drug for pain control and attract investigators
      to this topic. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The data on Caffeine as an adjuvant therapy
      or as a main component for pain modulation has been narratively reviewed.
      RESULTS: Caffeine plays an important role in pain modulation through their action
      on adenosine receptors which are involved in nociception. The use of caffeine as
      adjuvant treatment was well-established in the literature and caffeine is
      currently available in some over the counter medications. Studies showed
      controversial results about the interaction between caffeine and morphine for
      pain relief in patients with terminal stage cancer. As a main component for pain
      modulation, Caffeine can be used for hypnic headache and postdural puncture
      headache. CONCLUSIONS: Caffeine has a potential role for pain modulation. Current
      evidence on caffeine use for migraine and terminal stage cancer is not well
      established. Future studies should address the use of caffeine alone for
      different types of pain with dose escalation and standardization of outcome
      measurement.

PMID- 27642575
TI  - Severe Respiratory Event Initially Thought to be Inadvertent Endobronchial
      Intubation: Possible Complications From Using of a Topical Metered-Dose of 8%
      Lidocaine Pump Spray.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary collapse after intubation is common, and it is caused by
      a variety of factors. CASE PRESENTATION: A 21-year-old man presented at our
      operation room to undergo an appendectomy. Except for a history of cigarette
      smoking, his history was negative. Anesthesia was induced with 100% oxygen and
      sevoflurane, remifentanil infusion, and propofol. Neuromuscular block was
      obtained with rocuronium. The tip and cuff of a tracheal tube were lubricated
      with a topical metered-dose of 8% Lidocaine pump spray. After intubation, SPO2
      suddenly decreased. The chest x-ray revealed right upper lobe atelectasis. Fiber
      optic bronchoscopy showed that a large amount of yellow sticky mucus had been
      secreted into the right main bronchus. CONCLUSIONS: In Japan, 8% Lidocaine pump
      spray contains menthol and ethanol as additives. These additives, particularly
      menthol, might have led to excessive mucus production, although we did not
      analyze the mucus secretion.

PMID- 27642574
TI  - Comparison of the Effects of Dexmedetomidine and Remifentanil on Cognition State
      After Cataract Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dexmedetomidine is a potent and highly specific alpha2-adrenoreceptor
      agonist that induces sedative and analgesic effects over a short-term period. As
      a result of these benefits, dexmedetomidine may be a better alternative than
      other available drugs for keeping the patient's cognition state in an acceptable
      condition after outpatient ophthalmic surgeries. OBJECTIVES: This randomized
      study was conducted to compare the sedative effects of dexmedetomidine and
      remifentanil on the cognitive state of patients who have undergone cataract
      surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 100 patients who were candidates for
      cataract surgery under local anesthesia received either dexmedetomidine (50
      patients; D group) or remifentanil (50 patients; R group) in a double-blind,
      randomized study. The baseline cardiovascular status and mini mental state
      examination (MMSE) score for each patient were recorded. As a loading dose,
      dexmedetomidine (0.5 ug/kg) and remifentanil (0.1 ug/kg) were infused at 10
      minutes and 5 minutes before topical anesthesia, respectively. Subsequently, the
      maintenance dose was administered at 0.2 ug/kg/hour and 0.05 ug/kg/minutes in the
      D and R groups, respectively. The surgical procedure was begun when the
      bispectral index (BIS) reached 70 - 80. MMSE test was done at a postanesthetic
      care unit (PACU) 120 minutes after the discontinuation of the drug. RESULTS:
      There was no statistically significant difference between the MMSE scores of the
      two groups before surgery (P = 0.6), but the MMSE test conducted at the PACU
      revealed significantly better cognitive outcomes in the D group than in the R
      group in patients younger and older than 65 years (P = 0.03 and P = 0.0001,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that dexmedetomidine may be a
      suitable agent for sedation in cataract surgery because it results in a more
      favorable postoperative cognitive status than remifentanil. Likewise,
      dexmedetomidine had no significant adverse effects on cardiovascular or
      respiratory systems.

PMID- 27642576
TI  - Levobupivacaine for Spinal Anesthesia in Children: Cerebrospinal Fluid Aspiration
      Before the Injection Does not Affect the Spread or Duration of the Sensory Block.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several factors are thought to affect the spread and duration of
      spinal anesthesia (SA) in adults. These include the volume of cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF) in the lumbar spinal canal, which has a negative correlation with both the
      spread and duration of the sensory block. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated whether CSF
      aspiration before an injection of levobupivacaine affected the spread or duration
      of SA in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: SA was induced by levobupivacaine (5
      mg/mL, 0.25 - 0.5 mg/kg) in 186 children aged 10 months to 18 years (mean of 7.5
      years). Two groups were analyzed prospectively: 93 children from which 1 - 3 mL
      of CSF (CSF-aspiration group) was aspirated before the injection of
      levobupivacaine to induce SA and 93 children from which no CSF was aspirated (no
      CSF-aspiration group) prior to the injection of levobupivacaine. The main outcome
      measure was regression of the sensory block below T10, cephalic spread of the
      block, and postpuncture complications after SA. RESULTS: There were no between
      group differences in the time to regression of the block below T10 or in the
      cephalic spread of the sensory block: 94 (27) minutes and T4.4 (SD 2.2) in the
      CSF-aspiration group, respectively, vs. 97 (29) minutes and T4.3 (1.8),
      respectively, in the no-CSF-aspiration group. Position-dependent headaches
      developed in 4 of 91 children in the CSF-aspiration group and 5 of 86 children in
      the no-CSF-aspiration group, but no epidural blood patches were required.
      CONCLUSIONS: The aspiration of 1 - 3 mL of CSF before an injection of
      levobupivacaine did not seem to affect the spread and duration of the sensory
      block or postpuncture complications in children following SA.

PMID- 27642577
TI  - Efficacy of Pregabalin as Premedication for Post-Operative Analgesia in Vaginal
      Hysterectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregabalin, a structural analogue of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA),
      is shown to be effective in treatment of several types of neuropathic pain,
      incisional injury, and inflammatory injury. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present
      study is to compare the efficacy of two doses (75 mg or 150 mg) of pregabalin
      with the administration of a placebo for post-operative analgesia in patients
      undergoing hysterectomy under spinal anesthesia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted on 135 patients undergoing
      vaginal hysterectomy under spinal anesthesia. The patients were divided in three
      groups of 45 patients each: group 0, placebo; group 1, 75 mg pregabalin; and
      group 2, 150 mg pregabalin; each treatment of which was administered one hour
      before surgery. The Ramsay sedation scale (RSS) was used for pre-operative
      assessment and the visual analog scale (VAS) was used to determine pain at rest
      and for cough on the first post-operative day. The time for the requirement of
      rescue analgesics on the first post-operative day was also assessed. RESULTS: The
      RSS scores were significantly higher in groups 1 and 2 as compared to the
      controls (P < 0.001). Postoperative VAS scores for pain both at rest and on cough
      were significantly reduced in groups 1 and 2 (P < 0.001). Rescue analgesic
      consumption decreased significantly in groups 1 and 2 (P < 0.001). The time at
      which rescue analgesia was administered (first dose) was 4.45 hours in group 0,
      10.86 hours in group 1, and 16.82 hours in group 2 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Pregabalin administered as premedication provided significant postoperative pain
      relief and decreased the requirement of other parenteral analgesics. Pregabalin
      doses of 150 mg had a better analgesic profile, but the advantages of their use
      may be limited by side effects such as dizziness. Thus, it is concluded that
      pregabalin doses of 75 mg may be the optimal pre-emptive dose.

PMID- 27642578
TI  - A Successful Repair of a Giant Abdominal Aortic Aneurism.

PMID- 27642579
TI  - Current Understanding on Pain Mechanism in Migraine and Cluster Headache.
AB  - CONTEXT: Migraine and cluster headache are undoubtedly painful conditions. The
      respective pathogenesis of these two conditions is incompletely understood. In
      both cases, the treatments used have largely been empirical and have relied to a
      much lesser extent on our understanding of the mechanisms causing pain. We hereby
      review the pain mechanisms in migraine and cluster headache, two of the commonest
      primary headache disorders. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A review of the English
      literature was conducted by searching PubMed for studies on pain mechanism in
      migraine and cluster headache. We entered [migraine] and [pain mechanism] in
      Pubmed and 488 articles were obtained. Articles were then included according to
      their relevance to the topic. Similarly, [cluster headache] and [pain mechanism]
      revealed 79 search results. RESULTS: There is evidence that the trigeminovascular
      system and neurogenic inflammation play important roles, together with certain
      areas of the brain, leading to these conditions being termed 'neurovascular
      headaches'. Functional imaging findings suggest a possible role of the
      dorsolateral pons in generating migraine attacks while the role of the
      hypothalamus in cluster headache is more firmly established. CONCLUSIONS:
      Migraine and cluster headache have complex pathophysiologies. The exact mechanism
      causing pain in both conditions is incompletely understood and more research
      needs to be undertaken in this area.

PMID- 27642580
TI  - Central Venous Cannulation of the Internal Jugular Vein Using Ultrasound-Guided
      and Anatomical Landmark Techniques.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Central venous cannulation is a current and important procedure used
      in the operating room and intensive care unit. Some studies have shown that the
      application of ultrasound-guided cannulation can improve the success rate of
      surgery, save time, reduce the number of required needlesticks, and mitigate many
      complications compared to anatomical landmark-guided cannulation. OBJECTIVES: The
      aim of the present study was to draw a comparison between central venous
      cannulation of the internal jugular vein using ultrasound-guided and anatomical
      landmark-guided techniques. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 321 patients
      scheduled for cardiac surgery in the surgical ward of a general hospital were
      randomly treated with central venous cannulation using either anatomical
      landmarks (150 patients) or ultrasound guidance (170 patients). The demographic
      data of patients, the success rate of cannulation, the execution time, and the
      number of attempts for successful cannulation as well as the complications were
      recorded and subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The success rate of
      cannulation was 98.7% in the anatomical landmark-guided group and 99.4% in the
      ultrasound-guided group. The average operation times were 46.05 and 45.46 seconds
      in the anatomical landmark and ultrasound-guided groups, respectively. The two
      groups were not significantly different in terms of the success rates of
      treatment, the number of attempts, the time required for successful cannulation,
      or the prevalence of complications (P > 0.05) other than carotid artery puncture
      (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: In our conditions, the use of an anatomical landmark
      guided procedure was the preferred treatment method due to limited resources and
      a lack of adequate training.

PMID- 27642581
TI  - Effect of Preoperative Oral Amantadine on Acute and Chronic Postoperative Pain
      After Mandibular Fracture Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative pain from open reduction and internal fixation of
      mandibular fracture is a serious issue. Amantadine is an N-methyl-D-aspartic acid
      or N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist that can be effective against
      postoperative pain. OBJECTIVES: The present study examined the efficacy of
      amantadine in alleviating the postoperative pain of mandibular fracture surgery.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this double-blind study, 60 patients (ASA physical
      status I-II) were randomly divided into two groups. The mean ages of the
      participants were 31.2 +/- 13.1 years and 32.3 +/- 18.1 years, respectively. The
      male/female ratios were 24/6 and 26/4, respectively, in the case and control
      groups. Randomization was based on a single sequence of random assignments using
      computer-generated random numbers. Group I was given oral amantadine 100 mg 1
      hour before surgery, and group II received a placebo at the identical time.
      Through PCA pumps, patients received a bolus dose of morphine at 0.02 mg/kg body
      weight, to a maximum of 1.5 mg. PCA pumps were set at 6 minutes lockout intervals
      and a maximum dose of 0.15 mg/kg/h, to a maximum of 10 mg/h. Pain was assessed
      using a visual analog scale (VAS) at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours and 1, 2, 3, 4,
      5, and 6 months after surgery. The amounts of analgesic consumed were recorded
      for the first 24 hours, and for 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: There were no
      significant differences between the two groups with respect to age, gender,
      nausea and vomiting, sleep quality, blood pressure, and heart rate. No
      significant differences were observed between the two groups in pain scores (P =
      0.39) and analgesic consumption (P = 0.78). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that
      a single dose of preoperative oral amantadine did not reduce acute or chronic
      postoperative pain, nor analgesic consumption.

PMID- 27642582
TI  - Diclofenac Suppository vs. IV Acetaminophen Combined With IV PCA for
      Postoperative Pain Management in Patients Undergoing Laminectomy: A Randomized,
      Double-Blinded Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue damage caused by surgical procedures nearly always results in
      pain. The effective management of postoperative pain remains a challenge because
      of its influence on the surgical outcome and its critical role in early
      mobilization and functionality. Recent research on postoperative pain management
      supports a treatment approach known as "multimodal analgesia," which comprises
      the use of more than one method or modality of pain control and management.
      OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we compared the effects of diclofenac
      suppository and intravenous (IV) acetaminophen combined with IV patient
      controlled analgesia (PCA) for pain management after laminectomy surgery.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our randomized, double-blinded controlled trial during 2013
      at Besat hospital in Hamadan, Iran, included 102 ASA I-II patients aged 18 to 65
      years who were candidates for laminectomy surgery. The patients were randomly
      assigned to receive the diclofenac suppository (100 mg) (n = 51) or IV
      acetaminophen (1 g in 100 mL normal saline) (n = 51) 10 minutes before completing
      surgery and 12 hours after the operation. RESULTS: The patients' characteristics
      were the same in both study groups. The patients' satisfaction levels were higher
      among those who received diclofenac when compared with the acetaminophen group,
      especially at the time points of 6 and 12 h after surgery. The consumed narcotic
      using the PCA pump within 24 h of surgery in the diclofenac group was
      significantly lower than that of the acetaminophen group (735.70 +/- 59.61 ug vs.
      819.70 +/- 80.02 ug; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of diclofenac suppository
      combined with IV PCA results in reduced narcotic usage and a higher level of
      patient satisfaction compared to the use of IV acetaminophen combined with IV
      PCA.

PMID- 27642583
TI  - Retroperitoneal anatomy during excision of pelvic side wall endometriosis.
AB  - Surgical management of endometriosis has been shown to improve dysmenorrhea at
      all disease stages and is recommended in severe disease for treatment of
      infertility. Deeply infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) produces thick inflammatory
      tissue that precludes visualization of anatomical landmarks and distorts normal
      anatomy. Excision of DIE poses several technical and surgical challenges that
      mandate a clear understanding of the anatomy of the pelvic sidewall. This review
      details relevant surgical anatomy and addresses the principles of safe
      retroperitoneal entry, ureterolysis and excision of endometriotic lesions. Proper
      use of these techniques should facilitate safe and successful surgery for
      management of DIE.

PMID- 27642584
TI  - Botulinum toxin related research in maxillofacial plastic and reconstructive
      surgery.

PMID- 27642585
TI  - Predictive Modeling of Estrogen Receptor Binding Agents Using Advanced
      Cheminformatics Tools and Massive Public Data.
AB  - Estrogen receptors (ERalpha) are a critical target for drug design as well as a
      potential source of toxicity when activated unintentionally. Thus, evaluating
      potential ERalpha binding agents is critical in both drug discovery and chemical
      toxicity areas. Using computational tools, e.g., Quantitative Structure-Activity
      Relationship (QSAR) models, can predict potential ERalpha binding agents before
      chemical synthesis. The purpose of this project was to develop enhanced
      predictive models of ERalpha binding agents by utilizing advanced cheminformatics
      tools that can integrate publicly available bioassay data. The initial ERalpha
      binding agent data set, consisting of 446 binders and 8307 non-binders, was
      obtained from the Tox21 Challenge project organized by the NIH Chemical Genomics
      Center (NCGC). After removing the duplicates and inorganic compounds, this data
      set was used to create a training set (259 binders and 259 non-binders). This
      training set was used to develop QSAR models using chemical descriptors. The
      resulting models were then used to predict the binding activity of 264 external
      compounds, which were available to us after the models were developed. The cross
      validation results of training set [Correct Classification Rate (CCR) = 0.72]
      were much higher than the external predictivity of the unknown compounds (CCR =
      0.59). To improve the conventional QSAR models, all compounds in the training set
      were used to search PubChem and generate a profile of their biological responses
      across thousands of bioassays. The most important bioassays were prioritized to
      generate a similarity index that was used to calculate the biosimilarity score
      between each two compounds. The nearest neighbors for each compound within the
      set were then identified and its ERalpha binding potential was predicted by its
      nearest neighbors in the training set. The hybrid model performance (CCR = 0.94
      for cross validation; CCR = 0.68 for external prediction) showed significant
      improvement over the original QSAR models, particularly for the activity cliffs
      that induce prediction errors. The results of this study indicate that the
      response profile of chemicals from public data provides useful information for
      modeling and evaluation purposes. The public big data resources should be
      considered along with chemical structure information when predicting new
      compounds, such as unknown ERalpha binding agents.

PMID- 27642586
TI  - Ciona as a Simple Chordate Model for Heart Development and Regeneration.
AB  - Cardiac cell specification and the genetic determinants that govern this process
      are highly conserved among Chordates. Recent studies have established the
      importance of evolutionarily-conserved mechanisms in the study of congenital
      heart defects and disease, as well as cardiac regeneration. As a basal Chordate,
      the Ciona model system presents a simple scaffold that recapitulates the basic
      blueprint of cardiac development in Chordates. Here we will focus on the
      development and cellular structure of the heart of the ascidian Ciona as compared
      to other Chordates, principally vertebrates. Comparison of the Ciona model system
      to heart development in other Chordates presents great potential for dissecting
      the genetic mechanisms that underlie congenital heart defects and disease at the
      cellular level and might provide additional insight into potential pathways for
      therapeutic cardiac regeneration.

PMID- 27642587
TI  - Hydrogel-Based Controlled Delivery Systems for Articular Cartilage Repair.
AB  - Delivery of bioactive factors is a very valuable strategy for articular cartilage
      repair. Nevertheless, the direct supply of such biomolecules is limited by
      several factors including rapid degradation, the need for supraphysiological
      doses, the occurrence of immune and inflammatory responses, and the possibility
      of dissemination to nontarget sites that may impair their therapeutic action and
      raise undesired effects. The use of controlled delivery systems has the potential
      of overcoming these hurdles by promoting the temporal and spatial presentation of
      such factors in a defined target. Hydrogels are promising materials to develop
      delivery systems for cartilage repair as they can be easily loaded with bioactive
      molecules controlling their release only where required. This review exposes the
      most recent technologies on the design of hydrogels as controlled delivery
      platforms of bioactive molecules for cartilage repair. 

PMID- 27642588
TI  - Complementarity of Clinician Judgment and Evidence Based Models in Medical
      Decision Making: Antecedents, Prospects, and Challenges.
AB  - Early accounts of the development of modern medicine suggest that the clinical
      skills, scientific competence, and doctors' judgment were the main impetus for
      treatment decision, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy assessment, and medical
      progress. Yet, clinician judgment has its own critics and is sometimes harshly
      described as notoriously fallacious and an irrational and unfathomable black box
      with little transparency. With the rise of contemporary medical research, the
      reputation of clinician judgment has undergone significant reformation in the
      last century as its fallacious aspects are increasingly emphasized relative to
      the evidence based options. Within the last decade, however, medical forecasting
      literature has seen tremendous change and new understanding is emerging on best
      ways of sharing medical information to complement the evidence based medicine
      practices. This review revisits and highlights the core debate on clinical
      judgments and its interrelations with evidence based medicine. It outlines the
      key empirical results of clinician judgments relative to evidence based models
      and identifies its key strengths and prospects, the key limitations and
      conditions for the effective use of clinician judgment, and the extent to which
      it can be optimized and professionalized for medical use. 

PMID- 27642589
TI  - Circular RNA-ITCH Suppresses Lung Cancer Proliferation via Inhibiting the
      Wnt/beta-Catenin Pathway.
AB  - As a special form of noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) played important
      roles in regulating cancer progression mainly by functioning as miRNA sponge.
      While the function of circular RNA-ITCH (cir-ITCH) in lung cancer is still less
      reported, in this study, we firstly detected the expression of cir-ITCH in tumor
      tissues and paired adjacent noncancer tissues of 78 patients with lung cancer
      using a TaqMan-based quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The results showed
      that the expression of cir-ITCH was significantly decreased in lung cancer
      tissues. In cellular studies, cir-ITCH was also enhanced in different lung cancer
      cell lines, A549 and NIC-H460. Ectopic expression of cir-ITCH markedly elevated
      its parental cancer-suppressive gene, ITCH, expression and inhibited
      proliferation of lung cancer cells. Molecular analysis further revealed that cir
      ITCH acted as sponge of oncogenic miR-7 and miR-214 to enhance ITCH expression
      and thus suppressed the activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Altogether, our
      results suggested that cir-ITCH may play an inhibitory role in lung cancer
      progression by enhancing its parental gene, ITCH, expression. 

PMID- 27642591
TI  - Perilla Oil Supplementation Ameliorates High-Fat/High-Cholesterol Diet Induced
      Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Rats via Enhanced Fecal Cholesterol and Bile
      Acid Excretion.
AB  - Recent experimental studies and clinical trials have shown that hepatic
      cholesterol metabolic disorders are closely related to the development of
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The main goal of this study was to
      investigate the efficacy of the perilla oil rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)
      against NASH and gain a deep insight into its potential mechanisms. Rats were fed
      a high-fat/high-cholesterol diet (HFD) supplement with perilla oil (POH) for 16
      weeks. Routine blood biochemical tests and histological staining illustrated that
      the perilla oil administration improved HFD-induced hyperlipidemia, reduced
      hepatic steatosis, and inhibited hepatic inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis.
      Perilla oil also increased fecal bile acid and cholesterol excretion. Hepatic RNA
      Seq analysis found that the long time perilla oil supplement notably modified the
      gene expression involved in cholesterol metabolism. Our results implicate that,
      after long-term high level dietary cholesterol feeding, rat liver endogenous
      synthesis of cholesterol and cholesterol-rich low density lipoprotein uptake was
      significantly inhibited, and perilla oil did not modulate expression of genes
      responsible for cholesterol synthesis but did increase cholesterol removed from
      hepatocytes by conversion to bile acids and increased fecal cholesterol
      excretion. 

PMID- 27642590
TI  - Predictors and Modulators of Synthetic Lethality: An Update on PARP Inhibitors
      and Personalized Medicine.
AB  - Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have proven to be successful agents
      in inducing synthetic lethality in several malignancies. Several PARP inhibitors
      have reached clinical trial testing for treatment in different cancers, and,
      recently, Olaparib (AZD2281) has gained both United States Food and Drug
      Administration (USFDA) and the European Commission (EC) approval for use in BRCA
      mutated advanced ovarian cancer treatment. The need to identify biomarkers, their
      interactions in DNA damage repair pathways, and their potential utility in
      identifying patients who are candidates for PARP inhibitor treatment is well
      recognized. In this review, we detail many of the biomarkers that have been
      investigated for their ability to predict both PARP inhibitor sensitivity and
      resistance in preclinical studies as well as the results of several clinical
      trials that have tested the safety and efficacy of different PARP inhibitor
      agents in BRCA and non-BRCA-mutated cancers. 

PMID- 27642592
TI  - Myoinositol Attenuates the Cell Loss and Biochemical Changes Induced by Kainic
      Acid Status Epilepticus.
AB  - Identification of compounds preventing or modifying the biochemical changes that
      underlie the epileptogenesis process and understanding the mechanism of their
      action are of great importance. We have previously shown that myoinositol (MI)
      daily treatment for 28 days prevents certain biochemical changes that are
      triggered by kainic acid (KA) induced status epilepticus (SE). However in these
      studies we have not detected any effects of MI on the first day after SE. In the
      present study we broadened our research and focused on other molecular and
      morphological changes at the early stages of SE induced by KA and effects of MI
      treatment on these changes. The increase in the amount of voltage-dependent
      anionic channel-1 (VDAC-1), cofilin, and caspase-3 activity was observed in the
      hippocampus of KA treated rats. Administration of MI 4 hours later after KA
      treatment abolishes these changes, whereas diazepam treatment by the same time
      schedule has no significant influence. The number of neuronal cells in CA1 and
      CA3 subfields of hippocampus is decreased after KA induced SE and MI
      posttreatment significantly attenuates this reduction. No significant changes are
      observed in the neocortex. Obtained results indicate that MI posttreatment after
      KA induced SE could successfully target the biochemical processes involved in
      apoptosis, reduces cell loss, and can be successfully used in the future for
      translational research. 

PMID- 27642593
TI  - Improvement in Cerebral and Ocular Hemodynamics Early after Carotid
      Endarterectomy in Patients of Severe Carotid Artery Stenosis with or without
      Contralateral Carotid Occlusion.
AB  - Purpose. To investigate the alternation in cerebral and ocular blood flow
      velocity (BFV) in patients of carotid stenosis (CS) with or without contralateral
      carotid occlusion (CO) early after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Patients and
      Methods. Nineteen patients underwent CEA for >=50% CS. Fourteen patients had the
      unilateral CS, and five patients had the ipsilateral CS and the contralateral CO.
      Transcranial Doppler (TCD) and Color Doppler Imaging (CDI) were performed before
      and early after CEA. Results. In patients with unilateral CS, significant
      improvements in BFV were observed in anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and middle
      cerebral artery (MCA) on the ipsilateral side after CEA. In patients of
      ipsilateral CS and contralateral CO, significant improvements in BFV were
      observed in the ACA and MCA not only on the ipsilateral side but also on the
      contralateral side postoperatively. The ipsilateral ophthalmic artery (OA)
      retrograde flows in two patients were recovered to anterograde direction
      following CEA. The BFV in short posterior ciliary artery (SPCA) of the
      ipsilateral side significantly increased postoperatively irrespective of the
      presence of contralateral CO. Conclusions. CEA improved cerebral anterior
      circulation hemodynamics especially in patients of unilateral CS and
      contralateral CO, normalized the OA reverse flow, and increased the blood
      perfusion of SPCA. 

PMID- 27642594
TI  - Lipid Regulation Effects of Raw and Processed Notoginseng Radix Et Rhizome on
      Steatotic Hepatocyte L02 Cell.
AB  - Introduction. Raw and processed Notoginseng Radix Et Rhizome (NRR) have been
      widely used in treatment of metabolic syndromes and related disease, including
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study was designed to investigate
      lipid regulation effects of raw and processed NRR in steatotic L02 cell.
      Materials and Methods. Steatotic L02 cells were obtained after being cultured
      with 5% fat emulsion-10% FBS-RPMI 1640 medium for 48 h. Contents of total
      cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), free fatty acid (FFA), high-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)
      in steatotic L02 cells were evaluated after treatment. Furthermore, the lipid
      metabolism regulation mechanism of Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) and its
      monomers were evaluated by detecting the expressions of hydroxymethyl glutaric
      acyl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoAR), sterol regulating element binding protein-2
      (SREBP-2), and cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7alpha). Results. TG and TC
      contents were doubled in model group compared to those in normal L02 cells group.
      Raw NRR and NRR heated with sand (NRR-B) showed much remarkable lipid-lowering
      effects in steatotic L02 cells. PNS, notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rg1, and
      ginsenoside Rb1 displayed the best TG and TC regulation activity, which could
      significantly reduce contents of SREBP-2 and HMG-CoAR and increase the content of
      CYP7alpha. Conclusions. Our results may support the fact that both raw NRR and
      NRR-B might have more satisfactory effects in the treatment of NAFLD. 

PMID- 27642595
TI  - Insertion Success of the Laryngeal Tube in Emergency Airway Management.
AB  - Background. Emergency airway management (AM) is a priority when resuscitating
      critically ill or severely injured patients. The goal of this study was to
      determine the success rates of LT insertion during AM. Methods. Studies that
      included LT first-pass insertion (FPI) and overall-pass insertion (OPI) success
      by emergency medical services and in-hospital providers performing AM for
      emergency situations as well as for scheduled surgery published until July 2014
      were searched systematically in Medline. Results. Data of 36 studies (n = 1,897)
      reported a LT FPI success by physicians of 82.5% with an OPI success of 93.6% (p
      < 0.001). A cumulative analysis of all 53 studies (n = 3,600) led to FPI and OPI
      success of 80.1% and 92.6% (p < 0.001), respectively. The results of 26 studies
      (n = 2,159) comparing the LT with the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) demonstrated a
      FPI success of 77.0 versus 78.7% (p = 0.36) and an OPI success of 92.2 versus
      97.7% (p < 0.001). Conclusion. LT insertion failed in the first attempt in one
      out of five patients, with an overall failure rate in one out of 14 patients.
      When compared with the LT, the LMA had a cumulative 5.5% better OPI success rate.

PMID- 27642596
TI  - Polymorphism of HDAC9 Gene Is Associated with Increased Risk of Acute Coronary
      Syndrome in Chinese Han Population.
AB  - Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have indicated an association of
      histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) genetic variant with large-vessel stroke and
      coronary artery disease, among the European population. However, whether HDAC9
      gene is associated with an increased susceptibility to acute coronary syndrome
      (ACS) in Chinese Han population is not known. A total of 472 patients, including
      patients with ACS (N = 309), and those with chest pain syndrome (controls, N =
      163) were enrolled. Genotyping for HDAC9 gene was performed using the ligation
      detection reaction assay. A series of statistical analyses were performed to
      investigate the correlation between HDAC9 gene SNPs and the susceptibility to
      ACS. The results revealed a significant association of rs2240419 with ACS risk in
      which the A allele (P = 0.047) and the A allele carriers (AA + AG) (P = 0.037)
      were more likely to be in ACS group as compared to those in the control group.
      None of two other SNPs, rs2389995 and rs2107595, were significantly associated
      with ACS risk (P > 0.05). Logistic regression analyses further revealed an
      increased risk for ACS in A allele carrier among rs2240419 genotypes, as compared
      to those with GG homozygotes (odds ratio: 1.869, 95% CI 1.143, 3.056, P = 0.013).
      A significant correlation between rs2240419 polymorphism of HDAC9 gene and the
      susceptibility to ACS in Chinese Han population was observed in this study. 

PMID- 27642597
TI  - Polyprenols of Ginkgo biloba Enhance Antibacterial Activity of Five Classes of
      Antibiotics.
AB  - Polyprenol (GBP) from Ginkgo biloba Leaves (GBL) is an important lipid with many
      bioactive effects. The effect of GBP on antibacterial properties of five
      antibiotics belonging to different classes was through analysis of inhibition
      halos, MIC, and FIC index. And we studied the time-killing curves and Ca(2+)
      mobilization assay in Staphylococcus aureus cells treated with GBP microemulsion
      and gentamicin sulfate under MIC/2 conditions. These results showed that the GBP
      microemulsion (average diameter 90.2 nm) combining with gentamicin sulfate had
      the highest enhancing antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus, and the
      MIC value was 33.0 MUg/mL. The increase of the antibacterial effect of tested
      antibiotics was positively correlated with the decrease of the average diameter
      of GBP microemulsion. Moreover, GBP microemulsion enhanced antibacterial effect
      and prolonged antibacterial time of GBP combining with gentamicin sulfate against
      Staphylococcus aureus. GBP microemulsion could enhance the ability of gentamicin
      inducing an increase in intracellular calcium concentrations to Staphylococcus
      aureus. GBP microemulsion could help some classes of antibiotics to inhibit or
      kill bacteria. This study supports the fact that GBP microemulsion obviously can
      not only reduce the dosage of some classes of antibiotics, but also reduce the
      frequency of the antibiotic use in vitro. 

PMID- 27642598
TI  - The Impact of Acute Matriptase Inhibition in Hepatic Inflammatory Models.
AB  - Purpose. Dysfunction of matriptase-2 can be involved in iron regulatory disorder
      via downregulation of hepcidin expression. In the present study, we investigated
      the effects of 3-amidinophenylalanine-derived matriptase inhibitors on porcine
      hepatic inflammatory cell models. Methods. Hepatocyte-Kupffer cell cocultures
      (ratio of 2 : 1 and 6 : 1) were treated with four structurally related matriptase
      inhibitors at 50 MUM. Cell cytotoxicity and relative expressions of IL-6 and IL-8
      and the levels of hepcidin were determined by MTS and porcine-specific ELISA. The
      extracellular H2O2 contents were analyzed by Amplex Red method. Results.
      Matriptase inhibitors at 50 uM for 24 h did not increase cell death rate. The
      elevated ROS production observed after short-term application of inhibitor MI-441
      could be correlated with lowered hepcidin expression. MI-460 could significantly
      enhance hepcidin levels in the supernatants of cocultures (by 62.21 +/- 26.8% in
      hepatocyte-Kupffer cell, 2 : 1, and by 42.6 +/- 14.3% in hepatocyte-Kupffer cell,
      6 : 1, cocultures, resp.). No significant changes were found in IL-6 and IL-8
      levels in cocultures exposed to matriptase inhibitors. Conclusions. Based on in
      vitro findings, administration of MI-460 via modulation of hepcidin expression
      without cytotoxic and oxidative stress inducing properties might be a reliable
      alternative to treat iron overload in human and veterinary clinical practice. 

PMID- 27642599
TI  - Growing Menace of Antibacterial Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa in Nepal: An Insight of Beta-Lactamase Production.
AB  - Introduction. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most frequently isolated organism as
      it acts as the opportunistic pathogen and can cause infections in
      immunosuppressed patients. The production of different types of beta-lactamases
      renders this organism resistant to many commonly used antimicrobials. Therefore,
      the aim of this study was to document the antibiotic resistance rate in
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from different clinical specimens. Methods.
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa recovered was identified by standard microbiological
      methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by modified Kirby-Bauer
      disc diffusion method following Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI)
      guidelines and all the suspected isolates were tested for the production of
      ESBLs, MBLs, and AmpC. Results. Out of total (178) isolates, 83.1% were recovered
      from the inpatient department (IPD). Majority of the isolates mediated resistance
      towards the beta-lactam antibiotics, while nearly half of the isolates were
      resistant to ciprofloxacin. Most of the aminoglycosides used showed resistance
      rate up to 75% but amikacin proved to be better option. No resistance to
      polymyxin was observed. ESBLs, MBLs, and AmpC mediated resistance was seen in
      33.1%, 30.9%, and 15.7% isolates, respectively. Conclusions. Antibiotic
      resistance rate and beta-lactamase mediated resistance were high. Thus, regular
      surveillance of drug resistance is of utmost importance. 

PMID- 27642600
TI  - Motor Ingredients Derived from a Wearable Sensor-Based Virtual Reality System for
      Frozen Shoulder Rehabilitation.
AB  - Objective. This study aims to extract motor ingredients through data mining from
      wearable sensors in a virtual reality goal-directed shoulder rehabilitation
      (GDSR) system and to examine their effects toward clinical assessment. Design. A
      single-group before/after comparison. Setting. Outpatient research hospital.
      Subjects. 16 patients with frozen shoulder. Interventions. The rehabilitation
      treatment involved GDSR exercises, hot pack, and interferential therapy. All
      patients first received hot pack and interferential therapy on the shoulder
      joints before engaging in the exercises. The GDSR exercise sessions were 40
      minutes twice a week for 4 weeks. Main Measures. Clinical assessments included
      Constant and Murley score, range of motion of the shoulder, and muscle strength
      of upper arm as main measures. Motor indices from sensor data and task
      performance were measured as secondary measures. Results. The pre- and posttest
      results for task performance, motor indices, and the clinical assessments
      indicated significant improvement for the majority of the assessed items.
      Correlation analysis between the task performance and clinical assessments
      revealed significant correlations among a number of items. Stepwise regression
      analysis showed that task performance effectively predicted the results of
      several clinical assessment items. Conclusions. The motor ingredients derived
      from the wearable sensor and task performance are applicable and adequate to
      examine and predict clinical improvement after GDSR training. 

PMID- 27642601
TI  - Effect of Diabetes Mellitus on Tuberculosis Treatment Outcome and Adverse
      Reactions in Patients Receiving Directly Observed Treatment Strategy in India: A
      Prospective Study.
AB  - Despite successful implementation of directly observed treatment, short course
      (DOTS) in India, the growing number of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients appears to
      be a cause in the increasing tuberculosis (TB) incidence, affecting their
      management. In this regard, a prospective study was conducted on DOTS patients in
      three primary health care centers in urban slum region of South Delhi, India, to
      evaluate the effect of DM on sputum conversion, treatment outcome, and adverse
      drug reactions (ADR) due to anti-TB treatment. Eligible TB patients underwent
      blood glucose screening at treatment initiation. Disease presentation, clinical
      outcome, and ADRs were compared between patients of TB with and without DM. Out
      of 316 patients, the prevalence of DM was found to be 15.8%, in which 19.4% and
      9.6% were PTB and EPTB patients, respectively. DM patients have observed higher
      sputum positivity (OR 1.247 95% CI; 0.539-2.886) at the end of 2-month treatment
      and poor outcome (OR 1.176 95% CI; 0.310-4.457) at the completion of treatment
      compared with non DM patients. Presence of DM was significantly associated (OR
      3.578 95% CI; 1.114-11.494, p = 0.032) with the development of ADRs. DM
      influences the treatment outcome of PTB patients in our setting and also on the
      ADR incidence. 

PMID- 27642602
TI  - Circulating Resistin Levels and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Objectives. Published data on resistin levels in patients with colorectal cancer
      (CRC) were conflicting and heterogeneous. We conducted a meta-analysis of
      observational studies to examine the association of circulating resistin levels
      with carcinogenesis of the CRC. Methods. Potentially eligible studies published
      up to November 2015 were searched through MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index
      Expanded database, CNKI, and WanFang database. The pooled weighted mean
      differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) calculated by fixed- or
      random-effect model were used to estimate the effects. Results. A total of 11
      studies involving 965 patients were admitted in our meta-analysis. The pooled
      effects indicated that resistin levels were higher in CRC patients compared to
      healthy controls (WMD: 1.47 ng/mL; 95% CI: 0.78 to 2.16), with significant
      heterogeneity across the studies (I (2) = 72%, p < 0.0001). Subgroup analyses and
      sensitivity analyses revealed that study quality, design, sample type, and
      resistin assays may account for this heterogeneity. No publication bias was
      observed. Conclusions. Our meta-analysis suggests that increased circulating
      resistin levels are associated with greater risk of colorectal cancer. Given the
      limited number of available studies and significant heterogeneity, larger well
      designed randomized studies are warranted. 

PMID- 27642603
TI  - Effect of Different Light Qualities on Growth, Pigment Content, Chlorophyll
      Fluorescence, and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity in the Red Alga Pyropia haitanensis
      (Bangiales, Rhodophyta).
AB  - Spectral light changes evoke different morphogenetic and photosynthetic responses
      that can vary among different algae species. The aim of this study is to
      investigate the photosynthetic characteristics of the red macroalgae grown under
      different spectrum environments. In this study, Pyropia haitanensis were cultured
      under blue, red, and green LED and fluorescent tubes light. The growth rate,
      photopigment composition, chlorophyll fluorescence, and antioxidative enzymes
      activities in different light spectrums were investigated. The results revealed
      that growth rate was significantly higher in the thalli grown under blue, green,
      and fluorescent tubes light. Contents of Chl a and phycobiliprotein in red light
      were lower among all the growth conditions. Furthermore, a striking increase in
      SOD and CAT activity was observed in red light treatment along with the NPQ
      increase. The results revealed that the photosynthetic efficiency and increased
      growth rate of P. haitanensis benefitted from light spectrums such as blue,
      green, and fluorescent tubes light by pigment composition and photochemical
      efficiency manipulation, whereas red light has disadvantageous effects.
      Accordingly, the results for improving quality and the economic yield of algae
      species in some extent and the combination of different wavelengths could allow
      better economic resource exploitation. 

PMID- 27642604
TI  - A Novel Two-Step Technique for Retrieving Fractured Peripherally Inserted Central
      Catheter Segments Migrating into the Heart or the Pulmonary Artery.
AB  - Objective. To report the experience of a percutaneous technique for retrieving
      fractured peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) segments migrating into
      the heart or the pulmonary artery. Method. From April 2013 to July 2015, we
      performed percutaneous retrieval of fractured PICC segments migrating into the
      heart or the pulmonary artery in five cancer patients who had undergone
      chemotherapy via PICC. The fractures were diagnosed with chest plain radiography.
      The patients included three cases of breast cancer, one case of rectal cancer,
      and one case of lower limb Ewing's tumor. The fractures were retained in the
      vessels of the patients for 1 to 3 days. All the fractures were retrieved by
      using a novel two-step technique in the digital subtraction angiography (DSA)
      suite. This two-step technique involves inserting a pigtail catheter to the heart
      or the pulmonary artery to grasp the fractured catheter fragment and bring it to
      the lower segment of the inferior vena cava, followed by grasping and removing
      the catheter fragment with a retrieval loop system of the vena cava filter
      retrieval set. Result. The fractured PICC segments were removed successfully in
      all five patients via unilateral (four patients) or bilateral (one patient)
      femoral vein access. No complications occurred during the interventional
      procedure. Conclusion. Percutaneous retrieval can be a safe, convenient, and
      minimally invasive method for the removal of fractured PICC segments. The
      technique reported in this paper will be applicable for the retrieval of
      fractured PICC segments and other catheter fragments migrating into the heart or
      the pulmonary artery. 

PMID- 27642605
TI  - Silver-Coated Hip Megaprosthesis in Oncological Limb Savage Surgery.
AB  - Silver coating has demonstrated good antimicrobial activity and low toxicity.
      Silver-coated megaprostheses have been introduced in oncological musculoskeletal
      surgery considering the high rate of infection. We conducted a retrospective
      analysis on 68 cases of primary or metastatic bone tumors, affecting the proximal
      femur, treated between 2005 and 2016 with wide margins resection and tumor
      implants reconstruction. All patients were treated by the same surgeon, with
      antibiotic prophylaxis according to a standard protocol. In 55.9% of patients
      silver-coated hip hemiarthroplasty was implanted; in the remaining 44.1% uncoated
      megaprostheses were implanted. Patients were reevaluated recording the
      complications and focusing the analysis on infective complications. The average
      follow-up was 46.5 months. No patient has shown any sign of local or general
      silver toxicity. A SEM analysis was conducted on the 3-silver-coated hip
      hemiarthroplasty explanted confirming a severe degradation with a small amount of
      residual silver on the coating surface. Silver-coated hip prostheses have a lower
      rate of early infection than traditional implants but showed a reduction of
      antimicrobial activity for silver coating wear. We recommend using silver-coated
      prosthesis as primary implants for limb salvage surgery, in primary or metastatic
      bone tumors affecting the proximal femur, considering the absence of signs of
      toxicity and the lower rate of early infection. 

PMID- 27642606
TI  - Networks Models of Actin Dynamics during Spermatozoa Postejaculatory Life: A
      Comparison among Human-Made and Text Mining-Based Models.
AB  - Here we realized a networks-based model representing the process of actin
      remodelling that occurs during the acquisition of fertilizing ability of human
      spermatozoa (HumanMade_ActinSpermNetwork, HM_ASN). Then, we compared it with the
      networks provided by two different text mining tools: Agilent Literature Search
      (ALS) and PESCADOR. As a reference, we used the data from the online repository
      Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), referred to the actin dynamics
      in a more general biological context. We found that HM_ALS and the networks from
      KEGG data shared the same scale-free topology following the Barabasi-Albert
      model, thus suggesting that the information is spread within the network quickly
      and efficiently. On the contrary, the networks obtained by ALS and PESCADOR have
      a scale-free hierarchical architecture, which implies a different pattern of
      information transmission. Also, the hubs identified within the networks are
      different: HM_ALS and KEGG networks contain as hubs several molecules known to be
      involved in actin signalling; ALS was unable to find other hubs than "actin,"
      whereas PESCADOR gave some nonspecific result. This seems to suggest that the
      human-made information retrieval in the case of a specific event, such as actin
      dynamics in human spermatozoa, could be a reliable strategy. 

PMID- 27642607
TI  - GDF-15 and Hepcidin Levels in Nonanemic Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance.
AB  - Aims. Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15) has been suggested as one of the
      regulators of hepcidin, an important regulatory peptide for iron deposition.
      Current data is conflicting about the relationship between hepcidin and disorders
      of glucose metabolism. We aimed to investigate serum hepcidin and GDF-15
      concentrations and their associations with each other, in nonanemic subjects with
      impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in comparison with the nonanemic subjects with
      normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Methods. Thirty-seven subjects with IGT and 32
      control subjects with NGT, who were age-, gender-, and body mass index- (BMI-)
      matched, were included in the study. Results. Serum GDF-15 levels were
      significantly higher in IGT compared to NGT. There were no differences in
      hepcidin, interleukin-6, and high sensitive C-reactive protein levels between the
      groups. We found a positive correlation between GDF-15 and hepcidin levels. There
      were also positive correlations between GDF-15 and age, uric acid, creatinine,
      and area under the curve for glucose (AUC-G). Hepcidin was correlated positively
      with ferritin levels. In the multiple regression analysis, GDF-15 concentrations
      were independently associated with age, uric acid, and AUC-G. Conclusions.
      Impaired glucose tolerance is associated with increased GDF-15 levels even in the
      absence of anemia, but the levels of hepcidin are not significantly altered in
      prediabetic state. 

PMID- 27642608
TI  - The Relationship between Branched-Chain Amino Acid Related Metabolomic Signature
      and Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review.
AB  - Recent studies have shown the positive association between increased circulating
      BCAAs (valine, leucine, and isoleucine) and insulin resistance (IR) in obese or
      diabetic patients. However, results seem to be controversial in different races,
      diets, and distinct tissues. Our aims were to evaluate the relationship between
      BCAA and IR as well as later diabetes risk and explore the phenotypic and genetic
      factors influencing BCAA level based on available studies. We performed
      systematic review, searching MEDLINE, EMASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, the Cochrane
      Library, and Web of Science from inception to March 2016. After selection, 23
      studies including 20,091 participants were included. Based on current evidence,
      we found that BCAA is a useful biomarker for early detection of IR and later
      diabetic risk. Factors influencing BCAA level can be divided into four parts:
      race, gender, dietary patterns, and gene variants. These factors might not only
      contribute to the elevated BCAA level but also show obvious associations with
      insulin resistance. Genes related to BCAA catabolism might serve as potential
      targets for the treatment of IR associated metabolic disorders. Moreover, these
      factors should be controlled properly during study design and data analysis. In
      the future, more large-scale studies with elaborate design addressing BCAA and IR
      are required. 

PMID- 27642609
TI  - Molecular and Electrophysiological Mechanisms Underlying Cardiac Arrhythmogenesis
      in Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - Diabetes is a common endocrine disorder with an ever increasing prevalence
      globally, placing significant burdens on our healthcare systems. It is associated
      with significant cardiovascular morbidities. One of the mechanisms by which it
      causes death is increasing the risk of cardiac arrhythmias. The aim of this
      article is to review the cardiac (ion channel abnormalities, electrophysiological
      and structural remodelling) and extracardiac factors (neural pathway remodelling)
      responsible for cardiac arrhythmogenesis in diabetes. It is concluded by an
      outline of molecular targets for future antiarrhythmic therapy for the diabetic
      population. 

PMID- 27642610
TI  - Gluten-Free Diet Only during Pregnancy Efficiently Prevents Diabetes in NOD Mouse
      Offspring.
AB  - Studies have documented that the pathogenesis of autoimmune diabetes is
      influenced by the intake of gluten. Aims. To investigate the importance of gluten
      exposure during pregnancy and the subsequent development of autoimmune diabetes
      in offspring. Methods. Nonobese diabetic mice were divided into 7 groups to
      receive combinations of gluten-free and standard diet before, during, or after
      pregnancy. Diabetes incidence in offspring was followed in each group (n = 16-27)
      for 310 days. Insulitis score and intestinal expression of T-cell transcription
      factors (RT-QPCR) were evaluated in animals from the different diet groups.
      Results. If mothers were fed a gluten-free diet only during pregnancy, the
      development of autoimmune diabetes in offspring was almost completely prevented
      with an incidence reduction from 62.5% in gluten-consuming mice to 8.3% (p <
      0.0001) in the gluten-free group. The islets of Langerhans were less infiltrated
      (p < 0.001) and the intestinal expression of RORgammat (Th17) (p < 0.0001)
      reduced in mice whose mothers were Gluten-free during pregnancy. Conclusion. A
      gluten-free diet exclusively during pregnancy efficiently prevents autoimmune
      diabetes development in offspring and reduces insulitis and intestinal expression
      of RORgammat (Th17). 

PMID- 27642611
TI  - Effectiveness and Safety of Newer Antidiabetic Medications for Ramadan Fasting
      Diabetic Patients.
AB  - Hypoglycemia is the most common side effects for most glucose-lowering therapies.
      It constitutes a serious risk that faces diabetic patients who fast during
      Ramadan (the 9th month in the Islamic calendar). New glucose-lowering classes
      like dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor
      agonist (GLP-1 RA), and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors are
      efficacious in controlling blood glucose level with less tendency to induce
      hypoglycemia and thus may constitute a good choice for diabetic patients during
      Ramadan. This study reviews the safety and efficacy of newer glucose-lowering
      therapies during Ramadan. This study was accomplished through a careful
      literature search about studies that assess the benefit and side effects of these
      new glucose-lowering therapies during Ramadan during September 2015.
      Vildagliptin, sitagliptin, liraglutide, exenatide, and dapagliflozin were the
      only studied glucose-lowering therapies. All of the studied newer glucose
      lowering therapies except dapagliflozin were associated with reduced risk to
      induce hypoglycemia. Gastrointestinal upset was common with the usage of
      liraglutide while increased thirst sensation was common with dapagliflozin. In
      conclusion DPP-4 inhibitors such as vildagliptin and sitagliptin may form a
      suitable glucose-lowering therapy option for Ramadan fasting patients. 

PMID- 27642612
TI  - Recent Advances in Assessing Immunogenicity of Therapeutic Proteins: Impact on
      Biotherapeutic Development.

PMID- 27642613
TI  - A rapid fluorometric assay for the S-malonyltransacylase FabD and other
      sulfhydryl utilizing enzymes.
AB  - The development of biorenewable chemicals will support green chemistry
      initiatives and supplement the catalog of starting materials available to the
      chemical industry. Bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis is being pursued as a source
      of protein catalysts to synthesize novel reduced carbon molecules in fermentation
      systems. The availability of methods to measure enzyme catalysis for native and
      engineered enzymes from this pathway remains a bottleneck because a simple
      quantitative enzyme assay for numerous enzymes does not exist. Here we present
      two variations of a fluorescence assay that is readily extendable to high
      throughput screening and is appropriate for thiol consuming and generating
      enzymes including the Escherichia coli enzymes malonyl-coenzyme A transacylase
      (FabD) and keto-acylsynthase III (FabH). We measured KM values of 60 +/- 20 uM
      (acetyl-CoA) and 20 +/- 10 uM (malonyl-ACP) and a kcat of 7.4-9.0 s-1 with FabH.
      Assays of FabD included a precipitation step to remove the thiol-containing
      substrate holo-ACP from the reaction product coenzyme-A to estimate reaction
      rates. Analysis of initial velocity measurements revealed KM values of 60 +/- 20
      uM (malonyl-CoA) and 40 +/- 10 uM (holo-ACP) and a kcat of 2100-2600 s-1for the
      FabD enzyme. Our data show similar results when compared to existing radioactive
      and continuous coupled assays in terms of sensitivity while providing the benefit
      of simplicity, scalability and repeatability. Fluorescence detection also
      eliminates the need for radioactive substrates traditionally used to assay these
      enzymes.

PMID- 27642614
TI  - Unintended Consequences: Effects of Paternal Incarceration on Child School
      Readiness and Later Special Education Placement.
AB  - Though sociologists have examined how mass incarceration affects stratification,
      remarkably little is known about how it shapes educational disparities. Analyzing
      the Fragile Families Study and its rich paternal incarceration data, I ask
      whether black and white children with fathers who have been incarcerated are less
      prepared for school both cognitively and non-cognitively as a result, and whether
      racial and gendered disparities in incarceration help explain the persistence of
      similar gaps in educational outcomes and trajectories. Using a variety of
      estimation strategies, I show that experiencing paternal incarceration by age
      five is associated with lower non-cognitive school readiness. While the main
      effect of incarceration does not vary by race, boys with incarcerated fathers
      have substantially worse non-cognitive skills at school entry, impacting the
      likelihood of special education placement at age nine. Mass incarceration
      facilitates the intergenerational transmission of male behavioral disadvantage,
      and because of the higher exposure of black children to incarceration, it also
      plays a role in explaining the persistently low achievement of black boys.

PMID- 27642615
TI  - Analysis of Enteric Neural Crest Cell Migration Using Heterotopic Grafts of
      Embryonic Guts.
AB  - Hirschsprung disease (HSCR), also named aganglionic megacolon, is a severe
      congenital malformation characterized by a lack of enteric nervous system (ENS)
      in the terminal regions of the bowel (Bergeron et al., 2013). As the ENS notably
      regulates motility in the whole gastrointestinal track, the segment without
      neurons remains tonically contracted, resulting in functional intestinal
      obstruction and accumulation of fecal material (megacolon). HSCR occurs when
      enteric neural progenitors of vagal neural crest origin fail to fully colonize
      the developing intestines. These "enteric" neural crest cells (ENCCs) have to
      migrate in a rostro-caudal direction during a fixed temporal window, which is
      between embryonic day (e) 9.5 and e14.5 in the mouse (Obermayr et al., 2013).
      Recently, our group generated a new HSCR mouse model called Holstein in which
      migration of ENCCs is impaired because of increased collagen VI levels in their
      microenvironment (Soret e al., 2015). Here, we describe the method that allowed
      us to demonstrate the cell-autonomous nature of this migration defect. In this
      system adapted from a previously described heterotopic grafting approach (Breau
      et al., 2006), the donor tissue is a fully colonized segment of e12.5 midgut
      while the host tissue is an aneural segment of e12.5 hindgut. Extent of ENCC
      migration in host tissue is assessed after 24 h of culture and is greatly
      facilitated when donor tissue has a transgenic background such as the Gata4-RFP
      (Pilon et al., 2008) that allows endogenous labeling of ENCCs with fluorescence.
      Depending of the genetic background of donor and host tissues, this approach can
      allow evaluating both cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous defects of ENCC
      migration.

PMID- 27642616
TI  - Data showing non-conventional HLA-B27 expression in axial joints and gut tissue
      from B27 transgenic rats, and in frozen and paraffin-fixed synovial SpA tissue.
AB  - Data is presented showing expression of non-conventional (NC) heavy chain forms
      of B27 in synovial tissues from SpA patients. Data is presented showing the
      expression patterns of NC-B27 in joint, gastrointestinal and lymphoid tissues
      from B27 transgenic (TG(1)) rats with M. tuberculosis-induced SpA. Expression of
      NC-B27 was determined by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry using HC10 and
      HD6 antibodies. These data are the extension of the data presented and discussed
      in "Non-conventional forms of HLA-B27 are expressed in Spondyloarthritis joints
      and gut tissue" (O. Rysnik, K. McHugh, L. M. van Duivenvoorde, M. N. van Tok, G.
      Guggino, J. D. Taurog, S. Kollnberger, F. Ciccia, D. L. Baeten, P. Bowness, 2016)
      [1]. 

PMID- 27642617
TI  - Data relating to early child development in the Avon Longitudinal Study of
      Parents and Children (ALSPAC), their relationship with prenatal blood mercury and
      stratification by fish consumption.
AB  - As part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), measures
      of early child development were collected using both hands-on expert assessment
      (on a random 10% sub-sample) by trained psychologists at 18 months using the
      Griffiths Mental Development Scales (Extended 0-8 years) and from detailed
      questionnaires completed by the study mothers on the whole cohort using
      assessments based on the Denver Developmental Screening Test. The development
      determined by the psychologists on the 10% subsample showed a correlation of 0.49
      (R. Wilson, 2003) [9] with the developmental level estimated from the maternal
      report. Maternal reports were used to determine the associations between prenatal
      blood mercury levels and scores of social achievement, fine motor skills, gross
      motor skills and communication at various preschool ages. (For results, please
      see doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2016.02.006 [1].). 

PMID- 27642618
TI  - Infodemiological data of Ironman Triathlon in the study period 2004-2013.
AB  - This article reports data concerning the Internet-related activities and interest
      for Ironman Triathlon competition. Google Trends (GT) was used and mined from
      2004 onwards. The interest for Ironman Triathlon was found to be cyclic over
      time. The Triathlon-related Internet activities negatively correlated with the
      number of finishers per year (Pearson's correlation r=-0.690, p-value<0.05),
      while an increasing participation of female athletes who were less likely to surf
      the Internet could be noticed (r=-0.811, p-value<0.05). Further, younger
      athletes, who were more likely to access the web, were underrepresented in the
      Ironman Triathlon event. Moreover, there was a correlation between the biking
      time and the Internet query volumes (r=0.590, p-value<0.05), and, in particular,
      for the male athletes (r=0.664, p-value<0.05). Finally, the countries which most
      contributed to the Internet query volumes were those with the highest number of
      medals. 

PMID- 27642620
TI  - Dataset on FAP-induced emergence of spontaneous metastases and on the preparation
      of activatable FAP-targeting immunoliposomes to detect the metastases.
AB  - The underlying data demonstrates that fibroblast activation protein (FAP) paves
      the way for fibrosarcoma cells, which require the proteolysis of the
      extracellular matrix (ECM) and basement membranes to intravasate from implanted
      subcutaneous primary tumors into blood vessels, be transported to distant organs
      where they extravasate from the blood vessels, reattach and proliferate to
      metastases. The data additionally shows that FAP, when overexpressed on
      fibrosarcoma cells induces their invasion and formation of spontaneous metastases
      in multiple organs, particularly after subcutaneous co-implantation of the FAP
      expressing and wildtype fibrosarcoma. The raw and processed data presented herein
      is related to a research article entitled "Potential of activatable FAP-targeting
      immunoliposomes in intraoperative imaging of spontaneous metastases" (F.L. Tansi,
      R. Ruger, C. Bohm, R.E. Kontermann, U.K. Teichgraeber, A. Fahr, I. Hilger, 2016)
      [1]. Furthermore, evidence for the detection of FAP-expressing tumor cells and
      cells of the tumor stroma by activatable FAP-targeting liposomes is presented in
      this dataset. 

PMID- 27642619
TI  - Data on the multilocus molecular phylogenies of the Neotropical fish family
      Prochilodontidae (Teleostei: Characiformes).
AB  - The data presented herein support the article "Molecular phylogenetics of the
      Neotropical fish family Prochilodontidae (Teleostei: Characiformes)" (B.F. Melo,
      B.L. Sidlauskas, B.W. Frable, K. Hoekzema, R.P. Vari, C. Oliveira, 2016) [1],
      which inferred phylogenetic relationships of the prochilodontids from an
      alignment of three mitochondrial and three nuclear loci (5279 bp) for all 21
      recognized prochilodontid species and 22 related species. Herein, we provide
      primer sequences, museum voucher information and GenBank accession numbers.
      Additionally, we more fully describe the maximum-likelihood and Bayesian
      phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated dataset, detail the Bayesian species
      tree analysis, and provide the maximum likelihood topologies congruent with prior
      morphological hypotheses that were compared with the unconstrained tree using
      Shimodaira-Hasegawa tests. 

PMID- 27642621
TI  - Analysed cap mesenchyme track data from live imaging of mouse kidney development.
AB  - This article provides detailed information on manually tracked cap mesenchyme
      cells from timelapse imaging of multiple ex vivo embryonic mouse kidneys. Cells
      were imaged for up to 18 h at 15 or 20 min intervals, and multiple cell divisions
      were tracked. Positional data is supplemented with a range of information
      including the relative location of the closest ureteric tip and a correction for
      drift due to bulk movement and tip growth. A subset of tracks were annotated to
      indicate the presence of processes attached to the ureteric epithelium. The
      calculations used for drift correction are described, as are the main methods
      used in the analysis of this data for the purpose of describing cap cell
      motility. The outcomes of this analysis are discussed in "Cap mesenchyme cell
      swarming during kidney development is influenced by attraction, repulsion, and
      adhesion to the ureteric tip" (A.N. Combes, J.G. Lefevre, S. Wilson, N.A.
      Hamilton, M.H. Little, 2016) [1]. 

PMID- 27642622
TI  - Data on PRRSV infection promoted the subtype of porcine dendritic cells from mDCs
      to pDCs in vivo.
AB  - The related study has confirmed that porcine reproductive and respiratory
      syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection may impair mature states of DCs can lead to
      suboptimal adaptive immune response ("The role of porcine reproductive and
      respiratory syndrome virus infection in immunephenotype and Th1/Th2 balance of
      dendritic cells" (Jinling Liu, We Shu, Liaxia Liu et al., 2016) [1]). In this
      data article,the porcine dendritic cells (DCs) isolated from porcine peripheral
      blood and spleen were collected after infection with PRRSV, then the
      characteristics of the subset differentiation of DCs were analyzed with FACS
      Calibur Cytometer and fluorescence microscope respectively. This data is an
      important foundation for further investigation into immune suppression by PRRSV
      infection, and that, it also provides new data for the development of potential
      antiviral therapies based on DCs and PRRS vaccines. 

PMID- 27642623
TI  - Hepatic SILAC proteomic data from PANDER transgenic model.
AB  - This article contains raw and processed data related to research published in
      "Quantitative Proteomic Profiling Reveals Hepatic Lipogenesis and Liver X
      Receptor Activation in the PANDER Transgenic Model" (M.G. Athanason, W.A.
      Ratliff, D. Chaput, C.B. MarElia, M.N. Kuehl, S.M., Jr. Stevens, B.R. Burkhardt
      (2016)) [1], and was generated by "spike-in" SILAC-based proteomic analysis of
      livers obtained from the PANcreatic-Derived factor (PANDER) transgenic mouse
      (PANTG) under various metabolic conditions [1]. The mass spectrometry output of
      the PANTG and wild-type B6SJLF mice liver tissue and resulting proteome search
      from MaxQuant 1.2.2.5 employing the Andromeda search algorithm against the
      UniprotKB reference database for Mus musculus has been deposited to the
      ProteomeXchange Consortium (http://www.proteomexchange.org) via the PRIDE partner
      repository with dataset identifiers PRIDE: PXD004171 and doi:10.6019/PXD004171.
      Protein ratio values representing PANTG/wild-type obtained by MaxQuant analysis
      were input into the Perseus processing suite to determine statistical
      significance using the Significance A outlier test (p<0.05). Differentially
      expressed proteins using this approach were input into Ingenuity Pathway Analysis
      to determined altered pathways and upstream regulators that were altered in PANTG
      mice. 

PMID- 27642624
TI  - Necroptosis Is an Important Severity Determinant and Potential Therapeutic Target
      in Experimental Severe Pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Severe acute pancreatitis is characterized by acinar cell
      death and inflammation. Necroptosis is an aggressive and pro-inflammatory mode of
      cell death that can be prevented by necrostatin-1 administration or RIP3
      deletion. METHODS: Mouse pancreatic acinar cells were incubated with
      supramaximally stimulating concentrations of caerulein or sub-micellar
      concentrations of TLCS and necroptosis was inhibited by either addition of
      necrostatin or by RIP3 deletion. Cell death was quantitated using either LDH
      leakage from acini or PI staining of nuclei. Necrosome formation was tracked and
      quantitated using cell fractionation or immunoprecipitation. Pancreatitis was
      induced in mice by retrograde intraductal infusion of TLCS or by repetitive
      supramaximal stimulation with caerulein. RESULTS: Necroptosis was found to be the
      most prevalent mode of acinar cell in vitro death and little or no apoptosis was
      observed. Acinar cell death was associated with necrosome formation and prevented
      by either necrostatin administration or RIP3 deletion. Both of these
      interventions reduced the severity of TLCS- or caerulein-induced pancreatitis.
      Delaying necrostatin administration until after pancreatitis had already been
      established could still reduce the severity of TLCS-induced pancreatitis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Necroptosis is the predominant mode of acinar cell death in severe
      experimental mouse pancreatitis. The severity of pancreatitis can be reduced by
      administration of necrostatin and that necrostatin can still reduce the cell
      injury of pancreatitis even if it is administered after the disease has already
      been established. Inhibition of necroptosis may be an effective strategy for the
      treatment of severe clinical pancreatitis.

PMID- 27642626
TI  - Fertility-sparing surgery for the management of young women with embryonal
      rhabdomyosarcoma of the cervix: A case series.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report three cases of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) of the
      cervix in young women successfully treated with fertility-sparing surgery and
      chemotherapy. METHODS: Between January 2014 and December 2015, three cases of
      ERMS of the cervix were confirmed in young women at a single tertiary cancer
      center. All cases were managed by a pediatric oncologist and a gynecologic
      oncologist with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. Fertility-sparing
      surgeries (cervical conization or robotic-assisted radical trachelectomy) were
      offered to patients depending on the tumor size. RESULTS: All patients were
      nulliparous and aged 14, 20 and 21 years and all presented with abnormal uterine
      bleeding. The first patient was managed with radical trachelectomy followed by
      adjuvant chemotherapy. The second patient underwent primary hysteroscopic
      resection of the tumor followed by completion cervical conization and adjuvant
      chemotherapy. The third patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by
      loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) with positive residual margins.
      She then underwent completion radical trachelectomy. None of the patients
      experienced perioperative complications. None of the women received radiation.
      All patients are alive with no evidence of disease. CONCLUSION: Fertility-sparing
      surgery and chemotherapy in well-selected patients with ERMS of the cervix result
      in low complication rates and excellent oncologic outcomes. This treatment option
      may be considered in young patients who wish to preserve fertility by avoiding
      hysterectomy. A collaborative effort between pediatric oncologists and
      gynecologic oncologists is imperative to facilitate innovative approaches to
      these rare tumors in young adults.

PMID- 27642625
TI  - Stomach Organ and Cell Lineage Differentiation: from Embryogenesis to Adult
      Homeostasis.
AB  - Gastric diseases cause considerable worldwide burden. However, the stomach is
      still poorly understood in terms of the molecular-cellular processes that govern
      its development and homeostasis. In particular, the complex relationship between
      the differentiated cell types located within the stomach and the stem and
      progenitor cells that give rise to them is significantly understudied relative to
      other organs. In this review, we will highlight the current state of the
      literature relating to specification of gastric cell lineages from embryogenesis
      to adulthood. Special emphasis is placed on substantial gaps in knowledge about
      stomach specification that we think should be tackled to advance the field. For
      example, it has long been assumed that adult gastric units have a granule-free
      stem cell that gives rise to all differentiated lineages. Here we will point out
      that there are also other models that fit all extant data, such as long-lived
      lineage-committed progenitors that might serve as a source of new cells during
      homeostasis.

PMID- 27642627
TI  - Corrigendum to "Content Patterns in Topic-Based Overlapping Communities".
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2014/105428.].

PMID- 27642628
TI  - Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns of Candida Species Recovered from Endotracheal
      Tube in an Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - Aims. Biofilms formed by Candida species which associated with drastically
      enhanced resistance against most antimicrobial agents. The aim of this study was
      to identify and determine the antifungal susceptibility pattern of Candida
      species isolated from endotracheal tubes from ICU patients. Methods. One hundred
      forty ICU patients with tracheal tubes who were intubated and mechanically
      ventilated were surveyed for endotracheal tube biofilms. Samples were processed
      for quantitative microbial culture. Yeast isolates were identified to the species
      level based on morphological characteristics and their identity was confirmed by
      PCR-RFLP. Antifungal susceptibility testing was determined according to CLSI
      document (M27-A3). Results. Ninety-five strains of Candida were obtained from
      endotracheal tubes of which C. albicans (n = 34; 35.7%) was the most frequently
      isolated species followed by other species which included C. glabrata (n = 24;
      25.2%), C. parapsilosis (n = 16; 16.8%), C. tropicalis (n = 12; 12.6%), and C.
      krusei (n = 9; 9.4%). The resulting MIC90 for all Candida species were in
      increasing order as follows: caspofungin (0.5 MUg/mL); amphotericin B (2 MUg/mL);
      voriconazole (8.8 MUg/mL); itraconazole (16 MUg/mL); and fluconazole (64 MUg/mL).
      Conclusion. Candida species recovered from endotracheal tube are the most
      susceptible to caspofungin. 

PMID- 27642629
TI  - Mechanical Properties Comparing Composite Fiber Length to Amalgam.
AB  - Photocure fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) with varying chopped quartz-fiber
      lengths were incorporated into a dental photocure zirconia-silicate particulate
      filled composite (PFC) for mechanical test comparisons with a popular commercial
      spherical-particle amalgam. FRC lengths included 0.5-mm, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm, and 3.0
      mm all at a constant 28.2 volume percent. Four-point fully articulated fixtures
      were used according to American Standards Test Methods with sample dimensions of
      2*2*50 mm3 across a 40 mm span to provide sufficient Euler flexural bending and
      prevent top-load compressive shear error. Mechanical properties for flexural
      strength, modulus, yield strength, resilience, work of fracture, critical strain
      energy release, critical stress intensity factor, and strain were obtained for
      comparison. Fiber length subsequently correlated with increasing all mechanical
      properties, p < 1.1*10-5. Although the modulus was significantly statistically
      higher for amalgam than all composites, all FRCs and even the PFC had higher
      values than amalgam for all other mechanical properties. Because amalgams provide
      increased longevity during clinical use compared to the standard PFCs, modulus
      would appear to be a mechanical property that might sufficiently reduce margin
      interlaminar shear stress and strain-related microcracking that could reduce
      failure rates. Also, since FRCs were tested with all mechanical properties that
      statistically significantly increased over the PFC, new avenues for future
      development could be provided toward surpassing amalgam in clinical longevity.

PMID- 27642630
TI  - Role of Epidural Analgesia within an ERAS Program after Laparoscopic Colorectal
      Surgery: A Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Studies.
AB  - Introduction. Epidural analgesia has been a cornerstone of any ERAS program for
      open colorectal surgery. With the improvements in anesthetic and analgesic
      techniques as well as the introduction of the laparoscopy for colorectal
      resection, the role of epidural analgesia has been questioned. The aim of the
      review was to assess through a meta-analysis the impact of epidural analgesia
      compared to other analgesic techniques for colorectal laparoscopic surgery within
      an ERAS program. Methods. Literature research was performed on PubMed, Embase,
      and the Cochrane Library. All randomised clinical trials that reported data on
      hospital stay, postoperative complications, and readmissions rates within an ERAS
      program with and without an epidural analgesia after a colorectal laparoscopic
      resection were included. Results. Five randomised clinical trials were selected
      and a total of 168 patients submitted to epidural analgesia were compared to 163
      patients treated by an alternative analgesic technique. Pooled data show a longer
      hospital stay in the epidural group with a mean difference of 1.07 (95% CI 0.06
      2.08) without any significant differences in postoperative complications and
      readmissions rates. Conclusion. Epidural analgesia does not seem to offer any
      additional clinical benefits to patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal
      surgery within an ERAS program. 

PMID- 27642631
TI  - The Association between Filial Piety and Perceived Stress among Chinese Older
      Adults in Greater Chicago Area.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perceived stress influences the health and well-being of older
      adults. This study aims to examine the association between the expectation and
      the receipt of filial piety and perceived stress among U.S Chinese older adults.
      METHODS: Data were drawn from the PINE study, a population-based study of Chinese
      older adults aged 60 and above in the greater Chicago area. Perceived stress was
      assessed by the PSS-10 and was the dependent variable. Independent variables were
      the expectation and the receipt of filial piety examined in six domains. Negative
      Binomial Regression and Multivariable Logistic Regression analyses were
      conducted. RESULTS: Of the 3,159 Chinese older adults interviewed, the mean age
      was 72.8 (SD=8.3) and 58.9% were female. Compared with older adults who received
      a high level of filial piety, older adults who received a medium level of filial
      piety were 1.57 (1.29-1.93) times more likely to perceive stress as high, and
      older adults who received a low level of filial piety were 2.74 (2.26-3.33) times
      more likely to perceive stress as high, after controlling for the potential
      confounding variables. The expectation of filial piety was not significantly
      associated with perceived stress. CONCLUSION: A low level of filial piety receipt
      may be a risk factor for perceived stress. Our findings suggest incorporating
      cultural contributors into the analyses of perceived stress.

PMID- 27642632
TI  - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility-A Personal Philosophy for
      Communicating Science in Society.
AB  - Many think that communicating science is a necessary and rewarding activity. Yet
      finding compelling, relevant, and timely points of linkage between challenging
      scientific concepts and the experiences and interests of the general public can
      be difficult. Since science continues to influence more and more aspects of daily
      life and knowledge, there is a parallel need for communication about science in
      our society. Here I discuss the "middle-ground hypothesis" using popular culture
      for science communication and applying the "FUNnel model," where popular culture
      is used as a lead-in and wrap-up when discussing science. The scientific
      knowledge we find in our hands does not belong to us-we just had it first. We can
      honor that knowledge best by sharing it as widely as possible using the most
      creative means at our disposal.

PMID- 27642633
TI  - ADAM17 substrate release in proximal tubule drives kidney fibrosis.
AB  - Kidney fibrosis following kidney injury is an unresolved health problem and
      causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. In a study into its
      molecular mechanism, we identified essential causative features. Acute or chronic
      kidney injury causes sustained elevation of a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17
      (ADAM17); of its cleavage-activated proligand substrates, in particular of pro
      TNFalpha and the EGFR ligand amphiregulin (pro-AREG); and of the substrates'
      receptors. As a consequence, EGFR is persistently activated and triggers the
      synthesis and release of proinflammatory and profibrotic factors, resulting in
      macrophage/neutrophil ingress and fibrosis. ADAM17 hypomorphic mice, specific
      ADAM17 inhibitor-treated WT mice, or mice with inducible KO of ADAM17 in proximal
      tubule (Slc34a1-Cre) were significantly protected against these effects. In
      vitro, in proximal tubule cells, we show that AREG has unique profibrotic actions
      that are potentiated by TNFalpha-induced AREG cleavage. In vivo, in acute kidney
      injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD, fibrosis) patients, soluble AREG is
      indeed highly upregulated in human urine, and both ADAM17 and AREG expression
      show strong positive correlation with fibrosis markers in related kidney
      biopsies. Our results indicate that targeting of the ADAM17 pathway represents a
      therapeutic target for human kidney fibrosis.

PMID- 27642634
TI  - A modifier screen identifies DNAJB6 as a cardiomyopathy susceptibility gene.
AB  - Mutagenesis screening is a powerful forward genetic approach that has been
      successfully applied in lower-model organisms to discover genetic factors for
      biological processes. This phenotype-based approach has yet to be established in
      vertebrates for probing major human diseases, largely because of the complexity
      of colony management. Herein, we report a rapid strategy for identifying genetic
      modifiers of cardiomyopathy (CM). Based on the application of doxorubicin stress
      to zebrafish insertional cardiac (ZIC) mutants, we identified 4 candidate CM
      modifying genes, of which 3 have been linked previously to CM. The long isoform
      of DnaJ (Hsp40) homolog, subfamily B, member 6b (dnajb6b(L)) was identified as a
      CM susceptibility gene, supported by identification of rare variants in its human
      ortholog DNAJB6 from CM patients. Mechanistic studies indicated that the
      deleterious, loss-of-function modifying effects of dnajb6b(L) can be ameliorated
      by inhibition of ER stress. In contrast, overexpression of dnajb6(L) exerts
      cardioprotective effects on both fish and mouse CM models. Together, our findings
      establish a mutagenesis screening strategy that is scalable for systematic
      identification of genetic modifiers of CM, feasible to suggest therapeutic
      targets, and expandable to other major human diseases.

PMID- 27642635
TI  - In vivo disruption of latent HSV by designer endonuclease therapy.
AB  - A large portion of the global population carries latent herpes simplex virus
      (HSV), which can periodically reactivate, resulting in asymptomatic shedding or
      formation of ulcerative lesions. Current anti-HSV drugs do not eliminate latent
      virus from sensory neurons where HSV resides, and therefore do not eliminate the
      risk of transmission or recurrent disease. Here, we report the ability of HSV
      specific endonucleases to induce mutations of essential HSV genes both in
      cultured neurons and in latently infected mice. In neurons, viral genomes are
      susceptible to endonuclease-mediated mutagenesis, regardless of the time of
      treatment after HSV infection, suggesting that both HSV lytic and latent forms
      can be targeted. Mutagenesis frequency after endonuclease exposure can be
      increased nearly 2-fold by treatment with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor.
      Using a mouse model of latent HSV infection, we demonstrate that a targeted
      endonuclease can be delivered to viral latency sites via an adeno-associated
      virus (AAV) vector, where it is able to induce mutation of latent HSV genomes.
      These data provide the first proof-of-principle to our knowledge for the use of a
      targeted endonuclease as an antiviral agent to treat an established latent viral
      infection in vivo.

PMID- 27642636
TI  - Lack of immunoediting in murine pancreatic cancer reversed with neoantigen.
AB  - In carcinogen-driven cancers, a high mutational burden results in neoepitopes
      that can be recognized immunologically. Such carcinogen-induced tumors may evade
      this immune response through "immunoediting," whereby tumors adapt to immune
      pressure and escape T cell-mediated killing. Many tumors lack a high neoepitope
      burden, and it remains unclear whether immunoediting occurs in such cases. Here,
      we evaluated T cell immunity in an autochthonous mouse model of pancreatic cancer
      and found a low mutational burden, absence of predicted neoepitopes derived from
      tumor mutations, and resistance to checkpoint immunotherapy. Spontaneous tumor
      progression was identical in the presence or absence of T cells. Moreover, tumors
      arising in T cell-depleted mice grew unchecked in immune-competent hosts.
      However, introduction of the neoantigen ovalbumin (OVA) led to tumor rejection
      and T cell memory, but this did not occur in OVA immune-tolerant mice. Thus,
      immunoediting does not occur in this mouse model - a likely consequence, not a
      cause, of absent neoepitopes. Because many human tumors also have a low missense
      mutational load and minimal neoepitope burden, our findings have clinical
      implications for the design of immunotherapy for patients with such tumors.

PMID- 27642637
TI  - Zinc Pyrithione Improves the Antibacterial Activity of Silver Sulfadiazine
      Ointment.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Staphylococcus aureus are
      commonly associated with biofilm-associated wound infections that are
      recalcitrant to conventional antibiotics. As an initial means to identify agents
      that may have a greater propensity to improve clearance of wound-associated
      bacterial pathogens, we screened a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug
      library for members that display bactericidal activity toward 72-h-established P.
      aeruginosa biofilms using an adenylate kinase reporter assay for bacterial cell
      death. A total of 34 compounds displayed antibiofilm activity. Among these, zinc
      pyrithione was also shown to reduce levels of A. baumannii and S. aureus biofilm
      associated bacteria and exhibited an additive effect in combination with silver
      sulfadiazine, a leading topical therapeutic for wound site infections. The
      improved antimicrobial activity of zinc pyrithione and silver sulfadiazine was
      maintained in an ointment formulation and led to improved clearance of P.
      aeruginosa, A. baumannii, and S. aureus in a murine model of wound infection.
      Taken together, these results suggest that topical zinc pyrithione and silver
      sulfadiazine combination formulations may mitigate wound-associated bacterial
      infections and disease progression. IMPORTANCE Topical antimicrobial ointments
      ostensibly mitigate bacterial wound disease and reliance on systemic antibiotics.
      Yet studies have called into question the therapeutic benefits of several
      traditional topical antibacterials, accentuating the need for improved next
      generation antimicrobial ointments. Yet the development of such agents consisting
      of a new chemical entity is a time-consuming and expensive proposition.
      Considering that drug combinations are a mainstay therapeutic strategy for the
      treatment of other therapeutic indications, one alternative approach is to
      improve the performance of conventional antimicrobial ointments by the addition
      of a well-characterized and FDA-approved agent. Here we report data that indicate
      that the antimicrobial properties of silver sulfadiazine ointments can be
      significantly improved by the addition of the antifungal zinc pyrithione,
      suggesting that such combinations may provide an improved therapeutic option for
      the topical treatment of wound infections. 

PMID- 27642639
TI  - KRAS - An Evolving Cancer Target.

PMID- 27642638
TI  - Systematic Search for Evidence of Interdomain Horizontal Gene Transfer from
      Prokaryotes to Oomycete Lineages.
AB  - While most commonly associated with prokaryotes, horizontal gene transfer (HGT)
      can also have a significant influence on the evolution of microscopic eukaryotes.
      Systematic analysis of HGT in the genomes of the oomycetes, filamentous
      eukaryotic microorganisms in the Stramenopiles-Alveolates-Rhizaria (SAR)
      supergroup, has to date focused mainly on intradomain transfer events between
      oomycetes and fungi. Using systematic whole-genome analysis followed by
      phylogenetic reconstruction, we have investigated the extent of interdomain HGT
      between bacteria and plant-pathogenic oomycetes. We report five putative
      instances of HGT from bacteria into the oomycetes. Two transfers were found in
      Phytophthora species, including one unique to the cucurbit pathogen Phytophthora
      capsici. Two were found in Pythium species only, and the final transfer event was
      present in Phytopythium and Pythium species, the first reported bacterium
      inherited genes in these genera. Our putative transfers included one protein that
      appears to be a member of the Pythium secretome, metabolic proteins, and enzymes
      that could potentially break down xenobiotics within the cell. Our findings
      complement both previous reports of bacterial genes in oomycete and SAR genomes
      and the growing body of evidence suggesting that interdomain transfer from
      prokaryotes into eukaryotes occurs more frequently than previously thought.
      IMPORTANCE Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the nonvertical inheritance of
      genetic material by transfer between different species. HGT is an important
      evolutionary mechanism for prokaryotes and in some cases is responsible for the
      spread of antibiotic resistance from resistant to benign species. Genome analysis
      has shown that examples of HGT are not as frequent in eukaryotes, but when they
      do occur they may have important evolutionary consequences. For example, the
      acquisition of fungal genes by an ancestral Phytophthora (plant destroyer)
      species is responsible for the large repertoire of enzymes in the plant-degrading
      arsenal of modern-day Phytophthora species. In this analysis, we set out to
      systematically search oomycete genomes for evidence of interdomain HGT (transfer
      of bacterial genes into oomycete species). Our results show that interdomain HGT
      is rare in oomycetes but has occurred. We located five well-supported examples,
      including one that could potentially break down xenobiotics within the cell. 

PMID- 27642640
TI  - Multi-omics approach to infer cancer therapeutic targets on chromosome 20q across
      tumor types.
AB  - The identification of good targets is a critical step for the development of
      targeted therapies for cancer treatment. Here, we used a multi-omics approach to
      delineate potential targets on chromosome 20q, which frequently shows a complex
      pattern of DNA copy number amplification in many human cancers suggesting the
      presence of multiple driver genes. By comparing the amounts of individual mRNAs
      in cancer from 11 different human tissues with those in their corresponding
      normal tissues, we identified 18 genes that were robustly elevated across human
      cancers. Moreover, we found that higher expression levels of a majority of these
      genes were associated with poor prognosis in many human cancer types. Using DNA
      copy number and expression data for all 18 genes obtained from The Cancer Genome
      Atlas project, we discovered that amplification is a major mechanism driving
      overexpression of these 18 genes in the majority of human cancers. Our integrated
      analysis suggests that 18 genes on chromosome 20q might serve as novel potential
      molecular targets for targeted cancer therapy.

PMID- 27642641
TI  - Beyond Lumping and Splitting: A Review of Computational Approaches for
      Stratifying Psychiatric Disorders.
AB  - Heterogeneity is a key feature of all psychiatric disorders that manifests on
      many levels, including symptoms, disease course, and biological underpinnings.
      These form a substantial barrier to understanding disease mechanisms and
      developing effective, personalized treatments. In response, many studies have
      aimed to stratify psychiatric disorders, aiming to find more consistent subgroups
      on the basis of many types of data. Such approaches have received renewed
      interest after recent research initiatives, such as the National Institute of
      Mental Health Research Domain Criteria and the European Roadmap for Mental Health
      Research, both of which emphasize finding stratifications that are based on
      biological systems and that cut across current classifications. We first
      introduce the basic concepts for stratifying psychiatric disorders and then
      provide a methodologically oriented and critical review of the existing
      literature. This shows that the predominant clustering approach that aims to
      subdivide clinical populations into more coherent subgroups has made a useful
      contribution but is heavily dependent on the type of data used; it has produced
      many different ways to subgroup the disorders we review, but for most disorders
      it has not converged on a consistent set of subgroups. We highlight problems with
      current approaches that are not widely recognized and discuss the importance of
      validation to ensure that the derived subgroups index clinically relevant
      variation. Finally, we review emerging techniques-such as those that estimate
      normative models for mappings between biology and behavior-that provide new ways
      to parse the heterogeneity underlying psychiatric disorders and evaluate all
      methods to meeting the objectives of such as the National Institute of Mental
      Health Research Domain Criteria and Roadmap for Mental Health Research.

PMID- 27642642
TI  - Kinetics and Signal Activation Properties of Circulating Factor(s) From Healthy
      Volunteers Undergoing Remote Ischemic Pre-Conditioning.
AB  - Although remote ischemic pre-conditioning (RIPC) reduced infarct size in animal
      experiments and proof-of-concept clinical trials, recent phase III trials failed
      to confirm cardioprotection during cardiac surgery. Here, we characterized the
      kinetic properties of humoral factors that are released after RIPC, as well as
      the signal transduction pathways that were responsible for cardioprotection in an
      ex vivo model of global ischemia reperfusion injury. Venous blood from 20 healthy
      volunteers was collected at baseline and 5 min, 30 min, 1 h, 6 h, and daily from
      1 to 7 days after RIPC (3 * 5/5 min upper-limb ischemia/reperfusion). Plasma
      dialysates (cut-off: 12 to 14 kDa; dilution: 1:20) were infused into Langendorff
      perfused mouse hearts subjected to 20/120 min global ischemia/reperfusion.
      Infarct size and phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of
      transcription (STAT)3, STAT5, extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 and protein
      kinase B were determined. In a subgroup of plasma-dialysates, an inhibitor of
      STAT3 (Stattic) was used in mouse hearts. Perfusion with baseline-dialysate
      resulted in an infarct size of 39% of ventricular mass (interquartile range: 36%
      to 42%). Perfusion with dialysates obtained 5 min to 6 days after RIPC
      significantly reduced infarct size by ~50% and increased STAT3 phosphorylation
      beyond that with baseline-dialysate. Inhibition of STAT3 abrogated these effects.
      These results suggest that RIPC induces the release of cardioprotective,
      dialyzable factor(s) within 5 min, and that circulate for up to 6 days. STAT3 is
      activated in murine myocardium by RIPC-induced human humoral factors and is
      causally involved in cardioprotection.

PMID- 27642643
TI  - Direct Thrombin Inhibitors Prevent Left Atrial Remodeling Associated With Heart
      Failure in Rats.
AB  - The present study tested the hypothesis that thrombin participates in formation
      of left atrial remodeling and that direct oral anticoagulants, such as direct
      thrombin inhibitors (DTIs), can prevent its progression. In a rat model of heart
      failure associated with left atrial dilation, we found that chronic treatment
      with DTIs reduces the atrial remodeling and the duration of atrial fibrillation
      (AF) episodes induced by burst pacing by inhibiting myocardial hypertrophy and
      fibrosis. In addition to the prevention of thromboembolism complicating AF, DTIs
      may be of interest to slow down the progression of the arrhythmogenic substrate.

PMID- 27642645
TI  - Temperature and electric-field induced phase transitions, and full tensor
      properties of [011] C -poled domain-engineered tetragonal 0.63Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)
      0.37PbTiO3 single crystals.
AB  - The phase-transition sequence of 0.67Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-0.37PbTiO3 (PMN-0.37PT)
      single crystals driven by the electric (E) field and temperature is
      comprehensively studied. Based on the strain-E field loop, polarization-E field
      loop, and the evolution of domain configurations, the E field along the [011] C
      induced phase transitions have been confirmed to be as follows: tetragonal (T) ->
      monoclinic (MC ) -> single domain orthorhombic (O) phase. As the E field
      decreases, the induced O phase cannot be maintained and transformed to the MC
      phase, then to the coexistence state of MC and T phases. In addition, the
      complete sets of dielectric, piezoelectric, and elastic constants for the [011] C
      -poled domain-engineered PMN-0.37PT single crystal were measured at room
      temperature, which show high longitudinal dielectric, piezoelectric, and
      electromechanical properties ([Formula: see text], d33 = 1052 pC/N, and k33 =
      0.766). Our results revealed that the MC phase plays an important role in the
      high electromechanical properties of this domain-engineered single crystal. The
      temperature dependence of the domain configuration revealed that the volume
      fraction of the MC phase decreases with temperature accompanied by the reduction
      of [Formula: see text], d31, and k31 due to the substantially smaller intrinsic
      properties of the T phase.

PMID- 27642644
TI  - The Relationship of Older Adults' Physical Pain to Depression and Post-Traumatic
      Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical pain is very common in older age and is often accompanied by
      depressive as well as PTSD symptomatology. Many conceptualizations of the
      comorbidity of pain with depression and with PTSD exist, but they need to be
      tested on older adult populations. PURPOSE: This article covers existing
      literature on the relation between depression and pain in older age, as well as
      between older adults' PTSD and pain. Additionally, several physiological,
      cognitive, and behavioral conceptualizations of why depression and PTSD are often
      related to pain are presented. METHODS: The PsychInfo, PubMed, and Google Scholar
      databases were searched for relevant articles by utilizing the following terms in
      combination with chronic pain (as well as with pain alone): aging, older adults,
      elderly, depression, depressive, post-traumatic stress, and PTSD. Additionally,
      Thomson Reuters Web of Science database searches were conducted using the terms
      "elderly (and older adults) pain depression PTSD." This review includes various
      articles that conceptualize the pain-depression, pain-PTSD, and pain-depression
      PTSD links, yet, due to space limitations, the review is not comprehensive.
      Several pertinent reviews are referenced throughout the paper for readers
      interested in obtaining additional information in this area. RESULTS: Depression
      and PTSD are comorbidities for pain at any age, and are characterized by several
      and often complex mechanisms that can exacerbate pain. CONCLUSION: The
      comorbidity of pain and factors such as depression and PTSD in older age should
      be addressed in more research studies, as few investigations are available in
      this area on the general population of older individuals. This is particularly
      the case for non-Caucasian older adults living with chronic pain.

PMID- 27642646
TI  - The Novel Small Molecule Inhibitor, OSU-T315, Suppresses Vestibular Schwannoma
      and Meningioma Growth by Inhibiting PDK2 Function in the AKT Pathway Activation.
AB  - Activation of PKB/AKT signaling, which requires PDK1 and PDK2 function, drives
      Vestibular Schwannoma (VS) and meningioma growth. PDK2 function is defined as a
      molecule that phosphorylates AKT-Ser473. Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) functions
      as PDK2 in PKB/AKT activation in many cancers; therefore, we hypothesized that
      OSU-T315, a small molecule ILK inhibitor, will inhibit the ILK-PDK2 function in
      PKB/AKT signaling activation in VS and meningioma cell growth. OSU-T315 decreased
      cell viability at IC50 < 2MUM in VS (HEI193) and meningioma (Ben-Men-1) cell
      lines, in primary cells at < 3.5MUM, while in normal primary Schwann cells at
      7.1MUM. OSU-T315 inhibits AKT signaling by decreasing phosphorylation at AKT
      Ser473, AKT-Thr308, ILK-Ser246 and ILK-Thr173. In addition, OSU-T315 affected the
      phosphorylation or expression levels of AKT downstream proliferation effectors as
      well as autophagy markers. Flow cytometry shows that OSU-T315 increased the
      percentage of cells arrested at G2/M for both, HEI193 (39.99%) and Ben-Men-1
      (26.96%) cells, compared to controls (21.54%, 8.47%). Two hours of OSU-T315
      treatment increased cell death in both cell lines (34.3%, 9.1%) versus untreated
      (12.1%, 8.1%). Though longer exposure increased cell death in Ben-Men-1, TUNEL
      assays showed that OSU-T315 does not induce apoptosis. OSU-T315 was primarily
      cytotoxic for HEI193 and Ben-Men-1 inducing a dysregulated autophagy. Our studies
      suggest that OSU-T315 has translational potential as a chemotherapeutic agent
      against VS and meningioma.

PMID- 27642647
TI  - Four Weeks of Balance Training does not Affect Ankle Joint Stiffness in Subjects
      with Unilateral Chronic Ankle Instability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Balance training has been shown to be effective in preventing ankle
      sprain recurrences in subjects with chronic ankle instability (CAI) but the
      biomechanical pathways underlying the clinical outcomes are still unknown. This
      study was conducted to determine if a 4-week balance training intervention can
      alter the mechanical characteristics in ankles with CAI. METHODS: Twenty-two
      recreationally active subjects with unilateral CAI were randomized to either a
      control (n = 11, 35.1 +/- 9.3 years) or intervention (n = 11, 33.5 +/- 6.6 years)
      group. Subjects in the intervention group were trained on the affected limb with
      static and dynamic components using a Biodex balance stability system for 4
      weeks. The ankle joint stiffness and neutral zone in inversion and eversion
      directions on the involved and uninvolved limbs was measured at baseline and post
      intervention using a dynamometer. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean values of the
      inversion stiffness (0.69 +/- 0.37 Nm/degree) in the involved ankle was
      significantly lower (p < 0.011, 95% CI [0.563, 0.544]) than that of uninvolved
      contralateral ankle (0.99 +/- 0.41 Nm/degree). With the available sample size,
      the eversion stiffness, inversion neutral zone, and eversion neutral zone were
      not found to be significantly different between the involved and uninvolved
      contralateral ankles. The 4-week balance training intervention failed to show any
      significant effect on the passive ankle stiffness and neutral zones in inversion
      and eversion. CONCLUSION: Decreased inversion stiffness in the involved chronic
      unstable ankle was found that of uninvolved contralateral ankle. The 4-week
      balance training program intervention was ineffective in altering the mechanical
      characteristics of ankles with CAI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Randomized controlled
      clinical trial; Level of evidence, 1.

PMID- 27642651
TI  - Assembly of Peptides Derived from beta-Sheet Regions of beta-Amyloid.
AB  - In Alzheimer's disease, aggregation of the beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) results
      in the formation of oligomers and fibrils that are associated with
      neurodegeneration. Aggregation of Abeta occurs through interactions between
      different regions of the peptide. This paper and the accompanying paper
      constitute a two-part investigation of two key regions of Abeta: the central
      region and the C-terminal region. These two regions promote aggregation and adopt
      beta-sheet structure in the fibrils, and may also do so in the oligomers. In this
      paper, we study the assembly of macrocyclic beta-sheet peptides that contain
      residues 17-23 (LVFFAED) from the central region and residues 30-36 (AIIGLMV)
      from the C-terminal region. These peptides assemble to form tetramers. Each
      tetramer consists of two hydrogen-bonded dimers that pack through hydrophobic
      interactions in a sandwich-like fashion. Incorporation of a single 15N isotopic
      label into each peptide provides a spectroscopic probe with which to elucidate
      the beta-sheet assembly and interaction: 1H,15N HSQC studies facilitate the
      identification of the monomers and tetramers; 15N-edited NOESY studies
      corroborate the pairing of the dimers within the tetramers. In the following
      paper, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b06001 , we will extend these
      studies to elucidate the coassembly of the peptides to form heterotetramers.

PMID- 27642652
TI  - Tunable Enzymatic Activity and Enhanced Stability of Cellulase Immobilized in
      Biohybrid Nanogels.
AB  - This paper reports a facile approach for encapsulation of enzymes in nanogels.
      Our approach is based on the use of reactive copolymers able to get conjugated
      with enzyme and build 3D colloidal networks or biohybrid nanogels. In a
      systematic study, we address the following question: how the chemical structure
      of nanogel network influences the biocatalytic activity of entrapped enzyme? The
      developed method allows precise control of the enzyme activity and improvement of
      enzyme resistance against harsh store conditions, chaotropic agents, and organic
      solvents. The nanogels were constructed via direct chemical cross-linking of
      water-soluble reactive copolymers poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone-co-N
      methacryloxysuccinimide) with proteins such as enhanced green fluorescent protein
      (EGFP) and cellulase in water-in-oil emulsion. The water-soluble reactive
      copolymers with controlled amount of reactive succinimide groups and narrow
      dispersity were synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer
      (RAFT) polymerization. Poly(ethylene glycol) bis(3-aminopropyl) and branched
      polyethylenimine were utilized as model cross-linkers to optimize synthesis of
      nanogels with different architectures in the preliminary experiments.
      Biofluorescent nanogels with different loading amount of EGFP and varying cross
      linking densities were obtained. We demonstrate that the biocatalytic activity of
      cellulase-conjugated nanogels (CNG) can be elegantly tuned by control of their
      cross-linking degrees. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra demonstrated that the
      secondary structures of the immobilized cellulase were changed in the aspect of
      alpha-helix contents. The secondary structures of cellulase in highly cross
      linked nanogels were strongly altered compared with loosely cross-linked
      nanogels. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based study further
      revealed that nanogels with lower cross-linking degree enable higher substrate
      transport rate, providing easier access to the active site of the enzyme. The
      biohybrid nanogels demonstrated significantly improved stability in preserving
      enzymatic activity compared with free cellulase. The functional biohybrid
      nanogels with tunable enzymatic activity and improved stability are promising
      candidates for applications in biocatalysis, biomass conversion, or energy
      utilization fields.

PMID- 27642653
TI  - pH- and Thermal-Responsive Multishape Memory Hydrogel.
AB  - A multistimuli sensitive shape memory hydrogel with dual and triple shape memory
      properties was prepared by grafting dansyl groups into the network of
      polyacrylamide (PAAM). The hydrophobic aggregation of dansyl groups acted as
      molecular switches, which showed reversible aggregation-disaggregation transition
      in aqueous solution in response to the pH or temperature change.

PMID- 27642654
TI  - Direct Oxidative Damage of Naked DNA Generated upon Absorption of UV Radiation by
      Nucleobases.
AB  - It has been shown that in addition to formation of pyrimidine dimers, UV
      irradiation of DNA in the absence of photosensitizer also induces formation of 8
      oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine, but the mechanism of formation of that
      oxidized base has not been clearly established. In the present study, we provide
      an unambiguous demonstration that absorption of UVC and UVB radiation by the
      nucleobases induces DNA oxidation via a direct process (one-electron oxidation)
      and not singlet oxygen. Evidence arose from the fact that polyamine-guanine
      adducts that are specifically produced through the transient formation of guanine
      radical cation are generated following UV irradiation of DNA in the presence of a
      polyamine even in the absence of any photosensitizer.

PMID- 27642655
TI  - Xilmass: A New Approach toward the Identification of Cross-Linked Peptides.
AB  - Chemical cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry plays an important role in
      unravelling protein interactions, especially weak and transient ones. Moreover,
      cross-linking complements several structural determination approaches such as
      cryo-EM. Although several computational approaches are available for the
      annotation of spectra obtained from cross-linked peptides, there remains room for
      improvement. Here, we present Xilmass, a novel algorithm to identify cross-linked
      peptides that introduces two new concepts: (i) the cross-linked peptides are
      represented in the search database such that the cross-linking sites are
      explicitly encoded, and (ii) the scoring function derived from the Andromeda
      algorithm was adapted to score against a theoretical tandem mass spectrometry
      (MS/MS) spectrum that contains the peaks from all possible fragment ions of a
      cross-linked peptide pair. The performance of Xilmass was evaluated against the
      recently published Kojak and the popular pLink algorithms on a calmodulin-plectin
      complex data set, as well as three additional, published data sets. The results
      show that Xilmass typically had the highest number of identified distinct cross
      linked sites and also the highest number of predicted cross-linked sites.

PMID- 27642656
TI  - The jingle and jangle of emotion assessment: Imprecise measurement, casual scale
      usage, and conceptual fuzziness in emotion research.
AB  - Although affective science has seen an explosion of interest in measuring
      subjectively experienced distinct emotional states, most existing self-report
      measures tap broad affect dimensions and dispositional emotional tendencies,
      rather than momentary distinct emotions. This raises the question of how emotion
      researchers are measuring momentary distinct emotions in their studies. To
      address this question, we reviewed the self-report measurement practices
      regularly used for the purpose of assessing momentary distinct emotions, by
      coding these practices as observed in a representative sample of articles
      published in Emotion from 2001-2011 (n = 467 articles; 751 studies; 356
      measurement instances). This quantitative review produced several noteworthy
      findings. First, researchers assess many purportedly distinct emotions (n = 65),
      a number that differs substantially from previously developed emotion taxonomies.
      Second, researchers frequently use scales that were not systematically developed,
      and that include items also used to measure at least 1 other emotion on a
      separate scale in a separate study. Third, the majority of scales used include
      only a single item, and had unknown reliability. Together, these tactics may
      create ambiguity regarding which emotions are being measured in empirical
      studies, and conceptual inconsistency among measures of purportedly identical
      emotions across studies. We discuss the implications of these problematic
      practices, and conclude with recommendations for how the field might improve the
      way it measures emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642657
TI  - Anxiety-mediated facilitation of behavioral inhibition: Threat processing and
      defensive reactivity during a go/no-go task.
AB  - Anxiety can be broken down into multiple facets including behavioral components,
      such as defensive reactivity, and cognitive components, such as distracting
      anxious thoughts. In a previous study, we showed that anticipation of
      unpredictable shocks facilitated response inhibition to infrequent no-go trials
      during a go/no-go task. The present study extends this work to examine the
      distinct contribution of defensive reactivity, measures with fear-potentiated
      startle, and anxious thought, assessed with thought probes, on go and no-go
      performance. Consistent with our prior findings, shock anticipation facilitated
      response inhibition (i.e., reduced errors of commission) on the no-go trials.
      Regression analyses showed that (a) no-go accuracy was positively associated with
      fear-potentiated startle and negatively associated with threat-related/task
      unrelated thoughts and (b) go accuracy correlated negatively with fear
      potentiated startle. Thus, while the present findings confirm the influence of
      anxiety on response inhibition, they also show that such influence reflects the
      balance between the positive effect of defensive reactivity and the negative
      effect of distracting anxious thoughts. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642658
TI  - Affective valence signals agency within and between individuals.
AB  - Affective valence is a core component of all emotional experiences. Building on
      recent evidence and theory, we reason that valence informs individuals about
      their agency-the mental capability of doing and intending. Expressed affect may
      also lead to perceptions of agency by others. Supporting the hypothesis that
      valence influences self- and other-perception of agency, across 5 studies, we
      showed that participants perceived more agency in themselves in positive versus
      neutral and negative personal (Study 1) and interpersonal (Study 2) events.
      Participants also perceived more agency in fictional characters showing positive
      versus negative affect, regardless of how acceptable the characters' behavior was
      (Studies 3 and 4). Finally, we had participants personify 24 specific emotions
      across the valence dimension, and found that the more positive and less negative
      an emotion was, the more agency participants ascribed to the "person" (Study 5).
      We discuss the results in terms of how valence may help with human self- and
      social regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642659
TI  - Does reading a single passage of literary fiction really improve theory of mind?
      An attempt at replication.
AB  - [Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 111(5) of
      Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2016-50315-003). In the
      article, due to an error in stimulus construction, four items (three authors, one
      foil) were omitted from the ART presented to all participants tested by Research
      Group 1. These omissions do not undermine the results in the primary analyses,
      which all included ART and ART Condition (as covariates). Any variation across
      research groups, including this difference in reading exposure measurement, is
      accounted for in the multilevel analyses. Therefore, the Table 2 title should
      appear as Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) Scores by Condition and
      Overall Unadjusted Means for the Current Study and Kidd and Castano (2013), as
      Well as the Zero-Order Pearson's Correlations Between RMET and ART Scores Overall
      and by Condition. The ART data columns should be deleted, and the table note
      should begin as follows: RMET scores were transformed to correct for skew prior
      to correlational analyses. The section title above the Discussion section should
      appear as Comparison of Our RMET Scores to Kidd and Castano Data, with the first
      two sentences appearing as follows: To determine whether the responses in our
      sample were similar to what Kidd and Castano (2013) found, we compared our mean
      performance on the RMET to theirs. Our grand mean (26.28) was significantly
      higher than theirs (25.18), t(1=, 374) = 3.71, p< .001, d = 0.21. All versions of
      this article have been corrected.] Fiction simulates the social world and invites
      us into the minds of characters. This has led various researchers to suggest that
      reading fiction improves our understanding of others' cognitive and emotional
      states. Kidd and Castano (2013) received a great deal of attention by providing
      support for this claim. Their article reported that reading segments of literary
      fiction (but not popular fiction or nonfiction) immediately and significantly
      improved performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), an advanced
      theory-of-mind test. Here we report a replication attempt by 3 independent
      research groups, with 792 participants randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions
      (literary fiction, popular fiction, nonfiction, and no reading). In contrast to
      Kidd and Castano (2013), we found no significant advantage in RMET scores for
      literary fiction compared to any of the other conditions. However, as in Kidd and
      Castano and previous research, the Author Recognition Test, a measure of lifetime
      exposure to fiction, consistently predicted RMET scores across conditions. We
      conclude that the most plausible link between reading fiction and theory of mind
      is either that individuals with strong theory of mind are drawn to fiction and/or
      that a lifetime of reading gradually strengthens theory of mind, but other
      variables, such as verbal ability, may also be at play. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642660
TI  - Tracking and simulating dynamics of implicit stereotypes: A situated social
      cognition perspective.
AB  - Adopting a situated social cognition perspective, we relied on different
      methodologies-1 computational and 3 empirical studies-to investigate social group
      related specificities pertaining to implicit gender-domain stereotypes, as
      measured by a mouse-tracking adapted Implicit Association Test (IAT) and IAT(
      like) tasks. We tested whether the emergence of implicit stereotypes was
      partially determined by associations congruent with the self, by visuospatial
      features of the task and subsequent competition at both sensorimotor and abstract
      levels. We tracked human and simulated artificial participants' hand movements
      among gender stereotypical (e.g., male engineers) and counterstereotypical (e.g.,
      female engineers) social groups. In the computational study, data were simulated
      by a novel generative connectionist model integrating strengths from recent
      developments in embodied models of decision-making. Results support the self
      congruency hypothesis and suggest the presence of competition at both levels.
      Discussion focuses on the generalizability of the self-congruency hypothesis and
      on the relevance of a situated perspective for implicit social cognition.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642661
TI  - Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Gas-Phase Unimolecular Reactivity of
      Bis(diphenylphosphino)amino Copper Hydride Nanoclusters [Cu3(X)(MU3
      H)((PPh2)2NH)3](BF4), Where X = MU2-Cl and MU3-BH4.
AB  - An electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) survey of the types of
      cationic copper clusters formed from an acetonitrile solution containing a 1:1:20
      mixture of tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(I) tetrafluoroborate [Cu(MeCN)4(BF4)],
      bis(diphenylphosphino)amine (dppa = (Ph2P)2NH = L), and NaBH4 revealed a major
      peak, which based on both the accurate masses and isotope distribution was
      assigned as [Cu3(BH4)(H)(L)3]+. This prompted synthetic efforts resulting in
      isolation of the dppa ligated trinuclear copper hydride nanoclusters, [Cu3(MU2
      Cl)(MU3-H)(L)3](BF4) and [Cu3(MU3-BH4)(MU3-H)(L)3](BF4), which were subsequently
      structurally characterized using high resolution ESI-MS, X-ray crystallography,
      NMR, and IR spectroscopy. The X-ray structures reveal a common structural feature
      of the cation, in which the three copper(I) ions adopt a planar trinuclear Cu3
      geometry coordinated on the bottom face by a MU3-hydride and surrounded by three
      dppa ligands. ESI-MS of [Cu3(MU2-Cl)(MU3-H)(L)3](BF4) and [Cu3(MU3-BH4)(MU3
      H)(L)3](BF4) produces [Cu3(MU2-Cl)(MU3-H)(L)3]+ and [Cu3(MU3-BH4)(MU3-H)(L)3]+.
      The unimolecular gas-phase ion chemistry of these cations was examined under
      multistage tandem mass spectrometry conditions using collision-induced
      dissociation (CID). CID of both cations proceeds via ligand loss to give [Cu3(MU3
      H)(X)(L)2]+, which is in competition with BH3 loss in the case of X = BH4. DFT
      calculations on the fragmentation of [Cu3(MU3-BH4)(MU3-H)(LMe)3]+ suggest that
      BH3 loss produces the hitherto elusive [Cu3(MU3-H)(MU2-H)(LMe)3]+, which
      undergoes further fragmentation via H2 loss. CID of the deuterium labeled cluster
      [Cu3(MU3-D)(MU3-BD4)(L)3]+ reveals that the competing losses of ligand and BD3
      yield [Cu3(MU3-BD4)(MU3-D)(L)2]+ and [Cu3(D)2(L)3]+ as primary products, which
      subsequently fragment via further losses of BD3 or a ligand to give
      [Cu3(D)2(L)2]+. The coordinated hydrides in the latter ion are activated toward
      elimination of D2 to give [Cu3(L)2]+. Loss of HD and 2HD are minor channels,
      consistent with higher DFT predicted endothermicities to form [Cu3(D)(L)(L-H)]+
      and [Cu3(L-H)2]+.

PMID- 27642662
TI  - Stepwise Activation of Switchable Glazing by Compositional Gradient of
      Copolymers.
AB  - Thermotropic glazing is one of the most promising developments for adaptive solar
      control; however, a monotonic transparent-opaque transition limits its practical
      application. In this work, to render stepwise activation of the switchable
      glazing, we prepared multicomposition copolymers having a compositional gradient.
      By slow addition of the monomers in the reaction mixture during free-radical
      polymerization, the blend of copolymers with each polymer having different
      compositions of the monomers could be prepared. We found that the developed
      copolymers exhibit different thermal behaviors according to the monomer
      composition, yielding the nearly linear transmittance change over a wide
      temperature range due to the gradient hydrophilic-hydrophobic balances. By
      combining prepared copolymers with photothermal graphene oxide as a heat
      transducer, we demonstrated gradual solar control of the smart window in response
      to sunlight intensity in outdoor testing.

PMID- 27642663
TI  - Adsorption of Synthetic Cationic Polymers on Model Phospholipid Membranes:
      Insight from Atomic-Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - Although synthetic cationic polymers represent a promising class of effective
      antibacterial agents, the molecular mechanisms behind their antimicrobial
      activity remain poorly understood. To this end, we employ atomic-scale molecular
      dynamics simulations to explore adsorption of several linear cationic polymers of
      different chemical structure and protonation (polyallylamine (PAA),
      polyethylenimine (PEI), polyvinylamine (PVA), and poly-l-lysine (PLL)) on model
      bacterial membranes (4:1 mixture of zwitterionic phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)
      and anionic phosphatidylglycerol (PG) lipids). Overall, our findings show that
      binding of polycations to the anionic membrane surface effectively neutralizes
      its charge, leading to the reorientation of water molecules close to the
      lipid/water interface and to the partial release of counterions to the water
      phase. In certain cases, one has even an overcharging of the membrane, which was
      shown to be a cooperative effect of polymer charges and lipid counterions.
      Protonated amine groups of polycations are found to interact preferably with head
      groups of anionic lipids, giving rise to formation of hydrogen bonds and to a
      noticeable lateral immobilization of the lipids. While all the above findings are
      mostly defined by the overall charge of a polymer, we found that the polymer
      architecture also matters. In particular, PVA and PEI are able to accumulate
      anionic PG lipids on the membrane surface, leading to lipid segregation. In turn,
      PLL whose charge twice exceeds charges of PVA/PEI does not induce such lipid
      segregation due to its considerably less compact architecture and relatively long
      side chains. We also show that partitioning of a polycation into the lipid/water
      interface is an interplay between its protonation level (the overall charge) and
      hydrophobicity of the backbone. Therefore, a possible strategy in creating highly
      efficient antimicrobial polymeric agents could be in tuning these polycation's
      properties through proper combination of protonated and hydrophobic blocks.

PMID- 27642664
TI  - Response to Letter to the Editor: "Electrocochleography Versus MRI With
      Intratympanic Contrast in Meniere's Disease".

PMID- 27642665
TI  - Electrocochleography for the Diagnosis of Meniere's Disease: The Wrong Stimulus.

PMID- 27642666
TI  - The Effect of Piston Diameter in Stapedotomy for Otosclerosis: A Temporal Bone
      Model.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: The use of larger-diameter pistons in stapedotomy leads to better
      hearing outcomes compared with the use of smaller-diameter pistons. There is an
      interaction between stapes piston diameter and fenestration diameter. BACKGROUND:
      Otosclerosis can be treated surgically by removing part of the stapes and
      bypassing the stapes footplate with a prosthesis. Available piston shaft
      diameters range between 0.3 and 0.8 mm. There has been a tendency toward the use
      of smaller-diameter pistons, because of a suspected decreased risk of cochlear
      trauma and subsequent sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with smaller pistons.
      However, mathematical models, temporal bone studies, and clinical studies suggest
      that the use of larger-diameter pistons is associated with better hearing
      outcomes. METHODS: Three fresh-frozen, non-pathologic temporal bones were
      harvested from human cadaveric donors. Acoustic stimuli in the form of pure tones
      from 250 to 8000 Hz were generated at 110 dB sound pressure level. A total of 16
      frequencies in a 1/3-octave series were used. Stapes and round window velocities
      in response to the acoustic stimuli were measured at multiple equally spaced
      points covering the stapes footplate and round window using a scanning laser
      Doppler interferometry system. Eight sets of measurements were performed in each
      temporal bone: 1) normal condition (mobile stapes), 2) stapes fixation and
      stapedotomy followed by insertion of 3) a 0.4-mm-diameter piston in a 0.5-mm
      diameter fenestration, 4) a 0.4-mm-diameter piston in a 0.7-mm-diameter
      fenestration, 5) a 0.4-mm-diameter piston in a 0.9-mm-diameter fenestration, 6) a
      0.6-mm-diameter piston in a 0.7-mm-diameter fenestration, 7) a 0.6-mm-diameter
      piston in a 0.9-mm-diameter fenestration, and 8) a 0.8-mm-diameter piston in a
      0.9-mm-diameter fenestration. RESULTS: At midrange frequencies, between 500 and
      4000 Hz, round window velocities increased by 2 to 3 dB when using a 0.6-mm
      diameter piston compared with a 0.4-mm-diameter piston. Using a 0.8-mm-diameter
      piston led to a further increase in round window velocities by 2 to 4 dB.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a modest effect of piston diameter on hearing
      results following stapedotomy.

PMID- 27642667
TI  - Two Common Second Causes of Dizziness in Patients With Meniere's Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are no epidemiological studies quantifying the prevalence of
      second causes of dizziness in Meniere's disease (MD). Therefore, we aimed to
      quantify which dizziness-inducing causes are prevalent alongside MD. Moreover, we
      analyzed which second cause of dizziness was more common in a specific age group
      and if age was a risk factor. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING:
      Tertiary referral center. METHODS: Data were retrospectively obtained from all MD
      patients who visited our clinic between January 2000 and December 2013. Workup
      included vestibular tests, pure tone audiometry, blood pressure monitoring, and
      the hyperventilation provocation test, the Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ) and the
      Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The final causes of dizziness were
      based on consensus between an ENT-surgeon and a neurologist who were consulted
      simultaneously. RESULTS: We found that 143 (30%) of 469 MD patients suffered from
      a second cause of dizziness. The two most common causes were psychological
      distress (PD) (70%) and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) (18%). The
      mean age for MD patients with PD was 58.7 +/- 13.3 years compared with the mean
      age of 63.9 +/- 14.3 years for MD patients without PD (mean difference = -5.2
      years, 95% CI: -8.3 to -2.2, p = 0.001). MD patients younger than 60 of age had a
      15% higher risk of suffering from psychological distress than those who were
      older than 60 (risk difference, 15%, 95% CI, 7.0-22%). Age could not be
      identified as a risk factor for BPPV in older MD patients. CONCLUSIONS: In 30% of
      the patients with MD a second cause of dizziness is present. PD most commonly
      coincides with MD, especially in younger patients. The second most common cause
      is BPPV.

PMID- 27642668
TI  - Cross-reactive antibodies enhance live attenuated virus infection for increased
      immunogenicity.
AB  - Vaccination has achieved remarkable successes in the control of childhood viral
      diseases. To control emerging infections, however, vaccines will need to be
      delivered to older individuals who, unlike infants, probably have had prior
      infection or vaccination with related viruses and thus have cross-reactive
      antibodies against the vaccines. Whether and how these cross-reactive antibodies
      impact live attenuated vaccination efficacy is unclear. Using an open-label
      randomized trial design, we show that subjects with a specific range of cross
      reactive antibody titres from a prior inactivated Japanese encephalitis
      vaccination enhanced yellow fever (YF) immunogenicity upon YF vaccination.
      Enhancing titres of cross-reactive antibodies prolonged YF vaccine viraemia,
      provoked greater pro-inflammatory responses, and induced adhesion molecules
      intrinsic to the activating Fc-receptor signalling pathway, namely immune
      semaphorins, facilitating immune cell interactions and trafficking. Our findings
      clinically demonstrate antibody-enhanced infection and suggest that vaccine
      efficacy could be improved by exploiting cross-reactive antibodies. 

PMID- 27642669
TI  - Rapid screening for group B Streptococcus in near-term pregnant women by
      GranadaTM biphasic broth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prenatal screening for group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization can
      reduce the incidence of neonatal GBS infections. We aimed to improve the
      screening-based approach of GBS in a limited resources antenatal care clinic by
      using Strep B GranadaTM Biphasic Broth. METHODS: This study included 80 pregnant
      women between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation, who attended the antenatal care
      clinic of Kasr El-Aini University Hospital from November 2013 to January 2014.
      Two high vaginal swabs were collected, then transported using Amies transport
      medium. One vaginal swab was processed by conventional culture-based methods on
      5% sheep blood agar plates. The other swab was immersed in 3 mL selective
      enrichment broth (GranadaTM Biphasic Broth bioMerieux). RESULTS: Among 80
      pregnant women, GBS was detected in 9 (11.25%) of the studied cases within 18-24
      hours. Detection of orange-red colonies in GBS Granada broth was 100% specific
      for the presence of beta-hemolytic group B streptococci. CONCLUSION: Using
      Granada biphasic broth media was easy, affordable and shortened the turnaround
      time needed for the detection of GBS by conventional culture methods. Routine
      screening of pregnant women for vaginal GBS colonization by GranadaTM Biphasic
      broth would allow properly timed prenatal antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent
      possible neonatal infections.

PMID- 27642670
TI  - Delivery of Dual Drug Loaded Lipid Based Nanoparticles across the Blood-Brain
      Barrier Impart Enhanced Neuroprotection in a Rotenone Induced Mouse Model of
      Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most widespread form of dementia where there is
      an age related degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra
      region of the brain. Accumulation of alpha-synuclein (alphaS) protein aggregate,
      mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuronal cell death are the
      pathological hallmarks of PD. In this context, amalgamation of curcumin and
      piperine having profound cognitive properties, and antioxidant activity seems
      beneficial. However, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the major impediment for
      delivery of neurotherapeutics to the brain. The present study involves
      formulation of curcumin and piperine coloaded glyceryl monooleate (GMO)
      nanoparticles coated with various surfactants with a view to enhance the
      bioavailability of curcumin and penetration of both drugs to the brain tissue
      crossing the BBB and to enhance the anti-parkinsonism effect of both drugs in a
      single platform. In vitro results demonstrated augmented inhibition of alphaS
      protein into oligomers and fibrils, reduced rotenone induced toxicity, oxidative
      stress, and apoptosis, and activation of autophagic pathway by dual drug loaded
      NPs compared to native counterpart. Further, in vivo studies revealed that our
      formulated dual drug loaded NPs were able to cross BBB, rescued the rotenone
      induced motor coordination impairment, and restrained dopaminergic neuronal
      degeneration in a PD mouse model.

PMID- 27642671
TI  - Safety of neonatal phototherapy lamp exposure.
AB  - A routine review of light exposure within a neonatal intensive care unit is
      described following the introduction of a new model of neonatal phototherapy
      lamp. Spectral measurements were undertaken using a Bentham Dmc150
      spectroradiometer system. Safety assessments were undertaken based on likely
      exposure of parents at the cot side, neonates in adjacent cots and the
      effectiveness of eye protection for neonates with direct phototherapy. An aphakic
      eye response was used for assessment of neonatal risk and the blue-light response
      for estimation of adult exposure using current ICNIRP guidelines. Such
      estimations indicated exposure levels of parents at the cot side and neonates in
      adjacent cots were within current established safe limits. The level of light
      blocking provided by the available neonatal eye protection was estimated to be
      entirely adequate and presented no hazard to the infant when correctly positioned
      over the neonate. It is likely, however, that an increased safety factor is
      potentially present for the neonate due to the fact that the neonate's eyes will
      typically be shut for over 50% of the time. It is identified, however, that the
      aphakic response is essentially associated with mature adult retinal cells, and
      that the maturing cells of the neonate may exhibit additional light sensitivity,
      especially in the case of premature infants. Changes in neonatal physiology
      associated with neonatal phototherapy are discussed, which may influence
      mechanisms of light-induced retinal damage.

PMID- 27642672
TI  - Extraction of Protein Conformational Modes from Distance Distributions Using
      Structurally Imputed Bayesian Data Augmentation.
AB  - Protein conformational changes are known to play important roles in assorted
      biochemical and biological processes. Driven by thermal motions of surrounding
      solvent molecules, such a structural remodeling often occurs stochastically. Yet,
      regardless of how random the conformational reconfiguration may appear, it could
      in principle be described by a linear combination of a set of orthogonal modes
      which, in turn, are contained in the intramolecular distance distributions. The
      central challenge is how to obtain the distribution. This contribution proposes a
      Bayesian data-augmentation scheme to extract the predominant modes from only few
      distance distributions, be they from computational sampling or directly from
      experiments such as single-molecule Forster-type resonance energy transfer
      (smFRET). The inference of the complete protein structure from insufficient data
      was recognized as isomorphic to the missing-data problem in Bayesian statistical
      learning. Using smFRET data as an example, the missing coordinates were deduced,
      given protein structural constraints and multiple but limited number of smFRET
      distances; the Boltzmann weighing of each inferred protein structure was then
      evaluated using computational modeling to numerically construct the posterior
      density for the global protein conformation. The conformational modes were then
      determined from the iteratively converged overall conformational distribution
      using principal component analysis. Two examples were presented to illustrate
      these basic ideas as well as their practical implementation. The scheme described
      herein was based on the theory behind the powerful Tanner-Wang algorithm that
      guarantees convergence to the true posterior density. However, instead of
      assuming a mathematical model to calculate the likelihood as in conventional
      statistical inference, here the protein structure was treated as a statistical
      parameter and was imputed from the numerical likelihood function based on
      structural information, a probability model-free method. The framework put forth
      here is anticipated to be generally applicable, offering a new way to articulate
      protein conformational changes in a quantifiable manner.

PMID- 27642673
TI  - Local antibiotic delivery in periodontitis: drug release and its effect on
      supragingival biofilms.
AB  - The effect of a drug-delivery system containing antibacterial metronidazole (MDZ)
      prescribed for periodontitis on supragingival biofilm was evaluated, and possible
      interference by this biofilm in the drug release profile was investigated.
      Streptococcus mutans biofilms were grown and exposed to a controlled-release
      formulation of MDZ or the same formulation without MDZ (vehicle control).
      Untreated biofilms were used as a negative control (NC). Biofilms and culture
      medium (containing detached cells) were collected 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after
      first exposure to treatments. The biomass of the MDZ group was lower than that of
      the NC group at all times. Although MDZ yielded low drug-release rates in the
      presence of the biofilm, it was sufficient for reducing viability for 24 h and
      affecting bacterial metabolism for 48 h. These results suggest that MDZ appears
      to destabilize supragingival biofilm. This biofilm may interfere with MDZ release
      from the formulation.

PMID- 27642674
TI  - TBP2 gene may not be associated with primary ovarian insufficiency.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: It has previously been reported that TATA-binding protein 2 (TBP2)
      knockout female mice are sterile. Our objective was to assess the association
      between the TBP2 gene and primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) in a Chinese
      population. METHODS: A cohort of 60 POI patients matched with 60 fertile controls
      was recruited by Nanjing Medical University. There were no interventions. The
      complete TBP2 exon regions were analyzed by direct sequencing in all POI patients
      and controls. RESULTS: A known single nucleotide polymorphism (rs8019270) was
      identified in both POI and control groups. There was no difference in the
      genotype distribution or allelic frequencies between the control group and the
      POI group. No plausible pathogenic mutations were identified. CONCLUSION: Our
      study indicates that the TBP2 gene is not responsible for idiopathic POI in the
      Chinese Han population.

PMID- 27642675
TI  - An Effective Procedure for Analyzing Molecular Vibrations in Terms of Local
      Fragment Modes.
AB  - Normal mode analysis is nowadays routinely performed in most quantum chemistry
      codes as a valuable tool for studying molecular motions. In systems formed by
      several molecular units, such as noncovalently bound donor-acceptor systems,
      normal modes are frequently delocalized over the whole structure, leading to a
      complicated interpretation of vibrations. Here, we propose a simple procedure to
      localize normal modes, based on the definition of fragment Hessian submatrices
      that lead to legitimate local fragment modes. These fragment modes can be defined
      for any arbitrary number of atoms and fragments and form in general a complete
      basis that can be used to expand the total normal modes. We use this fragment
      basis to explore the molecular origin of the normal modes of benzene, and several
      peaks in the infrared spectrum of tetraalanine. Additionally, we propose a
      criteria to define breathing modes in noncovalently bound systems, based on the
      fact that motions of the center of mass of fragments are not translational and
      rotational invariant with respect to the total center of mass of the system. By
      using the Sayvetz-Eckart conditions of fragments, we can quantify the
      contribution of rotation and translation of the fragments center of mass on the
      normal modes of the total system.

PMID- 27642676
TI  - A Randomized Controlled Comparison of Emotional Freedom Technique and Cognitive
      Behavioral Therapy to Reduce Adolescent Anxiety: A Pilot Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this pilot study was to compare the efficacy of
      Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) with that of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
      (CBT) in reducing adolescent anxiety. DESIGN: Randomized controlled study.
      SETTINGS: This study took place in 10 schools (8 public/2 private; 4 high
      schools/6 middle schools) in 2 northeastern states in the United States.
      PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-three high-ability students in grades 6-12, ages 10-18 years,
      who scored in the moderate to high ranges for anxiety on the Revised Children's
      Manifest Anxiety Scale-2 (RCMAS-2) were randomly assigned to CBT (n = 21), EFT (n
      = 21), or waitlist control (n = 21) intervention groups. INTERVENTIONS: CBT is
      the gold standard of anxiety treatment for adolescent anxiety. EFT is an evidence
      based treatment for anxiety that incorporates acupoint stimulation. Students
      assigned to the CBT or EFT treatment groups received three individual sessions of
      the identified protocols from trained graduate counseling, psychology, or social
      work students enrolled at a large northeastern research university. OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The RCMAS-2 was used to assess preintervention and postintervention
      anxiety levels in participants. RESULTS: EFT participants (n = 20; M = 52.16, SD
      = 9.23) showed significant reduction in anxiety levels compared with the waitlist
      control group (n = 21; M = 57.93, SD = 6.02) (p = 0.005, d = 0.74, 95% CI [-9.76,
      -1.77]) with a moderate to large effect size. CBT participants (n = 21; M =
      54.82, SD = 5.81) showed reduction in anxiety but did not differ significantly
      from the EFT (p = 0.18, d = 0.34; 95% CI [-6.61, 1.30]) or control (p = 0.12, d =
      0.53, 95% CI [-7.06, .84]). CONCLUSIONS: EFT is an efficacious intervention to
      significantly reduce anxiety for high-ability adolescents.

PMID- 27642678
TI  - Formal Sex Education Increasingly Omits Topics Important to Adolescents'
      Reproductive Health.

PMID- 27642679
TI  - Presence of School-Based Health Services Linked To Teenage Birth Outcomes.

PMID- 27642680
TI  - Local Access to a Planned Parenthood Clinic Linked To Reduced Dropout Rates.

PMID- 27642681
TI  - Having Friends Who Were Teenage Mothers Appears To Influence Women's Fertility,
      Educational Outcomes.

PMID- 27642682
TI  - Motivation to Have Sex Positively Associated With the Risk of Becoming a Teenage
      Father.

PMID- 27642683
TI  - Concordance of Couples' Pregnancy Desires Linked To Rapid Repeat Pregnancy.

PMID- 27642684
TI  - Prevalence of STD Testing Is Low Among U.S. Adolescents, Young Adults.

PMID- 27642685
TI  - Advancing the Measurement of Care Coordination in Pediatric Behavioral Health.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the measure review and evaluation process used to identify
      new measures of care coordination for children with behavioral health needs
      conducted as part of Massachusetts' Children's Health Insurance Program
      Reauthorization Act Quality Demonstration Grant. METHOD: The Massachusetts Child
      Health Quality Coalition identified a shortage of pediatric measures of care
      coordination in behavioral health. After an extensive literature review, the
      Measure Development Committee applied the Care Coordination Key Elements
      Framework (Framework), which was designed as part of the grant work, and used a
      modified RAND Delphi method to conduct feasibility and validity evaluation and
      propose the new candidate measures for further rigorous testing. RESULTS: Thirty
      two measures were evaluated. One existing Healthcare Effectiveness Data and
      Information Set and 8 newly proposed measures met the criteria for feasibility
      and reliability. These measures represented each of the key elements contained in
      the Framework. The measures need further testing to ensure scientific
      acceptability and wide usability. CONCLUSION: A multipronged methodology was used
      to propose measures of care coordination in the space of pediatric behavioral
      health to fill the identified gaps in existing measures.

PMID- 27642686
TI  - The Challenge of Assessing Response to Psychotropic Medication Trials in Very
      Young Children with Fragile X Syndrome: A Cautionary Note.

PMID- 27642687
TI  - Intermolecular Interaction between Phosphatidylcholine and Sulfobetaine Lipid: A
      Combination of Lipids with Antiparallel Arranged Headgroup Charge.
AB  - Intermolecular interactions between lipid molecules are important when designing
      lipid bilayer interfaces, which have many biomedical applications such as in drug
      delivery vehicles and biosensors. Phosphatidylcholine, a naturally occurring
      lipid, is the most common lipid found in organisms. Its chemical structure has a
      negatively charged phosphate linkage, adjacent to an ester linkage in a glycerol
      moiety, and a positively charged choline group, placed at the terminus of the
      molecule. Recently, several types of synthetic lipids that have headgroups with
      the opposite charge to that of phosphatidylcholine have emerged; that is, a
      positively charged ammonium group is present adjacent to the ester linkage in
      their glycerol moiety and a negatively charged group is placed at their terminus.
      These types of lipids constitute a new class of soft material. The aim of this
      study was to determine how such lipids, with antiparallel arranged headgroup
      charge, interact with naturally occurring phosphatidylcholines. We synthesized
      1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-sulfobetaine (DPSB) to represent a reversed-head
      lipid; 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) was used to
      represent a naturally occurring phospholipid. The intermolecular interaction
      between these lipids was investigated using surface pressure-area (pi-A)
      isotherms of the lipid monolayer at the air/water interface. We found that the
      extrapolated area and excess free energy of the mixed monolayer deviated
      negatively when compared with the ideal values from additivity. Moreover,
      differential scanning calorimetry of the lipid mixture in aqueous dispersion
      showed that the gel-to-liquid crystal transition temperature increased compared
      with that of each pure lipid composition. These results clearly indicate that
      DPSB preferably interacts with DPPC in the mixture. We believe that the
      attraction between the oppositely charged headgroups of these lipids reinforces
      the intermolecular interaction. Our results provide insight into the
      intermolecular interaction between phospholipids and reversed-head lipids, which
      may prove useful for the design of lipid-based materials in the future.

PMID- 27642688
TI  - LaeA and VeA are involved in growth morphology, asexual development, and
      mycotoxin production in Alternaria alternata.
AB  - Alternaria alternata is a common filamentous fungus that contaminates various
      fruits, grains and vegetables causing important economic losses to farmers and
      the food industry. A. alternata is a mycotoxigenic mould, which may jeopardize
      human and animal health. Two of the most common A. alternata mycotoxins found in
      food and feed are alternariol and alternariol monomethyl ether. In this study we
      examined the role of LaeA and VeA, two regulatory proteins belonging to the
      velvet family, which have been described to be involved in several functions in
      many fungi including secondary metabolism. We found that deletion of laeA and veA
      genes, respectively, greatly reduced sporulation and strongly compromised
      mycotoxin production, both in vitro or during pathogenesis of tomato fruits. We
      have also studied how the loss of laeA and veA may affect expression of genes
      related to alternariol and alternariol monomethyl ether biosynthesis (pksJ and
      altR), and to melanin biosynthesis (cmrA, pksA).

PMID- 27642689
TI  - Medical Students Raising Concerns.
AB  - After a number of high-profile incidents and national reports, it has become
      clear that all health professionals and all medical students must be able to
      raise concerns about a colleague's behavior if this behavior puts patients,
      colleagues, or themselves at risk.Detailed evidence from medical students about
      their confidence to raise concerns is limited, together with examples of
      barriers, which impair their ability to do so. We describe a questionnaire survey
      of medical students in a single-center, examining self-reported confidence about
      raising concerns in a number of possible scenarios. Thematic analysis was applied
      to comments about barriers identified.Although 80% of respondents felt confident
      to report a patient safety issue, students were less confident around issues of
      probity, attitude, and conduct. This needs to be addressed to create clear
      mechanisms to raise concerns, as well as support for students during the process.

PMID- 27642692
TI  - NOTES FROM THE NET NOMAD ....

PMID- 27642691
TI  - LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

PMID- 27642693
TI  - CE Test: Strategic Use of Faculty Workgroups to Develop Online Interactive
      Geriatric Curricular Modules.

PMID- 27642694
TI  - Malbec grape (Vitis vinifera L.) responses to the environment: Berry phenolics as
      influenced by solar UV-B, water deficit and sprayed abscisic acid.
AB  - High-altitude vineyards receive elevated solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) levels so
      producing high quality berries for winemaking because of induction in the
      synthesis of phenolic compounds. Water deficit (D) after veraison, is a commonly
      used tool to regulate berry polyphenols concentration in red wine cultivars.
      Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a crucial role in the acclimation to environmental
      factors/signals (including UV-B and D). The aim of the present study was to
      evaluate independent and interactive effects of high-altitude solar UV-B,
      moderate water deficit and ABA applications on Vitis vinifera cv. Malbec berries.
      The experiment was conducted during two growing seasons with two treatments of UV
      B (+UV-B and -UV-B), watering (+D and -D) and ABA (+ABA and -ABA), in a factorial
      design. Berry fresh weight, sugar content, fruit yield, phenolic compounds
      profile and antioxidant capacity (ORAC) were analyzed at harvest. Previous
      incidence of high UV-B prevented deleterious effects of water deficit, i.e. berry
      weight reduction and diminution of sugar accumulation. High UV-B increased total
      phenols (mainly astilbin, quercetin and kaempferol) and ORAC, irrespectively of
      the combination with other factors. Fruit yield was reduced by combining water
      deficit and high UV-B or water deficit and ABA. Two applications of ABA were
      enough to induced biochemical changes increasing total anthocyanins, especially
      those with higher antioxidant capacity.

PMID- 27642695
TI  - Towards understanding problems in the parent-practitioner relationship when a
      child has cancer: meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This review aimed to synthesise qualitative research on problems in
      the parent-practitioner relationship in childhood cancer, to understand how these
      problems arise, how they are conceptualised and how they might be resolved.
      METHODS: A systematic search of five electronic databases identified 2863
      articles. After screening, 81 full text papers were assessed for eligibility, and
      four were included in the review. Six further papers were identified through
      searching reference lists and citation tracking. Synthesis of these 10 papers
      drew on the meta-study approach, involving analysis, comparison and integration
      of findings, methods and theoretical influences. RESULTS: All papers but one
      conceptualised problems in the parent-practitioner relationship as conflict or
      relational problems, attributing these to differences between parents and
      practitioners in roles and perspectives, or in power and authority. The remaining
      paper focussed on parents' emotional needs as the basis for relationship
      problems. Our approach to synthesis exposed researchers' prior assumptions and
      the influence of these on the methods, analysis and findings of the studies.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current literature gives little attention to how interpersonal
      problems with practitioners may reflect the emotional needs of parents.
      Understanding these problems as an expression of the distress and fear parents
      experienced because of their child's condition may offer new ways of helping
      parents. Future research needs to address the limitations of previous studies,
      including ensuring that the study design and analysis allow contextual factors
      and intrapersonal factors to be explored, and that researchers are open to their
      perspectives being altered by their data.

PMID- 27642696
TI  - Unnatural pregnancy deaths in Las Vegas: A descriptive study.
AB  - This study reports descriptive data assessing the prevalence of various risk
      factors and associations among pregnancy-related death by unnatural causes
      (PRUD), namely suicide, homicide and accidental causes in the city of Las Vegas.
      In 7215 women referred for autopsy, results showed PRUD 0.1% (n = 37) was more
      common in the Caucasian race 45.9% (n = 17), and ages 20-30 years 43.2% (n = 16).
      We also identified high prevalence of mental illness 51.3% (n = 19) and low
      prenatal care 37.8% (n = 14), particularly in our suicide cohort 100.0% (n = 13),
      and 15.3% (n = 2) respectively. Our study demonstrates the first investigation to
      identify the relationship between mental illness, particularly mood and substance
      disorders with pregnancy-related unnatural death.

PMID- 27642697
TI  - Per Migliorare la Guarigione di Pazienti Affetti da Infezione del Tratto
      Respiratorio.
AB  - The common respiratory tract infections of acute bacterial sinusitis, acute
      exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, and community-acquired pneumonia are
      responsible for millions of physician office visits every year. Despite advances
      in diagnostic testing and the development of new antimicrobial agents, these
      infections continue to contribute significantly to patient morbidity and
      mortality worldwide. Physicians are faced with multiple challenges in the
      management of patients with these diseases. These challenges include the
      selection of appropriate empiric therapy, the increasing emergence of resistant
      pathogens, patient noncompliance with therapeutic regimens, and the pressure to
      use costeffective agents. Patients expect their antibiotics to work rapidly so
      that they can feel better quickly and return swiftly to their normal activities.
      Moxifloxacin has been developed to address many of these problems. Its efficacy
      has been demonstrated in an extensive clinical trial program the results of which
      are summarized below. The excellent pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of
      moxifloxacin are covered elsewhere in this supplement, as is moxifloxacin's
      impressive safety and tolerability profile. Accordingly, this paper focuses on
      the clinical trial data currently available.

PMID- 27642698
TI  - Un Aggiornato Profilo di Sicurezza della Moxifloxacina.

PMID- 27642699
TI  - Subcellular reprogramming of metabolism during cold acclimation in Arabidopsis
      thaliana.
AB  - Metabolite changes in plant leaves during exposure to low temperatures involve re
      allocation of a large number of metabolites between sub-cellular compartments.
      Therefore, metabolite determination at the whole cell level may be insufficient
      for interpretation of the functional significance of cellular compounds. To
      investigate the cold-induced metabolite dynamics at the level of individual sub
      cellular compartments, an integrative platform was developed that combines
      quantitative metabolite profiling by gas chromatography coupled to mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS) with the non-aqueous fractionation technique allowing
      separation of cytosol, vacuole and the plastidial compartment. Two mutants of
      Arabidopsis thaliana representing antipodes in the diversion of carbohydrate
      metabolism between sucrose and starch were compared to Col-0 wildtype before and
      after cold acclimation to investigate interactions of cold acclimation with
      subcellular re-programming of metabolism. A multivariate analysis of the data set
      revealed dominant effects of compartmentation on metabolite concentrations that
      were modulated by environmental condition and genetic determinants. While for
      both, the starchless mutant of plastidial phospho-gluco mutase (pgm) and a mutant
      defective in sucrose-phosphate synthase A1, metabolic constraints, especially at
      low temperature, could be uncovered based on subcellularly resolved metabolite
      profiles, only pgm had lowered freezing tolerance. Metabolic profiles of pgm
      point to redox imbalance as a possible reason for reduced cold acclimation
      capacity.

PMID- 27642700
TI  - [Conventional X-Rays of Ankle Joint Fractures in Older Patients are Not Always
      Predictive].
AB  - Background: Ankle fractures are extremely common in the elderly, with an
      incidence of up to 39 fractures per 100,000 persons per year. We found a
      discrepancy between intraoperative findings and preoperative X-ray findings. It
      was suggested that many relevant lesions of the ankle joint in the elderly cannot
      be detected with plain X-rays. Methods: Complete data sets and preoperative X
      rays of 84 patients aged above 60 years with ankle fractures were analysed
      retrospectively. There were 59 women and 25 men, with a mean age of 69.9 years.
      Operation reports and preoperative X-rays were analysed with respect to four
      relevant lesions: multifragmentary fracture pattern of the lateral malleolus,
      involvement of the medial malleolus, posterior malleolar fractures and bony
      avulsion of anterior syndesmosis. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive
      value, negative predictive value, accuracy and prevalence were calculated.
      Results: The prevalence of specific ankle lesions in the analyzed cohort was 24 %
      for the multifragmentary fracture pattern of the lateral malleolus, 38 % for
      fractures of the medial malleolus, 25 % for posterior malleolar fractures and
      22.6 % for bony avulsions of the anterior syndesmosis. Multifragmentary fracture
      patterns of the lateral malleolus (sensitivity 0 %) and bony avulsions of the
      anterior syndesmosis (sensitivity 5 %) could not be detected in plain X-rays of
      the ankle joint at all. Fractures of the medial malleolus and involvement of the
      dorsal tibial facet were detected with a sensitivity of 96.8 % and 76.2 %,
      respectively, and specificity of 100 % in both cases. Conclusions: This study
      confirms that complex fracture patterns, such as multifragmentary involvement of
      the lateral malleolus, additional fracture of the medial malleolus, involvement
      of the dorsal tibial facet or bony avulsion of the anterior syndesmosis are
      common in ankle fractures of the elderly. Therefore, CT scans should be routinely
      considered for primary diagnosis, in addition to plain X-rays.

PMID- 27642701
TI  - Understanding the delay in starting antiretroviral therapy despite recent
      guidelines for HIV patients retained in care.
AB  - Despite strong evidence of a clinical benefit from initiating antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) immediately after diagnosis some patients remain ART naive. We
      examined explanations, over a four-year period in a centralized HIV clinical
      cohort under universal health care, for newly diagnosed patients, while being
      fully engaged and retained in HIV care, delaying ART initiation for >180 days
      following their HIV diagnosis. All patients followed at the Southern Alberta
      Clinic, Calgary, Canada between 1 January 2010 and 1 January 2014 were included
      and followed until they moved, were lost to follow-up, died or until 1 January
      2015. Of 269 patients, 56 (21.8%) deferred ART >180 days; 26 (9.7%) remained ART
      naive until the end of the study. Patients delaying or deferring ART were
      younger, Canadian-born, and with higher CD4 counts (p < .01). "No clinical
      urgency" especially for patients with higher CD4 counts, was most often listed
      for deferring ART, however when ART was offered "patient not ready", "unstable
      substance use", "difficulties adjusting" or "wanting to wait" were often cited
      regardless of CD4 levels. At times ART, when offered, was adamantly declined by
      the patient. The physician's assessment of a patient's ability to adhere to
      lifelong ART was an issue in some cases. While structural or financial issues may
      impact ART initiation, our results suggest that, even in an environment of free
      and easy access to ART, many challenges still exist at the implementation stage.
      Intense efforts in both patient and physician education will be required if the
      benefits of early ART as recommended by the WHO in their recent guidelines, are
      to be achieved at the individual and population level.

PMID- 27642702
TI  - What is the minimal dose of cognitive behavior therapy for psychosis? An
      approximation using repeated assessments over 45 sessions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The general efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy for psychosis
      (CBTp) is well established. Although guidelines recommend that CBTp should be
      offered over a minimum of 16 sessions, the minimal number of sessions required to
      achieve significant changes in psychopathology has not been systematically
      investigated. Empirically informed knowledge of the minimal and optimal dose of
      CBTp is relevant in terms of dissemination and cost-effectiveness. METHODS: We
      approached the question of what constitutes an appropriate dose by investigating
      the dose (duration of CBTp)*response (symptomatic improvement) relationship for
      positive symptoms, negative symptoms and depression. Patients with psychotic
      disorders (n=58) were assessed over the course of 45 sessions of CBTp in a
      clinical practice setting. At baseline and after session 5, 15, 25, and 45,
      general psychopathology, psychotic symptoms, symptom distress and coping were
      assessed with self-report questionnaires. Additionally, individually defined
      target symptoms and coping were assessed after each session. RESULTS: Significant
      symptom improvement and reduction of symptom distress took place by session 15,
      and stayed fairly stable thereafter. The frequency of positive and negative
      symptoms reached a minimum by session 25. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support
      recommendations to provide CBTp over a minimum of 16 sessions and indicate that
      these recommendations are generalizable to clinical practice settings. However,
      the findings also imply that 25 sessions are the more appropriate dose. This
      study contributes to an empirically informed discussion on the minimal and
      optimal dose of CBTp. It also provides a basis for planning randomized trials
      comparing briefer and longer versions of CBTp.

PMID- 27642703
TI  - Short-term quality of life outcomes following pediatric septoplasty.
AB  - CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric septoplasty may be associated with short-term symptomatic
      benefit. This benefit may be greater in female patients and equally achievable in
      young patients and using less invasive surgical approaches. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the short-term effect of pediatric septoplasty, which is not routinely
      performed, on sinus and nasal-specific quality-of-life. METHODS: This study is a
      retrospective case series of 28 pediatric patients that underwent septoplasty.
      Pre- and post-septoplasty SN-5 overall (mean of all five items, range = 1-7) and
      visual analog scale (VAS; range = 0-10) scores were obtained and compared using a
      Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Comparisons of pre- to post-septoplasty changes by sex
      (female vs male), age (<13 vs >=13 years), and surgical approach (open vs closed)
      were performed using a Mann-Whitney U-test. Median and interquartile range are
      reported. RESULTS: Overall and VAS scores significantly improved from pre- to
      post-septoplasty (3.5 [2.8, 4.3] to 2.0 [1.4, 2.8], p < .001; 5.0 [4.0, 6.3] to
      8.0 [8.0, 10.0], p < .001). Females reported significantly greater overall and
      VAS score improvements compared to males (-1.8 [-2.6, -1.6] compared to -1.0 [
      1.6, -0.2], p = .01; 5.0 [4.0, 5.0] compared to 3.0 [1.5, 4.0], p = .007).
      Comparisons of changes by age and surgical approach were not significantly
      different.

PMID- 27642704
TI  - Bridging C-H Activation: Mild and Versatile Cleavage of the 8-Aminoquinoline
      Directing Group.
AB  - 8-Aminoquinoline has emerged as one of the most powerful bidentate directing
      groups in history of C-H activation within the last decade. However, cleavage of
      its robust amide bond has shown to be challenging in several cases, thus
      jeopardizing the general synthetic utility of the method. To overcome this
      limitation, we herein report a simple oxidative deprotection protocol. This
      transformation rapidly converts the robust amide to a labile imide, allowing
      subsequent cleavage in a simple one-pot fashion to rapidly access carboxylic
      acids or amides as final products.

PMID- 27642705
TI  - Non-monotonic health behaviours - implications for individual health-related
      behaviour in a demand-for-health framework.
AB  - A number of behaviours influence health in a non-monotonic way. Physical activity
      and alcohol consumption, for instance, may be beneficial to one's health in
      moderate but detrimental in large quantities. We develop a demand-for-health
      framework that incorporates the feature of a physiologically optimal level. An
      individual may still choose a physiologically non-optimal level, because of the
      trade-off in his or her preferences for health versus other utility-affecting
      commodities. However, any deviation above or below the physiologically optimal
      level will be punished with respect to health. Distinguishing between two
      individual types we study (a) the qualitative properties of optimal time-paths of
      health capital and health-related behaviour, (b) the perturbations of the optimal
      time-paths that result from changes in exogenous parameters, and (c) steady state
      properties. Predictions of the model and the implications for empirical analysis
      are discussed at length. Some comments on potential future extensions conclude
      the paper.

PMID- 27642706
TI  - Hemocyte responses of the thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus exposed to nano
      TiO2 and seawater acidification.
AB  - With increasing production from nanotechnology industries, nanomaterials are
      inevitably released into the aquatic environment, thereby posing a potential risk
      to aquatic organisms. Thus, concerns have been raised on the potential
      ecotoxicological effect of nanoparticle. Furthermore, the ecotoxicological
      consequences caused by the interaction of nanoparticles with other environmental
      stresses, such as seawater acidification on marine animals, have not been
      evaluated. In particular, whether acidification enhances the susceptibility to
      nanoparticles in bivalves needs to be evaluated. In the present study, we
      investigated the combined effects of low pH and nanoscale titanium dioxide (nano
      TiO2) on some immune parameters of hemocytes in the mussel Mytilus coruscus by
      flow cytometry under six combinations of two pH values (7.3 and 8.1) and three
      nano-TiO2 concentrations (0, 2.5, and 10mgL-1) for 14 d. Afterward, the mussels
      were shifted to normal conditions without nano-TiO2 at pH 8.1 for 7 d further to
      test their recovery from the multiple stresses. Total hemocyte count (THC),
      phagocytosis (Pha), esterase (Est), and lysosomal content (Lyso) decreased under
      low pH and high nano-TiO2 concentration conditions, whereas hemocyte mortality
      (HM) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased with nano-TiO2 concentrations
      under low pH conditions. The interactive effects between pH and nano-TiO2 were
      observed at the latter part of the exposure experiment (7 and 14 d) in most
      hemocyte parameters. Nano-TiO2 influenced the immune functions of mussel more
      severely than low pH. Slight recovery from the combined stresses was observed for
      HM, THC, Pha, and Lyso, but significant carry-over effects of nano-TiO2 and low
      pH were still observed. This study demonstrated that both low pH and high
      concentration of nano-TiO2 had negative effects on mussels, and these effects
      still acted for some time even though the mussels were already out of such
      stressors.

PMID- 27642707
TI  - Acute exposure to waterborne cadmium induced oxidative stress and immunotoxicity
      in the brain, ovary and liver of zebrafish (Danio rerio).
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental contaminant that poses serious risks to aquatic
      organisms and their associated ecosystem. The mechanisms underlying Cd-induced
      oxidative stress and immunotoxicity in fish remain largely unknown. In this
      study, adult female zebrafish were exposed to 0 (control), 1mgL-1 Cd for 24h and
      96h, and the oxidative stress and inflammatory responses induced by Cd were
      evaluated in the brain, liver and ovary. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric
      oxide (NO), and malondialdehyde (MDA) increased in a time-dependent manner after
      treatment with Cd in the brain and liver. The increase may result from the
      disturbance of genes including copper and zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD),
      catalase (CAT), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and ciclooxigenase-2 (COX
      2) at mRNA, protein and activity levels. Although ROS, NO and MDA were not
      significantly affected by Cd in the ovary, the up-regulation of Cu/Zn-SOD, CAT,
      iNOS, and COX-2 was observed. Exposure to Cd induced a sharp increase in the
      protein levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the brain, liver and
      ovary, possibly contributing to activate inflammatory responses. Furthermore, we
      also found a dramatic increase in mRNA levels of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)
      and nuclear transcription factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) at 24h in the liver and
      ovary. The corresponding changes in the mRNA levels of Kelch-like-ECH-associated
      protein 1 (Keap1a and Keap1b) and the inhibitor of kappaBalpha (IkappaBalphaa and
      IkappaBalphab) may contribute to regulate the transcriptional activity of Nrf2
      and NF-kappaB, respectively. Contrarily, mRNA levels of Nrf2, NF-kappaB, Keap1,
      Keap1b, IkappaBalphaa and IkappaBalphab remained stable at 24 and 96h in the
      brain. Taken together, we demonstrated Cd-induced oxidative stress and
      immunotoxicity in fish, possibly through transcriptional regulation of Nrf2 and
      NF-kappaB and gene modifications at transcriptional, translational, post
      translational levels, which would greatly extend our understanding on the Cd
      toxicity.

PMID- 27642708
TI  - Hormesis, cellular stress response, and redox homeostasis in autism spectrum
      disorders.
AB  - In the United States, 1.1-1.5% of children have been diagnosed with autism
      spectrum disorders (ASD), corresponding to a 30% increase in incidence and
      prevalence. Social and communication impairments are the main signs and symptoms
      of ASD, and currently available medications have been ineffective in reducing
      these core deficits. Observational studies have indicated that children with ASD
      tend to show improved cognition and behavior after febrile illness, which is
      associated with alteration of metabolic pathways, leading to cellular stress
      responses and increased expression of heat shock proteins (Hsps). Sulforaphane
      and hydroxytyrosol, phytochemicals derived from cruciferous vegetables and extra
      virgin olive oil, respectively, can induce metabolic effects in cellular stress
      responses that are similar to those produced by fever. Thus, modulation of
      endogenous cellular defense mechanisms may be an innovative approach for
      therapeutic intervention in ASD and other disorders associated with
      neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. This Review introduces the hormetic dose
      response concept and presents possible mechanisms and applications for
      neuroprotection. We address the emerging role of Hsps in the neuroprotective
      network of redox stress-responsive mechanisms and propose the potential
      therapeutic utility of the nutritional antioxidants sulforaphane and
      hydroxytyrosol against particular signs and symptoms of ASD. We argue that such
      research findings must be approached with pragmatism and prudence. It is vital to
      capitalize on recent and ongoing investments in brain science research and to
      refine neuroscientific knowledge and capability for more accurate diagnosis and
      safe, effective, and ethically sound treatment of ASD and other neuropsychiatric
      spectrum disorders. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642709
TI  - Omega-3 fatty acids, nutrient retention values, and sensory meat eating quality
      in cooked and raw Australian lamb.
AB  - This study evaluated omega-3 intramuscular fatty acids in the longissimus
      thoracis et lumborum of commercially prepared Australian lamb loin chops. Meats,
      denuded of external fats were cooked by means of conductive dry-heat using a fry
      grilling hot plate, to a core temperature of 70 degrees C. An untrained consumer
      panel assessed meat appearance, aroma, tenderness, juiciness, taste and overall
      liking. Results showed no compositional alterations (P>0.05) to omega-3 fatty
      acids due to cooking treatment, whereas on absolute terms (mg/100g muscle) omega
      3 fatty acids significantly (P<0.05) increased. The mean EPA+DHA content of the
      cooked meat at 32.8+/-2.3mg/100g muscle exceeded the minimum 30mg/100g per edible
      portion required for the defined Australian classification as 'source' long-chain
      (>=C20) omega-3 for cooked lamb. A 3.4% intramuscular fat content in the initial
      raw meat was sufficient to maintain acceptable overall sensory eating quality.
      Results endorse the application of this cooking method to enable delivery of
      health beneficial long-chain omega-3 fatty acids of commercially prepared
      Australian lamb loin chops to consumers without impediments to sensory eating
      properties.

PMID- 27642711
TI  - Template-based Synthesis of a Formate Metal-Organic Framework/Activated Carbon
      Fiber Composite for High-performance Methane Adsorptive Separation.
AB  - Simultaneous improvement in adsorption selectivity and capacity for single
      adsorbents is challenging but counting for much in adsorptive separations. To
      this end, a formate metal-organic framework and activated carbon fiber composite
      was synthesized in our work by a simple two-step process, involving homogeneous
      precipitation of a MOF precursor on an activated carbon fiber and subsequent
      template replication. The resultant core-shell composite, ACF@[Ni3 (HCOO)6 ],
      exhibited optimized adsorption performance both in selectivity and capacity for
      the separation of CH4 /N2 to most of state-of-the-art adsorbents.

PMID- 27642710
TI  - Conditional deletion of WT1 in the septum transversum mesenchyme causes
      congenital diaphragmatic hernia in mice.
AB  - Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a severe birth defect. Wt1-null mouse
      embryos develop CDH but the mechanisms regulated by WT1 are unknown. We have
      generated a murine model with conditional deletion of WT1 in the lateral plate
      mesoderm, using the G2 enhancer of the Gata4 gene as a driver. 80% of G2
      Gata4(Cre);Wt1(fl/fl) embryos developed typical Bochdalek-type CDH. We show that
      the posthepatic mesenchymal plate coelomic epithelium gives rise to a mesenchyme
      that populates the pleuroperitoneal folds isolating the pleural cavities before
      the migration of the somitic myoblasts. This process fails when Wt1 is deleted
      from this area. Mutant embryos show Raldh2 downregulation in the lateral
      mesoderm, but not in the intermediate mesoderm. The mutant phenotype was
      partially rescued by retinoic acid treatment of the pregnant females. Replacement
      of intermediate by lateral mesoderm recapitulates the evolutionary origin of the
      diaphragm in mammals. CDH might thus be viewed as an evolutionary atavism.

PMID- 27642712
TI  - Optimal control of the Lotka-Volterra system: turnpike property and numerical
      simulations.
AB  - The Lotka-Volterra model is a differential system of two coupled equations
      representing the interaction of two species: a prey one and a predator one. We
      formulate an optimal control problem adding the effect of hunting both species as
      the control variable. We analyse the optimal hunting problem paying special
      attention to the nature of the optimal state and control trajectories in long
      time intervals. To do that, we apply recent theoretical results on the frame to
      show that, when the time horizon is large enough, optimal strategies are nearly
      steady-state. Such path is known as turnpike property. Some experiments are
      performed to observe such turnpike phenomenon in the hunting problem. Based on
      the turnpike property, we implement a variant of the single shooting method to
      solve the previous optimisation problem, taking the middle of the time interval
      as starting point. 

PMID- 27642713
TI  - New Insights into the Reactivity of Cisplatin with Free and Restrained
      Nucleophiles: Microsolvation Effects and Base Selectivity in Cisplatin-DNA
      Interactions.
AB  - The reactivity of cisplatin towards different nucleophiles has been studied by
      using density functional theory (DFT). Water was considered first to analyze the
      factors that govern the transformation of cisplatin into more electrophilic
      aquated species by using an activation-strain model. It was found that the
      selectivity and reactivity of cisplatin is a delicate trade-off between strain
      and interaction energies and that the second chloride is a worse leaving group
      than the first. When similar studies were carried out with imidazole, guanine
      (G), and adenine (A), it was found that in general the second nucleophilic
      substitution reactions have lower activation barriers than the first ones.
      Finally, simulations of the structural restrictions imposed by the DNA scaffold
      in intra- and interstrand processes showed that the geometries of the reaction
      products are nonoptimal with respect to the unrestrained A and G nucleophiles,
      although the energetic cost is not considerable under physiological conditions,
      which thus permits nucleophilic substitution reactions that lead to highly
      distorted DNA.

PMID- 27642714
TI  - Engineered knottin peptides as diagnostics, therapeutics, and drug delivery
      vehicles.
AB  - Inhibitor cystine-knots, also known as knottins, are a structural family of ultra
      stable peptides with diverse functions. Knottins and related backbone-cyclized
      peptides called cyclotides contain three disulfide bonds connected in a
      particular arrangement that endows these peptides with high thermal, proteolytic,
      and chemical stability. Knottins have gained interest as candidates for non
      invasive molecular imaging and for drug development as they can possess the
      pharmacological properties of small molecules and the target affinity and
      selectively of protein biologics. Naturally occurring knottins are clinically
      approved for treating chronic pain and GI disorders. Combinatorial methods are
      being used to engineer knottins that can bind to other clinically relevant
      targets in cancer, and inflammatory and cardiac disease. This review details
      recent examples of engineered knottin peptides; their use as molecular imaging
      agents, therapeutics, and drug delivery vehicles; modifications that can be
      introduced to improve peptide folding and bioactivity; and future perspectives
      and challenges in the field.

PMID- 27642715
TI  - Rodriguez acrofacial dysostosis is caused by apparently de novo heterozygous
      mutations in the SF3B4 gene.
AB  - Acrofacial dysostosis syndrome of Rodriguez is characterized by severe mandibular
      underdevelopment, upper limb phocomelia with absent fingers, absent fibulae,
      cleft palate, microtia, and abnormal pulmonary function. First reported in three
      siblings it was assumed to be an autosomal recessive condition. However,
      subsequent publication reported a further five simplex occurrences and a living
      patient with a heterozygous mutation in the SF3B4 gene. Exome sequencing was
      performed on four fetuses with this disorder, including one of the originally
      described affected siblings. We identified two heterozygous frameshift mutations
      in the SF3B4 gene in three of the four fetuses investigated. The observed
      mutation was apparently de novo in one fetus for whom parental DNA was available.
      Thus, Acrofacial dysostosis syndrome of Rodriguez is an autosomal dominant
      condition and the recurrences identified in the initial report were likely due to
      gonadal mosaicism. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27642717
TI  - Big Data As an Enabler of Primary Education.

PMID- 27642716
TI  - Structural neural correlates of multitasking: A voxel-based morphometry study.
AB  - Multitasking refers to the ability to organize assorted tasks efficiently in a
      short period of time, which plays an important role in daily life. However, the
      structural neural correlates of multitasking performance remain unclear. The
      present study aimed at exploring the brain regions associated with multitasking
      performance using global correlation analysis. Twenty-six healthy participants
      first underwent structural brain scans and then performed the modified Six
      Element Test, which required participants to attempt six subtasks in 10 min while
      obeying a specific rule. Voxel-based morphometry of the whole brain was used to
      detect the structural correlates of multitasking ability. Grey matter volume of
      the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was positively correlated with the overall
      performance and time monitoring in multitasking. In addition, white matter volume
      of the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) was also positively correlated with time
      monitoring during multitasking. Other related brain regions associated with
      multitasking included the superior frontal gyrus, the inferior occipital gyrus,
      the lingual gyrus, and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. No significant
      correlation was found between grey matter volume of the prefrontal cortex
      (Brodmann Area 10) and multitasking performance. Using a global correlation
      analysis to examine various aspects of multitasking performance, this study
      provided new insights into the structural neural correlates of multitasking
      ability. In particular, the ACC was identified as an important brain region that
      played both a general and a specific time-monitoring role in multitasking,
      extending the role of the ACC from lesioned populations to healthy populations.
      The present findings also support the view that the ATR may influence
      multitasking performance by affecting time-monitoring abilities.

PMID- 27642718
TI  - From Value Assessment to Value Cocreation: Informing Clinical Decision-Making
      with Medical Claims Data.
AB  - Big data and advances in analytical processes represent an opportunity for the
      healthcare industry to make better evidence-based decisions on the value
      generated by various tests, procedures, and interventions. Value-based
      reimbursement is the process of identifying and compensating healthcare providers
      based on whether their services improve quality of care without increasing cost
      of care or maintain quality of care while decreasing costs. In this article, we
      motivate and illustrate the potential opportunities for payers and providers to
      collaborate and evaluate the clinical and economic efficacy of different
      healthcare services. We conduct a case study of a firm that offers advanced
      biomarker and disease state management services for cardiovascular and
      cardiometabolic conditions. A value-based analysis that comprised a retrospective
      case/control cohort design was conducted, and claims data for over 7000 subjects
      who received these services were compared to a matched control cohort. Study
      subjects were commercial and Medicare Advantage enrollees with evidence of CHD,
      diabetes, or a related condition. Analysis of medical claims data showed a lower
      proportion of patients who received biomarker testing and disease state
      management services experienced a MI (p < 0.01) or diabetic complications (p <
      0.001). No significant increase in cost of care was found between the two
      cohorts. Our results illustrate the opportunity healthcare payers such as
      Medicare and commercial insurance companies have in terms of identifying value
      creating healthcare interventions. However, payers and providers also need to
      pursue system integration efforts to further automate the identification and
      dissemination of clinically and economically efficacious treatment plans to
      ensure at-risk patients receive the treatments and interventions that will
      benefit them the most.

PMID- 27642719
TI  - A Moment Matching Approach for Generating Synthetic Data.
AB  - Synthetic data are becoming increasingly important mechanisms for sharing data
      among collaborators and with the public. Multiple methods for the generation of
      synthetic data have been proposed, but many have short comings with respect to
      maintaining the statistical properties of the original data. We propose a new
      method for fully synthetic data generation that leverages linear and integer
      mathematical programming models in order to match the moments of the original
      data in the synthetic data. This method has no inherent disclosure risk and does
      not require parametric or distributional assumptions. We demonstrate this
      methodology using the Framingham Heart Study. Existing synthetic data methods
      that use chained equations were compared with our approach. We fit Cox
      proportional hazards, logistic regression, and nonparametric models to synthetic
      data and compared with models fitted to the original data. True coverage, the
      proportion of synthetic data parameter confidence intervals that include the
      original data's parameter estimate, was 100% for parametric models when up to
      four moments were matched, and consistently outperformed the chained equations
      approach. The area under the curve and accuracy of the nonparametric models
      trained on synthetic data marginally differed when tested on the full original
      data. Models were also trained on synthetic data and a partition of original data
      and were tested on a held-out portion of original data. Fourth-order moment
      matched synthetic data outperformed others with respect to fitted parametric
      models but did not always outperform other methods with fitted nonparametric
      models. No single synthetic data method consistently outperformed others when
      assessing the performance of nonparametric models. The performance of fourth
      order moment matched synthetic data in fitting parametric models suggests its use
      in these cases. Our empirical results also suggest that the performance of
      synthetic data generation techniques, including the moment matching approach, is
      less stable for use with nonparametric models. The benefits of the moment
      matching approach should be weighed against additional computational costs. In
      summary, our results demonstrate that the introduced moment matching approach may
      be considered as an alternative to existing synthetic data generation methods.

PMID- 27642720
TI  - Unsupervised Tensor Mining for Big Data Practitioners.
AB  - Multiaspect data are ubiquitous in modern Big Data applications. For instance,
      different aspects of a social network are the different types of communication
      between people, the time stamp of each interaction, and the location associated
      to each individual. How can we jointly model all those aspects and leverage the
      additional information that they introduce to our analysis? Tensors, which are
      multidimensional extensions of matrices, are a principled and mathematically
      sound way of modeling such multiaspect data. In this article, our goal is to
      popularize tensors and tensor decompositions to Big Data practitioners by
      demonstrating their effectiveness, outlining challenges that pertain to their
      application in Big Data scenarios, and presenting our recent work that tackles
      those challenges. We view this work as a step toward a fully automated,
      unsupervised tensor mining tool that can be easily and broadly adopted by
      practitioners in academia and industry.

PMID- 27642722
TI  - Palliative Care for End-Stage Liver Disease Population.

PMID- 27642723
TI  - Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus colonization and bloodstream infection:
      prevalence, risk factors, and the impact on early outcomes after allogeneic
      hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Screening for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) is performed at
      many transplant centers, but data on the impact of VRE colonization and
      bloodstream infection (BSI) on hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes
      remain conflicting. METHODS: Consecutive adults with acute myeloid leukemia who
      underwent allogeneic HCT between 2004 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed.
      Patients were screened by perirectal PCR swabs targeting vanA and vanB twice
      weekly while inpatient. RESULTS: Of a total of 203 patients (median age 54
      years), 73 (36%) were VRE colonized prior to HCT, 23 (11%) became colonized
      within the first 100 days, and 107 (53%) remained non-colonized through day 100
      post HCT. A landmark analysis on HCT day 0 revealed no significant difference in
      overall survival according to pre-transplant colonization status (P=.20).
      However, patients with subsequent VRE colonization within the first 100 days of
      HCT had a significantly worse survival on both univariable (P=.04) and
      multivariable (P=.03) analyses. During the first 30 days post HCT, 11 (5% of
      total and 11% of the VRE colonized) patients developed VRE BSI. Ten (91%) of
      these had screened positive for VRE colonization before the bacteremia. Age >=60
      years, HCT-comorbidity index >=3, and VRE colonization were independent risk
      factors for VRE BSI on multivariable analysis (P=.04, .03, .003, respectively).
      Only 1 (9%) patient with VRE BSI died within the first 100 days post HCT.
      CONCLUSION: VRE colonization is a surrogate marker and not an independent
      predictor of worse outcomes post HCT. VRE BSI is associated with increased
      morbidity, but does not impact post-HCT survival.

PMID- 27642724
TI  - Is curved three-dimensional ultrasound reconstruction needed to assess the warped
      pelvic floor plane?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Caudal distension of the female pelvic floor is common and results in
      perineal descent and a caudally curved levator hiatus (warping). Image
      reconstruction of the pelvic floor using currently available ultrasound
      techniques involves a linear approach (flat-plane reconstruction). We aimed to
      evaluate the feasibility, reproducibility and potential usefulness of a new three
      dimensional (3D) technique capable of reconstructing a curved plane of the
      levator hiatus. METHODS: Primiparous women were recruited to undergo a 3D/four
      dimensional transperineal ultrasound examination 3-6 months after delivery.
      Levator ani muscle warping was evaluated on Valsalva maneuver by measuring the
      distance between the plane extending from the pubic rami to the anorectal angle
      and the plane of minimal hiatal dimensions on the coronal plane. Warping distance
      was used to reconstruct a curved plane of the levator hiatus using the curved
      OmniView volume contrast imaging (VCI) technique (C-OV). Intra- and interobserver
      reproducibility of the C-OV technique were assessed, as was intermethod agreement
      between the C-OV technique and the linear OmniView-VCI (L-OV) technique, for the
      measurement of levator hiatal area on Valsalva maneuver. RESULTS: Measurement of
      the levator hiatal area using C-OV was feasible in all 84 women recruited. The
      warping distance ranged from -3.5 to 9.7 mm, confirming that the 1-2-cm slice
      thickness traditionally used for linear reconstruction was adequate for proper
      assessment of levator hiatal area in our population. C-OV showed excellent intra-
      and interobserver reproducibility, as well as excellent agreement with the L-OV
      technique for measuring levator hiatal area. No systematic difference was
      demonstrated in any of the reproducibility studies performed. CONCLUSIONS: 3D
      reconstruction of the warped levator hiatal plane is feasible and highly
      reproducible. In our population, reconstruction of a curved plane to correct for
      levator hiatal warping did not offer any benefit over the traditionally performed
      linear reconstruction. Copyright (c) 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons
      Ltd.

PMID- 27642725
TI  - Neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analysis of fission molybdenum-99 production at
      Tehran Research Reactor using LEU plate targets.
AB  - Efficient and safe production of molybdenum-99 (99Mo) radiopharmaceutical at
      Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) via fission of LEU targets is studied. Neutronic
      calculations are performed to evaluate produced 99Mo activity, core neutronic
      safety parameters and also the power deposition values in target plates during a
      7 days irradiation interval. Thermal-hydraulic analysis has been also carried out
      to obtain thermal behavior of these plates. Using Thermal-hydraulic analysis, it
      can be concluded that the safety parameters are satisfied in the current study.
      Consequently, the present neutronic and thermal-hydraulic calculations show
      efficient 99Mo production is accessible at significant activity values in TRR
      current core configuration.

PMID- 27642726
TI  - An absolute radon 222 activity measurement system at LNE-LNHB.
AB  - A good metrological traceability of radon and progenies is necessary to
      accurately measure the radon concentration. In 1995, at the LNE-LNHB, J.L. Picolo
      developed a reference method using a defined-solid-angle (DSA) alpha spectrometer
      to measure a frozen radon source. With this method it was possible to measure
      radon standards with a relative standard uncertainty of 0.5%. This paper presents
      the design and the characterization of a new upgraded measurement system; all
      parameters and their uncertainties are discussed. This new system allows the
      measurement of radon sources from 100Bq to 4MBq with a relative standard
      uncertainty of 0.3%.

PMID- 27642727
TI  - Monte Carlo based investigations of electron contamination from telecobalt unit
      head in build up region and its impact on surface dose.
AB  - A Telecobalt unit has wide range of applications in cancer treatments and is used
      widely in many countries all around the world. Estimation of surface dose in
      Cobalt-60 teletherapy machine becomes important since clinically useful photon
      beam consist of contaminated electrons during the patient treatment. EGSnrc along
      with the BEAMnrc user code was used to model the Theratron 780E telecobalt unit.
      Central axis depth dose profiles including surface doses have been estimated for
      the field sizes of 0*0, 6*6, 10*10, 15*15, 20*20, 25*25, 30*30cm2 and at Source
      to-surface distance (SSD) of 60 and 80cm. Surface dose was measured
      experimentally by the Gafchromic RTQA2 films and are in good agreement with the
      simulation results. The central axis depth dose data are compared with the data
      available from the British Journal of Radiology report no. 25. Contribution of
      contaminated electrons has also been calculated using Monte Carlo simulation by
      the different parts of the Cobalt-60 head for different field size and SSD's.
      Moreover, depth dose curve in zero area field size is calculated by extrapolation
      method and compared with the already published data. They are found in good
      agreement.

PMID- 27642728
TI  - Production of medical Sc radioisotopes with an alpha particle beam.
AB  - The internal alpha-particle beam of the Warsaw Heavy Ion Cyclotron was used to
      produce research quantities of the medically interesting Sc radioisotopes from
      natural Ca and K and isotopically enriched 42Ca targets. The targets were made of
      metallic calcium, calcium carbonate and potassium chloride. New data on the
      production yields and impurities generated during the target irradiations are
      presented for the positron emitters 43Sc, 44gSc and 44mSc. The different paths
      for the production of the long lived 44mSc/44gSc in vivo generator, proposed by
      the ARRONAX team, using proton and deuteron beams as well as alpha-particle beams
      are discussed. Due to the larger angular momentum transfer in the formation of
      the compound nucleus in the case of the alpha particle induced reactions, the
      isomeric ratio of 44mSc/44gSc at a bombarding energy of 29MeV is five times
      larger than previously determined for a deuteron beam and twenty times larger
      than for proton induced reactions on enriched CaCO3 targets. Therefore, formation
      of this generator via the alpha-particle route seems a very attractive way to
      form these isotopes. The experimental data presented here are compared with
      theoretical predictions made using the EMPIRE evaporation code. Reasonable
      agreement is generally observed.

PMID- 27642730
TI  - [Reduced prescription of antibiotics only causes a minor increase in the
      incidence of upper respiratory tract infections].

PMID- 27642731
TI  - [Ambulatory care is usually sufficient for patients presenting with hypertensive
      urgency].

PMID- 27642729
TI  - PI3Kgamma is a molecular switch that controls immune suppression.
AB  - Macrophages play critical, but opposite, roles in acute and chronic inflammation
      and cancer. In response to pathogens or injury, inflammatory macrophages express
      cytokines that stimulate cytotoxic T cells, whereas macrophages in neoplastic and
      parasitic diseases express anti-inflammatory cytokines that induce immune
      suppression and may promote resistance to T cell checkpoint inhibitors. Here we
      show that macrophage PI 3-kinase gamma controls a critical switch between immune
      stimulation and suppression during inflammation and cancer. PI3Kgamma signalling
      through Akt and mTor inhibits NFkappaB activation while stimulating C/EBPbeta
      activation, thereby inducing a transcriptional program that promotes immune
      suppression during inflammation and tumour growth. By contrast, selective
      inactivation of macrophage PI3Kgamma stimulates and prolongs NFkappaB activation
      and inhibits C/EBPbeta activation, thus promoting an immunostimulatory
      transcriptional program that restores CD8+ T cell activation and cytotoxicity.
      PI3Kgamma synergizes with checkpoint inhibitor therapy to promote tumour
      regression and increased survival in mouse models of cancer. In addition,
      PI3Kgamma-directed, anti-inflammatory gene expression can predict survival
      probability in cancer patients. Our work thus demonstrates that therapeutic
      targeting of intracellular signalling pathways that regulate the switch between
      macrophage polarization states can control immune suppression in cancer and other
      disorders.

PMID- 27642732
TI  - [Lower blood pressure is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk in patients
      with diabetes and no previous cardiovascular disease].

PMID- 27642733
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27642734
TI  - [83-year old man with sudden dyspnea].

PMID- 27642735
TI  - [Consciousness disorders in emergency departments - one symptom, many causes].

PMID- 27642736
TI  - [Consciousness disorders from cardiological view].
AB  - Consciousness disorders may have many causes, mainly cardiac arrhythmias. The
      incidence of bradyarrhythmias (BA) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)
      is 0.3-18 % and caused by sinus node dysfunction (SND), high degree
      atrioventricular (AV) block or bundle branch blocks. SND are sinus bradycardia or
      sinus arrest. 1st degree AV-block occurs in 4-13 % of patients with ACS caused by
      rhythm disturbances in atrium, AV node, bundle of His or the Tawara system. 1st
      or 2nd degree AV block is seen very frequently within 24 hours after beginning of
      ACS and these arrhythmias are frequently transient and no more present after 72
      hours. 3rd degree AV blocks are also frequently transient in pts with infero
      posterior myocardial infarction (MI) and permanent in anterior MI patients. Left
      anterior fascicular block occurs in 5 % of ACS, left posterior fascicular block
      is observed less frequently (incidence < 0.5 %). Complete bundle branch block is
      present in 10-15 % of ACS patients and right bundle branch block is more often
      (2/3) present than left bundle branch block (1/3). In patients with BA atropine
      i. v. (1-3 mg) is helpful in 70-80 % of ACS patients and will lead to an
      increased heart rate. The need of pacemaker stimulation (PS) is different in
      patients with inferior (IMI) or anterior MI (AMI). Tachyarrhythmias are
      ventricular tachycardia, ventricular flutter or ventricular fibrillation in pts
      with ACS and it is necessary to terminate these arrhythmias as soon as possible
      by direct current cardioversion or defibrillation. Other causes of consciousness
      disorders are valvular heart diseases (aortic stenosis, hypertrophic obstructive
      cardiomyopathy), myxoma or ion-channel diseases (Brugada syndrome, long and short
      QT-syndromes). In all cases, a detailed cardiological evaluation is necessary in
      order to initiate a proper treatment. 

PMID- 27642737
TI  - [Consciousness disorders from neurological view].
AB  - "Disturbances of consciousness of unknown origin" require an interdisciplinary
      approach due to the broad variety of possibly underlying causes. Primary
      neurological pathologies account for about half of the cases, which emphasizes
      the key role of the neurologist in the primary assessment and planning of the
      diagnostic and therapeutic strategy. The most important goal is to quickly
      identify patients with extremely time-critical conditions like ischemic stroke,
      bacterial meningitis or space occupying intracranial hemorrhage. The most
      important tool to generate a working hypothesis is the clinical neurological
      examination. However, even in apparently neurological presentations like e.g.
      first ever epileptic seizure, underlying even non-neurological pathologies have
      to be considered. 

PMID- 27642738
TI  - [Consciousness disorders from toxicological view].
AB  - Poisoning with impaired mental state is a frequent cause for hospital admission.
      The initial management includes assessment of vital functions and airway
      management followed by focussed diagnostics. Poison Emergency Centers can provide
      valuable assistance in acute intoxications. Clinically important agents causing
      mental state alterations include opiates, benzodiazepines, tricyclic
      antidepressants, alcohol, methanol and ethylene glycol, carbon monoxide and
      salicylates. Most important therapeutic measures comprise supportive care,
      decontamination or elimination. For certain toxins specific antidotes are
      available. In presence of severe intoxications and impaired vital functions, the
      patient should be transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). 

PMID- 27642739
TI  - [An unexpected cause of dyspnea and degradation of performance].
AB  - HISTORY AND ADMISSION FINDINGS: A 55-year old man suffers from progressive,
      distinctive dyspnoea and physical weakness since 5 days. Due to ST-segment
      changes in the ECG and a positive troponin-test, the primary care physician
      initiates an hospitalization. INVESTIGATIONS: After admission, the laboratory
      tests confirm the elevated troponin-values, and show additionally elevated pro
      brain-natriuric-peptide-values. The coronary angiography presents a highly
      reduced left ventricular function, an aortic insufficiency III degrees  and a
      coronary heart disease. DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND COURSE: After clinical
      deterioration and fever up to 42 degrees C with consecutive tachycardia, the
      patient is taken over to the intensive care unit. Blood cultures are taken and an
      empirical antibiotic treatment is started. The patient dies within a few hours in
      catecholamine refractory circulatory failure. In the autopsy we find signs of an
      acute recurrent bacterial aortic valve endocarditis with a paravalvular abscess
      in the myocardium and a septic abscess in the left kidney. The patient died on
      acute left ventricular failure. DISCUSSION: The manifestation of an endocarditis
      can be presented very variable and can thus be a challenge in clinical practice.
      For one thing, the disease presents as an acute, rapidly progressive infection,
      on the other hand it acts as subacute or chronic disease with just little fever
      and nonspecific symptoms. To initiate an adequate therapy without loss of time,
      endocarditis should be included in the differential diagnosis where the risk
      profile is evident. There are risk factors (poor dental status, intravenous drug
      use, artificial valve or cardiological devices) for endocarditis. These risk
      factors with additional symptoms should always be given to a further diagnostics
      to detect an endocarditis. In addition to a multiple cultivation and laboratory
      analysis additional diagnostics such as ECG, echocardiography (transthoracic,
      transthoracic) and chest X-ray should be performed. Further stratification of
      patients is then performed using the modified Duke criteria. The anti-infective
      therapy is carried out using the new ESC Guidelines (2015). If a surgical
      procedure is indicated, this should be done in close consultation with the
      colleagues of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

PMID- 27642740
TI  - [Hepatic amyloidosis as a rare differential diagnosis of progressive liver
      failure].
AB  - Primary systemic amyloidosis is a rare disorder resulting in extracellular
      deposition of insoluble fibrils in different organs. Liver involvement has been
      reported. Since hepatic amyloidosis often presents clinically asymptomatic
      without specific laboratory or imaging hallmarks, diagnosis is challenging.
      However, cases of progressive hepatic failure due to liver amyloidosis have been
      reported. A 63 year old man presented with newly diagnosed ascites to our
      department. The patient reported occasional alcohol consumption. Viral hepatitis,
      genetic-metabolic causes as well as hepatic vascular disorders were excluded and
      ultrasound did not show any signs of liver cirrhosis or intraabdominal
      malignancy. Initially, alcoholic hepatitis was suspected. Due to the rapid
      deterioration of liver function, however, transjugular liver biopsy was performed
      showing light chain amyloidosis of kappa isotype. As diagnosis of hepatic
      amyloidosis is challenging, early liver biopsy is mandatory in patients with
      unexplained acute or chronic liver disease to exclude rare diseases with high
      mortality. 

PMID- 27642741
TI  - [Monoclonal antibodies, overview and outlook of a promising therapeutic option].
AB  - Rising numbers of approved monoclonal antibodies for cancer, autoimmune and
      cardiovascular disease treatment underline the growing importance of this
      therapeutic option which has been discovered in the late 19th century. However,
      clinical trials and commercial use started in the late 20th century. The specific
      mode of action and clinical advantages over standard strategies signify a big
      step forward not only in terms of treating cancer but various other diseases like
      psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. New developments in the field of biologicals
      raise hope for an even broader scope of applications and options for currently
      untreatable diseases. The following article summarizes the historical
      development, the status-quo of clinical approvement and current development of
      monoclonal antibody therapy. 

PMID- 27642742
TI  - [Chronic, non-infectious diarrhea: diagnostics and therapy].
AB  - Chronic, non-infectious diarrhea can be caused by a variety of gastrointestinal
      diseases. In anamnesis, it is important to take accompanying warning symptoms and
      specific triggers into account. The fecal inflammatory marker calprotectin may
      help differentiating between organic and functional gastrointestinal disorders,
      but it is not specific. Among other options, gelling fibres, Loperamide and
      Cholestyramine as well as probiotics are available for the symptomatic treatment
      of chronic diarrhea. For long-term treatment of chronic diarrhea with the
      enkephalinase inhibitor racecadotril, which is approved for acute diarrhea, only
      limited data are available. Eluxadolin presents a new therapeutic option. It can
      alleviate abdominal pain and diarrhea by modulation of opioid receptors in the
      enteric nervous system. Additional approaches in intractable irritable bowel
      syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) include 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, the antibiotic
      Rifaximin as well as low-dose tricyclic antidepressants. Specific diets such as
      the low-FODMAP diet can also relieve symptoms in IBS. 

PMID- 27642743
TI  - [Endotracheal intubation in pediatric patients].
AB  - Procedure of intubation of children is different to intubation in adults and
      requires specific considerations. Before intubation management of difficult
      airway problems should be anticipated. Risk of developing hypoxia is common in
      children usually due to a reduced apnea tolerance and demands skill of the
      medical team. Due to soft tissues of the upper airways and the V-shaped
      epiglottis several laryngoscopes are available. Attention should be kept on a
      physiological subglottic stenosis, which determines the size of the endotracheal
      tube. Beyond neonatal period cuffed tubes can be applied when cuff pressure is
      regularly monitored. Long time complications of traumatic intubations comprise
      subglottic stenosis or granulomas. 

PMID- 27642744
TI  - [Discharge against medical advice].
AB  - The article is on the topic of the doctor's responsibility for the patient in
      case of treatment discontinuation by the patient. There are two main aspects on
      this issue: the patient's self-responsibility and the doctor's responsibility in
      case of treatment discontinuation. In such a case, first of all it is the
      doctor's responsibility to persuade the patient to keep on with the treatment.
      The more serious the consequences of the discontinuation are estimated, the
      further the doctor has to go to persuade the patient to continue the treatment.
      According to the modern view on the relationship between doctor and patient, in
      last consequence the doctor has to respect the patient's decision, even though it
      might be unreasonable. To cover liability, the doctor should keep detailed
      records of his / her efforts on convincing the patient to continue the treatment.
      The doctor should also document his / her explanations on consequences of a
      treatment discontinuation towards the patient. 

PMID- 27642745
TI  - [Posttransplantation diabetes mellitus in patients after kidney transplantation -
      Incidence and risk factors].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transplantation (NTX) associated ischemia-reperfusion-mechanisms and
      the predisposition for insulin resistance are discussed as causes of a
      posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM). Furthermore, immunosuppressants can
      have a damaging effect on insulin secretion. METHODS: 55 metabolically healthy
      patients with an endstage renal disease (age 52 +/- 14 years, body mass index 27
      +/- 5 kg / m(2), blood pressure 137 +/- 15/82 +/- 11 mmHg) were included in a
      prospectively cohort study. These patients were transplanted between 2009 and
      2011 (82 % of the NTX patients). Baseline examination was performed before NTX.
      Within the 2nd week as well as 6 and 12 months after transplantation an oral
      glucose tolerance test (oGGT), 3 and 9 months after NTX a glucagon test took
      place. In these connections the determination of plasma glucose, C-peptide and
      insulin was performed. Study endpoints were: graft failure, impaired glucose
      tolerance (iGT), PTDM, patient's death. RESULTS: Over a follow-up-period of 1
      year post NTX iGT / PTDM occurred in 31 % and graft failure in 13 %. In
      comparison with the healthy control group patients with iGT / PTDM were older (59
      +/- 8 vs. 48 +/- 14ys, p = 0.001), overweight (BMI 29 +/- 4 vs. 26 +/- 5 kg /
      m(2), p = 0.038), showed an indication of an insulin resistance before NTX (HOMA
      4.0 +/- 2.9 vs. 2.4 +/- 1.4, p = 0.013; C-peptide 10.1 +/- 5.2 vs. 7.1 +/- 3.6 ng
      / ml, p = 0.014; insulin 14.6 +/- 9.4 vs. 10.6 +/- 5.5mU / l, p = 0.045) and
      higher HbA1c levels (5.6 +/- 0.5 vs. 5.4 +/- 0.4 %, p = 0.032). Age (p = 0.001),
      fasting plasma glucose (p = 0.042), the glucose levels of oGTT immediately after
      transplantation were shown as prognostically relevant (fasting glucose: p =
      0.027; 1 h: p = 0.014; 2 h: p = 0.002). An isolated defective secretion as a
      result of a toxic damage to the beta-cells by immunosuppressants couldn't be
      shown in any of the patients with iGT / PTDM. 4 % of the patients died in the
      first year after NTX. CONCLUSION: In 31 % a disorder of glucose metabolism was
      found as a frequent complication after NTX. The HOMA index was found to be a
      meaningful marker for an existing insulin resistance. The fasting glucose before
      and an oGTT in the first weeks after NTX showed itself as clinically valid
      laboratory parameters for a risk assessment.

PMID- 27642746
TI  - Exploring the Oxidative-Addition Pathways of Phenyl Chloride in the Presence of
      PdII Abnormal N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: A DFT Study.
AB  - DFT calculations were performed to elucidate the oxidative addition mechanism of
      the dimeric palladium(II) abnormal N-heterocyclic carbene complex 2 in the
      presence of phenyl chloride and NaOMe base under the framework of a Suzuki
      Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. Pre-catalyst 2 undergoes facile, NaOMe-assisted
      dissociation, which led to monomeric palladium(II) species 5, 6, and 7, each of
      them independently capable of initiating oxidative addition reactions with PhCl.
      Thereafter, three different mechanistic routes, path a, path b, and path c, which
      originate from the catalytic species 5, 7, and 6, were calculated at M06-L
      D3(SMD)/LANL2TZ(f)(Pd)/6-311++G**//M06-L/LANL2DZ(Pd)/6-31+G* level of theory. All
      studied routes suggested the rather uncommon PdII /PdIV oxidative addition
      mechanism to be favourable under the ambient reaction conditions. Although the
      Pd0 /PdII routes are generally facile, the final reductive elimination step from
      the catalytic complexes were energetically formidable. The PdII /PdIV activation
      barriers were calculated to be 11.3, 9.0, 26.7 kcal mol-1 (DeltaDelta? GLS-D3 )
      more favourable than the PdII /Pd0 reductive elimination routes for path a, path
      b, and path c, respectively. Out of all the studied pathways, path a was the most
      feasible as it comprised of a PdII /PdIV activation barrier of 24.5 kcal mol-1
      (DeltaGLS-D3 ). To further elucidate the origin of transition-state barriers, EDA
      calculations were performed for some key saddle points populating the energy
      profiles.

PMID- 27642747
TI  - Fauna used by rural communities surrounding the protected area of Chapada do
      Araripe, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies on the inter-relations between people and animals have been
      considered essential to better understand the dynamics of socio-ecological
      systems. This study aimed to register the animal species known by the communities
      adjacent to National Forest of Araripe, their uses and if the close relationship
      affects the knowledge of useful species. METHODS: Data collection was conducted
      through a semi-structured inquiry form, free listings and guided tour. The study
      included 246 people from two community groups: group 1 (n = 113; <2 km from
      FLONA) and group 2 (n = 133; >= 2 km). RESULTS: According to the free listing,
      group 1 communities know more animal species (11.50 +/- 5.81) than group 2 (9.41
      +/- 3.70), with a significant difference in knowledge between the groups. Men and
      women showed no significant difference in knowledge about animal species. The men
      from group 1 know, significantly, more species than men from group 2; but this
      difference was not observed in women from both groups. In the analysis of the Use
      Value (UV), Mazama gouazoubira showed a higher UV, both in group 1 (1.15) and
      group 2 (1.49). The guided tour identified the presence of 11 species, common in
      the vegetation of Forested Savannah (Cerradao) and in the transition
      Rainforest/Savannah (Cerrado). CONCLUSION: The results indicate M. gouazoubira as
      the most known and used species in this Protected Area, showing that species of
      interest to the local communities are worthy of conservation attention.

PMID- 27642750
TI  - Correlation of Lipid Profile and Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in
      10-14 Year Old Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The role of lipid profile in predicting the risk of Type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in children is not clearly established. Our aim is to
      screen non-diabetic children aged 10-14 years for risk of developing T2DM and
      evaluate the association of abnormal lipids and socioeconomic status (SES).
      METHODS: Data on race/ethnicity, family history, body mass index percentile,
      blood pressure and presence of neck pigmentation (acanthosis nigricans) were
      collected from 149 non-diabetic children. Using these factors, children were
      classified into low risk (<3 risk factors) and high risk (>3 risk factors)
      groups. Logistic regression model and chi-square tests were used to evaluate the
      association of blood lipid profile and demographic variables. Independent t-test
      was used to compare the ratio of Total Cholesterol (TC) and High Density Lipids
      (HDL) with T2DM risk. RESULTS: 60% of children were at high risk for developing
      T2DM. HDL (p<0.001), triglycerides (p=0.02) and TC/HDL ratio (p<.001) were
      significantly abnormal in high risk group. Low SES showed a marginal association
      with high risk group. There were no gender or age differences between high and
      low risk groups. CONCLUSIONS: The significant determinants associated with high
      risk group were modifiable factors providing an opportunity for early
      intervention and prevention.

PMID- 27642749
TI  - Receptor-Type Guanylyl Cyclase at 76C (Gyc76C) Regulates De Novo Lumen Formation
      during Drosophila Tracheal Development.
AB  - Lumen formation and maintenance are important for the development and function of
      essential organs such as the lung, kidney and vasculature. In the Drosophila
      embryonic trachea, lumena form de novo to connect the different tracheal branches
      into an interconnected network of tubes. Here, we identify a novel role for the
      receptor type guanylyl cyclase at 76C (Gyc76C) in de novo lumen formation in the
      Drosophila trachea. We show that in embryos mutant for gyc76C or its downsteam
      effector protein kinase G (PKG) 1, tracheal lumena are disconnected. Dorsal trunk
      (DT) cells of gyc76C mutant embryos migrate to contact each other and complete
      the initial steps of lumen formation, such as the accumulation of E-cadherin (E
      cad) and formation of an actin track at the site of lumen formation. However, the
      actin track and E-cad contact site of gyc76C mutant embryos did not mature to
      become a new lumen and DT lumena did not fuse. We also observed failure of the
      luminal protein Vermiform to be secreted into the site of new lumen formation in
      gyc76C mutant trachea. These DT lumen formation defects were accompanied by
      altered localization of the Arf-like 3 GTPase (Arl3), a known regulator of
      vesicle-vesicle and vesicle-membrane fusion. In addition to the DT lumen defect,
      lumena of gyc76C mutant terminal cells were shorter compared to wild-type cells.
      These studies show that Gyc76C and downstream PKG-dependent signaling regulate de
      novo lumen formation in the tracheal DT and terminal cells, most likely by
      affecting Arl3-mediated luminal secretion. 

PMID- 27642748
TI  - Finite element analysis of cementless femoral stems based on mid- and long-term
      radiological evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Femoral bone remodeling in response to stress shielding induces
      periprosthetic bone loss. Computerized finite element analysis (FEA) is employed
      to demonstrate differences in initial stress distribution. However, FEA is often
      performed without considering the precise sites at which the stem was fixed. We
      determined whether FEA reflects mid-term radiological examination exactly as
      predicted following long-term stress shielding. METHODS: Femur-stem fixation
      sites were evaluated radiologically according to the location of spot welds in
      two anatomical cementless stem designs. Based on mid-term radiological results,
      four femur-stem bonding site conditions were defined as: (Condition A) no
      bonding; (Condition B) bonding within the 10 mm area proximal to the distal
      border of the porous area; (Condition C) bonding of the entire porous area; and
      (Condition D) bonding of the entire femoral stem, prior to conducting FEA
      analysis. Furthermore, we radiographically evaluated mid- and long-term stress
      shielding, and measured bone mineral density of the femur 10 years after total
      hip arthroplasty. RESULTS: Spot welds appeared frequently around the border
      between the porous and smooth areas. FEA showed that, based on mid-term
      radiological evaluation, von Mises stress was reduced in condition B in the area
      proximal to the femur-stem bonding sites for both stem designs compared with
      condition A (no bonding). Conversely, von Mises stress at all areas of the femur
      stem bonding sites in conditions C and D was higher than that in condition A.
      With respect to stress shielding progression, there was no significant difference
      between the two types of stem designs. However, stress shielding progressed and
      was significantly higher in the presence of spot welds (p = 0.001). In both stem
      designs, bone mineral density in zone VII was significantly lower than that in
      the contralateral hips. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that FEA based on mid
      term radiological evaluation may be helpful to predict the influence of long-term
      stress shielding more precisely.

PMID- 27642751
TI  - Identification and Characterization of Cefotaxime Resistant Bacteria in Beef
      Cattle.
AB  - Third-generation cephalosporins are an important class of antibiotics that are
      widely used in treatment of serious Gram-negative bacterial infections. In this
      study, we report the isolation of bacteria resistant to the third-generation
      cephalosporin cefotaxime from cattle with no previous cefotaxime antibiotic
      exposure. The prevalence of cefotaxime-resistant bacteria was examined by a
      combination of culture based and molecular typing methods in beef cattle (n =
      1341) from 8 herds located in North Central Florida. The overall prevalence of
      cefotaxime-resistant bacteria was 15.8% (95% CI: 13.9, 17.8), varied between
      farms, and ranged from 5.2% to 100%. A subset of isolates (n = 23) was further
      characterized for the cefotaxime minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and
      antibiotic susceptibility against 10 different antibiotics, sequencing of nine
      beta- lactamase genes, and species identification by 16S rRNA sequencing. Most of
      the bacterial isolates were resistant to cefotaxime (concentrations, > 64 MUg/mL)
      and showed high levels of multi-drug resistance. Full length 16S rRNA sequences
      (~1300 bp) revealed that most of the isolates were not primary human or animal
      pathogens; rather were more typical of commensal, soil, or other environmental
      origin. Six extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes identical to those in
      clinical human isolates were identified. Our study highlights the potential for
      carriage of cefotaxime resistance (including "human" ESBL genes) by the bacterial
      flora of food animals with no history of cefotaxime antibiotic exposure. A better
      understanding of the origin and transmission of resistance genes in these pre
      harvest settings will be critical to development of strategies to prevent the
      spread of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms to hospitals and communities. 

PMID- 27642752
TI  - Effect of Storage Period on the Changes of Odorous Compound Concentrations and
      Bacterial Ecology for Identifying the Cause of Odor Production from Pig Slurry.
AB  - Odor from buildings where pigs are housed is generated by anaerobic fermentation
      of undigested materials in pig slurry stored for several weeks in pit. The
      objective of this study was to investigate the effect of storage period on the
      level of odorous compounds in pig slurry and on its bacterial community. A slurry
      sample (15 L) was taken from the pit of a finisher pig building and incubated in
      acryl chambers for six- weeks. Slurry for analysis was sampled every two-week.
      Levels of odorous compounds in the slurry sample were drastically changed after
      two weeks of storage period; levels of phenols and short chain fatty acids
      (SCFAs) were decreased (P<0.05), whereas indoles and branched-chain fatty acids
      (BCFAs) were increased (P<0.05). Among dominant bacteria, Bacteroides and
      Porphyromonadacese_uc_g revealed a strong positive correlation with the levels of
      phenols and SCFAs. Populations of AC160630_g, Acholeplasmatales_uc_g,
      Mollicutes_uc_g and Cloacamonas_f_uc_g positively correlated with indole and
      BCFAs content. Taken together, levels of odorous compounds were increased after
      two weeks of storage, possibly because of changes in the predominant bacterial
      groups to those that use protein as a carbon source in the hypo-carbohydrate
      conditions. 

PMID- 27642753
TI  - Attentional Bias for Emotional Stimuli in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In borderline personality disorder (BPD), attentional bias (AB) to
      emotional stimuli may be a core component in disorder pathogenesis and
      maintenance. SAMPLING: 11 emotional Stroop task (EST) studies with 244 BPD
      patients, 255 nonpatients (NPs) and 95 clinical controls and 4 visual dot-probe
      task (VDPT) studies with 151 BPD patients or subjects with BPD features and 62
      NPs were included. METHODS: We conducted two separate meta-analyses for AB in
      BPD. One meta-analysis focused on the EST for generally negative and BPD
      specific/personally relevant negative words. The other meta-analysis concentrated
      on the VDPT for negative and positive facial stimuli. RESULTS: There is evidence
      for an AB towards generally negative emotional words compared to NPs
      (standardized mean difference, SMD = 0.311) and to other psychiatric disorders
      (SMD = 0.374) in the EST studies. Regarding BPD-specific/personally relevant
      negative words, BPD patients reveal an even stronger AB than NPs (SMD = 0.454).
      The VDPT studies indicate a tendency towards an AB to positive facial stimuli but
      not negative stimuli in BPD patients compared to NPs. CONCLUSIONS: The findings
      rather reflect an AB in BPD to generally negative and BPD-specific/personally
      relevant negative words rather than an AB in BPD towards facial stimuli, and/or a
      biased allocation of covert attentional resources to negative emotional stimuli
      in BPD and not a bias in focus of visual attention. Further research regarding
      the role of childhood traumatization and comorbid anxiety disorders may improve
      the understanding of these underlying processes.

PMID- 27642755
TI  - Electrophysiological Investigation of Different Methods of Anesthesia in Lobster
      and Crayfish.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In search for methods of anesthesia of crustaceans, an implanted
      electrode into lobster and crayfish CNS enabled us to monitor signal propagation
      in the nerve system of animals undergoing different protocols. RESULTS: Cooling
      (tap water 0 degrees C, sea water -1,8 degrees C) and anesthesia with MgCl2 (10%)
      were both discarded as anesthetic procedures because responses to external
      stimuli were still detectable under treatment. Contrarily, bubbling the aquarium
      water with CO2 can be considered a "partially successful" anesthesia, because
      signal propagation is inhibited but before that the animals show discomfort. The
      procedure of "electro-stunning" induces epileptic-form seizures in the crustacean
      CNS (lobster, crayfish), which overlay but do not mitigate the response to
      external stimuli. After several minutes the activity declines before the nervous
      system starts to recover. A feasible way to sacrifice lobsters is to slowly raise
      the water temperature (1 degrees C min-1), as all electrical activities in the
      CNS cease at temperatures above ~30 degrees C, whereas below this temperature the
      animals do not show signs of stress or escape behavior (e.g. tail flips) in the
      warming water. CONCLUSION: CO2 is efficient to anaesthetize lobster and crayfish
      but due to low pH in water is stressful to the animals previous to anesthesia.
      Electrical stunning induces epileptiform seizures but paralyses the animals and
      leads to a reversible decline of nerve system activity after seizure. Electric
      stunning or slowly warming just before preparation may meet ethical expectations
      regarding anaesthesia and to sacrifice crustaceans.

PMID- 27642754
TI  - Bmp15 Is an Oocyte-Produced Signal Required for Maintenance of the Adult Female
      Sexual Phenotype in Zebrafish.
AB  - Although the zebrafish is a major model organism, how they determine sex is not
      well understood. In domesticated zebrafish, sex determination appears to be
      polygenic, being influenced by multiple genetic factors that may vary from strain
      to strain, and additionally can be influenced by environmental factors. However,
      the requirement of germ cells for female sex determination is well documented:
      animals that lack germ cells, or oocytes in particular, develop exclusively as
      males. Recently, it has been determined that oocytes are also required throughout
      the adult life of the animal to maintain the differentiated female state. How
      oocytes control sex differentiation and maintenance of the sexual phenotype is
      unknown. We therefore generated targeted mutations in genes for two oocyte
      produced signaling molecules, Bmp15 and Gdf9 and here report a novel role for
      Bmp15 in maintaining adult female sex differentiation in zebrafish. Females
      deficient in Bmp15 begin development normally but switch sex during the mid- to
      late- juvenile stage, and become fertile males. Additionally, by generating
      mutations in the aromatase cyp19a1a, we show that estrogen production is
      necessary for female development and that the function of Bmp15 in female sex
      maintenance is likely linked to the regulation of estrogen biosynthesis via
      promoting the development of estrogen-producing granulosa cells in the oocyte
      follicle.

PMID- 27642756
TI  - On Peptides and Altered Peptide Ligands: From Origin, Mode of Action and Design
      to Clinical Application (Immunotherapy).
AB  - T lymphocytes equipped with clonotypic T cell antigen receptors (TCR) recognize
      immunogenic peptides only when presented in the context of their own major
      histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Peptide loading to MHC molecules
      occurs in intracellular compartments (ER for class I and MIIC for class II
      molecules) and relies on the interaction of the respective peptides and peptide
      binding pockets on MHC molecules. Those peptide residues not engaged in MHC
      binding point towards the TCR screening for possible peptide MHC complex binding
      partners. Natural or intentional modification of both MHC binding registers and
      TCR interacting residues of peptides - leading to the formation of altered
      peptide ligands (APLs) - might alter the way peptides interact with TCRs and
      hence influence subsequent T cell activation events, and consequently T cell
      effector functions. This review article summarizes how APLs were detected and
      first described, current concepts of how APLs modify T cellular signaling, which
      biological mechanisms might force the generation of APLs in vivo, and how
      peptides and APLs might be used for the benefit of patients suffering from
      allergic or autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 27642758
TI  - Linkage between Fitness of Yeast Cells and Adenylate Kinase Catalysis.
AB  - Enzymes have evolved with highly specific values of their catalytic parameters
      kcat and KM. This poses fundamental biological questions about the selection
      pressures responsible for evolutionary tuning of these parameters. Here we are
      address these questions for the enzyme adenylate kinase (Adk) in eukaryotic yeast
      cells. A plasmid shuffling system was developed to allow quantification of
      relative fitness (calculated from growth rates) of yeast in response to
      perturbations of Adk activity introduced through mutations. Biophysical
      characterization verified that all variants studied were properly folded and that
      the mutations did not cause any substantial differences to thermal stability. We
      found that cytosolic Adk is essential for yeast viability in our strain
      background and that viability could not be restored with a catalytically dead,
      although properly folded Adk variant. There exist a massive overcapacity of Adk
      catalytic activity and only 12% of the wild type kcat is required for optimal
      growth at the stress condition 20 degrees C. In summary, the approach developed
      here has provided new insights into the evolutionary tuning of kcat for Adk in a
      eukaryotic organism. The developed methodology may also become useful for
      uncovering new aspects of active site dynamics and also in enzyme design since a
      large library of enzyme variants can be screened rapidly by identifying viable
      colonies. 

PMID- 27642759
TI  - The relationship between clients' depression etiological beliefs and
      psychotherapy orientation preferences, expectations, and credibility beliefs.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between clients'
      etiological beliefs for depression and treatment preferences, credibility
      beliefs, and outcome expectations for five different depression treatments
      behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy,
      pharmacotherapy, and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Adult psychotherapy clients (N
      = 98) were asked to complete an online survey that included the Reasons for
      Depression Questionnaire, a brief description of each of the five treatment
      options, and credibility, expectancy, and preference questions for each option.
      On average, the participating clients rated pharmacotherapy as significantly less
      credible, having a lower likelihood of success, and being less preferred than the
      four types of psychotherapy. In general, interpersonal psychotherapy was also
      rated more negatively than the other types of psychotherapy. However, these
      findings depended somewhat on whether the participating client was personally
      experiencing depression. Credibility beliefs, outcome expectations, and
      preferences for pharmacotherapy were positively associated with biological
      beliefs for depression; however, the other hypothesized relationships between
      etiological beliefs and treatment attitudes were not supported. Although the
      study is limited based on the specific sample and treatment descriptions that
      were used, the results may still have implications for psychotherapy research,
      training, and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642757
TI  - Costimulatory Effects of an Immunodominant Parasite Antigen Paradoxically Prevent
      Induction of Optimal CD8 T Cell Protective Immunity.
AB  - Trypanosoma cruzi infection is controlled but not eliminated by host immunity.
      The T. cruzi trans-sialidase (TS) gene superfamily encodes immunodominant
      protective antigens, but expression of altered peptide ligands by different TS
      genes has been hypothesized to promote immunoevasion. We molecularly defined TS
      epitopes to determine their importance for protection versus parasite
      persistence. Peptide-pulsed dendritic cell vaccination experiments demonstrated
      that one pair of immunodominant CD4+ and CD8+ TS peptides alone can induce
      protective immunity (100% survival post-lethal parasite challenge). TS DNA
      vaccines have been shown by us (and others) to protect BALB/c mice against T.
      cruzi challenge. We generated a new TS vaccine in which the immunodominant TS
      CD8+ epitope MHC anchoring positions were mutated, rendering the mutant TS
      vaccine incapable of inducing immunity to the immunodominant CD8 epitope.
      Immunization of mice with wild type (WT) and mutant TS vaccines demonstrated that
      vaccines encoding enzymatically active protein and the immunodominant CD8+ T cell
      epitope enhance subdominant pathogen-specific CD8+ T cell responses. More
      specifically, CD8+ T cells from WT TS DNA vaccinated mice were responsive to 14
      predicted CD8+ TS epitopes, while T cells from mutant TS DNA vaccinated mice were
      responsive to just one of these 14 predicted TS epitopes. Molecular and
      structural biology studies revealed that this novel costimulatory mechanism
      involves CD45 signaling triggered by enzymatically active TS. This enhancing
      effect on subdominant T cells negatively regulates protective immunity. Using
      peptide-pulsed DC vaccination experiments, we have shown that vaccines inducing
      both immunodominant and subdominant epitope responses were significantly less
      protective than vaccines inducing only immunodominant-specific responses. These
      results have important implications for T. cruzi vaccine development. Of broader
      significance, we demonstrate that increasing breadth of T cell epitope responses
      induced by vaccination is not always advantageous for host immunity.

PMID- 27642760
TI  - Effects of dyadic planning on physical activity in couples: A randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Action planning can help translate physical activity intentions into
      action by linking situational cues with behavioral responses. Dyadic planning
      extends action planning and refers to target persons forming plans for their own
      behavior change together with partners. This study investigated whether a dyadic
      planning intervention could increase physical activity in target persons and
      their partners, whether these effects were moderated by relationship quality and
      mediated by action control, activity-specific received partner support, and
      control. METHOD: Couples (n = 338; target persons randomized) were randomly
      assigned to (a) a dyadic planning condition (DPC); (b) an individual planning
      condition (IPC), in which target persons planned and partners worked on a
      distractor task; or (c) a control condition (CC), in which couples worked on a
      distractor task. During 3 assessments up to 6 weeks postintervention, moderate
      (primary outcome) and vigorous activity were objectively measured; other
      variables were self-reported. Multilevel and path models were fit. RESULTS: There
      were no beneficial direct effects of the intervention for DPC target persons.
      Over time, DPC partners' vigorous activity increased, but decreased again. At
      lower relationship quality, DPC target persons' activity decreased, whereas IPC
      target persons' vigorous activity increased. Mediation hypotheses were not
      supported. Mutual influence models indicated positive effects of partners' on
      target persons' moderate activity in DPC and CC, whereas for IPC, negative
      effects of target persons' on partners' moderate activity emerged. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings revealed the complexity of effects of dyadic planning on behavior
      change. Adding relationship quality to the equation clarified effects of DPC and
      IPC on physical activity. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642761
TI  - Happy you, healthy me? Having a happy partner is independently associated with
      better health in oneself.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Happy people are healthy people. However, past research has largely
      overlooked the influence of romantic partners' happiness on physical health,
      particularly how a person's own emotional and physical well-being might also be
      affected by the happiness and health of their partner. METHOD: The current study
      helps fill this gap. In a large nationally representative sample (N = 1,981
      couples), a multilevel modeling procedure was employed to explore whether spousal
      life satisfaction contributes to self-health over and above the contribution of
      one's own life satisfaction. RESULTS: First, own happiness predicted better self
      health and exercise (r values > .07), consistent with previous studies.
      Importantly, spousal happiness also uniquely predicted better self-health (r
      values > .06), above and beyond own happiness and critical covariates.
      CONCLUSIONS: This finding significantly broadens extant assumptions about the
      link between happiness and health, suggesting novel social mechanisms: simply
      having a happy partner may enhance health as much as striving to being happy
      oneself. Candidate pathways that could account for this unique boost are
      discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642762
TI  - Lifestyle intervention effects on the frequency and duration of daily moderate
      vigorous physical activity and leisure screen time.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: How a healthy lifestyle intervention changes the frequency and
      duration of daily moderate-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behavior has
      not been well characterized. Secondary analyses of data from the Make Better
      Choices randomized controlled trial were conducted to evaluate how interventions
      to increase physical activity or reduce leisure screen time affected the
      frequency and duration of these behaviors during treatment initiation and follow
      up. METHOD: Participants were 202 adults who exhibited insufficient physical
      activity, excessive screen time and poor diet during a 14-day baseline screening
      period. The design was a randomized controlled trial with a 3-week intervention
      period followed by eight 3- to 7-day bursts of data collection over the 6-month
      follow-up period after intervention termination. Participants self-reported on
      their physical activity and screen time at the end of each day. RESULTS: A 2-part
      multilevel model indicated that, relative to baseline levels, the physical
      activity intervention increased the odds of daily moderate-vigorous intensity
      physical activity (frequency) but not the duration of activity during the
      intervention period and these effects persisted (albeit somewhat more weakly)
      during the follow-up period. The screen time intervention reduced both the
      frequency and duration of daily screen time from the beginning of the
      intervention through the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: A 3-week intervention
      increased daily physical activity frequency but not duration, and reduced both
      the frequency and duration of daily leisure screen time. These effects were
      maintained over 20 weeks following the end of the intervention. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27642765
TI  - Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer in a Hydrogen-Bonded Charge-Transfer Complex.
AB  - A proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reaction in a hydrogen-bonded charge
      transfer (CT) complex of 4-([2,2'-bipyridin]-4-yl)phenol (bpy-phenol) with a F-
      ion has been investigated by ultrafast time-resolved transient absorption
      spectroscopy. The phenolic receptor molecule, bpy-phenol, binds to the F- ion
      through a hydrogen bond and senses the F- ion via the Stokes-shifted CT band.
      Upon photoexcitation, CT from the phenol residue to the bpy residue promotes
      proton transfer from the phenol radical cation (ArOH*+) to the fluoride ion at
      ultrafast time scales of <150 fs (instrument response function limited) and 3 ps,
      separately. The fast and slow proton-transfer times are linked to two different
      types of hydrogen-bonding networks between the phenol residue and fluoride ion.
      Crystalline water in the fluoride salt hydrates mediates the proton-transfer
      reaction. This work demonstrates the participation of a hydrogen-bonded water
      bridge within a PCET reaction in a water-restricted environment.

PMID- 27642764
TI  - Enzyme-Mimic Peptide Assembly To Achieve Amidolytic Activity.
AB  - Amyloid fibers are classified as a new generation of tunable bionanomaterials
      that exhibit new functions related to their distinctive characteristics, such as
      their universality, tunability, and stiffness. Here, we introduce the catalytic
      residues of serine protease into a peptide catalyst (PC) via an enzyme-mimic
      approach. The rational design of a repeating pattern of polar and nonpolar amino
      acids favors the conversion of the peptides into amyloid-like fibrils via self
      assembly. Distinct fibrous morphologies have been observed at different pH values
      and temperatures, which indicates that different fibril packing schemes can be
      designed; hence, fibrillar peptides can be used to generate efficient artificial
      catalysts for amidolytic activities at mild pH values. The results of atomic
      force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and wide-angle X-ray scattering analyses
      are used to discuss and compare the fibril structure of a fibrillar PC with its
      amidolytic activity. The pH of the fibrillation reaction crucially affects the
      pKa of the side chains of the catalytic triads and is important for stable fibril
      formation. Temperature is another important parameter that controls the self
      assembly of peptides into highly stacked and laminated morphologies. The
      morphology and stability of fibrils are crucial and represent important factors
      for demonstrating the capability of the peptides to exert amidolytic activity.
      The observed amidolytic activity of PC4, one of the PCs, was validated using an
      inhibition assay, which revealed that PC4 can perform enzyme-like amidolytic
      catalysis. These results provide insights into the potential use of designed
      peptides in the generation of efficient artificial enzymes.

PMID- 27642763
TI  - Coassembly of Peptides Derived from beta-Sheet Regions of beta-Amyloid.
AB  - In this paper, we investigate the coassembly of peptides derived from the central
      and C-terminal regions of the beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta). In the preceding
      paper, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b06000 , we established that
      peptides containing residues 17-23 (LVFFAED) from the central region of Abeta and
      residues 30-36 (AIIGLMV) from the C-terminal region of Abeta assemble to form
      homotetramers consisting of two hydrogen-bonded dimers. Here, we mix these
      tetramer-forming peptides and determine how they coassemble. Incorporation of a
      single 15N isotopic label into each peptide provides a spectroscopic probe with
      which to elucidate the coassembly of the peptides by 1H,15N HSQC. Job's method of
      continuous variation and nonlinear least-squares fitting reveal that the peptides
      form a mixture of heterotetramers in 3:1, 2:2, and 1:3 stoichiometries, in
      addition to the homotetramers. These studies also establish the relative
      stability of each tetramer and show that the 2:2 heterotetramer predominates. 15N
      Edited NOESY shows the 2:2 heterotetramer comprises two different homodimers,
      rather than two heterodimers. The peptides within the heterotetramer segregate in
      forming the homodimer subunits, but the two homodimers coassemble in forming the
      heterotetramer. These studies show that the central and C-terminal regions of
      Abeta can preferentially segregate within beta-sheets and that the resulting
      segregated beta-sheets can further coassemble.

PMID- 27642766
TI  - New Regio- and Stereoselective Cascades via Unstabilized Azomethine Ylide
      Cycloadditions for the Synthesis of Highly Substituted Tropane and Indolizidine
      Frameworks.
AB  - Multisubstituted tropanes and indolizidines have been prepared with high regio-
      and stereoselectivity by the [3+2] cycloaddition of unstabilized azomethine
      ylides generated from readily prepared trimethylsilyl-substituted 1,2
      dihydropyridines via protonation or alkylation followed by desilylation. Starting
      from 1,2-dihydropyridines bearing a ring trimethylsilyl substituent at the 6
      position, an intermolecular alkylation/desilylation provides endocyclic
      unstabilized ylides that successfully undergo cycloaddition with a range of
      symmetrical and unsymmetrical alkyne and alkene dipolarophiles to afford densely
      substituted tropanes incorporating quaternary carbons in good yields and with
      high regio- and stereoselectivity. Additionally, an intramolecular
      alkylation/desilylation/cycloaddition sequence provides convenient and rapid
      entry to bridged tricyclic tropane skeletons, allowing for five contiguous carbon
      stereocenters to be set in a single experimental operation and under mild
      conditions. Starting from 1,2-dihydropyridines with trimethylsilylmethyl groups
      on nitrogen, protonation followed by desilylation generates exocyclic
      unstabilized ylides that undergo cycloaddition with unsymmetrical alkynes to give
      indolizidines with good regio- and stereoselectivity. N-Trimethylsilylmethyl-1,2
      dihydropyridines can also be alkylated and subsequently desilylated to give
      endocyclic unstabilized ylides that undergo intermolecular cycloadditions with
      carbonyl compounds to give bicyclic oxazolidine products in good overall yields.
      Moreover, an intramolecular alkylation/desilylation/cycloaddition sequence with
      the N-trimethylsilylmethyl-1,2-dihydropyridines affords tricyclic indolizidines
      that incorporate quaternary carbons and up to five stereocenters with good to
      excellent regio- and diastereoselectivity.

PMID- 27642768
TI  - Electrical Transport Properties of Au Nanoparticles and Thin Films on Ge Probed
      Using a Conducting Atomic Force Microscope.
AB  - In this work, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were distributed on an n-Ge substrate
      using the colloidal NP deposition method to form Au NP/Ge Schottky diodes (SDs),
      and the current transport properties of these nano-SDs were studied. The current
      density-voltage (J-V) characteristics were measured on each nanometer-sized Au
      particle using a conducting atomic force microscope (C-AFM). These Au NP/Ge
      diodes showed a rectifying behavior. According to the thermionic emission (TE)
      model, the effective Schottky barrier height (SBH) and ideality factors n were
      obtained. The SBH for the Au NP/Ge diodes ranges from 0.22 to 0.30 eV and the
      ideality factor ranges from 3.8 to 8.6. The current density and the barrier
      height increase while the ideality factor decreases with increasing Au NP
      diameters. This indicates that the tunneling effect is enhanced because of the
      narrowed depletion width and decreased size of the Au NP/Ge SDs. To compare the
      electrical behavior with Au NP/Ge diodes, the Au thin film/Ge diodes were also
      prepared and their SBHs were much larger because of the image-charge lowering
      effect and the tunneling effect in Au NP/Ge diodes.

PMID- 27642767
TI  - Selective Epitaxy of InP on Si and Rectification in Graphene/InP/Si Hybrid
      Structure.
AB  - The epitaxial integration of highly heterogeneous material systems with silicon
      (Si) is a central topic in (opto-)electronics owing to device applications. InP
      could open new avenues for the realization of novel devices such as high-mobility
      transistors in next-generation CMOS or efficient lasers in Si photonics
      circuitry. However, the InP/Si heteroepitaxy is highly challenging due to the
      lattice (~8%), thermal expansion mismatch (~84%), and the different lattice
      symmetries. Here, we demonstrate the growth of InP nanocrystals showing high
      structural quality and excellent optoelectronic properties on Si. Our CMOS
      compatible innovative approach exploits the selective epitaxy of InP nanocrystals
      on Si nanometric seeds obtained by the opening of lattice-arranged Si nanotips
      embedded in a SiO2 matrix. A graphene/InP/Si-tip heterostructure was realized on
      obtained materials, revealing rectifying behavior and promising photodetection.
      This work presents a significant advance toward the monolithic integration of
      graphene/III-V based hybrid devices onto the mainstream Si technology platform.

PMID- 27642769
TI  - About the Compatibility between High Voltage Spinel Cathode Materials and Solid
      Oxide Electrolytes as a Function of Temperature.
AB  - The reactivity of mixtures of high voltage spinel cathode materials Li2NiMn3O8,
      Li2FeMn3O8, and LiCoMnO4 cosintered with Li1.5Al0.5Ti1.5(PO4)3 and
      Li6.6La3Zr1.6Ta0.4O12 electrolytes is studied by thermal analysis using X-ray
      diffraction and differential thermoanalysis and thermogravimetry coupled with
      mass spectrometry. The results are compared with predicted decomposition
      reactions from first-principles calculations. Decomposition of the mixtures
      begins at 600  degrees C, significantly lower than the decomposition temperature
      of any component, especially the electrolytes. For the cathode +
      Li6.6La3Zr1.6Ta0.4O12 mixtures, lithium and oxygen from the electrolyte react
      with the cathodes to form highly stable Li2MnO3 and then decompose to form stable
      and often insulating phases such as La2Zr2O7, La2O3, La3TaO7, TiO2, and LaMnO3
      which are likely to increase the interfacial impedance of a cathode composite.
      The decomposition reactions are identified with high fidelity by first-principles
      calculations. For the cathode + Li1.5Al0.5Ti1.5(PO4)3 mixtures, the Mn tends to
      oxidize to MnO2 or Mn2O3, supplying lithium to the electrolyte for the formation
      of Li3PO4 and metal phosphates such as AlPO4 and LiMPO4 (M = Mn, Ni). The results
      indicate that high temperature cosintering to form dense cathode composites
      between spinel cathodes and oxide electrolytes will produce high impedance
      interfacial products, complicating solid state battery manufacturing.

PMID- 27642772
TI  - End-of-Waste SiC-Based Flexible Substrates with Tunable Electrical Properties for
      Electronic Applications.
AB  - We demonstrated the suitability of polymer composites filled with silicon carbide
      (SiC) powders derived from a recycling process for applications in electronic
      devices manufacturing. SiC powders have been synthesized from the process
      byproducts and used as fillers in the formulation of polystyrene (PS)/SiC
      composites, which have been used in the preparation of substrates using the
      solution-casting technique. Different substrates have been prepared by changing
      the concentration of SiC in the composite in the range from 6.7 to 67 wt % and
      used in simple electronic devices by performing gold contacts in both planar and
      stacked configurations. The electrical behaviors of both stacked and planar
      devices were investigated in direct current (DC) and alternate current (AC)
      regimes. The experimental results showed that charge percolation could be
      considered an explanation for the abrupt change in the differential conductivity
      observed around 30 wt %. Fowler-Nordheim tunneling at high fields has been found
      to be compatible with static characteristics and with high-frequency AC
      measurements and, therefore, charge tunneling between SiC islands has been
      proposed as the physical mechanism provoking the changes in charge transport in
      the substrates investigated. From this first experimental analysis, it appears
      that SiC/PS composites could suit their use in tunneling-gate dielectrics (i.e.,
      in transistors suitable for their applications in nonvolatile random-access
      memory) for low concentrations or as a continuous semiconducting media when SiC
      is dispersed in high-concentration composites.

PMID- 27642771
TI  - Simultaneous Differential Scanning Calorimetry-Synchrotron X-ray Powder
      Diffraction: A Powerful Technique for Physical Form Characterization in
      Pharmaceutical Materials.
AB  - We report a powerful new technique: hyphenating synchrotron X-ray powder
      diffraction (XRD) with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). This is achieved
      with a simple modification to a standard laboratory DSC instrument, in contrast
      to previous reports which have involved extensive and complex modifications to a
      DSC to mount it in the synchrotron beam. The high-energy X-rays of the
      synchrotron permit the recording of powder diffraction patterns in as little as 2
      s, meaning that thermally induced phase changes can be accurately quantified and
      additional insight on the nature of phase transitions obtained. Such detailed
      knowledge cannot be gained from existing laboratory XRD instruments, since much
      longer collection times are required. We demonstrate the power of our approach
      with two model systems, glutaric acid and sulfathiazole, both of which show
      enantiotropic polymorphism. The phase transformations between the low and high
      temperature polymorphs are revealed to be direct solid-solid processes, and
      sequential refinement against the diffraction patterns obtained permits phase
      fractions at each temperature to be calculated and unit cell parameters to be
      accurately quantified as a function of temperature. The combination of XRD and
      DSC has further allowed us to identify mixtures of phases which appeared phase
      pure by DSC.

PMID- 27642770
TI  - A Target-Based Whole Cell Screen Approach To Identify Potential Inhibitors of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis Signal Peptidase.
AB  - The general secretion (Sec) pathway is a conserved essential pathway in bacteria
      and is the primary route of protein export across the cytoplasmic membrane.
      During protein export, the signal peptidase LepB catalyzes the cleavage of the
      signal peptide and subsequent release of mature proteins into the extracellular
      space. We developed a target-based whole cell assay to screen for potential
      inhibitors of LepB, the sole signal peptidase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
      using a strain engineered to underexpress LepB (LepB-UE). We screened 72,000
      compounds against both the Lep-UE and wild-type (wt) strains. We identified the
      phenylhydrazone (PHY) series as having higher activity against the LepB-UE
      strain. We conducted a limited structure-activity relationship determination
      around a representative PHY compound with differential activity (MICs of 3.0 MUM
      against the LepB-UE strain and 18 MUM against the wt); several analogues were
      less potent against the LepB overexpressing strain. A number of chemical
      modifications around the hydrazone moiety resulted in improved potency.
      Inhibition of LepB activity was observed for a number of compounds in a
      biochemical assay using cell membrane fraction derived from M. tuberculosis.
      Compounds did not increase cell permeability, dissipate membrane potential, or
      inhibit an unrelated mycobacterial enzyme, suggesting a specific mode of action
      related to the LepB secretory mechanism.

PMID- 27642773
TI  - Impact of Axial Component Alignment in Total Knee Arthroplasty on Lower Limb
      Rotational Alignment: An In Vitro Study.
AB  - Correct rotational implant alignment is associated with increased postoperative
      function and implant survival in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Due to conformity
      between tibial and femoral implants, particularly in full extension, we assumed a
      mutual interference of femoral and tibial component rotations. We, therefore,
      hypothesized that different rotational alignments of the tibial or femoral
      components change the rotational postures between the tibia and femur after TKA.
      In 10 healthy knees of whole body cadavers, TKA was performed. Both femoral and
      tibial components were implanted in different internal (6 degrees) and external
      (3 and 6 degrees) rotational alignments. Consequential osseous rotational changes
      between the tibia and the femur were measured in full extension using a
      commercial computer navigation device. External rotation of the femoral component
      resulted in significant external rotation of the tibia, while external rotation
      of the tibial component caused a significant internal rotation of the tibia. The
      opposite applied to femoral and tibial component internal rotations. Therefore,
      largest changes of the osseous tibiofemoral rotational postures were found by the
      combination of 6 degrees femoral component internal and 6 degrees tibial
      component external rotations (mean 11.2 degrees, standard deviation 5.0, p <
      0.001), as both cause tibial internal rotation. In conclusion, the present
      results suggest that axial component alignment significantly affects lower limb
      rotational alignment. However, its clinical impact on forefoot progression, Q
      angle, the patella, collateral, and cruciate ligaments, and surrounding soft
      tissues has to be clarified in further clinical and biomechanical studies.

PMID- 27642774
TI  - Hot Topics in the Multicenter Orthopedics Outcomes Network: Anterior Cruciate
      Ligament.
AB  - Since 2015, the Multicenter Orthopedic Outcomes Network (MOON) has addressed
      several factors associated with patient outcome after anterior cruciate ligament
      (ACL) injury. These factors include predictors of high grade knee laxity, the
      impact of meniscus treatment on joint space narrowing after surgery, graft
      selection, treating diabetic patients, predictors of clinically significant pain,
      and outcomes of patients where meniscus tears were left in situ without
      treatment. The presence of meniscus tears and generalized laxity predict a lax
      examination under anesthesia prior to surgery. Allograft reconstructions carry a
      5.2 times increased risk of re-tear compared to autograft. Patients with diabetes
      should be counseled they may be at increased risk (odds ratio 18.8) for infection
      after surgery. Subsequent ipsilateral knee surgery is the strongest predictor of
      postoperative pain after ACLR. Stable, partial thickness meniscus tears measuring
      less than 1 cm can be left alone without treatment with low re-operation rates at
      6-years.

PMID- 27642775
TI  - Efficacy of high-pitch CT protocols for radiation dose reduction.
AB  - Various strategies have been developed to reduce radiation exposure of patients
      in CT examinations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of high
      pitch in representative CT protocols examining lung embolism. We performed
      thermoluminescence measurements with an anthropomorphic phantom exposing it to CT
      algorithms for lung embolism in a 128-multislice, dual-source CT scanner: a
      standard CT protocol (sCT) and a CT protocol with a high pitch (+ F). Radiation
      doses for both CT algorithms were compared and the dose reduction potential of
      high pitch for individual organs was evaluated. As expected, the  +F mode reduced
      the effective dose and organ doses in the primary beam of radiation (namely,
      lung, bone marrow, heart, breast, skin and skeleton) compared with sCT by up to
      52% for an equivalent image quality. On the contrary, for organs at the margin of
      the primary beam (thymus, thyroid, liver, pancreas, kidneys, colon and small
      intestine), the  +F mode reduced effective radiation doses by only 0-30%,
      compared with sCT. The dose reduction potential of the  +F mode greatly depends
      on the position of the organ in the scan field. While for organs in the primary
      beam  + F leads to a considerable dose reduction, it is less effective for
      tissues at the margin of the scanned area.

PMID- 27642776
TI  - Added Value of IP-10 as a Read-Out of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Specific
      Immunity in Young Children.
AB  - We have explored the added value of interferon-gamma (IFNgamma)-inducible protein
      10 as a read-out of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific immunity in young Indian
      children, where the sensitivity of the IFNgamma release assays for tuberculosis
      is poor. Reduced frequency of indeterminate results and an increased sensitivity
      for tuberculosis suggest a potential for fewer missed cases with a combined
      IFNgamma/inducible protein 10 read-out in a 4th generation IFNgamma release
      assays.

PMID- 27642777
TI  - Clinical Spine Surgery Focus Issue: Spinal Deformities.

PMID- 27642779
TI  - Transitioning trauma research: Navigating the regulatory requirements for medical
      product development.

PMID- 27642778
TI  - Relationship between Lung Volume and Pulmonary Function in Patients With
      Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Computed Tomographic-based 3-Dimensional
      Volumetric Reconstruction of Lung Parenchyma.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective. OBJECTIVES: We determined values for the volume of
      right lung (Vr), left lung (Vl), total lung volume (Vt), and left/right lung
      volume ratio (Vl/Vr), allowing comparison between those data measured and those
      of age-matched controls. To find whether lung volume correlates with preoperative
      pulmonary function. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: To our knowledge, no study on
      relationship between computed tomographic (CT) scans determined lung volume and
      pulmonary function test (PFT) in scoliosis have been published. METHODS: All
      examinations with PFT (31 cases) were identified. Three-dimensional volumetric
      reconstruction of lung parenchyma was performed on existing preoperative CT scans
      for 26 idiopathic scoliosis patients. Vl, Vr, Vt, Vl/Vr, and absolute value of
      right volume minus left volume (|Vr-Vl|) were calculated and correlated with
      PFTs. To determine if significant difference of preoperative lung volume exists
      between idiopathic scoliosis patients and controls. Linear regression models,
      using 3-dimensional lung volume parameters as predictors for vital capacity (VC),
      forced vital capacity (FVC), and total lung capacity (TLC), were created.
      RESULTS: Vt was positively correlated with VC, FVC, forced expiratory volume in 1
      second (FEV1), TLC, predicted value for FVC (FVC%), predicted value for FEV1
      (FEV1%), predicted value for TLC (TLC%), and predicted value for maximal
      ventilator volume (MVV%) (P<0.05); |Vr-Vl| was not correlated with ventilation
      parameters (P>0.05); Diffusion parameters were not correlated with CT
      reconstructed lung volume parameters (P>0.05); male and female adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis patients had less Vt, Vr, and Vl compared with those of age
      matched controls (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Vt was positively correlated with VC,
      FVC, FEV1, TLC, FVC%, FEV1%, TLC%, and MVV%. Vt, Vr, and Vl of adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis patients were less than those of age-matched controls.

PMID- 27642780
TI  - Objective Assessment of Fellows: Doable and Worth Doing.

PMID- 27642781
TI  - NASPGHAN Capsule Endoscopy Clinical Report.
AB  - Wireless capsule endoscopy (CE) was introduced in 2000 as a less invasive method
      to visualize the distal small bowel in adults. Because this technology has
      advanced it has been adapted for use in pediatric gastroenterology. Several
      studies have described its clinical use, utility, and various training methods
      but pediatric literature regarding CE is limited. This clinical report developed
      by the Endoscopic and Procedures Committee of the North American Society of
      Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition outlines the current
      literature, and describes the recommended current role, use, training, and future
      areas of research for CE in pediatrics.

PMID- 27642782
TI  - Seasonal Variation in the Diagnosis of Eosinophilic Esophagitis: There and Back
      Again.

PMID- 27642784
TI  - Cell type-specific long-range connections of basal forebrain circuit.
AB  - The basal forebrain (BF) plays key roles in multiple brain functions, including
      sleep-wake regulation, attention, and learning/memory, but the long-range
      connections mediating these functions remain poorly characterized. Here we
      performed whole-brain mapping of both inputs and outputs of four BF cell types -
      cholinergic, glutamatergic, and parvalbumin-positive (PV+) and somatostatin
      positive (SOM+) GABAergic neurons - in the mouse brain. Using rabies virus 
      mediated monosynaptic retrograde tracing to label the inputs and adeno-associated
      virus to trace axonal projections, we identified numerous brain areas connected
      to the BF. The inputs to different cell types were qualitatively similar, but the
      output projections showed marked differences. The connections to glutamatergic
      and SOM+ neurons were strongly reciprocal, while those to cholinergic and PV+
      neurons were more unidirectional. These results reveal the long-range wiring
      diagram of the BF circuit with highly convergent inputs and divergent outputs and
      point to both functional commonality and specialization of different BF cell
      types.

PMID- 27642786
TI  - [Autosomal polycystic kidney disease].
AB  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common
      monogenetic kidney disease. The clinical course is highly variable, association
      to certain genetic mutations only weak. Great progress has been made in recent
      years in determining the pathophysiology of the disease. Diagnosis of ADPKD is
      almost always possible by ultrasound, genetic examination is confined to selected
      cases. In addition, imaging is important for prognosis where MRI and computer
      tomography are superior for determination of total kidney volume. Until recently,
      supportive therapy has been the only available therapeutic option. This includes
      optimal antihypertensive therapy with a goal blood pressure below 110/75 mm
      mercury, at least with normal renal function and without any other
      contraindication. In addition, fluid intake should be increased to 2.5-4 l per
      day. Finally, tolvaptan is available as a specific therapy in selected countries.
      This therapy should be restricted to cases with rapid progressive and early renal
      failure due to costs and side effects. The value of this agent in later stages of
      chronic renal failure is currently being evaluated in clinical studies.
      Additional specific therapies are in early clinical evaluations.

PMID- 27642785
TI  - AMPK acts as a molecular trigger to coordinate glutamatergic signals and adaptive
      behaviours during acute starvation.
AB  - The stress associated with starvation is accompanied by compensatory behaviours
      that enhance foraging efficiency and increase the probability of encountering
      food. However, the molecular details of how hunger triggers changes in the
      activity of neural circuits to elicit these adaptive behavioural outcomes remains
      to be resolved. We show here that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) regulates
      neuronal activity to elicit appropriate behavioural outcomes in response to acute
      starvation, and this effect is mediated by the coordinated modulation of
      glutamatergic inputs. AMPK targets both the AMPA-type glutamate receptor GLR-1
      and the metabotropic glutamate receptor MGL-1 in one of the primary circuits that
      governs behavioural response to food availability in C. elegans. Overall, our
      study suggests that AMPK acts as a molecular trigger in the specific starvation
      sensitive neurons to modulate glutamatergic inputs and to elicit adaptive
      behavioural outputs in response to acute starvation.

PMID- 27642787
TI  - iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes reveal abnormal TGF-beta signalling in left
      ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is the third most prevalent cardiomyopathy
      in children and its pathogenesis has been associated with the developmental
      defect of the embryonic myocardium. We show that patient-specific induced
      pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) generated from LVNC
      patients carrying a mutation in the cardiac transcription factor TBX20
      recapitulate a key aspect of the pathological phenotype at the single-cell level
      and this was associated with perturbed transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)
      signalling. LVNC iPSC-CMs have decreased proliferative capacity due to abnormal
      activation of TGF-beta signalling. TBX20 regulates the expression of TGF-beta
      signalling modifiers including one known to be a genetic cause of LVNC, PRDM16,
      and genome editing of PRDM16 caused proliferation defects in iPSC-CMs. Inhibition
      of TGF-beta signalling and genome correction of the TBX20 mutation were
      sufficient to reverse the disease phenotype. Our study demonstrates that iPSC-CMs
      are a useful tool for the exploration of pathological mechanisms underlying
      poorly understood cardiomyopathies including LVNC.

PMID- 27642789
TI  - To evaluate the effect of pre-pregnancy body mass index on maternal and perinatal
      outcomes among adolescent pregnant women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of pre-pregnancy body mass index on maternal
      and perinatal outcomes among adolescent pregnant women. METHODS: We conducted
      this prospective cross-sectional study on 365 singleton adolescent pregnancies
      (aged between 16 and 20 years) at a Maternity Hospital, between December 2014 and
      March 2015. We divided participants into two groups based on pre-pregnancy body
      mass index (BMI): overweight and obese adolescent (BMI at or above 25.0 kg/m) and
      normal weight (BMI between 18.5 and 24.99 kg/m) adolescent. We used multivariate
      analysis to evaluate the association of the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes
      and pre-pregnancy BMI. RESULTS: The prevalence of maternal overweight/obesity and
      normal weight was 34.6% (n = 80) and 65.4% (n = 261) in the study population,
      respectively. Compared with normal-weight teens (n = 234), overweight/obese teens
      (n = 71) were at higher risk for cesarean delivery (odds ratio [OR] 0.7, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 0.4-1.4), preeclampsia (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.1,
      95% confidence interval [CI] 0.02-0.9) and small of gestational age (odds ratio
      [OR] 0.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1-0.9). CONCLUSION: BMI increased during
      pre-pregnancy could be an important preventable risk factor for poor obstetric
      complications in adolescent pregnancies, and for these patients prevention
      strategies (e.g., nutritional counseling, weight-loss, regular physical activity)
      for obesity are recommended before getting pregnant.

PMID- 27642788
TI  - Induction of LIFR confers a dormancy phenotype in breast cancer cells
      disseminated to the bone marrow.
AB  - Breast cancer cells frequently home to the bone marrow, where they may enter a
      dormant state before forming a bone metastasis. Several members of the
      interleukin-6 (IL-6) cytokine family are implicated in breast cancer bone
      colonization, but the role for the IL-6 cytokine leukaemia inhibitory factor
      (LIF) in this process is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that LIF provides a
      pro-dormancy signal to breast cancer cells in the bone. In breast cancer
      patients, LIF receptor (LIFR) levels are lower with bone metastases and are
      significantly and inversely correlated with patient outcome and hypoxia gene
      activity. Hypoxia also reduces the LIFR:STAT3:SOCS3 signalling pathway in breast
      cancer cells. Loss of the LIFR or STAT3 enables otherwise dormant breast cancer
      cells to downregulate dormancy-, quiescence- and cancer stem cell-associated
      genes, and to proliferate in and specifically colonize the bone, suggesting that
      LIFR:STAT3 signalling confers a dormancy phenotype in breast cancer cells
      disseminated to bone.

PMID- 27642790
TI  - Construct validity of the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory computer
      adaptive test (PEDI-CAT) in children with medical complexity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess construct (convergent and divergent) validity of the Pediatric
      Evaluation of Disability Inventory Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) in a sample
      of children with complex medical conditions. METHOD: Demographics, clinical
      information, PEDI-CAT normative score, and the Post-Acute Acuity Rating for
      Children (PAARC) level were collected for all post-acute hospital admissions (n =
      110) from 1 April 2015 to 1 March 2016. Correlations between the PEDI-CAT Daily
      Activities, Mobility, and Social/Cognitive domain scores for the total sample and
      across three age groups (infant, preschool, and school-age) were calculated.
      Differences in mean PEDI-CAT scores for each domain across two groups, children
      with "Less Complexity," or "More Complexity" based on PAARC level were examined.
      RESULTS: All correlations for the total sample and age subgroups were
      statistically significant and trends across age groups were evident with the
      stronger associations between domains for the infant group. Significant
      differences were found between mean PEDI-CAT Daily Activities, Mobility, and
      Social/Cognitive normative scores across the two complexity groups with children
      in the "Less Complex" group having higher PEDI-CAT scores for all domains.
      CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence indicating the PEDI-CAT can be used with
      confidence in capturing and differentiating children's level of function in a
      post-acute care setting. Implications for Rehabilitation The PEDI-CAT is measure
      of function for children with a variety of conditions and can be used in any
      clinical setting. Convergent validity of the PEDI-CAT's Daily Activities,
      Mobility, and Social/Cognitive domains was significant and particularly strong
      for infants and young children with medical complexity. The PEDI-CAT was able to
      discriminate groups of children with differing levels of medical complexity
      admitted to a pediatric post-acute care hospital.

PMID- 27642793
TI  - From the Editor-in-Chief's Desk.

PMID- 27642791
TI  - UDP-galactose and acetyl-CoA transporters as Plasmodium multidrug resistance
      genes.
AB  - A molecular understanding of drug resistance mechanisms enables surveillance of
      the effectiveness of new antimicrobial therapies during development and
      deployment in the field. We used conventional drug resistance selection as well
      as a regime of limiting dilution at early stages of drug treatment to probe two
      antimalarial imidazolopiperazines, KAF156 and GNF179. The latter approach permits
      the isolation of low-fitness mutants that might otherwise be out-competed during
      selection. Whole-genome sequencing of 24 independently derived resistant
      Plasmodium falciparum clones revealed four parasites with mutations in the known
      cyclic amine resistance locus (pfcarl) and a further 20 with mutations in two
      previously unreported P. falciparum drug resistance genes, an acetyl-CoA
      transporter (pfact) and a UDP-galactose transporter (pfugt). Mutations were
      validated both in vitro by CRISPR editing in P. falciparum and in vivo by
      evolution of resistant Plasmodium berghei mutants. Both PfACT and PfUGT were
      localized to the endoplasmic reticulum by fluorescence microscopy. As mutations
      in pfact and pfugt conveyed resistance against additional unrelated chemical
      scaffolds, these genes are probably involved in broad mechanisms of antimalarial
      drug resistance. 

PMID- 27642792
TI  - Dietary Protein Requirement During Juvenile Growth of Zebrafish (Danio rerio).
AB  - A standard diet for zebrafish, based on their specific nutritional requirements,
      is of primary importance to improve experimental outcomes with this model
      organism and optimize its large-scale production. However, the main basic
      nutritional requirements of zebrafish are yet to be determined. This study aimed
      at contributing to fill this gap by evaluating the dietary protein requirement of
      zebrafish juvenile. Ten isoenergetic fishmeal-based diets with increasing protein
      levels (15%-60%) were formulated, and each diet was assigned to duplicated groups
      of zebrafish (53.6 mg/17.8 mm initial mean body weight/fork length), fed to
      apparent satiation during 8 weeks. Weight gain, protein retention, and feed
      efficiency significantly increased in fish fed diets with increasing protein
      levels up to 35%-40% and then stabilized. Based on dose-response models, the
      dietary protein requirement of zebrafish juvenile was estimated at 37.6% and
      44.8% for maximum weight gain and maximum protein retention, respectively (with a
      crude protein-to-energy ratio of about 22.5 g/MJ), corresponding to a protein
      intake of 14 mg/g average body weight/day. Feed intake increased linearly when
      fish were fed diets with decreasing protein levels below the estimated
      requirement, suggesting that zebrafish would regulate feed intake primarily to
      meet protein needs. On the other hand, the efficiency of protein utilization and
      retention linearly decreased when fish were fed diets with increasing protein
      levels above the estimated requirement, indicating that the excess of dietary
      protein would be deaminated, contributing to increased ammonia excretion. The
      whole-body composition of fish was affected by the dietary protein level, with
      fish fed diets with higher protein levels having higher water and protein
      contents and lower energy content. Considering that zebrafish juveniles are often
      reared with diets containing excessive amounts of protein, we suggest that the
      estimated protein requirement should be taken into account to formulate a more
      suitable, cost-effective, and less pollutant diet for this species.

PMID- 27642794
TI  - Psychopharmacotherapy of Severe Self-injury in an Adolescent with Gender
      Dysphoria and Comorbidity.

PMID- 27642796
TI  - Spicing Up the N Gene: F. O. Holmes and Tobacco mosaic virus Resistance in
      Capsicum and Nicotiana Plants.
AB  - One of the seminal events in plant pathology was the discovery by Francis O.
      Holmes that necrotic local lesions induced on certain species of Nicotiana
      following rub-inoculation of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was due to a specific
      interaction involving a dominant host gene (N). From this, Holmes had an idea
      that if the N gene from N. glutinosa was introgressed into susceptible tobacco,
      the greatly reduced titer of TMV would, by extension, prevent subsequent
      infection of tomato and pepper plants by field workers whose hands were
      contaminated with TMV from their use of chewing and smoking tobacco. The ultimate
      outcome has many surprising twists and turns, including Holmes' failure to obtain
      fertile crosses of N. glutinosa * N. tabacum after 3 years of intensive work.
      Progress was made with N. digluta, a rare amphidiploid that was readily crossed
      with N. tabacum. And, importantly, the first demonstration by Holmes of the
      utility of interspecies hybridization for virus resistance was made with Capsicum
      (pepper) species with the identification of the L gene in Tabasco pepper, that he
      introgressed into commercial bell pepper varieties. Holmes' findings are
      important as they predate Flor's gene-for-gene hypothesis, show the use of
      interspecies hybridization for control of plant pathogens, and the use of the
      local lesion as a bioassay to monitor resistance events in crop plants.

PMID- 27642797
TI  - Molecular Mechanisms Involved in Qualitative and Quantitative Resistance to the
      Dicarboximide Fungicide Iprodione in Sclerotinia homoeocarpa Field Isolates.
AB  - The dicarboximide fungicide class is commonly used to control Sclerotinia
      homoeocarpa, the causal agent of dollar spot on turfgrass. Despite frequent
      occurrences of S. homoeocarpa field resistance to iprodione (dicarboximide active
      ingredient), the genetic mechanisms of iprodione resistance have not been
      elucidated. In this study, 15 field isolates (seven suspected dicarboximide
      resistant, three multidrug resistance (MDR)-like, and five dicarboximide
      sensitive) were used for sequence comparison of a histidine kinase gene, Shos1,
      of S. homoeocarpa. The suspected dicarboximide-resistant isolates displayed
      nonsynonymous polymorphisms in codon 366 (isoleucine to asparagine) in Shos1,
      while the MDR-like and sensitive isolates did not. Further elucidation of the
      Shos1 function, using polyethylene glycol-mediated protoplast transformation
      indicated that S. homoeocarpa mutants (Shos1I366N) from a sensitive isolate
      gained resistance to dicarboximides but not phenylpyrrole and polyols. The
      deletion of Shos1 resulted in higher resistance to dicarboximide and
      phenylpyrrole and higher sensitivity to polyols than Shos1I366N. Levels of
      dicarboximide sensitivity in the sensitive isolate, Shos1I366N, and Shos1
      deletion mutants were negatively correlated to values of iprodione-induced
      expression of ShHog1, the last kinase in the high-osmolarity glycerol pathway.
      Increased constitutive and induced expression of the ATP-binding cassette
      multidrug efflux transporter ShPDR1 was observed in six of seven dicarboximide
      resistant isolates. In conclusion, S. homoeocarpa field isolates gained
      dicarboximide resistance through the polymorphism in Shos1 and the overexpression
      of ShPDR1.

PMID- 27642798
TI  - [A complex crisis intervention for a 16-year-old pregnant girl after
      unaccompanied emigration from Eritrea].
AB  - Unaccompanied refugee minors are frequently confronted with multiple, potentially
      traumatizing events; girls tend to show most profound traumatizations. A 16-year
      old female refugee minor was admitted to a child psychiatric ward over the
      weekend for acute suicidal behavior. The girl had fled unaccompanied from Eritrea
      and was living in a shelter home for adolescents. Pregnancy (23 weeks p. c.) had
      been diagnosed the previous day, stemming from several rapes that had occurred on
      her journey through Sudan and Nigeria. The girl had repressed all signs of the
      pregnancy from her consciousness. However, when it became medically undeniably
      apparent, she tried to end her life by jumping out of a window. The shelter home
      staff requested a psychiatric indication for termination of the pregnancy.
      Implications of medical indications for psychiatric reasons at a pregnancy state
      of 23 weeks as well as ethical aspects and considerations with regard to
      posttraumatic symptomatology are discussed in the following case report.

PMID- 27642799
TI  - [Dialectical behavior therapy approaches with disruptive behavior disorders].
AB  - Disruptive behaviour disorders comprise the diagnosis conduct disorder (CD) and
      in adults the diagnosis antisocial personality disorder (APD). CD is seen as a
      difficult-to-treat disorder with a high risk for persistent behavioral problems.
      In addition, CD is seen as the precursor to antisocial personality disorder
      (Kretschmer et al., 2014). Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally
      developed by Marsha Linehan (1991) for the treatment of borderline personality
      disorder, but because of the core deficits in emotion regulation in disruptive
      behavior disorders, DBT is also increasingly being recommended for the treatment
      of CD and APD. This review presents DBT adaptions for the forensic setting and
      for the treatment of CD/APD. Clinical implications are discussed.

PMID- 27642800
TI  - Issues facing the bioanalytical community: summary of round table discussions.

PMID- 27642801
TI  - Role of interspecies interactions in dual-species biofilms developed in vitro by
      uropathogens isolated from polymicrobial urinary catheter-associated bacteriuria.
AB  - Most catheter-associated urinary tract infections are polymicrobial. Here,
      uropathogen interactions in dual-species biofilms were studied. The dual-species
      associations selected based on their prevalence in clinical settings were
      Klebsiella pneumoniae-Escherichia coli, E. coli-Enterococcus faecalis, K.
      pneumoniae-E. faecalis, and K. pneumoniae-Proteus mirabilis. All species
      developed single-species biofilms in artificial urine. The ability of K.
      pneumoniae to form biofilms was not affected by E. coli or E. faecalis co
      inoculation, but was impaired by P. mirabilis. Conversely, P. mirabilis
      established a biofilm when co-inoculated with K. pneumoniae. Additionally, E.
      coli persistence in biofilms was hampered by K. pneumoniae but not by E.
      faecalis. Interestingly, E. coli, but not K. pneumoniae, partially inhibited E.
      faecalis attachment to the surface and retarded biofilm development. The findings
      reveal bacterial interactions between uropathogens in dual-species biofilms
      ranged from affecting initial adhesion to outcompeting one bacterial species,
      depending on the identity of the partners involved.

PMID- 27642803
TI  - Clinical application of subdermal areolar tissue and superficial fascia graft as
      a new material for coverage of small exposure of bone cortex or orthopaedic
      fixation device.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of cortical bone, tendon that has been exposed by
      defects, may result in infection or osteomyelitis. In such cases, perifascial
      areolar tissue grafting (PATG) may be performed as a minimally invasive surgical
      procedure. However, perifascial areolar tissue (PAT) is located deep in the
      subcutaneous layer. It was considered that grafting of the superficial vascular
      network might enable less invasive surgery. This study reports use of subdermal
      areolar tissue (SAT) and superficial fascia (SF) to close avascular areas.
      METHODS: This study treated eight areas of exposed bone, tendon, or orthopaedic
      fixation device in seven patients treated in the department between 2010-2013.
      The patients included five men and two women aged 15-80 years. Subdermal areolar
      tissue grafting (SATG) was performed on four areas, and superficial fascia
      grafting (SFG) on the remaining four areas. In all cases, split thickness skin
      graft (STSG) was used to cover the grafted tissue in a single procedure. RESULT:
      The tissue grafted successfully in seven areas, and primary engraftment of the
      skin grafts was also achieved in three areas treated with SATG and one area
      treated with SFG. Additional skin grafting was performed to achieve closure in
      one site treated with SATG and two sites treated with SFG. The tissue graft
      became necrotic in one site treated with SFG. There were no problems at any donor
      sites and no graft site infections or other complications. CONCLUSION: SATG and
      SFG achieved good clinical results for the closure of exposed avascular tissue or
      artifacts.

PMID- 27642802
TI  - Telemedicine to Improve Access to Specialist Care in Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring:
      Analysis of 17 Years of TOCOMAT Network Clinical Activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the
      clinical experience of our telemedicine network (TOCOMAT) for fetal well-being
      assessment through computerized Cardiotocography (cCTG), analyzing cultural,
      socioeconomic, and environmental conditions of pregnant women and its economic
      sustainability over time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the central data store,
      including all cCTG records collected in Campania region (Italy) during 17 years
      of activity. The Operations Center acquires the traces recorded in the Remote
      Units and simultaneously performs a complex fetal heart rate analysis. An
      Internet or phone conference calling is available to discuss the information
      transmitted. Finally, the report is send back to the Remote Units. RESULTS: The
      number of cCTG traces performed was constantly increasing, despite the
      progressive reduction in the number of peripheral units involved. Pregnant women
      in Remote Unit group were younger and overweight and showed a higher incidence of
      diabetes and fetal defects than Operations Center ones. Moreover, a high rate of
      African migrant women and low socioeconomic and cultural standards were found in
      Remote Unit group. The cost analysis showed an economic advantage both in the
      reduction of inappropriate admissions and in the improvement of admission
      indicators (hospital stay days) for pregnant women. DISCUSSION: The global
      economic recession has had a significant impact on the Italian regional
      healthcare system and socioeconomic deprivation. CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine could
      avoid unnecessary referral to Level III centers (Hospital) in Campania region,
      where the average population density is very high, allowing equal access to ultra
      specialist assessment irrespective of the geographical location of the pregnant
      woman with medium to high risk, as well as rationalizing the costs for maternal
      and fetal care.

PMID- 27642804
TI  - A question of who, not if: Psychological disorders in Holocaust survivors'
      children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Because findings on the mental health status of Holocaust survivors'
      offspring have been inconsistent, we aimed to identify factors that place some
      offspring at greater risk for developing mood or anxiety disorders. METHOD: Using
      a web-based survey and structured clinical interviews with adult children of
      survivors, we attempted to predict disorders from offspring's circumstances,
      perceptions of parents' posttrauma adaptational styles, and self-reported
      reparative adaptational impacts. Posttrauma adaptational styles encompass
      intrafamilial and interpersonal psychological, social and behavioral coping,
      mastery, and defense mechanisms used by each parent. Reparative adaptational
      impacts reflect the offspring's self-reported insecurity about their own
      competence, reparative protectiveness, need for control, obsession with the
      Holocaust, defensive psychosocial constriction, and immature dependency. RESULTS:
      Of the disorders studied, generalized anxiety disorder was most frequent,
      followed by major depressive episode and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
      Only 2 variables independently predicted these disorders: participants' age and
      reparative adaptational impacts. Parents' styles were correlated with the
      presence of disorder, but had no effect when the child's reparative impacts were
      controlled. The age effect was consistent with epidemiologic research showing
      lower prevalence of psychological disorder in older cohorts. The severity of
      participants' reparative impacts was unequivocally the most important (OR = 5.3)
      or at least the most proximal precursor to the development of psychological
      disorders. When reparative impacts were low, frequency of disorder was low (8%);
      when reparative impacts were high, frequency of disorder was high (46%).
      CONCLUSION: Reparative adaptational impacts could guide clinicians in treating
      children of survivors. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642805
TI  - Does optimism act as a buffer against posttraumatic stress over time? A
      longitudinal study of the protective role of optimism after the 2011 Oslo
      bombing.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cross-sectional studies have revealed that high levels of optimism can
      protect against high levels of posttraumatic stress after exposure to trauma.
      However, this is the first study to explore (a) the protective role of optimism
      in a longitudinal perspective and (b) optimism's protective effects on specific
      symptom clusters within the posttraumatic stress symptomatology. METHOD: This
      study used prospective survey data from ministerial employees (n = 256) collected
      approximately 1, 2, and 3 years after the 2011 Oslo bombing. To examine
      relationships between optimism and development of posttraumatic stress, we
      applied a series of latent growth curve analyses of both overall posttraumatic
      stress and the 5 clusters within the posttraumatic stress symptomatology
      (intrusions, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal) with
      predictors and interaction terms. RESULTS: The results showed that levels of
      exposure and optimism had main effects on starting levels of all clusters of
      posttraumatic stress. In addition, optimism had a protective-stabilizing effect
      on starting levels of avoidance, numbing, and dysphoric arousal. No associations
      between optimism and rate of change in symptoms clusters were found. CONCLUSION:
      These results suggest that optimism may help to neutralize the effects of high
      exposure on levels of symptoms of avoidance, numbing, and dysphoric arousal but
      not on the symptoms of intrusions and anxious arousal. Thus, individuals high in
      optimism still experience intrusions and anxious arousal after trauma, but may be
      better equipped to cope with these so they do not develop into avoidance, numbing
      and dyshorical arousal. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27642806
TI  - Tuning of Thermal Stability in Layered Li(NixMnyCoz)O2.
AB  - Understanding and further designing new layered Li(NixMnyCoz)O2 (NMC) (x + y + z
      = 1) materials with optimized thermal stability is important to rechargeable Li
      batteries (LIBs) for electrical vehicles (EV). Using ab initio calculations
      combined with experiments, we clarified how the thermal stability of NMC
      materials can be tuned by the most unstable oxygen, which is determined by the
      local coordination structure unit (LCSU) of oxygen (TM(Ni, Mn, Co)3-O-Li3-x'):
      each O atom bonds with three transition metals (TM) from the TM-layer and three
      to zero Li from fully discharged to charged states from the Li-layer. Under this
      model, how the lithium content, valence states of Ni, contents of Ni, Mn, and Co,
      and Ni/Li disorder to tune the thermal stability of NMC materials by affecting
      the sites, content, and the release temperature of the most unstable oxygen is
      proposed. The synergistic effect between Li vacancies and raised valence state of
      Ni during delithiation process can aggravate instability of oxygen, and oxygen
      coordinated with more nickel (especially with high valence state) in LSCU becomes
      more unstable at a fixed delithiation state. The Ni/Li mixing would decrease the
      thermal stability of the "Ni?Mn" group NMC materials but benefit the thermal
      stability of "Ni-rich" group, because the Ni in the Li layer would form 180
      degrees  Ni-O-Ni super exchange chains in "Ni-rich" NMC materials. Mn and Co
      doping can tune the initial valence state of Ni, local coordination environment
      of oxygen, and the Ni/Li disorder, thus to tune the thermal stability directly.

PMID- 27642807
TI  - Historiography, affect, and the neurosciences.
AB  - Recent historiography has put to rest debates over whether to address the
      neurosciences. The question is how? In this article, I stage a dialogue between
      neurohistory and the history of the emotions. My primary goal is to survey these
      two clusters and clarify their conceptual commitments. Both center on the role of
      affect in embodied subjectivity; but their accounts widely diverge. Whereas
      neurohistorians tend to treat affects as automatic bodily processes, historians
      of the emotions generally emphasize that affects are meaningful and volitional
      activities. This divergence entails contrasting understandings of selfhood,
      embodiment, and historical change. More importantly, I argue, it reflects a
      broader realm of disputes within the neurosciences. The divisions among
      methodologies and commitments testify to the importance of historians' selection
      of evidence as well as the critical perspectives they can bring to scientific
      debates. The neurosciences do not offer readymade theories. Secondarily, I take
      stock of the shared limitations of neurohistory and the history of the emotions.
      Both conceptualize the biological bases of affection as a universal ground for
      historical inquiry. By reexamining this transhistorical approach to
      neuroscientific evidence, I suggest that historiography might widen the horizon
      of interdisciplinary scholarship beyond the present options. (PsycINFO Database
      Record

PMID- 27642808
TI  - MOF-Derived Zn-Doped CoSe2 as an Efficient and Stable Free-Standing Catalyst for
      Oxygen Evolution Reaction.
AB  - Developing highly active electrocatalysts with low cost and high efficiency for
      oxygen evolution reactions (OER) is important for the practical implementations
      of hydrogen energy. Here, we report a Zn-doped CoSe2 nanosheets grown on free
      standing carbon fabric collector (CFC), which was synthesized by using a metal
      organic framework (MOF) as precursor and followed by a selenylation process.
      Importantly, the Zn-doped CoSe2/CFC electrode exhibited an obviously enhanced
      catalytic activity for OER in 1 M KOH aqueous solution compared with CoSe2/CFC,
      showing a small overpotential of 356 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm-2, a
      small Tafel slope of 88 mV dec-1, and an excellent stability. The robust and free
      standing electrode shows great potential as an economic catalyst for OER
      applications.

PMID- 27642809
TI  - Crosslinking Polymer Brushes with Ethylene Glycol-Containing Segments: Influence
      on Physicochemical and Antifouling Properties.
AB  - The introduction of different types and concentrations of crosslinks within
      poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) brushes influences their interfacial,
      physicochemical properties, ultimately governing their adsorption of proteins.
      PHEMA brushes and brush-hydrogels were synthesized by surface-initiated, atom
      transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) from HEMA, with and without the
      addition of di(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (DEGDMA) or tetra(ethylene glycol)
      dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) as crosslinkers. Linear (pure PHEMA) brushes show high
      hydration and low modulus and additionally provide an efficient barrier against
      nonspecific protein adsorption. In contrast, brush-hydrogels are stiffer and less
      hydrated, and the presence of crosslinks affects the entropy-driven,
      conformational barrier that hinders the surface interaction of biomolecules with
      brushes. This leads to the physisorption of proteins at low concentrations of
      short crosslinks. At higher contents of DEGDMA or in the presence of longer
      TEGDMA-based crosslinks, brush-hydrogels recover their antifouling properties due
      to the increase in interfacial water association by the higher concentration of
      ethylene glycol (EG) units.

PMID- 27642810
TI  - Highly Stretchable Microsupercapacitor Arrays with Honeycomb Structures for
      Integrated Wearable Electronic Systems.
AB  - The rapid development of portable and wearable electronics has greatly increased
      the demand for energy storage devices with similar physical properties and
      integration capability. This paper introduces a honeycomb polydimethylsiloxane
      substrate for stretchable microsupercapacitor (MSC) arrays, which enables facile
      integration with other electronics. The honeycomb structure can accommodate a
      large deformation without producing excessive strain in the MSCs and
      interconnects. The results of this study show that such stretchable MSC arrays
      with single-walled carbon nanotube electrodes demonstrate excellent rate
      capability and power performance as well as electrochemical stability up to 150%
      (zero prestrain) or 275% (-50% prestrain) stretching and under excessive bending
      or twisting. The present stretchable MSC arrays with honeycomb structures show
      high potential for integration with other electronics, such as energy harvesters,
      power management circuits, wireless charging circuits, and various sensors,
      encompassing a wide range of wearable, bioimplantable electronic systems.

PMID- 27642811
TI  - 3D-0D Graphene-Fe3O4 Quantum Dot Hybrids as High-Performance Anode Materials for
      Sodium-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Transition metal oxides can be considered as appealing candidates for sodium ion
      battery anode materials because these low-cost materials possess high capacity
      and enhanced safety. However, the practical application of these materials is
      usually limited by their low electronic conductivity and serious volume change
      during the charging-discharging process. Herein, we report the fabrication of 3D
      0D graphene-Fe3O4 quantum dot hybrids by a facile one-pot hydrothermal approach
      as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries. Fe3O4 quantum dots with an average
      size of 4.9 nm are anchored on the surface of 3D structured graphene nanosheets
      homogeneously. Such unique hierarchical structure are advantageous for enlarging
      the electrode/electrolyte interface area and enhancing the electrochemical
      activity of the hybrid materials, inhibiting particle aggregation of Fe3O4 and
      accommodating their volume change during the charging-discharging process as well
      as enabling fast diffusion of electrons and rapid transfer of electrolyte ions.
      Consequently, the 3D-0D graphene-Fe3O4 quantum dot hybrids exhibit ultrahigh
      sodium storage capacity (525 mAh g-1 at 30 mA g-1), outstanding cycling stability
      (312 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 50 mA g-1) and superior rate performance (56 mAh
      g-1 at 10 A g-1).

PMID- 27642812
TI  - Chirality Induced by the Interaction of C?C and C?X Bonds (X?CH2, NH, NH2+, O,
      and S) Separated by a Methylene Group.
AB  - The chirality derived from the interaction between two double bonds (C?C and C?X
      where X ? CH2, NH, NH2+, O and S) across a methylene group has been examined in
      some detail at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The rotamers of these formally
      achiral molecules that lead to large calculated specific rotations are those that
      allow overlap between the pair of double bonds, and the rotation is increased
      when the distance between them is decreased. Although the large specific rotation
      of unconjugated enones such as norbornenone is usually attributed to a magnetic
      transition dipole arising from an n-pi* interaction of the carbonyl group, it has
      been found that large rotations may also be found with some conformations of
      unconjugated dienes such as 1,4-pentadiene. In the relative orientations of the
      double bonds that lead to large optical rotations, the pair of p-pi orbitals are
      oriented so that they can interact leading to an electric transition dipole,
      while at the same time they are somewhat twisted with respect to each other
      allowing a significant magnetic transition dipole Other information was obtained
      by studying 2-propene-1-imine and its conjugate acid. The former gives only a
      small increase in optical rotation as compared to pentadiene. However,
      protonation at N leads to a large increase in optical rotation. This suggests
      that lone pairs have little effect on rotation, whereas the change in
      electronegativity has a large effect.

PMID- 27642813
TI  - Very High Efficiency Porous Silica Layer Open-Tubular Capillary Columns Produced
      via in-Column Sol-Gel Processing.
AB  - It is demonstrated that 5 MUm i.d. capillaries can be coated with mesoporous
      silica layers up to 550 nm thickness. All the columns produced using in-column
      sol-gel synthesis with tetramethoxysilane provide plate height curves that
      closely follow the Golay-Aris theory. In 60 cm long columns, efficiencies as high
      as N = 150 000 and N = 120 000 were obtained, respectively, for a 300 and 550 nm
      thick porous layer. An excellent retention and plate height reproducibility was
      obtained when the recipes were subsequently applied to produce very long (1.9 and
      2.5 m) capillaries. These columns produced efficiencies up to N = 600 000 plates
      for a retained and around N = 1 000 000 plates for an unretained component. Given
      the good reproducibility on the long capillaries, and considering that mesoporous
      silica is still the preferred support for LC, it is believed the present study
      could spur a renewed interest in open-tubular LC.

PMID- 27642814
TI  - Effect of Substrate Morphology on the Odd-Even Effect in Hydrophobicity of Self
      Assembled Monolayers.
AB  - Surface roughness, often captured through root-mean-square roughness (Rrms), has
      been shown to impact the quality of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed on
      coinage metals. Understanding the effect of roughness on hydrophobicity of SAMs,
      however, is complicated by the odd-even effect-a zigzag oscillation in contact
      angles with changes in molecular length. We recently showed that for surfaces
      with Rrms > 1 nm, the odd-even effect in hydrophobicity cannot be empirically
      observed. In this report, we compare wetting properties of SAMs on Ag and Au
      surfaces of different morphologies across the Rrms ~ 1 nm limit. We prepared
      surfaces with comparable properties (grain sizes and Rrms) and assessed the
      wetting properties of resultant SAMs. Substrates with Rrms either below or above
      the odd-even limit were investigated. With smoother surfaces (lower Rrms), an
      inverted asymmetric odd-even zigzag oscillation in static contact angles (thetas)
      was observed with change from Au to Ag. Asymmetry in odd-even oscillation in Au
      was attributed to a larger change in thetas from odd to even number of carbons in
      the n-alkanethiol and vice versa for Ag. For rougher surfaces, no odd-even effect
      was observed; however, a gradual increase in the static contact angle was
      observed. Increase in the average grain sizes (>3 times larger) on rough surfaces
      did not lead to significant difference in the wetting properties, suggesting that
      surface roughness significantly dominated the nature of the SAMs. We therefore
      infer that the predicted roughness-dependent limit to the observation of the odd
      even effect in wetting properties of n-alkanethiols cannot be overcome by
      creating surfaces with large grain sizes for surfaces with Rrms > 1 nm. We also
      observed that the differences between Au and Ag surfaces are dominated by
      differences in the even-numbered SAMs, but this difference vanishes with shorter
      molecular chain length (<=C3).

PMID- 27642815
TI  - Effectiveness and Adverse Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation: Umbrella Review of
      Meta-Analyses.
AB  - Background This umbrella review summarizes the evidence across meta-analyses
      regarding the effectiveness and adverse effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS).
      Methods Databases were searched up to March 2015 for meta-analyses of comparative
      trials in humans assessing the effectiveness or adverse effects of DBS. Data
      selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were performed by two
      independent reviewers. Results Seven eligible systematic reviews were included
      assessing the use of DBS for epilepsy (n = 1), obsessive-compulsive disorder (n =
      1), and Parkinson disease (n = 5). The summary estimates were significant at p <=
      0.05 in four meta-analyses (27%) with both fixed and random effects. One meta
      analysis reported that DBS was more effective than sham in reducing the Yale
      Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale score in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients.
      The remaining three meta-analyses reported differences regarding mortality and
      depression in patients with Parkinson disease between DBS of the subthalamic
      nucleus and of the globus pallidus internus. Of the 15 meta-analyses, none
      compiled adequately robust evidence. Conclusions Although DBS has emerged as a
      viable surgical intervention to treat various disabling neurologic symptoms,
      existing studies fail to adequately support its use based on robust evidence
      without hints of bias.

PMID- 27642816
TI  - Clinical Outcomes With Midline Cortical Bone Trajectory Pedicle Screws Versus
      Traditional Pedicle Screws in Moving Lumbar Fusions From Hospitals to Outpatient
      Surgery Centers.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Level III. OBJECTIVE: To report on the outcomes of midline cortical
      bone trajectory (CBT) pedicle screw surgical technique for posterior lumbar
      fixation in the outpatient surgery center (OSC) compared with traditional pedicle
      screws in the hospital. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Traditional pedicle screws
      have been the gold standard for posterior lumbar fusion. Advances in spine
      surgery, including less invasive procedures have propelled the design of
      instruments and implants to achieve greater posterior spinal fixation, with
      decreased tissue destruction and higher safety margins. Biomechanical studies
      have validated the superior pullout strength of cortical screws versus the
      traditional pedicle screws and represent an opportunity to perform safe lumbar
      fusions in OSCs with same day discharge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical
      records of 60 patients with prospectively collected data were reviewed. Two
      matched cohort groups consisting of 30 patients each, CBT pedicle screws
      performed in OSC patients (group 1) was compared with traditional pedicle screws
      performed in hospital patients (group 2). Outcomes were assessed with self
      reported Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores, Oswestry Disability Index scores, and
      radiologic fusion rate. RESULTS: Totally, 33 males and 27 females, age range (28
      75), average 58+/-3 years. Average body mass index was 29+/-1.15 kg/m. A total of
      65% of surgeries were at L5-S1 level. Significant improvement noted in VAS back
      pain scores in the OSC group from 7.8+/-0.5 to 2.5+/-0.7, P=0.001. Comparing
      intergroup VAS back pain scores and Oswestry Disability Index scores, OSC group
      demonstrated significant improvement, P=0.004 and 0.027, respectively. Fusion
      rate at 2 years was similar, P=0.855 between groups. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully
      transitioned our lumbar fusions from hospitals to OSCs using a midline CBT
      pedicle screw technique. Although traditional pedicle screw placement is
      effective and may be viable in an OSC, we see more advantages to use midline
      cortical screws over traditional pedicle screws.

PMID- 27642817
TI  - Changes in Pelvic Incidence, Pelvic Tilt, and Sacral Slope in Situations of
      Pelvic Rotation.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Digitally reconstructed radiograph-based study. OBJECTIVE: Using a
      computer-based method to determine what degree of pelvic rotation is acceptable
      for measuring the pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), and sacral slope (SS).
      The effectiveness of a geometrical formula used to calculate the angle of pelvic
      rotation proposed in a previous article was assessed. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      It is unclear whether PI, PT, and SS are valid with pelvic rotation while
      acquiring a radiograph. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten 3-dimensionally reconstructed
      models were established with software and placed in a neutral orientation to
      orient all of the bones in a standing position. Next, 140 digitally reconstructed
      radiographs were obtained by rotating the models around the longitudinal axis of
      each pelvis in the software from 0 to 30 degrees at 2.5-degree intervals. PI, PT,
      and SS were measured. The rotation angle was considered to be acceptable when the
      change in the measured angle (compared with the "correct" position) was <6
      degrees. The rotation angle (alpha) on the images was calculated by a geometrical
      formula. Consistency between the measured value and the set angle was assessed.
      RESULTS: The acceptable maximum angle of rotation for reliable measurements of PI
      was 17.5 degrees, and the changes in PT and SS were within an acceptable range
      (<6 degrees) when the pelvic rotation increased from 0 to 30 degrees. The
      effectiveness of the geometrical formula was shown by the consistency between the
      set and the calculated rotation angles of the pelvis (intraclass correlation
      coefficient=0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insight into the influence of
      pelvic rotation on the PI, PT, and SS. PI changes with pelvic rotation. The
      acceptable maximum angle for reliable values of PI, PT, and SS was 17.5 degrees,
      and the rotation angle of the pelvis on a lateral spinopelvic radiograph can be
      calculated reliably.

PMID- 27642818
TI  - Comparison of Curvature Between the Zero-P Spacer and Traditional Cage and Plate
      After 3-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: Mid-term Results.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical and
      radiologic outcomes of 3-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion between a
      zero-profile (Zero-P) spacer and a traditional plate in cases of symptomatic
      cervical spine spondylosis. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Anterior cervical
      decompression and fusion is indicated for patients with anterior compression or
      stenosis of the spinal cord. The Zero-P spacers have been used for anterior
      cervical interbody fusion of 1 or 2 segments. However, there is a paucity of
      published clinical data regarding the exact impact of the device on cervical
      curvature of 3-level fixation. METHODS: Clinical and radiologic data of 71
      patients undergoing 3-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion from January
      2010 to January 2012 were collected. Zero-P spacer was implanted in 33 patients,
      and in 38 cases stabilization was accomplished using an anterior cervical plate
      and intervertebral cage. Patients were followed for a mean of 30.8 months (range,
      24-36 mo) after surgery. Fusion rates, changes in cervical lordosis, and
      degeneration of adjacent segments were analyzed. Dysphagia was assessed using the
      Bazaz score, and clinical outcomes were analyzed using the Neck Disability Index
      and Japanese Orthopedic Association scoring system. RESULTS: Neurological
      outcomes did not differ significantly between groups. Significantly less
      dysphagia was seen at 2- and 6-month follow-up in patients with the Zero-P
      implant (P<0.05); however, there was significant less cervical lordosis and the
      lordosis across the fusion in patients with the Zero-P implant (both P<0.05).
      Degenerative changes in the adjacent segments occurred in 4 patients in the Zero
      P group and 6 patients in the standard-plate group (P=0.742); however, no
      revision surgery was done. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical results for the Zero-P spacer
      were satisfactory. The device is superior to the traditional plate in preventing
      postoperative dysphagia; however, it is inferior at restoring cervical lordosis.
      It may not provide better sagittal cervical alignment reconstruction in 3-level
      fixation. Prospective randomized trials with more patients and longer follow-up
      periods are required to confirm these observations.

PMID- 27642819
TI  - Traumatic Sports-Related Cervical Spine Injuries.
AB  - Cervical spine trauma in the athlete is not an insignificant occurrence with
      possibly catastrophic results. Football remains one of the most common and most
      well studied sporting activities associated with spine injuries. Transient spinal
      cord and peripheral nerve injuries may manifest as quadriparesis or
      burners/stingers with symptoms that resolve completely. More severe spinal cord
      injuries, typically from axial loading on the cervical spine, will cause
      bilateral symptoms with residual neurological deficit. Acute Trauma Life Support
      principles must always be applied to the player with a potential spine injury.
      Recent positional statements by National Athletic Trainers' Association advocate
      equipment removal on the field by 3 individuals with appropriate training, a
      shift from previous recommendations. This recommendation is still under debate,
      but equipment removal in the field is an option depending on staff training. The
      use of steroids in acute spinal cord injury remains controversial. Moderate
      systemic hypothermia has theoretical benefits for reducing spinal cord damage in
      the setting of an acute injury. Although it has been studied in the laboratory,
      only a few clinical trials have been performed and further research is necessary
      before routine implementation of hypothermia protocols.

PMID- 27642820
TI  - Adjacent Segment Disease in the Cervical and Lumbar Spine.
AB  - Adjacent segment disease (ASD) is disappointing long-term outcome for both the
      patient and clinician. In contrast to adjacent segment degeneration, which is a
      common radiographic finding, ASD is less common. The incidence of ASD in both the
      cervical and lumbar spine is between 2% and 4% per year, and ASD is a significant
      contributor to reoperation rates after spinal arthrodesis. The etiology of ASD is
      multifactorial, stemming from existing spondylosis at adjacent levels,
      predisposed risk to degenerative changes, and altered biomechanical forces near a
      previous fusion site. Numerous studies have sought to identify both patient and
      surgical risk factors for ASD, but a consistent, sole predictor has yet to be
      found. Spinal arthroplasty techniques seek to preserve physiological
      biomechanics, thereby minimizing the risk of ASD, and long-term clinical outcome
      studies will help quantify its efficacy. Treatment strategies for ASD are
      initially nonoperative, provided a progressive neurological deficit is not
      present. The spine surgeon is afforded many surgical strategies once operative
      treatment is elected. The goal of this manuscript is to consider the etiologies
      of ASD, review its manifestations, and offer an approach to treatment.

PMID- 27642821
TI  - Morphologic Evaluation of Lumbosacral Nerve Roots in the Vertebral Foramen:
      Measurement of Local Pressure of the Intervertebral Foramen.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: The prospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The objective
      was to evaluate the relationships between local pressure changes of the
      intervertebral foramen during lumbar spine extension and lumbar foraminal
      morphology. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The physiological states of lumbosacral
      nerve roots in the vertebral foramen remain controversial. METHODS: We evaluated
      56 lumbosacral vertebral foramens in 21 patients with L4-degenerative
      spondylolisthesis. All patients underwent L4-5 posterolateral fusion (PLF). The
      local pressure of the intervertebral foramen was measured intraoperatively, and
      measurement was performed before and after L4-5 PLF. We defined the changes in
      the ratio of local pressure between lumbar flexion to extension as percent
      pressure. The sagittal angular motion, distance between the inferior cortex of
      the cranial pedicle and superior cortex of the caudal pedicle, posterosuperior
      margin of the superior vertebral body and superior articular facet,
      posteroinferior edge of the superior vertebral body and inferior articular facet,
      and the intervertebral disc height were measured using preoperative functional
      plain radiographs and CT images. RESULTS: The average local pressure of the
      intervertebral foramen significantly increased during lumbar extension. However,
      the L4-5 vertebral foraminal pressure after PLF were nearly identical. There was
      no significant correlation between percent pressure and lumbar range of motion.
      Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between percent pressure and
      each morphologic parameter of the lumbar foramen. CONCLUSIONS: There were no
      significant relationships between the lumbar foraminal morphology and
      intervertebral foraminal pressure changes during lumbar extension, and L4-5
      vertebral foraminal pressure was not affected by the lumbar posture after L4-5
      posterior fusion. On the basis of the results, the external dynamic stresses on
      the nerve roots in the vertebral foramen might be improved by lumbar posterior
      fusion using instrumentation without direct decompression of the vertebral
      foramen.

PMID- 27642822
TI  - Phenols, flame retardants and phthalates in water and wastewater - a global
      problem.
AB  - Organic pollutants in water and wastewater have been causing serious
      environmental problems. The arbitrary discharge of wastewater by industries, and
      handling, use, and disposal constitute a means by which phenols, flame retardants
      (FRs), phthalates (PAEs) and other toxic organic pollutants enter the ecosystem.
      Moreover, these organic pollutants are not completely removed during treatment
      processes and might be degraded into highly toxic derivatives, which has led to
      their occurrence in the environment. Phenols, FRs and PAEs are thus highly toxic,
      carcinogenic and mutagenic, and are capable of disrupting the endocrine system.
      Therefore, investigation to understand the sources, pathways, behavior, toxicity
      and exposure to phenols, FRs and PAEs in the environment is necessary. Formation
      of different by-products makes it difficult to compare the efficacy of the
      treatment processes, most especially when other organic matters are present.
      Hence, high levels of phenols, FRs and PAEs removal could be attained with in
      line combined treatment processes. 

PMID- 27642823
TI  - Occurrence and fate of endocrine disrupting chemicals in ASP based sewage
      treatment plant in Hardwar.
AB  - The occurrence of emerging contaminants such as endocrine disrupting chemicals
      (EDCs) in our water resources is of prime concern. With this context, fate and
      seasonal variation of six EDCs (testosterone, T; progesterone, P; diethyl
      phthalate, DEP; dibutyl phthalate, DBP; propyl-paraben, PP and butyl-paraben, BP)
      were assessed throughout the year, i.e. in rainy, winter, spring and summer
      seasons in the raw, treated wastewater and activated sludge in an activated
      sludge process (ASP) based sewage treatment plant (STP) located in Haridwar,
      India. Qualitative and quantitative measurements were performed by gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Results indicate that in
      summer, the examined STP could effectively remove 82.9% of T, 86.4% of P, 95.5%
      of DEP, 92.4% of DBP, 91.5% of PP, and 89.9% of BP from the wastewater. Among the
      EDCs considered, higher removal efficiencies were achieved for phthalates in the
      summer season. GC-MS analysis showed that a small fraction of EDCs was sorbed on
      the solid fraction of activated sludge. Scanning electron microscopy, energy
      dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy
      analysis were also performed to investigate the occurrence of EDCs in biomass
      samples. Results of this study also demonstrated that removal efficiency,
      assessed in terms of physicochemical and microbiological parameters, was maximum
      in summer and reached minimum in rainy season. 

PMID- 27642824
TI  - Application of spatial Markov chains to the analysis of the temporal-spatial
      evolution of soil erosion.
AB  - Soil and water conservation in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China is
      important, and soil erosion is a significant issue. In the present study, spatial
      Markov chains were applied to explore the impacts of the regional context on soil
      erosion in the Xiangxi River watershed, and Thematic Mapper remote sensing data
      from 1999 and 2007 were employed. The results indicated that the observed changes
      in soil erosion were closely related to the soil erosion levels of the
      surrounding areas. When neighboring regions were not considered, the probability
      that moderate erosion transformed into slight and severe erosion was 0.8330 and
      0.0049, respectively. However, when neighboring regions that displayed intensive
      erosion were considered, the probabilities were 0.2454 and 0.7513, respectively.
      Moreover, the different levels of soil erosion in neighboring regions played
      different roles in soil erosion. If the erosion levels in the neighboring region
      were lower, the probability of a high erosion class transferring to a lower level
      was relatively high. In contrast, if erosion levels in the neighboring region
      were higher, the probability was lower. The results of the present study provide
      important information for the planning and implementation of soil conservation
      measures in the study area. 

PMID- 27642825
TI  - Reducing agricultural nitrogen inputs in the German Baltic Sea catchment - trends
      and policy options.
AB  - We depict recent agricultural nitrogen input and future loads to be expected in
      2021 in the German Baltic Sea catchment to assess the feasibility of reaching
      water quality targets defined by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
      We calculate recent and future nitrogen balances from agriculture by applying an
      interdisciplinary modelling system, also considering the effects of the Nitrate
      Directive. The nitrogen surpluses are transferred to a nutrient emission model to
      simulate nitrogen emissions, in-stream retention and resulting riverine loads to
      the sea until 2021. Finally, we analyse input reduction demands and agri
      environmental measures necessary to attain water quality targets of the MSFD. The
      results are target-oriented mitigation options relevant for implementation, based
      on regional land use and nitrogen reduction demands. Furthermore, this paper
      discusses the effects of policies and measures implemented to reduce nitrogen
      loads. 

PMID- 27642826
TI  - Adsorption of cefixime from aqueous solutions using modified hardened paste of
      Portland cement by perlite; optimization by Taguchi method.
AB  - In the present study, we have used a simple and cost-effective removal technique
      by a commercially available Fe-Al-SiO2 containing complex material (hardened
      paste of Portland cement (HPPC)). The adsorbing performance of HPPC and modified
      HPPC with perlite for removal of cefixime from aqueous solutions was investigated
      comparatively by using batch adsorption studies. HPPC has been selected because
      of the main advantages such as high efficiency, simple separation of sludge, low
      cost and abundant availability. A Taguchi orthogonal array experimental design
      with an OA16 (4(5)) matrix was employed to optimize the affecting factors of
      adsorbate concentration, adsorbent dosage, type of adsorbent, contact time and
      pH. On the basis of equilibrium adsorption data, Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin
      adsorption isotherm models were also confirmed. The results showed that HPPC and
      modified HPPC were both efficient adsorbents for cefixime removal. 

PMID- 27642827
TI  - Biodegradability of industrial textile wastewater - batch tests.
AB  - Following new trends we applied oxygen uptake rate (OUR) tests as well as long
      term tests (in two batch bioreactors systems) in order to assess the
      biodegradability of textile wastewater. Effluents coming from a dyeing factory
      were divided into two streams which differed in inorganic and organic
      contaminants loads. Usefulness of the stream division was proved. Biodegradation
      of the low-loaded stream led to over 97% reduction of biochemical oxygen demand
      (BOD5) together with 80% reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total
      organic carbon (TOC). Most of the controlled parameter values were below the
      levels allowed by legislation for influents to surface water, whereas the high
      loaded stream was so contaminated with recalcitrant organic compounds that
      despite the reduction of BOD5 by over 95%, COD, TOC, total nitrogen and total
      phosphorus levels exceeded permissible values. OUR tests were aimed at
      determination of the following kinetic parameters: maximum specific growth rate
      (MUMax), half-saturation constant, hydrolysis constant and decay coefficient for
      activated sludge biomass for both types of textile wastewater studied. The values
      of kinetic parameters will be applied in activated sludge models used for
      prediction and optimisation of biological treatment of textile wastewater. 

PMID- 27642828
TI  - A novel fast mass transfer anaerobic inner loop fluidized bed biofilm reactor for
      PTA wastewater treatment.
AB  - In this paper, a fast mass transfer anaerobic inner loop fluidized bed biofilm
      reactor (ILFBBR) was developed to improve purified terephthalic acid (PTA)
      wastewater treatment. The emphasis of this study was on the start-up mode of the
      anaerobic ILFBBR, the hydraulic loadings and the operation stability. The
      biological morphology of the anaerobic biofilm in the reactors was also analyzed.
      The anaerobic column could operate successfully for 46 days due to the pre
      aerating process. The anaerobic column had the capacity to resist shock loadings
      and maintained a high stable chemical oxygen demand (COD) and terephthalic acid
      removal rates at a hydraulic retention time of 5-10 h, even under conditions of
      organic volumetric loadings as high as 28.8 kg COD.m(-3).d(-1). The scanning
      electron microscope analysis of the anaerobic carrier demonstrated that clusters
      of prokaryotes grew inside of pores and that the filaments generated by pre
      aeration contributed to the anaerobic biofilm formation and stability. 

PMID- 27642829
TI  - A simple approach to assess N load capacity of rice paddy fields in the southern
      Taihu Lake watershed.
AB  - High nitrogen (N) leaching from irrigated agricultural soils is the result of N
      input exceeding soil N load capacity (NLC). A simple approach was developed in
      this research to assess the NLC of paddy soils in the southern Taihu Lake
      watershed. Paddy soils were classified into four types (Submergenic, Illuvium,
      Gleyed, and Percogenic) and 28 soil samples representing all four types were
      collected from across the region. The NLC values of the paddy soils were assessed
      using a split-line model and the spatial variability of the NLC among various
      rice paddy soils in the region was also evaluated with Kriging analysis. Results
      showed the NLC of paddy soils were both soil type and background N content
      related. The critical N sorption values (NLC plus soil N background) of the
      Gleyed, Illuvium, Submergenic, and Percogenic paddy soil samples varied from
      283.1 to 315.6 mg kg(-1), 203.0 to 270.2 mg kg(-1), 240.6 to 254.4 mg kg(-1), and
      177.4 to 186.2 mg kg(-1), respectively. However, on average the NLC of paddy
      soils in the region was 80.3 mg kg(-1), and the corresponding environmental N
      load threshold was around 110 kg N ha(-1). Geo-statistic results showed that the
      NLCs were unevenly distributed throughout the rice paddy dominated areas of the
      southern Taihu Lake watershed. The NLC assessment approach and spatial
      distribution information provided helpful guidance to set an environmental N
      threshold for best N management and hence reduce degradation of water for the
      whole rice ecosystem. 

PMID- 27642830
TI  - Exploring Northwest China's agricultural water-saving strategy: analysis of water
      use efficiency based on an SE-DEA model conducted in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
AB  - Worldwide, water scarcity threatens delivery of water to urban centers.
      Increasing water use efficiency (WUE) is often recommended to reduce water
      demand, especially in water-scarce areas. In this paper, agricultural water use
      efficiency (AWUE) is examined using the super-efficient data envelopment analysis
      (DEA) approach in Xi'an in Northwest China at a temporal and spatial level. The
      grey systems analysis technique was then adopted to identify the factors that
      influenced the efficiency differentials under the shortage of water resources.
      From the perspective of temporal scales, the AWUE increased year by year during
      2004-2012, and the highest (2.05) was obtained in 2009. Additionally, the AWUE
      was the best in the urban area at the spatial scale. Moreover, the key
      influencing factors of the AWUE are the financial situations and agricultural
      water-saving technology. Finally, we identified several knowledge gaps and
      proposed water-saving strategies for increasing AWUE and reducing its water
      demand by: (1) improving irrigation practices (timing and amounts) based on
      compatible water-saving techniques; (2) maximizing regional WUE by managing water
      resources and allocation at regional scales as well as enhancing coordination
      among Chinese water governance institutes. 

PMID- 27642831
TI  - Heterogeneous electro-Fenton oxidation of azo dye methyl orange catalyzed by
      magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
AB  - Azo dye methyl orange (MO) degradation by heterogeneous electro-Fenton (EF) with
      a magnetic nano-Fe3O4 catalyst was investigated. In this study, Fe3O4 was
      synthesized by a coprecipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction
      and scanning electron microscopy. The influences of the main operating parameters
      such as current density, pH, catalyst dosage and aeration rate were studied. The
      results revealed that higher current density, catalyst dosage and aeration rate
      facilitated the degradation of MO, whereas the degradation efficiency of MO was
      decreased with an increase in the initial pH. After 90 min EF process, the volume
      of 500 mL, the initial concentration of 50 mg L(-1) MO solution could be degraded
      by 86.6% with the addition of 1 g L(-1) Fe3O4 under the current density of 10 mA
      cm(-2) and pH 3, compared with 69.5% for the electrolytic process alone.
      Meanwhile, a total organic carbon removal of 32% was obtained, up to 35.5 mg L(
      1) accumulated H2O2 and less than 3.5 mg L(-1) Fe leaching were detected.
      Moreover, based on the results of natural bond orbital (at B3LYP/6-311G (d, p))
      and liquid chromatograph-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer analysis, nine
      intermediates were identified and the proposed degradation pathways were
      investigated. 

PMID- 27642832
TI  - Pyridinium-functionalized magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a reusable
      adsorbent for phosphate removal from aqueous solution.
AB  - In this work, pyridinium-functionalized silica nanoparticles adsorbent
      (PC/SiO2/Fe3O4) was synthesized for phosphate removal from aqueous solutions. The
      removal efficiency of phosphate on the PC/SiO2/Fe3O4 was carried out and
      investigated under various conditions such as pH, contact temperature and initial
      concentration. The results showed that the adsorption equilibrium could be
      reached within 10 min, which fitted a Langmuir isotherm model, with maximum
      adsorption capacity of 94.16 mg/g, and the kinetic data were fitted well by
      pseudo-second-order and intra-particle diffusion models. Phosphate loaded on the
      adsorbents could be easily desorbed with 0.2 mol/L of NaOH, and the adsorbents
      showed good reusability. The adsorption capacity was still around 50 mg/g after
      10 times of reuse. All the results demonstrated that this pyridinium
      functionalized mesoporous material could be used for the phosphate removal from
      aqueous solution and it was easy to collect due to its magnetic properties. 

PMID- 27642833
TI  - Study on sulfadimethoxine removal from aqueous solutions by hydrous ferric
      oxides.
AB  - Significant concerns have been raised over the presence of antibiotics including
      sulfadimethoxine (SDMO) in aquatic environments. This study investigated the
      removal capability and mechanism involved in the removal of SDMO by hydrous
      ferric oxides (HFO). Results showed that SDMO removal was highly pH and ionic
      strength dependent. The pseudo-first-order model fitted well the kinetic results,
      and the value of the calculated activation energy for SDMO adsorption onto HFO
      was 8.6 kJ mol(-1). Adsorption isotherms at varied temperatures were well
      described by the Langmuir model. Thermodynamic parameters (change in enthalpy >
      0, change in entropy > 0, and change in Gibbs free energy < 0) calculated from
      the temperature-dependent sorption data revealed spontaneous and endothermic
      process. The exchange of the surface hydroxyl groups of HFO and the negative
      anions of SDMO(-) and the electrostatic interaction between the positively
      charged surface of HFO and the deprotonated imino (-N(-)-) accounted for the
      uptake of SDMO by HFO. 

PMID- 27642834
TI  - Efficiency and toxicity: comparison between the Fenton and electrochemical
      processes.
AB  - This study aimed to determine the best method to treat a textile effluent
      containing the dye basic blue 99 (BB). Treatments by the electrochemical and the
      Fenton processes were compared by means of a 2(3) experimental design, and the
      interaction of experimental conditions for BB oxidation were determined. The
      electrochemical treatment gave better results in the presence of NaCl as
      electrolyte and high current density (30 mA cm(-2)); the Fenton reaction provided
      better results at H2O2 and Fe(2+) concentrations of 10 mg L(-1) and 0.5 mmol L(
      1), respectively. Electrochemical treatment was 23 times faster than the Fenton
      reaction because formation of chlorinated species during electrooxidation
      significantly contributed to dye oxidation. Although the electrochemical process
      was more efficient, the resulting treated effluent was more toxic to Lactuca
      sativa germination and growth, which indicated some biotoxicity. Results
      demonstrated that both processes efficiently remediated effluents containing the
      dye BB, but they need to be combined with other processes to ensure complete
      adequacy of the effluent for disposal. 

PMID- 27642835
TI  - A landscape lake flow pattern design approach based on automated CFD simulation
      and parallel multiple objective optimization.
AB  - A design approach for determining the optimal flow pattern in a landscape lake is
      proposed based on FLUENT simulation, multiple objective optimization, and
      parallel computing. This paper formulates the design into a multi-objective
      optimization problem, with lake circulation effects and operation cost as two
      objectives, and solves the optimization problem with non-dominated sorting
      genetic algorithm II. The lake flow pattern is modelled in FLUENT. The
      parallelization aims at multiple FLUENT instance runs, which is different from
      the FLUENT internal parallel solver. This approach: (1) proposes lake flow
      pattern metrics, i.e. weighted average water flow velocity, water volume
      percentage of low flow velocity, and variance of flow velocity, (2) defines user
      defined functions for boundary setting, objective and constraints calculation,
      and (3) parallels the execution of multiple FLUENT instances runs to
      significantly reduce the optimization wall-clock time. The proposed approach is
      demonstrated through a case study for Meijiang Lake in Tianjin, China. 

PMID- 27642836
TI  - Revealing the relationship between microbial community structure in natural
      biofilms and the pollution level in urban rivers: a case study in the Qinhuai
      River basin, Yangtze River Delta.
AB  - River pollution is one of the most challenging environmental issues, but the
      effect of river pollution levels on the biofilm communities has not been well
      studied. Spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of environmental
      parameters and the biofilm communities were investigated in the Qinhuai River
      basin, Nanjing, China. Water samples were grouped into three clusters reflecting
      their varying pollution levels of relatively slight pollution, moderated
      pollution, and high pollution by hierarchical cluster analysis. In different
      clusters, the biofilm communities mainly differed in the proportion of
      Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. As the dominant classes of
      Proteobacteria, Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria seemed to show an upward
      trend followed by a small fluctuation in the abundance with the escalation of
      water pollution level. Results of redundancy analysis demonstrated that
      temperature, total nitrogen to total phosphorus ratios (TN/TP) and concentrations
      of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and TN were mainly responsible for the variation in
      bacterial community structure. The occurrences of Alpha-, Beta- and
      Gammaproteobacteria were closely associated with higher temperature, higher
      concentrations of NH3-N and TN and a lower TN/TP ratio. This study may provide a
      theoretical basis for the water pollution control and ecological restoration in
      urban rivers under different pollution levels. 

PMID- 27642837
TI  - Substrate removal kinetics and performance assessment of a vermifilter bioreactor
      under organic shock load conditions.
AB  - In the present study, the effect of short-term organic shock loads (675, 799,
      1,084 and 1,410 mg COD/L) on the treatment performance of a pilot-scale
      vermifilter (VF), employing an epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida and treating
      synthetic domestic wastewater is investigated. The effect of organic shock loads
      on the performance and stability of vermifiltration reactor was evaluated to
      identify its feasibility in actual field conditions. Prior to the application of
      each organic shock load, normal loading conditions were maintained to achieve the
      pseudo steady state (PSS) conditions. The results showed satisfactory endurance
      against imposed organic shock loads with negligible reduction in chemical oxygen
      demand (COD) removals and it was almost similar to PSS condition with removal
      efficiencies of ~ 66, 71, 67 and 68%, respectively. The experimental COD data fit
      well to first-order kinetic model, with a regression value of 0.95. At the end of
      all shock loads, the nutritional analysis of vermicompost obtained from the top
      layer of VF, showed increased concentration of total nitrogen (~31 g/Kg) and
      total phosphorus (29 g/Kg). Besides, an augmented earthworm biomass, ~23.2% on
      weight basis and ~22% on number basis, was observed at the end of the study. 

PMID- 27642838
TI  - Effect of nitrate concentration, pH, and hydraulic retention time on autotrophic
      denitrification efficiency with Fe(II) and Mn(II) as electron donors.
AB  - The role of electron donors (Fe(2+) and Mn(2+)) in the autotrophic
      denitrification of contaminated groundwater by bacterial strain SY6 was
      characterized based on empirical laboratory-scale analysis. Strain SY6 can
      utilize Fe(2+) more efficiently than Mn(2+) as an electron donor. This study has
      shown that the highest nitrate removal ratio, observed with Fe(2+) as the
      electron donor, was approximately 88.89%. An immobilized biological filter
      reactor was tested by using three levels of influent nitrate (10, 30, and 50
      mg/L), three pH levels (6, 7, and 8), and three levels of hydraulic retention
      time (HRT; 6, 8, and 12 h), respectively. An optimal nitrate removal ratio of
      about 95% was achieved at pH 6.0 using a nitrate concentration of 50 mg/L and HRT
      of 12 h with Fe(2+) as an electron donor. The study showed that 90% of Fe(2+) and
      75.52% removal of Mn(2+) were achieved at pH 8.0 with a nitrate concentration of
      50 mg/L and a HRT of 12 h. Removal ratio of Fe(2+) and Mn(2+) is higher with
      higher influent nitrate and HRT. A weakly alkaline environment assisted the
      removal of Fe(2+) and Mn(2+). 

PMID- 27642839
TI  - Preparation and selective adsorption of organic pollutants by an inorganic
      molecular imprinted polymer.
AB  - A novel inorganic molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized by adding
      Al(3+) to the Fe/SiO2 gel with Acid Orange II (AO II) as the template. The MIP
      was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurement.
      Compared with the non-imprinted polymer (NIP), the MIP enhanced the adsorption
      capacity of the target pollutants AO II. The selective adsorption capacity study
      indicated that the MIP adsorbed more AO II than the interferent Bisphenol A
      (BPA), which also has the structure of a benzene ring, thus proving the selective
      adsorption capacity of the MIP for template molecules AO II. In addition, the
      adsorption of AO II over MIP belonged to the Langmuir type and pseudo-second
      adsorption kinetics, and Dubinin-Radushkevich model indicates that the adsorption
      process of AO II over MIP and NIP are both given priority to chemical adsorption.
      The MIP reusability in performance was demonstrated in at least six repeated
      cycles. 

PMID- 27642840
TI  - Removal of tetracycline antibiotic from contaminated water media by multi-walled
      carbon nanotubes: operational variables, kinetics, and equilibrium studies.
AB  - Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were purified and oxidized by a 4 mol L(
      1) mixture of H2SO4:H2O2 and then were used as adsorbent for tetracycline (TC)
      adsorption from aqueous solutions. The purified MWCNTs were characterized using
      Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron
      microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and N2
      adsorption/desorption isotherms. The adsorption of TC onto the MWCNT was
      investigated as a function of the initial pH of the solution, adsorbent dosage,
      and background electrolyte cations and anions. The results of the one-way
      analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that Fe(3+) ion significantly affected and
      decreased TC adsorption onto the MWCNT (P-value < 0.05), while other studied
      cations and anions did not affect TC adsorption (P-value>0.05). Nonlinear pseudo
      first-order, pseudo-second-order, general order, and Avrami fractionary-order
      kinetic models were used to investigate the kinetics of TC adsorption. The
      fractionary-order kinetic model provided the best fit to experimental data. In
      addition, the adsorption isotherms data were well described by nonlinear equation
      of the Liu isotherm model with the maximum adsorption capacity of 253.38 mg g(
      1). The results of this study indicate that the oxidized MWCNTs can be used as an
      effective adsorbent for TC removal from aqueous solutions. 

PMID- 27642841
TI  - Impacts of dyebath auxiliaries on the reductive discoloration of Acid Orange 7
      dye by high-carbon iron filings.
AB  - This study proposed that the physicochemical effects of common dyebath
      auxiliaries on the bulk dye solution as well as on the iron surface can influence
      the reductive discoloration of effluent containing Acid Orange 7 (AO7) dye using
      high-carbon iron filings. Sodium chloride increased the discoloration rate
      because of the pitting corrosion on the iron surface, triggered by chloride
      anion. 'Salting out' effect of ammonium sulfate improved the reaction rate up to
      a certain concentration, beyond which it could compete with dye molecules for the
      reactive sites, as revealed by formed sulfite and sulfide. Urea drastically
      reduced the discoloration rates by its chaotropic effect on the bulk solution and
      by wrapping around the iron surface. Organic acids, namely acetic acid and citric
      acid, stimulated iron corrosion to improve the discoloration rates. The
      discoloration reaction was biphasic with an initial fast reaction phase, where in
      every case more than 70% discoloration was observed within 5 min of reaction,
      preceding a slow reaction phase. The experimental data could be well described
      using biphasic kinetics equation (R(2)> 0.997 in all cases) and a biphasic
      equation was developed considering the individual impact of co-existing
      auxiliaries on AO7 discoloration. 

PMID- 27642842
TI  - Adaptation of microbial communities in activated sludge to 1-decyl-3
      methylimidazolium bromide.
AB  - The effects of 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide on activated sludge process
      and microbial composition were investigated. Ionic liquid (IL) was dosed
      continuously to the laboratory activated sludge system at an influent
      concentration from 1 to 20 mg l(-1) for about 1 month. As compared to the control
      test, mean values of degree of chemical oxygen demand removal and degree of
      biochemical oxygen demand removal were almost remaining constant at a high level,
      equaling 92.6% and 98.1%, respectively. In addition, no influence of IL on size
      and shape of flocs was observed. The values of the sludge biotic index indicate
      that sludge exposed on IL was stable and very well colonized with good biological
      activity. Increases in Proteobacteria (mainly Variovorax sp., Vogesella sp.,
      Hydrogenophaga sp.), Bacteroidetes (mainly Lewinella sp., Haliscomenobacter sp.,
      Runella sp.) and Nitrospirae were detected in sludge adapted to IL compared to
      the control system. The results showed that activated sludge can adapt to IL
      present in wastewater.

PMID- 27642843
TI  - The study of non-linear kinetics and adsorption isotherm models for Acid Red 18
      from aqueous solutions by magnetite nanoparticles and magnetite nanoparticles
      modified by sodium alginate.
AB  - Azo dyes are widely used in various industries. These substances produce toxic
      byproducts in aquatic environments in addition to their mutagenic and
      carcinogenic potential effects. In this study, the effect of magnetite
      nanoparticles and magnetite nanoparticles modified by sodium alginate in batch
      systems and nonlinear kinetic and adsorption isotherm models were investigated.
      Magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method and
      then modified and used as adsorbent to adsorb Acid Red 18. After determining the
      optimum pH and adsorbent dose, non-equilibrium models for kinetic adsorption were
      tested with concentrations (25-100 mg/L) and at eight different periods of time
      (1-15 min) and the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order non-linear models
      were used to describe the results. For adsorption isotherm, a contact time of 120
      min was studied in different concentrations (25-100 mg/L) and the residual
      concentration of Acid Red 18 was obtained. The results are described by non
      linear Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models. The optimum
      amounts of pH for magnetite nanoparticles and for modified ones were 3 and 5,
      respectively, the efficiencies were 0.75 and 0.2 g/L, respectively. According to
      the results sodium alginate has a high performance in adsorption of Acid Red 18.
      Adjusted correlation coefficients and chi-square test showed that Freundlich
      isotherm and then Langmuir isotherm can well describe the experimental results.
      In Freundlich, the value of (Kf) was 3.231 (L/g) for magnetite nanoparticles and
      21.615 (L/g) for modified adsorbent. In Langmuir, the value of (qm) was 16.259
      (mg/g) for magnetite nanoparticles and 73.464 (mg/g) for modified adsorbent.
      Comparing the Langmuir maximum calculated adsorption capacity indicated that
      modified adsorbent can adsorb the pollutants 6.5 times more than the other one. 

PMID- 27642844
TI  - Use of real-time PCR with propidium monoazide for enumeration of viable
      Escherichia coli in anaerobic digestion.
AB  - A combination of propidium monoazide (PMA) with real-time quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction (PMA-qPCR) was optimized to enumerate only viable Escherichia coli
      in anaerobic digestion processes. Repeating the PMA treatment twice and a final
      concentration of 100 MUM resulted in an effective exclusion of DNA from heat
      treated E. coli cells. In three anaerobic digestion processes, real-time PCR, PMA
      qPCR, and the most probable number method (MPN) were used to estimate the numbers
      of total, viable, and culturable E. coli cells, respectively. Culturable
      concentrations of fecal coliforms were also measured by the membrane filter
      method. For thermophilic digestion, the reductions in total and viable E. coli
      cells from the digester influent to the effluent were significantly lower than
      those in culturable cells and fecal coliforms by two to four orders of magnitude.
      For mesophilic digestion, the differences in the reductions in E. coli and fecal
      coliforms counts were less than two orders of magnitude. Based on the
      measurements of viable E. coli determined by the PMA-qPCR method, the microbial
      quality of digester effluents was discussed for agricultural application, and
      pasteurization after anaerobic digestion was suggested for the destruction of
      viable pathogens. 

PMID- 27642846
TI  - Selecting against accidental RNA interactions.
AB  - Random base-pairing interactions between messenger RNAs and noncoding RNAs can
      reduce translation efficiency. 

PMID- 27642845
TI  - Avoidance of stochastic RNA interactions can be harnessed to control protein
      expression levels in bacteria and archaea.
AB  - A critical assumption of gene expression analysis is that mRNA abundances broadly
      correlate with protein abundance, but these two are often imperfectly correlated.
      Some of the discrepancy can be accounted for by two important mRNA features:
      codon usage and mRNA secondary structure. We present a new global factor, called
      mRNA:ncRNA avoidance, and provide evidence that avoidance increases translational
      efficiency. We also demonstrate a strong selection for the avoidance of
      stochastic mRNA:ncRNA interactions across prokaryotes, and that these have a
      greater impact on protein abundance than mRNA structure or codon usage. By
      generating synonymously variant green fluorescent protein (GFP) mRNAs with
      different potential for mRNA:ncRNA interactions, we demonstrate that GFP levels
      correlate well with interaction avoidance. Therefore, taking stochastic
      mRNA:ncRNA interactions into account enables precise modulation of protein
      abundance.

PMID- 27642847
TI  - A Review of Probe-Based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy for Pancreaticobiliary
      Disease.
AB  - Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is a novel in vivo imaging technique that can
      provide real-time optical biopsies in the evaluation of pancreaticobiliary
      strictures and pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs), both of which are plagued by low
      sensitivities of routine evaluation techniques. Compared to pathology alone, CLE
      is associated with a higher sensitivity and accuracy for the evaluation of
      indeterminate pancreaticobiliary strictures. CLE has the ability to determine the
      malignant potential of PCLs. As such, CLE can increase the diagnostic yield of
      endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound,
      reducing the need for repeat procedures. It has been shown to be safe, with an
      adverse event rate of <=1%. Published literature regarding its cost-effectiveness
      is needed.

PMID- 27642848
TI  - Optimal Use of Wire-Assisted Techniques and Precut Sphincterotomy.
AB  - Various endoscopic techniques have been developed to overcome the difficulties in
      biliary or pancreatic access during endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography, according to the preference of the endoscopist or the
      aim of the procedures. In terms of endoscopic methods, guidewire-assisted
      cannulation is a commonly used and well-known initial cannulation technique, or
      an alternative in cases of difficult cannulation. In addition, precut
      sphincterotomy encompasses a range of available rescue techniques, including
      conventional precut, precut fistulotomy, transpancreatic septotomy, and precut
      after insertion of pancreatic stent or pancreatic duct guidewire-guided septal
      precut. We present a literature review of guidewire-assisted cannulation as a
      primary endoscopic method and the precut technique for the facilitation of
      selective biliary access.

PMID- 27642849
TI  - Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-Directed Transgastric Endoscopic Retrograde
      Cholangiopancreatography or EUS: Mid-Term Analysis of an Emerging Procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Performing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
      in patients who have undergone Rouxen-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is challenging.
      Standard ERCP and enteroscopy-assisted ERCP are associated with limited success
      rates. Laparoscopy- or laparotomy-assisted ERCP yields improved efficacy rates,
      but with higher complication rates and costs. We present the first multicenter
      experience regarding the efficacy and safety of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)
      directed transgastric ERCP (EDGE) or EUS. METHODS: All patients who underwent
      EDGE at two academic centers were included. Clinical success was defined as
      successful ERCP and/or EUS through the use of lumen-apposing metal stents (LAMS).
      Adverse events related to EDGE were separated from ERCP- or EUS-related
      complications and were defined as bleeding, stent migration, perforation, and
      infection. RESULTS: Sixteen patients were included in the study. Technical
      success was 100%. Clinical success was 90% (n=10); five patients were awaiting
      maturation of the fistula tract prior to ERCP or EUS, and one patient had an
      aborted ERCP due to perforation. One perforation occurred, which was managed
      endoscopically. Three patients experienced stent dislodgement; all stents were
      successfully repositioned or bridged with a second stent. Ten patients (62.5%)
      had their LAMS removed. The average weight change from LAMS insertion to removal
      was negative 2.85 kg. CONCLUSIONS: EDGE is an effective, minimally invasive,
      single-team solution to the difficulties associated with ERCP in patients with
      RYGB.

PMID- 27642850
TI  - Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangioscopy in Bilioenteric Anastomosis Stricture.
AB  - Bilioenteric anastomosis strictures are a serious complication of biliary
      surgery, and often result in recurrent cholangitis, choledocholithiasis, biliary
      cirrhosis, and hepatic failure. Bilioenteric reconstructive surgery is the
      standard treatment of choice for such complications. However, percutaneous
      transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTCS), also known as per-oral endoscopic-guided
      intervention, is a less invasive procedure that is becoming an increasingly
      popular alternative. This review describes the PTCS procedure (including the
      preparation process), as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic role of PTCS in
      bilioenteric anastomosis strictures.

PMID- 27642851
TI  - Genetic, Maternal, and Environmental Risk Factors for Cryptorchidism: An Update.
AB  - Unilateral or bilateral cryptorchidism is an isolated anomaly in the majority of
      cases, with evidence to date suggesting that it is a complex disorder resulting
      from interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Population, family,
      and limited genome-wide association data suggest moderate genetic risk, multiple
      susceptibility loci, and a role for the maternal environment. Epidemiologic
      studies have identified low birth weight or intrauterine growth retardation as
      factors most strongly associated with cryptorchidism, with additional evidence
      suggesting that maternal smoking and gestational diabetes increase risk. Animal
      studies have shown that the testis regulates its own descent by secretion of
      hormones that stimulate differentiation of the gubernaculum, and that endocrine
      disrupting chemicals (EDCs) exhibit antiandrogenic and/or estrogenic activity
      that alters testicular function or gubernacular response to hormonal stimulation.
      However, we have yet to determine the degree to which EDCs contribute to
      cryptorchidism risk in humans, in part due to the varying methodology used in
      epidemiological and exposure studies. Large populations will be required to
      define the gene-environment interactions that predispose to cryptorchidism, in
      view of multiple small effect genetic susceptibility loci, ubiquitous exposure to
      mixtures of EDCs, and possible epigenetic effects. The present review provides an
      update of potential genetic and environmental risk factors for cryptorchidism,
      and future work required to better understand the etiology of this common and
      complex disease.

PMID- 27642852
TI  - Hormonal Aspects of the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Cryptorchidism.
AB  - A normal functioning hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis is required for
      normal testicular descent. The percentage of cases that result from a disturbance
      in this axis remains controversial. Much has yet to be learnt about
      cryptorchidism, but is seems that the existence of A dark spermatogonia (Ad
      spermatogonia) is essential for later fertility. Bilateral cryptorchid patients
      have a high risk of later infertility, even though they undergo early surgery for
      cryptorchidism. It is possible today to distinguish-to a certain extent-between
      three different groups of cryptorchid patients based on testicular histology,
      gonadotropins, and inhibin B at the time of early surgery: Group 1, patients
      suspected of prepubertal transient hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular hypofunction
      and a high risk of later infertility; Group 2, patients with hypergonadotropic
      hypogonadism and a primary testicular dysfunction; and Group 3, patients with
      normal histology and normal serum levels of inhibin B and gonadotropins at the
      time of early surgery and a low risk of later infertility. Given the potential
      adverse effects of hormonal treatment, attention should be directed toward small
      doses of adjuvant gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) treatment for those who
      might benefit the most, that is, bilateral cryptorchid boys at early surgery
      without evidence of normal maturation of gonocytes into Ad spermatogonia.
      Optimally, gonadotropin levels in such patients should be measured to ensure that
      levels are not compensatory elevated, thereby supporting the suspicion of
      hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular hypofunction. Studies of GnRH-supplementary
      treatment should include testicular biopsy at surgery and at follow-up in
      childhood as well as examinations of fertility potential in adulthood.

PMID- 27642854
TI  - Normative Reference of Standing Long Jump for Colombian Schoolchildren Aged 9
      17.9 Years: The FUPRECOL Study.
AB  - Ramirez-Velez, R, Martinez, M, Correa-Bautista, JE, Lobelo, F, Izquierdo, M,
      Rodriguez-Rodriguez, F, and Cristi-Montero, C. Normative reference of standing
      long jump for Colombian schoolchildren aged 9-17.9 years: The FUPRECOL study. J
      Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2083-2090, 2017-The purpose of this study was to
      generate normative values for the standing long jump (SLJ) test in 9- to 17.9
      year olds and to investigate sex and age-group differences. The sample comprised
      8,034 healthy Colombian schoolchildren [boys n = 3,488 and girls n = 4,546; mean
      (SD) age 12.8 (+/-2.3) years old]. Each participant performed two SLJ. Centile
      smoothed curves, percentile, and tables for the third, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th,
      90th, and 97th percentiles were calculated using Cole's Lambda-Mu-Sigma method.
      The 2-way analysis of variance tests and Cohen's d showed that the maximum SLJ
      (centimeter) was higher in boys than in girls across age groups (p < 0.01),
      reaching the peak at 13 years. Posthoc analyses within the sexes showed yearly
      increases in SLJ in all ages. In boys, the 50th percentile SLJ score ranged from
      109 to 165 cm. In girls, the 50th percentile jump ranged from 96 to 120 cm. For
      girls, jump scores increased yearly from age 9 to 12.9 years before reaching a
      plateau at an age between 13 and 15.9. Our results provide, for the first time,
      sex- and age-specific SLJ reference values for Colombian schoolchildren aged 9
      17.9 years. The normative values presented in this study provide the basis for
      the determination of the proposed age- and sex-specific standards for the
      FUPRECOL (Association for Muscular Strength with Early Manifestation of
      Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Colombian Children and Adolescents)
      Study-Physical fitness battery for children and adolescents.

PMID- 27642858
TI  - Foam Rolling of Quadriceps Decreases Biceps Femoris Activation.
AB  - Cavanaugh, MT, Aboodarda, SJ, Hodgson, DD, and Behm, DG. Foam rolling of
      quadriceps decreases biceps femoris activation. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2238
      2245, 2017-Foam rolling has been shown to increase range of motion without
      subsequent performance impairments of the rolled muscle, however, there are no
      studies examining rolling effects on antagonist muscles. The objective of this
      study was to determine whether foam rolling the hamstrings and/or quadriceps
      would affect hamstrings and quadriceps activation in men and women.
      Recreationally, active men (n = 10, 25 +/- 4.6 years, 180.1 +/- 4.4 cm, 86.5 +/-
      15.7 kg) and women (n = 8, 21.75 +/- 3.2 years, 166.4 +/- 8.8 cm, 58.9 +/- 7.9
      kg) had surface electromyographic activity analyzed in the dominant vastus
      lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), and biceps femoris (BF) muscles on a single
      leg landing from a hurdle jump under 4 conditions. Conditions included rolling of
      the hamstrings, quadriceps, both muscle groups, and a control session. Biceps
      femoris activation significantly decreased after quadriceps foam rolling (F(1,16)
      = 7.45, p = 0.015, -8.9%). There were no significant changes in quadriceps
      activation after hamstrings foam rolling. This might be attributed to the
      significantly greater levels of perceived pain with quadriceps rolling
      applications (F(1,18) = 39.067, p < 0.001, 98.2%). There were no sex-based
      changes in activation after foam rolling for VL (F(6,30) = 1.31, p = 0.283), VM
      (F(6,30) = 1.203, p = 0.332), or BF (F(6,36) = 1.703, p = 0.199). Antagonist
      muscle activation may be altered after agonist foam rolling, however, it can be
      suggested that any changes in activation are likely a result of reciprocal
      inhibition due to increased agonist pain perception.

PMID- 27642860
TI  - Metabolomic profiling for early cancer detection: current status and future
      prospects.

PMID- 27642861
TI  - Chest CT scans are frequently abnormal in asymptomatic patients with newly
      diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Chest computed tomography (CT) findings of nodules, ground glass opacities, and
      consolidations are often interpreted as representing invasive fungal infection in
      individuals with febrile neutropenia. We assessed whether these CT findings were
      present in asymptomatic individuals with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at low risk
      of invasive fungal disease. A retrospective study of consecutive asymptomatic
      adult patients with newly diagnosed AML over a 2-year period was performed at a
      tertiary care oncology center. Radiology reports of baseline chest CTs were
      reviewed. Of 145 CT scans, the majority (88%) had pulmonary abnormalities. Many
      (70%) had one or both of unspecified opacities (52%) and nodules (49%). Ground
      glass opacities (18%) and consolidations (12%) occurred less frequently.
      Radiologists suggested pneumonia as a possible diagnosis in 32% (n = 47) of
      scans. Chest CT may result in over-diagnosis of invasive fungal disease in
      individuals with febrile neutropenia if interpreted without correlation to the
      patients' clinical status.

PMID- 27642862
TI  - Ultra-deep tyrosine phosphoproteomics enabled by a phosphotyrosine superbinder.
AB  - We present a new strategy for systematic identification of phosphotyrosine (pTyr)
      by affinity purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS) using a Src homology 2 (SH2)
      domain-derived pTyr superbinder as the affinity reagent. The superbinder allows
      for markedly deeper coverage of the Tyr phosphoproteome than anti-pTyr antibodies
      when an optimal amount is used. We identified ~20,000 distinct phosphotyrosyl
      peptides and >10,000 pTyr sites, of which 36% were 'novel', from nine human cell
      lines using the superbinder approach. Tyrosine kinases, SH2 domains and
      phosphotyrosine phosphatases were preferably phosphorylated, suggesting that the
      toolkit of kinase signaling is subject to intensive regulation by
      phosphorylation. Cell-type-specific global kinase activation patterns inferred
      from label-free quantitation of Tyr phosphorylation guided the design of
      experiments to inhibit cancer cell proliferation by blocking the highly activated
      tyrosine kinases. Therefore, the superbinder is a highly efficient and cost
      effective alternative to conventional antibodies for systematic and quantitative
      characterization of the tyrosine phosphoproteome under normal or pathological
      conditions.

PMID- 27642863
TI  - Compounds that select against the tetracycline-resistance efflux pump.
AB  - We developed a competition-based screening strategy to identify compounds that
      invert the selective advantage of antibiotic resistance. Using our assay, we
      screened over 19,000 compounds for the ability to select against the TetA
      tetracycline-resistance efflux pump in Escherichia coli and identified two hits,
      beta-thujaplicin and disulfiram. Treating a tetracycline-resistant population
      with beta-thujaplicin selects for loss of the resistance gene, enabling an
      effective second-phase treatment with doxycycline.

PMID- 27642865
TI  - Carbon extension in peptidylnucleoside biosynthesis by radical SAM enzymes.
AB  - Nikkomycins and polyoxins are antifungal peptidylnucleoside antibiotics active
      against human and plant pathogens. Here we report that during peptidylnucleoside
      biosynthesis in Streptomyces cacaoi and S. tendae, the C5' extension of the
      nucleoside essential for downstream structural diversification is catalyzed by a
      conserved radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) enzyme, PolH or NikJ. This is
      distinct from the nucleophilic mechanism reported for antibacterial nucleosides
      and represents a new mechanism of nucleoside natural product biosynthesis.

PMID- 27642866
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of axonal regenerative capacity.
AB  - The intrinsic growth capacity of neurons in the CNS declines during neuronal
      maturation, while neurons in the adult PNS are capable of regeneration. Injured
      mature PNS neurons require activation of an array of regeneration-associated
      genes to regain axonal growth competence. Accumulating evidence indicates a
      pivotal role of epigenetic mechanisms in transcriptional reprogramming and
      regulation of neuronal growth ability upon injury. In this review, we summarize
      the latest findings implicating epigenetic mechanisms, including histone and DNA
      modifications, in axon regeneration and discuss differential epigenomic
      configurations between neurons in the adult mammalian CNS and PNS.

PMID- 27642864
TI  - Engineering prokaryotic transcriptional activators as metabolite biosensors in
      yeast.
AB  - Whole-cell biocatalysts have proven a tractable path toward sustainable
      production of bulk and fine chemicals. Yet the screening of libraries of cellular
      designs to identify best-performing biocatalysts is most often a low-throughput
      endeavor. For this reason, the development of biosensors enabling real-time
      monitoring of production has attracted attention. Here we applied systematic
      engineering of multiple parameters to search for a general biosensor design in
      the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on small-molecule binding
      transcriptional activators from the prokaryote superfamily of LysR-type
      transcriptional regulators (LTTRs). We identified a design supporting LTTR
      dependent activation of reporter gene expression in the presence of cognate small
      molecule inducers. As proof of principle, we applied the biosensors for in vivo
      screening of cells producing naringenin or cis,cis-muconic acid at different
      levels, and found that reporter gene output correlated with production. The
      transplantation of prokaryotic transcriptional activators into the eukaryotic
      chassis illustrates the potential of a hitherto untapped biosensor resource
      useful for biotechnological applications.

PMID- 27643381
TI  - Bacterial cell wall biogenesis is mediated by SEDS and PBP polymerase families
      functioning semi-autonomously.
AB  - Multi-protein complexes organized by cytoskeletal proteins are essential for cell
      wall biogenesis in most bacteria. Current models of the wall assembly mechanism
      assume that class A penicillin-binding proteins (aPBPs), the targets of
      penicillin-like drugs, function as the primary cell wall polymerases within these
      machineries. Here, we use an in vivo cell wall polymerase assay in Escherichia
      coli combined with measurements of the localization dynamics of synthesis
      proteins to investigate this hypothesis. We find that aPBP activity is not
      necessary for glycan polymerization by the cell elongation machinery, as is
      commonly believed. Instead, our results indicate that cell wall synthesis is
      mediated by two distinct polymerase systems, shape, elongation, division,
      sporulation (SEDS)-family proteins working within the cytoskeletal machines and
      aPBP enzymes functioning outside these complexes. These findings thus necessitate
      a fundamental change in our conception of the cell wall assembly process in
      bacteria. 

PMID- 27643382
TI  - Reproductive and neurobehavioral effects of maternal exposure to piperonyl
      butoxide (PBO) in F1 -generation mice.
AB  - Female mice were exposed maternally to piperonyl butoxide (PBO) through diet to
      provide levels of 0 (control), 0.015, 0.03, and 0.06% during gestation and
      lactation periods, and selected reproductive and neurobehavioral parameters were
      measured in F1 generation. There was no adverse effect of PBO on litter size,
      litter weight, or sex ratio at birth. The average body weights of offspring
      showed no significant effects of PBO treatment through the lactation period in
      both sexes except for the low-dose group of females on PND 21. With respect to
      behavioral developmental parameters, swimming direction of female offspring on
      PND 7 was significantly accelerated in the low-dose group (p = 0.022).
      Exploratory behavior examination in male offspring indicated that total distance
      and movement time shortened significantly in dose-related manners (p = 0.0138 and
      0.00231, respectively), average time of rearing lengthened significantly in a
      dose-related manner (p = 0.00814), and the frequencies of mice with urination was
      increased significantly in a dose-related manner (p < 0.05). For spontaneous
      behavior examination, the average time of movement in males and average time of
      rearing in females showed slightly dose-related effects in the F1 generation. The
      dose levels of PBO in the present study produced some adverse effects in
      neurobehavioral parameters in mice.

PMID- 27643383
TI  - Urinary bisphenol-A, phthalate metabolites and body composition in US adults,
      NHANES 1999-2006.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates is highly prevalent.
      Prior studies have not assessed associations between urinary levels of BPA and
      phthalate metabolites and body composition. METHODS: National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2006 on adults aged >=20
      were analyzed by linear regression for associations between urinary BPA,
      monoethyl phthalate, monobutyl phthalate (MBP), monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP),
      and monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP) and lean mass, fat mass, and percent body fat.
      RESULTS: BPA and phthalate metabolites were not independently associated with fat
      mass or percent body fat. Significant inverse associations were observed with
      lean mass, with the strongest association observed for BPA in men (mean lean mass
      1.39 kg lower for quartile 4 vs. quartile 1, p trend = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: BPA
      and some phthalates could have important, negative effects on muscle and may
      affect conditions related to deficits in lean mass, though additional research is
      needed.

PMID- 27643384
TI  - Structure-function relationship of phenolic antioxidants in topical skin health
      products.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present work analysed the antioxidative activity of phenol-based
      antioxidants using an electron spin resonance method to predict the activity and
      stability of these antioxidants in cosmetic products. METHODS: The antioxidative
      power (AP) method was chosen to measure both the capacity and kinetics of an
      antioxidative reaction by detecting the DPPH (diphenylpicrylhydrazyl) radical.
      The antioxidative capacity (wc ) relates to the amount of free radicals that can
      be reduced, whereas the antioxidative reactivity (tr ) relates to the reaction
      speed and offers a fingerprinting of the redox state of the antioxidant
      molecules. Fifteen phenolic molecules have been analysed. They differed in the
      position of the hydroxyl groups and substituents on the aromatic ring. The AP of
      two distinct formulations containing hydroxytyrosol is presented as well as three
      phenol-based antioxidants within the same formulation vehicle. RESULTS: The rate
      at which phenol (ArOH) reacts with DPPH radicals, defined by the term reactivity
      (tr ) in this paper, was dependent upon the bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE) of
      the OH bond. Molecules having weak OH bonds and consequently low BDE values
      showed high antioxidant reactivity. On the other hand, the capacity factor (wc ),
      which is the concentration of phenol required to reduce a fixed concentration of
      DPPH radical, depends on the number and position of hydroxyl groups. The results
      showed that ortho and para positions of the two hydroxyl groups are important for
      higher capacity. If one of the two hydroxyl groups is blocked by methylation,
      both the antioxidative capacity and reactivity are reduced, mainly for ortho
      disubstituted compounds. The presence of a vinylic side chain improved reactivity
      and capacity tremendously. AP values may be useful in formulation design when
      identifying antioxidants that are likely to be physically and chemically stable.
      The importance of optimization of the formulation vehicle itself for a given
      antioxidant is also illustrated. CONCLUSION: Based on the presented findings, it
      is possible to predict the antioxidative performance of a phenol-based molecule
      and its stability and oxidation resistance within a cosmetic formulation. This is
      essential for antioxidant containing dermal formulations designed to combat skin
      ageing.

PMID- 27643386
TI  - Prenatal androgen exposure and parental care interact to influence timing of
      reproductive maturation in marmosets.
AB  - The timing of reproductive maturation is susceptible to hormonal and
      environmental influences, and variation in this timing can be partially
      attributed to the prenatal and post-natal environment. We examined associations
      between prenatal steroid exposure and the post-natal family environment on the
      variability in reproductive maturation timing in young marmosets (Callithrix
      geoffroyi). Urine samples from pregnant females were analyzed for cortisol (CORT)
      and androgens (uA). Post-natal uA was measured in males to determine age (in
      days) of adult-like levels of androgens associated with spermatogenesis; post
      natal pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG) was measured in females to determine age (in
      days) of first ovulation. Maternal, paternal, alloparental, and total care
      (carrying, grooming, and rejection/removals) of offspring were observed. Female
      offspring exposed to lower prenatal uA levels and higher paternal grooming and
      lower maternal rejection/removals showed later first ovulation, whereas female
      offspring exposed to higher prenatal uA showed earlier first ovulation. Male
      offspring showed earlier reproductive maturation as paternal grooming increased,
      regardless of first trimester uA exposure. Male offspring exposed to low prenatal
      uA levels showed earlier reproductive maturation as maternal rejections/removals
      increased. In offspring exposed to low prenatal CORT, high total carrying
      predicted earlier first ovulation in females, but later reproductive maturation
      in males. Total carrying duration did not affect timing of reproductive
      maturation in offspring exposed to high third trimester CORT levels. Our findings
      expand the evolutionary theory of socialization by demonstrating that the effect
      of post-natal family environment on timing of reproductive maturation depends on
      prenatal uA exposure and also influences reproductive maturation timing in male
      offspring.

PMID- 27643385
TI  - RORgammat antagonist suppresses M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-induced
      Sjogren's syndrome-like sialadenitis.
AB  - We showed recently that M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3R)-reactive CD3+
      T cells play a pathogenic role in the development of murine autoimmune
      sialadenitis (MIS), which mimics Sjogren's syndrome (SS). The aim of this study
      was to determine the effectiveness and mechanism of action of retinoic acid
      related orphan receptor-gamma t (RORgammat) antagonist (A213) in MIS. Splenocytes
      from M3R knockout (M3R-/- ) mice immunized with murine M3R peptide mixture were
      inoculated into recombination-activating gene 1 knockout (Rag-1-/- ) mice (M3R-/-
      ->Rag-1-/- ) with MIS. Immunized M3R-/- mice (pretransfer treatment) and M3R-/- 
      >Rag-1-/- mice (post-transfer treatment) were treated with A213 every 3 days.
      Salivary volume, severity of sialadenitis and cytokine production from M3R
      peptide-stimulated splenocytes and lymph node cells were examined. Effects of
      A213 on cytokine production were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA) and on T helper type 1 (Th1), Th17 and Th2 differentiation from CD4+ T
      cells by flow cytometry. Pretransfer A213 treatment maintained salivary volume,
      improved MIS and reduced interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-17
      production significantly compared with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (P <
      0.05). These suppressive effects involved CD4+ T cells rather than CD11c+ cells.
      Post-transfer treatment with A213 increased salivary volume (P < 0.05),
      suppressed MIS (P < 0.005) and reduced IFN-gamma and IL-17 production (P < 0.05).
      In vitro, A213 suppressed IFN-gamma and IL-17 production from M3R-stimulated
      splenocytes and CD4+ T cells of immunized M3R-/- mice (P < 0.05). In contrast
      with M3R specific responses, A213 suppressed only IL-17 production from Th17
      differentiated CD4+ T cells without any effect on Th1 and Th2 differentiation in
      vitro. Our findings suggested that RORgammat antagonism is potentially suitable
      treatment strategy for SS-like sialadenitis through suppression of IL-17 and IFN
      gamma production by M3R-specific T cells.

PMID- 27643387
TI  - Trichoderma asperellum Induces Maize Seedling Growth by Activating the Plasma
      Membrane H+-ATPase.
AB  - Although Trichoderma spp. have beneficial effects on numerous plants, there is
      not enough knowledge about the mechanism by which they improves plant growth. In
      this study, we evaluated the participation of plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase, a
      key enzyme involved in promoting cell growth, in the elongation induced by T.
      asperellum and compared it with the effect of 10 MUM indol acetic acid (IAA)
      because IAA promotes elongation and PM H+-ATPase activation. Two seed treatments
      were tested: biopriming and noncontact. In neither were the tissues colonized by
      T. asperellum; however, the seedlings were longer than the control seedlings,
      which also accumulated IAA and increased root acidification. An auxin transport
      inhibitor (2,3,5 triiodobenzoic acid) reduced the plant elongation induced by
      Trichoderma spp. T. asperellum seed treatment increased the PM H+-ATPase activity
      in plant roots and shoots. Additionally, the T. asperellum extracellular extract
      (TE) activated the PM H+-ATPase activity of microsomal fractions of control
      plants, although it contained 0.3 MUM IAA. Furthermore, the mechanism of
      activation of PM H+-ATPase was different for IAA and TE; in the latter, the
      activation depends on the phosphorylation state of the enzyme, suggesting that,
      in addition to IAA, T. asperellum excretes other molecules that stimulate PM H+
      ATPase to induce plant growth.

PMID- 27643388
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis of collaborative care interventions for
      depression in patients with cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous systematic reviews have found limited evidence for the
      effectiveness of pharmacological and psychological interventions for the
      management of depression in patients with cancer. This paper provides the first
      meta-analysis of newer collaborative care interventions, which may include both
      types of treatment, as well as integrated delivery and follow-up. Meta-analyses
      of pharmacological and psychological interventions are included as a comparison.
      METHODS: A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library from
      July 2005 to January 2015 for randomized controlled trials of depression
      treatments for cancer patients diagnosed with a major depressive disorder, or who
      met a threshold on a validated depression rating scale was conducted. Meta
      analyses were conducted using summary data. RESULTS: Key findings included eight
      reports of four collaborative care interventions, eight pharmacological, and nine
      psychological trials. A meta-analysis demonstrated that collaborative care
      interventions were significantly more effective than usual care (standardized
      mean difference = -0.49, p = 0.003), and depression reduction was maintained at
      12 months. By comparison, short-term (up to 12 weeks), but not longer-term
      effectiveness was demonstrated for both pharmacological and psychological
      interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative care interventions have newly emerged
      as multidisciplinary care delivery models, which may result in more long-term
      depression remission. This review also updates previous findings of modest
      evidence for the effectiveness of both pharmacological and psychological
      interventions for threshold depression in cancer patients. Research designs
      focusing on combined treatments and delivery systems may best further the limited
      evidence-base for the management of depression in cancer.

PMID- 27643389
TI  - Kawasaki disease in children and adolescents: clinical data of Kawasaki patients
      in a western region (Tyrol) of Austria from 2003-2012.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a rare vasculitis seen predominantly in
      children. In developing countries, it is the leading cause of childhood-acquired
      heart disease. Besides a case report from 1981 there have been no data published
      dealing with the epidemiology and clinical aspects of KD in Austria. METHODS: The
      purpose of the present study was to investigate the clinical spectrum of KD in a
      geographically determined cohort of infants, children, and adolescents that were
      diagnosed and treated at the University Hospital of Innsbruck from 2003-2012.
      RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were included in the study with a median age of
      32.96 months (2-192). 59.4% of the patients were aged between six months and four
      years. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.13. Clinical examination revealed non
      purulent conjunctivitis and exanthema as the most common symptoms (84.4%). 75%
      showed oropharyngeal changes, 21.9% had gastrointestinal complaints such as
      diarrhoe, stomachache or vomiting prior to diagnosis. One third of the patients
      were admitted with a preliminary diagnosis, whereas 78.1% were pre-treated with
      antibiotics. The median fever duration at the time of presentation was estimated
      with 4.96 days (1-14), at time of diagnosis 6.76 days (3-15).75% were diagnosed
      with complete KD, and 25% with an incomplete form of the disease. There was no
      significant difference in the duration of fever neither between complete and
      incomplete KD, nor between the different age groups. Typical laboratory findings
      included increased C-reactive protein (CRP) (80.6%) and erythrocyte sedimentation
      rate (ESR) (96%),leukocytosis (48.4%) and thrombocytosis (40.6%) without any
      significant quantitative difference between complete and incomplete KD. Coronary
      complications could be observed in six patients: one with a coronary aneurysm and
      five with tubular dilatation of the coronary arteries. Our patient cohort
      represents the age distribution as described in literature and emphasizes that KD
      could affect persons of any age. The frequency of occurrence of the clinical
      symptoms differs from previous reports - in our study, we predominantly observed
      non-purulent conjunctivitis and exanthema. CONCLUSION: KD should always be
      considered as a differential diagnosis in a child with fever of unknown origin,
      as treatment can significantly decrease the frequency of coronary complications.

PMID- 27643391
TI  - Generation of gas-phase ions from charged clusters: an important ionization step
      causing suppression of matrix and analyte ions in matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.
AB  - RATIONALE: Ionization in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is a very complicated process. It has been reported that
      quaternary ammonium salts show extremely strong matrix and analyte suppression
      effects which cannot satisfactorily be explained by charge transfer reactions.
      Further investigation of the reasons causing these effects can be useful to
      improve our understanding of the MALDI process. METHODS: The dried-droplet and
      modified thin-layer methods were used as sample preparation methods. In the dried
      droplet method, analytes were co-crystallized with matrix, whereas in the
      modified thin-layer method analytes were deposited on the surface of matrix
      crystals. Model compounds, tetrabutylammonium iodide ([N(Bu)4 ]I), cesium iodide
      (CsI), trihexylamine (THA) and polyethylene glycol 600 (PEG 600), were selected
      as the test analytes given their ability to generate exclusively pre-formed ions,
      protonated ions and metal ion adducts respectively in MALDI. RESULTS: The strong
      matrix suppression effect (MSE) observed using the dried-droplet method might
      disappear using the modified thin-layer method, which suggests that the
      incorporation of analytes in matrix crystals contributes to the MSE. By
      depositing analytes on the matrix surface instead of incorporating in the matrix
      crystals, the competition for evaporation/ionization from charged matrix/analyte
      clusters could be weakened resulting in reduced MSE. Further supporting evidence
      for this inference was found by studying the analyte suppression effect using the
      same two sample deposition methods. CONCLUSIONS: By comparing differences between
      the mass spectra obtained via the two sample preparation methods, we present
      evidence suggesting that the generation of gas-phase ions from charged
      matrix/analyte clusters may induce significant suppression of matrix and analyte
      ions. The results suggest that the generation of gas-phase ions from charged
      matrix/analyte clusters is an important ionization step in MALDI-MS. Copyright
      (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27643390
TI  - Cockayne syndrome: a diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare disorder characterized by severe
      brain atrophy, white matter (WM) hypomyelination and basal ganglia
      calcifications. This study aimed to quantify atrophy and WM abnormalities using
      diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and volumetric analysis, to evaluate possible
      differences between CS subtypes and to determine whether DTI findings may
      correspond to a hypomyelinating disorder. METHODS: 14 patients with CS and 14
      controls underwent brain MRI including DTI and a volumetric three-dimensional T1
      weighted sequence. DTI analysis was made through regions of interest within the
      whole brain to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC) values and in the left centrum semiovale to obtain DTI
      eigenvalues. The Student's t-test was used to compare patients and controls, and
      CS subtypes. Given the small number of patients with CS, they were pooled into
      two groups: moderate (CS1/CS3) and severe (CS2/cerebro-oculo-facio-skeletal
      syndrome). RESULTS: Total brain volume in CS was reduced by 57%, predominantly in
      the infratentorial area (68%) (p < 0.001). Total brain volume reduction was
      greater in the severe group, but there was no difference in the degree of
      infratentorial atrophy in the two groups (p = 0.7). Mean FA values were lower,
      whereas ADC was higher in most of the WM in patients with CS (p < 0.05). ADC in
      the splenium of the corpus callosum and the posterior limb of the internal
      capsule and FA in the cerebral peduncles were significantly different between the
      two groups (p < 0.05). Mean ADC values corresponded to a hypomyelinating
      disorder. All DTI eigenvalues were higher in patients with CS, mainly for
      transverse diffusivity (+51%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: DTI and volumetric
      analysis provide quantitative information for the characterization of CS and may
      be particularly useful for evaluating therapeutic intervention. Advances in
      knowledge: DTI combined with volumetric analysis provides additional information
      useful for not only the characterization of CS and distinction of clinical
      subtypes but also monitoring of therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 27643392
TI  - Influence of fluoride on the bacterial composition of a dual-species biofilm
      composed of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus oralis.
AB  - Despite the widespread use of fluoride for the prevention of dental caries, few
      studies have demonstrated the effects of fluoride on the bacterial composition of
      dental biofilms. This study investigated whether fluoride affects the proportion
      of Streptococcus mutans and S. oralis in mono- and dual-species biofilm models,
      via microbiological, biochemical, and confocal fluorescence microscope studies.
      Fluoride did not affect the bacterial count and bio-volume of S. mutans and S.
      oralis in mono-species biofilms, except for the 24-h-old S. mutans biofilms.
      However, fluoride reduced the proportion and bio-volume of S. mutans but did not
      decrease those of S. oralis during both S. oralis and S. mutans dual-species
      biofilm formation, which may be related to the decrease in extracellular
      polysaccharide formation by fluoride. These results suggest that fluoride may
      prevent the shift in the microbial proportion to cariogenic bacteria in dental
      biofilms, subsequently inhibiting the cariogenic bacteria dominant biofilm
      formation.

PMID- 27643393
TI  - Encapsulated relapsed FLT3+AML (myeloid sarcoma) and Hurthle cell adenoma
      presenting in composite: Unlikely partners.

PMID- 27643394
TI  - Solvation Structure of Uracil in Ionic Liquids.
AB  - The local solvation environment of uracil dissolved in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3
      methylimidazolium acetate has been studied using neutron diffraction techniques.
      At solvent:solute (ionic liquid:uracil) ratios of 3:1 and 2:1, little
      perturbation of the ion-ion correlations compared to those of the neat ionic
      liquid are observed. We find that solvation of the uracil is driven predominantly
      by the acetate anion of the solvent. While short distance correlations exist
      between uracil and the imidazolium cation, the geometry of these contacts suggest
      that they cannot be considered as hydrogen bonds, in contrast to other studies by
      Araujo et al. (J. M. Araujo, A. B. Pereiro, J. N. Canongia-Lopes, L. P. Rebelo,
      I. M. Marrucho, J. Phys. Chem. B 2013, 117, 4109-4120). Nevertheless, this
      combination of interactions of the solute with both the cation and anion
      components of the solvents helps explain the high solubility of the nucleobase in
      this media. In addition, favourable uracil-uracil contacts are observed, of
      similar magnitude to those between cation and uracil, and are also likely to aid
      dissolution.

PMID- 27643395
TI  - The epidemiology and outcomes of invasive Candida infections among organ
      transplant recipients in the United States: results of the Transplant-Associated
      Infection Surveillance Network (TRANSNET).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Invasive candidiasis (IC) is a common cause of mortality in solid
      organ transplant recipients (OTRs), but knowledge of epidemiology in this
      population is limited. METHOD: The present analysis describes data from 15 US
      centers that prospectively identified IC from nearly 17 000 OTRs. Analyses were
      undertaken to determine predictors of infection and mortality. RESULTS: A total
      of 639 cases of IC were identified. The most common species was Candida albicans
      (46.3%), followed by Candida glabrata (24.4%) and Candida parapsilosis (8.1%). In
      68 cases >1 species was identified. The most common infection site was
      bloodstream (44%), followed by intra-abdominal (14%). The most frequently
      affected allograft groups were liver (41.1%) and kidney (35.3%). All-cause
      mortality at 90 days was 26.5% for all species and was highest for Candida
      tropicalis (44%) and C. parapsilosis (35.2%). Non-white race and female gender
      were more commonly associated with non-albicans species. A high rate of
      breakthrough IC was seen in patients receiving antifungal prophylaxis (39%).
      Factors associated with mortality include organ dysfunction, lung transplant, and
      treatment with a polyene antifungal. The only modifiable factor identified was
      choice of antifungal drug class based upon infecting Candida species. CONCLUSION:
      These data highlight the common and distinct features of IC in OTRs.

PMID- 27643396
TI  - N-Nitrosarcosine: An Economic Precursor for the Synthesis of New Energetic
      Materials.
AB  - New energetic compounds have been synthesized starting from the readily available
      N-(cyanomethyl)-N-methylamine. From this, N-nitrosarcosine was prepared in few
      steps, which serves as a starting material for the synthesis of oxygen-rich
      compounds. The compounds were thoroughly characterized including multinuclear NMR
      and vibrational spectroscopy and also molecular structures by single X-ray
      diffraction were obtained. Their energetic properties were determined including
      the sensitivities towards impact and friction, their heat of formations were
      calculated and the detonation and combustion parameters were predicted using
      EXPLO5 V6.02.

PMID- 27643397
TI  - Renal angiomyolipoma in Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome: A case study supporting overlap
      with tuberous sclerosis complex.
AB  - Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome (BHD) is an autosomal dominant disease characterised by
      benign cutaneous lesions, pulmonary cysts, and an increased risk of renal tumors.
      This rare condition is due to a mutation in the folliculin (FLCN) gene on
      chromosome 17q11.2, which has a role in the mechanistic/mammalian target of
      rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway of tumorigenesis. This case illustrates a
      patient with BHD and a renal angiomyolipoma, a neoplastic lesion not usually
      associated with BHD but common in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). There is both
      clinical and molecular overlap between BHD and TSC, which may arise from
      similarities in function of the TSC and FLCN proteins in the mTOR pathway; this
      case further demonstrates this potential correlation. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27643398
TI  - Label-free detection of fibrillar collagen deposition associated with vascular
      elements in glioblastoma multiforme by using multiphoton microscopy.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM-WHO grade IV) is the most common and the most
      aggressive form of brain tumors in adults with the median survival of 10-12
      months. The diagnostic detection of extracellular matrix (ECM) component in the
      tumour microenvironment is of prognostic value. In this paper, the fibrillar
      collagen deposition associated with vascular elements in GBM were investigated in
      the fresh specimens and unstained histological slices by using multiphoton
      microscopy (MPM) based on two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and second
      harmonic generation (SHG). Our study revealed the existence of fibrillar collagen
      deposition in the adventitia of remodelled large blood vessels and in glomeruloid
      vascular structures in GBM. The degree of fibrillar collagen deposition can be
      quantitatively evaluated by measuring the adventitial thickness of blood vessels
      or calculating the ratio of SHG pixel to the whole pixel of glomeruloid vascular
      structure in MPM images. These results indicated that MPM can not only be
      employed to perform a retrospective study in unstained histological slices but
      also has the potential to apply for in vivo brain imaging to understand
      correlations between malignancy of gliomas and fibrillar collagen deposition.

PMID- 27643399
TI  - Effects of testosterone on the transgender male voice.
AB  - There is sparse prospective data on the effects of testosterone therapy on the
      voices of transgender men (also referred to as trans men or female-to-male
      transsexuals). Our aim was to investigate the timing and degree of voice
      deepening over 12 months among an ethnically diverse sample of transgender men.
      This was a prospective 12-month study at an academic outpatient endocrinology
      clinic and speech and voice center. The participants were seven transgender men
      naive to testosterone therapy. All patients received two voice assessments at
      baseline and one assessment at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months while on intramuscular
      testosterone esters. Serum testosterone and estradiol concentrations were
      measured at baseline and every 3 months. All seven transgender men reached a
      cisgender male mean fundamental frequency (MF0) within 6 months of testosterone
      therapy and four continued to experience a decrease after 6 months. The mean
      decrease in MF0 after 12 months of testosterone therapy was 6.4 semitones (49
      Hz). Several patterns emerged regarding the extent and timing. For example, some
      participants showed no decrease in MF0 within the first 3 months of testosterone
      therapy, whereas others showed their greatest decrease in MF0. We concluded that
      transgender men who start testosterone therapy display different patterns of
      voice lowering. Clinicians should counsel transgender men that they may or may
      not experience voice lowering within the first 3 months of testosterone therapy
      and that the majority of voice deepening will occur within 6-9 months.

PMID- 27643400
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of midtrimester antenatal ultrasound for multicystic
      dysplastic kidneys.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish the diagnostic accuracy of obstetric ultrasound at a
      tertiary fetal medicine center in the prenatal detection of unilateral and
      bilateral multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) in fetuses in which this condition
      was suspected, and to undertake a systematic review of the relevant literature.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study of all cases referred to a
      regional tertiary fetal medicine unit due to suspicion of either unilateral or
      bilateral MCDK between 1997 and 2015. Diagnosis was confirmed by postnatal
      ultrasound reports or postmortem examination. The accuracy of prenatal ultrasound
      in the diagnosis of MCDK was calculated. Using a systematic search strategy we
      also performed a review of the literature regarding the prenatal diagnosis and
      diagnostic accuracy of MCDK. RESULTS: We included 144 women in our analysis; 37
      (25.7%) opted for pregnancy termination (TOP) (due to unilateral MCDK with
      additional abnormalities, suspected bilateral MCDK or severe obstructive
      uropathy). Complete pre- and postnatal data were available in 126 pregnancies,
      including 104 livebirths, 19 TOPs with postmortem findings available and three
      intrauterine fetal deaths. Two infants died shortly after birth (due to known
      bilateral MCDK or known cranial vault defect). The overall number of cases of
      MCDK confirmed postnatally was 100; of these, 98 were diagnosed prenatally (true
      positive), while two were thought to be hydronephrosis prenatally (false
      negative) and the diagnosis of MCDK was made after birth. In nine cases, the
      initial antenatal diagnosis of suspected MCDK was revised, either later in
      pregnancy (n = 2) or postnatally (n = 7) (false positive). Overall, the
      diagnostic accuracy in our population for the use of antenatal ultrasound to
      detect MCDK was 91.3%, while that reported in the existing literature was found
      to range from 53.3% to 100%. MCDK was isolated in the majority (71%) of cases,
      while in 29% of cases it was found to be associated with other renal and
      extrarenal fetal abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Antenatal ultrasound had a
      diagnostic accuracy of about 91% in the prediction of postnatal MCDK and can
      therefore be used to guide antenatal counseling. However, prenatal or postnatal
      revision of the diagnosis occurred in about 7% of cases and parents should be
      counseled appropriately. Copyright (c) 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons
      Ltd.

PMID- 27643401
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of anorexia nervosa in QALYs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The costs of treating eating disorders are often considered high.
      AIMS: The objective was to perform a cost-utility analysis to estimate the cost
      effectiveness of treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN). METHODS: Thirty-nine
      patients entering treatment of AN completed the 15D health-related quality-of
      life (HRQoL) questionnaire before and 2 years after the start of treatment.
      Direct hospital costs were obtained. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained
      were calculated and cost-utility assessed. RESULTS: Patients' baseline HRQoL was
      severely impaired. During follow-up, mean HRQoL improved statistically
      significantly. The cost per QALY gained was ?5296 (best-case scenario) or ?64 440
      (base-case scenario) (?11 559 or ?71 600 discounted 3%) depending on the
      assumptions used in the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The cost per QALY was in the same
      range as that of many other interventions provided in specialized medical care
      and within the limits usually considered acceptable, indicating that the
      treatment of AN is cost-effective.

PMID- 27643402
TI  - Heterogeneous Sensitization of Metal-Organic Framework Driven Metal@Metal Oxide
      Complex Catalysts on an Oxide Nanofiber Scaffold Toward Superior Gas Sensors.
AB  - We report on the heterogeneous sensitization of metal-organic framework (MOF)
      driven metal-embedded metal oxide (M@MO) complex catalysts onto semiconductor
      metal oxide (SMO) nanofibers (NFs) via electrospinning for markedly enhanced
      chemical gas sensing. ZIF-8-derived Pd-loaded ZnO nanocubes (Pd@ZnO) were
      sensitized on both the interior and the exterior of WO3 NFs, resulting in the
      formation of multiheterojunction Pd-ZnO and ZnO-WO3 interfaces. The Pd@ZnO loaded
      WO3 NFs were found to exhibit unparalleled toluene sensitivity (Rair/Rgas = 4.37
      to 100 ppb), fast gas response speed (~20 s) and superior cross-selectivity
      against other interfering gases. These results demonstrate that MOF-derived M@MO
      complex catalysts can be functionalized within an electrospun nanofiber scaffold,
      thereby creating multiheterojunctions, essential for improving catalytic sensor
      sensitization.

PMID- 27643403
TI  - The impact of total and partial inclusion or exclusion of active and inactive
      time invariant covariates in growth mixture models.
AB  - This article evaluates the impact of partial or total covariate inclusion or
      exclusion on the class enumeration performance of growth mixture models (GMMs).
      Study 1 examines the effect of including an inactive covariate when the
      population model is specified without covariates. Study 2 examines the case in
      which the population model is specified with 2 covariates influencing only the
      class membership. Study 3 examines a population model including 2 covariates
      influencing the class membership and the growth factors. In all studies, we
      contrast the accuracy of various indicators to correctly identify the number of
      latent classes as a function of different design conditions (sample size, mixing
      ratio, invariance or noninvariance of the variance-covariance matrix, class
      separation, and correlations between the covariates in Studies 2 and 3) and
      covariate specification (exclusion, partial or total inclusion as influencing
      class membership, partial or total inclusion as influencing class membership, and
      the growth factors in a class-invariant or class-varying manner). The accuracy of
      the indicators shows important variation across studies, indicators, design
      conditions, and specification of the covariates effects. However, the results
      suggest that the GMM class enumeration process should be conducted without
      covariates, and should rely mostly on the Bayesian information criterion (BIC)
      and consistent Akaike information criterion (CAIC) as the most reliable
      indicators under conditions of high class separation (as indicated by higher
      entropy), versus the sample size adjusted BIC or CAIC (SBIC, SCAIC) and
      bootstrapped likelihood ratio test (BLRT) under conditions of low class
      separation (indicated by lower entropy). (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643405
TI  - The short-lived benefits of variety seeking among the chronically indecisive.
AB  - This research investigated the influence of trait indecisiveness on variety
      seeking behavior. Study 1 revealed that chronic indecisiveness was associated
      with increased variety-seeking behavior. Study 2A showed that the incidence of
      not choosing to make a choice was much lower among chronically indecisive people
      when a variety-pack option was available, and Study 2B showed that chronically
      indecisive people chose the variety pack even if it included their least
      preferred option. Study 3 demonstrated that chronically indecisive people
      contended with the negative emotion they experienced during choice making by
      choosing a mix of options. Study 4 revealed that the emotional benefits of
      variety seeking among the chronically indecisive were short-lived. Chronically
      indecisive people felt more satisfied and less anxious after choosing a mix of
      options. However, having chosen a mix, chronically indecisive people then faced
      more choices, specifically the choices of which specific option to consume on
      each specific occasion. In this way, variety seeking is a maladaptive long-term
      emotional coping strategy for the chronically indecisive. The results of this
      research have important theoretical implications for understanding the causes of
      variety-seeking behavior as well as practical implications for increasing (a) the
      incidence of choice making among chronically indecisive people and (b)
      satisfaction with the choices they do make. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643406
TI  - Mechanism of the Palladium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Munchnones: The Role of Ligands
      in N-Acyl Iminium Salt Carbonylation.
AB  - The palladium-catalyzed carbonylative coupling of imines, acid chlorides, and
      dipolarophiles can provide efficient routes to prepare nitrogen-containing
      heterocycles. One challenge in developing this reaction, and in the creation of
      more active catalyst systems, is the lack of data on how this complex
      transformation proceeds. To address this, we report here the results of our
      mechanistic studies on this system, and in particular the formation of mesoionic
      munchnones. This includes the synthesis of key catalytic intermediates, model
      reactions, and kinetic studies that support the role of these compounds in
      catalysis. Together, these studies provide a clear picture of the impact of
      catalyst structure, ligands, and palladium nanoparticles on facilitating the
      carbonylation of in situ generated iminium salts, and suggest an avenue for the
      creation of more active catalyst systems.

PMID- 27643404
TI  - Alcohol consumption and prostate cancer incidence and progression: A Mendelian
      randomisation study.
AB  - Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in developed countries, and is a
      target for risk reduction strategies. The effects of alcohol consumption on
      prostate cancer incidence and survival remain unclear, potentially due to
      methodological limitations of observational studies. In this study, we
      investigated the associations of genetic variants in alcohol-metabolising genes
      with prostate cancer incidence and survival. We analysed data from 23,868 men
      with prostate cancer and 23,051 controls from 25 studies within the international
      PRACTICAL Consortium. Study-specific associations of 68 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in 8 alcohol-metabolising genes (Alcohol Dehydrogenases
      (ADHs) and Aldehyde Dehydrogenases (ALDHs)) with prostate cancer diagnosis and
      prostate cancer-specific mortality, by grade, were assessed using logistic and
      Cox regression models, respectively. The data across the 25 studies were meta
      analysed using fixed-effect and random-effects models. We found little evidence
      that variants in alcohol metabolising genes were associated with prostate cancer
      diagnosis. Four variants in two genes exceeded the multiple testing threshold for
      associations with prostate cancer mortality in fixed-effect meta-analyses. SNPs
      within ALDH1A2 associated with prostate cancer mortality were rs1441817 (fixed
      effects hazard ratio, HRfixed  = 0.78; 95% confidence interval (95%CI):0.66,0.91;
      p values = 0.002); rs12910509, HRfixed  = 0.76; 95%CI:0.64,0.91; p values =
      0.003); and rs8041922 (HRfixed  = 0.76; 95%CI:0.64,0.91; p values = 0.002). These
      SNPs were in linkage disequilibrium with each other. In ALDH1B1, rs10973794
      (HRfixed  = 1.43; 95%CI:1.14,1.79; p values = 0.002) was associated with prostate
      cancer mortality in men with low-grade prostate cancer. These results suggest
      that alcohol consumption is unlikely to affect prostate cancer incidence, but it
      may influence disease progression.

PMID- 27643407
TI  - Correction to "Construction and Structure Determination of a Three-dimensional
      DNA Crystal".

PMID- 27643408
TI  - Engineering an Obligate Photoautotrophic Cyanobacterium to Utilize Glycerol for
      Growth and Chemical Production.
AB  - Cyanobacteria have attracted much attention as a means to directly recycle carbon
      dioxide into valuable chemicals that are currently produced from petroleum.
      However, the titers and productivities achieved are still far below the level
      required in industry. To make a more industrially applicable production scheme,
      glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel production, can be used as an additional
      carbon source for photomixotrophic chemical production. Glycerol is an ideal
      candidate due to its availability and low cost. In this study, we found that a
      heterologous glycerol respiratory pathway enabled Synechococcus elongatus PCC
      7942 to utilize extracellular glycerol. The engineered strain produced 761 mg/L
      of 2,3-butanediol in 48 h with a 290% increase over the control strain under
      continuous light conditions. Glycerol supplementation also allowed for continuous
      cell growth and 2,3-butanediol production in diurnal light conditions. These
      results highlight the potential of glycerol as an additional carbon source for
      photomixotrophic chemical production in cyanobacteria.

PMID- 27643409
TI  - Evaluating the Role of Drug Metabolism and Reactive Intermediates in Trazodone
      Induced Cytotoxicity toward Freshly-Isolated Rat Hepatocytes.
AB  - Background: Trazodone is an antidepressant agent widely administered for the
      treatment of depressive disorders. On the other hand, several cases of hepatic
      injury have been reported after Trazodone administration. Although the precise
      mechanism(s) of trazodone-induced liver injury is not known, some investigations
      proposed the role of reactive intermediates in this complication. This study was
      designed to investigate the role of reactive metabolites in hepatocytes injury
      induced by trazodone. Methods: Isolated rat hepatocytes were prepared by the
      method of collagenase enzyme perfusion via the portal vein. Cells were treated
      with trazodone, its cytotoxic metabolite, and different enzyme inhibitors and
      cytoprotective agents. Results: It was found that trazodone was toxic towards
      hepatocytes and caused 50% cell death after 2 h of incubation at a dose of 450
      uM. The trazodone postulated reactive metabolite; m-chlorophenyl piperazine (m
      CPP) was less toxic and caused 50% cell death at a dose of 750 uM at a similar
      time period. Cellular glutathione (GSH) depletion and lipid peroxidation were
      detected when hepatocytes were treated with trazodone and/or m-CPP. Depleting
      hepatocytes GSH beforehand, increased cytotoxicity of both trazodone and m-CPP.
      Troleandomycin as the CYP3A4 inhibitor prevented cytotoxicity of trazodone but
      slightly affected m-CPP-induced cell injury. Inhibition of CYP2D6 by quinidine
      and cimetidine increased the cytotoxicity of both trazodone and m-CPP.
      Antioxidants and ATP suppliers slightly prevented cytotoxicity of trazodone and m
      CPP. Conclusion: As inhibitors of CYP3A4 and 2D6 affected trazodone cytotoxicity,
      it is suggested that trazodone -induced cytotoxicity, at least in part, is
      mediated by its reactive metabolites.

PMID- 27643410
TI  - Effect of Antihypertensive Drugs on Uric Acid Metabolism in Patients with
      Hypertension: Cross-Sectional Cohort Study.
AB  - Background: Hypertension is a common complication in patients with gout and/or
      hyperuricemia. Besides, hyperuricemia is a risk factor of gout as well as
      ischemic heart disease in hypertensive patients. Moreover, the risk of gout is
      modified by antihypertensive drugs. However, it remains unclear how
      antihypertensive agents affect uric acid metabolism. Purpose: In the present
      study, we investigated the uric acid metabolism in treated hypertensive patients
      to find out whether any of them would influence serum levels of uric acid.
      Patients and methods: 751 hypertensive patients (313 men and 438 women) under
      antihypertensive treatment were selected. Blood pressure (BP), serum uric acid
      (SUA) and serum creatinine (Scr) were measured and evaluated statistically.
      Results: In patients treated with diuretics, beta-blockers and/or alpha-1
      blockers SUA levels were significantly higher than in patients who were not
      taking these drugs. Besides, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in
      patients treated with diuretics, beta-blockers and/or alpha-1 blockers was
      negatively correlated with SUA level. There were gender differences in the
      effects of beta-blockers and alpha-1 blockers. Multiple regression analysis
      indicated that both diuretics and beta-blockers significantly contributed to
      hyperuricemia in patients with medication for hypertension. Conclusion:
      Diuretics, beta-blockers and alpha-1 blockers reduced glomerular filtration rate
      and raised SUA levels. Calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors and angiotensin
      receptor blockers, including losartan, did not increase SUA levels.

PMID- 27643411
TI  - Atomic Layer Deposition for Coating of High Aspect Ratio TiO2 Nanotube Layers.
AB  - We present an optimized approach for the deposition of Al2O3 (as a model
      secondary material) coating into high aspect ratio (~180) anodic TiO2 nanotube
      layers using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. In order to study the
      influence of the diffusion of the Al2O3 precursors on the resulting coating
      thickness, ALD processes with different exposure times (i.e., 0.5, 2, 5, and 10
      s) of the trimethylaluminum (TMA) precursor were performed. Uniform coating of
      the nanotube interiors was achieved with longer exposure times (5 and 10 s), as
      verified by detailed scanning electron microscopy analysis. Quartz crystal
      microbalance measurements were used to monitor the deposition process and its
      particular features due to the tube diameter gradient. Finally, theoretical
      calculations were performed to calculate the minimum precursor exposure time to
      attain uniform coating. Theoretical values on the diffusion regime matched with
      the experimental results and helped to obtain valuable information for further
      optimization of ALD coating processes. The presented approach provides a
      straightforward solution toward the development of many novel devices, based on a
      high surface area interface between TiO2 nanotubes and a secondary material (such
      as Al2O3).

PMID- 27643412
TI  - Quantum Chemical Analysis of the CO-HNN+ Proton-Bound Complex.
AB  - Proton-bound complexes produce exceptionally bright vibrational modes for
      stretches involving the hydrogen atom. Binding a proton between various
      arrangements of N2 and carbon monoxide molecules is known to produce such
      behavior, and there are four distinct structures involving N2, CO, and a proton.
      The problem arises in that all four have the same mass and are, consequently,
      extremely difficult, if not impossible, to resolve experimentally. Fortunately,
      quantum chemical predictions have produced accurate descriptions of this bright
      mode and other spectral features for OCHCO+, NNHNN+, and NN-HCO+. The last of
      this family to be analyzed is CO-HNN+, which is done here. Utilizing high-level
      coupled cluster computations and quartic force fields, the bright vibrational
      mode of CO-HNN+ is shown to shift to the red, and the C-O bond is destabilized in
      this arrangement as opposed to the lower-energy NN-HCO+ isomer studied
      previously. Furthermore, the 1.87 D center-of-mass dipole moment, spectroscopic
      constants, and other anharmonic fundamental frequencies and intensities are
      produced for CO-HNN+ to assist in definitive experimental and even astrochemical
      classification of this and the other three related mass-57 proton-bound
      complexes.

PMID- 27643413
TI  - Reply: Adipose Stem Cells Isolated from Excised Burned Tissue: Is There Potential
      for Clinical Use?

PMID- 27643414
TI  - Office-Based Postaxial Polydactyly Excision in Neonates, Infants, and Children.

PMID- 27643415
TI  - Correction of Pectus Excavatum by Custom-Made Silicone Implants: Contribution of
      Computer-Aided Design Reconstruction. A 20-Year Experience and 401 Cases.

PMID- 27643416
TI  - Applying to Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Programs: Trends in the Past 5
      Years of the Match.

PMID- 27643418
TI  - Contributions of Combined Techniques in the Personalized Treatment of Pectus
      Excavatum.

PMID- 27643423
TI  - Which Factors Are Associated with Open Reduction of Adult Mandibular Condylar
      Injuries?

PMID- 27643424
TI  - Custom-Made Silicone Implants for Pectus Excavatum Correction: The End of
      Remodeling Thoracic Surgery? (Reply to Herlin et al.).

PMID- 27643425
TI  - Adipose Stem Cells Isolated from Excised Burned Tissue: Is There Potential for
      Clinical Use?

PMID- 27643427
TI  - Ultrafine Mn3O4 Nanowires/Three-Dimensional Graphene/Single-Walled Carbon
      Nanotube Composites: Superior Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Enhanced
      Mg/Air Batteries.
AB  - The exploration of highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction
      to improve sluggish kinetics still remains a great challenge for advanced energy
      conversion and storage in metal/air batteries. In this work, ultrafine Mn3O4
      nanowires/three-dimensional graphene/single-walled carbon nanotube catalysts with
      an electron transfer number of 3.95 (at 0.60 V vs Ag/AgCl) and kinetic current
      density of 21.7-28.8 mA cm-2 were developed via a microwave-irradiation-assisted
      hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant procedure to greatly
      enhance the overall catalytic performance in Mg/air batteries. To match the
      electrochemical activity of the cathode catalysts, a large-scale Mg anode
      prepared with micropersimmon-like particles via a mechanical disintegrator and
      Mg(NO3)2-NaNO2-based electrolyte containing 1.0 wt %
      trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride ionic liquid were applied. Combining the
      ultrafine Mn3O4 nanowires/three-dimensional graphene/single-walled carbon
      nanotube as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction and an
      Mg micro-/nanoscale anode in the novel electrolyte, the advanced Mg/air batteries
      demonstrated a high cell open circuit voltage (1.49 V), a high plateau voltage
      (1.34 V), and a long discharge time (4177 min) at 0.2 mA cm-1, showing a high
      energy density. Therefore, it is believed that this device configuration has
      great potential for application in new energy storage technologies.

PMID- 27643428
TI  - Forced versus Spontaneous Spreading of Liquids.
AB  - Two sets of experiments are performed, one for the free spreading of a liquid
      drop on a glass substrate and the other for the forced motion of a glass plate
      through a gas-liquid interface. The measured macroscopic advancing contact angle,
      thetaA, versus the contact line speed, U, differ markedly between the two
      configurations. The hydrodynamic theory (HDT) and the molecular kinetic theory
      (MKT) are shown to apply separately to the two systems. This distinction has not
      been previously noted. Rules of thumb are given that for an experimentalist
      involve a priori knowledge of the expected behavior.

PMID- 27643429
TI  - Dynamic GABAergic afferent modulation of AgRP neurons.
AB  - Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus
      (ARC) promote homeostatic feeding at times of caloric insufficiency, yet they are
      rapidly suppressed by food-related sensory cues before ingestion. Here we
      identify a highly selective inhibitory afferent to AgRP neurons that serves as a
      neural determinant of this rapid modulation. Specifically, GABAergic projections
      arising from the ventral compartment of the dorsomedial nucleus of the
      hypothalamus (vDMH) contribute to the preconsummatory modulation of ARCAgRP
      neurons. In a manner reciprocal to ARCAgRP neurons, ARC-projecting leptin
      receptor-expressing GABAergic vDMH neurons exhibit rapid activation upon
      availability of food that additionally reflects the relative value of the food.
      Thus, leptin receptor-expressing GABAergic vDMH neurons form part of the sensory
      network that relays real-time information about the nature and availability of
      food to dynamically modulate ARCAgRP neuron activity and feeding behavior.

PMID- 27643431
TI  - Mechanosensing is critical for axon growth in the developing brain.
AB  - During nervous system development, neurons extend axons along well-defined
      pathways. The current understanding of axon pathfinding is based mainly on
      chemical signaling. However, growing neurons interact not only chemically but
      also mechanically with their environment. Here we identify mechanical signals as
      important regulators of axon pathfinding. In vitro, substrate stiffness
      determined growth patterns of Xenopus retinal ganglion cell axons. In vivo atomic
      force microscopy revealed a noticeable pattern of stiffness gradients in the
      embryonic brain. Retinal ganglion cell axons grew toward softer tissue, which was
      reproduced in vitro in the absence of chemical gradients. To test the importance
      of mechanical signals for axon growth in vivo, we altered brain stiffness,
      blocked mechanotransduction pharmacologically and knocked down the
      mechanosensitive ion channel piezo1. All treatments resulted in aberrant axonal
      growth and pathfinding errors, suggesting that local tissue stiffness, read out
      by mechanosensitive ion channels, is critically involved in instructing neuronal
      growth in vivo.

PMID- 27643430
TI  - Multimodal population brain imaging in the UK Biobank prospective epidemiological
      study.
AB  - Medical imaging has enormous potential for early disease prediction, but is
      impeded by the difficulty and expense of acquiring data sets before symptom
      onset. UK Biobank aims to address this problem directly by acquiring high
      quality, consistently acquired imaging data from 100,000 predominantly healthy
      participants, with health outcomes being tracked over the coming decades. The
      brain imaging includes structural, diffusion and functional modalities. Along
      with body and cardiac imaging, genetics, lifestyle measures, biological
      phenotyping and health records, this imaging is expected to enable discovery of
      imaging markers of a broad range of diseases at their earliest stages, as well as
      provide unique insight into disease mechanisms. We describe UK Biobank brain
      imaging and present results derived from the first 5,000 participants' data
      release. Although this covers just 5% of the ultimate cohort, it has already
      yielded a rich range of associations between brain imaging and other measures
      collected by UK Biobank.

PMID- 27643432
TI  - Neural substrate of dynamic Bayesian inference in the cerebral cortex.
AB  - Dynamic Bayesian inference allows a system to infer the environmental state under
      conditions of limited sensory observation. Using a goal-reaching task, we found
      that posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and adjacent posteromedial cortex (PM)
      implemented the two fundamental features of dynamic Bayesian inference:
      prediction of hidden states using an internal state transition model and updating
      the prediction with new sensory evidence. We optically imaged the activity of
      neurons in mouse PPC and PM layers 2, 3 and 5 in an acoustic virtual-reality
      system. As mice approached a reward site, anticipatory licking increased even
      when sound cues were intermittently presented; this was disturbed by PPC
      silencing. Probabilistic population decoding revealed that neurons in PPC and PM
      represented goal distances during sound omission (prediction), particularly in
      PPC layers 3 and 5, and prediction improved with the observation of cue sounds
      (updating). Our results illustrate how cerebral cortex realizes mental simulation
      using an action-dependent dynamic model.

PMID- 27643433
TI  - Telomerase reverse transcriptase promotes cancer cell proliferation by augmenting
      tRNA expression.
AB  - Transcriptional reactivation of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)
      reconstitutes telomerase activity in the majority of human cancers. Here, we
      found that ectopic TERT expression increases cell proliferation, while acute
      reductions in TERT levels lead to a dramatic loss of proliferation without any
      change in telomere length, suggesting that the effects of TERT could be telomere
      independent. We observed that TERT determines the growth rate of cancer cells by
      directly regulating global protein synthesis independently of its catalytic
      activity. Genome-wide TERT binding across 5 cancer cell lines and 2 embryonic
      stem cell lines revealed that endogenous TERT, driven by mutant promoters or
      oncogenes, directly associates with the RNA polymerase III (pol III) subunit
      RPC32 and enhances its recruitment to chromatin, resulting in increased RNA pol
      III occupancy and tRNA expression in cancers. TERT-deficient mice displayed
      marked delays in polyomavirus middle T oncogene-induced (PyMT-induced) mammary
      tumorigenesis, increased survival, and reductions in tRNA levels. Ectopic
      expression of either RPC32 or TERT restored tRNA levels and proliferation defects
      in TERT-depleted cells. Finally, we determined that levels of TERT and tRNA
      correlated in breast and liver cancer samples. Together, these data suggest the
      existence of a unifying mechanism by which TERT enhances translation in cells to
      regulate cancer cell proliferation.

PMID- 27643435
TI  - Breaking down brain barrier breaches in cerebral malaria.
AB  - Recent findings have linked brain swelling to death in cerebral malaria (CM).
      These observations have prompted a number of investigations into the mechanisms
      of this pathology with the goal of identifying potential therapeutic targets. In
      this issue of the JCI, Gallego-Delgado and colleagues present evidence that
      implicates angiotensin receptors and the relocation of beta-catenin to the
      endothelial cell nucleus in CM. This study provides a renewed focus on infected
      erythrocyte debris as the cause of endothelial damage and challenges previous
      work implicating direct effects of infected erythrocyte sequestration in the
      brain as the major driver of disease. While this work provides potential
      therapeutic avenues for CM, it leaves a number of questions unanswered.

PMID- 27643434
TI  - Axial tubule junctions control rapid calcium signaling in atria.
AB  - The canonical atrial myocyte (AM) is characterized by sparse transverse tubule
      (TT) invaginations and slow intracellular Ca2+ propagation but exhibits rapid
      contractile activation that is susceptible to loss of function during
      hypertrophic remodeling. Here, we have identified a membrane structure and Ca2+
      signaling complex that may enhance the speed of atrial contraction independently
      of phospholamban regulation. This axial couplon was observed in human and mouse
      atria and is composed of voluminous axial tubules (ATs) with extensive junctions
      to the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) that include ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2)
      clusters. In mouse AM, AT structures triggered Ca2+ release from the SR
      approximately 2 times faster at the AM center than at the surface. Rapid Ca2+
      release correlated with colocalization of highly phosphorylated RyR2 clusters at
      AT-SR junctions and earlier, more rapid shortening of central sarcomeres. In
      contrast, mice expressing phosphorylation-incompetent RyR2 displayed depressed AM
      sarcomere shortening and reduced in vivo atrial contractile function. Moreover,
      left atrial hypertrophy led to AT proliferation, with a marked increase in the
      highly phosphorylated RyR2-pS2808 cluster fraction, thereby maintaining cytosolic
      Ca2+ signaling despite decreases in RyR2 cluster density and RyR2 protein
      expression. AT couplon "super-hubs" thus underlie faster excitation-contraction
      coupling in health as well as hypertrophic compensatory adaptation and represent
      a structural and metabolic mechanism that may contribute to contractile
      dysfunction and arrhythmias.

PMID- 27643436
TI  - WASP, Tregs, and food allergies - rare disease provides insight into a common
      problem.
AB  - Dysregulation of the type 2 immune system presents with various manifestations,
      including allergic inflammation, and has emerged as an alarming public health
      issue. The pathological mechanisms that underlie T helper type 2 cell-driven (Th2
      driven) allergic diseases remain unclear. In particular, it is not completely
      understood how type 2 immunity is restricted in inflammatory responses. In this
      issue of the JCI, Lexmond et al. use Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome as a model disease
      and establish that the Wiskott-Aldrich gene product (WASP) serves an essential
      role in T regulatory cells to contain Th2 effector cell differentiation and
      prevent allergic sensitization to dietary antigens.

PMID- 27643437
TI  - Targeting methyltransferase PRMT5 eliminates leukemia stem cells in chronic
      myelogenous leukemia.
AB  - Imatinib-insensitive leukemia stem cells (LSCs) are believed to be responsible
      for resistance to BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors and relapse of chronic
      myelogenous leukemia (CML). Identifying therapeutic targets to eradicate CML LSCs
      may be a strategy to cure CML. In the present study, we discovered a positive
      feedback loop between BCR-ABL and protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) in
      CML cells. Overexpression of PRMT5 was observed in human CML LSCs. Silencing
      PRMT5 with shRNA or blocking PRMT5 methyltransferase activity with the small
      molecule inhibitor PJ-68 reduced survival, serial replating capacity, and long
      term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs) in LSCs from CML patients. Further, PRMT5
      knockdown or PJ-68 treatment dramatically prolonged survival in a murine model of
      retroviral BCR-ABL-driven CML and impaired the in vivo self-renewal capacity of
      transplanted CML LSCs. PJ-68 also inhibited long-term engraftment of human CML
      CD34+ cells in immunodeficient mice. Moreover, inhibition of PRMT5 abrogated the
      Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in CML CD34+ cells by depleting dishevelled homolog 3
      (DVL3). This study suggests that epigenetic methylation modification on histone
      protein arginine residues is a regulatory mechanism to control self-renewal of
      LSCs and indicates that PRMT5 may represent a potential therapeutic target
      against LSCs.

PMID- 27643438
TI  - FOXP3+ Tregs require WASP to restrain Th2-mediated food allergy.
AB  - In addition to the infectious consequences of immunodeficiency, patients with
      Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) often suffer from poorly understood exaggerated
      immune responses that result in autoimmunity and elevated levels of serum IgE.
      Here, we have shown that WAS patients and mice deficient in WAS protein (WASP)
      frequently develop IgE-mediated reactions to common food allergens. WASP
      deficient animals displayed an adjuvant-free IgE-sensitization to chow antigens
      that was most pronounced for wheat and soy and occurred under specific pathogen
      free as well as germ-free housing conditions. Conditional deletion of Was in
      FOXP3+ Tregs resulted in more severe Th2-type intestinal inflammation than that
      observed in mice with global WASP deficiency, indicating that allergic responses
      to food allergens are dependent upon loss of WASP expression in this immune
      compartment. While WASP-deficient Tregs efficiently contained Th1- and Th17-type
      effector differentiation in vivo, they failed to restrain Th2 effector responses
      that drive allergic intestinal inflammation. Loss of WASP was phenotypically
      associated with increased GATA3 expression in effector memory FOXP3+ Tregs, but
      not in naive-like FOXP3+ Tregs, an effect that occurred independently of
      increased IL-4 signaling. Our results reveal a Treg-specific role for WASP that
      is required for prevention of Th2 effector cell differentiation and allergic
      sensitization to dietary antigens.

PMID- 27643439
TI  - Angiotensin receptors and beta-catenin regulate brain endothelial integrity in
      malaria.
AB  - Cerebral malaria is characterized by cytoadhesion of Plasmodium falciparum
      infected red blood cells (Pf-iRBCs) to endothelial cells in the brain, disruption
      of the blood-brain barrier, and cerebral microhemorrhages. No available
      antimalarial drugs specifically target the endothelial disruptions underlying
      this complication, which is responsible for the majority of malaria-associated
      deaths. Here, we have demonstrated that ruptured Pf-iRBCs induce activation of
      beta-catenin, leading to disruption of inter-endothelial cell junctions in human
      brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). Inhibition of beta-catenin
      induced TCF/LEF transcription in the nucleus of HBMECs prevented the disruption
      of endothelial junctions, confirming that beta-catenin is a key mediator of P.
      falciparum adverse effects on endothelial integrity. Blockade of the angiotensin
      II type 1 receptor (AT1) or stimulation of the type 2 receptor (AT2) abrogated Pf
      iRBC-induced activation of beta-catenin and prevented the disruption of HBMEC
      monolayers. In a mouse model of cerebral malaria, modulation of angiotensin II
      receptors produced similar effects, leading to protection against cerebral
      malaria, reduced cerebral hemorrhages, and increased survival. In contrast, AT2
      deficient mice were more susceptible to cerebral malaria. The interrelation of
      the beta-catenin and the angiotensin II signaling pathways opens immediate host
      targeted therapeutic possibilities for cerebral malaria and other diseases in
      which brain endothelial integrity is compromised.

PMID- 27643440
TI  - Atrial-specific pathways for control of intracellular signaling and myocyte
      function.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac arrhythmia that arises from electrical and
      contractile dysfunction in the atria. Atrial function is regulated by a variety
      of intracellular signaling networks that facilitate rapid communication and
      coordinate responses of atrial myocytes. In this issue of the JCI, Brandenburg
      and colleagues describe the identification and characterization of "super-hub"
      signaling nodes located on atrial axial tubules that regulate atrial contraction.
      Together, the results of this study provide important insight into the regulation
      of atrial contraction and describe potential therapeutic targets to be explored
      in future studies.

PMID- 27643441
TI  - How mast cells make decisions.
AB  - Mast cells (MCs) are present in various tissues and are responsible for
      initiating many of the early inflammatory responses to extrinsic challenges.
      Recent studies have demonstrated that MCs can tailor their responses, depending
      on the stimulus encountered and the tissue in which they are stimulated. In this
      issue of the JCI, Gaudenzio and colleagues examine the mechanistic differences
      between MC responses observed after engagement of Fcepsilon receptor I and those
      seen after MC stimulation via the recently identified G protein-coupled receptor
      MRGPRX2. By showing that discrete cellular activation patterns affect the
      phenotype of the MC response in vivo and in vitro, the authors provide important
      information about how MCs differentially process various stimuli into distinct
      degranulation programs.

PMID- 27643443
TI  - Treating hyperphosphatemia - current and advancing drugs.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hyperphosphatemia is a hallmark of advanced chronic kidney disease
      (CKD) and associated with adverse outcomes. Preclinical and epidemiological
      studies strongly support a causal relationship between hyperphosphatemia and
      mortality as well as cardiovascular complications, especially including vascular,
      valvular and soft-tissue calcifications. Thus, appropriate phosphate lowering is
      considered to play a major role in health and longevity of CKD patients. In this
      respect, phosphate binders are the most powerful therapeutic option, while
      dietary phosphate restriction and intensified dialysis are valuable supportive
      approaches. AREAS COVERED: Pubmed was the primary research platform. This search
      focused on novel phosphate lowering compounds, including iron-containing binders
      and phosphate transport inhibitors, which have just become available or are in
      the approval process. Further, additional reports on effective strategies to
      counteract the adverse consequences of resistant hyperphosphatemia were also
      collected. EXPERT OPINION: New iron-containing drugs may offer advantages,
      including iron supplementation, low pill burden and high efficacy. Phosphate
      transport inhibitors possess a high potential as add-on compounds in patients
      with insufficient phosphate binder therapy. One unsolved question remains at what
      CKD stage to start therapeutically counteracting phosphate retention.

PMID- 27643444
TI  - Treatment of head and neck cancer in the elderly.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most
      common cancer worldwide and the majority of patients present with advanced stage
      disease. Chemotherapy is an important component of head and neck cancer treatment
      regimens and has shown beneficial effects in locally advanced and
      recurrent/metastatic stages of disease. Approximately 25% of HNSCC patients are
      aged 70 and older, often associated with co-morbid medical conditions. Most
      clinical trials exclude patients of advanced chronological age such that valid
      information about the efficacy and safety of drugs and treatment regimens in
      elderly patients is not available. AREAS COVERED: Surgery, radiotherapy and
      particularly chemotherapy with the six FDA-approved chemotherapeutic agents for
      head and neck cancer treatment are discussed with a focus on age, performance
      status, comorbidities. New targeted therapies and the field of immune checkpoint
      inhibitors are evaluated in the context of elderly populations. EXPERT OPINION:
      Surgery, radiotherapy and administration of cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents are
      largely safe and effective in elderly patients. Targeted therapies are mostly
      well tolerated. Clinical studies should be designed to include elderly patients
      (>70 years). Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies may exert age-related effects,
      since substantial functional changes in T cell responses increase during the
      aging process.

PMID- 27643445
TI  - Managing Incidental Lung Nodules in Patients With a History of Oncologic Disease:
      A Survey of Thoracic Radiologists.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze the impact that a clinical history
      of an oncologic disease may have on the management decisions for incidentally
      detected lung nodules on chest computed tomographic (CT) examinations. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to all 796 members of the Society of
      Thoracic Radiology regarding criteria for the management of incidentally detected
      lung nodules in oncologic patients, as well as recommendations for nodule follow
      up. Nodule characteristics and clinical parameters used by respondents were
      analyzed. Differences between variables were examined using the chi test.
      RESULTS: Of the 796 Society of Thoracic Radiology members, 178 (22.36%) replied.
      Most respondents were subspecialized in cardiothoracic imaging (92.70%) and
      practiced in an "academic or teaching hospital setting" (75.28%) with a
      "dedicated oncology center" (94.03%). "History of oncologic disease" was the most
      important factor (98.87%) for management decisions. In patients with such a
      history, respondents most commonly used "experience and common sense" (56.74%)
      and reported "all incidentally found lung nodules" (65.73%, P<0.0001). "Size" and
      "shape" were the 2 most important nodule characteristics (33.61% and 27.05%,
      respectively) used to consider a nodule "clinically relevant," and "size"
      (44.07%) was also the most important nodule characteristic prompting
      recommendation for short-term CT follow-up. Follow-up CT examinations in
      oncologic patients were recommended by 75.84% of respondents. CONCLUSIONS: In
      patients with a history of oncologic disease, radiologists tend to report every
      detected nodule and to routinely recommend follow-up CT examinations. Although
      most radiologists rely on "experience and common sense" in managing these
      nodules, greater standardization of lung nodule management in oncologic patients
      is needed, ideally through guidelines tailored to this patient population.

PMID- 27643442
TI  - Different activation signals induce distinct mast cell degranulation strategies.
AB  - Mast cells (MCs) influence intercellular communication during inflammation by
      secreting cytoplasmic granules that contain diverse mediators. Here, we have
      demonstrated that MCs decode different activation stimuli into spatially and
      temporally distinct patterns of granule secretion. Certain signals, including
      substance P, the complement anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, and endothelin 1, induced
      human MCs rapidly to secrete small and relatively spherical granule structures, a
      pattern consistent with the secretion of individual granules. Conversely,
      activating MCs with anti-IgE increased the time partition between signaling and
      secretion, which was associated with a period of sustained elevation of
      intracellular calcium and formation of larger and more heterogeneously shaped
      granule structures that underwent prolonged exteriorization. Pharmacological
      inhibition of IKK-beta during IgE-dependent stimulation strongly reduced the time
      partition between signaling and secretion, inhibited SNAP23/STX4 complex
      formation, and switched the degranulation pattern into one that resembled
      degranulation induced by substance P. IgE-dependent and substance P-dependent
      activation in vivo also induced different patterns of mouse MC degranulation that
      were associated with distinct local and systemic pathophysiological responses.
      These findings show that cytoplasmic granule secretion from MCs that occurs in
      response to different activating stimuli can exhibit distinct dynamics and
      features that are associated with distinct patterns of MC-dependent inflammation.

PMID- 27643446
TI  - Pegaspargase hypersensitivity reactions: intravenous infusion versus
      intramuscular injection - a review.
AB  - Pegaspargase is a mainstay in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. When
      intravenous (IV) infusion replaced intramuscular (IM) injection as the standard
      route of administration, there were early reports suggested an increased
      hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) rate with IV administration. There have since
      been eight published reports comparing the incidence of HSRs occurring with IV
      versus IM pegaspargase. This review analyzes the reports and summarizes their
      consistent findings where feasible. For grade 3-4 HSRs, the rates are comparable
      with IV and IM administration. Grade 2 HSRs appear to be more likely with IV than
      IM administration but the validity of the difference is uncertain. Multiple
      factors confound the analyses, including the historically controlled nature of
      the comparisons and the increased likelihood of reporting adverse reactions with
      IV administration. In summary, the reports do not support the conclusion that
      pegaspargase-induced HSR rate is more frequent with IV administration.

PMID- 27643447
TI  - The Adrenocortical Response to Synthetic ACTH Following a Trek to High Altitude.
AB  - Gradual ascent to high altitude is typically associated with reduced resting
      aldosterone and unchanged cortisol, features that may facilitate acclimatization
      but are poorly understood. The aim of the study was to investigate the cortisol
      and aldosterone response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone at altitude. Eleven
      subjects underwent a 250 MUg short synacthen test at sea-level and again after
      trekking to 3 600 m in Nepal. Cortisol and aldosterone were measured by
      conventional assay from blood samples taken immediately prior to the
      administration of synacthen (T0) and then 30 (T30) and 60 (T60) min later. At 3
      600 m resting basal cortisol and aldosterone levels were both significantly lower
      than they were at sea-level (p=0.004, p=0.003, respectively). Cortisol values at
      T30 and T60 were not different between sea-level and 3 600 m but the increment
      after synacthen was significantly greater (p=0.041) at 3 600 m due to a lower
      basal value. Aldosterone at T30 and T60 was significantly lower (p=0.003 for
      both) at 3 600 m than at sea-level and the increment following synacthen was also
      significantly less (p=0.003) at 3 600 m. At 3 600 m there appears to be a
      divergent adrenal response to synthetic adrenocorticotrophic hormone with an
      intact cortisol response but a reduced aldosterone response, relative to sea
      level. This may reflect a specific effect of hypoxia on aldosterone synthesis and
      may be beneficial to acclimatization.

PMID- 27643448
TI  - Diurnal Plasma Cortisol Measurements Utility in Differentiating Various
      Etiologies of Endogenous Cushing Syndrome.
AB  - Cortisol diurnal variation may be abnormal among patients with endogenous Cushing
      syndrome (CS). The study objective was to compare the plasma cortisol AM/PM
      ratios between different etiologies of CS. This is a retrospective cohort study,
      conducted at a clinical research center. Adult patients with CS that underwent
      adrenalectomy or trans-sphenoidal surgery (n=105) were divided to those with a
      pathologically confirmed diagnosis of Cushing disease (n=21) and those with
      primary adrenal CS, including unilateral adrenal adenoma (n=28), adrenocortical
      hyperplasia (n=45), and primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease (PPNAD,
      n=11). Diurnal plasma cortisol measurements were obtained at 11:30 PM and
      midnight and at 7:30 and 8:00 AM. The ratios between the mean morning levels and
      mean late-night levels were calculated. Mean plasma cortisol AM/PM ratio was
      lower among CD patients compared to those with primary adrenal CS (1.4+/-0.6 vs.
      2.3+/-1.5, p<0.001, respectively). An AM/PM cortisol ratio>=2.0 among patients
      with unsuppressed ACTH (>15 pg/ml) excludes CD with a 85.0% specificity and a
      negative predictive value (NPV) of 90.9%. Among patients with primary adrenal CS,
      an AM/PM cortisol>=1.2 had specificity and NPV of 100% for ruling out a diagnosis
      of PPNAD. Plasma cortisol AM/PM ratios are lower among patients with CD compared
      with primary adrenal CS, and may aid in the differential diagnosis of endogenous
      hypercortisolemia.

PMID- 27643449
TI  - Gs/Gi Regulation of Bone Cell Differentiation: Review and Insights from
      Engineered Receptors.
AB  - G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their ligands are critical for normal
      osteoblast formation and function. GPCRs mediate a wide variety of biological
      processes and are activated by multiple types of extracellular signals, ranging
      from photons to small molecules to peptides. GPCRs signal through a select number
      of canonical pathways: the Gs and Gi pathways increase or decrease intracellular
      cAMP levels, respectively, by acting on adenylate cyclase, while the Gq pathway
      increases intracellular calcium by activating phospholipase C. In addition, non
      canonical GPCR pathways such as beta-arrestin activation are important for
      osteoblast function. Since many cells express multiple GPCRs, and each individual
      GPCR may activate multiple signaling pathways, the resulting combinatorial signal
      provides a mechanism for regulating complex biological processes and effector
      functions. However, the wide variety of GPCRs, the possibility of multiple
      receptors acting with signaling redundancy, and the possibility of an individual
      GPCR activating multiple signaling pathways, also pose challenges for elucidating
      the role of a particular GPCR. Here, we briefly review the roles of Gs and Gi
      GPCR signaling in osteoblast function. We describe the successful application of
      a strategy for directly manipulating the Gs and Gi pathways using engineered
      receptors. These powerful tools will allow further elucidation of the roles of
      GPCR signaling in specific lineages of osteoblastic cells, as well as in non
      osteoblast cells, all of which remain critical areas of active research.

PMID- 27643451
TI  - Primary Melanoma of the Uterine Cervix: A Case Report, With Key Points on
      Recognition and Pathological Diagnosis.

PMID- 27643450
TI  - Mitochondrial Porin Isoform AtVDAC1 Regulates the Competence of Arabidopsis
      thaliana to Agrobacterium-Mediated Genetic Transformation.
AB  - The efficiency of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in plants depends on the
      virulence of Agrobacterium strains, the plant tissue culture conditions, and the
      susceptibility of host plants. Understanding the molecular interactions between
      Agrobacterium and host plant cells is crucial when manipulating the
      susceptibility of recalcitrant crop plants and protecting orchard trees from
      crown gall disease. It was discovered that Arabidopsis voltage-dependent anion
      channel 1 (atvdac1) mutant has drastic effects on Agrobacterium-mediated
      tumorigenesis and growth developmental phenotypes, and that these effects are
      dependent on a Ws-0 genetic background. Genetic complementation of Arabidopsis
      vdac1 mutants and yeast porin1-deficient strain with members of the AtVDAC gene
      family revealed that AtVDAC1 is required for Agrobacterium-mediated
      transformation, and there is weak functional redundancy between AtVDAC1 and
      AtVDAC3, which is independent of porin activity. Furthermore, atvdac1 mutants
      were deficient in transient and stable transformation by Agrobacterium,
      suggesting that AtVDAC1 is involved in the early stages of Agrobacterium
      infection prior to transferred-DNA (T-DNA) integration. Transgenic plants
      overexpressing AtVDAC1 not only complemented the phenotypes of the atvdac1
      mutant, but also showed high efficiency of transient T-DNA gene expression;
      however, the efficiency of stable transformation was not affected. Moreover, the
      effect of phytohormone treatment on competence to Agrobacterium was compromised
      in atvdac1 mutants. These data indicate that AtVDAC1 regulates the competence of
      Arabidopsis to Agrobacterium infection. 

PMID- 27643452
TI  - Glucocorticoid administration in athletes: Performance, metabolism and detection.
AB  - It is generally acknowledged in the sporting world that glucocorticoid (GC) use
      enhances physical performance. This pharmacological class is therefore banned by
      the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in in-competition samples after systemic but
      not local (defined as any route other than oral, intravenous, intramuscular or
      rectal) administration, which thus allows athletes to use GCs for therapeutic
      purposes. According to the 2016 WADA list, the urine reporting level for all GCs
      is set at 30ng/ml to distinguish between the authorized and banned routes of
      administration. The actual data on the ergogenic effects of GC intake are
      nevertheless fairly recent, with the first study showing improved physical
      performance with systemic GC administration dating back only to 2007. Moreover,
      the studies over the last decade coupling ergogenic and metabolic investigations
      in humans during and after GC intake have shown discrepant results. Similarly,
      urine discrimination between banned and authorized GC use remains complex, but it
      seems likely to be improved thanks to new analytical studies and the inclusion of
      the authorized GC uses (local routes of administration and out-of-competition
      samples) in the WADA monitoring program. In this review, we first summarize the
      current knowledge on the ergogenic and metabolic GC effects in humans during
      various types of exercise. We then present the antidoping legislation and methods
      of analysis currently used to detect GC abuse and conclude with some practical
      considerations and perspectives.

PMID- 27643453
TI  - Autophagic regulation in steroid hormone-responsive systems.
AB  - Two female sex steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are crucial
      regulators of many physiological functions of reproductive organs. These two
      hormones are versatile factors linking growth, differentiation, metabolism, and
      death of cells in the uterus. In recent years, it has become evident that
      autophagy is involved in the effects of estrogen and progesterone on various
      cellular events in reproductive organs. Autophagy is the self-eating catabolic
      process which is linked to cell survival and death in many contexts. In this
      review, we focus on the new findings concerning the regulation of autophagic
      response by sex steroid hormones in responsive target organs. We also attempt to
      further expand our insight into intracellular signaling mediators governing this
      regulation.

PMID- 27643454
TI  - Glucocorticoid resistance in chronic diseases.
AB  - Glucocorticoids are involved in several responses triggered by a variety of
      environmental and physiological stimuli. These hormones have a wide-range of
      regulatory effects in organisms. Synthetic glucocorticoids are extensively used
      to suppress allergic, inflammatory, and immune disorders. Although
      glucocorticoids are highly effective for therapeutic purposes, some patients
      chronically treated with glucocorticoids can develop reduced glucocorticoid
      sensitivity or even resistance, increasing patient vulnerability to exaggerated
      inflammatory responses. Glucocorticoid resistance can occur in several chronic
      diseases, including asthma, major depression, and cardiovascular conditions. In
      this review, we discuss the complexity of the glucocorticoid receptor and the
      potential role of glucocorticoid resistance in the development of chronic
      diseases.

PMID- 27643456
TI  - Nanomechanics: Small-scale transformations.

PMID- 27643455
TI  - Elective cholecystectomy reduces morbidity of cholelithiasis in pediatric sickle
      cell disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cholelithiasis is a frequent complication in pediatric sickle cell
      disease (SCD). Though it is standard practice to perform a cholecystectomy in
      pediatric SCD patients with symptoms of cholelithiasis, the use of elective
      cholecystectomy for asymptomatic patients remains controversial. PROCEDURE:
      Records of 191 pediatric sickle cell patients with cholelithiasis who underwent
      cholecystectomy were retrospectively reviewed. Patients classified as follows:
      (i) elective-no preoperative symptoms, cholelithiasis on screening ultrasound,
      comprehensive preoperative plan; (ii) symptomatic-preoperative symptoms of
      cholelithiasis on diagnostic ultrasound, comprehensive preoperative plan; or
      (iii) emergent-hospitalization for acute cholecystitis symptoms, cholelithiasis
      on diagnostic ultrasound, limited preoperative preparation. We compared the
      morbidity of cholecystectomy by examining pre- and post-cholecystectomy hospital
      admission days, length of stay for cholecystectomy, and surgical complications.
      RESULTS: Patients with SCD underwent a total of 191 cholecystectomies over a 10
      year period: 51 elective, 110 symptomatic, and 30 emergent. Patients who required
      emergent cholecystectomy had a longer postoperative hospitalization time than
      elective or symptomatic cholecystectomy (7.3 vs 4.3, P < 0.001). Baseline values
      for total bilirubin and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were significantly
      elevated (P < 0.02 and P < 0.07, respectively) in patients requiring emergent
      cholecystectomy. CONCLUSIONS: This represents the largest reported retrospective
      review of pediatric cholelithiasis and cholecystectomy in SCD to date. These data
      strongly suggest that elective cholecystectomy decreases morbidity associated
      with emergent cholecystectomy. The overall outcomes for symptomatic and elective
      patients are favorable. However, our study indicates the need for prospective
      studies to identify clinical indicators for those emergent patients.

PMID- 27643457
TI  - Direct observation of the layer-dependent electronic structure in phosphorene.
AB  - Phosphorene, a single atomic layer of black phosphorus, has recently emerged as a
      new two-dimensional (2D) material that holds promise for electronic and photonic
      technologies. Here we experimentally demonstrate that the electronic structure of
      few-layer phosphorene varies significantly with the number of layers, in good
      agreement with theoretical predictions. The interband optical transitions cover a
      wide, technologically important spectral range from the visible to the mid
      infrared. In addition, we observe strong photoluminescence in few-layer
      phosphorene at energies that closely match the absorption edge, indicating that
      they are direct bandgap semiconductors. The strongly layer-dependent electronic
      structure of phosphorene, in combination with its high electrical mobility, gives
      it distinct advantages over other 2D materials in electronic and opto-electronic
      applications.

PMID- 27643458
TI  - In situ observation of shear-driven amorphization in silicon crystals.
AB  - Amorphous materials are used for both structural and functional applications. An
      amorphous solid usually forms under driven conditions such as melt quenching,
      irradiation, shock loading or severe mechanical deformation. Such extreme
      conditions impose significant challenges on the direct observation of the
      amorphization process. Various experimental techniques have been used to detect
      how the amorphous phases form, including synchrotron X-ray diffraction,
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy, but a dynamic,
      atomistic characterization has remained elusive. Here, by using in situ high
      resolution TEM (HRTEM), we show the dynamic amorphization process in silicon
      nanocrystals during mechanical straining on the atomic scale. We find that shear
      driven amorphization occurs in a dominant shear band starting with the diamond
      cubic (dc) to diamond-hexagonal (dh) phase transition and then proceeds by
      dislocation nucleation and accumulation in the newly formed dh-Si phase. This
      process leads to the formation of an amorphous Si (a-Si) band, embedded with dh
      Si nanodomains. The amorphization of dc-Si via an intermediate dh-Si phase is a
      previously unknown pathway of solid-state amorphization.

PMID- 27643459
TI  - Sociodemographic, psychosocial and clinical factors associated with uptake of
      genetic counselling for hereditary cancer: a systematic review.
AB  - Evidence suggests that a significant proportion of individuals referred to cancer
      genetic counselling (GC) do not attend, and thus may not be engaged in adequate
      cancer risk management. We aimed to review the literature to better understand
      barriers to accessing GC and how they may be overcome. We conducted a systematic
      literature search for articles examining factors influencing cancer GC uptake as
      well as motivators and barriers to GC attendance. Factors were categorised as
      sociodemographic, psychosocial or clinical. The literature search identified 1413
      citations, 35 of which met the inclusion criteria. GC uptake ranged from 19% to
      88%. With the exceptions of education level, socioeconomic status, cancer
      specific distress, personal cancer diagnosis and actual and perceived risk of
      cancer, support was lacking for most sociodemographic, clinical and psychosocial
      factors as predictors of GC uptake. Cost and logistical barriers, emotional
      concerns, family concerns and low perceived personal relevance were reported as
      important considerations for those declining GC. We conclude that there is poor
      understanding of GC and a lack of decision support among those referred to GC.
      Research into ways of providing education and support to referred individuals
      will be important as the scope and availability of GC and genetic testing
      broaden.

PMID- 27643460
TI  - Probe-diverse ptychography.
AB  - We propose an extension of ptychography where the target sample is scanned
      separately through several probes with distinct amplitude and phase profiles and
      a diffraction image is recorded for each probe and each sample translation. The
      resulting probe-diverse dataset is used to iteratively retrieve high-resolution
      images of the sample and all probes simultaneously. The method is shown to yield
      significant improvement in the reconstructed sample image compared to the image
      obtained using the standard single-probe ptychographic phase-retrieval scheme.

PMID- 27643461
TI  - A flexible method for the preparation of thin film samples for in situ TEM
      characterization combining shadow-FIB milling and electron-beam-assisted etching.
AB  - A new method for the preparation of freestanding thin film samples for mechanical
      testing in transmission electron microscopes is presented. It is based on a
      combination of focused ion beam (FIB) milling and electron-beam-assisted etching
      with xenon difluoride (XeF2) precursor gas. The use of the FIB allows for the
      target preparation of microstructural defects and enables well-defined sample
      geometries which can be easily adapted in order to meet the requirements of
      various testing setups. In contrast to existing FIB-based preparation approaches,
      the area of interest is never exposed to ion beam irradiation which preserves a
      pristine microstructure. The method can be applied to a wide range of thin film
      material systems compatible with XeF2 etching. Its feasibility is demonstrated
      for gold and alloyed copper thin films and its practical application is
      discussed.

PMID- 27643462
TI  - Evaluation of haptic interfaces for simulation of drill vibration in virtual
      temporal bone surgery.
AB  - Surgical training is evolving from an observership model towards a new paradigm
      that includes virtual-reality (VR) simulation. In otolaryngology, temporal bone
      dissection has become intimately linked with VR simulation as the complexity of
      anatomy demands a high level of surgeon aptitude and confidence. While an
      adequate 3D visualization of the surgical site is available in current
      simulators, the force feedback rendered during haptic interaction does not convey
      vibrations. This lack of vibration rendering limits the simulation fidelity of a
      surgical drill such as that used in temporal bone dissection. In order to develop
      an immersive simulation platform capable of haptic force and vibration feedback,
      the efficacy of hand controllers for rendering vibration in different drilling
      circumstances needs to be investigated. In this study, the vibration rendering
      ability of four different haptic hand controllers were analyzed and compared to
      find the best commercial haptic hand controller. A test-rig was developed to
      record vibrations encountered during temporal bone dissection and a software was
      written to render the recorded signals without adding hardware to the system. An
      accelerometer mounted on the end-effector of each device recorded the rendered
      vibration signals. The newly recorded vibration signal was compared with the
      input signal in both time and frequency domains by coherence and cross
      correlation analyses to quantitatively measure the fidelity of these devices in
      terms of rendering vibrotactile drilling feedback in different drilling
      conditions. This method can be used to assess the vibration rendering ability in
      VR simulation systems and selection of ideal haptic devices.

PMID- 27643463
TI  - Computation of breast ptosis from 3D surface scans of the female torso.
AB  - Stereophotography is now finding a niche in clinical breast surgery, and several
      methods for quantitatively measuring breast morphology from 3D surface images
      have been developed. Breast ptosis (sagging of the breast), which refers to the
      extent by which the nipple is lower than the inframammary fold (the contour along
      which the inferior part of the breast attaches to the chest wall), is an
      important morphological parameter that is frequently used for assessing the
      outcome of breast surgery. This study presents a novel algorithm that utilizes
      three-dimensional (3D) features such as surface curvature and orientation for the
      assessment of breast ptosis from 3D scans of the female torso. The performance of
      the computational approach proposed was compared against the consensus of manual
      ptosis ratings by nine plastic surgeons, and that of current 2D photogrammetric
      methods. Compared to the 2D methods, the average accuracy for 3D features was
      ~13% higher, with an increase in precision, recall, and F-score of 37%, 29%, and
      33%, respectively. The computational approach proposed provides an improved and
      unbiased objective method for rating ptosis when compared to qualitative
      visualization by observers, and distance based 2D photogrammetry approaches.

PMID- 27643464
TI  - Endoscope analysis on peristaltic blood flow of Sisko fluid with Titanium magneto
      nanoparticles.
AB  - In this article, endoscope analysis on peristaltic blood flow of Sisko fluid
      having Titanium magneto-nanoparticles through a uniform tube has been analyzed.
      The governing flow problem consists of continuity, linear momentum and thermal
      energy equations. The effect of magnetic field is also taken into account with
      the help of ohm's law. With the help of long wavelength and zero Reynolds number
      approximation, the governing equations are simplified. The reduced resulting
      nonlinear coupled equations are solved analytically with the help of Homotopy
      perturbation method (HPM). The impact of all the emerging parameters is discussed
      with the help of graphs for pressure rise, friction forces for outer and inner
      tube, velocity profile, temperature profile and pressure gradient. Moreover,
      numerical computation has been used to evaluate the expression for pressure rise
      and friction forces. Trapping phenomena is also presented with the help of
      streamlines. The present study depicts many interesting results that provide
      further study on different blood flow problems.

PMID- 27643465
TI  - DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics:
      Recommendations on the validation of software programs performing biostatistical
      calculations for forensic genetics applications.
AB  - The use of biostatistical software programs to assist in data interpretation and
      calculate likelihood ratios is essential to forensic geneticists and part of the
      daily case work flow for both kinship and DNA identification laboratories.
      Previous recommendations issued by the DNA Commission of the International
      Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) covered the application of bio-statistical
      evaluations for STR typing results in identification and kinship cases, and this
      is now being expanded to provide best practices regarding validation and
      verification of the software required for these calculations. With larger
      multiplexes, more complex mixtures, and increasing requests for extended family
      testing, laboratories are relying more than ever on specific software solutions
      and sufficient validation, training and extensive documentation are of upmost
      importance. Here, we present recommendations for the minimum requirements to
      validate bio-statistical software to be used in forensic genetics. We distinguish
      between developmental validation and the responsibilities of the software
      developer or provider, and the internal validation studies to be performed by the
      end user. Recommendations for the software provider address, for example, the
      documentation of the underlying models used by the software, validation data
      expectations, version control, implementation and training support, as well as
      continuity and user notifications. For the internal validations the
      recommendations include: creating a validation plan, requirements for the range
      of samples to be tested, Standard Operating Procedure development, and internal
      laboratory training and education. To ensure that all laboratories have access to
      a wide range of samples for validation and training purposes the ISFG DNA
      commission encourages collaborative studies and public repositories of STR typing
      results.

PMID- 27643466
TI  - A highly selective fluorescent probe based on coumarin for the imaging of N2H4 in
      living cells.
AB  - A turn-on fluorescence probe for highly sensitive and selective detection of N2H4
      was developed based on hydrazine-triggered a substitution- cyclization
      elimination cascade. Upon the treatment with N2H4, probe 1, 4-methyl-coumarin-7
      yl bromobutanoate, displayed a remarkable fluorescence enhancement (25-fold) with
      a maximum at 450nm. This probe can quantitatively detect N2H4 with a extremely
      low detection limit as 7*10-8M. Moreover, cell imaging experiments have indicated
      that probe 1 has potential ability to detect and image N2H4 in biological
      systems.

PMID- 27643467
TI  - Identification and classification of textile fibres using ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy
      with chemometric methods.
AB  - The possibility of classification of single- and two-component textile materials
      using ATR-FT-IR spectra and chemometric methods, principal component analysis
      (PCA) and discriminant analysis, was assessed. Altogether 89 textile samples
      belonging to 26 different types (11 one- and 15 two-component textiles) were
      investigated. It was found that PCA classification using only two or three
      principal components (PCs) enables identifying different one- and two-component
      textiles, although with two important limitations: it was not always possible to
      distinguish between the cellulose-based fibres (cotton, linen and in some cases
      viscose) and it was only partly possible to distinguish between silk and wool.
      The statistical discriminant analysis can use as many PCs as there are sample
      classes and due to that can discriminate between single-component fibres,
      including viscose from linen and cotton as well as silk from wool. Besides that,
      in both of these cases, involving optical microscopy as an additional technique
      enabled unequivocal identification of the fibres. The possibilities of semi
      quantitative analysis of mixed fibres (cotton-polyester, wool-polyester and wool
      polyamide) with PCA were investigated and it was found that approximate
      quantitative composition is obtainable if for the mixed fibre sample a number of
      spectra are averaged in order to minimize the effect of structural inhomogeneity.
      For approximate content determination 25 spectra of selected two-component
      samples were registered for calibration and the averaged spectrum for each sample
      was computed. Due to the structural inhomogeneity of mixed textiles, obtaining
      accurate quantitative composition from real samples is not possible with ATR-FT
      IR. The main problems with ATR-FT-IR-PCA classification are (1) difficulties in
      getting high quality spectra from some textiles (e.g. polyacrylic), (2)
      inhomogeneity of the textile fibres in the case of two-component fibres and (3)
      intrinsic similarity between the spectra of some fibres (e.g. cotton and linen).
      In order to test the homogeneity of mixed fibres, microscopic and IR
      microspectroscopic analysis was carried out.

PMID- 27643468
TI  - Electronic states of Myricetin. UV-Vis polarization spectroscopy and quantum
      chemical calculations.
AB  - Myricetin (3,3',4',5,5',7'-hexahydroxyflavone) was investigated by linear
      dichroism spectroscopy on molecular samples partially aligned in stretched
      poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). At least five electronic transitions in the range
      40,000-20,000cm-1 were characterized with respect to their wavenumbers, relative
      intensities, and transition moment directions. The observed bands were assigned
      to electronic transitions predicted with TD-B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p).

PMID- 27643469
TI  - A facile approach towards amino-coated polyethersulfone particles for the removal
      of toxins.
AB  - The removal of toxins is important due to the damage to aquatic environment. In
      this work, a facile and green approach based on mussel-inspired coatings was used
      to fabricate amino-coated particles via the reaction between amine and catechol,
      using hexanediamine as the representative amine. The particles were characterized
      by Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR
      FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA),
      and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particles showed selective adsorption
      capability to Congo red (CR) and the adsorption process fitted the pseudo-second
      order model, the intraparticle diffusion model, the Langmuir isotherm, the
      Freundlich isotherm and the Sips isotherm well. Furthermore, this approach was
      verified to have applicability to various amines such as diethylenetriamine
      (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA) and tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), and the
      amino-coated particles exhibited diverse adsorption capacities to CR, Cu2+ and
      bilirubin. Considering that the approach is easy to operate and the whole
      preparation process is in an aqueous solution, it is believed that the facile,
      green and economical approach has great potential to prepare particles for
      wastewater treatment.

PMID- 27643471
TI  - Sorption and redox speciation of plutonium at the illite surface under highly
      saline conditions.
AB  - Natural groundwater may contain high salt concentrations, such as those occurring
      at several potential deep geological nuclear waste repository sites. Actinide
      sorption to clays (e.g. illite) under saline conditions has, however, been rarely
      studied. Furthermore, both illite surface and ionic strength may affect redox
      speciation of actinides like plutonium. In the present study, Pu sorption to
      illite is investigated under anaerobic conditions for 3<pHm (=-log [Formula: see
      text] )<10andmNaCl=1.0and3.2 molal (m). Results are compared with previous data
      for mNaCl=0.1m. According to redox potential measurements and based on Eu(III)
      illite sorption data (taken as analogue of Pu(III)), the strong effect of mNaCl
      on overall Pu uptake observed for pHm<6 is mainly attributed to the presence of
      Pu(III) and its competition with Na+ for ion exchange sites. For pHm>6, overall
      Pu uptake is largely insensitive to mNaCl due to the prevalence of strongly
      adsorbed Pu(IV). By applying appropriate corrections to the activity coefficients
      of dissolved ions and using the 2-site protolysis non-electrostatic surface
      complexation and cation exchange (2 SPNE SC/CE) model, experimental data on Pu
      sorption to illite as a function of pH, Eh and mNaCl can be very well reproduced.

PMID- 27643470
TI  - Effects of surface modification of quantum dots on viability and migration of
      triple-negative breast cancer cells.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancer (BC) shows strong metastasis and has a bad
      prognosis. There are few effective approaches until date to detect BC cells at an
      early stage. Quantum dots (QDs) are one of the most promising nanomaterials for
      the detection of BC cells. QDs are usually modified with some functional
      molecules, such as PEG and BSA, to decrease or possibly eliminate their toxicity.
      Although a large number of studies have investigated the cytotoxicity of QDs, the
      effects of surface modification of QDs on biological behaviors of triple-negative
      BC cells remain unclear. In this work, QDs were prepared using the hydrothermal
      method and chemically modified with PEG and BSA. The optical performance of QDs
      was recorded with a digital camera. Their absorption and fluorescence (FL)
      properties were analyzed by UV-Vis spectrometer and FL spectrophotometer,
      respectively. The effects of QDs and surface modification on viability and
      migration were principally investigated. The possible mechanism was primarily
      analyzed. The results show that QDs exhibit excellent optical performance under
      ultraviolet irradiation. Surface modification slightly reduces the photon count
      reaching the QDs surface. Moreover, surface modification results in a blue-shift
      of FL peak of QDs, which is ascribed to the change in surface chemical
      environment because of PEG and BSA modifications. In addition, QDs, PEG coated
      QDs (PEG@CdTe) and BSA coated QDs (BSA@CdTe) can reduce viability and inhibit
      migration of BC cells. The inhibition effects are time- and concentration
      dependent. In addition, PEG and BSA modified QDs exhibit lower inhibition effects
      on BC cells, as compared with unmodified QDs. In this process, Reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) does not appear to play an important role, and other pathways
      should be considered. This work provides experimental support and useful clinical
      guidance for QDs-applications in BC detection.

PMID- 27643472
TI  - Cardioprotective effects of intracoronary administration of 4-chlorodiazepam in
      small and large animal models of ischemia-reperfusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Translocator Protein (TSPO) of the mitochondrial membrane has
      been recognized as a potential therapeutic target for mitigation of myocardial
      ischemia-reperfusion injury. Administration of 4-chlorodiazepam (4-CLD), a TSPO
      ligand, has been shown to confer acute cardioprotective effects in small animals;
      however, long-term studies and studies in clinically-relevant large animal models
      are lacking. In the present study we investigated a potential cardioprotective
      effect of intracoronary administration of 4-CLD in small and large animal models
      of ischemia-reperfusion. METHODS: Acute myocardial infarction was induced in 38
      Wistar rats and 29 farm pigs by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary
      artery, followed by reperfusion. Animals were randomized to undergo intracoronary
      infusion of 2MUM 4-CLD or vehicle just prior (pigs) or immediately after (rats)
      reperfusion. Infarcted rats were euthanized either after 1h of reperfusion (for
      histological assessment of the "no reflow" area) or after 60days (for serial
      evaluation of cardiac function and structure by echocardiography and assessment
      of infarct size). Infarcted pigs were euthanized after 2h of reperfusion for
      histological assessment of infarct size and "no reflow" area. RESULTS: In
      infarcted rats, intracoronary infusion of 4-CLD resulted in acute reduction of
      the "no reflow" area and conferred durable long-term structural and functional
      benefits (reduction in infarct size, attenuation of adverse remodeling,
      improvement in global systolic function). In infarcted pigs, intracoronary
      infusion of 4-CLD was well-tolerated from a hemodynamic standpoint and resulted
      in acute reduction in infarct size, reduction in "no reflow" area and more rapid
      resolution of ST-segment elevation. CONCLUSIONS: In a rat model of myocardial
      infarction, intracoronary administration of 4-CLD attenuated the "no reflow"
      phenomenon and produced long-term structural and functional benefits. In a
      porcine model of myocardial infarction intracoronary administration of 4-CLD did
      not raise safety concerns and conferred acute cardioprotective effects.

PMID- 27643473
TI  - Improving medication titration in heart failure by embedding a structured
      medication titration plan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To improve up-titration of medications to target dose in heart
      failure patients by improving communication from hospital to primary care.
      METHODS: This quality improvement project was undertaken within three heart
      failure disease management (HFDM) services in Queensland, Australia. A structured
      medication plan was collaboratively designed and implemented in an iterative
      manner, using methods including awareness raising and education, audit and
      feedback, integration into existing work practice, and incentive payments.
      Evaluation was undertaken using sequential audits, and included process measures
      (use of the titration plan, assignment of responsibility) and outcome measures
      (proportion of patients achieving target dose) in HFDM service patients with
      reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. RESULTS: Comparison of the three
      patient cohorts (pre-intervention cohort A n=96, intervention cohort B n=95,
      intervention cohort C n=89) showed increase use of the titration plan, a shift to
      greater primary care responsibility for titration, and an increase in the
      proportion of patients achieving target doses of angiotensin converting enzyme
      inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEI/ARB) (A 37% vs B 48% vs C 55%,
      p=0.051) and beta-blockers (A 38% vs B 33% vs C 51%, p=0.045). Combining all
      three cohorts, patients not on target doses when discharged from hospital were
      more likely to achieve target doses of ACEI/ARB (p<0.0001) and beta blockers
      (p<0.0001) within six months if they received a medication titration plan.
      CONCLUSIONS: A medication titration plan was successfully implemented in three
      HFDM services and improved transitional communication and achievement of target
      doses of evidence-based therapies within six months of hospital discharge.

PMID- 27643474
TI  - Blood oozing: A cause of life-threatening bleeding without overt source after
      transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-procedure non-access site-related bleedings have a significant
      impact on mortality in patients treated by transcatheter aortic valve replacement
      (TAVR). Notwithstanding, the source of these bleedings is frequently
      indeterminate, with potentially serious clinical implications related to lack of
      diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: Out of 513 TAVR performed between June 2007 and
      January 2016 in the Interventional Cardiology Laboratory of the Department of
      Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University Hospital of Padua, we
      identified few proven cases of concealed bleeding after TAVR due to blood oozing.
      RESULTS: We report three cases of angiographically confirmed post-TAVR non-access
      bleedings related to spontaneous blood oozing, a life-threatening condition
      consisting of diffuse capillary hemorrhage developing from vessels not directly
      involved by the procedure. We hypothesize that spontaneous post-procedural blood
      oozing may account for a substantial proportion of non-overt, non-access site
      related bleeding after TAVR. CONCLUSION: The possibility of post-TAVR blood
      oozing is largely neglected in the literature, and comprehensive categorization
      of non-access site bleedings in current standardized endpoints of TAVR studies is
      missing. Early assessment with arterial and venous contrast phase angio-MDCT
      scans in case of post-TAVR unexplained and persistent anemia may allow diagnosis
      and treatment of this subtle condition.

PMID- 27643475
TI  - Identification of SLC25A37 as a major depressive disorder risk gene.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent and disabling mental
      disorders, but the genetic etiology remains largely unknown. We performed a meta
      analysis (14,543 MDD cases and 14,856 controls) through combining the GWAS data
      from the Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric GWAS
      Consortium and the CONVERGE consortium and identified seven SNPs (four of them
      located in the downstream of SCL25A37) that showed suggestive associations (P <
      5.0 * 10-7) with MDD. Systematic integration (Sherlock integrative analysis) of
      brain eQTL and GWAS meta-analysis identified SCL25A37 as a novel MDD risk gene (P
      = 2.22 * 10-6). A cis SNP (rs6983724, ~28 kb downstream of SCL25A37) showed
      significant association with SCL25A37 expression (P = 1.19 * 10-9) and suggestive
      association with MDD (P = 1.65 * 10-7). We validated the significant association
      between rs6983724 and SCL25A37 expression in independent expression datasets.
      Finally, we found that SCL25A37 is significantly down-regulated in hippocampus
      and blood of MDD patients (P = 3.49 * 10-3 and P = 2.66 * 10-13, respectively).
      Our findings implicate that the SCL25A37 is a MDD susceptibility gene whose
      expression may influence MDD risk. The consistent down-regulation of SCL25A37 in
      MDD patients in three independent samples suggest that SCL25A37 may be used as a
      potential biomarker for MDD diagnosis. Further functional characterization of
      SCL25A37 may provide a potential target for future therapeutics and diagnostics.

PMID- 27643477
TI  - Epigenetic signatures of childhood abuse and neglect: Implications for
      psychiatric vulnerability.
AB  - Childhood maltreatment is a key risk factor for poor mental and physical health.
      Recently, variation in epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, has emerged
      as a potential pathway mediating this association; yet, the extent to which
      different forms of maltreatment may be characterized by unique vs shared
      epigenetic signatures is currently unknown. In this study, we quantified DNA
      methylation across the genome in buccal epithelial cell samples from a high-risk
      sample of inner-city youth (n = 124; age = 16-24; 53% female), 68% of whom
      reported experiencing at least one form of maltreatment while growing up. Our
      analyses aimed to identify methylomic variation associated with exposure to five
      major types of childhood maltreatment. We found that: (i) maltreatment types
      differ in the extent to which they associate with methylomic variation, with
      physical exposures showing the strongest associations; (ii) many of the
      identified loci are annotated to genes previously implicated in stress-related
      outcomes, including psychiatric and physical disorders (e.g. GABBR1, GRIN2D,
      CACNA2D4, PSEN2); and (iii) based on gene ontology analyses, maltreatment types
      not only show unique methylation patterns enriched for specific biological
      processes (e.g. physical abuse and cardiovascular function), but also share a
      'common' epigenetic signature enriched for biological processes related to neural
      development and organismal growth. A stringent set of sensitivity analyses were
      also run to identify high-confidence associations. Together, findings lend novel
      insights into epigenetic signatures of childhood abuse and neglect, point to
      novel potential biomarkers for future investigation and support a molecular link
      between maltreatment and poor health outcomes. Nevertheless, it will be important
      in future to replicate findings, as the use of cross-sectional data and high
      rates of polyvictimization in our study make it difficult to fully disentangle
      the shared vs unique epigenetic signatures of maltreatment types. Furthermore,
      studies will be needed to test the role of potential moderators in the identified
      associations, including age of onset and chronicity of maltreatment exposure.

PMID- 27643476
TI  - The premonitory urge revisited: An individualized premonitory urge for tics
      scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Premonitory urge ratings have advanced our understanding of urge
      phenomenology among individuals with tic disorders (TD). However, these ratings
      have been limited by their reliance on a single global dimension of urge
      severity. This study examined the psychometric properties of a novel scale called
      the Individualized Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (I-PUTS) that assesses urge
      severity across multiple dimensions (number, frequency, and intensity). METHOD:
      Seventy-five youth with a TD and their parents participated. Clinicians assessed
      youth's tic severity, depression severity, rages, and premonitory urges. Parents
      completed ratings of youth's anxiety, affect lability, and general
      psychopathology. Youth completed self-report ratings of anxiety, urge severity,
      and distress tolerance. RESULTS: The I-PUTS identified that youth experienced an
      average of three distinct urges, but had an average of seven tics over the past
      week. Urges were primarily localized in the head/face, neck/throat, and arm
      regions. All I-PUTS dimensions exhibited excellent inter-rater reliability. The I
      PUTS dimensions exhibited good convergent validity with global urge ratings and
      tic severity, and appropriate divergent validity from other clinical constructs.
      Youth who exhibited discrepant reports between clinician-administered and self
      report urge ratings had less anxiety and tic severity, and greater inattention
      and externalizing problems compared to youth who exhibited good agreement.
      CONCLUSIONS: The I-PUTS is a reliable and valid assessment of urge phenomena,
      which provides additional and complementary information to existing urge scales.
      It highlights the existence of multiple dimensions of urge severity, and presents
      particular utility when assessing urges in youth with TD who have inattention and
      externalizing problems.

PMID- 27643480
TI  - Nickel speciation in cement-stabilized/solidified metal treatment filtercakes.
AB  - Cement-based stabilization/solidification (S/S) is used to decrease environmental
      leaching of contaminants from industrial wastes. In this study, two industrial
      metal treatment filtercakes were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD),
      thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) and
      Fourier transform infrared (FTIR); speciation of nickel was examined by X-ray
      absorption (XAS) spectroscopy. Although the degree of carbonation and
      crystallinity of the two untreated filtercakes differed, alpha-nickel hydroxide
      was identified as the primary nickel-containing phase by XRD and nickel K edge
      XAS. XAS showed that the speciation of nickel in the filtercake was unaltered by
      treatment with any of five different S/S binder systems. Nickel leaching from the
      untreated filtercakes and all their stabilized/solidified products, as a function
      of pH in the acid neutralization capacity test, was essentially complete below pH
      ~5, but was 3-4 orders of magnitude lower at pH 8-12. S/S does not respeciate
      nickel from metal treatment filtercakes and any reduction of nickel leaching by
      S/S is attributable to pH control and physical mechanisms only. pH-dependent
      leaching of Cr, Cu and Ni is similar for the wastes and s/s products, except that
      availability of Cr, Cu and Zn at decreased pH is reduced in matrices containing
      ground granulated blast furnace slag.

PMID- 27643478
TI  - A genome-wide association study of emotion dysregulation: Evidence for
      interleukin 2 receptor alpha.
AB  - Emotion dysregulation has been implicated as a risk factor for many psychiatric
      conditions. Therefore, examining genetic risk associated with emotion
      dysregulation could help inform cross-disorder risk more generally. A genome-wide
      association study (GWAS) of emotion dysregulation using single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) array technology was conducted in a highly traumatized,
      minority, urban sample (N = 2600, males = 774). Post-hoc analyses examined
      associations between SNPs identified in the GWAS and current depression,
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and history of suicide attempt. Methylation
      quantitative trait loci were identified and gene set enrichment analyses were
      used to broadly determine biological processes involved with these SNPs. Among
      males, SNP rs6602398, located within the interleukin receptor 2A gene, IL2RA, was
      significantly associated with emotion dysregulation (p = 1.1 * 10-8). Logistic
      regression analyses revealed this SNP was significantly associated with
      depression (Exp(B) = 2.67, p < 0.001) and PTSD (Exp(B) = 2.07, p < 0.01). This
      SNP was associated with differential DNA methylation (p < 0.05) suggesting it may
      be functionally active. Finally, through gene set enrichment analyses, ten
      psychiatric disease pathways (adjusted p < 0.01) and the calcium signaling
      pathway (adjusted p = 0.008) were significantly associated with emotion
      dysregulation. We found initial evidence for an association between emotion
      dysregulation and genetic risk loci that have already been implicated in medical
      disorders that have high comorbidity with psychiatric disorders. Our results
      provide further evidence that emotion dysregulation can be understood as a
      potential psychiatric cross-disorder risk factor, and that sex differences across
      these phenotypes may be critical. Continued research into genetic and biological
      risk associated with emotion dysregulation is needed.

PMID- 27643479
TI  - A longitudinal study of hair cortisol concentrations in Macaca nemestrina mothers
      and infants.
AB  - Cortisol is a well-known glucocorticoid that can be used as a biomarker of
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity. To explore basal cortisol
      physiology during pregnancy and infancy in Macaca nemestrina monkeys, hair was
      collected from a convenience sample of 22 healthy mother-infant dyads. Adult
      females were housed in pairs as part of a small breeding colony at the Washington
      National Primate Research Center and infants were reared in a specialized
      nursery. Maternal samples were collected from females during a pregnancy
      detection ultrasound and immediately following labor and delivery. Infant samples
      were collected at birth, 20 days, 4, 6, 8, and 10 months of age. Hair cortisol
      concentrations (HCCs) were determined using an enzyme immunoassay in washed and
      ground hair samples. Like human mothers, macaque HCCs rose during pregnancy
      (paired t = 5.8, df = 16, P < 0.001). Maternal HCCs at pregnancy-detection (114.2
      +/- 12.07 picogram/milligram [pg/mg]) were highly predictive of maternal HCCs at
      delivery (144.8 +/- 13.60 pg/mg), suggesting a trait-like quality (r = 0.90, P <
      0.001). When maternal HCCs were viewed on a continuum, the absolute rise in
      cortisol over the course of pregnancy was significantly related to newborn HCCs
      (r = 0.55, P = 0.02). Infant birth HCCs (1,027.43 +/- 97.95 pg/mg) were seven
      times higher than maternal HCCs at delivery (paired t = 19.1, df = 16, P <
      0.001). Higher birth HCCs were strongly associated with larger decreases in
      infant hair cortisol until 6 months of postnatal age when infant HCCs converged
      on values indistinguishable from adults. Overall, study results demonstrate a
      marked degree of fetal cortisol exposure during the latter part of gestation and
      suggest that the rise in maternal cortisol over pregnancy may play an influential
      role on HCCs in the newborn.

PMID- 27643481
TI  - Comparison of N-nitrosodimethylamine formation mechanisms from dimethylamine
      during chloramination and ozonation: A computational study.
AB  - N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) as a disinfection by-product has recently become
      the focus of considerable research interest due to its unusually high
      carcinogenicity. In this study, the formation mechanisms of NDMA from
      dimethylamine (DMA) during chloramination and ozonation were investigated by
      using the quantum chemical G4 method. The reactivity of haloamines and
      hydroxylamine reacting with DMA was found in the order: NHCl2~NHBrCl (Br
      leaving)>NHBr2>NH2Cl~NH2Br>>NH2OH. This offers a theoretical support for the
      experimentally proposed mechanism that dimethylamine reacts with NHCl2 rather
      than NH2Cl to form chlorinated unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine intermediate and
      the existence of bromochloramine in the presence of bromide during
      chloramination, and explains the observation that NDMA yield during ozonation is
      much lower than that during chloramination. Importantly, an N,N
      dimethylaminonitrene was found to be a significant intermediate to form NDMA in
      oxidation reactions by molecular oxygen and ozone. Additionally, results suggest
      that the amines containing the second nitrogen source directly connecting or
      close to the N-(CH3)2 moiety are potential significant NDMA precursors upon
      ozonation. The findings of this study are helpful for expanding the knowledge of
      NDMA formation mechanism, and predicting potential NDMA precursors during
      disinfection.

PMID- 27643483
TI  - Appraising Loftus and Palmer (1974) post-event information versus concurrent
      commentary in the context of sport.
AB  - Two experiments were conducted to examine framing effects in sport. In Experiment
      1, a conceptual replication [Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974).
      Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between
      language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 13(5), 585
      589], participants watched a hockey collision, with the hit described later in a
      written format as a "contact", "bump", or "smash". This manipulation resulted in
      no differences in participants' report of how fast the players were skating,
      their intentions, and the outcome of the hit. In Experiment 2, participants
      watched the same video clip with ongoing commentary. Those who heard the
      announcer describing the event as "contact" estimated a higher skating speed than
      participants who were exposed to the "smash" commentary. Participants who were
      exposed to the "bump" commentary rated the repercussions of the collision as less
      severe than did those exposed to the other commentaries. These findings show that
      the perception of magnitude hierarchy may be domain specific and suggest future
      avenues for exploring framing effects when one is exposed to visual stimuli.

PMID- 27643482
TI  - What do people fear about cancer? A systematic review and meta-synthesis of
      cancer fears in the general population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer has long inspired fear, but the effect of fear is not well
      understood; it seems both to facilitate and to deter early diagnosis behaviours.
      To elucidate fear's behavioural effects, we systematically reviewed and
      synthesised qualitative literature to explore what people fear about cancer.
      METHODS: We searched Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science, AnthroSource, and
      Anthrobase for studies on cancer fear in breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer
      screening and analysed 102 studies from 26 countries using thematic synthesis.
      RESULTS: Fears of cancer emanated from a core view of cancer as a vicious,
      unpredictable, and indestructible enemy, evoking fears about its proximity, the
      (lack of) strategies to keep it at bay, the personal and social implications of
      succumbing, and fear of dying from cancer. CONCLUSIONS: This view of cancer as
      'an enemy' reprises the media's 'war on cancer' theme and may affect the
      acceptance of cancer early detection and prevention messages, since cancer's
      characteristics influenced whether 'fight' or 'flight' was considered
      appropriate.

PMID- 27643484
TI  - A Low Impact Approach to Infected Pancreatic Necrosis: Review of a Case Series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infected pancreatic necrosis develops in approximately one third of
      patients with necrotizing pancreatitis and can lead to significant morbidity and
      mortality rates. Historically, open necrosectomy has been the mainstay of
      management for these patients but is in itself a morbid procedure. In recent
      times, minimally invasive techniques have evolved to allow a less invasive
      approach to these patients. Percutaneous catheter drainage of infected pancreatic
      necrosis is a technique that has been demonstrated to be potentially useful in
      the treatment of this group of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The aim of this
      study was to review outcomes and define the technique of percutaneous catheter
      drainage in patients with infected pancreatic necrosis. All patients with
      infected pancreatic necrosis were exclusively treated with percutaneous drainage
      over the study period. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II
      score, number and size of drains, drainage technique and drain management,
      hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stay, nutritional requirements, and
      morbidity and mortality data were evaluated for the patient group. Computed
      tomography (CT) scans were used to assess the progression of the disease process
      and the effectiveness of the treatment. RESULTS: There were nine patients with
      infected pancreatic necrosis in this case series between 2007 and 2012, all of
      whom were treated with percutaneous catheter drainage alone. The median APACHE II
      score in the patient group was 11, with a median stay in the ICU of 3 d and
      median hospital stay of 41 d. On average, nine CT scans were performed per
      patient during the hospital admission. A median of three drains were inserted per
      patient, and in the course of the study, it was evident that the larger drain
      size was the most effective. In eight of the nine patients in the group,
      complications developed that were both directly and indirectly related to the
      pancreatitis, but were effectively managed. There were no deaths. CONCLUSION:
      Percutaneous catheter drainage as a stand-alone intervention is an alternative
      strategy for infected pancreatic necrosis and can be used with acceptable
      morbidity and mortality rates in this challenging group of patients.

PMID- 27643486
TI  - Characterization of post-translational modifications on lysine 9 of histone H3
      variants in mouse testis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization in
      source decay.
AB  - RATIONALE: Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones result in changes
      to transcriptional activities and chromatin remodeling. Lysine 9 of histone H3
      (H3K9) is subject to PTMs, such as methylation and acetylation, which influence
      histone activity during spermatogenesis. Characterization strategies for studying
      PTMs on H3K9 have been developed to provide epigenetic and proteomic information.
      Proteomic analysis has been used to limited success to study PTMs on H3K9;
      however, a comprehensive analytical approach is required to elucidate global
      patterns of PTMs of H3 variants during spermatogenesis. METHODS: Intact H3
      variants in mouse testis were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography
      on a reversed-phase column with an ion-pairing reagent. Modifications to H3K9
      were identified via top-down analysis using matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization in source decay (MALDI-ISD). RESULTS: Mono-, di-, and tri
      methylations were identified at H3K9 in mouse testis and epididymis. These
      modifications were also observed in testis-specific histone H3 (H3t).
      Specifically, tri-methylation was more abundant on H3tK9 than on K9 of other H3
      variants. CONCLUSIONS: We introduce a method for rapid, simple, and comprehensive
      characterization of PTMs on the N-termini of H3 variants using MALDI-ISD. This
      approach provides novel and useful information, including K9 modifications on
      H3t, which would benefit epigenetic and proteomic research. (c) 2016 The Authors.
      Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 27643485
TI  - Efficacy of a rituximab regimen based on B cell depletion in thrombotic
      thrombocytopenic purpura with suboptimal response to standard treatment: Results
      of a phase II, multicenter noncomparative study.
AB  - The standard four-rituximab infusions treatment in acquired thrombotic
      thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) remains empirical. Peripheral B cell depletion is
      correlated with the decrease in serum concentrations of anti-ADAMTS13 and
      associated with clinical response. To assess the efficacy of a rituximab regimen
      based on B cell depletion, 24 TTP patients were enrolled in this prospective
      multicentre single arm phase II study and then compared to patients from a
      previous study. Patients with a suboptimal response to a plasma exchange-based
      regimen received two infusions of rituximab 375 mg m-2 within 4 days, and a third
      dose at day +15 of the first infusion if peripheral B cells were still
      detectable. Primary endpoint was the assessment of the time required to platelet
      count recovery from the first plasma exchange. Three patients died after the
      first rituximab administration. In the remaining patients, the B cell-driven
      treatment hastened remission and ADAMTS13 activity recovery as a result of rapid
      anti-ADAMTS13 depletion in a similar manner to the standard four-rituximab
      infusions schedule. The 1-year relapse-free survival was also comparable between
      both groups. A rituximab regimen based on B cell depletion is feasible and
      provides comparable results than with the four-rituximab infusions schedule. This
      regimen could represent a new standard in TTP. This trial was registered at
      www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00907751). Am. J. Hematol. 91:1246-1251, 2016. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27643487
TI  - Combinatorial approaches with selected phytochemicals to increase antibiotic
      efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.
AB  - Combinations of selected phytochemicals (reserpine, pyrrolidine, quinine, morin
      and quercetin) with antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and erythromycin)
      were tested on the prevention and control of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms. The
      phytochemicals were also studied for their ability to avoid antibiotic adaptation
      and to inhibit antibiotic efflux pumps. Morin, pyrrolidine and quercetin at
      subinhibitory concentrations had significant effects in biofilm prevention and/or
      control when applied alone and combined with antibiotics. Synergism between
      antibiotics and phytochemicals was found especially against biofilms of NorA
      overexpressing strain S. aureus SA1199B. This strain when growing with
      subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin developed increased tolerance to
      this antibiotic. However, this was successfully reversed by quinine and morin. In
      addition, reserpine and quercetin showed significant efflux pump inhibition. The
      overall results demonstrate the role of phytochemicals in co-therapies to promote
      more efficient treatments and decrease antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics,
      with substantial effects against S. aureus in both planktonic and biofilm states.

PMID- 27643488
TI  - Specimen retrieval during elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy: is it safe not
      to use a retrieval bag?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of laparoscopic surgery for gallbladder
      disease different types of retrieval devices have been used to extract the
      gallbladder from the peritoneal cavity. These devises infer additional costs and
      may lead to associated risks and complications. We aimed to evaluate the safety
      of gallbladder retrieval without the use of a retrieval device. METHODS: A
      prospective study was conducted across two teaching hospitals in the Republic of
      Ireland from July 2010-2013. Patients undergoing planed elective day case
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the two institutions were included in the study.
      Data were collected on patient demographics, the use of a bag, any need for
      extension of fascial incision, any unexpected over night stay, any 30-day post
      operative complications and presence of port site hernia within 1 year surgery.
      RESULTS: There were 373 planned elective day case laparoscopic cholecystectomy
      performed during the study period. A bag was not used to retrieve the gallbladder
      in 41 % (n = 152) patients. A retrieval bag was used in the majority of patients
      (71 %) who required over night stay due to pain. Overall wound infection rate was
      low (2.4 %), with 57 % of those being in patients where no retrieval bag was
      used. An increase incision in the fascia was required in 9.7 % of patients. The
      majority of these were in patients in whom a retrieval bag was used (75 %). At 1
      year follow up, there were no recorded cases of port site hernia for the no
      retrieval bag group and two (0.9 %) cases of umbilical port site hernias in the
      group where retrieval bag was used. CONCLUSION: In cases of elective
      uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy for radiologically confirmed benign
      disease there was no benefit in using a retrieval bag. Furthermore, not using a
      bag was associated with less need for increasing the size of the fascial incision
      thereby reducing post operative pain and risk of port site hernia.

PMID- 27643490
TI  - Catalytic Asymmetric Umpolung Allylation of Imines.
AB  - Here we report an iridium-catalyzed asymmetric umpolung allylation of imines as a
      general approach to prepare 1,4-disubstituted homoallylic amines, a fundamental
      class of compounds that are hitherto not straightforward to obtain. This
      transformation proceeds by a cascade involving an intermolecular regioselective
      allylation of 2-azaallyl anions and a following 2-aza-Cope rearrangement,
      utilizes easily available reagents and catalysts, tolerates a substantial scope
      of substrates, and readily leads to various enantioenriched, 1,4-disubstituted
      homoallylic primary amines.

PMID- 27643489
TI  - Growth differentiation factor 15 contributes to cancer-associated fibroblasts
      mediated chemo-protection of AML cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemo-resistance is still a major obstacle in efforts to overcome
      acute myeloid leukemia (AML). An emerging concept has proposed that interactions
      between the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment and leukemia cells reduce the
      sensitivity of the leukemia cells to chemotherapy. As an important element of the
      tumor microenvironment, the cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are considered
      to be activated modulators in the chemo-resistance of many solid tumors. But
      their contribution to AML has yet to be fully understood. Here we report a
      critical role for CAFs which were thought to be a survival and chemo-protective
      factor for leukemia cells. METHODS: A retrospective study on the BM biopsies from
      63 primary AML patients and 59 normal controls was applied to quantitative
      analysis the fiber stroma in the BM sections. Then immunohistochemistry on the BM
      biopsies were used to detect the makers of the CAFs. Their effects on drug
      resistance of leukemia cells were further to be assessed by co-cultured
      experiments in vitro. Moreover, the possible mechanisms involved in CAF-mediated
      chemo-protection of AML cells was investigated by antibody neutralization and
      siRNA knockdown experiments, with particular emphasis on the role of GDF15.
      RESULTS: In our study, excessive reticular fibers in the BM led to higher
      frequency of relapse and mortality in primary AML patients, bringing the
      inspiration for us to investigate the functional roles of the fiber-devied cells.
      We declared that the CAF cells which expressed higher levels of FSP1, alpha-SMA
      or FAP protein were widely distributed in the marrow of AML. Then in vitro co
      cultured tests showed that these CAFs could protect leukemia cell lines (THP
      1/K562) from chemotherapy. Interestingly, this effect could be decreased by
      either treatment with a neutralizing anti-GDF15 antibody or knockdown GDF15 (with
      siGDF15) in CAFs. Furthermore, we also confirmed that the GDF15(+) cells mainly
      co-localized with FAP, which was identified as the typical phenotype of CAFs in
      the BM stroma. CONCLUSIONS: We firstly demonstrate that the functional CAFs are
      widespread within the BM of AML patients and should be a critical chemo
      protective element for AML cells by producing amount of GDF15.

PMID- 27643492
TI  - [The 3D printed drilling template for bilateral sagittal osteotomy].
AB  - The bilateral sagittal osteotomy (BSSO) is a widely used surgical technique
      within orthognatic surgery. The specific osteotomy design may vary from clinic to
      clinic. The best position of the bone cuts in a BSSO continues to be a point of
      discussion and probably differs from patient to patient. In addition,
      standardisation in, for example, research may be desirable. Pre-operative
      planning using a drilling template in order to position the planned individual
      saw cuts during BSSO can be of value. To achieve this goal, a pre-operative 3D
      printed biocompatible drilling template was manufactured for 1 patient on the
      basis of pre-operative planning. The difference between the pre-operatively
      determined bone cuts with the assistance of the drilling template and the actual
      bone cuts was still large.

PMID- 27643491
TI  - Immunogenicity and Lupus-Like Autoantibody Production Can Be Linked to Each Other
      along With Type I Interferon Production in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
      Treated With Infliximab: A Retrospective Study of a Single Center Cohort.
AB  - Besides anti-drug antibodies, anti-nuclear antibodies and anti-DNA antibodies are
      often induced in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tumor necrosis
      factor inhibitors. We examined the association between immunogenicity,
      autoantibody production, and serum cytokine profiles in patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis treated with infliximab. Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n
      = 57) were retrospectively examined. Serum trough levels of infliximab, anti-drug
      antibody, anti-nuclear antibody, and anti-DNA (Farr), anti-single-stranded DNA
      and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies were measured. Interleukin-6, interferon
      gamma, interferon-alpha, and B-cell activating factor levels were also measured
      in the same sera. Then, we validated the association between anti-drug antibody
      and these serum markers along with clinical response to infliximab. Anti-drug
      antibodies developed in twenty-one patients (36.8%), whose serum trough levels of
      infliximab were significantly lower than those in anti-drug antibody-negative
      patients (0.09 +/- 0.03 vs. 2.48 +/- 0.326 MUg/mL, p < 0.0001). There were no
      significant differences in clinical backgrounds between the two groups. The anti
      drug antibody-positive patients were more likely to develop anti-nuclear antibody
      titers of >= *160 compared to the negative patients (14 to 57% vs. 17 to 33%). In
      addition, anti-DNA antibodies (Farr) (from 1.5 +/- 0.4 to 35 +/- 17 IU/mL, p =
      0.0001), especially IgM-anti-double stranded DNA antibody (from 5.1 +/- 0.7 to 41
      +/- 8.9 IU/mL, p < 0.0001), and IgG-anti-single stranded DNA antibody (from 13 +/
      1.1 to 35 +/- 13, p = 0.0145) were significantly increased in anti-drug antibody
      positive but not in negative patients. Moreover, the anti-drug antibody-positive,
      but not the negative patients, showed significant increased levels of interferon
      alpha (from 248.7 +/- 102.3 to 466.8 +/- 135.1 pg/mL, p = 0.0353) and B-cell
      activating factor (from 1073 +/- 75.1 to 1387 +/- 136.5 pg/mL, p = 0.0208)
      following infliximab treatment. The development of anti-drug antibody against
      infliximab and lupus-like autoantibody production in patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis treated with infliximab can be linked each other along with increased
      lupus-associated cytokine levels including type I interferons. 

PMID- 27643493
TI  - [Fecal microbiota transplantation, a novel therapy for recurrent Clostridium
      difficile infection].
AB  - Clostridium difficile infection is caused by a disturbance of the gut microbiota,
      often resulting from the use of antibiotics. Among a sub group of patients with
      this disorder, treatment with antibiotics is not effective. They develop a
      chronic, recurrent infection. Such patients can be treated with a fecal
      microbiota transplantation (FMT), or fecal transplantation. The crucial steps for
      safe application of fecal transplantation are central donor selection and
      screening. To optimise safety and to guarantee the availability of donor feces
      for fecal transplantation, the Nederlandse Donor Feces Bank (Dutch Donor Feces
      Bank) was established. At this facility, ready-to-use, screened donor feces can
      be ordered for patients with (recurrent) Clostridium difficile infections, who
      can then be treated at their own hospital.

PMID- 27643494
TI  - [Medicines and oral healthcare 1. What oral healthcare providers need to know
      about medicines].
AB  - Many patients who visit a dentist, oral hygienist or other oral healthcare
      provider use medicines. As a result of the ageing of the Dutch population, the
      number of patients using medicines will further increase, including the number of
      patients who are using more than one medicine. In addition to medicines, many
      patients, including healthy individuals, use self-care medications. Both
      medicines and self-care medications can interfere with dental treatment and/or
      may serve as an explanation for changes that dentists, oral hygienists or other
      oral healthcare providers observe in and around the mouth. With a series of
      articles about medicines and oral healthcare, attention will be given to this
      issue, an issue that will be increasingly important in the future. In addition,
      suggestions will be made in these articles for medicines for disorders in the
      head and neck region, keeping in mind that these suggestions should not be seen
      as dogmatic.

PMID- 27643495
TI  - [Medicines and oral health care 2. An optimised antibiotic policy in the interest
      of the patient].
AB  - Treatment of infectious diseases is complex and success is dependent upon a
      number of factors. The proper prescription and correct dosage of antimicrobials
      are important elements in this respect. Incorrect prescription and insufficient
      dosage can result not only in treatment failure but also contribute to the
      development of antimicrobial resistance. In order to achieve correct antibiotic
      dosages it is necessary to gain insight in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic
      principles. It is also vital to differentiate among various types of infections
      and to adjust antibiotic prescription to the clinical situation of the individual
      patient accordingly. To further optimise antibiotic policy collaboration between
      dental and medical professions is of major importance.

PMID- 27643496
TI  - [A Phd completed 4. Interactions between root canal irrigants, sealers and
      dentin].
AB  - In the field of endodontology, antibacterial activity of irrigants has been
      investigated many times. The influence of these solutions on the bonding of root
      canal sealers, however, has hardly been studied. The objective of this doctoral
      research was to determine the interactions between root canal sealers and root
      dentin, and to determine the influence of irrigants on these interactions. The
      various studies revealed that irrigants have an influence on the bonding of
      sealers based on epoxy resin, calcium hydroxide, silicones and calcium silicate.
      In the case of a sealer based on epoxy resin (AH Plus), the irrigation protocol
      had an influence on the bond strength (adhesion) on dentin, by means of which the
      seal was also improved. The results of this research produced better insights
      into the mechanisms at play in the adhesive properties of root canal sealers.
      Eventually, this might result in improved treatment outcomes of root canal
      treatments.

PMID- 27643497
TI  - [A PhD completed 5. Restoration survival in the composite resin age].
AB  - The article describes studies aimed at investigating factors that can influence
      composite restoration survival in posterior teeth, focusing on the main reasons
      for failure of direct restorations - fracture and secondary-caries. Since direct
      composite resin restaurations seem to be more prone to secondary caries when
      compared to amalgam, one study was performed to evaluate the influence of
      materials on secondary caries lesion formation in situ. Also, in most clinical
      studies evaluating restoration survival, there is a tendency to focus on
      materials factors. Two retrospective clinical investigations, a meta-analysis
      with primary data of clinical studies and a systematic review were performed to
      assess the influence of patient-, materials-, and tooth-related variables in
      posterior composite restoration survival. Composite resins were not related with
      higher mineral loss when compared to amalgam. Tooth type, number of restored
      surfaces and patient-related factors like a high caries risk and occlusal wear
      were consistently found to influence composite resin restoration survival in
      posterior teeth, whereas materials factors were not consistently implicated with
      the survivalrate.

PMID- 27643498
TI  - Cross-Sectional Surveys of the Prevalence of Follicular Trachoma and Trichiasis
      in The Gambia: Has Elimination Been Reached?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Gambia's National Eye Health Programme has made a concerted
      effort to reduce the prevalence of trachoma. The present study had two
      objectives. The first was to conduct surveillance following mass drug
      administrations to determine whether The Gambia has reached the World Health
      Organization's (WHO) criteria for trachoma elimination, namely a prevalence of
      trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) of less than 5% in children aged 1 to 9
      years. The second was to determine the prevalence of trichiasis (TT) cases
      unknown to the programme and evaluate whether these meet the WHO criteria of less
      than 0.1% in the total population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Three cross
      sectional surveys were conducted between 2011 and 2013 to determine the
      prevalence of TF and TT in each of nine surveillance zones. Each zone was of
      similar size, with a population of 60,000 to 90,000, once urban settlements were
      excluded. Trachoma grading was carried out according to the WHO's simplified
      trachoma grading system. The prevalence of TF in children aged 1 to 9 years was
      less than 5% in each surveillance zone at each of the three surveys. The
      prevalence of TT cases varied by zone from 0 to 1.7% of adults greater than 14
      years while the prevalence of TT cases unknown to the country's National Eye
      Health Programme was estimated at 0.15% total population.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The Gambia has reached the elimination threshold for TF
      in children. Further work is needed to bring the number of unknown TT cases below
      the elimination threshold.

PMID- 27643499
TI  - Determining the Biochemical Properties of the Oxalate Biosynthetic Component
      (Obc)1 from Burkholderia mallei.
AB  - Oxalic acid is produced by a variety of organisms ranging from simple microbes to
      complex animals. This acid has been proposed to fulfill various physiological and
      pathological functions which vary between organisms. In bacteria from the
      Burkholderia genus, oxalate secretion has been shown to be quorum sensing
      dependent and to support pathogenicity and cell viability. In light of the
      critical roles of oxalate in Burkholderia as well as other organisms, it is
      surprising that our understanding of how this simple dicarboxylate is
      biosynthesized remains incomplete. Here we report the expression, purification,
      and partial characterization of the first intact bacterial oxalate biosynthetic
      enzyme, Obc1, from B. mallei. An N-terminal His-tagged Bmobc1 was cloned into
      pDUET, expressed in E. coli BLR (DE3), and the recombinant enzyme purified by
      affinity chromatography. Oxalate biosynthetic enzyme assays coupled with HPLC
      analysis revealed that BmObc1 catalyzed the biosynthesis of oxalate,
      acetoacetate, and free CoA from oxaloacetate and a short chain acyl-CoA following
      Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Optimal enzyme activity was measured at pH 8.0 and a
      temperature around 44 degrees C. Kinetic analysis conducted under conditions of
      saturating acetyl-CoA and varying oxaloacetate concentrations resulted in a
      calculated Km value for oxaloacetate of 94.3+/- 9.2 MUM (mean +/- SE). Under
      conditions of saturating oxaloacetate concentration and varying acyl-CoA (acetyl-
      or propionyl-CoA) concentrations kinetic analysis generated a calculated Km value
      of 26.8 +/- 2.3 MUM (mean +/- SE) for acetyl-CoA and 104.4 +/- 12.7 MUM for
      propionyl-CoA. The significantly lower Km for acetyl-CoA suggests that it is
      strongly favored as a substrate over propionyl-CoA. 

PMID- 27643501
TI  - Family, twin, and adoption studies of childhood onset psychiatric and
      neurodevelopmental disorders.

PMID- 27643500
TI  - In Vitro Structural and Functional Characterization of the Small Heat Shock
      Proteins (sHSP) of the Cyanophage S-ShM2 and Its Host, Synechococcus sp. WH7803.
AB  - We previously reported the in silico characterization of Synechococcus sp. phage
      18 kDa small heat shock protein (HspSP-ShM2). This small heat shock protein
      (sHSP) contains a highly conserved core alpha crystalline domain of 92 amino
      acids and relatively short N- and C-terminal arms, the later containing the
      classical C-terminal anchoring module motif (L-X-I/L/V). Here we establish the
      oligomeric profile of HspSP-ShM2 and its structural dynamics under in vitro
      experimental conditions using size exclusion chromatography (SEC/FPLC), gradient
      native gels electrophoresis and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Under native
      conditions, HspSP-ShM2 displays the ability to form large oligomers and shows a
      polydisperse profile. At higher temperatures, it shows extensive structural
      dynamics and undergoes conformational changes through an increased of subunit
      rearrangement and formation of sub-oligomeric species. We also demonstrate its
      capacity to prevent the aggregation of citrate synthase, malate dehydrogenase and
      luciferase under heat shock conditions through the formation of stable and
      soluble hetero-oligomeric complexes (sHSP:substrate). In contrast, the host
      cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp. WH7803 15 kDa sHSP (HspS-WH7803) aggregates when
      in the same conditions as HspSP-ShM2. However, its solubility can be maintained
      in the presence of non-ionic detergent TritonTMX-100 and forms an oligomeric
      structure estimated to be between dimer and tetramer but exhibits no apparent
      inducible structural dynamics neither chaperon-like activity in all the assays
      and molar ratios tested. SEC/FPLC and thermal aggregation prevention assays
      results indicate no formation of hetero-oligomeric complex or functional
      interactions between both sHSPs. Taken together these in vitro results portray
      the phage HspSP-ShM2 as a classical sHSP and suggest that it may be functional at
      the in vivo level while behaving differently than its host amphitropic sHSP. 

PMID- 27643502
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Osteoclastogenic and Antioxidant Effects of Malva
      sylvestris Extract and Fractions: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.
AB  - Given their medical importance, natural products represent a tremendous source of
      drug discovery. The aim of this study was to investigate Malva sylvestris L.
      extract and fractions and their pharmacological activities followed by chemical
      identification. The aqueous fraction (AF) was identified as the bioactive
      fraction in the in vitro and in vivo assays. The AF controlled the neutrophil
      migration to the peritoneal cavity by 66%, inhibited the antiedematogenic
      activity by 58.8%, and controlled IL-1beta cytokine expression by 54%. The in
      vitro viability tests showed a concentration-dependent effect, where the MSE and
      fractions at concentrations under 10 MUg/mL were non-toxic to cells.
      Transcriptional factors of carbonic anhydrase II (CAII), cathepsin K (Ctsk) and
      tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) were analyzed by qPCR in RAW 264.7
      cell lines. The gene expression analysis showed that the AF was the only
      treatment that could downregulate all the study genes: CAII, Ctsk and TRAP
      (p<0.05). TRAP staining was used to evaluate osteoclast formation. AF treatments
      reduced the number of osteoclastogenesis 2.6-fold compared to the vehicle control
      group. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) activity decreased 75% with the AF
      treatment. Moreover, the bioactive fraction had the ability to regulate the
      oxidation pathway in the ABTS (2,2-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic
      acid) assay with an activity equivalent to 1.30 MUmol Trolox/g and DPPH (2,2
      diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radicals 1.01 g/L. Positive ion ESI-mass spectrometry
      for molecular ions at m/z 611 and 633 confirmed rutin as the major compound in
      the AF. The AF of M. sylvestris presented anti-inflammatory, controlled
      osteoclastogenic mechanisms and antioxidant abilities in different in vitro and
      in vivo methods. In addition, we suggest that given its multi-target activity the
      bioactive fraction may be a good candidate in the therapy of chronic inflammatory
      diseases. 

PMID- 27643504
TI  - The obesity paradox: an endocrine perspective.
AB  - Obesity is a growing epidemic both in Australia and worldwide. Being overweight
      or obese is known to be adversely associated with multiple cardiovascular risk
      factors, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, lipid disorders and hypertension.
      Despite the adverse impact of overweight and obesity, recent observational
      studies have suggested that in some overweight and obese individuals with
      established chronic disease, there is a survival advantage that is paradoxically
      better than individuals of normal weight. A burgeoning area of interest is the
      existence of this paradox in chronic endocrine disorders, especially with respect
      to osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus, as well as the latter's chronic
      complications, chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease. In this
      article, we review the postulated mechanisms and latest evidence concerning the
      obesity paradox, with a focus on endocrine-related diseases. We discuss
      confounders and biases that exist in observational studies from which the paradox
      has been described and highlight that, despite the observed paradox, substantial
      literature exists supporting the benefits of weight reduction in obesity.

PMID- 27643503
TI  - Evaluation of Lysis Methods for the Extraction of Bacterial DNA for Analysis of
      the Vaginal Microbiota.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies on the vaginal microbiota have employed molecular
      techniques such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing to describe the bacterial community
      as a whole. These techniques require the lysis of bacterial cells to release DNA
      before purification and PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene. Currently,
      methods for the lysis of bacterial cells are not standardised and there is
      potential for introducing bias into the results if some bacterial species are
      lysed less efficiently than others. This study aimed to compare the results of
      vaginal microbiota profiling using four different pretreatment methods for the
      lysis of bacterial samples (30 min of lysis with lysozyme, 16 hours of lysis with
      lysozyme, 60 min of lysis with a mixture of lysozyme, mutanolysin and lysostaphin
      and 30 min of lysis with lysozyme followed by bead beating) prior to chemical and
      enzyme-based DNA extraction with a commercial kit. RESULTS: After extraction, DNA
      yield did not significantly differ between methods with the exception of lysis
      with lysozyme combined with bead beating which produced significantly lower
      yields when compared to lysis with the enzyme cocktail or 30 min lysis with
      lysozyme only. However, this did not result in a statistically significant
      difference in the observed alpha diversity of samples. The beta diversity (Bray
      Curtis dissimilarity) between different lysis methods was statistically
      significantly different, but this difference was small compared to differences
      between samples, and did not affect the grouping of samples with similar vaginal
      bacterial community structure by hierarchical clustering. CONCLUSIONS: An
      understanding of how laboratory methods affect the results of microbiota studies
      is vital in order to accurately interpret the results and make valid comparisons
      between studies. Our results indicate that the choice of lysis method does not
      prevent the detection of effects relating to the type of vaginal bacterial
      community one of the main outcome measures of epidemiological studies. However,
      we recommend that the same method is used on all samples within a particular
      study.

PMID- 27643506
TI  - Corrigendum: Benzimidazobenzothiazole-based Bipolar Hosts to Harvest Nearly All
      of the Excitons from Blue Delayed Fluorescence and Phosphorescent Organic Light
      Emitting Diodes.

PMID- 27643505
TI  - Challenges in Targeting a Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factor with
      Hydrocarbon-Stapled Peptides.
AB  - Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors play critical roles in
      organism development and disease by regulating cell proliferation and
      differentiation. Transcriptional activity, whether by bHLH homo- or
      heterodimerization, is dependent on protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions
      mediated by alpha-helices. Thus, alpha-helical decoys have been proposed as
      potential targeted therapies for pathologic bHLH transcription. Here, we
      developed a library of stabilized alpha-helices of OLIG2 (SAH-OLIG2) to test the
      capacity of hydrocarbon-stapled peptides to disrupt OLIG2 homodimerization, which
      drives the development and chemoresistance of glioblastoma multiforme, one of the
      deadliest forms of human brain cancer. Although stapling successfully reinforced
      the alpha-helical structure of bHLH constructs of varying length, sequence
      specific dissociation of OLIG2 dimers from DNA was not achieved. Re-evaluation of
      the binding determinants for OLIG2 self-association and stability revealed an
      unanticipated role of the C-terminal domain. These data highlight potential
      pitfalls in peptide-based targeting of bHLH transcription factors given the
      liabilities of their positively charged amino acid sequences and multifactorial
      binding determinants.

PMID- 27643507
TI  - Corrigendum: Substrate-Controlled Product Divergence: Conversion of CO2 into
      Heterocyclic Products.

PMID- 27643509
TI  - First-order and higher order sequence learning in specific language impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A core claim of the procedural deficit hypothesis of specific language
      impairment (SLI) is that the disorder is associated with poor implicit sequence
      learning. This study investigated whether implicit sequence learning problems in
      SLI are present for first-order conditional (FOC) and higher order conditional
      (HOC) sequences. METHOD: Twenty-five children with SLI and 27 age-matched,
      nonlanguage-impaired children completed 2 serial reaction time tasks. On 1
      version, the sequence to be implicitly learnt comprised a FOC sequence and on the
      other a HOC sequence. RESULTS: Results showed that the SLI group learned the HOC
      sequence (etap2 = .285, p = .005) but not the FOC sequence (etap2 = .099, p =
      .118). The control group learned both sequences (FOC etap2 = .497, HOC etap2=
      .465, ps < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The SLI group's difficulty learning the FOC
      sequence is consistent with the procedural deficit hypothesis. However, the study
      provides new evidence that multiple mechanisms may underpin the learning of FOC
      and HOC sequences. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643510
TI  - Structural brain markers are differentially associated with neurocognitive
      profiles in socially marginalized people with multimorbid illness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The authors examined associations between complementary fronto
      temporal structural brain measures (gyrification, cortical thickness) and
      neurocognitive profiles in a multimorbid, socially marginalized sample. METHOD:
      Participants were recruited from single-room occupancy hotels and a downtown
      community courthouse (N = 299) and grouped on multiple neurocognitive domains
      using cluster analysis. Subsequently, the authors evaluated whether the fronto
      temporal brain indices, and proxy measures of neurodevelopment and acquired brain
      insult/risk exposure differentiated members of the 3 distinct neurocognitive
      clusters. RESULTS: Greater frontal and temporal gyrification and more proxies of
      aberrant neurodevelopment were associated with the lowest functioning
      neurocognitive cluster (Cluster 3). Further, for older participants (50+ years),
      increased cortical thickness in frontal regions was associated with the higher
      functioning neurocognitive cluster (Cluster 1). Finally, the greatest acquired
      brain insult/risk exposure was associated with the cluster characterized by
      selective decision-making impairment (Cluster 2). CONCLUSIONS: Fronto-temporal
      structural brain indices, and proxies of neurodevelopment and acquired brain
      insult/risk exposure were differentially associated with neurocognitive profiles
      in socially marginalized persons. These findings highlight the unique pathways to
      neurocognitive impairment in a heterogeneous population and help to clarify the
      vulnerabilities confronted by different subgroups. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643511
TI  - Rhodium/Silver-Cocatalyzed Transannulation of N-Sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles with
      Vinyl Azides: Divergent Synthesis of Pyrroles and 2 H-Pyrazines.
AB  - The first cyclization reaction between vinyl azides and N-sulfonyl-1,2,3
      triazoles is reported. A Rh/Ag binary metal catalyst system proved to be
      necessary for the successful cyclization. By varying the structure of vinyl
      azides, such reaction allows the divergent synthesis of pyrroles and 2H
      pyrazines. The cyclization reactions feature a broad substrate scope, good
      functional group tolerance, high reaction efficiency, and good to high product
      yields.

PMID- 27643512
TI  - Inguinal Herniation Containing Bladder, Causing Contralateral Allograft
      Hydroureteronephrosis-A Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - We report the first documented case of an inguinal hernia containing bladder,
      resulting in contralateral allograft hydroureteronephrosis. A 39-year-old male
      patient presented with allograft dysfunction, a contralateral inguinoscrotal
      hernia, and marked hydroureteronephrosis on ultrasound (US). Percutaneous
      nephrostogram and a retrograde cystogram suggested bladder herniation with
      incorporation of the contralateral ureteroneocystostomy into the hernia.
      Paraperitoneal bladder herniation was confirmed at surgery and hernioplasty was
      performed. Six-week follow-up revealed normal renal function with no sign of
      hernia recurrence. Despite occurring rarely, transplant ureter or bladder
      herniation should be considered in the differential diagnosis of
      hydroureteronephrosis. This case illustrates that the contralateral position of
      hernia to allograft does not necessarily preclude the hernia as the source of
      ureteric obstruction.

PMID- 27643513
TI  - Overdiagnosis and rising rate of obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS): time
      for reappraisal.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the accuracy of clinical diagnosis of obstetric anal
      sphincter injuries (OASIS) using three-dimensional (3D) endoanal ultrasound (EA
      US) and to compare symptoms and anal manometry measurements between women with
      anal sphincters adequately repaired and those with persistent anal sphincter
      defects. METHODS: The EA-US images of women with clinically diagnosed and
      repaired OASIS, defined as third- or fourth-degree perineal tear, who attended
      the perineal clinic at Croydon University Hospital over a 10-year period (2003
      2013) were reanalyzed by a single expert blind to symptoms and the results of
      clinical examination. St Mark's Incontinence Scores (SMIS) and anal manometry
      measurements were obtained and compared between women with an intact anal
      sphincter and those with an anal sphincter scar and between those with an intact
      anal sphincter and those with a defect. Anal manometry measurements were compared
      between women with an external anal sphincter (EAS) defect and those with an
      internal anal sphincter (IAS) defect. RESULTS: The images of 908 women were
      reanalyzed. No evidence of OASIS was found in 64 (7.0%) women, an EAS scar alone
      was detected in 520 (57.3%) and an anal sphincter defect in 324 (35.7%). Of the
      324 women with a defect, 112 had an EAS defect, 90 had an IAS defect and 122 had
      a combined IAS and EAS defect. SMIS results were significantly higher in women
      with an anal sphincter defect compared with those with no evidence of OASIS (P =
      0.018), but there was no significant difference in scores between women with an
      intact sphincter and those with an EAS scar only. Women with a defect had a
      significantly lower maximum resting pressure (median (range), 44 (8-106) vs 55
      (29-86) mmHg; P < 0.001) and maximum squeeze pressure (median (range), 74 (23
      180) vs 103 (44-185) mmHg; P < 0.001) compared with those in the intact group.
      Similar, but less marked, differences were observed in women with an EAS scar
      compared with those who had an intact anal sphincter. The anal length was
      significantly shorter in women with a defect compared with those in the intact
      group (median (range), 20 (10-40) vs 25 (10-40) mm; P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS:
      Seven percent of women with a clinical diagnosis of OASIS were wrongly diagnosed.
      We believe that this rate may differ from that of other units but training
      methods and competency assessment tools for the diagnosis and repair of OASIS
      need urgent reappraisal. The role of EA-US in the immediate postpartum period
      needs further evaluation as the accurate interpretation of the images is
      dependent on the expertise of the staff involved. Copyright (c) 2016 ISUOG.
      Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 27643514
TI  - Redox-Assisted Self-Assembly of a Water-Soluble Cyanido-Bridged Mixed Valence
      {CoIII /FeII }2 Square.
AB  - The facile redox-assisted assembly of a water-soluble, extremely robust, cyanide
      bridged mixed-valence [{CoIII {(Me)2 (MU-ET)cyclen}}2 {(MU-NC)2 FeII (CN)4 }2 ]2-
      square is reported. The preparation process involved the use of the enhanced
      lability of inert CoIII synthons triggered by outer-sphere redox processes.
      Characterization of the final compounds has been carried out by NMR, UV/Vis,
      electrochemistry, and ICP analyses. DFT calculations have been conducted to
      optimize a structure that has the same hydrodynamic radius as that obtained from
      DOSY experiments. The new compound is extremely robust, surviving in aqueous
      solution within the 0-12 pH range for months. The species shows a high affinity
      for both protons and hydroxo ions in aqueous medium.

PMID- 27643515
TI  - Protective Effect of 2-Dodecyl-6-Methoxycyclohexa-2, 5-Diene-1, 4-Dione, Isolated
      from Averrhoa Carambola L., Against Palmitic Acid-Induced Inflammation and
      Apoptosis in Min6 Cells by Inhibiting the TLR4-MyD88-NF-kappaB Signaling Pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Studies have demonstrated that 2-dodecyl-6-methoxycyclohexa-2, 5
      diene-1, 4-dione (DMDD), isolated from the roots of Averrhoa carambola L., has
      significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of diabetes. However, the
      protective effect of DMDD against pancreatic beta cell dysfunction has never been
      reported. We investigated whether DMDD protected against palmitic acid-induced
      dysfunction in pancreatic beta-cell line Min6 cells by attenuating the
      inflammatory response and apoptosis and to shed light on its possible mechanism.
      METHODS: Cell viability was assessed by CCK-8. Glucose-stimulated insulin
      secretion levels and inflammatory cytokines levels were examined by ELISA.
      Apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V-FITC/PI Flow cytometry assay, Hoechst
      33342/PI double-staining assay, and Transmission electron microscopy assay.
      Relative quantitative real-time PCR and western blot were used to determine the
      expressions of genes and proteins. RESULTS: Cell viability and glucose-stimulated
      insulin secretion levels were increased in DMDD-pretreated Min6 cells. DMDD
      inhibited inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-alpha and MCP-1 generations in
      palmitic acid (PA)-induced Min6 cells. Moreover, DMDD protected against PA
      induced Min6 cells apoptosis and the expression of Cleaved-Caspase-3, -8 and -9
      were down-regulated and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was increased in DMDD-pretreated Min6
      cells. In addition, the expression of TLR4, MyD88 and NF-kappaB were down
      regulated in DMDD-pretreated Min6 cells and TAK-242-pretreated group cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: DMDD protected Min6 cells against PA-induced dysfunction by
      attenuating the inflammatory response and apoptosis, and its mechanism of this
      protection was associated with inhibiting the TLR4-MyD88-NF-kappaB signaling
      pathway.

PMID- 27643516
TI  - Antiangiogenic Therapy Induces Hepatic Tumor Vascular Network Rearrangement to
      Receive Perfusion via the Portal Vein and Hepatic Artery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hepatic malignancies can easily develop resistance to antiangiogenic
      therapy, but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. This study
      explores whether antiangiogenic therapy influences the tumor vascular network
      and/or the vessels feeding the hepatic tumor. METHODS: Mice implanted with Lewis
      lung carcinoma (LLC) cells were subcutaneously injected 3 times (once every other
      day starting 1 week after LLC implantation) with either an antiangiogenic agent
      [vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-Trap] or control agent (bovine serum
      albumin) at a dose of 25 mg/kg before performing angiography. Hepatic
      arteriography and portography were performed using a vascular cast method with
      vascular latex. RESULTS: Arteriography of the control-treated LLC-implanted mice
      showed marked staining of the mass with a prominent feeding artery, suggesting
      that the tumor is supplied by arterial perfusion. No significant staining was
      observed on portography. By contrast, 33% (n = 3/9) of the LLC-implanted mice
      treated with the antiangiogenic agent VEGF-Trap showed intratumoral staining
      during portography, indicating that these tumors received perfusion via the
      portal vein. CONCLUSION: Antiangiogenic treatment can induce rearrangement of the
      hepatic tumor vascular network to establish communication with the portal vein.
      This implies that hepatic tumors can develop resistance to antiangiogenic therapy
      by maintaining perfusion through portal venous perfusion.

PMID- 27643517
TI  - Fipronil insecticide toxicology: oxidative stress and metabolism.
AB  - Fipronil (FIP) is widely used across the world as a broad-spectrum phenylpyrazole
      insecticide and veterinary drug. FIP was the insecticide to act by targeting the
      gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor and has favorable selective toxicity
      towards insects rather than mammals. However, because of accidental exposure,
      incorrect use of FIP or widespread FIP use leading to the contamination of water
      and soil, there is increasing evidence that FIP could cause a variety of toxic
      effects on animals and humans, such as neurotoxic, hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic,
      reproductive, and cytotoxic effects on vertebrate and invertebrates. In the last
      decade, oxidative stress has been suggested to be involved in the various
      toxicities induced by FIP. To date, few reviews have addressed the toxicity of
      FIP in relation to oxidative stress. The focus of this article is primarily
      intended to summarize the progress in research associated with oxidative stress
      as a possible mechanism for FIP-induced toxicity as well as metabolism. The
      present review reports that studies have been conducted to reveal the generation
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress as a result of FIP
      treatment and have correlated them with various types of toxicity. Furthermore,
      the metabolism of FIP was also reviewed, and during this process, various CYP450
      enzymes were involved and oxidative stress might occur. The roles of various
      compounds in protecting against FIP-induced toxicity based on their anti
      oxidative effects were also summarized to further understand the role of
      oxidative stress in FIP-induced toxicity.

PMID- 27643518
TI  - Early Experience of Robotic Hysterectomy for Treatment of Benign Uterine Disease.
AB  - Objectives To demonstrate the initial experience of robotic hysterectomy to treat
      benign uterine disease at a university hospital in Brazil. Methods A cross
      sectional study was conducted to review data from the first twenty patients
      undergoing robotic hysterectomy at our hospital. The surgeries were performed
      from November 2013 to August 2014, all of them by the same surgeon. The patients
      were reviewed for preoperative characteristics, including age, body mass index
      (BMI), indications for the hysterectomy and previous surgeries. Data of operative
      times, complications, postoperative pain and length of hospital stay were also
      collected. Results The total operating room time was 252.9 minutes, while the
      operative time was 180.7 minutes and the console time was 136.6 minutes. Docking
      time was 4.2 minutes, and the average undocking time was 1.9 minutes. There was a
      strong correlation between the operative time and the patient's BMI (r = 0.670; p
      = 0.001). The console time had significant correlation with the uterine weight
      and the patient's BMI (r = 0.468; p = 0.037). A learning curve was observed
      during docking and undocking times. Conclusion Despite its high cost, the robotic
      surgery is gaining more space in gynecological surgery. By the results obtained
      in our hospital, this surgical proposal proved to be feasible and safe. Our
      initial experience demonstrated a learning curve in some ways.

PMID- 27643519
TI  - Cultural Adaptation of the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire and Validation of
      Its Use in the Portuguese Language for Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain.
AB  - Objectives to translate and adapt the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ) to
      Portuguese and to assess its psychometric properties based on internal
      consistency, test-retest, factor analysis and divergent and convergent construct
      validities. Methods The study involved 218 participants and was approved by the
      local Research Ethics Committee. All participants gave written informed consent
      and their anonymity was ensured. The instrument was translated and culturally
      adapted for use in the Portuguese language. The internal consistency and
      factorial analysis were assessed by patients and physicians. Convergent and
      divergent validities were also assessed specifically for the patient group, as
      well as test-retest reliability. The Portuguese versions of the Patient Health
      Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used for the
      analysis of the convergent validity. In addition, we applied a questionnaire of
      clinical and demographic data for the analysis of the divergent validity. Results
      The adapted version of the PSQ showed good Cronbach's alpha and test-retest
      values, and the results of the convergent construct validity between the PSQ and
      the PHQ-9 (r = 0.34; p = 0.02) and the STAI (r = 0.47; p = 0.001) were negative,
      significant and moderate correlations. Divergent validity showed significant
      correlations only with race and education. The Brazilian Portuguese version of
      the PSQ proved to be a valid and reliable instrument, with psychometric
      properties suitable for the assessment of satisfaction among patients with
      chronic pelvic pain and their physicians in Brazil. The questionnaire may allow
      the homogenization of reports on this topic in the international literature.

PMID- 27643520
TI  - Erratum: ATP-Sensitive Potassium Channel: A Novel Target for Protection Against
      UV-Induced Human Skin Cell Damage by Cong Cao, Sarah Healey, Ashley Amaral, Avery
      Lee-Couture, Shu Wan, Nicola Kouttab, Wenming Chu and Yinsheng Wan.

PMID- 27643522
TI  - Vapor-Phase Raman Spectra and the Barrier to Planarity of Cyclohexane.
AB  - The vapor-phase Raman spectra of an atmosphere of cyclohexane vapor heated to 90
      and 110  degrees C collected over a large period of time and utilizing a high
      laser power of 4 W show hot band series starting at 380.8 cm-1 and corresponding
      to the v6(A1g) ring-inversion vibration. Fitting this data with a one-dimensional
      potential energy function allows the barrier to planarity of 8600 cm-1 (24.6
      kcal/mol) to be calculated. Ab initio calculations (MP2/cc-pVTZ) predict a value
      of 10 377 cm-1 (29.7 kcal/mol), while DFT (B3LYP/cc-pVTZ) calculations predict
      8804 cm-1 (25.2 kcal/mol).

PMID- 27643523
TI  - Methodological Comments on "The Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for
      Transplantation: A Prospective Study of Medical and Psychosocial Outcomes".

PMID- 27643524
TI  - Primary Mediastinal Yolk Sac Tumors: An Immunohistochemical Analysis of 14 Cases.
AB  - Primary mediastinal germ cell tumors are uncommon tumors that can pose diagnostic
      difficulties due to their morphologic spectrum and unusual site.
      Immunohistochemistry plays an increasing role in the diagnosis of these tumors.
      Whereas the immunophenotype of testicular yolk sac tumors (YST) is rather well
      known, the opposite is true for primary mediastinal YST leading us to investigate
      the immunohistochemical features of 14 such neoplasms. Fourteen cases of primary
      mediastinal YST were reviewed and representative whole tissue sections were
      selected for immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies directed against
      CAM5.2, SALL4, OCT3/4, glypican-3, CD30, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), CD117,
      placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), GATA-3, and CDX2. The percentage of
      positive tumor cells and the intensity of staining were evaluated and scored. All
      cases (100%) showed strong and diffuse expression of CAM5.2 and SALL4, 10 cases
      (71%) reacted with glypican-3 and AFP in a patchy manner, 5 cases (36%) showed
      focal positivity with PLAP and GATA-3, 4 cases (29%) showed staining for CDX2, 3
      (21%) showed expression of CD117, and a single case was positive for CD30 (7%).
      None of the cases showed any staining for OCT3/4. Primary mediastinal YST appear
      to have a similar immunohistochemical phenotype as their testicular counterparts.
      Coexpression of CAM5.2, SALL4, glypican-3, and AFP provides the best support for
      YST differentiation; however, it has to be noted that none of these markers is
      specific for these tumors and immunohistochemical results will always have to be
      interpreted in the context of morphologic, clinical, and radiologic information.

PMID- 27643525
TI  - Water Splitting with Series-Connected Polymer Solar Cells.
AB  - We investigate light-driven electrochemical water splitting with series-connected
      polymer solar cells using a combined experimental and modeling approach. The
      expected maximum solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency (etaSTH) for light
      driven water splitting is modeled for two, three, and four series-connected
      polymer solar cells. In the modeling, we assume an electrochemical water
      splitting potential of 1.50 V and a polymer solar cell for which the external
      quantum efficiency and fill factor are both 0.65. The minimum photon energy loss
      (Eloss), defined as the energy difference between the optical band gap (Eg) and
      the open-circuit voltage (Voc), is set to 0.8 eV, which we consider a realistic
      value for polymer solar cells. Within these approximations, two series-connected
      single junction cells with Eg = 1.73 eV or three series-connected cells with Eg =
      1.44 eV are both expected to give an etaSTH of 6.9%. For four series-connected
      cells, the maximum etaSTH is slightly less at 6.2% at an optimal Eg = 1.33 eV.
      Water splitting was performed with series-connected polymer solar cells using
      polymers with different band gaps. PTPTIBDT-OD (Eg = 1.89 eV), PTB7-Th (Eg = 1.56
      eV), and PDPP5T-2 (Eg = 1.44 eV) were blended with [70]PCBM as absorber layer for
      two, three, and four series-connected configurations, respectively, and provide
      etaSTH values of 4.1, 6.1, and 4.9% when using a retroreflective foil on top of
      the cell to enhance light absorption. The reasons for deviations with experiments
      are analyzed and found to be due to differences in Eg and Eloss. Light-driven
      electrochemical water splitting was also modeled for multijunction polymer solar
      cells with vertically stacked photoactive layers. Under identical assumptions, an
      etaSTH of 10.0% is predicted for multijunction cells.

PMID- 27643526
TI  - Characterizations of the Formation of Polydopamine-Coated Halloysite Nanotubes in
      Various pH Environments.
AB  - Recent studies demonstrated that polydopamine (PDA) coating is universal to
      nearly all substrates, and it endows substrates with biocompatibility,
      postfunctionality, and other useful properties. Surface chemistry of PDA coating
      is important for its postmodifications and applications. However, there is less
      understanding of the formation mechanism and surface functional groups of PDA
      layers generated in different conditions. Halloysite is a kind of clay mineral
      with tubular nanostructure. Water-swellable halloysite has unique reactivity. In
      this study, we have investigated the reaction of dopamine in the presence of
      water-swellable halloysite. We have tracked the reaction progresses in different
      pH environments by using UV-vis spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman
      spectroscopy (SERS). The surface properties of PDA on halloysite were clarified
      by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), SERS, Fourier transform infrared
      (FTIR) characterizations, zeta potential, surface wettability, and morphological
      characterizations. We noticed that the interaction between halloysite surface and
      dopamine strongly influences the surface functionality of coated PDA. In
      addition, pH condition further modulates surface functional groups, resulting in
      less content of secondary/aromatic amine in PDA generated in weak acidic
      environment. This study demonstrates that the formation mechanism of polydopamine
      becomes complex in the presence of inorganic nanomaterials. Substrate property
      and reaction condition dominate the functionality of obtained PDA together.

PMID- 27643527
TI  - Attention and eye-movement control in reading: The selective reading paradigm.
AB  - We introduced a novel paradigm for investigating covert attention and eye
      movement control in reading. In 2 experiments, participants read sentence words
      (shown in blue color) while ignoring interleaved distractor strings (shown in
      orange color). Each single-line text display contained a target word and a
      critical distractor. Critical distractors were located just prior to the target
      in the text and were either words or symbol strings (e.g., @#%&). Target word
      availability for parafoveal processing (i.e., preview validity) was also
      manipulated. The results indicated much shallower processing of distractors than
      targets, and this pattern was more pronounced for symbol than word distractors.
      The influences of word frequency and fixation location on first-pass fixation
      durations on distractors were dramatically different than the well-documented
      pattern obtained in normal reading. Robust preview benefits were demonstrated
      both when the critical distractors were fixated and when the critical distractors
      were skipped. Finally, with the exception of larger preview benefits that were
      obtained in the condition in which the target and critical distractor were
      identical, the magnitude of the preview effect was largely unaffected by the
      nature of the critical distractor. Implications of the present paradigm and
      findings to the study of eye-movement control in reading are discussed. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27643528
TI  - Up-to-Date Workflow for Plant (Phospho)proteomics Identifies Differential Drought
      Responsive Phosphorylation Events in Maize Leaves.
AB  - Protein phosphorylation is one of the most common post-translational
      modifications (PTMs), which can regulate protein activity and localization as
      well as protein-protein interactions in numerous cellular processes.
      Phosphopeptide enrichment techniques enable plant researchers to acquire insight
      into phosphorylation-controlled signaling networks in various plant species. Most
      phosphoproteome analyses of plant samples still involve stable isotope labeling,
      peptide fractionation, and demand a lot of mass spectrometry (MS) time. Here, we
      present a simple workflow to probe, map, and catalogue plant phosphoproteomes,
      requiring relatively low amounts of starting material, no labeling, no
      fractionation, and no excessive analysis time. Following optimization of the
      different experimental steps on Arabidopsis thaliana samples, we transferred our
      workflow to maize, a major monocot crop, to study signaling upon drought stress.
      In addition, we included normalization to protein abundance to identify true
      phosphorylation changes. Overall, we identified a set of new phosphosites in both
      Arabidopsis thaliana and maize, some of which are differentially phosphorylated
      upon drought. All data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier
      PXD003634, but to provide easy access to our model plant and crop data sets, we
      created an online database, Plant PTM Viewer (
      bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/ptm_viewer/ ), where all phosphosites
      identified in our study can be consulted.

PMID- 27643529
TI  - Antiphage activity of sera during phage therapy in relation to its outcome.
AB  - AIM: The aim was to study the association between the phage neutralization of
      patients' sera and the clinical outcome of phage therapy (PT). PATIENTS: About 62
      patients with various bacterial infections receiving PT as well as 30 healthy
      volunteers were studied. MATERIALS & METHODS: Antiphage activity of sera (AAS)
      was examined using the phage neutralization test of different types of phages
      before and during PT in relation to the route of phage administration and
      correlated with the results of PT. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: The analysis of the
      association between AAS level and clinical results indicated that the level of
      AAS is not correlated with the outcome of PT.

PMID- 27643530
TI  - Electrical Stimulation as a Means for Improving Vision.
AB  - Evolving research has provided evidence that noninvasive electrical stimulation
      (ES) of the eye may be a promising therapy for either preserving or restoring
      vision in several retinal and optic nerve diseases. In this review, we focus on
      minimally invasive strategies for the delivery of ES and accordingly summarize
      the current literature on transcorneal, transorbital, and transpalpebral ES in
      both animal experiments and clinical studies. Various mechanisms are believed to
      underlie the effects of ES, including increased production of neurotrophic
      agents, improved chorioretinal blood circulation, and inhibition of
      proinflammatory cytokines. Different animal models have demonstrated favorable
      effects of ES on both the retina and the optic nerve. Promising effects of ES
      have also been demonstrated in clinical studies; however, all current studies
      have a lack of randomization and/or a control group (sham). There is thus a
      pressing need for a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms that govern
      clinical success and optimization of stimulation parameters in animal studies. In
      addition, such research should be followed by large, prospective, clinical
      studies to explore the full potential of ES. Through this review, we aim to
      provide insight to guide future research on ES as a potential therapy for
      improving vision.

PMID- 27643532
TI  - One-Step Trimethylstannylation of Benzyl and Alkyl Halides.
AB  - Trialkylstannanes are good leaving groups that have been used for the formation
      of carbon-metal bonds to electrode surfaces for analyses of single-molecule
      conductivity. Here, we report the multistep synthesis of two amide-containing
      compounds that are of interest in studies of molecular rectifiers. Each molecule
      has two trimethylstannyl units, one linked by a methylene and the other by an
      ethylene group. To account for the very different reactivities of the parent
      halides, a new methodology for one-step trimethylstannylation was developed and
      optimized.

PMID- 27643533
TI  - Long-Circulating Au-TiO2 Nanocomposite as a Sonosensitizer for ROS-Mediated
      Eradication of Cancer.
AB  - Although sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has emerged as a potential alternative to
      conventional photodynamic therapy, the low quantum yield of the sonosensitizer
      such as TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) is still a major concern. Here, we have
      developed hydrophilized Au-TiO2 nanocomposites (HAu-TiO2 NCs) as sonosensitizers
      for improved SDT. The physicochemical properties of HAu-TiO2 NCs were thoroughly
      studied and compared with their counterparts without gold deposition. Upon
      exposure of HAu-TiO2 NCs to ultrasound, a large quantity of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) were generated, leading to complete suppression of tumor growth
      after their systemic administration in vivo. Overall, it was evident that the
      composites of gold with TiO2 NPs significantly augmented the levels of ROS
      generation, implying their potential as SDT agents for cancer therapy.

PMID- 27643531
TI  - Accumulation of Ubiquitin and Sequestosome-1 Implicate Protein Damage in Diacetyl
      Induced Cytotoxicity.
AB  - Inhaled diacetyl vapors are associated with flavorings-related lung disease, a
      potentially fatal airway disease. The reactive alpha-dicarbonyl group in diacetyl
      causes protein damage in vitro. Dicarbonyl/l-xylulose reductase (DCXR)
      metabolizes diacetyl into acetoin, which lacks this alpha-dicarbonyl group. To
      investigate the hypothesis that flavorings-related lung disease is caused by in
      vivo protein damage, we correlated diacetyl-induced airway damage in mice with
      immunofluorescence for markers of protein turnover and autophagy. Western
      immunoblots identified shifts in ubiquitin pools. Diacetyl inhalation caused dose
      dependent increases in bronchial epithelial cells with puncta of both total
      ubiquitin and K63-ubiquitin, central mediators of protein turnover. This response
      was greater in Dcxr-knockout mice than in wild-type controls inhaling 200 ppm
      diacetyl, further implicating the alpha-dicarbonyl group in protein damage.
      Western immunoblots demonstrated decreased free ubiquitin in airway-enriched
      fractions. Transmission electron microscopy and colocalization of ubiquitin
      positive puncta with lysosomal-associated membrane proteins 1 and 2 and with the
      multifunctional scaffolding protein sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1/p62) confirmed
      autophagy. Surprisingly, immunoreactive SQSTM1 also accumulated in the olfactory
      bulb of the brain. Olfactory bulb SQSTM1 often congregated in activated
      microglial cells that also contained olfactory marker protein, indicating
      neuronophagia within the olfactory bulb. This suggests the possibility that
      SQSTM1 or damaged proteins may be transported from the nose to the brain.
      Together, these findings strongly implicate widespread protein damage in the
      etiology of flavorings-related lung disease.

PMID- 27643534
TI  - Conserved imprinting associated with unique epigenetic signatures in the
      Arabidopsis genus.
AB  - In plants, imprinted gene expression occurs in endosperm seed tissue and is
      sometimes associated with differential DNA methylation between maternal and
      paternal alleles(1). Imprinting is theorized to have been selected for because of
      conflict between parental genomes in offspring(2), but most studies of imprinting
      have been conducted in Arabidopsis thaliana, an inbred primarily self-fertilizing
      species that should have limited parental conflict. We examined embryo and
      endosperm allele-specific expression and DNA methylation genome-wide in the wild
      outcrossing species Arabidopsis lyrata. Here we show that the majority of A.
      lyrata imprinted genes also exhibit parentally biased expression in A. thaliana,
      suggesting that there is evolutionary conservation in gene imprinting.
      Surprisingly, we discovered substantial interspecies differences in methylation
      features associated with paternally expressed imprinted genes (PEGs). Unlike in
      A. thaliana, the maternal allele of many A. lyrata PEGs was hypermethylated in
      the CHG context. Increased maternal allele CHG methylation was associated with
      increased expression bias in favour of the paternal allele. We propose that CHG
      methylation maintains or reinforces repression of maternal alleles of PEGs. These
      data suggest that the genes subject to imprinting are largely conserved, but
      there is flexibility in the epigenetic mechanisms employed between closely
      related species to maintain monoallelic expression. This supports the idea that
      imprinting of specific genes is a functional phenomenon, and not simply a
      byproduct of seed epigenomic reprogramming.

PMID- 27643535
TI  - Aberrant methylation of protocadherin 17 and its prognostic value in pediatric
      acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The outcome of approximately 20% of patients with acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia (ALL) remains poor because of disease recurrence. We examined whether
      DNA methylation of cadherin superfamily genes is a useful biomarker for ALL
      relapse. PROCEDURE: We used Infinium Methylation 450K Arrays to assess genome
      wide DNA methylation status. The methylation status of each individual gene was
      then determined by a combination of bisulfite restriction analysis and genome
      bisulfite sequencing. mRNA expression was evaluated by reverse-transcriptase PCR
      (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: Cadherin superfamily genes
      including cadherin (CDH) 1, protocadherin (PCDH) 8, and PCDH17 were selected for
      analysis of methylation status. In 40 patient samples with B-cell precursor (BCP)
      ALL at diagnosis, the methylation frequencies of CDH1, PCDH8, and PCDH17 were
      62.5, 55, and 30%, respectively. CDH1 and PCDH8 methylation was also detected in
      80 and 20% of control bone marrow (BM) samples, respectively. On the contrary,
      PCDH17 was unmethylated in all control BM samples. There was a significant
      correlation between the methylation status of PCDH17 (but not CDH1 and PCDH8) and
      event-free survival or overall survival. Univariate and multivariate analyses
      showed that only PCDH17 methylation was associated with an increased risk for
      relapse and mortality in patients with BCP ALL. CONCLUSION: PCDH17 methylation at
      diagnosis was closely related to poor prognosis and thus could be used as a new
      biomarker to predict relapse in patients with BCP ALL.

PMID- 27643536
TI  - PIPELINEs: Creating Comparable Clinical Knowledge Efficiently by Linking Trial
      Platforms.
AB  - Adaptive, seamless, multisponsor, multitherapy clinical trial designs executed as
      large scale platforms, could create superior evidence more efficiently than
      single-sponsor, single-drug trials. These trial PIPELINEs also could diminish
      barriers to trial participation, increase the representation of real-world
      populations, and create systematic evidence development for learning throughout a
      therapeutic life cycle, to continually refine its use. Comparable evidence could
      arise from multiarm design, shared comparator arms, and standardized endpoints
      aiding sponsors in demonstrating the distinct value of their innovative
      medicines; facilitating providers and patients in selecting the most appropriate
      treatments; assisting regulators in efficacy and safety determinations; helping
      payers make coverage and reimbursement decisions; and spurring scientists with
      translational insights. Reduced trial times and costs could enable more
      indications, reduced development cycle times, and improved system financial
      sustainability. Challenges to overcome range from statistical to operational to
      collaborative governance and data exchange.

PMID- 27643537
TI  - Modeling disease risk through analysis of physical interactions between genetic
      variants within chromatin regulatory circuitry.
AB  - SNPs associated with disease susceptibility often reside in enhancer clusters, or
      super-enhancers. Constituents of these enhancer clusters cooperate to regulate
      target genes and often extend beyond the linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks
      containing risk SNPs identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We
      identified 'outside variants', defined as SNPs in weak LD with GWAS risk SNPs
      that physically interact with risk SNPs as part of a target gene's regulatory
      circuitry. These outside variants further explain variation in target gene
      expression beyond that explained by GWAS-associated SNPs. Additionally, the
      clinical risk associated with GWAS SNPs is considerably modified by the genotype
      of outside variants. Collectively, these findings suggest a potential model in
      which outside variants and GWAS SNPs that physically interact in 3D chromatin
      collude to influence target transcript levels as well as clinical risk. This
      model offers an additional hypothesis for the source of missing heritability for
      complex traits.

PMID- 27643538
TI  - Coordinate redeployment of PRC1 proteins suppresses tumor formation during
      Drosophila development.
AB  - Polycomb group proteins form two main complexes, PRC2 and PRC1, which generally
      coregulate their target genes. Here we show that PRC1 components act as
      neoplastic tumor suppressors independently of PRC2 function. By mapping the
      distribution of PRC1 components and trimethylation of histone H3 at Lys27
      (H3K27me3) across the genome, we identify a large set of genes that acquire PRC1
      in the absence of H3K27me3 in Drosophila larval tissues. These genes massively
      outnumber canonical targets and are mainly involved in the regulation of cell
      proliferation, signaling and polarity. Alterations in PRC1 components
      specifically deregulate this set of genes, whereas canonical targets are
      derepressed in both PRC1 and PRC2 mutants. In human embryonic stem cells, PRC1
      components colocalize with H3K27me3 as in Drosophila embryos, whereas in
      differentiated cell types they are selectively recruited to a large set of
      proliferation and signaling-associated genes that lack H3K27me3, suggesting that
      the redeployment of PRC1 components during development is evolutionarily
      conserved.

PMID- 27643539
TI  - The rate of meiotic gene conversion varies by sex and age.
AB  - Meiotic recombination involves a combination of gene conversion and crossover
      events that, along with mutations, produce germline genetic diversity. Here we
      report the discovery of 3,176 SNP and 61 indel gene conversions. Our estimate of
      the non-crossover (NCO) gene conversion rate (G) is 7.0 for SNPs and 5.8 for
      indels per megabase per generation, and the GC bias is 67.6%. For indels, we
      demonstrate a 65.6% preference for the shorter allele. NCO gene conversions from
      mothers are longer than those from fathers, and G is 2.17 times greater in
      mothers. Notably, G increases with the age of mothers, but not the age of
      fathers. A disproportionate number of NCO gene conversions in older mothers occur
      outside double-strand break (DSB) regions and in regions with relatively low GC
      content. This points to age-related changes in the mechanisms of meiotic gene
      conversion in oocytes.

PMID- 27643541
TI  - An uncommon presentation of Galli-Galli disease.

PMID- 27643540
TI  - Association of germline variants in the APOBEC3 region with cancer risk and
      enrichment with APOBEC-signature mutations in tumors.
AB  - High rates of APOBEC-signature mutations are found in many tumors, but factors
      affecting this mutation pattern are not well understood. Here we explored the
      contribution of two common germline variants in the APOBEC3 region. SNP rs1014971
      was associated with bladder cancer risk, increased APOBEC3B expression, and
      enrichment with APOBEC-signature mutations in bladder tumors. In contrast, a 30
      kb deletion that eliminates APOBEC3B and creates an APOBEC3A-APOBEC3B chimera was
      not important in bladder cancer, whereas it was associated with breast cancer
      risk and enrichment with APOBEC-signature mutations in breast tumors. In vitro,
      APOBEC3B expression was predominantly induced by treatment with a DNA-damaging
      drug in bladder cancer cell lines, and APOBEC3A expression was induced as part of
      the antiviral interferon-stimulated response in breast cancer cell lines. These
      findings suggest a tissue-specific role of environmental oncogenic triggers,
      particularly in individuals with germline APOBEC3 risk variants.

PMID- 27643542
TI  - Topical sirolimus for the treatment of angiofibromas in tuberous sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The skin is one of the most affected organs in tuberous sclerosis
      complex and angiofibromas are seen in almost 80% of such patients. These benign
      tumors impose a great psycho-social burden on patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the
      study was to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of topical sirolimus for
      facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. METHODS: This
      was a prospective, single-blinded, cross-over study which involved twelve
      patients. We investigated the effect and safety of topical 0.1% sirolimus, which
      was obtained by crushing sirolimus tablets and mixing it with petrolatum. The
      patients were asked to apply the cream to one side of their face, and vaseline to
      the other side. The effect of topical sirolimus was evaluated using the "facial
      angiofibroma severity index." RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in the
      redness and extension of the tumors on the sides to which the active ingredient
      was applied. Some side effects such as itching and irritation occurred in three
      patients, which were treated with topical hydrocortisone cream. CONCLUSION:
      Topical sirolimus appears to be a promising, fairly well tolerated treatment for
      facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Although its
      efficacy diminishes with time, repetitive usage is effective.

PMID- 27643543
TI  - Linear IgA bullous dermatosis due to vancomycin and cutaneous necrosis due to
      terlipressin in the same patient.

PMID- 27643544
TI  - Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita associated with dysphagia and stricture of
      esophagus.

PMID- 27643545
TI  - Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis with marked facial disfigurement.

PMID- 27643546
TI  - Linear basal cell carcinoma: Report of three cases with dermoscopic findings.

PMID- 27643547
TI  - Leukemia cutis preceding bone marrow relapse in acute monocytic leukemia.

PMID- 27643548
TI  - Paraffin-embedded micrographic surgery for the treatment of dermatofibrosarcoma
      protuberans: Analysis of 33 patients.
AB  - Background: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is a rare malignant tumor with a high
      rate of recurrence after surgery. Moh's micrographic surgery allows examination
      of all surgical margins to ensure complete removal. Objective: To evaluate the
      use of Moh's micrographic surgery using paraffin-embedded sections for the
      treatment of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. Methods: We performed a
      retrospective analysis of 33 patients with dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans
      treated in our department with paraffin-embedded micrographic surgery between
      January 2002 and June 2015. Our cases included patients with primary untreated
      disease and also those with persistent disease previously treated surgically
      elsewhere, with histologically positive margins. Results: Tumors were most
      commonly located on the trunk. After the first stage of micrographic surgery,
      including an initial lateral margin, 20 (60.6%) tumors were completely excised,
      11 (33.3%) tumors required two stages and one tumor each (3.0%) required 4 and 6
      stages respectively. Patients were monitored for recurrence for a mean duration
      of 6.5 years. There was no recurrence in any of our 33 patients. Conclusions: Our
      results indicate that Moh's micrographic surgery with paraffin-embedded sections
      may be the method of choice to treat dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans with a low
      recurrence rate, while preserving surrounding normal healthy tissue.

PMID- 27643549
TI  - Efficacy of acitretin and topical clobetasol in trachyonychia involving all
      twenty nails.

PMID- 27643550
TI  - Identification of GJB6 gene mutation in an Indian man with Clouston syndrome.

PMID- 27643551
TI  - Efficacy of a combination of high and low dosage of PEGylated FGF-21 in treatment
      of diabetes in db/db mice.
AB  - The aim of this study is to explore a new method-high dose starting and low dose
      maintaining for PEGylated Fibroblast growth factor 21 (pFGF-21) treatment. Db/db
      mice were initially treated with pFGF-21 of high dose, then treated with pFGF-21
      of low doses. The mice were treated with pFGF-21 at initial dose of 1.0mg/kg for
      14days, then treated with pFGF-21 at maintenance doses of
      0.125/0.250/0.375/0.500mg/kg for 30days. The hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic
      effects of pFGF-21 of different maintenance doses were compared. The
      pharmacological efficacy of the maintenance doses of pFGF-21 was evaluated by
      blood glucose levels, oral glucose tolerance test, glycosylated hemoglobin
      levels, insulin levels, body weight, lipid profile parameters, the mRNA
      expressions of glycolysis-related genes, the mRNA expressions of gluconeogenesis
      related genes and the mRNA expressions of lipid metabolism-related genes. Results
      showed that in comparison to the mice treated only with initial dose, the
      treatment with pFGF-21 at maintenance doses of 0.125/0.250/0.375/0.500mg/kg
      exhibited favorable efficacy in lowering blood glucose levels and glycosylated
      hemoglobin levels, thus alleviating insulin resistance and improving
      dyslipidemia. However, among all of the maintenance doses, the dose of 0.125mg/kg
      was less effective than the other maintenance doses. These results suggest that
      using the treatment method of high dose of PEGylated FGF-21 in the start and low
      dose maintaining results in favorable control of the glycolipid metabolic
      balance. This study provides a new method for PEGylated FGF-21 treatment which is
      beneficial to promote the clinical application of PEGylated FGF-21.

PMID- 27643552
TI  - Tanshinone IIA protects against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury by
      activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the mechanism by which Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) relieves
      myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI) in rats via the PI3K/Akt/mTOR
      signaling pathway. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats received an intravenous
      injection of Tan IIA and LY294002 and were divided into the sham, control
      (myocardial ischemia reperfusion), Tan-L (low-dose Tan IIA), Tan-H (high-dose Tan
      IIA), Tan-L+LY (low-dose Tan IIA+LY294002), Tan-H+LY (high-dose Tan IIA+LY294002)
      and LY (LY294002) groups. Cardiomyocytes obtained from neonatal rats were treated
      with hypoxia reoxygenatin, Tan IIA and LY294002 and divided into the blank,
      control, Tan-L, Tan-H, Tan-L+LY, Tan-H+LY and LY groups. Creatine kinase MB
      isoenzyme (CK-MB) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in serum and
      cardiomyocytes were measured. Area of necrosis/area at risk (AN/AAR) was
      determined with double staining of TTC and Evan's blue; viability and apoptosis
      of cardiomyocytes with MTT and TUNEL assays; SOD, MDA, H2O2, SDH and COX levels
      in heart mitochondria together with PI3K/Akt/mTOR and eNOS expressions and
      phosphorylation with Western blotting. RESULTS: The Tan-L and Tan-H groups showed
      a remarkable decrease in AN/AAR, serum CK-MB and LDH, mitochondrial MDA and H2O2
      levels but an increase in SOD activity, SDH and COX levels compared with the
      control group. However, compared with the Tan-L and Tan-H groups, the Tan-L+LY,
      Tan-H+LY and LY groups indicated an inverse tendency of those indicators. As
      shown by MTT and TUNEL, the control group had more severe cell damage than the
      blank group. Furthermore, cell damage and apoptosis were less severe in the Tan-L
      and Tan-H groups than in the control group, while the Tan-L+LY, Tan-H+LY and LY
      groups showed an opposite tendency when compared with the Tan-L and Tan-H groups.
      Meanwhile, the Tan-L and Tan-H groups showed significantly higher expression
      levels of PI3K, p-Akt/Akt, mTOR and p-eNOS/eNOS than the control group, whereas
      the Tan-L+LY, Tan-H+LY and LY groups had lower expression levels than the Tan-L
      and Tan-H groups. CONCLUSION: Our study provided evidence that Tan IIA could
      activate the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway to relieve MIRI in rats.

PMID- 27643553
TI  - Antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and wound healing effects of
      Artemisia campestris aqueous extract in rat.
AB  - This study investigated some biological properties of Artemisia campestris
      aqueous extract (ACAE) as well its global chemical compositions. Twenty four rats
      were excised on the posterior neck skin area and divided into 4 groups, treated
      respectively with: sterile saline, glycerol, CICAFLORA and ACAE. The wound
      closure rate, histopathology evolution and the superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in skin tissue were evaluated.
      Anti-inflammatory activity was studied by carrageenan-induced rat paw edema.
      Animals were divided into 3 groups pre-treated respectively with sterile saline,
      acetylsalicylic acid (AA) and ACAE. The antibacterial activity was tested against
      six bacteria and the antioxidant activity was estimated by the 1,1-diphenyl-2
      picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), reducing power and beta-carotene activities. Our results
      demonstrated a significant improvement in wound healing progression and in
      oxidative stress damage in the wounds tissues of ACAE-treated rats, compared to
      control. ACAE-treated rats revealed also a significant inhibition of carrageenan
      induced hind paws edema as confirmed by the histological analysis. In addition to
      the antioxidant activity, ACAE showed considerable antibacterial activities. ACAE
      exhibited important wound healing effect probably due to the anti-inflammatory,
      antibacterial and antioxidant activities of its phytochemical contents.
      Therefore, this study confirms its popular use and highlights its promise in the
      development of new drugs.

PMID- 27643554
TI  - miR-135b reverses chemoresistance of non-small cell lung cancer cells by
      downregulation of FZD1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) chemoresistance usually limits the
      clinical efficacy of chemotherapeutic approaches. However, few reports have
      revealed the regulation of miR-135b and Frizzled-1 (FZD1) involved in NSCLC
      chemoresistance. METHODS: To identify the mechanism of miR-135b and FZD1 in NSCLC
      chemoresistance and to observe their biological functions, we detected the
      expression levels of miR-135b and FZD1 by conducting quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and modified the expressions of miR-135b and
      FZD1 by transiently transfecting cells with miR-135b mimics or FZD1-siRNA. The 3'
      untranslated region (3'-UTR) of FZD1 combined with miR-135b was verified through
      dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Compared with that in A549 parental cell
      lines, the miR-135b expression in drug-resistant lung cancer cell lines
      (A549/DDP) was decreased and their FZD1 expression was increased. The increased
      miR-135b expression and silenced FZD1 expression enhanced the sensitivity of
      resistant cells to cisplatin treatment. The high expression of miR-135b in
      A549/DDP cells remarkably decreased the mRNA levels of FZD1. FZD1 was further
      identified as the functional downstream target of miR-135b by directly targeting
      the 3'-UTR of FZD1. CONCLUSION: The amplification of miR-135b suppressed NSCLC
      chemoresistance by directly mediating the FZD1 downregulation.

PMID- 27643555
TI  - Resveratrol ameliorates LPS-induced acute lung injury via NLRP3 inflammasome
      modulation.
AB  - NLRP3 inflammasome plays a pivotal role in the development of acute lung injury
      (ALI), accelerating IL-1beta and IL-18 release and inducing lung inflammation.
      Resveratrol, a natural phytoalexin, has anti-inflammatory properties via
      inhibition of oxidation, leukocyte priming, and production of inflammatory
      mediators. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of resveratrol on
      NLRP3 inflammasome in lipopolysaccharide-induced ALI. Mice were intratracheally
      instilled with 3mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce ALI. Resveratrol
      treatment alleviated the LPS-induced lung pathological damage, lung edema and
      neutrophil infiltration. In addition, resveratrol reversed the LPS-mediated
      elevation of IL-1beta and IL-18 level in the BAL fluids. In lung tissue,
      resveratrol also inhibited the LPS-induced NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 mRNA and protein
      expression, and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Moreover, resveratrol
      administration not only suppressed the NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation, NF
      kappaB activity and ROS production in the LPS-treated mice, but also inhibited
      the LPS-induced thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) protein expression and
      interaction of TXNIP-NLRP3 in lung tissue. Meanwhile, resveratrol obviously
      induced SIRT1 mRNA and protein expression in the LPS-challenged mice. Taken
      together, our study suggests that resveratrol protects against LPS-induced lung
      injury by NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition. These findings further suggest that
      resveratrol may be of great value in the treatment of ALI and a potential and an
      effective pharmacological agent for inflammasome-relevant diseases.

PMID- 27643556
TI  - Down-regulated PLAC8 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation by
      enhancing PI3K/Akt/GSK3beta/Wnt/beta-catenin signaling.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common, prevalent malignancy. Its poor
      prognosis is mainly related to high rate of diagnosis in non-curable stages, in
      which patients are suitable for palliative treatment. Placenta-specific 8
      (PLAC8), also known as Onzin, is a small, highly conserved, cysteine-rich
      protein. In current study, we found that PLAC8 is prominently decreased in HCC
      tissues compared with adjacent tissues and patients with low level of PLAC8
      suffered a poor prognosis. In addition, cellular function assays demonstrate that
      down-regulated PLAC8 promotes cell viability, proliferation and tumor formation
      both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we validate that down-regulated PLAC8
      enhances the activity of PI3K/Akt/GSK3beta and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling to
      promote cell proliferation. Moreover, we proved that highly expressed miR-185-5p
      targets PLAC8 in HCC tissues. In conclusion, our findings enlarged our knowledge
      about the roles of PLAC8 in HCC progression and miR-185-5p/PLAC8/beta-catenin
      axis might be a novel pathway for HCC treatment.

PMID- 27643557
TI  - Discovery of novel antagonists of human neurotensin receptor 1 on the basis of
      ligand and protein structure.
AB  - Neurotensin receptor 1 (NTR1) is a cell surface receptor belonging to the G
      protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) A superfamily. NTR1 plays an important role in
      neuronal and non-neuronal systems. Using the previously identified crystal
      structure of rat NTR1 (rNTR1), we screened for potential candidates of human NTR1
      (hNTR1) ligand. Approximately 10,000 compounds were selected using the docking
      score, followed by pharmacophore-based virtual screening and a two-dimensional
      (2D)-fingerprint structural similarity search. The identified molecules were
      tested by in vitro calcium flux assay. Four compounds showed micromolar level
      affinity, of which, one compound can inhibit hNTR1/CHO cells' proliferation by
      cell viability assays. To improve the affinity of these positive hit compounds, a
      homology model of hNTR1 was built on the basis of the crystal structure of rNTR1.
      The hit compounds will be further optimized on the basis of the structure of the
      hNTR1 receptor to be the targets for drugs directed against diseases associated
      with hNTR1. The results demonstrate that the method we used is valid, which will
      be treated as a useful tool to search for the agonists or antagonists of our
      interested target protein. Moreover, the compound we tested may provide a hopeful
      clue for treating the diseases related with hNTR1.

PMID- 27643558
TI  - Anticancer activity of silver nanoparticles from Panax ginseng fresh leaves in
      human cancer cells.
AB  - The pharmaceutical role of silver nanoparticles has been increased over the last
      decades, especially those synthesized through herbal medicinal plants, due to
      their variety of pharmacological importance. Panax ginseng Meyer (P. ginseng) has
      been widely used as a therapeutic herbal medicine for a long time in cancer
      treatment. In this study, the cytotoxic and oxidative effect of a novel silver
      nanoparticles synthesized from P. ginseng fresh leaves (P.g AgNPs) were evaluated
      in different human cancer cell lines. In addition, the effect of P.g AgNPs on
      cell migration, apoptosis and the determination of the mechanism involve was
      determinate by the use of A549 lung cancer cell line. It was found that P.g AgNPs
      treatment inhibited cell viability and induced oxidative stress in A549, MCF7 and
      HepG2 cancer cell lines. Likewise, P.g AgNPs treatment inhibited the epidermal
      growth factor (EGF)-enhanced migration, as well as decreased the mRNA levels and
      phosphorylation of EGF receptors in A549 cells. Moreover, P.g AgNPs modified the
      morphology of the cell nucleus and increase apoptosis percentage; this effect was
      linked to the stimulation of p38 MAPK/p53 pathway. Taken together, our results
      showed that P.g AgNPs exhibited anti-cancer activity in A549 and the regulation
      of EGFR/p38 MAPK/p53 pathway might be the possible mechanism of its anti
      activity. Further experiments are suggested to determinate the mechanism by which
      P.g AgNPs induce cytotoxicity and ROS generation in MCF-7 and HepG2 cells.

PMID- 27643559
TI  - Further investigation of inhibitors of MRSA pyruvate kinase: Towards the
      conception of novel antimicrobial agents.
AB  - Several novel series of compounds were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pyruvate kinase (PK). PK has
      been identified as a highly interconnected essential 'hub' protein in MRSA, with
      structural features distinct from the human homologs which makes it a novel
      antimicrobial target. Several MRSA PK inhibitors (including the hydrazide 1) were
      identified using in silico screening combined with enzyme assays and were found
      to be selective for bacterial enzyme compared to human PK isoforms. Structure
      activity relationship (SAR) studies were carried out on the replacement of the
      hydrazide linker with 3-atoms, 2-atoms and 0-atom linkers and led us to discover
      more potent compounds with enzyme inhibiting activities in the low nanomolar
      range and some were found to effectively inhibit bacteria growth in culture with
      minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) as low as 1 MUg/mL.

PMID- 27643560
TI  - Novel 2-aryl-4-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-5H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridines as potent DNA non
      intercalative topoisomerase catalytic inhibitors.
AB  - On the basis of previous reports on the importance of thienyl, furyl or phenol
      group substitution on 5H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridine skeleton, a new series of rigid 2
      aryl-4-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-5H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridine derivatives were
      systematically designed and synthesized. Topoisomerase inhibitory activity and
      antiproliferative activity of all the synthesized compounds were determined using
      human colorectal (HCT15), breast (T47D), prostate (DU145) and cervix (HeLa)
      cancer cells. Compounds 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 19 with thienyl or furyl
      moiety at the 2-position and hydroxyl group at the meta or para positions of 4
      phenyl ring displayed strong to moderate topoisomerase IIalpha (topo IIalpha)
      inhibitory activity and significant antiproliferative activity. The evaluation of
      compound 16 to determine its mechanism of action was performed with topo IIalpha
      DNA cleavable complex, topo IIalpha-mediated ATPase assay, DNA unwinding and in
      vitro and ex vivo topo IIalpha relaxation assay. Compound 16 functioned as a DNA
      non-intercalative topo IIalpha catalytic inhibitor with better potency than
      etoposide in T47D breast cancer cells. Molecular docking study revealed that
      compound 16 cannot intercalate into regularly stacked base-pairs of DNA duplex
      but can interact or intercalate to topo IIalpha-bound DNA.

PMID- 27643561
TI  - Discovery of 6,7-dihydro-3H-pyrano[4,3-c]isoxazol-3-ones as a new class of
      pathogen specific anti-leptospiral agents.
AB  - A simple and efficient method for the synthesis of a series of 6,7-dihydro-3H
      pyrano[4,3-c]isoxazol-3-one derivatives starting from 5-carboalkoxy-2,3
      dihydropyranone (5-CDHPs) has been developed. Pyranoisoxazolones 10a-j,
      dihydronaphthopyran-4-one (DHNPs) class of natural product 12b and 12c and its
      analogues 12a and 13a-c were preliminarily screened against pathogenic
      leptospiral serovar Autumnalis strain N2 at various concentrations. Six
      pyranoisoxazolones, 10b, 10d, 10f, 10g, 10i and 10j which displayed very good
      anti-leptospiral activity was taken for secondary screening against twelve
      strains of pathogenic and one non-pathogenic leptospiral serovars. While all the
      compounds displayed significant anti-leptospiral activity against the pathogenic
      serovars at MIC of 62.5-500 MUg/mL. Compounds 10d, 10g and 10j did not show any
      significant effect on non-pathogenic serovar. Inhibition of leptospires at a
      significant level by pyranoisoxazolone 10g was confirmed using RT-qPCR assay. In
      vivo treatment of BALB/c mice with compound 10g revealed that, it has 95%
      survivability against the pathogenic strain Canicola and also showed inhibition
      of renal colonization of leptospires. Compound 10g was found to show cytotoxicity
      against THP-1 cells only at higher concentration (>=75 MUg/mL). Effective binding
      of compound 10g with leptospiral outer membrane protein LipL32 observed via in
      silico molecular docking provided a suitable explanation for pathogen specificity
      of compound 10g. Antibiotics acting against leptospirosis in human are very few.
      The results obtained from in vitro, in vivo and in silico study reveals that 6,7
      dihydro-3H-pyrano[4,3-c]isoxazol-3-ones class of compounds are lead molecules for
      further development as pathogen specific anti-leptospiral agents.

PMID- 27643562
TI  - Negative Pressure Epidural Syndrome as a Cause of Hemodynamic Instability in
      Children After Craniotomy.

PMID- 27643563
TI  - Notch hyper-activation drives trans-differentiation of hESC-derived endothelium.
AB  - During development, endothelial cells (EC) display tissue-specific attributes
      that are unique to each vascular bed, as well as generic signaling mechanisms
      that are broadly applied to create a patent circulatory system. We have
      previously utilized human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to generate tissue-specific
      EC sub-types (Rafii et al., 2013) and identify pathways that govern growth and
      trans-differentiation potential of hESC-derived ECs (James et al., 2010). Here,
      we elucidate a novel Notch-dependent mechanism that induces endothelial to
      mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in confluent monolayer cultures of hESC-derived
      ECs. We demonstrate density-dependent induction of EndMT that can be rescued by
      the Notch signaling inhibitor DAPT and identify a positive feedback signaling
      mechanism in hESC-ECs whereby trans-activation of Notch by DLL4 ligand induces
      elevated expression and surface presentation of DLL4. Increased Notch activation
      in confluent hESC-EC monolayer cultures induces areas of EndMT containing
      transitional cells that are marked by increased Jagged1 expression and reduced
      Notch signal integration. Jagged1 loss of function in monolayer hESC-ECs induces
      accelerated feedback stimulation of Notch signaling, increased expression of cell
      autonomous, cis-inhibitory DLL4, and EndMT. These data elucidate a novel
      interplay of Notch ligands in modulating pathway activation during both expansion
      and EndMT of hESC-derived ECs.

PMID- 27643564
TI  - Phosphorylated Myosin Light Chain 2 (p-MLC2) as a Molecular Marker of Antemortem
      Coronary Artery Spasm.
AB  - BACKGROUND It is not uncommon that only mild coronary artery stenosis is grossly
      revealed after a system autopsy. While coronary artery spasm (CAS) is the
      suspected mechanism of these deaths, no specific biomarker has been identified to
      suggest antemortem CAS. MATERIAL AND METHODS To evaluate the potential of using
      phosphorylated myosin light chain 2 (p-MLC2) as a diagnostic marker of antemortem
      CAS, human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were cultured and treated with
      common vasoconstrictors, including prostaglandins F2alpha (PGF2alpha),
      acetylcholine (ACh), and 5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT). The p-MLC2 level was
      examined in the cultured cells using Western blot analysis and in a rat model of
      spasm provocation tests using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Effects of increased p
      MLC2 level on VSMCs contractile activities were assessed in vitro using confocal
      immunofluorescence assay. Four fatal cases with known antemortem CAS were
      collected and subject to p-MLC2 detection. RESULTS The p-MLC2 was significantly
      increased in VSMCs after treatments with vasoconstrictors and in the spasm
      provocation tests. Myofilament was well-organized and densely stained in VSMCs
      with high p-MLC2 level, but disarrayed in VSMCs with low p-MLC2 level. Three of
      the 4 autopsied cases showed strongly positive staining of p-MLC2 at the stenosed
      coronary segment and the adjacent interstitial small arteries. The fourth case
      was autopsied at the 6th day after death and showed negative-to-mild positive
      staining of p-MLC2. CONCLUSIONS p-MLC2 might be a useful marker for diagnosis of
      antemortem CAS. Autopsy should be performed as soon as possible to collect
      coronary arteries for detection of p-MLC2. 

PMID- 27643565
TI  - Predictive distribution modeling and population status of the endangered Macaca
      munzala in Arunachal Pradesh, India.
AB  - The present study reports the population of Macaca munzala in Tawang and West
      Kameng districts and its predictive distribution range in Arunachal Pradesh,
      estimated using ecological niche modeling. Environmental variables and occurrence
      data from a preliminary survey were used in the MaxEnt modeling, a statistical
      model to know the potential distribution area of the enigmatic species in
      Arunachal Pradesh. Later, a population survey was carried out in Tawang and West
      Kameng districts of the state following existing trails and paths. The
      distribution model revealed that only 2.4% of the total landmass of the state is
      potential distribution habitat range for M. munzala, whereas 10.19% of the total
      area of the two districts were shown to be potential habitat of the species. A
      total number of 971 individuals (including two solitary males) comprising 41
      troops of M. munzala were recorded during the population survey. The mean troop
      size was 23.63 +/- 1.21 individuals per troop ranging from 12 to 44 individuals.
      On average, M. munzala troops were comprised of juveniles (30.37%), adult females
      (23.83%), infants (18.22%), adult males (11.53%), sub-adult females (9.81%), and
      sub-adult males (6.23%). Our observed population size of M. munzala is higher in
      Tawang and West Kameng districts when compared with the earlier available
      records. This study showed the potential distribution of M. munzala based on
      environmental variables and the present population status in Tawang and West
      Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India.

PMID- 27643567
TI  - Children's Eating Attitudes Test: Reliability and validation in Japanese
      adolescents.
AB  - Eating disorders (ED) are serious psychosomatic disorders that commonly occur in
      girls during adolescence. An increase in earlier onset ED has recently been
      suggested. Therefore, accurate assessment of eating attitudes in children is a
      necessary part of school mental health. The 26-item Children's Eating Attitudes
      Test (ChEAT-26) is widely used internationally to assess abnormal eating
      attitudes. The present study aimed to validate the Japanese version of the ChEAT
      26. Participants were 7076 school children (aged 10-15years) from large, medium
      sized, and small cities, and 44 children with anorexia nervosa. We examined the
      average ChEAT-26 score by participant attributes, including sex, age,
      geographical region, and school style. Factor analysis of the ChEAT-26 content
      was performed with varimax rotation. The optimal cut-off point was evaluated
      using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The mean ChEAT-26 score
      was 7.94 for girls and 5.86 for boys. The mean score was significantly higher in
      children from larger cities than small cities, and was higher with increasing
      age, and private schools. Five factors explained 31.4% of the variance. The
      Cronbach's alpha was 0.81 for the scale. The area under the ROC curve was 0.83;
      sensitivity was 0.69 and specificity was 0.93 for a cut-off score of 18. The
      Japanese version of the ChEAT-26 is a reliable and valid psychometric tool that
      may be useful in the triage and assessment of children with anorexia nervosa.

PMID- 27643566
TI  - Is night eating syndrome associated with obstructive sleep apnea, BMI, and
      depressed mood in patients from a sleep laboratory study?
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess night eating syndrome (NES) in
      patients referred for polysomnography and its association with obstructive sleep
      apnea (OSA). We also assessed whether participants with OSA were more likely to
      get up and eat at night, and whether these behaviors were associated with the
      apnea-hypopnea sleep index (AHI). We additionally examined whether NES and OSA
      were associated with BMI, and assessed depressed mood among participants with NES
      or OSA. METHODS: The Night Eating Diagnostic Questionnaire (NEDQ), Zung
      Depression Scale, and demographic and medical questionnaires were used to
      evaluate 84 qualified participants. Polysomnography was used to assess AHI, and
      therefore OSA. RESULTS: Thirty individuals met full or sub-threshold NES
      (NES[St]) criteria, and 54 had no night eating (Normal). Eighty-nine percent of
      the sample had OSA with AHI>=5. Neither AHI nor BMI differed between NES(St) and
      Normal, F(1,82)=1.67, p=0.20 and F(1, 82)=2.2, p=0.14, respectively. Participants
      with NES(St) were, however, more likely than Normal to have depressed mood (mild,
      moderately, or severely depressed), chi2=4.47 p=0.03. There was a positive
      correlation between AHI and BMI, r=0.37, p=0.001. Those with OSA were not more
      likely to eat at night, F(1,82)=0.04, p=0.84, or get out of bed more often,
      F(1,13)=0.23, p=0.64, and there was no correlation between AHI and eating at
      night (r=-0.11, p=0.31). However, there was a positive correlation between AHI
      and the number of times participants got up out of bed (r=0.81, p<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: We found that NES was not associated with BMI or AHI severity. The
      findings show that NES is primarily an eating disorder, rather than a sleep
      disorder, and that there is an association between NES and depressed mood.

PMID- 27643568
TI  - Glossary of Digital Dental Terms: American College of Prosthodontists.

PMID- 27643569
TI  - Blood cell microparticles as biomarkers of hemostatic abnormalities in patients
      with implanted cardiac assist devices.
AB  - For heart failure patients unable to undergo cardiac transplantation, mechanical
      circulatory support with left ventricular assist devices can be utilized. These
      devices improve quality of life and prolong life expectancy, but they are
      associated with bleeding and thrombotic complications impacting patient survival.
      Little is known of the relevant mechanisms of these hemostatic issues, hindering
      identification of a clinically useful biomarker. However, there is suggestive
      evidence that blood cell-derived microparticles may fulfill this unmet clinical
      need. Recent publications have shown an association of up regulated microparticle
      production with implanted left ventricular assist devices and the potential to
      use this as a biomarker to predict thrombosis (and perhaps other adverse events)
      with an onset time earlier than currently used clinical indicators.

PMID- 27643570
TI  - What is needed to become a good surgeon?
AB  - This lecture has been delivered as a part of the RBSS-BAST symposium 'What does
      it need to become a good surgeon'. The lecture relates to the evolution that has
      taken place over the last decades in relation to the training in surgery. It also
      gives some hints to younger colleagues how to make a successful career in
      surgery.

PMID- 27643571
TI  - Narratives of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: A meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze the narrative
      performance of children and adolescents with high-functioning Autism Spectrum
      Disorders (ASD) in terms of microstructure, macrostructure and internal state
      language. METHOD: A systematic literature search yielded 24 studies that met the
      predetermined inclusion criteria. Effect sizes for each study were calculated for
      eight variables and analyzed using a random effects model. Intellectual ability,
      age and type of narrative were considered as potential moderators. RESULTS:
      Results revealed that the children with ASD performed significantly worse than
      their peers on all the variables considered. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are discussed
      taking into account the main explanatory psychological autism theories.
      Implications for intervention and orientations for future research are suggested.

PMID- 27643572
TI  - Empathy for pain influences perceptual and motor processing: Evidence from
      response force, ERPs, and EEG oscillations.
AB  - In the present study we investigated the nature and chronometry of empathy for
      pain influences on perceptual and motor processes. Thus, event-related brain
      potentials (ERPs), response force (RF) and oscillatory electroencephalography
      (EEG) activity were measured while participants were presented with pictures of
      body parts in painful or neutral situations. Their task consisted in either
      judging the painfulness of the stimuli or counting the body parts displayed. ERP
      results supported the assumption of an early automatic component of empathy for
      pain, as reflected by the early posterior negativity (EPN), and of a late
      controlled component, as reflected by the late posterior positivity (P3). RF
      indicated that empathy-evoking stimuli facilitate motor responses if attention is
      directed toward the pain dimension, whereas EEG oscillations in the mu-and beta
      band revealed, independent of the task, an enhanced activation of the
      sensorimotor cortex after the response to painful compared to neutral stimuli. In
      conclusion, present findings indicate that empathy-evoking stimuli produce
      automatic and controlled effects on both perceptual and motor processing.

PMID- 27643573
TI  - Karyotype plus NPM1 mutation status defines a group of elderly patients with AML
      (>=60 years) who benefit from intensive post-induction consolidation therapy.
AB  - Although it is generally appreciated that a subset of elderly patients with acute
      myeloid leukemia (AML) may benefit from intensive consolidation, little is known
      about variables predicting such benefit. We analyzed 192 consecutive patients
      with de novo AML aged >=60 years who were treated with intensive chemotherapy.
      About 115 patients (60%) achieved complete hematologic remission (CR). Among
      several parameters, the karyotype was the only independent variable predicting CR
      (P < 0.05). About 92% (105/115) of the CR-patients received up to four
      consolidation cycles of intermediate dose ARA-C. Median continuous CR (CCR) and
      disease-free survival (DFS) were 1.3 and 1.1 years, respectively. CCR, DFS, and
      survival at 5 years were 23%, 18%, and 15%, respectively. Only karyotype and
      mutated NPM1 (NPM1mut) were independent predictors of survival. NPM1mut showed a
      particular prognostic impact in patients with normal (CN) or non-monosomal
      (Mkneg) karyotype by Haemato-Oncology Foundation for Adults in the Netherlands
      (HOVON)-criteria, or intermediate karyotype by Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG)
      criteria. The median CCR was 0.94, 1.6, 0.9, and 0.5 years for core-binding
      factor, CN/Mkneg-NPM1mut, CN/Mkneg-NPM1-wild-type AML, and AML with monosomal
      karyotype, respectively, and the 5-year survival was 25%, 39%, 2%, and 0%,
      respectively (P < 0.05). Similar results (0.9, 1.5, 0.9, and 0.5 years) were
      obtained using modified SWOG criteria and NPM1 mutation status (P < 0.05). In
      summary, elderly patients with CN/Mkneg-NPM1mut or CBF AML can achieve long term
      CCR when treated with intensive induction and consolidation therapy whereas most
      elderly patients with CN/Mkneg-NPM1wt or Mkpos AML may not benefit from intensive
      chemotherapy. For these patients either hematopoietic-stem-cell-transplantation
      or alternative treatments have to be considered. Am. J. Hematol. 91:1239-1245,
      2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27643574
TI  - Role of HSF1-upregulated AC6 in ameliorating heart failure in mice.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our previous studies discovered that Heat shock factor 1(HSF1) can
      alleviate pressure overload induced heart failure in mice. However, its molecular
      mechanisms are yet to be further explained. Many studies have already verified
      that Adenylyl Cyclase 6 (AC6) can ameliorate heart failure, but it is still
      unknown whether or not the pathway HSF1 is involved in the process. Our
      preliminary experiment showed that the expression level of AC6 is positively
      associated with HSF1. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to explore
      whether HSF1 can play its role in ameliorating heart failure by regulating AC6,
      and how the potential internal mechanisms work. METHODS: We applied the
      Transverse Aortic Constriction (TAC) for 4 weeks to develop the C57BL/6 mice
      pressure overload induced heart failure model. First, the mice were divided into
      TAC group and SHAM group. Changes in the cardiac function and morphology of the
      mice were observed by an ultrasonic device and Masson staining slices,
      expressions of AC6 mRNA were observed by RT-QPCR, expressions of HSF1 and
      proteinkinase A (PKA) were examined by Western Blotting, and the levels of cyclic
      adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) from aortic blood were measured by ELISA. Second,
      the TAC group were further divided into subgroups of HSF1 transgene mice, HSF1
      knockout mice and wild type mice, followed by the aforesaid observations.
      RESULTS: In the SHAM group, no obvious variations of cardiac function, AC6
      mRNAHSF1, PKA, cAMP and other test results were found among each of the
      subgroups. Compared to the SHAM group, the TAC group presented clearly weakened
      heart functions, while, expressions of AC6 mRNA, HSF1, PKA and cAMP all recorded
      obvious increases. In the TAC group, compared to the WT subgroup, the HSF1 KO
      subgroup presented decreases in expressions of AC6 mRNA, HSF1, PKA and cAMP, and
      at the same time, the heart functions were weaker, while, the HSF1 TG subgroup
      recorded the contrary results. CONCLUSION: In the pressure overload heart failure
      model, HSF1 can ameliorate heart failure by positively regulating the pathway of
      AC6/cAMP/PKA.

PMID- 27643575
TI  - Preparation of quaternary amine monolithic column for strong anion-exchange
      chromatography and its application to the separation of Enterovirus 71.
AB  - Large size virion is unable to diffuse into pores of conventional porous
      chromatography particles. Therefore, separation of virion by conventional column
      packing materials is not quite efficient. To solve this problem, a monolithic
      column with large convective pores and quaternary amine groups was prepared and
      was applied to separate Enterovirus 71 (EV71, ~5700-6000kDa). Cross-section, pore
      structure, hydrodynamic performance, adsorption property and dynamic binding
      capacity of prepared monolithic column were determined. Double-pore structures,
      macropore at 2472nm and mesopore at 5-60nm, were formed. The porosity was up to
      63.3%, which enable higher permeability and lower back pressure of the monolithic
      column than commercial UNOTM Q1 column. Based on the breakthrough curves, the
      loading capacity of bovine serum albumin was calculated to be 42.0mg per column.
      In addition, prepared quaternary amine monolithic column was proved to be
      suitable for the separation of protein mixture by strong anion-exchange
      chromatography. As a practical application, prepared monolith column presents
      excellent performance to the separation of EV71 from virus-proteins mixture. 

PMID- 27643576
TI  - Development of supermacroporous monolithic adsorbents for purifying lectins by
      affinity with sugars.
AB  - Affinity techniques are frequently used to purify biocompounds, because of
      specific interactions observed in many cases. One example are the lectins,
      proteins connected in a reversible manner and specific to carbohydrates or sugar
      containing molecules. Four different methods were investigated (epoxy, Schiff
      base, glutaraldehyde and ethylenediamine) to immobilize the carbohydrate N-acetyl
      d-glucosamine (d-GlcNAc) on the surface of supermacroporous cryogels made for
      lectin purification. The glutaraldehyde method presented the highest
      immobilization capacity of d-GlcNAc (147.77mg/g), while the ethylenediamine
      method presented the lowest capacity (32.47mg/g). FTIR spectra analysis confirmed
      the presence of the immobilized carbohydrate. The cryogels containing d-GlcNAc
      immobilized by the different methods were characterized in terms of swelling
      capacity, degree of expansion, porosity and constituent fractions. Results showed
      that the activation methods did not affect the macroporous structure. Images
      obtained from scanning electron microscopy evidenced the presence of
      interconnected macropores in the structure of the cryogels produced. The cryogels
      presented even lower flow resistance in the permeability analysis. Finally, the
      cryogel modified by the glutaraldehyde method was used in the Concanavalin A
      lectin adsorption process, presenting an adsorptive capacity of 44.49mg/g and
      high stability after five cycles of use. 

PMID- 27643577
TI  - Cytological and molecular analysis of wheat - Agropyron cristatum translocation
      lines with 6P chromosome fragments conferring superior agronomic traits in common
      wheat.
AB  - Agropyron cristatum (2n = 4x = 28, PPPP) is a wild relative of common wheat and
      confers several desirable agronomic traits to wheat, such as high grain number
      per spike and enhanced resistance to certain diseases. Development of wheat - A.
      cristatum 6P translocation lines facilitates its utilization in wheat
      improvement. In this study, 26 wheat - A. cristatum 6P translocation lines were
      characterized by in situ hybridization (ISH) and 6P-specific sequence-tagged-site
      (STS) markers. These translocation lines carried different 6P chromosomal
      segments, which covered the whole 6P chromosome. FISH results showed that 15, 5,
      and 6 lines were translocated onto wheat A, B, and D genomes, respectively.
      Compared with the previous reports, a fine physical map of 6P chromosome was
      constructed, consisting of 31 chromosomal bins with 255 STS markers. Twelve
      translocation lines containing 6PS13~14 chromosomal bins were highly resistant to
      leaf rust. Two lines showed high grain number per spike, and three lines
      displayed both enhanced grain number per spike and thousand-grain weight.
      Development of wheat - A. cristatum 6P translocation lines will not only provide
      novel wheat germplasm for wheat breeding but also be helpful to broaden the
      genetic basis of common wheat.

PMID- 27643578
TI  - Effect of nucleus accumbens lesions on socially motivated behaviour of young
      domestic chicks.
AB  - Behaviour of young domestic chicks when isolated from conspecifics is influenced
      by two conflicting drives: fear of potential predator and craving for company.
      The nucleus accumbens (Ac) has been suggested to influence social behaviour, as
      well as motivation in goal-directed tasks. In this study, the Ac of 1-day-old
      domestic chicks was lesioned bilaterally, using radiofrequency method. Open field
      behaviour before and after presenting a silhouette of a bird of prey was
      recorded, followed by a behavioural test to measure group size preference and
      social motivation of chicks. Ac-lesioned individuals emitted more distress calls
      and ambulated more in the open field test, however, they reacted to the predatory
      stimulus very similarly to control chicks: their vocalization was reduced and the
      intergroup difference in motor activity also disappeared. There was no difference
      between the lesioned and control chicks in the latency to approach their
      conspecifics in the social motivation test, and both groups chose the larger
      flock (eight) of conspecifics over the smaller one (three). Concerning the role
      of Ac in social behaviour, a difference between lesioned and sham birds was
      evident here only in the absence of detectable stimulus (predator or
      conspecifics). These findings may reflect either decreased fear of exposure to
      predators or increased craving for conspecifics suggesting that the likely
      function of Ac is to modulate goal-driven, including socially driven, behaviours,
      especially when the direct stimulus representing the goal is absent. This is in
      harmony with the known promotion of impulsiveness by Ac lesions.

PMID- 27643579
TI  - Neurological Deficits of an Rps19(Arg67del) Model of Diamond-Blackfan Anaemia.
AB  - Diamond-Blackfan anaemia is a rare disease caused by insufficient expression of
      ribosomal proteins and is characterized by erythroid hypoplasia often accompanied
      by growth retardation, congenital craniofacial and limb abnormalities. In
      addition, Diamond-Blackfan anaemia patients also exhibit a number of behavioural
      abnormalities. In this study we describe the behavioural effects observed in a
      new mouse mutant carrying a targeted single amino acid deletion in the ribosomal
      protein RPS19. This mutant, created by the deletion of arginine 67 in RPS19,
      exhibits craniofacial, skeletal, and brain abnormalities, accompanied by various
      neurobehavioural malfunctions. A battery of behavioural tests revealed a moderate
      cognitive impairment and neuromuscular dysfunction resulting in profound gait
      abnormalities. This novel Rps19 mutant shows behavioural phenotypes resembling
      that of the human Diamond-Blackfan anaemia syndrome, thus creating the
      possibility to use this mutant as a unique murine model for studying the
      molecular basis of ribosomal protein deficiencies. 

PMID- 27643580
TI  - Changes in Liver Ganglioside Metabolism in Obstructive Cholestasis - the Role of
      Oxidative Stress.
AB  - Bile acids have been implicated in cholestatic liver damage, primarily due to
      their detergent effect on membranes and induction of oxidative stress.
      Gangliosides can counteract these harmful effects by increasing the rigidity of
      the cytoplasmic membrane. Induction of haem oxygenase (HMOX) has been shown to
      protect the liver from increased oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to
      determine the changes in the synthesis and distribution of liver gangliosides
      following bile duct ligation (BDL), and to assess the effects of HMOX both on
      cholestatic liver injury and ganglioside metabolism. Compared to controls, BDL
      resulted in a significant increase in total as well as complex gangliosides and
      mRNA expression of corresponding glycosyltransferases ST3GalV, ST8SiaI and
      B3GalTIV. A marked shift of GM1 ganglioside from the intracellular compartment to
      the cytoplasmic membrane was observed following BDL. Induction of oxidative
      stress by HMOX inhibition resulted in a further increase of these changes, while
      HMOX induction prevented this effect. Compared to BDL alone, HMOX inhibition in
      combination with BDL significantly increased the amount of bile infarcts, while
      HMOX activation decreased ductular proliferation. We have demonstrated that
      cholestasis is accompanied by significant changes in the distribution and
      synthesis of liver gangliosides. HMOX induction results in attenuation of the
      cholestatic pattern of liver gangliosides, while HMOX inhibition leads to the
      opposite effect. 

PMID- 27643581
TI  - Mast Cells Might Have a Protective Role against the Development of Calcification
      and Hyalinisation in Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis.
AB  - Aortic valve stenosis is characterized by inflammation and extracellular matrix
      remodelling. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of mast cells on the
      occurrence of histopathological changes of aortic valves in patients with severe
      grade, non-rheumatic degenerative aortic valve stenosis. Valve specimens were
      obtained from 38 patients undergoing valve replacement. The role of mast cells
      was analysed by dividing the specimens into two groups, characterized by the
      presence (group A, N = 13) or absence of mast cells (group B, N = 25). There were
      no significant differences in clinical data between the two groups. In group A, T
      cells and macrophages were present in all aortic valves, as compared to a
      significantly lower proportion of valves with T cells and macrophages in group B.
      Valves in group A were less often calcified and hyaline-degenerated than valves
      in group B. There were no changes in fibrosis between the two groups. We found a
      positive correlation between the presence of mast cells and macrophages/T cells,
      a negative correlation between the presence of mast cells and calcification/
      hyaline degeneration, and no correlation between the presence of mast cells and
      fibrosis. There was also a negative correlation between the presence of
      macrophages/T cells and calcification. The linear regression model identified
      only the presence of mast cells as an independent negative prediction value for
      calcification. In conclusion, mast cells might have a protective role against the
      development of calcification and hyaline degeneration in severe grade, non
      rheumatic aortic valve stenosis. 

PMID- 27643582
TI  - Comparison of the Radiosensitizing Effect of ATR, ATM and DNA-PK Kinase
      Inhibitors on Cervical Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - Here, we compared the effects of inhibitors of three phosphatidylinositol-3
      kinase-related kinases, ATM, ATR a DNA-PK, on radiosensitization of cervical
      carcinoma cells. We demonstrated that DNA-PK inhibitor NU7441 enhanced
      phosphorylation of Chk1 and Chk2 kinases 2 h after irradiation of HeLa cells at a
      dose of 8 Gy in contrast to ATM kinase inhibitor KU55933, which completely
      blocked the Chk2 kinase phosphorylation on threonine 68, and ATR kinase inhibitor
      VE-821, which blocked the Chk1 kinase phosphorylation on serine 345. Most HeLa
      cells were accumulated in G2 phase of the cell cycle 24 h after irradiation at a
      high dose of 15 Gy, which was even potentiated after adding the inhibitors NU7441
      and KU55933. Compared to all other irradiated groups, inhibitor VE-821 increased
      the number of cells in S phase and reduced the number of cells in G2 phase 24 h
      after irradiation at the high dose of 15 Gy. HeLa cells entered the mitotic cycle
      with unrepaired DNA, which resulted in cell death and the radiosensitizing effect
      of VE-821. Short-term application of the inhibitors (2 h before and 30 min after
      the irradiation by the dose of 8 Gy) significantly decreased the colony-forming
      ability of HeLa cells. Using real-time monitoring of cell proliferation by the
      xCELLigence system we demonstrated that while the radiosensitizing effect of VE
      821 (ATR inhibitor) is manifested early after the irradiation, the
      radiosensitizing effect of KU55933 (ATM inhibitor) and NU7441 (DNA-PK inhibitor)
      is only observed as late as 72 h after the irradiation. 

PMID- 27643583
TI  - Conditional Knockout of the MicroRNA 17-92 Cluster in Type-I Collagen-Expressing
      Cells Decreases Alveolar Bone Size and Incisor Tooth Mechanical Properties.
AB  - To test the role of the miR17-92 (miR) cluster in dental bones, we evaluated the
      incisor tooth phenotype by micro-CT in 5- and 12-week-old conditional knockout
      (CKO) mice deficient in the miR17-92 cluster in type-I collagen-expressing cells
      and bone strength by finite element analysis. The incisor teeth of CKO mice
      showed a 23-30 % reduction in tissue volume and bone volume. Accordingly, the
      stiffness and failure load of incisor teeth assessed by finite element analysis
      showed an 18-40 % decrease in CKO compared to wild-type mice. A positive
      correlation between bone parameters and strength data suggests that the decreased
      mechanical properties of incisor teeth are due to decreased tissue volume and
      bone volume. Subsequently, we found that the width of alveolar bone was reduced
      by 25 % with a 16 % increase in periodontal ligament space, suggesting that the
      CKO mice are more susceptible to tooth movement. Since alveolar bone is populated
      primarily by osteoblast lineage cells, it is likely that the reduction in
      periosteal expansion of alveolar bone in the lower jaw of CKO mice results from
      decreased periosteal bone formation. Overall, our phenotype analysis demonstrates
      that the miR17-92 cluster is essential for development and maintenance of tooth
      strength by regulating its tooth size. 

PMID- 27643584
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and sedative effects of dexmedetomidine in dairy calves.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the pharmacokinetics of dexmedetomidine (DEX) administered I/V
      at a dose of 5 ug/kg bodyweight in dairy calves and to compare the sedative
      effects of anaesthetic protocols involving DEX and xylazine. METHODS: Nine dairy
      calves, aged 17-20 days, were treated with 5 ug/kg I/V dexmedetomidine. For
      pharmacokinetic evaluation, blood samples were collected over 12 hours and serum
      samples were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry. Another nine dairy calves, aged 16-20 days, were treated with 0.2
      mg/kg I/V xylazine. After both treatments, heart rate, respiratory rate and
      rectal temperature were measured for 20 minutes. Sedation quality and recovery
      times were also assessed. RESULTS: The kinetics of DEX was best described by a
      two-compartment model. The distribution and elimination half-lives were 8.7 (SD
      5.0) and 83.5 (SD 67.5) minutes, respectively. Mean maximum concentration and
      body clearance were 12.5 (SD 8.6) ng/mL and 27.9 (SD 13.1) mL/minute/kg,
      respectively; the mean volume of distribution at steady state was 2,170.8 (SD
      1,657.5) mL/kg. A decrease in heart rate was observed after treatments with both
      DEX and xylazine. No differences in heart or respiration rate, or rectal
      temperature were observed between the two treatment groups. The onset of sedation
      occurred after 2.7 (SD 0.67) minutes for calves treated with DEX and 2.8 (SD
      0.78) minutes for calves treated with xylazine, and was characterised by a
      similar degree of deep sedation and ease of handling of the calves. All
      recoveries were eventless, and no adverse reactions were noted. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dexmedetomidine treatment resulted in a reliable and long
      lasting sedation in calves, a transient decrease in heart rate and no
      modification in respiratory rate or rectal temperature. The results were
      comparable to xylazine, the most popular alpha-2-agonist among bovine
      practitioners. The use of DEX in dairy calves for rapid procedures such as
      dehorning or castration could be suggested.

PMID- 27643585
TI  - Implant Placement Accuracy Using Dynamic Navigation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this prospective study was to determine platform and angle
      accuracy for dental implants using dynamic navigation, a form of computer
      assisted surgery. Three hypotheses were considered: (1) the overall accuracy for
      implant placement relative to the virtual plan is similar to that of static tooth
      borne computerized tomography (CT)-generated guides; (2) the dynamic system is
      more accurate than freehand methods; and (3) there is a learning curve associated
      with this method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study involved three surgeons
      placing implants in the mandible and maxilla of patients using a dynamic
      navigation system (X-Guide, X-Nav Technologies). Virtual implants were placed
      into planned sites using the navigation system computer. Post-implant placement
      cone beam CT scans were taken on all patients. For each patient, this scan was
      mesh overlayed with the virtual plan and used to determine platform and angular
      deviations to the virtual plan. The primary outcome variables were platform and
      angular deviations, comparing the actual placement to the virtual plan. Secondary
      analyses included determination of accuracy related to case experience and
      freehand placement of implants. Comparisons to published accuracy studies were
      made for implant placement using static guides. RESULTS: Accuracy deviations from
      the virtual plan were similar to those reported for static tooth-based guides
      using literature references as the comparison. The accuracy of dynamic navigation
      was superior compared to freehand implant placement. The three surgeons had
      similar accuracies after their learning curve was achieved. Proficiency based on
      case series was achieved by the 20th surgical procedure. CONCLUSION: Dynamic
      navigation can achieve accuracy of implant placement similar to static guides and
      is an improvement over freehand implant placement. In addition, there was a
      learning curve to achieve proficiency.

PMID- 27643586
TI  - Extraoral Implants for Anchoring Facial Prostheses: Evaluation of Success and
      Survival Rates in Three Anatomical Regions.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the success and survival rates of
      extraoral implants for the fixation of facial prostheses in three anatomical
      regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects were consecutive patients with facial
      defects who underwent implant placement by the same surgeon in the orbital,
      nasal, and auricular regions between 2003 and 2012. After a minimum of 4 months
      of osseointegration, prostheses were anchored to the implants, and the patients
      were monitored for 11 to 111 months. Success rate, implant survival time, and
      occurrence of previous radiotherapy were evaluated. Rate of implant survival was
      estimated as a function of the anatomical region of the three groups (orbital,
      nasal, or auricular), and confidence intervals were calculated using Kaplan-Meier
      analysis with alpha = .05. RESULTS: In the 68 patients' 138 fixed implants, 48
      showed defects in the orbital, 9 in the nasal, and 11 in the auricular region.
      The success rates and survival times were 95.9% and 8.6 years for the orbital,
      92.9% and 2.8 years for the nasal, and 92% and 9.0 years for the auricular
      region, respectively. The success rate of implants in previously irradiated
      regions was 90.3% for the orbital and 100% for the auricular region. None of the
      patients was irradiated in the nasal region. CONCLUSION: No significant
      differences in implant success or survival were observed with regard to
      anatomical region or previous irradiation.

PMID- 27643587
TI  - The Impact of Implant Design, Defect Size, and Type of Superstructure on the
      Accessibility of Nonsurgical and Surgical Approaches for the Treatment of Peri
      implantitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The success of nonsurgical or surgical treatments of peri-implantitis is
      unpredictable, often without a clear reason. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the efficacy of nonsurgical and surgical cleaning, focusing on the
      impact of implant design, defect size, type of superstructure, and experience of
      the operator. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Conical and straight implants were coated
      with a biofilm-like material and placed in shallow/deep defects in an artificial
      jaw model. Treatment was done by three operators and included either healing
      abutments or crowns as superstructures. Analysis was done using stereomicroscopy
      and ImageJ software. RESULTS: Nonsurgical treatment of peri-implantitis defects
      was inefficient in removing all biofilm areas, regardless of the depth of the
      defect. The type of implant, experience of the operator, or type of
      superstructure did not have a significant impact. Surgical treatment was more
      efficient than a nonsurgical approach with regard to biofilm residues. However,
      the surgical approach failed to clean the apical portion of the exposed part of
      the implants. CONCLUSION: Nonsurgical and surgical treatment were found to be
      ineffective in cleaning the exposed portion of implants with peri-implantitis.
      Treatment of peri-implantitis should therefore also include other approaches,
      such as chemical or biological modalities.

PMID- 27643588
TI  - Can Reinforcement of Maxillary Implant Overdentures Decrease Stress on Underlying
      Implants?
AB  - PURPOSE: Reinforcement of maxillary implant overdentures is necessary not only
      for preventing prosthetic complications but also for protecting underlying
      structures, as it makes the denture base more rigid. However, few studies have
      investigated the effects of reinforcement on the underlying structure. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reinforcement on implant
      stress under various implant configurations and denture designs. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A maxillary edentulous model with implants and experimental overdentures
      with and without palatal coverage and three types of cast reinforcement was
      fabricated. Four strain gauges were attached to the implants in the anterior,
      premolar, and molar areas. A vertical occlusal load of 98 N was applied through
      the mandibular complete denture, and the strain on the implants was compared
      using one-way analysis of variance (P = .05). RESULTS: In dentures with palatal
      coverage, reinforcement significantly decreased the strain on the anterior and
      molar implants. In palateless dentures, reinforcement with a palatal bar
      decreased the strain most on the anterior and molar implants. CONCLUSION:
      Reinforcement of maxillary implant overdentures decreased the strain on
      underlying implants, regardless of the denture design and implant configurations.

PMID- 27643589
TI  - Training tomorrow's leaders in global health: impact of the Afya Bora Consortium
      Fellowship on the careers of its alumni.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective leadership is a cornerstone of successful healthcare
      delivery in resource limited settings throughout the world. However, few programs
      in Africa prepare healthcare professionals with the leadership skills vital to
      the success of the healthcare systems in which they work. One such program, the
      Afya Bora Consortium Fellowship in Global Health Leadership, has been training
      health professionals since 2011. The purpose of this study was to assess what
      career changes, if any, the Afya Bora Fellowship's alumni have experienced since
      completing the fellowship, and to describe those changes. METHODS: The Afya Bora
      Fellowship is a multidisciplinary, one-year training program that teaches health
      professionals leadership skills through didactic and experiential learning in
      four African countries. Between January 2011 and June 2013 the consortium trained
      42 nurses and doctors. In November 2013, an electronic survey was sent to all
      alumni to assess their performance in the workplace post-fellowship. RESULTS:
      Thirty-one (74 %) of 42 alumni completed surveys. Twenty-one (68 %) reported
      changes to their position at work; of those, sixteen (76 %) believed the change
      was due to participation in the fellowship. All alumni reported improved
      performance at work, and cited the application of a wide range of fellowship
      skills, including leadership, research, communication, and mentoring. Twenty-six
      (84 %) alumni spearheaded improvements in their workplaces and almost all (97 %)
      remained in contact with colleagues from the fellowship. Among the respondents
      there were five publications, nine manuscripts in preparation, and three
      international conference presentations. CONCLUSIONS: Afya Bora alumni
      overwhelmingly reported that the one year fellowship positively influenced both
      their work and career trajectory. Training health professionals in leadership
      skills through didactic modules with the opportunity to apply learned skills at
      attachment sites in the Afya Bora Fellowship has an impact on performance in the
      workplace and the potential to improve long-term institutional capacity.

PMID- 27643592
TI  - Perspectives on the care and advances in the management of children with trisomy
      13 and 18.
AB  - The trisomy 13 and trisomy 18 syndromes are important and relatively common
      chromosome conditions each consisting of a recognizable pattern of multiple
      congenital anomalies, an increased neonatal and infant mortality, and a marked
      cognitive and motor disability in older children. Because of the medically
      serious nature of the outcomes, the traditional approach to management in the
      newborn and early infancy periods has been to withhold technological support and
      surgery. In the last decade a rich dialogue has emerged in the literature; one
      view makes the case for pure comfort care for the benefit of the child while the
      other view supports full intervention in appropriate situations. The principal
      aim of the series of articles in this issue of the Seminars in Medical Genetics
      is to enrich and continue this emerging dialogue. The papers include review
      articles, original research, and commentaries that discuss perspectives on the
      care and advances in the management of children with the trisomy 13 and 18
      syndromes. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27643594
TI  - Methylation of MGMT Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Stage III
      Duodenal Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation status has
      not been extensively investigated in duodenal adenocarcinoma (DA). The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the MGMT methylation status and examine its possible
      prognostic value in patients with stage III DA. METHODS: Demographics, tumor
      characteristics and survival were available for 64 patients with stage III DA.
      MGMT methylation was detected by using MethyLight. A Cox proportional hazard
      model was built to predict survival, adjusted for clinicopathological
      characteristics and tumor molecular features, including the CpG island methylator
      phenotype (CIMP), microsatellite instability (MSI), and KRAS mutations. RESULTS:
      MGMT methylation was detected in 17 of 64 (26.6%) patients, and was not
      correlated with sex, age, tumor differentiation, CIMP, MSI, or KRAS mutations.
      MGMT methylation was the only one factor associated with both overall survival
      (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) on both univariate and multivariate
      analyses. In patients treated with surgery alone, MGMT-methylated group had worse
      OS and DFS when compared with MGMT-unmethylated group. However, in patients
      treated with chemotherapy/radiotherapy, outcomes became comparable between the
      two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate MGMT methylation is a reliable
      and independent prognostic factor in DAs. Methylation of MGMT is associated with
      poor prognosis in patients with stage III DAs.

PMID- 27643595
TI  - Inpatient healthcare utilisation in patients with alcoholic liver disease: what
      are the costs and outcomes?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) carries a significant cost burden and
      often leads to inpatient care. It is unclear whether inpatient care for ALD is
      any more costly than admission for other reasons. AIMS: To compare the costs and
      outcomes of inpatient care for ALD to two groups: a control group of matched
      cases admitted in the same time frame and people admitted for other chronic liver
      diseases (CLD). METHODS: All admissions for ALD and other CLD in a 3-month period
      were retrospectively identified. Five randomly identified gender- and age-matched
      contemporaneously admitted controls were allocated. Length of stay (LoS),
      mortality, inpatient costs, blood product utilisation and discharge destination
      were compared. RESULTS: Of the 71 admissions due to CLD, ALD was the most
      frequent cause (53/71, 75%). ALD admissions cost more (median $10 100 vs $5294; P
      = 0.0012) and had greater LoS (median LoS 7.2 days (interquartile range (IQR) 0.2
      40.7)) than controls (2.6 days (IQR 1.1-6.8); P = 0.0001). A larger proportion of
      the ALD cohort required blood transfusion and had a higher mortality than
      controls (24.5 vs 6.4%, P = 0.002 and 13.2 vs 0.2%; P < 0.0001 respectively).
      Self-discharge was more common in the ALD group (13.2 vs 1.1%, P < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: ALD inpatient hospital admissions have greater median total cost,
      longer LoS, greater blood product utilisation, higher mortality and greater rate
      of discharge against medical advice than age- and gender-matched controls. These
      data emphasise the large inpatient care burden, high mortality and suboptimal
      engagement in those with ALD, which justifies the more active provision of
      services for ALD.

PMID- 27643597
TI  - Click-MS: Tagless Protein Enrichment Using Bioorthogonal Chemistry for
      Quantitative Proteomics.
AB  - Epitope-tagging is an effective tool to facilitate protein enrichment from crude
      cell extracts. Traditionally, N- or C-terminal fused tags are employed, which,
      however, can perturb protein function. Unnatural amino acids (UAAs) harboring
      small reactive handles can be site-specifically incorporated into proteins, thus
      serving as a potential alternative for conventional protein tags. Here, we
      introduce Click-MS, which combines the power of site-specific UAA incorporation,
      bioorthogonal chemistry, and quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics to
      specifically enrich a single protein of interest from crude mammalian cell
      extracts. By genetic encoding of p-azido-l-phenylalanine, the protein of interest
      can be selectively captured using copper-free click chemistry. We use Click-MS to
      enrich proteins that function in different cellular compartments, and we identify
      protein-protein interactions, showing the great potential of Click-MS for
      interaction proteomics workflows.

PMID- 27643596
TI  - Public Health Responses to and Challenges for the Control of Dengue Transmission
      in High-Income Countries: Four Case Studies.
AB  - Dengue has a negative impact in low- and lower middle-income countries, but also
      affects upper middle- and high-income countries. Despite the efforts at
      controlling this disease, it is unclear why dengue remains an issue in affluent
      countries. A better understanding of dengue epidemiology and its burden, and
      those of chikungunya virus and Zika virus which share vectors with dengue, is
      required to prevent the emergence of these diseases in high-income countries in
      the future. The purpose of this review was to assess the relative burden of
      dengue in four high-income countries and to appraise the similarities and
      differences in dengue transmission. We searched PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and
      Google Scholar using specific keywords for articles published up to 05 May 2016.
      We found that outbreaks rarely occur where only Aedes albopictus is present. The
      main similarities between countries uncovered by our review are the proximity to
      dengue-endemic countries, the presence of a competent mosquito vector, a largely
      nonimmune population, and a lack of citizens' engagement in control of mosquito
      breeding. We identified important epidemiological and environmental issues
      including the increase of local transmission despite control efforts, population
      growth, difficulty locating larval sites, and increased human mobility from
      neighboring endemic countries. Budget cuts in health and lack of practical
      vaccines contribute to an increased risk. To be successful, dengue-control
      programs for high-income countries must consider the epidemiology of dengue in
      other countries and use this information to minimize virus importation, improve
      the control of the cryptic larval habitat, and engage the community in reducing
      vector breeding. Finally, the presence of a communicable disease center is
      critical for managing and reducing future disease risks.

PMID- 27643598
TI  - Role of LTA4H Polymorphism in Tuberculosis-Associated Immune Reconstitution
      Inflammatory Syndrome Occurrence and Clinical Severity in Patients Infected with
      HIV.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paradoxical tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution
      inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS) is an inflammatory phenomenon complicating HIV
      management in coincidental tuberculosis (TB) infection, upon immune
      reconstitution driven by antiretroviral therapy (ART). Leukotriene A4 hydroxylase
      (LTA4H), an enzyme which converts LTA4 to LTB4, regulates the balance between the
      anti-inflammatory lipoxins and pro-inflammatory LTB4, with direct implications in
      TB-driven inflammation. In humans, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the
      LTA4H promoter which regulates its transcriptional activity (rs17525495) has been
      identified and described to impact clinical severity of TB presentation and
      response to corticosteroid therapy. Notably, the role of LTA4H on TB-IRIS has not
      been previously evaluated. Here, we performed an exploratory investigation
      testing the association of LTA4H polymorphism with respect to frequency of TB
      IRIS occurrence and severity of TB-IRIS presentation in HIV-TB co-infected
      individuals. METHODS: Genotypic evaluation of the LTA4H enzyme from available
      samples was retrospectively correlated with clinical data captured in case sheets
      including IRIS details. The cohort included patients recruited from a prospective
      cohort study nested within a randomized clinical trial (NCT0933790) of ART-naive
      HIV+ patients with newly diagnosed rifampicin sensitive pulmonary TB in South
      India. Frequency of the wild type genotype (CC), as well as of the mutant
      genotypes (CT or TT) in the IRIS and non-IRIS patients was estimated. Comparative
      analyses were performed between wild genotype (CC) and the mutant genotypes (CT
      or TT) and tested for association between the LTA4H polymorphisms and IRIS
      incidence and clinical severity. RESULTS: A total of 142 eligible ART-naive
      patients were included in the analyses. Eighty-six individuals exhibited the wild
      genotype (CC) while 56 had mutant genotypes (43-CT and only 13-TT). Variant
      allele frequency was 0.23 and 0.26 in non-IRIS group and in IRIS group,
      respectively. Upon ART initiation, 51 patients developed IRIS while 91 did not.
      IRIS incidence was 34% and 37% in the wild (CC) and mutant type (CT/TT),
      respectively (p = 0.858) with a higher frequency of severe IRIS presentation in
      the mutant genotype group compared to the wild type genotype (p = 0.0006). A
      logistic regression model confirmed the association between the presence of CT/TT
      genotypes and occurrence of severe IRIS. Corticosteroid therapy successfully
      resolved IRIS in all cases irrespective of the LTA4H genotype. CONCLUSION: A
      higher incidence of severe IRIS among patients with mutant LTA4H genotypes (CT
      and TT) was observed compared to the wild type, despite similar IRIS incidence
      and immune restoration in both groups. Steroids were effective in alleviating
      IRIS in all the genotypes.

PMID- 27643600
TI  - [A New Way to Look Up. Solar Retinopathy Risks and Methods of Prevention Prior to
      the 2015 Solar Eclipse].
AB  - A solar eclipse is an impressive natural phenomenon that was last experienced in
      Europe in 2006. Last year, on March 20th 2015, a solar eclipse was visible in
      much of Europe. Solar retinopathy is a recognised potentially sight threatening
      condition that has been associated with direct or unprotected sun gazing. Public
      education has been shown to improve behaviour and attitudes that could influence
      the development of solar retinopathy during an eclipse. We have performed a study
      through newspapers prior to the 2015 solar eclipse in different European
      countries, in order to determine the level of public health awareness and
      attitudes to protection. Methods: 31 online editions of national newspapers were
      reviewed from six countries where the eclipse was most visible. Solar
      retinopathy, potential warnings, safe methods of viewing an eclipse and
      assessment of use and dangers of modern technologies were assessed. Results: All
      25 newspapers examined mentioned the solar eclipse and risk to eyesight. Safe
      methods for viewing the eclipse were discussed in all newspapers. Eclipse
      eyeglasses were mentioned in 29 of the 31 newspapers reviewed. Children were
      identified as a high-risk group but advice for children viewing the eclipse
      varied between countries. Conclusion: Since the solar eclipse of 2006, there has
      been an increase in the level of education available in the media. Although the
      safe methods for viewing an eclipse have not changed in recent years, emerging
      technologies, such as camera phones and the "selfie" trend, have potentially
      increased the risk of eclipse-associated retinopathy.

PMID- 27643599
TI  - Airway Secretory microRNAome Changes during Rhinovirus Infection in Early
      Childhood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Innate immune responses are fine-tuned by small noncoding RNA
      molecules termed microRNAs (miRs) that modify gene expression in response to the
      environment. During acute infections, miRs can be secreted in extracellular
      vesicles (EV) to facilitate cell-to-cell genetic communication. The purpose of
      this study was to characterize the baseline population of miRs secreted in EVs in
      the airways of young children (airway secretory microRNAome) and examine the
      changes during rhinovirus (RV) infection, the most common cause of asthma
      exacerbations and the most important early risk factor for the development of
      asthma beyond childhood. METHODS: Nasal airway secretions were obtained from
      children (<=3 yrs. old) during PCR-confirmed RV infections (n = 10) and age
      matched controls (n = 10). Nasal EVs were isolated with polymer-based
      precipitation and global miR profiles generated using NanoString microarrays. We
      validated our in vivo airway secretory miR data in an in vitro airway epithelium
      model using apical secretions from primary human bronchial epithelial cells
      (HBEC) differentiated at air-liquid interface (ALI). Bioinformatics tools were
      used to determine the unified (nasal and bronchial) signature airway secretory
      miRNAome and changes during RV infection in children. RESULTS: Multiscale
      analysis identified four signature miRs comprising the baseline airway secretory
      miRNAome: hsa-miR-630, hsa-miR-302d-3p, hsa- miR-320e, hsa-miR-612. We identified
      hsa-miR-155 as the main change in the baseline miRNAome during RV infection in
      young children. We investigated the potential biological relevance of the airway
      secretion of hsa-mir-155 using in silico models derived from gene datasets of
      experimental in vivo human RV infection. These analyses confirmed that hsa-miR
      155 targetome is an overrepresented pathway in the upper airways of individuals
      infected with RV. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative analysis of the airway secretory
      microRNAome in children indicates that RV infection is associated with airway
      secretion of EVs containing miR-155, which is predicted in silico to regulate
      antiviral immunity. Further characterization of the airway secretory microRNAome
      during health and disease may lead to completely new strategies to treat and
      monitor respiratory conditions in all ages.

PMID- 27643601
TI  - [Prevalence of Elevated Lipoprotein (a) Levels in Patients < 60 Years of Age with
      Retinal Vein Occlusion].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The potential impact of elevated Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels on
      retinal venous occlusive (RVO) diseases with regard to age and various risk
      factors has not been studied extensively. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a
      retrospective case-control study, thrombophilia data of 106 young patients (< 60
      years at the time of the RVO or a previous thromboembolic event) with RVO and 76
      healthy subjects were evaluated. RESULTS: Elevated Lp(a) plasma levels were
      significantly more prevalent among RVO patients (29.2 %) than among controls (9.2
      %; p = 0.0009). Lp(a) levels were found to be significantly (p = 0.012) different
      between patients and controls. Moreover, we found that an unusual personal or
      family history of thromboembolism was a strong predictor of elevated Lp(a) (p =
      0.03). We observed a significant correlation between elevated Lp(a) and other
      coagulation disorders (p = 0.005). Multivariate analysis showed that elevated
      lipoprotein(a) levels (OR: 3.5; p = 0.003) were an independent risk factor for
      the development of RVO. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated plasma levels of Lp(a) are
      associated with the development of RVO. Selective screening of young patients and
      subjects with a personal or family history of thromboembolism may be helpful in
      identifying RVO patients with elevated Lp(a).

PMID- 27643602
TI  - [Experience with Introduction of SMILE: Learning Phase of our First 200
      Treatments].
AB  - Background  Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) is a relatively new
      surgical method to correct myopia and myopic astigmatism. Although considered to
      be safe and effective, it is not yet popular. Potential reasons for its limited
      use could be that surgeons fear inferior results and a higher complication rate
      in the learning phase. Therefore we present our experiences with the treatment of
      our first 200 eyes, with special attention to refraction results, complications,
      and learning curve. Patients and Methods  200 myopic or myopic astigmatic eyes of
      102 patients were treated with SMILE. The analysis was separated into two phases:
      Phase I (first 100 treatments) with large variation of laser parameters and
      surgical technique, phase II (second 100 treatments) with mostly constant laser
      parameters and identical surgical technique. Results  Phase I showed the
      following 3-month results after a mean attempted correction of - 5.70 +/- 2.54 D
      (range: - 1.25 to - 10.00 D): spherical equivalent - 0.03 +/- 0.46 D, astigmatism
      - 0.34 +/- 0.35 D, uncorrected distance visual acuity 1.02, corrected distance
      visual acuity (CDVA) 1.22. Postoperative and preoperative CDVA did not differ (p
      = 0.71). Mean refraction reached the targeted value after 5 days. Efficacy index
      was 0.55 +/- 0.19 at day 1, 0.67 +/- 0.22 at day 5, and 0.87 +/- 0.23 at 3
      months. In Phase II, the efficacy index improved to 0.63 +/- 0.25 (p = 0.039) at
      day 1 and to 0.75 +/- 0.26 (p = 0,02) at day 5. The most frequent complications
      were intraoperative abrasions and epithelial cells in the interface. Almost all
      complications occurred less frequently in Phase II. Conclusion  Our first SMILE
      treatments showed very good refractive predictability, very good safety and rapid
      visual recovery. Results after high myopic corrections were equivalent to or
      better than our first Femto-LASIK treatments. We had a much higher complication
      rate than with our LASIK treatments - that have been established over several
      years. All complications could be managed without loss of visual acuity. Visual
      recovery was faster and complications less frequent with experience gained. SMILE
      has replaced LASIK as our preferred treatment modality for the correction of
      myopic astigmatic eyes.

PMID- 27643603
TI  - [Evaluation of Double Vision - One Way to Look at it].
AB  - For private accident insurance, the article describes double vision zones and how
      they are used in various disorders of ocular motility with double vision.

PMID- 27643604
TI  - [Future Developments in Retinal Prostheses].
AB  - Implantable retinal prostheses for the blind are already in use. In blind
      subjects suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP), these systems are able to
      induce phosphenes. However, the measurable gain in vision is limited. This is due
      to degeneration in the retina itself and to the technology, which is used in the
      currently available systems. Research groups and companies are working on
      solutions and prototypes to improve the outcome of electrical stimulation in the
      visual system. One improvement will be to enlarge the electrode array in order to
      restore a larger visual field. A second approach is to enlarge the number of
      electrodes and to place them at a higher density to improve the spatial
      resolution of the system. A third concept is to develop a recording unit within
      the electrode array to analyse ganglion cell behaviour underneath the electrode.
      This information can than be used to optimise the stimulation pattern. Not only
      retinal prostheses are under development but also systems to stimulate the retina
      from the suprachoroidal space, to directly stimulate the optic nerve or the
      lateral geniculate body or even the primary visual cortex.

PMID- 27643605
TI  - Exploring the Potent Inhibition of CTP Synthase by Gemcitabine-5'-Triphosphate.
AB  - CTP synthase (CTPS) catalyzes the conversion of UTP to CTP and is a target for
      the development of antiviral, anticancer, antiprotozoal, and immunosuppressive
      agents. Exposure of cell lines to the antineoplastic cytidine analogue
      gemcitabine causes depletion of intracellular CTP levels, but the direct
      inhibition of CTPS by its metabolite gemcitabine-5'-triphosphate (dF-dCTP) has
      not been demonstrated. We show that dF-dCTP is a potent competitive inhibitor of
      Escherichia coli CTPS with respect to UTP [Ki =(3.0+/-0.1) MUm], and that its
      binding affinity exceeds that of CTP ~75-fold. Site-directed mutagenesis studies
      indicated that Glu149 is an important binding determinant for both CTP and dF
      dCTP. Comparison of the binding affinities of the 5'-triphosphates of 2'-fluoro
      2'-deoxycytidine and 2'-fluoro-2'-deoxyarabinocytidine revealed that the 2'-F
      arabino group contributes markedly to the strong binding of dF-dCTP. Geminal 2'-F
      substitution on UTP (dF-dUTP) did not result in an increase in binding affinity
      with CTPS. Remarkably, CTPS catalyzed the conversion of dF-dUTP into dF-dCTP,
      thus suggesting that dF-dCTP might be regenerated in vivo from its catabolite dF
      dUTP.

PMID- 27643606
TI  - Mindfulness interventions in the workplace: A critique of the current state of
      the literature.
AB  - There is growing research interest regarding the significance of mindfulness in
      the workplace. Within this body of knowledge, research investigating the effects
      of mindfulness interventions on employee health and well-being has strong
      practical implications for organizations. A sound understanding of the current
      state of the workplace mindfulness intervention literature will help inform the
      suitability of these interventions within the workplace domain, and how to
      improve the conduct and communication of intervention-oriented research.
      Accordingly, in this article, we systematically review 40 published articles of
      mindfulness interventions in the workplace to identify ways in which these
      interventions could be improved, and how to overcome methodological concerns that
      threaten study validity. Studies selected for review were published peer
      reviewed, primary empirical research studies written in English, with a focus on
      a workplace mindfulness intervention. We discuss a range of issues evident within
      this body of literature, including conceptualizations of mindfulness; the
      adaptation of protocols to work settings; internal validity in relation to random
      allocation and control conditions; the use of manipulation checks; attrition,
      adherence, acceptability, and maintenance of interventions; utilizing objective
      cognitive measures; examining organizational and well-being outcomes; and
      establishing boundary conditions. Overall, this review provides a resource to
      inform scholars to advance this line of inquiry and practitioners who are
      considering implementing a mindfulness intervention for employees. (PsycINFO
      Database Record

PMID- 27643607
TI  - Personally committed to emotional labor: Surface acting, emotional exhaustion and
      performance among service employees with a strong need to belong.
AB  - Individual differences in emotional labor and subsequent vulnerability to burnout
      have been explored through the prism of Congruence Theory, which examines the
      congruence between personality traits and job requirements (Bono & Vey, 2007;
      Moskowitz & Cote, 1995). Drawing on theory and research dealing with the
      association between the need to belong and self-regulation (Baumeister, DeWall,
      Ciarocco & Twenge, 2005), this study examined the relationship between need to
      belong and service employees' surface acting and associated outcomes. In Study 1,
      participants (N = 54) were asked to write a response to an aggressive email from
      a hypothetical customer. The need to belong was positively related to display of
      positive emotions and negatively to display of negative emotions in the
      responses, but not related to felt anger, suggesting that it is associated with
      the inclination to engage in surface acting. In Study 2, a field study conducted
      with 170 service employee-customer dyads, surface acting mediated the positive
      relationship between fear of isolation and emotional exhaustion, and emotional
      exhaustion mediated the relationship between surface acting and customer
      satisfaction. These results suggested that service employees with a strong need
      to belong might have a heightened risk of burnout because of their inclination to
      engage in emotional labor. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643608
TI  - Job burnout in mental health providers: A meta-analysis of 35 years of
      intervention research.
AB  - Burnout is prevalent among mental health providers and is associated with
      significant employee, consumer, and organizational costs. Over the past 35 years,
      numerous intervention studies have been conducted but have yet to be reviewed and
      synthesized using a quantitative approach. To fill this gap, we performed a meta
      analysis on the effectiveness of burnout interventions for mental health workers.
      We completed a systematic literature search of burnout intervention studies that
      spanned more than 3 decades (1980 to 2015). Each eligible study was independently
      coded by 2 researchers, and data were analyzed using a random-effects model with
      effect sizes based on the Hedges' g statistic. We computed an overall
      intervention effect size and performed moderator analyses. Twenty-seven unique
      samples were included in the meta-analysis, representing 1,894 mental health
      workers. Interventions had a small but positive effect on provider burnout
      (Hedges' g = .13, p = .006). Moderator analyses suggested that person-directed
      interventions were more effective than organization-directed interventions at
      reducing emotional exhaustion (Qbetween = 6.70, p = .010) and that job
      training/education was the most effective organizational intervention subtype
      (Qbetween = 12.50, p < .001). Lower baseline burnout levels were associated with
      smaller intervention effects and accounted for a significant proportion of effect
      size variability. The field has made limited progress in ameliorating mental
      health provider burnout. Based on our findings, we suggest that researchers
      implement a wider breadth of interventions that are tailored to address unique
      organizational and staff needs and that incorporate longer follow-up periods.
      (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643609
TI  - Tuberculosis incidence in a cohort of individuals infected with human T
      lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in Salvador, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few reports have investigated the association between human T
      lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and tuberculosis (TB) in countries where both
      infections are endemic. This study estimates the incidence of TB in a cohort
      infected with HTLV-1, compared with non-infected individuals, over a ten-year
      period. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study involving the cross-matching of
      records of individuals for whom a HTLV serology was performed at a referral
      center for HTLV (CHTLV) with a database of TB cases from Sinan-the Information
      System on Diseases of Compulsory Declaration between 2002 and 2012. RESULTS: From
      a cohort of 6,495 individuals, 1,711 were infected with HTLV-1. A total of 73 TB
      cases occurred during the study period: 33 HTLV-1-infected patients and 40
      uninfected individuals. The incidence density for TB in the HTLV-1 infected group
      was 3.3 person-years per 1,000 individuals and 1.1 person-years per 1,000
      individuals in the group HTLV-1 uninfected group. The relative risk of developing
      TB in the group of patients infected with HTLV-1 was 2.6 (CI 95 % 1.6-4.2) in
      comparison with HTLV-1 uninfected group. Compared to individuals with isolated
      TB, those in the HTLV-1 infected group who had TB were older (p = 0.005) and had
      lower education levels (p = 0.02). No differences were observed with respect to
      the clinical/radiological presentation, nor in the outcome of TB and prevalence
      of HIV infection, when comparing among the HTLV-1-infected and uninfected groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients infected with HTLV-1 are more susceptible to TB. The
      epidemiological characteristics of HTLV-1/TB subjects and those infected with TB
      overlap.

PMID- 27643610
TI  - Occurrence of jasmonates during cystocarp development in the red alga Grateloupia
      imbricata.
AB  - In this study, we highlight the effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJa) on cystocarp
      development in the red macroscopic alga Grateloupia imbricata. In G. imbricata,
      jasmonate release is related to the reproductive state, as fertile thalli (i.e.,
      those that have cystocarps) released significant amounts of this volatile
      compound (1.27 +/- 0.20 mM . mg fw-1  . h-1 ) compared with infertile thalli
      (0.95 +/- 0.12 mM . mg fw-1  . h-1 ). Treating G. imbricata thalli with MeJa
      revealed a significant increase in cystocarp number (1.5 +/- 0.27 cystocarps . mm
      2 ), which was ~7.5-fold greater than in untreated thalli (0.2 +/- 0.07
      cystocarps . mm-2 ). Maturation was completed within 48 h with MeJa treatment, a
      shortening of the typical >3-week maturation period, and included the opening of
      cystocarps and the presence of dehiscent cavities. Release rates of jasmonates
      after exogenous MeJa treatment were also modified based on the cystocarp
      maturation level. All of these effects were reduced in the presence of phenidone,
      which blocks MeJa production, indicating that the MeJa action is genuine. The
      effects of MeJa during cystocarp maturation were not replicated by derivatives of
      reactive oxygen species from the same jasmonic acid biosynthetic pathway, as the
      activities of scavenger enzymes and lipid peroxidation were unchanged between
      infertile and fertile thalli. Therefore, a reactive oxygen species-based
      mechanism is not involved during cystocarp development. We conclude that MeJa has
      an independent function as a growth regulator during G. imbricata reproduction.

PMID- 27643612
TI  - The Breathing Cell: Cyclic Intermembrane Distance Variation in Reverse
      Electrodialysis.
AB  - The breathing cell is a new concept design that operates a reverse
      electrodialysis stack by varying in time the intermembrane distance. Reverse
      electrodialysis is used to harvest salinity gradient energy; a rather unknown
      renewable energy source from controlled mixing of river water and seawater.
      Traditionally, both river water and seawater compartments have a fixed
      intermembrane distance. Especially the river water compartment thickness
      contributes to a large extent to the resistance of the stack due to its low
      conductivity. In our cyclic approach, two stages define the principle of the
      breathing concept; the initial stage, where both compartments (seawater and river
      water) have the same thickness and the compressed stage, where river water
      compartments are compressed by expanding the seawater compartments. This movement
      at a tunable frequency allows reducing stack resistance by decreasing the
      thickness of the river water compartment without increasing permanently the
      pumping losses. The breathing stacks clearly benefit from the lower resistance
      values and low pumping power required, obtaining high net power densities over a
      much broader flow rate range. The high frequency breathing stack (15 cycles/min)
      shows a maximum net power density of 1.3 W/m2. Although the maximum gross and net
      power density ever registered (2.9 W/m2 and 1.5 W/m2, respectively) is achieved
      for a fixed 120 MUm intermembrane distance stack (without movement of the
      membranes), it is only obtained at a very narrow flow rate range due to the high
      pressure drops at small intermembrane distance. The breathing cell concept offers
      a unique feature, namely physical movement of the membranes, and thus the ability
      to adapt to the operational conditions and water quality.

PMID- 27643614
TI  - IrIII -Catalyzed One-Pot Cascade Synthesis of Pentacyclic-Fused Carbazoles from
      Indoles and Diazoes.
AB  - A highly efficient IrIII -catalyzed cascade cyclization of indoles and diazoes
      giving access to unique pentacyclic-fused carbazoles has been developed. This
      novel strategy expanded the application scope of coupling partners to take diazo
      compounds as a C2 source, and two new cycles, three new C-C and one new C-N bonds
      were formed in one-pot.

PMID- 27643611
TI  - Transcriptomic Analysis of Persistent Infection with Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus
      in Cattle Suggests Impairment of Apoptosis and Cell-Mediated Immunity in the
      Nasopharynx.
AB  - In order to investigate the mechanisms of persistent foot-and-mouth disease virus
      (FMDV) infection in cattle, transcriptome alterations associated with the FMDV
      carrier state were characterized using a bovine whole-transcriptome microarray.
      Eighteen cattle (8 vaccinated with a recombinant FMDV A vaccine, 10 non
      vaccinated) were challenged with FMDV A24 Cruzeiro, and the gene expression
      profiles of nasopharyngeal tissues collected between 21 and 35 days after
      challenge were compared between 11 persistently infected carriers and 7 non
      carriers. Carriers and non-carriers were further compared to 2 naive animals that
      had been neither vaccinated nor challenged. At a controlled false-discovery rate
      of 10% and a minimum difference in expression of 50%, 648 genes were
      differentially expressed between FMDV carriers and non-carriers, and most (467)
      had higher expression in carriers. Among these, genes associated with cellular
      proliferation and the immune response-such as chemokines, cytokines and genes
      regulating T and B cells-were significantly overrepresented. Differential gene
      expression was significantly correlated between non-vaccinated and vaccinated
      animals (biological correlation +0.97), indicating a similar transcriptome
      profile across these groups. Genes related to prostaglandin E2 production and the
      induction of regulatory T cells were overexpressed in carriers. In contrast,
      tissues from non-carrier animals expressed higher levels of complement regulators
      and pro-apoptotic genes that could promote virus clearance. Based on these
      findings, we propose a working hypothesis for FMDV persistence in nasopharyngeal
      tissues of cattle, in which the virus may be maintained by an impairment of
      apoptosis and the local suppression of cell-mediated antiviral immunity by
      inducible regulatory T cells. 

PMID- 27643613
TI  - Spheroid Culture of Head and Neck Cancer Cells Reveals an Important Role of EGFR
      Signalling in Anchorage Independent Survival.
AB  - In solid tumours millions of cells are shed into the blood circulation each day.
      Only a subset of these circulating tumour cells (CTCs) survive, many of them
      presumable because of their potential to form multi-cellular clusters also named
      spheroids. Tumour cells within these spheroids are protected from anoikis, which
      allows them to metastasize to distant organs or re-seed at the primary site. We
      used spheroid cultures of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell
      lines as a model for such CTC clusters for determining the role of the epidermal
      growth factor receptor (EGFR) in cluster formation ability and cell survival
      after detachment from the extra-cellular matrix. The HNSCC cell lines FaDu, SCC-9
      and UT-SCC-9 (UT-SCC-9P) as well as its cetuximab (CTX)-resistant sub-clone (UT
      SCC-9R) were forced to grow in an anchorage-independent manner by coating culture
      dishes with the anti-adhesive polymer poly-2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (poly
      HEMA). The extent of apoptosis, clonogenic survival and EGFR signalling under
      such culture conditions was evaluated. The potential of spheroid formation in
      suspension culture was found to be positively correlated with the proliferation
      rate of HNSCC cell lines as well as their basal EGFR expression levels. CTX and
      gefitinib blocked, whereas the addition of EGFR ligands promoted anchorage
      independent cell survival and spheroid formation. Increased spheroid formation
      and growth were associated with persistent activation of EGFR and its downstream
      signalling component (MAPK/ERK). Importantly, HNSCC cells derived from spheroid
      cultures retained their clonogenic potential in the absence of cell-matrix
      contact. Addition of CTX under these conditions strongly inhibited colony
      formation in CTX-sensitive cell lines but not their resistant subclones.
      Altogether, EGFR activation was identified as crucial factor for anchorage
      independent survival of HNSCC cells. Targeting EGFR in CTC cluster formation
      might represent an attractive anti-metastatic treatment approach in HNSCC. 

PMID- 27643615
TI  - Unmethylated Insulin DNA Is Elevated After Total Pancreatectomy With Islet
      Autotransplantation: Assessment of a Novel Beta Cell Marker.
AB  - Beta cell death may occur both after islet isolation and during infusion back
      into recipients undergoing total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation
      (TPIAT) for chronic pancreatitis. We measured the novel beta cell death marker
      unmethylated insulin (INS) DNA in TPIAT recipients before and immediately after
      islet infusion (n = 21) and again 90 days after TPIAT, concurrent with metabolic
      functional assessments (n = 25). As expected, INS DNA decreased after
      pancreatectomy (p = 0.0002). All TPIAT recipients had an elevated unmethylated
      INS DNA ratio in the first hours following islet infusion. In four samples (three
      patients), INS DNA was also assessed immediately after islet isolation and again
      before islet infusion to assess the impact of the isolation process: Unmethylated
      and methylated INS DNA fractions both increased over this interval, suggesting
      death of beta cells and exocrine tissue before islet infusion. Higher glucose
      excursion with mixed-meal tolerance testing was associated with persistently
      elevated INS DNA at day 90. In conclusion, we observed universal early elevations
      in the beta cell death marker INS DNA after TPIAT, with pronounced elevations in
      the islet supernatant before infusion, likely reflecting beta cell death induced
      by islet isolation. Persistent posttransplant elevation of INS DNA predicted
      greater hyperglycemia at 90 days.

PMID- 27643616
TI  - Acidic Co-Catalysts in Cationic Gold Catalysis.
AB  - A systematic study on the effects of Lewis or Bronsted acid co-catalysts in gold
      catalyzed reactions was undertaken using representative reactions (O-, N-, and C
      nucleophilic additions to alkynes). Through these reactions, it was demonstrated
      that an acidic co-catalyst can increase the catalyst turnover significantly,
      enabling practical reaction rates at competitive catalyst loadings (<1 mol %).
      Further investigation is currently underway to improve the understanding of the
      subtle principles underlying these experimental observations.

PMID- 27643618
TI  - Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factors in Taiwanese patients with drug-naive
      first-episode schizophrenia: Effects of antipsychotics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) are known to be related to
      the psychopathology of schizophrenia. However, studies focussing on drug-naive
      first-episode schizophrenia are still rare. METHODS: Over a 5-year period, we
      investigated the serum BDNF levels in patients with first-episode drug-naive
      schizophrenia and compared them to age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We also
      explored the association between antipsychotic doses, positive and negative
      syndrome scale (PANSS) scores, and serum BDNF levels before and after a 4-week
      antipsychotic treatment. RESULTS: The baseline serum BDNF levels of 34 patients
      were significantly lower than those of the controls (df = 66, P = .001). Although
      the PANSS scores of 20 followed-up patients improved significantly after
      antipsychotic treatment, the elevation of the serum BDNF levels was not
      statistically significant (P = .386). In addition, Pearson's correlation test
      showed significant correlations between pre-treatment negative scale scores and
      percentage changes in BDNF (P = .002). CONCLUSIONS: The peripheral BDNF levels in
      Taiwanese patients with drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia, compared with
      healthy controls, did not elevate after antipsychotic treatment, and pre
      treatment negative symptoms played a pivotal role in trajectories of serum BDNF
      levels. Large samples will be needed in future studies to verify these results.

PMID- 27643617
TI  - Activation of bacterial lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases with cellobiose
      dehydrogenase.
AB  - Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) represent a recent addition to the
      carbohydrate-active enzymes and are classified as auxiliary activity (AA)
      families 9, 10, 11, and 13. LPMOs are crucial for effective degradation of
      recalcitrant polysaccharides like cellulose or chitin. These enzymes are copper
      dependent and utilize a redox mechanism to cleave glycosidic bonds that is
      dependent on molecular oxygen and an external electron donor. The electrons can
      be provided by various sources, such as chemical compounds (e.g., ascorbate) or
      by enzymes (e.g., cellobiose dehydrogenases, CDHs, from fungi). Here, we
      demonstrate that a fungal CDH from Myriococcum thermophilum (MtCDH), can act as
      an electron donor for bacterial family AA10 LPMOs. We show that employing an
      enzyme as electron donor is advantageous since this enables a kinetically
      controlled supply of electrons to the LPMO. The rate of chitin oxidation by CBP21
      was equal to that of cosubstrate (lactose) oxidation by MtCDH, verifying the
      usage of two electrons in the LPMO catalytic mechanism. Furthermore, since
      lactose oxidation correlates directly with the rate of LPMO catalysis, a method
      for indirect determination of LPMO activity is implicated. Finally, the one
      electron reduction of the CBP21 active site copper by MtCDH was determined to be
      substantially faster than chitin oxidation by the LPMO. Overall, MtCDH seems to
      be a universal electron donor for both bacterial and fungal LPMOs, indicating
      that their electron transfer mechanisms are similar.

PMID- 27643619
TI  - The Reliability of Pattern Classification in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis-PART 2:
      Bloodstain Patterns on Fabric Surfaces.
AB  - This study was designed to produce the first baseline measure of the reliability
      of bloodstain pattern classifications on fabric surfaces. Experienced bloodstain
      pattern analysts classified bloodstain patterns on pairs of trousers that
      represented three fabric substrates. Patterns also varied in type (impact, cast
      off, expiration, satellite stains from dripped blood, and transfer) and extent.
      In addition, case summaries that accompanied each pattern contained contextual
      cues that either supported the correct answer (i.e., positive bias), were
      misleading toward an incorrect answer (i.e., negative bias), or contained no
      directional information (i.e., neutral). Overall, 23% percent of the resulting
      classifications were erroneous. The majority (51%) of errors resulted from
      analysts misclassifying satellite stains from dripped blood. Relative to the
      neutral information, the positive-bias information increased correct
      classifications and decreased erroneous classifications, and the negative-bias
      information decreased correct classifications and increased erroneous
      classifications. The implications of these findings for BPA are discussed.

PMID- 27643620
TI  - Mechanisms of Radiation-Induced Degradation of CFCl3 and CF2Cl2 in Noble-Gas
      Matrixes: An Evidence for "Hot" Ionic Channels in the Solid Phase.
AB  - The X-ray-induced transformations of simple chlorofluorocarbons (CFCl3 and
      CF2Cl2) in solid noble-gas matrixes (Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) at 7 K were studied in
      order to elucidate basic mechanisms of the radiation-chemical degradation with
      possible implications for stratospheric and extraterrestrial ice chemistry. The
      decomposition of parent molecules and formation of products were monitored by
      FTIR spectroscopy, and the identification was supported by ab initio calculations
      at the CCSD(T) level. It was shown that the ionic reaction channels were
      predominating in most cases (except for CF2Cl2/Xe system). The primary radical
      cations (CFCl3+* and CF2Cl2+*) are either stabilized in matrixes or undergo
      fragmentation to yield the corresponding secondary cations (CFCl2+, CCl3+,
      CF2Cl+) and halogen atoms. The probability of fragmentation through different
      channels demonstrates a remarkable matrix dependence, which was explained by the
      effect of excess energy resulting from the exothermic positive hole transfer from
      matrix atoms to freon molecules. A qualitative correlation between "hot" ionic
      fragmentation at low temperatures and gas-phase ion energetics was found.
      However, dissociative electron attachment leads to formation of neutral radicals
      (CFCl2* or CF2Cl*) and chloride anions. One more possible way of dissociative
      electron attachment in the case of CF2Cl2 is formation of CF2** and Cl2-*. A
      general scheme of the radiation-induced processes is proposed.

PMID- 27643621
TI  - PPAR Agonists Promote the Differentiation of Porcine Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem
      Cells into the Adipogenic and Myogenic Lineages.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of PPAR agonists on the
      differentiation and metabolic features of porcine mesenchymal stem cells induced
      to the adipogenic or myogenic lineages. METHODS: Bone marrow MSCs from neonate
      pigs were isolated and identified by cell proliferation, cell surface markers or
      the gene expression of stem cells (CD44, CD90, CD105 or Oct4 and Nanog,
      respectively). Cells were differentiated into adipose or muscle cells and treated
      with the PPAR agonists; adipogenic and myogenic differentiation was promoted by
      adding these compounds. The expression of PPARgamma (an adipose marker) and MyoD1
      and MyHC (muscle markers), metabolic changes and expression levels of metabolic
      enzymes involved in glycolysis, lipogenesis, lipolysis and the pentose phosphate
      pathway were tested by qPCR. RESULTS: MSCs from neonate pigs exhibited high
      proliferation and were positive for CD44, CD90 and CD105 markers and Oct4 and
      Nanog expression. The treatment that promoted the highest expression of PPARgamma
      was 50 uM of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) c9 t11 (6.44 +/- 0.69-fold, p <=
      0.0001) in the adipose differentiation, and upregulation of HX2, ACCAalpha, ATGL,
      LPL and G6DP (p <= 0.0001) and downregulation of PFK and ACCAbeta (p <= 0.0001)
      were found. For muscle differentiation, the best treatment was 50 uM of CLA c10
      t12 (59.72 +/- 4.72-fold, p <= 0.0001), and metabolic changes were upregulation
      of PFK, ACCAbeta, G6DP, CPT1 and PPARbeta/delta (p <= 0.0001), but no effect was
      observed with HX2 and ACCAalpha (p >= 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest
      that differentiated cells exhibit a typical cell lineage metabolism and higher
      efficiencies both in anabolism and catabolism.

PMID- 27643622
TI  - Exposed to an Accumulation of Burdensome Feelings: Mental Health Nurses'
      Vulnerability in Everyday Encounters With Seriously Ill Inpatients.
AB  - Seriously mentally ill patients' unusual behavior is considered challenging in
      caring relationships, but we know little about how this affects mental health
      nurses' vulnerability. This article uses a phenomenological design inspired by
      Heidegger's philosophy with the results of fieldwork and reflection groups with
      11 nurses on an acute ward. The nurses were exposed to an accumulation of
      negative emotions, caused by potentially or actually harmful scenarios that were
      more extreme than those in other nursing contexts. They protected themselves
      through limit-setting approaches, which conflicted with their standards of
      building trusting relationships with patients. The feeling of guilt might
      function as an appeal for authentic practice, but a change in practice requires
      the use of acknowledgment approaches and the systematic debriefing of accumulated
      burdensome feelings.

PMID- 27643623
TI  - Mobility versus Alignment of a Semiconducting pi-Extended Discotic Liquid
      Crystalline Triindole.
AB  - The p-type semiconducting properties of a triphenylene-fused triindole mesogen,
      have been studied by applying two complementary methods which have different
      alignment requirements. The attachment of only three flexible alkyl chains to the
      nitrogen atoms of this pi-extended core is sufficient to induce columnar
      mesomorphism. High hole mobility values (0.65 cm2 V-1 s-1) have been estimated by
      space-charge limited current (SCLC) measurements in a diode-like structure which
      are easily prepared from the melt, rendering this material a good candidate for
      OPVs and OLEDs devices. The mobility predicted theoretically via a hole-hopping
      mechanism is in very good agreement with the experimental values determined at
      the SCLC regime. On the other hand the hole mobility determined on solution
      processed thin film transistors (OFETs) is significantly lower, which can be
      rationalized by the high tendency of these large molecules to align on surfaces
      with their extended pi-conjugated core parallel to the substrate as demonstrated
      by SERS. Despite the differences obtained with the two methods, the acceptable
      performance found on OFETs fabricated by simple drop-casting processing of such
      an enlarged aromatic core is remarkable and suggests facile hopping between
      neighboring molecular columns owing to the large conducting/isolating ratio found
      in this discotic compound.

PMID- 27643624
TI  - Role and Association of Inflammatory and Apoptotic Caspases in Renal
      Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Caspases, an evolutionary conserved family of aspartate-specific
      cystein proteases, play pivotal roles in apoptotic and inflammatory signaling.
      Thus far, 14 mammalian caspases are identified and categorized into 3 distinct
      sub-types: inflammatory caspases, apoptotic initiator and apoptotic executioner.
      Caspase-1 is an inflammatory caspase, while caspase-7 belongs to apoptotic
      executioner. The roles and association of these two distinct types of caspases in
      renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) have not been well recognized. METHODS:
      Caspase-1 inhibitor Z-YVAD-FMK and caspase-7 siRNA were used in tubular
      epithelial cell line NRK-52E (TECs) to test their effects on transforming growth
      factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) stimulation. In vivo, Unilateral ureteral obstruction
      (UUO) animal model was employed in wild-type (WT) and caspase-1 knock out (KO)
      (caspase-1-/-) mice. RESULTS: In current study, we found that caspase-7 was
      obviously activated in cultured TECs stimulated by TGF-beta1 and in UUO model of
      WT mice. While in UUO model of caspase-1 KO mice, the increased caspase-7
      activation was suppressed significantly along with reduced trans-differentiation
      and minimized extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, as demonstrated by western
      blot, Masson trichrome staining and immunohistochemistry. In addition,
      pharmacological inhibition of caspase-1 dampened caspase-7 activation and TECs'
      transdifferentiation induced by TGF-beta1 exposure, which was consistent with in
      vivo study. Notably, caspase-7 gene knock down by specific siRNA abrogated TGF
      beta1 driven TECs' trans-differentiation and reduced ECM accumulation.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study associated inflammatory and apoptotic caspases in TIF for
      the first time and we further confirmed that caspase-1 activation is an upstream
      event of apoptotic caspase-7 induction in TIF triggered by UUO and in TECs
      mediated by TGF-beta1 induced transdifferentiation.

PMID- 27643625
TI  - Molecular Origins of the Zeta Potential.
AB  - The zeta potential (ZP) is an oft-reported measure of the macroscopic charge
      state of solid surfaces and colloidal particles in contact with solvents.
      However, the origin of this readily measurable parameter has remained divorced
      from the molecular-level processes governing the underlying electrokinetic
      phenomena, which limits its usefulness. Here, we connect the macroscopic measure
      to the microscopic realm through nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of
      electroosmotic flow between parallel slabs of the hydroxylated (110) rutile
      (TiO2) surface. These simulations provided streaming mobilities, which were
      converted to ZP via the commonly used Helmholtz-Smoluchowski equation. A range of
      rutile surface charge densities (0.1 to -0.4 C/m2), corresponding to pH values
      between about 2.8 and 9.4, in RbCl, NaCl, and SrCl2 aqueous solutions, were
      modeled and compared to experimental ZPs for TiO2 particle suspensions. Simulated
      ZPs qualitatively agree with experiment and show that "anomalous" ZP values and
      inequalities between the point of zero charge derived from electrokinetic versus
      pH titration measurements both arise from differing co- and counterion sorption
      affinities. We show that at the molecular level the ZP arises from the delicate
      interplay of spatially varying dynamics, structure, and electrostatics in a
      narrow interfacial region within about 15 A of the surface, even in dilute salt
      solutions. This contrasts fundamentally with continuum descriptions of such
      interfaces, which predict the ZP response region to be inversely related to ionic
      strength. In reality the properties of this interfacial region are dominated by
      relatively immobile and structured water. Consequently, viscosity values are
      substantially greater than in the bulk, and electrostatic potential profiles are
      oscillatory in nature.

PMID- 27643626
TI  - Computer-aided discovery of new FGFR-1 inhibitors followed by in vitro
      validation.
AB  - AIM: FGFR-1 is an oncogenic kinase involved in several cancers. FGFR1-specific
      inhibitors have shown promising results against several human cancers prompting
      us to model this interesting target. Toward the end, we implemented elaborate
      ligand-based and structure-based computational workflows to explore the
      pharmacophoric requirements for potent FGFR-1 inhibitors. Results & methodology:
      Structure-based and ligand-based modeling applied on 59 diverse FGFR-1 inhibitors
      yielded novel pharmacophore and quantitative structure-activity relationship
      models that were used to scan the National Cancer Institute's structural database
      for novel leads. Four potent hits were captured, with the most active having IC50
      of 426 nM. Identities and purities of active hits were established using nuclear
      magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. CONCLUSION: Elaborate ligand-based
      (pharmacophore/quantitaive structure-activity relationship) and structure-based
      (docking-based comparative intermolecular contacts analysis) modeling provided
      deep understanding of ligand binding within FGFR-1 as evidenced by the virtually
      captured new potent leads.

PMID- 27643627
TI  - Strongly Directing Substituents in the Radical Arylation of Substituted Benzenes.
AB  - Although general interest in radical arylation reactions has grown rapidly in
      recent years, poor regioselectivities and the need to use a large excess of the
      radical-accepting arene have hindered their application to substituted benzenes.
      We now describe experimental and computational investigations into the
      substituent effects that lead to regioselective addition based on the recent
      discovery of anilines as outstanding substrates for radical arylations.

PMID- 27643628
TI  - Downhill varices: an uncommon cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a common condition in
      gastroenterology, but "Downhill Varices" (DHV) or varices of the upper oesophagus
      are an uncommon cause of UGIB, with different aetiology from lower third
      oesophageal varices and different therapeutic implications. CASE REPORT: A 28
      year-old male patient, with a history of chronic kidney failure secondary
      undergoing haemodialysis and superior vena cava syndrome (SCVS) due to multiple
      catheter replacements, was admitted to the Emergency Department with haematemesis
      secondary to a varicose vein rupture in the proximal third of oesophagus, treated
      initially with ethanolamine. Subsequent diagnostic studies showed the collateral
      circulation secondary to the SCVS. No further endoscopic or endovascular therapy
      could be performed and the patient will finally undergo a surgical bypass.
      DISCUSSION: DHVs are a very uncommon condition and endoscopic band ligation
      emerges as the appropriate therapeutic approach for the bleeding event. The
      definitive therapy continues to be that for the cause of the SVCS.

PMID- 27643629
TI  - Ultrasensitive pH Triggered Charge/Size Dual-Rebound Gene Delivery System.
AB  - A facile strategy is developed to construct an ultrasensitive pH triggered
      charge/size dual-rebound gene delivery system for efficient tumor treatment. The
      therapeutic gene is complexed by polyethylenimine (PEI) and poly-l-glutamate
      (PLG), further in situ tightened by aldehyde modified polyethylene glycol (PEG)
      via Schiff base reaction. The generated Schiff base bonds are stable in neutral
      pH but cleavable in tumor extracellular pH. This gene delivery system possesses
      following favorable properties: (1) the tunable gene delivery system is
      constructed by chemical bench-free "green" and fast process which is favored by
      clinician, (2) PEG cross-linking shields the surface positive charges and
      tightens the complex particles, leading to decreased cytotoxicity, improved
      stability, and prolonged circulation, (3) PEG shielding can be rapidly peeled off
      by acidic pH as soon as arriving tumors, (4) dual charge/size ultrasensitively
      rebounding to higher positive potential and bigger size enhances tumor cell
      uptake efficiency. A series of experiments both in vitro and in vivo are carried
      out to investigate this gene delivery system in detail. An antiangiogenesis
      therapeutic gene is carried for the treatment of CT26 tumors in mice, achieving
      superior antitumor efficacy which is well proved by sufficient biological
      evidence. The system has great potentials for cancer therapy in the future.

PMID- 27643630
TI  - The Influence of the Mandibular Gonial Angle on the Incidence of Mandibular Angle
      Fracture-A Radiomorphometric Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this radiomorphometric study was to analyze the association
      between the mandibular gonial angle and the risk of mandibular angle fracture.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of medical records and
      radiographs of patients treated for mandibular fractures was performed. The
      exposure studied was the presence of a high gonial angle and the outcome was
      fracture of the mandibular angle. The mandibular gonial angle and mandibular
      height at the angle were measured using Facad software (Ilexis AB, Linkoping,
      Sweden). Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 16 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY).
      RESULTS: The study sample was comprised of 210 mandibular fractures (70
      mandibular angle fractures and 140 non-angle fractures). The mean gonial angle in
      patients with mandibular angle fractures was 126.8 +/- 7.9 degrees , which was
      4.5 degrees  larger than in patients with other mandibular fractures (P = .0001).
      Patients with a high gonial angle were 11.77 times more likely to sustain an
      angle fracture than those with normal or low gonial angles (adjusted odds ratio =
      11.77; 95% confidence interval, 3.65-37.94; P < .001). There also was a
      statistically significant decrease in mandibular height at the angle in patients
      with a high gonial angle (P = .0001). CONCLUSION: This study shows that people
      with a high gonial angle are at an increased risk for angle fracture and presents
      the related clinical implications.

PMID- 27643631
TI  - Facial Fractures: Large Epidemiologic Survey in Northern Brazil Reveals Some
      Unique Characteristics.
AB  - PURPOSE: Facial fractures are an important health problem worldwide that can
      cause temporary or permanent disability and an economic burden. Identifying the
      risk factors associated with facial fractures is a valuable tool to create
      preventive public health strategies. This study evaluated the epidemiologic
      profile of facial fractures in northern Brazil. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Medical
      records of 1,969 patients who sustained facial fractures were analyzed for
      characteristics of the population, types of facial fractures, and treatment
      performed. RESULTS: The zygomatic complex was the most prevalent fracture site
      (28.8%). Road traffic accident (RTA) was the most common etiology (52%), followed
      by interpersonal violence (IPV; 34%). Among IPV cases, gunshot wounds were
      responsible for 14% of cases and 3% resulted from stab wounds. The third decade
      of life was the most prevalent age group, with a remarkable change in prevalence
      and etiology pattern at 15 years of age. Open reduction and internal fixation was
      the most used treatment, especially when the mandible was involved and at least 2
      facial bones were fractured. There were 37 deaths (1.9%), with a higher risk
      observed for stab wounds (3.1-fold higher) and when at least 3 bones were
      fractured (4.1-fold higher). CONCLUSIONS: This epidemiologic survey identified
      RTA and IPV as important risk factors for facial fractures and a high prevalence
      of fractures caused by gunshot wounds. A unique preponderance of facial fractures
      caused by stab wounds was found, which was responsible for the highest risk of
      mortality.

PMID- 27643632
TI  - Effect of Arthrocentesis on Symptomatic Osteoarthritis of the Temporomandibular
      Joint and Analysis of the Effect of Preoperative Clinical and Radiologic
      Features.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term outcome of arthrocentesis in patients with
      symptomatic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis that was unresponsive to
      nonsurgical interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-nine patients (83
      joints) with symptomatic TMJ osteoarthritis that had not responded to nonsurgical
      interventions and who underwent arthrocentesis were included in this study.
      Demographic, clinical, and radiologic data, including assessment of pain,
      dysfunction, improvement, and satisfaction, and maximal mouth opening were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The analysis included 67 female patients (84.8%) and 12 male
      patients (15.2%), 13 to 70 years old, who were followed for 56.9 +/- 6.7 months.
      Sixty-four (81%) reacted favorably to arthrocentesis. For these patients, maximal
      mouth opening increased from 26.3 +/- 0.8 to 39.24 +/- 0.9 mm (P < .001). Pain
      and dysfunction scores decreased from 6.92 +/- 0.2 to 2.36 +/- 0.3 (P < .001) and
      from 7.37 +/- 0.2 to 2.24 +/- 0.4 (P < .001), respectively. Overall score for
      patient satisfaction with arthrocentesis was 8.78 +/- 0.3. The procedure had no
      lasting complications. Remarkably, the severity of preoperative pain,
      dysfunction, and range of motion and of radiographic changes did not correlate
      with the outcome of arthrocentesis. The severity of preoperative or postoperative
      signs and symptoms was not correlated with the severity of radiographic changes.
      CONCLUSIONS: For most patients, arthrocentesis offers long-term favorable
      outcomes for symptomatic TMJ osteoarthritis that has not responded to nonsurgical
      treatments and otherwise would have required surgical arthroplasty. Severity of
      preoperative clinical and computerized tomographic findings is not predictive for
      the success of arthrocentesis. In addition, the lack of correlation between the
      clinical and radiologic findings negates the commonly used Wilkes classification,
      which presumes that the clinical signs and symptoms deteriorate together with
      radiologic changes.

PMID- 27643633
TI  - What Is the Role of Elective Neck Dissection in the Treatment of Patients With
      Buccal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Clinically Negative Neck Findings?
AB  - PURPOSE: Buccal squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) is rare in the United States.
      Given its location, few anatomic barriers to its spread exist, and it has been
      found to have a high locoregional recurrence rate. The role of elective neck
      dissection (END) in the clinically negative neck (N0) is not clear. In the
      present study, we measured the effect of END on the locoregional and distant
      metastasis rates among patients with clinically N0 BSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort study was conducted. The sample included subjects diagnosed
      with BSCC. The primary predictor variable was END status (yes vs no). The primary
      outcome variable was locoregional recurrence. The secondary outcome variables
      were distant metastasis and the 2- and 5-year survival rates. Other variables
      collected included demographic data, initial operation, adjuvant therapy,
      pathologic data, and stage. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards statistics
      were computed. RESULTS: The sample included 20 subjects with clinical N0 BSCC and
      a mean age of 67 years (range 42-88); 55% were men. The disease stage was T1 in
      30%, T2 in 40%, T3 in 15%, and T4 in 15%. Fifteen subjects underwent END. Of the
      5 who had not undergone END, all 5 (100%) had locoregional recurrence and 1 (20%)
      had metastasis. Of the 15 who had undergone END, 5 (33%) had locoregional
      recurrence and 1 (7%) had metastasis (P = .002). The 2- and 5-year survival rates
      for N0 patients without END was 80% and 40%, respectively, compared with 93% and
      87% for those who had undergone END. CONCLUSIONS: END had a therapeutic role,
      resulting in a lower locoregional recurrence rate. Also, the 2- and 5-year
      survival rates were greater for those who had undergone END.

PMID- 27643634
TI  - Benzophenones from Mango Leaves Exhibit alpha-Glucosidase and NO Inhibitory
      Activities.
AB  - Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a succulent tropical fruit. Bioactive
      phytochemical investigation has been carried out to the leaves of mango. Three
      new benzophenone glycosides, along with 14 known compounds, were purified and
      identified. The novel benzophenones were elucidated to be 2,4,4',6-tetrahydroxy
      3'-methoxybenzophenone-3-C-beta-d-glucopyranoside (1), 4,4',6
      trihydroxybenzophenone-2-O-alpha-l-arabinofuranoside (7), and 4',6-dihydroxy-4
      methoxybenzophenone-2-O-(2"),3-C-(1")-1"-desoxy-alpha-l-fructofuranoside (11).
      The alpha-glucosidase inhibitory, NO production inhibitory, and antioxidant
      activities were assessed for the purified benzophenones and triterpenoids. Some
      benzophenones showed moderate alpha-glucosidase and NO inhibitory activities. The
      IC50 value of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitory of isolated compounds 1, 13, and
      14 were 284.93 +/- 20.29, 239.60 +/- 25.00, and 297.37 +/- 8.12 MUM,
      respectively. Most compounds showed moderate effects to reduce the NO content in
      50 and 100 MUM. The above results of bioactivity powerfully demonstrated the
      phytochemicals from mango, especially benzophenones, probably partially rational
      for its antidiabetes and anti-inflammatory.

PMID- 27643635
TI  - Bidirectional cross-kingdom RNAi and fungal uptake of external RNAs confer plant
      protection.
AB  - Aggressive fungal pathogens such as Botrytis and Verticillium spp. cause severe
      crop losses worldwide. We recently discovered that Botrytis cinerea delivers
      small RNAs (Bc-sRNAs) into plant cells to silence host immunity genes. Such sRNA
      effectors are mostly produced by Botrytis cinerea Dicer-like protein 1 (Bc-DCL1)
      and Bc-DCL2. Here we show that expressing sRNAs that target Bc-DCL1 and Bc-DCL2
      in Arabidopsis and tomato silences Bc-DCL genes and attenuates fungal
      pathogenicity and growth, exemplifying bidirectional cross-kingdom RNAi and sRNA
      trafficking between plants and fungi. This strategy can be adapted to
      simultaneously control multiple fungal diseases. We also show that Botrytis can
      take up external sRNAs and double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs). Applying sRNAs or
      dsRNAs that target Botrytis DCL1 and DCL2 genes on the surface of fruits,
      vegetables and flowers significantly inhibits grey mould disease. Such pathogen
      gene-targeting RNAs represent a new generation of environmentally friendly
      fungicides.

PMID- 27643636
TI  - Fabrication of 3D-culture platform with sandwich architecture for preserving
      liver-specific functions of hepatocytes using 3D bioprinter.
AB  - The development of new three-dimensional (3D) cell culture system that maintains
      the physiologically relevant signals of hepatocytes is essential in drug
      discovery and tissue engineering research. Conventional two-dimensional (2D)
      culture yields cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. However, gene
      expression and signaling profiles can be different from in vivo environment.
      Here, we report the fabrication of a 3D culture system using an artificial
      scaffold and our custom-made inkjet 3D bioprinter as a new strategy for studying
      liver-specific functions of hepatocytes. We built a 3D culture platform for
      hepatocytes-attachment and formation of cell monolayer by interacting the
      galactose chain of galactosylated alginate gel (GA-gel) with asialoglycoprotein
      receptor (ASGPR) of hepatocytes. The 3D geometrical arrangement of cells was
      controlled by using 3D bioprinter, and cell polarity was controlled with the
      galactosylated hydrogels. The fabricated GA-gel was able to successfully promote
      adhesion of hepatocytes. To observe liver-specific functions and to mimic hepatic
      cord, an additional parallel layer of hepatocytes was generated using two gel
      sheets. These results indicated that GA-gel biomimetic matrices can be used as a
      3D culture system that could be effective for the engineering of liver tissues.
      (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 1583-1592,
      2017.

PMID- 27643637
TI  - Effects of Changing Meteoric Precipitation Patterns on Groundwater Temperature in
      Karst Environments.
AB  - Climate predictions indicate that precipitation patterns will change and average
      air temperatures will increase across much of the planet. These changes will
      alter surface water and groundwater temperatures which can significantly affect
      the local and regional environment. Here, we examine the role of precipitation
      timing in changes to groundwater temperature in carbonate-karst aquifers using
      measured groundwater level and temperature data from the Konza Prairie Long-Term
      Ecological Research Site, Kansas. We demonstrate that shifts to increased cool
      season precipitation may mitigate the increases in groundwater temperature
      produced by increases in average annual air temperature. In karst, the solution
      enlarged conduits allow faster and focused recharge, and the recharge-event
      temperature can strongly influence the groundwater temperature in the aquifer.
      Our field data and analysis show that predictions of future groundwater
      conditions in karst aquifers need to consider changes in precipitation patterns,
      in addition to changes to average annual air temperature.

PMID- 27643639
TI  - Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of (2E)-(2-oxo-1, 2-dihydro-3H-indol
      3-ylidene)acetate derivatives as anti-proliferative agents through ROS-induced
      cell apoptosis.
AB  - A novel class of (2E)-(2-oxo-1, 2-dihydro-3H-indol-3-ylidene)acetate derivatives
      were designed and synthesized as potent anti-proliferative agents. Most of these
      compounds showed potent anti-proliferative activity against some tumor cell
      lines, including SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, HCT-116, SW480, Ovcar-3, HL-60, Saos-2 and
      HepG2. Compounds 8c and 11h were identified as the most potent ones, while HL-60,
      HCT116 and MDA-MB-231 were the most sensitive cell lines. Mechanistic study
      revealed that compound 8c enhanced reactive oxygen species level by inhibiting
      TrxR and then induced apoptosis by activating apoptosis proteins, bax and cleaved
      caspase 3 in HCT116 cells. Preliminary SAR analysis indicated that modifications
      of the double bond and ester group made great effects on the anti-proliferative
      activity. Our findings suggested that it was worth further studies on the
      antitumor potency of (2E)-(2-oxo-1, 2-dihydro-3H-indol-3-ylidene)acetates.

PMID- 27643638
TI  - Inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase suppresses fatty acid synthesis and tumor
      growth of non-small-cell lung cancer in preclinical models.
AB  - Continuous de novo fatty acid synthesis is a common feature of cancer that is
      required to meet the biosynthetic demands of a growing tumor. This process is
      controlled by the rate-limiting enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), an
      attractive but traditionally intractable drug target. Here we provide genetic and
      pharmacological evidence that in preclinical models ACC is required to maintain
      the de novo fatty acid synthesis needed for growth and viability of non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. We describe the ability of ND-646-an allosteric
      inhibitor of the ACC enzymes ACC1 and ACC2 that prevents ACC subunit dimerization
      to suppress fatty acid synthesis in vitro and in vivo. Chronic ND-646 treatment
      of xenograft and genetically engineered mouse models of NSCLC inhibited tumor
      growth. When administered as a single agent or in combination with the standard
      of-care drug carboplatin, ND-646 markedly suppressed lung tumor growth in the
      Kras;Trp53-/- (also known as KRAS p53) and Kras;Stk11-/- (also known as KRAS
      Lkb1) mouse models of NSCLC. These findings demonstrate that ACC mediates a
      metabolic liability of NSCLC and that ACC inhibition by ND-646 is detrimental to
      NSCLC growth, supporting further examination of the use of ACC inhibitors in
      oncology.

PMID- 27643640
TI  - 2-Methyl-4/5-nitroimidazole derivatives potentiated against sexually transmitted
      Trichomonas: Design, synthesis, biology and 3D-QSAR study.
AB  - Trichomoniasis is the most prevalent, non-viral sexually transmitted diseases
      (STD) caused by amitochondriate protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis. Increased
      resistance of T. vaginalis to the marketed drug Metronidazole necessitates the
      development of newer chemical entities. A library of sixty 2-methyl-4/5
      nitroimidazole derivatives was synthesized via nucleophilic ring opening reaction
      of epoxide and the efficacies against drug-susceptible and -resistant Trichomonas
      vaginalis were evaluated. All the molecules except two were found to be active
      against both susceptible and resistant strains with MICs ranging 8.55-336.70 MUM
      and 28.80-1445.08 MUM, respectively. Most of the compounds were remarkably more
      effective than the standard Metronidazole. This study analyzes the in vitro and
      in vivo activities of the new 5-nitroimidazoles, which were found to be safe
      against human cervical HeLa cells with good selectivity index. The exploration of
      SAR by the synthesis of four different prototypes and 3D-QSAR study has shown the
      importance of prototype 1 over other prototypes.

PMID- 27643641
TI  - [1,2]Oxazolo[5,4-e]isoindoles as promising tubulin polymerization inhibitors.
AB  - A series of [1,2]Oxazolo [5,4-e]isoindoles has been synthesized through a
      versatile and high yielding sequence. All the new structures showed in the 1HNMR
      spectra, the typical signal in the 8.34-8.47 ppm attributable to the H-3 of the
      [1,2]oxazole moiety. Among all derivatives, methoxy benzyl substituents at
      positions 3 and 4 or/and 5 were very effective in reducing the growth of
      different tumor cell lines, including diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma
      (DMPM), an uncommon and rapidly malignancy poorly responsive to available
      therapeutic options. The most active compound 6j was found to impair tubulin
      polymerization, cause cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and induce apoptosis in
      DMPM cells, making it as a new lead for the discovery of new potent antimitotic
      drugs.

PMID- 27643642
TI  - Cytological Criteria for Predicting the Luminal Phenotype of Breast Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Specific cytological criteria for the luminal phenotype of breast
      carcinoma, despite it being the most common and having a better prognosis as well
      as targeted therapies under study, remain to be established. Using fine-needle
      aspiration cytology (FNAC), we aimed to identify the luminal phenotype through
      the evaluation of cytological criteria recognized in routine practice. METHODS:
      We correlated 169 FNACs of breast carcinomas with their tissue specimens,
      classified into phenotypes by immunohistochemistry (applying tissue microarray
      technology) as luminal A, luminal B, HER2 overexpression, and triple negative.
      All FNAC samples were blindly reviewed according to cellularity, cell cohesion,
      necrosis, nucleoli, and nuclear atypia. Fisher's exact test was used to test
      associations between the cytological criteria and phenotypes. RESULTS: The
      following phenotypes were obtained - luminal A: 107 (63.3%), luminal B: 39
      (23.1%), HER2 overexpression: 8 (4.7%), and triple negative: 15 (8.9%). The
      luminal phenotype showed mild/moderate cellularity (40.4%) (OR = 7.12, 95% CI:
      1.61-31.52), inconspicuous, present nucleoli (55.5%) (OR = 8.31, 95% CI: 2.36
      29.19), and mild/moderate nuclear atypia (44.5%) (OR = 8.42, 95% CI: 1.90-37.25).
      CONCLUSION: The criteria that might indicate the luminal phenotype of breast
      carcinoma in FNAC were mild/moderate cellularity, inconspicuous, present, and
      nonprominent nucleoli, and mild/moderate nuclear atypia.

PMID- 27643644
TI  - Letter From Editor-September 2016.

PMID- 27643643
TI  - Concepts in mature T-cell lymphomas - highlights from an international joint
      symposium on T-cell immunology and oncology<sup/>.
AB  - Growing attention in mature T-cell lymphomas/leukemias (MTCL) is committed to
      more accurate and meaningful classifications, improved pathogenetic concepts and
      expanded therapeutic options. This requires considerations of the immunologic
      concepts of T-cell homeostasis and the specifics of T-cell receptor (TCR)
      affinities and signaling. Scientists from various disciplines established the
      CONTROL-T research unit and in an international conference on MTCL they brought
      together experts from T-cell immunity, oncology, immunotherapy and systems
      biology. We report here meeting highlights on the covered topics of diagnostic
      pitfalls, implications by the new WHO classification, insights from discovered
      genomic lesions as well as TCR-centric concepts of cellular dynamics in host
      defense, auto-immunity and tumorigenic clonal escape, including predictions to be
      derived from in vivo imaging and mathematical modeling. Presentations on novel
      treatment approaches were supplemented by strategies of optimizing T-cell
      immunotherapies. Work packages, that in joint efforts would advance the field of
      MTCL more efficiently, are identified.

PMID- 27643645
TI  - A Real-Life Experience of Bevacizumab in Elderly Women With Advanced Ovarian
      Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the tolerance of bevacizumab (BEVA) among
      older ovarian cancer patients in daily clinical practice and identify a
      subpopulation of patients with a high risk of severe adverse effects. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients with a pathologically proven high-grade serous ovarian,
      tubal, or peritoneal carcinoma who received BEVA between January 2006 and June
      2014 were included in a retrospective analysis. RESULTS: Among 86 BEVA-treated
      patients, 42 (48.8%) received concomitant chemotherapy, 26 (30%) had baseline
      arterial hypertension (HTN), and 33 (38.4%) were considered elderly (>70 years).
      Incidence of arterial, venous thromboembolism, hemorrhage, and bowel perforation
      were 2%, 8%, 12%, and 0%, respectively, and was not related to age. Incidence of
      severe (NCI-CTC v4 G3-4) HTN was significantly higher in elderly patients than in
      younger ones (39%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 22%-56% vs 17%; 95% CI, 7%-27%)
      (P = 0.017 by chi test) and in patients with baseline HTN (P < 0.05). Twenty
      three percent of younger patients had baseline HTN compared with 42% of older
      ones (P = 0.052). Among patients without baseline HTN, older age was not
      associated with increased risk of severe HTN. However, incidence of severe HTN
      reached 71% (95% CI, 47%-95%) in older patients with baseline HTN. Exploratory
      analysis indicates that progression-free survival was similar in younger and
      older patients. CONCLUSIONS: Bevacizumab is feasible in patients older than 70
      years with advanced ovarian carcinoma. More attention must be paid to elderly
      patients with baseline HTN.

PMID- 27643646
TI  - Metformin Increases E-cadherin in Tumors of Diabetic Patients With Endometrial
      Cancer and Suppresses Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Endometrial Cancer
      Cell Lines.
AB  - PURPOSE: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical process for cancer
      metastasis and recurrence. Metformin, an effective oral antidiabetic drug, has
      been associated with decreased cancer risk and mortality. In this pilot study, we
      started to evaluate the effect of metformin on EMT in vivo and in vitro in
      endometrial cancer (EC). METHODS: Endometrial cancer cell lines and freshly
      isolated EC tumor specimens were used to assess EMT after metformin treatment.
      Cell lines were subjected to wound healing and AlamarBlue assays to determine
      cell migration and cell proliferation; messenger RNA levels were measured by real
      time reverse transcriptase (RT) quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and
      protein levels were measured by Western blots to detect EMT marker expression.
      RESULTS: Protein expression and messenger RNA of E-cadherin was found to be
      increased (P = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively) in 30 EC tumor specimens of diabetic
      patients treated with metformin compared with 20 EC tumor specimens of diabetic
      patients treated with other antidiabetic agents. In vitro, metformin reduced cell
      migration at 5 mM for 48 hours, as determined by the wound healing assay in EC
      cell lines (Ishikawa, 45% reduction; HEC50, 40% reduction), whereas more than 90%
      of the cells remained viable on the AlamarBlue assay. Metformin reduced EMT in
      the cell lines and regulated the expression of the EMT-related epithelial
      markers, E-cadherin and Pan-keratin; the mesenchymal markers, N-cadherin,
      fibronectin, and vimentin; and the EMT drivers, Twist-1, snail-1, and ZEB-1.
      CONCLUSIONS: Tumors of patients on metformin have increased E-cadherin
      expression, and metformin decreases EMT in EC cell lines in vitro, suggesting
      clinical biological relevance of metformin in women with EC.

PMID- 27643647
TI  - The Combination of Preoperative Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission
      Tomography/Computed Tomography and Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping in the Surgical
      Management of Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the combination of sentinel
      lymph node (SLN) mapping and F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan in detection of lymph node
      involvement in patients with endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC).
      METHODS/MATERIALS: Ninety-five patients with EEC who had preoperative PET/CT
      imaging and underwent SLN mapping were retrospectively analyzed. Methylene blue
      dye was used and injected to the cervix at 3- and 9-o'clock positions (a total of
      4 mL). Pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed on all of the patients after SLN
      mapping. If the SLN was negative in the initial hematoxylin and eosin staining,
      an ultrastaging study was performed for the SLNs. RESULTS: Sentinel lymph nodes
      were detected in 77 (81.1%) of 95 patients, with a mean of 2.95 SLNs. There was
      only 1 case (1.4%) with a positive SLN in the intraoperative frozen section
      examination in those patients with negative PET/CT findings and in whom SLNs were
      detected (n = 70). Among the remaining 69 patients with negative preoperative
      PET/CT findings and negative frozen section results for the SLNs, there were 2
      patients with SLN involvement in the final ultrastaging pathology. In the patient
      based analyses, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative
      predictive values of the PET/CT and SLN frozen section were 33%, 100%, 100%, and
      97.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: As no metastases in the nonsentinel pelvic
      lymph nodes were found in patients with EEC who had both negative PET/CT findings
      and frozen section results of the SLNs in both hemipelvises, we suggest using
      both methods to reduce the incidence of unnecessary systematic lymphadenectomy.

PMID- 27643648
TI  - Review of Treatment and Prognosis of Stage IVB Cervical Carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In most patients, stage IVB cervical cancer is incurable, and the
      outcomes are poor. There is significant individual variation in patients with
      stage IVB cervical cancer, in whom standard treatment has not been well defined.
      This study aims to review the outcomes and discuss treatment strategies in
      patients with stage IVB cervical cancer. METHODS: From January 1, 1992, to
      December 31, 2011, we retrospectively reviewed the data of patients with stage
      IVB cervical cancer who were given a diagnosis at the Department of Gynecology of
      the Cancer Institute Hospital. RESULTS: A total of 111 patients were enrolled. At
      the time of analysis, the median overall survival (OS) was 16.6 months (range,
      0.2-120.9 months), and the 5-year OS rate was 20.2%. The 5-year OS rate was 59.4%
      for those with only para-aortic lymph node metastases; 24.8% for those with
      lymphogenous metastases, excluding those with only para-aortic lymph node
      metastases; 6.1% for those with hematogenous metastases; and 0% for those with
      disseminated metastases. The OS in patients with lymphogenous metastases was
      better compared with that of those with either hematogenous or disseminated
      metastases (P < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the performance status, site
      of metastases (only lymph node or other metastases), and local stage were all
      independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: We determined performance status,
      site of metastases (only lymph node or other metastases), and local stage as
      independent prognostic factors in patients with stage IVB cervical cancer.
      Regarding treatment, we confirmed that the effectiveness of chemotherapy was also
      of significance.

PMID- 27643649
TI  - Long-Term Oncological Outcomes After Laparoscopic Versus Abdominal Radical
      Hysterectomy in Stage IA2 to IIA2 Cervical Cancer: A Matched Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the long-term oncological
      outcomes of laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and abdominal radical
      hysterectomy (ARH) for treatment of stage IA2 to IIA2 cervical cancer. METHODS:
      We matched stage IA2 to IIA2 cervical cancer patients with known risk factors for
      recurrence who underwent ARH or LRH. RESULTS: After matching, a total of 203
      patient pairs (LRH-ARH) were included. The LRH and ARH group had similar 5-year
      recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates (91.3% vs 90.4%, P = 0.83) and overall
      survival (OS) rates (93.2% vs 92.1%, P = 0.94). Patients with different tumor
      size (<=2, 2-4, >4 cm) had similar 5-year OS and RFS. Even in patients with
      pelvic lymph node metastasis, the 5-year RFS (69.20% vs 69.20%, P = 0.87) and OS
      (77.4% vs 76.3%, P = 0.83) did not differ statistically between the 2 groups. The
      LRH and ARH group had similar mean time to recurrence (16.29 vs 22.15 months, P =
      0.68) and pattern of recurrence (P = 0.63). Compared with ARH, LRH resulted in
      significantly shorter operating time, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stay.
      The intraoperative complications rate was similar between the 2 groups (P =
      0.72). The rate of postoperative complications was significantly lower in the LRH
      group than in the ARH group (P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic radical
      hysterectomy was associated with fewer operating time, blood loss, postoperative
      complication, and earlier recovery. Laparoscopic radical hysterectomy is an
      oncologically safe alternative to ARH.

PMID- 27643650
TI  - Phase I Clinical Study of Irinotecan Plus S-1 in Patients With Advanced or
      Recurrent Cervical Cancer Previously Treated With Platinum-Based Chemotherapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the maximum tolerated dose and acute
      dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) of intravenous irinotecan plus oral S-1 in
      patients with advanced or recurrent uterine cervical cancer. METHODS: Irinotecan
      was administered intravenously over the course of 90 minutes on day 1, and S-1
      was given orally in 2 divided doses from days 1 to 14 of a 21-day cycle. The dose
      of S-1 was escalated in a stepwise fashion from 40 (level 1) to 60 mg/m (level 2)
      and then 80 mg/m (level 3), whereas the dosage of irinotecan remained the same
      (150 mg/m). The primary end point for the escalation study was acute DLT that
      occurred within 2 cycles of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Twelve patients were enrolled
      and treated over 3 dose levels. Their median age was 47 years (range, 28-48
      years). At level 1, one episode of grade 3 anemia and a grade 3 fatigue were
      observed, but no DLT developed. At level 2, the first patient experienced febrile
      neutropenia, which was considered to be a DLT. To evaluate the toxicity of this
      dose level, 5 more patients were evaluated. However, no DLT developed in these
      patients. At level 3, although grade 1 to 2 hematological and nonhematological
      toxicities developed, no DLT occurred. CONCLUSIONS: In women with advanced or
      recurrent cervical cancer previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, S
      1 plus irinotecan in a triweekly setting is a reasonable treatment regimen with
      an acceptable toxicity profile. The recommended doses of S-1 and irinotecan for
      this regimen are 80 and 150 mg/m, respectively.

PMID- 27643651
TI  - Utility of Laparoscopic Indocyanine Green-Guided Sentinel Node Biopsy in Open
      Cervical Cancer Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Multiple tracers have been used to improve lymphatic mapping and to
      reduce the false-negative rate of the sentinel node detection in gynecologic
      cancers. Nowadays, 99mTc colloids combined with blue-dye technique is the most
      extended technique. New alternatives such as the fluorescent indocyanine green
      and near-infrared fluorescent imaging detection have been introduced in lymphatic
      mapping staging procedures because of its easier visualization compared with the
      previous tracers. METHODS: We used the laparoscopic infrared camera for the
      indocyanine green-guided sentinel node biopsy in a laparotomic radical
      hysterectomy in a pregnant patient after a cesarean section, with the aim of
      improving the detection rate of sentinel node biopsy in open surgery. RESULTS:
      The technique was used in the first patient with accurate detection of sentinel
      node and no complications during the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The use of
      laparoscopic indocyanine green in open surgery may be a useful tool for the
      detection of sentinel node biopsy.

PMID- 27643652
TI  - Vaginal Radical Trachelectomy for Early-Stage Cervical Cancer: Increased
      Recurrence Risk for Adenocarcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate consecutive vaginal radical trachelectomies (VRTs) in
      early-stage cervical cancer in the 2 main referral centers for fertility
      preserving surgery in the Netherlands. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Oncology,
      fertility, and obstetrical data were recorded in a regional database of all VRTs
      without neoadjuvant chemotherapy performed in 2 major referral centers between
      2000 and 2015. RESULTS: Most of the patients (91.7%) had stage IB1 disease. In
      72.0%, squamous cell carcinoma was the histologic diagnosis; in 24.2%,
      adenocarcinoma; and in 3.8%, adenosquamous carcinoma. The median follow-up was 51
      months.Nine (6.8%) recurrences occurred, 4 resulting in death of disease (death
      rate, 3.0%). Recurrence rates were 12.5% for adenocarcinoma, 20% for
      adenosquamous carcinoma, and 4.2% for squamous cell carcinoma (P < 0.01).From 117
      women, data about fertility and obstetrical outcome were obtained. Almost 60% of
      women attempted to conceive after a VRT. Of these women, 40% needed fertility
      treatment. A total of 47 pregnancies were established, and a total of 37 children
      were born of which 30 (81.1%) were delivered after 32 weeks of gestational age.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nonsquamous cell histology and high-grade disease are associated
      with a significantly higher risk of recurrence in the univariate and multivariate
      analyses. Women with both these histology features should be counseled reticently
      for VRT.Pregnancies after VRT must be regarded as high-risk pregnancies with a
      high prematurity rate.

PMID- 27643653
TI  - Hypomagnesemia Is Prevalent in Patients Undergoing Gynecologic Surgery by a
      Gynecologic Oncologist.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of and risk factors
      for hypomagnesemia in patients undergoing gynecologic surgery by a gynecologic
      oncologist. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on all patients
      undergoing surgery for gynecologic pathology from July 2011 to July 2015 by a
      single surgeon. Demographic data, surgical indication, surgery performed,
      preoperative laboratory values, postoperative laboratory values, and medical
      history were examined. Hypomagnesemia was defined as less than 1.8 mg/dL.
      Hypermagnesemia was defined as greater than 2.5 mg/dL. RESULTS: Six hundred sixty
      nine patients were identified for analysis. One hundred ninety-seven patients had
      hypomagnesemia (29.4%). Four hundred sixty-six patients had normal magnesium
      levels (69.5%), and 6 patients had hypermagnesemia (1%). Among patients with
      benign disease, 24.9% had preoperative hypomagnesemia compared with 32.7% of
      patients with a gynecologic malignancy. African American race (P = 0.041),
      diabetes mellitus (P < 0.001), and malignancy (P = 0.029) were all associated
      with preoperative hypomagnesemia. Diabetes and major surgery were associated with
      postoperative hypomagnesemia (P = 0.012 and P = 0.048, respectively).
      Hypomagnesemia was associated with increased preoperative and postoperative pain
      (P = 0.049 and P < 0.001, respectively) as well as postoperative hypokalemia (P =
      0.001). Age, body mass index, hypertension, cancer type, hematocrit, surgical
      indication, and length of hospital stay were not associated with hypomagnesemia.
      CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative hypomagnesemia is prevalent in patients undergoing
      gynecologic surgery by a gynecologic oncology, especially in patients who have a
      gynecologic malignancy. We recommend routine preoperative and postoperative
      evaluation of serum magnesium in all patients undergoing gynecologic surgery by a
      gynecologic oncologist.

PMID- 27643654
TI  - Acoustic reflectivity minimization in Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic
      Transducers (CMUTs).
AB  - When Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (CMUTs) are coupled with
      water, they show high front-face acoustic reflectivity, due to the impedance
      mismatch between the transducer substrate material, typically based on silicon,
      and the propagation medium. During pulse-echo operation, surface reflectivity is
      responsible for multiple reflections of the received acoustic signals, which
      result in a set of unwanted echoes. In ultrasound imaging applications, this
      signal reverberation creates artifacts and reduces the image contrast. In this
      paper, a method to reduce front-face reflectivity is proposed, and a
      Reverberation Level (RL) index is introduced in order to quantify the unwanted
      reverberation of the signal returned to the transducer surface. The proposed
      method combines the increase of the bias voltage, the application of an optimized
      resistive load and the addition of a low-impedance acoustic backing to CMUTs
      realized by Reverse Fabrication Process (RFP). In this way, the mechanical energy
      conversion and transmission to the backing, as well as the electrical energy
      dissipation, are improved, thus reducing the energy reflection into the medium.
      The proposed method is analyzed by means of Finite Element simulations and is
      experimentally validated by characterizing single-element RFP-CMUTs, provided
      with different backing materials and electrical loads. In the analyzed
      prototypes, a RL reduction of 8.6dB is obtained.

PMID- 27643655
TI  - Can histological inflammation detected in a repeat prostate biopsy predict the
      risk of prostate cancer?

PMID- 27643656
TI  - Stereotactic body radiation therapy with hydrogel spacer: a salvage reirradiation
      strategy for prostate cancer recurrence.

PMID- 27643657
TI  - Individual and joint toxicity of the herbicide S-metolachlor and a metabolite,
      deethylatrazine on aquatic crustaceans: Difference between ecological groups.
AB  - We studied the individual and joint acute toxicity of S-metolachlor (SMOC) and
      deethylatrazine (DEA - a metabolite of atrazine) on different non-target
      freshwater crustaceans. We used animals from different ecological groups: two
      amphipods from surface running water (Gammarus pulex and Gammarus cf. orinos), an
      isopod from surface stagnant water (Asellus aquaticus) and an amphipod living in
      groundwater (Niphargus rhenorhodanensis). Organisms were exposed to different
      levels of SMOC and DEA, alone or in binary mixture. Temperature effect on SMOC
      toxicity was assessed by exposing G. pulex and N. rhenorhodanensis to SMOC at 11 
      degrees C and 15  degrees C. Studying mortality as the biological endpoint, N.
      rhenorhodanensis was more resistant than surface water species towards SMOC and
      DEA. Among surface water species, G. pulex was the most sensitive while Gammarus
      cf. orinos and A. aquaticus showed similar responses to both compounds.
      Temperature increase did not change SMOC toxicity but modify the shape and
      steepness of the dose-response curve. We used a Model Deviation Ratio (MDR)
      approach to evaluate the predictability of Concentration Addition (CA) and
      Independent Action (IA) models to mixture toxicity. Results indicated either an
      additive or an antagonistic or a synergistic interaction depending on the
      concentrations combination and the test species. Our finding conclusively show
      the suitability of CA and IA in predicting mixture toxicities but results should
      be interpreted with caution according to ecological group of exposed species in
      risk assessment procedures.

PMID- 27643658
TI  - Fate and fouling characteristics of fluorescent dissolved organic matter in
      ultrafiltration of terrestrial humic substances.
AB  - Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling caused by terrestrial input of dissolved
      organic matter (DOM), especially during high flood periods, is poorly understood.
      In this study, we examined the fouling characteristics of three different
      terrestrial humic substances (HS) on regenerated cellulose (RC) UF membranes with
      the pore sizes of 30 k-3 kDa via conventional bulk HS measurements as well as an
      advanced fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix
      coupled with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) identified one protein-like
      (C1) and three humic-like fluorescent components (C2-C4) from soil and leaf
      derived HS. The fate of the different fluorescent components was individually
      tracked for the UF processes. The higher removal rates were found generally on
      the order of high molecular weight (HMW) C1 to smaller sized humic-like
      components (C4 > C3 > C2) regardless of the HS sources, implying the importance
      of HS molecular sizes on the UF operation. Among the humic-like components, C2
      was the most associated with irreversible fouling, while other two humic-like
      components contributed more to reversible fouling. For soil-derived HS, C4 can be
      suggested as a good surrogate for membrane fouling, as evidenced by the highest
      correlation between the removal rates and the total fouling indices among the
      tested HS variables including conventional bulk parameters. Our study
      demonstrated a promising application of EEM-PARAFAC for probing membrane fouling
      of terrestrial DOM, which provided additional insight into the fate of different
      fluorescent components on the UF processes.

PMID- 27643659
TI  - Impacts of nitrate and electron donor on perchlorate reduction and microbial
      community composition in a biologically activated carbon reactor.
AB  - The sensitivity of perchlorate reduction and microbial composition to varied
      nitrate and acetate loadings was studied in a biologically activated carbon
      reactor with perchlorate loading and empty bed contact time fixed at 5 mg/L and
      226 min, respectively. In stage 1, the sole electron acceptor ClO4- realized
      complete removal with >=21.95 mg C/L of acetate supply. As nitrate loading
      gradually increased to 5 mg/L (stage 2), perchlorate reduction was slightly
      promoted and both ClO4- and NO3- were completely removed at an acetate loading of
      29.7 mg C/L. When nitrate loading continued increasing to 10-60 mg/L (stage 3),
      perchlorate reduction converted to be inhibited, along with nondetectable NO3-
      and approximately exhausted DOC in effluent. When acetate loading increased to
      43.9 mg C/L in stage 4, both ClO4- and NO3- were again removed, though lags still
      existed in perchlorate reduction. beta-Proteobacteria accounted for about 60%,
      55%, 58%, 61% and 12% in samples from the base and top of the filter in stage 1
      and those from the base, middle and top in stage 4, respectively. These findings
      implied that ratio of NO3- to ClO4- loadings and acetate loading were two key
      factors impacting ClO4- reduction and microbial structure along the filter.

PMID- 27643660
TI  - Effects of methomyl on steroidogenic gene transcription of the hypothalamic
      pituitary-gonad-liver axis in male tilapia.
AB  - Male tilapia were exposed to sub-lethal methomyl concentrations of 0, 0.2, 2, 20
      or 200 MUg/L for 30 d, and were subsequently cultured in methomyl-free water for
      18 d. Relative transcript abundance of steroidogenic genes involved in the HPGL
      axis of male tilapia was examined at 30 d in the exposure test and at 18 d in the
      recovery test. The results revealed that low concentrations of methomyl (0.2 and
      2 MUg/L) did not cause significant changes in gene mRNA levels in the HPGL axis
      of male tilapia; thus, we considered 2 MUg/L concentrations as the level that
      showed no apparent adverse endocrine disruption effects. However, higher
      concentrations of methomyl (20 and 200 MUg/L) disrupted the endocrine system and
      caused significant increase in the levels of GnRH2, GnRH3, ERalpha, and ERbeta
      genes in the hypothalamus, GnRHR and FSHbeta genes in the pituitary, CYP19a,
      FSHR, and ERalpha genes in the testis, and VTG and ERalpha genes in the liver,
      and significantly decreased the levels of LHR, StAR, 3beta-HSD, and ARalpha genes
      in the testis and LHbeta gene in the pituitary, leading to changes in sex steroid
      hormone and vitellogenin levels in the serum and ultimately resulting in
      reproductive dysfunction in male tilapia. The recovery tests showed that the
      toxicity effect caused by 20 MUg/L methomyl was reversible; however, the toxicity
      effect at 200 MUg/L of methomyl was irreversible after 18 d. Therefore, we
      concluded that 200 MUg/L was the threshold concentration for methomyl-induced
      irreversible endocrine disruption in male tilapia.

PMID- 27643661
TI  - Soil organic carbon distribution in roadside soils of Singapore.
AB  - Soil is the largest pool of organic carbon in terrestrial systems and plays a key
      role in carbon cycle. Global population living in urban areas are increasing
      substantially; however, the effects of urbanization on soil carbon storage and
      distribution are largely unknown. Here, we characterized the soil organic carbon
      (SOC) in roadside soils across the city-state of Singapore. We tested three
      hypotheses that SOC contents (concentration and density) in Singapore would be
      positively related to aboveground tree biomass, soil microbial biomass and land
      use patterns. Overall mean SOC concentrations and densities (0-100 cm) of
      Singapore's roadside soils were 29 g kg-1 (4-106 g kg-1) and 11 kg m-2 (1.1-42.5
      kg m-2) with median values of 26 g kg-1 and 10 kg m-2, respectively. There was
      significantly higher concentration of organic carbon (10.3 g kg-1) in the top 0
      30 cm soil depth compared to the deeper (30-50 cm, and 50-100 cm) soil depths.
      Singapore's roadside soils represent 4% of Singapore's land, but store 2.9
      million Mg C (estimated range of 0.3-11 million Mg C). This amount of SOC is
      equivalent to 25% of annual anthropogenic C emissions in Singapore. Soil organic
      C contents in Singapore's soils were not related to aboveground vegetation or
      soil microbial biomass, whereas land-use patterns to best explain variance in SOC
      in Singapore's roadside soils. We found SOC in Singapore's roadside soils to be
      inversely related to urbanization. We conclude that high SOC in Singapore
      roadside soils are probably due to management, such as specifications of high
      quality top-soil, high use of irrigation and fertilization and also due to an
      optimal climate promoting rapid growth and biological activity.

PMID- 27643662
TI  - RNase attenuates acute lung injury induced by ischemia-reperfusion in mice.
AB  - Treatment with ribonuclease (RNase) reportedly protects the heart after
      myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R), but its potential effect on lung I/R
      injury (LIRI) is unknown. Thus, we aim to explore whether RNase treatment would
      relieve LIRI. Thirty-six C57BL/6J adult male wild-type mice were evenly divided
      into I/R+RNase (I/R+R) group, I/R group, and sham group. Lung I/R was induced by
      left pulmonary hilum occlusion for 1h and reperfusion for 2h. All mice were
      treated with RNase or same dosage of normal saline in advance. After I/R, blood
      and lung tissues were collected for analysis. The results showed that lung injury
      scores, wet/dry ratio, expressions of inflammatory cytokines, pulmonary
      apoptosis, and levels of serum extracellular RNA (exRNA), including microRNAs,
      were markedly elevated after I/R. However, RNase treatment significantly
      attenuated cytokine production in both lung tissue and serum and also suppressed
      pulmonary apoptosis as reflected by TUNEL staining and activated caspase-3. In
      addition, total serum exRNA levels in the I/R+R group had a downward trend versus
      the I/R group. In conclusion, the increase of circulating exRNA levels
      contributed to LIRI in adult mice, which could be relieved by injection of RNase
      during perioperative window. The potential mechanism is the decrease of serum
      exRNA level and the suppression of pulmonary inflammation and apoptosis.

PMID- 27643663
TI  - Therapeutic potential of Oroxylin A in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Excessive inflammation contributes greatly to the pathogenesis and development of
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Oroxylin A (OA) is a natural anti-inflammatory
      flavonoid compound. In this study, we investigated the effects of OA on collagen
      induced arthritis (CIA) and human RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS). CIA was
      induced in DBA/1 mice and mice were intraperitoneally treated with OA (10mg/kg)
      for 10days. Arthritis severity was evaluated every day and the histopathologic
      examination of joints was done. Serum levels of anti-collagen II antibodies (anti
      CII Abs) and cytokines were determined by ELISA. Frequency of regulatory T cells
      (Tregs) and Th17 cells in draining inguinal lymph nodes (ILN) was quantified by
      flow cytometry. FLS from patients with active RA were treated with varying doses
      of oroxylin A, followed by stimulation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha
      (10ng/mL). The production of cytokines was measured by ELISA. Signal transduction
      proteins were examined by western blot. OA significantly diminished the arthritis
      and histological damage. Serum anti-CII Abs, IL-1beta, IL-6, TNFalpha, and IL-17
      were significantly diminished by OA treatment. Analysis of CD4+T cell populations
      in OA-treated mice showed an increase in Tregs and reduction in Th17 cells in the
      ILN. In vitro, OA decreased the secretion of IL-1beta and IL-6 from TNFalpha
      stimulated RA FLS in a dose-dependent manner. TNFalpha-induced p38 MAPK, ERK1/2
      and NF-kappaB signaling pathways were suppressed by OA. Our results indicate that
      OA exerts an anti-inflammatory activity and may have therapeutic potential for
      human RA.

PMID- 27643664
TI  - Protective effects of puerarin on acute lung and cerebrum injury induced by
      hypobaric hypoxia via the regulation of aquaporin (AQP) via NF-kappaB signaling
      pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hypobaric hypoxia, frequently encountered at high altitude, may lead
      to lung and cerebrum injury. Our study aimed to investigate whether puerarin
      could exert ameliorative effects on rats exposed to hypobaric hypoxia via
      regulation of aquaporin (AQP) and NF-kappaB signaling pathway in lung and
      cerebrum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 40 Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four
      groups (normal control group, hypobaric hypoxia group, puerarin group and
      dexamethasone group). Wet/dry ratio, blood gas, pathological changes of lung and
      cerebrum and spatial memory were observed in each group. Inflammatory cytokines
      in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were determined with ELISA and expression
      of AQP1, AQP4, NF-kappaB signaling pathway in lung and cerebrum with western blot
      RESULTS: Puerarin showed significant preventative effects on tissue injury and
      behavioral changes, as evidenced by histopathological findings and Morris water
      maze. In addition, levels of inflammatory cytokines in BALF decreased in the two
      preventative groups compared with those of hypobaric hypoxia group. AQP in lung
      and cerebrum increased under the condition of hypobaric hypoxia while was down
      regulated in both two preventative groups. NF-kappaB and IkappaB was also
      inhibited by puerarin. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that lung and cerebrum
      injury, increased inflammatory cytokines in BALF and increased AQP1, AQP4 and NF
      kappaB signaling pathway occurred under the condition of hypobaric hypoxia.
      Moreover, puerarin could prevent lung and cerebrum injury of rats exposed to
      hypobaric hypoxia via down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines, AQP1 and AQP4
      expression and NF-kappaB signaling pathway.

PMID- 27643665
TI  - How many remnant gibbon populations are left on Hainan? Testing the use of local
      ecological knowledge to detect cryptic threatened primates.
AB  - For Critically Endangered "species of extreme rarity," there is an urgent need to
      clarify the potential survival of remnant populations. Such populations can be
      difficult to detect using standard field methods. Local ecological knowledge
      (LEK) represents an important alternative source of information, but anecdotal
      reports of rare or possibly extinct species can contain uncertainty and error.
      The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), the world's rarest primate species, is
      confirmed to only survive as a tiny remnant population in Bawangling National
      Nature Reserve, China, but unverified gibbon sightings have been reported from
      other forest areas on Hainan. We conducted a large-scale community interview
      survey to gather new data on patterns of primate LEK from 709 respondents around
      seven reserves across Hainan, to investigate the possibility of gibbon survival
      outside Bawangling and assess whether LEK can provide useful information for
      conservation management of cryptic remnant populations. Comparative LEK data for
      gibbons and macaques are consistent with independent data on the relative status
      of these species across Hainan. Local awareness and experience of gibbons was low
      across Hainan, including at Bawangling, but we recorded recent anecdotal gibbon
      reports from most reserves. A follow-up field survey at Limushan Provincial
      Nature Reserve did not detect gibbons, however, and documented intensive wildlife
      exploitation within this reserve. All other surveyed landscapes showed some
      statistically lower levels of respondent awareness, experience, or sighting
      histories of gibbons compared to Bawangling, and are therefore considered
      biologically unlikely to support gibbons. Unverified LEK data can provide
      important insights into the possible status of cryptic remnant populations when
      assessed carefully and critically in relation to data from known populations.

PMID- 27643666
TI  - Gut hormone GPCRs: structure, function, drug discovery.
AB  - Crystallization and determination of the high resolution three-dimensional
      structure of the beta2-adrenergic receptor in 2007 was followed by structure
      elucidation of a number of other receptors, including those for neurotensin and
      glucagon. These major advances foster the understanding of structure-activity
      relationship of these receptors and structure-based rational design of new
      ligands having more predictable activity. At present, structure determination of
      gut hormone receptors in complex with their ligands (natural, synthetic) and
      interacting signalling proteins, for example, G-proteins, arrestins, represents a
      challenge which promises to revolutionize gut hormone endocrinonology.

PMID- 27643667
TI  - Deglycosylation influences the oxidation activity and antigenicity of
      myeloperoxidase.
AB  - AIM: Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is pathogenic in ANCA associated vasculitis. It also
      acts as bactericidal agent. MPO has five N-linked glycosylation sites on its
      heavy chains. The effect of glycosylation pattern to the functions of MPO is
      barely known. METHODS: We used eight glycosidases to remove different glycans on
      MPO separately. The chlorination activity of MPO, the binding between
      ceruloplasmin and MPO, and the reversing effect of MPO-ANCA to this binding were
      measured. Three de-glycosylated MPOs were used to assay the influence of
      deglycosylation on microbicidal effect of MPO. RESULTS: Compared with intact MPO,
      chlorination activity of deglycosylated MPO declined, in which removing of beta
      galactopyranoside (0.35 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.50 +/- 0.04, P < 0.001) and alpha-linked
      sialic acid (0.35 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.50 +/- 0.04, P < 0.001) presented the most
      significance. Deglycosylation reduced the binding capacity between MPO and its
      physiological inhibitor-ceruloplasmin, with the most significance on the removal
      of innermost GlcNAc (0.37 +/- 0.04 vs. 1.06 +/- 0.11, P < 0.001). Binding between
      MPO and ceruloplasmin was hardly reversed by MPO-ANCA after deglycosylation,
      especially on the removal of alpha-linked sialic acid (71.2 +/- 5.1% vs. 88.3 +/-
      1.0%, P = 0.009), chitobiose core (73.6 +/- 1.9% vs. 88.3 +/- 1.0%, P = 0.001)
      and GlcNAc (77.9 +/- 1.9% vs. 88.3 +/- 1.0%, P = 0.002). Removal of innermost
      GlcNAc, beta-galactopyranoside and alpha-neuraminidase could weaken the
      bactericidal effect of MPO, especially the removal of alpha-neuraminidase (P <
      0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Deglycosylation decreased oxidation activity of MPO and its
      binding with ceruloplasmin. Deglycosylation could also decrease the microbicidal
      effect of MPO, which might contribute to more severe infections and inflammation.
      Deglycosylated MPO presented less antigenicity to MPO-ANCA, which indicated the
      contribution of glycans to MPO epitopes.

PMID- 27643668
TI  - Heterolobosean amoebae from Arctic and Antarctic extremes: 18 novel strains of
      Allovahlkampfia, Vahlkampfia and Naegleria.
AB  - The diversity of heterolobosean amoebae, important members of soil, marine and
      freshwater microeukaryote communities in the temperate zones, is greatly under
      explored in high latitudes. To address this imbalance, we studied the diversity
      of this group of free-living amoebae in the Arctic and the Antarctic using
      culture dependent methods. Eighteen strain representatives of three
      heterolobosean genera, Allovahlkampfia Walochnik et Mulec, 2009 (1 strain),
      Vahlkampfia Chatton et Lalung-Bonnaier, 1912 (2) and Naegleria Alexeieff, 1912
      (15) were isolated from 179 samples of wet soil and fresh water with sediments
      collected in 6 localities. The Allovahkampfia strain is the first representative
      of the genus from the Antarctic; 14 strains (7 from the Arctic, 7 from the
      Antarctic) of the highly represented genus Naegleria complete the 'polar' cluster
      of five Naegleria species previously known from the Arctic and Sub-Antarctic
      regions, whereas one strain enriches the 'dobsoni' cluster of Naegleria strains
      of diverse origin. Present isolations of Naegleria polarisDe Jonckheere, 2006
      from Svalbard, in the Arctic and Vega Island, in the Antarctic and N.
      neopolarisDe Jonckheere, 2006 from Svalbard and Greenland in the Arctic, and
      James Ross Island, the Antarctic demonstrate their bipolar distribution, which in
      free-living amoebae has so far only been known for Vermistella Morand et
      Anderson, 2007.

PMID- 27643669
TI  - Endothelial glycocalyx layer shedding following lung resection.
AB  - AIM: We investigated if the serum biomarkers of endothelial glycocalyx layer
      (EGL) disruption, heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) and syndecan-1 (SDC1) were
      elevated following lung resection surgery. METHODS: Plasma samples were collected
      from 16 patients undergoing lobectomy for primary lung cancer. HSPG and SDC1 were
      measured at five perioperative timepoints. Postoperative oxygenation was
      recorded. RESULTS: Post-hoc pair wise comparisons showed SDC1 concentration was
      significantly elevated on postoperative day 2, p < 0.001. There was no
      relationship found between HSPG or SDC1 levels and postoperative oxygenation.
      CONCLUSION: Our pilot study is the first to provide evidence of EGL disruption
      following lung resection surgery. We hypothesize that EGL disruption is involved
      in the pathogenesis of post-lung resection acute lung injury. Abstract
      presentation: This work was presented in a part at the Anaesthetic Research
      Society Spring Meeting, Royal College of Anaesthetists, London, UK, 22 April
      2015.

PMID- 27643670
TI  - Thermal Injury-induced Hepatic Parenchymal Hypoperfusion: Risk of Hepatocellular
      Carcinoma Recurrence after Radiofrequency Ablation.
AB  - Purpose To retrospectively evaluate whether thermal injury-induced hepatic
      parenchymal hypoperfusion can be a significant risk factor for tumor recurrence
      after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials
      and Methods The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, and
      the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. The study population
      comprised 130 patients (87 men, 43 women; mean age, 61.4 years +/- 8.95; age
      range, 39-84 years) with single nodular HCCs smaller than 5 cm who underwent RFA
      between January 2011 and December 2012. The development of RFA-induced hepatic
      parenchymal hypoperfusion was assessed with follow-up computed tomography (CT).
      After a mean follow-up of 36.7 months +/- 10.8, the authors analyzed the overall
      and recurrence-free survival and the cumulative incidence of each type of
      recurrence (ie, local tumor progression [LTP], intrahepatic distant recurrence
      [IDR], and extrahepatic metastasis) by evaluating prognostic factors with use of
      the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results RFA
      induced hepatic parenchymal hypoperfusion developed in 41 of the 130 patients
      (31.5%) but did not have a significant effect on overall survival (P = .634).
      However, the estimated 3-year recurrence-free survival rate was 43.3% in the 41
      patients with RFA-induced hepatic parenchymal hypoxia and 61.9% in the 89
      patients without hypoxia, a statistically significant difference (P = .019). The
      3-year cumulative incidence of IDR was significantly higher in patients with RFA
      induced hepatic parenchymal hypoperfusion than in those without hypoxia (33.3% vs
      54.1%, P = .006). Conversely, the 3-year cumulative incidence of LTP and
      extrahepatic metastases showed no significant differences (P > .05 for both).
      Conclusion The development of RFA-induced hepatic parenchymal hypoperfusion is a
      significant predictive factor of recurrence (of IDR in particular) after RFA of a
      single nodular HCC. (c) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for
      this article.

PMID- 27643671
TI  - Evaluation of the Tibial Nerve with Shear-Wave Elastography: A Potential
      Sonographic Method for the Diagnosis of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the value of shear-wave elastography (SWE) in the detection
      of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) of the tibial nerve. Materials and
      Methods This study was approved by the institutional review board, and written
      informed consent was obtained from all study participants. The study included 20
      diabetic patients with DPN (10 men, 10 women), 20 diabetic patients without DPN
      (eight men, 12 women), and 20 healthy control subjects (nine men, 11 women). The
      tibial nerve was examined at 4 cm proximal to the medial malleolus with gray
      scale ultrasonography and SWE. The nerve cross-sectional area (in square
      centimeters) and the mean nerve stiffness (in kilopascals) within the range of
      the image were recorded. Inter- and intrareader variability, differences among
      groups, and correlation of clinical and electrophysiologic evaluation were
      assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients, the Mann Whitney U test, and
      the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results Between diabetic patients with and
      diabetic patients without DPN, mean age (60 years [range, 38-79 years] vs 61
      years [range, 46-75 years], respectively), mean duration of diabetes (10 years
      [range, 1-25 years] vs 10 years [range, 2-26 years]), and mean body mass index
      (31.4 kg/m2 [range, 24.7-48.1 kg/m2] vs 29.8 kg/m2 [range, 22.9-44.0 kg/m2]) were
      not significantly different. Diabetic patients without DPN had significantly
      higher stiffness values on the right side compared with control subjects (P <
      .001). Patients with DPN had much higher stiffness values on both sides compared
      with both diabetic patients without DPN (P < .001) and healthy control subjects
      (P < .001). A cutoff value of 51.0 kPa at 4 cm proximal to the medial malleolus
      revealed a sensitivity of 90% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 75.4%, 96.7%) and a
      specificity of 85.0% (95% CI: 74.9%, 91.7%). Conclusion Tibial nerve stiffness
      measurements appear to be highly specific in the diagnosis of established DPN.
      The increased stiffness in subjects without DPN might indicate that the nerve is
      affected by diabetes. (c) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available
      for this article.

PMID- 27643672
TI  - Pharmacogenomics and Global Precision Medicine in the Context of Adverse Drug
      Reactions: Top 10 Opportunities and Challenges for the Next Decade.
AB  - In a move indicative of the enthusiastic support of precision medicine, the U.S.
      President Barack Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative in January
      2015. The global precision medicine ecosystem is, thus, receiving generous
      support from the United States ($215 million), and numerous other governments
      have followed suit. In the context of precision medicine, drug treatment and
      prediction of its outcomes have been important for nearly six decades in the
      field of pharmacogenomics. The field offers an elegant solution for minimizing
      the effects and occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The Clinical
      Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) plays an important role in this
      context, and it aims at specifically guiding the translation of clinically
      relevant and evidence-based pharmacogenomics research. In this forward-looking
      analysis, we make particular reference to several of the CPIC guidelines and
      their role in guiding the treatment of highly relevant diseases, namely
      cardiovascular disease, major depressive disorder, cancer, and human
      immunodeficiency virus, with a view to predicting and managing ADRs. In addition,
      we provide a list of the top 10 crosscutting opportunities and challenges facing
      the fields of precision medicine and pharmacogenomics, which have broad
      applicability independent of the drug class involved. Many of these opportunities
      and challenges pertain to infrastructure, study design, policy, and science
      culture in the early 21st century. Ultimately, rational pharmacogenomics study
      design and the acquisition of comprehensive phenotypic data that proportionately
      match the genomics data should be an imperative as we move forward toward global
      precision medicine.

PMID- 27643673
TI  - Endothelial vasodilator function in normal-weight adults with metabolic syndrome.
AB  - Metabolic syndrome (MetS) typically presents with obesity; however, obesity is
      not a requisite characteristic for MetS classification and related vascular risk.
      We tested the hypothesis that MetS, independent of excess adiposity, is
      associated with impaired endothelial vasodilator dysfunction. Thirty-two
      sedentary, middle-aged adults were studied: 11 normal weight (9 male and 2
      female; body mass index (BMI), 24.0 +/- 0.3 kg/m2); 11 normal weight with MetS (9
      male and 2 female; BMI, 24.7 +/- 0.3 kg/m2); and 10 obese without MetS (8 male
      and 2 female; BMI, 31.4 +/- 0.5 kg/m2). MetS was established according to
      National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria.
      Forearm blood flow (FBF) responses to intra-arterial infusions of acetylcholine
      and sodium nitroprusside were measured via strain-gauge plethysmography. FBF
      responses to acetylcholine were ~20% lower (P < 0.05) in the normal-weight
      subjects with MetS (from 4.0 +/- 0.3 to 13.0 +/- 1.0 mL/(100 mL tissue.min)) and
      obese subjects (from 4.8 +/- 0.2 to 12.2 +/- 1.1 mL/(100 mL tissue.min)) compared
      with the normal-weight subjects (from 4.6 +/- 0.4 to 15.8 +/- 0.7 mL/(100 mL
      tissue.min)). Of note, FBF responses to acetylcholine were similar between the
      normal-weight adults with MetS and the obese adults. There were no differences
      among groups in FBF response to sodium nitroprusside. These data indicate that
      the presence of MetS, independent of obesity, is associated with diminished
      endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Endothelial vasodilator dysfunction may
      underlie the increased cardiovascular risk in normal-weight adults with MetS.

PMID- 27643674
TI  - Iron refractory iron deficiency anemia: a heterogeneous disease that is not
      always iron refractory.
AB  - TMPRSS6 variants that affect protein function result in impaired matriptase-2
      function and consequently uninhibited hepcidin production, leading to iron
      refractory iron deficiency anemia (IRIDA). This disease is characterized by
      microcytic, hypochromic anemia and serum hepcidin values that are inappropriately
      high for body iron levels. Much is still unknown about its pathophysiology,
      genotype-phenotype correlation, and optimal clinical management. We describe 14
      different TMPRSS6 variants, of which 9 are novel, in 21 phenotypically affected
      IRIDA patients from 20 families living in the Netherlands; 16 out of 21 patients
      were female. In 7 out of 21 cases DNA sequencing and multiplex ligation dependent
      probe amplification demonstrated only heterozygous TMPRSS6 variants. The age at
      presentation, disease severity, and response to iron supplementation were highly
      variable, even for patients and relatives with similar TMPRSS6 genotypes. Mono
      allelic IRIDA patients had a milder phenotype with respect to hemoglobin and MCV
      and presented significantly later in life with anemia than bi-allelic patients.
      Transferrin saturation (TSAT)/hepcidin ratios were lower in IRIDA probands than
      in healthy relatives. Most patients required parenteral iron. Genotype alone was
      not predictive for the response to oral iron. We conclude that IRIDA is a
      genotypically and phenotypically heterogeneous disease. The high proportion of
      female patients and the discrepancy between phenotypes of probands and relatives
      with the same genotype, suggest a complex interplay between genetic and acquired
      factors in the pathogenesis of IRIDA. In the absence of inflammation, the
      TSAT/hepcidin ratio is a promising diagnostic tool, even after iron
      supplementation has been given. Am. J. Hematol. 91:E482-E490, 2016. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27643675
TI  - HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors.
AB  - The development of anti-HCV drugs is one of the most successful stories of
      antiviral therapy. In fact, for the first time in human history we have the
      potential to eradicate a chronic viral infection using only orally administered
      direct antiviral agents (DAAs). HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors,
      exemplified by Daclatasvir (DCV, BMS-790052, Daklinza(r)), are a new class of
      DAA. The astonishing in vitro potency of DCV (pM to low nM range) translated to
      remarkable efficacy in clinical trials, and 2nd generation NS5A inhibitors have
      become essential components of HCV combination therapies. The current cure rate
      of effective combination therapies exceeds 90% in most clinical trials. The
      extraordinary potency of NS5A inhibitors promoted significant efforts to
      understand their mechanism(s) of inhibition.

PMID- 27643676
TI  - Material properties of the heel fat pad across strain rates.
AB  - The complex structural and material behaviour of the human heel fat pad
      determines the transmission of plantar loading to the lower limb across a wide
      range of loading scenarios; from locomotion to injurious incidents. The aim of
      this study was to quantify the hyper-viscoelastic material properties of the
      human heel fat pad across strains and strain rates. An inverse finite element
      (FE) optimisation algorithm was developed and used, in conjunction with quasi
      static and dynamic tests performed to five cadaveric heel specimens, to derive
      specimen-specific and mean hyper-viscoelastic material models able to predict
      accurately the response of the tissue at compressive loading of strain rates up
      to 150s-1. The mean behaviour was expressed by the quasi-linear viscoelastic
      (QLV) material formulation, combining the Yeoh material model (C10=0.1MPa,
      C30=7MPa, K=2GPa) and Prony's terms (A1=0.06, A2=0.77, A3=0.02 for tau1=1ms,
      tau2=10ms, tau3=10s). These new data help to understand better the functional
      anatomy and pathophysiology of the foot and ankle, develop biomimetic materials
      for tissue reconstruction, design of shoe, insole, and foot and ankle orthoses,
      and improve the predictive ability of computational models of the foot and ankle
      used to simulate daily activities or predict injuries at high rate injurious
      incidents such as road traffic accidents and underbody blast.

PMID- 27643677
TI  - Comparative trial assessing suture techniques and types of urinary catheters in
      vesicourethral anastomotic tensile strength in a porcine model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Vesicourethal anastomosis (VUA) during radical prostatectomy can be
      achieved using various suture plication techniques. Traditionally, an indwelling
      urinary catheter remains in-situ to facilitate the healing process of the
      reconstructed VUA. Compromise or rupture of this anastomosis may lead to acute
      urinary leak and subsequent urinoma or stricture formation. This ex-vivo porcine
      model aims to evaluate VUA tensile strength using different suture techniques and
      catheter types. METHODS: Male porcine bladders were obtained and prostatectomy
      was performed. The specimens were randomized and VUA were created using 3-point
      interrupted, 6-point interrupted or 6 point continuous 3-0 monocryl suture. 20Fr
      catheters were utilized, specifically varying manufacturers (A and B) and
      catheter balloon shapes (round versus oval). The VUA model was placed within a
      reproducible pulley system and graduated weights were applied until failure of
      the catheter balloon or the model VUA. Model failure was defined as either 'VUA
      rupture', 'Catheter passage through VUA' or 'catheter failure'. RESULTS: Twenty
      consecutive porcine bladders were prepared, tested and utilized for analysis. VUA
      reconstructed with 3-point fixation was more likely to suffer VUA rupture
      (p=0.025) compared to 6-point interrupted or 6-point continuous VUA. Higher
      tensile pressure causing catheter balloon rupture (p=0.009) was observed for
      Manufacturer A. Catheters with oval-balloon shape were more likely to dislodge
      past the VUA without disruption of the anastomosis (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: During
      prostatectomy, anastomotic technique and catheter selection can significantly
      alter the tensile properties of the VUA. Further research is required to validate
      our findings in clinical models.

PMID- 27643678
TI  - Computational and experimental investigation into mechanical performances of Poly
      L-Lactide Acid (PLLA) coronary stents.
AB  - Poly-L-lactide Acid (PLLA), as a credible biodegradable polymer-based material,
      can provide a promising amount of degradation time for vessel remodeling. Served
      as a sort of reliable intravascular implants, PLLA stents are expected to provide
      sufficient scaffolding to the target arteries without generating too much recoil
      after deployment. Besides, the stress and strain distribution should be as
      homogeneous as possible, and the stent conformability in fitting to the nature
      curvature of the vessels needs to be guaranteed. In the present study, mechanical
      performances of a stent made of PLLA material were investigated based on 3-D
      finite element method (FEM) and experiment verification. Simulations contained
      several deformation steps: crimping, spring-back after crimping, expanding and
      spring-back after expanding. The stent's deformation and stress/strain
      distributions were analyzed. Several indexes including the radial recoil ratio
      after crimping and expanding to different sizes, the radial properties including
      radial strength, the radial stiffness and the collapse pressure were established.
      In vitro static loading experiments of the stent were conducted as the
      verification of the FEM results, and a good agreement between them was obtained.
      Moreover, simulation of three-point bending was performed to assess the bending
      flexibility of the stent, and bending stiffness was defined as a measurement of
      structure resistance to the bending deformation.

PMID- 27643679
TI  - R/L, a double reporter mouse line that expresses luciferase gene upon Cre
      mediated excision, followed by inactivation of mRFP expression.
AB  - The Cre/loxP system has become an important tool for the conditional gene
      knockout and conditional gene expression in genetically engineered mice. The
      applications of this system depend on transgenic reporter mouse lines that
      provide Cre recombinase activity with a defined cell type-, tissue-, or
      developmental stage-specificity. To develop a sensitive assay for monitoring Cre
      mediated DNA excisions in mice, we generated Cre-mediated excision reporter mice,
      designated R/L mice (R/L: mRFP(monomeric red fluorescent protein)/luciferase),
      express mRFP throughout embryonic development and adult stages, while Cre
      mediated excision deletes a loxP-flanked mRFP reporter gene and STOP sequence,
      thereby activating the expression of the second reporter gene luciferase, as
      assayed by in vivo and ex vivo bioluminescence imaging. After germ line deletion
      of the floxed mRFP and STOP sequence in R/L mice by EIIa-Cre mice, the resulting
      luciferase transgenic mice in which the loxP-mRFP-STOP-loxP cassette is excised
      from all cells express luciferase in all tissues and organs examined. The
      expression of luciferase transgene was activated in liver of RL/Alb-Cre double
      transgenic mice and in brain of RL/Nestin-Cre double transgenic mice when R/L
      reporter mice were mated with Alb-Cre mice and Nestin-Cre mice, respectively. Our
      findings reveal that the double reporter R/L mouse line is able to indicate the
      occurrence of Cre-mediated excision from early embryonic to adult lineages. Taken
      together, these findings demonstrate that the R/L mice serve as a sensitive
      reporter for Cre-mediated DNA excision both in living animals and in organs,
      tissues, and cells following necropsy.

PMID- 27643680
TI  - Cerebrospinal fluid viral load and biomarkers of neuronal and glial cells in
      Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
AB  - Reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV) can manifest with facial palsy
      diagnosed as Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (RHS) or Ramsay Hunt Syndrome zoster sine
      herpete (RHS-ZSH). These syndromes are associated with poor prognosis despite
      treatment with antivirals and corticosteroids. Concentrations of biomarkers such
      as neurofilament protein (NFL), S-100beta protein and glial fibrillary acidic
      protein (GFAp) have previously been measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to
      assess neuronal damage and glial pathology. We employed immunochemical methods to
      measure concentrations of NFL, S-100beta protein and GFAp in CSF from patients
      with RHS (n = 15) and RHS-ZSH (n = 13) diagnosed by detection of VZV DNA in the
      CSF by quantitative PCR, and compared with a control group (n = 52). The
      biomarker concentrations were correlated with CSF viral load and outcome measured
      by House-Brackmann score. NFL and GFAp concentrations were increased compared
      with controls (P = 0.008 and P = 0.04), while S-100beta levels were decreased.
      This pattern was more pronounced in patients with RHS compared to the patients
      with RHS-ZSH (NS and P = 0.028). The amount of viral DNA in CSF correlated with
      increased GFAp (P = 0.003) and NFL (P = 0.006). No correlations were found
      between biomarker concentrations and patient outcome. Patients with facial palsy
      caused by VZV had biochemical signs of neuronal damage and astrogliosis. High
      amounts of viral DNA may be associated with the degree of damage on neuronal and
      astroglial cells. Prospective studies are warranted to elucidate the association
      of elevated biomarkers in the CSF and outcome assessed by more sensitive tests.

PMID- 27643681
TI  - Preliminary evaluation of a hydrogel liquid bandage in 30 dogs undergoing tibial
      plateau levelling osteotomy surgery.
AB  - AIMS: To compare the prevalence of minor incisional complications in canine
      patients undergoing tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery that had a
      hydrogel liquid bandage (HLB) applied to their incision, with patients that had a
      light adhesive bandage applied. METHODS: Thirty dogs undergoing TPLO surgery were
      randomly assigned to either application of a light adhesive bandage to the
      incision, with removal 18-24 hours later, or application of a clear-drying
      polyethylene glycol HLB to the incision. Erythema, swelling, discharge, and
      dehiscence were assessed 1 day (Day 1) and 10-14 days (Days 10-14)
      postoperatively. All persons completing the assessment were blinded to the
      treatment. Outcomes were compared for the two groups using Fisher's Exact Test.
      RESULTS: On both Day 1 and Days 10-14, the distribution of dogs with erthemyma or
      swelling did not differ between the two groups (p>=0.4). The prevalence of
      erythema was the same in the bandage and HLB groups at Day 1 (11/15; 73%) and was
      similar at Days 10-14 (3/11 (27%) and 2/11 (18%), respectively). Prevalence of
      swelling was also the same in the two groups on Day 1 (11/15; 73%) and was
      similar at Days 10-14 (3/11 (27%) and 6/11 (55%), respectively). On Day 1, 2/15
      (13%) dogs in the HLB group and none of the dogs in the bandage group had
      incisional discharge (p=0.483). No dogs were observed with discharge on Days 10
      14. No dehiscence, infection, or any other major incisional complication was
      observed in either group at any point in the study. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary
      results suggest that prevalence of minor incisional complications after TPLO
      surgery treated with HLB or with a traditional adhesive bandage may be
      comparable. No major adverse effects were seen with the use of HLB. CLINICIAL
      RELEVANCE: Due to several disadvantages of traditional bandaging, which can
      require post-operative maintenance and removal, lasts only a short time, and be
      painful when removed, an alternative with fewer drawbacks is desirable. HLB may
      present such an alternative.

PMID- 27643682
TI  - Alternative fluorescent labeling strategies for characterizing gram-positive
      pathogenic bacteria: Flow cytometry supported counting, sorting, and proteome
      analysis of Staphylococcus aureus retrieved from infected host cells.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen that is able to
      cause a broad range of infectious diseases in humans. Furthermore, S. aureus is
      able to survive inside nonprofessional phagocytic host cell which serve as a
      niche for the pathogen to hide from the immune system and antibiotics therapies.
      Modern OMICs technologies provide valuable tools to investigate host-pathogen
      interactions upon internalization. However, these experiments are often hampered
      by limited capabilities to retrieve bacteria from such an experimental setting.
      Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a labeling strategy allowing fast
      detection and quantitation of S. aureus in cell lysates or infected cell lines by
      flow cytometry for subsequent proteome analyses. Therefore, S. aureus cells were
      labeled with the DNA stain SYTO(r) 9, or Vancomycin BODIPY(r) FL (VMB), a
      glycopeptide antibiotic binding to most Gram-positive bacteria which was
      conjugated to a fluorescent dye. Staining of S. aureus HG001 with SYTO 9 allowed
      counting of bacteria from pure cultures but not in cell lysates from infection
      experiments. In contrast, with VMB it was feasible to stain bacteria from pure
      cultures as well as from samples of infection experiments. VMB can also be
      applied for histocytochemistry analysis of formaldehyde fixed cell layers grown
      on coverslips. Proteome analyses of S. aureus labeled with VMB revealed that the
      labeling procedure provoked only minor changes on proteome level and allowed cell
      sorting and analysis of S. aureus from infection settings with sensitivity
      similar to continuous gfp expression. Furthermore, VMB labeling allowed precise
      counting of internalized bacteria and can be employed for downstream analyses,
      e.g., proteomics, of strains not easily amendable to genetic manipulation such as
      clinical isolates. (c) 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

PMID- 27643683
TI  - Stature signals status: The association of stature, status and perceived
      dominance - a thought experiment.
AB  - SUMMARY: Background: There is a common perception that tall stature results in
      social dominance. Evidence in meerkats suggests that social dominance itself may
      be a strong stimulus for growth. Relative size serves as the signal for
      individuals to induce strategic growth adjustments. Aim: We construct a thought
      experiment to explore the potential consequences of the question: is stature a
      social signal also in humans? We hypothesize that (1) upward trends in height in
      the lower social strata are perceived as social challenges yielding similar
      though attenuated upward trends in the dominant strata, and that (2)
      democratization, but also periods of political turmoil that facilitate upward
      mobility of the lower strata, are accompanied by upward trends in height.
      Material and methods: We reanalyzed large sets of height data of European
      conscripts born between 1856-1860 and 1976-1980; and annual data of German
      military conscripts, born between 1965 and 1985, with information on height and
      school education. Results: Taller stature is associated with higher socioeconomic
      status. Historic populations show larger height differences between social strata
      that tend to diminish in the more recent populations. German height data suggest
      that both democratization, and periods of political turmoil facilitating upward
      mobility of the lower social strata are accompanied by a general upward height
      spiral that captures the whole population. Discussion: We consider stature as a
      signal. Nutrition, health, general living conditions and care giving are
      essential prerequisites for growth, yet not to maximize stature, but to allow for
      its function as a lifelong social signal. Considering stature as a social signal
      provides an elegant explanation of the rapid height adjustments observed in
      migrants, of the hitherto unexplained clustering of body height in modern and
      historic cohorts of military conscripts, and of the parallelism between changes
      in political conditions, and secular trends in adult human height since the 19th
      century.

PMID- 27643684
TI  - Recommendations from primary care providers for integrating mental health in a
      primary care system in rural Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Globally, access to mental healthcare is often lacking in rural, low
      resource settings. Mental healthcare services integration in primary care
      settings is a key intervention to address this gap. A common strategy includes
      embedding mental healthcare workers on-site, and receiving consultation from an
      off-site psychiatrist. Primary care provider perspectives are important for
      successful program implementation. METHODS: We conducted three focus groups with
      all 24 primary care providers at a district-level hospital in rural Nepal. We
      asked participants about their concerns and recommendations for an integrated
      mental healthcare delivery program. They were also asked about current practices
      in seeking referral for patients with mental illness. We collected data using
      structured notes and analyzed the data by template coding to develop themes
      around concerns and recommendations for an integrated program. RESULTS:
      Participants noted that the current referral system included sending patients to
      the nearest psychiatrist who is 14 h away. Participants did not think this was
      effective, and stated that integrating mental health into the existing primary
      care setting would be ideal. Their major concerns about a proposed program
      included workplace hierarchies between mental healthcare workers and other
      clinicians, impact of staff turnover on patients, reliability of an off-site
      consultant psychiatrist, and ability of on-site primary care providers to screen
      patients and follow recommendations from an off-site psychiatrist. Their
      suggestions included training a few existing primary care providers as dedicated
      mental healthcare workers, recruiting both senior and junior mental healthcare
      workers to ensure retention, recruiting academic psychiatrists for reliability,
      and training all primary care providers to appropriately screen for mental
      illness and follow recommendations from the psychiatrist. CONCLUSIONS: Primary
      care providers in rural Nepal reported the failure of the current system of
      referral, which includes sending patients to a distant city. They welcomed
      integrating mental healthcare into the primary care system, and reported several
      concerns and recommendations to increase the likelihood of successful
      implementation of such a program.

PMID- 27643685
TI  - Assessment of Local Mosquito Species Incriminates Aedes aegypti as the Potential
      Vector of Zika Virus in Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Within the last 10 years Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused unprecedented
      epidemics of human disease in the nations and territories of the western Pacific
      and South America, and continues to escalate in both endemic and non-endemic
      regions. We evaluated the vector competence of Australian mosquitoes for ZIKV to
      assess their potential role in virus transmission. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: Mosquitoes were exposed to infectious blood meals containing the
      prototype African ZIKV strain. After 14 days incubation at 28 degrees C and high
      relative humidity, infection, dissemination and transmission rates were assessed.
      Infection in Culex annulirostris and Cx. sitiens could not be detected. 8% of Cx.
      quinquefasciatus were infected, but the virus did not disseminate in this
      species. Despite having infection rates > 50%, Aedes notoscriptus and Ae. vigilax
      did not transmit ZIKV. In contrast, Ae. aegypti had infection and transmission
      rates of 57% and 27%, respectively. In susceptibility trials, the virus dose
      required to infect 50% (ID50) of Ae. aegypti was106.4 tissue culture infectious
      dose50 (TCID50)/mL. Additionally, a threshold viral load within the mosquito of
      at least 105.1 TCID50 equivalents/mL had to be reached before virus transmission
      occurred. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We confirmed Ae. aegypti to be the most
      likely mosquito vector of ZIKV in Australia, although the restricted distribution
      of this species will limit the receptive zone to northern Queensland where this
      species occurs. Importantly, the role in ZIKV transmission of Culex and other
      Aedes spp. tested will be negligible. Despite being the implicated vector, the
      relatively high ID50 and need for a high titer disseminated infection in Ae.
      aegypti suggest that high mosquito population densities will be required to
      facilitate epidemic ZIKV transmission among the currently immunologically naive
      human population in Australia.

PMID- 27643686
TI  - Cloning and Characterization of Novel Testis-Specific Diacylglycerol Kinase eta
      Splice Variants 3 and 4.
AB  - Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) phosphorylates DG to generate phosphatidic acid.
      Recently, we found that a new alternative splicing product of the DGKeta gene,
      DGKeta3, which lacks exon 26 encoding 31 amino acid residues, was expressed only
      in the secondary spermatocytes and round spermatids of the testis. In this study,
      we cloned the full length DGKeta3 gene and confirmed the endogenous expression of
      its protein product. During the cloning procedure, we found a new testis-specific
      alternative splicing product of the DGKeta gene, DGKeta4, which lacks half of the
      catalytic domain. We examined the DGK activity and subcellular localization of
      DGKeta3 and eta4. DGKeta3 had almost the same activity as DGKeta1, whereas the
      activity of DGKeta4 was not detectable. In resting NEC8 cells (human testicular
      germ cell tumor cell line), DGKeta1, eta3 and eta4 were broadly distributed in
      the cytoplasm. When osmotically shocked, DGKeta1 and eta4 were distributed in
      punctate vesicles in the cytoplasm. In contrast, DGKeta3 was partly translocated
      to the plasma membrane and co-localized with the actin cytoskeleton. These
      results suggest that DGKeta3 and eta4 have properties different from those of
      DGKeta1 and that they play roles in the testis in a different manner. 

PMID- 27643687
TI  - The Tubulin-Based-Polymorphism Method Provides a Simple and Effective Alternative
      to the Genomic Profiling of Grape.
AB  - The TBP (Tubulin-Based-Polymorphism) method, based on a nuclear ILP (Intron
      Length-Polymorphism) molecular marker, has been used for genotyping 37 accessions
      of the genus Vitis inclusive of different species, rootstocks, wild and
      cultivated subspecies. A distinct DNA barcode made up by a different number of
      amplicons, was attributed to each of the different accessions. TBP data were
      compared with those obtained, with the use of an internationally validated set of
      six SSR markers. Genetic relationships among the different accessions, dendrogram
      distributions, correlation values and polymorphic index values (PICs) were
      definitively comparable when not in favor of TBP. Such an experimental
      consistency is based upon a genomic organization of the multiple members of the
      beta-tubulin gene family, the targets of TBP-mediated amplification, that is
      conserved in Vitis as in any other plant species. The TBP amplicons can actually
      be used as a useful source of sequence polymorphisms for generating primer pairs
      capable of identifying specific cultivars in a simple assay. An example for the
      identification of the 'Sangiovese' cv. is reported. More generally, these data
      are discussed in terms of the actual advantages that the introduction of the TBP
      method in the field of grape characterization and genotyping can provide. 

PMID- 27643688
TI  - The role of religious attendance on mental health among Mexican populations: A
      contribution toward the discussion of the immigrant health paradox.
AB  - In this study, we conducted a path analysis on data from the National Latino and
      Asian American Study to investigate the role of religious attendance on mental
      health among Mexican populations. Using data from 868 Latinos of Mexican origin,
      we further investigated the extent to which religious attendance mediated the
      direct path between generation status and lifetime prevalence rates of any
      substance use disorder, depressive disorder, and anxiety disorder. Results
      indicate that Mexican immigrants endorsed lower lifetime prevalence rates of
      depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and substance use disorder and endorsed
      higher levels of religious attendance. Second, results indicate a significant
      negative relationship between religious attendance and prevalence rates for
      depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and substance use disorder. Third, results
      indicate that religious attendance was a mediator for the relationship between
      generation status and the lifetime prevalence rates of substance use disorder
      only. These results provide a contribution toward the discussion of the immigrant
      health paradox and further highlight the role that religious attendance plays in
      the relationship between generational status and the lifetime prevalence rates of
      substance use disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643689
TI  - Mapping Phenotypic Information in Heterogeneous Textual Sources to a Domain
      Specific Terminological Resource.
AB  - Biomedical literature articles and narrative content from Electronic Health
      Records (EHRs) both constitute rich sources of disease-phenotype information.
      Phenotype concepts may be mentioned in text in multiple ways, using phrases with
      a variety of structures. This variability stems partly from the different
      backgrounds of the authors, but also from the different writing styles typically
      used in each text type. Since EHR narrative reports and literature articles
      contain different but complementary types of valuable information, combining
      details from each text type can help to uncover new disease-phenotype
      associations. However, the alternative ways in which the same concept may be
      mentioned in each source constitutes a barrier to the automatic integration of
      information. Accordingly, identification of the unique concepts represented by
      phrases in text can help to bridge the gap between text types. We describe our
      development of a novel method, PhenoNorm, which integrates a number of different
      similarity measures to allow automatic linking of phenotype concept mentions to
      known concepts in the UMLS Metathesaurus, a biomedical terminological resource.
      PhenoNorm was developed using the PhenoCHF corpus-a collection of literature
      articles and narratives in EHRs, annotated for phenotypic information relating to
      congestive heart failure (CHF). We evaluate the performance of PhenoNorm in
      linking CHF-related phenotype mentions to Metathesaurus concepts, using a newly
      enriched version of PhenoCHF, in which each phenotype mention has an expert
      verified link to a concept in the UMLS Metathesaurus. We show that PhenoNorm
      outperforms a number of alternative methods applied to the same task.
      Furthermore, we demonstrate PhenoNorm's wider utility, by evaluating its ability
      to link mentions of various other types of medically-related information,
      occurring in texts covering wider subject areas, to concepts in different
      terminological resources. We show that PhenoNorm can maintain performance levels,
      and that its accuracy compares favourably to other methods applied to these
      tasks. 

PMID- 27643690
TI  - The effects of licorice flavonoid oil with respect to increasing muscle mass: a
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study evaluated the effects of licorice flavonoid oil
      (LFO) with respect to increasing the muscle mass of elderly populations using a
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Fifty participants aged 54-90
      years (seven men, 43 women), who underwent rehabilitation treatment for
      osteoarthritis of the knee, were examined and assigned to either the LFO group (n
      = 26) or the placebo group (n = 24). The LFO group consumed 300 mg LFO day-1 ,
      whereas the placebo group consumed one placebo capsule every day for 16 weeks. We
      measured muscle mass, body fat percentage and the Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis
      Measure score at baseline and every 4 weeks thereafter. RESULTS: In the LFO
      group, muscle mass in the body trunk increased significantly after 16 weeks of
      LFO intake (+0.38 kg, P = 0.02). The trunk muscle mass weight of the LFO group
      increased significantly compared to that of the placebo group (P < 0.01).
      Furthermore, the body fat percentage and body trunk fat percentage of the LFO
      group were significantly suppressed compared to that of the placebo group (P =
      0.03 and P < 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: The results of the present trial
      indicate that LFO supplementation has effects with respect to increasing muscle
      mass and suppressing the body fat percentage of elderly populations, especially
      in the body trunk. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27643691
TI  - Risk of cardiovascular events among patients with HIV treated with atazanavir
      containing regimens: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A previous cohort study indicated that atazanavir (ATV), a protease
      inhibitor used for HIV treatment, is not associated with an increased risk of
      cardiovascular (CV) events. The objective of this study was to compare the risk
      of CV events among antiretroviral-naive patients initiating ATV-containing versus
      ATV-free ARV regimens. METHODS: Patients with HIV who newly initiated
      antiretroviral therapy were selected from MarketScan Commercial and Multi-State
      Medicaid databases. The first claim for an antiretroviral medication between
      1/1/2007 and 12/31/2013 was known as the index date. Patients were categorized as
      initiating an ATV-containing or an ATV-free regimen. Patients who did not have 6
      months of continuous enrollment prior to the index date or who had evidence of a
      CV event during this time period were excluded. Myocardial infarction, stroke,
      percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass graft were
      identified through diagnosis and procedure codes. Patients were followed from
      index date until a CV event, continuous gap of >30 days without initiated ARV, a
      claim for ATV in the ATV-free cohort, disenrollment, or study end, whichever
      occurred first. Unadjusted incidence rates (IR) were calculated and propensity
      score-weighted Cox proportional hazards models were fit to compare hazards of CV
      events between the two cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 22,211 patients (2437 ATV
      containing and 19,774 ATV-free) were identified in the Commercial Database and
      7136 patients were identified (1505 ATV-containing and 5631 ATV-free) in the
      Medicaid Database. CV events were uncommon (Commercial IR per 1000 person-years
      for a CV event: ATV-containing = 3.01, ATV-free = 3.26; Medicaid IR: ATV
      containing = 10.9, ATV-free = 9.9). In propensity-score-weighted models combining
      the two populations, there was no significant difference in the hazards of a CV
      event for patients initiating an ATV-containing regimen compared with those
      initiating an ATV-free regimen (hazard ratio = 1.16, 95 % confidence interval
      0.67-1.99). CONCLUSIONS: In this real-world analysis, there was no significant
      increase in the risk of CV events associated with exposure to ATV-containing
      regimens.

PMID- 27643692
TI  - Strong Optical Dipole Force Exerted on Molecules Having Low Rotational
      Temperature.
AB  - The optical dipole force acting on molecules is enhanced by decreasing the
      rotational temperature of the molecule and aligning the molecular axis with a
      linearly polarized nonresonant laser beam. The rotational temperature is
      decreased by increasing the source pressure from 2 to 81 bar. By using the
      effective polarizability directly pertaining to the optical dipole force, the
      force and the resulting change in the velocity of the molecules can be evaluated.
      Theoretical calculations are compared with measurements based on velocity map
      imaging techniques. If the rotational temperature is reduced from 295 to 1 K, the
      maximum alignment is increased from <cos2 theta>=0.33 to 0.92, and the average
      optical force is enhanced by 74 %.

PMID- 27643693
TI  - Neurologic Phenotypes Associated with Mutations in TREX1, RNASEH2A, RNASEH2B,
      RNASEH2C, SAMHD1, ADAR1, and IFIH1: Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome and Beyond.
AB  - The Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome (AGS) was first described in 1984, and over the
      following years was defined by the clinical and radiological features of an early
      onset, severe, neurologic disorder with intracranial calcification,
      leukoencephalopathy, and cerebral atrophy, usually associated with a
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis and elevated CSF interferon alpha activity.
      It is now recognized that mutations in any of the following seven genes may
      result in the classical AGS phenotype: TREX1 (AGS1), RNASEH2A (AGS2), RNASEH2B
      (AGS3), RNASEH2C (AGS4), SAMHD1 (AGS5), ADAR1 (AGS6), and IFIH1 (AGS7). All of
      these genes encode proteins involved in nucleotide metabolism and/or sensing.
      Mutations in these genes result in the induction of type 1 interferon production
      and an upregulation of interferon stimulated genes. As more patients harboring
      mutations in these genes have been described, in particular facilitated by the
      advent of whole exome sequencing, a remarkably broad spectrum of associated
      neurologic phenotypes has been revealed, which we summarize here. We propose that
      the term AGS has continued clinical utility in the designation of a
      characteristic phenotype, which suggests relevant diagnostic investigations and
      can inform outcome predictions. However, we also suggest that the use of the term
      "type 1 interferonopathy" is appropriate for the wider spectrum of disease
      consequent upon dysfunction of these genes and proteins since it implies the
      possibility of a common "anti-interferon" approach to therapy as such treatments
      become available.

PMID- 27643695
TI  - High-Frequency Nanocapacitor Arrays: Concept, Recent Developments, and Outlook.
AB  - We have developed a measurement platform for performing high-frequency AC
      detection at nanoelectrodes. The system consists of 65 536 electrodes (diameter
      180 nm) arranged in a sub-micrometer rectangular array. The electrodes are
      actuated at frequencies up to 50 MHz, and the resulting AC current response at
      each separately addressable electrode is measured in real time. These
      capabilities are made possible by fabricating the electrodes on a complementary
      metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip together with the associated control and
      readout electronics, thus minimizing parasitic capacitance and maximizing the
      signal-to-noise ratio. This combination of features offers several advantages for
      a broad range of experiments. First, in contrast to alternative CMOS-based
      electrical systems based on field-effect detection, high-frequency operation is
      sensitive beyond the electrical double layer and can probe entities at a range of
      micrometers in electrolytes with high ionic strength such as water at
      physiological salt concentrations. Far from being limited to single- or few
      channel recordings like conventional electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the
      massively parallel design of the array permits electrically imaging micrometer
      scale entities with each electrode serving as a separate pixel. This allows
      observation of complex kinetics in heterogeneous environments, for example, the
      motion of living cells on the surface of the array. This imaging aspect is
      further strengthened by the ability to distinguish between analyte species based
      on the sign and magnitude of their AC response. Finally, we show here that
      sensitivity down to the attofarad level combined with the small electrode size
      permits detection of individual 28 nm diameter particles as they land on the
      sensor surface. Interestingly, using finite-element methods, it is also possible
      to calculate accurately the full three-dimensional electric field and current
      distributions during operation at the level of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck
      formalism. This makes it possible to validate the interpretation of measurements
      and to optimize the design of future experiments. Indeed, the complex frequency
      and spatial dependence of the data suggests that experiments to date have only
      scratched the surface of the method's capabilities. Future iterations of the
      hardware will take advantage of the higher frequencies, higher electrode packing
      densities and smaller electrode sizes made available by continuing advances in
      CMOS manufacturing. Combined with targeted immobilization of targets at the
      electrodes, we anticipate that it will soon be possible to realize complex
      biosensors based on spatial- and time-resolved nanoscale impedance detection.

PMID- 27643694
TI  - Late Cardiac Events after Childhood Cancer: Methodological Aspects of the Pan
      European Study PanCareSurFup.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Childhood cancer survivors are at high risk of long-term
      adverse effects of cancer and its treatment, including cardiac events. The pan
      European PanCareSurFup study determined the incidence and risk factors for
      cardiac events among childhood cancer survivors. The aim of this article is to
      describe the methodology of the cardiac cohort and nested case-control study
      within PanCareSurFup. METHODS: Eight data providers in Europe participating in
      PanCareSurFup identified and validated symptomatic cardiac events in their
      cohorts of childhood cancer survivors. Data on symptomatic heart failure,
      ischemia, pericarditis, valvular disease and arrhythmia were collected and graded
      according to the Criteria for Adverse Events. Detailed treatment data, data on
      potential confounders, lifestyle related risk factors and general health problems
      were collected. RESULTS: The PanCareSurFup cardiac cohort consisted of 59,915 5
      year childhood cancer survivors with malignancies diagnosed between 1940 and 2009
      and classified according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer
      3. Different strategies were used to identify cardiac events such as record
      linkage to population/ hospital or regional based databases, and patient- and
      general practitioner-based questionnaires. CONCLUSION: The cardiac study of the
      European collaborative research project PanCareSurFup will provide the largest
      cohort of 5-year childhood cancer survivors with systematically ascertained and
      validated data on symptomatic cardiac events. The result of this study can
      provide information to minimize the burden of cardiac events in childhood cancer
      survivors by tailoring the follow-up of childhood cancer survivors at high risk
      of cardiac adverse events, transferring this knowledge into evidence-based
      clinical practice guidelines and providing a platform for future research studies
      in childhood cancer patients. .

PMID- 27643696
TI  - Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Premature Adult Mortality in Belize 2008-2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on disparities in mortality within low and middle income
      countries are limited, with little published data from the Caribbean or Central
      America. Our aim was to investigate disparities in overall and cause specific
      premature adult mortality in the multi-ethnic middle income country of Belize.
      METHODS: Mortality data from Belize 2008-2010 classified using the International
      Classification of Diseases 10 and the 2010 census stratified by age and ethnicity
      were used to calculate age, sex, and ethnic specific mortality rates for those 15
      59 years, and life table analysis was used to estimate the probability of death
      between the ages of 15 and 59 (45q15). RESULTS: The probability of death among
      those aged 15 to 59 years was 18.1% (women 13.5%, men 22.7%). Creole and Garifuna
      ethnic groups have three times the 45q15 probability of death compared to Mayan
      and Mestizo groups (Creole 31.2%, Garifuna 31.1%, Mayan 10.2%, Mestizo 12.0%).
      This pattern of ethnic disparity existed in both sexes but was greater in men.
      The probability of death from injuries was 14.8% among Creole men, more than
      twice the rate of other ethnicities and peaks among young Creole men. These
      deaths are dominated by homicides and unspecified deaths involving firearms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Marked disparities in mortality between ethnic groups exist in this
      Central American/Caribbean country, from rates that are typical of high-income
      countries to those of low-income countries. The pattern of these extreme
      differences likely suggests that they reflect underlying social determinants
      rooted in the country's colonial past.

PMID- 27643697
TI  - Changes in insulin-like growth factor signaling alter phenotypes in Fragile X
      Mice.
AB  - Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is an inherited form of intellectual disability that is
      usually caused by expansion of a polymorphic CGG repeat in the 5' untranslated
      region of the X-linked FMR1 gene, which leads to hypermethylation and
      transcriptional silencing. Two non-neurological phenotypes of FXS are enlarged
      testes and connective tissue dysplasia, which could be caused by alterations in a
      growth factor signaling pathway. FXS patients also frequently have autistic-like
      symptoms, suggesting that the signaling pathways affected in FXS may overlap with
      those affected in autism. Identifying these pathways is important for both
      understanding the effects of FMR1 inactivation and developing treatments for both
      FXS and autism. Here we show that decreasing the levels of the insulin-like
      growth factor (Igf) receptor 1 corrects a number of phenotypes in the mouse model
      of FXS, including macro-orchidism, and that increasing the levels of IGF2
      exacerbates the seizure susceptibility phenotype. These results suggest that the
      pathways altered by the loss of the FMR1-encoded protein (FMRP) may overlap with
      the pathways affected by changes in Igf signaling or that one or more of the
      proteins that play a role in Igf signaling could interact with FMRP. They also
      indicate a new set of potential targets for drug treatment of FXS and autism
      spectrum disorders.

PMID- 27643699
TI  - Ecological Implications of Steady State and Nonsteady State Bioaccumulation
      Models.
AB  - Accurate predictions on the bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants
      (POPs) are critical for hazard and ecosystem health assessments. Aquatic systems
      are influenced by multiple stressors including climate change and species
      invasions and it is important to be able to predict variability in POP
      concentrations in changing environments. Current steady state bioaccumulation
      models simplify POP bioaccumulation dynamics, assuming that pollutant uptake and
      elimination processes become balanced over an organism's lifespan. These models
      do not consider the complexity of dynamic variables such as temperature and
      growth rates which are known to have the potential to regulate bioaccumulation in
      aquatic organisms. We contrast a steady state (SS) bioaccumulation model with a
      dynamic nonsteady state (NSS) model and a no elimination (NE) model. We
      demonstrate that both the NSS and the NE models are superior at predicting both
      average concentrations as well as variation in POPs among individuals. This
      comparison demonstrates that temporal drivers, such as environmental fluctuations
      in temperature, growth dynamics, and modified food-web structure strongly
      determine contaminant concentrations and variability in a changing environment.
      These results support the recommendation of the future development of more
      dynamic, nonsteady state bioaccumulation models to predict hazard and risk
      assessments in the Anthropocene.

PMID- 27643698
TI  - Insulin Prevents Hyperfiltration and Proteinuria but Not Glomerular Hypertrophy
      and Increases Mesangial Matrix Expansion in Diabetic Rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to study the effect of 7 days of strict
      glycemic control with insulin on glomerular function and structure in
      streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three groups of adult
      male Fischer rats were studied: controls (n = 15), diabetics (n = 15), and
      insulin-treated diabetics (n = 15). Diabetes was induced by treating the rats
      with STZ (55 mg/kg i.p.). One week after the induction of diabetes, blood
      glucose, protein excretion rate (PER), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and
      renal plasma flow (RPF) were estimated in each group. Furthermore, morphometric
      analysis was performed to estimate the tuft volume and changes in mesangial
      matrix area. The results are expressed as the mean +/- SEM. RESULTS: STZ diabetes
      caused significant increases in GFR (0.89 +/- 0.1 to 1.21 +/- 0.1 mL/min/100 g; p
      < 0.01) and RPF (1.78 +/- 0.37 to 3.32 +/- 0.6 mL/min/100 g; p < 0.05).
      Furthermore, the diabetic rats had higher glomerular volumes but mesangial matrix
      areas similar to controls. Insulin treatment prevented the increases in blood
      glucose (4.5 +/- 0.2 mM), PER (66.1 +/- 7.8 mg/day), GFR (0.6 +/- 0.07 mL/min/100
      g), and RPF (1.72 +/- 0.36 mL/min/100 g), but did not prevent glomerular
      hypertrophy (21.7% increase), but induced mesangial matrix expansion (25%
      increase). CONCLUSIONS: Insulin prevented the diabetes-induced hyperfiltration
      and proteinuria, but did not prevent glomerular growth, and induced mesangial
      expansion. Hyperglycemic episodes could be partly responsible for persistent
      glomerular growth and accelerated mesangial growth.

PMID- 27643700
TI  - Fine Motor Function Skills in Patients with Parkinson Disease with and without
      Mild Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - AIMS: The objective of this study was to investigate the relation between
      impaired fine motor skills in Parkinson disease (PD) patients and their cognitive
      status, and to determine whether fine motor skills are more impaired in PD
      patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than in non-MCI patients. METHODS:
      Twenty PD MCI and 31 PD non-MCI patients (mean age 66.7 years, range 50-84, 36
      males/15 females), all right-handed, took part in a motor performance test
      battery. Steadiness, precision, dexterity, velocity of arm-hand movements, and
      velocity of wrist-finger movements were measured and compared across groups and
      analyzed for confounders (age, sex, education, severity of motor symptoms, and
      disease duration). Statistical analysis included t tests corrected for multiple
      testing, and a linear regression with stepwise elimination procedure was used to
      select significant predictors for fine motor function. RESULTS: PD MCI patients
      performed significantly worse in precision (p < 0.05), dexterity (p < 0.05), and
      velocity (arm-hand movements; p < 0.05) compared to PD non-MCI patients. The fine
      motor function skills were confounded by age. CONCLUSIONS: Fine motor skills in
      PD MCI patients are impaired compared to PD non-MCI patients. Investigating the
      relation between the fine motor performance and MCI in PD might be a relevant
      subject for future research.

PMID- 27643701
TI  - Functional analysis of iodotyrosine deiodinase from drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - The flavoprotein iodotyrosine deiodinase (IYD) was first discovered in mammals
      through its ability to salvage iodide from mono- and diiodotyrosine, the by
      products of thyroid hormone synthesis. Genomic information indicates that
      invertebrates contain homologous enzymes although their iodide requirements are
      unknown. The catalytic domain of IYD from Drosophila melanogaster has now been
      cloned, expressed and characterized to determine the scope of its potential
      catalytic function as a model for organisms that are not associated with thyroid
      hormone production. Little discrimination between iodo-, bromo-, and
      chlorotyrosine was detected. Their affinity for IYD ranges from 0.46 to 0.62 MUM
      (Kd ) and their efficiency of dehalogenation ranges from 2.4 - 9 x 103 M-1 s-1
      (kcat /Km ). These values fall within the variations described for IYDs from
      other organisms for which a physiological function has been confirmed. The
      relative contribution of three active site residues that coordinate to the amino
      acid substrates was subsequently determined by mutagenesis of IYD from Drosophila
      to refine future annotations of genomic and meta-genomic data for dehalogenation
      of halotyrosines. Substitution of the active site glutamate to glutamine was most
      detrimental to catalysis. Alternative substitution of an active site lysine to
      glutamine affected substrate affinity to the greatest extent but only moderately
      affected catalytic turnover. Substitution of phenylalanine for an active site
      tyrosine was least perturbing for binding and catalysis.

PMID- 27643705
TI  - Chemotherapy Drug Response to the L858R-induced Conformational Change of EGFR
      Activation Loop in Lung Cancer.
AB  - Oncogenic L858R mutation of human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) confers
      constitutive activation to the kinase and is frequently observed in the
      pathological process of metastatic lung cancer. Selective inhibition of EGFRL858R
      mutant over wild-type EGFR (EGFRWT ) has been established as an attractive target
      for cancer chemotherapy. Here, we performed long-term molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulations to reconstruct the complete dynamics trajectory of L858R-induced
      conformational change in EGFR activation loop (A-loop). It was found that the
      mutation considerably destabilizes A-loop in Src-like inactive conformation and
      promotes the loop conversion to DFG-in active form. Electrostatic force is
      primarily responsible for the conversion and stabilization upon the mutation.
      Binding free energy analysis revealed that Gefitinib exhibits strong selectivity
      for mutant over wild-type kinases. The A-loop conformation, but not L858R
      mutation, directly determines inhibitor affinity; the mutation can indirectly
      influence inhibitor binding via regulation of A-loop conformation. Subsequently,
      chemical similarity searching was carried out with the structural sketch of
      Gefitinib against a large library of drug/lead-like compounds, from which two
      hits were identified to have high selectivity for EGFRL858R over EGFRW ; they can
      potently inhibit the kinase mutant with IC50 values at nanomolar level. The
      selectivity is primarily originated from hydrogen bond interactions of inhibitor
      ligands with mutant but not with wild type due to the A-loop conformational
      difference.

PMID- 27643706
TI  - Jumping Together: A Fatal Suicide Pact.
AB  - In suicide pact, two or more victims mutually agree and execute to end their
      lives together by predetermined method, preferably by hanging, drowning, gunshot,
      or poisoning. The victims are usually spouses, lovers, or friends, and the
      reasons behind such steps are various. In this reported suicide pact, husband
      wife duo jumped from the terrace of a 12-meter-high building with their wrist
      bound to each other. Although they jumped together, the injury patterns were
      completely different. The man landed on head sustaining mainly craniocerebral
      injuries, and the wife landed on feet sustaining long bone injuries. They left a
      suicide note pointing out sudden demise of their only child as the reason for the
      suicide, and it was signed by both of them. Jumping from a height in suicide pact
      has not been reported in the scientific literature yet.

PMID- 27643707
TI  - Tunable Substrate Wettability by Thin Water Layer.
AB  - In oil-water-mineral substrate systems we show that the contact angle can be
      tuned by an ionic structure in the water layer confined between an oil droplet
      and the sub strate. We perform molecular dynamics simulations of a complex oil
      droplet in an NaCl aqueous solution on mica surface; the oil is a mixture of n
      decane and surfac tant molecules. The surfactant head contains an OH group and an
      aromatic ring. A thin water layer between the oil droplet and the substrate and
      ionic stratification regulate the wetting behavior. The concentration of salt
      ions in the thin film first decreases as the salt concentration in the bulk
      increases. With further increase in bulk salt concentration, the adsorbed ion
      concentration in the thin film increases. On the other hand the surfactant head
      adsorption in the thin film first increases as the bulk salt concentration
      increases. Then it decreases with further increase in the bulk salt
      concentration. The change of contact angle with salt concentration also shows a
      non-monotonic behavior; the contact angle is first nearly constant to a low salt
      con centration of 0.1 wt% NaCl. Then decreases sharply as salt concentration
      increases from 0.1 to 1.1 wt% NaCl. A reverse trend in contact angle follows with
      further salt concentration increase. The non-monotonic trend unlike monotonic
      trend of interfacial tension with salt concentration is in line with recent
      measurements of contact angle of oil-brine-substrate systems. A sharp increase of
      surfactant head adsorption in the thin film, the droplet of ion adsorption and
      the minimum of contact angle are all related. This is the first report of such
      correlations with change of wetting in the brine-complex oil-mineral substrate
      predicted from molecular simulations.

PMID- 27643708
TI  - Mechanically Robust 3D Nanostructure Chitosan-Based Hydrogels with Autonomic Self
      Healing Properties.
AB  - Fabrication of hydrogels based on chitosan (CS) with superb self-healing behavior
      and high mechanical and electrical properties has become a challenging and
      fascinating topic. Most of the conventional hydrogels lack these properties at
      the same time. Our objectives in this research were to synthesize, characterize,
      and evaluate the general properties of chitosan covalently cross-linked with zinc
      phthalocyanine tetra-aldehyde (ZnPcTa) framework. Our hope was to access an
      unprecedented self-healable three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure that would
      harvest the superior mechanical and electrical properties associated with
      chitosan. The properties of cross-linker such as the structure, steric effect,
      and rigidity of the molecule played important roles in determining the
      microstructure and properties of the resulting hydrogels. The tetra
      functionalized phthalocyanines favor a dynamic Schiff-base linkage with chitosan
      to form a 3D porous nanostructure. Based on this strategy, the self-healing
      ability, as demonstrated by rheological recovery and macroscopic and microscopic
      observations, is introduced through dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkage between
      NH2 groups in CS and benzaldehyde groups at cross-linker ends. The hydrogel was
      characterized using FT-IR, NMR, UV/vis, and rheological measurements. In
      addition, cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) was employed as a
      technique to visualize the internal morphology of the hydrogels. Study of the
      surface morphology of the hydrogel showed a 3D porous nanostructure with uniform
      morphology. Furthermore, incorporating the conductive nanofillers, such as carbon
      nanotubes (CNTs), into the structure can modulate the mechanical and electrical
      properties of the obtained hydrogels. Interestingly, these hydrogel
      nanocomposites proved to have very good film-forming properties, high modulus and
      strength, acceptable electrical conductivity, and excellent self-healing
      properties at neutral pH. Such properties can be finely tuned through variation
      of the cross-linker and CNT concentration, and as a result these structures are
      promising candidates for potential applications in various fields of research.

PMID- 27643709
TI  - 9H-Quinolino[3,2,1-k]phenothiazine: A New Electron-Rich Fragment for Organic
      Electronics.
AB  - A new electron-rich fragment, namely the quinolinophenothiazine (QPTZ) is
      reported. The QPTZ fragment incorporated in spiroconfigured materials leads to
      higher performance in blue Phosphorescent OLEDs than structurally related
      phenylacridine and indoloacridine based materials (increasing the HOMO energy
      level, modulating the spin-orbit coupling, etc.) and leads to highly efficient
      blue phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes, indicating the strong
      potential of this new molecular fragment in organic electronics.

PMID- 27643710
TI  - Flotation of Denser Liquid Drops on Lighter Liquids in Non-Neumann Condition:
      Role of Line Tension.
AB  - Flotation of a denser liquid drop on lighter liquid has been explained earlier
      via the Neumann triangle. We demonstrate the flotation of a denser liquid (water)
      drop on a lighter liquid in a pair that does not satisfy the Neumann triangle. We
      attribute this newly studied phenomenon to the role of line tension tau which
      prevents the water droplet from complete engulfment. A simple model is used to
      explain the underlying physics and to obtain critical line tension value for
      stable flotation. We establish line tension values for different liquids with
      water and show possible heterogeneous nucleation that contributes toward the
      variance of line tension values.

PMID- 27643711
TI  - Constructing Solid-Gas-Interfacial Fenton Reaction over Alkalinized-C3N4
      Photocatalyst To Achieve Apparent Quantum Yield of 49% at 420 nm.
AB  - Efficient generation of active oxygen-related radicals plays an essential role in
      boosting advanced oxidation process. To promote photocatalytic oxidation for
      gaseous pollutant over g-C3N4, a solid-gas interfacial Fenton reaction is coupled
      into alkalinized g-C3N4-based photocatalyst to effectively convert photocatalytic
      generation of H2O2 into oxygen-related radicals. This system includes light
      energy as power, alkalinized g-C3N4-based photocatalyst as an in situ and robust
      H2O2 generator, and surface-decorated Fe3+ as a trigger of H2O2 conversion, which
      attains highly efficient and universal activity for photodegradation of volatile
      organic compounds (VOCs). Taking the photooxidation of isopropanol as model
      reaction, this system achieves a photoactivity of 2-3 orders of magnitude higher
      than that of pristine g-C3N4, which corresponds to a high apparent quantum yield
      of 49% at around 420 nm. In-situ electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and
      sacrificial-reagent incorporated photocatalytic characterizations indicate that
      the notable photoactivity promotion could be ascribed to the collaboration
      between photocarriers (electrons and holes) and Fenton process to produce
      abundant and reactive oxygen-related radicals. The strategy of coupling solid-gas
      interfacial Fenton process into semiconductor-based photocatalysis provides a
      facile and promising solution to the remediation of air pollution via solar
      energy.

PMID- 27643712
TI  - Antifibrinolytic agents for reducing blood loss in scoliosis surgery in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This is an updated version of the original Cochrane review first
      published in 2008. Scoliosis surgery is often associated with substantial blood
      loss and potentially detrimental effects in children. Antifibrinolytic agents are
      often used to reduce perioperative blood loss. Clinical trials have evaluated
      their efficacy in children undergoing surgical correction of scoliosis, but no
      systematic review has been published. This review was first published in 2008 and
      was updated in 2016. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of aprotinin,
      tranexamic acid and aminocaproic acid in reducing blood loss and transfusion
      requirements in children undergoing surgery for correction of idiopathic or
      secondary scoliosis. SEARCH METHODS: We ran the search for the previous review in
      June 2007. For this updated version, we searched the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2015, Issue 7), MEDLINE (1946 to August week 1 2015),
      Embase (1947 to 2015 week 38), Latin American Caribbean Health Sciences
      Literature (LILACS) (1982 to 14 August 2015), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of
      Effects (DARE; 2015, Issue 2) and reference lists of reviews and retrieved
      articles for randomized controlled trials in any language. We also checked the
      clinical trial registry at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov on 8 October 2015.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We included blinded and unblinded randomized controlled
      trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effects of antifibrinolytics on perioperative
      blood loss in children 18 years of age or younger and undergoing scoliosis
      surgery. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently extracted
      data. The primary outcome was total blood loss (intraoperative and postoperative
      combined). Secondary efficacy outcomes were the number of participants receiving
      blood transfusion (both autologous and allogeneic) or receiving allogeneic blood
      transfusion alone, and the total amount of blood transfused. Safety outcomes
      included the number of deaths, the number of participants reporting any adverse
      event or a serious adverse event, withdrawals due to adverse events and the
      number of participants experiencing a specific adverse event (i.e. renal
      insufficiency, hypersensitivity or thrombosis). We assessed methodological risk
      of bias for each included study and employed the GRADE approach to assess the
      overall quality of the evidence. MAIN RESULTS: We included three new studies (201
      participants) in this updated review, for a total of nine studies (455
      participants). All but one study employed placebo as the control group
      intervention. For the primary outcome, antifibrinolytic drugs decreased the
      amount of perioperative blood loss by 427 mL (95% confidence interval (CI) 251 to
      603 mL), for a reduction of over 20% versus placebo. We rated the quality of
      evidence for our primary outcome as low on the basis of unclear risk of bias for
      several domains in most studies and the small total number of participants.For
      secondary outcomes, fewer participants receiving antifibrinolytic drugs received
      transfusion (allogeneic or autologous) versus those receiving placebo (risk ratio
      (RR) 0.65, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.85, number needed to treat to prevent one additional
      harmful outcome (NNTp) 5; very low-quality evidence). Only two studies
      specifically evaluated the number of participants transfused with only allogeneic
      blood (risk difference (RD) -0.15, 95% CI -0.26 to -0.03, NNTp 7; very low
      quality evidence). Antifibrinolytic drugs decreased the volume of blood
      transfused by 327 mL (95% CI -186 to -469 mL; low-quality evidence).No study
      reported deaths in active or control groups. Data were insufficient to allow
      performance of meta-analysis for any safety outcome. No studies adequately
      described their methods in assessing safety. The only adverse event of note
      occurred in one study, when three participants in the placebo group developed
      postoperative deep vein thrombosis. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Since the last
      published version of this review (2008), we have found three new studies.
      Additional evidence shows that antifibrinolytics reduce the requirement for both
      autologous and allogeneic blood transfusion. Limited evidence of low to very low
      quality supports the use of antifibrinolytic drugs for reducing blood loss and
      decreasing the risk, and volume, of transfusion in children undergoing scoliosis
      surgery. Evidence is insufficient to support the use of a particular agent,
      although tranexamic acid may be preferred, given its widespread availability. The
      optimal dose regimen for any of these three agents has not been established.
      Although adverse events appear to occur infrequently, evidence is insufficient to
      confirm the safety of these agents, particularly for rare but potentially
      catastrophic events. No long-term safety data are available.

PMID- 27643713
TI  - Ischemic colitis in an athlete: running is not always good for you.
AB  - Running is popular. Ischemic colitis has been reported in marathon runners. We
      present a case of an amateur runner who developed ischemic colitis after a
      relatively short run. 

PMID- 27643714
TI  - Identification of Ligand Binding Hot Spots of the Histamine H1 Receptor following
      Structure-Based Fragment Optimization.
AB  - Developments in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) structural biology provide
      insights into GPCR-ligand binding. Compound 1 (4-(2-benzylphenoxy)piperidine)
      with high ligand efficiency for the histamine H1 receptor (H1R) was used to
      design derivatives to investigate the roles of (i) the amine-binding region, (ii)
      the upper and lower aromatic region, and (iii) binding site solvation. SAR
      analysis showed that the amine-binding region serves as the primary binding hot
      spot, preferably binding small tertiary amines. In silico prediction of water
      network energetics and mutagenesis studies indicated that the displacement of a
      water molecule from the amine-binding region is most likely responsible for the
      increased affinity of the N-methylated analog of 1. Deconstruction of 1 showed
      that the lower aromatic region serves as a secondary binding hot spot. This study
      demonstrates that an X-ray structure in combination with tool compounds,
      assessment of water energetics, and mutagenesis studies enables SAR exploration
      to map GPCR-ligand binding hot spots.

PMID- 27643715
TI  - AutoQSAR: an automated machine learning tool for best-practice quantitative
      structure-activity relationship modeling.
AB  - AIM: We introduce AutoQSAR, an automated machine-learning application to build,
      validate and deploy quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models.
      METHODOLOGY/RESULTS: The process of descriptor generation, feature selection and
      the creation of a large number of QSAR models has been automated into a single
      workflow within AutoQSAR. The models are built using a variety of machine
      learning methods, and each model is scored using a novel approach. Effectiveness
      of the method is demonstrated through comparison with literature QSAR models
      using identical datasets for six end points: protein-ligand binding affinity,
      solubility, blood-brain barrier permeability, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and
      bioaccumulation in fish. CONCLUSION: AutoQSAR demonstrates similar or better
      predictive performance as compared with published results for four of the six
      endpoints while requiring minimal human time and expertise.

PMID- 27643716
TI  - In Situ Atomic Level Dynamics of Heterogeneous Nucleation and Growth of Graphene
      from Inorganic Nanoparticle Seeds.
AB  - An in situ heating holder inside an aberration-corrected transmission electron
      microscope (AC-TEM) is used to investigate the real-time atomic level dynamics
      associated with heterogeneous nucleation and growth of graphene from Au
      nanoparticle seeds. Heating monolayer graphene to an elevated temperature of 800 
      degrees C removes the majority of amorphous carbon adsorbates and leaves a clean
      surface. The aggregation of Au impurity atoms into nanoparticle clusters that are
      bound to the surface of monolayer graphene causes nucleation of secondary
      graphene layers from carbon feedstock present within the microscope chamber. This
      enables the in situ study of heterogeneous nucleation and growth of graphene at
      the atomic level. We show that the growth mechanism consists of alternating C
      cluster attachment and indentation filling to maintain a uniform growth front of
      lowest energy. Back-folding of the graphene growth front is observed, followed by
      a process that involves flipping back and attaching to the surrounding region. We
      show how the highly polycrystalline graphene seed evolves with time into a higher
      order crystalline structure using a combination of AC-TEM and tight-binding
      molecular dynamics (TBMD) simulations. This helps understand the detailed lowest
      energy step-by-step pathways associated with grain boundaries (GB) migration and
      crystallization processes. We find the motion of the GB is discontinuous and
      mediated by both bond rotation and atom evaporation, supported by density
      functional theory calculations and TBMD. These results provide insights into the
      formation of crystalline seed domains that are generated during bottom-up
      graphene synthesis.

PMID- 27643717
TI  - ACR Appropriateness Criteria(r) Hodgkin Lymphoma-Favorable Prognosis Stage I and
      II.
AB  - This topic addresses the treatment of newly diagnosed patients with favorable
      prognosis stage I and II Hodgkin lymphoma. In most cases, combined modality
      therapy (chemotherapy followed by involved site radiation therapy) constitutes
      the current standard of care. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness
      Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are
      reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development
      and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from
      peer-reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies
      (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment,
      Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and
      treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where
      evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available
      evidence to recommend imaging or treatment. By combining the most recent medical
      literature and expert opinion, this revised guideline can aid clinicians in the
      appropriate use of combined modality therapy for favorable prognosis stage I and
      II Hodgkin lymphoma. Increasing information about the late effects of treatment
      has led to attempts to decrease toxicity by using less chemotherapy (decreased
      duration and/or intensity or different agents) and less radiation therapy
      (reduced volume and/or dose) while maintaining excellent efficacy.

PMID- 27643718
TI  - Correction to DNA Compatible Multistep Synthesis and Applications to DNA Encoded
      Libraries.

PMID- 27643719
TI  - Carcinoma Showing Thymus-Like Differentiation (CASTLE): Cytopathological Features
      and Differential Diagnosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CASTLE (carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation) is a rare
      tumor (accounting for less than 0.15% of thyroid neoplasms) with most of the
      reported cases from Asia. Although this tumor is rare, distinguishing it from
      more aggressive neoplasms is critical because of its improved prognosis. To date,
      there have been limited studies on its cytomorphological features. Herein, we
      review the cytomorphological features of 10 fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cases of
      histologically confirmed CASTLE and discuss the findings in light of the current
      literature. METHODS: We retrospectively (1989-2016) identified 10 cases of CASTLE
      from 17,415 surgical cases of thyroid carcinoma from The Johns Hopkins Hospital
      and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. The cases were reviewed for discrete
      cytomorphological characteristics. RESULTS: All of the cases displayed
      predominantly single (dishesive) epithelial cell populations, high
      nuclear/cytoplasmic ratios, hyperchromatic to open/vesicular nuclei and
      macronucleoli. The majority of cases additionally showed hypercellular, three
      dimensional fragments in a background of lymphocytes. The fragments displayed
      syncytial architecture without molding and rarely squamous differentiation. All
      cases lacked follicular differentiation, intranuclear inclusions, nuclear
      molding, or neuroendocrine-type chromatin. CONCLUSIONS: Cytopathological features
      alone do not appear to be distinctive or definitive of CASTLE but rather allow
      for the inclusion of CASTLE within the differential diagnosis. Procurement of
      cell block material is important and resulted in the single case of CASTLE
      accurately diagnosed on FNA. Cytopathological features that favored CASTLE
      included syncytial fragments of malignant cells with pleomorphic large nuclei,
      vesicular chromatin, and prominent nucleoli in a background of lymphocytes. These
      cytopathological findings in the appropriate clinicoradiological context warrant
      its inclusion in the reported differential diagnosis in order to be able to
      implement appropriate clinical management.

PMID- 27643720
TI  - Intramolecular Fischer Indole Synthesis for the Direct Synthesis of 3,4-Fused
      Tricyclic Indole and Application to the Total Synthesis of (-)-Aurantioclavine.
AB  - Aryl hydrazides with a ketone or aldehyde containing side chains linked to the
      meta-position of the aromatic ring undergo acid-promoted intramolecular Fischer
      indole synthesis to generate 3,4-fused tricyclic indoles. The preparative utility
      of this conceptually new synthetic approach, which does not require
      prefunctionalization of the indole ring, was demonstrated by its application to a
      concise total synthesis of (-)-aurantioclavine.

PMID- 27643721
TI  - Exacerbation of innate immune response in mouse primary cultured sertoli cells
      caused by nanoparticulate TiO2 involves the TAM/TLR3 signal pathway.
AB  - Sertoli cells provide appropriate mitogens, differentiation factors and sources
      of energy for developing germ cells throughout the lifetime of males, and protect
      these germ cells from harmful agents and from the host's own immune system.
      Therefore, reductions in the rate and quality of spermatogenesis caused by
      nanoparticulate titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2 ) may be closely involved in the
      immunoregulation of Sertoli cells. However, the underlying mechanism of this
      response is still unclear. To address this issue, we used mouse primary cultured
      Sertoli cells to examine the toxic effects of nano-TiO2 via alterations in
      morphology, cell viability, and activation of the TAM/TLR3 signal pathway. The
      results demonstrated that nano-TiO2 could cross the cytomembrane into the
      cytoplasm or nucleus, decrease Sertoli cell viability, damage morphology (such as
      elongated fusiform, cellular and nuclear shrinkage) and induce the expression of
      various immune mediators and inflammatory cytokines, including TLR3(+0.31-fold to
      +0.81-fold), IL-lbeta(+0.33-fold to +5.0-fold), NF-kappaB(+0.22-fold to +3.65
      fold), IL-6(+0.47-fold to +3.53-fold), TNF-alpha(+0.14-fold to +2.44-fold), IFN
      alpha(+0.17-fold to +2.27-fold), and IFN-beta(+0.09-fold to +2.29-fold), and
      suppress the expression of Tyro3(-9.33% to -61.93%), Axl(-19.03% to -60.67%),
      Mer(-8.04% to -59.16%), and IkappaB(-34.35% to -86.59%) in primary cultured
      Sertoli cells. These results suggest that testicular innate immune responses to
      pathogens caused by nano-TiO2 may be involved in the regulatory mechanisms of
      TAM/TLR3 signaling in testicular Sertoli cells. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
      J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 198-208, 2017.

PMID- 27643722
TI  - Saturated Branched Chain, Normal Odd-Carbon-Numbered, and n-3 (Omega-3)
      Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Freshwater Fish in the Northeastern United States.
AB  - The fatty acid profiles of wild freshwater fish are poorly characterized as a
      human food source for several classes of fatty acids, particularly for branched
      chain fatty acids (BCFA), a major bioactive dietary component known to enter the
      US food supply primarily via dairy and beef fat. We evaluated the fatty acid
      content of 27 freshwater fish species captured in the northeastern US with
      emphasis on the BCFA and bioactive polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) most
      associated with fish, specifically n-3 (omega-3) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Mean BCFA content across all species was 1.0 +/- 0.5%
      (mean +/- SD) of total fatty acids in edible muscle, with rainbow smelt (Osmerus
      mordax) and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) the highest at >2% BCFA. In
      comparison, EPA + DHA constituted 28% +/- 7% of total fatty acids. Across all
      fish species, the major BCFA were iso-15:0, anteiso-15:0, iso-16:0, iso-17:0 and
      anteiso-17:0. Fish skin had significantly higher BCFA content than muscle
      tissues, at 1.8% +/- 0.7%, but lower EPA and DHA. Total BCFA in fish skins was
      positively related with that in muscle (r2 = 0.6). The straight chain saturates n
      15:0 and n-17:0 which have been identified previously as markers for dairy
      consumption were relatively high with means of 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, and
      may be an underappreciated marker for seafood intake. Consuming a standardized
      portion, 70 g (2.5 oz), of wild freshwater fish contributes only small amounts of
      BCFA, 2.5-24.2 mg, to the American diet, while it adds surprisingly high amounts
      of EPA + DHA (107 mg to 558 mg).

PMID- 27643723
TI  - Application of Large-Scale Inversion Algorithms to Hydraulic Tomography in an
      Alluvial Aquifer.
AB  - Large-scale inversion methods have been recently developed and permitted now to
      considerably reduce the computation time and memory needed for inversions of
      models with a large amount of parameters and data. In this work, we have applied
      a deterministic geostatistical inversion algorithm to a hydraulic tomography
      investigation conducted in an experimental field site situated within an alluvial
      aquifer in Southern France. This application aims to achieve a 2-D large-scale
      modeling of the spatial transmissivity distribution of the site. The inversion
      algorithm uses a quasi-Newton iterative process based on a Bayesian approach. We
      compared the results obtained by using three different methodologies for
      sensitivity analysis: an adjoint-state method, a finite-difference method, and a
      principal component geostatistical approach (PCGA). The PCGA is a large-scale
      adapted method which was developed for inversions with a large number of
      parameters by using an approximation of the covariance matrix, and by avoiding
      the calculation of the full Jacobian sensitivity matrix. We reconstructed high
      resolution transmissivity fields (composed of up to 25,600 cells) which generated
      good correlations between the measured and computed hydraulic heads. In
      particular, we show that, by combining the PCGA inversion method and the
      hydraulic tomography method, we are able to substantially reduce the computation
      time of the inversions, while still producing high-quality inversion results as
      those obtained from the other sensitivity analysis methodologies.

PMID- 27643724
TI  - Hepatic fat and abdominal adiposity in early pregnancy together predict impaired
      glucose homeostasis in mid-pregnancy.
AB  - Hepatic fat and abdominal adiposity individually reflect insulin resistance, but
      their combined effect on glucose homeostasis in mid-pregnancy is unknown. A
      cohort of 476 pregnant women prospectively underwent sonographic assessment of
      hepatic fat and visceral (VAT) and total (TAT) adipose tissue at 11-14 weeks'
      gestation. Logistic regression was used to assess the relation between the
      presence of maternal hepatic fat and/or the upper quartile (Q) of either VAT or
      TAT and the odds of developing the composite outcome of impaired fasting glucose
      (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or gestational diabetes mellitus at 24-28
      weeks' gestation, based on a 75 g OGTT. Upon adjusting for maternal age,
      ethnicity, family history of DM and body mass index (BMI), the co-presence of
      hepatic fat and quartile 4 (Q4) of VAT (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 6.5, 95% CI:
      2.3-18.5) or hepatic fat and Q4 of TAT (aOR 7.8 95% CI 2.8-21.7) were each
      associated with the composite outcome, relative to women with neither sonographic
      feature. First-trimester sonographic evidence of maternal hepatic fat and
      abdominal adiposity may independently predict the development of impaired glucose
      homeostasis and GDM in mid-pregnancy.

PMID- 27643725
TI  - Short-term safety, tolerability and efficacy of a very low-calorie-ketogenic diet
      interventional weight loss program versus hypocaloric diet in patients with type
      2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Brackground:The safety and tolerability of very low-calorie-ketogenic (VLCK)
      diets are a current concern in the treatment of obese type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM) patients. OBJECTIVE: Evaluating the short-term safety and tolerability of
      a VLCK diet (<50 g of carbohydrate daily) in an interventional weight loss
      program including lifestyle and behavioral modification support (Diaprokal
      Method) in subjects with T2DM. METHODS: Eighty-nine men and women, aged between
      30 and 65 years, with T2DM and body mass index between 30 and 35 kg m(-)(2)
      participated in this prospective, open-label, multi-centric randomized clinical
      trial with a duration of 4 months. Forty-five subjects were randomly assigned to
      the interventional weight loss (VLCK diet), and 44 to the standard low-calorie
      diet. RESULTS: No significant differences in the laboratory safety parameters
      were found between the two study groups. Changes in the urine albumin-to
      creatinine ratio in VLCK diet were not significant and were comparable to control
      group. Creatinine and blood urea nitrogen did not change significantly relative
      to baseline nor between groups. Weight loss and reduction in waist circumference
      in the VLCK diet group were significantly larger than in control subjects (both
      P<0.001). The decline in HbA1c and glycemic control was larger in the VLCK diet
      group (P<0.05). No serious adverse events were reported and mild AE in the VLCK
      diet group declined at last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The interventional weight
      loss program based on a VLCK diet is most effective in reducing body weight and
      improvement of glycemic control than a standard hypocaloric diet with safety and
      good tolerance for T2DM patients.

PMID- 27643726
TI  - Improving diet, activity and wellness in adults at risk of diabetes: randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this analysis is to examine the effect of an algorithm
      driven online diabetes prevention program on changes in eating habits, physical
      activity and wellness/productivity factors. METHODS: The intervention, Alive-PD,
      used small-step individually tailored goal setting and other features to promote
      changes in diet and physical activity. A 6-month randomized controlled trial was
      conducted among patients from a healthcare delivery system who had confirmed
      prediabetes (n =339). Change in weight and glycemic markers were measured in the
      clinic. Changes in physical activity, diet and wellness/productivity factors were
      self-reported. Mean age was 55 (s.d. 8.9) years, mean body mass index was 31
      (s.d. 4.4) kg m(-2), 68% were white and 69% were male. RESULTS: The intervention
      group increased fruit/vegetable consumption by 3.71 (95% confidence interval (CI)
      2.73, 4.70) times per week (effect size 0.62), and decreased refined
      carbohydrates by 3.77 (95% CI 3.10, 4.44) times per week both significantly
      (P<0.001) greater changes than in the control group. The intervention group also
      reported a significantly greater increase in physical activity than in the
      control group, effect size 0.49, P<0.001. In addition, the intervention group
      reported a significant increase in self-rated health, in confidence in ability to
      make dietary changes and in ability to accomplish tasks, and a decrease in
      fatigue, compared with the control group. These changes paralleled the
      significant treatment effects on glycemic markers and weight. CONCLUSIONS: In
      addition to promoting improvements in weight and glycemic markers, the Alive-PD
      program appears to improve eating habits and physical activity, behaviors
      important not just for diabetes prevention but for those with diagnosed diabetes
      or obesity. The improvements in wellness/productivity may derive from the diet
      and activity improvements, and from the satisfaction and self-efficacy of
      achieving goals.

PMID- 27643727
TI  - C-H Phosphonation of Pyrrolopyrimidines: Synthesis of Substituted 7- and 9
      Deazapurine-8-phosphonate Derivatives.
AB  - The Mn(OAc)3-promoted C-H phosphonation of 7-deazapurines (pyrrolo[2,3
      d]pyrimidines) and 9-deazapurines (pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidines) with
      diethylphosphite was developed. The reactions occur regioselectively at position
      8 both in 7 and 9-deazapurines, leading to new deazapurine-8-phosphonate
      derivatives, which can be further modified and transformed to 6-(het)aryl
      deazapurine derivatives or deprotected to free phosphonic acids.

PMID- 27643728
TI  - Robust metastable skyrmions and their triangular-square lattice structural
      transition in a high-temperature chiral magnet.
AB  - Skyrmions, topologically protected nanometric spin vortices, are being
      investigated extensively in various magnets. Among them, many structurally chiral
      cubic magnets host the triangular-lattice skyrmion crystal (SkX) as the
      thermodynamic equilibrium state. However, this state exists only in a narrow
      temperature and magnetic-field region just below the magnetic transition
      temperature Tc, while a helical or conical magnetic state prevails at lower
      temperatures. Here we describe that for a room-temperature skyrmion material,
      beta-Mn-type Co 8Zn 8Mn 4, a field-cooling via the equilibrium SkX state can
      suppress the transition to the helical or conical state, instead realizing robust
      metastable SkX states that survive over a very wide temperature and magnetic
      field region. Furthermore, the lattice form of the metastable SkX is found to
      undergo reversible transitions between a conventional triangular lattice and a
      novel square lattice upon varying the temperature and magnetic field. These
      findings exemplify the topological robustness of the once-created skyrmions, and
      establish metastable skyrmion phases as a fertile ground for technological
      applications.

PMID- 27643729
TI  - Superconducting exchange coupling between ferromagnets.
AB  - Recent discoveries from superconductor (S)/ferromagnet (FM) heterostructures
      include pi-junctions, triplet pairing, critical temperature (Tc) control in
      FM/S/FM superconducting spin valves (SSVs) and critical current control in
      S/FM/N/FM/S spin valve Josephson junctions (N: normal metal). In all cases, the
      magnetic state of the device, generally set by the applied field, controls the
      superconducting response. We report here the observation of the converse effect,
      that is, direct superconducting control of the magnetic state in GdN/Nb/GdN SSVs.
      A model for an antiferromagnetic effective exchange interaction based on the
      coupling of the superconducting condensation energy to the magnetic state can
      explain the Nb thickness and temperature dependence of this effect. This
      superconducting exchange interaction is fundamentally different in origin from
      the various exchange coupling phenomena that underlie conventional spin
      electronics (spintronics), and provides a mechanism for the active control of the
      magnetic state in superconducting spintronics.

PMID- 27643731
TI  - Observation and coherent control of interface-induced electronic resonances in a
      field-effect transistor.
AB  - Electronic defect states at material interfaces provide highly deleterious
      sources of noise in solid-state nanostructures, and even a single trapped charge
      can qualitatively alter the properties of short one-dimensional nanowire field
      effect transistors (FET) and quantum bit (qubit) devices. Understanding the
      dynamics of trapped charge is thus essential for future nanotechnologies, but
      their direct detection and manipulation is rather challenging. Here, a transistor
      based set-up is used to create and probe individual electronic defect states that
      can be coherently driven with microwave (MW) pulses. Strikingly, we resolve a
      large number of very high quality (Q ~ 1 * 105) resonances in the transistor
      current as a function of MW frequency and demonstrate both long decoherence times
      (~1 MUs-40 MUs) and coherent control of the defect-induced dynamics. Efficiently
      characterizing over 800 individually addressable resonances across two separate
      defect-hosting materials, we propose that their properties are consistent with
      weakly driven two-level systems.

PMID- 27643730
TI  - Thermoelectric detection and imaging of propagating graphene plasmons.
AB  - Controlling, detecting and generating propagating plasmons by all-electrical
      means is at the heart of on-chip nano-optical processing. Graphene carries long
      lived plasmons that are extremely confined and controllable by electrostatic
      fields; however, electrical detection of propagating plasmons in graphene has not
      yet been realized. Here, we present an all-graphene mid-infrared plasmon detector
      operating at room temperature, where a single graphene sheet serves
      simultaneously as the plasmonic medium and detector. Rather than achieving
      detection via added optoelectronic materials, as is typically done in other
      plasmonic systems, our device converts the natural decay product of the plasmon
      electronic heat-directly into a voltage through the thermoelectric effect. We
      employ two local gates to fully tune the thermoelectric and plasmonic behaviour
      of the graphene. High-resolution real-space photocurrent maps are used to
      investigate the plasmon propagation and interference, decay, thermal diffusion,
      and thermoelectric generation.

PMID- 27643732
TI  - Simultaneous microalgal biomass production and CO2 fixation by cultivating
      Chlorella sp. GD with aquaculture wastewater and boiler flue gas.
AB  - A microalgal strain, Chlorella sp. GD, cultivated in aquaculture wastewater (AW)
      aerated with boiler flue gas, was investigated. When AW from a grouper fish farm
      was supplemented with additional nutrients, the microalgal biomass productivity
      after 7days of culture was 0.794gL-1d-1. CO2 fixation efficiencies of the
      microalgal strains aerated with 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3vvm of boiler flue gas
      (containing approximately 8% CO2) were 53, 51, 38, and 30%, respectively. When
      the microalgal strain was cultured with boiler flue gas in nutrient-added AW,
      biomass productivity increased to 0.892gL-1d-1. In semi-continuous cultures,
      average biomass productivities of the microalgal strain in 2-day, 3-day, and 4
      day replacement cultures were 1.296, 0.985, and 0.944gL-1d-1, respectively. These
      results demonstrate the potential of using Chlorella sp. GD cultivations in AW
      aerated with boiler flue gas for reusing water resources, reducing CO2 emission,
      and producing microalgal biomass.

PMID- 27643733
TI  - Non-isothermal pyrolysis of de-oiled microalgal biomass: Kinetics and evolved gas
      analysis.
AB  - Non-isothermal (beta=5, 10, 20, 35 degrees C/min) pyrolysis of de-oiled
      microalgal biomass (DMB) of Chlorella variabilis was investigated by TGA-MS (30
      900 degrees C, Argon atmosphere) to understand thermal decomposition and evolved
      gas analysis (EGA). The results showed that three-stage thermal decomposition and
      three volatilization zone (100-400 degrees C, 400-550 degrees C and 600-750
      degrees C) of organic matters during pyrolysis. The highest rate of weight-loss
      is 8.91%/min at 302 degrees C for 35 degrees C/min heating-rate. Kinetics of
      pyrolysis were investigated by iso-conversional (KAS, FWO) and model-fitting
      (Coats-Redfern) method. For Zone-1and3, similar activation energy (Ea) is found
      in between KAS (alpha=0.4), FWO (alpha=0.4) and Avrami-Erofe'ev (n=4) model.
      Using the best-fitted kinetic model Avrami-Erofe'ev (n=4), Ea values (R2=>0.96)
      are 171.12 (Zone-1), 404.65 (Zone-2) and 691.42kJ/mol (Zone-3). EGA indicate the
      abundance of most gases observed consequently between 200-300 degrees C and 400
      500 degrees C. The pyrolysis of DMB involved multi-step reaction mechanisms for
      solid-state reactions having different Ea values.

PMID- 27643734
TI  - Effect of pure oxygen fine bubbles on the organic matter removal and bacterial
      community evolution treating coal gasification wastewater by membrane bioreactor.
AB  - A lab-scale study was investigated to evaluate the effect of pure oxygen fine
      bubbles on membrane bioreactor (O2-MBR) performance of treating coal gasification
      wastewater. Compared with conventional MBR using aeration source of air (CMBR),
      the removal efficiencies of COD and total phenols increased by 28% and 36%, and
      the organic compositions of treated effluent represented significant difference
      that was mainly attributed to the controlled the foam expansion and enhanced the
      enzymatic activities in O2-MBR. Moreover, membrane fouling mitigation was
      observed in O2-MBR, probably owing to the less EPS amount and larger PSD. It was
      notable that the pure oxygen with fine bubbles promoted marked evolution of
      bacterial community from CMBR to O2-MBR, particularly, the bacterial community
      richness and diversity in O2-MBR was lower than CMBR, and the genera
      Phycisphaera, Comamonas, Thauera and Ohtaekwangia composed the top four most
      relative abundance genera in O2-MBR, giving the total relative abundance of
      26.7%.

PMID- 27643735
TI  - A geographical assessment of vegetation carbon stocks and greenhouse gas
      emissions on potential microalgae-based biofuel facilities in the United States.
AB  - The microalgae biofuels life cycle assessments (LCA) present in the literature
      have excluded the effects of direct land use change (DLUC) from facility
      construction under the assumption that DLUC effects are negligible. This study
      seeks to model the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of microalgae biofuels
      including DLUC by quantifying the CO2 equivalence of carbon released to the
      atmosphere through the construction of microalgae facilities. The locations and
      types of biomass and Soil Organic Carbon that are disturbed through microalgae
      cultivation facility construction are quantified using geographical models of
      microalgae productivity potential including consideration of land availability.
      The results of this study demonstrate that previous LCA of microalgae to biofuel
      processes have overestimated GHG benefits of microalgae-based biofuels production
      by failing to include the effect of DLUC. Previous estimations of microalgae
      biofuel production potential have correspondingly overestimated the volume of
      biofuels that can be produced in compliance with U.S. environmental goals.

PMID- 27643736
TI  - A regulating method for reducing nitrogen loss based on enriched ammonia
      oxidizing bacteria during composting.
AB  - In this study, enriched ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were acquired by
      domesticated cultivation, followed by inoculation into the co-composting of rice
      straw and chicken manure. The effect of inoculation on nitrogen loss, the
      succession of bacterial community and the correlation between the key bacteria
      and environmental factors were investigated. The results showed that inoculation
      could reduce ammonia emission and nitrogen loss by transforming ammonium into
      nitrite. Inoculation also increased the amount and abundance of bacterial
      community. Redundancy analysis showed that indigenous and exogenous bacteria in
      inoculation group, compared with those in control group, were positively
      correlated with nitrite but negatively correlated with ammonium, demonstrating
      that the former contributed to the lower ammonia emission and nitrogen loss.
      Based on these results, the application of enriched AOB was proposed as a new
      method of resource recycle and improvement of composting technology.

PMID- 27643737
TI  - Removal of cephalosporin antibiotics 7-ACA from wastewater during the cultivation
      of lipid-accumulating microalgae.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using lipid-accumulating
      microalgae to remove cephalosporin antibiotics 7-amino cephalosporanic acid (7
      ACA) from wastewater with the additional benefit of biofuels production. Three
      isolated microalgal strains (namely, Chlorella sp. Cha-01, Chlamydomonas sp. Tai
      03 and Mychonastes sp. YL-02) were cultivated under 7-ACA stress and their
      biomass productivity, lipid production and N-NO3- consumption were monitored. It
      was found that 7-ACA had slight inhibition effects on the microalgal growth at
      the ratio of 12.0% (Cha-01), 9.6% (YL-02), 11.7% (Tai-03). However, lipid
      accumulation in the three microalgae was not influenced by the presence of 7-ACA.
      The investigation on the 7-ACA removal mechanisms during microalgal growth shows
      that 7-ACA was mainly removed by microalgae adsorption as well as hydrolysis and
      photolysis reactions. This study demonstrates that using microalgae to treat
      antibiotic-containing wastewater is promising due to the potential of
      simultaneous antibiotic removal and biofuel production.

PMID- 27643738
TI  - Utilization of mango kernel oil for the rhamnolipid production by Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa DR1 towards its application as biocontrol agent.
AB  - Mango kernel oil (MKO), derived from mango kernels, considered to be one of the
      highly generated agro-industrial waste, is assessed for its use as substrate for
      sustainable production of rhamnolipids. In the present study, MKO in combination
      with glucose gave maximum rhamnolipid yield of 2.8g/l which reduced the surface
      tension of water from 72 to 30mN/m, holding a CMC of 80mg/l and also showed high
      emulsification activity (73%) with diesel. Cell free broth was found to be stable
      even at high temperature (autoclaved at 121 degrees C for 30min), pH value (up to
      pH 12) and salinity (up to 20% NaCl). The LC-MS data showed mono-rhamnolipid to
      be predominant congener followed by di-rhamnolipid in presence of MKO. Whereas,
      di-rhamnolipid was abundant when a combination of MKO with glucose was used. The
      produced rhamnolipid mixture showed good antifungal activity against various
      phytopathogens.

PMID- 27643739
TI  - Influence of feeding pattern and hydraulic selection pressure to control
      filamentous bulking in biological treatment of dairy wastewaters.
AB  - In sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) treating dairy wastewaters, the overgrowth of
      filamentous bacteria is a frequent cause of operational problems. The present
      study aimed at understanding to what extent the operating conditions of a SBR can
      be optimized to convert a bulking activated sludge into a well-settling biomass
      at low aeration velocity. The abundance of filament morphotypes and floc-formers
      able to store biopolymers were analysed by PCR-DGGE and 16S amplicon sequencing.
      The results indicated that a combination of an anaerobic-microaerated feeding
      pattern with a low selective pressure was beneficial to supress filamentous
      overgrowth and to form aerobic granules, while increasing the efficiency of
      suspended solid removal. Average removal efficiencies for total chemical oxygen
      demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were 94+/-2%, 95+/-1%
      and 83+/-13%, respectively.

PMID- 27643740
TI  - Renal Failure in Sickle Cell Disease: Prevalence, Predictors of Disease,
      Mortality and Effect on Length of Hospital Stay.
AB  - Renal dysfunction in sickle cell disease is not only a chronic comorbidity but
      also a mortality risk factor. Though renal dysfunction starts early in life in
      sickle cell patients, the predictors that can identify sickle cell disease
      patients at risk of developing renal dysfunction is not known. We used the Truven
      Health MarketScan(r) Medicaid Databases from 2007 to 2012. Incidence of new acute
      renal failure (ARF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) was calculated in this
      cohort. There were 9481 patients with a diagnosis of sickle cell disease
      accounting for 64,201 hospital admissions, during the study period. Both ARF and
      CKD were associated with higher risk of inpatient mortality, longer duration of
      the hospital stay and expensive hospitalizations. The yearly incidence of new ARF
      in sickle cell disease patients was 1.4% and annual CKD incidence was 1.3%. The
      annual rate of new ARF and CKD in the control group was 0.4 and 0.6%,
      respectively. The most important predictors of new CKD were proteinuria, ARF and
      hypertension. Chronic kidney disease, hypertension and sickle cell crisis were
      the most important predictors of new ARF. The annual rate of incidences of ARF
      and CKD were 2- to 3-fold higher in sickle cell disease compared to the non
      sickle cell disease group. Besides the common risk factors for renal disease in
      the general population, it is imperative to monitor the sickle cell disease
      patients with more severe disease to prevent them from developing renal
      dysfunction.

PMID- 27643741
TI  - Pycnogenol Ameliorates Asthmatic Airway Inflammation and Inhibits the Function of
      Goblet Cells.
AB  - Pycnogenol(r) (PYC) is utilized in the treatment of various diseases ranging from
      chronic inflammation to circulatory diseases, but its efficacy and functional
      mechanism in pediatric asthma continue to remain obscure. Therefore, the purpose
      of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and molecular mechanism of PYC
      on regulation of asthmatic airway inflammation. We found that PYC with tail
      intravenous injection of 50 mg/kg or intragastric administration of 100 mg/kg all
      reduced ovalbumin (OVA)-induced airway injury. Pharmacokinetics of PYC was
      evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography assay, indicating that PYC
      was quickly absorbed into the blood after intragastric administration, and PYC
      metabolism was later improved gradually with increase of time after PYC
      administration. PYC has a higher bioavailability of 71.96%, and it was more
      easily absorbed by the body. PYC inhibited the number of total inflammatory cells
      and levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 in bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluid of OVA-induced mice. PYC inhibited IL-13 secretion from the Th2 cells,
      thereby causing a reduction in expression of the signaling molecules in JAK/STAT6
      pathway in airway epithelial cells. STAT6 silence suppressed IL-13-increased
      acetylcholine level. STAT6 overexpression promoted expression of goblet cell
      metaplasia-associated molecules (FOXA3, SPDEF, and Muc5ac). PYC suppressed OVA
      induced expression of FOXA3, SPDEF, and Muc5ac in lung. Our findings indicate
      that PYC has a higher bioavailability and it prevents emergence of OVA-induced
      airway injury and airway inflammation in mice by inhibiting IL-13/JAK/STAT6
      pathway and blocking release of acetylcholine to reduce goblet cell metaplasia.

PMID- 27643742
TI  - Concentrations of inorganic arsenic in groundwater, agricultural soils and
      subsurface sediments from the middle Gangetic plain of Bihar, India.
AB  - Concentrations of inorganic forms [arsenite, As(III) and arsenate, As(V) of
      arsenic (As) present in groundwater, agricultural soils and subsurface sediments
      located in the middle Gangetic plain of Bihar, India were determined.
      Approximately 73% of the groundwater samples (n=19) show As(III) as the dominant
      species while 27% reveals As(V) was the dominant species. The concentration of
      As(III) in agricultural soil samples varies from not detectable to 40MUg/kg and
      As(V) was observed as the major species (ranging from 1050 to 6835MUg/kg) while
      the total As concentration varied from 3528 to 14,690MUg/kg. Total extracted
      concentration of As was higher in the subsurface sediments (range 9119
      20,056MUg/kg in Methrapur and 4788-19,681MUg/kg in Harail Chapar) than the
      agricultural soil, indicating the subsurface sediment as a source of As. Results
      of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM)
      revealed the presence of hematite and goethite throughout the vertical section
      below while magnetite was observed only in the upper oxidized layer at Methrapur
      and Harail Chapar. Alteration of Fe-oxides and presence of fibrous goethite
      indicating presence of diagenetic sediment. Siderite plays a crucial role as
      sinks to the As in subsurface sediments. The study also concluded that
      decomposition of organic matter present in dark and grey sections promote the
      redox conditions and trigger mobilization of As into groundwater.

PMID- 27643743
TI  - Resistance Exercise Augments Postprandial Overnight Muscle Protein Synthesis
      Rates.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We have previously shown that protein ingestion before sleep
      increases overnight muscle protein synthesis rates. Whether prior exercise
      further augments the muscle protein synthetic response to presleep protein
      ingestion remains to be established. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess
      whether resistance-type exercise performed in the evening increases the overnight
      muscle protein synthetic response to presleep protein ingestion. METHODS: Twenty
      four healthy young men were randomly assigned to ingest 30 g intrinsically L-[1
      C]-phenylalanine and L-[1-C]-leucine-labeled casein protein before going to sleep
      with (PRO + EX, n = 12) or without (PRO, n = 12) prior resistance-type exercise
      performed in the evening. Continuous intravenous L-[ring-H5]-phenylalanine, L-[1
      C]-leucine, and L-[ring-H2]-tyrosine infusions were applied. Blood and muscle
      tissue samples were collected to assess whole-body protein balance, myofibrillar
      protein synthesis rates, and overnight incorporation of dietary protein-derived
      amino acids into de novo myofibrillar protein. RESULTS: A total of 57% +/- 1% of
      the ingested protein-derived phenylalanine appeared in the circulation during
      overnight sleep. Overnight myofibrillar protein synthesis rates were 37%
      (0.055%.h +/- 0.002%.h vs. 0.040%.h +/- 0.003%.h, P < 0.001, based on L-[ring-
      H5]-phenylalanine) and 31% (0.073%.h +/- 0.004%.h vs. 0.055%.h +/- 0.006%.h, P =
      0.024, based on L-[1-C]-leucine) higher in PRO + EX compared with PRO.
      Substantially more of the dietary protein-derived amino acids were incorporated
      into de novo myofibrillar protein during overnight sleep in PRO + EX compared
      with PRO (0.026 +/- 0.003 vs. 0.015 +/- 0.003 molar percent excess, P = 0.012).
      CONCLUSIONS: Resistance-type exercise performed in the evening augments the
      overnight muscle protein synthetic response to presleep protein ingestion and
      allows more of the ingested protein-derived amino acids to be used for de novo
      myofibrillar protein synthesis during overnight sleep.

PMID- 27643744
TI  - Considering students' perceptions of logbooks.

PMID- 27643745
TI  - Medical Teacher in Ten Minutes.

PMID- 27643746
TI  - Top-rated AMEE MedEdPublish Papers - June/July 2016.

PMID- 27643747
TI  - Cerebellar Control of Eye Movements.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cerebellum plays a central role in the online, real-time control,
      and long-term modulation of eye movements. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We reviewed the
      latest (fifth) edition of Leigh and Zee's textbook, The Neurology of Eye
      Movements, and literature in PUBMED using the following terms: cerebellum,
      flocculus, paraflocculus, vermis, oculomotor vermis, dorsal vermis, caudal
      fastigial nucleus, fastigial oculomotor region, uvula, nodulus, ansiform lobule,
      eye movements, saccades, ipsipulsion, contrapulsion, smooth pursuit, vergence,
      convergence, divergence, gaze-holding, down beat nystagmus, vestibulo-ocular
      reflex (VOR), angular VOR, translational VOR, skew deviation, velocity storage.
      RESULTS: The cerebellum is vital in optimizing the performance of all classes of
      gaze-shifting and gaze-stabilizing reflexes. The flocculus-paraflocculus are
      crucial to VOR gain and direction, pulse-step matching for saccades, pursuit
      gain, and gaze-holding. The ocular motor vermis and caudal fastigial nuclei are
      essential in saccadic adaptation and accuracy, and pursuit gain. The nodulus and
      ventral uvula are involved in processing otolothic signals and VOR responses,
      including velocity storage. CONCLUSIONS: The cerebellum guarantees the precision
      of ocular movements to optimize visual performance and occupies a central role in
      all classes of eye movements both in real-time control and in long-term
      calibration and learning (i.e., adaptation).

PMID- 27643749
TI  - PREVENTION IN GYNAECOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES SEPTEMBER 08-10, 2016 | ANTALYA,
      TURKEY.

PMID- 27643748
TI  - Endocrine treatment in breast cancer: Cure, resistance and beyond.
AB  - Hormone receptor positive breast cancer (HR-positive BC) is the most frequent BC
      subtype (~70%), with endocrine treatment constituting its therapeutic
      cornerstone; despite its efficacy, endocrine resistance can develop, clinically
      as a relapse or a progression of the early or advanced disease respectively,
      hence necessitating alternative treatments. Over the last two decades, improved
      understanding of the molecular mechanisms of endocrine resistance has been
      achieved, with numerous targeted agents undergoing clinical development. Despite
      the multifactorial genesis of endocrine resistance, fuelled not only by
      alternative oncogenic signaling pathways of tumor cells, but also by tumor
      microenvironment-mediated mechanisms, successful clinical development of new
      agents has been recently noted. However, predictive biomarkers for accurate
      'navigation' across the different treatment options are urgently needed. In this
      article, we present a thorough overview of the different clinical scenarios of BC
      endocrine resistance, and the recent advances in endocrine treatment, we describe
      the basic molecular mediators of endocrine resistance and the respective targeted
      agents undergoing clinical development; finally, we provide our perspective on
      the future of BC endocrine treatment.

PMID- 27643750
TI  - Floc compaction during ballasted aggregation.
AB  - Ballasted aggregation, a process using the addition of a ballasting agent to
      improve the settling performance of flocs, appears particularly appropriate for
      the treatment of humic rich waters that leads to low-density aggregates. In that
      context, using an aquagenic humic acid coagulated by ferric chloride in the
      presence of pozzolana particles as ballasting agent, we show that the origin of
      improved floc settling in ballasted aggregation is not simply related to an
      increased specific weight of flocs, but also to a significant restructuring of
      flocs to a more compact structure induced by the added particles. The floc
      restructuring is evidenced from the increased lag time before measurable floc
      growth in the presence of the ballasting agent, the higher fractal dimension of
      flocs above the micron scale range after incorporation of the particles into the
      aggregates, and a much smaller sediment volume after settling. A simple model of
      floc compaction based on the turbulent viscous effects that act on an elastic
      floc, is described.

PMID- 27643751
TI  - Cryopreserved packed red blood cells in surgical patients: past, present, and
      future.
AB  - Since the advent of anticoagulation and component storage of human blood
      products, allogeneic red blood cell transfusion has been one of the most common
      practices in modern medicine. Efforts to reduce the biochemical effects of
      storage, collectively known as the red blood cell storage lesion, and prolong the
      storage duration have led to numerous advancements in erythrocyte storage
      solutions. Cryopreservation and frozen storage of red blood cells in glycerol
      have been successfully utilised by many civilian and military institutions
      worldwide. Through progressive improvements in liquid storage of erythrocytes in
      novel storage solutions, the logistical need for cryopreserved red blood cells in
      the civilian setting has diminished. A growing body of current literature is
      focused on the clinical consequences of packed red blood cell age. Modern
      cryopreservation techniques show promise as a cost-effective method to ameliorate
      the negative effect of the red blood cell storage lesion, while meeting the
      technical and logistical needs of both civilian and military medicine. This
      review outlines the history of red blood cell cryopreservation, the clinical
      impact of red cell storage, and highlights the current literature on frozen blood
      and its impact on modern transfusion.

PMID- 27643752
TI  - Leucocyte cytokines dominate platelet cytokines overtime in non-leucoreduced
      platelet components.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leucoreduction of blood components, including platelet components, is
      strongly encouraged but not yet universal, especially outside high income
      countries. As both leucocytes and platelets secrete copious amounts of pro
      inflammatory cytokines/chemokines under various conditions and during storage, we
      investigated the potential of the respective secretory programmes of these cells
      in order to evaluate their subsequent pathophysiological effects. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A total of 158 individual non-leucoreduced platelet components were
      obtained from Tunisian donors and tested for characteristic biological response
      modifiers (BRM) of leukocytes (IL-1beta, IL-8), platelets (sCD62P, sCD40L) and
      both cell types (TNF-alpha, RANTES) in the presence or absence of thrombin
      stimulation and after different periods of storage (up to 5 days). BRM levels
      were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and Luminex technology.
      Platelet-leucocyte aggregate formation during storage was analysed using flow
      cytometry. RESULTS: Leucocyte- and platelet-associated BRM had clearly distinct
      profiles both at the onset (day 0) and termination (day 5) of the observation
      period but altered during the intermediate period so that their respective
      importance was inverted; in fact, the profiles were merged and indistinguishable
      on days 2-3. The leucocyte-derived BRM largely dominated over platelet-derived
      ones and further altered the BRM platelet secretion programme. DISCUSSION: This
      study contributes substantial, new information on leucocyte/platelet interactions
      and their likely role in transfusion when leucodepletion cannot be performed or
      is only partially achieved.

PMID- 27643753
TI  - International forum: an investigation of iron status in blood donors.

PMID- 27643754
TI  - Prevalence of an unusual hypoplastic defect of the permanent maxillary lateral
      incisor in great apes.
AB  - In this article, I describe a previously unreported maxillary lateral incisor
      defect (MLID) of the enamel in great apes and evaluate potential general causes
      (genetic, systemic stress, or localized disturbance), as well as examine
      differences in prevalence among the represented taxa. This defect occurred only
      on the labial surface of the maxillary lateral incisor and extended from the
      cervical-mesial quarter of the crown to the mesial edge of the cementoenamel
      junction (CEJ). The study sample consisted of 136 great ape specimens, including
      41 gorillas, 25 chimpanzees, and 70 orangutans from the Smithsonian's National
      Museum of Natural History great ape collection. I used logistic regression to
      assess the prevalence of this defect in the sample and a binomial probability
      test for bilaterality. This defect of the maxillary lateral incisor is the second
      most common defect I observed in the study sample (30.1% of individuals
      affected), and was more likely to occur in individuals with linear enamel
      hypoplasia (LEH) and pit defects than those without these defects. Among
      specimens with both maxillary lateral incisors present, the defect was mostly
      bilateral. Pan and Pongo were significantly more likely to exhibit the defect
      than Gorilla. Between Pongo species, Pongo pygmaeus was significantly more likely
      to exhibit the defect than Pongo abelii. Between subspecies of Gorilla, although
      Gorilla gorilla gorilla exhibited the defect and Gorilla gorilla beringei did
      not, the difference was not significant. No sex differences were evident in this
      sample. The prevalence of this defect indicates it is not hereditary. The
      bilateral trend indicates a systemic cause, although the high inter-tooth
      specificity suggests a local disturbance and a combination of both is possible.

PMID- 27643755
TI  - Acidity and organic matter promote abiotic nitric oxide production in drying
      soils.
AB  - Soils are an important source of NO, particularly in dry lands because of trade
      offs that develop between biotic and abiotic NO-producing processes when soils
      dry out. Understanding how drier climates may offset the balance of these trade
      offs as soils transition toward more arid states is, therefore, critical to
      estimating global NO budgets, especially because drylands are expected to
      increase in size. We measured NO emission pulses after wetting soils from similar
      lithologies along an altitudinal gradient in the Sierra Nevada, CA, where mean
      annual precipitation varied from 670 to 1500 mm. Along the gradient, we measured
      field NO emissions, and used chloroform in the laboratory to reduce microbial
      activity and partition between biotic and abiotic NO-producing processes (i.e.,
      chemodenitrification). Field NO emission pulses were lowest in the acidic and SOM
      rich soils (4-72 ng NO-N m-2 s-1 ), but were highest in the high-elevation barren
      site (~560 ng NO-N m-2 s-1 ). In the laboratory, NO emission pulses were up to
      19* greater in chloroform-treated soils than in the controls, and these abiotic
      pulses increased with elevation as pH decreased (6.2-4.4) and soil organic matter
      (SOM) increased (18-157 mg C g-1 ). Drought can shift the balance between the
      biotic and abiotic processes that produce NO, favoring chemodenitrification
      during periods when biological processes become stressed. Acidic and SOM-rich
      soils, which typically develop under mesic conditions, are most vulnerable to N
      loss via NO as interactions between pH, SOM, and drought stimulate
      chemodenitrification.

PMID- 27643756
TI  - Effects of hyperglycemia on bone metabolism and bone matrix in goldfish scales.
AB  - Increased risk of fracture associated with type 2 diabetes has been a topic of
      recent concern. Fracture risk is related to a decrease in bone strength, which
      can be affected by bone metabolism and the quality of the bone. To investigate
      the cause of the increased fracture rate in patients with diabetes through
      analyses of bone metabolism and bone matrix protein properties, we used goldfish
      scales as a bone model for hyperglycemia. Using the scales of seven alloxan
      treated and seven vehicle-treated control goldfish, we assessed bone metabolism
      by analyzing the activity of marker enzymes and mRNA expression of marker genes,
      and we measured the change in molecular weight of scale matrix proteins with SDS
      PAGE. After only a 2-week exposure to hyperglycemia, the molecular weight of
      alpha- and beta-fractions of bone matrix collagen proteins changed incrementally
      in the regenerating scales of hyperglycemic goldfish compared with those of
      euglycemic goldfish. In addition, the relative ratio of the gamma-fraction
      significantly increased, and a delta-fraction appeared after adding
      glyceraldehyde-a candidate for the formation of advanced glycation end products
      in diabetes-to isolated type 1 collagen in vitro. The enzymatic activity and mRNA
      expression of osteoblast and osteoclast markers were not significantly different
      between hyperglycemic and euglycemic goldfish scales. These results indicate that
      hyperglycemia is likely to affect bone quality through glycation of matrix
      collagen from an early stage of hyperglycemia. Therefore, non-enzymatic glycation
      of collagen fibers in bone matrix may lead to the deterioration of bone quality
      from the onset of diabetes.

PMID- 27643757
TI  - Fetal pulmonary venous blood flow velocities in a normal population and new
      calculated reference values.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to establish new Doppler reference values in
      a population with normal pulmonary veins during different phases of the fetal
      cardiac cycle for maximum blood flow velocities during ventricular systole (S),
      early ventricular diastole (D), atrial contraction (a), intensity-weighted mean
      velocity (Vmean) and the indices derived from these parameters [(S - a)/D] and
      [(S - a)/Vmean]. METHODS: The pulsed-wave color advanced dynamic flow Doppler
      technique was used in a prospective cross-sectional study of 365 low-risk
      pregnancies between 18 and 41 completed gestational weeks. Reference ranges were
      calculated for the individual measuring parameters based on a growth function
      from a four-parameter class of monotonic continuous functions according to the
      smallest square principle. RESULTS: During the observation period of 18 to 41
      gestational weeks, a continuous increase was evident in maximum flow velocities
      for ventricular systole (S), early ventricular diastole (D), atrial contraction
      (a) and intensity-weighted mean velocity (Vmean) of 14.7 to 431.1, 12.5 to 426.2,
      5.4 to 411.9 and 8.7 to 421.6 cm/s, respectively. Venous indices, however, showed
      a decrease with increasing gestational age: (S - a)/D from 0.9 to 0.7 and (S -
      a)/Vmean from 1 to 0.9. CONCLUSION: The newly established normal values for the
      fetal pulmonary vein can be used in standardized Doppler sonography measurement
      to assess the left atrial pressure in the fetal heart. (c) 2016 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27643758
TI  - TB or not TB? Improving the understanding and diagnosis of tuberculosis through
      metabolomics.

PMID- 27643759
TI  - A novel real time PCR assay using melt curve analysis for ivory identification.
AB  - Demand for ivory and expansion of human settlements have resulted in a rapid
      decline in the number of elephants. Enforcement of local and international laws
      and regulations requires identification of the species from which any ivory, or
      ivory products, originated. Further geographical assignment of the dead elephant
      from which the ivory was taken can assist in forensic investigations. In this
      study, a real-time PCR assay using melt curve analysis was developed and fully
      validated for forensic use. The presence or absence of three Elephantidae
      specific and elephant species-specific melting peaks was used to identify the
      elephant species. Using 141 blood and ivory samples from the three extant
      elephant species, the assay demonstrated very high reproducibility and accuracy.
      The limit of detection was as low as 0.031ng of input DNA for conventional
      amplification and 0.002ng for nested amplification. Both DNA concentrations are
      typically encountered in forensic casework, especially for degraded samples. No
      cross-reactivity was observed for non-target species. Evaluation of direct
      amplification and nested amplification demonstrated the assay's flexibility and
      capability of analyzing low-template DNA samples and aged samples. Additionally,
      blind trial testing showed the assay's suitability application in real casework.
      In conclusion, wildlife forensic laboratories could use this novel, quick, and
      low-cost assay to help combat the continuing poaching crises leading to the
      collapse of elephant numbers in the wild.

PMID- 27643760
TI  - Increasing rigor in NMR-based metabolomics through validated and open source
      tools.
AB  - The metabolome, the collection of small molecules associated with an organism, is
      a growing subject of inquiry, with the data utilized for data-intensive systems
      biology, disease diagnostics, biomarker discovery, and the broader
      characterization of small molecules in mixtures. Owing to their close proximity
      to the functional endpoints that govern an organism's phenotype, metabolites are
      highly informative about functional states. The field of metabolomics identifies
      and quantifies endogenous and exogenous metabolites in biological samples.
      Information acquired from nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR), mass spectrometry
      (MS), and the published literature, as processed by statistical approaches, are
      driving increasingly wider applications of metabolomics. This review focuses on
      the role of databases and software tools in advancing the rigor, robustness,
      reproducibility, and validation of metabolomics studies.

PMID- 27643761
TI  - Persistence of villous immaturity in term deliveries following intrauterine
      transfusion for parvovirus B19 infection and RhD-associated hemolytic disease of
      the fetus and newborn.
AB  - Fetal anemia and hydrops may be caused by parvovirus B19 infection and maternal
      alloimmunization to RhD with subsequent hemolytic disease of the fetus and
      newborn. The use of intrauterine transfusion over the last few decades has
      dramatically improved outcomes. Prior literature has extensively documented
      placental changes associated with untreated parvovirus infection and RhD HDFN in
      intrauterine fetal demises (IUFD) and pre-term births; however, histopathologic
      changes in term placentas from term infants treated with IUT have not been
      reported. We present placental findings in two cases of parvovirus B19-associated
      hydrops and two cases of RhD HDFN-associated hydrops in term infants after IUT,
      highlighting unique aspects that may be diagnostically useful for the examining
      pathologist.

PMID- 27643762
TI  - Science to Practice: Can Focused Ultrasound Disruption of the Blood-Brain Barrier
      Improve Malignant Brain Tumor Treatment Outcomes?
AB  - A relatively novel combination treatment for malignant brain tumors that includes
      focused ultrasound has been shown to improve tumor response and treatment outcome
      in a preclinical mouse model. This method directly addresses the great need for
      better treatments for this lethal disease. However, there are substantial
      technologic hurdles that must be addressed before clinical efficacy will be
      known. Unfortunately, few of these questions can be readily answered outside the
      clinical environment. Although it would be enormously challenging, a phase I
      clinical trial seems feasible and needed to determine the clinical value of this
      technique.

PMID- 27643764
TI  - The Future of Radiology Consultation.

PMID- 27643765
TI  - The Preoperative Sinus CT: Avoiding a "CLOSE" Call with Surgical Complications.
AB  - Although functional endoscopic sinus surgery is an effective means of treating
      patients with recurrent and refractory sinusitis, the procedure is not without
      risk of serious surgical complications. Preoperative computed tomography (CT)
      affords radiologists the opportunity to prospectively identify anatomic variants
      that predispose patients to major surgical complications; however, these critical
      variants are not consistently evaluated or documented on preoperative imaging
      reports. The purpose of this review is to illustrate important anatomic variants
      and landmarks on the preoperative sinus CT with a focus on those that predispose
      patients to surgical complications. These critical variants and landmarks can be
      quickly recalled and incorporated into the preoperative imaging report through
      the use of the mnemonic "CLOSE": Cribriform plate, Lamina papyracea, Onodi cell,
      Sphenoid sinus pneumatization, and (anterior) Ethmoidal artery. This approach
      will greatly enhance the value of the preoperative imaging report for referring
      otolaryngologists and help reduce the risk of surgical complications. ((c)) RSNA,
      2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article. 

PMID- 27643766
TI  - Imaging of Athletic Injuries of Knee Ligaments and Menisci: Sports Imaging
      Series.
AB  - Acute knee injuries are a common source of morbidity in athletes and if
      overlooked may result in chronic functional impairment. Magnetic resonance (MR)
      imaging of the knee has become the most commonly performed musculoskeletal MR
      examination and is an indispensable tool in the appropriate management of the
      injured athlete. Meniscal and ligamentous tearing are the most frequent
      indications for surgical intervention in sports injuries and an understanding of
      the anatomy, biomechanics, mechanisms of injury, and patterns of injury are all
      critical to accurate diagnosis and appropriate management. These will be
      discussed in reference to meniscal tears and injuries of the cruciate ligaments
      as well as injuries of the posterolateral and posteromedial corners of the knee.
      ((c)) RSNA, 2016. 

PMID- 27643769
TI  - Sunitinib-associated Pancreatic Atrophy in Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal
      Tumor: A Toxicity with Prognostic Implications Detected at Imaging.
AB  - Purpose To evaluate the effect and clinical importance of sunitinib on pancreatic
      volume in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Materials and
      Methods This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board
      and compliant with HIPAA. The requirement to obtain informed consent was waived.
      The authors evaluated 65 patients with GIST treated with oral sunitinib and a
      control group of 30 patients with GIST who did not receive any therapy (mean age:
      56 years [range, 29-75 years] vs 60 years [range, 27-78 years], respectively; P =
      .11) seen at their institution from January 2002 through December 2008. Segmented
      pancreatic volumes of study and control groups were measured with computed
      tomography by using commercial software by two independent readers who were
      blinded to study group and the timing of the scan at a median of 6.2 and 6.1
      months, respectively. Pre- and posttreatment volumes (Wilcoxon signed rank test)
      and rate of volume change per month (Wilcoxon rank sum test) were compared.
      Interobserver agreement was calculated. Associations and prognostic importance of
      pancreatic atrophy were studied by using multivariate linear regression and Cox
      proportional analysis, respectively. Results Both readers recorded significant
      pancreatic volume loss in the study group (respective median pre- and
      posttreatment volume: 76.1 cm(3) and 58.4 cm(3) for reader 1 and 67.7 cm(3) and
      59.0 cm(3) for reader 2; P < .0001 for both) but not in the control group
      (respective median pre- and posttreatment volume: 79.9 cm(3) and 83.8 cm(3) for
      reader 1 [P = .43] and 79.9 cm(3) and 84.8 cm(3) for reader 2 [P = .50]). The
      rate of volume loss per month was greater in the study group than in the control
      group (reader 1: -2.1% vs -0.1%, respectively, P = .003; reader 2: -2.0% vs 
      0.3%, P < .0001). Twenty-three of the 65 patients who received sunitinib (35%)
      showed at least 3% pancreatic volume loss per month, compared with only one of
      the 30 patients in the control group (3%). The concordance correlation
      coefficient for pre- and posttreatment measurements was 0.83 (95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 0.75, 0.89) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.86, 0.94), respectively, and the
      mean relative difference was 0.04% and 1.2%. Sunitinib treatment was
      independently associated with pancreatic atrophy (P = .03; risk estimate: 2.64;
      95% CI: 0.17, 5.11). At Cox proportional analysis within the study group, more
      than 3%, more than 5%, and more than 7% loss per month were independently
      associated with worse survival (P < .001, hazard ratio: >1.00 for all).
      Conclusion Pancreatic atrophy is a sunitinib-associated toxicity detected at
      imaging. It may be a clinically important biomarker because a higher rate of
      pancreatic atrophy was independently associated with shorter survival. ((c))
      RSNA, 2016.

PMID- 27643770
TI  - Case 238.

PMID- 27643771
TI  - Case 234: Neuropathic Spondyloarthropathy.
AB  - History A 70-year-old woman presented to a peripheral hospital with signs and
      symptoms of acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. The
      patient also reported acute on chronic onset of thoracolumbar back pain over a
      period of 24 hours. She denied any history of recent trauma or intravenous drug
      use. She did not have any long-term indwelling catheters. The patient's medical
      history was also complicated by stage 4 renal failure from long-standing type II
      diabetes, hypertension, iron deficiency anemia, aortic stenosis, and prior
      bariatric surgery. The patient was not undergoing dialysis for her renal
      dysfunction, nor was she receiving steroids for COPD. On clinical examination,
      she was afebrile and tachypneic. Although she was not amenable to a full
      neurologic examination, she reported subjective leg weakness. There were no
      localizing signs or evidence of myelopathy. Perianal sensation and rectal tone
      were preserved. Pulmonary examination revealed wheezes and decreased basilar air
      entry. The patient's white blood cell count was 6.8 * 10(9)/L. Her blood
      chemistry was normal, aside from an elevated blood creatinine level of 158
      mmol/L. Her erythrocyte sedimentation rate was elevated at 56 mm/h, and her C
      reactive protein level was normal at 4.4 mg/L (41.9 nmol/L). Chest radiographs
      showed mild pulmonary edema with a small right pleural effusion. The patient was
      transferred to our facility for evaluation of findings on thoracic spine
      radiographs obtained at a peripheral hospital. Unenhanced thoracic spine magnetic
      resonance (MR) imaging was performed first and was followed by computed
      tomography (CT) to further delineate the findings. The patient's renal status
      precluded intravenous contrast material administration. 

PMID- 27643772
TI  - Is it Time to Increase the Use of Nonvascular Thoracic MR Imaging in Clinical
      Practice in Lieu of CT?

PMID- 27643773
TI  - Importance of Respiratory-gated PET/CT in Thoracic Tumors.

PMID- 27643774
TI  - "Gadolinium-Phobia:" Not a Helpful "Criterion" for Indication for Gadolinium
      based Contrast Agent Administration in Multiple Sclerosis.

PMID- 27643775
TI  - Homogeneous T1 Hyperintense Renal Lesions with Smooth Borders.

PMID- 27643776
TI  - How to Define and Display Solid Components within Ground-Glass Nodules and
      Differentiate Pure Ground-Glass Nodules from Mixed Ground-Glass Nodules?

PMID- 27643777
TI  - Homogeneous T1 Hyperintense Renal Lesions with Smooth Borders: Is Contrast
      enhanced MR Imaging Needed?

PMID- 27643778
TI  - Cerebral Aneurysms: Accuracy of 320-Detector Row Nonsubtracted and Subtracted
      Volumetric CT Angiography for Diagnosis.

PMID- 27643779
TI  - 7-T (35)Cl and (23)Na MR Imaging for Detection of Mutation-dependent Alterations
      in Muscular Edema and Fat Fraction with Sodium and Chloride Concentrations in
      Muscular Periodic Paralyses.

PMID- 27643780
TI  - Torsten Almen, MD.

PMID- 27643781
TI  - Issac Sanders, MD.

PMID- 27643784
TI  - Dental enamel defects in German medieval and early-modern-age populations.
AB  - SUMMARY: Aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and type of
      developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in a medieval and an early-modern-age
      population from Thuringia, Germany. Sixty-six skeletons subdivided into 31 single
      burials (12th/13th c.) and 35 individuals buried in groups (15th/16th c.) were
      examined. DDE were classified on 1,246 teeth according to the DDE index. Molar
      incisor-hypomineralisation (MIH), a special type of DDE, was recorded according
      to the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD) criteria. DDE was found in
      89.4% of the individuals (single burials 90.3% and group burials 88.6%).
      Hypoplastic pits were the most frequent defect in primary teeth and linear enamel
      hypoplasia (LEH) in permanent teeth. 13 individuals (24.1%) showed at least one
      hypomineralised permanent tooth, 12.2% had MIH on at least one first permanent
      molar and 10.0% in permanent incisors. Second primary molars were affected in
      8.0% of the children and juveniles. No individual suffered from affected molars
      and incisors in combination. Endogenous factors like nutritional deficiencies and
      health problems in early childhood could have been aetiological reasons of DDE
      and MIH. The frequency of DDE and MIH might have been masked by extended carious
      lesions, dental wear and ante-mortem tooth loss.

PMID- 27643783
TI  - Neonatal maternal separation stress elicits lasting DNA methylation changes in
      the hippocampus of stress-reactive Wistar Kyoto rats.
AB  - Early-life stress (ELS) can alter neurodevelopment in variable ways, ranging from
      producing deleterious outcomes to stress resilience. While most ELS studies focus
      on its harmful effects, recent work by our laboratory and others shows that ELS
      elicits positive effects in certain individuals. We exposed Wistar Kyoto (WKY)
      rats, known for a stress reactive, anxiety/depression-like phenotype, to maternal
      separation (MS), a model of ELS. MS exposure elicited anxiolytic and
      antidepressant behavioral effects as well as improved cardiovascular function in
      adult WKY offspring. This study interrogates an epigenetic mechanism (DNA
      methylation) that may confer the adaptive effects of MS in WKY offspring. We
      quantified global genome methylation levels in limbic brain regions of adult WKYs
      exposed to daily 180-min MS or neonatal handling from postnatal day 1-14. MS
      exposure triggered dramatic DNA hypermethylation specifically in the hippocampus.
      Next-generation sequencing methylome profiling revealed reduced methylation at
      intragenic sites within two key nodes of insulin signaling pathways: the insulin
      receptor and one of its major downstream targets, mitogen-activated protein
      kinase kinase kinase 5 (Map3k5). We then tested the hypothesis that enhancing DNA
      methylation in WKY rats would elicit adaptive changes akin to the effects of MS.
      Dietary methyl donor supplementation improved WKY rats' anxiety/depression-like
      behaviors and also improved cardiovascular measures, similar to previous
      observations following MS. Overall, these data suggest a potential molecular
      mechanism that mediates a predicted adaptive response, whereby ELS induces DNA
      methylation changes in the brain that may contribute to successful stress coping
      and adaptive physiological changes in adulthood.

PMID- 27643785
TI  - Urinary Biomarkers KIM-1 and NGAL for Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease of
      Uncertain Etiology (CKDu) among Agricultural Communities in Sri Lanka.
AB  - Chronic Kidney Disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) is an emerging epidemic among
      farming communities in rural Sri Lanka. Victims do not exhibit common causative
      factors, however, histopathological studies revealed that CKDu is a
      tubulointerstitial disease. Urine albumin or albumin-creatinine ratio is still
      being used as a traditional diagnostic tool to identify CKDu, but accuracy and
      prevalence data generated are questionable. Urinary biomarkers have been used in
      similar nephropathy and are widely recognised for their sensitivity, specificity
      and accuracy in determining CKDu and early renal injury. However, these
      biomarkers have never been used in diagnosing CKDu in Sri Lanka. Male farmers (n
      = 1734) were recruited from 4 regions in Sri Lanka i.e. Matara and Nuwara Eliya
      (farming locations with no CKDu prevalence) and two CKDu emerging locations from
      Hambantota District in Southern Sri Lanka; Angunakolapelessa (EL1) and
      Bandagiriya (EL2). Albuminuria (ACR >= 30mg/g); serum creatinine based estimation
      of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR); creatinine normalized urinary kidney injury
      molecule (KIM-1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) were
      measured. Fourteen new CKDu cases (18%) from EL1 and nine CKDu cases (9%) from
      EL2 were recognized for the first time from EL1, EL2 locations, which were
      previously considered as non-endemic of the disease and associated with
      persistent albuminuria (ACR >= 30mg/g Cr). No CKDu cases were identified in non
      endemic study locations in Matara (CM) and Nuwara Eliya (CN). Analysis of urinary
      biomarkers showed urinary KIM-1 and NGAL were significantly higher in new CKDu
      cases in EL1 and EL2. However, we also reported significantly higher KIM-1 and
      NGAL in apparently healthy farmers in EL 1 and EL 2 with comparison to both
      control groups. These observations may indicate possible early renal damage in
      absence of persistent albuminuria and potential capabilities of urinary KIM-1 and
      NGAL in early detection of renal injury among farming communities in Southern Sri
      Lanka.

PMID- 27643786
TI  - Functional integration of the circulatory, immune, and respiratory systems in
      mosquito larvae: pathogen killing in the hemocyte-rich tracheal tufts.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  As both larvae and adults, mosquitoes encounter a barrage of immune
      insults, ranging from microbe-rich communities in larval habitats to ingested
      blood-borne pathogens in adult blood meals. Given that mosquito adults have
      evolved an efficient means of eliminating infections in their hemocoel (body
      cavity) via the coordinated action of their immune and circulatory systems, the
      goal of the present study was to determine whether such functional integration is
      also present in larvae. RESULTS: By fluorescently labeling hemocytes (immune
      cells), pericardial cells, and the heart, we discovered that fourth instar
      larvae, unlike adults, contain segmental hemocytes but lack the periostial
      hemocytes that surround the ostia (heart valves) in abdominal segments 2-7.
      Instead, larvae contain an abundance of sessile hemocytes at the tracheal tufts,
      which are respiratory structures that are unique to larvae, are located in the
      posterior-most abdominal segment, and surround what in larvae are the sole
      incurrent openings for hemolymph entry into the heart. Injection of fluorescent
      immune elicitors and bacteria into the larval hemocoel then showed that tracheal
      tuft hemocytes mount rapid and robust immune responses against foreign insults.
      Indeed, green fluorescent protein-labeled Escherichia coli flowing with the
      hemolymph rapidly aggregate exclusively at the tracheal tufts, where they are
      killed within 24 h post-infection via both phagocytosis and melanization.
      CONCLUSION: Together, these findings show that the functional integration of the
      circulatory, respiratory, and immune systems of mosquitoes varies drastically
      across life stages.

PMID- 27643787
TI  - Timing and Type of Alcohol Consumption and the Metabolic Syndrome - ELSA-Brasil.
AB  - The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is rising worldwide. Its association
      with alcohol intake, a major lifestyle factor, is unclear, particularly with
      respect to the influence of drinking with as opposed to outside of meals. We
      investigated the associations of different aspects of alcohol consumption with
      the metabolic syndrome and its components. In cross-sectional analyses of 14,375
      active or retired civil servants (aged 35-74 years) participating in the
      Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), we fitted logistic
      regression models to investigate interactions between the quantity of alcohol,
      the timing of its consumption with respect to meals, and the predominant beverage
      type in the association of alcohol consumption with the metabolic syndrome. In
      analyses adjusted for age, sex, educational level, income, socioeconomic status,
      ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, and physical activity, light consumption of
      alcoholic beverages with meals was inversely associated with the metabolic
      syndrome (<=4 drinks/week: OR = 0.85, 95%CI 0.74-0.97; 4 to 7 drinks/week: OR =
      0.75, 95%CI 0.61-0.92), compared to abstention/occasional drinking. On the other
      hand, greater consumption of alcohol consumed outside of meals was significantly
      associated with the metabolic syndrome (7 to 14 drinks/week: OR = 1.32, 95%CI
      1.11-1.57; >=14 drinks/week: OR = 1.60, 95%CI 1.29-1.98). Drinking predominantly
      wine, which occurred mostly with meals, was significantly related to a lower
      syndrome prevalence; drinking predominantly beer, most notably when outside of
      meals and in larger quantity, was frequently associated with a greater
      prevalence. In conclusion, the alcohol-metabolic syndrome association differs
      markedly depending on the relationship of intake to meals. Beverage preference
      wine or beer-appears to underlie at least part of this difference. Notably, most
      alcohol was consumed in metabolically unfavorable type and timing. If further
      investigations extend these findings to clinically relevant endpoints, public
      policies should recommend that alcohol, when taken, should be preferably consumed
      with meals. 

PMID- 27643788
TI  - Environmental Risk Factors influencing Bicycle Theft: A Spatial Analysis in
      London, UK.
AB  - Urban authorities are continuously drawing up policies to promote cycling among
      commuters. However, these initiatives are counterproductive for the targeted
      objectives because they increase opportunities for bicycle theft. This paper
      explores Inner London as a case study to address place-specific risk factors for
      bicycle theft at the street-segment level while controlling for seasonal
      variation. The presence of certain public amenities (e.g., bicycle stands,
      railway stations, pawnshops) was evaluated against locations of bicycle theft
      between 2013 and 2016 and risk effects were estimated using negative binomial
      regression models. Results showed that a greater level of risk stemmed from land
      use facilities than from area-based socioeconomic status. The presence of
      facilities such as train stations, vacant houses, pawnbrokers and payday lenders
      increased bicycle theft, but no evidence was found that linked police stations
      with crime levels. The findings have significant implications for urban crime
      prevention with respect to non-residential land use. 

PMID- 27643789
TI  - Direct Speaker Gaze Promotes Trust in Truth-Ambiguous Statements.
AB  - A speaker's gaze behaviour can provide perceivers with a multitude of cues which
      are relevant for communication, thus constituting an important non-verbal
      interaction channel. The present study investigated whether direct eye gaze of a
      speaker affects the likelihood of listeners believing truth-ambiguous statements.
      Participants were presented with videos in which a speaker produced such
      statements with either direct or averted gaze. The statements were selected
      through a rating study to ensure that participants were unlikely to know a-priori
      whether they were true or not (e.g., "sniffer dogs cannot smell the difference
      between identical twins"). Participants indicated in a forced-choice task whether
      or not they believed each statement. We found that participants were more likely
      to believe statements by a speaker looking at them directly, compared to a
      speaker with averted gaze. Moreover, when participants disagreed with a
      statement, they were slower to do so when the statement was uttered with direct
      (compared to averted) gaze, suggesting that the process of rejecting a statement
      as untrue may be inhibited when that statement is accompanied by direct gaze. 

PMID- 27643790
TI  - First case report of infection due to Cupriavidus gilardii in a patient without
      immunodeficiency: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cupriavidus gilardii is an aerobic, Gram-negative, glucose
      nonfermenting rod that was first identified in 1999. Because of the difficulty in
      accurate species identification of C. gilardii, there are few case reports of
      infection caused by this organism. In previous reports, C. gilardii has been
      characterized as an organism with low pathogenicity that causes opportunistic
      infections. CASE PRESENTATION: We encountered a case of pacemaker-associated
      bloodstream infection caused by C. gilardii in a 90-year old woman without
      obvious immunodeficiency. We identified the isolates as C. gilardii by sequencing
      of the 16S rRNA gene. The patient was treated with removal of the lead and
      administration of antimicrobial agents. Because of the acquisition of antibiotic
      resistance during antibiotic treatment, the antimicrobial agent was changed
      during the course of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first
      report of an infection caused by this organism in a patient without obvious
      immunodeficiency. Although the true pathogenicity of C. gilardii is unclear, the
      possibility that it exerts pathogenicity not only in persons with
      immunodeficiency but also in immunocompetent persons is suggested.

PMID- 27643791
TI  - A dedicated neonatal brain imaging system.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of the Developing Human Connectome Project is to acquire MRI in
      1000 neonates to create a dynamic map of human brain connectivity during early
      development. High-quality imaging in this cohort without sedation presents a
      number of technical and practical challenges. METHODS: We designed a neonatal
      brain imaging system (NBIS) consisting of a dedicated 32-channel receive array
      coil and a positioning device that allows placement of the infant's head deep
      into the coil for maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Disturbance to the infant
      was minimized by using an MRI-compatible trolley to prepare and transport the
      infant and by employing a slow ramp-up and continuation of gradient noise during
      scanning. Scan repeats were minimized by using a restart capability for diffusion
      MRI and retrospective motion correction. We measured the 1) SNR gain, 2) number
      of infants with a completed scan protocol, and 3) number of anatomical images
      with no motion artifact using NBIS compared with using an adult 32-channel head
      coil. RESULTS: The NBIS has 2.4 times the SNR of the adult coil and 90% protocol
      completion rate. CONCLUSION: The NBIS allows advanced neonatal brain imaging
      techniques to be employed in neonatal brain imaging with high protocol completion
      rates. Magn Reson Med 78:794-804, 2017. (c) 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance
      in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International
      Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under
      the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License,
      which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is
      properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are
      made.

PMID- 27643792
TI  - The Children, Intimate Relationships, and Conflictual Life Events (CIRCLE)
      interview for simultaneous measurement of intimate partner and parent to child
      aggression.
AB  - Despite substantial rates of parent to child aggression (PCA) and intimate
      partner aggression (IPA) co-occurrence within families, the co-occurrence of PCA
      and IPA within incidents of aggression has not previously been examined. To do
      so, we developed the Children, Intimate Relationships, and Conflictual Life
      Events (CIRCLE) interview to simultaneously measure incidents of psychological
      and physical PCA and IPA. The CIRCLE interview was administered quarterly for
      approximately 1 year to 109 women and 94 men from 111 couples with a first born
      child approximately 32 months of age at study initiation. Demonstrating the
      CIRCLE interview's ability to yield new knowledge about the nature of family
      aggression, we describe the frequency of aggressive incidents, the average number
      of aggressive behaviors within incidents, the daily occurrence of multiple
      aggressive incidents, and rates of within-incident PCA and IPA co-occurrence.
      With the exception of men's physical IPA, aggression scores derived from the
      CIRCLE interview exhibited a relatively high degree of interpartner reporting
      concordance, as well as structural validity and convergent validity with common
      aggression measures. Aggression reports via repeated testing were not influenced
      by social desirability or attempts to avoid aggression. Participants who
      perceived enhanced memory for aggression as a function of study participation
      reported increasing PCA and IPA frequencies over time. In the prediction of child
      conduct and emotional problems, the CIRCLE interview demonstrated predictive
      validity and incremental validity over traditional aggression measures. For the
      first time, within-incident co-occurrence of PCA and IPA was documented and shown
      to uniquely impact child outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643793
TI  - Measuring adult picky eating: The development of a multidimensional self-report
      instrument.
AB  - A brief multidimensional measure of adult picky eating (PE) behavior was
      developed using a large U.S. adult sample. In addition, the study explored
      associations between specific aspects of adult PE behavior and psychosocial
      impairment in effort to support the inclusion of adults in the Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) avoidant
      restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). The study included 3 phases of
      qualitative and quantitative data collection. Participants were 1,663 U.S. adults
      who completed online surveys. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were
      used to develop PE subscales. Associations among the PE subscales and measures of
      psychosocial impairment were examined. Exploratory and confirmatory factor
      analysis supported a 16-item 4-factor model of adult PE that included subscales
      of meal presentation, food variety, meal disengagement, and taste aversion. The
      measure also demonstrated convergence with previous measures of PE. The meal
      disengagement and meal presentation subscales demonstrated significant
      associations with social eating anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, eating related
      quality of life (QOL), and psychological flexibility. Meal disengagement alone
      was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. The Adult Picky Eating
      Questionnaire (APEQ) demonstrated sound psychometric properties and may be used
      to further investigate adult PE behavior. The relationships between adult PE and
      psychological impairment, particularly social anxiety, support the inclusion of
      ARFID in the DSM-5. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643794
TI  - Effects of Elevated Tropospheric Ozone Concentration on the Bacterial Community
      in the Phyllosphere and Rhizoplane of Rice.
AB  - Microbes constitute a vital part of the plant holobiont. They establish plant
      microbe or microbe-microbe associations, forming a unique microbiota with each
      plant species and under different environmental conditions. These microbial
      communities have to adapt to diverse environmental conditions, such as
      geographical location, climate conditions and soil types, and are subjected to
      changes in their surrounding environment. Elevated ozone concentration is one of
      the most important aspects of global change, but its effect on microbial
      communities living on plant surfaces has barely been investigated. In the current
      study, we aimed at elucidating the potential effect of elevated ozone
      concentrations on the phyllosphere (aerial part of the plant) and rhizoplane
      (surface of the root) microbiota by adopting next-generation 16S rRNA amplicon
      sequencing. A standard japonica rice cultivar Nipponbare and an ozone-tolerant
      breeding line L81 (Nipponbare background) were pre-grown in a greenhouse for 10
      weeks and then exposed to ozone at 85 ppb for 7 h daily for 30 days in open top
      chambers. Microbial cells were collected from the phyllosphere and rhizoplane
      separately. The treatment or different genotypes did not affect various diversity
      indices. On the other hand, the relative abundance of some bacterial taxa were
      significantly affected in the rhizoplane community of ozone-treated plants. A
      significant effect of ozone was detected by homogeneity of molecular variance
      analysis in the phyllosphere, meaning that the community from ozone-treated
      phyllosphere samples was more variable than those from control plants. In
      addition, a weak treatment effect was observed by clustering samples based on the
      Yue and Clayton and weighted UniFrac distance matrices among samples. We
      therefore conclude that the elevated ozone concentrations affected the bacterial
      community structure of the phyllosphere and the rhizosplane as a whole, even
      though this effect was rather weak and did not lead to changes of the function of
      the communities. 

PMID- 27643795
TI  - Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminths Distribution in Benin: A Baseline
      Prevalence Survey in 30 Districts.
AB  - In 2013, Benin developed strategies to control neglected tropical diseases and
      one of the first step was the disease mapping of the entire country in order to
      identify endemic districts of schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminths
      (STH). This study was carried out in 30 of the 77 districts of Benin. Of these 30
      districts 22 were previously treated for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) using the
      Ivermectin and Albendazole combination. In each district, five schools were
      selected and 50 children aged 8 to 14 years were sampled in each school, making a
      total of 250 children sampled in the district. The schools were selected mainly
      according to their proximity to lakes or any bodies of water that were likely to
      have been used by the children. Samples of faeces and urine were collected from
      each pupil. Urinary schistosomiasis was identified using the urine filtration
      technique while STH and intestinal schistosomiasis were identified through the
      Kato Katz method. Overall a total of 7500 pupils were surveyed across 150 schools
      with a gender ratio of 1:1. Hookworm was identified in all 30 districts with a
      prevalence ranging from 1.2% (95%CI: 0.0-2.5) to 60% (95%CI: 53.9-66.1). Ascaris
      lumbricoides was detected in 19 districts with a prevalence rate between 1%
      (95%CI: 0.0-2.2) and 39% (95%CI: 32.9-45.0). In addition to these common STH,
      Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis and Strongyloides stercoralis were
      found at low prevalence. Only 16 districts were endemic to Schistosoma mansoni,
      while 29 districts were endemic to S. haematobium. The S. haematobium prevalence
      ranged from 0.8% (95% CI: 0.0-1.9) to 56% (95% CI: 50.2-62.5) while the
      prevalence of S. mansoni varied from 0.4% (95%CI: 0.0-1.2) to 46% (95% CI: 39.8
      52.2). The 22 districts, where LF was successfully eliminated, still require mass
      drug administration (MDA) of albendazole indicating that school-based MDA would
      be needed even after LF elimination in districts co-endemic to LF and STH in
      Benin. 

PMID- 27643796
TI  - Should We Still Believe in Randomized Controlled Trials in Nephrology?
AB  - The randomized controlled trial (RCT) is the cornerstone upon which clinical
      decision-making is based. Pivotal RCTs in the nephrology area efficiently
      demonstrated the renoprotective effects of treatment with renin-angiotensin
      system inhibitors in patients with diabetic and non-diabetic proteinuric
      nephropathies. However, there is concern about the increasing cost, complexity
      and duration of clinical studies. Moreover, recent large RCTs addressing key
      issues for patients with renal disease failed to achieve definitive conclusions
      mainly due to critical flaws in the investigational strategies, including the
      adoption of excessive/fixed doses of the study medications, inappropriate use of
      the placebo-controlled design, enrollment of low-risk individuals, poor reporting
      of adverse events or unreliable evaluation of renal function. The information now
      available on the biases that characterize the current RCTs should serve as a tool
      to rethink the design, patient selection and implementation of future RCTs in
      nephrology.

PMID- 27643797
TI  - Frequency of Depressive Syndromes in Elderly Individuals with No Cognitive
      Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease Dementia in a
      Memory Clinic Setting.
AB  - AIMS: 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.
      METHODS: 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). RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION:
      The findings suggest that the degenerative process of Alzheimer's disease
      contributes to the occurrence of mild depressive conditions, but not to severe
      depression.

PMID- 27643798
TI  - Substitutions in Spodoptera exigua topoisomerase I modulate its relaxation
      activity and camptothecin sensitivity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Topoisomerase I (Top I) is referred as the cellular target of the
      camptothecins (CPTs) which are now being explored as potential pesticides for
      insect control. Three amino acid substitutions, including L530P, A653T and S729T,
      in Top Is of insects were found in our previous studies. In order to investigate
      the effect of these three substitutions, a comparative analysis was conducted
      between the wild-type and mutant Top Is in Spodoptera exigua Hubner. RESULTS: The
      optimal salt concentration of A653T and S729T was 150 mm, which is consistent
      with that of the wild-type Top I, while the mutant L530P showed maximum
      relaxation activity at a lower KCl concentration (100 mm). The mutated L530P and
      A653T Top Is showed a higher relaxation efficiency owing to an increased
      relaxation velocity toward the negatively supercoiled plasmid pBR322 DNA, which
      rendered L530P and A653T resistant to CPTs, whereas mutant S729T exhibited
      sensitivity to CPTs as a result of a decreased relaxation activity toward plasmid
      pBR322 DNA. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that the polymorphism in Top I
      of insects was related to the biological activity of CPTs, which provided the
      basic information for reasonable usage of CPTs to control insect pests. (c) 2016
      Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27643799
TI  - The Reaction Pathway of Cellulose Pyrolysis to a Multifunctional Chiral Building
      Block: The Role of Water Unveiled by a DFT Computational Investigation.
AB  - LAC (hydroxylactone (1R,5S)-1-hydroxy-3,6-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-one) is one
      of the most interesting products of the pyrolysis of cellulose and represents a
      useful chiral building block in organic synthesis. A computational investigation
      at the DFT level on the mechanism of formation of LAC shows that this species can
      be obtained following two reaction paths, path A and path B, starting from a well
      known pyrolysis product (ascopyrone P). A series of internal rearrangements
      involving in all cases a proton transfer leads directly to LAC (path B). An
      alternative path (path A) can be also followed. From this path, via a "gate"
      connecting the two reaction channels, it is possible to reach path B and form
      LAC. In both cases, the rate-determining step of the process is the initial keto
      enol isomerization. We found that water, which is present in the reaction
      mixture, "catalyzes" the reaction by assisting the proton transfers present in
      all the steps of the process. In particular, water lowers the barrier of the rate
      determining step that becomes 40.9 kcal mol-1 (79.4 kcal mol-1 in the absence of
      water). The corresponding computed rate constant is 4.3*10 s-1 at 500  degrees C,
      a value which is consistent with the presence of LAC in the absence of metal
      catalysts. The results of this study on the non-catalyzed process underpin the
      important role played by water in the formation of pyrolysis products of
      cellulose where proton transfer is a key mechanistic step.

PMID- 27643800
TI  - Selective Venous Blood Sampling for Hyperparathyroidism with unclear Localization
      of the Parathyroid Gland.
AB  - Purpose: Evaluation of the benefit of selective venous blood sampling (SVS) for
      the preoperative identification of parathyroid adenomas with unclear localization
      in non-invasive diagnostics. Materials and Methods: In a retrospective study, all
      patients (n = 23) with primary (n = 21) or tertiary (n = 2) hyperparathyroidism
      were evaluated from 2005 to 2016 at the Hospital Nuremberg-North. These patients
      all received one (n = 20) or more (n = 3) SVS. 15 patients had one or more
      previous unsuccessful surgeries (group A), 8 patients received the SVS primarily
      before the first surgery (group B). Results of SVS were compared with the results
      of surgery, non-invasive diagnostic procedures and clinical follow up. Results:
      In 24 out of 26 SVS a significant PTH peak was found. 19 patients underwent
      surgery after SVS. In 16 of these cases (84 %) the SVS peak was concordant with
      the intraoperative localization. Thus, SVS of all operated patients had a
      sensitivity of 94 %. Considering only patients with prior HPT surgery the
      sensitivity was 89 %. In none of the 26 examinations complications occurred.
      Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that selective venous blood sampling SVS in
      cases with unclear imaging of parathyroid adenomas is an effective and low-risk
      invasive diagnostic method to localize parathyroid adenomas and helps to improve
      surgical therapy. Key points: * low risk invasive diagnostic procedure to
      localize parathyroid adenomas* additional step if non-invasive diagnostics are
      negative or inconclusive* high sensitivity in the detection of parathyroid
      adenomas Citation Format: * Hader C, Uder M, Loose RWR et al. Selective Venous
      Blood Sampling for Hyperparathyroidism with unclear Localization of the
      Parathyroid Gland. Fortschr Rontgenstr 2016; 188: 1144 - 1150.

PMID- 27643801
TI  - Memory Effect of the Median Nerve: Can Ultrasound Reliably Depict Carpal Tunnel
      Release Success?
AB  - Purpose To evaluate whether ultrasound findings of the median nerve cross-section
      area (CSA) and wrist-to-forearm ratio (WFR) correlate with neurophysiological and
      patient-reported outcome after surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
      Materials and Methods Subjective pain, CSA, WFR, postoperative scar tissue
      formation and nerve conduction velocity in 21 hands of 20 patients with
      clinically confirmed CTS were examined before and after carpal tunnel release
      surgery. Group differences were compared via a 2-sided ratio paired t-test or one
      way ANOVA, and correlations were calculated using a linear regression model.
      Results There were no significant pre- and postoperative changes of the CSA of
      the median nerve (p = 0.293, 95 % CI 0.826 - 1.063) or WFR (p = 0.230, 95 % CI
      0.757 - 1.074). The nerve conduction velocity (p < 0.0001, 95 % CI 0.753 - 0.886)
      and subjective pain during rest (p = 0.001, 95 % CI 1.615 - 5.797) and exercise
      (p = 0.008, 95 % CI 0.760 - 4.888) improved significantly, though. There was no
      correlation between changes in the median nerve CSA and nerve conduction velocity
      (p = 0.357, r = 0.217, R2 = 0.047) or reported pain intensity (p = 0.441, r =
      0.200, R2 = 0.040). Conclusion Contrary to common assumptions, there is no
      significant reduction of the CSA of the median nerve after successful carpal
      tunnel release. Morphologic median nerve changes may persist for a longer period
      regardless of successful surgery and clinical improvement. Accordingly,
      ultrasound appears unsuitable as the primary means of assessing surgical success
      due to this "memory effect". Key Points . CSA of the median nerve does not change
      significantly after successful carpal tunnel release.. . Morphologic median nerve
      alterations may persist regardless of functional outcome ("memory effect").. .
      Therefore, ultrasound imaging is not ideally suited to assess the outcome after
      carpal tunnel release.. Citation Format . Steinkohl Fabian, Gruber Leonhard,
      Gruber Hannes et al. Memory Effect of the Median Nerve: Can Ultrasound Reliably
      Depict Carpal Tunnel Release Success?. Fortschr Rontgenstr 2017; 189: 57 - 62.

PMID- 27643802
TI  - Discrimination of Different Brain Metastases and Primary CNS Lymphomas Using
      Morphologic Criteria and Diffusion Tensor Imaging.
AB  - Purpose: Brain metastases are a common complication of cancer and occur in about
      15 - 40 % of patients with malignancies. The aim of this retrospective study was
      to differentiate between metastases from different primary tumors/CNS lymphyomas
      using morphologic criteria, fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion
      coefficient (ADC). Materials and Methods: Morphologic criteria such as
      hemorrhage, cysts, pattern of contrast enhancement and location were reported in
      200 consecutive patients with brain metastases/primary CNS lymphomas. FA and ADC
      values were measured in regions of interest (ROIs) placed in the contrast
      enhancing tumor part, the necrosis and the non-enhancing peritumoral region
      (NEPTR). Differences between histopathological subtypes of metastases were
      analyzed using non-parametric tests, decision trees and hierarchical clustering
      analysis. Results: Significant differences were found in morphologic criteria
      such as hemorrhage or pattern of contrast enhancement. In diffusion measurements,
      significant differences between the different tumor entities were only found in
      ADC analyzed in the contrast-enhancing tumor part. Among single tumor entities,
      primary CNS lymphomas showed significantly lower median ADC values in the
      contrast-enhancing tumor part (ADClymphoma 0.92 [0.83 - 1.07] vs. ADCno_lymphoma
      1.35 [1.10 - 1.64] P = 0.001). Further differentiation between types of
      metastases was not possible using FA and ADC. Conclusion: There were morphologic
      differences among the main subtypes of brain metastases/CNS lymphomas. However,
      due to a high variability of common types of metastases and low specificity,
      prospective differentiation remained challenging. DTI including FA and ADC was
      not a reliable tool for differentiation between different histopathological
      subtypes of brain metastases except for CNS lymphomas showing lower ADC values.
      Biopsy, surgery and staging remain essential for diagnosis. Key Points: *
      Histopathological subtypes of brain metastases/CNS lymphomas show different
      morphologic features on MRI* Primary CNS lymphomas show significantly reduced ADC
      values* DTI is not a reliable tool for differentiation between brain metastases
      Citation Format: * Bette S, Wiestler B, Delbridge C et al. Discrimination of
      Different Brain Metastases and Primary CNS Lymphomas Using Morphologic Criteria
      and Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Fortschr Rontgenstr 2016; 188: 1134 - 1143.

PMID- 27643803
TI  - Nickel-Catalyzed [2+2+2] Cycloaddition of Alkyne-Nitriles with Alkynes Assisted
      by Lewis Acids: Efficient Synthesis of Fused Pyridines.
AB  - A Ni/BPh3 catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition of alkyne-nitriles with alkynes has
      been developed, which provides an efficient route to fused pyridines under mild
      reaction conditions. Mechanistic studies indicate that an azanickelacycle via
      heterocoupling of an alkyne with a nitrile moiety is possibly formed as a key
      reaction intermediate. The Lewis acid catalyst is crucial to the successful
      transformation, which is suggested to promote the oxidative cyclization process.

PMID- 27643804
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 27643805
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27643806
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27643808
TI  - The Influence of Water on the Alkyl Region Structure in Variable Chain Length
      Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid/Water Mixtures.
AB  - Solutions of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) and water were studied by
      observing the reorientational dynamics of the fluorescent probe perylene.
      Perylene is solvated in the alkyl regions of the RTILs. Its D2h symmetry made it
      possible to extract dynamical information on both in-plane and out-of-plane
      reorientation from time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements. Perylene
      reorientation reports on its interactions with the alkyl chains. The RTILs were a
      series of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborates (CnmimBF4, where n is
      the number of carbons in the alkyl chain), and the effects on perylene's dynamics
      were observed when varying the alkyl chain length of the cation (n = 4, 6, 8, and
      10; butyl, hexyl, octyl, decyl) and varying the water content from pure RTIL to
      roughly three water molecules per RTIL ion pair. Time correlated single photon
      counting was used to measure the fluorescence anisotropy decays to determine the
      orientational dynamics. The friction coefficients for both the in-plane and out
      of-plane reorientation were determined to eliminate the influence of changes in
      viscosity caused by both the addition of water and the different alkyl chain
      lengths. The friction coefficients provided information on the interactions of
      the perylene with the alkyl environment and how these interactions changed with
      chain length and water content. As the chain length increased, the addition of
      water had less of an effect on the local alkyl environment surrounding the
      perylene. The friction coefficients generally increased with higher water
      contents; the in-plane orientational motion was hindered significantly more than
      the out-of-plane motion. The restructuring of the alkyl regions is likely a
      consequence of a rearrangement of the ionic imidazolium head groups to
      accommodate partial solvation by water, which results in a change in the
      arrangement of the alkyl chains. At very high water content, BmimBF4 broke this
      general trend, with both in-plane and out-of-plane rotational friction decreasing
      above a water content of one water per ion pair. This decrease indicates a major
      reorganization of the overall liquid structure in high water content mixtures. In
      contrast to BmimBF4, the longer chain length RTILs are not infinitely miscible
      with water, and do not show evidence of a major reorganization before reaching
      saturation and phase-separating. The results suggest that phase separation in
      longer chain length BF4 RTILs is a consequence of their inability to undergo the
      reorganization of the alkyl regions necessary to accommodate high water
      concentrations.

PMID- 27643807
TI  - Muscle spindle alterations precede onset of sensorimotor deficits in Charcot
      Marie-Tooth type 2E.
AB  - Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is the most common inherited peripheral neuropathy,
      affecting approximately 2.8 million people. The CMT leads to distal neuropathy
      that is characterized by reduced motor nerve conduction velocity, ataxia, muscle
      atrophy and sensory loss. We generated a mouse model of CMT type 2E (CMT2E)
      expressing human neurofilament light E396K (hNF-LE396K ), which develops
      decreased motor nerve conduction velocity, ataxia and muscle atrophy by 4 months
      of age. Symptomatic hNF-LE396K mice developed phenotypes that were consistent
      with proprioceptive sensory defects as well as reduced sensitivity to mechanical
      stimulation, while thermal sensitivity and auditory brainstem responses were
      unaltered. Progression from presymptomatic to symptomatic included a 50% loss of
      large diameter sensory axons within the fifth lumbar dorsal root of hNF-LE396K
      mice. Owing to proprioceptive deficits and loss of large diameter sensory axons,
      we analyzed muscle spindle morphology in presymptomatic and symptomatic hNF
      LE396K and hNF-L control mice. Muscle spindle cross-sectional area and volume
      were reduced in all hNF-LE396K mice analyzed, suggesting that alterations in
      muscle spindle morphology occurred prior to the onset of typical CMT pathology.
      These data suggested that CMT2E pathology initiated in the muscle spindles
      altering the proprioceptive sensory system. Early sensory pathology in CMT2E
      could provide a unifying hypothesis for the convergence of pathology observed in
      CMT.

PMID- 27643809
TI  - Long-term agricultural fertilization alters arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal
      community composition and barley (Hordeum vulgare) mycorrhizal carbon and
      phosphorus exchange.
AB  - Agricultural fertilization significantly affects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal
      (AMF) community composition. However, the functional implications of community
      shifts are unknown, limiting understanding of the role of AMF in agriculture. We
      assessed AMF community composition at four sites managed under the same nitrogen
      (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer regimes for 55 yr. We also established a
      glasshouse experiment with the same soils to investigate AMF-barley (Hordeum
      vulgare) nutrient exchange, using carbon (13 C) and 33 P isotopic labelling. N
      fertilization affected AMF community composition, reducing diversity; P had no
      effect. In the glasshouse, AMF contribution to plant P declined with P
      fertilization, but was unaffected by N. Barley C allocation to AMF also declined
      with P fertilization. As N fertilization increased, C allocation to AMF per unit
      of P exchanged increased. This occurred with and without P fertilization, and was
      concomitant with reduced barley biomass. AMF community composition showed no
      relationship with glasshouse experiment results. The results indicate that plants
      can reduce C allocation to AMF in response to P fertilization. Under N
      fertilization, plants allocate an increasing amount of C to AMF and receive
      relatively less P. This suggests an alteration in the terms of P-C exchange under
      N fertilization regardless of soil P status.

PMID- 27643810
TI  - Anthropogenic Stressors Shape Genetic Structure: Insights from a Model Freshwater
      Population along a Land Use Gradient.
AB  - Environmental pollution including mutagens from wastewater effluents and
      discontinuity by man-made barriers are considered typical anthropogenic pressures
      on microevolutionary processes that are responsible for the loss of biodiversity
      in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we tested for the effects of wastewater treatment
      plants (WWTPs), weirs and other stressors on the invertebrate species Gammarus
      pulex at the population genetic level combining evolutionary ecotoxicology, body
      burden analysis and testing for exposure to mutagens. Exposure to chemical
      pollution alone and in combination with the presence of weirs resulted in a
      depression of allelic richness in native G. pulex populations. Our results
      suggest that the input of a mutagenic effluent from a WWTP resulted in a strong
      increase in private alleles over the affected populations. In addition, the
      presence of weirs along the river disrupted the migration across the river and
      thus the gene flow between G. pulex upstream and downstream. This study provides
      strong evidence that the assessment of genetic variation including private
      alleles together with the contamination of mutagenic and nonmutagenic chemical
      pollution offers new insights into the regulation of genetic population structure
      and highlights the relevance of emerging anthropogenic pressures at the genetic
      level.

PMID- 27643811
TI  - Scoring of de novo Designed Chemical Entities by Macromolecular Target
      Prediction.
AB  - Computational de novo molecular design and macromolecular target prediction have
      become routine in applied cheminformatics. In this study, we have generated
      populations of drug template-derived designs using ligand-based building block
      assembly, and predicted their potential targets. The results of our analysis show
      that the reaction-based de novo design generated new chemical entities with
      similar properties and pharmacophores as that of the template drugs as well as up
      to 44 % of the de novo compounds receiving the correct target predictions.
      Keeping in mind the probabilistic nature of the methods, such a combination of
      fast and meaningful computational structure generation by reaction-based design
      and product scoring by target class prediction may be appropriate for prospective
      application in medicinal chemistry.

PMID- 27643812
TI  - Psychiatric Medication Intake in Suicide Victims: Gender Disparities and
      Implications for Suicide Prevention.
AB  - Frequency and gender differences of psychiatric medication intake in a sample of
      suicide victims from the Athens Greater Area were investigated with a particular
      focus on the implications for suicide prevention. Data were collected from the
      toxicological analyses of the suicide cases of the period November 2007-October
      2009. Information was available for 262 individuals, 196 men (74.8%) and 66 women
      (25.2%); 109 of these (41.6%) were receiving psychiatric medication(s). Women
      were statistically more frequently under treatment: antidepressants (32.8% vs.
      11.3%, p < 0.001), antiepileptics (9.1% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.001), antipsychotics
      (24.2% vs. 9.2%, p = 0.003), and benzodiazepines (16.7% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.024).
      Campaigns aiming to bring men with psychological difficulties in contact with
      mental health services and to lessen the stigma of mental illness, together with
      better training of nonpsychiatrists into "suspecting" "male" depression, could be
      particularly helpful for decreasing male suicides. More thoughtful choice of
      psychiatric medication could possibly already prevent a number of female
      suicides.

PMID- 27643813
TI  - Environmentally Assisted Cracking in Silicon Nitride Barrier Films on
      Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Substrates.
AB  - A singular critical onset strain value has been used to characterize the strain
      limits of barrier films used in flexible electronics. However, such metrics do
      not account for time-dependent or environmentally assisted cracking, which can be
      critical in determining the overall reliability of these thin-film coatings. In
      this work, the time-dependent channel crack growth behavior of silicon nitride
      barrier films on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates is investigated in
      dry and humid environments by tensile tests with in situ optical microscopy and
      numerical models. The results reveal the occurrence of environmentally assisted
      crack growth at strains well below the critical onset crack strain and in the
      absence of polymer-relaxation-assisted, time-dependent crack growth. The crack
      growth rates in laboratory air are about 1 order of magnitude larger than those
      tested in dry environments (dry air or dry nitrogen). In laboratory air, crack
      growth rates increase from ~200 nm/s to 60 MUm/s for applied stress intensity
      factors, K, ranging from 1.0 to 1.4 MPa.m1/2, below the measured fracture
      toughness Kc of 1.8 MPa.m1/2. The crack growth rates in dry environments were
      also strongly dependent on the prior storage of the specimens, with larger rates
      for specimens exposed to laboratory air (and therefore moisture) prior to testing
      compared to specimens stored in a dry environment. This behavior is attributed to
      moisture-assisted cracking, with a measured power law exponent of ~22 in
      laboratory air. This study also reveals that much larger densities of channel
      cracks develop in the humid environment, suggesting an easier initiation of
      channel cracks in the presence of water vapor. The results obtained in this work
      are critical to address the time-dependent and environmental reliability issues
      of thin brittle barriers on PET substrates for flexible electronics applications.

PMID- 27643814
TI  - Atomic modeling of the ITS2 ribosome assembly subcomplex from cryo-EM together
      with mass spectrometry-identified protein-protein crosslinks.
AB  - The assembly of ribosomal subunits starts in the nucleus, initiated by co
      transcriptional folding of nascent ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcripts and binding
      of ribosomal proteins and assembly factors. The internal transcribed spacer 2
      (ITS2) is a precursor sequence to be processed from the intermediate 27S rRNA in
      the nucleoplasm; its removal is required for nuclear export of pre-60S particles.
      The proper processing of the ITS2 depends on multiple associated assembly factors
      and RNases. However, none of the structures of the known ITS2-binding factors is
      available. Here, we describe the modeling of the ITS2 subcomplex, including five
      assembly factors Cic1, Nop7, Nop15, Nop53, and Rlp7, using a combination of cryo
      electron microscopy and cross-linking of proteins coupled with mass spectrometry
      approaches. The resulting atomic models provide structural insights into their
      function in ribosome assembly, and establish a framework for further dissection
      of their molecular roles in ITS2 processing.

PMID- 27643816
TI  - Estimating Colloidal Contact Model Parameters Using Quasi-Static Compression
      Simulations.
AB  - For colloidal particles interacting in suspensions, clusters, or gels, contact
      models should attempt to include all physical phenomena experimentally observed.
      One critical point when formulating a contact model is to ensure that the
      interaction parameters can be easily obtained from experiments. Experimental
      determinations of contact parameters for particles either are based on bulk
      measurements for simulations on the macroscopic scale or require elaborate setups
      for obtaining tangential parameters such as using atomic force microscopy.
      However, on the colloidal scale, a simple method is required to obtain all
      interaction parameters simultaneously. This work demonstrates that quasi-static
      compression of a fractal-like particle network provides all the necessary
      information to obtain particle interaction parameters using a simple spring-based
      contact model. These springs provide resistances against all degrees of freedom
      associated with two-particle interactions, and include critical forces or moments
      where such springs break, indicating a bond-breakage event. A position-based cost
      function is introduced to show the identifiability of the two-particle contact
      parameters, and a discrete, nonlinear, and non-gradient-based global optimization
      method (simplex with simulated annealing, SIMPSA) is used to minimize the cost
      function calculated from deviations of particle positions. Results show that, in
      principle, all necessary contact parameters for an arbitrary particle network can
      be identified, although numerical efficiency as well as experimental noise must
      be addressed when applying this method. Such an approach lays the groundwork for
      identifying particle-contact parameters from a position-based particle analysis
      for a colloidal system using just one experiment. Spring constants also directly
      influence the time step of the discrete-element method, and a detailed knowledge
      of all necessary interaction parameters will help to improve the efficiency of
      colloidal particle simulations.

PMID- 27643815
TI  - An Expanded Palette of Xenon-129 NMR Biosensors.
AB  - Molecular imaging holds considerable promise for elucidating biological processes
      in normal physiology as well as disease states, by determining the location and
      relative concentration of specific molecules of interest. Proton-based magnetic
      resonance imaging (1H MRI) is nonionizing and provides good spatial resolution
      for clinical imaging but lacks sensitivity for imaging low-abundance (i.e.,
      submicromolar) molecular markers of disease or environments with low proton
      densities. To address these limitations, hyperpolarized (hp) 129Xe NMR
      spectroscopy and MRI have emerged as attractive complementary methodologies.
      Hyperpolarized xenon is nontoxic and can be readily delivered to patients via
      inhalation or injection, and improved xenon hyperpolarization technology makes it
      feasible to image the lungs and brain for clinical applications. In order to
      target hp 129Xe to biomolecular targets of interest, the concept of "xenon
      biosensing" was first proposed by a Berkeley team in 2001. The development of
      xenon biosensors has since focused on modifying organic host molecules (e.g.,
      cryptophanes) via diverse conjugation chemistries and has brought about numerous
      sensing applications including the detection of peptides, proteins,
      oligonucleotides, metal ions, chemical modifications, and enzyme activity.
      Moreover, the large (~300 ppm) chemical shift window for hp 129Xe bound to host
      molecules in water makes possible the simultaneous identification of multiple
      species in solution, that is, multiplexing. Beyond hyperpolarization, a 106-fold
      signal enhancement can be achieved through a technique known as hyperpolarized
      129Xe chemical exchange saturation transfer (hyper-CEST), which shows great
      potential to meet the sensitivity requirement in many applications. This Account
      highlights an expanded palette of hyper-CEST biosensors, which now includes
      cryptophane and cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) small-molecule hosts, as well as
      genetically encoded gas vesicles and single proteins. In 2015, we reported
      picomolar detection of commercially available CB[6] via hyper-CEST. Inspired by
      the versatile host-guest chemistry of CB[6], our lab and others developed "turn
      on" strategies for CB[6]-hyper-CEST biosensing, demonstrating detection of
      protein analytes in complex media and specific chemical events. CB[6] is starting
      to be employed for in vivo imaging applications. We also recently determined that
      TEM-1 beta-lactamase can function as a single-protein reporter for hyper-CEST and
      observed useful saturation contrast for beta-lactamase expressed in bacterial and
      mammalian cells. These newly developed small-molecule and genetically encoded
      xenon biosensors offer significant potential to extend the scope of hp 129Xe
      toward molecular MRI.

PMID- 27643817
TI  - Student involvement in the UK sex industry: motivations and experiences.
AB  - The Student Sex Work Project was set up in 2012 in the United Kingdom (UK) to
      locate students who are involved in the sex industry, to discover their
      motivations and needs, and in doing so provide an evidence base to consider the
      development of policy and practice within Higher Education. As part of this
      initiative, a large survey was undertaken comprising students from throughout the
      UK. Reporting on the findings from this survey, the article sheds some light on
      what occupations students take up in the sex industry, what motivates their
      participation and how they experience the work. The study also offers a much
      needed empirical input to the ongoing academic debates on the nature of sex work.
      The results suggest that there can be little doubt of a student presence within
      the sex industry in the UK. The motivations and experiences of student sex
      workers cover elements of agency and choice as well as of force and exploitation
      and it is suggested that student sex work is best understood from a polymorphous
      framework which leaves room for a wide variety of experiences and challenges.

PMID- 27643818
TI  - Management of non-surgical pneumoperitoneum.
AB  - Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is the best approach to feeding
      patients not eligible for oral nutrition who have a functioning digestive system.
      Pneumoperitoneum after PEG is a relatively common complication. As regards
      management, the most important decision is whether conservative therapy or an
      exploratory laparotomy should be indicated. We report the case of a patient with
      giant pneumoperitoneum following PEG, who was successfully managed with
      percutaneous air drainage. 

PMID- 27643819
TI  - Free-Standing and Circular-Polarizing Chirophotonic Crystal Reflectors:
      Photopolymerization of Helical Nanostructures.
AB  - The preparation of materials exhibiting structural colors has been intensively
      studied in biomimetic science and technology. Utilizing a newly synthesized
      cholesteric liquid-crystal (CLC) monomer (abbreviated as BP1CRM), we have
      prepared CLC films. Photoinitiated copolymerization of this monomer with a common
      achiral liquid-crystalline monomer produced free-standing films with homogeneous
      and nanoscale pitch distributions. Employing the thermal sensitivity of the CLC
      monomer, chirophotonic crystal reflectors were prepared exhibiting a range of
      colors. The free-standing and circular-polarizing chirophotonic crystal films
      maintain excellent thermal, mechanical, and chemical stabilities, and the
      composition can readily be applied as polarized optical films and smart paints.

PMID- 27643820
TI  - A Luminescent Zirconium(IV) Complex as a Molecular Photosensitizer for Visible
      Light Photoredox Catalysis.
AB  - Titanium and zirconium complexes carrying two 2,6-bis(pyrrolyl)pyridine ligands
      have been synthesized and characterized. The neutral complexes Ti(MePDP)2 and
      Zr(MePDP)2 (MePDP = 2,6-bis(5-methyl-3-phenyl-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)pyridine) show
      intense ligand-to-metal charge-transfer bands in the visible region and undergo
      multiple reversible redox events under highly reducing conditions. Zr(MePDP)2
      exhibits photoluminescent behavior and its excited state can be quenched by mild
      reductants to generate a powerful electron transfer reagent with a ground state
      potential of -2.16 V vs Fc+/0. This reactivity was utilized to facilitate
      dehalogenation reactions, the reduction of electron-poor olefins, and the
      reductive coupling of benzyl bromide via photoredox catalysis. In these
      reactions, the earth-abundant metal complex Zr(MePDP)2 acts as a substitute for
      the precious metal photosensitizer [Ru(bpy)3]2+.

PMID- 27643821
TI  - Nontargeted LC-MSn Profiling of Compounds in Ileal Fluids That Decrease after
      Raspberry Intake Identifies Consistent Alterations in Bile Acid Composition.
AB  - Ileostomy studies provide a unique insight into the digestion of foods, allowing
      identification of physiologically relevant dietary phytochemicals and their
      metabolites that are important to gut health. We previously reported an increase
      of components, including novel triterpenoids, in ileal fluids of 11 ileostomates
      following consumption of raspberries using nontargeted LC-MSn techniques in
      combination with data deconvolution software. The current study focused on
      components that consistently decreased postsupplementation. After data
      deconvolution, 32 components were identified that met exclusion parameters of m/z
      signals and which decreased significantly in ileal fluids from eight of 11
      participants post-raspberry supplementation. Two-thirds of these components were
      identified putatively from their MS properties. Consistent decreases were
      observed in components that possibly reflected "washing out" of
      presupplementation intake of common foods/drinks including (poly)phenol
      metabolites. Metabolites associated with fat metabolism such as hydroxylated
      fatty acids and cholate-type bile acids were specifically reduced. However, more
      directed re-examination of the data revealed that although some cholates were
      consistently reduced, the more polar glyco- and tauro-linked bile acid
      derivatives increased consistently, by as much as 100-fold over
      presupplementation levels. The possible reasons for these substantial alterations
      in bile acid composition in ileal fluids in response to raspberry intake are
      discussed.

PMID- 27643822
TI  - New Perspectives in the Treatment of Advanced Gastric Cancer: S-1 as a Novel Oral
      5-FU Therapy in Combination with Cisplatin.
AB  - Oral fluoropyrimidines have been available for more than 10 years. Capecitabine
      is well established in treating solid tumors in Europe. S-1 (Teysuno(r)), an oral
      formulation containing the 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) prodrug tegafur and the two
      enzyme modulators gimeracil and oteracil, has not been available in non-Asia
      countries until recently. In Japan, S-1 in combination with cisplatin is the
      recommended first-line treatment in patients with gastric cancer. In Europe, the
      first trials with S-1 were disappointing due to high unacceptable incidences of
      adverse events. Pharmacokinetic studies showed differences in Asian and Caucasian
      patients; therefore, a new non-Asian study program was initiated, which led to
      the pivotal phase 3 trial First-Line Advanced Gastric Cancer Study (FLAGS). In
      FLAGS, 1,053 patients with advanced gastric cancer from 24 non-Asian countries
      were enrolled. S-1 plus cisplatin showed no overall survival (OS) benefit when
      compared to 5-FU plus cisplatin. The primary endpoint superior OS was not met but
      better tolerability was shown. A post hoc noninferiority OS and safety analysis
      showed that S-1 plus cisplatin has the same efficacy as 5-FU plus cisplatin but a
      more favorable safety profile. This led to the approval of S-1 in combination
      with cisplatin in gastric cancer in Europe in 2011. This article reviews the mode
      of action of S-1, pivotal study results from an EU point of view, and future
      perspectives.

PMID- 27643823
TI  - Targeted Smart pH and Thermoresponsive N,O-Carboxymethyl Chitosan Conjugated
      Nanogels for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy of Doxorubicin in MCF-7 Breast Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - In cancer treatment, developing ideal anticancer drug delivery systems to target
      tumor microenvironment by circumventing various physiological barriers still
      remains a daunting challenge. Here, in our work, a series of pH- and temperature
      responsive nanogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-1-propene-2-3
      dicarboxylate-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonate [poly(NIPAAm-IA-AMPS)]
      cross-linked by ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were synthesized by random
      copolymerization. The molar ratio between monomer-comonomers-cross-linker was
      varied to fine-tune the optimum responsiveness of the nanogels. These optimized
      nanogels were further coupled to N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan (NOCC)
      stoichiometrically using EDC-NHS coupling chemistry to enhance the swelling
      behavior at lower pH. Interestingly, these NOCC-g-nanogels, when dispersed in
      aqueous media under sonication, attain nanosize and retain their high water
      retention capacity with conspicuous pH and temperature responsiveness (viz.
      nanogel shrinkage in size beyond 35  degrees C and swelled at acidic pH) in
      vitro, as reflected by dynamic light scattering data. Doxorubicin (DOX), a potent
      anticancer drug, was loaded into these nanogels using the physical entrapment
      method. These drug-loaded nanogels exhibited a slow and sustained DOX release
      profile at physiological temperature and cytosolic pH. Furthermore, confocal and
      TEM results demonstrate that these nanogels were swiftly internalized by MCF-7
      cells, and cell viability data showed preferential heightened cytotoxicity toward
      cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB231) compared to the MCF10A cells (human breast
      epithelial cell). Furthermore, intracellular DNA damage and cell cycle arrest
      assays suggest a mitochondrial mediated apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. This study
      substantiates our NOCC-g-nanogel platform as an excellent modality for passive
      diffusive loading and targeted release of entrapped drug(s) at physiological
      conditions in a controlled way for the improved therapeutic efficacy of the drug
      in anticancer treatment.

PMID- 27643824
TI  - A Method To Measure Protein Unfolding at an Air-Liquid Interface.
AB  - Proteins are surface-active molecules that have a propensity to adsorb to
      hydrophobic interfaces, such as the air-liquid interface. Surface flow can
      increase aggregation of adsorbed proteins, which may be an undesirable
      consequence depending on the application. As changes in protein conformation upon
      adsorption are thought to induce aggregation, the ability to measure the folded
      state of proteins at interfaces is of particular interest. However, few
      techniques currently exist to measure protein conformation at interfaces. Here we
      describe a technique capable of measuring the hydrophobicity, and therefore the
      conformation and folded state, of proteins at air-liquid interfaces by exploiting
      the environmentally sensitive fluorophore Nile red. Two monoclonal antibodies
      (mAbs) with high (mAb1) and low (mAb2) surface activity were used to highlight
      the technique. Both mAbs showed low background fluorescence of Nile red in the
      liquid subphase and at a glass-liquid interface. In contrast, at the air-liquid
      interface Nile red fluorescence for mAb1 increased immediately after protein
      adsorption, whereas the Nile red fluorescence of the mAb2 film evolved more
      slowly in time even though the adsorbed quantity of protein remained constant.
      The results demonstrate that hydrophobicity upon mAb adsorption to the air-liquid
      interface evolves in a time-dependent manner. Interfacial hydrophobicity may be
      indicative of protein conformation or folded state, where rapid unfolding of mAb1
      upon adsorption would be consistent with increased protein aggregation compared
      to mAb2. The ability to measure protein hydrophobicity at interfaces using Nile
      red, combined with small sample requirements and minimal sample preparation,
      fills a gap in existing interfacial techniques.

PMID- 27643825
TI  - Giant Periorbital Verrucoid Plaque: Challenge.

PMID- 27643826
TI  - Persistent Hemorrhagic Crusted Papules on the Lower Lip and Chin: Challenge.

PMID- 27643827
TI  - Giant Periorbital Verrucoid Plaque: Answer.

PMID- 27643828
TI  - Persistent Hemorrhagic Crusted Papules on the Lower Lip and Chin: Answer.

PMID- 27643829
TI  - Novel Cutaneous Manifestations of Pleuroparenchymal Fibroelastosis.
AB  - Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) is a rare progressive disease that
      manifests as parenchymal fibrosis of the upper lobe and pleura. Approximately 100
      cases have been reported. Cutaneous manifestations of PPFE have not previously
      been described. Diagnosis is dependent on histologic identification of fibrosis
      with atypical elastic fibers, necessitating an invasive peripheral lung wedge
      biopsy.A 68-year-old male with a history of pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis
      presented with an asymptomatic, telangiectatic erythematous eruption on bilateral
      lower extremities. Biopsies demonstrated a subtle perivascular infiltrate with
      marked increase in atypical elastic fibers, similar to the elastosis in the
      patient's lungs.This is the first documented case of cutaneous manifestations in
      PPFE. Clinicians need to be aware that cutaneous eruptions clinically simulating
      telangiectasia macularis eruptiva perstans but lacking a mast cell infiltrate
      histologically, may have increased abnormal elastic fibers. Thus, early
      recognition of these lesions in patients with an undefined restrictive lung
      disorder, may facilitate the diagnosis of PPFE in some patients. 

PMID- 27643830
TI  - Kinetic Stability of Proteins in Beans and Peas: Implications for Protein
      Digestibility, Seed Germination, and Plant Adaptation.
AB  - Kinetically stable proteins (KSPs) are resistant to the denaturing detergent
      sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Such resilience makes KSPs resistant to proteolytic
      degradation and may have arisen in nature as a mechanism for organismal
      adaptation and survival against harsh conditions. Legumes are well-known for
      possessing degradation-resistant proteins that often diminish their nutritional
      value. Here we applied diagonal two-dimensional (D2D) SDS-polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis (PAGE), a method that allows for the proteomics-level
      identification of KSPs, to a group of 12 legumes (mostly beans and peas) of
      agricultural and nutritional importance. Our proteomics results show beans that
      are more difficult to digest, such as soybean, lima beans, and various common
      beans, have high contents of KSPs. In contrast, mung bean, red lentil, and
      various peas that are highly digestible contain low amounts of KSPs. Identified
      proteins with high kinetic stability are associated with warm-season beans, which
      germinate at higher temperatures. In contrast, peas and red lentil, which are
      cool-season legumes, contain low levels of KSPs. Thus, our results show protein
      kinetic stability is an important factor in the digestibility of legume proteins
      and may relate to nutrition efficiency, timing of seed germination, and legume
      resistance to biotic stressors. Furthermore, we show D2D SDS-PAGE is a powerful
      method that could be applied for determining the abundance and identity of KSPs
      in engineered and wild legumes and for advancing basic research and associated
      applications.

PMID- 27643831
TI  - Complex Inversion of MRT Signals under Different Loop Configurations for
      Groundwater Exploration.
AB  - Surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) is a relatively new geophysical method
      for non-invasive groundwater exploration and aquifer characterization.
      Conventional SNMR surveys based on one-dimensional (1-D) inversion of amplitude
      data recorded only using coincident loops provide limited or distorted
      groundwater distribution information, especially in regions with strong lateral
      heterogeneity and complicated hydrological environments. The simplistic approach
      limits the applicability and efficiency of SNMR, which was therefore made more
      effective in this study using a sophisticated signal response formulation. The
      elliptical polarization parameters of the excitation magnetic fields and 2-D
      sensitivity kernels (including real and imaginary parts) of three commonly used
      loop configurations were first calculated. After all the individual complex
      signals of five simulated measurement series along a profile were incorporated.
      The 2-D magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) complex inversion scheme was then
      used to perform high resolution tomography of synthetic models under the three
      loop configurations, taking full advantage of the different sensitivity
      distributions offered by the different loop configurations and the high
      sensitivity of the imaginary parts of signals to deep structures. Contrast
      analyses of the tomographic results showed that the complex inversions
      significantly decreased model ambiguities and increased depth resolution even
      with artificial noise added. Coincident loop measurements usually gave the best
      vertical resolution, and separated loops provided better lateral resolution.
      However, various factors would influence phase data, meaning that the complex
      inversion of field data is neither very reliable nor very common at present.

PMID- 27643832
TI  - Total Synthesis and Structural Reassignment of (+/-)-Cereoanhydride.
AB  - The first total synthesis of (+/-)-cereoanhydride has been achieved under the
      inspiration of its biosynthetic hypothesis. The tricyclic skeleton of
      trypethelone, the proposed biosynthetic precursor of cereoanhydride, was
      constructed by an interesting ring expansion of cyclobutenone in one step in
      which the introduced acetyl group is pivotal to avoid the following aerial
      oxidation. On the basis of X-ray crystallographic analysis, the structure of
      cereoanhydride is reassigned to a spiroketal structure 2, which should be formed
      through an isomerization of the originally proposed structure 1.

PMID- 27643833
TI  - The epidemiology of chronic pain.

PMID- 27643834
TI  - Does association of opioid use with pain and function differ by fibromyalgia or
      widespread pain status?
AB  - Many consider chronic opioid therapy (COT) to be ineffective for fibromyalgia,
      but empirical evidence is limited. Among patients identified as initiating COT,
      we examined whether fibromyalgia was associated with different relationships of
      opioid use to pain and activity interference outcomes 12 months later. We
      obtained electronic data on diagnoses and opioid prescriptions. We obtained
      patient self-report data, including pain and activity interference measures, at
      baseline, 4 months, and 12 months. Among 1218 patients, 429 (35%) met our
      definition of fibromyalgia. Patients with and without fibromyalgia who had
      intermittent/lower-dose or regular/higher-dose opioid use at 12 months had
      similar 12-month pain intensity scores. However, among patients with minimal/no
      opioid use at 12 months, 12-month pain intensity was greater for those with
      fibromyalgia (adjusted mean = 5.15 [95% confidence interval, 4.80-5.51]; 0-10
      scale) than for those without (4.44 [4.15-4.72]). Similar patterns were observed
      for 12-month activity interference. Among patients who discontinued opioids by 12
      months, those with fibromyalgia were more likely to report bothersome side
      effects and less likely to report pain improvement as important reasons for
      discontinuation (P < 0.05). In sum, at 12 months, among patients who had
      discontinued opioids or used them minimally, those with fibromyalgia had worse
      outcomes and were less likely to have discontinued because of pain improvement.
      Among patients continuing COT, pain and activity interference outcomes were worse
      than those of patients with minimal/no opioid use and did not differ for those
      with fibromyalgia vs those with diverse other chronic pain conditions.

PMID- 27643835
TI  - The impact of peripheral nerve blocks on perioperative outcome in hip and knee
      arthroplasty-a population-based study.
AB  - The role of anesthesia techniques on perioperative outcomes on a population level
      has recently gained widespread interest. Although mainly neuraxial vs general
      anesthesia has been addressed, population-level data on the impact of peripheral
      nerve blocks (PNBs) are still lacking. Therefore, we investigated the association
      between PNB use and outcomes using retrospective data on 1,062,152 recipients of
      hip and knee arthroplasties (total hip arthroplasty [THA]/total knee arthroplasty
      [TKA]) from the national Premier Perspective database (2006-2013). Multilevel
      multivariable logistic regression models measured associations between PNB use
      and outcomes. Complications included cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and
      renal complications, cerebrovascular events, infections, wound complications,
      thromboembolic complications, inpatient falls, and mortality. Resource
      utilization variables included blood transfusions, intensive care unit
      admissions, opioid consumption, cost, and length of stay. Overall, 12.5% of
      patients received a PNB, with an increase over time particularly among TKAs.
      Peripheral nerve block use was associated with lower odds for most adverse
      outcomes mainly among patients with THA. Notable beneficial effects were seen for
      wound complications (odds ratio 0.60 [95% confidence interval, 0.49-0.74]) among
      THA recipients and pulmonary complications (odds ratio 0.83 [95% confidence
      interval, 0.72-0.94]) in patients with TKA. Peripheral nerve block use was
      significantly (P < 0.0001) associated with a -16.2% and -12.7% reduction in
      opioid consumption for patients with THA and TKA, respectively. In conclusion,
      our results indicate that PNBs might be associated with superior perioperative
      population-level outcomes. In light of the inability to establish a causal
      relationship and the presence of residual confounding, we strongly advocate for
      further prospective investigation, ideally in multicenter, randomized trials, to
      establish the potential impact of PNBs on outcomes on a population level.

PMID- 27643837
TI  - Harnessing positive placebo effect and minimize negative nocebo effect: the art
      of a healing profession.

PMID- 27643836
TI  - Cross-centre replication of suppressed burrowing behaviour as an ethologically
      relevant pain outcome measure in the rat: a prospective multicentre study.
AB  - Burrowing, an ethologically relevant rodent behaviour, has been proposed as a
      novel outcome measure to assess the global impact of pain in rats. In a
      prospective multicentre study using male rats (Wistar, Sprague-Dawley),
      replication of suppressed burrowing behaviour in the complete Freund adjuvant
      (CFA)-induced model of inflammatory pain (unilateral, 1 mg/mL in 100 uL) was
      evaluated in 11 studies across 8 centres. Following a standard protocol, data
      from participating centres were collected centrally and analysed with a
      restricted maximum likelihood-based mixed model for repeated measures. The total
      population (TP-all animals allocated to treatment; n = 249) and a selected
      population (SP-TP animals burrowing over 500 g at baseline; n = 200) were
      analysed separately, assessing the effect of excluding "poor" burrowers. Mean
      baseline burrowing across studies was 1113 g (95% confidence interval: 1041-1185
      g) for TP and 1329 g (1271-1387 g) for SP. Burrowing was significantly suppressed
      in the majority of studies 24 hours (7 studies/population) and 48 hours (7 TP, 6
      SP) after CFA injections. Across all centres, significantly suppressed burrowing
      peaked 24 hours after CFA injections, with a burrowing deficit of -374 g (-479 to
      -269 g) for TP and -498 g (-609 to -386 g) for SP. This unique multicentre
      approach first provided high-quality evidence evaluating suppressed burrowing as
      robust and reproducible, supporting its use as tool to infer the global effect of
      pain on rodents. Second, our approach provided important informative value for
      the use of multicentre studies in the future. 

PMID- 27643838
TI  - Curcumin reduces pain in DOMS.

PMID- 27643839
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27643840
TI  - In vitro and long-term (2-year follow-up) in vivo osteogenic activities of human
      periosteum-derived osteoblasts seeded into growth factor-releasing
      polycaprolactone/pluronic F127 beads scaffolds.
AB  - Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester that is bioresorbable and
      biocompatible, and is widely used in medical fields. This study examines in vitro
      and in vivo osteogenic activities of cultured human periosteum-derived
      osteoblasts (POs) seeded into growth factor (bone morphogenic protein 2 [BMP-2]
      or vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF])-releasing scaffolds of PCL beads
      coated with Pluronic F127. Each growth factor immobilized in the PCL/F127 is
      cumulatively released from the beads for more than 40 days (up to 3.04 +/- 0.08
      ng mg-1 BMP-2 and 3.41 +/- 0.18 ng mg-1 VEGF in 42 days). Long-term (~2 years)
      experimental results obtained in a miniature pig model suggest that POs seeded
      into BMP-2 + VEGF-releasing PCL/P-F127 beads are the most effective for bone
      repair. In in vitro assays, osteogenic activities were higher in POs seeded into
      BMP-2-releasing PCL/Pluronic F127 beads at earlier time points and in POs seeded
      into BMP-2 + VEGF-releasing PCL/Pluronic F127 beads at later time points. These
      results suggest that the combination of BMP-2 and VEGF more sufficiently
      stimulates (in particular at late time points) osteoblast differentiation of POs
      seeded in the PCL/F127 in vitro and in vivo, and thus allows effective bone
      regeneration. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A:
      363-376, 2017.

PMID- 27643841
TI  - HiChIP: efficient and sensitive analysis of protein-directed genome architecture.
AB  - Genome conformation is central to gene control but challenging to interrogate.
      Here we present HiChIP, a protein-centric chromatin conformation method. HiChIP
      improves the yield of conformation-informative reads by over 10-fold and lowers
      the input requirement over 100-fold relative to that of ChIA-PET. HiChIP of
      cohesin reveals multiscale genome architecture with greater signal-to-background
      ratios than those of in situ Hi-C.

PMID- 27643842
TI  - AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGISTS AND AMERICAN COLLEGE OF
      ENDOCRINOLOGY DISEASE STATE CLINICAL REVIEW: DIAGNOSIS OF RECURRENCE IN CUSHING
      DISEASE.
AB  - : Recurrence of hypercortisolemia after initial treatment of Cushing disease (CD)
      is more common than previously thought, with a third of patients suffering a
      recurrence over their lifetime. Awareness of this high rate and delayed timeline
      (sometimes decades) of potential recurrence is critical and patients with CD
      should be monitored at regular intervals throughout their lives. In this
      manuscript, we review the complex evaluation needed for defining CD remission
      versus persistent disease after surgery, and focus on challenges in diagnosing
      early recurrent hypercortisolemia. Late night salivary cortisol appears to be an
      earlier predictor of recurrence when compared with urinary free cortisol (UFC)
      excretion. We also review the criteria suggested to define recurrence of
      hypercortisolemia in patients treated with medical therapy. Further research is
      needed to determine the optimal way to evaluate a patient with CD recurrence as
      well as the riskbenefit ratio of treatment in early, mild recurrent disease.
      ABBREVIATIONS: ACTH = adrenocorticotropic hormone AI = adrenal insufficiency CD =
      Cushing disease CDDT = coupled dexamethasone desmopressin test CR = circadian
      rhythm CRH = corticotropin-releasing hormone GC = glucocorticoid GCR = global
      clinical response HPA = hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal LDDST = low-dose
      dexamethasone suppression test LNSC = late-night salivary cortisol ODST =
      overnight dexamethasone suppression test TSS = trans-sphenoidal surgery.

PMID- 27643843
TI  - Building the nation's body: The contested role of abortion and family planning in
      post-war South Sudan.
AB  - This paper offers an ethnographic analysis of public health policies and
      interventions targeting unwanted pregnancy (family planning and abortion) in
      contemporary South Sudan as part of wider 'nation-building' after war, understood
      as a process of collective identity formation which projects a meaningful future
      by redefining existing institutions and customs as national characteristics. The
      paper shows how the expansion of post-conflict family planning and abortion
      policy and services are particularly poignant sites for the enactment of
      reproductive identity negotiation, policing and conflict. In addition to
      customary norms, these processes are shaped by two powerful institutions - ethnic
      movements and global humanitarian actors - who tend to take opposing stances on
      reproductive health. Drawing on document review, observations of the media and
      policy environment and interviews conducted with 54 key informants between 2013
      and 2015, the paper shows that during the civil war, the Sudan People's
      Liberation Army and Movement mobilised customary pro-natalist ideals for military
      gain by entreating women to amplify reproduction to replace those lost to war and
      rejecting family planning and abortion. International donors and the Ministry of
      Health have re-conceptualised such services as among other modern developments
      denied by war. The tensions between these competing discourses have given rise to
      a range of societal responses, including disagreements that erupt in legal
      battles, heated debate and even violence towards women and health workers. In
      United Nations camps established recently as parts of South Sudan have returned
      to war, social groups exert a form of reproductive surveillance, policing
      reproductive health practices and contributing to intra-communal violence when
      clandestine use of contraception or abortion is discovered. In a context where
      modern contraceptives and abortion services are largely unfamiliar, conflict
      around South Sudan's nation-building project is partially manifest through
      tensions and violence in the domain of reproduction.

PMID- 27643844
TI  - Illness identity as an important component of candidacy: Contrasting experiences
      of help-seeking and access to care in cancer and heart disease.
AB  - How and when we use health services or healthcare provision has dominated
      exploration of and debates around healthcare access. Levels of utilisation are
      assumed as a proxy for access. Yet, focusing on utilisation conceals an important
      aspect of the access conundrum: the relationships that patients and potential
      patients have with the healthcare system and the professionals within those
      systems. Candidacy has been proposed as an antidote to traditional utilisation
      models. The Candidacy construct offers the ability to include patient
      professional aspects alongside utilisation and thus promotes a deeper
      understanding of access. Originally applied to healthcare access for vulnerable
      populations, additional socio-demographic factors, including age and ethnicity,
      have also been shown to influence the Candidacy process. Here we propose a
      further extension of the Candidacy construct and illustrate the importance of
      illness identities when accessing healthcare. Drawing on a secondary data
      analysis of three data sets of qualitative interviews from colorectal cancer and
      heart failure patients we found that though similar access issues are apparent
      pre-diagnosis, diagnosis marks a critical juncture in the experience of access.
      Cancer patients describe a person-centred responsive healthcare system where
      their patienthood requires only modest assertion. Cancer speaks for itself. In
      marked contrast heart failure patients, describe struggling within a seemingly
      impermeable system to understand their illness, its implications and their own
      legitimacy as patients. Our work highlights the pressing need for healthcare
      professionals, systems and policies to promote a person centred approach, which
      is responsive and timely, regardless of illness category. To achieve this,
      attitudes regarding the importance or priority afforded to different categories
      of illness need to be tackled as they directly influence ideas of Candidacy and
      consequently access and experiences of care.

PMID- 27643845
TI  - Peer influence as a potential magnifier of ADHD diagnosis.
AB  - The prevalence of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is growing
      in America, but its cause is unclear. Scholars have identified many environmental
      factors that can cause or confound ADHD diagnosis, but epidemiological studies
      that try to control for confounding factors still find evidence that rates of
      ADHD diagnosis are increasing. As a preliminary explanation to ADHD's increasing
      prevalence, this article examines whether core ADHD diagnostic traits are subject
      to peer influence. If ADHD diagnosis can be confounded by peer influence, there
      are several mechanisms that could have caused increased rates of diagnosis. With
      data drawn from two schools across three waves in the National Longitudinal
      Survey of Adolescent Health (n = 2193), the author uses a stochastic actor
      oriented model to estimate the effect of peer influence on inattention,
      controlling for alternative network and behavioral causes. Results indicate that
      respondents have a strong likelihood to modify their self-reports of inattention,
      a core ADHD trait, to resemble that of their friends.

PMID- 27643846
TI  - Beyond the visual and verbal: Using participant-produced photographs in research
      on the surroundings for care at the end-of-life.
AB  - The web of relationships between wellbeing and the environments in which people
      live has long been recognized. However, relatively little research has been
      conducted about end-of-life surroundings from the perspective of the dying
      person. In this study, we investigate which aspects of their surroundings are
      particularly meaningful for the people inhabiting them in the last phases of
      life, based on participant-produced photographs with follow-up interviews. Twenty
      three people were purposefully recruited via specialized in-patient palliative
      care/hospice units, specialized palliative care home care teams, and residential
      care facilities for the elderly. Participants were given a digital camera, and
      asked to take pictures of that which was meaningful for them in their
      surroundings. The interviewer later viewed the photographs with the participant,
      asking: "what is this picture of?" and "why is it meaningful to you?" The
      database consists of 76 photographs with follow-up interviews, which were
      analyzed qualitatively in an iterative process. These empirical data demonstrate
      how a sense of being valued, and of being able to maintain contacts with one's
      daily life and sense of identity appear supported or hindered by features of the
      care surroundings. These features include a positive aesthetic experience
      incorporating both sensory stimulation using one's body as well as general
      ambiance; support appropriate for maintaining a sense of functional independence;
      and connections with one's past, present and future as a person within a wider
      world. Corporeality appears crucial for understanding, negotiating and
      interacting in one's surroundings, while maintaining both physical and social
      function. This data collection approach was found to offer alternative forms of
      expression as verbal ability decreases and symptom burden increases, making it
      useful in end-of-life research and practice development.

PMID- 27643847
TI  - Mechanisms linking intimate partner violence and prevention of mother-to-child
      transmission of HIV: A qualitative study in South Africa.
AB  - Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) can virtually eliminate HIV
      infection among infants, yet up to one-third of women miss PMTCT steps. Little is
      known about how partner dynamics such as intimate partner violence (IPV)
      influence pregnant and postpartum women's adherence to PMTCT. We conducted 32
      qualitative interviews with HIV-positive pregnant and postpartum women in
      Johannesburg who experienced IPV. Trained researchers conducted in-depth
      interviews over the period of May 2014-Nov 2015 using narrative and social
      constructionist approaches. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed
      thematically and inductively using Dedoose qualitative software. Twenty-six women
      experienced recent IPV and one-third had poor adherence to PMTCT. Women's
      experience of partner violence influenced PMTCT behaviors through four pathways.
      First, fear of partner disclosure led some women to hide their HIV status to
      avoid a violent reaction. Despite strategic non-disclosure, several maintained
      good adherence by hiding medication or moving out from their partner's home.
      Second, IPV caused feelings of depression and anxiety that led to intentionally
      or accidentally missing medication. Five women stopped treatment altogether, in a
      type of passive suicidality, hoping to end the distress of IPV. Third, men's
      controlling behaviors reduced access to friends and family, limiting social
      support needed for good adherence. Fourth, in a protective pathway, women
      reported good adherence partly due to their mothering role. The identity around
      motherhood was used as a coping technique, reminding women that their infant's
      wellbeing depended on their own health. PMTCT is essential to prevent vertical
      HIV transmission, but women living with IPV face multiple pathways to non
      adherence. Addressing IPV in antenatal care can support the health of women and
      infants and may enhance PMTCT coverage.

PMID- 27643848
TI  - Idarucizumab for dabigatran reversal - Does one dose fit all?

PMID- 27643849
TI  - Microencapsulated krill and tuna oil blend raises plasma long-chain n-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acid levels compared to tuna oil with similar increases in
      ileal contractility in rats.
AB  - Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) may be more bioavailable
      from krill oil compared to fish oil due to their phospholipid structure. We
      tested whether a microencapsulated krill and tuna oil blend (ME-TOKO) provided
      greater LC n-3 PUFA bioavailability, improved blood lipid profiles and increased
      intestinal contractility compared to microencapsulated tuna oil (ME-TO). Rats
      were divided into three groups to receive isocaloric diets containing ME-TO, ME
      TOKO and microencapsulated olive oil (ME-OO) at 0.3 or 2 g/100 g for 4 weeks.
      Final body and organ weights, feed intake and waste output were similar. ME-TOKO
      rats had higher plasma total LC n-3 PUFA levels compared to ME-TO, but liver LC n
      3 PUFA levels and plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels were similar in non
      fasted rats. Diets containing 2% ME-TO and ME-TOKO also showed similar increases
      in ileal contractility. In summary, ME-TO bioavailability of LC n-3 PUFA was
      similar to ME-TOKO.

PMID- 27643850
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of psychosocial conditions among people living with HIV
      in southern India.
AB  - Psychosocial conditions such as depression, intimate partner violence (IPV), and
      history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) have been associated with poor HIV
      related outcomes. In India, which has the third largest HIV epidemic in the
      world, little is understood about the impact of psychosocial conditions on people
      living with HIV (PLHIV). We aimed to understand the prevalence and correlates of
      psychosocial conditions among PLHIV entering into HIV care at the Y.R. Gaitonde
      Centre for AIDS Research and Education in Chennai, India. Thirteen questions were
      added to the standard voluntary counseling and testing questionnaire, including
      the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (a depression scale) and questions assessing
      for CSA and IPV. We fitted logistic regression models, stratified by gender, with
      psychosocial condition as the outcome of interest and substance use variables and
      socio-demographic variables as the correlates of interest. Three hundred and
      eighty-three persons were enrolled into the study; of these, 253 (66%) tested
      positive for HIV, including 149 men and 104 women, and were included in the
      models. More than one-quarter (28%) of the men and 19% of the women reported at
      least one psychosocial condition (probable depression, CSA, or IPV). In adjusted
      analysis, current alcohol use was associated with greater than two times higher
      odds of a psychosocial condition (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 2.24, 95% CI, 1.04-4.85)
      among men. In conclusion, we estimated the prevalence of probable depression,
      CSA, and IPV among PLHIV presenting for HIV care in southern India and found
      that, among male PLHIV, alcohol use was associated with a markedly higher odds of
      reporting a psychosocial condition. Further study is needed to characterize
      alcohol use among male PLHIV and the possible deleterious impact of psychosocial
      conditions and alcohol use on HIV-related outcomes in India.

PMID- 27643851
TI  - Mitochondrial DNA and two Y-chromosome genes of common long-tailed macaques
      (Macaca fascicularis fascicularis) throughout Thailand and vicinity.
AB  - Macaca fascicularis fascicularis is distributed over a wide area of Southeast
      Asia. Thailand is located at the center of their distribution range and is the
      bridge connecting the two biogeographic regions of Indochina and Sunda. However,
      only a few genetic studies have explored the macaques in this region. To shed
      some light on the evolutionary history of M. f. fascicularis, including
      hybridization with M. mulatta, M. f. fascicularis and M. mulatta samples of known
      origins throughout Thailand and the vicinity were analyzed by molecular
      phylogenetics using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), including the hypervariable region
      1, and Y-chromosomal DNA, including SRY and TSPY genes. The mtDNA phylogenetic
      analysis divided M. f. fascicularis into five subclades (Insular Indonesia,
      Sundaic Thai Gulf, Vietnam, Sundaic Andaman sea coast, and Indochina) and
      revealed genetic differentiation between the two sides of the Thai peninsula,
      which had previously been reported as a single group of Malay peninsular
      macaques. From the estimated divergence time of the Sundaic Andaman sea coast
      subclade, it is proposed that after M. f. fascicularis dispersed throughout
      Southeast Asia, some populations on the south-easternmost Indochina (eastern
      Thailand, southern Cambodia and southern Vietnam at the present time) migrated
      south-westwards across the land bridge, which was exposed during the glacial
      period of the late Pleistocene epoch, to the southernmost Thailand/northern
      peninsular Malaysia. Then, some of them migrated north and south to colonize the
      Thai Andaman sea coast and northern Sumatra, respectively. The SRY-TSPY
      phylogenetic analysis suggested that male-mediated gene flow from M. mulatta
      southward to M. f. fascicularis was restricted south of, but close to, the
      Isthmus of Kra. There was a strong impact of the geographical factors in
      Thailand, such as the Isthmus of Kra, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Phuket ranges and
      Sundaland, on M. f. fascicularis biogeography and their hybridization with M.
      mulatta.

PMID- 27643852
TI  - Differential deposition of H2A.Z in combination with histone modifications within
      related genes in Oryza sativa callus and seedling.
AB  - As a histone variant, H2A.Z is highly conserved among species and plays a
      significant role in diverse cellular processes. Here, we generated genome-wide
      maps of H2A.Z in Oryza sativa (rice) callus and seedling by combining chromatin
      immunoprecipitation using H2A.Z antibody and high-throughput sequencing. We found
      a significantly high peak and a small peak of H2A.Z distributed at the 5' and 3'
      ends of highly expressed genes, respectively. H2A.Z was also associated with
      inactive genes in both tissues. H3 lysine 4 trimethylation was associated with
      H2A.Z deposition at the 5' end of expressed genes, and H3 lysine 27
      trimethylation peaks were partially associated with H2A.Z. In summary, our study
      provides global analysis data for the distribution of H2A.Z in the rice genome.
      Our results demonstrate that the differential deposition of H2A.Z might play
      important roles in gene transcription during rice development.

PMID- 27643853
TI  - Q&A: How does jasmonate signaling enable plants to adapt and survive?
AB  - Jasmonates (JAs) are a class of plant hormones that play essential roles in
      response to tissue wounding. They act on gene expression to slow down growth and
      to redirect metabolism towards producing defense molecules and repairing damage.
      These responses are systemic and have dramatic impacts on yields, making JAs a
      very active research area. JAs interact with many other plant hormones and
      therefore also have essential functions throughout development, notably during
      plant reproduction, leaf senescence and in response to many biotic and abiotic
      stresses.

PMID- 27643854
TI  - Chemical Inhibitors of Non-Homologous End Joining Increase Targeted Construct
      Integration in Cryptococcus neoformans.
AB  - The development of a biolistic transformation protocol for Cryptococcus
      neoformans over 25 years ago ushered in a new era of molecular characterization
      of virulence in this previously intractable fungal pathogen. However, due to the
      low rate of homologous recombination in this species, the process of creating
      targeted gene deletions using biolistic transformation remains inefficient. To
      overcome the corresponding difficulty achieving molecular genetic modifications,
      members of the Cryptococcus community have investigated the use of specific
      genetic backgrounds or construct design strategies aimed at reducing ectopic
      construct integration via non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). One such approach
      involves deletion of components of the NHEJ-associated Ku heterodimer. While this
      strategy increases homologous recombination to nearly 100%, it also restricts
      strain generation to a ku80Delta genetic background and requires subsequent
      complex mating procedures to reestablish wild-type DNA repair. In this study, we
      have investigated the ability of known inhibitors of mammalian NHEJ to
      transiently phenocopy the C. neoformans Ku deletion strains. Testing of eight
      candidate inhibitors revealed a range of efficacies in C. neoformans, with the
      most promising compound (W7) routinely increasing the rate of gene deletion to
      over 50%. We have successfully employed multiple inhibitors to reproducibly
      enhance the deletion rate at multiple loci, demonstrating a new, easily applied
      methodology to expedite acquisition of precise genetic alterations in C.
      neoformans. Based on this success, we anticipate that the use of these inhibitors
      will not only become widespread in the Cryptococcus community, but may also find
      use in other fungal species as well. 

PMID- 27643855
TI  - Correction: Genetic Variations in the Vitamin D Receptor Predict Type 2 Diabetes
      and Myocardial Infarction in a Community-Based Population: The Tromso Study.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145359.].

PMID- 27643856
TI  - The effects of embryo culture media on the birthweight of singletons via fresh or
      frozen-thawed embryo transfer: a large-scale retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Embryo culture media used for IVF treatment might affect fetal growth
      and thus birthweight of the newborns. METHODS: A retrospective study was
      conducted in South China using data from 2370 singleton neonates born after
      IVF/ICSI between 2009 and 2012. Two culture media, i.e., either Vitrolife or SAGE
      were used as embryo culture media during the study period. Neonates' birthweights
      were compared between the two embryo culture media groups. RESULTS: Among the
      2370 singletons, 1755 cases came from fresh cleavage embryo transfer while 615
      were from frozen-thawed cleavage embryo transfer. Within the fresh embryo
      transfer newborns, no statistical difference was observed in either birthweight
      (mean +/- SD: 3196.0 +/- 468.9 versus 3168.4 +/- 462.0g, p > 0.05) or adjusted
      birthweight controlled for gestational age and gender (z-score mean +/- SD: 0.11
      +/- 1.02 versus 0.11 +/- 0.99 g, P > 0.05) between the Vitrolife (n = 419) and
      the SAGE group (n = 1336). Likewise within frozen embryo transfer neotates, no
      statistical difference of the birthweight (3300.6 +/- 441.3 vs.3256.0 +/- 466.7
      g, P > 0.05) and adjusted birthweight (0.30 +/- 0.99 g versus 0.29 +/- 0.97 g, P
      > 0.05) was found between the Vitrolife (n = 202) and the SAGE group (n = 413).
      The sex ratio [OR1.17, 95 % CI (0.94-1.46)/OR1.1, 95 % CI (0.78-1.54)], rate of
      small for gestational age [OR1.14, 95 % CI (0.82-1.59)/OR1.06, 95 % CI (0.56
      2.02)] and large for gestational age [OR1.07, 95 % CI (0.64-1.76)/OR0.98, 95 % CI
      (0.47-2.02)] in fresh and frozen-thawed subgourps are all comparable respectively
      between the two culture media. No group differences were found in the rate of low
      birthweight and macosomia. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that
      maternal weight, gestational age, frozen-thawed embryo transfer and infant gender
      were significantly related to neonatal birthweight (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It
      appears that embryos cultured in SAGE or Vitrolife media after fresh or frozen
      thawed cleavage embryo transfer did not affect neonate's birthweight.

PMID- 27643857
TI  - Tidal Volume Delivery and Endotracheal Tube Leak during Cardiopulmonary
      Resuscitation in Intubated Newborn Piglets with Hypoxic Cardiac Arrest Exposed to
      Different Modes of Ventilatory Support.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are few data available on the interaction of inflations, chest
      compressions (CC), and delivery of tidal volumes in newborn infants undergoing
      resuscitation in the presence of endotracheal tube (ET) leaks. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine the effects of different respiratory support strategies along with CC
      on changes in tidal volume and ET leaks in hypoxic newborn piglets with cardiac
      arrest. METHODS: Asphyxiated newborn piglets, intubated with weight-adapted
      uncuffed ET, were randomized into three groups and resuscitated according to
      ILCOR 2010 guidelines: (1) T-piece resuscitator (TPR) group = peak inspiratory
      pressure (PIP)/positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) 25/5 cm H2O, rate 30/min,
      inflations interposed between CC (3:1 ratio); (2) self- inflating bag (SIB) group
      = PIP 25 cm H2O without PEEP, rate 30/min, inflations interposed between CC (3:1
      ratio), and (3) ventilator group = PIP/PEEP of 25/5 cm H2O, rate 30/min. CC were
      applied with a rate of 120/min without synchrony to inflations. RESULTS: We
      observed a significant increase of leak (average increase 11.4%) when CC was
      added to respiratory support (p = 0.0001). Expired tidal volume was larger in the
      SIB group than in the two other modes which both applied PEEP. However, tidal
      volumes caused by CC only were larger in the two groups with PEEP than in the SIB
      group (without PEEP). CONCLUSIONS: There is interaction between lung inflations
      and CC affecting leak and delivery of tidal volume, which may be influenced by
      the mode/device used for respiratory support. Leak is larger in the presence of
      PEEP. However, CC cause additional tidal volume which is larger in the presence
      of PEEP.

PMID- 27643858
TI  - Cerebrospinal Fluid Amyloid Beta and Tau Concentrations Are Not Modulated by 16
      Weeks of Moderate- to High-Intensity Physical Exercise in Patients with Alzheimer
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical exercise may have some effect on cognition in patients with
      Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the underlying biochemical effects are unclear.
      Animal studies have shown that amyloid beta (Abeta), one of the pathological
      hallmarks of AD, can be altered with high levels of physical activity. AIM: The
      objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of 16 weeks of moderate- to
      high-intensity physical exercise on the biomarkers of AD, with special emphasis
      on the amyloidogenic pathway. METHODS: From a total of 53 patients with AD
      participating in the Preserving Cognition, Quality of Life, Physical Health and
      Functional Ability in Alzheimer's Disease: The Effect of Physical Exercise (ADEX)
      study we analyzed cerebrospinal fluid samples for Abeta species, total tau (t
      tau), phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and soluble amyloid precursor protein (sAPP)
      species. We also assessed the patients for apolipoprotein E epsilon4 (ApoE
      epsilon4) genotype. RESULTS: We found no effect of 16 weeks of physical exercise
      on the selected biomarkers, and no effect of ApoE epsilon4 genotype. CONCLUSION:
      Our findings suggest that the possible effect of physical exercise on cognition
      in patients with AD is not due to modulation of Abeta, t-tau, p-tau and sAPP
      species.

PMID- 27643859
TI  - Simultaneous determination of telmisartan and pitavastatin in rat plasma by UPLC
      MS/MS: Application to pharmacokinetic interaction study.
AB  - To investigate the pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction between telmisartan (Tel) and
      pitavastatin (Pit), a rapid and sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometric assay method had been successfully established and
      fully validated for the simultaneous quantification of Tel and Pit in rat plasma.
      A simple protein precipitation procedure was adopted for the sample preparation
      with satisfactory extraction recovery for both analytes and the internal
      standard. The samples were chromatographed on an Inertsil ODS-3 C18 column
      (100mm*2.1mm, 2MUm) using a mixture of acetonitrile and 10mM ammonium acetate
      containing 0.1% formic acid (60: 40, v/v) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of
      0.4mL/min. The calibration curves obtained were linear (r>0.99) over the
      concentration range of 2-200ng/mL for Tel and 1-100ng/mL for Pit, respectively.
      The validated method was successfully applied to the PK study and the data did
      not reveal any evidence for the potential drug-drug interaction (DDI) between Tel
      and Pit. This information would provide the evidence for clinical rational use of
      Tel and Pit, and this study might be applied in therapeutic drug monitoring in
      patients receiving Tel/Pit combinations or single drug.

PMID- 27643860
TI  - Moisture content determination in an antibody-drug conjugate freeze-dried
      medicine by near-infrared spectroscopy: A case study for release testing.
AB  - The use of Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a fast and non-destructive
      technique was employed for moisture content (MC) determination in Antibody-drug
      conjugates (ADCs) in replacement to Karl Fischer (KF) method. The lab analysis of
      ADCs, high potent medicines, should be performed in conditions ensuring the
      operator's safety and using secured analytical tools like NIRS. A NIRS method was
      first developed and validated in compliance with current guidelines. The novelty
      of this work first lies in the large number of samples prepared for a wide
      moisture calibration range of 0.51%-4.01%. Then, the classical Partial Least
      Square (PLS) regression was used as chemometric tool for the computation of the
      model. Excellent predictive calibration results were shown. A coefficient of
      correlation (r) value of 0.99 was obtained. An intercept value of 0.02 and a
      slope of 0.99 were observed, while the root mean square error of calibration
      (RMSEC) and the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) were respectively
      0.10% and 0.12%. In addition, instrumentation, model performances and robustness
      of the method were evaluated, demonstrating the validation results. Calibration
      transfer issue and impact of the number of samples were also evaluated.
      Consequently, a validation strategy was introduced as a basis for submission to
      the health authorities' for release and stability activities in a cGMP
      environment in replacement of the KF method.

PMID- 27643861
TI  - A rapid integrated bioactivity evaluation system based on near-infrared
      spectroscopy for quality control of Flos Chrysanthemi.
AB  - For quality control of herbal medicines or functional foods, integral activity
      evaluation has become more popular in recent studies. The majority of researchers
      focus on the relationship between chromatography/mass spectroscopy and
      bioactivity, but the connection with spectrum-activity is easily ignored. In this
      paper, the near infrared reflection spectra (NIRS) of Flos Chrysanthemi samples
      were collected as a representative spectrum technology, and corresponding anti
      inflammation activities were utilized to illustrate the spectrum-activity study.
      HPLC/Q-TOF-MS identification and heat map clustering were used to select the
      quality markers (Q-marker) from five cultivars of Flos Chrysanthemi. Using
      boxplot analysis and the interval limits of detection (LODs) theory, six crucial
      markers, namely, chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 1,5
      dicaffeoylquinic acid, luteoloside, apigenin-7-O-beta-d-glucoside, and luteolin-7
      O-6-malonylglucoside were screened out. Then partial least squares regression
      (PLSR) calibration models combined with synergy interval partial least squares
      (siPLS) and 12 different spectral pretreatment methods were developed for the
      parameters optimization of these Q-markers in Flos Chrysanthemi powder. After
      comparing the relationship between Q-marker contents and anti-inflammation
      activity via three machine learning approaches and PLSR, back-propagation neural
      network (BP-ANN) displayed a more excellent non-linear fitting effect, as its R
      for new batches reached 0.89. These results indicated that the integrated NIRS
      and bioactive strategy was suitable for fast quality management in Flos
      Chrysanthemi, and also applied to other botanical food quality control.

PMID- 27643862
TI  - Identification and characterization of forced degradation products of
      pralatrexate injection by LC-PDA and LC-MS.
AB  - Pralatrexate (PTXT) is an antineoplastic folate analog and the chemical name is
      (2S)-2-[[4-[(1RS)-1-[(2,4-diaminopteridin-6-yl)methyl]but-3-ynyl] benzoyl] amino]
      pentanedioic acid. Degradation products of PTXT drug product (DP) under different
      forced degradation conditions have been studied using LC-PDA and LC-MS
      techniques. PTXT DP was subjected to forced degradation under the conditions of
      hydrolysis, photolysis, oxidation, and heat in accordance with ICH guidelines.
      The LC-MS compatible HPLC method was developed and stressed solutions were
      chromatographed on reversed phase HPLC. The degradation products were monitored
      at a wavelength of 242nm. Stress study revealed that PTXT was sensitive towards
      acid, alkali, peroxide, light and heat. The degradation impurities (I-IX) were
      identified and characterized using LC-PDA and mass spectral data.

PMID- 27643863
TI  - Treatment of relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in children and
      adolescents with ALL: the Frankfurt experience.
AB  - Therapy for post-transplant relapse of paediatric ALL is limited. Standardised
      curative approaches are not available. We hereby describe our local procedure in
      this life-threatening situation. A total of 101 ALL patients received their first
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in our institution. After relapse, our
      primary therapeutic goal was to cure the patient with high-dose chemotherapy or
      specific immunotherapy (HDCHT/SIT) followed by a second SCT from a haploidentical
      donor (transplant approach). If this was not feasible, low-dose chemotherapy and
      donor lymphocyte infusions (LDCHT+DLI) were offered (non-transplant approach). A
      total of 23 patients suffered a post-transplant relapse. Eight patients received
      HDCHT/SIT, followed by haploidentical SCT in 7/8. Ten received LDCHT+DLI. The
      eight patients treated with a second transplant and the ten treated with the non
      transplant approach had a 4-year overall survival of 56% and 40%, respectively
      (P=0.232). Prerequisites for successful treatment of post-transplant relapse by
      either a second transplant or experimental non-transplant approaches are good
      clinical condition and the capacity to achieve haematological remission by the
      induction treatment element.

PMID- 27643864
TI  - Cryopreservation as a way to maintain extracorporeal photopheresis regimen for
      GvHD treatment while circumventing patient temporary inability to undergo
      apheresis.

PMID- 27643865
TI  - Safety and efficacy of thiotepa-based conditioning for allogeneic transplantation
      in AML: a survey from the ALWP of the EBMT.
AB  - This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of thiotepa-based regimens before
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation in 310 adult patients with AML. Disease
      status at the time of transplantation was CR1 in 50%, CR2+ in 23.5% and advanced
      disease in 26.5%. Transplantation was performed from haploidentical (35%),
      matched sibling (27%), unrelated (20%) or cord blood (18%) donors. As for safety:
      mucositis occurred in 46.8% of the patients and the cumulative incidence (CI) of
      sinusoidal obstruction syndrome was 4.0%. With a median follow-up of 37 months,
      the CI of acute GvHD grade>II was 26.5%, whereas CI of chronic GvHD was 28.1% at
      3 years. CI for non-relapse mortality at 3 years was 38.4%, 49.7% and 45.4% for
      patients in CR1, CR2+ and advanced disease, respectively (P=0.10). Relapse
      incidence at 3 years was 20.2, 30.7 and 40.6% in these three respective groups
      (P=0.002). CI for 3-year leukemia-free survival and overall survival were 41.4%
      and 45.6% (CR1), 19.6% and 27.7% (CR2+), and 13.9% and 13.6% (advanced disease),
      respectively (P<10-4 for both). Our data suggest that thiotepa-based conditioning
      therapy in AML is feasible, effective and safe, as investigated for sinusoidal
      obstruction syndrome and mucositis.

PMID- 27643866
TI  - Long-term outcome following cyclosporine-related neurotoxicity in paediatric
      allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

PMID- 27643867
TI  - Toxoplasmosis encephalitis with immune-reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in an
      allogeneic stem cell transplant patient: a case report.

PMID- 27643868
TI  - Autoimmune hemolysis and immune thrombocytopenic purpura after cord blood
      transplantation may be life-threatening and warrants early therapy with
      rituximab.
AB  - Autoimmune hemolysis (AH) and immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) are
      recognized complications after cord blood transplantation (CBT). We evaluated the
      incidence and characteristics of AH/ITP after double-unit CBT in a day 100
      landmark analysis of 152 patients (median age 36 years, range 0.9-70 years)
      transplanted for hematologic malignancies with myeloablative or nonmyeloablative
      conditioning and calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)/mycophenolate mofetil. With a median
      5.2-year (range 1.6-9.7 years) survivor follow-up, 10 patients developed
      autoimmune cytopenias (8 AH, 1 ITP, 1 both) at a median of 10.4 months (range 5.8
      24.5) post CBT for a 7% cumulative incidence 3 years after the day 100 landmark.
      Six patients presented with severe disease (hemoglobin ?6 g/dL and/or platelets
      <20 * 109/L). All AH patients were direct antiglobulin test positive. All 10
      cases developed during immunosuppression taper with 8 having prior acute GVHD.
      All 10 patients received rituximab 2-18 days after diagnosis, and corticosteroids
      combined with rituximab within <7 days was the most effective. No patient died of
      AH/ITP. AH/ITP occurs infrequently after CBT but may be life-threatening
      requiring emergency therapy. Rituximab combined with corticosteroids at diagnosis
      is warranted in patients with severe disease.

PMID- 27643869
TI  - Thrombomodulin blocks calcineurin inhibitor-induced vascular permeability via
      inhibition of Src/VE-cadherin axis.
AB  - Recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rTM) counteracted capillary leakage and
      alleviated edema in individuals with sinusoidal obstruction syndrome and
      engraftment syndrome after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We previously
      showed that rTM increased levels of antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1 and protected
      endothelial cells from calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A (CsA)-induced
      apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms by which rTM enhances barrier
      function in vascular endothelial cells remain unknown. Here we show that exposure
      of vascular endothelial EA.hy926 cells to CsA induced phosphorylation of
      Src/vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) and translocation of VE-cadherin
      from cell surface to cytoplasm, resulting in an increase in vascular
      permeability. In addition, CsA increased production of inflammatory cytokines,
      including interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-6, associated with an increase in nuclear
      levels of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) which also enhanced vascular
      permeability. Importantly, the fourth and fifth regions of epidermal growth
      factor-like domain of TM (TME45) attenuated CsA-induced p-Src/VE-cadherin and
      vascular permeability in parallel with a decrease in nuclear levels of NF-kappaB
      and cytokine production in EA.hy926 cells. In conclusion, TM, especially TME45,
      maintains vascular integrity, at least in part, via Src signaling.

PMID- 27643870
TI  - High-dose cytarabine added to CY/TBI improves the prognosis of cord blood
      transplantation for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults: a retrospective
      cohort study.

PMID- 27643871
TI  - Return to normal life after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for
      thalassemia: a study of patients transplanted from matched sibling donors.

PMID- 27643872
TI  - Outcomes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients relapsing after autologous
      stem cell transplantation: an analysis of patients included in the CORAL study.
AB  - In the CORAL study, 255 chemosensitive relapses with diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma (DLBCL) were consolidated with autologous stem cell transplantation
      (ASCT), and 75 of them relapsed thereafter. The median time between ASCT and
      progression was 7.1 months. The median age was 56.1 years; tertiary International
      Prognosis Index (tIPI) observed at relapse was 0-2 in 71.6% of the patients and
      >2 in 28.4%. The overall response rate to third-line chemotherapy was 44%. The
      median overall survival (OS) was 10.0 months (median follow-up: 32.8 months).
      Thirteen patients received an allogeneic SCT, and three a second ASCT. The median
      OS was shorter among patients who relapsed <6 months (5.7 months) compared with
      those relapsing ?12 months after ASCT (12.6 months, P=0.0221). The median OS in
      patients achieving CR, PR or no response after the third-line regimen was 37.7
      (P<0.0001), 10.0 (P=0.03) and 6.3 months, respectively. The median OS varied
      according to tIPI: 0-2: 12.6 months and >2: 5.3 months (P=0.0007). In
      multivariate analysis, tIPI >2, achievement of response and remission lasting <6
      months predicted the OS. This report identifies the prognostic factors for DLBCL
      relapsing after ASCT and thus helps to select patients for experimental therapy.

PMID- 27643874
TI  - beta1-adrenoceptor Arg389Gly polymorphism confers differential beta-arrestin
      binding tropism in cardiac myocytes.
AB  - AIM: The beta1-adrenergic receptor (AR) Arg389Gly polymorphism affects efficacy
      of its procontractile signaling in cardiomyocytes and carriers' responses to beta
      blockers. To identify molecular mechanisms underlying functional differences
      between Arg389 and Gly389 beta1ARs, we examined their binding to beta-arrestins
      (betaarr-1 and -2), which mediate beta1AR signaling, in neonatal rat ventricular
      myocytes. METHODS: We tested the beta1AR-betaarr interaction via beta1AR
      immunoprecipitation followed by betaarr immunoblotting. RESULTS: betaarr1 binds
      both variants upon isoproterenol, carvedilol or metoprolol treatment in neonatal
      rat ventricular myocytes. Conversely, the potentially beneficial in the heart
      betaarr2 only interacts with the Arg389 receptor in response to isoproterenol or
      carvedilol. CONCLUSION: Arg389 confers unique betaarr2-interacting tropism to the
      beta1AR in cardiac myocytes, potentially underlying this variant's gain-of
      function phenotype and better clinical responses to beta-blockers.

PMID- 27643873
TI  - A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Regression Analysis on Early-Life Energy
      Restriction and Cancer Risk in Humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In animal models, long-term moderate energy restriction (ER) is
      reported to decelerate carcinogenesis, whereas the effect of severe ER is
      inconsistent. The impact of early-life ER on cancer risk has never been reviewed
      systematically and quantitatively based on observational studies in humans.
      OBJECTIVE: We conducted a systematic review of observational studies and a meta
      (regression) analysis on cohort studies to clarify the association between early
      life ER and organ site-specific cancer risk. METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE (1982 
      August 2015) were searched for observational studies. Summary relative risks
      (RRs) were estimated using a random effects model when available >=3 studies.
      RESULTS: Twenty-four studies were included. Eleven publications, emanating from
      seven prospective cohort studies and some reporting on multiple cancer endpoints,
      met the inclusion criteria for quantitative analysis. Women exposed to early-life
      ER (ranging from 220-1660 kcal/day) had a higher breast cancer risk than those
      not exposed (RRRE all ages = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.05-1.56; RRRE for 10-20 years of age
      = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.09-1.34). Men exposed to early-life ER (ranging from 220
      800kcal/day) had a higher prostate cancer risk than those not exposed (RRRE =
      1.16, 95% CI: 1.03-1.30). Summary relative risks were not computed for colorectal
      cancer, because of heterogeneity, and for stomach-, pancreas-, ovarian-, and
      respiratory cancer because there were <3 available studies. Longer duration of
      exposure to ER, after adjustment for severity, was positively associated with
      overall cancer risk in women (p = 0.02). Ecological studies suggest that less
      severe ER is generally associated with a reduced risk of cancer. CONCLUSIONS:
      Early-life transient severe ER seems to be associated with increased cancer risk
      in the breast (particularly ER exposure at adolescent age) and prostate. The
      duration, rather than severity of exposure to ER, seems to positively influence
      relative risk estimates. This result should be interpreted with caution due to
      the limited number of studies and difficulty in disentangling duration, severity,
      and geographical setting of exposure.

PMID- 27643875
TI  - Enhancement of Radiation Response in Breast Cancer Stem Cells by Inhibition of
      Thioredoxin- and Glutathione-Dependent Metabolism.
AB  - The goal of this study was to determine if depletion of glutathione (GSH) and
      inhibition of thioredoxin (Trx) reductase (TrxR) activity could enhance radiation
      responses in human breast cancer stem cells by a mechanism involving thiol
      dependent oxidative stress. The following were used to inhibit GSH and Trx
      metabolism: buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a GSH synthesis inhibitor;
      sulfasalazine (SSZ), an inhibitor of xc- cysteine/glutamate antiporter; auranofin
      (Au), a thioredoxin reductase inhibitor; or 2-AAPA, a GSH-reductase inhibitor.
      Clonogenic survival, Matrigel assays, flow cytometry cancer stem cell assays
      (CD44+CD24-ESA+ or ALDH1) and human tumor xenograft models were used to determine
      the antitumor activity of drug and radiation combinations. Combined inhibition of
      GSH and Trx metabolism enhanced cancer cell clonogenic killing and radiation
      responses in human breast and pancreatic cancer cells via a mechanism that could
      be inhibited by N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Au, BSO and radiation also significantly
      decreased breast cancer cell migration and invasion in a thiol-dependent manner
      that could be inhibited by NAC. In addition, pretreating cells with Au sensitized
      breast cancer stem cell populations to radiation in vitro as determined by
      CD44+CD24-ESA+ or ALDH1. Combined administration of Au and BSO, given prior to
      irradiation, significantly increased the survival of mice with human breast
      cancer xenografts, and decreased the number of ALDH1+ cancer stem cells. These
      results indicate that combined inhibition of GSH- and Trx-dependent thiol
      metabolism using pharmacologically relevant agents can enhance responses of human
      breast cancer stem cells to radiation both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27643877
TI  - High Mutation Levels are Compatible with Normal Embryonic Development in Mlh1
      Deficient Mice.
AB  - To elucidate the role of the mismatch repair gene Mlh1 in genome instability
      during the fetal stage, spontaneous mutations were studied in Mlh1-deficient lacZ
      transgenic mouse fetuses. Mutation levels were high at 9.5 days post coitum (dpc)
      and gradually increased during the embryonic stage, after which they remained
      unchanged. In addition, mutations that were found in brain, liver, spleen, small
      intestine and thymus showed similar levels and no statistically significant
      difference was found. The molecular nature of mutations at 12.5 dpc in fetuses of
      Mlh1+/+ and Mlh1-/- mice showed their own unique spectra, suggesting that
      deletion mutations were the main causes in the deficiency of the Mlh1 gene. Of
      note, fetuses of irradiated mice exhibited marked differences such as post
      implantation loss and Mendelian distribution. Collectively, these results
      strongly suggest that high mutation ofMlh1-/--deficient fetuses has little effect
      on the fetuses during their early developmental stages, whereas Mlh1-/--deficient
      fetuses from X-ray irradiated mothers are clearly effected.

PMID- 27643878
TI  - PIDD Mediates Radiation-Induced Microglia Activation.
AB  - Radiation-induced brain injury (RIBI) is the most common adverse effect that
      occurs after cranial radiation therapy (CRT). We have previously reported that
      CRT-induced release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in brain tissues and inhibition
      of neurogenesis in the hippocampus might be caused by microglial activation and
      may play an important role in RIBI. In this study we examined the role of p53
      induced protein with a death domain (PIDD) in radiation-induced activation of BV
      2 cells. BV-2 cells were transfected with antisense oligonucleotide control mRNA
      or antisense oligonucleotide-targeted PIDD mRNA and were sham or 16 Gy
      irradiated. The state of microglia and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines
      were detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting,
      immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. Findings from this study suggest that
      silencing PIDD expression could inhibit microglial activation by downregulating
      the PIDD-C/NF-kappabeta transcription pathway. PIDD acts as a critical switcher
      between the NF-kappabeta transcription pathway and radiation-induced apoptosis.
      Given these findings, this study offers a potential novel approach to further
      combination treatment of RIBI.

PMID- 27643880
TI  - Differences in the education of future doctors between the UK and France.

PMID- 27643879
TI  - Evaluation of 10 AMD Associated Polymorphisms as a Cause of Choroidal
      Neovascularization in Highly Myopic Eyes.
AB  - Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) commonly occurs in age related macular
      degeneration and pathological myopia patients. In this study we conducted a case
      control prospective study including 431 participants. The aim of this study was
      to determine the potential association between 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) located in 4 different genetic regions (CFI, COL8A1, LIPC, and APOE), and
      choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration and the
      development of choroidal neovascularization in highly myopic eyes of a Caucasian
      population. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for
      age, sex and hypertension was performed for each allele, genotype and haplotype
      frequency analysis. We found that in the univariate analysis that both single
      nucleotide polymorphisms in COL8A1 gene (rs13095226 and rs669676) together with
      age, sex and hypertension were significantly associated with myopic CNV
      development in Spanish patients (p<0.05). After correcting for multiple testing
      none of the polymorphisms studied remained significantly associated with myopic
      CNV (p>0.05); however, analysis of the axial length between genotypes of
      rs13095226 revealed an important influence of COL8A1 in the development of CNV in
      high myopia. Furthermore we conducted a meta-analysis of COL8A1, CFI and LIPC
      genes SNPs (rs669676, rs10033900 and rs10468017) and found that only rs669676 of
      these SNPs were associated with high myopia neovascularization. 

PMID- 27643881
TI  - Individual and Combined Expression of DNA Damage Response Molecules PARP1,
      gammaH2AX, BRCA1, and BRCA2 Predict Shorter Survival of Soft Tissue Sarcoma
      Patients.
AB  - DNA damage response (DDR) molecules are protective against genotoxic stresses.
      DDR molecules are also involved in the survival of cancer cells in patients
      undergoing anti-cancer therapies. Therefore, DDR molecules are potential markers
      of cancer progression in addition to being potential therapeutic targets. In this
      study, we evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of PARP1, gammaH2AX,
      BRCA1, and BRCA2 and their prognostic significance in 112 cases of soft tissue
      sarcoma (STS). The expression of PARP1, gammaH2AX, BRCA1, and BRCA2 were
      significantly associated with each other and were associated with higher tumor
      stage and presence of distant metastasis. The expression of PARP1, gammaH2AX, and
      BRCA2 were significantly associated with shorter disease-specific survival (DSS)
      and event-free survival (EFS) by univariate analysis. BRCA1 expression was
      associated with shorter DSS. Multivariate analysis revealed the expression of
      PARP1 and gammaH2AX to be independent indicators of poor prognosis of DSS and
      EFS. BRCA2 expression was an independent indicator of poor prognosis of DSS. In
      addition, the combined expressional patterns of PARP1, gammaH2AX, BRCA1, and
      BRCA2 (CSddrm) were independent prognostic predictors of DSS (P < 0.001) and EFS
      (P = 0.016). The ten-year DSS rate of the CSddrm-low, CSddrm-intermediate, and
      CSddrm-high subgroups were 81%, 26%, and 0%, respectively. In conclusion, this
      study demonstrates that the individual and combined expression patterns of the
      DDR molecules PARP1, gammaH2AX, BRCA1, and BRCA2 could be predictive of the
      prognosis of STS patients and suggests that controlling the activity of these DDR
      molecules could be employed in new therapeutic stratagems for the treatment of
      STS. 

PMID- 27643882
TI  - RASSF5: An MST activator and tumor suppressor in vivo but opposite in vitro.
AB  - Is RASSF5 a tumor suppressor or activator? RASSF5 links K-Ras and the Hippo
      pathway. Hippo's signaling promotes YAP1 phosphorylation and degradation. YAP1
      overexpression promotes cancer. Most reports point to RASSF5 suppressing cancer;
      however, some point to its promoting cancer. Our mechanistic view explains how
      RASSF5 can activate MST1/2 and suppress cancer in vivo; but inhibits MST1/2 in
      vitro. We propose that both activation and inhibition of MST1/2 can take place
      via SARAH heterodimerization. Our thesis in vivo, membrane-anchored Ras dimers
      (or nanoclusters) can promote SARAH domain heterodimerization, Raf-like MST1/2
      kinase domain homodimerization and trans-autophosphorylation. In contrast, in
      vitro, K-Ras binding also releases the RASSF5 SARAH stimulating MST1/2's SARAH
      heterodimerization; however, without membrane, no MST1/2 kinase domain
      homodimerization/trans-autophosphorylation.

PMID- 27643883
TI  - Taxa of the Nasal Microbiome Are Associated with Influenza-Specific IgA Response
      to Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine.
AB  - Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) has demonstrated varying levels of
      efficacy against seasonal influenza; however, LAIV may be used as a tool to
      measure interactions between the human microbiome and a live, replicating virus.
      To increase our knowledge of this interaction, we measured changes to the nasal
      microbiome in subjects who received LAIV to determine if associations between
      influenza-specific IgA production and the nasal microbiome exist after
      immunization with a live virus vaccine. The anterior nares of 47 healthy subjects
      were swabbed pre- (Day 0) and post- (Days 7 and 28) LAIV administration, and
      nasal washes were conducted on Days 0 and 28. We performed next-generation
      sequencing on amplified 16s rRNA genes and measured mucosal influenza-specific
      IgA titers via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A significant increase
      in alpha diversity was identified (Observed, CHAO, and ACE) between Days 7 vs 0
      (p-values = 0.017, 0.005, 0.005, respectively) and between Days 28 vs 0 (p-values
      = 0.054, 0.030, 0.050, respectively). Several significant associations between
      the presence of different microbial species, including Lactobacillus helveticus,
      Prevotella melaninogenica, Streptococcus infantis, Veillonella dispar, and
      Bacteroides ovatus, and influenza-specific H1 and H3 IgA antibody response were
      demonstrated. These data suggest that LAIV alters the nasal microbiome, allowing
      several less-abundant OTUs to establish a community niche. Additionally, specific
      alterations in the nasal microbiome are significantly associated with variations
      in influenza-specific IgA antibody production and could be clinically relevant. 

PMID- 27643884
TI  - Pregabalin for generalized anxiety disorder: an updated systematic review and
      meta-analysis.
AB  - Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), characterized by pervasive and highly
      distressing anxiety and worries, is associated with severe impairment. Although
      numerous agents from various drug classes are available to treat GAD, as many as
      50% of patients have inadequate response, constituting an important medical
      frontier. In the face of this challenge, new pharmacological alternatives need to
      be further studied aiming at clinical improvement and better quality of life for
      patients. To assess the efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) compared with placebo for
      amelioration of anxiety symptoms in patients with GAD. A systematic literature
      search was performed using databases such as MEDLINE and EMBASE and other
      sources. The main outcome was Hedges' g for continuous scores. We used a random
      effects model. Heterogeneity was evaluated with the I (moderate heterogeneity was
      assumed if I was >50% and high heterogeneity if I was >75%) and the chi-test
      (P<0.10 for heterogeneity). Publication bias was evaluated using the funnel plot.
      Meta-regression was performed using the random-effects model. For safety
      evaluation, we compared patients' dropout rates. We included eight randomized
      controlled trials (n=2299) in our study, comparing the use of PGB in different
      dosages and placebo. In terms of the main outcome, PGB was found to be superior
      to the placebo group (Hedges' g=0.37; 95% confidence interval 0.30-0.44). The
      funnel plot assessment showed a low risk of publication bias. Between-study
      heterogeneity was not significant (I=0%), strengthening our results. Meta
      regression showed no particular influence of any variable on the results. A
      categorical analysis of safety, using dropout as the most severe possible
      outcome, was carried out. No difference between PGB and placebo groups was
      observed in terms of the dropout rates. PGB was superior to placebo for the
      amelioration of GAD symptoms. In addition, the dropout rate was not significantly
      higher than that of the placebo groups. PGB was comparable to benzodiazepines in
      clinical response, but had lower dropout rates than benzodiazepine.

PMID- 27643885
TI  - Effects of vilazodone on sexual functioning in healthy adults: results from a
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and active-controlled study.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of vilazodone on sexual
      functioning in healthy, sexually active adults and assess the impact of
      medication nonadherence in this type of trial. Participants were randomized to
      vilazodone (20 or 40 mg/day), paroxetine (20 mg/day), or placebo for 5 weeks of
      double-blind treatment. The primary endpoint was change from baseline to day 35
      in Change in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ) total score in the intent-to
      treat (ITT) population. Post-hoc analyses were carried out in modified intent-to
      treat (mITT) populations that excluded participants in the active-treatment
      groups with undetectable plasma drug concentrations at all visits (mITT-I) or at
      least one visit (mITT-II). In the ITT population (N=199), there were no
      statistically significant differences between any treatment groups for CSFQ total
      score change: placebo, -1.0; vilazodone 20 mg/day, -1.4; vilazodone 40 mg/day, 
      1.9; and paroxetine, -3.5. In mITT-I (N=197) and mITT-II (N=159), CSFQ total
      score change was not significantly different between vilazodone (either dose)
      versus placebo; the CSFQ total score decreased significantly (P<0.05) with
      paroxetine versus both placebo and vilazodone 20 mg/day, but not versus
      vilazodone 40 mg/day. Vilazodone exerted no significant effect on sexual
      functioning in healthy adults. Medication nonadherence can alter study results
      and may be an important consideration in trials with volunteer participants.

PMID- 27643886
TI  - The vesicular stomatitis virus matrix protein inhibits NF-kappaB activation in
      mouse L929 cells.
AB  - A previous study found that NF-kappaB activation is delayed in L929 cells
      infected with wild-type (wt) strains of VSV, while activation occurred earlier in
      cells infected with mutant strain T1026R1 (R1) that encodes a mutation in the
      cytotoxic matrix (M) protein. The integrity of the other R1 proteins is unknown;
      therefore our goal was to identify the viral component responsible for preventing
      NF-kappaB activation in L929 cells. We found that the M protein inhibits viral
      mediated activation of NF-kappaB in the context of viral infection and when
      expressed alone via transfection, and that the M51R mutation in M abrogates this
      function. Addition of an IkappaB kinase (IKK) inhibitor blocked NF-kappaB
      activation and interferon-beta mRNA expression in cells infected with viruses
      encoding the M51R mutation in M. These results indicate that the VSV M protein
      inhibits activation of NF-kappaB by targeting an event upstream of IKK in the
      canonical pathway.

PMID- 27643887
TI  - Neutralization resistant HIV-1 primary isolates from antiretroviral naive
      chronically infected children in India.
AB  - Anti-HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) have been extensively tested
      against pesudoviruses of diverse strains. We generated and characterized HIV-1
      primary isolates from antiretroviral naive infected Indian children, and
      determined their susceptibility to known NAbs. All the 8 isolates belonged to
      subtype-C and were R5 tropic. Majority of these viruses were resistant to
      neutralization by NAbs, suggesting that the bnAbs, known to efficiently
      neutralize pseudoviruses (adult and pediatric) of different strains, are less
      effective against pediatric primary isolates. Interestingly, AIIMS_329 isolate
      displayed high susceptibility to neutralization by PG9 and PG16bnAbs, with IC50
      titer of 1.3 and 0.97MUg/ml, suggesting exposure of this epitope on this virus.
      All isolates except AIIMS_506 were neutralized by contemporaneous plasma
      antibodies. Our findings suggest that primary isolates, due to close resemblance
      to viruses in natural infection, should be used to evaluate NAbs as effective
      vaccine candidates in both children and adults.

PMID- 27643888
TI  - Comparative Efficacy and Acceptability of Anti-TNF-Alpha Therapy in Ankylosing
      Spondylitis: A Mixed-Treatments Comparison.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) antagonists, namely,
      golimumab, adalimumab, infliximab, etanercept and certolizumab have been
      prescribed to alleviate and treat ankylosing spondylitis (AS). However, the lack
      of comparative evidence does not enable us to make constructive recommendations
      particularly for AS patient populations. METHODS: Eligible controlled trials
      regarding the above 5 anti-TNFalpha therapies were searched electronically
      through PubMed, Embase and Cochrane until April 1, 2015. Odds ratios (ORs) were
      estimated and compared for efficacy (ASAS20, ASAS40, ASAS5/6 responses and ASAS
      partial remission) and acceptability (serious adverse effects (SAE)) among the
      anti-TNFalpha reagents. RESULTS: Totally, 25 trials with 2989 participants were
      incorporated in this mixed treatment comparison. All the 5 TNFalpha blockers
      achieved better ASAS20, ASAS40, ASAS5/6 and ASAS-PR responses than the placebo.
      Furthermore, there was no significant distinction existed among inter-drug
      comparisons, except that unfavorable effects induced by certolizumab seemed to be
      less severe than those by etanercept (OR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05-0.93). Apart from
      that, etanercept was estimated to arrive at the most favorable ASAS20 response
      (90.6%) and SAE (83.6%), while infliximab seemed to accomplish the best ASAS40
      (83.6%) and ASAS-PR responses (77.3%). In addition, adalimumab was estimated to
      rank the highest ASAS5/6 response (75.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Etanercept, infliximab
      and adalimumab might be prioritized among the commonly recognized 5 anti-TNFalpha
      therapies specific for AS patients, though existing evidence did not suffice to
      confirm significant superiority among the above 5 anti-TNFalpha reagent.

PMID- 27643889
TI  - A serial mediation model testing early adversity, self-concept clarity, and thin
      ideal internalization as predictors of body dissatisfaction.
AB  - This study examined the associations among early family adversity (e.g., family
      violence, neglect), self-concept clarity (i.e., having a clear and coherent sense
      of one's own personal identity), thin-ideal internalization, and body
      dissatisfaction. Female university students in Australia (n=323) and adult female
      community members in the United States (n=371) completed self-report measures of
      the relevant constructs. In both samples, serial mediation analysis revealed that
      early family adversity was negatively associated with self-concept clarity, self
      concept clarity was negatively associated with thin-ideal internalization, and
      thin-ideal internalization was positively associated with body dissatisfaction.
      These findings suggest that early adverse experiences might impair individuals'
      self-concept clarity, and that low self-concept clarity might increase the risk
      of internalization of the thin ideal (as a means of defining the self) and
      consequently body dissatisfaction. These findings also suggest possible avenues
      for prevention and intervention efforts.

PMID- 27643890
TI  - Silk Fibroin-Sophorolipid Gelation: Deciphering the Underlying Mechanism.
AB  - Silk fibroin (SF) protein, produced by silkworm Bombyx mori, is a promising
      biomaterial, while sophorolipid (SL) is an amphiphilic functional biosurfactant
      synthesized by nonpathogenic yeast Candida bombicola. SL is a mixture of two
      forms, acidic (ASL) and lactonic (LSL), which when added to SF results in
      accelerated gelation of silk fibroin. LSL is known to have multiple biological
      functionalities and hence hydrogels of these green molecules have promising
      applications in the biomedical sector. In this work, SANS, NMR, and rheology are
      employed to examine the assembling properties of individual and mixed SLs and
      their interactions with SF to understand the mechanism that leads to rapid
      gelation. SANS and NMR studies show that ASL assembles to form charged micelles,
      while LSL forms micellar assemblies and aggregates of a mass fractal nature. ASL
      and LSL together form larger mixed micelles, all of which interact differently
      with SF. It is shown that preferential binding of LSL to SF causes rapid
      unfolding of the SF chain leading to the formation of intermolecular beta sheets,
      which trigger fast gelation. Based on the observations, a mechanism for gelation
      of SF in the presence of different sophorolipids is proposed.

PMID- 27643891
TI  - Toward 4D Nanoprinting with Tip-Induced Organic Surface Reactions.
AB  - Future nanomanufacturing tools will prepare organic materials with complex four
      dimensional (4D) structure, where the position (x, y, z) and chemical composition
      within a volume is controlled with sub-1 MUm spatial resolution. Such tools could
      produce substrates that mimic biological interfaces, like the cell surface or the
      extracellular matrix, whose topology and chemical complexity combine to direct
      some of the most sophisticated biological events. The control of organic
      materials at the nanoscale-level of spatial resolution could revolutionize the
      assembly of next generation optical and electronic devices or substrates for
      tissue engineering or enable fundamental biological or material science
      investigations. Organic chemistry provides the requisite control over the
      orientation and position of matter within a nanoscale reference frame through the
      formation of new covalent bonds. Several challenges however preclude the
      integration of organic chemistry with conventional nanomanufacturing approaches,
      namely most nanolithography platforms would denature or destroy delicate organic
      and biologically active matter, confirming covalent bond formation at interfaces
      remains difficult, and finally, only a small handful of the reactions used to
      transform molecules in solution have been validated on surfaces. Thus, entirely
      new approaches, where organic transformations and spatial control are considered
      equally important contributors, are needed to create 4D organic nanoprinting
      platforms. This Account describes efforts from our group to reconcile
      nanolithography, and specifically massively parallel scanning probe lithography
      (SPL), with organic chemistry to further the goal of 4D organic nanoprinting.
      Massively parallel SPL involves arrays of elastomeric pyramids mounted onto
      piezoelectric actuators, and creates patterns with feature diameters below 50 nm
      by using the pyramidal tips for either the direct deposition of ink or the
      localized delivery of energy to a surface. While other groups have focused on tip
      and array architetctures, our efforts have been on exploring their use for
      localizing organic chemistry on surfaces with nanoscale spatial resolution in 3D.
      Herein we describe the use of massively parallel SPL to create covalently
      immobilized patterns of organic materials using thermal, catalytic,
      photochemical, and force-accelerated reactions. In doing so, we have developed a
      high-throughput protocol for confirming interfacial bond formation. These efforts
      have resulted in new opportunities for the preparation of glycan arrays, novel
      approaches for covalently patterning graphene, and a 3D nanoprinter by combining
      photochemical brush polymerizations with SPL. Achieving true 4D nanoprinting
      involves advances in surface chemistry and instrumentation development, and to
      this end 4D micropatterns were produced in a microfluidic photoreactor that can
      position polymers composed of different monomers within micrometer proximity. A
      substantial gap remains, however, between these current technologies and the
      future's 4D nanomanufacturing tools, but the marriage of SPL with organic
      chemistry is an important step toward this goal. As this field continues to
      mature we can expect bottom-up 4D nanomanufacturing to begin supplanting
      conventional top-down strategies for preparing electronics, bioarrays, and
      functional substrates. In addition, these new printing technologies may enable
      the preparation of synthetic targets, such as artificial biological interfaces,
      with a level of organic sophistication that is entirely unachievable using
      existing technologies.

PMID- 27643893
TI  - Real Time Hyperspectroscopy for Dynamical Study of Carbon Nanotubes.
AB  - Photoluminescence excitation mapping used routinely to characterize
      semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWCNTs) is extended to provide
      time-dependent data. A hyperspectral method based on a supercontinuum light
      source and an imaging detector is demonstrated with excitation and emission
      wavelengths spanning 600-1000 and 1050-1650 nm, respectively, at time scales <100
      ms. An example of a titration experiment is given to highlight the potential
      offered by the technique. Specifically, the dependence of luminescence yield on
      acceptor concentration is tracked for 18 different chirality assigned sc-SWCNT
      species. Dopant-induced quenching presents a simple dependence on nanotube
      diameter, with larger diameter being most affected, while chirality does not
      appear to be a dominant factor. In a second example, the successive addition of
      acceptor and donor molecules leads to a modulation of luminescence intensity upon
      hole doping and dedoping.

PMID- 27643892
TI  - Applying bimolecular fluorescence complementation to screen and purify aquaporin
      protein:protein complexes.
AB  - Protein:protein interactions play key functional roles in the molecular machinery
      of the cell. A major challenge for structural biology is to gain high-resolution
      structural insight into how membrane protein function is regulated by
      protein:protein interactions. To this end we present a method to express, detect,
      and purify stable membrane protein complexes that are suitable for further
      structural characterization. Our approach utilizes bimolecular fluorescence
      complementation (BiFC), whereby each protein of an interaction pair is fused to
      nonfluorescent fragments of yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) that combine and
      mature as the complex is formed. YFP thus facilitates the visualization of
      protein:protein interactions in vivo, stabilizes the assembled complex, and
      provides a fluorescent marker during purification. This technique is validated by
      observing the formation of stable homotetramers of human aquaporin 0 (AQP0). The
      method's broader applicability is demonstrated by visualizing the interactions of
      AQP0 and human aquaporin 1 (AQP1) with the cytoplasmic regulatory protein
      calmodulin (CaM). The dependence of the AQP0-CaM complex on the AQP0 C-terminus
      is also demonstrated since the C-terminal truncated construct provides a negative
      control. This screening approach may therefore facilitate the production and
      purification of membrane protein:protein complexes for later structural studies
      by X-ray crystallography or single particle electron microscopy.

PMID- 27643894
TI  - Friends' cultural orientation as a mediator between familial ethnic socialization
      and ethnic identity among Mexican-origin adolescent girls.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Research has indicated that ethnic identity protects ethnic minority
      youth on various indicators of adjustment, but there is a dearth of research
      pertaining to contextual influences on ethnic identity. Our study investigated
      how familial ethnic socialization and best friend's orientation toward Mexican
      culture influenced ethnic identity among Mexican-origin girls. METHOD: Using a 3
      wave longitudinal sample of 175 Mexican-origin adolescent girls (Mage = 13.75),
      the current study examined best friend's Mexican cultural orientation as a
      mediator between familial ethnic socialization and ethnic identity with
      structural equation modeling. Multigroup analyses were conducted to examine
      potential age and generational status differences within the model. RESULTS:
      Analyses revealed that familial ethnic socialization promoted ethnic identity
      exploration and resolution 3.5 years later and that this effect was mediated by
      best friend's Mexican cultural orientation. No significant differences were found
      across age or generational status groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the
      contribution of peer context to ethnic identity and its role in the process by
      which familial ethnic socialization influences ethnic identity during
      adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643895
TI  - Error Correction and the Structure of Inter-Trial Fluctuations in a Redundant
      Movement Task.
AB  - We study inter-trial movement fluctuations exhibited by human participants during
      the repeated execution of a virtual shuffleboard task. Focusing on skilled
      performance, theoretical analysis of a previously-developed general model of
      inter-trial error correction is used to predict the temporal and geometric
      structure of variability near a goal equivalent manifold (GEM). The theory also
      predicts that the goal-level error scales linearly with intrinsic body-level
      noise via the total body-goal sensitivity, a new derived quantity that
      illustrates how task performance arises from the interaction of active error
      correction and passive sensitivity properties along the GEM. Linear models
      estimated from observed fluctuations, together with a novel application of
      bootstrapping to the estimation of dynamical and correlation properties of the
      inter-trial dynamics, are used to experimentally confirm all predictions, thus
      validating our model. In addition, we show that, unlike "static" variability
      analyses, our dynamical approach yields results that are independent of the
      coordinates used to measure task execution and, in so doing, provides a new set
      of task coordinates that are intrinsic to the error-regulation process itself.

PMID- 27643896
TI  - Justin C. McArthur, MBBS, MPH, FAAN, FANA, and Nicoline Schiess, MD, MPH.

PMID- 27643897
TI  - Pearls and Pitfalls, Part 1.

PMID- 27643898
TI  - Stroke: New Developments and Their Application in Clinical Practice.
AB  - Significant advances have been made in recent years in primary stroke prevention,
      improved stroke outcomes in high-income populations, emergency stroke therapy,
      and stroke prevention. In this article, we review recent trends in stroke
      epidemiology, improvements in delivery of intravenous thrombolysis (via stroke
      system-wide approaches, application of 'Lean Principles' to improve workflow
      processes, and re-evaluation of exclusion criteria), recent stroke thrombectomy
      trials, and new developments in stroke prevention, with emphasis on risk
      prediction in transient ischemic attack, choice and timing of anticoagulation
      therapy for secondary stroke prevention, and emerging concepts in risk
      stratification for management of symptomatic carotid stenosis.

PMID- 27643899
TI  - Caring for Patients with Newly Diagnosed High-Grade Gliomas.
AB  - Novel diagnostic and therapeutic information has had a major impact on the care
      of patients with high-grade gliomas. These advances and discoveries are
      highlighted using case-based discussions to focus attention on the important
      diagnostic and treatment decisions that commonly arise during the care of
      patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, anaplastic astrocytoma, and
      anaplastic oligodendroglioma.

PMID- 27643900
TI  - Parkinsonism.
AB  - Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome, which is characterized by bradykinesia,
      rigidity, rest tremor, and postural instability. Idiopathic Parkinson disease
      (PD) is the most common cause of this syndrome, though there are several other
      important etiologies that must be considered. These include the atypical
      Parkinsonian disorders multiple system atrophy (MSA), dementia with Lewy Bodies
      (DLB), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal syndrome (CBS); as
      well as secondary causes of parkinsonism. These various disease entities may be
      distinguished based on key clinical features, which is critical for the purposes
      of diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

PMID- 27643901
TI  - Clinical Pearls in Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movement Disorders.
AB  - Hyperkinetic movements, such as tremor, myoclonus, chorea, and dystonia, occur in
      many neurologic and medical conditions. Accurate clinical evaluation is the
      important first step for the proper diagnosis and treatment of patients with
      abnormal movements.

PMID- 27643902
TI  - Epilepsy.
AB  - The accurate diagnosis and classification of seizures is critical in informing
      prognosis and determining appropriate antiseizure treatments for patients with
      epilepsy. The electroencephalogram is the gold standard for diagnosis. Obtaining
      a thorough history, performing a careful physical examination, and selecting
      appropriate diagnostic studies are also essential in determining the underlying
      seizure etiology. The authors provide clinical pearls and pitfalls in the
      diagnosis and management of epilepsy.

PMID- 27643903
TI  - Multiple Sclerosis.
AB  - It is estimated that there are 300,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the
      United States and 2.3 million worldwide. Each MS attack can affect function in
      cognitive, emotional, motoric, sensory, or visual domains. Patients are often
      struck in the prime of their lives as they attempt to move forward with career,
      and family. Since the previous 2010 Seminars in Neurology Pearls and Pitfalls
      issue, the world of MS has drastically changed and advanced. Here the authors
      address the ever-changing MS world in both treatment options and diagnostics,
      covering easily missed differential diagnoses, newly available immunomodulatory
      therapy, and the challenges of safely treating patients.

PMID- 27643904
TI  - Diplopia-An Update.
AB  - Diagnosing the underlying etiology of diplopia requires a structured approach.
      Double vision can arise from ocular, mechanical, or neurologic causes. A careful
      history can greatly improve a targeted examination. The approach to initial
      diagnosis and examination in cases of diplopia has been previously described.
      Here the authors expand upon those recommendations, and add new techniques
      recently described in the literature, which may influence the approach to the
      diplopia patient. A description of the approach to the examination of torsion is
      discussed. The "three-step test" in the diagnosis of vertical strabismus is
      discussed, and recent advances in diagnosing skew deviation with the upright
      supine test are described. Mechanical strabismus due to changes in orbital
      anatomy is also reviewed. This review should help the reader refine the
      differential diagnosis of the patient with diplopia.

PMID- 27643905
TI  - Leukodystrophies.
AB  - Leukodystrophies are heritable disorders primarily affecting the white matter of
      the central nervous system. They are clinically characterized by spasticity,
      optic atrophy, and ataxia. These are a heterogeneous group of disorders,
      including hypomyelinating disorders and demyelinating disorders due to abnormal
      accumulations. Although individually rare, together they are responsible for
      substantial disease burden. Essentially all these disorders have infantile,
      juvenile, and adult presentations. Understanding the genetic and biochemical
      bases of these disorders opens the door to therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 27643906
TI  - Infectious Meningitis and Encephalitis.
AB  - The clinician who is evaluating a patient with a suspected central nervous system
      infection often faces a large differential diagnosis. There are several signs,
      symptoms, geographical clues, and diagnostic testing, such as cerebrospinal fluid
      abnormalities and magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities, which can be helpful
      in identifying the etiological agent. By taking a systematic approach, one can
      often identify life-threatening, common, and/or treatable etiologies. Here the
      authors describe some of the pearls and pitfalls in diagnosing and treating acute
      infectious meningitis and encephalitis.

PMID- 27643907
TI  - HIV-Associated Neurologic Disorders and Central Nervous System Opportunistic
      Infections in HIV.
AB  - Since the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), HIV has
      transformed from a fatal disease to a chronic illness that often presents with
      milder central nervous system (CNS) symptoms laced with related confounders. The
      immune recovery associated with access to cART has led to a new spectrum of
      immune-mediated presentations of infection, phenotypically distinct from the
      conditions observed in advanced disease.HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder
      (HAND) entails a categorized continuum of disorders reflecting an array of
      clinical presentation, outcome, and increasing level of severity: asymptomatic
      neurocognitive impairment (ANI), mild neurocognitive disorder (MND), and HIV
      associated dementia (HAD). HAND is defined through an assessment of
      neurocognitive abilities and functional performance. Progressive neurologic
      symptoms detected in patients on cART with detectable CSF viral load and a
      suppressed plasma viral load, or CSF viral load 1 log10 greater than low
      detectable plasma viral load, characterize a phenomenon termed symptomatic CSF
      "escape." CD8+ T-cell encephalitis, possibly a form of CNS immune reconstitution
      inflammatory syndrome, resembles CNS "escape" as it presents in patients despite
      viral suppression with cART. Cerebral toxoplasmosis, cryptococcal meningitis, and
      progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, are AIDS defining conditions with
      associated high mortality risk. Cerebral toxoplasmosis and cryptococcal
      meningitis typically manifest in immunosuppressed patients (<200 CD4+ T
      cells/MUL), while PML can occur in patients with higher CD4+ T-cell
      counts.Neurologic conditions are increasingly interconnected with chronic
      diseases, and classic opportunistic infections may have altered phenotypes in the
      cART era. However, there exist promising diagnostic methods and therapeutic
      approaches, as well as associated pitfalls in diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 27643908
TI  - Autoantibody-Associated Central Nervous System Neurologic Disorders.
AB  - Autoimmune neurology is a rapidly evolving new subspecialty driven by the
      discovery of novel neural- (neuronal- or glial-) specific autoantibodies and
      their target antigens. The neurologic manifestations affecting the central
      nervous system include encephalitis, dementia, epilepsy, and movement and sleep
      disorders. Laboratory testing is now available for most of these neural-specific
      autoantibodies, which serve as diagnostic markers, in some instances directing
      the physician toward specific cancer types (e.g., N-methyl-D-aspartic acid
      receptor antibodies for teratoma, collapsin response mediator protein 5 for small
      cell lung cancer) and assisting in therapeutic decision making. Antibodies
      targeting intracellular proteins serve as markers of cytotoxic effector T-cell
      mediated injury, which is generally poorly responsive to immunotherapy. By
      contrast, antibodies targeting extracellular plasma membrane proteins may act as
      pathogenic effectors and often infer good responses to immunotherapy. Diagnosing
      these conditions and implementing treatment as early into the clinical course as
      possible ensures the best possible clinical outcomes. An adequate immunotherapy
      trial to assess maximum reversibility of symptoms, as assessed through objective
      functional measures, is crucial and can help to determine whether maintenance
      therapy is needed.

PMID- 27643909
TI  - Dementia.
AB  - Dementia often is defined as a progressive cognitive disturbance leading to a
      loss of independent function. Most clinicians are familiar with the typical
      pattern of amnestic Alzheimer's disease, the most common neurodegenerative
      presentation of dementia. Atypical dementia presentations, including atypical
      Alzheimer's variants, however, may pose a diagnostic challenge for even
      experienced clinicians. In this article the authors discuss clinical "pearls" for
      the diagnosis of various neurodegenerative dementia syndromes. When considering
      the causes of dementia, the mnemonic VITAMINS can be helpful in considering
      various etiologies.

PMID- 27643912
TI  - 14 N Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy of Amino Acids.
AB  - 14 N ultra-wideline solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectra were obtained for 16
      naturally occurring amino acids and four related derivatives by using the WURST
      CPMG (wideband, uniform rate, and smooth truncation Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill)
      pulse sequence and frequency-stepped techniques. The 14 N quadrupolar parameters
      were measured for the sp3 nitrogen moieties (quadrupolar coupling constant, CQ ,
      values ranged from 0.8 to 1.5 MHz). With the aid of plane-wave DFT calculations
      of the 14 N electric-field gradient tensor parameters and orientations, the
      moieties were grouped into three categories according to the values of the
      quadrupolar asymmetry parameter, etaQ : low (<=0.3), intermediate (0.31-0.7), and
      high (>=0.71). For RNH3+ moieties, greater variation in N-H bond lengths was
      observed for systems with intermediate etaQ values than for those with low etaQ
      values (this variation arose from different intermolecular hydrogen-bonding
      arrangements). Strategies for increasing the efficiency of 14 N SSNMR
      spectroscopy experiments were discussed, including the use of sample deuteration,
      high-power 1 H decoupling, processing strategies, high magnetic fields, and
      broadband cross-polarization (BRAIN-CP). The temperature-dependent rotations of
      the NH3 groups and their influence on 14 N transverse relaxation rates were
      examined. Finally, 14 N SSNMR spectroscopy was used to differentiate two
      polymorphs of l-histidine through their quadrupolar parameters and transverse
      relaxation time constants. The strategies outlined herein permitted the rapid
      acquisition of directly detected 14 N SSNMR spectra that to date was not matched
      by other proposed methods.

PMID- 27643913
TI  - Evaluating the effectiveness of PrepSTART for promoting oral language and
      emergent literacy skills in disadvantaged preparatory students.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined the effectiveness of a classroom-based intervention
      programme aimed at improving the oral language and emergent literacy skills of
      students from low socio-economic, culturally diverse backgrounds within their
      first formal year of schooling ("prep"). METHOD: Data from 137 students were
      available for analysis. Participants were from three primary schools located in
      Queensland, Australia. Eight classes were allocated to intervention and two
      classes acted as a business as usual control. All students received literacy
      instruction as per the Australian Curriculum. However, the intervention group
      received 24 weeks of scripted, classroom-based, book-based intervention targeting
      code- and meaning-related emergent literacy skills. All students were assessed
      individually pre- and post-intervention on code-related measures (i.e. letter
      identification and phonological awareness) and meaning-related measures (i.e.
      vocabulary, oral narrative comprehension and retell). RESULT: All students made
      significant improvement over time for all measures. Students in the intervention
      group showed significantly more progress than the business as usual group on all
      measures, except for letter identification and oral narrative comprehension.
      CONCLUSION: This classroom-based book-based intervention can improve the code-
      and meaning-related emergent literacy skills of prep students from low socio
      economic backgrounds and provide these students with the building blocks for
      successful literacy acquisition.

PMID- 27643914
TI  - High-fat diet meal patterns during and after continuous nicotine treatment in
      male rats.
AB  - Smoking to control body weight is an obstacle to smoking cessation, particularly
      in western cultures where diets are often rich in calories derived from fat
      sources. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of continuous
      nicotine administration on meal patterns in rats fed a high-fat diet. Male rats
      were housed in cages designed to continuously monitor food intake and implanted
      with minipumps to deliver approximately 1.00 mg/kg/day of nicotine or saline.
      Meal patterns and body weights were assessed for 2 weeks of treatment and 1 week
      posttreatment. When compared with controls, rats with continuous nicotine
      treatment exhibited a decrease in the average meal duration(s) during the first
      week of treatment and a modest, yet sustained reduction in daily number of meals
      over the 14-day treatment period. Nicotine-induced decreases in body weight gain
      were observed throughout the 2 weeks of treatment. No differences in meal
      patterns or body weight gain were seen for 1 week following cessation of
      treatment. Results from this study suggest that while continuous nicotine
      treatment decreases daily food intake, meal durations, meal numbers, and weight
      gain, cessation of this treatment does not result in significant compensatory
      increases. Understanding the effects of nicotine on feeding patterns and weight
      gain may allow for improvements in treatment protocols aimed at addressing the
      factors that contribute to tobacco use. (PsycINFO Database Record

PMID- 27643915
TI  - Modulation of Proinflammatory Cytokines in Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells by
      Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Through Interaction with the
      Porcine Intercellular-Adhesion-Molecule-3-Grabbing Nonintegrin.
AB  - Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an economically
      important global swine pathogen. PRRSV infects porcine dendritic cells (DCs), but
      the effects of the interactions with DCs are largely unknown. Current research
      focuses on the production and regulation of interferons and selected inflammatory
      cytokines in DCs, which may play key roles in immune modulation. In addition,
      PRRSV also downregulates swine leukocyte antigen class I (SLA-I), SLA-II, and
      CD80/86 costimulatory molecules in DCs. In this study, we aim to evaluate the
      PRRSV immunomodulatory effects on monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) through
      interactions with porcine DC-SIGN (pDC-SIGN) receptor. We demonstrated that
      blocking the PRRSV and pDC-SIGN interactions in MoDCs with recombinant hICAM-3
      did not affect the regulatory effects of PRRSV on SLA-I, SLA-II, or CD80/86
      molecules. The hICAM-3 did not affect the morphological changes on MoDCs
      associated with their activation and maturation after PRRSV infection, and did
      not impair the virus infectivity in these cells either. The mRNA levels of tumor
      necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-12p35, IL-1beta, and IL-6 were upregulated
      after hICAM-3 treatment or PRRSV infection, but in the presence of the blockage
      of pDC-SIGN in MoDCs with hICAM-3, PRRSV did not modulate the expression of these
      genes. However, in the presence of an anti-pDC-SIGN monoclonal antibody (mAb), we
      showed that PRRSV infection significantly reduced the mRNA expression levels of
      TNF-alpha and IL-1alpha, but enhanced the expression of IL-12p35 in MoDCs. Both
      hICAM-3-Fc and pDC-SIGN mAb treatments did not modulate proinflammatory cytokine
      protein levels in the culture supernatants of PRRSV-infected MoDCs. The results
      indicate that blocking the PRRSV-pDC-SIGN interactions by recombinant hICAM-3-Fc
      did not significantly affect virus infectivity, DC maturation, and
      proinflammatory cytokine gene expression in infected MoDCs. However, blocking the
      PRRSV-pDC-SIGN interactions on MoDCs with an anti-pDC-SIGN mAb revealed
      differential regulatory effects on specific proinflammatory gene expressions in
      those cells.

PMID- 27643916
TI  - Synthesis and Evaluation of Tetraarylethylene-based Mono-, Bis-, and
      Tris(pyridinium) Derivatives for Image-Guided Mitochondria-Specific Targeting and
      Cytotoxicity of Metastatic Melanoma Cells.
AB  - Metastatic melanoma is the most aggressive and lethal form of skin cancer.
      Emerging evidence suggests that differences in melanoma metabolism relative to
      nonmalignant cells represent potential targets for improved therapy for melanoma.
      Specifically, melanoma cells exhibit increased mitochondrial electron transport
      chain (ETC) activity and concomitant hyperpolarized mitochondrial membrane
      potential relative to nonmalignant cells. We have synthesized several new
      fluorescent lipophilic vinylpyridinium cations built from tetraarylethylene
      scaffolds that target mitochondria via attraction to the hyperpolarized
      mitochondrial membrane potential. Mitochondria-specific accumulation in melanoma
      cells relative to normal human fibroblasts was demonstrated using confocal
      fluorescence microscopy and resulted in the disruption of oxidative metabolism
      leading to melanoma specific cell death in vitro. Thus, the pyridinium
      tetraarylethylene platform represents a promising new mitochondrial-targeted
      delivery vehicle with potential imaging and therapeutic properties.

PMID- 27643917
TI  - Insight into the effects of different cropping systems on soil bacterial
      community and tobacco bacterial wilt rate.
AB  - Rotation is an effective strategy to control crop disease and improve plant
      health. However, the effects of crop rotation on soil bacterial community
      composition and structure, and crop health remain unclear. In this study, using
      16S rRNA gene sequencing, we explored the soil bacterial communities under four
      different cropping systems, continuous tobacco cropping (control group), tobacco
      maize rotation, tobacco-lily rotation, and tobacco-turnip rotation. Results of
      detrended correspondence analysis and dissimilarity tests showed that soil
      bacterial community composition and structure changed significantly among the
      four groups, such that Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were more abundant in the
      maize rotation group (16.6 and 11.5%, respectively) than in the control (8.5 and
      7.1%, respectively). Compared with the control group (57.78%), maize and lily
      were effective rotation crops in controlling tobacco bacterial wilt (about 23.54
      and 48.67%). On the other hand, tobacco bacterial wilt rate was increased in the
      turnip rotation (59.62%) relative to the control. Further study revealed that the
      abundances of several bacterial populations were directly correlated with tobacco
      bacterial wilt. For example, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were significantly
      negatively correlated to the tobacco bacterial wilt rate, so they may be
      probiotic bacteria. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that soil pH and
      calcium content were key factors in determining soil bacterial communities. In
      conclusion, our study revealed the composition and structure of bacterial
      communities under four different cropping systems and may unveil molecular
      mechanisms for the interactions between soil microorganisms and crop health.

PMID- 27643918
TI  - Intraoperative Probe-Based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy in Surgery and
      Stereotactic Biopsy of Low-Grade and High-Grade Gliomas: A Feasibility Study in
      Humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The management of gliomas is based on precise histologic diagnosis.
      The tumor tissue can be obtained during open surgery or via stereotactic biopsy.
      Intraoperative tissue imaging could substantially improve biopsy precision and,
      ultimately, the extent of resection. OBJECTIVE: To show the feasibility of
      intraoperative in vivo probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) in
      surgery and biopsy of gliomas. METHODS: In our prospective observational study, 9
      adult patients were enrolled between September 2014 and January 2015. Two
      contrast agents were used: 5-aminolevulinic acid (3 cases) or intravenous
      fluorescein (6 cases). Intraoperative imaging was performed with the Cellvizio
      system (Mauna Kea Technologies, Paris). A 0.85-mm probe was used for stereotactic
      procedures, with the biopsy needle modified to have a distal opening. During open
      brain surgery, a 2.36-mm probe was used. Each series corresponds to a separate
      histologic fragment. RESULTS: The diagnoses of the lesions were glioblastoma (4
      cases), low-grade glioma (2), grade III oligoastrocytoma (2), and lymphoma (1).
      Autofluorescence of neurons in cortex was observed. Cellvizio images enabled
      differentiation of healthy "normal" tissue from pathological tissue in open
      surgery and stereotactic biopsy using fluorescein. 5-Aminolevulinic acid confocal
      patterns were difficult to establish. No intraoperative complications related to
      pCLE or to use of either contrast agent were observed. CONCLUSION: We report the
      initial feasibility and safety of intraoperative pCLE during primary brain tumor
      resection and stereotactic biopsy procedures. Pending further investigation, pCLE
      of brain tissue could be utilized for intraoperative surgical guidance,
      improvement in brain biopsy yield, and optimization of glioma resection via
      analysis of tumor margins. ABBREVIATIONS: 5-ALA, 5-aminolevulinic acidpCLE, probe
      based confocal laser endomicroscopyPpIX, protoporphyrin IX.

PMID- 27643920
TI  - Photoactivation of Noncovalently Assembled Peptide Ligands on Carbon Nanotubes
      Enables the Dynamic Regulation of Stem Cell Differentiation.
AB  - Stimuli-responsive hybrid materials that combine the dynamic nature self
      assembled organic nanostructures, unique photophysical properties of inorganic
      materials, and molecular recognition capability of biopolymers can provide
      sophisticated nanoarchitectures with unprecedented functions. In this report,
      infrared (IR)-responsive self-assembled peptide-carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrids
      that enable the spatiotemporal control of bioactive ligand multivalency and
      subsequent human neural stem cell (hNSC) differentiation are reported. The
      switching between the ligand presented and hidden states was controlled via IR
      induced photothermal heating of CNTs, followed by the shrinkage of the
      thermoresponsive dendrimers that exhibited lower critical solution temperature
      (LCST) behavior. The control of the ligand spacing via molecular coassembly and
      IR-triggered ligand presentation promoted the sequential events of integrin
      receptor clustering and the differentiation of hNSCs into electrophysiologically
      functional neurons. Therefore, the combination of our nanohybrid with biomaterial
      scaffolds may be able to further improve effectiveness, durability, and
      functionality of the nanohybrid systems for spatiotemporal control of stem cell
      differentiation. Moreover, these responsive hybrids with remote-controllable
      functions can be developed as therapeutics for the treatment of neuronal
      disorders and as materials for the smart control of cell function.

PMID- 27643921
TI  - Are Prolactin Levels Linked to Suction Pressure?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suction pressure has been reported to be a key driving force of
      lactation. An infant's sucking at its mother's breasts is the major stimulus to
      post-natal prolactin (PRL) secretion, and PRL is the essential hormone for
      lactation and milk production. It is unknown what role suction pressure has in
      PRL secretion and milk supply postnatally. OBJECTIVES: To explore the
      relationship between the suction pressure, PRL level, lactation, and milk supply
      in breastfeeding mother-infant dyads. METHODS: Healthy women with normal full
      term infants were enrolled (n = 122). Data collection included suction pressure,
      PRL level, and the mother's perception of both the onset of her lactation and her
      milk supply at 1 month. Suction pressure was measured with a pressure sensor
      connected to a tube placed alongside the nipple. The chemiluminescence method was
      used to quantify maternal serum PRL level both before and after a breastfeed to
      explore the effect of suckling on PRL increment. The mother's perception of the
      onset of her lactation was evaluated by the mother's sense of fullness in her
      breast. The mother's perception of milk supply was evaluated by using the H&H
      Lactation Scale. RESULTS: Data from 117 participants were included in this
      analysis. Low suction pressure, a shorter gestational age, a high pre-gestational
      body mass index (BMI), and high infant birth weight were associated with a
      smaller than average PRL increment. High suction pressure, longer sucking
      duration, and a low gestational weight gain were related to a mother's perception
      of an earlier onset of her lactation. However, low suction pressure, a high
      frequency of giving formula, a small PRL increment, and the mother's perception
      of a later onset of her lactation were correlated with her perception of an
      insufficient milk supply. CONCLUSIONS: Suction pressure varied directly with the
      post-natal PRL increment. Suction pressure was associated with the timing of the
      mother's perception of her lactation. Strong suction pressure by the infant is
      likely to enhance the mother's confidence in her lactation. Additionally, sucking
      duration, frequency of giving formula, maternal BMI, and infant birth weight
      played a role in early breastfeeding success.

PMID- 27643922
TI  - Not all dopamine neurons are created equal: Functional heterogeneity of midbrain
      dopamine axons.

PMID- 27643924
TI  - RE-INVIGORATING THE OSTEOPOROSIS MESSAGE.

PMID- 27643923
TI  - AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGISTS AND AMERICAN COLLEGE OF
      ENDOCRINOLOGY CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF
      POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS - 2016--EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
AB  - ABBREVIATIONS: AACE = American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists AFF =
      atypical femur fracture ASBMR = American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
      BEL = best evidence level BMD = bone mineral density BTM = bone turnover marker
      CBC = complete blood count CI = confidence interval DXA = dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry EL = evidence level FDA = U.S. Food and Drug Administration FLEX =
      Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT) Long-term Extension FRAX((r)) = Fracture Risk
      Assessment Tool GFR = glomerular filtration rate GI = gastrointestinal HORIZON =
      Health Outcomes and Reduced Incidence with Zoledronic Acid Once Yearly IOF =
      International Osteoporosis Foundation ISCD = International Society for Clinical
      Densitometry IU = international units IV = intravenous LSC = least significant
      change NBHA = National Bone Health Alliance NOF = National Osteoporosis
      Foundation 25(OH)D = 25-hydroxy vitamin D ONJ = osteonecrosis of the jaw PINP =
      serum carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I collagen PTH = parathyroid hormone R
      = recommendation RANK = receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B RANKL =
      receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand RCT = randomized controlled
      trial RR = relative risk S-CTX = serum C-terminal telopeptide SQ = subcutaneous
      VFA = vertebral fracture assessment WHO = World Health Organization.

PMID- 27643926
TI  - Phorate can reverse P450 metabolism-based herbicide resistance in Lolium rigidum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Organophosphate insecticides can inhibit specific cytochrome P450
      enzymes involved in metabolic herbicide resistance mechanisms, leading to
      synergistic interactions between the insecticide and the herbicide. In this study
      we report synergistic versus antagonistic interactions between the
      organophosphate insecticide phorate and five different herbicides observed in a
      population of multiple herbicide-resistant Lolium rigidum. RESULTS: Phorate
      synergised with three different herbicide modes of action, enhancing the activity
      of the ALS inhibitor chlorsulfuron (60% LD50 reduction), the VLCFAE inhibitor
      pyroxasulfone (45% LD50 reduction) and the mitosis inhibitor trifluralin (70%
      LD50 reduction). Conversely, phorate antagonised the two thiocarbamate herbicides
      prosulfocarb and triallate with a 12-fold LD50 increase. CONCLUSION: We report
      the selective reversal of P450-mediated metabolic multiple resistance to
      chlorsulfuron and trifluralin in the grass weed L. rigidum by synergistic
      interaction with the insecticide phorate, and discuss the putative mechanistic
      basis. This research should encourage diversity in herbicide use patterns for
      weed control as part of a long-term integrated management effort to reduce the
      risk of selection of metabolism-based multiple herbicide resistance in L.
      rigidum. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27643927
TI  - Robotic Lung Cancer Surgery: A Missed Opportunity and a Faulty Conclusion.

PMID- 27643925
TI  - StemCellCKB: An Integrated Stem Cell-Specific Chemogenomics KnowledgeBase for
      Target Identification and Systems-Pharmacology Research.
AB  - Given the capacity of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation, stem cells
      are promising sources for use in regenerative medicines as well as in the
      clinical treatment of certain hematological malignancies and degenerative
      diseases. Complex networks of cellular signaling pathways largely determine stem
      cell fate and function. Small molecules that modulate these pathways can provide
      important biological and pharmacological insights. However, it is still
      challenging to identify the specific protein targets of these compounds, to
      explore the changes in stem cell phenotypes induced by compound treatment and to
      ascertain compound mechanisms of action. To facilitate stem cell related small
      molecule study and provide a better understanding of the associated signaling
      pathways, we have constructed a comprehensive domain-specific chemogenomics
      resource, called StemCellCKB ( http://www.cbligand.org/StemCellCKB/ ). This new
      cloud-computing platform describes the chemical molecules, genes, proteins, and
      signaling pathways implicated in stem cell regulation. StemCellCKB is also
      implemented with web applications designed specifically to aid in the
      identification of stem cell relevant protein targets, including TargetHunter, a
      machine-learning algorithm for predicting small molecule targets based on
      molecular fingerprints, and HTDocking, a high-throughput docking module for
      target prediction and systems-pharmacology analyses. We have systematically
      tested StemCellCKB to verify data integrity. Target-prediction accuracy has also
      been validated against the reported known target/compound associations. This
      proof-of-concept example demonstrates that StemCellCKB can (1) accurately predict
      the macromolecular targets of existing stem cell modulators and (2) identify
      novel small molecules capable of probing stem cell signaling mechanisms, for use
      in systems-pharmacology studies. StemCellCKB facilitates the exploration and
      exchange of stem cell chemogenomics data among members of the broader research
      community.

PMID- 27643929
TI  - Comment on Udelsman et al.

PMID- 27643928
TI  - The Future of Basic Science in Academic Surgery: Identifying Barriers to Success
      for Surgeon-scientists.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the challenges confronting
      surgeons performing basic science research in today's academic surgery
      environment. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Multiple studies have identified
      challenges confronting surgeon-scientists and impacting their ability to be
      successful. Although these threats have been known for decades, the downward
      trend in the number of successful surgeon-scientists continues. Clinical demands,
      funding challenges, and other factors play important roles, but a rigorous
      analysis of academic surgeons and their experiences regarding these issues has
      not previously been performed. METHODS: An online survey was distributed to 2504
      members of the Association for Academic Surgery and Society of University
      Surgeons to determine factors impacting success. Survey results were subjected to
      statistical analyses. We also reviewed publicly available data regarding funding
      from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). RESULTS: NIH data revealed a 27%
      decline in the proportion of NIH funding to surgical departments relative to
      total NIH funding from 2007 to 2014. A total of 1033 (41%) members responded to
      our survey, making this the largest survey of academic surgeons to date. Surgeons
      most often cited the following factors as major impediments to pursuing basic
      investigation: pressure to be clinically productive, excessive administrative
      responsibilities, difficulty obtaining extramural funding, and desire for work
      life balance. Surprisingly, a majority (68%) did not believe surgeons can be
      successful basic scientists in today's environment, including departmental
      leadership. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified important barriers that confront
      academic surgeons pursuing basic research and a perception that success in basic
      science may no longer be achievable. These barriers need to be addressed to
      ensure the continued development of future surgeon-scientists.

PMID- 27643930
TI  - Nrf2 as a key player of redox regulation in cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - The oxidative stress plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular
      diseases (CVD). In CVD progression an aberrant redox regulation was observed. In
      this regulation levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in
      cellular signaling, where Nrf2 is the key regulator of redox homeostasis. Keap1
      Nrf2-ARE system regulates a great set of detoxificant and antioxidant enzymes in
      cells after ROS and electrophiles exposure. In this review we focus on radical
      generating systems in cardiovascular system as well as on Nrf2 as a target
      against oxidative stress and a key player of redox regulation in cardiovascular
      diseases. We also summarize the current knowledge about the role of Nrf2 in
      pathophysiology of several CVD (hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy,
      cardiomyopathies) as well as in cardioprotection against myocardial ischemia/
      reperfusion injury. 

PMID- 27643931
TI  - Cardioprotective effects of quercetin against ischemia-reperfusion injury are age
      dependent.
AB  - Quercetin, a polyphenolic compound present in various types of food, has been
      shown to exert beneficial effects in different cardiac as well as non-cardiac
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) models in adult animals. However, there is no evidence
      about the effects of quercetin on I/R injury in non-mature animals, despite the
      fact that efficiency of some interventions against I/R is age-dependent. This
      study was aimed to investigate the effects of chronic quercetin treatment on I/R
      injury in juvenile and adult rat hearts. Juvenile (4-week-old) as well as adult
      (12-week-old) rats were treated with quercetin (20 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks, hearts
      were excised and exposed to 25-min global ischemia followed by 40-min
      reperfusion. Functional parameters of hearts and occurrence of reperfusion
      arrhythmias were registered to assess the cardiac function. Our results have
      shown that quercetin improved post-ischemic recovery of LVDP, as well as recovery
      of markers of contraction and relaxation, +(dP/dt)max and -(dP/dt)max,
      respectively, in juvenile hearts, but not in adult hearts. Quercetin had no
      impact on incidence as well as duration of reperfusion arrhythmias in animals of
      both ages. We conclude that the age of rats plays an important role in heart
      response to quercetin treatment in the particular dose and duration of the
      treatment. Therefore, the age of the treated subjects should be taken into
      consideration when choosing the dose of quercetin and duration of its application
      in prevention and/or treatment of cardiovascular diseases. 

PMID- 27643932
TI  - Modulation of systemic and aortic nitric oxide by melatonin and n-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids in isoproterenol affected spontaneously hypertensive
      and normotensive Wistar rats.
AB  - We aimed to explore the effects of melatonin and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
      (PUFA) supplementation on plasma and aortic nitric oxide (NO) levels in
      isoproterenol (Iso) affected spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and Wistar rats.
      Untreated control rats were compared with Iso injected (118 mg/kg, s.c.) rats,
      and Iso injected plus supplemented with melatonin (10 mg/kg, p.o.) or PUFA (1.68
      g/kg, p.o.) for two months. Plasma and aortic basal, L-NAME inhibited, adrenaline
      and acetylcholine stimulated NO were determined using Griess method. Plasma NO
      levels were lower in SHR versus Wistar rats. Iso decreased NO in Wistar while not
      in SHR. PUFA but not melatonin intake of Iso treated SHR increased plasma NO
      along with a decrease in systolic blood pressure. Basal aortic NO level was
      higher in SHR than Wistar rats and not altered by Iso. Intake of melatonin
      increased but PUFA decreased basal NO levels in Wistar+Iso and did not affect in
      SHR+Iso rats. Acetylcholine and adrenaline induced aortic NO release was
      significantly increased in Wistar+Iso but not SHR+Iso group. Melatonin intake
      increased Ach induced aortic NO in Wistar+Iso and SHR+Iso groups, whereas there
      was no effect of PUFA intake. Findings suggest that PUFA modulates plasma and
      melatonin aortic NO levels of isoproterenol affected rats in a strain-dependent
      manner. 

PMID- 27643933
TI  - Preventive and therapeutic application of molecular hydrogen in situations with
      excessive production of free radicals.
AB  - Excessive production of oxygen free radicals has been regarded as a causative
      common denominator of many pathological processes in the animal kingdom. Hydroxyl
      and nitrosyl radicals represent the major cause of the destruction of
      biomolecules either by a direct reaction or by triggering a chain reaction of
      free radicals. Scavenging of free radicals may act preventively or
      therapeutically. A number of substances that preferentially react with free
      radicals can serve as scavengers, thus increasing the internal capacity/activity
      of endogenous antioxidants and protecting cells and tissues against oxidative
      damage. Molecular hydrogen (H(2)) reacts with strong oxidants, such as hydroxyl
      and nitrosyl radicals, in the cells, that enables utilization of its potential
      for preventive and therapeutic applications. H(2) rapidly diffuses into tissues
      and cells without affecting metabolic redox reactions and signaling reactive
      species. H(2) reduces oxidative stress also by regulating gene expression, and
      functions as an anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic agent. There is a growing
      body of evidence based on the results of animal experiments and clinical
      observations that H(2) may represent an effective antioxidant for the prevention
      of oxidative stress-related diseases. Application of molecular hydrogen in
      situations with excessive production of free radicals, in particular, hydroxyl
      and nitrosyl radicals is relatively simple and effective, therefore, it deserves
      special attention. 

PMID- 27643934
TI  - Stimulation of mitochondrial ATP synthase activity - a new diazoxide-mediated
      mechanism of cardioprotection.
AB  - Pharmacological preconditioning by diazoxide and a model of experimental
      streptozotocin-induced acute diabetes mellitus (STZ-DM) provided similar levels
      of cardioprotection assessed as limiting myocardial infarct size. The aim was to
      explore the possibility of existence of another in vitro mechanism, which could
      be contributory to cardioprotection mediated by diazoxide treatment.
      Mitochondrial membrane fluidity and ATP synthase activity in isolated heart
      mitochondria were determined under the influence of two factors, STZ-DM condition
      and treatment with diazoxide. Both factors independently increased the ATP
      synthase activity (p<0.05), as no interaction effect was observed upon the
      combination of STZ-DM with diazoxide. On the other hand, the mitochondrial
      membrane fluidity was significantly increased by STZ-DM only; no significant main
      effect for diazoxide was found. Based on the results from measurements of enzyme
      kinetics, we assume a direct interaction of diazoxide with the molecule of ATP
      synthase stimulated its activity by noncompetitive activation. Our present work
      revealed, for the first time, that cardioprotection induced by diazoxide may not
      be caused exclusively by mitochondrial K(ATP) opening, but presumably also by a
      direct interaction of diazoxide with ATP synthase, although the mechanisms for
      achieving this activation cannot be fully delineated. 

PMID- 27643935
TI  - Changes of microRNA-1, -15b and -21 levels in irradiated rat hearts after
      treatment with potentially radioprotective drugs.
AB  - The aim of this study was to measure expression levels of microRNAs (miRNAs)
      (miRNA-1, -15b and -21) in the rat myocardium after a single dose of ionizing
      radiation (6-7 Gy/min, total 25 Gy). The rats were treated with selected drugs
      (Atorvastatin, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), Tadalafil, Enbrel) for six weeks after
      irradiation. MiRNAs levels were measured by RT-qPCR. Irradiation down-regulated
      miRNA-1 in irradiated hearts. In Tadalafil- and Atorvastatin-treated groups,
      miRNA-1 expression levels were further decreased compared with irradiated
      controls. However, Enbrel increased miRNA-1 level in irradiated hearts similarly
      to that in non-irradiated untreated group. Increase of miRNA-15b is pro-apoptotic
      in relationship with ischemia. Irradiation caused down-regulation of miRNA-15b.
      Administration of ASA in the irradiated group resulted in the increase of miRNA
      15b expression compared to non-treated controls without irradiation. After Enbrel
      administration, miRNA-15b levels were overexpressed compared to non-treated
      normal group. MiRNA-21 belongs to the most markedly up-regulated miRNAs in
      response to cardiogenic stress. MiRNA-21 was increased nearly 2-fold compared to
      non-treated hearts whereas Tadalafil reduced miRNA-21 levels (about 40 %). Our
      study suggests that Enbrel and Tadalafil changed miRNAs expression values of the
      irradiated rats to the values of non-irradiated controls, thus they might be
      helpful in mitigation of radiation-induced toxicity. 

PMID- 27643936
TI  - Disordered myocardial Ca(2+) homeostasis results in substructural alterations
      that may promote occurrence of malignant arrhythmias.
AB  - We aimed to determine the impact of Ca(2+)-related disorders induced in intact
      animal hearts on ultrastructure of the cardiomyocytes prior to occurrence of
      severe arrhythmias. Three types of acute experiments were performed that are
      known to be accompanied by disturbances in Ca(2+) handling. Langedorff-perfused
      rat or guinea pig hearts subjected to K(+)-deficient perfusion to induce
      ventricular fibrillation (VF), burst atrial pacing to induce atrial fibrillation
      (AF) and open chest pig heart exposed to intramyocardial noradrenaline infusion
      to induce ventricular tachycardia (VT). Tissue samples for electron microscopic
      examination were taken during basal condition, prior and during occurrence of
      malignant arrhythmias. Cardiomyocyte alterations preceding occurrence of
      arrhythmias consisted of non-uniform sarcomere shortening, disruption of
      myofilaments and injury of mitochondria that most likely reflected cytosolic
      Ca(2+) disturbances and Ca(2+) overload. These disorders were linked with non
      uniform pattern of neighboring cardiomyocytes and dissociation of adhesive
      junctions suggesting defects in cardiac cell-to-cell coupling. Our findings
      identified heterogeneously distributed high [Ca(2+)](i)-induced subcellular
      injury of the cardiomyocytes and their junctions as a common feature prior
      occurrence of VT, VF or AF. In conclusion, there is a link between Ca(2+)-related
      disorders in contractility and coupling of the cardiomyocytes pointing out a
      novel paradigm implicated in development of severe arrhythmias. 

PMID- 27643937
TI  - Changes in activities of circulating MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients suffering from
      heart failure in relation to gender, hypertension and treatment: a cross
      sectional study.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of
      heart failure (HF). Our aim was to determine the activities of circulating MMP-2
      and MMP-9 in patients with HF in respect of gender, comorbidities and treatment
      (n=51). We did not reveal any differences in circulating pro-MMP-2 and pro-MMP-9
      activities between the patients with HF and without it. However, there was a
      decrease in activity of pro-MMP-2 in treated hypertensive participants versus
      healthy ones. In contrast, we observed increased pro-MMP-2 activity in
      hypertensive participants with coexistent HF versus hypertensive participants
      without HF. In addition, a decrease in pro-MMP-2 activity was shown in women
      suffering from HF versus men suffering from HF. In conclusion, potential
      inhibitory effect of antihypertensive treatment on pro-MMP-2 activity was found.
      Coexistent HF with hypertension probably reduces the inhibitory effect of
      antihypertensive treatment on pro-MMP-2 activity. Our data also suggest the role
      of potential cardioprotective factors influencing the activity of pro-MMP-2 in
      women. 

PMID- 27643938
TI  - Protection of cardiac cell-to-cell coupling attenuate myocardial remodeling and
      proarrhythmia induced by hypertension.
AB  - Gap junction connexin channels are important determinants of myocardial
      conduction and synchronization that is crucial for coordinated heart function.
      One of the main risk factors for cardiovascular events that results in heart
      attack, congestive heart failure, stroke as well as sudden arrhythmic death is
      hypertension. Mislocalization and/or dysfunction of specific connexin-43 channels
      due to hypertension-induced myocardial remodeling have been implicated in the
      occurrence of life-threatening arrhythmias and heart failure in both, humans as
      well as experimental animals. Recent studies suggest that down-regulation of
      myocardial connexin-43, its abnormal distribution and/or phosphorylation might be
      implicated in this process. On the other hand, treatment of hypertensive animals
      with cardioprotective drugs (e.g. statins) or supplementation with non
      pharmacological compounds, such as melatonin, omega-3 fatty acids and red palm
      oil protects from lethal arrhythmias. The antiarrhythmic effects are attributed
      to the attenuation of myocardial connexin-43 abnormalities associated with
      preservation of myocardial architecture and improvement of cardiac conduction.
      Findings uncover novel mechanisms of cardioprotective (antihypertensive and
      antiarrhythmic) effects of compounds that are used in clinical settings. Well
      designed trials are needed to explore the antiarrhythmic potential of these
      compounds in patients suffering from hypertension. 

PMID- 27643939
TI  - The role of red blood cell deformability and Na,K-ATPase function in selected
      risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in humans: focus on hypertension,
      diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia.
AB  - Deformability of red blood cells (RBC) is the ability of RBC to change their
      shape in order to pass through narrow capillaries in circulation. Deterioration
      in deformability of RBC contributes to alterations in microcirculatory blood flow
      and delivery of oxygen to tissues. Several factors are responsible for
      maintenance of RBC deformability. One of them is the Na,K-ATPase known as crucial
      enzyme in maintenance of intracellular ionic homeostasis affecting thus
      regulation of cellular volume and consequently RBC deformability. Decreased
      deformability of RBC has been found to be the marker of adverse outcomes in
      cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors
      influences rheological properties of the blood. This review summarizes knowledge
      concerning the RBC deformability in connection with selected risk factors of CVD,
      including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus, based exclusively
      on papers from human studies. We attempted to provide an update on important
      issues regarding the role of Na,K-ATPase in RBC deformability. In patients
      suffering from hypertension as well as diabetes mellitus the Na,K-ATPase appears
      to be responsible for the changes leading to alterations in RBC deformability.
      The triggering factor for changes of RBC deformability during
      hypercholesterolemia seems to be the increased content of cholesterol in
      erythrocyte membranes. 

PMID- 27643940
TI  - Remote preconditioning as a novel "conditioning" approach to repair the broken
      heart: potential mechanisms and clinical applications.
AB  - Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a novel strategy of protection against
      ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in the heart (and/or other organs) by brief
      episodes of non-lethal IR in a distant organ/tissue. Importantly, RIPC can be
      induced noninvasively by limitation of blood flow in the extremity implying the
      applicability of this method in clinical situations. RIPC (and its delayed phase)
      is a form of relatively short-term adaptation to ischemia, similar to ischemic
      PC, and likely they both share triggering mechanisms, whereas mediators and end
      effectors may differ. It is hypothesized that communication between the signals
      triggered in the remote organs and protection in the target organ may be mediated
      through substances released from the preconditioned organ and transported via the
      circulation (humoral pathways), by neural pathways and/or via systemic anti
      inflammatory and antiapoptotic response to short ischemic bouts. Identification
      of molecules involved in RIPC cascades may have therapeutic and diagnostic
      implications in the management of myocardial ischemia. Elucidation of the
      mechanisms of endogenous cardioprotection triggered in the remote organ could
      lead to the development of diverse pharmacological RIPC mimetics. In the present
      article, the authors provide a short overview of RIPC-induced protection,
      proposed underlying mechanisms and factors modulating RIPC as a promising
      cardioprotective strategy. 

PMID- 27643941
TI  - Omega-3 fatty acids reduce lipopolysaccharide-induced abnormalities in expression
      of connexin-40 in aorta of hereditary hypertriglyceridemic rats.
AB  - Omega-3 fatty acids (omega3FA) are known to reduce hypertriglyceridemia- and
      inflammation-induced vascular wall diseases. However, mechanisms of their effects
      are not completely clear. We examined, whether 10-day omega3FA diet can reduce
      bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced changes in expression of gap junction
      protein connexin40 (Cx40) in the aorta of hereditary hypertriglyceridemic (hHTG)
      rats. After administration of a single dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 mg/kg,
      i.p.) to adult hHTG rats, animals were fed with omega3FA diet (30 mg/kg/day) for
      10 days. LPS decreased Cx40 expression that was associated with reduced
      acetylcholine-induced relaxation of aorta. Omega3FA administration to LPS rats
      had partial anti-inflammatory effects, associated with increased Cx40 expression
      and improved endothelium dependent relaxation of the aorta. Our results suggest
      that 10-day omega3FA diet could protect endothelium-dependent relaxation of the
      aorta of hHTG rats against LPS-induced damage through the modulation of
      endothelial Cx40 expression. 

PMID- 27643942
TI  - Cardiac connexin-43 and PKC signaling in rats with altered thyroid status without
      and with omega-3 fatty acids intake.
AB  - Thyroid hormones are powerful modulators of heart function and susceptibility to
      arrhythmias via both genomic and non-genomic actions. We aimed to explore
      expression of electrical coupling protein connexin-43 (Cx43) in the heart of rats
      with altered thyroid status and impact of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
      (omega-3) supplementation. Adult male Lewis rats were divided into following six
      groups: euthyroid controls, hyperthyroid (treated with T(3)) and hypothyroid
      (treated with methimazol) with or without six-weeks lasting supplementation with
      omega-3 (20 mg/100 g/day). Left and right ventricles, septum and atria were used
      for immunoblotting of Cx43 and protein kinase C (PKC). Total expression of Cx43
      and its phosphorylated forms were significantly increased in all heart regions of
      hypothyroid rats compared to euthyroid controls. In contrast, the total levels of
      Cx43 and its functional phosphorylated forms were decreased in atria and left
      ventricle of hyperthyroid rats. In parallel, the expression of PKC epsilon that
      phosphorylates Cx43, at serine 368, was increased in hypothyroid but decreased in
      hyperthyroid rat hearts. Omega-3 intake did not significantly affect either Cx43
      or PKC epsilon alterations. In conclusion, there is an inverse relationship
      between expression of cardiac Cx43 and the levels of circulating thyroid
      hormones. It appears that increased propensity of hyperthyroid while decreased of
      hypothyroid individuals to malignant arrhythmias may be in part attributed to the
      changes in myocardial Cx43. 

PMID- 27643943
TI  - Ageing related down-regulation of myocardial connexin-43 and up-regulation of MMP
      2 may predict propensity to atrial fibrillation in experimental animals.
AB  - Mechanisms underlying atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common cardiac
      arrhythmia, particularly in aged population, are not fully elucidated. We have
      previously shown an increased propensity of old guinea pigs (GPs) heart to
      inducible AF when comparing to young animals. This study aimed to verify our
      hypothesis that susceptibility of aged heart to AF may be attributed to
      abnormalities in myocardial connexin-43 (Cx43) and extracellular matrix that
      affect cardiac electrical properties. Experiments were conducted on male and
      female 4-week-old and 24-week-old GPs. Atrial tissue was processed for analysis
      of Cx43 topology using immunohistochemistry, expression of Cx43 protein using
      immunobloting, and expression of mRNA of Cx43 and extracellular matrix
      metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) using real time PCR. Immunohistochemistry revealed
      uniform Cx43 distribution predominantly on lateral sides of the cardiomyocytes of
      young male and female GP atria. In contrast, non-uniform distribution,
      mislocalization and reduced immunolabeling of Cx43 were detected in atria of old
      GPs. In parallel, the atrial tissue levels of Cx43 mRNA were significantly
      decreased, while mRNA expression of MMP-2 was significantly increased in old
      versus young GPs. The changes were more pronounced in old GPs males comparing to
      females. Findings indicate that age-related down-regulation of atrial Cx43 and up
      regulation of MMP-2 as well as disordered Cx43 distribution can facilitate
      development of AF in old guinea pig hearts. 

PMID- 27643944
TI  - Six-Coordinate Ferrous Nitrosyl Complex FeII(TTP)(PMe3)(NO) (TTP = meso-Tetra-p
      tolylporphyrinato Dianion).
AB  - Low-temperature in situ Fourier transform infrared and UV-vis measurements show
      that trimethylphosphine (PMe3) reacts with microporous layers of FeII(TTP)(NO)
      (TTP = meso-tetra-p-tolylporphyrinato dianion; NO = nitric oxide) to form the
      previously unknown six-coordinate complex FeII(TTP)(PMe3)(NO). Upon warming this
      compound to room temperature in the presence of excess phosphine, the NO ligand
      is completely replaced by phosphine, resulting in formation of the
      bis(trimethylphosphine) complex FeII(TTP)(PMe3)2. Simultaneously, the NO released
      oxidizes free PMe3 to the corresponding phosphine oxide (OPMe3) with concomitant
      formation of nitrous oxide (N2O).

PMID- 27643945
TI  - Chain Flexibility in Self-Assembled Monolayers Affects Protein Adsorption and
      Surface Hydration: A Molecular Dynamics Study.
AB  - Recent developments in the antifouling properties of Self-Assembled Monolayers
      (SAMs) have largely focused on increasing the enthalpic association of a
      hydration layer along the interface of those surfaces with water. However, an
      entropic penalty due to chain restriction also disfavors biomolecule-surface
      adsorption. To isolate the effect of this entropic penalty amid changing packing
      densities, molecular dynamics simulations of explicitly solvated systems of
      lysozyme and seven monomer length oligo (ethylene glycol) (OEG) SAMs were
      performed. SAM surfaces were constructed at 100%, 74%, and 53% of a maximum
      packing (MP) density of 4.97 A interchain spacing and the effect of chain
      flexibility was isolated by selectively freezing chain monomers. The rate of
      protein adsorption as well as the conformation and orientation of the protein
      upon adsorption were examined. It was found that chain spacing was a strong
      determinant in adsorption properties while chain flexibility played a secondary
      role. Of the three packing densities, 74% of MP was the most antifouling with
      increased antifouling behavior at moderate chain flexibility, i.e. two to four
      free monomer groups.

PMID- 27643946
TI  - Architecture of collapse: regime shift and recovery in an hierarchically
      structured marine ecosystem.
AB  - By the late 20th century, a series of events or 'natural experiments', for
      example the depletion of apex predators, extreme eutrophication and blooms of
      invasive species, had suggested that the Black Sea could be considered as a large
      ecosystem 'laboratory'. The events resulted in regime shifts cascading through
      all trophic levels, disturbing ecosystem functioning and damaging the water
      environment. Causal pathways by which the external (hydroclimate, overfishing)
      and internal (food web interactions) drivers provoke regime shifts are
      investigated. Statistical data analyses supported by an interpretative framework
      based on hierarchical ecosystem theory revealed mechanisms of hierarchical
      incorporation of environmental factors into the ecosystem. Evidence links
      Atlantic teleconnections to Black Sea hydroclimate, which together with fishing
      shapes variability in fish stocks. The hydroclimatic signal is conveyed through
      the food web via changes in productivity at all levels, to planktivorous fish.
      Fluctuating fish abundance is believed to induce a lagged change in competitor
      jelly plankton that cascades down to phytoplankton and influences water quality.
      Deprived of the stabilising role of apex predators, the Black Sea's hierarchical
      ecosystem organisation is susceptible to both environmental and anthropogenic
      stresses, and increased fishing makes fish stock collapses highly probable. When
      declining stocks are confronted with burgeoning fishing effort associated with
      the inability of fishery managers and decision-makers to adapt rapidly to changes
      in fish abundance, there is overfishing and stock collapse. Management procedures
      are ineffective at handling complex phenomena such as ecosystem regime shifts
      because of the shortage of suitable explanatory models. The proposed concepts and
      models reported here relate the hydroclimate, overfishing and invasive species to
      shifts in ecosystem functioning and water quality, unravelling issues such as the
      causality of ecosystem interactions and mechanisms and offering potential for
      finding ways to reverse regime shifts. We advocate a management approach aiming
      at restoring ecosystem hierarchy that might mitigate the costly consequences of
      regime shifts.

PMID- 27643947
TI  - Interoceptive awareness and its relationship to hippocampal dependent processes.
AB  - Many neuropsychological and animal lesion studies point to the hippocampus as
      being critical for mediating interoceptive awareness, while neuroimaging studies
      have been used to argue for the importance of the insula and anterior cingulate
      cortex. Here, using healthy young adults - as with the neuroimaging data - we
      tested for an association between performance on a hippocampal dependent learning
      and memory (HDLM) measure (logical memory percent retention) and interoceptive
      awareness assessed on three tasks - heart rate tracking, water loading and the
      Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire (MAIA).
      After controlling for other relevant potentially confounding variables, we found
      significant associations between both the water loading and MAIA measures (which
      were both correlated) and HDLM performance. These findings imply that hippocampal
      dependent processes are involved in interoceptive awareness in healthy young
      adults. More tentatively, they suggest that medial temporal lobe structures may
      mediate interoceptive tasks that involve ingestion and/or integration of past and
      current state-based information.

PMID- 27643948
TI  - Investigating heritability of laterality and cognitive control in speech
      perception.
AB  - Several studies analyzing the ontogenetic origin of cerebral lateralization
      provide evidences for a genetic foundation of handedness in humans that is
      modulated by environmental influences. Since other forms of behavioral
      lateralization are less investigated, it is unclear as to how far different
      functions display similar heritability. But deeper knowledge is necessary to
      understand if and how developmental coupling of different functions is based on a
      shared genetic background or on the impact of environmental influences. Here, we
      investigated the heritability of language lateralization assessed with the
      dichotic listening task, as well as the heritability of cognitive control
      processes modulating performance in this task. Overall, 103 families consisting
      of both parents and offspring were tested with the non-forced, as well as the
      forced-right and forced-left condition of the forced attention dichotic listening
      task, implemented in the iDichotic smartphone app, developed at the University of
      Bergen, Norway. The results indicate that the typical right ear advantage in the
      dichotic listening task shows weak and non-significant heritability (h2=0.003;
      p=0.98). In contrast, cognitive factors, like attention focus (forced right
      condition: h2=0.36; p<0.01; forced left condition: h2=0.28; p<0.05) and cognitive
      control (Gain forced right: h2=0.39; p<0.01; Gain forced left: h2=0.49; p<0.01)
      showed stronger and significant heritability. These findings indicate a variable
      dependence of different aspects of a cognitive function on heritability and
      implicate a major contribution of non-genetic influences to individual language
      lateralization.

PMID- 27643949
TI  - Corrigendum to "Individual differences in spatial relation processing: Effects of
      strategy, ability, and gender" [Brain Cogn. (2011) 76, 184-190].

PMID- 27643950
TI  - Perceptual asymmetry during free viewing of words and faces: The effect of
      context on recognition.
AB  - There is ample evidence supporting the dissociation between the role of the left
      and right cerebral hemispheres in processing words and faces, respectively.
      Nevertheless, research has not yet studied the effect of perceptual asymmetry in
      memory context effect tasks using words and faces. Thus, the present study
      researches the advantages of presenting information in the right versus left
      hemispace and the effect of context on recognition when using faces compared to
      words presented in the right versus left hemispace. Participants (n=60) were
      assigned either to the group presented with pairs of words, or with pairs of
      faces. One stimulus in each pair was designated as the target (i.e., to be
      remembered) and the other served as context (i.e., to be ignored). Half of the
      targets were presented in the right hemispace, and half were presented in the
      left hemispace. As predicted, words were better recognized when presented in the
      right hemispace, while faces were better remembered when presented in the left
      hemispace. The most interesting finding is the influence of context on
      lateralized processing of words and pictures. That is, only when words or faces
      were presented in the left hemispace did contextual information affect target
      memory (though it yielded a different pattern of effect). Hence, the findings of
      the present study may be interpreted either as reflecting attentional bias to the
      left hemispace or structural differences between the hemispheres. Thus, cognitive
      processes and the content of the stimuli determine which hemisphere will be
      involved in processing contextual information.

PMID- 27643951
TI  - The influence of strategic encoding on false memory in patients with mild
      cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease dementia.
AB  - Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia exhibit high rates of memory
      distortions in addition to their impairments in episodic memory. Several
      investigations have demonstrated that when healthy individuals (young and old)
      engaged in an encoding strategy that emphasized the uniqueness of study items (an
      item-specific encoding strategy), they were able to improve their discrimination
      between old items and unstudied critical lure items in a false memory task. In
      the present study we examined if patients with AD could also improve their memory
      discrimination when engaging in an item-specific encoding strategy. Healthy older
      adult controls, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, and
      patients with mild AD dementia were asked to study lists of categorized words. In
      the Item-Specific condition, participants were asked to provide a unique detail
      or personal experience with each study item. In the Relational condition, they
      were asked to determine how each item in the list was related to the others. To
      assess the influence of both strategies, recall and recognition memory tests were
      administered. Overall, both patient groups exhibited poorer memory in both recall
      and recognition tests compared to controls. In terms of recognition, healthy
      older controls and patients with MCI due to AD exhibited improved memory
      discrimination in the Item-Specific condition compared to the Relational
      condition, whereas patients with AD dementia did not. We speculate that patients
      with MCI due to AD use intact frontal networks to effectively engage in this
      strategy.

PMID- 27643952
TI  - Acute aerobic activity enhances response inhibition for less than 30min.
AB  - Acute exercise appears to facilitate certain aspects of cognitive processing. The
      possibility that exercise may lead to more efficient inhibitory processes is of
      particular interest, owing to the wide range of cognitive and motor functions
      that inhibition may underlie. The purpose of the present study was to examine the
      immediate and the delayed effect of acute aerobic exercise on response
      inhibition, motor planning, and eye-hand coordination in healthy active adults.
      Forty healthy and active participants (10 females) with a mean age of 51.88+/
      8.46years performed the Go-NoGo test (response inhibition) and the Catch Game
      (motor planning and eye-hand coordination) before, immediately after, and
      following a 30-min recovery period in two conditions: a moderate-intensity
      aerobic session and a control session. In 2-way repeated measures ANOVAs (2
      treatments*3 times) followed by contrast comparisons for post hoc analyses,
      significant pre-post interactions - indicating improvements immediately following
      exercise but not following the control condition - were observed in the Go-NoGo
      measures: Accuracy, Reaction Time, and Performance Index, but not in the Catch
      Game. In the post-follow-up interaction a deterioration was observed in
      Performance Index, and a trend of deterioration in Accuracy and Reaction Time.
      The conclusion was that a single session of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise
      facilitates response inhibition, but not motor planning or eye-hand coordination,
      in middle-aged healthy active adults. On the other hand, the improvement does not
      last 30min following a recovery period. Further studies are needed to examine the
      duration of the inhibitory control benefits and the accumulative effect of a
      series of acute exercise bouts, as well as to determine the brain networks and/or
      neurotransmitter systems most affected by the intervention.

PMID- 27643953
TI  - Prospective memory in multiple sclerosis: The impact of cue distinctiveness and
      executive functioning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to do something at
      the appropriate time in the future, is crucial in everyday life. One way to
      improve PM performance is to increase the salience of a cue announcing that it is
      time to act. Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients often report PM failures and there
      is growing evidence of PM deficits among this population. However, such deficits
      are poorly characterized and their relation to cognitive status remains unclear.
      To better understand PM deficits in MS patients, this study investigated the
      impact of cue salience on PM, and its relation to retrospective memory (RM) and
      executive deficits. METHODS: Thirty-nine (39) MS patients were compared to 18
      healthy controls on a PM task modulating cue salience during an ongoing general
      knowledge test. RESULTS: MS patients performed worse than controls on the PM
      task, regardless of cue salience. MS patients' executive functions contributed
      significantly to the variance in PM performance, whereas age, education and RM
      did not. Interestingly, low- and high-executive patients' performance differed
      when the cue was not salient, but not when it was, suggesting that low-executive
      MS patients benefited more from cue salience. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to
      the growing evidence of PM deficits in MS and highlight the contribution of
      executive functions to certain aspects of PM. In low-executive MS patients, high
      cue salience improves PM performance by reducing the detection threshold and need
      for environmental monitoring.

PMID- 27643954
TI  - A Pharmacological Chaperone Molecule Induces Cancer Cell Death by Restoring
      Tertiary DNA Structures in Mutant hTERT Promoters.
AB  - Activation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is necessary for
      limitless replication in tumorigenesis. Whereas hTERT is transcriptionally
      silenced in normal cells, most tumor cells reactivate hTERT expression by
      alleviating transcriptional repression through diverse genetic and epigenetic
      mechanisms. Transcription-activating hTERT promoter mutations have been found to
      occur at high frequencies in multiple cancer types. These mutations have been
      shown to form new transcription factor binding sites that drive hTERT expression,
      but this model cannot fully account for differences in wild-type (WT) and mutant
      promoter activation and has not yet enabled a selective therapeutic strategy.
      Here, we demonstrate a novel mechanism by which promoter mutations activate hTERT
      transcription, which also sheds light on a unique therapeutic opportunity.
      Promoter mutations occur in a core promoter region that forms tertiary structures
      consisting of a pair of G-quadruplexes involved in transcriptional silencing. We
      show that promoter mutations exert a detrimental effect on the folding of one of
      these G-quadruplexes, resulting in a nonfunctional silencer element that
      alleviates transcriptional repression. We have also identified a small drug-like
      pharmacological chaperone (pharmacoperone) molecule, GTC365, that acts at an
      early step in the G-quadruplex folding pathway to redirect mutant promoter G
      quadruplex misfolding, partially reinstate the correct folding pathway, and
      reduce hTERT activity through transcriptional repression. This transcription
      mediated repression produces cancer cell death through multiple routes including
      both induction of apoptosis through inhibition of hTERT's role in regulating
      apoptosis-related proteins and induction of senescence by decreasing telomerase
      activity and telomere length. We demonstrate the selective therapeutic potential
      of this strategy in melanoma cells that overexpress hTERT.

PMID- 27643955
TI  - Splice form-dependent regulation of axonal arbor complexity by FMRP.
AB  - The autism-related protein Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is an RNA
      binding protein that plays important roles during both nervous system development
      and experience dependent plasticity. Alternative splicing of the Fmr1 locus gives
      rise to 12 different FMRP splice forms that differ in the functional and
      regulatory domains they contain as well as in their expression profile among
      brain regions and across development. Complete loss of FMRP leads to
      morphological and functional changes in neurons, including an increase in the
      size and complexity of the axonal arbor. To investigate the relative contribution
      of the FMRP splice forms to the regulation of axon morphology, we overexpressed
      individual splice forms in cultured wild type rat cortical neurons. FMRP
      overexpression led to a decrease in axonal arbor complexity that suggests that
      FMRP regulates axon branching. This reduction in complexity was specific to three
      splice forms-the full-length splice form 1, the most highly expressed splice form
      7, and splice form 9. A focused analysis of splice form 7 revealed that this
      regulation is independent of RNA binding. Instead this regulation is disrupted by
      mutations affecting phosphorylation of a conserved serine as well as by mutating
      the nuclear export sequence. Surprisingly, this mutation in the nuclear export
      sequence also led to increased localization to the distal axonal arbor. Together,
      these findings reveal domain-specific functions of FMRP in the regulation of
      axonal complexity that may be controlled by differential expression of FMRP
      splice forms. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 738-752,
      2017.

PMID- 27643956
TI  - Optimal weight gain in triplet pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify appropriate weight gain in triplet gestations, which may
      aid in reducing the risk of perinatal morbidity within this high-risk cohort.
      METHODS: This retrospective cohort study evaluated all non-anomalous triplet
      pregnancies between 23 and 40 weeks' gestation resulting in live births at five
      tertiary-care medical centers between 1991 and 2011. Subjects were divided by pre
      pregnancy BMI into underweight, normal-weight, overweight, and obese groups, and
      then stratified by low (<0.5 lb/week), moderate (0.5-1.49 lbs/week), or excess
      weight gain (>=1.5 lbs/week). Primary outcomes included spontaneous preterm birth
      and preeclampsia. RESULTS: We included 116 mothers and 348 corresponding neonates
      for final analysis. The incidence of preeclampsia and preterm delivery less than
      32 weeks' gestation was 37% and 41%, respectively. The incidence of preeclampsia
      increased with weight gain per week, but was not statistically different from
      subjects who gained less weight. We found no statistical correlation between
      weight gain per week and preterm delivery. CONCLUSION: We found no association
      between preeclampsia or preterm delivery and increasing weight gain in triplet
      pregnancies. The association with increased risk for preeclampsia was
      predominantly due to BMI effect. Based on the current study, recommendations for
      optimal weight gain in mothers with triplet gestations could not be defined.

PMID- 27643957
TI  - Darwin, Hume, Morgan, and the verae causae of psychology.
AB  - Charles Darwin and C. Lloyd Morgan forward two influential principles of
      cognitive ethological inference that yield conflicting results about the extent
      of continuity in the cognitive traits of humans and other animals. While these
      principles have been interpreted as reflecting commitments to different senses of
      parsimony, in fact, both principles result from the same vera causa inferential
      strategy, according to which "We ought to admit no more causes of natural things,
      than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances". Instead,
      the conflict stems from Darwin's and Morgan's views about the true causes of
      human psychology. Darwin holds a thoroughly Humean philosophy of the human mind,
      from which he infers significant continuity between human and animal minds. In
      contrast, Morgan argues that Humean cognitive mechanisms cannot account for a
      class of uniquely human behaviors, and therefore, he concludes that there is a
      significant discontinuity between human and animal cognition. This historical
      debate is informative for current controversies in comparative psychology.

PMID- 27643958
TI  - Analysis of Calcium Transients and Uniaxial Contraction Force in Single Human
      Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes on Microstructured Elastic Substrate
      with Spatially Controlled Surface Chemistries.
AB  - The mechanical activity of cardiomyocytes is the result of a process called
      excitation-contraction coupling (ECC). A membrane depolarization wave induces a
      transient cytosolic calcium concentration increase that triggers activation of
      calcium-sensitive contractile proteins, leading to cell contraction and force
      generation. An experimental setup capable of acquiring simultaneously all ECC
      features would have an enormous impact on cardiac drug development and disease
      study. In this work, we develop a microengineered elastomeric substrate with
      tailor-made surface chemistry to measure simultaneously the uniaxial contraction
      force and the calcium transients generated by single human cardiomyocytes in
      vitro. Microreplication followed by photocuring is used to generate an array
      consisting of elastomeric micropillars. A second photochemical process is
      employed to spatially control the surface chemistry of the elastomeric pillar. As
      result, human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) can be
      confined in rectangular cell-adhesive areas, which induce cell elongation and
      promote suspended cell anchoring between two adjacent micropillars. In this end
      to-end conformation, confocal fluorescence microscopy allows simultaneous
      detection of calcium transients and micropillar deflection induced by a single
      cell uniaxial contraction force. Computational finite elements modeling (FEM) and
      3D reconstruction of the cell-pillar interface allow force quantification. The
      platform is used to follow calcium dynamics and contraction force evolution in
      hESC-CMs cultures over the course of several weeks. Our results show how a
      biomaterial-based platform can be a versatile tool for in vitro assaying of
      cardiac functional properties of single-cell human cardiomyocytes, with
      applications in both in vitro developmental studies and drug screening on cardiac
      cultures.

PMID- 27643960
TI  - Constructions, reconstructions and deconstructions of 'family' amongst people who
      live apart together (LATs).
AB  - This article explores how people who live apart from their partners in Britain
      describe and understand 'family'. It investigates whether, and how far, non
      cohabiting partners, friends, 'blood' and legal ties are seen as 'family', and
      how practices of care and support, and feelings of closeness are related to these
      constructions. It suggests that people in LAT relationships creatively draw and
      re-draw the boundaries of family belonging in ways that involve emotionally
      subjective understandings of family life, and that also refer to normative
      constructions of what 'family' ought to be, as well as to practical recognitions
      of lived family 'realities'. This often involves handling uncertainties about
      what constitutes 'family'.

PMID- 27643959
TI  - The quorum sensing molecule N-acyl homoserine lactone produced by Acinetobacter
      baumannii displays antibacterial and anticancer properties.
AB  - Secretory N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) mediate quorum sensing (QS) in
      bacteria. AHLs are shown to be inhibitory for an unrelated group of bacteria and
      might mimic host signalling elements, thereby subverting the regulatory events in
      host cells. This study investigated the AHL produced by Acinetobacter baumannii
      and analysed its effect on other bacterial species and mammalian cells.
      Chemically characterized AHL had an m/z value of 325 with a molecular formula
      C18H31NO4 and showed its inhibitory potential against Staphylococcus aureus.
      Molecular docking studies identified D-alanine-D-alanine synthetase A, a cell
      wall synthesizing enzyme of S. aureus having a strong binding affinity towards
      AHL. Electron microscopy showed the disruption and sloughing off of the S. aureus
      cell wall when treated with AHL. In vitro experiments revealed that this
      bacteriostatic AHL showed time-dependent activity and induced apoptosis in cancer
      cell lines. This compound could be a potential structural backbone for
      constructing new AHL analogues against S. aureus. The findings emphasize the need
      to re-evaluate all previously characterized AHLs for any additional new
      biological functions other than QS.

PMID- 27643961
TI  - Major depression and alcohol use disorder in adolescence: Does comorbidity lead
      to poorer outcomes of depression?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Comorbid major depression (MD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD),
      particularly in adolescents, have been shown to be associated with poorer
      subsequent MD outcomes. METHODS: Longitudinal data were used to model
      associations between a four-level classification of MD/AUD during the period 15
      18 years (neither; MD-only; AUD-only; comorbid MD/AUD) and MD over the period 18
      35 years. These associations were then adjusted for confounding by a series of
      factors measured in childhood. RESULTS: The three disorder groups had rates of
      adult MD during the period 18-35 years that were significantly (p<.05) higher
      than that of the group with no disorder. Furthermore, those in the comorbid
      MD/AUD group had significantly (p <.05) higher rates of adult MD than those in
      the AUD-only group, and marginally (p <.10) higher rates of adult MD than those
      in the MD-only group. After adjustment for confounding, the difference in rates
      of adult MD between the MD-only group and the MD/AUD group were no longer
      statistically significant. The factors that explained the associations were
      gender, childhood behavior problems, and exposure to physical and sexual abuse.
      LIMITATIONS: The data were obtained by self-report, and may have been subject to
      biases. CONCLUSIONS: The results of these analyses suggest that marginally higher
      rates of depression to age 35 amongst the comorbid MD/AUD group were explained by
      increased exposure to adverse childhood circumstances amongst members of the
      comorbid group. Adolescent MD/AUD comorbidity is likely to be a risk marker,
      rather than a causal factor in subsequent MD.

PMID- 27643962
TI  - Risk of depression in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis: A nationwide
      population-based retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression is prevalent in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis
      (CRS). However, no population-based study has ever investigated this
      relationship. We used nationwide population insurance data to conduct a
      retrospective cohort study to evaluate the subsequent risk of depression among
      patients with CRS. METHODS: We used the National Health Insurance Research
      Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan identified 15,371 CRS patients diagnosed during 2000
      2010. The non-CRS group consisted of 61,484 individuals without CRS frequency
      matched by sex, age, and the year of diagnosis. The occurrence of depression was
      monitored until the end of 2011. The hazard ratios (HRs) of depression were
      estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model after adjusting for
      demographic characteristics and comorbidities. RESULTS: The overall incidence of
      depression was 77% higher in the CRS group than in the non-CRS group (8.25 vs.
      4.66/1000 person-years, p<0.001), with an adjusted HR of 1.56 (95% confidence
      interval=1.43-1.70). Further data analyses revealed that the adjusted HRs of
      depression in the CRS group compared with the non-CRS group by sex, age,
      urbanization level, monthly income, occupation category, and comorbidity were all
      significant. However, there was no difference in incidences of depression between
      CRS patients with and without surgical treatment (8.31 vs. 8.24/1000 person
      years). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that patients with CRS are at an
      increased risk of depression, compared with those without CRS. Therefore, we
      should pay attention to the psychiatric status of these patients and provide
      adequate support for them.

PMID- 27643963
TI  - Death from Barotrauma Due to Compressed Air: A Medico-legal Analysis.
AB  - Lesions of the digestive tract due to barotrauma resulting from compressed air
      application are not common, are rarely lethal, and largely affect the sigmoid and
      descending colon. Moreover, their pathogenic mechanism is a topic of discussion
      because these lesions have multiple characteristics. Here, the authors describe
      an autoptic case of death from lesions of the ascending and transverse segments,
      with perforations and bleeding suffusions as well as ischemic areas covered the
      colonic wall that was extremely thinned, congested, and hemorrhagic, with
      considerable flattening leading to disappearance of the mucosal folds and with
      numerous petechial hemorrhages. The pathological framework of lung congestion
      made it possible to identify the mechanism responsible for this death as
      depletion of the heart's pumping function, which contributed significantly to the
      acute respiratory failure due to respiratory distress as well as to reduced
      mobility of the diaphragm due to intestinal distension. Acute heart failure
      played an important role in this death.

PMID- 27643964
TI  - The quality of life of HIV-infected South African university students:
      Experiences with the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref.
AB  - HIV and AIDS has serious repercussions on psychological, social and physical well
      being, and the assessment of Quality of Life (QoL) of people living with HIV and
      AIDS is essential to gauge how these challenges are met. The WHOQoL-HIV Bref
      forms part of a suite of instruments developed by the World Health Organisation.
      The purpose of this paper is to describe the quality of life of a sample of HIV
      infected students at a South African university, as well as explain the internal
      consistency between questions within each of the QoL domains. A descriptive,
      cross-sectional study design using a quantitative approach was applied. A non
      probability, purposive sampling approach was utilized and students enrolled in
      the antiretroviral therapy or wellness programme were invited to voluntarily
      participate in this study. The WHOQOL-HIV Bref was self-administered after
      explanation of the questions by a registered, trained health care professional. A
      total of 63 students returned completed questionnaires that were included in the
      analysis. Acceptable to good reliability scores were established for the
      following domains: Level of Independence; Social Relations; Environment and
      Spiritual or Personal Beliefs. Assessing QoL in the sample, the lowest score was
      for "Spirituality" and the highest "Social Relations". The "Physical" and
      "Psychological" domain scores for females were significantly lower than the score
      for males. There was no significant difference between any of the domain scores
      among participants with CD4 cell counts above or below 350 cells/mm3. In general
      the performance of this sample is encouraging and it is recommended that the
      measure be utilized for QoL screening, and further research. The WHOQOL-HIV Bref
      for students does not contain an academic wellness component which should be
      added considering the significant effects of HIV on neuropsychological
      functioning. Also further investigation into the reasons for poor scores obtained
      in physical and psychological well-being in females should be encouraged.

PMID- 27643967
TI  - The U.S. FDA focuses on next-generation sequencing: Draft guidance proposals
      address potential standards for demonstrating analytical validity and criteria
      for FDA-recognized genetic variant databases.

PMID- 27643968
TI  - Opitz award-winning paper details genetic cause of CODAS syndrome: Research
      points to new categories of rare disorder.

PMID- 27643971
TI  - A reference gene catalogue of the pig gut microbiome.
AB  - The pig is a major species for livestock production and is also extensively used
      as the preferred model species for analyses of a wide range of human
      physiological functions and diseases(1). The importance of the gut microbiota in
      complementing the physiology and genome of the host is now well recognized(2).
      Knowledge of the functional interplay between the gut microbiota and host
      physiology in humans has been advanced by the human gut reference catalogue(3,4).
      Thus, establishment of a comprehensive pig gut microbiome gene reference
      catalogue constitutes a logical continuation of the recently published pig
      genome(5). By deep metagenome sequencing of faecal DNA from 287 pigs, we
      identified 7.7 million non-redundant genes representing 719 metagenomic species.
      Of the functional pathways found in the human catalogue, 96% are present in the
      pig catalogue, supporting the potential use of pigs for biomedical research. We
      show that sex, age and host genetics are likely to influence the pig gut
      microbiome. Analysis of the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes
      demonstrated the effect of eliminating antibiotics from animal diets and thereby
      reducing the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance associated with farming
      systems. 

PMID- 27643972
TI  - Glycosylation of inositol phosphorylceramide sphingolipids is required for normal
      growth and reproduction in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Sphingolipids are a major component of plant plasma membranes and endomembranes,
      and mediate a diverse range of biological processes. Study of the highly
      glycosylated glycosyl inositol phosphorylceramide (GIPC) sphingolipids has been
      slow as a result of challenges associated with the extractability of GIPCs, and
      their functions in the plant remain poorly characterized. We recently discovered
      an Arabidopsis GIPC glucuronosyltransferase, INOSITOL PHOSPHORYLCERAMIDE
      GLUCURONOSYLTRANSFERASE 1 (IPUT1), which is the first enzyme in the GIPC
      glycosylation pathway. Plants homozygous for the iput1 loss-of-function mutation
      were unobtainable, and so the developmental effects of reduced GIPC
      glucuronosylation could not be analyzed in planta. Using a pollen-specific rescue
      construct, we have here isolated homozygous iput1 mutants. The iput1 mutants show
      severe dwarfism, compromised pollen tube guidance, and constitutive activation of
      salicyclic acid-mediated defense pathways. The mutants also possess reduced
      GIPCs, increased ceramides, and an increased incorporation of short-chain fatty
      acids and dihydroxylated bases into inositol phosphorylceramides and GIPCs. The
      assignment of a direct role for GIPC glycan head groups in the impaired processes
      in iput1 mutants is complicated by the vast compensatory changes in the
      sphingolipidome; however, our results reveal that the glycosylation steps of GIPC
      biosynthesis are important regulated components of sphingolipid metabolism. This
      study corroborates previously suggested roles for GIPC glycans in plant growth
      and defense, suggests important roles for them in reproduction and demonstrates
      that the entire sphingolipidome is sensitive to their status.

PMID- 27643973
TI  - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Sarcoidosis: A Case Report of a Rare Neurologic
      Manifestation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic inflammatory disease with myriad
      clinical manifestations. Neurologic involvement in sarcoidosis is uncommon.
      Peripheral neuropathic presentations include mononeuropathy, mononeuritis
      multiplex, and generalized sensory, motor, autonomic, and sensorimotor
      polyneuropathies. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of carpal tunnel syndrome
      caused by sarcoidosis in a 30-year-old woman. Other causes of carpal tunnel
      syndrome were ruled out. The patient responded well to the standard line of
      corticosteroid treatment and wrist splinting. DISCUSSION: Carpal tunnel syndrome
      caused by sarcoidosis is a rare presentation. The mechanism of neurologic
      involvement in sarcoidosis is not clear.

PMID- 27643974
TI  - Physicians', Nurses', and Medical Assistants' Perceptions of the Human
      Papillomavirus Vaccine in a Large Integrated Health Care System.
AB  - CONTEXT: Vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) decreases risks of
      cancer and genital warts and the need for gynecologic procedures, yet nationwide
      vaccination rates are low. Previous surveys exploring this phenomenon have not
      included input from nurses and medical assistants, who play integral roles in HPV
      vaccine delivery. OBJECTIVE: To understand perceptions of HPV vaccine delivery
      among physicians, nurses, and medical assistants in a large integrated health
      care system in Southern California. DESIGN: Online surveys were sent to 13 nurse
      administrators and 75 physicians. Physicians were instructed to forward the
      survey to nurses and medical assistants with whom they work. RESULTS: A total of
      76 surveys were completed, consisting of 52 physicians, 16 clinical nurses and
      medical assistants, and 8 nurse administrators. Physicians' perceptions of
      vaccine safety or strength of recommendation did not differ by specialty
      department. Physicians reportedly perceived the HPV vaccine as safer than did
      clinical nurses and medical assistants (p < 0.001), who indicated they wanted
      more education on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine before being comfortable
      strongly recommending it. Respondents advised that all clinicians could improve
      in their roles as HPV vaccine advocates through patient counseling and providing
      informational literature and that workflow standardization was needed to minimize
      missed vaccination opportunities. CONCLUSION: Physicians reportedly perceive the
      HPV vaccine as safer compared with nurses and medical assistants. Both groups
      think that more education of nonphysician staff is needed. Having proper systems
      in place is also vital to improving vaccination compliance.

PMID- 27643976
TI  - Right Minithoracotomy Approach for Replacement of the Ascending Aorta, Hemiarch,
      and Aortic Valve.
AB  - A minimally invasive right anterior thoracotomy approach is the preferred
      technique used at our institution for isolated aortic valve pathology. We have
      recently introduced more complex concomitant minimally invasive procedures
      through this access site. Here, we describe how we perform a replacement of the
      ascending aorta and aortic valve with and without the use of circulatory arrest
      through a 6-cm right minimally invasive thoracotomy incision. 

PMID- 27643975
TI  - Effect of fish oil on lateral mobility of prostaglandin F2alpha (FP) receptors
      and spatial distribution of lipid microdomains in bovine luteal cell plasma
      membrane in vitro.
AB  - Lipid microdomains are ordered regions on the plasma membrane of cells, rich in
      cholesterol and sphingolipids, ranging in size from 10 to 200 nm in diameter.
      These lipid-ordered domains may serve as platforms to facilitate colocalization
      of intracellular signaling proteins during agonist-induced signal transduction.
      It is hypothesized that fish oil will disrupt the lipid microdomains, increasing
      spatial distribution of these lipid-ordered domains and lateral mobility of the
      prostaglandin (PG) F2alpha (FP) receptors in bovine luteal cells. The objectives
      of this study were to examine the effects of fish oil on (1) the spatial
      distribution of lipid microdomains, (2) lateral mobility of FP receptors, and (3)
      lateral mobility of FP receptors in the presence of PGF2alpha on the plasma
      membrane of bovine luteal cells in vitro. Bovine ovaries were obtained from a
      local abattoir and corpora lutea were digested using collagenase. In experiment
      1, lipid microdomains were labeled using cholera toxin subunit B Alexa Fluor 555.
      Domains were detected as distinct patches on the plasma membrane of mixed luteal
      cells. Fish oil treatment decreased fluorescent intensity in a dose-dependent
      manner (P < 0.01). In experiment 2, single particle tracking was used to examine
      the effects of fish oil treatment on lateral mobility of FP receptors. Fish oil
      treatment increased microdiffusion and macrodiffusion coefficients of FP
      receptors as compared to control cells (P < 0.05). In addition, compartment
      diameters of domains were larger, and residence times were reduced for receptors
      in fish oil-treated cells (P < 0.05). In experiment 3, single particle tracking
      was used to determine the effects of PGF2alpha on lateral mobility of FP
      receptors and influence of fish oil treatment. Lateral mobility of receptors was
      decreased within 5 min following the addition of ligand for control cells (P <
      0.05). However, lateral mobility of receptors was unaffected by addition of
      ligand for fish oil-treated cells (P > 0.10). The data presented provide strong
      evidence that fish oil causes a disruption in lipid microdomains and affects
      lateral mobility of FP receptors in the absence and presence of PGF2alpha.

PMID- 27643977
TI  - Duplex real-time PCR assay using SYBR Green to detect and quantify Malayan box
      turtle (Cuora amboinensis) materials in meatballs, burgers, frankfurters and
      traditional Chinese herbal jelly powder.
AB  - The Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis) (MBT) is a vulnerable and protected
      species widely used in exotic foods and traditional medicines. Currently
      available polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to identify MBT lack automation
      and involve long targets which break down in processed or denatured tissue. This
      SYBR Green duplex real-time PCR assay has addressed this research gap for the
      first time through the combination of 120- and 141-bp targets from MBT and
      eukaryotes for the quantitative detection of MBT DNA in food chain and herbal
      medicinal preparations. This authentication ensures better security through
      automation, internal control and short targets that were stable under the
      processing treatments of foods and medicines. A melting curve clearly
      demonstrated two peaks at 74.63 +/- 0.22 and 78.40 +/- 0.31 degrees C for the MBT
      and eukaryotic products, respectively, under pure, admixed and commercial food
      matrices. Analysis of 125 reference samples reflected a target recovery of 93.25
      153.00%, PCR efficiency of 99-100% and limit of detection of 0.001% under various
      matrices. The quantification limits were 0.00001, 0.00170 +/- 0.00012, 0.00228 +/
      0.00029, 0.00198 +/- 0.00036 and 0.00191 +/- 0.00043 ng DNA for the pure meat,
      binary mixtures, meatball, burger and frankfurter products, respectively. The
      assay was used to screen 100 commercial samples of traditional Chinese herbal
      jelly powder from eight different brands; 22% of them were found to be MBT
      positive (5.37 +/- 0.50-7.00 +/- 0.34% w/w), which was reflected through the Ct
      values (26.37 +/- 0.32-28.90 +/- 0.42) and melting curves (74.63-78.65 +/- 0.22
      degrees C) of the amplified MBT target (120 bp), confirming the speculation that
      MBT materials are widely used in Chinese herbal desserts, exotic dishes consumed
      with the hope of prolonging life and youth.

PMID- 27643978
TI  - Targeted preemptive therapy according to perceived risk of CMV infection after
      kidney transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of the best strategy to manage cytomegalovirus
      infection is hampered by uncertainties regarding the risk/benefit ratios of
      universal prophylaxis versus preemptive therapy, the impact of indirect
      cytomegalovirus effects and the associated costs. This study investigated the
      efficacy and safety of targeted preemptive therapy according to perceived risk of
      cytomegalovirus infection after kidney transplantation. METHODS: 144 adult kidney
      transplant recipients were enrolled in this 12-month study. None received
      cytomegalovirus pharmacological prophylaxis. Only high risk patients (positive
      donor/negative recipient (D+/R-), use of induction therapy with antithymocyte
      globulin, treatment of rejection) received preemptive therapy based on the result
      of pp65 antigenemia test. Low-risk patients with symptoms related to
      cytomegalovirus were screened for pp65 antigenemia and treatment initiated if
      confirmed cytomegalovirus disease. Blinded cytomegalovirus DNAemia was collected
      weekly during the first three months. RESULTS: The incidence of cytomegalovirus
      infection was 34% and cytomegalovirus disease was 17%. The incidence was 25% in
      D+/R-, 69% in those receiving induction with rabbit antithymocite globulin (r
      ATG), 46% in those treated for acute rejection, and 28% in low risk patients. By
      week 3 DNAemia was observed in 30% of patients who were not treated for
      cytomegalovirus infection/disease, and values >=2.169UI/mL showed 61% sensitivity
      and 85% specificity to detect cytomegalovirus disease (AUC=0.849+/-0.042,
      p<0.001). Using multivariate analysis, only anti-thymocyte globulin induction was
      associated with cytomegalovirus infection/disease whereas only expanded donor
      criteria and renal function at 30 days were associated with renal function 12
      months after transplantation. CONCLUSION: Targeted preemptive therapy in patients
      with perceived higher risk for cytomegalovirus infection/disease was effective in
      preventing severe clinical presentation, including tissue invasive and late
      cytomegalovirus infection. This strategy is associated with direct and indirect
      cost-savings.

PMID- 27643979
TI  - Clinical Application and Pharmacodynamic Monitoring of Apixaban in a Patient with
      End-Stage Renal Disease Requiring Chronic Hemodialysis.
AB  - Despite prescribing guidance, limited data exist to describe the use of apixaban
      in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring hemodialysis (HD).
      Current apixaban dosing recommendations for this patient population are based
      largely on a single-dose pharmacokinetic study of eight patients. We describe the
      clinical application and pharmacodynamic monitoring of apixaban in a 62-year-old
      156-kg African-American woman with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and ESRD
      requiring hemodialysis who developed calciphylaxis while receiving warfarin
      therapy. Based on a multidisciplinary clinical judgment decision due to concern
      for drug accumulation after multiple doses in patients with ESRD receiving HD,
      she was anticoagulated with apixaban 2.5 mg twice/day, as opposed to 5 mg
      twice/day as recommended by the package insert. Antifactor Xa monitoring was
      used, and resultant peak and trough apixaban concentrations were above the upper
      limit of detection for our clinical laboratory (more than 2.00 IU/ml). On day 7
      of her hospitalization, the patient developed gastrointestinal bleeding, and
      apixaban was discontinued; no further clinical signs of bleeding occurred during
      her subsequent hospitalization course. Use of the Naranjo Adverse Drug Reaction
      Probability Scale indicated a probable relationship (score of 6) between apixaban
      exposure and the manifestation of gastrointestinal bleeding. The patient
      ultimately died 44 days after the acute bleeding event; however, coagulation
      concerns were not implicated in the patient's death. To our knowledge, this is
      the first case report that describes apixaban use and associated antifactor Xa
      monitoring in a patient with ESRD receiving HD, and it provides concern for
      current apixaban dosing recommendations in this patient population. Further
      pharmacokinetic and clinical data are likely necessary to better characterize
      apixaban use in these patients to optimize safety and efficacy.

PMID- 27643980
TI  - Low-grade inflammation markers in children and adolescents: Influence of
      anthropometric characteristics and CRP and IL6 polymorphisms.
AB  - Overweight and obesity are associated with chronic and subclinical inflammation
      due to an imbalance of inflammatory mediators. However, the association with gene
      polymorphism has been rarely studied in children. The aim of this study was to
      determine if serum concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6
      (IL-6) are related to the IL6 rs1800795, IL6 rs2069845 and CRP rs1205
      polymorphisms (SNPs) according to body mass index (BMI) in a sample of children
      and adolescents. A cross-sectional study in 470 students between 7 and 17yearsof
      age of anthropometric characteristics, high sensitivity-CRP (Hs-CRP) and IL-6
      levels and three SNPs genotyped. The prevalence ratio of hs-CRP>3mg/L in obese
      individuals was 4.15 (CI 2.43-7.06; p=0.01), and it was 1.91 (CI 1.03-3.55;
      p=0.03) in overweight individuals and 1.74 (CI 1.05-2.88 p=0.03) in females.
      Individuals with waist circumference (WC) and body fat percentage (BF%)
      alterations showed elevated levels of hs-CRP (p=4.3*10-5 and p=5.3*10-6). The
      combination of any two anthropometric measurement increases CRP levels,
      especially combinations with obesity body mass index (BMI): BMI+WC and BMI+BF%.
      Among the overweight/obesity group, T allele carriers of CRP rs1205 showed lower
      levels of hs-CRP (0.5, IQR=0.3-1.8mg/L) than CC homozygotes (1.5, IQR=0.4
      3.4mg/L, p=0.018). Additionally, considering subjects with two or three
      anthropometric alterations for CRP rs1205: rs1205 T allele carriers had lower
      levels of hs-CRP (0.7, IQR=0.3-2.7mg/L) than CC homozygotes (1.2, IQR=0.5
      3.5mg/L, p=0.02). In conclusion, carriers of the rs1205/T allele with higher BMIs
      had lower levels of hs-CRP. Schoolchildren who were overweight/obese had higher
      levels of CRP and IL-6, whereas individuals with WC and BF% alterations had
      higher levels of CRP.

PMID- 27643981
TI  - The importance of lexical verbs in the acquisition of spatial prepositions: The
      case of in and on.
AB  - The prepositions in and on appear early in children's descriptions of simple
      containment and support relations, such as "apple in the bowl" and "cup on the
      table". However, mature use of these basic terms extends across a very broad
      range of object configurations, raising the question of whether children and
      adults share the same underlying semantic space, and if so, how children's use of
      in and on comes to match that of adults. With a new battery containing diverse
      object configurations, we asked how 4 and 6 year-olds and adults distribute basic
      spatial expressions (isin, is on) and lexical verbs (hang, attach, etc.) across
      subtypes of containment and support. Our results reveal probabilistic
      distributions of in and on in both adult and child language, with similar
      distributions among adults and children for in but different patterns for on.
      Moreover, we find substantial differences in the use of lexical verbs across the
      two spatial domains and across ages. We propose that children and adults share a
      structured semantic space for both containment and support relations, but larger
      portions of this space are described by in and on early in development because
      alternative descriptions employing lexical verbs are inhibited. Using
      computational modeling along with experimental data, we link developmental
      changes in the scope of basic spatial expressions to increasing use of lexical
      verbs in parts of the space that reflect less central relations of containment or
      support. This result supports a nuanced view of spatial language acquisition that
      shifts the focus from how children learn basic expressions to how they learn to
      distribute expressions of varying content and complexity across the semantic
      space.

PMID- 27643982
TI  - Mass transfer of hydrophobic organic chemicals between silicone sheets and
      through plant leaves and low-density polyethylene.
AB  - Plant leaves play an important role in the fate of hydrophobic organic
      contaminants (HOCs) in the environment. Yet much remains unknown about the
      permeability of leaves by HOCs. In this pilot study we measured (i) the kinetics
      of mass transfer of three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and six
      polychlorinated biphenyls between a spiked and an unspiked sheet of
      polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in direct contact with each other for 24 h and (ii)
      kinetics of mass transfer of two PAHs through leaves and low-density polyethylene
      (LDPE) in a passive dosing experiment by inserting these matrices between the two
      sheets of PDMS for 48 h. The kinetics of mass transfer of fluoranthene between
      PDMS sheets in direct contact were a factor of 12 slower than those reported in
      the literature. The kinetics of mass transfer of fluorene and phenanthrene
      through leaves were within the range of those previously reported for 2,4
      dichlorophenoxyacetic acid through isolated cuticles. Our results provide a proof
      of-concept demonstration that the passive dosing method applied in this study can
      be used to measure the mass transfer coefficients of organic chemicals through
      leaves. Key recommendations for future experiments are to load the PDMS at the
      highest feasible concentrations to avoid working at analyte levels close to the
      limit of detection, to keep the leaves moist and to minimize potential pathways
      for contamination of the PDMS sheets by exposure to laboratory air.

PMID- 27643983
TI  - Photoinduced formation of thiols in human hair.
AB  - Raman, scanning electron, and optical microscopy of hair and spectrophotometry of
      soluble hair proteins are used to study the effect of UV-vis radiation on white
      hair. The samples of a healthy subject are irradiated using a mercury lamp and
      compared with non-irradiated (control) hair. The cuticle damage with partial
      exfoliation is revealed with the aid of SEM and optical microscopy of semifine
      sections. Gel filtration chromatography shows that the molecular weight of
      soluble proteins ranges from 5 to 7kDa. Absorption spectroscopy proves an
      increase in amount of thiols in a heavier fraction of the soluble proteins of
      irradiated samples under study. Raman data indicate a decrease in the amount of
      SS and CS bonds in cystines and an increase in the amount of SH bonds due to
      irradiation. Such changes are more pronounced in peripheral regions of hair.
      Conformational changes of hair keratins presumably related to the cleavage of
      disulfide bonds, follow from variations in amide I and low-frequency Raman bands.
      An increase in the content of thiols in proteins revealed by both photometric
      data on soluble proteins and Raman microspectroscopy of hair cuts can be used to
      develop a protocol of the analysis of photoinduced hair modification.

PMID- 27643984
TI  - Effect of PpIX photoproducts formation on pO2 measurement by time-resolved
      delayed fluorescence spectroscopy of PpIX in solution and in vivo.
AB  - The measurement of Protoporphyrin IX delayed fluorescence lifetime is a minimally
      invasive method for monitoring the levels of oxygen in cells and tissues. The
      excitation of Protoporphyrin IX during this measurement can lead to the formation
      of photoproducts in vitro and in vivo. The influence of their luminescence on the
      measured Protoporphyrin IX delayed fluorescence lifetimes was studied in solution
      and in vivo on the Chick's chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model under various
      oxygen enriched air conditions (0mmHg, 37mmHg and 155mmHg). The presence of
      photoproducts disturbs such measurements since the delayed fluorescence emission
      of some of them spectrally overlaps with that of Protoporphyrin IX. One possible
      way to avoid this obstacle is to detect Protoporphyrin IX's delayed fluorescence
      lifetime in a very specific spectral range (620-640nm). Another possibility is to
      excite Protoporphyrin IX with light doses much lower than 10J/cm2, quite possibly
      as low as a fraction 1J/cm2 at 405nm. This leads to an increased accuracy of pO2
      detection. Furthermore, this method allows combination of diagnosis and therapy
      in one step. This helps to improve detection systems and real-time identification
      of tissue respiration, which is tuned for the detection of PpIX luminescence and
      not its photoproducts.

PMID- 27643985
TI  - Role of monochromatic light on daily variation of clock gene expression in the
      pineal gland of chick.
AB  - The avian pineal gland is a master clock that can receive external photic cues
      and translate them into output rhythms. To clarify whether a shift in light
      wavelength can influence the circadian expression in chick pineal gland, a total
      of 240 Arbor Acre male broilers were exposed to white light (WL), red light (RL),
      green light (GL) or blue light (BL). After 2weeks light illumination, circadian
      expressions of seven core clock genes in pineal gland and the level of melatonin
      in plasma were examined. The results showed after illumination with monochromatic
      light, 24h profiles of all clock gene mRNAs retained circadian oscillation,
      except that RL tended to disrupt the rhythm of cCry2. Compared to WL, BL advanced
      the acrophases of the negative elements (cCry1, cCry2, cPer2 and cPer3) by 0.1
      1.5h and delayed those of positive elements (cClock, cBmal1 and cBmal2) by 0.2
      0.8h. And, RL advanced all clock genes except cClock and cPer2 by 0.3-2.1h, while
      GL delayed all clock genes by 0.5-1.5h except cBmal2. Meanwhile, GL increased the
      amplitude and mesor of positive and reduced both parameters of negative clock
      genes, but RL showed the opposite pattern. Although the acrophase of plasma
      melatonin was advanced by both GL and RL, the melatonin level was significantly
      increased in GL and decreased in RL. This tendency was consistent with the
      variations in the positive clock gene mRNA levels under monochromatic light and
      contrasted with those of negative clock genes. Therefore, we speculate that GL
      may enhance positive clock genes expression, leading to melatonin synthesis,
      whereas RL may enhance negative genes expression, suppressing melatonin
      synthesis.

PMID- 27643986
TI  - Old habits die hard: a case study on how new ways of teaching colonoscopy affect
      the habitus of experienced clinicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to explore the habitual constraints and
      opportunities that affect how experienced clinicians learn new skills and, in
      particular, how new ways of teaching can influence these. METHODS:   We conducted
      a case study based on a specialized training program for colonoscopy services in
      Denmark. Data was obtained from a short-term ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth
      interviews during this program. Participants were 12 experienced colonoscopists
      and three expert colonoscopy trainers from Denmark and UK. The analysis of data
      involved categorization, inductive coding, and theoretical reading inspired by
      sociological theory. RESULTS: The experienced clinicians' responsiveness to
      training was shaped by an underlying logic of colonoscopy practice that was
      characterized by tacit skills, routine work, lower status, skepticism and self
      protectiveness. In order to overcome these habitual constraints, the trainers
      applied a pedagogical approach based on four methods: 1) intellectualization:
      'academization' of skills and competencies, 2) sensing and scaffolding: hands-on
      experiences and learning by doing, 3) asymmetry: accentuating the authority and
      respect of the trainer, and 4) relation-building: building relationship and
      engagement between trainer and clinician. This multi-dimensional approach to
      teaching enabled the trainers to affect the clinicians' logic of practice and to
      create buy-in (so-called illusio). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical skills include socially
      constructed behaviors and unconscious competences which affect experienced
      clinicians' responsiveness to continuing medical education. This study suggests
      four educational strategies that may help trainers to establish new logics of
      practice in experienced clinicians and to improve the clinicians' conscious
      competence.

PMID- 27643987
TI  - Effect of high-doses pyrogallol on oxidative damage, transcriptional responses
      and microcystins synthesis in Microcystis aeruginosa TY001 (Cyanobacteria).
AB  - Severe eutrophication and harmful cyanobacterial blooms of freshwater ecosystems
      is a persistent environmental topic in recent decades. Pyrogallol (polyphenol)
      was confirmed to exhibit one of the most intensive inhibitory effects on the
      Microcystis aeruginosa. In this study, the expression of genes, release of
      microcystins (MCs) and antioxidant system of pyrogallol on Microcystis aeruginosa
      TY001 were investigated. The results revealed that the expression of stress
      response genes (prx, ftsH, grpE and fabZ) and DNA repair genes (recA and gyrB)
      were up-regulated. Meanwhile, the antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide
      dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activity, were increased,
      and the stress caused lipid peroxidation to occur and malondialdehyde (MDA)
      levels to change. Unexpectedly, the relative transcript abundance of microcystin
      synthesis genes (mcyB, mcyD and ntcA) and the contents of microcystins (MCs)
      significantly increased compared with the control in the culture medium. In
      conclusion, oxidative damage and DNA damage are the primary mechanisms for the
      allelopathic effect of pyrogallol on M. aeruginosa TY001.

PMID- 27643988
TI  - Isolated Cystic Periventricular Leukomalacia Differs from Cystic Periventricular
      Leukomalacia with Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Prevalence, Risk Factors and
      Outcomes in Preterm Infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystic periventricular leukomalacia (cPVL) is the most severe white
      matter injury and is often associated with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in
      preterm infants. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the
      prevalence, risk factors and neurodevelopmental outcomes of isolated cPVL and
      cPVL with low-grade and high-grade IVH in premature infants. METHODS: From 2001
      to 2012, 9,964 infants with <31 weeks' gestational age (GA) admitted to Taiwan
      hospitals were enrolled. cPVL was classified into three groups: isolated cPVL,
      cPVL with low-grade (I/II) IVH, and cPVL with high-grade (III) IVH. RESULTS: Of
      7,805 infants with complete ultrasound data, 286 (3.7%) had cPVL. Among the cPVL
      infants, 93 (32.5%) were isolated, 118 (41.3%) had low-grade IVH and 75 (26.2%)
      had high-grade IVH. The risk of cPVL with IVH was significantly higher among
      infants with <27 weeks' GA than those with >=27 weeks' GA, in contrast to that of
      isolated cPVL. Using infants without cPVL and IVH as the reference group, the
      most significant predictor of isolated cPVL was neonatal sepsis (odds ratio 2.39;
      95% confidence interval 1.52-3.77), while 5-min Apgar score <5 (2.50; 1.48-4.21)
      and prolonged mechanical ventilation (2.19; 1.42-3.42) were associated with cPVL
      with low-grade IVH, and GA <27 weeks (2.63; 1.56-4.42), pneumothorax (3.04; 1.40
      6.65) and prolonged mechanical ventilation (3.36; 1.88-6.01) contributed to cPVL
      with high-grade IVH. cPVL infants with low-grade and high-grade IVH had a higher
      risk of abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes than infants with isolated cPVL at
      the age of 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated cPVL, cPVL with low-grade IVH and
      cPVL with high-grade IVH had different risk factors and neurodevelopmental
      outcomes, suggestive of different causal pathways.

PMID- 27643989
TI  - Transcriptome Analysis Identifies the Dysregulation of Ultraviolet Target Genes
      in Human Skin Cancers.
AB  - Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a major risk factor for both melanoma
      and non-melanoma skin cancers. In addition to its mutagenic effect, UVR can also
      induce substantial transcriptional instability in skin cells affecting thousands
      of genes, including many cancer genes, suggesting that transcriptional
      instability may be another important etiological factor in skin
      photocarcinogenesis. In this study, we performed detailed transcriptomic
      profiling studies to characterize the kinetic changes in global gene expression
      in human keratinocytes exposed to different UVR conditions. We identified a
      subset of UV-responsive genes as UV signature genes (UVSGs) based on 1) conserved
      UV-responsiveness of this subset of genes among different keratinocyte lines; and
      2) UV-induced persistent changes in their mRNA levels long after exposure.
      Interestingly, 11 of the UVSGs were shown to be critical to skin cancer cell
      proliferation and survival. Through computational Gene Set Enrichment Analysis,
      we demonstrated that a significant portion of the UVSGs were dysregulated in
      human skin squamous cell carcinomas, but not in other human malignancies. This
      highlights the potential and specificity of the UVSGs in clinical diagnosis of UV
      damage and stratification of skin cancer risk. 

PMID- 27643991
TI  - SIT 2.0: 21(st) Century genetic technology for the screwworm sterile-insect
      program.
AB  - Release of sterile insects, the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), can be an
      extremely effective and precise method of pest control. A study in BMC Biology
      from the New World screwworm SIT program and others shows that modern genetic
      methods can provide major improvements even to this well-established and highly
      successful SIT program.See research article:
      https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-016-0296-8.

PMID- 27643990
TI  - Acute Acrolein Exposure Induces Impairment of Vocal Fold Epithelial Barrier
      Function.
AB  - Acrolein is a ubiquitous pollutant abundant in cigarette smoke, mobile exhaust,
      and industrial waste. There is limited literature on the effects of acrolein on
      vocal fold tissue, although there are clinical reports of voice changes after
      pollutant exposures. Vocal folds are responsible for voice production. The
      overall objective of this study was to investigate the effects of acrolein
      exposure on viable, excised vocal fold epithelial tissue and to characterize the
      mechanism underlying acrolein toxicity. Vocal fold epithelia were studied because
      they form the outermost layer of the vocal folds and are a primary recipient of
      inhaled pollutants. Porcine vocal fold epithelia were exposed to 0, 50, 100, 500,
      900 or 1300 MUM of acrolein for 3 hours; the metabolic activity, epithelial
      resistance, epithelial permeability, tight junction protein (occludin and claudin
      3) expression, cell membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation were investigated.
      The data demonstrated that acrolein exposure at 500 MUM significantly reduced
      vocal fold epithelial metabolic activity by 27.2% (p<=0.001). Incubation with 100
      MUM acrolein caused a marked increase in epithelial permeability by 130.5%
      (p<0.05) and a reduction in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) by
      180.0% (p<0.001). While the expression of tight junctional protein did not change
      in acrolein-treated samples, the cell membrane integrity was significantly
      damaged with a 45.6% increase of lipid peroxidation as compared to controls
      (p<0.05). Taken together, these data provide evidence that acute acrolein
      exposure impairs vocal fold epithelial barrier integrity. Lipid peroxidation
      induced cell membrane damage may play an important role in reducing the barrier
      function of the epithelium. 

PMID- 27643992
TI  - Disruption of Prostate Microvasculature by Combining Microbubble-Enhanced
      Ultrasound and Prothrombin.
AB  - Previous studies have shown a unique method to disrupt tumor vasculature using
      pulsed, high-pressure amplitude therapeutic ultrasound combined with
      microbubbles. In this study, we attempted to destroy the prostate vasculature of
      canine prostates using microbubble-enhanced ultrasound (MEUS) and prothrombin.
      The prostates of 43 male mongrel canines were surgically exposed. Twenty-two
      prostates were treated using MEUS (n = 11) or MEUS and prothrombin (PMEUS, n =
      11). The other 21 prostates, which were treated using microbubbles (n = 7),
      ultrasound (n = 7) or prothrombin (n = 7) only, served as the controls.
      Prothrombin was intravenously infused at 20 IU/kg. MEUS was induced using a
      therapeutic ultrasound device at a peak negative pressure of 4.47 MPa and a
      microbubble injection. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound was performed to assess the
      blood perfusion of the prostates. Then, the prostate tissue was harvested
      immediately after treatment and at 48 hours later for pathological examination.
      The contrast-enhanced ultrasound peak value of the prostate decreased
      significantly from 36.2 +/- 5.6 to 27.1 +/- 6.3 after treatment in the PMEUS
      group, but it remained unchanged in the other groups. Histological examination
      found severe microvascular rupture, hemorrhage and thrombosis in both MEUS- and
      PMEUS-treated prostates immediately after treatment, while disruption in the
      PMEUS group was more severe than in the MEUS group. Forty-eight hours after
      treatment, massive necrosis and infiltration of white blood cells occurred in the
      PMEUS group. This study demonstrated that PMEUS disrupted the normal
      microvasculature of canine prostates and induced massive necrosis. PMEUS could
      potentially become a new noninvasive method used for the treatment of benign
      prostatic hyperplasia. 

PMID- 27643993
TI  - Correction: A Tandem Oligonucleotide Approach for SNP-Selective RNA Degradation
      Using Modified Antisense Oligonucleotides.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142139.].

PMID- 27643994
TI  - An n=1 Clinical Network Analysis of Symptoms and Treatment in Psychosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dynamic relationships between the symptoms of psychosis can be
      shown in individual networks of psychopathology. In a single patient, data
      collected with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM-a method to construct
      intensive time series of experience and context) can be used to study lagged
      associations between symptoms in relation to illness severity and pharmacological
      treatment. METHOD: The patient completed, over the course of 1 year, for 4 days
      per week, 10 daily assessments scheduled randomly between 10 minutes and 3 hours
      apart. Five a priori selected symptoms were analysed: 'hearing voices', 'down',
      'relaxed', 'paranoia' and 'loss of control'. Regression analysis was performed
      including current level of one symptom as the dependent variable and all symptoms
      at the previous assessment (lag) as the independent variables. Resulting
      regression coefficients were printed in graphs representing a network of
      symptoms. Network graphs were generated for different levels of severity: stable,
      impending relapse and full relapse. RESULTS: ESM data showed that symptoms varied
      intensely from moment to moment. Network representations showed meaningful
      relations between symptoms, e.g. 'down' and 'paranoia' fuelling each other, and
      'paranoia' negatively impacting 'relaxed'. During relapse, symptom levels as well
      as the level of clustering between symptoms markedly increased, indicating
      qualitative changes in the network. While 'hearing voices' was the most prominent
      symptom subjectively, the data suggested that a strategic focus on 'paranoia', as
      the most central symptom, had the potential to bring about changes affecting the
      whole network. CONCLUSION: Construction of intensive ESM time series in a single
      patient is feasible and informative, particularly if represented as a network,
      showing both quantitative and qualitative changes as a function of relapse.

PMID- 27643995
TI  - Post Stroke Dysglycemia and Acute Infarct Volume Growth: A Study Using Continuous
      Glucose Monitoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to clarify the effect of glucose
      profiles after stroke, which was assessed by a continuous glucose monitoring
      (CGM) device. METHODS: Acute ischemic stroke patients within 24 h of onset were
      prospectively studied. CGM was performed for 72 h after admission. CGM parameters
      were evaluated as follows: (1) mean glucose level, (2) area under the curve (AUC)
      for glucose level >140 mg/dl and (3) SD of the glucose level. Infarct volume was
      measured at admission and 24 and 72 h after admission using diffusion-weighted
      imaging. CGM data and infarct volume growth were compared at 24 and 72 h.
      RESULTS: Seventy-eight patients were enrolled in the present study. Spearman's
      rank correlation coefficients showed that both the mean glucose level (r = 0.433,
      p < 0.001 for 24 h; r = 0.308, p = 0.006 for 72 h) and AUC >140 mg/dl (r = 0.417,
      p < 0.001 for 24 h; r = 0.277, p = 0.014 for 72 h) were significantly correlated
      with acute infarct volume growth. The SD of the glucose level was associated with
      infarct volume growth at 24 h (r = 0.303, p = 0.007), but not 72 h (r = 0.195, p
      = 0.088). CONCLUSION: Post-stroke hyperglycemia was associated with infarct
      volume growth during the acute phase of ischemic stroke.

PMID- 27643996
TI  - Simultaneous existence of acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The simultaneous Occurrence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and
      acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been rarely reported. Most of these cases have
      been occurring more frequently as a secondary event in patients receiving
      chemotherapeutic agents for CLL. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a case of a 77
      year-old man who presented with fatigue, pallor and lower limb pain and weakness.
      Initial laboratory studies showed Hb 7.7 g/dl, WBC 279.6 * 10(9)/1, PLT 143*
      10(9)/1. The peripheral blood (PB) smear examination showed circulating blast
      cells (20 %) cells and 50 % lymphocytes, with smudge cells. A bone marrow
      examination showed infiltration by two discrete abnormal cell populations, one
      represents the leukemic blast cells (60 %) and the other represents small mature
      lymphocytes (30 %). The immunologic phenotype of blasts was characterized by the
      co-expression of CD13, CD33, CD14, CD4, CD15, CD64, HLA-DR, CD11c. Lymphocytes
      were characterized by a typical CLL immunophenotype: CD19+, CD5+, CD23+, CD20+
      (dim) and negative for FMC7, CD34, CD10 and TdT. Cytogenetic studies were
      negative for CLL and AML panels. PCR assays for AML specific genetic
      abnormalities were negative. Immunoglobulin gene analysis established the clonal
      nature of the B-cell expansion. A final diagnosis of concomitant CLL and AML(FAB:
      M5) was made. CONCLUSION: We have reported a case in which there was simultaneous
      presentation of AML and CLL. Both forms of leukemia were well documented by
      morphology, cytometric analysis and molecular studies. Our findings support the
      idea that this rare concurrence of AML and untreated CLL may represent two
      separate disease processes.

PMID- 27643997
TI  - Speaking Clearly for the Blind: Acoustic and Articulatory Correlates of Speaking
      Conditions in Sighted and Congenitally Blind Speakers.
AB  - Compared to conversational speech, clear speech is produced with longer vowel
      duration, greater intensity, increased contrasts between vowel categories, and
      decreased dispersion within vowel categories. Those acoustic correlates are
      produced by larger movements of the orofacial articulators, including visible
      (lips) and invisible (tongue) articulators. Thus, clear speech provides the
      listener with audible and visual cues that are used to increase the overall
      intelligibility of speech produced by the speaker. It is unclear how those cues
      are produced by visually impaired speakers who never had access to vision. In
      this paper, we investigate the acoustic and articulatory correlates of vowels in
      clear versus conversational speech, and in sighted and congenitally blind
      speakers. Participants were recorded using electroarticulography while producing
      multiple repetitions of the ten Quebec French oral vowels in carrier sentences in
      both speaking conditions. Articulatory variables (lip, jaw, and tongue positions)
      as well as acoustic variables (contrasts between vowels, within-vowel dispersion,
      pitch, duration, and intensity) were measured. Lip movements were larger when
      going from conversational to clear speech in sighted speakers only. On the other
      hand, tongue movements were affected to a larger extent in blind speakers
      compared to their sighted peers. These findings confirm that vision plays an
      important role in the maintenance of speech intelligibility. 

PMID- 27643998
TI  - Exploiting Bisphosphonate-Bioactive-Glass Interactions for the Development of
      Self-Healing and Bioactive Composite Hydrogels.
AB  - Hydrogels are widely recognized as promising candidates for various biomedical
      applications, such as tissue engineering. Recently, extensive research efforts
      have been devoted to the improvement of the biological and mechanical performance
      of hydrogel systems by incorporation of functional groups and/or inorganic
      particles in their composition. Bisphosphonates are a class of drugs, commonly
      used for treatment of osteoporosis, which exhibit a strong binding affinity for
      hydroxyapatite. In this study, the binding affinity of a bisphosphonate
      functionalized polymer, hyaluronan, toward a bioactive glass (i.e., 45S5
      Bioglass) is evaluated using force-distance measurements with atomic force
      microscopy. The strong interaction between bisphosphonate and bioactive glass is
      then exploited to develop organic-inorganic composite hydrogels and the
      viscoelastic and self-healing ability of these materials are investigated.
      Finally, the stability and mineralization behavior of these hydrogels are
      evaluated in simulated body fluid. Following this approach, injectable, bioactive
      and self-healing organic-inorganic composite hydrogels are produced, which
      mineralize abundantly and rapidly in simulated body fluid. These properties
      render these composite gels suitable for applications in bone-tissue engineering.

PMID- 27644000
TI  - Non-invasive fecal microbiota transplantation for recurrent Clostridium difficile
      infection in a patient presenting with hypertensive disorder post interventionem.
AB  - Fecal microbiota transplantation has gathered much attention due to its high
      efficacy in resolving recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. Until today, it
      is recognized as a safe procedure without any severe side effects. Patients with
      impaired conscious states suffering from recurrent episodes of aspiration are at
      increased risk by endoscopic interventions needed during standard approaches for
      fecal microbiota transplantation application.Here, we illustrate the case of a
      tetraplegic patient undergoing fecal microbiota transplantation due to his fifth
      recurrent episode of Clostridium difficile infection using a self-advancing nasal
      jejunal feeding tube as effective minimal-invasive option of fecal microbiota
      transplantation application. Persistent aggravation of arterial hypertension,
      which developed post-intervention in this patient, could be interpreted as a
      hitherto unknown side effect of fecal microbiota transplantation in this setting.
      Moreover, this is a further hint for a link between the intestinal microbiome and
      arterial hypertension in general.

PMID- 27643999
TI  - Purinergic Signaling in Corneal Wound Healing: A Tale of 2 Receptors.
AB  - Nucleotide release and purinergic signaling make up the earliest response to
      corneal injury and are vital for proper wound healing. In this study, we review
      the importance of nucleotide release in the injury response and focus on the
      contribution of 2 receptors that mediate purinergic signaling, P2Y2 and P2X7.
      These receptors mediate the early response to injury and activate downstream
      signaling to promote cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell migration. The
      contribution of corneal nerves to the purinergic injury response is also
      discussed. Finally, we look at implications of altered purinergic signaling in
      diabetic wound healing and important targets for future research.

PMID- 27644001
TI  - Theoretical Study of the Substituent Effects on the Nonlinear Optical Properties
      of a Room-Temperature-Stable Organic Electride.
AB  - Excess-electron compounds can be considered as novel candidates for nonlinear
      optical (NLO) materials because of their large static first hyperpolarizabilities
      (beta0 ). A room-temperature-stable, excess-electron compound, that is, the
      organic electride Na@(TriPip222), was successfully synthesized by the Dye group
      (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 12416). In this work, the beta0 of this electride
      was first evaluated to be 1.13*106  au, which revealed its potential as a high
      performance NLO material. In particular, the substituent effects of different
      substituents on the structure, electride character, and NLO response of this
      electride were systemically studied for the first time by density functional
      theory calculations. The results revealed that the beta0 of Na@(TriPip222) could
      be further increased to 8.30*106  au by introducing a fluoro substituent, whereas
      its NLO response completely disappeared if one nitryl group was introduced
      because the nitro-group substitution deprived the material of its electride
      identity. Moreover, herein the dependence of the NLO properties on the number of
      substituents and their relative positions was also detected in multifluoro
      substituted Na@(TriPip222) compounds.

PMID- 27644002
TI  - Controversies over the use of GnRH agonists for reduction of chemotherapy-induced
      gonadotoxicity.
AB  - The increase in cancer incidence in younger people and the significant
      improvement in long and permanent remission have brought concern about their
      reproductive future and quality of life. Up to two-thirds of adult female
      patients undergoing chemotherapy for malignancies eventually develop premature
      ovarian failure. This condition is related to many complaints including vasomotor
      symptoms, osteoporosis, increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, sexual
      dysfunction, and infertility. Therefore, protection against iatrogenic
      infertility and loss of endocrine ovarian function caused by chemotherapy is
      currently of high priority. Several options have been used for preserving ovarian
      function. Established methods include cryopreservation of embryos and/or ova, and
      ovarian transposition, while others such as ovarian tissue preservation are new,
      yet promising treatments for fertility preservation. The administration of
      gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonistic analogs (GnRH-a) is still
      considered experimental. However, the recent evidence is strong to recommend the
      use of GnRH-a co-treatment during chemotherapy in young women with cancer to
      protect ovarian function, with promising results regarding fertility
      preservation. As the use of GnRH-a is non-invasive, highly available and without
      impact on cancer treatment outcomes, it should be offered to all young female
      cancer patients to preserve their ovarian function.

PMID- 27644003
TI  - Photocontrol of Polar Aromatic Interactions by a Bis-Hemithioindigo Based Helical
      Receptor.
AB  - The first example of a bis-hemithioindigo (bis-HTI)-based molecular receptor was
      realized. Its folding and selective binding affinity for aromatic guest molecules
      can be precisely controlled by visible light and heat. The thermodynamically
      stable state of the bis-HTI is the s-shaped planar Z,Z-configuration. After
      irradiation with 420 nm light only the E,Z-configuration is formed in a highly
      selective photoisomerization. The E,Z-isomer adopts a helical conformation
      because of the implementation of repulsive steric interactions. The E,Z
      configured helix is able to recognize electron-poor aromatic guests exclusively
      through polar aromatic interactions and also distinguishes between regioisomers.
      After heating, the Z,Z-configuration is completely restored and the aromatic
      guest molecule is efficiently released.

PMID- 27644004
TI  - O2 -independent demethylation of trimethylamine N-oxide by Tdm of Methylocella
      silvestris.
AB  - Bacterial trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) demethylase, Tdm, carries out an unusual
      oxygen-independent demethylation reaction, resulting in the formation of
      dimethylamine and formaldehyde. In this study, site-directed mutagenesis,
      homology modelling and metal analyses by inorganic mass spectrometry have been
      applied to gain insight into metal stoichiometry and underlying catalytic
      mechanism of Tdm of Methylocella silvestris BL2. Herein, we demonstrate that
      active Tdm has 1 molar equivalent of Zn2+ and 1 molar equivalent of non-haem Fe2+
      . We further investigated Zn2+ - and Fe2+ -binding sites through homology
      modelling and site-directed mutagenesis and found that Zn2+ is coordinated by a 3
      sulfur-1-O motif. An aspartate residue (D198) likely bridges Fe2+ and Zn2+
      centres, either directly or indirectly via H-bonding through a neighbouring H2 O
      molecule. H276 contributes to Fe2+ binding, mutation of which results in an
      inactive enzyme, and the loss of iron, but not zinc. Site-directed mutagenesis of
      Tdm also led to the identification of three hydrophobic aromatic residues likely
      involved in substrate coordination (F259, Y305, W321), potentially through a
      cation-pi interaction. Furthermore, a crossover experiment using a substrate
      analogue gave direct evidence that a trimethylamine-alike intermediate was
      produced during the Tdm catalytic cycle, suggesting TMAO has a dual role of being
      both a substrate and an oxygen donor for formaldehyde formation. Together, our
      results provide novel insight into the role of Zn2+ and Fe2+ in the catalysis of
      TMAO demethylation by this unique oxygen-independent enzyme.

PMID- 27644005
TI  - Sleep and airway assessment: A review for dentists.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dentists can be the first professionals to recognize a patient's
      potential sleep problem since they typically have more frequent contact with
      their patients than do physicians. It is important that dentists have a
      reasonable understanding of sleep disorders and how to assess their patients if
      they suspect such a problem so that a timely referral can be made or treatment
      can be provided as appropriate. OBJECTIVE: To review the key literature relevant
      to sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) characteristics and diagnosis, including
      history, examination, and investigation with an emphasis on radiographic airway
      analyses. CONCLUSION: The authors present a concise explanation of SDB conditions
      and an outline for thorough patient examination and evaluation, including
      radiographic airway analyses. Limited two-dimensional and three-dimensional norms
      exist for adult patients with no SDB and even less so for children. Much more
      research is needed, particularly in the pediatric population.

PMID- 27644007
TI  - The Impact of Hospital Resources and Availability of Professional Lactation
      Support on Maternity Care: Results of Breastfeeding Surveys 2009-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding provides maternal and infant health benefits. Maternity
      care practices encompassed in the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are
      positively associated with improved breastfeeding outcomes. This study assessed
      changes in maternity care practices and lactation support. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      In 2009, 2011, and 2014, New York (NY) hospitals providing maternity care
      services were surveyed to assess the implementation of 9 of the 10 Steps to
      Successful Breastfeeding, professional lactation support, distribution of formula
      and discharge packs, and patient and hospital barriers to breastfeeding success.
      Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate changes over time.
      RESULTS: Surveys were completed by 138/138 (2009), 128/129 (2011), and 125/125
      (2014) NY hospitals. During this time period, the percent of hospitals reporting
      implementation of Steps 2, 4, 6, or 9 increased, and the mean number of 9 steps
      implemented increased from 4.3 to 5.3. Hospitals distributing formula samples at
      discharge to breastfeeding mothers decreased significantly from 39 (32%) to 3
      (2%). Professional lactation staffing ratios (N/1,000 births) of both
      International Board Certified Lactation Consultants and Certified Lactation
      Counselors increased between 2009 and 2011, but then decreased between 2011 and
      2014. Reported barriers to breastfeeding support changed, with reductions in
      mixed messages from staff, but increases in lack of financial resources for
      breastfeeding support, inadequate prenatal education, mothers not being prepared,
      and family not being receptive to breastfeeding. CONCLUSIONS: Between 2009 and
      2014, NY hospitals reported increased barriers and a reduction in professional
      lactation support, which may have contributed to the limited improvements in
      breastfeeding support.

PMID- 27644008
TI  - Characterisation of Ramularia collo-cygni laboratory mutants resistant to
      succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ramularia collo-cygni (Rcc) is responsible for Ramularia leaf spot
      (RLS), a foliar disease of barley contributing to serious economic losses.
      Protection against the disease has been almost exclusively based on fungicide
      applications, including succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs). In 2015, the
      first field isolates of Rcc with reduced sensitivity to SDHIs were recorded in
      some European countries. In this study we established baseline sensitivity of Rcc
      to SDHIs in the United Kingdom and characterised mutations correlating with
      resistance to SDHIs in UV-generated mutants. RESULTS: Five SDHI-resistant
      isolates were generated by UV mutagenesis. In four of these mutants a single
      amino acid change in a target succinate dehydrogenase (Sdh) protein was
      associated with decrease in sensitivity to SDHIs. Three of these mutations were
      stably inherited in the absence of SDHI fungicide, and resistant isolates did not
      demonstrate a fitness penalty. There were no detectable declines in sensitivity
      in field populations in the years 2010-2012 in the United Kingdom. CONCLUSIONS:
      SDHIs remained effective in controlling Rcc in the United Kingdom in the years
      2010-2012. However, given that the first isolates of Rcc with reduced sensitivity
      appeared in other European countries in 2015, robust antiresistance strategies
      need to be continuously implemented to maintain effective disease control. (c)
      2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27644006
TI  - p53 in the game of transposons.
AB  - Throughout the animal kingdom, p53 genes function to restrain mobile elements and
      recent observations indicate that transposons become derepressed in human
      cancers. Together, these emerging lines of evidence suggest that cancers driven
      by p53 mutations could represent "transpospoathies," i.e. disease states linked
      to eruptions of mobile elements. The transposopathy hypothesis predicts that p53
      acts through conserved mechanisms to contain transposon movement, and in this
      way, prevents tumor formation. How transposon eruptions provoke neoplasias is not
      well understood but, from a broader perspective, this hypothesis also provides an
      attractive framework to explore unrestrained mobile elements as inciters of late
      onset idiopathic disease. Also see the video abstract here.

PMID- 27644009
TI  - The Feasibility of a Completely Automated Total IV Anesthesia Drug Delivery
      System for Cardiac Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this pilot study, we tested a novel automatic anesthesia system
      for closed-loop administration of IV anesthesia drugs for cardiac surgical
      procedures with cardiopulmonary bypass. This anesthesia drug delivery robot
      integrates all 3 components of general anesthesia: hypnosis, analgesia, and
      muscle relaxation. METHODS: Twenty patients scheduled for elective cardiac
      surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled. Propofol, remifentanil, and
      rocuronium were administered using closed-loop feedback control. The main
      objective was the feasibility of closed-loop anesthesia defined as successful
      automated cardiac anesthesia without manual override by the attending
      anesthesiologist. Secondary qualitative observations were clinical and controller
      performances. The clinical performance of hypnosis control was the efficacy to
      maintain a bispectral index (BIS) of 45. To evaluate the hypnosis performance,
      BIS values were stratified into 4 categories: "excellent," "good," "poor," and
      "inadequate" hypnosis control defined as BIS values within 10%, ranging from 11%
      to 20%, ranging from 21% to 30%, or >30% of the target value, respectively. The
      clinical performance of analgesia was the efficacy to maintain NociMap values
      close to 0. The analgesia performance was assessed classifying the NociMap values
      in 3 pain control groups: -33 to +33 representing excellent pain control, -34 to 
      66 and +34 to +66 representing good pain control, and -67 to -100 and +67 to +100
      representing insufficient pain control. The controller performance was calculated
      using the Varvel parameters. RESULTS: Robotic anesthesia was successful in 16
      patients, which is equivalent to 80% (97.5% confidence interval [CI], 53%-95%) of
      the patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Four patients were excluded from the
      final analysis because of technical problems with the automated anesthesia
      delivery system. The secondary qualitative observations revealed that the
      clinical performance of hypnosis allowed an excellent and good control during 70%
      (97.5% CI, 63%-76%) of maintenance time and an insufficient clinical performance
      of analgesia for only 3% (97.5% CI, 1%-6%) of maintenance time. CONCLUSIONS: The
      completely automated closed-loop system tested in this investigation could be
      used successfully and safely for cardiac surgery necessitating cardiopulmonary
      bypass. The results of the present trial showed satisfactory clinical performance
      of anesthesia control.

PMID- 27644010
TI  - Impact of an Analgesia-Based Sedation Protocol on Mechanically Ventilated
      Patients in a Medical Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent attention to adverse effects of intensive care unit (ICU)
      sedation has led to the use of strategies that target a "lighter" depth of
      sedation. Among these strategies are "analgosedation" protocols, which prioritize
      pain management and preferentially use IV opioids before administration of
      continuously infused sedatives such as propofol or midazolam. We hypothesized
      that using an analgosedation protocol would result in a shorter duration of
      mechanical ventilation than a protocol with greater emphasis on IV sedatives
      METHODS: : We conducted a retrospective study comparing the duration of
      mechanical ventilation before and after implementation of an analgosedation
      protocol in a 24-bed medical ICU. Patients were aged 18 years or older and
      required mechanical ventilation where a light level of sedation was clinically
      appropriate. Exclusion criteria included a clinical need for deeper levels of
      sedation or tracheal intubation confined to the perioperative period. RESULTS:
      Seventy-nine patients were included in the postimplementation group and 65 in the
      preimplementation group. After adjustment for baseline covariates, introduction
      of the 2013 analgosedation protocol was associated with a decreased duration of
      mechanical ventilation (-26.62 hours; 95% confidence interval, - 44.98 to -8.26,
      P = 0.005). Patients managed with the analgosedation protocol experienced a
      lighter level of sedation (median Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale, -2.57 vs 
      1.25, P = 0.001) and improved pain management (median Critical-Care Pain
      Observation Tool score, 2.0 vs 1.5, P = 0.03). The use of continuously infused
      sedatives was reduced by 54.3% (92.3% vs 38.0%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that implementation of an analgosedation protocol was associated
      with an overall lighter level of sedation, shorter mean ventilator duration, and
      a reduced use of continuous infusion sedatives. Further studies are needed to
      assess the impact of such protocols on ICU delirium.

PMID- 27644011
TI  - Patient Blood Management as Standard of Care.

PMID- 27644012
TI  - Partitioning controls on Amazon forest photosynthesis between environmental and
      biotic factors at hourly to interannual timescales.
AB  - Gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) in tropical forests varies both with the
      environment and with biotic changes in photosynthetic infrastructure, but our
      understanding of the relative effects of these factors across timescales is
      limited. Here, we used a statistical model to partition the variability of seven
      years of eddy covariance-derived GEP in a central Amazon evergreen forest into
      two main causes: variation in environmental drivers (solar radiation, diffuse
      light fraction, and vapor pressure deficit) that interact with model parameters
      that govern photosynthesis and biotic variation in canopy photosynthetic light
      use efficiency associated with changes in the parameters themselves. Our fitted
      model was able to explain most of the variability in GEP at hourly (R2  = 0.77)
      to interannual (R2  = 0.80) timescales. At hourly timescales, we found that 75%
      of observed GEP variability could be attributed to environmental variability.
      When aggregating GEP to the longer timescales (daily, monthly, and yearly),
      however, environmental variation explained progressively less GEP variability: At
      monthly timescales, it explained only 3%, much less than biotic variation in
      canopy photosynthetic light-use efficiency, which accounted for 63%. These
      results challenge modeling approaches that assume GEP is primarily controlled by
      the environment at both short and long timescales. Our approach distinguishing
      biotic from environmental variability can help to resolve debates about
      environmental limitations to tropical forest photosynthesis. For example, we
      found that biotically regulated canopy photosynthetic light-use efficiency
      (associated with leaf phenology) increased with sunlight during dry seasons
      (consistent with light but not water limitation of canopy development) but that
      realized GEP was nonetheless lower relative to its potential efficiency during
      dry than wet seasons (consistent with water limitation of photosynthesis in given
      assemblages of leaves). This work highlights the importance of accounting for
      differential regulation of GEP at different timescales and of identifying the
      underlying feedbacks and adaptive mechanisms.

PMID- 27644013
TI  - Ana o 3-specific IgE is a good predictor for clinically relevant cashew allergy
      in children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Component-resolved diagnostics using specific IgE to 2 S albumins
      has shown to be a valuable new option in diagnostic procedure. Ana o 3 is a 2 S
      albumin from cashew. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Ana o 3
      specific serum IgE in the diagnosis of cashew allergy and to identify cut-off
      levels to replace oral food challenges. Moreover, the value of additional
      determination of total IgE has been investigated. METHODS: In a multicentre
      study, we analysed specific IgE to cashew extract and Ana o 3 as well as total
      IgE in children with suspected cashew allergy using the ImmunoCAP-FEIA and a
      standardized diagnostic procedure including oral challenges where indicated.
      RESULTS: A total of 61 patients were included in the study. Forty-two were
      allergic to cashew, and 19 were tolerant. In receiver operating curves, Ana o 3
      discriminates between allergic and tolerant children better than cashew-specific
      IgE with an area under the curve of 0.94 vs 0.78. The ratio of Ana o 3-specific
      IgE to total IgE did not further improve the diagnostic procedure. Probability
      curves for Ana o 3-specific IgE have been calculated, and a 95% probability could
      be estimated at 2.0 kU/l. CONCLUSION: Specific IgE to Ana o 3 is a valuable tool
      for the diagnosis of cashew allergy. Considering its positive predictive value,
      it might allow to make a considerable number of oral challenges superfluous.

PMID- 27644015
TI  - Global synchronization of memristive neural networks subject to random
      disturbances via distributed pinning control.
AB  - This paper presents theoretical results on global exponential synchronization of
      multiple memristive neural networks in the presence of external noise by means of
      two types of distributed pinning control. The multiple memristive neural networks
      are coupled in a general structure via a nonlinear function, which consists of a
      linear diffusive term and a discontinuous sign term. A pinning impulsive control
      law is introduced in the coupled system to synchronize all neural networks.
      Sufficient conditions are derived for ascertaining global exponential
      synchronization in mean square. In addition, a pinning adaptive control law is
      developed to achieve global exponential synchronization in mean square. Both
      pinning control laws utilize only partial state information received from the
      neighborhood of the controlled neural network. Simulation results are presented
      to substantiate the theoretical results.

PMID- 27644014
TI  - Norovirus prevalence and estimated viral load in symptomatic and asymptomatic
      children from rural communities of Vhembe district, South Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human Norovirus (NoV) is recognized as a major etiological agent of
      sporadic acute gastroenteritis worldwide. OBJECTIVES: This study describes the
      clinical features associated with Human NoV occurrence in children and determines
      the prevalence and estimated viral burden of NoV in symptomatic and asymptomatic
      children in rural South Africa. STUDY DESIGN: Between July 2014 and April 2015,
      outpatient children under 5 years of age from rural communities of Vhembe
      district, South Africa, were enrolled for the study. A total of 303 stool
      specimens were collected from those with diarrhea (n=253) and without (n=50)
      diarrhea. NoVs were identified using real-time one-step RT-PCR. RESULTS: One
      hundred and four (41.1%) NoVs were detected (62[59.6%] GII, 16[15.4%] GI, and
      26[25%] mixed GI/GII) in cases and 18 (36%) including 9(50%) GII, 2(11.1%) GI and
      7(38.9%) mixed GI/GII in controls. NoV detection rates in symptomatic and
      asymptomatic children (OR=1.24; 95% CI 0.66?2.33) were not significantly
      different. Comparison of the median CT values for NoV in symptomatic and
      asymptomatic children revealed significant statistical difference of estimated
      GII viral load from both groups, with a much higher viral burden in symptomatic
      children. CONCLUSIONS: Though not proven predictive of diarrhea disease in this
      study, the high detection rate of NoV reflects the substantial exposure of
      children from rural communities to enteric pathogens possibly due to poor
      sanitation and hygiene practices. The results suggest that the difference between
      asymptomatic and symptomatic children with NoV may be at the level of the viral
      load of NoV genogroups involved.

PMID- 27644016
TI  - Common sense model of mental illness: Understanding the impact of cognitive and
      emotional representations of mental illness on recovery through the mediation of
      self-stigma.
AB  - The present study applied the common sense model to understand the underlying
      mechanism of how cognitive and emotional representations of mental illness among
      people in recovery of mental illness would impact their endorsement of self
      stigma, and how that would, in turn, affect clinical and personal recovery. A
      cross-sectional survey was administered to 376 people in recovery. Participants
      were recruited from seven public specialty outpatient clinics and substance abuse
      assessment clinics across various districts in Hong Kong. They were asked to
      report their perception towards their mental illness, self-stigma, symptom
      severity, and personal recovery. The results of structural equation modeling
      partially supported the hypothesized mediation model indicating that
      controllability, consequences, and emotional concern of mental illness, but not
      cause, timeline, and identity, were associated with self-stigma, which was
      subsequently negatively associated with clinical and personal recovery. The
      present study demonstrated the mediating role of self-stigma in the relationship
      between individuals' illness representations towards their mental illness and
      their recovery. Illness management programs aimed at addressing the maladaptive
      mental illness-related beliefs and emotions are recommended. Implications on
      developing self-directed and empowering mental health services are discussed.

PMID- 27644017
TI  - Effectiveness of humor training among adolescents with autism.
AB  - Humor training has been applied to educational and clinical cases and has been
      found to be effective, but humor training for individuals with autism is
      relatively rare. The present study proposed a humor-knowledge and humor-skill
      training workshop to enhance the humor comprehension and appreciation of
      individuals with autism and examined the effects of the training. Participants
      were 20 adolescents with autism and average intelligence (above 70 in WAIS-III).
      They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both
      questionnaire of joke comprehension and appreciation and a humor style
      questionnaire were used as instruments. The results supported the effectiveness
      of the 15-h training. The comprehension and appreciation of nonsense humor were
      significantly increased in the experimental group in comparison with the control
      group, although the incongruity-resolution jokes remained difficult to
      comprehend. The tendency to use affiliative humor was greater among individuals
      with autism in the experimental group, suggesting that the appreciation of humor
      can be learned.

PMID- 27644018
TI  - Expanding the phenotype of Triple X syndrome: A comparison of prenatal versus
      postnatal diagnosis.
AB  - Triple X syndrome (47, XXX) occurs in approximately 1:1,000 female births and has
      a variable phenotype of physical and psychological features. Prenatal diagnosis
      rates of 47, XXX are increasing due to non-invasive prenatal genetic testing.
      Previous studies suggest that prenatal diagnosed females have better
      neurodevelopmental outcomes. This cross-sectional study describes diagnosis,
      physical features, medical problems, and neurodevelopmental features in a large
      cohort of females with 47, XXX. Evaluation included review of medical and
      developmental history, physical exam, cognitive, and adaptive testing. Medical
      and developmental features were compared between the prenatal and postnatal
      diagnosis groups using rate calculations and Fisher's exact test. Cognitive and
      adaptive tests scores were compared using t-tests. Seventy-four females age 6
      months-24 years (mean 8.3 years) participated. Forty-four (59.5%) females were in
      the prenatal diagnosis group. Mean age of postnatal diagnosis was 5.9 years;
      developmental delay was the most common indication for postnatal genetic testing.
      Common physical features included hypertelorism, epicanthal folds, clinodactyly,
      and hypotonia. Medical problems included dental disorders (44.4%), seizure
      disorders (16.2%), genitourinary malformations (12.2%). The prenatal diagnosis
      group had higher verbal (P < 0.001), general ability index (P = 0.004), and
      adaptive functioning scores (P < 0.001). Rates of ADHD (52.2% vs. 45.5%, P =
      0.77) and learning disabilities (39.1% vs. 36.3%, P = 1.00) were similar between
      the two groups. These findings expand on the phenotypic features in females with
      Triple X syndrome and support that prenatally ascertained females have better
      cognitive and functional outcomes. However, prenatally diagnosed females are
      still at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Genetic counseling and treatment
      recommendations are summarized. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27644019
TI  - Ricochet Behavior on Glass-Critical Ricochet Angles, Ricochet Angles, and
      Deflection Angles.
AB  - For shooting scene reconstruction purposes, knowledge about the ricochet behavior
      of bullets provides valuable information. In this study, the critical ricochet
      angles of four cartridge types were established on plain float glass. The
      estimates of the critical ricochet angles varied between cartridge types and were
      21.0 degrees  for .32 Auto FMJ bullets, 15.8 degrees  for 9 mm Luger FMJ bullets,
      17.6 degrees  for .45 Auto FMJ bullets, and 21.3 degrees  for 9 mm Luger, Action
      NP bullets. The corresponding ricochet and deflection angles per incidence angle
      varied depending on the state of the ricocheted bullets. The mean ricochet angles
      are always lower than the corresponding angles of incidence, and the mean
      ricochet angles for the FMJ bullets with undamaged jackets are lower than those
      of bullets where the jacket is either damaged or the bullet partially ricocheted
      and partially perforated. Mean ricochet angles are lower for undamaged FMJ
      bullets than for undamaged Action NP bullets.

PMID- 27644020
TI  - Progressive lesions of central nervous system in microcephalic fetuses with
      suspected congenital Zika virus syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the pattern and progression of central nervous system
      (CNS) lesions in microcephalic fetuses with suspected Zika virus (ZIKV)
      infection. METHODS: In this prospective study in Salvador, Brazil, we analyzed
      fetuses diagnosed with microcephaly and suspected ZIKV infection after a routine
      primary care ultrasound scan between July 2015 and February 2016 raised suspicion
      of fetal microcephaly. The pregnancies were followed with serial ultrasound scans
      until delivery at one of the three main referral centers for fetal abnormalities
      in Salvador, Brazil. Microcephaly was diagnosed when the head circumference was
      two or more SDs below the mean for gestational age and its relationship with ZIKV
      infection was defined according to the World Health Organization's criteria. All
      women were interviewed, to assess potential factors associated with fetal
      microcephaly. Serology test results for toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, rubella,
      syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were recorded, as were previous
      routine ultrasound results. Signs/symptoms of infection during the pregnancy were
      noted. RESULTS: Of 60 cases of suspected ZIKV-related fetal microcephaly seen
      during the study period, eight were excluded due to serological evidence of other
      congenital infections or major ultrasound chromosomal markers. In the remaining
      52 fetuses, microcephaly was diagnosed between 19 and 40 (median, 27.7;
      interquartile range, 23.4-32.0) weeks of gestation. The main ultrasound findings
      were: ventriculomegaly (65.4% of cases), cerebral calcifications (44.2%) and
      posterior fossa abnormalities (32.7%). 9.6% presented with arthrogryposis as an
      associated finding. Microcephaly was an isolated finding in four cases (7.7%).
      While ventriculomegaly was progressive in 41.2% of cases with this finding, the
      velocity of head circumference increase decreased progressively in almost all
      cases. Exanthematic disease was present in the majority (86.5%) of the women,
      67.3% presenting in the first trimester of pregnancy. Additional lesions were
      detected after birth in 71.4% of the 35 cases with neonatal follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: The majority of cases of congenital ZIKV syndrome have other
      ultrasonographic findings in addition to microcephaly. ZIKV-related CNS anomalies
      present mainly as progressive CNS lesions and slowing rate of growth of the fetal
      head, and this seems to be evident only in the late second trimester, even when
      maternal infection occurs in the first trimester. Other ultrasound findings, such
      as ventriculomegaly, brain calcifications and posterior fossa destruction
      lesions, are also common in this congenital syndrome. Posterior fossa destruction
      lesions and arthrogryposis are an uncommon finding in other congenital
      infections, perhaps suggesting a novel severe congenital syndrome associated with
      fetal ZIKV. Copyright (c) 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID- 27644021
TI  - Self assembly, mobilization, and flotation of crude oil contaminated sand
      particles as granular shells on gas bubbles in water.
AB  - Contaminant fate and transport studies and models include transport mechanisms
      for colloidal particles and dissolved ions which can be easily moved with water
      currents. However, mobilization of much larger contaminated granular particles
      (i.e., sand) in sediments have not been considered as a possible mechanism due to
      the relatively larger size of sand particles and their high bulk density. We
      conducted experiments to demonstrate that oil contaminated granular particles
      (which exhibit hydrophobic characteristics) can attach on gas bubbles to form
      granular shells and transfer from the sediment phase to the water column. The
      interactions and conditions necessary for the oil contaminated granular particles
      to self assemble as tightly packed granular shells on the gas bubbles which
      transfer from sediment phase to the water column were evaluated both
      experimentally and theoretically for South Louisiana crude oil and quartz sand
      particles. Analyses showed that buoyancy forces can be adequate to move the
      granular shell forming around the air bubbles if the bubble radius is above
      0.001mm for the sand particles with 0.28mm diameter. Relatively high magnitude of
      the Hamaker constant for the oil film between sand and air (5.81*10-20J for air
      oil-sand) indicates that air bubbles have high affinity to attach on the oil film
      that is on the sand particles in comparison to attaching to the sand particles
      without the oil film in water (1.60*10-20J for air-water-sand). The mobilization
      mechanism of the contaminated granular particles with gas bubbles can occur in
      natural environments resulting in transfer of granular particles from sediments
      to the water column.

PMID- 27644022
TI  - Environmental hazard assessment of contaminated soils in Antarctica: Using a
      structured tier 1 approach to inform decision-making.
AB  - Generally, Antarctica is considered to be an untouched area of the planet;
      however, the region's ecosystems have been subject to increased human pressure
      for at least the past half-century. This study assessed soils of Fildes
      Peninsula, where trace element pollution is thought to prevail. Four soil samples
      were collected from different locations and assessed following tier 1
      methodologies for chemical and ecotoxicological lines of evidence (LoE) used in
      typical soil Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA). Trace element quantification
      was run on soil samples and sequential extracts, and elutriates were used to
      address their ecotoxicity using a standard ecotoxicological battery. The highest
      levels of trace elements were found for Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn, which were well above
      baseline levels in two sites located near previously identified contamination
      sources. Trace element concentrations in soils were compared with soil quality
      guidelines to estimate the contribution of the chemical LoE for integrated risk
      calculations; risk was found high, above 0.5 for all samples. Total
      concentrations in soil were consistent with corresponding sequentially extracted
      percentages, with Cu and Zn being the most bioavailable elements. Bacteria did
      not respond consistently to the elutriate samples and cladocerans did not respond
      at all. In contrast, the growth of microalgae and macrophytes was significantly
      impaired by elutriates of all soil samples, consistently to estimated trace
      element concentrations in the elutriate matrix. These results translated into
      lower risk values for the ecotoxicological compared to the chemical LoE.
      Nevertheless, integrated risk calculations generated either an immediate
      recommendation for further analysis to better understand the hazardous potential
      of the tested soils or showed that the soils could not adequately sustain natural
      ecosystem functions. This study suggests that the soil ecosystem in Fildes has
      been inadequately protected and supports previous claims on the need to reinforce
      protection measures and remediation activities.

PMID- 27644023
TI  - Fine-scale determinants of conservation value of river reaches in a hotspot of
      native and non-native species diversity.
AB  - Global freshwater biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates while non
      native species are expanding. Examining diversity patterns across variable river
      conditions can help develop better management strategies. However, many
      indicators can be used to determine the conservartion value of aquatic
      communities, and little is known of how well they correlate to each other in
      making diagnostics, including when testing for the efficacy of protected areas.
      Using an extensive data set (99,700km2, n=530 sites) across protected and
      unprotected river reaches in 15 catchments of NE Spain, we examine correlations
      among 20 indicators of conservation value of fish communities, including the
      benefits they provide to birds and threatened mammals and mussels. Our results
      showed that total native fish abundance or richness correlated reasonably well
      with many native indicators. However, the lack of a strong congruence led
      modelling techniques to identify different river attributes for each indicator of
      conservation value. Overall, tributaries were identified as native fish refugees,
      and nutrient pollution, salinization, low water velocity and poor habitat
      structure as major threats to the native biota. We also found that protected
      areas offered limited coverage to major components of biodiversity, including
      rarity, threat and host-parasite relationships, even though values of non-native
      indicators were notably reduced. In conclusion, restoring natural hydrological
      regimes and water chemical status is a priority to stem freshwater biodiversity
      loss in this region. A complementary action can be the protection of tributaries,
      but more studies examining multiple components of diversity are necessary to
      fully test their potential as fluvial reserves in Mediterranean climate areas.

PMID- 27644024
TI  - Comparative study of diclofenac-induced embryotoxicity and teratogenesis in
      Xenopus laevis and Lithobates catesbeianus, using the frog embryo teratogenesis
      assay: Xenopus (FETAX).
AB  - Water is an increasingly deteriorated, limited natural resource due to population
      increase and industrialization. Also, the widespread use of pharmaceuticals in
      modern society leads to their presence in domestic, hospital and industrial
      effluents. Due to their analgesic properties, some of the most commonly used
      pharmaceuticals are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). High
      concentrations of one these products, diclofenac (DCF), have been detected in
      effluents and water bodies of different countries, including Mexico. Diverse
      studies show that trace amounts (ngL-1 to MUgL-1) of this compound induce
      toxicity on aquatic organisms such as algae, microcrustaceans and fish. However,
      studies on its potential toxicity during development in species of commercial
      interest such as the American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus are scarce. The
      present study aimed to evaluate DCF-induced teratogenesis and embryotoxicity in
      Xenopus laevis and L. catesbeianus, a species marketed as a nutritional meat
      source in Mexico, using the frog embryo teratogenesis assay: Xenopus (FETAX).
      Oocytes in mid-blastula transition were exposed for 96h to 1, 4, 8, 16, 32 and
      62.5mgDCFL-1. The criteria evaluated were mortality, malformation and growth
      inhibition. The teratogenic index was 4.2 in L. catesbeianus, three-fold higher
      than the reference limit (1.5), and 3.9 in X. laevis. Diclofenac induced diverse
      malformations in both species, the most frequent of these being axial
      malformations in the tail and notochord, edema and stunted growth. Results
      indicate that DCF is a potentially teratogenic compound and is toxic during
      development in X. laevis and L. catesbeianus, a species which, due to its
      sensitivity, can be used to evaluate the toxicity of pharmaceutical products,
      using FETAX.

PMID- 27644025
TI  - Testing the ability of plants to access potassium from framework silicate
      minerals.
AB  - The availability of K, essential for plant growth, from syenite (a silicate rock
      in which potassium feldspar is the dominant mineral; >90wt%), and phlogopite mica
      has been demonstrated using carefully designed plant growth pot experiments in
      which the only added source of K was the mineral of interest, with no loss of
      nutrients through drainage. Using pure quartz sand as a soil, both growth
      (increase in diameter) of leek plants and K-content of the plant material showed
      a dose-dependent positive response to the application (114-43000mgK/pot) of
      milled syenite with increases in plant diameter of 0.5-0.7mm/week, increasing
      with application rate. Phlogopite mica (114-6000mgK/pot) supported the highest
      observed increase in diameter (approx. 1mm/week) and plant K-content, both
      similar to that observed for a positive control (KCl). These experiments
      demonstrate that plants can obtain K for growth from milled syenite, in which
      feldspar is the dominant K-bearing mineral, and confirm previous observations
      that micas can be an effective source of K.

PMID- 27644026
TI  - Optimization of tetravalent manganese feroxyhyte's negative charge density: A
      high-performing mercury adsorbent from drinking water.
AB  - This study demonstrates an optimization procedure for the development of an Hg
      specified adsorbent able to comply with the regulation limit for drinking water
      of 1MUg/L. On this purpose, the synthesis of Mn(IV)-feroxyhyte was modified to
      achieve high negative charge density by combining alkaline and extreme oxidizing
      conditions. In particular, precipitation of FeSO4 at pH9 and excess of KMnO4
      follows a very fast nucleation step providing a product with very small
      nanocrystal size (1-2nm), high specific surface area (300m2/g) and maximum
      negative charge density (1.8mmol H+/g). The adsorbent was validated for Hg
      removal in batch experiments and column tests using natural-like water indicating
      an adsorption capacity as high as 2.5MUg/mg at equilibrium concentration 1MUg/L
      under reliable conditions of application. Importantly, the adsorption is an
      exothermic spontaneous process, resulting in the formation of inner sphere
      complexes by sharing both A-type and B-type oxygen atoms with the metal surface
      octahedral as revealed by the X-ray absorption fine structure results.

PMID- 27644027
TI  - Pesticide risk behaviors and factors influencing pesticide use among farmers in
      Kuwait.
AB  - The widespread overuse of pesticides in agriculture has generated increasing
      concerns about the negative effects of pesticides on human health and the
      environment. Understanding farmers' perceptions of risk of pesticides and the
      determinants of pesticide overuse is important to modifying their behavior
      towards reducing pesticide use. A survey of 250 randomly selected smallholder
      vegetable farmers in Kuwait was conducted to quantify the extent of pesticide
      use, their pesticide risk perceptions and factors influencing their pesticide use
      behaviors. The majority of the farmers perceived pesticides pose some risk to the
      environment (65%) and human health (70.5%), while younger farmers were more
      likely to perceive this risk than older farmers. When asked to rate how risky
      pesticides were regarding several aspects of human health and the environment on
      a scale of 1(not risky) to 5 (extremely risky), concern was highest for the
      health of applicators (x=4.28) and lowest for air quality (x=2.32). The risk
      perceptions of the farmers did not have a positive influence on their pesticide
      use practices. A total of 76 pesticide active ingredients were found in use, and
      9% of these belong to the WHO toxicity class II (moderately hazardous). On
      average, farmers applied 12.8kg of active ingredients per hectare per year, and
      58% of the farmers were found to have overused pesticides, with an average
      overuse rate of 2.5kg. Pesticide application frequency ranged from two times a
      month up to once a week, depending on the crop. A binary probit model reveals
      that farmers' inadequate knowledge of pesticides, the influence of pesticide
      retailers and lack of access to non-synthetic methods of pest control are
      positively associated with pesticide overuse, while the propensity to overuse
      decreases with higher levels of education, training in Integrated Pest Management
      (IPM) and the safe use and handling of pesticides, and access to extension
      support. Comprehensive intervention measures for reducing pesticide overuse and
      limit the health and environmental hazards caused by pesticides are provided in
      this paper.

PMID- 27644028
TI  - Hippocampal arterial cerebral blood volume in early psychosis.
AB  - Recent studies of patients in the early stage of psychosis have revealed
      increased cerebral blood volume (CBV) in specific subfields of the anterior
      hippocampus. These studies required injection of a contrast agent to measure
      steady state CBV. Here we used a novel, non-invasive method, inflow-based
      vascular-space-occupancy with dynamic subtraction (iVASO-DS), to measure the
      arterial component of CBV (aCBV) in a single slice of the hippocampus. Based on
      evidence from contrast-enhanced CBV studies, we hypothesized increased aCBV in
      the anterior hippocampus in early psychosis. We used 3T MRI to generate iVASO
      derived aCBV maps in 17 medicated patients (average duration of illness = 7.6
      months) and 25 matched controls. We did not find hemispheric or regional group
      differences in hippocampal aCBV. The limited spatial resolution of the iVASO-DS
      method did not allow us to test for aCBV differences in specific subfields of the
      hippocampus. Future studies should investigate venous and arterial CBV changes in
      the hippocampus of early psychosis patients.

PMID- 27644029
TI  - Persistent Sexual Dysfunction with Finasteride 1 mg Taken for Hair Loss.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the risk of persistent sexual dysfunction (PSD) with
      finasteride 1 mg. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the
      IMS U.S. health claims database. From an original cohort of 6,110,723 patients,
      we identified 1390 men who had stopped using finasteride 1 mg and 20,000 randomly
      selected age- and calendar time-matched users of omeprazole from 2006 to 2014.
      First PSD event was defined as (1) the first PSD diagnosis through the first
      International Classification for Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification)
      code for sexual dysfunction and (2) use of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor
      (sildenafil, tadalafil, or vardenafil). RESULTS: In the primary analysis, we
      identified 1390 men taking finasteride 1 mg and 20,000 omeprazole users. The mean
      time to first PSD event after discontinuation of a finasteride 1 mg prescription
      was 391 days (SD, 357 days). The rate of PSD for finasteride 1 mg users and
      omeprazole users was 37.9 and 15.0 per 1000 person-years, respectively. For the
      primary analysis of sexual dysfunction, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) comparing
      finasteride 1 mg users to omeprazole users was 1.62 (1.14-2.29). Adjusted HR in
      the secondary analysis comparing finasteride users to omeprazole users with
      respect to the first phosphodiesterase inhibitor was 2.73 (2.01-3.69).
      CONCLUSIONS: The risk of PSD in men who stopped finasteride 1 mg therapy was
      higher than that for omeprazole users. Patients who stopped finasteride therapy
      sought physician visits for sexual dysfunction up to 1 year after stopping
      finasteride.

PMID- 27644030
TI  - Spatial variation in nitrogen dioxide concentrations and cardiopulmonary hospital
      admissions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Air pollution episodes are associated with increased cardiopulmonary
      hospital admissions. Cohort studies showed associations of spatial variation in
      traffic-related air pollution with respiratory and cardiovascular mortality. Much
      less is known in particular about associations with cardiovascular morbidity. We
      explored the relation between spatial variation in nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
      concentrations and cardiopulmonary hospital admissions. METHODS: This ecological
      study was based on hospital admissions data (2001-2004) from the National Medical
      Registration and general population data for the West of the Netherlands
      (population 4.04 million). At the 4-digit postcode area level (n=683)
      associations between modeled annual average outdoor NO2 concentrations and
      hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular causes were evaluated by
      linear regression with the log of the postcode-specific percentage of subjects
      that have been admitted at least once during the study period as the dependent
      variable. All analyses were adjusted for differences in composition of the
      population of the postcode areas (age, sex, income). RESULTS: At the postcode
      level, positive associations were found between outdoor NO2 concentrations and
      hospital admission rates for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD), all cardiovascular causes, ischemic heart disease and stroke (e.g.
      adjusted relative risk (95% confidence interval) for the second to fourth
      quartile relative to the first quartile of exposure were 1.87 (1.46-2.40), 2.34
      (1.83-3.01) and 2.81 (2.16-3.65) for asthma; 1.44 (1.19-1.74), 1.50 (1.24-1.82)
      and 1.60 (1.31-1.96) for COPD). Associations remained after additional (indirect)
      adjustment for smoking (COPD admission rate) and degree of urbanization.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests an increased risk of hospitalization for
      respiratory and cardiovascular causes in areas with higher levels of NO2. Our
      findings add to the currently limited evidence of a long-term effect of air
      pollution on hospitalization. The ecological design of our study is a limitation
      and more studies with individual data are needed to confirm our findings.

PMID- 27644031
TI  - Urban vegetation and heat-related mortality in Seoul, Korea.
AB  - Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to heat-related health outcomes.
      Simultaneous trends of climate change and urbanization may increase the urban
      heat-related health burden. We investigated the effects of urban vegetation on
      heat-related mortality, and evaluated whether different levels of vegetation and
      individuals' characteristics affect the temperature-mortality associations within
      Seoul, Korea 2000-2009. We used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to
      assess the urban vegetation within Seoul. We applied an overdispersed Poisson
      generalized linear model with interaction term between temperature and indicator
      of NDVI group (categorized in 3 levels) to assess the effect modification of the
      temperature-mortality association by urban vegetation. We conducted stratified
      analysis to explore whether associations are affected by individual
      characteristics of sex and age. The association between total mortality and a 1
      degrees C increase in temperature above the 90th percentile (25.1 degrees C) (the
      "heat effect") was the highest for gus with low NDVI. The heat effect was a 4.1%
      (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3, 5.9%), 3.0% (95% CI 0.2, 5.9%), and 2.2% (95%
      CI -0.5, 5.0%) increase in mortality risk for low, medium, and high NDVI group,
      respectively. Estimated risks showed similar effects by sex and age. Our findings
      suggest a higher mortality effect of high temperature in areas with lower
      vegetation in Seoul, Korea.

PMID- 27644033
TI  - Rutin Acid Ameliorates Neural Apoptosis Induced by Traumatic Brain Injury via
      Mitochondrial Pathways in Mice.
AB  - Rutin reportedly conveys many beneficial effects, including neuroprotection in
      brain injury. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are still not well
      understood. This study investigates the effect of rutin on potential mechanisms
      for neuroprotective effects, using the weight-drop model of traumatic brain
      injury (TBI) in male mice treated either with rutin or a vehicle via
      intraperitoneal injection 30 min after TBI. After euthanasia and 24 h after TBI,
      all mice were examined by tests, including neurologic scores, blood-brain barrier
      permeability, brain water content and neuronal cell death in the cerebral cortex.
      Results indicate that the levels of cytochrome c, malondialdehyde (MDA) and
      superoxide dismutase (SOD) were restored by rutin treatment. Rutin treatment
      resulted in the downregulation of caspase-3 expression in a reduced number of
      positive cells under terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end
      labeling assay, and also the improved survival of neurons. Furthermore,
      pretreatment levels of MDA were restored, while Bcl-2-associated X protein
      translocation to mitochondria and cytochrome c release into cytosol were reduced
      by rutin treatment. Our results demonstrate that rutin improves neurological
      outcome by protecting neural cells against apoptosis via mechanisms that involve
      the mitochondria following TBI.

PMID- 27644032
TI  - Distinct patterns of simple sequence repeats and GC distribution in intragenic
      and intergenic regions of primate genomes.
AB  - As the first systematic examination of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and guanine
      cytosine (GC) distribution in intragenic and intergenic regions of ten primates,
      our study showed that SSRs and GC displayed nonrandom distribution for both
      intragenic and intergenic regions, suggesting that they have potential roles in
      transcriptional or translational regulation. Our results suggest that the
      majority of SSRs are distributed in non-coding regions, such as the introns, TEs,
      and intergenic regions. In these primates, trinucleotide perfect (P) SSRs were
      the most abundant repeats type in the 5'UTRs and CDSs, whereas, mononucleotide P
      SSRs were the most in the intron, 3'UTRs, TEs, and intergenic regions. The GC
      contents varied greatly among different intragenic and intergenic regions: 5'UTRs
      > CDSs > 3'UTRs > TEs > introns > intergenic regions, and high GC-content was
      frequently distributed in exon-rich regions. Our results also showed that in the
      same intragenic and intergenic regions, the distribution of GC-contents were
      great similarity in the different primates. Tri- and hexanucleotide P-SSRs had
      the most GC-contents in the 5'UTRs and CDSs, whereas mononucleotide P-SSRs had
      the least GC-contents in the six genomic regions of these primates. The most
      frequent motifs for different length varied obviously with the different genomic
      regions.

PMID- 27644035
TI  - Variation in virus effects on host plant phenotypes and insect vector behavior:
      what can it teach us about virus evolution?
AB  - Virus infection can elicit changes in host plant cues that mediate vector
      orientation, feeding, and dispersal. Given the importance of plant cues for
      vector-mediated virus transmission, it is unlikely that selection is blind to
      these effects. Indeed, there are many examples of viruses altering plant cues in
      ways that should enhance transmission. However, there are also examples of
      viruses inducing transmission-limiting plant phenotypes. These apparently mal
      adaptive effects occur when viruses experience host plant environments that also
      limit infectivity or within-host multiplication. The apparent link between virus
      effects and pathology argues for consideration of prior evolutionary
      relationships between viruses and host plants in order to understand how viruses
      might evolve to manipulate vector behavior via effects on host plant cues.

PMID- 27644034
TI  - Safety and Immunogenicity of EBA-175 RII-NG Malaria Vaccine Administered
      Intramuscularly in Semi-Immune Adults: A Phase 1, Double-Blinded Placebo
      Controlled Dosage Escalation Study.
AB  - : The erythrocyte binding antigen region II (EBA-175 RII) is a Plasmodium
      falciparum ligand that mediates erythrocyte invasion and is considered an
      important malaria vaccine candidate. A phase Ia trial in malaria naive adults
      living in the United States found the recombinant non-glycosylated vaccine
      antigen, EBA-175 RII-NG adjuvanted with aluminium phosphate to be safe,
      immunogenic and capable of inducing biologically active antibodies that can
      inhibit parasite growth in vitro. The aim of the current study was to assess the
      safety and immunogenicity of this vaccine in malaria exposed semi-immune healthy
      adults living in a malaria endemic country, Ghana. In this double-blinded,
      placebo controlled, dose escalation phase I trial, eighteen subjects per group
      received ascending dose concentrations (5 MUg, 20 MUg or 80 MUg) of the vaccine
      intramuscularly at 0, 1 and 6 months, while 6 subjects received placebo (normal
      saline). The primary end point was the number of subjects experiencing Grade 3
      systemic or local adverse events within 14 days post-vaccination. Serious adverse
      events were assessed throughout the study period. Blood samples for immunological
      analyses were collected at days 0, 14, 28, 42, 180 and 194. A total of 52
      subjects received three doses of the vaccine in the respective groups. No serious
      adverse events were reported. The majority of all adverse events reported were
      mild to moderate in severity, with local pain and tenderness being the most
      common. All adverse events, irrespective of severity, resolved without any
      sequelae. Subjects who received any of the EBA-175 RII-NG doses had high
      immunoglobulin G levels which moderately inhibited P. falciparum growth in vitro,
      compared to those in the placebo group. In conclusion, the EBA-175 RII-NG vaccine
      was safe, well tolerated and immunogenic in malaria semi-immune Ghanaian adults.
      Its further development is recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov.
      Identifier: NCT01026246.

PMID- 27644036
TI  - Demethoxycurcumin Is A Potent Inhibitor of P-Type ATPases from Diverse Kingdoms
      of Life.
AB  - P-type ATPases catalyze the active transport of cations and phospholipids across
      biological membranes. Members of this large family are involved in a range of
      fundamental cellular processes. To date, a substantial number of P-type ATPase
      inhibitors have been characterized, some of which are used as drugs. In this work
      a library of natural compounds was screened and we first identified curcuminoids
      as plasma membrane H+-ATPases inhibitors in plant and fungal cells. We also found
      that some of the commercial curcumins contain several curcuminoids. Three of
      these were purified and, among the curcuminoids, demethoxycurcumin was the most
      potent inhibitor of all tested P-type ATPases from fungal (Pma1p; H+-ATPase),
      plant (AHA2; H+-ATPase) and animal (SERCA; Ca2+-ATPase) cells. All three
      curcuminoids acted as non-competitive antagonist to ATP and hence may bind to a
      highly conserved allosteric site of these pumps. Future research on biological
      effects of commercial preparations of curcumin should consider the heterogeneity
      of the material. 

PMID- 27644037
TI  - "Click"-Triggered Self-Healing Graphene Nanocomposites.
AB  - Strategies to compensate material fatigue are among the most challenging issues,
      being most prominently addressed by the use of nano- and microscaled fillers, or
      via new chemical concepts such as self-healing materials. A capsule-based self
      healing material is reported, where the adverse effect of reduced tensile
      strength due to the embedded capsules is counterbalanced by a graphene-based
      filler, the latter additionally acting as a catalyst for the self-healing
      reaction. The concept is based on "click"-based chemistry, a universal
      methodology to efficiently link components at ambient reaction conditions, thus
      generating a "reactive glue" at the cracked site. A capsule-based healing system
      via a graphene-based Cu2 O (TRGO-Cu2 O-filler) is used, acting as both the
      catalytic species for crosslinking and the required reinforcement agent within
      the material, in turn compensating the reduction in tensile strength exerted by
      the embedded capsules. Room-temperature self-healing within 48 h is achieved,
      with the investigated specimen containing TRGO-Cu2 O demonstrating significantly
      faster self-healing compared to homogeneous (Cu(PPh3 )3 F, Cu(PPh3 )3 Br), and
      heterogeneous (Cu/C) copper(I) catalysts.

PMID- 27644038
TI  - Advanced glycation end products increase lipids accumulation in macrophages
      through upregulation of receptor of advanced glycation end products: increasing
      uptake, esterification and decreasing efflux of cholesterol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous reports have suggested that advanced glycation end products
      (AGEs) participate in the pathogenesis of diabetic macroangiopathy. Our previous
      study have found that AGEs can increase the lipid droplets accumulation in aortas
      of diabetic rats, but the current understanding of the mechanisms remains
      incomplete by which AGEs affect lipids accumulation in macrophages and accelerate
      atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the role of AGEs on lipids
      accumulation in macrophages and the possible molecular mechanisms including
      cholesterol influx, esterification and efflux of macrophages. METHODS: THP-1
      cells were incubated with PMA to differentiate to be macrophages which were
      treated with AGEs in the concentration of 300 MUg/ml and 600 MUg/ml with or
      without anti-RAGE (receptor for AGEs) antibody and then stimulated by oxidized
      LDL (oxLDL) or Dil-oxLDL. Lipids accumulation was examined by oil red staining.
      The cholesterol uptake, esterification and efflux were detected respectively by
      fluorescence microscope, enzymatic assay kit and fluorescence microplate.
      Quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot were used to measure expression of the
      moleculars involved in cholesterol uptake, synthesis/esterification and efflux.
      RESULTS: AGEs increased lipids accumulation in macrophages in a concentration
      dependent manner. 600 MUg/ml AGEs obviously upregulated oxLDL uptake, increased
      levels of cholesterol ester in macrophages, and decreased the HDL-mediated
      cholesterol efflux by regulating the main molecular expression including CD36,
      Scavenger receptors (SR) A2, HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR), ACAT1 and ATP-binding
      cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1). The changes above were inversed when the cells
      were pretreated with anti-RAGE antibody. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggest
      that AGEs can increase lipids accumulation in macrophages by regulating
      cholesterol uptake, esterification and efflux mainly through binding with RAGE,
      which provide a deep understanding of mechanisms how AGEs accelerating diabetic
      atherogenesis.

PMID- 27644040
TI  - Correction: p110gamma/delta Double-Deficiency Induces Eosinophilia and IgE
      Production but Protects from OVA-Induced Airway Inflammation.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159310.].

PMID- 27644039
TI  - Age-Related Differences in Cortical Thickness Vary by Socioeconomic Status.
AB  - Recent findings indicate robust associations between socioeconomic status (SES)
      and brain structure in children, raising questions about the ways in which SES
      may modify structural brain development. In general, cortical thickness and
      surface area develop in nonlinear patterns across childhood and adolescence, with
      developmental patterns varying to some degree by cortical region. Here, we
      examined whether age-related nonlinear changes in cortical thickness and surface
      area varied by SES, as indexed by family income and parental education. We
      hypothesized that SES disparities in age-related change may be particularly
      evident for language- and literacy-supporting cortical regions. Participants were
      1148 typically-developing individuals between 3 and 20 years of age. Results
      indicated that SES factors moderate patterns of age-associated change in cortical
      thickness but not surface area. Specifically, at lower levels of SES,
      associations between age and cortical thickness were curvilinear, with relatively
      steep age-related decreases in cortical thickness earlier in childhood, and
      subsequent leveling off during adolescence. In contrast, at high levels of SES,
      associations between age and cortical thickness were linear, with consistent
      reductions across the age range studied. Notably, this interaction was prominent
      in the left fusiform gyrus, a region that is critical for reading development. In
      a similar pattern, SES factors significantly moderated linear age-related change
      in left superior temporal gyrus, such that higher SES was linked with steeper age
      related decreases in cortical thickness in this region. These findings suggest
      that SES may moderate patterns of age-related cortical thinning, especially in
      language- and literacy-supporting cortical regions. 

PMID- 27644041
TI  - Encapsulated Ionic Liquids for CO2 Capture: Using 1-Butyl-methylimidazolium
      Acetate for Quick and Reversible CO2 Chemical Absorption.
AB  - The potential advantages of applying encapsulated ionic liquid (ENIL) to CO2
      capture by chemical absorption with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate
      [bmim][acetate] are evaluated. The [bmim][acetate]-ENIL is a particle material
      with solid appearance and 70 % w/w in ionic liquid (IL). The performance of this
      material as CO2 sorbent was evaluated by gravimetric and fixed-bed sorption
      experiments at different temperatures and CO2 partial pressures. ENIL maintains
      the favourable thermodynamic properties of the neat IL regarding CO2 absorption.
      Remarkably, a drastic increase of CO2 sorption rates was achieved using ENIL,
      related to much higher contact area after discretization. In addition,
      experiments demonstrate reversibility of the chemical reaction and the efficient
      ENIL regeneration, mainly hindered by the unfavourable transport properties. The
      common drawback of ILs as CO2 chemical absorbents (low absorption rate and
      difficulties in solvent regeneration) are overcome by using ENIL systems.

PMID- 27644042
TI  - Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Degeneration in Royal College of Surgeons
      Rats and Its Correlation with Morphology and Electroretinography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the correlation between optical coherence tomography (OCT)
      and the histological, ultrastructural and electroretinography (ERG) findings of
      retinal degeneration in Royal College of Surgeons (RCS-/-) rats. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Using OCT, we qualitatively and quantitatively observed the continual
      retinal degeneration in RCS-/- rats, from postnatal (PN) day 17 until PN day 111.
      These findings were compared with the corresponding histological, electron
      microscopic, and ERG findings. We also compared them to OCT findings in wild type
      RCS+/+ rats, which were used as controls. RESULTS: After PN day 17, the
      hyperreflective band at the apical side of the photoreceptor layer became
      blurred. The inner segment (IS) ellipsoid zone then became obscured, and the
      photoreceptor IS and outer segment (OS) layers became diffusely hyperreflective
      after PN day 21. These changes correlated with histological and electron
      microscopic findings showing extracellular lamellar material that accumulated in
      the photoreceptor OS layer. After PN day 26, the outer nuclear layer became
      significantly thinner (P < 0.01) and hyperreflective compared with that in the
      controls; conversely, the photoreceptor IS and OS layers, as well as the inner
      retinal layers, became significantly thicker (P < 0.001 and P = 0.05,
      respectively). The apical hyperreflective band, as well as the IS ellipsoid zone,
      gradually disappeared between PN day 20 and PN day 30; concurrently, the ERG a-
      and b-wave amplitudes deteriorated. In contrast, the thicknesses of the combined
      retinal pigment epithelium and choroid did not differ significantly between RCS-/
      and RCS+/+ rats. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that OCT demonstrates
      histologically validated photoreceptor degeneration in RCS rats, and that OCT
      findings partly correlate with ERG findings. We propose that OCT is a less
      invasive and useful method for evaluating photoreceptor degeneration in animal
      models of retinitis pigmentosa.

PMID- 27644044
TI  - Copper-Mediated Trifluoroacetylation of Arenediazonium Salts with Ethyl
      Trifluoropyruvate.
AB  - A copper-mediated trifluoroacetylation of various arenediazonium salts with ethyl
      trifluoropyruvate is reported. The reaction proceeded smoothly under mild
      conditions at room temperature giving trifluoromethyl aryl ketones in moderate to
      good yields. A variety of functional groups, including methoxy, hydroxy, ester,
      ketone, trifluoromethyl, and halide groups, were well tolerated. A possible
      reaction mechanism involving an aryl radical intermediate was proposed and
      supported by experimental evidence. This reaction provides a new route to
      trifluoromethyl aryl ketones, notable synthetic targets, from the corresponding
      anilines.

PMID- 27644043
TI  - Circulating Fibronectin and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-2 Levels as Possible
      Predictors of Recurrent Placental Syndrome: An Exploratory Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Placental syndromes (PS) are characterized by endothelial
      dysfunction complicating placental dysfunction. Possible markers for endothelial
      dysfunction and amount of trophoblast are fibronectin and plasminogen activator
      inhibitor-2 (PAI-2), respectively. We aimed (1) to determine whether in women
      with recurrent PS (rPS), this complication is preceded by deviating fibronectin-
      and PAI-2-levels, and (2) whether this is dependent on pre-pregnant plasma volume
      (PV). METHODS: In 36 former patients, we determined fibronectin- and PAI-2-levels
      in blood-samples collected preconceptionally and at 12-16 weeks in their next
      pregnancy. Differences were analyzed between pregnancies with rPS (n = 12) and
      without rPS (non-rPS, n = 24) using linear mixed models, with subanalyses based
      on pre-pregnant normal or subnormal PV. RESULTS: We observed higher fibronectin
      levels at 12-16 weeks (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively) and lower PAI-2
      levels at 16 weeks (p < 0.01) in the rPS subgroup, the intergroup differences
      being larger in women with subnormal PV. CONCLUSION: We showed that former PS
      patients who developed rPS have raised fibronectin- and reduced PAI-2-levels
      already in early/mid pregnancy. These deviations are even more prominent in women
      with subnormal pre-pregnant PV, supporting development of a 2-step screening
      program for former patients to identify the high-risk subgroup of women who may
      benefit from closer surveillance.

PMID- 27644045
TI  - Standardizing Management of Adults with Delirium Hospitalized on Medical-Surgical
      Units.
AB  - CONTEXT: Delirium is common among inpatients aged 65 years and older and is
      associated with multiple adverse consequences, including increased length of stay
      (LOS). However, delirium is frequently unrecognized and poorly understood. At one
      hospital, baseline management of delirium on medical-surgical units varied
      greatly, and psychiatric consultations focused exclusively on crisis management.
      OBJECTIVE: To implement a multidisciplinary program for rapid identification and
      proactive management of patients with delirium on medical-surgical units. DESIGN:
      A pilot from September 2010 to July 2012 included 920 unique patients, of whom
      470 were seen by the delirium management team. A delirium management team
      included a redesigned role for consulting psychiatrists and a new clinical nurse
      specialist role; the team provided assistance with diagnosis and recommendations
      for nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic management of delirium. Multidisciplinary
      education focused on delirium identification and management and nurses' use of
      appropriate assessment tools. Electronic health record functions supported
      accurate problem list coding, referrals to the team, and standardized
      documentation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Length of stay. RESULTS: During the study
      period, average LOS in the target population decreased from 8.5 days to 6.5 days
      (p = 0.001); average LOS for the Medical Center remained stable. Compared with
      patients whose delirium was diagnosed during the baseline period, patients who
      received a delirium diagnosis during the pilot period had a higher illness burden
      and were likelier to have a history of delirium and diagnosed dementia.
      CONCLUSION: Program implementation was associated with reduced LOS among older
      inpatients with delirium. The delirium team is an effective model that can be
      quickly implemented with few additional resources.

PMID- 27644046
TI  - A General Pediatrics and Integrative Medicine Approach to Pervasive Refusal
      Syndrome: A Case Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pervasive refusal syndrome (PRS) describes children with social
      withdrawal who become unable to walk, eat, or care for themselves. This case
      report examines whether an integrative medicine approach is useful for treating
      PRS. CASE PRESENTATION: A seven-year-old girl with symptoms most consistent with
      PRS and depression was admitted to a pediatric ward in Germany that integrates
      conventional pediatric and psychosomatic care with anthroposophic medicine. She
      was integrated into the structured activities of the ward and received massages,
      movement therapy, and color light therapy. Her parents were fully integrated into
      her care. After four weeks, she talked again, showed increased appetite, and
      supported herself when moved passively. She made a full recovery within four
      weeks after hospital discharge. DISCUSSION: Integration of parents and an
      integrative medicine approach providing a variety of comforting sensory
      experiences was helpful for this patient with PRS.

PMID- 27644047
TI  - Integrated Research and the Garfield Memorial National Research Fund-An
      Unobstructed View.
AB  - The idea of integrated care has been discussed for many years. It is the belief
      of those supporting and managing the Garfield Memorial National Research Fund
      that a similar idea, integrated research, needs to be discussed and tested. This
      process begins with rethinking the proposal format. This article elaborates on
      the enhanced proposal format and presents powerful patient stories to demonstrate
      how integrated research can help deliver better patient care.

PMID- 27644048
TI  - Trend of Decreased Length of Stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and in the
      Hospital with Palliative Care Integration into the ICU.
AB  - CONTEXT: Is a decrease in length of stay (LOS) in the intensive care unit (ICU)
      and hospital possible with the implementation of a structured, palliative care,
      quality-improvement program in the ICU? OBJECTIVE: Incorporate palliative care
      into the routine ICU workflow to increase the numbers of palliative care
      consultations, improve end-of-life care in the ICU, and demonstrate an impact on
      ICU and/or hospital LOS. DESIGN: A program was developed that followed
      recommendations from the Center to Advance Palliative Care's Improving Palliative
      Care in the ICU project. This program included selecting trigger criteria and a
      care model, forming guidelines, and developing evaluation criteria. The early
      identification of multiple measures led to proactive meetings with ICU patients'
      families and/or palliative care consultations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Early
      identification of advance directives, code status, goals of care, and ICU LOS and
      hospital LOS. RESULTS: A comparison between pre- and postintervention data showed
      positive trends in measured outcomes, including increased early identification of
      advance directives, code status, and goals of care along with a decrease in ICU
      LOS and hospital LOS. In addition, the number of ICU family meetings and
      palliative care consultations increased. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that
      providing palliative care in the ICU is feasible and may decrease both ICU LOS
      and overall hospital LOS.

PMID- 27644049
TI  - Image Diagnosis: Hemorrhagic Bullae in a Primary Varicella Zoster Virus
      Infection.

PMID- 27644051
TI  - Regioselective 5-endo-dig Electrophilic Iodocyclization of Enediynes: A
      Convenient Route to Iodo-substituted Indenes and Cyclopenta-Fused Arenes.
AB  - An efficient iodine-mediated regioselective tandem approach for the synthesis of
      symmetric and asymmetric iodo-substituted indenes and stereoselective cyclopenta
      [b]pyridine/thiophenes from easily accessible enediynes that proceeds by in situ
      formation of an iodonium intermediate followed by a regioselective 5-endo-dig
      cyclization has been described. The intramolecular electrophilic iodocyclization
      was selectively triggered by a distribution of electronic density along the
      alkyne bond. Subsequently, the iodo-substituted indenes were diversified by
      employing palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions and the coupled products
      were further confirmed by X-ray crystallographic studies.

PMID- 27644050
TI  - Mothers Secretor Status Affects Development of Childrens Microbiota Composition
      and Function: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: One mechanism by which early life environment may influence long term
      health is through modulation of the gut microbiota. It is widely accepted that
      the optimal source of nutrition in early life is breast milk, with Human Milk
      Oligosaccharides (HMOs) thought to play an important role in nourishing the
      developing microbiota. However, mothers with inactive secretor genes have altered
      HMO composition and quantities in their breast milk. In this pilot study we
      examine the influence of secretor status and breast-feeding on microbiota
      composition at 2 to 3 years of age. METHODS: 37 children and 17 eligible mothers
      were recruited. Secretor status was determined from blood and saliva samples
      using hemagglutination inhibition technique and faecal microbiota composition was
      examined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. RESULTS: Secretor status was determined for
      28 eligible children with 20 being secretors (S, 71.4%). Eleven of the 17 mothers
      were secretors (S, 64.7%). Unweighted UniFrac distances were significantly
      associated with child secretor status (R2 = 0.069, p = 0.030) and with mother
      secretor status in children exclusively breastfed for at least 4 months (R2 =
      0.167, p = 0.028), suggesting an influence on the presence/absence of microbes,
      with Prevotella not detected in samples from secretor children and children of
      secretor mothers. In children who were exclusively breast-fed for at least 4
      months of life the abundance of the known HMO consumers Bifidobacterium were
      increased in the children of secretor mothers compared to non-secretor mothers.
      The relative abundance of an OTU related to Bacteroides plebeius, a bacterium
      noted for its capacity to utilise sulphated polysaccharides for growth, was
      decreased in these children. CONCLUSIONS: Child and mothers' secretor status have
      an impact on childrens' microbiota composition at 2 to 3 years of age.

PMID- 27644052
TI  - A novel UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of 10 effective
      constituents in the Jixingshizhen preparation.
AB  - A novel, reliable and reproducible UPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated
      to determine simultaneously the 10 bioactive constituents (baicalin, baicalein,
      wogonoside, wogonin, luteoloside, dictamnine, fraxinellone, obacunone,
      geniposidic acid and glycyrrhizic acid) in Jixingshizhen (JXSZ) preparation.
      Briefly, chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters BEH C18 column with
      gradient elution employing a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and 0.1%
      formic acid at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. All analytes containing internal
      standard (verapamil) were detected without interference in the multiple reaction
      monitoring mode with positive electrospray ionization. Further, a comprehensive
      validation of the method was rigorously executed according to the guidelines of
      the International Conference on Harmonization and Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2015
      Edition). The results indicated that the validated method afforded desired
      linearity, precision, accuracy, sensitivity and stability. At length, the newly
      established method was successfully applied to quantify the 10 effective
      ingredients in JXSZ granules from different production batches, indicating the
      proposed method in this paper was particularly preferable for the routine
      analysis of JXSZ preparation as well as the quality control, particularly in
      situations where high sample throughput and fast analytical speed are required.

PMID- 27644053
TI  - Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Intimate Partner Violence, and
      Relationship Functioning: A Meta-Analytic Review.
AB  - This meta-analysis was the first study of which we are aware to investigate the
      association between Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th
      ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) PTSD symptom
      clusters and parent, child, family, and marital/partner functioning problems
      (e.g., intimate partner violence [IPV] and intimacy). Of the 23 studies that met
      inclusion criteria, the sample was predominantly male (83.8%), Caucasian (65.0%),
      and from the military (98.9%). The average age was 43.65 years old (SD = 6.27);
      the average sample size was 397.4 (SD = 416.9; total N = 9,935). PTSD symptom
      clusters were assessed primarily by self-report (87.0%), with 8.7% using a rating
      by a clinician. We used fixed analysis following Fisher's r to z transformation
      and an unbiased weighing and summing of effect sizes within samples and across
      studies. We found a small association between hyperarousal and IPV (z = .20). We
      also found two moderate associations for the emotional numbing and avoidance
      symptom clusters: (a) with parent, child, and family functioning (z = .32, z =
      .28, respectively); and (b) with intimacy problems (z = .35, z = .42,
      respectively). We found two large associations for emotional numbing: marital and
      parent problems (z = .47) and parent, child, and family functioning problems (z =
      .32, respectively). Our findings suggested that treatments aim to lessen the
      effect on those who have close relationships with the individual with PTSD.

PMID- 27644054
TI  - Overexpression of TAT-PTD-diapause hormone fusion protein in tobacco and its
      effect on the larval development of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera:
      Noctuidae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diapause hormone (DH) has been shown either to induce or to
      terminate diapause, depending on the insect species. In a previous study we
      demonstrated that the DH from Clostera anastomosis (caDH) has biological activity
      in Helicoverpa armigera, which prompted us to examine the potential growth
      inhibiting or antiherbivory effects of the TAT-caDH fusion protein when expressed
      in transgenic plants. RESULTS: In this study, we produced transgenic tobacco
      plants expressing either the TAT-caDH protein or a TAT-caDH-eGFP fusion version
      that allowed tracking of the fluorescent protein in plant tissues. Our results
      indicate that H. armigera larvae feeding on transgenic tobacco expressing TAT
      caDH exhibited a significantly reduced survival rate and weight gain. However,
      larvae feeding on transgenic tobacco expressing TAT-caDH-eGFP were unaffected.
      While fusion of the eGFP gene influenced the bioactivity of caDH in larvae, TAT
      caDH-eGFP can still penetrate the insect midgut cell membrane. CONCLUSION: TAT
      caDH increases DH stability in oral delivery. Our results may help in targeting
      DH-dependent physiological processes in insects for improving herbivore tolerance
      in economically important crops. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27644055
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 27644056
TI  - "A Time of Opportunity": Patient Safety and the Perioperative Surgical Home.

PMID- 27644057
TI  - Internet-Based Resources Frequently Provide Inaccurate and Out-of-Date
      Recommendations on Preoperative Fasting: A Systematic Review.
AB  - Preoperative fasting is important to avoid morbidity and surgery delays, yet
      recommendations available on the Internet may be inaccurate. Our objectives were
      to describe the characteristics and recommendations of Internet resources on
      preoperative fasting and assess the quality and readability of these websites. We
      searched the Internet for common search terms on preoperative fasting using
      Google(r) search engines from 4 English-speaking countries (Canada, the United
      States, Australia, and the United Kingdom). We screened the first 30 websites
      from each search and extracted data from unique websites that provided
      recommendations on preoperative fasting. Website quality was assessed using
      validated tools (JAMA Benchmark criteria, DISCERN score, and Health on the Net
      Foundation code [HONcode] certification). Readability was scored using the Flesch
      Reading Ease score and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. A total of 87 websites were
      included in the analysis. A total of 48 websites (55%) provided at least 1
      recommendation that contradicted established guidelines. Websites from health
      care institutions were most likely to make inaccurate recommendations (61%). Only
      17% of websites encouraged preoperative hydration. Quality and readability were
      poor, with a median JAMA Benchmark score of 1 (interquartile range 0-3), mean
      DISCERN score 39.8 (SD 12.5), mean reading ease score 49 (SD 15), and mean grade
      level of 10.6 (SD 2.7). HONcode certification was infrequent (10%). Anesthesia
      society websites and scientific articles had higher DISCERN scores but worse
      readability compared with websites from health care institutions. Online fasting
      recommendations are frequently inconsistent with current guidelines, particularly
      among health care institution websites. The poor quality and readability of
      Internet resources on preoperative fasting may confuse patients.

PMID- 27644058
TI  - Muscle Relaxation With Succinylcholine in Electroconvulsive Therapy.

PMID- 27644059
TI  - A Comment on "Airway Assessment Before Intervention: What We Know and What We
      Do".

PMID- 27644060
TI  - Chest Compression-Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

PMID- 27644061
TI  - Pausing With the Gauze: Inhibition of Temporary Pacemakers by Radiofrequency Scan
      During Cardiac Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency identification (RFID) detection systems are used to
      detect retained surgical sponges and may cause electromagnetic interference
      (EMI), altering intended function of cardiac pacing systems. Three pediatric
      patients requiring temporary pacing for postoperative atrioventricular block
      experienced transient inhibition of ventricular pacing during the use of RFID
      detection system. Bench testing was performed to evaluate the mechanism of
      pacemaker inhibition. METHODS: Impedance of temporary pacing wires was obtained
      using a pacing system analyzer. Temporary pacemakers (Medtronic 5388, Medtronic
      5392, and Biotronik Reocor D) at nominal settings (VVI 120 bpm, output 10 mA)
      were attached at the ventricular terminal to temporary pacing wires and a
      resistor for sham impedance in physiologic range. An RFID detection system and
      wand (RF Assure, model 200) or mat was tested over wires. Induced current and
      voltages were recorded via an oscilloscope attached to lead terminals. Inhibition
      of pacing was determined for the following variables: distance from wires, sham
      impedance, and programmed sensitivity. RESULTS: In bench testing, the RFID system
      induced a stereotyped EMI signal in temporary pacing wires with peak root-mean
      square voltage demonstrating an exponential decay relationship with increasing
      distance from pacing wires. Induced voltages overlapped with normal sensing range
      of temporary pacemakers, resulting in pacemaker inhibition at nominal settings
      (ventricular sensitivity 2.0 mV, distance from wand <23 cm). Increasing height,
      decreasing device sensitivity, or increasing sham impedance (at fixed
      sensitivity) attenuated EMI and inhibition for all 3 temporary pacemakers used
      and with the automated RFID detection mat in place of the wand. Programming
      pacemakers asynchronously prevented inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Normal operation of
      RFID detection systems may cause inhibition of temporary pacing systems
      consistent with oversensing from EMI. Precaution should be taken, including
      considering pacing asynchronously to avoid effects of inhibition.

PMID- 27644062
TI  - Metabolic Acidosis Assessment in High-Risk Surgeries: Prognostic Importance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metabolic acidosis frequently is present in surgical patients;
      however, different types of metabolic acidosis (hyperlactatemia, hyperchloremia,
      and others) may have different relationships to perioperative outcomes. We
      hypothesized that in postoperative surgical patients, distinctive types of
      metabolic acidosis would correlate differently with the outcomes of high-risk
      surgeries. METHODS: A prospective, multicenter observational study was performed
      in 3 different tertiary care hospitals. Patients who required postoperative
      admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) were included in this study. Patients
      with a short life expectancy (those with untreated cancer and limited treatment),
      hepatic failure, renal failure, or a diagnosis of diabetes were excluded.
      Patients were classified at ICU admission according to the presence and type of
      metabolic acidosis into 4 groups: those without acidosis, those with a base
      excess <-4 mmol/L and albumin-corrected anion gap <=12 mmol/L (hyperchloremic),
      those with a base excess <-4 mmol/L and increased albumin-corrected anion gap >12
      mmol/L, and those with a base excess <-4 mmol/L and hyperlactatemia >2 mmol/L.
      Furthermore, patients were reclassified 12 hours after admission to the ICU to
      verify the metabolic acidosis behavior and outcome differences among the groups.
      RESULTS: The study included 618 patients. The incidence of acidosis at ICU
      admission was 59.1%; 23.9% presented with hyperchloremia, 21.3% with
      hyperlactatemia, 13.9% with increased anion gap, and 40.9% of the patients
      presented without metabolic acidosis. Patients whose metabolic acidosis persisted
      for 12 hours had an incidence of ICU complications rates in hyperlactatemia group
      of 68.8%, increased anion gap of 68.6%, hyperchloremic of 65.8%, and those
      without acidosis over 12 hours of 59.3%. A Cox regression model for postoperative
      30-day mortality showed: in hyperlactatemic acidosis, hazard ratio (HR) = 1.74,
      95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-2.96; increased anion gap acidosis, HR =
      1.68, 95% CI = 0.85-3.81; hyperchloremic acidosis, HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 0.75-2.89,
      and 10.3% of 30-day mortality rate in patients without acidosis. An adjusted
      survival curve by Cox regression found a worse 30-day survival in the
      hyperlactatemic group compared with the other groups (P = .03). Furthermore, in
      multiple comparisons among groups, patients with hyperlactatemic acidosis were
      more likely to develop renal dysfunction (P < .001) up to the seventh day
      postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: We found that among patients with different types
      of acidosis, patients who developed hyperlactatemic metabolic acidosis
      postoperatively showed greater rates of renal dysfunction within 7 days and
      hyperlactatemic acidosis represented an independent factor on 30-day mortality in
      high-risk surgical patients.

PMID- 27644063
TI  - Confusion Between Integration and Receiver Operator Curves?

PMID- 27644064
TI  - In Response.

PMID- 27644065
TI  - Leg Raise in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

PMID- 27644066
TI  - Influence of Renal Replacement Therapy on Transpulmonary Thermodilution:
      Turbulence in Blood Flow Is Key.

PMID- 27644067
TI  - A review of personalized blood glucose prediction strategies for T1DM patients.
AB  - This paper presents a methodological review of models for predicting blood
      glucose (BG) concentration, risks and BG events. The surveyed models are
      classified into three categories, and they are presented in summary tables
      containing the most relevant data regarding the experimental setup for fitting
      and testing each model as well as the input signals and the performance metrics.
      Each category exhibits trends that are presented and discussed. This document
      aims to be a compact guide to determine the modeling options that are currently
      being exploited for personalized BG prediction.

PMID- 27644068
TI  - Is pregnancy a teachable moment to promote handwashing with soap among
      primiparous women in rural Bangladesh? Follow-up of a randomised controlled
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Promoting handwashing with soap to mothers of young children can
      significantly reduce diarrhoea and pneumonia morbidity among children, but
      studies that measured long-term behaviour after interventions rarely found
      improvements in handwashing habits. Expecting mothers may experience emotional
      and social changes that create a unique environment that may encourage adoption
      of improved handwashing habits. The objective of this study was to determine
      whether exposure to an intensive handwashing intervention in the perinatal period
      (perinatal arm) was associated with improved maternal handwashing behaviour vs.
      exposure to the same intervention after the end of the perinatal period (post
      neonatal arm). METHODS: We identified primiparous women previously enrolled a
      randomised controlled handwashing intervention trial (November 2010-December
      2011) and observed handwashing behaviours at the home 1-14 months after
      completion of the RCT (January-May 2012). We observed maternal handwashing and
      estimated the prevalence ratio (PR) of maternal handwashing using log-binomial
      regression. RESULTS: We enrolled 107 mothers in the perinatal arm and 105 mothers
      in the post-neonatal arm. Handwashing with soap at recommended times was low
      overall (4.6%) and comparable between arms (PR = 0.9, 95% CI 0.5, 1.5).
      CONCLUSIONS: This handwashing intervention was unable to develop and establish
      improved handwashing practices in primiparous women in rural Bangladesh. While
      pregnancy may present an opportunity and motivation to do so, further studies
      should assess whether social, individual and environmental influences overcome
      this motivation and prevent handwashing with soap among new mothers.

PMID- 27644069
TI  - Optimal plant water economy.
AB  - It was shown over 40 years ago that plants maximize carbon gain for a given rate
      of water loss if stomatal conductance, gs , varies in response to external and
      internal conditions such that the marginal carbon revenue of water, ?A/?E,
      remains constant over time. This theory has long held promise for understanding
      the physiological ecology of water use and for informing models of plant
      atmosphere interactions. Full realization of this potential hinges on three
      questions: (i) Are analytical approximations adequate for applying the theory at
      diurnal time scales? (ii) At what time scale is it realistic and appropriate to
      apply the theory? (iii) How should gs vary to maximize growth over long time
      scales? We review the current state of understanding for each of these questions
      and describe future research frontiers. In particular, we show that analytical
      solutions represent the theory quite poorly, especially when boundary layer or
      mesophyll resistances are significant; that diurnal variations in hydraulic
      conductance may help or hinder maintenance of ?A/?E, and the matter requires
      further study; and that optimal diurnal responses are distinct from optimal long
      term variations in gs , which emerge from optimal shifts in carbon partitioning
      at the whole-plant scale.

PMID- 27644070
TI  - Intergenerational persistence of health: Do immigrants get healthier as they
      remain in the U.S. for more generations?
AB  - It is well known that a substantial part of income and education is passed on
      from parents to children, generating substantial persistence in socioeconomic
      status across generations. In this paper, we examine whether another form of
      human capital, health, is also largely transmitted from generation to generation.
      Using data from the NLSY, we first present new evidence on intergenerational
      transmission of health outcomes in the U.S., including weight, height, the body
      mass index (BMI), asthma and depression for both natives and immigrants. We show
      that between 50% and 70% of the mothers' health status persists in both native
      and immigrant children, and that, on average, immigrants experience higher
      persistence than natives in BMI. We also find that the longer immigrants remain
      in the U.S., the less intergenerational persistence there is and the more
      immigrants look like native children. Unfortunately, the more generations
      immigrant families remain in the U.S., the more children of immigrants resemble
      natives' higher BMI.

PMID- 27644071
TI  - How Communication Among Members of the Health Care Team Affects Maternal
      Morbidity and Mortality.
AB  - In the United States, rates of severe maternal morbidity and mortality have
      escalated in the past decade. Communication failure among members of the health
      care team is one associated factor that can be modified. Nurses can promote
      effective communication. We provide strategies that incorporate team training
      principles and structured communication processes for use by providers and health
      care systems to improve the quality and safety of patient care and reduce the
      incidence of maternal mortality and morbidity.

PMID- 27644072
TI  - Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality During the First Year After Birth.
AB  - The rate of maternal mortality is rising in the United States, and patient
      education is key to help women recognize signs and symptoms of complications of
      pregnancy. Health care providers should always ask a woman of childbearing age if
      she has experienced a recent pregnancy or birth, and women should remind health
      care providers at every encounter of a pregnancy or birth during the past year.
      It may make the difference between life and death.

PMID- 27644074
TI  - Worldwide genetic and cultural change in human evolution.
AB  - Both genetic variation and certain culturally transmitted phenotypes show
      geographic signatures of human demographic history. As a result of the human
      cultural predisposition to migrate to new areas, humans have adapted to a large
      number of different environments. Migration to new environments alters genetic
      selection pressures, and comparative genetic studies have pinpointed numerous
      likely targets of this selection. However, humans also exhibit many cultural
      adaptations to new environments, such as practices related to clothing, shelter,
      and food. Human culture interacts with genes and the environment in complex ways,
      and studying genes and culture together can deepen our understanding of human
      evolution.

PMID- 27644073
TI  - The African diaspora: history, adaptation and health.
AB  - The trans-Atlantic slave trade brought millions of Africans to the New World.
      Advances in genomics are providing novel insights into the history and health of
      Africans and the diasporan populations. Recent examples reviewed here include the
      unraveling of substantial hunter-gatherer and 'Eurasian' admixtures across sub
      Saharan Africa, expanding our understanding of ancestral African genetics; the
      global ubiquity of mixed ancestry; the revealing of African ancestry in Latin
      Americans that likely derived from the slave trade; and understanding of the
      ancestral backgrounds of APOL1 and LPL found to influence kidney disease and
      lipid levels, respectively, providing specific insights into disease etiology and
      health disparities.

PMID- 27644075
TI  - Neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects of raloxifene in the myenteric
      plexus of a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) are often preceded by nonmotor
      symptoms related to dysfunctions of the autonomic nervous system such as
      constipation, defecatory problems, and delayed gastric emptying. These
      gastrointestinal impairments are associated with the alteration of dopaminergic
      (DAergic) neurons in the myenteric plexus of the gut. Recently, we demonstrated
      the anti-inflammatory properties of estrogens to treat intestinal
      neurodegeneration in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)
      mouse model of PD. The present study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective and
      anti-inflammatory roles of raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator
      (SERM) already commercialized for osteoporosis treatment. In MPTP-treated mice,
      we found that raloxifene decreased the loss of DAergic neurons and prevented the
      increase in proinflammatory macrophage density in the myenteric plexus.
      Interestingly, raloxifene activity was prevented by the G protein-coupled
      estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1) antagonist G15, suggesting that raloxifene effects
      were mainly mediated by GPER1. Moreover, monocytic cell proinflammatory
      polarization, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) response, nitric oxide (NO), and
      proinflammatory cytokines production following 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)
      treatment were also prevented by raloxifene in vitro. Overall, the present
      results suggest that raloxifene may help preventing the loss of DAergic neurons
      in the myenteric plexus in an MPTP mouse model of PD, at least in part through
      its anti-inflammatory effects. This suggests that drug repurposing of raloxifene
      might represent a promising therapeutic avenue to prevent systemic inflammation
      and peripheral neuronal dysfunction at early PD stages.

PMID- 27644076
TI  - Glucose levels during life and neuropathologic findings at autopsy among people
      never treated for diabetes.
AB  - We evaluated associations between glucose and dementia-related neuropathologic
      findings among people without diabetes treatment history to elucidate mechanisms
      of glucose's potential effect on dementia. We used glucose and hemoglobin A1c
      values to characterize glucose exposures over 5 years before death (primary) and
      age bands from 55-59 through 80-84 (secondary). Autopsy evaluations included
      Braak stage for neurofibrillary tangles, Consortium to Establish a Registry for
      Alzheimer's Disease grade for neuritic plaques, macroscopic infarcts including
      lacunar infarcts, Lewy bodies, cerebral microinfarcts, and hippocampal sclerosis.
      Of 529 who came to autopsy, we included 430 with no history of diabetes
      treatment. We found no associations between glucose levels and Braak stage or
      Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease grade. There was a
      suggestion of a relationship between glucose and hippocampal sclerosis, although
      this was inconsistent across analyses. There was higher risk of Lewy bodies in
      substantia nigra and locus ceruleus with higher glucose levels in age band
      analyses. We did not find interactions between glucose levels, neuropathologic
      findings, and dementia. The mechanism by which glucose may impact dementia risk
      is still unknown.

PMID- 27644078
TI  - Selective noradrenaline depletion impairs working memory and hippocampal
      neurogenesis.
AB  - Noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus play a role in learning and memory,
      and their loss is an early event in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Moreover,
      noradrenaline may sustain hippocampal neurogenesis; however, whether are these
      events related is still unknown. Four to five weeks following the selective
      immunotoxic ablation of locus coeruleus neurons, young adult rats underwent
      reference and working memory tests, followed by postmortem quantitative
      morphological analyses to assess the extent of the lesion, as well as the effects
      on proliferation and/or survival of neural progenitors in the hippocampus. When
      tested in the Water Maze task, lesioned animals exhibited no reference memory
      deficit, whereas working memory abilities were seen significantly impaired, as
      compared with intact or sham-lesioned controls. Stereological analyses confirmed
      a dramatic noradrenergic neuron loss associated to reduced proliferation, but not
      survival or differentiation, of 5-bromo-2'deoxyuridine-positive progenitors in
      the dentate gyrus. Thus, ascending noradrenergic afferents may be involved in
      more complex aspects of cognitive performance (i.e., working memory) possibly via
      newly generated progenitors in the hippocampus.

PMID- 27644077
TI  - Major amyloid-beta-degrading enzymes, endothelin-converting enzyme-2 and
      neprilysin, are expressed by distinct populations of GABAergic interneurons in
      hippocampus and neocortex.
AB  - Impaired clearance of amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) has been postulated to
      significantly contribute to the amyloid accumulation typical of Alzheimer's
      disease. Among the enzymes known to degrade Abeta in vivo are endothelin
      converting enzyme (ECE)-1, ECE-2, and neprilysin (NEP), and evidence suggests
      that they regulate independent pools of Abeta that may be functionally
      significant. To better understand the differential regulation of Abeta
      concentration by its physiological degrading enzymes, we characterized the cell
      and region-specific expression pattern of ECE-1, ECE-2, and NEP by in situ
      hybridization and immunohistochemistry in brain areas relevant to Alzheimer's
      disease. In contrast to the broader distribution of ECE-1, ECE-2 and NEP were
      found enriched in GABAergic neurons. ECE-2 was majorly expressed by somatostatin
      expressing interneurons and was active in isolated synaptosomes. NEP messenger
      RNA was found mainly in parvalbumin-expressing interneurons, with NEP protein
      localized to perisomatic parvalbuminergic synapses. The identification of
      somatostatinergic and parvalbuminergic synapses as hubs for Abeta degradation is
      consistent with the possibility that Abeta may have a physiological function
      related to the regulation of inhibitory signaling.

PMID- 27644079
TI  - Extensive nuclear sphere generation in the human Alzheimer's brain.
AB  - Nuclear spheres are protein aggregates consisting of FE65, TIP60, BLM, and other
      yet unknown proteins. Generation of these structures in the cellular nucleus is
      putatively modulated by the amyloid precursor protein (APP), either by its
      cleavage or its phosphorylation. Nuclear spheres were preferentially studied in
      cell culture models and their existence in the human brain had not been known.
      Existence of nuclear spheres in the human brain was studied using
      immunohistochemistry. Cell culture experiments were used to study regulative
      mechanisms of nuclear sphere generation. The comparison of human frontal cortex
      brain samples from Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients to age-matched controls
      revealed a dramatically and highly significant enrichment of nuclear spheres in
      the AD brain. Costaining demonstrated that neurons are distinctly affected by
      nuclear spheres, but astrocytes never are. Nuclear spheres were predominantly
      found in neurons that were negative for threonine 668 residue in APP
      phosphorylation. Cell culture experiments revealed that JNK3-mediated APP
      phosphorylation reduces the amount of sphere-positive cells. The study suggests
      that nuclear spheres are a new APP-derived central hallmark of AD, which might be
      of crucial relevance for the molecular mechanisms in neurodegeneration.

PMID- 27644080
TI  - Software-based measurement of thin filament lengths: an open-source GUI for
      Distributed Deconvolution analysis of fluorescence images.
AB  - The periodically arranged thin filaments within the striated myofibrils of
      skeletal and cardiac muscle have precisely regulated lengths, which can change in
      response to developmental adaptations, pathophysiological states, and genetic
      perturbations. We have developed a user-friendly, open-source ImageJ plugin that
      provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for super-resolution measurement of
      thin filament lengths by applying Distributed Deconvolution (DDecon) analysis to
      periodic line scans collected from fluorescence images. In the workflow presented
      here, we demonstrate thin filament length measurement using a phalloidin-stained
      cryosection of mouse skeletal muscle. The DDecon plugin is also capable of
      measuring distances of any periodically localized fluorescent signal from the Z-
      or M-line, as well as distances between successive Z- or M-lines, providing a
      broadly applicable tool for quantitative analysis of muscle cytoarchitecture.
      These functionalities can also be used to analyse periodic fluorescence signals
      in nonmuscle cells.

PMID- 27644081
TI  - Comparative sperm ultrastructure of twelve leptodactylid frog species with
      insights into their phylogenetic relationships.
AB  - The spermatozoa of representatives of three Neotropical frog subfamilies,
      Leiuperinae, Leptodactylinae and Paratelmatobiinae, were observed using
      Transmission Electron Microscopy, with the aim of identifying ultrastructural
      traits that provide insights into the phylogenetic relationships among these
      anurans, which are currently unclear. In the leiuperines, spermatozoa of
      Physalaemus albifrons, P. cicada, P. deimaticus and P. feioi were characterized
      by an acrosomal vesicle covering the subacrosomal cone that was not observed in
      the spermatozoa of Physalaemus centralis and P. cuvieri. The tail of the
      spermatozoa of P. albifrons, P. centralis, P. cicada, P. cuvieri, P. deimaticus,
      and P. feioi presented a long undulating membrane, whereas Engystomops petersi
      and E. freibergi, which form a sister clade to Physalaemus, had an axial fiber,
      which were absent in Physalaemus. Other leiuperine, E. puyango had an abaxonemal
      bulb-like swelling distally to the paraxonemal rod, which were also absent in
      Physalaemus. These differences support the revalidation of Engystomops as a true
      taxon, distinct from Physalaemus. The tail of the spermatozoa of E. petersi and
      E. freibergi was similar to that of Paratelmatobius poecilogaster
      (Paratelmatobiinae). The spermatozoa of Leptodactylus natalenis (Leptodactylinae)
      had undulating membrane and axial fiber, in contrast with Adenomera marmorata,
      which lacked these structures. Morphological differences between A. marmorata and
      L. natalensis sperm cells appeared to validate the allocation of A. marmorata
      into a genus distinct from Leptodactylus. Overall, dissimilarities in the
      spermatozoa of the leptodactylids provided an important phylogenetic signal for
      the understanding of their taxonomic relationships.

PMID- 27644082
TI  - Structure-based design and evaluation of novel N-phenyl-1H-indol-2-amine
      derivatives for fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein inhibition.
AB  - Fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein contributes to non-syndromic human
      obesity which refers to excessive fat accumulation in human body and results in
      health risk. FTO protein has become a promising target for anti-obesity medicines
      as there is an immense need for the rational design of potent inhibitors to treat
      obesity. In our study, a new scaffold N-phenyl-1H-indol-2-amine was selected as a
      base for FTO protein inhibitors by applying scaffold hopping approach. Using this
      novel scaffold, different derivatives were designed by extending scaffold
      structure with potential functional groups. Molecular docking simulations were
      carried out by using two different docking algorithm implemented in CDOCKER
      (flexible docking) and AutoDock programs (rigid docking). Analyzing results of
      rigid and flexible docking, compound MU06 was selected based on different
      properties and predicted binding affinities for further analysis. Molecular
      dynamics simulation of FTO/MU06 complex was performed to characterize structure
      rationale and binding stability. Certainly, Arg96 and His231 residue of FTO
      protein showed stable interaction with inhibitor MU06 throughout the production
      dynamics phase. Three residues of FTO protein (Arg96, Asp233, and His231) were
      found common in making H-bond interactions with MU06 during molecular dynamics
      simulation and CDOCKER docking.

PMID- 27644083
TI  - When machine vision meets histology: A comparative evaluation of model
      architecture for classification of histology sections.
AB  - Classification of histology sections in large cohorts, in terms of distinct
      regions of microanatomy (e.g., stromal) and histopathology (e.g., tumor,
      necrosis), enables the quantification of tumor composition, and the construction
      of predictive models of genomics and clinical outcome. To tackle the large
      technical variations and biological heterogeneities, which are intrinsic in large
      cohorts, emerging systems utilize either prior knowledge from pathologists or
      unsupervised feature learning for invariant representation of the underlying
      properties in the data. However, to a large degree, the architecture for tissue
      histology classification remains unexplored and requires urgent systematical
      investigation. This paper is the first attempt to provide insights into three
      fundamental questions in tissue histology classification: I. Is unsupervised
      feature learning preferable to human engineered features? II. Does cellular
      saliency help? III. Does the sparse feature encoder contribute to recognition? We
      show that (a) in I, both Cellular Morphometric Feature and features from
      unsupervised feature learning lead to superior performance when compared to SIFT
      and [Color, Texture]; (b) in II, cellular saliency incorporation impairs the
      performance for systems built upon pixel-/patch-level features; and (c) in III,
      the effect of the sparse feature encoder is correlated with the robustness of
      features, and the performance can be consistently improved by the multi-stage
      extension of systems built upon both Cellular Morphmetric Feature and features
      from unsupervised feature learning. These insights are validated with two cohorts
      of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) and Kidney Clear Cell Carcinoma (KIRC).

PMID- 27644085
TI  - Spontaneous Resolution of Spinal Epidural Hematoma Resulting from Domestic Child
      Abuse: Case Report.
AB  - Nonaccidental head injury, as seen in domestic child abuse cases, is often
      associated with spinal injury, and spinal subdural hematoma is the most frequent
      diagnosis. While spinal epidural hematomas are a rare occurrence, the incidence
      of spontaneous epidural hematomas occurring in nonaccidental head injury patients
      is even lower. Epidural hematomas often result in acute focal neurological
      deficits necessitating emergent neurosurgical intervention. In patients without
      focal neurological deficits, conservative management may allow for spontaneous
      resolution of the epidural hematoma. The authors present the case of a 2-year-old
      boy with a large spinal epidural hematoma resulting after an event of
      nonaccidental injury, specifically, domestic child abuse. This patient exhibited
      no focal neurological deficits and was managed conservatively without surgical
      clot evacuation. On a follow-up visit, repeat imaging studies demonstrated a
      stable resolution of spinal epidural hematoma, providing further support for the
      safety of conservative management in these patients.

PMID- 27644084
TI  - Correlation between Cyr61 expression and clinicopathologic parameters in
      adenomyosis.
AB  - Adenomyosis, a benign invasion of endometrium, is closely related to
      endometriosis. Cysteine-rich 61 (Cyr61), a protein present in all endometrial
      tissues and menstrual effluents, is known to be associated with endometriosis.
      However, its relation to adenomyosis has not been determined thus far. Therefore,
      here, we aimed to investigate the expression of Cyr61 protein in adenomyosis and
      determine the correlation between Cyr61 expression and clinicopathologic
      parameters in patients with adenomyosis. One hundred and twenty patients with
      histologically diagnosed adenomyosis, who underwent hysterectomy for non
      endometrial disease were enrolled in this study. Patients were interviewed using
      a standard questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic characteristics and
      reproduction history. The severity of dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia was evaluated
      using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and pictorial blood-loss assessment chart
      (PBAC). Samples of serum, endometrial tissue, and peritoneal fluid were
      collected, and Cyr61 mRNA levels were determined by RT-PCR. The Cyr61 protein
      levels in endometrial and ectopic lesions were determined by immunohistochemistry
      and those in serum and peritoneal fluid, by ELISA. We found that expression of
      Cyr61 was higher in the ectopic endometrium than in the eutopic endometrium.
      Cyr61 expression in the endometrium was correlated with age, number of natural
      labors, PBAC score, VAS score, uterine volume, adenomyosis type, and concurrent
      endometriosis. The Cyr61 protein level in the ascites was higher than that in
      serum, and no correlation existed between them. Our results suggest that the
      expression of Cyr61 may be indirectly related to the degree of dysmenorrhea and
      Cyr61 may be involved in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis.

PMID- 27644086
TI  - Correction: Unusually Situated Binding Sites for Bacterial Transcription Factors
      Can Have Hidden Functionality.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157016.].

PMID- 27644087
TI  - Carbapenem Breakpoints for Acinetobacter baumannii Group: Supporting Clinical
      Outcome Data from Patients with Bacteremia.
AB  - The carbapenem breakpoints set by different organizations for Acinetobacter are
      discordant, but supporting clinical data are lacking. This study aimed to provide
      the first clinical outcome data to support the carbapenem breakpoints for
      Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab) group in patients with bacteremia. This study
      included 117 adults who received carbapenems for treatment of Ab group bacteremia
      in Taipei Veterans General Hospital over an 8-year period. We analyzed 30-day
      mortality rates among patient groups acquiring isolates with different carbapenem
      minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs). The carbapenem MIC breakpoint derived
      from classification and regression tree (CART) analysis to delineate the risk of
      30-day mortality was between MICs of <= 4 mg/L and >= 8 mg/L. Mortality rate was
      higher in patients acquiring isolates with carbapenem MIC >= 8 mg/L than <= 4
      mg/L, by bivariate (54.9% [28/51] vs 25.8% [17/66]; P = 0.003) and survival
      analysis (P = 0.001 by log-rank test). Multivariate analysis using logistic
      regression and Cox regression models including severity of illness indices
      demonstrated that treating patients with Ab group bacteremia caused by isolates
      with a carbapenem MIC >= 8 mg/L with carbapenem was an independent predictor of
      30-day mortality (odds ratio, 5.125; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.946-13.498;
      P = 0.001, and hazard ratio, 2.630; 95% CI, 1.431-4.834; P = 0.002,
      respectively). The clinical outcome data confirmed that isolates with MIC <= 4
      mg/L were susceptible to carbapenem, and those with MIC >= 8 mg/L were resistant
      in patients with Ab group bacteremia. 

PMID- 27644088
TI  - Solvent-free bismuth oxycarbonate-mediated mechanochemical glycosylation: A
      simple greener alternative to access O-/S-glycosides efficiently.
AB  - Preparation of a variety of per-O-acylated O- and S-glycosides of a set of
      commonly encountered mono- and disaccharides has been achieved effectively by
      solvent-free grinding of the corresponding acetylated/benzoylated glycosyl
      bromide and the desired acceptor alcohol/thiol in the presence of bismuth
      carbonate in a planetary ball mill. The method is simple, requires short reaction
      time periods and is practical allowing it to be performed at a milligram-to multi
      gram scale as required. In the cases where the product is crystalline, it was
      often obtained in practically pure form by crystallization (and without the need
      for chromatographic isolation).

PMID- 27644090
TI  - Prediction Interval: What to Expect When You're Expecting ... A Replication.
AB  - A challenge when interpreting replications is determining whether the results of
      a replication "successfully" replicate the original study. Looking for
      consistency between two studies is challenging because individual studies are
      susceptible to many sources of error that can cause study results to deviate from
      each other and the population effect in unpredictable directions and magnitudes.
      In the current paper, we derive methods to compute a prediction interval, a range
      of results that can be expected in a replication due to chance (i.e., sampling
      error), for means and commonly used indexes of effect size: correlations and d
      values. The prediction interval is calculable based on objective study
      characteristics (i.e., effect size of the original study and sample sizes of the
      original study and planned replication) even when sample sizes across studies are
      unequal. The prediction interval provides an a priori method for assessing if the
      difference between an original and replication result is consistent with what can
      be expected due to sample error alone. We provide open-source software tools that
      allow researchers, reviewers, replicators, and editors to easily calculate
      prediction intervals. 

PMID- 27644089
TI  - Live Imaging of Influenza Infection of the Trachea Reveals Dynamic Regulation of
      CD8+ T Cell Motility by Antigen.
AB  - During a primary influenza infection, cytotoxic CD8+ T cells need to infiltrate
      the infected airways and engage virus-infected epithelial cells. The factors that
      regulate T cell motility in the infected airway tissue are not well known. To
      more precisely study T cell infiltration of the airways, we developed an
      experimental model system using the trachea as a site where live imaging can be
      performed. CD8+ T cell motility was dynamic with marked changes in motility on
      different days of the infection. In particular, significant changes in average
      cell velocity and confinement were evident on days 8-10 during which the T cells
      abruptly but transiently increase velocity on day 9. Experiments to distinguish
      whether infection itself or antigen affect motility revealed that it is antigen,
      not active infection per se that likely affects these changes as blockade of
      peptide/MHC resulted in increased velocity. These observations demonstrate that
      influenza tracheitis provides a robust experimental foundation to study molecular
      regulation of T cell motility during acute virus infection.

PMID- 27644091
TI  - Clinical significance of prophylactic central compartment neck dissection in the
      treatment of clinically node-negative papillary thyroid cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymph nodal involvement is very common in differentiated thyroid
      cancer, and in addition, cervical lymph node micrometastases are observed in up
      to 80 % of papillary thyroid cancers. During the last decades, the role of
      routine central lymph node dissection (RCLD) in the treatment of papillary
      thyroid cancer (PTC) has been an object of research, and it is now still
      controversial. Nevertheless, many scientific societies and referral authors have
      definitely stated that even if in expert hands, RCLD is not associated to higher
      morbidity; it should be indicated only in selected cases. MAIN BODY: In order to
      better analyze the current role of prophylactic neck dissection in the surgical
      treatment of papillary thyroid cancers, an analysis of the most recent literature
      data was performed. Prophylactic or therapeutic lymph node dissection, selective,
      lateral or central lymph node dissection, modified radical neck dissection, and
      papillary thyroid cancer were used by the authors as keywords performing a PubMed
      database research. Literature reviews, PTCs large clinical series and the most
      recent guidelines of different referral endocrine societies, inhering neck
      dissection for papillary thyroid cancers, were also specifically evaluated. A
      higher PTC incidence was nowadays reported in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC)
      clinical series. In addition, ultrasound guided fine-needle aspiration citology
      allowed a more precocious diagnosis in the early phases of disease. The role of
      prophylactic neck dissection in papillary thyroid cancer management remains
      controversial especially regarding indications, approach, and surgical extension.
      Even if morbidity rates seem to be similar to those reported after total
      thyroidectomy alone, RCLD impact on local recurrence and long-term survival is
      still a matter of research. Nevertheless, only a selective use in high-risk cases
      is supported by more and more scientific data. CONCLUSIONS: In the last years,
      higher papillary thyroid cancer incidence and more precocious diagnoses were
      worldwide reported. Among endocrine and neck surgeons, there is agreement about
      indications to prophylactic treatment of node-negative "high-risk" patients. A
      recent trend toward RCLD avoiding radioactive treatment is still debated, but
      nevertheless, prophylactic dissections in low-risk cases should be avoided.
      Prospective randomized trials are needed to evaluate the benefits of different
      approaches and allow to drawn definitive conclusions.

PMID- 27644095
TI  - Optimizing Survival Outcomes For Adult Patients With Nontraumatic Cardiac Arrest.
AB  - Patient survival after cardiac arrest can be improved significantly with prompt
      and effective resuscitative care. This systematic review analyzes the basic life
      support factors that improve survival outcome, including chest compression
      technique and rapid defibrillation of shockable rhythms. For patients who are
      successfully resuscitated, comprehensive postresuscitation care is essential.
      Targeted temperature management is recommended for all patients who remain
      comatose, in addition to careful monitoring of oxygenation, hemodynamics, and
      cardiac rhythm. Management of cardiac arrest in circumstances such as pregnancy,
      pulmonary embolism, opioid overdose and other toxicologic causes, hypothermia,
      and coronary ischemia are also reviewed. 

PMID- 27644094
TI  - Intranasal oxytocin administration improves depression-like behaviors in adult
      rats that experienced neonatal maternal deprivation.
AB  - Oxytocin (OT), a hypothalamic neuropeptide, has been implicated in the regulation
      of social behaviors in rodents and humans. This study assessed the effects of
      intranasal administration of OT on depressive-like behaviors and hippocampal
      neurogenesis in adult rats following neonatal maternal deprivation (NMD). Here,
      we show that NMD resulted in significant depression-like behaviors, as indicated
      by decreases in physical activity and emotional reactivity in a novel
      environment, in 2-month-old animals. Notably, the OT levels in the plasma,
      hypothalamus, and hippocampus were decreased in these animals. Intranasal
      administration of OT reduced the depressive-like behaviors in NMD rats and
      rescued hippocampal long-term plasticity impaired by NMD stress in rats by
      promoting hippocampal neurogenesis. These results indicate that OT alleviates the
      depressive-like behaviors in NMD adult rats, probably mediated by improving adult
      hippocampal neurogenesis.

PMID- 27644092
TI  - Identification of Immunity-Related Genes in Dialeurodes citri against
      Entomopathogenic Fungus Lecanicillium attenuatum by RNA-Seq Analysis.
AB  - Dialeurodes citri is a major pest in citrus producing areas, and large-scale
      outbreaks have occurred increasingly often in recent years. Lecanicillium
      attenuatum is an important entomopathogenic fungus that can parasitize and kill
      D. citri. We separated the fungus from corpses of D. citri larvae. However, the
      sound immune defense system of pests makes infection by an entomopathogenic
      fungus difficult. Here we used RNA sequencing technology (RNA-Seq) to build a
      transcriptome database for D. citri and performed digital gene expression
      profiling to screen genes that act in the immune defense of D. citri larvae
      infected with a pathogenic fungus. De novo assembly generated 84,733 unigenes
      with mean length of 772 nt. All unigenes were searched against GO, Nr, Swiss
      Prot, COG, and KEGG databases and a total of 28,190 (33.3%) unigenes were
      annotated. We identified 129 immunity-related unigenes in transcriptome database
      that were related to pattern recognition receptors, information transduction
      factors and response factors. From the digital gene expression profile, we
      identified 441 unigenes that were differentially expressed in D. citri infected
      with L. attenuatum. Through calculated Log2Ratio values, we identified genes for
      which fold changes in expression were obvious, including cuticle protein,
      vitellogenin, cathepsin, prophenoloxidase, clip-domain serine protease, lysozyme,
      and others. Subsequent quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis
      verified the results. The identified genes may serve as target genes for
      microbial control of D. citri. 

PMID- 27644096
TI  - Reliability of the OptoGait portable photoelectric cell system for the
      quantification of spatial-temporal parameters of gait in young adults.
AB  - Determining progress in gait requires a reliable method. However, achieving
      standard assessment results in the clinical setting can be challenging. Searching
      for a reliable tool, we tested OptoGait, a tool that has floor-level, high
      density photoelectric cells that can be used to determine patterns of spatial
      temporal gait on the basis of 19 variables: step length, stride length, distance,
      total contact time, step time, walking speed, acceleration, progressive step
      time, cadence, gait cycle, stance phase, swing phase, heel contact phase,
      flatfoot phase, takeoff phase, single limb support, double limb support, load
      response phase, and pre-swing phase. The gait of 126 study participants (41
      males, 85 females; 27.37+/-1.77 years) was assessed twice for each participant
      during 10 episodes of walking on a 10m walkway each 2 weeks apart. Intra-session
      and inter-session results were compared using data for each foot alone as well as
      both feet together. All variables resulted in a high consistency except for
      acceleration. The intra-session data showed substantial agreement; the intra
      class correlation coefficient (ICC) ranged from 0.72-0.78 in the heel contact
      phase, 0.72-0.76 in the load response phase, and 0.76-0.85 in the pre-swing phase
      and a low SEM. The inter-session data for each foot alone and both feet together
      showed substantial agreement (0.77-0.79 in the load response phase) and slight
      agreement for acceleration (0.06-0.22) with a low SEM. Based on these results, we
      conclude that the OptoGait system can be used with confidence to evaluate spatial
      temporal gait except for acceleration and progressive step time assessment.

PMID- 27644097
TI  - Variables associated with nonadherence in clinically stable patients with bipolar
      disorder.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nonadherence is an important and highly prevalent issue in bipolar
      disorder, which may have serious consequences. Surprisingly, few studies have
      been carried out in patients with clinical stability to explore risk factors for
      nonadherence. METHOD: Adherence was assessed in 76 bipolar disorder patients with
      clinical stability using objective and subjective methods, both with a cross
      sectional approach and a 3-year retrospective period. Possible associations
      between nonadherence and sociodemographic, clinical, treatment-related,
      psychopathological, psychological-subjective and result variables were also
      assessed. RESULTS: 36.8% of patients were nonadherent. These patients showed
      greater concerns about medicines, worse functionality, a greater number of
      episodes and depressive episodes, higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities,
      present and/or past substance use or abuse and a history of depressive episodes
      with psychotic symptoms. A multivariate analysis revealed that concern about
      medicines, present and/or past substance use or abuse and psychiatric
      comorbidities were independently associated with nonadherence. CONCLUSIONS:
      Nonadherence is a frequent phenomenon in bipolar disorder, even in patients with
      clinical stability. Clinicians should assess patients&#8217; beliefs and
      attitudes towards medicines and help them reevaluate those issues with a more
      realistic perspective. Clinicians should also take actions to prevent substance
      use or abuse. Identification of nonadherence risk profile in bipolar disorder
      patients in clinical stability, adds complementary information to the identified
      risk profile in acute phases of the disease.

PMID- 27644093
TI  - Yield, Esterification Degree and Molecular Weight Evaluation of Pectins Isolated
      from Orange and Grapefruit Peels under Different Conditions.
AB  - Orange (Citrus sinensis) and grapefruit (Citrus paradise) peels were used as a
      source of pectin, which was extracted under different conditions. The peels are
      used under two states: fresh and residual (after essential oil extraction).
      Organic acid (citric acid) and mineral acid (sulfuric acid) were used in the
      pectin extraction. The aim of this study is the evaluation the effect of
      extraction conditions on pectin yield, degree of esterification "DE" and on
      molecular weight "Mw". Results showed that the pectin yield was higher using the
      residual peels. Moreover, both peels allow the obtainment of a high methoxyl
      pectin with DE >50%. The molecular weight was calculated using Mark-Houwink
      Sakurada equation which describes its relationship with intrinsic viscosity. This
      later was determined using four equations; Huggins equation, kramer, Schulz
      Blaschke and Martin equation. The molecular weight varied from 1.538 x1005 to
      2.47x1005 g/mol for grapefruit pectin and from 1.639 x1005 to 2.471 x1005 g/mol
      for orange pectin. 

PMID- 27644098
TI  - Qualitative study of the agitation states and their characterization, and the
      interventions used to attend them.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Agitation is a common problem in psychiatric care with serious
      clinical and economic consequences. METHODOLOGY: The aim of the study was to
      define and characterize the agitation states present in usual medical practice in
      the acute and emergency units of a psychiatric hospital. Two nominal groups, one
      with 7 nurses and the other with 10 psychiatrists from the Parc Sanitari Sant
      Joan de Deu, were established. RESULTS: The nurses described two main states
      forming the endpoints of a spectrum: from mild (pre-agitation) to severe
      (agitation). A third state was outlined in which agitation was characterized by
      disorganized behavior problems. Various care packages were described for each
      agitation state. The care packages were divided into first, second and third line
      approaches. The first line approaches (i.e., verbal containment) were used on
      every (pre)agitated patient. If the first line approach was not effective, the
      second and third line approaches were implemented, culminating with physical
      restraint. The psychiatrists described 3 states: a mild initial state (anxiety
      and irritability), moderate (pre-agitation without aggressiveness) and a severe
      state of agitation with aggressiveness and/or violence. CONCLUSIONS: In order to
      avoid progression to a severely agitated state, both groups agreed on the
      importance of appropriate verbal containment for all states. This would be
      followed by environmental measures, medication and mechanical restrain depending
      on the severity of the state.

PMID- 27644099
TI  - Study of prevalence of Personality Disorders in inmate men sample with Substance
      Use Disorders using of PDQ-4+ Self-Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study focused on examining the prevalence of Personality
      Disorders (PD) in 51 male inmates diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs)
      lifetime within a specialized unit at a prison. METHODS: The instruments
      administered included the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and the
      Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+. RESULTS: The type of crime most
      frequently committed by the incarcerated was the robbery (76.5%), including
      robbery with violence. 45.1% of the patients screened positive for Antisocial PD,
      followed by 35.3% for Paranoid and 23.5% for Obsessive Compulsive PD. The results
      reflect a male inmate sample exhibiting a clinical profile characterized by SUDs
      and PD, with almost half of the total sample presenting Antisocial PD.
      CONCLUSIONS: The presence of Antisocial and Paranoid PD with SUD suggests a more
      complex personality profile, with a tendency to carry out more aggressive crimes,
      including robbery with violence. A more comprehensive PD assessment should be
      carried out in prison settings in order to identify dangerous individuals who are
      at risk of recidivism.

PMID- 27644100
TI  - Descriptive analysis of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children in a Spanish
      Normative Sample.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) has been validated
      in different countries demonstrating that it is an instrument with a correct
      balance between reliability and duration. Given the shortage of trustworthy
      instruments of evaluation in our language for infantile population we decide to
      explore the Spanish version of the TEA-Ch. METHODS: We administered TEA-Ch
      (version A) to a sample control of 133 Spanish children from 6 to 11 years
      enrolled in school in the Community of Madrid. Four children were selected at
      random by course of Primary Education, distributing the sex of equivalent form.
      Descriptive analysis and comparison by ages and sex in each of the TEA-Ch&#180;s
      subtests were conducted to establish a profile of the sample. In order to analyze
      the effect of the age, subjects were grouped in six sub-samples: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
      and 11 years-old. RESULTS: This first descriptive analysis demonstrates age
      exerted a significant effect on each measure, due to an important
      &#8220;jump&#8221; in children&#180;s performance between 6 and 7 years-old. The
      effect of sex was significant only in two visual attention measures (Sky Search &
      Map) and interaction age and sex exerted a significant effect only in the dual
      task (Score DT). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the Spanish version of the
      TEA-Ch (A) might be a useful instrument to evaluate attentional processes in
      Spanish child population.

PMID- 27644101
TI  - Serotonin syndrome induced by a combination of venlafaxine and clomipramine. A
      case report.

PMID- 27644102
TI  - Serotonin syndrome, rhabdomyolysis and convulsion associated with drug
      interaction between venlafaxine and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid.

PMID- 27644103
TI  - Diaphragmatic flutter as conversion symptom: a case report of a neurology
      psychiatry-interface disorder.

PMID- 27644104
TI  - NG2 glial cells integrate synaptic input in global and dendritic calcium signals.
AB  - Synaptic signaling to NG2-expressing oligodendrocyte precursor cells (NG2 cells)
      could be key to rendering myelination of axons dependent on neuronal activity,
      but it has remained unclear whether NG2 glial cells integrate and respond to
      synaptic input. Here we show that NG2 cells perform linear integration of
      glutamatergic synaptic inputs and respond with increasing dendritic calcium
      elevations. Synaptic activity induces rapid Ca2+ signals mediated by low-voltage
      activated Ca2+ channels under strict inhibitory control of voltage-gated A-type
      K+ channels. Ca2+ signals can be global and originate throughout the cell.
      However, voltage-gated channels are also found in thin dendrites which act as
      compartmentalized processing units and generate local calcium transients. Taken
      together, the activity-dependent control of Ca2+ signals by A-type channels and
      the global versus local signaling domains make intracellular Ca2+ in NG2 cells a
      prime signaling molecule to transform neurotransmitter release into activity
      dependent myelination.

PMID- 27644107
TI  - Exposure of WO3 Photoanodes to Ultraviolet Light Enhances Photoelectrochemical
      Water Oxidation.
AB  - Exposure of WO3 photoanodes to sustained irradiation by ultraviolet (UV) light
      induces a morphology change that enhances the photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity
      towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A 30% enhancement in photocurrent
      density at 1.23 V vs RHE was measured despite a nominal change in onset
      potential. A structural and electrochemical analysis of the films before and
      after exposure to UV irradiation indicates that a higher film porosity and
      correspondingly higher specific surface area is responsible for the enhancement
      in PEC activity. The effect of prolonged UV irradiation on the WO3 films is
      fundamentally different to that which was previously observed for BiVO4 films. 

PMID- 27644105
TI  - Stage-specific effects of Notch activation during skeletal myogenesis.
AB  - Skeletal myogenesis involves sequential activation, proliferation, self
      renewal/differentiation and fusion of myogenic stem cells (satellite cells).
      Notch signaling is known to be essential for the maintenance of satellite cells,
      but its function in late-stage myogenesis, i.e. post-differentiation myocytes and
      post-fusion myotubes, is unknown. Using stage-specific Cre alleles, we uncovered
      distinct roles of Notch1 in mononucleated myocytes and multinucleated myotubes.
      Specifically, constitutive Notch1 activation dedifferentiates myocytes into Pax7
      quiescent satellite cells, leading to severe defects in muscle growth and
      regeneration, and postnatal lethality. By contrast, myotube-specific Notch1
      activation improves the regeneration and exercise performance of aged and
      dystrophic muscles. Mechanistically, Notch1 activation in myotubes upregulates
      the expression of Notch ligands, which modulate Notch signaling in the adjacent
      satellite cells to enhance their regenerative capacity. These results highlight
      context-dependent effects of Notch activation during myogenesis, and demonstrate
      that Notch1 activity improves myotube's function as a stem cell niche.

PMID- 27644108
TI  - Closing in on the causes of host shutoff.
AB  - Influenza A virus suppresses the translation of host mRNA by selectively
      remodeling and dominating the pool of mRNA in infected cells. 

PMID- 27644109
TI  - Surface Physical Activity and Hydrophobicity of Designed Helical Peptide
      Amphiphiles Control Their Bioactivity and Cell Selectivity.
AB  - G(IIKK)3I-NH2 has been recently shown to be highly effective at killing bacteria
      and inhibiting cancer cell growth while remaining benign to normal host mammalian
      cells. The aim of this work is to evaluate how residue substitutions of Ala (A),
      Val (V), Glu (E), and Lys (K) for the N-terminal Gly (G) or C-terminal Ile (I) of
      G(IIKK)3I-NH2 affect the physiochemical properties and bioactivity of the
      variants. All substitutions caused the reduction of peptide hydrophobicity, while
      N-terminal substitutions had a less noticeable effect on the surface activity and
      helix-forming ability than C-terminal substitutions. N-terminal variants held
      potent anticancer activity but exhibited reduced hemolytic activity; these
      actions were related to the maintenance of their moderate surface pressures (12
      16 mN m-1), while their hydrophobicity was reduced. Thus, N-terminal
      substitutions enhanced the cell selectivity of the mutants relative to the
      control peptide G(IIKK)3I-NH2. In contrast, C-terminal variants exhibited lower
      anticancer activity and much lower hemolytic activity except for G(IIKK)3V-NH2.
      These features were correlated well with their lower surface pressures (<=10 mN m
      1) and decreased hydrophobicity. In spite of its very low helical content, the C
      terminal variant G(IIKK)3V-NH2 still displayed potent anticancer activity while
      retaining high hemolytic activity as well, again correlating well with its
      relatively high surface pressure and hydrophobicity. These results together
      indicated that surface activity governs the anticancer activity of the peptides,
      but hydrophobicity influences their hemolytic activity. In contrast, helicity
      appears to be poorly correlated to their bioactivity. This work has demonstrated
      that N-terminal modifications provide a useful strategy to optimize the
      anticancer activity of helical anticancer peptides (ACPs) against its potential
      toxicity to mammalian host cells.

PMID- 27644110
TI  - Few-Layer Graphene Island Seeding for Dendrite-Free Li Metal Electrodes.
AB  - Li metal batteries such as Li-air and Li-S systems have increasingly attracted
      the attention of researchers because of their high energy densities, which are
      enhanced by the use of Li metal negative electrodes. However, poor cycle
      efficiency and safety concerns, which are mainly related to dendritic Li growth
      during cycling, need to be addressed. Here we propose a solution to the Li
      dendrite problems. We distributed chemically prepared nitrogen-doped few-layer
      graphene (N-FLG) sheets on Cu substrates to create island structures. The island
      type FLG on the Cu electrode was prepared via spin-coating using slurries that
      included a polymer binder. When the electrode was used for Li deposition, Li ions
      were first inserted into the graphene layers. Then, Li metal nucleation occurred
      at the N-FLG sheets owing to their high electrical conductivity; meanwhile, an
      insulating polymer layer on the Cu prevented the growth of metallic Li there.
      Lastly, Li metal grew from the edges of N-FLG sheets in both the lateral and
      vertical direction, and Li metal deposits filled the gaps between the N-FLG
      islands as well as covering the remainder of the electrode surface. Thus, stable
      cycling with flat voltage profiles was demonstrated over 100 cycles at a current
      density of 2 mA cm-2. The materials and electrochemical characterization results
      highlight the effectiveness of this method, which paves the way for the
      development of robust, dendrite-free Li metal electrodes.

PMID- 27644106
TI  - Molecular basis of sidekick-mediated cell-cell adhesion and specificity.
AB  - Sidekick (Sdk) 1 and 2 are related immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion
      proteins required for appropriate synaptic connections between specific subtypes
      of retinal neurons. Sdks mediate cell-cell adhesion with homophilic specificity
      that underlies their neuronal targeting function. Here we report crystal
      structures of Sdk1 and Sdk2 ectodomain regions, revealing similar homodimers
      mediated by the four N-terminal immunoglobulin domains (Ig1-4), arranged in a
      horseshoe conformation. These Ig1-4 horseshoes interact in a novel back-to-back
      orientation in both homodimers through Ig1:Ig2, Ig1:Ig1 and Ig3:Ig4 interactions.
      Structure-guided mutagenesis results show that this canonical dimer is required
      for both Sdk-mediated cell aggregation (via trans interactions) and Sdk
      clustering in isolated cells (via cis interactions). Sdk1/Sdk2 recognition
      specificity is encoded across Ig1-4, with Ig1-2 conferring the majority of
      binding affinity and differential specificity. We suggest that competition
      between cis and trans interactions provides a novel mechanism to sharpen the
      specificity of cell-cell interactions.

PMID- 27644111
TI  - NiMnO3/NiMn2O4 Oxides Synthesized via the Aid of Pollen: Ilmenite/Spinel Hybrid
      Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis.
AB  - This work develops the NiMnO3/NiMn2O4 ilmenite/spinel hybrid oxides as highly
      efficient bifunctional catalysts toward both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and
      oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). They are prepared with the aid of pollen, using
      a two-step annealing method. The interaction between NiMnO3 and NiMn2O4
      nanoparticles results in an enhanced charge transfer between nanoparticles and
      active species in electrolytes, which is favorable for their electrocatalytic
      activities. The surface oxidation states of Ni and Mn for the hybrid oxides can
      be tuned by pollen, which greatly influences the OER and ORR activities and the
      overall bifunctional activity. The surface Ni3+ facilitates OER activity, while
      the surface Mn3+ with a small amount of Mn4+ favors ORR processes. Through
      optimization, 0.61NiMnO3/NiMn2O4 shows the highest OER activity, while
      1.57NiMnO3/NiMn2O4 can outperform the others in promoting ORR processes. Between
      them, 0.61NiMnO3/NiMn2O4 exhibits the higher overall bifunctional activity.
      Furthermore, both of the optimized hybrid oxides show excellent durability during
      both OER and ORR processes. They can be considered as promising bifunctional
      catalysts for OER/ORR.

PMID- 27644112
TI  - A morphometric study of the protective effect of cryotherapy on oral mucositis in
      cancer patients treated with 5-fluorouracil.
AB  - We investigated cytological changes in oral mucosa smears from patients treated
      with cryotherapy to determine whether cryotherapy prevented mucositis caused by 5
      fluorouracil (5-FU) therapy. Patients with gastrointestinal malignancies were
      divided into four groups; control patients before 5-FU therapy, patients after 5
      FU therapy without cryotherapy, patients with cryotherapy before 5-FU therapy and
      patients with cryotherapy after 5-FU therapy. Oral mucosa samples from all
      patients were assessed at the beginning and on day 14 of chemotherapy. We used
      exfoliative cytology to evaluate cellular changes in the oral mucosa that were
      caused by 5-FU. Smears from each patient were stained using the Papanicolaou
      method and analyzed using stereology. Smears were taken from each group before
      and after 5-FU infusion. We found that nuclear volume was decreased significantly
      in cells of the 5-FU therapy after cryotherapy patients compared to the 5-FU
      therapy before cryotherapy patients. We also found significantly decreased
      cytoplasmic volumes in the 5-FU therapy after cryotherapy patients compared to
      the 5-FU therapy before cryotherapy patients. The results of cytomorphometric
      estimations revealed that cryotherapy may be used to prevent damage to oral
      tissue and may decrease the frequency and duration of oral mucositis caused by 5
      FU.

PMID- 27644113
TI  - Resolving coiled shapes reveals new reorientation behaviors in C. elegans.
AB  - We exploit the reduced space of C. elegans postures to develop a novel tracking
      algorithm which captures both simple shapes and also self-occluding coils, an
      important, yet unexplored, component of 2D worm behavior. We apply our algorithm
      to show that visually complex, coiled sequences are a superposition of two
      simpler patterns: the body wave dynamics and a head-curvature pulse. We
      demonstrate the precise Omega-turn dynamics of an escape response and uncover a
      surprising new dichotomy in spontaneous, large-amplitude coils; deep
      reorientations occur not only through classical Omega-shaped postures but also
      through larger postural excitations which we label here as delta-turns. We find
      that omega and delta turns occur independently, suggesting a distinct triggering
      mechanism, and are the serpentine analog of a random left-right step. Finally, we
      show that omega and delta turns occur with approximately equal rates and adapt to
      food-free conditions on a similar timescale, a simple strategy to avoid
      navigational bias.

PMID- 27644114
TI  - Weyl semimetals in optical lattices: moving and merging of Weyl points, and
      hidden symmetry at Weyl points.
AB  - We propose to realize Weyl semimetals in a cubic optical lattice. We find that
      there exist three distinct Weyl semimetal phases in the cubic optical lattice for
      different parameter ranges. One of them has two pairs of Weyl points and the
      other two have one pair of Weyl points in the Brillouin zone. For a slab geometry
      with (010) surfaces, the Fermi arcs connecting the projections of Weyl points
      with opposite topological charges on the surface Brillouin zone is presented. By
      adjusting the parameters, the Weyl points can move in the Brillouin zone.
      Interestingly, for two pairs of Weyl points, as one pair of them meet and
      annihilate, the originial two Fermi arcs coneect into one. As the remaining Weyl
      points annihilate further, the Fermi arc vanishes and a gap is opened.
      Furthermore, we find that there always exists a hidden symmetry at Weyl points,
      regardless of anywhere they located in the Brillouin zone. The hidden symmetry
      has an antiunitary operator with its square being -1.

PMID- 27644115
TI  - Extravascular hemolysis and complement consumption in Paroxysmal Nocturnal
      Hemoglobinuria patients undergoing eculizumab treatment.
AB  - Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired hemolytic anemia
      characterized by complement-mediated intravascular hemolysis that is effectively
      treated with eculizumab. However, treatment responses are reported heterogeneous
      with some patients presenting residual hemolysis and requiring RBC transfusions.
      Recent reports have shown that both extravascular hemolysis and incomplete C5
      blockade can explain these suboptimal hematological responses. Here we have
      tested our eculizumab-treated PNH patients (n=12) for signs of hemolysis and
      assessed complement biomarkers. Patients were also genotyped for complement
      receptor 1 (CR1, CD35) and C5 polymorphisms and evaluated for free eculizumab in
      plasma. We report that 10 patients (83%) present parameters suggesting persistent
      hemolysis, although they did not require additional transfusions. Seven of them
      (58%) become direct Coombs-test positive as a consequence of treatment, including
      all patients carrying the low-expression CR1-L allele. CH50 and sC5b-9 assays
      demonstrate that the persistent low-level hemolysis identified in our treated
      patients is not a consequence of incomplete C5 blockade, supporting that this
      hemolysis, as has been suggested previously, results from the extravascular
      removal of C3 opsonized PNH erythrocytes. We also show that continuous
      alternative pathway activation in eculizumab-treated individuals carrying the CR1
      L allele results in abnormally decreased levels of C3 in plasma that could,
      potentially, increase their susceptibility to bacterial infections. Finally, we
      encourage a routine evaluation of free eculizumab levels and terminal pathway
      activity to personalize eculizumab administration.

PMID- 27644116
TI  - High-Throughput Production of Chromium(III) Complexes for Antibody
      Immobilization.
AB  - A robot-assisted high-throughput methodology was employed to produce
      chromium(III) complexes suitable for the surface modification of the commercially
      available PerkinElmer Optiplate96 well plate for use in enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The complexes were immobilized to the native
      functionality of the well plate and first screened using a horseradish-peroxidase
      tagged (HRP) mouse antibody to quantify binding. The top "hits" were further
      assessed for their ability to present the antibody in a functional state using an
      ELISA. "Hits" from the second screen yielded four complexes capable of improving
      the signal intensity of the ELISA by greater than 500%. The metal/base ratio of
      these complexes was also investigated, and we isolated the most stable and
      reproducible candidate, [Cr(OH)6]3-, which was formed from chromium(III)
      perchlorate and pH adjusted with ethylenediamine. This chromium solution was
      employed in a clinically relevant setting for the detection of bovine TNFalpha
      producing up to a 200% increase in signal intensity.

PMID- 27644117
TI  - Modified eggshell procedure via posterior approach for sclerosing thoracic disc
      herniation: a preliminary study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinically, sclerosing thoracic disc herniation is a disease with
      high surgical risk and various complications. Eggshell procedure is a surgical
      method used by surgeons to treat sclerosing thoracic disc herniation. The aim of
      this study was to report a modified eggshell procedure to treat sclerosing
      thoracic disc herniation. METHODS: Medical records of 25 patients with sclerosing
      thoracic disc herniation were collected between 2007/01 and 2010/08, including 14
      males and 11 females, with an average age of 51.7 years old. Modified eggshell
      procedure was performed to treat the patients with sclerosing thoracic disc
      herniation. All patients were followed up. Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA)
      score was used to evaluate the clinical outcomes. RESULTS: All operations were
      performed successfully with complication rate of 12 %. There were 2 cases of
      dural laceration and 1 subdural hematoma. All included patients were followed up
      for at least 5 years, with the median of 6 years. JOA score of preoperation was 5
      (IQR = 1) while it was 8 (IQR = 2) at final follow-up, with significant
      difference (Mann-Whitney U test, Z = -4.891, P < 0.001). The improvement rate of
      neurological status was 51.5 +/- 23.1 %. According to the classification of
      improvement rate, there were 15 cases at good level, 8 cases at moderate level,
      and 2 cases without any improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Modified eggshell procedure is
      a safe and effective surgical method when performed to treat sclerosing thoracic
      disc herniation in the clinical practice.

PMID- 27644118
TI  - Very low protein diets supplemented with keto-analogues in ESRD predialysis
      patients and its effect on vascular stiffness and AVF Maturation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the most appropriate type of
      vascular access for chronic dialysis. Its patency rates depend on vascular wall
      characteristics. Ketoacid analogues of essential amino acids (KA/EAA) are
      prescribed in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) pre-dialysis patients to lower toxic
      metabolic products generation and improve nutritional status. We hypothesized
      that very-low protein diet (VLPD) supplemented with KA/EAA may influence arterial
      wall stiffness and affect AVF maturation rates and duration in pre-dialysis ESRD
      patients. METHODS: In a prospective, cohort, 3 years study we enrolled 67
      consecutive non-diabetic early referral ESRD patients that underwent AVF creation
      in our hospital. Patients were divided in two groups based on their regimen 12
      months prior to surgery: a VLPD supplemented with KA/EAA study group versus a low
      protein diet non-KA/EAA-supplemented control group. For each patient we performed
      serum analysis for the parameters of bone mineral disease, inflammation and
      nutritional status, one pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement and one Doppler
      ultrasound (US) determination prior the surgery, followed by consequent Doppler
      US assessments at 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks after it. Rates and duration of mature AVF
      achievement were noted. We used logistic regression to analyze the association
      between AVF maturation and KA/EAA administration, by comparing rates and
      durations between groups, unadjusted and adjusted for systolic blood pressure, C
      reactive protein, PWV, phosphorus values. All parameters in the logistic model
      were transformed in binary variables. A p-value < alpha = 0.05 was considered
      significant; data were processed using SPSS 16 software and Excel. RESULTS: In
      the study group (n = 28, aged 57 +/- 12.35, 13 females) we registered better
      serum phosphate (p = 0.022) and C-reactive protein control (p = 0.021), lower PWV
      (p = 0.007) and a higher percent of AVF creation success (33.3 % versus 17.8 %, p
      < 0.05). AVF maturation duration was lower in study group (5.91 versus 7.15
      weeks, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: VLPD supplemented with KA/EAA appear to improve
      the native AVF primary outcome, decreasing the initial vascular stiffness,
      possible by preserving vascular wall quality in CKD patients through a better
      serum phosphate levels control and the limitation of inflammatory response.

PMID- 27644120
TI  - Call for Eating Disorders Papers * Announcing New Awards.

PMID- 27644119
TI  - Assessing outcomes for cost-utility analysis in mental health interventions:
      mapping mental health specific outcome measure GHQ-12 onto EQ-5D-3L.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many intervention-based studies aiming to improve mental health do
      not include a multi-attribute utility instrument (MAUI) that produces quality
      adjusted life-years (QALYs) and it limits the applicability of the health
      economic analyses. This study aims to develop 'crosswalk' transformation
      algorithm between a measure for psychological distress General Health
      Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and MAUI EuroQoL (EQ-5D-3L). METHODS: The study is based
      on a survey questionnaire sent to a random sample in four counties in Sweden in
      2012. The survey included GHQ-12 and EQ-5D instruments, as well as a question
      about self-rated health. The EQ-5D index was calculated using the UK and the
      Swedish tariff values. Two OLS models were used to estimate the EQ-5D health
      state values using the GHQ-12 as exposure, based on the respondents (n = 17, 101)
      of two counties. The algorithms were applied to the data from two other counties,
      (n = 15, 447) to check the predictive capacity of the models. RESULTS: The final
      models included gender, age, self-rated health and GHQ-12 scores as a
      quantitative variable. The regression equations explained 40 % (UK tariff) and 46
      % (Swedish tariff) of the variances. The model showed a satisfying predictive
      capacity between the observed and the predicted EQ-5D index score, with Pearson
      correlation = 0.65 and 0.69 for the UK and Swedish models, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: The algorithms developed in this study can be used to determine cost
      effectiveness of services or interventions that use GHQ-12 as a primary outcome
      where the utility measures are not collected.

PMID- 27644122
TI  - Er:YAG laser treatment of epidermal nevus syndrome.

PMID- 27644123
TI  - Choice and perception of the nursing profession from the perspective of Polish
      nursing students: a focus group study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although previous quantitative studies provide important information
      on the factors which influence the choice of nursing as a career, qualitative
      analysis makes it possible to study the subject more thoroughly. The purpose of
      this study was to conduct an in-depth analysis of the reasons why Polish students
      choose nursing as a profession and their later perception of the job based on
      experiences acquired during the nursing course. METHODS: A qualitative
      descriptive study was designed. We organized 8 focus group discussions with third
      year nursing students. A total of 76 students participated in the study. RESULTS:
      Several reasons why students had chosen the nursing profession were identified:
      desire to help others, family tradition, desire to work abroad, failure to get
      into another course, pure chance, and low admission requirements (relative to
      medical studies). The participants' views of the nursing profession were based on
      their own personal experiences or observations of nurses at work. Often these
      observations were superficial, concerning only selected fragments of nursing
      work. The participants also identified reasons for there being low regard for the
      nursing profession. CONCLUSION: The decision about choosing nursing is mainly
      determined by practical aspects, e.g., the opportunity for employment. Although
      young people are aware of the low prestige of the nursing profession in Poland,
      they believe it is possible to improve its image and enhance its prestige.

PMID- 27644124
TI  - SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ADOLESCENT GIRLS' RESILIENCE TO TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN BEGORO,
      GHANA.
AB  - This study focuses on how older adolescent girls access and utilize social
      capital to develop resilience against teenage pregnancy in Begoro, Ghana. A
      survey of 419 non-pregnant girls aged 15-19 years, selected using a multi-stage
      cluster sampling technique, was conducted in 2012. Qualitative data were gathered
      through in-depth interviews with ten girls purposively selected from the survey
      respondents. Parents, relatives, teachers and religious groups were found to be
      important sources of social capital for the non-pregnant girls in developing
      resilience against teenage pregnancy. In addition, resilient girls tended to rely
      on multiple sources of social capital. It is recommended that stakeholders and
      policymakers in Ghana ensure that these significant sources of social capital in
      adolescent girls' sexual experience are equipped with the right information to
      help girls decrease the risk of teenage pregnancy.

PMID- 27644125
TI  - Optogenetic stimulation of the cochlea-A review of mechanisms, measurements, and
      first models.
AB  - This review evaluates the potential of optogenetic methods for the stimulation of
      the auditory nerve and assesses the feasability of optogenetic cochlear implants
      (CIs). It provides an overview of all critical steps like opsin targeting
      strategies, how opsins work, how their function can be modeled and included in
      neuronal models and the properties of light sources available for optical
      stimulation. From these foundations, quantitative estimates for the number of
      independent stimulation channels and the temporal precision of optogenetic
      stimulation of the auditory nerve are derived and compared with state-of-the-art
      electrical CIs. We conclude that optogenetic CIs have the potential to increase
      the number of independent stimulation channels by up to one order of magnitude to
      about 100, but only if light sources are able to deliver confined illumination
      patterns independently and parallelly. Already now, opsin variants like ChETA and
      Chronos enable driving of the auditory nerve up to rates of 200 spikes/s, close
      to the physiological value of their maximum sustained firing rate. Apart from
      requiring 10 times more energy than electrical stimulation, optical CIs still
      face major hurdles concerning the safety of gene transfection and optrode array
      implantation, for example, before becoming an option to replace electrical CIs.

PMID- 27644126
TI  - Impact of Participation in Decision Making on Job Satisfaction: An Organizational
      Communication Perspective.
AB  - Participation in organizational decision-making has received considerable
      attention from scholars. Beyond the perspectives proposed in past studies, we
      offer a new account, based upon a communication perspective, to explain why and
      when participation in decision-making can influence job satisfaction. Drawing
      from social capital theory, we examine whether communication openness mediates
      the relationship between participation in decision-making and job satisfaction.
      We also investigate how information adequacy moderates this mediated process.
      Results from a sample of 184 employees in China showed that the four-factor model
      was the best fitting solution (CFI = .91, GFI = .90, RMSEA = .09). The analyses
      indicated that employees' participation in decision-making positively affected
      their job satisfaction (beta = .32, p < .001), and the effect was mediated by
      communication openness (direct effect became non-significant when communication
      openness was included: beta = .06, n.s.). Results also found that decision-making
      information adequacy positively moderated the relationship between participation
      in decision-making and communication openness (beta = .13, p < .05). Thus, open
      communication and the free flow of information within organizations should be
      encouraged. 

PMID- 27644127
TI  - Pre- and postdiagnostic diet in relation to mortality among breast cancer
      survivors in the CPS-II Nutrition Cohort.
AB  - PURPOSE: Due to the limited evidence on the role of diet and cause-specific
      mortality among breast cancer survivors, current nutrition guidelines for this
      population are consistent with those for cancer prevention. We evaluated whether
      diets consistent with the American Cancer Society recommendations for cancer
      prevention were associated with risk of death in breast cancer survivors.
      METHODS: Participants reported information on diet and other factors at baseline
      in 1992-1993 and twice during follow-up. A nine-point score reflecting
      concordance with diet recommendations was calculated. Multivariable-adjusted
      relative risks (RR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for diet score in relation
      to overall and cause-specific mortality were computed using Cox proportional
      hazards regression methods. RESULTS: Among 4,452 women diagnosed with locally and
      regionally staged breast cancer after baseline and until 2011, 1,204 died during
      follow-up through 2012 (398 from breast cancer). Prediagnostic diet score was not
      associated with mortality from any cause. Postdiagnostic diet score was
      associated with neither breast cancer-specific mortality (RR 1.44, 95 % CI 0.90
      2.30 for scores 6-9 vs 0-2) nor cardiovascular disease mortality (RR 0.81, 95 %
      CI 0.47-1.39), but compared to a score of 0-2, a score of 6-9 was associated with
      a borderline lower risk of other causes of death (RR 0.78, 95 % CI 0.56-1.07, p
      trend = 0.03; per two-point increase in score RR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.79-0.99). Of
      diet score components, only limiting red and processed meat consumption was
      associated with statistically significantly lower risk of total, CVD, and other
      non-breast cancer mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Diets consistent with guidelines for
      cancer prevention were not associated with breast cancer-specific mortality.
      However, their association with other causes of mortality underscores the
      importance of consuming a healthy diet in this population.

PMID- 27644128
TI  - Glucocorticoid Administration Improves Aberrant Fear-Processing Networks in
      Spider Phobia.
AB  - Glucocorticoids reduce phobic fear in patients with anxiety disorders. Previous
      studies have shown that fear-related activation of the amygdala can be mediated
      through the visual cortical pathway, which includes the fusiform gyrus, or
      through other pathways. However, it is not clear which of the pathways that
      activate the amygdala is responsible for the pathophysiology of a specific phobia
      and how glucocorticoid treatment alleviates fear processing in these neural
      networks. We recorded the brain activity with functional magnetic resonance
      imaging in patients with spider phobia, who received either 20 mg of cortisol or
      a placebo while viewing pictures of spiders. We also tested healthy participants
      who did not receive any medication during the same task. We performed dynamic
      causal modelling (DCM), a connectivity analysis, to examine the effects of
      cortisol on the networks involved in processing fear and to examine if there was
      an association between these networks and the symptoms of the phobia. Cortisol
      administration suppressed the phobic stimuli-related amygdala activity to levels
      comparable to the healthy participants and reduced subjective phobic fear. The
      DCM analysis revealed that cortisol administration suppressed the aberrant inputs
      into the amygdala that did not originate from the visual cortical pathway, but
      rather from a fast subcortical pathway mediated by the pulvinar nucleus, and
      suppressed the interactions between the amygdala and fusiform gyrus. This network
      changes were distinguishable from healthy participants and considered the
      residual changes under cortisol administration. We also found that the strengths
      of the aberrant inputs into the amygdala were positively correlated with the
      severity of spider phobia. This study demonstrates that patients with spider
      phobia show an aberrant functional connectivity of the amygdala when they are
      exposed to phobia-related stimuli and that cortisol administration can alleviate
      this fear-specific neural connectivity.

PMID- 27644129
TI  - Differentiation of Spermatogonia Stem Cells into Functional Mature Neurons
      Characterized with Differential Gene Expression.
AB  - Transplantation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is a promising therapeutic
      approach for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. However, ESCs are not
      usable clinically due to immunological and ethical limitations. The
      identification of an alternative safe cell source opens novel options via
      autologous transplantation in neuro-regeneration circumventing these problems.
      Here, we examined the neurogenic capacity of embryonic stem-like cells (ES-like
      cells) derived from the testis using neural growth factor inducers and utilized
      them to generate functional mature neurons. The neuronal differentiation of ES
      like cells is induced in three stages. Stage 1 is related to embryoid body (EB)
      formation. To induce neuroprogenitor cells, EBs were cultured in the presence of
      retinoic acid, N2 supplement and fibroblast growth factor followed by culturing
      in a neurobasal medium containing B27, N2 supplements for additional 10 days, to
      allow the maturation and development of neuronal progenitor cells. The neurogenic
      differentiation was confirmed by immunostaining for markers of mature neurons.
      The differentiated neurons were positive for Tuj1 and Tau1. Real-time PCR dates
      indicated the expression of Nestin and Neuro D (neuroprogenitor markers) in
      induced cells at the second stage of the differentiation protocol. The
      differentiated mature neurons exhibited the specific neuron markers Map2 and beta
      tubulin. The functional maturity of neurons was confirmed by an
      electrophysiological analysis of passive and active neural membrane properties.
      These findings indicated a differentiation capacity of ES-like cells derived from
      the testis to functionally mature neurons, which proposes them as a novel cell
      source for neuroregenerative medicine.

PMID- 27644130
TI  - Familial Alzheimer's Disease Lymphocytes Respond Differently Than Sporadic Cells
      to Oxidative Stress: Upregulated p53-p21 Signaling Linked with Presenilin 1
      Mutants.
AB  - Familial (FAD) and sporadic (SAD) Alzheimer's disease do not share all
      pathomechanisms, but knowledge on their molecular differences is limited. We
      previously reported that cell cycle control distinguishes lymphocytes from SAD
      and FAD patients. Significant differences were found in p21 levels of SAD
      compared to FAD lymphocytes. Since p21 can also regulate apoptosis, the aim of
      this study was to compare the response of FAD and SAD lymphocytes to oxidative
      stress like 2-deoxy-D-ribose (2dRib) treatment and to investigate the role of p21
      levels in this response. We report that FAD cells bearing seven different PS1
      mutations are more resistant to 2dRib-induced cell death than control or SAD
      cells: FAD cells showed a lower apoptosis rate and a lower depolarization of the
      mitochondrial membrane. Despite that basal p21 cellular content was lower in FAD
      than in SAD cells, in response to 2dRib, p21 mRNA and protein levels
      significantly increased in FAD cells. Moreover, we found a higher cytosolic
      accumulation of p21 in FAD cells. The transcriptional activation of p21 was shown
      to be dependent on p53, as it can be blocked by PFT-alpha, and correlated with
      the increased phosphorylation of p53 at Serine 15. Our results suggest that in
      FAD lymphocytes, the p53-mediated increase in p21 transcription, together with a
      shift in the nucleocytoplasmic localization of p21, confers a survival advantage
      against 2dRib-induced apoptosis. This compensatory mechanism is absent in SAD
      cells. Thus, therapeutic and diagnostic designs should take into account possible
      differential apoptotic responses in SAD versus FAD cells.

PMID- 27644131
TI  - Hiding in the Shadows: CPOX Expression and 5-ALA Induced Fluorescence in Human
      Glioma Cells.
AB  - Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) is widely used in photodynamic diagnosis. To date, the
      details of molecular mechanisms underlying PpIX accumulation in malignant cells
      after 5-ALA administration remain unclear. The fluorescence of PpIX was studied
      in human glioma cells. Several cell cultures were established from glioma tumor
      tissue to study the differences between fluorescence-positive and fluorescence
      negative human glioma tumors. The cell cultures demonstrated fluorescence
      profiles similar to those of source tumor tissues, which allows us to use these
      cultures in experimental research. Dynamics of the rates of synthesis and
      degradation of fluorescent protoporphyrin IX was studied in the cultures
      obtained. In addition, the expression of CPOX, an enzyme involved in PpIX
      synthesis, was evaluated. mRNA levels of heme biosynthesis enzymes were analyzed,
      and PpIX fluorescence proved to correlate with the CPOX protein level, whereas no
      such correlation was observed at the mRNA level. Fluorescence intensity decreased
      at low levels of the enzyme, which indicates its critical role in PpIX
      fluorescence. Finally, the fluorescence intensity proved to correlate with the
      proliferative activity.

PMID- 27644133
TI  - Bioprospecting from cultivable bacterial communities of marine sediment and
      invertebrates from the underexplored Ubatuba region of Brazil.
AB  - Shrimp fisheries along the Brazilian coast have significant environmental impact
      due to high by-catch rates (21 kg per kilogram of shrimp). Typically discarded,
      by-catch contains many invertebrates that may host a great variety of bacterial
      genera, some of which may produce bioactive natural products with
      biotechnological applications. Therefore, to utilize by-catch that is usually
      discarded we explored the biotechnological potential of culturable bacteria of
      two abundant by-catch invertebrate species, the snail Olivancillaria urceus and
      the sea star Luidia senegalensis. Sediment from the collection area was also
      investigated. Utilizing multiple isolation approaches, 134 isolates were obtained
      from the invertebrates and sediment. Small-subunit rRNA (16S) gene sequencing
      revealed that the isolates belonged to Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and
      Actinobacteria phyla and were distributed among 28 genera. Several genera known
      for their capacity to produce bioactive natural products (Micromonospora,
      Streptomyces, Serinicoccus and Verrucosispora) were retrieved from the
      invertebrate samples. To query the bacterial isolates for their ability to
      produce bioactive metabolites, all strains were fermented and fermentation
      extracts profiled by UP LC-HRMS and tested for antimicrobial activity. Four
      strains exhibited antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus warneri.

PMID- 27644134
TI  - The effects of canthaxanthin on porcine oocyte maturation and embryo development
      in vitro after parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear transfer.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine the effects of canthaxanthin (Cx)
      treatment during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes on embryonic
      development after parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear
      transfer (SCNT), on intracellular glutathione (GSH) and reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) levels in mature oocytes, and on gene expression in both PA- and SCNT
      derived blastocysts. To determine the optimal effective concentration of Cx,
      porcine oocytes were cultured in IVM medium supplemented with various
      concentrations (0, 20, 40 and 80 MUM) of Cx for 22 hr. Compared to other groups,
      supplementation with 40 MUM Cx significantly improved blastocyst formation rates
      after PA (p < .05), but no significant differences were observed among groups in
      total blastocyst cell numbers. Subsequently, oocytes were cultured in IVM medium
      supplemented with or without 40 MUM Cx. Oocytes treated with 40 MUM Cx showed
      significantly increased cleavage and blastocyst formation rates after SCNT
      compared to the control group (p < .05). Moreover, significantly increased
      intracellular GSH and reduced ROS levels were observed in the Cx-treated group (p
      < .05). In addition, both PA- and SCNT-derived blastocysts from the 40 MUM Cx
      treated group showed significantly increased mRNA expression of Bcl2 and Oct4 and
      decreased Caspase3 expression level (p < .05), when compared with the control
      group. PA-derived blastocysts from the 40 MUM Cx-treated group also exhibited
      significantly decreased expression of Bax (p < .05). Our results demonstrated
      that treatment with 40 MUM Cx during IVM improves the developmental competence of
      PA and SCNT embryos. Improvement of embryo development by Cx is most likely due
      to increased intracellular GSH synthesis, which reduces ROS levels in oocytes,
      and it may also positively regulate apoptosis- and development-related genes.

PMID- 27644136
TI  - A Glance At ... ethanol consumption, GSH suppression, and oxidative liver damage.

PMID- 27644135
TI  - Do Health Care Providers Use Online Patient Ratings to Improve the Quality of
      Care? Results From an Online-Based Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physician-rating websites have become a popular tool to create more
      transparency about the quality of health care providers. So far, it remains
      unknown whether online-based rating websites have the potential to contribute to
      a better standard of care. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to examine which health care
      providers use online rating websites and for what purposes, and whether health
      care providers use online patient ratings to improve patient care. METHODS: We
      conducted an online-based cross-sectional study by surveying 2360 physicians and
      other health care providers (September 2015). In addition to descriptive
      statistics, we performed multilevel logistic regression models to ascertain the
      effects of providers' demographics as well as report card-related variables on
      the likelihood that providers implement measures to improve patient care.
      RESULTS: Overall, more than half of the responding providers surveyed (54.66%,
      1290/2360) used online ratings to derive measures to improve patient care
      (implemented measures: mean 3.06, SD 2.29). Ophthalmologists (68%, 40/59) and
      gynecologists (65.4%, 123/188) were most likely to implement any measures. The
      most widely implemented quality measures were related to communication with
      patients (28.77%, 679/2360), the appointment scheduling process (23.60%,
      557/2360), and office workflow (21.23%, 501/2360). Scaled-survey results had a
      greater impact on deriving measures than narrative comments. Multilevel logistic
      regression models revealed medical specialty, the frequency of report card use,
      and the appraisal of the trustworthiness of scaled-survey ratings to be
      significantly associated predictors for implementing measures to improve patient
      care because of online ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that online
      ratings displayed on physician-rating websites have an impact on patient care.
      Despite the limitations of our study and unintended consequences of physician
      rating websites, they still may have the potential to improve patient care.

PMID- 27644137
TI  - Randomized study of the clinical effects of omega-3 fatty acid-containing enteral
      nutrition support during neoadjuvant chemotherapy on chemotherapy-related
      toxicity in patients with esophageal cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Omega-3 (omega-3) fatty acids have potential positive effects during
      chemotherapy, such as body weight maintenance and muscle mass preservation.
      However, little is known about the effect this supplement might have on reducing
      chemotherapy-induced toxicities. The aim of this study was to determine the
      usefulness of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in the reduction of chemotherapy
      related toxicities. METHODS: Sixty-one patients undergoing neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy for esophageal cancer randomly received omega-3-rich enteral
      nutrition (EN; n = 31) or omega-3-poor EN support (n = 30) for 15 d during
      chemotherapy. The daily dosage of omega-3 fatty acids was 900 mg in the omega-3
      rich group and 250 mg in the omega-3-poor group. The primary endpoint was the
      frequency of grade 3/4 neutropenia, and secondary endpoints included other
      chemotherapy-related adverse events, body weight, and inflammatory markers.
      RESULTS: The total and dietary intake calories during chemotherapy were equal in
      both groups. There was no significant difference in the body weight change after
      chemotherapy between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the
      incidence of grade 3/4 leukopenia and neutropenia (P > 0.05). However, stomatitis
      was significantly less frequent in the omega-3-rich group, than in the omega-3
      poor group (P = 0.018). Grade 3/4 diarrhea occurred relatively less frequently in
      the omega-3-rich group than in the omega-3-poor group; however, this difference
      was not significant (16.1% versus 36.7%, respectively, P = 0.068). Increases in
      the aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were seen
      significantly less frequently in the omega-3-rich group than in the omega-3-poor
      group (P = 0.012 and P = 0.015, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: omega-3-rich EN
      support decreased the frequency of chemotherapy-induced mucosal toxicities, such
      as stomatitis and diarrhea, and exhibited a hepatoprotective effect during
      chemotherapy, compared with the omega-3-poor EN support.

PMID- 27644138
TI  - Exposure study to examine chemosensory effects of E-caprolactam in healthy men
      and women.
AB  - CONTEXT: epsilon-Caprolactam is an important industrial chemical with a
      relatively low human toxicity; of importance is the irritations that occur after
      exposure to epsilon-caprolactam as aerosols or vapors. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this
      study was to examine symptoms and objective effects, which occur on the mucous
      membranes of the eyes and the upper respiratory tract. METHODS: A total of 52
      healthy volunteers (26 women and 26 men, aged between 19 and 50 years) were
      exposed by random to different epsilon-caprolactam concentrations (0.05, 0.5 and
      5.0 mg/m3) and the control condition (0.0 mg/m3) for 6 h on four consecutive
      days. Eye blinking frequency, tear film break-up time, eye redness, nasal flows
      and resistance, olfactory function as well as total protein and interleukin-8 in
      nasal lavage fluid were determined daily before, during and after exposure.
      Questionnaires were used to record both subjective symptoms and personality
      factors. RESULTS: There were no significant specific effects on the subjective
      and objective endpoints examined. Statistical analysis yielded no evidence of
      concentration-response relationships. Evaluation of olfactory symptoms showed
      that the duration of the stay in the chamber and not the epsilon-caprolactam
      concentration was decisive for the perception of "impure air". Personality
      factors had no significant influence on the reported symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:
      Exposure to epsilon-caprolactam concentrations of 5.0 mg/m3 at maximum for 6 h
      did not cause chemosensory effects on the upper respiratory tract or eyes of
      healthy volunteers. Therefore, the concentration of 5.0 mg/m3 corresponds to the
      No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL).

PMID- 27644139
TI  - Paediatric burn unit in Portugal: Beds needed using a bed-day approach.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite the high burden of children with burns, there is not a
      paediatric burn unit (PBU) in Portugal. We aimed to estimate the Portuguese
      health care providing needs on paediatric burns. METHODS: We performed a nation
      wide retrospective study, between 2009 and 2013, among less than 16 years-old
      inpatients with burns that met the transfer criteria to a burn unit in Portugal.
      A bed-day approach was used, targeting an occupancy rate of 70-75%, and possible
      locations were studied. The primary outcome was the number of beds needed, and
      secondary outcomes were the overload and revenue for each possible number of beds
      in a PBU. RESULTS: A total of 1155 children met the transfer criteria to a burn
      unit, representing a total of 17,371 bed-days. Occupancy rates of 11-bed, 12-bed,
      13-bed and 14-bed PBU were, respectively, 79.7%, 75.3%, 71.0% and 66.8%. The 13
      bed PBU scenario would represent an overload of 523 bed-days, revenue of more
      than 5 million Euros and a ratio of 1 PBU bed per 123,409 children. CONCLUSIONS:
      Using a groundbreaking approach, the optimal number of PBU beds needed in
      Portugal is 13. However, as half of the patients who met burn transfer criteria
      are not transferred, this bed number might be overestimated if this pattern
      maintains, despite the underestimation with our method approach. If a PBU is to
      be created the preferable location is Porto. Cost-effectiveness studies should be
      performed.

PMID- 27644140
TI  - Species identification by experts and non-experts: comparing images from field
      guides.
AB  - Accurate species identification is fundamental when recording ecological data.
      However, the ability to correctly identify organisms visually is rarely
      questioned. We investigated how experts and non-experts compared in the
      identification of bumblebees, a group of insects of considerable conservation
      concern. Experts and non-experts were asked whether two concurrent bumblebee
      images depicted the same or two different species. Overall accuracy was below 60%
      and comparable for experts and non-experts. However, experts were more consistent
      in their answers when the same images were repeated, and more cautious in
      committing to a definitive answer. Our findings demonstrate the difficulty of
      correctly identifying bumblebees using images from field guides. Such error rates
      need to be accounted for when interpreting species data, whether or not they have
      been collected by experts. We suggest that investigation of how experts and non
      experts make observations should be incorporated into study design, and could be
      used to improve training in species identification.

PMID- 27644142
TI  - Alopecia universalis in a dog with testicular neoplasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of testicular neoplasia and alopecia universalis in
      a dog, and successful treatment of the latter with ciclosporin. ANIMAL: Twelve
      year-old intact male wirehaired fox terrier. METHODS: Castration, skin biopsy for
      histopathology, lymphocyte immunophenotyping and clonality analysis of the canine
      T-cell receptor gamma locus (TCRgamma) rearrangement. RESULTS: The dog presented
      with symmetrical generalized alopecia. Testicular enlargement was noted which on
      castration was determined to be caused by bilateral interstitial cell tumours,
      Sertoli cell tumours and a unilateral seminoma. During the four months after
      castration the alopecia became more severe and widespread. Histopathology of the
      skin showed moderate, multifocal, mural folliculitis, peribulbar mucinosis and
      lymphocytic bulbitis, and targeting of anagen hair follicles. Immunophenotyping
      of the infiltrate showed a population of well-differentiated, small CD3-positive
      T lymphocytes, some expressing CD4 and others CD8. Molecular analysis revealed a
      polyclonal lymphocytic infiltrate, substantiating the diagnosis of alopecia
      areata rather than lymphoma. Treatment with ciclosporin (4.6 mg/kg) and
      ketoconazole (4.6 mg/kg) resulted in complete hair regrowth. CONCLUSION AND
      CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Ciclosporin treatment, in combination with ketoconazole, can
      be effective for treatment of alopecia universalis in the dog. Alopecia
      universalis may present with clinically noninflammatory, symmetrical, generalized
      alopecia, mimicking an endocrine alopecia, and skin biopsies are needed to
      confirm the diagnosis.

PMID- 27644143
TI  - Up-regulation of neurofilament light chains is associated with diminished
      immunoreactivities for MAP2 and tau after ischemic stroke in rodents and in a
      human case.
AB  - As stroke therapies are still limited to a minority of patients, efforts have
      been intensified to an improved understanding of pathophysiological processes
      during ischemia formation, potentially allowing the development of specific
      therapeutic interventions. In this context, cytoskeletal elements became evident
      as key players during the transition process towards long-lasting tissue damage.
      This study focused on ischemia-related alterations of the cytoskeleton with a
      special focus on microtubule-associated proteins and neurofilament light chains
      (NF-L). Immunohistochemical analyses were applied to brain sections of mice and
      rats after experimental stroke and to autoptic samples from a stroke patient. To
      consider translational aspects, a thromboembolic model of stroke in rats, closely
      mimicking the human situation, was used in addition to the filament-based model
      of focal cerebral ischemia in mice. One day after ischemia onset,
      immunoreactivity of microtubule-associated protein tau and microtubule-associated
      protein-2 (MAP2) was reduced in ischemic areas. These findings were consistently
      present in the ischemia-affected striatum and the neocortex. In a quite opposite
      fashion, ischemic areas displayed NF-L-immunoreactivity in neuropathologically
      altered fibers, local agglomerations probably related to degraded cell bodies and
      neocortical pyramidal cells. Notably, up-regulation of NF-L was also confirmed in
      infarcted tissue from a human brain sample. Furthermore, analyses of rodent brain
      tissue revealed corkscrew curl-like fibers as a special feature of MAP2 in the
      ischemia-affected hippocampus. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for an
      opposite reaction of microtubule-associated proteins and neurofilaments after
      focal cerebral ischemia. Accordingly, cytoskeletal elements appear as a promising
      target for stroke treatment.

PMID- 27644145
TI  - A study on the reaction of 16-dehydropregnenolone acetate with 2
      aminobenzimidazole.
AB  - The condensation of 16-dehydropregnenolone acetate with 2-aminobenzimidazole was
      studied. The polycyclic aromatic product was formed as a single regioisomer in a
      cascade reaction comprising addition, cyclization, autoxidation, and
      aromatization, in addition to the rearranged D-homo product. The reaction
      mechanism based on DFT calculations is proposed.

PMID- 27644146
TI  - Crystalline arrays of side chain modified bile acids derivatives. Two novel self
      assemblies based on pi-pi and belly-to-belly interactions.
AB  - Crystalline derivatives of side chain modified bile acids were efficiently
      prepared from the naturally occurring steroids by palladium-catalyzed cross
      coupling reaction as a key step. The solvent-free crystalline bile acids
      derivatives 2b-e are readily accessed by slow evaporation from selected solvents.
      A variety of steroidal scaffolds were found and elucidated by SXRD studies. The
      crystal packing of the title compounds are dominated by hydrogen-bonding
      interactions established between differently positioned acetyl protecting groups,
      which in the case of 2b and 2e take advantage of the facial amphiphilicity
      producing two novel steroidal supramolecular self-assemblies combining pi-pi and
      strong facial interactions. Thus, these crystalline arrays of side chain modified
      bile acids represent promising scaffolds for research and implementation in
      biomolecular materials or inclusion phenomena.

PMID- 27644147
TI  - Herbal medicines: challenges in the modern world. Part 4. Canada and United
      States.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Similar to other nations North American people used herbs for
      thousands of years to treat diseases and purify their spirits. By the middle of
      the 1900s, evidence-based conventional medicine received wide acceptance in
      Canada and the United States (US). Nowadays, people are going back to their roots
      and actively using herbal medicines (HMs) and natural health products (NHPs).
      Areas covered: This article is focusing on use and regulation of the HMs and NHPs
      in Canada and the US, raises concerns regarding HM and NHP safety and efficacy,
      offers suggestions on how to overcome these problems. Materials available from
      legislative and governmental websites, PubMed and news media were used. Expert
      commentary: Use of HMs, especially dietary supplements is widespread among adults
      in Canada and US. HMs and NHPs are regulated in both countries, but minimum
      criteria for product approval and post-market surveillance have been set.
      Concerns of quality, contamination, adulteration, and efficacy in are of central
      importance in the discussion of HMs and NHPs. Detailed product description and
      research are of vital importance to ensure safety and efficacy of these products.
      Additionally, 'herbal' education of healthcare providers and patients is needed
      to guarantee further successful integration of HM and conventional medicines.

PMID- 27644148
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27644149
TI  - Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus: A Review for the Internist.
AB  - Herpes zoster ophthalmicus occurs due to reactivation of the varicella zoster
      virus in the ophthalmic branch of the fifth cranial nerve. This disease primarily
      affects the elderly as well as the immunocompromised and can result in a wide
      range of ophthalmic morbidity. Systemic antiviral therapy is the mainstay of
      treatment; however, consultation with an ophthalmologist is typically indicated.
      Herein we present a review of this common entity including epidemiology,
      pathophysiology, evaluation, treatment, follow-up, and an update on the current
      body of literature.

PMID- 27644150
TI  - Managing Increasing Liability Risks Related to Opioid Prescribing.

PMID- 27644152
TI  - Metabolic pathways in the periphery and brain: Contribution to mental disorders?
AB  - The association between mental disorders and diabetes has a long history. Recent
      large-scale, well-controlled epidemiological studies confirmed a link between
      diabetes and psychiatric illnesses. The scope of this review is to summarize our
      current understanding of this relationship from a molecular perspective. We first
      discuss the potential contribution of diabetes-associated metabolic impairments
      to the etiology of mental conditions. Then, we focus on possible shared molecular
      risk factors and mechanisms. Simple comorbidity, shared susceptibility loci, and
      common pathophysiological processes in diabetes and mental illnesses have changed
      our traditional way of thinking about mental illness. We conclude that
      schizophrenia and affective disorders are not limited to an imbalance in
      dopaminergic and serotoninergic neurotransmission in the brain. They are also
      systemic disorders that can be considered, to some extent, as metabolic
      disorders.

PMID- 27644153
TI  - CD4+Foxp3- type 1 regulatory T cells in glioblastoma multiforme suppress T cell
      responses through multiple pathways and are regulated by tumor-associated
      macrophages.
AB  - CD4+Foxp3- type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells are potent producers of interleukin 10
      (IL-10) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), through which they
      suppress pathogenic inflammation and autoimmune responses. The role of Tr1
      response in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is still unclear. Here, we examined the
      frequency, phenotype, induction mechanism, and function of Tr1 cells in GBM
      patients. Compared to healthy controls, GBM patients presented significantly
      higher frequency of Tr1 cells in peripheral blood. The Tr1 frequency was further
      elevated in the tumor. By surface marker expression, the Tr1 cells were enriched
      in the antigen-experienced effector/memory cell compartment. A minority of Tr1
      cells presented IL-10+TGF-beta+ double expression. Interestingly, naive
      CD4+CD45RA+ T cells could differentiate into IL-10- and TGF-beta-expressing
      cells, if incubated with tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) or with macrophages
      conditioned with primary glioma cells, suggesting that tumor cells and TAMs had a
      role in inducing Tr1 cells in GBM patients. Coculture of Tr1 cells with
      proinflammatory CD4+ T cells resulted in TGF-beta-dependent reduction of
      interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-10-dependent reduction of tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha), while coculture of Tr1 cells with CD8+ T cells resulted
      in lower tumor-specific cytotoxicity. Together, these results demonstrated an
      upregulation of Tr1 cells in GBM with anti-inflammatory functions.

PMID- 27644154
TI  - Cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor-1 causes dedifferentiation of rabbit
      articular chondrocytes via the ERK-1/2 and p38 kinase pathways.
AB  - Cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor-1 (CIAPIN-1, formally named anamorsin) is a
      well-known regulator of apoptosis in many different cell types. Recently, it has
      been reported that some anti-apoptotic proteins are involved with the regulation
      of cell differentiation. However, relatively little is known about the role of
      CIAPIN-1 on rabbit articular chondrocytes differentiation. In this study, we
      investigated the effects of CIAPIN-1 in chondrocytes, focusing on extracellular
      signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-1/2 and p38 kinase signaling. CIAPIN-1 caused
      dedifferentiation, as determined by the inhibition of type II collagen expression
      and sulfated-proteoglycan synthesis. CIAPIN-1 activated ERK-1/2 and inactivated
      p38 kinase, as determined by the phosphorylation level of each protein. CIAPIN-1
      induced ERK phosphorylation was abolished by the MEK inhibitor, PD98059, which
      also prevented the CIAPIN-1-induced loss of type II collagen expression.
      Inhibition of p38 kinase with SB203580 enhanced the decrease in type II collagen
      expression. Our findings collectively suggest that ERK-1/2 and p38 kinase
      regulate CIAPIN-1-induced dedifferentiation in rabbit articular chondrocytes.

PMID- 27644155
TI  - Understanding bat SARS-like coronaviruses for the preparation of future
      coronavirus outbreaks - Implications for coronavirus vaccine development.
AB  - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) first emerged in
      2003, causing the SARS epidemic which resulted in a 10% fatality rate. The
      advancements in metagenomic techniques have allowed the identification of SARS
      like coronaviruses (SL-CoVs) sequences that share high homology to the human SARS
      CoV epidemic strains from wildlife bats, presenting concrete evidence that bats
      are the origin and natural reservoir of SARS-CoV. The application of reverse
      genetics further enabled that characterization of these bat CoVs and the
      prediction of their potential to cause disease in humans. The knowledge gained
      from such studies is valuable in the surveillance and preparation of a possible
      future outbreak caused by a spill-over of these bat SL-CoVs.

PMID- 27644157
TI  - Iridium-Catalyzed Direct ortho-C-H Amidation of Benzaldehydes through N-Sulfonyl
      Imines as Mask.
AB  - Ir-catalyzed direct C-H sulfamidation of benzaldehydes has been achieved. A
      series of ortho-amided benzaldehydes were obtained in up to 95% yields for 21
      examples with excellent regioselectivity and broad functional group tolerance.
      This transformation could proceed smoothly with low catalyst loading under
      external-oxidant-, acid-, or base-free conditions. Molecular nitrogen was
      released as the sole byproduct, providing an environmentally benign sulfamidation
      process.

PMID- 27644158
TI  - Candida albicans Dbf4-dependent Cdc7 kinase plays a novel role in the inhibition
      of hyphal development.
AB  - Candida albicans is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen. The ability to switch
      among multiple cellular forms is key to its pathogenesis. The Dbf4-dependent
      protein kinase gene CDC7 is conserved due to its role in initiating DNA
      replication. Because a C. albicans Cdc7 (Cacdc7) homozygous null was not viable,
      we generated a C. albicans strain with a deleted C. albicans CDC7 (CaCDC7) allele
      and an expression-repressible allele. Surprisingly, cells of the strain grew as
      hyphae under the repressed conditions. The in vitro kinase assays confirmed that
      CaCdc7 (K232) and CaCdc7 (T437) are critical for catalytic and phosphoacceptor of
      activation activity, respectively. C. albicans cells formed hyphae when
      expressing either the catalytically inactive CaCdc7 (K232R) or the
      phosphoacceptor-deficient CaCdc7 (T437A). While CaCdc7 interacted with CaDbf4,
      cells of the strain in which CaCDC7 was repressed were not rescued by
      constitutively expressing C. albicans DBF4 or vice versa. We conclude that CaDBF4
      dependent CaCDC7 is an essential gene suppressing the hyphal development.

PMID- 27644164
TI  - Cellular and molecular mechanisms triggered by Deep Brain Stimulation in
      depression: A preclinical and clinical approach.
AB  - Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) was originally developed as a therapeutic approach
      to manage movement disorders, in particular Parkinson's Disease. However, DBS
      also seems to be an effective treatment against refractory depression when
      patients fail to respond satisfactorily to conventional therapies. Thus, DBS
      targeting specific brain areas can produce an antidepressant response that
      improves depressive symptomatology, these areas including the subcallosal
      cingulate region, nucleus accumbens, ventral capsule/ventral striatum, medial
      forebrain bundle, the inferior thalamic peduncle and lateral habenula. Although
      the efficacy and safety of this therapy has been demonstrated in some clinical
      trials and preclinical studies, the intrinsic mechanisms underlying its
      antidepressant effect remain poorly understood. This review aims to provide a
      comprehensive overview of DBS, focusing on the molecular and cellular changes
      reported after its use that could shed light on the mechanisms underpinning its
      antidepressant effect. Several potential mechanisms of action of DBS are
      considered, including monoaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission,
      neurotrophic and neuroinflammatory mechanisms, as well as potential effects on
      certain intracellular signaling pathways. Although future studies will be
      necessary to determine the key molecular events underlying the antidepressant
      effect of DBS, the findings presented provide an insight into some of its
      possible modes of action.

PMID- 27644162
TI  - Effects of continuous positive airway pressure and isocapnic-hypoxia on cerebral
      autoregulation in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Altered cerebral autoregulation (CA) in obstructive sleep apnoea
      (OSA) patients may contribute to increased stroke risk in this population; the
      gold standard treatment for OSA is continuous positive airway pressure, which
      improves cerebrovascular regulation and may decrease the risk of stroke.
      Isocapnic-hypoxia impairs CA in healthy subjects, but it remains unknown in OSA
      whether impaired CA is further exacerbated by isocapnic-hypoxia and whether it is
      improved by treatment with continuous positive airway pressure. During normoxia,
      CA was altered in the more severe but not in the less severe OSA patients, while,
      in contrast, during isocapnic-hypoxia, CA was similar between groups and tended
      to improve in patients with more severe OSA compared to normoxia. From a clinical
      perspective, one month of continuous positive airway pressure treatment does not
      improve CA. From a physiological perspective, this study suggests that
      sympathetic overactivity may be responsible for altered CA in the more severe OSA
      patients. ABSTRACT: Cerebral autoregulation (CA) impairment may contribute to the
      increased risk of stroke associated with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). It is
      unknown if impaired CA is further exacerbated by isocapnic-hypoxia and whether it
      is improved by treatment of OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).
      CA was assessed during wakefulness in 53 OSA patients (50.3 +/- 9.3 years) and 21
      controls (49.8 +/- 8.6 years) at baseline and following a minimum of 1 month of
      effective CPAP therapy (OSA patients, n = 40). Control participants (n = 21)
      performed a follow-up visit to control for time effects within OSA patients
      between baseline and the post-CPAP visit. Beat-by-beat middle cerebral artery
      blood flow velocity and mean arterial blood pressure (MBP), and breath-by-breath
      end-tidal partial pressure of CO2 (P ET ,CO2) were monitored. CA was determined
      during normoxia and isocapnic-hypoxia using transfer function (phase and gain)
      and coherence analysis (including multiple and partial coherence (using MBP and P
      ET ,CO2 as inputs)) in the very low frequency range (0.03-0.07 Hz). OSA patients
      were divided into two subgroups (less severe and more severe) based upon the
      median respiratory disturbance index (RDI). During normoxia, the more severe OSA
      patients (RDI 45.9 +/- 10.3) exhibited altered CA compared to controls and the
      less severe OSA patients (RDI 24.5 +/- 5.9). In contrast, during isocapnic
      hypoxia, CA was similar between groups. CPAP had no effect on CA. In conclusion,
      CA is altered in the more severe OSA patients during normoxia but not during
      isocapnic-hypoxia and CPAP treatment does not impact CA.

PMID- 27644166
TI  - Intravenous alpha-1 antitrypsin augmentation therapy for treating patients with
      alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and lung disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is an inherited disorder that can
      cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). People who smoke are more
      seriously affected and have a greater risk of dying from the disease. Therefore,
      the primary treatment is to help people give up smoking. There are now also
      preparations available that contain alpha-1 antitrypsin, but it is uncertain what
      their clinical effect is. OBJECTIVES: To review the benefits and harms of
      augmentation therapy with intravenous alpha-1 antitrypsin in patients with alpha
      1 antitrypsin deficiency and lung disease. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed and
      ClinicalTrials.gov to 25 March 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised
      trials of augmentation therapy with alpha-1 antitrypsin compared with placebo or
      no treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The two review authors independently
      selected trials, extracted outcome data and assessed the risk of bias. MAIN
      RESULTS: We included three trials (283 participants in the analyses) that ran for
      two to three years. All participants were ex- or never-smokers and had genetic
      variants that carried a high risk of developing COPD. Only one trial reported
      mortality data (one person of 93 died in the treatment group and three of 87 died
      in the placebo group). There was no information on harms in the oldest trial.
      Another trial reported serious adverse events in 10 participants in the treatment
      group and 18 participants in the placebo group. In the most recent trial, serious
      adverse events occurred in 28 participants in each group. None of the trials
      reported mean number of lung infections or hospital admissions. In the two trials
      that reported exacerbations, there were more exacerbations in the treatment group
      than in the placebo group, but the results of both trials included the
      possibility of no difference. Quality of life was similar in the two groups.
      Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) deteriorated more in participants
      in the treatment group than in the placebo group but the confidence interval (CI)
      included no difference (standardised mean difference -0.19, 95% CI -0.42 to 0.05;
      P = 0.12). For carbon monoxide diffusion, the difference was -0.11
      mmol/minute/kPa (95% CI -0.35 to 0.12; P = 0.34). Lung density measured by
      computer tomography (CT) scan deteriorated significantly less in the treatment
      group than in the placebo group (mean difference (MD) 0.86 g/L, 95% CI 0.31 to
      1.42; P = 0.002). Several secondary outcomes were unreported in the largest and
      most recent trial whose authors had numerous financial conflicts of interest.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review update added one new study and 143 new
      participants, but the conclusions remain unchanged. Due to sparse data, we could
      not arrive at a conclusion about the impact of augmentation therapy on mortality,
      exacerbations, lung infections, hospital admission and quality of life, and there
      was uncertainty about possible harms. Therefore, it is our opinion that
      augmentation therapy with alpha-1 antitrypsin cannot be recommended.

PMID- 27644167
TI  - Oral stimulation for promoting oral feeding in preterm infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preterm infants (< 37 weeks' postmenstrual age) are often delayed in
      attaining oral feeding. Normal oral feeding is suggested as an important outcome
      for the timing of discharge from the hospital and can be an early indicator of
      neuromotor integrity and developmental outcomes. A range of oral stimulation
      interventions may help infants to develop sucking and oromotor co-ordination,
      promoting earlier oral feeding and earlier hospital discharge. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine the effectiveness of oral stimulation interventions for attainment of
      oral feeding in preterm infants born before 37 weeks' postmenstrual age (PMA).To
      conduct subgroup analyses for the following prespecified subgroups.* Extremely
      preterm infants born at < 28 weeks' PMA.* Very preterm infants born from 28 to <
      32 weeks' PMA.* Infants breast-fed exclusively.* Infants bottle-fed exclusively.*
      Infants who were both breast-fed and bottle-fed. SEARCH METHODS: We used the
      standard search strategy of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group to search the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE via PubMed
      (1966 to 25 February 2016), Embase (1980 to 25 February 2016) and the Cumulative
      Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL; 1982 to 25 February 2016).
      We searched clinical trials databases, conference proceedings and the reference
      lists of retrieved articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and quasi-randomised
      controlled trials comparing a defined oral stimulation intervention with no
      intervention, standard care, sham treatment or non-oral intervention in preterm
      infants and reporting at least one of the specified outcomes. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: One review author searched the databases and identified studies for
      screening. Two review authors screened the abstracts of these studies and full
      text copies when needed to identify trials for inclusion in the review. All
      review authors independently extracted the data and analysed each study for risk
      of bias across the five domains of bias. All review authors discussed and
      analysed the data and used the GRADE system to rate the quality of the evidence.
      Review authors divided studies into two groups for comparison: intervention
      versus standard care and intervention versus other non-oral or sham intervention.
      We performed meta-analysis using a fixed-effect model. MAIN RESULTS: This review
      included 19 randomised trials with a total of 823 participants. Almost all
      included trials had several methodological weaknesses. Meta-analysis showed that
      oral stimulation reduced the time to transition to oral feeding compared with
      standard care (mean difference (MD) -4.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.56 to 
      4.06 days) and compared with another non-oral intervention (MD -9.01, 95% CI 
      10.30 to -7.71 days), as well as the duration of initial hospitalisation compared
      with standard care (MD -5.26, 95% CI -7.34 to -3.19 days) and compared with
      another non-oral intervention (MD -9.01, 95% CI -10.30 to -7.71
      days).Investigators reported shorter duration of parenteral nutrition for infants
      compared with standard care (MD -5.30, 95% CI -9.73 to -0.87 days) and compared
      with another non-oral intervention (MD -8.70, 95% CI -15.46 to -1.94 days). They
      could identify no effect on breast-feeding outcomes nor on weight gain. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Although the included studies suggest that oral stimulation shortens
      hospital stay, days to exclusive oral feeding and duration of parenteral
      nutrition, one must interpret results of these studies with caution, as risk of
      bias and poor methodological quality are high overall. Well-designed trials of
      oral stimulation interventions for preterm infants are warranted. Such trials
      should use reliable methods of randomisation while concealing treatment
      allocation, blinding caregivers to treatment when possible and paying particular
      attention to blinding of outcome assessors.

PMID- 27644170
TI  - Discrepancies between self- and adult-perceptions of social competence in
      children with neuropsychiatric disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study examines discrepancies between self- and adult
      perceptions of social competence in children with attention deficit-hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and possible co-morbid
      disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD). METHOD: Self-reported questionnaires were
      collected from multiple informants at the baseline of a multi-systemic family
      intervention programme for children (aged 5-12) with ADHD, ASD and possible co
      morbid DBD. In total, out of the 154 families eligible for the study, information
      was received concerning children from 124 families (children n = 121; mothers n =
      117; fathers n = 86; teachers n = 97). In addition to this, a comparison
      community sample of 318 school-aged children (approximately 10 years old) was
      utilized to examine the perceptions of children's social competence across
      intervention and population groups in more detail. RESULTS: Children's self
      perceptions in the prosocial dimension of social competence (i.e. cooperating
      skills, empathy) did not differ between the intervention and comparison groups.
      Interestingly, the children in the intervention sample expressed more impulsivity
      and disruptiveness - the antisocial dimension of social competence - when
      compared with the children in the comparison sample. Adult ratings demonstrated
      that mothers, fathers and teachers reported decreased prosocial behaviour and
      increased antisocial behaviour across overall dimensions and sub-dimensions when
      compared with adults' ratings of elementary school children. Informant
      discrepancies between self-ratings and adult ratings across intervention groups
      yielded significant effect sizes (eta-squared) across all domains of social
      competence ranging from .09 to .25. CONCLUSION: Children's positive self-ratings
      of social competence relative to adult ratings increased within intervention
      sample when compared with population sample. The intervention sample children
      appeared to acknowledge their social competence deficits, yet self-perceptions
      were inflated relative to adult ratings when focusing on peer relationship
      difficulties, particularly, aggression to peers.

PMID- 27644171
TI  - [Emerging infectious agents].
AB  - Emergence of many emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases have occurred over
      the past decade, some of which are major public threat. SARS, MERS-CoV, highly
      pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1), Ebola virus disease have raised concerns
      because of their virulence, their mortality, and/or their modality of
      transmission, or their impact on maternofoetal transmission (Zika virus). The
      witness of these emergences have conducted health authorities to have policies
      and plans and to imagine new organizations for health systems in order to
      identify any case of highly communicable virulent disease for immediate
      isolation, and adequate management.

PMID- 27644172
TI  - [Feasibility study for Intercept platelets].
AB  - During 3 months, platelet concentrates prepared by "Etablissement francais du
      sang Pyrenees-Mediterranee" (Blood bank) were treated with the Intercept process
      (CERUS(c)). This study primarily aimed to measure the organizational impact of
      this technology on transfusion chain. The introduction of Intercept did not raise
      any major difficulties, but required some adaptations upstream from the
      deployment. Prior information of health care institutions and physician was
      essential to anticipate the practical changes, including the prescription of
      platelet concentrates (CMV negative, irradiation). This study allowed to analyze
      also the transfusion consequences for patients, in the form of observational
      studies. The patients transfused with platelet concentrates treated with
      Intercept received more platelet concentrates (+12.9%), less rich in platelets (
      12.8%), the cumulated quantity of platelet being stable.

PMID- 27644173
TI  - [The role of point-of-care platelet function testing in guiding platelet
      transfusion].
AB  - Several point-of-care platelet function devices are available and may be used to
      assess the effect of antiplatelet drugs. With a view to streamlining the
      management of bleeding and transfusion, these tests might be a support for
      platelet transfusion. However, their current place to guide transfusion is still
      unclear and their routine use cannot be recommended.

PMID- 27644174
TI  - Advanced dental maturity of Finnish 6- to 12-yr-old children is associated with
      high energy intake.
AB  - We studied the association of dental maturity with body mass index (BMI), energy
      intake, and macronutrient intake. A randomly selected subset (n = 148) of the
      Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP) was invited to an
      oral follow-up study, and the 6- and 12-yr-examination data (n = 111, 60 boys)
      were used. Food records for four consecutive days and BMI values were extracted
      from the databank of the main STRIP project. The developmental stage of seven
      permanent mandibular teeth was assessed using panoramic radiographs. The
      resulting maturity scores were converted to dental age estimates. Three dental
      maturity groups (delayed, average, and advanced) and two BMI groups [normal BMI
      (<=mean+1SD) and high BMI (>mean+1SD)] were formed. The dental age was higher
      than the chronological age by 0.6-0.8 yr. Maturity scores for girls were
      statistically significantly higher than for boys. The distribution of girls into
      dental-maturity groups at age 12 yr was different from that of the boys and there
      were more boys than girls among the high-BMI group. Children of the advanced
      dental-maturity group had a statistically significantly higher energy intake than
      children in the other groups. We conclude that advanced dental maturity is
      associated with higher energy intake.

PMID- 27644175
TI  - Locus of control, anxiety, and depression in infertile patients.
AB  - This study aimed to examine the relationship of locus of control (LoC) with
      anxiety and depression disorders, applying multivariate statistical techniques to
      control for the effects of demographic/fertility variables. This cross-sectional
      study included 312 infertile patients in a referral fertility center in Tehran,
      Iran via convenience sampling. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the
      Levenson's Locus of Control Scale were administered to all participants.
      Hierarchical multiple linear regressions were used to identify factors associated
      with anxiety and depression. After controlling for demographic/fertility
      variables, hierarchical regression analyses showed that internal LoC was
      negatively associated with anxiety (beta = -.213, p < .001) and depression (beta
      = -.269, p < .001). Powerful others subscale was positively associated with
      anxiety (beta = .176, p < .001), but there was no significant relationship
      between this subscale and depression (beta = .047, p = .467). The findings of
      this study merit the understanding of the role of demographic/fertility
      characteristics and LoC orientations in anxiety and depression of infertile
      patients to identify beforehand those patients who might be at risk of
      experiencing high anxiety and depression and in need of support.

PMID- 27644176
TI  - Editorial: Our impact factor and the digitalization of dentistry.

PMID- 27644177
TI  - Development of a digital impression procedure using photogrammetry for complete
      denture fabrication.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We developed an innovative procedure for digitizing maxillary
      edentulous residual ridges with a photogrammetric system capable of estimating
      three-dimensional (3D) digital forms from multiple two-dimensional (2D) digital
      images. The aim of this study was to validate the effectiveness of the
      photogrammetric system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Impressions of the maxillary
      residual ridges of five edentulous patients were taken with four kinds of
      procedures: three conventional impression procedures and the photogrammetric
      system. Plaster models were fabricated from conventional impressions and
      digitized with a 3D scanner. Two 3D forms out of four forms were superimposed
      with 3D inspection software, and differences were evaluated using a least squares
      best fit algorithm. RESULTS: The in vitro experiment suggested that better
      imaging conditions were in the horizontal range of +/- 15 degrees and at a
      vertical angle of 45 degrees. The mean difference between the photogrammetric
      image (Form A) and the image taken from conventional preliminarily impression
      (Form C) was 0.52 +/- 0.22 mm. The mean difference between the image taken of
      final impression through a special tray (Form B) and Form C was 0.26 +/- 0.06 mm.
      The mean difference between the image taken from conventional final impression
      (Form D) and Form C was 0.25 +/- 0.07 mm. The difference between Forms A and C
      was significantly larger than the differences between Forms B and C and between
      Forms D and C. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that obtaining
      digital impressions of edentulous residual ridges using a photogrammetric system
      is feasible and available for clinical use.

PMID- 27644178
TI  - Accuracy of four different digital intraoral scanners: effects of the presence of
      orthodontic brackets and wire.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the accuracy of four
      different digital intraoral scanners and the effects of buccal brackets and
      orthodontic wire. METHODS: For this study, three sets of models (Control model,
      BKT model with buccal bracket, and WBKT model with buccal bracket and orthodontic
      wire) were scanned using four different types of intraoral scanners: E4D dentist,
      iTero, Trios, and Zfx IntraScan. The mesiodistal width of the teeth, intercanine
      width, and intermolar width measured by four scanners were compared. Three
      dimensional (3D) images of the brackets were taken using the four scanners. Data
      were analyzed with one-way ANOVA, independent t test, and post-hoc Tukey test at
      a significance level of P < 0.05. RESULTS: When comparing the 3D images with
      manual measurements using a traditional caliper, iTero and Trios showed the
      highest accuracy in horizontal measurements.iTero had the lowest values in Devmax
      min of maxillary intermolar and intercanine widths (0.16 mm and 0.20 mm,
      respectively), whereas Trios had the lowest values in Devmax-min of mandibular
      intermolar and intercanine widths (0.36 mm and 0.14 mm, respectively). The
      horizontal variables were barely affected by the presence of buccal brackets and
      orthodontic wire. Comparison of 3D bracket images scanned by the four scanners
      showed differences in image distortion among the scanners. Bracket
      characteristics did not affect the 3D bracket images. CONCLUSIONS: The four
      intraoral scanners used in this study differed in accuracy. However, the results
      acquired by iTero and Trios were more reliable. Effects of buccal brackets and
      orthodontic wire on the 3D images taken by intraoral scanners were not clinically
      significant.

PMID- 27644179
TI  - The use of mobile 3D scanners in maxillofacial surgery.
AB  - There are many possibilities for the use of three-dimensional (3D) scanners in
      maxillofacial surgery. This study aimed to investigate whether the bundling and
      syncing of two 3D scanners has advantages over single-scanner acquisition in
      terms of scan quality and the time required to scan an object. Therefore, the
      speed and precision of 3D data acquisition with one scanner versus two synced
      scanners was measured in 30 subjects. This was done by analyzing the results
      obtained by scanning test objects attached to the forehead and cheeks of the
      subjects. Statistical methods included the Student t test for paired samples.
      Single-scanner recording resulted in significantly lower mean error of
      measurement than synced recording with two scanners for length (P < 0.001), all
      frontal/lateral plane angles (P = 0.034, P < 0.001, P = 0.002, P = 0.003), and
      side/side plane angles (P = 0.014, P < 0.001, P = 0.015, P = 0.011) of the test
      object on the cheek. Likewise, the single-scanner method resulted in a
      significantly lowermean error of measurement than the two-scanner method for
      frontal/lower plane angles (P < 0.001), right/lower plane angles (P < 0.001), and
      left/lower plane angles (P = 0.002). Conversely, synced recording of data with
      two scanners resulted in a significant reduction of scanning time (P < 0.001).
      Compared to data acquisition with a single 3D scanner, the bundling of two 3D
      scanners resulted in faster scanning times but lower scan quality. 

PMID- 27644180
TI  - The face scan as a means for the visualization of complex prosthetic
      reconstructions.
AB  - The face scan can serve as a means for the visualization of planes relevant for
      extensive prosthetic reconstructions. The key prerequisite is the availability of
      data in stl format for further processing in different software programs. The
      method is described in this article by a patient case. 

PMID- 27644181
TI  - Long-term Cerec 3D chairside bridges milled from IPS e.max CAD LT blocks.
AB  - The experienced Cerec user can manufacture high-quality, esthetic anterior and
      posterior bridges from IPS e.max CAD in a manageable 3-hour chairside session. On
      the basis of over 8 years of experience, it can be said that these restorations
      are clinically very well proven, provided they are used within the range of
      recommended indications. Experimental retainer bridges with extensions can be
      seen as highly interesting alternatives, although more clinical data are required
      for further confirmation. 

PMID- 27644182
TI  - Final restoration of implants with a hybrid ceramic superstructure.
AB  - The use of materials with elastic properties for the fabrication of dental
      implant superstructures seems to be a promising way to reduce the functional
      occlusal forces on implants. Vita Enamic (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Sackingen), a
      hybrid ceramic material for CAD/CAM technology, is available in a special form
      that can be relatively easily combined with titanium (Ti) base connectors for the
      fabrication of abutment crowns and mesostructures. Thus, an easily manageable
      method is available for reducing peak loads on dental implant fixtures.
      Representative cases are presented to demonstrate the clinical workflows for a
      single- element solution (Ti base) and two-element solution (Ti base with
      mesostructure) for implant-supported crowns. 

PMID- 27644192
TI  - Efficacy of pimobendan on survival and reoccurrence of pulmonary edema in canine
      congestive heart failure.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pimobendan with
      conventional therapies on survival and reocurrence of pulmonary edema in dogs
      with congestive heart failure (CHF) caused by myxomatous mitral valve disease
      (MMVD). Records of 197 client-owned dogs from 14 veterinary hospitals were
      included in this study. Dogs were administered conventional treatments with or
      without pimobendan. Sixty-four dogs received a standard dose of pimobendan (0.20
      0.48 mg/kg every 12 hr (q12hr)), 49 dogs received a low dose of pimobendan (0.05
      0.19 mg/kg q12hr), and 84 dogs received conventional therapy alone. Dogs in the
      standard-dose and low-dose pimobendan groups had significantly longer median
      survival times than dogs in the conventional group (334, 277 and 136 days,
      respectively; P<0.001). The reoccurrence rate of pulmonary edema in the standard
      dose group was significantly lower than in the low-dose and conventional groups
      (43%, 59% and 62%, respectively; P<0.05). Combination of pimobendan with a
      conventional treatment regimen significantly prolonged survival time after an
      initial episode of pulmonary edema in dogs with CHF caused by MMVD. There was no
      difference in survival between dogs administered standard and low doses of
      pimobendan, but pimobendan did prevent the reoccurrence of pulmonary edema in a
      dose-dependent manner.

PMID- 27644194
TI  - KH-type splicing regulatory protein (KHSRP) contributes to tumorigenesis by
      promoting miR-26a maturation in small cell lung cancer.
AB  - KH-type splicing regulatory protein (KHSRP) is a multifunctional RNA-binding
      protein that has a role in tumorigenesis of small cell lung cancer. The KHSRP
      protein level was shown to be significantly increased in small cell lung cancer
      (SCLC) tumor tissues compared with normal lung tissues by immunohistochemical
      staining. Moreover, KHSRP protein levels were strongly associated with T stage in
      patients with SCLC. Using in vitro assays, we found that knockdown of the KHSRP
      gene inhibited cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis but had no effect
      on cell migration and invasion. We also showed that down-regulation of the KHSRP
      gene suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Further analyses indicated that KHSRP was
      involved in miR-26a maturation and inhibited the expression of PTEN in SCLC
      cells. Taken together, these findings suggested that KHSRP plays an important
      role in SCLC tumorigenesis and could be a potential novel therapeutic target for
      SCLC treatment.

PMID- 27644195
TI  - Involvement of microRNA-141-3p in 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin chemo-resistance
      in esophageal cancer cells via regulation of PTEN.
AB  - microRNAs (miRNAs) act as a major regulator of acquired chemo-resistance in
      various types of cancer therapeutics. This study investigated the contribution of
      miRNAs in influencing multiple drug resistance in esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC). The sensitivity of four ESCC cell lines (EC109, EC9706, TE-1
      and KYSE-150) to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaliplatin (OX) was determined by MTT
      assay. A 5-FU and OX-resistant subline, EC9706R, was established by continuous
      exposure to stepwise increasing concentration of 5-FU and OX. Microarray
      technology was used to compare the differential expression of miRNAs between
      resistant cells and parental cells. Chemo-sensitivity assay was performed to
      evaluate drug response in EC9706R cells transfected with miRNA mimic or
      inhibitor. The direct targets of miRNA were identified by employing pathway
      analysis and then confirmed with luciferase assay. Sixty ESCC tissue samples and
      their paired adjacent normal tissues were collected to validate the expression of
      identified miRNA. Mouse models were further utilized to investigate the function
      of miRNA on acquired chemo-resistance. MicroRNA panel results indicated that a
      total of 12 miRNAs were differentially expressed and miR-141-3p was highly over
      expressed in resistant cells. Inhibition of miR-141-3p reversed acquired chemo
      resistance in EC9706R cells by stimulating apoptosis. The expression of miR-141
      3p was significantly increased in ESCC tissue samples compared to their matched
      distant normal tissues. In addition, the elevated miR-141-3p expression was found
      to be associated with ESCC differentiation status and TNM stage. Moreover,
      Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was identified as direct target of miR-141
      3p. Western blot exhibited altered protein levels of PTEN, Akt, and PI3k with miR
      141-3p inhibitor. An inverse correlation between PTEN expression and miR-141-3p
      expression was also observed in tissue samples. EC9706R xenograft mouse model
      became sensitized to 5-FU and OX treatment following miR-141-3p inhibitor
      transfection in vivo. Our study demonstrated that miR-141-3p contributed to an
      acquired chemo-resistance through PTEN modulation both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27644222
TI  - Biphasic cuirass ventilation for treatment of an air leak after pneumothorax in a
      patient with nemaline myopathy: a case report.
AB  - We describe an 11-year-old boy with nemaline myopathy who developed tension
      pneumothorax while undergoing noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV).
      The patient developed a persistent air leak after pleurodesis with minocycline
      hydrochloride and lowering of the NIPPV inspiratory pressure. He required
      additional respiratory support without the high airway pressures that may
      aggravate pneumothorax. We provided adequate respiratory support without
      increasing the positive airway pressure using biphasic cuirass ventilation (BCV),
      which moved the patient's chest wall by negative pressure. The air leak was
      resolved without any additional treatment. We should provide BCV for patients in
      whom surgery may have a risk of both extubation failure and postoperative
      complications before deciding on surgery.

PMID- 27644223
TI  - Mitral valve repair facilitated with transapical beating heart NeoChord
      implantation in a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient.
AB  - Elderly patients with severe hematological malignancies may require cardiac
      surgery. The combined impact of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and surgical trauma
      is a potent inflammatory activator and is increased by intraoperative and
      postoperative complications. To avoid the adverse effects of CPB, minimally
      invasive off-pump techniques may be used in these patients. The transapical off
      pump mitral valve intervention with NeoChord implantation (TOP-MINI) is a
      minimally invasive technique for mitral valve repair, which makes it possible to
      avoid the risks of CPB in selected patients, such as elderly, cancer or
      immunosuppressive patients. We report here the case of a 78-year-old male with B
      cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, who presented with severe mitral regurgitation. The
      patient was successfully treated with the TOP-MINI procedure.

PMID- 27644230
TI  - Abstract SIU 2016 Buenos Aires, Argentina book.

PMID- 27644229
TI  - Dutasteride for the prevention of prostate cancer in men with high-grade
      prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia: results of a phase III randomized open-label
      3-year trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) is a potential
      precursor of prostate cancer (PCa), and patients with HGPIN are at high risk for
      PCa development. Objective of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of
      dutasteride 0.5 mg in PCa prevention among men with isolated HGPIN on biopsy.
      METHODS: This prospective, randomized, phase III, open-label 3-year trial
      assessed dutasteride versus active surveillance in patients with HGPIN. Patients
      were randomized to dutasteride 0.5 mg daily or active surveillance. Per-protocol
      prostate biopsies were performed at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months until cancer
      detection or study end. The primary end point was cancer-free survival (CFS). An
      intention-to-treat analysis was done for patients who underwent at least one per
      protocol biopsy. An efficacy analysis was done for patients who completed the
      study. CFS was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier and log-rank analysis. RESULTS: In
      total, 220 men were randomized (dutasteride, n = 107; surveillance, n = 113). PCa
      was detected in 47.6: 49.1 % in the surveillance group and 45.9 % in the
      treatment group (p = 0.66). The detected PCa differentiation by Gleason score
      (GS) was GS 6 in 76.9 %, GS 7 in 19.8 %, and GS >= 8 in 3.3 %, with no difference
      between groups. The 3-year PCa-free survival was 43.6 % in the surveillance and
      49.6 % in the dutasteride group (log rank p = 0.57). Limitations include a
      relatively high non-adherence rate, open-label design, and baseline sextant
      biopsy scheme. CONCLUSIONS: Dutasteride 0.5 mg for 3 years did not lower the PCa
      detection rate but did not worsen detected PCa characteristics in men with HGPIN.

PMID- 27644231
TI  - Prostate cancer trends in Asia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Differences in the incidence and mortality rates for prostate
      cancer between East and West are clearly defined, with higher rates in the West
      and lower rates in the East. Treatment methods are generally selected in
      accordance with general practice guidelines, but the current reality in Asia is
      that there is not sufficient clinical data to set Asia-specific guidelines for
      treatment. This leads to a situation whereby for the large part guidelines based
      on scientific evidence accumulated in Western countries are followed, but from
      time to time cases are encountered when such guidelines may not be considered to
      be the most appropriate for the case at hand. METHODS AND RESULTS: Although there
      is a relatively large volume of clinical evidence relating to endocrine therapy
      in Asia, the treatment choices and effects differ to those in the West. These
      regional differences are thought to be due to various factors, including not only
      differences in genetic background, but also distinct differences in the living
      and healthcare environments. If the differences between East and West in terms of
      trends in prostate cancer could be examined, with positive aspects being adopted
      and negative aspects being improved, this could also be expected to be of use in
      developing a better treatment strategy for prostate cancer. The exchanging of
      information on a broader, global level will enable improvements in prevention,
      diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: It is in pursuit of this
      objective that it is important to promote high-quality clinical trials and joint
      epidemiological studies in Asia and work to accumulate data that are comparable
      to data available in Western countries.

PMID- 27644232
TI  - Legalise medicinal cannabis, MPs urge.

PMID- 27644235
TI  - High-Yield Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of Few-Layer MoS2
      Nanosheets by Exfoliating Natural Molybdenite Powders Directly via a Coupled
      Ultrasonication-Milling Process.
AB  - Cost-effective and scalable preparation of two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum
      disulfide (MoS2) has been the bottleneck that limits their applications. This
      paper reports a novel coupled ultrasonication-milling (CUM) process to exfoliate
      natural molybdenite powders to achieve few-layer MoS2 (FL-MoS2) nanosheets in the
      solvent of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)
      molecules. The synergistic effect of ultrasonication and sand milling highly
      enhanced the exfoliation efficiency, and the precursor of natural molybdenite
      powders minimizes the synthetic cost of FL-MoS2 nanosheets. The exfoliation of
      natural molybdenite powders was conducted in a home-made CUM system, mainly
      consisting of an ultrasonic cell disruptor and a ceramic sand mill. The samples
      were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-vis spectra, Raman spectra, FT-IR,
      SEM, TEM, AFM, and N2 adsorption-desorption. The factors that influence the
      exfoliation in the CUM process, including the initial concentration of natural
      molybdenite powders (C in, 15-55 g L(-1)), ultrasonic power (P u, 200-350 W),
      rotation speed of sand mill (omega s, 1500-2250 r.p.m), exfoliation time (t ex,
      0.5-6 h), and the molar ratio of PVP unit to MoS2 (R pm, 0-1), were
      systematically investigated. Under the optimal CUM conditions (i.e., C in = 45 g
      L(-1), P u = 280 W, omega s = 2250 r.p.m and R pm = 0.5), the yield at t ex = 6 h
      reaches 21.6 %, and the corresponding exfoliation rate is as high as 1.42 g L(-1)
      h(-1). The exfoliation efficiency of the CUM mode is much higher than that of
      either the ultrasonication (U) mode or the milling (M) mode. The synergistic
      mechanism and influencing rules of the CUM process in exfoliating natural
      molybdenite powders were elaborated. The as-obtained FL-MoS2 nanosheets have a
      high specific surface area of 924 m(2) g(-1) and show highly enhanced
      electrocatalytic performance in hydrogen evolution reaction and good
      electrochemical sensing property in detecting ascorbic acid. The CUM process
      developed has paved a low-cost, green, and highly efficient way towards FL-MoS2
      nanosheets from natural molybdenite powders. 

PMID- 27644234
TI  - Aerobic Physical Fitness and Recreational Sports Participation After Total Knee
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - CONTEXT: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is routinely performed in younger patients
      who desire to be active in fitness and recreational sports. The activities
      patients can participate in without symptoms and the level of aerobic fitness
      routinely maintained are important to investigate. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      physical activity (PA) and recreational sports resumed after primary TKA,
      symptoms or limitations with these activities, and the effect of postoperative
      rehabilitation on achieving fitness and sports goals. DATA SOURCES: A systematic
      review of the literature from 2005 through 2015 was conducted using the PubMed
      database. STUDY SELECTION: Original investigations that were conducted at least 1
      year after primary TKA and reported the percentage of patients who returned to
      recreational activities or routinely participated in aerobic PA recommended by
      the American Heart Association (AHA) were included in this study. STUDY DESIGN:
      Systematic review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were
      extracted as available from 19 eligible studies. Assessment of study quality was
      rated using the MINORS (Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies)
      instrument. RESULTS: There were 5179 knees (mean age, 67.5 years) followed for a
      mean 4.8 years postoperatively. Marked variability was present between studies
      regarding the percentage of patients who resumed recreational activities (34%
      100%), most of which were low impact. Only 2 studies used accelerometers to
      measure PA; these reported a low range (0%-16.5%) of patients who met AHA
      guidelines. Few studies determined whether symptoms or limitations were
      experienced during PA. None described rehabilitation exercises or factors that
      would influence patients' ability to return to recreational or fitness
      activities. CONCLUSION: Little evidence is available regarding the effect of TKA
      on return to recreational and (objectively measured) aerobic fitness. The extent
      of symptoms or limitations during PA and the long-term effects of such problems
      remain unclear. Valid predictions cannot be made on factors that may affect
      return to recreational sports or other aerobic PA after TKA.

PMID- 27644236
TI  - The Effect of Mechanochemical Treatment of the Cellulose on Characteristics of
      Nanocellulose Films.
AB  - The development of the nanomaterials with the advanced functional characteristics
      is a challenging task because of the growing demand in the market of the
      optoelectronic devices, biodegradable plastics, and materials for energy saving
      and energy storage. Nanocellulose is comprised of the nanosized cellulose
      particles, properties of which depend on characteristics of plant raw materials
      as well as methods of nanocellulose preparation. In this study, the effect of the
      mechanochemical treatment of bleached softwood sulfate pulp on the optical and
      mechanical properties of nanocellulose films was assessed. It was established
      that the method of the subsequent grinding, acid hydrolysis and ultrasound
      treatment of cellulose generated films with the significant transparency in the
      visible spectral range (up to 78 % at 600 nm), high Young's modulus (up to 8.8
      GPa), and tensile strength (up to 88 MPa) with increased ordering of the packing
      of the cellulose macromolecules. Morphological characterization was done using
      the dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyzer and transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM). The nanocellulose particles had an average diameter of 15-30 nm and a high
      aspect ratio in the range 120-150. The crystallinity was increased with
      successive treatments as shown by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The thermal degradation behavior
      of cellulose samples was explored by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). 

PMID- 27644237
TI  - Tunable Optical Performances on a Periodic Array of Plasmonic Bowtie Nanoantennas
      with Hollow Cavities.
AB  - We propose a design method to tune the near-field intensities and absorption
      spectra of a periodic array of plasmonic bowtie nanoantennas (PBNAs) by
      introducing the hollow cavities inside the metal nanostructures. The numerical
      method is performed by finite element method that demonstrates the engineered
      hollow PBNAs can tune the optical spectrum in the range of 400-3000 nm.
      Simulation results show the hollow number is a key factor for enhancing the
      cavity plasmon resonance with respect to the hotspot region in PBNAs. The design
      efforts primarily concentrate on shifting the operation wavelength and enhancing
      the local fields by manipulating the filling dielectric medium, outline film
      thickness, and hollow number in PBNAs. Such characteristics indicate that the
      proposed hollow PBNAs can be a potential candidate for plasmonic enhancers and
      absorbers in multifunctional opto-electronic biosensors. 

PMID- 27644238
TI  - Preparing of Highly Conductive Patterns on Flexible Substrates by Screen Printing
      of Silver Nanoparticles with Different Size Distribution.
AB  - A facile one-step polyol method is employed to synthesize the Ag nanoparticles
      (NPs) in large scale. The Ag NPs with different average diameter (from 52 to 120
      nm) and particle size distribution are prepared by changing the mass ratio of
      AgNO3 and PVP. Furthermore, the as-obtained Ag NPs are prepared as conductive
      inks, which could be screen printed on various flexible substrates and formed as
      conductive patterns after sintering treatment. During the reaction process, PVP
      is used as the capping reagent for preventing the agglomeration of Ag NPs, and
      the influence of the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP to the size distribution of Ag
      NPs is investigated. The results of electronic properties reveal that the
      conductivity of printed patterns is highly dependent on the size distribution of
      as-obtained Ag NPs. Among all the samples, the optimal conductivity is obtained
      when the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP is 1:0.4. Subsequently, the sintering time
      and temperature are further investigated for obtaining the best conductivity; the
      optimal electrical resistivity value of 3.83 MUOmega . cm is achieved at 160 
      degrees C for 75 min, which is close to the resistivity value of the bulk silver
      (1.58 MUOmega . cm). Significantly, there are many potential advantages in
      printed electronics applications because of the as-synthesized Ag NPs with a low
      sintering temperature and low electrical resistivity. 

PMID- 27644239
TI  - Enhanced Photoluminescence in Acetylene-Treated ZnO Nanorods.
AB  - Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were manufactured using the aqueous chemical growth
      (ACG) method, and the effect of thermal acetylene treatment on their morphology,
      chemical composition, and optical properties was investigated. Changes in the
      elemental content of the treated rods were found to be different than in previous
      reports, possibly due to the different defect concentrations in the samples,
      highlighting the importance of synthesis method selection for the process.
      Acetylene treatment resulted in a significant improvement of the ultraviolet
      photoluminescence of the rods. The greatest increase in emission intensity was
      recorded on ZnO rods treated at the temperature of 825  degrees C. The findings
      imply that the changes brought on by the treatment are limited to the surface of
      the ZnO rods. 

PMID- 27644240
TI  - Novel PVA/MOF Nanofibres: Fabrication, Evaluation and Adsorption of Lead Ions
      from Aqueous Solution.
AB  - Plain polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibres and novel polyvinyl alcohol benzene
      tetracarboxylate nanofibres incorporated with strontium, lanthanum and antimony
      ((PVA/Sr-TBC), (PVA/La-TBC) and (PVA/Sb-TBC)), respectively, where TBC is benzene
      1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate adsorbents, were fabricated by electrospinning. The as
      prepared electrospun nanofibres were characterized by scanning electron
      microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric
      analysis (TGA). Only plain PVA nanofibres followed the Freundlich isotherm with a
      correlation coefficient of 0.9814, while novel nanofibres (PVA/Sb-TBC, PVA/Sr-TBC
      and PVA/La-TBC) followed the Langmuir isotherm with correlation coefficients of
      0.9999, 0.9994 and 0.9947, respectively. The sorption process of all nanofibres
      followed a pseudo second-order kinetic model. Adsorption capacity of novel
      nanofibres was twofold and more compared to that of plain PVA nanofibres. The
      thermodynamic studies: apparent enthalpy (DeltaH degrees ) and entropy (DeltaS
      degrees ), showed that the adsorption of Pb(II) onto nanofibres was spontaneous
      and exothermic. The novel nanofibres exhibited higher potential removal of Pb(II)
      ions than plain PVA nanofibres. Ubiquitous cations adsorption test was also
      investigated and studied. 

PMID- 27644241
TI  - Novel Diamond Films Synthesis Strategy: Methanol and Argon Atmosphere by
      Microwave Plasma CVD Method Without Hydrogen.
AB  - Diamond thin films are grown on silicon substrates by only using methanol and
      argon mixtures in microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) reactor. It
      is worth mentioning that the novel strategy makes the synthesis reaction works
      smoothly without hydrogen atmosphere, and the substrates temperature is only 500 
      degrees C. The evidence of surface morphology and thickness under different time
      is obtained by characterizing the samples using scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM). X-ray diffractometer (XRD) spectrum reveals that the preferential
      orientation of (111) plane sample is obtained. The Raman spectra indicate that
      the dominant component of all the samples is a diamond. Moreover, the diamond
      phase content of the targeted films was quantitatively analyzed by X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method, and the surface roughness of diamond
      films was investigated by atomic force microscope (AFM). Meanwhile, the possible
      synthesis mechanism of the diamond films in methanol- and argon-mixed atmosphere
      was discussed. 

PMID- 27644242
TI  - Effects of a Novel Fixed Combination of Nutraceuticals on Serum Uric Acid
      Concentrations and the Lipid Profile in Asymptomatic Hyperuricemic Patients :
      Results from the PICONZ-UA Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Asymptomatic hyperuricemia is not a current indication for therapy
      as the definite role of serum uric acid elevation as a cardiovascular risk factor
      is extremely likely but still controversial. AIM: We designed a double blind,
      placebo-controlled, randomized study to assess the effects of a combination of
      nutraceuticals (ZinutriK(r), containing a fixed combination of kampferol,
      baicalin, caffeine, and rutin) on serum uric acid levels, lipid variables and the
      global cardiovascular risk profile. METHODS: Sixteen individuals (mean age 59.0
      +/- 11.9 years, 4 women) with asymptomatic hyperuricemia completed the study.
      RESULTS: ZinutriK(r) treatment (4 weeks) reduced serum uric acid concentrations
      (from 7.9 + 0.9 to 7.0 + 0.7 mg/dL) when compared to both baseline and placebo (p
      < 0.006 and p < 0.001, respectively). Compared to both placebo and baseline, the
      same fixed combination of nutraceuticals also reduced circulating LDL cholesterol
      and increased HDL cholesterol concentrations within 4 weeks (p < 0.001 or less),
      thereby improving the Framingham risk score (p < 0.001 or less). Neither minor
      nor major side effects were observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the
      first demonstration that a short-term therapy with a fixed combination of
      different natural substances can significantly reduce serum uric acid
      concentrations in asymptomatic hyperuricemic patients, with no side effects and a
      significant improvement in the lipid pattern and then in the global
      cardiovascular risk profile.

PMID- 27644243
TI  - Transcription factor HIF1A: downstream targets, associated pathways, polymorphic
      hypoxia response element (HRE) sites, and initiative for standardization of
      reporting in scientific literature.
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) has crucial role in adapting cells
      to hypoxia through expression regulation of many genes. Identification of HIF
      1alpha target genes (HIF-1alpha-TGs) is important for understanding the adapting
      mechanism. The aim of the present study was to collect known HIF-1alpha-TGs and
      identify their associated pathways. Targets and associated genomics data were
      retrieved using PubMed, WoS ( http://apps.webofknowledge.com/ ), HGNC (
      http://www.genenames.org/ ), NCBI ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ ), Ensemblv.84 (
      http://www.ensembl.org/index.html ), DAVID Bioinformatics Resources (
      https://david.ncifcrf.gov /), and Disease Ontology database ( http://disease
      ontology.org/ ). From 51 papers, we collected 98 HIF-1alpha TGs found to be
      associated with 20 pathways, including metabolism of carbohydrates and pathways
      in cancer. Reanalysis of genomic coordinates of published HREs (hypoxia response
      elements) revealed six polymorphisms within HRE sites (HRE-SNPs): ABCG2, ACE,
      CA9, and CP. Due to large heterogeneity of results presentation in scientific
      literature, we also propose a first step towards reporting standardization of HIF
      1alpha-target interactions consisting of ten relevant data types. Suggested
      minimal checklist for reporting will enable faster development of a complete
      catalog of HIF-1alpha-TGs, data sharing, bioinformatics analyses, and setting
      novel more targeted hypotheses. The proposed format for data standardization is
      not yet complete but presents a baseline for further optimization of the protocol
      with additional details, for example, regarding the experimental validation.

PMID- 27644244
TI  - A monomer purified from Paris polyphylla (PP-22) triggers S and G2/M phase arrest
      and apoptosis in human tongue squamous cell carcinoma SCC-15 by activating the
      p38/cdc25/cdc2 and caspase 8/caspase 3 pathways.
AB  - Recent studies have shown that the aqueous, ethanolic extracts and a monomer
      compound of Paris polyphylla exhibit anticancer activity toward several types of
      cancer cell lines, but the anticancer activity of (3beta,17alpha,25R)-spirost-5
      ene-3,17-diol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 -> 2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, a
      monomer isolated from P. polyphylla (PP), named PP-22, has not been reported
      previously. In this study, we investigated the effect of PP-22 on human tongue
      squamous cell carcinoma SCC-15 cells in vitro. MTT assays showed that PP-22
      inhibited the growth of SCC-15 cells and had no obvious inhibitory effects on
      human liver L02 cells. Flow cytometry assays showed that the percentages of
      apoptotic cells were increased. In addition, cleaved caspase-8, cleaved caspase-3
      and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) could be detected by Western
      blotting. Flow cytometry also showed that PP-22 triggered S and G2/M phases
      arrest in SCC-15 cells, and on the other hand, the expression of cyclin A, cyclin
      E2, cyclin B1, phospho-cell division cycle2 (p-cdc2)(Tyr15), p-Wee1, Myt1, and
      p53 was upregulated. Moreover, p-p38 levels increased, p-extracellular signal
      regulated kinase (ERK) levels decreased, and cdc25B expression was inhibited.
      Furthermore, the p38/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor SB203580
      reversed the increase of the expression level of p38, p-cdc2 (Tyr15), cleaved
      caspase 3, cleaved PARP, p-p53, and p53 and reversed the decrease in cdc25B
      expression. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that PP-22 activated p38,
      inhibited cdc25B, increased p-cdc2 (Tyr15), and triggered S and G2/M phase
      arrest, as well as activated p53 through the p38-p53 pathway, inhibited the
      MAPK/ERK pathway, activated the caspase 8/caspase 3 pathway, and triggered the
      extrinsic apoptotic pathway in SCC-15 cells.

PMID- 27644245
TI  - FABP5 correlates with poor prognosis and promotes tumor cell growth and
      metastasis in cervical cancer.
AB  - Fatty acid-binding protein 5 (FABP5) was found in our previous study to be a
      potential biomarker for lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer. However, the
      roles of FABP5 in cervical cancer remain unclear. In the present study, FABP5
      expression was found to be significantly upregulated in cervical cancer tissues,
      and high FABP5 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node
      metastasis, lymphovascular space invasion, the International Federation of
      Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, and tumor size. Moreover, FABP5 was an
      independent factor for poor prognosis in cervical cancer patients. Silencing of
      FABP5 inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, cell migration, and
      invasion in vitro. Furthermore, FABP5 silencing significantly reduced tumor
      growth and lung metastases in a murine allograft model in vivo. In addition,
      FABP5 silencing decreased the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)
      and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, these
      findings indicated that FABP5 plays an important role in the carcinogenesis and
      metastasis of cervical cancer, and FABP5 may be a novel predictor for prognostic
      assessment of cervical cancer patients.

PMID- 27644246
TI  - gamma-Aminobutyric acid inhibits the proliferation and increases oxaliplatin
      sensitivity in human colon cancer cells.
AB  - gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a natural non-protein amino acid, which broadly
      exists in many plant parts and is widely used as an ingredient in the food
      industry. In mammals, it is widely distributed in central nervous system and non
      neural tissues. In addition to a primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the
      central nervous system, endogenous GABA content has been found to be elevated in
      neoplastic tissues in colon cancer. However, the effect of extraneous GABA on
      colon cancer has rarely been reported. In this study, we found the inhibitory
      effects of GABA on the proliferation of colon cancer cells (CCCs). The amino acid
      also suppressed metastasis of SW480 and SW620 cells. To further study the
      correlated mechanism, we analyzed the changes in cell cycle distribution and
      found that GABA suppressed cell cycle progression through G2/M or G1/S phase.
      Furthermore, RNA sequencing analysis revealed GABA-induced changes in the mRNA
      expression of 30 genes, including EGR1, MAPK4, NR4A1, Fos, and FosB, in all the
      three types of CCC. Importantly, GABA enhanced the anti-tumor efficacy of
      oxaliplatin (OXA) in subcutaneous xenograft tumor model in nude mice. The data
      suggest that GABA inhibits colon cancer cell proliferation perhaps by attenuating
      EGR1-NR4A1 axis, EGR1-Fos axis, and by disrupting MEK-EGR1 signaling pathway.
      This work reveals the pharmacological value of GABA derived from food and
      suggests that exogenous GABA might play an auxiliary role in polychemotherapy of
      colon cancer.

PMID- 27644247
TI  - Novel long non-coding RNA GACAT3 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation
      through the IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in cancer occurrence and
      development. We previously demonstrated that lncRNA gastric cancer-associated
      transcript 3 (GACAT3) was positively correlated with TNM stages, tumor size, and
      distant metastasis of patients with gastric cancer. However, the role of GACAT3
      in gastric cancer remains unclear. In this study, to investigate its function, we
      synthesized small interference RNAs (siRNAs) against GACTA3 and developed a
      GACAT3 overexpression vector (pcDNA3-GACAT3), respectively. The siRNA-mediated
      knockdown of GACAT3 significantly decreased cell proliferation of the gastric
      cancer HGC-27 cells, in which GACAT3 is overexpressed. Furthermore, GACAT3
      overexpression in gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells promoted cell growth. Moreover,
      GACAT3 expression in HGC-27 cells was greatly upregulated by IL-6 treatment in a
      concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, siRNA-mediated knockdown of STAT3
      decreased GACAT3 expression even in the presence of IL-6. These results
      demonstrated that as a downstream target of the IL6/STAT3 signaling, lncRNA
      GACAT3 promotes gastric cancer cell growth suggesting that GACAT3 is an
      inflammatory response gene and may be served as a valuable potential target for
      the treatment of gastric cancer.

PMID- 27644248
TI  - Hypoxia-induced NIPP1 activation enhances metastatic potential and predicts poor
      prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Hypoxia is known to promote hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) invasion and
      metastasis and nuclear inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 (NIPP1) overexpression
      contributes to the malignant phenotype in HCC. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the role of NIPP1 in HCC development under hypoxia. We first
      conducted a study with 106 cases to explore the association of NIPP1 and/or
      enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) expression with poor prognosis in HCC. Then
      additional 352 independent cases were recruited to validate the results in the
      first stage. Hypoxia was induced by culturing HCC cells in 1 % O2 or of the
      treatment with hypoxic agent. The expression levels of NIPP1/EZH2 in both HCC
      tissues and HCC cell lines were detected by RT-PCR, Western blot, or
      immunohistochemistry. We also studied the effects of the loss of function of
      NIPP1 and EZH2 on malignant phenotypes, downstream pathway, and inflammatory
      factors activities using gene silencing strategy. Overall, we found that NIPP1
      and EZH2 were overexpressed in both HCC tissue samples and HCC cell lines. High
      expression of HIPP1 was associated with poor prognosis and clinicopathological
      features in patients with advanced HCC. HIPP1 expression positively correlated
      with the expression of hypoxia marker (carbonic anhydrase IX). Hypoxia induced
      high expression of NIPP1. NIPP1/EZH2 knockdown in HCC cell lines under hypoxia
      suppressed the malignant phenotypes, reduced the expression of hypoxia-inducible
      Factor 1alpha, downstream molecules of EZH2, and inhibit the activity of
      inflammatory factors. In conclusion, we found that NIPP1 could be activated by
      hypoxia and contributed to hypoxia-induced invasive and metastatic potential in
      HCC.

PMID- 27644251
TI  - Overexpression of pyruvate kinase M2 predicts a poor prognosis for patients with
      osteosarcoma.
AB  - It is stated that high expression of pyruvate kinase (PKM2) emerges as a
      significant player in the metabolism and progression of various human
      malignancies. However, the expression of PKM2 and its association with the
      prognosis of osteosarcoma had not yet been studied. In the present study, the
      expression and biological significance of PKM2 in osteosarcoma were investigated.
      We found that PKM2 expression was elevated in the cancerous tissues and it was
      more abundant than the adjacent normal tissues (60.2 vs 26.1 %, p < 0.001).
      Moreover, we showed that high PKM2 expression was positively correlated with
      Enneking stage (p = 0.006) and distant metastasis (p = 0.007) but not with the
      age, gender, tumor site, tumor size, histologic grade, alkaline phosphatase
      (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and local pain of the patients. Furthermore,
      Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the overall survival (OS) for patients with
      high PKM2 expression was significantly lower than those with low PKM2 expression
      (p < 0.001). Finally, multivariate analysis revealed that high PKM2 expression
      was an independent prognostic factor for osteosarcoma patients (p = 0.004).
      Collectively, these data indicated that elevated PKM2 might serve as a novel
      target for the treatment of osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27644250
TI  - Endocan reduces the malign grade of gastric cancer cells by regulating associated
      protein expression.
AB  - Endocan, which has been identified to be low expressed in gastric cancer, was
      found to be positively related to the differentiation level of gastric cancer in
      vivo and in vitro. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the role of
      endocan in gastric adenocarcinoma cell line SGC7901 by artificially upregualting
      or downregulating endocan expression using endocan recombinant vector or specific
      small interfering RNA (siRNA)-targeting endocan gene, respectively. The effects
      of endocan recombinant vector-mediated over-expressing and siRNA-mediated endocan
      silencing on the differentiation, migration, and apoptosis of SGC7901 cells were
      assessed. Furthermore, the primary molecular mechanisms of endocan were explored
      by testing the expression alterations of associated protein in SGC7901 along
      endocan over-expression or knockdown. We found that over-expression of endocan
      reduced the migration but promoted the differentiation and apoptosis of SGC7901
      cells. While, knockdown of endocan did just the opposite. Some molecules were
      found to participate in endocan-mediated anti-tumor effects, such as p53, caspase
      3, and MMP-9. In conclusion, our findings suggest that endocan plays an anti
      carcinogenic role in gastric cancer development and progression and might serve
      as a prognostic biomarker as well as a potential therapeutic target for gastric
      cancer.

PMID- 27644249
TI  - Dysregulation of TTP and HuR plays an important role in cancers.
AB  - Defects in the adenosine-uridine (AU)-rich elements (AREs), which mediate post
      transcriptional regulation, play important roles in cancers. Both tristetraprolin
      (TTP, also known as TIS11 and ZFP36) and human antigen R (HuR, also known as
      ELAVL1) are two important and closely related AU-rich RNA-binding proteins (ARE
      BPs). High-expression or aberrant nuclear/cytoplasmic distribution of HuR and
      decreased TTP have been found in many types of cancers. TTP mediates the decay of
      target mRNAs, whereas HuR generally stabilizes target transcripts and promotes
      translation of certain mRNAs. Furthermore, thousands of overlapping binding sites
      of TTP and HuR were found in more than 1300 genes. RNA-IP experiments also
      indicated that TTP can bind directly to and destabilize HuR mRNA. The
      dysregulation of TTP and HuR has been found to play an important role in the
      progression of cancers, including inflammation-related cancer, as well as in
      proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, metastasis, invasion, and chemotherapy
      resistance. In this review, we provided an overview of the role of TTP and HuR,
      as well as the underlying mechanisms of the TTP-HuR axis in cancers.

PMID- 27644252
TI  - Long non-coding RNA IRAIN suppresses apoptosis and promotes proliferation by
      binding to LSD1 and EZH2 in pancreatic cancer.
AB  - Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) modulates gene expression, while lncRNA
      dysregulation is associated with human cancer. Furthermore, while recent studies
      have shown that lncRNA IRAIN plays an important role in other malignancies, the
      role of IRAIN in pancreatic cancer (PC) progression remains unclear. In this
      study, we found that upregulation of lncRNA IRAIN was significantly correlated
      with tumor size, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis in a cohort of 37 PC
      patients. In vitro experiments showed that knockdown of IRAIN by small
      interfering RNA (siRNA) significantly induced cell apoptosis and inhibited cell
      proliferation in both BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cells. Further mechanism study showed
      that, by binding to histone demethylase lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), an
      enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), IRAIN reduced PC tumor cell apoptosis and
      induced growth arrest by silencing the expression of Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2)
      and P15. Moreover, IRAIN expression was inversely correlated with that of KLF2
      and P15 in PC tissues. To our knowledge, this is the first report elucidating the
      role and mechanism of IRAIN in PC progression.

PMID- 27644254
TI  - The tumor suppressor miR-124 inhibits cell proliferation and invasion by
      targeting B7-H3 in osteosarcoma.
AB  - Our previous studies have shown that the expression level of B7 homolog 3 (B7-H3)
      was correlated with clinical staging and prognosis of osteosarcoma (OS) patients,
      and its silencing inhibited the proliferation and invasion of OS cells in vitro.
      However, its overexpression mechanism behind was far from elucidated. On the
      basis of bioinformatics and the preliminary screening data, we hypothesized that
      miR-124 might play an important role in OS development and as a lead candidate
      for modulating B7-H3 expression. In this study, we found that miR-124 was
      downregulated significantly in OS tumor tissue, compared to normal adjacent
      tissues (NATs). Lower miR-124 expression levels were associated with advanced
      Ennecking stage, lower tumor differentiation, and common pulmonary metastasis.
      The 5-year overall survival rate in the miR-124 upregulated group was 61.5 %,
      while with low miR-124 expression, only 11.8 % survived. Further studies in vitro
      showed that B7-H3 was a direct target of miR-124. Overexpression of miR-124
      decreased B7-H3 mRNA and protein level and inhibited B7-H3 3'-UTR reporter
      activity. Treatment of OS cells with miR-124 mimics induced the inhibition of
      cell growth and invasion in vitro, which could be abrogated by transfected by B7
      H3 expression vector. Our findings highlight the potential application of miR-124
      as a novel onco-miRNA in OS, and its oncogenic effects are mediated chiefly
      through downregulation of B7-H3, thus suggesting a model for identifying miR-124
      that can be exploited to improve the therapeutic potential efficacy of mAb
      targeting to B7-H3.

PMID- 27644256
TI  - Emotional states recognition, implementing a low computational complexity
      strategy.
AB  - This article describes a methodology to recognize emotional states through an
      electroencephalography signals analysis, developed with the premise of reducing
      the computational burden that is associated with it, implementing a strategy that
      reduces the amount of data that must be processed by establishing a relationship
      between electrodes and Brodmann regions, so as to discard electrodes that do not
      provide relevant information to the identification process. Also some design
      suggestions to carry out a pattern recognition process by low computational
      complexity neural networks and support vector machines are presented, which
      obtain up to a 90.2% mean recognition rate.

PMID- 27644253
TI  - Regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition through microRNAs: clinical and
      biological significance of microRNAs in breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer is a malignant disease to treat among female worldwide due to its
      high capability to metastasize and mutate. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is
      one of the essential processes involved in the metastatic capacity of breast
      cancer. In the recent time, the studies demonstrate that microRNAs, a kind of
      small non-coding RNA molecules, could be served as negative regulators in breast
      cancer, regulating cell cycle, drug resistance, and the process of metastasis in
      cancer development. With the assistance of microRNA profiling, the study
      concentrating on the regulatory function of miRNAs in breast cancer could be
      investigated more effectively and efficiently. More recent studies demonstrate
      that miRNAs have an important role to play in the EMT process of breast cancer to
      modulate metastasis. This small essay is on the purpose of demonstrating the
      significance and detection of miRNAs in breast cancer EMT process as oncogenes
      and tumor suppress genes through miRNA profiling according to the reports mainly
      in the recent 5 years, providing the evidence of efficient target therapy and
      effective pro-diagnosis focusing on miRNAs expression of breast cancer patients.

PMID- 27644255
TI  - Field testing of the ICHD-3beta and expert opinion criteria for chronic migraine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic headache (CrH) occurs commonly in the population, and chronic
      migraine (CM) accounts for much of the CrH. Diagnostic criteria for CM remain
      controversial, and this could lead to undertreatment of CM. The purpose of this
      study was to analyze the clinical profiles of CM and to field test the
      International Classification of Headache Disorders-3beta criteria (ICHD-3beta)
      and Expert Opinion criteria (EO) for CM application. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed the medical records of CrH patients in our headache clinic during the
      period. Eligible patients were selected from CrH population based on Silberstein
      and Lipton criteria (S-L) for CM, and meanwhile fulfilled with migraine days at
      least 8 days/month. Then we evaluated the characteristics of clinic profiles and
      outcomes between patients diagnosed CM using ICHD-3beta and EO criteria. Field
      tested the CM criteria Of ICHD-3beta and EO. RESULTS: In a total of 710 CrH
      patients , 261 (36.8 %) were recruited with CM based on both S-L criteria and
      fulfilled at least 8 migraine days/month. Be understandable, all the 261 patients
      met the EO criteria, and only 185 (70.9 %) met ICHD-3beta for CM. For the 76
      patients who met EO but not ICHD-3beta, 70 had atypical migraine attacks
      (probable migraine, PM), and another 6 had typical migraine attacks but less than
      a total history of 5 attacks. Although 173 (66.3 %) were concurrent with
      medication overuse, just one patient overused triptans and none used ergot
      agents. Clinical features were not significantly different between the ICHD-3beta
      and EO criteria groups (P > 0.05), and neither were outcomes of prophylaxis (P =
      0.966). Total migraine prophylaxis effectiveness was 73 %. CONCLUSION: Migraine
      specific analgesics are rarely used in China, permitting patients with PM to
      avail themselves of "migraine days" is a reasonable accommodation for this
      difficult condition. In our hands, use of the new EO criteria for diagnosis of CM
      increases the sensitivity and maintains the specificity of decision making, and
      therefore should be adopted in CM management practice.

PMID- 27644257
TI  - Downregulation of pigment epithelium-derived factor is associated with increased
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition in bladder cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) has been reported to inhibit
      angiogenesis in bladder cancer, but whether it modulates epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT) remains unknown. METHODS: We have included 68 samples of non
      muscle invasive bladder cancer in this study. Immunohistochemistry was performed
      in all sample sections for expressions of PEDF, SNAI2, Vimentin and E-cadherin,
      which were quantified and The EMT Index (EMTi) was calculated by Vimentin/E
      cadherin. Levels of expression were studied for correlations with
      clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Patients were grouped with high
      (EMTi<=1) and low (EMTi>1) EMT level for comparisons of clinicopathological
      parameters. In the univariate analysis, EMT level was shown to be significantly
      associated with tumor onset and PEDF level, but not with gender, occurrence,
      stage, grade, or SNAI2 level. Further multivariate analysis revealed that PEDF
      level was significantly negatively correlated with EMTi independent of other
      clinicopathological parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that PEDF may
      serve as a promising novel modality for the treatment of bladder cancer, as it
      can inhibit not only angiogenesis but also EMT process of bladder cancer.

PMID- 27644258
TI  - Litter input decreased the response of soil organic matter decomposition to
      warming in two subtropical forest soils.
AB  - Interaction effect of temperature and litter input on SOM decomposition is poor
      understood, restricting accurate prediction of the dynamics and stocks of soil
      organic carbon under global warming. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted
      an incubation experiment by adding (13)C labeled leaf-litter into a coniferous
      forest (CF) soil and a broadleaved forest (BF) soil. In this experiment, response
      of the temperature sensitivity (Q10) of SOM decomposition to the increase in
      litter input was investigated. The temperature dependences of priming effect (PE)
      and soil microbial community were analyzed. The Q10 for CF soil significantly
      decreased from 2.41 in no-litter treatment to 2.05 in litter-added treatment and
      for BF soil from 2.14 to 1.82, suggesting that litter addition decreases the Q10.
      PE in the CF soil was 24.9% at 20  degrees C and 6.2% at 30  degrees C, and in
      the BF soil the PE was 8.8% at 20  degrees C and -7.0% at 30  degrees C,
      suggesting that PE decreases with increasing temperature. Relative PE was
      positively related to the concentrations of Gram-negative bacterial and fungal
      PLFAs. This study moves a step forward in understanding warming effect on forest
      carbon cycling by highlighting interaction effect of litter input and warming on
      soil carbon cycling.

PMID- 27644259
TI  - E-Mental Health Innovations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
      Australians: A Qualitative Study of Implementation Needs in Health Services.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electronic mental health (e-mental health) interventions offer
      effective, easily accessible, and cost effective treatment and support for mental
      illness and well-being concerns. However, e-mental health approaches have not
      been well utilized by health services to date and little is known about their
      implementation in practice, particularly in diverse contexts and communities.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand stakeholder perspectives on the
      requirements for implementing e-mental health approaches in regional and remote
      health services for Indigenous Australians. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were
      conducted with 32 managers, directors, chief executive officers (CEOs), and
      senior practitioners of mental health, well-being, alcohol and other drug and
      chronic disease services. RESULTS: The implementation of e-mental health
      approaches in this context is likely to be influenced by characteristics related
      to the adopter (practitioner skill and knowledge, client characteristics,
      communication barriers), the innovation (engaging and supportive approach,
      culturally appropriate design, evidence base, data capture, professional
      development opportunities), and organizational systems (innovation-systems fit,
      implementation planning, investment). CONCLUSIONS: There is potential for e
      mental health approaches to address mental illness and poor social and emotional
      well-being amongst Indigenous people and to advance their quality of care. Health
      service stakeholders reported that e-mental health interventions are likely to be
      most effective when used to support or extend existing health services, including
      elements of client-driven and practitioner-supported use. Potential solutions to
      obstacles for integration of e-mental health approaches into practice were
      proposed including practitioner training, appropriate tool design using a
      consultative approach, internal organizational directives and support structures,
      adaptations to existing systems and policies, implementation planning and
      organizational and government investment.

PMID- 27644260
TI  - Future challenges for tracking foodborne diseases: PulseNet, a 20-year-old US
      surveillance system for foodborne diseases, is expanding both globally and
      technologically.

PMID- 27644262
TI  - Ruptured pseudoaneurysm as a cause of spontaneous intracerebral bleed in a 3
      month old infant.
AB  - Ruptured intracranial aneurysms in infants are very rare but if missed can lead
      to poor outcomes. Spontaneously dissecting false aneurysms have been described
      only in a handful of cases. We report a case of a three-month old girl with
      deteriorating neurological function due to a ruptured distal middle cerebral
      artery pseudoaneurysm.

PMID- 27644261
TI  - Steric hindrance of SNARE transmembrane domain organization impairs the
      hemifusion-to-fusion transition.
AB  - SNAREs fuse membranes in several steps. Trans-SNARE complexes juxtapose
      membranes, induce hemifused stalk structures, and open the fusion pore. A recent
      penetration model of fusion proposed that SNAREs force the hydrophilic C-termini
      of their transmembrane domains through the hydrophobic core of the membrane(s).
      In contrast, the indentation model suggests that the C-termini open the pore by
      locally compressing and deforming the stalk. Here we test these models in the
      context of yeast vacuole fusion. Addition of small hydrophilic tags renders
      bilayer penetration by the C-termini energetically unlikely. It preserves fusion
      activity, however, arguing against the penetration model. Addition of large
      protein tags to the C-termini permits SNARE activation, trans-SNARE pairing, and
      hemifusion but abolishes pore opening. Fusion proceeds if the tags are detached
      from the membrane by a hydrophilic spacer or if only one side of the trans-SNARE
      complex carries a protein tag. Thus, both sides of a trans-SNARE complex can
      drive pore opening. Our results are consistent with an indentation model in which
      multiple SNARE C-termini cooperate in opening the fusion pore by locally
      deforming the inner leaflets.

PMID- 27644267
TI  - The effect of logotherapy on the expressions of cortisol, HSP70, Beck Depression
      Inventory (BDI), and pain scales in advanced cervical cancer patients.
AB  - This study aims to analyze the effect of logotherapy on the expression of
      cortisol, HSP70, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and to conduct pain
      assessments in advanced cervical cancer patients. We carried out this research
      through pretest-posttest control-group design on the expression of cortisol,
      HSP70, the BDI, and pain scales after a patient receives logotherapy treatment.
      Based on a comparative test conducted with the two groups before the treatment,
      there is no significant difference (p > .05). There is a significant difference
      (p < .05) after the treatment, however, except for on HSP70. This study suggests
      that logotherapy affects the expression of cortisol, BDI, and pain scales in
      advanced cervical cancer patients, and that it does not affect the expression of
      HSP70.

PMID- 27644268
TI  - A scattering methodology for droplet sizing of e-cigarette aerosols.
AB  - CONTEXT: Knowledge of the droplet size distribution of inhalable aerosols is
      important to predict aerosol deposition yield at various respiratory tract
      locations in human. Optical methodologies are usually preferred over the multi
      stage cascade impactor for high-throughput measurements of aerosol
      particle/droplet size distributions. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the Laser Aerosol
      Spectrometer technology based on Polystyrene Sphere Latex (PSL) calibration curve
      applied for the experimental determination of droplet size distributions in the
      diameter range typical of commercial e-cigarette aerosols (147-1361 nm).
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This calibration procedure was tested for a TSI Laser
      Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS) operating at a wavelength of 633 nm and assessed
      against model di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacat (DEHS) droplets and e-cigarette aerosols.
      The PSL size response was measured, and intra- and between-day standard
      deviations calculated. RESULTS: DEHS droplet sizes were underestimated by 15-20%
      by the LAS when the PSL calibration curve was used; however, the intra- and
      between-day relative standard deviations were < 3%. This bias is attributed to
      the fact that the index of refraction of PSL calibrated particles is different in
      comparison to test aerosols. This 15-20% does not include the droplet evaporation
      component, which may reduce droplet size prior a measurement is performed.
      Aerosol concentration was measured accurately with a maximum uncertainty of 20%.
      Count median diameters and mass median aerodynamic diameters of selected e
      cigarette aerosols ranged from 130-191 nm to 225-293 nm, respectively, similar to
      published values. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The LAS instrument can be used to
      measure e-cigarette aerosol droplet size distributions with a bias
      underestimating the expected value by 15-20% when using a precise PSL calibration
      curve. Controlled variability of DEHS size measurements can be achieved with the
      LAS system; however, this method can only be applied to test aerosols having a
      refractive index close to that of PSL particles used for calibration.

PMID- 27644269
TI  - Genotypic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in Myanmar.

PMID- 27644312
TI  - The relationship of anthropometric measurements with psychological criteria in
      female athletes.
AB  - Sports and exercise settings as well as other socio-cultural environments
      emphasize a thin and physically fit female body. However, there is a clear need
      for a better understanding of the physical and psychological correlates of social
      physique anxiety and body image dissatisfaction in female athletes. This study
      aimed to examine the association of the social physique anxiety, body image
      satisfaction, and personality with the anthropometric measurements in female
      college athletes according to their sport type using the Co-Plot technique. The
      sample included 63 female athletes ranging in age from 18 to 26. Results of the
      Co-Plot analysis revealed a significant association among social physique
      anxiety, personality and anthropometric measurements. This means that certain
      physical measurements may lead to greater social physique anxiety and body image
      dissatisfaction in female athletes. It was found that females having higher
      levels of social physique anxiety and thus, lower levels of body image
      satisfaction may be less emotionally stable and more negatively perfectionist. In
      conclusion, the results of the present study provided evidence to the claim that
      both physical self-perception and anthropometric measurements may be closely
      associated with psychological criteria in female athletes.

PMID- 27644313
TI  - The need for ICU admission in intoxicated patients: a prediction model.
AB  - CONTEXT: Intoxicated patients are frequently admitted from the emergency room to
      the ICU for observational reasons. The question is whether these admissions are
      indeed necessary. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a model that
      predicts the need of ICU treatment (receiving mechanical ventilation and/or
      vasopressors <24 h of the ICU admission and/or in-hospital mortality). MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study from a national ICU
      registry, including 86 Dutch ICUs. We aimed to include only observational
      admissions and therefore excluded admissions with treatment, at the start of the
      admission that can only be applied on the ICU (mechanical ventilation or CPR
      before admission). First, a generalized linear mixed-effects model with binominal
      link function and a random intercept per hospital was developed, based on
      covariates available in the first hour of ICU admission. Second, the selected
      covariates were used to develop a prediction model based on a practical point
      system. To determine the performance of the prediction model, the sensitivity,
      specificity, positive, and negative predictive value of several cut-off points
      based on the assigned number of points were assessed. RESULTS: 9679 admissions
      between January 2010 until January 2015 were included for analysis. In total, 632
      (6.5%) of the patients admitted to the ICU eventually turned out to actually need
      ICU treatment. The strongest predictors for ICU treatment were respiratory
      insufficiency, age >55 and a GCS <6. Alcohol and "other poisonings" (e.g.,
      carbonmonoxide, arsenic, cyanide) as intoxication type and a systolic blood
      pressure >=130 mmHg were indicators that ICU treatment was likely unnecessary.
      The prediction model had high sensitivity (93.4%) and a high negative predictive
      value (98.7%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Clinical use of the prediction model,
      with a high negative predictive value (98.7%), would result in 34.3% less
      observational admissions.

PMID- 27644315
TI  - Geographic variation of craniodental morphology of the Eurasian otter (Lutra
      lutra) in East Asia.
AB  - Craniodental morphology of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) in the Korean
      Peninsula, Japanese islands and Kinmen Island (Taiwan) was studied using
      geometric morphometrics to identify the skull variations between the populations.
      Forty adult skulls were examined (29 specimens from the Korean Peninsula, six
      from Shikoku, Honshu and Hokkaido of Japan, and five from Kinmen Island). Images
      of the dorsal and ventral views of the skull and the right lateral view of the
      mandible were analyzed. Specimens from the Korean Peninsula were larger than
      those from the Japanese islands and Kinmen Island. However, no correlation was
      observed between the shape variations in the three populations and the centroid
      size of the skull. The Mann-Whitney U-test showed that relative warps (RWs) RW1,
      RW2 and RW4 of the dorsal view and RW2 of the ventral view of the skull differed
      significantly between the populations. Some craniodental differences between the
      populations were seen in the dorsal and ventral views of the skull, mostly at the
      snout and parietal regions. The MANOVA test revealed significant differences
      between the specimens from the Japanese islands and Korean Peninsula and between
      the specimens from the Korean Peninsula and Kinmen Island. RWs plots showed an
      overlap of all three populations. In conclusion, the comparisons of the three
      examined populations revealed significant differences in their craniodental
      morphology.

PMID- 27644314
TI  - Senp2 expression was induced by chronic glucose stimulation in INS1 cells, and it
      was required for the associated induction of Ccnd1 and Mafa.
AB  - Post-translational modification by bonding of small ubiquitin-like modifier
      (SUMO) peptides influences various cellular functions, and is regulated by SUMO
      specific proteases (SENPs). Several proteins have been suggested to have diverse
      impact on insulin synthesis and secretion through SUMO modification in beta
      cells. However, the role of SUMO modification in beta cell mass has not been
      established. Here, we examined the changes in expression of Senp in INS1 cells
      and pancreatic islets under diabetes-relevant stress conditions and associated
      changes in beta cell mass. Treatment with 25 mM glucose for 72 h induced Senp2
      mRNA expression but not that of Senp1 in INS1 cells. Immunohistochemical staining
      with anti-SENP2 antibody on human pancreas sections revealed that SENP2 was
      localized in the nucleus. Moreover, in a patient with type 2 diabetes, SENP2
      levels were enhanced, especially in the cytoplasm. Senp2 cytoplasmic levels were
      also increased in islet cells in obese diabetic mice. Cell number peaked earlier
      in INS1 cells cultured in high-glucose conditions compared to those cultured in
      control media. This finding was associated with increased Ccnd1 mRNA expression
      in high-glucose conditions, and siRNA-mediated Senp2 suppression abrogated it.
      Mafa expression, unlike Pdx1, was also dependent on Senp2 expression during high
      glucose conditions. In conclusion, Senp2 may play a role in beta cell mass in
      response to chronic high-glucose through Cyclin D1 and Mafa.

PMID- 27644316
TI  - Cloning, localization and focus formation at DNA damage sites of canine XRCC4.
AB  - Various chemotherapies and radiation therapies are useful for killing cancer
      cells mainly by inducing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Uncovering the
      molecular mechanisms of DSB repair processes is crucial for developing next
      generation radiotherapies and chemotherapeutics for human and animal cancers.
      XRCC4 plays a critical role in Ku-dependent nonhomologous DNA-end joining (NHEJ)
      in human cells, and is one of the core NHEJ factors. The localization of core
      NHEJ factors, such as human Ku70 and Ku80, might play a crucial role in
      regulating NHEJ activity. Recently, companion animals, such as canines, have been
      proposed to be a good model in many aspects of cancer research. However, the
      localization and regulation mechanisms of core NHEJ factors in canine cells have
      not been elucidated. Here, we show that the expression and subcellular
      localization of canine XRCC4 changes dynamically during the cell cycle.
      Furthermore, EYFP-canine XRCC4 accumulates quickly at laser-microirradiated DSB
      sites. The structure of a putative human XRCC4 nuclear localization signal (NLS)
      is highly conserved in canine, chimpanzee and mouse XRCC4. However, the amino
      acid residue corresponding to the human XRCC4 K210, thought to be important for
      nuclear localization, is not conserved in canine XRCC4. Our findings might be
      useful for the study of the molecular mechanisms of Ku-dependent NHEJ in canine
      cells and the development of new radiosensitizers that target XRCC4.

PMID- 27644318
TI  - Increased PKCalpha activity by Rack1 overexpression is responsible for
      chemotherapy resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia-derived cell line.
AB  - Chemoresistant mechanisms in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) patients
      are not clarified. The apoptotic signaling mediated by receptor of activated C
      kinase 1 (Rack1), protein kinase C (PKC) and FEM1 homolog b (FEM1b) was
      investigated in two T-ALL-derived cell lines (Jurkat and CCRF-CEM) following
      treatment with chemotherapy drugs vincristine and prednisone. Serum starvation or
      chemotherapeutic drugs significantly reduced Rack1 level and PKC activation,
      while promoted cellular apoptosis in both cell lines. Rack1 overexpression
      protected T-ALL cell against starvation or chemotherapeutic drug-induced
      apoptosis. Moreover, Rack1 overexpression reduced the level of cytochrome c and
      active caspase 3 as well as FEM1b and apoptotic protease activating factor-1
      (Apaf-1), and inhibited induction of cellular apoptosis in chemotherapeutic drug
      treated Jurkat cell. Interaction of Rack1 and PKCalpha, not PKCbeta, was detected
      in both cell lines. Of note, Rack1 overexpression abrogated reduction of PKC
      kinase activity in chemotherapeutic drug-treated T-ALL cell. PKC kinase inhibitor
      Go6976 or siPKCalpha inhibited downregulation of FEM1b and/or Apaf-1, and thus
      increased cellular apoptosis in Rack1-overexpressed T-ALL cell receiving
      chemotherapeutic drugs. Accordingly, our data provided evidence that increased
      Rack1-mediated upregulation of PKC kinase activity may be responsible for the
      development of chemoresistance in T-ALL-derived cell line potentially by reducing
      FEM1b and Apaf-1 level.

PMID- 27644317
TI  - HSPA12B Attenuated Acute Myocardial Ischemia/reperfusion Injury via Maintaining
      Endothelial Integrity in a PI3K/Akt/mTOR-dependent Mechanism.
AB  - Endothelial damage is a critical mediator of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion
      (I/R) injury. HSPA12B is an endothelial-cell-specifically expressed heat shock
      protein. However, the roles of HSPA12B in acute myocardial I/R injury is unknown.
      Here we reported that myocardial I/R upregulated HSPA12B expression in
      ventricular tissues, and endothelial overexpression of HSPA12B in transgenic mice
      (Tg) limited infarct size, attenuated cardiac dysfunction and improved
      cardiomyocyte survival compared with their wild type littermates. These
      improvements were accompanied with the diminished myocardial no-reflow
      phenomenon, decreased microvascular leakage, and better maintained endothelial
      tight junctions. The I/R-evoked neutrophil infiltration was also suppressed in Tg
      hearts compared with its wild type (WT) littermates. Moreover, Tg hearts
      exhibited the enhanced activation of PI3K/Akt//mTOR signaling following I/R
      challenge. However, pharmacological inhibition of PI3K abolished the HSPA12B
      induced cardioprotection against myocardial I/R injury. The data demonstrate for
      the first time that the endothelial HSPA12B protected hearts against myocardial
      I/R injury. This cardioprotective action of HSPA12B was mediated, at least in
      part, by improving endothelial integrity in a PI3K/Akt/mTOR-dependent mechanism.
      Our study suggests that targeting endothelial HSPA12B could be an alternative
      approach for the management of patients with myocardial I/R injury.

PMID- 27644320
TI  - Prostate cancer: Moderate hypofractionated radiotherapy - not yet a standard of
      care.

PMID- 27644319
TI  - Genetic Characterization of Plasmodium Putative Pantothenate Kinase Genes Reveals
      Their Essential Role in Malaria Parasite Transmission to the Mosquito.
AB  - The metabolic machinery for the biosynthesis of Coenzyme A (CoA) from exogenous
      pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5) has long been considered as an excellent target for
      the development of selective antimicrobials. Earlier studies in the human malaria
      parasite Plasmodium falciparum have shown that pantothenate analogs interfere
      with pantothenate phosphorylation and block asexual blood stage development.
      Although two eukaryotic-type putative pantothenate kinase genes (PanK1 and PanK2)
      have been identified in all malaria parasite species, their role in the
      development of Plasmodium life cycle stages remains unknown. Here we report on
      the genetic characterization of PanK1 and PanK2 in P. yoelii. We show that P.
      yoelii parasites lacking either PanK1 or PanK2 undergo normal asexual stages
      development and sexual stages differentiation, however they are severely
      deficient in ookinete, oocyst and sporozoite formation inside the mosquito
      vector. Quantitative transcriptional analyses in wild-type and knockout parasites
      demonstrate an important role for these genes in the regulation of expression of
      other CoA biosynthesis genes. Together, our data provide the first genetic
      evidence for the importance of the early steps of pantothenate utilization in the
      regulation of CoA biosynthesis and malaria parasite transmission to Anopheles
      mosquitoes.

PMID- 27644322
TI  - Mechanism for nuclease regulation in RecBCD.
AB  - In bacterial cells, processing of double-stranded DNA breaks for repair by
      homologous recombination is catalysed by AddAB, AdnAB or RecBCD-type helicase
      nucleases. These enzyme complexes are highly processive, duplex unwinding and
      degrading machines that require tight regulation. Here, we report the structure
      of E.coli RecBCD, determined by cryoEM at 3.8 A resolution, with a DNA substrate
      that reveals how the nuclease activity of the complex is activated once unwinding
      progresses. Extension of the 5'-tail of the unwound duplex induces a large
      conformational change in the RecD subunit, that is transferred through the RecC
      subunit to activate the nuclease domain of the RecB subunit. The process involves
      a SH3 domain that binds to a region of the RecB subunit in a binding mode that is
      distinct from others observed previously in SH3 domains and, to our knowledge,
      this is the first example of peptide-binding of an SH3 domain in a bacterial
      system.

PMID- 27644321
TI  - Circulating and disseminated tumour cells - mechanisms of immune surveillance and
      escape.
AB  - Metastatic spread of tumour cells is the main cause of cancer-related deaths.
      Understanding the mechanisms of tumour-cell dissemination has, therefore, become
      an important focus for cancer research. In patients with cancer, disseminated
      cancer cells are often detectable in the peripheral blood as circulating tumour
      cells (CTCs) and in the bone marrow or lymph nodes as disseminated tumour cells
      (DTCs). The identification and characterization of CTCs and DTCs has yielded
      important insights into the mechanisms of metastasis, resulting in a better
      understanding of the molecular alterations and profiles underlying drug
      resistance. Given the expanding role of immunotherapies in the treatment of
      cancer, interactions between tumour cells and immune cells are the subject of
      intense research. Theoretically, cancer cells that exit the primary tumour site -
      leaving the protection of the typically immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment
      - will be more vulnerable to attack by immune effector cells; thus, the survival
      of tumour cells after dissemination might be the 'Achilles' heel' of metastatic
      progression. In this Review, we discuss findings relating to the interactions of
      CTCs and DTCs with the immune system, in the context of cancer immuno-editing,
      evasion from immune surveillance, and formation of metastases.

PMID- 27644323
TI  - Incidence and risk factors of axial symptoms after cervical disc arthroplasty: a
      minimum 5-year follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether uncovertebral
      joint ossification was a risk factor for axial symptoms (AS) after cervical disc
      arthroplasty (CDA). METHODS: This retrospective study included 52 consecutive
      patients who underwent CDA for single-level cervical disc disease. To examine
      possible risk factors for AS after CDA, univariate and multivariate logistic
      regression analyses were conducted to compare data from the patients with and
      without AS (the AS and no-AS groups, respectively). RESULTS: Among the 52
      patients examined, AS were observed in 24 patients (46.2 %), including a stiff
      neck (n = 11), neck pain and dullness (n = 10), and shoulder pain (n = 3).
      Uncovertebral joint ossification was detected in 22 (42.3 %) patients, including
      17 patients in the AS group and 5 patients in the no-AS group. Clinical outcome
      improved during the follow-up period for the AS group. According to multivariate
      logistic regression analysis, uncovertebral joint ossification, cervical
      kyphosis, and range of motion (ROM) at the index level were identified as
      significant risk factors for AS after CDA. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfactory clinical
      outcomes were observed following CDA for the treatment of single-level cervical
      disc disease in the present cohort. In addition, uncovertebral joint
      ossification, cervical kyphosis, and ROM at the index level were found to affect
      the incidence of AS after CDA.

PMID- 27644324
TI  - Adoption of routine telemedicine in Norwegian hospitals: progress over 5 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although Norway is well known for its early use of telemedicine to
      provide services for people in rural and remote areas in the Arctic, little is
      known about the pace of telemedicine adoption in Norway. The aim of the present
      study was to explore the statewide implementation of telemedicine in Norwegian
      hospitals over time, and analyse its adoption and level of use. METHODS: Data on
      outpatient visits and telemedicine consultations delivered by Norwegian hospitals
      from 2009 to 2013 were collected from the national health registry. Data were
      stratified by health region, hospital, year, and clinical specialty. RESULTS: All
      four health regions used telemedicine, i.e. there was 100 % adoption at the
      regional level. The use of routine telemedicine differed between health regions,
      and telemedicine appeared to be used mostly in the regions of lower centrality
      and population density, such as Northern Norway. Only Central Norway seemed to be
      atypical. Twenty-one out of 28 hospitals reported using telemedicine, i.e. there
      was 75 % adoption at the hospital level. Neurosurgery and rehabilitation were the
      clinical specialties where telemedicine was used most frequently. Despite the
      growing trend and the high adoption, the relative use of telemedicine compared to
      that of outpatient visits was low. CONCLUSIONS: Adoption of telemedicine is
      Norway was high, with all the health regions and most of the hospitals reporting
      using telemedicine. The use of telemedicine appeared to increase over the 5-year
      study period. However, the proportion of telemedicine consultations relative to
      the number of outpatient visits was low. The use of telemedicine in Norway was
      low in comparison with that reported in large-scale telemedicine networks in
      other countries. To facilitate future comparisons, data on adoption and
      utilisation over time should be reported routinely by statewide or network-based
      telemedicine services.

PMID- 27644325
TI  - MIST1 Links Secretion and Stress as Both Target and Regulator of the UPR.
AB  - Transcriptional networks that govern secretory cell specialization, including
      instructing cells to develop a unique cytoarchitecture, amass extensive protein
      synthesis machinery, and be embodied to respond to endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      stress, remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we discovered that the
      secretory cell transcription factor MIST1 (Bhlha15), previously shown to be
      essential for cytoskeletal organization and secretory activity, also functions as
      a potent ER stress-inducible transcriptional regulator. Genome-wide DNA binding
      studies, coupled with genetic mouse models, revealed MIST1 gene targets that
      function along the entire breadth of the protein synthesis, processing, transport
      and exocytosis networks. Additionally, key MIST1 targets are essential for
      alleviating ER stress in these highly specialized cells. Indeed, MIST1 functions
      as a co-regulator of the UPR master transcription factor XBP1 for a portion of
      target genes that contain adjacent MIST1 and XBP1 binding sites. Interestingly,
      Mist1 gene expression is induced during ER stress by XBP1, but as ER stress
      subsides, MIST1 serves as a feedback inhibitor, directly binding the Xbp1
      promoter and repressing Xbp1 transcript production. Together, our findings
      provide a new paradigm for XBP1-dependent UPR regulation and position MIST1 as a
      potential biotherapeutic for numerous human diseases.

PMID- 27644326
TI  - MIST1 and PTF1 Collaborate in Feed-forward Regulatory Loops that Maintain the
      Pancreatic Acinar Phenotype in Adult Mice.
AB  - Much remains unknown regarding the regulatory networks formed by transcription
      factors in mature, differentiated mammalian cells in vivo, despite many studies
      of individual DNA-binding transcription factors. We report a constellation of
      feed-forward loops formed by the pancreatic transcription factors MIST1 and PTF1
      that govern the differentiated phenotype of the adult pancreatic acinar cell.
      PTF1 is an atypical basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor complex of
      pancreatic acinar cells and critical to acinar cell fate specification and
      differentiation. MIST1, also a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor,
      enhances the formation and maintenance of the specialized phenotype of
      professional secretory cells. The MIST1 and PTF1 collaboration controls a wide
      range of specialized cellular processes, including secretory protein synthesis
      and processing, exocytosis, and homeostasis of the endoplasmic reticulum. PTF1
      drives Mist1 transcription, and MIST1 and PTF1 bind and drive the transcription
      of over a hundred downstream acinar genes. PTF1 binds two canonical bipartite
      sites within a 0.7-kb transcriptional enhancer upstream of Mist1 that are
      essential for the activity of the enhancer in vivo MIST1 and PTF1 co-regulate
      target genes synergistically or additively, depending on the target
      transcriptional enhancer. The frequent close binding proximity of PTF1 and MIST1
      in pancreatic acinar cell chromatin implies extensive collaboration, although the
      collaboration is not dependent on a stable physical interaction.

PMID- 27644327
TI  - Altered Interleukin-10 Signaling in Skeletal Muscle Regulates Obesity-Mediated
      Inflammation and Insulin Resistance.
AB  - Skeletal muscle insulin resistance is a major characteristic of obesity and type
      2 diabetes. Although obesity-mediated inflammation is causally associated with
      insulin resistance, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here, we examined the
      effects of chronic obesity in mice with muscle-specific overexpression of
      interleukin-10 (MIL10). After 16 weeks of a high-fat diet (HFD), MIL10 mice
      became markedly obese but showed improved insulin action compared to that of wild
      type mice, which was largely due to increased glucose metabolism and reduced
      inflammation in skeletal muscle. Since leptin regulates inflammation, the
      beneficial effects of interleukin-10 (IL-10) were further examined in leptin
      deficient ob/ob mice. Muscle-specific overexpression of IL-10 in ob/ob mice (MCK
      IL10ob/ob) did not affect spontaneous obesity, but MCK-IL10ob/ob mice showed
      increased glucose turnover compared to that in ob/ob mice. Last, mice with muscle
      specific ablation of IL-10 receptor (M-IL10R-/-) were generated to determine
      whether IL-10 signaling in skeletal muscle is involved in IL-10 effects on
      glucose metabolism. After an HFD, M-IL10R-/- mice developed insulin resistance
      with reduced glucose metabolism compared to that in wild-type mice. Overall,
      these results demonstrate IL-10 effects to attenuate obesity-mediated
      inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle, and our findings
      implicate a potential therapeutic role of anti-inflammatory cytokines in treating
      insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27644328
TI  - p97 Promotes a Conserved Mechanism of Helicase Unloading during DNA Cross-Link
      Repair.
AB  - Interstrand cross-links (ICLs) are extremely toxic DNA lesions that create an
      impassable roadblock to DNA replication. When a replication fork collides with an
      ICL, it triggers a damage response that promotes multiple DNA processing events
      required to excise the cross-link from chromatin and resolve the stalled
      replication fork. One of the first steps in this process involves displacement of
      the CMG replicative helicase (comprised of Cdc45, MCM2-7, and GINS), which
      obstructs the underlying cross-link. Here we report that the p97/Cdc48/VCP
      segregase plays a critical role in ICL repair by unloading the CMG complex from
      chromatin. Eviction of the stalled helicase involves K48-linked
      polyubiquitylation of MCM7, p97-mediated extraction of CMG, and a largely
      degradation-independent mechanism of MCM7 deubiquitylation. Our results show that
      ICL repair and replication termination both utilize a similar mechanism to
      displace the CMG complex from chromatin. However, unlike termination, repair
      mediated helicase unloading involves the tumor suppressor protein BRCA1, which
      acts upstream of MCM7 ubiquitylation and p97 recruitment. Together, these
      findings indicate that p97 plays a conserved role in dismantling the CMG helicase
      complex during different cellular events, but that distinct regulatory signals
      ultimately control when and where unloading takes place.

PMID- 27644330
TI  - Identification of novel senataxin mutations in Chinese patients with autosomal
      recessive cerebellar ataxias by targeted next-generation sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxias (ARCA) are a group of
      neurodegenerative disorders characterized by early onset of gait impairment,
      disturbed limb coordination, dysarthria, and eye movement abnormalities, most
      likely due to the degeneration of cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord. Despite
      of the rarity, ARCA are both clinically and genetically heterogeneous. To date,
      more than 30 culprit genes have been identified in ARCA. Unraveling the specific
      causative mutation in cases with ARCA remains challenging so far. METHODS: Three
      ARCA pedigrees of Chinese ancestry were recruited. Clinical features were
      evaluated and peripheral blood was collected after obtaining the written inform.
      Laboratory examinations, brain MRI, and EMG were performed for all the affected
      individuals. Genomic DNA was extracted, followed by the screening of GAA repeat
      expansion in FXN gene to exclude Friedreich's ataxia. Targeted next-generation
      sequencing combining Sanger sequencing was performed in each proband of these
      families. RESULTS: Compound heterozygous mutations, c.3190G > T (p.E1064X) and
      c.4883C > G (p.S1628X) of senataxin (SETX) gene were identified in one family
      with two affected cases. Both of the patients presented with early onset of
      unsteady walk, dysarthria, and diplopia. EMG test revealed decreased conduction
      velocity and evoked potential of both motor and sensory nerve. Moreover, elevated
      serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and apparent cerebellar atrophy were observed.
      These features were typical features of ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2
      (AOA2) and in line with the genetic results. However, no specific mutation was
      identified in the other two pedigrees. CONCLUSIONS: We identified novel compound
      heterozygous mutations of SETX in Chinese AOA2 pedigree, which broaden the
      mutation spectrum of SETX. To our knowledge, this is the first report concerning
      Chinese AOA2 cases with SETX mutations.

PMID- 27644331
TI  - Dual-Wavelength Surface Plasmon Resonance for Determining the Size and
      Concentration of Sub-Populations of Extracellular Vesicles.
AB  - Accurate concentration determination of subpopulations of extracellular vesicles
      (EVs), such as exosomes, is of importance both in the context of understanding
      their fundamental biological role and of potentially using them as disease
      biomarkers. In principle, this can be achieved by measuring the rate of diffusion
      limited mass uptake to a sensor surface modified with a receptor designed to only
      bind the subpopulation of interest. However, a significant error is introduced if
      the targeted EV subpopulation has a size, and thus hydrodynamic diffusion
      coefficient, that differs from the mean size and diffusion coefficient of the
      whole EV population and/or if the EVs become deformed upon binding to the
      surface. We here demonstrate a new approach to determine the mean size (or
      effective film thickness) of bound nanoparticles, in general, and EV
      subpopulation carrying a marker of interest, in particular. The method is based
      on operating surface plasmon resonance simultaneously at two wavelengths with
      different sensing depths and using the ratio of the corresponding responses to
      extract the particle size on the surface. By estimating in this way the degree of
      deformation of adsorbed EVs, we markedly improved their bulk concentration
      determination and showed that EVs carrying the exosomal marker CD63 correspond to
      not more than around 10% of the EV sample.

PMID- 27644329
TI  - Mutation of the 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) substrate
      docking site in the developing brain causes microcephaly with abnormal brain
      morphogenesis independently of Akt, leading to impaired cognition and disruptive
      behaviors.
AB  - The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase)/Akt signaling pathway plays essential
      roles during neuronal development. The 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein
      kinase 1 (PDK1) coordinates the PI 3-kinase signals by activating twenty three
      kinases of the AGC family including Akt. Phosphorylation of a conserved docking
      site in the substrate is a requisite for PDK1 to recognize, phosphorylate and
      activate most of these kinases, with the exception of Akt. We exploited this
      differential mechanism of regulation by generating neuronal-specific conditional
      knock-in mice expressing the mutant form of PDK1 L155E in which the substrate
      docking site binding motif, termed the PIF-pocket, was disrupted. As a
      consequence, activation of all the PDK1 substrates tested excluding Akt was
      abolished. Mice exhibited microcephaly, altered cortical layering and reduced
      circuitry, leading to cognitive deficits and exacerbated disruptive behavior
      combined with diminished motivation. The abnormal patterning of the adult brain
      arise from the reduced ability of the embryonic neurons to polarize and extend
      their axons, therefore highlighting the essential roles that the PDK1 signaling
      beyond Akt plays in mediating the neuronal responses that are instructive for
      brain development.

PMID- 27644332
TI  - Class II Phosphoinositide 3-Kinases as Novel Drug Targets.
AB  - The phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are a family of lipid kinases central to
      regulating a wide range of important intracellular processes. Despite the vast
      knowledge around class I PI3Ks, the class II PI3Ks have been neglected, seemingly
      only due to the chronology of their discovery. Here we focus on the cellular
      functions of the three class II PI3K isoforms, PI3KC2alpha, PI3KC2beta, and
      PI3KC2gamma, in different cell systems and underline the emerging importance of
      these enzymes in different physiological and pathological contexts. We provide an
      overview on the current development of class II PI3 kinase inhibitors and outline
      the potential use for such inhibitors. The field is in its infancy as compared to
      their class I counterparts. Nevertheless, recent advances in understanding the
      roles of class II PI3 kinases in different pathological contexts is leading to an
      increased interest in the development of specific inhibitors that can provide
      potential novel pharmacological tools.

PMID- 27644333
TI  - Bu4NI-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling between Sulfonyl Hydrazides and Diazo Compounds To
      Construct beta-Carbonyl Sulfones Using Molecular Oxygen.
AB  - A new cross-coupling reaction between sulfonyl hydrazides and diazo compounds has
      been established, leading to a variety of beta-carbonyl sulfones in good yields.
      This methodology was distinguished by simple manipulation, easily available
      starting materials, and wide substrate scope. A plausible mechanism involving a
      radical process was proposed based upon the experimental observations and
      literature.

PMID- 27644334
TI  - Physical Activity Assessment Between Consumer- and Research-Grade Accelerometers:
      A Comparative Study in Free-Living Conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wearable activity monitors such as Fitbit enable users to track
      various attributes of their physical activity (PA) over time and have the
      potential to be used in research to promote and measure PA behavior. However, the
      measurement accuracy of Fitbit in absolute free-living conditions is largely
      unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the measurement congruence between Fitbit Flex and
      ActiGraph GT3X for quantifying steps, metabolic equivalent tasks (METs), and
      proportion of time in sedentary activity and light-, moderate-, and vigorous
      intensity PA in healthy adults in free-living conditions. METHODS: A convenience
      sample of 19 participants (4 men and 15 women), aged 18-37 years, concurrently
      wore the Fitbit Flex (wrist) and ActiGraph GT3X (waist) for 1- or 2-week
      observation periods (n=3 and n=16, respectively) that included self-reported
      bouts of daily exercise. Data were examined for daily activity, averaged over 14
      days and for minutes of reported exercise. Average day-level data included steps,
      METs, and proportion of time in different intensity levels. Minute-level data
      included steps, METs, and mean intensity score (0 = sedentary, 3 = vigorous) for
      overall reported exercise bouts (N=120) and by exercise type (walking, n=16; run
      or sports, n=44; cardio machine, n=20). RESULTS: Measures of steps were similar
      between devices for average day- and minute-level observations (all P values >
      .05). Fitbit significantly overestimated METs for average daily activity, for
      overall minutes of reported exercise bouts, and for walking and run or sports
      exercises (mean difference 0.70, 1.80, 3.16, and 2.00 METs, respectively; all P
      values < .001). For average daily activity, Fitbit significantly underestimated
      the proportion of time in sedentary and light intensity by 20% and 34%,
      respectively, and overestimated time by 3% in both moderate and vigorous
      intensity (all P values < .001). Mean intensity scores were not different for
      overall minutes of exercise or for run or sports and cardio-machine exercises
      (all P values > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Fitbit Flex provides accurate measures of
      steps for daily activity and minutes of reported exercise, regardless of exercise
      type. Although the proportion of time in different intensity levels varied
      between devices, examining the mean intensity score for minute-level bouts across
      different exercise types enabled interdevice comparisons that revealed similar
      measures of exercise intensity. Fitbit Flex is shown to have measurement
      limitations that may affect its potential utility and validity for measuring PA
      attributes in free-living conditions.

PMID- 27644335
TI  - Telemetric intra-cranial pressure monitoring: clinical and financial
      considerations.
AB  - Intracranial pressure (ICP) measurement is an important diagnostic tool in
      Neurosurgery. Until relatively recently, conventional monitoring has required
      that subjects be admitted to a hospital bed and the device is only able to be
      left in-situ for limited periods of time. We have evaluated a Telemetric ICP
      monitoring system that has been proven, by several other groups worldwide, to
      permit rapid, repeated and prolonged ICP measurement, in multiple environments.
      In our unit, 4 patients have been implanted to-date, between the ages of 4 and
      16, manifesting a wide range of complex neurosurgical conditions. The sensors
      have been left in-situ for between 460 and 632 days. There have been no clinical
      complications and the system has been universally well tolerated. Clinical
      events, costs and patient experience were all assessed prior to and following
      implantation. Overall, there was a significant reduction in associated admissions
      (44.3%), imaging requirements (72.5%) and costs (50.0%). Subjective feedback from
      both the patients (where possible) and their families was overwhelmingly
      positive, partly due to (a) the system's ease of use, (b) its ability to reduce
      the number of admissions/tests required and (c) the facility for rapid
      measurement of ICP that permitted on-the-spot reassurance of concerns.
      Additionally, the ability to monitor ICP at home and/or whilst ambulant, has
      provided measurements that were hitherto inaccessible to our team, facilitating
      all the potential benefits that analysis of such information would provide.
      Indeed, we have seen the resultant management in each case has been completely
      altered by the availability of this data, reaffirming that the importance of
      being able to obtain it should not be underestimated. The combination of both
      this and the ability to markedly improve patient experience, along with
      generating significant cost-savings, lead the authors to suggest that the
      implantation of this system should be strongly considered in selected
      individuals.

PMID- 27644342
TI  - Mercury concentrations in fish from three major lakes in north Mississippi:
      Spatial and temporal differences and human health risk assessment.
AB  - The goal of this study was to compare total mercury (Hg) concentrations in fish
      muscle tissue and assess consumption health risks of fish collected from three
      north Mississippi lakes (Sardis, Enid, and Grenada) that are extensively used for
      fishing and recreation. Largemouth bass (LMB; n = 64), channel catfish (CC; n =
      72), and white crappie (WC; n = 100), which represent a range of trophic levels,
      were collected during spring 2013 and 2014. Creel data estimated that anglers
      harvested approximately 370,000 kg of WC, 27,000 kg of CC, and 15,000 kg of LMB
      from the lakes annually. Median Hg wet weight concentrations were highest in LMB
      (443 ng/g), followed by CC (211 ng/g) and WC (192 ng/g). Fish-Hg concentrations
      were lower than those reported in fish >10 years ago. There were significant
      differences between lakes consistent across species. Grenada length-normalized
      fish-Hg concentrations were higher than those from Enid and Sardis. Because
      existing consumption advisories for CC are length based, the lack of relationship
      between length and Hg concentration indicated that the recommendations may not be
      sufficiently protective. Further, five different risk assessment paradigms
      yielded hazard quotient (HQ) values suggesting that existing fish consumption
      advisories may be insufficient to protect adults and especially children from
      exposure to Hg.

PMID- 27644341
TI  - Tumor suppressor p53 protects mice against Listeria monocytogenes infection.
AB  - Tumor suppressor p53 is involved in regulating immune responses, which contribute
      to antitumor and antiviral activity. However, whether p53 has anti-bacterial
      functions remains unclear. Listeria monocytogenes (LM) causes listeriosis in
      humans and animals, and it is a powerful model for studying innate and adaptive
      immunity. In the present study, we illustrate an important regulatory role of p53
      during LM infection. p53 knockout (p53KO) mice were more susceptible to LM
      infection, which was manifested by a shorter survival time and lower survival
      rate. p53KO mice showed significant impairments in LM eradication. Knockdown of
      p53 in RAW264.7 and HeLa cells resulted in increased invasion and intracellular
      survival of LM. Furthermore, the invasion and intracellular survival of LM was
      inhibited in p53-overexpressing RAW264.7 and HeLa cells. LM-infected p53KO mice
      exhibited severe clinical symptoms and organ injury, presumably because of the
      abnormal production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-12, and
      IL-18. Decreased IFN-gamma and GBP1 productions were observed in LM-infected p53
      deficient mice or cells. The combination of these defects likely resulted in the
      overwhelming LM infection in the p53KO mice. These observations indicate that p53
      serves as an important regulator of the host innate immune that protects against
      LM infection.

PMID- 27644343
TI  - Effects of antipsychotic drug administration on antioxidative defense enzymes in
      male rat kidney.
AB  - The use of atypical antipsychotic drugs (APD) was reported to be associated with
      adverse effects on the kidneys. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine
      whether APD exerted their adverse effects by interfering with the renal
      antioxidant defense system. Male 3-mo-old Wistar rats were treated for 28 d with
      ziprasidone (ZIP), clozapine (CLO), or sertindole (SER) using a daily dose
      recommended for antipsychotic drug therapy. The expression and activities of
      antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) type 1 and type 2, catalase (CAT),
      glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) activity were
      measured in the kidneys. Changes in the kidneys were also evaluated
      histologically. Ziprasidone, CLO, and SER reduced renal SOD type 1 and type 2
      activities. Decreased CAT activity was observed only in SER-treated rats. An
      inhibition in GR activity and increased activity of GST was found only after
      treatment with CLO. Histological analysis showed dilatation of proximal tubules
      in kidneys with all three drugs. In conclusion, data indicate that redox
      disturbances may contribute to renal morphologic alterations in proximal tubules
      in rats treated with all APD.

PMID- 27644344
TI  - Indoor air risk factors for schoolchildren's health in Portuguese homes: Results
      from a case-control survey.
AB  - Allergic diseases have been on the rise in many countries over the past few
      decades and indoor exposure may be a possible cause. An overall investigation of
      children's health status and residential indoor air pollutants known or suspected
      to affect respiratory health was conducted in the homes of primary schoolchildren
      during winter in Porto, Portugal. In a case-control study (30 case children with
      asthma and 38 controls) and over a 1-wk monitoring period, air sample collection
      was conducted in children's bedrooms for the analysis of 12 volatile organic
      compounds (VOC), aldehydes, particulate matter (PM)2.5, PM10, bacteria, and
      fungi. Home exposures to indoor pollutants are similar for children with and
      without asthma, except for d-limonene. For both groups, most VOC were present at
      low concentrations (median < 5 ug/m(3)) and below the respective World Health
      Organization (WHO) guidelines. Concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and bacteria were
      frequently higher than WHO/reference values (80, 25, and 60% of all studied
      dwellings, respectively). Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) exceeding 1000
      ppm were encountered in 60% of the homes. Although this study does not provide
      evidence of causative factors for asthmatic status, the postulation that poor
      indoor air quality in homes heightens the risk of allergic symptoms development
      among children is conceivable.

PMID- 27644345
TI  - Evidence that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells reduce epithelial
      permeability following phosgene-induced acute lung injury via activation of wnt3a
      protein-induced canonical wnt/beta-catenin signaling.
AB  - : An increase in epithelial cell permeability has been proposed to contribute to
      phosgene-induced acute lung injury (ALI). However, no specific and effective
      means for blocking increases in permeability are currently available. Cell-based
      therapy using bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is an attractive
      new approach. Canonical wnt/beta-catenin signaling has been demonstrated to
      contribute to both epithelial cell injury and repair mechanisms in ALI. The goal
      of our study was to determine the effects of MSCs on epithelial permeability in
      phosgene-induced ALI in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and identify changes in major
      components of the wnt3a/beta-catenin signaling pathway during this process.
      Epithelial cell permeability was evaluated by measuring total protein, albumin,
      keratinocyte growth factor, and occludin in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung
      tissue. MSCs-harboring lentiviral vectors expressing green fluorescent protein
      (GFP) were used to determine rates of MSC engraftment at injured sites. Lung
      tissue was excised to evaluate changes in the levels of proteins that function in
      wnt3a/beta-catenin signaling, including wnt3a, total beta-catenin, non
      phosphorylated-Ser33/37/Thr41 beta-catenin, axin2, and cyclin D1 by western blot
      analysis. Because TGF-beta1 and wnt5a can inhibit canonical wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling, we also measured levels of TGF-beta1 and wnt5a by western blotting.
      CONCLUSIONS: (1) TGF-beta1 and wnt5a expression correlated with inhibition of
      wnt3a/beta-catenin signaling in our phosgene-induced ALI model and (2)
      exogenously supplied MSCs homed to sites of lung injury and reduced epithelial
      permeability likely by blocking TGF-beta1- and wnt5a-mediated inhibition of
      wnt3/beta-catenin signaling.

PMID- 27644346
TI  - Migraine patients have a higher prevalence of PTSD symptoms in comparison to
      chronic tension-type headache and healthy subjects: a case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Headache is one of the most common disorders and has a heavy
      socioeconomic burden on both patients and society. Previous studies have
      demonstrated a high prevalence of psychological issues (e.g. depression and
      anxiety) in headache and especially migraine patients. The current study was
      designed to evaluate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
      symptomatology in chronic migraine (CM), chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) and
      healthy subjects. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CM and CTTH subjects were selected
      consecutively from patients referring to the department of neurology clinic at
      Shafa Hospital, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. PTSD
      symptomatology was assessed using PTSD checklist civilian version-Persian edition
      (PCL-C). Control subjects were enrolled from the family members of headache
      patients who did not have any history of headache. Chi-square test was used to
      analyse data and p < .05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of
      the 60 control subjects, 5 had a PTSD symptomatology (8.3%); this prevalence was
      13.3% for CTTH and 40% for CM groups. CM patients had a significantly higher
      prevalence of PTSD symptomatology in comparison to CTTH and control subjects (p <
      .05). With reference to gender, most of the subjects with PTSD symptomatology
      were female. CONCLUSION: Results of the current study demonstrated that CM
      patients have a higher prevalence of PTSD symptomatology compared to another
      chronic headache condition (CTTH) and healthy subjects, which should be
      considered while treating CM patients. Further studies in larger populations are
      demanded.

PMID- 27644348
TI  - CEO resigns after waiting time failure.
AB  - The chief executive of West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, Tara
      Donnelly, has resigned after eight patients were kept waiting for emergency
      admission for more than 12 hours.

PMID- 27644347
TI  - Awe-inspiring emergency care.
AB  - Sometimes each of us must take a step back and reconsider how we view our lives,
      and ask ourselves whether we have become so involved in the everyday that we are
      missing something more significant. I was fortunate recently, having read about
      the importance to our psyches of being 'in awe' ( Cook 2009 ), to spend seven
      days on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. My objective was to become awestruck and, in
      this city, home to three of the world's great faiths, I found it is difficult not
      to be.

PMID- 27644349
TI  - New campaign to raise stroke awareness.
AB  - The Department of Health has launched a three-year, L12 million awareness
      campaign to help the public recognise the signs of stroke.

PMID- 27644350
TI  - Queen's honorary nurse appointed.
AB  - Disaster nursing expert Kevin Davies has been appointed a Queen's Honorary Nurse
      in recognition of his contribution to military nursing and health care.

PMID- 27644352
TI  - Crime figures prompt college to publish guidance on when nurses should alert
      police to knife injuries.
AB  - Nurse-led clinics could be targeted by the victims of knife crime because nurses
      are considered less likely than doctors to report injuries to the police, the RCN
      has warned.

PMID- 27644353
TI  - ?
AB  - Warming up: recovery sister and Territorial Army (TA) nurse Zayne Crow is
      undertaking a 151-mile race this month across part of the Sahara Desert. Ms Crow,
      who works at the King Edward VII's Hospital, London, and is an emergency nurse at
      the TA's City of London Field Hospital, is competing in the formidable Marathon
      des Sables, in Morocco. This is described as the world's toughest foot race, in
      which competitors run the equivalent of five and a half marathons in six days
      while carrying all of their kit, in temperatures of up to 50 degrees C. Ms Crow
      said: 'The extreme temperatures and the weight I will be carrying will make it an
      immense challenge but, in terms of physical and mental fitness, I am in peak
      condition.' Ms Crow is raising funds for the wounded service personnel charity,
      Help for Heroes. ?For more information, go to www.justgiving.com/zaynecrow.

PMID- 27644354
TI  - Staff 'reluctant to report violence'.
AB  - NHS staff are reluctant to report violence because of work pressures, lack of
      support from managers and acceptance of verbal abuse in emergency departments, a
      report reveals.

PMID- 27644355
TI  - Web scan.
AB  - Are you teaching students to undertake electrocardiograms (ECGs)? If so,
      http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/ecg will offer you a short
      tutorial on the subject as well as an interactive game in which players place
      leads on a patient and then interpret the ECGs. It is not particularly
      sophisticated or detailed, but good fun and educational.

PMID- 27644356
TI  - Disaster Nursing: A handbook for practice Disaster Nursing: A handbook for
      practice Authors: Deborah S Adelman and Timothy J Legg Publishers: Jones and
      Bartlett, Boston MA No of pages: 347 Price: L32.99 978-0763758448 0763758442
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - Emergency nurses in the UK tend to be effective at managing major incidents
      because these last for short periods of time. But in disaster situations
      responses have to be prolonged and the demands placed on individual nurses in
      such circumstances can be immense and have lasting effects.

PMID- 27644357
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27644358
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27644403
TI  - Activation of PPARalpha by Fatty Acid Accumulation Enhances Fatty Acid
      Degradation and Sulfatide Synthesis.
AB  - Very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) catalyzes the first reaction in
      the mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway. VLCAD deficiency is
      associated with the accumulation of fat in multiple organs and tissues, which
      results in specific clinical features including cardiomyopathy, cardiomegaly,
      muscle weakness, and hepatic dysfunction in infants. We speculated that the
      abnormal fatty acid metabolism in VLCAD-deficient individuals might cause cell
      necrosis by fatty acid toxicity. The accumulation of fatty acids may activate
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), a master regulator of fatty
      acid metabolism and a potent nuclear receptor for free fatty acids. We examined
      six skin fibroblast lines, derived from VLCAD-deficient patients and identified
      fatty acid accumulation and PPARalpha activation in these cell lines. We then
      found that the expression levels of three enzymes involved in fatty acid
      degradation, including long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase (LACS), were increased in a
      PPARalpha-dependent manner. This increased expression of LACS might enhance the
      fatty acyl-CoA supply to fatty acid degradation and sulfatide synthesis pathways.
      In fact, the first and last reactions in the sulfatide synthesis pathway are
      regulated by PPARalpha. Therefore, we also measured the expression levels of
      enzymes involved in sulfatide metabolism and the regulation of cellular sulfatide
      content. The levels of these enzymes and cellular sulfatide content both
      increased in a PPARalpha-dependent manner. These results indicate that PPARalpha
      activation plays defensive and compensative roles by reducing cellular toxicity
      associated with fatty acids and sulfuric acid. 

PMID- 27644404
TI  - Comparison of pediatric atypical antipsychotic exposures reported to U.S. poison
      centers.
AB  - CONTEXT: The rise in atypical antipsychotic prescribing increases the risk of
      pediatric exposures. Published studies in children are limited. OBJECTIVE: The
      objectives are to evaluate national poison center data on atypical antipsychotic
      exposures in young children and compare toxicity amongst selected agents.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of U.S. National Poison Data System
      single substance exposures, from 2005 to 2013, of five atypical antipsychotics in
      children <6 years old, followed to known outcome was performed. Data were
      evaluated for reason, clinical effects, management site and outcome. RESULTS:
      There were 16,935 exposures included: 5018 aripiprazole, 1735 olanzapine, 3904
      quetiapine, 4778 risperidone and 1500 ziprasidone. Median age was two years. Most
      common reason was unintentional-general (90.6%). Therapeutic error occurred more
      often with risperidone (19.9%). Clinical effects occurred in 59.4% of
      aripiprazole, 57.9% of olanzapine, 56.6% of ziprasidone, 40.1% of risperidone,
      and 29.3% of quetiapine. The most frequent were drowsiness/lethargy (35.6%),
      tachycardia (6.9%), agitation (4.0%), and ataxia (3.3%). Drowsiness/lethargy
      occurred most with aripiprazole (47.6%), ziprasidone (46.5%) and olanzapine
      (45.1%) and least with quetiapine (20.5%) and risperidone (28.6%). Tachycardia
      and agitation both occurred most often with olanzapine (11.4% and 12.7%,
      respectively). Management sites were non-health care facility (28.0%),
      treated/discharged from emergency department (48.9%), admitted - noncritical care
      (11.4%), critical care (9.5%), and other/unknown (2.2%). Admission was lowest for
      risperidone (13.9%) and quetiapine (11.9%) and highest for olanzapine (32.9%).
      Coded outcomes were no effect (53.3%), minor (33.7%), moderate (12.1%), major
      (0.9%) and no deaths. Moderate/major outcomes occurred most often with
      ziprasidone (20.5%) and olanzapine (19.0%) and least often with quetiapine (5.3%)
      and risperidone (10.9%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Overall outcomes were
      favorable, with major toxicity in <1% of exposures. Risperidone and quetiapine
      exposures resulted in less toxicity. This finding may be attributed to higher
      frequency of therapeutic errors for risperidone but the reason for less toxicity
      with quetiapine is unclear.

PMID- 27644405
TI  - Left ventricular torsion and circumferential strain responses to exercise in
      patients with ischemic coronary artery disease.
AB  - LV torsion during exercise in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is not
      well known. Circumferential strain (CS) and left ventricular (LV) torsion (Tor)
      have not been evaluated during ischemia in these patients. We aimed to assess the
      effect of ischemia during exercise echocardiography (ExE) on CS and Tor. We
      studied a group of 73 patients with true positive ExE results (Ischemic group:
      ischemia plus an abnormal coronary angiogram) and a matched control group of 66
      patients with negative ExE and either normal coronary angiography or low post
      test probability of CAD. Basal rotation (Rot) and apical rotation and basal and
      apical CS were studied by speckle tracking at rest and exercise. Apical CS and
      apical and basal Rot values were similar between groups at rest, except basal CS
      which was already worse in the ischemic group. At exercise, all rotational and CS
      parameters were impaired in the ischemic in comparison with the control group
      (basal CS: -18 +/- 5 vs. -25 +/- 7 %, p < 0.001; apical CS: -31 +/- 11 vs. - 43
      +/- 9 %, p < 0.001; time to basal CS: 52 +/- 6 vs. 48 +/- 7 %, p = 0.001; time to
      apical CS: 55 +/- 7 vs. 49 +/- 6 %, p < 0.001; basal rotation: -0.7 +/- 6.5
      degrees  vs. -6.2 +/- 8.5 degrees , p < 0.001; LV twist 13.0 +/- 10.4 degrees 
      vs.19.7 +/- 11.5 degrees , p < 0.001; LV-Tor 1.9 +/- 1.6 degrees /cm vs. 2.8 +/-
      1.7/cm, p = 0.001) with the exception of apical rotation which was similar (12.3
      +/- 7.4 degrees  vs. 13.4 +/- 7.7 degrees , p = NS). Basal and apical CS and
      basal rotation impair during exercise-induced ischemia. LV-Tor decreases with
      ischemia due to worsening of basal rotation, whereas apical rotation does not
      impair, suggesting the existence of an apical compensatory mechanism.

PMID- 27644406
TI  - Rapid hepatic clearance of full length CCN-2/CTGF: a putative role for LRP1
      mediated endocytosis.
AB  - CCN-2 (connective tissue growth factor; CTGF) is a key factor in fibrosis. Plasma
      CCN-2 has biomarker potential in numerous fibrotic disorders, but it is unknown
      which pathophysiological factors determine plasma CCN-2 levels. The proteolytic
      amino-terminal fragment of CCN-2 is primarily eliminated by the kidney. Here, we
      investigated elimination and distribution profiles of full length CCN-2 by
      intravenous administration of recombinant CCN-2 to rodents. After bolus injection
      in mice, we observed a large initial distribution volume (454 mL/kg) and a fast
      initial clearance (120 mL/kg/min). Immunosorbent assay and immunostaining showed
      that CCN-2 distributed mainly to the liver and was taken up by hepatocytes.
      Steady state clearance in rats, determined by continuous infusion of CCN-2, was
      fast (45 mL/kg/min). Renal CCN-2 clearance, determined by arterial and renal vein
      sampling, accounted for only 12 % of total clearance. Co-infusion of CCN-2 with
      receptor-associated protein (RAP), an antagonist of LDL-receptor family proteins,
      showed that RAP prolonged CCN-2 half-life and completely prevented CCN-2
      internalization by hepatocytes. This suggests that hepatic uptake of CCN-2 is
      mediated by a RAP-sensitive mechanism most likely involving LRP1, a member of the
      LDL-receptor family involved in hepatic clearance of various plasma proteins.
      Surface plasmon resonance binding studies confirmed that CCN-2 is an LRP1 ligand.
      Co-infusion of CCN-2 with an excess of the heparan sulphate-binding protamine
      lowered the large initial distribution volume of CCN-2 by 88 % and reduced
      interstitial staining of CCN-2, suggesting binding of CCN-2 to heparan sulphate
      proteoglycans (HSPGs). Protamine did not affect clearance rate, indicating that
      RAP-sensitive clearance of CCN-2 is HSPG independent. In conclusion, unlike its
      amino-terminal fragment which is cleared by the kidney, full length CCN-2 is
      primarily eliminated by the liver via a fast RAP-sensitive, probably LRP1
      dependent pathway.

PMID- 27644407
TI  - MicroRNA-1275 suppresses cell growth, and retards G1/S transition in human
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma by down-regulation of HOXB5.
AB  - Through analysis of a reported microarray-based high-throughput examination, we
      found that miR-1275 was significantly down-regulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      (NPC). While its role and mechanism participated in NPC progression are still
      little known. Here, we explored the effect of miR-1275 on the progression of NPC.
      Results demonstrated that miR-1275 was markedly down-regulated in NPC tissues and
      cell lines. MiR-1275 markedly repressed cell growth as confirmed by CCK8 and
      colony formation assay, via inhibition of HOXB5 in NPC cell lines. Moreover, miR
      1275 suppressed G1/S transition via inhibition of HOXB5. Further, oncogene HOXB5
      was evidenced to be a potential target of miR-1275, and its expression was
      conversely correlated with miR-1275 expression in NPC. Collectively, our study
      indicated that miR-1275, a tumor suppressor, played a critical effect on NPC
      progression via inhibition of cell growth, and suppression of G1/S transition by
      targeting oncogenic HOXB5.

PMID- 27644408
TI  - Proconvulsant effects of the ketogenic diet in electroshock-induced seizures in
      mice.
AB  - Among non-pharmacological treatments, the ketogenic diet (KD) has the strongest
      demonstrated evidence of clinical success in drug resistant epilepsy. In an
      attempt to model the anticonvulsant effects of the KD pre-clinically, the present
      study assessed the effects of the KD against electroshock-induced convulsions in
      mice. After confirming that exposure to the KD for 2 weeks resulted in stable
      ketosis and hypoglycemia, mice were exposed to electroshocks of various
      intensities to establish general seizure susceptibility. When compared to mice
      fed the standard rodent chow diet (SRCD), we found that mice fed the KD were more
      sensitive to electroconvulsions as reflected by a significant decrease in seizure
      threshold (3.86 mA in mice on the KD vs 7.29 mA in mice on the SRCD; P < 0.05) in
      the maximal electroshock seizure threshold (MEST) test. To examine if this
      increased seizure sensitivity to electroconvulsions produced by the KD would
      affect anticonvulsant effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), anticonvulsant
      potencies of carbamazepine (CBZ), phenobarbital (PB), phenytoin (PHT), and
      valproate (VPA) against maximal electroshock (MES)-induced convulsions were
      compared in mice fed the KD and SRCD. We found that potencies of all AEDs studied
      were decreased in mice fed the KD in comparison to those on the SRCD, with
      decreases in the anticonvulsant potencies ranging from 1.4 fold (PB) to 1.7 fold
      (PHT). Finally, the lack of differences in brain exposures of the AEDs studied in
      mice fed the KD and SRCD ruled out a pharmacokinetic nature of the observed
      findings. Taken together, exposure to the KD in the present study had an overall
      pro-convulsant effect. Since electroconvulsions require large metabolic reserves
      to support their rapid spread throughout the brain and consequent generalized
      tonic-clonic convulsions, this effect may be explained by a high energy state
      produced by the KD in regards to increased energy storage and utilization.

PMID- 27644409
TI  - Real-time visual feedback of COM and COP motion properties differentially
      modifies postural control structures.
AB  - The experiment was setup to investigate the control of human quiet standing
      through the manipulation of augmented visual information feedback of selective
      properties of the motion of two primary variables in postural control: center of
      pressure (COP) and center of mass (COM). Five properties of feedback information
      were contrasted to a no feedback dual-task (watching a movie) control condition
      to determine the impact of visual real-time feedback on the coordination of the
      joint motions in postural control in both static and dynamic one-leg standing
      postures. The feedback information included 2D COP or COM position and macro
      variables derived from the COP and COM motions, namely virtual time-to-contact
      (VTC) and the COP-COM coupling. The findings in the static condition showed that
      the VTC and COP-COM coupling feedback conditions decreased postural motion more
      than the 2D COP or COM positional information. These variables also induced
      larger sway amplitudes in the dynamic condition showing a more progressive search
      strategy in exploring the stability limits. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA)
      found that COP-COM coupling contributed less than the other feedback variables to
      the redundancy of the system reflected in the common variance between joint
      motions and properties of sway motion. The COP-COM coupling had the lowest
      weighting of the motion properties to redundancy under the feedback conditions
      but overall the qualitative pattern of the joint motion structures was preserved
      within the respective static and dynamic balance conditions.

PMID- 27644410
TI  - Sequence analysis of the Hsp70 family in moss and evaluation of their functions
      in abiotic stress responses.
AB  - The 70-kD heat shock proteins (Hsp70s) are highly conserved molecular chaperones
      that play essential roles in cellular processes including abiotic stress
      responses. Physcomitrella patens serves as a representative of the first
      terrestrial plants and can recover from serious dehydration. To assess the
      possible relationship between P. patens Hsp70s and dehydration tolerance, we
      analyzed the P. patens genome and found at least 21 genes encoding Hsp70s. Gene
      structure and motif composition were relatively conserved in each subfamily. The
      intron-exon structure of PpcpHsp70-2 was different from that of other PpcpHsp70s;
      this gene exhibits several forms of intron retention, indicating that introns may
      play important roles in regulating gene expression. We observed expansion of
      Hsp70s in P. patens, which may reflect adaptations related to development and
      dehydration tolerance, and results mainly from tandem and segmental duplications.
      Expression profiles of rice, Arabidopsis and P. patens Hsp70 genes revealed that
      more than half of the Hsp70 genes were responsive to ABA, salt and drought. The
      presence of overrepresented cis-elements (DOFCOREZM and GCCCORE) among stress
      responsive Hsp70s suggests that they share a common regulatory pathway. Moss
      plants overexpressing PpcpHsp70-2 showed salt and dehydration tolerance, further
      supporting a role in adaptation to land. This work highlights directions for
      future functional analyses of Hsp70s.

PMID- 27644412
TI  - Morphometric and molecular analyses of Skrjabinolecithum pyriforme n. sp.
      (Digenea: Haploporidae) in mullet fish from the Primorsky Region, Russia.
AB  - A new species of Skrjabinolecithum (Digenea: Waretrematinae), Skrjabinolecithum
      pyriforme n. sp., has been found in the intestines of Liza haematocheila and
      Mugil cephalus from the Primorsky Region, Russia. These worms differ from S.
      vitellosum and S. lobolecithum by the presence of two caeca, as do S. spasskii,
      S. indicum and S. bengalensis. These species differ morphologically from S.
      pyriforme n. sp. by a number of features, including body width, oral sucker,
      pharynx, eggs and ratio of length and width of the body. The most similar species
      to S. pyriforme n. sp. is Platydidymus flecterotestis (Zhukov, 1971) with some
      differences in maximal body length, testis and egg sizes. The results of
      molecular analysis confirmed that this new species belongs to Skrjabinolecithum
      on the basis of close relationships with S. spasskii-type species.

PMID- 27644411
TI  - Mechanism Underlying Time-dependent Cross-phenomenon between Concentration
      response Curves and Concentration Addition Curves: A Case Study of Sulfonamides
      Erythromycin mixtures on Escherichia coli.
AB  - Previous studies have identified a phenomenon in which the concentration-response
      curves (CRCs) for mixtures cross the curves for concentration addition model when
      predicting or judging joint toxic actions. However, mechanistic investigations of
      this phenomenon are extremely limited. In this study, a similar phenomenon was
      observed when we determined the joint toxic actions of sulfonamides (SAs) and
      erythromycin (ERY) on Escherichia coli (E. coli), which we named the "cross
      phenomenon", and it was characterized by antagonism in the low-concentration
      range, addition in the medium-concentration range, and synergism in the high
      concentration range. The mechanistic investigation of the cross-phenomenon was as
      follows: SAs and ERY could form a double block to inhibit the bacterial growth by
      exhibiting a synergistic effect; however, the hormetic effect of SAs on E. coli
      led to antagonism in the low-concentration range, resulting from the stimulation
      of sdiA mRNA expression by SAs, which increased the expression of the efflux pump
      (AcrAB-TolC) to discharge ERY. Furthermore, this cross-phenomenon was observed to
      be a time-dependent process induced by the increase of both the concentration and
      extent of stimulation of sdiA mRNA with exposure time. This work explains the
      dose-dependent and time-dependent cross-phenomenon and provides evidence
      regarding the interaction between hormesis and cross-phenomenon.

PMID- 27644413
TI  - Role of C/EBP-alpha in Adriamycin-induced podocyte injury.
AB  - Podocytes are terminally differentiated epithelial cells in the kidney glomeruli
      that act as a key component of the glomerular filtration barrier. Although the
      inciting injury to the podocyte may vary between various glomerular diseases, the
      inevitable consequence of podocyte injury results in their loss, leading to
      progressive kidney disease. Here, we report that the expression of CCAAT/enhancer
      binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-alpha), a transcription factor known to interact
      with and activate PPAR-gamma and NF-kappaB, is suppressed in the glomerular
      cells, particularly in podocytes, in human kidneys with focal segmental
      glomerulosclerosis. Genetic ablation of C/EBP-alpha in podocytes resulted in
      increased proteinuria, increased podocyte foot process effacement, and to
      decreased podocyte number in the setting of Adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephropathy.
      Overexpression of C/EBP-alpha in human podocytes in vitro led to an inhibition of
      MCP-1 and IL-6 expression in response to TNF-alpha and IL-1beta treatments.
      Conversely, augmented production of MCP-1 and IL-6 was observed in the glomeruli
      of C/EBP-alpha knockout mice and was associated increased infiltration of
      macrophages in vivo. Together, our data suggest that C/EBP-alpha mediates anti
      inflammatory effects in podocytes to confer protection against podocyte injury
      and loss that may contribute to worsening glomerulosclerosis.

PMID- 27644414
TI  - Effects of Acute Stress on Decision Making under Ambiguous and Risky Conditions
      in Healthy Young Men.
AB  - Acute stress and decision making (DM) interact in life - although little is known
      about the role of ambiguity and risk in this interaction. The aim of this study
      is to clarify the effect of acute stress on DM under various conditions. Thirty
      one young healthy men were randomly distributed into two groups: experimental and
      control. DM processes were evaluated before and after an experimental session.
      For the experimental group, the session consisted of an acute stress battery; and
      the protocol was similar for the control group but the instructions were designed
      to minimize acute stress. Cardiovascular variables were continuously recorded 30
      minutes before the DM tasks and during the experimental session. Cortisol,
      glucose, mood responses, and personality factors were also assessed. Acute stress
      was found to enhance disadvantageous decisions under ambiguous conditions (F(1,
      29) = 4.16, p = .05, eta2 p = .13), and this was mainly explained by the stress
      induced cortisol response (26.1% of variance, F(1, 30) = 11.59, p = .002). While
      there were no significant effects under risky conditions, inhibition responses
      differed between groups (F(1, 29) = 4.21, p = .05, eta2 p = .13) and these
      differences were explained by cardiovascular and psychological responses (39.1%
      of variance, F(3, 30) = 7.42, p < .001). Results suggest that DM tasks could
      compete with cognitive resources after acute stress and could have implications
      for intervention in acute stress effects on DM in contexts such as addiction or
      eating disorders. 

PMID- 27644415
TI  - Intramedullary spinal cord abscess-a rare entity in pediatric age group.

PMID- 27644416
TI  - Haematological cancer: Shelterin complex mutated in familial CLL.

PMID- 27644417
TI  - Genetics: Novel oesophageal cancer risk loci identified.

PMID- 27644418
TI  - Thyroid cancer: Occult disease risks quantified.

PMID- 27644424
TI  - Total Synthesis of (-)-Neocosmosin A via Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reaction of 2
      Pyrone.
AB  - A new synthetic route to (-)-neocosmosin A was devised by elaboration of
      intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) cycloaddition of 2-pyrone containing a
      bromopropiolate group as the dienophile. The IMDA reaction was accompanied by
      cycloreversion of carbon dioxide to give benzannulated macrolide with two bromide
      groups at C14 and C16. Installation of the pinacolboryl groups and oxidations
      allowed completion of the total synthesis of (-)-neocosmosin A.

PMID- 27644420
TI  - GUY1 confers complete female lethality and is a strong candidate for a male
      determining factor in Anopheles stephensi.
AB  - Despite their importance in sexual differentiation and reproduction, Y chromosome
      genes are rarely described because they reside in repeat-rich regions that are
      difficult to study. Here, we show that Guy1, a unique Y chromosome gene of a
      major urban malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi, confers 100% female lethality
      when placed on the autosomes. We show that the small GUY1 protein (56 amino acids
      in length) causes female lethality and that males carrying the transgene are
      reproductively more competitive than their non-transgenic siblings under
      laboratory conditions. The GUY1 protein is a primary signal from the Y chromosome
      that affects embryonic development in a sex-specific manner. Our results have
      demonstrated, for the first time in mosquitoes, the feasibility of stable
      transgenic manipulation of sex ratios using an endogenous gene from the male
      determining chromosome. These results provide insights into the elusive M factor
      and suggest exciting opportunities to reduce mosquito populations and disease
      transmission.

PMID- 27644419
TI  - Intrinsic monitoring of learning success facilitates memory encoding via the
      activation of the SN/VTA-Hippocampal loop.
AB  - Humans constantly learn in the absence of explicit rewards. However, the
      neurobiological mechanisms supporting this type of internally-guided learning
      (without explicit feedback) are still unclear. Here, participants who completed a
      task in which no external reward/feedback was provided, exhibited enhanced fMRI
      signals within the dopaminergic midbrain, hippocampus, and ventral striatum (the
      SN/VTA-Hippocampal loop) when successfully grasping the meaning of new-words.
      Importantly, new-words that were better remembered showed increased activation
      and enhanced functional connectivity between the midbrain, hippocampus, and
      ventral striatum. Moreover, enhanced emotion-related physiological measures and
      subjective pleasantness ratings during encoding were associated with remembered
      new-words after 24 hr. Furthermore, increased subjective pleasantness ratings
      were also related to new-words remembered after seven days. These results suggest
      that intrinsic-potentially reward-related-signals, triggered by self-monitoring
      of correct performance, can promote the storage of new information into long-term
      memory through the activation of the SN/VTA-Hippocampal loop, possibly via
      dopaminergic modulation of the midbrain.

PMID- 27644425
TI  - Hypertrophy of the tensor fascia lata muscle as a complication of total hip
      arthroplasty.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hypertrophy of the tensor fascia lata muscle (HTFLM) is a rare
      complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and is a potential source of
      pain, palpable mass, or both. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed
      1285 primary THAs and 482 THA revisions (THAR) performed at our center from 2008
      to 2014. Among these, five patients had HTFLM (average age 68.8 years). The type
      of surgery and symptoms were evaluated, as were imaging studies (CT or MRI) of
      both hips (10 hips), and functional outcomes with the Merle d'Aubigne score.
      RESULTS: The suspected diagnosis was established at an average of 30.2 months
      after surgery. Four cases occurred after THA and one case after THAR. A modified
      Hardinge approach was used in four cases and a Rottinger approach in one case.
      Two cases had pain and palpable mass in the trochanteric region and three cases
      only pain. The asymmetric HTFLM of the THA side against the nonsurgical side was
      confirmed by measuring the cross section of the tensor fascia lata muscle on
      imaging. The sartorius muscle was measured for reference in each case. The Merle
      d'Aubigne scale had a mean value of 16.6 (range 13-18) at 38 months after the
      procedure. CONCLUSIONS: HTFLM after THA is a benign condition that could be
      mistaken for a tumor when presenting as a palpable mass. We propose that it
      should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pain in the lateral aspect
      of hips that have previously undergone THA.

PMID- 27644426
TI  - Spinal deformity in elderly patients: comparison of two distal termination sites
      of lumbar curve fusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: This report compares the clinical, radiographic, and functional outcomes
      of fusion from thoracolumbar region terminating at L5 or at sacrum and pelvis in
      elderly patients with spinal deformity. METHODS: Ninety-four elderly patients who
      underwent spinal deformity surgery at our institution were evaluated. Patients
      were divided into two groups. The group L included 43 patients who underwent
      fusion of lumbar curve from thoracolumbar region to L5. The group P consisted of
      51 patients who were treated using fusion from lower thoracic region to S1
      extending to the pelvis. Radiographic outcomes, health-related to the quality of
      life (HRQOL) parameters, and complications with a 3-year minimum follow-up were
      analyzed and compared between two groups. RESULTS: In the group L, the ideal
      sagittal balance was not achieved. The group P showed a better restoration of
      global spinal alignments compared with the group L. The HRQOL scores (VAS, ODI,
      SRS-24) of the patients after 3 years are slightly higher in the group P, but we
      did not get significant difference between groups. The total number of
      complications was higher in the group P. CONCLUSIONS: The research showed that
      fusion of lumbar curve extending to the pelvis provided good sagittal balance,
      global spinal alignments, and likely HRQOL parameters after 3-year follow-up.
      But, eventually, we obtained higher number of complications.

PMID- 27644427
TI  - Successful treatment of chronic osteomyelitis in children with debridement,
      antibiotic-laden cement spacer and bone graft substitute.
AB  - PURPOSE: Chronic osteomyelitis and infected nonunion are relatively rare
      conditions in pediatric patients and are more frequently seen in developing
      countries. Although relatively rare, they are medically and surgically
      challenging. Here we report a novel surgical technique used to manage five
      patients with chronic osteomyelitis of long bones. METHODS: Five skeletally
      immature patients with chronic osteomyelitis and infected nonunion of the long
      bones were treated surgically between 2010 and 2014 by a combination of resection
      of necrotic infected bone, debridement of surrounding soft tissue, and
      application of antibiotic-laden cement spacer inducing periosteal membrane before
      final bone reconstruction. Once inflammatory markers normalized, all the patients
      were re-operated for cement removal, bone graft substitution, and concomitant
      osteosynthesis of the affected bone, if needed. All patients underwent MRI, CT
      scan, and laboratory evaluation prior to surgery. The antibiotic regimen was
      started empirically and then adjusted according to culture and sensitivity
      results. RESULTS: Mean patient age at the time of diagnosis was 11 years (range 4
      14), and all patients had at least 2-year follow-up (range 2-5). At last follow
      up, clinical and laboratory evaluation had normalized, the bone had healed, and
      all patients had resumed daily living and sports activities. CONCLUSION: Surgical
      debridement is the standard approach to chronic osteomyelitis. Use of antibiotic
      laden cement is recommended to penetrate local infection, with antibiotic therapy
      playing an adjunctive role. The cement also induces membrane formation that aids
      bone reconstruction. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

PMID- 27644428
TI  - Piriformis syndrome: a case series of 31 Bangladeshi people with literature
      review.
AB  - AIMS: To describe a series of piriformis syndrome patient among Bangladesh people
      with literature review. METHODS: Consecutive 31 piriformis syndrome patients were
      enrolled. Besides history and clinical examination, piriformis muscle thickness
      was also measured with diagnostic ultrasound (3.5 MHZ). MRI of lumbar spine, X
      rays of lumbo-sacral spine, and pelvis were performed in all patients.
      Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Windows 8.0, was used for
      statistical calculation, and univariate analysis of primary data was done. Data
      present with frequency table. For literature review concerning piriformis
      syndrome we used Embase, Pubmed, Medline, and Cochrane database. RESULTS: A total
      of 31 patients (21 female) with PS were enrolled, 21 housewives. Mean age 42.2 +/
      14.5 years. All presented with buttock pain, aggravating with long sitting (31),
      lying on the affected side (31), during rising from a chair(24), and forward
      bending (28). Six reported pain improvement while walking. Gluteal tenderness,
      positive FAIR test, and Pace sign were elicited in all patients. A palpable
      gluteal mass was found in 8 cases, gluteal atrophy in 5 other patients. The mean
      piriformis muscle thickness on the diseased side was more than on the healthy
      side (13.6 +/- 3.7 vs 10.9 +/- 1.9, (p > 0.05). Common conditions associated with
      PS were: preceding fall (9, 29 %), overuse of piriformis muscle, lumbar spinal
      stenosis, fibromyalgia, intra-muscular gluteal injection, blunt trauma over the
      buttock, leg length discrepancy and use of rear pocket's wallet. CONCLUSIONS: In
      Bangladesh piriformis syndrome is more common in female, especially among
      housewives. A fall often precedes the condition. Piriformis syndrome should be
      considered as possible diagnosis when sciatica occurs without a clear spine
      pathology.

PMID- 27644429
TI  - Teaching Medical Ethics in Graduate and Undergraduate Medical Education: A
      Systematic Review of Effectiveness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: One objective was to identify and review studies on teaching medical
      ethics to psychiatry residents. In order to gain insights from other disciplines
      that have published research in this area, a second objective was to identify and
      review studies on teaching medical ethics to residents across all other
      specialties of training and on teaching medical students. METHODS: PubMed,
      EMBASE, and PsycINFO were searched for controlled trials on teaching medical
      ethics with quantitative outcomes. Search terms included ethics, bioethics,
      medical ethics, medical students, residents/registrars, teaching, education,
      outcomes, and controlled trials. RESULTS: Nine studies were found that met
      inclusion criteria, including five randomized controlled trails and four
      controlled non-randomized trials. Subjects included medical students (5 studies),
      surgical residents (2 studies), internal medicine house officers (1 study), and
      family medicine preceptors and their medical students (1 study). Teaching
      methods, course content, and outcome measures varied considerably across studies.
      Common methodological issues included a lack of concealment of allocation, a lack
      of blinding, and generally low numbers of subjects as learners. One randomized
      controlled trial which taught surgical residents using a standardized patient was
      judged to be especially methodologically rigorous. CONCLUSIONS: None of the
      trials incorporated psychiatry residents. Ethics educators should undertake
      additional rigorously controlled trials in order to secure a strong evidence base
      for the design of medical ethics curricula. Psychiatry ethics educators can also
      benefit from the findings of trials in other disciplines and in undergraduate
      medical education.

PMID- 27644430
TI  - Single-Cell, Multiplexed Protein Detection of Rare Tumor Cells Based on a Beads
      on-Barcode Antibody Microarray.
AB  - Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) shed from tumor sites and represent the molecular
      characteristics of the tumor. Besides genetic and transcriptional
      characterization, it is important to profile a panel of proteins with single-cell
      precision for resolving CTCs' phenotype, organ-of-origin, and drug targets. We
      describe a new technology that enables profiling multiple protein markers of
      extraordinarily rare tumor cells at the single-cell level. This technology
      integrates a microchip consisting of 15000 60 pL-sized microwells and a novel
      beads-on-barcode antibody microarray (BOBarray). The BOBarray allows for
      multiplexed protein detection by assigning two independent identifiers (bead size
      and fluorescent color) of the beads to each protein. Four bead sizes (1.75, 3,
      4.5, and 6 MUm) and three colors (blue, green, and yellow) are utilized to encode
      up to 12 different proteins. The miniaturized BOBarray can fit an array of 60 pL
      sized microwells that isolate single cells for cell lysis and the subsequent
      detection of protein markers. An enclosed 60 pL-sized microchamber defines a high
      concentration of proteins released from lysed single cells, leading to single
      cell resolution of protein detection. The protein markers assayed in this study
      include organ-specific markers and drug targets that help to characterize the
      organ-of-origin and drug targets of isolated rare tumor cells from blood samples.
      This new approach enables handling a very small number of cells and achieves
      single-cell, multiplexed protein detection without loss of rare but clinically
      important tumor cells.

PMID- 27644431
TI  - One Anastomosis Gastric Bypass is a "Gastric Bypass".

PMID- 27644432
TI  - Why Preoperative Weight Loss in Preparation for Bariatric Surgery Is Important.

PMID- 27644434
TI  - Reviews on One Anastomosis Gastric Bypass.

PMID- 27644433
TI  - Five-Year-Results of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy with Duodenojejunal Bypass
      for Weight Loss and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with duodenojejunal bypass (LSG-DJB)
      has been designated as a novel bariatric surgery procedure. This combination of
      sleeve gastrectomy and proximal intestinal bypass theoretically offers an
      effective and prolonged anti-diabetes effect. This is a follow-up of our
      institution's previous report on the short-term effects of LSG-DJB on type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which a 68.7 % remission (HbA1c <6 % without diabetes
      medication) rate 1 year after surgery. The aforementioned result was comparable
      to the reported remission rates of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
      However, the durability of remission remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of
      this study is to investigate the medium-term (up to 5 years) effects of LSG-DJB
      on weight loss and T2DM. METHODS: In this analysis, consecutive 120 patients
      (female to male ratio = 61:59, mean age = 44.8 years) with T2DM who underwent LSG
      DJB from April 2007 to November 2013 and were followed up beyond 1 year were
      included. The preoperative mean body weight and BMI were 105.7 kg and 38.5 kg/m2,
      respectively. The mean HbA1c and fasting blood glucose values were 8.9 % and 194
      mg/dL, respectively. The mean duration of T2DM was 7.3 years. Fifty-five patients
      (46 %) were being treated with insulin prior to surgery. RESULTS: The follow-up
      rate was 97.5 % at 1 year, 73.3 % at 3 years, and 50.0 % at 5 years. The mean
      body weight was 74.9 kg at 1 year, 76.8 kg at 3 years, and 72.8 kg at 5 years (p
      < 0.001, compared to the baseline). The mean percent of total body weight loss
      (%TWL) was 28.9, 28.6, and 30.7 % at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Remission
      of T2DM was achieved at 63.6, 55.3, and 63.6 % at 1, 3, and 5 years,
      respectively. Among those who achieved diabetes remission at 1 year, 10.8 % of
      them experienced recurrence during the subsequent follow-up period. CONCLUSION:
      Although recurrence of T2DM is observed in some patients over time, LSG-DJB is an
      effective procedure for achieving significant weight loss and improvement of
      glycemic control, and the effects seem to be durable up to 5 years.

PMID- 27644435
TI  - Intraoperative Patterns of Gastric Microperfusion During Laparoscopic Sleeve
      Gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has become a very popular
      surgical treatment for the treatment of morbidly obese patients. Staple line
      leaks are the major cause of severe morbidity. Reasons for leaks might be
      hyperpressure (mechanical theory) or hypoperfusion (vascular theory) of the
      narrow gastric tube. This study assessed microperfusion patterns of the stomach
      during LSG using visible light spectroscopy (VLS), a method to measure tissue
      oxygenation (saturated O2 (StO2)). METHODS: The study population comprised 20
      patients undergoing LSG. Real-time intraoperative microperfusion measurements
      were performed at nine different ventral stomach localizations in the antrum,
      body, and fundus at the beginning of the operation, after mobilization of the
      greater curve and after sleeve resection. RESULTS: There were 17 women and 3 men,
      mean age 42.9 years, mean BMI 45.6 kg/m2. There were no staple line leaks. StO2%
      values dropped substantially in the most cephalad area of measurement at the
      greater curve after mobilization (56 versus 49 %) and after resection (60 versus
      49.5 %). The reduction in StO2 in the most cephalad area from before mobilization
      of the stomach to resection was 9.5 % (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Assessment of
      microperfusion patterns of the stomach during LSG using VLS is safe and
      efficacious to use allowing an accurate measurement of StO2%. The upper third of
      the stomach is the zone of reduced microperfusion with a significant drop of
      tissue oxygenation after sleeve resection of the stomach.

PMID- 27644436
TI  - Comment on: "Prediction of Diabetes Remission in Morbidly Obese Patients After
      Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass."

PMID- 27644438
TI  - Estimation of the number of children with cerebral palsy using nationwide health
      insurance claims data in Japan.
AB  - AIM: Japan lacks a population-based registration system for cerebral palsy (CP),
      therefore the nationwide prevalence of CP is unknown. Our aim was to estimate the
      number of children with CP using the National Database of Health Insurance Claims
      and Specific Health Checkups of Japan, which has been recently developed by the
      government. METHOD: Study participants were children and adolescents aged below
      20 years, who had been assigned CP diagnosis codes more than once in claims
      issued between June 2012 and May 2013 from all health insurance schemes in Japan,
      except for Social Welfare and Elderly Health Insurance. RESULTS: The number of
      participants with diagnosed CP was 44 381. The number of males with CP (25 237)
      was greater than the number of females (19 144). Peak CP prevalence per 1000
      population was 2.39 at age 4 years, and this gradually declined with age. The
      prevalence of CP per 1000 population was 2.27 at age 5 to 9 years. The numbers of
      inpatients and outpatients with CP were 9126 (20.6%) and 35 255 (79.4%)
      respectively. INTERPRETATION: Our estimation of CP prevalence per 1000 population
      at age 5 to 9 years lay in the higher range of figures from previous studies in
      Japan, and was close to figures reported by European countries.

PMID- 27644437
TI  - Measuring safety climate in acute hospitals: Rasch analysis of the safety
      attitudes questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) is commonly used to assess
      staff perception of safety climate within their clinical environment. The
      psychometric properties of the SAQ have previously been explored with
      confirmatory factor analysis and found to have some issues with construct
      validity. This study aimed to extend the psychometric evaluations of the SAQ by
      using Rasch analysis. METHODS: Assessment of internal construct validity included
      overall fit to the Rasch model (unidimensionality), response formats, targeting,
      differential item functioning (DIF) and person-separation index (PSI). RESULTS: A
      total of 420 nurses completed the SAQ (response rate 60 %). Data showed overall
      fit to a Rasch model of expected item functioning for interval scale measurement.
      The questionnaire demonstrated unidimensionality confirming the appropriateness
      of summing the items in each domain. Score reliabilities were appropriate
      (internal consistency PSI 0.6-0.8). However, participants were not using the
      response options on the SAQ in a consistent manner. All domains demonstrated
      suboptimal targeting and showed compromised score precision towards higher levels
      of safety climate (substantial ceiling effects). CONCLUSION: There was general
      support for the reliability of the SAQ as a measure of safety climate although it
      may not be able to detect small but clinically important changes in safety
      climate within an organisation. Further refinement of the SAQ is warranted. This
      may involve changing the response options and including new items to improve the
      overall targeting of the scale. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered
      with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, number
      ACTRN12611000332921 (21 March 2011).

PMID- 27644440
TI  - Injury risk prediction from computational simulations of ocular blast loading.
AB  - A predictive Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element eye model was used to analyze
      2.27 and 0.45 kg trinitrotoluene equivalent blasts detonated from 24 different
      locations. Free air and ground level blasts were simulated directly in front of
      the eye and at lateral offset locations with box, average, less protective, and
      more protective orbital anthropometries, resulting in 96 simulations. Injury risk
      curves were developed for hyphema, lens dislocation, retinal damage, and globe
      rupture from experimental and computational data to compute risk from
      corneoscleral stress and intra-ocular pressure computational outputs.
      Corneoscleral stress, intra-ocular pressure, and injury risks increased when the
      blast size was larger and located nearer to the eye. Risks ranged from 20-100 %
      for hyphema, 1-100 % for lens dislocation, 2-100 % for retinal damage, and 0-98 %
      for globe rupture depending on the blast condition. Orbital geometry affected the
      stresses, pressures, and associated ocular injury risks of the blast conditions
      simulated. Orbital geometries that more fully surrounded the eye such as the more
      protective orbit tended to produce higher corneoscleral stresses and compression
      of the eye against the surrounding rigid orbit contributing to high stresses as
      the blast wave propagated. However, the more protective orbit tended to produce
      lower intra-ocular pressures in comparison with the other three orbital
      geometries which may indicate that the more protective orbit inhibits propagation
      of the blast wave and reduces ocular loading. Results of this parametric
      computational study of ocular blast loading are valuable to the design of eye
      protection equipment and the mitigation of blast-related eye injuries.

PMID- 27644439
TI  - Bmi-1 regulates stem cell-like properties of gastric cancer cells via modulating
      miRNAs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: B cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus integration site 1 (Bmi
      1) plays an important role in regulating stemness in some kinds of cancer.
      However, the mechanisms remain unclear. This study was to investigate whether and
      how Bmi-1 regulates stemness of gastric cancer. METHODS: We firstly explored the
      role of Bmi-1 in regulating stem cell-like features in gastric cancer. Secondly,
      we screened out its downstream miRNAs and clarified whether these miRNAs are
      involved in the regulation of stemness. Finally, we investigated the mechanisms
      how Bmi-1 regulates miRNAs. RESULTS: Bmi-1 positively regulates stem cell-like
      properties of gastric cancer and upregulates miR-21 and miR-34a. There was a
      positive correlation between Bmi-1 and miR-21 expression in gastric cancer
      tissues. MiR-21 mediated the function of Bmi-1 in regulating stem cell-like
      properties, while miR-34a negatively regulates stem cell-like characteristics via
      downregulating Bmi-1. Bmi-1 binds to PTEN promoter and directly inhibits PTEN and
      thereafter activates AKT. Bmi-1 also regulates p53 and PTEN via miR-21. Bmi-1
      activated NF-kB via AKT and enhanced the binding of NF-kB to the promoter of miR
      21 and miR-34a and increased their expression. CONCLUSIONS: Bmi-1 positively
      regulates stem cell-like properties via upregulating miR-21, and miR-34a
      negatively regulates stem cell-like characteristics by negative feedback
      regulation of Bmi-1 in gastric cancer. Bmi-1 upregulates miR-21 and miR-34a by
      activating AKT-NF-kB pathway.

PMID- 27644441
TI  - Brain strain uncertainty due to shape variation in and simplification of head
      angular velocity profiles.
AB  - Head angular velocity, instead of acceleration, is more predictive of brain
      strains. Surprisingly, no study exists that investigates how shape variation in
      angular velocity profiles affects brain strains, beyond characteristics such as
      peak magnitude and impulse duration. In this study, we evaluated brain strain
      uncertainty due to variation in angular velocity profiles and further compared
      with that resulting from simplifying the profiles into idealized shapes. To do
      so, we used reconstructed head impacts from American National Football League for
      shape extraction and simulated head uniaxial coronal rotations from onset to full
      stop. The velocity profiles were scaled to maintain an identical peak velocity
      magnitude and duration in order to isolate the shape for investigation. Element
      wise peak maximum principal strains from 44 selected impacts were obtained. We
      found that the shape of angular velocity profile could significantly affect brain
      strain magnitude (e.g., percentage difference of 4.29-17.89 % in the whole brain
      relative to the group average, with cumulative strain damage measure (CSDM)
      uncertainty range of 23.9 %) but not pattern (correlation coefficient of 0.94
      0.99). Strain differences resulting from simplifying angular velocity profiles
      into idealized shapes were largely within the range due to shape variation, in
      both percentage difference and CSDM (signed difference of 3.91 % on average, with
      a typical range of 0-6 %). These findings provide important insight into the
      uncertainty or confidence in the performance of kinematics-based injury metrics.
      More importantly, they suggest the feasibility to simplify head angular velocity
      profiles into idealized shapes, at least within the confinements of the profiles
      evaluated, to enable real-time strain estimation via pre-computation in the
      future.

PMID- 27644444
TI  - Transcriptome analysis of the uniparous and multiparous goats ovaries.
AB  - Transcriptome analysis of Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat and Dazu black goat
      generated 38,772,947 and 38,771,668 clean pair end reads, respectively, which
      were assembled into 72,422 and 80,069 unigenes by Trinity, respectively. For
      Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat, 26,051 and 10,100 unigenes were assigned to gene
      ontology (GO) categories and clusters of orthologous groups, respectively. A
      total of 32,772 unigenes can comment to SWISS-Prot database, and the Kyoto
      Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway database (KEGG) mapped 24,420 unigenes.
      While annotating the unigenes about Dazu black goats, we found 29,444(45.42%),
      11,271 (38.28%), 36,910(56.94%) and 27,766 (42.83%) unigenes were assigned to GO
      database, COG database, SWISS-Prot database and KEGG database, respectively. In
      addition, we performed the bioinformatics analysis of gene expression profiling
      aimed at the ovarian transcriptome difference between Inner Mongolia Cashmere
      goat and Dazu black goat. We obtained a sequencing depth of over 5.5 million and
      5.8 million tags. There were 1,133 DEGs between two species, of which 632 genes
      upregulated in the Dazu black goat and 501 genes downregulated compared with
      which in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat. By annotating the 1,133 DEGs into KEGG
      database, we found 525 DEGs. And there were 68 DEGs annotated in metabolic
      pathways, 31 DEGs annotated in ribosome, 28 DEGs annotated in focal adhesion, 27
      DEGs annotated in phagosome, 26 DEGs annotated in pathways in cancer, 25 DEGs
      annotated in ECM-receptor interaction, 23 DEGs annotated in protein digestion and
      absorption, 20 DEGs annotated in oxidative phosphorylation, 17 DEGs annotated in
      lysosome, and 16 DEGs annotated in cell adhesion molecules.

PMID- 27644442
TI  - Chloroquine, an autophagy inhibitor, potentiates the radiosensitivity of glioma
      initiating cells by inhibiting autophagy and activating apoptosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma is refractory to conventional treatment, which is
      combined of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Recent studies have shown
      that glioma initiating cells (GICs) contribute to tumorigenesis and
      radioresistance. Recently, other studies showed that the GICs use the autophagy
      as the major pathway to survive. Chloroquine, an anti-malarial chemical, is an
      autophagic inhibitor which blocks autophagosome fusion with lysosome and slows
      down lysosomal acidification. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms
      of chloroquine on the radiosensitivity of GICs. METHODS: Human glioblastoma cell
      lines U87 were investigated. MTT and clonogenic survival assay were used to
      evaluate the cell viability and survival from radiation. The formation of
      autophagosomes were evaluated by immunofluorescence. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining
      and flow cytometry were used to quantify the apoptotic cells. The expression
      levels of proteins were analyzed by Western blot. Cell cycle status was analyzed
      by checking DNA content after staining with PI. A comet assay was used to assess
      the DNA repair in the cells. Tumorsphere assay was used for evaluating GICs'
      renewal ability. RESULTS: Treatment of U87 GICs with chloroquine (10-80 nmol/L)
      alone inhibited the cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. A dose of chloroquine
      (20 nmol/L) obviously enhanced the radiation sensitivity of U87 GICs., we found
      more punctate patterns of microtubule-associated protein LC3 immunoreactivity in
      radiation-treated U87 GICs, and the level of membrane-bound LC3-II was obviously
      enhanced. A combination of radiation and chloroquine obviously enhanced the U87
      GICs' apoptosis, as demonstrated by the enhanced levels of caspase-3, and reduced
      level of Bcl-2. In additon, combination of radiation and chloroquine cause G1/G0
      cell cycle arrest. what's more, Chloroquine obviously weakened the repair of
      radiation-induced DNA damage as reflected by the tail length of the comet.
      Combination treatment of irradiation and chloroquine has synergistic effects on
      decreasing the GICs' tumorsphere number and diameter. CONCLUSION: Chloroquine
      enhances the radiosensitivity of GICs in vitro, suggesting the feasibility of
      joint treatment with chloroquine with radiation for GBM.

PMID- 27644446
TI  - Treatment of high blood pressure in elderly and octogenarians: European Society
      of Hypertension statement on blood pressure targets.
AB  - The European Society of Hypertension recommend the following main rules for
      treatment of hypertension in elderly and octogenarians: 1) In elderly
      hypertensives with SBP >= 160 mmHg there is solid evidence to recommend reducing
      SBP to between 140 mmHg and 150 mmHg. 2) In fit elderly patients less than 80
      years old treatment may be considered at SBP >= 140 mmHg with a target SBP < 140
      mmHg if treatment is well tolerated. 3) In fit individuals older than 80 years
      with an initial SBP >= 160 mmHg it is recommended to reduce SBP to between 150
      mmHg and 140 mmHg. 4) In frail elderly patients, it is recommended to base
      treatment decisions on comorbidity and carefully monitor the effects of
      treatment. 5) Continuation of well-tolerated antihypertensive treatment should be
      considered when a treated individual becomes octogenarian. 6) All hypertensive
      agents are recommended and can be used in the elderly, although diuretics and
      calcium antagonists may be preferred in isolated systolic hypertension.

PMID- 27644452
TI  - Superhydrophobic porous networks for enhanced droplet shedding.
AB  - Recent research has shown that the use of submillimeter-scale tapered post arrays
      could generate the so-called pancake bouncing, which is characterized by the fast
      shedding of impinging drops from the surface in a pancake shape without
      undergoing the retraction stage as observed on conventional superhydrophobic
      surfaces. Despite this exciting discovery, the fabrication of this unique
      superhydrophobic surface with tapered post arrays involves complex processes,
      hindering its wide applications in practical sectors. Here, we report on the
      facile strategy to prepare a new hierarchical multilayered superhydrophobic
      surface directly from commercially available porous matrix that allows for
      efficient drop shedding. Further study shows that the enhanced drop mobility
      observed on such a surface is attributed to the synergistic cooperation of
      hierarchical structures endowing an adequate energy storage and effective energy
      release. The facile fabrication of superhydrophobic surface with enhanced drop
      mobility may find many practical applications including anti-icing, dropwise
      condensation and self-cleaning.

PMID- 27644448
TI  - Syntax for calculation of discounting indices from the monetary choice
      questionnaire and probability discounting questionnaire.
AB  - The 27-item Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ; Kirby, Petry, & Bickel, 1999) and
      30-item Probability Discounting Questionnaire (PDQ; Madden, Petry, & Johnson,
      2009) are widely used, validated measures of preferences for immediate versus
      delayed rewards and guaranteed versus risky rewards, respectively. The MCQ
      measures delayed discounting by asking individuals to choose between rewards
      available immediately and larger rewards available after a delay. The PDQ
      measures probability discounting by asking individuals to choose between
      guaranteed rewards and a chance at winning larger rewards. Numerous studies have
      implicated these measures in addiction and other health behaviors. Unlike typical
      self-report measures, the MCQ and PDQ generate inferred hyperbolic temporal and
      probability discounting functions by comparing choice preferences to arrays of
      functions to which the individual items are preconfigured. This article provides
      R and SPSS syntax for processing the MCQ and PDQ. Specifically, for the MCQ, the
      syntax generates k values, consistency of the inferred k, and immediate choice
      ratios; for the PDQ, the syntax generates h indices, consistency of the inferred
      h, and risky choice ratios. The syntax is intended to increase the accessibility
      of these measures, expedite the data processing, and reduce risk for error.

PMID- 27644454
TI  - Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Virtual Reality
      Training on Balance in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized, Controlled,
      Double-Blind, Clinical Trial.
AB  - The authors' aim was to investigate the effects of continuous transcranial direct
      current stimulation (tDCS) combined with virtual reality training on static and
      functional balance in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Twenty children with CP
      (6 girls and 14 boys; M age = 7 years 6 months +/- 2 years) were randomly
      allocated to two groups. The experimental group received active tDCS and the
      control group received sham stimulation during the 10 sessions of virtual reality
      mobility training protocols. The children were evaluated on 3 occasions
      (preintervention, postintervention, and 1-month follow-up). Static balance was
      evaluated using a force plate under 4 conditions: feet on force plate with (a)
      eyes open and (b) with eyes closed, and feet on foam mat with (c) eyes open and
      (d) with eyes closed. Functional balance was evaluated using the Pediatric
      Balance Scale and the Timed Up and Go Test. The analyses demonstrated
      statistically significant postintervention and follow-up effects favoring the
      experimental group over the control group with regard to the Pediatric Balance
      Scale, Timed Up and Go Test, and area of oscillation of the center of pressure
      when standing on the force plate with eyes open. The present findings suggest
      that tDCS can potentiate the effects of virtual reality training on static and
      functional balance among children with CP.

PMID- 27644455
TI  - Novel rapid molecular diagnosis of fetal chromosomal abnormalities associated
      with recurrent pregnancy loss.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Labor-intensive karyotyping is used as the reference standard
      diagnostic test to identify copy number variants (CNVs) in the fetal genome after
      recurrent pregnancy loss. Our aim was to present and evaluate a novel molecular
      assay called CNVplex that could potentially be used as an alternative method to
      conventional karyotyping for diagnosing fetal chromosomal abnormalities
      associated with recurrent pregnancy loss. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using karyotyping
      as the reference standard, CNVplex was performed to identify fetal chromosomal
      abnormalities in the chorionic villus samples from 76 women experiencing at least
      two pregnancy losses. Its diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were
      evaluated to detect aneuploidies associated with recurrent pregnancy loss.
      Turnaround time and costs of CNVplex were also measured. RESULTS: Diagnostic
      accuracy of CNVplex in aneuploidies that are associated with recurrent pregnancy
      loss was 1.0 (95% CI 0.94-1.0), sensitivity was 100% (95% CI 0.89-1.0), and
      specificity was 100% (95% CI 0.875-1.0). Diagnostic accuracy of CNVplex was
      similar to that of karyotyping. Both karyotyping and CNVplex assay detected 27
      autosomal trisomies, three 45,X monosomies, and three polyploidies. CNVplex also
      detected additional novel structural abnormalities of the fetal genome. Compared
      with karyotyping, CNVplex significantly (p = 0.001) reduced the waiting time by
      13.98 days (95% CI 13.88-14.08) and the cost by US $241 (95% CI 234.53-247.47).
      CONCLUSIONS: CNVplex is a novel effective assay for diagnosing fetal chromosomal
      abnormalities associated with recurrent pregnancy loss. In the routine clinical
      work-up of recurrent pregnancy loss, diagnostic accuracy of CNVplex is comparable
      to that of conventional karyotyping but it requires less waiting time and has
      lower cost.

PMID- 27644458
TI  - Decoding the Type 2 Diabetes Epidemic in Rural India.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an escalating public health problem in India,
      associated with genetic susceptibility, dietary shift, and rapid lifestyle
      changes. Historically a disease of the urban elite, quantitative studies have
      recently confirmed rising prevalence rates among marginalized populations in
      rural India. To analyze the role of cultural and sociopolitical factors in
      diabetes onset and management, we employed in-depth interviews and focus groups
      within a rural community of Tamil Nadu. The objectives of the study were to
      understand sources and extent of health knowledge, diabetes explanatory models,
      and the impact of illness on individual, social, and familial roles. Several
      cultural, socioeconomic, and political factors appear to contribute to diabetes
      in rural regions of India, highlighting the need to address structural inequities
      and empower individuals to pursue health and well-being on their own terms.

PMID- 27644460
TI  - Miller-Dieker Syndrome with unbalanced translocation 45, X, psu
      dic(17;Y)(p13;p11.32) detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization and G
      banding analysis using high resolution banding technique.
AB  - Lissencephaly is one of the central nervous system anomalies of Miller-Dieker
      Syndrome (MDS). Fetuses with lissencephaly have an abnormal smooth brain with
      fewer folds and grooves that will be detected by ultrasounds or fetal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) after 30 weeks of gestation. We report a fetus with
      lissencephaly diagnosed as Miller-Dieker Syndrome postnatally. G banded
      chromosome analysis revealed 45,X,psu dic(17;Y)(p13;p11.32).ish dic (17;Y)(LIS1
      ,RARA+, SRY+, DYZ3+) by G-banding analysis using high resolution banding
      technique. Fetal delayed cortical development will be the findings to perform
      further investigations including fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis for
      MDS, a 17p13.3 microdeletion syndrome, pre/postnatally. This will be the first
      case of MDS with unbalanced translocation between deleted short arm of chromosome
      17 and Y chromosome.

PMID- 27644469
TI  - Vision-related quality of life in patients receiving intravitreal ranibizumab
      injections in routine clinical practice: baseline data from the German OCEAN
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vision-related quality of life (vrQoL) is advancing more and more
      into the focus of interest in ophthalmological clinical research. However, to
      date only little information is available about vrQoL from large non
      interventional studies in terms of "real-world evidence". The purpose of this
      investigation was to describe baseline VFQ-25 visual function scores, to evaluate
      whether they differ from previous phase III clinical trials, to determine which
      contributing factors (e.g. indication, age, gender) affect VFQ-25 scores and to
      identify its impact on driving. METHODS: The non-interventional OCEAN study
      (Observation of treatment patterns with LuCEntis and real life ophthalmic
      monitoring, including optional OCT in Approved iNdications) is the largest
      ophthalmic study conducted in Germany, to evaluate the real world situation of
      patients treated with ranibizumab (NCT02194803). The NEI-VFQ-25 questionnaire was
      conducted at baseline, months 4, 12 and 24. Descriptive statistics was used to
      analyse the baseline data. ANOVA was performed to evaluate the impact of various
      contributing factors on composite and selected subscale scores. RESULTS: Overall,
      4844 (84.1 %) of all 5760 OCEAN patients completed the VFQ-25 questionnaire at
      baseline. Thereof, 3414 treatment-naive patients were further analysed. Overall,
      the VFQ subscore general health was most affected by the ocular disease, followed
      by general vision. No major differences were detected in comparison to
      corresponding VFQ-25 scores of previous phase III clinical trials, except in DME
      patients, or with respect to possible contributing factors. A tendency towards a
      more decreased VFQ-25 composite score was observed for nAMD, for elderly patients
      >=75 years of age, for female patients, for patients with low baseline visual
      acuity (VA; <50 letters) and for those with statutory health insurance.
      Indication, age, gender, baseline VA (all p <0.01) and the interaction of age and
      indication, as well as baseline VA and indication (p <0.01 each) had a
      significant impact on composite, general vision and distance vision scores
      (ANOVA). About 10 % of patients gave up driving due to eyesight issues.
      CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of a patient's subjective disease burden is crucial to
      understanding anxieties and mental anguish. Additionally, the understanding of
      the impact of various contributing factors on the VFQ-25 scores and the extent to
      which they can be influenced help to optimize patient care. It demonstrates the
      need for medical and mental support by all medical staff, to encourage patients'
      compliance with a comprehensive anti-VEGF therapy, to increase BCVA and,
      consecutively, VFQ-25 scores. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02194803.

PMID- 27644475
TI  - Effects of pomegranate extract on blood flow and vessel diameter after high
      intensity exercise in young, healthy adults.
AB  - The effects of pomegranate extract (PE) supplementation were evaluated on high
      intensity exercise performance, blood flow, vessel diameter, oxygen saturation
      (SPO2), heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP). In a randomized, crossover
      design, nineteen recreationally resistance-trained participants were randomly
      assigned to PE (1000 mg) or placebo (PL), which were consumed 30 min prior to a
      repeated sprint ability (RSA) test and repetitions to fatigue (RTF) on bench and
      leg press. The RSA consisted of ten six-second sprints on a friction-loaded cycle
      ergometer with 30 s recovery. Brachial artery blood flow and vessel diameter were
      assessed by ultrasound. Blood flow, vessel diameter, SPO2, HR, and BP were
      assessed at baseline, 30 min post ingestion, immediately post exercise (IPost),
      and 30 min post exercise (30minPost). With PE, blood flow significantly increased
      IPost RSA (mean difference = 18.49 mL min-1; P < .05), and IPost and 30minPost
      RTF (P < .05) according to confidence intervals (CI). Vessel diameter increased
      significantly 30minPost RSA according to CI and resulted in a significant
      interaction IPost and 30minPost RTF (P < .05). With PE, according to CI, average
      and peak power output increased significantly in sprint 5 of the RSA (P < .05).
      There was no significant difference between PE and PL for bench (P = .25) or leg
      press (P = .15) repetitions. Acute PE supplementation enhanced vessel diameter
      and blood flow, suggesting possible exercise performance enhancement from
      increased delivery of substrates and oxygen. The acute timing and capsule form of
      PE may be advantageous to athletic populations due to ergogenic effects, taste,
      and convenience.

PMID- 27644479
TI  - Increased number of IgG4-positive plasma cells in chronic rhinosinusitis.
AB  - CONCLUSION: High levels of IgG4-positive plasma cells were observed in tissue
      samples from ~30% of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis who satisfied the
      comprehensive diagnostic criteria for IgG4-related disease. Detection of
      increased numbers of IgG4-positive plasma cells in the nasal cavity or paranasal
      sinuses might not be sufficient to make a diagnosis of IgG4-related
      rhinosinusitis, and a comprehensive evaluation is required. OBJECTIVES: This
      study aimed to clarify the clinicopathological characteristics of IgG4-positive
      plasma cells in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. METHOD: This study examined
      nasal mucosal specimens from 35 patients and assigned them to high-IgG4 and low
      IgG4 groups based on infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells. It compared the
      pathological characteristics of the two groups, including the presence of
      fibrosis, phlebitis, hyperplasia of the nasal glands and infiltration of
      inflammatory cells. RESULTS: No cases of chronic rhinosinusitis showed storiform
      fibrosis or obliterative phlebitis. The mean number of IgG4-positive plasma cells
      in samples from all patients was 29.8 +/- 40.3/high-power field. Eleven of the 35
      cases (31.4%) were classified as high-IgG4. Hyperplasia of the nasal glands was
      observed significantly more frequently in the high-IgG4 group than in the low
      IgG4 group (p = .03).

PMID- 27644481
TI  - Plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids are directly associated with cognition in
      overweight children but not in normal weight children.
AB  - AIM: Polyunsaturated fatty acids are essential nutrients for the normal
      development of the brain. We investigated the associations between plasma
      polyunsaturated fatty acids and cognition in normal weight and overweight
      children. METHODS: The study recruited 386 normal weight children and 58
      overweight children aged six to eight years and blood samples were drawn after a
      12-hour fast. We assessed plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids using gas
      chromatography, cognition using Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, and
      overweight and obesity using the age-specific and sex-specific cut-offs from the
      International Obesity Task Force. The data were analysed by linear regression
      analyses adjusted for age and sex. RESULTS: Higher proportions of
      eicosapentaenoic acid in plasma triacylglycerols (beta = 0.311, p = 0.020, p =
      0.029 for interaction) and docosahexaenoic acid in plasma triacylglycerols (beta
      = 0.281, p = 0.038, p = 0.049 for interaction) were both associated with higher
      Raven's scores in overweight children but not in normal weight children. Higher
      eicosapentaenoic acid to arachidonic acid ratios in triacylglycerols (beta =
      0.317, p = 0.019) and phospholipids (beta = 0.273, p = 0.046) were directly
      associated with the Raven's score in overweight children but not in normal weight
      children. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that increasing the consumption of
      fish and other sources of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid may
      improve cognition among overweight children.

PMID- 27644484
TI  - A learning experience for all.
AB  - It is always bittersweet to have students in the emergency department because,
      just as they settle in to their placements, they move on to new clinical
      experiences.

PMID- 27644482
TI  - Involvement of PPARgamma in the protective action of tropisetron in an
      experimental model of ulcerative colitis.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammation of the
      gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Tropisetron, a selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist,
      is highly used to counteract chemotherapy-induced emesis. Previous studies
      revealed the anti-inflammatory properties of this drug. The aim of this study was
      to evaluate the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma
      (PPARgamma) receptor in the protective effect of tropisetron in an animal model
      of ulcerative colitis. Experimental colitis was induced by a single intra-colonic
      instillation of 4% (V/V) acetic acid in male rats. Tropisetron (3 mg/kg) and
      GW9662 (PPARgamma antagonist) (5 mg/kg) were given twice daily for 2 days after
      colitis induction. Forty-eight hours after induction of colitis, colon was
      removed and macroscopic and microscopic features were given. Moreover, colonic
      concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) levels, myeloperoxidase (MPO),
      and PPARgamma activity were assessed. Both macroscopic and histopathological
      features of colonic injury were markedly ameliorated by tropisetron. Likewise,
      levels of NO, MDA, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta diminished significantly (p < .05).
      GW9662 reversed the effect of tropisetron on these markers partially or
      completely. In addition, tropisetron increased the PPARgamma and decreased the
      MPO activity (p < .05). Tropisetron exerts notable anti-inflammatory effects in
      acetic acid-induced colitis in rats, which is probably mediated through PPARgamma
      receptors.

PMID- 27644486
TI  - Parents seek advice on home care from emergency staff.
AB  - NEARLY HALF of all parents take their children to emergency departments (EDs) for
      practical advice on caring for them at home, a survey has revealed.

PMID- 27644485
TI  - Emergency care tsar asked to report on 'appalling' services at mid staffs.
AB  - EMERGENCY CARE staff at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust will remain under
      scrutiny this month as the Department of Health completes its urgent review of
      services.

PMID- 27644487
TI  - NHS 'could learn' from military, says commission.
AB  - NHS EMERGENCY care staff have been urged to take a leaf out of the Defence
      Medical Services (DMS) book on trauma care.

PMID- 27644488
TI  - Signs of improvement.
AB  - REPORTS BY the Healthcare Commission often shine a much-needed light on poor
      practice and failing healthcare organisations. After all, this is the role of
      England's health watchdog.

PMID- 27644489
TI  - Figuring out how to keep emergency care services on track.
AB  - IN THE past, London Underground passengers had little idea when their next trains
      would arrive. If there were delays, they would be unaware of how long they would
      have to wait and would become increasingly agitated.

PMID- 27644490
TI  - Board's eye view.
AB  - Recent experiences at work have made me reflect on the differences between the
      routine care we give on a daily basis and the ideal care we give when it 'really
      matters'. Many emergency practitioners may assume that, if their friends are
      admitted to their emergency department (ED), they will try to smooth the way for
      them. For example, if a friend has had a minor injury, they may try to ensure
      that he or she receives an X-ray promptly.

PMID- 27644491
TI  - Last straw.
AB  - At last, a chance to vent my spleen about the four-hour operational standard in
      emergency departments (EDs). When it was introduced, I was one of the many nurses
      who fought against it vehemently. But, because staff from other specialties had
      to attend EDs promptly, and treatment plans and rapid patient admission or
      discharge followed, I saw its value. We could treat minor injuries quickly and
      provide a fast turnover for patients.

PMID- 27644493
TI  - Winning the Publications Game Tim Albert Winning the Publications Game Radcliffe
      L21.99 128 9781846192470 1846192471 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THIS BOOK takes an easily understandable, step-by-step approach to publication
      and, although aimed at doctors, its central message is also relevant to nurses
      and allied health professionals.

PMID- 27644494
TI  - Clinical calculations: with applications to general and Joyce LeFever Kee
      Clinical calculations: with applications to general and and Sally M Marshall
      Elsevier L29.99 414pp plus CD-ROM 9781416047407 1416047409 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THIS AMERICAN text and CD-ROM cover a wide range of calculations, supported with
      explanations, scenarios and examples.

PMID- 27644496
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27644495
TI  - Student life - Making ourselves heard.
AB  - As students, we often see the world of emergency nursing as a mix of flashing
      blue lights, frantic shouts of 'clear' and the activities of emergency department
      staff.

PMID- 27644497
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27644499
TI  - A new approach to triage.
AB  - The author of this study argues that research and anecdotal evidence suggest
      there is significant diversity in how nurses triage, assess and prioritise
      patients, and that this can threaten patient safety.

PMID- 27644498
TI  - Effective ankle sprain treatment.
AB  - According to research published as part of the National Institute for Health
      Research Health Technology Assessment programme, the most clinically and cost
      effective treatment for pain relief and recovery from severe ankle sprain, where
      patients cannot put weight through the affected leg, is a below-knee plaster
      cast.

PMID- 27644500
TI  - Care home patients in ED.
AB  - This prospective study had two aims: to describe the demographics of patients
      from care homes who attend an ED and to estimate whether appropriate alternative
      care pathways could be delivered to this patient group allowing safe and
      appropriate management without the need to attend the ED.

PMID- 27644545
TI  - Synthesis of Highly Polymerized Water-soluble Cellulose Acetate by the Side
      Reaction in Carboxylate Ionic Liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Acetate.
AB  - In the present study, we describe a novel one-step method to prepare water
      soluble cellulose acetate (WSCA) with higher degree of polymerization values (DP
      = 650-680) by in situ activation of carboxyl group in ionic liquid. First of all,
      cellulose was dissolved in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EmimAc) and
      reacted with dichloroacetyl chloride (Cl2AcCl) in order to make cellulose
      dichloroacetate. Under various conditions, a series of water soluble products
      were produced. Elemental analysis and NMR results confirmed that they were
      cellulose acetate with DS (degree of substitution) values in the range from 0.30
      to 0.63. NMR studies demonstrated that Cl2AcCl reacted with acetate anion of
      EmimAc producing a mixed anhydride that acetylated cellulose. Other acylating
      reagents such as benzoyl chloride, chloroacetyl chloride can also work similarly.
      2D NMR characterization suggested that 6-mono-O-acetyl moiety, 3,6-di-O
      acetylcellulose and 2,6-di-O-acetyl cellulose were all synthesized and the
      reactivity of hydroxyl groups in anhydro-glucose units was in the order C-6>C-3>C
      2. This work provides an alternative way to make WSCA, meanwhile, also services
      as a reminder that the activity of EmimAc toward carbohydrate as acylating
      reagents could be a problem, because the expected acylated products may not be
      resulted and recycling of this ionic liquid could also be difficult.

PMID- 27644504
TI  - Exploring the evolution of the proteins of the plant nuclear envelope.
AB  - In this study, we explore the plasticity during evolution of proteins of the
      higher plant nuclear envelope (NE) from the most ancestral plant species to
      advanced angiosperms. The higher plant NE contains a functional Linker of
      Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton (LINC) complex based on conserved Sad1-Unc84
      (SUN) domain proteins and plant specific Klarsicht/Anc1/Syne homology (KASH)
      domain proteins. Recent evidence suggests the presence of a plant lamina
      underneath the inner membrane and various coiled-coil proteins have been
      hypothesized to be associated with it including Crowded Nuclei (CRWN; also termed
      LINC and NMCP), Nuclear Envelope Associated Protein (NEAP) protein families as
      well as the CRWN binding protein KAKU4. SUN domain proteins appear throughout
      with a key role for mid-SUN proteins suggested. Evolution of KASH domain proteins
      has resulted in increasing complexity, with some appearing in all species
      considered, while other KASH proteins are progressively gained during evolution.
      Failure to identify CRWN homologs in unicellular organisms included in the study
      and their presence in plants leads us to speculate that convergent evolution may
      have occurred in the formation of the lamina with each kingdom having new
      proteins such as the Lamin B receptor (LBR) and Lamin-Emerin-Man1 (LEM) domain
      proteins (animals) or NEAPs and KAKU4 (plants). Our data support a model in which
      increasing complexity at the nuclear envelope occurred through the plant lineage
      and suggest a key role for mid-SUN proteins as an early and essential component
      of the nuclear envelope.

PMID- 27644547
TI  - Two novel AGXT mutations identified in primary hyperoxaluria type-1 and distinct
      morphological and structural difference in kidney stones.
AB  - Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare genetic disease characterized by
      excessive oxalate accumulation in plasma and urine, resulting in various
      phenotypes because of allelic and clinical heterogeneity. This study aimed to
      detect disease-associated genetic mutations in three PH1 patients in a Chinese
      family. All AGXT exons and 3 common polymorphisms which might synergistically
      interact with mutations, including P11L, I340 M and IVSI+74 bp were analyzed by
      direct sequencing in all family members. It demonstrated that in each of three
      patients, a previously reported nonsense mutation p.R333(*) was in cis with a
      novel missense mutation p.M49L in the minor allele characterized by the
      polymorphism of 74-bp duplication in intron 1, while the other novel missense
      mutation p.N72I was in trans with both p.R333(*) and P.M49L in the major allele.
      Kidney stones from two sibling patients were also observed though
      stereomicroscopic examination and scanning electron microscopy. Distinct
      morphological and inner-structure differences in calculi were noticed, suggesting
      clinical heterozygosity of PH1 to a certain extent. In brief, two novel missense
      mutations were identified probably in association with PH1, a finding which
      should provide an accurate tool for prenatal diagnosis, genetic counseling and
      screening for potential presymptomatic individuals.

PMID- 27644548
TI  - Management and therapeutic perspectives in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal progressive
      neurodegenerative disorder affecting both upper and lower motor neurons. Despite
      much research and effort, no clear insights into a unifying hypothesis for the
      pathogenesis has so far emerged for this disease. Areas covered: We review the
      main pathophysiological hypotheses and the potential therapeutic targets in ALS,
      as well as the management of these patients (in order to improve their survival
      and quality of life). Expert commentary: ALS is a complex neurodegenerative
      disease, these days considered as a multisystem disorder with predominant motor
      symptoms (and various clinical forms). Further comprehension of the
      pathophysiology of this disease is required, although pathophysiological
      mechanisms (such as TDP-43) show promise in the search for new therapies. There
      is still no curative treatment for ALS, but the emergence of multidisciplinary
      specialized ALS clinics has increased both the quality of life and the survival
      of these patients.

PMID- 27644550
TI  - Noninvasive brain stimulation for dysphagia after acquired brain injury: a
      systematic review.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to review the best available evidence of
      noninvasive brain stimulation, including repetitive transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for
      dysphagia after acquired brain injury. We searched randomized controlled trials
      that compared noninvasive brain stimulation with control used to improve
      dysphagia after acquired brain injury. We assessed dysphagia severity rating
      scales and penetration-aspiration scale as outcomes immediately after
      intervention. We calculated the pooled estimate of the standardized mean
      difference (SMD) to combine individual results. We included 8 published studies.
      Two heterogenous trials of 48 patients showed that rTMS was associated with a
      significant improvement in the dysphagia severity rating scale score (SMD 2.95).
      Three homogeneous trials of 88 patients showed a significant effect of rTMS on
      the penetration-aspiration scale score (SMD 0.77). Two homogeneous trials of 34
      patients showed that tDCS was associated with a significant improvement in the
      dysphagia severity rating scale score (SMD 1.20). The review provided low-quality
      evidence for the effectiveness of noninvasive brain stimulation in improving
      dysphagia after acquired brain injury. Further trials of larger sample sizes are
      needed to determine the most appropriate noninvasive brain stimulation protocol.
      J. Med. Invest. 63: 153-158, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644551
TI  - Development of Skin Flaps for Reconstructive Surgery: Random Pattern Flap to
      Perforator Flap.
AB  - Flap transplantation has been an important procedure in plastic and
      reconstructive surgery to cover and fill various defects. Flap necrosis due to
      blood circulation failure leads to severe complications, especially in a patient
      undergoing reconstruction concerning the body cavity after tumor ablation.
      Surgical procedures for flap transplantation have been further improved and
      developed. We have reviewed from the random pattern flap to the newest procedure,
      the perforator flap. Perforator vessels were investigated in the process of
      development of the fasciocutaneous flap and have become important for blood
      supply of the skin flap. Blood circulation of the flap has become more stable and
      reliable than ever with the development and findings of the perforator vessels.
      Further development of a skin flap will be based on the perforasome concept,
      which involves the study of the territory and linking of perforator vessels. J.
      Med. Invest. 63: 159-162, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644552
TI  - Morphological Characteristics and Location of Missed, Advanced Colorectal
      Neoplasms after Colonoscopy.
AB  - This retrospective study aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of
      advanced colorectal neoplasms after colonoscopy, likely to have been missed on
      the previous colonoscopy. We reviewed a total of 5,768 consecutive colonoscopies
      performed from April 2010 to September 2013 in 4,841 patients, and analyzed
      advanced colorectal neoplasms after colonoscopy, particularly focusing on their
      morphological characteristics and locations, as compared with primary lesions,
      defined as lesions detected in their first colonoscopy or in a subsequent
      colonoscopy >5 years after the previous one. Of the 5,768 examinations, 922
      advanced neoplasms (including 217 cancers with >=T2) were detected, and 167
      lesions (18.1%) were diagnosed within 5 years after a previous colonoscopy (post
      colonoscopy advanced neoplasms). The incidence of right-sided lesions in the post
      colonoscopy advanced neoplasms (48.5%, 81/167) was significantly higher than in
      the primary lesions (34.0%, 257/755; p <0.001). We excluded 217 cancers with >=T2
      from the morphological analysis to characterize early-stage post-colonoscopy
      advanced neoplasms. The incidence of non-polypoid lesions in the post-colonoscopy
      advanced neoplasms (25.6%, 41/160) was significantly higher than that in the
      primary lesions (12.3%, 67/545; p <0.001). These findings suggest that extra
      attention should be paid to non-polypoid, right-sided advanced colorectal
      neoplasms during screening and surveillance colonoscopy. J. Med. Invest. 63: 163
      170, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644553
TI  - Outcome of an elbow check-up system for child and adolescent baseball players.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our aim was to examine the outcome of an elbow check-up system for youth
      baseball players. In particular, we investigated the nature of elbow injuries in
      youth baseball players with elbow pain and ultrasonographic findings of the
      capitellum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1605 players participating in the
      regional summer championship in July 2013 underwent a questionnaire survey,
      physical examination, ultrasound imaging, and radiographic examination. RESULTS:
      A total of 499 (31.1%) players reported episodes of elbow pain, of whom 320
      (64.1%) had abnormal findings on physical examination, and 115 (35.9%) agreed to
      undergo radiography. Among them, 98 (85.2%) exhibited radiographic abnormalities.
      On the initial ultrasonography screening, 60 (3.7%) players had an abnormal
      finding and 55 (91.7%) agreed to undergo radiography. Among them, 26 (47.3%) were
      found to have osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the capitellum on radiographs.
      CONCLUSIONS: About 30% of youth baseball players had episodes of elbow pain, and
      64.1% of players with elbow pain had abnormal findings on physical examination.
      Furthermore, 85.2% of subjects who underwent radiographic examination exhibited
      radiographic abnormalities. About 4% of young baseball players had an abnormal
      finding on initial ultrasonography screening, and nearly 50% of them had OCD of
      the capitellum on radiographs. J. Med. Invest. 63: 171-174, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644554
TI  - Correlation of 3D Arterial Spin Labeling and Multi-Parametric Dynamic
      Susceptibility Contrast Perfusion MRI in Brain Tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an alternative method to Dynamic
      susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion MRI for brain tumors. However, ASL
      cerebral blood flow (CBF) can be easily affected by transit time. DSC MRI derived
      time to maximum of the residue function (Tmax) is possible to assess the transit
      time on ASL. METHODS: Thirty patients with brain tumors were studied using ASL
      and DSC MRI. The relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), relative cerebral blood
      volume (rCBV), Tmax, and mean transit time (MTT) were obtained from DSC MRI. The
      ratios of the parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: ASL CBF ratio correlated with
      the DSC rCBF ratio (r=0.78, p<0.001) and rCBV ratio (r=0.74, p<0.001). There was
      a moderate correlation between ASL CBF ratio and Tmax ratio (r=-0.43, p<0.05) in
      brain tumors. CONCLUSIONS: ASL CBF strongly correlated with DSC rCBF and rCBV. In
      addition, a negative correlation was found between ASL CBF and Tmax in brain
      tumors, indicating that these parameters would be affected by transit time. This
      may explain why ASL CBF is different from DSC rCBF and rCBV. The decreased DSC
      Tmax value may suggest high vascularity in a tumor. J. Med. Invest. 63: 175-181,
      August, 2016.

PMID- 27644555
TI  - Lung regeneration by fetal lung tissue implantation in a mouse pulmonary
      emphysema model.
AB  - The mortality and morbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are high.
      However, no radical therapy has been developed to date. The purpose of this study
      was to evaluate whether fetal mouse lung tissue can grow and differentiate in the
      emphysematous lung. Fetal lung tissue from green fluorescent protein C57BL/6 mice
      at 16 days' gestation was used as donor material. Twelve-month-old pallid mice
      were used as recipients. Donor lungs were cut into small pieces and implanted
      into the recipient left lung by performing thoracotomy under anesthesia. The
      recipient mice were sacrificed at day 7, 14, and 28 after implantation and used
      for histological examination. Well-developed spontaneous pulmonary emphysema was
      seen in 12-month-old pallid mice. Smooth and continuous connection between
      implanted fetal lung tissue and recipient lung was recognized. Air space
      expansion and donor tissue differentiation were observed over time. We could
      clearly distinguish the border zones between injected tissue and native tissue by
      the green fluorescence of grafts. Fetal mouse lung fragments survived and
      differentiated in the emphysematous lung of pallid mice. Implantation of fetal
      lung tissue in pallid mice might lead to further lung regeneration research from
      the perspective of respiratory and exercise function. J. Med. Invest. 63: 182
      186, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644556
TI  - Treatment with DHA/EPA ameliorates atopic dermatitis-like skin disease by
      blocking LTB4 production.
AB  - Atopic dermatitis (AD) is caused by both dysregulated immune responses and an
      impaired skin barrier. Although leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is involved in tissue
      inflammation that occurs in several disorders, including AD, therapeutic
      strategies based on LTB4 inhibition have not been explored. Here we demonstrate
      that progression of an AD-like skin disease in NC/Nga mice is inhibited when
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is administered together
      with FK506. Treatment with DHA/EPA and FK506 decreases the clinical score of
      dermatitis in NC/Nga mice and lowers local LTB4 concentrations. The treatment
      also suppressed the infiltration of T cells, B cells, eosinophils and
      neutrophils, and promoted reduced serum IgE levels. Secretion of IL-13 and IL-17A
      in CD4(+) T cells was lower in DHA/EPA- and FK506-treated mice than in mice
      treated with FK506 alone. The inhibition of disease progression induced by
      DHA/EPA was reversed by local injection of LTB4, suggesting that the therapeutic
      effect of DHA/EPA is LTB4-dependent. Our results demonstrate that treatment of AD
      with DHA/EPA is effective for allergic skin inflammation and acts by suppressing
      LTB4 production. J. Med. Invest. 63: 187-191, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644557
TI  - Thirty percent of ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast in Japan is extremely
      low-grade ER(+)/HER2(-) type without comedo necrosis.
AB  - Background Overdiagnosis in mammography (MMG) is a problem. Combination of MMG
      and ultrasonography for breast cancer screening may increase overdiagnosis. Most
      cases of overdiagnosis are low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (LGD), but no
      reports have focused on them. Materials and methods We immunostained 169 ductal
      carcinoma in situ (DCIS) cases for ER, PgR, HER2 and Ki67 and classified them
      into 4 subtypes: ER(+)/HER2(-), ER(+)/HER2(+), ER(-)/HER2(-) and ER(-)/HER2(+).
      The Ki67 index was used to evaluate the grade of malignancy and examined for
      correlations with each ER/HER2 subtype and the nuclear grade (NG), with/without
      comedo necrosis. Results The Ki67 index correlated significantly with NG, both
      with/without comedo necrosis, and reliably evaluated the grade of malignancy. The
      index for ER(+)/HER2(-) (n=117, 69.2%) was 7.45+/-7.10, which was significantly
      lower than for each of the other types. The index was 5.71+/-6.94 for ER(+)/HER2(
      ) without comedo necrosis (n=52, 30.8%), which was significantly lower than with
      comedo necrosis. This was considered LGD, characterized by absence of
      microcalcification in MMG and either presence of a solid mass or cystic lesion or
      absence of hypoechoic areas in ultrasound. Conclusion In Japan, ER(+)/HER2(-)
      without comedo necrosis accounts for about 30% of DCIS and is LGD. This may be
      being overdiagnosed. J. Med. Invest. 63: 192-198, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644558
TI  - Flow Cytometric Evaluation of Surface CD56 Expression on Activated Natural Killer
      Cells as Functional Marker.
AB  - Surface CD56 is the most important cell marker for defining NK cells. However,
      the relationship between the expression of surface CD56 and NK cell activity has
      not yet been elucidated in detail. Thirteen healthy volunteers were enrolled in
      the present study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were stimulated
      with rIL-2 or rIL-12 (1, 10, 100 U/mL) for 18 h at 37 degrees C. After
      incubation, surface CD56 expression on NK cells was evaluated using a flow
      cytometric analysis. A colorimetric-based lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay was
      used for experiments on cytotoxicity. IFN-gamma mRNA gene expression was
      quantified by real-time PCR. The expression level of surface CD56 on NK cells,
      cytotoxicity, and IFN-gamma mRNA gene expression were significantly increased by
      the rIL-2 and rIL-12 stimulations. In addition, a positive correlation was found
      between surface CD56 expression and cytotoxic activity or IFN-gamma mRNA gene
      expression. We revealed that the quantification of surface CD56 expression was
      applicable to the evaluation of cytotoxicity and IFN-gamma production in
      activated NK cells. These results suggest that the measurement of surface CD56
      expression represent an easy and rapidly reproducible technique to evaluate the
      activated state of NK cells and monitor NK cell activity in immunotherapy. J.
      Med. Invest. 63: 199-203, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644559
TI  - Default mode network abnormalities in children with autism spectrum disorder
      detected by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the functional
      connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) in normal aging and in children
      with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) by using resting-state functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (rsfMRI) and independent component analysis. METHODS: Thirty
      one healthy controls (HC) in four age groups (1-3, 4-8, 20-29, and 50-59 years)
      and 14 childhood ASD cases (1-8 years of age) were examined by rsfMRI echo-planar
      imaging on a clinical 3-T MRI scanner. Imaging of all children (1-8 years) was
      conducted under sedation, while adults were scanned in the awake state with eyes
      closed. RESULTS: The regions of DMN functional connectivity in the bilateral
      inferior parietal lobule and posterior cingulate cortex were smaller in HC
      children than in HC adults, and smaller in the ASD group than in the HC children.
      CONCLUSION: It is possible to observe developmental and pathological changes in
      the DMN by rsfMRI. Reduced DMN functional connectivity in children may be a
      useful biomarker for ASD diagnosis. J. Med. Invest. 63: 204-208, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644560
TI  - The relationship between parents with a history of childhood problems and
      incidence of consequent child abuse.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the factors related to the need for
      cooperation with child guidance centers with a focus on the presence or absence
      of a history of childhood problems in at-risk parents receiving support from
      their municipality. Among the 1890 parents who received child care support from
      public health nurses in the municipalities, 164 parents (8.7%) had a history of
      childhood problems. Among these, 50 parents (30.5%) received support from child
      guidance centers. The parents with a history of childhood problems had a higher
      incidence rate for receiving support from child guidance centers than other
      parents. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that "marital strife or
      domestic violence", and "financial problems" were associated with consultations
      with child guidance centers among parents with a history of childhood problems.
      The results showed that family situations of parents who had a history of
      childhood problems may, in time, become more severe, even if they have received
      support from public health nurses in the municipalities. Therefore, parents with
      a history of childhood problems need support as early as possible. In addition,
      those parents with "marital strife or domestic violence" and "financial problems"
      also need guidance and early nursing care interventions. J. Med. Invest. 63: 209
      215, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644561
TI  - Ambulatory Surgery for Pilonidal Sinus: Tract Excision and Open Treatment
      Followed by At-Home Irrigation.
AB  - Pilonidal sinus is a cystic disease that occurs most often in the sacrococcygeal
      region. Surgical excision and coverage with a skin flap require postoperative bed
      rest. Most affected patients are young adults who find it difficult to obtain
      adequate postoperative bed rest owing to their work. The purpose of this study is
      to review the effectiveness of our ambulatory surgery procedure for pilonidal
      sinus, which involves tract excision and open treatment followed by at-home
      irrigation. We reviewed the 9 cases of chronic pilonidal sinus treated at our out
      patient clinic by ambulatory surgery consisting of open excision without skin
      closure. Patients were sent home after careful observation for hemostasis at the
      surgical site. Postoperative wound treatment and irrigation were performed at
      home by the patients themselves. The mean immediate postoperative follow-up
      period was 22.3 days (13 to 31 days), and the mean number of follow-up visits was
      3.3. No serious complication and recurrence was noted during the long-term follow
      up period of 26.3 months (1 to 60 months). Although the healing time following
      our ambulatory procedure was not short, no postoperative rest was required, and
      the recurrence rate was zero. We believe this procedure is useful for selected
      patients with pilonidal sinus. J. Med. Invest. 63: 216-218, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644562
TI  - Serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 7 regulates p21-dependent growth arrest in
      colon cancer cells.
AB  - Serine/arginine-rich splicing factors (SRSFs) play wide-ranging roles in gene
      expression through post-transcriptional regulation as well as pre-mRNA splicing.
      SRSF7 was highly expressed in colon cancer tissues, and its knockdown inhibited
      cell growth in colon cancer cells (HCT116) in association with altered expression
      of 4,499 genes. The Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed that cell cycle-related
      canonical pathways were ranked as the highly enriched category in the affected
      genes. Western blotting confirmed that p21, a master regulator in cell cycle, was
      increased without any induction of p53 in SRSF7 knockdown cells. Furthermore,
      cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and retinoblastoma protein were remained in the
      hypophosphorylated state. In addition, the SRSF7 knockdown-induced cell growth
      inhibition was observed in p53-null HCT116 cells, suggesting that p53-independent
      pathways were involved in the SRSF7 knockdown-induced cell growth inhibition. The
      reduction of SRSF7 stabilized cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A) mRNA
      without any activation of the CDKN1A promoter. Interestingly, SRSF7 knockdown
      also blocked p21 degradation. These results suggest that the reduction of SRSF7
      post-transcriptionally regulates p21 induction at the multistep processes. Thus,
      the present findings disclose a novel, important role of SRSF7 in cell
      proliferation through regulating p21 levels. J. Med. Invest. 63: 219-226, August,
      2016. 

PMID- 27644563
TI  - Efficacy of proton pump inhibitor in combination with rikkunshito in patients
      complaining of globus pharyngeus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Globus pharyngeus (GP) is a common symptom of laryngopharyngeal reflux
      disease (LPRD), and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and rikkunshito, a traditional
      Japanese medicine having prokinetic effect improve LPRD symptoms. In the present
      study, we examined the efficacy of high-dose PPI in combination with rikkunshito
      in patients complaining of GP. METHODS: 106 patients complaining of GP without
      any organic endoscopic findings were enrolled. RESULTS: Patients were first
      administrated with high-dose PPI alone for 4 to 8 weeks and the symptom was
      improved in 65 patients. Among 41 patients with PPI-refractory GP, 22 patients
      were administrated with high-dose PPI in combination with rikkunshito, and the
      symptom was improved in 14 of 22 patients 4 weeks later. The average value of a
      modified reflux symptom index of the responders was similar to that of non
      responders. Only a few patients had positive values in reflux finding scores in
      both groups. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest the existence of a high
      prevalence of LPRD in patients complaining of GP. The data also suggest that
      gastroesophageal dysmotility is involved in GP, in addition to excessive acid
      reflux. The pre-therapeutic laryngopharyngeal symptoms and endoscopic findings
      could not predict the efficacy of the treatment for GP. J. Med. Invest. 63: 227
      229, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644564
TI  - The effect of acotiamide on epigastric pain syndrome and postprandial distress
      syndrome in patients with functional dyspepsia.
AB  - The effect of acotiamide on gastrointestinal symptoms is undefined. The aim of
      this study is to evaluate the effect of acotiamide on abdominal symptoms in
      patients with functional dyspepsia. We retrospectively reviewed 51 patients
      treated with acotiamide. We evaluated patient quality of life using the Izumo
      scale that detects changes in quality of life caused by abdominal symptoms.
      Acotiamide ameliorated the symptoms of functional dyspepsia at one and three
      months (improved: 61% vs 80%, p=0.029 and resolved: 17% vs 33%, p=0.069). We then
      evaluated the effect of acotiamide on epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) (n=33) and
      postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) (n=41). Acotiamide treatment showed an early
      effect on rates of improvement (63%) and resolution (42%) of EPS symptoms at one
      month, maintained up to three months (69% and 39%, respectively). Both rates of
      improvement and resolution of PDS symptoms showed a significant increase from one
      month to three months (56% vs 78%, p=0.021 and 17% vs 46%, p=0.004,
      respectively). The severity of functional dyspepsia symptoms before treatment was
      significantly associated with failed resolution of functional dyspepsia symptoms
      (p=0.013). Acotiamide improves and resolves EPS symptoms as well as PDS symptoms.
      PDS symptoms take longer to resolve than EPS symptoms. J. Med. Invest. 63: 230
      235, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644565
TI  - Assay of serum E2 concentration in postmenopausal breast cancer patients using a
      high-sensitivity RIA method is generally useful.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum E2 must be monitored for aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy, but
      conventional assays lack sensitivity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Forty amenorrheic breast
      cancer patients scheduled for AI treatment but requiring hormonological
      confirmation of their menopausal status were studied. Serum E2 data generated by
      high-sensitivity RIA and by LC-MS/MS were analyzed for correlation. RESULTS: RIA
      gave a higher E2 value than LC-MS/MS in 62% of cases, but there was a significant
      positive correlation. Patients whose E2 levels by RIA were >= 2.5 pg/mL higher
      than those by LC-MS/MS (RIA-H group) and all other patients (RIA-N group) were
      compared. Both groups showed strong correlations between the two assay methods.
      With both methods patients with a high BMI had significantly elevated E2.
      Multiple regression analysis used age, age at menarche, number of births and BMI
      as explanatory variables. Significant variables were the BMI with LC-MS/MS, and
      both BMI and age with RIA. The RIA-H and RIA-N groups showed no difference in
      regard to the BMI, whereas the age was significantly lower in the RIA-H group.
      SUMMARY: Serum E2 levels determined for postmenopausal women by RIA and LC-MS/MS
      generally correlated well. High-sensitivity RIA is a potentially useful clinical
      assay, but it overestimated serum E2 in some women. J. Med. Invest. 63: 236-240,
      August, 2016.

PMID- 27644566
TI  - Association of habitual high-fat intake and desire for protein and sweet food.
AB  - Reducing dietary calorie density (CD) is useful in body weight management. This
      study investigates the association between dietary habits and preferences for
      different CDs. We conducted a randomized crossover study of 232 healthy subjects
      who consumed packed lunch boxes containing a control, high-meat and low-rice, low
      vegetable, medium-fat and low-vegetable, high-fat, and high-fat and low-vegetable
      meals over six sessions. The subjective levels of sensory properties were
      assessed over time using a visual analog scale and the area under the curve.
      Subjects were assessed for dietary habits using a brief-type self-administered
      diet history questionnaire (BDHQ) and were divided into two groups based on a
      daily fat energy ratio >= 25% (high fat [HF], n=116) and < 25% (normal, n=116)
      that was matched for age, body mass index, and sex ratio. Our findings indicate
      that the desire for sweetness was higher in the HF group than in the normal
      group, regardless of the meals consumed. Particularly, among the 500-kcal low-CD
      meals, a high-protein meal provided greater fullness and satisfaction and lower
      prospective consumption in the HF group than in the normal group. Therefore, our
      study demonstrates that postprandial appetite sensation is associated with
      dietary habits of fat intake. J. Med. Invest. 63: 241-247, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644567
TI  - Predictability of Pressure Ulcers Based on Operation Duration, Transfer Activity,
      and Body Mass Index Through the Use of an Alternating Decision Tree.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a prediction model for pressure ulcer cases that continue
      to occur at an acute care hospital with a low occurrence rate of pressure ulcers.
      METHODS: Analyzing data were collected from patients hospitalized at Tokushima
      University Hospital during 2012 using an alternating decision tree (ADT) data
      mining method. RESULTS: The ADT-based analysis revealed transfer activity,
      operation time, and low body mass index (BMI) as important factors for predicting
      pressure ulcer development. DISCUSSION: Among the factors identified, only
      "transfer activity" can be modified by nursing intervention. While shear force
      and friction are known to lead to pressure ulcers, transfer activity has not been
      identified as such. Our results suggest that transfer activities creating shear
      force and friction correlate with pressure ulcer development. The ADT algorithm
      was effective in determining prediction factors, especially for highly imbalanced
      data. Our three stumps ADT yielded accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity values
      of 72.1%+/-3.7%, 79.3%+/-18.1%, and 72.1%+/-3.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Transfer activity, identified as an interventional factor, can be modified
      through nursing interventions to prevent pressure ulcer formation. The ADT method
      was effective in identifying factors within largely imbalanced data. J. Med.
      Invest. 63: 248-255, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644568
TI  - Influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms of cytokine genes on anti-HBs
      antibody production after hepatitis B vaccination in a Japanese young adult
      population.
AB  - Hepatitis B (HB) vaccination is one of the most efficient tools to prevent the
      transmission of the virus. Considerable variability exists in HB vaccine
      responses, with 5-10% of healthy Japanese adults demonstrating no response
      following a standard vaccination. Recently, polymorphisms of immune-regulatory
      genes, such as cytokine genes, have been reported to influence the immune
      response to HB vaccine. The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying
      mechanisms of the genetic association between several cytokine gene polymorphisms
      and the immune response to HB vaccination in a Japanese population. One hundred
      and twenty three vaccinated young adults were classified according to the level
      of antibody-titer (anti-HBs). Single nucleotide polymorphism typing for IFN-gamma
      (+874, 3'-UTR), IL-10 (-591, -819, -1082), and TNF-alpha (-308, -857), was
      accomplished using the PCR-RFLP or SSP-PCR method. The TNF-alpha (-857) CC type
      and the IL-10 (-1082) AG type were present more frequently in the low titer group
      than in the high titer group. The TNF-alpha (-857) CC type was found to be
      significantly associated with low response of serum anti-HBs. The anti-HBs
      antibody was not readily produced in the IL-10 (-1082) AG and TNF-alpha (-857) CC
      haplotype. Conversely, the antibody was readily produced in the IL-10 (-1082) AA
      and TNF-alpha (-857) CC haplotype, and the IL-10 (-1082) AA and TNF-alpha (-857)
      CT haplotype, suggesting a high likelihood of the IL-10 (-1082) AG type to be
      included in the low anti-HBs group, and high anti-HBs antibody production in
      those with the TNF-alpha (-857) CT type. These SNPs may produce ethnically
      specific differences in the immune response to HB vaccine in the Japanese
      population. J. Med. Invest. 63: 256-261, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644569
TI  - Experimental Studies on Protective Effects of FK506 Against Hepatic Ischemia
      Reperfusion Injury.
AB  - Purposes; FK506 (strong immunosuppressive agent) was investigated experimentally
      whether to protect the hepatic IRI. Methods; Warm ischemic experiment using pigs
      and rats were performed and examined whether FK506 is effective. Results; The
      results obtained are as follows. 1. Warm ischemia allowed time of the pigs
      without FK506 was 150 minutes, but as for that of FK506 group, the extension of
      30 minutes was got in 180 minutes. 2. Biliary excretion rate of BSP after
      reperfusion were better in the group of 180 minutes ischemia with FK506 than in
      without FK506 group. 3. Chemiluminescence intensity in the peripheral neutrophils
      and adhered and infiltrated leukocytes in the liver were suppressed markedly by
      FK506. 4. The vascular endothelium with the scanning electron microscope was
      relatively preserved in the FK506 group comparing to the placebo group on 30
      minutes after reperfusion. 5. Stress gastric ulcer was controlled and
      myeloperoxidase activity in the gastric mucosa was suppressed by FK506.
      Conclusion; Based on the results of theses experiments, it was suggested that
      FK506 has a protective effect on IRI by suppressing: the impairment of sinusoidal
      endothelial cells; the activation of KCs; the disturbance of micro-circulation;
      oxidative stress; inflammation; and the accumulation of leukocytes. J. Med.
      Invest. 63: 262-269, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644570
TI  - Mesh-Airtight-Preperitoneum: a simple method for confirming mesh placement in
      transabdominal preperitoneal repair of inguinal hernia.
AB  - We devised a method for confirming the position of mesh placed during
      transabdominal preperitoneal repair (TAPP) of an inguinal hernia. The
      preperitoneum is sufficiently detached, and the mesh is fixed in place as usual.
      Before completely closing the peritoneum, pressure is applied from outside the
      body and inside the abdominal cavity to remove as much air as possible from the
      detached preperitoneum; the peritoneum is then sutured using a V-Loc(TM) closure
      device so that it does not constrict. By releasing the pressure all at once, the
      airtightness of the preperitoneum is maintained, and the position of the mesh can
      be observed through the translucent peritoneum. This method, called Mesh-Airtight
      Preperitoneum (MAPP), could become widely used as a simple technique for
      confirming mesh position in TAPP. J. Med. Invest. 63: 270-273, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644571
TI  - Delayed Diagnosis of Primary Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors Initially Treated as
      Degenerative Spinal Disorders.
AB  - Background Symptoms of primary bone and soft tissue tumors located in the trunk
      mimic those of degenerative spinal disorders such as low back pain or pain or
      numbness of the legs. Due to their rarity, especially in sarcoma located in the
      trunk, diagnosis is sometimes delayed. Methods A retrospective review was
      performed of the records of 383 patients with primary bone and soft tissue tumors
      who visit our out patient clinic from 2011 to 2013 at a single institution.
      Patients with delayed diagnosis of primary bone and soft tissue tumors initially
      treated as degenerative spinal disorders for more than 2 months were identified.
      Results Of the 383 patients, 5 (1.3%) were initially diagnosed as having
      degenerative spinal disorders. All 5 patients had bone or soft tissue tumors in
      the lumbar spine or pelvis. Three patients had a malignant tumor (osteosarcoma,
      chondrosarcoma, or small round cell sarcoma) at the progressive stage, and 1 died
      of lung metastasis. Two patients had a benign tumor (aneurysmal bone cyst or
      simple bone cyst). Conclusions Our findings suggest that when low back pain and
      leg pain are refractory to conservative treatment, further radiological
      examination should be conducted. J. Med. Invest. 63: 274-277, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644572
TI  - Proximal nail fold flap for digital mucous cyst excision.
AB  - The skin covering a digital mucous cyst is often very thin and is often excised
      with the cyst. Thus, transfer of a skin flap is needed for the defect. We have
      developed a proximal nail fold flap technique by which the thin skin covering the
      cyst can be preserved. We conducted a retrospective study to assess the
      effectiveness and reliability of this technique for digital mucous cyst excision.
      The study group comprised 26 patients treated for 28 digital mucous cysts. The
      flap was elevated on the nail matrix to expose the distal interphalangeal joint
      capsule. To preserve the skin in cases in which the skin covering the cyst was
      exceptionally thin, we did not excise the upper part of the cyst wall. Excision
      of the cyst and stalk was successful in all cases. Additional excision of the
      joint capsule or osteophyte(s) was achieved in 20 cases and 5 cases,
      respectively. No flap necrosis, skin defect or nail deformity resulted. Three of
      the cysts recurred and were treated successfully by reoperation involving the
      same flap elevation technique. We conclude that the proximal nail fold flap is
      useful for excision and reliable for wound coverage after digital mucous cyst
      excision. J. Med. Invest. 63: 278-280, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644573
TI  - Reduction mammaplasty and mastopexy for the contralateral breast after
      reconstruction surgery following cancer resection: A report of 3 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast reconstruction generally involves autologous tissue
      transplantation and placement of a mammary prosthesis. When the patient's breasts
      are extremely large and ptotic, breast reconstruction often results in
      significantly asymmetrical appearance. However, a good aesthetic outcome after
      reconstruction surgery following cancer resection is an important quality-of-life
      factor. We evaluated the efficacy of touch-up surgery, either reduction
      mammaplasty or mastopexy, performed on the contralateral breast for
      symmetrization. METHODS: Reduction mammaplasty was performed on the contralateral
      breast in 2 patients and mastopexy was performed on the contralateral breast in 1
      patient after reconstruction surgery following cancer resection, between 2008 and
      2014. We reviewed each patient's medical record for general clinical information
      and for the methods of breast cancer resection and breast reconstruction used,
      wait time between breast cancer resection and touch-up surgery, preservation of
      the sensitivity of the nipple-areola complex after the touch-up surgery, and
      aesthetic outcome (based on visual analog scale score). RESULTS: Wait times in
      the 3 cases were 4, 9, and 18 months. Nipple-areolar sensitivity was well
      preserved in all 3 cases. Aesthetic outcomes were judged "excellent" or "very
      good." CONCLUSION: Revision surgery on the contralateral breast 4 to 18 months
      after breast reconstruction substantially improves the aesthetic outcome. J. Med.
      Invest. 63: 281-285, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644574
TI  - Analysis of the Prognostic Factors of Extensive Disease Small-Cell Lung Cancer
      Patients in Tokushima University Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) presents aggressive clinical behavior,
      and its prognosis is still poor. Previously, performance status (PS), or the
      existence of brain, bone, or liver metastasis were reported to be unfavorable
      prognostic factors. Given the recent progress of treatment modalities such as
      radiotherapy techniques and bone modifying agents, the prognostic factors might
      be different from previous findings. Therefore, we analyzed the prognostic
      factors of extensive disease SCLC (ED-SCLC) in recent years. METHODS: ED-SCLC
      patients treated in Tokushima University Hospital between 2010 and 2016 were
      analyzed. Log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazards regression model was
      used in univariate and multivariate analysis, respectively. RESULTS: Totally, 79
      patients were analyzed. In the univariate analysis, age, PS, interstitial
      pneumonia (IP), liver metastasis, pleural dissemination, neutrophil counts,
      hypoalbuminemia, hypercalcemia and several liver and biliary enzymes were
      identified as poor prognostic factors. In the multivariate analysis, age, PS, IP,
      and liver and biliary enzymes were identified. Moreover, the PS in patients with
      liver metastasis was significantly worsened. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we newly
      demonstrated that IP was a significant poor prognostic factor of ED-SCLC.
      Although liver metastasis was not extracted in multivariate analysis, it may have
      an impact on the prognosis of ED-SCLC. J. Med. Invest. 63: 286-293, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644575
TI  - Clinical features and outcome of acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia
      associated with connective tissue disease.
AB  - Acute exacerbation (AE) of interstitial lung disease is reported to be developed
      in not only idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis but also connective tissue disease
      associated interstitial pneumonia (CTD-IP). As the significance of AE of CTD-IP
      has not been so widely recognized, its clinical feature is not fully elucidated.
      In the present study, we investigated the incidence, clinical features and
      outcome of AE of CTD-IP. We retrospectively reviewed admitted cases in our
      department with medical record from 2011 to 2015. Among 155 patients with CTD-IP,
      10 (6.5%) cases developed AE (6 rheumatoid arthritis, 2
      polymyositis/dermatomyositis, 1 systemic lupus erythematosus, 1 Sjogren
      syndrome), and one died of AE within 30 days. Median survival time after the
      onset of AE was 169 days in all 10 patients. The treatment with immunosuppressant
      just before AE onset might improve the prognosis of AE. The median survival time
      after the onset of AE was significantly longer in patients showing good response
      to corticosteroid compared with those with poor response to corticosteroid (805
      days and 45 days, respectively) (p <0.05), suggesting that there are some cases
      in CTD-IP, showing the good response to corticosteroid even when AE was
      complicated. J. Med. Invest. 63: 294-299, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644576
TI  - Successful Emergency Carotid Endarterectomy after Thrombolysis with Intravenous
      Recombinant Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator.
AB  - Acute internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion may result in severe disability or
      death. Revascularization by carotid artery stenting after treatment with
      intravenous (iv) recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) has been
      documented. However, there are few reports on emergency carotid endarterectomy
      (CEA) within 24 hours after the iv administration of rt-PA. We treated a 58-year
      old man with right ICA occlusion with iv rt-PA. Although partial recanalization
      of the ICA was obtained, severe stenosis at the origin of the ICA persisted and
      he developed fluctuating neurological deficits. To prevent progressive stroke he
      underwent CEA 10.5 hours after rt-PA treatment. Thereafter his blood pressure was
      strictly controlled under sedation. During and after CEA there were no
      hemorrhagic complications. Our findings suggest that emergency CEA may be an
      option to address symptomatic severe residual ICA stenosis even after iv rt-PA
      therapy delivered in the acute stage. J. Med. Invest. 63: 300-304, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644577
TI  - Postmortem Diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa: An Endocrinological and
      Immunohistochemical Approach.
AB  - A female in her 30s was found dead after a fire. She was severely emaciated and
      had been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN) about 5 years ago, but had not been
      treated recently. Therefore, we investigated not only her cause of death but also
      her condition of AN. Some of her organs weighed less than normal although no
      clear lesions were observed. In the pituitary gland, the number of follicle
      stimulating hormone-immunopositive cells was markedly decreased although a normal
      number of thyroid-stimulating hormone-positive cells were detected. A
      histological examination of the ovary suggested that she had been suffering from
      amenorrhea. The thyroid gland was atrophic, and marked variations in follicle
      size were observed. Because we could not obtain enough volume of her blood for
      endocrinological examinations, we tried to investigate her endocrinological
      condition by immunohistochemistry. Immunohistochemical staining detected
      decreased triiodothyronine immunoreactivity and normal thyroxine
      immunoreactivity. The adrenal glands were also atrophic. Based on these findings,
      it was considered that she had been suffering from AN at the time of her death.
      The autopsy and other findings revealed that she had died of burning with carbon
      monoxide intoxication. J. Med. Invest. 63: 305-309, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644578
TI  - Efficacy of Achilles Suture Bridge Technique for Insertional Achilles Tendinosis
      in an Obese and Athletic Patient.
AB  - Here, we report the efficacy of the suture bridge technique for treating
      insertional Achilles tendinosis in an obese and athletic patient. A 48-year-old
      man presented to our department with a 6-month history of left posterior heel
      pain. The patient was an athlete (triathlon) and appeared obese (height: 197 cm,
      body weight: 120 kg, body mass index: 30.9). A diagnosis of insertional Achilles
      tendinosis was made. Because 6 months of conservative treatments had failed, we
      performed open resection of the calcaneal exostosis and Haglund's deformity along
      with debridement of the degenerative tissue of the tendon. Wide detachment of the
      insertion of the Achilles tendon was necessary, and reattachment of the tendon
      was performed using the Arthrex SpeedBridge(TM) system (Arthrex, Inc., Naples,
      FL). Six weeks postoperatively, this patient was allowed to walk with full weight
      bearing. Twelve weeks after surgery, this patient started jogging with neither
      pain nor evidence of Achilles tendon rupture. The suture bridge technique was
      effective for the reconstruction of the Achilles tendon in an obese and athletic
      patient. J. Med. Invest. 63: 310-314, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644579
TI  - Complication of portal vein thrombosis after right hemihepatectomy in a patient
      lacking the portal vein bifurcation.
AB  - Absence of portal vein bifurcation is a rare anomaly. We report a patient with
      this anomaly who underwent right hemihepatectomy for treatment of hepatocellular
      carcinoma. Although the procedure was carefully performed with a preoperative
      three-dimensional simulation and intraoperative cholangiography, postoperative
      portal vein thrombosis occurred. J. Med. Invest. 63: 315-318, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644580
TI  - Complete spontaneous regression of a subpubic cartilaginous cyst: a case report.
AB  - Subpubic cartilaginous cyst was recently reported as a rare degenerative mass on
      the pubic symphysis. We report here a 59-year-old woman who presented with a
      vulvar mass that showed complete spontaneous regression 48 months after the
      initial visit. Treatment was only wearing brace. This is the first report of
      complete spontaneous regression of a subpubic cartilaginous cyst. In the case of
      small subpubic cyst, observation and follow-up alone may be sufficient. J. Med.
      Invest. 63: 319-322, August, 2016. 

PMID- 27644581
TI  - Percutaneous drainage of psoas and iliopsoas muscle abscesses with a one-step
      technique under real-time computed tomography fluoroscopic guidance.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the utility and safety of drainage catheter installation for
      psoas/iliopsoas muscle abscesses using a one-step technique under the guidance of
      real-time computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten psoas
      or iliopsoas muscle abscesses in 7 patients that were treated with percutaneous
      drainage were included in this study. All drainage procedures were carried out
      using a one-step technique under real-time CT fluoroscopic guidance. RESULTS: The
      drainage catheter insertion was performed successfully with the one-step
      technique in all lesions. Improvements in the patients' symptoms and blood test
      results were seen after the drainage procedure in all cases. In addition,
      postoperative CT scans demonstrated that the abscesses had reduced in size or
      disappeared in all but one patient, who was transferred to another institution
      while the drainage catheter was still in place. No major complications were seen
      in any case. CONCLUSION: The one-step procedure is simple to perform. The
      percutaneous drainage of psoas or iliopsoas muscle abscesses with the one-step
      technique under real-time CT fluoroscopic guidance is accurate and safe.
      Moreover, compared with the two-step technique the one-step procedure results in
      a shorter drainage procedure and exposes the patient and operator to lower
      amounts of radiation. J. Med. Invest. 63: 323-327, August, 2016.

PMID- 27644582
TI  - Co-infections of haemosporidian and trypanosome parasites in a North American
      songbird.
AB  - Hosts frequently harbour multiple parasite infections, yet patterns of parasite
      co-occurrence are poorly documented in nature. In this study, we asked whether
      two common avian blood parasites, one haemosporidian and one trypanosome, affect
      each other's occurrence in individuals of a single host species. We used
      molecular genotyping to survey protozoan parasites in the peripheral blood of
      yellow-breasted chats (Aves: Passeriformes [Parulidae]: Icteria virens) from the
      Ozarks of Southern Missouri. We also determined whether single and co-infections
      differently influence white blood cell and polychromatic erythrocyte counts, the
      latter being a measure of regenerative anaemia. We found a positive association
      between the haemosporidian and trypanosome parasites, such that infection by one
      increases the probability that an individual host is infected by the other. Adult
      individuals were more likely than juveniles to exhibit haemosporidian infection,
      but co-infections and single trypanosome infections were not age-related. We
      found evidence of pathogenicity of trypanosomes in that infected individuals
      exhibited similar levels of regenerative anaemia as birds infected with
      haemosporidian parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Counts of white blood cells did
      not differ with respect to infection status.

PMID- 27644583
TI  - From biochemical pathways to the agro-ecological scale: Carbon capture in a
      changing climate.

PMID- 27644584
TI  - Reasoning and Action: Implementation of a Decision-Making Program in Sport.
AB  - The objective of this study was to apply a decision training programme, based on
      the use of video-feedback and questioning, in real game time, in order to improve
      decision-making in volleyball attack actions. A three-phase quasi-experimental
      design was implemented: Phase A (pre-test), Phase B (Intervention) and Phase C
      (Retention). The sample was made up of 8 female Under-16 volleyball players, who
      were divided into two groups: experimental group (n = 4) and control group (n =
      4). The independent variable was the decision training program, which was applied
      for 11 weeks in a training context, more specifically in a 6x6 game situation.
      The player had to analyze the reasons and causes of the decision taken. The
      dependent variable was decision-making, which was assessed based on systematic
      observation, using the "Game Performance Assessment Instrument" (GPAI) (Oslin,
      Mitchell, & Griffin, 1998). Results showed that, after applying the decision
      training program, the experimental group showed a significantly higher average
      percentage of successful decisions than the control group F(1, 6) = 11.26; p =
      .015; eta2 p = .652; 95% CI [056, 360]. These results highlight the need to
      complement the training process with cognitive tools such as video-feedback and
      questioning in order to improve athletes' decision-making. 

PMID- 27644585
TI  - Simulation of the M13 life cycle I: Assembly of a genetically-structured
      deterministic chemical kinetic simulation.
AB  - To expand the quantitative, systems level understanding and foster the expansion
      of the biotechnological applications of the filamentous bacteriophage M13, we
      have unified the accumulated quantitative information on M13 biology into a
      genetically-structured, experimentally-based computational simulation of the
      entire phage life cycle. The deterministic chemical kinetic simulation explicitly
      includes the molecular details of DNA replication, mRNA transcription, protein
      translation and particle assembly, as well as the competing protein-protein and
      protein-nucleic acid interactions that control the timing and extent of phage
      production. The simulation reproduces the holistic behavior of M13, closely
      matching experimentally reported values of the intracellular levels of phage
      species and the timing of events in the M13 life cycle. The computational model
      provides a quantitative description of phage biology, highlights gaps in the
      present understanding of M13, and offers a framework for exploring alternative
      mechanisms of regulation in the context of the complete M13 life cycle.

PMID- 27644586
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27644587
TI  - Ultrafast in cellulo photoinduced dynamics processes of the paradigm molecular
      light switch [Ru(bpy)2dppz](2.).
AB  - An in cellulo study of the ultrafast excited state processes in the paradigm
      molecular light switch [Ru(bpy)2dppz](2+) by localized pump-probe spectroscopy is
      reported for the first time. The localization of [Ru(bpy)2dppz](2+) in HepG2
      cells is verified by emission microscopy and the characteristic photoinduced
      picosecond dynamics of the molecular light switch is observed in cellulo. The
      observation of the typical phosphorescence stemming from a (3)MLCT state suggests
      that the [Ru(bpy)2dppz](2+) complex intercalates with the DNA in the nucleus. The
      results presented for this benchmark coordination compound reveal the necessity
      to study the photoinduced processes in coordination compounds for intracellular
      use, e.g. as sensors or as photodrugs, in the actual biological target
      environment in order to derive a detailed molecular mechanistic understanding of
      the excited-state properties of the systems in the actual biological target
      environment.

PMID- 27644588
TI  - Total temporomandibular joint replacement prostheses: a systematic review and
      bias-adjusted meta-analysis.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to determine which prosthesis has resulted in
      the best outcomes after total temporomandibular joint replacement (TMJR). A
      comprehensive electronic search was undertaken in September 2015. Inclusion
      criteria encompassed studies that described one of the three current TMJR systems
      and that had pre- and postoperative data on at least two of the following TMJR
      indications: pain, diet, function, and maximum inter-incisal opening (MIO).
      Sixteen papers were included in the systematic review, reporting 10 retrospective
      studies and six prospective studies (no randomized controlled or case-controlled
      trials). A total 312 patients with 505 TMJ Concepts prostheses, 728 patients with
      1048 Biomet prostheses, and 125 patients with 196 Nexus prostheses were included
      in the analysis. There was no real difference between the various TMJR systems in
      terms of pain or diet scores. Function scores improved with the TMJ Concepts, but
      this was the only prosthesis for which data were available. Biomet prostheses
      appeared to have a greater increase in MIO mean gain compared to TMJ Concepts and
      Nexus prostheses; however this was heavily biased by one study. Without this
      study, there was no real difference in MIO. It is concluded that the prostheses
      are similar, but most data are available for the TMJ Concepts prosthesis, with
      results being favourable.

PMID- 27644589
TI  - Early and Long-Term Responses to Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy
      in Diabetic Macular Edema: Analysis of Protocol I Data.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether early visual acuity response to ranibizumab in
      diabetic macular edema is associated with long-term outcome. DESIGN: Post hoc
      analysis of randomized controlled trial data. METHODS: Pooled data from the
      ranibizumab plus prompt and deferred laser treatment arms of the Diabetic
      Retinopathy Clinical Research Network's Protocol I study were used to explore the
      relationship between early (week 12) and late (weeks 52-156) visual acuity
      response (mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity [CFB BCVA];
      categorized improvement [<5, 5-9, or >=10 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy
      Study (ETDRS) letters] in BCVA). RESULTS: In the analysis population (340 eyes),
      <5-, 5- to 9-, and >=10-letter BCVA improvements occurred in 39.7%, 23.2%, and
      37.1% of eyes, respectively, at 12 weeks, and 34.2%, 16.5%, and 49.3% of eyes at
      156 weeks. Within each early BCVA response category (<5, 5-9, and >=10 letters of
      improvement at 12 weeks), mean CFB BCVA at 52-156 weeks varied by <5 letters from
      that at 12 weeks. CFB BCVA and <5-letter improvement at 12 weeks showed
      significant positive and negative association, respectively, with CFB BCVA and
      >=10-letter improvement at 52 and 156 weeks. Similar relationships were
      demonstrated in eyes with baseline BCVA <69 letters, and associations remained
      significant after multivariate adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS:
      Ranibizumab +/- laser therapy resulted in similar rates (~40%) of suboptimal (<5
      letter) and pronounced (>=10-letter) BCVA improvement at 12 weeks. Eyes with
      suboptimal early BCVA response showed poorer long-term visual outcomes than eyes
      with pronounced early response (mean improvement 3.0 vs 13.8 letters at 156
      weeks).

PMID- 27644590
TI  - Persistently Vitreous Culture-Positive Exogenous Fungal Endophthalmitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the clinical settings, microbiological isolates, and best
      corrected visual acuities (BCVA) of patients with persistently culture-positive
      exogenous fungal endophthlamitis. DESIGN: Retrospective consecutive case series.
      METHODS: Setting: Tertiary referral center. PATIENT POPULATION: Sixteen eyes of
      16 patients with at least 2 consecutive positive vitreous cultures between 1981
      and 2015. INTERVENTIONS: Intravitreal antifungal injection, pars plana vitrectomy
      (PPV). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Clinical settings, microbiologic isolates, BCVA.
      RESULTS: The most common clinical settings were after cataract surgery (9/16,
      56%), glaucoma surgery (4/16, 25%), and trauma (2/16, 13%). The most common
      single fungal isolate was Candida (4/16, 25%), but 75% of all isolates were
      molds. Treatment for presumed bacterial endophthalmitis was given initially in 14
      patients (88%). All patients underwent a vitrectomy during the course of their
      treatment, and all received intravitreal or systemic antifungal therapy. The mean
      initial BCVA was 1.76 +/- 0.9 logMAR (Snellen equivalent ~20/1200), and the mean
      final BCVA was 1.84 +/- 1.2 logMAR (~20/1400, P = .83). The 9 patients (56%) who
      had intraocular lens (IOL) and capsular bag removals had better final BCVAs than
      those who did not (P = .011). The BCVAs were similar in eyes with yeast and mold
      (P = .37). The visual acuity at the last follow-up was >=20/40 in 13% (2/16),
      >=20/400 in 50% (8/16), and no light perception in 25% (4/16). CONCLUSIONS:
      Candida was the single most common isolate, but the majority of isolates were
      molds. Eyes managed with PPV and removal of the IOL and capsular bag had better
      visual outcomes. Persistently culture-positive fungal endophthalmitis was
      associated with poor final visual acuities.

PMID- 27644591
TI  - Association of Dry Eye Tests With Extraocular Signs Among 3514 Participants in
      the Sjogren's Syndrome International Registry.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify a screening strategy for dry eye patients with a high
      likelihood of having Sjogren syndrome (SS) through the evaluation of the
      association of ocular surface tests with the extraocular signs used for the
      diagnosis of SS. DESIGN: Multicenter cross-sectional study. METHODS: The
      Sjogren's International Clinical Collaborative Alliance (SICCA) registry enrolled
      3514 participants with SS or possible SS from 9 international academic sites.
      Ocular surface evaluation included Schirmer I testing, tear breakup time (TBUT),
      and staining of the cornea (0-6 points) and conjunctiva (0-6 points).
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictive
      factors for (1) histopathologic changes on labial salivary gland (LSG) biopsies
      (positive = focus score of >=1 focus/4 mm2) and (2) positive anti-SSA/B serology.
      RESULTS: The adjusted odds of having a positive LSG biopsy were significantly
      higher among those with an abnormal Schirmer I test (adjusted OR = 1.26, 95% CI
      1.05-1.51, P = .014) and positive conjunctival staining (for each additional unit
      of staining 1.46; 95% CI 1.39-1.53, P < .001) or corneal staining (for each
      additional unit of staining 1.14; 95% CI 1.08-1.21, P < .001). The odds of having
      a positive serology were significantly higher among those with an abnormal
      Schirmer I test (adjusted OR = 1.3; 95% CI 1.09-1.54, P = .004) and conjunctival
      staining (adjusted OR = 1.51; 95% CI 1.43-1.58, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In
      addition to corneal staining, which was associated with a higher likelihood of
      having a positive LSG biopsy, conjunctival staining and abnormal Schirmer I
      testing are of critical importance to include when screening dry eye patients for
      possible SS, as they were associated with a higher likelihood of having a
      positive LSG biopsy and serology.

PMID- 27644592
TI  - Diverse fates of uracilated HIV-1 DNA during infection of myeloid lineage cells.
AB  - We report that a major subpopulation of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs)
      contains high levels of dUTP, which is incorporated into HIV-1 DNA during reverse
      transcription (U/A pairs), resulting in pre-integration restriction and post
      integration mutagenesis. After entering the nucleus, uracilated viral DNA
      products are degraded by the uracil base excision repair (UBER) machinery with
      less than 1% of the uracilated DNA successfully integrating. Although uracilated
      proviral DNA showed few mutations, the viral genomic RNA was highly mutated,
      suggesting that errors occur during transcription. Viral DNA isolated from blood
      monocytes and alveolar macrophages (but not T cells) of drug-suppressed HIV
      infected individuals also contained abundant uracils. The presence of viral
      uracils in short-lived monocytes suggests their recent infection through contact
      with virus producing cells in a tissue reservoir. These findings reveal new
      elements of a viral defense mechanism involving host UBER that may be relevant to
      the establishment and persistence of HIV-1 infection.

PMID- 27644594
TI  - Predicting toxicities in humans by nonclinical safety testing: an update with
      particular reference to anticancer compounds.
AB  - The sensitivity of the various preclinical models used to predict toxicity in
      humans varies. In this review, we analyze the various models used to predict
      safety in drug discovery and development with a view to understanding their
      translational value in humans. Twenty recently approved anticancer drugs were
      studied and the available nonclinical and clinical adverse effects information
      available from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was analyzed. We found
      that gastrointestinal and hematopoietic toxicities in humans were predicted to
      the maximum extent by nonclinical models, whereas respiratory, integumentary,
      renal, nervous, hepatic, and cardiovascular were moderately predicted. Ocular,
      endocrine, and musculoskeletal toxicities were poorly predicted while lymphatic
      and immune toxicities were difficult to predict.

PMID- 27644593
TI  - Maintenance of age in human neurons generated by microRNA-based neuronal
      conversion of fibroblasts.
AB  - Aging is a major risk factor in many forms of late-onset neurodegenerative
      disorders. The ability to recapitulate age-related characteristics of human
      neurons in culture will offer unprecedented opportunities to study the biological
      processes underlying neuronal aging. Here, we show that using a recently
      demonstrated microRNA-based cellular reprogramming approach, human fibroblasts
      from postnatal to near centenarian donors can be efficiently converted into
      neurons that maintain multiple age-associated signatures. Application of an
      epigenetic biomarker of aging (referred to as epigenetic clock) to DNA
      methylation data revealed that the epigenetic ages of fibroblasts were highly
      correlated with corresponding age estimates of reprogrammed neurons.
      Transcriptome and microRNA profiles reveal genes differentially expressed between
      young and old neurons. Further analyses of oxidative stress, DNA damage and
      telomere length exhibit the retention of age-associated cellular properties in
      converted neurons from corresponding fibroblasts. Our results collectively
      demonstrate the maintenance of age after neuronal conversion.

PMID- 27644595
TI  - Aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation and CYP1A induction by cooked food-derived
      carcinogenic heterocyclic amines in human HepG2 cell lines.
AB  - The ability of nine cooked food-derived heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs), such
      as 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-1), 3-amino-1-methyl-5H
      pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2), 2-amino-6-methylpyrido[12-a:3',2'-d]imidazole (Glu
      P-1), 2-amino-pyrido[12-a:3',2'-d]imidazole hydrochloride (Glu-P-2), 2-amino-9H
      pyrido[2,3-b]indole (AalphaC), 2-amino-3-methyl-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole
      (MeAalphaC), 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinolone (IQ), 2-amino-3,8
      dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenyl-1H
      imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), to activate human aryl hydrocarbon receptor (hAhR)
      was examined using a HepG2-A10 cell line, which has previously established from
      human hepatocarcinoma-derived HepG2 cells for use in hAhR-based luciferase
      reporter gene assays. Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2, AalphaC, MeAalphaC, IQ and MeIQx showed a
      definite ability to induce not only luciferase (hAhR activation) in HepG2-A10
      cells but also cytochrome P450 (CYP)1A1/1A2 mRNAs in HepG2 cells, while such the
      ability of Glu-P-1, Glu-P-2, and PhIP was very low. In addition, all the HCAs
      examined, especially MeAalphaC and MeIQx, had a definite capacity for inhibiting
      the activity of ethoxyresorfin O-deethylase (CYP1As, especially CYP1A1). The
      present findings demonstrate that all the HCAs examined have the ability to
      activate hAhR and its target genes, and further confirm that these HCAs become
      good substrates for human CYP1A subfamily enzyme(s).

PMID- 27644596
TI  - Repeated-doses and reproductive toxicity studies of the monoterpene 1,8-cineole
      (eucalyptol) in Wistar rats.
AB  - 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol) is widely used as an excipient in the pharmaceutical
      industry and as a food flavoring agent, thus providing significant potential for
      human exposure to the compound. We investigated the preclinical toxicity and
      reproductive toxicity of 1,8-cineole (CIN). In the repeated-doses toxicity study
      for 50 days, CIN (100, 500 or 1000 mg/kg) did not produce any signs of toxicity
      or deaths, but affected body weight gain during the first week of treatment. The
      hematological and biochemical profiles did not show significant differences
      except for increase in the MCV, platelet and urea levels or reduction in MCHC,
      MPV and alkaline phosphatase. Histopathological analysis showed weak changes in
      the lungs, liver, kidneys and uterus. In the reproductive toxicity, CIN (250, 500
      or 1000 mg/kg) produced a reduction in body weight in pregnant rats treated
      during the pre-implantation or organogenesis periods. The highest doses induced a
      reduction in the mass of fetuses (pre-implantation) and dead fetuses (both
      periods) of pregnant rats. The results indicate that the treatment by repeated
      doses showed occasional alterations in rats of both sexes. However, provide
      evidence that possibly 1,8-cineole presents maternal and fetal toxicity. This
      requires more detailed investigation to better characterize the toxic effects of
      this compound.

PMID- 27644597
TI  - Family history of diabetes and the risk of coronary heart disease in people with
      or without type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27644598
TI  - Sex-related differential susceptibility to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in
      B6C3F1 mice.
AB  - Sex is a risk factor for development of cardiotoxicity, induced by the anti
      cancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX), in humans. To explore potential mechanisms
      underlying differential susceptibility to DOX between sexes, 8-week old male and
      female B6C3F1 mice were dosed with 3mg/kg body weight DOX or an equivalent volume
      of saline via tail vein once a week for 6, 7, 8, and 9 consecutive weeks,
      resulting in 18, 21, 24, and 27mg/kg cumulative DOX doses, respectively. At
      necropsy, one week after each consecutive final dose, the extent of myocardial
      injury was greater in male mice compared to females as indicated by higher plasma
      concentrations of cardiac troponin T at all cumulative DOX doses with
      statistically significant differences between sexes at the 21 and 24mg/kg
      cumulative doses. A greater susceptibility to DOX in male mice was further
      confirmed by the presence of cytoplasmic vacuolization in cardiomyocytes, with
      left atrium being more vulnerable to DOX cardiotoxicity. The number of TUNEL
      positive cardiomyocytes was mostly higher in DOX-treated male mice compared to
      female counterparts, showing a statistically significant sex-related difference
      only in left atrium at 21mg/kg cumulative dose. DOX-treated male mice also had an
      increased number of gamma-H2A.X-positive (measure of DNA double-strand breaks)
      cardiomyocytes compared to female counterparts with a significant sex effect in
      the ventricle at 27mg/kg cumulative dose and right atrium at 21 and 27mg/kg
      cumulative doses. This newly established mouse model provides a means to identify
      biomarkers and access potential mechanisms underlying sex-related differences in
      DOX-induced cardiotoxicity.

PMID- 27644599
TI  - MoS2 Quantum Dots with a Tunable Work Function for High-Performance Organic Solar
      Cells.
AB  - An efficient hole extraction layer (HEL) is critical to achieve high-performance
      organic solar cells (OSCs). In this study, we developed a pinhole-free and
      efficient HEL based on MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) combined with UV-ozone (UVO)
      treatment. The optophysical properties and morphology of MoS2 QDs and their
      photovoltaic performance are investigated. The results showed that MoS2 QDs can
      form homogeneous films and can be applied as an interfacial layer not only for
      donors with shallow highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) but also for those
      with deep HOMO energy levels after UVO treatment (O-MoS2 QDs). The solar cells
      based on O-MoS2 QDs yield a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.66%, which is
      71% and 12% higher than those of the OSCs with pristine MoS2 QD and O-MoS2
      nanosheets, respectively, and the highest PCEs for OSCs containing MoS2
      materials. Furthermore, the stability of solar cells based on MoS2 QDs is greatly
      improved in comparison with state-of-the-art PEDOT:PSS. These results demonstrate
      the great potential of O-MoS2 QDs as an efficient HEL for high-performance OSCs.

PMID- 27644600
TI  - HPV and Cervical Cancer Epidemiology - Current Status of HPV Vaccination in
      India.
AB  - Cervical cancer (CaCx) is the second most fatal cancer contributing to 14% of
      cancers in Indian females, which account for 25.4% and 26.5% of the global burden
      of CaCx prevalence and mortality, respectively. Persistent infection with high
      risk human papilloma virus (HPV- strains 16 and 18) is the most important risk
      factor for precursors of invasive CaCx. Comprehensive prevention strategies for
      CaCx should include screening and HPV vaccination. Three screening modalities for
      CaCx are cytology, visual inspection with acetic acid, and HPV testing. There is
      no Indian national policy on CaCx prevention, and screening of asymptomatic
      females against CaCx is practically non-existent. HPV vaccines can make a major
      breakthrough in the control of CaCx in India which has high disease load and no
      organized screening program. Despite the Indian Government's effort to introduce
      HPV vaccination in the National Immunization Program and bring down vaccine cost,
      challenges to implementing vaccination in India are strong such as: inadequate
      epidemiological evidence for disease prioritization, duration of vaccine use,
      parental attitudes, and vaccine acceptance. This paper reviews the current
      epidemiology of CaCx and HPV in India, and the current status of HPV vaccination
      in the country. This article stresses the need for more research in the Indian
      context, to evaluate interventions for CaCx and assess their applicability,
      success, scalability and sustainability within the constraints of the Indian
      health care system. 

PMID- 27644601
TI  - Moringa oleifera Lam: Targeting Chemoprevention.
AB  - Moringa oleifera Lam, family Moringaceae, is a perennial plant which is called
      various names, but is locally known in Malaysia as "murungai" or "kelor".
      Glucomoringin, a glucosinolate with from M. oleifera is a major secondary
      metabolite compound. The seeds and leaves of the plant are reported to have the
      highest amount of glucosinolates. M. oleifera is well known for its many uses
      health and benefits. It is claimed to have nutritional, medicinal and
      chemopreventive potentials. Chemopreventive effects of M. oleifera are expected
      due to the existence of glucosinolate which it is reported to have the ability to
      induce apoptosis in anticancer studies. Furthermore, chemopreventive value of M.
      oleifera has been demonstrated in studies utilizing its leaf extract to inhibit
      the growth of human cancer cell lines. This review highlights the advantages of
      M. oleifera targeting chemoprevention where glucosinolates could help to slow the
      process of carcinogenesis through several molecular targets. It is also includes
      inhibition of carcinogen activation and induction of carcinogen detoxification,
      anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis and
      inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. Finally, for synergistic effects of M. oleifera
      with other drugs and safety, essential for chemoprevention, it is important that
      it safe to be consumed by human body and works well. Although there is promising
      evidence about M. oleifera in chemoprevention, extensive research needs to be
      done due to the expected rise of cancer in coming years and to gain more
      information about the mechanisms involved in M. oleifera influence, which could
      be a good source to inhibit several major mechanisms involved in cancer
      development. 

PMID- 27644602
TI  - Cancer Registration in India - Current Scenario and Future Perspectives.
AB  - Cancer registration, an important component of cancer surveillance, is essential
      to a uni ed, scienti c and public health approach to cancer prevention and
      control. India has one of the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the
      world. A good surveillance system in the form of cancer registries is important
      for planning and evaluating cancer-control activities. Cancer registration in
      India was initiated in 1964 and expanded since 1982, through initiation of the
      National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) by the Indian Council of Medical
      Research. NCRP currently has twenty-six population based registries and seven
      hospital based registries. Yet, Indian cancer registries, mostly in urban areas,
      cover less than 15% of the population. Other potential concerns about some Indian
      registries include accuracy and detail of information on cancer diagnosis, and
      timeliness in updating the registry databases. It is also important that
      necessary data collection related quality assurance measures be undertaken
      rigorously by the registries to ensure reliable and valid information
      availability. This paper reviews the current status of cancer registration in
      India and discusses some of the important pitfalls and issues related to cancer
      registration. Cancer registration in India should be complemented with a
      nationwide effort to foster systematic investigations of cancer patterns and
      trends by states, regions and sub populations and allow a continuous cycle of
      measurement, communication and action. 

PMID- 27644604
TI  - Review of the Burden of Esophageal Cancer in Malaysia.
AB  - Esophageal cancer is one of the top leading causes of cancer-related deaths in
      Malaysia. To date, neither the prevalence nor incidence of esophageal cancer
      nationally have been recorded. Esophageal cancer remains a major and lethal
      health problem even if it is not common in Malaysia. The late presentation of
      esophageal cancer makes it a difficult and challenging medical problem.
      Therefore, more governmental and non-governmental organizations of Malaysia
      should emphasize primary and secondary prevention strategies. 

PMID- 27644603
TI  - Advances in Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent type of malignant liver tumor
      and a high impact health problem worldwide. The prevalence of HCC is particularly
      high in many Asian and African countries. Some HCC patients have no symptoms
      prior to diagnosis and many of them therefore present at late stage and have a
      grave prognosis. The well-established causes of HCC are chronic hepatitis B virus
      (HBV) or chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection or alcoholic cirrhosis and
      nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Staging
      System remains the most widely used for HCC management guidelines. To date, the
      treatments for HCC are still very challenging for physicians due to limited
      resources in many parts of the world, but many options of management have been
      proposed, including hepatic resection, liver transplantation, ablative therapy,
      chemoembolization, sora nib and best supportive care. This review article
      describes the current evidence-based management of HCC with focus on early to
      advance stages that impact on patient overall survival. 

PMID- 27644605
TI  - Survivin, a Promising Gene for Targeted Cancer Treatment.
AB  - Drawbacks of conventional cancer treatments, with lack of specificity and
      cytotoxicity using current approaches, underlies the necessity for development of
      a novel approach, gene-directed cancer therapy. This has provided novel
      technological opportunities in vitro and in vivo. This review focuses on a member
      of an apoptosis inhibitor family, survivin, as a valuable target. Not only the
      gene but also its promoter are applicable in this context. This article is based
      on a literature survey, with especial attention to RNA interference as well as
      tumor- specific promoter action. The search engine and databases utilized were
      Science direct, PubMed, MEDLINE and Google. In addition to cell-cycle modulation,
      apoptosis inhibition, interaction in cell-signaling pathways, cancer-selective
      expression, survivin also may be considered as specific target through its
      promoter as a novel treatment for cancer. Our purpose in writing this article was
      to create awareness in researchers, emphasizing relation of survivin gene
      expression to potential cancer treatment. The principal result and major
      conclusion of this manuscript are that survivin structure, biological functions
      and applications of RNA interference systems as well as tumor-specific promoter
      activity are of major interest for cancer gene therapy. 

PMID- 27644606
TI  - Modifying Health Behavior for Liver Fluke and Cholangiocarcinoma Prevention with
      the Health Belief Model and Social Support Theory.
AB  - The liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini is a serious health problem in Thailand.
      Infection is associated with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), endemic among human
      populations in northeast and north Thailand where raw fish containing fluke
      metacercariae are frequently consumed. Recently, Thailand public health
      authorities have been organized to reduce morbidity and mortality particularly in
      the northeast through O. viverrini and CCA screening projects. Health modfication
      is one of activities included in this campaign, but systemic guidelines of
      modifying and developing health behavior for liver flukes and CCA prevention in
      communities towards health belief and social support theory are still various and
      unclear. Here we review the guidelines for modifying and developing health
      behavior among populations in rural communities to strengthen understanding
      regarding perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers to liver
      fluke and CCA prevention. This model may be useful for public health of cancers
      and related organizations to further health behavior change in endemic areas. 

PMID- 27644607
TI  - Clinicopathologic Assessment of Ocular Adnexal Lymphoproliferative Lesions at a
      Tertiary Eye Hospital in Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most common type of ocular lymphoma is non-Hodgkin lymphoma
      (NHL), categorized into two groups: indolent (slow growing) and aggressive (rapid
      growing). Differentiating benign reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH) from
      malignant ocular adnexal lymphoma (OAL) is challenging. Histopathology,
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) and ow cytometry have been used as diagnostic tools in
      such cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective case series, from 2002
      to 2013 at Farabi Eye Center, 110 patients with ocular lymphoproliferative
      disease were enrolled. Prevalence, anatomical locations, mean age at diagnosis
      and the nal diagnosis of the disease with IHC were assessed. Comparison between
      previous pathologic diagnoses and results of IHC was made. Immunoglobulin light
      chains and B-cell and T-cell markers and other immuno-phenotyping markers
      including CD20, CD3, CD5, CD23, CD10, CYCLIND1 and BCL2 were evaluated to
      determine the most accurate diagnosis. The lymphomas were categorized based on
      revised European-American lymphoma (REAL) classi cation. RESULTS: Mean age+/-SD
      (years) of the patients was 55.6 +/-19.3 and 61% were male. Patients with
      follicular lymphoma, large B-cell lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small
      cell lymphoma (CLL/SLL) tended to be older. Nine patients with previous diagnoses
      of low grade B-cell lymphoma were re-evaluated by IHC and the new diagnoses were
      as follows: extranodal marginal zone lymphoma(EMZL) (n=1), SLL(n=1), mantle cell
      lymphoma (MCL) (n=3), reactive lymphoid hyperplasia RLH (n=2). Two cases were
      excluded due to poor blocks. Flow cytometry reports in these seven patients
      revealed SLL with positive CD5 and CD23, MCL with positive CD5 and CyclinD1 and
      negative CD23, EMZL with negative CD5,CD23 and CD10. One RLH patient was negative
      for Kappa/Lambda and positive for CD3 and CD20 and the other was positive for all
      of the light chains, CD3 and CD20. Orbit (49.1%), conjunctiva (16.1%) and
      lacrimal glands (16.1%) were the most common sites of involvement. CONCLUSIONS:
      Accurate pathological classi cation of lesions is crucial to determine proper
      therapeutic approaches. This can be achieved through precise histologic and IHC
      analyses by expert pathologists.

PMID- 27644608
TI  - Possible Prognostic Role of HER2/Neu in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ and Atypical
      Ductal Proliferative Lesions of the Breast.
AB  - HER2/neu is a well-established prognostic and predictive factor for invasive
      breast cancer. However, the role of HER2/neu in ductal breast carcinoma in situ
      (DCIS) is debated and recent data have suggested that it is mainly linked to in
      situ local recurrence. Although molecular data suggest that atypical ductal
      hyperplasia (ADH) and duct carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are related lesions, albeit
      with vastly different clinical implications, the role of HER2/neu expression in
      atypical ductal hyperplasia is not well defined either. The aim of this study was
      to evaluate over expression of HER2/neu in DCIS and cases of ADH in comparison
      with invasive breast carcinoma. Archival primary breast carcinoma paraffin blocks
      (n=15), DCIS only (n=10) and ductal epithelial hyperplasia and other breast
      benign lesions (n=25) were analyzed for HER2/neu immunoexpression. Follow up was
      available for 40% of the patients. HER2/neu was positive in 80%of both DCIS and
      invasive carcinoma, and 67% of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) cases. Thus at
      least a subset of patients with preinvasive breast lesions were positive, which
      strongly suggests a role for Her2/neu in identifying high-risk patients for
      malignant transformation. Although these are preliminary data, which need further
      studies of gene amplification within these patients as well as a larger patient
      cohort with longer periods of follow up, they support the implementation of
      routine Her2/neu testing in patients diagnosed as pure DCIS and in florid ADH. 

PMID- 27644609
TI  - Lack of Any Role of Systemic Inflammatory Responses in Predicting Muscle Invasion
      by Bladder Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate if there is a relation
      between platelet:lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR)
      values and tumour histology and spread in bladder cancer cases. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Bladder cancer patients undergoing TUR-M operation, with
      histopathologically verified diagnosis, followed-up and treated at the Private
      Medical Park Gaziantep Hospital between 2010 and 2015, were included in the
      study. NLR and PLR values were calculated using complete blood count data
      obtained at the first presentation. RESULTS: A total of 99 patients were included
      in the study, 7 (7.1%) women and 92 men (92.9%). When NLR was used as the
      indicator of systemic inflammatory response (SIR), it was determined that 52
      (52.5%) of the patients were SIR negative and 47 (47.5%) SIR positive. No
      significant relation could be detected between NLR and tumour grade and muscle
      invasion (p=0.948, p=0.480). When PLR was used as SIR indicator, it was
      determined that 71 (71.7%) of the patients were found as negative and 28 (28.3%)
      as positive. No significant relation could be detected between PLR and tumour
      grade and muscle invasion (p=0.651, p=0.494). CONCLUSIONS: In our study we did
      not detected a relation between tumour histological behavior and PLR and NLR in
      bladder cancer. However, NLR and PLR are easily calculated, accessible,
      inexpensive and simple-to-use laboratory data from whole blood counts.

PMID- 27644610
TI  - Breast Cancer Risk Based on the Gail Model and its Predictors in Iranian Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was carried out to examine breast cancer risk and its
      fertility predictors in women aged >=35. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted on 560 healthy women referred to health centers of
      Tabriz-Iran, 2013-2014. Five-year and lifetime risk of developing breast cancer
      were determined using the Gail model. General linear modeling was applied to
      determine breast cancer predictors. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was
      42.7 (SD: 7.7) years. Mean 5-year and lifetime risks of developing breast cancer
      were determined to be 0.6% (SD: 0.2%) and 8.9% (SD: 2.5%), respectively.
      Variables of family history of breast cancer, age, age at menarche, parity, age
      at rst childbirth, breastfeeding history, frequency of breastfeeding, method of
      contraception, marital status and education were all found to be predictors of
      breast cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study,
      screening programs based on the Gail model should be implemented for Iranian
      people who have a high risk for breast cancer in order to facilitate early
      detection and better plan for possible malignancies.

PMID- 27644611
TI  - Sexual Dysfunction in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Malaysia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a combination of chronic
      anovulation, obesity, and hyperandrogenism and can affect sexual function in
      women of reproductive age. It is also associated with endometrial cancer. Our aim
      was to evaluate the frequency and predisposing factors of sexual dysfunction in
      PCOS patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 16 married
      women with a definite diagnosis of PCOS were recruited. Sexual function was
      assessed in the domains of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and
      pain using the female sexual function index (FSFI) questionnaire. Patients were
      also assessed for mental health using the depression, anxiety and stress (DASS
      21) questionnaire. Presence of hirsutism was assessed using the Ferriman-Gallwey
      (FG) scoring system. Demographic data were obtained from patients during in
      person interview. RESULTS: Sexual dysfunction was present in 62.5% of patients
      with the domains of arousal and lubrication particularly affected (93.8% and
      87.5%, respectively). Patients with symptoms of depression and anxiety were
      significantly more likely to suffer sexual dysfunction than those without these
      symptoms (p=0.04 and p=0.03 respectively). Patients with stress symptoms reported
      higher orgasm dysfunction than those without (p=0.02). No significant difference
      in any of the FSFI score domains was observed between patients with and without
      hirsutism. CONCLUSIONS: PCOS patients markedly suffer from sexual dysfunction and
      therefore it seems appropriate to be screened for intervention. Poor mental
      health conditions that may be the result of infertility or other complications of
      PCOS should also be considered as curable causes of sexual dysfunction in these
      patients.

PMID- 27644612
TI  - Potential Role of Electrochemotherapy as Anticancer Treatment for Cutaneous and
      Subcutaneous Lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate whether electrochemotherapy
      is a clinically and cost-effective treatment option against skin tumors.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed an analysis of the current literature based
      on database searches in PubMed/MEDLINE and we included articles till July 2012.
      Terms used for the search were 'electrochemotherapy', 'skin cancer',
      'recurrence', and 'cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors'. Only papers published in
      English were included. In addition, we performed an analysis of the cost
      effectiveness of the method. RESULTS: The combination of physics and chemistry is
      the foundation for electrochemotherapy and its efficacy, independent of the tumor
      histology. Clinical data showed that ECT is well tolerated and can be used in
      difficult cases without other available treatment options. The analysis also
      showed that the treatment is feasible and cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS:
      Electrochemotherapy is a clinically efficient, safe and cost-effective treatment
      and clinicians should not hesitate to use it as an alternative therapeutic
      modality or as palliative treatment.

PMID- 27644613
TI  - Assessing Breast Cancer Risk among Iranian Women Using the Gail Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer risk assessment is a helpful method for estimating
      development of breast cancer at the population level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      this cross-sectional study, participants consisted of a group of 3,847 volunteers
      (mean +/- SD age: 463 +/- 7.59 years) in a convenience sample of women referred
      to health centers af liated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran,
      Iran. The risk of breast cancer was estimated by applying the National Cancer
      Institute's online version of the Gail Risk Assessment Tool. RESULTS: Some 24.9%
      of women reported having one rst-degree female relative with breast cancer, with
      8.05% of them having two or more rst-degree relatives with breast cancer. The
      mean five-year risk of breast cancer for all participants was 1.61+/-0.73%, and
      9.36% of them had a five-year risk of breast cancer >1.66%. The mean lifetime
      risk of breast cancer was 11.7+/-3.91%. CONCLUSIONS: The Gail model is useful for
      assessing probability of breast cancer in Iranian women. Based on the their
      breast cancer risk, women may decide to accept further screening services.

PMID- 27644614
TI  - Determinants of Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake in Kurdish Women Living in
      Western Iran, 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among females across
      the world. It is a preventable cancer and early detection is very feasible. This
      study aimed to identify which women characteristics are potentially associated
      with and may have an important influence on the uptake of cervical cancer
      screening in Kurdish women living in the west of Iran.. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      cross sectional study was conducted in late 2014. A random sample of women aged
      40 years and above without history of cervical cancer and identi ed as Kurdish
      background were selected and interviewed by two trained interviewers. Information
      about sociodemographic and reproductive factors, history of diseases, and
      cervical screening was collected using a questionnaire and women who had
      undergone a hysterectomy were excluded. Univariate analyses were used to describe
      the general characteristics of the study population. Multivariable logistic
      regression models with self-reported screening history were used to estimate odds
      ratios (ORs) with 95% con dence intervals (CI). Significance was considered at
      the 5% level. RESULTS: A total of 561 women were included in this study (mean age
      43.6+/-5.17 years) participation in cervical screening at least once was about
      32%. Cervical screening uptake percentage was significantly lower among people
      over 60 years of age (adjusted OR= 0.26, 95% CI: 0.11-0.64), and those who were
      illiterate (OR=0.41 95% CI: 0.23-0.73) and post-menopausal (OR= 0.56, 95% CI:
      0.35- 0.91). Women with <=1 child were less likely to report a Pap test (adjusted
      OR=.43 95%CI: 0.13-1.37) Cervical screening uptake was higher among women with
      health insurance (OR= 2.31, 95% CI: 1.50- 3.56). CONCLUSIONS: Cervical screening
      participation in this study was low compared to other studies in developed
      countries. The screening uptake was different based on age, education, parity,
      insurance coverage and menopausal status. It is recommended to target these
      groups of women in a cervical screening program.

PMID- 27644615
TI  - Assessment of Breast Cancer Knowledge among Health Workers in Bangui, Central
      African Republic: a Cross-sectional Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women
      worldwide. High breast cancer mortality has been attributed to lack of public
      awareness of the disease. Little is known about the level of knowledge of breast
      cancer in Central African Republic. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge
      of health professionals on breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted among 158 health professionals (27 medical; 131
      paramedical) in 17 hospitals in Bangui using a self-administered questionnaire.
      Descriptive statistical analysis, Person's chi 2 test and ANOVA were applied to
      examine associations between variables with <0.05 being considered significant.
      RESULTS: Data analyzed using SPSS version 20 indicates that average knowledge
      about breast cancer perception of the entire population was 47.6%, diagnosis
      method 45.5%, treatment 34.3% and risk factors 23.8%. Most respondents (65.8%)
      agreed that breast cancer is important in the Central African Republic and that
      family history is a risk factor (44.3%). Clinical assessments and mammography
      were considered most suitable diagnostic methods, and surgery as the best
      treatment. The knowledge level was significantly higher among medical than
      paramedical staff with regard to risk factors, diagnosis and treatment. However
      the trainee group had very high significant differences of knowledge compared
      with all other groups. CONCLUSIONS: There is a very urgent need to update the
      various training programs for these professionals, with recommendations of
      retraining. Health authorities must create suitable structures for the overall
      management of cancer observed as a serious public health problem.

PMID- 27644616
TI  - Lack of Any Relationship of Stomach Cancer Incidence and Mortality with
      Development in Asia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and mortality of
      stomach cancer, and its relationship with the Human Development Index (HDI) and
      its components in Asia in 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This ecological study was
      conducted based on GLOBOCAN project of WHO for Asian countries. We assessed the
      correlations between standardized incidence rates (SIR) and standardized
      mortality rates (SMR) of stomach cancer with HDI and its components using SPSS18.
      RESULTS: A total of 696,231 cases (68.7% in males and 31.3% in females, ratio of
      2.19:1) and 524,465 deaths (67.1% in men and 33.0% in women, ratio 2.03:1) were
      included in 2012. Five countries with the highest SIR of stomach cancer were
      Republic Korea, Mongolia, Japan, China and Tajikistan. Five countries with the
      highest SMR of stomach cancer were Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
      and China. Correlation between HDI and SIR was 0.241 (p = 0.106), in men 0.236 (p
      = 0.114) and in women -0.250 (p = 0.094). Also between HDI and SMR -0.250 (p =
      0.871) in men -0.018 (p = 0.903) and in women -0.014 (p = 0.927). CONCLUSIONS: No
      significant correlation was observed between the SIR of stomach cancer, and the
      HDI and its dimensions, such as life expectancy at birth, mean years of
      schooling, and income level of the population.

PMID- 27644617
TI  - Association of Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte Antigen-4 Polymorphisms with Malignant Bone
      Tumor Risk: A Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have assessed the association between the Cytotoxic
      T-lymphocyte Antigen- 4(CTLA-4) polymorphism with the risk of malignant bone
      tumor, but the conclusions were inconsistent. We aimed to clarify association of
      cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 polymorphisms with malignant bone tumors risk by
      performing a meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The databases including
      PubMed, EMBase databases and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify the
      eligible studies prior to January 30 2016. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence
      interval (95%CI) were used to estimate the strengths of the association between
      the CTLA-4 polymorphism and the malignant bone tumor risks. The meta-analysis was
      performed by STATA 12.0. RESULTS: Four individual studies with a total of 1003
      cases with malignant bone tumors and 1162 controls were included in our meta
      analysis. The results of meta-analysis on those data demonstrated that CTLA-4
      +49G>A polymorphism was associated with the risk of Ewing's sarcoma and
      osteosarcoma strongly (A vs. G: : OR=1.36, 95%CI:1.20-1.54, p=0.000; AA+AG vs.
      GG: OR=1.35, 95%CI:1.14-1.61, p=0.001; AA vs. GG: OR=2.24, 95%CI:1.67-2.99,
      p=0.000; AA vs. AG+GG: OR=2.00, 95%CI:1.53-2.62, p=0.000), but CTLA-4 -318C/T
      polymorphism was not associated with the risk of malignant bone tumor (C vs. T:
      OR=0.76, 95%CI:0.76-1.08, p= 0.262; CC+CT vs. TT: OR=0.70, 95%CI:0.41-1.20,
      p=0.198; CC vs. TT: OR=0.69, 95%CI:0.40-1.19, p= 0.183; CC vs. CT+TT: OR=0.92,
      95%CI:0.75-1.13, p= 0.419). Subgroup analysis showed that there are significantly
      positive correlations between CTLA-4 +49G>A polymorphism and increased risks of
      malignant bone tumors in large size of sample (A vs. G: OR=1.347, 95%CI:
      1.172,1.548, p=0.000; AA vs. GG: OR=2.228, 95%CI: 1.608,3.085, p=0.000), Ewing's
      Sarcoma or Osteosarcoma (A vs. G: OR=1.361, 95%CI: 1.201,1.540, p=0.000; AA vs.
      GG: OR=2.236, 95%CI: 1.674,2.986, p=0.000), and PCR-RFLP or Sequencing(A vs. G:
      OR=1.361, 95%CI: 1.201,1.540, p=0.000; AA vs. GG: OR=2.236, 95%CI: 1.674,2.986,
      p=0.000), but CTLA-4 -318C/T polymorphism was not associated with the risk of
      malignant bone tumors in diagnosis, genotype method, and sample size (all
      p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CTLA-4 +49A/G variant was associated with an increased risk
      of developing the malignant bone tumors, such as Ewing's sarcoma and
      osteosarcoma. However, it failed to show any association between CTLA-4 -318C/T
      polymorphism and the risk of malignant bone tumors. Future large-scale studies
      remain to be done to confirm our conclusions.

PMID- 27644618
TI  - Global Prostate Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates According to the Human
      Development Index.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the leading causes of death,
      especially in developed countries. The human development index (HDI) and its
      dimensions seem correlated with incidence and mortality rates of PC. This study
      aimed to assess the association of the specific components of HDI (life
      expectancy at birth, education, gross national income per 1000 capita, health,
      and living standards) with burden indicators of PC worldwide. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Information of the incidence and mortality rates of PC was obtained from
      the GLOBOCAN cancer project in year 2012 and data about the HDI 2013 were
      obtained from the World Bank database. The correlation between incidence,
      mortality rates, and the HDI parameters were assessed using STATA software.
      RESULTS: A significant inequality of PC incidence rates was observed according to
      concentration indexes=0.25 with 95% CI (0.22, 0.34) and a negative mortality
      concentration index of -0.04 with 95% CI (-0.09, 0.01) was observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      A positive significant correlation was detected between the incidence rates of PC
      and the HDI and its dimensions including life expectancy at birth, education,
      income, urbanization level and obesity. However, there was a negative significant
      correlation between the standardized mortality rates and the life expectancy,
      income and HDI.

PMID- 27644619
TI  - Purification of Lovastatin from Aspergillus terreus (KM017963) and Evaluation of
      its Anticancer and Antioxidant Properties.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy in women worldwide and thus
      one of the leading causes of mortality in women. Lovastatin, a non polar,
      anticholesterol drug has previously been reported to exert antitumour activity in
      vitro. In the present study, lovastatin from Aspergillus terreus (KM017963) was
      purified by adsorption chromatography and evaluated for its anticancer and anti
      oxidant properties with a human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). Growth
      inhibitory and proapoptotic effects of purified lovastatin on HeLa cells were
      investigated by determining its influence on cell numbers, mitochondrial membrane
      potential (MMP), DNA fragmentation and antioxidant properties in terms of hydroxy
      radical scavenging effects as well as levels of total reduced glutathione. Cell
      cycle analysis by ow cytometry (propidium iodide staining) confirmed induction of
      apoptotic cell death and revealed cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. The
      results of the study give leads for the anticancer effects of lovastatin and its
      potential usefulness in the chemotherapy of cervical cancer. 

PMID- 27644620
TI  - Chronic Infections of the Urinary Tract and Bladder Cancer Risk: a Systematic
      Review.
AB  - Literature on the relationship between recurrent urinary tract infections and
      urinary bladder carcinoma risk has been inconsistent. Therefore, we carried out
      this systematic review of observational studies to ascertain if there is any
      association between chronic urinary tract infection and urinary bladder
      carcinoma. A total of 10 databases were searched using Boolean: CINAHL, PUBMED,
      Google Scholar, Medline, Science Direct, SCIRUS, Cochrane, UK PubMed central, NHS
      evidence and WHO-website. The search yielded an initial hit of 3,518 articles and
      after screening and critical appraisal, seven studies were included for this
      review. Four articles reported an association between chronic urinary tract
      infections and bladder cancer while three concluded a weak or no association at
      least in one gender. Main findings in this review were that most of the studies
      reported an association between chronic urinary tract infections and bladder
      cancer risk. However, inferences about the causal association between chronic
      urinary tract infections and bladder cancer risk should be drawn cautiously
      considering the methodological limitations of case-control studies included in
      this review. Therefore, more empirical evidence is needed to determine the causal
      nature of relationships between chronic urinary tract infections and bladder
      cancer risk. 

PMID- 27644621
TI  - Cancer Screening Knowledge and Attitudes of Under- and Post-Graduate Students at
      Kasr Al Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing knowledge and awareness of cancer screening significantly
      influence health promotion behavior which could markedly reduce incidence rates.
      In many countries, health care providers are the principal source of information
      concerning cancer screening. This study was carried out to assess the level of
      knowledge concerning cancer screening among medical students, house officers and
      residents and to explore their attitude towards cancer screening practices.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Kasr Al Ainy
      Medical School at Cairo University in Egypt, with 300 undergraduate medical
      students and 150 postgraduates (interns and residents) enrolled. A pre-tested
      self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the study
      participants regarding personal and education-related information, knowledge
      about cancer screening and its sources, and attitude towards cancer screening.
      RESULTS: More than 64% of participants had knowledge scores of <= 10 points (out
      of 24). The total knowledge score (out of 6 points) for breast cancer screening
      increased from 1.9+/-1.0 to 2.3+/-1.2 and 2.4+/-1.1 for 4th, 5th and 6th year
      respectively, interns showed the highest score of 2.6 +/-1.1, P= 0.001. Year of
      enrollment at medical school was a significant positive predictor of acquiring
      knowledge about cancer screening (post graduate vs. undergraduate students) (OR=
      1.30, C.I =1.01-1.63), lack of or none receiving of orientation/training about
      cancer screening was the sole negative significant predictor for proper knowledge
      about cancer screening (OR=0.50, C.I=0.31-0.82). Over 92% of students agreed that
      they had insufficient knowledge about cancer screening, 88.2% appraised the need
      to have enough knowledge in order to direct/advice patients, relatives and
      friends, and 93.7% required that the faculty should emphasize the importance of
      cancer screening in the delivered curricula at medical school. CONCLUSIONS: A
      relatively low to moderate level of knowledge about cancer screening was detected
      among the selected medical students regardless of their year of enrollment at
      medical school or their graduation status, which may implicate a negative impact
      on early cancer detection especially in a low resource country like Egypt.

PMID- 27644622
TI  - Clinicopathological Characteristics of Iranian Patients with Lung Cancer: a
      Single Institute Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer has long been a leading cause of cancer related death in
      both women and men worldwide. The focus of this study was to review
      clinicopathological features of Iranian patients diagnosed with lung cancer.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinicopathological data of 1353 primary lung cancer
      patients diagnosed during 17 years (1997-2014) in the "National Institute of
      Tuberculosis and Lung Disease" (NRITLD), Tehran, Iran, were retrospectively
      reviewed. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 60 (mean: 58.95 years, range:
      16- 99) and adenocarcinoma was the most prevalent pathology (45.2%). Male/female
      ratio was 3.22 and 57.2% of patients were smokers (men 70.3%, women 15%). The
      majority (85.3%) were referred in advanced stages (stage IIIB and IV).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although some of our findings are in concordance with other studies
      in lung cancer there are some discrepancies particularly in terms of smoking
      status and median age of Iranian patients. Further clinical and epidemiological
      studies are warranted to elucidate etiologic and factors other than smoking
      contributing to development of lung cancer, such as environmental exposures or
      genetic predisposition.

PMID- 27644623
TI  - The Association of Circumcision and Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate any association between circumcision and prostate
      cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library,
      and Chinese biomedicine literature databases up to August 2015. All case-control
      studies were identified which investigated associations of circumcision with
      prostate cancer. Three authors independently assessed study quality and extracted
      data. All data were analyzed using RevMan 5.3 and STATA version 11.0. RESULTS:
      Six case-control studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled meta-analysis
      showed that there was a lower incidence of circumcision in prostate cancer
      patients compared with controls (OR=0.90, 95% con dence interval [CI] 0.82-0.98,
      P=0.01). The results of meta-analysis also showed that no significant difference
      was found between circumcision and less aggressive prostate cancer (OR=0.93, 95%
      CI 0.83-1.04, P=0.19); however, there was a lower incidence of circumcision in
      more aggressive prostate cancers compared with controls (OR =0.84, 95% CI 0.72
      0.97, P=0.02). The Egger's results did not show any evidence of publication
      bias(P=0.798). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, within the limits of available data,
      males with circumcision appears to have a lower incidence of prostate cancer. In
      the future, high-quality multicenter studies are needed to thoroughly verify the
      outcome.

PMID- 27644624
TI  - Polysaccharides from Polygonatum Inhibit the Proliferation of Prostate Cancer
      Associated Fibroblasts.
AB  - Inhibition of cancer-associated broblasts (CAFs) may improve the efficacy of
      cancer therapy. Polysaccharide extracted from polygonatum can selectively inhibit
      the growth of prostate-CAFs (<.001) without inhibiting the growth of normal
      broblasts (NAFs). Polysaccharides from polygonatum stimulate autophagy of
      prostate-CAFs. 3-methyl-adenine(3-MA) is an autophagy inhibitor. 3-MA was added
      to prostate-CAFs with polysaccharide from polygonatum to determine whether
      autophagy plays an important role in the restrained effect. Finally,
      polysaccharide from polygonatum treatment significantly increased the activation
      of Beclin-1 and LC3, key autophagy proteins. Polysaccharides from polygonatum
      stimulate autophagy of prostate-CAFs and inhibits prostate-CAF growth, indicating
      that a novel anti-cancer strategy involves inhibiting the growth of prostate-
      CAFs. 

PMID- 27644625
TI  - Preparation, Characterization and Cytotoxicity of Silibinin- Containing
      Nanoniosomes in T47D Human Breast Carcinoma Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancer types within female
      populations. Silibinin is a chemotherapeutic agent active against cancer.
      Niosomes are biodegradable, biocompatible, safe and effective carriers for drug
      delivery. OBJECTIVE: To prepare nanoniosomal silibinin and evaluate its
      cytotoxicity in the T-47D breast cancer cell line. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Niosomes were prepared by reverse phase evaporation of a mixture of span 20,
      silibinin, PEG-2000 and cholesterol in chloroform and methanol solvent (1:2 v/v).
      The solvent phase was evaporated using a rotary evaporator and the remaining gel
      phase was hydrated in phosphate buffer saline. Mean size, size distribution and
      zeta potential of niosomes were measured with a Zetasizer instrument and then
      nanoparticles underwent scanning electron microscopy. The drug releasing pattern
      was evaluated by dialysis and the cytotoxicity of nanoniosomes in T-47D cells was
      assessed by MTT assay. RESULTS: Particle size, size variation and zeta potential
      of the niosomal nanoparticles were measured as 178.4 +/- 5.4 nm, 0.38 +/- 0.09
      and -15.3 +/- 1.3 mV, respectively. The amount of encapsulated drug and the level
      of drug loading were determined 98.6 +/- 2.7% and 22.3 +/-1.8%, respectively;
      released drug was estimated about 18.6+/-2.5% after 37 hours. The cytotoxic
      effects of nanoniosome were significantly increased when compared with the free
      drug. CONCLUSIONS: This study findings suggest that silibinin nanoniosomes could
      serve as a new drug formulation for breast cancer therapy.

PMID- 27644626
TI  - Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking Usage among Adolescent Students in Northern Saudi
      Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is a major public health issue in the Kingdom of
      Saudi Arabia (KSA) in recent years, particularly among adolescents. Therefore,
      the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking usage
      among adolescent students in the north of the country. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study investigated 305 adolescent students from the Northern
      KSA population, their ages ranging from 11 to 19 years old. RESULTS: Of the 287
      respondents, 56/287(19.5%) were found to be current smokers. Of the 56 current
      smokers, 14/52 (27%), 29/52 (55.8%), and 9/52 (17.2%) smoked 1-3, 4-10 and 11+
      cigarettes/day, respectively. For duration most had smoked for 26-36 months.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study indicate that cigarette smoking
      use is still an important risk behavior among adolescent students. The findings
      of this study found a significant association of cigarette smoking usage and
      adolescents various believes and attitude for initiation of smoking and
      perception toward knowledge of other factors that contribute to the burden of
      tobacco use.

PMID- 27644627
TI  - Subsequent Oophorectomy and Ovarian Cancer after Hysterectomy for Benign
      Gynecologic Conditions at Chiang Mai University Hospital.
AB  - This study was undertaken to determine the incidence of subsequent oophorectomy
      due to ovarian pathology or ovarian cancer in women with prior hysterectomy for
      benign gynecologic conditions at Chiang Mai University Hospital. Medical records
      of women who underwent hysterectomy for benign gynecologic diseases and pre
      cancerous lesions between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2013 at Chiang Mai
      University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The incidence and indications
      of oophorectomy following hysterectomy were analyzed. During the study period,
      1,035 women had hysterectomy for benign gynecologic conditions. Of these, 590
      women underwent hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and 445
      hysterectomy with bilateral ovarian preservation or unilateral salpingo
      oophorectomy. The median age was 47 years (range, 11-75 years). Ten women (2.45
      %) had subsequent oophorectomy for benign ovarian cysts. No case of ovarian
      cancer was found. The mean time interval between hysterectomy and subsequent
      oophorectomy was 43.1 months (range, 2-97 months) and the mean follow-up time for
      this patient cohort was 51 months (range, 1.3-124.9 months). According to our
      hospital-based data, the incidence of subsequent oophorectomy in women with prior
      hysterectomy for benign gynecologic conditions is low and all present with benign
      conditions. 

PMID- 27644628
TI  - Effects of Breast Self-Examination Consultation Based on the Health Belief Model
      on Knowledge and Performance of Iranian Women Aged Over 40 Years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in women worldwide;
      lack of awareness of symptoms and delay on diagnosis of breast cancer are the
      main causes of mortality. This study was conducted with the purpose of assessing
      the effect of educational consultation for breast self-examination (BSE) based on
      the health belief model (HBM) on the knowledge and performance of women over 40
      years attending health care centers in Hamadan, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      this quasi-experimental study, eligible women admitted to health centers in
      Hamadan city in 2015 were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups
      (n=75 in each group). The intervention group received 4 weekly sessions of breast
      cancer screening consulting based on the HBM. Control group received only routine
      care. Knowledge, HBM constructs, and BSE practice were compared between the
      groups before, immediately after and three months after the consultation.
      RESULTS: Before the intervention, no significant differences were observed in
      knowledge, health belief and practice between two groups. However, after the
      intervention a significant difference was observed between two groups in mean
      scores of perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy and the health
      motivations (<0.05). Significant differences were also observed in terms of
      knowledge and BSE practice (<.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate the
      importance of consultation on knowledge and beliefs to improve BSE performance
      and prevention of breast cancer in Iranian women.

PMID- 27644629
TI  - Glutathione S-transferase T1, M1 and P1 Genetic Polymorphisms and Susceptibility
      to Colorectal Cancer in Turkey.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is reported to be the third most common cancer worldwide
      and the fourth most common cause of cancer related deaths. CRC is considered to
      be a multifactorial disease whose risk varies due to the complex interaction
      between individual genetic basis and exposure to multiple endogenous factors.
      Glutathione S-transferases are pro-carcinogenic in CRC and are required for the
      conjugation between chemotherapeutics and broad spectrum xenobiotics. One hundred
      and eleven patients with CRC and 128 control subjects without any cancer history
      were enrolled in this study. Multiplex PCR was applied to determine polymorphisms
      for the GSTT1 and M1 genes, and PCR-RFLP was applied for the GSTP1 (Ile105Val)
      gene polymorphism. Values <0.05 were defined as statistically significant. We
      detected a significant high correlation between predisposition for CRC and
      presence of the Ile/Ile genotype of the GSTP1 (IIe105Val) gene polymorphism, but
      we did not find a significant relationship between predisposition for CRC and
      GSTT1 and M1 deletion polymorphisms. In addition, we did not determine a
      relationship between GSTT1, M1 and P1 gene polymorphisms and any
      clinicopathological features of CRC. GSTT1 null/GSTM1 positive and GSTT1
      null/GSTM1 positive/GSTP1 Ile/ Ile genotypes were significantly higher in the
      patient group. Our results revealed that there is no relationship among CRC, its
      clinicopathologic features, and GSTT1 M1 gene polymorphisms. However, there was a
      significant correlation between CRC and the GSTP1 Ile/Ile genotype. Further
      studies with larger patient groups are required to delineate the relationships
      between GST gene polymorphisms and the clinicopathologic features of CRC in
      Turkey. 

PMID- 27644630
TI  - Lack of Association between Serum Adiponectin/Leptin Levels and Medullary Thyroid
      Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adipokines are bioactive proteins that mediate metabolism,
      inflammation and angiogenesis. Changes in the secretion of key serum adipokines -
      adiponectin and letpin - may be associated with obesity, cancer and metabolic
      disorders. Thyroid cancer is one of the most important types of endocrine cancer.
      Therefore, investigating the association between serum levels of adiponectin and
      leptin and thyroid cancer might be important. The purpose of this study was to
      assess adiponectin and leptin levels in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) cases
      in order to identify novel tumor markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research
      was based on a case-control study, including 45 patients with medullary thyroid
      cancer (21 men and 24 women) and 45 healthy controls (24 males and 21 females).
      Adiponectin and leptin levels were measured by ELISA in both groups. Height and
      weight were measured and body mass index (kg/m2) was calculated. RESULTS:
      Adiponectin and leptin levels were not significantly different between medullary
      thyroid carcinomas and the control group. Also, there was no correlation among
      age and body mass index and the disease. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that
      changes in serum adiponectin and leptin levels do not play an important role in
      the diagnosis or could act as as biomarkers for medullary thyroid cancer.

PMID- 27644631
TI  - Curcumin Induces Apoptosis in Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cell Lines Via
      PARP-1 Cleavage.
AB  - Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound isolated from the rhizomes of an herbaceous
      perennial plant, Curcuma longa, is known to possess anticancerous activity.
      However, the mechanism of apoptosis induction in cancers differs. In this study,
      we have (1) investigated the anticancerous activity of curcumin on REH and RS4;11
      leukemia cells and (2) studied the chemo-sensitizing potential of curcumin for
      doxorubicin, a drug presently used for leukemia treatment. It was found that
      curcumin induced a dose dependent decrease in cell viability because of apoptosis
      induction as visualized by annexin V-FITC/ PI staining. Curcumin-induced
      apoptosis of leukemia cells was mediated by PARP-1 cleavage. An increased level
      of caspase-3, apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), cleaved PARP-1 and decreased level
      of Bcl2 was observed in leukemia cells after 24h of curcumin treatment. In
      addition, curcumin at doses lower than the IC50 value significantly enhanced
      doxorubicin induced cell death. Therefore, we conclude that curcumin induces
      apoptosis in leukemia cells via PARP-1 mediated caspase-3 dependent pathway and
      further may act as a potential chemo-sensitizing agent for doxorubicin. Our study
      highlights the chemo-preventive and chemo-sensitizing role of curcumin. 

PMID- 27644632
TI  - The Offer of Advanced Imaging Techniques Leads to Higher Acceptance Rates for
      Screening Colonoscopy - a Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy plays a fundamental role in early diagnosis and
      management of colorectal cancer and requires public and professional acceptance
      to ensure the ongoing success of screening programs. The aim of the study was to
      prospectively assess whether patient acceptance rates to undergo screening
      colonoscopy could be improved by the offer of advanced imaging techniques.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Overall, 372 randomly selected patients were prospectively
      included. A standardized questionnaire was developed that inquired of the
      patients their knowledge regarding advanced imaging techniques. Second, several
      media campaigns and information events were organized reporting about advanced
      imaging techniques, followed by repeated evaluation. After one year the
      evaluation ended. RESULTS: At baseline, 64% of the patients declared that they
      had no knowledge about new endoscopic methods. After twelve months the overall
      grade of information increased significantly from 14% at baseline to 34%. The
      percentage of patients who decided to undergo colonoscopy because of the offer of
      new imaging methods also increased significantly from 12% at baseline to 42%
      after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Patients were highly interested in the offer of
      advanced imaging techniques. Knowledge about these techniques could relatively
      easy be provided using local media campaigns. The offer of advanced imaging
      techniques leads to higher acceptance rates for screening colonoscopies.

PMID- 27644633
TI  - Efficacy of Ginger in Control of Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting in
      Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Doxorubicin-Based Chemotherapy.
AB  - Nausea and vomiting are among the most serious side effects of chemotherapy, in
      some cases leading to treatment interruption or chemotherapy dose reduction.
      Ginger has long been known as an antiemetic drug, used for conditions such as
      motion sickness, nausea-vomiting in pregnancy, and post-operation side effects.
      One hundred and fifty female patients with breast cancer entered this prospective
      study and were randomized to receive ginger (500 mg ginger powder, twice a day
      for 3 days) or placebo. One hundred and nineteen patients completed the study: 57
      of them received ginger and 62 received ginger for the frst 3 chemotherapy
      cycles. Mean age in all patients was 48.6 (25-79) years. After 1st chemotherapy,
      mean nausea in the ginger and control arms were 1.36 (+/-1.31) and 1.46 (+/-1.28)
      with no statistically significant difference. After the 2nd chemotherapy session,
      nausea score was slightly more in the ginger group (1.36 versus 1.32). After 3rd
      chemotherapy, mean nausea severity in control group was less than ginger group
      [1.37 (+/-1.14), versus 1.42 (+/-1.30)]. Considering all patients, nausea was
      slightly more severe in ginger arm. In ginger arm mean nausea score was 1.42 (+/
      0.96) and in control arm it was 1.40 (+/-0.92). Mean vomiting scores after
      chemotherapy in ginger arm were 0.719 (+/-1.03), 0.68 (+/-1.00) and 0.77 (+/
      1.18). In control arm, mean vomiting was 0.983 (+/-1.23), 1.03 (+/-1.22) and 1.15
      (+/-1.27). In all sessions, ginger decreased vomiting severity from 1.4 (+/-1.04)
      to 0.71 (+/-0.86). None of the differences were significant. In those patients
      who received the AC regimen, vomiting was less severe (0.64+/-0.87) compared to
      those who received placebo (1.13+/-1.12), which was statistically significant (p
      value <0.05). Further and larger studies are needed to draw conclusions. 

PMID- 27644634
TI  - MiR-675 Promotes the Growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Through the Cdc25A
      Pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have fundamental roles in tumorigenesis. MiR-675
      is upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cells. However, the roles of miR
      675 in hepatocellular carcinogenesis are still not fully elucidated. In this
      study, we focus on investigating the effect and mechanism of miR-675 in
      proliferation of HCC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cell proliferation was
      measured by MTT assays after transfection with miR-675 inhibitor and miR-675
      mimics in HCC cells. The expression level of miR-675 was detected by real-time
      quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Protein expression
      of Cdc25A was measured by western blotting analysis. RESULTS: In MTT assays,
      overexpression of miR-675 promoted the proliferation of HCC cells(<0.05. at 48
      hours, <0.01. at 72 hours) compared with the miR-675mimics control group.
      Downexpression of miR-675 inhibited the proliferation of HCC cells(<0.05. at 48
      hours, <0.01. at 72 hours) compared with the miR-675inhibitor control group. In
      western blotting analysis, the expression level of Cdc25A was significantly
      increased (<0.05) after treatment with miR-675 mimics. The expression level of
      Cdc25A was significantly decreased (<0.05) after treatment with miR-675
      inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that miR-675 promotes proliferation
      in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells by associating with the Cdc25A signaling
      pathway.

PMID- 27644635
TI  - Barriers to Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening in Singapore: a Mixed Methods
      Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to increase breast and cervical cancer screening uptake in
      Singapore, women's perceived barriers to screening need to be identified and
      overcome. Using data from both focus groups and surveys, we aimed to assess
      perceived barriers and motivations for breast and cervical cancer screening.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted 8 focus groups with 64 women, using thematic
      analysis to identify overarching themes related to women's attitudes towards
      screening. Based on recurring themes from focus groups, several hypotheses
      regarding potential barriers and motivations to screen were generated and tested
      through a national survey of 801 women aged 25-64. RESULTS: Focus group
      participants had misconceptions related to screening, believing that the
      procedures were painful. Cost was an issue, as well as efficacy and fatalism.
      CONCLUSIONS: By identifying barriers to and motivators for screening through a
      mixed-method design that has both nuance and external validity, this study offers
      valuable suggestions to policymakers to improve breast and cervical cancer
      screening uptake in Singapore.

PMID- 27644636
TI  - Change in Trend in Various Clinico-Pathological Factors and Treatment Profile of
      Breast Cancer Patients: a Tertiary Cancer Centre Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is by far the most frequent cancer of women (23% of all
      cancers), ranking second overall when both sexes are considered together. Since
      there has been change in clinico-pathological factors and treatment profiles for
      breast cancer patients over the years, the present study to evaluate the change
      trends in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A detailed analysis was carried out with
      respect to age, menopausal status, family history, disease stage, surgery
      performed, histopathology, hormone receptor status, and use of chemotherapy or
      hormonal therapy. Change in various clinico-pathological factors and treatments
      of breast cancer cases was recorded and analysed. RESULTS: Mean age at
      presentation was found to be earlier in 2005-2006 compared with 1997-98 (p value:
      0.046). More premenopausal women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005-2006
      when this was compared with initial years of assessment (p value <=0.001). When
      change in the receptor status was evaluated, we observed that there was a
      decrease in cases of ER and PR receptor positivity which was significant (p
      value: 0.007). Over the period of time, more f patients were not offered surgery
      initially in view of advanced disease when the two time periods were compared (p
      value: <=0.001). There was a significant increase in patients who were initially
      offered neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in view of advanced disease at presentation (p
      value: <=0.001). There was increasing number of patients who received palliative
      treatment for symptoms in 2005-2006 when compared to patients treated in 1997
      98((p value: <=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in mean age at presentation,
      premenopausal status, and stage at presentation have occurred over the years.
      More aggressive patterns of disease have become more common with early age at
      presentation and aggressive biological behaviour with receptor negative tumours.

PMID- 27644637
TI  - Expression of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (Her 2/neu) and
      Proliferative Marker Ki-67: Association with Clinicopathological Parameters in
      Gallbladder Carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the expression of Her2/neu and Ki-67 in benign and malignant
      gallbladder lesions, and to establish correlations with clinico-pathologic
      parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on
      formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) benign (n=25) and malignant gallbladder
      (n=25) tissue samples. Hematoxylin and eosin stained slides of each case were
      reviewed for: type of malignancy (whether adenocarcinoma, squamous cell
      carcinoma, or any other type); grade (well, moderate, and poor); depth of
      invasion; and pre-neoplastic changes in adjacent mucosal epithelium like
      metaplasia and dysplasia. Immunohistochemistry for Her 2 neu and Ki-67 was
      performed and data analysis was conducted using SPSS 17 software. Chi-square test
      was used to compare categorical/dichotomous variables. A P value of <=0.05 was
      considered significant. RESULTS: The difference of Her 2 neu expression and Ki67
      index between benign and malignant groups was found to be statistically
      significant. Her2/neu positivity did not have any significant correlation with
      various clinicopathological parameters other than liver involvement. Five cases
      of gallbladder cancer showed both Her2/neu and Ki67 positivity. Ten cases were
      Ki67 positive but Her2/neu negative while one case was Her2/neu positive but Ki67
      negative. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated overexpression of Her2/neu
      and Ki67 in gallbladder cancer. A trend of decreasing Her2/neu expression with
      increasing grade of tumor was observed. Furthermore, greater Ki67 positivity was
      found in cases with lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis. Future studies
      with a larger number of patients will be required to precisely define the
      correlation of Her2/neu expression and Ki67 positivity with clinicopathological
      parameters. The results however are encouraging and suggest evaluation of
      Her2/neu as a candidate for targeted therapy.

PMID- 27644638
TI  - Survival of Triple Negative versus Triple Positive Breast Cancers: Comparison and
      Contrast.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Triple negative (TN) and triple positive (TP) breast cancers both are
      aggressive types but TN generally has a shorter survival. OBJECTIVES: To compare
      the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes for patients with TN versus
      TP breast cancer and to assess various prognostic factors affecting overall
      survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective audit of 85 breast cancer
      patients was conducted in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Medical
      Oncology on patients from 2006 to 2013 for whom IHC for ER, PgR and Her-2 neu
      were available. The patients were strati ed into: ER-, PR- and Her-2 neu- (Arm A,
      n=47) and ER+, PgR+ and Her-2 neu+ (Arm B, n=38). RESULTS: TN subtype had higher
      numbers of premenopausal and advanced stage patients as compared to TP subtype.
      The locoregional recurrence (LRR) and distant metastatic rate was also higher in
      TN subtype but there was no de nite pattern in both the arms. Among the
      prognostic factors, patients with premenopausal status and advanced stage in TN
      breast cancer had inferior survival (P=0.07) whereas for those with
      postmenopausal status and early stage there was no survival difference between
      the two arms. CONCLUSIONS: TN subtype tends to be more aggressive in terms of
      younger age and advanced stage at presentation, higher tumour grade, LRR and
      metastasis, suggesting need for future research efforts on providing aggressive
      treatment to these patients. We could attribute better outcome for TP subtype to
      receptor positivity enabling role of hormonal treatment and targeted therapy,
      although less number of patients received targeted therapy.

PMID- 27644639
TI  - No Association Between Calcium Channel Blockers and Survival in Patients with
      Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Any association between calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and survival
      in cancer patients remains unclear and the results of related studies are
      conflicting. The objective of the study was to investigate the association
      between calcium channel blocker (CCB) use and survival in cancer patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane
      Library for studies published before January 2016 with terms related to CCBs and
      survival in cancer patients. The information was reviewed and extracted by two
      evaluators independently. Data from publications were extracted and used to
      calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS). Statistical analysis was
      performed by using Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: There were 11 studies included in
      our meta-analysis. Analysis of all showed that CCBs use was not associated with
      survival in cancer patients (HR=1.07; 95% CI: 0.91-1.25; P=0.42). No association
      between CCB use and overall survival in cancer patients existed, whether in Asian
      (HR=1.18, 95% CI: 0.72-1.93; P=0.52) or Caucasian populations (HR=1.03, 95% CI:
      0.89-1.20; P=0.66). CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence that CCB use is associated
      with a better or worse survival in cancer patients.

PMID- 27644640
TI  - Lack of TNF-alpha Gene Polymorphism (rs1799724) Association with Sustained
      Virological Response in Iranian Patients with Chronic HCV Infection.
AB  - Infection with the hepatitis C virus is a major public health concern which can
      lead to carcinoma and liver failure. It has been shown that single nucleotide
      polymorphisms can affect the level of gene activity of tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF) which has an important role, especially in viral infections which can lead
      to apaptosis of infected hepatocellular cells. We investigated the impact of
      three possible genotypes for rs1800629 or A/G single nucleotide polymorphism
      located downstream of TNFalpha gene promoter in groups of control (n=76) and
      chronic hepatitis C patients (n=89) focusing on the response to treatment among
      sensitive and resistant groups. Genomic DNA was extracted from 500 MUl prepheral
      whole blood and PCR and RFLP were used to amplify the region of interest and
      genotyping. With statistical analyzes a p-value <0.05 was considered meaningful.
      There was no significant difference in distribution of the possible three
      genotypes among healthy individuals and patients (P=0.906, OR=1.194, CI=0.063
      22.790). However, the frequency of the G allele was higher in patients whereas A
      allele was more common among healthy individuals (p<0.0001). Further studies with
      more samples appears to be necessary. 

PMID- 27644641
TI  - Heat Shock Protein Association with Clinico-Pathological Characteristics of
      Gastric Cancer in Jordan : HSP70 is Predictive of Poor Prognosis.
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) is a major health problem worldwide and is one of the ten
      most commonly diagnosed cancers in Jordan. GC is usually diagnosed at late
      aggressive stages in which treatment options are limited. Recently, heat shock
      proteins (HSPs) found to be overexpressed in a wide range of malignancies have
      been considered as promising candidate biomarkers for GC. The aim of this study
      was to investigate pathogenic roles of a panel of cytosolic HSPs including HSP90,
      HSP70, HSP60 and HSP27 in GC. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the level
      of expression of these proteins in archived tumor samples (N=87) representing
      various pathological characteristics of GC. HSP90, HSP60 and HSP27 were expressed
      abundantly in gastric tumors. On the other hand, HSP70 was reduced significantly
      and was also found to be associated with Helicobacter pylori infection in tissues
      collected from GC patients. Furthermore, HSP27 was found to be associated with
      the level of differentiation. Our findings indicate a role of HSP70 as a
      potential prognostic biomarker, patients harboring positive HSP70 expression
      displaying worse disease free survival than those with negative HSP70 expression.
      Differential expression of HSPs may play crucial roles in the initiation and
      progression of GC, and could be exploited as future therapeutic targets. 

PMID- 27644642
TI  - Factors Affecting Preferences of Iranian Women for Breast Cancer Screening Based
      on Marketing Mix Components.
AB  - BACKGROUND: According to recent statistics, the breast cancer rate is growing
      fast in developing countries. In North West Iran, the incidence of breast cancer
      after esophageal and gastric cancers has the highest rate. Previous studies have
      also indicated that women in this region show reluctance to do breast cancer
      screening. There is a great need for change to promote breast cancer screening
      among women. Social marketing is a discipline that uses the systematic
      application of commercial marketing techniques to promote the adoption of
      behavior by the target audience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present
      qualitative study, thirty-two women with breast cancer were interviewed about
      their experiences of breast cancer screening. A semi-structured interview guide
      was designed to elicit information specific to the 4 P's in social marketing.
      RESULTS: Three main categories emerged from the analysis: price, service and
      promotion. Subcategories related to these main categories included factors
      effective in increasing and decreasing cost of screening, current and desirable
      features of screening services, and weakness of promotion. CONCLUSIONS: Screening
      programs should be designed to be of low cost, to meet patients' needs and should
      be provided in suitable places. Furthermore, it is essential that the cultural
      beliefs of society be improved through education. It seems necessary to design an
      executive protocol for breast cancer screening at different levels of primary
      health care to increase the women's willingness to undergo screening.

PMID- 27644643
TI  - Significant Efficacy of Additional Concurrent Chemotherapy with Radiotherapy for
      Postoperative Cervical Cancer with Risk Factors: a Systematic Review and Meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whether concurrent chemotherapy treatment is superior to radiotherapy
      alone as an adjuvant regimen for postoperative cervical carcinoma with risk
      factors remains controversial. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search
      strategy was used to examine Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the China
      National Knowledge Internet Web, the Chinese Biomedical Database and the Wanfang
      Database. Article reference lists and scientific meeting abstracts were also
      screened. Controlled trials comparing concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus
      radiotherapy alone in postoperative cervical cancer were included. The
      methodological quality of non-randomized controlled trials was evaluated using
      the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Randomized controlled studies were evaluated with the
      Cochrane handbook. A meta-analysis was performed with RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: A
      total of 1,073 patients from 11 clinical trials were analysed, with 582 patients
      in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group and 491 patients in the radiotherapy
      group. Hazard ratios (HR) of 0.47 (95% CI 0.31-0.72) and 0.50 (95% CI 0.35-0.72)
      were observed for overall survival and progression-free survival, indicating a
      benefit from the additional use of concurrent chemotherapy. Subgroup analyses
      demonstrated that cervical cancer with high risk factors significantly benefitted
      from concurrent chemotherapy when examining overall survival (HR 0.44, 95% CI
      0.28-0.67) and progression-free survival (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.33-0.70), but
      patients with intermediate risk factors showed no benefit from concurrent
      chemotherapy in overall survival (HR 1.72, 95% CI 0.28-10.41) and progression
      free survival (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.19-6.14). No significant differences were
      observed for grade 3-4 anaemia (risk ratio (RR) 3.87, 95% CI 0.69-21.84), grade 3
      4 thrombocytopenia (RR 3.04, 95% CI 0.88- 10.58), grade 3-4 vomiting or nausea
      (RR 1.71, 95% CI 0.27-10.96), or grade 3-4 diarrhoea (RR 1.40, 95% CI 0.69-2.83).
      Significant differences were observed for grade 3-4 neutropenia in favour of the
      radiotherapy group (RR 7.23, 95% CI 3.94-13.26). CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy improves survival in postoperative cervical cancer cases with
      high risk factors but not in those with intermediate risk factors.

PMID- 27644644
TI  - Frequency and Type Distribution of Human Papilloma Virus in Patients with
      Prostate Cancer, Kerman, Southeast of Iran.
AB  - Prostatic cancer is the second cause of cancer-related death among men worldwide.
      The human papilloma viruses (HPVs) are a family of sexually transmitted viruses
      which have may have roles in the etiology of inflammation in the prostate leading
      to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa). In this study,
      we evaluated the frequency of different HPV types in prostatic cancer and benign
      prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in Kerman province, southeast of Iran, using real
      time PCR techniques. The aim of the present research was to clarify any
      association with prostatic carcinogenesis. Real Time PCR showed that HPV DNA was
      found in 20% of 200 PCa samples, 80 percent of these with high-risk HPV types,
      40% with type-16,18, 30 % type-31,33 and 10% type 54. High risk HPV DNA was
      detected in only 2% of BPH samples. Values for low risk types were much higher.
      Our study provided support for a role of high risk HPV infection in prostatic
      disease in Iranian patients, and association between presence of HPV DNA and
      prostate carcinoma. In particular, HPV 16 and18 might have an important role in
      prostate cancer. 

PMID- 27644645
TI  - TET2 Promoter DNA Methylation and Expression in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic
      Leukemia.
AB  - The ten-eleven-translocation-2 (TET2) gene is a novel tumor suppressor gene
      involved in several hematological malignancies of myeloid and lymphoid origin.
      Besides loss-of-function mutations and deletions, hypermethylation of the CpG
      island at the TET2 promoter has been found in human cancers. The TET2 encoded
      protein regulates DNA methylation. The present study aimed to examine DNA
      promoter methylation of TET2 in 100 childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
      cases and 120 healthy children in southeast Iran. In addition, mRNA expression
      levels were assessed in 30 new cases of ALL and 32 controls. Our findings
      indicated that promoter methylation of TET2 significantly increases the risk of
      ALL (OR=2.60, 95% CI=1.31-5.12, p=0.0060) in comparison with absent methylation.
      Furthermore, the TET2 gene was significantly downregulated in childhood ALL
      compared to healthy children (p=0.0235). The results revealed that
      hypermethylation and downregulation of TET2 gene may play a role in
      predisposition to childhood ALL. Further studies with larger sample sizes and
      different ethnicities are needed to confirm our findings. 

PMID- 27644646
TI  - Association of IGFBP-6 Expression with Metabolic Syndrome and Adiponectin and IGF
      IR Receptor Levels in Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess IGFBP-6 expression in relation with the presence of the
      metabolic syndrome, adiponectin receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) and IGF-IR levels
      in colorectal adenocarcinoma cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IGFBP-6 mRNA and
      protein levels were analyzed using real-time quantitative PCR and Western
      blotting in 46 patients. ELISA and ow cytometry were used for evaluation of
      AdipoR1, AdipoR2 and IGF-IR. RESULTS: The results showed that IGFBP-6 mRNA
      expression and the IGFBP-6 content were higher in tumor tissue samples of
      colorectal cancer patients with and without the metabolic syndrome. In addition,
      IGFBP-6 mRNA expression was associated with tumor invasion (tumor size) and the
      IGFBP-6 protein level was associated with nodal status. Positive correlations and
      positive nonlinear relations were found between the IGFBP-6 level and the AdipoR1
      and AdipoR2 contents in colorectal cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: The IGFBP-6 mRNA
      level and protein level were found to be associated with presence of the
      metabolic syndrome. Positive correlations indicated probable cross-talk between
      the IGF-IR-mediated and adiponectin-mediated signaling pathways in colorectal
      carcinomas. IGFBP-6 may be considered as a potential biomarker associated with
      lymphogenous metastasis and the metabolic syndrome in colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27644647
TI  - Screening for the 3'UTR Polymorphism of the PXR Gene in South Indian Breast
      Cancer Patients and its Potential Role in Pharmacogenomics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer, the commonest cancer among women in the world, ranks
      top in India with an incidence rate of 1,45,000 new cases and mortality rate of
      70,000 women every year. Chemotherapy outcome for breast cancer is hampered due
      to poor response and irreversible dose-dependent cardiotoxicity which is
      determined by genetic variations in drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters.
      Pregnane X receptor (PXR), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, induces
      expression of drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) and transporters leading to
      regulation of xenobiotic metabolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A genomic region
      spanning PXR 3' UTR was amplified and sequenced using genomic DNA isolated from
      96 South Indian breast cancer patients. Genetic variants observed in our study
      subjects were queried in miRSNP to establish SNPs that alter miRNA binding sites
      in PXR 3' UTR. In addition, enrichment analysis was carried out to understand the
      network of miRNAs and PXR in drug metabolism using DIANA miRpath and miRwalk
      pathway prediction tools. RESULTS: In this study, we identified SNPs rs3732359,
      rs3732360, rs1054190, rs1054191 and rs6438550 in the PXR 3; UTR region. The SNPs
      rs3732360, rs1054190 and rs1054191 were located in the binding site of miR-500a
      3p, miR-532-3p and miR-374a-3p resulting in the altered PXR level due to the
      deregulation of post-transcriptional control and this leads to poor treatment
      response and toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variants identified in PXR 3' UTR and
      their effects on PXR levels through post-transcriptional regulation provide a
      genetic basis for inter- individual variability in treatment response and
      toxicity associated with chemotherapy.

PMID- 27644648
TI  - Association between Pesticide Use and Cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thailand remains a primarily agricultural country and Thai farmers
      are heavy users of pesticides. Coincidentally the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma
      (CCA) is high in parts of the country, but no previous study has examined any
      association between the two. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present matched, case
      control study covered patients admitted to Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen
      University, Thailand. The case group comprised 210 cases diagnosed with CCA and
      the control group 840 diagnosed with other diseases. Cases and controls were
      matched for sex, age within five years, and date of admission within three
      months. Multiple conditional logistic regression was used for the analysis.
      RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, pesticide use as compared
      with never used pesticide was not associated with CCA (ORadj=1.11, 95% CI: 0.77,
      1.60) and neither was there any significant relationship between CCA and duration
      of pesticide use, type or number of types of pesticide. CONCLUSIONS: The current
      study thus found no association between pesticide use and CCA.

PMID- 27644649
TI  - Human Papillomavirus Infection and its Vaccines: Knowledge and Attitudes of
      Primary Health Clinic Nurses in Kelantan, Malaysia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer though preventable is still the leading cause of
      cancer death among women secondary to breast cancer. Persistent infection with
      HPV has been causally linked to the disease. A school based HPV vaccination
      program was introduced in late 2010 in Malaysia and nurse support is essential
      for its success. OBJECTIVES: To determine nurses knowledge and attitudes about
      HPV infection and its vaccines, and factors associated with their knowledge.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses
      working at primary health clinics in Kelantan from mid-June till the end of July
      2014. Its involved 330 nurses selected through multistage random sampling. A
      validated self-administered questionnaire consisting of 11 items for the
      knowledge domain and eight items for the attitude domain was used. RESULTS: The
      response rate of the study was 93.7%. The mean knowledge and mean attitude (SD)
      scores were 5.37 (1.76) and 29.8 (3.51) respectively. Only 24% knew that HPV is
      the most common sexually transmitted infection and 67% correctly answered that
      Gardasil vaccine can protect against four types of HPV. Nearly 60% of
      participants wrongly answered that HPV vaccines cannot be offered to sexually
      active women. Likewise, 70.9% participants were not aware that HPV vaccine may be
      appropriate for females aged 9 through 26 years. Though 90% of participants
      believed that the vaccine is safe, nearly half of them were unsure about
      efficacy. From multiple linear regression analysis, among the factors tested only
      participant's level of education showed a statistically significant association
      with the HPV knowledge score (<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates nurses
      have favorable attitudes towards HPV vaccination; however they have significant
      knowledge deficit and major misunderstanding in critical knowledge items. Among
      the factors tested, nursing qualification is the only factor that is
      significantly associated with the nurses knowledge score.

PMID- 27644650
TI  - Association of Genetic Variants in ARID5B, IKZF1 and CEBPE with Risk of Childhood
      de novo B-Lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a heterogeneous
      genetic disease and its etiology remains poorly understood. Recent genome wide
      association and replication studies have highlighted specic polymorphisms
      contributing to childhood ALL predispositions mostly in European populations. It
      is unclear if these observations generalize to other populations with a lower
      incidence of ALL. The current case-control study evaluated variants in ARID5B
      (rs7089424, rs10821936), IKZF1 (rs4132601) and CEBPE (rs2239633) genes, which
      appear most significantly associated with risk of developing childhood B-lineage
      ALL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using TaqMan assays, genotyping was conducted for 162
      de novo B-lineage ALL cases and 150 unrelated healthy controls in India.
      Appropriate statistical methods were applied. RESULTS: Genotypic and allelic
      frequencies differed significantly between cases and controls at IKZF1-rs4132601
      (p=0.039, p=0.015) and ARID5B-rs10821936 (p=0.028, p=0.026). Both rs10821936
      (p=0.019; OR 0.67; 95% CI=0.47-0.94) and rs4132601 (p=0.018; OR 0.67; 95%CI 0.48
      0.94) were associated with reduced disease risk. Moreover, gender- analysis
      revealed male-specific risk associations for rs10821936 (p=0.041 CT+CC) and
      rs4132601 (p=0.005 G allele). Further, ARID5B-rs7089424 and CEBPE-rs2239633
      showed a trend towards decreased disease risk but without significance (p=0.073;
      p=0.73). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide the rst evidence that SNPs ARID5B-
      rs10821936 and IKZF1-rs4132601 are associated with decreased B-lineage ALL
      susceptibility in Indian children. Understanding the effects of these variants in
      different ethnic groups is crucial as they may confer different risk of ALL
      within different populations.

PMID- 27644652
TI  - Sex Steroids Regulate Expression of Genes Containing Long Interspersed Elements
      1s in Breast Cancer Cells.
AB  - Long interspersed elements-1s (LINE-1s) are dispersed all over the human genome.
      There is evidence that hypomethylation of LINE-1s and levels of sex steroids
      regulate gene expression leading to cancer development. Here, we compared mRNA
      levels of genes containing an intragenic LINE-1 in breast cancer cells treated
      with various sex steroids from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), with the gene
      expression database using chi-square analysis (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo).
      We evaluated whether sex steroids influence expression of genes containing an
      intragenic LINE-1. Three sex steroids at various concentrations, 1 and 10 nM
      estradiol (E2), 10 nM progesterone (PG) and 10 nM androgen (AN), were assessed.
      In breast cancer cells treated with 1 or 10 nM E2, a significant percentage of
      genes containing an intragenic LINE-1 were down-regulated. A highly significant
      percentage of E2-regulated genes containing an intragenic LINE-1 was down
      regulated in cells treated with 1 nM E2 for 3 hours (<3.70E-25; OR=1.91; 95%
      CI=2.16-1.69). Similarly, high percentages of PG or AN- regulated genes
      containing an intragenic LINE-1 were also down-regulated in cells treated with 10
      nM PG or 10 nM AN for 16 hr (p=9.53E-06; OR=1.65; 95% CI=2.06-1.32 and p=3.81E
      14; OR=2.01; 95% CI=2.42-1.67). Interestingly, a significant percentage of AN
      regulated genes containing an intragenic LINE-1 was up-regulated in cells treated
      with 10 nM AN for 16 hr (p=4.03E-02; OR=1.40; 95% CI=1.95-1.01). These findings
      suggest that intragenic LINE-1s may play roles in sex steroid mediated gene
      expression in breast cancer cells, which could have significant implications for
      the development and progression of sex steroid-dependent cancers. 

PMID- 27644651
TI  - Assessment of the Nature and Severity of Pain Using SF-MPQ for Cancer Patients at
      the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat in 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer is a worldwide health problem and pain is among the most
      common and unpleasant effects affecting well-being of cancer patients. Accurate
      description of pain can help physicians to improve its management. Many English
      tools have been developed to assess pain. Only a limited number of these are
      applied in Arab countries. Our aim was to assess the quality, the nature and the
      severity of pain using the short McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) on cancer
      patients in the National Institute of Oncology (NIO) in Rabat, Morocco. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The tool used was the SF-MPQ inspired from the Arabic version of the
      MPQ. The subjects were cancer patients (N=182) attending the NIO, from 24th
      October 2015 to 8th January 2016, >=18 years old, experiencing pain and coming to
      have or to update their pain medication. RESULTS: The rate of participation was
      96.3%. Eight patients haddif culties to express their pain using descriptors, but
      could use the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the body diagram. The most frequent
      sensory descriptors were 'Throbbing', 'Shooting', 'Hot-Burning'. The most used
      affective descriptor was 'Tiring-Exhausting'. The mean VAS was 6.6 (2.4). The
      mean score of all items was 11.9 (7.8). The patients were suffering from severe
      pain. The internal consistency of the form was acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings indicate that most of the patients attending the pain center of the NIO
      could use the descriptors of the SF-MPQ to describe their pain. They indicate the
      usefulness of the SF-MPQ to assess the nature and the severity of pain in cancer
      patients. This tool should now be tested in other Moroccan and Arabic contexts
      associated with other tools in clinical trials.

PMID- 27644653
TI  - Clinico-Hematological Findings for Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma: an Institutional
      Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) is a B-cell lymphoid neoplasm
      characterized by a distinctive biological behavior with potentially curable
      disease characteristics. It is an uncommon hematological malignancy which
      primarily affects younger individuals. The rationale of this study was to
      determine its clinico-hematological profile along with stage strati cation in
      Pakistani patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive study, adult
      patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma were enrolled from January 2010 to December
      2014. RESULTS: Sixty two histopathologically con rmed cases of cHL were
      identified. There were 42 males and 20 females, with a male to female ratio of
      2:1. The mean age was 29.7+/-13.8 years with the median age of 30. B symptoms
      were present in 72.5% of patients. Histopathologically, the mixed cellularity
      type constituted 62.9% of cases, followed by nodular sclerosis in 25.8%,
      lymphocyte predominant in 9.6% and lymphocyte depleted in 1.6%. Stages I and II
      were present in 43.5% of patients at disease presentation, with 56.4% in stages
      III and IV. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis shows that clinico-pathological features of
      Hodgkin's lymphoma in Pakistan are comparable to published data. Mixed
      cellularity is the commonest histological variant and advanced stage at
      presentation are common findings in our patients.

PMID- 27644654
TI  - Does Microinvasive Adenocarcinoma of Cervix Have Poorer Treatment Outcomes than
      Microinvasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma?
AB  - BACKGROUND: To compare the pathological findings and oncologic outcomes of stage
      IA cervical carcinoma patients, between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell
      carcinoma cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 151 medical records of stage
      IA cervical carcinoma patients undergoing primary surgical treatment during 2006
      2013 were reviewed. Information from pathological diagnosis and recurrence rates
      were compared with descriptive statistical analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method and
      Cox proportional hazards model were used for survival analysis. RESULTS: The
      median age was 48.9 years. There was no significant difference in rates of lymph
      node, parametrium, uterine, vaginal, or ovarian metastasis, when comparing
      adenocarcinoma with squamous cell carcinoma. Overall recurrence rates of
      adenocarcinoma (5.7%) and squamous cell carcinoma (2.6%) were not statistically
      significant different, even when stratified by stage. When comparing progression
      free survival with squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma had an HR of 0.448
      (0.073-2.746), p=0.386. CONCLUSIONS: Microinvasive adenocarcinoma of cervix has
      similar rate of extracervical involvement and oncologic outcomes to squamous cell
      carcinoma.

PMID- 27644655
TI  - Plant Phenolics Ferulic Acid and P-Coumaric Acid Inhibit Colorectal Cancer Cell
      Proliferation through EGFR Down-Regulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) or bowel cancer is one of the most important
      cancer diseases, needing serious attention. The cell surface receptor gene human
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) may have an important role in provoking
      CRC. In this pharmaceutical era, it is always attempted to identify plant-based
      drugs for cancer, which will have less side effects for human body, unlike the
      chemically synthesized marketed drugs having serious side effects. So, in this
      study the authors tried to assess the activity of two important plant compounds,
      ferulic acid (FA) and p-coumaric acid (pCA), on CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FA
      and pCA were tested for their cytotoxic effects on the human CRC cell line HCT 15
      and also checked for the level of gene expression of EGFR by real time PCR
      analysis. Positive results were confirmed by in silico molecular docking studies
      using Discovery Studio (DS) 4.0. The drug parallel features of the same compounds
      were also assessed in silico. RESULTS: Cytotoxicity experiments revealed that
      both the compounds were efficient in killing CRC cells on a controlled
      concentration basis. In addition, EGFR expression was down-regulated in the
      presence of the compounds. Docking studies unveiled that both the compounds were
      able to inhibit EGFR at its active site. Pharmacokinetic analysis of these
      compounds opened up their drug like behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this
      study emphasize the importance of plant compounds for targeting diseases like
      CRC.

PMID- 27644656
TI  - Inverse Correlation between Cancer Size and Abdominal Obesity in Colorectal
      Cancer Cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Correlation between colorectal cancer (CRC) and abdominal obesity has
      been established, but there is a paucity of data on non-obese CRC patients. The
      aim of this study was to establish the characteristics of CRCs that occur in such
      patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive CRC patients without cachexia were
      included. Unintended body weight loss, T4- or M1-staged CRCs, extensive lymph
      node involvement, or synchronous malignancy were classified as cachectic
      conditions. Abdominal fat volumes were measured using a multidetector CT unit
      with software (Rapidia, INFINITT, Seoul, Korea). RESULTS: Of the newly-diagnosed
      CRC patients, 258 non-cachectic and 88 cachectic patients were analyzed. The
      cancer size (p<0.001) and T stage (p<0.001) were inversely correlated with body
      mass index (BMI), visceral fat and subcutaneous fat volumes. Cancer size was the
      only independent factor related to BMI (p=0.016), visceral fat volume (p=0.002),
      and subcutaneous fat volume (p=0.027). In non-cachectic patients, a significant
      inverse correlation was found only between the cancer size and visceral fat
      volume (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Non-obese CRC patients tend to have larger CRC
      lesions than their obese counterparts even under non-cachectic conditions. Such
      an inverse correlation between cancer size and visceral fat volume suggests that
      considerable CRCs are not correlated with abdominal obesity.

PMID- 27644657
TI  - Phase II Study of Compliance and Morbidity with 4 Cycles of Taxotere Followed by
      4 of Doxorubicin-Cyclophosphamide for Adjuvant Treatment of Operable Breast
      Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer, anthracycline and taxane
      based regimens can be used concomitantly or sequentially. The best order in the
      sequential regimens has yet to be well established. This study evaluated the
      feasibility of 4 cycles of adjuvant taxotere (100mg/m2) every 3 weeks followed by
      4 cycles of doxorubicin (60 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (600mg/m2) every 3 weeks.
      The primary outcome was the safety profile. Secondary outcomes were disease free
      survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This non
      randomized prospective phase II study was performed at Jordan University of
      Science and Technology and its affiliated King Abdulla Teaching Hospital between
      July 2009 and August 2010. Data collection was closed on May 31th, 2015, giving a
      median follow up period of 62 months. The study was approved by the institutional
      review board and written informed consent was obtained for each patient. RESULTS:
      Fifty patients were enrolled. The median age was 53.1 years (range 34-76). One
      patient (2%) had stage I disease, 17 (34%) stage II, and 32 (64.0%) stage III.
      Forty-six patients were evaluable for efficacy analysis. The completion rate was
      95.7%. No dose modifications were needed. The incidences of grade 3-4 neutropenia
      and febrile neutropenia were 14% and 10%. No grade 3-4 non-hematological adverse
      events were encountered. At a median follow up time of 62 months the OS and the
      DFS rates were 76.1% and 56.5%. Those for stages I and II combined were 100% and
      75%. CONCLUSIONS: Taxotere first followed by doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide appears
      a feasible regimen as evidenced by an acceptable completion rate, a satisfactory
      safety profile, and OS and DFS rates comparable to other studies.

PMID- 27644658
TI  - Conventional versus Doxorubicin-Eluting Beads Transarterial Chemoembolization for
      Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: a Tertiary Medical Centre Experience in
      Malaysia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer that is frequently
      diagnosed at an advanced stage. Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is an
      effective palliative treatment for patients who are not eligible for curative
      treatment. The two main methods for performing TACE are conventional (c-TACE) or
      with drug eluting beads (DEB-TACE). We sought to compare survival rates and
      tumour response between patients undergoing c-TACE and DEB-TACE at our centre.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing either
      treatment was carried out from January 2009 to December 2014. Tumour response to
      the procedures was evaluated according to the modified Response Evaluation
      Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST). Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess and
      compare the overall survival in the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 79 patients
      were analysed (34 had c-TACE, 45 had DEB-TACE) with a median follow-up of 11.8
      months. A total of 20 patients in the c-TACE group (80%) and 12 patients in the
      DEB-TACE group (44%) died during the follow up period. The median survival
      durations in the c-TACE and DEB-TACE groups were 4.9 +/- 3.2 months and 8.3 +/-
      2.0 months respectively (p=0.008). There was no statistically significant
      difference noted among the two groups with respect to mRECIST criteria.
      CONCLUSIONS: DEB-TACE demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival
      rates for patients with unresectable HCC when compared to c-TACE. It is a safe
      and promising approach and should potentially be considered as a standard of care
      in the management of unresectable HCC.

PMID- 27644659
TI  - Head and Neck Cancer in Saudi Arabia: a Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the ninth most common cancer worldwide,
      and has a poor 5-year survival rate averaging 50%, which has not changed for
      decades. A high prevalence of HNC has been reported in the southwestern region of
      Saudi Arabia, as compared to other areas of the country. However, data in regards
      to HNC are scattered and not well documented. Thus, the aim of this systematic
      review was to gather all available and updated important information regarding
      HNC in Saudi Arabia, and highlight the gaps of knowledge in our country with
      regard to this disease. In addition, suggestions of solutions to overcome the
      current status and improve our future standard of care to fight HNC are also
      highlighted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The electronic databases PubMed and Google
      Scholar using English-language literature were used for this systematic review,
      using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria and keywords. The search was
      performed in April 2016 and updated in June 2016. RESULTS: Our search revealed
      twenty-one studies that fulfilled our inclusion and exclusion criteria and that
      were conducted in Saudi Arabia. These studies investigated different aspects of
      HNC, including prevalence, risk factors, biomarkers, and assessed knowledge and
      awareness of both public and practitioners with regard to HNC. CONCLUSIONS: This
      review uncovered a big gap in our epidemiological data in cancer information in
      general, and head and neck cancer in particular. In addition, a lack of knowledge
      and awareness of both the public and health care practitioners hinders the early
      diagnosis of disease and negatively impact the prognosis, treatment and outcome.
      The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia should develop a more systematic way and
      adapt policies to gather cancer information in general, and head and neck cancer
      in particular, from all governmental and private sectors from all over the
      kingdom, and develop educational programs to raise the knowledge and awareness of
      HNC in the country.

PMID- 27644660
TI  - p16 - a Possible Surrogate Marker for High-Risk Human Papillomaviruses in Oral
      Cancer?
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPV), particularly types 16 and
      18, have been found to play an important role in head and neck cancer, including
      oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and oral squamous cell carcinoma
      (OSCC). p16, a cell cycle inhibitor, has been postulated as a surrogate marker
      for HR-HPV, since p16 is aberrantly overexpressed in such lesions, especially in
      HR-HPV-positive OPSCC. However, p16 as a surrogate marker for HR-HPV infection in
      cancers of the oral cavity remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of
      the study were to investigate the expression of p16 and the presence of HR-HPV in
      OSCC and oral verrucous carcinoma (VC) and to determine if p16 could be used as a
      surrogate marker for HR-HPV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty one formalin-fixed,
      paraffin-embedded tissues of OSCC (n=37) or VC (n=4) with clinical and
      histopathologic data of each case were collected. Expression of p16 was
      determined by immunohistochemistry, focusing on both staining intensity and
      numbers of positive cells. The presence of HPV types 16 and 18 was detected by
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Descriptive statistics were employed to describe
      the demographic, clinical, and histopathologic parameters. Associations between
      p16 overexpression, HR-HPV and all variables were determined by Fisher's exact
      test, odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In
      addition, the use of p16 as a surrogate marker for HR-HPV was analyzed by
      sensitivity and specificity tests. RESULTS: p16 was overexpressed in 8/37 cases
      (21.6%) of OSCC and 2/4 cases (50%) of VC. HPV-16 was detected in 4/34 OSCC cases
      (11.8%) and HPV-18 was detected in 1/34 OSCC cases (2.9%). Co-infection of HPV
      16/18 was detected in 1/4 VC cases (25%). Both p16 overexpression and HR-HPV were
      significantly associated with young patients with both OSCC and VC (<0.05, OR 20,
      95% CI 1.9-211.8; <0.05, OR 23.3, 95% CI 2.4-229.7, respectively). p16 was able
      to predict the presence of HPV-16/18 in OSCC with 40% sensitivity and 79.3%
      specificity and in VC with 100% sensitivity and 66.7% specificity, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: p16 overexpression was found in 24.4% of both OSCC and VC. HR-HPV,
      regardless of type, was detected in 15.8% in cases of OSCC and VC combined. The
      results of sensitivity and specificity tests suggest that p16 can be used as a
      surrogate marker for HR-HPV in OSCC and VC.

PMID- 27644661
TI  - BRCA1 and TP53 Gene-Mutations: Family Predisposition and Radioecological Risk of
      Developing Breast Cancer.
AB  - Frequencies of polymorphisms of genes BRCA1 and TP53 in breast cancer (BC)
      patients with a BC family history and radiation history were assessed and
      compared in the Semey region of Kazakhstan. The study included 60 women directly
      irradiated by the activities of the Semipalatinsk test site with a calculated
      effective equivalent dose of 500 mSv and their first generation descendants
      (group BC+Her+Exp); 65 women with family BC and absence of radiological history -
      the effective equivalent dose due to anthropogenic sources not exceeding 50 mSv
      (group BC+Her-Exp). The comparison group consisted of 65 women patients with
      breast cancer without family and radiological history (BC-Her-Exp). The control
      group comprised 60 women without breast cancer and without family and
      radiological history (nonBC). We carried out the genotyping of the polymorphisms
      c.2311T>C, c.4308T>C and 5382insC of the BRCA1 gene and rs1042522 of the TP53
      gene. The frequency of the polymorphism c.2311T>C was significantly higher in
      patients of the group BC+Her+Exp than in healthy women, and of the polymorphism
      5382insC in BC+Her+Exp compared to all other groups. The frequency of the
      rs1042522 polymorphism of TP53 was significantly higher in all groups of patients
      with breast cancer compared with the control group. Differences between groups of
      women with breast cancer were significant only in BC+Her+Exp vs. BC+Her-Exp.
      Combinations of polymorphisms of the genes BRCA1 and TP53 predominated in women
      with a family and radiological history. 

PMID- 27644662
TI  - CYP2E1 rs2031920, COMT rs4680 Polymorphisms, Cigarette Smoking, Alcohol Use and
      Lung Cancer Risk in a Japanese Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT)
      genes may contribute to susceptibility to lung cancer because of their critical
      involvement in mechanisms of carcinogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated
      the role of CYP2E1 rs2031920 and COMT rs4680 in a case-control study involving
      462 lung cancer cases and 379 controls in Japanese. Logistic regression was used
      to assess adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
      Multiplicative and additive interactions with cigarette smoking or alcohol use
      were also examined. RESULTS: Neither CYP2E1 rs2031920 nor COMT rs4680 was
      associated with lung cancer risk overall. However, smokers with the CC genotype
      of CYP2E1 rs2031920 (OR = 3.57, 95% CI = 2.26-5.63) presented a higher risk of
      lung cancer than those with at least one T allele (OR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.70-4.98)
      as compared to never-smokers with at least one T allele (reference). Subjects
      with excessive drinking and the CC genotype of CYP2E1 rs2031920 had a
      significantly higher risk (OR=2.22, 95% CI =1.39-3.56) than appropriate drinkers
      with at least one T allele. A similar tendency was observed between COMT rs4680
      and either smoking or drinking habits. There were no multiplicative or additive
      interactions between the polymorphisms and either smoking or alcohol use.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that CYP2E1 rs2031920 and COMT rs4680 are not
      major contributors to lung cancer risk in our Japanese population. Future studies
      on the genetics of lung cancer in Japanese and their environment interactions are
      required.

PMID- 27644663
TI  - Value of FDG PET/Contrast-Enhanced CT in Initial Staging of Colorectal Cancer -
      Comparison with Contrast-Enhanced CT.
AB  - BACKGROUND: FDG PET/CT is at an equivocal stage to recommend for staging of
      colorectal cancer as compared to contrast-enhanced CT (ceCT). This study was
      intended to evaluate the value of FDG PET/ceCT in colorectal cancer staging as
      compared to ceCT alone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PET/ceCT was performed for 61
      colorectal cancer patients who were prospectively enrolled in the study. Three
      patients were excluded due to loss to follow-up. PET/ceCT findings and ceCT
      results alone were read separately. The treatment planning was then determined by
      tumor board consensus. The criteria for T staging were determined by the findings
      of ceCT. Nodal positive by PET/ceCT imaging was determined by visual analysis of
      FDG uptake greater than regional background blood pool activity. The diagnostic
      accuracy of T and N staging was determined only in patients who received surgery
      without any neoadjuvant treatment. RESULTS: Of 58 patients, there were 40 with
      colon cancers including sigmoid cancers and 18 with rectal cancers. PET/ceCT in
      pre-operative staging detected bone metastasis and metastatic inguinal lymph
      nodes (M1a) that were undepicted on CT in 2 patients (3%), clearly de ned 19
      equivocal lesions on ceCT in 18 patients (31%) and excluded 6 metastatic lesions
      diagnosed by ceCT in 6 patients (10%). These resulted in alteration of management
      plan in 15 out of the 58 cases (26%) i.e. changing from chemotherapy to surgery
      (4), changing extent of surgery (9) and avoidance of futile surgery (2). Forty
      four patients underwent surgery within 45 days after PET/CT. The diagnostic
      accuracy for N staging with PET/ceCT and ceCT alone was 66% and 48% with false
      positive rates of 24% (6/25) and 76% (19/25) and false negative rates of 47%
      (9/19) and 21% (4/19), respectively. All of the false negative lymph nodes from
      PET/ceCT were less than a centimeter in size and located in peri-lesional
      regions. The diagnostic accuracy for T staging was 82%. The sensitivity of the
      peri-lesional fat stranding sign in determining T3 stage was 94% and the
      specificity was 54%. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested promising roles of PET/ceCT
      in initial staging of colorectal cancer with better diagnostic accuracy
      facilitating management planning.

PMID- 27644664
TI  - Talin-1 and Non-invasive Fibrosis Models in the Assessment of Patients with
      Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a dreadful complication of end
      stage liver disease with high morbidity and mortality. AIM: The aim was to assess
      the role of serum talin-1 and non-invasive brosis in patients with HCC. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A total of eighty seven subjects were enrolled, with 22 two healthy
      individuals as a control group (n=22), 22 patients in the cirrhosis group and
      finally 43 in the group with HCC diagnosed with positive triphasic CT abdomen
      criteria. Serum talin-1 and noninvasive fibrosis parameters were assessed in all
      subjects. RESULTS: Compared to the cirrhosis group, patients with HCC had higher
      serum talin-1 (32.9+/-12.6 vs. 11.1+/-2.79 ng/ml), FIB4 (9.96+/-15.3 vs. 2.90+/
      1.87) and bro-alpha (10.9+/-18.1 vs. 1.55+/-0.28) but not fibrosis index scores
      (4.47+/-0.95 vs. 4.98+/-0.96; p=0.046). Patients with large focal lesions (>=5cm)
      had different ALBI scores (-1.02+/-0.63 vs. -1.72+/-0.59; p=0.001) serum talin-1
      (9.72+/-13.81 vs. 28.6+/-38.89 ng/ml; p=0.007) and brosis index scores (0.85 +/-
      0.99 vs. 4.20+/-4.85; p=0.026). No statistical differences were noted between
      patients with and without portal vein thrombosis. For detection of HCC, serum
      talin-1 had 97.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity with a 17.2 ng/ml cutoff. AFP
      at a 13.7 ng/ml cutoff had 72.1% sensitivity and 6.3.6% specificity. The cutoff
      for the bro-alpha score was 1.61 with 81.4% sensitivity and 77.3% specificity.
      Serum talin-1 (odds=1.08; C.I=1.016-1.150; p=0.014), brosis index score
      (odds=2.35; C.I=1.055-5.217; p=0.037) and the ALBI score (odds=6.9; C.I=1.924
      24.708; p=0.003) were predictors of large focal lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Serum talin
      1, AST/ALT ratio, bro-alpha score are useful for the assessment of HCC patients.

PMID- 27644665
TI  - Lifetime Physical Activity and Breast Cancer: a Case-Control Study in Kelantan,
      Malaysia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth leading risk
      factor for global mortality and is associated with increased breast cancer
      diagnosis and recurrence. PURPOSE: To examine the association between adult
      lifetime physical activity and breast cancer risk in a case-control analysis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study involved 122 cases of breast cancer and 121
      controls in the state of Kelantan in Malaysia. A comprehensive measure of
      lifetime physical activity was used to assess occupational, household, and
      recreational/sports activity. For every type of activity, a metabolic equivalent
      (MET) score was assigned using the compendium of physical activities. MET
      hours/week per year for all types of activities at different levels of
      intensities for different age groups were calculated. Logistic regression
      analysis was used to estimate odds ratios between various measures of physical
      activity and breast cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: The mean MET-hours/week per year
      for all activities were 120.0 and 132.9 of MET-hours/week per year for cases and
      controls respectively. Household activities accounted for about 70% of the total
      lifetime physical activities. Only about 2.5% of the total lifetime physical
      activities were in the form of recreational/sports. This study found no
      association between lifetime occupational and recreational/sports physical
      activities with breast cancer risk among Kelantanese women. However, higher
      intensity lifetime household activities seemed to significantly reduce risk of
      breast cancer.

PMID- 27644666
TI  - Predictive Value of the Pattern of beta-Catenin Expression for Pathological
      Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the association of beta-catenin expression
      pattern with pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast
      cancer (BC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective exploratory
      study, data for 50 BC patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were
      recorded. beta-catenin expression in tumours was assessed using
      immunohistochemistry and classified as either membranous or cytoplasmic according
      to the pattern of staining. Distributions of different clinico-pathological
      parameters according to beta-catenin expression were assessed using the Chi
      square test. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess any relation of the
      pattern of beta-catenin expression with the pathological response. RESULTS:
      Cytoplasmic beta-catenin expression was detected in 34% of BCs. Among our cases,
      52% were hormonal receptor (HR)-positive, 24% were HER2-positive, 74% were
      clinical stage III and 74% received both anthracycline and taxane-based
      chemotherapy. Patients with cytoplasmic expression were more commonly younger
      than 40 years at diagnosis (cytoplasmic, 41.2% vs. no cytoplasmic expression,
      12.1%, p=0.03). By doing t-test, cytoplasmic beta-catenin expression was linked
      with a higher body mass index compared to membranous-only expression (mean+/- SD
      33.0 +/- 4.47 vs. 29.6 +/-6.01, respectively, p=0.046). No significant
      associations were found between beta-catenin expression and other parameters such
      as HR and HER2 status, or clinical stage. Complete pathological response (pCR)
      rate was twice as great in patients with membranous expression but without
      statistical signi cance (membranous- only, 33.3% vs. cytoplasmic, 17.6%, OR=2.3,
      95% CI= 0.55-9.87, p=0.24). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that cytoplasmic
      beta-catenin expression may be linked with lower probability of achieving pCR
      after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. These data need to be validated in a larger
      cohort of patients.

PMID- 27644667
TI  - Spiritual/Religious Coping Strategies and their Relationship with Illness
      Adjustment among Iranian Breast Cancer Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of spiritual/ religious resources is one important coping
      strategy for breast cancer patients. However, the relationship between spiritual
      coping and adjustment to cancer diagnosis has not been well investigated among
      Iranian breast cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive
      correlational study was undertaken among 266 breast cancer patients referred to
      two educational centers in north-western Iran. They were selected using a
      convenience sampling method. The Iranian Religious Coping Scale and Iranian
      Coping Operations Preference Enquiry were used for data collection. The data were
      analyzed using SPSS version 13.0. RESULTS: The study findings showed that Iranian
      cancer patients had a high level of spiritual coping. Also, positive religious
      coping strategies were used more frequently than negative approaches. In
      addition, there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual
      coping and adjustment to cancer among study participants. CONCLUSIONS: Using
      spiritual coping strategies may play a vital role in adjustment process in
      patients with breast cancer. Therefore, having spiritual counseling and
      incorporating coping strategies into the treatment regimen may be effective for
      enhancing illness adjustment in such patients.

PMID- 27644668
TI  - Colorectal Cancer Mortality in Shiraz, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mortality among Iranian patients with colorectal cancer has not been
      fully examined and the factors associated with their survival are still
      controversial. This study aimed to determine the mortality rate and its related
      factors among the patients with colorectal cancer in southwestern regions in
      Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted on 220
      patients with colorectal cancer referred to Fahighi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran from
      2009 to 2014. Data were collected from the patients' medical records and were
      analyzed using Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 29.3
      months, 56 out of the 220 patients (25.5%) died, 32 (14.5%) aged below 40 years,
      and 45.5% were female. Based on the results of multiple Cox regression analysis,
      family history of gastrointestinal cancer, stage III, former smoking, type of
      lesion (fungative and polypoid), and opium use were associated with a greater
      risk of colorectal cancer mortality (all <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This cohort study
      found that the mortality rate of colorectal cancer in Iran is lower than that in
      European countries. In addition, behavioral and clinical factors were
      significantly associated with the survival rate. Addressing the related factors
      would help healthcare providers and physicians provide the best care and improve
      the survival rate.

PMID- 27644669
TI  - Association of Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase 1 Variants with Oral Squamous Cell
      Carcinoma Susceptibility in a South Indian Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral cancers account for approximately 2% of all cancers diagnosed
      each year; however, the vast majority (80%) of the affected individuals are
      smokers whose risk of developing a lesion is five to nine times greater than that
      of non-smokers. Tobacco smoke contains numerous carcinogens that cause DNA
      damage, including oxidative lesions that are removed effectively by the base
      excision repair (BER) pathway, in which poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1),
      plays key roles. Genetic variations in the genes encoding DNA repair enzymes may
      alter their functions. Several studies reported mixed effects on the association
      between PARP-1 variants and the risk of cancer development. Till now no reported
      studies have investigated the association between PARP-1 variants and oral
      squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) risk in an Indian population. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In the present case control study 100 OSCC patients and 100 matched
      controls were genotyped using PARP1 single nucleotide peptides (SNP's) rs1136410
      and rs3219090 using TaqMan assays. RESULTS: The results indicated significantly
      higher risk with PARP1 rs1136410 minor allele "C" (OR=1.909; p=0.02942; CI, 1.060
      3.439). SNP rs1136410 also showed significantly increased risk in patients with
      smoking habit at C/C genotype and at minor allele C. CONCLUSIONS: The PAPR-1
      Ala762Val polymorphism may play a role in progression of OSCC. Larger studies
      with a greater number of samples are needed to verify these findings.

PMID- 27644670
TI  - Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Life Expectancy of Female
      Cancer Patients at Tehran's Dehshpour Institute in 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) increases the psychological
      exibility of people afflicted with cancer, and consequently improves their
      adaptability. The present research was conducted with the aim of determining the
      effectiveness of ACT for people afflicted with cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      present research was of semi-pilot type with a pre-test and post-test plan for
      the proof group. The demographics of the community were composed of all the women
      with cancer who were under treatment in Tehran's Dehshpour therapeutic center in
      2015. The sample was composed of 24 people who were selected as available and
      chosen randomly in two groups of test and proof. All the participants responded
      to Snyder questionnaire in two pre-test and post-test stages, and the test group
      participated in treatment sessions after conducting the pre-test. RESULTS: After
      collecting the information, data analysis was conducted in two description and
      inferential levels. The test results of covariance analysis showed that the two
      groups' hope was meaningfully different. Hope in the test group, compared to the
      proof group, increased meaningfully. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the ACT
      is effective in increasing hope of patients with cancer.

PMID- 27644671
TI  - Epithelial-Specific SHP1-P2 Methylation - a Novel Universal Tumor Marker for
      Detection of Colorectal Cancer Lymph Node Metastasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methylation of promoter 2 of the SHP1 gene is epithelial cell
      specific, with reported potential as a lymph node metastatic marker. OBJECTIVE:
      To demonstrate SHP1-P2 methylation-specific quantitative PCR effectiveness in
      detecting colorectal cancer (CRC) DNA in lymph nodes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SHP1
      P2 methylation levels were measured in lymph nodes of CRC patients and compared
      with pathological findings and patient prognosis. RESULTS: Lymph nodes of CRC
      metastatic patients without microscopically detectable cancer cells had higher
      SHP1-P2 methylation levels than lymph nodes of controls (<0.001). In addition, a
      higher SHP1-P2 methylation level was associated with a shorter duration until
      adverse disease events, metastasis, recurrence and death (r2 = 0.236 and p value
      = 0.048). Studying two cohorts of 74 CRC patients without microscopic lymph node
      metastases showed that only the cohort containing samples with high SHP1-P2
      methylation levels had a significant hazard ratio of 3.8 (95%CI = 1.02 to 14.2).
      CONCLUSIONS: SHP1-P2 methylation PCR can detect CRC cancer DNA in lymph nodes
      even if cancer cells are not visible under a microscope, confirming applicability
      as a potential universal lymph node metastatic marker.

PMID- 27644672
TI  - Effect of Ginger and Chamomile on Nausea and Vomiting Caused by Chemotherapy in
      Iranian Women with Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) places a significant
      burden on the patient. Herbal agents are the most commonly complementary
      therapies used among the public. This study was done to determine the effect of
      ginger and chamomile capsules on nausea and vomiting in cases undergoing
      chemotherapy for breast cancer (BC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a randomized,
      double-blind and clinical trial study, 65 women with BC undergoing chemotherapy
      were referred to Breast Cancer Research Center, Tehran, Iran, between May 2013 to
      June 2014. Regimen for ginger group for 5 days before and 5 days after
      chemotherapy was: 2 times a day and 500 mg capsules of powdered ginger root in
      addition to a routine antiemetic regimen consisting of dexamethasone,
      metoclopramide and aprepitant (DMA) capsules. Chamomile group similarly was: 2
      times a day and 500 mg capsules of Matricaria chamomilla extract in addition to a
      routine antiemetic regimen consisting of DMA capsules. Control group, routine
      antiemetic regimen consisting of DMA capsules. RESULTS: There were no significant
      differences between the ginger, chamomile and control groups regarding age. Drugs
      used for chemotherapy were identical and duration of disease was also matched (1
      4 months). Ginger and chamomile were both significantly effective for reducing
      the frequency of vomiting, there being no significant difference between the
      ginger and chamomile groups. Moreover, unlike the chamomile, ginger significantly
      influenced the frequency of nausea. CONCLUSIONS: According to the findings of
      this study, it should be declared that taking ginger capsules (1 g/day) might
      relieve CINV safely. Nurses dealing directly with cancer patients should be
      responsible for providing educational programs for patients and their families
      about how to deal with their drug regimens and associated side effects.

PMID- 27644673
TI  - Factors Associated with Periductal Fibrosis Diagnosed by Ultrasonography
      Screening among a High Risk Population for Cholangiocarcinoma in Northeast
      Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The population in northeast Thailand continues to present with
      hepatobiliary abnormalities, particularly periductal fibrosis (PDF) which is the
      result of chronic infection with liver fluke (Opisthorchis viverini; OV) and may
      lead to the development of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Although the prevalence of
      OV infection has been decreased due to a liver fluke control program over
      decades, the prevalence of PDF remains high. This study aimed to investigate
      demographic factors associated with PDF risk based on ultrasonography (US)
      screening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study is part of the
      Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP), a prospective cohort
      study. Multiple logistic regression was used for data analysis. RESULTS: In
      55,246 subjects, the overall prevalence of PDF was 33.0% (95%CI: 32.6 - 33.4).
      Males (33.9 %) were at higher risk for developing PDF than females (32.2 %)
      (ORcrude = 0.93; 95%CI: 0.89 - 0.96; p-value < 0.001). Factors associated with an
      increased PDF risk, in addition to OV infection, included old age (>= 70 years)
      (ORadj =1.28, 95% CI: 1.14 - 1.44, <0.001) and hepatitis B infection (ORadj =
      1.31, 95% CI: 1.11 - 1.55, p = 0.001). In contrast, number of praziquantel
      treatments (> 2 times) (ORadj = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.47 - 0.63, <0.001) and diabetes
      mellitus (ORadj =0.57, 95% CI: 0.49 - 0.65, <0.001) were significantly associated
      with a decreased PDF risk. CONCLUSIONS: Future US screening should closely
      examine older people and hepatitis B subjects for the purpose of PDF surveillance
      among high risk groups for CCA. However, the results of inverse associations
      require further investigation in order to confirm our findings.

PMID- 27644674
TI  - Breast Cancer Detection Rate, Incidence, Prevalence and Interval Cancer-related
      Mammography Screening Times among Thai Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A recent guideline by the American Cancer Society recommended that
      mammography (MMG) should be done for women starting in their mid-40s. In
      Thailand, information on opportunistic mammography screening is limited and data
      on the total incidence of breast cancer are also lacking. The purpose of this
      study was to estimate the breast cancer detection, incident and prevalence rates
      among Thai women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the
      opportunistic mammography screening of normal women between 30 and 80 years who
      underwent the procedure between 2001 and 2010. All cases were followed until
      2012. The detection rate was calculated for the whole period of observation using
      'number of women with positive findings' divided by 'total number of women
      screened'. The incidence rate was calculated only at the first MMG while the
      subsequence rate was calculated based on all new cases detected at each
      subsequent MMG. RESULTS: Among the 47,430 women, there were 152,091 MMGs or
      approximately 3.2 occasions per person (range, 1-10). The average duration of the
      interval between each subsequence visit was 1.8 years. Overall, breast cancer was
      detected in 543 women, with a detection rate of 10.3 per 1,000 persons. The
      prevalence rate of breast cancer at the first visit was 5.78 per 1,000 persons.
      The incidence or new cases detected at any follow-up visit was 10.4 per 1,000
      persons. The overall interval cancer was 0.91 per 1,000 women, mainly detected
      before their second and third MMG, with a rate of 0.0.47 and 0.76 per 1,000
      women. CONCLUSIONS: Opportunistic mammography screening in Thailand detected 10
      cases of breast cancer from each 1,000 women. This paper indicated a high rate of
      cancer detection during a two year interval, hence, a screening mammogram should
      be performed more often.

PMID- 27644675
TI  - Accuracy of FDG-PET/CT for Detection of Incidental Pre-Malignant and Malignant
      Colonic Lesions - Correlation with Colonoscopic and Histopathologic Findings.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated all PET/CTs acquired for patients without a primary
      diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and compared results for those who had subsequent
      colonoscopy within 6 months, to assess the accuracy of FDG PET/CT for detection
      of incidental pre-malignant polyps and malignant colon cancers. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Medical records of 9,545 patients who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT studies
      over 3.5 years were retrospectively reviewed. Due to pre-existing diagnosis of
      colorectal cancer, 818 patients were excluded. Of the remainder, 157 patients had
      colonoscopy within 6 months (79 males; mean age 61). We divided the colon into 4
      regions and compared PET/CT results for each region with colonoscopy and
      histopathologic findings. True positive lesions included colorectal cancer,
      villous adenoma, tubulovillous adenoma, tubular adenoma and serrated hyperplastic
      polyp/hyperplastic polyposis. RESULTS: Of 157 patients, 44 had incidental colonic
      uptake on PET/CT (28%). Of those, 25 had true positive (TP) uptake, yielding a
      48% positive predictive value (PPV); 9% (4/44) were adenocarcinoma. There were 23
      false positive (FP) lesions of which 4 were hyperplastic polyps, one was a
      juvenile polyp and 7 were explained by diverticulitis. Fifty eight patients had
      false negative PET scans but colonoscopy revealed true pre-malignant and
      malignant pathology, yielding 23% sensitivity. The specificity, negative
      predictive value (NPV) and accuracy were 96%, 90% and 87%, respectively. The
      average SUVmax values of TP, FP and FN lesions were 7.25, 6.11 and 2.76,
      respectively. There were no significant difference between SUVmax of TP lesions
      and FP lesions (p>0.95) but significantly higher than in FN lesions (p<0.001).
      The average size (by histopathology and colonoscopy) of TP lesions was 18.1 mm,
      statistically different from that of FN lesions which was 5.9 mm (p<0.001). Fifty
      one percent of FN lesions were smaller than 5 mm (29/57) and 88% smaller than 10
      mm (50/57). CONCLUSIONS: The high positive predictive value of incidental focal
      colonic FDG uptake of 48% for colonic neoplasia suggests that colonoscopy follow
      up is warranted with this finding. We observed a low sensitivity of standardly
      acquired FDG-PET/CT for detecting small polyps, especially those less than 5 mm.
      Clinicians and radiologists should be aware of the high PPV of focal colonic
      uptake reflecting pre-malignant and malignant lesions, and the need for
      appropriate follow up.

PMID- 27644676
TI  - Promoter Methylation and Relative mRNA Expression of the p16 Gene in Cervical
      Cancer in North Indians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical carcinoma is one of the main causes of mortality in women
      worldwide as well as in India. It occurs as a result of various molecular events
      that develop from the combined influences of an individual's genetic
      predisposition and external agents such as smoking and menstrual hygiene, for
      example. However, infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the established
      major risk factor. The aim of the current study was to investigate p16 CpG island
      methylation and establish any correlation with mRNA expression in a north Indian
      population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 196 woman volunteers out of which
      98 were cases and 98 healthy controls. For the analysis of methylation pattern,
      DNA extracted from blood samples was modified with a bisulfate kit and used as
      template for methylation specific PCR (MSP). Quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR)
      was performed to check mRNA expression. RESULTS: Correlation between methylation
      status of p16 gene and poor menstrual hygiene was significant (p=0.006), high
      parity cases showed methylation of p16 gene (p=0.031) with increased risk up to
      1.86 times for cervical cancer and smoking was a strong risk factor associated
      with cervical cancer. We analyzed methylation pattern and found 60.3% methylation
      in cases with low mRNA expression level (0.014) as compared to controls (1.24).
      It was also observed that promoter methylation of p16 gene was significantly
      greater in FIGO stage III. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that p16 methylation plays an
      important role in cervical cancer in the north Indian population and its
      methylation decreases mRNA expression. It can be used as an important and
      consistent blood biomarker in cervical cancer patients.

PMID- 27644677
TI  - Plasma Lipidomics as a Tool for Diagnosis of Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma in
      Biliary Strictures: a Pilot Study.
AB  - Biliary obstruction is a common clinical manifestation of various conditions,
      including extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. However, a screening test for
      diagnosis of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with biliary obstruction
      is not yet available. According to the rationale that the biliary system plays a
      major role in lipid metabolism, biliary obstruction may interfere with lipid
      profiles in the body. Therefore, plasma lipidomics may help indicate the presence
      or status of disease in biliary obstruction suspected extrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinoma. This study aimed to use plasma lipidomics for diagnosis of
      extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with biliary obstruction. Plasma from
      healthy volunteers, patients with benign biliary obstruction extrahepatic
      cholangiocarcinoma, and other related cancers were used in this study. Plasma
      lipids were extracted and lipidomic analysis was performed using matrix-assisted
      laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Lipid profiles from
      extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma patients showed significant differences from both
      normal and benign biliary obstruction conditions, with no distinction between the
      latter two. Relative intensity of the selected lipid mass was able to
      successfully differentiate all extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma samples from
      patient samples taken from healthy volunteers, patients with benign biliary
      obstruction, and patients with other related cancers. In conclusion, lipidomics
      is a non-invasive method with high sensitivity and specificity for identification
      of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with biliary obstruction. 

PMID- 27644678
TI  - Prevalence and Risk Assessment of Cervical Cancer Screening by Papanicolaou Smear
      and Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid for Pregnant Women at a Thai Provincial
      Hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the second most common in Thailand, but the
      mortality rate may be rising yearly. It is a cancer that can be prevented by
      early screening for precancerous lesions, several methods being available.
      OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of abnormal Papanicolaou (Pap) smears and
      lesions with visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in pregnant women and
      assess risk factors for this group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study
      was performed at Prapokklao Hospital, Thailand during April-July 2016. All
      pregnant women of gestational age between 12-36 weeks who attended an antenatal
      clinic were recruited. All participants were screened for cervical cancer by Pap
      smear and VIA. If results of one or both were abnormal, colposcopic examination
      was evaluated by gynecologic oncologist. RESULTS: A total of 414 pregnant women
      were recruited. Prevalence of abnormal Pap smear and VIA were 6.0 and 6.7
      percent, respectively. The most common abnormal Pap smear was low grade
      intraepithelial lesion (LSIL, 44%). Factors associated with abnormal Pap smear in
      pregnant women were low BMI, multiple partners and being a government officer. In
      pregnancy, Pap smear had higher sensitivity and specificity than VIA for
      detection of precancerous cervical lesion. Patients with young coitarche or more
      than 25 years of active sexual activity were high risk groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Prevalence of abnormal Pap smear and VIA in pregnant women was 6.0 and 6.7
      percent, respectively. Factors associated with abnormal Pap smear were coitarche,
      years of sexual activity, low BMI, multiple partners and being a government
      officer.

PMID- 27644679
TI  - Mesotheliomas in Lebanon: Witnessing a Change in Epidemiology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesotheliomas are relatively rare tumors in Lebanon. The only
      previous study goes back to 14 years ago, when we published epidemiological
      characteristics of mesotheliomas in Lebanon, showing that the pleural location
      accounted for the vast majority of cases, with clear evidence of asbestos
      exposure from the Eternit factory of Chekka region. The objective of this current
      study was to estimate the incidence of mesothelioma in the past decade and to
      identify its epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic characteristics, making
      comparisons with our first study published in 2001. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Between 2002 and 2014, patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma at Hotel
      Dieu de France University Hospital were investigated. Epidemiological data
      focusing on asbestos exposure history were collected from medical records and
      interviews with the families. RESULTS: A total of 26 patients were diagnosed with
      mesothelioma, 21 of which were successfully investigated. The mean age of these
      21 patients is 62.5 (19-82). Only 3 (14.29%) are women. 18 (85.71%) were smokers.
      Among the 21 available mesotheliomas, 15 (71.4%) are pleural, while 5 (23.8%) are
      peritoneal and 1 (4.8%) pericardial. Only 60% of patients with pleural
      mesothelioma and 50% of those with an obvious exposure to asbestos lived and/or
      worked in Chekka region. The mean time of asbestos exposure in patients with
      mesothelioma is 24.5 (1-50) years and the mean latency is 37.4 (4-61) years. Of
      the 21 patients, 10 (47.6%) underwent surgery during their treatment, 16 (76.2%)
      received chemotherapy and 3 (14.3%) received best supportive care. CONCLUSIONS:
      Compared to the previous study (1991-2000), substantial changes in the
      epidemiology of mesothelioma in Lebanon were observed, such as an increase in
      peritoneal localizations and a lower correlation with Chekka region asbestos
      contamination.

PMID- 27644681
TI  - Increased Trend of Haematological Malignancies in Kurdistan Region/Iraq.

PMID- 27644680
TI  - Prevalence and Factors Associated with Oral Pre-Malignant Lesions in Northeast
      Thailand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral cavity cancer (OCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide.
      No studies have reported on the prevalence and epidemiologic risk factors of oral
      premalignant lesions (OPLs) in Thailand. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the prevalence of OPLs and associated factors in Roi Et Province,
      Thailand. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To investigate the prevalence of OPLs, a cross
      sectional descriptive study was conducted in which 2,300 subjects over 40 years
      of age were recruited and screened for the prevalence of OPLs. To identify
      factors associated with OPLs, a matched case-control study was used in which the
      subjects were 102 cases with OPL and 102 matched controls without OPLs. The
      studies were conducted in Roi Et Province during the period 1 February, 2014, to
      30 April, 2014, and the data were collected by the use of a structured interview
      questionnaire and by extraction of information from medical records. Data
      analyses involved the use of descriptive statistics, McNemar's test, and
      conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of OPLs was
      3.8%, and no-one was diagnosed with more than one type of OPL. The factors found
      to be associated with a statistically significant higher risk of an OPL were
      betel nut chewing, smoking, and alcohol consumption. The associations with these
      factors were strong, especially for betel nut chewing and smoking. CONCLUSIONS:
      The habits of betel nut chewing, smoking, and alcohol use are confirmed as
      factors associated with OPLs in a population of Roi Et Province, Thailand.
      Campaigns to reduce such risk healthy behaviour are needed, but whether any
      actual decrease will prevent the eventual transformation of an OPL into an OCC
      remains an open question.

PMID- 27644682
TI  - Role of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging in Radiation Therapy Planning and
      Toxicity.

PMID- 27644683
TI  - Effect of short-term exposure of cumulus-oocyte complex to 3
      morpholinosydnonimine on in vitro embryo development and gene expression in
      cattle.
AB  - Short-term exposure of gametes to different types of stress might induce stress
      tolerance in mammalian embryos. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect
      of short-term exposure of bovine mature cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) to 3
      morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1) on subsequent in vitro embryo development, embryo
      quality and relative gene expression. Matured COCs were incubated with SIN-1 (0,
      0.1, 1, 10 and 100 MUM SIN-1) for 1 hr before in vitro fertilization and zygotes
      were cultured until Day 7. The cleavage rate at 72 hr did not show any
      differences among groups. However, the blastocyst rate on Day 7 decreased with
      all treatments evaluated, with the embryos generated with 10 MUM SIN-1 showing
      the lowest embryo production rate. Embryo quality analysis did not show any
      differences in total cell number (TCN) or inner cell mass (ICM) among groups.
      Relative gene expression analysis showed a downregulation of eNOS expression and
      an upregulation of nNOS expression in all treatments evaluated compared to the
      control group. Also, a downregulation was observed in some treatments: SOD2 at
      0.1 MUM; SOD1 at 0.1 and 100 MUM; PRDX5 at 0.1, 10 and 100 MUM; and NANOG at 10
      and 100 MUM; and an upregulation of CDX2 expression was observed at 100 MUM. The
      other genes (OCT4, HIF1A, HSPA1A, BCL2A and iNOS) did not show any differences in
      the relative gene expression. These results suggest that the short-term exposure
      of mature bovine COCs to SIN-1 does not induce stress tolerance and has no
      beneficial effect on bovine in vitro embryo production.

PMID- 27644691
TI  - Target attainment analysis and optimal sampling designs for population
      pharmacokinetic study on piperacillin/tazobactam in neonates and young infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Population pharmacokinetic (popPK) analyses for
      piperacillin/tazobactam in neonates and infants of less than 2 months of age have
      been performed by our group previously. The results indicate that a dose of
      44.44/5.56 mg/kg piperacillin/tazobactam every 8 or 12 h may not be enough for
      controlling infection in this population. In order to determine the appropriate
      dosing regimen and to provide a rationale for the development of dosing
      guidelines suitable for this population, further popPK studies of
      piperacillin/tazobactam would need to be conducted. The aim of the present study
      was to determine the appropriate dosing regimen and optimal sampling schedules in
      neonates and infants of less than 2 months of age. METHODS: Pharmacodynamic
      profiling of piperacillin using Monte Carlo simulation was performed to explore
      the target attainment probability of different dosing regimens for infections
      caused by different isolated pathogens. D-optimal designs for piperacillin and
      tazobactam were conducted separately, and the times that overlapped were chosen
      as the final sampling scheme for future popPK studies in neonates and young
      infants of less than 2 months of age. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that
      compared to the current empirical piperacillin/tazobactam dose regimen (50 mg/kg
      every 12 h by 5-min infusion in our hospital), the clinical outcome could be
      improved by increasing doses, increasing administration frequency, and prolonging
      intravenous infusion in neonates and infants of less than 2 months of age. The
      following optimal sampling windows were chosen as the final sampling scheme: 0.1
      0.11, 0.26-0.29, 0.97-2.62, and 7.95-11.9 h administered every 12 h with 5-min
      infusion; 0.1-0.12, 0.39-0.56, 2.86-4.95, and 8.91-11.8 h administered every 12 h
      with 3-h infusion; 0.1-0.11, 0.22-0.29, 0.91-1.96, and 5.56-7.93 h administered
      every 8 h with 5-min infusion; 0.1-0.11, 0.38-0.48, 2.54-3.82, and 6.86-7.93 h
      administered every 8 h with 3-h infusion; 0.1-0.11, 0.25-0.28, 0.84-1.69, and
      4.55-5.94 h administered every 6 h with 5-min infusion; and 0.1-0.11, 0.37-0.54,
      3.13-3.72, and 5.57-5.99 h administered every 6 h with 3-h infusion. CONCLUSIONS:
      The dosing regimen and sampling schedules proposed in this study should be
      evaluated in future popPK studies of piperacillin/tazobactam in neonates and
      infants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that combined
      optimal sampling design with Monte Carlo simulation for designing popPK studies
      of piperacillin/tazobactam.

PMID- 27644688
TI  - Influence of glioblastoma contact with the lateral ventricle on survival: a meta
      analysis.
AB  - The ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ), which lies in the walls of the
      lateral ventricles (LV), is the largest neurogenic niche within the adult brain.
      Whether radiographic contact with the LV influences survival in glioblastoma
      (GBM) patients remains unclear. We assimilated and analyzed published data
      comparing survival in GBM patients with (LV+GBM) and without (LV-GBM)
      radiographic LV contact. PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane electronic databases were
      searched. Fifteen studies with survival data on LV+GBM and LV-GBM patients were
      identified. Their Kaplan-Meier survival curves were digitized and pooled for
      generation of median overall (OS) and progression free (PFS) survivals and log
      rank hazard ratios (HRs). The log-rank and reported multivariate HRs after
      accounting for the common predictors of GBM survival were analyzed separately by
      meta-analyses. The calculated median survivals (months) from pooled data were
      12.95 and 16.58 (OS), and 4.54 and 6.25 (PFS) for LV+GBMs and LV-GBMs,
      respectively, with an overall log-rank HRs of 1.335 [1.204-1.513] (OS) and 1.387
      [1.225-1.602] (PFS). Meta-analysis of log-rank HRs resulted in summary HRs of
      1.58 [1.35-1.85] (OS, 10 studies) and 1.41 [1.22-1.64] (PFS, 5 studies). Meta
      analysis of multivariate HRs resulted in summary HRs of 1.35 [1.14-1.58] (OS, 6
      studies) and 1.64 [0.88-3.05] (PFS, 3 studies). Patients with GBM contacting the
      LV have lower survival. This effect may be independent of the common predictors
      of GBM survival, suggesting a clinical influence of V-SVZ contact on GBM biology.

PMID- 27644692
TI  - Genetic and environmental influences on the germination of basidiospores in the
      Cryptococcus neoformans species complex.
AB  - In basidiomycetous fungi, the viability of basidiospores is an important
      component of sexual fitness. However, relatively little is known about the
      genetic and environmental factors influencing basidiospore germination. In this
      study, we used human opportunistic yeast pathogens, Cryptococcus neoformans and
      Cryptococcus deneoformans, as models to investigate the potential effects of
      selected genetic and environmental factors on basidiospore germination. A total
      of five strains with known genome structure were used to construct six crosses,
      three of which were between strains within the same species, while the remaining
      three were hybrid crosses between C. neoformans and C. deneoformans. Offspring
      from these crosses were incubated on two media (a nutrient-limiting and a
      nutrient-rich) and three temperatures (23  degrees C, 30  degrees C, and 37 
      degrees C). In general, spores from intra-specific crosses had greater
      germination rates than those from inter-specific crosses. Of the two
      environmental factors, temperature showed a greater influence than nutrient
      medium, with the 37  degrees C environment yielding lower germination rates than
      at 23  degrees C and 30  degrees C environments in most crosses. Furthermore,
      there were notable interaction effects between environmental factors and parental
      strains or strain pairs on basidiospore germination. We discuss the implications
      of these results on pathogenesis and speciation in this human fungal pathogen.

PMID- 27644693
TI  - TIMP1 is a prognostic marker for the progression and metastasis of colon cancer
      through FAK-PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1) plays a vital
      role in carcinogenesis, yet its precise functional roles and regulation remain
      unclear. In this study, we aim to investigate its biological function and
      clinical significance in human colon cancer. METHODS: We analyzed the expression
      of TIMP1 in both public database (Oncomine and TCGA) and 94 cases of primary
      colon cancer and matched normal colon tissue specimens. The underlying mechanisms
      of altered TIMP1 expression on cell tumorigenesis, proliferation, and metastasis
      were explored in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: TIMP1 was overexpressed in colon
      tumorous tissues and lymph node metastasis specimens than in normal tissues. The
      aberrant expression of TIMP1 was significantly associated with the regional lymph
      node metastasis (p = 0.033), distant metastasis (p = 0.039), vascular invasion (p
      = 0.024) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (p = 0.026). Cox
      proportional hazards model showed that TIMP1 was an independent prognostic
      indicator of disease-free survival (HR = 2.603, 95 % CI: 1.115-6.077, p = 0.027)
      and overall survival (HR = 2.907, 95 % CI: 1.254-6.737, p = 0.013) for patients
      with colon cancer. Consistent with this, our findings highlight that suppression
      of TIMP1 expression decreased proliferation, and metastasis but increased
      apoptosis by inducing TIMP1 specific regulated FAK-PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathway.
      CONCLUSION: TIMP1 might play an important role in promoting tumorigenesis and
      metastasis of human colon cancer and function as a potential prognostic indicator
      for colon cancer.

PMID- 27644694
TI  - New water-soluble palladium(II) complexes of lidocaine and phenylcyanamide
      derivative ligands: cytotoxicity and cellular response mechanisms.
AB  - Three new palladium(II) complexes of lidocaine and phenylcyanamide derivative
      ligands of formula K[Pd(2,6-Me2pcyd)2(LC)], 1, K[Pd(2,6-Et2pcyd)2(LC)], 2,
      K[Pd(2,6-Cl2pcyd)2(LC)], 3 (LC: lidocaine, 2,6-Me2pcyd: 2,6-dimethyl
      phenylcyanamide, 2,6-Et2pcyd: 2,6-diethyl phenylcyanamide, 2,6-Cl2pcyd: 2,6
      dichloro phenylcyanamide) have been synthesized and fully characterized. The
      complexes 1-3 revealed a significant in vitro antiproliferative activity against
      human ovarian carcinoma (A2780), colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29), breast (MCF
      7), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2) and lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cancer
      cell lines. All the complexes are more active than cisplatin and follow the trend
      2 > 1 > 3. Mechanistic studies showed that the trend in cytotoxicity of the
      Pd(II) complexes is mainly consistent with their ability to accumulate into
      cancer cells and to increase intracellular basal reactive oxygen species levels,
      which consequently results in the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and
      apoptosis induction.

PMID- 27644697
TI  - Evaluation of PACE (Prevent Addictions through Children's Education) Tobacco
      Awareness Program for School Children in Pune and Mumbai.

PMID- 27644695
TI  - Reducing repeat pregnancies in adolescence: applying realist principles as part
      of a mixed-methods systematic review to explore what works, for whom, how and
      under what circumstances.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous research has demonstrated emotional, psychological and
      educational harm to young mothers following unintended conceptions. The UK has
      one of the highest rates of pregnancies in adolescence in Western Europe with a
      high proportion of these being repeat pregnancies, making it a topic of interest
      for public health policy makers, and health and social care practitioners. As
      part of a wider mixed-methods systematic review, realist principles were applied
      to synthesise evidence about interventions aiming to reduce repeat pregnancies in
      adolescence. METHODS: A multi-streamed, mixed-methods systematic review was
      conducted searching 11 major electronic databases and 9 additional databases from
      1995 onwards, using key terms such as pregnancy, teen or adolescent. The
      principles of realist synthesis were applied to all included literature to
      uncover theories about what works, for whom, how and in what context. Initial
      theory areas were developed through evidence scoping, group discussion by the
      authors and stakeholder engagement to uncover context + mechanism = outcome (CMO)
      configurations and related narratives. RESULTS: The searches identified 8,664
      documents initially, and 403 in repeat searches, filtering to 81 included
      studies, including qualitative studies, randomised controlled trials,
      quantitative studies and grey literature. Three CMO configurations were
      developed. The individual experiences of young mothers' triggered self-efficacy,
      notions of perceived risks, susceptibility and benefits of pregnancy, resulting
      in the adolescent taking control of their fertility and sexual encounters. The
      choice between motherhood and other goals triggered notions of motivations,
      resulting in the adolescent managing their expectations of motherhood and
      controlling their fertility and sexual encounters. Barriers and facilitators to
      accessing services triggered notions of connectedness and self-determination;
      resulting in interventions that are tailored so they are relevant to young
      persons, and improve access to services and engagement with the issue of
      pregnancy in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy in adolescence is a complex
      issue with many factors to consider. The conceptual platform described here could
      help guide policy makers and professionals towards a number of areas that need to
      be attended to in order to increase the likelihood of an intervention working to
      prevent rapid repeat pregnancy in adolescence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO
      CRD42012003168.

PMID- 27644698
TI  - Cognitive, social, and neural determinants of diminished decision-making and
      financial exploitation risk in aging and dementia: A review and new model.
AB  - In this article we will briefly review how changes in brain and in cognitive and
      social functioning, across the spectrum from normal to pathological aging, can
      lead to decision-making impairments that increase abuse risk in many life domains
      (e.g., health care, social engagement, financial management). The review will
      specifically focus on emerging research identifying neural, cognitive, and social
      markers of declining financial decision-making capacity in older adults. We will
      highlight how these findings are opening avenues for early detection and new
      interventions to reduce exploitation risk.

PMID- 27644699
TI  - Unruptured internal carotid artery bifurcation aneurysms: general features and
      overall results after modern treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internal carotid artery bifurcation aneurysms (ICAbifAs) present
      unique challenges to endovascular and surgical operators, and little is known
      about their natural history. We reviewed our institution's experience with
      ICAbifAs studying outcomes of surgical and endovascular management and natural
      history. METHODS: Consecutive patients with unruptured ICAbifAs evaluated and/or
      treated over an 8-year interval were studied. Baseline demographics,
      neurovascular risk factors, aneurysm location and size, clinical presentation,
      treatment recommendations, and outcomes were prospectively collected and
      retrospectively analyzed. Continuous variables were compared with Student's t
      test and categorical variables with Chi-square tests. RESULTS: Fifty-nine
      patients with 61 unruptured ICAbifAs were included. Seven aneurysms were treated
      surgically (11.5 %), 22 underwent endovascular treatment (36 %), and 32 were
      managed conservatively (52.5 %). In the surgical group, short- and long-term
      complete aneurysm occlusion rates were 100 % with no cases of perioperative or
      long-term permanent morbidity or treatment-related mortality. In the endovascular
      group, two patients (11.7 %) with giant aneurysms had perioperative
      thromboembolic events with transient morbidity. There was one case of aneurysm
      rupture at follow-up in a giant aneurysm treated with partial coil embolization.
      Complete/near-complete occlusion rates were 63 %. There was one case of aneurysm
      rupture after 114 aneurysm-years of follow-up in the conservative management
      group (0.89 %/year), but no ruptures were observed in small aneurysms selected
      for conservative management. CONCLUSIONS: Unruptured small ICAbifAs have a benign
      natural history. In patients selected for treatment, excellent results can be
      achieved in the vast majority of patients with judicious use of endovascular and
      surgical therapy.

PMID- 27644700
TI  - Arterial aneurysms associated with arteriovenous malformations of the brain:
      classification, incidence, risk of hemorrhage, and treatment-a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aneurysms associated with brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs)
      influence the natural history of these lesions and pose important therapeutic
      challenges. However, the epidemiology, natural history, and appropriate
      management of the aneurysms associated with bAVMs are not completely understood
      due to the paucity of large and uniform studies. We performed a systematic review
      of published series examining the association between aneurysms and bAVMs with
      the purpose of clarifying the prevalence, risk of hemorrhage, and appropriate
      management of these lesions. METHOD: PRISMA/MOOSE guidelines were followed. We
      conducted a comprehensive literature search of three databases (PubMed, Ovid
      MEDLINE, and Ovid EMBASE) on aneurysms associated with bAVMs. Only studies
      examining consecutive case series of aneurysms associated with bAVMs were
      included. From the collected studies, we extracted data regarding prevalence of
      bAVM-associated aneurysms, risk of aneurysm rupture in relation to bAVM location
      and aneurysm characteristics, and treatment-related outcomes. RESULTS: Our
      systematic review included 44 articles with a total of 10,093 bAVMs. The
      proportion of bAVMs with an associated aneurysm was 20.2 % (95 % CI = 19.4-20.9
      %). Among ruptured bAVMs with associated aneurysms, the aneurysm was the source
      of hemorrhage in 49.2 % (95 % CI = 43.7-54.7 %) of cases. Flow-related aneurysms
      were the most common source of aneurysm rupture (78.5 %, 95 % CI = 70.6-84.9 %).
      Infratentorial bAVM-associated aneurysms presented a higher risk of rupture (60
      %, 95 % CI = 47.4-71.9 %) when compared with supratentorial lesions (29 %, 95 %
      CI = 21.4-38.5 %). Endovascular treatment of aneurysms associated with bAVMs had
      a cure rate of 80.0 % (95 % CI = 73.3-85.3 %), complication rate of 8.7 % (95 %
      CI = 5.5-13.1 %), and a good neurological outcome rate of 78.8 % (95 % CI = 72.5
      83.9 %). CONCLUSIONS: Twenty percent of bAVMs harbored arterial aneurysms. The
      presence of aneurysm increases the risk of bleeding of the bAVM, especially when
      flow-related or infratentorially located. Aneurysms associated with bAVMs should
      be treated promptly. Selective endovascular treatment of bAVM-associated
      aneurysms appears safe and effective.

PMID- 27644701
TI  - Letter to the editor: Microsurgical decompression for central lumbar spinal
      stenosis: a single-center observational study.

PMID- 27644702
TI  - Accelerated intestinal epithelial cell turnover after bowel resection in a rat is
      correlated with inhibited hedgehog signaling cascade.
AB  - PURPOSE: The hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is one of the key regulators of
      gastrointestinal tract development. Recent studies point to the role of hedgehog
      signaling in regulating adult stem cells involved in maintenance and regeneration
      of intestinal stem cells. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of
      Hh signaling during intestinal adaptation in a rat model of short bowel syndrome
      (SBS). METHODS: Male rats were divided into two groups: Sham rats underwent bowel
      transection and SBS rats underwent a 75 % bowel resection. Parameters of
      intestinal adaptation, enterocyte proliferation, and apoptosis were determined 2
      weeks after operation. Illumina's Digital Gene Expression analysis was used to
      determine the Hh signaling gene expression profiling. Hh-related genes and
      protein expression were determined using Real-Time PCR, Western blotting, and
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Massive small bowel resection resulted in a
      significant increase in enterocyte proliferation and concomitant increase in cell
      apoptosis. From the total number of 20,000 probes, 13 genes related to Hh
      signaling were investigated. In jejunum, eight genes were down-regulated, three
      genes up-regulated, and two genes remained unchanged. In ileum, five genes were
      down-regulated and six genes were unchanged in SBS vs sham animals. SBS rats also
      demonstrated a significant three- to fourfold decrease in SMO, GIL, and PTCH
      mRNA, and protein levels (determined by Real-Time PCR and Western blot) compared
      to control animals. CONCLUSION: Two weeks following massive bowel resection in
      rats, the accelerated cell turnover was accompanied by an inhibited Hh signaling
      pathway. Hh signaling may serve as an important mediator of reciprocal
      interactions between the epithelium and the underlying mesenchymal stroma during
      intestinal adaptation following massive bowel resection in a rat.

PMID- 27644704
TI  - A qualitative analysis of interprofessional healthcare team members' perceptions
      of patient barriers to healthcare engagement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthcare systems increasingly engage interprofessional healthcare
      team members such as case managers, social workers, and community health workers
      to work directly with patients and improve population health. This study elicited
      perspectives of interprofessional healthcare team members regarding patient
      barriers to health and suggestions to address these barriers. METHODS: This is a
      qualitative study employing focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 39
      interprofessional healthcare team members in Philadelphia to elicit perceptions
      of patients' needs and experiences with the health system, and suggestions for
      positioning health care systems to better serve patients. Themes were identified
      using a content analysis approach. RESULTS: Three focus groups and 21 interviews
      were conducted with 26 hospital-based and 13 ambulatory-based participants. Three
      domains emerged to characterize barriers to care: social determinants, health
      system factors, and patient trust in the health system. Social determinants
      included insurance and financial shortcomings, mental health and substance abuse
      issues, housing and transportation-related limitations, and unpredictability
      associated with living in poverty. Suggestions for addressing these barriers
      included increased financial assistance from the health system, and building a
      workforce to address these determinants directly. Health care system factors
      included poor care coordination, inadequate communication of hospital discharge
      instructions, and difficulty navigating complex systems. Suggestions for
      addressing these barriers included enhanced communication between care sites,
      patient-centered scheduling, and improved patient education especially in
      discharge planning. Finally, factors related to patient trust of the health
      system emerged. Participants reported that patients are often intimidated by the
      health system, mistrusting of physicians, and fearful of receiving a serious
      diagnosis or prognosis. A suggestion for mitigating these issues was increased
      visibility of the health system within communities to foster trust and help
      providers gain a better understanding of unique community needs. CONCLUSION: This
      work explored interprofessional healthcare team members' perceptions of patient
      barriers to healthcare engagement. Participants identified barriers related to
      social determinants of health, complex system organization, and patient mistrust
      of the health system. Participants offered concrete suggestions to address these
      barriers, with suggestions supporting current healthcare reform efforts that aim
      at addressing social determinants and improving health system coordination and
      adding new insight into how systems might work to improve patient and community
      trust.

PMID- 27644705
TI  - An unusual case of vertigo: the usefulness of nystagmus examination.

PMID- 27644703
TI  - Klinefelter syndrome (KS): genetics, clinical phenotype and hypogonadism.
AB  - Klinefelter Syndrome (KS) is characterized by an extreme heterogeneity in its
      clinical and genetic presentation. The relationship between clinical phenotype
      and genetic background has been partially disclosed; nevertheless, physicians are
      aware that several aspects concerning this issue are far to be fully understood.
      By improving our knowledge on the role of some genetic aspects as well as on the
      KS, patients' interindividual differences in terms of health status will result
      in a better management of this chromosomal disease. The aim of this review is to
      provide an update on both genetic and clinical phenotype and their
      interrelationships.

PMID- 27644706
TI  - Evaluation of liver enzyme levels and identification of asymptomatic liver
      disease patients in primary care.
AB  - The evaluation of serum liver enzyme levels is the most used surrogate marker of
      liver injury in clinical practice. The prevalence and association of abnormal
      enzyme values with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      infections, and with other major causes of liver damage (obesity, diabetes,
      dyslipidemia, and alcohol abuse) were evaluated in individuals attending the
      surgeries of 14 general practitioners (GPs) working in Messina. Alanine-amino
      transferase, aspartate-amino-transferase, and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase
      measurements were measured in 7816 individuals consecutively attending the GP
      surgeries between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. Five-thousand-eight-hundred
      six subjects (74.3 %) had the tests performed, and 1189 of them (20.5 %) showed
      increased liver enzyme levels. Sixty-nine of these 1189 individuals (5.8 %) were
      HCV positive and 12 HBV positive (1 %), 755 (63.5 %) were overweight or obese,
      288 (24.2 %) had diabetes, and 351 (29.5 %) had dyslipidemia; 262 (22 %) drank >2
      alcoholic units/day. Overall, 57 % of individuals with abnormal liver enzymes had
      multiple possible causes of liver disease, 28 % one cause, and 15 % no apparent
      cause. In conclusion, this study shows that 1/5 of individuals attending GP
      surgeries have altered liver biochemistry and that overweight and metabolic
      disorders have become the major causes of liver damage even in South Italy, where
      HBV and HCV were endemic in the past century. Notably, many HCV and HBV patients
      are still unaware of their infected status, and GPs are essential for their
      timely identification.

PMID- 27644707
TI  - Predictors of the discrepancy between objective and subjective cognition in
      bipolar disorder: a novel methodology.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The poor relationship between subjective and objective cognitive
      impairment in bipolar disorder (BD) is well-established. However, beyond simple
      correlation, this has not been explored further using a methodology that
      quantifies the degree and direction of the discrepancy. This study aimed to
      develop such a methodology to explore clinical characteristics predictive of
      subjective-objective discrepancy in a large BD patient cohort. METHODS: Data from
      109 remitted BD patients and 110 healthy controls were pooled from previous
      studies, including neuropsychological test scores, self-reported cognitive
      difficulties, and ratings of mood, stress, socio-occupational capacity, and
      quality of life. Cognitive symptom 'sensitivity' scores were calculated using a
      novel methodology, with positive scores reflecting disproportionately more
      subjective complaints than objective impairment and negative values reflecting
      disproportionately more objective than subjective impairment ('stoicism').
      RESULTS: More subsyndromal depressive and manic symptoms, hospitalizations, BD
      type II, and being male positively predicted 'sensitivity', while higher verbal
      IQ predicted more 'stoicism'. 'Sensitive' patients were characterized by greater
      socio-occupational difficulties, more perceived stress, and lower quality of
      life. CONCLUSION: Objective neuropsychological assessment seems especially
      warranted in patients with (residual) mood symptoms, BD type II, chronic illness,
      and/or high IQ for correct identification of cognitive deficits before
      commencement of treatments targeting cognition.

PMID- 27644710
TI  - A characterization of the coevolutionary shift model of treatable hereditary
      illness based on cystic fibrosis.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644708
TI  - "A Body Like a Baby": Social Self-Care among Older People with Chronic HIV in
      Mombasa.
AB  - As part of the chronic disease paradigm now widely used for HIV in sub-Saharan
      Africa, antiretroviral treatment programs emphasize self-care. In the informal
      settlements of Mombasa, Kenya, the management of stress-associated with economic
      precariousness-plays a significant role in self-care practices and ideologies.
      Based on ethnographic fieldwork, we examine how local narratives of stress and
      self-care intertwine with social responsibilities of older HIV-positive people.
      For older Mombassans, living with 'chronic' HIV means living with an
      unpredictable body, which affects how they are able to care for their kin. The
      physical reality of living with HIV thus shapes relational networks, making self
      care a social practice. While, for some self-care entails managing the body so
      that its needs are hidden from loved ones, a kind of 'protective secrecy,' others
      enlist the support of their children and grandchildren in managing their body,
      and in that process subtly redefine generational expectations and
      responsibilities.

PMID- 27644711
TI  - Podiatric Medicine in the United Kingdom.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644712
TI  - Pattern of pulmonary tuberculosis in Benghazi Region, Libya.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644713
TI  - Patterns of resistance to antituberculous drugs in Eastern Province, Saudi
      Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644714
TI  - Utilization of Primary Health Care Services during Hajj.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644715
TI  - Costs and benefits of varicella screening and vaccination for healthcare workers
      at a general hospital.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644716
TI  - Neonatal septicemia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644717
TI  - Effect of Ramadan fasting on serum lipid profiles in normal and hyperlipidemic
      subjects.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644718
TI  - Barriers to compliance among diabetics in Asir Region.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644719
TI  - Epilepsy and driving in Saudi Arabia. A pilot study.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644720
TI  - Profile of stroke in Bahrain.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644722
TI  - Congenital varicella syndrome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644723
TI  - Abdominal wall necrosis and disruption in a seat belt injury.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644721
TI  - Cesarean delivery of the second twin after vaginal delivery of the first twin.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644724
TI  - Hypercalcemia due to parathyroid adenoma.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644725
TI  - Mesenteric panniculitis of the sigmoid colon.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644726
TI  - Gastric volvulus in infancy and childhood.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644727
TI  - Value of correction for low albumin when calculating anion gap in neonates.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644728
TI  - Multivisceral resection and intraperitoneal chemotherapy in recurrent intra-and
      extrahepatic HCC.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644729
TI  - Care of the elderly: Parallel Thinking.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644730
TI  - International Symposium on recent advances in surgery.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644731
TI  - Role of Nucleated red blood cell count in cases of birth asphyxia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27644732
TI  - Functional Heartburn Overlaps With Irritable Bowel Syndrome More Often than GERD.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
      in patients with typical reflux symptoms as distinguished into gastroesophageal
      reflux disease (GERD), hypersensitive esophagus (HE), and functional heartburn
      (FH) by means of endoscopy and multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII)-pH
      monitoring. The secondary aim was to detect pathophysiological and clinical
      differences between different sub-groups of patients with heartburn. METHODS:
      Patients underwent a structured interview based on questionnaires for GERD, IBS,
      anxiety, and depression. Off-therapy upper-gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and 24
      h MII-pH monitoring were performed in all cases. In patients with IBS, fecal
      calprotectin was measured and colonoscopy was scheduled for values >100 mg/kg to
      exclude organic disease. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed
      to identify independent risk factors for FH. RESULTS: Of the 697 consecutive
      heartburn patients who entered the study, 454 (65%) had reflux-related heartburn
      (GERD+HE), whereas 243 (35%) had FH. IBS was found in 147/454 (33%) GERD/HE but
      in 187/243 (77%) FH patients (P<0.001). At multivariate analysis, IBS and anxiety
      were independent risk factors for FH in comparison with reflux-related heartburn
      (GERD+HE). CONCLUSIONS: IBS overlaps more frequently with FH than with GERD and
      HE, suggesting common pathways and treatment. HE showed intermediate
      characteristic between GERD and FH.

PMID- 27644733
TI  - Association of Hepatitis B Core-Related Antigen With Hepatitis B Virus
      Reactivation in Occult Viral Carriers Undergoing High-Risk Immunosuppressive
      Therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) is a novel serum marker
      that correlates with intrahepatic hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity. Its
      association with HBV reactivation in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative
      antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc)-positive patients undergoing high
      risk immunosuppressive therapy is undefined. METHODS: HBcrAg was measured in
      HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc-positive Asian patients with undetectable HBV DNA, who
      participated in two prospective studies investigating HBV reactivation during
      rituximab-containing chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT). Patients were monitored every 4 weeks for up to 2 years,
      with entecavir started when HBV reactivation, defined as HBV DNA >=10 IU ml-1,
      developed. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-four HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc-positive
      patients (rituximab, N=62; allogeneic HSCT, N=62) with a median follow-up of 64
      weeks (range: 4-104 weeks) were studied. HBV reactivation occurred in 31
      patients, with a 2-year cumulative reactivation rate of 40.4%. Serum HBcrAg was
      detected in 43 (34.7%) patients. Baseline HBcrAg positivity was significantly
      associated with HBV reactivation (P=0.004, hazard ratio (HR): 2.94, 95%
      confidence interval (95% CI): 1.43-6.07). HBcrAg-positive patients had a
      significantly higher 2-year HBV reactivation rate than HBcrAg-negative patients
      (71.8 vs. 31%, P=0.002). In the rituximab cohort, the HRs for positive HBcrAg and
      negative antibody to HBsAg for HBV reactivation were 3.65 and 2.84, respectively
      (P=0.011, 95% CI: 1.35-9.86 and P=0.032, 95% CI: 1.10-7.37, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum HBcrAg positivity is a significant risk factor of HBV
      reactivation in HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc-positive patients undergoing high-risk
      immunosuppressive therapy and can potentially have a role in identifying patients
      who will best benefit from prophylactic nucleoside analogue treatment.

PMID- 27644734
TI  - Fecal Gluten Peptides Reveal Limitations of Serological Tests and Food
      Questionnaires for Monitoring Gluten-Free Diet in Celiac Disease Patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Treatment for celiac disease (CD) is a lifelong strict gluten-free
      diet (GFD). Patients should be followed-up with dietary interviews and serology
      as CD markers to ensure adherence to the diet. However, none of these methods
      offer an accurate measure of dietary compliance. Our aim was to evaluate the
      measurement of gluten immunogenic peptides (GIP) in stools as a marker of GFD
      adherence in CD patients and compare it with traditional methods of GFD
      monitoring. METHODS: We performed a prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter study
      including 188 CD patients on GFD and 84 healthy controls. Subjects were given a
      dietary questionnaire and fecal GIP quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay (ELISA). Serological anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) IgA and anti
      deamidated gliadin peptide (anti-DGP) IgA antibodies were measured
      simultaneously. RESULTS: Of the 188 celiac patients, 56 (29.8%) had detectable
      GIP levels in stools. There was significant association between age and GIP in
      stools that revealed increasing dietary transgressions with advancing age (39.2%
      in subjects >=13 years old) and with gender in certain age groups (60% in men
      >=13 years old). No association was found between fecal GIP and dietary
      questionnaire or anti-tTG antibodies. However, association was detected between
      GIP and anti-DGP antibodies, although 46 of the 53 GIP stool-positive patients
      were negative for anti-DGP. CONCLUSIONS: Detection of gluten peptides in stools
      reveals limitations of traditional methods for monitoring GFD in celiac patients.
      The GIP ELISA enables direct and quantitative assessment of gluten exposure early
      after ingestion and could aid in the diagnosis and clinical management of
      nonresponsive CD and refractory CD. Trial registration number NCT02711397.

PMID- 27644735
TI  - Board Review Vignette: Segmental Colitis Associated With Diverticulosis.

PMID- 27644736
TI  - Vitamin D is Not Associated With Severity in NAFLD: Results of a Paired Clinical
      and Gene Expression Profile Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is
      complex. Vitamin D (VitD) has been implicated in NAFLD pathogenesis because it
      has roles in immune modulation, cell differentiation and proliferation, and
      regulation of inflammation. We evaluated the association of VitD levels, hepatic
      gene expression for VitD metabolizing genes, and NAFLD histological severity.
      METHODS: Two adult cohorts, controls (n=39) and NAFLD (n=244), who underwent
      liver biopsy were compared. Two-sided t-tests or Wilcoxon's rank-sum tests for
      continuous predictors and chi-squared tests or Fisher's exact tests for
      categorical variables were used to analyze the association of VitD and NAFLD.
      Generalized linear models were used to analyze the association of VitD levels and
      VitD metabolizing genes with histological severity of NAFLD while adjusting for
      potential confounders and correcting for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: NAFLD
      patients were more likely than controls to have higher HbA1c (6.5+/-1.2 vs 5.9+/
      1.0; P=0.009), a risk factor for VitD deficiency. However, no difference in VitD
      levels was observed between groups. VitD levels did not correlate with the
      severity of hepatic steatosis, lobular or portal inflammation, or ballooned
      hepatocytes after adjusting for confounding factors. Furthermore, no association
      was noted between VitD deficiency or differential expression of genes involved in
      VitD metabolism and severity of hepatic fibrosis or any other histologic feature
      of NAFLD. CONCLUSIONS: Neither VitD deficiency, nor hepatic expression of VitD
      related genes, associate with the presence or histologic severity of NAFLD in
      patients. Hence, despite preclinical evidence implicating VitD in NAFLD
      pathogenesis, VitD deficiency does not appear to be associated with NAFLD
      severity in humans.

PMID- 27644739
TI  - Research advances on microbial genetics in China in 2015.
AB  - In 2015, there are significant progresses in many aspects of the microbial
      genetics in China. To showcase the contribution of Chinese scientists in
      microbial genetics, this review surveys several notable progresses in microbial
      genetics made largely by Chinese scientists, and some key findings are
      highlighted. For the basic microbial genetics, the components, structures and
      functions of many macromolecule complexes involved in gene expression regulation
      have been elucidated. Moreover, the molecular basis underlying the recognition of
      foreign nucleic acids by microbial immune systems was unveiled. We also
      illustrated the biosynthetic pathways and regulators of multiple microbial
      compounds, novel enzyme reactions, and new mechanisms regulating microbial gene
      expression. And new findings were obtained in the microbial development,
      evolution and population genetics. For the industrial microbiology, more
      understanding on the molecular basis of the microbial factory has been gained.
      For the pathogenic microbiology, the genetic circuits of several pathogens were
      depicted, and significant progresses were achieved for understanding the pathogen
      host interaction and revealing the genetic mechanisms underlying antimicrobial
      resistance, emerging pathogens and environmental microorganisms at the genomic
      level. In future, the genetic diversity of microbes can be used to obtain
      specific products, while gut microbiome is gathering momentum.

PMID- 27644740
TI  - The role of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in spermatogenesis.
AB  - Ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) is the main pathway of protein degradation in
      eukaryotic cells. The UPP plays very important roles in cell cycle progression,
      apoptosis, stress response and growth and development through regulating protein
      interaction, protein activity, protein localization and signal transduction.
      Previous studies have shown that the UPP is essential for regulating acrosome and
      tail biogenesis during spermatogenesis in human and animals. The dysregulation of
      UPP during spermatogenesis results in sperm deformity and reduced sperm motility
      and leads to reproductive system diseases such as oligospermatism, infertility
      and testicular tumors. In this review, we summarized the signal transduction and
      regulation mechanism of UPP in spermatogenesis, which may provide references for
      future studies.

PMID- 27644737
TI  - Narrow Band Imaging, Magnifying Chromoendoscopy, and Gross Morphological Features
      for the Optical Diagnosis of T1 Colorectal Cancer and Deep Submucosal Invasion: A
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Optical diagnosis of T1 colorectal cancer (CRC) and T1 CRC with deep
      submucosal invasion is important in guiding the treatment strategy. The use of
      advanced imaging is not standard clinical practice in Western countries. A
      systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted comparing the accuracy of
      narrow band imaging (NBI), magnifying chromoendoscopy (MCE), and gross
      morphological features (GMF) seen with conventional view for the optical
      diagnosis of T1 CRC and deep submucosal invasion. METHODS: A literature search
      identified studies on the optical diagnosis of T1 CRC and deep invasion using
      NBI, MCE, or GMF. Pooled estimates (PE) of sensitivity and specificity across
      studies reporting on NBI or MCE were compared using a random effects bivariate
      meta-regression approach, and a paired analysis focusing on studies that
      performed both techniques within the same patient was performed. RESULTS: Thirty
      three studies with 31,568 polyps were included. For the optical diagnosis of T1
      CRC, both NBI (4 studies; PE 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75-0.91) and
      MCE (5 studies; PE 0.90, 95% CI 0.83-0.94) yielded higher sensitivity as compared
      with GMF (3 studies; range 0.21-0.46). No significant preference for NBI or MCE
      was found (sensitivity relative risk (RR) 0.93, 95% CI 0.79-1.09, P=0.37;
      specificity RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.86-1.11, P=0.74). Similarly, for the optical
      diagnosis of deep invasion, both NBI (13 studies; PE 0.77, 95% CI 0.68-0.84) and
      MCE (17 studies; PE 0.81, 95% 0.75-0.87) yielded higher sensitivity as compared
      with GMF (6 studies; range 0.18-0.88), and no significant preference for either
      NBI or MCE was found (sensitivity RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.76-1.11, P=0.36; specificity
      RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.96-1.04, P=0.92). CONCLUSIONS: This review supports the use of
      advanced imaging techniques in preference to GMF to reduce the risk of performing
      piecemeal resection for T1 CRCs or unnecessary surgical referral for lesions
      amendable to endoscopic resection. A preference for either NBI or MCE could not
      be observed.

PMID- 27644741
TI  - Distorted segregation in plant hybrids and its implication for evolution.
AB  - During natural hybridization and introgression, offspring may obtain alleles from
      both parents unevenly, resulting in allelic segregation that significantly
      deviated from the Mendelian ratio, referred to as segregation distortion (SD).
      Segregation distortion is a common phenomenon and a number of factors can
      influence the ratio and pattern of segregation distortion in hybrid descendants.
      However, knowledge on the evolutionary implication of SD is still very limited.
      In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding mechanisms of SD
      such as genetic interaction, genetic divergence, cytoplasmic background, and
      environmental effect, and analyze its implication for evolution. In short, SD
      affects evolutionary potential, sex ratio, genetic diversity and maintenance of
      stable genetic divergence. Therefore, the effect of transgene on the evolutionary
      potential of wild relative populations through SD and the changes of the pattern
      of SD in continuous generations should be paid attention to in future studies.

PMID- 27644742
TI  - Application of CRISPR/Cas9 system in breeding of new antiviral plant germplasm.
AB  - With the development and improvement of CRISPR/Cas9 system in genomic editing
      technology, the system has been applied to the prevention and control of animal
      viral infectious diseases, which has made considerable achievements. It has also
      been applied to the study of highly efficient gene targeting editing in plant
      virus genomes. The CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted gene modification has not only
      achieved the genome editing of plant DNA virus, but also showed the genome
      editing potential of plant RNA virus. In addition, the CRISPR/Cas9 system
      functions at the gene transcriptional and post-transcriptional level, indicating
      that the system could regulate the replication of plant viruses through different
      ways. Compared with other plant viral disease control strategies, this system is
      more accurate in genome editing, more stable in gene expression regulation, and
      has broader spectrum of resistance to virus disease. In this review, we
      summarized the advantages, main problems and development tendency of CRISPR/cas9
      system in breeding of new antiviral plant germplasms.

PMID- 27644743
TI  - Effects of starvation on the expression of feeding related neuropeptides in the
      larval zebrafish hypothalamus.
AB  - Vertebrate feeding behavior is regulated by neuropeptide Y (NPY), GALANIN and
      GMAP prepropeptide (GAL), agouti related neuropeptide (AGRP) and
      proopiomelanocortin (POMC) in the hypothalamus. However, there are few studies on
      the relationship between these neuropeptides and feeding in zebrafish larvae. In
      the present study, real-time quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization were
      applied to examine the expression levels of npy, galanin, agrp and pomca in the
      hypothalamus of zebrafish larvae after starvation and re-feeding. The results
      showed the expression of agrp and galanin increased significantly after
      starvation compared to the control group, whilst the expression of pomca
      decreased significantly compared to control. If the animals were re-fed for two
      days after starvation, the expression of pomca, agrp and galanin showed no
      significant difference from the control. Expression of npy did not alter in
      either condition. These results indicate that starvation increases expression
      levels of agrp and galanin, and reduces the pomca expression. In addition, these
      starvation-induced changes can be reversed by re-feeding.

PMID- 27644744
TI  - Increasing the efficiency of homologous recombination vector-mediated end joining
      repair by inhibition of Lig4 gene using siRNA in sheep embryo fibroblasts.
AB  - In animal cells, inhibition of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway improves
      the efficiency of homologous recombination (HR)-mediated double-strand brakes
      (DSBs) repair. To improve the efficiency of HR in sheep embryo fibroblasts, the
      NHEJ key molecule DNA ligase 4 (Lig4) was suppressed by siRNA interference. Four
      pairs of siRNA targeting Lig4 were designed and chemically synthesized. These
      siRNA were electro-transferred into sheep embryo fibroblasts respectively.
      Compared with the control groups, two pairs of siRNA were identified to
      effectively inhibit the expression of sheep Lig4 gene by qRT-PCR and Western
      blotting. The plasmid rejoining assay was adopted for examining the efficiency of
      HR-mediated DSB repair. I-SceI endonuclease linearized vector and siRNA were co
      transfected into sheep embryo fibroblasts. Flow cytometry analysis of cells after
      transfection for 72 h showed that suppression of Lig4 using siRNAs increased the
      rejoining efficiency of HR vector by 3-4 times compared with the control groups.
      Therefore, enhanced HR vector rejoining frequency by instant inhabition of Lig4
      gene provides theoretical basis for improving gene targeting efficiency of sheep
      embryo fibroblasts.

PMID- 27644745
TI  - Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the WRKY gene family in
      common tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.).
AB  - The coding products of WRKY gene family plays important roles in plant growth and
      development as well as in various stress responses. They have been identified in
      various plants, but only few in common tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). In this
      study, 164 putative WRKY proteins in the common tobacco genome were identified by
      using the conserved WRKY sequence (PF03106) from the Pfam database. Phylogenetic
      trees, functional domain analysis, chromosomal localization, subcellular
      localization and tissue expression patterns were analyzed with the bioinformatics
      softwares, including DNAMAN 5.0, Weblogo 3, MEGA 5.1, MG2C and MEME. First of
      all, phylogenetic trees divided all the candidate genes into three subfamilies:
      I, II and III, respectively, and subfamily II could be further divided into five
      subgroups: group II-a, -b, -c, -d and -e. Secondly, the WRKY regions contained a
      highly conserved heptapeptide stretch WRKYGQK followed by a zinc-finger motif.
      Most of the NtWRKY genes contained 2-5 exons and a highly conserved gene
      structure. Thirdly, 154 out of 164 NtWRKY genes were distributed with different
      densities on 24 chromosomes, and each subfamily with different patterns and
      frequency. The largest number of NtWRKY genes was found on chromosome VI, and
      only one on chromosome X. Fourthly, the majority of NtWRKY members located in the
      nucleus, with 74 percent of subfamily III in the extracellular matrix. Lastly,
      the members in the same subfamily had different spatial and temporal expression
      profiles, with 11 NtWRKY genes in roots, stems and leaves expressed at various
      levels. The expression of genes NtWRKY26, NtWRKY30 and NtWRKY32 can be induced by
      Phytophthora nicotianae. Our research thus provides valuable information for
      NtWRKY gene cloning and functional characterization in common tobacco.

PMID- 27644756
TI  - Taliban militants kill doctor working to eradicate polio.

PMID- 27644755
TI  - Health-related quality of life measured using the EQ-5D-5L: South Australian
      population norms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although a five level version of the widely-used EuroQol 5 dimensions
      (EQ-5D) instrument has been developed, population norms are not yet available for
      Australia to inform the future valuation of health in economic evaluations. The
      aim of this study was to estimate HrQOL normative values for the EQ-5D-5L
      preference-based measure in a large, randomly selected, community sample in South
      Australia. METHODS: The EQ-5D-5L instrument was included in the 2013 South
      Australian Health Omnibus Survey, an interviewer-administered, face-to-face,
      cross-sectional survey. Respondents rated their level of impairment across
      dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and
      anxiety/depression) and global health rating on a visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS).
      Utility scores were derived using the newly-developed UK general population-based
      algorithm and relationships between utility and EQ-VAS scores and socio
      demographic factors were also explored using multivariate regression analyses.
      RESULTS: Ultimately, 2,908 adults participated in the survey (63.4 %
      participation rate). The mean utility and EQ-VAS scores were 0.91 (95 CI 0.90,
      0.91) and 78.55 (95 % CI 77.95, 79.15), respectively. Almost half of respondents
      reported no problems across all dimensions (42.8 %), whereas only 7.2 % rated
      their health >90 on the EQ-VAS (100 = the best health you can imagine). Younger
      age, male gender, longer duration of education, higher annual household income,
      employment and marriage/de facto relationships were all independent,
      statistically significant predictors of better health status (p < 0.01) measured
      with the EQ-VAS. Only age and employment status were associated with higher
      utility scores, indicating fundamental differences between these measures of
      health status. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Australian study to apply the EQ-5D
      5L in a large, community sample. Overall, findings are consistent with EQ-5D-5L
      utility and VAS scores reported for other countries and indicate that the
      majority of South Australian adults report themselves in full health. When
      valuing health in Australian economic evaluations, the utility population norms
      can be used to estimate HrQOL. More generally, the EQ-VAS score may be a better
      measure of population health given the smaller ceiling effect and broader
      coverage of HrQOL dimensions. Further research is recommended to update EQ-5D-5L
      population norms using the Australian general population specific scoring
      algorithm once this becomes publically available.

PMID- 27644757
TI  - Dietary sugars versus glucose tablets for first-aid treatment of symptomatic
      hypoglycaemia in awake patients with diabetes: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While glucose tablets have been advocated for treating symptomatic
      hypoglycaemia in awake patients, dietary sugars may be more convenient. We
      performed a systematic review to compare the impact of these treatment options on
      the relief of symptomatic hypoglycaemia, time to resolution of symptoms, blood
      glucose levels, complications and hospital length of stay. METHOD: We searched
      PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library through 28 June 2016 and assessed the
      quality of evidence using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development
      and Evaluation approach. Reference lists from a subset of the resulting articles
      were mined for additional, potentially eligible papers. We calculated the risk
      ratio (RR) of each treatment option for the preselected outcomes of interest.
      RESULTS: Of the 1774 identified papers, four studies met the inclusion criteria;
      three randomised controlled trials totalling 502 hypoglycaemic events treated
      with dietary sugars and 223 with glucose tablets and one observational study with
      13 events treated with dietary sugars and 9 with glucose tablets. The dietary
      forms of sugar included sucrose, fructose, orange juice, jelly beans, Mentos,
      cornstarch hydrolysate, Skittles and milk. In the pooled analysis, patients
      treated with dietary sugars had a lower resolution of symptoms 15 min after
      treatment compared with glucose tablets (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.95).
      CONCLUSIONS: When compared with dietary sugars, glucose tablets result in a
      higher rate of relief of symptomatic hypoglycaemia 15 min after ingestion and
      should be considered first, if available, when treating symptomatic hypoglycaemia
      in awake patients.

PMID- 27644759
TI  - Patterns of Systemic Hypertension among Adults with Perinatally Acquired HIV.
AB  - Patients with perinatally acquired HIV may be at risk for the development of age
      related non-AIDS diseases. The primary aim of this study was to describe patterns
      of systemic hypertension among a cohort of adults (>=18 years) with perinatally
      acquired HIV. A retrospective cohort study was conducted among adults (>=18
      years) with perinatally acquired HIV infection. Primary outcomes included
      documentation of systemic hypertension as well as several additional non-AIDS
      associated illnesses. Systemic hypertension incidence rates and rate ratios (RRs)
      were calculated among groups aged >=18 and <18 years at the time of hypertension
      diagnosis. The overall prevalence of hypertension in the cohort (N = 109) was
      26.6%, and the incidence rate of hypertension was significantly higher among
      those aged >=18 years compared to those who are aged <18 years at the time of
      diagnosis (RR: 10.0, CI: 7.29-13.71). By multivariable analysis, only coexisting
      renal disease was associated with an increased risk of hypertension diagnosis.

PMID- 27644763
TI  - Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells as
      Immunosuppressive Mechanism in Ovarian Cancer Patients: Progress and Challenges.
AB  - Cancers are complex masses of malignant cells and nonmalignant cells that create
      the tumor microenvironment (TME). Non-transformed cells of the TME such as tumor
      associated macrophages (TAMs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have
      been observed in the TME of ovarian cancer (OC) patients. Although these subsets
      may contribute to each step of carcinogenesis and are commonly associated with
      poor prognosis, still little is known about creation of the protumor
      microenvironment in OC. In this review, we focused on the nature and prognostic
      significance of TAMs and MDSCs in OC patients. Moreover, we discuss the main
      problems and challenges that must be overcome by researchers and clinicians to
      enrich our knowledge about the immunosuppressive microenvironment of cancers.

PMID- 27644758
TI  - Identification of 2-oxohistidine Interacting Proteins Using E. coli Proteome
      Chips.
AB  - Cellular proteins are constantly damaged by reactive oxygen species generated by
      cellular respiration. Because of its metal-chelating property, the histidine
      residue is easily oxidized in the presence of Cu/Fe ions and H2O2 via metal
      catalyzed oxidation, usually converted to 2-oxohistidine. We hypothesized that
      cells may have evolved antioxidant defenses against the generation of 2
      oxohistidine residues on proteins, and therefore there would be cellular proteins
      which specifically interact with this oxidized side chain. Using two chemically
      synthesized peptide probes containing 2-oxohistidine, high-throughput interactome
      screening was conducted using the E. coli K12 proteome microarray containing
      >4200 proteins. Ten interacting proteins were identified, and successfully
      validated using a third peptide probe, fluorescence polarization assays, as well
      as binding constant measurements. We discovered that 9 out of 10 identified
      proteins seemed to be involved in redox-related cellular functions. We also built
      the functional interaction network to reveal their interacting proteins. The
      network showed that our interacting proteins were enriched in oxido-reduction
      processes, ion binding, and carbon metabolism. A consensus motif was identified
      among these 10 bacterial interacting proteins based on bioinformatic analysis,
      which also appeared to be present on human S100A1 protein. Besides, we found that
      the consensus binding motif among our identified proteins, including bacteria and
      human, were located within alpha-helices and faced the outside of proteins. The
      combination of chemically engineered peptide probes with proteome microarrays
      proves to be an efficient discovery platform for protein interactomes of unusual
      post-translational modifications, and sensitive enough to detect even the
      insertion of a single oxygen atom in this case.

PMID- 27644765
TI  - Practice of skin-to-skin contact, exclusive breastfeeding and other newborn care
      interventions in Ethiopia following promotion by facility and community health
      workers: results from a prospective outcome evaluation.
AB  - AIM: To assess the effects of a facility and community newborn intervention
      package on coverage of early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) and exclusive
      breastfeeding - the therapeutic components of kangaroo mother care. METHODS: A
      multilevel community and facility intervention in Ethiopia trained health workers
      in 10 health centres and the surrounding communities to promote early SSC and
      exclusive breastfeeding for all babies born at home or in the facility. Changes
      in SSC and exclusive breastfeeding were assessed by comparing baseline and
      endline household surveys. RESULTS: Overall practice of SSC at any time following
      delivery increased significantly from 13.1 to 44.1% of mothers. Coverage of
      immediate SSC also increased significantly from 8.4 to 24.1%. Breastfeeding
      within the first hour increased from 51.4 to 67.9% and exclusive breastfeeding
      within the first three days increased from 86 to 95.8%. At endline, SSC was
      significantly higher among facility births than home births and community health
      workers had limited contact with mothers. CONCLUSION: While targeted behaviours
      improved overall, the programme did not achieve adequate increases in SSC and
      exclusive breastfeeding among home deliveries to expect a reduction in mortality
      for low birthweight babies. Newborn care programs in Ethiopia should continue to
      encourage facility delivery while strengthening coverage of community programmes.

PMID- 27644766
TI  - Office-based differential diagnosis of transient and persistent geotropic
      positional nystagmus in patients with horizontal canal type of benign paroxysmal
      positional vertigo.
AB  - CONCLUSION: A 30 s observation of geotropic positional nystagmus is sufficient to
      distinguish persistent geotropic positional nystagmus (PGPN) from transient
      geotropic positional nystagmus (TGPN) in patients with horizontal canal type of
      benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (H-BPPV) in ENT office. OBJECTIVE: As a
      canalith repositioning procedure effectively treats H-BPPV with TGPN, but not
      PGPN, the differentiation between patients with PGPN and with TGPN is essential.
      The purpose of this study is to determine the observation period enough to
      distinguish TGPN from PGPN. METHODS: This study first analyzed positional
      nystagmus images recorded with an infrared CCD camera three-dimensionally in 47
      patients with H-BPPV. PGPN is distinguished from TGPN in patients with H-BPPV
      precisely by means of time constant calculated form analysis of positional
      nystagmus. Ten-second and 30-s movies were made of positional nystagmus of the
      all 47 patients. Ten independent otolaryngologists were then asked to distinguish
      TGPN from PGPN after a 10 s or 30 s observation of the geotropic positional
      nystagmus images in 47 patients with H-BPPV. RESULTS: The sensitivity and
      specificity to distinguish TGPN from PGPN was 100% and 97% after 30 s
      observation, but 100% and 40% after 10 s observation, respectively.

PMID- 27644767
TI  - Women's Behavioral Responses to Sexual Aggression: The Role of Secondary
      Cognitive Appraisals and Self-Regulation.
AB  - Sexual assault history, secondary cognitive appraisals, and a dual-process model
      of self-regulation were examined as predictors of women's intended behavioral
      responses to hypothetical sexual aggression. College women ( N = 435) read a
      sexually aggressive scenario and rated their intentions to engage in assertive,
      polite, and passive behavioral responses. Results indicated secondary cognitive
      appraisals predicted less assertive, more polite, and more passive responses.
      Good self-control predicted assertive and polite responses, while sexual assault
      history and poor regulation predicted passive responses. Poor regulation
      significantly moderated the relationship between secondary cognitive appraisals
      and passive behavioral responses. Implications for the prevention of sexual
      assault are discussed.

PMID- 27644768
TI  - A Primer for Preventing Teen Dating Violence? The Representation of Teen Dating
      Violence in Young Adult Literature and Its Implications for Prevention.
AB  - Teen dating violence (TDV) is a significant public health issue. Preventing TDV
      requires attention to risk and protective factors across ecological system
      levels. The media is one of the primary cultural drivers of societal-level social
      scripts about the causes of TDV. Framing theory asserts that the media's
      portrayal of social issues, including what contextual information is included
      and/or excluded, affects individual-level attitudes about TDV and potential
      policy responses. This study investigates the representation of TDV in young
      adult (YA) literature, a media genre that is marketed to adolescent audiences.
      Data include all YA novels ( N = 8) that have a primary focus on TDV. Texts were
      analyzed systematically using thematic content analysis methods. Results indicate
      that the antecedents of TDV were portrayed as being related to victim personal
      characteristics such as inexperience in relationships and low self-esteem. Rather
      than underscoring how societal-level factors contribute to TDV, perpetration was
      seen as stemming from family dysfunction and mental health issues. These results
      underscore how the structural determinants of TDV have been overshadowed in the
      media's portrayal of TDV, in favor of narrow portrayals of victimization and
      perpetration. Implications for TDV prevention programs including the importance
      of media literacy are discussed.

PMID- 27644771
TI  - First-ever stroke following hip replacement surgeries: a large population-based
      survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the prevalence, subtypes and risk
      factors of first-ever stroke following hip replacement (HR) in a large population
      of Taiwan. METHODS: Using the National Health Insurance system of Taiwan, we
      identified patients undergoing HR from 2000 to 2011 and randomly selected 4 : 1
      age- and sex-matched controls for each HR patients. The index date for HR
      patients was defined the date for HR. All study subjects were followed from the
      index date until stroke occurred at admission. T-test and chi-square test were
      used for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. The hazard ratios of
      risk factors were determined with Cox proportional hazard regression model.
      RESULTS: A total of 3604 HR patients and 14 394 controls were enrolled. In
      comparison with controls, patients undergoing HR had a significantly higher
      incidence of comorbidities (i.e. atrial fibrillation, hypertension, diabetes) and
      consumed more medications (i.e. antihypertension, antidiabetes, nonsteroid anti
      inflammatory drugs and anticoagulants) before surgery. The HR patients had a
      significant higher incidence of first-ever stroke, especially for those aged over
      65. (Hazard ratio: 1.33, 95% confidence interval: 1.12-1.58) The significantly
      higher risk for first-ever stroke occurred within 3 months and >= 1 year after
      HR. The incidence rate of ischaemic stroke is about five times than that of
      haemorrhagic stroke. CONCLUSION: Our study identifies multiple risk factors that
      cause cerebrovascular complications after HR, which is vital in creating
      treatment plans to prevent for said problems.

PMID- 27644777
TI  - Traumatic times for urgent care.
AB  - The publication last month of the National Audit Office (NAO) report into trauma
      care has raised a number of questions that need resolution.

PMID- 27644778
TI  - NHS must co-ordinate major trauma care to prevent needless deaths, report finds.
AB  - VARIATION IN major trauma care across England is unacceptable, according to a
      National Audit Office (NAO) report published last month.

PMID- 27644772
TI  - Organochlorine pesticides in canned tuna and sardines on the Serbian market.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the level of organochlorine (OC)
      pesticides in 57 samples of canned tuna and 31 samples of canned sardines in
      vegetable oil, collected from supermarkets in Serbia. OC pesticides alpha-HCH,
      beta-HCH, delta-HCH, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), DDE, DDD, dielderin,
      endosulfane I, endosulfane II, endosulan sulfate, endrin, endrin ketone,
      heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, lindane, aldrin, metoxichlor, cis-chlordane and
      trans-chlordane were determined using a GS-MS method. The highest concentrations
      (ug kg-1, arithmetic means) in canned tuna were for delta-HCH (60.6 +/- 97.0) and
      p, p'-DDT (55.0 +/- 25.1), while the corresponding values in canned sardines were
      for delta-HCH (90.7 +/- 102.7) and endosulfane II (78.0 +/- 145.9). Mean level
      for the sum of endosulfans was above the maximum limit in canned sardines (85.0
      ug kg-1). Also, dieldrin (39.7 ug kg-1) was measured above the ML.

PMID- 27644779
TI  - Mid staffs inquiry makes 18 recommendations for 'demoralised' staff.
AB  - AN NHS trust at the centre of a care scandal that led to the unnecessary deaths
      of at least 400 patients has been urged to 're-energise and focus' its nursing
      staff.

PMID- 27644781
TI  - Hospital admission of children with diabetes still on the increase.
AB  - LATEST FIGURES reveal that there were more than 3,300 cases last year of children
      with potentially fatal diabetic complications attending emergency departments in
      England.

PMID- 27644782
TI  - Getting services back on track.
AB  - JILL CROCKETT has worked at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust since 1999. It
      was there that she completed her training and worked as an emergency nurse before
      becoming a clinical site manager.

PMID- 27644783
TI  - Board's eye view.
AB  - I RECENTLY began work as a best-interest assessor in line with the Deprivation of
      Liberty safeguards spelled out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. As a result, I
      have been thinking about how frequently we emergency staff decide what is in the
      best interests of our patients.

PMID- 27644785
TI  - Drug calculations for nurses: a step-by-step approachThird edition Drug
      calculations for nurses: a step-by-step approach Robert Lapham and Heather Agar
      Hodder Arnold L10.99 256pp 9780340987339 0340987332 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THE NUMBER of medication incidents and errors reported to the National patient
      Safety Agency increases every year, with almost 72,500 being reported in the UK
      in 2007.

PMID- 27644784
TI  - Student life - Older patients.
AB  - Many patients who attend emergency departments are older adults, and students can
      often lack understanding in dealing with them.

PMID- 27644786
TI  - Self Assessment in Axial Skeleton Musculoskeletal Trauma X-rays Karen Sakthivel
      Wainford Self Assessment in Axial Skeleton Musculoskeletal Trauma X-rays M&K
      Publishing L33 300pp 9781905539475 1905539479 [Formula: see text].
AB  - RADIOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION of vertebral, pelvic and facial views can be daunting
      because of the ease with which important injuries can be missed, with potentially
      devastating consequences.

PMID- 27644788
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27644787
TI  - Clinical Pocket Reference for Nurses Clinical Pocket Reference for Nurses Second
      edition Ong Paul Garrett Bernie Allen Debby Pennant Health Publishing L9.99 48pp
      9780954306595 0954306597 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THIS UPDATED clinical pocket reference book is easy and quick to use, and has
      clear, understandable text. It is evidence based and will prove invaluable to all
      nurses.

PMID- 27644789
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27644790
TI  - Skin conditions.
AB  - While emergency nurses may be confident about managing common presentations, few
      are likely to have much expertise in managing skin conditions.

PMID- 27644791
TI  - Innovation and improvement.
AB  - Many organisational changes in the NHS and emergency care services are driven by
      directives issued from above, often from the executive board level and sometimes
      from central government.

PMID- 27644793
TI  - Vacuolar deposition of recombinant proteins in plant vegetative organs as a
      strategy to increase yields.
AB  - Delivery of recombinant proteins to vegetative tissue vacuoles was considered
      inconvenient since this compartment was expected to be hydrolytic; nevertheless
      there is growing evidence that certain foreign proteins accumulate at high yields
      in vacuoles. For example avidin, cellulolytic enzymes, endolysin, and
      transglutaminases were produced at high yields when were sorted to leaf central
      vacuole avoiding the detrimental effect of these proteins on plant growth. Also,
      several secretory mammalian proteins such as collagen, alpha1-proteinase
      inhibitor, complement-5a, interleukin-6 and immunoglobulins accumulated at higher
      yields in leaf vacuoles than in the apoplast or cytosol. To reach this final
      destination, fusions to sequence specific vacuolar sorting signals (ssVSS)
      typical of proteases or proteinase inhibitors and/or Ct-VSS representative of
      storage proteins or plant lectins were used and both types of motifs were capable
      to increase accumulation. Importantly, the type of VSSs or position, either the N
      or C-terminus, did not alter protein stability, levels or pos-translational
      modifications. Vacuolar sorted glycoproteins had different type of
      oligosaccharides indicating that foreign proteins reached the vacuole by 2
      different pathways: direct transport from the ER, bypassing the Golgi (high
      mannose oligosaccharides decorated proteins) or trafficking through the Golgi
      (Complex oligosaccharide containing proteins). In addition, some glycoproteins
      lacked of paucimannosidic oligosaccharides suggesting that vacuolar trimming of
      glycans did not occur. Enhanced accumulation of foreign proteins fused to VSS
      occurred in several plant species such as tobacco, Nicotiana benthamiana,
      sugarcane, tomato and in carrot and the obtained results were influenced by plant
      physiological state. Ten different foreign proteins fused to vacuolar sorting
      accumulated at higher levels than their apoplastic or cytosolic counterparts. For
      proteins with cytotoxic effects vacuolar sorted forms yields were superior than
      ER retained variants, but for other proteins the results were the opposite an
      there were also examples of similar levels for ER and vacuolar variants. In
      conclusion vacuolar sorting in vegetative tissues is a satisfactory strategy to
      enhance protein yields that can be used in several plant species.

PMID- 27644794
TI  - Plant nucleolar DNA: Green light shed on the role of Nucleolin in genome
      organization.
AB  - The nucleolus forms as a consequence of ribosome biogenesis, but it is also
      implicated in other cell functions. The identification of nucleolus-associated
      chromatin domains (NADs) in animal and plant cells revealed the presence of DNA
      sequences other than rRNA genes in and around the nucleolus. NADs display
      repressive chromatin signatures and harbour repetitive DNA, but also tRNA genes
      and RNA polymerase II-transcribed genes. Furthermore, the identification of NADs
      revealed a specific function of the nucleolus and the protein Nucleolin 1 (NUC1)
      in telomere biology. Here, we discuss the significance of these data with regard
      to nucleolar structure and to the role of the nucleolus and NUC1 in global genome
      organization and stability.

PMID- 27644844
TI  - Protein oxidation and degradation caused by particulate matter.
AB  - Particulate matter (PM) modulates the expression of autophagy; however, the role
      of selective autophagy by PM remains unclear. The objective of this study was to
      determine the underlying mechanisms in protein oxidation and degradation caused
      by PM. Human epithelial A549 cells were exposed to diesel exhaust particles
      (DEPs), urban dust (UD), and carbon black (CB; control particles). Cell survival
      and proliferation were significantly reduced by DEPs and UD in A549 cells. First,
      benzo(a)pyrene diolepoxide (BPDE) protein adduct was caused by DEPs at 150
      MUg/ml. Methionine oxidation (MetO) of human albumin proteins was induced by
      DEPs, UD, and CB; however, the protein repair mechanism that converts MetO back
      to methionine by methionine sulfoxide reductases A (MSRA) and B3 (MSRB3) was
      activated by DEPs and inhibited by UD, suggesting that oxidized protein was
      accumulating in cells. As to the degradation of oxidized proteins, proteasome and
      autophagy activation was induced by CB with ubiquitin accumulation, whereas
      proteasome and autophagy activation was induced by DEPs without ubiquitin
      accumulation. The results suggest that CB-induced protein degradation may be via
      an ubiquitin-dependent autophagy pathway, whereas DEP-induced protein degradation
      may be via an ubiquitin-independent autophagy pathway. A distinct proteotoxic
      effect may depend on the physicochemistry of PM.

PMID- 27644846
TI  - Roles of LPA receptor signaling in breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: LPA and its receptors play an important role in mediating malignant
      behaviors in various cancers, including breast cancer. Aberrant expression of
      certain LPA receptors in breast cancer suggested that LPA receptors could be
      potential biomarkers in understanding malignant growth patterns of breast cancer.
      Further research considering molecular mechanisms for LPA receptors will
      contribute to new methods of malignant breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
      Areas covered: Accumulating studies have indicated that LPA receptors correlated
      to proliferation, invasion, migration and metastasis both in vivo and in vitro.
      In this manuscript, we have reviewed LPA receptors expressions and LPA mediated
      biological behaviors in cell lines, mouse models and patients and their potential
      molecular pathways. Expert commentary: LPA receptors could be applied in early
      diagnosis, survival rate prediction, metastasis probability and potential
      treatment targets. However, further studies are required to clarify the upstream
      and downstream molecular mechanisms of LPA receptors in breast cancer.

PMID- 27644847
TI  - Effects of Methotrexate in a Rabbit Model of In-Stent Neoatherosclerosis: An
      Optical Coherence Tomography Study.
AB  - This study used optical coherence tomography (OCT) to investigate the effects of
      systemic methotrexate, in combination with a drug-eluting stent, on in-stent
      neoatherosclerosis in a rabbit model. Sirolimus-eluting stents were surgically
      implanted in the right common carotid arteries of 200 male New Zealand White
      rabbits; the animals received a high-fat diet, beginning one week before stent
      implantation. Each animal was randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups, receiving
      intravenous injections of either methotrexate (0.4 mg/kg) or placebo weekly for 4
      or 12 weeks. Stented arterial segments were harvested after stenting for 4 or 12
      weeks, and processed for OCT and histological analysis. Prior to harvesting the
      arterial segments, blood was collected for the determinations of cytokine levels.
      Compared with the control animals, the methotrexate-treated animals showed lower
      rates of lipid-rich intima and per-strut low-signal intensity layers, smaller
      neointimal areas, and reduced neointimal thickness; larger fibrous cap
      thicknesses and smaller lumen areas were also seen in the animals receiving
      methotrexate. The levels of serum interleukin, adhesion molecules, and nuclear
      factor-kappaB p65 decreased and IL-10 level increased in the methotrexate-treated
      animals. Targeting the pro-inflammatory pathways may be an effective way to
      prevent restenosis without the long-term risk of late thrombosis.

PMID- 27644848
TI  - Personal indium exposure concentration in respirable dusts and serum indium
      level.
AB  - : The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between indium exposure
      concentration in the respirable dust fraction (In-E) and indium in serum (In-S)
      in workers. METHODS: A total of 39 workers were studied. The study subjects were
      categorized into 3 groups, namely, smelting workers (n=7), ITO workers (n=6) in
      an ITO grinding plant, and other workers (n=26). In-E and In-S ranged from 0.004
      24.0 MUg/m3 and 0.1-8.50 MUg/L, respectively. The simple regression equation was
      log(In-S)=0.322*log(In-E)-0.443. The simple correlation coefficients for the
      smelting workers, ITO workers and other workers were 0.489, 0.812 and 0.163,
      respectively. The differences in the relationships among the three groups suggest
      that In-S may vary with the chemical form to which the workers were exposed. In-E
      and In-S seem to be positively correlated. The correlation coefficient was higher
      for both smelting and ITO workers than for other workers.

PMID- 27644849
TI  - Naming and Categorization in Healthy Participants: Crowded Domains and Blurred
      Effects of Gender.
AB  - The study of category-specific effects has produced compelling insights into the
      structure, organization and functioning of cognitive processes. According to some
      accounts, the greater intra-category structural similarity for living things (LT)
      contributes to faster access to superordinate pictorial information, making LT
      easier to classify than structurally dissimilar items (i.e., nonliving things:
      NLT). Conversely, LT would be harder to name than NLT, as they must compete with
      within-domain structurally similar items in order to be properly discriminated.
      Additionally, it has been reported that men perform better with NLT than women,
      whereas women surpass men with LT but the reasons for this remain unclear. In the
      current study, we explored both the visual crowding hypothesis and the effects of
      gender by testing the performance of 40 healthy participants in classification
      and naming tasks. Analyses revealed that LT were classified significantly faster
      than NLT (eta p 2 = .11), but named significantly slower (eta p 2 = .25).
      Interestingly, the same results persisted after removing atypical categories that
      are known to distort the interpretation of data from the analyses. Moreover, we
      did not find the expected effects of gender. Men were more accurate than women
      naming NLT (eta p 2 = .13), and women did not surpass men in any task. 

PMID- 27644850
TI  - Mental illness and suicide after self-harm among young adults: long-term follow
      up of self-harm patients, admitted to hospital care, in a national cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-harm among young adults is a common and increasing phenomenon in
      many parts of the world. The long-term prognosis after self-harm at young age is
      inadequately known. We aimed to estimate the risk of mental illness and suicide
      in adult life after self-harm in young adulthood and to identify prognostic
      factors for adverse outcome. METHOD: We conducted a national population-based
      matched case-cohort study. Patients aged 18-24 years (n = 13 731) hospitalized
      after self-harm between 1990 and 2003 and unexposed individuals of the same age
      (n = 137 310 ) were followed until December 2009. Outcomes were suicide,
      psychiatric hospitalization and psychotropic medication in short-term (1-5 years)
      and long-term (>5 years) follow-up. RESULTS: Self-harm implied an increased
      relative risk of suicide during follow-up [hazard ratio (HR) 16.4, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 12.9-20.9). At long-term follow-up, 20.3% had psychiatric
      hospitalizations and 51.1% psychotropic medications, most commonly
      antidepressants and anxiolytics. There was a six-fold risk of psychiatric
      hospitalization (HR 6.3, 95% CI 5.8-6.8) and almost three-fold risk of
      psychotropic medication (HR 2.8, 95% CI 2.7-3.0) in long-term follow-up. Mental
      disorder at baseline, especially a psychotic disorder, and a family history of
      suicide were associated with adverse outcome among self-harm patients.
      CONCLUSION: We found highly increased risks of future mental illness and suicide
      among young adults after self-harm. A history of a mental disorder was an
      important indicator of long-term adverse outcome. Clinicians should consider the
      substantially increased risk of suicide among self-harm patients with psychotic
      disorders.

PMID- 27644852
TI  - Brominated flame retardants and perfluoroalkyl acids in groundwater, tile
      drainage, soil, and crop grain following a high application of municipal
      biosolids to a field.
AB  - Dewatered municipal biosolids (DMB) were applied at a rate of 22Mgdwha-1 to an
      agricultural field in fall 2008. Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers
      (PBDEs; BDE-47, -99, -100, -153, -154, -183, -197, -207, -209), other brominated
      flame retardants (BFRs; HBB, PBEB, DBDPE, BTBPE) and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs;
      PFHxS, PFOS, PFDS, PFOSA, PFHpA, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnA, PFDoA, PFTA) were
      monitored in tile drainage, groundwater (2m, 4m and 6m depth), soil cores (0
      0.3m) pre- and post-application, DMB aggregates incorporated into the soil post
      application, and in wheat (Triticum spp.) planted post-application. Several
      compounds were detected in soil and water pre-application and on a reference
      field plot. PBDEs, other BFRs and PFAAs were detected in tile drainage and 2m
      groundwater throughout the post-application study period; a few PBDEs were also
      detected sporadically at lower depths in groundwater. Some of these compounds had
      not been detected pre-application, while some exceeded reference field plot/pre
      application levels (some significantly (p<0.05) in tile drainage); both cases
      indicating biosolid-based water contamination. In DMB aggregates, several PBDE
      congeners were found to have dissipated exponentially, with reductions >90% in
      many of them within 1year post-application. Exponential dissipation of other BFRs
      and PFAAs in DMB aggregates were not significant. No PBDEs, other BFRs, or PFAAs
      were detected in wheat grain.

PMID- 27644851
TI  - [Clinical diagnosis and course of a floating intravitreal cyst].

PMID- 27644853
TI  - Enhanced weathering of olivine in seawater: The efficiency as revealed by
      thermodynamic scenario analysis.
AB  - Enhanced weathering of olivine has been suggested as a measure to lower the
      atmospheric CO2 level and it might also mitigate ocean acidification. This study
      aimed to characterise how olivine can weather in seawater, to elucidate the role
      of secondary precipitation and to ascertain the efficiency in terms of molar CO2
      removal per mole of olivine dissolution. Geochemical thermodynamic equilibrium
      modelling was used, which considered both the variable mineralogical composition
      of olivine and the kinds of secondary precipitates that may be formed. The
      advantage is that such an approach is independent from local or regional factors
      as temperature, related kinetics, mineralogy, etc. The results show that the
      efficiency falls when secondary precipitates are formed. When Fe-bearing olivine
      undergoes weathering in an oxic environment, Fe(III) hydroxides will inevitably
      be formed, and as a result of this acidifying process, CO2 could be released to
      the atmosphere. This might also enhance ocean acidification when Fe-rich olivine
      becomes used. Ocean alkalinisation only happens when more than 1mol/kgH2O Mg-rich
      olivine weathers. Maintenance of supersaturation for calcite or aragonite as
      holds in seawater reduces the efficiency by about a factor of two compared to the
      efficiency without secondary precipitation. Precipitation of sepiolite as Mg
      silicate reduces the efficiency even more. Magnesite precipitation has a similar
      effect to Ca carbonate precipitation, but according to the literature magnesite
      precipitation is improbable at ambient conditions and relatively low
      supersaturation. When less than 0.05mmololivine/kg(seawater) weathers the
      efficiency is slightly different than at higher intensities, due to strong
      buffering by seawater alkalinity.

PMID- 27644854
TI  - Impacts of regional climatic fluctuations on radial growth of Siberian and Scots
      pine at Mukhrino mire (central-western Siberia).
AB  - Ring width (TRW) chronologies from Siberian (Pinus sibirica) and Scots (Pinus
      sylvestris) pine trees were sampled at Mukhrino - a large mire complex in central
      western Siberia - to evaluate the impacts of hydroclimatic variability on tree
      growth over the last three centuries. For this purpose, we compared climate
      growth correlation profiles from trees growing on peat soils with those growing
      on adjacent mineral soils. Tree growth at both peat and mineral soils was
      positively correlated to air temperature during the vegetation period. This
      finding can be explained by (i) the positive influence of temperature on plant
      physiological processes (i.e. growth control) during the growing season and (ii)
      the indirect impact of air temperatures on water table fluctuations. We observe
      also a strong link between TRW and the winter Palmer Drought Severity Index
      (PDSI), especially in Siberian pine, reflecting the isolating effect of snow and
      limited freezing damage in roots. Significant negative relations were, by
      contrast, observed between bog TRW chronologies and hydroclimatic indices during
      spring and summer; they are considered an expression of the negative impacts of
      high water levels and moist peat soils on root development. Some unusually old
      bog pines - exhibiting >500 growth rings - apparently colonized the site at the
      beginning of the Little Ice Age, and therefore seem to confirm that (i) peat
      conditions may have been drier in Siberia than in most other regions of western
      Europe during this period. At the same time, the bog trees also point to (ii)
      their strong dependence on surface conditions.

PMID- 27644855
TI  - Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the
      susceptibility index method.
AB  - The Guayas region in Ecuador is economically very important, producing 68% of the
      national crops. The main agricultural activities threaten the groundwater therein
      with nitrate contamination given the large fertiliser and water needs. The
      present work tests the applicability of the susceptibility index assessment
      method in evaluating the impact of agricultural activities on groundwater
      quality, using as a case study an aquifer of the Guayas river basin in Ecuador.
      The index adapts four parameters of the DRASTIC method and incorporated a new
      land use parameter. Results show that the areas highly vulnerable to
      contamination are located in irrigation perimeters of dominant paddy fields
      associated with the high recharge rates in the alluvial deposits. Respectively,
      moderately vulnerable and low-vulnerability areas correspond to aquatic
      environments and forests, semi-natural zones and water bodies. One of the main
      contributions of the Daule aquifer vulnerability is likely its wide, flat
      topography. A great part of the aquifer is at high risk of contamination by
      nitrates if a code of good agricultural practices is not applied. Therefore the
      implementation of a monitoring network to control the nitrates concentrations is
      the first step to assure groundwater quality for drinking purposes.

PMID- 27644856
TI  - A review of models for near-field exposure pathways of chemicals in consumer
      products.
AB  - Exposure to chemicals in consumer products has been gaining increasing attention,
      with multiple studies showing that near-field exposures from products is high
      compared to far-field exposures. Regarding the numerous chemical-product
      combinations, there is a need for an overarching review of models able to
      quantify the multiple transfers of chemicals from products used near-field to
      humans. The present review therefore aims at an in-depth overview of modeling
      approaches for near-field chemical release and human exposure pathways associated
      with consumer products. It focuses on lower-tier, mechanistic models suitable for
      life cycle assessments (LCA), chemical alternative assessment (CAA) and high
      throughput screening risk assessment (HTS). Chemicals in a product enter the near
      field via a defined "compartment of entry", are transformed or transferred to
      adjacent compartments, and eventually end in a "human receptor compartment". We
      first focus on models of physical mass transfers from the product to 'near-field'
      compartments. For transfers of chemicals from article interior, adequate modeling
      of in-article diffusion and of partitioning between article surface and
      air/skin/food is key. Modeling volatilization and subsequent transfer to the
      outdoor is crucial for transfers of chemicals used in the inner space of
      appliances, on object surfaces or directly emitted to indoor air. For transfers
      from skin surface, models need to reflect the competition between dermal
      permeation, volatilization and fraction washed-off. We then focus on transfers
      from the 'near-field' to 'human' compartments, defined as respiratory tract,
      gastrointestinal tract and epidermis, for which good estimates of air
      concentrations, non-dietary ingestion parameters and skin permeation are
      essential, respectively. We critically characterize for each exposure pathway the
      ability of models to estimate near-field transfers and to best inform LCA, CAA
      and HTS, summarizing the main characteristics of the potentially best-suited
      models. This review identifies large knowledge gaps for several near-field
      pathways and suggests research needs and future directions.

PMID- 27644857
TI  - A reconnaissance analysis of groundwater quality in the Eagle Ford shale region
      reveals two distinct bromide/chloride populations.
AB  - The extraction of oil and natural gas from unconventional shale formations has
      prompted a series of investigations to examine the quality of the groundwater in
      the overlying aquifers. Here we present a reconnaissance analysis of groundwater
      quality in the Eagle Ford region of southern Texas. These data reveal two
      distinct sample populations that are differentiable by bromide/chloride ratios.
      Elevated levels of fluoride, nitrate, sulfate, various metal ions, and the
      detection of exotic volatile organic compounds highlight a high bromide group of
      samples, which is geographically clustered, while encompassing multiple
      hydrogeological strata. Samples with bromide/chloride ratios representative of
      connate water displayed elevated levels of total organic carbon, while revealing
      the detection of alcohols and chlorinated compounds. These findings suggest that
      groundwater quality in the Western Gulf Basin is, for the most part, controlled
      by a series of natural processes; however, there is also evidence of episodic
      contamination events potentially attributed to unconventional oil and gas
      development or other anthropogenic activities. Collectively, this
      characterization of natural groundwater constituents and exogenous compounds will
      guide targeted remediation efforts and provides insight for agricultural
      entities, industrial operators, and rural communities that rely on groundwater in
      southern Texas.

PMID- 27644858
TI  - Remote Actuation of Magnetic Nanoparticles For Cancer Cell Selective Treatment
      Through Cytoskeletal Disruption.
AB  - Motion of micron and sub-micron size magnetic particles in alternating magnetic
      fields can activate mechanosensitive cellular functions or physically destruct
      cancer cells. However, such effects are usually observed with relatively large
      magnetic particles (>250 nm) that would be difficult if at all possible to
      deliver to remote sites in the body to treat disease. Here we show a completely
      new mechanism of selective toxicity of superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SMNP) of
      7 to 8 nm in diameter to cancer cells. These particles are coated by block
      copolymers, which facilitates their entry into the cells and clustering in the
      lysosomes, where they are then magneto-mechanically actuated by remotely applied
      alternating current (AC) magnetic fields of very low frequency (50 Hz). Such
      fields and treatments are safe for surrounding tissues but produce cytoskeletal
      disruption and subsequent death of cancer cells while leaving healthy cells
      intact.

PMID- 27644860
TI  - Informed Consent in Right-To-Try Cases.

PMID- 27644859
TI  - Conservative management in very elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis:
      Time to change?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite current recommendations, a high percentage of patients with
      severe symptomatic aortic stenosis are managed conservatively. The aim of this
      study was to study symptomatic patients undergoing conservative management from
      the IDEAS registry, describing their baseline clinical characteristics,
      mortality, and the causes according to the reason for conservative management.
      METHODS: Consecutive patients with severe aortic stenosis diagnosed at 48 centers
      during January 2014 were included. Baseline clinical characteristics,
      echocardiographic data, Charlson index, and EuroSCORE-II were registered,
      including vital status and performance of valve intervention during one-year
      follow-up. For the purpose of this substudy we assessed symptomatic patients
      undergoing conservative management, including them in 5 groups according to the
      reason for performing conservative management [I: comorbidity/frailty (128,
      43.8%); II: dementia 18 (6.2%); III: advanced age 34 (11.6%); IV: patients'
      refusal 62 (21.2%); and V: other reasons 50 (17.1%)]. RESULTS: We included 292
      patients aged 81.5+/-9 years. Patients from group I had higher Charlson index
      (4+/-2.3), higher EuroSCORE-II (7.5+/-6), and a higher overall (42.2%) and non
      cardiac mortality (16.4%) than the other groups. In contrast, patients from group
      III had fewer comorbidities, lower EuroSCORE-II (4+/-2.5), and low overall
      (20.6%) and non-cardiac mortality (5.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with severe
      symptomatic aortic stenosis managed conservatively have different baseline
      characteristics and clinical course according to the reason for performing
      conservative management. A prospective assessment of comorbidity and other
      geriatric syndromes might contribute to improve therapeutic strategy in this
      clinical setting.

PMID- 27644861
TI  - A Hard Pill to Swallow: Prescribing Stimulants Within the Prison Setting.

PMID- 27644862
TI  - A Consultation and Supervision Model for Developing the Forensic Psychiatric
      Opinion.
AB  - Receiving feedback on one's work from colleagues is an essential part of clinical
      and forensic psychiatric practice. Often the material on which feedback is sought
      concerns past cases. When the material relates to current cases, particular
      safeguards are needed to protect important interests. This paper lists the
      interests that must be protected when feedback is provided through clinical
      consultation and supervision meetings in a forensic psychiatric training program.
      These are the interests of the person being evaluated, the attorneys, the people
      providing feedback to the evaluator, and the employers of the people providing
      feedback. The principles that the training program applies in determining
      attendance at, and participation in, these meetings are described. Finally,
      scenarios are presented that illustrate the application of these principles. Such
      application has allowed trainees and others to receive the benefits of
      consultation and supervision in the course of developing their opinions while
      protecting the interests of those involved. 

PMID- 27644863
TI  - Implications of the Group Model of Supervision and Consultation in Forensic
      Training.
AB  - The clinical case conference has been a hallmark of undergraduate and graduate
      medical education for decades and affords attendees the opportunity to hear about
      interesting and difficult cases and to learn from a discussion of the
      complexities of diagnosis and treatment. In forensic psychiatry, the complexities
      in a case conference also extend to the formation of a forensic opinion. The
      application of the clinical case conference to forensic psychiatry has not been
      described in the literature, although many fellowship programs engage in this
      activity. In the forensic arena, special ethics concerns may arise regarding
      confidentiality, dual agency, and conflicts of interest. In this commentary, we
      discuss the implications of using the group approach to supervision and
      consultation outlined by Buchanan et al., as it relates to professional
      development and understanding of ethics among forensic psychiatry trainees. We
      also discuss the usefulness of this type of group consultation in faculty
      development, including the satisfaction of the Accreditation Council of Graduate
      Medical Education's (ACGME) Common Program Requirements and, potentially, one
      part of the Maintenance of Certification requirements of the American Board of
      Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. 

PMID- 27644864
TI  - Adolescents and Social Media: Privacy, Brain Development, and the Law.
AB  - Adolescents under the age of 18 are not recognized in the law as adults, nor do
      they have the fully developed capacity of adults. Yet teens regularly enter into
      contractual arrangements with operators of websites to send and post information
      about themselves. Their level of development limits their capacity to understand
      the implications of online communications, yet the risks are real to adolescents'
      privacy and reputations. This article explores an apparent contradiction in the
      law: that in areas other than online communications, U.S. legal systems seek to
      protect minors from the limitations of youth. The Children's Online Privacy
      Protection Act provides some protection to the privacy of young people, but
      applies only to children under age 13, leaving minors of ages 13 to 17 with
      little legal protection in their online activities. In this article, we discuss
      several strategies to mitigate the risks of adolescent online activity. 

PMID- 27644865
TI  - New Technologies, New Problems, New Laws.
AB  - Forensic psychiatrists in the 21st century can expect to encounter technology
      related social problems for which existing legal remedies are limited. In
      addition to the inadequate protection of adolescents using social media as
      outlined by Costello et al., current laws are often poorly suited to remedy
      problems such as cyberharassment, sexting among minors, and the publication of
      threatening or harmful communications online. Throughout history, technological
      developments have often preceded the introduction of new laws or the careful
      revision of existing laws. This pattern is evident in many of the newer social
      problems that involve technology, including cyberbullying, online impersonation,
      and revenge porn. As specialists working at the intersection of human behavior
      and the law, forensic psychiatrists are uniquely situated to help legal
      professionals and others understand the impact of internet-related problematic
      behaviors on victims and, perhaps, to assist in the development of new legal
      remedies that are better tailored to our increasingly digital society. 

PMID- 27644866
TI  - High-Dose Benzodiazepine Users' Perceptions and Experiences of Anterograde
      Amnesia.
AB  - Associations between criminal activity and the use of psychotropic substances are
      well established. Flunitrazepam, specifically, has been suspected of triggering,
      per se, violent criminal behavior and severe memory disturbances in the form of
      anterograde amnesia. However, data from investigations of this relationship are
      scarce and have been primarily derived from forensic institutions, where there
      may be a reporting bias. This study was a qualitative exploration of high-dose
      benzodiazepine users' experiences of anterograde amnesia symptoms and their
      beliefs about their behavior during the phases of memory impairment in a
      nonforensic setting. Users subjectively reported experiencing symptoms of
      anterograde amnesia, especially after combining short-acting benzodiazepines with
      alcohol, but only rarely when using slow-onset, long-acting compounds. They
      perceived their experiences as unpleasurable, unpredictable, and embarrassing.
      Their awareness developed with time, triggered by descriptions of disinhibited
      and erratic behavior by others. Users described being victimized during phases of
      anterograde amnesia in addition to engaging in violent and criminal activities
      themselves. Although unable to recall, many participants believed that they had
      been able to make rational decisions while intoxicated with flunitrazepam,
      disregarding notions of diminished insight. In light of the varying terminology
      used for the phases of memory disturbance and these findings, we suggest that
      forensic experts additionally explore evaluees' beliefs about amnestic periods
      and their self-perceptions about their behaviors during these episodes, when
      evaluating high-dose benzodiazepine-dependent patients. 

PMID- 27644867
TI  - Segmented Versus Traditional Crisis Intervention Team Training.
AB  - There are more than 2,500 Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) in operation across the
      country. Results of research on the effectiveness and impact of CIT are mixed.
      One aspect of CIT training that has yet to be examined is the expert-derived
      suggestion that 40 consecutive hours of training is an essential element of CIT
      for law enforcement officers. That is, CIT training is delivered in one 40-hour
      week, but it is unclear whether the training could be delivered in segments and
      still achieve its desired outcomes. Segmented training could make CIT more
      accessible to smaller, particularly rural, law enforcement agencies. Can
      segmented CIT achieve outcomes similar to those of traditional CIT training? We
      compared the knowledge and attitudes of 47 police officers who received
      traditional CIT training and 32 officers who received segmented CIT training. Our
      findings suggest that segmented CIT training and traditional CIT training produce
      comparable results regarding officers' knowledge of mental illness and attitudes
      toward persons with mental illness, providing preliminary support for this
      adaptation to the delivery of CIT training. 

PMID- 27644868
TI  - Assessing Undue Influence.
AB  - A claim of undue influence (UI) often figures prominently in will and trust
      contests and in other legal matters. Mental health professionals (MHPs) are
      frequently asked to provide expert opinions on UI, but the task is challenging,
      because of the lack of a clear definition of UI, and conflicting and
      contradictory recommendations in the literature on the specific conduct of the
      MHP in rendering opinions on UI. Recently, however, a California statutory scheme
      on UI applicable in will, trust, conservatorship, and financial elder abuse cases
      was adopted, bringing greater clarity to the meaning of the construct. The
      clarification provides an opportunity to review the concern, and to recommend a
      set of principles to guide MHPs in the role of expert in such litigation. 

PMID- 27644869
TI  - Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation for Military Absenteeism in Taiwan.
AB  - The relationship between military absenteeism and mental health problems has been
      noted; however, factors affecting military absenteeism by enlisted personnel have
      not been studied systematically. In a medical center in Taiwan, we performed a
      chart review of 26 forensic psychiatric evaluations of enlisted personnel who
      were absent without leave (AWOL) or deserted their service from 1994 to 2014. The
      findings showed that many of these recruits had a lower level of education
      (50.00% had just nine years of education), intellectual disability (46.15%),
      depressive disorders (30.76%), and suicidal ideation (53.85%). Depressive
      disorder was overrepresented in comparison with findings in a previous study.
      Further study is needed to confirm whether psychiatric screening before service
      enlistment and early psychiatric intervention for service members with mental
      illness or emotional disturbance could help in the prevention of desertion or
      going AWOL. 

PMID- 27644870
TI  - Revenge Pornography: Mental Health Implications and Related Legislation.
AB  - Revenge pornography, also known as nonconsensual pornography, is a subtype of
      cyberharassment/cyberstalking, and a serious problem facing society in the
      Internet age. Revenge pornography can result in lifelong mental health
      consequences for victims, damaged relationships, and social isolation. Recently,
      a growing number of states have recognized the importance of this phenomenon and
      have enacted legislation that criminalizes it. The technology industry has also
      taken steps to assist victims of revenge pornography by creating web forms to
      request removal of links leading to the explicit content. The Cyber Civil Rights
      Initiative (CCRI) has been instrumental in promoting public awareness of this
      often overlooked problem and in providing services for victims. Although
      important steps have been made, greater recognition of the gravity of this
      problem and the mental health implications of revenge pornography is needed to
      expand legislation criminalizing such acts. A federal criminal law, in
      particular, is much overdue. Mental health professionals must understand the
      dimensions of revenge pornography to be able to identify and address the
      consequences in both forensic and clinical settings. 

PMID- 27644871
TI  - Sex Offenders in the Digital Age.
AB  - With most youths now using the Internet and social networking sites (SNSs), the
      public has become increasingly concerned about risks posed by online predators.
      In response, lawmakers have begun to pass laws that ban or limit sex offenders'
      use of the Internet and SNSs. At the time of this article, 12 states and the
      federal government have passed legislation attempting to restrict or ban the use
      of SNSs by registered sex offenders. These laws have been successfully challenged
      in 4 states. In this article, we discuss examples of case law that illustrate
      evolving trends regarding Internet and social networking site restrictions on sex
      offenders on supervised release, as well as those who have already completed
      their sentences. We also review constitutional questions and empirical evidence
      concerning Internet and social networking use by sex offenders. To our knowledge,
      this is the first paper in the psychiatric literature that addresses the evolving
      legal landscape in reference to sex offenders and their use of the Internet and
      SNSs. This article is intended to help inform forensic mental health
      professionals who work with sex offenders on current concerns in this rapidly
      evolving legal landscape. 

PMID- 27644872
TI  - Extreme Beliefs Mistaken for Psychosis.

PMID- 27644873
TI  - In Defense of Prudence and the APA's Goldwater Rule: A Response to Kroll and
      Pouncey.

PMID- 27644874
TI  - Prudence, Not Silence.

PMID- 27644875
TI  - Protection of carboxymethylated chitosan on chondrocytes from nitric oxide
      induced apoptosis by regulating phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling
      pathway.
AB  - Chondrocyte apoptosis is the most important element of development and
      progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Nitric oxide (NO) was used as the agent to
      induce chondrocyte apoptosis. Carboxymethylated chitosan (CMCS) has anti
      apoptosis effect on many cell types in vitro. This study was designed to
      investigate the protective effect of CMCS on NO-induced chondrocyte apoptosis and
      the probable molecular mechanisms. The newborn Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used
      in this study for isolation of chondrocytes. The cell viability was determined by
      cell counting kit (CCK-8), cell apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V/PI double
      staining assay kit. The levels of phosphorylated-PI3K (p-PI3K), phosphorylated
      Akt (p-Akt), Bcl-2 and Bax were determined by Western blot analysis. The caspase
      3 activity was determined by a quantitative colorimetric assay. Results showed
      that pretreatment with CMCS could inhibit the apoptosis induced by NO. CMCS could
      decrease the activity of NO and decrease the expression of Bcl-2, p-PI3K and p
      Akt, increase the expression of Bax, cytochrome c and caspase-3. CMCS also could
      reverse the effect of NO that prompted matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) and
      inhibited tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) activity. All the
      present results indicated that CMCS can protect NO induced chondrocytes apoptosis
      by activate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

PMID- 27644876
TI  - Fluorosis increases the risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis by stimulating
      interferon gamma.
AB  - Estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal women frequently activates osteoclasts
      (OC), accelerates bone resorption, and leads to osteoporosis (OP). Previous
      studies have demonstrated that interferon gamma (IFNgamma) could increase bone
      resorption and may be involved in postmenopausal OP. Fluorosis also increased the
      risk of fractures and dental fluorosis, and fluoride may enhance osteoclast
      formation and induce osteoclastic bone destruction in postmenopausal women, but
      the underlying mechanisms are as yet unknown. Here, we show that serum fluoride
      and IFNgamma levels are negatively correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) in
      postmenopausal women residing in a fluorotic area. Estrogen suppresses IFNgamma,
      which is elevated by fluoride, playing a pivotal role in triggering bone loss in
      estrogen-deficient conditions. In vitro, IFNgamma is inhibited by estrogen
      treatment and increased by fluoride in Raw264.7 cell, an osteoclast progenitor
      cell line. In ovariectomized (Ovx) mice, estrogen loss and IFNgamma promote OC
      activation and subsequent bone loss in vivo. However, IFNgamma deficiency
      prevents bone loss in Ovx mice even in fluoride conditions. Interestingly,
      fluoride fails to increase IFNgamma expression in estrogen receptor alpha
      (ERalpha)-deficient conditions, but not in ERbeta-deficient conditions. These
      findings demonstrate that fluorosis increases the bone loss in postmenopausal OP
      through an IFNgamma-dependent mechanism. IFNgamma signaling activates OC and
      aggravates estrogen deficiency inducing OP. Thus, stimulation of IFNgamma
      production is a pivotal ''upstream'' mechanism by which fluoride promotes bone
      loss. Suppression of IFNgamma levels may constitute a therapeutic approach for
      preventing bone loss.

PMID- 27644877
TI  - Agkihpin, a novel SVAE may inhibit the migration and invasion of liver cancer
      cells associated with the inversion of EMT induced by Wnt/beta-catenin signaling
      inhibition.
AB  - In our previous work, agkihpin, a snake venom arginine esterase (SVAE), was
      isolated from the Gloydius halys Pallas, which could attenuate the migration of
      liver cancer cells. However, the mechanism of the effect of agkihpin on
      attenuating migration of liver cancer cell is unknown yet. Here, to learn more
      about agkihpin and explore the possibility of agkihpin as an anti-metastatic drug
      in the future, a series of experiments about the migration and invasion of liver
      cancer cells with agkihpin, HepG 2 and SMMC-7721, was conducted. Epithelial
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an initial step and a major phenotype of cancer
      metastasis and invasion, while a number of EMT opposite phenomenons were
      observed, for example, epithelial marker E-cadherin was up-regulated, mesenchymal
      markers N-cadherin and Vimentin, and transcription regulators Snail and twist
      were down-regulated after treating with agkihpin in liver cancer cells; canonical
      Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, one of the signals initiated EMT, was inhibited by
      decreased expressions of FZD7 and beta-catenin, phosphorylation of GSK3beta
      (Ser9), and nuclear beta-catenin accumulation in agkihpin treated cancer cells.
      By using bioinformatics analysis and protease activity analysis in vitro we also
      found that agkihpin might bind and degrade FZD7. As a result, we hypothesized
      that agkihpin could inhibit the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway by cleaving
      FZD7, leading to the inactivation of the TCF/LEF transcription factor, which
      contributed to the inversion of EMT, and finally attenuated the migration and
      invasion of liver cancer cells. Therefore, our findings provided novel
      mechanistic insights into the role of SVAEs in liver cancer controlling, and
      raised the possibility that agkihpin may be used therapeutically in liver cancer.

PMID- 27644878
TI  - Hypoxia and ER stress promote Staufen1 expression through an alternative
      translation mechanism.
AB  - Under physiological stress conditions the cell protects itself through a global
      blockade on cap-dependent translation of mRNA. This allows cap-independent
      mechanisms such as internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation to
      take over and initiate the translation of a specific pool of mRNAs that encode
      proteins involved in protecting the cell from stress. Staufen 1 (Stau1) is an RNA
      binding protein that has been previously implicated in the regulation of stress
      granule formation and therefore could play a key role in protecting the cell
      against stress stimuli such as oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress.
      We hypothesized that Stau1 mRNA could, like many stress response genes, contain
      an IRES in its 5'UTR. Here we describe that a bona fide IRES element is present
      in the 5'UTR of Stau1 mRNA, which is activated under hypoxic and ER stress
      conditions. Further, we show that the activity of PERK kinase, a major effector
      of the ER stress response, is required for Stau1 IRES-mediated translation during
      ER stress. These results suggest that Stau1 is a stress response gene that
      remains efficiently translated during hypoxia and ER stress despite the
      substantial global inhibition of cap-dependent protein translation, promoting
      cell recovery following stress.

PMID- 27644879
TI  - Osteoarthritis-derived chondrocytes are a potential source of multipotent
      progenitor cells for cartilage tissue engineering.
AB  - The natural healing capacity of damaged articular cartilage is poor, rendering
      joint surface injuries a prime target for regenerative medicine. While autologous
      chondrocyte or mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) implantation can be applied to repair
      cartilage defects in young patients, no appropriate long-lasting treatment
      alternative is available for elderly patients with osteoarthritis (OA).
      Multipotent progenitor cells are reported to present in adult human articular
      cartilage, with a preponderance in OA cartilage. These facts led us to
      hypothesize the possible use of osteoarthritis-derived chondrocytes as a cell
      source for cartilage tissue engineering. We therefore analyzed chondrocyte- and
      stem cell-related markers, cell growth rate, and multipotency in OA chondrocytes
      (OACs) and bone marrow-derived MSCs, along with normal articular chondrocytes
      (ACs) as a control. OACs demonstrated similar phenotype and proliferation rate to
      MSCs. Furthermore, OACs exhibited multilineage differentiation ability with a
      greater chondrogenic differentiation ability than MSCs, which was equivalent to
      ACs. We conclude that chondrogenic capacity is not significantly affected by OA,
      and OACs could be a potential source of multipotent progenitor cells for
      cartilage tissue engineering.

PMID- 27644880
TI  - IL-33 signaling fuels outgrowth and metastasis of human lung cancer.
AB  - IL-33 is a member of IL-1 superfamily that drives production of Th2-related
      cytokines. Recently, accumulating evidence suggest an involvement of IL-33 in
      carcinogenesis. Herein, we determine a close correlation of IL-33 expression and
      cancer progress in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
      Overexpression of IL-33 by transfection with IL-33 expression vector enhances
      NSCLC outgrowth and metastasis, while genetic knockdown of IL-33 by transfection
      with IL-33 shRNA limits NSCLC progression. In consistent, IL-33 stimulation of
      NSCLC cells leads to robust NSCLC outgrowth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo.
      Mechanically, IL-33-triggered NSCLC progression relies on ST2 receptor and could
      be abrogated by ST2 blockade. IL-33/ST2 pathway up-regulates membrane glucose
      transporter 1 (GLUT1) on NSCLC cells, enhancing their glucose uptake and
      glycolysis. Accordingly, interfering GLUT1 expression dampens IL-33-enhanced
      glucose uptake and glycolysis in NSCLC cells, thereby abrogates IL-33-induced
      NSCLC outgrowth and metastasis. In essence, these findings derived from patients'
      NSCLC cells uncover a new function of IL-33 in NSCLC pathogenesis and identify
      GLUT1 as a novel target of IL-33 signaling. Block IL-33 is a promising
      therapeutic strategy to limit NSCLC glycolysis and tumor progression in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 27644881
TI  - Dynamic autophagic activity affected the development of thoracic aortic
      dissection by regulating functional properties of smooth muscle cells.
AB  - The aortic medial degeneration is the key histopathologic feature of Thoracic
      aortic dissection (TAD). The aim of this study was to identify the change of
      autophagic activity in the aortic wall during TAD development, and to explore the
      roles of autophagy on regulating functional properties of smooth muscle cells
      (SMCs). Firstly, compared with control group (n = 11), the increased expression
      of autophagic markers Beclin1 and LC3 was detected in the aortic wall from TAD
      group (n = 23) by immunochemistry and western blot. We found that more autophagic
      vacuoles were present in the aortic wall of TAD patients using Transmission
      electron microscopy. Next, autophagic activity was examined in AD mice model
      established by beta-aminopropionitrile fumarate (BAPN) and angiotensin II.
      Immunochemistry proved that autophagic activity was dynamically changed during AD
      development. Beclin1 and LC3 were detected up-regulated in the aortic wall in the
      second week after BAPN feeding, earlier than the fragmentation or loss of elastic
      fibers. When AD occurred in the 4th week, the expression of Beclin1 and LC3 began
      to decrease, but still higher than the control. Furthermore, autophagy was found
      to inhibit starvation-induced apoptosis of SMCs. Meanwhile, blockage of autophagy
      could suppress PDGF-induced phenotypic switch of SMCs. Taken together, autophagic
      activity was dynamically changed in the aortic wall during TAD development. The
      abnormal autophagy could regulate the functional properties of aortic SMCs, which
      might be the potential pathogenesis of TAD.

PMID- 27644882
TI  - Increased a-series gangliosides positively regulate leptin/Ob receptor-mediated
      signals in hypothalamus of GD3 synthase-deficient mice.
AB  - Gangliosides are widely involved in the regulation of cells and organs. However,
      little is known about their roles in adipose tissues and hypothalamus. In GD3
      synthase-knockout (GD3S KO) mice, deletion of b-series gangliosides resulted in
      the reduction of serum leptin due to disturbed secretion from adipocytes. To
      examine whether leptin signals altered, leptin/leptin receptor (ObR)-mediated
      signaling in hypothalamus was analyzed. Hypothalamus of GD3S KO mouse showed
      increased expression of GM1 and GD1a, and increased activation of ObR-mediated
      signals such as pSTAT3 and c-Fos. Leptin stimulation of hypothalamus-derived N-41
      cells and their transfectants with GD3S cDNA showed that a-series gangliosides
      positively regulate leptin/ObR-mediated signals. Co-precipitation analysis
      revealed that ObR interacts with a-series gangliosides with increased association
      by leptin stimulation. In brown adipose tissues (BAT) of GD3S KO mice, their
      weights and adipocyte numbers were increased, and BAT markers such as PGC1alpha
      and UCP-1 were also up-regulated. These results suggested that leptin/ObRb
      mediated signals were enhanced in hypothalamus of GD3S KO mice due to increased a
      series gangliosides, leading to the apparently similar features of energy
      expenditure between the KO and wild type mice.

PMID- 27644883
TI  - Human aortic smooth muscle cell-derived exosomal miR-221/222 inhibits autophagy
      via a PTEN/Akt signaling pathway in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
AB  - Dysregulation of autophagy in endothelial cells plays a vital role in
      cardiovascular dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Accumulating evidence shows that
      miRNAs regulate autophagy in various cell types by targeting autophagy-related
      genes. In the present study, we found that a co-culture of human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs) with human aortic smooth muscle cells (HAoSMCs)
      inhibited autophagy activity in HUVECs. Furthermore, we isolated exosomes
      secreted by HAoSMCs, and confirmed that the exosomes contain miR-221/222. We
      investigated the role of miR-221/222 transferred by HAoSMC-derived exosomes in
      HUVECs. These exosomes induced an increase of miR-221/222 expression and a down
      regulation of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) in
      HUVECs. Dual luciferase reporter assays revealed that miR-221/222 could bind to
      the 3'UTR of PTEN, which implied that PTEN was a direct target of miR-221/222.
      The expression of PTEN could be down-regulated by miR-221/222 over-expression.
      Then, we detected the expression of PTEN, LC3, ATG5, SQSTM1/p62, Beclin-1, Akt,
      and phospho-Akt in HUVECs transfected with miR-221/222 mimics and inhibitors. Our
      results demonstrated that miR-221/222 overexpression inhibited the expression of
      PTEN and subsequently activated Akt signaling, and eventually down-regulated the
      expression of LC3II, ATG5 and Beclin-1, and elevated the expression of
      SQSTM1/p62. This phenomenon can be reversed by the transfection of miR-221/222
      inhibitors. These data suggested that miR-221/222 from HAoSMC-derived exosomes
      inhibited autophagy in HUVECs by modulating PTEN/Akt signaling pathway.

PMID- 27644884
TI  - The extracellular matrix regulates the effect of decorin and transforming growth
      factor beta-2 (TGF-beta2) on myoblast migration.
AB  - Muscular injuries that destroy the basal lamina result in poor functional
      recovery of skeletal muscle. This is due, in part, to the deposition of
      structural fibrotic proteins such as fibronectin and collagen by fibroblasts and
      other cells. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) promotes fibrosis,
      whereas the proteoglycan decorin is known to act as an anti-fibrotic agent, in
      part via the binding and neutralization of TGF-beta. We have previously
      established that decorin can alter the migratory response of skeletal muscle
      myoblasts to the extracellular matrix (ECM) factor collagen, but not fibronectin.
      We have also shown that TGF-beta reduces myoblast migration. In the current study
      we demonstrate that decorin can dramatically alter the inhibitory role of TGF
      beta on human myoblast migration and go on to shown that the extracellular matrix
      can significantly modify this effect. Decorin and TGF-beta2 in combination were
      observed to significantly increase the rate of human myoblast migration, despite
      the inhibitory effect of TGF-beta2 on its own. Furthermore, in the presence of
      fibronectin, TGF-beta2 and decorin no longer acted synergistically to promote
      migration; while in the presence of collagen I, TGF-beta2 failed to inhibit
      migration. These studies show, for the first time, that decorin can alter the
      bioactivity of TGF-beta2 on human myoblast migration and emphasize the crucial
      regulatory role of the extracellular matrix in determining the response of
      skeletal muscle myoblasts to migratory cues.

PMID- 27644887
TI  - A knowledge-based expert rule system for predicting mutagenicity (Ames test) of
      aromatic amines and azo compounds.
AB  - Cancer is one of the main causes of death in Western countries, and a major issue
      for human health. Prolonged exposure to a number of chemicals was observed to be
      one of the primary causes of cancer in occupationally exposed persons. Thus, the
      development of tools for identifying hazardous chemicals and the increase of
      mechanistic understanding of their toxicity is a major goal for scientific
      research. We constructed a new knowledge-based expert system accounting the
      effect of different substituents for the prediction of mutagenicity (Ames test)
      of aromatic amines, a class of compounds of major concern because of their
      widespread application in industry. The herein presented model implements a
      series of user-defined structural rules extracted from a database of 616 primary
      aromatic amines, with their Ames test outcomes, aimed at identifying mutagenic
      and non-mutagenic chemicals. The chemical rationale behind such rules is
      discussed. Besides assessing the model's ability to correctly classify aromatic
      amines, its predictivity was further evaluated on a second database of 354 azo
      dyes, another class of chemicals of major concern, whose toxicity has been
      predicted on the basis of the toxicity of aromatic amines potentially generated
      from the metabolic reduction of the azo bond. Good performance in classification
      on both the amine (MCC, Matthews Correlation Coefficient=0.743) and the azo dye
      (MCC=0.584) datasets confirmed the predictive power of the model, and its
      suitability for use on a wide range of chemicals. Finally, the model was compared
      with a series of well-known mutagenicity predicting software. The good
      performance of our model compared with other mutagenicity models, especially in
      predicting azo dyes, confirmed the usefulness of this expert system as a reliable
      support to in vitro mutagenicity assays for screening and prioritization
      purposes. The model has been fully implemented as a KNIME workflow and is freely
      available for downstream users.

PMID- 27644888
TI  - Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics Study of the Sialyltransferase Reaction
      Mechanism.
AB  - The sialyltransferase is an enzyme that transfers the sialic acid moiety from
      cytidine 5'-monophospho-N-acetyl-neuraminic acid (CMP-NeuAc) to the terminal
      position of glycans. To elucidate the catalytic mechanism of sialyltransferase,
      we explored the potential energy surface along the sialic acid transfer reaction
      coordinates by the hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics method on the
      basis of the crystal structure of sialyltransferase CstII. Our calculation
      demonstrated that CstII employed an SN1-like reaction mechanism via the formation
      of a short-lived oxocarbenium ion intermediate. The computational barrier height
      was 19.5 kcal/mol, which reasonably corresponded with the experimental reaction
      rate. We also found that two tyrosine residues (Tyr156 and Tyr162) played a vital
      role in stabilizing the intermediate and the transition states by quantum
      mechanical interaction with CMP.

PMID- 27644889
TI  - Peroxiredoxin 3 promotes IL-12 production from macrophages and partially protects
      mice against infection with Toxoplasma gondii.
AB  - Toxoplasmosis remains a life-threatening infection of humans and various domestic
      and wild animals worldwide. It is caused by the obligatory intracellular
      protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a family of
      antioxidant enzymes that protect cells from oxidative stress from hydroperoxides.
      In the recent years, several studies have reported the potential use of T. gondii
      derived enzymes in triggering protective immunity against T. gondii infection.
      Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the immunogenicity and
      protective efficacy of TgPrx3. In vitro stimulation of peritoneal macrophages
      with recombinant TgPrx3 protein fused to glutathione-S transferase (TgPrx3-GST)
      enhanced IL-12p40 production, indicating the immune-stimulating potentials of
      TgPrx3. Next, protective efficacy was investigated by subcutaneous inoculation of
      mice with TgPrx3-GST (25pmol), and recombinant GST or PBS were used as the
      controls. Mice immunized with TgPrx3-GST exhibited a significant elevation of
      specific antibodies in terms of IgG1 and IgG2c isotypes. Moreover, interferon
      gamma production and spleen cell proliferation dramatically increased in the
      TgPrx3-GST-sensitized cells from mice immunized with the same antigen. The
      severity of the T. gondii infections tended to be attenuated in the TgPrx3-GST
      immunized mice, as evidenced by their higher survival rates and lower parasite
      burdens in the brain. Altogether, TgPrx3 immunization induced specific humoral
      and cellular immune responses and partially protected the mice against lethal
      toxoplasmosis. Our results suggest the possible use of TgPrx3 as a vaccine
      candidate against T. gondii infections.

PMID- 27644890
TI  - Venison, another source of Paragonimus westermani infection.
AB  - Paragonimiasis is a typical food-borne parasitic disease, endemic in most parts
      of Asia, with sporadic case reports from American and African countries. The
      major source of infection is undercooked freshwater crab or crayfish, though
      consumption of wild boar meat is also responsible for the infection in Japan,
      because wild boar is a paratenic host for Paragonimus westermani. Recently,
      living juveniles of P. westermani were isolated from muscle of a sika deer,
      Cervus nippon, in Japan, raising the possibility that venison has been another
      source of infection. In order to clarify the potential contribution of venison
      consumption to the occurrence of paragonimiasis, we analysed dietary histories of
      those paragonimiasis patients in whose diagnoses we were involved between 2001
      and 2015. Among 380 patients, freshwater crab had been consumed by 208 patients,
      wild boar meat by 190, and wild deer meat by 76 patients before the onset of the
      disease. Overall contribution of wild deer meat was estimated to be 6.8% to
      20.0%, although in Oita and Gifu Prefectures, where a substantial proportion of
      patients had consumed raw venison, the contribution of venison consumption was
      much higher (27.5 to 62.1% and 42.1 to 78.9% in Oita and Gifu Prefectures,
      respectively). We demonstrated P. westermani-specific antibodies in the sera of 4
      out of 160 sika deer from Gifu Prefecture, strongly suggesting that these deer
      were infected with P. westermani.

PMID- 27644891
TI  - Separation of external aqueous phase from o/w nanoemulsions.
AB  - The aim of this study is to develop a simple, reliable, timesaving and cost
      effective method for separation of the external aqueous phase from o/w
      nanoemulsions. The method is based on centrifugation through a hydrophilic
      membrane. Five o/w nanoemulsions (droplet size of 20-200nm) with radio-labeled
      C18 triglyceride were prepared. These nanoemulsions were placed in tubes with
      cellulose membranes (10-50K molecular weight cut-off) and centrifuged at 250
      3000g for 5-15min. The filtrates were analyzed for the presence of lipid droplets
      and radioactivity. The applicability of this method was tested on FITC-dextran
      loaded nanoemulsion (FITC-dextran was expected to be in the lipid droplets) and a
      blank nanoemulsion mixed with FITC-dextran (FITC-dextran was expected to be in
      the external aqueous phase). The results show that no droplets were detected in
      the filtrate. The radioactivity in the filtrate was in the range of 0.3-2.9%. The
      volume of the filtrate increased with increase in the membrane pore size,
      centrifugal force and time, and decrease in droplet size. There was 41.6+/-4.2%
      and 98.4+/-0.8% FITC-dextran in the aqueous phase of the FITC-dextran-loaded
      nanoemulsion and the blank nanoemulsion mixed with FITC-dextran, respectively. In
      conclusion, centrifugation with hydrophilic membrane is an efficient and
      convenient method for the separation of the external aqueous phase from o/w
      nanoemulsions with droplet sizes in the range of 20-200nm.

PMID- 27644892
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of genistein conjugated with gold nanoparticles
      and the study of their cytotoxic properties.
AB  - Gold nanoparticles conjugated with drug substances are used in diagnostics and
      therapies. Apart from the combinations involving gold nanoparticles conjugated
      with drug substances through linkers, a direct bonding is also known. In our
      paper the example of such a direct bonding between gold nanoparticles and
      genistein (AuNPs-GE) is presented. This conjugate was obtained in a one-pot
      synthesis and the formation of AuNPs-GE was monitored in terms of color change
      and UV-Vis spectroscopy. It has been shown that genistein reduces Au3+ ions to
      spherical Au0 nanocrystallites and acts as a stabilizing agent. The efficiency of
      the purification of the conjugate from free genistein was controlled by the
      capillary electrophoresis. Gold nanoparticles are homogeneously shaped and have a
      narrow range of size from 14 to 33nm and the size of the nanoparticles modified
      with genistein is around 64.64+/-0.41nm, as measured by the TEM and DSL
      techniques, respectively. The zeta potential of the gold nanoparticles modified
      with genistein is -19.32+/-0.82mV and suggests a high stability of the
      nanoparticles and lower toxicity for the normal cells. The identity of genistein
      on the gold nanoparticles was proved by the electrochemistry, NMR and Raman
      spectroscopy. The mechanism of the conjugate forming has been proposed. The
      coverage of gold nanoparticles with genistein 5.09% (m/m) has been calculated
      from the TGA analysis. Moreover, it has been proved that the obtained conjugate
      is characterized by a high cytotoxic activity towards cancer cells, as observed
      in the cell line test.

PMID- 27644893
TI  - Melatonin pharmacokinetics after transdermal administration changes according to
      the time of the day.
AB  - Melatonin is a neurohormone with multiple and different actions, such as
      chronobiotic or antioxidant. Melatonin is usually orally administered, but dermal
      administration is also useful in dermatological diseases or as adjuvant to
      certain skin treatments. Here, we studied the variability of the pharmacokinetics
      of melatonin and its metabolite AFMK, when melatonin is transdermally
      administered to Hairless rat at two different times of day (Zeitgeber Time 4
      (ZT4) and ZT16). Moreover, in order to obtain the bioavailability, kinetics after
      intravenous administration was also studied. In addition, a permeation study was
      carried out, at both ZTs, to test the amount of melatonin retained in the skin
      after transdermal administration. Results showed that pharmacokinetic parameters
      of melatonin administered exogenously depended on the time of the day. When
      intravenous data were fitted to a compartmental model, the extrapolated plasma
      concentration at time 0 and the area under the curve were higher at ZT4, while
      clearance, volumes of central and peripheral compartments and volume of
      distribution at the steady state were higher at ZT16. Transdermal administration
      was best fitted to a one-compartment model and tmax, half-life of absorption and
      area under the curve showed higher values at ZT4, while the absorption rate and
      constant of absorption were higher at ZT16. AFMK was detected in all cases, but
      no differences between the two ZTs were observed. Transdermal administration
      showed better bioavailability also at ZT4. Results indicate that time of day is a
      variable that should be taken into account when melatonin is transdermally
      administered.

PMID- 27644894
TI  - Extracellular Vesicles: Immunomodulatory messengers in the context of tissue
      repair/regeneration.
AB  - Inflammation is a complex and highly regulated biological process, crucial for a
      variety of functions in the human body, from host response against infectious
      agents to initiation of repair/regeneration of injured tissues. In the context of
      tissue repair, the action of different immune cell populations and their
      interplay with tissue specific cells, including stem cells, is still being
      uncovered. Extracellular Vesicles (EV) are small membrane vesicles secreted by
      cells in a controlled manner, which can act locally and systemically. The ability
      of EV to influence tissue repair and regeneration has been proposed as a
      physiologically intelligent and targeted strategy of cell communication. Herein,
      the role of EV in tissue repair is reviewed, summarising first their contribution
      to the regulation of immune cell function, and discussing the implications for
      the resolution of inflammation during repair. Next, the impact of EV on cell
      proliferation and differentiation, and on extracellular matrix remodelling, key
      aspects of the subsequent phases of tissue repair, is addressed. Finally, EV
      based therapies are discussed, focusing on the application of naturally produced
      EV, and the use of EV as delivery vehicles.

PMID- 27644895
TI  - Targeting vincristine plus tetrandrine liposomes modified with DSPE-PEG2000
      transferrin in treatment of brain glioma.
AB  - Glioma is the most frequent primary tumor, and the treatment efficiency is
      unsatisfactory for the obstacle of the blood brain barrier (BBB), the multidrug
      resistance (MDR) and the properties of cancer cell invasion and vasculogenic
      mimicry (VM) formation. In this study, a kind of TF modified vincristine plus
      tetrandrine liposomes was developed to overcome those limitations. In vitro
      results showed that TF modified vincristine plus tetrandrine liposomes with
      suitable physicochemical property could enhance the transport across the BBB,
      increase the cellular uptake, inhibit the MDR, and block the cancer cell invasion
      and VM channels. In vivo results demonstrated that TF modified vincristine plus
      tetrandrine liposomes could significantly prolong the circulation time, obviously
      accumulate in brain tumor location, thus leading to a robust anticancer efficacy
      in glioma-bearing mice. These data suggest that TF modified vincristine plus
      tetrandrine liposomes offer a promising strategy for treating brain glioma.

PMID- 27644896
TI  - A novel microdialysis-dissolution/permeation system for testing oral dosage
      forms: A proof-of-concept study.
AB  - A novel microdialysis-dissolution/permeation (M-D/P) system was developed for the
      biopharmaceutical assessment of oral drug formulations. This system consists of a
      side-by-side diffusion chamber, a microdialysis unit fixed within the dissolution
      chamber for continuous sampling, and a biomimetic Permeapad(r) as the intestinal
      barrier. In the M-D/P system, the concentration of the molecularly dissolved drug
      (with MWCO <20kDa) was measured over time in the dissolution compartment
      (representing the gastrointestinal tract) while the concentration of the
      permeated drug was measured in the acceptor compartment (representing the blood).
      The kinetics of both the dissolution process and the permeation process were
      simultaneously quantified under circumstances that mimic physiological
      conditions. For the current proof-of-concept study, hydrocortisone (HCS) in the
      form of slowly dissolving solvate crystals and buffer and the biorelevant fasted
      state simulated intestinal fluids (FaSSIF), were employed as the model drug and
      dissolution media, respectively. The applicability of the M-D/P system to
      dissolution and permeation profiling of HCS in buffer and in FaSSIF has been
      successfully demonstrated. Compared to the conventional direct sampling method
      (using filter of 0.1-0.45MUm), sampling by the M-D/P system exhibited distinct
      advantages, including (1) showing minimal disturbance of the permeation process,
      (2) differentiating "molecularly" dissolved drugs from "apparently" dissolved
      drugs during dissolution of HCS in FaSSIF, and (3) being less laborious and
      having better sampling temporal resolution. M-D/P system appeared to be a
      promising, simple and routine tool that allows for the researchers' intensive
      comprehension of the interplay of dissolution and permeation thus helping for
      better oral formulation screening and as an ultimate goal, for better dosage
      forms assessment.

PMID- 27644897
TI  - Biotechnological interventions for harnessing podophyllotoxin from plant and
      fungal species: current status, challenges, and opportunities for its
      commercialization.
AB  - Podophyllotoxin is an aryltetralin lignan synthesized in several plant species,
      which is used in chemotherapies for cancers and tumor treatment. More potent
      semisynthetic derivatives of podophyllotoxin such as etoposide and teniposide are
      being developed and evaluated for their efficacy. To meet the ever increasing
      pharmaceutical needs, species having podophyllotoxin are uprooted extensively
      leading to the endangered status of selective species mainly Sinopodophyllum
      hexandrum. This has necessitated bioprospection of podophyllotoxin from different
      plant species to escalate the strain on this endangered species. The conventional
      and non-conventional mode of propagation and bioprospection with the integration
      of biotechnological interventions could contribute to sustainable supply of
      podophyllotoxin from the available plant resources. This review article is
      focused on the understanding of different means of propagation, development of
      genomic information, and its implications for elucidating podophyllotoxin
      biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of pathways. In addition, various
      strategies for sustainable production of this valuable metabolite are also
      discussed, besides a critical evaluation of future challenges and opportunities
      for the commercialization of podophyllotoxin.

PMID- 27644898
TI  - Medical application of scorpion venom to breast cancer: A mini-review.
AB  - Breast cancer is the leading cause of mortality in women worldwide. Today, 1 in 8
      women born in the United States will have an invasive cancer in their lifetime.
      Despite significant attempts, the prognosis of metastatic breast cancer still
      remains poor. This has compelled scientists to look elsewhere for better
      therapeutic outcomes. Recent advances in venomic studies have demonstrated some
      promise in cancer-related ailments. Scorpion venom, a complex cocktail of
      biogenic amines, proteins, peptides, mucoproteins, organic salts and neurotoxins
      has shown a potential therapeutic application due to its cytotoxic, apoptogenic,
      immunosuppressive and antiproliferative properties. This communication reviews
      the effects of scorpion venom components on breast cancer and their mechanisms.

PMID- 27644899
TI  - Fungicide treatment and clipping of Oxytropis sericea does not disrupt
      swainsonine concentrations.
AB  - Swainsonine, an indolizidine alkaloid, is an alpha-mannosidase and mannosidase II
      inhibitor that causes lysosomal storage disease and alters glycoprotein
      processing. Swainsonine is found in a number of plant species worldwide, and is
      produced by associated endophytic fungi. Prolonged consumption of swainsonine
      containing plants by livestock causes a condition characterized by weight loss,
      depression, altered behavior, decreased libido, infertility, and death. In
      contrast, Astragalus and Oxytropis that do not contain swainsonine may present a
      valuable food source for grazing livestock in regions where palatable forage is
      scarce. This study tested the hypothesis that swainsonine concentrations may be
      reduced by fungicide treatment or by clipping, thus reducing plant toxicity.
      Additionally we hypothesized that clipping plants may provide a mechanism for
      horizontal transmission of the endophyte. To this end, four different fungicides
      were applied to render the endophyte non-viable, and plant vegetative tissues
      were periodically clipped. Treatment of Oxytropis sericea with any of four
      different fungicides did not alter swainsonine concentrations in plants at any of
      three harvest times. Additionally, we found that individual or multiple clippings
      had no effect on swainsonine concentrations; plants that contained swainsonine
      maintained concentrations, and plants low or absent in swainsonine also remained
      as such at each harvest. These results suggest that there is no evidence of
      horizontal transmission of the endophyte among individual plants due to clipping.

PMID- 27644900
TI  - Chemoradiotherapy, the backbone of radiotherapy in gastrointestinal oncology.

PMID- 27644901
TI  - The rationale of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy - Joint action of Castor
      and Pollux.
AB  - This article aims to review the rationale behind the combination of radiotherapy
      and chemotherapy. Theoretical concepts describing the principles of the joint
      effects of chemoradiotherapy are reviewed. Preclinical and clinical evidence are
      collected and summarised demonstrating the co-operation between the two
      modalities which form the mainstay of the treatment of most solid tumours.
      Initially, the evolution of chemoradiotherapy was mostly empirically driven which
      is true for both, the early studies and the experimental investigations, rather
      than relying on scientific rationale. To date, the revised Steel's model proposes
      five mechanisms, spatial cooperation, cytotoxic enhancement, biological co
      operation, temporary modulation and normal tissue protection to describe the
      interaction between radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Chemoradiotherapy has become
      the standard modality for most patients with locally advanced solid tumours due
      to better control of loco-regional disease and prolonged survival. Gradually,
      molecular prediction of efficacy is integrated such as MGMT status for combining
      temozolomide with radiotherapy in glioblastoma. As molecular targeted drugs are
      ready to be taken into triple combinations with chemoradiotherapy it is crucial
      to have a good understanding of the mechanisms of chemoradiotherapy for the
      rational development of future combinations. 

PMID- 27644902
TI  - Chemotherapeutic agents for GI tumor chemoradiotherapy overview of
      chemotherapeutic agents to be combined with radiotherapy in the GI tract and
      their potential as radiosensitizers.
AB  - In the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, simultaneous radiochemotherapy plays
      an important role. It is one of the principles of simultaneous radiochemotherapy,
      applying only chemotherapeutic agents simultaneously to radiation, which are
      primarily effective in the treated tumor entity, therefore a lot of different
      agents, like antimetabolites, mostly 5-fluorouracil, platinum derivates (mostly
      cisplatinum and oxaliplatin), mitomycin C and taxanes are used in simultaneous
      radiochemotherapy. Most of these have also radiation-intensifying effects. The
      mechanisms and interactions with ionizing radiation are presented in the article.

PMID- 27644903
TI  - Targeted agents in GI radiotherapy: Clinical efficacy and side effects.
AB  - Approximately 50% of all patients with cancer receive radiotherapy (RT) at some
      point during their treatment. Despite the advent of modern imaging and advances
      in planning and delivering highly-conformal and precise RT, further dose
      escalation to improve clinical outcome is often limited by the potential side
      effects to adjacent tissues. Addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy (CRT) has
      led to significant clinical improvements in many gastrointestinal malignancies
      but at the expense of increased toxicity as most chemotherapy drugs lack
      specificity. Targeted agents modulate specific biological pathways and can
      potentially enhance RT efficacy. However, so far, the majority of clinical
      studies incorporating targeted agents into RT and CRT have produced disappointing
      results in gastrointestinal malignancies. Also, we lack validated biomarkers and
      methods for monitoring and predicting the efficacy of these agents when combined
      with RT/CRT. In the present article, we will review the most important targeted
      therapies, and examine the efficacy and toxicity of these agents when combined
      with RT/CRT in gastrointestinal malignancies. The shortcomings as well as future
      challenges and perspectives for the successful use of these compounds with RT/CRT
      in future trials will also be outlined. 

PMID- 27644904
TI  - Chemoradiotherapy in tumours of the oesophagus and gastro-oesophageal junction.
AB  - Oesophageal cancer remains a malignancy with a poor prognosis. However, in the
      recent 10-15 years relevant progress has been made by the introduction of
      chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for tumours of the oesophagus or gastro-oesophageal
      junction. The addition of neo-adjuvant CRT to surgery has significantly improved
      survival and locoregional control, for both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell
      carcinoma. For irresectable or medically inoperable patients, definitive CRT has
      changed the treatment intent from palliative to curative. Definitive CRT is a
      good alternative for radical surgery in responding patients with squamous cell
      carcinoma and those running a high risk of surgical morbidity and mortality. For
      patients with an out-of-field solitary locoregional recurrence after primary
      curative treatment, definitive CRT can lead to long term survival. 

PMID- 27644905
TI  - Oesophagus side effects related to the treatment of oesophageal cancer or
      radiotherapy of other thoracic malignancies.
AB  - The oesophagus as a serial organ located in the central chest is frequent subject
      to "incidental" dose application in radiotherapy for several thoracic
      malignancies including oesophageal cancer itself. Especially due to the
      radiosensitive mucosa severe radiotherapy induced sequelae can occur, acute
      oesophagitis and strictures as late toxicity being the most frequent side
      effects. In this review we focus on oesophageal side effects derived from
      treatment of gastrointestinal cancer and secondly provide an overview on
      oesophageal toxicity from conventional and stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy
      to the thoracic area in general. Available data on pathogenesis, frequency,
      onset, and severity of oesophageal side effects are summarized. Whereas for
      conventional radiotherapy the associations of applied doses to certain volumes of
      the oesophagus are well described, the tolerance dose to the mediastinal
      structures for hypofractionated therapy is unknown. The review provides available
      attempts to predict the risk of oesophageal side effects from dosimetric
      parameters of SBRT. 

PMID- 27644906
TI  - Gastric cancer adjuvant therapy.
AB  - From a global perspective, gastric cancer is one of the most common and lethal
      forms of cancer. The incidence of gastric cancer is very high in East Asia and
      varies considerably in countries of the Western hemisphere. Even after curative
      resection, the relapse rates are high in stages II and III. Therefore, adjuvant
      treatment with chemotherapy has been studied with positive results, especially in
      East Asian populations. In the Western World, where many locally advanced and
      borderline resectable gastric cancers are diagnosed, perioperative chemotherapy
      has become a standard of care. Perioperative chemotherapy increases the chances
      for curative resection. The additional role of radiation therapy, either in the
      neoadjuvant or in the adjuvant setting, needs to be defined by studies with a
      quality assurance for all treatment modalities. 

PMID- 27644907
TI  - Radiation therapy in cholangiocellular carcinomas.
AB  - Cholangiocarcinoma can arise in all parts of the biliary tract and this has
      implications for therapy. Surgery is the mainstay of therapy however local
      relapse is a major problem. Therefore, adjuvant treatment with chemoradiotherapy
      was tested in trials. The SWOG-S0809 trial regimen of chemoradiotherapy which was
      tested in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and in gallbladder cancer can currently
      be regarded as highest level of evidence for this indication. In contrast to
      adjuvant therapy where only conventionally fractionated radiotherapy plays a
      role, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) today has become a powerful
      alternative to chemoradiotherapy for definitive treatment due to the ability to
      administer higher doses of radiotherapy to improve local control. Sequential
      combinations with chemotherapy are also frequently employed. Nevertheless, in
      general cholangiocarcinoma is an orphan disease and future clinical trials will
      have to improve the available level of evidence. 

PMID- 27644909
TI  - Pancreatic cancer chemoradiotherapy.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer is the most lethal gastrointestinal tumour. Chemotherapy is the
      mainstay of therapy in the majority of the patients whereas resection is the only
      chance of cure but only possible in 15-20% of all patients. The integration of
      radiotherapy into multimodal treatment concepts is heavily investigated. It is
      now commonly accepted that induction chemotherapy should precede radiotherapy.
      When fractionated conventionally it should be given as chemoradiotherapy.
      Recently, stereotactic body radiotherapy emerged as an alternative, but will have
      to be carefully investigated in clinical trials. This review aims to give an
      overview of radiotherapeutic strategies with a focus on the latest developments
      in the field in the context of chemotherapy and surgery. 

PMID- 27644908
TI  - Stereotactic body radiation therapy for primary and metastatic liver tumors: From
      technological evolution to improved patient care.
AB  - Technical developments allowed stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to
      deliver effective doses of irradiation with high precision in a small number of
      fractions. This paper reviews the role of SBRT for liver metastases,
      hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma, paying special attention to
      patient eligibility and treatment outcomes regarding local control, toxicity and
      quality of life. As well as discussing specific issues of these different tumors,
      such as the presence of underlying liver cirrhosis and the impact on toxicity, it
      outlines the limitations of SBRT and future areas of development and research. 

PMID- 27644910
TI  - Rectal cancer: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
AB  - The monolithic approach to apply the same schedule of preoperative 5-fluorouracil
      (5-FU)- or capecitabine-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) to all patients with
      clinically staged TNM stage II/III rectal cancer need to be questioned. Five
      randomized trials have been completed to determine if the addition of oxaliplatin
      to preoperative 5-FU/capecitabine-based CRT offers an advantage compared with
      single-agent CRT. In contrast to the German CAO/ARO/AIO-04 trial, results from
      the ACCORD 12, STAR-01, PETACC-6 and NSAPB R-04 trials failed to demonstrate a
      significant improvement of early or late efficacy endpoints with the addition of
      oxaliplatin. Most of the phase II trials incorporating cetuximab into CRT
      reported disappointingly low rates of pCR; the combination of CRT with VEGF
      inhibition showed encouraging pCR rates but at the cost of increased surgical
      complications. Novel clinical trials currently address (1) the role of induction
      and consolidation chemotherapy before or after CRT, (2) minimal or omitted
      surgery following complete response to CRT, or (3) the omission of radiotherapy
      for selected patients with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The notion of
      different multimodal treatment concepts according to tumor stage, location,
      mesorectal fascia margin status, molecular profiles, tumor response, and
      patients' preferences becomes increasingly popular and will render the multimodal
      treatment approach of rectal cancer more risk-adapted. 

PMID- 27644911
TI  - Anal cancer - What is the optimum chemoradiotherapy?
AB  - Radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy with 5FU and Mitomycin C is the standard-of
      care for squamous-cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA). Phase III trials combined
      radiation doses of 50-60 Gy with concurrent Fluoropyrimidines, Mitomycin C and
      Cisplatin in various doses and schedules. CRT is highly successful for early
      T1/T2 cancers, but results in appreciable late morbidities and still fails to
      control larger and node-positive tumours. Compliance to chemotherapy is important
      for local control. Modern radiotherapy techniques such as intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT), rotational IMRT, image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) have
      enabled smaller margins and highly conformal plans, resulting in decreased
      radiation doses to the organs at risk and ensuring a shorter overall treatment
      time. These advances offer the potential for integrating higher doses of
      radiation, escalation of the currently used drugs and the safe use of other more
      novel agents with acceptable toxicity. In this chapter potential novel approaches
      are discussed in the context of SCCA. 

PMID- 27644912
TI  - Management of radiation and chemotherapy related acute toxicity in
      gastrointestinal cancer.
AB  - Possible toxic effects following radiation and chemotherapy of gastrointestinal
      tumours may cause a depletion of the mucosal barrier within the radiation volumes
      with severe mucositis. Diarrhoea, nausea, emesis and severe malabsorption
      followed by infections with dehydration and electrolyte disorders have to be
      encountered. For prevention and treatment of oropharyngeal mucositis an oral care
      protocol, oral cryotherapy together with benzydamine mouthwash may be
      recommended. Lower gastrointestinal diarrhoea is best treated by Octreotide (>100
      MUg s.c. bid) if loperamide is ineffective and amifostine (340 mg/m(2) IV) to
      prevent radiation proctitis. Enteral nutrition may be necessary with severe
      malnutrition or no enteral food intake for >7days or insufficient intake (<60%)
      for >10 days. With severe generalized mucositis or severe radiation induced
      enteritis parenteral nutrition will be initiated. Following the application of
      highly emetogenic chemotherapy regimen, 5-HT3 antagonists, dexamethasone and
      aprepitant, whereas in moderate risk levels 5-HT3 antagonist plus dexamethasone
      may be sufficient. 

PMID- 27644913
TI  - [Clinical characteristics among forensic inpatients: A special case, the
      establishment of social defense "Les Marronniers" in Tournai (Belgium)].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Belgium, the law of "social defense" stipulates that an accused
      "which is either in a state of dementia or in a serious state of mental
      disturbance or mental deficiency, incapable of controlling his actions" can be
      interned. The establishment of social defense (ESD) in Tournai (Belgium) hosts
      350 inmates. OBJECTIVES: In collaboration with the Centre for research in social
      defense, we organized a systematic assessment of patients interned in ESD. This
      is the first study evaluating prospectively this population. METHODS: Of the
      total, 229 patients signed informed consent. Different scales of assessment
      (MINI, WAIS-III, SCID II) were used. Descriptive analyzes were applied (SPSS
      version 12). RESULTS: We show that 48.8 % of our participants had committed a
      sexual offense (rape or attempted rape, indecent assault, public outrage or
      mixed). The average intelligence quotient is 71.4. According to the MINI, 33.2 %
      of participants showed no psychiatric disorder. Among psychiatric disorders,
      psychotic disorders are the most represented (37.4 %). According to the SCID,
      personality disorders were absent in 26.8 % of our participants. Most of the axis
      II disorders are represented personality disorders related to cluster B (57.3 %)
      mainly with antisocial personality disorder (37.9 %). CONCLUSION: These data
      demonstrate the significant heterogeneity of our sample and the need for the
      establishment of specific care routes to each subpopulation.

PMID- 27644914
TI  - [Reversible catatonia after the abrupt discontinuation of clozapine: Case
      report].
AB  - In this paper, we report the case of a patient, aged 26, with schizophrenia who
      was admitted to psychiatric emergencies for catatonia, one week after abrupt
      discontinuation of clozapine. An improvement was seen after only two days of the
      reintroduction of clozapine alone. This catatonia is reversible and it responds
      magnificently to the reintroduction of clozapine. And we conclude that patients
      and their caregivers need to be educated about the effects of abrupt cessation of
      clozapine administration.

PMID- 27644915
TI  - [Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief - Likert format: Factor structure
      analysis in general population in France].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The main objective of the study was to explore the factorial
      structure of the French version of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire
      Brief (SPQ-B) in a Likert format, in a representative sample of the general
      population. In addition, differences in the dimensional scores of schizotypy
      according to gender and age were analyzed. As the study in the general population
      of schizotypal traits and its determinants has been recently proposed as a way
      toward the understanding of aetiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia,
      consistent self-report tools are crucial to measure psychometric schizotypy. A
      shorter version of the widely used Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ
      Brief) has been extensively investigated in different countries, particularly in
      samples of students or clinical adolescents, and more recently, a few studies
      used a Likert-type scale format which allows partial endorsement of items and
      reduces the risk of defensive answers. METHOD: A sample of 233 subjects
      representative of the adult population from an urban area near Paris (Creteil)
      was recruited using the "itinerary method". They completed the French version of
      the SPQ-B with a 5-point Likert-type response format (1=completely disagree;
      5=completely agree). We examined the dimensional structure of the French version
      of the SPQ-B with a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) followed by a promax
      rotation. Factor selection was based on Eigenvalues over 1.0 (Kaiser's
      criterion), Cattell's Scree-plot test, and interpretability of the factors. Items
      with loadings greater than 0.4 were retained for each dimension. The internal
      consistency estimate of the dimensions was calculated with Cronbach's alpha. In
      order to study the influence of age and gender, we carried out a simple linear
      regression with the subscales as dependent variables. RESULTS: Our sample was
      composed of 131 women (mean age=52.5+/-18.2 years) and 102 men (mean age=53+/
      18.1 years). SPQ-B Likert total scores ranged from 22 to 84 points (mean=43.6+/
      13). Factor analysis resulted in a 3-factor solution that explained 47.7% of the
      variance. Factor 1 (disorganized; 10 items) included items related to "odd
      behavior", "odd speech", as well as "social anxiety", one item of "constricted
      affect" and one item of "ideas of reference". Factor 2 (interpersonal; 7 items)
      included items related to "no close friends", "constricted affect", and three of
      the items of "suspiciousness". Factor 3 (cognitive-perceptual; 5 items) included
      items related to "ideas of reference", "magical thinking", "unusual perceptual
      experiences" and one item of "suspiciousness". Coefficient alpha for the three
      subscales and total scale were respectively 0.81, 0.81, 0.77 and 0.88. We found
      no differences in total schizotypy and the three dimensions scores according to
      age and sex. CONCLUSION: Factor analysis of the French version of the SPQ-B in a
      Likert format confirmed the three-factor structure of schizotypy. We found a pure
      cognitive perceptual dimension including the most representative positive
      features. As expected, "Suspiciousness" subscale is included in both positive and
      negative dimensions, but mainly in the negative dimension. Surprisingly, "social
      anxiety" subscale is included in the disorganized dimension in our analysis. The
      SPQ-B in a Likert format demonstrated good internal reliability for both total
      and subscales scores. Unlike previous published results, we did not find any
      influence of age or gender on schizotypal dimensions.

PMID- 27644916
TI  - [Iron deficiency: A diagnostic and therapeutic perspective in psychiatry].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iron plays an essential role in balancing the various metabolism in
      the body. It is also involved in the synthesis of several neurotransmitters.
      Nutritional iron deficiency is one of the most widespread worldwide; it poses a
      great health challenge due to the consequences it entails. OBJECTIVES: The aim of
      this research study is to explore the percentage of psychiatric patients who have
      a deficiency in iron. In addition, the study investigates the efficacy of iron
      administered by oral treatment on psychiatric symptomatology among iron deficient
      patients. The research study utilized the martial biological results, which
      involved the observation of the level of iron deficiency among the outpatients of
      a local psychiatrist and assessor from the period of January 2012 until December
      2013. METHODS: Out of 412 patients, 295 were women and 117 men. The age of the
      participants ranged from 16 to 89years, with an average age of 45years. The only
      exclusion criterion was a patient's refusal or inability to take the prescribed
      iron assessment test. We considered a transferrin saturation coefficient
      (TSC)<30% and/or a serum ferritin level<=50ng/mL to be "indicative" of obvious
      iron deficiency, and a ferritin level between 51 and 100ng/mL to be "suggestive"
      of iron deficiency. A plasma ferritin assay was performed at least once on all of
      the participants prior to any proposed iron treatment. A calculation of the TSC
      in 138 patients was requested due to suspected iron deficiency despite a blood
      ferritin level of>100ng/ml. A single method was utilized in the various
      laboratories to analyse the blood samples to determine whether there was a
      deficiency in iron. Only those patients with blood ferritin levels <=100ng/mL
      and/or a TSC of<30% (335 patients) were subsequently given exclusively an oral
      iron treatment prescribed on its own or as a supplement or simultaneously with
      psychotropic treatment. The daily administered dose of elemental iron varied
      between 50 and 200mg a day. RESULTS: About half of the women - 145 (35.19% of the
      subjects) - and 15 men (3.64% of the subjects) certainly had a deficiency in iron
      (blood ferritin level<=50ng/mL). Ninety women and 24 men (27.6% of the subjects)
      had blood ferritin levels between 51 and 100ng/mL indicating iron deficiency, and
      28 women and 33 men (14.8% of the subjects) had a TSC of<30% despite a blood
      ferritin level of>100ng/mL. Overall, 335 patients (81.3% of the subjects) showed
      an iron deficiency based on the criteria we set. In the remaining 77 patients
      (18.7% of the subjects), all of them had blood ferritin levels>100ng/mL and some
      had TSC<=30%, while the remaining patients' TSC was unknown because it was not
      measured. The results indicated that there is an iron deficiency in 198 out of
      240 patients suffering mostly from mood and behavioural disorders, in 101 out of
      126 patients suffering mostly from anxiety disorders, in 18 out of 27 patients
      suffering mostly from sleep disorders, in 14 out of 15 patients suffering mostly
      from delusions of persecution, and in the 4 patients suffering mostly from burn
      out. There was evidence of regression/remission of psychiatric symptoms in 193
      responsive patients whereas the remaining 142 patients were considered non
      responsive. In the responsive patient category, 37 participants were treated with
      just iron, 52 received iron supplemented to the initial psychotropic treatment
      which was not fully effective, and 104 patients were treated with iron and
      prescribed psychotropic drugs simultaneously. The iron treatment seems to bring
      about a reduction - particularly through its mono-aminergic neurotransmitter
      synthesis-promoting action - in hyperemotivity, anxiety, irritability,
      aggressiveness, sadness, anhedonia, apathy, asthenia, sleep disorders,
      dysautonomia symptoms, eating disorders, restless-leg syndrome, cognitive
      performance and the likelihood of resorting to psychiatric admission. A daily
      elemental iron dose intake between 50 and 200mg/day by deficient patients appears
      to likely enhance the effects of the psychotropic drugs and even to act as an
      actual antidepressant. Many patients who received a prescription for iron and
      antidepressants showed few side effects related to antidepressants and a small
      number required psychiatric hospitalization. Patients considered unresponsive to
      iron therapy were those who left the study, were not assessed because the study's
      timeframe ended, still had an iron deficiency because they did not continuously
      take the medication, or suffered from somatic diseases which explains their
      resistance to treat the low iron level (nutritional imbalance, digestive or
      urinary or gynecological or iatrogenic diseases, sleep apnea). CONCLUSION: Our
      clinical observation of two years in a local psychiatrist's clinic revealed that
      over 80% of patients had iron deficiency. Although the low iron level cannot
      explain all physical and psychiatric symptoms in patients, it is useful to note
      that more than half of the iron deficient patients responded favorably after an
      oral treatment of iron. This result leads to further investigation of the level
      of iron in psychiatric patients and to reconsider the iron range placed by the
      laboratories. In addition, it is crucial not to eliminate the possibility of iron
      deficiency in psychiatric patients. Further research studies are needed to set
      more specific and detailed criteria to determine the range of iron deficiency in
      order to support the findings of this study and optimize the care given to
      patients suffering from various disorders and psychiatric syndromes.

PMID- 27644918
TI  - [Description of current hypnosis practice in French university hospitals].
AB  - Hypnosis is very fashionable as an entertainment through TV shows searching for
      new sensational experiences. What about its practice in the medical world? The
      aim of this article is to answer to this question. Therefore, we contacted every
      French University Hospital of each region to find out if hypnosis was practiced
      for the care of pain (hypnoanalgesia), for chirurgical procedures (hypnosedation)
      and in adult psychiatry care units (hypnotherapy). For this last practice, we
      also questioned the type of indications. All 30 of the French University
      Hospitals had replied by November 2015. Hypnoanalgesia is practiced by all and
      two-thirds offer hypnosedation. Hypnotherapy is practiced by 40 % of the
      University Hospitals, 91,7 % for anxiety disorders, 66,7 % for psychotraumatic
      care and 25 % for mood disorders. Therefore, hypnosis seems to have found its
      place in the care of pain and as an anesthetic to replace standard procedures.
      However, the use of hypnotherapy in psychiatry is less frequent, indications for
      its use being variable and not very consensual.

PMID- 27644917
TI  - [Left temporal arachnoid cyst and specific learning disorders associated with
      Pervasive Developmental Disorders - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS):
      contributions of an integrative neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological,
      psychopathological and neurosurgical approach about a case report in a child
      (Francois)].
AB  - : Left temporal arachnoid cyst and specific learning disorders associated with
      pervasive developmental disorders - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS):
      contributions of an integrative neuro-psychomotor, neuropsychological,
      psychopathological and neurosurgical approach about a case report in a child
      (Francois). With DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR, the terminology of pervasive developmental
      disorders (PDD) covers two main categories of infantile disorders: disorders of
      "strictly" autistic nature and pervasive developmental disorders - not otherwise
      specified (PDD-NOS). Under the terminology of multiple complex developmental
      disorder (MCDD), it is proposed to classify children presenting symptoms
      approaching the psychotic disharmonies and usually diagnosed as PDD-NOS. Such a
      category of developmental disorders is now included without nosographic
      distinction in the autistic spectrum in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
      mental disorders (DSM-V). CASE REPORT: We are reporting a case report of a 6-year
      old boy which shows a PDD-NoS/MCDD complex symptomatology type. This child
      presents multiple disorders: minor neurological signs (soft signs), neuro
      psychomotor disorders, developmental coordination disorder (DCD), communication,
      thought, and regulation of emotions disorders, attention deficit disorders (ADD);
      in the presence of a high verbal intellectual potential, which makes it difficult
      to establish a clear diagnosis. A cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was
      carried out due to the presence of minor neurological signs (soft signs) and of
      neurodevelopmental multiple disorders. The MRI revealed a voluminous arachnoid
      temporo-polar left cyst with a marked mass effect on the left temporal lobe.
      DISCUSSION: A neurosurgical intervention allowed to observe the gradual
      disappearance of the specific symptomatology (in particular soft signs, neuro
      psychomotor functions and autistic symptoms) secondary to the interference of the
      cyst's pressure with intracranial areas involving neurological and
      psychopathological abnormalities, underlying at the same time the reversibility
      of the disorders after decompression as demonstrated in some studies. There are
      always, with a quantitative and qualitative decrease, an emotional dysregulation,
      a DCD, an ADD as well as impairments in the executive functions. CONCLUSION: This
      clinical case underlines the necessity of an evaluation in a transdisciplinary
      way and to follow the developmental evolution of the child in order to focus
      adapted therapeutics. Furthermore, with neurodevelopmental disorders not
      specified, it is important to examine the presence of soft signs with
      standardized neuro-psychomotor assessment, and then, to propose an MRI
      investigation. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature with
      a school age child of an unusual association between a temporal arachnoid cyst
      associated with PDD-NOS/MCDD.

PMID- 27644919
TI  - [Expand the scope of somatic treatments in psychiatry to include prevention].

PMID- 27644920
TI  - [Prevalence of psychiatric and substance use disorders among three generations of
      migrants: Results from French population cohort].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Mental health of migrant populations has become a major public
      health issue since these populations more often suffer from mental health
      problems than host populations. The influence of the migration process on the
      emergence of these disorders and its impact on future generations is uncertain.
      This study provides an estimate of the prevalence of mental disorders among three
      generations of migration. METHOD: The study was conducted in the general
      population by the French Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization,
      in France, on a sample of 37,063 people aged 18 and older. The subjects
      interviewed were selected by a quota sampling method and, thus, were
      representative of the general population in the 47 study sites in France. This
      method develops a sample of subjects with the same characteristics as the general
      population on predefined issues, such as age, sex, educational level and
      socioprofessional category. The designation of migrant status was based on the
      country of birth of the subject, the subject's parents and the subject's
      grandparents. We defined a migrant as first generation (a subject born abroad;
      n=1911), second generation (at least one parent born abroad; n=4147), or third
      generation (at least one grandparent born abroad; n=3763) of migrants. The
      diagnostic tool used was the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview
      (MINI). The MINI is a brief structured diagnostic interview developed by
      psychiatrists for ICD-10 and DSM-IVTR psychiatric disorders in the general
      population. The comparisons by generation of migrants were performed by chi
      square test for qualitative variables and by an analysis of variance for
      quantitative variables. The same tests were used to compare the presence of
      mental disorders according to the characteristics of the population. Factors with
      a P-value less than 0.2 were entered in a multivariable logistic regression to
      assess the relationship between the generation of migrants and the presence of
      mental disorders, adjusting for the confounding factors. RESULTS: Thirty-eight
      per cent of migrant subjects have psychological difficulties, versus 30 % in the
      host population. These results are observed on three successive generations of
      migrants. Migration status increases risk of depressive disorders (OR=1.555),
      bipolar disorder (OR=1.597, CI=1.146-2.227), post-traumatic stress disorder
      (OR=1.615), substance abuse (OR=2.522) and alcohol abuse (OR=1.524), and drug
      dependence (OR=2.116). This risk is maintained at the second and third
      generation. The migration process affects mental health of population regardless
      of socioeconomic status or geographic origin. CONCLUSION: The consideration of
      migration and generation of migration shows a specific psychopathological risk
      profile. This is related to the joint action of a migratory past and precarious
      socioeconomic situation.

PMID- 27644921
TI  - Electrostatic Swelling Transitions in Surface-Bound Microgels.
AB  - Herein, electrostatic swelling transitions of poly(ethyl acrylate-co-methacrylic
      acid) microgels covalently bound to silica surfaces are investigated. Confined at
      a solid surface, microgel swelling is anisotropically hindered and the structure
      is flattened to an extent dictated by pH and microgel composition. Microgel
      deformation under applied load is also shown to depend on microgel charge
      density, with the highest deformation observed at intermediate charge densities.
      Two modes of microgel deformation under load were observed, one elastic and one
      viscoelastic, related to polymer strand deformation and displacement of trapped
      water, respectively. Results on polymer strand dynamics reveal that the microgels
      are highly dynamic, as the number of strand-tip interaction points increases 4
      fold during a 10 s contact time. Furthermore, finite element modeling captures
      these effects qualitatively and shows that stress propagation in the microgel
      network decays locally at the rim of contact with a solid interface or close to
      the tip probe. Taken together, the results demonstrate a delicate interplay
      between the surface and microgel which determines the structure and
      nanomechanical properties of the latter and needs to be controlled in
      applications of systems such as pH-responsive surface coatings in biomaterials.

PMID- 27644923
TI  - Lysophosphatidic acid expression in theca cells depends on the type of bovine
      ovarian follicle.
AB  - Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) exerts various actions on the mammalian reproductive
      system. In cows, LPA stimulates the synthesis and secretion of luteotropic
      factors in the ovary, which affects the growth and development of ovarian
      follicles. The role of LPA in granulosa cells, oocyte and oocyte-cumulus complex
      (COC) has previously been investigated; but its role in the theca layer, which is
      an important structural and functional component of the ovarian follicle, is
      still unclear. The goal of this study was to investigate the expression of LPA in
      theca cells originating from different bovine ovarian follicle types. Theca cells
      were separated from healthy, transitional and atretic ovarian follicles, based on
      intrafollicular estradiol: progesterone ratios. LPA concentration in the
      follicular fluid (FF) in different follicle types was measured, and expression of
      the enzymes responsible for LPA synthesis (autotaxin [AX], phospholipase A2
      [PLA2]) and receptors for LPA (LPAR1-4) were determined. The obtained results
      confirmed the follicle-type dependent presence of LPA in the FF of the bovine
      ovarian follicles. The highest concentration of LPA was detected in follicles
      classified as healthy and dominant. LPAR1-4, PLA2 and AX expression in theca
      cells in all of the types of follicles examined were detected at mRNA and protein
      level. These results suggest that theca cells can be a source of LPA synthesis
      other than granulosa cells and COCs, as well as the target for its action in the
      bovine ovarian follicle, with PLA2 and LPAR4 playing major roles in LPA synthesis
      and action.

PMID- 27644924
TI  - [Complications and reoperations following laparoscopic antireflux surgery].
AB  - Laparoscopic antireflux surgery is an effective treatment for patients with
      gastro-esophageal reflux disease, when it is refractory to conservative
      management. In experienced centers the procedure is safe, although complications
      may develop either during surgery or in the early or late postoperative period,
      which may necessitate revisional surgery. Between 1998 and 2015 a total of 407
      patients underwent laparoscopic antireflux surgery at the Department of Surgery,
      University of Pecs. This interval was divided into two periods. In the first one,
      between 1998 and 2006, we operated on 241 patients who were all enrolled in a
      prospective study. All the diagnostic examinations were carried out at our
      institution. In the second period 166 patients were treated with minimal invasive
      surgery and the data were analyzed retrospectively. The 407 patients comprised
      161 men and 246 women with a median age of 53,1 years. Hiatoplasty was reinforced
      with teres ligament in 27 cases, a prosthetic mesh was used in 28 cases and
      fascia lata in a four cases, when hiatal closures were not considered reliable.
      In 16 cases (4%) the operation was converted to open procedure, and our mortality
      rate was 0,5%. Revisional surgery was performed laparoscopically in 39 patients,
      and thoraco-laparotomy was done in six cases (12%). 5 additional reoperations
      were performed in patients, who had their primary antireflux surgery in another
      institution. Our 4% conversion, 12% reoperation and 0,5% mortality rates
      correspond to the figures published in the literature. In conclusion, this study
      confirms that laparoscopic antireflux surgery is a safe procedure with very good
      clinical outcomes. Late complications, such as recurrent reflux disease and
      reherniation, as well as revisional surgery occured almost exclusively after
      surgical treatment of the large hiatal hernias. 

PMID- 27644925
TI  - [Results of the video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy at our department in
      the last five-year periode].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Herein we present the results of lobectomies performed with minimally
      invasive approach (video-assisted thoracic surgery - VATS) at our department
      during a period of five years. METHODS: Between 1 January 2011 and 31 December
      2015, 197 lobectomies (malignant lesions: 176 cases, benign lesions: 21 cases)
      were performed by three thoracic surgeons and one resident. Demographical data
      are as follows: 119 female/78 male, mean age: 62.4 years (range: 41-82 years). In
      2011 three VATS lobectomies were performed, equaling 2.2 % of all lobectomies in
      that year. During the upcomig years the number of VATS lobectomies were as
      follows: 2012: 7 (7.3%), 2013: 13 (12%), 2014: 59 (34.5%) and 2015: 119 (68.5%).
      In 153 cases multiportal (78%) and in 44 cases uniportal (22%) anterior approach
      was performed. The resected lobes showed the following distribution: right upper:
      85, mid lobe: 5, right lower: 28, left upper: 44, left lower: 34, upper
      bilobectomy: 1. In two cases sleeve lobectomy was performed. In 8 cases (4%)
      conversion to thoracotomy was needed and among the 46 uniportal procedures, 5
      cases needed to be expanded into biportal approach (11%). RESULTS: During the
      study period, no intraoperative, or perioperative mortality occured. Mean
      operative time was 123 minutes (range: 60-135 minutes) and mean time of chest
      drainage was 4.3 days (range: 1-27 days). Air leakage lasting more than 7 days
      was present in 11.7%. Reoperation was needed in 4 cases (2%), in two cases due to
      bleeding, and in two cases because of expansive difficulties due to extended
      subcutaneous emphysema. Among the 176 VATS lobectomies performed due to malignant
      lesions, 169 lung cancers and 7 metastases were removed. The distribution
      according to the stage and histology of lung cancers was as follows: IA: 100
      cases, IB: 28 cases, IIA: 17 cases, IIB: 3 cases, IIIA: 16 cases, IIIB: 1 case,
      and IV: 4 cases; adenocarcinoma: 128 cases, squamous cell carcinoma: 26 cases,
      large cell carcinoma: 3 cases, small cell lung cancer: 1 case, typical carcinoid:
      10 cases, and atypical carcinoid: 1 case. CONCLUSIONS: Over the years VATS
      lobectomy became a rutin procedure at our institution. Nowadays more than two
      thirds of lobectomies are performed with minimally invasive technique. Taking the
      learning curve of the four thoracic surgeons into consideration, our results
      correlate with international data.

PMID- 27644926
TI  - [TAMIS, transanal minimally invasive surgery].
AB  - Diseases of the lower and middle third of the rectum, the so called "no-man's
      territory" traditionally represent a major surgical problem. Minimally invasive
      surgical techniques significantly contribute to the safe and precise management
      of this part of the rectum. Traditional laparoscopic instruments via a
      specifically designed operative anoscope with single-port surgical technique are
      used during TAMIS (transanal endoscopic minimally invasive surgery). Since the
      description of the procedure in 2009 a number of case series have proven the
      feasibility and safety of the technique in the treatment of rectal adenomas.
      Furthermore, TAMIS seems to be sufficient in the primary treatment of early
      rectal cancers, as well. Recent studies also challenge the rigid protocols of the
      management of advanced rectal adenocarcinomas. Transanal wide local excision
      techniques (including TAMIS) with low morbidity rates seem to be effective in
      cases of histologically proven pCR (complete pathological response) after
      neoadjuvant treatment by selecting the group of patients not requiring radical
      TME (total mesorectal excision). Finally, TAMIS technique provide a suitable way
      for down-up transanal TME (TaTME), which technique is expected to potentially
      improve surgical grade in selected cases of advanced rectal cancer surgeries. In
      this paper we demonstrate our initial experiences with TAMIS at a single
      institution, as well as summarize the relevant literature. 

PMID- 27644927
TI  - [Organ saving intervention for pancreatic trauma].
AB  - We report the case of a 25 year old male patient who suffered a traffic accident.
      He was admitted to the ICU of our hospital and underwent a two step intervention
      for main pancreatic duct transection. 

PMID- 27644929
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27644928
TI  - [Modern surgical treatment of breast cancer. 3rd Breast Cancer Consensus
      Conference].
AB  - Therapy for breast cancer today is characterised by ever more precise diagnostic
      methods and ever more effective oncological treatments, a trend which will
      certainly continue into the future. Breast preservation and the application of
      oncoplastic principles are increasingly popular. A sentinel lymph node biopsy in
      the surgical treatment of the axilla is primary, with the indication for axillary
      block dissection (ABD) narrowing and radiation therapy becoming an alternative to
      ABD in certain cases. This publication summarises our recommendations on the
      surgical treatment of breast cancer based on the content of the 3rd Breast Cancer
      Consensus Conference and considering the latest international studies and
      professional recommendations. 

PMID- 27644930
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27644931
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27644932
TI  - Kidney cancer: Papillary features predict survival in ncRCC.

PMID- 27644933
TI  - Prostate cancer: HSD3B1 variant confers inferior ADT outcomes.

PMID- 27644934
TI  - Urinary incontinence: Making sense of the urinary microbiota in clinical urology.

PMID- 27644935
TI  - Planning for the post-antibiotic era - why we must avoid TRUS-guided biopsy
      sampling.

PMID- 27644938
TI  - Localization of Post-Translational Modifications in Peptide Mixtures via High
      Resolution Differential Ion Mobility Separations Followed by Electron Transfer
      Dissociation.
AB  - Precise localization of post-translational modifications (PTMs) on proteins and
      peptides is an outstanding challenge in proteomics. While electron transfer
      dissociation (ETD) has dramatically advanced PTM analyses, mixtures of
      localization variants that commonly coexist in cells often require prior
      separation. Although differential or field asymmetric waveform ion mobility
      spectrometry (FAIMS) achieves broad variant resolution, the need for standards to
      identify the features has limited the utility of approach. Here we demonstrate
      full a priori characterization of variant mixtures by high-resolution FAIMS
      coupled to ETD and the procedures to systematically extract the FAIMS spectra for
      all variants from such data. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27644939
TI  - Gas-Phase Oxidation of Neutral Basic Residues in Polypeptide Cations by
      Periodate.
AB  - The gas-phase oxidation of doubly protonated peptides containing neutral basic
      residues to various products, including [M + H + O]+, [M - H]+, and [M - H -
      NH3]+, is demonstrated here via ion/ion reactions with periodate. It was
      previously demonstrated that periodate anions are capable of oxidizing disulfide
      bonds and methionine, tryptophan, and S-alkyl cysteine residues. However, in the
      absence of these easily oxidized sites, we show here that systems containing
      neutral basic residues can undergo oxidation. Furthermore, we show that these
      neutral basic residues primarily undergo different types of oxidation (e.g.,
      hydrogen abstraction) reactions than those observed previously (i.e., oxygen
      transfer to yield the [M + H + O]+ species) upon gas-phase ion/ion reactions with
      periodate anions. This chemistry is illustrated with a variety of systems,
      including a series of model peptides, a cell-penetrating peptide containing a
      large number of unprotonated basic sites, and ubiquitin, a roughly 8.6 kDa
      protein. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27644940
TI  - The Role of Fluorinated Alcohols as Mobile Phase Modifiers for LC-MS Analysis of
      Oligonucleotides.
AB  - Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) has been widely used as an acidic modifier for
      mobile phases for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of
      oligonucleotides ever since the first report of its use for this purpose. This is
      not surprising, considering the exceptional performance of HFIP compared with
      carboxylic acids, which cause significant MS signal suppression in electrospray
      ionization. However, we have found that other fluorinated alcohols can also be
      utilized for mobile phase preparation and the choice of optimal fluorinated
      alcohol is determined by the ion-pairing (IP) agent. Although HFIP is a very good
      choice to be used alongside less hydrophobic IP agents, other fluorinated
      alcohols such as 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-methyl-2-propanol (HFMIP) can
      significantly outperform HFIP when used with more hydrophobic IP agents. We also
      found that more acidic fluorinated alcohols assist with the transfer of
      oligonucleotides with secondary structure (e.g., folded strands and hairpins)
      into the gas phase. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27644941
TI  - nES GEMMA Analysis of Lectins and Their Interactions with Glycoproteins -
      Separation, Detection, and Sampling of Noncovalent Biospecific Complexes.
AB  - In order to better understand biological events, lectin-glycoprotein interactions
      are of interest. The possibility to gather more information than the mere
      positive or negative response for interactions brought mass spectrometry into the
      center of many research fields. The presented work shows the potential of a nano
      electrospray gas-phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analyzer (nES GEMMA) to
      detect weak, noncovalent, biospecific interactions besides still unbound
      glycoproteins and unreacted lectins without prior liquid phase separation. First
      results for Sambucus nigra agglutinin, concanavalin A, and wheat germ agglutinin
      and their retained noncovalent interactions with glycoproteins in the gas phase
      are presented. Electrophoretic mobility diameters (EMDs) were obtained by nES
      GEMMA for all interaction partners correlating very well with molecular masses
      determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry
      (MALDI-MS) of the individual molecules. Moreover, EMDs measured for the lectin
      glycoprotein complexes were in good accordance with theoretically calculated mass
      values. Special focus was laid on complex formation for different lectin
      concentrations and binding specificities to evaluate the method with respect to
      results obtained in the liquid phase. The latter was addressed by capillary
      electrophoresis on-a-chip (CE-on-a-chip). Of exceptional interest was the fact
      that the formed complexes could be sampled according to their size onto
      nitrocellulose membranes after gas-phase separation. Subsequent immunological
      investigation further proved that the collected complex actually retained its
      native structure throughout nES GEMMA analysis and sampling. Graphical Abstract
      ?.

PMID- 27644942
TI  - Multigenerational Broadband Collision-Induced Dissociation of Precursor Ions in a
      Linear Quadrupole Ion Trap.
AB  - A method of fragmenting ions over a wide range of m/z values while balancing
      energy deposition into the precursor ion and available product ion mass range is
      demonstrated. In the method, which we refer to as "multigenerational collision
      induced dissociation", the radiofrequency (rf) amplitude is first increased to
      bring the lowest m/z of the precursor ion of interest to just below the boundary
      of the Mathieu stability diagram (q = 0.908). A supplementary AC signal at a
      fixed Mathieu q in the range 0.2-0.35 (chosen to balance precursor ion potential
      well depth with available product ion mass range) is then used for ion excitation
      as the rf amplitude is scanned downward, thus fragmenting the precursor ion
      population from high to low m/z. The method is shown to generate high intensities
      of product ions compared with other broadband CID methods while retaining low
      mass ions during the fragmentation step, resulting in extensive fragment ion
      coverage for various components of complex mixtures. Because ions are fragmented
      from high to low m/z, space charge effects are minimized and multiple discrete
      generations of product ions are produced, thereby giving rise to
      "multigenerational" product ion mass spectra. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27644943
TI  - Ion Isolation in a Linear Ion Trap Using Dual Resonance Frequencies.
AB  - Ion isolation in a linear ion trap is demonstrated using dual resonance
      frequencies, which are applied simultaneously. One frequency is used to eject
      ions of a broad m/z range higher in m/z than the target ion, and the second
      frequency is set to eject a range of ions lower in m/z. The combination of the
      two thus results in ion isolation. Despite the simplicity of the method, even
      ions of low intensity may be isolated since signal attenuation is less than an
      order of magnitude in most cases. The performance of dual frequency isolation is
      demonstrated by isolating individual isotopes of brominated compounds. Graphical
      Abstract ?.

PMID- 27644944
TI  - Quantification of Carbohydrates and Related Materials Using Sodium Ion Adducts
      Produced by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization.
AB  - The utility of sodium ion adducts produced by matrix-assisted laser desorption
      ionization for the quantification of analytes with multiple oxygen atoms was
      evaluated. Uses of homogeneous solid samples and temperature control allowed the
      acquisition of reproducible spectra. The method resulted in a direct
      proportionality between the ion abundance ratio I([A + Na]+)/I([M + Na]+) and the
      analyte concentration, which could be used as a calibration curve. This was
      demonstrated for carbohydrates, glycans, and polyether diols with dynamic range
      exceeding three orders of magnitude. Graphical Abstract ?.

PMID- 27644937
TI  - Placental ABC Transporters: Biological Impact and Pharmaceutical Significance.
AB  - The human placenta fulfills a variety of essential functions during prenatal
      life. Several ABC transporters are expressed in the human placenta, where they
      play a role in the transport of endogenous compounds and may protect the fetus
      from exogenous compounds such as therapeutic agents, drugs of abuse, and other
      xenobiotics. To date, considerable progress has been made toward understanding
      ABC transporters in the placenta. Recent studies on the expression and functional
      activities are discussed. This review discusses the placental expression and
      functional roles of several members of ABC transporter subfamilies B, C, and G
      including MDR1/P-glycoprotein, the MRPs, and BCRP, respectively. Since placental
      ABC transporters modulate fetal exposure to various compounds, an understanding
      of their functional and regulatory mechanisms will lead to more optimal
      medication use when necessary in pregnancy.

PMID- 27644946
TI  - Aetiological diagnosis of child deafness: CODEPEH recommendations.
AB  - Important progress in the fields of molecular genetics (principally) and
      diagnostic imaging, together with the lack of a consensus protocol for guiding
      the diagnostic process after confirming deafness by neonatal screening, have led
      to this new work document drafted by the Spanish Commission for the Early
      Detection of Child Deafness (Spanish acronym: CODEPEH). This 2015 Recommendations
      Document, which is based on the most recent scientific evidence, provides
      guidance to professionals to support them in making decisions regarding
      aetiological diagnosis. Such diagnosis should be performed without delay and
      without impeding early intervention. Early identification of the causes of
      deafness offers many advantages: it prevents unnecessary trouble for the
      families, reduces health system expenses caused by performing different tests,
      and provides prognostic information that may guide therapeutic actions.

PMID- 27644947
TI  - Validation of trophic and anthropic underwater noise as settlement trigger in
      blue mussels.
AB  - Like the majority of benthic invertebrates, the blue mussel Mytilus edulis has a
      bentho-pelagic cycle with its larval settlement being a complex phenomenon
      involving numerous factors. Among these factors, underwater noise and pelagic
      trophic conditions have been weakly studied in previous researches. Under
      laboratory conditions, we tested the hypothesis that picoplankton assimilation by
      the pediveliger blue mussel larvae acts as a food cue that interacts with
      anthropic underwater sound to stimulate settlement. We used (13)C-labeling
      microalgae to validate the assimilation of different picoplankton species in the
      tissues of pediveliger larvae. Our results clearly confirm our hypothesis with a
      significant synergic effect of these two factors. However, only the
      picoeukaryotes strains assimilated by larvae stimulated the settlement, whereas
      the non-ingested picocyanobacteria did not. Similar positive responses were
      observed with underwater sound characterized by low frequency vessel noises. The
      combination of both factors (trophic and vessel noise) drastically increased the
      mussel settlement by an order of 4 compared to the control (without picoplankton
      and noise). Settlement levels ranged from 16.5 to 67% in 67 h.

PMID- 27644948
TI  - Idiopathic pulmonary haemosiderosis in paediatric patients: how to make an early
      diagnosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary haemosiderosis (IPH) is a rare but potentially
      lethal condition in paediatric patients. This condition is considered an immune
      mediated disorder, but its pathogenesis is still unknown. Idiopathic pulmonary
      haemosiderosis is characterized by the classical triad of haemoptysis, iron
      deficiency anaemia, and diffuse parenchymal consolidation on chest radiology.
      Unfortunately, this triad of signs is not frequent in children at the onset of
      this disease, resulting in a delay in diagnosis and a negative outcome. CASE
      PRESENTATION: This case report describes a 4-year-old girl who was admitted for
      an acute episode of lower respiratory tract infection associated with severe
      dyspnoea, polypnoea, and severe anaemia (haemoglobin levels, 5.9 g/dL). She had a
      history of previous similar episodes, with anaemia treated unsuccessfully with
      iron supplementation and managed through repeated blood transfusions in the acute
      phase. She did not experience haemoptysis. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the
      thorax showed ground-glass opacity suggestive of pulmonary haemorrhage. After
      other causes of intra-alveolar haemorrhage were excluded, IPH was confirmed by
      the presence of siderophages in bronchoalveolar lavage. Immunosuppressive
      corticosteroid treatment was immediately started with a good clinical response.
      CONCLUSION: This case highlights the fact that IPH should be suspected in
      children with recurrent lower respiratory tract infections who have a history of
      iron-deficiency anaemia who shows no signs of improvement with iron
      supplementation and may require repeated blood transfusions. The absence of
      haemoptysis does not exclude the diagnosis of IPH in children. An early and
      prompt diagnosis is recommended in order to start adequate immunosuppressive
      treatment.

PMID- 27644950
TI  - Sequence variation in two genes determines the efficacy of transmission of citrus
      tristeza virus by the brown citrus aphid.
AB  - Vector transmission is an important part of the viral infection cycle, yet for
      many viruses little is known about this process, or how viral sequence variation
      affects transmission efficacy. Here we examined the effect of substituting genes
      from the highly transmissible FS577 isolate of citrus tristeza virus (CTV) in to
      the poorly transmissible T36-based infectious clone. We found that introducing
      p65 or p61 sequences from FS577 significantly increased transmission efficacy.
      Interestingly, replacement of both genes produced a greater increase than either
      gene alone, suggesting that CTV transmission requires the concerted action of co
      evolved p65 and p61 proteins.

PMID- 27644949
TI  - Large-scale monitoring of effects of clothianidin-dressed oilseed rape seeds on
      pollinating insects in Northern Germany: effects on honey bees (Apis mellifera).
AB  - Possible effects of clothianidin seed-treated oilseed rape on honey bee colonies
      were investigated in a large-scale monitoring project in Northern Germany, where
      oilseed rape usually comprises 25-33 % of the arable land. For both reference and
      test sites, six study locations were selected and eight honey bee hives were
      placed at each location. At each site, three locations were directly adjacent to
      oilseed rape fields and three locations were situated 400 m away from the nearest
      oilseed rape field. Thus, 96 hives were exposed to fully flowering oilseed rape
      crops. Colony sizes and weights, the amount of honey harvested, and infection
      with parasites and diseases were monitored between April and September 2014. The
      percentage of oilseed rape pollen was determined in pollen and honey samples.
      After oilseed rape flowering, the hives were transferred to an extensive isolated
      area for post-exposure monitoring. Total numbers of adult bees and brood cells
      showed seasonal fluctuations, and there were no significant differences between
      the sites. The honey, which was extracted at the end of the exposure phase,
      contained 62.0-83.5 % oilseed rape pollen. Varroa destructor infestation was low
      during most of the course of the study but increased at the end of the study due
      to flumethrin resistance in the mite populations. In summary, honey bee colonies
      foraging in clothianidin seed-treated oilseed rape did not show any detrimental
      symptoms as compared to colonies foraging in clothianidin-free oilseed rape.
      Development of colony strength, brood success as well as honey yield and pathogen
      infection were not significantly affected by clothianidin seed-treatment during
      this study.

PMID- 27644951
TI  - INI1 (SMARCB1)-Deficient Sinonasal Carcinoma: A Clinicopathologic Report of 2
      Cases.
AB  - Poorly differentiated sinonasal malignancies are amongst the hardest differential
      diagnoses in pathology, owing to the large number of rare entities that arise
      there. Complicating the matter is that most pathologists, including those with
      experience in head and neck pathology, have little experience in any one of these
      rare entities. Most patients with sinonasal carcinoma present with locally
      advanced disease and in the past a combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and
      surgery would usually be recommended without the specific disease subtype playing
      a large part of the decision making. However, in the era of "precision medicine"
      and targeted therapies, the specific tumour subtype and an accurate diagnosis
      will become increasingly important even for the so-called "undifferentiated
      carcinoma". Specific entities that tend to enter into the differential diagnosis
      include olfactory neuroblastoma, sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC), and
      non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (viral and non-viral). However, recent
      new entities, such as NUT-midline carcinoma also have to be considered. Recently
      it was found that a subset of tumours originally diagnosed as one of the
      aforementioned entities all demonstrated loss of the ubiquitously expressed
      protein Integrase Interactor 1 (INI1; SMARCB1). These tumours were often basaloid
      with at least partial rhabdoid differentiation and most were considered a part of
      the SNUC spectrum. In this report, we describe two additional cases of INI1
      deficient sinonasal carcinoma prospectively identified, both of which appeared to
      have a marked response to neo-adjuvant chemoradiation, a finding not previously
      described.

PMID- 27644952
TI  - Regarding Bocklage et al. "Regarding Dettloff et al. Mammary Analog Secretory
      Carcinoma (MASC) Involving the Thyroid Gland: A Report of First 3 Cases".

PMID- 27644953
TI  - Association between shortened telomere length and rheumatoid arthritis : A meta
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between telomere length
      and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of studies
      comparing the telomere length in RA patients and healthy controls, and conducted
      subgroup analysis based on ethnicity, age-matched status, study quality, sample
      type, assay method, subject number, and shared epitope (SE) status. RESULTS: Nine
      studies from seven articles, with 388 RA patients and 362 controls, were
      included. Meta-analysis showed that the telomere length was significantly shorter
      in all individuals of the RA group than in those of the control group (SMD = 
      0.833, 95 % CI = -1.332 to -0.334, p = 0.001). Stratification by ethnicity showed
      significantly shortened telomere lengths in both mixed and age-matched Caucasian
      populations with RA (SMD = -1.415, 95 % CI = -1.709 to -1.120, p < 1.0 * 10-8;
      SMD = -0.658, 95 % CI = -1.187 to -0.0.128, p = 0.015). The telomere length was
      significantly shorter in the RA group than in the age-matched control group;
      however, this was not the case in the RA group that was not age-matched (SMD = 
      1.070, 95 % CI = -1.489 to -0.650, p = 5.7 * 10-7; SMD = 0.155, 95 % CI = -0.119
      to 0.429, p = 0.267). Stratification by SE status revealed a significantly
      shortened telomere length in the SE-positive group, but not in the SE-negative
      group (SMD = -1.033, 95 % CI = -1.398 to -0.768, p < 1.0 * 10-8; SMD = -0.967, 95
      % CI = -2.382 to 0.449, p = 0.181). In addition, the telomere length was
      significantly shorter in the SE-positive RA group than in the SE-negative RA
      group (SMD = -0.415, 95 % CI = -0.699 to -0.131, p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      meta-analysis demonstrated that the telomere length was significantly shorter in
      patients with RA, and was significantly more so in the SE-positive group than in
      the SE-negative group.

PMID- 27644954
TI  - Elevated serum levels of interleukin-1beta and interleukin-33 in patients with
      systemic sclerosis in Chinese population.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem autoimmune
      disease. Although the pathogenesis of the disease remains incompletely
      understood, some cytokines or growth factors which regulate SSc induction may be
      involved in the injury of endothelial cells and the modulation of leukocyte
      function. We aimed to perform this case-control study to determine serum levels
      of interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-18 and IL-33 and their associations with
      clinical manifestations in SSc patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There were 56
      patients with SSc and 56 healthy individuals who were recruited from local
      hospital between 2012 and 2014. Serum IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-18 and IL-33 levels
      were measured with specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. RESULTS:
      Univariate analysis revealed that serum IL-1beta, IL-18 and IL-33 levels in SSc
      patients were significantly higher than that in healthy controls. After adjusting
      possible confounding factors (sex, age, smoking and drinking) by multivariable
      analyses, serum IL-1beta levels (OR = 1.082; 95 % CI: 1.013-1.155) and serum IL
      33 levels (OR = 1.100; 95 %CI: 1.022-1.185) were still related factors. There
      were interrelationships among the serum levels of IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-18 and
      IL-33 and these associations were not consistent in SSc patients and controls. No
      associations of serum IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-18 and IL-33 levels with clinical
      parameters were found. CONCLUSION: IL-1beta and IL-33 may contribute to the
      development of SSc. While there were no direct associations between these
      cytokines and disease manifestations, they still could be considered as serum
      markers of development of SSc. Further studies are required to validate this
      incipient data.

PMID- 27644956
TI  - [Shared decision making even for complex systemic autoimmune diseases such as
      Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)?]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The treatment of systemic autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE) is an enormous challenge for all involved due to the
      complexity. This study investigated whether shared decision making (SDM) can
      advantageously be implemented in such a situation. METHOD: To answer this
      question qualitative group surveys were carried out with rheumatologists
      according to the standardized method of K&P Psychodrama(r). A total of 41 German
      rheumatologists who had been invited by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Germany
      participated in 2 meetings over a complete day in 2012 and 2013 as well as 2 half
      day meetings in 2013, which were carried out by K&A BrandResearch. RESULTS: In
      general rheumatologists were appreciative of their discipline because of the
      broadly spread field of work, the possibility to "tinker" and the increasing
      spectrum of effective forms of therapy. Negative points were the increasing
      amount of work, particularly due to increasing bureaucratic processes, demanding
      and unreasonable patients. These stressful situations were compensated by
      treatment of indications that can easily be diagnosed and treated; however, this
      is contrasted by indications which are insufficiently palpable for patients and
      physicians alike and this includes SLE. Fear is at the forefront of the
      interaction, initially by the patient and during the course of treatment
      ultimately by the physician. In this context, a further fear factor between both
      parties is the medications that are available for other diseases as support for
      physician and patient. The necessary emotional distancing of the physician is
      achieved by a switch to the purely professional level. Personal emotions are
      depressed by avoidance of empathy. CONCLUSION: The rheumatologists in this study
      principally showed excellent prerequisites for SDM; however, for illnesses such
      as SLE there is a clear need for action on the part of physicians before SDM can
      be advantageous for affected patients.

PMID- 27644955
TI  - Fever of unknown origin in aortic dissection.
AB  - Aortic dissection is the most devastating sequela of thoracic aortic disorder.
      Patients with acute aortic dissection typically manifest as an acute onset of
      severe chest pain, but occasionally present with atypical symptoms including
      fever of unknown origin. A total of 50 patients from 41 articles based on a
      complete literature retrieval were included in this study. More patients had a
      fever prior to pain. The time to presentation was 40.7 +/- 105.6 days, the time
      to diagnosis was 52.9 +/- 110.1 days, and the time to surgery/intervention was
      1.8 +/- 5.6 days. The patients' temperature on admission was 38.2 +/- 0.6 
      degrees C and the maximal temperature recorded was 38.8 +/- 0.4  degrees C.
      Laboratory findings showed increased white blood cell counts, cardiac enzymes,
      and inflammatory biomarkers. More pronounced laboratory findings of the
      infectious type than the inflammatory type aortic dissection could be helpful in
      the differential diagnosis. Half of patients warrant aortic repair with or
      without valve replacement, less than half of patients were conservatively
      managed, and a few were interventionally treated or were being followed up. The
      mortality rate was 9.5 %. Physicians should always bear in mind aortic dissection
      when patients present with fever of unknown origin particularly in those without
      chest pain. Laboratory findings may offer inflammatory evidence for the
      diagnosis. An early diagnosis as well as subsequent treatment is indispensable
      for patients' outcomes.

PMID- 27644957
TI  - Digitizing an Analog Radiography Teaching File Under Time Constraint: Trade-Offs
      in Efficiency and Image Quality.
AB  - We digitized the radiography teaching file at Black Lion Hospital (Addis Ababa,
      Ethiopia) during a recent trip, using a standard digital camera and a fluorescent
      light box. Our goal was to photograph every radiograph in the existing library
      while optimizing the final image size to the maximum resolution of a high quality
      tablet computer, preserving the contrast resolution of the radiographs, and
      minimizing total library file size. A secondary important goal was to minimize
      the cost and time required to take and process the images. Three workers were
      able to efficiently remove the radiographs from their storage folders, hang them
      on the light box, operate the camera, catalog the image, and repack the
      radiographs back to the storage folder. Zoom, focal length, and film speed were
      fixed, while aperture and shutter speed were manually adjusted for each image,
      allowing for efficiency and flexibility in image acquisition. Keeping zoom and
      focal length fixed, which kept the view box at the same relative position in all
      of the images acquired during a single photography session, allowed unused space
      to be batch-cropped, saving considerable time in post-processing, at the expense
      of final image resolution. We present an analysis of the trade-offs in workflow
      efficiency and final image quality, and demonstrate that a few people with
      minimal equipment can efficiently digitize a teaching file library.

PMID- 27644958
TI  - Medication utilization pattern for management of pregnancy complications: a study
      in Western Nepal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drugs used during pregnancy can adversely affect the health and life
      of the mother and unborn child. However, the fact that drugs are needed to
      mitigate complications during pregnancy cannot be avoided. The present study was
      designed to identify the common complications during pregnancy and assess the
      medications that have been used to mitigate those complications in an attempt to
      improve drug prescribing during pregnancy. METHODS: A hospital based cross
      sectional study was conducted at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Nepal in 275 pregnant
      women presenting with at least one complication and the drugs prescribed for the
      management of those complications were analyzed. RESULTS: Majority of the
      patients in this study were in the age group 20-24 (44 %) and in the third
      trimester (53.8 %). Maximum patients complained pain (back, abdominal, lower
      abdominal, neck, pelvic) as primary complication (24.3 %) which was followed by
      nausea/vomiting, upper respiratory tract complications, acid reflux disease and
      others. Of the total prescriptions eighty six (86) did not have any medicines
      prescribed to the patients except multivitamins and nutritional supplements. The
      average drugs prescribed per patient was 2.78 in outpatient setting and 5.41 in
      in-patients. Ranitidine, hyoscine butylbromide, paracetamol were the most
      frequently prescribed medications. Antimicrobials comprised 12.8 % of total drugs
      prescribed and 18 % of total drugs were fixed dose combinations. Two hundred and
      thirty four (234) prescriptions out of 275 were prescribed by brand names. Most
      of the prescribed drugs were from FDA pregnancy category B and C. CONCLUSION: The
      present finding showed that pregnant patients were prescribed medications almost
      only when necessary and those considered safe during pregnancy were chosen to a
      large extent. However, few teratogenic drugs (2.49 % of total drugs prescribed)
      were also found to be prescribed which might need further assessments.

PMID- 27644959
TI  - The effect of altitude on erythropoiesis-stimulating agent dose, hemoglobin
      level, and mortality in hemodialysis patients.
AB  - Residence at higher altitude has been associated with improved anemia parameters
      and lower mortality rates among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. However,
      these associations were observed prior to the 2011 shift in erythropoiesis
      stimulating agent (ESA) dosing. To determine the impact of altitude on
      contemporary ESRD patients, a retrospective observational analysis was conducted
      in which patients were ascribed to one of four altitude categories as of 1 Jan
      2012 and outcomes were assessed during 2012. Associations between altitude
      category and outcomes were estimated using generalized linear mixed models,
      adjusted for covariates that differed at baseline. Patients at higher altitude
      were less likely to receive ESA treatment, and dose was 723 U/treatment (95 %
      confidence interval [CI]: 544, 834) lower in the highest altitude category
      compared to the lowest category. The proportion of patients using IV iron
      decreased with increasing altitude category. Patients in the highest two
      categories had greater mean hemoglobin values (+0.15 and +0.23 g/dL) than the
      lowest. Mortality was lower for patients in the highest altitude category
      compared to those in the lowest (incidence rate ratio 0.73; 95 % CI: 0.63, 0.88),
      although their rate of missed dialysis treatments was slightly higher. This study
      confirms that, in the context of current anemia management practices, high
      altitude is associated with higher hemoglobin and lower mortality, despite lower
      utilization of ESA and IV iron.

PMID- 27644960
TI  - Patient safety culture and associated factors: A quantitative and qualitative
      study of healthcare workers' view in Jimma zone Hospitals, Southwest Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient safety culture is an important aspect for quality healthcare
      delivery and is an issue of high concern globally. In Ethiopia health system
      little is known and information is limited in scope about patient safety culture.
      Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of patient safety
      culture and associated factors in Jimma zone Hospitals, southwest Ethiopia.
      METHODS: Facility based cross sectional quantitative study triangulated with
      qualitative approaches was employed from March to April 30/2015. Stratified
      sampling technique was used to select 637 study participants among 4 hospitals.
      The standardized tool which measures 12 patient safety culture composites was
      used for data collection. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses
      were performed using SPSS version 20. Significance level was obtained at 95 % CI
      and p-value < 0.05. Semi structured guide in depth interview was used to collect
      the qualitative data. Content analysis of the interview was performed. RESULTS:
      The overall level of patient safety culture was 46.7 % (95 % CI: 43.0, 51.2).
      Hours worked per week (beta =-0.06, 95 % CI:-0.12,-0.001), reporting adverse
      event (beta = 3.34, 95 % CI: 2.12, 4.57), good communication (beta = 2.78, 95 %
      CI: 2.29, 3.28), teamwork within hospital (beta = 1.91, 95 % CI: 1.37, 2.46),
      level of staffing (beta = 1.32, 95 % CI: 0.89, 1.75), exchange of feedback about
      error (beta = 1.37, 95 % CI: 0.91, 1.83) and participation in patient safety
      program (beta = 1.3, 95 % CI: 0.57, 2.03) were factors significantly associated
      with the patient safety culture. The in depth interview indicated incident
      reporting, resources, healthcare worker attitude and patient involvement as
      important factors that influence patient safety culture. CONCLUSIONS: The overall
      level of patient safety culture was low. Working hours, level of staffing,
      teamwork, communications openness, reporting an event and exchange of feedback
      about error were associated with patient safety culture. Therefore, interventions
      of systemic approach through facilitating opportunities for communication
      openness, cooperation and exchange of ideas between healthcare workers are needed
      to improve the level of patient safety culture.

PMID- 27644961
TI  - Fog of War: Psychopharmaceutical "Side Effects" and the United States Military.
AB  - The unprecedented reliance today on psychiatric drugs to maintain mission
      readiness in war and to treat veterans at home has been the subject of ethical
      debate in the United States. While acknowledging these debates, I advocate for an
      ethnography of how US soldiers and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
      themselves articulate political and ethical tensions in their experiences of
      psychiatric drug treatment. Detailing one army veteran's interpretations of drug
      effects as narrated through the lens of his current antiwar politics, I examine
      the radicalizing transformations of self and subjectivity that he attributes both
      to his witnessing drug use in Iraq and to the neurochemical effects of his own
      medications. Playing on the biomedical notion of "side effects," I highlight
      surprising political and ethical openings that can surface when
      psychopharmaceuticals and war intersect. Psychotropic medication use offers a
      critical realm for furthering the ethnographic study of the lived tensions and
      contradictions of military medicine and medicalization as revealed in militarized
      embodied experience.

PMID- 27644962
TI  - Factors predicting adequate lymph node yield in patients undergoing
      pancreatoduodenectomy for malignancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most pancreatoduodenectomy resections do not meet the minimum of 12
      lymph nodes recommended by the American Joint Committee on Cancer for accurate
      staging of periampullary malignancies. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate factors affecting the likelihood of adequate nodal yield in
      pancreatoduodenectomy specimens subject to routine pathological assessment.
      METHODS: Six hundred sixty-two patients subject to pancreatoduodenectomy between
      1990 and 2013 for pancreatic, ampullary, and common bile duct cancers were
      reviewed. Predictors of yielding at least 12 lymph nodes were evaluated with a
      logistic regression model, and a survival analysis was carried out to verify the
      prognostic implications of nodal counts. RESULTS: The median number of evaluated
      nodes was 17 (interquartile range 11 to 25), and less than 12 lymph nodes were
      reported in surgical specimens of 179 (27 %) patients. Tumor diameter >=20 mm
      (odds ratio [OR] 2.547, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.225 to 5.329, P = 0.013),
      lymph node metastases (OR 2.642, 95 % CI 1.378 to 5.061, P = 0.004), and radical
      lymphadenectomy (OR 5.566, 95 % CI 2.041 to 15.148, P = 0.01) were significant
      predictors of retrieving 12 or more lymph nodes. Lymph node counts did not
      influence the overall prognosis of the patients. However, a subgroup analysis
      carried out for individual cancer sites demonstrated that removing at least 12
      lymph nodes is associated with better prognosis for pancreatic cancer.
      CONCLUSIONS: Few variables affect adequate nodal yield in pancreatoduodenectomy
      specimens subject to routine pathological assessment. Considering the ambiguities
      related to the only modifiable factor identified, appropriate pathology training
      should be considered to increase nodal yield rather than more aggressive
      lymphatic dissection.

PMID- 27644963
TI  - Suicidal ideation is associated with individual differences in prescription
      opioid craving and cue-reactivity among chronic pain patients.
AB  - Given that chronic pain patients experience significant rates of suicidal
      ideation and suicide attempts, access to prescription opioids compounds the risk
      of death by suicide. These patients may experience heightened opioid craving and
      exhibit increased cue-reactivity to stimuli associated with past opioid use when
      suicidal ideation produces negative affective states. Because both opioids and
      suicidal behavior are used to alleviate emotional and physical pain through a
      process of negative reinforcement, elucidating factors that mediate this
      association may yield insight into suicide risk among chronic pain patients. This
      study examined the relationship between suicidal ideation and opioid craving and
      cue-reactivity, and tested opioid self-medication as a mediator of associations
      between those factors after controlling for the impact of pain severity. A sample
      of 115 chronic pain patients provided demographic and clinical information on the
      Obsessive Compulsive Drug Use Scale, the Current Opioid Misuse Measure, and the
      Brief Pain Inventory before completing an opioid dot probe task in which heart
      rate variability was recorded. As hypothesized, suicidal ideation was positively
      correlated with subjective opioid craving and physiological cue-reactivity. Self
      medication significantly mediated the association between suicidal ideation,
      craving, and cue-reactivity. As opioids relieve the emotional pain linked with
      suicidal thoughts, chronic pain patients with higher levels of suicidal ideation
      may experience more intense opioid craving and exhibit heightened physiological
      cue-reactivity when compared to patients with low levels of suicidal ideation.

PMID- 27644965
TI  - Quantitative mass spectrometry: an overview.
AB  - Mass spectrometry (MS) is a mainstream chemical analysis technique in the twenty
      first century. It has contributed to numerous discoveries in chemistry, physics
      and biochemistry. Hundreds of research laboratories scattered all over the world
      use MS every day to investigate fundamental phenomena on the molecular level. MS
      is also widely used by industry-especially in drug discovery, quality control and
      food safety protocols. In some cases, mass spectrometers are indispensable and
      irreplaceable by any other metrological tools. The uniqueness of MS is due to the
      fact that it enables direct identification of molecules based on the mass-to
      charge ratios as well as fragmentation patterns. Thus, for several decades now,
      MS has been used in qualitative chemical analysis. To address the pressing need
      for quantitative molecular measurements, a number of laboratories focused on
      technological and methodological improvements that could render MS a fully
      quantitative metrological platform. In this theme issue, the experts working for
      some of those laboratories share their knowledge and enthusiasm about
      quantitative MS. I hope this theme issue will benefit readers, and foster
      fundamental and applied research based on quantitative MS measurements.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644966
TI  - Quantitative mass spectrometry of unconventional human biological matrices.
AB  - The development of sensitive and versatile mass spectrometric methodology has
      fuelled interest in the analysis of metabolites and drugs in unconventional
      biological specimens. Here, we discuss the analysis of eight human matrices-hair,
      nail, breath, saliva, tears, meibum, nasal mucus and skin excretions (including
      sweat)-by mass spectrometry (MS). The use of such specimens brings a number of
      advantages, the most important being non-invasive sampling, the limited risk of
      adulteration and the ability to obtain information that complements blood and
      urine tests. The most often studied matrices are hair, breath and saliva. This
      review primarily focuses on endogenous (e.g. potential biomarkers, hormones) and
      exogenous (e.g. drugs, environmental contaminants) small molecules. The majority
      of analytical methods used chromatographic separation prior to MS; however, such
      a hyphenated methodology greatly limits analytical throughput. On the other hand,
      the mass spectrometric methods that exclude chromatographic separation are fast
      but suffer from matrix interferences. To enable development of quantitative
      assays for unconventional matrices, it is desirable to standardize the protocols
      for the analysis of each specimen and create appropriate certified reference
      materials. Overcoming these challenges will make analysis of unconventional human
      biological matrices more common in a clinical setting.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644968
TI  - Critical factors determining the quantification capability of matrix-assisted
      laser desorption/ionization- time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
AB  - Quantitative analysis with mass spectrometry (MS) is important but challenging.
      Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) coupled with time-of-flight
      (TOF) MS offers superior sensitivity, resolution and speed, but such techniques
      have numerous disadvantages that hinder quantitative analyses. This review
      summarizes essential obstacles to analyte quantification with MALDI-TOF MS,
      including the complex ionization mechanism of MALDI, sensitive characteristics of
      the applied electric fields and the mass-dependent detection efficiency of ion
      detectors. General quantitative ionization and desorption interpretations of ion
      production are described. Important instrument parameters and available methods
      of MALDI-TOF MS used for quantitative analysis are also reviewed.This article is
      part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644967
TI  - Mass spectrometry as a quantitative tool in plant metabolomics.
AB  - Metabolomics is a research field used to acquire comprehensive information on the
      composition of a metabolite pool to provide a functional screen of the cellular
      state. Studies of the plant metabolome include the analysis of a wide range of
      chemical species with very diverse physico-chemical properties, and therefore
      powerful analytical tools are required for the separation, characterization and
      quantification of this vast compound diversity present in plant matrices. In this
      review, challenges in the use of mass spectrometry (MS) as a quantitative tool in
      plant metabolomics experiments are discussed, and important criteria for the
      development and validation of MS-based analytical methods provided.This article
      is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644969
TI  - On the preservation of non-covalent protein complexes during electrospray
      ionization.
AB  - The application range of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the
      quantitative determination of stoichiometries and binding constants for non
      covalent protein complexes is broadly discussed. The underlying fundamental
      question is whether or not the original molecular equilibrium can be preserved
      during the ionization process and be revealed by subsequent mass spectrometry
      analysis. Here, we take a new look at this question by discussing recent studies
      in droplet chemistry.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass
      spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644971
TI  - Quantitative aspects of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
AB  - Accurate determination of elements in various kinds of samples is essential for
      many areas, including environmental science, medicine, as well as industry.
      Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a powerful tool enabling
      multi-elemental analysis of numerous matrices with high sensitivity and good
      precision. Various calibration approaches can be used to perform accurate
      quantitative measurements by ICP-MS. They include the use of pure standards,
      matrix-matched standards, or relevant certified reference materials, assuring
      traceability of the reported results. This review critically evaluates the
      advantages and limitations of different calibration approaches, which are used in
      quantitative analyses by ICP-MS. Examples of such analyses are provided.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644970
TI  - Stable isotope dimethyl labelling for quantitative proteomics and beyond.
AB  - Stable-isotope reductive dimethylation, a cost-effective, simple, robust,
      reliable and easy-to- multiplex labelling method, is widely applied to
      quantitative proteomics using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. This
      review focuses on biological applications of stable-isotope dimethyl labelling
      for a large-scale comparative analysis of protein expression and post
      translational modifications based on its unique properties of the labelling
      chemistry. Some other applications of the labelling method for sample preparation
      and mass spectrometry-based protein identification and characterization are also
      summarized.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass
      spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644973
TI  - Revisiting the quantitative features of surface-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization mass spectrometric analysis.
AB  - Surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization (SALDI) coupled with mass
      spectrometry (MS) is frequently used to analyse small organics owing to its clean
      background. Inorganic materials can be used as energy absorbers and the transfer
      medium to facilitate the desorption/ionization of analytes; thus, they are used
      as SALDI-assisting materials. Many studies have demonstrated the usefulness of
      SALDI-MS in quantitative analysis of small organics. However, some
      characteristics occurring in SALDI-MS require certain attention to ensure the
      reliability of the quantitative analysis results. The appearance of a coffee-ring
      effect in SALDI sample preparation is the primary factor that can affect
      quantitative SALDI-MS analysis results. However, to the best of our knowledge,
      there are no reports relating to quantitative SALDI-MS analysis that discuss or
      consider this effect. In this study, the coffee-ring effect is discussed using
      nanoparticles and nanostructured substrates as SALDI-assisting materials to show
      how this effect influences SALDI-MS analysis results. Potential solutions for
      overcoming the existing problems are also suggested.This article is part of the
      themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644972
TI  - Identification of proteins from 4200-year-old skin and muscle tissue biopsies
      from ancient Egyptian mummies of the first intermediate period shows evidence of
      acute inflammation and severe immune response.
AB  - We performed proteomics analysis on four skin and one muscle tissue samples taken
      from three ancient Egyptian mummies of the first intermediate period,
      approximately 4200 years old. The mummies were first dated by radiocarbon dating
      of the accompany-?break ing textiles, and morphologically examined by scanning
      electron microscopy of additional skin samples. Proteins were extracted,
      separated on SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis)
      gels, and in-gel digested with trypsin. The resulting peptides were analysed
      using nanoflow high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. We
      identified a total of 230 unique proteins from the five samples, which consisted
      of 132 unique protein identifications. We found a large number of collagens,
      which was confirmed by our microscopy data, and is in agreement with previous
      studies showing that collagens are very long-lived. As expected, we also found a
      large number of keratins. We identified numerous proteins that provide evidence
      of activation of the innate immunity system in two of the mummies, one of which
      also contained proteins indicating severe tissue inflammation, possibly
      indicative of an infection that we can speculate may have been related to the
      cause of death.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass
      spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644974
TI  - Quantitative metabolomics of photoreceptor degeneration and the effects of stem
      cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium transplantation.
AB  - Photoreceptor degeneration is characteristic of vision-threatening diseases
      including age-related macular degeneration. Photoreceptors are metabolically
      demanding cells in the retina, but specific details about their metabolic
      behaviours are unresolved. The quantitative metabolomics of retinal degeneration
      could provide valuable insights and inform future therapies. Here, we determined
      the metabolomic 'fingerprint' of healthy and dystrophic retinas in rat models
      using optimized metabolite extraction techniques. A number of classes of
      metabolites were consistently dysregulated during degeneration: vitamin A
      analogues, fatty acid amides, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, acyl
      carnitines and several phospholipid species. For the first time, a distinct
      temporal trend of several important metabolites including DHA
      (4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z-docosahexaenoic acid), all-trans-retinal and its toxic end
      product N-retinyl-N-retinylidene-ethanolamine were observed between healthy and
      dystrophic retinas. In this study, metabolomics was further used to determine the
      temporal effects of the therapeutic intervention of grafting stem cell-derived
      retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in dystrophic retinas, which significantly
      prevented photoreceptor atrophy in our previous studies. The result revealed that
      lipid levels such as phosphatidylethanolamine in eyes were restored in those
      animals receiving the RPE grafts. In conclusion, this study provides insight into
      the metabolomics of retinal degeneration, and further understanding of the
      efficacy of RPE transplantation.This article is part of the themed issue
      'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644976
TI  - Monitoring the synthesis of biomolecules using mass spectrometry.
AB  - The controlled and selective synthesis/clearance of biomolecules is critical for
      most cellular processes. In most high-throughput 'omics' studies, we measure the
      static quantities of only one class of biomolecules (e.g. DNA, mRNA, proteins or
      metabolites). It is, however, important to recognize that biological systems are
      highly dynamic in which biomolecules are continuously renewed and different
      classes of biomolecules interact and affect each other's production/clearance.
      Therefore, it is necessary to measure the turnover of diverse classes of
      biomolecules to understand the dynamic nature of biological systems. Herein, we
      explain why the kinetic analysis of a diverse range of biomolecules is important
      and how such an analysis can be done. We argue that heavy water ((2)H2O) could be
      a universal tracer for monitoring the synthesis of biomolecules on a global
      scale.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644975
TI  - Quantitative proteomics and terminomics to elucidate the role of ubiquitination
      and proteolysis in adaptive immunity.
AB  - Adaptive immunity is the specialized defence mechanism in vertebrates that
      evolved to eliminate pathogens. Specialized lymphocytes recognize specific
      protein epitopes through antigen receptors to mount potent immune responses, many
      of which are initiated by nuclear factor-kappa B activation and gene
      transcription. Most, if not all, pathways in adaptive immunity are further
      regulated by post-translational modification (PTM) of signalling proteins, e.g.
      phosphorylation, citrullination, ubiquitination and proteolytic processing. The
      importance of PTMs is reflected by genetic or acquired defects in these pathways
      that lead to a dysfunctional immune response. Here we discuss the state of the
      art in targeted proteomics and systems biology approaches to dissect the PTM
      landscape specifically regarding ubiquitination and proteolysis in B- and T-cell
      activation. Recent advances have occurred in methods for specific enrichment and
      targeted quantitation. Together with improved instrument sensitivity, these
      advances enable the accurate analysis of often rare PTM events that are opaque to
      conventional proteomics approaches, now rendering in-depth analysis and pathway
      dissection possible. We discuss published approaches, including as a case study
      the profiling of the N-terminome of lymphocytes of a rare patient with a genetic
      defect in the paracaspase protease MALT1, a key regulator protease in antigen
      driven signalling, which was manifested by elevated linear ubiquitination.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644977
TI  - Good quantification practices of flavours and fragrances by mass spectrometry.
AB  - Over the past 15 years, chromatographic techniques with mass spectrometric
      detection have been increasingly used to monitor the rapidly expanded list of
      regulated flavour and fragrance ingredients. This trend entails a need for good
      quantification practices suitable for complex media, especially for multi
      analytes. In this article, we present experimental precautions needed to perform
      the analyses and ways to process the data according to the most recent
      approaches. This notably includes the identification of analytes during their
      quantification and method validation, when applied to real matrices, based on
      accuracy profiles. A brief survey of application studies based on such practices
      is given.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass
      spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644978
TI  - Comprehensive evaluation of direct injection mass spectrometry for the
      quantitative profiling of volatiles in food samples.
AB  - Although qualitative strategies based on direct injection mass spectrometry
      (DIMS) have recently emerged as an alternative for the rapid classification of
      food samples, the potential of these approaches in quantitative tasks has
      scarcely been addressed to date. In this paper, the applicability of different
      multivariate regression procedures to data collected by DIMS from simulated
      mixtures has been evaluated. The most relevant factors affecting quantitation,
      such as random noise, the number of calibration samples, type of validation,
      mixture complexity and similarity of mass spectra, were also considered and
      comprehensively discussed. Based on the conclusions drawn from simulated data,
      and as an example of application, experimental mass spectral fingerprints
      collected by direct thermal desorption coupled to mass spectrometry were used for
      the quantitation of major volatiles in Thymus zygis subsp. zygis chemotypes. The
      results obtained, validated with the direct thermal desorption coupled to gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry method here used as a reference, show the
      potential of DIMS approaches for the fast and precise quantitative profiling of
      volatiles in foods.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass
      spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644979
TI  - Towards quantitative mass spectrometry-based metabolomics in microbial and
      mammalian systems.
AB  - Metabolome analyses are a suite of analytical approaches that enable us to
      capture changes in the metabolome (small molecular weight components, typically
      less than 1500 Da) in biological systems. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been widely
      used for this purpose. The key challenge here is to be able to capture changes in
      a reproducible and reliant manner that is representative of the events that take
      place in vivo Typically, the analysis is carried out in vitro, by isolating the
      system and extracting the metabolome. MS-based approaches enable us to capture
      metabolomic changes with high sensitivity and resolution. When developing the
      technique for different biological systems, there are similarities in challenges
      and differences that are specific to the system under investigation. Here, we
      review some of the challenges in capturing quantitative changes in the metabolome
      with MS based approaches, primarily in microbial and mammalian systems.This
      article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644980
TI  - Gas-phase protein conformation/multimer ion formation by electrospray ion
      mobility-mass spectrometry: bovine insulin and ubiquitin.
AB  - Ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IMMS) is a very attractive method for studies in
      structural biology because of the ability of rapid isolation by nearly
      simultaneous m/z characterization and size separation, leading to an emergence of
      IMMS as a complimentary biochemical tool. Earlier, we developed a method based on
      varying the protein concentration in solution prior to electrospray ionization
      (ESI) with subsequent m/z selection and dissociation of protein multimers by IMMS
      of cytochrome c. The focus of this work will be to correctly distinguish truly
      different ion conformations formed by ESI versus homomultimeric complexes with
      the same m/z for well-studied proteins bovine ubiquitin and insulin. These
      proteins were chosen due to their large difference in solution phase structures:
      insulin tightly bound by disulfide linkages, and ubiquitin-a protein that may
      adopt a range of states from compact to extended. Our preliminary results, as
      with cytochrome c reveal false negatives for protein oligomer formation and false
      positives for protein conformational states. In addition, these results will be
      couched in terms of the need for quantification of IMMS analysis of proteins
      given the total area under IMMS peaks can also distinguish conformation versus
      aggregation as higher order oligomers have more mass per ion.This article is part
      of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644981
TI  - Protein turnover measurement using selected reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry
      (SRM-MS).
AB  - Protein turnover represents an important mechanism in the functioning of cells,
      with deregulated synthesis and degradation of proteins implicated in many
      diseased states. Therefore, proteomics strategies to measure turnover rates with
      high confidence are of vital importance to understanding many biological
      processes. In this study, the more widely used approach of non-targeted precursor
      ion signal intensity (MS1) quantification is compared with selected reaction
      monitoring (SRM), a data acquisition strategy that records data for specific
      peptides, to determine if improved quantitative data would be obtained using a
      targeted quantification approach. Using mouse liver as a model system, turnover
      measurement of four tricarboxylic acid cycle proteins was performed using both
      MS1 and SRM quantification strategies. SRM outperformed MS1 in terms of
      sensitivity and selectivity of measurement, allowing more confident determination
      of protein turnover rates. SRM data are acquired using cheaper and more widely
      available tandem quadrupole mass spectrometers, making the approach accessible to
      a larger number of researchers than MS1 quantification, which is best performed
      on high mass resolution instruments. SRM acquisition is ideally suited to focused
      studies where the turnover of tens of proteins is measured, making it applicable
      in determining the dynamics of proteins complexes and complete metabolic
      pathways.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass
      spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644983
TI  - The significance of petroleum bitumen in ancient Egyptian mummies.
AB  - Mummification was practised in ancient Egypt for more than 3000 years, emerging
      from initial observations of buried bodies preserved by natural desiccation. The
      use of organic balms (and other funerary practices) was a later introduction
      necessitated by more humid burial environments, especially tombs. The dark colour
      of many mummies led to the assumption that petroleum bitumen (or natural asphalt)
      was ubiquitous in mummification; however, this has been questioned for more than
      100 years. We test this by investigating 91 materials comprising balms, tissues
      and textiles from 39 mummies dating from ca 3200 BC to AD 395. Targeted petroleum
      bitumen biomarker (steranes and hopanes) analyses by gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry selected ion monitoring (GC-MS SIM, m/z 217 and 191) showed no
      detectable bitumen use before the New Kingdom (ca 1550-1070 BC). However, bitumen
      was used in 50% of New Kingdom to Late Period mummies, rising to 87% of
      Ptolemaic/Roman Period mummies. Quantitative determinations using (14)C analyses
      reveal that even at peak use balms were never more than 45% w/w bitumen.
      Critically, the dark colour of balms can be simulated by heating/ageing mixtures
      of fats, resins and beeswax known to be used in balms. The application of
      black/dark brown balms to bodies was deliberate after the New Kingdom reflecting
      changing funerary beliefs and shifts in religious ideology.This article is part
      of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644982
TI  - Quantitative mass spectrometry methods for pharmaceutical analysis.
AB  - Quantitative pharmaceutical analysis is nowadays frequently executed using mass
      spectrometry. Electrospray ionization coupled to a (hybrid) triple quadrupole
      mass spectrometer is generally used in combination with solid-phase extraction
      and liquid chromatography. Furthermore, isotopically labelled standards are often
      used to correct for ion suppression. The challenges in producing sensitive but
      reliable quantitative data depend on the instrumentation, sample preparation and
      hyphenated techniques. In this contribution, different approaches to enhance the
      ionization efficiencies using modified source geometries and improved ion
      guidance are provided. Furthermore, possibilities to minimize, assess and correct
      for matrix interferences caused by co-eluting substances are described. With the
      focus on pharmaceuticals in the environment and bioanalysis, different separation
      techniques, trends in liquid chromatography and sample preparation methods to
      minimize matrix effects and increase sensitivity are discussed. Although highly
      sensitive methods are generally aimed for to provide automated multi-residue
      analysis, (less sensitive) miniaturized set-ups have a great potential due to
      their ability for in-field usage.This article is part of the themed issue
      'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. 

PMID- 27644984
TI  - Comparative Ploidy Proteomics of Candida albicans Biofilms Unraveled the Role of
      the AHP1 Gene in the Biofilm Persistence Against Amphotericin B.
AB  - Candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen causing lethal infections in
      immunocompromised patients. C. albicans forms antifungal tolerant biofilms
      contributing significantly to therapeutic failure. The recently established
      haploid C. albicans biofilm model provides a new toolbox to uncover the mechanism
      governing the higher antifungal tolerance of biofilms. Here, we comprehensively
      examined the proteomics and antifungal susceptibility of standard diploid (SC5314
      and BWP17) and stable haploid (GZY792 and GZY803) strains of C. albicans
      biofilms. Subsequent downstream analyses identified alkyl hydroperoxide reductase
      1 (AHP1) as a critical determinant of C. albicans biofilm's tolerance of
      amphotericin B. At 32 MUg/ml of amphotericin B, GZY803 haploid biofilms showed
      0.1% of persister population as compared with 1% of the diploid biofilms. AHP1
      expression was found to be lower in GZY803 biofilms, and AHP1 overexpression in
      GZY803 restored the percentage of persister population. Consistently, deleting
      AHP1 in the diploid strain BWP17 caused a similar increase in amphotericin B
      susceptibility. AHP1 expression was also positively correlated with the
      antioxidant potential. Furthermore, C. albicans ira2Delta/Delta biofilms were
      susceptible to amphotericin B and had a diminished antioxidant capacity.
      Interestingly, AHP1 overexpression in the ira2Delta/Delta strain restored the
      antioxidant potential and enhanced the persister population against amphotericin
      B, and shutting down the AHP1 expression in ira2Delta/Delta biofilms reversed the
      effect. In conclusion, we provide evidence that the AHP1 gene critically
      determines the amphotericin B tolerance of C. albicans biofilms possibly by
      maintaining the persisters' antioxidant capacity. This finding will open up new
      avenues for developing therapies targeting the persister population of C.
      albicans biofilms. The mass spectrometry proteomics data are available via
      ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD004274.

PMID- 27644988
TI  - Aberrant ketolysis fuels hepatocellular cancer progression.
AB  - At odds with their normal counterparts, hepatocellular carcinoma cells
      efficiently utilize ketone bodies to proliferate despite serum deprivation. These
      findings, which have been recently published in Cell Research, identify a novel
      metabolic circuitry through which tumors successfully cope with adverse
      microenvironmental conditions.

PMID- 27644990
TI  - Approved drugs are to be studied for use in Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 27644987
TI  - Hepatocellular carcinoma redirects to ketolysis for progression under nutrition
      deprivation stress.
AB  - Cancer cells are known for their capacity to rewire metabolic pathways to support
      survival and proliferation under various stress conditions. Ketone bodies, though
      produced in the liver, are not consumed in normal adult liver cells. We find here
      that ketone catabolism or ketolysis is re-activated in hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC) cells under nutrition deprivation conditions. Mechanistically, 3-oxoacid
      CoA-transferase 1 (OXCT1), a rate-limiting ketolytic enzyme whose expression is
      suppressed in normal adult liver tissues, is re-induced by serum starvation
      triggered mTORC2-AKT-SP1 signaling in HCC cells. Moreover, we observe that
      enhanced ketolysis in HCC is critical for repression of AMPK activation and
      protects HCC cells from excessive autophagy, thereby enhancing tumor growth.
      Importantly, analysis of clinical HCC samples reveals that increased OXCT1
      expression predicts higher patient mortality. Taken together, we uncover here a
      novel metabolic adaptation by which nutrition-deprived HCC cells employ ketone
      bodies for energy supply and cancer progression.

PMID- 27644996
TI  - Gene expression of glycyrrhizin acid and accumulation of endogenous signaling
      molecule in Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch adventitious roots after Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae and Meyerozyma guilliermondii applications.
AB  - This study reports the best culture conditions for roots growth and accumulation
      of active components by optimizing the parameters. Glycyrrhiza uralensis
      adventitious roots metabolites were significantly increased after adding
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Meyerozyma guilliermondii. The highest contents of
      polysaccharide, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, and total flavonoids were
      obtained in M. guilliermondii group; the content of glycyrrhizic acid was 5.3
      fold higher than the control. In control and treatment groups, 12 compounds were
      identified by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization
      tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS), among which some new compounds have
      been detected in elicitor groups including 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone,
      glycyrrhisoflavanone, licorice saponin J2, uralsaponin B, (3R)-vestitol, and
      uralenol. Meyerozyma guilliermondii significantly upregulated the expression of
      the genes such as 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, farnesyl
      diphosphate synthase, geranyl diphosphate synthase, squalene synthase, squalene
      epoxidase, beta-amyrin synthase, and CYP88D6 and CYP72A154. Meanwhile, it
      increased the biosynthesis of signaling molecules (nitric oxide, salicylic acid,
      and jasmonic acid) in defense mechanism.

PMID- 27645002
TI  - Risk-adjusted monitoring of time to event in the presence of long-term survivors.
AB  - The use of control charts for monitoring schemes in medical context should
      consider adjustments to incorporate the specific risk for each individual. Some
      authors propose the use of a risk-adjusted survival time cumulative sum (RAST
      CUSUM) control chart to monitor a time-to-event outcome, possibly right censored,
      using conventional survival models, which do not contemplate the possibility of
      cure of a patient. We propose to extend this approach considering a risk-adjusted
      CUSUM chart, based on a cure rate model. We consider a regression model in which
      the covariates affect the cure fraction. The CUSUM scores are obtained for
      Weibull and log-logistic promotion time model to monitor a scale parameter for
      nonimmune individuals. A simulation study was conducted to evaluate and compare
      the performance of the proposed chart (RACUF CUSUM) with RAST CUSUM, based on
      optimal control limits and average run length in different situations. As a
      result, we note that the RAST CUSUM chart is inappropriate when applied to data
      with a cure rate, while the proposed RACUF CUSUM chart seems to have similar
      performance if applied to data without a cure rate. The proposed chart is
      illustrated with simulated data and with a real data set of patients with heart
      failure treated at the Heart Institute (InCor), at the University of Sao Paulo,
      Brazil.

PMID- 27645003
TI  - Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: A clinical approach and pharmacological
      management.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645004
TI  - The art in managing the elderly hypertensive patient.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645005
TI  - Subdermal levonorgestrel implant: Acceptability and user satisfaction.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645006
TI  - Body packers.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645007
TI  - Plastibell: A quick technique to decrease the distress of neonatal circumcision.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645008
TI  - Gastroparesis diabeticorum: A clinical study in Sudanese patients.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645009
TI  - New technique for below ankle amputation: "The hero-heel" technique.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645010
TI  - Human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing in screening of high grade
      cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645011
TI  - Inversion of the normal appendix during the course of abdominal surgery: A
      procedure not to be forgotten.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645012
TI  - Clinical spectrum of adult onset spontaneous primary hypothyroidism.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645013
TI  - The role of ultrasound in initial evaluation of renal colic.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645014
TI  - Hepatitis C infection among drug addicts.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645015
TI  - Iatrogenic retained foreign body in the maxillary sinus.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645016
TI  - Vestibular anus presenting as a case of primary infertility: An unusual adult
      presentation.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645017
TI  - Pancreatic tuberculosis: A rare occurence.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645018
TI  - Gastric lipoma: A rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645019
TI  - Pleomorphic adenoma of a heterotopic salivary tissue in the upper neck.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645021
TI  - Correlation between the first alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient and timing of
      extubation in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645020
TI  - Unnecessary x-rays: Occurrence, disadvantages and side effects.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645022
TI  - Ruptured tubal pregnancy co-existing with acute appendicitis: A rare occurence.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645023
TI  - Obesity and overweight in type II diabetes mellitus patients in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645024
TI  - FAM26F: An Enigmatic Protein Having a Complex Role in the Immune System.
AB  - Mammalian immune system is a complex amalgam of diverse cellular and noncellular
      components such as cytokines, receptors and co-receptors. FAM26F (family with
      sequence similarity 26, member F) is a recently identified tetraspanin-like
      membrane glycoprotein which is predicted to make homophilic interactions and
      potential synapses between several immune cells including CD4+, CD8+, NK,
      dendritic cells and macrophages. Various whole transcriptome analyses have
      demonstrated the differential expression of FAM26F in several bacterial, viral
      and parasitic infections, in certain pathophysiological conditions such as liver
      and heart transplantation, and in various cancers. The complete understanding of
      transcriptional regulation of FAM26F is in its infancy however it is up regulated
      by various stimulants such as polyI:C, LPS, INF gamma and TNF alpha, and via
      various proposed pathways including TLR3, TLR4 IFN-beta and Dectin-1. These
      pathways can merge in STAT1 activation. The synergistic expression of FAM26F on
      both NK-cells and myeloid dendritic cells is required to activate NK-cells
      against tumors via its cytoplasmic tail, thus emphasizing therapeutic potential
      of FAM26F for NK sensitive tumors. Current review provides a comprehensive basis
      to propose that FAM26F expression level is at least a hallmark for IFN-gamma-lead
      immune responses and thus can proficiently be regarded as an early diagnostic
      marker. Future investigation dissecting the role of FAM26F in activation of
      various immune cell populations in local amplification by cell-cell contact is
      crucial to provide the missing link imperative for elucidating the relevance of
      this protein in immune responses.

PMID- 27645027
TI  - Acute Carotid Stent Thrombosis: A Comprehensive Review.
AB  - Acute carotid stent thrombosis (ACST) is a rare complication that can lead to
      dramatic and catastrophic consequences. A rapid diagnosis and prompt
      recanalization of the internal carotid artery are needed to minimize the ischemic
      insult and the reperfusion injury. We reviewed the current literature on this
      devastating complication of CAS with the intention of investigating the potential
      causative factors and to define the appropriate management. According to our
      study discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy, resistance to antiplatelet agents
      and inherent or acquired thrombotic disorders are the main causes of thrombosis.
      Technical intraprocedural parameters such as dissection, atheroma prolapse,
      kinking of the distal part of internal carotid artery and embolic protection
      device occlusion can also result in early carotid stent thrombosis. Rapid
      reperfusion ensures an improved neurological outcome and a better prognosis in
      the short and long term. Thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy or
      thromboaspiration in combination with drug or thrombolytic therapy, surgical
      therapy and re-angioplasty are treatment options that have been used with
      encouraging results. In conclusion, optimal perioperative antiplatelet treatment
      as well as technical considerations regarding the carotid artery stenting plays a
      determinant role.

PMID- 27645028
TI  - Comparison of intra-operative characteristics and early post-operative outcomes
      between endoscopic sinus surgery and balloon sinuplasty.
AB  - CONCLUSION: In terms of operation time, anesthesia method, and low complication
      rate, ESS and balloon sinuplasty seemed comparable. The advantages of balloon
      sinuplasty were shown to be shortness of sick leave, possibility to be performed
      as an in-office procedure, and lower adhesion formation. BACKGROUND: Endoscopic
      sinus surgery (ESS) has been considered as a treatment of choice for persistent
      chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). During the last decade balloon sinuplasty has been
      introduced as an alternative technique to dilate the ostium. Although balloon
      sinuplasty is considered relatively safe and efficient, comparative evidence of
      its putative intra-operative and post-operative advantages remain limited.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this retrospective controlled study was to evaluate intra
      operative factors and early post-operative outcomes among CRS patients who had
      undergone maxillary sinus operation with either balloon sinuplasty or ESS
      technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from 208 patients with CRS
      treated either with ESS or balloon sinuplasty during the years 2008-2010. Intra-
      and peri-operative factors were collected from patient records of the patients
      who met the inclusion criteria (n = 39 in ESS group and n = 36 in balloon
      sinuplasty group). RESULTS: There was no significant difference in operation time
      and anesthesia method between the two groups. No complications occurred with
      either technique. All ESS procedures and 67% of the balloon sinuplasty procedures
      were done in the hospital setting, whereas 33% of the balloon sinuplasty
      procedures were done in the office setting. The duration of sick leave and the
      number of patients with adhesions were significantly higher in the ESS group
      compared to the balloon sinuplasty group.

PMID- 27645030
TI  - Indicator-Impregnated Agarose Films for Colorimetric Measurement of pH.
AB  - In this article, we report on the development of indicator-impregnated agarose
      sensor films for colorimetric estimation of the pH of different standard buffer
      solutions and urine samples. In contrast to the conventional paper-based dipstick
      method, the presented method employs dried agarose that was infused with a
      chemical indicator, which when exposed to the test sample results in an
      appropriate chromogenic outcome. The color change was then quantified by the
      smart camera system. The divulged instrument has been calibrated with standard
      buffers and also tested with clinical urine samples. The systematic study was
      conducted to characterize the performance of the presented technique, such as
      interplate variations, time variations, volume variations, and shelf life study
      of agarose sensor films for the commercial viability of such a technique. The
      employed method is competent enough to bring a change in the paradigm of dipstick
      method from being qualitative estimation to quantitative, manual detection to
      automated, and a subjective approach of diagnosis to an objective one. The
      technique presented here has potential application in the field of point-of-care
      diagnostics with high fidelity, multiplexing, and robust quantitative estimation.

PMID- 27645031
TI  - Interferometric Volume Measurement in Microplates.
AB  - Low-coherence interferometry is presented as a method for nondestructive,
      noncontact, and high-resolution measurement of liquid volumes and fill heights in
      microplates. A Meniscense (Bolton, MA) prototype system captures both fill height
      and meniscus shape and combines them into a volume measurement, allowing for the
      measurement of a wide range of liquids with different meniscus shapes. The system
      has a liquid fill height resolution of 0.7 um, corresponding to a volume
      resolution of 0.02 uL in a typical 96-well plate, demonstrated in an ideal model
      system. Initial data on the gravimetric verification of volume measurements on
      aliquots of distilled water between 50 and 350 uL in a 96-well plate suggest an
      inaccuracy of volume measurement of <2%. The Meniscense system offers accuracy
      comparable to ratiometric photometry, the only commercially available high
      resolution volume measurement system. Its fill height resolution is substantially
      better than that of ultrasonic ranging, the only other noncontact, nondestructive
      method for fill height measurement.

PMID- 27645033
TI  - Facing up to drink problems.
AB  - Alcohol liaison nurse Deb Smith is one of the faces of a campaign to highlight
      how excessive drinking by members of the public affects healthcare workers. Based
      at Sunderland Royal Hospital emergency department, Ms Smith sees first hand how
      many people attend after having drunk too much. 'These patients can be very
      demanding and self-centred,' she explains. 'Often, there is shouting; sometimes,
      they get aggressive and, on occasion, they fight. This increases the pressure
      when you are helping other patients who are really poorly.' The I Have a Drink
      Problem campaign was launched last month by the public-sector organisation
      Balance, which promotes alcohol awareness in the north east of England. For
      details, go to www.balancenortheast.co.uk.

PMID- 27645035
TI  - Government-funded review identifies gaps in urgent care research.
AB  - TWO AREAS on which emergency nurses should focus research to improve urgent care
      have been identified by staff at the University of Sheffield.

PMID- 27645037
TI  - Emergency Nurse subscribers invited to try new-look website.
AB  - THE EMERGENCY Nurse website has been updated to give subscribers better value and
      to make it easier to use.

PMID- 27645036
TI  - Paid leave proposed for volunteers at London Olympics.
AB  - THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DH) is encouraging employers to allow nursing staff to
      volunteer at the 2012 Olympics.

PMID- 27645038
TI  - Front line care.
AB  - THIS AUTUMN, the Department of Health (DH) is expected to respond to a report,
      published in March, by the prime minister's commission on the future of nursing
      and midwifery in England.

PMID- 27645039
TI  - Celebrating nurses: A visual history Christine E Hallett Celebrating nurses: A
      visual history Fil Rouge Press L19.99 | 192pp 9780956438201 0956438202 [Formula:
      see text].
AB  - THIS BEAUTIFULLY presented, clearly written, well-illustrated and reasonably
      priced book would make an excellent gift for any nurse or aspiring student.

PMID- 27645041
TI  - Pension handbook: a complete guide to saving for your retirement Which? Books
      Pension handbook: a complete guide to saving for your retirement L9.99 224pp
      9781844900251 1844900258 [Formula: see text].
AB  - All WORKERS are expected to plan for their retirement, but choosing the right
      pension scheme can be difficult.

PMID- 27645040
TI  - Student life Learning from experience.
AB  - Nursing students can best prepare themselves for registration by getting the most
      out of their placements, and one way for them to do this is to try to spend time
      in as many emergency department (ED) areas as possible.

PMID- 27645042
TI  - Legal aspects of consent Legal Aspects of Consent Bridgit Dimond Quay Books
      L22.50 350pp 9781856423847 1856423840 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THIS, THE second edition of Bridgit Dimond's book, describes situations in health
      care in which consent is required and how it should be applied in legal terms.

PMID- 27645044
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27645043
TI  - The Research Process in Nursing Sixth edition The Research Process in Nursing
      Kate Gerrish and Anne Lacey Wiley-Blackwell L21.99 568pp 9781405190480 1405190485
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - AS AN undergraduate, I referred to this book to help complete my research
      dissertation.

PMID- 27645045
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27645046
TI  - Suicide methods.
AB  - How people try to end their lives has been linked to the risk of eventual
      suicide.

PMID- 27645047
TI  - Deaths after attendance.
AB  - This is a case study review of 286 individuals who had died within 12 months of
      mental health service contact in north west England. Cases were identified
      through the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and were checked against
      regional emergency department (ED) records.

PMID- 27645048
TI  - Swine flu infection.
AB  - Researchers analysed data from 55 hospitals in 20 urban areas of the UK during
      the first wave of the swine flu pandemic between May and September 2009.

PMID- 27645051
TI  - WOMEN IN CANCER PROFILE: Neuroendocrine tumors: moving from the land of small
      tumors to an expanding universe.

PMID- 27645052
TI  - WOMEN IN CANCER THEMATIC REVIEW: New roles for nuclear receptors in prostate
      cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer has, for decades, been treated by inhibiting androgen signalling.
      This is effective in the majority of patients, but inevitably resistance develops
      and patients progress to life-threatening metastatic disease - hence the quest
      for new effective therapies for 'castrate-resistant' prostate cancer (CRPC).
      Studies into what pathways can drive tumour recurrence under these conditions has
      identified several other nuclear receptor signalling pathways as potential
      drivers or modulators of CRPC.The nuclear receptors constitute a large (48
      members) superfamily of transcription factors sharing a common modular functional
      structure. Many of them are activated by the binding of small lipophilic
      molecules, making them potentially druggable. Even those for which no ligand
      exists or has yet been identified may be tractable to activity modulation by
      small molecules. Moreover, genomic studies have shown that in models of CRPC,
      other nuclear receptors can potentially drive similar transcriptional responses
      to the androgen receptor, while analysis of expression and sequencing databases
      shows disproportionately high mutation and copy number variation rates among the
      superfamily. Hence, the nuclear receptor superfamily is of intense interest in
      the drive to understand how prostate cancer recurs and how we may best treat such
      recurrent disease. This review aims to provide a snapshot of the current
      knowledge of the roles of different nuclear receptors in prostate cancer - a
      rapidly evolving field of research.

PMID- 27645053
TI  - The proto-chromatosome: A fundamental subunit of chromatin?
AB  - Eukaryotic DNA is packaged into regularly spaced nucleosomes, resembling beads on
      a string. Each bead contains ~147 bp wrapped around a core histone octamer.
      Linker histone (H1) binds to the linker DNA to drive chromatin folding.
      Micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion studies reveal 2 mono-nucleosomal
      intermediates: the core particle (~147 bp) and the chromatosome (~160 bp; a core
      particle with additional DNA protected by H1). We have recently developed an
      improved method for mapping nucleosomes, using exonuclease III to remove residual
      linker (MNase-Exo-seq). (1) We discovered 2 new intermediate particles
      corresponding to core particles with ~7 bp of linker protruding from one side
      (~154 bp) or both sides (~161 bp), which are formed in the absence of H1. We
      propose that these "proto-chromatosomes" are stabilized by core histone-DNA
      contacts in the linker, ~7 bp from the nucleosome boundaries. These contacts may
      determine the topography of the H1 binding site. 

PMID- 27645054
TI  - RRM3 regulates epigenetic conversions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in conjunction
      with Chromatin Assembly Factor I.
AB  - Chromatin structures are transmitted to daughter cells through a complex system
      of nucleosome disassembly and re-assembly at the advancing replication forks.
      However, the role of replication pausing in the transmission and perturbation of
      chromatin structures has not been addressed. RRM3 encodes a DNA helicase, which
      facilitates replication at sites covered with non-histone protein complexes (tRNA
      genes, active gene promoters, telomeres) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this
      report we show that the deletion of RRM3 reduces the frequency of epigenetic
      conversions in the subtelomeric regions of the chromosomes. This phenotype is
      strongly dependent on 2 histone chaperones, CAF-I and ASF1, which are involved in
      the reassembly of nucleosomes behind replication forks, but not on the histone
      chaperone HIR1. We also show that the deletion of RRM3 increases the spontaneous
      mutation rates in conjunction with CAF-I and ASF1, but not HIR1. Finally, we
      demonstrate that Rrm3p and CAF-I compete for the binding to the DNA replication
      clamp PCNA (Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen). We propose that the stalling of
      DNA replication predisposes to epigenetic conversions and that RRM3 and CAF-I
      play key roles in this process.

PMID- 27645100
TI  - Diversity of Methane-Oxidizing Bacteria in Soils from "Hot Lands of Medolla"
      (Italy) Featured by Anomalous High-Temperatures and Biogenic CO2 Emission.
AB  - "Terre Calde di Medolla" (TCM) (literally, "Hot Lands of Medolla") refers to a
      farming area in Italy with anomalously high temperatures and diffuse emissions of
      biogenic CO2, which has been linked to CH4 oxidation processes from a depth of
      0.7 m to the surface. We herein assessed the composition of the total bacterial
      community and diversity of methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) in soil samples
      collected at a depth at which the peak temperature was detected (0.6 m).
      Cultivation-independent methods were used, such as: i) a clone library analysis
      of the 16S rRNA gene and pmoA (coding for the alpha-subunit of the particulate
      methane monooxygenase) gene, and ii) Terminal Restriction Fragment Length
      Polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting. The 16S rRNA gene analysis assessed the
      predominance of Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacillus in
      TCM samples collected at a depth of 0.6 m along with the presence of
      methanotrophs (Methylocaldum and Methylobacter) and methylotrophs
      (Methylobacillus). The phylogenetic analysis of pmoA sequences showed the
      presence of MOB affiliated with Methylomonas, Methylocystis, Methylococcus, and
      Methylocaldum in addition to as yet uncultivated and uncharacterized
      methanotrophs. Jaccard's analysis of T-RFLP profiles at different ground depths
      revealed a similar MOB composition in soil samples at depths of 0.6 m and 0.7 m,
      while this similarity was weaker between these samples and those taken at a depth
      of 2.5 m, in which the genus Methylocaldum was absent. These results correlate
      the anomalously high temperatures of the farming area of "Terre Calde di Medolla"
      with the presence of microbial methane-oxidizing bacteria.

PMID- 27645097
TI  - SlARF2a plays a negative role in mediating axillary shoot formation.
AB  - SlARF2a is expressed in most plant organs, including roots, leaves, flowers and
      fruits. A detailed expression study revealed that SlARF2a is mainly expressed in
      the leaf nodes and cross-sections of the nodes indicated that SlARF2a expression
      is restricted to vascular organs. Decapitation or the application of 6
      benzylaminopurine (BAP) can initially promote axillary shoots, during which
      SlARF2a expression is significantly reduced. Down-regulation of SlARF2a
      expression results in an increased frequency of dicotyledons and significantly
      increased lateral organ development. Stem anatomy studies have revealed
      significantly altered cambia and phloem in tomato plants expressing down
      regulated levels of ARF2a, which is associated with obvious alterations in auxin
      distribution. Further analysis has revealed that altered auxin transport may
      occur via altered pin expression. To identify the interactions of AUX/IAA and TPL
      with ARF2a, four axillary shoot development repressors that are down-regulated
      during axillary shoot development, IAA3, IAA9, SlTPL1 and SlTPL6, were tested for
      their direct interactions with ARF2a. Although none of these repressors are
      directly involved in ARF2a activity, similar expression patterns of IAA3, IAA9
      and ARF2a implied they might work tightly in axillary shoot formation and other
      developmental processes.

PMID- 27645102
TI  - Observations of twice a week hemodialysis.
AB  - Incremental hemodialysis may offer substantial clinical, patient-centered, and
      cost benefits. In the largest and most rigorous study to date, Mathew et al. show
      that incremental hemodialysis is associated with satisfactory survival in those
      with adequate residual renal function and reasonable general health. While
      encouraging, these findings are a call to action for a suitably powered
      randomized clinical trial, to generate definitive evidence of benefit with this
      approach and define optimal practice for "real-world" implementation.

PMID- 27645101
TI  - How does poverty affect children's nutritional status in Nairobi slums? A
      qualitative study of the root causes of undernutrition.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Children in slums are at high risk of undernutrition, which has long
      term negative consequences on their physical growth and cognitive development.
      Severe undernutrition can lead to the child's death. The present paper aimed to
      understand the causes of undernutrition in children as perceived by various
      groups of community members in Nairobi slums, Kenya. DESIGN: Analysis of ten
      focus group discussions and ten individual interviews with key informants. The
      main topic discussed was the root causes of child undernutrition in the slums.
      The focus group discussions and key informant interviews were recorded and
      transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded in NVivo by extracting concepts
      and using a constant comparison of data across the different categories of
      respondents to draw out themes to enable a thematic analysis. SETTING: Two slum
      communities in Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS: Women of childbearing age, community
      health workers, elders, leaders and other knowledgeable people in the two slum
      communities (n 90). RESULTS: Participants demonstrated an understanding of
      undernutrition in children. CONCLUSIONS: Findings inform target criteria at
      community and household level that can be used to identify children at risk of
      undernutrition. To tackle the immediate and underlying causes of undernutrition,
      interventions recommended should aim to: (i) improve maternal health and
      nutrition; (ii) promote optimal infant and young children feeding practices;
      (iii) support mothers in their working role; (iv) increase access to family
      planning; (v) improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); (vi) address alcohol
      problems at all levels; and (vii) address street food issues with infant feeding
      counselling.

PMID- 27645104
TI  - Perioperative Quality of Life in Cushing's Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our study evaluated the perioperative quality of life (QoL) in
      Cushing's disease (CD) patients, along with correlations between patient
      variables and cure rate. METHODS: The 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF)-36
      questionnaire was used to assess perioperative QoL. Patients completed one survey
      preoperatively and two surveys postoperatively. Retrospective chart review was
      conducted to collect SF-36 data as well as examine variables including: age,
      hospital stay, size of tumour, pathological diagnosis, timing of cure, and
      complication rates. Statistical analysis was conducted on the scores reported by
      the SF-36, and were compared with the normal Canadian population values, and to a
      sample of QoL from nonfunctioning pituitary tumour patients. This project was
      approved by University of British Columbia Research Ethics Board #H15-01572.
      RESULTS: In general, CD patients have relatively poor QoL that does improve as
      expected when cured, but not quite to normal levels. Factors associated with cure
      included presence of macroadenoma, confirmatory pathology, and patient age.
      Postoperative timing of cure appears to affect the durability of cure, with an
      immediate cure having a higher durability rate than delayed cure. Most
      recurrences occurred within 10 months postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: This review
      of the perioperative QoL in CD helps to illustrate how QoL changes throughout the
      treatment process, how QoL compares to normal Canadian population levels, and how
      QoL compares to patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas. As treatment
      outcome has such a high impact on QoL, the variables identified in this study
      will help to better inform patients about the treatment course.

PMID- 27645103
TI  - Impact of TROP2 expression on prognosis in solid tumors: A Systematic Review and
      Meta-analysis.
AB  - Over-expression of TROP2 (the trophoblast cell surface antigen 2) was reported to
      predict poor prognosis in various solid tumors in number of studies. However, the
      results remained not comprehensive. Therefore, we here carried out this meta
      analysis of relevant studies published on this topic to quantitatively evaluate
      the clinicopathological significance of TROP2 in solid tumors. Relevant articles
      were identified through searching the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase database.
      The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).
      In this meta-analysis, 16 studies involving 2,569 participants were included, and
      we drew the conclusion that TROP2 overexpression was significantly associated
      with poor OS (pooled HR = 1.896, 95% CI = 1.599-2.247, P < 0.001) and short DFS
      (pooled HR = 2.336, 95% CI = 1.596-3.419, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the subgroup
      analysis revealed that the associations between TROP2 overexpression and the
      outcome endpoints (OS or DFS) were significant in in patients with female genital
      system neoplasms, as well in gastrointestine neoplasms. In addition, subgroup
      analysis found no difference HR across populations of different descent.Taken
      together, TROP2 overexpression was associated with poor survival in human solid
      tumors. TROP2 may be a valuable prognosis predictive biomarker and a potential
      therapeutic target in human solid tumors.

PMID- 27645105
TI  - Who detects melanoma? Impact of detection patterns on characteristics and
      prognosis of patients with melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of early diagnosis, patients with cutaneous
      melanoma often seek consultation at advanced stages of the disease. The impact on
      prognosis according to who first detects the primary tumor has not been
      established. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine who first detects melanoma,
      the reasons that patients with melanoma consult a doctor, and the impact of
      detection patterns on the characteristics and prognosis of melanoma. METHODS:
      Seven hundred eighty-three patients with cutaneous melanoma who were diagnosed
      between 1996 and 2012 were included. Associations between who first noticed the
      melanoma (ie, self-detected, relatives, health care workers, or dermatologists),
      epidemiology, clinical presentation, histology, and patient outcomes were
      analyzed. RESULTS: Most melanomas were self-detected (53%). Among these patients,
      32% consulted because of bleeding, itching/pain, or nodule enlargement. There
      were more melanomas self-detected among women than among men, and these had a
      better prognosis. Men had significantly more melanomas on non-easily visible
      locations than women did. Among melanomas noticed by dermatologists, 80% were
      incidental findings. Self-detected melanomas were thicker and more frequently
      ulcerated, developed metastases more often, and were associated with more
      melanoma-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with melanomas detected by
      dermatologists had better prognoses than patients with self-detected melanomas.
      Patients with melanomas that were self-detected by women had better prognoses
      than those that were self-detected by men, especially for patients >70 years of
      age. This group might therefore be a logical target for melanoma detection
      education.

PMID- 27645106
TI  - Retinal transcriptome sequencing sheds light on the adaptation to nocturnal and
      diurnal lifestyles in raptors.
AB  - Owls (Strigiformes) represent a fascinating group of birds that are the
      ecological night-time counterparts to diurnal raptors (Accipitriformes). The
      nocturnality of owls, unusual within birds, has favored an exceptional visual
      system that is highly tuned for hunting at night, yet the molecular basis for
      this adaptation is lacking. Here, using a comparative evolutionary analysis of
      120 vision genes obtained by retinal transcriptome sequencing, we found strong
      positive selection for low-light vision genes in owls, which contributes to their
      remarkable nocturnal vision. Not surprisingly, we detected gene loss of the
      violet/ultraviolet-sensitive opsin (SWS1) in all owls we studied, but two other
      color vision genes, the red-sensitive LWS and the blue-sensitive SWS2, were found
      to be under strong positive selection, which may be linked to the spectral
      tunings of these genes toward maximizing photon absorption in crepuscular
      conditions. We also detected the only other positively selected genes associated
      with motion detection in falcons and positively selected genes associated with
      bright-light vision and eye protection in other diurnal raptors
      (Accipitriformes). Our results suggest the adaptive evolution of vision genes
      reflect differentiated activity time and distinct hunting behaviors.

PMID- 27645108
TI  - Challenges in studying very rare cancer outcomes and infrequent exposures:
      example of teriparatide and osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27645107
TI  - Potential synergistic action of 19 schizophrenia risk genes in the thalamus.
AB  - A goal of current schizophrenia (SZ) research is to understand how multiple risk
      genes work together with environmental factors to produce the disease. In
      schizophrenia, there is elevated delta frequency EEG power in the awake state, an
      elevation that can be mimicked in rodents by N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor
      (NMDAR) antagonist action in the thalamus. This thalamic delta can be blocked by
      dopamine D2 receptor antagonists, agents known to be therapeutic in SZ.
      Experiments suggest that these oscillations can interfere with brain function and
      may thus be causal in producing psychosis. Here we evaluate the question of
      whether well-established schizophrenia risk genes may interact to affect the
      delta generation process. We identify 19 risk genes that can plausibly work in a
      synergistic fashion to generate delta oscillations.

PMID- 27645109
TI  - Tear fluid-eye drops compatibility assessment using surface tension.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the compatibility of commercially available eye drop
      surface tension with the tear film physiological range and to characterize
      commonly used ophthalmic excipients in terms of their surface activity under eye
      biorelevant conditions. SIGNIFICANCE: There are a number of quality requirements
      for the eye drops (e.g. tonicity, pH, viscosity, refractive index) that needs to
      comply with the physiological parameters of the eye surface. However, the
      adjustment of surface tension properties of the eye drops to the normal range of
      surface tension at the air/tear fluid interface (40-46 mN/m) has received rather
      less attention thus far. Yet, the surface tension at the air/tear fluid interface
      is of vital importance for the normal function of the eye surface. METHODS: The
      surface tension compatibility of the isotonic aqueous solutions of commonly used
      ophthalmic excipients as well as 18 approved eye drops with the tear fluid have
      been evaluated using surface tension method. RESULTS: Each ophthalmic ingredient
      including the preservatives, solubilizing agents and thickening agents can
      influence the surface tension of the final formulation. In case of complex
      ophthalmic formulations one should also consider the possible interactions among
      excipients and consequent impact on overall surface activity. Out of 18 evaluated
      eye drops, three samples were within, 12 samples were below and three samples
      were above the physiological range of the tear fluid surface tension.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide a rationale for clinical studies aiming to
      assess the correlation between the eye drops surface tension and the tear film
      (in)stability.

PMID- 27645110
TI  - Identification of novel transplantable GPCR recycling motif for drug discovery.
AB  - beta1-Adrenergic receptor (beta1-AR) agonists and antagonists are widely used in
      the treatment of major cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure and
      hypertension. The beta1-AR like other G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are
      endocytosed in response to intense agonist activation. Recycling of the agonist
      internalized beta1-AR is dependent on its carboxy-terminal type-1 PSD-95/DLG/ZO1
      (PDZ) and on phospho-serine312 in the third intracellular loop of the beta1-AR.
      Progressive elongation of the beta1-AR at its C-tail inactivated the PDZ-biding
      domain and inhibited the recycling of the beta1-AR. However, fusing a twenty
      amino acid peptide derived from the multiple cloning region of the mammalian
      expression vector pCDNA3 to the C-tail of the beta1-AR (beta1-AR[+20]) produced a
      chimeric beta1-AR that recycled rapidly and efficiently. The beta1-AR[+20]
      recycled in a type-1 PDZ and phospho-Ser312-independent manner, indicating that
      this peptide provided a general GPCR recycling signal. Fusing the enhanced yellow
      fluorescent protein (EYFP) down-stream of beta1-AR[+20] generated a beta1-AR-EYFP
      chimera that was expressed on the membrane and recycled efficiently after agonist
      induced internalization. This construct trafficked in a PDZ-SNX27/retromer
      independent manner. We also fused EYFP to the N-terminus of the beta1-AR to
      created EYFP-WT beta1-AR. This construct recycled in PDZ and SNX27/retromer
      dependent manner. These beta1-AR-EYFP constructs would be useful for high
      throughput screening (HTS) programs to identify new entities that would interfere
      with the recycling of agonist internalized GPCR that traffic in PDZ-dependent vs.
      PDZ-independent roadmaps.

PMID- 27645111
TI  - Statin intolerance - a question of definition.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Statin therapy is the backbone of pharmacologic therapy for low
      density lipoproteins cholesterol lowering and plays a pivotal role in
      cardiovascular disease prevention. Statin intolerance is understood as the
      inability to continue using a statin to reduce individual cardiovascular risk
      sufficiently, due to the development of symptoms or laboratory abnormalities
      attributable to the initiation or dose escalation of a statin. Muscle symptoms
      are the most common side effects observed. Areas covered: The main aim of this
      article is to present a review on published definitions of statin intolerance. In
      addition, a brief review on clinical aspects and risk factors of statin
      intolerance is provided and features for a common definition for statin
      intolerance are suggested. Expert opinion: A definition of statin intolerance by
      major drug regulatory agencies is not available. In clinical studies, different
      definitions are chosen and results are not comparable; different medical
      associations do not agree on one common definition. There is an unmet need to
      establish a common definition of statin intolerance to ensure an appropriate
      clinical use of this important drug class. Further work is required to develop a
      consensus definition on statin intolerance that could have significant positive
      impact on both research and clinical management.

PMID- 27645112
TI  - Influence of degradation conditions on dentin bonding durability of three
      universal adhesives.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine dentin bonding durability of universal
      adhesives using shear bond strength (SBS) tests under various degradation
      conditions. METHODS: G-Premio Bond (GP, GC), Scotchbond Universal (SU, 3M ESPE)
      and All Bond Universal (AB, Bisco) were compared with conventional two-step self
      etch adhesive Clearfil SE Bond (SE, Kuraray Noritake Dental). Bonded specimens
      were divided into three groups of ten, and SBSs with bovine dentin were
      determined after the following treatments: 1) Storage in distilled water at 37
      degrees C for 24h followed by 3000, 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 thermal cycles (TC
      group), 2) Storage in distilled water at 37 degrees C for 3 months, 6 months or
      1year (water storage, WS group) and 3) Storage in distilled water at 37 degrees C
      for 24h (control). RESULTS: SE bonded specimens showed significantly higher SBSs
      than universal adhesives, regardless of TC or storage periods, although AB
      specimens showed significantly increased SBSs after 30,000 thermal cycles. In
      comparisons of universal adhesives under control and degradation conditions, SBS
      was only reduced in SU after 1year of WS. CONCLUSION: Following exposure of
      various adhesive systems to degradation conditions of thermal cycling and long
      term storage, SBS values of adhesive systems varied primarily with degradation
      period. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Although universal adhesives have lower SBSs than
      the two-step self-etch adhesive SE, the present data indicate that the dentin
      bonding durability of universal adhesives in self-etch mode is sufficient for
      clinical use.

PMID- 27645113
TI  - Scorpion katoikogenic ovariuterus - Much more alike to apoikogenic type than it
      seemed to be.
AB  - Scorpions are viviparous matrotrophic arthropods. Both, fertilization and
      embryonic development occur in the female gonad called ovariuterus. Two distinct
      reproductive patterns are recognized among scorpions: apoikogenic and
      katoikogenic. In the ovariuterus of apoikogenic scorpions growing oocytes
      protrude from the ovarian wall and continue previtellogenic and vitellogenic
      growth on the gonad surface being accompanied by the follicular cells that cover
      the oocyte surface, and, in most families, the stalk cells that join the oocyte
      with the ovariuterus wall. In the katoikogenic ovariuterus the oocytes grow in
      outpocketings of the ovarian wall called diverticula. The aim of our study was to
      show the development and structure of the diverticula in two katoikogenic
      scorpions from the family Scorpionidae: Ophistothalmus boehmei and Heterometrus
      spinifer. We show that the somatic components of each diverticulum develop from
      the two epithelial layers of the ovariuterine wall. Before fertilization, the
      wall of the mature diverticula consists of two distinctive epithelial layers: an
      internal and an external one. Our observations reveal that the epithelial cells
      of the internal layer of the diverticulum show striking morphological resemblance
      to the follicular and stalk cells that accompany the growing oocytes in some
      apoikogenic scorpions. The external epithelial layer of the katoikogenic
      diverticulum seems to have no equivalents in the apoikogenic type. Functions of
      the somatic cells of the diverticulum are discussed.

PMID- 27645114
TI  - Ltbp4 regulates Pdgfrbeta expression via TGFbeta-dependent modulation of Nrf2
      transcription factor function.
AB  - Latent transforming growth factor beta binding protein 4 (LTBP4) belongs to the
      fibrillin/LTBP family of proteins and plays an important role as a structural
      component of extracellular matrix (ECM) and local regulator of TGFbeta signaling.
      We have previously reported that Ltbp4S knock out mice (Ltbp4S-/-) develop
      centrilobular emphysema reminiscent of late stage COPD, which could be partially
      rescued by inactivating the antioxidant protein Sestrin 2 (Sesn2). More recent
      studies showed that Sesn2 knock out mice upregulate Pdgfrbeta-controlled alveolar
      maintenance programs that protect against cigarette smoke induced pulmonary
      emphysema. Based on this, we hypothesized that the emphysema of Ltbp4S-/- mice is
      primarily caused by defective Pdgfrbeta signaling. Here we show that LTBP4
      induces Pdgfrbeta signaling by inhibiting the antioxidant Nrf2/Keap1 pathway in a
      TGFbeta-dependent manner. Overall, our data identified Ltbp4 as a major player in
      lung remodeling and injury repair.

PMID- 27645116
TI  - Zn(OTf)2-Catalyzed Synthesis of Imidazole-Substituted Allenes.
AB  - A Zn(OTf)2-catalyzed simple and efficient method has been developed for the
      synthesis of imidazole-substituted allenes by the reaction of 1,1,3-triphenylprop
      2-yn-1-ol and imidazoheterocycles. A library of tetrasubstituted allenes with
      broad functionalities have been prepared with excellent yields. The present
      methodology is also applicable to imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine, imidazo[2,1
      b]thiazole and benzo[d]imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole.

PMID- 27645117
TI  - Recipient participation in conversations involving participants with fluent or
      non-fluent aphasia.
AB  - The present study compares the ways in which conversational partners manage
      expressive linguistic problems produced by participants with fluent vs. non
      fluent aphasia. Both everyday conversations with family members and institutional
      conversations with speech-language therapists were examined. The data consisted
      of 110 conversational sequences in which the conversational partners addressed
      expressive aphasic problems. Most problems of the speaker with fluent aphasia
      were locally restricted phonological and word-finding errors, which were
      immediately repaired. In contrast, the sparse expression of the speaker with non
      fluent aphasia was co-constructed by conversational partners in long negotiation
      sequences to establish shared understanding. Some differences between recipient
      participation in everyday and institutional conversation were found. The results
      emphasise the relevance of the nature of the expressive linguistic problems on
      participation in interaction. They also add to the clinical knowledge of handling
      aphasic problems in conversation. This knowledge can be used for developing
      interaction-focused intervention.

PMID- 27645115
TI  - Hyaluronic acid-laminin hydrogels increase neural stem cell transplant retention
      and migratory response to SDF-1alpha.
AB  - The chemokine SDF-1alpha plays a critical role in mediating stem cell response to
      injury and disease and has specifically been shown to mobilize neural
      progenitor/stem cells (NPSCs) towards sites of neural injury. Current neural
      transplant paradigms within the brain suffer from low rates of retention and
      engraftment after injury. Therefore, increasing transplant sensitivity to injury
      induced SDF-1alpha represents a method for increasing neural transplant efficacy.
      Previously, we have reported on a hyaluronic acid-laminin based hydrogel (HA-Lm
      gel) that increases NPSC expression of SDF-1alpha receptor, CXCR4, and
      subsequently, NPSC chemotactic migration towards a source of SDF-1alpha in vitro.
      The study presented here investigates the capacity of the HA-Lm gel to promote
      NPSC response to exogenous SDF-1alpha in vivo. We observed the HA-Lm gel to
      significantly increase NPSC transplant retention and migration in response to SDF
      1alpha in a manner critically dependent on signaling via the SDF-1alpha-CXCR4
      axis. This work lays the foundation for development of a more effective cell
      therapy for neural injury, but also has broader implications in the fields of
      tissue engineering and regenerative medicine given the essential roles of SDF
      1alpha across injury and disease states.

PMID- 27645119
TI  - Obituary Robert Clark Campbell.

PMID- 27645120
TI  - JPRAS' mission: To serve the practitioner in the trenches: A wish list for how
      best to accomplish this.

PMID- 27645121
TI  - Risk factors for persistent bacteremia in infants with catheter-related
      bloodstream infection due to coagulase-negative Staphylococcus in the neonatal
      intensive care unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) is the predominant cause of
      catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI). Infants in neonatal intensive
      care units (NICU) often suffer from CoNS CRBSI, which are often refractory to
      treatment. OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate risk factors for developing
      persistent bacteremia due to CoNS CRBSI in infants, in order to identify those
      who require early aggressive management. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective
      case-control study of infants in the NICU who developed CRBSI due to CoNS.
      Patient demographics, condition and management of CRBSI were compared between
      those with persistent and non-persistent bacteremia. Furthermore, prognosis of
      infants in the NICU after CoNS CRBSI was evaluated. RESULTS: Seventy six episodes
      of CRBSI, including 17 persistent bacteremia and 59 non-persistent bacteremia,
      were analyzed. In univariate analyses, persistent bacteremia was significantly
      associated with corrected age equivalent to gestational age of 22-28 weeks at
      onset of CRBSI [Odds ratio (OR) = 4.33; P = 0.04], platelet count <100,000/MUL
      (OR = 11.5; P < 0.001), use of vasopressor (OR = 5.38; P = 0.003), and delayed
      CVC removal (OR = 6.25; P = 0.003). In multivariate analysis, persistent
      bacteremia was significantly associated with platelet count <100,000/MUL (OR =
      7.80; P = 0.007), and delayed CVC removal (OR = 5.07; P = 0.03). Infants with
      persistent bacteremia tended to have a lower survival rate after CoNS CRBSI,
      however this was not statistically significant (P = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: Early CVC
      removal should be considered for the treatment of CRBSI due to CoNS in infants
      with platelet counts of less than 100,000/MUL.

PMID- 27645122
TI  - Molecular epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility, and characterization of
      macrolide-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes in Japan.
AB  - Here we report the molecular epidemiology of macrolide-resistant Streptococcus
      pyogenes (group A streptococci, GAS) isolated from children with
      pharyngotonsillitis between 2011 and 2013 in Japan. In 299 isolates, 124 (41.5%)
      isolates were macrolide-resistant. We characterized the isolates by emm typing,
      multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
      Of 299 isolates, 124 (41.5%) were macrolide-resistant isolates, 76 (61.3%)
      possessed mefA and 46 (37.1%) possessed ermB. All 76 isolates with mefA possessed
      msrD. There were no isolates possessed ermTR in this study. Eight emm/MLST types
      were observed. The predominant type was emm1/ST28 (57 isolates, 46.0%), which
      possessed the mefA/msrD complex, presenting as the M phenotype. The second most
      predominant type was emm12/ST467, which possessed ermB, presenting as the cMLSB
      phenotype. Of the cMLSB phenotype isolates, types emm28/ST52 and emm12/ST36 had
      multiple genetic backgrounds. We found high proportions of macrolide-resistant
      GAS in the southwestern areas of Japan.

PMID- 27645123
TI  - Hyaluronic Acid-Coated Silver Nanoparticles As a Nanoplatform for in Vivo Imaging
      Applications.
AB  - An efficient chemical reduction protocol has been developed for the synthesis of
      hyaluronic acid-coated silver nanoparticles (HA-Ag NPs) that are spherical,
      ultrasmall and monodisperse. The as-synthesized HA-Ag NPs not only exhibited
      excellent long-term stability and low cytotoxicity but also could be used as a
      nanoplatform for X-ray computed tomography (CT) and single-photon emission
      computed tomography (SPECT) imaging after being radiolabeled with 99mTc.

PMID- 27645124
TI  - Dietary ractopamine supplementation during the first lactation affects milk
      composition, piglet growth and sow reproductive performance.
AB  - Excessive mobilization of body reserves during lactation delays the return to
      reproductive function in weaned primiparous sows. This study tested the
      hypothesis that supplementing the lactation diets of first-parity sows with
      ractopamine hydrochloride would reduce maternal weight loss and improve
      subsequent reproductive performance. Gestating gilts were allocated to one of two
      treatment groups (n=30 sows/treatment), with one group fed a standard lactation
      diet (2.5g/Mcal LYS: DE) throughout lactation (CTRL), whereas the treatment group
      received the standard lactation diet supplemented with 10mg/kg ractopamine
      hydrochloride (RAC) from d 1 to 13 of lactation and 20mg/kg RAC from d 14 of
      lactation until artificial insemination (AI). Weaning occurred on d 21 of
      lactation, with AI occurring at the first post-weaning estrus. Compared to CTRL,
      RAC supplementation decreased (P<0.05) liveweight loss between d 13 and 20 of
      lactation (4.3+/-0.90 versus 1.3+/-0.96kg), and tended to increase (P=0.06) the
      number of second litter piglets born alive (9.5+/-0.52 versus 8.1+/-0.74).
      Treatment (RAC versus CTRL) reduced milk protein levels on d 13 and 20 of
      lactation (P<0.05), and piglet weight gain between d 13 and 20 of lactation
      (260+/-0.01 versus 310+/-0.01g/day, P<0.01). In conclusion, it is evident that
      dietary RAC altered milk composition and stimulated conservation of maternal body
      reserves during the third week of lactation, resulting in a beneficial effect on
      subsequent reproductive performance.

PMID- 27645126
TI  - Lipid profiles of canine spermatozoa as revealed via matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the ability of matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) to characterize the lipid
      contents of canine spermatozoa. For that, samples of pure semen were analysed.
      Indeed, quite comprehensive lipid coverage was observed, and the most abundant
      phospholipid ions detected were from four phosphatidylcholines, that is those of
      m/z 760.6; 782.6; 808.6; and 830.6 and one of m/z 725.6 from a sphingomyelin. In
      conclusion, MALDI-MS was found to offer an easy, fast, accurate, and sensitive
      analytical method for lipid profiling in canine spermatozoa and could be used as
      a tool to select sires by assessing the relationship between sperm lipid profiles
      and variables such as age and breeding history as well as to study the effects of
      cryopreservation on lipid contents.

PMID- 27645127
TI  - Emulsion design for the delivery of beta-carotene in complex food systems.
AB  - beta-Carotene has been widely investigated both in the industry and academia, due
      to its unique bioactive attributes as an antioxidant and pro-vitamin A. Many
      attempts were made to design delivery systems for beta-carotene to improve its
      dispersant state and chemical stability, and finally to enhance the
      functionality. Different types of oil-in-water emulsions were proved to be
      effective delivery systems for lipophilic bioactive ingredients, and intensive
      studies were performed on beta-carotene emulsions in the last decade. Emulsions
      are thermodynamically unstable, and emulsions with intact structures are
      preferable in delivering beta-carotene during processing and storage. beta
      Carotene in emulsions with smaller particle size has poor stability, and protein
      type emulsifiers and additional antioxidants are effective in protecting beta
      carotene from degradation. Recent development in the design of protein-polyphenol
      conjugates has provided a novel approach to improve the stability of beta
      carotene emulsions. When beta-carotene is consumed, its bioaccessibility is
      highly influenced by the digestion of lipids, and beta-carotene in smaller oil
      droplets containing long-chain fatty acids has a higher bioaccessibility. In
      order to better deliver beta-carotene in complex food products, some novel
      emulsions with tailor-made structures have been developed, e.g., multilayer
      emulsions, solid lipid particles, Pickering emulsions. This review summarizes the
      updated understanding of emulsion-based delivery systems for beta-carotene, and
      how emulsions can be better designed to fulfill the benefits of beta-carotene in
      functional foods.

PMID- 27645129
TI  - Psychological Distress in Jordanian Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum
      Disorder: The Role of Trait Mindfulness.
AB  - AIM: This study examines the role of mindfulness in predicting psychological
      distress in Arab parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD:
      In this descriptive study, parents of 104 children with ASD completed measures of
      psychological distress and mindfulness. The severity of autism in children was
      measured using the DSM-V criteria. RESULTS: After controlling for parental age
      and gender and the severity level of ASD, mindfulness was significantly
      associated with the levels of anxiety, stress, and depression in parents
      (anxiety: beta = 0.49, p < .001; stress: beta = 0.55, p < .001; depression: beta
      = 0.53, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Mindfulness-based intervention may help to reduce
      psychological distress in Arab parents of children with ASD.

PMID- 27645128
TI  - Role of OATP transporters in steroid uptake by prostate cancer cells in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic and in vitro studies suggest that SLCO-encoded organic
      anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) transporters influence the response of
      prostate cancer (PCa) to androgen deprivation by altering intratumor androgens.
      We have previously shown that castration-resistant metastases express multiple
      SLCO transporters at significantly higher levels than primary PCa, suggesting
      that OATP-mediated steroid transport is biologically relevant in advanced
      disease. However, whether OATP-mediated steroid transport can actually modify
      prostate tumor androgen levels in vivo has never been demonstrated. METHODS: We
      sought to determine whether OATP-mediated steroid transport can measurably alter
      PCa androgen levels in vivo. We evaluated the uptake of dehydroepiandrosterone
      (DHEAS), E1S and testosterone in LNCaP cells engineered to express OATP1B1, 1B3,
      2B1 or 4A1. We measured the uptake via administration of tritiated steroids to
      castrate mice bearing vector control or OATP1B1-, 2B1- or 4A1-expressing
      xenografts. We treated tumor-bearing mice with DHEAS and testosterone at
      physiologically relevant levels and measured intratumor accumulation of
      administered steroids by mass spectrometry. RESULTS: OATP1B1- and 2B-expressing
      xenografts each showed a threefold increase in tritiated-DHEAS uptake vs vector
      controls (P=0.002 and P=0.036, respectively). At circulating DHEAS levels similar
      to those in abiraterone-treated men (~15 MUg dl-1), OATP1B1- and 2B1-expressing
      xenografts showed a 3.9-fold (P=0.057) and 1.9-fold (P=0.048) increase in tumor
      accumulation of DHEAS and a 1.6-fold (P=0.057) and 2.7-fold (P=0.095) increase in
      DHEA, respectively. At the substantial circulating testosterone levels found in
      eugonadal men, a consistent effect of OATP1B1, 2B1 or 4A1 on testosterone uptake
      in vivo was not detected. CONCLUSIONS: OATP transporters measurably alter DHEAS
      uptake and intratumor androgen levels in prostate tumors in vivo, even at
      circulating androgen levels achieved in abiraterone-treated patients. These novel
      data emphasize the continued need to inhibit ligand-mediated androgen receptor
      signaling in PCa tumors, and support prospective evaluation of studies designed
      to test inhibition of OATP-mediated DHEAS uptake and utilization.

PMID- 27645133
TI  - Contingency learning is reduced for high conflict stimuli.
AB  - Recent theories have proposed that contingency learning occurs independent of
      control processes. These parallel processing accounts propose that behavioral
      effects originally thought to be products of control processes are in fact
      products solely of contingency learning. This view runs contrary to conflict
      mediated Hebbian-learning models that posit control and contingency learning are
      parts of an interactive system. In this study we replicate the contingency
      learning effect and modify it to further test the veracity of the parallel
      processing accounts in comparison to conflict-mediated Hebbian-learning models.
      This is accomplished by manipulating conflict to test for an interaction, or lack
      thereof, between conflict and contingency learning. The results are consistent
      with conflict-mediated Hebbian-learning in that the addition of conflict reduces
      the magnitude of the contingency learning effect.

PMID- 27645134
TI  - Parity and serum lipid levels: a cross-sectional study in chinese female adults.
AB  - Reproductive factors have been shown to correlate with lipid metabolism. The aim
      of this study was to investigate the relationship between parity and serum lipid
      levels in community-based Chinese female adults. A total of 4,217 female
      participants were enrolled. Parity was recorded according to questionnaire and
      serum lipid profile, including triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (HDL-C), was measured. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the
      association of parity to serum lipid levels, while adjusting for demographics and
      metabolic risk factors. Parity in this population ranged from 0 to 7. After
      adjusting for potential confounders, it indicated that females with more than 2
      parities appeared to be less likely to suffer from abnormal serum TC level
      compared with nulliparae (parity = 2, odds ratio (OR) = 0.457, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) = 0.284-0.736; parity >= 3, OR = 0.363, 95% CI = 0.202-0.653).
      These findings suggested that parity could correlate with lipid metabolism in
      Chinese women. Individuals with higher parity appeared to have a lower total
      cholesterol in blood.

PMID- 27645137
TI  - Interspecific Competition Study Between Pseudochattonella farcimen and P.
      verruculosa (Dictyochophyceae)-Two Ichthyotoxic Species that Co-occur in
      Scandinavian Waters.
AB  - The genus Pseudochattonella has become a frequent component of late winter-early
      spring phytoplankton community in Scandinavian waters, causing extensive fish
      kills and substantial economic losses. One of currently two recognised species,
      P. farcimen, is often abundant prior to the diatom spring bloom. Recent field
      studies have revealed that P. farcimen and P. verruculosa have a period of
      overlap in their temperature ranges and thus their seasonal occurrences. Using
      laboratory cultures, we investigated the seasonal succession and growth of P.
      farcimen and P. verruculosa in both mono- and mixed-culture using the recently
      developed Pseudochattonella 'qPCR subtraction method', which for the first time
      allowed the simultaneous enumeration of these morphologically indistinguishable
      species in mixed assemblages. We examined how these species interacted over four
      different temperatures (5, 8, 11 and 15  degrees C). The observed growth rates
      and cell yields varied with temperature revealing their preferred temperature
      optima. P. farcimen was able to achieve positive net growth over all
      temperatures, while P. verruculosa failed to grow below 11  degrees C. Growth
      responses were statistically different between mono- and mixed-cultures with the
      outcome of these interactions being temperature-dependent. Nutrients (nitrate and
      phosphate) and pH levels were also measured throughout the growth experiments to
      better understand how these factors influenced growth of both species. P.
      verruculosa was shown to be less sensitive to high pH as growth ceased at pH 9.1,
      whereas P. farcimen stopped growing at pH 8.4. Understanding the influence of
      abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, pH and competition) on growth rates allows for
      a better understanding and prediction of phytoplankton community dynamics.

PMID- 27645136
TI  - Arabidopsis acyl-CoA-binding protein ACBP6 localizes in the phloem and affects
      jasmonate composition.
AB  - Arabidopsis thaliana ACYL-COA-BINDING PROTEIN6 (AtACBP6) encodes a cytosolic 10
      kDa AtACBP. It confers freezing tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis, possibly by
      its interaction with lipids as indicated by the binding of acyl-CoA esters and
      phosphatidylcholine to recombinant AtACBP6. Herein, transgenic Arabidopsis
      transformed with an AtACBP6 promoter-driven beta-glucuronidase (GUS) construct
      exhibited strong GUS activity in the vascular tissues. Immunoelectron microscopy
      using anti-AtACBP6 antibodies showed AtACBP6 localization in the phloem
      especially in the companion cells and sieve elements. Also, the presence of gold
      grains in the plasmodesmata indicated its potential role in systemic trafficking.
      The AtACBP6 protein, but not its mRNA, was found in phloem exudate of wild-type
      Arabidopsis. Fatty acid profiling using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
      revealed an increase in the jasmonic acid (JA) precursor, 12-oxo-cis,cis-10,15
      phytodienoic acid (cis-OPDA), and a reduction in JA and/or its derivatives in
      acbp6 phloem exudates in comparison to the wild type. Quantitative real-time PCR
      showed down-regulation of COMATOSE (CTS) in acbp6 rosettes suggesting that
      AtACBP6 affects CTS function. AtACBP6 appeared to affect the content of JA and/or
      its derivatives in the sieve tubes, which is consistent with its role in pathogen
      defense and in its wound-inducibility of AtACBP6pro::GUS. Taken together, our
      results suggest the involvement of AtACBP6 in JA-biosynthesis in Arabidopsis
      phloem tissues.

PMID- 27645138
TI  - Microbial Community Dynamics and Response to Plant Growth-Promoting
      Microorganisms in the Rhizosphere of Four Common Food Crops Cultivated in
      Hydroponics.
AB  - Plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) of the plant root zone microbiome
      have received limited attention in hydroponic cultivation systems. In the
      framework of a project aimed at the development of a biological life support
      system for manned missions in space, we investigated the effects of PGPMs on four
      common food crops (durum and bread wheat, potato and soybean) cultivated in
      recirculating hydroponic systems for a whole life cycle. Each crop was inoculated
      with a commercial PGPM mixture and the composition of the microbial communities
      associated with their root rhizosphere, rhizoplane/endosphere and with the
      recirculating nutrient solution was characterised through 16S- and ITS-targeted
      Illumina MiSeq sequencing. PGPM addition was shown to induce changes in the
      composition of these communities, though these changes varied both between crops
      and over time. Microbial communities of PGPM-treated plants were shown to be more
      stable over time. Though additional development is required, this study
      highlights the potential benefits that PGPMs may confer to plants grown in
      hydroponic systems, particularly when cultivated in extreme environments such as
      space.

PMID- 27645139
TI  - Diversity and Structure of Fungal Communities in Neotropical Rainforest Soils:
      The Effect of Host Recurrence.
AB  - The patterns of the distribution of fungal species and their potential
      interactions with trees remain understudied in Neotropical rainforests, which
      harbor more than 16,000 tree species, mostly dominated by endomycorrhizal trees.
      Our hypothesis was that tree species shape the non-mycorrhizal fungal assemblages
      in soil and litter and that the diversity of fungal communities in these two
      compartments is partly dependent on the coverage of trees in the Neotropical
      rainforest. In French Guiana, a long-term plantation and a natural forest were
      selected to test this hypothesis. Fungal ITS1 regions were sequenced from soil
      and litter samples from within the vicinity of tree species. A broad range of
      fungal taxa was found, with 42 orders and 14 classes. Significant spatial
      heterogeneity in the fungal communities was found without strong variation in the
      species richness and evenness among the tree plots. However, tree species shaped
      the fungal assemblages in the soil and litter, explaining up to 18 % of the
      variation among the communities in the natural forest. These results demonstrate
      that vegetation cover has an important effect on the structure of fungal
      assemblages inhabiting the soil and litter in Amazonian forests, illustrating the
      relative impact of deterministic processes on fungal community structures in
      these highly diverse ecosystems.

PMID- 27645140
TI  - Lichen secondary metabolites affect growth of Physcomitrella patens by
      allelopathy.
AB  - Lichen secondary metabolites can function as allelochemicals and affect the
      development and growth of neighboring bryophytes, fungi, vascular plants,
      microorganisms, and even other lichens. Lichen overgrowth on bryophytes is
      frequently observed in nature even though mosses grow faster than lichens, but
      there is still little information on the interactions between lichens and
      bryophytes.In the present study, we used extracts from six lichen thalli
      containing secondary metabolites like usnic acid, protocetraric acid, atranorin,
      lecanoric acid, nortistic acid, and thamnolic acid. To observe the influence of
      these metabolites on bryophytes, the moss Physcomitrella patens was cultivated
      for 5 weeks under laboratory conditions and treated with lichen extracts.
      Toxicity of natural mixtures of secondary metabolites was tested at three
      selected doses (0.001, 0.01, and 0.1 %). When the mixture contained substantial
      amounts of usnic acid, we observed growth inhibition of protonemata and reduced
      development of gametophores. Significant differences in cell lengths and widths
      were also noticed. Furthermore, usnic acid had a strong effect on cell division
      in protonemata suggesting a strong impact on the early stages of bryophyte
      development by allelochemicals contained in the lichen secondary
      metabolites.Biological activities of lichen secondary metabolites were confirmed
      in several studies such as antiviral, antibacterial, antitumor, antiherbivore,
      antioxidant, antipyretic, and analgetic action or photoprotection. This work
      aimed to expand the knowledge on allelopathic effects on bryophyte growth.

PMID- 27645141
TI  - Increased mortality with the use of adrenaline in shock: the evidence is still
      limited.

PMID- 27645142
TI  - Application of water quality index to evaluate groundwater quality (temporal and
      spatial variation) of an intensively exploited aquifer (Puebla valley, Mexico).
AB  - The spatial and temporal variation of water quality in the urban area of the
      Puebla Valley aquifer was evaluated using historical and present data obtained
      during this investigation. The current study assessed water quality based on the
      Water Quality Index developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the
      Environment (CCME-WQI), which provides a mathematical framework to evaluate the
      quality of water in combination with a set of conditions representing quality
      criteria, or limits. This index is flexible regarding the type and number of
      variables used by the evaluation given that the variables of interest are
      selected according to the characteristics and objectives of development,
      conservation and compliance with regulations. The CCME-WQI was calculated using
      several variables that assess the main use of the wells in the urban area that is
      public supply, according to criteria for human use and consumption established by
      Mexican law and international standards proposed by the World Health
      Organization. The assessment of the index shows a gradual deterioration in the
      quality of the aquifer over time, as the amount of wells with excellent quality
      have decreased and those with lower index values (poor quality) have increased
      throughout the urban area of the Puebla Valley aquifer. The parameters affecting
      groundwater quality are: total dissolved solids, sulfate, calcium, magnesium and
      total hardness. 

PMID- 27645143
TI  - Source identification and apportionment of PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 in iron and steel
      scrap smelting factory environment using PMF, PCFA and UNMIX receptor models.
AB  - To identify the potential sources responsible for the particulate matter emission
      from secondary iron and steel smelting factory environment, PM2.5 and PM2.5-10
      particles were collected using the low-volume air samplers twice a week for a
      year. The samples were analyzed for the elemental and black carbon content using
      x-ray fluorescence spectrometer and optical transmissometer, respectively. The
      average mass concentrations were 216.26, 151.68, and 138. 62 MUg/m(3) for PM2.5
      and 331.36, 190.01, and 184.60 MUg/m(3) for PM2.5-10 for the production, outside
      M1 and outside M2 sites, respectively. The same size resolved data set were used
      as input for the positive matrix factorization (PMF), principal component factor
      analysis (PCFA), and Unmix (UNMIX) receptor modeling in order to identify the
      possible sources of particulate matter and their contribution. The PMF resolved
      four sources with their respective contributions were metal processing (33 %), e
      waste (33 %), diesel emission (22 %) and soil (12 %) for PM2.5, and coking (50
      %), soil (29 %), metal processing (16 %) and diesel combustion (5 %) for PM2.5
      10. PCFA identified soil, metal processing, Pb source, and diesel combustion
      contributing 45, 41, 9, and 5 %, respectively to PM2.5 while metal processing,
      soil, coal combustion and open burning contributed 43, 38, 12, and 7 %,
      respectively to the PM2.5-10. Also, UNMIX identified metal processing, soil, and
      diesel emission with 43, 42 and 15 % contributions, respectively for the fine
      fraction, and metal processing (71 %), soil (21 %) and unidentified source (1 %)
      for the coarse fraction. The study concluded that metal processing and e-waste
      are the major sources contributing to the fine fraction while coking and soil
      contributed to the coarse fraction within the factory environment. The
      application of PMF, PCFA and UNMIX receptor models improved the source
      identification and apportionment of particulate matter drive in the study area. 

PMID- 27645144
TI  - Prognostic value of primary tumor SUVmax on F-18 FDG PET/CT compared with semi
      quantitative tumor uptake on Tc-99m sestamibi breast-specific gamma imaging in
      invasive ductal breast cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of F-18 FDG PET/CT
      in comparison with Tc-99m sestamibi breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) and
      previously established clinical prognostic parameters of invasive ductal breast
      carcinoma (IDC). METHODS: We retrospectively included 157 female IDC patients
      (mean age 49.2 years, range 29.9-78.9) who underwent PET/CT and BSGI. The maximum
      standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and tumor to normal background ratios (TNRs)
      of their primary tumors were measured on PET/CT and BSGI, respectively.
      Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed to evaluate the
      prognostic value of the measured parameters and other clinical prognostic
      factors: age, menopausal status, breast density, pathologic tumor size (pTS),
      axillary nodal status (ANS), nuclear grade, histologic grade, hormone receptor
      status of estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) and HER-2 expression.
      RESULTS: Among 157 patients, recurrences occurred in 22 patients (14.0 %). In
      univariate analyses, pTS (p < 0.0001), ANS (p < 0.0001), nuclear grade (p =
      0.0046), histologic grade (p = 0.0001), ER status (p < 0.0001), PR status (p =
      0.0037), HER-2 status (p = 0.0007), primary tumor SUVmax (p < 0.0001) and TNR (p
      = 0.0001) were significant predictors of recurrence. Among them, pTS (p =
      0.0172), ANS (p = 0.0416), ER status (p = 0.0375) and primary tumor SUVmax (p =
      0.0239) were independent prognostic factors in multivariate regression analysis.
      CONCLUSIONS: High primary tumor SUVmax of PET/CT and high TNR of BSGI were poor
      prognostic factors in IDC patients; in addition, primary tumor SUVmax was an
      independent prognostic factor along with pTS, ANS and ER status.

PMID- 27645145
TI  - The spleen contributes importantly to myocardial infarct exacerbation during post
      ischemic reperfusion in mice via signaling between cardiac HMGB1 and splenic
      RAGE.
AB  - The spleen plays a critical role in post-infarct myocardial remodeling. However,
      the role of the spleen in exacerbating myocardial infarction (MI) during acute
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is unknown. The present study tests the
      hypothesis that splenic leukocytes are activated by substances released from
      ischemic myocardium to subsequently exacerbate myocardial injury during
      reperfusion. The left coronary artery in C57BL/6 mice underwent various durations
      of occlusion followed by 60 min of reperfusion (denoted as min/min of I/R) with
      or without splenectomy prior to I/R injury. Splenectomy significantly decreased
      myocardial infarct size (IS) in 40'/60' and 50'/60' groups (p < 0.05); however,
      it had no effect on IS in 10'/60', 20'/60' and 30'/60' groups (p = NS). In the
      20'/60' group, infusion of 40-min ischemic heart homogenate (40-IHH) upon
      reperfusion increased IS by >threefold versus infusion of 10-IHH (p < 0.05).
      Splenectomy abolished the infarct-exacerbating effect of 40-IHH, which was
      restored by splenic leukocyte adoptive transfer (SPAT). Furthermore, depletion of
      HMGB1 in the 40-IHH group abolished its infarct-exacerbating effect (p < 0.05),
      and 40-IHH failed to increase IS in both RAGE(-/-) mice and splenectomized wild
      type mice with SPAT from RAGE(-/-) mice. The injection of 40-IHH significantly
      increased formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1) expression in sham spleens when
      compared to 10-IHH-treated sham and control mice. cFLFLF, a specific FPR1
      antagonist, reduced myocardial neutrophil infiltration and abrogated the infarct
      exacerbating effect of 40-IHH during reperfusion. A cardio (HMGB1)-splenic (RAGE
      receptor) signaling axis exists and contributes to myocardial infarct
      exacerbation during reperfusion after prolonged ischemic insults by activating
      splenic leukocytes. The FPR1 is a potential therapeutic target for inhibiting the
      cardio-splenic axis that augments infarct size during post-ischemic reperfusion.

PMID- 27645146
TI  - Predictive factors for responders to tolvaptan in fluid management after
      cardiovascular surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the predictive factors for responders to tolvaptan, a
      novel vasopressin type 2 receptor antagonist for fluid management after
      cardiovascular surgery. METHODS: Between January 2013 and May 2014, 113 patients
      were treated with tolvaptan for fluid management after cardiovascular surgery. As
      indicators for the effects of tolvaptan, change in bodyweight during the
      tolvaptan administration period and correlations with perioperative factors were
      assessed. Thirty-one patients were administered tolvaptan at the first day after
      surgery (early tolvaptan group). In this group, urine volume during the 6 h
      before the initial tolvaptan administration was compared with that at 6 h after
      administration. RESULTS: For all the patients, the change in bodyweight during
      the tolvaptan administration period significantly correlated with pre-operative
      serum creatinine (r = 0.19, p = 0.04) and albumin levels before tolvaptan
      administration (r = -0.29, p = 0.002). In the early tolvaptan group, the ratio of
      urine volume at 6 h before and 6 h after the initial tolvaptan administration
      significantly correlated with the pre-operative serum creatinine level (r = 0.43,
      p = 0.02), the serum albumin level before tolvaptan administration (r = -0.50, p
      = 0.004), and change in bodyweight (r = 0.38, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In patients
      undergoing cardiovascular surgery, deteriorating renal function, increased
      bodyweight, and hypoalbuminemia were found to be predictive factors for
      responders to tolvaptan for postoperative fluid management.

PMID- 27645147
TI  - Testing for links between face color and age, dominance status, parity, weight,
      and intestinal nematode infection in a sample of female Japanese macaques.
AB  - Studies of the role of secondary sexual ornaments in mate choice tend to focus on
      colorful traits in males, but females of many animal species express colorful
      ornamentation too. Among non-human primates, investigations into the role of
      female secondary sexual traits as indicators of life history characteristics,
      reproductive success, and health status have mostly focused on sexual swellings,
      whereas only few studies have been conducted on the role of facial color. Recent
      studies on rhesus macaques and mandrills suggested that female ornamentation
      might provide information about female life history characteristics, but not on
      disease resistance factors and parasite infection, which have been shown to
      affect male ornamentation in some non-primate species. In Japanese macaques
      (Macaca fuscata), females have brightly colored faces that are indicative of
      their reproductive status. Here, we aimed to determine whether female facial
      color might also convey information about age, dominance rank, parity, weight,
      and intestinal nematode infection in free-ranging individuals. We analyzed
      whether female facial parameters (luminance and redness) were linked to these
      individual characteristics, using digital photography and data on intestinal
      parasite infection collected systematically during 1 month for each of seven free
      ranging females. We found no evidence to suggest that female facial color is an
      indicator of any of these measures in Japanese macaques. Considering our small
      data set, it is still preliminary to draft any clear conclusions. Future studies
      combining digital, hormonal, parasitological and behavioral data are needed to
      assess the possible role of female face color on male preferences and mating
      choice in Japanese macaques.

PMID- 27645150
TI  - A new phenone from the roots of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews.
AB  - Thirteen phenones were obtained from the 70% ethanol extract of Paeonia
      suffruticosa Andrews. Their structures were determined on the basis of chemical
      methods and spectral data. Among them, compound 1 was identified as a new
      compound, and compounds 5 and 13 were obtained from genus Paeonia for the first
      time. The inhibitory effects of isolated compounds (1-12) on nitric oxide (NO)
      production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages were evaluated, and NO
      production was suppressed significantly by compound 7.

PMID- 27645148
TI  - Primary breast cancer cell culture yields intra-tumor heterogeneous
      subpopulations expressing exclusive patterns of receptor tyrosine kinases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has become evident that intra-tumor heterogeneity of breast cancer
      impact on several biological processes such as proliferation, migration, cell
      death and also might contribute to chemotherapy resistance. The expression of
      Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) has not been analyzed in the context of intra
      tumor heterogeneity in a primary breast cancer cell culture. Several
      subpopulations were isolated from the MBCDF (M serial-breast cancer ductal F
      line) primary breast cancer cells and were successfully maintained in culture and
      divided in two groups according to their morphology and RTKs expression pattern,
      and correlated with biological processes like proliferation, migration, anchorage
      independent cell growth, and resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs and
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). METHODS: Subpopulations were isolated from
      MBCDF primary breast cancer cell culture by limiting dilution. RTKs and hormone
      receptors were examined by Western blot. Proliferation was measure by 3-[4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT assay). Cell
      viability was evaluated by Crystal Violet. Migration was assessed using Boyden
      chambers. Anchorage-independent cell growth was evaluated by colony formation in
      soft agar. RESULTS: Several subpopulations were isolated from the MBCDF breast
      cancer cells that were divided into two groups according to their morphology.
      Analysis of RTKs expression pattern showed that HER1, HER3, c-Met and VEGFR2 were
      expressed exclusively in cells from group 1, but not in cells from group 2. PDGFR
      was expressed only in cells from group 2, but not in cells from group 1. HER2,
      HER4, c-Kit, IGF1-R were expressed in all subpopulations. Biological processes
      correlated with the RTKs expression pattern. Group 2 subpopulations present the
      highest rate of cell proliferation, migration and anchorage-independent cell
      growth. Analysis of susceptibility to chemotherapy drugs and TKIs showed that
      only Paclitaxel and Imatinib behaved differently between groups. Group 1-cells
      were resistant to both Paclitaxel and Imatinib. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that
      subpopulations from MBCDF primary cell culture could be divided into two groups
      according to their morphology and a RTKs excluding-expression pattern. The
      differences observed in RTKs expression correlate with the biological
      characteristics and chemoresistance of each group. These results suggest that
      intra-tumor heterogeneity contributes to generate groups of subpopulations with a
      more aggressive phenotype within the tumor.

PMID- 27645151
TI  - Transpulmonary and pleural pressure in a respiratory system model with an elastic
      recoiling lung and an expanding chest wall.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have shown in acute lung injury patients that lung elastance can
      be determined by a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) step procedure and
      proposed that this is explained by the spring-out force of the rib cage off
      loading the chest wall from the lung at end-expiration. The aim of this study was
      to investigate the effect of the expanding chest wall on pleural pressure during
      PEEP inflation by building a model with an elastic recoiling lung and an
      expanding chest wall complex. METHODS: Test lungs with a compliance of 19, 38, or
      57 ml/cmH2O were placed in a box connected to a plastic container, 3/4 filled
      with water, connected to a water sack of 10 l, representing the abdomen. The
      space above the water surface and in the lung box constituted the pleural space.
      The contra-directional forces of the recoiling lung and the expanding chest wall
      were obtained by evacuating the pleural space to a negative pressure of 5 cmH2O.
      Chest wall elastance was increased by strapping the plastic container. Pressure
      was measured in the airway and pleura. Changes in end-expiratory lung volume
      (DeltaEELV), during PEEP steps of 4, 8, and 12 cmH2O, were determined in the
      isolated lung, where airway equals transpulmonary pressure and in the complete
      model as the cumulative inspiratory-expiratory tidal volume difference.
      Transpulmonary pressure was calculated as airway minus pleural pressure. RESULTS:
      Lung pressure/volume curves of an isolated lung coincided with lung P/V curves in
      the complete model irrespective of chest wall stiffness. DeltaEELV was equal to
      the size of the PEEP step divided by lung elastance (EL), DeltaEELV =
      DeltaPEEP/EL. The end-expiratory "pleural" pressure did not increase after PEEP
      inflation, and consequently, transpulmonary pressure increased as much as PEEP
      was increased. CONCLUSIONS: The rib cage spring-out force causes off-loading of
      the chest wall from the lung and maintains a negative end-expiratory "pleural"
      pressure after PEEP inflation. The behavior of the respiratory system model
      confirms that lung elastance can be determined by a simple PEEP step without
      using esophageal pressure measurements.

PMID- 27645152
TI  - Utilization of integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services among
      women in Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While the rationale for integration of HIV and sexual and
      reproductive health (HIV and SRH) services is strong, there is paucity of
      information on which population groups most utilize these services. Such studies
      would inform policy and programs on integration of services. The overall
      objective of this assessment is to provide information to researchers, planners
      and policy makers on the best practices for integrated services in order to
      maximize feasibility of scaling up. Specifically, this research paper identifies
      demographic and socioeconomic factors that are most related to utilization of
      integrated services in Uganda. METHODS: This manuscript uses data from a sample
      of 9,691 women interviewed during the Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey (UAIS) of
      2011. The selection criteria of the study respondents for this paper included
      women of reproductive age 15 - 49 years. The dependent variable is whether the
      respondent utilized integrated HIV and SRH services during pregnancy and delivery
      of the last child, while independent variables include; region of residence, age
      group of woman, marital status, rural-urban residence, wealth indicator and
      educational level attainment. In the main analysis, a binary logistic regression
      model was fitted to the data. RESULTS: Log-odds of utilizing integrated services
      were significantly higher among those women with a primary education (OR = 1.2,
      95 % CI = 1.0-1.4, p < 0.05) compared to those with no education. Women from the
      Central part of Uganda were more likely to utilize integrated HIV and SRH
      services (OR = 1.3, 95 % CI = 1.0-1.7, p < 0.05), further the log-odds of
      utilizing integrated HIV and SRH services were significantly higher among women
      residing in Northern region (OR = 1.6, 95 % CI = 1.2-2.2, p < 0.01). The odds of
      utilization of integrated HIV and SRH services were higher for currently married
      women (OR = 6.6, 95 % CI = 5.5-8.0, p < 0.01) and the formerly married (OR = 3.4,
      95 % CI = 2.7-4.2, p < 0.01), compared to the never married group. The odds of
      utilizing integrated HIV and SRH services were higher for younger women of ages
      less than 35 years compared to older women aged 40 - 49 years. CONCLUSIONS:
      Utilization of integrated HIV and SRH services in Uganda is influenced greatly by
      demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. This study contributes to the
      current debate as it shows the on how best ways to improve HIV and SRH service
      delivery to the people.

PMID- 27645155
TI  - Suicidality and Associated Factors Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Estonia.
AB  - Many studies over the last decade provide strong evidence of elevated rates of
      suicidality among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations compared to
      heterosexual populations. The aim of the current study was to investigate
      suicidal ideation and attempts and related factors among men who have sex with
      men (MSM) in Estonia. We conducted a nationwide Internet-based study among MSM
      with 265 eligible participants. Our results reveal high rates of self-reported
      suicidal ideation (lifetime prevalence 45%) and attempts (lifetime prevalence
      11%) as well as a high rate of problem drinking (33%) and depressive symptoms
      (32%) among MSM. Recent suicidal ideation (14% had thought about suicide in the
      last 12 months) was related to depressive symptoms and lower socioeconomic
      situation. There is a need to develop specific interventions to address these
      issues among MSM and to provide gay-friendly mental health services.

PMID- 27645154
TI  - Adenomyosis in infertile women: prevalence and the role of 3D ultrasound as a
      marker of severity of the disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adenomyosis is linked to infertility, but the mechanisms behind this
      relationship are not clearly established. Similarly, the impact of adenomyosis on
      ART outcome is not fully understood. Our main objective was to use ultrasound
      imaging to investigate adenomyosis prevalence and severity in a population of
      infertile women, as well as specifically among women experiencing recurrent
      miscarriages (RM) or repeated implantation failure (RIF) in ART. METHODS: Cross
      sectional study conducted in 1015 patients undergoing ART from January 2009 to
      December 2013 and referred for 3D ultrasound to complete study prior to
      initiating an ART cycle, or after >=3 IVF failures or >=2 miscarriages at
      diagnostic imaging unit at university-affiliated private IVF unit. Adenomyosis
      was diagnosed in presence of globular uterine configuration, myometrial anterior
      posterior asymmetry, heterogeneous myometrial echotexture, poor definition of the
      endometrial-myometrial interface (junction zone) or subendometrial cysts. Shape
      of endometrial cavity was classified in three categories: 1.-normal (triangular
      morphology); 2.- moderate distortion of the triangular aspect and 3.- "pseudo T
      shaped" morphology. RESULTS: The prevalence of adenomyosis was 24.4 % (n = 248)
      [29.7 % (94/316) in women aged >=40 y.o and 22 % (154/699) in women aged <40
      y.o., p = 0.003)]. Its prevalence was higher in those cases of recurrent
      pregnancy loss [38.2 % (26/68) vs 22.3 % (172/769), p < 0.005] and previous ART
      failure [34.7 % (107/308) vs 24.4 % (248/1015), p < 0.0001]. The presence of
      adenomyosis has been shown to be associated to endometriosis [35.1 % (34/97)].
      Adenomyosis was diagnosed as a primary finding "de novo" in 80.6 % (n = 200) of
      the infertile patients. The impact on the uterine cavity was mild, moderate and
      severe in 63.7, 22.6 and 10.1 % of the cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results indicate that adenomyosis is a clinical condition with a high prevalence
      that may affect the reproductive results. The described severity criteria may
      help future validating studies for better counseling of infertile couples.

PMID- 27645156
TI  - Mediating signaling response to actin-mediated forces: Cas-L is causal in the T
      cell response to forces triggered by antigen presentation.

PMID- 27645164
TI  - Language lessons to help protect against dementia.

PMID- 27645157
TI  - Association between bacterial vaginosis and partner concurrency: a longitudinal
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to test if there was an association between prevalent
      bacterial vaginosis (BV) and women reporting that their partner had other
      partners at the same time (partner concurrency). This association has not been
      assessed in a longitudinal cohort. METHODS: The Longitudinal Study of Vaginal
      Flora recruited a cohort of 3620 non-pregnant women aged 15-44 years who
      presented for routine primary healthcare at 12 clinics in Birmingham, Alabama.
      Behavioural questionnaires and vaginal smears were obtained quarterly for a year
      and BV was defined by a Nugent score 7 or higher as well as Amsel criteria. Mixed
      effects logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between prevalent
      BV and reporting that one's partner had other partners in the preceding 3-6
      months time interval. RESULTS: Nugent score prevalent BV was associated with both
      reporting that one's partner definitely (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to
      1.8) and possibly (aOR 1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.8) engaged in partner concurrency in
      the preceding 3-6 months time period. Prevalent BV diagnosed by Amsel criteria
      was similar. CONCLUSIONS: A diagnosis of prevalent BV was associated with
      reporting that one's partner possibly or definitely engaged in partner
      concurrency.

PMID- 27645173
TI  - Infection control and hospital epidemiology in the Kingdom: the right discipline
      in the right place at the right time.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645169
TI  - Meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of melatonin
      in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the
      efficacy of melatonin in Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Both English (PubMed,
      PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Library databases, and the Cochrane Controlled Trials
      Register) and Chinese (WanFang Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, and China
      Journal Net) databases were systematically and independently searched by two
      authors from their inception until 1 March 2016. Weighted and standard mean
      differences (SMDs), risk ratio (RR) +/-95% confidence intervals (CIs) were
      calculated. In all cases, the random effects model was used. RESULTS: Seven
      studies (n = 462) with the duration ranging from 10 days to 24 weeks were
      identified and analyzed. AD patients receiving melatonin treatment showed
      prolonged total sleep time at night (n = 305; SMD: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.51, I2
      = 9%, p = 0.04). Melatonin did not improve cognitive abilities assessed by the
      mini-mental state examination and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Cognitive
      Subscale. The discontinuation rate was similar between the melatonin and placebo
      groups (n = 453, RR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.51 to 1.16, I2  = 0%, p = 0.21).
      CONCLUSION: Melatonin appears to be effective and safe in improving sleep quality
      in patients with AD. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27645175
TI  - Management of gunshot injuries to the limbs.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645174
TI  - A comparative ultrastructural study of the Helicobacter pylori in duodenal ulcer
      patients before and after treatment.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645176
TI  - Air sickness in pilot trainees.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645177
TI  - Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy findings at Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645178
TI  - Mirizzi syndrome and management.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645179
TI  - Relationship between serum leptin and obesity.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645180
TI  - Percutaneous drainage of hepatic abscesses.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645182
TI  - Recurrent diaphragmatic hernia: Not such a rarity.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645181
TI  - Bacterial gastroenteritis in Saudi children.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645183
TI  - Vaginal microflora and its association with obstetric and gynecological disorders
      and other illnesses.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645184
TI  - Use of exogenous synthetic surfactant in a three month old ventilatory dependent
      infant.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645185
TI  - Paget's disease of the bone.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645186
TI  - Heterotopic pregnancy following spontaneous conception: Successful pregnancy
      outcome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645187
TI  - Human urinogenital myiasis by Psychoda.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645188
TI  - Elongated styloid process: A rare cause of dysphagia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645189
TI  - An infant with Sussman syndrome: A rare unclassified chondrodystrophy.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645190
TI  - Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the trachea mimicking asthma.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645191
TI  - Fibromatosis Colli.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645193
TI  - Effect of antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum factors on the incidence of
      transient tachypnea on the newborn.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645192
TI  - Primary malignant lymphoma of bone.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645194
TI  - Clinical and epidemiological features of pseudomonas aeruginosa infections at the
      Libyan Hospitals.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645195
TI  - Health Education in schools- The Tabuk Experience.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645196
TI  - Tuberculosis simulating malignancy.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645198
TI  - Exocrine glands of Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Copepoda: Caligidae): Distribution,
      developmental appearance, and site of secretion.
AB  - Exocrine glands of blood-feeding parasitic copepods are believed to be important
      in host immune response modulation and inhibition of host blood coagulation, but
      also in the production of substances for integument lubrication and antifouling.
      In this study, we aimed to characterize the distribution of different types of
      salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) exocrine glands and their site of
      secretion. The developmental appearance of each gland type was mapped and genes
      specifically expressed by glands were identified. Three types of tegumental (teg
      1-3) glands and one labial gland type were found. The first glands to appear
      during development were teg 1 and teg 2 glands. They have ducts extending both
      dorsally and ventrally suggested to be important in lubricating the integument.
      Teg 1 glands were found to express two astacin metallopeptidases and a gene with
      fibronectin II domains, while teg 2 glands express a heme peroxidase. The labial
      glands were first identified in planktonic copepodids, with reservoirs that
      allows for storage of glandular products. The last gland type to appear during
      development was named teg 3 and was not seen before the preadult I stage when the
      lice become more virulent. Teg 3 glands have ducts ending ventrally at the host
      parasite contact area, and may secrete substances important for the salmon lice
      virulence. Salmon lice teg 3 and labial glands are thus likely to be especially
      important in the host-parasite interaction. Proteins secreted from the salmon
      louse glands to its salmonid host skin or blood represents a potential interface
      where the host immune system can meet and elicit effective responses to sea lice
      antigens. The present study thus represents a fundamental basis for further
      functional studies and identification of possible vaccine candidates. J. Morphol.
      277:1616-1630, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27645197
TI  - Recent physical and sexual violence against adults with severe mental illness: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - People with severe mental illness (SMI) have high prevalence of lifetime
      victimization, but little is known about the extent and risk of recent
      domestic/sexual violence. The objective was to synthesize evidence on prevalence,
      odds, and risk factors for recent violence against people with SMI, with a focus
      on domestic and sexual violence. Relevant studies were identified through
      literature searches in Medline, Psychinf, Embase (for studies published in 2010
      2015), and through existing systematic reviews (for studies published in 2000
      2014). The review included 30 studies (with 16 140 SMI participants), including
      six on domestic violence and 11 on sexual violence. Prevalence of recent domestic
      violence ranged from 15-22% among women and from 4-10% among men/mixed samples;
      with little evidence on risk compared with the general population. Median
      prevalence of sexual violence was 9.9% (IQR = 5.9-18.1%) in women and 3.1% (IQR =
      2.5-6.7%) in men; with 6-fold higher odds of victimization compared with the
      general population. There was little evidence on risk factors for domestic or
      sexual violence. In conclusion, people with SMI have a high prevalence of recent
      domestic and sexual violence, but little is known about risk factors for these
      violence types, or extent of domestic violence victimization compared to the
      general population.

PMID- 27645199
TI  - Paying for antiretroviral adherence: is it unethical when the patient is an
      adolescent?
AB  - With the expansion of antiretroviral treatment programmes, many children and
      adolescents with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa could expect to live healthy lives.
      Yet adolescents have the highest levels of poor antiretroviral adherence and of
      loss to follow-up compared with other age groups. This can lead to increased
      morbidity and mortality, to the development of drug-resistant strains, and to
      high societal costs. While financial incentives have been extensively used to
      promote medication adherence among adults, their use among adolescents remains
      rare. And while there is a large body of ethical literature exploring financial
      incentives among adults, little philosophical thought has gone into their use
      among adolescents. This paper explores three oft-mentioned ethical worries about
      financial incentives for health behaviours and it asks whether these concerns are
      more serious in the context of incentives for improving adolescent adherence. The
      three worries are that such incentives would unduly coerce adolescents' decision
      making, would compromise distributive justice and would crowd out intrinsic
      motivations and non-monetary values. Our tentative conclusion is that more
      empirical investigation of these concerns is necessary, and that at this point
      they are not compelling enough to rule out trials in which adolescents are
      incentivised for antiretroviral adherence.

PMID- 27645203
TI  - Editorial (Thematic Issue: Alcoholic Liver Disease: From Bench to Bedside).

PMID- 27645200
TI  - The morality of risks in research: reflections on Kumar.
AB  - Reflecting on the contribution by Rahul Kumar to the symposium, I consider the
      following topics in relation to risks in research: (1) treating someone as a mere
      means; (2) aggregation; (3) different conceptions of contractualism; (4)
      uncertainty; (5) paternalism and complicity.

PMID- 27645204
TI  - Planning for the closure of uncontrolled landfills in Turkey to reduce
      environmental impacts.
AB  - Landfilling is the most preferred solid waste disposal method in Turkey owing to
      both economic and technical reasons. However, beside the sanitary landfills there
      are also hundreds of uncontrolled waste sites located throughout Turkey, which
      are often left either abandoned or burning. Because there is a lack of
      legislative guidelines governing the closure and rehabilitation of these
      dumpsites, the municipalities that are responsible for waste management do not
      initiate the proactive strategies required for the closure of these sites. In
      this study, a method based on a multi-criteria analysis is conducted for
      different dumpsites in Turkey to evaluate the level of negative impacts on the
      environment. This method is based on the use of environmental indices for a
      quantitative assessment of the landfills, such as environmental interaction
      between the source and the receptors, environmental values of the receptors, and
      operational conditions. It was possible to assess the robustness of the proposed
      methodology since the pre- and post-groundwater quality monitoring data was
      available from the study sites that were closed and rehabilitated in 2014. The
      results of this study show that the method based on a multi-criteria analysis is
      an effective tool while in the preliminary planning stages of closure and
      rehabilitation activities of uncontrolled waste landfills.

PMID- 27645205
TI  - Education creates comfort and challenges stigma towards children with
      intellectual disabilities.
AB  - Children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are frequent users of the
      healthcare system, yet nurses report they receive little education regarding
      specialized medical, social and relational needs of this population. Therefore,
      parents take on a greater burden of care while their child is in hospital than do
      parents of typically developing children. This article reports findings from a
      qualitative study that used feminist poststructuralism to examine the hospital
      experiences of eight children with IDs, 17 mothers and 12 nurses. Nurses and
      mothers reported a lack of knowledge and education regarding the healthcare of
      children with ID and identified a need for more education. Participants noted
      that physical care of children with ID was prioritized as more important than
      communication and relationships. This unintentional prioritization was socially
      and institutionally constructed through stigma and stereotypes about people with
      IDs. Nurses and parents offered suggestions to access and increase ID education
      for healthcare professionals.

PMID- 27645209
TI  - Preparation of enteric-coated microcapsules of astaxanthin oleoresin by complex
      coacervation.
AB  - Astaxanthin oleoresin (AO) has a number of beneficial physiological functions.
      However, its sensitivity to light, heat, oxygen and gastric fluids has limited
      its application. In this paper, we describe the preparation of AO enteric
      microcapsules by coacervation to improve its stability and enteric solubility,
      and evaluate their efficacy by measuring the drug loading, encapsulation
      efficiency, optical microscopic appearance, stability, in vitro release and
      bioavailability. The results obtained showed that the AO enteric microcapsules
      possessed a high encapsulation efficiency (85.9%), a satisfactory in vitro
      release profile, and the ability of the microencapsulated AO to resist the
      effects of light, heat and oxygen was improved by 2.2-fold, 3.1-fold and 2.4
      fold, respectively, during storage. In addition, the bioavailability of AO
      microcapsules was approximately 1.29-fold higher than AO, which is important for
      pharmaceutical applications and as a functional food.

PMID- 27645210
TI  - Role of plasmodesmata and plasmodesmata localizing proteins in systemic immunity.
AB  - Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a highly desirable form of resistance that
      protects against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. SAR involves the generation of a
      mobile signal at the site of primary infection, which arms distal portions of a
      plant against subsequent secondary infections. A number of diverse chemical
      signals contributing to SAR have been isolated and characterized. Among these,
      salicylic acid (SA) functions in parallel to azelaic acid (AzA) and glycerol-3
      phosphate (G3P), and both AzA and G3P function downstream of the free radicals
      nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species. We now show that phloem loading of AzA
      and G3P occurs via the symplast, whereas that of SA occurs via the apoplast. The
      symplastic transport of AzA and G3P is regulated by plasmodesmata localizing
      protein (PDLP) 5, which together with PDLP1 also plays a signaling role in SAR.
      Together, these results reveal the transport routes of SAR associated chemical
      signals, and the regulatory role of PDLPs in SAR.

PMID- 27645211
TI  - Direct marketing of parenting programs: comparing a promotion-focused and a
      prevention-focused strategy.
AB  - Background: : For parenting programs to achieve a public health impact, it is
      necessary to develop more effective marketing strategies to increase public
      awareness of these programs and promote parental participation. In this article,
      we compared a promotion-focused and a prevention-focused strategy via two
      studies. : We designed two ads inviting parents to participate in a universal
      parenting program; one ad focused on the program increasing the likelihood of
      positive outcomes for children (promotion-focused) and the other on the program
      reducing the likelihood of negative outcomes (prevention-focused). In study I,
      the two ads were run online simultaneously. Those who clicked on an ad were
      directed to a website where they could read about and sign up for the program. In
      study II, a community sample of 706 parents answered a questionnaire about the
      ads. : In study I, over 85 days, the prevention ad generated more clicks. There
      was no difference in the number of pages visited on the website nor in the number
      of parents who signed up for the program. In study II, parents showed a
      preference for the promotion ad, perceiving it as more relevant and rating it as
      more effective in getting them interested in the program. : A prevention strategy
      may be more effective in drawing public attention, in general. However, a
      promotion strategy is more likely to reach parents, in particular, and inspire
      them to consider participating in parenting programs. These strategies should be
      developed further and tested in both general and clinical populations.

PMID- 27645212
TI  - Temporal trends and risk factors for healthcare-associated vancomycin-resistant
      enterococci in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Published data regarding temporal trends in vancomycin-resistant
      enterococci (VRE) prevalence within specific regions or healthcare systems are
      scarce. AIM: To characterize temporal trends and risk factors for healthcare
      associated infections caused by VRE. METHODS: The study included all adult
      discharges occurring from 2006 to 2014 with an enterococcal infection from three
      hospitals in a large academic healthcare system. Bivariate analyses were used to
      identify statistically significant factors associated with vancomycin-susceptible
      or -resistant infection. Statistically significant variables were included in a
      final logistic regression model. Trends assessed whether the proportion of
      enterococcal infections resistant to vancomycin changed over time. FINDINGS: The
      sample included 10,186 adults with first-time healthcare-associated enterococcal
      infection. Significant risk factors (P<=0.05) for VRE in the final logistic
      regression model included: tertiary 1 hospital, intensive care unit length of
      stay, higher Charlson Comorbidity Index, previous immunosuppressive or
      chemotherapeutic medications, previous hospitalization, renal failure,
      malignancy, longer length of stay prior to infection, taking an antibiotic prior
      to infection, being female, and having an infection in winter or spring. Between
      2006 and 2014, the rate of resistance varied from 37.1 to 42.9% but there were no
      significant differences in the proportion resistant to vancomycin over time
      (P=0.36). CONCLUSION: Research targeted at risk factors is important to decrease
      the amount of VRE infections.

PMID- 27645214
TI  - A response time cost when different representations of an attended object are
      integrated.
AB  - When selected, attention is thought to spread across the whole of an object. Such
      spreading is thought to occur via the integration and mutual enhancement of the
      different mental representations of said object. Neurophysiological studies have
      demonstrated that such integration is not instantaneous with selection, but
      rather occurs after some delay. It is currently unclear whether the time needed
      for integration to be established has a behavioural consequence. Here, it was
      found that trials that required integration were responded to more slowly than
      those that did not, even though correct responses in both could be determined by
      the same information. These data thus suggest that the time taken for integration
      between representations to be established has a consequence on behaviour, one
      that can be observed as a response time cost. Furthermore, these findings
      enlighten the time-course of integration vis-a-vis the processing of information
      at different levels of the processing stream.

PMID- 27645213
TI  - Comparison of viscoelastic properties of cancer and normal thyroid cells on
      different stiffness substrates.
AB  - We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique to measure the viscoelastic
      response of cancer and normal thyroid cells on different stiffness polyacrylamide
      gels. After applying a step in contact we recorded the stress relaxation of cells
      in order to measure their viscous and elastic properties. With the help of an
      extended version of the Hertz model, we could quantify for the first time by AFM
      the elastic modulus and the dynamic viscosity of cells on substrates with
      different stiffnesses. We have cultured anaplastic carcinoma and normal thyroid
      cells on three different substrates: polyacrylamide gels with elastic modulus in
      a range of 3-5 and 30-40 kPa and "infinitely" stiff Petri dishes. Whereas normal
      thyroid cells adapted their mechanical properties to different stiffness
      substrates, cancer cells were less affected by the surrounding stiffness. Normal
      cells changed the elastic modulus from 1.2 to 1.6 and to 2.6 kPa with increasing
      substrate stiffness; the dynamic viscosity values varied from 230 to 515 and to
      470 Pa.s, accordingly. By contrast, the values for cancer cells were rather
      constant regardless of substrate stiffness (in average the elastic modulus was
      1.3 kPa and the dynamic viscosity was 300 Pa.s). This difference in sensing and
      reacting to the mechanical properties of the substrate shows that normal and
      cancer cells interact differently with the neighboring tissue, which may be
      related to the ability of cancer cells to form metastases.

PMID- 27645215
TI  - Stuck on semantics: Processing of irrelevant object-scene inconsistencies
      modulates ongoing gaze behavior.
AB  - People have an amazing ability to identify objects and scenes with only a
      glimpse. How automatic is this scene and object identification? Are scene and
      object semantics-let alone their semantic congruity-processed to a degree that
      modulates ongoing gaze behavior even if they are irrelevant to the task at hand?
      Objects that do not fit the semantics of the scene (e.g., a toothbrush in an
      office) are typically fixated longer and more often than objects that are
      congruent with the scene context. In this study, we overlaid a letter T onto
      photographs of indoor scenes and instructed participants to search for it. Some
      of these background images contained scene-incongruent objects. Despite their
      lack of relevance to the search, we found that participants spent more time in
      total looking at semantically incongruent compared to congruent objects in the
      same position of the scene. Subsequent tests of explicit and implicit memory
      showed that participants did not remember many of the inconsistent objects and no
      more of the consistent objects. We argue that when we view natural environments,
      scene and object relationships are processed obligatorily, such that irrelevant
      semantic mismatches between scene and object identity can modulate ongoing eye
      movement behavior.

PMID- 27645216
TI  - Reverberation limits the release from informational masking obtained in the
      harmonic and binaural domains.
AB  - A difference in fundamental frequency (DeltaF0) and a difference in spatial
      location (DeltaSL) are two cues known to provide masking releases when multiple
      speakers talk at once in a room. We examined situations in which reverberation
      should have no effect on the mechanisms underlying the releases from energetic
      masking produced by these two cues. Speech reception thresholds using both
      unpredictable target sentences and the coordinate response measure followed a
      similar pattern. Both DeltaF0s and DeltaSLs provided masking releases in the
      presence of nonspeech maskers (matched in excitation pattern and temporal
      envelope to the speech maskers) that, as intended, were robust to reverberation.
      Larger masking releases were obtained for speech maskers, but critically, they
      were affected by reverberation. These results suggest that reverberation either
      limits the amount of informational masking that is present to begin with or
      affects its release by DeltaF0s or DeltaSLs.

PMID- 27645217
TI  - Cell-penetrating peptides induce apoptosis and necrosis through specific
      mechanism and cause impairment of Na+-K+-ATPase and mitochondria.
AB  - Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are widely used in the development of various
      drug delivery systems because of their ability of penetrating plasma membrane.
      However, the safety of their application remains largely unknown. In this study,
      we found that the incubation of two main kinds of CPPs with human normal liver
      cells could cause the occurrence of apoptosis and necrosis, then the detailed
      apoptosis-related protein were detected out. To discover the specific way which
      leads to these results, several methods were used in this study. Several
      cytokines, such as Caspase3 and Bcl-2, were detected to prove that the damage
      happened after treated with different CPPs. Then shielding the positive charge of
      TAT and R8, depletion of Na+ in culturing medium and addition of several
      inhibitors of specific ATPase site were used to investigate whether the
      cytotoxicity were charge-dependent and ATPase-related. Furthermore, the membrane
      potential of mitochondria and the leakage of mitochondrial cytochrome c were
      detected after treated with CPPs to investigate the damage on mitochondria. In
      general, our results assess the cytotoxicity caused by two main kinds of CPPs and
      reveal the clear mechanism of how it occurs. This study reveals the essence of
      cytotoxicity caused by CPPs, and the methods we followed can be used to evaluate
      the biocompatibility of new-designed CPPs, which makes the application of CPPs
      better and safer.

PMID- 27645218
TI  - Shoulder acromioclavicular joint reconstruction options and outcomes.
AB  - Acromioclavicular joint separations are a common cause of shoulder pain in the
      young athletic population. In high-grade injuries, acromioclavicular joint
      reconstruction procedures may be indicated for functional improvement. There is
      currently no gold standard for the surgical management of these injuries.
      Multiple reconstructive options exist, including coracoclavicular screws, hook
      plates, endobutton coracoclavicular fixations, and anatomic ligament
      reconstructions with tendon grafts. This article aims to review pertinent
      acromioclavicular joint anatomy and biomechanics, radiographic evaluation,
      classification system, as well as reconstruction options, outcomes, and
      complications.

PMID- 27645220
TI  - Epicardial CRT-P- and S-ICD Implantation in a Young Patient with Persistent Left
      Superior Vena Cava.
AB  - Persistent left superior vena cava is known to be a challenging anatomic
      abnormality for transvenous cardiac device implantation. In the a case of a young
      man presenting with dilative cardiomyopathy with severely impaired left
      ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and second-degree atrioventricular block (AV
      block), cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with defibrillator (CRT-D)
      implantation was indicated. A transvenous approach was attempted, but placement
      of the right ventricular lead was not successful due to anatomic abnormalities.
      Therefore, epicardial CRT leads were implanted via a left mini-thoracotomy. For
      primary prevention of sudden death, the patient was also fitted with an
      additional subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD). Any cross
      talk between the devices was ruled out both intraoperatively and by ergometry
      prior to discharge. The combination of epicardial CRT-P with S-ICD implantation
      might be a safe and effective alternative in patients with cardiac anatomic
      abnormalities.

PMID- 27645222
TI  - ESMRMB 2016, 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Vienna, AT, September 29-October 1:
      Abstracts, Thursday.

PMID- 27645219
TI  - Beyond breast density: a review on the advancing role of parenchymal texture
      analysis in breast cancer risk assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The assessment of a woman's risk for developing breast cancer has
      become increasingly important for establishing personalized screening
      recommendations and forming preventive strategies. Studies have consistently
      shown a strong relationship between breast cancer risk and mammographic
      parenchymal patterns, typically assessed by percent mammographic density. This
      paper will review the advancing role of mammographic texture analysis as a
      potential novel approach to characterize the breast parenchymal tissue to augment
      conventional density assessment in breast cancer risk estimation. MAIN TEXT: The
      analysis of mammographic texture provides refined, localized descriptors of
      parenchymal tissue complexity. Currently, there is growing evidence in support of
      textural features having the potential to augment the typically dichotomized
      descriptors (dense or not dense) of area or volumetric measures of breast density
      in breast cancer risk assessment. Therefore, a substantial research effort has
      been devoted to automate mammographic texture analysis, with the aim of
      ultimately incorporating such quantitative measures into breast cancer risk
      assessment models. In this paper, we review current and emerging approaches in
      this field, summarizing key methodological details and related studies using
      novel computerized approaches. We also discuss research challenges for advancing
      the role of parenchymal texture analysis in breast cancer risk stratification and
      accelerating its clinical translation. CONCLUSIONS: The objective is to provide a
      comprehensive reference for researchers in the field of parenchymal pattern
      analysis in breast cancer risk assessment, while indicating key directions for
      future research.

PMID- 27645223
TI  - ESMRMB 2016, 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Vienna, AT, September 29-October 1:
      Abstracts, Friday.

PMID- 27645221
TI  - Endoscopic tattooing to aid tumour localisation in colon cancer: the need for
      standardisation.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: An increasing number of colon and rectal tumours are being
      resected using laparoscopic techniques. Identifying these tumours
      intraoperatively can be difficult. The use of tattooing can facilitate an easier
      resection; however, the lack of standardised guidelines can potentially lead to
      errors intraoperatively and potentially result in worse outcomes for patients.
      The aim of this study was to identify the most reliable method of preoperative
      tumour localisation from the available literature to date. METHODS: A literature
      review was undertaken to identify any articles related to endoscopic tattooing
      and tumour localisation during colorectal surgery. RESULTS: To date there is
      still mixed evidence regarding tattooing techniques and the choice of ink that
      should be used. There are numerous studies demonstrating safe tattooing
      techniques and highlighting the risks and benefits of different types of ink
      available. CONCLUSION: Based on the available studies we have recommended a
      standardised approach to endoscopic tattooing of colorectal tumours prior to
      laparoscopic resection.

PMID- 27645224
TI  - ESMRMB 2016, 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Vienna, AT, September 29 - October
      1: Abstracts, Saturday.

PMID- 27645225
TI  - ESMRMB 2016, 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Vienna, AT, September 29 - October
      1: ePoster / Paper Poster / Clinical Review Poster / Software Exhibits.

PMID- 27645227
TI  - Measurement of corneal and limbal epithelial thickness by anterior segment
      optical coherence tomography and in vivo confocal microscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To compare corneal epithelial thickness (CET) and limbal epithelial
      thickness (LET) measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS
      OCT) and in vivo confocal microscope (IVCM) in normal subjects, and evaluate the
      consistency between them. METHODS: Thirty-eight normal subjects (17 men and 21
      women) were enrolled in this study. AS-OCT was performed at central cornea and
      the superior, inferior, nasal and temporal limbus. Then followed by IVCM
      examination performed at the same location. Agreement was analyzed by mean
      difference (AS-OCT minus IVCM), 95 % limits of agreement (LoA) (1.96 standard
      deviation of the difference), and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: The average CET
      measured by AS-OCT and IVCM was 55.6 +/- 4.0 MUm and 51.9 +/- 4.9 MUm
      respectively. The value measured by IVCM was significantly lower than that
      measured by AS-OCT (P = 0.015). The average LET values tested by AS-OCT were 10.3
      and 10.9 % less at nasal and temporal quadrant (nasal: P = 0.019, temporal: P =
      0.003), and were similar as those measured by IVCM at superior and inferior
      quadrant. In subjects older than 40 years, CET and LET values measured by AS-OCT
      were significantly higher than those by IVCM. Such differences were not found in
      subjects <= 40 years old. CONCLUSIONS: CET values measured by IVCM are lower than
      those by AS-OCT, while LET values measured by two devices have good agreement.
      These two techniques have their own advantages in measuring epithelial thickness
      and are mutually complementary.

PMID- 27645228
TI  - From ecological records to big data: the invention of global biodiversity.
AB  - This paper is a critical assessment of the epistemological impact of the
      systematic quantification of nature with the accumulation of big datasets on the
      practice and orientation of ecological science. We examine the contents of big
      databases and argue that it is not just accumulated information; records are
      translated into digital data in a process that changes their meanings. In order
      to better understand what is at stake in the 'datafication' process, we explore
      the context for the emergence and quantification of biodiversity in the 1980s,
      along with the concept of the global environment. In tracing the origin and
      development of the global biodiversity information facility (GBIF) we describe
      big data biodiversity projects as a techno-political construction dedicated to
      monitoring a new object: the global diversity. We argue that, biodiversity big
      data became a powerful driver behind the invention of the concept of the global
      environment, and a way to embed ecological science in the political agenda. 

PMID- 27645229
TI  - Expressions of VEGF-A and VEGFR-2 in placentae from GDM pregnancies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common medical
      complications of pregnancy, and has important health implications for mother and
      child. Changes in the fetoplacental vessels may predict those in the vasculature
      of the developing fetus, as these have been implicated in the pathogenesis of
      human GDM. This study aimed to determine the differences in the localization and
      expression level of VEGFA and VEGFR2 between placentas of women with GDM and
      placentas of normal pregnancies, which is the first step in elucidating the
      possible roles of VEGFA and VEGFR2 in the altered uteroplacental function
      resulting from maternal hyperglycaemia and ultimately in the manifestation of
      GDM. METHODS: The expressions of VEGFA and VEGFR2 mRNA and protein in 20 samples
      from each group were analyzed by real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western
      blot. The placental blood barrier and angiogenesis were observed by the
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in10 GDM samples and ten controls.
      RESULTS: The expression levels of VEGFA and VEGFR2 mRNA and protein were
      significantly decreased in the GDM group (P < 0.05 or 0.01). Immunohistochemical
      analysis showed the reduced expression of VEGFA and VEGFR2 protein in GDM
      affected placental tissues, and the degenerative alterations of the terminal
      villi vascular. CONCLUSION: The expressions of VEGFA and VEGFR-2 mRNAs and
      protein were reduced in GDM-affected placental tissues, suggesting that maternal
      GDM affects the pathophysiological function of placentas.

PMID- 27645232
TI  - Collaborative participation in aphasic conversation before and after intensive
      language-action therapy.
AB  - This study applies conversation analysis to compare everyday conversation samples
      between a person with aphasia (PWA) and a familiar communication partner (CP)
      before and after intensive language-action therapy (ILAT). Our analysis
      concentrated on collaborative repair sequences with the assumption that
      impairment-focused therapy would translate into a change in the nature of trouble
      sources, which engender collaborative repair action typical of aphasic
      conversation. The most frequent repair initiation technique used by the CP was
      candidate understandings. The function of candidate understandings changed from
      addressing specific trouble sources pre-ILAT to concluding longer stretches of
      the PWA's talk post-ILAT. Alongside with these findings, we documented a
      clinically significant increase in the Western Aphasia Battery's aphasia quotient
      post-ILAT. Our results suggest that instead of mere frequency count of
      conversational behaviours, examining the type and function of repair actions
      might provide insight into therapy-related changes in conversation following
      impairment-focused therapy.

PMID- 27645230
TI  - Hypoxia acclimation and subsequent reoxygenation partially prevent Mn-induced
      damage in silver catfish.
AB  - This study investigated if hypoxia acclimation modifies the hematological and
      oxidative profiles in tissues of Mn-exposed silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen), and
      if such modifications persist upon subsequent reoxygenation. Silver catfish
      acclimated to hypoxia (~3mgL-1) for 10days and subsequently exposed to Mn
      (~8.1mgL-1) for additional 10days exhibited lower Mn accumulation in plasma,
      liver and kidney, even after reoxygenation, as compared to normoxia-acclimated
      fish. Hypoxia acclimation increased per se red blood cells count and hematocrit,
      suggesting adaptations under hypoxia, while the reoxygenation process was also
      related to increased hematocrit and hemoglobin per se. Fish exposed to Mn under
      normoxia for 20days showed decreased red blood cells count and hematocrit, while
      reoxygenation subsequent to hypoxia increased red blood cells count. Hypoxia
      acclimation also prevented Mn-induced oxidative damage, observed by increased
      reactive species generation and higher protein carbonyl levels in both liver and
      kidney under normoxia. Mn-exposed fish under hypoxia and after reoxygenation
      showed decreased plasma transaminases in relation to the normoxia group.
      Moreover, acclimation to hypoxia increased reduced glutathione levels, catalase
      activity and Na+/K+-ATPase activity in liver and kidney during Mn exposure,
      remaining increased even after reoxygenation. These findings show that previous
      acclimation to hypoxia generates physiological adjustments, which drive
      coordinated responses that ameliorate the antioxidant status even after
      reoxygenation. Such responses represent a physiological regulation of this
      teleost fish against oxygen restriction and/or Mn toxicity in order to preserve
      the stability of a particular tissue or system.

PMID- 27645233
TI  - Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Carotid Artery
      Stenting: An Underestimated Issue.
AB  - Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is increasingly offered to patients with carotid
      artery stenosis. Although CAS is a less invasive (and thus more attractive)
      alternative compared with carotid endarterectomy, it requires the use of contrast
      material. A possible side effect from the use of contrast material during CAS is
      the development of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). This review
      discusses the incidence/prevalence and clinical significance of CI-AKI developing
      after CAS. We also discuss possible measures to reduce the incidence of CI-AKI
      after CAS.

PMID- 27645234
TI  - Evaluation of Propranolol Effect on Experimental Acute and Chronic Toxoplasmosis
      Using Quantitative PCR.
AB  - Current therapies against toxoplasmosis are limited, and drugs have significant
      side effects and low efficacies. We evaluated the potential anti-Toxoplasma
      activity of propranolol at a dose of 2 or 3 mg/kg of body weight/day in vivo in
      the acute and chronic phases. Propranolol as a cell membrane-stabilizing agent is
      a suitable drug for inhibiting the entrance of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites into
      cells. The acute-phase assay was performed using propranolol, pyrimethamine, and
      propranolol plus pyrimethamine before (pretreatment) and after (posttreatment)
      intraperitoneal challenge with 1 * 103 tachyzoites of the virulent T. gondii
      strain RH in BALB/c mice. Also, in the chronic phase, treatment was performed 12
      h before intraperitoneal challenge with 1 * 106 tachyzoites of the virulent
      strain RH of T. gondii in rats. One week (in the acute phase) and 2 months (in
      the chronic phase) after postinfection, tissues were isolated and DNA was
      extracted. Subsequently, parasite load was calculated using quantitative PCR
      (qPCR). In the acute phase, in both groups, significant anti-Toxoplasma activity
      was observed using propranolol (P < 0.001). Propranolol in the pretreatment group
      showed higher anti-Toxoplasma activity than propranolol in posttreatment in brain
      tissues, displaying therapeutic efficiency on toxoplasmosis. Also, propranolol
      combined with pyrimethamine reduced the parasite load as well as significantly
      increased survival of mice in the pretreatment group. In the chronic phase, anti
      Toxoplasma activity and decreased parasite load in tissues were observed with
      propranolol. In conclusion, the presented results demonstrate that propranolol,
      as an orally available drug, is effective at low doses against acute and latent
      murine toxoplasmosis, and the efficiency of the drug is increased when it is used
      in combination therapy with pyrimethamine.

PMID- 27645235
TI  - Triazole Substitution of a Labile Amide Bond Stabilizes Pantothenamides and
      Improves Their Antiplasmodial Potency.
AB  - The biosynthesis of coenzyme A (CoA) from pantothenate and the utilization of CoA
      in essential biochemical pathways represent promising antimalarial drug targets.
      Pantothenamides, amide derivatives of pantothenate, have potential as
      antimalarials, but a serum enzyme called pantetheinase degrades pantothenamides,
      rendering them inactive in vivo In this study, we characterize a series of 19
      compounds that mimic pantothenamides with a stable triazole group instead of the
      labile amide. Two of these pantothenamides are active against the
      intraerythrocytic stage parasite with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of
      ~50 nM, and three others have submicromolar IC50s. We show that the compounds
      target CoA biosynthesis and/or utilization. We investigated one of the compounds
      for its ability to interact with the Plasmodium falciparum pantothenate kinase,
      the first enzyme involved in the conversion of pantothenate to CoA, and show that
      the compound inhibits the phosphorylation of [14C]pantothenate by the P.
      falciparum pantothenate kinase, but the inhibition does not correlate with
      antiplasmodial activity. Furthermore, the compounds are not toxic to human cells
      and, importantly, are not degraded by pantetheinase.

PMID- 27645236
TI  - Outbreak of OXA-48-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Involving a Sequence Type 101
      Clone in Batna University Hospital, Algeria.
AB  - Seven nonredundant ertapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were
      collected between May 2014 and 19 January 2015 in the nephrology and hematology
      units of Batna University Hospital in Algeria. All strains coproduced the blaOXA
      48, blaCTX-M-15, blaSHV-1, and blaTEM-1D genes. Six of these isolates belonged to
      the pandemic clone sequence type 101 (ST101). The blaOXA-48 gene was located on a
      conjugative IncL/M-type plasmid. This is the first known outbreak of OXA-48
      producing K. pneumoniae isolates involving an ST101 clone in Batna University
      Hospital.

PMID- 27645237
TI  - Antiviral Nucleotide Incorporation by Recombinant Human Mitochondrial RNA
      Polymerase Is Predictive of Increased In Vivo Mitochondrial Toxicity Risk.
AB  - Nucleoside or nucleotide inhibitors are a highly successful class of antivirals
      due to selectivity, potency, broad coverage, and high barrier to resistance.
      Nucleosides are the backbone of combination treatments for HIV, hepatitis B
      virus, and, since the FDA approval of sofosbuvir in 2013, also for hepatitis C
      virus (HCV). However, many promising nucleotide inhibitors have advanced to
      clinical trials only to be terminated due to unexpected toxicity. Here we
      describe the in vitro pharmacology of compound 1, a monophosphate prodrug of a 2'
      ethynyluridine developed for the treatment of HCV. Compound 1 inhibits multiple
      HCV genotypes in vitro (50% effective concentration [EC50], 0.05 to 0.1 MUM) with
      a selectivity index of >300 (50% cytotoxic concentration [CC50], 30 MUM in MT-4
      cells). The active triphosphate metabolite of compound 1, compound 2, does not
      inhibit human alpha, beta, or gamma DNA polymerases but was a substrate for
      incorporation by the human mitochondrial RNA polymerase (POLRMT). In dog, the
      oral administration of compound 1 resulted in elevated serum liver enzymes and
      microscopic changes in the liver. Transmission electron microscopy showed
      significant mitochondrial swelling and lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. Gene
      expression analysis revealed dose-proportional gene signature changes linked to
      loss of hepatic function and increased mitochondrial dysfunction. The potential
      of in vivo toxicity through mitochondrial polymerase incorporation by nucleoside
      analogs has been previously shown. This study shows that even moderate levels of
      nucleotide analog incorporation by POLRMT increase the risk of in vivo
      mitochondrial dysfunction. Based on these results, further development of
      compound 1 as an anti-HCV compound was terminated.

PMID- 27645238
TI  - Antiviral Activity of Bictegravir (GS-9883), a Novel Potent HIV-1 Integrase
      Strand Transfer Inhibitor with an Improved Resistance Profile.
AB  - Bictegravir (BIC; GS-9883), a novel, potent, once-daily, unboosted inhibitor of
      HIV-1 integrase (IN), specifically targets IN strand transfer activity (50%
      inhibitory concentration [IC50] of 7.5 +/- 0.3 nM) and HIV-1 integration in
      cells. BIC exhibits potent and selective in vitro antiretroviral activity in both
      T-cell lines and primary human T lymphocytes, with 50% effective concentrations
      ranging from 1.5 to 2.4 nM and selectivity indices up to 8,700 relative to
      cytotoxicity. BIC exhibits synergistic in vitro antiviral effects in pairwise
      combinations with tenofovir alafenamide, emtricitabine, or darunavir and
      maintains potent antiviral activity against HIV-1 variants resistant to other
      classes of antiretrovirals. BIC displayed an in vitro resistance profile that was
      markedly improved compared to the integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs)
      raltegravir (RAL) and elvitegravir (EVG), and comparable to that of dolutegravir
      (DTG), against nine INSTI-resistant site-directed HIV-1 mutants. BIC displayed
      statistically improved antiviral activity relative to EVG, RAL, and DTG against a
      panel of 47 patient-derived HIV-1 isolates with high-level INSTI resistance; 13
      of 47 tested isolates exhibited >2-fold lower resistance to BIC than DTG. In dose
      escalation experiments conducted in vitro, BIC and DTG exhibited higher barriers
      to resistance than EVG, selecting for HIV-1 variants with reduced phenotypic
      susceptibility at days 71, 87, and 20, respectively. A recombinant virus with the
      BIC-selected M50I/R263K dual mutations in IN exhibited only 2.8-fold reduced
      susceptibility to BIC compared to wild-type virus. All BIC-selected variants
      exhibited low to intermediate levels of cross-resistance to RAL, DTG, and EVG (<8
      fold) but remained susceptible to other classes of antiretrovirals. A high
      barrier to in vitro resistance emergence for both BIC and DTG was also observed
      in viral breakthrough studies in the presence of constant clinically relevant
      drug concentrations. The overall virologic profile of BIC supports its ongoing
      clinical investigation in combination with other antiretroviral agents for both
      treatment-naive and -experienced HIV-infected patients.

PMID- 27645239
TI  - Nationwide Surveillance of Novel Oxazolidinone Resistance Gene optrA in
      Enterococcus Isolates in China from 2004 to 2014.
AB  - A total of 2,201 nonduplicate enterococcal isolates collected from 29 hospitals
      in 23 cities in China between 2004 and 2014 were screened for the oxazolidinone
      resistance gene optrA; 45 isolates (2.0%) were optrA positive with 11 OptrA
      variants identified. The positive rate of optrA increased from 0.4% to 3.9%
      during the 10-year surveillance period. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)
      and multilocus sequence type (MLST) analysis revealed that 37 optrA-positive
      Enterococcus faecalis isolates clustered into 25 PFGE patterns and 21 sequence
      types, while 6 Enterococcus faecium isolates represented 6 PFGE patterns and 6
      sequence types. The present study underscores the importance of routine and
      persistent monitoring of oxazolidinone resistance and optrA gene.

PMID- 27645240
TI  - In Vitro and In Vivo Activities of a Bi-Aryl Oxazolidinone, RBx 11760, against
      Gram-Positive Bacteria.
AB  - RBx 11760, a bi-aryl oxazolidinone, was investigated for antibacterial activity
      against Gram-positive bacteria. The MIC90s of RBx 11760 and linezolid against
      Staphylococcus aureus were 2 and 4 mg/liter, against Staphylococcus epidermidis
      were 0.5 and 2 mg/liter, and against Enterococcus were 1 and 4 mg/liter,
      respectively. Similarly, against Streptococcus pneumoniae the MIC90s of RBx 11760
      and linezolid were 0.5 and 2 mg/liter, respectively. In time-kill studies, RBx
      11760, tedizolid, and linezolid exhibited bacteriostatic effect against all
      tested strains except S. pneumoniae RBx 11760 showed 2-log10 kill at 4* MIC while
      tedizolid and linezolid showed 2-log10 and 1.4-log10 kill at 16* MIC,
      respectively, against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) H-29. Against S.
      pneumoniae 5051, RBx 11760 showed bactericidal activity, with 4.6-log10 kill at
      4* MIC compared to 2.42-log10 and 1.95-log10 kill for tedizolid and linezolid,
      respectively, at 16* MIC. RBx 11760 showed postantibiotic effects (PAE) at 3 h at
      4 mg/liter against MRSA H-29, and linezolid showed the same effect at 16
      mg/liter. RBx 11760 inhibited biofilm production against methicillin-resistant S.
      epidermidis (MRSE) ATCC 35984 in a concentration-dependent manner. In a foreign
      body model, linezolid and rifampin resulted in no advantage over stasis, while
      the same dose of RBx 11760 demonstrated a significant killing compared to the
      initial control against S. aureus (P < 0.05) and MRSE (P < 0.01). The difference
      in killing was statistically significant for the lower dose of RBx 11760 (P <
      0.05) versus the higher dose of linezolid (P > 0.05 [not significant]) in a groin
      abscess model. In neutropenic mouse thigh infection, RBx 11760 showed stasis at
      20 mg/kg of body weight, whereas tedizolid showed the same effect at 40 mg/kg.
      These data support RBx 11760 as a promising investigational candidate.

PMID- 27645241
TI  - Endosomal Trafficking Defects Can Induce Calcium-Dependent Azole Tolerance in
      Candida albicans.
AB  - The azole antifungals arrest fungal growth through inhibition of ergosterol
      biosynthesis. We recently reported that a Candida albicans vps21Delta/Delta
      mutant, deficient in membrane trafficking through the late endosome/prevacuolar
      compartment (PVC), continues to grow in the presence of the azoles despite the
      depletion of cellular ergosterol. Here, we report that the vps21Delta/Delta
      mutant exhibits less plasma membrane damage upon azole treatment than the wild
      type, as measured by the release of a cytoplasmic luciferase reporter into the
      culture supernatant. Our results also reveal that the vps21Delta/Delta mutant has
      abnormal levels of intracellular Ca2+ and, in the presence of fluconazole,
      enhanced expression of a calcineurin-responsive RTA2-GFP reporter. Furthermore,
      the azole tolerance phenotype of the vps21Delta/Delta mutant is dependent upon
      both extracellular calcium levels and calcineurin activity. These findings
      underscore the importance of endosomal trafficking in determining the cellular
      consequences of azole treatment and indicate that this may occur through
      modulation of calcium- and calcineurin-dependent responses.

PMID- 27645242
TI  - The Expression of Antibiotic Resistance Methyltransferase Correlates with mRNA
      Stability Independently of Ribosome Stalling.
AB  - Members of the Erm methyltransferase family modify 23S rRNA of the bacterial
      ribosome and render cross-resistance to macrolides and multiple distantly related
      antibiotics. Previous studies have shown that the expression of erm is activated
      when a macrolide-bound ribosome stalls the translation of the leader peptide
      preceding the cotranscribed erm Ribosome stalling is thought to destabilize the
      inhibitory stem-loop mRNA structure and exposes the erm Shine-Dalgarno (SD)
      sequence for translational initiation. Paradoxically, mutations that abolish
      ribosome stalling are routinely found in hyper-resistant clinical isolates;
      however, the significance of the stalling-dead leader sequence is largely
      unknown. Here, we show that nonsense mutations in the Staphylococcus aureus ErmB
      leader peptide (ErmBL) lead to high basal and induced expression of downstream
      ErmB in the absence or presence of macrolide concomitantly with elevated ribosome
      methylation and resistance. The overexpression of ErmB is associated with the
      reduced turnover of the ermBL-ermB transcript, and the macrolide appears to
      mitigate mRNA cleavage at a site immediately downstream of the ermBL SD sequence.
      The stabilizing effect of antibiotics on mRNA is not limited to ermBL-ermB;
      cationic antibiotics representing a ribosome-stalling inducer and a noninducer
      increase the half-life of specific transcripts. These data unveil a new layer of
      ermB regulation and imply that ErmBL translation or ribosome stalling serves as a
      "tuner" to suppress aberrant production of ErmB because methylated ribosome may
      impose a fitness cost on the bacterium as a result of misregulated translation.

PMID- 27645243
TI  - Potent Antiedematous and Protective Effects of Ciprofloxacin in Pulmonary
      Ricinosis.
AB  - The plant toxin ricin is considered a biological threat agent of concern and is
      most toxic when inhaled. Pulmonary exposure to a lethal dose of ricin can be
      redressed by treatment with antiricin antibodies; however, late antitoxin
      intervention is of limited efficacy. This limitation is associated with overt
      lung damage, clinically manifested as severe pulmonary inflammation, which
      develops over time. Increased evidence indicates that ciprofloxacin, a broad
      spectrum antimicrobial agent, possesses immunomodulatory properties. Here we
      demonstrate that while antiricin antibody administration at late hours after
      intranasal exposure to ricin confers limited protection to mice, highly efficient
      protection can be achieved by adding ciprofloxacin to the antibody treatment. We
      further demonstrate that parameters associated with lung injury, in particular,
      pulmonary proinflammatory cytokine production, neutrophil migration, and edema,
      are sharply reduced in ricin-intoxicated mice that were treated with
      ciprofloxacin. The presented data highlight the potential clinical application of
      ciprofloxacin as a beneficial immunomodulatory agent in the course of ricin
      intoxication.

PMID- 27645244
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of the New Hepatitis C Virus NS3 Protease Inhibitor Narlaprevir
      following Single-Dose Use with or without Ritonavir in Patients with Liver
      Cirrhosis.
AB  - In this study we sought to evaluate narlaprevir (NVR) pharmacokinetics (PK) after
      a single dose with or without ritonavir (RTV) in cirrhotic versus healthy
      subjects. NVR at 200 mg was administered to 8 healthy and 8 cirrhotic subjects,
      and NVR at 100 mg with RTV at 100 mg was administered to 8 healthy and 8
      cirrhotic subjects. PK analysis was performed. The geometric mean maximum
      concentration of a drug in serum (Cmax) and the area under the concentration-time
      curve from 0 to infinity (AUC0-infinity) were 563.1 ng/ml and 4,701.8 ng . h/ml
      in cirrhotic patients versus 364.8 ng/ml and 1,917.1 ng . h/ml in healthy
      volunteers, respectively. The geometric mean ratios of the PK parameters of
      cirrhotic subjects to healthy volunteers were 1.54-fold (90% confidence interval
      [CI] = 1.05 to 2.27) for Cmax and 2.45-fold (90% CI = 1.56 to 3.85) for AUC0
      infinity The geometric mean Cmax and AUC0-infinity in cirrhotic and healthy
      subjects were similar: 1,225.7 ng/ml for Cmax and 15,213.1 ng . h/ml for AUC0
      infinity in cirrhotic subjects and 1,178.9 ng/ml for Cmax and 14,257.2 ng . h/ml
      for AUC0-infinity in healthy volunteers. The corresponding geometric mean ratios
      were 1.04 (90% CI = 0.67 to 1.62) for Cmax and 1.07 (90% CI = 0.72 to 1.58) for
      AUC0-infinity Higher exposures in cirrhotic subjects were safe and well
      tolerated. We found that NVR exposures after a 200-mg single dose were higher in
      cirrhotic subjects than in healthy subjects and that a 100-mg single dose of NVR
      boosted with RTV at 100 mg resulted in no significant PK differences between
      cirrhotic and healthy subjects.

PMID- 27645245
TI  - Potential Use of Dimethyl Sulfoxide in Treatment of Infections Caused by
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is commonly used as a solvent to dissolve water
      insoluble drugs or other test samples in both in vivo and in vitro experiments.
      It was observed during our experiment that DMSO at noninhibitory concentrations
      could significantly inhibit pyocyanin production in the human pathogen
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pyocyanin is an important pathogenic factor whose
      production is controlled by a cell density-dependent quorum-sensing (QS) system.
      Investigation of the effect of DMSO on QS showed that DMSO has significant QS
      antagonistic activities and concentrations of DMSO in the micromolar range
      attenuated a battery of QS-controlled virulence factors, including rhamnolipid,
      elastase, and LasA protease production and biofilm formation. Further study
      indicated that DMSO inhibition of biofilm formation and pyocyanin production was
      attained by reducing the level of production of an autoinducer molecule of the
      rhl QS system, N-butanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL). In a mouse model of a
      burn wound infection with P. aeruginosa, treatment with DMSO significantly
      decreased mouse mortality compared with that for mice in the control group. The
      capacity of DMSO to attenuate the pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa points to the
      potential use of DMSO as an antipathogenic agent for the treatment of P.
      aeruginosa infection. As a commonly used solvent, however, DMSO's impact on
      bacterial virulence calls for cautionary attention in its usage in biological,
      medicinal, and clinical studies.

PMID- 27645246
TI  - The Celecoxib Derivative AR-12 Has Broad-Spectrum Antifungal Activity In Vitro
      and Improves the Activity of Fluconazole in a Murine Model of Cryptococcosis.
AB  - Only one new class of antifungal drugs has been introduced into clinical practice
      in the last 30 years, and thus the identification of small molecules with novel
      mechanisms of action is an important goal of current anti-infective research.
      Here, we describe the characterization of the spectrum of in vitro activity and
      in vivo activity of AR-12, a celecoxib derivative which has been tested in a
      phase I clinical trial as an anticancer agent. AR-12 inhibits fungal acetyl
      coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) synthetase in vitro and is fungicidal at concentrations
      similar to those achieved in human plasma. AR-12 has a broad spectrum of
      activity, including activity against yeasts (e.g., Candida albicans, non-albicans
      Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans), molds (e.g., Fusarium, Mucor), and
      dimorphic fungi (Blastomyces, Histoplasma, and Coccidioides) with MICs of 2 to 4
      MUg/ml. AR-12 is also active against azole- and echinocandin-resistant Candida
      isolates, and subinhibitory AR-12 concentrations increase the susceptibility of
      fluconazole- and echinocandin-resistant Candida isolates. Finally, AR-12 also
      increases the activity of fluconazole in a murine model of cryptococcosis. Taken
      together, these data indicate that AR-12 represents a promising class of small
      molecules with broad-spectrum antifungal activity.

PMID- 27645247
TI  - Moxifloxacin Is a Potent In Vitro Inhibitor of OCT- and MATE-Mediated Transport
      of Metformin and Ethambutol.
AB  - It is largely unknown if simultaneous administration of tuberculosis (TB) drugs
      and metformin leads to drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Disposition of metformin is
      determined by organic cation transporters (OCTs) and multidrug and toxin
      extrusion proteins (MATEs). Thus, any DDIs would primarily be mediated via these
      transporters. This study aimed to assess the in vitro inhibitory effects of TB
      drugs (rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol, amikacin, moxifloxacin, and
      linezolid) on metformin transport and whether TB drugs are also substrates
      themselves of OCTs and MATEs. HEK293 cells overexpressing OCT1, OCT2, OCT3,
      MATE1, and MATE2K were used to study TB drug-mediated inhibition of
      [14C]metformin uptake and to test if TB drugs are transporter substrates.
      Metformin uptake was determined by quantifying [14C]metformin radioactivity, and
      TB drug uptake was analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
      DDI indices were calculated (plasma maximum concentrations [Cmax]/50% inhibitory
      concentrations [IC50]), and based on the literature, a cutoff of >0.1 was assumed
      to warrant further in vivo investigation. Moxifloxacin was the only TB drug
      identified as a potent inhibitor (DDI index of >0.1) of MATE1- and MATE2K
      mediated metformin transport, with IC50s of 12 MUM (95% confidence intervals
      [CI], 5.1 to 29 MUM) and 7.6 MUM (95% CI, 0.2 to 242 MUM), respectively. Of all
      TB drugs, only ethambutol appeared to be a substrate of OCT1, OCT2, OCT3, MATE1,
      and MATE2K. MATE1-mediated ethambutol uptake was inhibited strongly (DDI index of
      >0.1) by moxifloxacin (IC50, 12 MUM [95% CI, 3.4 to 43 MUM]). Our findings
      provide a mechanistic basis for DDI predictions concerning ethambutol. According
      to international guidelines, an in vivo interaction study is warranted for the
      observed in vitro interaction between ethambutol and moxifloxacin.

PMID- 27645248
TI  - Genetic Characterization of a blaVEB-2-Carrying Plasmid in Vibrio
      parahaemolyticus.
AB  - This report describes the first detection of a blaVEB-2 gene in a Vibrio
      parahaemolyticus strain isolated from a shrimp sample. The blaVEB-2 gene was
      carried on a novel Inc-type plasmid that was likely to have originated from
      aquatic organisms, as indicated by a comparison with other known genetic elements
      in the GenBank database. However, the plasmid contains resistance elements
      usually harbored by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae, suggesting that
      gene transfer events occurred and contributed to the formation of this multidrug
      resistance-encoding plasmid.

PMID- 27645252
TI  - A method for identification of highly conserved elements and evolutionary
      analysis of superphylum Alveolata.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Perfectly or highly conserved DNA elements were found in vertebrates,
      invertebrates, and plants by various methods. However, little is known about such
      elements in protists. The evolutionary distance between apicomplexans can be very
      high, in particular, due to the positive selection pressure on them. This
      complicates the identification of highly conserved elements in alveolates, which
      is overcome by the proposed algorithm. RESULTS: A novel algorithm is developed to
      identify highly conserved DNA elements. It is based on the identification of
      dense subgraphs in a specially built multipartite graph (whose parts correspond
      to genomes). Specifically, the algorithm does not rely on genome alignments, nor
      pre-identified perfectly conserved elements; instead, it performs a fast search
      for pairs of words (in different genomes) of maximum length with the difference
      below the specified edit distance. Such pair defines an edge whose weight equals
      the maximum (or total) length of words assigned to its ends. The graph composed
      of these edges is then compacted by merging some of its edges and vertices. The
      dense subgraphs are identified by a cellular automaton-like algorithm; each
      subgraph defines a cluster composed of similar inextensible words from different
      genomes. Almost all clusters are considered as predicted highly conserved
      elements. The algorithm is applied to the nuclear genomes of the superphylum
      Alveolata, and the corresponding phylogenetic tree is built and discussed.
      CONCLUSION: We proposed an algorithm for the identification of highly conserved
      elements. The multitude of identified elements was used to infer the phylogeny of
      Alveolata.

PMID- 27645254
TI  - Factors that influence attitude and enforcement of the smoke-free law in Turkey:
      a survey of hospitality venue owners and employees.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 2009, Turkey extended the smoke-free legislation to hospitality
      venues. Compliance, however, remains low in some hospitality venues. We
      identified characteristics associated with knowledge of health effects that can
      be prevented by the smoke-free law, the attitude towards and enforcement of the
      law. METHODS: In 2014, we conducted 400 interviews with hospitality venue owners
      and employees in 7 cities in Turkey. The venues were identified based on a random
      sampling strategy in a previous phase of the study. RESULTS: Over one-third
      (37.3%) of hospitality owners and employees had adequate knowledge of the health
      effects from secondhand smoke (SHS), 71.3% had a positive attitude towards the
      law and 19.5% had personally enforced the law. Participants who worked 70 hours
      or more per week were more likely to have a positive attitude towards the law.
      Older individuals, women, participants working in bars/nightclubs, venue owners
      receiving fines for non-compliance and current smokers were less likely to have a
      positive attitude towards the law. Participants working in traditional coffee
      houses, former smokers, and participants with a high school education or greater
      were more likely to enforce the law. Smokers who quit or reduced smoking because
      of the law were more likely to enforce the law compared with those who were not
      influenced by the law. CONCLUSIONS: Although the attitude towards the law was
      positive, interventions are needed to increase knowledge on the health effects of
      SHS and facilitate enforcement of the law, particularly among subgroups less
      likely to have a positive attitude and enforce the law.

PMID- 27645257
TI  - Light-driven transport of plasmonic nanoparticles on demand.
AB  - Laser traps provide contactless manipulation of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs)
      boosting the development of numerous applications in science and technology. The
      known trapping configurations allow immobilizing and moving single NPs or
      assembling them, but they are not suitable for massive optical transport of NPs
      along arbitrary trajectories. Here, we address this challenging problem and
      demonstrate that it can be handled by exploiting phase gradients forces to both
      confine and propel the NPs. The developed optical manipulation tool allows for
      programmable transport routing of NPs to around, surround or impact on objects in
      the host environment. An additional advantage is that the proposed confinement
      mechanism works for off-resonant but also resonant NPs paving the way for
      transport with simultaneous heating, which is of interest for targeted drug
      delivery and nanolithography. These findings are highly relevant to many
      technological applications including micro/nano-fabrication, micro-robotics and
      biomedicine.

PMID- 27645258
TI  - Cuts to social care funding represent urgent threat to the NHS, warn experts.

PMID- 27645259
TI  - ORMDL3 expression levels have no influence on the activity of serine
      palmitoyltransferase.
AB  - ORMDL proteins are believed to be negative regulators of serine
      palmitoyltransferase (SPT), which catalyzes the first and rate limiting step in
      sphingolipid (SL) de novo synthesis. Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) that are close to the ORMDL3 locus have been reported to increase ORMDL3
      expression and to be associated with an elevated risk for early childhood asthma;
      however, the direct effect of ORMDL3 expression on SPT activity and its link to
      asthma remains elusive. In this study, we investigated whether ORMDL3 expression
      is associated with changes in SPT activity and total SL levels. Ormdl3-knockout
      (Ormdl3-/-) and transgenic (Ormdl3Tg/wt) mice were generated to study the effect
      of ORMDL3 on total SL levels in plasma and tissues. Cellular SPT activity was
      measured in mouse embryonic fibroblasts from Ormdl3-/- mice, as well as in HEK293
      cells in which ORMDL3 was overexpressed and silenced. Furthermore, we analyzed
      the association of the reported ORMDL3 asthma SNPs with plasma sphingoid bases in
      a population-based cohort of 971 individuals. Total C18-long chain bases were not
      significantly altered in the plasma and tissues of Ormdl3-/- mice, whereas C18
      sphinganine showed a small and significant increase in plasma, lung, and liver
      tissues. Mouse embryonic fibroblast cells from Ormdl3-/- mice did not show an
      altered SPT activity compared with Ormdl3+/- and Ormdl3+/+ mice. Overexpression
      or knockdown of ORMDL3 in HEK293 cells did not alter SPT activity; however,
      parallel knockdown of all 3 ORMDL isoforms increased enzyme activity
      significantly. A significant association of the annotated ORMDL3 asthma SNPs with
      plasma long-chain sphingoid base levels could not be confirmed. ORMDL3 expression
      levels seem not to be directly associated with changes in SPT activity. ORMDL3
      might influence de novo sphingolipid metabolism downstream of SPT.-Zhakupova, A.,
      Debeuf, N., Krols, M., Toussaint, W., Vanhoutte, L., Alecu, I., Kutalik, Z.,
      Vollenweider, P., Ernst, D., von Eckardstein, A., Lambrecht, B. N., Janssens, S.,
      Hornemann, T. ORMDL3 expression levels have no influence on the activity of
      serine palmitoyltransferase.

PMID- 27645260
TI  - Synthetic biology of modular proteins.
AB  - The evolution of natural modular proteins and domain swapping by protein
      engineers have shown the disruptive potential of non-homologous recombination to
      create proteins with novel functions or traits. Bacteriophage endolysins,
      cellulosomes and polyketide synthases are 3 examples of natural modular proteins
      with each module having a dedicated function. These modular architectures have
      been created by extensive duplication, shuffling of domains and
      insertion/deletion of new domains. Protein engineers mimic these natural
      processes in vitro to create chimeras with altered properties or novel functions
      by swapping modules between different parental genes. Most domain swapping
      efforts are realized with traditional restriction and ligation techniques, which
      become particularly restrictive when either a large number of variants, or
      variants of proteins with multiple domains have to be constructed. Recent
      advances in homology-independent shuffling techniques increasingly address this
      need, but to realize the full potential of the synthetic biology of modular
      proteins a complete homology-independent method for both rational and random
      shuffling of modules from an unlimited number of parental genes is still needed.

PMID- 27645261
TI  - An Exploration of Mate Similarity for Criminal Offending Behaviors: Results from
      a Multi-Generation Sample of Dutch Spouses.
AB  - There has been a growing body of research examining mate and spousal similarity
      on antisocial behaviors. The results of these studies have shown varying degrees
      of similarity between mates and spouses, but the precise mechanisms accounting
      for such similarity have remained somewhat elusive. The current study builds off
      this line of research and examines spousal similarity on criminal offending
      behaviors. Moreover, we also examine the potential factors that might account for
      spousal similarity. This study analyzed data drawn from two generations of Dutch
      spouses. The analyses revealed statistically significant associations between
      mates on criminal offending prior to marriage, a finding that is directly in line
      with an assortative mating explanation of spousal similarity. In addition, the
      analyses also revealed that criminal offending between spouses becomes even more
      similar after marriage, a finding that is line with a behavioral contagion
      explanation of spousal similarity. We conclude by discussing the limitations of
      the study along with the implications that these findings have for criminological
      research.

PMID- 27645262
TI  - Active and intelligent packaging: The indication of quality and safety.
AB  - The food industry has been under growing pressure to feed an exponentially
      increasing world population and challenged to meet rigorous food safety law and
      regulation. The plethora of media consumption has provoked consumer demand for
      safe, sustainable, organic, and wholesome products with "clean" labels. The
      application of active and intelligent packaging has been commercially adopted by
      food and pharmaceutical industries as a solution for the future for extending
      shelf life and simplifying production processes; facilitating complex
      distribution logistics; reducing, if not eliminating the need for preservatives
      in food formulations; enabling restricted food packaging applications; providing
      convenience, improving quality, variety and marketing features; as well as
      providing essential information to ensure consumer safety. This chapter reviews
      innovations of active and intelligent packaging which advance packaging
      technology through both scavenging and releasing systems for shelf life
      extension, and through diagnostic and identification systems for communicating
      quality, tracking and brand protection.

PMID- 27645264
TI  - Longitudinal enlargement of the lesion after spinal cord injury in the rat: a
      consequence of malignant edema?
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Experimental animal study. OBJECTIVES: Quantitative analysis of
      secondary changes in lesion size after experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) in
      the rat, with special emphasis to the formation of dorsal column lesions.
      SETTING: Slovakia. METHODS: After SCI in the rat, animals survived for different
      periods ranging from 5 min to 7 days. Their whole spinal cords were cut
      transversally into 1 mm thick slabs. On each slab, the lesion profile was
      outlined. The overall shape of the lesion was reconstructed from a series of
      consecutive profiles and its length was measured. RESULTS: Immediately after
      injury, a spindle-shaped hemorrhagic contusive lesion was observed, with the
      length of ~15 mm. After a quiescent phase lasting for at least 1 h, there was a
      dramatic secondary enlargement of the lesion and its length increased up to 40 mm
      between 1 and 48 h. The fully developed lesion consisted of the spindle-shaped
      epicenter and long cranial and caudal protrusions located in the midline between
      dorsal columns. CONCLUSION: We propose that secondary enlargement of the lesion
      can be explained by posttraumatic swelling. The expanding tissues are pushed out
      in longitudinal axis along the mechanically weakest parts of the spinal cord.
      Additional data that support this hypothesis are presented. Our findings indicate
      that malignant posttraumatic edema might have an important role in
      pathomechanisms of secondary injury after SCI.

PMID- 27645267
TI  - NMC plans first-aid training for all new nursing students.
AB  - ALL NEW nursing students are to be trained in 'essential' first aid, according to
      plans published last month by the nursing regulatory body.

PMID- 27645268
TI  - Scrapping helpline 'shortsighted', says college.
AB  - THE GOVERNMENT'S decision on the future of NHS Direct has focused attention on
      how the nurse-led patient helpline has eased pressure on emergency care
      providers.

PMID- 27645269
TI  - Audit shows better treatment for patients with hip fracture.
AB  - A REPORT on the world's largest hip fracture audit, published last month, reveals
      that more NHS patients with hip fracture receive appropriate specialist care.

PMID- 27645265
TI  - Differences in health, participation and life satisfaction outcomes in adults
      following paediatric- versus adult-sustained spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. OBJECTIVES: To compare differences in self
      reported health status, participation and life satisfaction outcomes between
      adults with a spinal cord injury (SCI) sustained during paediatric (P) versus
      adulthood (A) years. SETTING: Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Secondary analysis of
      data from the Study of Health and Activity in People with SCI. Eighty-seven
      participants who sustained an SCI prior to age 19 (M+/-s.e.=25+/-1.5 years
      postinjury (YPI)) were matched for lesion level (C2-L5), severity
      (complete/incomplete), gender, age, education and ethnicity with 87 participants
      who sustained an SCI at ?age 19 years (MYPI=12.8+/-1.1). RESULTS: Those with a
      paediatric SCI reported significantly less pain, fewer visits to the physician in
      the past year, greater functional independence, social participation,
      occupational participation and minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical
      activity than those who sustained an SCI in adulthood. No significant differences
      were found for the measures of depression, perceived health status or life
      satisfaction (P>0.05). With the exception of moderate-to-vigorous physical
      activity and visits to the physician in the past year, between-group differences
      were independent of YPI. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of time since injury, people who
      sustained a paediatric SCI reported better health and greater participation than
      those injured in adulthood. Nevertheless, both groups scored well below able
      bodied normative values for all measures. The results highlight the importance of
      a comprehensive life-course approach to SCI rehabilitation, irrespective of age
      at the time of injury.

PMID- 27645270
TI  - Health service chief pushes for action on trauma networks.
AB  - STRATEGIC HEALTH authority (SHA) chief executives are under pressure to establish
      regional trauma care networks.

PMID- 27645263
TI  - Vitamin D and spinal cord injury: should we care?
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Narrative review. OBJECTIVES: This review provides an overview of
      the etiological factors and consequences of vitamin D insufficiency in relation
      to spinal cord injury (SCI) as well as important considerations for vitamin D
      supplementation. SETTING: Montreal, Canada. METHODS: Literature search. RESULTS:
      Vitamin D insufficiency is common in SCI individuals owing to the presence of
      many contributing factors including limited sun exposure and intake, use of
      medication and endocrine perturbations. Although there are several biological
      plausible mechanisms by which vitamin D may act upon musculoskeletal and
      cardiometabolic health, the impact of vitamin D insufficiency on such systems
      remains ill defined in SCI. In the absence of guidelines for the management of
      vitamin D insufficiency in this high-risk population and in an attempt to provide
      clinical guidance, considerations for vitamin D supplementation such as the type
      of vitamin D, dosing regimens and toxicity are discussed and tentative
      recommendations suggested with particular reference to issues faced by SCI
      patients. CONCLUSION: Although high rates of vitamin D insufficiency are
      encountered in SCI individuals, its consequences and the amount of vitamin D
      required to prevent insufficiency are still unknown, indicating a need for more
      intervention studies with well-defined outcome measures. Routine screening and
      monitoring of vitamin D as well as treatment of suboptimal status should be
      instituted in both acute and chronic setting. The close interactions between
      vitamin D and related bone minerals should be kept in mind when supplementing SCI
      individuals, and practices should be individualized with clinical conditions.

PMID- 27645272
TI  - New antipsychotic drugs can increase risk of blood clots, claim researchers.
AB  - TAkING NEWER types of antipsychotic drugs could increase patients' risk of
      developing venous thromboembolism, according to a study published last month on
      bmj.com.

PMID- 27645271
TI  - What US care reforms will mean for emergency nurses.
AB  - IN MARCH, United States president Barack Obama signed into law the Patient
      Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education
      Reconciliation Act.

PMID- 27645273
TI  - Putting patients first.
AB  - THROUGHOUT MY career in urgent care, I have believed that emergency nurses'
      overwhelming professional priority is the provision of high quality care.

PMID- 27645275
TI  - Nursing Models: Application to practice Alan Pearson , Barbara Vaughan and Mary
      Fitzgerald Nursing Models: Application to Practice Quay Books L24.99 280pp
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - AT A time when evidence-based practice is the predominant nursing model, the
      authors of this book want to interest academics and practitioners in models that
      were in vogue in the Uk in the 1980s and 1990s.

PMID- 27645274
TI  - Emerging values in health care Stephen Pattison Emerging values in health care ,
      Ben Hannigan , Roisin Pill et al Jessica Kingsley L39.99 256pp 978184310947
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONS and their values have changed a great deal over the past
      40 years as, for example, professional boundaries have been altered and the role
      of patients in their care has become increasingly important.

PMID- 27645276
TI  - Mosby's 2010 Nursing Drug Reference Linda Skidmore-Roth Mosby's 2010 Nursing Drug
      Reference Elsevier Books 23rd edition L21.99 1,312pp 9780323066518 0323066518
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - WITH ITS lists of side effects, interactions, pharmacokinetics and nursing
      considerations, this nursing drug reference will meet the needs of many
      practitioners.

PMID- 27645277
TI  - Doing qualitative research[Formula: see text] David Silverman Doing qualitative
      research Sage Publishing Third edition L27.99 472pp 9781848600348 1848600348.
AB  - THIS BOOK'S author strives to make research using qualitative methods interesting
      and accessible for novices, and this book reveals his enthusiasm for the subject.

PMID- 27645278
TI  - Using health data: applying technology to work smarter Heather Grain Paula
      Procter Elsevier Using health data: applying technology to work smarter L20.99
      276pp 9780729538893 0729538893 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THE TITLE of this book may give the impression that it concerns the collection
      and analysis of healthcare data, but it is actually about how to use Microsoft
      office 2007 software in healthcare settings.

PMID- 27645279
TI  - Diary.

PMID- 27645280
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27645282
TI  - How much have we learned from time-lapse in clinical IVF?
AB  - Can the time-lapse system (TLS) identify the best embryo for transfer? Although
      there are several studies that support this hypothesis, more research is required
      to improve the quality of the current evidence and also to assess live birth
      rate, miscarriage, stillbirth or clinical pregnancy in order to choose between a
      TLS or conventional incubation. In addition, although some authors report on
      effectiveness and safety in the use of TLS monitoring of embryo development in
      vitro, other authors that have not found relevant differences between the two
      systems for the culture and subsequence embryo selection. On the other hand, TLS
      has emerged as a novel technology and has been introduced into clinical practice
      in many laboratories to perform embryo morphology evaluation and study
      developmental kinetics in ART. However, most studies only assess blastocyst
      formation or implantation rate as the primary end-point and additional data are
      required, for example, about live birth, monozygotic twinning rates and health
      problems. Furthermore, the features of populations studies are varied; for
      example, female and male age, seminal characteristics and female factor. The
      embryo culture conditions and culture medium used also vary. For this review, a
      search of PubMed was conducted to retrieve relevant studies regarding use of TLS
      in embryo incubation and selection, and compare them with standard embryo culture
      and evaluation.

PMID- 27645281
TI  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate restores endothelial barrier integrity in ovarian
      hyperstimulation syndrome.
AB  - STUDY QUESTION: Are follicular fluid (FF) sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels in
      patients at risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) altered
      and in part responsible for the high vascular permeability observed in these
      patients. STUDY ANSWER: FF S1P levels are lower in FF from patients at risk of
      OHSS and treatment with S1P may reduce vascular permeability in these patients.
      WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Although advances have been made in the diagnosis, and
      management of OHSS and in basic knowledge of its development, complete prevention
      has proven difficult. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A total of 40 FF aspirates
      were collected from patients undergoing ART. The women (aged 25-39 years old)
      were classified into a control group (n = 20) or a group at risk of OHSS (n =
      20). The EA.hy926 endothelial cell line was used to assess the efffects of FF
      from patients at risk of OHSS with or without the addition of S1P. An animal
      model that develops OHSS in immature Sprague-Dawley rats were also used.
      PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Migration assays, confocal microscopy
      analysis of actin filaments, immunoblotting and quail chorioallantoic membrane
      (CAM) assays of in-vivo angiogenesis were performed and statistical comparisons
      between groups were made. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The S1P
      concentration was significantly lower in FF from patients at risk of OHSS (P =
      0.03). The addition of S1P to this FF decreased cell migration (P < 0.05) and
      prevented VE-cadherin phosphorylation in endothelial cells (P < 0.05). S1P in the
      FF from patients at risk of OHSS increased the levels of VE-cadherin (P < 0.05),
      N-cadherin (P < 0.05) and beta-catenin (P < 0.05), and partially reversed actin
      redistribution in endothelial cells. The addition of S1P in FF from patients at
      risk of OHSS also decreased the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF121; P < 0.01) and S1P lyase (SPL; P < 0.05) and increased the levels of
      S1PR1 (P < 0.05) in endothelial cells. In CAMs incubated with FF from patients at
      risk of OHSS with S1P, the number of vessel branch points decreased while the
      periendothelial cell coverage increased. Additionally, in a rat OHSS model, we
      demonstrated that vascular permeability and VEGF121 and its receptor KDR
      expression were increased in the OHSS group compared to the control group and
      that S1P administration decreased these parameters. LARGE SCALE DATA: N/A.
      LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The results of this study were generated from
      an in-vitro system. This model reflects the microvasculature in vivo. Even though
      the ideal model would be the use of human endothelial cells from the ovary, it is
      obviously not possible to carry out this kind of approach in ovaries of patients
      from ART. More studies will be necessary to delineate the effects of S1P in the
      pathogenesis of OHSS. Hence, clinical studies are needed in order to choose the
      most appropriate method of prevention and management. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE
      FINDINGS: The use of bioactive sphingolipid metabolites may contribute to finding
      better and safer therapeutic strategies for the treatment of OHSS and other human
      diseases that display aberrant vascular leakage. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING
      INTERESTS: This work was supported by grants ANPCyT (PICT 2012-897), CONICET (PIP
      5471), Roemmers and Baron Foundation, Argentina. The authors declare no conflict
      of interest.

PMID- 27645284
TI  - Remotely Controlled Micromanipulation by Buckling Instabilities in Fe3O4
      Nanoparticle Embedded Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Surface Arrays.
AB  - The micromanipulation of biological samples is important for microbiology,
      pharmaceutical science, and related bioengineering fields. In this work, we
      report the fabrication and characterization of surface-attached microbeam arrays
      of 20 MUm width and 25 MUm height made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), a
      thermoresponsive polymer, with embedded spherical or octopod Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
      Below 32  degrees C, the microbeams imbibe water and buckle with an amplitude of
      approximately 20 MUm. Turning on an AC-magnetic field induces the microbeam array
      to expel water due to the heating effect of the nanoparticles (magnetic
      hyperthermia), leading to a reversible transition from a buckled to nonbuckled
      state. It is observed that the octopod nanoparticles have a heating rate 30%
      greater (specific absorption rate, SAR) than that of the spherical nanoparticles,
      which shortens the time scale of the transition from the buckled and nonbuckled
      state. The return of the microbeams to the buckled state is accomplished by
      turning off the AC magnetic field, the rate of which is dictated by dissipation
      of heat and is independent of the type of nanoparticle. It is further
      demonstrated that this transition can be used to propel 50 MUm spherical objects
      along a surface. While the motion is random, this study shows the promise of
      harnessing shape-shifting patterns in microfluidics for object manipulation.

PMID- 27645286
TI  - ACTH has beneficial effects on stuttering in ADHD and ASD patients with ESES: A
      retrospective study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Etiology of stuttering remains unknown and no pharmacologic
      intervention has been approved for treatment. We aimed to evaluate EEG parameters
      and the effect of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) therapy in stuttering.
      METHODS: In this retrospective study, 25 patients with attention deficit and
      hyperactivity (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and comorbid stuttering
      were followed and treated with ACTH for electrical status epilepticus in sleep
      (ESES). Sleep EEGs were recorded at referral and follow-up visits and short
      courses of ACTH were administered when spike-wave index (SWI) was ?15%. The
      assessment of treatment effectiveness was based on reduction in SWI, and the
      clinician-reported improvement in stuttering, and ADHD or ASD. Statistical
      analyses were conducted in order to investigate the relationship between the
      clinical and EEG parameters. RESULTS: Following treatment with ACTH, a reduction
      in SWI in all the patients was accompanied by a 72% improvement in ADHD or ASD,
      and 83.8% improvement in stuttering. Twelve of the 25 patients with stuttering
      showed complete treatment response. Linear regressions established that SWI at
      final visit significantly predicted improvement in ADHD or ASD, and in
      stuttering. If symptoms had recurred, improvement was once again achieved with
      repeated ACTH therapies. Stuttering always improved prior to, and recurred
      following ADHD or ASD. CONCLUSION: The underlying etiology leading to ESES may
      play a significant role in the pathophysiology of stuttering and connect
      stuttering to other developmental disorders. ACTH therapy has beneficial effects
      on stuttering and improves EEG parameters.

PMID- 27645285
TI  - Recruitment and representativeness of blood donors in the INTERVAL randomised
      trial assessing varying inter-donation intervals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The interpretation of trial results can be helped by understanding
      how generalisable they are to the target population for which inferences are
      intended. INTERVAL, a large pragmatic randomised trial of blood donors in
      England, is assessing the effectiveness and safety of reducing inter-donation
      intervals. The trial recruited mainly from the blood service's static centres,
      which collect only about 10 % of whole-blood donations. Hence, the extent to
      which the trial's participants are representative of the general blood donor
      population is uncertain. We compare these groups in detail. METHODS: We present
      the CONSORT flowchart from participant invitation to randomisation in INTERVAL.
      We compare the characteristics of those eligible and consenting to participate in
      INTERVAL with the general donor population, using the national blood supply
      'PULSE' database for the period of recruitment. We compare the characteristics of
      specific groups of trial participants recruited from different sources, as well
      as those who were randomised versus those not randomised. RESULTS: From a total
      of 540,459 invitations, 48,725 donors were eligible and consented to participate
      in INTERVAL. The proportion of such donors varied from 1-22 % depending on the
      source of recruitment. The characteristics of those consenting were similar to
      those of the general population of 1.3 million donors in terms of ethnicity,
      blood group distribution and recent deferral rates from blood donation due to low
      haemoglobin. However, INTERVAL participants included more men (50 % versus 44 %),
      were slightly older (mean age 43.1 versus 42.3 years), included fewer new donors
      (3 % versus 22 %) and had given more donations over the previous 2 years (mean
      3.3 versus 2.2) than the general donor population. Of the consenting
      participants, 45,263 (93 %) donors were randomised. Compared to those not
      randomised, the randomised donors showed qualitatively similar differences to
      those described above. CONCLUSIONS: There was broad similarity of participants in
      INTERVAL with the general blood donor population of England, notwithstanding some
      differences in age, sex and donation history. Any heterogeneity of the trial's
      results according to these characteristics will need to be studied to ensure its
      generalisability to the general donor population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current
      Controlled Trials ISRCTN24760606 . Registered on 25 January 2012.

PMID- 27645287
TI  - Radiation doses for pregnant women in the late pregnancy undergoing fetal
      computed tomography: a comparison of dosimetry and Monte Carlo simulations.
AB  - The purposes of this study were (1) to compare the radiation doses for 320- and
      80-row fetal-computed tomography (CT), estimated using thermoluminescent
      dosimeters (TLDs) and the ImPACT Calculator (hereinafter referred to as the "CT
      dosimetry software"), for a woman in her late pregnancy and her fetus and (2) to
      estimate the overlapped fetal radiation dose from a 320-row CT examination using
      two different estimation methods of the CT dosimetry software. The direct TLD
      data in the present study were obtained from a previous study. The exposure
      parameters used for TLD measurements were entered into the CT dosimetry software,
      and the appropriate radiation dose for the pregnant woman and her fetus was
      estimated. When the whole organs (e.g., the colon, small intestine, and ovaries)
      and the fetus were included in the scan range, the difference in the estimated
      doses between the TLD measurement and the CT dosimetry software measurement was
      <1 mGy (<23 %) in both CT units. In addition, when the whole organs were within
      the scan range, the CT dosimetry software was used for evaluating the fetal
      radiation dose and organ-specific doses for the woman in the late pregnancy. The
      conventional method using the CT dosimetry software cannot take into account the
      overlap between volumetric sections. Therefore, the conventional method using a
      320-row CT unit in a wide-volume mode might result in the underestimation of
      radiation doses for the fetus and the colon, small intestine, and ovaries.

PMID- 27645288
TI  - An unexpected cause of infantile dyspnea.

PMID- 27645289
TI  - Effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by GSM phones on working memory: a meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Current treatments for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) do not
      affect the course of the illness and brain stimulation techniques are
      increasingly promoted as potential therapeutic interventions for AD. This study
      reviews the effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure versus sham exposure
      on working memory (WM) performance of healthy human participants. METHOD: Online
      literature databases and previous systematic reviews were searched for studies of
      EMF and WM in participants without reported memory problems. Two thousand eight
      hundred and fifty seven studies were identified, and 10 studies met the inclusion
      criteria. An assessment of study quality was completed, and separate, random
      effects meta-analyses were conducted for each of the three WM tasks included: n
      back, substitution and digit span forward. RESULTS: No differences were found
      between participants exposed to active EMF versus sham conditions in any of the
      three working memory tasks examined. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that EMF does
      not affect WM during the n-back, substitution and digit-span tasks. Future
      studies should focus on the possible effects of chronic exposure to EMF in older
      adults with AD using a battery of comparable WM and attention tasks, before EMF
      can be seriously considered as a potential modulator of WM in AD. Copyright (c)
      2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27645293
TI  - Noninvasive preimplantation genetic testing: dream or reality?

PMID- 27645292
TI  - [18F]AV-1451 tau-PET uptake does correlate with quantitatively measured 4R-tau
      burden in autopsy-confirmed corticobasal degeneration.

PMID- 27645294
TI  - Antennal sensilla and their nerve innervation in first-instar nymphs of
      Porphyrophora sophorae Arch. (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Margarodidae).
AB  - Porphyrophora (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Margarodidae) is a genus of soil
      inhabiting scale insects. The antennal sensilla and their innervation in the
      first-instar nymphs of Porphyrophora sophorae were studied using light microscopy
      and scanning and transmission electron microscopy to understand the function of
      these sensilla and determine the sensillar innervation feature on these small
      antennae. The results show that the six-segmented antennae of these nymphs have
      20-23 sensilla which can be morphologically classified into seven types, for
      example, one Bohm's bristle (Bb), one campaniform sensillum (Ca), one Johnston's
      organ (Jo), 13-16 aporous sensilla trichodea (St), two coeloconic sensilla (Co),
      one straight multiporous peg (Mp1), and one curvy multiporous peg (Mp2).
      According to their function, these sensilla can be categorized into three
      categories: mechanoreceptors, that is, Bb, Ca, Jo, and St; thermo/hygroreceptors,
      that is, Co only; and chemoreceptors, that is, Mp1 and Mp2. The dendrites that
      innervate the Mp1, Mp2, and Co sensilla combine to form a large nerve tract (NT1)
      in the antennal lumen. Because NT1 extends through and out of the antenna, the
      somata of these neurons are present in the lymph cavity of the insect's head. The
      dendrites that innervate the mechanoreceptors form another nerve tract (NT2). The
      somata of these neurons are located inside the scape and pedicel. J. Morphol.
      277:1631-1647, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27645296
TI  - Conversion of lignin into value-added materials and chemicals via laccase
      assisted copolymerization.
AB  - With today's environmental concerns and the diminishing supply of the world's
      petroleum-based chemicals and materials, much focus has been directed toward
      alternative sources. Woody biomass presents a promising option due to its sheer
      abundance, renewability, and biodegradability. Lignin, a highly irregular
      polyphenolic compound, is one of the major chemical constituents of woody biomass
      and is the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth, surpassed only by cellulose.
      The pulp and paper and cellulosic ethanol industries produce lignin on the scale
      of millions of tons each year as a by-product. Traditionally, lignin has been
      viewed as a waste material and burned as an inefficient fuel. However, in recent
      decades, research has focused on more economical ways to convert lignin into
      value-added commodities, such as biofuels, biomaterials, and biochemicals, thus
      developing and strengthening the concept of fully integrated biorefineries. Owing
      to the phenolic structure of lignin, it is possible to enzymatically graft
      molecules onto its surface using laccases (benzenediol:oxygen oxidoreductases, EC
      1.10.3.2) to create exciting novel biomaterials. These environmentally friendly
      enzymes use oxygen as their only co-substrate and produce water as their sole by
      product, and have thus found great industrial application. This mini-review
      highlights recent advances in the field of laccase-facilitated functionalization
      of lignin as well as promising future directions for lignin-based polymers. 

PMID- 27645291
TI  - Ocular indicators of Alzheimer's: exploring disease in the retina.
AB  - Although historically perceived as a disorder confined to the brain, our
      understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has expanded to include extra-cerebral
      manifestation, with mounting evidence of abnormalities in the eye. Among ocular
      tissues, the retina, a developmental outgrowth of the brain, is marked by an
      array of pathologies in patients suffering from AD, including nerve fiber layer
      thinning, degeneration of retinal ganglion cells, and changes to vascular
      parameters. While the hallmark pathological signs of AD, amyloid beta-protein
      (Abeta) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) comprising hyperphosphorylated
      tau (pTau) protein, have long been described in the brain, identification of
      these characteristic biomarkers in the retina has only recently been reported. In
      particular, Abeta deposits were discovered in post-mortem retinas of advanced and
      early stage cases of AD, in stark contrast to non-AD controls. Subsequent studies
      have reported elevated Abeta42/40 peptides, morphologically diverse Abeta
      plaques, and pTau in the retina. In line with the above findings, animal model
      studies have reported retinal Abeta deposits and tauopathy, often correlated with
      local inflammation, retinal ganglion cell degeneration, and functional deficits.
      This review highlights the converging evidence that AD manifests in the eye,
      especially in the retina, which can be imaged directly and non-invasively. Visual
      dysfunction in AD patients, traditionally attributed to well-documented cerebral
      pathology, can now be reexamined as a direct outcome of retinal abnormalities. As
      we continue to study the disease in the brain, the emerging field of ocular AD
      warrants further investigation of how the retina may faithfully reflect the
      neurological disease. Indeed, detection of retinal AD pathology, particularly the
      early presenting amyloid biomarkers, using advanced high-resolution imaging
      techniques may allow large-scale screening and monitoring of at-risk populations.

PMID- 27645297
TI  - Rational design of thermostability in bacterial 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanases through
      spatial compartmentalization of mutational hotspots.
AB  - Higher thermostability is required for 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase to maintain high
      activity under harsh conditions in the brewing and animal feed industries. In
      this study, a comprehensive and comparative analysis of thermostability in
      bacterial beta-glucanases was conducted through a method named spatial
      compartmentalization of mutational hotspots (SCMH), which combined alignment of
      homologous protein sequences, spatial compartmentalization, and molecular dynamic
      (MD) simulation. The overall/local flexibility of six homologous beta-glucanases
      was calculated by MD simulation and linearly fitted with enzyme optimal enzymatic
      temperatures. The calcium region was predicted to be the crucial region for
      thermostability of bacterial 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanases, and optimization of four
      residue sites in this region by iterative saturation mutagenesis greatly
      increased the thermostability of a mesophilic beta-glucanase (BglT) from Bacillus
      terquilensis. The E46P/S43E/H205P/S40E mutant showed a 20  degrees C increase in
      optimal enzymatic temperature and a 13.8  degrees C rise in protein melting
      temperature (T m) compared to wild-type BglT. Its half-life values at 60 and 70 
      degrees C were 3.86-fold and 7.13-fold higher than those of wild-type BglT. The
      specific activity of E46P/S43E/H205P/S40E mutant was increased by 64.4 %, while
      its stability under acidic environment was improved. The rational design strategy
      used in this study might be applied to improve the thermostability of other
      industrial enzymes.

PMID- 27645298
TI  - Wastewater treatment using microalgae: how realistic a contribution might it be
      to significant urban wastewater treatment?
AB  - Microalgae have been proposed as an option for wastewater treatment since the
      1960s, but still, this technology has not been expanded to an industrial scale.
      In this paper, the major factors limiting the performance of these systems are
      analysed. The composition of the wastewater is highly relevant, and especially
      the presence of pollutants such as heavy metals and emerging compounds.
      Biological and engineering aspects are also critical and have to be improved to
      at least approximate the performance of conventional systems, not just in terms
      of capacity and efficiency but also in terms of robustness. Finally, the
      harvesting of the biomass and its processing into valuable products pose a
      challenge; yet at the same time, an opportunity exists to increase economic
      profitability. Land requirement is a major bottleneck that can be ameliorated by
      improving the system's photosynthetic efficiency. Land requirement has a
      significant impact on the economic balance, but the profits from the biomass
      produced can enhance these systems' reliability, especially in small cities.

PMID- 27645299
TI  - Acetate metabolism regulation in Escherichia coli: carbon overflow,
      pathogenicity, and beyond.
AB  - Acetate is ubiquitously found in natural environments. Its availability in the
      gut is high as a result of the fermentation of nutrients, and although it is
      rapidly absorbed by intestinal mucosa, it can also be used as carbon source by
      some members of gut microbiota. The metabolism of acetate in Escherichia coli has
      attracted the attention of the scientific community due to its role in central
      metabolism and its link to multiple physiological features. In this
      microorganism, acetate is involved directly or indirectly on the regulation of
      functional processes, such as motility, formation of biofilms, and responses to
      stress. Furthermore, it is a relevant nutrient in gut, where it serves additional
      roles, which regulate or, at least, modulate pathophysiological responses of E.
      coli and other bacteria. Acetate is one of the major by-products of anaerobic
      (fermenting) metabolism, and it is also produced under fully aerobic conditions.
      This acetate overflow is recognized as one of the major drawbacks limiting E.
      coli's productivity in biotechnological processes. This review sums up current
      knowledge on acetate metabolism in E. coli, explaining the major milestones that
      have led to deciphering its complex regulation in the K-12 strain. Major
      differences in the metabolism of acetate in other strains will be underlined,
      with a focus on strains of biotechnological and biomedical interest.

PMID- 27645301
TI  - Triterpenoids from Coluria longifolia.
AB  - A new triterpenoid named 19-hydroxy swinhoeic acid, together with four known
      compounds were isolated from the whole plants of Coluria longifolia Maxim. Their
      structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data analysis and
      comparison with previously reported data. Cytotoxicities of the five compounds
      against HepG2 cell lines were also evaluated, unfortunately, no obvious
      activities were observed.

PMID- 27645300
TI  - Structures and gene clusters of the O-specific polysaccharides of the
      lipopolysaccharides of Escherichia coli O69 and O146 containing glycolactilic
      acids: ether conjugates of D-GlcNAc and D-Glc with (R)- and (S)-lactic acid.
AB  - Based on the O-specific polysaccharides of the lipopolysaccharides (O
      polysaccharides, O-antigens), strains of a clonal species Escherichia coli are
      classified into 184 O serogroups. In this work, structures of the O
      polysaccharides of E. coli O69 and O146 were elucidated and gene clusters for
      their biosynthesis were characterized. The O-polysaccharides were released from
      the lipopolysaccharides by mild acid hydrolysis and studied by sugar analysis and
      one- and two-dimensional 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy before and after O
      deacetylation. The O146 polysaccharide was also studied by Smith degradation. The
      O69 and O146 polysaccharides were found to contain ether conjugates of
      monosaccharides with lactic acid called glycolactilic acids: 2-acetamido-2-deoxy
      4-O-[(R)-1-carboxyethyl]-D-glucose (D-GlcNAc4Rlac) and 3-O-[(S)-1-carboxyethyl]-D
      glucose (D-Glc3Slac), respectively. Structures of the pentasaccharide repeats of
      the O-polysaccharides were established, and that of E. coli O69 was found to
      differ in the presence of D-GlcNAc4Rlac from the structure reported for this
      bacterium earlier (Erbing C, Kenne L, Lindberg B. 1977. Carbohydr Res. 56:371
      376). The O-antigen gene clusters of E. coli O69 and O146 between conserved genes
      galF and gnd were analyzed taking into account the O-polysaccharide structures
      established, and functions of putative genes for synthesis of D-Glc3Slac and D
      GlcNAc4Rlac and for glycosyltransferases were assigned based on homology with O
      antigen biosynthesis genes of other enteric bacteria. It was found that in E.
      coli and Shigella spp. predicted enolpyruvate reductases of the biosynthesis
      pathway of glycolactilic acids, LarR and LarS, which catalyze formation of
      conjugates with (R)- or (S)-lactic acid, respectively, are distinguished by
      sequence homology and size.

PMID- 27645304
TI  - Proton pump inhibitors and risk of Clostridium difficile infection: a multi
      country study using sequence symmetry analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between incident proton pump inhibitor
      (PPI) use and Clostridium difficile infections across multiple countries Method:
      National data covering the total population in Australia and Korea, the Canadian
      population over 65 years and a 3 million person random sample data set from
      Taiwan were assessed, as were data from a worker insurance population and a
      hospital inpatient/outpatient population in Japan. Sequence symmetry analysis was
      used to assess the association with oral vancomycin dispensing as the outcome of
      interest. RESULTS: 54,957 patients were included. Positive associations were
      observed in Australia; adjusted sequence ratio (ASR) 2.48 (95% CI 1.90, 3.12),
      Korea ASR 2.15 (95%CI 2.11, 2.19), Canada ASR 1.45 (95% CI 1.16, 1.79), Japan
      hospital dataset ASR 3.21 (95%CI 2.12, 4.55) and Japan worker insurance dataset
      ASR 5.40 (95% CI 2.73, 8.75). The pooled result was ASR 2.40 (95%CI 1.88, 3.05)
      and 3.16 (95%CI 1.95, 5.10) when limited to Japan, Korean and Taiwan. Results did
      not vary by individual PPI. The temporal analysis showed effects within the first
      two weeks of PPI initiation. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the association
      between PPI initiation and C. difficile infections across countries in the Asia
      Pacific region.

PMID- 27645306
TI  - Treating women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) with a hybrid
      cognitive behavioural and art therapy treatment (CB-ART).
AB  - This paper presents an overview of a combined, evaluated protocol, cognitive
      behavioural and art therapy treatment (CB-ART), for the treatment of women with
      perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). The protocol integrates cognitive
      behavioural interventions and art therapy. CB-ART focuses on changing distressing
      image, symptom or memory (ISM) that interferes with functioning. The method
      directs clients to identify compositional elements that characterize their
      stressful ISM and to alter the element in their imagination, in bodily sensations
      and on the page. Examples are provided to illustrate the therapeutic process.

PMID- 27645307
TI  - Inhibiting renin angiotensin system in rate limiting step by aliskiren as a new
      approach for preventing indomethacin induced gastric ulcers.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previously blocking the renin angiotensin system (RAAS) has been
      effective in the prevention of gastric damage. Therefore, the aim of this study
      was to investigate the effects of aliskiren, and thus, direct renin blockage, in
      indomethacin-induced gastric damage model. METHODS: Effects of aliskiren were
      evaluated in indomethacin-induced gastric damage model on Albino Wistar rats.
      Effects of famotidine has been investigated as standard antiulcer agent.
      Stereological analyses for ulcer area determination, biochemical analyses for
      oxidative status determination and molecular analyses for tissue cytokine and
      cyclooxygenase determination were performed on stomach tissues. In addition, to
      clarify antiulcer effect mechanism of aliskiren pylorus ligation-induced gastric
      acid secretion model was applied on rats. RESULTS: Aliskiren was able to inhibit
      indomethacin-induced ulcer formation. It also inhibited renin, and thus,
      decreased over-produced Angiotensin-II during ulcer formation. Aliskiren improved
      the oxidative status and cytokine profile of the stomach, which was most probably
      impaired by increased Angiotensin II concentration. Aliskiren also increased
      gastroprotective prostaglandin E2 concentration. Finally, aliskiren did not
      change the gastric acidity in pylorus ligation model. CONCLUSION: Aliskiren
      exerted its protective effects on stomach tissue by decreasing inflammatory
      cytokines and oxidative stress as a result of inhibiting the RAAS, at a rate
      limiting step, as well as its end product, angiotensin II. Aliskiren also
      significantly increased protective factors such as PGE2, but not affect
      aggressive factors such as gastric acidity.

PMID- 27645308
TI  - Revealing the effect of 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol and curcumin on mPGES-1, GSK-3beta
      and beta-catenin pathway in A549 cell line.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: In our study, anticancer effects of 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol
      from ginger and curcumin from turmeric were investigated and the results were
      compared with each other. We aimed to reveal their effects on microsomal
      prostaglandine E2 synthase 1 (mPGES-1) which is related with cancer progression
      and inflammation as well as beta-catenin and glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK
      3beta) that are the main components of Wnt/GSK3 pathway. As it is known
      activation of GSK-3beta and high levels of mPGES-1 pathway leads to cell
      proliferation and aggravates cancer progression. Therefore both of them are
      potential targets for cancer therapy. 6-shogaol and 6-gingerol' s effect on this
      pathway is not known very well up to now while curcumin that is known as an mPGES
      1 inhibitor has anticancer properties via this pathway and many other pathways.
      Besides being in Zingiberaceae family, ginger's 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol have a
      molecular similarity with turmeric's curcumin. In our study we investigated their
      effects using a popular non small lung cancer cell line named A549 which
      expresses mPGES-1 and has active GSK3beta pathway. IL-1beta was used for inducing
      mPGES-1 and enabling the cancer characteristics such as cell proliferation. So
      compounds that inactivates or decreases the level of these components might be
      potential anticancer agents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A549 cells were incubated
      with interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) for 24 h in order to maintain mPGES-1 enzyme
      induction. Experiments were performed both on IL-1beta and non-IL-1beta group.
      Real time cell analysis was performed to determine the cytotoxicity. Samples for
      western blotting and RT-PCR were collected after 24 h incubation with compounds
      to determine the amount of mPGES-1, GSK-3beta, p-GSK-3beta, beta-catenin protein
      and mRNA. PGE2 which is the end product of mPGES-1 was measured by using ELISA
      kit. RESULTS: As a result of cell profile assay, cells exposed to IL-1beta
      proliferate faster than non-IL-1beta ones. This shows that induced mPGES-1 might
      play a role through GSK3beta pathway and 24 h IC50 value of 6-shogaol is 62 MUM.
      IL-1beta increased protein and mRNA levels of mPGES-1, p-GSK-3beta, beta-catenin
      and GSK-3beta in control group. Effects of curcumin and 6-shogaol on these
      parameters were against IL-1beta's effect while 6-gingerol was not effective at
      all. Furthermore, 6-shogaol and curcumin might be effective on GSK3beta pathway
      via lowering PGE2 levels. CONCLUSION: We saw that 6-shogaol is as effective as
      curcumin on this pathway and our study shows that 6-shogaol might show its
      anticancer properties via mPGES-1 and GSK3beta pathway. May be these results
      might used for designing in vivo studies in future.

PMID- 27645309
TI  - Polygodial, a sesquiterpene isolated from Drimys brasiliensis (Winteraceae),
      triggers glucocorticoid-like effects on pancreatic beta-cells.
AB  - Despite its common use, the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone can cause
      several adverse effects, such as diabetes and insulin-related metabolic
      impairment. Thus, research on molecules that could provide the same anti
      inflammatory response with milder side effects is constant. In this work the anti
      inflammatory activity of the natural sesquiterpene polygodial, extracted from the
      endemic Brazilian plant Drimys brasiliensis Miers (Winteraceae), was
      investigated. Employing a pancreatic beta-cell model (INS 1E), the effect of
      polygodial on signaling pathways is similar to that caused by dexamethasone -
      both increased MKP1 and decreased ERK1/2 expression in a dose-response and time
      dependent manner. Relating to such finding, nuclear translocation of the
      glucocorticoid receptor was also discovered to be induced by the sesquiterpene.
      Molecular modeling results indicated that polygodial was capable of docking to
      the glucocorticoid receptor, but presented preference for the Arg611 binding site
      rather than Thr739 when set to bind freely inside the pocket. At last,
      fragmentation of DNA was verified as consequence of sesquiterpene-induced cell
      death. Altogether, our results suggest that, like dexamethasone, polygodial
      interacts the glucocorticoid receptor ligand binding domain but create fewer
      ligand-protein interactions at the site, yielding a weaker effector response.
      Such property provides an advantage when regarding the adverse effects resulting
      from stronger affinity ligands of the glucocorticoid receptor, such as in the
      case of the current standard dexamethasone-based treatment. This aspect, also,
      turns polygodial an interesting hit compound to the development of new drugs
      based on its backbone structure providing less harmful anti-inflammatory
      treatments. 

PMID- 27645310
TI  - Effects of implant drilling parameters for pilot and twist drills on temperature
      rise in bone analog and alveolar bones.
AB  - This study concerns the effects of different drilling parameters of pilot drills
      and twist drills on the temperature rise of alveolar bones during dental implant
      procedures. The drilling parameters studied here include the feed rate and
      rotation speed of the drill. The bone temperature distribution was analyzed
      through experiments and numerical simulations of the drilling process. In this
      study, a three dimensional (3D) elasto-plastic dynamic finite element model
      (DFEM) was proposed to investigate the effects of drilling parameters on the bone
      temperature rise. In addition, the FE model is validated with drilling
      experiments on artificial human bones and porcine alveolar bones. The results
      indicate that 3D DFEM can effectively simulate the bone temperature rise during
      the drilling process. During the drilling process with pilot drills or twist
      drills, the maximum bone temperature occurred in the region of the cancellous
      bones close to the cortical bones. The feed rate was one of the important factors
      affecting the time when the maximum bone temperature occurred. Our results also
      demonstrate that the elevation of bone temperature was reduced as the feed rate
      increased and the drill speed decreased, which also effectively reduced the risk
      region of osteonecrosis. These findings can serve as a reference for dentists in
      choosing drilling parameters for dental implant surgeries.

PMID- 27645311
TI  - WITHDRAWN: The unresponsive-wakefulness syndrome: A seismic shift in etiology?
AB  - This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author(s) and/or editor.
      The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier
      Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at
      http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

PMID- 27645314
TI  - Sunlight exposure: Do health benefits outweigh harm?
AB  - Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin whose levels within the body are elevated
      following sunlight exposure. Numerous studies have shown that sunlight exposure
      can provide protection to a wide variety of diseases, ranging from different
      types of tumors to hypertension to type 1 diabetes to multiple sclerosis.
      Moreover, studies have shown that avoiding sunlight may influence the initiation
      and progression of some of these diseases. Avoidance of sunlight, coupled with
      the inclination towards consuming supplements, is becoming the primary choice to
      obtain vitamin D. The purpose of this article is to present evidences from
      published literature, to show that the expected benefits of vitamin D supplements
      are minimized by the potential risk of cardiovascular events and beyond. Since
      hypovitaminosis D status usually reflects reduced sunlight exposure, the obvious
      primary replacement should be safe sunlight exposure, and not exogenous
      supplements.

PMID- 27645313
TI  - Class I lysine deacetylases promote glucocorticoid-induced transcriptional
      repression through functional interaction with LSD1.
AB  - Small molecule inhibitors of lysine deacetylases (KDACs) are approved for
      clinical use in treatment of several diseases. Nuclear receptors, such as the
      glucocorticoid receptor (GR) use lysine acetyltransferases (KATs or HATs) and
      KDACs to regulate transcription through acetylation and deacetylation of protein
      targets such as histones. Previously we have shown that KDAC1 activity
      facilitates GR-activated transcription at about half of all cellular target
      genes. In the current study we examine the role of Class I KDACs in
      glucocorticoid-mediated repression of gene expression. Inhibition of KDACs
      through two structurally distinct Class I-selective inhibitors prevented
      dexamethasone (Dex)-mediated transcriptional repression in a gene-selective
      fashion. In addition, KDAC activity is also necessary to maintain repression.
      Steroid receptor coactivator 2 (SRC2), which is known to play a vital role in GR
      mediated repression of pro-inflammatory genes, was found to be dispensable for
      repression of glucocorticoid target genes sensitive to KDAC inhibition. At the
      promoters of these genes, KDAC inhibition did not result in altered nucleosome
      occupancy or histone H3 acetylation. Surprisingly, KDAC inhibition rapidly
      induced a significant decrease in H3K4Me2 at promoter nucleosomes with no
      corresponding change in H3K4Me3, suggesting the activation of the lysine
      demethylase, LSD1/KDM1A. Depletion of LSD1 expression via siRNA restored Dex
      mediated repression in the presence of KDAC inhibitors, suggesting that LSD1
      activation at these gene promoters is incompatible with transcriptional
      repression. Treatment with KDAC inhibitors does not alter cellular levels of LSD1
      or its association with Dex-repressed gene promoters. Therefore, we conclude that
      Class I KDACs facilitate Dex-induced transcriptional repression by suppressing
      LSD1 complex activity at selected target gene promoters. Rather than facilitating
      repression of transcription, LSD1 opposes it in these gene contexts.

PMID- 27645315
TI  - Lymph node biopsy analysis reveals an altered immunoregulatory balance already
      during the at-risk phase of autoantibody positive rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - The balance between proinflammatory and regulatory CD4+ T cells is tightly
      controlled in lymphoid organs. In autoimmune diseases this balance is altered in
      the periphery and target tissue of patients. However, not much is known about the
      balance initiated in lymphoid organs during the development of disease. Since
      systemic autoimmunity is present years before the clinical manifestations of
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it is possible to study the immunoregulatory balance
      during the earliest (preclinical) phases of disease. Here, we report for the
      first time the frequency and phenotype of proinflammatory and regulatory CD4+ T
      cells in lymph node biopsies obtained from autoantibody positive individuals at
      risk for developing RA, patients with established disease and healthy controls.
      The frequency of proinflammatory LN Th1 cells was increased in RA patients
      compared with HCs, while the frequency of regulatory T cells was lower in LN
      biopsies of RA-risk individuals. Upon in vitro stimulation LN CD4+ T cells
      produced lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines, IFN-gamma and IL-17A, in both
      RA-risk individuals and early RA patients. This study shows that already during
      the earliest phases of systemic autoimmunity the immunoregulatory balance between
      proinflammatory and regulatory CD4+ T cells is altered in LN tissue.

PMID- 27645318
TI  - Efficacy of a fixed combination of 0.09 % xanthan gum/0.1 % chondroitin sulfate
      preservative free vs polyethylene glycol/propylene glycol in subjects with dry
      eye disease: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dry eye disease (DED) is multifactorial, affecting 5-34 % of the
      global adult population and reducing quality of life. The artificial tears or
      lubricants are the therapy most used for the treatment of DED, due to their low
      side effect profile, which attempt to modify the properties of the tear film. The
      aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a fixed
      combination of xanthan gum and chondroitin sulfate preservative free on the
      ocular surface of patients with dry eye disease during 60 days of intervention.
      METHODS: A phase III, double-blind, masked, controlled, multicenter, clinical
      trial of 148 subjects, randomized to either a fixed combination of xanthan gum
      0.09 % and chondroitin sulfate 0.1 % (XG/CS) ophthalmic solution (n = 76) or a
      fixed combination of polyethylene glycol 400 0.4 % and propylene glycol 0.3 %
      (PEG/PG) (n = 72). Subjects self-dosed four times daily during 60 days. Follow-up
      was set on days 2, 7, 15, 30 and 60. Assessments of anterior/posterior segment
      ocular signs were performed. The outcome measures included Schirmer test, tear
      film break-up time and OSDI score. Security variables included intraocular
      pressure, lisamine green and fluorescein ocular surface stains. RESULTS: The
      primary efficacy endpoints were similar between groups at baseline. After
      intervention time Schirmer test increased in both groups compared to baseline,
      XG/CS (6.4 +/- 2.2 vs 11.0 +/- 6.6; p = 0.002) and PEG/PG (6.5 +/- 2.5 vs 10.5 +/
      5.6; p = 0.019) respectively. Similar results were reported in the tear film
      break-up time in XG/CS (5.5 +/- 2.1 vs 7.4 +/- 2.9; p = 0.027) and PEG/PG (5.2 +/
      2.0 vs 7.4 +/- 2.7; p = 0.046) respectively. The OSDI score decreased to normal
      values in both groups, XG/CS (19.3 +/- 7.4 vs 7.3 +/- 5.9; p = 0.001) and PEG/PG
      (19.3 +/- 7.5 vs 7.9 +/- 8.2; p = 0.001) respectively. There was no significant
      difference between treatments for any parameter. Moreover, both groups decreased
      the presence of burning sensation, tearing, foreign body sensation, conjunctival
      hyperemia and photophobia. The adverse events were not related to the
      interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Xanthan gum/chondroitin sulfate preservative free
      showed similar clinical efficacy, evaluated with OSDI score, TBUT and Schirmer
      test compared to polyethylene glycol/propylene glycol in the treatment of dry eye
      disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01657253 . Date of
      registration May 19, 2014.

PMID- 27645323
TI  - Healthcare hashtag index development: Identifying global impact in social media.
AB  - PURPOSE: Create an index of global reach for healthcare hashtags and tweeters
      therein, filterable by topic of interest. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this proof
      of-concept study we focused on the field of Primary Care and Family Medicine. Six
      hashtags were selected based on their importance, from the ones included in the
      'Healthcare Hashtag Project'. Hashtag Global Reach (HGR) was calculated using the
      additive aggregation of five weighted, normalized indicator variables: number of
      impressions, tweets, tweeters, user locations, and user languages. Data were
      obtained for the last quarter of 2014 and first quarter of 2015 using Symplur
      Signals. Topic-specific HGR were calculated for the top 10 terms and for sets of
      quotes mapped after a thematic analysis. Individual Global Reach, IGR, was
      calculated across hashtags as additive indexes of three indicators: replies,
      retweets and mentions. RESULTS: Using the HGR score we were able to rank six
      selected hashtags and observe their performance throughout the study period. We
      found that #PrimaryCare and #FMRevolution had the highest HGR score in both
      quarters; interestingly, #FMChangeMakers experienced a marked increase in its
      global visibility during the study period. "Health Policy" was the commonest
      theme, while "Care", "Family" and "Health" were the most common terms.
      DISCUSSION: This is the first study describing an altmetric hashtag index.
      Assuming analytical soundness, the Index might prove generalizable to other
      healthcare hashtags. If released as a real-time business intelligence tool with
      customizable settings, it could aid publishing and strategic decisions by
      netizens, organizations, and analysts. IGR could also serve to augment academic
      evaluation and professional development. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates the
      feasibility of using an index on the global reach of healthcare hashtags and
      tweeters.

PMID- 27645322
TI  - Health Information Exchange (HIE): A literature review, assimilation pattern and
      a proposed classification for a new policy approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Literature shows existence of barriers to Healthcare Information
      Exchange (HIE) assimilation process. A number of studies have considered
      assimilation of HIE as a whole phenomenon without regard to its multifaceted
      nature. Thus, the pattern of HIE assimilation in healthcare providers has not
      been clearly studied due to the effects of contingency factors on different
      assimilation phases. This study is aimed at defining HIE assimilation phases,
      recognizing assimilation pattern, and proposing a classification to highlight
      unique issues associated with HIE assimilation. METHODS: A literature review of
      existing studies related to HIE efforts from 2005 was undertaken. Four electronic
      research databases (PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Academic Search Premiere)
      were searched for articles addressing different phases of HIE assimilation
      process. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty-four articles were initially selected.
      Out of 254, 44 studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The
      assimilation of HIE is a complicated and a multi-staged process. Our findings
      indicated that HIE assimilation process consisted of four main phases:
      initiation, organizational adoption decision, implementation and
      institutionalization. The data helped us recognize the assimilation pattern of
      HIE in healthcare organizations. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide useful
      theoretical implications for research by defining HIE assimilation pattern. The
      findings of the study also have practical implications for policy makers. The
      findings show the importance of raising national awareness of HIE potential
      benefits, financial incentive programs, use of standard guidelines,
      implementation of certified technology, technical assistance, training programs
      and trust between healthcare providers. The study highlights deficiencies in the
      current policy using the literature and identifies the "pattern" as an indication
      for a new policy approach.

PMID- 27645324
TI  - Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphisms might be associated with
      childhood asthma in East Asia.

PMID- 27645325
TI  - Relation of depression with health behaviors and social conditions of dependent
      community-dwelling older persons in the Republic of Chile.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms are a leading cause of disability and emotional
      suffering, particularly in old age. However, evidence on depression and old age
      in developing countries remains largely ignored. The aim of this study was to
      examine the relation between health behavior and social conditions with
      depression among dependent community-dwelling older persons in the Republic of
      Chile. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional and inferential study, using nationally
      representative secondary data. Two models used logistic regression on 640
      dependent community-dwelling older persons from all over Chile, who personally
      answered a depression assessment, excluding those taking antidepressants. The
      geriatric depression scale (GDS-15) was used as outcome. The first model aims at
      any kind of depression (GDS 5>). The second aims at severe depression (GDS 10>).
      As exposure, we used the health behavior and social conditions of the older
      persons. Socio-demographic and physical conditions were used as adjustment.
      RESULTS: 44.5% of the older persons presented depressive symptoms. Among them,
      11% had severe depression. Logistic regression showed that significant
      detrimental factors for being depressed in both models were visiting the doctor
      five times or over because of acute diseases, feeling uncomfortable with their
      living arrangement, and feeling discriminated. On the other hand, every
      additional day of physical exercise and living alone had a beneficial and
      detrimental effect only in model one. CONCLUSION: Analyses on ways to support
      older persons living alone and the promotion of physical exercise to avoid
      depression are needed, along with a deeper understanding of the comfort with
      their living arrangement. Finally, ways to address the discrimination among older
      persons should be further explored.

PMID- 27645328
TI  - The renin-angiotensin system regulates transmural electrical remodeling in
      response to mechanical load.

PMID- 27645331
TI  - Radiation Engineering of Multifunctional Nanogels.
AB  - Nanogels combine the favourable properties of hydrogels with those of colloids.
      They can be soft and conformable, stimuli-responsive and highly permeable, and
      can expose a large surface with functional groups for conjugation to small and
      large molecules, and even macromolecules. They are among the very few systems
      that can be generated and used as aqueous dispersions. Nanogels are emerging
      materials for targeted drug delivery and bio-imaging, but they have also shown
      potential for water purification and in catalysis. The possibility of
      manufacturing nanogels with a simple process and at relatively low cost is a key
      criterion for their continued development and successful application. This paper
      highlights the most important structural features of nanogels related to their
      distinctive properties, and briefly presents the most common manufacturing
      strategies. It then focuses on synthetic approaches that are based on the
      irradiation of dilute aqueous polymer solutions using high-energy photons or
      electron beams. The reactions constituting the basis for nanogel formation and
      the approaches for controlling particle size and functionality are discussed in
      the context of a qualitative analysis of the kinetics of the various reactions. 

PMID- 27645330
TI  - Cutaneous Complications of Targeted Melanoma Therapy.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: The landscape of advanced and metastatic melanoma therapy has
      shifted dramatically in recent years. Since 2011, eight drugs (ipilimumab,
      vemurafenib, dabrafenib, trametinib, cometinib, pembrolizumab, nivolumab, and
      talimogene laherparepvec) have received FDA approval for the treatment of
      advanced or metastatic melanoma, including combination regimens of both small
      molecule kinase and immune checkpoint inhibitors. These therapies have
      revolutionized the management of unresectable regional nodal and distant
      melanoma, providing hope of extended survival to patients. As the use of novel
      agents has increased, so have the cutaneous toxicities associated with these
      medications. While most skin reactions are low-grade and can be managed
      conservatively with topical therapies, malignant lesions and more serious or life
      threatening drug reactions can arise during therapy, requiring prompt
      dermatologic recognition and treatment in order to improve patient outcome. Given
      the survival benefit attributed to these new agents, treating skin toxicity and
      maintaining patient quality of life is of paramount importance. Oncologists
      should be aware of the common cutaneous toxicities associated with these
      medications and should be encouraged to involve dermatologists in the
      collaborative care of advanced melanoma patients. Close communication between
      oncologists and dermatologists can help to avoid unnecessary dose reduction or
      treatment discontinuation and identify situations when treatment cessation is
      truly warranted.

PMID- 27645334
TI  - Unfavorable outcome of pediatric onset multiple sclerosis: Follow-up in the
      pediatric and adult neurology departments of one referral center, in Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of MS starting under 18 years of age ranges between 2
      10% of the total MS population. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the clinical and
      long term follow-up data of pediatric-onset cases in our institutional MS
      database. METHOD: We evaluated the clinical data from the MS database of the
      Departments of Neurology and Pediatric Neurology of Hacettepe University
      Hospital. RESULTS: The clinical features of 74 patients who had experienced the
      first attack before age 18 years comprised 3.9% of our MS population. Median age
      at onset was 15 (3, 5-17, IQR=3.63) years, and female: male ratio was 2.4. The
      most frequent symptom at onset was brainstem/cerebellar dysfunction (32.4%).
      Seventy two patients (97.3%) initially had relapsing remitting course and in the
      follow-up, 17 (23%) of them developed secondary progressive (SP) course. The
      median interval to develop SPMS course was 10 (5-21, IQR=8) years. At the last
      visit, median disease duration was 6.67 (0.83-25, IQR=9.06) years, 41 (55.4%) of
      them had EDSS of >=4. CONCLUSION: These findings illustrate the profile of our
      pediatric MS patients: almost all are relapsing-remitting initially; about one
      fourth become secondarily progressive in 10 years, and about half acquire
      disability EDSS >=4 in mean 8 years.

PMID- 27645335
TI  - Hospital admission rates for pediatric multiple sclerosis in the United States
      using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) during childhood or adolescence
      is increasingly recognized in the United States. Administrative databases
      quantify healthcare utilization as measured by hospital admissions, providing
      insight into the impact of MS in the pediatric population. OBJECTIVE: We examine
      the frequency of hospital admissions for pediatric MS in the US using the
      Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. METHODS: Data was extracted
      from the PHIS database using the ICD-9 code for MS (340.00) and reviewed to
      verify case ascertainment. Mean, median, and range values were determined for the
      number of inpatient hospitalizations per patient, number of days in the hospital,
      and cost of each encounter. A trend analysis was performed to evaluate the annual
      frequency of MS-related admissions over the study period. RESULTS: After case
      verification, the PHIS database extraction reported 2068 hospital inpatient
      encounters for 1422 unique pediatric MS patients between 2004 and 2013. The
      median number of hospitalizations per patient was 2 with a median hospital stay
      of 4 days. Admission rates for MS increased from 2.37 per 10,000 in 2004 to 4.13
      per 10,000 in 2013. CONCLUSION: The number of admissions due to pediatric MS has
      increased since the start of the PHIS database collection, concurrent with
      increased disease awareness and the establishment of dedicated pediatric MS
      centers.

PMID- 27645336
TI  - Severe dyspnoea with alteration of the diffusion capacity of the lung associated
      with fingolimod treatment.
AB  - In phase II clinical trial, fingolimod at a dose of 5.0mg (ten times higher than
      the currently approved dose) induced dyspnoea and decreased forced expiratory
      flow in some patients, probably trought an airways constriction S1P4-mediated. In
      phase III trials, respiratory adverse events associated with fingolimod treatment
      as dyspnoea, cough, oropharingeal pain and nasal congestion are reported with the
      same incidence of placebo. Here we report two cases of severe dyspnoea with
      alteration of the diffusion capacity of the lung associated with fingolimod
      treatment, which led to permanent treatment withdrawal. 

PMID- 27645337
TI  - How long does it take to diagnose patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) using
      the 2006 diagnostic criteria?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A few reports studied the time use to diagnose patient
      with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The Aim of the study is to evaluate the interval
      from disease onset to the time when patients fulfilled the NMO diagnostic
      criteria 2006 in Thai. METHOD: A retrospective study of the NMO patients visiting
      the MS clinic and related disorders at Siriraj hospital was reviewed. RESULTS:
      There were 42 definite NMO. All were female. The most common first presentations
      were optic neuritis (ON) (45.2%), transverse myelitis (TM) (35.7%), ON and TM
      (9.5%) and brainstem symptoms (9.5%), respectively. The mean age at onset of
      their ON and TM attack was 33.4 and 38.4 years, respectively. Anti-AQP4 antibody
      was presented in 82% using cell based assay. For those presented with ON, 7.1%
      reported painful eye movements and 33.3% had bilateral involvement. Brain MRI not
      compatible with MS was found in 94.87%. In who presented with TM, 87.8% revealed
      long extensive transverse myelitis (LETM) in spinal MRI. The presence of CSF
      oligoclonal band (CSF-OCB) was found in 14.6%. Our NMO patients had the average
      number of the attack of 1.5 times before the diagnosis could be made. Nearly
      fifty-five percent of NMO patients fulfilled the NMO diagnostic criteria 2006
      within 1 year after disease onset and 90.5% within 5 years CONCLUSION: About half
      of Thai patients with definite NMO were diagnosed within 1 year and approximately
      90% within 5 years from their disease onset.

PMID- 27645338
TI  - Low serum uric acid levels in patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis
      optica: An updated meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between serum uric acid (UA) levels and
      patients with MS and NMO. METHODS: The PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane
      Library database were searched for relevant studies. Pooled standardized mean
      difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as effect size.
      Subgroup analysis was performed by gender, country, disease durations, scores of
      EDSS, detection method and clinical classification. RESULTS: A total of 10 case
      control studies involving 1537 patients (1308 MS patients, 229 NMO patients) and
      908 healthy controls were included. We found the serum UA levels of patients with
      MS and NMO were significantly lower compared to those of healthy controls (SMD=
      0.52, 95%CI,-0.81 to -0.24). In the subgroup analysis, there was no significant
      difference between serum UA levels in patients and healthy controls in European
      subgroup (SMD=-0.32, 95%CI,-0.78 to 0.14). Additionally, we found that serum UA
      levels were higher in MS and NMO patients than in healthy controls in EDSS>3.5
      subgroup (SMD=-0.38, 95%CI,-0.58 to -0.19), but not in EDSS<=3.5 subgroup (SMD=
      0.35, 95%CI,-0.97 to 0.27). Patients of relapsing group had significant lower
      serum UA levels than patients of remitting group (SMD=0.70, 95%CI, 0.19-1.21).
      CONCLUSION: Patients with MS and NMO showed lower serum UA levels when compared
      with healthy controls. Serum UA might be a potential diagnostic biomarker for MS
      and NMO.

PMID- 27645339
TI  - Comparative efficacy of disease-modifying therapies for patients with relapsing
      remitting multiple sclerosis: Systematic review and network meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Randomised studies have demonstrated efficacy of disease-modifying
      therapies in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). However it is unclear
      how the magnitude of treatment efficacy varies across all currently available
      therapies. OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review and network meta-analysis to
      evaluate the comparative efficacy of available therapies in reducing relapses and
      disability progression in RRMS. METHODS: A systematic review identified 28
      randomised, placebo-controlled and direct comparative trials. A network meta
      analysis was conducted within a Bayesian framework to estimate comparative
      annualised relapse rates (ARR) and risks of disability progression (defined by
      both a 3-month, and 6-month confirmation interval). Potential sources of
      treatment-effect modification from study-level covariates and baseline risk were
      evaluated through meta-regression methods. The Surface Under the Cumulative
      RAnking curve (SUCRA) method was used to provide a ranking of treatments for each
      outcome. RESULTS: The magnitude of ARR reduction varied between 15-36% for all
      interferon-beta products, glatiramer acetate and teriflunomide, and from 50 to
      69% for alemtuzumab, dimethyl fumarate, fingolimod and natalizumab. The risk of
      disability progression (3-month) was reduced by 19-28% with interferon-beta
      products, glatiramer acetate, fingolimod and teriflunomide, by 38-45% for
      pegylated interferon-beta, dimethyl fumarate and natalizumab and by 68% with
      alemtuzumab. Broadly similar estimates for the risk of disability progression (6
      month), with the exception of interferon-beta-1b 250mcg which was much more
      efficacious based on this definition. Alemtuzumab and natalizumab had the highest
      SUCRA scores (97% and 95% respectively) for ARR, while ranking for disability
      progression varied depending on the definition of the outcome. Interferon-beta-1b
      250mcg ranked among the most efficacious treatments for disability progression
      confirmed after six months (92%) and among the least efficacious when the outcome
      was confirmed after three months (30%). No significant modification of relative
      treatment effects was identified from study-level covariates or baseline risk.
      CONCLUSION: Compared with placebo, clear reductions in ARR with disease-modifying
      therapies were accompanied by more uncertain changes in disability progression.
      The magnitude of the reduction and the uncertainty associated with treatment
      effects varied between DMTs. While natalizumab and alemtuzumab demonstrated
      consistently high ranking across outcomes, with older interferon-beta and
      glatiramer acetate products ranking lowest, variation in disability progression
      definitions lead to variation in the relative ranking of treatments. Rigorously
      conducted comparative studies are required to fully evaluate the comparative
      treatment effects of disease modifying therapies for RRMS.

PMID- 27645340
TI  - Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Health District III, Murcia, Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) varies throughout the
      world, and available epidemiological data suggest a progressively increasing
      prevalence of MS in Spain. The objective of this study was to calculate MS
      prevalence in Health District III of the autonomous community of Murcia in Spain.
      METHODS: This is an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study. The
      prevalence of MS in Health District III in the Region of Murcia, which includes
      the municipalities of Lorca, Totana, Aguilas, Puerto Lumbreras and Aledo, was
      calculated from the total population (171,040 inhabitants), and among native
      Spanish citizens only (137,659 persons). Healthcare and demographic data were
      obtained from three sources: 1) OMI-AP: the local primary care computer system
      containing the medical records of all subscribers; 2) the medical record database
      of the Hospital Rafael Mendez (the single hospital in the district); and 3) the
      records of the AEMA III Multiple Sclerosis Association to which patients from
      this healthcare district belong. Data from these three sources were combined to
      check the accuracy and completeness of the patient records. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of MS among the general population of this district, including non
      Spanish individuals, was 71.9 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI=60-85). Prevalence
      among the native Spanish population was 82.0 per 100,000 (95% CI=68-98).
      Considering prevalence by sex, it was 118.1 per 100,000 (95% CI: 95-146) in the
      female native Spanish population, and 45.4 per 100,000 (95% CI: 31-64) in the
      male native Spanish population. The prevalence in the native Spanish population
      in this district was calculated by sex and age (grouped by decades). A peak was
      observed among women aged between 20 and 29 years: 234.2 per 100,000 inhabitants
      (95% CI: 151-361). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the population in this
      healthcare district presents a risk of MS similar to that recently reported in
      other regions of Spain, which is higher than in previous decades.

PMID- 27645341
TI  - Safety and tolerability profile of daclizumab in patients with relapsing
      remitting multiple sclerosis: An integrated analysis of clinical studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Daclizumab has been evaluated in multicentre, randomised, double
      blind studies for the treatment of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple
      sclerosis (RRMS). Safety and tolerability are key considerations in MS treatment
      selection, as they influence adherence to medication. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the
      safety of daclizumab in patients with RRMS from an integrated analysis of six
      clinical studies. METHODS: Patients treated with at least one dose of
      subcutaneous daclizumab 150mg or 300mg monthly in three completed and three
      ongoing clinical studies were included in this integrated analysis. Cumulative
      incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) was the primary endpoint.
      RESULTS: This analysis included 2236 patients with 5214 patient-years of exposure
      to daclizumab. The cumulative incidence of any AE was 84% and of any serious AE
      excluding MS relapse was 16%. The incidences of AEs when evaluated by 6-month
      intervals remained stable over the 6.5 years of maximum follow-up. Most AEs were
      mild or moderate in severity. An important safety concern associated with
      daclizumab therapy involved hepatic AEs (16%) and serum transaminase elevations
      at least three times the upper limit of normal (10%), most of which were
      asymptomatic, self-limiting, and non-recurring. Cumulative incidences of
      cutaneous, infectious, and gastrointestinal AEs were 33%, 59%, and 25%,
      respectively; most events either resolved spontaneously or were treated
      successfully with standard medical interventions and did not result in
      discontinuation of treatment. CONCLUSION: This integrated analysis demonstrates
      that treatment of RRMS with daclizumab for periods of up to 6.5 years is
      associated with an acceptable safety profile with no evidence of cumulative
      toxicity over time.

PMID- 27645342
TI  - Cryptococcal meningitis after fingolimod discontinuation in a patient with
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Fingolimod (Gilenya, Novartis) is an oral sphingosine-1-phosphate analogue used
      in the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Fingolimod treatment is
      associated with relative lymphopenia and was associated with an increased risk of
      herpes infection in clinical trials. In the post-marketing setting, fingolimod
      has been associated with several cases of cryptococcal meningitis, recently
      prompting an update to its prescribing information. To date, all cases have been
      associated with active treatment with fingolimod. In this report, we describe the
      first case of cryptococcal meningitis diagnosed after fingolimod discontinuation.

PMID- 27645343
TI  - Interferon beta associated nephropathy in a Multiple Sclerosis patient: A case
      and review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interferon beta (IFN beta) subtypes are largely used as
      immunomodulatory agents in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) treatment. While being
      generally well tolerated, they can cause various side effects. Adverse effects
      related to kidney are rarely reported. CASE REPORT: We report a 32 years old male
      patient who developed nephrotic syndrome while receiving IFN beta for MS. Biopsy
      showed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. He went into remisson after cessation
      of drug and with the aid of angiotensin II antagonists. Here, we report this case
      and a review of similar cases reported in literature. CONCLUSIONS: Although it's
      a rare adverse effect and tend to show good prognosis physicians should pay
      careful attention to symptoms and findings of nephropathy during follow ups of
      patients under treatment with these agents.

PMID- 27645344
TI  - Influenza vaccination increases anti-JC virus antibody levels during treatment
      with Natalizumab: Case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natalizumab (NTZ) is an effective therapy for multiple sclerosis
      (MS). A common concern related to NTZ therapy is the risk of developing
      progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). CLINICAL CASE: A patient that
      after seven years on NTZ therapy, testing on every 3 months repeated evaluations
      negative for anti-JCV status became positive (>3 units) 4 weeks after receiving
      influenza vaccine. Despite continuous therapy on NTZ for additional 2 years her
      anti-JCV index progressively declined to a level 0.6 units CONCLUSION: Our case
      raises the consideration to include vaccination as a factor that can affect JCV
      index and should be tallied during NTZ treatment mitigation.

PMID- 27645345
TI  - Women's experiences of menopause in an online MS cohort: A case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are postmenopausal.
      Previously reported findings from an online MS cohort suggested that earlier,
      surgical menopause may be associated with higher patient-reported MS severity
      scores. OBJECTIVE: To explore experiences of menopause in a series of MS women
      responding to a reproductive survey from an online research platform,
      PatientsLikeMe (PLM). METHODS: The free-text responses from a detailed
      reproductive history survey deployed to PLM members were analyzed using grounded
      theory approach. RESULTS: Of the 208 free text responses, 127 responses related
      to menopause. Five themes emerged: (1) perimenopausal onset of MS symptoms, (2)
      overlap of MS and menopausal symptoms, (3) MS exacerbations and pseudo
      exacerbations triggered by hot flashes, (4) escalation of disease course after
      menopause, including increasing fatigue, cognitive disturbance, and other
      symptoms; and (5) effect of HRT on MS symptoms. Some women reported no effects of
      menopause or HRT. CONCLUSION: Given an aging population and a median age of
      individuals currently living with MS very close to menopausal age in many
      cohorts, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of menopause on MS
      course. Qualitative responses in this study illustrated several specific themes
      that require quantitative testing in clinic-based cohorts.

PMID- 27645346
TI  - Reduced fecal GABA levels in multiple sclerosis patients.

PMID- 27645347
TI  - Specific MRI findings help distinguish acute transverse myelitis of Neuromyelitis
      Optica from spinal cord infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is substantial overlap between MRI of acute spinal cord lesions
      from neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and spinal cord infarct (SCI) in clinical
      practice. However, early differentiation is important since management approaches
      to minimize morbidity from NMO or SCI differ significantly. OBJECTIVE: To
      identify MRI features at initial presentation that may help to differentiate NMO
      acute myelitis from SCI. METHODS: 2 board-certified neuroradiologists, blinded to
      final diagnosis, retrospectively characterized MRI features at symptom onset for
      subjects with serologically-proven NMO (N=13) or SCI (N=11) from a single
      institution. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors
      associated with NMO or SCI. RESULTS: SCI was more common in men and Caucasians,
      while NMO was more common in non-Caucasian women (P<0.05). MRI features
      associated with NMO acute myelitis (P<0.05) included location within 7-cm of
      cervicomedullary junction; lesion extending to pial surface; 'bright spotty
      lesions' on axial T2 MRI; and gadolinium enhancement. Patient's age, lesion
      length and cross-sectional area, cord expansion, and the "owl's eyes" sign did
      not differ between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Along with patient
      demographic characteristics, lesion features on MRI, including lesion location,
      extension to pial border and presence of 'bright spotty lesion' can help
      differentiate acute myelitis of NMO from SCI in the acute setting.

PMID- 27645348
TI  - Validation of the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis
      (BICAMS) in Greek population with multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is experienced by about 50% of patients with
      Multiple Sclerosis (MS) worldwide and affects their employment, disease
      management and quality of life in general. The Brief International Cognitive
      assessment for MS (BICAMS) is a brief, practical and potentially universal
      battery for cognitive impairment in MS patients. It consists of three tests: the
      Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the California Verbal Learning Test-2 (CVLT
      2) and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R). OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of this study was to validate the BICAMS in Greek MS patients and
      controls. METHODS: Forty four MS patients and seventy nine healthy control (HC)
      participants were recruited and tested. They were group matched for age,
      education, gender and also premorbid cognitive reserve. All of them completed the
      three tests of the BICAMS battery. Instead of CVLT-2, the Greek validated form
      (Greek Verbal Learning Test, GVLT), was used. In addition, cognitive reserve was
      assessed using the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq) standardized for
      the Greek population. RESULTS: Significant difference was found in the
      performance of the two groups in all tests (p<0.0001, p<0.02, p<0.009 for SDMT,
      GVLT and BVMT-R respectively). Test-retest reliability was good for all the
      tests. Based on the criterion of 1 or more tests below the 5th percentile of
      healthy controls performance, 47% of patients were found impaired. CONCLUSIONS:
      The study provides validation of BICAMS in Greek population and therefore
      facilitates the use of this battery in clinical practice and in future studies of
      MS patients in Greece.

PMID- 27645349
TI  - How global MS prevalence is changing: A retrospective chart review in the United
      Arab Emirates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder leading to central
      nervous system inflammation. Traditionally, reported MS prevalence rates in the
      Middle East are low. Few studies include age/sex standardization giving an
      unreliable estimate of regional prevalence. OBJECTIVE: to determine the
      prevalence, incidence and characteristics of MS in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
      Emirates. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the four largest
      hospitals in Abu Dhabi Emirate between 2010 and 2014. Data collected included MS
      type, age and symptoms at onset, expanded disability status scale, treatment,
      laboratory findings and family history. RESULTS: 510 patients were identified
      consisting of 318 (62.2%) Emiratis and 192 (37.6%) expatriates. Total crude
      prevalence rate was 18/100,000 (95% CI: 10-30/100,000). Crude prevalence rate in
      Emiratis was 57.09 (95% CI:50 to 63/100,000) but increased to 64.44 (95% CI: 57
      to 72/100,000) when age standardized. Age-standardized incidence rate in Emiratis
      was 6.0 MS cases per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: 5.5 to 6.5 cases per 100,000
      person-years). CONCLUSION: At 64.44/100,000, the Abu Dhabi Emirati population has
      one of the highest, most reliable prevalence rate on the Arab peninsula. Age/sex
      standardized prevalence rates, uncommonly reported in the Middle East, should be
      standard for all prevalence studies.

PMID- 27645350
TI  - Low-fat, plant-based diet in multiple sclerosis: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role that dietary interventions can play in multiple sclerosis
      (MS) management is of huge interest amongst patients and researchers but data
      evaluating this is limited. Possible effects of a very-low-fat, plant-based
      dietary intervention on MS related progression and disease activity as measured
      by brain imaging and MS related symptoms have not been evaluated in a randomized
      controlled trial. Despite use of disease modifying therapies (DMT), poor quality
      of life (QOL) in MS patients can be a significant problem with fatigue being one
      of the common disabling symptoms. Effective treatment options for fatigue remain
      limited. Emerging evidence suggests diet and vascular risk factors including
      obesity and hyperlipidemia may influence MS disease progression and improve QOL.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate adherence, safety and effects of a very-low-fat, plant
      based diet (Diet) on brain MRI, clinical [MS relapses and disability, body mass
      index (BMI)] and metabolic (blood lipids and insulin) outcomes, QOL [Short Form
      36 (SF-36)], and fatigue [Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Modified Fatigue
      Impact Scale (MFIS)], in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). METHODS: This was a
      randomized-controlled, assessor-blinded, one-year long study with 61 participants
      assigned to either Diet (N=32) or wait-listed (Control, N=29) group. RESULTS: The
      mean age (years) [Control-40.9+/-8.48; Diet-40.8+/-8.86] and the mean disease
      duration (years) [Control -5.3+/-3.86; Diet-5.33+/-3.63] were comparable between
      the two groups. There was a slight difference between the two study groups in the
      baseline mean expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score [Control-2.22+/-0.90;
      Diet-2.72+/-1.05]. Eight subjects withdrew (Diet, N=6; Control, N=2). Adherence
      to the study diet based on monthly Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was
      excellent with the diet group showing significant difference in the total fat
      caloric intake compared to the control group [total fat intake/total calories
      averaged ~15% (Diet) versus ~40% (Control)]. The two groups showed no differences
      in brain MRI outcomes, number of MS relapses or disability at 12 months. The diet
      group showed improvements at six months in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (Delta=-11.99mg/dL; p=0.031), total cholesterol (Delta=-13.18mg/dL; p=0.027) and
      insulin (Delta=-2.82mg/dL; p=0.0067), mean monthly reductions in BMI (Rate=
      1.125kg/m2 per month; p<0.001) and fatigue [FSS (Rate=-0.0639 points/month;
      p=0.0010); MFIS (Rate=-0.233 points/month; p=0.0011)] during the 12-month period.
      CONCLUSIONS: While a very-low fat, plant-based diet was well adhered to and
      tolerated, it resulted in no significant improvement on brain MRI, relapse rate
      or disability as assessed by EDSS scores in subjects with RRMS over one year. The
      diet group however showed significant improvements in measures of fatigue, BMI
      and metabolic biomarkers. The study was powered to detect only very large effects
      on MRI activity so smaller but clinically meaningful effects cannot be excluded.
      The diet intervention resulted in a beneficial effect on the self-reported
      outcome of fatigue but these results should be interpreted cautiously as a wait
      list control group may not completely control for a placebo effect and there was
      a baseline imbalance on fatigue scores between the groups. If maintained, the
      improved lipid profile and BMI could yield long-term vascular health benefits.
      Longer studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better understand the long
      term health benefits of this diet.

PMID- 27645351
TI  - Increasing prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
AB  - In 1996, the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) for the metropolitan area of
      Buenos Aires using the capture-recapture method was estimated to be between 14
      and 19.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The aim of this study was to update the
      prevalence to 2014 following the same methodology. METHODS: Gran Buenos Aires is
      the denomination that refers to the megalopolis comprised by the autonomous city
      of Buenos Aires and the surrounding conurbation of the province of Buenos Aires.
      The study was carried out taking December 2014 as the prevalence month. We used
      the capture-recapture method to estimate the prevalence of MS cross-matching
      registries from 6 MS Centers from the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. Log
      linear model Poisson regression was used to estimate the number of affected MS
      patients not detected by any of the 6 sources considered. RESULTS: 1035
      registries were obtained from the 6 lists from 910 different patients detected.
      The population of the area based on 2010 census was 12,806,866, the number of MS
      cases estimated amongst source interactions were 4901. The estimated prevalence
      was 38.2 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI 36.1-41.2). CONCLUSION: The study is an
      update almost 20 years after the first one in the area showing a significant
      increase in the previous reported prevalence. Our findings are in line with
      previous studies performed in other regions of the world.

PMID- 27645352
TI  - A placebo randomized controlled study to test the efficacy and safety of GNbAC1,
      a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of multiple sclerosis - Rationale and
      design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: GNbAC1, a humanized monoclonal antibody, is an innovative treatment
      currently in development for multiple sclerosis (MS) which, contrary to the
      immunomodulation/immunosuppressive mechanism of action of most of the MS drugs,
      targets specifically a protein of endogenous retroviral origin supposed to be
      critical in MS pathogenesis. METHODS: This trial is a randomized placebo
      controlled 4-arm study with the objective of demonstrating the efficacy of
      repeated doses of GNbAC1 on the cumulative number of T1 Gd-enhancing lesions
      measured from Week 12 to 24 in patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). Two
      hundred sixty patients with RRMS are planned to be included. Three doses of
      GNbAC1 will be tested versus placebo: 6mg/kg, 12mg/kg and 18mg/kg, administered
      intravenously, with 4-week administration intervals. The design is based on the
      classic 24-week placebo-controlled repeated brain MRI trial design (Period 1),
      with an extension of 24 weeks during which placebo patients will be re-randomized
      to one of the three doses of GNbAC1 to assess efficacy and safety of prolonged
      treatment of GNbAC1 (Period 2). The primary endpoint is the cumulative number of
      new Gadolinium enhanced T1 lesions measured using repeated brain magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) scans from Week 12 to 24; secondary endpoints, including
      additional MRI and clinical endpoints, will be assessed at the end of both
      Periods 1 and 2. Pharmacokinetics and biomarkers will be assessed in serum in all
      patients at several time points and also in cerebrospinal fluid in a subgroup of
      patients. To alleviate potential ethical concerns regarding placebo
      administration in MS, an early escape from trial will be implemented for patients
      with a worsening clinical condition during trial. CONCLUSION: This dose-finding
      study should provide the first proof-of-concept of an innovative therapeutic
      approach for MS. The constraints of using a placebo group in RRMS patients while
      optimizing the trial power to evidence a new mechanism of action is discussed.

PMID- 27645353
TI  - Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder coinciding with hematological immune
      disease: A case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recently defined consensus criteria for the diagnosis of
      neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) allow establishing the diagnosis
      in patients without elevated AQP4-Ab and optic nerve involvement. According to
      the new extended definition, NMOSD is closely associated with extensive spinal
      cord inflammation occurring in the course of systemic autoimmune diseases as
      sarcoidosis or lupus erythematodes. NMOSD occurring in the course of
      hematological disease have not yet been reported in the literature. CASE REPORT:
      A 38 year old male subsequently developed thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia and
      agranulocytosis over a 23 month period. Three months after an episode of
      agranulocytosis, he noticed ascending sensory disturbances and progressive
      weakness of his legs. Within two days, symptoms worsened to give almost complete
      paraplegia and loss of sensation below a midthoracic level. MRI revealed signal
      hyperintensity and edema in T2-weighted sequences reaching from the 2nd cervical
      to the 9th thoracic vertebral body. Two years later, he developed a second
      episode with lesions in the spinal cord and periventricular areas of brain stem
      and thalamus. CONCLUSION: The relapsing time course and the topographical pattern
      of central nervous system lesions restricted to axial brain structures and the
      spinal cord fulfill the criteria that have recently been defined for AQP4-Ab
      negative NMO-spectrum disease. Systematic studies on the association of
      hematological autoimmune phenomena and spinal cord disease are needed to clarify
      whether this coincidence is just a casual phenomenon or whether it points to a
      yet undiscovered but perhaps therapeutically interesting link of immunological
      mechanisms affecting both organ systems.

PMID- 27645354
TI  - Shift work at young age is associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis
      in a Danish population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest an important role for environmental
      factors in developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Furthermore several studies have
      indicated that the effect of environmental factors may be especially pronounced
      in adolescents. Recently only one study investigated and found that shift work at
      young age is associated with an increased risk of developing MS. In this study we
      focused on the effect of shift work in the vulnerable period between 15-19 years.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between shift
      work at young age and the risk of developing MS. METHODS: We performed a large
      case-control study including 1723 patients diagnosed with MS and 4067 controls.
      MS patients were recruited from the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Biobank and
      controls from The Danish Blood Donor Study. Information on working patterns and
      lifestyle factors was obtained using a comprehensive lifestyle-environmental
      factor questionnaire with participants enrolled between 2009 and 2014. Logistic
      regression models were used to investigate the association between shift work at
      age 15-19 years and the subsequent risk of MS and were controlled for effects due
      to established MS risk factors. RESULTS: We found a statistically significant
      association when total numbers of night shifts were compared with non-shift
      workers. For every additional 100 night shifts the odds ratio (OR) for MS was
      1.20 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-1.34, p=0.001). Increasing intensity of
      shift work also increased MS risk. For every additional night per month the OR
      was 1.04 (95% CI, 1.01-1.06, p=0.002). Duration of shift work in years was not
      associated with risk of MS. CONCLUSION: This study supports a statistically
      significant association between shift work at age 15-19 years and MS risk.

PMID- 27645355
TI  - CD20 therapies in multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis - Targeting T or B cells?
AB  - MS is widely considered to be a T cell-mediated disease although T cell
      immunotherapy has consistently failed, demonstrating distinct differences with
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS in which T
      cell therapies are effective. Accumulating evidence has highlighted that B cells
      also play key role in MS pathogenesis. The high frequency of oligoclonal
      antibodies in the CSF, the localization of immunoglobulin in brain lesions and
      pathogenicity of antibodies originally pointed to the pathogenic role of B cells
      as autoantibody producing plasma cells. However, emerging evidence reveal that B
      cells also act as antigen presenting cells, T cell activators and cytokine
      producers suggesting that the strong efficacy of anti-CD20 antibody therapy
      observed in people with MS may reduce disease progression by several different
      mechanisms. Here we review the evidence and mechanisms by which B cells
      contribute to disease in MS compared to findings in the EAE model. 

PMID- 27645356
TI  - Study of subclinical ocular motor disorders by video oculography in patients with
      clinically isolated syndromes.

PMID- 27645357
TI  - Considerations for characterizing the risk of PML in natalizumab-treated
      patients.

PMID- 27645358
TI  - Three cases of herpes zoster radiculitis in MS patients treated with natalizumab.
AB  - Natalizumab was the first FDA-approved monoclonal antibody for the treatment of
      multiple sclerosis (MS). We report on 3 natalizumab-treated patients who
      developed herpes zoster infections. In addition to progressive multifocal
      leukoencephelopathy, other opportunistic infections have been rarely reported
      during Natalizumab treatment. We believe that clinicians need heightened
      awareness of these infections in view of the risks of serious complications. 

PMID- 27645359
TI  - Serological prevalence of celiac disease in Brazilian population of multiple
      sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and myelitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Comorbidity of celiac disease with demyelinating diseases of the central
      nervous system has been reported since the 1960s. The objective of this study was
      to determine the serological prevalence of celiac disease in the largest series
      of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, or myelitis.
      METHODS: A prevalence study was conducted with patients evaluated at Sarah
      Network of Rehabilitation Hospitals between March 2012 and September 2013. They
      were previously diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, or
      idiopathic myelitis. The serum levels of antibodies against tissue
      transglutaminase and endomysium were assessed. RESULTS: Of the 379 patients
      evaluated, 249 (65.70%) were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, 37 (9.56%) with
      neuromyelitis optica, and 96 (24.54%) with idiopathic myelitis. Two patients
      (0.53%), one with multiple sclerosis and other with myelitis, tested positive for
      both antibodies. CONCLUSION: Our study do not confirm the relationship between
      celiac serological antibodies with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and
      inflammatory myelitis of an unknown etiology.

PMID- 27645361
TI  - Reporting quality of randomized-controlled trials in multiple sclerosis from 2000
      to 2015, based on CONSORT statement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the best tool to evaluate the
      effectiveness of clinical interventions. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of
      Reporting Trials) statement is an evidence-based approach to improve the quality
      of RCTs reporting. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reporting quality of published RCTs
      concerning multiple sclerosis from 2000 to 2015 according to a checklist based on
      the CONSORT statement. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched for English
      language RCTs involving patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Trials were
      considered eligible when participants were randomly assigned to at least two
      medicinal treatment arms and included patients with MS. Quality of reporting was
      assessed using a 39-item questionnaire based on the CONSORT checklist. Articles
      were grouped in three 5-year periods and comparisons were made using descriptive
      statistics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The search identified 102 eligible articles
      for analysis. 20 of the 38 items of the checklist (52.6%) were addressed in 75%
      or more of the studies. Reporting of more than 75% of CONSORT items (>75% CONSORT
      compliance) was increased during the three five-year time periods from 2000 to
      2015 (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Quality of reporting in RCTs focusing on multiple
      sclerosis is showing improvement over time, but still remains unsatisfactory.
      Further improvement of reporting is necessary to assess the validity of clinical
      research.

PMID- 27645360
TI  - Lack of magnetic resonance imaging lesion activity as a treatment target in
      multiple sclerosis: An evaluation using electronically collected outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The appropriate treatment target in multiple sclerosis (MS) is
      unclear. Lack of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesion activity, a component of
      the no evidence of disease activity concept, has been proposed as a treatment
      target in MS. We used our MS database to investigate whether aggressively
      pursuing MRI stability by changing disease modifying therapy (DMT) when MRI
      activity is observed leads to better clinical and imaging outcomes. METHODS: The
      Knowledge Program (KP) is a database linked to our electronic medical record
      allowing capture of patient and clinician reported outcomes. Through KP query and
      chart review, we identified all relapsing-remitting MS patients visiting between
      1 January 2008 and 31 December 2014 with active MRIs despite DMT. Propensity
      modeling based on demographic and disease characteristics was used to match DMT
      switchers to non-switchers. KP and MRI outcomes were compared 18 months after the
      active MRI using mixed-effects linear regression models. RESULTS: We identified
      417 patients who met criteria for our analysis. After propensity matching, 78
      switchers and 91 non-switchers were analyzed. There was no difference in clinical
      or radiologic outcomes between these groups at 18 months. CONCLUSIONS: We did not
      find a short-term benefit of changing DMT to pursue MRI stability.

PMID- 27645362
TI  - A neurophysiological study of facial numbness in multiple sclerosis: Integration
      with clinical data and imaging findings.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To integrate neurophysiological findings with clinical and imaging
      data in a consecutive series of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients developing
      facial numbness during the course of an MS attack. METHODS: Nine consecutive
      patients with MS and recent-onset facial numbness were studied clinically, imaged
      with routine MRI, and assessed neurophysiologically with trigeminal somatosensory
      evoked potential (TSEP), blink reflex (BR), masseter reflex (MR), facial nerve
      conduction, facial muscle and masseter EMG studies. RESULTS: All patients had
      unilateral facial hypoesthesia on examination and lesions in the ipsilateral
      pontine tegmentum on MRI. All patients had abnormal TSEPs upon stimulation of the
      affected side, excepting one that was tested following remission of numbness. BR
      was the second most sensitive neurophysiological method with 6/9 examinations
      exhibiting an abnormal R1 component. The MR was abnormal in 3/6 patients, always
      on the affected side. Facial conduction and EMG studies were normal in all
      patients but one. CONCLUSIONS: Facial numbness was always related to abnormal
      TSEPs. A concomitant R1 abnormality on BR allowed localization of the responsible
      pontine lesion, which closely corresponded with MRI findings. We conclude that
      neurophysiological assessment of MS patients with facial numbness is a sensitive
      tool, which complements MRI, and can improve lesion localization.

PMID- 27645363
TI  - Utilization of PET imaging in differential diagnostics between a tumefactive
      multiple sclerosis lesion and low-grade glioma.
AB  - We present a case where a 30-year-old man with a history of combined MS and
      Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT I) disease was additionally diagnosed and treated for
      grade II glioma (astrocytoma). Tumefactive MS and gliomas are sometimes difficult
      to distinguish from one another based on conventional magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). In our case, positron emission tomography (PET) scans with(11)C-methionine
      ((11)C-MET) and (11)C-PK11195 radioligands were performed to aid in differential
      diagnostics. The diagnosis was confirmed finally by brain biopsy. The usefulness
      of PET imaging in differential diagnostics between tumefactive MS and glioma is
      discussed. 

PMID- 27645364
TI  - Rethinking the importance of paroxysmal and unusual symptoms as first clinical
      manifestation of multiple sclerosis: They do matter.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Paroxysmal (PS) and unusual symptoms (US) as initial manifestation of
      multiple sclerosis (MS) are rare and often thought to indicate "benign" MS.
      OBJECTIVE: To investigate prevalence and clinical disease course of patients
      experiencing PS or US as first clinical manifestation. METHODS: Clinical, MRI and
      cerebrospinal fluid data of patients presenting with PS and US were obtained
      retrospectively and compared to patients with classical bout onset (CS). RESULTS:
      In a cohort of 1396 relapsing onset patients, 15 (1.1%) were identified as
      presenting with PS and 7 (0.5%) with US. Groups were comparable regarding gender,
      age at onset and intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis (p>0.05). During a mean
      follow-up period of 13.6 years, all patients presenting with PS or US converted
      to CDMS (mean duration 3.4 years; 95% CI 1.9-4.8) as compared to 1374 patients
      (94%) presenting with CS (mean duration 3.2 years; 95% CI 3.0-3.4; p=0.759).
      CONCLUSION: In a cohort of 1396 MS patients, 1.6% presented with PS or US at
      disease onset. Irrespective of the initial transient symptoms, patients were at
      the same risk of developing CDMS as CS patients, thereby underlining the
      importance of identifying PS and US as possible first clinical symptoms of MS.

PMID- 27645365
TI  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) reactivation during fingolimod treatment for relapsing
      and remitting multiple sclerosis.
AB  - We here report a case involving a 38-year-old female with relapsing and remitting
      multiple sclerosis who developed reactivation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) during
      administration of fingolimod for 16 months. She had been previously treated for
      chronic hepatitis C with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, and kept an
      undetectable HCV-RNA state for more than 4 years before fingolimod starting.
      Although the increased risk for viral reactivation, for example of herpes zoster
      virus and varicella-zoster virus, during fingolimod treatment is known, this is,
      to our knowledge, the first case report of HCV reappearance. 

PMID- 27645366
TI  - Immunologic mechanisms of fingolimod and the role of immunosenescence in the risk
      of cryptococcal infection: A case report and review of literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fingolimod is a disease-modifying agent used in the treatment of
      relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis. In MS clinical studies, the overall rate
      of infections in fingolimod group was overall similar to placebo, except for
      slightly more common lower respiratory tract infections and to a lesser extent
      HSV. Recently, an increasing number of cryptococcal infections associated with a
      long-term use of this medication have been reported. METHODS: We reviewed
      literature for cases of cryptococcal infection associated with the use of
      fingolimod and reported a case at our institution, as well as carefully evaluated
      the established immune mechanisms of the medication and discussed new insights
      into its short-term and long-term immunologic effects that may become important
      in the context of risk of infection. RESULTS: Unique characteristics of
      cryptococcal pathogen, its immune escape mechanisms, its ability to establish a
      latent infection with a potential for later reactivation, fingolimod's effects on
      many lines of immune system, both quantitatively and qualitatively, duration of
      therapy, and long-term effects of fingolimod, not previously described, in
      conjunction with effects of natural immunosenescence of the patient population,
      that appears to be most at risk, may be meaningful in further understanding the
      risk of infection with long-term use of fingolimod in people of older age.

PMID- 27645368
TI  - Editors' Welcome.

PMID- 27645367
TI  - Heterogeneous depression trajectories in multiple sclerosis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trajectories of depression over time may be heterogeneous in Multiple
      Sclerosis (MS) patients. Describing these trajectories will help clinicians
      understand better the progression of depression in MS patients to aid in patient
      care decisions. METHODS: Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was applied to 3507
      MS patients using an electronic health records (EHR) data base to identify
      subgroups of MS patients based on self-reported depression screening (PHQ-9).
      Latent trajectory classes were used for group comparisons based on baseline
      clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Three subgroups were found characterized by
      high (10.0% [of participants]), wavering above and below moderate (26.2%) and low
      and variable (63.8%) depression level trajectories. The subpopulation
      trajectories, respectively, were also characterized by high, moderate and low MS
      disability at baseline. In contrast, the overall average trajectory was slightly
      declining and below the moderate depression threshold. CONCLUSION: The LCGA
      approach described in this paper and applied to MS patients provides a template
      for improved use of an EHR data base for understanding heterogeneous depression
      screening trajectories. Clinicians may use such information to more closely
      monitor patients that are expected to maintain high or unstable depression
      levels.

PMID- 27645369
TI  - Production of mental state terms in narratives of Mandarin-speaking children with
      autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - This study investigates the ability of Mandarin-speaking children with autism
      spectrum disorder (ASD) to use mental state terms in narratives. The narrative
      data are from 16 children with ASD and 16 typically developing children, matched
      on language and cognitive abilities. The narratives were elicited using Frog,
      where are you? Participants' use of lexical expressions referring to emotion,
      cognition, desire and perception was examined. The 'deer episode' of the story
      was chosen to analyse children's ability to talk about misrepresentation. The
      results reveal that the two groups of children performed comparably in basic
      narrative measures, overall use of mental state terms and references to the
      misrepresentation. The outcomes underscore the importance of examining different
      types of mental state terms separately. These findings are discussed in relation
      to linguistic and cognitive factors in mental-state attribution.

PMID- 27645371
TI  - Tracking children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who abandoned therapy:
      Experience, challenges, parental perspectives, and impact of treatment subsidies
      and intensified counseling.
AB  - Refusal for treatment and therapy abandonment are important reasons for
      unfavorable outcome of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in resource
      poor countries. The present study, conducted on children with ALL whose treatment
      was abandoned, attempted to track all these children to ascertain the causes and
      outcome of therapy abandonment/refusal. In order to improve outcome of ALL,
      measures to prevent abandonment were introduced in the form of treatment
      subsidies and intensified multistage counseling. Of the 77 (of 418) children
      abandoning therapy, 17 (22%) refused upfront, whereas the rest abandoned during
      various phases of chemotherapy. Only 39 (50.6%) of these 77 families could be
      subsequently contacted. Financial problems, too many dependents at home, and
      wrong perceptions about cancer led to abandonment in majority. Children
      abandoning treatment before completion of induction had a significantly shorter
      survival than who abandoned post induction (P < .0001). Intensified
      preabandonment counseling and subsidized treatment led to significant reduction
      in abandonment rates (P < .0001).

PMID- 27645372
TI  - Impact of the front-of-pack 5-colour nutrition label (5-CNL) on the nutritional
      quality of purchases: an experimental study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling has received growing
      attention from public health authorities, as a tool to promote healthier diets in
      the population. Recently, the French Health law introduced the principle of
      implementing a FOP nutrition labelling system. A scientific proposal has put
      forward the 5-Colour Nutrition Label (5-CNL), a five-category colour-coded
      summary system supported by research suggesting that it is well perceived and
      understood in the population. Our objective was to investigate the impact of the
      5-CNL on the nutritional quality of purchases in experimental supermarkets.
      METHODS: Participants (n = 901) were recruited using quota sampling between
      September and December 2015 and evenly distributed in three experimental
      conditions: 1) control situation; 2) Application of the 5-CNL on all food
      products in three specific sections: breakfast cereals, sweet biscuits and
      appetizers; 3) introduction of the 5-CNL accompanied by consumer information on
      use and understanding of the label. Main outcome was the nutritional quality of
      the shopping cart in the three sections combined, measured using the United
      Kingdom Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSA score). RESULTS:
      Significantly higher mean nutritional quality of the purchased items per section
      were observed for the sweet biscuits category in the intervention combining the
      label + communication (overall FSA score 21.01 vs. 20.23, P = 0.02). No
      significant effects were observed for the general mean over the three sections
      combined or other food categories. The results observed on purchase may be
      related to the high level of recall, self-reported and objective understanding of
      the label that were observed in the intervention groups as they are pre
      requisites for use of a label in purchasing situations. CONCLUSION: These results
      suggest that the 5-CNL FOP nutrition label may have a limited impact on
      purchases, leading to healthier food choices in some food categories such as
      sweet biscuits. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered on
      Clinicaltrials.gov under the number NCT02546505 .

PMID- 27645375
TI  - Special considerations concerning the use of antiretroviral drugs in children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Antiretroviral therapy is extremely effective in both children and
      adults infected with HIV. Treatment indications have rapidly expanded; ideally,
      with rare exceptions, all infected children should now be treated. Areas covered:
      The use of antiretroviral drugs in children is based largely on extrapolations
      from experience with adult patients. Pharmacokinetic studies are required in
      addition to formal studies, which are difficult to conduct in pediatric
      situations, extending from birth to adolescence. However, despite often
      inadequate galenic formulation, treatment of children is easier than generally
      thought. No major or irreversible toxicity has been observed with the latest
      generation of molecules. Several observations suggest that very early treatment,
      beginning shortly after birth, provides better long-term immunological control of
      infection. Expert commentary: All HIV-infected children should be treated with
      antiretroviral drugs. Manufacturers should propose appropriate dosage forms,
      including combined forms in particular, and should support pharmacological and
      tolerance studies in pediatric patients of various ages. Very early treatment
      maximizes the chances of long-term immunological control.

PMID- 27645378
TI  - Comparison of the Safety Profiles of Pegylated Interferon alpha-2a and alpha-2b
      Administered in Combination with Ribavirin for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection: A
      Real-World Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - This study compares the safety profiles of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alpha
      2a and alpha-2b administered in combination with ribavirin, based on the variable
      of time to withdrawal from treatment due to adverse events. We conducted a real
      world retrospective cohort study using the Japanese interferon database. Based on
      eligibility criteria, individuals with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection
      were identified in the database covering the period December 2009 to August 2015.
      The primary outcome measure was defined as difference in time to withdrawal from
      treatment due to adverse events between patients receiving PEG-IFN alpha-2a
      combined with ribavirin and those receiving PEG-IFN alpha-2b combined with
      ribavirin. The difference was analyzed using the multivariate Cox proportional
      hazards regression model. A frailty model was also applied to consider regional
      (prefectural) variation. After eligibility evaluation, 11058 individuals were
      included in the analysis. 3774 were treated with PEG-IFN alpha-2a, and 6764 with
      PEG-IFN alpha-2b, with 11.84 and 12.30% respectively withdrawing from treatment
      due to adverse events. The Cox model showed no significant difference between the
      two groups (hazard ratio (HR), 95%CI; 0.918, 0.817 to 1.031; p=0.1475). The
      results were consistent even when regional variation and other confounding
      variables were adjusted in the frailty model. In conclusion, there may be no
      difference in time to withdrawal from treatment due to adverse events between PEG
      IFN alpha-2a and PEG-IFN alpha-2b combined with ribavirin. Applying the method
      used here to future studies using novel treatment regimens may also provide
      important information for the treatment of chronic HCV infection in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 27645380
TI  - The phylogeny of brown lacewings (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) reveals multiple
      reductions in wing venation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The last time the phylogenetic relationships among members of the
      family Hemerobiidae were studied quantitatively was over 12 years ago and based
      exclusively on morphology. Our study builds upon this morphological evidence by
      adding sequence data from three gene loci to provide a total evidence phylogeny
      of brown lacewings (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae). Thirty-seven species representing
      nineteen Hemerobiidae genera were compared with outgroups from the families
      Ithonidae, Psychopsidae and Chrysopidae in Bayesian and parsimony analyses using
      a single nuclear gene (CAD) and two mitochondrial (16S rDNA and Cytochrome
      Oxidase I) genes. We compare divergence time estimates of Hemerobiidae
      cladogenesis under the two most commonly used relaxed clock models and discuss
      the evolution of wing venation in the family. RESULTS: We recovered a phylogeny
      largely incongruent with previously published morphological studies, although all
      but two subfamilies (i.e., Notiobiellinae and Drepanacrinae) were recovered as
      monophyletic. We found the subfamily Drepanacrinae paraphyletic with respect to
      Psychobiellinae, and Notiobiellinae to be polyphyletic. We thus offer a revised
      concept of Notiobiellinae, comprising only Notiobiella Banks, and erect a new
      subfamily Zachobiellinae including the remaining genera previously placed in
      Notiobiellinae. Psychobiellinae is synonymized with Drepanacrinae. Unlike the
      previous hypothesis that proposed a remarkably laddered topology, our tree
      suggests that hemerobiids diverged as three main clades. Moreover, in contrast to
      the vein proliferation hypothesis, we found that hemerobiids have instead
      undergone multiple reductions in the number of radial veins, this scenario
      questions the relevance of this character as diagnostic of various subfamilies
      CONCLUSIONS: Our phylogenetic hypothesis and divergence times analysis suggest
      that extant hemerobiids originated around the end of the Triassic and evolved as
      three distinct clades that diverged from one another during the Late Jurassic to
      Early Cretaceous. Contrary to earlier phylogenetic hypotheses, Carobius Banks
      (Carobiinae) is sister to the previously unplaced genus Notherobius New in a
      clade more closely related to Sympherobiinae, Megalominae and Zachobiellinae
      subfam. nov. The addition of taxa which are not available for DNA sequencing
      should be the focus of future studies, especially Adelphohemerobius Oswald, which
      is particularly important to test our inferences regarding the evolution of wing
      venation in Hemerobiidae.

PMID- 27645382
TI  - Burden of Disease Attributable to Secondhand Smoking in Korea.
AB  - This study aims to estimate the burden of disease (BOD) due to secondhand smoking
      (SHS) in Korea. SHS-related diseases were selected via systematic review.
      Population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated by using standard formula.
      Disability adjusted life years (DALYs) were estimated using Statistical Office
      and Health Insurance data. SHS burden was calculated by multiplying nonsmoker's
      BOD with the PAF of SHS. Total BOD due to SHS was 44 143 DALYs with 57% from
      males and 43% from females. The highest percentage of SHS burden was due to
      stroke. BOD was highest in the 50s age group in both genders. Years of life lost
      contributed major part of BOD due to all diseases. SHS burden in Korea in 2013
      was the highest among the high-income Asia Pacific group countries. Effective
      intervention policies with more focus on vulnerable groups like adults in their
      50s should be implemented to control SHS-related burden.

PMID- 27645381
TI  - Antiviral activities of peptide-based covalent inhibitors of the Enterovirus 71
      3C protease.
AB  - Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease is a highly contagious disease caused by a range of
      human enteroviruses. Outbreaks occur regularly, especially in the Asia-Pacific
      region, putting a burden on public healthcare systems. Currently, there is no
      antiviral for treating this infectious disease and the only vaccines are limited
      to circulation in China, presenting an unmet medical need that needs to be filled
      urgently. The human enterovirus 3 C protease has been deemed a plausible drug
      target due to its essential roles in viral replication. In this study, we
      designed and synthesized 10 analogues of the Rhinovirus 3 C protease inhibitor,
      Rupintrivir, and tested their 3 C protease inhibitory activities followed by a
      cellular assay using human enterovirus 71 (EV71)-infected human RD cells. Our
      results revealed that a peptide-based compound containing a trifluoromethyl
      moiety to be the most potent analogue, with an EC50 of 65 nM, suggesting its
      potential as a lead for antiviral drug discovery.

PMID- 27645383
TI  - Changes in Bacillus Spore Small Molecules, rRNA, Germination, and Outgrowth after
      Extended Sublethal Exposure to Various Temperatures: Evidence that Protein
      Synthesis Is Not Essential for Spore Germination.
AB  - rRNAs of dormant spores of Bacillus subtilis were >95% degraded during extended
      incubation at 50 degrees C, as reported previously (E. Segev, Y. Smith, and S.
      Ben-Yehuda, Cell 148:139-114, 2012,
      doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2011.11.059), and this was also true of
      spores of Bacillus megaterium Incubation of spores of these two species for ~20 h
      at 75 to 80 degrees C also resulted in the degradation of all or the great
      majority of the 23S and 16S rRNAs, although this rRNA degradation was slower than
      nonenzymatic hydrolysis of purified rRNAs at these temperatures. This rRNA
      degradation at high temperature generated almost exclusively oligonucleotides
      with minimal levels of mononucleotides. RNase Y, suggested to be involved in rRNA
      hydrolysis during B. subtilis spore incubation at 50 degrees C, did not play a
      role in B. subtilis spore rRNA breakdown at 80 degrees C. Twenty hours of
      incubation of Bacillus spores at 70 degrees C also decreased the already minimal
      levels of ATP in dormant spores 10- to 30-fold, to <=0.01% of the total free
      adenine nucleotide levels. Spores depleted of rRNA were viable and germinated
      relatively normally, often even faster than starting spores. Their return to
      vegetative growth was also similar to that of untreated spores for B. megaterium
      spores and slower for heat-treated B. subtilis spores; accumulation of rRNA took
      place only after completion of spore germination. These findings thus strongly
      suggest that protein synthesis is not essential for Bacillus spore
      germination.IMPORTANCE A recent report (L. Sinai, A. Rosenberg, Y. Smith, E.
      Segev, and S. Ben-Yehuda, Mol Cell 57:3486-3495, 2015,
      doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2014.12.019) suggested that protein
      synthesis is essential for early steps in the germination of dormant spores of
      Bacillus subtilis If true, this would be a paradigm shift in our understanding of
      spore germination. We now show that essentially all of the rRNA can be eliminated
      from spores of Bacillus megaterium or B. subtilis, and these rRNA-depleted spores
      are viable and germinate as well as or better than spores with normal rRNA
      levels. Thus, protein synthesis is not required in the process of spore
      germination.

PMID- 27645384
TI  - Opening the Channel: the Two Functional Interfaces of Pseudomonas aeruginosa OpmH
      with the Triclosan Efflux Pump TriABC.
AB  - : TriABC-OpmH is an efflux pump from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with an unusual
      substrate specificity and protein composition. When overexpressed, this pump
      confers a high level of resistance to the biocide triclosan and the detergent
      SDS, which are commonly used in combinations for antimicrobial treatments. This
      activity requires an RND transporter (TriC), an outer membrane channel (OpmH),
      and two periplasmic membrane fusion proteins (TriA and TriB) with nonequivalent
      functions. In the active complex, TriA is responsible for the recruitment of
      OpmH, while TriB is responsible for stimulation of the transporter TriC. Here, we
      used the functional and structural differences between the two membrane fusion
      proteins to link their functional roles to specific interactions with OpmH. Our
      results provide evidence that the TriB-dependent stimulation of the TriC
      transporter is coupled to opening of the OpmH aperture through binding to the
      interprotomer groove of OpmH. IMPORTANCE: Multidrug efflux transporters are
      important contributors to intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance in
      clinics. In Gram-negative bacteria, these transporters have a characteristic
      tripartite architecture spanning the entire two-membrane cell envelope. How such
      complexes are assembled and how the reactions separated in two different
      membranes are coupled to provide efficient efflux of various compounds across the
      cell envelope remain unclear. This study addressed these questions, and the
      results suggest a mechanism for functional integration of drug efflux by the
      inner membrane transporter and opening of the channel for transport across the
      outer membrane.

PMID- 27645385
TI  - Klebsiella pneumoniae Major Porins OmpK35 and OmpK36 Allow More Efficient
      Diffusion of beta-Lactams than Their Escherichia coli Homologs OmpF and OmpC.
AB  - : Klebsiella pneumoniae, one of the most important nosocomial pathogens, is
      becoming a major problem in health care because of its resistance to multiple
      antibiotics, including cephalosporins of the latest generation and, more
      recently, even carbapenems. This is largely due to the spread of plasmid-encoded
      extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. However, antimicrobial agents must first
      penetrate the outer membrane barrier in order to reach their targets, and
      hydrophilic and charged beta-lactams presumably diffuse through the porin
      channels. Unfortunately, the properties of K. pneumoniae porin channels are
      largely unknown. In this study, we made clean deletions of K. pneumoniae porin
      genes ompK35 and ompK36 and examined the antibiotic susceptibilities and
      diffusion rates of beta-lactams. The results showed that OmpK35 and OmpK36
      produced larger more permeable channels than their Escherichia coli homologs OmpF
      and OmpC; OmpK35 especially produced a diffusion channel of remarkably high
      permeability toward lipophilic (benzylpenicillin) and large (cefepime) compounds.
      These results were also confirmed by expressing various porins in an E. coli
      strain lacking major porins and the major multidrug efflux pump AcrAB. Our data
      explain why the development of drug resistance in K. pneumoniae is so often
      accompanied by the mutational loss of its porins, especially OmpK35, in addition
      to the various plasmid-carried genes of antibiotic resistance, because even
      hydrolysis by beta-lactamases becomes inefficient in producing high levels of
      resistance if the bacterium continues to allow a rapid influx of beta-lactams
      through its wide porin channels. IMPORTANCE: In Gram-negative bacteria, drugs
      must first enter the outer membrane, usually through porin channels. Thus, the
      quantitative examination of influx rates is essential for the assessment of
      resistance mechanisms, yet no such studies exist for a very important nosocomial
      pathogen, Klebsiella pneumoniae We found that the larger channel porin of this
      organism, OmpK35, produces a significantly larger channel than its Escherichia
      coli homolog, OmpF. This makes unmodified K. pneumoniae strains more susceptible
      to relatively large antibiotics, such as the third- and fourth-generation
      cephalosporins. Also, even the acquisition of powerful beta-lactamases is not
      likely to make them fully resistant in the presence of such an effective influx
      process, explaining why so many clinical isolates of this organism lack porins.

PMID- 27645386
TI  - Transcriptional Responses of Escherichia coli to a Small-Molecule Inhibitor of
      LolCDE, an Essential Component of the Lipoprotein Transport Pathway.
AB  - : In Gram-negative bacteria, a dedicated machinery consisting of LolABCDE
      components targets lipoproteins to the outer membrane. We used a previously
      identified small-molecule inhibitor of the LolCDE complex of Escherichia coli to
      assess the global transcriptional consequences of interference with lipoprotein
      transport. Exposure of E. coli to the LolCDE inhibitor at concentrations leading
      to minimal and significant growth inhibition, followed by transcriptome
      sequencing, identified a small group of genes whose transcript levels were
      decreased and a larger group whose mRNA levels increased 10- to 100-fold compared
      to those of untreated cells. The majority of the genes whose mRNA concentrations
      were reduced were part of the flagellar assembly pathway, which contains an
      essential lipoprotein component. Most of the genes whose transcript levels were
      elevated encode proteins involved in selected cell stress pathways. Many of these
      genes are involved with envelope stress responses induced by the mislocalization
      of outer membrane lipoproteins. Although several of the genes whose RNAs were
      induced have previously been shown to be associated with the general perturbation
      of the cell envelope by antibiotics, a small subset was affected only by LolCDE
      inhibition. Findings from this work suggest that the efficiency of the Lol system
      function may be coupled to a specific monitoring system, which could be exploited
      in the development of reporter constructs suitable for use for screening for
      additional inhibitors of lipoprotein trafficking. IMPORTANCE: Inhibition of the
      lipoprotein transport pathway leads to E. coli death and subsequent lysis. Early
      significant changes in the levels of RNA for a subset of genes identified to be
      associated with some periplasmic and envelope stress responses were observed.
      Together these findings suggest that disruption of this key pathway can have a
      severe impact on balanced outer membrane synthesis sufficient to affect
      viability.

PMID- 27645390
TI  - Congress Summary: The 23rd Annual Congress of the International Society for
      Rotary Blood Pumps.

PMID- 27645387
TI  - Emergence of a Competence-Reducing Filamentous Phage from the Genome of
      Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1.
AB  - : Bacterial genomes commonly contain prophage sequences as a result of past
      infections with lysogenic phages. Many of these integrated viral sequences are
      believed to be cryptic, but prophage genes are sometimes coopted by the host, and
      some prophages may be reactivated to form infectious particles when cells are
      stressed or mutate. We found that a previously uncharacterized filamentous phage
      emerged from the genome of Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 during a laboratory
      evolution experiment. This phage has a genetic organization similar to that of
      the Vibrio cholerae CTXphi phage. The emergence of the ADP1 phage was associated
      with the evolution of reduced transformability in our experimental populations,
      so we named it the competence-reducing acinetobacter phage (CRAphi). Knocking out
      ADP1 genes required for competence leads to resistance to CRAphi infection.
      Although filamentous bacteriophages are known to target type IV pili, this is the
      first report of a phage that apparently uses a competence pilus as a receptor. A.
      baylyi may be especially susceptible to this route of infection because every
      cell is competent during normal growth, whereas competence is induced only under
      certain environmental conditions or in a subpopulation of cells in other
      bacterial species. It is possible that CRAphi-like phages restrict horizontal
      gene transfer in nature by inhibiting the growth of naturally transformable
      strains. We also found that prophages with homology to CRAphi exist in several
      strains of Acinetobacter baumannii These CRAphi-like A. baumannii prophages
      encode toxins similar to CTXphi that might contribute to the virulence of this
      opportunistic multidrug-resistant pathogen. IMPORTANCE: We observed the emergence
      of a novel filamentous phage (CRAphi) from the genome of Acinetobacter baylyi
      ADP1 during a long-term laboratory evolution experiment. CRAphi is the first
      bacteriophage reported to require the molecular machinery involved in the uptake
      of environmental DNA for infection. Reactivation and evolution of CRAphi reduced
      the potential for horizontal transfer of genes via natural transformation in our
      experiment. Risk of infection by similar phages may limit the expression and
      maintenance of bacterial competence in nature. The closest studied relative of
      CRAphi is the Vibrio cholerae CTXphi phage. Variants of CRAphi are found in the
      genomes of Acinetobacter baumannii strains, and it is possible that phage-encoded
      toxins contribute to the virulence of this opportunistic multidrug-resistant
      pathogen.

PMID- 27645391
TI  - From Rotary Blood Pumps to Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems.

PMID- 27645388
TI  - The Topology of the l-Arginine Exporter ArgO Conforms to an Nin-Cout
      Configuration in Escherichia coli: Requirement for the Cytoplasmic N-Terminal
      Domain, Functional Helical Interactions, and an Aspartate Pair for ArgO Function.
AB  - : ArgO and LysE are members of the LysE family of exporter proteins and
      ordinarily mediate the export of l-arginine (Arg) in Escherichia coli and l
      lysine (Lys) and Arg in Corynebacterium glutamicum, respectively. Under certain
      conditions, ArgO also mediates Lys export. To delineate the arrangement of ArgO
      in the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli, we have employed a combination of
      cysteine accessibility in situ, alkaline phosphatase fusion reporters, and
      protein modeling to arrive at a topological model of ArgO. Our studies indicate
      that ArgO assumes an Nin-Cout configuration, potentially forming a five
      transmembrane helix bundle flanked by a cytoplasmic N-terminal domain (NTD)
      comprising roughly its first 38 to 43 amino acyl residues and a short periplasmic
      C-terminal region (CTR). Mutagenesis studies indicate that the CTR, but not the
      NTD, is dispensable for ArgO function in vivo and that a pair of conserved
      aspartate residues, located near the opposing edges of the cytoplasmic membrane,
      may play a pivotal role in facilitating transmembrane Arg flux. Additional
      studies on amino acid substitutions that impair ArgO function in vivo and their
      derivatives bearing compensatory amino acid alterations indicate a role for
      intramolecular interactions in the Arg export mechanism, and some interactions
      are corroborated by normal-mode analyses. Lastly, our studies suggest that ArgO
      may exist as a monomer in vivo, thus highlighting the requirement for
      intramolecular interactions in ArgO, as opposed to interactions across multiple
      ArgO monomers, in the formation of an Arg-translocating conduit. IMPORTANCE: The
      orthologous proteins LysE of C. glutamicum and ArgO of E. coli function as
      exporters of the basic amino acids l-arginine and l-lysine and the basic amino
      acid l-arginine, respectively, and LysE can functionally substitute for ArgO when
      expressed in E. coli Notwithstanding this functional equivalence, studies
      reported here show that ArgO possesses a membrane topology that is distinct from
      that reported for LysE, with substantial variation in the topological arrangement
      of the proximal one-third portions of the two exporters. Additional genetic and
      in silico studies reveal the importance of (i) the cytoplasmic N-terminal domain,
      (ii) a pair of conserved aspartate residues, and (iii) potential intramolecular
      interactions in ArgO function and indicate that an Arg-translocating conduit is
      formed by a monomer of ArgO.

PMID- 27645392
TI  - Welcome to the 24th Congress of the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps.

PMID- 27645393
TI  - Rapid Speed Modulation of a Rotary Total Artificial Heart Impeller.
AB  - Unlike the earlier reciprocating volume displacement-type pumps, rotary blood
      pumps (RBPs) typically operate at a constant rotational speed and produce
      continuous outflow. When RBP technology is used in constructing a total
      artificial heart (TAH), the pressure waveform that the TAH produces is flat,
      without the rise and fall associated with a normal arterial pulse. Several
      studies have suggested that pulseless circulation may impair microcirculatory
      perfusion and the autoregulatory response and may contribute to adverse events
      such as gastrointestinal bleeding, arteriovenous malformations, and pump
      thrombosis. It may therefore be beneficial to attempt to reproduce pulsatile
      output, similar to that generated by the native heart, by rapidly modulating the
      speed of an RBP impeller. The choice of an appropriate speed profile and control
      strategy to generate physiologic waveforms while minimizing power consumption and
      blood trauma becomes a challenge. In this study, pump operation modes with six
      different speed profiles using the BiVACOR TAH were evaluated in vitro. These
      modes were compared with respect to: hemodynamic pulsatility, which was
      quantified as surplus hemodynamic energy (SHE); maximum rate of change of
      pressure (dP/dt); pulse power index; and motor power consumption as a function of
      pulse pressure. The results showed that the evaluated variables underwent
      different trends in response to changes in the speed profile shape. The findings
      indicated a possible trade-off between SHE levels and flow rate pulsatility
      related to the relative systolic duration in the speed profile. Furthermore, none
      of the evaluated measures was sufficient to fully characterize hemodynamic
      pulsatility. 

PMID- 27645394
TI  - Development of an Optical Detector of Thrombus Formation on the Pivot Bearing of
      a Rotary Blood Pump.
AB  - Continuous optical monitoring of thrombus formation in extracorporeal mechanical
      circulatory support (EMCS) devices will contribute to safe, long-term EMCS. A
      clinically applicable optical detector must be able to distinguish among the
      optical characteristics of oxygen saturation (SaO2 ), hematocrit (Hct), and
      thrombus formation. In vitro studies of spectral changes at wavelengths from 400
      to 900 nm associated with SaO2 , Hct, and thrombus formed around the top pivot
      bearing of a Gyro C1E3 pump were conducted. Fresh porcine blood anticoagulated
      with sodium citrate was circulated in a mock circuit using the pump. The SaO2 ,
      Hct, and anticoagulation activity were altered using an oxygenator, autologous
      plasma, and calcium chlorite injection, respectively. Light from a xenon lamp was
      guided by an incident fiber perpendicularly fixed on the top bearing. This light
      was scattered by blood pooled between the male and female pivots. The detection
      fiber was perpendicularly fixed against the incident fiber, and the side
      scattered light was detected and guided to a spectrophotometer. As a result,
      light at two different wavelengths, 420 and 810 nm, was identified as suitable
      for thrombus detection because it was negligibly influenced by SaO2 and was able
      to detect the optical characteristics of fibrin. The light at these two
      wavelengths responded more quickly to thrombus formation than the inlet or outlet
      pressure, and flow rate change. The optical changes showed the changes in Hct
      around the top pivot bearing, which is caused by the reduction in density of
      fibrin-trapped red blood cells (RBCs) due to the RBCs being swept away by the
      surrounding blood flow. The proposed method was also able to detect fibrin
      production by extracting subtle differences in the optical characteristics
      between the Hct and thrombus formation. 

PMID- 27645395
TI  - A Physiological Controller for Turbodynamic Ventricular Assist Devices Based on
      Left Ventricular Systolic Pressure.
AB  - The current article presents a novel physiological feedback controller for
      turbodynamic ventricular assist devices (tVADs). This controller is based on the
      recording of the left ventricular (LV) pressure measured at the inlet cannula of
      a tVAD thus requiring only one pressure sensor. The LV systolic pressure (SP) is
      proposed as an indicator to determine the varying perfusion requirements. The
      algorithm to extract the SP from the pump inlet pressure signal used for the
      controller to adjust the speed of the tVAD shows robust behavior. Its performance
      was evaluated on a hybrid mock circulation. The experiments with changing
      perfusion requirements were compared with a physiological circulation and a
      pathological one assisted with a tVAD operated at constant speed. A sensitivity
      analysis of the controller parameters was conducted to identify their limits and
      their influence on a circulation. The performance of the proposed SP controller
      was evaluated for various values of LV contractility, as well as for a simulated
      pressure sensor drift. The response of a pathological circulation assisted by a
      tVAD controlled by the introduced SP controller matched the physiological
      circulation well, while over- and underpumping events were eliminated. The
      controller presented a robust performance during experiments with simulated
      pressure sensor drift. 

PMID- 27645396
TI  - Plasma Skimming in a Spiral Groove Bearing of a Centrifugal Blood Pump.
AB  - Plasma skimming is a phenomenon in which discharge hematocrit is lower than feed
      hematocrit in microvessels. Plasma skimming has been investigated at a bearing
      gap in a spiral groove bearing (SGB), as this has the potential to prevent
      hemolysis in the SGB of a blood pump. However, it is not clear whether plasma
      skimming occurs in a blood pump with the SGB, because the hematocrit has not been
      obtained. The purpose of this study is to verify plasma skimming in an SGB of a
      centrifugal blood pump by developing a hematocrit measurement method in an SGB.
      Erythrocyte observation using a high-speed microscope and a bearing gap
      measurement using a laser confocal displacement meter was performed five times.
      In these tests, bovine blood as a working fluid was diluted with autologous
      plasma to adjust the hematocrit to 1.0%. A resistor was adjusted to achieve a
      pressure head of 100 mm Hg and a flow rate of 5.0 L/min at a rotational speed of
      2800 rpm. Hematocrit on the ridge region in the SGB was measured using an image
      analysis based on motion image of erythrocytes, mean corpuscular volume, the
      measured bearing gap, and a cross-sectional area of erythrocyte. Mean hematocrit
      on the ridge region in the SGB was linearly reduced from 0.97 to 0.07% with the
      decreasing mean bearing gap from 38 to 21 MUm when the rotational speed was
      changed from 2250 to 3000 rpm. A maximum plasma skimming efficiency of 93% was
      obtained with a gap of 21 MUm. In conclusion, we succeeded in measuring the
      hematocrit on the ridge region in the SGB of the blood pump. Hematocrit decreased
      on the ridge region in the SGB and plasma skimming occurred with a bearing gap of
      less than 30 MUm in the hydrodynamically levitated centrifugal blood pump. 

PMID- 27645397
TI  - Impella 5.0 as a Second-Line Mechanical Circulatory Support Strategy After
      Extracorporeal Life Support.
AB  - The catheter-based Impella 5.0 left ventricular assist device is a powerful and
      less invasive alternative for patients in cardiogenic shock. The use as second
      line therapy in patients with precedent extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has
      not been described before now. We analyzed our experience of consecutive patients
      treated with this alternative strategy. From April 2014 to December 2014, eight
      patients had been implanted as a second-line option after ECLS support. The
      reason for the change from ECLS to Impella 5.0 was absence of cardiac recovery
      for primary weaning and complications of ECLS therapy. The mean time of ECLS
      support prior to Impella implantation was 12 +/- 7 days. The implantation of the
      Impella 5.0/CP was technically successful in all patients, and the ECLS could be
      explanted in all eight patients who received Impella implantation as a second
      line treatment. The second-line Impella 5.0 therapy resulted in two patients who
      turned into left ventricular assist device (LVAD) candidates, two primary weaning
      candidates, and four patients who died in the setting of sepsis or absent cardiac
      recovery and contraindications for durable LVAD therapy. Thereby, the overall
      hospital discharge survival as well as the 180-day survival was 50% for Impella
      5.0 implantations as second-line procedure after ECLS. The latest follow-up
      survival of this second-line strategy after ECLS was three out of eight, as one
      patient died after 299 days of LVAD support due to sepsis. The use of Impella 5.0
      constitutes a possible second-line therapeutic option for those patients who do
      not show cardiac recovery during prolonged ECLS support or suffer from
      complications of ECLS therapy. This treatment allows additional time for
      decisions regarding cardiac recovery or indication for durable LVAD therapy. 

PMID- 27645398
TI  - Robotically Assisted Repair of Partial Atrioventricular Canal Defect.

PMID- 27645399
TI  - Communications.

PMID- 27645401
TI  - Induction of triglyceride accumulation and mitochondrial maintenance in muscle
      cells by lactate.
AB  - Muscle exercise induces intramuscular triglyceride (TG) accumulation and promotes
      mitochondrial maintenance in myotubes. However, the mechanism underlying exercise
      effects remains unknown. In this study, lactic acid was tested as a signaling
      molecule in C2C12 myotubes to understand the mechanism. Intracellular TG storage
      was induced in the cells by sodium lactate. The lactate activity was observed
      with an inhibition of the cAMP-PKA pathway as indicated by a reduction in the
      phosphorylation status of CREB (pCREB). Induction of pCREB signal by forskolin
      was blocked by pretreatment of cells with lactate. The impact of lactate on
      mitochondrial function was examined with a focus on the activities of two
      enzymes, MCAT (malonylCoA:ACP transferase) and PDH (pyruvate dehydrogenase). The
      enzyme activities were induced in the cells by lactate. Expression of the lactate
      receptor (GPR81) and lactate transporters (MCT1/4) were induced as well by
      lactate. The lactate activities were observed at concentrations between 4-64 mM,
      and were not dependent on the increase in intracellular pyruvate. Pyruvate
      treatment did not generate the same effects in the cells. Those results suggest
      that lactate may induce intramuscular TG storage and mitochondrial maintenance in
      myotubes through inhibition of the cAMP pathway by activation of GPR81 in a
      positive feedback manner.

PMID- 27645403
TI  - Taking advantage of public reporting: An infection composite score to assist
      evaluating hospital performance for infection prevention efforts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The standardized infection ratio (SIR) evaluates individual publicly
      reported health care-associated infections, but it may not assess overall
      performance. METHODS: We piloted an infection composite score (ICS) in 82
      hospitals of a single health system. The ICS is a combined score for central line
      associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections,
      colon and abdominal hysterectomy surgical site infections, and hospital-onset
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and Clostridium difficile
      infections. Individual facility ICSs were calculated by normalizing each of the 6
      SIR events to the system SIR for baseline and performance periods (ICSib and
      ICSip, respectively). A hospital ICSib reflected its baseline performance
      compared with system baseline, whereas a ICSip provided information of its
      outcome changes compared with system baseline. RESULTS: Both the ICSib (baseline
      2013) and ICSip (performance 2014) were calculated for 63 hospitals (reporting at
      least 4 of the 6 event types). The ICSip improved in 36 of 63 (57.1%) hospitals
      in 2014 when compared with the ICSib in 2013. The ICSib 2013 median was 0.96
      (range, 0.13-2.94) versus the 2014 ICSip median of 0.92 (range, 0-6.55).
      Variation was more evident in hospitals with <=100 beds. The system performance
      score (ICSsp) in 2014 was 0.95, a 5% improvement compared with 2013. CONCLUSIONS:
      The proposed ICS may help large health systems and state hospital associations
      better evaluate key infectious outcomes, comparing them with historic and
      concurrent performance of peers.

PMID- 27645404
TI  - Circulating miR-185 might be a novel biomarker for clinical outcome in patients
      with dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - B cells contribute to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by inducing
      myocyte injuries and myocardial fibrosis. Our recent research indicated that
      microRNA (miR) -185 participated in human B-cell activation. Thus, this study was
      aimed to explore the relationship between miR-185 and DCM progression. Forty-one
      healthy volunteers and fifty newly diagnosed DCM patients were enrolled. The
      levels of plasma miR-185, TNF-alpha secreting B cells, and anti-heart
      autoantibody were detected. We found that the mean levels of plasma miR-185 in
      DCM patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls.
      Furthermore, these DCM patients could be divided into miR-185(high) and miR
      185(low) groups according to the cluster distribution. During one-year follow-up
      period, the miR-185(high) group showed apparent improvements in left ventricular
      ejection fraction, left ventricular end diastolic diameter, and NT-proBNP,
      accompanied by significant declines in both cardiovascular mortality and total
      admissions for heart failure re-hospitalizations. In addition, the levels of anti
      beta1-AR antibody and TNF-alpha secreting B cells were also reduced in miR
      185(high) group. These findings suggested that high miR-185 levels might be
      associated with a favorable prognosis by repressing B cell function in DCM. The
      findings of this study need to be confirmed with larger sample size and longer
      duration of observation.

PMID- 27645405
TI  - DMAK: A curated pan-cancer DNA methylation annotation knowledgebase.
AB  - Pan-cancer analysis can identify cell- and tissue-specific genomic loci and
      regions with underlying biological functions. Here we present an online curated
      DNA Methylation Annotation Knowledgebase, DMAK, which includes the pan-cancer
      analysis results for differentially-methylated loci and regions by the Reduced
      Representation Bisulfite Sequencing profiling technology. DMAK contains 3 modules
      of curated information and analysis results on 688,445 CpG sites across 19 cancer
      and embryonic stem cell lines from ENCODE, and further analysis of survival
      associations with clinical sources retrieved from TCGA. The knowledgebase covers
      all identified differentially-methylated CpG sites and regions of interest,
      further annotated genomic information, together with tumor suppressor genes
      information and calculated methylation level. DMAK provides meaningful clues for
      deriving functional association network and related clinical association results
      based on protein-coding genes, including tumor suppressor genes, identified from
      differentially methylated regions of interest. Thus DMAK constitutes a
      comprehensive reference source for the current epigenetic research and clinical
      study.

PMID- 27645409
TI  - Catering for a variety of needs.
AB  - Emergency Nurse aims to educate a wide range of emergency care practitioners,
      from those who have joined the profession recently to those who have many years'
      experience.

PMID- 27645402
TI  - Toward the promise of microRNAs - Enhancing reproducibility and rigor in microRNA
      research.
AB  - The fields of applied and translational microRNA research have exploded in recent
      years as microRNAs have been implicated across a spectrum of diseases. MicroRNA
      biomarkers, microRNA therapeutics, microRNA regulation of cellular physiology and
      even xenomiRs have stimulated great interest, which have brought many researchers
      into the field. Despite many successes in determining general mechanisms of
      microRNA generation and function, the application of microRNAs in translational
      areas has not had as much success. It has been a challenge to localize microRNAs
      to a given cell type within tissues and assay them reliably. At supraphysiologic
      levels, microRNAs may regulate hosts of genes that are not the physiologic
      biochemical targets. Thus the applied and translational microRNA literature is
      filled with pitfalls and claims that are neither scientifically rigorous nor
      reproducible. This review is focused on increasing awareness of the challenges of
      working with microRNAs in translational research and recommends better practices
      in this area of discovery.

PMID- 27645411
TI  - Getting the point across.
AB  - Nurse clinician in emergency medicine Rob Jackson is visiting secondary schools
      to warn teenagers about the dangers of knife crime. As part of his presentation,
      Mr Jackson shows youngsters pictures of knife injuries, hospital resuscitation
      rooms and mortuaries to teach them about the reality of violence.

PMID- 27645410
TI  - Two fifths of patients need only advice, report finds.
AB  - ABOUT TWO out of every five emergency care episodes end with patients needing
      advice but no treatment, according to the NHS Information Centre.

PMID- 27645412
TI  - Staff offered prizes for best ideas on service improvement.
AB  - EMERGENCY CARE provision is one of 'the most challenging issues' in health care,
      according to organisers of the NHS Innovation Challenge Prizes scheme.

PMID- 27645413
TI  - College members urged to contact MPs about work pressures.
AB  - RCN PRESIDENT Andrea Spyropoulos is calling on members to email their MPs to
      explain the problems they face on the front line of nursing.

PMID- 27645414
TI  - Acute and community experts wanted for ECA steering group.
AB  - THE RCN Emergency Care Association plans to appoint an expert in adult, children
      and young people nursing and an expert in community care to its steering
      committee.

PMID- 27645416
TI  - On-call x-rays made easy AN Au-Yong On-call x-rays made easy , Amy Au-Yong and
      Nigel Broderick Churchill Livingstone Elsevier L21.99 304pp 9780702034459
      0702034452 [Formula: see text].
AB  - DesigneD for clinicians involved in the management of acutely ill patients, this
      book enables them to recognise quickly the appearance of life-threatening
      conditions. It also concentrates on the interpretation of plain chest and
      abdominal images.

PMID- 27645417
TI  - Making sense of the ECG: cases for self-assessment Making Sense of the ECG: Cases
      for Self-Assessment Houghton Andrew and Gray David Hodder Education L18.99 290pp
      9780340946893 034094689X [Formula: see text].
AB  - This practical pocket-book approach to electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation
      accompanies Making sense of the eCg by the same authors. it is also designed to
      be used alone to test knowledge of ECG interpretation and to make clinical
      decisions based on presented scenarios.

PMID- 27645418
TI  - Mental Capacity Act 2005: Implications for People with Learning Disabilities
      Elaine Hardie Mental Capacity Act 2005: Implications for People with Learning
      Disabilities and Liz Brooks BILD L10 43pp with poster 9781905218066 1905218060
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - A useful overview of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how it is to be used in
      practice, this guide is jargon free and presents key points and principles of the
      act in a logical manner.

PMID- 27645419
TI  - Putting quality first.
AB  - MY GRANDMOTHER used to keep an ornament inscribed: 'It is not the hours you put
      in that count, but what you put in to the hours', a message intended to remind
      those who read it that quality is more important than quantity. I was reminded of
      this when hearing of the government's latest healthcare plans.

PMID- 27645421
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27645420
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27645422
TI  - Emergence of new drugs.
AB  - This pilot study, conducted by researchers at the clinical toxicology service at
      Guy's and St Thomas' poisons unit, London, concerns local patterns of
      recreational drug use and the emergence of new drugs.

PMID- 27645423
TI  - Treatment for severe bleeding.
AB  - It has been estimated that about half of all major trauma patients die in
      hospital. Of these, nearly one third die due to excessive blood loss and most
      others die from injuries that are worsened by bleeding.

PMID- 27645424
TI  - Risks associated with painkillers.
AB  - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) prescriptions are used widely in
      emergency care, and clinicians and patients must be aware of the risks associated
      with them.

PMID- 27645425
TI  - Synaptic organic transistors with a vacuum-deposited charge-trapping nanosheet.
AB  - Organic neuromorphic devices hold great promise for unconventional signal
      processing and efficient human-machine interfaces. Herein, we propose novel
      synaptic organic transistors devised to overcome the traditional trade-off
      between channel conductance and memory performance. A vacuum-processed, nanoscale
      metallic interlayer provides an ultra-flat surface for a high-mobility molecular
      film as well as a desirable degree of charge trapping, allowing for low
      temperature fabrication of uniform device arrays on plastic. The device
      architecture is implemented by widely available electronic materials in
      combination with conventional deposition methods. Therefore, our results are
      expected to generate broader interests in incorporation of organic electronics
      into large-area neuromorphic systems, with potential in gate-addressable complex
      logic circuits and transparent multifunctional interfaces receiving direct
      optical and cellular stimulation.

PMID- 27645427
TI  - Multiple layers and conjugate materials for food emulsion stabilization.
AB  - A single emulsifier material is seldom sufficient to cater to the requirements of
      complex emulsion-based food formulations that have to function over a wide range
      of pH, ionic strength, storage time, and temperature. Food emulsions have to be
      designed to satisfy several requirements for use which could be achieved by
      combining the beneficial properties of multiple emulsifiers. The present article
      reviews novel biological materials that are used to design oil-in-water (o/w)
      emulsions. More specifically, the major focus is to discuss (o/w) interfaces
      stabilized by multiple biopolymers. Prevalent ways by which two or more
      emulsifiers could be combined is by (i) forming multi-layered emulsions and (ii)
      conjugation of two compounds of beneficial traits. Multilayer emulsions make use
      of a combination of protein, phospholipids, and carbohydrates to stabilize (o/w)
      interfaces. On the other hand, covalent bonding between a protein and
      polysaccharide is induced to form a single entity known as conjugate that is
      superior to the individual biopolymers in terms of emulsion stability. Therefore,
      properties required to maintain emulsion stability such as surface activity,
      solubility, steric and electrostatic repulsion, and antioxidant effects from two
      different hydrocolloids could be integrated.

PMID- 27645430
TI  - Gastro-esophageal reflux disease: a small fire which can turn to a volcano.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645429
TI  - Hydrothermal etching fabrication of TiO2@graphene hollow structures: mutually
      independent exposed {001} and {101} facets nanocrystals and its synergistic
      photocaltalytic effects.
AB  - Highly exposed facets TiO2 attracts enormous attention due to its excellent
      separation effect of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and induced high
      performance of photocatalytic activity. Herein, a novel hydrothermal etching
      reaction was used to synthesize graphene-wrapped TiO2 hollow core-shell
      structures. Different with the reported co-exposed facets TiO2 single crystal
      nanoparticles, the present TiO2 core layer is composed by the mutually
      independent exposed {001} and {101} facets nanocrystals. Combined with the
      reduced graphene oxide shell layer, this graphene-wrapped TiO2 hollow core-shell
      structures formed a Z-scheme photocatalytic system, which possess simultaneously
      the high charge-separation efficiency and strong redox ability. Additionally, the
      as-prepared samples show a higher absorption property for organic molecules and
      visible light due to the presence of graphene. All of these unique properties
      ensure the excellent photocatalytic activity for the graphene-wrapped TiO2 hollow
      structures in the synergistic photo-oxidation of organic molecules and photo
      reduced of Cr(VI) process. The TiO2 core composed with mutually independent
      exposed {001} and {101} facets nanocrystals is propose to play an important role
      in the fabrication of this Z-scheme photocatalytic system. Fabrication of Z
      scheme photocatalytic system based on this unique exposed facets TiO2
      nanocrystals will provides a new insight into the design and fabrication of
      advanced photocatalytic materials.

PMID- 27645431
TI  - The new anti-epileptic drugs: A clinical profile.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645432
TI  - Frequency of red cell-specific antibodies in patient population attending a
      general hospital.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645428
TI  - Modified release itraconazole amorphous solid dispersion to treat Aspergillus
      fumigatus: importance of the animal model selection.
AB  - Previously, modified release itraconazole in the form of a melt-extruded
      amorphous solid dispersion based on a pH dependent enteric polymer combined with
      hydrophilic additives (HME-ITZ), exhibited improved in vitro dissolution
      properties. These properties agreed with pharmacokinetic results in rats showing
      high and sustained itraconazole (ITZ) systemic levels. The objective of the
      present study was to better understand the best choice of rodent model for
      evaluating the pharmacokinetic and efficacy of this orally administered modified
      release ITZ dosage form against invasive Aspergillus fumigatus. A mouse model and
      a guinea pig model were investigated and compared to results previously
      published. In the mouse model, despite similar levels as previously reported
      values, plasma and lung levels were variable and fungal burden was not
      statistically different for placebo controls, HME-ITZ and Sporanox(r) (ITZ oral
      solution). This study demonstrated that the mouse model is a poor choice for
      studying modified release ITZ dosage forms based on pH dependent enteric polymers
      due to low fluid volume available for dissolution and low intestinal pH. To the
      contrary, guinea pig was a suitable model to evaluate modified release ITZ dosage
      forms. Indeed, a significant decrease in lung fungal burden as a result of high
      and sustained ITZ tissue levels was measured. Sufficiently high intestinal pH and
      fluids available for dissolution likely facilitated the dissolution process.
      Despite high ITZ tissue level, the primary therapeutic agent voriconazole
      exhibited an even more pronounced decrease in fungal burden due to its reported
      higher clinical efficacy specifically against Aspergillus fumigatus.

PMID- 27645434
TI  - Obesity among diabetic patients in a Primary Health Care Center.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645433
TI  - Reference range values of hematological parameters in Saudi healthy adults.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645435
TI  - Criteria for diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency: Does it exist?
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645436
TI  - Immunogenicity study for Tetra and Penta component vaccines in infants.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645437
TI  - Decortication for empyema thoracis.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645438
TI  - Breast cancer in the North of Jordan with special emphasis on descriptive
      epidemiology.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645439
TI  - A survey of childhood hearing impairment.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645440
TI  - Spectrum of inherited myotonias and periodic paralyses.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645441
TI  - Hospital deaths at Asir Central Hospital.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645442
TI  - Neonatal septicemia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645443
TI  - Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: A Case Report.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645444
TI  - Rubinstein Taybi syndrome and lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645445
TI  - Anterior sagittal transanorectal approach and Passerini-Glazel procedure: two
      surgical techniques combined for severely masculinized adrenogenital syndrome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645446
TI  - Splenic artery aneurysm rupture during pregnancy.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645447
TI  - Neonatal circumcision: A simple technique to stop post-plastibell circumcision
      bleeding.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645448
TI  - Antibody response to Hepatitis B recombinant DNA vaccine among health care
      personnel.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645449
TI  - Pattern of catch-up growth among Omani infants with intrauterine growth
      retardation.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645450
TI  - Profile of acceptors of contraception in a family practice clinic.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645451
TI  - New features in the Saudi Medical Journal.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645452
TI  - Nasal air flow measurement.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645453
TI  - Bioluminescent Enzymatic Assay as a Tool for Studying Antioxidant Activity and
      Toxicity of Bioactive Compounds.
AB  - A bioluminescent assay based on a system of coupled enzymatic reactions catalyzed
      by bacterial luciferase and NADH:FMN-oxidoreductase was developed to monitor
      toxicity and antioxidant activity of bioactive compounds. The assay enables
      studying toxic effects at the level of biomolecules and physicochemical
      processes, as well as determining the toxicity of general and oxidative types.
      Toxic and detoxifying effects of bioactive compounds were studied. Fullerenols,
      perspective pharmaceutical agents, nanosized particles, water-soluble
      polyhydroxylated fullerene-60 derivatives were chosen as bioactive compounds. Two
      homologous fullerenols with different number and type of substituents, C60 O2-4
      (OH)20-24 and Fe0.5 C60 (OH) x Oy (x + y = 40-42), were used. They suppressed
      bioluminescent intensity at concentrations >0.01 g L-1 and >0.001 g L-1 for C60
      O2-4 (OH)20-24 and Fe0.5 C60 (OH)x Oy , respectively; hence, a lower toxicity of
      C60 O2-4 (OH)20-24 was demonstrated. Antioxidant activity of fullerenols was
      studied in model solutions of organic and inorganic oxidizers; changes in
      toxicities of general and oxidative type were determined; detoxification
      coefficients were calculated. Fullerenol C60 O2-4 (OH)20-24 revealed higher
      antioxidant ability at concentrations 10-17 -10-5 g L-1 . The difference in the
      toxicity and antioxidant activity of fullerenols was explained through their
      electron donor/acceptor properties and different catalytic activity. Principles
      of bioluminescent enzyme assay application for evaluating the toxic effect and
      antioxidant activity of bioactive compounds were summarized and the procedure
      steps were described.

PMID- 27645456
TI  - Maternal Immunization with Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine: Persistence of
      Maternal Antibodies in Infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the level and the persistence of maternal antibodies in
      infants after maternal immunization with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine
      (Pn23V). METHODS: Pregnant women were assigned to two groups, during routine low
      risk pre-natal visits. The first Group (VAC) received the Pn23V vaccine shortly
      after enrolment at 28 weeks or later, and the second Group (NO_VAC) received no
      vaccine. To investigate the antibody persistence, we collected blood samples from
      the mothers after 1 month of delivery and from the infants at 1 and 6 months of
      age. RESULTS: Antibody titers were measured for serotypes 1, 6B and 14. Geometric
      mean antibody concentrations of specific immunoglobulin G were significantly
      higher in the vaccinated group compared with unvaccinated controls for all three
      serotypes tested. CONCLUSION: Despite the antibody level's decline, at 6 months
      of age, proportions  >0.35 MUg/ml remained higher in the infants of vaccinated
      mothers than controls for all three serotypes.

PMID- 27645457
TI  - Reprint of "Mixed-mode chromatography in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical
      applications".
AB  - Mixed-mode chromatography (MMC) is a fast growing area in recent years, thanks to
      the new generation of mixed-mode stationary phases and better understanding of
      multimode interactions. MMC has superior applications in the separation of
      compounds that are not retained or not well resolved by typical reversed-phase LC
      methods, especially for polar and charged molecules. Due to the multiple
      retention modes that a single MMC column can offer, often MMC provides additional
      dimension to a separation method by adjusting the mobile phase conditions. Mixed
      mode media is also an effective way to clean up complex sample matrices for
      purification purposes or for sensitive detection of trace amounts of analytes. In
      this article, we discuss mixed-mode stationary phases and separation mechanisms
      and review recent advances in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical applications
      including the analysis and/or purification of counterions, small molecule drugs,
      impurities, formulation excipients, peptides and proteins.

PMID- 27645459
TI  - Psychological and Physical Impacts of Extreme Events on Older Adults:
      Implications for Communications.
AB  - In recent years, a series of large-scale, high-profile natural disasters and
      terrorist attacks have demonstrated the need for thorough and effective disaster
      preparedness. While these extreme events affect communities and societies as a
      whole, they also carry specific risks for particular population groups. Crises
      such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan
      have illustrated the risk of significant and disproportionate morbidity and
      mortality among older adults during disasters. Age does not necessarily equate to
      vulnerability, but many physical and psychological consequences of the aging
      process can increase the risk of adverse outcomes. As the older population grows,
      so too does the need to ensure that adequate, practical, and appropriate measures
      exist to offset the specific risks from extreme events associated with this
      subpopulation. Effective risk and crisis communication plays a key role in
      mitigating the extent to which older adults are differentially affected during
      extreme events. By identifying the specific issues affecting older adults, this
      review highlights important areas for action for practitioners and policy-makers,
      particularly in the realm of crisis communication. (Disaster Med Public Health
      Preparedness. 2017;11:127-134).

PMID- 27645458
TI  - Validation of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13) among adults with cardiac
      conditions in Singapore.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13) measures patients' knowledge,
      skill, and confidence in chronic condition self-management. The purpose of this
      study was to assess the validity of PAM-13 (English version) among English
      speaking adults with cardiac conditions in Singapore. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      study was conducted in a convenient sample of 270 heart clinic patients. Using
      the unitary concept of validity, evidence of (1) internal structure via data
      quality, unidimensionality, differential item functioning, and internal
      consistency, (2) response process through item difficulty and item fit using
      Rasch modeling, and (3) relationship to other variables via correlations with
      depression and self-efficacy were examined. RESULTS: The item response was high
      with only one missing answer. All items had a small floor effect, but nine out of
      13 items had a ceiling effect larger than 15 %. Cronbach's alpha was 0.86, and
      average inter-item correlations was 0.324. Results suggested unidimensionality;
      however, differences in item difficulty ranking were found. A low, negative
      correlation was found with depression, while a moderate, positive correlation was
      found with self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Evidence in all three areas of validity
      were mixed. Caution should be exercised when using categorical activation "level"
      to inform clinical decisions.

PMID- 27645461
TI  - Gray matter regions statistically mediating the cross-sectional association of
      eotaxin and set-shifting among older adults with major depressive disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Eotaxin is a chemokine that exerts negative effects on neurogenesis.
      We recently showed that peripheral eotaxin levels correlate with both lower gray
      matter volume and poorer executive performance in older adults with major
      depressive disorder. These findings suggest that the relationship between eotaxin
      and set-shifting may be accounted for by lower gray matter volume in specific
      regions. Prior studies have identified specific gray matter regions that
      correlate with set-shifting performance, but have not examined whether these
      specific gray matter regions mediate the cross-sectional association between
      eotaxin and set-shifting. METHOD: In 27 older adults (mean age: 68 +/- 5.2 years)
      with major depressive disorder, we performed a whole brain (voxel-wise) analysis
      testing whether/where gray matter density statistically mediates the cross
      sectional association of eotaxin and set-shifting performance. RESULTS: We found
      the association between eotaxin and set-shifting performance was fully
      statistically mediated by lower gray matter density in left middle cingulate,
      right pre-/post-central, lingual, inferior/superior frontal, cuneus, and middle
      temporal regions. CONCLUSION: The regions identified above may be both
      susceptible to a potential neurodegenerative effect of eotaxin, and critical to
      preserving set-shifting function. Longitudinal and intervention studies are
      needed to further evaluate whether targeting eotaxin levels will prevent
      neurodegeneration and executive impairment in older adults with depression.
      Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27645463
TI  - Initial Experience with CT-Guided High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy in the
      Multimodality Treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumor Liver Metastases.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided high-dose-rate
      brachytherapy (HDRBT) of neuroendocrine liver metastases (NELM) with the goal of
      local tumor control (LTC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study
      included all patients with unresectable NELM treated with CT-guided HDRBT between
      January 2007 and April 2015. Magnetic resonance imaging follow-up was performed 6
      weeks after ablation and then every 3 months. The primary endpoint was LTC.
      Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival
      (OS), and complications. RESULTS: In 27 patients, 52 NELM were treated in 40
      sessions. Three patients (11.1%) developed local progression with LTC of 1.9-36.8
      months (median 10.4 months, mean 16.4 months). The remaining 24 patients (89.9%)
      had LTC of 3.1-106.1 months (median 31.3 months, mean 32.6 months). Progression
      or death was observed in 19 patients (70.4%) with PFS of 1.9-55.3 months (median
      7.3 months, mean 16.3 months); the remaining 8 patients (29.6%) had PFS of 3.7
      50.1 months (median 13.4 months, mean 19.6 months). Four patients (14.8%) died of
      causes unrelated to the procedure; their OS was 11.7-52.3 months (median 48.7
      months, mean 40.4 months). OS was 4.2-106.1 months (median 30.3 months, mean 34.1
      months) in the 23 surviving patients (85.2%). One patient experienced pain with
      nausea and vomiting, and 1 patient with biliodigestive anastomosis had a hepatic
      abscess. CONCLUSION: CT-guided HDRBT is a promising therapy with excellent LTC
      rates and low morbidity for patients with isolated/oligometastatic NELM.

PMID- 27645464
TI  - Promoting False-Lumen Thrombosis after Thoracic Endovascular Aneurysm Repair in
      Type B Aortic Dissection by Selectively Excluding False-Lumen Distal Entry Tears.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and clinical outcomes of ancillary endovascular
      procedures in promoting false-lumen (FL) thrombosis (FLT) and preventing aortic
      expansion in patients after thoracic endografting for type B dissections.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective review included 15 patients (12 men and
      3 women; mean age, 59.6 y). Mean aortic diameter at the time of ancillary
      treatment was 47.4 mm. Different techniques were used as single procedures or
      sequentially: covered stent occlusion of detached visceral artery entry tears,
      occlusion of single entry tears with vascular plugs, or aortic endograft
      occlusion of multiple FL entry tears. FL embolization with ethylene vinyl alcohol
      copolymer was performed when selective occlusion was considered insufficient to
      close distal entry tears. Apart from endovascular aneurysm repair, all procedures
      were performed percutaneously under local anesthesia. If FL diameter increase
      persisted after 6-month follow-up computed tomographic (CT) angiography, another
      intervention was planned; otherwise, yearly follow-up was performed. RESULTS:
      Mean clinical follow-up duration was 43.8 months (range, 8 d to 86.8 mo), with no
      in-hospital mortality. Estimated overall survival rates were 93.3%, 86.6%, and
      77% at 12, 24, and 48 months, respectively. Three late deaths occurred, one of
      which was dissection-related at 40 months. Eight surviving patients (53%) had
      total FLT and 3 had partial FLT with stable aortic diameter on follow-up CT
      angiography. FL diameter increased in one patient, requiring further
      intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Selective exclusion of new distal entry tears
      remaining after thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair can stabilize abdominal
      aortic expansion and promote FLT.

PMID- 27645466
TI  - Model predictive control based on reduced order models applied to belt conveyor
      system.
AB  - In the paper, a model predictive controller based on reduced order model is
      proposed to control belt conveyor system, which is an electro-mechanics complex
      system with long visco-elastic body. Firstly, in order to design low-degree
      controller, the balanced truncation method is used for belt conveyor model
      reduction. Secondly, MPC algorithm based on reduced order model for belt conveyor
      system is presented. Because of the error bound between the full-order model and
      reduced order model, two Kalman state estimators are applied in the control
      scheme to achieve better system performance. Finally, the simulation experiments
      are shown that balanced truncation method can significantly reduce the model
      order with high-accuracy and model predictive control based on reduced-model
      performs well in controlling the belt conveyor system.

PMID- 27645467
TI  - Distributed synchronization control of complex networks with communication
      constraints.
AB  - This paper is concerned with the distributed synchronization control of complex
      networks with communication constraints. In this work, the controllers
      communicate with each other through the wireless network, acting as a controller
      network. Due to the constrained transmission power, techniques such as the packet
      size reduction and transmission rate reduction schemes are proposed which could
      help reduce communication load of the controller network. The packet dropout
      problem is also considered in the controller design since it is often encountered
      in networked control systems. We show that the closed-loop system can be modeled
      as a switched system with uncertainties and random variables. By resorting to the
      switched system approach and some stochastic system analysis method, a new
      sufficient condition is firstly proposed such that the exponential
      synchronization is guaranteed in the mean-square sense. The controller gains are
      determined by using the well-known cone complementarity linearization (CCL)
      algorithm. Finally, a simulation study is performed, which demonstrates the
      effectiveness of the proposed design algorithm.

PMID- 27645465
TI  - The effect of chiropractic treatment on the reaction and response times of
      special operation forces military personnel: study protocol for a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chiropractic care is commonly used to treat musculoskeletal
      conditions and has been endorsed by clinical practice guidelines as being
      evidence-based and cost-effective for the treatment of patients with low back
      pain. Gaps in the literature exist regarding the physiological outcomes of
      chiropractic treatment. Previous pilot work has indicated the possibility of
      improvements in response time following the application of chiropractic
      treatment. However, it is unknown whether or not chiropractic treatment is able
      to improve reaction and response times in specific populations of interest. One
      such population is the U.S. military special operation forces' (SOF) personnel.
      METHODS: This study is a randomized controlled trial of 120 asymptomatic
      volunteer SOF personnel. All participants are examined by a study doctor of
      chiropractic (DC) for eligibility prior to randomization. The participants are
      randomly allocated to either a treatment group receiving four treatments of
      chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT) over 2 weeks or to a wait-list control
      group. The wait-list group does not receive any treatment but has assessments at
      the same time interval as the treatment group. The outcome measures are simple
      reaction times for dominant hand and dominant foot, choice reaction time with
      prompts calling for either hand or either foot, response time using Fitts' law
      tasks for small movements involving eye-hand coordination, and brief whole body
      movements using the t-wall, a commercially available product. At the first visit,
      all five tests are completed so that participants can familiarize themselves with
      the equipment and protocol. Assessments at the second and the final visits are
      used for data analysis. DISCUSSION: SOF personnel are highly motivated and
      extremely physically fit individuals whose occupation requires reaction times
      that are as quick as possible during the course of their assigned duties. A goal
      of CMT is to maximize the functionality and integration of the
      neuromusculoskeletal systems. Therefore, chiropractic treatment may be able to
      optimize the capacity of the numerous components of those systems, resulting in
      improved reaction time. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis
      that CMT improves reaction and response times in asymptomatic SOF personnel.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02168153 . Registered on 12 June 2014.

PMID- 27645468
TI  - Load estimator-based hybrid controller design for two-interleaved boost converter
      dedicated to renewable energy and automotive applications.
AB  - This paper is devoted to the development of a hybrid controller for a two
      interleaved boost converter dedicated to renewable energy and automotive
      applications. The control requirements, resumed in fast transient and low input
      current ripple, are formulated as a problem of fast stabilization of a predefined
      optimal limit cycle, and solved using hybrid automaton formalism. In addition, a
      real time estimation of the load is developed using an algebraic approach for
      online adjustment of the hybrid controller. Mathematical proofs are provided with
      simulations to illustrate the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed
      controller despite different disturbances. Furthermore, a fuel cell system
      supplying a resistive load through a two-interleaved boost converter is also
      highlighted.

PMID- 27645469
TI  - The ethmoid and presphenoid of cetaceans.
AB  - A cribriform plate, a perpendicular plate, and two lateral masses are major
      components of the ethmoid bone of mammals. Notwithstanding the noticeable bone,
      virtually sitting in the center of the skull, extensive modifications of the
      skull of modern cetaceans, especially odontocetes (toothed whales), and the lack
      of clarity as to what characteristics delimit each element of the ethmoid has
      made the problem of the nature of the cetacean ethmoid more complicated and
      elusive than in other, less modified mammals. Furthermore, contention as to
      whether a perpendicular plate of the ethmoid, or the mesethmoid, exists in all
      mammals including cetaceans has remained unsettled. In odontocetes, the
      mesethmoid has been variably identified not only as the osseous nasal septum but
      also as the mediodorsal region of the posterior wall of the nasal passage below
      the nasals, as a mass of bone encased by the vomer in front of the osseous nasal
      cavity at the base of the rostrum, and as a combination of some portions
      mentioned above. The presence or absence of the mesethmoid in various groups of
      mammals has attracted the attention of some biologists, and here, I demonstrate
      that cetaceans have no mesethmoid. The close inspection of the ontogenetic
      changes of the basicranial elements in cetaceans reveals that a mass of bone
      ensheathed by the vomer in front, or at the level of the osseous nasal cavity is
      actually the presphenoid. It is highly likely that in odontocetes the posterior
      wall of the nasal passages below the nasals consists of the combination of the
      frontal, the imperforated cribriform plate, the paired ectethmoids, and the
      vomer, the latter three of which partially concealing the presphenoid dorsally
      and laterally as the ontogeny proceeds. In contrast, mysticetes clearly display
      ethmoturbinates and a cribriform plate, which are morphologically similar to
      those in terrestrial mammals. J. Morphol. 277:1661-1674, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27645470
TI  - Membrane Rigidity Determined by Atomic Force Microscopy Is a Parameter of the
      Permeability of Liposomal Membranes to the Hydrophilic Compound Calcein.
AB  - We determined the permeability coefficient of a model hydrophilic drug, calcein,
      encapsulated within saturated lipid-based nano-sized liposomes of various lipid
      profiles. We demonstrated that the addition of cholesterol to liposomes
      containing saturated lipids increased the permeability of the liposomal membrane
      to calcein via a decrease in the membrane bending modulus, as determined by means
      of atomic force microscopy. We found an inverse correlation between the membrane
      bending modulus of saturated lipid-based nano-sized liposomes and the
      permeability coefficient of encapsulated calcein, demonstrating that bending
      modulus, as determined by means of atomic force microscopy, is a quantitative
      parameter describing the permeability of liposomal membranes to calcein.

PMID- 27645471
TI  - Evaluation of the Safety, Cell Migration, and Mucoadhesive Properties of a
      Mucoadhesive Polymer Blend in Human Oral Mucosa.
AB  - The efficacy of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in compounded medications
      for oral mucosa greatly depends on the composition of the base. Here, we assessed
      the safety, facilitation of cell migration, and mucoadhesive properties of a
      newly developed mucoadhesive polymer blend (MPB) which contains pullulan,
      tamarindus indica polysaccharide, and sodium hyaluronate. No cell death was
      observed when human oral keratinocyte (HOK) and fibroblast (HOrF) cells were
      exposed to 1% MPB for 24 h. Epithelial cells in a 3D buccal tissue model
      (EpiOral) were unaffected when exposed to 50% MPB for 20 h whereas 1% Triton X
      100 killed 93% cells after 4.5 h. The expressions of cytokines IL1alpha and
      IL1beta and cell proliferation markers PCNA, CYCLIN A, and CYCLIN D1 in EpiOral
      tissue did not increase suggesting that MPB is neither an irritant nor a mitogen.
      Markers of apoptosis such as cleavage of CASPASES 8/9, upregulation of pro
      apoptosis NOXA protein, and downregulation of anti-apoptosis XIAP protein were
      observed in Triton X-100-treated cells but not in cells exposed to MPB. The
      migration of HOK and HOrF cells was stimulated by MPB, and the expression of E
      CADHERIN in the EpiOral tissues was unaffected. Moreover, MPB showed stronger
      mucoadhesion on the human EpiOral tissue model compared with a reference product.
      We conclude that MPB can safely deliver API within the oral mucosa, facilitate
      cell migration, and may increase drug efficacy through its strong mucoadhesive
      property.

PMID- 27645472
TI  - Melanosomal melanin pigment in pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, evidence for
      neuronal-glial origin: A case report with review of the literature.
AB  - We describe a unique case of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) in a 19-year-old
      male presenting with the chief complaint of seizures. On radiology, the tumor was
      located in the temporal lobe. It was cortically based and solid cystic in nature.
      Light microscopy showed pleomorphic large polygonal cells with inclusions,
      nuclear clustering, lipidization, and foamy cytoplasm intermingled with spindle
      cells arranged in sweeping pattern and focally containing cytoplasmic brownish
      black pigment. The pigment stained black with Fontana-Masson stain and bleached
      with potassium permanganate. Gomori silver stain showed reticulin fibers
      surrounding individual tumor cells as well as groups of cells. On
      immunohistochemistry, tumor cells were positive for GFAP, S-100 and focally for
      synaptophysin and CD34 but negative for HMB-45. CD34 revealed a specific
      membranous pattern around individual cells as well as groups of cells along the
      fibers replicating a reticulin pattern. The ultrastructural examination showed
      supporting melanosomes, thus confirming the melanin pigment. Sequencing for BRAF
      V600E showed a heterozygous mutation. To our knowledge only five cases of PXA
      with melanin pigment have been reported and none of which described BRAF V600E
      mutation analysis. This case provides further insight into the origin and
      pathogenesis of pigmented astrocytic tumor, additionally highlighting the
      characteristic CD34 staining pattern.

PMID- 27645475
TI  - Sleep on manned space flights: Zero gravity reduces sleep duration.
AB  - The success of a manned space mission depends on the well-being of the crew.
      Sleep in space has been the concern of researchers from the earliest days of
      manned space flight. In the new frontier of space exploration one of the great
      problems to be solved relates to sleep. Although many reports indicate that sleep
      in space differs only in minor ways from terrestrial sleep, such as being
      somewhat less comfortable, a consistent finding has been that sleep duration in
      space is shorter than that on the ground. This review considers the accumulating
      evidence that the main reason for the shorter duration of sleep in space is the
      absence of gravity. This evidence shows that, similar to the effect of many other
      environmental variables like light, sound and cold, gravity has a measurable
      impact on sleep structure. As opposed to ground, in zero gravity conditions the
      innate, permanent, and almost unconscious effort to maintain posture and
      equilibrium is reduced while simultaneously the vigilance against gravity or "the
      fear of falling" diminishes. These phenomena may potentially explain research
      findings that REM sleep latency and duration are shorter in space. This
      assumption also implies that sleep on ground is due in part to the effort to
      compensate for the presence of gravity and its effects on the posture and motion
      of the human body: an ignored and unsuspected contribution to sleep.

PMID- 27645473
TI  - The incidence and risk factors for central lymph node metastasis in cN0 papillary
      thyroid microcarcinoma: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Although there have been many studies identifying clinical and pathologic factors
      that may predict central lymph node metastases (CLNM) in papillary thyroid
      microcarcinoma (PTMC) patients without clinically cervical lymph node metastasis
      (cN0), the results were inconsistent. And whether prophylactic central lymph node
      dissection (pCLND) should be performed in cN0 PTMC remains controversial. The
      EMBASE, PubMed, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library were searched until Oct 2015 to
      identify relevant studies. Primary outcomes were clinical and pathologic factors
      for CLNM. Secondary outcomes included CLNM rate, surgical complications of
      hypocalcaemia and recurrent laryngeal nerve(RLN) injury and neck recurrences.
      Statistical analysis was performed using Stata 12.0. Fourteen eligible studies
      enrolling 4573 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The overall
      incidence of CLNM was 33 % (95 % CI 29-37). An elevated risk of CLNM was
      significantly associated with male gender (OR 2.33, 95 % CI 1.71-3.17), age <45
      years (OR 1.27, 95 % CI 1.08-1.48), tumor size >5 mm (OR 2.16, 95 % CI 1.87
      2.50), multifocality (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.45-2.05), extrathyroidal extension (OR
      1.99, 95 % CI 1.66-2.37) and lymphovascular invasion (OR 3.87, 95 % CI 1.64
      9.10), but not with thyroid bilaterality (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 0.89-2.22) and chronic
      lymphocytic thyroiditis (OR 0.98, 95 % CI 0.66-1.47). The pooled frequency of
      permanent hypocalcaemia, permanent RLN injury and neck recurrences was 1.1, 0.5
      and 2.8 %, respectively. cN0 PTMC patients have a considerable CLNM rate and have
      a low pooled incident of surgical complications and neck recurrences with pCLND.
      Six unfavorable clinical and pathologic factors, which were significantly
      associated with CLNM, were identified. These findings may help guide the
      application of pCLND or subsequent treatment in cN0 PTMC.

PMID- 27645474
TI  - Calorimetric Studies and Structural Aspects of Ionic Liquids in Designing
      Sorption Materials for Thermal Energy Storage.
AB  - The thermal properties of a series of twenty-four ionic liquids (ILs) have been
      determined by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) with the aim of simulating
      processes involving water sorption. For eleven water-free ILs, the molecular
      structures have been determined by X-ray crystallography in the solid state,
      which have been used to derive the molecular volumes of the ionic components of
      the ILs. Moreover, the structures reveal a high prevalence of hydrogen bonding in
      these compounds. A relationship between the molecular volumes and the
      experimentally determined energies of dilution could be established. The highest
      energies of dilution observed in this series were obtained for the acetate-based
      ILs, which underlines their potential as working fluids in sorption-based thermal
      energy storage systems.

PMID- 27645477
TI  - Cognitive Functioning Self-Assessment Scale (CFSS): Further psychometric data.
AB  - The "Cognitive Functioning Self-Assessment Scale" (CFSS) is a questionnaire
      specifically developed for the self-reporting of cognitive functioning in non
      neurologic settings. A previous published study had showed its good reading
      comprehension and face validity, defining it as monofactorial and reliable. This
      paper provides further psychometric data and norms derived on a larger sample
      from the general population. Our work is divided into two studies. In Study 1,
      194 adult patients in a General Practitioner study (27.8% retested after 2 weeks)
      have filled-in the CFSS together with the CES-D, the State Anxiety subscale of
      the STAI, and a clinical and socio-demographic data form. The Cronbach's alpha of
      the CFSS was 0.878; the temporal stability was 0.794; in addition, CFSS showed
      substantial and moderate associations respectively with depression and state
      anxiety measures. In Study 2, CFSS data on 476 participants have been considered.
      CFSS score was associated to age (p < 0.01) and education (p < 0.01). In
      addition, CFSS descriptive statistics according to age and education levels were
      provided. In conclusion, although further research is surely necessary to refine
      the CFSS, the herein presented data together with the already published results,
      confirm the validity and reliability of this tool.

PMID- 27645490
TI  - Spontaneous ping-pong parietal fracture in a newborn.

PMID- 27645489
TI  - Exploring Perceived Discrimination Among LGBT Individuals in Turkey in Education,
      Employment, and Health Care: Results of an Online Survey.
AB  - This article explores the discrimination practices encountered by lesbian, gay,
      bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in education, income, employment,
      and health care in Turkey. Limited quantitative data on LGBT individuals are
      available in Turkey. This study collected data from 2,875 LGBT individuals
      through a Web-based survey. The findings suggest that LGBT individuals report
      perceived direct and indirect discrimination in accessing education, employment,
      and health care. In a country where LGBT rights are not yet recognized and
      antidiscrimination legislation covering sexual orientation and gender identity is
      still nonexistent, findings demonstrate perceived discrimination of LGBTs rarely
      turns into a legal complaint. Even when they do, most LGBTs in our sample report
      that they did not feel that the justice system addressed their grievances.

PMID- 27645491
TI  - Neopuff T-piece resuscitator: does device design affect delivered ventilation?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The T-piece resuscitator (TPR) is in common use worldwide to deliver
      positive pressure ventilation during resuscitation of infants <10 kg. Ease of
      use, ability to provide positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), availability of
      devices inbuilt into resuscitaires and cheaper disposable options have increased
      its popularity as a first-line device for term infant resuscitation. Research
      into its ventilation performance is limited to preterm infant and animal studies.
      Efficacy of providing PEEP and the use of TPR during term infant resuscitation
      are not established. AIM: The aim of this study is to determine if delivered
      ventilation with the Neopuff brand TPR varied with differing (preterm to term)
      test lung compliances (Crs) and set peak inspiratory pressures (PIP). DESIGN: A
      single operator experienced in newborn resuscitation provided positive pressure
      ventilation in a randomised sequence to three different Crs models (0.5, 1 and 3
      mL/cmH2O) at three different set PIP (20, 30 and 40 cmH2O). Set PEEP (5 cmH2O),
      gas flow rate and inflation rate were the same for each sequence. RESULTS: A
      total of 1087 inflations were analysed. The delivered mean PEEP was Crs dependent
      across set PIP range, rising from 4.9 to 8.2 cmH2O. At set PIP 40 cmH2O and Crs 3
      mL/cmH2O, the delivered mean PIP was significantly lower at 35.3 cmH2O.
      CONCLUSIONS: As Crs increases, the Neopuff TPR can produce clinically significant
      levels of auto-PEEP and thus may not be optimal for the resuscitation of term
      infants with healthy lungs.

PMID- 27645494
TI  - Severity of statin-induced adverse effects on muscle and associated conditions:
      data from the DAMA study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statins are generally well tolerated, but muscular adverse effects
      appear to be the most common obstacle limiting their use. Our objective was to
      describe the severity of muscle injury (myalgia, myositis and rhabdomyolysis) and
      associated conditions related to statin therapy that may be clinically
      significant. METHODS: A cross-sectional one-visit, non-interventional, national
      multicenter study including patients of both sexes over 18 years of age referred
      for past or present muscle symptoms associated with statin therapy was conducted.
      Clinical, biochemical and drug therapy characteristics were obtained at the
      initial evaluation. RESULTS: 3,845 patients were recruited from a one-day record
      from 2,001 physicians. Myalgia was present in 78.2% of patients, myositis in
      19.3% and rhabdomyolysis in 2.5%. The prevalence of different comorbidities such
      as diabetes, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and coronary heart disease
      increased as the severity of myopathy rose. High-intensity statin therapy was
      used in 33.4% of patients. Concomitant drugs metabolized by the CYP450 3A4
      pathway were taken by 9.3% of patients, and statins with this metabolic route by
      75%. Independent variables associated with myositis or rhabdomyolysis compared
      with myalgia alone in the multivariate model were excessive alcohol consumption
      and pravastatin therapy. CONCLUSION: Myalgia was the most common muscle adverse
      effect associated with statin therapy. Excessive alcohol consumption and
      pravastatin were independently associated with myositis or rhabdomyolysis.

PMID- 27645493
TI  - Distinctive expression of interleukin-23 receptor subunits on human Th17 and
      gammadelta T cells.
AB  - The interleukin-23 (IL-23) pathway, T helper 17 (Th17) cells and gammadelta T
      cells, which respond to IL-23, have major pro-inflammatory roles. We have used
      unique IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) subunit-specific monoclonal antibodies, X67 and
      X68, and IL-12 receptor beta-1 subunit (IL-12Rbeta1) expression levels to
      evaluate the IL-23R complex on CD4 alphabeta TCR Th17 cells and on gammadelta T
      cells. Both IL-23R and IL-12Rbeta1 subunits constitute the functional IL-23R.
      Expression of the IL-23R subunit by cultured Th17 cells was heterogeneous. Th17
      cells expressed consistent high levels of the IL-12Rbeta1 subunit, which appeared
      a better predictor of responsiveness to IL-23 than the expression of the IL-23R
      subunit. Moreover, sorting memory CD4 T cells by high IL-12Rbeta1 expression
      selectively enriched cells committed to IL-17 production from the blood. IL-23R
      expression was also observed on freshly isolated and cultured gammadelta T cells
      and the cultured gammadelta T cells were not responsive to IL-23.

PMID- 27645499
TI  - Reality check for cardiac troponin testing - Sometimes the result is wrong.

PMID- 27645498
TI  - Undernutrition and malaria in pregnancy - a dangerous dyad?
AB  - BACKGROUND: In low-resource settings, malaria and macronutrient undernutrition
      are major health problems in pregnancy, contributing significantly to adverse
      pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth and fetal growth restriction. Affected
      pregnancies may result in stillbirth and neonatal death, and surviving children
      are at risk of poor growth and infection in infancy, and of non-communicable
      diseases in adulthood. Populations exposed to macronutrient undernutrition
      frequently reside in malaria-endemic areas, and seasonal peaks of low food supply
      and malaria transmission tend to coincide. Despite these geographic and temporal
      overlaps, integrated approaches to these twin challenges are infrequent.
      DISCUSSION: This opinion article examines the current evidence for malaria
      macronutrition interactions and discusses possible mechanisms whereby
      macronutrient undernutrition and malaria may interact to worsen pregnancy
      outcomes. Macronutrient undernutrition dysregulates the immune response. In
      pregnant women, undernutrition may worsen the already increased susceptibility to
      malarial infection and could impair development of protective immunity to
      malaria, and is likely to exacerbate the impact of placental malaria on fetal
      growth. Malarial infection, in turn, can drive nutritional depletion; poor
      gestational weight gain and weight loss in pregnancy increases the risk of
      adverse pregnancy outcomes. Despite a commendable number of studies and trials
      that, in isolation, attempt to address the challenges of malaria and
      undernutrition in pregnancy, few dare to venture beyond the 'single disease -
      single solution' paradigm. We believe that this may be a lost opportunity:
      researching malaria-nutrition interactions, and designing and implementing
      integrated interventions to prevent and treat these commonly co-existing and
      intertwining conditions, may markedly reduce the high burden of preterm birth and
      fetal growth restriction in affected areas. CONCLUSION: We call for more
      collaboration between researchers studying malaria and nutrition in pregnancy,
      and propose a research agenda to address this important twin health problem.

PMID- 27645501
TI  - Maternal parenting behavior and emotion processing in adolescents-An fMRI study.
AB  - Parenting is an essential factor within a child's development, yet the impact of
      normative variations of parenting on neural emotion processing has not been
      studied to date. The present study investigated 83 healthy adolescents using
      functional magnetic resonance imaging and an emotional face-matching paradigm.
      The faces paradigm elicited an increased amygdala response towards negative
      facial expressions (fearful and angry each compared to neutral faces) and a
      significant activation of fusiform gyrus to all emotions separately (fearful,
      happy, angry faces) compared to neutral faces. Moreover, we investigated
      associations between neural responses towards emotional faces and mother's
      parenting behavior (maternal warmth and support, psychological pressure and
      control behavior). High maternal warmth and support correlated with lower
      activation to fearful faces in the amygdala. Maternal supportive rather than
      control behavior seems to have an impact on neural emotion processing, which
      could also be the key factor for brain functional abnormalities in maltreated
      children. These results expand existent findings in maltreated children to
      healthy populations.

PMID- 27645502
TI  - Cytotoxic activity of expanded coordination bis-thiosemicarbazones and copper
      complexes thereof.
AB  - A series of bis-thiosemicarbazone agents with coordinating groups capable of
      multiple metal coordination modes has been generated and evaluated for potential
      cytotoxic effects against melanoma (MelRm) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell
      lines. The bis-thiosemicarbazones in this study generally demonstrated superior
      cytotoxic activity against MelRm than MCF-7 in the absence of metal ion
      supplementation, but in most cases could not be considered superior to the
      reference thiosemicarbazone Dp44mT. The key structural features for the cytotoxic
      activity were the central metal binding atom on the aromatic core, the
      thiocarbonyl residue and the nature of substitution on the N4-terminus in terms
      of size and lipophilicity. The cytotoxicity of bis-thiosemicarbazone ligands
      improved significantly with Cu(II) supplementation, particularly against MCF-7
      cells. The mechanism of cytotoxicity of bis-thiosemicarbazones was proposed to be
      dependent on the combined effect of metal mobilisation and ROS generation which
      is so called a "double-punch effect".

PMID- 27645504
TI  - An unexpectedly high rate of revisions and removals in deep brain stimulation
      surgery: Analysis of multiple databases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for movement
      disorders, and is under active investigation for other neurologic and psychiatric
      indications. While many studies describe outcomes and complications related to
      stimulation therapies, the majority of these are from large academic centers, and
      results may differ from those in general neurosurgical practice. METHODS: Using
      data from both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the
      National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), we identified all DBS
      procedures related to primary placement, revision, or removal of intracranial
      electrodes. Cases of cortical stimulation and stimulation for epilepsy were
      excluded. RESULTS: Over 28,000 cases of DBS electrode placement, revision, and
      removal were identified during the years 2004-2013. In the Medicare dataset,
      15.2% and of these procedures were for intracranial electrode revision or
      removal, compared to 34.0% in the NSQIP dataset. In NSQIP, significant predictors
      of revision and removal were decreased age (odds ratio (OR) of 0.96; 95% CI:
      0.94, 0.98) and higher ASA classification (OR 2.41; 95% CI: 1.22, 4.75). Up to
      48.5% of revisions may have been due to improper targeting or lack of therapeutic
      effect. CONCLUSION: Data from multiple North American databases suggest that
      intracranial neurostimulation therapies have a rate of revision and removal
      higher than previously reported, between 15.2 and 34.0%. While there are many
      limitations to registry-based studies, there is a clear need to better track and
      understand the true prevalence and nature of such failures as they occur in the
      wider surgical community.

PMID- 27645507
TI  - Boronate affinity electrophoresis for the purification and analysis of cofactor
      modified RNAs.
AB  - RNA modifications are widely distributed in Nature, and their thorough analysis
      helps answering fundamental biological questions. Nowadays, mass spectrometry or
      deep-sequencing methods are often used for the analysis. With the raising number
      of newly discovered RNA modifications, such as the 5'-NAD cap in Escherichia
      coli, there is an important need for new, less complex and fast analytical tools
      to analyze the occurrence, amount, and distribution of modified RNAs in cells. To
      accomplish this task, we have revisited the previously developed affinity gel
      electrophoresis principles and copolymerized acryloylaminophenyl boronic acid
      (APB) in standard denaturing polyacrylamide gels to retard the NAD- or FAD
      modified RNAs compared to the unmodified RNAs in the gels. The boronyl groups
      inside the gel form relatively stable complexes with 1,2-cis diols, occurring
      naturally at the 3'-end of RNA, and also in the nicotinamide riboside of NAD
      modified RNA at the 5'-end. The transient formation of diesters between the
      immobilized boronic acid and the diols causes lower mobility of the modified
      RNAs, compared to unmodified RNAs, resulting in two distinct bands for one RNA
      sequence. We used APB affinity gel electrophoresis to preparatively purify in
      vitro transcribed NAD-RNA from triphosphorylated RNA, to study the enzyme
      kinetics of the NAD-RNA decapping enzyme NudC, and to determine the NAD
      modification ratios of various cellular sRNAs. In summary, APB affinity gels can
      be used to study cofactor-modified RNAs with low amounts of material, and to
      rapidly screen for their occurrence in total RNA while avoiding complex sample
      treatments.

PMID- 27645509
TI  - Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus infections in
      young women seeking abortion care in Ethiopia: a cross - sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Young women aged 15-24 years are members of key populations at higher
      risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) acquisition through sexual
      intercourse. In areas where unprotected sex is a common practice, Hepatitis B
      virus (HBV) commonly transmitted via sexual and parenteral routes. The study
      aimed at determining HIV and HBV infections prevalence in young women attending
      health institutions for abortion care in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. METHODS: A
      cross - sectional study was conducted from January 2015 to June 2015. Convenient
      sampling technique was used. Demographic and explanatory variables were collected
      using a structured questionnaire via face to face interview. The presence of
      antibody to HIV infection was detected using national HIV diagnostic test
      algorithm. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected using ELISA. Data
      were analyzed using descriptive, fisher's exact and independent sample T test as
      appropriate. RESULTS: A total of 360 young women aged 15-24 years participated in
      the study. The median age of the women was 22 years. Overall, 16 (4.4 %) (95 %
      CI: 2.7-7.1 %) women were positive for either HBV or HIV infections. The
      prevalence of HIV and HBV infections were 9 (2.5 %) (95 % CI: 1.3-4.7 %) and 7
      (1.94 %) (95 % CI: 0.95-4.0 %), respectively. The mean age of first sexual
      intercourse was 17.6 and 19.3 in HIV and HBV infected women, respectively. The
      prevalence of HIV infection was significantly associated with lower educational
      status (P < 0.001), divorced marital status (P = 0.009) and ever had symptom of
      other sexually transmitted infections (P = 0.001). The proportion of HBV was
      higher in women aged 15-17 years (P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Though there were no co
      infections, HIV and HBV infections are major health problems in young women
      seeking abortion care. Therefore, appropriate prevention, treatment and care
      services must be reached to these higher risk populations.

PMID- 27645512
TI  - Clinical and Emotional Factors Related to Erectile Dysfunction in HIV-Infected
      Men.
AB  - The prevalence and associated factors of erectile dysfunction (ED) in Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected men remain controversial. The authors
      evaluated ED, clinical, and emotional variables in a group of 501 HIV-infected
      men in a cross-sectional 4-month observational study. ED was assessed using the
      International Index of Erectile Function-5 and emotional status using the
      Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) questionnaire. Median age (interquartile
      range) was 42 (35, 48) years. Time since HIV diagnosis was 6.3 (2.6, 17.1) years,
      92% were taking antiretroviral treatment and 81.8% had an HIV-RNA viral load <50
      copies. The prevalence of ED was 58.5%. ED was mild in 30.1%, mild to moderate in
      19.5%, moderate in 6.1%, and severe in 2.5%. ED medications were used by 19% of
      men. In the univariate analysis, the variables associated with all degrees of ED
      were older age, longer time since HIV diagnosis, higher scores in HAD, not taking
      efavirenz, taking etravirine, taking ritonavir, HIV/Hepatitis C Virus
      coinfection, and taking a protease inhibitor-containing regimen. For mild to
      moderate, moderate, and severe ED, the same variables were significant, as were
      lower nadir CD4 cell count, lower social support, taking atazanavir, concomitant
      conditions, and concomitant treatments. The variables that remained significant
      in the multivariate analyses, considering all degrees of ED or excluding mild ED
      were the following: older age and higher scores in HAD total. In summary, ED
      affected more than half of this cohort of well controlled HIV-infected men. Age
      and emotional status seemed to play a fundamental role in its presence.

PMID- 27645513
TI  - Male Body Practices.
AB  - The pressure on boys and men to engage in extensive body practices (e.g., closely
      monitored eating and exercise habits) and achieve ideal male bodies has grown
      significantly over the past 20 years. Central to the depiction of ideal male
      bodies and body practices are both the pursuit and achievement of lean and well
      defined muscles. The labels "pitches," "purchases," and "performativities" were
      inductively derived from the literature, and used to describe the multifaceted
      connections between masculinities, muscularity, and idealized male body
      practices. "Pitches" distil how popular culture posture norms of masculinity, and
      manly bodies and behaviors attainable and necessary. "Purchases" refer to men's
      diverse buy-in to dominant discourses about acceptable male bodies and practices.
      "Performativities" chronicle how men embody and navigate gender norms as they
      evaluate their own bodies, behaviors, and eating habits and those of their peers.
      Based on findings from the current scoping review, future research could benefit
      from fully linking masculinities with the drive for muscularity to address health
      and social risks associated with the pursuit of the idealized male body. In
      highlighting the plurality of masculinities and the complexity of men's diverse
      identities, health care providers can better reach and support men. Focusing on,
      and celebrating, a wider range of male bodies could help recenter dominant
      discourses about how and whose bodies and experiences are idealized. The current
      scoping review article offers an overview of how masculinities and muscularity
      have been linked to male body practices, and recommendations to advance this
      emergent field.

PMID- 27645514
TI  - "Low Testosterone Levels in Body Fluids Are Associated With Chronic
      Periodontitis".
AB  - There is a debate over the association between low testosterone levels in body
      fluids and the occurrence of chronic periodontitis (CP). The aim of the present
      systematic review was to assess whether low testosterone levels in body fluids
      reflect CP. In order to identify studies relevant to the focus question: "Is
      there a relationship between low testosterone levels in body fluids and CP?" an
      electronic search without time or language restrictions was conducted up to June
      2016 in indexed databases using different keywords: periodontitis, chronic
      periodontitis, periodontal diseases, testosterone, and gonadal steroid hormones.
      A total of eight studies were included in the present systematic review. The
      number of study participants ranged from 24 to 1,838 male individuals with ages
      ranging from 15 to 95 years. Seven studies measured testosterone levels in serum,
      two studies in saliva, and one study in gingiva. Four studies reported a negative
      association between serum testosterone levels and CP. Two studies reported a
      positive association between decreased testosterone levels in serum and CP.
      Increased levels of salivary testosterone among patients with CP were reported in
      one study; whereas one study reported no significant difference in the
      concentration of salivary testosterone between patients with and without CP. One
      study identified significant increase in the metabolism of testosterone in the
      gingiva of patients with CP. Within the limits of the evidence available, the
      relationship between low testosterone levels and CP remains debatable and further
      longitudinal studies and control trials are needed.

PMID- 27645515
TI  - The Impact of Intense Exercise on Semen Quality.
AB  - With expanding knowledge on the health benefits of exercise, there is an
      increasing demand for information on the andrological consequences of
      participating in sports. These consequences are especially important in the
      context of infertility problems worldwide. The so-called "male factor" is
      reported in up to 50% of couples having trouble with conception. The answer to
      the question, "Is physical activity good for male reproductive health?" is not
      straightforward. A number of studies have suggested that significant changes in
      semen parameters may occur due to sports training of certain types, intensities,
      and durations. The changes to these parameters vary in scope, direction, and
      magnitude. Findings in recreational athletes have also differed from those in
      professional athletes. This review of the current literature suggests that
      intense physical activity may affect the semen concentration, as well as the
      number of motile and morphologically normal spermatozoa. Training at higher
      intensities and with increased loads seems to be associated with more profound
      changes in semen quality. In recreational athletes, exercise has either a
      positive or neutral effect on semen parameters. Due to many limitations (e.g.,
      global sperm count trends, concerns about the quality control of sperm
      evaluations, and new standards for semen analysis), comparisons among historical
      data and their interpretation are difficult.

PMID- 27645516
TI  - Attitudes Toward Testicular Cancer and Self-Examination Among Northern Irish
      Males.
AB  - Testicular cancer incidence rates are increasing worldwide making it the most
      common malignancy in males aged 15 to 45 years. Without a known way to prevent
      the disease health professionals must promote awareness and early detection. A
      literature review identified a scarcity of information regarding awareness and
      knowledge of, and attitudes toward, testicular cancer and testicular self
      examination among men in Northern Ireland. This study aimed to establish baseline
      data for Northern Ireland using a convenience sample of 150 men, aged 18 to 45
      years. The sample was recruited from across the country and so represents a range
      of education and area deprivation levels. An online survey was used to collect
      data. Results showed that while 39% of respondents correctly identified the age
      group at highest risk for testicular cancer, only 17% of respondents had ever
      heard of a testicular self-examination. Analysis revealed knowledge, awareness,
      and attitudes differed by age groups and area deprivation quintiles. It is
      recommended that health promoters in Northern Ireland and elsewhere use these
      findings to tailor health promotion initiatives to engage men and raise
      testicular cancer and self-examination awareness.

PMID- 27645519
TI  - Factors associated with attitudes toward the elderly in a sample of elderly
      caregivers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of elderly caregivers is increasing in the world. It is
      important to know the attitudes toward the elderly, because they can influence a
      range of behaviors. Our aim was to determine factors associated with attitudes
      toward the elderly in a sample of older carers. METHODS: Three hundred and
      thirteen elderly caregivers (75.4% women, mean age 69.7 +/- 7.1) who cared for a
      dependent older person at home completed a cross-sectional household interview.
      In addition to the four domains of the Neri Scale to Assess Attitudes Toward the
      Elderly, participants were evaluated regarding the demographics, care recipient
      (CR) characteristics, functional and cognitive status, general health, life
      satisfaction, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Overall,
      attitudes toward the elderly were neutral in this sample. More negative attitudes
      in some Neri Scale domains were associated with being older, living in an urban
      setting, taking more medications per day, caring for an elderly dependent in
      basic Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), being "more or less" satisfied with
      life, and having higher levels of perceived stress. There was a negative
      association between positive attitudes and educational level. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results highlight the need for public policies to promote more positive attitudes
      toward aging and change negative stereotypes usually used to designate older
      people. These public policies can try to modify some predictors of negative
      attitudes, such as perceived stress, which was associated with all four domains
      of Neri Scale.

PMID- 27645518
TI  - Factors That Predict High Health Care Utilization and Costs for Patients With
      Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: A subset of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)
      have continuously active inflammation, leading to a high number of complications
      and high direct health care costs (diagnostic tests, medications, and surgeries)
      and indirect costs (reduced employment and productivity and fewer opportunities
      for activities). Identifying these high-risk patients and providing effective
      interventions could produce better outcomes and reduce costs. We used prior year
      data to create IBD risk models to predict IBD-related hospitalizations, emergency
      department visits, and high treatment charges (>$30,000/year) in the subsequent
      year. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of medical records from all
      patients with IBD treated at the University of Michigan Hospital from fiscal
      years 2013-2015. We selected clinical variables from the prior year and tested
      their abilities to predict 3 adverse outcomes (IBD-related hospitalizations,
      emergency department visits, and treatment charges >$30,000/year) in the
      subsequent year. Individual patients were only included once in the data set. We
      created a multivariate model that was based on a 70% randomly selected cohort
      (1005 patients) and validated the model on the other 30% (425 patients). Logistic
      regression was used for bivariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Factors
      that predicted high-cost outcomes included the presence of psychiatric illness,
      use of corticosteroids, use of narcotics, low levels of hemoglobin, and high
      numbers of IBD-related hospitalizations. In the validation cohort, the model
      predicted IBD-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and high
      charges in the following year with receiver operating characteristic curve values
      of 0.751, 0.738, and 0.744, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We identified 5 factors
      that can effectively identify patients with IBD at high risk for hospitalization,
      emergency department visits, and high treatment charges in the next year. These
      patients should be closely monitored and aggressively managed.

PMID- 27645521
TI  - Corticosteroid Usage Is Associated With Increased Artificial Urinary Sphincter
      Reoperation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if oral corticosteroid use is associated with an
      increased risk of artificial urinary sphincter (AUS)-related reoperation.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Administrative data from Ontario were used to conduct a
      retrospective cohort study. Men >65 years of age who underwent implantation of an
      AUS between 2002 and 2013 were included. Prescriptions for oral corticosteroids
      were identified, and men were considered exposed from the date the prescription
      was dispensed to 180 days after the expected end of the prescription. The primary
      outcome was AUS reoperation. Data were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards
      model with corticosteroid usage modeled as a time-varying covariate. RESULTS: We
      identified 747 men who met our inclusion criteria (median age of 71 years;
      interquartile range [IQR]: 68-75), of which 592 (79.3%) had a prior radical
      prostatectomy. The median duration of follow-up was 3.2 years (IQR: 1.3-5.9). One
      hundred seventy-five (23.4%) patients were exposed to corticosteroids during the
      study period (median duration of use was 21 days; IQR: 5-100). We identified an
      AUS reoperation in 176 men (23.6%). After adjusting for age, radiation exposure,
      and year of implantation, exposure to corticosteroids was significantly
      associated with the risk of AUS reoperation (hazard ratio: 1.68, 95% confidence
      interval: 1.03-2.75, P = .04). Radiation after AUS implantation was also
      significantly associated with AUS reoperation (hazard ratio: 2.07, 95% confidence
      interval: 1.06-4.07, P = .03). CONCLUSION: There is a significantly increased
      risk of AUS reoperation among men using oral corticosteroids.

PMID- 27645522
TI  - Unexplained Bone Pain Is an Independent Risk Factor for Bone Metastases in Newly
      Diagnosed Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between bone pain and bone metastases in
      newly diagnosed prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective study of
      bone scintigraphy enrolled 567 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed prostate
      cancer. The presence of all-cause bone pain, known benign bone disease, and
      unexplained bone pain (ie, not related to known benign bone disease) was derived
      from a patient questionnaire. Univariate logistic regression models (LRMs) were
      used to assess the relationship between individual clinical variables (all-cause
      bone pain, unexplained bone pain, prostate-specific antigen, Gleason grade, T
      stage, and age) and bone metastases. A multivariate LRM was used to assess the
      relationship between bone metastases and all factors in combination. Agreement
      between the LRMs and bone metastases was estimated by accuracy and by Cohen's
      kappa. RESULTS: All-cause bone pain predicted bone metastasis in univariate but
      not multivariate analysis. Unexplained bone pain remained an independent
      predictor of bone metastases in multivariate analysis (odds ratio: 4.5; P <
      .001). Prostate-specific antigen was the single most important predictor of bone
      metastases (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Unexplained bone pain was a strong independent
      risk factor for bone metastasis. Guidelines should recommend staging bone
      scintigraphy in patients with unexplained bone pain, regardless of other risk
      factors.

PMID- 27645523
TI  - Comparison of Intraperitoneal and Intraepididymal Quercetin for the Prevention of
      Testicular Torsion/Detorsion-induced Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of intraepididymal quercetin (IE-QE) with those
      of intraperitoneal quercetin (IP-QE) on testicular torsion/detorsion (TD)-induced
      ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury of the testes in an experimental rat model.
      METHODS: Twenty-four rats were divided into 4 groups: sham (S), TD, TD treated
      with IP-QE, and TD treated with IE-QE. The IP-QE group received 20 mg/kg QE
      intraperitoneally, whereas the IE-QE group received quercetin (QE) epididymally.
      After surgically induced TD, sera and testicular tissues were obtained for the
      analysis of biochemical parameters including glutathione peroxidase (GPx),
      malondialdehyde, total antioxidant status, total oxidant status, oxidative stress
      index, histologic changes, and evaluation of germ cell apoptosis. RESULTS: The
      oxidative stress index and oxidants (malondialdehyde and total oxidant status)
      were increased with a concomitant decrease in the antioxidants (GPx and total
      antioxidant status) in the TD group. Severe histopathological damage, indicated
      by low Johnsen scores and high testicular injury grades, and germ cell apoptosis
      were found in the TD group compared with the other groups. Rats treated with QE
      showed significantly less IR injury, with moderately altered biochemical
      parameters, histopathological damage, and germinal cell apoptosis compared with
      the TD group. Most importantly, we found no significant differences in the
      biochemical parameters, histopathological changes, and germinal cell apoptosis
      between the IP-QE and IE-QE groups. CONCLUSION: IE-QE was comparable to IP-QE in
      the treatment of testicular TD. Local QE therapy should be considered as a new
      approach to treating testicular IR injury due to TD.

PMID- 27645524
TI  - Urologist Use of Cystoscopy for Patients Presenting With Hematuria in the United
      States.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of cystoscopy and factors associated with
      use among hematuria patients presenting to urologists, based on results from a
      nationally representative survey. METHODS: Using the National Ambulatory Medical
      Care Survey (2006-2012), we identified outpatient visits to urologists for
      hematuria, and excluded visits associated with benign diagnoses (eg, urinary
      tract infection). Our primary outcome was performed or planned cystoscopy. We
      hypothesized that major risk factors (ie, gross hematuria, tobacco use, age >50,
      male gender) would be associated with increased cystoscopy use. We used
      multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between available
      patient, provider, and practice setting factors and use of cystoscopy. RESULTS:
      Among an estimated 10.8 million hematuria visits to urologists, cystoscopy was
      planned or performed after 34.7% of visits (95% confidence interval [CI] 30.7
      39.0). Patients with gross hematuria (adjusted odds ratio 2.17, 95% CI 1.28-3.69)
      and current tobacco users (adjusted odds ratio 2.48, 95% CI 1.40-4.39) had over
      twice the odds of undergoing cystoscopy compared to patients without those risk
      factors. We estimated that there are over 20,000 missed cancer cases annually
      among moderate- and high-risk hematuria patients, and nearly 230,000 excess
      cystoscopy cases annually for patients with near-zero cancer risk. CONCLUSION:
      Despite guidelines emphasizing the importance of cystoscopy in hematuria
      evaluations, just over one-third of patients diagnosed with hematuria by
      urologists undergo this procedure. There also appears to be considerable
      misallocation of cystoscopy for hematuria patients, with excessive use among low
      risk patients and significant potential for missed cancer cases among those at
      higher risk of malignancy.

PMID- 27645525
TI  - Using Behavior Change Techniques to Guide Selections of Mobile Applications to
      Promote Fluid Consumption.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which validated techniques for behavior
      change have been infused in commercially available fluid consumption applications
      (apps). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Coders evaluated behavior change techniques
      represented in online descriptions for 50 fluid consumption apps and the latest
      version of each app. RESULTS: Apps incorporated a limited range of behavior
      change techniques (<20% of taxonomy). The number of techniques varied by
      operating system but not as a function of whether apps were free or paid.
      Limitations include the lack of experimental evidence establishing the efficacy
      of these apps. CONCLUSION: Patients with urolithiasis can choose from many apps
      to support the recommended increase in fluid intake. Apps for iOS devices
      incorporate more behavior change techniques compared to apps for the Android
      operating system. Free apps are likely to expose patients to a similar number of
      techniques as paid apps. Physicians and patients should screen app descriptions
      for features to promote self-monitoring and provide feedback on discrepancies
      between behavior and a fluid consumption goal.

PMID- 27645526
TI  - C. Everett Koop: Pioneer in Pediatric Surgery, US Surgeon General, and Early
      Contributor to Pediatric Urology.

PMID- 27645527
TI  - Patient-centered Treatment Decisions for Urethral Stricture: Conjoint Analysis
      Improves Surgical Decision-making.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the use of a choice-based conjoint analysis (CA)
      exercise decreased patients' decisional conflict about treatment preferences for
      surgical management of urethral stricture disease. Understanding patient
      preferences for treatment decisions assists in shared decision-making and
      emphasizes patient-centered outcomes. CA offers a method to understand what risks
      patients are willing to take for what gains. METHODS: The CA methodology was used
      by providing participants with case-based choices to elucidate the relative
      importance that individuals place on various treatment aspects. Patients'
      decisional conflict regarding surgery for urethral stricture was assessed before
      and after the CA exercise to assess the impact the exercise had on their
      decisional conflict. RESULTS: Completion of the CA exercise resulted in a
      significant decrease in decisional conflict (P < .001). The majority (59.5%) of
      participants with decisional conflict before the CA exercise experienced a
      decrease in decisional conflict afterwards, with only a minority (16.5%)
      experiencing new decisional conflict after the exercise. Participants felt the
      choice-based CA exercise was helpful in deciding what was important in making
      treatment decisions (70%) and in expressing their priorities and treatment
      preferences (82%). The number needed to counsel to achieve a decrease in
      decisional conflict was 1.69 and to achieve no decisional conflict was 3.65.
      CONCLUSION: Choice-based CA improves patients' ability to express their treatment
      preferences and decreases decisional conflict. CA may be a new tool that
      physicians and patients can use to aid in shared decision-making with a focus on
      patient-centered outcomes.

PMID- 27645528
TI  - Urologists' Current Practices in Screening and Treating Men With a Family History
      of Prostate Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess urologists' knowledge and utilization of family history to
      determine prostate cancer (PC) screening and treatment recommendations. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Questionnaires that explored urologists' knowledge, frequency, and
      utilization of family history information for screening and treatment
      recommendations for PC were prospectively collected. Data were summarized and
      compared using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 87 responses were
      collected, for a response rate of 60% (87 of 145). The majority of urologists
      reported that they always collect family history when discussing risk (95%) or
      screening (87%), and recommended earlier screening for men with family history of
      PC in comparison with men with no family history. Although only 57% reported
      always collecting family history when discussing treatment, the majority of
      respondents reported that a positive family history influenced their treatment
      recommendations. Eight percent of urologists would recommend prostatectomy for
      men diagnosed with low-grade, low-risk PC and no family history of PC vs 52% who
      would recommend the same course of treatment when the patient had at least 1
      first-degree relative who died of the disease. Conversely, 91% of urologists
      would recommend active surveillance for men with low-grade, low-risk PC and no
      family history vs 47% for those with at least 1 first-degree relative who died of
      the disease. CONCLUSION: The majority of urologists collect information on family
      history of PC. Despite the lack of literature to support that patients with
      familial PC require more aggressive treatment, urologists were more likely to
      recommend definitive therapies.

PMID- 27645529
TI  - Assessment of Hydration Thermodynamics at Protein Interfaces with Grid Cell
      Theory.
AB  - Molecular dynamics simulations have been analyzed with the Grid Cell Theory (GCT)
      method to spatially resolve the binding enthalpies and entropies of water
      molecules at the interface of 17 structurally diverse proteins. Correlations
      between computed energetics and structural descriptors have been sought to
      facilitate the development of simple models of protein hydration. Little
      correlation was found between GCT-computed binding enthalpies and continuum
      electrostatics calculations. A simple count of contacts with functional groups in
      charged amino acids correlates well with enhanced water stabilization, but the
      stability of water near hydrophobic and polar residues depends markedly on its
      coordination environment. The positions of X-ray-resolved water molecules
      correlate with computed high-density hydration sites, but many unresolved waters
      are significantly stabilized at the protein surfaces. A defining characteristic
      of ligand-binding pockets compared to nonbinding pockets was a greater solvent
      accessible volume, but average water thermodynamic properties were not
      distinctive from other interfacial regions. Interfacial water molecules are
      frequently stabilized by enthalpy and destabilized entropy with respect to bulk,
      but counter-examples occasionally occur. Overall detailed inspection of the local
      coordinating environment appears necessary to gauge the thermodynamic stability
      of water in protein structures.

PMID- 27645532
TI  - Real-world characteristics of elderly patients with overactive bladder in the
      United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although much has been published about the demographic and clinical
      characteristics of elderly patients with overactive bladder (OAB) who were
      enrolled in clinical trials, very little is known about the general population of
      elderly Americans with OAB. We update this gap in the literature by using real
      world data to describe this population. METHODS: We used Medicare claims and the
      Medicare Current Beneficiary Surveys from 2006 to 2011 to identify patients with
      OAB. We describe the demographic characteristics, functional impairment and
      physical limitations, concurrent medical conditions, Charlson Comorbidity Index
      (CCI) scores, and concomitant medication use of patients with OAB; these
      characteristics are also described by sex and age group (65-74 vs. >=75 years).
      We also compare the characteristics of OAB with non-OAB patients. RESULTS: We
      identified 415 elderly patients with OAB (average age 79 years; 71% female) and
      6868 without OAB (average age 77 years; 62% female). Patients with OAB reported
      high levels of functional impairment as measured by the Activities of Daily
      Living (44% vs. 33% for non-OAB patients), Instrumental ADL (53% vs. 40% for non
      OAB patients), and physical functioning limitation (90% vs. 81% for non-OAB
      patients) scales. Elderly patients with OAB also experienced high levels of
      comorbidity burden, as measured by the number of medical conditions (18 vs. 11
      for non-OAB patients), CCI (2.1 vs. 1.4 for non-OAB patients), and number of non
      OAB-related concomitant medications used (11 vs. 8 for non-OAB patients).
      CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients with OAB in the general population have high levels
      of functional impairment and physical limitations, comorbidity, and concomitant
      medication use. These characteristics should be taken into consideration when
      managing OAB symptoms and designing future clinical studies. These results, which
      are representative of elderly patients with OAB in the general US population,
      should, however, be interpreted in light of the key limitations of the data we
      used: patients may have been misclassified and medical conditions overestimated
      due to artifacts of diagnosis coding and our results can only be generalized to
      patients who were enrolled in Medicare Parts A, B, and D for at least 12
      continuous months.

PMID- 27645533
TI  - Iron deficiency among apparently healthy children aged 6 to 24 months in Ibadan,
      Nigeria.
AB  - Iron deficiency remains a global public health challenge, with a higher burden in
      children in the tropics. When it occurs early in life, it may have long-term
      effects on neurodevelopment. The aims of this study were to assess the iron
      status of children aged 6-24 months, to determine the prevalence of iron
      deficiency and its associated factors in Ibadan, Nigeria. The authors conducted a
      cross-sectional study between March and June 2014. A total of 202 apparently
      healthy children aged between 6 and 24 months attending 2 major immunization
      clinics in Ibadan were included. A questionnaire was used to collect information
      on sociodemographic characteristics, pregnancy and birth history, and nutritional
      history. Physical examination was carried out on all the subjects, and serum
      ferritin level was determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
      technique. Iron deficiency was defined using a cutoff value of <30 ug/L. Fifty
      nine children (29.2%) had iron deficiency. No clinical features were found to be
      significantly associated with iron deficiency. Iron deficiency was associated
      with breastfeeding (P = .020) and younger age (P = .015) in the study population.
      One hundred and forty-three (70.8%) of the study participants had anemia, and 39
      (19.3%) had iron deficiency anemia. The prevalence of iron deficiency among
      apparently healthy children aged 6-24 months in Ibadan, Nigeria, is high. There
      is the need for a national policy on routine screening for iron deficiency and
      iron supplementation for infants and young children as recommended by the World
      Health Organization.

PMID- 27645549
TI  - Changing epidemiology of community-associated methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus in the Asia-Pacific region.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (CA-MRSA) has become an important threat to public health in the Asia-Pacific
      region, which is characterized by a large population and relatively insufficient
      resources. Better understanding on the current status of CA-MRSA in the region is
      of paramount importance. Areas covered: This article reviews the published
      literatures on the prevalence, molecular epidemiology, colonization, and hospital
      spread of CA-MRSA. Expert commentary: The burden of CA-MRSA has been increasing
      in the past two decades. The molecular epidemiology of CA-MRSA in the Asia
      Pacific region shows a marked diversity in each country. Still, some strains -
      multilocus sequence type (MLST) ST59, ST30, ST72, ST8, and ST772 - are unique
      clones that have successfully established themselves as predominant, often
      spreading into nosocomial settings. More coordinated and comprehensive
      surveillance to understand the true epidemiology of CA-MRSA in the Asia-Pacific
      region is urgently needed.

PMID- 27645534
TI  - Dysregulation of Group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells in the Pathogenesis of
      Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Here, we review recent literature indicating a role of innate
      lymphoid cells in human inflammatory bowel disease with a focus on the plastic
      population of ILC3. RECENT FINDINGS: Many studies suggest an involvement of ILC3
      in human intestinal inflammation. ILC3 present the most abundant ILC subtype in
      the human intestine at steady state. In IBD, this composition is skewed towards
      ILCs showing an ILC1 phenotype and cytokine profile. This change is likely due to
      the microenvironment causing skewing of the functionally plastic ILC subsets.
      Interactions between ILCs and other cells are important to keep homeostasis and
      intestinal barrier integrity. The knowledge about the involvement of ILCs in IBD
      is rapidly increasing, and with the help of mouse models, new pathways and
      functions of ILCs are continuously unraveled. In the majority of human studies, a
      potential role for ILCs in Crohn's disease is found. However, less data is
      available for a possible role in ulcerative colitis. Results from mice are
      obtained from diverse model systems, and more research in this field is needed to
      clarify and integrate the current knowledge in order to improve treatment
      strategies for IBD patients.

PMID- 27645551
TI  - Long-Term Outcomes of Conventional Aortic Valve Replacement in High-Risk
      Patients: Where Do We Stand?
AB  - PURPOSE: The introduction of transcatheter aortic valves has focused attention on
      the results of conventional aortic valve surgery in high-risk patients. The aim
      of the study was to evaluate 5-years outcomes in this category of patients in the
      current surgical era. METHODS: This is an observational retrospective study of
      581 high-risk patients undergoing aortic valve replacement from 2008 to 2013,
      with a mean logistic EuroSCORE of 26.6% +/- 14.6%. Data were prospectively
      collected in a database of Emilia-Romagna region (Italy). RESULTS: Overall 30-day
      mortality was 9.3%. Stroke rate was 1.5%. At 1-, 3-, and 5-years overall
      mortality was 18.2%, 30.4%, and 42.2%, cardiac death rate was 3.9%, 9.2%, and
      12.9%, stroke rate 2.5%, 7.7%, and 10.2%, re-operation occurrence 0.2%, 0.9% and
      1.3%, and new pacemaker implantation was 2.3%, 5.1% and 7.8%. At multivariate
      analysis, urgency, hemodynamic instability, LVEF <=30%, NYHA III-IV, severe
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), extra-cardiac arteriopathy,
      cerebrovascular disease, and creatinine >2.0 mg/dL remained independent
      predictors of 5-year mortality. CONCLUSION: The results of the current study add
      weight to the evidence that traditional aortic valve replacement can be performed
      in high-risk patients with satisfactory 5-year mortality and morbidity. Our study
      may help to improve decision-making in this category of high-risk patients with
      aortic valve disease.

PMID- 27645553
TI  - Patterns and injuries associated with orbital wall fractures in elderly patients
      who visited the emergency room: a retrospective case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine orbital wall fracture (OWF) patterns
      and associated facial injuries in elderly patients and compare them with those in
      their younger adult counterparts. DESIGN: A retrospective case-control study.
      SETTING: An emergency department of a university-affiliated hospital located in
      an urban area. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1378 adult patients with OWF diagnosed by
      CT from 1 January 2004 through 31 March 2014 were enrolled. Patients were
      categorised into elderly (>=65 years) and non-elderly (<65 years) groups.
      RESULTS: The elderly group (n=146) had a mean age of 74.0 years compared with
      37.5 years in the non-elderly group (n=1232). Slipping was the most common cause
      of OWF in the elderly group (43.8%, p<0.001), whereas violence was the most
      common cause in the non-elderly group (37.3%, p<0.001). The lateral orbital wall
      was the more common site of fracture in the elderly group, and their injuries
      were more often associated with concurrent facial bone fractures, including the
      mandible, maxilla and zygoma, compared with the non-elderly group. After
      adjusting for sex and the mechanism of injury, inclusion in the elderly group was
      a significant risk factor for fracture of the lateral wall (OR 1.658; 95% CI
      1.074 to 2.560) and concomitant facial bone fractures of the maxilla (OR 1.625;
      95% CI 1.111 to 2.377) and zygoma (OR 1.670; 95% CI 1.126 to 2.475). CONCLUSIONS:
      Elderly patients were vulnerable to facial trauma, and concurrent facial bone
      fracture associated with OWF was more commonly observed in this age group.
      Therefore, a high index of suspicion and thorough investigation, including CT,
      for OWF-associated facial bone fractures are important.

PMID- 27645552
TI  - Celecoxib suppresses autophagy and enhances cytotoxicity of imatinib in imatinib
      resistant chronic myeloid leukemia cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a hematological stem cell
      disorder. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the standard treatments for CML,
      but a number of patients fail to respond effectively due to gene mutations.
      Celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, has been shown to have anti
      tumor effect on solid tumor whereas the anti-CML effect and its underlying
      mechanism have not been completely elucidated. METHODS: The cytotoxic effects of
      celecoxib and/or imatinib were evaluated by MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution
      was examined by propidium iodide (PI) assay. Apoptosis or necrosis was analyzed
      by Annexin-V/PI, Hoechst 33342 staining and Western blot assays. Autophagy
      suppression effect of celecoxib was examined by Western blot and LysoTracker
      probe labelling. Lysosensor probe labelling was used to detect the effect of
      celecoxib on the lysosomal function. RESULTS: In this study, we found that
      celecoxib had therapy efficacy in KBM5 and imatinib-resistant KBM5-T315I CML cell
      lines. Celecoxib caused significant cytotoxic effect in both cell lines,
      especially in KBM5-T315I cells exposed to celecoxib for 72 h. Moreover, celecoxib
      induced necrosis and apoptosis while inhibited autophagy in CML cell lines and
      patient samples. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that celecoxib prevented
      the autophagic flux by inhibiting lysosome function. Celecoxib was tested in
      combination with imatinib, demonstrating that celecoxib could strengthen the
      cytotoxicity of imatinib in imatinib-resistant CML cells. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings showed that celecoxib had therapy efficacy on CML cells. And it is first
      time to demonstrate that celecoxib is an autophagy suppresser and a combination
      of celecoxib and imatinib might be a promising new therapeutic strategy for
      imatinib-resistant CML cells.

PMID- 27645554
TI  - Qualitative exploration of the benefits of group-based memory rehabilitation for
      people with neurological disabilities: implications for rehabilitation delivery
      and evaluation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify patient-perceived benefits of memory rehabilitation and
      draw transferrable lessons for the delivery and evaluation of similar
      interventions for people with neurological disabilities. METHODS: A qualitative
      study was conducted as part of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial comparing
      2 memory rehabilitation approaches with a self-help control group.
      Postintervention interviews were conducted with 20 participants with a diagnosis
      of traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis or stroke. Data were analysed using
      a qualitative content analysis approach. RESULTS: Participants receiving memory
      rehabilitation reported that the sessions responded to previously unmet needs for
      information on brain injury and memory function and developed their insight along
      with a sense of self-efficacy and control over the management of their memory
      problems. Although they did not experience major improvements in their memory
      function per se, they reported that rehabilitation gave them the skills to
      effectively cope with the residual deficits. Respondents in the control groups
      did not report similar benefits. The opportunities for interaction offered by the
      group setting were greatly valued by all respondents. Mixed aetiology groups were
      received positively; however, marked differences in cognitive performance were
      frustrating for some participants. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlighted important
      patient-perceived outcomes that should be considered by researchers and
      rehabilitation professionals when evaluating the effects of memory
      rehabilitation. The use of domain-specific outcome measures which reflect these
      areas is recommended. Qualitative changes in the use of memory aids may be
      achieved which cannot be captured by frequency indices alone. The benefits of the
      group-based rehabilitation approach were stressed by participants, suggesting
      that a combination of group and individual sessions might be a good practice.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN92582254; Results.

PMID- 27645555
TI  - Domains relating to the everyday impact of hearing loss, as reported by patients
      or their communication partner(s): protocol for a systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hearing loss is a highly prevalent condition that affects around 1
      in 6 people in the UK alone. This number is predicted to rise by the year 2031 to
      a staggering 14.5 million people due to the ageing population of the UK.
      Currently, the most common intervention for hearing loss is amplification with
      hearing aid(s) which serve to address the issue of audibility due to hearing
      loss, but cannot reverse its effects. The consequences of hearing loss are
      multifaceted, as it is a complex condition that can detrimentally affect various
      aspects of an individual's life, including communication and personal
      relationships. The scope of these reported issues is so broad that it calls on
      the need for patient-centred management plans that are tailored to each patient
      as well as appropriate measures to assess intervention benefit. It is unclear
      whether current outcome instruments adequately match what patients report as the
      most important problems for them. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The systematic review
      aims to capture existing knowledge about patients and their communication
      partner's perspective on the everyday impact of hearing loss. Methods are defined
      according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta
      analyses for Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethical
      issues are foreseen. Findings will be reported in student's thesis as well as at
      national and international ENT/audiology conferences and in a peer-reviewed
      journal. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42015024914.

PMID- 27645558
TI  - Time to rethink dental "insurance".

PMID- 27645556
TI  - Identifying patients with advanced chronic conditions for a progressive
      palliative care approach: a cross-sectional study of prognostic indicators
      related to end-of-life trajectories.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: 2 innovative concepts have lately been developed to radically improve
      the care of patients with advanced chronic conditions (PACC): early
      identification of palliative care (PC) needs and the 3 end-of-life trajectories
      in chronic illnesses (acute, intermittent and gradual dwindling). It is not clear
      (1) what indicators work best for this early identification and (2) if specific
      clinical indicators exist for each of these trajectories. The objectives of this
      study are to explore these 2 issues. SETTING: 3 primary care services, an acute
      care hospital, an intermediate care centre and 4 nursing homes in a mixed urban
      rural district in Barcelona, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: 782 patients (61.5% women) with
      a positive NECPAL CCOMS-ICO test, indicating they might benefit from a PC
      approach. OUTCOME MEASURES: The characteristics and distribution of the
      indicators of the NECPAL CCOMS-ICO tool are analysed with respect to the 3
      trajectories and have been arranged by domain (functional, nutritional and
      cognitive status, emotional problems, geriatric syndromes, social vulnerability
      and others) and according to their static (severity) and dynamic (progression)
      properties. RESULTS: The common indicators associated with early end-of-life
      identification are functional (44.3%) and nutritional (30.7%) progression,
      emotional distress (21.9%) and geriatric syndromes (15.7% delirium, 11.2% falls).
      The rest of the indicators showed differences in the associations per illness
      trajectories (p<0.05). 48.2% of the total cohort was identified as advanced
      frailty patients with no advanced disease criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic
      indicators are present in the 3 trajectories and are especially useful to
      identify PACC for a progressive PC approach purpose. Most of the other indicators
      are typically associated with a specific trajectory. These findings can help
      clinicians improve the identification of patients for a palliative approach.

PMID- 27645557
TI  - Self-reported hypoglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin
      in the Hoorn Diabetes Care System Cohort, the Netherlands: a prospective cohort
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our aim was to study the prevalence of self-reported hypoglycaemic
      sensations and its association with mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes
      (T2D) treated with insulin in usual care. METHODS: Demographics, clinical
      characteristics and mortality data were obtained from 1667 patients with T2D
      treated with insulin in the Hoorn Diabetes Care System Cohort (DCS), a
      prospective cohort study using clinical care data. Self-reported hypoglycaemic
      sensations were defined as either mild: events not requiring help; or severe:
      events requiring help from others (either medical assistance or assistance of
      others). The association between hypoglycaemic sensations and mortality was
      analysed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: At baseline, 981 patients
      (59%) reported no hypoglycaemic sensations in the past year, 612 (37%) reported
      only mild sensations and 74 (4%) reported severe hypoglycaemic sensations. During
      a median follow-up of 1.9 years, 98 patients (5.9%) died. Reporting only mild
      hypoglycaemic sensations was associated with a lower mortality risk (OR 0.48, 95%
      CI 0.28 to 0.80), while reporting severe sensations was not significantly
      associated with mortality (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.33 to 1.80), compared with reporting
      no hypoglycaemic sensations, and adjusting for demographic and clinical
      characteristics. Sensitivity analyses showed an OR of 1.38 (95% CI 0.31 to 6.11)
      for patients reporting severe hypoglycaemic sensations requiring medical
      assistance. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported hypoglycaemic sensations are highly
      prevalent in our insulin-treated T2D population. Patients reporting hypoglycaemic
      sensations not requiring medical assistance did not have an increased risk of
      mortality, suggesting that these sensations are not an indicator of increased
      short-term mortality risk in patients with T2D.

PMID- 27645562
TI  - Identification of a new sildenafil analogue adulterant, desethylcarbodenafil, in
      a herbal supplement.
AB  - In a maca-containing herbal supplement claimed to remedy erectile dysfunction, a
      new sildenafil analogue was found using adulterant screening with TLC, GC-MS and
      LC-MS/MS. This compound was isolated by column chromatography and HPLC, and
      identified by extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR and mass spectral analyses. The structure
      of this new compound was established as 5-[2-ethoxy-5-(piperazine-1-carbonyl)
      phenyl]-1-methyl-3-propyl-1,6-dihydro-pyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one, and was
      named desethylcarbodenafil.

PMID- 27645561
TI  - Transcriptome analysis of periodontitis-associated fibroblasts by CAGE sequencing
      identified DLX5 and RUNX2 long variant as novel regulators involved in
      periodontitis.
AB  - Periodontitis is affecting over half of the adult population, and represents a
      major public health problem. Previously, we isolated a subset of gingival
      fibroblasts (GFs) from periodontitis patients, designated as periodontitis
      associated fibroblasts (PAFs), which were highly capable of collagen degradation.
      To elucidate their molecular profiles, GFs isolated form healthy and
      periodontitis-affected gingival tissues were analyzed by CAGE-seq and integrated
      with the FANTOM5 atlas. GFs from healthy gingival tissues displayed distinctive
      patterns of CAGE profiles as compared to fibroblasts from other organ sites and
      characterized by specific expression of developmentally important transcription
      factors such as BARX1, PAX9, LHX8, and DLX5. In addition, a novel long non-coding
      RNA associated with LHX8 was described. Furthermore, we identified DLX5
      regulating expression of the long variant of RUNX2 transcript, which was
      specifically active in GFs but not in their periodontitis-affected counterparts.
      Knockdown of these factors in GFs resulted in altered expression of extracellular
      matrix (ECM) components. These results indicate activation of DLX5 and RUNX2 via
      its distal promoter represents a unique feature of GFs, and is important for ECM
      regulation. Down-regulation of these transcription factors in PAFs could be
      associated with their property to degrade collagen, which may impact on the
      process of periodontitis.

PMID- 27645563
TI  - Comparative genomic analysis between newly sequenced Brucella suis Vaccine Strain
      S2 and the Virulent Brucella suis Strain 1330.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is a bacterial disease caused by Brucella infection. In
      the late fifties, Brucella suis vaccine strain S2 with reduced virulence was
      obtained by serial transfer of a virulent B. suis biovar 1 strain in China. It
      has been widely used for vaccination in China since 1971. Until now, the
      mechanisms underlie virulence attenuation of S2 are still unknown. RESULTS: In
      this paper, the whole genome sequencing of S2 was carried out by Illumina
      Hiseq2000 sequencing method. We further performed the comparative genomic
      analysis to find out the differences between S2 and the virulent Brucella suis
      strain 1330. We found premature stops in outer membrane autotransporter omaA and
      eryD genes. Single mutations were found in phosphatidylcholine synthase,
      phosphorglucosamine mutase, pyruvate kinase and FliF, which have been reported to
      be related to the virulence of Brucella or other bacteria. Of the other different
      proteins between S2 and 1330, such as Omp2b, periplasmic sugar-binding protein,
      and oligopeptide ABC transporter, no definitive implications related to bacterial
      virulence were found, which await further investigation. CONCLUSIONS: The data
      presented here provided the rational basis for designing Brucella vaccines that
      could be used in other strains.

PMID- 27645565
TI  - Room-Temperature All-solid-state Rechargeable Sodium-ion Batteries with a Cl
      doped Na3PS4 Superionic Conductor.
AB  - All-solid-state sodium-ion batteries are promising candidates for large-scale
      energy storage applications. The key enabler for an all-solid-state architecture
      is a sodium solid electrolyte that exhibits high Na(+) conductivity at ambient
      temperatures, as well as excellent phase and electrochemical stability. In this
      work, we present a first-principles-guided discovery and synthesis of a novel Cl
      doped tetragonal Na3PS4 (t-Na3-xPS4-xClx) solid electrolyte with a room
      temperature Na(+) conductivity exceeding 1 mS cm(-1). We demonstrate that an all
      solid-state TiS2/t-Na3-xPS4-xClx/Na cell utilizing this solid electrolyte can be
      cycled at room-temperature at a rate of C/10 with a capacity of about 80 mAh g(
      1) over 10 cycles. We provide evidence from density functional theory
      calculations that this excellent electrochemical performance is not only due to
      the high Na(+) conductivity of the solid electrolyte, but also due to the effect
      that "salting" Na3PS4 has on the formation of an electronically insulating,
      ionically conducting solid electrolyte interphase.

PMID- 27645564
TI  - Rab32 restriction of intracellular bacterial pathogens.
AB  - Our immune system is engaged in a continuous battle against invading pathogens,
      many of which have evolved to survive in intracellular niches of mammalian hosts.
      A variety of cellular processes are involved in preventing bacterial invasion or
      in killing bacteria that successfully invade host cells. Recently, the Rab GTPase
      Rab32 emerged as critical regulator of a host defense pathway that can eliminate
      bacterial pathogens. Salmonella enterica is an intracellular bacterium and a
      major cause of infections and deaths in humans. Rab32 and its guanine nucleotide
      exchange factor BLOC-3 are essential to prevent the growth of the human
      restricted Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) in mice, a non
      susceptible host. The importance of the Rab32/BLOC-3 pathway has been recently
      confirmed by the finding that broad-host Salmonella enterica serovars deliver 2
      bacterial effectors to neutralize this pathway and infect mice. Rab32 has also
      been shown to control infection by Listeria monocytogenes, another medically
      relevant intracellular pathogen. In addition, genetic evidence indicate a
      possible role of Rab32 in controlling leprosy, a disease caused by Mycobacterium
      leprae in humans, suggesting that a Rab32-dependent pathway can also act as a
      host defense pathway in humans. The Rab32 role in bacterial pathogen restriction
      is discussed here and compared to the function of this GTPase in other cellular
      processes.

PMID- 27645567
TI  - Fully Automatic System for Accurate Localisation and Analysis of Cephalometric
      Landmarks in Lateral Cephalograms.
AB  - Cephalometric tracing is a standard analysis tool for orthodontic diagnosis and
      treatment planning. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a fully
      automatic landmark annotation (FALA) system for finding cephalometric landmarks
      in lateral cephalograms and its application to the classification of skeletal
      malformations. Digital cephalograms of 400 subjects (age range: 7-76 years) were
      available. All cephalograms had been manually traced by two experienced
      orthodontists with 19 cephalometric landmarks, and eight clinical parameters had
      been calculated for each subject. A FALA system to locate the 19 landmarks in
      lateral cephalograms was developed. The system was evaluated via comparison to
      the manual tracings, and the automatically located landmarks were used for
      classification of the clinical parameters. The system achieved an average point
      to-point error of 1.2 mm, and 84.7% of landmarks were located within the
      clinically accepted precision range of 2.0 mm. The automatic landmark
      localisation performance was within the inter-observer variability between two
      clinical experts. The automatic classification achieved an average classification
      accuracy of 83.4% which was comparable to an experienced orthodontist. The FALA
      system rapidly and accurately locates and analyses cephalometric landmarks in
      lateral cephalograms, and has the potential to significantly improve the clinical
      work flow in orthodontic treatment.

PMID- 27645566
TI  - Impact of a multifaceted educational intervention including serious games to
      improve the management of invasive candidiasis in critically ill patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Infections caused by Candida species are common in critically ill
      patients and contribute to significant morbidity and mortality. The EPICO Project
      (Epico 1 and Epico 2.0 studies) recently used a Delphi approach to elaborate
      guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of this condition in critically ill
      adult patients. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted educational
      intervention based on the Epico 1 and Epico 2.0 recommendations. DESIGN:
      Specialists anonymously responded to two online surveys before and after a
      multifaceted educational intervention consisting of 60-min educational sessions,
      the distribution of slide kits and pocket guides with the recommendations, and an
      interactive virtual case presented at a teleconference and available for online
      consultation. SETTING: A total of 74 Spanish hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Specialists
      of the Intensive Care Units in the participating hospitals. VARIABLES OF
      INTEREST: Specialist knowledge and reported practices evaluated using a survey.
      The McNemar test was used to compare the responses in the pre- and post
      intervention surveys. RESULTS: A total of 255 and 248 specialists completed both
      surveys, in both periods, respectively. The pre-intervention surveys showed many
      specialists to be unaware of the best approach for managing invasive candidiasis.
      After both educational interventions, specialist knowledge and reported practices
      were found to be more in line with nearly all the recommendations of the Epico 1
      and Epico 2.0 guidelines, except as regards de-escalation from echinocandins to
      fluconazole in Candida glabrata infections (p=0.055), and the duration of
      antifungal treatment in both candidemia and peritoneal candidiasis. CONCLUSIONS:
      This multifaceted educational intervention based on the Epico Project
      recommendations improved specialist knowledge of the management of invasive
      candidiasis in critically ill patients.

PMID- 27645571
TI  - Pharmacology: A nursing process approach Joyce LeFever Kee Pharmacology: A
      nursing process approach Elsevier 1,008pp L58.99 9781437717112 143771711X
      [Formula: see text].
AB  - STANDARD 36.4 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council standards for pre-registration
      nurse education states that nurses are expected to 'safely manage drug
      administration and monitor effects'.

PMID- 27645568
TI  - Single domain antibody-based bispecific antibody induces potent specific anti
      tumor activity.
AB  - Bispecific antibodies have emerged as powerful therapeutic agents given their
      high specificity and ability to induce a potent immune response. Various
      bispecific antibody formats have been designed and studied regarding their
      applications in cancer therapy, though associated with issues of short half-life
      or manufacturing difficulties. Herein, a novel bispecific antibody, SS-Fc, was
      constructed by pairing 2 single-domain antibodies, anti-CD16 and anti-CEA, which
      were fused with CH3 "knobs into holes" mutations individually. SS-Fc was
      expressed and purified from E.coli. In vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed
      that SS-Fc can form a heterodimeric bispecific antibody when expressed and
      purified from E. coli. By engaging natural killer (NK) cells through an anti-CD16
      single domain antibody, the SS-Fc bispecific antibody exhibited potent in vitro
      and in vivo cytotoxicity against cancer cells with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)
      expression. Thus, SS-Fc represents a novel bispecific antibody format that can be
      applied to a wide range of both discovery and clinical applications.

PMID- 27645572
TI  - Life-like simulation.
AB  - FOR HEALTHCARE staff, continuing professional development programmes offer
      opportunities to update or learn new skills. Interprofessional education, which
      allows healthcare professionals to work together and become aware of their
      individual roles, is important too.

PMID- 27645573
TI  - The handbook of ophthalmic emergencies Gerard Jayamanne The Handbook of
      Ophthalmic Emergencies Dome Consultancy 80pp L9.95 9780954436520 [Formula: see
      text].
AB  - THE MAIN purpose of an ophthalmology textbook is to provide accurate photographs
      so that practitioners can compare them with the patient they see in front of them
      to aid their diagnoses. On that level this e-book succeeds.

PMID- 27645574
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27645575
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27645576
TI  - Toxicology and advanced nursing.
AB  - This article examines general assessment, resuscitation strategies, including
      specific interventions for unresponsive patients and seizures, and risk
      assessments of poisoned patients.

PMID- 27645578
TI  - Acute appendicitis.
AB  - Appendicitis is the most common abdominal emergency condition and, while clinical
      diagnoses may be straightforward in patients who present with the classic signs
      and symptoms of appendicitis, atypical presentations can lead to diagnostic
      confusion and delays in treatment.

PMID- 27645577
TI  - Head injuries in children.
AB  - In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
      published criteria for computed tomography (CT) scanning of children with head
      injury. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of adherence to these
      guidelines on the number of head scans requested by emergency clinicians.

PMID- 27645579
TI  - Transporting trauma patients.
AB  - The aim of this study was to quantify how many serious motor vehicle crashes
      occur in rural areas more than 45 minutes drive from a major trauma centre (MTC)
      and in areas more than 45 minutes by helicopter from an MTC. It also sought to
      establish how many people involved in car crashes more than 45 minutes drive from
      an MTC would have to be taken to the MTC by ambulance because helicopters cannot
      fly to the crash sites.

PMID- 27645580
TI  - Inferences of drug responses in cancer cells from cancer genomic features and
      compound chemical and therapeutic properties.
AB  - Accurately predicting the response of a cancer patient to a therapeutic agent is
      a core goal of precision medicine. Existing approaches were mainly relied
      primarily on genomic alterations in cancer cells that have been treated with
      different drugs. Here we focus on predicting drug response based on integration
      of the heterogeneously pharmacogenomics data from both cell and drug sides.
      Through a systematical approach, named as PDRCC (Predict Drug Response in Cancer
      Cells), the cancer genomic alterations and compound chemical and therapeutic
      properties were incorporated to determine the chemotherapeutic response in cancer
      patients. Using the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) study as the benchmark
      dataset, all pharmacogenomics data exhibited their roles in inferring the
      relationships between cancer cells and drugs. When integrating both genomic
      resources and compound information, the prediction coverage was significantly
      increased. The validity of PDRCC was also supported by its effective in
      uncovering the unknown cell-drug associations with database and literature
      evidences. It set the stage for clinical testing of novel therapeutic strategies,
      such as the sensitive association between cancer cell 'A549_LUNG' and compound
      'Topotecan'. In conclusion, PDRCC offers the possibility for faster, safer, and
      cheaper the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics in the early-stage
      clinical trails.

PMID- 27645581
TI  - Loss of Lysyl Oxidase-like 3 Attenuates Embryonic Lung Development in Mice.
AB  - Lysyl oxidase-like 3 (LOXL3), a human disease gene candidate, is a member of the
      lysyl oxidase (LOX) family and is indispensable for mouse palatogenesis and
      vertebral column development. Our previous study showed that the loss of LOXL3
      resulted in a severe cleft palate and spinal deformity. In this study, we
      investigated a possible role for LOXL3 in mouse embryonic lung development. LOXL3
      deficient mice displayed reduced lung volumes and weights, diminished saccular
      spaces, and deformed and smaller thoracic cavities. Excess elastic fibres were
      detected in LOXL3-deficient lungs, which might be related to the increased LOXL4
      expression. Increased transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) expression
      might be involved in the up-regulation of LOXL4 in LOXL3-deficient lungs. We
      concluded that the loss of LOXL3 attenuates mouse embryonic lung development.

PMID- 27645583
TI  - A systematic review on phenolic compounds in Passiflora plants: Exploring
      biodiversity for food, nutrition, and popular medicine.
AB  - Passiflora plants are strategic in the context of biodiversity for food and
      nutrition. We applied the procedures of a systematic review protocol to study the
      state of the art on identification of phenolic compounds from Passiflora plants.
      An automated literature search was conducted using six databases and a
      combination of seven keywords. All the analytical, chromatographic, and
      spectroscopic methods were included. The studies were classified according to
      their method of identification, phenolic classes, and method of extraction. In
      total, 8,592 abstracts were found, from which 122 studies were selected for
      complete reading and 82 were selected for further analysis. Techniques of
      extraction, evaluated parts of the plant and methods of identification were
      systematized. Studies with leaves were most conspicuous (54.4%), 34 species of
      Passiflora were evaluated and orientin, isoorientin, vitexin, isovitexin were
      commonly found structures. A High Performance Liquid Chromatography-diode array
      detector was the technique most applied, with which the same structures were
      identified all through the studies, although other unknown structures were
      detected, but not elucidated. The use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Mass
      Spectrometry, which are more sensitive techniques, needs to be intensified, to
      identify other unconventional compounds detected in Passiflora, to enhance the
      comprehension of the bioactive compounds in these plants.

PMID- 27645585
TI  - The potential benefits of genetic testing in breast and ovarian cancer.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645584
TI  - Implementing multimodal pain rehabilitation in primary care - a health care
      professional perspective.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore professional perspectives on how to start and work with
      multimodal pain rehabilitation within primary healthcare. METHODS: Fourteen
      healthcare professionals (11 women, 3 men) were individually interviewed about
      their experiences of starting and working with multimodal pain. Interviews were
      transcribed and analyzed by qualitative content analysis. This study was part of
      a larger project, which aimed at evaluating multimodal pain rehabilitation in
      primary care. RESULTS: The analysis resulted in six categories. Two categories
      were about management engagement: putting the focus on rehabilitation and
      creating appropriate conditions. Three were about professional engagement:
      importance of driving spirits, creating a program - a process, and good teamwork 
      not a coincidence. The last category was about professional gain from multimodal
      rehabilitation (MMR): team work is enriching. CONCLUSIONS: To enable
      implementation of MMR in primary care, managers on all organizational levels must
      take responsibility for allowing rehabilitation to be a priority. A driving
      spirit among the professionals facilitates the start, but the entire team is
      important when processing a program. Creating good teamwork requires hard work,
      e.g., negotiations for consensus about rehabilitation, and assumption of
      responsibility by each team member. Collaboration between professionals was
      perceived to strengthen and enhance knowledge about the patients. Implications
      for rehabilitation Much can be gained from conducting multimodal pain
      rehabilitation in primary care. Front line managers and those at other
      organizational levels must prioritize and create appropriate conditions to
      facilitate multimodal pain rehabilitation in primary care. Creation of an
      effective multimodal rehabilitation team requires that each team member takes
      responsibility, drops the focus on individual rehabilitation, seek member
      consensus about the content of the rehabilitation, and confer equal worth to each
      team member. The process of creating a program can be facilitated, especially at
      the beginning, if the team is supported by speciality pain clinics or more
      experienced teams.

PMID- 27645586
TI  - New Horizons in management of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645587
TI  - Hepatitis A in Saudi Arabia: A comparative sero-epidemiological study.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645588
TI  - Effective treatment of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease by
      laparoscopic fundoplication.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645589
TI  - Prevalence of contraception used among Saudi Arabian women.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645590
TI  - Clinical presentation of eclampsia in a Maternity Hospital, Kuwait.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645591
TI  - The reliability of mothers to assess the presence of fever in their children.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645593
TI  - Role of nucleated red blood cell count in cases of birth asphyxia.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645592
TI  - Automated eosinophilia: A marker for asthma severity. Is it a gauge for anti
      inflammatory therapy?
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645594
TI  - Prevalence of intratubular germ cell neoplasia of the testis.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645595
TI  - Validity of self-reporting questionnaire and Rahim Anxiety Depression Scale.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645597
TI  - Neonatal small left colon syndrome.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645596
TI  - Decrease in tear bioavailability of ciprofloxacin in eyes with carbon containing
      eyeliners.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645598
TI  - Histiocytosis X and Caroli's Disease.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645599
TI  - Congenital hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis of probable autosomal
      recessive inheritance.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645600
TI  - Uterine arteriovenous malformation - Value of color Doppler sonography and MRI.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645601
TI  - Isolated respiratory failure caused by myasthenia gravis.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645602
TI  - Tuberculin positivity in secondary school students.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645603
TI  - Salmonella speticemia resistant to 3rd generation cephalosporins in a child with
      sickle crisis.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645604
TI  - Prevalence of utilization of native medicine among primary care consumers.
AB  - Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. 

PMID- 27645607
TI  - Incidental identification of Strongyloides stercoralis infection by broad-range
      28S rDNA gene sequencing in a patient with a hematolymphoid malignancy.
AB  - Strongyloides stercoralis is an important human parasite, especially in rural
      areas and developing countries. Infected immunosuppressed patients are at risk
      for hyperinfection, with severe clinical consequences. Here we describe the
      incidental detection and diagnosis of an unexpected S. stercoralis infection by
      methods designed to detect fungal 28S ribosomal DNA.

PMID- 27645608
TI  - Rapid molecular diagnostic test for Zika virus with low demands on sample
      preparation and instrumentation.
AB  - Zika virus has only recently gained attention due to recent large outbreaks
      worldwide. An easy to use nucleic acid amplification test could play an important
      role in the early detection of the infection and patient management. Here, we
      report a rapid and robust isothermal nucleic acid amplification assay for the
      detection of Zika virus. The method is cost-effective and compatible with
      portable instrumentation, enabling near patient testing and field use.

PMID- 27645605
TI  - Hormonal Regulation of the Repair of UV Photoproducts in Melanocytes by the
      Melanocortin Signaling Axis.
AB  - Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer because of its propensity to spread
      beyond the primary site of disease and because it resists many forms of
      treatment. Incidence of melanoma has been increasing for decades. Although
      ultraviolet radiation (UV) has been identified as the most important
      environmental causative factor for melanoma development, UV-protective strategies
      have had limited efficacy in melanoma prevention. UV mutational burden correlates
      with melanoma development and tumor progression, underscoring the importance of
      UV in melanomagenesis. However, besides amount of UV exposure, melanocyte UV
      mutational load is influenced by the robustness of nucleotide excision repair,
      the genome maintenance pathway charged with removing UV photoproducts before they
      cause permanent mutations in the genome. In this review, we highlight the
      importance of the melanocortin hormonal signaling axis on regulating efficiency
      of nucleotide excision repair in melanocytes. By understanding the molecular
      mechanisms by which nucleotide excision repair can be increased, it may be
      possible to prevent many cases of melanoma by reducing UV mutational burden over
      time.

PMID- 27645609
TI  - Development and evaluation of a multiplex real-time PCR for the detection of IMP,
      VIM, and OXA-23 carbapenemase gene families on the BD MAX open system.
AB  - A multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed for the
      detection of clinically prevalent IMP, VIM, and OXA-23 gene families. The assay
      was designed to work on the BD MAX open platform which is a fully automated
      system for all PCR processes including sample extraction to PCR resulting. A
      total of 107 well-characterized carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae were
      evaluated and the results were 100% concordant with the reference test isolates.
      This assay will serve to complement PCR screens that detect the major
      carbapenemase families of NDM, KPC, and OXA-48-like.

PMID- 27645610
TI  - Role of CD46 Polymorphisms in the Occurrence of Disease in Young Chinese Men With
      Human Adenovirus Type 55 Infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Human adenovirus type 55 (HAdV-55) has recently caused multiple
      outbreaks. This study examined polymorphisms in CD46 to determine their
      involvement in HAdV-55 infection. METHODS: A total of 214 study subjects infected
      with HAdV-55 were included in our study. The study subjects were divided into
      those with silent infections (n=91), minor infections (n=85), and severe
      infections (n=38). Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from CD46 were
      examined. RESULTS: Compared with the AA genotype, the TT genotype at rs2724385
      (CD46, A/T) was associated with a protective effect against disease occurrence,
      with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.20 (0.04-0.97) (P=0.038). There
      were no significant differences between the patients with minor and severe
      infection and those who had silent HAdV-55 infection in the other CD46 SNPs. We
      next compared the polymorphisms of these genes according to disease severity in
      HAdV-55-infected patients with clinical symptoms. The results showed that there
      were no significant differences between minor infections and severe infections.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that the CD46 SNP at rs2724385 is associated
      with the occurrence of disease in HAdV-55-infected patients. A much larger number
      of samples is required to understand the role of CD46 polymorphisms in the
      occurrence and progression of infection by HAdV-55. (Disaster Med Public Health
      Preparedness. 2018;12:427-430).

PMID- 27645611
TI  - Associations among Serum Beta 2 Microglobulin, Malnutrition, Inflammation, and
      Advanced Cardiovascular Event in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examines the associations among serum beta2 microglobulin
      (B2M), malnutrition, inflammation, and atherosclerosis (MIA) in those with
      chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: CKD patients who were followed in Taoyuan
      General Hospital from 2009 to 2015 were enrolled. Demographic and biochemical
      data, including B2M and C-reactive protein (CRP) were reviewed. The participants
      were stratified according to B2M tertiles. Adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) and
      cumulative survival curves for death and MIA syndrome were evaluated by Cox
      hazard model and Kaplan-Meier method. We also calculated the area under the curve
      for the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). RESULTS: From a total of
      312 CKD patients, mean follow-up time was 39.7 months. Compared to those with
      lowest tertile of B2M, the highest tertile group had lower serum albumin,
      hemoglobin, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. After multivariate
      adjustment, the associations among tertiles of B2M, death or dialysis,
      cardiovascular events (CVEs), and MIA syndrome remained significant. The AHRs for
      the highest tertile group in death or dialysis, CVEs, and MIA syndrome were 25.91
      and 65.84 and 152.50(all Ps <0.05).The AUROC for B2M in death or dialysis, CVEs,
      and MIA syndrome were greater than that for creatinine. The best cut-off value of
      B2M for predicting death or dialysis, CVEs, and MIA syndrome were 5.39
      mg/dL(sensitivity: 67.1%, specificity 62.5%), 4.21 mg/dL(sensitivity: 85.1%,
      specificity 52.1%), and 5.40 mg/dL(sensitivity: 79.7%, specificity 64.1%).
      CONCLUSIONS: In those with CKD, serum B2M was more sensitive than creatinine in
      predicting CVEs and MIA syndrome.

PMID- 27645612
TI  - Oral Anticoagulant Use in Atrial Fibrillation-Associated Ischemic Stroke: A
      Retrospective, Multicenter Survey in Northwestern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anticoagulation therapy has been recommended by major guidelines to
      reduce the risk of recurrent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation
      associated ischemic stroke (AFAIS). However, in real-world clinical practice,
      oral anticoagulants with either vitamin K antagonists or nonvitamin K antagonists
      are often underused for these patients. Here, we sought to investigate the
      current status of oral anticoagulant use in patients with AFAIS in northwestern
      China. METHODS: We reviewed medical records of consecutive patients with AFAIS
      discharged from 14 hospitals in northwestern China between January 2012 and May
      2015. RESULTS: A total of 1014 cases were included in this study. The mean age of
      the patients was 70.3 +/- 10.8 years. Fifty-four percent were female. Among all
      participants, only 20.0% received anticoagulants (19.4% warfarin and .6%
      nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants), whereas 57.5% took antiplatelet
      drugs and 22.5% received neither anticoagulant nor antiplatelet treatment.
      Anticoagulant use decreased with increasing age and CHA2DS2-VASc scores. The
      proportions of anticoagulant use at discharge in patients younger than 65 years,
      65-74 years, and 75 years or older were 28.5%, 20.7%, and 13.9%, respectively.
      Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients with CHA2DS2-VASc scores of 2, 3, 4, 5,
      6, and 7 had anticoagulant use rates at discharge of 19.2%, 24.8%, 20.3%, 13.7%,
      8.1%, and 8.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In northwestern China, oral
      anticoagulants are substantially underutilized in patients with AFAIS, especially
      in patients at higher risk of stroke, suggesting a large treatment gap in the
      secondary prevention management in patients with AFAIS.

PMID- 27645614
TI  - Evidence that photos promote rosiness for claims about the future.
AB  - When people rapidly judge the truth of claims about the present or the past, a
      related but nonprobative photo can produce "truthiness," an increase in the
      perceived truth of those claims (Newman, Garry, Bernstein, Kantner, & Lindsay,
      2012). What we do not know is the extent to which nonprobative photos cause
      truthiness for the future. We addressed this issue in four experiments. In each
      experiment, people judged the truth of claims that the price of certain
      commodities (such as manganese) would increase (or decrease). Half of the time,
      subjects saw a photo of the commodity paired with the claim. Experiments 1A and
      1B produced a "rosiness" bias: Photos led people to believe positive claims about
      the future but had very little effect on people's belief in negative claims. In
      Experiment 2, rosiness occurred for both close and distant future claims. In
      Experiments 3A and 3B, we tested whether rosiness was tied to the perceived
      positivity of a claim. Finally, in Experiments 4A and 4B, we tested the rosiness
      hypothesis and found that rosiness was unique to claims about the future: When
      people made the same judgments about the past, photos produced the usual
      truthiness pattern for both positive and negative claims. Considered all
      together, our data fit with the idea that photos may operate as hypothesis
      confirming evidence for people's tendency to anticipate rosy future outcomes.

PMID- 27645613
TI  - Low serum vitamin D-status, air pollution and obesity: A dangerous liaison.
AB  - The aim of this review is to provide a general overview of the possible
      associations among the vitamin D status, air pollution and obesity. Sunlight
      exposure accounts in humans for more than 90 % of the production of vitamin D.
      Among emerging factors influencing sunlight-induced synthesis of vitamin D,
      prospective and observational studies proved that air pollution constitutes an
      independent risk factor in the pathogenesis of vitamin D hypovitaminosis. In
      addition, environmental pollutants can affect risk of obesity when inhaled, in
      combination with unhealthy diet and lifestyle. In turn, obesity is closely
      associated with a low vitamin D status and many possible mechanisms have been
      proposed to explain this association. The associations of air pollution with low
      vitamin D status on the hand and with obesity on the other hand, could provide a
      rationale for considering obesity as a further link between air pollution and low
      vitamin D status. In this respect, a vicious cycle could operate among low
      vitamin D status, air pollution, and obesity, with additive detrimental effects
      on cardio-metabolic risk in obese individuals. Besides vitamin D supplementation,
      nutrient combination, used to maximize the protective effects against air
      pollution, might also contribute to improve the vitamin D status by attenuating
      the "obesogen" effects of air pollution.

PMID- 27645615
TI  - Motorcycle helmet fixation status is more crucial than helmet type in providing
      protection to the head.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In Malaysia, motorcyclists continue to outnumber other road users
      in injuries and deaths. The objective of this study was to determine the
      association between helmet fixation and helmet type with head injury and severity
      of head injury among Malaysian motorcyclists. METHODS: The study design was a
      prospective cross-sectional study. The participants involved injured
      motorcyclists who were admitted in five selected hospitals in Klang Valley,
      Malaysia. Participants who sustained head injury were selected as the cases while
      those with injury below the neck (IBN) were selected as the controls.
      Questionnaire comprising motorcyclist, vehicle, helmet and crash factors was
      examined. Diagnoses of injuries were obtained from the participants' medical
      records. RESULTS: The total subjects with head injuries were 404 while those with
      IBN were 235. Majority of the cases (76.2%) and controls (80.4%) wore the half
      head and open-face helmets, followed by the tropical helmets (5.4% and 6.0% of
      the cases and controls, respectively). Full-face helmets were used by 1.2% of the
      cases and 4.7% of the controls. 5.7% of the cases and 6.0% of the controls did
      not wear a helmet. 32.7% of the cases and 77.4% of the controls had their helmets
      fixed. Motorcyclists with ejected helmets were five times as likely to sustain
      head injury [adjusted odds ratio, AOR 5.73 (95% CI 3.38-9.73)] and four times as
      likely to sustain severe head injury [AOR of 4.83 (95% CI 2.76-8.45)]. The half
      head and open face helmets had AOR of 0.24 (95% CI 0.10-0.56) for severe head
      injury when compared to motorcyclists who did not wear a helmet. CONCLUSION:
      Helmet fixation is more effective than helmet type in providing protection to the
      motorcyclists.

PMID- 27645616
TI  - Microsurgical reconstruction for post-traumatic defects of lower leg in the
      elderly: A comparative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lower leg microsurgical reconstruction in the elderly is challenging,
      especially for post - traumatic defects. The present study aimed to evaluate the
      risk factors, management and outcome of free tissue transfer in patients older
      than 65 years of post-traumatic defects. METHODS: Retrospective chart review was
      performed for all patients older than 18 years undergoing free tissue transfer
      for post-traumatic lower leg reconstruction from April 2000 to November 2014. A
      comparative study was designed to identify risk factors and outcome. RESULTS: In
      total, 197 patients (ages 18-64) and 44 patients (ages >=65, average 71.7+/-6.3)
      were included and allocated into cohort 1 and 2, respectively. Cohort 2 had a
      higher rate of diabetes mellitus and/or peripheral artery disease (46.6%,
      P<0.01). There was no significant difference in major flap complications, donor
      site complications and amputation rates (P>0.05). A higher rate of intensive care
      unit (ICU) admission was observed in cohort 2 (37.8%, P<0.01). Comparable limb
      salvage rates were recorded (97.1% and 95.6%, P=0.59) with an average follow-up
      of 25.9+/-30.1months in cohort 1 and 23.7+/-16.6months in cohort 2. CONCLUSION:
      Post-traumatic microsurgical free tissue transfer to the lower leg can be
      performed safely in patients older than 65 years with high success rate and
      manageable complications.

PMID- 27645617
TI  - Substantial accuracy of fracture classification in the Swedish Fracture Register:
      Evaluation of AO/OTA-classification in 152 ankle fractures.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Since 2011 the Swedish Fracture Register (SFR) has collected
      information on fracture epidemiology, treatment and outcome. More than 112 000
      fractures, including 11 600 ankle fractures, have been registered so far. The
      accuracy of the classification is crucial when using the register in future
      research and quality improvement of care. In this study we examine the degree of
      accuracy of the AO/OTA-classification in which ankle fractures are recorded in
      the SFR. METHODS: 152 randomly selected ankle fractures registered in the SFR
      were classified independently by a reference group of three orthopedic surgeons
      on two occasions. The agreed AO/OTA-classification of the reference group was
      regarded as the gold standard classification for each case. The originally
      recorded classification in the SFR was subsequently compared with the
      classification of the reference group and accuracy calculated. RESULTS: The
      agreement between the classification in the SFR and of the reference group was
      74%, corresponding to kappa 0.67, 95% CI (0.58-0.76) for AO/OTA group level. An
      agreement of 88% equivalent to kappa 0.77, 95% CI (0.67-0.87) was noted for
      AO/OTA type level. The agreement corresponds to substantial according to Landis
      and Koch. The kappa value of inter- and intraobserver agreement ranged from 0.67
      to 0.93. CONCLUSIONS: The study results show substantial agreement between
      classifications made in the SFR and gold standard classification. The finding is
      equivalent to or higher than in previous studies. Consequently, we conclude that
      classifications of ankle fractures in the SFR are accurate and valid.

PMID- 27645618
TI  - Distal tibiofibular synostosis after surgically resolved ankle fractures: An
      epidemiological, clinical and morphological evaluation of a patient sample.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ankle fractures comprise a highly morphologically and etiologically
      diverse group of injuries, which includes various degrees of impairment of bone
      and ligamentous structures. The complete synostosis and incomplete bony bridging
      of tibiofibular syndesmosis are among the local late complications after
      surgically treated ankle fractures. PATIENTS AND METHOD: 269 patients were
      evaluated, including 203 patients with Weber type-B fractures, and 66 patients
      with Weber type-C fractures. All patients underwent ankle radiography at standard
      intervals (post-operatively, 6 and 12 weeks, 6 and 12 months). The final
      assessment one year after osteosynthesis was performed. The study analyzed age,
      sex, fracture morphology, the location and morphology of ossification, functional
      outcomes and subjective evaluations of patient status. RESULTS: As risk factors
      there were found male sex, tibiotalar dislocation, syndesmotic screw fixation and
      Weber type-C fractures. The severity of subjective difficulties and objective
      status were not dependent on the size of distal tibiofibular synostosis.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Despite relatively extensive imaging findings of
      complete synostosis or incomplete bony bridging, they only limited functional
      outcomes to a minimal extent.

PMID- 27645620
TI  - Chemotherapy plus Ofatumumab at Standard or Mega dose in relapsed CLL (COSMIC)
      trial: study protocol for a phase II randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common adult
      leukaemia. Combination immunochemotherapy such as fludarabine, cyclophosphamide
      and rituximab is the standard first line therapy in fit patients, but there is
      limited evidence regarding the optimal treatment of patients after relapse.
      Ofatumumab as monotherapy has been proven to be effective in the treatment of
      relapsed, refractory CLL, and as it is not myelotoxic, it is an ideal drug to
      combine with chemotherapy. However, the optimal dose of ofatumumab in this
      setting is not known. The Chemotherapy plus Ofatumumab at Standard or Mega dose
      in relapsed CLL (COSMIC) trial will assess the efficacy and safety of standard
      and high (mega) doses of ofatumumab combined with bendamustine or a combination
      of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide to determine which, if either, schedule
      should progress to a phase III trial. METHODS/DESIGN: COSMIC is a phase II, multi
      centre, randomised, open, parallel group trial for patients with relapsed CLL who
      are not refractory to fludarabine-based chemotherapy. Participants will be
      randomised to receive either standard dose or mega dose ofatumumab. Both doses
      will be given in combination with either bendamustine or fludarabine and
      cyclophosphamide chemotherapy backbone. The primary objective is to assess the
      proportion of participants achieving a complete remission following therapy with
      the two treatment arms (mega versus standard), as assessed at 3 months post
      treatment. The treatment groups will be assessed independently to determine
      whether the level of response is acceptable in relation to pre-specified
      criteria. If both treatment groups show an acceptable level of response,
      selection criteria will be used to determine which to take forward to a
      confirmatory phase III trial. A key secondary objective is to assess the dynamics
      of minimal residual disease (MRD) levels in relapsed disease. Eighty-two
      participants are planned to be recruited from 18 research centres in the UK.
      DISCUSSION: Currently there is limited evidence regarding the optimal treatment
      of patients with relapsed or refractory CLL, and so suitable therapies are
      urgently needed. The COSMIC trial will identify whether ofatumumab given in
      combination with chemotherapy is safe and effective in this population, and will
      identify the optimal doses for further investigation. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ISRCTN51382468 . Registered on 21 September 2011.

PMID- 27645621
TI  - Patterns of recurrence and survival in neuroendocrine cervical cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze patterns of recurrence and survival and identify prognostic
      factors in women with neuroendocrine cervical cancer (NECC). METHODS: We reviewed
      patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I-IVA
      NECC who were enrolled in the Neuroendocrine Cervical Tumor Registry and treated
      with curative intent. Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS)
      according to disease and treatment characteristics were analyzed using the Kaplan
      Meier method. RESULTS: Among 40 patients with NECC, 25 (62%) had small cell NECC,
      eight (20%) had large cell NECC, and seven (18%) had unspecified neuroendocrine
      histology. With a median follow-up of 21.5months, 32 patients (80%) experienced
      progression, and 28 (70%) died. For all patients, the 5-year EFS rate was 20%,
      and the 5-year OS rate was 27%. Patients with large cell NECC had significantly
      better median EFS (median not reached vs. 10.0months, p=0.02) and showed a trend
      toward better median OS (153months vs. 21months, p=0.08) than patients with other
      histologic types. In patients with early-stage clinically node-negative disease,
      chemoradiation was associated with significantly better median EFS than surgery
      (median not reached vs. 18.0months, p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with large
      cell NECC have better outcomes than patients with other subtypes of NECC. In
      early-stage node-negative NECC, chemoradiation yields better EFS than surgery.
      Most patients with NECC, even those with no evidence of nodal disease at
      diagnosis, rapidly develop widespread hematogenous metastases and die of their
      disease.

PMID- 27645622
TI  - Atorvastatin alleviates cardiomyocyte apoptosis by suppressing TRB3 induced by
      acute myocardial infarction and hypoxia.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: TRB3 (tribbles 3), an apoptosis-regulated gene, increases
      during endoplasmic reticulum stress. Hypoxia can induce inflammatory mediators
      and apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. However, the expression of TRB3 in cardiomyocyte
      apoptosis under hypoxia is not thoroughly known. We investigated the regulation
      mechanism of TRB3 expression and apoptosis induced by hypoxia in cardiomyocytes.
      METHODS: An in vivo model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was applied in
      adult Wistar rats to induce myocardial hypoxia. Rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were
      subjected to 2.5% O2 to induce hypoxia. RESULTS: The expression of TRB3 was
      evaluated in cultured rat neonatal cardiomyocytes subjected to hypoxia. Hypoxia
      significantly enhanced TRB3 protein and mRNA expression. Adding c-jun N-terminal
      kinase (JNK) inhibitor SP600125, JNK small interfering RNA (siRNA), tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) antibody, and atorvastatin 30 minutes before
      hypoxia reversed the induction of TRB3 protein. A gel-shift assay showed the DNA
      binding activity of growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible gene 153 (GADD153),
      which increased after hypoxia. Hypoxia increased, whereas the TRB3-mut plasmid,
      SP600125, and TNF-alpha antibody abolished the hypoxia-induced TRB3 promoter
      activity. Hypoxia increased the secretion of TNF-alpha from cardiomyocytes.
      Exogenous administration of TNF-alpha recombinant protein to the cardiomyocytes
      without hypoxia increased TRB3 protein expression, similar to that observed after
      hypoxia. Hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis is inhibited by TRB3 siRNA, the
      TNF-alpha antibody, and atorvastatin. Atorvastatin reduced the TRB3 expression
      and cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by AMI. Hypoxia induces TRB3 through TNF
      alpha, JNK, and the GADD153 pathway. CONCLUSION: Treatment of atorvastatin
      inhibits the expression of TRB3 and cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by AMI and
      hypoxia.

PMID- 27645625
TI  - Pestalotic acids A-I, antibacterial ambuic acid analogues, from a mycoparasite
      (Pestalotipsis sp. cr014) of Cronartium ribicola.
AB  - The white pine blister rust caused by Cronartium ribicola is a severe disease of
      Pinus armandii Franch in Sichuan Province, China. A mycoparasite was isolated
      from aeciospore piles of C. ribicola and identified as Pestalotipsis sp. The
      chemical constituents were investigated and nine new polyketides, named
      pestalotic acids A-I (1-9), were isolated from solid fermentation products of
      Pestalotiopsis sp. cr014. Their structures were elucidated by extensive
      spectroscopic methods, including 1D- and 2D- NMR, HR-MS experiments. Compounds 2
      5 and 7-9 exhibited strong antibacterial activities in vitro against five plant
      pathogens, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.78-100 ug/mL.

PMID- 27645683
TI  - Self-Advocacy for Independent Life: A Program for Personal Self Advocacy after
      Brain Injury.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in long-term injury-related disabilities.
      Individuals with TBI and their families must often advocate for themselves to
      secure resources to address their postinjury needs. However, the ability to
      advocate may be compromised by the effects of the injury. The Self-Advocacy for
      Independent Life (SAIL) program aims to empower individuals and families with the
      skills of self-advocacy so they can navigate life after brain injury in a self
      efficacious manner.

PMID- 27645626
TI  - Role of working memory, inhibition, and fluid intelligence in the performance of
      the Tower of London task.
AB  - We investigated the relationship between verbal and visuo-spatial measures of
      working memory, inhibition, fluid intelligence and the performance on the Tower
      of London (ToL) task in a large sample of 830 healthy participants aged between
      18 and 71 years. We found that fluid intelligence and visuo-spatial working
      memory accounted for a significant variance in the ToL task, while performances
      on verbal working memory and on the Stroop Test were not predictive for
      performance on the ToL. The present results confirm that fluid intelligence has a
      fundamental role on planning tests, but also show that visuo-spatial working
      memory plays a crucial role in ToL performance.

PMID- 27645685
TI  - Lung Clearance Index (LCI) in Patients with Bronchiolitis Obliterans: A
      Preliminary Report and Comparison to Cystic Fibrosis Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a chronic airway disease following
      an insult to the lower respiratory tract. Lung clearance index (LCI) measures
      ventilation inhomogeneity and has been studied in cystic fibrosis (CF). We aimed
      to evaluate LCI in BO and to compare it to LCI in CF patients. METHODS: LCI was
      measured in BO patients, compared to CF patients, and correlated with spirometry
      and CT findings. RESULTS: Twenty BO patients and 26 CF patients (with similar
      mean age and BMI) underwent evaluation. FEV1 % and FEF25-75 % predicted were
      significantly lower in the BO group (60.5 +/- 17.8 vs. 72.7 +/- 20.7, p = 0.041,
      and 42.8 +/- 22.8 vs. 66.4 +/- 37.4, p = 0.017, respectively). In both groups,
      LCI was inversely correlated with FVC %, FEV1 %, and FEF25-75 % predicted. LCI  %
      was slightly higher (190.4 +/- 63.5 vs. 164.9 +/- 39.4, p = 0.1) and FRC gas %
      (measured by multiple breath washout) was significantly higher in the BO group
      (92.5 +/- 35.9 vs. 71.3 +/- 18, p = 0.014). The strength of statistical
      association between the lower FEF25-75 % values and the higher LCI values was
      stronger in BO patients. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to CF, LCI may provide estimation
      of ventilation inhomogeneity in BO. The results indicate greater small airway
      involvement and air trapping in BO. Further prospective longitudinal studies
      evaluating the correlation of LCI measurements with multiple clinical and
      physiological parameters should be performed to assess the clinical benefit of
      LCI measurement in BO.

PMID- 27645688
TI  - Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction: From Molecular Mechanisms to Medicine.
AB  - Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is a homeostatic mechanism that is
      intrinsic to the pulmonary vasculature. Intrapulmonary arteries constrict in
      response to alveolar hypoxia, diverting blood to better-oxygenated lung segments,
      thereby optimizing ventilation/perfusion matching and systemic oxygen delivery.
      In response to alveolar hypoxia, a mitochondrial sensor dynamically changes
      reactive oxygen species and redox couples in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells
      (PASMC). This inhibits potassium channels, depolarizes PASMC, activates voltage
      gated calcium channels, and increases cytosolic calcium, causing
      vasoconstriction. Sustained hypoxia activates rho kinase, reinforcing
      vasoconstriction, and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha, leading to adverse
      pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary hypertension (PH). In the
      nonventilated fetal lung, HPV diverts blood to the systemic vasculature. After
      birth, HPV commonly occurs as a localized homeostatic response to focal pneumonia
      or atelectasis, which optimizes systemic Po2 without altering pulmonary artery
      pressure (PAP). In single-lung anesthesia, HPV reduces blood flow to the
      nonventilated lung, thereby facilitating thoracic surgery. At altitude, global
      hypoxia causes diffuse HPV, increases PAP, and initiates PH. Exaggerated or
      heterogeneous HPV contributes to high-altitude pulmonary edema. Conversely,
      impaired HPV, whether due to disease (eg, COPD, sepsis) or vasodilator drugs,
      promotes systemic hypoxemia. Genetic and epigenetic abnormalities of this oxygen
      sensing pathway can trigger normoxic activation of HIF-1alpha and can promote
      abnormal metabolism and cell proliferation. The resulting pseudohypoxic state
      underlies the Warburg metabolic shift and contributes to the neoplasia-like
      phenotype of PH. HPV and oxygen sensing are important in human health and
      disease.

PMID- 27645689
TI  - Effectiveness of a Critical Care Ultrasonography Course.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Widespread use of critical care ultrasonography (CCUS) for the
      management of patients in the ICU requires an effective training program. The
      effectiveness of national and regional CCUS training courses is not known. This
      study describes a national-level, simulation-based, 3-day CCUS training program
      and evaluates its effectiveness. METHODS: Five consecutive CCUS courses, with a
      total of 363 people, were studied. The 3-day CCUS training program consisted of
      didactic lectures, ultrasonography interpretation sessions, and hands-on modules
      with live models. Thoracic, vascular, and abdominal ultrasonography were taught
      in addition to goal-directed echocardiography. Learners rotated between hands-on
      training and interpretation sessions. The teacher-to-learner ratio was 1:3 during
      hands-on training. Interpretation sessions were composed of interactive small
      groups that reviewed normal and abnormal ultrasonography images. Learners
      completed a video-based examination before and after completion of the courses.
      Hands-on image acquisition skills were tested at the completion of the course.
      RESULTS: Average scores on the pretest and posttest were 57% and 90%,
      respectively (P < .001). The average score on the hands-on test was 86%. Learners
      aged 20 to 39 years compared with learners >= 40 years old scored better on the
      pretest (64% vs 51%; P < 0.001), posttest (91% vs 88%; P < .010), and hands-on
      test (90% vs 82%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Learners demonstrated a significant
      improvement in written test scores that assessed cognitive and image
      interpretation abilities. In addition, they demonstrated acquisition of practical
      skills as evidenced by high scores during hands-on testing. Further studies are
      needed to determine if a simulation-based CCUS course will translate into
      effective clinical practice and to measure the durability of training. This 3-day
      course is an effective method to train large groups of critical care clinicians
      in the skills requisite for CCUS (image acquisition and image interpretation).

PMID- 27645691
TI  - Pharmacological inhibition of AKT activity in human CD34+ cells enhances their
      ability to engraft immunodeficient mice.
AB  - Although practiced clinically for more than 40 years, the use of hematopoietic
      stem cell (HSC) transplantation remains limited by the inability to expand
      functional HSCs ex vivo. To determine the role of phosphoinositide 3-kinase
      (PI3K)/AKT signaling in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC)
      maintenance, we examined the effect of genetic and pharmacological inhibition of
      AKT on human umbilical cord blood (UCB) CD34+ cells. We found that knock-down of
      AKT1 in human UCB CD34+ cells using short interfering RNAs targeting AKT1
      enhances their quiescence and colony formation potential in vitro. We treated
      human UCB CD34+ cells with an AKT-specific inhibitor (AKTi) and performed both in
      vitro and in vivo stem and progenitor cell assays. We found that ex vivo
      treatment of human HSPCs maintains CD34 expression and enhances colony formation
      in serial replating assays. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of AKT enhances
      the short-term repopulating potential of human UCB CD34+ cells in immunodeficient
      mice. Mechanistically, genetic and pharmacological inhibition of AKT activity
      promotes human HSPC quiescence. These preclinical results suggest a positive role
      for AKTi during ex vivo culture of human UCB HSPCs.

PMID- 27645692
TI  - Metabolic tumor volume predicts overall survival and local control in patients
      with stage III non-small cell lung cancer treated in ACRIN 6668/RTOG 0235.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether higher pre-treatment metabolic tumor volume (tMTV
      pre) is associated with worse overall survival (OS) in patients with inoperable
      NSCLC treated with definitive chemoradiation (CRT). METHODS: This is a secondary
      analysis of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN)
      6668/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0235 trial. Pre-treatment PET scans were
      performed on ACRIN-qualified scanners. Computer-aided MTV measurement was
      performed using RT_Image. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards
      regression models were used to assess the association between tMTV and OS.
      RESULTS: Of the 250 patients enrolled on the study, 230 were evaluable for tMTV
      pre. Patients with MTV-pre >32 mL (median value) vs. <=32 mL had worse median OS
      (14.8 vs. 29.7 months, p < 0.001). As a continuous variable, higher tMTV-pre (per
      10-mL increase) remained associated with worse OS (HR = 1.03, p < 0.001) after
      controlling for other variables. A significant interaction between radiation dose
      and tMTV-pre occurred for OS (p = 0.002), demonstrating that the negative
      prognostic impact of tMTV-pre decreased as radiotherapy dose increased. Among
      patients with tMTV-pre <=32 mL, there was no difference in survival according to
      radiotherapy dose delivered (p = 0.694). However, median OS was inferior in
      patients with tMTV-pre >32 mL who received <=60 Gy compared with those who
      received 61-69 Gy or >=70 Gy (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Higher tMTV-pre is
      associated with significantly worse OS in inoperable stage III NSCLC treated with
      definitive CRT. Our findings suggest that for patients with large tMTV-pre,
      achieving a therapeutic radiation dose may help maximize OS. Prospective studies
      are needed to confirm this finding.

PMID- 27645693
TI  - 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography in the
      management of adult multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The standard evaluation of multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis
      (LCH) includes a clinical evaluation, laboratory tests and a skeleton/skull X-ray
      survey, with chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in the case of
      pulmonary involvement. Preliminary reports suggest that 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose
      positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) may be useful
      for evaluating patients with LCH. METHODS: Fourteen consecutive adult patients
      with multisystem LCH were included in this retrospective study, and were
      evaluated using standard procedures and 18F-FDG PET-CT. The two sets of findings
      were compared both at baseline and during follow-up. Serial HRCT and pulmonary
      function tests were used to evaluate outcome in patients with lung involvement.
      RESULTS: At the baseline evaluation, PET-CT identified every LCH localization
      found with the standard evaluation (except a mild cecum infiltration). PET-CT
      showed additional lesions in seven patients, mostly involving bones, and
      differentiated inactive from active lesions. Thyroid 18F-FDG uptake was
      identified in three cases. No pituitary stalk 18F-FDG uptake was observed in
      patients with pituitary LCH. Only 3/12 (25 %) patients with pulmonary LCH
      displayed moderate pulmonary 18F-FDG uptake. During follow-up, variations (>=50 %
      of maximum standardized uptake) in bone 18F-FDG uptake intensity were correlated
      with disease state and response to treatment. The absence of lung 18F-FDG uptake
      did not preclude lung function improvement after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Except
      for cases with pulmonary and pituitary involvement, 18F-FDG PET-CT could replace
      the standard evaluation for staging of adult patients with multisystem LCH.
      Serial PET-CT scans are useful for evaluating treatment responses, particularly
      in cases with bone LCH involvement.

PMID- 27645694
TI  - The role of FDG PET/CT in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy for
      localized bone sarcomas.
AB  - PURPOSE: The histological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an important
      prognostic factor in patients with osteosarcoma (OS) and Ewing sarcoma (EWS). The
      aim of this study was to assess baseline primary tumour FDG uptake on PET/CT, and
      serum values of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), to
      establish whether these factors are correlated with tumour necrosis and
      prognosis. METHODS: Patients treated between 2009 and 2014 for localized EWS and
      OS, who underwent FDG PET/CT as part of their staging work-up, were included. The
      relationships between primary tumour SUVmax at baseline (SUV1), SUVmax after
      induction chemotherapy (SUV2), metabolic response calculated as [(SUV1 -
      SUV2)/SUV1)] * 100, LDH and ALP and tumour response/survival were analysed. A
      good response (GR) was defined as tumour necrosis >90 % in patients with OS, and
      grade II-III Picci necrosis (persitence of microscopic foci only or no viable
      tumor) in patients with Ewing sarcoma. RESULTS: The study included 77 patients,
      45 with EWS and 32 with OS. A good histological response was achieved in 53 % of
      EWS patients, and 41 % of OS patients. The 3-year event-free survival (EFS) was
      57 % in EWS patients and 48 % OS patients. The median SUV1 was 5.6 (range 0 - 17)
      in EWS patients and 7.9 (range 0 - 24) in OS patients (p = 0.006). In EWS
      patients the GR rate was 30 % in those with a high SUV1 (>=6) and 72 % in those
      with a lower SUV1 (p = 0.0004), and in OS patients the GR rate was 29 % in those
      with SUV1 >=6 and 64 % in those with a lower SUV1 (p = 0.05). In the univariate
      analysis the 3-year EFS was significantly better in patients with a low ALP level
      (59 %) than in those with a high ALP level (22 %, p = 0.02) and in patients with
      a low LDH level (62 %) than in those with a high LDH level (37 %, p = 0.004). In
      EWS patients the 3-year EFS was 37 % in those with a high SUV1 and 75 % in those
      with a low SUV1 (p = 0.004), and in OS patients the 3-year EFS was 32 % in those
      with a high SUV1 and 66 % in those with a low SUV1 (p = 0.1). Histology, age and
      gender were not associated with survival. In the multivariate analysis, SUV1 was
      the only independent pretreatment prognostic factor to retain statistical
      significance (p = 0.017). SUV2 was assessed in 25 EWS patients: the median SUV2
      was 1.9 (range 1 - 8). The GR rate was 20 % in patients with a high SUV2, and 67
      % in those with a low SUV2 (p = 0.02). A good metabolic response (SUV reduction
      of >=55 %) was associated with a 3-year EFS of 80 % and a poor metabolic response
      with a 3-year EFS of 20 % (p = 0.05). In the OS patients the median SUV2 was 2.7
      (range 0 - 4.5). Neither SUV2 nor the metabolic response was associated with
      outcome in OS patients. CONCLUSION: FDG PET/CT is a useful and noninvasive tool
      for identifying patients who are more likely to be resistant to chemotherapy. If
      this finding is confirmed in a larger series, SUV1, SUV2 and metabolic response
      could be proposed as factors for stratifying EWS patients to identify those with
      high-grade localized bone EWS who would benefit from risk-adapted induction
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 27645696
TI  - Obesity Exacerbates Sepsis-Induced Oxidative Damage in Organs.
AB  - Sepsis progression is linked to the imbalance between reactive oxygen species and
      antioxidant enzymes. Sepsis affects multiple organs, but when associated with a
      chronic inflammatory disease, such as obesity, it may be exacerbated. We
      hypothesized that obesity could aggravate the oxidative damage to peripheral
      organs of rats submitted to an animal model of sepsis. Male Wistar rats aged 8
      weeks received hypercaloric nutrition for 2 months to induce obesity. Sepsis was
      induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) procedure, and sham-operated rats
      were considered as control group. The experimental groups were divided into sham
      + eutrophic, sham + obese, CLP + eutrophic, and CLP + obese. Twelve and 24 h
      after surgery, oxidative damage to lipids and proteins and superoxide dismutase
      (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were evaluated in the liver, lung, kidney,
      and heart. The data indicate that obese rats subjected to sepsis present
      oxidative stress mainly in the lung and liver. This alteration reflected an
      oxidative damage to lipids and proteins and an imbalance of SOD and CAT levels,
      especially 24 h after sepsis. It follows that obesity due to its pro-inflammatory
      phenotype can aggravate sepsis-induced damage in peripheral organs.

PMID- 27645697
TI  - Residues of chlortetracycline, doxycycline and sulfadiazine-trimethoprim in
      intestinal content and feces of pigs due to cross-contamination of feed.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cross-contamination of feed with low concentrations of antimicrobials
      can occur at production, transport and/or farm level. Concerns are rising about
      possible effects of this contaminated feed on resistance selection in the
      intestinal microbiota. Therefore, an experiment with pigs was set up, in which
      intestinal and fecal concentrations of chlortetracycline (CTC), doxycycline (DOX)
      and sulfadiazine-trimethoprim (SDZ-TRIM) were determined after administration of
      feed containing a 3 % carry-over level of these antimicrobials. RESULTS: The poor
      oral bioavailability of tetracyclines resulted in rather high concentrations in
      cecal and colonic content and feces at steady-state conditions. A mean
      concentration of 10 mg/kg CTC and 4 mg/kg DOX in the feces was reached, which is
      higher than concentrations that were shown to cause resistance selection. On the
      other hand, lower mean levels of SDZ (0.7 mg/kg) and TRIM (< limit of detection
      of 0.016 mg/kg) were found in the feces, corresponding with the high oral
      bioavailability of SDZ and TRIM in pigs. CONCLUSIONS: The relation between the
      oral bioavailability and intestinal concentrations of the tested antimicrobials,
      may be of help in assessing the risks of cross-contaminated feed. However, future
      research is needed to confirm our results and to evaluate the effects of these
      detected concentrations on resistance selection in the intestinal microbiota of
      pigs.

PMID- 27645700
TI  - Structures of PspAG97A alpha-glucoside hydrolase reveal a novel mechanism for
      chloride induced activation.
AB  - Here we report the first crystal structure of a secretory alpha-glucoside
      hydrolase isolated from Pseudoalteromonas sp. K8, PspAG97A, which belongs to
      glycoside hydrolase family 97 and exhibits halophilic property. PspAG97A lacks an
      acidic surface, that is considered essential for protein stability at high
      salinity. Interestingly, PspAG97A unusually contains a chloride ion coordinated
      by the guanidinium group of Arg171 and the main chain amide groups of Tyr172 and
      Glu173 at the active site. The structures of PspAG97A complexed with acarbose and
      panose demonstrate that residues Glu173, Arg171 and Asn170 for subsite +1 decide
      the substrate specificity of the enzyme for the alpha-1,6-glucosidic linkage.
      Structural alterations observed in the R171K variant and enzyme kinetic
      experiments focusing on chloride assisted activation suggest that the active site
      chloride serves to properly orient Glu173, Arg171 and Asn170 to facilitate
      substrate recognition. Furthermore, the chloride assists the binding of Glu173 to
      the conserved calcium ion and plays an essential role in properly positioning the
      base catalyst Glu456. In sum, our results provide valuable insight into the
      structural basis of protein halophilicity.

PMID- 27645701
TI  - Lattice distortions in coccolith calcite crystals originate from occlusion of
      biomacromolecules.
AB  - During biomineralization, organisms control the formation and morphology of a
      mineral using biomacromolecules. The biomacromolecules that most strongly
      interact with the growing crystals frequently get occluded within. Such an
      observation has been recently obtained for the calcium carbonate producing
      coccolithophore species Pleurochrysis carterae. Coccolithophores are unicellular
      algae that produce calcified scales built from complex-shaped calcite crystals,
      termed coccoliths. It is unclear how widespread the phenomenon of
      biomacromolecular occlusion within calcite crystals is in calcifying haptophytes
      such as coccolithophores. Here, the coccoliths of biological replicates of the
      bloom forming Emiliania huxleyi are compared with that of Pleurochrysis carterae,
      two species with different coccolith morphologies and crystal growth mechanisms.
      From high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction, changes in the lattice
      parameters of coccolith calcite, after heating to 450 degrees C, are observed and
      associated with macrostrain originating from occluded biomacromolecules. We
      propose a mechanism governing the biomacromolecules' interaction with the growing
      coccolith crystals and their likely origin.

PMID- 27645706
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor monotherapy versus
      sulfonylurea monotherapy for people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney
      disease in Thailand.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: With a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in type 2
      diabetes (T2DM) in Thailand, the appropriate treatment for the patients has
      become a major concern. This study aimed to evaluate long-term cost-effective of
      dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor monothearpy vs sulfonylurea (SFU)
      monotherapy in people with T2DM and CKD. METHODS: A validated IMS CORE Diabetes
      Model was used to estimate the long-term costs and outcomes. The efficacy
      parameters were identified and synthesized using a systematic review and meta
      analysis. Baseline characteristics and cost parameters were obtained from
      published studies and hospital databases in Thailand. Costs were expressed in
      2014 US Dollars. Outcomes were presented as an incremental cost-effectiveness
      ratio (ICER). One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to
      estimate parameter uncertainty. RESULTS: From a societal perspective, treatment
      with DPP-4 inhibitors yielded more quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) (0.024) at
      a higher cost (>66,000 Thai baht (THB) or >1,829.27 USD) per person than SFU,
      resulting in the ICER of >2.7 million THB/QALY (>74,833.70 USD/QALY). The cost
      effectiveness results were mainly driven by differences in HbA1c reduction,
      hypoglycemic events, and drug acquisition cost of DPP-4 inhibitors. At the
      ceiling ratio of 160,000 THB/QALY (4,434.59 USD/QALY), the probability that DPP-4
      inhibitors are cost-effective compared to SFU was less than 10%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Compared to SFU, DPP-4 inhibitor monotherapy is not a cost-effective treatment
      for people with T2DM and CKD in Thailand.

PMID- 27645702
TI  - Cognitive functioning in children with internalising, externalising and
      dysregulation problems: a population-based study.
AB  - Psychiatric symptoms in childhood are closely related to neurocognitive deficits.
      However, it is unclear whether internalising and externalising symptoms are
      associated with general or distinct cognitive problems. We examined the relation
      between different types of psychiatric symptoms and neurocognitive functioning in
      a population-based sample of 1177 school-aged children. Internalising and
      externalising behaviour was studied both continuously and categorically. For
      continuous, variable-centred analyses, broadband scores of internalising and
      externalising symptoms were used. However, these measures are strongly
      correlated, which may prevent identification of distinct cognitive patterns. To
      distinguish groups of children with relatively homogeneous symptom patterns, a
      latent profile analysis of symptoms at age 6 yielded four exclusive groups of
      children: a class of children with predominantly internalising symptoms, a class
      with externalising symptoms, a class with co-occurring internalising and
      externalising symptoms, that resembles the CBCL dysregulation profile and a class
      with no problems. Five domains of neurocognitive ability were tested:
      attention/executive functioning, language, memory and learning, sensorimotor
      functioning, and visuospatial processing. Consistently, these two different
      modelling approaches demonstrated that children with internalising and
      externalising symptoms show distinct cognitive profiles. Children with more
      externalising symptoms performed lower in the attention/executive functioning
      domain, while children with more internalising symptoms showed impairment in
      verbal fluency and memory. In the most severely affected class of children with
      internalising and externalising symptoms, we found specific impairment in the
      sensorimotor domain. This study illustrates the specific interrelation of
      internalising and externalising symptoms and cognition in young children.

PMID- 27645709
TI  - Color-shifting mutations in the C-domain of L. mingrelica firefly luciferase
      provide new information about the domain alternation mechanism.
AB  - We identified three color-shifting mutations-Phe467Ser, Glu490Val, and Glu490Lys
      in the C-domain of the wild-type recombinant L. mingrelica luciferase. These
      mutations had moderate effect on the specific activity and thermal stability of
      the enzyme but changed the pH-dependence of its bioluminescence spectra. We
      constructed the model structures of the enzyme in three known conformations
      (open, adenylation, and oxidation conformation). The structural analysis and
      experimental data provided no evidences that these residues participate in
      structure-forming interactions in the open or oxidation conformation or that
      their mutations alter the overall structure of the enzyme. Given that the
      bioluminescence spectra reflect the microenvironment of the emitter (oxyluciferin
      in an electronically excited state), we concluded that the mutated residues
      affect the active site during the emission of light via short-range interactions.
      We found that it is only in the adenylation conformation that the residues Phe467
      and Glu490 approach the N-domain, whereas the domain rotation associated with the
      oxidation conformation completely removes them from the active site. Therefore,
      the emission most likely occurs from the adenylation conformation.

PMID- 27645708
TI  - Psychosocial health and quality of life among children with cardiac diagnoses:
      agreement and discrepancies between parent and child reports.
AB  - Psychosocial health issues are common among children with cardiac diagnoses.
      Understanding parent and child perceptions is important because parents are the
      primary health information source. Significant discrepancies have been documented
      between parent/child quality-of-life data but have not been examined among
      psychosocial diagnostic instruments. This study examined agreement and
      discrepancies between parent and child reports of psychosocial health and quality
      of life in the paediatric cardiology population. Children (n=50, 6-14 years) with
      diagnoses of CHDs (n=38), arrhythmia (n=5), cardiomyopathy (n=4), or infectious
      disease affecting the heart (n=3) were enrolled, completing one or more outcome
      measures. Children and their parents completed self-reports and parent proxy
      reports of quality of life - Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory - and
      psychosocial health - Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children (Version 2).
      Patients also completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children.
      Associations (Pearson's correlations, Intraclass Correlation Coefficients) and
      differences (Student's t-tests) between parent proxy reports and child self
      reports were evaluated. Moderate parent-child correlations were found for
      physical (R=0.33, p=0.03), school (R=0.43, p<0.01), social (R=0.36, p=0.02), and
      overall psychosocial (R=0.43, p<0.01) quality of life. Parent-child reports of
      externalising behaviour problems, for example aggression, were strongly
      correlated (R=0.70, p<0.01). No significant parent-child associations were found
      for emotional quality of life (R=0.25, p=0.10), internalising problems (R=0.17,
      p=0.56), personal adjustment/adaptation skills (R=0.23, p=0.42), or anxiety
      (R=0.07, p=0.72). Our data suggest that clinicians caring for paediatric cardiac
      patients should assess both parent and child perspectives, particularly in
      relation to domains such as anxiety and emotional quality of life, which are more
      difficult to observe.

PMID- 27645710
TI  - Nickel impact on human health: An intrinsic disorder perspective.
AB  - The interplay of the presence of nickel and protein disorder in processes
      affecting human health is the focus of the present review. Many systems involving
      nickel as either a cofactor or as a toxic contaminant are characterized by large
      disorder. The role of nickel in the biochemistry of bacterial enzymes is
      discussed here, covering both the beneficial effects of nickel in the human
      microbiota as well as the role of nickel-depending bacteria in human
      pathogenesis. In addition, the hazardous health effects caused by nickel exposure
      to humans, namely nickel-induced carcinogenesis and allergy, are triggered by non
      specific interactions of nickel with macromolecules and formation of reactive
      compounds that mediate cellular damage. Cellular response to nickel is also
      related to signal transduction cascades. This review thus highlights the most
      promising systems for future studies aimed at decreasing the adverse effects of
      nickel on human health.

PMID- 27645714
TI  - Comment on: Treatment of Acute Hepatic Encephalopathy: Comparing the Effects of
      Adding Rifaximin to Lactulose on Patient Outcomes.

PMID- 27645711
TI  - Factors influencing uptake of HPV vaccination among girls in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adequate coverage is key to the success of human papillomavirus (HPV)
      vaccination programmes. There is currently no organised HPV vaccination programme
      in Germany. The aim of this analysis was to determine HPV vaccine uptake as well
      as factors associated with uptake in nine to 17 year-old girls in Germany during
      the first year of vaccine availability. METHODS: This analysis is based on data
      from the Healthcare Access Panel, an established population-based household panel
      consisting of 55 000 representative households in Germany who were contacted
      between September and October 2007. A total of 4 747 households included at least
      one girl aged nine to 17 years. After reading a description of the HPV vaccine,
      these girls were asked, "Would you have yourself vaccinated against HPV?"
      Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate associations between
      vaccination status and socio-demographic characteristics of the girls and their
      mothers. RESULTS: Of the 4 747 girls in the households who received
      questionnaires, 2 224 (46.9 %) participated in the study and 1 906 (40.2 %)
      answered the vaccination question. A total of 17.4 % of the girls were already
      vaccinated, 61.5 % felt positively about doing so, 4.7 % said they would not be
      vaccinated, and 16.3 % were not sure. The probability of a girl being vaccinated
      increased with each additional year of age (Odds Ratio (OR): 1.6, 95 % Confidence
      Interval (CI) 1.5-1.7). Among the 17 year-old girls, 38.5 % (95 % CI 32.6-44.4 %)
      had been vaccinated. Having a mother with high education (OR: 1.5, 95 % CI 1.0
      2.3) or medium education (OR: 1.5, 95 % CI 1.1-2.1) versus basic education was a
      significant predictor for having been vaccinated. Similarly, medium (OR: 1.5, 95
      % CI 1.0-2.4) versus low SES was significantly associated with having been
      vaccinated. Our analysis showed that during the first year of HPV vaccine
      availability in Germany, vaccination uptake was low. CONCLUSIONS: Countries with
      organised HPV vaccination programmes showed much higher vaccination uptake, even
      in the first year after programme introduction. If vaccination uptake in Germany
      is to significantly improve in the future, an organised vaccination programme
      will need to be introduced.

PMID- 27645719
TI  - Identification of radiation response genes and proteins from mouse pulmonary
      tissues after high-dose per fraction irradiation of limited lung volumes.
AB  - PURPOSE: The molecular effects of focal exposure of limited lung volumes to high
      dose per fraction irradiation (HDFR) such as stereotactic body radiotherapy
      (SBRT) have not been fully characterized. In this study, we used such an
      irradiation system and identified the genes and proteins after HDFR to mouse
      lung, similar to those associated with human therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: High
      focal radiation (90 Gy) was applied to a 3-mm volume of the left lung of C57BL6
      mice using a small-animal stereotactic irradiator. As well as histological
      examination for lungs, a cDNA micro array using irradiated lung tissues and a
      protein array of sera were performed until 4 weeks after irradiation, and
      radiation-responsive genes and proteins were identified. For comparison, the long
      term effects (12 months) of 20 Gy radiation wide-field dose to the left lung were
      also investigated. RESULTS: The genes ermap, epb4.2, cd200r3 (up regulation) and
      krt15, hoxc4, gdf2, cst9, cidec, and bnc1 (down-regulation) and the proteins of
      AIF, laminin, bNOS, HSP27, beta-amyloid (upregulation), and calponin
      (downregulation) were identified as being responsive to 90 Gy HDFR. The gdf2,
      cst9, and cidec genes also responded to 20 Gy, suggesting that they are universal
      responsive genes in irradiated lungs. No universal proteins were identified in
      both 90 Gy and 20 Gy. Calponin, which was downregulated in protein antibody array
      analysis, showed a similar pattern in microarray data, suggesting a possible HDFR
      responsive serum biomarker that reflects gene alteration of irradiated lung
      tissue. These genes and proteins also responded to the lower doses of 20 Gy and
      50 Gy HDFR. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that identified candidate genes
      and proteins are HDFR-specifically expressed in lung damage induced by HDFR
      relevant to SBRT in humans.

PMID- 27645722
TI  - Simultaneous Orthogonal Drug Detection Using Fully Integrated Gas Chromatography
      with Fourier Transform Infrared Detection and Mass Spectrometric Detection.
AB  - Analytes that co-elute and yield nearly identical electron ionization (EI) mass
      spectra, as well as analytes that yield non-specific EI fragmentation patterns,
      have been identified using fully integrated gas chromatography with direct
      deposit Fourier transform infrared detection and mass spectrometric detection
      (GC/FT-IR/MS). While the IR detector proved to be more selective for identifying
      analytes such as synthetic cannabinoids and weight loss drugs, it was limited by
      a relatively high detection limit of 8.4 parts per million (ppm) for non-targeted
      identification of sibutramine based on a single injection but was reduced to 840 
      parts per billion (ppb) for targeted identification of sibutramine by
      redepositing ten injections along the same track. The MS detector was less
      selective for identifying these analytes but yielded non-targeted and targeted
      detection limits of approximately 84 ppb and 8.4 ppb, respectively, which
      corresponded to a 100-fold advantage compared to the IR detector. Overall, the
      results of this study demonstrate that the advantages of each detector compensate
      for the limitations of the other, which allows a wider range of analytes and
      concentrations to be examined using a fully integrated GC/FT-IR/MS instrument
      compared to what can be examined using GC/IR or GC/MS independently. Not only
      does this approach reduce consumption of laboratory resources and time, it
      provides IR and MS information on the same sample, which is important for
      forensic analyses that require data from two or more orthogonal techniques to
      make an identification.

PMID- 27645723
TI  - Collecting Quality Infrared Spectra from Microscopic Samples of Suspicious
      Powders in a Sealed Cell.
AB  - The infrared (IR) microspectroscopical analysis of samples within a sealed-cell
      containing barium fluoride is a critical need when identifying toxic agents or
      suspicious powders of unidentified composition. The dispersive nature of barium
      fluoride is well understood and experimental conditions can be easily adjusted
      during reflection-absorption measurements to account for differences in focus
      between the visible and IR regions of the spectrum. In most instances, the
      ability to collect a viable spectrum is possible when using the sealed cell
      regardless of whether visible or IR focus is optimized. However, when IR focus is
      optimized, it is possible to collect useful data from even smaller samples. This
      is important when a minimal sample is available for analysis or the desire to
      minimize risk of sample exposure is important. While the use of barium fluoride
      introduces dispersion effects that are unavoidable, it is possible to adjust
      instrument settings when collecting IR spectra in the reflection-absorption mode
      to compensate for dispersion and minimize impact on the quality of the sample
      spectrum.

PMID- 27645724
TI  - Direct-on-Filter alpha-Quartz Estimation in Respirable Coal Mine Dust Using
      Transmission Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry and Partial Least Squares
      Regression.
AB  - In order to help reduce silicosis in miners, the National Institute for
      Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) is developing field-portable methods for
      measuring airborne respirable crystalline silica (RCS), specifically the
      polymorph alpha-quartz, in mine dusts. In this study we demonstrate the
      feasibility of end-of-shift measurement of alpha-quartz using a direct-on-filter
      (DoF) method to analyze coal mine dust samples deposited onto polyvinyl chloride
      filters. The DoF method is potentially amenable for on-site analyses, but
      deviates from the current regulatory determination of RCS for coal mines by
      eliminating two sample preparation steps: ashing the sampling filter and
      redepositing the ash prior to quantification by Fourier transform infrared (FT
      IR) spectrometry. In this study, the FT-IR spectra of 66 coal dust samples from
      active mines were used, and the RCS was quantified by using: (1) an ordinary
      least squares (OLS) calibration approach that utilizes standard silica material
      as done in the Mine Safety and Health Administration's P7 method; and (2) a
      partial least squares (PLS) regression approach. Both were capable of accounting
      for kaolinite, which can confound the IR analysis of silica. The OLS method
      utilized analytical standards for silica calibration and kaolin correction,
      resulting in a good linear correlation with P7 results and minimal bias but with
      the accuracy limited by the presence of kaolinite. The PLS approach also produced
      predictions well-correlated to the P7 method, as well as better accuracy in RCS
      prediction, and no bias due to variable kaolinite mass. Besides decreased
      sensitivity to mineral or substrate confounders, PLS has the advantage that the
      analyst is not required to correct for the presence of kaolinite or background
      interferences related to the substrate, making the method potentially viable for
      automated RCS prediction in the field. This study demonstrated the efficacy of FT
      IR transmission spectrometry for silica determination in coal mine dusts, using
      both OLS and PLS analyses, when kaolinite was present.

PMID- 27645725
TI  - Refractive Index Mixing Rules and Excess Infrared Spectra of Binary Mixtures.
AB  - Three refractive index mixing rules, Arago-Biot, Lorentz-Lorenz, and Newton, are
      generalized to complex refractive index and used to define infrared (IR) spectra
      of the corresponding ideal liquid mixtures. Using the measured optical constants
      n and k for acetonitrile-water mixtures (Bertie and Lan, 1997) the excess
      absorbances, AE =  Aobs -  Aideal, are calculated. Relying upon the well
      established properties of the acetonitrile-water mixtures, the interpretation of
      the excess absorbances is established that is essentially based on the
      understanding of a liquid as a set of oscillators. The set depends on the
      composition of the mixture and comprises oscillators as present in the pure
      components and oscillators perturbed by hydrogen bonding between unlike
      molecules. The main features of an excess spectrum can be established assuming
      chemical equilibria among various oscillators. The most informative parts of the
      spectrum of a yet unstudied binary system can well be observed and even
      qualitatively explained from the excess absorbance provided: first, a detailed
      vibrational study of the components has been done; and, second, it is well
      understood what actually is subtracted from Aobs. As examples, the binary
      mixtures of ethynylbenzene and tetrachloroethylene and 2-ethynylpyridine and
      tetrachloroethylene are considered.

PMID- 27645726
TI  - Remote Raman Efficiencies and Cross-Sections of Organic and Inorganic Chemicals.
AB  - We determined Raman cross-sections of various organic liquids and inorganic
      polyatomic ions in aqueous solutions with a 532 nm pulsed laser using remote
      Raman systems developed at the University of Hawaii. Using a calibrated
      integrating sphere as a light source, we converted the intensity counts in the
      spectrum of the light from the integrating sphere measured with UH remote Raman
      instrument to spectral radiance. From these data, a response function of the
      remote Raman instrument was obtained. With the intensity-calibrated instrument,
      we collected remote Raman data from a standard 1 mm path length fused silica
      spectrophotometer cell filled with cyclohexane. The measured value of the
      differential Raman cross-section for the 801 cm-1 vibrational mode of cyclohexane
      is 4.55 * 10-30 cm2 sr-1 molecule-1 when excited by a 532 nm laser, in good
      agreement with the values reported in the literature. Using the measured
      cyclohexane Raman cross-section as a reference and relative Raman mode
      intensities of the various ions and organic liquids, we calculated the Raman
      cross-sections of the strongest Raman lines of nitrate, sulfate, carbonate,
      phosphate ions, and organic liquids by maintaining same experimental conditions
      for remote Raman detection. These relative Raman cross-section values will be
      useful for estimating detection capabilities of remote Raman systems for
      planetary exploration.

PMID- 27645727
TI  - Application of Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy for the Assessment of Food
      Quality.
AB  - Adequate food packaging is important to ensure food quality and prolong the shelf
      life of food. Frequently, the method of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is
      used. We used a tunable diode laser spectroscopy technique to detect the oxygen
      content in food packages, e.g., in packaged milk and bread. Different detection
      geometries were adopted to be able to collect scattering light that had passed
      through the gas volume in the packages, and to avoid the disturbance of ambient
      air. Furthermore, studies of the bread-baking process have been performed by
      measuring the water vapor signals in a fermenting dough. The results demonstrate
      that the technique has a great potential for nonintrusive assessment of food
      quality and the bread-baking process.

PMID- 27645728
TI  - The CE-Way of Thinking: "All Is Relative!".
AB  - Over the last two decades the development of capillary electrophoresis
      instruments lead to systems with programmable sampler, separation column,
      separation buffer, and detection devices comparable visually in many aspects to
      the setup of classical chromatography.Two processes make capillary
      electrophoresis essentially different from chromatography and are the basis of
      the CE-way of thinking, namely, the injection type and the liquid flow within the
      capillary. (1) When the injection is made hydrodynamically (such as in most of
      the found applications in the literature), the injected volumes are directly
      dependent on the type and size of the separation capillary. (2) The buffer
      velocity is not pressure driven as in liquid chromatography but
      electrokinetically governed by the quality of the capillary surface (separation
      buffer dependant surface charge) inducing an electroosmotic flow (EOF). The EOF
      undergoes small variations and is not necessarily identical from one separation
      or day to the other. The direct consequence is an apparent nonreproducible
      migration time of the analytes, even though the own velocity of the ions is the
      same.The effective mobility (field strength normalized velocity) of the ions is a
      possible parameterization from acquired timescale to effective mobility-scale
      electropherograms leading to a reproducible visualization and better
      quantification with a direct relation to structural characters of the analytes
      (i.e., charge and size-see chapter on semiempirical modelization).

PMID- 27645729
TI  - A Semiempirical Approach for a Rapid Comprehensive Evaluation of the
      Electrophoretic Behaviors of Small Molecules in Free Zone Electrophoresis.
AB  - A phenomenological model is proposed for the evaluation of relative
      electrophoretic migration of charged substances present in mixtures and for the
      rapid pH optimization prior CZE method development. The simple and robust model
      is based on the Offord model that takes account of the chemical structure. The
      effective charge and the molecular mass of the molecule are needed; the charge
      can easily be calculated from pK a obtained from known sources or simulated with
      existing pK-calculation programs. A first example was chosen with the separation
      of hydroxy-s-triazines to illustrate the applicability of this simple approach
      for determination of the first buffer-pH conditions prior experimental method
      optimization when separation of different ions is needed. In a second example,
      the confirmation of aminoalcohols in the CZE method development of unsaturated
      hexahydro-triazines and oxasolidines.

PMID- 27645730
TI  - Derivatization in Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis is a well-established separation technique in
      analytical research laboratories worldwide. Its interesting advantages make CE an
      efficient and potent alternative to other chromatographic techniques. However, it
      is also recognized that its main drawback is the relatively poor sensitivity when
      using optical detection. One way to overcome this limitation is to perform a
      derivatization reaction which is intended to provide the analyte more suitable
      analytical characteristics enabling a high sensitive detection. Based on the
      analytical step where the CE derivatization takes place, it can be classified as
      precapillary (before separation), in-capillary (during separation), or
      postcapillary (after separation). This chapter describes the application of four
      different derivatization protocols (in-capillary and precapillary modes) to carry
      out the achiral and chiral analysis of different compounds in food and biological
      samples with three different detection modes (UV, LIF, and MS).

PMID- 27645731
TI  - Statically Adsorbed Coatings for High Separation Efficiency and Resolution in CE
      MS Peptide Analysis: Strategies and Implementation.
AB  - Coatings are necessary to prevent protein and peptide adsorption to the capillary
      surface and obtain high intermediate precision. In this protocol, we first
      present our basic strategy to address peptide separation using three different
      coatings: one neutral and two cationic coatings, the latter largely differing in
      their induced electroosmotic mobility. In detail, we will describe how we apply
      the statically adsorbed coatings to obtain very high plate numbers and high
      repeatability.With some model examples, we clearly describe the scope of the
      method for the analysis of peptide samples: tryptic digests are addressed as well
      as small glycoproteins and glycopeptides largely differing in their effective
      electrophoretic mobility. We also show that the method is suitable for a fast
      screening of peptide samples despite a high matrix load comprising of up to 500
      mmol/L sodium chloride. We demonstrate that this basic CE-MS method is rather
      independent of the polarity of the analytes with a very fast near-baseline
      separation of very hydrophobic Abeta peptides related to the onset of Alzheimer's
      disease. These examples will give an impression, which coating is most suitable
      for a specific analytical application.Special attention is paid to difficult
      aspects of the coating procedure and the CE-MS method, e.g., the potential of
      cross-contamination when changing the coatings.

PMID- 27645732
TI  - Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography of Aminoglycosides.
AB  - The components of the aminoglycosides, e.g., gentamicin, sisomicin, netilmicin,
      kanamycin, amikacin, and tobramycin, and related impurities of these antibiotics
      can be separated by means of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC).
      Derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde and thioglycolic acid is found to be
      appropriate for these antibiotics. The background electrolyte was composed of
      sodium tetraborate (100 mM), sodium deoxycholate (20 mM), and beta-cyclodextrin
      (15 mM) having a pH value of 10.0. This method is valid for evaluation of
      gentamicin, kanamycin, and tobramycin. It has to be adopted for amikacin,
      paromomycin, neomycin, and netilmicin.

PMID- 27645733
TI  - Microemulsion Electrokinetic Chromatography.
AB  - Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) is a special mode of
      capillary electrophoresis employing a microemulsion as carrier electrolyte.
      Analytes may partition between the aqueous phase of the microemulsion and its oil
      droplets which act as a pseudostationary phase. The technique is well suited for
      the separation of neutral species, in which case charged oil droplets (obtained
      by addition of an anionic or cationic surfactant) are present. A single set of
      separation parameters may be sufficient for separation of a wide range of
      analytes belonging to quite different chemical classes. Fine-tuning of resolution
      and analysis time may be achieved by addition of organic solvents, by changes in
      the nature of the surfactants (and cosurfactants) used to stabilize the
      microemulsion, or by various additives that may undergo some additional
      interactions with the analytes. Besides the separation of neutral analytes (which
      may be the most important application area of MEEKC), it can also be employed for
      cationic and/or anionic species. In this chapter, MEEKC conditions are summarized
      that have proven their reliability for routine analysis. Furthermore, the
      mechanisms encountered in MEEKC allow an efficient on-capillary preconcentration
      of analytes, so that the problem of poor concentration sensitivity of ultraviolet
      absorbance detection is circumvented.

PMID- 27645734
TI  - Nonaqueous Capillary Electrophoresis Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - The term nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) commonly refers to capillary
      electrophoresis with purely nonaqueous background electrolytes (BGE). Main
      advantages of NACE are the possibility to analyze substances with very low
      solubility in aqueous media as well as separation selectivity that can be quite
      different in organic solvents (compared to water)-a property that can be employed
      for manipulation of separation selectivities. Mass spectrometry (MS) has become
      more and more popular as a detector in CE a fact that applies also for NACE. In
      the present chapter, the development of NACE-MS since 2004 is reviewed. Relevant
      parameters like composition of BGE and its influence on separation and detection
      in NACE as well as sheath liquid for NACE-MS are discussed. Finally, an overview
      of the papers published in the field of NACE-MS between 2004 and 2014 is given.
      Applications are grouped according to the field (analysis of natural products,
      biomedical analysis, food analysis, analysis of industrial products, and
      fundamental investigations).

PMID- 27645735
TI  - Ionic Liquids in Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - Recently, a great interest was drawn toward ionic liquids (ILs) in analytical
      separation techniques. ILs possess many properties making them excellent
      additives in capillary electrophoresis (CE) background electrolytes (BGE). The
      most important property is the charge of the dissolved ions in BGE enabling the
      cations to interact with deprotonated silanol groups on the capillary surface and
      thereby modifying the electroosmotic flow (EOF). Ionic and/or proton donor
      acceptor interactions between analyte and IL are possible interactions
      facilitating new kinds of separation mechanisms in CE. Further advantages of ILs
      are the high conductivity, the environmentally friendliness, and the good
      solubility for organic and inorganic compounds. The most commonly used ILs in
      capillary electrophoresis are dialkylimidazolium-based ILs, whereas for
      enantioseparation a lot of innovative chiral cations and anions were
      investigated.ILs are reported to be additives to a normal CE background
      electrolyte or the sole electrolyte in CE, nonaqueous CE (NACE), micellar
      electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), and in enantioseparation. An overview of
      applications and separation mechanisms reported in the literature is given here,
      in addition to the enantioseparation of pseudoephedrine using tetrabutylammonium
      chloride (TBAC) as IL additive to an ammonium formate buffer containing beta
      cyclodextrin (beta-CD).

PMID- 27645736
TI  - CZE-CZE ESI-MS Coupling with a Fully Isolated Mechanical Valve.
AB  - The hyphenation of capillary electrophoresis and electrospray ionization-mass
      spectrometry is a powerful tool for peptide and protein analysis. It provides
      high separation power in combination with sensitive and selective detection and
      the possibility of analyte identification. Unfortunately, many proven capillary
      electrophoresis methods are not compatible with electrospray-mass spectrometry
      since several compounds of best separating background electrolytes are
      interfering in the electrospray ionization. Here, we describe a two-dimensional
      capillary electrophoresis system using the second dimension as a cleanup stage in
      order to remove interfering compounds to enable electrospray-mass spectrometry
      coupling.

PMID- 27645737
TI  - Capillary Electrophoresis-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - During the recent years, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been fully
      established as a powerful tool in separation sciences as well as in element
      speciation. This road of success is based on the rapid analysis time, low sample
      requirements, high separation efficiency, and low operating costs of CE.
      Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is known for superior
      detection and multielement capability. Consequently, the combination of both
      instruments is approved for analysis of complex sample types at low element
      concentrations which require high detection power. Also the diversity of
      potential applications brings CE-ICP-MS coupling into central focus of element
      speciation. The key to successful combination of ICP-MS as an (multi-)element
      selective detector for CE is the availability of a suitable and effective
      interface.Therefore, this chapter summarizes the most important and basic
      principles about coupling of capillary electrophoresis to ICP-MS. Specifically,
      the major requirements for interfacing are described and technical solutions are
      given. Such solutions include the closing of the electrical circuit from CE at
      the nebulization, the adoption of flow rates for efficient nebulization, the
      reduction of a suction flow through the capillary, caused by the nebulizer, and
      maintaining the high separation resolution from CE across the interface for ICP
      MS detection. Additionally, detailed information is presented to determine and
      quantify the siphoning suction through the CE capillary by the nebulizer.
      Finally, two applications, namely, the manganese and selenium speciation in
      cerebrospinal fluid are shown as examples, providing the relevant operational
      parameter.

PMID- 27645738
TI  - Use of CE to Analyze Solutes in Pico- and Nano-Liter Samples from Plant Cells and
      Rhizosphere.
AB  - This chapter describes the use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in the accurate
      quantitative mapping of small molecules and ions in intact function tissues
      between individual cells at single cell resolution. It can also be used for the
      analysis of the heterogeneity of soil surrounding roots at similar spatial
      resolution, providing a link between plant and environment. No pretreatment or
      genetic manipulation of the plant is required. The application is an extension of
      the Single Cell Sampling and Analysis technique (SiCSA), in which glass
      micromanipulation of microcapillaries allows samples in the pl and nl volume
      range to be obtained and manipulated under paraffin oil (to prevent evaporation)
      before being introduced to the CE column. An advantage of this approach is that
      the entire sample can be brought to the detector (without the loading losses
      associated with other techniques). The power of SiCSA-CE is that the results can
      be directly related to a range of other single-cell resolution parameters ranging
      from mechanical and hydraulic properties to gene expression. Several protocols
      and (contrasting) applications are provided.

PMID- 27645739
TI  - Analysis of Small Ions with Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - Small inorganic ions are easily separated through capillary electrophoresis
      because they have a high charge-to-mass ratio and suffer little from some of the
      undesired phenomenon affecting higher molecular weight species like adsorption to
      the capillary wall, decomposition, and precipitation. This chapter is focused on
      the analysis of small ions other than metal ions using capillary electrophoresis.
      Methods are described for the determination of ions of nitrogen, phosphorus,
      sulfur, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine.

PMID- 27645740
TI  - Metal Ions Analysis with Capillary Zone Electrophoresis.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis has recently attracted considerable attention as a
      promising analytical technique for metal ion separations. Significant advances
      that open new application areas for capillary electrophoresis in the analysis of
      metal species occurred based on various auxiliary separation principles. These
      are mainly due to complexation, ion pairing, solvation, and micellization
      interactions between metal analytes and electrolyte additives, which alter the
      separation selectivity in a broad range. Likewise, many separation studies for
      metal ions have been concentrated on the use of preelectrophoresis derivatization
      methodology. Approaches suitable for manipulation of selectivity for different
      metal species including metal cations, metal complexes, metal oxoanions, and
      organometallic compounds, are discussed, with special attention paid to the
      related electrophoretic system variables using illustrative examples.

PMID- 27645741
TI  - Bioanalytical Application of Amino Acid Detection by Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - This chapter illustrates the usefulness of capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the
      analysis of amino acids, and both normal and chiral separations are covered. In
      order to provide a general description of the main results and challenges in the
      biomedical field, some relevant applications and reviews on CE of amino acids are
      tabulated. Furthermore, some detailed experimental procedures are shown,
      regarding the CE analysis of amino acids in body fluids, in microdialysate, and
      released upon hydrolysis of proteins. In particular, the protocols will deal with
      the following compounds: (1) underivatized aminoacids in blood; (2) gamma
      Aminobutyric acid, glutamate, and L-Aspartate derivatized with Naphthalene-2,3
      dicarboxaldehyde; (3) hydrolysate from bovine serum albumine derivatized with
      phenylisothiocyanate. By examining these applications on real matrices, the
      capillary electrophoresis efficiency as tool for Amino Acid analysis can be
      ascertained.

PMID- 27645742
TI  - Enantiomer Separations by Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a versatile and flexible technique for
      analytical enantioseparations. This is due to the large variety of chiral
      selectors as well as the different operation modes including electrokinetic
      chromatography, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, and microemulsion
      electrokinetic chromatography. The chiral selector, which is added to the
      background electrolyte, represents a pseudostationary phase with its own
      electrophoretic mobility allowing a variety of different separation protocols.
      The present chapter briefly addresses the basic fundamentals of CE
      enantioseparations as well as the most frequently applied chiral selectors and
      separation modes. The practical example illustrates the separation of the
      enantiomers of a positively charged analyte using native and charged cyclodextrin
      derivatives as chiral selectors.

PMID- 27645743
TI  - Capillary Electrophoresis of Mono- and Oligosaccharides.
AB  - This chapter reports an overview of the recent advances in the analysis of mono-
      and oligosaccharides by capillary electrophoresis (CE); furthermore, relevant
      reviews and research articles recently published in the field are tabulated.
      Additionally, pretreatments and procedures applied to uncharged and acidic
      carbohydrates (i.e., monosaccharides and lower oligosaccharides carrying
      carboxylate, sulfate, or phosphate groups) are described.Representative examples
      of such procedures are reported in detail, upon describing robust methodologies
      for the study of (1) neutral oligosaccharides derivatized by reductive amination
      and by formation of glycosylamines; (2) sialic acid derivatized with 2
      aminoacridone, released from human serum immunoglobulin G; (3) anomeric couples
      of neutral glycosides separated using borate-based buffers; (4) unsaturated,
      underivatized oligosaccharides from lyase-treated alginate.

PMID- 27645744
TI  - Use of Capillary Electrophoresis for Polysaccharide Studies and Applications.
AB  - CE applications to charged polysaccharides are briefly reported. A simple
      procedure is presented to determine the esterification degree of a hyaluronan
      derivative. In this case the degree of substitution was as low as 14 %.The
      molecular weight distribution of mannuronic oligosaccharides mixture produced by
      hydrolysis of native polymannuronic is readily calculated from peak area of the
      species resolved by CE on the basis of a specific degree of polymerization.The
      influence of the applied electric field strength on the free solution mobility of
      hyaluronan samples is briefly addressed for molar masses of the order of 10(5)
      and 10(6) g/mol. The data are compared with the results obtained for a 50 %
      galactose substituted HA.Mobility data obtained as a function of buffer pH for a
      native HA sample as well as for two galactose-amide HA derivatives, having
      slightly different degrees of substitution, are presented and discussed in terms
      of the polymer charge density parameters xi.In most cases, more questions than
      answers arise from the application of CE to charged polysaccharides. However,
      perspectives are disclosed for a further understanding of the reliability of CE
      applied for the structural elucidation of such macromolecules.

PMID- 27645745
TI  - Separation of Peptides by Capillary Electrophoresis.
AB  - Peptides are an important class of analytes in chemistry, biochemistry, food
      chemistry, as well as medical and pharmaceutical sciences including biomarker
      analysis in peptidomics and proteomics. As a high-resolution technique, capillary
      electrophoresis (CE) is well suited for the analysis of polar compounds such as
      peptides. In addition, CE is orthogonal to high-performance liquid chromatography
      (HPLC) as both techniques are based on different physicochemical separation
      principles. For the successful development of peptide separations by CE,
      operational parameters including puffer pH, buffer concentration and buffer type,
      applied voltage, capillary dimensions, as well as background electrolyte
      additives such as detergents, ion-pairing reagents, cyclodextrins, (poly)amines,
      and soluble polymers have to be considered and optimized.

PMID- 27645746
TI  - Microbial Analysis of Escherichia coli ATCC, Lactobacteria and Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae Using Capillary Electrophoresis Approach.
AB  - Rapid detection and identification of microorganisms is a challenging and
      important aspect in many areas of our life, beginning with medicine, ending with
      industry. Unfortunately, classical methods of microorganisms identification are
      based on time-consuming and labor-intensive approaches. Screening techniques
      require rapid and cheap grouping of bacterial isolates; however, modern
      bioanalytics demands comprehensive bacterial studies on molecular level. The new
      approach to the rapid identification of bacteria is to use the electromigration
      techniques, especially capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). CZE is an important
      technique used in the analysis of microorganisms. However, the analysis of
      microbial complexes using this technology still encounters several problems
      uncontrolled aggregation and/or adhesion to the capillary surface. One way to
      resolve this issue is the CZE analysis of microbial cell with surface charge
      modification by bivalent metal ions (e.g., Ca(2+) aq, Zn aq). Under the above
      conditions, bacterial cells create compact aggregates, and fewer high-intensity
      signals are observed in electropherograms. The chapter presents the capillary
      electrophoresis of microbial aggregates approach with UV and one-dimensional
      intact cell matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (ICM MS) detection.

PMID- 27645747
TI  - Capillary Electrophoretic Analysis of Classical Organic Pollutants.
AB  - The synthesis and usage of a wide range of organic compounds have shown a
      considerable increase in the past few decades. Many of these compounds are
      potential pollutants for the environment. They differ from each other in their
      chemical structure and properties. Correspondingly different separation
      strategies are required for their separation. There is need to assess the human
      exposure to these chemicals and to identify and develop analytical methods for
      their identification. In this chapter we have presented some methods for the
      separation and the analysis of the organic pollutants like dyes, phenolic
      pollutants, phthalates, endocrine disrupting chemicals, polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbon, explosives, agricultural pesticides, and toxins.

PMID- 27645748
TI  - Capillary Electrophoresis in Metabolomics.
AB  - Metabolomics is an analytical toolbox to describe (all) low-molecular-weight
      compounds in a biological system, as cells, tissues, urine, and feces, as well as
      in serum and plasma. To analyze such complex biological samples, high
      requirements on the analytical technique are needed due to the high variation in
      compound physico-chemistry (cholesterol derivatives, amino acids, fatty acids as
      SCFA, MCFA, or LCFA, or pathway-related metabolites belonging to each individual
      organism) and concentration dynamic range. All main separation techniques (LC-MS,
      GC-MS) are applied in routine to metabolomics hyphenated or not to mass
      spectrometry, and capillary electrophoresis is a powerful high-resolving
      technique but still underused in this field of complex samples. Metabolomics can
      be performed in the non-targeted way to gain an overview on metabolite profiles
      in biological samples. Targeted metabolomics is applied to analyze quantitatively
      pre-selected metabolites. This chapter reviews the use of capillary
      electrophoresis in the field of metabolomics and exemplifies solutions in
      metabolite profiling and analysis in urine and plasma.

PMID- 27645749
TI  - Capillary Electrophoresis in Food and Foodomics.
AB  - Quality and safety assessment as well as the evaluation of other nutritional and
      functional properties of foods imply the use of robust, efficient, sensitive, and
      cost-effective analytical methodologies. Among analytical technologies used in
      the fields of food analysis and foodomics, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has
      generated great interest for the analyses of a large number of compounds due to
      its high separation efficiency, extremely small sample and reagent requirements,
      and rapid analysis. The introductory section of this chapter provides an overview
      of the recent applications of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in food analysis and
      foodomics. Relevant reviews and research articles on these topics are tabulated
      including papers published in the period 2011-2014. In addition, to illustrate
      the great capabilities of CE in foodomics the chapter describes the main
      experimental points to be taken into consideration for a metabolomic study of the
      antiproliferative effect of carnosic acid (a natural diterpene found in rosemary)
      against HT-29 human colon cancer cells.

PMID- 27645750
TI  - Capillary Electrophoresis in Wine Science.
AB  - Capillary electrophoresis appeared to be a powerful and reliable technique to
      analyze the diversity of wine compounds. Wine presents a great variety of natural
      chemicals coming from the grape berry extraction and the fermentation processes.
      The first and more abundant after water, ethanol has been quantified in wines via
      capillary electrophoresis. Other families like organic acids, neutral and acid
      sugars, polyphenols, amines, thiols, vitamins, and soluble proteins are
      electrophoretically separated from the complex matrix.Here, we will focus on the
      different methodologies that have been employed to conduct properly capillary
      electrophoresis in wine analysis.Two examples informing on wine chemistry
      obtained by capillary electrophoresis will be detailed. They concern polyphenol
      analysis and protein profiling. The first category is a well-developed
      quantitative approach important for the quality and the antioxidant properties
      conferred to wine. The second aspect involves more research aspects dealing with
      microbiota infections in the vineyard or in the grape as well as enological
      practices.

PMID- 27645752
TI  - Links Between Land-Sharing, Biodiversity, and Zoonotic Diseases: A Knowledge Gap.

PMID- 27645751
TI  - Intestinal Transplant Inflammation: the Third Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Intestinal transplantation is the most immunologically complex of all abdominal
      organ transplants. Understanding the role both humoral and innate and adaptive
      cellular immunity play in intestinal transplantation is critical to improving
      outcomes and increasing indications for patients suffering from intestinal
      failure. Recent findings highlighting the impact of donor-specific antibodies on
      intestinal allografts, the role of NOD2 as a key regulator of intestinal
      immunity, the protective effects of innate lymphoid cells, and the role of Th17
      in acute cellular rejection are reviewed here. 

PMID- 27645754
TI  - Welcome to the EcoHealth One Health Congress 2016.

PMID- 27645753
TI  - Surveillance of Avian Influenza Virus in Aquatic Birds on the Brazilian Amazon
      Coast.
AB  - The occurrence of avian influenza viruses (AIV) has been extensively studied in
      aquatic birds in the Northern hemisphere; however, much less information is
      available for the South American region. In 2009-2010, we sampled 1006 wild
      aquatic birds (90% Charadriiformes, 9% Anseriformes, and 1% other groups) at
      three locations on the Brazilian Amazon coast, a region that serves as a major
      stop-over and wintering site along the Atlantic Americas flyway. Real-time RT-PCR
      identified five samples as positive; however, no AIV isolates could be obtained
      and Illumina sequencing did not produce gene sequences that would allow further
      characterization of the virus.

PMID- 27645755
TI  - An Ecological and Human Biomonitoring Investigation of Mercury Contamination at
      the Aamjiwnaang First Nation.
AB  - The Aamjiwnaang First Nations community is located in Canada's 'Chemical Valley'
      situated in southwest Ontario near Sarnia. Mercury pollution in the region has
      been known since the 1940s but little is known about levels in the environment
      and area residents. The current study, using ecological and human exposure
      assessment methods, was conducted at the community's request to help fill these
      gaps. First, Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory and the U.S. Toxics
      Release Inventory were queried to investigate mercury releases from area
      facilities. In 2010, 700 pounds of mercury were emitted into the air, 25 pounds
      were released into water bodies, and 93 thousand pounds were disposed of on-site
      via underground injections or into landfills, and together these show continued
      releases into the region. Second, mercury levels were measured in stream sediment
      and nearby soil from sites at Aamjiwnaang (n = 4) and off Reserve (n = 19) in
      Canada and the U.S. during three seasons that spanned 2010-2011. Total mercury in
      sediment across all sites and sampling seasons ranged from 5.0 to 398.7 ug/kg,
      and in soils ranged from 1.2 to 696.2 ug/kg. Sediment and soil mercury levels at
      Aamjiwnaang were higher than the reference community, and Aamjiwnaang's Talfourd
      Creek site had the highest mercury levels. Third, a biomonitoring study was
      performed with 43 mother-child pairs. Hair (mean +/- SD of all participants: 0.18
      +/- 0.16 ug/g) and blood (1.6 +/- 2.0 ug/L) mercury levels did not differ between
      participants studied on- and off-Reserve, likely because of limited seafood
      intake (<1 serving/week). Urine mercury levels (0.5 +/- 0.8 ug/L) were
      significantly higher (1.5-2.5 times) in mother-child pairs living on-Reserve
      versus those living off-Reserve. In general, the study links evidence of mercury
      sources, environmental fate, and human exposures, and in doing so it shows that
      mercury levels in ecological and human samples are similar to values found in
      other areas, though there are some trends and evidence of contamination at
      Aamjiwnaang that warrant attention.

PMID- 27645756
TI  - Lower cranial polyneuropathy in zoster sine herpete presenting with pain in the
      ear and throat: a case report.
AB  - A 64-year-old woman developed acute paralysis of glossopharyngeal, vagus,
      accessory, and hypoglossal nerves on the left side after pain in the head and the
      left ear and throat. Cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed lymphocytic
      pleocytosis and elevated protein concentration. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-DNA
      was detected by PCR from cerebrospinal fluid. The diagnosis of lower cranial
      polyneuropathy due to VZV reactivation was made. After oral administration of an
      anti-viral agent and steroid, all symptoms and signs dramatically improved.
      Notably, there was no evidence of cutaneous or mucosal rash during the whole
      course of the disease. VZV reactivation should be included in the differential
      diagnosis of acute lower cranial polyneuropathy, especially with pain in the ear
      and throat, even without cutaneous or mucosal rash.

PMID- 27645757
TI  - Copper deficiency myelopathy probably caused by long-lasting daily excessive
      intake of zink.
AB  - We report a 39-year-old woman with slowly progressive spastic gait and
      paresthesia in the lower extremities. Cervical spinal MRI revealed high intensity
      in the dorsal column from vertebrae C2 to C7. Laboratory findings showed normal
      vitamin B12 and low serum copper level. By lifestyle history taking, we noticed
      her extreme unbalanced diet of having 15-20 oysters everyday over 5 years. Then
      we considered that zinc excess caused copper deficiency myelopathy. We needed to
      pay attention to copper and zinc level if the patient has a symptom resembling
      subacute combined degeneration of spinal cord with normal serum vitamin B12.

PMID- 27645758
TI  - A case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy with chronic renal failure,
      whose JC virus in cerebrospinal fluid disappeared after mefloquine-mirtazapine
      dual therapy.
AB  - An 83-year-old man with chronic renal failure was referred to our hospital
      because of subacute progressive right hemiparesis. A brain MRI showed high
      intensity lesions in bilateral middle cerebellar peduncles and white matter of
      the left frontal lobe on T2-weighted images. The lesions increased gradually, so
      we suspected a brain tumor because 1H-MRS images showed elevated Cho and
      decreased NAA, and also pathologic findings of the brain biopsy suggested
      glioblastoma. However, JC virus (JCV) in cerebrospinal fluid was revealed highly
      positive by PCR. So we reconsidered pathologically and finally found bizarre
      astrocytes which were infected with JCV in immunohistochemical studies and we
      diagnosed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy at last. Then we medicated
      with mefloquine and mirtazapine, and the JCV in cerebrospinal fluid disappeared,
      without new MRI lesions. This is a rare case in respect of the background of the
      patient and the clinical course.

PMID- 27645761
TI  - Neurologic Complications of Unprotected Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
      (from the Neuro-TAVI Trial).
AB  - Cerebral embolization during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) can
      lead to a spectrum of clinically relevant manifestations, ranging from overt
      stroke to mild neurologic or cognitive deficits and subclinical cerebral
      infarcts. This study sought to determine the frequency of neurologic injury,
      cerebral ischemic lesions, and cognitive dysfunction in subjects undergoing
      contemporary commercial TAVI in the United States. Neuro-TAVR is the first
      prospective, multicenter study to use serial systematic neurologic and cognitive
      assessments and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (at 4 +/- 2 days
      after procedure) to investigate the incidence and severity of neurologic injury
      after contemporary unprotected TAVI in the United States. A total of 44
      consecutive patients underwent TAVI at 5 US sites. Diffusion-weighted magnetic
      resonance imaging lesions were detected in 94%, with a mean of 10.4 +/- 15.3
      lesions per subject and a median total lesion volume of 295 mm3 (interquartile
      range 71.6 to 799.6 mm3). New neurologic impairment (worsening in National
      Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score from baseline with new cerebral lesions)
      occurred in 22.6% (7 of 31) of subjects at discharge and 14.8% (4 of 27) at 30
      days. In addition, cognitive decrements from baseline were identified by the
      Montreal Cognitive Assessment in 33% (12 of 36) of subjects at discharge and 41%
      (13 of 32) at 30 days. In conclusion, this contemporary cohort of US patients
      confirms that TAVI results in cerebral infarction in most patients and that 1 in
      5 patients have measurable neurologic impairment and 1 in 3 patients have
      decrease in cognitive measures by Montreal Cognitive Assessment score after TAVI,
      reinforcing the need for methods to mitigate the risk of brain injury during
      TAVI.

PMID- 27645762
TI  - Relation Between End-Procedural Activated Clotting Time Values and Radial Artery
      Occlusion Rate With Standard Fixed-Dose Heparin After Transradial Cardiac
      Catheterization.
AB  - Although heparin administration has reduced the incidence of radial artery
      occlusion (RAO) during the transradial coronary angiography (TRCA), the effective
      activated clotting time (ACT) value for guiding unfractionated heparin dosing in
      patients undergoing TRCA is unknown. Four hundred thirty-two patients who were
      scheduled for elective TRCA were enrolled in our prospective study. All the
      patients received a standard dose of 5,000 IU unfractionated heparin.
      Anticoagulation level was assessed by ACT measurements that were taken at the end
      of the procedure just before the sheath removal. The day after TRCA, all patients
      were evaluated by color Doppler ultrasound to detect RAO. RAO was found in 29
      patients (6.7%). A median ACT of 205 seconds in the RAO group and 265 seconds in
      the radial artery patent group were detected (p <0.001). Mean procedure duration
      was significantly longer in the RAO group than in the radial artery patent group
      (18.55 +/- 9.80 vs 11.24 +/- 7.07 minutes, p <0.001). There was a negative
      correlation between end-procedural ACT and procedure duration (r = -0.117, p =
      0.015). In multivariate analysis, end-procedural ACT (odds ratio 0.981, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 0.972 to 0.989, p <0.001), procedure duration (odds
      ratio 1.076, 95% CI, 1.037 to 1.116, p <0.001), and radial artery diameter (odds
      ratio 0.240, 95% CI 0.063 to 0.907, p = 0.035) were found as independent
      predictors of RAO. In conclusion, shorter end-procedural ACT levels, longer
      procedural duration, and smaller radial arterial diameter were independently
      associated with RAOs after TRCA with standard-dose heparin. In prolonged
      procedures, ACT-based heparin dosing may be useful to overcome RAO.

PMID- 27645763
TI  - Effect of New-Onset Left Bundle Branch Block After Transcatheter Aortic Valve
      Implantation (CoreValve) on Mortality, Frequency of Re-Hospitalization, and Need
      for Pacemaker.
AB  - New-onset conduction disturbances are common after transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation (TAVI). The most common complication is left bundle branch block
      (LBBB). The clinical impact of new-onset LBBB after TAVI remains controversial.
      The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical impact of new-onset LBBB in
      terms of mortality and morbidity (need for pacemakers and admissions for heart
      failure) at long-term follow-up. From April 2008 to December 2014, 220 patients
      who had severe aortic stenosis were treated with the implantation of a CoreValve
      prosthesis. Sixty-seven of these patients were excluded from the analysis,
      including 22 patients with pre-existing LBBB and 45 with a permanent pacemaker,
      implanted previously or within 72 hours of implantation. The remaining 153
      patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (n = 80), those with persistent new
      onset LBBB, and group 2 (n = 73), those without conduction disturbances after
      treatment. Both groups were followed up at 1 month, 6 months, 12 months, and
      yearly thereafter. Persistent new-onset LBBB occurred in 80 patients (36%)
      immediately after TAVI; 73 patients (33%) did not develop conduction
      disturbances. The mean follow-up time of both groups was 32 +/- 22 months (range
      3 to 82 months), and there were no differences in time between the groups. There
      were no differences in mortality between the groups (39% vs 48%, p = 0.58). No
      differences were observed between the groups in re-hospitalizations for heart
      failure (11% vs 16%, p = 0.55). Group 1 did not require pacemaker implantation
      more often at follow-up (10% vs 13%, p = 0.38) than group 2. In conclusion, new
      onset LBBB was not associated with a higher incidence of late need for a
      permanent pacemaker after CoreValve implantation. In addition, it was not
      associated with a higher risk of late mortality or re-hospitalization.

PMID- 27645764
TI  - Prevalence and Predictors of Early Discontinuation of Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy
      After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation in Korean Population.
AB  - The administration of antiplatelet drugs for months after a drug-eluting stent
      implantation is critical in decreasing the risk of complications, and premature
      discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy before the recommended period is the most
      important predictor for late complications. Therefore, we investigated the
      prevalence and associated factors of premature discontinuation of antiplatelet
      therapy in patients in Korea. This retrospective cohort study was conducted using
      the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort data.
      Patients who were treated with dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) were identified
      with medication prescription data. The Kaplan-Meier failure time plot was used to
      illustrate the cumulative probability of treatment discontinuation. Cox
      regression analysis was conducted to compare predictors of early discontinuation
      of DAPT. The characteristics of the early discontinuation group were not
      significantly different from the guideline concordance group, except for a higher
      prevalence of disability and a lower rate of chronic kidney disease. In a Cox
      regression model, the presence of hypertension was identified as a negative
      predictor of early discontinuation, and disability was not a statistically
      significant predictor. The prevalence of early discontinuation was 31.0% and
      seems to be significantly higher than those reported from prospective studies,
      which may more accurately reflect the real-world situation. In conclusion,
      physicians should make more effort to educate patients on the risk associated
      with premature discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous
      coronary intervention with drug-eluting stent, and further studies investigating
      the reasons for nonadherence of DAPT are needed to improve DAPT compliance.

PMID- 27645768
TI  - PyMOL360: Multi-user gamepad control of molecular visualization software.
AB  - Interactive visualization of biomolecular structure is a powerful tool for
      scientists, students, and audiences from the laboratory to the classroom and
      beyond. However, existing platforms lack the ability to generate a collaborative
      environment to engage multiple users simultaneously. To address this need,
      PyMOL360 is described, which enables control of PyMOL molecular visualization
      software from multiple gamepad controllers. Extensive modularity enables user
      defined configurations while default settings ease adoption by new users. A
      walkthrough of the software demonstrates its ability to select relevant molecules
      and modify viewing perspectives, molecular styles, colors, highlighted residues,
      or chains. Provision of source code encourages use and further development. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27645766
TI  - A Francisella-like endosymbiont in the Gulf Coast tick evolved from a mammalian
      pathogen.
AB  - Ticks (order Ixodida) vector pathogenic bacteria that cause diseases in humans
      and other mammals. They also contain bacteria that are closely related to
      pathogens but function as endosymbionts that provide nutrients that are missing
      from mammalian blood-their sole food source. For instance, mammalian pathogens
      such as Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis, as well as Coxiella-like
      and Francisella-like endosymbionts (CLEs and FLEs, respectively) occur in ticks
      worldwide. However, it is not clear whether the pathogens evolved from symbionts
      or symbionts from pathogens. Recent studies have indicated that C. burnetii
      likely originated from a tick-associated ancestor, but the origins of FLEs are
      not clear. In this study, we sequenced the genome of an FLE, termed FLE-Am,
      present in the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum. We show that FLE-Am likely
      evolved from a pathogenic strain of Francisella, indicating that tick
      endosymbionts can evolve from mammalian pathogens. Although the genome of FLE-Am
      is almost the same size as the genomes of pathogenic Francisella strains, about
      one-third of its protein-coding genes contain inactivating mutations. The
      relatively low coding capacity and extensive metabolic capabilities indicate that
      FLE-Am transitioned recently to its current endosymbiotic lifestyle and likely
      replaced an ancient endosymbiont with degraded functionality.

PMID- 27645769
TI  - A rapid method for the simultaneous determination of 25 anti-hypertensive
      compounds in dietary supplements using ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography.
AB  - A novel, stable, simple and specific ultra-performance liquid chromatography
      method with ultraviolet detection (205 nm) for the simultaneous analysis of 25
      anti-hypertensive substances was developed. The method was validated according to
      the International Conference of Harmonisation guidelines with respect to
      linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation
      (LOQ) and stability. From the ultra-performance liquid chromatography results, we
      identified the LOD and LOQ of solid samples to be 0.20-1.00 and 0.60-3.00 MUg ml
      1, respectively, while those of liquid samples were 0.30-1.20 and 0.90-3.60 MUg
      ml-1, respectively. The linearity exceeded 0.9999, and the intra- and inter-day
      precisions were 0.15-6.48% and 0.28-8.67%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day
      accuracies were 82.25-111.42% and 80.70-115.64%, respectively, and the stability
      was lower than 12.9% (relative standard deviation). This method was applied to
      the monitoring of 97 commercially available dietary supplements obtained in
      Korea, such as pills, soft capsules, hard capsules, liquids, powders and tablets.
      The proposed method is accurate, precise and of high quality, and can be used for
      the routine, reproducible analysis and control of 25 anti-hypertensive substances
      in various dietary supplements. The work presented herein may help to prevent
      incidents related to food adulteration and restrict the illegal food market.

PMID- 27645771
TI  - PAK1 regulates inhibitory synaptic function via a novel mechanism mediated by
      endocannabinoids.
AB  - The Rho family small GTPases and their effectors, including PAKs, are extensively
      studied in the context of the actin cytoskeleton, excitatory synaptic function,
      spine morphology and memory formation. However, their roles in inhibitory
      synaptic function remain poorly understood. We have recently shown that PAK1 is a
      potent regulator of GABAergic synaptic transmission. Thus, disruption of PAK1
      leads to significant impairments in inhibitory postsynaptic currents which are
      manifested as reduced GABA presynaptic releases. Interestingly, this effect of
      PAK1 is distinct from its previously known role in spines and excitatory synaptic
      transmission in that it is independent of postsynaptic actin, but requires
      retrograde messengers produced and released from the postsynaptic neurons to
      suppress presynaptic GABA releases. We have further identified eCBs as the
      retrograde messengers and shown that PAK1 regulates the eCB signaling via
      restricting the tissue level of AEA by promoting synaptic expression of COX-2, a
      key enzyme to oxidize AEA. These results have established a novel pathway whereby
      PAK1, and by extension Rho proteins, regulates cellular processes, synaptic
      function and behaviors and have important implications in understanding and
      treating various diseases linked to PAKs and Rho signaling.

PMID- 27645773
TI  - Bilateral vertebral artery dissection as the initial manifestation of Cushing
      syndrome.

PMID- 27645770
TI  - Recent advances in bioprinting techniques: approaches, applications and future
      prospects.
AB  - Bioprinting technology shows potential in tissue engineering for the fabrication
      of scaffolds, cells, tissues and organs reproducibly and with high accuracy.
      Bioprinting technologies are mainly divided into three categories, inkjet-based
      bioprinting, pressure-assisted bioprinting and laser-assisted bioprinting, based
      on their underlying printing principles. These various printing technologies have
      their advantages and limitations. Bioprinting utilizes biomaterials, cells or
      cell factors as a "bioink" to fabricate prospective tissue structures.
      Biomaterial parameters such as biocompatibility, cell viability and the cellular
      microenvironment strongly influence the printed product. Various printing
      technologies have been investigated, and great progress has been made in printing
      various types of tissue, including vasculature, heart, bone, cartilage, skin and
      liver. This review introduces basic principles and key aspects of some frequently
      used printing technologies. We focus on recent advances in three-dimensional
      printing applications, current challenges and future directions.

PMID- 27645772
TI  - CCT2 Mutations Evoke Leber Congenital Amaurosis due to Chaperone Complex
      Instability.
AB  - Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a hereditary early-onset retinal dystrophy
      that is accompanied by severe macular degeneration. In this study, novel compound
      heterozygous mutations were identified as LCA-causative in chaperonin-containing
      TCP-1, subunit 2 (CCT2), a gene that encodes the molecular chaperone protein,
      CCTbeta. The zebrafish mutants of CCTbeta are known to exhibit the eye phenotype
      while its mutation and association with human disease have been unknown. The CCT
      proteins (CCT alpha-theta) forms ring complex for its chaperon function. The LCA
      mutants of CCTbeta, T400P and R516H, are biochemically instable and the affinity
      for the adjacent subunit, CCTgamma, was affected distinctly in both mutants. The
      patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), carrying these CCTbeta
      mutants, were less proliferative than the control iPSCs. Decreased proliferation
      under Cct2 knockdown in 661W cells was significantly rescued by wild-type CCTbeta
      expression. However, the expression of T400P and R516H didn't exhibit the
      significant effect. In mouse retina, both CCTbeta and CCTgamma are expressed in
      the retinal ganglion cells and connecting cilium of photoreceptor cells. The Cct2
      knockdown decreased its major client protein, transducing beta1 (Gbeta1). Here we
      report the novel LCA mutations in CCTbeta and the impact of chaperon disability
      by these mutations in cellular biology.

PMID- 27645774
TI  - Variability and trends in the consumption of drugs for treating attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Castile-La Mancha, Spain (1992-2015).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most
      common behavioural disorders of childhood; its prevalence in Spain is estimated
      at 5-9%. Available treatments for this condition include methylphenidate,
      atomoxetine, and lisdexamfetamine, whose consumption increases each year.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prevalence of ADHD was estimated by calculating the
      defined daily dose per 1,000 population per day of each drug and the total doses
      (therapeutic group N06BA) between 1992 and 2015 in each of the provinces of
      Castile-La Mancha (Spain). Trends, joinpoints, and annual percentages of change
      were analysed using joinpoint regression models. RESULTS: The minimum prevalence
      of ADHD in the population of Castile-La Mancha aged 5 to 19 was estimated at
      13.22 cases per 1,000 population per day; prevalence varied across provinces
      (p<.05). Overall consumption has increased from 1992 to 2015, with an annual
      percentages of change of 10.3% and several joinpoints (2000, 2009, and 2012).
      methylphenidate represents 89.6% of total drug consumption, followed by
      lisdexamfetamine at 8%. CONCLUSIONS: Analysing drug consumption enables us to
      estimate the distribution of ADHD patients in Castile-La Mancha. Our data show an
      increase in the consumption of these drugs as well as differences in drug
      consumption between provinces, which reflect differences in ADHD management in
      clinical practice.

PMID- 27645775
TI  - Has the aetiology of ischaemic stroke changed in the past decades? Analysis and
      comparison of data from current and historical stroke databases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine whether the aetiology of ischaemic stroke has
      changed in recent years and, if so, to ascertain the possible reasons for these
      changes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analysed the epidemiological history and
      vascular risk factors of all patients diagnosed with ischaemic stroke at Complejo
      Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete (CHUA) from 2009 to 2014. Ischaemic stroke
      subtypes were established using the TOAST criteria. Our results were compared to
      data from the classic Stroke Data Bank (SDB); in addition, both series were
      compared to those of other hospital databases covering the period between the
      two. RESULTS: We analysed 1664 patients (58% were men) with a mean age of 74
      years. Stroke aetiology in both series (CHUA, SDB) was as follows:
      atherosclerosis (12%, 9%), small-vessel occlusion (13%, 25%), cardioembolism
      (32%, 19%), stroke of other determined aetiology (3%, 4%), and stroke of
      undetermined aetiology (40%, 44%). Sixty-three percent of the patients from the
      CHUA and 42% of the patients from the SDB were older than 70 years. Cardioembolic
      strokes were more prevalent in patients older than 70 years in both series.
      Untreated hypertension was more frequent in the SDB (SDB = 31% vs CHUA = 10%).
      The analysis of other databases shows that the prevalence of cardioembolic stroke
      is increasing worldwide. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that the prevalence of
      lacunar strokes is decreasing worldwide whereas cardioembolic strokes are
      increasingly more frequent in both our hospital and other series compared to the
      SDB. These differences may be explained by population ageing and the improvements
      in management of hypertension and detection of cardioembolic arrhythmias in
      stroke units.

PMID- 27645776
TI  - Prognostic factors and analysis of mortality due to brain haemorrhages associated
      with vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants. Results from the TAC registry.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intracranial haemorrhages (ICH) represent a severe and frequently
      lethal complication in patients treated with vitamin K antagonists (VKA). The
      purpose of our study is to describe the factors and clinical features associated
      with mortality in these patients. METHODS: We conducted an observational,
      retrospective, multi-centre study based on prospective stroke registries in
      Spain. We included all patients admitted to neurology departments during a one
      year period who met the following inclusion criteria: being 18 or older, having a
      diagnosis of ICH, and receiving VKA. Clinical and radiological parameters and 3
      month outcomes were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 235 patients from 21 hospitals
      were included. Mortality rate at 90 days was 42.6%. Bivariate analysis showed a
      significant association between death and the following factors: median NIHSS
      score at admission (5 [IQR = 9] vs 17 [IQR = 14] points, P<.01) and presence of
      an extensive hemispheric haemorrhage (4.9% vs 35%, P < .01; chi2). Extensive
      hemispheric haemorrhages, in addition to being the most lethal type, were
      associated with a shorter time to death (mean of 16.5 days; 95% CI: 7.1-26). A
      logistic regression model showed that only baseline NIHSS scores independently
      predicted death (odds ratio=1.13 [95% CI: 1.08-1.17] for each point in the
      scale). CONCLUSION: ICH in patients treated with VKA is associated with high
      mortality rates; mortality in these patients is mainly and independently
      associated with the clinical situation at stroke onset.

PMID- 27645777
TI  - Comparative transcriptome profiling of longissimus muscle tissues from Qianhua
      Mutton Merino and Small Tail Han sheep.
AB  - The Qianhua Mutton Merino (QHMM) is a new sheep (Ovis aries) variety with better
      meat performance compared with the traditional local variety Small Tail Han (STH)
      sheep. We aimed to evaluate the transcriptome regulators associated with muscle
      growth and development between the QHMM and STH. We used RNA-Seq to obtain the
      transcriptome profiles of the longissimus muscle from the QHMM and STH. The
      results showed that 960 genes were differentially expressed (405 were up
      regulated and 555 were down-regulated). Among these, 463 differently expressed
      genes (DEGs) were probably associated with muscle growth and development and were
      involved in biological processes such as skeletal muscle tissue development and
      muscle cell differentiation; molecular functions such as catalytic activity and
      oxidoreductase activity; cellular components such as mitochondrion and
      sarcoplasmic reticulum; and pathways such as metabolic pathways and citrate
      cycle. From the potential genes, a gene-act-network and co-expression-network
      closely related to muscle growth and development were identified and established.
      Finally, the expressions of nine genes were validated by real-time PCR. The
      results suggested that some DEGs, including MRFs, GXP1 and STAC3, play crucial
      roles in muscle growth and development processes. This genome-wide transcriptome
      analysis of QHMM and STH muscle is reported for the first time.

PMID- 27645778
TI  - Dephosphorylation of the Retinoblastoma protein (Rb) inhibits cancer cell EMT via
      Zeb.
AB  - The tumor suppressor Retinoblastoma (Rb) protein is highly phosphorylated in
      cancer cells largely due to the overexpression of cyclins or the loss of
      expression of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (cdki). Hyperphosphorylation of
      Rb promotes proliferation, and plays a role in the regulation of apoptosis.
      Recently, inhibition of cyclin dependent activity toward Rb has been identified
      as a strategy that has shown clinical efficacy. We utilized a method to induce
      phosphatase activity toward Rb in cells by shRNA silencing of PNUTS (Phosphatase
      Nuclear Targeting Subunit) that regulates PP1-mediated dephosphorylation of Rb.
      In this study, the effect of Rb dephosphorylation on the epithelial to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT) was determined. The EMT transition is observed in
      cancer cells that have acquired invasive characteristics. In breast cancer cells
      grown in 3D Matrigel cultures, MCF7 cells undergo apoptosis in response to Rb
      dephosphorylation, whereas MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T cells exhibit a reduction in the
      EMT. Cells devoid of phosphorylated Rb (nontransformed MCF10A and Rb-null MDA-MB
      468) lacked any response to PNUTS depletion, showing the effect is Rb-dependent.
      In addition, these studies showed that Rb dephosphorylation in 3D Matrigel
      cultures of highly invasive HT1080 cells led to the inhibition of the EMT.
      Furthermore we observed association between dephosphorylated Rb with ZEB1, a zinc
      finger E-box-binding transcription factor that regulates expression of E- and N
      cadherins. Finally Rb dephosphorylation led to inhibition of ZEB1 transcriptional
      activity, this data supports the notion that Rb dephosphorylation modulates the
      EMT. These studies suggest targeting Rb phosphorylation in mesenchymal cancer
      cells may decrease invasiveness.

PMID- 27645781
TI  - Comparison of Preferred Bite Sites Between Mites and Ticks on Humans in Korea.
AB  - Identification of mite and tick bite sites provides important clinical
      information. The predominant mite species in Korea associated with scrub typhus
      are Leptotrombidium pallidum and Leptotrombidium scutellare The most abundant
      tick species is Haemaphysalis longicornis To date, there has been no comparative
      study on preferred bite sites between mites and ticks in humans. This study
      included a review of medical records and a field study. For mite bite sites,
      eschars were checked on 506 patients with scrub typhus, confirmed by indirect
      immunofluorescence assay or nested polymerase chain reaction on the 56-kDa type
      specific antigen gene of Orientia tsutsugamushi Tick bite sites were identified
      and marked on a diagram for 91 patients who experienced tick bites within the
      previous year through a field epidemiological investigation. The mite and tick
      bite sites in Koreans were compared. The most frequently observed mite bite sites
      were the anterior chest, including the axillae (29.1%) and the abdominal region,
      including the inguinal area (26.1%). Tick bite sites were most frequent on the
      lower extremities (33.0%), followed by the abdominal region, including the
      inguinal area (26.4%), and upper extremities (26.4%). The distribution was
      significantly different between mite and tick bite sites (P < 0.001). There was a
      statistically significant difference in the mite bite (P = 0.001), but not tick
      bite sites (P = 0.985), between men and women. This is the first report on the
      differences between tick and mite bite sites, and may help clinicians reach a
      rapid diagnosis of mite- or tick-borne infection.

PMID- 27645782
TI  - Nucleolar Persistence: Peculiar Characteristic of Spermatogenesis of the Vectors
      of Chagas Disease (Hemiptera, Triatominae).
AB  - All species of triatomines are considered potential vectors of Chagas disease and
      the reproductive biology of these bugs has been studied by different approaches.
      In 1999, nucleolar persistence during meiosis was observed in the subfamily for
      the first time. Recently, it has been observed that all species within the genus
      Rhodnius exhibit the same phenomenon, suggesting that it may be a synapomorphy of
      the triatomines. Thus, this article aims to analyze the nucleolar behavior during
      spermatogenesis of 59 triatomine species. All analyzed species exhibited
      nucleolar persistence during meiosis. Recently, it has been suggested that
      nucleolar persistence may be fundamental for the spermatogenesis of these
      vectors, since it is related to the formation of the chromatoid body. Therefore,
      we emphasize that this phenomenon is a peculiarity of the Triatominae subfamily
      and that further studies are required to analyze whether the nucleolar material
      that persists is active.

PMID- 27645783
TI  - Flavivirus Infections of Bats: Potential Role in Zika Virus Ecology.
AB  - Understanding the vector and nonhuman vertebrate species contributing to Zika
      virus (ZIKAV) transmission is critical to understanding the ecology of this
      emerging arbovirus and its potential to establish in new geographic areas. This
      minireview summarizes what is known regarding the association of bats with
      flaviviruses (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) with a particular emphasis on the
      potential role of bats in the sylvatic transmission of ZIKAV. Key research
      directions that remain to be addressed are also discussed.

PMID- 27645784
TI  - Antibody Prophylaxis Against Dengue Virus 2 Infection in Non-Human Primates.
AB  - Passive immunization with anti-dengue virus (DENV) immune serum globulin (ISG) or
      monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) may serve to supplement or replace vaccination for
      short-term dengue immune prophylaxis. In the present study, we sought to
      establish proof-of-concept by evaluating several DENV-neutralizing antibodies for
      their ability to protect rhesus macaques against viremia following live virus
      challenge, including human anti-dengue ISG, and a human Mab (Mab11/wt) and its
      genetically engineered variant (Mab11/mutFc) that is unable to bind to cells with
      Fc gamma receptors (FcgammaR) and potentiate antibody-dependent enhancement
      (ADE). In the first experiment, groups of animals received ISG or Mab11/wt at low
      doses (3-10 mg/kg) or a saline control followed by challenge with DENV-2 at day
      10 or 30. After passive immunization, only low-titered circulating virus
      neutralizing antibody titers were measured in both groups, which were
      undetectable by day 30. After challenge at day 10, a reduction in viremia
      duration compared with the control was seen only in the ISG group (75%). However,
      after a day 30 challenge, no reduction in viremia was observed in both immunized
      groups. In a second experiment to test the effect of higher antibody doses on
      short-term protection, groups received either ISG, Mab11/wt, Mab11/mutFc (each at
      25 mg/kg) or saline followed by challenge with DENV-2 on day 10. Increased virus
      neutralizing antibody titers were detected in all groups at day 5 postinjection,
      with geometric mean titers (GMTs) of 464 (ISG), 313 (Mab11/wt), and 309
      (Mab11/mutFc). After challenge, there was complete protection against viremia in
      the group that received ISG, and a reduction in viremia duration of 89% and 83%
      in groups that received Mab11/wt and Mab11/mutFc, respectively. An in vitro ADE
      assay in Fcgamma receptor-bearing K562 cells with sera collected immediately
      before challenge showed increased DENV-2 infection levels in the presence of both
      ISG and Mab11/wt, which peaked at a serum dilution of 1:90, but not in
      Mab11/mutFc containing sera. The results suggest that antibody prophylaxis for
      dengue might be beneficial in eliminating or reducing viral loads thereby
      minimizing disease progression. Our results also suggest that blocking FcgammaR
      interactions through Mab11 Fc engineering may further prevent ADE.

PMID- 27645785
TI  - Guillain-Barre Syndrome After Zika Virus Infection in Brazil.
AB  - Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging flavivirus, which has caused a widespread
      outbreak in the Americas. Shortly after its introduction in 2015, a cluster of
      cases with Guillain-Barre syndrome was detected in Brazil. Herein, we describe
      two cases from the city of Salvador, who developed ascending paresis after an
      acute exanthematous illness. The patients were admitted to the intensive care
      unit with tetraparesis and cranial nerve palsy, which resolved after intravenous
      administration of human immunoglobulin. Serological evaluation detected IgM
      specific ZIKV antibodies. In regions of Zika virus transmission, health-care
      workers must be aware of the potential severe neurological complications
      associated with ZIKV infection and be prepared to provide prompt diagnosis,
      treatment, and supportive care.

PMID- 27645786
TI  - Pharmacovigilance of Miltefosine in Treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis in
      Endemic Areas of Bihar, India.
AB  - Miltefosine, the only oral drug for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), is being used as
      the first-line drug under the VL elimination program in the Indian subcontinent.
      Miltefosine is an oral drug which was used as a topical application for skin
      metastasis of breast cancer. It was found to be effective against Leishmania
      donovani The main adverse events (AE) reported previously with miltefosine use
      includes diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration. Other AEs include, raised serum
      alanine transaminase/aspartate aminotransferase and renal parameters such as
      creatinine. In this study, we report AEs in a large patient cohort of VL treated
      with miltefosine. The purpose of this pharmacovigilance study was to assess
      adverse drug reactions (ADRs)/AE of miltefosine treatment under unrestricted
      condition in the field setup. Patients were followed up to 6 months for
      therapeutic effectiveness. Outcomes of a larger data set of patients treated with
      this regimen from April 2012 to March 2015 were recorded. In the present study,
      646 patients of VL were given miltefosine. Majority of the study subjects (58%)
      were male. Relapse occurred in 7% during follow-up period. Main causes of death
      were VL-pulmonary tuberculosis coinfection, extreme diarrhea, and acute
      pancreatitis which were reported in 1.7% subjects. Of 553 (85.6%) patients
      completing full course of treatment, 463 (83.7%) showed ADR with miltefosine
      during the study period. About 2.3% were suffering severe ADR, 51% from moderate,
      and the rest had mild ADR. The initial and final cure rate was 97.4% and 85.6%,
      respectively.

PMID- 27645790
TI  - Designing and managing your research project Designing and managing your research
      project Thomas David Hodges Ian Sage Publications L20.99 264pp 9781848601932
      184860193X [Formula: see text].
AB  - DESIGNED TO complement books on quantitative and qualitative research methods in
      health and social sciences, this straightforward and practical introductory text
      covers the fundamental knowledge and skills needed to complete a research
      project.

PMID- 27645789
TI  - Board's eye view.
AB  - THE DEATH of a loved one is a traumatic and emotional experience, to which
      emergency nurses are frequently exposed.

PMID- 27645791
TI  - Campbell's physiology notes Campbell's physiology notes Campbell John Second
      edition Lorimer Publications L14 546pp 9780955379734 0955379733 [Formula: see
      text].
AB  - THESE ARE excellent, inexpensive notes on the causes, pathophysiological changes
      and clinical features seen in disease processes.

PMID- 27645787
TI  - Repeated cycles of 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy impaired anti-tumor functions of
      cytotoxic T cells in a CT26 tumor-bearing mouse model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, the immunostimulatory roles of chemotherapeutics have been
      increasingly revealed, although bone marrow suppression is still a common
      toxicity of chemotherapy. While the numbers and ratios of different immune
      subpopulations are analyzed after chemotherapy, changes to immune status after
      each cycle of treatment are less studied and remain unclear. RESULTS: To
      determine the tumor-specific immune status and functions after different cycles
      of chemotherapy, we treated CT26 tumor-bearing mice with one to four cycles of 5
      fluorouracil (5-FU). Overall survival was not improved when more than one cycle
      of 5-FU was administered. Here we present data concerning the immune statuses
      after one and three cycles of chemotherapy. We analyzed the amount of spleen
      cells from mice treated with one and three cycles of 5-FU as well as assayed
      their proliferation and cytotoxicity against the CT26 tumor cell line. We found
      that the absolute numbers of CD8 T-cells and NK cells were not influenced
      significantly after either one or three cycles of chemotherapy. However, after
      three cycles of 5-FU, proliferated CD8 T-cells were decreased, and CT26-specific
      cytotoxicity and IFN-gamma secretion of spleen cells were impaired in vitro.
      After one cycle of 5-FU, there was a greater percentage of tumor infiltrating CD8
      T-cells. In addition, more proliferated CD8 T-cells, enhanced tumor-specific
      cytotoxicity as well as IFN-gamma secretion of spleen cells against CT26 in vitro
      were observed. Given the increased expression of immunosuppressive factors, such
      as PD-L1 and TGF-beta, we assessed the effect of early introduction of
      immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy. We found that mice treated with
      cytokine induced killer cells and PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies after one cycle of
      5-FU had a better anti-tumor performance than those treated with chemotherapy or
      immunotherapy alone. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that a single cycle of 5-FU
      treatment promoted an anti-tumor immune response, whereas repeated chemotherapy
      cycles impaired anti-tumor immune functions. Though the amount of immune cells
      could recover after chemotherapy suspension, their anti-tumor functions were
      damaged by multiple rounds of chemotherapy. These findings also point towards
      early implementation of immunotherapy to improve the anti-tumor effect.

PMID- 27645792
TI  - Clinical pain management: a practical guide Clinical pain management: a practical
      guide Lynch Mary Craig Kenneth Peng Philip Wiley-Blackwell L68.99 388pp
      9781444330694 1444330691 [Formula: see text].
AB  - NURSING STUDENTS writing assignments that mentions pain should ensure that this
      book is in their bibliographies or reference lists. equally, university libraries
      should ensure that copies are held on their shelves, because the price is higher
      than most students would like to pay.

PMID- 27645793
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27645794
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27645795
TI  - Automated defibrillation.
AB  - There is much evidence that defibrillation is the most effective treatment for
      cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular
      tachycardia, but only where automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are
      installed and staff are trained to use them.

PMID- 27645796
TI  - Suicide prevention.
AB  - Suicide accounts for approximately 5,000 deaths annually in England and Wales and
      research has suggested that the emergency department (ED) may be a setting for
      the provision of effective suicide prevention.

PMID- 27645797
TI  - Unusual liver bleeding.
AB  - Spontaneous liver bleeding, which has been linked to gross anatomical lesions and
      coagulopathy, is often reported in cases of pre-eclampsia, but is otherwise rare.
      The authors report a case of subcapsular hematoma of the liver in the absence of
      coagulopathy and the apparent absence of lesions.

PMID- 27645799
TI  - Enhanced release of primary signals may render intercellular signalling
      ineffective due to spatial aspects.
AB  - Detailed mechanistic modelling has been performed of the intercellular signalling
      cascade between precancerous cells and their normal neighbours that leads to a
      selective removal of the precancerous cells by apoptosis. Two interconnected
      signalling pathways that were identified experimentally have been modelled,
      explicitly accounting for temporal and spatial effects. The model predicts highly
      non-linear behaviour of the signalling. Importantly, under certain conditions,
      enhanced release of primary signals by precancerous cells renders the signalling
      ineffective. This counter-intuitive behaviour arises due to spatial aspects of
      the underlying signalling scheme: Increased primary signalling by precancerous
      cells does, upon reaction with factors derived from normal cells, produce higher
      yields of apoptosis-triggering molecules. However, the apoptosis-triggering
      signals are formed farther from the precancerous cells, so that these are
      attacked less efficiently. Spatial effects thus may represent a novel analogue of
      negative feedback mechanisms.

PMID- 27645800
TI  - Unbiased screen identifies aripiprazole as a modulator of abundance of the
      polyglutamine disease protein, ataxin-3.
AB  - No disease-modifying treatment exists for the fatal neurodegenerative
      polyglutamine disease known both as Machado-Joseph disease and spinocerebellar
      ataxia type 3. As a potential route to therapy, we identified small molecules
      that reduce levels of the mutant disease protein, ATXN3. Screens of a small
      molecule collection, including 1250 Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs,
      in a novel cell-based assay, followed by secondary screens in brain slice
      cultures from transgenic mice expressing the human disease gene, identified the
      atypical antipsychotic aripiprazole as one of the hits. Aripiprazole increased
      longevity in a Drosophila model of Machado-Joseph disease and effectively reduced
      aggregated ATXN3 species in flies and in brains of transgenic mice treated for 10
      days. The aripiprazole-mediated decrease in ATXN3 abundance may reflect a complex
      response culminating in the modulation of specific components of cellular protein
      homeostasis. Aripiprazole represents a potentially promising therapeutic drug for
      Machado-Joseph disease and possibly other neurological proteinopathies.

PMID- 27645801
TI  - Microbleed and microinfarct detection in amyloid angiopathy: a high-resolution
      MRI-histopathology study.
AB  - Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a common neuropathological finding in the ageing
      human brain, associated with cognitive impairment. Neuroimaging markers of severe
      cerebral amyloid angiopathy are cortical microbleeds and microinfarcts. These
      parenchymal brain lesions are considered key contributors to cognitive
      impairment. Therefore, they are important targets for therapeutic strategies and
      may serve as surrogate neuroimaging markers in clinical trials. We aimed to gain
      more insight into the pathological basis of magnetic resonance imaging-defined
      microbleeds and microinfarcts in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and to explore the
      pathological burden that remains undetected, by using high and ultra-high
      resolution ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging, as well as detailed histological
      sampling. Brain samples from five cases (mean age 85 +/- 6 years) with pathology
      proven cerebral amyloid angiopathy and multiple microbleeds on in vivo clinical
      magnetic resonance imaging were subjected to high-resolution ex vivo 7 T magnetic
      resonance imaging. On the obtained high-resolution (200 MUm isotropic voxels) ex
      vivo magnetic resonance images, 171 microbleeds were detected compared to 66
      microbleeds on the corresponding in vivo magnetic resonance images. Of 13 sampled
      microbleeds that were matched on histology, five proved to be acute and eight old
      microhaemorrhages. The iron-positive old microhaemorrhages appeared approximately
      four times larger on magnetic resonance imaging compared to their size on
      histology. In addition, 48 microinfarcts were observed on ex vivo magnetic
      resonance imaging in three out of five cases (two cases exhibited no
      microinfarcts). None of them were visible on in vivo 1.5 T magnetic resonance
      imaging after a retrospective analysis. Of nine sampled microinfarcts that were
      matched on histology, five were confirmed as acute and four as old microinfarcts.
      Finally, we explored the proportion of microhaemorrhage and microinfarct burden
      that is beyond the detection limits of ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging, by
      scanning a smaller sample at ultra-high resolution, followed by serial
      sectioning. At ultra-high resolution (75 MUm isotropic voxels) magnetic resonance
      imaging we observed an additional 48 microbleeds (compared to high resolution),
      which proved to correspond to vasculopathic changes (i.e. morphological changes
      to the small vessels) instead of frank haemorrhages on histology. After assessing
      the serial sections of this particular sample, no additional haemorrhages were
      observed that were missed on magnetic resonance imaging. In contrast, nine
      microinfarcts were found in these sections, of which six were only
      retrospectively visible at ultra-high resolution. In conclusion, these findings
      suggest that microbleeds on in vivo magnetic resonance imaging are specific for
      microhaemorrhages in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and that increasing the
      resolution of magnetic resonance images results in the detection of more 'non
      haemorrhagic' pathology. In contrast, the vast majority of microinfarcts
      currently remain under the detection limits of clinical in vivo magnetic
      resonance imaging.

PMID- 27645804
TI  - Absorption, metabolism, anti-cancer effect and molecular targets of
      epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG): An updated review.
AB  - Green tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world, especially in Asian
      countries. Consumption of green tea has been demonstrated to possess many health
      benefits, which mainly attributed to the main bioactive compound epigallocatechin
      gallate (EGCG), a flavone-3-ol polyphenol, in green tea. EGCG is mainly absorbed
      in the intestine, and gut microbiota play a critical role in its metabolism prior
      to absorption. EGCG exhibits versatile bioactivities, with its anti-cancer effect
      most attracting due to the cancer preventive effect of green tea consumption, and
      a great number of studies intensively investigated its anti-cancer effect. In
      this review, we therefore, first stated the absorption and metabolism process of
      EGCG, and then summarized its anti-cancer effect in vitro and in vivo, including
      its manifold anti-cancer actions and mechanisms, especially its anti-cancer stem
      cell effect, and next highlighted its various molecular targets involved in
      cancer inhibition. Finally, the anti-cancer effect of EGCG analogs and
      nanoparticles, as well as the potential cancer promoting effect of EGCG were also
      discussed. Understanding of the absorption, metabolism, anti-cancer effect and
      molecular targets of EGCG can be of importance to better utilize it as a
      chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent.

PMID- 27645803
TI  - Defining a Radiomic Response Phenotype: A Pilot Study using targeted therapy in
      NSCLC.
AB  - Medical imaging plays a fundamental role in oncology and drug development, by
      providing a non-invasive method to visualize tumor phenotype. Radiomics can
      quantify this phenotype comprehensively by applying image-characterization
      algorithms, and may provide important information beyond tumor size or burden. In
      this study, we investigated if radiomics can identify a gefitinib response
      phenotype, studying high-resolution computed-tomography (CT) imaging of forty
      seven patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer before and after three
      weeks of therapy. On the baseline-scan, radiomic-feature Laws-Energy was
      significantly predictive for EGFR-mutation status (AUC = 0.67, p = 0.03), while
      volume (AUC = 0.59, p = 0.27) and diameter (AUC = 0.56, p = 0.46) were not.
      Although no features were predictive on the post-treatment scan (p > 0.08), the
      change in features between the two scans was strongly predictive (significant
      feature AUC-range = 0.74-0.91). A technical validation revealed that the
      associated features were also highly stable for test-retest (mean +/- std: ICC =
      0.96 +/- 0.06). This pilot study shows that radiomic data before treatment is
      able to predict mutation status and associated gefitinib response non-invasively,
      demonstrating the potential of radiomics-based phenotyping to improve the
      stratification and response assessment between tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs)
      sensitive and resistant patient populations.

PMID- 27645805
TI  - The rehabilitation research matrix: producing knowledge at micro, meso, and macro
      levels.
AB  - PURPOSE: EU policy documents and health scholars point out that in order to
      understand the complexity of modern health systems, as well as to devise
      appropriate policy responses, considering micro, meso, and macro levels is
      indispensable. This article aims to develop an analytical framework for how
      rehabilitation as an interdisciplinary field can be framed in such a three-level
      framework. METHODS: This is a conceptual paper based on recent contributions to
      the development of a theory of rehabilitation. The paper applies sociological
      theory to build an analytical framework for a holistic understanding of
      rehabilitation. RESULTS: Three groups of agents in the field of rehabilitation
      are identified: individuals with disabilities, professionals, and governmental
      authorities. The paper systematizes how these agents are positioned and act at
      micro, meso, and macro levels. In the intersection between the three levels of
      society and the three groups of actors, a nine-cell table emerges. In the cells
      of the table, key examples of important social processes to study in the field of
      disability and rehabilitation are identified. At the micro level, individuals
      experience a daily life relevant to rehabilitation, professionals ask what works
      in therapy, and policy authorities promote a strong work ethic. At the meso
      level, individuals with disabilities act as service user groups, professionals
      develop organizational designs and the policy authorities ask for cost-effective
      services. At the macro level, organizations representing people with disabilities
      lobby, professionals negotiate authorization issues, and the policymaking
      authorities must identify what can count as just distribution of services. The
      nine cells of the table are elaborated on by presenting relevant current studies
      exemplifying each cell. CONCLUSION: To systematize societal levels and agents
      involved is to enhance the understanding of rehabilitation as an
      interdisciplinary field of research. Implications for rehabilitation
      Rehabilitation practice and research must relate to different levels of society
      and identify different social agents. Service users are not only individuals
      receiving therapy, but also organized agents influencing the organization of
      rehabilitation services as well as priorities made at the level of policy
      development. Both the results produced by health professionals doing a clinical
      trial and political scientists studying rehabilitation policy disputes will
      improve when placed in a wide frame of knowledge production.

PMID- 27645808
TI  - McGrath-MAC vs Macintosh laryngoscopes for child tracheal intubation during
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

PMID- 27645809
TI  - The comparison of bedside point-of-care ultrasound and computed tomography in
      elbow injuries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy of point-of
      care ultrasound (POCUS) and computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of the
      fracture of the bones that form the elbow joint and the determination of
      treatment method in elbow injuries. METHODS: Forty-nine patients aged 5 to 65
      years, who were admitted with low-energy elbow injuries, had at least 1 fracture
      of the elbow joint bones, and underwent CT scanning, were included in this study.
      Before the initiation of the study, orthopedic surgeons and emergency physicians
      determined a common treatment based on the fracture characteristics. Patients
      were first evaluated with direct radiography, and then with POCUS by trained
      emergency physicians. Emergency physicians made treatment decisions based on the
      ultrasonography results. Then, CT scans were performed. The CT images were
      interpreted by radiologists. Orthopedic surgeons made treatment decisions based
      on the CT interpretations. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients with elbow injury were
      included in the study. Eighteen (37%) patients were women, and 31 (63%) were men.
      The mean age was 21 +/- 15 years. Compared with CT, sensitivity, specificity,
      positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of POCUS in fracture
      detection were 97%, 88%, 94%, and 93%, respectively. Although the sensitivity and
      specificity of POCUS in the decision for reduction were 95% and 100%,
      respectively, it was 93% and 100% in the decision for surgery. CONCLUSION: In
      conclusion, POCUS was shown to be successfully applied in the diagnosis and
      management of elbow injuries, in which direct radiography was inefficient and CT
      scans were required.

PMID- 27645806
TI  - PostExcision Events in Human Nucleotide Excision Repair.
AB  - The nucleotide excision repair system removes a wide variety of DNA lesions from
      the human genome, including photoproducts induced by ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths
      of sunlight. A defining feature of nucleotide excision repair is its dual
      incision mechanism, in which two nucleolytic incision events on the damaged
      strand of DNA at sites bracketing the lesion generate a damage-containing DNA
      oligonucleotide and a single-stranded DNA gap approximately 30 nucleotides in
      length. Although the early events of nucleotide excision repair, which include
      lesion recognition and the dual incisions, have been explored in detail and are
      reasonably well understood, the fate of the single-stranded DNA gaps and excised
      oligonucleotide products of repair have not been as extensively examined. In this
      review, recent findings that address these less-explored aspects of nucleotide
      excision repair are discussed and support the concept that postincision gap and
      excised oligonucleotide processing are critical steps in the cellular response to
      DNA damage induced by UV light and other environmental carcinogens. Defects in
      these latter stages of repair lead to cell death and other DNA damage signaling
      responses and may therefore contribute to a number of human disease states
      associated with exposure to UV wavelengths of sunlight, including skin cancer,
      aging and autoimmunity.

PMID- 27645810
TI  - The emergency medicine approach to transplant complications.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Organ transplantation provides improved quality of life and
      longevity in patients with end-organ disease. These patients have significant
      physiological and anatomical modifications, and with new immunosuppressive
      agents, many of these patients will present to the emergency department with
      complications. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to provide emergency physicians with
      a review of transplant complications, including infection, rejection, medication
      adverse effects, and specific complications related to the transplant.
      DISCUSSION: Transplant patients present significant challenges due to a large
      spectrum of complications that may arise. Infection is the most common
      complication and can be separated into different periods. The first month after
      transplant is associated with nosocomial and surgical infections, 1 month to 6
      months after transplant with opportunistic infection, and greater than 6 months
      acquired infection. Rejection occurs in the hyperacute, acute, and chronic
      phases, with symptoms dependent on the specific organ. Medication adverse effects
      due to immunosuppressive agents are common and include renal dysfunction, anemia,
      metabolic syndrome, and gastrointestinal effects. Renal transplant dysfunction
      includes vascular complications, hematoma, obstruction, and lymphocele. Liver
      transplant complications include vascular defects, biliary tract malfunctions,
      and fluid collections. Heart transplant complications manifest with vasculopathy
      and dysrhythmia. Lung transplant complications include airway dysfunction,
      phrenic nerve dysfunction, and pleural fluid collections. All transplant patients
      in the emergency department require close communication with the transplant
      physician and emergency provider. CONCLUSIONS: Transplant patients can present
      significant challenges to the emergency provider. Knowledge of these
      complications may improve patient care. All cases require contact with the
      transplant physician.

PMID- 27645811
TI  - Hands-on defibrillation during active chest compressions: eliminating another
      interruption.
AB  - After decades of research, effective chest compressions have emerged as a key
      component of high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest
      patients. Minimizing interruptions in chest compressions is garnering increasing
      attention as a method to improve CPR quality and outcomes. Hands-on
      defibrillation has been suggested as both a safe and effective means of reducing
      interruptions in chest compressions. This article discusses the safety and
      efficacy of a novel and controversial method to reduce interruptions: hands-on
      defibrillation.

PMID- 27645813
TI  - Delphi method validation of a procedural performance checklist for insertion of
      an ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous catheter.

PMID- 27645812
TI  - What have we learned from early goal-directed therapy?

PMID- 27645814
TI  - Cell-Free Fetal DNA Testing for Prenatal Diagnosis.
AB  - Prenatal diagnosis and screening have undergone rapid development in recent
      years, with advances in molecular technology driving the change. Noninvasive
      prenatal testing (NIPT) for Down syndrome as a highly sensitive screening test is
      now available worldwide through the commercial sector with many countries moving
      toward implementation into their publically funded maternity systems. Noninvasive
      prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) can now be performed for definitive diagnosis of some
      recessive and X-linked conditions, rather than just paternally inherited dominant
      and de novo conditions. NIPD/T offers pregnant couples greater choice during
      their pregnancy as these safer methods avoid the risk of miscarriage associated
      with invasive testing. As the cost of sequencing falls and technology develops
      further, there may well be potential for whole exome and whole genome sequencing
      of the unborn fetus using cell-free DNA in the maternal plasma. How such assays
      can or should be implemented into the clinical setting remain an area of
      significant debate, but it is clear that the progress made to date for safer
      prenatal testing has been welcomed by expectant couples and their healthcare
      professionals. 

PMID- 27645815
TI  - Extracellular Vesicles in Molecular Diagnostics: An Overview with a Focus on CNS
      Diseases.
AB  - All known cells continuously release nanoscale lipid membrane-enclosed packets.
      These packets, termed extracellular vesicles (EVs), bear the signature of their
      cells of origin. These vesicles can be detected in just about every type of
      biofluid tested, including blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. The majority
      comes from normal cells, but disease cells also release them. There is a great
      interest in collecting and analyzing EVs in biofluids as diagnostics for a wide
      spectrum of central nervous system diseases. Here, we will review the state of
      central nervous system EV research in terms of molecular diagnostics and
      biomarkers. 

PMID- 27645816
TI  - Omics in Reproductive Medicine: Application of Novel Technologies to Improve the
      IVF Success Rate.
AB  - Treatment for many infertile couples often consists of in vitro fertilization
      (IVF) but an estimated 70% of IVF cycles fail to produce a live birth. In an
      attempt to improve the live birth rate, the vast majority of IVF cycles performed
      in the United States involve the transfer of multiple embryos, a practice that
      increases the risk of multiple gestation pregnancy. This is a concern because
      multiple gestation pregnancies are associated with an increased incidence of
      maternal and fetal complications and significant cost associated with the care of
      preterm infants. As the ideal outcome of each IVF cycle is the birth of a single
      healthy baby, significant effort has focused on identifying embryos with the
      greatest developmental potential. To date, selection of euploid embryos using
      comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS) is the most promising approach while
      metabolomic and proteomic assessment of spent culture medium have the potential
      to noninvasively assess embryo viability. Endometrial gene expression profiling
      may help determine the optimal time to perform embryo transfer. While CCS has
      been implemented in some clinics, further development and optimization will be
      required before analysis of spent culture medium and endometrial gene expression
      profiling make the transition to clinical use. This review will describe efforts
      to identify embryos with the greatest potential to result in a healthy, live
      birth, with a particular emphasis on detection of embryo aneuploidy and metabolic
      profiling of spent embryo culture medium. Assessment of endometrial receptivity
      to identify the optimal time to perform embryo transfer will also be discussed. 

PMID- 27645817
TI  - Critical Care Glucose Point-of-Care Testing.
AB  - Maintaining blood glucose concentration within an acceptable range is a goal for
      patients with diabetes mellitus. Point-of-care glucose meters initially designed
      for home self-monitoring in patients with diabetes have been widely used in the
      hospital settings because of ease of use and quick reporting of blood glucose
      information. They are not only utilized for the general inpatient population but
      also for critically ill patients. Many factors affect the accuracy of point-of
      care glucose testing, particularly in critical care settings. Inaccurate blood
      glucose information can result in unsafe insulin delivery which causes poor
      glucose control and can be fatal. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the
      limitations of point-of-care glucose testing. This chapter will first introduce
      glucose regulation in diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia/hypoglycemia in the
      intensive care unit, importance of glucose control in critical care patients, and
      pathophysiological variables of critically ill patients that affect the accuracy
      of point-of-care glucose testing. Then, we will discuss currently available point
      of-care glucose meters and preanalytical, analytical, and postanalytical sources
      of variation and error in point-of-care glucose testing. 

PMID- 27645818
TI  - Adulterants in Urine Drug Testing.
AB  - Urine drug testing plays an important role in monitoring licit and illicit drug
      use for both medico-legal and clinical purposes. One of the major challenges of
      urine drug testing is adulteration, a practice involving manipulation of a urine
      specimen with chemical adulterants to produce a false negative test result. This
      problem is compounded by the number of easily obtained chemicals that can
      effectively adulterate a urine specimen. Common adulterants include some
      household chemicals such as hypochlorite bleach, laundry detergent, table salt,
      and toilet bowl cleaner and many commercial products such as UrinAid
      (glutaraldehyde), Stealth(r) (containing peroxidase and peroxide), Urine Luck
      (pyridinium chlorochromate, PCC), and Klear(r) (potassium nitrite) available
      through the Internet. These adulterants can invalidate a screening test result, a
      confirmatory test result, or both. To counteract urine adulteration, drug testing
      laboratories have developed a number of analytical methods to detect adulterants
      in a urine specimen. While these methods are useful in detecting urine
      adulteration when such activities are suspected, they do not reveal what types of
      drugs are being concealed. This is particularly the case when oxidizing urine
      adulterants are involved as these oxidants are capable of destroying drugs and
      their metabolites in urine, rendering the drug analytes undetectable by any
      testing technology. One promising approach to address this current limitation has
      been the use of unique oxidation products formed from reaction of drug analytes
      with oxidizing adulterants as markers for monitoring drug misuse and urine
      adulteration. This novel approach will ultimately improve the effectiveness of
      the current urine drug testing programs. 

PMID- 27645820
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 27645819
TI  - Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Mycophenolic Acid.
AB  - Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is an immunosuppressant requiring therapeutic drug
      monitoring. Although immunoassays are commercially available, there is
      significant positive bias using this approach when compared to high-performance
      liquid chromatography or LC combined with mass spectrometry (LC/MS) or tandem
      mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Positive bias is due to variable cross-reactivity
      of MPA acyl glucuronide with antibodies traditionally used in immunoassay
      formats. As can be expected, the magnitude of bias varies considerably. MPA
      strongly binds albumin and, as a result, disproportionate increases in free MPA
      occur in patients with uremia, hypoalbuminemia, and hepatic dysfunction. As such,
      monitoring free MPA poses additional challenges. Because MPA inhibits inosine
      monophosphate dehydrogenase, monitoring this enzyme may provide an alternative
      approach. 

PMID- 27645821
TI  - The age-specific reference intervals for tPSA, fPSA, and %fPSA in healthy Han
      ethnic male.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common malignancies in
      male, and has become the fastest growing malignancy in recent years. Prostate
      specific antigen (PSA) is widely used as a tumor marker to screen for PC. Many
      studies have been performed to define the reference intervals (RIs) for total
      circulating PSA (tPSA). The results were different among different nations and
      races, even in the same race. Few researches have been performed on the RIs of
      free PSA (fPSA) and the ratio of free to total PSA (%fPSA). In this study, we
      aimed to simultaneously determine the age-specific RIs for tPSA, fPSA, and %fPSA
      in the healthy Han ethnic male. METHODS: A total of 1862 apparently healthy male
      aged from 21 to 94 years were included in our study. Nonparametric 95th
      percentile intervals were used to define the RIs. RESULTS: The reference limits
      in different age groups (21-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, and >=81 years) were 2.07,
      3.59, 4.93, 6.83, and 7.73 ng/mL for tPSA, and 0.60, 0.76, 0.83, 1.30, and 2.41
      ng/mL for fPSA. The RIs of %fPSA were >=0.16 for 21-50 years and >=0.13 for male
      over 50 years old. CONCLUSIONS: We established age-specific RIs for tPSA, fPSA
      and %fPSA. The newly established RIs should be more suitable for Chinese Han
      ethnic male. It will be valuable for physicians to make exact medical decision
      and appropriate medical intervention.

PMID- 27645823
TI  - A Combination of a Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection (PAPVC) and a
      Lung Tumor Requiring Pulmonary Resection.

PMID- 27645824
TI  - Anesthesia for Complex Cardiovascular Surgery in a Patient With PHACES Syndrome
      and Review of the Literature.

PMID- 27645825
TI  - Surgical Resection of a Leiomyosarcoma Involving Atrial Reconstruction,
      Cardiopulmonary Bypass, and Ex-Vivo Liver Resection and Reimplantation.

PMID- 27645822
TI  - Modulation of Kv7 channels and excitability in the brain.
AB  - Neuronal Kv7 channels underlie a voltage-gated non-inactivating potassium current
      known as the M-current. Due to its particular characteristics, Kv7 channels show
      pronounced control over the excitability of neurons. We will discuss various
      factors that have been shown to drastically alter the activity of this channel
      such as protein and phospholipid interactions, phosphorylation, calcium, and
      numerous neurotransmitters. Kv7 channels locate to key areas for the control of
      action potential initiation and propagation. Moreover, we will explore the
      dynamic surface expression of the channel modulated by neurotransmitters and
      neural activity. We will also focus on known principle functions of neural Kv7
      channels: control of resting membrane potential and spiking threshold, setting
      the firing frequency, afterhyperpolarization after burst firing, theta resonance,
      and transient hyperexcitability from neurotransmitter-induced suppression of the
      M-current. Finally, we will discuss the contribution of altered Kv7 activity to
      pathologies such as epilepsy and cognitive deficits.

PMID- 27645826
TI  - Atrophy of the lymphoid organs and suppression of antibody response caused by
      velogenic Newcastle disease virus infection in chickens.
AB  - This project was undertaken to study the immunosuppressive capabilities of
      velogenic viscerotropic pathotype of Newcastle disease virus (VVNDV) infection in
      cockerels. Two hundred six-week-old cockerels were divided into four groups.
      Groups B/VUC and C/VC were vaccinated with LaSota in drinking water at 6 weeks of
      age. Groups C/VC and D/UC were challenged with VVNDV at 8 weeks of age. Three
      days post challenge (PC), the cockerels in group D/UC came down with clinical
      signs which included depression and greenish diarrhoea. Total mortality was 74.6
      %. The C/VC cockerels showed no clinical signs. But both challenged groups showed
      significant weight loss, significant loss of total serum proteins, globulin and
      albumen (P < 0.05). These losses were more severe in the D/UC than in the C/VC.
      There was severe atrophy of the bursa, spleen and thymus in both groups.
      Histopathology showed severe necrosis and depletion of the lymphocytes in the
      three lymphoid organs. However, the lesions were more severe in the D/UC than in
      C/VC cockerels. On day 28, PC groups B/VUC, C/VIC and D/UIC were revaccinated
      with LaSota. The haemagglutination inhibition antibody response on days 35, 42
      and 49 PC was very low in groups C/VIC and D/UIC when compared with B/VUC
      cockerels. These observations show that VVNDV infection both clinical and
      subclinical can cause immunosuppression and vaccine failure due to severe
      destruction of the lymphocytes in the lymphoid organs. This will be a serious
      problem for poultry production in those countries where the disease is enzootic.

PMID- 27645827
TI  - The Uncommon Channel-Based Ln-MOFs for Highly Selective Fe3+ Detection and
      Superior Rhodamine B Adsorption.
AB  - Two new isostructural 3D lanthanide-organic frameworks [H2 N(Me)2 ] [Ln3
      (OH)(bpt)3 (H2 O)3 ] (DMF)2 ?(H2 O)4 (1-Ln; Ln=Sm and Eu) with a 1D channel (25
      A) have been successfully assembled from the rare trinuclear [Ln3 (OH)(COO)9 ]
      clusters and biphenyl-3,4',5-tricarboxylic acid (H3 bpt) and exhibit high
      stability towards water in the pH range 3-10. MOF 1-Eu is a promising luminescent
      probe for sensing Fe3+ in aqueous solution and is also selective towards
      rhodamine B (RhB) with a superior adsorption capacity of 735 mg g-1 , which is
      the highest among the reported Ln-MOFs for RhB removal so far. Periodic DFT
      calculations further confirmed the selective adsorption of rhodamine B over other
      dyes.

PMID- 27645828
TI  - Use of Lesion Response Rate in Actinic Keratosis Trials.
AB  - : Complete patient clearance is often required by regulatory agencies for the
      approval of treatments for actinic keratosis (AK). However, an increasing number
      of clinicians have challenged the use of this measure in clinical practice and
      its interpretation. It has been argued that complete patient clearance often
      underestimates the clinical benefit of a drug and is influenced by a number of
      key confounding factors, such as number and distribution of lesions, at baseline.
      Lesions response rate is one alternative which has been suggested as more
      relevant due to its applicability to clinical practice and closer reflection of
      the clinical value of the drug. This paper provides an updated perspective on the
      topic and details the current thinking on the role of complete clearance and
      lesion response rate in the context of AK. FUNDING: Galderma.

PMID- 27645829
TI  - [Atypical cellulitis of the face in an infant].

PMID- 27645830
TI  - [Is the simplification of the immunization schedule applied? Review 2 years after
      its implementation].
AB  - : Repeating evaluations of vaccine coverage (VC) is essential to measure the
      implementation and effectiveness of vaccination policy. We report the results of
      VC in infants from the Vaccinoscopie(r) study in 2014 to assess the changes
      secondary to the new 2013 immunization schedule. METHOD: Study conducted on
      Internet among a representative sample of mothers reporting their child's
      vaccination record. RESULTS: The removal of the dose of DTPa-Hib at the age of 3
      months was quickly adopted since only 1 % of children aged 6 months had received
      three doses of DTPa in 2014 compared to 96 % in 2012. The booster dose is
      administered earlier for the DTPa and hepatitis B components. The shift of MMR
      vaccination from 9 months of age for children participating in community
      structures to 12 months for all children was closely followed since only 2 % of 9
      to 11-month-old children received a MMR vaccine in 2014 compared to 33 % in
      2012. The second dose of MMR recommended at 16-18 months of age rather than
      between 13 and 24 months was actually followed by an earlier administration of
      this dose. At 18-20 months of age, 60 % received two doses of MMR in 2014 versus
      41 % in 2012. Finally, for meningitis C vaccination, a significant increase of VC
      was observed in children 15-23 months of age (66 % in 2014 versus 44 % in 2012).
      CONCLUSION: The simplification of the infant immunization schedule was quickly
      applied and received excellent support from healthcare professionals. However,
      this measure alone is still not sufficient to meet the CV objectives defined by
      the HCSP.

PMID- 27645831
TI  - [Atypical cutaneous leishmaniasis of the face in an infant].

PMID- 27645834
TI  - Short- and Long-Term Effects of CBT-I in Groups for School-Age Children Suffering
      From Chronic Insomnia: The KiSS-Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: This intervention study evaluates the short- and long-term
      effects of cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in groups for school
      age children and their parents, named the KiSS-program. CBT-I was implemented in
      three sessions for children and three sessions for parents. PARTICIPANTS AND
      METHODS: All in all, 112 children with chronic childhood insomnia were randomly
      assigned to a wait-list (WL) control or treatment condition. RESULTS: According
      to subjective measures as well as objective wrist actigraphy, children in the CBT
      I condition reported greater improvements in sleep behavior immediately after the
      treatment compared to the WL group. Improvements in sleep behavior after CBT-I
      persisted over the 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up assessments. CONCLUSIONS: The
      present study is the first randomized controlled trial that provides evidence for
      the long-term effectiveness of CBT-I in treating school-age children with chronic
      insomnia.

PMID- 27645832
TI  - NMR analysis of t-butyl-catalyzed deuterium exchange at unactivated arene
      localities.
AB  - Regioselective labelling of arene rings via electrophilic exchange is often
      dictated by the electronic environment caused by substituents present on the
      aromatic system. Previously, we observed the presence of a t-butyl group, either
      covalently bond or added as an external reagent, could impart deuterium exchange
      to the unactivated, C1-position of estrone. Here, we provide nuclear magnetic
      resonance analysis of this exchange in a solvent system composed of 50:50
      trifluoroacetic acid and D2 O with either 2-t-butylestrone or estrone in the
      presence of t-butyl alcohol has shed insights into the mechanism of this t-butyl
      catalyzed exchange. Fast exchange of the t-butyl group concurrent with the
      gradual reduction of the H1 proton signal in both systems suggest a mechanism
      involving ipso attack of the t-butyl position by deuterium. The reversible
      addition/elimination of the t-butyl group activates the H1 proton towards
      exchange by a mechanism of t-butyl incorporation, H1 activation and exchange,
      followed by eventual t-butyl elimination. Density functional calculations are
      consistent with the observation of fast t-butyl exchange concurrent with slower
      H1 exchange. The sigma-complex resulting from ipso attack of deuterium at the t
      butyl carbon was 6.6 kcal/mol lower in energy than that of the sigma-complex
      resulting from deuterium attack at C1. A better understanding of the t-butyl
      catalyzed exchange could help in the design of labelling recipes for other
      phenolic metabolites.

PMID- 27645886
TI  - Describing an Early Social Work Intervention Program for Families after Severe
      Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - A necessary step to evaluating practice is the accurate specification of social
      work interventions. Interventions delivered to 27 families with a relative with
      traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to a specialist inpatient brain injury
      rehabilitation service were coded (655 hr of social work services). The most
      frequent interventions were counseling, education, and case management. Services
      addressed person-oriented (65%; e.g., adjustment to hospital, adjustment to
      disability, family conflict) and environment-oriented (35%; e.g., transport,
      accommodation, finance, legal, and immigration) issues. This is the first
      description of a family intervention program after TBI delivered in an inpatient
      setting and lays the groundwork for future evaluation.

PMID- 27645887
TI  - Evaluation of onchocerciasis seroprevalence in Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea)
      after years of disease control programmes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Onchocerciasis or "river blindness" is a chronic parasitic disease
      caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus, transmitted through infected
      blackflies (Simulium spp.). Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea) used to show a high
      endemicity for onchocerciasis. During the last years, the disease control
      programmes using different larvicides and ivermectin administration have
      considerably reduced the prevalence and intensity of infection. Based on this new
      epidemiological scenario, in the present work we aimed to assess the impact of
      the strategies applied against onchocerciasis in Bioko Island by an evaluation of
      IgG4 antibodies specific for recombinant Ov-16 in ELISA. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted in Bioko Island from mid-January to mid-February,
      2014. Twenty communities were randomly selected from rural and urban settings. A
      total of 140 households were chosen. In every selected household, all individuals
      aged 5 years and above were recruited; 544 study participants agreed to be part
      of this work. No previous data on onchocerciasis seroprevalence in the selected
      communities were available. Blood samples were collected and used in an "ELISA in
      house" prepared with recombinant Ov-16, expressed and further purified. IgG4
      antibodies specific for recombinant Ov-16 were evaluated by ELISA in all of the
      participants. RESULTS: Based on the Ov-16 ELISA, the onchocerciasis
      seroprevalence was 7.9 %, mainly concentrated in rural settings; samples from
      community Catedral Ela Nguema (# 16) were missed during the field work. Among the
      rural setups, communities Inasa Maule (# 7), Ruiche (# 20) and Barrios Adyacentes
      Riaba (# 14), had the highest seropositivity percentages (29.2, 26.9 and 23.8 %,
      respectively). With respect to the urban settings, we did not find any positive
      case in communities Manzana Casa Bola (# 3), Colas Sesgas (# 6), Getesa (# 8),
      Moka Bioko (# 9), Impecsa (# 10), Baney Zona Baja (# 12) and Santo Tomas de
      Aquino (# 1). No onchocerciasis seropositive samples were found in 10-year-old
      individuals or younger. The IgG4 positive titles increased in older participants.
      CONCLUSIONS: A significant decline in onchocerciasis prevalence was observed in
      Bioko Island after years of disease-vector control and CDTI strategy. The
      seroprevalence increased with age, mainly in rural settings that could be due to
      previous exposure of population to the filarial parasite, eliminated by the
      control programmes introduced against onchocerciasis. A new Ov-16 serological
      evaluation with a larger sample size of children below 10 years of age is
      required to demonstrate the interruption of transmission of O. volvulus in the
      human population of Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea) according to the WHO
      criteria.

PMID- 27645889
TI  - Positron emission tomography (PET) utilizing Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) for
      detection of amyloid heart deposits in hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis
      (ATTR).
AB  - BACKGROUND: DPD scintigraphy has been advocated for imaging cardiac amyloid in
      ATTR amyloidosis. PET utilizing 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) is the gold
      standard for imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimer's disease. PIB was recently shown
      to identify cardiac amyloidosis in both AL and ATTR amyloidosis. In the ATTR
      population, two types of amyloid fibrils exist, one containing fragmented and
      full-length TTR (type A) and the other only full-length TTR (type B). The aim of
      this study was to further evaluate PIB-PET in patients with hereditary ATTR
      amyloidosis. METHODS: Ten patients with biopsy-proven V30M ATTR amyloidosis and
      discrete or no signs of cardiac involvement were included. Patients were grouped
      according to TTR-fragmentation. All underwent DPD scintigraphy, echocardiography,
      and PIB-PET. A left ventricular PIB-retention index (PIB-RI) was established and
      compared to five normal volunteers. RESULTS: PIB-RI was increased in all patients
      (P < 0.001), but was significantly higher in type B than in type A (0.129 +/-
      0.041 vs 0.040 +/- 0.006 min-1, P = 0.009). Cardiac DPD uptake was elevated in
      group A and absent in group B. CONCLUSION: PIB-PET, in contrast to DPD
      scintigraphy, has the potential to specifically identify cardiac amyloid
      depositions irrespective of amyloid fibril composition. The heart appears to be a
      target organ for amyloid deposition in ATTR amyloidosis.

PMID- 27645890
TI  - Imaging for chest pain in the emergency room: Finding the right gate not the
      right gatekeeper.

PMID- 27645891
TI  - Connectivity to the surface determines diversity patterns in subsurface aquifers
      of the Fennoscandian shield.

PMID- 27645892
TI  - Centromeric and non-centromeric satellite DNA organisation differs in holocentric
      Rhynchospora species.
AB  - Satellite DNA repeats (or satDNA) are fast-evolving sequences usually associated
      with condensed heterochromatin. To test whether the chromosomal organisation of
      centromeric and non-centromeric satDNA differs in species with holocentric
      chromosomes, we identified and characterised the major satDNA families in the
      holocentric Cyperaceae species Rhynchospora ciliata (2n = 10), R. globosa (2n =
      50) and R. tenuis (2n = 2x = 4 and 2n = 4x = 8). While conserved centromeric
      repeats (present in R. ciliata and R. tenuis) revealed linear signals at both
      chromatids, non-centromeric, species-specific satDNAs formed distinct clusters
      along the chromosomes. Colocalisation of both repeat types resulted in a ladder
      like hybridisation pattern at mitotic chromosomes. In interphase, the centromeric
      satDNA was dispersed while non-centromeric satDNA clustered and partly
      colocalised to chromocentres. Despite the banding-like hybridisation patterns of
      the clustered satDNA, the identification of chromosome pairs was impaired due to
      the irregular hybridisation patterns of the homologues in R. tenuis and R.
      ciliata. These differences are probably caused by restricted or impaired meiotic
      recombination as reported for R. tenuis, or alternatively by complex chromosome
      rearrangements or unequal condensation of homologous metaphase chromosomes. Thus,
      holocentricity influences the chromosomal organisation leading to differences in
      the distribution patterns and condensation dynamics of centromeric and non
      centromeric satDNA.

PMID- 27645894
TI  - MicroRNA-127 is a tumor suppressor in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
      through the regulation of oncogene FMNL3.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the expression patterns and functional roles of
      microRNA 127 (miR-127) and its target gene Formin-Like 3 (FMNL3) in human
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was used
      to compare miR-127 expression between ESCC cell lines and normal esophageal
      epithelium cell line, as well as paired ESCC tumors and adjacent normal
      esophageal tissues in 33 patients. We found miR-127 was aberrantly downregulated
      in both ESCC cell lines and human ESCC tumors. In ESCC cell lines TE-1 and ECA109
      cells, lentiviral-induced miR-127 upregulation markedly inhibited cancer
      proliferation and migration in vitro, and tumorigenicity in vivo. Through dual
      luciferase assay and qRT-PCR, FMNL3 was confirmed to be the downstream target
      gene of miR-127 in ESCC. Finally, FMNL3 was downregulated by siRNA in TE-1 and
      ECA109 cells. And we discovered that SiRNA-induced FMNL3 downregulation had tumor
      suppressive effect in ESCC, inhibiting cancer proliferation, migration in vitro,
      and tumorigenicity in vivo. These results suggest that miR-127 is downregulated
      and acting as tumor suppressor in ESCC. Inversely, FMNL3, the target gene of miR
      127, is upregulated and acting as an oncogene in ESCC.

PMID- 27645895
TI  - Polypills for the prevention of Cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of death
      worldwide with an estimated 17.5 million deaths per year. Since its initial
      conception over a decade ago, the use of cardiovascular polypills has gained
      increasing momentum as a strategy to lower risk factor levels and prevent CVD.
      Several new data have emerged including the recent publication of the first
      outcomes trial using polypills. Areas covered: In this review, the authors
      summarize the current literature on the safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness
      of polypills for primary and secondary prevention of CVD, describe the current
      controversies in this field, and identify important areas for future research.
      The authors searched PubMed, CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception till
      25 June 2016 using the search term 'polypill.' Expert opinion: Cardiovascular
      polypills containing aspirin, statin, and one or more anti-hypertensive
      medications, along with lifestyle interventions, represent an attractive, safe,
      and cost-effective strategy for primary and secondary prevention of CVD. Future
      research efforts should focus on identifying patients who will benefit the most
      from the use of polypills, marketing several polypills with different components
      and doses, and developing novel regulatory strategies for making polypills more
      readily available in all countries worldwide.

PMID- 27645896
TI  - Highlight: Old but Changeable-On the Family History of Nuclear Lamina.

PMID- 27645897
TI  - Beyond gastric adenocarcinoma: Multimodality assessment of common and uncommon
      gastric neoplasms.
AB  - Despite advances in molecular biology, imaging, and treatment, gastric neoplasms
      remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality; gastric adenocarcinoma is
      the fifth most common malignancy and third most common cause of death worldwide
      (Brenner et al., Methods Mol Biol 472:467-477, 2009; Howson et al. Epidemiol Rev
      8:1-27, 1986; Roder, Gastric Cancer 5(Suppl 1):5-11, 2002; Ferlay et al.,
      GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.0, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No.
      11 [Internet]. International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2013). Because of
      both the frequency at which malignant gastric tumors occur as well as the
      worldwide impact, gastric neoplasms remain important lesions to identify and
      characterize on all imaging modalities. Despite the varied histologies and
      behaviors of these neoplasms, many have similar imaging features. Nonetheless,
      the treatment, management, and prognosis of gastric neoplasms vary by pathology,
      so it is essential for the radiologist to make every effort to differentiate
      between these lesions and raise the less common entities as differential
      diagnostic considerations when appropriate.

PMID- 27645898
TI  - The 1001 Arabidopsis DNA Methylomes: An Important Resource for Studying Natural
      Genetic, Epigenetic, and Phenotypic Variation.
AB  - Intraspecific phenotypic diversity is controlled by natural genetic and
      epigenetic variation. Kawakatsu et al. recently sequenced the DNA methylomes of a
      global collection of over 1000 Arabidopsis accessions, and have thereby provided
      a comprehensive resource for studying natural genetic and epigenetic variation as
      well as the association of such variation with phenotypic diversity.

PMID- 27645899
TI  - Characteristics of Genome Editing Mutations in Cereal Crops.
AB  - Designer nucleases allow the creation of new plant genotypes by introducing
      precisely-targeted double-strand breaks that are resolved by endogenous repair
      pathways. The major nuclease technologies are meganucleases, zinc-finger
      nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and the CRISPR/Cas9
      system. Each comprises a promiscuous endonuclease guided by protein-DNA or RNA
      DNA interactions. A great deal is known about the principles of designer
      nucleases but much remains to be learned about their detailed behavioral
      characteristics in different plant species. The outcome of genome engineering
      reflects the intrinsic properties of each nuclease and target genome, causing
      variations in efficiency, accuracy, and mutation structure. In this article, we
      critically discuss the activities of designer nucleases in different cereals
      representing a broad range of genome characteristics.

PMID- 27645901
TI  - Loss of DRO1/CCDC80 results in obesity and promotes adipocyte differentiation.
AB  - To investigate the role of DRO1 in obesity and adipogenesis in vivo, we generated
      a constitutive Dro1 knockout mouse model and analyzed the effect of DRO1 loss on
      body growth under standard and high fat diet feeding conditions. Loss of DRO1
      resulted in a significant increase in body weight which was accompanied by a
      substantial expansion of white adipose tissue depots. The obese phenotype could
      be further enhanced by a high fat dietary challenge which also resulted in
      impaired glucose metabolism and the development of hepatosteatosis in Dro1
      knockout mice. To study the role of DRO1 in adipocyte differentiation, primary
      stromal-vascular (SV) cells were isolated from inguinal white fat pads of
      knockout and control mice. In primary SV cells, depletion of DRO1 significantly
      promoted adipogenesis with upregulation of markers for adipogenesis (Cebpa,
      Pparg, Adipoq) and lipid metabolism (Dgat1, Dgat2). Our results demonstrate that
      DRO1 is a crucial regulator of energy homeostasis in vivo and functions as an
      inhibitor of adipogenesis in primary cells.

PMID- 27645902
TI  - LPS and neuroinflammation: a matter of timing.
AB  - Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration has been repeatedly shown to elicit
      central inflammation, regardless of the route of administration. In a recent
      study, Tiwari et al. (Inflammopharmacology 10.1007/s10787-016-0274-3 , 2016)
      dispute the potential of peripheral administration of LPS to induce
      neuroinflammation. Here, I summarise literature indicating that the
      neuroinflammatory effects of LPS are time dependent, and suggest that their
      findings can be explained by the time at which they chose to measure
      neuroinflammation.

PMID- 27645900
TI  - Small molecule adiponectin receptor agonist GTDF protects against skeletal muscle
      atrophy.
AB  - Skeletal muscle atrophy is a debilitating response to several major diseases,
      muscle disuse and chronic steroid treatment for which currently no therapy is
      available. Since adiponectin signaling plays key roles in muscle energetics, we
      assessed if globular adiponectin (gAd) or the small molecule adiponectin mimetic
      6-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(2S,3S)-(+)-5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxydihydroflavonol
      (GTDF) could ameliorate muscle atrophy. Both GTDF and gAd induced C2C12 myoblast
      differentiation. GTDF and gAd effectively prevented reduction in myotube area and
      suppressed the expressions of atrophy markers; atrogin-1 and muscle ring finger
      protein-1 (MuRF1) in models of steroid, cytokine and starvation -induced muscle
      atrophy. The protective effects of GTDF and gAd were routed through AMPK and AKT
      activation and thereby stimulation of PPAR gamma coactivator 1alpha and
      inhibition of forkhead box O transcription factors. Finally, GTDF and gAd
      mitigated dexamethasone-induced muscle atrophy in vivo. Together, our results
      demonstrate that activating adiponectin signaling may be an effective therapeutic
      strategy against skeletal muscle atrophy.

PMID- 27645905
TI  - Identification of Langerhans-like cells in the immunocompetent tissues of channel
      catfish, Ictalurus punctatus.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most powerful antigen presenting cells (APCs) that
      have a critical role in bridging innate and adaptive immune responses in
      vertebrates. Dendritic cells have been characterized morphologically and
      functionally in the teleost fish models such as rainbow trout, salmonids, medaka,
      and zebrafish. The presence of DCs with remarkable similarities to human
      Langerhans cells (LCs) has been described in the spleen and anterior kidney of
      salmonids and rainbow trout. However, there is no evidence of the presence of DCs
      and their role in channel catfish immunity. In this study, we assessed DC-like
      cells in the immunocompetent tissues of channel catfish by immunohistochemistry
      (IHC), flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We identified
      Langerin/CD207+ (L/CD207+) cells in the channel catfish anterior kidney, spleen
      and gill by IHC. Moreover, we described the cells that resembled mammal LC DCs
      containing Birbeck-like (BL) granules in channel catfish spleen, anterior and
      posterior kidneys and gill by TEM. Our data suggest that cells with DC-like
      morphology in the immune related organs of catfish may share morphological and
      functional properties with previously reported DCs in teleost fish and mammals.
      More detailed knowledge of the phenotype and the function of catfish DCs will not
      only help gain insight into the evolution of the vertebrate adaptive immune
      system but will also provide valuable information for development and
      optimization of immunotherapies and vaccination protocols for aquaculture use.

PMID- 27645906
TI  - Identification of 10 transcripts of FREP in penaeid shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei.
AB  - Fibrinogen-related proteins (FREPs) are widely distributed in vertebrates and
      invertebrates and known having Fibrinogen-related domains (FReDs) which function
      in multiple aspects, especially in innate immune response as pattern recognition
      receptors. However, there is no any report about FREP in penaeid shrimp
      Litopenaeus vannamei. Here, totally 10 transcripts of FREP were isolated and
      named LvFREP1.1, 1.2 until 1.10. All of the 10 transcripts have high identity in
      their 3' ends and encode conserved FReDs. Since the 10 transcripts are highly
      similar we could not design any primers that can amplify a single transcript. We
      chose a pair of primers corresponding to part of LvFREP1.1 and LvFREP1.5 to
      examine their expression. Tissue distribution indicated LvFREP1.1 and LvFREP1.5
      mRNA locates in hemocytes, gills, intestine, hearts and slightly in nerve. The
      expression of LvFREP1.1 and LvFREP1.5 behaves differently post bacteria and virus
      infection. Besides, recombinant LvFReD could agglutinate bacteria Vibrio harveyi
      in the presence of Ca2+. These initial data presents the diversity of FREPs in
      penaeid shrimp and also push us to further explore their roles in shrimp immune
      response.

PMID- 27645907
TI  - Molecular identification and expression analysis of a goose-type lysozyme (LysG)
      gene in yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco.
AB  - Lysozymes, innate immunity molecules, play a vital role in immune response to
      pathogens. The yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco (Siluriformes: Bagridae) is
      an economically important fish in China. The aim of this study was to quantify
      expression of the P. fulvidraco LysG gene (a g-type lysozyme) in response to
      pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) challenge. First, the P. fulvidraco
      LysG gene (PfLysG) was cloned and characterized. The full-length cDNA of PfLysG
      is 1323 bp, including a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of 131 bp, a 3'-UTR of 634
      bp, and an open reading frame of 558 bp encoding a polypeptide of 185 amino
      acids, which contains a transglycosylase SLT domain (Pfam01464). The predicted
      molecular weight of the protein is 20.52 kDa with a pI of 9.08. Two catalytic
      residues and seven N-acetyl-D-glucosamine binding sites are conserved in the
      sequence and there is no predicted signal peptide. The deduced PfLysG protein
      sequence has 84%, 76% and 69% percent identity with the LysGs from Ictalurus
      furcatus, Danio rerio, and Salmo salar, respectively. The predicted tertiary
      structure of PfLysG is very similar to that from other animals. Phylogenetic
      analysis showed that PfLysG is closely related to those from Teleostei. Real-time
      quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qPCR) analysis showed that PfLysG was
      expressed in all examined tissues and most highly expressed in head kidney,
      spleen, and intestine. After simulated pathogen challenge with lipopolysaccharide
      and polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid, respectively, the mRNA expression of
      PfLysG was upregulated significantly at different time points. The results
      suggest that the identified g-type lysozyme of P. fulvidraco is involved in
      innate immune responses.

PMID- 27645909
TI  - Enhancers and their dynamics during hematopoietic differentiation and emerging
      strategies for therapeutic action.
AB  - Cellular differentiation requires precisely regulated tissue-specific and
      developmental stage-specific gene expression patterns. Numerous studies have
      highlighted the predictive power of enhancers on lineage-specific gene expression
      programs and have started to unravel their mechanisms of action. We review here
      the dynamics of the enhancer landscape during hematopoietic differentiation and
      how enhancers function in the context of the 3D organization of the genome. We
      further discuss the involvement of aberrant enhancer activity in human diseases
      and emerging strategies aiming at controlling enhancer activity and chromosome
      topology for therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 27645908
TI  - Evaluation of fecal culture and fecal RT-PCR to detect Mycobacterium avium ssp.
      paratuberculosis fecal shedding in dairy goats and dairy sheep using latent class
      Bayesian modeling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study's objective was to evaluate the ability of fecal culture
      (FCUL) and fecal PCR (FPCR) to identify dairy goat and dairy sheep shedding
      Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis. A cross-sectional study of the small
      ruminant populations was performed in Ontario, Canada between October 2010 and
      August 2011. Twenty-nine dairy goat herds and 21 dairy sheep flocks were visited,
      and 20 lactating females > two years of age were randomly selected from each farm
      resulting in 580 goats and 397 sheep participating in the study. Feces were
      collected per rectum and cultured using the BD BACTECTM MGITTM 960 system using a
      standard (49 days) and an extended (240 days) incubation time, and underwent RT
      PCR based on the hsp-X gene (Tetracore(r)). Statistical analysis was performed
      using a 2-test latent class Bayesian hierarchical model for each species fitted
      in WinBUGS. RESULTS: Extending the fecal culture incubation time statistically
      improved FCUL sensitivity from 23.1 % (95 % PI: 15.9-34.1) to 42.7 % (95 % PI:
      33.0-54.5) in dairy goats and from 5.8 % (95 % PI: 2.3-12.4) to 19.0 % (95 % PI:
      11.9-28.9) in dairy sheep. FPCR demonstrated statistically higher sensitivity
      than FCUL (49 day incubation) with a sensitivity of 31.9 % (95 % PI: 22.4-43.1)
      in goats and 42.6 % (95 % PI: 28.8-63.3) in sheep. CONCLUSIONS: Fecal culture
      demonstrates such low sensitivity at the standard incubation time it cannot be
      recommended as a screening test to detect shedding of MAP in either goats or
      sheep. Extending the incubation time resulted in improved sensitivity; however,
      it is still disappointingly low for screening purposes. Fecal PCR should be the
      screening test of choice in both species; however, it is important to recognize
      that control programs should not be based on testing alone when they demonstrate
      such low sensitivity.

PMID- 27645913
TI  - Theoretical investigation on exciton-dissociation and charge-recombination
      processes of PC61BM-PTDPPSe interface.
AB  - Designing and synthesizing novel electron-donor polymers with the high
      photovoltaic performances has remained a major challenge and hot issue in organic
      electronics. In this work, the exciton-dissociation (k dis ) and charge
      recombination (k rec ) rates for the PC61BM-PTDPPSe system as a promising polymer
      based solar cell candidate have been theoretically investigated by means of
      density functional theory (DFT) calculations coupled with the non-adiabatic
      Marcus charge transfer model. Moreover, a series of regression analysis has been
      carried out to explore the rational structure-property relationship. Results
      reveal that the PC61BM-PTDPPSe system possesses the large open-circuit voltage
      (0.77 V), middle-sized exiton binding energy (0.457 eV), and relatively small
      reorganization energies in exciton-dissociation (0.273 eV) and charge
      recombination (0.530 eV) processes. With the Marcus model, the k dis , k rec ,
      and the radiative decay rate (k s ), are estimated to be 3.167*10(11) s(-1),
      3.767*10(10) s(-1), and 7.930*10(8) s(-1) respectively in the PC61BM-PTDPPSe
      interface. Comparably, the k dis is as 1~3 orders of magnitude larger than the k
      rec and the k s , which indicates a fast and efficient photoinduced exciton
      dissociation process in the PC61BM-PTDPPSe interface. Graphical Abstract PTDPPSe
      is predicted to be a promising electron donor polymer, and the PC61BM-PTDPPSe
      system is worthy of further device research by experiments. 

PMID- 27645915
TI  - A 30-year experience with mixed-type total anomalous pulmonary venous connection:
      a word of caution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection can be
      problematic, particularly those with mixed-type pathology. We aimed to describe a
      cohort of patients with mixed-type anomalous drainage, highlighting the treatment
      challenges, and identifying risk factors for poor outcome. METHODS: We reviewed
      the clinical records of patients who underwent repair for mixed-type total
      anomalous pulmonary venous connection between 1986 and 2015. RESULTS: A total of
      19 patients were identified. The median age and weight of patients at surgery
      were 18 days (with a range from 1 to 185) and 3.4 kg (with a range from 1.9 to
      6.5), respectively. Venous anatomy included a combination of duplicate
      supracardiac (four), supracardiac and cardiac (11), and supracardiac and
      infracardiac (four) drainage. Out of 19 patients, six (32%) died within 30 days
      or the initial hospital stay; two additional patients died from progressive
      pulmonary vein stenosis at 72 and 201 days, respectively, resulting in 42%
      mortality within the 1st year. Follow-up data were available for 8/11 long-term
      survivors. The median follow-up period was 7.3 years (with a range from 1.8 to
      15.7). Only one patient underwent re-intervention for recurrent pulmonary vein
      stenosis. For surgical mortality, no statistically significant risk factors were
      identified, although the risk trended to be higher (p?0.1) with lower age and
      weight, an infracardiac component, and prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass. For 1
      year mortality, the risk became significant (p?0.05) with a lower weight
      (p=0.01), an infracardiac component (p=0.03), and prolonged cardiopulmonary
      bypass (p=0.04). CONCLUSION: The surgical and 1-year mortality in patients with
      mixed-type total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is high. On the other
      hand, among patients who survive past the 1st year, most have good outcomes
      without subsequent sequelae.

PMID- 27645917
TI  - Penetration of 630nm laser and 5-aminolevulinic acid in tissue with intralesional
      photodynamic therapy.
AB  - Photodynamic therapy is a common treatment in dermatology for several diseases,
      its main limitation is the penetration of topical photosensitizer and light in
      the tissue. However intralesional photodynamic therapy is a new technique where
      the photosensitizer and sometimes a 630nm laser beam are applied inside the
      lesion, so it allows achieve deeper penetration. It has been used to treat basal
      cell carcinoma, hidradenitis suppurativa or keloids.

PMID- 27645920
TI  - Microcrystalline cellulose: Isolation, characterization and bio-composites
      application-A review.
AB  - Considering its widespread usage in various fields, such as food, pharmaceutical,
      medical, cosmetic and polymer composites industries, microcrystalline cellulose
      (MCC) is becoming impellent due to increasing demand of alternatives to non
      renewable and scarce fossil materials. Although it still suffers from some
      drawbacks, MCC has recently gained more interest owing to its renewability, non
      toxicity, economic value, biodegradability, high mechanical properties, high
      surface area and biocompatibility. New sources, new isolation processes, and new
      treatments are currently under development to satisfy the increasing demand of
      producing new types of MCC-based materials on an industrial scale. Therefore,
      this review assembles the current knowledge on the isolation of MCC from
      different sources using various procedures, its characterization, and its
      application in bio-composites. Challenges and future opportunities of MCC-based
      composites are discussed as well as obstacles remaining for their extensive uses.

PMID- 27645921
TI  - Glyoxal administration induces formation of high molecular weight aggregates of
      hemoglobin exhibiting amyloidal nature in experimental rats: An in vivo study.
AB  - Glyoxal, a highly reactive alpha-oxoaldehyde, increases in diabetic condition and
      reacts with proteins to form advanced glycation end products (AGEs). In the
      present study, we have investigated the effect of glyoxal on experimental rat
      hemoglobin in vivo after external administration of the alpha-dicarbonyl compound
      in animals. Gel electrophoretic profile of hemolysate collected from glyoxal
      treated rats (32mg/kg body wt. dose) after one week exhibited the presence of
      some high molecular weight protein bands that were found to be absent for
      control, untreated rats. Mass spectrometric and absorption studies indicated that
      the bands represented hemoglobin. Further studies revealed that the fraction
      exhibited the presence of intermolecular cross beta-sheet structure. Thus glyoxal
      administration induces formation of high molecular weight aggregates of
      hemoglobin with amyloid characteristics in rats. Aggregated hemoglobin fraction
      was found to exhibit higher stability compared to glyoxal-untreated hemoglobin.
      As evident from mass spectrometric studies, glyoxal was found to modify Arg
      30beta and Arg-31alpha of rat hemoglobin to hydroimidazolone adducts. The
      modifications thus appear to induce amyloid-like aggregation of hemoglobin in
      rats. Considering the increased level of glyoxal in diabetes mellitus as well as
      its high reactivity, the above findings may be physiologically significant.

PMID- 27645922
TI  - Protective effect of cyanidin against glucose- and methylglyoxal-induced protein
      glycation and oxidative DNA damage.
AB  - Cyanidin, a natural anthocyanin abundant in fruits and vegetables, has shown the
      health benefits due to its pharmacological properties. However, there was no
      evidence regarding anti-glycation activity of cyanidin. The aim of the study was
      to investigate the inhibitory effect of cyanidin on methylglyoxal (MG)- and
      glucose-induced protein glycation in bovine serum albumin (BSA) as well as
      oxidative DNA damage. Free radical scavenging activity and the MG-trapping
      ability of cyanidin were also investigated. The results demonstrated that
      cyanidin (0.125-1mM) significantly inhibited the formation of fluorescent and non
      fluorescent AGEs in BSA/MG and BSA/glucose systems. There was a significantly
      improved protein thiol in BSA/MG and BSA/glucose when incubated with cyanidin.
      Correspondingly, cyanidin decreased the level of protein carbonyl content in
      BSA/glucose system. Moreover, cyanidin (0.5-1mM) prevented lysine/MG-mediated
      oxidative DNA damage in the absence or presence of copper ion. The results
      demonstrated that cyanidin showed the MG-trapping ability in a concentration
      dependent manner. Cyanidin also reduced superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical
      generation in lysine/MG system. The mechanism by which cyanidin inhibited protein
      glycation was the MG-trapping ability and the free radical scavenging activity.
      The present study suggests that cyanidin might be a promising antiglycation agent
      for preventing or ameliorating AGEs-mediated diabetic complications.

PMID- 27645923
TI  - Physico-chemical characterization of galactan exopolysaccharide produced by
      Weissella confusa KR780676.
AB  - Physico-chemical properties of a galactan exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by
      Weissella confusa KR780676 isolated from an idli batter were studied. In our
      previous paper, we had reported the isolation and characterization of a linear
      galactan (containing alpha-(1->6)-linked galactose units) isolated from an acidic
      fermented food. In this manuscript, we are reporting the physico-chemical
      properties viz., Colour evaluation (L* 81.79, a* 3.15, b* 15.04), flow properties
      (compressibility index 38.46%), syneresis, light transmittance (50.7% for 5days),
      pasting properties (temperature 64.6 degrees C), texture (hardness 9.876N) and
      particle size (549.81dnm) for the galactan were carried out. This galactan also
      possessed high oil absorption capacity (5.09mL/g) with good emulsifying activity
      (69.4%) and emulsion stability up to 15days. Flocculating activity of 65.3-81.7%
      was observed with 0.2mg/mL EPS in a wide range of pH (2.0-12.0). These functional
      properties will make the galactan EPS a good candidate for use as thickening and
      gelling agent and emulsifier to form long-term emulsions in food, pharmaceutical
      and cosmetic products, as well as for bio-treatment of wastewater and hydrocarbon
      polluted environments.

PMID- 27645924
TI  - Sphallerocarpus gracilis polysaccharide protects pancreatic beta-cells via
      regulation of the bax/bcl-2, caspase-3, pdx-1 and insulin signalling pathways.
AB  - In this study, the structural characterization of Sphallerocarpus gracilis
      polysaccharide (SGP) and its hypoglycaemic activities are reported for the first
      time. SGP, which has a weight average molar mass (Mw) of 7.413*105, was isolated
      from Sphallerocarpus gracilis and purified by ion-exchange chromatography. The
      polysaccharide is composed of rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, glucose and
      galactose, with the molar ratio of 4.12: 8.99: 5.45: 65.94: 15.50. The mechanism
      underlying the hypoglycaemic effect of SGP was evaluated. Experimental results
      showed that SGP protected pancreatic beta-cells from alloxan damage by several
      possible mechanisms, including: (1) repairing free radical damage; (2) reducing
      the apoptosis of pancreatic beta-cells by inhibiting the activities of caspase-3
      and bax, and enhancing the activity of bcl-2; (3) stimulating insulin secretion
      and upregulating the pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 gene and the insulin gene
      and the pancreatic in pancreatic beta-cells. The results obtained in this study
      suggest that SGP may be a promising therapeutic agent in the treatment of
      diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27645925
TI  - Effect of alcohol-acid modification on physicochemical, rheological and
      morphological properties of glutinous rice starch.
AB  - In the present study chemical modification of glutinous rice starch was carried
      out using 1-Buatnol-hydrochloric acid with varying time and temperature. The
      changes in physico-chemical, dynamic rheological and morphological properties of
      starch during hydrolysis was investigated. There was a significant increase in
      water solubility of starch due to modification; however, swelling and
      sedimentation value decrease after modification. The peak, hold and final
      viscosity of modified starches were decreased significantly as compared to native
      starch. Thermal properties and dynamic rheological properties of rice starch were
      changed with the change in time and temperature during modification. The storage
      (G') modulus, loss (G") modulus, dynamic viscosity (eta') and complex viscosity
      (eta*) of modified starches were varied significantly. Analysis of microstructure
      revealed that the hydrolysis altered morphology of starch granules. The
      hydrolysis was affected the surface properties and granule size of rice starch.
      These results suggested that 1-butanol-HCl hydrolysis of glutinous rice starch
      can be a preferred way of modification.

PMID- 27645926
TI  - Potassium fulvate-modified graft copolymer of acrylic acid onto cellulose as
      efficient chelating polymeric sorbent.
AB  - Acrylic acid (AA) was graft copolymerized from cellulose (Cell) in presence of
      potassium fulvate (KF) in order to enhance the chemical activity of the resulting
      chelating polymer and the handling as well. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
      proved that KF was efficiently inserted and became a permanent part of the
      network structure of the sorbent in parallel during the grafting
      copolymerization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed intact homogeneous
      structure with uniform surface. This indicates improvement of the handling,
      however, it was not the case for the graft copolymer of acrylic acid onto
      cellulose in absence of KF, which is known to be brittle and lacks mechanical
      integrity. Effective insertion of this co-interpenetrating agent provided more
      functional groups, such as OH and COOH, which improved the chelating power of the
      produced sorbent as found for the removal of Cu2+ ions from its aqueous solutions
      (the removal efficiency reached ~98.9%). Different models were used to express
      the experimental data. The results corroborated conformity of the pseudo-second
      order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model to the sorption process, which
      translates into dominance of the chemisorption. Regeneration of the chelating
      polymers under harsh conditions did not affect the efficiency of copper ions
      uptake up to three successive cycles. A thermodynamic investigation ensured
      exothermic nature of the adsorption process that became less favourable at higher
      temperatures.

PMID- 27645927
TI  - Characterization of rice starch-iota-carrageenan biodegradable edible film.
      Effect of stearic acid on the film properties.
AB  - The main aim of this study was to develop rice starch (RS), iota-carrageenan
      (iota-car) based film. Different formulations of RS (1-4%, w/w), iota-car (0.5
      2%, w/w) was blended with stearic acid (SA; 0.3-0.9%, w/w) and glycerol (1%, w/w)
      as a plasticizer. The effect of film ingredients on the thickness, water vapour
      permeability (WVP), film solubility (FS), moisture content (MC), colour, film
      opacity (FO), tensile strength (TS), elongation-at-break (EAB) of film was
      examined. Interactions and miscibility of partaking components was studied by
      using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction
      (XRD). Hydrocolloid suspension solution of mix polysaccharides imparted a
      significant impact (p<0.05) on the important attributes of resulting edible film.
      TS and EAB of film were improved significantly (p<0.05) when iota-car was
      increased in the film matrix. Formulation F1 comprising 2% iota-car, 2% RS, 0.3%
      SA, Gly 30% w/w and 0.2% surfactant (tween(r)20) provided film with good
      physical, mechanical and barrier properties. FT-IR and XRD results reveal that
      molecular interactions between RS-iota-car have a great impact on the film
      properties confining the compatibility and miscibility of mixed polysaccharide.
      Results of the study offers new biodegradable formulation for application on
      fruit and vegetables.

PMID- 27645929
TI  - Astragalus polysaccharide modulates ER stress response in an OVA-LPS induced
      murine model of severe asthma.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been recently revealed to play a pivotal
      role in the pathogenesis of severe asthma. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), a
      major bioactive component from Astragalus membranaceus, exerts immunomodulatory
      and anti-inflammatory effects and has been shown to suppress ER stress in chronic
      diseases such as type-2 diabetes. However, the pharmaceutical application of APS
      in the treatment of severe asthma is unknown. The results obtained here indicate
      that APS significantly attenuates eosinophils and neutrophil-dominant airway
      inflammation by reducing the mRNA levels of Cxcl5, Il8, and chemokine (C-C motif)
      ligand 20 (Ccl20) and the protein levels of IL13RA and IL17RA. APS also inhibits
      the activation of unfolded protein response by decreasing the levels of ER stress
      markers such as C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), which was associated with a
      reduction of PERK phosphorylation. Moreover, APS substantially blocks the nuclear
      translocation of ATF6 and NF-kappaB p65. Interestingly, we observed that APS
      markedly suppresses mucus hypersecretion by decreasing the levels of mucin (MUC)
      5AC and MUC5B, which might be due to inhibition of goblet cells differentiation
      by suppressing the expression of IRE1beta-correlated genes. In summary, APS can
      have potential pharmaceutical application in treatment of severe asthma.

PMID- 27645928
TI  - Extraction, characterization and bioactivities of novel purified polysaccharides
      from Baphicacanthis Cusiae Rhizoma et Radix.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the extraction, characterization and
      bioactivities of purified water-soluble polysaccharides (BCP) from Baphicacanthis
      Cusiae Rhizoma et Radix. Based on the response surface methodology, the optimal
      extraction parameters were obtained as follows: extraction temperature of 60.0
      degrees C, extraction time of 35.0min, and ratio of water to raw material of
      24.5ml/g. Then, BCP was separated and purified by chromatography of DEAE-52 and
      Sephadex G-100, and obtained two purified fractions, named as BCP-1 and BCP-2.
      Their molecular weights were respectively 11.6 and 26.7 KDa with mainly composed
      of glucose, arabinose and galactose. BCP-2 had higher contents of sulfuric
      radical and uronic acid than BCP-1. Finally, their antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory activities were evaluated. Both of BCP-1 and BCP-2 exhibited strong
      antioxidant activity in vitro, and the antioxidant of BCP-2 was better. Besides,
      they showed ideal anti-inflammatory activity in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 27645930
TI  - Oleanolic acid loaded poly lactic co- glycolic acid- vitamin E TPGS nanoparticles
      for the treatment of Leishmania donovani infected visceral leishmaniasis.
AB  - Oleanolic acid (OA) has low aqueous solubility and low permeability, which
      results poor bioavailability. To surmount the inadequacy, our aim was to
      fabricate oleanolic acid loaded poly lactic co- glycolic acid (PLGA)- d-alpha-
      tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) nanoparticles, which could
      be efficacious for the treatment of Leishmania donovani mediated visceral
      leishmaniasis (VL). OA loaded PLGA- TPGS nanoparticles were prepared by emulsion
      solvent evaporation technique. Cellular uptake was investigated. In vitro
      cumulative drug release study was carried out. In vitro susceptibility was
      confirmed against the amastigotes of Leishmania donovani AG83 wild and drug
      resistant strains. In vivo antileishmanial activity was evaluated against wild
      type amastigotes of L. donovani. OA loaded nanoparticles were successfully
      formulated. The highest drug loading was found to be 11.08%+/-0.35%. 85.66%+/
      0.56% was the highest in vitro OA release for 30days among the formulations. In
      vivo study revealed that, 98.82+/-1.92% amastigote burden in spleen of BALB/c
      mice were suppressed by the polymeric nanoformulation of OA. Experimental OA
      nanoparticle formulation proved itself as an attractive carrier for OA which was
      significantly efficacious against both in vitro and in vivo amastigote form of
      Leishmania donovani than pure OA for chemotherapeutic intervention of visceral
      leishmaniasis.

PMID- 27645931
TI  - ATLAS: An advanced PCR-method for routine visualization of telomere length in
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Measuring telomere length is essential in telomere biology. Southern blot
      hybridization is the predominant method for measuring telomere length in the
      genetic model Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have further developed and refined a
      telomere PCR approach, which was rarely used previously (mainly in specific
      telomeric projects), into a robust method allowing direct visualisation of
      telomere length differences in routine experiments with S. cerevisiae, and
      showing a strong correlation of results with data obtained by Southern blot
      hybridization. In this expanded method denoted as ATLAS (A-dvanced T-elomere L
      ength A-nalysis in S. cerevisiae), we have introduced: 1) set of new primers
      annealing with high specificity to telomeric regions on five different
      chromosomes; 2) new approach for designing reverse telomere primers that is based
      on the ligation of an adaptor of a fixed size to telomeric ends. ATLAS can be
      used at the scale of individual assays and high-throughput approaches. This
      simple, time/cost-effective and reproducible methodology will complement Southern
      blot hybridization and facilitate further progress in telomere research.

PMID- 27645932
TI  - Inhibition of pseudoperoxiadse activity of human red blood cell hemoglobin by
      methocarbamol.
AB  - After red blood cells lysis, hemoglobin is released to blood circulation.
      Hemoglobin is carried in blood by binding to haptoglobin. In normal individuals,
      no free hemoglobin is observed in the blood, because most of the hemoglobin is in
      the form of haptoglobin complex. In some diseases that are accompanied by
      hemolysis, the amount of released hemoglobin is higher than its complementary
      haptoglobin. As a result, free hemoglobin appears in the blood, which is a toxic
      compound for these patients and may cause renal failure, hypertensive response
      and risk of atherogenesis. Free hemoglobin has been determined to have peroxidase
      activity and considered a pseudoenzyme. In this study, the effect of
      methocarbamol on the peroxidase activity of human hemoglobin was investigated.
      Our results showed that the drug inhibited the pseudoenzyme by un-competitive
      inhibition. Both Km and Vmax decreased by increasing the drug concentration. Ki
      and IC50 values were determined as 6 and 10mM, respectively. Docking results
      demonstrated that methocarbamol did not attach to heme group directly. A hydrogen
      bond linked NH2 of carbamate group of methocarbamol to the carboxyl group of
      Asp126 side chain. Two other hydrogen bonds could be also observed between
      hydroxyl group of the drug and Ser102 and Ser133 residues of the pseudoenzyme.

PMID- 27645937
TI  - Presidential Address: America and Thoracic Surgery.

PMID- 27645935
TI  - Facilitators of HCV treatment adherence among people who inject drugs: a
      systematic qualitative review and implications for scale up of direct acting
      antivirals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While the public health benefits of new HCV treatments depend on
      treatment adherence, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWID), several
      social and medical factors can jeopardize treatment adherence. The aim of this
      study is to examine the qualitative literature on facilitators to HCV treatment
      adherence among PWID. METHODS: We searched six databases to identify qualitative
      research studies on HCV treatment adherence facilitators among PWID. Two
      reviewers independently extracted and analyzed data using PRISMA guidelines and
      the CASP tool to evaluate study quality. RESULTS: From ten studies representing
      data from 525 participants, three major themes emerged across studies: logistical
      facilitators within health systems enhanced HCV treatment adherence, positive
      social interactions between PWID and staff provided positive feedback during
      treatment, and HCV treatment may complicate the addiction recovery process.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although PWID face several barriers to adherence, we identified
      treatment adherence facilitators that could be incorporated into clinical
      practice.

PMID- 27645939
TI  - Cardiothoracic Organ Procurement for Transplantation: How I Teach It.

PMID- 27645938
TI  - Regarding American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer Non-Small Cell Lung
      Cancer Quality of Care Measure 10RLN.

PMID- 27645941
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645940
TI  - Can a Surgeon Refuse to Operate When an Advance Directive Limits Postoperative
      Care?

PMID- 27645943
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645942
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645944
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645945
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645946
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645947
TI  - Invited Commentary.

PMID- 27645948
TI  - First Successful Clinical Application of the In Vivo Tissue-Engineered Autologous
      Vascular Graft.
AB  - PURPOSE: The ideal material for pediatric pulmonary artery (PA) augmentation is
      autologous pericardium. However, its utility for multistaged operations is
      limited. In this study, we applied an in vivo tissue-engineered autologous
      Biotube graft to a patient with congenital heart disease for the first time.
      DESCRIPTION: For molds of the Biotubes, two silicone 19F drain tubes were
      embedded in the subcutaneous spaces of a 2-year-old girl with a diagnosis of
      pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect with major aortopulmonary
      collateral arteries during palliative surgical procedures. When definitive repair
      was performed after 8 months, the implants were removed to prepare Biotubes, one
      of which was cut open and autologously implanted into the PA for patch
      augmentation. EVALUATION: Seven months after implantation, the Biotube patch
      augmented PA tolerated balloon angioplasty (BAP) for residual stenosis of the
      peripheral PA. Computed tomography images after BAP showed the well-preserved
      shape of the Biotube patch-augmented PA. Neither aneurysm formation nor stenosis
      was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The safety and feasibility of Biotubes for pediatric
      PA patch augmentation are described. Because Biotubes are completely autologous,
      they may be ideal material for pediatric PA augmentation.

PMID- 27645949
TI  - Robert Lee Replogle, September 30, 1931-May 9, 2016.
AB  - The world of cardiothoracic surgery lost a friend and remarkable colleague on May
      9, 2016. Robert L. Replogle, the 31st President of The Society of Thoracic
      Surgeons, died at the University of Chicago Medical Center after a brief illness,
      surrounded by his loving family. Known to his friends as "Rep," he will be
      remembered as an excellent pediatric and adult cardiac surgeon and as a visionary
      leader. 

PMID- 27645950
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27645951
TI  - Coronary Artery Pseudoaneurysm After Bentall Procedure.

PMID- 27645952
TI  - High-Flow Nasal Oxygen After Lung Resection: Can It Be Helpful?

PMID- 27645953
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27645954
TI  - Erroneous Information in Zone 0 Endografting Article.

PMID- 27645955
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27645956
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27645957
TI  - Myocardial Protection and Hemostasis in Aortic Root Surgery: In Resident
      Training.

PMID- 27645958
TI  - Predictors of Outcomes After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: A Proposal to Improve the
      Vasoactive-Ventilation-Renal Score.

PMID- 27645959
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27645960
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27645961
TI  - Preoperative Three-Dimensional Valve Analysis to Predict Recurrent Ischemic
      Mitral Regurgitation After Mitral Annuloplasty.

PMID- 27645962
TI  - Redo After Failure of Aortic Homografts With a Rapid Deployment Valve.
AB  - Homograft implantation in the aortic position was a common approach for full root
      aortic surgical procedures in the early 2000s. Reintervention after degeneration
      of such homografts remains a challenge. We report two cases of successful
      implantation of the Edwards Intuity Elite rapid deployment valve into patients
      with degeneration of existing aortic homograft implants leading to severe aortic
      regurgitation. 

PMID- 27645963
TI  - Complete Transversal Disc Fracture in a Bjork-Shiley Delrin Mitral Valve
      Prosthesis 43 Years After Implantation.
AB  - A patient who underwent previous implantation of a mitral valve replacement with
      a Bjork-Shiley Delrin (BSD) mitral valve prosthesis during infancy was admitted
      to our institution 43 years later after an episode of syncope and cardiac arrest.
      Under extreme hemodynamic instability, a mitral valve prosthetic dysfunction
      causing massive mitral regurgitation was identified. The patient underwent an
      emergent cardiac operation, and a complete disc fracture with partial disc
      migration was found. Exceptional cases of mechanical prosthetic heart valve
      fracture exist. We report the first case of complete transversal disc rupture of
      a BSD mitral valve prosthesis after the longest period of implantation ever
      reported in that position. 

PMID- 27645964
TI  - Iterative Learning of Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement in Mitral Valve
      Annulus Calcification: Management and Prevention of Transcatheter Mitral Valve
      Replacement Dislocation.
AB  - Transcatheter mitral valve replacement using balloon-expandable valves is an
      emerging technique for the treatment of patients with significant mitral
      regurgitation who have been judged to be inoperable owing to significant mitral
      valve annulus calcification. Although initial reports have been promising, there
      remains a lack of consensus as to how to plan for transcatheter mitral valve
      replacement deployment in terms of appropriateness, sizing, and positioning to
      mitigate the risks of valve displacement and paravalvular regurgitation. We
      describe two cases of transcatheter mitral valve replacement in patients with
      significant mitral valve annulus calcification. The first was complicated by
      valve displacement into the left atrium, which was successfully managed by
      surgical redeployment and fixation. The second case was thereafter performed
      successfully using iterative learning and the application of specific
      preprocedural planning techniques acquired from a root cause analysis of the
      first case. We describe our experience with both cases and the specific planning
      principles required to prevent transcatheter mitral valve replacement
      displacement in patients with mitral valve annulus calcification. 

PMID- 27645965
TI  - Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Following Pericardiocentesis After Aortic Valve Repair
      and Ascending Aorta Replacement.
AB  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a reversible cardiomyopathy, which generally
      developes in menopausal women and is characterized by left ventricle dysfunction
      with apical ballooning in the absence of coronary artery disease. It is often
      triggered by a stressful event, and its clinical presentation resembles acute
      anterior myocardial infarction. This condition is a rare adverse event of cardiac
      operations, and only a few cases are described in the literature, especially
      after mitral valve operations. We report the case of a 69-year-old man who
      underwent aortic valve repair and ascending aorta replacement, followed by
      pericardial effusion 6 months later, requiring pericardiocentesis resulting in
      Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. 

PMID- 27645966
TI  - Right Coronary Artery Septic Embolization Secondary to Aerococcus urinae Native
      Mitral Valve Endocarditis.
AB  - Septic embolization to the coronary arteries from infective endocarditis is a
      rare occurrence. Appropriate treatment is not yet fully determined. We report a
      case of mitral valve endocarditis due to Aerococcus urinae presenting as acute
      inferior myocardial infarction. 

PMID- 27645967
TI  - First in Human Totally Endoscopic Perceval Valve Implantation.
AB  - Totally endoscopic cardiac operations for coronary procedures and atrial septal
      defect repair have demonstrated improved quality of life, but they have required
      longer cross-clamp times compared with open operations. Although transcatheter
      valve implantation remains appropriate for inoperable patients, the totally
      endoscopic approach could be an effective treatment for lower risk patients,
      including complete removal of the stenotic aortic valve, while minimizing
      surgical chest wall trauma, and providing excellent early quality of life.
      Totally endoscopic aortic valve replacement procedures were previously performed
      with the 3f Enable bioprosthesis. We present the first case, to our knowledge, of
      Sorin Perceval implantation. 

PMID- 27645968
TI  - Minimally Invasive Repair of Mitral Valve Prolapse and Concomitant Atrial
      Fibrillation Ablation in a Heart Transplant.
AB  - Significant mitral valve disease with atrial fibrillation after heart
      transplantation is unusual. We report the diagnosis and minimally invasive
      surgical treatment 17 years after transplantation, in which mitral valve repair
      together with left atrial ablation was performed, resulting in a satisfying
      clinical and echocardiographic improvement. 

PMID- 27645969
TI  - Perceval Sutureless Valve Dysfunction Caused by Valvular Thrombosis.
AB  - Until now, to our knowledge no case of bioprosthetic valvular thrombosis after
      implantation of the sutureless Sorin Perceval valve has been reported. Although
      sutureless aortic valve replacement has become a powerful tool in our daily
      practice, recent guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology, the European
      Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, the American College of Cardiology, and
      the American Heart Association do not give specific recommendations on
      postoperative anticoagulation therapy. We report the first case of valve
      dysfunction resulting from thrombosis 12 months after implantation with a
      possible link to postoperative cortisole therapy. 

PMID- 27645970
TI  - Pathologic Features of Lone Aortic Mobile Thrombus in the Ascending Aorta.
AB  - This report describes the case of a 79-year-old man with aortic mobile thrombus
      in the ascending aorta, followed by a discussion of the pathologic basis of
      aortic mobile thrombus formation. The patient underwent replacement of the
      ascending aorta. Macroscopic examination revealed an aortic wall ulcer with
      cholesterol-rich atherosclerotic plaque under the aortic mobile thrombus.
      Microscopic examination showed plaque rupture. These findings are very similar to
      those of plaque rupture in the coronary artery. We speculate that plaque rupture
      of localized aortic atherosclerosis is one of the causes of aortic mobile
      thrombus. 

PMID- 27645971
TI  - Right Thoracotomy to Repair Scimitar Syndrome and an Accessory Hemidiaphragm.
AB  - The association of an accessory hemidiaphragm and scimitar syndrome is extremely
      rare and occurs exclusively in the right hemithorax. We present the case of a 27
      year-old female, who underwent complete resection of the accessory hemidiaphragm
      and direct anastomosis of the scimitar vein to the left atrium through a lateral
      right thoracotomy. This surgical approach offered easy access to both anomalies
      and allowed single-stage concomitant repair; this approach avoided postoperative
      respiratory complications and possible torsion or stenosis of the scimitar vein. 

PMID- 27645972
TI  - Resection of Kommerell Diverticulum After the Arterial Switch for TGA With
      Bilateral PDAs and Right Aortic Arch.
AB  - We present a very rare case of bilateral ductus arteriosus in transposition of
      the great arteries with right aortic arch and aberrant retroesophageal left
      subclavian artery (SCA). Around 1 month after the successful arterial switch
      operation, the baby showed wheezing and retractive breathing. The computed
      tomography revealed that trachea and esophagus were sandwiched between the
      posterior displaced ascending aorta and the origin of the retroesophageal
      aberrant left SCA, the so-called Kommerell diverticulum (KD). This compression
      was successfully relieved by resection of the KD and division of the
      retroesophageal aberrant SCA through right thoracotomy. 

PMID- 27645973
TI  - Aortoesophageal Fistula in a Child With Undiagnosed Vascular Ring: Life
      Threatening or Lethal?
AB  - Exsanguinating hematemesis secondary to an aortoesophageal fistula from an
      impacted foreign body occurred in a patient with a vascular ring. This report
      describes successful resuscitation and repair in a 6-year-old boy who was
      transferred from an outside hospital in extremis with an aortoesophageal fistula
      from a foreign body in the presence of a vascular ring. 

PMID- 27645974
TI  - Surgical Reconstruction for Severe Tracheal Obstruction in Morquio A Syndrome.
AB  - Progressive tracheal obstruction is commonly seen in Morquio A syndrome and can
      lead to life-threatening complications. Although tracheostomy can address severe
      upper airway obstruction, lower airway obstruction, commonly associated with a
      narrow thoracic inlet and vascular compression, requires an alternative approach.
      We describe the case of a 16-year-old patient with Morquio A syndrome whose near
      fatal tracheal obstruction was relieved by timely surgical tracheal vascular
      reconstruction with dramatic resolution of his respiratory symptoms. 

PMID- 27645975
TI  - An Unusual Cause of Dyspnea.
AB  - Sialadenoma papilliferum is a tumor of salivary gland origin. It is believed that
      sialadenoma papilliferum is a benign lesion usually known to occur in the hard
      palate, retromolar fat pads, lips, and parotid glands. Its origin in the
      bronchial tree is an extremely rare occurrence. We report only the fourth known
      case of bronchial sialadenoma papilliferum and the first to originate in the
      trachea. The patient underwent successful resection of the lesion, with complete
      relief of his dyspnea. 

PMID- 27645976
TI  - Pulmonary Kirsten Rat Sarcoma Virus Mutation Positive Mucinous Adenocarcinoma
      Arising in a Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation, Mixed Type 1 and 2.
AB  - Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) is a developmental abnormality of
      the lung, which results from an abnormality of branching during fetal development
      of the lung. We report the case of an 18 year-old woman who developed Kirsten rat
      sarcoma virus (KRAS) mutation positive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung (AC)
      in association with mixed CPAM type 1 and 2. This case is unique as KRAS mutation
      positive AC is present in a setting of both CPAM 1 and 2 in the same lesion. 

PMID- 27645977
TI  - Humoral Human Lung Allograft Rejection by Tissue-Restricted Non-HLA Antibodies.
AB  - A third of lung recipients have preexisting antibodies against nonhuman leukocyte
      self-antigens (nHAbs) present in the lung tissue. These nHAbs also form de novo
      in about 70% of patients within 3 years after transplantation. Both preexisting
      and de novo nHAbs can cause murine lung allograft dysfunction. However, their
      role in human transplantation remains unclear. We report hyperacute rejection
      after right lung transplant in a recipient with preexisting nHAbs. The recipient
      of the left lung from the same donor had an uneventful initial course, but de
      novo nHAbs developed at 3 weeks, leading to acute humoral rejection. Both
      patients were successfully treated with antibody-directed therapies. 

PMID- 27645978
TI  - Simultaneous Esophageal and Tracheal Fistulization Resulting From Pott's Abscess.
AB  - We describe a case of a 30-year-old woman who presented with a complaint of
      coughing while drinking water, which began 2 months earlier and was treated with
      surgical repair of esophageal and tracheal fistulization that resulted from a
      Pott's abscess. The patient had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis 4
      years previously and had been treated for 6 months. Esophageal and tracheal
      fistulization of the abscess cavity was observed both radiologically and
      intraoperatively. The fistulas were closed through separate operations for the
      trachea and the esophagus. Simultaneous esophageal and tracheal fistulization of
      a Pott's abscess is a serious complication of spinal tuberculosis that has not
      been previously reported in the literature. 

PMID- 27645980
TI  - Pulmonary Arterioplasty With End-to-End Anastomosis of the Lingular Branch to the
      Interlobar Pulmonary Artery in Living-Donor Lobectomy.
AB  - In living-donor lobar lung transplantation, donor lobectomies must be performed
      carefully both for donors and recipients. In some cases pulmonary arterioplasty
      is required for preserving branches of pulmonary artery. This report describes a
      successful case of pulmonary arterioplasty with end-to-end anastomosis of the
      interlobar artery and the lingular branch in living-donor lobectomy. Because the
      harvest of autologous pericardium can be avoided both in donor and recipient
      surgical procedures by using this technique, living-donor lobar lung
      transplantation can be performed more safely and simply. 

PMID- 27645979
TI  - Flat Chest of Pleuroparenchymal Fibroelastosis Reversed by Lung Transplantation.
AB  - A patient with pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) was successfully treated
      with living-donor lobar lung transplantation. A 27-year-old woman with a 3-month
      history of dyspnea received a diagnosis of PPFE. Her chest wall was extremely
      flattened over time, and her respiratory condition progressively deteriorated.
      She underwent semielective bilateral living-donor lobar lung transplantation. Her
      chest wall rigidity, which was secondary to PPFE, required intensive pulmonary
      rehabilitation postoperatively. By 6 months after transplantation, the flattening
      of her chest wall was reversed. Living-donor lobar lung transplantation was a
      life-saving procedure for this patient and improved the chest wall deformity of
      PPFE. 

PMID- 27645981
TI  - Nonintubated Thoracoscopic Pneumonectomy for Bullous Emphysema.
AB  - Thoracoscopic pneumonectomy without tracheal intubation has not been reported. We
      describe a woman with severe bullous emphysema of the right upper lobe and
      hypoplasia of the remaining lung lobes who underwent thoracoscopic pneumonectomy
      using a nonintubated anesthetic technique of internal intercostal nerve block,
      vagal block, and targeted sedation. The successful results in this patient
      suggest that nonintubated thoracoscopic pneumonectomy is technically feasible and
      can be used in a specific group of patients. 

PMID- 27645982
TI  - Use of Dithiothreitol to Dislodge Bacteria From the Biofilm on an Aortic Valve in
      the Operating Theatre: A Case of Infective Endocarditis Caused by Staphylococcus
      aureus and Proteus mirabilis.
AB  - This is the first reported case of 2 biofilm-producing bacteria, Staphylococcus
      aureus and Proteus mirabilis, identified from an aortic valve using an innovative
      device with dithiothreitol solution, able to dislodge bacterial biofilm. The
      method is usable in the operating theatre and recommended in infective
      endocarditis nonresponders to empiric therapy. 

PMID- 27645984
TI  - Giant Pulmonary Artery Aneurysm in Behcet's Syndrome.

PMID- 27645983
TI  - Left Lower Lobe Pulmonary Torsion.

PMID- 27645985
TI  - Hoarseness as the Initial Symptom of Aortic Arch Aneurysm.

PMID- 27645986
TI  - Unusual Form of Pulmonary Sequestration: Emphysematous Sequestration.

PMID- 27645987
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Benign Superior Vena Cava Syndrome.
AB  - The obstruction of blood flow through the superior vena cava (SVC) into the right
      atrium may present as a severe clinical syndrome. One of the benign causes of SVC
      obstruction is the long-term use of indwelling catheters and wires, increasing
      the chances of SVC thrombosis. The treatment of the benign SVC syndrome is
      focused on achieving long-term durability and patency of the superior venocaval
      system and normal life expectancy. We report the successful surgical management
      of a patient with severe symptomatic SVC syndrome and emphasize technical details
      that might be of value in treating this challenging pathologic condition. 

PMID- 27645988
TI  - Exclusion of Complex Paraannular Aortic Abscess With the Freestyle Xenograft.
AB  - Destructive aortic valve endocarditis is a serious condition that can result in
      aortoventricular disjunction. The appropriate surgical approach for severe
      excavating lesions remains a matter of debate. Homografts, prosthetic valves
      associated with a pericardial patch for annulus repair, and prosthetic valve
      conduits can be used. We report the technical issue of subcoronary inclusion of
      the full root Freestyle xenograft for complicated aortic endocarditis extending
      to the left ventricular outflow tract. 

PMID- 27645989
TI  - A Novel Method for Epicardial Defibrillator Lead Placement in Young Children:
      Coil Between the Great Arteries.
AB  - The primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death resulting from
      malignant arrhythmia, channelopathy, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often
      requires the implantation of automatic internal cardiac defibrillators (AICDs) in
      the pediatric population. In young patients, the small size of the systemic
      veins, complex anatomy of congenital heart disease, and body habitus often
      preclude safe and durable transvenous placement of the AICD coil, requiring
      innovative methods to circumvent this problem. This report describes the
      technique used at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego/UCSD for the epicardial
      placement of an ICD system with a transvenous ICD coil placed between the aorta
      and pulmonary artery, thereby producing a stable location and excellent coil-to
      can vector for successful defibrillation. 

PMID- 27645990
TI  - A Novel Method for Insertion of the Straight Metallic Tracheal Stent.
AB  - A straight metallic tracheal stent can be inserted either during flexible or
      rigid bronchoscopy. However, in patients with significant airway obstruction or
      those requiring tumor debulking, rigid bronchoscopy is the method of choice. A
      tracheoscope size 12 or larger is generally required for the introduction of the
      straight metallic tracheal stent. Herein, we describe a novel method that
      facilitates the introduction of the straight metallic tracheal stent through a
      size 8.5 tracheoscope by using the introducer tube of the silicone stent
      applicator. 

PMID- 27645992
TI  - Unorthodox Acetylcholine Binding Sites Formed by alpha5 and beta3 Accessory
      Subunits in alpha4beta2* Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.
AB  - All nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) evolved from homomeric nAChRs in
      which all five subunits are involved in forming acetylcholine (ACh) binding sites
      at their interfaces. Heteromeric alpha4beta2* nAChRs typically have two ACh
      binding sites at alpha4/beta2 interfaces and a fifth accessory subunit
      surrounding the central cation channel. beta2 accessory subunits do not form ACh
      binding sites, but alpha4 accessory subunits do at the alpha4/alpha4 interface in
      (alpha4beta2)2alpha4 nAChRs. alpha5 and beta3 are closely related subunits that
      had been thought to act only as accessory subunits and not take part in forming
      ACh binding sites. The effect of agonists at various subunit interfaces was
      determined by blocking homologous sites at these interfaces using the
      thioreactive agent 2-((trimethylammonium)ethyl) methanethiosulfonate (MTSET). We
      found that alpha5/alpha4 and beta3/alpha4 interfaces formed ACh binding sites in
      (alpha4beta2)2alpha5 and (alpha4beta2)2beta3 nAChRs. The alpha4/alpha5 interface
      in (beta2alpha4)2alpha5 nAChRs also formed an ACh binding site. Blocking of these
      sites with MTSET reduced the maximal ACh evoked responses of these nAChRs by 30
      50%. However, site-selective agonists NS9283 (for the alpha4/alpha4 site) and
      sazetidine-A (for the alpha4/beta2 site) did not act on the ACh sites formed by
      the alpha5/alpha4 or beta3/alpha4 interfaces. This suggests that unorthodox sites
      formed by alpha5 and beta3 subunits have unique ligand selectivity. Agonists or
      antagonists for these unorthodox sites might be selective and effective drugs for
      modulating nAChR function to treat nicotine addiction and other disorders.

PMID- 27645993
TI  - Circadian Oscillations of NADH Redox State Using a Heterologous Metabolic Sensor
      in Mammalian Cells.
AB  - It is known that there are mechanistic links between circadian clocks and
      metabolic cycles. Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is a key
      metabolic cofactor in all living cells; however, it is not known whether levels
      of NADH oscillate or not. Here we employed REX, a bacterial NADH-binding protein,
      fused to the VP16 activator to convert intracellular endogenous redox balance
      into transcriptional readouts by a reporter gene in mammalian cells. EMSA results
      show that the DNA binding activity of both T- and S-REX::VP16 fusions is
      decreased with a reduced-to-oxidized cofactor ratio increase. Transient and
      stabilized cell lines bearing the REX::VP16 and the REX binding operator (ROP)
      exhibit two circadian luminescence cycles. Consistent with these results, NADH
      oscillations are observed in host cells, indicating REX can act as a NADH sensor
      to report intracellular dynamic redox homeostasis in mammalian cells in real
      time. NADH oscillations provide another metabolic signal for coupling the
      circadian clock and cellular metabolic states.

PMID- 27645995
TI  - A Ribonucleoprotein Supercomplex Involved in trans-Splicing of Organelle Group II
      Introns.
AB  - In the chloroplast of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, two discontinuous
      group II introns, psaA-i1 and psaA-i2, splice in trans, and thus their excision
      process resembles the nuclear spliceosomal splicing pathway. Here, we address the
      question whether fragmentation of trans-acting RNAs is accompanied by the
      formation of a chloroplast spliceosome-like machinery. Using a combination of
      liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), size exclusion chromatography,
      and quantitative RT-PCR, we provide the first characterization of a high
      molecular weight ribonucleoprotein apparatus participating in psaA mRNA splicing.
      This supercomplex contains two subcomplexes (I and II) that are responsible for
      trans-splicing of either psaA-i1 or psaA-i2. We further demonstrate that both
      subcomplexes are associated with intron RNA, which is a prerequisite for the
      correct assembly of subcomplex I. This study contributes further to our view of
      how the eukaryotic nuclear spliceosome evolved after bacterial endosymbiosis
      through fragmentation of self-splicing group II introns into a dynamic, protein
      rich RNP machinery.

PMID- 27645994
TI  - Selenoprotein Gene Nomenclature.
AB  - The human genome contains 25 genes coding for selenocysteine-containing proteins
      (selenoproteins). These proteins are involved in a variety of functions, most
      notably redox homeostasis. Selenoprotein enzymes with known functions are
      designated according to these functions: TXNRD1, TXNRD2, and TXNRD3 (thioredoxin
      reductases), GPX1, GPX2, GPX3, GPX4, and GPX6 (glutathione peroxidases), DIO1,
      DIO2, and DIO3 (iodothyronine deiodinases), MSRB1 (methionine sulfoxide reductase
      B1), and SEPHS2 (selenophosphate synthetase 2). Selenoproteins without known
      functions have traditionally been denoted by SEL or SEP symbols. However, these
      symbols are sometimes ambiguous and conflict with the approved nomenclature for
      several other genes. Therefore, there is a need to implement a rational and
      coherent nomenclature system for selenoprotein-encoding genes. Our solution is to
      use the root symbol SELENO followed by a letter. This nomenclature applies to
      SELENOF (selenoprotein F, the 15-kDa selenoprotein, SEP15), SELENOH
      (selenoprotein H, SELH, C11orf31), SELENOI (selenoprotein I, SELI, EPT1), SELENOK
      (selenoprotein K, SELK), SELENOM (selenoprotein M, SELM), SELENON (selenoprotein
      N, SEPN1, SELN), SELENOO (selenoprotein O, SELO), SELENOP (selenoprotein P, SeP,
      SEPP1, SELP), SELENOS (selenoprotein S, SELS, SEPS1, VIMP), SELENOT
      (selenoprotein T, SELT), SELENOV (selenoprotein V, SELV), and SELENOW
      (selenoprotein W, SELW, SEPW1). This system, approved by the HUGO Gene
      Nomenclature Committee, also resolves conflicting, missing, and ambiguous
      designations for selenoprotein genes and is applicable to selenoproteins across
      vertebrates.

PMID- 27645996
TI  - Lack of Heterologous Cross-reactivity toward HLA-A*02:01 Restricted Viral
      Epitopes Is Underpinned by Distinct alphabetaT Cell Receptor Signatures.
AB  - alphabetaT cell receptor (TCR) genetic diversity is outnumbered by the quantity
      of pathogenic epitopes to be recognized. To provide efficient protective anti
      viral immunity, a single TCR ideally needs to cross-react with a multitude of
      pathogenic epitopes. However, the frequency, extent, and mechanisms of TCR cross
      reactivity remain unclear, with conflicting results on anti-viral T cell cross
      reactivity observed in humans. Namely, both the presence and lack of T cell cross
      reactivity have been reported with HLA-A*02:01-restricted epitopes from the
      Epstein-Barr and influenza viruses (BMLF-1 and M158, respectively) or with the
      hepatitis C and influenza viruses (NS31073 and NA231, respectively). Given the
      high sequence similarity of these paired viral epitopes (56 and 88%,
      respectively), the ubiquitous nature of the three viruses, and the high frequency
      of the HLA-A*02:01 allele, we selected these epitopes to establish the extent of
      T cell cross-reactivity. We combined ex vivo and in vitro functional assays,
      single-cell alphabetaTCR repertoire sequencing, and structural analysis of these
      four epitopes in complex with HLA-A*02:01 to determine whether they could lead to
      heterologous T cell cross-reactivity. Our data show that sequence similarity does
      not translate to structural mimicry of the paired epitopes in complexes with HLA
      A*02:01, resulting in induction of distinct alphabetaTCR repertoires. The
      differences in epitope architecture might be an obstacle for TCR recognition,
      explaining the lack of T cell cross-reactivity observed. In conclusion, sequence
      similarity does not necessarily result in structural mimicry, and despite the
      need for cross-reactivity, antigen-specific TCR repertoires can remain highly
      specific.

PMID- 27645997
TI  - A New Class of Allosteric HIV-1 Integrase Inhibitors Identified by
      Crystallographic Fragment Screening of the Catalytic Core Domain.
AB  - HIV-1 integrase (IN) is essential for virus replication and represents an
      important multifunctional therapeutic target. Recently discovered quinoline-based
      allosteric IN inhibitors (ALLINIs) potently impair HIV-1 replication and are
      currently in clinical trials. ALLINIs exhibit a multimodal mechanism of action by
      inducing aberrant IN multimerization during virion morphogenesis and by competing
      with IN for binding to its cognate cellular cofactor LEDGF/p75 during early steps
      of HIV-1 infection. However, quinoline-based ALLINIs impose a low genetic barrier
      for the evolution of resistant phenotypes, which highlights a need for discovery
      of second-generation inhibitors. Using crystallographic screening of a library of
      971 fragments against the HIV-1 IN catalytic core domain (CCD) followed by a
      fragment expansion approach, we have identified thiophenecarboxylic acid
      derivatives that bind at the CCD-CCD dimer interface at the principal lens
      epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF)/p75 binding pocket. The most active
      derivative (5) inhibited LEDGF/p75-dependent HIV-1 IN activity in vitro with an
      IC50 of 72 MUm and impaired HIV-1 infection of T cells at an EC50 of 36 MUm The
      identified lead compound, with a relatively small molecular weight (221 Da),
      provides an optimal building block for developing a new class of inhibitors.
      Furthermore, although structurally distinct thiophenecarboxylic acid derivatives
      target a similar pocket at the IN dimer interface as the quinoline-based ALLINIs,
      the lead compound, 5, inhibited IN mutants that confer resistance to quinoline
      based compounds. Collectively, our findings provide a plausible path for
      structure-based development of second-generation ALLINIs.

PMID- 27645998
TI  - Chondroitin 4-O-Sulfotransferase Is Indispensable for Sulfation of Chondroitin
      and Plays an Important Role in Maintaining Normal Life Span and Oxidative Stress
      Responses in Nematodes.
AB  - Chondroitin sulfate (CS)/chondroitin (Chn) chains are indispensable for embryonic
      cell division and cytokinesis in the early developmental stages in Caenorhabditis
      elegans and mice, whereas heparan sulfate (HS) is essential for axon guidance
      during nervous system development. These data indicate that the fundamental
      functions of CS and HS are conserved from worms to mammals and that the function
      of CS/Chn differs from that of HS. Although previous studies have shown that C.
      elegans produces HS and non-sulfated Chn, whether the organism produces CS
      remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that C. elegans produces a small amount of
      4-O-sulfated Chn and report the identification of C41C4.1, an orthologue of the
      human chondroitin 4-O-sulfotransferase gene. Loss of C41C4.1 in C. elegans
      resulted in a decline in 4-O-sulfation of CS and an increase in the number of
      sulfated units in HS. C41C4.1 deletion mutants exhibited reduced survival rates
      after synchronization with sodium hypochlorite. Collectively, these results show
      for the first time that CS glycans are present in C. elegans and that the Chn 4-O
      sulfotransferase responsible for the sulfation plays an important role in
      protecting nematodes from oxidative stress.

PMID- 27645999
TI  - The Lectin-like Domain of TNF Increases ENaC Open Probability through a Novel
      Site at the Interface between the Second Transmembrane and C-terminal Domains of
      the alpha-Subunit.
AB  - Regulation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), which regulates fluid
      homeostasis and blood pressure, is complex and remains incompletely understood.
      The TIP peptide, a mimic of the lectin-like domain of TNF, activates ENaC by
      binding to glycosylated residues in the extracellular loop of ENaC-alpha, as well
      as to a hitherto uncharacterized internal site. Molecular docking studies
      suggested three residues, Val567, Glu568, and Glu571, located at the interface
      between the second transmembrane and C-terminal domains of ENaC-alpha, as a
      critical site for binding of the TIP peptide. We generated Ala replacement
      mutants in this region of ENaC-alpha and examined its interaction with TIP
      peptide (3M, V567A/E568A/E571A; 2M, V567A/E568A; and 1M, E571A). 3M and 2M ENaC
      alpha, but not 1M ENaC-alpha, displayed significantly reduced binding capacity to
      TIP peptide and to TNF. When overexpressed in H441 cells, 3M mutant ENaC-alpha
      formed functional channels with similar gating and density characteristics as the
      WT subunit and efficiently associated with the beta and gamma subunits in the
      plasma membrane. We subsequently assayed for increased open probability time and
      membrane expression, both of which define ENaC activity, following addition of
      TIP peptide. TIP peptide increased open probability time in H441 cells
      overexpressing wild type and 1M ENaC-alpha channels, but not 3M or 2M ENaC-alpha
      channels. On the other hand, TIP peptide-mediated reduction in ENaC
      ubiquitination was similar in cells overexpressing either WT or 3M ENaC-alpha
      subunits. In summary, this study has identified a novel site in ENaC-alpha that
      is crucial for activation of the open probability of the channel, but not
      membrane expression, by the lectin-like domain of TNF.

PMID- 27646000
TI  - Key Structural Determinants in the Agonist Binding Loops of Human beta2 and beta4
      Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subunits Contribute to alpha3beta4 Subtype
      Selectivity of alpha-Conotoxins.
AB  - alpha-Conotoxins represent a large group of pharmacologically active peptides
      that antagonize nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The alpha3beta4
      nAChR, a predominant subtype in the peripheral nervous system, has been
      implicated in various pathophysiological conditions. As many alpha-conotoxins
      have multiple pharmacological targets, compounds specifically targeting
      individual nAChR subtypes are needed. In this study, we performed mutational
      analyses to evaluate the key structural components of human beta2 and beta4 nAChR
      subunits that determine alpha-conotoxin selectivity for alpha3beta4 nAChR. alpha
      Conotoxin RegIIA was used to evaluate the impact of non-conserved human beta2 and
      beta4 residues on peptide affinity. Two mutations, alpha3beta2[T59K] and
      alpha3beta2[S113R], strongly enhanced RegIIA affinity compared with wild-type
      alpha3beta2, as seen by substantially increased inhibitory potency and slower off
      rate kinetics. Opposite point mutations in alpha3beta4 had the contrary effect,
      emphasizing the importance of loop D residue 59 and loop E residue 113 as
      determinants for RegIIA affinity. Molecular dynamics simulation revealed the side
      chains of beta4 Lys59 and beta4 Arg113 formed hydrogen bonds with RegIIA loop 2
      atoms, whereas the beta2 Thr59 and beta2 Ser113 side chains were not long enough
      to form such interactions. Residue beta4 Arg113 has been identified for the first
      time as a crucial component facilitating antagonist binding. Another alpha
      conotoxin, AuIB, exhibited low activity at human alpha3beta2 and alpha3beta4
      nAChRs. Molecular dynamics simulation indicated the key interactions with the
      beta subunit are different to RegIIA. Taken together, these data elucidate the
      interactions with specific individual beta subunit residues that critically
      determine affinity and pharmacological activity of alpha-conotoxins RegIIA and
      AuIB at human nAChRs.

PMID- 27646001
TI  - MyD88 Adapter-like (Mal)/TIRAP Is Required for Cytokine Production by Splenic
      Ly6CloTLR2hi but Not by Ly6ChiTLR2hi Monocytes during Trypanosoma cruzi
      Infection.
AB  - This study continues to explore the plasticity of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)
      previously described in immune response during Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Here,
      we have shown that Ly6ChiTLR2hi monocytes were involved in TNF-alpha and IL-12
      production, whereas Ly6CloTLR2hi monocytes were mainly committed to IL-10 and TNF
      alpha production during T. cruzi infection independently of TLR agonist used
      (i.e. TLR2 or TLR9 agonists). Another difference between the monocyte populations
      is that the adapter Mal (encoded by TIRAP) has appeared crucial for the cytokine
      production by Ly6Clo but not by Ly6Chi monocytes. The protein Mal was necessary
      to induce cytokine synthesis by Ly6Clo monocytes after triggering TLR2 or TLR9.
      Finally, our data have suggested that TLR2, TLR9, and Mal/TIRAP controlled
      differentially the emergence of the different TLR2hi monocyte populations in the
      spleen. In summary, this study highlights the central role of the TLR2/Mal tandem
      in the distinct activity among the monocyte subsets during T. cruzi infection.
      Such findings provide a basis for understanding the challenge posed by the use of
      TLR2 agonist in immunotherapy.

PMID- 27646002
TI  - Cell Surface CD36 Protein in Monocyte/Macrophage Contributes to Phagocytosis
      during the Resolution Phase of Ischemic Stroke in Mice.
AB  - Infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages (M-MPhi) influence stroke-induced brain
      injury. Although the inflammatory nature of M-MPhi in acute stroke has been well
      documented, their role during the resolution phase of stroke is less clear. With
      emerging evidence for the involvement of scavenger receptors in innate immunity,
      this study addresses an M-MPhi CD36 role in mediating phagocytosis during the
      recovery phase of stroke. Stroke increases CD36 and TSP-1/2 mRNA levels in the
      ipsilateral hemisphere at acute (3-day (d)) and recovery (7d) periods.
      Quantification of total, intracellular, and cell surface CD36 protein levels
      showed relatively unchanged expression at 3d post-ischemia. At 7d, there was a
      significant increase in cell surface CD36 (p < 0.05) with a concurrent reduction
      of intracellular CD36 (p < 0.05) in the ipsilateral hemisphere. Both cell surface
      and intracellular CD36 were found in whole brain lysates, whereas cell surface
      CD36 was predominantly detected in isolated brain mononuclear cells, blood
      monocytes, and peritoneal macrophages, suggesting that cell surface CD36
      expressed in the post-ischemic brain originates from the periphery. The stroke
      induced CD36 mRNA level correlated with increased expression of lysosomal acid
      lipase, an M2 macrophage marker. Functionally, higher CD36 expression in M-MPhi
      is correlated with higher phagocytic indices in post-ischemic brain immune cells.
      Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of CD36 attenuated phagocytosis in
      peritoneal macrophages and brain M-MPhi These findings demonstrate that cell
      surface CD36 on M-MPhi mediates phagocytosis during the recovery phase in post
      stroke brains and suggests that CD36 plays a reparative role during the
      resolution of inflammation in ischemic stroke.

PMID- 27646003
TI  - MicroRNA-205 Maintains T Cell Development following Stress by Regulating Forkhead
      Box N1 and Selected Chemokines.
AB  - The thymus, an organ responsible for T cell development, is one of the more
      stress-sensitive tissues in the body. Stress, in the form of infections,
      radiation exposure, and steroids, impairs thymic epithelial cell (TEC) functions
      and induces the programmed cell death of immature thymocytes. MicroRNAs are small
      noncoding RNAs involved in tissue repair and homeostasis, with several supporting
      T cell development. We report that miR-205, an epithelial-specific miR, maintains
      thymopoiesis following inflammatory perturbations. Thus, the activation of
      diverse pattern recognition receptors in mice causes a more severe thymic
      hypoplasia and delayed T cell recovery when miR-205 is conditionally ablated in
      TECs. Gene expression comparisons in the TECs with/without miR-205 revealed a
      significant differential regulation of chemokine/chemokine receptor pathways,
      antigen processing components, and changes in the Wnt signaling system. This was
      partly a consequence of reduced expression of the transcriptional regulator of
      epithelial cell function, Forkhead Box N1 (Foxn1), and its two regulated targets,
      stem cell factor and ccl25, following stress. miR-205 mimics supplemented into
      miR-205-deficient fetal thymic organ cultures restored Foxn1 expression along
      with ccl25 and stem cell factor A number of putative targets of miR-205 were up
      regulated in TECs lacking miR-205, consistent with an important role for this miR
      in supporting T cell development in response to stress.

PMID- 27646005
TI  - Modification of p21 level and cell cycle distribution by 50 Hz magnetic fields in
      human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: In our previous studies, exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF)
      magnetic fields (MF) altered responses to DNA damage caused by menadione. The aim
      of this study was to evaluate possible ELF MF induced changes in proteins
      involved in DNA damage responses and in cell cycle distribution. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Based on our previous studies, the exposure protocol included pre
      exposure of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells to a 50 Hz, 100 MUT MF for 24 h
      prior to a 3-h menadione treatment. As DNA damage responses are relatively fast
      processes, a 1-h menadione treatment was also included in the experiments. The
      menadione concentrations used were 1, 10, 15, 20, and 25 MUM. Immunoblotting was
      used to assess the levels of DNA damage response-related proteins (gamma-H2AX,
      Chk1, phospho-Chk1, p21, p27, and p53), while the level of DNA damage was
      assessed by the alkaline Comet assay. Cell cycle distribution was assayed by
      SYTOX Green staining followed by flow cytometry analysis. RESULTS: The main
      findings in MF-exposed cells were decreased p21 protein level after the 1-h
      menadione treatment, as well as increased proportion of cells in the G1 phase and
      decreased proportion of S phase cells after the 3-h menadione treatment. These
      effects were detectable also in the absence of menadione. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results indicate that MF exposure can alter the G1 checkpoint response and that
      the p21 protein may be involved in early responses to MF exposure.

PMID- 27646004
TI  - Variable Dependence of Signaling Output on Agonist Occupancy of Ste2p, a G
      Protein-coupled Receptor in Yeast.
AB  - We report here on the relationship between ligand binding and signaling responses
      in the yeast pheromone response pathway, a well characterized G protein-coupled
      receptor system. Responses to agonist (alpha-factor) by cells expressing widely
      varying numbers of receptors depend primarily on fractional occupancy, not the
      absolute number of agonist-bound receptors. Furthermore, the concentration of
      competitive antagonist required to inhibit alpha-factor-dependent signaling is
      more than 10-fold higher than predicted based on the known ligand affinities.
      Thus, responses to a particular number of agonist-bound receptors can vary
      greatly, depending on whether there are unoccupied or antagonist-bound receptors
      present on the same cell surface. This behavior does not appear to be due to pre
      coupling of receptors to G protein or to the Sst2p regulator of G protein
      signaling. The results are consistent with a signaling response that is
      determined by the integration of positive signals from agonist-occupied receptors
      and inhibitory signals from unoccupied receptors, where the inhibitory signals
      can be diminished by antagonist binding.

PMID- 27646010
TI  - Infiltrated Embolization of Meningioma with Dilute Cyanoacrylate Glue.
AB  - We describe the efficacy and technical aspects of infiltrated preoperative
      embolization of meningioma by penetration of very dilute glue. In this method, a
      13% n-butyl-cyanoacrylate (NBCA)-lipiodol mixture is injected extremely slowly
      from the middle meningeal artery (MMA) in a similar manner to plug and push
      injection of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer mixed with tantalum and dimethyl
      sulfoxide (Onyx(r)) after the tortuous side feeders are proximally embolized. The
      glue is infiltrated into small tumor arteries and extends to inaccessible feeders
      from deep meningeal arteries. Since 2011, we have used this technique in the
      embolization of 32 cases preoperatively diagnosed with meningioma. Intratumoral
      embolization was possible in 30 cases (94%), and a greater than 50% reduction in
      contrast area of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MR imaging (T1-WI) was achieved in
      18 cases (56%). Two cases achieved complete devascularization, showing a
      remarkable shrinkage in tumor size after embolization. If excessive reflux of
      embolization and the resulting migration of glue into normal arteries is
      achieved, this method provides extremely effective devascularization on surgical
      extirpation. It might also be applicable to surgically untreatable meningiomas as
      a semi-radical treatment option.

PMID- 27646012
TI  - The Paired Associates Learning (PAL) Test: 30 Years of CANTAB Translational
      Neuroscience from Laboratory to Bedside in Dementia Research.
AB  - The origins and rationale of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated
      Battery (CANTAB) as a cross-species translational instrument suitable for use in
      human neuropsychopharmacological studies are reviewed. We focus on its use for
      the early assessment and detection of Alzheimer's disease, in particular the
      Paired Associates Learning (PAL) test. We consider its psychometric properties,
      neural validation, and utility, including studies on large samples of healthy
      volunteers, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's
      disease. We demonstrate how it can be applied in cross-species studies using
      experimental animals to bridge the cross-species translational 'gap'. We also
      show how the CANTAB PAL has bridged a second translational 'gap' through its
      application to the early detection of memory problems in primary care clinics,
      using iPad technology. 

PMID- 27646014
TI  - Utilization of Facet Joint and Sacroiliac Joint Interventions in Medicare
      Population from 2000 to 2014: Explosive Growth Continues!
AB  - Increasing utilization of interventional techniques in managing chronic spinal
      pain, specifically facet joint interventions and sacroiliac joint injections, is
      a major concern of healthcare policy makers. We analyzed the patterns of
      utilization of facet and sacroiliac joint interventions in managing chronic
      spinal pain. The results showed significant increase of facet joint interventions
      and sacroiliac joint injections from 2000 to 2014 in Medicare FFS service
      beneficiaries. Overall, the Medicare population increased 35 %, whereas facet
      joint and sacroiliac joint interventions increased 313.3 % per 100,000 Medicare
      population with an annual increase of 10.7 %. While the increases were uniform
      from 2000 to 2014, there were some decreases noted for facet joint interventions
      in 2007, 2010, and 2013, whereas for sacroiliac joint injections, the decreases
      were noted in 2007 and 2013. The increases were for cervical and thoracic facet
      neurolysis at 911.5 % compared to lumbosacral facet neurolysis of 567.8 %, 362.9
      % of cervical and thoracic facet joint blocks, 316.9 % of sacroiliac joints
      injections, and finally 227.3 % of lumbosacral facet joint blocks. 

PMID- 27646016
TI  - A Systematic Review of DNA Methylation and Preterm Birth in African American
      Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The causes of many cases of preterm birth (PTB) remain enigmatic.
      Increased understanding of how epigenetic factors are associated with health
      outcomes has resulted in studies examining DNA methylation (DNAm) as a
      contributing factor to PTB. However, few studies on PTB and DNAm have included
      African American women, the group with the highest rate of PTB. METHODS: The
      objective of this review was to systematically analyze the existing studies on
      DNAm and PTB among African American women. RESULTS: Studies ( N = 10) were
      limited by small sample size, cross-sectional study designs, inconsistent
      methodologies for epigenomic analysis, and evaluation of different tissue types
      across studies. African Americans comprised less than half of the sample in 50%
      of the studies reviewed. Despite these limitations, there is evidence for an
      association between DNAm patterns and PTB. CONCLUSIONS: Future research on DNAm
      patterns and PTB should use longitudinal study designs, repeated DNAm testing,
      and a clinically relevant definition of PTB and should include large samples of
      high-risk African American women to better understand the mechanisms for PTB in
      this population.

PMID- 27646017
TI  - Structural studies of the yeast DNA damage-inducible protein Ddi1 reveal domain
      architecture of this eukaryotic protein family.
AB  - The eukaryotic Ddi1 family is defined by a conserved retroviral aspartyl protease
      like (RVP) domain found in association with a ubiquitin-like (UBL) domain. Ddi1
      from Saccharomyces cerevisiae additionally contains a ubiquitin-associated (UBA)
      domain. The substrate specificity and role of the protease domain in the
      biological functions of the Ddi family remain unclear. Yeast Ddi1 has been
      implicated in the regulation of cell cycle progression, DNA-damage repair, and
      exocytosis. Here, we investigated the multi-domain structure of yeast Ddi1 using
      X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and small-angle X-ray
      scattering. The crystal structure of the RVP domain sheds light on a putative
      substrate recognition site involving a conserved loop. Isothermal titration
      calorimetry confirms that both UBL and UBA domains bind ubiquitin, and that Ddi1
      binds K48-linked diubiquitin with enhanced affinity. The solution NMR structure
      of a helical domain that precedes the protease displays tertiary structure
      similarity to DNA-binding domains from transcription regulators. Our structural
      studies suggest that the helical domain could serve as a landing platform for
      substrates in conjunction with attached ubiquitin chains binding to the UBL and
      UBA domains.

PMID- 27646019
TI  - Long-Term Survival in Patients with Postoperative Intra-Abdominal Infectious
      Complications After Curative Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: A Propensity Score
      Matching Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been reported that postoperative complications after curative
      surgery for gastric cancer adversely affect long-term survival; however,
      postoperative complications may confound other patient characteristics or tumor
      factors associated with survival outcome. In the present study, covariates were
      adjusted by propensity score matching to clarify whether postoperative
      complications truly affect survival outcome. METHODS: The present study was
      performed on 1541 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer
      between 2002 and 2009. Patients were divided into two groups based on the
      occurrence (174 patients) or absence (1367 patients) of postoperative intra
      abdominal infectious complications. Survival outcomes were compared between
      groups using propensity score matching analysis. RESULTS: Most
      clinicopathological characteristics differed significantly between the two
      groups, but these differences disappeared after propensity score matching. After
      matching, overall survival was significantly poorer in patients with
      postoperative intra-abdominal infectious complications [hazard ratio (HR) 1.43,
      95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.02-2.00; p = 0.036], as was relapse-free survival
      (HR 1.42, 95 % CI 1.03-1.96; p = 0.034). CONCLUSIONS: Intra-abdominal infectious
      complications adversely affected survival outcome when patients were matched by
      propensity scores, which included demographic data as covariates. Thus, it is
      important to avoid the development of intra-abdominal infectious complications to
      improve long-term survival.

PMID- 27646018
TI  - Postmastectomy Radiotherapy: An American Society of Clinical Oncology, American
      Society for Radiation Oncology, and Society of Surgical Oncology Focused
      Guideline Update.
AB  - PURPOSE: A joint American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society for
      Radiation Oncology, and Society of Surgical Oncology panel convened to develop a
      focused update of the American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline concerning
      use of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT). METHODS: A recent systematic
      literature review by Cancer Care Ontario provided the primary evidentiary basis.
      The joint panel also reviewed targeted literature searches to identify new,
      potentially practice-changing data. RECOMMENDATIONS: The panel unanimously agreed
      that available evidence shows that PMRT reduces the risks of locoregional failure
      (LRF), any recurrence, and breast cancer mortality for patients with T1-2 breast
      cancer with one to three positive axillary nodes. However, some subsets of these
      patients are likely to have such a low risk of LRF that the absolute benefit of
      PMRT is outweighed by its potential toxicities. In addition, the acceptable ratio
      of benefit to toxicity varies among patients and physicians. Thus, the decision
      to recommend PMRT requires a great deal of clinical judgment. The panel agreed
      clinicians making such recommendations for individual patients should consider
      factors that may decrease the risk of LRF, attenuate the benefit of reduced
      breast cancer-specific mortality, and/or increase risk of complications resulting
      from PMRT. When clinicians and patients elect to omit axillary dissection after a
      positive sentinel node biopsy, the panel recommends that these patients receive
      PMRT only if there is already sufficient information to justify its use without
      needing to know additional axillary nodes are involved. Patients with axillary
      nodal involvement after neoadjuvant systemic therapy should receive PMRT. The
      panel recommends treatment generally be administered to both the internal mammary
      nodes and the supraclavicular-axillary apical nodes in addition to the chest wall
      or reconstructed breast.

PMID- 27646020
TI  - Nodular Histologic Subtype and Ulceration are Tumor Factors Associated with High
      Risk of Recurrence in Sentinel Node-Negative Melanoma Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since its introduction, the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has
      become the standard staging procedure in clinical node-negative melanoma
      patients. A negative SLNB, however, does not guarantee a recurrence-free
      survival. Insight into metastatic patterns and risk factors for recurrence in
      SLNB negative melanoma patients can provide patient tailored guidelines. METHODS:
      Data concerning melanoma patients who underwent SLNB between 1996 and 2015 in a
      single center were prospectively collected. Cox regression analyses were used to
      determine variables associated with overall recurrence and distant first site of
      recurrence in SLNB-negative patients. RESULTS: In 668 patients, SLNBs were
      performed between 1996 and 2015. Of these patients, 50.4 % were male and 49.6 %
      female with a median age of 55.2 (range 5.7-88.8) years. Median Breslow thickness
      was 2.2 (range 0.3-20) mm. The SLNB was positive in 27.8 % of patients.
      Recurrence rates were 53.2 % in SLNB-positive and 17.9 % in SLNB-negative
      patients (p < 0.001). For SLNB-negative patients, the site of first recurrence
      was distant in 58.5 %. Melanoma located in the head and neck region (hazard ratio
      4.88, p = 0.003) and increasing Breslow thickness (hazard ratio 1.15, p = 0.013)
      were predictive for distant first site of recurrence in SLNB-negative patients.
      SLNB-negative patients with a nodular melanoma and ulceration had a recurrence
      rate of 43.1 %; the site of recurrence was distant in 64 % of these patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: The recurrence rates of SLNB-negative nodular ulcerative melanoma
      patients approach those of SLNB-positive patients. Stringent follow-up is
      recommended in this subset of patients.

PMID- 27646021
TI  - Erratum to: The COMET Open-label Phase II Study of Neoadjuvant FOLFOX or XELOX
      Treatment Combined with Molecular Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies in Patients
      with Resectable Liver Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer.

PMID- 27646022
TI  - Sarcoma Brain Metastases: 28 Years of Experience at a Single Institution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brain metastasis from sarcoma is rare, thus limited information is
      available. We examined sarcoma brain metastases diagnosed at our institution over
      a period of 28 years. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 112 cases.
      Clinical records were reviewed and clinical, pathological, and survival data were
      tabulated. RESULTS: Undifferentiated sarcoma was the most common source. In 50 %
      of cases, the primary sarcoma was in the extremities. Most patients were adults
      at the time of first brain metastasis, and median age was 34.8 years. Although
      most patients evidenced metastatic disease to other sites prior to developing
      brain metastasis, in almost one quarter, brain was the initial site. Most of the
      metastatic foci were parenchymal, nonhemorrhagic, and solitary. Forty percent of
      the brain metastatic deposits were located in the frontal lobes. Thirty-one
      percent recurred-all within 5.3 years. Seventy-six percent of patients succumbed
      to the disease, with a median survival time of only 0.6 years. Hemorrhagic
      metastatic foci were found to be associated with significantly lower recurrence
      free, as well as disease-specific survivals. No difference in survival was noted
      between single versus multiple deposits or primary soft tissue versus bone
      sarcomas. No statistically significant effect on survival was found when
      neurosurgical resection was combined with radiotherapy. Chemotherapy, on the
      other hand, was found to significantly improve disease-specific survival when
      combined with metastasectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Undifferentiated sarcoma was the most
      common source of brain metastasis. Most cases showed evidence of prior metastatic
      disease. Surgical resection is employed to manage symptoms, but prognosis remains
      dismal.

PMID- 27646025
TI  - Determination of the toxic variability of lipophilic biotoxins in marine bivalve
      and gastropod tissues treated with an industrial canning process.
AB  - Contamination of shellfish with lipophilic marine biotoxins (LMB), pectenotoxins
      (PTXs), yessotoxins (YTXs) and okadaic acid (OA) toxin groups in southern Chile
      is a constant challenge for the development of miticulture considering the high
      incidence of toxic episodes that tend to occur. This research is focused on using
      methodologies for assessing the decrease in toxins of natural resources in Chile
      with high value, without altering the organoleptic properties of the shellfish.
      The species were processed through steaming (1 min at 121 degrees C) and
      subsequent canning (5 min at 121 degrees C). Changes in the profiles of toxins
      and total toxicity levels of LMB in endemic bivalves and gastropods were
      determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The
      total reduction of toxicity (~ 15%) was not related to the destruction of the
      toxin, but rather to the loss of LMB on removing the shells and packing media of
      canned products (***p < 0.001). Industrial processing of shellfish reduces LMB
      contents by up to 15% of the total initial contents, concomitant only with the
      interconversion of PTX-group toxins into PTX-2sa. In soft bottom-dwelling species
      with toxicities beyond the standard for safe human consumption (>= 160 MUg OA-eq
      kg-1), toxicity can be reduced to safe levels through industrial preparation
      procedures.

PMID- 27646023
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Colorectal Cancer with Peritoneal and Liver Metastases
      Using Combined Liver and Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal
      Chemotherapy: Report from a Single-Centre Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapeutic advances have enabled successful cytoreductive
      surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) expansion in
      treating metastatic colorectal cancer. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to
      evaluate the safety of combining liver surgery (LS) with HIPEC and CRS (which
      remains controversial) and its impact on overall survival (OS) rates. METHODS:
      From 2007 to 2015, a total of 77 patients underwent CRS/HIPEC for peritoneal
      carcinomatosis (PC) of colorectal cancer. Twenty-five of these patients underwent
      concomitant LS for suspicion of liver metastases (LM; group 2), and were compared
      with patients who underwent CRS/HIPEC only (group 1). Demographic and clinical
      data were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Among the group 2 patients, two
      underwent major hepatectomies, six underwent multiple wedge resections, 16
      underwent single wedge resections (one with radiofrequency ablation), and one
      underwent radiofrequency ablation alone. For groups 1 and 2, median peritoneal
      cancer index was 6 and 10 (range 0-26; p = 0.08), complication rates were 15.4
      and 32.0 % (Dindo-Clavien >=3; p = 0.15), and median follow-up was 34.2 and 25.5
      months (range 0-75 and 3-97), respectively. One group 2 patient died of septic
      shock after 66 days. Pathology confirmed LM in 21 patients in group 2 (four with
      benign hepatic lesions were excluded from long-term outcome analysis). Two-year
      OS rates were 89.5 and 70.2 % (p = 0.04), and 2-year recurrence-free survival
      rates were 38.3 and 13.4 % (p = 0.01) in groups 1 and 2, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous surgery for colorectal LM and PC is both feasible and
      safe, with low postoperative morbidity. Further longer-term studies would help
      determine its impact on patient survival.

PMID- 27646027
TI  - Single-shot laser pulse reconstruction based on self-phase modulated spectra
      measurements.
AB  - We report a method for ultrashort pulse reconstruction based only on the pulse
      spectrum and two self-phase modulated (SPM) spectra measured after pulse
      propagation through thin media with a Kerr nonlinearity. The advantage of this
      method is that it is a simple and very effective tool for characterization of
      complex signals. We have developed a new retrieval algorithm that was verified by
      reconstructing numerically generated fields, such as a complex electric field of
      double pulses and few-cycle pulses with noises, pedestals and dips down to zero
      spectral intensity, which is challenging for commonly used techniques. We have
      also demonstrated a single-shot implementation of the technique for the
      reconstruction of experimentally obtained pulses. This method can be used for
      high power laser systems operating in a single-shot mode in the optical, near-
      and mid-IR spectral ranges. The method is robust, low cost, stable to noise, does
      not require a priori information, and has no ambiguity related to time direction.

PMID- 27646028
TI  - Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) contribution in strengthening public health
      laboratories systems in the African region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The laboratory has always played a very critical role in diagnosis of
      the diseases. The success of any disease programme is based on a functional
      laboratory network. Health laboratory services are an integral component of the
      health system. Efficiency and effectiveness of both clinical and public health
      functions including surveillance, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, research and
      health promotion are influenced by reliable laboratory services. The
      establishment of the African Regional polio laboratory for the Polio Eradication
      Initiative (PEI) has contributed in supporting countries in their efforts to
      strengthen laboratory capacity. On the eve of the closing of the program, we have
      shown through this article, examples of this contribution in two countries of the
      African region: Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. METHODS:
      Descriptive studies were carried out in Cote d'Ivoire (RCI) and Democratic
      Republic of Congo (DRC) from October to December 2014. Questionnaires and self
      administered and in-depth interviews and group discussions as well as records and
      observation were used to collect information during laboratory visits and
      assessments. RESULTS: The PEI financial support allows to maintain the majority
      of the 14 (DRC) and 12 (RCI) staff involved in the polio laboratory as full or in
      part time members. Through laboratory technical staff training supported by the
      PEI, skills and knowledge were gained to reinforce laboratories capacity and
      performance in quality laboratory functioning, processes and techniques such as
      cell culture. In the same way, infrastructure was improved and equipment
      provided. General laboratory quality standards, including the entire laboratory
      key elements was improved through the PEI accreditation process. CONCLUSION: The
      Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) is a good example of contribution in
      strengthening public health laboratories systems in the African region. It has
      established strong Polio Laboratory network that contributed to the strengthening
      of capacities and its expansion to surveillance of other viral priority diseases
      such as measles, yellow fever, Influenza, MERS-CoV and Ebola. This could serve as
      lesson and good example of laboratory based surveillance to improving diseases
      prevention, detection and control in our middle and low income countries as WHO
      and partners are heading to polio eradication in the world.

PMID- 27646029
TI  - Stakeholders' perceptions of 10years of the Global Action Plan for Influenza
      Vaccines (GAP) - Results from a survey.
AB  - Ten years after the launch of the Global Action Plan for Influenza Vaccines
      (GAP), the World Health Organization (WHO) surveyed stakeholders to understand
      their perceptions of what the programme had achieved. This article provides a
      summary of the findings; the full report will be available on-line on the GAP
      website in November 2016 (http://www.who.int/influenza_vaccines_plan/en/).
      Seventy-seven responses were received from stakeholders including medical
      doctors, national influenza center officials, country immunization programme
      teams, surveillance and disease centers, policy-makers, researchers, vaccine
      manufacturers, and non-governmental organizations from 28 countries, representing
      all six WHO regions. Respondents cited GAP's biggest successes as capacity
      building in developing countries; raising international awareness of global needs
      in the event of a pandemic; and collaborative alignment of influenza
      stakeholders. The most commonly reported challenges were the limited progress in
      development of a broadly protective or universal vaccine and the perceived
      absence of a major increase in seasonal demand. These findings aligned with the
      perception that less global progress had been made under the third GAP objective,
      focused on research and development of better vaccines, than on increasing
      seasonal vaccine use (objective 1) and pandemic vaccine production capacity
      (objective 2). Respondents explained what they saw as the major challenges to
      development of better vaccines, including to development of a universal influenza
      vaccine. The majority of respondents agreed that the goal chosen at the GAP II
      consultation is still relevant. Results highlighted the importance of promoting
      research and development of better vaccines, both for facilitating uptake of
      seasonal vaccines and for ensuring timely vaccine availability in the event of a
      pandemic. As the GAP concludes its mandate this year, these findings will
      contribute to discussions on the impact of programme closure and how to address
      the key issues facing influenza stakeholders thereafter.

PMID- 27646030
TI  - A global review of national influenza immunization policies: Analysis of the 2014
      WHO/UNICEF Joint Reporting Form on immunization.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The WHO recommends annual influenza vaccination to prevent
      influenza illness in high-risk groups. Little is known about national influenza
      immunization policies globally. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The 2014 WHO/UNICEF Joint
      Reporting Form (JRF) on Immunization was adapted to capture data on influenza
      immunization policies. We combined this dataset with additional JRF information
      on new vaccine introductions and strength of immunization programmes, as well as
      publicly available data on country economic status. Data from countries that did
      not complete the JRF were sought through additional sources. We described data on
      country influenza immunization policies and used bivariate analyses to identify
      factors associated with having such policies. RESULTS: Of 194 WHO Member States,
      115 (59%) reported having a national influenza immunization policy in 2014. Among
      countries with a national policy, programmes target specific WHO-defined risk
      groups, including pregnant women (42%), young children (28%), adults with chronic
      illnesses (46%), the elderly (45%), and health care workers (47%). The Americas,
      Europe, and Western Pacific were the WHO regions that had the highest percentages
      of countries reporting that they had national influenza immunization policies.
      Compared to countries without policies, countries with policies were
      significantly more likely to have the following characteristics: to be high or
      upper middle income (p<0.0001); to have introduced birth dose hepatitis B virus
      vaccine (p<0.0001), pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (p=0.032), or human papilloma
      virus vaccine (p=0.002); to have achieved global goals for diphtheria-tetanus
      pertussis vaccine coverage (p<0.0001); and to have a functioning National
      Immunization Technical Advisory Group (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The 2014 revision
      of the JRF permitted a global assessment of national influenza immunization
      policies. The 59% of countries reporting that they had policies are wealthier,
      use more new or under-utilized vaccines, and have stronger immunization systems.
      Addressing disparities in public health resources and strengthening immunization
      systems may facilitate influenza vaccine introduction and use.

PMID- 27646032
TI  - Self-assembly formation of Bi-functional Co3O4/MnO2-CNTs hybrid catalysts for
      achieving both high energy/power density and cyclic ability of rechargeable zinc
      air battery.
AB  - alpha-MnO2 nanotubes-supported Co3O4 (Co3O4/MnO2) and its carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
      hybrids (Co3O4/MnO2-CNTs) have been successfully developed through a facile two
      pot precipitation reaction and hydrothermal process, which exhibit the superior
      bi-functional catalytic activity for both ORR and OER. The high performance is
      believed to be induced by the hybrid effect among MnO2 nanotubes, hollow Co3O4
      and CNTs, which can produce a synergetic enhancement. When integrated into the
      practical primary and electrochemically rechargeable Zn-air batteries, such a
      hybrid catalyst can give a discharge peak power density as high as 450 mW cm(-2).
      At 1.0 V of cell voltage, a current density of 324 mA cm(-2) is achieved. This
      performance is superior to all reported non-precious metal catalysts in
      literature for zinc-air batteries and significantly outperforms the state-of-the
      art platinum-based catalyst. Particularly, the rechargeable Zn-air battery can be
      fabricated into all-solid-state one through a simple solid-state approach, which
      exhibits an excellent peak power density of 62 mW cm(-2), and the charge and
      discharge potentials remain virtually unchanged during the overall cycles, which
      is comparable to the one with liquid electrolyte.

PMID- 27646031
TI  - Autoregulated expression of p53 from an adenoviral vector confers superior tumor
      inhibition in a model of prostate carcinoma gene therapy.
AB  - Alternative treatments for cancer using gene therapy approaches have shown
      promising results and some have even reached the marketplace. Even so, additional
      improvements are needed, such as employing a strategically chosen promoter to
      drive expression of the transgene in the target cell. Previously, we described
      viral vectors where high-level transgene expression was achieved using a p53
      responsive promoter. Here we present an adenoviral vector (AdPGp53) where p53 is
      employed to regulate its own expression and which outperforms a traditional
      vector when tested in a model of gene therapy for prostate cancer. The
      functionality of AdPGp53 and AdCMVp53 were compared in human prostate carcinoma
      cell lines. AdPGp53 conferred greatly enhanced levels of p53 protein and
      induction of the p53 target gene, p21, as well as superior cell killing by a
      mechanism consistent with apoptosis. DU145 cells were susceptible to induction of
      death with AdPGp53, yet PC3 cells were quite resistant. Though AdCMVp53 was shown
      to be reliable, extremely high-level expression of p53 offered by AdPGp53 was
      necessary for tumor suppressor activity in PC3 and DU145. In situ gene therapy
      experiments revealed tumor inhibition and increased overall survival in response
      to AdPGp53, but not AdCMVp53. Upon histologic examination, only AdPGp53 treatment
      was correlated with the detection of both p53 and TUNEL-positive cells. This
      study points to the importance of improved vector performance for gene therapy of
      prostate cancer.

PMID- 27646036
TI  - Putting a name to it: diagnosis in contemporary society Annemarie Jutel Putting a
      name to it: diagnosis in contemporary society Johns Hopkins University L23.50
      200pp 9781421400679 1421400677 [Formula: see text].
AB  - THE AUTHOR of this book, Annemarie Jutel, trained as a nurse in France and
      practised in New Zealand and the US. She left clinical work a decade ago to teach
      and write on the sociological aspects of health and illness.

PMID- 27646034
TI  - Visual diagnosis in emergency and critical care medicine Christopher Holstege
      Visual diagnosis in emergency and critical care medicine Wiley Blackwell L54.99
      208pp 9781444333473 144433347X [Formula: see text].
AB  - IT IS said that a picture is worth a thousand words and the proverb is endorsed
      by this lavishly produced book. It presents illustrations of 101 cases, ranging
      from a neonate with fever and rash to an older woman with groin swelling, to
      represent the range of patients who may present at an emergency department (ED).

PMID- 27646037
TI  - Happy holidays.
AB  - AS THE nights draw in and it gets colder, our thoughts turn to the holiday
      season.

PMID- 27646038
TI  - ?
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27646033
TI  - Repurposing of approved cardiovascular drugs.
AB  - Research and development of new drugs requires both long time and high costs,
      whereas safety and tolerability profiles make the success rate of approval very
      low. Drug repurposing, applying known drugs and compounds to new indications, has
      been noted recently as a cost-effective and time-unconsuming way in developing
      new drugs, because they have already been proven safe in humans. In this review,
      we discuss drug repurposing of approved cardiovascular drugs, such as aspirin,
      beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor
      blockers, cardiac glycosides and statins. Regarding anti-tumor activities of
      these agents, a number of experimental studies have demonstrated promising
      pleiotropic properties, whereas all clinical trials have not shown expected
      results. In pathological conditions other than cancer, repurposing of
      cardiovascular drugs is also expanding. Numerous experimental studies have
      reported possibilities of drug repurposing in this field and some of them have
      been tried for new indications ('bench to bedside'), while unexpected results of
      clinical studies have given hints for drug repurposing and some unknown
      mechanisms of action have been demonstrated by experimental studies ('bedside to
      bench'). The future perspective of experimental and clinical studies using
      cardiovascular drugs are also discussed.

PMID- 27646039
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27646040
TI  - Radiology reports.
AB  - This review suggests that many radiologists are unsure about what language or
      format to use in compiling radiology reports, despite their importance as
      medicolegal documents and as a form of communication between referrers and
      reporters.

PMID- 27646041
TI  - Gastrointestinal decontamination.
AB  - The purpose of this article was to review the current recommendations, guidelines
      and data on gastrointestinal (GI) decontamination of poisoned patients.

PMID- 27646042
TI  - Ethics of triage.
AB  - As this article makes clear, triage can have adverse consequences for patients
      receiving emergency care, who can therefore challenge the ethical basis of such
      practice.

PMID- 27646044
TI  - Prefrontal connections express individual differences in intrinsic resistance to
      trading off honesty values against economic benefits.
AB  - Individuals differ profoundly when they decide whether to tell the truth or to be
      dishonest, particularly in situations where moral motives clash with economic
      motives, i.e., when truthfulness comes at a monetary cost. These differences
      should be expressed in the decision network, particularly in prefrontal cortex.
      However, the interactions between the core players of the decision network during
      honesty-related decisions involving trade-offs with economic costs remain poorly
      understood. To investigate brain connectivity patterns associated with individual
      differences in responding to economic costs of truthfulness, we used functional
      magnetic resonance imaging and measured brain activations, while participants
      made decisions concerning honesty. We found that in participants who valued
      honesty highly, dorsolateral and dorsomedial parts of prefrontal cortex were more
      tightly coupled with the inferior frontal cortex when economic costs were high
      compared to when they were low. Finer-grained analysis revealed that information
      flow from the inferior frontal cortex to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and
      bidirectional information flow between the inferior frontal cortex and
      dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was associated with a reduced tendency to trade off
      honesty for economic benefits. Our findings provide a novel account of the neural
      circuitry that underlies honest decisions in the face of economic temptations.

PMID- 27646045
TI  - Identification and statistical optimization of fermentation conditions for a
      newly isolated extracellular cholesterol oxidase-producing Streptomyces
      cavourensis strain NEAE-42.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to broad range of clinical and industrial applications of
      cholesterol oxidase, isolation and screening of bacterial strains producing
      extracellular form of cholesterol oxidase is of great importance. RESULTS: One
      hundred and thirty actinomycete isolates were screened for their cholesterol
      oxidase activity. Among them, a potential culture, strain NEAE-42 is displayed
      the highest extracellular cholesterol oxidase activity. It was selected and
      identified as Streptomyces cavourensis strain NEAE-42. The optimization of
      different process parameters for cholesterol oxidase production by Streptomyces
      cavourensis strain NEAE-42 using Plackett-Burman experimental design and response
      surface methodology was carried out. Fifteen variables were screened using
      Plackett-Burman experimental design. Cholesterol, initial pH and (NH4)2SO4 were
      the most significant positive independent variables affecting cholesterol oxidase
      production. Central composite design was chosen to elucidate the optimal
      concentrations of the selected process variables on cholesterol oxidase
      production. It was found that, cholesterol oxidase production by Streptomyces
      cavourensis strain NEAE-42 after optimization process was 20.521U/mL which is
      higher than result obtained from the basal medium before screening process using
      Plackett-Burman (3.31 U/mL) with a fold of increase 6.19. CONCLUSIONS: The
      cholesterol oxidase level production obtained in this study (20.521U/mL) by the
      statistical method is higher than many of the reported values.

PMID- 27646047
TI  - Dietary total antioxidant capacity as a tool in health outcomes in middle-aged
      and older adults: A systematic review.
AB  - The dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) has been a useful tool in
      epidemiological studies. To assess whether the TAC is associated with chronic
      diseases in middle-aged and older adults carried out a systematic review of
      articles indexed in MEDLINE and Science Direct. Of the 104 articles found, nine
      were included to meet the inclusion criteria. There was variation among the items
      on the sample size, sample origin, use of statistical tests, analysis of
      different outcomes and the use of assays to evaluate the TAC, which brought
      limitations to the comparability of results on the association of TAC with the
      outcomes of interest. However, in six studies we found an inverse association
      between TAC and the risk of chronic diseases, showing that this method has great
      potential for clinical applications and public health.

PMID- 27646049
TI  - Survey of UK-based veterinary surgeons' opinions on the use of surgery and
      chemotherapy in the treatment of canine high-grade mast cell tumour, splenic
      haemangiosarcoma and appendicular osteosarcoma.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of recommendation of
      adjuvant chemotherapy by UK-based general veterinary practitioners (GVPs) for
      canine patients with high-grade mast cell tumours (HGMCTs), splenic
      haemangiosarcomas (SHSs) and appendicular osteosarcomas (AOSs); to determine
      which chemotherapeutic protocols are used by GVPs; and to evaluate reasons why
      chemotherapy may or may not be recommended postoperatively. An internet survey
      was created in 2013 using an online programme and was distributed to GVPs.
      Questions relating to the use of adjuvant chemotherapy for three tumours were
      selected. In total, 300 responses were generated. Surgery was seen as primary
      therapy by most GVPs for HGMCT (91 per cent) and SHS (88 per cent), but less
      frequently for AOS (59 per cent). Also, 90, 40 and 57 per cent of respondents
      recommended adjuvant chemotherapy for HGMCT, SHS and AOS, respectively. Of these,
      an appropriate chemotherapy protocol was not known by 25, 51 and 36 per cent of
      GVPs for HGMCT, SHS and AOS, respectively. From the GVPs not recommending
      chemotherapy, 29, 64 and 66 per cent did not believe chemotherapy to be
      efficacious for these tumours. The frequency of recommendation regarding
      postoperative chemotherapy is variable by tumour type. Reasons given why
      postoperative chemotherapy is not recommended also vary by tumour type.

PMID- 27646052
TI  - Carbonation as a sensory enhancement strategy: a narrative synthesis of existing
      evidence.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sensory enhancement techniques, like other compensatory strategies, aim
      to reduce dysphagia symptoms. The use of carbonated liquids has been proposed as
      a possible sensory technique, however to date, there is limited information of
      its efficacy or guidance for clinical implementation. A narrative synthesis was
      completed to determine the quality and strength of the evidence base for use of
      carbonation as a compensatory strategy in dysphagia rehabilitation. METHODS: From
      101 articles initially identified, 14 articles met the study criteria. Eleven
      papers described the effects of carbonation on swallowing in healthy participants
      whereas three described the impact of carbonation in dysphagic populations. A
      narrative synthesis of papers was undertaken given the diversity of identified
      studies. RESULTS: Synthesis of findings was challenging given the exploratory
      phase of most research activity with diverse populations described and extensive
      differences in research methodologies. There is currently weak, but potentially
      positive evidence to support using carbonation as a compensatory technique in
      dysphagia rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: Despite future potential, existing evidence
      fails to provide clear direction for the clinical implementation of carbonation.
      Validation of carbonation use with the dysphagic population requires further
      research with consistent, controlled methodologies, and larger cohorts of
      participants to inform potential for dysphagia rehabilitation. Implications for
      Rehabilitation The use of carbonated liquids has been proposed as a possible
      sensory enhancement technique which may facilitate changes to swallow physiology.
      However to date, there is limited information to direct clinical implementation.
      This paper provides a narrative synthesis of existing knowledge and highlights
      possible limitations of findings reported. Research to date has used disparate
      research methodologies in varied populations making synthesis of current findings
      challenging.

PMID- 27646050
TI  - Porcine milk-derived exosomes promote proliferation of intestinal epithelial
      cells.
AB  - Milk-derived exosomes were identified as a novel mechanism of mother-to-child
      transmission of regulatory molecules, but their functions in intestinal tissues
      of neonates are not well-studied. Here, we characterized potential roles of
      porcine milk-derived exosomes in the intestinal tract. In vitro, treatment with
      milk-derived exosomes (27 +/- 3 ng and 55 +/- 5 ng total RNA) significantly
      promoted IPEC-J2 cell proliferation by MTT, CCK8, EdU fluorescence and EdU flow
      cytometry assays. The qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses indicated milk-derived
      exosomes (0.27 +/- 0.03 MUg total RNA) significantly promoted expression of CDX2,
      IGF-1R and PCNA, and inhibited p53 gene expression involved in intestinal
      proliferation. Additionally, six detected miRNAs were significantly increased in
      IPEC-J2 cell, while FAS and SERPINE were significantly down-regulated relative to
      that in control. In vivo, treated groups (0.125 MUg and 0.25 MUg total RNA)
      significantly raised mice' villus height, crypt depth and ratio of villus length
      to crypt depth of intestinal tissues, significantly increased CDX2, PCNA and IGF
      1R' expression and significantly inhibited p53' expression. Our study
      demonstrated that milk-derived exosomes can facilitate intestinal cell
      proliferation and intestinal tract development, thus giving a new insight for
      milk nutrition and newborn development and health.

PMID- 27646053
TI  - Mutism Caused by Severe Demyelination in a Patient With Marchiafava-Bignami
      Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Marchiafava-Bignami (MB) disease is a rare disorder that causes
      primary degeneration of the corpus callosum. It is associated with chronic
      alcohol consumption caused by either a toxic or nutritional etiology. CASE
      REPORT: We report a case of a 54-year-old woman who presented to our emergency
      department with complete mutism caused by MB disease that completely resolved
      with intravenous thiamine and dextrose therapy. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN
      BE AWARE OF THIS?: Emergency physicians frequently encounter patients with
      alcohol abuse and its complications. We report a rare presentation of a potential
      alcohol-related spectrum disease that may be encountered by an emergency
      physician. Early diagnosis and prompt management are critical to potentially
      reversing the disease, and this case shows the importance of including this
      disease in the differential diagnosis in patients with speech difficulty and
      alcohol abuse.

PMID- 27646054
TI  - Surgical intervention during a Can't intubate Can't Oxygenate (CICO) Event:
      Emergency Front-of-neck Airway (FONA)?

PMID- 27646055
TI  - A new beginning.

PMID- 27646058
TI  - In utero testosterone exposure influences physiological responses to dyadic
      interactions in neurotypical adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated how different levels of prenatal exposure to
      testosterone influence physiological reactions to dyadic interactions,
      hypothesising that higher levels of prenatal testosterone are linked to greater
      physiological responses. METHOD: Autonomic nervous system responses to dyadic
      interactions focussed on social or physical norms were measured. Physiological
      assessment of excitability (heart rate, facial temperature) and a behavioural
      assessment (Likert items judgements) were run on 25 neurotypical participants who
      had distinct testosterone exposure levels in utero. In utero exposure to
      testosterone was assessed measuring 2D : 4D (ratio between the lengths of the
      index and the ring fingers). RESULTS: Higher testosterone exposure participants
      showed greater physiological arousal: a greater heart rate decrease, independent
      from scenario type (p<0.05), and opposite facial temperature changes in response
      to social (increase) (vs.) physical scenarios (decrease) were found (Left-cheek:
      p<0.05; Right-cheek: p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a long-term
      influence of prenatal environment on adults' physiological responses during
      social situations.

PMID- 27646059
TI  - Abstracts presented at the summer meeting of the British Association of Clinical
      Anatomists on 20th July 2016 at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton,
      United Kingdom.

PMID- 27646060
TI  - Screening of thrombin inhibitors from phenolic acids using enzyme-immobilized
      magnetic beads through direct covalent binding by ultrahigh-performance liquid
      chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Thrombin was immobilized on dynabeads(r)M-270 epoxy by direct covalent binding
      method for the first time. The enzyme coated magnetic beads were combined with
      ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of
      flight tandem mass spectrometry technique to establish a simple, rapid and
      reliable approach for screening thrombin inhibitors from Danshen preparation. The
      conjugation of thrombin to the magnetic beads was characterized using scanning
      electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and infrared spectroscopy,
      and the enzyme activity was determined by the analysis of enzyme-bead ratio and
      peak areas of target compounds. Several factors including amount of magnetic
      beads, type of elution solvent, incubation temperature and time were optimized.
      Additionally, two thrombin-bound compounds (protocatechuic aldehyde and
      salvianolic acid C) in Danshen injection were validated by conventional
      inhibitory assay and the IC50 values were 286.11 and 66.09MUg/mL, respectively.
      Our findings suggested that the proposed method was efficient in screening active
      compounds from medicinal plants.

PMID- 27646062
TI  - Possible progesterone-induced gestational activation of chromosomally integrated
      human herpesvirus 6B and transplacental transmission of activated human
      herpesvirus 6B.

PMID- 27646061
TI  - Preparation and evaluation of 2-methylimidazolium-functionalized silica as a
      mixed-mode stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction and anion-exchange
      chromatography.
AB  - In this paper, a novel 2-methylimidazolium-functionalized silica stationary phase
      was prepared and further used for hydrophilic interaction and anion-exchange
      mixed-mode chromatography. The stationary phase was characterized by elemental
      analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The chromatographic
      properties of this stationary phase were investigated by hydrophilic
      chromatography for the separation of nucleosides, nucleobases, water soluble
      vitamins, sulfonamides and saccharides, and ion chromatography for the separation
      of inorganic anions. The effect of acetonitrile content, salt concentration and
      pH values of the mobile phase on the retention of the stationary phases was also
      investigated. Compared with 1-methylimidazolium-functionalized silica stationary
      phase, this new stationary phase demonstrated similar or better separation
      selectivity. This new column demonstrated good performance and separation
      selectivity even better than a commercial hydrophilic column. Besides, 2
      methylimidazolium-functionalized silica is possible to be modified again and used
      as a precursor to derivate some new stationary phases from the 3-position
      nitrogen.

PMID- 27646063
TI  - From bone morphogenic protein receptor II mutations to heritable pulmonary
      arterial hypertension-the long and winding road.

PMID- 27646064
TI  - Intermediate outcomes with ex-vivo allograft perfusion for heart transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Organ Care System, an ex-vivo heart perfusion platform,
      represents an alternative to the current standard of cold organ storage that
      sustains the donor heart in a near-physiologic state. It is unknown whether using
      the Organ Care System influences 2-year outcomes after heart transplantation. We
      reviewed our institutional experience to compare 2-year outcomes for patients
      randomized to the Organ Care System or standard cold storage. METHODS: Between
      2011 and 2013, heart transplant candidates from a single tertiary-care medical
      center enrolled within the PROCEED II trial were randomized to either standard
      cold storage or the Organ Care System. Outcomes assessed included 2-year
      survival, freedom from cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), non-fatal major
      cardiac events (NF-MACE), biopsy-proven cellular rejection (CMR) and biopsy
      proven antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients were
      randomized to the Organ Care System (n = 19) or cold storage group (n = 19).
      There was no significant difference in 2-year patient survival (Organ Care
      System: 72.2%; cold storage: 81.6%; p = 0.38). Similarly, there were no
      differences in freedom from CAV, NF-MACE, CMR or AMR. The Organ Care System group
      had significantly longer total ischemia time (361 +/- 96 minutes vs 207 +/- 50
      minutes; p < 0.001) and shorter cold ischemia time (134 +/- 45 minutes vs 207 +/-
      50 minutes; p < 0.001) compared with the cold storage group. CONCLUSION: The
      Organ Care System did not appear to be associated with significant differences in
      intermediate results compared with conventional strategies. These results suggest
      that this ex-vivo allograft perfusion system is a promising and valid platform
      for donor heart transportation.

PMID- 27646065
TI  - Transcatheter interatrial communications for the treatment of left heart disease:
      Application in the pediatric population.

PMID- 27646066
TI  - Characterization of the adhesive dermal secretion of Euprymna scolopes Berry,
      1913 (Cephalopoda).
AB  - Bio-adhesion is a common and crucial process in nature and is used by several
      different species for camouflage, prey capture, hatching or to avoid drifting.
      Four genera of cephalopods belonging to four different families (Euprymna,
      Sepiolidae; Idiosepius, Idiosepiidae; Nautilus, Nautilidae; and Sepia, Sepiidae)
      produce glue for temporary attachment. Euprymna species live in near-shore
      benthic habitats of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, are nocturnal and bury into the
      seafloor during the day. The animals secrete adhesives through their epithelial
      glands to completely coat themselves with sand. In cases of danger, they
      instantaneously release the sandy coat as a sinking decoy to deflect predators.
      Earlier morphological investigations have shown that the adhesive gland cells of
      Euprymna scolopes are scattered on the dorsal epidermis. It has been proposed
      that neutral mucopolysaccharides, secreted by one gland type (goblet cells), are
      responsible for adhesion, whereas the release of the glue could be caused by
      acidic mucoproteins produced by ovate cells in the ventral epidermis. The
      ultrastructural re-investigation of the Euprymna epithelium in this study has
      indicated the presence of a new gland type (named flask cell), exclusively
      located in the dorsal epithelium and always neighboured to the known goblet
      cells. Based on our histochemical observations, the secretory material of the
      ovate cells does not display a strong reaction to tests for acidic groups, as had
      been previously assumed. Within the dermis, a large muscle network was found that
      was clearly distinctive from the normal mantle musculature. Based on our data, an
      antagonistic gland system, as previously proposed, seems to be unlikely for
      Euprymna scolopes. We hypothesize that the adhesive secretion is formed by two
      gland types (goblet and flask cells). The release of the sand coat may occur
      mechanically, i.e. by contraction of the dermal mantle muscle, and not chemically
      through the ovate cells.

PMID- 27646068
TI  - G7 Health Ministers' Kobe Communique.

PMID- 27646067
TI  - [Imaging in structural heart disease : Impact on interventional therapy].
AB  - For the treatment of structural heart disease, current options in the
      catheterization laboratory include MitraClip(r) implantation for treating severe
      mitral regurgitation, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), closure of
      a patent foramen ovale (PFO) and occlusion of the left atrial appendage (LAA).
      These treatment options are based on a precise diagnosis provided by modern
      cardiac imaging, which is indispensable for treatment recommendations. Its
      importance for supporting the invasive procedures in the catheterization
      laboratory is less well known. Due to enhanced soft tissue characterization, it
      complements fluoroscopy and invasive angiography and thus enormously improves the
      safety of the procedures. In addition, it allows individualized follow-up care.
      The current article gives an overview of the clinically most frequently used
      procedures.

PMID- 27646069
TI  - Carbon-14 radiolabeling and tissue distribution evaluation of MMV390048.
AB  - The antimalarial compound MMV390048 ([14 C]-11) was labeled with carbon-14
      isotope via a 3-step synthesis. It was obtained in a 15.5% radiochemical overall
      yield from carbon-14 labeled methyl iodide with a radiochemical purity of >99%.
      After single oral administration of [14 C]-11 to albino and pigmented rats its
      tissue distribution profile was studied. Tissue distribution results showed high
      local exposure in the GI tract and excretory organs but low exposure of all other
      tissues. The radioactivity uptake was higher in the eyes of the pigmented rats
      than in the eyes of the albino rats at all-time points. The highest accumulation
      reached in the eyes of the pigmented rats was 0.46% at 6 hours. However, these
      levels are still very low as compared to the other organs studied. There was very
      little radioactivity from MMV390048 ([14 C]-11) present in the skin of both the
      albino and pigmented rats. The results obtained are supportive of further
      development of MMV390048 as a potential antimalarial compound.

PMID- 27646108
TI  - Assessment and predictors of physical functioning post-hospital discharge in
      survivors of critical illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prior studies of physical functioning after critical illness have
      been mostly limited to survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome. The
      purpose of this study was to objectively assess muscle strength and physical
      functioning in survivors of critical illness from a general ICU and the
      associations of these measures to health-related quality of life (HRQL), mental
      health and critical illness variables. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort
      study of 56 patients admitted to a medical ICU (length of stay >=4 days) from
      April 1, 2009, and March 31, 2010. Patients were assessed in clinic at 3 months
      post-hospital discharge. Muscle strength and physical functioning were measured
      using hand-held dynamometry and the 6-min walk test. HRQL was assessed using the
      short-form 36 (SF-36) and EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) questionnaires. RESULTS: Three
      months post-hospital discharge, median age- and sex-matched muscle strength was
      reduced across all muscle groups. The median 6-min walk distance was 72 % of
      predicted. Physical functioning was associated with reductions in self-reported
      HRQL (SF-36, EQ-5D) and increased anxiety. Univariate regression modeling showed
      that reduced muscle strength and 6-min walk distance were associated with sepsis
      but not ICU length of stay. Multivariate regression modeling showed that sepsis
      and corticosteroid use were associated with a reduced 6-min walk distance, but
      again ICU length of stay was not. CONCLUSIONS: Survivors of critical illness have
      reduced strength in multiple muscle groups and impaired exercise tolerance
      impacting both HRQL and mental health. These outcomes were worsened by sepsis and
      corticosteroid use in the ICU but not ICU length of stay. Interventions to
      minimizing the burden of sepsis in critically ill patients may improve long-term
      outcomes.

PMID- 27646109
TI  - The Role of Child and Adolescent Adjustment Problems and Sleep Disturbance in
      Parent Psychological Distress.
AB  - The goal of this study was to examine the moderating role of youth sleep
      disturbance on the relationship between youth internalizing and externalizing
      symptoms and parent psychological distress. Participants were 225 youth (ages 8
      17) and parent dyads attending a primary care clinic appointment. Participants
      completed questionnaires that assessed parent psychological distress, youth
      internalizing symptoms, youth externalizing symptoms, and youth sleep
      disturbance. Moderation analyses were conducted to examine whether youth sleep
      disturbance moderated the relationship between youth internalizing and
      externalizing symptoms and parent psychological distress. The interaction between
      youth internalizing symptoms and youth sleep disturbance was significantly
      related to parent psychological distress, such that having increased sleep
      disturbance amplified the positive relationship between internalizing symptoms
      and parent psychological distress. The moderation model explained 52% of the
      variance in parent psychological distress. The interaction between youth
      externalizing symptoms and youth sleep disturbance was also significantly related
      to parent psychological distress, such that increased sleep disturbance amplified
      the positive relationship between externalizing symptoms and parent psychological
      distress. This model accounted for 53% of the variance in parent psychological
      distress. Greater youth sleep disturbance strengthens the positive relationship
      between youth internalizing/externalizing symptoms and parent psychological
      distress. Accordingly, reducing youth sleep disturbance may serve as an
      appropriate intervention target in families experiencing increased parent
      psychological distress.

PMID- 27646111
TI  - Dirofilaria infections in dogs in different areas of Greece.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nematodes Dirofilaria immitis and D. repens are enzootic in
      Greece. In the light of evidence of dirofilariosis spreading to new areas around
      the world, the aim of the present study was to update and enrich the current
      knowledge on the prevalence of Dirofilaria infections in dogs in Greece, to
      assess the risk factors of heartworm infection, and to initiate the drawing of
      the epizootiological map of canine dirofilariosis, investigating Dirofilaria
      infections in five locations along the north-south axis of the country, i.e.
      municipalities of Thessaloniki, Larissa, Achaia, Attica and Heraklion, associated
      with the five largest urban centres of Greece. METHODS: Blood samples collected
      from 750 dogs in total, were examined by the modified Knott's method and by
      serology. A questionnaire including information about each examined dog was
      filled in and statistical analysis of the results was performed using the Chi
      square test and a Binary Multiple Univariate Generalized Linear Model. RESULTS:
      In total, 31 (4.1 %) out of 750 examined animals were found positive for D.
      immitis by any of the tests applied (Knott's method and serological examination).
      Moreover, microfilariae of D. repens and Acanthocheilonema reconditum were
      detected by the Knott's method in 17 (2.3 %) and 10 (1.3 %) of the animals,
      respectively. At the municipality level, the prevalence of infection was 14, 7,
      5.3, 0.7 and 0 % for D. immitis, 1, 2, 8.7, 0.3 and 0 % for D. repens, and 0, 3,
      2.7, 0.7 and 1 % for A. reconditum in Thessaloniki, Larissa, Achaia, Attica and
      Heraklion, respectively. In addition, in three dogs (one each in Thessaloniki,
      Achaia and Attica) mixed D. immitis - D. repens infections were detected by the
      Knott's method. The area of the country, dog's usage and age were determined as
      risk factors for heartworm infection. CONCLUSIONS: Northern areas of Greece have
      higher Dirofilaria prevalence and the prevalence in a western province (Achaia)
      is recorded for the first time. The mosquito population dynamics recorded in the
      past is likely to play an important role in the distribution of Dirofilaria
      infections in Greece, and needs further investigation. Similarly, the role of
      wild reservoirs of filarial parasites in different areas needs to be clarified.
      Promotion by veterinarians of preventive treatment and compliance by pet owners
      is essential in all parts of Greece, regardless of the recorded prevalence of
      infection.

PMID- 27646112
TI  - Mobile health in adults with congenital heart disease: current use and future
      needs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Many adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are affected lifelong
      by cardiac events, particularly arrhythmias and heart failure. Despite the care
      provided, the cardiac event rate remains high. Mobile health (mHealth) brings
      opportunities to enhance daily monitoring and hence timely response in an attempt
      to improve outcome. However, it is not known if adults with CHD are currently
      using mHealth and what type of mHealth they may need in the near future. METHODS:
      Consecutive adult patients with CHD who visited the outpatient clinic at the
      Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam were asked to fill out questionnaires.
      Exclusion criteria for this study were mental impairment or inability to read and
      write Dutch. RESULTS: All 118 patients participated (median age 40 (range 18-78)
      years, 40 % male, 49 % symptomatic) and 92 % owned a smartphone. Whereas only a
      small minority (14 %) of patients used mHealth, the large majority (75 %) were
      willing to start. Most patients wanted to use mHealth in order to receive more
      information on physical health, and advice on progression of symptoms or signs of
      deterioration. Analyses on age, gender and complexity of defect showed
      significantly less current smartphone usage at older age, but no difference in
      interest or preferences in type of mHealth application for the near future.
      CONCLUSION: The relatively young adult CHD population only rarely uses mHealth,
      but the majority are motivated to start using mHealth. New mHealth initiatives
      are required in these patients with a chronic condition who need lifelong
      surveillance in order to reveal if a reduction in morbidity and mortality and
      improvement in quality of life can be achieved.

PMID- 27646113
TI  - Overexpression of histone demethylase Fbxl10 leads to enhanced migration in mouse
      embryonic fibroblasts.
AB  - Cell migration is a central process in the development and maintenance of
      multicellular organisms. Tissue formation during embryonic development, wound
      healing, immune responses and invasive tumors all require the orchestrated
      movement of cells to specific locations. Histone demethylase proteins alter
      transcription by regulating the chromatin state at specific gene loci. FBXL10 is
      a conserved and ubiquitously expressed member of the JmjC domain-containing
      histone demethylase family and is implicated in the demethylation of H3K4me3 and
      H3K36me2 and thereby removing active chromatin marks. However, the physiological
      role of FBXL10 in vivo remains largely unknown. Therefore, we established an
      inducible gain of function model to analyze the role of Fbxl10 and compared wild
      type with Fbxl10 overexpressing mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). Our study
      shows that overexpression of Fbxl10 in MEFs doesn't influence the proliferation
      capability but leads to an enhanced migration capacity in comparison to wild-type
      MEFs. Transcriptome and ChIP-seq experiments demonstrated that Fbxl10 binds to
      genes involved in migration like Areg, Mdk, Lmnb1, Thbs1, Mgp and Cxcl12. Taken
      together, our results strongly suggest that Fbxl10 plays a critical role in
      migration by binding to the promoter region of migration-associated genes and
      thereby might influences cell behaviour to a possibly more aggressive phenotype.

PMID- 27646116
TI  - Insulin on activation of autophagy with integrins and syndecans against MPP+
      induced alpha-synuclein neurotoxicity.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in
      the elderly caused by dopaminergic neuronal cell death. Human neuroblastoma SH
      SY5Y cells differentiated by retinoic acid have been used to study the in vitro
      PD model induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl pyridinium (MPP+). In this study,
      pretreatment of insulin inhibited MPP+-induced cell membrane damages, which also
      inhibited the Cox-2 and alpha-synuclein levels. In addition, MPP+ and/or insulin
      enhanced the autophagy LC3. Furthermore, MPP+-induced neurotoxicity diminished
      the integrins beta3, alphaV and induced the syndecan-1 and -3. Insulin
      pretreatment enhanced the phosphorylation of integrin-linked kinase and further
      induced the integrin and syndecan molecules. These findings suggest that insulin
      prevents MPP+-induced alpha-synuclein apoptosis through the activation of
      integrin and syndecan pathways in SH-SY5Y+RA cells.

PMID- 27646117
TI  - On the Self-Organizing Origins of Agency: (Trends in Cognitive Sciences 20, 490
      499; June 14, 2016).

PMID- 27646115
TI  - External validation of a 3-step falls prediction model in mild Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - The 3-step falls prediction model (3-step model) that include history of falls,
      history of freezing of gait and comfortable gait speed <1.1 m/s was suggested as
      a clinical fall prediction tool in Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to
      externally validate this model as well as to explore the value of additional
      predictors in 138 individuals with relatively mild PD. We found the
      discriminative ability of the 3-step model in identifying fallers to be
      comparable to previously studies [area under curve (AUC), 0.74; 95 % CI 0.65
      0.84] and to be better than that of single predictors (AUC, 0.61-0.69). Extended
      analyses generated a new model for prediction of falls and near falls (AUC, 0.82;
      95 % CI 0.75-0.89) including history of near falls, retropulsion according to the
      Nutt Retropulsion test (NRT) and tandem gait (TG). This study confirms the value
      of the 3-step model as a clinical falls prediction tool in relatively mild PD and
      illustrates that it outperforms the use of single predictors. However, to improve
      future outcomes, further studies are needed to firmly establish a scoring system
      and risk categories based on this model. The influence of methodological aspects
      of data collection also needs to be scrutinized. A new model for prediction of
      falls and near falls, including history of near falls, TG and retropulsion (NRT)
      may be considered as an alternative to the 3-step model, but needs to be tested
      in additional samples before being recommended. Taken together, our observations
      provide important additions to the evidence base for clinical fall prediction in
      PD.

PMID- 27646118
TI  - Penile Improvement Protocol in Postoperative Management of Patients Undergoing
      Metoidioplasty.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To introduce a postoperative protocol to optimize the final size of
      the penis in patients undergoing metoidioplasty. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fourteen
      patients with the mean age of 29.3 years (8-40 +/- 11.7), ten female transsexuals
      (46 xx karyotype) and four with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency syndrome (5ARDS) who
      had undergone extensive metoidioplasty entered a penile improvement protocol
      (PIP) between 2007 and 2015 at a specialized clinic in a general hospital in
      Tehran, Iran. Subjects were thoroughly instructed, rehearsed on the protocol and
      closely followed for 24 weeks. Written informed consent was obtained from all
      participants. We adapted a popular device, the so-called penile traction device,
      to accommodate the size of the neo-penis. RESULTS: All patients achieved an
      increase in their penile length with a mean of 28.42 mm (21-47 +/- 6.86). Two
      subjects developed penile bruises and edema during the protocol implementation.
      No significant procedural complications were detected in the remaining 12
      participants. CONCLUSIONS: PIP can be an effective step in increasing the size of
      the neo-penis in patients who have undergone metoidioplasty. We suggest this
      procedure to be seriously considered in postoperative management of well-informed
      and motivated patients to improve the final penile length and function in this
      population. Larger studies are needed to further validate this protocol. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE II: This journal requires that the authors assign a level of evidence to
      each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings,
      please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors
      www.springer.com/00266 .

PMID- 27646122
TI  - Isolation and expression of the human gametocyte-specific factor 1 gene (GTSF1)
      in fetal ovary, oocytes, and preimplantation embryos.
AB  - PURPOSE: Gametocyte-specific factor 1 has been shown in other species to be
      required for the silencing of retrotransposons via the Piwi-interacting RNA
      (piRNA) pathway. In this study, we aimed to isolate and assess expression of
      transcripts of the gametocyte-specific factor 1 (GTSF1) gene in the human female
      germline and in preimplantation embryos. METHODS: Complementary DNA (cDNA)
      libraries from human fetal ovaries and testes, human oocytes and preimplantation
      embryos and ovarian follicles isolated from an adult ovarian cortex biopsy were
      used to as templates for PCR, cloning and sequencing, and real time PCR
      experiments of GTSF1 expression. RESULTS: GTSF1 cDNA clones that covered the
      entire coding region were isolated from human oocytes and preimplantation
      embryos. GTSF1 mRNA expression was detected in archived cDNAs from staged human
      ovarian follicles, germinal vesicle (GV) stage oocytes, metaphase II oocytes, and
      morula and blastocyst stage preimplantation embryos. Within the adult female
      germline, expression was highest in GV oocytes. GTSF1 mRNA expression was also
      assessed in human fetal ovary and was observed to increase during gestation, from
      8 to 21 weeks, during which time oogonia enter meiosis and primordial follicle
      formation first occurs. In human fetal testis, GTSF1 expression also increased
      from 8 to 19 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this report is the first to
      describe the expression of the human GTSF1 gene in human gametes and
      preimplantation embryos.

PMID- 27646126
TI  - A diffusion-based connectivity map of the GPi for optimised stereotactic
      targeting in DBS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The GPi (globus pallidus internus) is an important target nucleus for
      Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in medically refractory movement disorders, in
      particular dystonia and Parkinson's disease. Beneficial clinical outcome
      critically depends on precise electrode localization. Recent evidence indicates
      that not only neurons, but also axonal fibre tracts contribute to promoting the
      clinical effect. Thus, stereotactic planning should, in the future, also take the
      individual course of fibre tracts into account. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this
      project is to explore the GPi connectivity profile and provide a connectivity
      based parcellation of the GPi. METHODS: Diffusion MRI sequences were performed in
      sixteen healthy, right-handed subjects. Connectivity-based parcellation of the
      GPi was performed applying two independent methods: 1) a hypothesis-driven, seed
      to-target approach based on anatomic priors set as connectivity targets and 2) a
      purely data-driven approach based on k-means clustering of the GPi. RESULTS:
      Applying the hypothesis-driven approach, we obtained five major parcellation
      clusters, displaying connectivity to the prefrontal cortex, the brainstem, the
      GPe (globus pallidus externus), the putamen and the thalamus. Parcellation
      clusters obtained by both methods were similar in their connectivity profile.
      With the data-driven approach, we obtained three major parcellation clusters.
      Inter-individual variability was comparable with results obtained in thalamic
      parcellation. CONCLUSION: The three parcellation clusters obtained by the purely
      data-driven method might reflect GPi subdivision into a sensorimotor, associative
      and limbic portion. Clinical and physiological studies indicate greatest clinical
      DBS benefit for electrodes placed in the postero-ventro-lateral GPi, the region
      displaying connectivity to the thalamus in our study and generally attributed to
      the sensorimotor system. Clinical studies relating DBS electrode positions to our
      GPi connectivity map would be needed to complement our findings.

PMID- 27646125
TI  - Changes in serum proteins after endotoxin administration in healthy and choline
      treated calves.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the possible serum protein changes
      after endotoxin administration in healthy and choline-treated calves using
      proteomics. These results are expected to contribute to the understanding of the
      pathophysiological mechanisms of endotoxemia and the beneficial effect of choline
      administration in this clinical situation. METHODS: Healthy-calves (n = 20) were
      divided into 4 groups: Control, Choline treated (C), Lipopolysaccharide
      administered (LPS), and LPS + C. Control calves received 0.9 % NaCl injection.
      Calves in C and LPS + C groups received choline chloride (1 mg/kg/iv). Endotoxin
      (LPS) was injected (2 MUg/kg/iv) to the calves in LPS and LPS + C groups. Serum
      samples were collected before and after the treatments. Differentially expressed
      proteins (> 1.5 fold-change relative to controls) were identified by LC-MS/MS.
      RESULTS: After LPS administration, 14 proteins increased, and 13 proteins
      decreased within 48 h as compared to controls. In the LPS group, there were
      significant increases in serum levels of ragulator complex protein (189-fold) and
      galectin-3-binding protein (10-fold), but transcription factor MafF and
      corticosteroid binding globulin were down regulated (>= 5 fold). As compared with
      the LPS group, in LPS + C group, fibrinogen gamma-B-chain and antithrombin were
      up-regulated, while hemopexin and histone H4 were down-regulated. Choline
      treatment attenuated actin alpha cardiac muscle-1 overexpression after LPS.
      CONCLUSIONS: LPS administration produces changes in serum proteins associated
      with lipid metabolism, immune and inflammatory response, protein
      binding/transport, cell adhesion, venous thrombosis, cardiac contractility and
      blood coagulation. The administration of choline is associated with changes in
      proteins which can be related with its beneficial effect in this clinical
      situation.

PMID- 27646127
TI  - Convergence of prefrontal and parietal anatomical projections in a connectional
      hub in the striatum.
AB  - Visual attentional bias forms for rewarding and punishing stimuli in the
      environment. While this attentional bias is adaptive in healthy situations, it is
      maladaptive in disorders such as drug addiction or PTSD. In both these disorders,
      the ability to exert control over this attentional bias is associated with drug
      abstinence rates or reduced PTSD symptoms, indicating the interaction of visual
      attention, cognitive control, and stimulus association. The inferior parietal
      lobule (IPL) is central to attention, while the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is
      critical for reward, cognitive control, and attention. Importantly, regions of
      the IPL and PFC commonly project to the rostral dorsal caudate (rdCaud) of the
      striatum. We propose an anatomical network architecture in which IPL projections
      converge with PFC projections in a connectional hub in the rdCaud, providing an
      anatomical substrate for the interaction of these projections and their
      competitive influence on striatal processing. To investigate this, we mapped the
      dense projections from the caudal IPL and prefrontal (dlPFC, vlPFC, OFC, dACC,
      and dmPFC) regions that project to the medial rdCaud with anatomical tract
      tracing tracer injections in monkeys. These inputs converge in a precise site in
      the medial rdCaud, rostral to the anterior commissure. Small retrograde tracer
      injections confirmed these inputs to the medial rdCaud and showed that a proximal
      ventral striatal location has a very different pattern of cortical inputs. We
      next used human resting-state functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) to examine
      whether a striatal hub exists in the human medial rdCaud. Seed regions in the
      human medial rdCaud revealed cortical correlation maps similar to the monkey
      retrograde injection results. A subsequent analysis of these correlated cortical
      regions showed that their peak correlation within the striatum is in the medial
      rdCaud, indicating that this is a connectional hub. In contrast, this peak
      striatal correlation was not found in the ventral striatal location, suggesting
      that this site is not a connectional hub of cortical regions. Taken together,
      this work uses the precision of monkey anatomy to identify a connectional hub of
      IPL and PFC projections in the medial rdCaud. It also translates this anatomical
      precision to humans, demonstrating that, guided by anatomy, connectional hubs can
      be identified in humans with fcMRI. These connectional hubs provide more specific
      treatment targets for drug addiction, PTSD, and other neurological and
      psychiatric disorders involving the striatum.

PMID- 27646128
TI  - High-resolution three-dimensional macromolecular proton fraction mapping for
      quantitative neuroanatomical imaging of the rodent brain in ultra-high magnetic
      fields.
AB  - A well-known problem in ultra-high-field MRI is generation of high-resolution
      three-dimensional images for detailed characterization of white and gray matter
      anatomical structures. T1-weighted imaging traditionally used for this purpose
      suffers from the loss of contrast between white and gray matter with an increase
      of magnetic field strength. Macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) mapping is a new
      method potentially capable to mitigate this problem due to strong myelin-based
      contrast and independence of this parameter of field strength. MPF is a key
      parameter determining the magnetization transfer effect in tissues and defined
      within the two-pool model as a relative amount of macromolecular protons involved
      into magnetization exchange with water protons. The objectives of this study were
      to characterize the two-pool model parameters in brain tissues in ultra-high
      magnetic fields and introduce fast high-field 3D MPF mapping as both anatomical
      and quantitative neuroimaging modality for small animal applications. In vivo
      imaging data were obtained from four adult male rats using an 11.7T animal MRI
      scanner. Comprehensive comparison of brain tissue contrast was performed for
      standard R1 and T2 maps and reconstructed from Z-spectroscopic images two-pool
      model parameter maps including MPF, cross-relaxation rate constant, and T2 of
      pools. Additionally, high-resolution whole-brain 3D MPF maps were obtained with
      isotropic 170um voxel size using the single-point synthetic-reference method. MPF
      maps showed 3-6-fold increase in contrast between white and gray matter compared
      to other parameters. MPF measurements by the single-point synthetic reference
      method were in excellent agreement with the Z-spectroscopic method. MPF values in
      rat brain structures at 11.7T were similar to those at lower field strengths,
      thus confirming field independence of MPF. 3D MPF mapping provides a useful tool
      for neuroimaging in ultra-high magnetic fields enabling both quantitative tissue
      characterization based on the myelin content and high-resolution neuroanatomical
      visualization with high contrast between white and gray matter.

PMID- 27646132
TI  - A rare cause of persisting anaemia in a patient with a failing Fontan
      circulation.
AB  - This case report describes intestinal angiodysplasias as a cause of persisting
      anaemia in a 16-year-old girl with a failing Fontan circulation. Although this is
      a very rare cause of anaemia, we highlight the importance of video capsule
      endoscopy in such patients to initiate a life-saving treatment.

PMID- 27646129
TI  - The neurogenesis of P1 and N1: A concurrent EEG/LFP study.
AB  - It is generally recognised that event related potentials (ERPs) of
      electroencephalogram (EEG) primarily reflect summed post-synaptic activity of the
      local pyramidal neural population(s). However, it is still not understood how the
      positive and negative deflections (e.g. P1, N1 etc) observed in ERP recordings
      are related to the underlying excitatory and inhibitory post-synaptic activity.
      We investigated the neurogenesis of P1 and N1 in ERPs by pharmacologically
      manipulating inhibitory post-synaptic activity in the somatosensory cortex of
      rodent, and concurrently recording EEG and local field potentials (LFPs). We
      found that the P1 wave in the ERP and LFP of the supragranular layers is
      determined solely by the excitatory post-synaptic activity of the local pyramidal
      neural population, as is the initial segment of the N1 wave across cortical
      depth. The later part of the N1 wave was modulated by inhibitory post-synaptic
      activity, with its peak and the pulse width increasing as inhibition was reduced.
      These findings suggest that the temporal delay of inhibition with respect to
      excitation observed in intracellular recordings is also reflected in
      extracellular field potentials (FPs), resulting in a temporal window during which
      only excitatory post-synaptic activity and leak channel activity are recorded in
      the ERP and evoked LFP time series. Based on these findings, we provide
      clarification on the interpretation of P1 and N1 in terms of the excitatory and
      inhibitory post-synaptic activities of the local pyramidal neural population(s).

PMID- 27646135
TI  - The moderating effect of gender on the relationship between coping and suicide
      risk in a Portuguese community sample of adults.
AB  - : Background and aims(s): The study evaluated the contribution of coping
      strategies, based on the Toulousiane conceptualization of coping, to the
      prediction of suicide risk and tested the moderating effect of gender,
      controlling for depressive symptoms. METHOD: A two-time data collection design
      was used. A community sample of 195 adults (91 men and 104 women) ranging in age
      from 19 to 65 years and living in several Portuguese regions, mostly in Alentejo,
      participated in this research. RESULTS: Gender, depressive symptoms, control, and
      withdrawal and conversion significantly predicted suicide risk and gender
      interacted with control, withdrawal and conversion, and social distraction in the
      prediction of suicide risk. Coping predicted suicide risk only for women.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results have important implications for assessment and intervention
      with suicide at-risk individuals. In particular,the evaluation and development of
      coping skills is indicated as a goal for therapists having suicide at-risk women
      as clients.

PMID- 27646134
TI  - Oxford Nanopore MinION Sequencing and Genome Assembly.
AB  - The revolution of genome sequencing is continuing after the successful second
      generation sequencing (SGS) technology. The third-generation sequencing (TGS)
      technology, led by Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), is progressing rapidly, moving
      from a technology once only capable of providing data for small genome analysis,
      or for performing targeted screening, to one that promises high quality de novo
      assembly and structural variation detection for human-sized genomes. In 2014, the
      MinION, the first commercial sequencer using nanopore technology, was released by
      Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT). MinION identifies DNA bases by measuring the
      changes in electrical conductivity generated as DNA strands pass through a
      biological pore. Its portability, affordability, and speed in data production
      makes it suitable for real-time applications, the release of the long read
      sequencer MinION has thus generated much excitement and interest in the genomics
      community. While de novo genome assemblies can be cheaply produced from SGS data,
      assembly continuity is often relatively poor, due to the limited ability of short
      reads to handle long repeats. Assembly quality can be greatly improved by using
      TGS long reads, since repetitive regions can be easily expanded into using longer
      sequencing lengths, despite having higher error rates at the base level. The
      potential of nanopore sequencing has been demonstrated by various studies in
      genome surveillance at locations where rapid and reliable sequencing is needed,
      but where resources are limited.

PMID- 27646136
TI  - Association of interleukin-6 single nucleotide polymorphisms with juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis.
AB  - Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic disease
      in children. Genetics and inflammatory elements seem to act as major underlying
      factors in its pathogenesis. The aim of this study is to identify the
      associations between interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene polymorphisms and individuals'
      vulnerability to JIA in a group of Iranian pediatric patients. Fifty-four
      patients with JIA were enrolled in this investigation and compared with 139
      healthy individuals. Using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific
      primers, cytokine genotyping was performed. The allele and genotype frequencies
      of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the IL-6 gene at -174 and
      +565 positions were assessed. A significant positive association was observed for
      IL -6 -174 G allele in the patient group (p = 0.02). Furthermore, a positive
      association was observed in patients with JIA for the GG genotype at the same
      position (p < 0.01), thus revealing a predisposing effect in JIA patients. On the
      other hand, a significant negative association was found for IL-6 -174 CG
      genotype (p < 0.01) in the case group. No significant difference was discovered
      in both the allelic and genotypic frequencies of IL-6 +565 position between
      patients and controls. Additionally, haplotype analysis divulged over
      representation of IL-6 GG haplotype in patient group (p < 0.01) as well as IL-6
      CG haplotype in healthy controls (p < 0.01). Certain allele, genotype, and
      haplotype in IL-6 gene were over expressed in patients with JIA, which probably
      could render individuals more susceptible to this disease.

PMID- 27646138
TI  - Involvement of PGRP-SC2 from Artemia sinica in the innate immune response against
      bacteria and expression pattern at different developmental stages.
AB  - Peptidoglycan-recognition protein-SC2 precursor-like protein (PGRP-SC2) is a
      vital protein in innate immunity with a vita role in response to bacteria
      challenge in invertebrates. Here, a 678-bp full-length cDNA of pgrp-sc2 from A.
      sinica was obtained containing a 558-bp open reading frame encoding 185 amino
      acids with a calculated molecular mass of 19.6 kDa. The predicted protein
      contains a PGRP and an Amidase2 domain, indicating that PGRP-SC2 is a PGRP family
      member and has N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidase activity. The expression and
      localization of pgrp-sc2/PGRP-SC2 in A.sinica during embryonic development and
      bacterial challenge were determined by qPCR, WB and ISH. During different A.
      sinica embryonic development stages, the expression level of pgrp-sc2/PGRP-SC2
      was most highly expressed at 0 and 5 h and after challenge by Gram-positive
      bacteria, it increased with increasing bacterial concentrations, indicating that
      it plays a vital role in A. sinica early embryonic development and innate
      immunity.

PMID- 27646139
TI  - The PLA2 gene mediates the humoral immune responses in Bactrocera dorsalis
      (Hendel).
AB  - The phospholipase A2 (PLA2) gene encodes the enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis
      of phospholipids (PLs) from the sn-2 position. However, little is known about its
      role in humoral immune responses. In this study, we investigated the expression
      profile of PLA2 in different tissues and developmental stages in Bactrocera
      dorsalis (Hendel), and the results showed that the transcriptional level of PLA2
      was high in the egg and mature stage and in the testis tissue. Bacterial
      infection increased the expression of PLA2, and the highest degree of up
      regulation appeared in the fat body. Silencing PLA2 influenced the expression of
      immune-related genes, including MyD88 and defensin in the Toll pathway and relish
      and diptericin in the Imd pathway. Moreover, the expression of MyD88 and defensin
      was down-regulated significantly in the ds-PLA2 group compared with those in the
      ds-egfp group when B. dorsalis was infected with L. monocytogenes and S. aureus,
      indicating that PLA2 was involved in the activation of the Toll pathway.
      Meanwhile, infection with L. monocytogenes and E. coli, which activate the Imd
      pathway, does not increase the mRNA levels of relish and diptericin in the ds
      PLA2 group as severely as it increases those in the ds-egfp group, indicating
      that the Imd pathway was also repressed after silencing PLA2. Notably, the
      development of lipid droplets in fat body cells was influenced by silencing PLA2,
      implying that PLA2 affects the function of fat body tissue. These results suggest
      that the PLA2 gene may mediate humoral immune responses by reducing lipid storage
      in fat body cells in B. dorsalis.

PMID- 27646140
TI  - Evolution of Mutation Rates in Rapidly Adapting Asexual Populations.
AB  - Mutator and antimutator alleles often arise and spread in both natural microbial
      populations and laboratory evolution experiments. The evolutionary dynamics of
      these mutation rate modifiers are determined by indirect selection on linked
      beneficial and deleterious mutations. These indirect selection pressures have
      been the focus of much earlier theoretical and empirical work, but we still have
      a limited analytical understanding of how the interplay between hitchhiking and
      deleterious load influences the fates of modifier alleles. Our understanding is
      particularly limited when clonal interference is common, which is the regime of
      primary interest in laboratory microbial evolution experiments. Here, we
      calculate the fixation probability of a mutator or antimutator allele in a
      rapidly adapting asexual population, and we show how this quantity depends on the
      population size, the beneficial and deleterious mutation rates, and the strength
      of a typical driver mutation. In the absence of deleterious mutations, we find
      that clonal interference enhances the fixation probability of mutators, even as
      they provide a diminishing benefit to the overall rate of adaptation. When
      deleterious mutations are included, natural selection pushes the population
      toward a stable mutation rate that can be suboptimal for the adaptation of the
      population as a whole. The approach to this stable mutation rate is not
      necessarily monotonic: even in the absence of epistasis, selection can favor
      mutator and antimutator alleles that "overshoot" the stable mutation rate by
      substantial amounts.

PMID- 27646141
TI  - Boosting Gene Mapping Power and Efficiency with Efficient Exact Variance
      Component Tests of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Sets.
AB  - Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) set tests have been a powerful method in
      analyzing next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. The popular sequence kernel
      association test (SKAT) method tests a set of variants as random effects in the
      linear mixed model setting. Its P-value is calculated based on asymptotic theory
      that requires a large sample size. Therefore, it is known that SKAT is
      conservative and can lose power at small or moderate sample sizes. Given the
      current cost of sequencing technology, scales of NGS are still limited. In this
      report, we derive and implement computationally efficient, exact (nonasymptotic)
      score (eScore), likelihood ratio (eLRT), and restricted likelihood ratio (eRLRT)
      tests, ExactVCTest, that can achieve high power even when sample sizes are small.
      We perform simulation studies under various genetic scenarios. Our ExactVCTest
      (i.e., eScore, eLRT, eRLRT) exhibits well-controlled type I error. Under the
      alternative model, eScore P-values are universally smaller than those from SKAT.
      eLRT and eRLRT demonstrate significantly higher power than eScore, SKAT, and SKAT
      optimal (SKAT-o) across all scenarios and various samples sizes. We applied these
      tests to an exome sequencing study. Our findings replicate previous results and
      shed light on rare variant effects within genes. The software package is
      implemented in the open source, high-performance technical computing language
      Julia, and is freely available at https://github.com/Tao
      Hu/VarianceComponentTest.jl Analysis of each trait in the exome sequencing data
      set with 399 individuals and 16,619 genes takes around 1 min on a desktop
      computer.

PMID- 27646143
TI  - The dorsal skinfold chamber: A versatile tool for preclinical research in tissue
      engineering and regenerative medicine.
AB  - The dorsal skinfold chamber is a rodent model for non-invasive microcirculatory
      analyses of striated muscle and skin tissue throughout an observation period of 2
      3 weeks. In combination with intravital fluorescence microscopy, this model
      allows the quantitative assessment of dynamic processes such as inflammation,
      angiogenesis, vascular remodelling and microcirculation. Accordingly, the dorsal
      skinfold chamber is increasingly used for preclinical research in tissue
      engineering and regenerative medicine. This includes studies on biocompatibility,
      vascularisation and incorporation of medical implants and artificial tissue
      constructs. Moreover, the chamber implantation procedure has been modified to
      analyse primary and secondary wound healing as well as revascularisation and
      blood perfusion of dermal substitutes, skin grafts and myocutaneous flaps. Hence,
      the dorsal skinfold chamber model does not only provide deep insights into
      fundamental regenerative mechanisms but also represents a versatile tool for the
      development of novel therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 27646142
TI  - Cemented compared to uncemented femoral stems in total hip replacement for
      displaced femoral neck fractures in the elderly: study protocol for a single
      blinded, randomized controlled trial (CHANCE-trial).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total hip replacement (THR) is the preferred method for the active
      and lucid elderly patient with a displaced femoral neck fracture (FNF). But
      controversy still exists regarding using cemented or uncemented stem in these
      patients. The aim of this study is to compare a cemented and uncemented femoral
      stem in patients 65-79 years treated surgically with THR for displaced FNF.
      METHODS/DESIGN: In a single-centre, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial,
      we will include 140 patients aged 65-79 years with an acute displaced FNF and
      randomize them in a 1:1 ratio to a cemented tapered or a uncemented tapered
      hydroxyapatite - coated femoral stem. A cemented cup will be used in both groups.
      The patients will be blinded for allocation. The primary endpoints will be the
      incidence of all hip-related complications and health-related quality of life
      evaluated with EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) index up to 2 years after surgery. Secondary
      outcomes will be overall mortality, general medical complications and hip
      function. The follow-up will be at 3 months, 1 and 2 years. Further follow-ups
      after end of study will be at 4 and 10 years. Results will be analysed using 95 %
      CI's for the effect size. A regression model will also be used to adjust for
      stratification factor. DISCUSSION: The ethical committee at Karolinska Institutet
      has approved the study. An interim analysis on the primary endpoints will be
      performed when half the sample size is included. The results from the study will
      be disseminated to the medical community via presentations and publications in
      relevant medical journals. The study will provide evidence if a cemented or
      uncemented femoral stem is preferable in THR for elderly patients with a
      displaced FNF. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov
      ( NCT02247791 ), October 21, 2013.

PMID- 27646144
TI  - Intranasal tetracaine and oxymetazoline: a newly approved drug formulation that
      provides maxillary dental anesthesia without needles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An intranasal formulation of 3% tetracaine and 0.05% oxymetazoline
      (Kovanaze) received FDA approval on 29 June 2016. This formulation appears to
      provide sufficient local anesthesia to perform routine dental restorative
      (filling) procedures in maxillary teeth from second premolar forward. OBJECTIVES:
      The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the efficacy, pharmacokinetics
      and tolerability of 3% tetracaine plus 0.05% oxymetazoline when administered
      intranasally. METHODS: The literature was reviewed employing the search terms
      intranasal delivery, tetracaine, oxymetazoline and dental local anesthesia
      employing the search engines PubMed Plus, Scopus and the Web of Science. The
      search was limited to double-blind, randomized, placebo or sham-controlled trials
      except for phase 1 and phase 2 pharmacokinetic and safety data. RESULTS: A total
      of five relevant publications appeared in the peer reviewed literature. Three per
      cent tetracaine plus 0.05% oxymetazoline produced a success rate of between 83%
      and 90% in providing sufficient local anesthesia to perform dental restorative
      procedures in maxillary premolars, canines, and incisors. The vasoconstrictive
      action of the oxymetazoline component was determined to be necessary for
      anesthetic success. The tetracaine component has a very short half-life and is
      undetectable in many subjects. Oxymetazoline has a half-life of approximately 2
      hours. The most common side effects of this formulation are nasal runniness,
      stuffiness, and stinging. Cardiovascular parameters remained relatively stable
      although there was a pressor response in two individuals out of 186 subjects
      exposed to the drug; one with a history of Hashimoto's thyrotoxicosis (a relative
      contraindication to the use of oxymetazoline) and one in a normal volunteer.
      These hypertensive events are most likely due to the oxymetazoline component, the
      active ingredient in over-the-counter nasal decongestants. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intranasal 3% tetracaine plus 0.05% oxymetazoline provides sufficient dental
      anesthesia to complete restorative dentistry procedures in maxillary premolar,
      canine and incisor teeth. Future phase 4 clinical trials will evaluate whether
      this drug provides the necessary anesthetic profundity to perform more complex
      dental procedures.

PMID- 27646146
TI  - Semi-Automated Needle Steering in Biological Tissue Using an Ultrasound-Based
      Deflection Predictor.
AB  - The performance of needle-based interventions depends on the accuracy of needle
      tip positioning. Here, a novel needle steering strategy is proposed that enhances
      accuracy of needle steering. In our approach the surgeon is in charge of needle
      insertion to ensure the safety of operation, while the needle tip bevel location
      is robotically controlled to minimize the targeting error. The system has two
      main components: (1) a real-time predictor for estimating future needle
      deflection as it is steered inside soft tissue, and (2) an online motion planner
      that calculates control decisions and steers the needle toward the target by
      iterative optimization of the needle deflection predictions. The predictor uses
      the ultrasound-based curvature information to estimate the needle deflection.
      Given the specification of anatomical obstacles and a target from preoperative
      images, the motion planner uses the deflection predictions to estimate control
      actions, i.e., the depth(s) at which the needle should be rotated to reach the
      target. Ex-vivo needle insertions are performed with and without obstacle to
      validate our approach. The results demonstrate the needle steering strategy
      guides the needle to the targets with a maximum error of 1.22 mm.

PMID- 27646147
TI  - In Vivo Contrast-Enhanced Cone Beam CT Provides Quantitative Information on
      Articular Cartilage and Subchondral Bone.
AB  - In post-traumatic osteoarthritis, both articular cartilage and subchondral bone
      undergo characteristic pathological changes. This study investigates potential of
      delayed cone beam computed tomography arthrography (dCBCTa) to simultaneously
      detect variations in cartilage and subchondral bone. The knees of patients (n =
      17) with suspected joint injuries were imaged using a clinical CBCT scanner at 5
      and 45 min after the intra-articular injection of anionic contrast agent
      (HexabrixTM) with hydroxyapatite phantoms around the knee. Normalized attenuation
      (i.e., contrast agent partition, an indicator of tissue composition) in
      cartilage, bone mineral density (BMD) in subchondral bone plate (SBP),
      subchondral bone and trabecular bone, and thicknesses of SBP and cartilage were
      determined. Lesions of cartilage were scored using International Cartilage Repair
      Society (ICRS) grading. Normalized attenuation in the delayed image (t = 45 min)
      increased along the increase of ICRS grade (p = 0.046). Moreover, BMD was
      significantly higher in SBPs under damaged cartilage (ICRS = 1-2 or ICRS >= 3; p
      = 0.047 and p = 0.038, respectively) than in SBP under non-injured tissue (ICRS =
      0). For the first time, dCBCTa enabled the detection of articular cartilage
      injuries and subchondral bone alterations simultaneously in vivo. Significant
      relations between ICRS grading and both cartilage and bone parameters suggest
      that dCBCTa has potential for quantitative imaging of the knee joint.

PMID- 27646148
TI  - Promoting First Relationships(r): Randomized Trial of a 10-Week Home Visiting
      Program With Families Referred to Child Protective Services.
AB  - We conducted a community-based randomized control trial with intent-to-treat
      analysis on Promoting First Relationships(r) (PFR), a 10-week home visiting
      program. The study included 247 families with 10- to 24-month-old children who
      had a recent, open child protective services investigation of child maltreatment.
      Families were randomly assigned to receive either the 10-week home visiting PFR
      service or a telephone-based, three-call resource and referral (R&R) service.
      Across postintervention time points, parents in the PFR condition scored higher
      than families in the R&R condition in parent understanding of toddlers' social
      emotional needs ( d = .35) and observed parental sensitivity ( d = .20). Children
      in the PFR condition scored lower than children in the comparison condition on an
      observational measure of atypical affective communication ( d = .19) and were
      less likely than children in the comparison group to be placed into foster care
      through 1-year postintervention (6% vs. 13%, p = .042). No significant
      differences were found on measures of parenting stress or child social-emotional
      competence, behavior problems, or secure base behavior. Overall, the results show
      support for the promise of PFR as an intervention for enhancing parent
      sensitivity and preventing child removals for families in the child welfare
      system.

PMID- 27646145
TI  - AltitudeOmics: Red Blood Cell Metabolic Adaptation to High Altitude Hypoxia.
AB  - Red blood cells (RBCs) are key players in systemic oxygen transport. RBCs respond
      to in vitro hypoxia through the so-called oxygen-dependent metabolic regulation,
      which involves the competitive binding of deoxyhemoglobin and glycolytic enzymes
      to the N-terminal cytosolic domain of band 3. This mechanism promotes the
      accumulation of 2,3-DPG, stabilizing the deoxygenated state of hemoglobin, and
      cytosol acidification, triggering oxygen off-loading through the Bohr effect.
      Despite in vitro studies, in vivo adaptations to hypoxia have not yet been
      completely elucidated. Within the framework of the AltitudeOmics study,
      erythrocytes were collected from 21 healthy volunteers at sea level, after
      exposure to high altitude (5260 m) for 1, 7, and 16 days, and following reascent
      after 7 days at 1525 m. UHPLC-MS metabolomics results were correlated to
      physiological and athletic performance parameters. Immediate metabolic
      adaptations were noted as early as a few hours from ascending to >5000 m, and
      maintained for 16 days at high altitude. Consistent with the mechanisms
      elucidated in vitro, hypoxia promoted glycolysis and deregulated the pentose
      phosphate pathway, as well purine catabolism, glutathione homeostasis,
      arginine/nitric oxide, and sulfur/H2S metabolism. Metabolic adaptations were
      preserved 1 week after descent, consistently with improved physical performances
      in comparison to the first ascendance, suggesting a mechanism of metabolic
      memory.

PMID- 27646150
TI  - AntiPhospholipid Syndrome Alliance for Clinical Trials and InternatiOnal
      Networking (APS ACTION): 5-Year Update.
AB  - Antiphospholipid Syndrome Alliance for Clinical Trials and International
      Networking (APS ACTION) is the first-ever international network created to design
      and conduct large-scale, multicenter clinical trials and research in persistently
      antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)-positive patients. Since its inception in 2010,
      the APS ACTION has made important strides toward our goal of international
      research collaboration and data sharing. Through the dedication and hard work of
      50 APS ACTION members, collaborative international projects are currently
      underway including a multicenter web-based registry and repository of aPL
      positive patients, a randomized controlled clinical trial assessing the efficacy
      of hydroxychloroquine for primary thrombosis prevention in persistently aPL
      positive but thrombosis-free patients, standardization of aPL testing through the
      use of core laboratories worldwide, identification of the limitations in the
      existing aPL/APS literature, and conducting observational research studies to
      further our understanding of the disease. Thus far, APS ACTION has held annual
      workshops and summits with the aim of facilitating international collaboration
      and developing initiatives to recruit young scholars to APS research. This paper
      describes updates related to the organization's structure, ongoing research
      efforts, and recent accomplishments and discusses future directions.

PMID- 27646153
TI  - Feasibility of Computed Diffusion Weighted Imaging and Optimization of b-value in
      Cervical Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of computed diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)
      in cervical cancer and investigate the optimal b-value using computed DWI.
      METHODS: The present retrospective study involved 85 patients with cervical
      cancer in the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage
      IB, IIA or IIB. DWI was obtained with b-values of 0, 100, 500 and 1000 s/mm2.
      Computed DWI with b-values of 800, 1000, 1300, 1600 and 2000 s/mm2 (cDWI800,
      cDWI1000, cDWI1300, cDWI1600, cDWI2000) were generated from all measured DWI
      (mDWI) data. Qualitatively, computed DWI was evaluated in terms of tumor
      conspicuity, signal suppression of the fat in the imaged area and total image
      quality by two radiologists independently with reference to mDWI with b-value of
      1000 s/mm2. The b-value at which the signal of the endocervical canal was
      suppressed was recorded. Quantitatively, the signal intensities of tumor,
      myometrium, endocervical canal, endometrium, and gluteal subcutaneous fat were
      measured and represented as contrast ratios (CR). RESULTS: Regarding tumor
      conspicuity and total image quality, significantly higher scores were obtained at
      cDWI1300 and cDWI1600 compared to the others (post-hoc comparison, P < 0.001),
      except for the total image quality between cDWI1000 and cDWI1600 in one reader.
      Signal suppression of the fat was the worst at cDWI2000. The signal intensity of
      the endocervical canal was suppressed in 24/27 cases on cDWI1600 and in 26/27
      cases on cDWI2000. The CRs of tumor to myometrium, cervix, and endometrium
      increased with higher b-values, while the CRs of tumor to fat decreased and were
      statistically significant (post-hoc comparison, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Computed
      DWI with the b-values of 1300 and 1600 would be suitable for the evaluation of
      cervical cancer due to good tumor conspicuity.

PMID- 27646154
TI  - Transverse Relaxation Rate of Cyst Fluid Can Predict Malignant Transformation of
      Ovarian Endometriosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Heme and iron accumulation due to repeated hemorrhage in endometriosis
      may contribute to a pivotal role in carcinogenesis. We evaluate the clinical
      application of MR relaxometry in a series of ovarian endometriosis (OE) and
      endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer (EAOC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      prospective study of diagnostic accuracy was conducted among 82 patients (67 OE
      and 15 EAOC) to compare MR relaxometry and biochemical measurement of cyst fluid
      total iron concentration. Transverse relaxation rate R2 value was determined
      using a single-voxel, multi-echo MR sequence (HISTO) by a 3T-MR system. Phantom
      experiments were also performed to assess the correlation between the ex vivo R2
      values and total iron concentrations. RESULTS: Both the results of phantom
      experiments and in vivo human data confirmed that in vivo R2 values were highly
      correlated with total iron concentrations. Compared to OE, EAOC exhibit decreased
      in vivo R2 values and total iron levels, regardless of their age, menopausal
      status and cyst size. The use of in vivo R2 values retained excellent accuracy in
      distinguishing EAOC versus OE (sensitivity and specificity: 86% and 94%).
      CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that MR relaxometry provides a noninvasive
      predictive tool to discriminate between EAOC and OE.

PMID- 27646159
TI  - Disease dynamics in a coupled cholera model linking within-host and between-host
      interactions.
AB  - A new modelling framework is proposed to study the within-host and between-host
      dynamics of cholera, a severe intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio
      cholerae. The within-host dynamics are characterized by the growth of highly
      infectious vibrios inside the human body. These vibrios shed from humans
      contribute to the environmental bacterial growth and the transmission of the
      disease among humans, providing a link from the within-host dynamics at the
      individual level to the between-host dynamics at the population and environmental
      level. A fast-slow analysis is conducted based on the two different time scales
      in our model. In particular, a bifurcation study is performed, and sufficient and
      necessary conditions are derived that lead to a backward bifurcation in cholera
      epidemics. Our result regarding the backward bifurcation highlights the
      challenges in the prevention and control of cholera.

PMID- 27646163
TI  - Therapeutic potential of boswellic acids: a patent review (1990-2015).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Boswellic acids (BAs), a group of pentacyclic triterpenoids, have
      demonstrated very interesting biological properties that resulted in a number of
      protocols being developed for their synthesis. During the last twenty-five years
      (1990-2015), numerous BAs have been prepared. Both natural BAs and their
      synthetic derivatives can be used to treat various cancers as well as
      inflammatory diseases. Areas covered: This review covers patents on therapeutic
      activities of natural BAs and their synthetic derivatives published in last
      twenty-five years (1990-2015). Only BA patents to treat cancer and inflammation
      are available. A discussion about structure-activity relationships (SAR) of these
      analogs is also included. Expert opinion: BAs possess excellent anticancer and
      anti-inflammatory properties. A large number of BAs and their analogues have been
      prepared through modification at the C3-OH and C24-CO2H functional groups. Most
      importantly, the C-24 amide and amino derivatives demonstrated increased
      anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity compared with other BA derivatives.
      Furthermore, BAs have the potential to form conjugates with other anticancer
      drugs that will synergistically enhance their anticancer effects; and we believe
      that in order to get lead compounds, there needs to be a greater focus on the
      synthesis of halo derivatives of BAs.

PMID- 27646165
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27646161
TI  - Global transcriptome dysregulation in second trimester fetuses with FMR1
      expansions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that FMR1 expansions would result in global
      gene dysregulation as early as the second trimester of human fetal development.
      METHOD: Using cell-free fetal RNA obtained from amniotic fluid supernatant and
      expression microarrays, we compared RNA levels in samples from fetuses with
      premutation or full mutation allele expansions with control samples. RESULTS: We
      found clear signals of differential gene expression relating to a variety of
      cellular functions, including ubiquitination, mitochondrial function, and
      neuronal/synaptic architecture. Additionally, among the genes showing
      differential gene expression, we saw links to related diseases of intellectual
      disability and motor function. Finally, within the unique molecular phenotypes
      established for each mutation set, we saw clear signatures of mitochondrial
      dysfunction and disrupted neurological function. Patterns of differential gene
      expression were very different in male and female fetuses with premutation
      alleles. CONCLUSION: These results support a model for which genetic
      misregulation during fetal development may set the stage for late clinical
      manifestations of FMR1-related disorders. (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27646166
TI  - Inhaling Benzene, Toluene, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Sulfur Dioxide, Disrupts Thyroid
      Function in Captive American Kestrels (Falco sparverius).
AB  - Research investigating the effects of air contaminants on biota has been limited
      to date. Captive adult female American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were exposed
      to a mixture of benzene (0.6 ppm), toluene (1 ppm), nitrogen dioxide (NO2; 2 ppm)
      and sulfur dioxide (SO2; 5.6 ppm), in a whole-body inhalation chamber. Thyroid
      axis responses to meet metabolic demands were examined through thyroid histology,
      plasma thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3), and hepatic outer ring
      deiodination (T4-ORD). Plasma free (F) T3 and T4 were measured at baseline, and
      at 9 days and 18 days of exposure, whereas total (T) T3 and TT4, thyroid
      histology and hepatic T4-ORD were determined at the final 18 day exposure.
      Inhalation of these contaminants significantly suppressed plasma FT4 and TT4, and
      depleted follicular colloid and increased epithelial cell height at 18 days, and
      significantly altered the temporal pattern of plasma FT4. Significant
      histological changes in the follicular colloid:epithelial cell height ratio
      indicated sustained T4 production and release by the thyroid glands. There was no
      effect on plasma FT3, TT3, or hepatic T4-ORD. We hypothesize that contaminant
      related activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in the kestrels
      increased elimination of plasma T4 through Phase II enzymes. Further research is
      required to test this hypothesis in wild birds.

PMID- 27646167
TI  - Genome-Wide Association Study Dissecting the Genetic Architecture Underlying the
      Branch Angle Trait in Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.).
AB  - The rapeseed branch angle is an important morphological trait because an adequate
      branch angle enables more efficient light capture under high planting densities.
      Here, we report that the average angle of the five top branches provides a
      reliable representation of the average angle of all branches. Statistical
      analyses revealed a significantly positive correlation between the branch angle
      and multiple plant-type and yield-related traits. The 60 K Brassica Infinium((r))
      single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array was utilized to genotype an
      association panel with 520 diverse accessions. A genome-wide association study
      was performed to determine the genetic architecture of branch angle, and 56 loci
      were identified as being significantly associated with the branch angle trait via
      three models, including a robust, novel, nonparametric Anderson-Darling (A-D)
      test. Moreover, these loci explained 51.1% of the phenotypic variation when a
      simple additive model was applied. Within the linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay
      ranges of 53 loci, we observed plausible candidates orthologous to documented
      Arabidopsis genes, such as LAZY1, SGR2, SGR4, SGR8, SGR9, PIN3, PIN7, CRK5, TIR1,
      and APD7. These results provide insight into the genetic basis of the branch
      angle trait in rapeseed and might facilitate marker-based breeding for
      improvements in plant architecture.

PMID- 27646168
TI  - Parental transfer of tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate and transgenerational
      inhibition of growth of zebrafish exposed to environmentally relevant
      concentrations.
AB  - Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) is a re-emerging environmental
      contaminant that has been frequently detected at sub-ppb (<MUg/L) concentrations
      in natural waters. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of TDCIPP
      on growth in initial generation (F0) zebrafish after chronic exposure to
      environmentally relevant concentrations, and to examine possible parental
      transfer of TDCIPP and transgenerational effects on growth of first generation
      (F1) larvae. When zebrafish (1-month old) were exposed to 580 or 7500 ng TDCIPP/L
      for 240 days, bioconcentration resulted in significantly less growth as measured
      by body length, body mass, brain-somatic index (BSI) and hepatic-somatic index
      (HSI) in F0 females but not F0 males. These effects were possibly due to down
      regulation of expression of genes along the growth hormone/insulin-like growth
      factor (GH/IGF) axis. Furthermore, residues of TDCIPP were detected in F1 eggs
      after exposure of parents, which resulted in less survival, body length and heart
      rate in F1 individuals. Down-regulation of genes in the GH/IGF axis (e.g., gh,
      igf1) might be responsible for transgenerational toxicity. This study provides
      the first known evidence that exposure of zebrafish to environmentally relevant
      concentrations of TDCIPP during development can inhibit growth of offspring,
      which were not exposed directly to TDCIPP.

PMID- 27646169
TI  - Study on spatial distribution of crop residue burning and PM2.5 change in China.
AB  - With China as the study area, MODIS MOD14A1 and MCD12Q1 products were used to
      derive daily crop residue burning spots from 2014 to 2015. After vectorization of
      crop residue burning pixels and with the use of fishnet, burning density
      distribution maps were eventually completed. Meanwhile, the daily air quality
      data from 150 cities in 2014 and 285 cities in 2015 were used to obtain daily and
      monthly PM2.5 distribution maps with the Kriging interpolation. The results
      indicate that crop residue burning occurs in a seasonal pattern, and its spatial
      distribution is closely related to farming activities. The annual PM2.5 in China
      decreased 11.81% from 2014 to 2015, and the distribution of PM2.5 in China's east
      and north is always higher than in China's west and south. Furthermore, the
      changes in PM2.5 exhibit a hysteresis after crop residue burning in summer and
      autumn-winter. Regarding summer crop residue burning in China's middle-east, the
      r between crop residue burning spots and PM2.5 is 0.6921 (P < 0.01) in 2014 and
      0.5620 (P < 0.01) in 2015, while the correlation coefficient of autumn-winter
      crop residue burning in China's northeast is slightly lower with an r of 0.5670
      (P < 0.01) in 2014 and 0.6213 (P < 0.01) in 2015. In autumn-winter, crop residue
      burning can induce evident PM2.5 increase in China's northeast, and that is more
      obvious than summer crop residue burning in China's middle-east. Furthermore,
      when data of summer and autumn-winter crop residue burning from 2014 to 2015 are
      compared, we can see that the change in number of crop residue burning spots
      significant changes PM2.5 in these regions. Both the summer and autumn-winter
      crop residue burning areas presented spatial consistency with high PM2.5. By
      contrast, the results from many aspects indicated that the crop residue burning
      in spring did not cause a notable change of PM2.5.

PMID- 27646170
TI  - Urban air pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Time for action.
AB  - Air quality in cities of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries has deteriorated
      with the situation driven by rapid population growth and its attendant increased
      vehicle ownership, increased use of solid fuels for cooking and heating, and poor
      waste management practices. Industrial expansion in these cities is also a major
      contributor to the worsening air pollution. Exposure to ambient air pollution is
      a major threat to human health in SSA with 176,000 deaths and 626,000 DALYs in
      the region attributable to ambient air pollution exposure. These estimates are
      however likely to be much higher than reported due to the limited data emanating
      from the region. Recently, the adoption of the World Health Assembly resolution
      on air pollution and health, and Sustainable Development Goals are a welcome
      boost for urban air pollution control efforts in SSA. In this article, we have
      outlined within the broad framework of these international policy instruments,
      measures for addressing urban air pollution and its associated health impacts in
      SSA sustainably.

PMID- 27646171
TI  - Myelinating glia differentiation is regulated by extracellular matrix elasticity.
AB  - The mechanical properties of living tissues have a significant impact on cell
      differentiation, but remain unexplored in the context of myelin formation and
      repair. In the PNS, the extracellular matrix (ECM) incorporates a basal lamina
      significantly denser than the loosely organized CNS matrix. Inhibition of non
      muscle myosin II (NMII) enhances central but impairs peripheral myelination and
      NMII has been implicated in cellular responses to changes in the elasticity of
      the ECM. To directly evaluate whether mechanotransduction plays a role in glial
      cell differentiation, we cultured Schwann cells (SC) and oligodendrocytes (OL) on
      matrices of variable elastic modulus, mimicking either their native environment
      or conditions found in injured tissue. We found that a rigid, lesion-like matrix
      inhibited branching and differentiation of OL in NMII-dependent manner. By
      contrast, SC developed normally in both soft and stiffer matrices. Although SC
      differentiation was not significantly affected by changes in matrix stiffness
      alone, we found that expression of Krox-20 was potentiated on rigid matrices at
      high laminin concentration. These findings are relevant to the design of
      biomaterials to promote healing and regeneration in both CNS and PNS, via
      transplantation of glial progenitors or the implantation of tissue scaffolds.

PMID- 27646172
TI  - Liposome encapsulated perfluorohexane enhances radiotherapy in mice without
      additional oxygen supply.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the effect of perfluorochemical preparations in
      enhancing radiotherapy, perfluocarbon nanoparticles were by encapsulating
      perfluorohexane into liposome [lip(PFH)]. METHODS: After intravenous injection,
      lip(PFH) could accumulate in the tumor site over time, with a prominent
      accumulation in tumor 24 h post injection. X-ray was delivered to the tumor site
      24 h after the injection of lip(PFH) under room air. The experimental mice were
      randomized into four groups: control (saline), lip(PFH) (lip(PFH) only), X-ray (X
      ray only), and lip(PFH) + X-ray (lip(PFH) with X-ray radiation). Tumor volume and
      histology were monitored to assess treatment efficacy. RESULTS: Tumor growth was
      significantly reduced in mice received lip(PFH) and X-ray compared with X-ray
      only. The histological data also revealed more destruction of tumor tissue in
      lip(PFH) + X-ray group compared with X-ray only. In addition, lip(PFH) did not
      show any significant tissue damage to major organs or induce significant
      liver/kidney dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Lip(PFH) could accumulate in the tumor
      site and enhance radiotherapy without additional oxygen supply.

PMID- 27646175
TI  - Multi-scale model of food drying: Current status and challenges.
AB  - For a long time, food engineers have been trying to describe the physical
      phenomena that occur during food processing especially drying. Physics-based
      theoretical modeling is an important tool for the food engineers to reduce the
      hurdles of experimentation. Drying of food is a multi-physics phenomenon such as
      coupled heat and mass transfer. Moreover, food structure is multi-scale in
      nature, and the microstructural features play a great role in the food processing
      specially in drying. Previously simple macroscopic model was used to describe the
      drying phenomena which can give a little description about the smaller scale. The
      multiscale modeling technique can handle all the phenomena that occur during
      drying. In this special kind of modeling approach, the single scale models from
      bigger to smaller scales are interconnected. With the help of multiscale modeling
      framework, the transport process associated with drying can be studied on a
      smaller scale and the resulting information can be transferred to the bigger
      scale. This article is devoted to discussing the state of the art multi-scale
      modeling, its prospect and challenges in the field of drying technology. This
      article has also given some directions to how to overcome the challenges for
      successful implementation of multi-scale modeling.

PMID- 27646173
TI  - Effects of anthocyanins on the prevention and treatment of cancer.
AB  - : Anthocyanins are a class of water-soluble flavonoids, which show a range of
      pharmacological effects, such as prevention of cardiovascular disease, obesity
      control and antitumour activity. Their potential antitumour effects are reported
      to be based on a wide variety of biological activities including antioxidant;
      anti-inflammation; anti-mutagenesis; induction of differentiation; inhibiting
      proliferation by modulating signal transduction pathways, inducing cell cycle
      arrest and stimulating apoptosis or autophagy of cancer cells; anti-invasion;
      anti-metastasis; reversing drug resistance of cancer cells and increasing their
      sensitivity to chemotherapy. In this review, the latest progress on the
      anticancer activities of anthocyanins and the underlying molecular mechanisms is
      summarized using data from basic research in vitro and in vivo, from clinical
      trials and taking into account theory and practice. LINKED ARTICLES: This article
      is part of a themed section on Principles of Pharmacological Research of
      Nutraceuticals. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 27646174
TI  - Diurnal variations of hormonal secretion, alertness and cognition in extreme
      chronotypes under different lighting conditions.
AB  - Circadian rhythms in physiology and behavior are modulated by external factors
      such as light or temperature. We studied whether self-selected office lighting
      during the habitual waking period had a different impact on alertness, cognitive
      performance and hormonal secretion in extreme morning and evening chronotypes (N
      = 32), whose preferred bed- and wake-up times differed by several hours. The self
      selected lighting condition was compared with constant bright light and a control
      condition in dim light. Saliva samples for hormonal analyses, subjective ratings
      of alertness, wellbeing, visual comfort and cognitive performance were regularly
      collected. Between the self-selected and the bright, but not the dim lighting
      condition, the onset of melatonin secretion in the evening (as marker for
      circadian phase) was significantly different for both chronotypes. Morning
      chronotypes reported a faster increase in sleepiness during the day than evening
      chronotypes, which was associated with higher cortisol secretion. Wellbeing, mood
      and performance in more difficult cognitive tasks were better in bright and self
      selected lighting than in dim light for both chronotypes, whereas visual comfort
      was best in the self-selected lighting. To conclude, self-selection of lighting
      at work might positively influence biological and cognitive functions, and allow
      for inter-individual differences.

PMID- 27646178
TI  - [Campaign promises and delivery[Editorial]].

PMID- 27646177
TI  - [In the eve of general election[Editorial]].

PMID- 27646179
TI  - [Diet and nutrient intake of pregnant women in the capital area in Iceland].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nutrition in pregnancy may affect growth, development and health of
      the child in the short and long term. We aimed to assess diet and nutrient intake
      among pregnant women in the capital area and evaluate differences in dietary
      intake between women who were overweight/obese and normal weight before
      pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Pregnant women aged 18-40 years (n=183) living
      in the capital area kept four day weighed food records to assess diet and
      nutrient intake in the 19th-24th week of pregnancy (n=98 with body mass index
      (BMI) <25 kg/m2; n=46 with BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2 and n=39 with BMI >=30 kg/m2).
      RESULTS: Only 20% of the women consumed the minimum recommended 25 g/day of
      dietary fibers. The contribution of added sugar to the total energy intake was on
      average 12% (SD +/- 5%). About one-fourth appeared not to meet requirements for
      iodine, vitamin D and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). No overconsumption of vitamins
      and minerals from food or supplements was observed. Higher median intake of milk
      and dairy products (346 g/day vs. 258 g/day, p<0.05), soft drinks (200 g/day vs.
      122 g/day, p<0.05), as well as chips and popcorn (13 g/day vs. 0 g/day, p<0,05)
      was observed among women with BMI >=30 kg/m2 compared with women of normal weight
      before pregnancy (BMI <25 kg/m2). CONCLUSION: Dietary habits and choices among
      women require enhanced consideration both before and in pregnancy, particularly
      among those who are obese. Sub-optimal consumption of iodine, vitamin D and DHA,
      was seen among up to a quarter of the pregnant women. KEY WORDS: pregnancy,
      nutrition, dietary intake, essential fatty acids, iodine, vitamin D, folic acid.
      Correspondence: Ingibjorg Gunnarsdottir, ingigun@hi.is.

PMID- 27646181
TI  - [Infection of a total knee replacement following repeated joint aspiration - a
      case report].
AB  - An 80-year old male presented with an infected knee replacement following
      repeated joint aspirations. They were carried out due to recurrent hemarthrosis
      resulting from an initially missed quadriceps tendon injury. The infection was
      eradicated first after arthrodesis. This case highlights that prosthetic joints
      are sensitive to infection, which once established can be difficult to eradicate.
      Careful consideration is necessary before aspirating prosthetic joints.
      Diagnosing quadriceps tendon injuries can be difficult and they must be included
      in the differential diagnosis of traumatic hemarthrosis. We review the initials
      steps in the diagnosis and management of periprosthetic joint infections. KEY
      WORDS: periprosthetic joint infection, total knee replacement, quadriceps tendon
      rupture, hemarthrosis, joint aspiration. Correspondence: Eythor Orn Jonsson,
      eythororn@gmail.com.

PMID- 27646180
TI  - [Cerebral arteriovenous malformations - overview].
AB  - Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are uncommon but can cause
      intracerebral hemorrhage with grave disability or death. AVMs can even cause
      focal neurological symptoms, seizures and headache. The treatment of AVMs is
      complex. The most common treatment forms are microsurgery, stereotactic
      radiotherapy and endovascular embolization. The best treatment in each case can
      include a combination of the mentioned treatment forms. New studies indicate that
      no intervention is the best option in unruptured AVMs. In this article we discuss
      the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of cerebral AVMs. KEY WORDS: cerebral
      arteriovenous malformations, intracerebral hemorrhage, seizures, headache,
      surgery, radiation, endovascular embolization. Correspondence: Olafur Sveinsson,
      olafur.sveinsson@karolinska.se.

PMID- 27646183
TI  - Self Assessment in Musculoskeletal pathology X-rays Karen Sakthivel Wainford Self
      Assessment in Musculoskeletal Pathology X-rays M&K Update L33 / 290pp
      9781905539611 1905539614 [Formula: see text].
AB  - MUSCULOSKELETAL PATHOLOGY is often overlooked in standard X-ray interpretation
      courses, especially those with a bias towards trauma. This book is important,
      therefore, because it offers an introduction to the appearances of non-traumatic
      lesions.

PMID- 27646182
TI  - Whingeing at work.
AB  - A FORMER Australian colleague told me a joke recently: 'How can you tell when a
      plane load of poms has landed at Sydney airport? When they turn the engines off,
      the whining noise carries on.'

PMID- 27646184
TI  - The good CPD guide: A practical guide to managed continuing professional
      development in medicine Janet Grant The good CPD guide: A practical guide to
      managed continuing professional development in medicine Radcliffe Publishing
      190pp L29.99 9781846195709 1846195705 [Formula: see text].
AB  - DURING HARD times, when education budgets decrease, the purpose of continuing
      professional development (CPD) programmes must be made clear to practitioners and
      services. Clarity is crucial in ensuring that CPD programmes receive adequate
      funding, and that enough time and professional effort are devoted to them.

PMID- 27646186
TI  - Noticeboard.
AB  - Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career.

PMID- 27646185
TI  - Diary.
AB  - Our roundup of what's on.

PMID- 27646188
TI  - Intravenous pain relief.
AB  - Pain relief is a major component of emergency care, with morphine often being
      used as the drug of choice for moderate-to-severe traumatic limb pain.

PMID- 27646187
TI  - Nurse-initiated defibrillation.
AB  - This article is a refreshing reminder that emergency nurses around the world are
      changing their practice to improve patient care and outcomes.

PMID- 27646189
TI  - Hazardous drinking.
AB  - The World Health Organization Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2011
      suggests that, in the UK, 6.42 per cent of males and 1.52 per cent of females
      over the age of 15 experience alcohol-related injuries, most of which are
      accidental.

PMID- 27646191
TI  - Ce(3+)/Yb(3+)/Er(3+) triply doped bismuth borosilicate glass: a potential fiber
      material for broadband near-infrared fiber amplifiers.
AB  - Erbium doped bismuth borosilicate (BBS) glasses, possessing the broadest 1.55 MUm
      near infrared (NIR) emission band among oxide glasses, stand out as excellent
      fiber material for optical fiber amplifiers. In this work, we demonstrate that
      both broadened and enhanced NIR emission of Er(3+) can be obtained by sensibly
      combining the effects such as mixed glass former effect, phonon-assisted energy
      transfer (PAET) and de-excitation effect induced by codopant. Specially, by
      codoping CeO2 in a controlled manner, it leads to not only much improved optical
      quality of the glasses, enhanced NIR emission, but also significantly suppressed
      energy transfer up-conversion (ETU) luminescence which is detrimental to the NIR
      emission. Cerium incorporated in the glasses exists overwhelmingly as the
      trivalent oxidation state Ce(3+) and its effects on the luminescence properties
      of Er(3+) are discussed. Judd-Ofelt analysis is used to evaluate gain
      amplification of the glasses. The result indicates that Ce(3+)/Yb(3+)/Er(3+)
      triply doped BBS glasses are promising candidate for erbium doped fiber
      amplifiers. The strategy described here can be readily extended to other rare
      earth ions (REs) to improve the performance of REs doped fiber lasers and
      amplifiers.

PMID- 27646194
TI  - Biological application of Compressed Sensing Tomography in the Scanning Electron
      Microscope.
AB  - The three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction of a biological sample, namely
      collagen fibrils in human dermal tissue, was obtained from a set of projection
      images acquired in the Scanning Electron Microscope. A tailored strategy for the
      transmission imaging mode was implemented in the microscope and proved effective
      in acquiring the projections needed for the tomographic reconstruction. Suitable
      projection alignment and Compressed Sensing formulation were used to overcome the
      limitations arising from the experimental acquisition strategy and to improve the
      reconstruction of the sample. The undetermined problem of structure
      reconstruction from a set of projections, limited in number and angular range,
      was indeed supported by exploiting the sparsity of the object projected in the
      electron microscopy images. In particular, the proposed system was able to
      preserve the reconstruction accuracy even in presence of a significant reduction
      of experimental projections.

PMID- 27646192
TI  - Human extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli strains differ in prevalence of
      virulence factors, phylogroups, and bacteriocin determinants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study used a set of 407 human extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli
      strains (ExPEC) isolated from (1) skin and soft tissue infections, (2)
      respiratory infections, (3) intra-abdominal infections, and (4) genital smears.
      The set was tested for bacteriocin production, for prevalence of bacteriocin and
      virulence determinants, and for phylogenetic typing. Results obtained from the
      group of ExPEC strains were compared to data from our previously published
      analyses of 1283 fecal commensal E. coli strains. RESULTS: The frequency of
      bacteriocinogeny was significantly higher in the set of ExPEC strains (63.1 %),
      compared to fecal E. coli (54.2 %; p < 0.01). Microcin producers and microcin
      determinants dominated in ExPEC strains, while colicin producers and colicin
      determinants were more frequent in fecal E. coli (p < 0.01). Higher production of
      microcin M and lower production of microcin B17, colicin Ib, and Js was detected
      in the set of ExPEC strains. ExPEC strains had a significantly higher prevalence
      of phylogenetic group B2 (52.6 %) compared to fecal E. coli strains (38.3 %; p <
      0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Human ExPEC strains were shown to differ from human fecal
      strains in a number of parameters including bacteriocin production, prevalence of
      several bacteriocin and virulence determinants, and prevalence of phylogenetic
      groups. Differences in these parameters were also identified within subgroups of
      ExPEC strains of diverse origin. While some microcin determinants (mM, mH47) were
      associated with virulent strains, other bacteriocin types (mB17, Ib, and Js) were
      associated with fecal flora.

PMID- 27646196
TI  - A Pharmacokinetic Approach to Calculate the Time to Delay the Next Vancomycin
      Dose After a Supratherapeutic Trough.

PMID- 27646195
TI  - Bottom up design of nanoparticles for anti-cancer diapeutics: "put the drug in
      the cancer's food".
AB  - The story starts in Basel at CLINAM in 2013, when I asked Pieter about making
      nanoparticles and he advised me to "try this solvent-exchange method we have
      developed for making limit sized particles". We are particularly interested in
      what are "limit size materials" because we want to test the feasibility of an
      idea: could we design, make, develop, and test the concept for treating
      metastatic cancer by, "Putting the Drug in the Cancer's Food? "Limit size" is the
      size of the cancer's food, ? the common Low Density Lipoprotein, (LDL) ~20 nm
      diameter. In this contribution to Pieter's LTAA we focus on the "bottom"
      (nucleation) and the "up" (growth) of "bottom-up design" as it applies to
      homogeneous nucleation of especially, hydrophobic drugs and the 8 physico
      chemical stages and associated parameters that determine the initial size, and
      any subsequent coarsening, of a nanoparticle suspension. We show that, when made
      by the rapid solvent-exchange method, the same sized particles can be obtained
      without phospholipid. Furthermore, the obtained size follows the predictions of
      classic nucleation theory when the appropriate values for the parameters (surface
      tension and supersaturation) at nucleation are included. Calculations on
      dissolution time for nanoparticles reveal that a typical fewmicromolar
      solubility, hydrophobic, anti-cancer drug (like Lapatinib, Niclosamide,
      Abiraterone, and Fulvestrant) of 500 nm diameter would take between 3?7 s to
      dissolve in an infinite sink like the blood stream; and a 50 nm particle would
      dissolve in less than a second! And so the nanoparticle design requires a highly
      water-insoluble drug, and a tight, encapsulating, impermeable lipid:cholesterol
      monolayer. While the "Y" junction can be used to mix an ethanolic solution with
      anti-solvent, we find that a "no-junction" can give equally good results. A
      series of nanoparticles (DiI-fluorescently labeled Triolein-cored and drug-cored
      nanoparticles of Orlistat) were then tested in well-characterized cell lines for
      uptake and efficacy as well as a PET-imageable nanoparticle in initial PET
      imaging studies in animals for EPR uptake and tumor detection. We show that,
      while free-drug cannot be optimally administered in vivo, a nanoparticle
      formulation of orlistat could in principle represent a stable parenteral delivery
      system. The article ends with a brief discussion of what we see as the way
      forward in Individualized Medicine from the Diagnostic-Therapeutic ("Diapeutic")
      side, requiring 18FDG detection of metastatic lesions, functional imaging of a
      protein target (e.g. Fatty Acid Synthase) using 11C acetate, then a PET (or
      other)-imageable nanoparticle to demonstrate EPR accumulation, and then the
      administration of the pure-drug nanoparticle taken in by the most aggressive
      cancer cells in the perivascular space, as they would their "food".

PMID- 27646198
TI  - A two wave cross-lagged study of work-role conflict, work-family conflict and
      emotional exhaustion.
AB  - By using a two-wave panel design, the present study aimed to study causal,
      reversed, and reciprocal relations among work-role conflict, work-family
      conflict, and emotional exhaustion. The Conservation of Resources theory was
      applied as a theoretical framework. The study was conducted in a large Norwegian
      oil and gas company (n = 1703). The results demonstrated positive cross-lagged
      effects of work-role conflict and work-family conflict on emotional exhaustion.
      In addition, emotional exhaustion predicted work-family conflict over time, and
      work-family conflict predicted work-role conflict over time, indicating the
      presence of reciprocal effects. The current study adds new knowledge to the
      positioning of work-family conflict in relation to perceived conflict in the
      workplace and emotional exhaustion.

PMID- 27646197
TI  - Anhedonia Is Associated with Poorer Outcomes in Contingency Management for
      Cocaine Use Disorder.
AB  - This study explored anhedonia (lack of interest or pleasure in non-drug rewards)
      as a potentially modifiable individual difference associated with the
      effectiveness of Contingency Management (CM). It also tested the hypothesis that
      a dopaminergic drug, levodopa (L-DOPA), would improve the effectiveness of CM,
      particularly in individuals high in anhedonia. The study was a single-site,
      randomized, double-blind, parallel group, 12-week trial comparing L-DOPA with
      placebo, with both medication groups receiving voucher-based CM targeting cocaine
      negative urines. Participants were N=85 treatment-seeking adults with CUD.
      Anhedonia was measured at baseline using a validated self-report measure and a
      progressive ratio behavioral measure. Treatment Effectiveness Score (TES) was
      defined as the total number of cocaine-negative urines submitted. Analyses based
      on Frequentist general linear models were not significant, but Bayesian analyses
      indicated a high probability (92.6%) that self-reported anhedonia was associated
      with poor treatment outcomes (lower TES). L-DOPA did not significantly improve
      outcomes, nor was the effect of L-DOPA moderated by anhedonia. While the study
      failed to replicate positive findings from previous studies of L-DOPA in
      combination with CM, it does provide preliminary evidence that anhedonia may be a
      modifiable individual difference associated with poorer CM outcomes.

PMID- 27646202
TI  - What new life for the Parisian (and European) anatomical and pathological
      collections? struggle for medical education.

PMID- 27646203
TI  - A novel RYR2 loss-of-function mutation (I4855M) is associated with left
      ventricular non-compaction and atypical catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular
      tachycardia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an
      ion channelopathy usually caused by gain-of-function mutations ryanodine receptor
      type-2 (RyR2). Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is an often genetic
      cardiomyopathy. A rare LVNC-CPVT overlap syndrome may be caused by exon 3
      deletion in RyR2. We sought to characterize the phenotypic spectrum and molecular
      basis of a novel RyR2 mutation identified in a family with both conditions.
      METHODS: Several members of an affected family underwent clinical and genetic
      assessments. A homology model of the RyR2 pore-region was generated to predict
      the location and potential impact of their RyR2 mutation. Ca2+-release assays
      were performed to characterize the functional impact of the RyR2 mutant expressed
      in HEK293 cells. RESULTS: A multigenerational family presented with a history of
      sudden death and a phenotype of atypical CPVT and LVNC. Genetic testing revealed
      a RYR2 mutation (I4855M) in two affected individuals. A homology model of the
      RyR2 pore-region showed that the I4855M mutant reside is located in the highly
      conserved 'inner vestibule', a water-filled cavity. I4855M may interfere with
      Ca2+ permeation and affect interactions between RyR2 pore subunits, and is thus
      predicted in silico to be damaging. Expression and functional studies in HEK293
      cells revealed that I4855M inhibited caffeine-induced Ca2+ release and exerted a
      dominant-negative impact on wild type RyR2. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies a
      potentially lethal overlapping syndrome of LVNC and atypical CPVT related to a
      novel RYR2 variant. Structural and functional studies suggest that this is a loss
      of-function mutation, which exerts a dominant-negative effect on wild type RyR2.

PMID- 27646204
TI  - Chronic cocaine exposure induces noradrenergic modulation of inhibitory synaptic
      transmission to cholinergic neurons of the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus.
AB  - The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT), which sends cholinergic efferent
      connections to dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA),
      plays a critical role in the development of addictive behavior and the
      reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. Although repeated cocaine exposure
      elicits plastic changes in excitatory synaptic transmission and intrinsic
      membrane excitability in LDT cholinergic neurons, it remains unclear whether
      inhibitory synaptic transmission is modulated by cocaine exposure. The LDT
      receives fibers containing noradrenaline (NA), a neurotransmitter whose
      extracellular levels increase with cocaine exposure. Therefore, it is
      hypothesized that repeated cocaine exposure induces plastic changes in LDT
      cholinergic neurons via NA. Ex vivo electrophysiological recordings in LDT
      cholinergic neurons were obtained from rats repeatedly exposed to cocaine. Bath
      application of NA induced similar levels of hyperpolarization in both saline- and
      cocaine-treated neurons. However, NA attenuated the amplitude of inhibitory
      postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in cocaine- but not saline-treated neurons through
      alpha2 adrenoceptors. This NA-induced IPSC attenuation was observed in the
      presence of strychnine, but not gabazine, indicating that NA modulated GABAergic
      but not glycinergic neurotransmission. NA increased the paired-pulse ratios of
      evoked IPSCs and decreased the frequencies of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) without
      affecting their amplitudes, suggesting a presynaptic mechanism. These findings
      suggest that repeated cocaine exposure induces neuroplasticity in GABAergic
      synaptic transmission onto LDT cholinergic neurons by probably modulating
      presynaptic alpha2 adrenoceptors. This potentially increases the activity of LDT
      cholinergic neurons, which might contribute to the development of addictive
      behavior by enhancing VTA DA neuronal activity.

PMID- 27646205
TI  - Complications of spinal surgery for elderly patients with lumbar spinal stenosis
      in a super-aging country: An analysis of 8033 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research (JSSR)
      performed a third study on complications in spinal surgery in 2011. The purpose
      was to present information about surgery and complications in a large amount of
      elderly patients aged 65 years with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) without
      coexisting spondylolisthesis, spondylolysis, or scoliosis, and to compare
      patients aged >=80 years to those aged 65-79 years. METHODS: A recordable optical
      disc for data storage was sent by JSSR in January 2012 to 1105 surgeons certified
      by the JSSR in order to collect surgical data. Data were returned by the end of
      May 2012. RESULTS: Data were accumulated for 8033 patients aged 65 years. The
      incidence of surgical complications was 10.8%, and did not differ significantly
      between age groups. The incidence of general complications was 2.7%, and differed
      significantly between age groups (p < 0.005). The highest incidence of surgical
      complications was for dural tear (DT) (3.6%), followed by deep wound infection
      (DWI) (1.4%), neurological complications (1.3%), and epidural hematoma (1.3%).
      Spinal instrumentation was applied in 30.3%. Incidences of surgical complications
      in instrumented and noninstrumented surgery were 17.3% and 8.8%. In instrumented
      surgery, incidences of surgical and general complications were higher in the >=80
      year age group than in the 65-79 year age group. Logistic regression analyses
      showed patients with microendoscopic surgery at increased risk of DT. Patients
      with diabetes mellitus and instrumented surgery showed increased risks of DWI.
      CONCLUSIONS: Incidences of surgical complications did not differ significantly
      between age groups. Attention should be paid to both surgical and general
      complications, particularly for postoperative mental disease in instrumented
      surgery for patients>=80 years old.

PMID- 27646207
TI  - Vertically transmitted HPV-dependent squamous cell carcinoma of the external
      auditory canal : Case report of a child.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is much evidence that high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)
      plays a causative role in a subset of head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC)
      in adults. HPV-positive tumors behave differently even in their response to
      treatment and are therefore a distinct subset. Both HPV-positive and HPV-negative
      tumors of the head and neck region are usually in the domain of adults and cases
      in children are rare; thus when a 2-year-old child was diagnosed with this cancer
      in the external auditory canal, an in-depth assessment of the tumor was
      considered necessary. CASE REPORT: A 2-year-old girl was born to a HPV-positive
      mother who was diagnosed with cervical cancer during pregnancy. The child was
      delivered by caesarean section and the mother died of her cancer 7 months after
      delivery. After the diagnosis of locally invasive HPV-positive squamous cell
      cancer of the external auditory canal, the child was treated surgically, and with
      chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Full remission was obtained lasting up to 325
      weeks since treatment was started, resulting in over 6 years of disease-free
      survival. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of advanced, HPV-related HNSCC in a
      2-year-old child, in whom the tumor was located in the external auditory canal
      and who made a dramatic recovery after treatment with nonradical surgery,
      chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The child has currently been disease free for 6
      years. This case supports the observation that HPV-related HNSCC tumors appear to
      respond favorably to treatment despite the patient's young age and the clinically
      advanced stage of the tumor.

PMID- 27646209
TI  - Kinetic analysis of the uptake of glucose and corn oil used as carbon sources in
      batch cultures of Gibberella fujikuroi.
AB  - This study determined the specific uptake rate of glucose and corn oil substrates
      used as carbon sources in batch cultures of Gibberella fujikuroi. We tested three
      biological models of growth rate: Monod, logistic and lag-exponential. With
      respect to the substrate consumption rate, we tested two models: constant cell
      yield (CCY) and law of mass action (LMA). The experimental data obtained from the
      culture with glucose as substrate correlated satisfactorily with the logistic/LMA
      model, indicating that the cell yield was variable. In the case of corn oil as
      carbon source, considering total residual lipids as substrate in the culture
      broth, the model with the best correlation was the lag-exp/CCY model. The
      quantification by GC of the three main fatty acids (linoleic, oleic and palmitic)
      in the culture medium showed a cumulative behavior, with a maximum concentration
      of each acid at 36 h. We established a more explicit mechanism of the consumption
      of corn oil, consisting of two stages: generation of fatty acids by hydrolysis
      and consumption by cellular uptake. The kinetic of hydrolysable lipids was of
      first order. We found that the hydrolysis rate of corn oil is not a limiting
      factor for the uptake of fatty acids by the microorganism. We also established,
      based on the analysis of the identical mathematical structure of consumption
      kinetics, that the uptake of fatty acids is faster than the uptake of glucose. 

PMID- 27646208
TI  - Characterization of a salt resistant bacterial strain Proteus sp. NA6 capable of
      decolorizing reactive dyes in presence of multi-metal stress.
AB  - Microbial biotechnologies for the decolorization of textile wastewaters have
      attracted worldwide attention because of their economic suitability and easiness
      in handling. However, the presence of high amounts of salts and metal ions in
      textile wastewaters adversely affects the decolorization efficiency of the
      microbial bioresources. In this regard, the present study was conducted to
      isolate salt tolerant bacterial strains which might have the potential to
      decolorize azo dyes even in the presence of multi-metal ion mixtures. Out of the
      tested 48 bacteria that were isolated from an effluent drain, the strain NA6 was
      found relatively more efficient in decolorizing the reactive yellow-2 (RY2) dye
      in the presence of 50 g L(-1) NaCl. Based on the similarity of its 16S rRNA gene
      sequence and its position in a phylogenetic tree, this strain was designated as
      Proteus sp. NA6. The strain NA6 showed efficient decolorization (>90 %) of RY2 at
      pH 7.5 in the presence of 50 g L(-1) NaCl under static incubation at 30  degrees
      C. This strain also had the potential to efficiently decolorize other
      structurally related azo dyes in the presence of 50 g L(-1) NaCl. Moreover,
      Proteus sp. NA6 was found to resist the presence of different metal ions (Co(+2),
      Cr(+6), Zn(+2), Pb(+2), Cu(+2), Cd(+2)) and was capable of decolorizing reactive
      dyes in the presence of different levels of the mixtures of these metal ions
      along with 50 g L(-1) NaCl. Based on the findings of this study, it can be
      suggested that Proteus sp. NA6 might serve as a potential bioresource for the
      biotechnologies involving bioremediation of textile wastewaters containing the
      metal ions and salts. 

PMID- 27646211
TI  - The tipping point: The critical role of therapeutic apheresis in a case of
      refractory acquired hemophilia.
AB  - Acquired hemophilia A (AHA) is a rare autoimmune disorder that leads to factor
      VIII (FVIII) deficiency via autoantibody formation. Standard treatment options
      include FVIII bypassing factors and immunosuppression. However, the role of
      therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is not clear in the treatment of AHA. We
      present a case of idiopathic AHA in a 66 year old female with severe bleeding and
      a FVIII inhibitor of 17.6 Bethesda units (BU). She failed to respond to standard
      treatment including maximum dose of recombinant FVIIa (rFVIIa), rituximab, and
      other immunosuppressive agents. Her FVIII inhibitor rapidly increased to 140 BU
      and FVIII was below 5%. TPE was initiated 3 weeks after admission and her
      bleeding stabilized after the first treatment and completely stopped after three
      treatments. Repeat testing revealed increased FVIII to 15% and FVIII inhibitor
      decreased to 2.0 BU. After an additional TPE treatment, her FVIII increased to
      27% and FVIII inhibitor decreased to 0.6 BU and she was discharged without
      bleeding 40 days after admission. In this case, TPE played a critical role in
      reducing FVIII inhibitor, which resulted in a recovery of FVIII activity and
      hemostasis. Therefore, TPE should be initiated early in AHA patients with
      bleeding and high titer of FVIII inhibitor.

PMID- 27646210
TI  - Characterization and evaluation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain WF02
      regarding its biocontrol activities and genetic responses against bacterial wilt
      in two different resistant tomato cultivars.
AB  - Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain WF02, isolated from soil collected at Wufeng
      Mountain, Taiwan, has siderophore-producing ability and in vitro antagonistic
      activity against bacterial wilt pathogen. To determine the impact of plant
      genotype on biocontrol effectiveness, we treated soil with this strain before
      infecting susceptible (L390) and moderately resistant (Micro-Tom) tomato
      cultivars with Ralstonia solanacearum strain Pss4. We also compared the efficacy
      of this strain with that of commercial Bacillus subtilis strain Y1336. Strain
      WF02 provided longer lasting protection against R. solanacearum than did strain
      Y1336 and controlled the development of wilt in both cultivars. To elucidate the
      genetic responses in these plants under WF02 treatment, we analyzed the temporal
      expression of defense-related genes in leaves. The salicylic acid pathway-related
      genes phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and pathogenesis-related protein 1a were up
      regulated in both cultivars, whereas expression of the jasmonic acid pathway
      related gene lipoxygenase was only elevated in the susceptible tomato cultivar
      (L390). These results suggest that WF02 can provide protection against bacterial
      wilt in tomato cultivars with different levels of disease resistance via direct
      and indirect modes of action. 

PMID- 27646258
TI  - Acquired Brain Injury, Parenting, Social Work, and Rehabilitation: Supporting
      Parents to Support Their Children.
AB  - Growing numbers of adults live with the consequences of acquired brain injury
      (ABI). Those affected frequently require medical input, rehabilitation, and
      social care. Individuals could suffer from a range of impairments that affect
      functional abilities. Limited attention has been paid to parenting with an ABI
      both within the social work and ABI literature. Parents with ABI present specific
      challenges to social workers and rehabilitationists. Case studies are used to
      illustrate how services can work to protect and support all parties, facilitating
      engagement with rehabilitation. The article concludes by considering the
      knowledge needed to facilitate engagement with rehabilitation and support.

PMID- 27646260
TI  - Prevention of behavioral deficits in rats exposed to folate receptor antibodies:
      implication in autism.
AB  - Folate receptor alpha (FRalpha) autoantibodies have been associated with fetal
      abnormalities and cerebral folate deficiency-related developmental disorders.
      Over 70% of the children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are positive for
      these autoantibodies and high-dose folinic acid is beneficial in treating these
      children. Here we show that antibodies (Abs) to the rat FRalpha administered
      during gestation produce communication, learning and cognitive deficits in a rat
      model that can be prevented by folinic acid and dexamethasone. FRalpha Ab can
      trigger inflammation as well as block folate transport to the fetus and to the
      developing brain to produce the functional deficits. In humans, exposure to
      FRalpha autoantibodies during fetal development and infancy could contribute to
      brain dysfunction such as that seen in ASD and other developmental disorders.
      Identifying women positive for the autoantibody and treating them with high-dose
      folinic acid along with other interventions to lower the autoantibody titer are
      effective strategies that may be considered to reduce the risk of having a child
      with developmental deficits.

PMID- 27646261
TI  - Myelination of parvalbumin interneurons: a parsimonious locus of
      pathophysiological convergence in schizophrenia.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder characterized by positive,
      negative and cognitive symptoms. Despite more than a century of research, the
      neurobiological mechanism underlying schizophrenia remains elusive. White matter
      abnormalities and interneuron dysfunction are the most widely replicated cellular
      neuropathological alterations in patients with schizophrenia. However, a unifying
      model incorporating these findings has not yet been established. Here, we propose
      that myelination of fast-spiking parvalbumin (PV) interneurons could be an
      important locus of pathophysiological convergence in schizophrenia. Myelination
      of interneurons has been demonstrated across a wide diversity of brain regions
      and appears highly specific for the PV interneuron subclass. Given the critical
      influence of fast-spiking PV interneurons for mediating oscillations in the gamma
      frequency range (~30-120 Hz), PV myelination is well positioned to optimize
      action potential fidelity and metabolic homeostasis. We discuss this hypothesis
      with consideration of data from human postmortem studies, in vivo brain imaging
      and electrophysiology, and molecular genetics, as well as fundamental and
      translational studies in rodent models. Together, the parvalbumin interneuron
      myelination hypothesis provides a falsifiable model for guiding future studies of
      schizophrenia pathophysiology.

PMID- 27646262
TI  - Nrf2-dependent persistent oxidative stress results in stress-induced
      vulnerability to depression.
AB  - Stressful life events produce a state of vulnerability to depression in some
      individuals. The mechanisms that contribute to vulnerability to depression remain
      poorly understood. A rat model of intense stress (social defeat (SD), first hit)
      produced vulnerability to depression in 40% of animals. Only vulnerable animals
      developed a depression-like phenotype after a second stressful hit (chronic mild
      stress). We found that this vulnerability to depression resulted from a
      persistent state of oxidative stress, which was reversed by treatment with
      antioxidants. This persistent state of oxidative stress was due to low brain
      derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, which characterized the vulnerable
      animals. We found that BDNF constitutively controlled the nuclear translocation
      of the master redox-sensitive transcription factor Nrf2, which activates
      antioxidant defenses. Low BDNF levels in vulnerable animals prevented Nrf2
      translocation and consequently prevented the activation of
      detoxifying/antioxidant enzymes, ultimately resulting in the generation of
      sustained oxidative stress. Activating Nrf2 translocation restored redox
      homeostasis and reversed vulnerability to depression. This mechanism was
      confirmed in Nrf2-null mice. The mice displayed high levels of oxidative stress
      and were inherently vulnerable to depression, but this phenotype was reversed by
      treatment with antioxidants. Our data reveal a novel role for BDNF in controlling
      redox homeostasis and provide a mechanistic explanation for post-stress
      vulnerability to depression while suggesting ways to reverse it. Because numerous
      enzymatic reactions produce reactive oxygen species that must then be cleared,
      the finding that BDNF controls endogenous redox homeostasis opens new avenues for
      investigation.

PMID- 27646266
TI  - Do Treatment Plans Matter? Moving From Recommendations to Action.
AB  - We investigated whether a service-planning document outlining recommendations for
      what providers should address in treatment (i.e., targets) and the associated
      clinical techniques they should employ (i.e., practices) influenced the targets
      and practices that providers reported actually implementing during the subsequent
      treatment episode. Participants included 94 youths ages 4 to 17 (M = 13.57, SD =
      3.59) who received community-based mental health services from the Hawai'i Child
      and Adolescent Mental Health Division. Data on targets and practices were
      compared across initial Mental Health Treatment Plans and Monthly Treatment and
      Progress Summaries. Data were analyzed using two-level, generalized mixed effects
      models with two-way cross-classification or linear mixed effects models.
      Providers were more likely to report the use of targets and practices in
      treatment if they were included within the treatment plan. In addition, the more
      closely targets addressed during treatment followed the recommended targets from
      the treatment plan, the more closely implemented practices followed the
      recommended practices listed in the treatment plan. Furthermore, as providers
      shifted their focus to different targets, a shift in their use of practices was
      also evident over time. Last, practices for which there is demonstrated efficacy
      for particular targets were more likely to be used. Service planning documents
      appear to help organize care; however, results also suggest possible limitations
      to the current system. These findings highlight potential areas for improvement
      in planning and care delivery.

PMID- 27646264
TI  - Depression, daily stressors and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: when
      stress overrides healthier food choices.
AB  - Depression, stress and diet can all alter inflammation. This double-blind,
      randomized crossover study addressed the impact of daily stressors and a history
      of major depressive disorder (MDD) on inflammatory responses to high-fat meals.
      During two separate 9.5 h admissions, 58 healthy women (38 breast cancer
      survivors and 20 demographically similar controls), mean age 53.1 years, received
      either a high saturated fat meal or a high oleic sunflower oil meal. The Daily
      Inventory of Stressful Events assessed prior day stressors and the Structured
      Clinical Interview for DSM-IV evaluated MDD. As expected, for a woman with no
      prior day stressors, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA),
      intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1
      (sVCAM-1) were higher following the saturated fat meal than the high oleic
      sunflower oil meal after controlling for pre-meal measures, age, trunk fat and
      physical activity. But if a woman had prior day stressors, these meal-related
      differences disappeared-because the stressors heightened CRP, SAA, sICAM-1 and
      sVCAM-1 responses to the sunflower oil meal, making it look more like the
      responses to the saturated fat meal. In addition, women with an MDD history had
      higher post-meal blood pressure responses than those without a similar history.
      These data show how recent stressors and an MDD history can reverberate through
      metabolic alterations, promoting inflammatory and atherogenic responses.

PMID- 27646263
TI  - The transcription factor XBP1s restores hippocampal synaptic plasticity and
      memory by control of the Kalirin-7 pathway in Alzheimer model.
AB  - Neuronal network dysfunction and cognitive decline constitute the most prominent
      features of Alzheimer's disease (AD), although mechanisms causing such
      impairments are yet to be determined. Here we report that virus-mediated delivery
      of the active spliced transcription factor X-Box binding protein 1s (XBP1s) in
      the hippocampus rescued spine density, synaptic plasticity and memory function in
      a mouse model of AD. XBP1s transcriptionally activated Kalirin-7 (Kal7), a
      protein that controls synaptic plasticity. In addition, we found reduced levels
      of Kal7 in primary neurons exposed to Abeta oligomers, transgenic mouse models
      and human AD brains. Short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of Kal7 altered
      synaptic plasticity and memory formation in naive mice. Further, reduction of
      endogenous Kal7 compromised the beneficial effects of XBP1s in Alzheimer's model.
      Hence, our findings reveal that XBP1s is neuroprotective through a mechanism that
      engages Kal7 pathway with therapeutic implications in AD pathology.

PMID- 27646268
TI  - Prenylated Coumarins from Heracleum stenopterum, Peucedanum praeruptorum,
      Clausena lansium, and Murraya paniculata.
AB  - Four hitherto unknown prenylated coumarins, namely 6"-O-beta-D
      apiofuranosylapterin (1), 4'-O-isobutyroylpeguangxienin (2), 6-(3-methyl-2
      oxobutyroyl)-7-methoxycoumarin (3), and 6-hydroxycoumurrayin (4), were isolated
      from the ethanol extract of Heracleum stenopterum, Peucedanum praeruptorum,
      Clausena lansium, and Murraya paniculata, respectively. Their chemical structures
      were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compound 2
      exhibited in vitro cytotoxic activity against five human cancer cell lines (HL
      60, A-549, SMMC-7721, MCF-7, and SW-480) with IC50 values ranging from 15.9 to
      23.2 MUM.

PMID- 27646265
TI  - PDE11A negatively regulates lithium responsivity.
AB  - Lithium responsivity in patients with bipolar disorder has been genetically
      associated with Phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A), and lithium decreases PDE11A mRNA
      in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hippocampal neurons originating from
      lithium-responsive patients. PDE11 is an enzyme uniquely enriched in the
      hippocampus that breaks down cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP. Here we determined
      whether decreasing PDE11A expression is sufficient to increase lithium
      responsivity in mice. In dorsal hippocampus and ventral hippocampus (VHIPP),
      lithium-responsive C57BL/6J and 129S6/SvEvTac mice show decreased PDE11A4 protein
      expression relative to lithium-unresponsive BALB/cJ mice. In VHIPP, C57BL/6J mice
      also show differences in PDE11A4 compartmentalization relative to BALB/cJ mice.
      In contrast, neither PDE2A nor PDE10A expression differ among the strains. The
      compartment-specific differences in PDE11A4 protein expression are explained by a
      coding single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at amino acid 499, which falls within
      the GAF-B homodimerization domain. Relative to the BALB/cJ 499T, the C57BL/6J
      499A decreases PDE11A4 homodimerization, which removes PDE11A4 from the membrane.
      Consistent with the observation that lower PDE11A4 expression correlates with
      better lithium responsiveness, we found that Pde11a knockout mice (KO) given 0.4%
      lithium chow for 3+ weeks exhibit greater lithium responsivity relative to wild
      type (WT) littermates in tail suspension, an antidepressant-predictive assay, and
      amphetamine hyperlocomotion, an anti-manic predictive assay. Reduced PDE11A4
      expression may represent a lithium-sensitive pathophysiology, because both
      C57BL/6J and Pde11a KO mice show increased expression of the pro-inflammatory
      cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) relative to BALB/cJ and PDE11A WT mice,
      respectively. Our finding that PDE11A4 negatively regulates lithium responsivity
      in mice suggests that the PDE11A SNPs identified in patients may be functionally
      relevant.

PMID- 27646269
TI  - Corrigendum: Corrigendum to 'Self and informant memory concerns align in healthy
      memory complainers and in early stages of mild cognitive impairment but separate
      with increasing cognitive impairment'.

PMID- 27646270
TI  - Shedding light on paraspeckle structure by super-resolution microscopy.
AB  - The nuclear body paraspeckle is built on the lncRNA Neat1 and plays important
      roles in gene regulation. In this issue, West et al. (2016. J. Cell Biol
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201601071) use super-resolution structured
      illumination microscopy to show that paraspeckles are organized in a core-shell
      spheroidal structure composed of Neat1 and seven proteins.

PMID- 27646271
TI  - Cancer-associated mutations in the protrusion-targeting region of p190RhoGAP
      impact tumor cell migration.
AB  - Spatiotemporal regulation of RhoGTPases such as RhoA is required at the cell
      leading edge to achieve cell migration. p190RhoGAP (p190A) is the main negative
      regulator of RhoA and localizes to membrane protrusions, where its GTPase
      activating protein (GAP) activity is required for directional migration. In this
      study, we investigated the molecular processes responsible for p190A targeting to
      actin protrusions. By analyzing the subcellular localization of truncated
      versions of p190A in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, we identified a novel
      functional p190A domain: the protrusion localization sequence (PLS) necessary and
      sufficient for p190A targeting to leading edges. Interestingly, the PLS is also
      required for the negative regulation of p190A RhoGAP activity. Further, we show
      that the F-actin binding protein cortactin binds the PLS and is required for
      p190A targeting to protrusions. Lastly, we demonstrate that cancer-associated
      mutations in PLS affect p190A localization and function, as well as tumor cell
      migration. Altogether, our data unveil a new mechanism of regulation of p190A in
      migrating tumor cells.

PMID- 27646272
TI  - Distinct G protein-coupled receptor recycling pathways allow spatial control of
      downstream G protein signaling.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are recycled via a sequence-dependent pathway
      that is spatially and biochemically distinct from bulk recycling. Why there are
      two distinct recycling pathways from the endosome is a fundamental question in
      cell biology. In this study, we show that the separation of these two pathways is
      essential for normal spatial encoding of GPCR signaling. The prototypical beta-2
      adrenergic receptor (B2AR) activates Galpha stimulatory protein (Galphas) on the
      endosome exclusively in sequence-dependent recycling tubules marked by
      actin/sorting nexin/retromer tubular (ASRT) microdomains. B2AR was detected in an
      active conformation in bulk recycling tubules, but was unable to activate
      Galphas. Protein kinase A phosphorylation of B2AR increases the fraction of
      receptors localized to ASRT domains and biases the downstream transcriptional
      effects of B2AR to genes controlled by endosomal signals. Our results identify
      the physiological relevance of separating GPCR recycling from bulk recycling and
      suggest a mechanism to tune downstream responses of GPCR signaling by
      manipulating the spatial origin of G protein signaling.

PMID- 27646273
TI  - Transition zone assembly and its contribution to axoneme formation in Drosophila
      male germ cells.
AB  - The ciliary transition zone (TZ) is a complex structure found at the cilia base.
      Defects in TZ assembly are associated with human ciliopathies. In most
      eukaryotes, three protein complexes (CEP290, NPHP, and MKS) cooperate to build
      the TZ. We show that in Drosophila melanogaster, mild TZ defects are observed in
      the absence of MKS components. In contrast, Cby and Azi1 cooperate to build the
      TZ by acting upstream of Cep290 and MKS components. Without Cby and Azi1,
      centrioles fail to form the TZ, precluding sensory cilia assembly, and no ciliary
      membrane cap associated with sperm ciliogenesis is made. This ciliary cap is
      critical to recruit the tubulin-depolymerizing kinesin Klp59D, required for
      regulation of axonemal growth. Our results show that Drosophila TZ assembly in
      sensory neurons and male germ cells involves cooperative actions of Cby and Dila.
      They further reveal that temporal control of membrane cap assembly by TZ
      components and microtubule elongation by kinesin-13 is required for axoneme
      formation in male germ cells.

PMID- 27646274
TI  - Structural, super-resolution microscopy analysis of paraspeckle nuclear body
      organization.
AB  - Paraspeckles are nuclear bodies built on the long noncoding RNA Neat1, which
      regulates a variety of physiological processes including cancer progression and
      corpus luteum formation. To obtain further insight into the molecular basis of
      the function of paraspeckles, we performed fine structural analyses of these
      nuclear bodies using structural illumination microscopy. Notably, paraspeckle
      proteins are found within different layers along the radially arranged bundles of
      Neat1 transcripts, forming a characteristic core-shell spheroidal structure. In
      cells lacking the RNA binding protein Fus, paraspeckle spheroids are disassembled
      into smaller particles containing Neat1, which are diffusely distributed in the
      nucleoplasm. Sequencing analysis of RNAs purified from paraspeckles revealed that
      AG-rich transcripts associate with Neat1, which are distributed along the shell
      of the paraspeckle spheroids. We propose that paraspeckles sequester core
      components inside the spheroids, whereas the outer surface associates with other
      components in the nucleoplasm to fulfill their function.

PMID- 27646275
TI  - Endosome-mitochondria interactions are modulated by iron release from
      transferrin.
AB  - Transient "kiss and run" interactions between endosomes containing iron-bound
      transferrin (Tf) and mitochondria have been shown to facilitate direct iron
      transfer in erythroid cells. In this study, we used superresolution three
      dimensional (3D) direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy to show that
      Tf-containing endosomes directly interact with mitochondria in epithelial cells.
      We used live-cell time-lapse fluorescence microscopy, followed by 3D rendering,
      object tracking, and a distance transformation algorithm, to track Tf-endosomes
      and characterize the dynamics of their interactions with mitochondria. Quenching
      of iron sensor RDA-labeled mitochondria confirmed functional iron transfer by an
      interacting Tf-endosome. The motility of Tf-endosomes is significantly reduced
      upon interaction with mitochondria. To further assess the functional role of iron
      in the ability of Tf-endosomes to interact with mitochondria, we blocked
      endosomal iron release by using a Tf K206E/K534A mutant. Blocking intraendosomal
      iron release led to significantly increased motility of Tf-endosomes and
      increased duration of endosome-mitochondria interactions. Thus, intraendosomal
      iron regulates the kinetics of the interactions between Tf-containing endosomes
      and mitochondria in epithelial cells.

PMID- 27646276
TI  - The Munc18-1 domain 3a hinge-loop controls syntaxin-1A nanodomain assembly and
      engagement with the SNARE complex during secretory vesicle priming.
AB  - Munc18-1 and syntaxin-1A control SNARE-dependent neuroexocytosis and are
      organized in nanodomains on the plasma membrane of neurons and neurosecretory
      cells. Deciphering the intra- and intermolecular steps via which they prepare
      secretory vesicles (SVs) for fusion is key to understanding neuronal and hormonal
      communication. Here, we demonstrate that expression of a priming-deficient mutant
      lacking 17 residues of the domain 3a hinge-loop (Munc18-1(Delta317-333)) in PC12
      cells engineered to knockdown Munc18-1/2 markedly prolonged SV docking. Single
      molecule analysis revealed nonhomogeneous diffusion of Munc18-1 and syntaxin-1A
      in and out of partially overlapping nanodomains. Whereas Munc18-1(WT) mobility
      increased in response to stimulation, syntaxin-1A became less mobile. These
      Munc18-1 and syntaxin-1A diffusional switches were blocked by the expression of
      Munc18-1(Delta317-333), suggesting that a conformational change in the Munc18-1
      hinge-loop controls syntaxin-1A and subsequent SNARE complex assembly.
      Accordingly, syntaxin-1A confinement was prevented by expression of botulinum
      neurotoxin type E. The Munc18-1 domain 3a hinge-loop therefore controls syntaxin
      1A engagement into SNARE complex formation during priming.

PMID- 27646277
TI  - Defective fluid shear stress mechanotransduction mediates hereditary hemorrhagic
      telangiectasia.
AB  - Morphogenesis of the vascular system is strongly modulated by mechanical forces
      from blood flow. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an inherited
      autosomal-dominant disease in which arteriovenous malformations and
      telangiectasias accumulate with age. Most cases are linked to heterozygous
      mutations in Alk1 or Endoglin, receptors for bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) 9
      and 10. Evidence suggests that a second hit results in clonal expansion of
      endothelial cells to form lesions with poor mural cell coverage that
      spontaneously rupture and bleed. We now report that fluid shear stress
      potentiates BMPs to activate Alk1 signaling, which correlates with enhanced
      association of Alk1 and endoglin. Alk1 is required for BMP9 and flow responses,
      whereas endoglin is only required for enhancement by flow. This pathway mediates
      both inhibition of endothelial proliferation and recruitment of mural cells;
      thus, its loss blocks flow-induced vascular stabilization. Identification of Alk1
      signaling as a convergence point for flow and soluble ligands provides a
      molecular mechanism for development of HHT lesions.

PMID- 27646279
TI  - Mind-Body Interventions for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients in the Chinese
      Population: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to identify and assess evidence related to the
      efficacy of mind-body interventions on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the
      Chinese population. METHOD: Drawn from Chinese databases, nine RCTs and three Q-E
      studies were included in the systematic review. The methodological quality of
      RCTs was evaluated based on the following criteria: adequate sequence generation,
      allocation concealment, blinding, completeness of outcome data, selective
      reporting, and other potential biases. For continuous variables, the effect size
      (ES) was determined by calculating the standardized mean difference between
      groups. For dichotomous variables, the ES was determined by calculating the risk
      ratio (RR) between groups. Given the heterogeneity between the trials and the
      small number of studies included, both random effects and fixed effects models
      were used. The inverse variance method was used for pooling. Statistical analyses
      were performed using Review Manager version 5.0. RESULTS: The total number of
      papers identified was 710: 462 from English language databases and 248 from
      Chinese language databases. Twelve studies met our eligibility criteria. Among
      the studies selected, three were Q-E studies the rest RCTs. Two studies described
      the randomization process. None of the studies reported allocation concealment
      nor blinding. Seven studies reported no dropouts. One of the studies mentioned
      the total amount of dropouts; though the reason for dropping out was not
      referenced. The other four studies did not clearly report dropouts. With the
      exception of three studies, there was inadequate information to determine biased
      reporting for the majority; the level of risk for bias in these studies is
      unclear. Finally, six meta-analyses were performed. One was conducted with four
      randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used cure rate as outcome measures to
      evaluate gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, which suggested that mind-body
      interventions were effective in improving GI symptoms (random effects model: RR =
      1.08; 95 % CI 1.01 to 1.17; fixed effects model: RR = 1.07; 95 % CI 1.01 to
      1.12). The remaining five were conducted in three RCTs, which suggested that mind
      body interventions were effective in improving several aspects of quality of
      life, including interference with activity (random effects and fixed effects
      models: SMD = 0.64; 95 % CI 0.41 to 0.86), body image (random effects model: SMD
      = 0.36; 95 % CI 0.06 to 0.67; fixed effects model: SMD = 0.33; 95 % CI 0.11 to
      0.55), health worry (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.67; 95 % CI
      0.44 to 0.90), food avoidance (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD =
      0.45; 95 % CI 0.23 to 0.68), and social reaction (random effects model: SMD =
      0.79; 95 % CI 0.47 to 1.12; fixed effects model: SMD = 0.78; 95 % CI 0.55 to
      1.01), as measured by Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire (
      IBS-QOL). CONCLUSION: Mind-body interventions may have the potential to improve
      GI symptoms in Chinese patients with IBS. The improvement of GI symptoms was also
      accompanied with the improvement of various outcomes, including depression,
      anxiety, and quality of life, just to mention a few. However, the published
      studies generally had significant methodological limitations. Future clinical
      trials with rigorous research design are needed in this field. More studies
      focusing on the mind-body interventions originated in China, such as tai chi and
      qi gong should be encouraged.

PMID- 27646280
TI  - IgG trafficking in the adult pig small intestine: one- or bidirectional transfer
      across the enterocyte brush border?
AB  - Immunoglobulin G (IgG) transfer in opposite directions across the small
      intestinal brush border serves different purposes in early life and in adulthood.
      In the neonate, maternal IgG is taken up from the gut lumen into the blood,
      conferring passive immunity to the offspring, whereas in the adult
      immunoglobulins, including IgG made by plasma cells in the lamina propria, are
      secreted via the brush border to the lumen as part of the mucosal defense. Here,
      IgG has been proposed to perform a luminal immune surveillance which eventually
      includes a reuptake through the brush border as pathogen-containing immune
      complexes. In the present work, we studied luminal uptake of FITC-conjugated and
      gold-conjugated IgG in cultured pig jejunal mucosal explants. After 1 h, binding
      to the brush border was seen in upper crypts and lower parts of the villi.
      However, no endocytotic uptake into EEA-1-positive compartments was detected,
      neither at neutral nor acidic pH, despite an ongoing constitutive endocytosis
      from the brush border, visualized by the polar tracer CF594. The 40-kDa neonatal
      Fc receptor, FcRn, was present in the microvillus fraction, but noteworthy, a 37
      kDa band, most likely a proteolytic cleavage product, bound IgG in a pH-dependent
      manner more efficiently than did the full-length FcRn. In conclusion, our work
      does not support the theory that bidirectional transfer of IgG across the
      intestinal brush border is part of the luminal immune surveillance in the adult.

PMID- 27646278
TI  - Cats are not small dogs: is there an immunological explanation for why cats are
      less affected by arthropod-borne disease than dogs?
AB  - It is widely recognized that cats appear to be less frequently affected by
      arthropod-borne infectious diseases than dogs and share fewer zoonotic pathogens
      with man. This impression is supported by the relative lack of scientific
      publications related to feline vector-borne infections. This review explores the
      possible reasons for the difference between the two most common small companion
      animal species, including the hypothesis that cats might have a genetically
      determined immunological resistance to arthropod vectors or the microparasites
      they transmit. A number of simple possibilities might account for the lower
      prevalence of these diseases in cats, including factors related to the lifestyle
      and behaviour of the cat, lesser spend on preventative healthcare for cats and
      reduced opportunities for research funding for these animals. The dog and cat
      have substantially similar immune system components, but differences in immune
      function might in part account for the markedly distinct prevalence and
      clinicopathological appearance of autoimmune, allergic, idiopathic inflammatory,
      immunodeficiency, neoplastic and infectious diseases in the two species. Cats
      have greater genetic diversity than dogs with much lower linkage disequilibrium
      in feline compared with canine breed groups. Immune function is intrinsically
      related to the nature of the intestinal microbiome and subtle differences between
      the canine and feline microbial populations might also impact on immune function
      and disease resistance. The reasons for the apparent lesser susceptibility of
      cats to arthropod-borne infectious diseases are likely to be complex, but warrant
      further investigation.

PMID- 27646281
TI  - Collective Review of the Status of Rapid Sequence Intubation Drugs of Choice in
      Trauma in Low- and Middle-Income Settings (Prehospital, Emergency Department and
      Operating Room Setting).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Establishing a definitive airway in order to ensure adequate
      ventilation and oxygenation is an important aspect of resuscitation of the
      polytrauma patient . AIM: To review the relevant literature that compares the
      different drugs used for rapid sequence intubation (RSI) of trauma patients,
      specifically reviewing: premedication, induction agents and neuromuscular
      blocking agents across the prehospital, emergency department and operating room
      setting, and to present the best practices based on the reviewed evidence.
      METHOD: A literature review of rapid sequence intubation in the trauma population
      was carried out, specifically comparison of the drugs used (induction agent,
      neuromuscular blocking drugs and adjuncts). DISCUSSION: Studies involving the
      comparison of drugs used in RSI in, specifically, the trauma patient are sparse.
      The majority of studies have compared induction agents, etomidate, ketamine and
      propofol, as well as the neuromuscular blocking agents, succinylcholine and
      rocuronium. CONCLUSION: There currently exists great variation in the practice of
      RSI; however, in trauma the RSI armamentarium is limited to agents that maintain
      hemodynamic stability, provide adequate intubating conditions in the shortest
      time period and do not have detrimental effects on cerebral perfusion pressure.
      Further, multicenter randomized controlled studies to confirm the benefits of the
      currently used agents in trauma are required.

PMID- 27646282
TI  - Letter to Editor in Response to the Article Entitled "Surgical Methods and
      Experiences of Surgeons Did Not Significantly Affect the Recovery in Phonation
      Following Reconstruction of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve".

PMID- 27646283
TI  - In Response to the Article Entitled "Unilateral Clearance for Primary
      Hyperparathyroidism in Selected Patients with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type
      1".

PMID- 27646284
TI  - MERCI for Improving Quality of Surgical Care at No Cost: Reply.

PMID- 27646285
TI  - A sixteen year survey of Canadian contact lens prescribing.
AB  - PURPOSE: To understand long-term contact lens prescribing habits of Canadian
      optometrists. METHODS: One thousand optometrists were surveyed annually from 2000
      to 2015. Information was requested on the first ten patients examined after
      receiving the survey. RESULTS: Over the 16-year survey period, 1987 optometrists
      provided information on 19,143 patients. Mean age of the patients was 32.7+/
      14.4years. Ratio of females to males was 2:1, the ratio of new fits to refits was
      2:3. Soft contact lenses represented 94.5% of all fits. Rigid lenses were more
      often used as a refit compared to a new fit. Over the 16 years, market share for
      silicone hydrogel materials grew from 0% to 69.6%, mid-water content materials
      declined from 75.7% to 14.1%. The multifocal market share grew at the expense of
      spherical designs, with no change in toric lens fitting. Monthly soft lens
      replacement remained the preferred option at 48.2%, followed by daily disposable
      at 40.8%; two-weekly replacement declined to less than10% of patients by 2015.
      Extended wear was likely used to refit and only to a small proportion of wearers,
      representing 2.6% of SCL by 2015. The lens care system of choice throughout the
      period was multipurpose solutions, although the proportion for peroxide systems
      more than doubled by 2015 from 9.6%, to 21.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Over the 16-year
      period, SCL material preference changed to silicone hydrogels with monthly
      replacement being preferred; daily disposables replacing 2-weekly as the
      alternate. Lens care preference continued to be multipurpose solutions. Rigid
      lenses appear to be sustained for specialist fitting.

PMID- 27646288
TI  - Histone deacetylase inhibitor-induced emergence of synaptic delta-opioid
      receptors and behavioral antinociception in persistent neuropathic pain.
AB  - The efficacy of opioids in patients with chronic neuropathic pain remains
      controversial. Although activation of delta-opioid receptors (DORs) in the
      brainstem reduces inflammation-induced persistent hyperalgesia, it is not
      effective under persistent neuropathic pain conditions and these clinical
      problems remain largely unknown. In this study, by using a chronic constriction
      injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in rats, we found that in the brainstem nucleus
      raphe magnus (NRM), DORs emerged on the surface membrane of central synaptic
      terminals on day 3 after CCI surgery and disappeared on day 14. Histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors microinjected into the NRM in vivo increased the
      level of synaptosomal DOR protein and NRM infusion of DOR agonists producing an
      antinociceptive effect in a nerve growth factor (NGF) signaling-dependent manner.
      In vitro, in CCI rat slices incubated with HDAC inhibitors, DOR agonists
      significantly inhibited EPSCs. This effect was blocked by tyrosine receptor
      kinase A antagonists. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that NRM
      infusion of HDAC inhibitors in CCI rats increased the level of histone H4
      acetylation at Ngf gene promoter regions. NGF was infused into the NRM or
      incubated CCI rat slices drove DORs to the surface membrane of synaptic
      terminals. Taken together, epigenetic upregulation of NGF activity by HDAC
      inhibitors in the NRM promotes the trafficking of DORs to pain-modulating
      neuronal synapses under neuropathic pain conditions, leading to delta-opioid
      analgesia. These findings indicate that therapeutic use of DOR agonists combined
      with HDAC inhibitors might be effective in chronic neuropathic pain managements.

PMID- 27646287
TI  - Partition coefficients for the SAMPL5 challenge using transfer free energies.
AB  - SAMPL challenges (Mobley et al. in J Comput Aided Mol Des 28:135-150, 2014;
      Skillman in J Comput Aided Mol Des 26:473-474, 2012; Geballe in J Comput Aided
      Mol Des 24:259-279, 2010; Guthrie in J Phys Chem B 113:4501-4507, 2009) provide
      excellent opportunities to assess theoretical approaches on new data sets with a
      goal of gaining greater insight towards protein and ligand modeling. In the
      SAMPL5 experiment, cyclohexane-water partition coefficients were determined using
      a vertical solvation scheme in conjunction with the SMD continuum solvent model.
      Several DFT functionals partnered with correlation consistent basis sets were
      evaluated for the prediction of the partition coefficients. The approach chosen
      for the competition, a B3PW91 vertical solvation scheme, yields a mean absolute
      deviation of 1.9 logP units and performs well at estimating the correct
      hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity for the full SAMPL5 molecule set.

PMID- 27646289
TI  - Contextual response time adaptation in the countermanding performance of rats.
AB  - Humans and non-human primates are known to lengthen their response time (RT) to a
      go signal when they occasionally must cancel their responses following a stop
      signal in a countermanding task as well as to adjust their RT adaptively on a
      trial-by-trial basis. Less is clear regarding the adaptive RT adjustments in the
      countermanding performance of rodents. To investigate this question, male Wistar
      rats (N=12) were trained with food reward to press a lever directly below an
      illuminated light (go signal), but to countermand the lever press subsequent to a
      tone (stop signal) presented infrequently (25% of trials) at variable delays.
      Rats were then tested in a standard responding task (0% stop trials) or a
      countermanding task with a 10-s or 1-s TO interval following errors. Rats
      exhibited significant RT lengthening in the countermanding task, compared with
      the standard responding task, and RT shortening following consecutive correct go
      trials. They also show RT lengthening following both error trials in the standard
      responding task and unrewarded, non-canceled stop trials in the countermanding
      task. RT lengthening following erroneous stop trials was observed in sessions
      with a 10-s TO interval, but not with a 1-s TO interval. Analyses of RT
      distributions suggest that RT lengthening results largely from reduced
      sensitivity to the go signal, but also from reduced readiness. These findings
      indicate that rats exert control in the countermanding task by lengthening RT in
      anticipation of stop trials to avoid long, unrewarded TO intervals.

PMID- 27646286
TI  - Blind prediction of distribution in the SAMPL5 challenge with QM based protomer
      and pK a corrections.
AB  - The computation of distribution coefficients between polar and apolar phases
      requires both an accurate characterization of transfer free energies between
      phases and proper accounting of ionization and protomerization. We present a
      protocol for accurately predicting partition coefficients between two immiscible
      phases, and then apply it to 53 drug-like molecules in the SAMPL5 blind
      prediction challenge. Our results combine implicit solvent QM calculations with
      classical MD simulations using the non-Boltzmann Bennett free energy estimator.
      The OLYP/DZP/SMD method yields predictions that have a small deviation from
      experiment (RMSD = 2.3 [Formula: see text] D units), relative to other
      participants in the challenge. Our free energy corrections based on QM protomer
      and [Formula: see text] calculations increase the correlation between predicted
      and experimental distribution coefficients, for all methods used. Unfortunately,
      these corrections are overly hydrophilic, and fail to account for additional
      effects such as aggregation, water dragging and the presence of polar impurities
      in the apolar phase. We show that, although expensive, QM-NBB free energy
      calculations offer an accurate and robust method that is superior to standard MM
      and QM techniques alone.

PMID- 27646290
TI  - Visual form predictions facilitate auditory processing at the N1.
AB  - Auditory-visual (AV) events often involve a leading visual cue (e.g. auditory
      visual speech) that allows the perceiver to generate predictions about the
      upcoming auditory event. Electrophysiological evidence suggests that when an
      auditory event is predicted, processing is sped up, i.e., the N1 component of the
      ERP occurs earlier (N1 facilitation). However, it is not clear (1) whether N1
      facilitation is based specifically on predictive rather than multisensory
      integration and (2) which particular properties of the visual cue it is based on.
      The current experiment used artificial AV stimuli in which visual cues predicted
      but did not co-occur with auditory cues. Visual form cues (high and low salience)
      and the auditory-visual pairing were manipulated so that auditory predictions
      could be based on form and timing or on timing only. The results showed that N1
      facilitation occurred only for combined form and temporal predictions. These
      results suggest that faster auditory processing (as indicated by N1 facilitation)
      is based on predictive processing generated by a visual cue that clearly predicts
      both what and when the auditory stimulus will occur.

PMID- 27646292
TI  - Impact of online visual feedback on motor acquisition and retention when learning
      to reach in a force field.
AB  - When subjects learn a novel motor task, several sources of feedback
      (proprioceptive, visual or auditory) contribute to the performance. Over the past
      few years, several studies have investigated the role of visual feedback in motor
      learning, yet evidence remains conflicting. The aim of this study was therefore
      to investigate the role of online visual feedback (VFb) on the acquisition and
      retention stages of motor learning associated with training in a reaching task.
      Thirty healthy subjects made ballistic reaching movements with their dominant arm
      toward two targets, on 2 consecutive days using a robotized exoskeleton (KINARM).
      They were randomly assigned to a group with (VFb) or without (NoVFb) VFb of index
      position during movement. On day 1, the task was performed before (baseline) and
      during the application of a velocity-dependent resistive force field
      (adaptation). To assess retention, participants repeated the task with the force
      field on day 2. Motor learning was characterized by: (1) the final endpoint error
      (movement accuracy) and (2) the initial angle (iANG) of deviation (motor
      planning). Even though both groups showed motor adaptation, the NoVFb-group
      exhibited slower learning and higher final endpoint error than the VFb-group. In
      some condition, subjects trained without visual feedback used more curved initial
      trajectories to anticipate for the perturbation. This observation suggests that
      learning to reach targets in a velocity-dependent resistive force field is
      possible even when feedback is limited. However, the absence of VFb leads to
      different strategies that were only apparent when reaching toward the most
      challenging target.

PMID- 27646293
TI  - Electrophysiological correlates of visual binding errors after bilateral parietal
      damage.
AB  - Illusory conjunctions (e.g. the confusion between the shape of one stimulus with
      the color of another stimulus) are the most dramatic expression of binding
      failures in vision. Under brief exposure or when attention is diverted illusory
      conjunctions may be observed in healthy participants, but they only represent a
      real-life problem for patients with parietal damage. However, it is unclear
      whether such failures reflect the impairment of early or late stages of visual
      processing. Here, we examined the time-course of visual processing using evoked
      potential measures in a patient with bilateral damage to the posterior parietal
      cortex presenting prominent binding failures. The patient was asked to identify
      colored letters that were briefly flashed to the left or right hemifield. When
      only one item was presented she adequately identified color or shape of left and
      right letters. In contrast, when presentation was bilateral she either identified
      the correct right shape-color combination and missed the item in the left
      hemifield (extinction) or combined incorrectly the right shape with the left
      color (illusory conjunction). Evoked potential analyses revealed a specific
      electrophysiological signature of illusory conjunctions, starting ~105ms after
      stimulus onset over the right frontal cortex. These findings indicate that
      binding errors reflect failures of early stages of attentional filtering relying
      on the integrity of the posterior parietal cortex.

PMID- 27646297
TI  - Comprehensive in vitro cardiac safety assessment using human stem cell
      technology: Overview of CSAHi HEART initiative.
AB  - Recent increasing evidence suggests that the currently-used platforms in vitro
      IKr and APD, and/or in vivo QT assays are not fully predictive for TdP, and do
      not address potential arrhythmia (VT and/or VF) induced by diverse mechanisms of
      action. In addition, other cardiac safety liabilities such as functional
      dysfunction of excitation-contraction coupling (contractility) and structural
      damage (morphological damage to cardiomyocytes) are also major causes of drug
      attrition, but current in vitro assays do not cover all these liabilities. We
      organized the Consortium for Safety Assessment using Human iPS cells (CSAHi;
      http://csahi.org/en/), based on the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
      Association (JPMA), to verify the application of human iPS/ES cell-derived
      cardiomyocytes in drug safety evaluation. The main goal of the CSAHi HEART team
      has been to propose comprehensive screening strategies to predict a diverse range
      of cardiotoxicities by using recently introduced platforms (multi-electrode array
      (MEA), patch clamp, cellular impedance, motion field imaging [MFI], and Ca
      transient systems) while identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each. Our
      study shows that hiPS-CMs used in these platforms have pharmacological responses
      more relevant to humans in comparison with existent hERG, APD or Langendorff
      (MAPD/contraction) assays, and not only MEA but also other methods such as
      impedance, MFI, and Ca transient systems would offer paradigm changes of
      platforms for predicting drug-induced QT risk and/or arrhythmia or contractile
      dysfunctions. Furthermore, we propose a potential multi-parametric platform in
      which field potential (MEA)-Ca transient-contraction (MFI) could be evaluated
      simultaneously as an ideal novel platform for predicting a diversity of cardiac
      toxicities, namely whole effects on the excitation-contraction cascade.

PMID- 27646291
TI  - Rodent models of obsessive compulsive disorder: Evaluating validity to interpret
      emerging neurobiology.
AB  - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with
      unknown molecular underpinnings. Identification of genetic and non-genetic risk
      factors has largely been elusive, primarily because of a lack of power. In
      contrast, neuroimaging has consistently implicated the cortico-striatal-thalamo
      cortical circuits in OCD. Pharmacological treatment studies also show
      specificity, with consistent response of OCD symptoms to chronic treatment with
      serotonin reuptake inhibitors; although most patients are left with residual
      impairment. In theory, animal models could provide a bridge from the neuroimaging
      and pharmacology data to an understanding of pathophysiology at the cellular and
      molecular level. Several mouse models have been proposed using genetic,
      immunological, pharmacological, and optogenetic tools. These experimental model
      systems allow testing of hypotheses about the origins of compulsive behavior.
      Several models have generated behavior that appears compulsive-like, particularly
      excessive grooming, and some have demonstrated response to chronic serotonin
      reuptake inhibitors, establishing both face validity and predictive validity.
      Construct validity is more difficult to establish in the context of a limited
      understanding of OCD risk factors. Our current models may help us to dissect the
      circuits and molecular pathways that can elicit OCD-relevant behavior in rodents.
      We can hope that this growing understanding, coupled with developing technology,
      will prepare us when robust OCD risk factors are better understood.

PMID- 27646301
TI  - Understanding the morphogenesis of the left-sided arterial duct in the setting of
      a right-sided aortic arch.

PMID- 27646300
TI  - Obese dogs with and without obesity-related metabolic dysfunction - a proteomic
      approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Approximately 20 % of obese dogs have metabolic disturbances similar
      to those observed in human metabolic syndrome, a condition known as obesity
      related metabolic dysfunction. This condition is associated with insulin
      resistance and decreased circulating adiponectin concentrations, but clinical
      consequences have not been reported. In order to define better the metabolic
      changes associated with obesity-related metabolic dysfunction (ORMD), we compared
      the plasma proteomes of obese dogs with and without ORMD. A proteomic analysis
      was conducted on plasma samples from 8 obese male dogs, 4 with ORMD and 4 without
      ORMD. The samples were first treated for the depletion of high-abundance proteins
      and subsequently analysed by using 2-DE DIGE methodology. RESULTS: Using mass
      spectrometry, 12 proteins were identified: albumin, apoliprotein A-I, C2, C3, C5,
      C4BPA, A2M, Uncharacterised protein (Fragment) OS = Canis familiaris, fibrinogen,
      IGJ, ITIH2, and glutathione peroxidase. In obese dogs with ORMD, the relative
      amounts of ten proteins (albumin, apoliprotein A-I, C2, C3, C5, C4BPA, A2M,
      Uncharacterised protein (Fragment) OS = Canis familiaris, fibrinogen, and ITIH2)
      were increased and two proteins (IGJ and glutathione peroxidase) were decreased,
      compared with obese dogs without ORMD. Specific assays were then used to confirm
      differences in serum albumin, apoliprotein A-I and glutathione peroxidase in a
      separate group of 20 overweight dogs, 8 with ORMD and 12 without ORMD.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides evidence that, in obese dogs with ORMD,
      there are changes in expression of proteins involved in lipid metabolism, immune
      response, and antioxidant status. The clinical significance of these changes
      remains to be defined.

PMID- 27646309
TI  - Predictors of short-term outcome variables in hospitalised female adolescents
      with eating disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Research in eating disorders (EDs) suggests that outcome variables
      other than that of the ED per se, such as the presence of comorbid disorders and
      overall functioning at follow-up, may influence the ED condition at that time. We
      sought to assess the factors potentially predicting these different outcome
      variables. METHODS: Eighty-eight female adolescent in-patients with an ED were
      assessed on admission, discharge, and around one-year post-discharge using
      clinical interviews and self-rating questionnaires assessing ED and other
      relevant symptoms. RESULTS: The mean body mass index (BMI) of patients with
      anorexia nervosa increased from admission to discharge and was maintained at
      follow-up. Twenty-eight patients were remitted at follow-up, whereas 48 and 12
      patients had intermediate and poor ED-related outcome, respectively. Follow-up
      BMI was correlated with baseline BMI. Good ED-related outcome at follow-up
      according to accepted criteria was associated with more lifetime suicide attempts
      and more severe baseline ED symptomatology. Elevated psychiatric comorbidity at
      follow-up was associated with elevated baseline anxiety and with re
      hospitalisation during the post-discharge follow-up period. Better
      academic/occupational functioning and social functioning at follow-up were
      associated with less lifetime suicide attempts, less re-hospitalisation and lower
      baseline anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: In EDs, diverse factors may predict different
      outcome variables.

PMID- 27646310
TI  - Sleep deprivation effects on object discrimination task in zebrafish (Danio
      rerio).
AB  - The zebrafish is an ideal vertebrate model for neurobehavioral studies with
      translational relevance to humans. Many aspects of sleep have been studied, but
      we still do not understand how and why sleep deprivation alters behavioral and
      physiological processes. A number of hypotheses suggest its role in memory
      consolidation. In this respect, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects
      of sleep deprivation on memory in zebrafish (Danio rerio), using an object
      discrimination paradigm. Four treatments were tested: control, partial sleep
      deprivation, total sleep deprivation by light pulses, and total sleep deprivation
      by extended light. The control group explored the new object more than the known
      object, indicating clear discrimination. The partially sleep-deprived group
      explored the new object more than the other object in the discrimination phase,
      suggesting a certain degree of discriminative performance. By contrast, both
      total sleep deprivation groups equally explored all objects, regardless of their
      novelty. It seems that only one night of sleep deprivation is enough to affect
      discriminative response in zebrafish, indicating its negative impact on cognitive
      processes. We suggest that this study could be a useful screening tool for
      cognitive dysfunction and a better understanding of the effect of sleep-wake
      cycles on cognition.

PMID- 27646311
TI  - Mice and rats fail to integrate exogenous timing noise into their time-based
      decisions.
AB  - Endogenous timing uncertainty results in variability in time-based judgments. In
      many timing tasks, animals need to incorporate their level of endogenous timing
      uncertainty into their decisions in order to maximize the reward rate. Although
      animals have been shown to adopt such optimal behavioral strategies in time-based
      decisions, whether they can optimize their behavior under exogenous noise is an
      open question. In this study, we tested mice and rats in a task that required
      them to space their responses for a minimum duration (DRL task) in different task
      conditions. In one condition, the minimum wait time was fixed, whereas in other
      conditions minimum wait time was a Gaussian random variable. Although reward
      maximization entailed waiting longer with added exogenous timing variability,
      results indicated that both mice and rats became more impulsive and deviated from
      optimality with increasing levels of exogenous noise. We introduce a reward-rate
      dependent sampling function to SET to account for optimal performance in
      noiseless and suboptimal performance in noisy environments.

PMID- 27646312
TI  - Epigenomic engineering for Down syndrome.
AB  - Down syndrome (DS; trisomy 21), the commonest genetic cause of mental disability,
      affects approximately 250,000 families in the United States alone. Despite
      milestones in understanding the specific genetic causes of the syndrome, the
      major symptoms of DS - not least those related to neurocognitive function - are
      incurable. DS phenotypes are highly variable, and gene expression patterns cannot
      be explained by trisomy alone, implicating epigenetics in DS pathophysiology. DNA
      and histone modifications appear to contribute to DS pathology and cognitive
      defects, and epigenomic, and genome editing research have very recently opened up
      novel therapeutic avenues for several diseases including DS. Here, we discuss how
      epigenomic therapies might be used to ameliorate DS-related phenotypes with a
      particular focus on the CRISPR-Cas 9 system for targeted epigenomic engineering
      in DS. This approach is likely to reap rewards in terms of understanding the
      pathophysiology of DS, especially when combined with animal models, but
      significant technical and ethical challenges must be overcome for clinical
      translation.

PMID- 27646307
TI  - Plant Carbonic Anhydrases: Structures, Locations, Evolution, and Physiological
      Roles.
AB  - Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc metalloenzymes that catalyze the
      interconversion of CO2 and HCO3- and are ubiquitous in nature. Higher plants
      contain three evolutionarily distinct CA families, alphaCAs, betaCAs, and
      gammaCAs, where each family is represented by multiple isoforms in all species.
      Alternative splicing of CA transcripts appears common; consequently, the number
      of functional CA isoforms in a species may exceed the number of genes. CAs are
      expressed in numerous plant tissues and in different cellular locations. The most
      prevalent CAs are those in the chloroplast, cytosol, and mitochondria. This
      diversity in location is paralleled in the many physiological and biochemical
      roles that CAs play in plants. In this review, the number and types of CAs in C3,
      C4, and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants are considered, and the roles
      of the alpha and gammaCAs are briefly discussed. The remainder of the review
      focuses on plant betaCAs and includes the identification of homologs between
      species using phylogenetic approaches, a consideration of the inter- and
      intracellular localization of the proteins, along with the evidence for
      alternative splice forms. Current understanding of betaCA tissue-specific
      expression patterns and what controls them are reviewed, and the physiological
      roles for which betaCAs have been implicated are presented.

PMID- 27646313
TI  - Native femoral anteversion should not be used as reference in cementless total
      hip arthroplasty with a straight, tapered stem: a retrospective clinical study.
AB  - BACKROUND: Improper femoral and acetabular component positioning can be
      associated with instability, impingement, component wear and finally patient
      dissatisfaction in total hip arthroplasty (THA). The concept of "femur
      first"/"combined anteversion", incorporates various aspects of performing a
      functional optimization of the prosthetic stem and cup position of the stem
      relative to the cup intraoperatively. In the present study we asked two
      questions: (1) Do native femoral anteversion and anteversion of the implant
      correlate? (2) Do anteversion of the final broach and implant anteversion
      correlate? METHODS: In a secondary analysis of a prospective controlled trial, a
      subgroup of 55 patients, who underwent computer-assisted, cementless THA with a
      straight, tapered stem through an anterolateral, minimally invasive (MIS)
      approach in a lateral decubitus position were examined retrospectivly.
      Intraoperative fluoroscopy was used to verify a "best-fit" position of the final
      broach. An image-free navigation system was used for measurement of the native
      femoral version, version of the final broach and the final implant. Femoral neck
      resection height was measured in postoperative CT-scans. This investigation was
      approved by the local Ethics Commission (No.10-121-0263) and is a secondary
      analysis of a larger project (DRKS00000739, German Clinical Trials Register May
      02-2011). RESULTS: The mean difference between native femoral version and final
      implant was 1.9 degrees  (+/- 9.5), with a range from -20.7 degrees  to 21.5
      degrees  and a Spearman's correlation coefficient of 0.39 (p < 0.003). In
      contrast, we observed a mean difference between final broach and implant version
      of -1.9 degrees  (+/- 3.5), with a range from -12.7 degrees  to 8.7 degrees  and
      a Spearman's correlation coefficient of 0.89 (p < 0.001). In 83.6 % (46/55) final
      stem version was outside the normal range as defined by Tonnis (15-20 degrees ).
      The mean femoral neck resection height was 7.3 mm (+/- 5.6). There was no
      correlation between resection height and version of the implant (Spearman's
      correlation coefficient 0.14). CONCLUSION: Native femoral version significantly
      differs from the final anteversion of a cementless, straight, tapered stem and
      therefore is not a reliable reference in cementless THA. Measuring anteversion of
      the final "fit and fill" broach is a feasible assistance in order to predict
      final stem anteversion intraoperatively. There is no correlation between femoral
      neck resection height and version of the implant.

PMID- 27646314
TI  - Applications of Advanced Imaging in Cardiac Electrophysiology.
AB  - OPINION STATEMENT: Imaging modalities such as computed tomography, magnetic
      resonance, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission computed
      tomography are an indispensable component of cardiac arrhythmia management. Over
      the last two decades, developments in imaging techniques have facilitated safer
      and more effective cardiac ablation and device implantation procedures. Pre
      procedural assessment of arrhythmogenic substrate and integration with
      electroanatomic data has significantly impacted the management of atrial
      fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. Furthermore, cardiovascular imaging
      enhances patient selection, prognostication, and follow-up of patients undergoing
      ablation procedures. Imaging also provides valuable anatomic information in
      patients being considered for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). While the
      optimal modality for assessing efficacy of resynchronization is currently
      unclear, further study holds promise in mitigating the substantial burden of CRT
      non-response. This article aims to highlight the utility and evidence for various
      advanced imaging modalities in the practice of cardiac electrophysiology with an
      emphasis on recent developments and future directions.

PMID- 27646315
TI  - Real world clinical outcomes and patient characteristics for canagliflozin
      treated patients in a specialty diabetes clinic.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine characteristics and outcomes of type 2 diabetes (T2DM)
      patients prescribed canagliflozin (CANA) and managed in the real-world setting of
      a diabetes clinic. Primary outcome was change in A1c, and secondary outcomes were
      change in weight and blood pressure. METHODS: Study was an electronic health
      record (EHR) review of CANA prescribed at the diabetes clinic from June 2013 to
      June 2015. Patients were included in the study if they were adults with T2DM,
      received routine follow-up diabetes care at the diabetes clinic, received an
      initial prescription for CANA from a diabetes clinic prescriber, and returned for
      at least one follow-up office visit (OV) after initial CANA prescribing. Paired t
      tests were performed on the primary and secondary outcomes, and p < .05 was
      considered statistically significant. Descriptive statistics were used to
      characterize the population and other outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 462 patients
      met study inclusion criteria. Mean baseline values were: age 55.32 years, BMI
      38.23 kg/m2, A1c 8.84%, mean number of diabetes medications (including CANA)
      3.58. Men comprised 60% of patients. At baseline, 54% of patients were prescribed
      insulin. A1c decreased by 1.06% and 1.09% (p < .0001), weight decreased by 2.01%
      and 1.83% (p < .001), systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased by 3.2% and 2.4% (p
      < .0001), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased by 2.59% and 2.16% (p =
      .0002) from baseline to first and second follow-up OV, respectively. Study
      limitations included retrospective design, inability to control for confounding
      factors (e.g. changes in nutrition, exercise, medical care plan, medications),
      missing information in the EHR, potential lack of generalizability of results to
      those in a non-specialty diabetes clinic, inability to assess adherence, and
      inability to assess reliable adverse event data. CONCLUSIONS: ANA was associated
      with a statistically and clinically significant reduction in A1c, weight, and
      blood pressure when added to multiple diabetes medication regimens by prescribers
      in a diabetes clinic.

PMID- 27646317
TI  - Successful stabilisation of a type III paediatric tibial eminence fracture using
      a tensioned wire technique.
AB  - We report the case of an 11-year-old boy presenting with a type III tibial
      eminence fracture. The fracture fragment was reduced arthroscopically. Two 1.6 mm
      retrograde K-wires were inserted from the tibial metaphysis across the physis and
      into the fracture fragment using a standard anterior cruciate ligament tibial
      tunnel guide. Once the wires were clearly visible within the joint the tips were
      bent over by ~120 degrees . The wires were then tensioned around a single small
      fragment screw inserted into the tibial metaphysis. An exceptionally strong
      fixation was achieved. The boy was mobilised without a brace. The wires were
      removed at 12 weeks and he returned to full activity at 14 weeks. 

PMID- 27646316
TI  - Surgical resection of invasive adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland and
      wound closure using a vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous free flap.
AB  - A 64-year-old man presented with a 3-month history of recurrent conjunctivitis.
      He was evaluated by an ophthalmologist and submitted to a CT scan that revealed
      an intraconic mass with invasion of the lateral orbital wall. He was operated,
      the mass was completely removed (with preservation of the intraorbital
      structures) and the lateral orbital wall rebuilt. The histopathological analysis
      revealed an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland. 4 months later a
      painful recurrence of the lesion was diagnosed with invasion of the orbital roof
      and eyelids. After a multidisciplinary discussion and request from the patient,
      an exenteration of the orbit and removal of the lateral and superior orbital wall
      and dura mater was performed with the objective of a total resection. The wound
      and orbit were closed with a vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous free flap to
      ensure closure. 

PMID- 27646318
TI  - Traumatic basilar artery entrapment with patency of pontine perforators and
      absence of significant brainstem infarction: report of an unusual case.
AB  - We report a rare case of entrapment of the basilar artery into the sphenoid bone
      caused by a longitudinal fracture of the clivus. Using high resolution three
      dimensional flat panel angiography, we show preservation of the basilar artery
      perforators in spite of severe stenosis of the entrapped segment of the basilar
      artery. There were no obvious signs and symptoms of posterior fossa stroke
      clinically or radiographically as far as could be assessed under given clinical
      circumstances. 

PMID- 27646319
TI  - Erratum: What is inside the hernia sac?

PMID- 27646320
TI  - Volvulus of ileum: a rare cause of small bowel obstruction.
AB  - Small bowel volvulus is a rare but life-threatening surgical emergency. Owing to
      its rarity, it is seldom entertained as a differential for small bowel
      obstruction. The aetiology may be either primary or secondary, with secondary
      being more common in the Western world. Prompt diagnosis and urgent surgical
      treatment is required if bowel necrosis is to be prevented, which is associated
      with increased mortality. We present a case of primary ileal volvulus with a
      gangrenous segment and a brief overview of the current literature. 

PMID- 27646321
TI  - Superior mesenteric artery syndrome as a cause of acute pancreatitis.

PMID- 27646323
TI  - Level of visual acuity necessary to avoid false-positives on the HRR and Ishihara
      color vision tests.
AB  - PURPOSE: Minimizing false-positives (FPs) when evaluating color vision is
      important in eye care. Identification of plate 1 (demonstration plate) is often
      considered a way to avoid FPs. However, few studies have quantified the minimum
      level of visual acuity (VA) that would minimize FPs for the Ishihara and HRR
      color tests. METHODS: Threshold levels of optical defocus were obtained from 25
      color normal subjects. Blur levels were obtained for Ishihara (38 plate) plates
      1, 10, and 15 and 4th edition HRR plates 1, 7, 10, and 20 using the method of
      limits. Corresponding VAs were measured through these blur levels at 40
      centimeters after adjusting for the dioptric distance difference. Analysis of
      variance testing was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Mean optical defocus
      values in diopters (mean +/- SD) for HRR plates 1, 7, 10, and 20 were 6.23 +/-
      1.61, 1.23 +/- 1.16, 2.41 +/- 1.31, and 7.96 +/- 2.03, respectively, and for
      Ishihara plates 1, 10, and 15 were 5.70 +/- 1.52, 3.68 +/- 1.71, and 4.62 +/-
      1.56, respectively. There was a significant difference between the screening and
      demonstration plates for both tests (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the plate in
      each test that was found to be the least tolerant to blur, the average minimum
      VAs needed to identify the screening plates were approximately 20/180 for the
      Ishihara test and 20/50 for the HRR test. Identifying the demonstration plate in
      the Ishihara and HRR tests does not ensure FPs will be avoided.

PMID- 27646322
TI  - Optic disc drusen: longitudinal aspects, with emphasis on visual field
      constriction and enlarged blind spot: a retrospective hospital-based clinical
      series.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine long-term data on optic disc drusen (ODD) from an outpatient
      hospital series that indicated more cases with advanced visual field constriction
      than is apparent from other clinical reports. The underlying pathophysiology is
      discussed, also with regard to enlarged blind spot, which, in view of the small
      disc at risk, may seem a paradox. METHODS: This is an observational retrospective
      study on an eye clinic series (n = 49), focusing on visual acuity, kinetic/static
      perimetry, and longitudinal trends, to include the question of eventual visual
      incapacity. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients (32 female and 17 male; bilateral ODD in
      45) aged 5-76 years (median age 29 years for both sexes) were included in the
      study. Observation time was 1-54 years, with serial data recorded over at least 3
      years in 25 patients. Visual field defects were found in 32 patients, with ODD
      considered responsible for the visual field defects demonstrated. Advanced
      unilateral concentric constriction (for the largest Goldmann object) was recorded
      in 10 patients, and bilaterally in 2. With regard to nonexplanatory side
      diagnoses, 2 patients had pituitary adenoma, 1 had a cavernous sinus meningioma,
      and 1 had neurosurgery for an arachnoid cyst. CONCLUSIONS: We found more cases of
      marked visual field constriction than reported in other clinical series. A few
      such cases appeared acute and vascular, but the main trend was clinically quiet
      over time. All 49 patients could manage visually in daily life.

PMID- 27646324
TI  - Functional and morphologic outcomes after reoperation for persistent idiopathic
      macular hole.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between preoperative and postoperative
      characteristics and visual outcomes after successful surgery for unclosed macular
      hole (MH). METHODS: The medical charts of 166 eyes of 161 patients who underwent
      vitrectomy for a MH were reviewed. The MH was not closed in 9 eyes of 9 patients
      after the initial surgery. The second vitrectomy with additional internal
      limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and gas tamponade was performed. The preoperative
      and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), optical coherence
      tomographic images, MH size, duration of MH before the first operation, and area
      of ILM peeling were studied. RESULTS: The MH was closed in all eyes after the
      second surgery. The BCVA significantly improved from 0.77 to 0.25 logMAR units
      (20/118 to 20/36, p = 0.002). The postoperative subfoveal ellipsoid zone (EZ) was
      distinct and continuous in 3 eyes with good visual recovery. The final BCVA was
      not significantly correlated with the baseline characteristics and area of ILM
      peeling but was correlated with the postoperative status of the EZ. CONCLUSIONS:
      All MHs were closed and the mean postoperative visual acuity was significantly
      improved. The reason for poor visual recovery was the reduced microstructural
      recovery after the second surgery.

PMID- 27646325
TI  - Scheimpflug image-based changes in anterior segment parameters during
      accommodation induced by short-term reading.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the effect of the accommodation on the anterior segment data
      (corneal and anterior chamber parameters) induced by short-time reading in a
      healthy, nonpresbyopic adult patient group. METHODS: Images of both eyes of
      nonpresbyopic volunteers were captured with a Scheimpflug device (Pentacam HR) in
      a nonaccommodative state. Fifteen minutes of reading followed and through
      fixation of the built-in target of Pentacam HR further accommodation was achieved
      and new images were captured by the device. Anterior segment parameters were
      observed and the differences were analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty-two healthy eyes of 26
      subjects (range 20.04-28.58 years) were analyzed. No significant differences were
      observed in the keratometric values before and after the accommodative task (p =
      0.35). A statistically significant difference was measured in the 5.0-mm-diameter
      and the 7.0-mm-diameter corneal volume (p = 0.01 and p = 0.03) between
      accommodation states. Corneal aberrometric data did not change significantly
      during short-term accommodation. Significant differences were observed between
      nonaccommodative and accommodative states of the eyes for all measured anterior
      chamber parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Among the parameters of the cornea, only corneal
      volume changed during the short-term accommodation process, showing some fine
      changes with accommodation of the cornea in young, emmetropic patients. The
      position of the pupil and the anterior chamber parameters were observed to change
      with accommodation as captured by a Scheimpflug device.

PMID- 27646326
TI  - Comments to: Long-term efficacy and safety of intravitreal dexamethasone implant
      for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.

PMID- 27646327
TI  - Spectral versus time-domain OCT in detecting preoperative epiretinal membranes
      that accompany macular holes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the sensitivities of spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography (SD-OCT) versus time-domain OCT (TD-OCT) in identifying epiretinal
      membranes (ERM) preoperatively in patients who underwent surgery for full
      thickness macular holes (FTMH). METHODS: This is an interventional retrospective
      case series of 59 eyes diagnosed with FTMHs who underwent 25-G pars plana
      vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling between 2009 and 2015.
      Preoperative OCTs were obtained by SD-OCT (Spectralis, Heidelberg, Germany) or TD
      OCT (Stratus, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA, USA). Volume scans were reviewed
      for ERM accompanying the FTMH. This was compared to indocyanine green-negative
      staining and intraoperative findings of ERM as the gold standard. RESULTS:
      Baseline characteristics between the SD-OCT and TD-OCT groups were comparable.
      Mean duration of postoperative follow-up was 41.4 weeks (+/-49.0). Of 59 eyes, 33
      (55.9%) exhibited an ERM intraoperatively. Four ERMs (SD-OCT group) compared to
      12 (TD-OCT group) were not visualized on preoperative OCT (p = 0.003).
      Sensitivity and specificity of SD-OCT in ERM detection was 79% and 100% compared
      to 14% and 91% for TD-OCT. Visual acuity improved in both arms (0.5 and 0.3
      logMAR units in SD-OCT and TD-OCT, respectively (p = 0.002, 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS:
      We found that SD-OCT was superior to TD-OCT in identifying the presence of ERM
      preoperatively in patients who underwent macular hole surgery. Since ERMs may
      decrease the chance of successful pharmacologic vitreolysis, we recommend using
      SD-OCT over TD-OCT in the evaluation of patients with FTMH to more accurately
      identify ERMs and allow more comprehensive treatment decisions (pharmacologic
      versus surgical).

PMID- 27646329
TI  - Cataract formation after YAG laser vitreolysis: importance of femtosecond laser
      anterior capsulotomies in perforated posterior capsules.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a patient who developed a white cataract after Nd:YAG laser
      vitreolysis with a posterior capsule defect. METHODS: Femtosecond laser-assisted
      capsulotomy was performed for optic capture fixation in a patient with a cataract
      due to a posterior capsule defect after Nd:YAG laser-vitreolysis. RESULTS: A 55
      year-old, highly myopic woman presented with visual impairment 4 days after
      Nd:YAG laser vitreolysis due to preexisting floaters. The slit-lamp examination
      showed a mature white cataract; therefore, the intactness of the posterior
      capsule could not be judged. The patient underwent cataract surgery with
      femtosecond laser-assisted capsulotomy. Intraoperatively, a highly disrupted
      posterior capsule was observed. Intraocular lens (IOL) was implanted into the
      ciliary sulcus and the anterior circular and centered capsulotomy was used for
      posterior optic capture fixation. Then vitrectomy was performed. No
      intraoperative or postoperative complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS: YAG laser
      vitreolysis presents a new and promising therapeutic approach for floaters.
      However, the complications are unknown. We describe the induction of cataract as
      a major complication. Furthermore, the femtosecond laser can ensure a circular
      and complete anterior capsulotomy, which is essential for optic capture fixation
      in these cases.

PMID- 27646328
TI  - Intraoperative complications of patients undergoing small-gauge and 20-gauge
      vitrectomy: a database study of 4,274 procedures.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the intraoperative complications between 23-G and 20-G
      instrumentation in patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). METHODS: This
      was a retrospective comparative study of 4,274 PPV procedures by the same
      surgical team between 1998 and 2016. A total of 2,648 operations were carried out
      with 20-G surgery and 1,626 operations with 23-G surgery. Main outcome measures
      were the incidence of choroidal haemorrhage, iatrogenic retinal break, and lens
      touch. RESULTS: The most frequent surgical indication in both 20-G and 23-G was
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), 38.7% (1,026/2,648) and 45.9%
      (746/1,626), respectively. The frequency of choroidal haemorrhage was 1.0% with
      20-G surgery (26/2,648) vs 0.6% with 23-G (9/1,626, p = 0.16). Subgroup analysis
      showed the increased risk was present in RRD surgery, 1.6% (16/1,026) vs 0.1%
      (1/746, p = 0.002), but not in all other indications combined, 20-G with 0.6%
      (10/1,622) and 23-G 0.9% (8/88, p = 0.46). This increased risk was also true for
      RRD when excluding combined scleral buckle surgery. There was an increased risk
      of iatrogenic retinal break in RRD cases undergoing 20-G, 5.8% (60/1,026),
      compared to 23-G vitrectomy, 1.9% (14/746, p<0.0001). There was no difference in
      rates of lens touch between 20-G and 23-G. CONCLUSIONS: 23-G microincisional PPV
      has a lower risk of choroidal haemorrhage and iatrogenic retinal tears than 20-G
      vitrectomy particularly for eyes with RRD.

PMID- 27646331
TI  - Reproducibility and repeatability of foveal avascular zone area measurements
      using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography in healthy subjects.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the reproducibility and repeatability of foveal avascular zone
      (FAZ) area measurements using swept-source optical coherence tomography
      angiography (SS-OCTA) in healthy subjects. METHODS: Sixty-four eyes of 64 healthy
      volunteers were randomly subjected to FAZ area measurements using SS-OCTA by 2
      examiners in 2 different sessions. RESULTS: The FAZ areas measured by the first
      and second observer were 0.269 +/- 0.092 mm2 and 0.270 +/- 0.090 mm2,
      respectively. Within subjects, the coefficients of variations were 2.44% (95%
      confidence interval [CI] 1.95% to 2.93%) and 2.66% (95% CI 2.00% to 3.31%) for
      the first and second observers, respectively. The coefficient of repeatability
      average measurements of FAZ area were 0.021 mm2 and 0.024 mm2. The intraclass
      correlation coefficient values were 0.993 (95% CI 0.989 to 0.996) and 0.991 (95%
      CI 0.986 to 0.995). Interobserver and intraobserver concordance correlation
      coefficients ranged from 0.998 (95% CI 0.997 to 0.999) to 0.999 (95% CI 0.998 to
      0.999) and from 0.989 (95% CI 0.982 to 0.993) to 0.987 (95% CI 0.979 to 0.992),
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The FAZ area measurements by means of SS-OCTA showed
      high reproducibility and repeatability in healthy eyes.

PMID- 27646330
TI  - Surgical repair of large cyclodialysis clefts.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a new surgical technique to effectively close large (>180
      degrees) cyclodialysis clefts. METHODS: Our method involves the use of procedures
      commonly associated with repair of retinal detachment and complex cataract
      extraction: phacoemulsification with placement of a capsular tension ring
      followed by pars plana vitrectomy and gas tamponade with light cryotherapy. We
      also used anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a noninvasive
      mechanism to determine the extent of the clefts and compared those results with
      ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and gonioscopy. RESULTS: This technique was used
      to repair large cyclodialysis clefts in 4 eyes. All 4 eyes had resolution of
      hypotony and improvement of visual acuity. One patient had an intraocular
      pressure spike requiring further surgical intervention. Anterior segment OCT
      imaging in all 4 patients showed a more extensive cleft than UBM or gonioscopy.
      CONCLUSIONS: This technique is effective in repairing large cyclodialysis clefts.
      Anterior segment OCT more accurately predicted the extent of each cleft, while
      UBM and gonioscopy both underestimated the size of the cleft.

PMID- 27646332
TI  - Comparison of visual function after implantation of inferior sector-shaped
      intraocular lenses: low-add +1.5 D vs +3.0 D.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare visual function after implantation of multifocal Lentis
      comfort LS-313 MF 15 (group 1) or Lentis M plus LS-313 MF 30 (group 2)
      intraocular lenses (IOLs). METHODS: Patients between 49 and 76 years of age who
      received monocular cataract surgery with multifocal IOL implantation were
      analyzed. Patients were evaluated preoperatively and for 5 months postoperatively
      for distance, intermediate, and near visual acuities, and static photopic and
      mesopic contrast sensitivity. A satisfaction questionnaire was administered 5
      months after surgery. RESULTS: Group 1 comprised 21 eyes and group 2 contained 34
      eyes. Both groups had a statistically significant improvement in uncorrected and
      corrected distance visual acuities postoperatively (p<0.01). Uncorrected visual
      near acuity at 40 cm was better in group 2 (1 month: p = 0.013; 5 months: p =
      0.051). Uncorrected intermediate visual acuity at 70 cm was better in group 1 (1
      month: p = 0.060; 5 months: p = 0.044). No significant differences in contrast
      sensitivity were observed between the groups. Glare and halo symptoms were better
      in group 1 (glare: p = 0.044; halo: p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: Inferior sector
      shaped, near-addition IOLs with lower add powers (+1.5 D) provide good vision
      over longer working distances and show fewer glare and halo symptoms.

PMID- 27646333
TI  - Intravitreal ranibizumab for retinal arterial macroaneurysm: long-term results of
      a prospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the potential efficacy and safety of primary intravitreal
      ranibizumab in patients with symptomatic retinal arterial macroaneurysm (RAM).
      METHODS: This prospective study comprised 5 eyes with RAM treated with
      intravitreal ranibizumab. At baseline, all patients underwent best-corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) measurement, ophthalmic examination including slit-lamp
      biomicroscopy, and central foveal thickness (CFT) measurement using optical
      coherence tomography. Fluorescein angiography was also performed to confirm
      diagnosis. Patients were examined at 1 month after injection and monthly
      thereafter. Main outcome measures included changes in BCVA and CFT. Safety was
      assessed by ophthalmic examination and report of systemic adverse effects.
      RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in BCVA (p<0.001) and
      CFT (p<0.001) before and after the ranibizumab injection at the end of the follow
      up of 13.4 +/- 3.2 months. One injection appeared to be sufficient for the
      resolution of macular edema and absorption of hemorrhages. No observable ocular
      or systemic side effects were found. One patient developed foveal atrophy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Intravitreal ranibizumab seems to be effective and safe for the
      treatment of symptomatic RAM.

PMID- 27646334
TI  - Safety and efficacy of collagen matrix implantation in infantile glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the preliminary results of biodegradable collagen matrix
      implant (Ologen) designed to improve outcome in patients with infantile glaucoma
      undergoing combined trabeculotomy and trabeculectomy. METHODS: A biodegradable
      collagen matrix (OculusGen) was placed in the subconjunctival space, partially
      over the scleral flap and the sclera in 20 eyes of 11 patients with infantile
      glaucoma who underwent combined trabeculotomy and trabeculectomy. Patients were
      examined preoperatively and on the first postoperative day with multiple
      postoperative follow-up visits within 12 months after surgery. Examination
      included measurements of intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal diameter, and axial
      length, bleb evaluation, and funduscopy. Ultrasound biomicroscopy of bleb (bleb
      presence, wall reflectivity, and scleral route visibility) was done at 1, 3, and
      6 months and the last follow-up visit. Any complication was recorded. Data
      analysis was performed using paired-samples t test. RESULTS: Mean patient age was
      5.7 +/- 5.69 months. Mean duration of follow-up was 10.05 +/- 1.15 months. Mean
      preoperative IOP was 25.9 +/- 3.08 mm Hg with 1.75 +/- 0.55 IOP-lowering
      medications and mean final postoperative IOP was 17.7 +/- 3.51 mm Hg with 0.55 +/
      0.69 IOP-lowering medications. Overall success at last follow-up was 80%. None
      of the patients experienced systemic or ocular complication related to OculusGen.
      By the 6th month, complete Ologen degradation was evident in all cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: The short-term preliminary results of this study indicate that the
      combined trabeculotomy and trabeculectomy with Ologen implantation could
      potentially provide a safe and effective procedure in the infantile age group but
      longer duration of follow-up in larger number of patients is needed.

PMID- 27646335
TI  - Relationship between intraocular pressure and anterior lamina cribrosa depth: a
      cross-sectional observational study in a healthy Portuguese population.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the association between anterior lamina cribrosa depth
      (ALCD), determined with enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence
      tomography (EDI-OCT), and intraocular pressure (IOP) in a healthy Portuguese
      population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional observational study conducted
      between January and July 2015, 2 optic nerve head (ONH)-centered EDI-OCT cross
      scans were performed and ALCD was defined as the perpendicular distance between
      the line connecting both edges of Bruch's membrane opening and the anterior
      border of the lamina cribrosa at the maximum depth point. A multivariate
      regression model was performed to assess the association of IOP and ALCD.
      RESULTS: The studied population included 59 subjects (35 women) with a mean age
      of 61.7 +/- 15.1 years. Mean vertical and horizontal maximum ALCD was 444.5 +/-
      92.2 MUm and 427.6 +/- 82.7 MUm, respectively. When controlling for age and
      spherical equivalent, maximum vertical and horizontal ALCD were positively
      correlated with intraocular pressure (R2>0.20) by 8.58 MUm (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 2.80-14.36 MUm; p<0.01) and 8.25 MUm (95% CI 2.71-13.78 MUm;
      p<0.01) per mm Hg of IOP, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our sample of healthy
      subjects presented a statistically significant positive correlation between IOP
      and ALCD when controlling for possible confounding factors. These results may
      trigger further studies to better elucidate the role of IOP in the morphologic
      and functional dynamics of the ONH.

PMID- 27646336
TI  - Intravitreal dexamethasone in the management of acute endophthalmitis: a
      comparative retrospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the clinical outcome of eyes with acute bacterial
      endophthalmitis treated with intravitreal injection of antibiotics with or
      without intravitreal dexamethasone. METHODS: This was a retrospective chart
      review of 63 eyes diagnosed with acute bacterial endophthalmitis and treated with
      vitreous tap and intravitreal injection of antibiotics, 19 eyes (30.2%) with and
      44 eyes (69.8%) without concurrent intravitreal dexamethasone. RESULTS: Visual
      acuity had significantly improved by 1 week and was maintained long-term
      (p<0.001). There were no differences in visual outcome or rates of ocular
      complications between the groups. None of the eyes treated with dexamethasone
      required repeated intravitreal antibiotic injection while 6 (13.6 %) of the other
      eyes required repeated intravitreal antibiotic injection (p = 0.09). A subset
      analysis of 21 eyes that presented with light perception/no light perception
      vision where vitrectomy was not possible demonstrated that intravitreal
      antibiotic injection improved vision and achieved similar visual gain as in eyes
      that presented with hand motion vision or better, with no higher complication
      rates. CONCLUSIONS:: No adverse effect of intravitreal dexamethasone in the acute
      management of infectious endophthalmitis was noted. A trend toward less need for
      repeat intravitreal antibiotic therapy was noted in eyes with acute bacterial
      endophthalmitis treated with concurrent intravitreal dexamethasone at
      presentation.

PMID- 27646337
TI  - Choroidal thickness and visual prognosis in type 1 lesion due to neovascular age
      related macular degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the association between subfoveal choroidal thickness and
      the visual outcome in eyes with type 1 choroidal neovascularization (CNV) due to
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). METHODS: This was a
      retrospective, longitudinal, cross-sectional study including patients diagnosed
      with nAMD type 1 lesions managed with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab in a
      PRN strategy during 24 months. Retrospective chart review of patients with type 1
      CNV recording the visual acuity, number of intravitreal injections, multimodal
      imaging data, and follow-up period was performed. Subfoveal choroidal thickness
      was measured using enhanced depth imaging scans obtained with spectral-domain
      optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: Twenty-five eyes of 21 patients were
      included. The mean baseline logMAR best-corrected visual acuity was 0.52 (+0.35)
      (median 0.5; range 0.1-1; interquartile range (IQR) 0.3-0.8) and improved to 0.39
      (+0.39) (median 0.4; range 0.1-1; IQR 0.2-0.5) by the end of the follow-up (p =
      0.038). Subfoveal choroidal thickness was 202.8 (+60.3) MUm (median 218; range 81
      285; IQR 146-258). Statistical mixed effects model demonstrated an association
      between rate of improvement of visual acuity with subfoveal choroidal thickness
      after 24 months (p<0.001) (95% confidence interval 0.0002-0.0001 logMAR month
      MUm); higher thickness values were correlated with better visual acuity.
      CONCLUSIONS: Thicker subfoveal choroid was associated with better visual outcomes
      in patients with type 1 CNV due to nAMD following a strict PRN regimen with
      intravitreal ranibizumab at 24 months of follow-up.

PMID- 27646338
TI  - Author's reply to comments to: Long-term efficacy and safety of intravitreal
      dexamethasone implant for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.

PMID- 27646339
TI  - Simulation of panretinal laser photocoagulation using geometric methods for
      calculating the photocoagulation index.
AB  - PURPOSE: To establish geometrically based methods for simulating panretinal laser
      photocoagulation (PRP) for the photocoagulation index. METHODS: A formula for
      calculating the curved surface area of a spherical dome was used for the
      simulation. If the radius of the dome is c and the height of the dome is h, then
      the curved surface area (S) of the dome is S = pi (c2 + h2). We calculated the
      area of the whole retina using this formula and the anatomical dimensions of the
      standard eyeball. To simulate PRP with a 400-MUm spot on the retina with 1-spot
      spacing, we drew 400-MUm-diameter circles, separated by 400 MUm, on a retinal
      map. We calculated the ratio of the total retinal photocoagulated area to the
      whole retina, termed the photocoagulation index, in order to investigate the
      impact of the extent of the photocoagulated area and the pulse duration on PRP.
      RESULTS: The whole retinal area was 1,092 mm2. The numbers of spots in the
      scattered and full-scattered PRP were 1,222 and 1,814, respectively. The
      photocoagulation index was 14.1% and 20.9% for scattered and full-scattered PRP,
      respectively. These values changed to 14.3% (5.6%) and 21.3% (8.3%),
      respectively, for PRP with a 100-ms pulse or a 20-ms pulse. CONCLUSIONS: This
      method will be useful for investigating the impact of various PRP parameters
      (duration, spacing, intensity of burns, extent of photocoagulated area, etc.) on
      the photocoagulation index.

PMID- 27646341
TI  - A 5-Month-Old Boy With Postprandial Emesis.

PMID- 27646340
TI  - Decreasing patient cost and travel time through pediatric rheumatology
      telemedicine visits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a critical shortage of pediatric rheumatologists in the US.
      Substantial travel to clinics can impose time and monetary burdens on families.
      The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost of in-person pediatric
      rheumatology visits for families and determine if telemedicine clinics resulted
      in time and cost savings. Factors associated with interest in telemedicine were
      also explored. METHODS: Surveys were offered to parents and guardians of patients
      in Pediatric Rheumatology follow-up clinics in Kansas City, Missouri, the primary
      site of in-person care, and at a telemedicine outreach site 160 miles away, in
      Joplin, Missouri. Survey questions were asked about non-medical, out-of-pocket
      costs associated with the appointment and interest in a telemedicine clinic.
      RESULTS: At the primary Kansas City clinic, the median distance traveled one-way
      was 40 miles [IQR = 18-80]. In the Joplin sample, the median distance traveled to
      the telemedicine clinic was 60 miles [IQR = 20-85] compared to 175 miles [IQR =
      160-200] for the same cohort of patients when seen in Kansas City (p < 0.001).
      When the Joplin cohort was seen via telemedicine they missed less time from work
      and school (p = 0.028, p = 0.003, respectively) and a smaller percentage spent
      money on food compared to when they had traveled to Kansas City (p < 0.001).
      There was no statistical difference between the Joplin cohort when they had
      traveled to Kansas City and the Kansas City cohort in terms of miles driven to
      clinic, time missed from work and school, and percentage of subjects who spent
      money on food. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional in-person visits can result in a
      financial toll on families, which can be ameliorated by the use of telemedicine.
      Telemedicine leveled the economic burden of clinic visits so that when the Joplin
      cohort was seen via telemedicine, they experienced costs similar to the Kansas
      City cohort.

PMID- 27646342
TI  - Seizures in a Patient With Eczema.

PMID- 27646343
TI  - An Infant With Rapidly Progressive Altered Mental Status and Seizures.

PMID- 27646345
TI  - 1H NMR To Explore the Metabolome of Exhaled Breath Condensate in alpha1
      Antitrypsin Deficient Patients: A Pilot Study.
AB  - The metabolomic analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) may provide insights
      on both the pathology of pulmonary disorders and the response to therapy. This
      pilot study describes the ability of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based
      metabolomics to discriminate alpha1-antitrypsin deficient (AATD)-patients, who
      were diagnosed with moderate to severe emphysema, from healthy individuals.
      Comparative analysis of samples from these two homogeneous cohorts of individuals
      resulted in the generation of NMR profiles that were different from both a
      qualitative and a quantitative point-of-view. Among the identified metabolites
      that separated patients from controls, acetoin, propionate, acetate, and propane
      1,2 diol were those presenting the biggest difference. Unambiguous confirmation
      that the two groups could be completely differentiated on the basis of their
      metabolite content came from the application of univariate and multivariate
      statistical analysis (principal component analysis, partial least squares
      discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and orthogonal PLS-DA). MetaboAnalyst 3.0
      platform, used to define a relationship among metabolites, allowed us to observe
      that pyruvate metabolism is the most-involved pathway, most of metabolites being
      originated from pyruvate. These preliminary data suggest that NMR, with its
      ability to differentiate the metabolic fingerprint of EBC of AATD patients from
      that of healthy controls, has a potential "clinical applicability" in this area.

PMID- 27646344
TI  - Rice NAC transcription factor ONAC095 plays opposite roles in drought and cold
      stress tolerance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) transcriptional factors constitute a
      large family with more than 150 members in rice and some of them have been
      demonstrated to play crucial roles in plant abiotic stress response. Here, we
      report the characterization of a rice stress-responsive NAC gene, ONAC095, and
      the exploration of its function in drought and cold stress tolerance. RESULTS:
      Expression of ONAC095 was up-regulated by drought stress and abscisic acid (ABA)
      but down-regulated by cold stress. ONAC095 protein had transactivation activity
      and the C2 domain in C-terminal was found to be critical for transactivation
      activity. Transgenic rice lines with overexpression of ONAC095 (ONAC095-OE) and
      dominant chimeric repressor-mediated suppression of ONAC095 (ONAC095-SRDX) were
      generated. The ONAC095-OE plants showed comparable phenotype to wild type under
      drought and cold stress conditions. However, the ONAC095-SRDX plants displayed an
      improved drought tolerance but exhibited an attenuated cold tolerance. The
      ONAC095-SRDX plants had decreased water loss rate, increased proline and soluble
      sugar contents, and up-regulated expression of drought-responsive genes under
      drought condition, whereas the ONAC095-SRDX plants accumulated excess reactive
      oxygen species, increased malondialdehyde content and down-regulated expression
      of cold-responsive genes under cold condition. Furthermore, ONAC095-SRDX plants
      showed an increased ABA sensitivity, contained an elevated ABA level, and
      displayed altered expression of ABA biosynthetic and metabolic genes as well as
      some ABA signaling-related genes. CONCLUSION: Functional analyses through
      dominant chimeric repressor-mediated suppression of ONAC095 demonstrate that
      ONAC095 plays opposite roles in drought and cold stress tolerance, acting as a
      negative regulator of drought response but as a positive regulator of cold
      response in rice.

PMID- 27646346
TI  - A Note on the Identifiability of Fixed-Effect 3PL Models.
AB  - In this note, we prove that the 3 parameter logistic model with fixed-effect
      abilities is identified only up to a linear transformation of the ability scale
      under mild regularity conditions, contrary to the claims in Theorem 2 of San
      Martin et al. (Psychometrika, 80(2):450-467, 2015a).

PMID- 27646347
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646349
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646350
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646352
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646351
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PMID- 27646353
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PMID- 27646354
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PMID- 27646355
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PMID- 27646357
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PMID- 27646356
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PMID- 27646358
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646359
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646360
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646361
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646362
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646363
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646364
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646366
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646365
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646367
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646368
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646369
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646370
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646371
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646372
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646373
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646374
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646375
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646376
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646377
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646378
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646379
TI  - [Rhinoplasty - functional or aesthetic?].

PMID- 27646380
TI  - [Protruding ears - cosmetic surgery with a sense of proportion].

PMID- 27646381
TI  - [Neoplasm of the skin and soft tissue].

PMID- 27646382
TI  - [Fever in infants: investigating the source].

PMID- 27646384
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646383
TI  - [Pitfalls in treatment of headache diseases].

PMID- 27646385
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646386
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646387
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646388
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646389
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646390
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646391
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646392
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646393
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646395
TI  - ?

PMID- 27646394
TI  - [Knowledge and implementation of the S3 guideline on delirium management in
      Germany].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delirium is a common complication in critical care. The syndrome is
      often underestimated due to its potentially no less dangerous course as a
      hypoactive delirium. Therefore, current guidelines ask for a structured, regular
      and routine screening in all intensive care units. If delirium is diagnosed,
      symptomatic therapy should be initiated promptly. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the
      current study was to evaluate recent German anesthetists' strategies regarding
      delirium care compared to the German guidelines for sedation and delirium in
      intensive care. METHODS: In an online survey German hospitals' senior
      anesthetists (n = 922) were interviewed anonymously between May and June 2015
      regarding guideline use in delirium management in German intensive care units. In
      33 direct questions the anesthetists were invited to answer items regarding the
      structure of their hospitals, intensive care and delirium therapy in order to
      review their knowledge of the German delirium guidelines that expired in 2014.
      RESULTS: The 249 senior anesthetists who responded to the survey, can be
      associated with (or represent) a quarter of German intensive care beds and cases,
      respectively. In every tenth clinic that runs an intensive care unit the
      guideline was unknown. In three of four intensive care units physicians specified
      a preferred delirium score, the CAM-ICU (49.4 %) is used most frequently. With
      knowledge of the guidelines more often a recommended delirium score is used (p =
      0.017). However, only 53.6 % of the respondents ascertain a score every eight
      hours and 36 % have no facility for standardized documentation in the records. At
      intensive care rounds, a possible diagnosis of delirium is an inherent part in
      only 34.9 % of the responders even with guideline knowledge. The particular gold
      standard for the therapy of delirium (alphaagonists for vegetative symptoms; 89.6
      %, benzodiazepines for anxiety, 77.5 %; antipsychotics in 86.7 % for psychotic
      symptoms) is implemented more often with growing knowledge of the guidelines. The
      latter applies to the implementation of structured programs for delirium
      prophylaxis, cognition and therapy. CONCLUSION: For the first time, this study
      documents knowledge and implementation of the German S3 guidelines for delirium
      in intensive care. Overall, the guidelines for delirium care are less well
      executed than those for sedation. With growing knowledge of the guidelines,
      diagnosis and treatment of delirium fits the guidelines more frequently. The
      facility to document a delirium score in intensive records is insufficient.
      Especially a nursing-based delirium strategy could possibly improve
      implementation of the guidelines, claiming an eight-hour screening and
      documentation. However, the small number of hospitals that have integrated the
      guidelines into in-house standard operating procedures (40 %) shows urgent need
      for optimization. A re-evaluation involving all relevant caretakers could
      probably improve the implementation of guidelines in intensive care and
      perioperative medicine.

PMID- 27646396
TI  - De novo synthesis of fatty acids is regulated by FapR protein in Exiguobacterium
      antarcticum B7, a psychrotrophic bacterium isolated from Antarctica.
AB  - BACKGROUND: FapR protein from the psychrotrophic species Exiguobacterium
      antarcticum B7 was expressed and purified, and subsequently evaluated for its
      capacity to bind to the promoter regions of the fabH1-fabF and fapR-plsX-fabD
      fabG operons, using electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The genes that compose
      these operons encode for enzymes involved in the de novo synthesis of fatty acids
      molecules. In Bacillus subtilis, FapR regulates the expression of these operons,
      and consequently has influence in the synthesis of long or short-chain fatty
      acids. To analyze the bacterial cold adaptation, this is an important metabolic
      pathway because psychrotrophic microrganisms tend to synthesize short and
      branched-chain unsaturated fatty acids at cold to maintain cell membrane
      fluidity. RESULTS: In this work, it was observed that recombinant protein was
      able to bind to the promoter of the fully amplified fabH1-fabF and fapR-plsX-fabD
      fabG operons. However, FapR was unable to bind to the promoter of fapR-plsX-fabD
      fabG operon when synthesized only up to the protein-binding palindrome 5'
      TTAGTACCAGATACTAA-3', thus showing the importance of the entire promoter sequence
      for the correct protein-DNA interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Through this observation,
      we demonstrate that the FapR protein possibly regulates the same operons as
      described for other species, which emphasizes its importance to cold adaptation
      process of E. antarcticum B7, a psychrotrophic bacterium isolated at Antarctica.

PMID- 27646397
TI  - Pyrosequencing Analysis of Norovirus Genogroup II Distribution in Sewage and
      Oysters: First Detection of GII.17 Kawasaki 2014 in Oysters.
AB  - Norovirus GII.3, GII.4, and GII.17 were detected using pyrosequencing in sewage
      and oysters in January and February 2015, in Japan. The strains in sewage and
      oyster samples were genetically identical or similar, predominant strains
      belonging to GII.17 Kawasaki 2014 lineage. This is the first report of GII.17
      Kawasaki 2014 in oysters.

PMID- 27646398
TI  - NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons in the human inferior colliculus: morphology,
      distribution and clinical implications.
AB  - Using the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d)
      reaction with nitroblue tetrazolium, we provided a detailed investigation of the
      distribution, dimensional characteristics and morphology of NADPH-d-positive
      neurons in the three main subdivisions of the human inferior colliculus (IC):
      central nucleus, pericentral nucleus, and external nucleus. In accordance with
      their perikaryal diameter, dendritic and axonal morphology, these neurons were
      categorized as large (averaging up to 45 MUm in diameter), medium (20-30 um),
      small (13-16 um) and very small (7-10 um). Their morphological differences could
      contribute to varying functionality and processing capacity. Our results support
      the hypothesis that large and medium NADPH-d-positive cells represent projection
      neurons, while the small cells correspond to interneurons. Heretofore, the very
      small NADPH-d-positive neurons have not been described in any species. Their
      functions-and if they are, indeed, the smallest neurons in the IC of humans
      remain to be clarified. Owing to their location, we posit that they are
      interneurons that connect the large NADPH-d-positive neurons and thereby serve as
      an anatomical substrate for information exchange and processing before feeding
      forward to higher brain centers. Our results also suggest that the broad
      distribution of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in the human IC is closely tied to
      the neuromodulatory action of NO on collicular neurotransmitters such as GABA and
      glutamate, and to calcium-binding proteins such as parvalbumin. A deeper
      understanding of the relationship between NADPH-d-positive fibers in all IC
      connections and their co-localization with other neurotransmitters and calcium
      binding proteins will assist in better defining the function of NO in the context
      of its interplay with the cerebral cortex, the sequelae of the aging process and
      neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 27646400
TI  - Development and Validation of the Biomedical Research Trust Scale (BRTS) in
      English and Spanish.
AB  - This study developed and validated the Biomedical Research Trust Scale (BRTS), a
      10-item measure of global trust in biomedical research, in English and Spanish
      (BRTS-SP). In total, 85 English- and 85 Spanish-speaking participants completed
      the BRTS or BRTS-SP, as well as measures of biobanking attitudes, self-efficacy,
      receptivity, and intentions to donate blood or urine. Results indicated the BRTS
      and BRTS-SP showed adequate internal consistency in both English and Spanish. In
      addition, greater levels of trust in biomedical research were significantly
      associated with greater self-efficacy, receptivity, attitudes, and intentions to
      donate blood and urine in English-speaking participants, and self-efficacy and
      intention to donate urine in Spanish-speaking participants. These results support
      the use of the BRTS and BRTS-SP among English- and Spanish-speaking community
      members.

PMID- 27646401
TI  - Are Leadership and Management Essential for Good Research? An Interview Study of
      Genetic Researchers.
AB  - Principal investigators are responsible for a myriad of leadership and management
      activities in their work. The practices they use to navigate these
      responsibilities ultimately influence the quality and integrity of research.
      However, leadership and management roles in research have received scant
      empirical examination. Semi-structured interviews with 32 National Institutes of
      Health (NIH)-funded genetic researchers revealed that they considered leadership
      and management essential for effective research, but their scientific training
      inadequately prepared them. We also report management practices that the
      researchers described using in their labs, as well as their perceptions of a
      proposed intervention to enhance laboratory leadership. These findings suggest
      best practices for the research community, future directions for scientific
      training, and implications for research on leadership and management in science.

PMID- 27646403
TI  - Maternal allergic disease history affects childhood allergy development through
      impairment of neonatal regulatory T-cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Maternal allergic disease history and impaired regulatory T-cells
      (Tregs) are critical risk factors for allergy development in children. However,
      the mechanisms that underlie these risk factors remain poorly defined. Therefore,
      the aim of this study was to assess whether maternal allergies affect the Tregs
      of offspring and lead to allergy development in childhood. METHODS: A total of
      332 mothers of healthy newborns (234 from no allergic mothers, 98 from allergic
      mothers) were recruited to this study. Detailed questionnaires were administered
      yearly to determine the allergy status of the mothers and the newborns from birth
      to 3 years of age. Cord blood samples obtained at the time of birth were analysed
      for Treg counts, as well Treg activity, based on their response to Toll-like
      receptor (TLR) stimuli such as lipid A (LPA) and peptidoglycans (PPG). Surface
      markers, associated genes, suppressive capacity, and cytokine levels of Tregs
      were also measured. Possible correlations between Treg activity and maternal or
      neonate allergies were assessed. In addition, environmental microbial content and
      other known risk factors for allergies were measured. RESULTS: Cord blood
      mononuclear cells (CBMCs) from offspring with allergic mothers showed fewer
      CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) T cells, lower expression levels of associated genes, and
      reduced cytokine production of interleukin (IL)-10 and interferon-gamma (P <
      0.05), especially via the PPG-TLR2 pathway. Suppression of effector T cells by
      Tregs from children of mothers with allergies was impaired, especially IL-13
      production by Type 2 T helper (Th2) cells (P = 0.026). Children who developed
      allergies in the first 3 years of life had lower numbers of CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+)
      T cells and reduced FOXP3 expression and IL-10 production as newborns (P < 0.05).
      Maternal allergic background was identified as a risk factor for allergy
      development in the children (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.46, 95 % CI = 1.05-5.79); while
      declining Treg numbers, IL-10 production, and FOXP3 expression in neonates (PPG
      and LPA stimulated) were identified as independent risk factors for allergic
      diseases in offspring at 3 years of age after adjusting for maternal allergic
      history and environmental factors (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Maternal allergy
      correlated with impaired Tregs in neonates, and this could enhance the
      susceptibility of offspring to allergic diseases in early childhood due to an
      imbalance of Th1 and Th2 cells.

PMID- 27646404
TI  - Anti-adhesive effect of poloxamer-based thermo-sensitive sol-gel in rabbit
      laminectomy model.
AB  - Poloxamer-based thermo-sensitive sol-gel has been developed to reduce the
      incidence of postoperative scar formation at the laminectomy site. The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate the anti-adhesive effect of poloxamer based thermo
      sensitive sol-gel compared to hyaluronate based solution after laminectomy, using
      a rabbit model. A thermo-sensitive anti-adhesive with a property of sol-gel
      transition was manufactured by a physical mixture of Poloxamer188/407, Chitosan
      and Gelatin. The viscosity in different temperatures was assessed. 72 adult New
      Zealand rabbits underwent lumbar laminectomy and were randomly divided into
      experimental (treated with the newly developed agent), positive (treated with
      hyaluronate based solution), and negative control groups. Each group was
      subdivided into 1 and 4-week subgroups. Gross and histological evaluations were
      performed to assess the extent of epidural adhesion. The experimental group
      showed significantly higher viscosity compared to the positive control group and
      showed a significant increase of viscosity as the temperature increased. Gross
      evaluation showed no statistically significant differences between the 1- and 4
      week subgroups. However, histologic evaluation showed significant differences
      both in 1- and 4-week subgroups. Although the 4-week histologic results of the
      experimental and the positive control subgroups showed no significant difference,
      both subgroups revealed higher value compared to the negative control subgroup
      with regard to the ratio of adhesion less than 50 %. The new poloxamer based
      thermo-sensitive agent showed superior efficacy over the hyaluronate based agent
      at 1 week postoperatively. At 4 weeks postoperatively, there were no
      statistically significant differences between the two agents, although both
      showed efficacy over the sham group. 

PMID- 27646405
TI  - Elastic and viscoelastic mechanical properties of brain tissues on the implanting
      trajectory of sub-thalamic nucleus stimulation.
AB  - Corresponding to pre-puncture and post-puncture insertion, elastic and
      viscoelastic mechanical properties of brain tissues on the implanting trajectory
      of sub-thalamic nucleus stimulation are investigated, respectively. Elastic
      mechanical properties in pre-puncture are investigated through pre-puncture
      needle insertion experiments using whole porcine brains. A linear polynomial and
      a second order polynomial are fitted to the average insertion force in pre
      puncture. The Young's modulus in pre-puncture is calculated from the slope of the
      two fittings. Viscoelastic mechanical properties of brain tissues in post
      puncture insertion are investigated through indentation stress relaxation tests
      for six interested regions along a planned trajectory. A linear viscoelastic
      model with a Prony series approximation is fitted to the average load trace of
      each region using Boltzmann hereditary integral. Shear relaxation moduli of each
      region are calculated using the parameters of the Prony series approximation. The
      results show that, in pre-puncture insertion, needle force almost increases
      linearly with needle displacement. Both fitting lines can perfectly fit the
      average insertion force. The Young's moduli calculated from the slope of the two
      fittings are worthy of trust to model linearly or nonlinearly instantaneous
      elastic responses of brain tissues, respectively. In post-puncture insertion,
      both region and time significantly affect the viscoelastic behaviors. Six tested
      regions can be classified into three categories in stiffness. Shear relaxation
      moduli decay dramatically in short time scales but equilibrium is never truly
      achieved. The regional and temporal viscoelastic mechanical properties in post
      puncture insertion are valuable for guiding probe insertion into each region on
      the implanting trajectory. 

PMID- 27646406
TI  - Improving Health of At-Risk Rural Patients project: A collaborative care model.
AB  - PURPOSE: The design elements of the Improving Health of At-Risk Rural Patients
      (IHARP) care model are described. SUMMARY: The IHARP project evaluated the
      clinical, economic, and humanistic outcomes associated with the collaborative
      care model relative to usual care in the community. The care model was initiated
      in 22 level 3- certified patient-centered medical homes. The primary outcomes are
      the absolute change in all relevant clinical and laboratory values of patients
      with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes within and between the
      intervention and comparator groups; the change in the absolute number of
      emergency department visits and hospitalizations; and the change in the cost of
      care among the Medicare and Medicaid intervention patients. The lessons learned
      during the implementation and conduction of this project over the past three
      years are also presented. Patient enrollment ended in December 2014, final
      patient care visits were concluded in the fall of 2015, and results are expected
      in late 2016 or early 2017. CONCLUSION: This project will provide information
      from patients, physicians, and midlevel providers regarding their perceptions of
      clinical pharmacists as collaborative care team members. Data on health outcomes,
      health services utilization, and costs of care drawn from over 1600 Medicare
      beneficiaries will provide a robust assessment of the value of the IHARP care
      delivery model.

PMID- 27646407
TI  - Transition to ENFit enteral devices: Special challenges for pediatric
      institutions.

PMID- 27646409
TI  - Differential human urinary lipid profiles using various lipid-extraction
      protocols: MALDI-TOF and LIFT-TOF/TOF analyses.
AB  - Changes in lipid levels/profiles can reflect health status and diseases. Urinary
      lipidomics, thus, has a great potential in clinical diagnostics/prognostics.
      Previously, only chloroform and methanol were used for extracting lipids from the
      urine. The present study aimed to optimize lipid extraction and examine
      differential lipid classes obtained by various extraction protocols. Urine
      samples were collected from eight healthy individuals and then pooled. Lipids
      were extracted by six solvent protocols, including (i) chloroform/methanol (1:1,
      v/v), (ii) chloroform/methanol (2:1, v/v), (iii) hexane/isopropanol (3:2, v/v),
      (iv) chloroform, (v) diethyl ether, and (vi) hexane. Lipid profiles of the six
      extracts were acquired by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) and some lipid classes
      were verified by LIFT-TOF/TOF MS/MS. The data revealed that phosphatidylglycerol
      (PG) and phosphatidylinositol (PI) could be detected by all six protocols.
      However, phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM) were detectable only by
      protocols (i)-(iv), whereas phosphatidylserine (PS) was detectable only by
      protocols (iii)-(vi), and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was detectable only by
      protocols (v)-(vi). In summary, we have demonstrated differential lipidome
      profiles yielded by different extraction protocols. These data can serve as an
      important source for selection of an appropriate extraction method for further
      highly focused studies on particular lipid classes in the human urine.

PMID- 27646410
TI  - Cellulose acetate-based composites with antimicrobial properties from embedded
      molybdenum trioxide particles.
AB  - : The objective of this research was to develop novel cellulose acetate
      (biopolymer) composite materials with an excellent antimicrobial activity by
      embedding molybdenum trioxide particles with unique high specific surface area.
      High surface area molybdenum trioxide particles were prepared from freshly
      precipitated molybdenum trioxide dihydrate (MoO3 .2H2 O) and subsequent
      calcination at 340 degrees C under H2 /N2 gas. Microbiological evaluation against
      Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were performed
      applying a roll-on test and excellent antimicrobial activities were determined
      for composites with embedded anhydrous molybdenum trioxide with a high specific
      surface area. Cellulose acetate composites comprising MoO3 particles can
      eliminate three harmful bacteria as a result of the release of protons from the
      material and surface enlargement of the molybdenum trioxide particles. The
      findings support a proposed antimicrobial mechanism based on local acidity
      increase due to large specific surface areas. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE
      STUDY: In this study, development of a novel thermoplastic bio-based composite
      with excellent antimicrobial surface properties is investigated. To the best of
      our knowledge, this is the first report to evaluate the antimicrobial properties
      of molybdenum trioxide embedded into a cellulose acetate as biopolymer matrix.
      The developed composites might step up to innovative applications used in modern
      medical and public environments.

PMID- 27646412
TI  - C9ORF72 gene expansion in a patient with intellectual disability and psychiatric
      disease.

PMID- 27646413
TI  - Activation of the mTOR signaling pathway in peritumoral tissues can cause glioma
      associated seizures.
AB  - Epileptic seizures, the most common symptom accompanying glioma, are closely
      associated with tumor growth and patient quality of life. However, the
      association between glioma and glioma-related epilepsy is poorly understood. In
      fact, findings related to the location of epileptogenicity have been inconsistent
      in previous studies. We investigated seizure foci in patients with glioma and the
      corresponding association between glioma-related epilepsy and the tumoral and
      peritumoral microenvironment. Clinical characteristics, extracellular
      electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, and western blots were conducted on 12
      patients with glioma; nine patients had histories of preoperative seizures while
      three did not. Samples from included patients were used to identify seizure foci
      and mTOR pathway status. Electrophysiological recordings were conducted on 36
      samples (tumor, peritumoral, and normal brain tissues) from 12 patients.
      Interictal-like discharges (ILDs) were observed in seven of nine peritumoral
      tissues obtained from patients with glioma that had experienced perioperative
      seizures. No ILDs were observed in any other sample groups. Western blots and
      immunohistochemistry for mTOR pathway proteins (mTOR and S6k) suggested that the
      mTOR pathway was activated in peritumoral tissues of patients with seizure
      history, but inactivated in patients without seizure history. Our results suggest
      that mTOR pathway expression in peritumoral tissues is associated with tumor
      related seizures, thus providing a potential target for therapeutics aimed at
      simultaneously controlling gliomas and seizures.

PMID- 27646417
TI  - Editorial Comment: 2016 Knee Society Proceedings.

PMID- 27646414
TI  - Robotic vs laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy for gastric
      cancer: a retrospective comparative mono-institutional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robotic surgery has been developed with the aim of improving surgical
      quality and overcoming the limitations of conventional laparoscopy in the
      performance of complex mini-invasive procedures. The present study was designed
      to compare robotic and laparoscopic distal gastrectomy in the treatment of
      gastric cancer. METHODS: Between June 2008 and September 2015, 41 laparoscopic
      and 30 robotic distal gastrectomies were performed by a single surgeon at the
      same institution. Clinicopathological characteristics of the patients, surgical
      performance, postoperative morbidity/mortality and pathologic data were
      prospectively collected and compared between the laparoscopic and robotic groups
      by the Chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney test, as indicated. RESULTS: There
      were no significant differences in patient characteristics between the two
      groups. Mean tumor size was larger in the laparoscopic than in the robotic
      patients (5.3 +/- 0.5 cm and 3.0 +/- 0.4 cm, respectively; P = 0.02). However,
      tumor stage distribution was similar between the two groups. The mean number of
      dissected lymph nodes was higher in the robotic than in the laparoscopic patients
      (39.1 +/- 3.7 and 30.5 +/- 2.0, respectively; P = 0.02). The mean operative time
      was 262.6 +/- 8.6 min in the laparoscopic group and 312.6 +/- 15.7 min in the
      robotic group (P < 0.001). The incidences of surgery-related and surgery
      unrelated complications were similar in the laparoscopic and in the robotic
      patients. There were no significant differences in short-term clinical outcomes
      between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitation of a small-sized, non
      randomized analysis, our study confirms that robotic distal gastrectomy is a
      feasible and safe surgical procedure. When compared with conventional
      laparoscopy, robotic surgery shows evident benefits in the performance of
      lymphadenectomy with a higher number of retrieved and examined lymph nodes.

PMID- 27646418
TI  - Do Radiographic Parameters of Dysplasia Improve to Normal Ranges After Bernese
      Periacetabular Osteotomy?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is to improve the
      insufficient coverage of the femoral head and achieve joint stability without
      creating secondary femoroacetabular impingement. However, the complex
      tridimensional morphology of the dysplastic acetabulum presents a challenge to
      restoration of normal radiographic parameters. Accurate acetabular correction is
      important to achieve long-term function and pain improvement. There are limited
      data about the proportion of patients who have normal radiographic parameters
      restored after PAO and the factors associated with under- and overcorrection.
      QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: (1) What is the proportion of patients undergoing PAO in
      which the acetabular correction as assessed by the lateral center-edge angle
      (LCEA), anterior center-edge angle (ACEA), acetabular inclination (AI), and
      extrusion index (EI) is within defined target ranges? (2) What patient and
      preoperative factors are associated with undercorrection of the acetabulum as
      defined by a LCEA < 22 degrees , a factor that has been reported to be associated
      with PAO failure at 10-year followup? METHODS: Between January 2007 and December
      2011 we performed 132 PAOs in 116 patients for treatment of symptomatic
      acetabular dysplasia. One patient with Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, one with
      multiple osteochondromatosis, and two with concomitant femoral osteotomy were
      excluded. A total of 128 hips (112 patients) were included. The hip cohort was
      76% (97 of 128) female and the mean age at surgery was 28.5 years (SD 8.7 years).
      Correction of LCEA between 25 degrees  and 40 degrees , ACEA between 18 degrees 
      and 38 degrees , Tonnis angle between 0 degrees  and 10 degrees , and EI <= 20%
      were defined as adequate based on normative values. Values lower than the
      established parameters were considered undercorrection for the LCEA and ACEA and
      those higher than the established values were considered overcorrection. Because
      postoperative LCEA < 22o has been previously associated with PAO failure at a
      minimum of 10-year followup, in this study we sought to measure whether
      demographic factors including age, gender, body mass index, and severity of
      acetabular dysplasia assessed by preoperative LCEA, ACEA, AI, and EI were
      associated with undercorrection. Postoperative radiographs were obtained at
      minimum of 1 month after surgery (mean, 7 months; range, 1-44 months) and were
      measured by a professional research assistant and a hip reconstruction fellow not
      involved in the clinical care of the patients. No patient was lost to followup.
      RESULTS: Of the 128 hips, the proportion of hips with radiographic parameters
      within the established range was 78% (100 hips) for the LCEA, 86% (110 hips) for
      the ACEA, 89% (114 hips) for the AI, and 80% (102 hips) for the EI. For hips with
      an inadequate correction, the LCEA was more often undercorrected than
      overcorrected (20% versus 2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 11%-27%; p < 0.001),
      whereas the ACEA was more often overcorrected than undercorrected (11% versus 3%;
      95% CI, 1%-15%; p = 0.03) After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and
      preoperative radiographic parameters including ACEA, AI, and EI, we found that
      the preoperative LCEA was the only independent factor associated with a
      postoperative LCEA < 22 degrees  (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.87-0.97; p =
      0.003), indicating that hips with lower preoperative LCEA were more likely to
      have a LCEA < 22 degrees . For each additional degree of preoperative LCEA, the
      odds of LCEA < 22 degrees  were reduced by 15%. CONCLUSIONS: Acetabular
      correction after PAO performed by two experienced surgeons was adequate for
      individual radiographic parameters in most but not all hips. Hips with more
      severe dysplasia preoperatively are at higher risk for undercorrection as
      assessed by the LCEA. This intuitive information may help surgeons performing PAO
      in severely dysplastic hips plan for possible combined procedures including a
      femoral osteotomy if PAO alone does not allow for adequate correction of femoral
      head coverage and a congruous concentric hip. Further studies are planned to
      determine whether the long-term hip function and pain in patients whose hips were
      corrected within these established parameters will be improved in comparison to
      those that were under- or overcorrected. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III,
      therapeutic study.

PMID- 27646422
TI  - Dopamine receptor activity participates in hippocampal synaptic plasticity
      associated with novel object recognition.
AB  - Physiological and behavioral evidence supports that dopamine (DA) receptor
      signaling influences hippocampal function. While several recent studies examined
      how DA influences CA1 plasticity and learning, there are fewer studies
      investigating the influence of DA signaling to the dentate gyrus. The dentate
      gyrus receives convergent cortical input through the perforant path fiber tracts
      and has been conceptualized to detect novelty in spatial memory tasks. To test
      whether DA-receptor activity influences novelty-detection, we used a novel object
      recognition (NOR) task where mice remember previously presented objects as an
      indication of learning. Although DA innervation arises from other sources and the
      main DA signaling may be from those sources, our molecular approaches verified
      that midbrain dopaminergic fibers also sparsely innervate the dentate gyrus.
      During the NOR task, wild-type mice spent significantly more time investigating
      novel objects rather than previously observed objects. Dentate granule cells in
      slices cut from those mice showed an increased AMPA/NMDA-receptor current ratio
      indicative of potentiated synaptic transmission. Post-training injection of a D1
      like receptor antagonist not only effectively blocked the preference for the
      novel objects, but also prevented the increased AMPA/NMDA ratio. Consistent with
      that finding, neither NOR learning nor the increase in the AMPA/NMDA ratio were
      observed in DA-receptor KO mice under the same experimental conditions. The
      results indicate that DA-receptor signaling contributes to the successful
      completion of the NOR task and to the associated synaptic plasticity of the
      dentate gyrus that likely contributes to the learning.

PMID- 27646424
TI  - Timed Urine Collections for Albumin and Protein: "The King Is Dead, Long Live the
      King!"

PMID- 27646423
TI  - Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Versus Optimal Medical Therapy for Stable
      Angina in Advanced CKD: A Decision Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) use is low in the setting of
      stable symptomatic angina in individuals with advanced chronic kidney disease
      (CKD) despite high cardiovascular risk in this population, and PCI is frequently
      deferred out of concern for precipitating dialysis therapy. Whether this is
      appropriate is uncertain, and patient-centered data comparing the relative risks
      and benefits of continued medical therapy versus PCI in patients with advanced
      CKD and stable angina are scarce. STUDY DESIGN: Decision analysis. SETTING &
      POPULATION: Hypothetical cohort of individuals with advanced CKD (stages 4-5 with
      estimated glomerular filtration rates <= 20mL/min/1.73m2) and stable angina.
      MODEL, PERSPECTIVE, & TIMELINE: A Markov model with a Monte Carlo simulation
      through 12 cycles, that is, 3 years of 3-month intervals, with 10,000
      microsimulations predicted mean quality-adjusted life-years. INTERVENTION: PCI
      first, medical management, or dialysis (hemodialysis [HD]) followed by PCI.
      OUTCOMES: Outcomes modeled were progression to HD therapy (for those not assigned
      to the preemptive HD strategy), catheter infection, and death. RESULTS: Our
      analysis showed mean quality-adjusted life-years of 1.103 +/- 0.69 for PCI first,
      1.088+/-0.70 for medical management, and 0.670+/-0.58 for HD followed by PCI.
      Probabilistic sensitivity analysis found PCI as the preferred strategy > 60% of
      the time. LIMITATIONS: Values for probabilities and utilities were estimated
      and/or derived from multiple sources that were not uniform in their populations
      in terms of age, comorbid condition burden, and degree of kidney failure, and
      several simplifying assumptions were made. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates
      that quality-adjusted life expectancy is similar for the PCI first and medical
      management strategies in patients with advanced CKD with stable angina and that
      the decision depends on patient preferences other than those incorporated in our
      model. Both strategies are superior to preemptive dialysis.

PMID- 27646426
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646425
TI  - C-Reactive Protein and Risk of ESRD: Results From the Trial to Reduce
      Cardiovascular Events With Aranesp Therapy (TREAT).
AB  - BACKGROUND: To better understand a potential association of elevated C-reactive
      protein (CRP) level with progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), we examined
      the relationship of CRP level with the development of end-stage renal disease
      (ESRD) in the Trial to Reduce Cardiovascular Events With Aranesp Therapy (TREAT).
      STUDY DESIGN: Post hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial. SETTING &
      PARTICIPANTS: 4,038 patients with type 2 diabetes, CKD, and anemia in TREAT.
      PREDICTOR: Baseline serum CRP concentrations. OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was
      development of ESRD; secondary outcomes included doubling of serum creatinine
      level, a composite of ESRD/serum creatinine doubling, and a composite of death or
      ESRD. MEASUREMENTS: We fit unadjusted and adjusted Cox regression models to test
      the association of baseline CRP level with time to the development of the
      outcomes of interest. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 67 years, 43% were
      men, and 64% were white. Approximately half (48%) the patients had CRP levels >
      3.0mg/L; 668 patients developed ESRD, and 1,270 developed the composite outcome
      of death or ESRD. Compared with patients with baseline CRP levels <= 3.0mg/L,
      those with moderately/markedly elevated CRP levels (>=6.9mg/L; 24% of patients)
      had a higher adjusted risk for ESRD (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.07-1.63) and the
      composite outcome of death or ESRD (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.21-1.64). Although
      nonsignificant, similar trends were noted in competing-risk models. LIMITATIONS:
      Results may not be generalizable to nondiabetic CKD or diabetic CKD in the
      absence of anemia. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated baseline CRP levels are common in type 2
      diabetic patients with anemia and CKD and are associated with the future
      development of ESRD and the composite of death or ESRD.

PMID- 27646427
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646428
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646429
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646430
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646431
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646432
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646433
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27646435
TI  - miR-124a and miR-155 enhance differentiation of regulatory T cells in patients
      with neuropathic pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates that neuropathic pain is a neuro
      immune disorder with enhanced activation of the immune system. Recent data
      provided proof that neuropathic pain patients exhibit increased numbers of
      immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs), which may represent an endogenous
      attempt to limit inflammation and to reduce pain levels. We here investigate the
      molecular mechanisms underlying these alterations. METHODS: Our experimental
      approach includes functional analyses of primary human T cells, 3'-UTR reporter
      assays, and expression analyses of neuropathic pain patients' samples. RESULTS:
      We demonstrate that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the differentiation of
      Tregs in neuropathic pain. We identify miR-124a and miR-155 as direct repressors
      of the histone deacetylase sirtuin1 (SIRT1) in primary human CD4(+) cells.
      Targeting of SIRT1 by either specific siRNA or by these two miRNAs results in an
      increase of Foxp3 expression and, consecutively, of anti-inflammatory Tregs
      (siRNA: 1.7 +/- 0.4; miR-124a: 1.5 +/- 0.4; miR-155: 1.6 +/- 0.4; p < 0.01). As
      compared to healthy volunteers, neuropathic pain patients exhibited an increased
      expression of miR-124a (2.5 +/- 0.7, p < 0.05) and miR-155 (1.3 +/- 0.3; p <
      0.05) as well as a reduced expression of SIRT1 (0.5 +/- 0.2; p < 0.01). Moreover,
      the expression of these two miRNAs was inversely correlated with SIRT1 transcript
      levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that in neuropathic pain, enhanced
      targeting of SIRT1 by miR-124a and miR-155 induces a bias of CD4(+) T cell
      differentiation towards Tregs, thereby limiting pain-evoking inflammation.
      Deciphering miRNA-target interactions that influence inflammatory pathways in
      neuropathic pain may contribute to the discovery of new roads towards pain
      amelioration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trial Register DRKS00005954.

PMID- 27646439
TI  - Protein kinase R(PKR)-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) inhibitors: a
      patent review (2010-2015).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) is an essential
      component of the unfolded protein response (UPR) and a critical regulator of
      protein synthesis during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Transient PERK
      activation is protective; however, chronic ER stress and sustained PERK
      activation can be detrimental to cell health. Many diseases are associated with
      PERK over-activation, suggestive that small molecule PERK inhibitors may provide
      new opportunities for treating cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, among
      others. Areas covered: This review covers the therapeutic potential of PERK
      modulation and will focus more specifically on small molecule inhibitors of PERK
      disclosed in the patent literature from 2010-2015. During this time period the
      first PERK inhibitor patents appeared disclosing novel, potent, and selective
      inhibitors of PERK. Expert opinion: Compelling preclinical and clinical evidence
      supports the potential use of PERK modulators for a variety of diseases,
      particularly cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Potent and selective PERK
      inhibitors have been characterized pharmacologically and are available for
      further study. Despite high therapeutic potential, the future clinical use of
      PERK inhibitors will require thorough safety and toxicity evaluation to gauge
      therapeutic index and develop a framework for risk-benefit assessment.

PMID- 27646440
TI  - Long-term survival after aggressive treatment of relapsed serosal or distant
      pseudomyxoma peritonei.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Complete cytoreductive surgery (CCRS) and hyperthermic
      intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) have dramatically changed the prognosis of
      patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). However, recurrences can still occur
      and no consensus has been reached regarding their optimal treatments. This study
      aimed to analyze the patterns of recurrence after CCRS plus HIPEC for PMP and
      potential subsequent treatments of these lesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between
      1992 and 2014, patients who had relapsed after treatment of PMP were selected
      from a prospective database of 251 patients who had undergone CCRS plus HIPEC
      with a curative intent. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 85 months, 66
      patients (26%) had relapsed with a median free interval of 25 months. The first
      recurrence was mostly located in the peritoneum, isolated in 50 patients (76%)
      and associated with extraperitoneal disease in 6 patients. Curatively intended
      treatment of the relapse, combining surgery and chemotherapy was achievable in
      76% of the patients, leading to a 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of 83% from
      the date of treatment of the first recurrence. In contrast, the 5-year OS rate
      was only 27% (p < 0.001) for patients treated with non-curative therapy. An
      isolated peritoneal recurrence was predictive of greater amenability to curative
      therapy and a better prognosis. CONCLUSION: After CCRS plus HIPEC, serosal
      recurrences were more common than their distant counterparts. Distant relapses'
      emergence has raised the question of their optimal treatments. Very long-term
      survival can be obtained after further treatment of recurrent PMP for patients
      with limited disease and good general status.

PMID- 27646437
TI  - Involvement of L-selectin expression in Burkholderia pseudomallei-infected
      monocytes invading the brain during murine melioidosis.
AB  - The development of neurologic melioidosis was linked to the elicitation of
      Burkholderia pseudomallei-infected L-selectinhiCD11b+ BALB/c cells in our
      previous study. However, whether monocytic L-selectin (CD62L, encoded by the sell
      gene) is a key factor remains uncertain. In the present study, after establishing
      multi-organ foci via hematogenous routes, we demonstrated that B. pseudomallei
      GFP steadily persisted in blood, splenic, hepatic and bone marrow (BM) Ly6C
      monocytes; however, the circulating CD16/32+CD45hiGFP+ brain-infiltrating
      leukocytes (BILs) derived from the blood Ly6C monocytes were expanded in BALB/c
      but not in C57BL/6 bacteremic melioidosis. Consistent with these results, 60% of
      BALB/c mice but only 10% of C57BL/6 mice exhibited neurologic melioidosis. In a
      time-dependent manner, B. pseudomallei invaded C57BL/6 BM-derived phagocytes and
      monocytic progenitors by 2 d. The number of Ly6C+CD62L+GFP+ inflamed cells that
      had expanded in the BM and that were ready for emigration peaked on d 21 post
      infection. Hematogenous B. pseudomallei-loaded sell+/+Ly6C monocytes exacerbated
      the bacterial loads and the proportion of Ly6C+GFP+ BILs in the recipient brains
      compared to sell-/- infected Ly6C cells when adoptively transferred. Moreover, a
      neutralizing anti-CD62L antibody significantly depleted the bacterial
      colonization of the brain following adoptive transfer of B. pseudomallei-loaded
      C57BL/6 or BALB/c Ly6C cells. Our data thus suggest that Ly6C+CD62L+ infected
      monocytes served as a Trojan horse across the cerebral endothelium to induce
      brain infection. Therefore, CD62L should be considered as not only a temporally
      elicited antigen but also a disease-relevant leukocyte marker during the
      development of neurologic melioidosis.

PMID- 27646442
TI  - The effect of phytogenic feed additives to substitute in-feed antibiotics on
      growth traits and blood biochemical parameters in broiler chicks challenged with
      Salmonella typhimurium.
AB  - There is a growing concern over the use of antibiotics due to the increased
      resistance of pathogens in broiler. The present study was designed to find the
      comparative effect of an antibiotic, and some phytogenic on performance traits,
      blood biochemical parameters, and antioxidant status during starter phase exposed
      to Salmonella typhimurium challenge. A total of 560-day-old broiler chicks (Ross
      308) were randomly allocated to seven treatments (eight replicates). Control
      (basal diet); T1, infected with Salmonella enterica subsp. typhimurium; T2,
      infected + avilamycin at the rate of 0.2 g/kg; T3, infected + essential oil of
      thymol; T4, infected + phytogenic; T5, infected + anti-Salmonella organic acid;
      and T6, infected + essential oils of thyme, anise, and other components. Body
      weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P < 0.05) high in
      the T2 and T5 at the end of the first and the second week and similar to T4.
      During the second week, European production efficiency factor (EPEF) was also
      significantly (P < 0.05) high in T2, T4 and T5. Blood albumin increased
      significantly (P < 0.05) in birds of T2 in the first week, while during the
      second week, blood glucose and triglyceride concentration decreased significantly
      (P < 0.05) in T5. Blood ALT concentration decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in
      T6 compared to other treatments in the second week. Total antioxidant capacity
      (at the end of the second week) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
      (TBARS) did not change significantly. From the results of the present study, it
      was concluded that different feed additives could be substituted with antibiotics
      in the feed of broiler exposed to S. typhimurium challenge.

PMID- 27646444
TI  - Hydrological controls on cascade reservoirs regulating phosphorus retention and
      downriver fluxes.
AB  - Many coastal rivers have a system of cascade reservoirs, but the role of these
      reservoirs in regulating nutrient transport from watershed to coast is still
      unknown. In this study, phosphorus (P) in surface water and top sediment was
      investigated along the North Jiulong River (southeast China) under three
      hydrological conditions (high flow, medium flow and low flow) in 2012-2013, and P
      dynamics in a cascade reservoir (Xipi Reservoir) were studied on a monthly scale.
      Results showed that the concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP)
      consistently decreased longitudinally in the upper river with the lowest values
      observed in the section of cascade reservoirs, likely due to tributary inputs and
      in situ uptakes. The decrease was most rapid during base flow when DRP was
      highest in the free-flowing river section and lowest in cascade reservoirs.
      Results from monthly monitoring on the Xipi Reservoir showed general downriver
      decreases in DRP, total particulate phosphorus (TPP) and total phosphorus (TP) in
      the riverine zone and transition zone. Mass balance results on an annual basis
      suggest that the Xipi Reservoir (lacustrine zone) was an overall sink for TPP (6
      % retention) but somewhat a source of DRP (-0.3 %) with TP retention (1 %). Even
      scaled up to the whole cascade reservoir system, P retention was low compared
      with worldwide reservoirs, which we ascribe to the high P loading and short
      hydraulic residence time. Nevertheless, major processes controlling P retention
      in coastal rivers with cascade reservoirs varied from sedimentation in the dry
      cold season to biotic transformation in the wet-warm season, thereby affecting
      loading and composition of P from watershed to the coast. This study highlights
      the hydrological controls on the role of cascade reservoirs in regulating P
      retention and downriver fluxes in different seasons.

PMID- 27646443
TI  - Oxidative stress responses in Wistar rats on subacute exposure to pharmaceutical
      wastewater.
AB  - Water pollution has been a major concern for agrarian societies like Pakistan.
      Pharmaceutical industries are amongst the foremost contributor to industrial
      waste. Present study addresses the generation of oxidative stress caused by 2
      months exposure to pharmaceutical wastewater in rats and their response to oral
      treatment with vitamin E, a potent antioxidant. The rats were randomized into
      five groups (n = 5) named as negative control, pharmaceutical wastewater (PEW)
      100 %, PEW 10 %, PEW 1 %, and PEW 100 % + vitamin E. Oxidative damage in rats was
      evaluated by estimation of the activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD),
      catalase (CAT), and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the liver,
      kidney, and blood/plasma. Exposure to pharmaceutical wastewater significantly
      decreased the activities of T-SOD and CAT and concentration of H2O2 in the liver
      and kidney and blood/plasma. Exposure to 100 % pharmaceutical wastewater
      exhibited a maximum decline in T-SOD activity, and activity was reduced to only
      63.57 U/mL, 32.65, and 43.57 U/mg of protein in the plasma, kidney, and liver,
      respectively. Exposure to wastewater minimized activity CAT to 89.25 U/g of
      hemoglobin, 54.36, and 62.95 U/mg of protein in the blood, kidney, and liver,
      respectively. Treatment with vitamin E significantly increased the activity of T
      SOD and CAT. However, increase in concentration of H2O2 was also observed in
      vitamin E exposed rats. Histopathology of the kidney revealed coagulative
      necrosis of renal epithelial cells and peritubular congestion. Endocardium showed
      infiltration of inflammatory cells and cellular breakdown in some areas. Lung
      sections exhibited atelectasis and emphysema of alveoli suggesting decline in
      lung function. The anatomy of the liver was also compromised due to severe
      degeneration and cellular swelling. The present study concluded that
      pharmaceutical wastewater induced severe oxidative stress in Wistar rats and
      ensued in histopathological lesions in several vital organs suggesting its high
      toxicity. Non-enzymatic antioxidant vitamin E may ameliorate oxidative stress
      induced by pharmaceutical wastewater.

PMID- 27646445
TI  - Photocatalytic degradation of NO/NO2 gas injected into a 10-m3 experimental
      chamber.
AB  - This paper investigates a new test method to assess the photocatalytic activity
      of plasterboards coated with a TiO2 dispersion under real-world conditions. The
      degradation of nitrogen oxides NO x (NO and NO2) is studied and the
      photocatalytic efficiency under UV illumination is evaluated in a 10-m3 room
      after a constant gas injection. Two ultrafine TiO2 dispersions are used: 0.85%
      TiO2 and 5% TiO2, and three types of gas are tested: an NO/NO2 mixture (8/8 mol
      ppm), NO (45 mol-ppm) and NO2 (45 mol-ppm). The test method presented here is
      midway between laboratory and real-scale procedures and allows better control of
      the experimental parameters than a real field experiment. Testing a mixture of NO
      and NO2 is a way to get closer to real-world conditions as air is polluted by
      various gases. This study focuses on the degradation of NO and NO2 under UV
      illumination when two types of TiO2 dispersions are used and highlights the
      difference in behaviour between these two molecules in terms of photocatalytic
      degradation. The results show that photocatalytic activity does not appear to be
      efficient to degrade NO2 molecules. Another mechanism seems to be responsible for
      the reduction of the concentration of NO2, namely adsorption. Encouraging results
      are obtained with NO molecules, which can be degraded by photocatalysis. The
      degradation observed is even greater with the more concentrated TiO2 dispersion.

PMID- 27646446
TI  - Quantifying PM2.5 capture capability of greening trees based on leaf factors
      analyzing.
AB  - As PM2.5 affect human health, it is important to target tree planting in the role
      of reducing air pollution concentrations. PM2.5 capture capability of greening
      trees is associated with leaf morphology, while quantitative research is scanty.
      In this paper, the PM2.5 capture capability of 25 species in Beijing and
      Chongqing were examined by a chamber device. Groove proportion, leaf hair,
      stomatal density, and stomata size were selected as indexes of leaf morphology.
      Results showed that groove proportion and stomata size significantly relate to
      PM2.5 capture quantity, while no significantly positive correlations were found
      for leaf hairs and stomatal density. Broadleaf species are conducive to PM2.5
      capture for their rich leaf morphology and have an edge over coniferous in PM2.5
      capture per leaf area. However, coniferous had a larger PM2.5 capture capability
      per tree due to the advantage of a large leaf area. Significant difference
      existed between the species in Beijing and Chongqing due to the different leaf
      morphology. Urban greening trees are diverse and the structures are complicated.
      Complex ecological environment may lead to different morphology characteristics.
      Climate and pollution conditions should be considered when greening.

PMID- 27646447
TI  - Tourism in Austria: biodiversity, environmental sustainability, and growth
      issues.
AB  - This study examined the long-run and causal relationships between international
      tourism, biodiversity loss, environmental sustainability, and specific growth
      factors under the premises of sustainable tourism in Austria, by using a
      consistent time series data from 1975 to 2015. The results reveal that inbound
      tourism, per capita income, and population density affected the potential habitat
      area while population density largely affected the food production in a country.
      Inbound tourism and population density both deteriorate the environmental quality
      in a form of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fossil fuel energy
      consumption while per capita income reduces the fossil fuel energy consumption.
      Food exports increase per capita income, while food imports and population
      density both decrease economic growth. Inbound tourism and economic growth
      advance population density while forest area and food exports decrease the
      population density. The study supports growth-led tourism and growth-led food
      production in a country.

PMID- 27646448
TI  - Aging of solidified/stabilized electrolytic manganese solid waste with
      accelerated carbonation and aging inhibition.
AB  - High concentrations of soluble Mn in electrolytic manganese solid waste (EMSW) in
      soil cause the severe contamination in China. Calcium oxide and magnesium oxide
      dominated stabilizers are suitable for the solidification/stabilization (s/s) of
      EMSW. However, the long-term performance of s/s using those two types of
      stabilizer is problematic. The aim of this study was to develop an accelerated
      aging method to simulate the long-term natural carbonation of
      solidified/stabilized EMSW. The joint use of accelerated carbonation, leaching
      test, mineralogical analysis, and microstructural observation was applied to
      assess the long-term performance of the s/s EMSW system. On an accelerated
      carbonation test for solidified/stabilized EMSW, an increase in Mn leaching from
      13.6 to 408 mg/kg and a 1.5-2.3 decrease in pH was achieved by using CaO
      dominated stabilizers, while an increase in manganese (Mn) from 30 to 266 mg/kg
      and a decrease in pH of 0.17-0.68 was seen using MgO-dominated stabilizers.
      CaO+Na3PO4 and CaO+CaCO3 were exceptions in that the leaching value of soluble Mn
      was lower after carbonation. Mineralogical analysis showed that rhodochrosite in
      the carbonated s/s system was generated not only from the reduction of
      hausmannite but also from the reversible reaction between Mn(OH)2 and MnCO3.
      Carbonation destroyed the tight particle structure resulting in a porous and
      loose structure. As for s/s EMSW treated by MgO-dominated stabilizers,
      carbonation affected the agglomerating structure and mineralogical composition by
      increasing magnesium (Mg) migration, thereby forming hydromagnesite that had weak
      binding ability and a nested porous shape. Therefore, carbonation by itself does
      not cause deterioration to s/s products of the soluble Mn but does have
      significant effects on the microstructure and mineralogical composition. It is
      recommended to add Na3PO4 or CaCO3 into a single CaO stabilized EMSW system to
      prevent aging of the system, allow formation of Mn phosphate precipitates, and
      improve the absorption and oxidation of soluble Mn(II).

PMID- 27646449
TI  - Effects of root morphology and leaf transpiration on Cd uptake and translocation
      in rice under different growth temperature.
AB  - With growing concerns on cadmium (Cd) contamination of rice grain from the
      public, the mechanism about the uptake and translocation of Cd in rice plant has
      been widely studied in recent years. However, the study about the effects of
      future warming on rice Cd accumulation was almost neglected. In the paper,
      hydroponic experiments of Cd exposure in growth chambers under different growth
      temperature (asymmetric and symmetric warming) were conducted to investigate how
      warming influenced Cd uptake and translocation in rice seedlings (6 liangyou
      9368). The results showed that warming significantly increased Cd accumulation in
      shoot and root by 62.7 to 122 % and 65.5 to 73.9 %, respectively. Moreover,
      symmetric warming boosted Cd translocation from root to shoot, while
      antitranspirant treatment inhibited it significantly. The possible mechanisms may
      be that warming increased the fine root (diameter <= 0.5 mm) surface area and
      enlarged the active sites on root surface by influencing root morphology growth,
      thus promoted Cd uptake by root. Meanwhile, warming increased leaf transpiration
      and boosted the xylem stream from nutrient solution to above organs, thus
      enhanced Cd translocation. This study may provide new understanding and possible
      explanations about Cd uptake and translocation in rice plant under future
      warming.

PMID- 27646450
TI  - Comparative mathematical modelling of a green approach for bioaccumulation of
      cobalt from wastewater.
AB  - Cobalt is an essential element, but its wide use in industry generates important
      environmental and biological problems. The present study explores theoretical and
      empirical models of a green process for cobalt {Co2+} bioaccumulation from
      aqueous solutions. Two Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis species, strains CECT 4522
      and LMM (the latter a former laboratory isolate from wastewater samples, which
      was phylogenetically characterized for the present work), were selected among
      others as the best Co2+ accumulation systems. Mathematical models representing
      kinetic and steady-state conditions for discrete and large amounts of bacterial
      biomass were expanded. In this way, it was possible to theoretically calculate
      the amount of Co2+ retained on the outer cell wall layer and incorporated inside
      the cell at any time. Theoretical and empirical hyperbolic-type models were
      suitable to fit the experimental bioaccumulation data for discrete amounts of
      bacteria biomass. In addition, kinetic relationships between the amount of Co2+
      accumulated and the time before (or after) reaching steady state were established
      for large amounts of bacterial biomass. Other kinetic approaches were also
      satisfactorily tested. The two Gram-positive bacteria assayed are promising
      agents for developing heavy metal removal systems from industrial waste.

PMID- 27646451
TI  - Response of wine grape growth, development and the transfer of copper, lead, and
      cadmium in soil-fruit system to sludge compost amendment.
AB  - Sludge is an organic waste after domestic sewage being treated and contains
      phytonutrients and organic matter. In this study, recycling of sludge compost
      (SC) and its compound fertilizer (SCF) to wine grape resulted in improvement in
      vegetative growth, reproductive development of wine grape, and potential wine
      quality of grape fruit. The amounts of Cu, Pb, and Cd in grape fruit were
      significantly higher in response to sludge amendment than in the control, but
      were all below the permissible limits for agricultural product. The contents of
      Cu and Pb in sludge-amended soil decreased with increasing soil depth, but Cd
      content increased with soil depth. Ongoing monitoring of on mobility of Cd
      downward is proposed with sludge recycling to wine grape soil.

PMID- 27646452
TI  - Phosphorus partitioning in sediments from a tropical reservoir during a strong
      period of drought.
AB  - Monitoring phosphorus (P) concentration in water and sediments in the Castanhao
      reservoir, under intensive aquaculture, in Northeastern Brazil showed internal
      process to dominate P cycling following a reduction of reservoir volume due to an
      extended drought period. A strong negative correlation between soluble reactive
      phosphorus in surface waters (SRPs) with the reservoir volume results from
      diminishing dilution capacity; bottom water SRP showed no significant correlation
      with volume and imply SRP remobilization to surface layers. Total suspended
      solids (TSS) showed a significant correlation with chlorophyll-a, suggesting
      change primary productivity following SRP enrichment of surface waters and living
      cells dominating the TSS. As a result, eutrophication, as established by a
      trophic state index, was triggered in the reservoir probably enforced by
      intensive fish farming effluents, whose nutrients accumulated in bottom waters
      and which became available due to breaking of the thermocline. Since low rainfall
      periods are typical of the semiarid region and tend to be more frequent and
      stronger due to climate change, multiple use of reservoirs in NE Brazil should be
      reevaluated.

PMID- 27646457
TI  - Comparison of Different Post-Processing Algorithms for Dynamic Susceptibility
      Contrast Perfusion Imaging of Cerebral Gliomas.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to compare different software
      algorithms for processing DSC perfusion images of cerebral tumors with respect to
      i) the relative CBV (rCBV) calculated, ii) the cutoff value for discriminating
      low- and high-grade gliomas, and iii) the diagnostic performance for
      differentiating these tumors. METHODS: Following approval of institutional review
      board, informed consent was obtained from all patients. Thirty-five patients with
      primary glioma (grade II, 9; grade III, 8; and grade IV, 18 patients) were
      included. DSC perfusion imaging was performed with 3-Tesla MRI scanner. CBV maps
      were generated by using 11 different algorithms of four commercially available
      software and one academic program. rCBV of each tumor compared to normal white
      matter was calculated by ROI measurements. Differences in rCBV value were
      compared between algorithms for each tumor grade. Receiver operator
      characteristics analysis was conducted for the evaluation of diagnostic
      performance of different algorithms for differentiating between different grades.
      RESULTS: Several algorithms showed significant differences in rCBV, especially
      for grade IV tumors. When differentiating between low- (II) and high-grade
      (III/IV) tumors, the area under the ROC curve (Az) was similar (range 0.85-0.87),
      and there were no significant differences in Az between any pair of algorithms.
      In contrast, the optimal cutoff values varied between algorithms (range 4.18
      6.53). CONCLUSIONS: rCBV values of tumor and cutoff values for discriminating low
      and high-grade gliomas differed between software packages, suggesting that
      optimal software-specific cutoff values should be used for diagnosis of high
      grade gliomas.

PMID- 27646458
TI  - Combined Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Epicardial and Endocardial Late
      Potential Ablation for Treatment of Brugada Storm: A Case Report and Review of
      the Literature.
AB  - A 34-year-old man with Brugada syndrome (BrS) presented with electrical storm,
      manifested as multiple appropriate shocks from his implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator over a period of 7 hours. He had not tolerated prior treatment with
      quinidine, and had self-discontinued cilostazol citing persistent palpitations.
      After stabilization with intravenous isoproterenol, an electrophysiology study
      was performed but no spontaneous or induced ventricular ectopic beats were
      identified. A three-dimensional (3D) endocardial electro-anatomic map of the
      right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), pulmonic valve, and pulmonary artery, as
      well as a 3D epicardial map of the RVOT, were created. Low voltage, complex,
      fractionated electrograms and late potentials were targeted for irrigated
      radiofrequency ablation both endocardially and epicardially. Post-procedure, he
      was maintained on cilostazol (referring clinician preference), and has had no
      further ventricular tachyarrhythmia episodes over the past forty-one months. We
      propose that this novel ablation strategy may be useful for acute management of
      selected patients with BrS.

PMID- 27646453
TI  - Effects of salinity on simultaneous reduction of perchlorate and nitrate in a
      methane-based membrane biofilm reactor.
AB  - This study builds upon prior work showing that methane (CH4) could be utilized as
      the sole electron donor and carbon source in a membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR)
      for complete perchlorate (ClO4-) and nitrate (NO3-) removal. Here, we further
      investigated the effects of salinity on the simultaneous removal of the two
      contaminants in the reactor. By testing ClO4- and NO3- at different salinities,
      we found that the reactor performance was very sensitive to salinity. While 0.2 %
      salinity did not significantly affect the hydrogen-based MBfR for ClO4- and NO3-
      removals, 1 % salinity completely inhibited ClO4- reduction and significantly
      lowered NO3- reduction in the CH4-based MBfR. In salinity-free conditions, NO3-
      and ClO4- removal fluxes were 0.171 g N/m2-day and 0.091 g/m2-day, respectively,
      but NO3- removal fluxes dropped to 0.0085 g N/m2-day and ClO4- reduction was
      completely inhibited when the medium changed to 1 % salinity. Scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM) showed that the salinity dramatically changed the microbial
      morphology, which led to the development of wire-like cell structures.
      Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) indicated that the total number of
      microorganisms and abundances of functional genes significantly declined in the
      presence of NaCl. The relative abundances of Methylomonas (methanogens) decreased
      from 31.3 to 5.9 % and Denitratisoma (denitrifiers) decreased from 10.6 to 4.4 %
      when 1 % salinity was introduced.

PMID- 27646459
TI  - Social Workers' Perceived Role Clarity as Members of an Interdisciplinary Team in
      Brain Injury Settings.
AB  - This study investigated social workers' role clarity as members of an
      interdisciplinary team in traumatic and acquired brain injury treatment settings.
      A total of 37 social workers from 7 Western countries completed an anonymous
      online survey questionnaire. The majority of participants have more than 10 years
      of experience working in brain injury treatment settings (59.5%), and about 54%
      have been in their current employment for more than 10 years. Findings revealed
      that there were significant positive correlations between perceived respect, team
      collaboration, and perceived value of self for team with role clarity. Multiple
      regression analysis revealed that perceived value of self for team was a
      significant predictor of role clarity (p < .05).

PMID- 27646460
TI  - Forensic clinical anatomy: A new field of study with application to medicolegal
      issues.
AB  - Forensic clinical anatomy is a new practical application of the discipline of
      Clinical Anatomy for ascertaining and evaluating medicolegal questions. In
      particular, individual anatomy (normal anatomy, anatomical variations, age-,
      disease-, or surgery-related modifications) can acquire significant relevance in
      various fields of legal medicine such as child abuse, sudden death, medical
      responsibility and/or liability, personal injury and damage. Anatomical data of
      forensic interest frequently arise from the correct application of methods of
      ascertainment; anatomical methods may then be required for further comprehensive
      analysis. The rigorous interpretation of anatomical data, derived from the
      ascertainment phase and analyzed on the basis of pertinent literature, can be
      pivotal for the correct application of evaluation criteria in various forensic
      contexts. Clin. Anat. 30:2-5, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27646461
TI  - Novel high-throughput and widely-targeted liquid chromatography-time of flight
      mass spectrometry method for d-amino acids in foods.
AB  - Recently, the demand for d-amino acid profiling has been drastically increasing
      because the significance of d-amino acid in various biological events is
      suggested. However, the present methodologies for d-amino acid profiling are
      still unsatisfactory. Therefore, a highly sensitive, robust, high-throughput, and
      user-friendly method for d-amino acid profiling must be developed. In this paper,
      we developed a novel method for d-amino acid profiling using a combination of a
      chiral column and time of flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS). To our knowledge, our
      approach has the best performance for d-amino acid analysis that includes the
      shortest analytical time (within 10 min), the highest enantioseparability without
      derivatization, and the largest coverage for analytical targets (more than one
      hundred targets including non-proteinogenic amino acids and amines). Thus, our
      novel profiling method will be instrumental in advancing the d-amino acid
      research in the future.

PMID- 27646462
TI  - The Depression Prevention Initiative: Impact on Adolescent Internalizing and
      Externalizing Symptoms in a Randomized Trial.
AB  - This randomized controlled trial examined the longitudinal effects of two school
      based indicated depression prevention programs on adolescents' internalizing and
      externalizing symptoms, as measured by adolescents, their parents, and their
      teachers. One hundred eighty-six adolescents participated in this study. The
      average age was 14.01 (SD = 1.22) years, and the sample was 66.7% female. One
      third of the sample belonged to a racial minority. Youth received either
      Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training or group counseling.
      Symptoms were assessed using adolescent, parent, and teacher reports on the
      Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment at baseline, postintervention,
      and 6-month follow-up. Adolescents reported the most robust effects in favor of
      Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training. Adolescents in
      Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training reported significantly
      greater reductions in internalizing symptoms through the 6-month follow-up and
      significantly greater reductions in externalizing symptoms during the
      intervention as compared to group counseling. Less robust effects were found when
      examining parent and teacher reports, although there was evidence of significant
      within-group change in parent- and teacher-reported internalizing symptoms for
      both interventions and significant between-group differences in teacher-reported
      externalizing symptoms. This study provides additional evidence supporting the
      efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training as a
      depression prevention program for adolescents. Interpersonal Psychotherapy
      Adolescent Skills Training appears to have fast-acting effects on broadband
      internalizing and externalizing symptoms as reported by adolescents. This
      suggests that Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training may serve as
      a transdiagnostic preventive intervention. Moreover, given the disparate reports
      of adolescents, parents, and teachers, this study demonstrates the significance
      of collecting information from multiple sources when possible.

PMID- 27646469
TI  - Adenovirus-mediated expression of orphan nuclear receptor NR4A2 targeting hepatic
      stellate cell attenuates liver fibrosis in rats.
AB  - Liver fibrosis is a wound-healing response characterized with the accumulation of
      extracellular matrix (ECM). And hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the principal
      cell source of ECM. NR4A2 (Nurr1) is a member of orphan nuclear receptor NR4A
      family and acts as transcription factor. It participates in regulating cell
      differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. We previously demonstrated that
      NR4A2 expression in fibrotic liver reduced significantly compared with normal
      liver and NR4A2 knockout in HSCs promoted ECM production. In the present study we
      explored the role of NR4A2 on liver fibrosis. Studies in cultured HSCs
      demonstrated that NR4A2 over-expression suppressed the activation of HSCs, such
      as ECM production and invasion ability. Moreover cell cycle was arrested, cell
      apoptosis was promoted and cell signaling pathway was influenced. Adenovirus
      mediated delivery of NR4A2 in rats ameliorated significantly dimethylnitrosamine
      (DMN) induced liver fibrosis. The In vivo experiments produced results consistent
      with in vitro experiments. Taken together these results demonstrate NR4A2
      enhancement attenuates liver fibrosis via suppressing the activation of HSCs and
      NR4A2 may be an ideal target for anti-fibrotic therapy.

PMID- 27646467
TI  - Hypermetabolism in B-lymphocytes from malignant hyperthermia susceptible
      individuals.
AB  - Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a pharmacogenetic disorder of skeletal muscle
      metabolism which is characterized by generalized muscle rigidity, increased body
      temperature, rhabdomyolysis, and severe metabolic acidosis. The underlying
      mechanism of MH involves excessive Ca(2+) release in myotubes via the ryanodine
      receptor type 1 (RyR1). As RyR1 is also expressed in B-lymphocytes, this study
      investigated whether cellular metabolism of native B-lymphocytes was also altered
      in MH susceptible (MHS) individuals. A potent activator of RyR1, 4-chloro-m
      cresol (4-CmC) was used to challenge native B-lymphocytes in a real-time,
      metabolic assay based on a pH-sensitive silicon biosensor chip. At the cellular
      level, a dose-dependent, phasic acidification occurred with 4-CmC. The
      acidification rate, an indicator of metabolic activation, was significantly
      higher in B-lymphocytes from MHS patients and required 3 to 5 fold lower
      concentrations of 4-CmC to evoke similar acidification rates to MHN. Native B
      lymphocytes from MHS individuals are more sensitive to 4-CmC than those from MHN,
      reflecting a greater Ca(2+) turnover. The acidification response, however, was
      less pronounced than in muscle cells, presumably reflecting the lower expression
      of RyR1 in B-lymphocytes.

PMID- 27646472
TI  - Activation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels enhances DMT1-mediated iron uptake
      in SK-N-SH cells in vitro.
AB  - Iron importer divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) plays a crucial role in the
      nigal iron accumulation in Parkinson's disease (PD). Membrane hyperpolarization
      is one of the factors that could affect its iron transport function. Besides
      iron, selective activation of the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels also
      contributes to the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in PD. Interestingly,
      activation of KATP channels could induce membrane hyperpolarization. Therefore,
      it is of vital importance to study the effects of activation of KATP channels on
      DMT1-mediated iron uptake function. In the present study, activation of KATP
      channels by diazoxide resulted in the hyperpolarization of the membrane potential
      and increased DMT1-mediated iron uptake in SK-N-SH cells. This led to an increase
      in intracellular iron levels and a subsequent decrease in the mitochondrial
      membrane potential and an increase in ROS production. Delayed inactivation of the
      Fe(2+)-evoked currents by diazoxide was recorded by patch clamp in HEK293 cells,
      which demonstrated that diazoxide could prolonged DMT1-facilitated iron
      transport. While inhibition of KATP channels by glibenclamide could block ferrous
      iron influx and the subsequent cell damage. Overexpression of Kir6.2/SUR1
      resulted in an increase in iron influx and intracellular iron levels, which was
      markedly increased after diazoxide treatment.

PMID- 27646474
TI  - iRGD-mediated core-shell nanoparticles loading carmustine and O6-benzylguanine
      for glioma therapy.
AB  - iRGD (internalizing RGD) with high affinity to alphanu integrins was reported to
      enhance tumor penetrability by binding to neuropilin-1 (NRP-1). Based on our
      previous study, chitosan surface-modified poly (lactide-co-glycolides)
      nanoparticles (PLGA/CS NPs), loaded with carmustine (BCNU) and its sensitizer (O6
      benzylguanine, BG) showed stronger anti-tumor effect than free drugs. In present
      study, PLGA/CS NPs (NPs) with core-shell structure were prepared and modified
      with iRGD or mPEG. F98, C6 or U87 cell lines with different receptors levels were
      selected for in vitro and in vivo studies. After administration of iRGD-mediated
      NPs, including iRGD-modified NPs (iRGD-NPs) and co-administration of iRGD and NPs
      (iRGD + NPs), their effects on glioma were compared with NPs. iRGD-NPs showed
      stronger cytotoxicity and cellular uptake than other groups. iRGD-NPs and iRGD +
      NPs displayed deeper tumor penetration and stronger anti-invasion effect on three
      dimensional (3D) glioma spheroids than NPs. On F98 glioma-bearing mice model,
      iRGD-mediated NPs showed enhanced crossing BBB ability and brain tumor
      accumulation levels. Correspondingly, the median survival time of iRGD + NPs,
      iRGD-NPs and NPs groups were 58, 49 and 34.5 days, respectively. Present studies
      supported the iRGD-mediated strategy to improve the efficacy of antitumor drug
      delivery system. Importantly, co-administration of iRGD may be a greater way over
      the conjugation of iRGD.

PMID- 27646473
TI  - Latent tuberculosis-related scleritis: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scleritis is a painful inflammatory process centered in the sclera
      that may involve the cornea and the underlying uvea. The etiology is commonly
      idiopathic or autoimmune but some cases are associated with systemic infection
      such as tuberculosis. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report, we describe an unusual
      case of a female Moroccan patient who had a long history of bilateral recurrent
      scleritis associated with peripheral keratopathy and anterior uveitis. The
      patient was diagnosed with latent tuberculosis and responded to antitubercular
      therapy administrated after exclusion of other aetiologies. This patient was
      finally diagnosed with latent tuberculosis- related scleritis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although systemic tuberculosis is reported as a possible cause of scleritis and
      other ocular inflammatory manifestations, assessment of the diagnosis of
      tuberculosis-related ocular inflammation is challenging especially in latent
      forms. The treatment is largely presumptive. However, a favorable response to
      antitubercular therapy without relapse is taken as evidence of the disease.

PMID- 27646475
TI  - Disaster-Related Community Resilience: A Concept Analysis and a Call to Action
      for Nurses.
AB  - A paucity of nursing literature is available on disaster-related community
      resilience. Using a nursing method for analyzing concepts, this article attempts
      to clarify the meaning of this novel concept to encourage nursing research and
      practice. This concept analysis provides an introduction to the phenomenon of
      disaster-related community resilience for nurses and consumers of nursing
      research. The article proposes the definition, antecedents, attributes,
      consequences, and empirical referents of disaster-related community resilience
      and provides suggestions for nursing research and practice. It also provides
      nurses a foundation for participating in resilience-building activities that may
      save lives and allow communities to recover more rapidly postdisaster.

PMID- 27646477
TI  - Editorial overview: Membranes.

PMID- 27646478
TI  - Editorial overview: Catalysis and regulation: enzyme structure, mechanism, and
      biosynthetic pathways.

PMID- 27646470
TI  - Understanding how long-acting beta2 -adrenoceptor agonists enhance the clinical
      efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma - an update.
AB  - In moderate-to-severe asthma, adding an inhaled long-acting beta2 -adenoceptor
      agonist (LABA) to an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) provides better disease control
      than simply increasing the dose of ICS. Acting on the glucocorticoid receptor
      (GR, gene NR3C1), ICSs promote anti-inflammatory/anti-asthma gene expression. In
      vitro, LABAs synergistically enhance the maximal expression of many
      glucocorticoid-induced genes. Other genes, including dual-specificity phosphatase
      1(DUSP1) in human airways smooth muscle (ASM) and epithelial cells, are up
      regulated additively by both drug classes. Synergy may also occur for LABA
      induced genes, as illustrated by the bronchoprotective gene, regulator of G
      protein signalling 2 (RGS2) in ASM. Such effects cannot be produced by either
      drug alone and may explain the therapeutic efficacy of ICS/LABA combination
      therapies. While the molecular basis of synergy remains unclear, mechanistic
      interpretations must accommodate gene-specific regulation. We explore the concept
      that each glucocorticoid-induced gene is an independent signal transducer
      optimally activated by a specific, ligand-directed, GR conformation. In addition
      to explaining partial agonism, this realization provides opportunities to
      identify novel GR ligands that exhibit gene expression bias. Translating this
      into improved therapeutic ratios requires consideration of GR density in target
      tissues and further understanding of gene function. Similarly, the ability of a
      LABA to interact with a glucocorticoid may be suboptimal due to low beta2 
      adrenoceptor density or biased beta2 -adrenoceptor signalling. Strategies to
      overcome these limitations include adding-on a phosphodiesterase inhibitor and
      using agonists of other Gs-coupled receptors. In all cases, the rational design
      of ICS/LABA, and derivative, combination therapies requires functional knowledge
      of induced (and repressed) genes for therapeutic benefit to be maximized.

PMID- 27646479
TI  - Moving toward a paradigm shift in the regulatory requirements for pediatric
      medicines.
AB  - : Over the past two decades, there has been growing concern over the lack of
      proper medication for children. This review attempts to evaluate the current
      progress of EU Pediatric Regulation made since 2007. The lack of properly
      evaluated pediatric medication has for long been a source of concern in the
      European Union. The drugs that were used in the past were often not properly
      evaluated, and dosage was arbitrarily calculated. Therefore, it was necessary to
      establish the Pediatric Regulation (EC no. 1901/2006) in the EU which would
      mandate research for pediatric drugs. Current legislations in place not only
      require mandatory research by pharma industry but also have guidelines to direct
      the quality of pediatric research performed. The main aim of this regulation was
      to advance high-quality research and development of pediatric drugs, thereby
      increasing the availability of safe and effective drugs for children. It also
      aimed to improve the information available on existing pediatric drugs. It has
      been 9 years since the pediatric regulation was framed. The pharma industry now
      sees pediatric research as an integral process of development. Drug companies
      which develop plans for a new drug, new form of drug, new indication, or new
      route of administration for adults are obliged to integrate in their development
      plan similar research for pediatric populations as well. CONCLUSION: It is hoped
      that the implementation of the current legislation will be reflected better in
      the future by the marketing of better and safer drugs for the pediatric
      population. The upcoming assessment to the European Commission in 2017 will
      further inform us on the impact after 10 years implementation of the legislation.
      What is Known: * The lack of properly evaluated pediatric medication has for long
      been a source of concern in the European Union. * Therefore, it was necessary to
      establish the EU Pediatric Regulation which would mandate research for pediatric
      drugs. What is New: * It has been 9 years since the pediatric regulation was
      framed, and the teething problems are slowly being overcome and the regulation is
      being used with increasing confidence. * As the Regulation is due for revision in
      2017, this paper gives a current perspective on the impact of the regulation on
      availability and access to medicine for children.

PMID- 27646480
TI  - Suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2) contributes to encephalitis in a model
      of Herpes infection in mice.
AB  - The most severe manifestation of Herpes Simplex Type 1 virus (HSV-1) infection is
      encephalitis characterized by arousal impairment and seizures that can evolve to
      coma and death. Previous studies reported the involvement of suppressor of
      cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins, specifically SOCS1 and SOCS3, in HSV-1
      infection, suggesting that other members of this family could be involved in the
      immune response against HSV-1. No previous study has reported the role of SOCS2
      in HSV-1 infection. In the current study, C57BL/6 wild-type mice (WT) and mice
      deficient in SOCS2 gene (SOCS2-/-) were subjected to intracranial inoculation
      with 102 plaque forming units (PFU) of HSV-1. Survival curve, neuroinflammatory
      parameters and neuropathology were evaluated. Infected SOCS2-/- mice had
      increased survival in comparison with infected WT animals. This better outcome
      was associated with reduced leukocyte infiltration, concentration of cytokines,
      and structural changes in the brain. SOCS2 seems to play a detrimental role in
      HSV-1 encephalitis. Moreover, the control of neuroinflammatory response in HSV-1
      infection was of paramount importance to clinical outcome.

PMID- 27646481
TI  - Cordycepin attenuates traumatic brain injury-induced impairments of blood-brain
      barrier integrity in rats.
AB  - Loss of blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity is a downstream event caused by
      traumatic brain injury (TBI). BBB integrity is affected by certain physiological
      conditions, including inflammation and oxidative stress. Cordycepin is a
      susbtance with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Therefore, it is
      necessary to investigate whether cordycepin affects TBI-induced impairments of
      BBB integrity. Using TBI rats as the in vivo model and applying multiple
      techniques, including stroke severity evaluation, Evans blue assessment,
      quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting and ELISA, we investigated the dose
      dependent protective effects of cordycepin on the TBI-induced impairments of BBB
      integrity. Cordycepin treatment attenuated the TBI-induced impairments in a dose
      dependent manner, and played a role in protecting BBB integrity. Cordycepin was
      able to alleviate TBI-induced loss of tight junction proteins zonula occludens
      protein-1 (ZO-1) and occludin, which are important for BBB integrity. Moreover,
      cordycepin suppressed pro-inflammatory factors, including IL-1beta, iNOS, MPO and
      MMP-9, and promoted anti-inflammation-associated factors arginase 1 and IL-10.
      Furthermore, cordycepin inhibited NADPH oxidase (NOX) expression and activity
      following TBI, probably through NOX1, but not NOX2 and NOX4. Cordycepin has
      protective effects against brain damages induced by TBI. The protection of
      cordycepin on BBB integrity was probably achieved through recovery of tight
      junction proteins, inhibition of local inflammation, and prevention of NOX
      activity.

PMID- 27646486
TI  - Factors affecting the ortho- and retronasal perception of flavors: A review.
AB  - Flavor perception is a highly individual sensation, and is impacted by a number
      of factors. Olfaction is a critical element in fully experiencing flavor. In this
      review, we explore the differences between orthonasal (sniff) versus retronasal
      (mouth) olfaction, and provide a comprehensive summary of recent publications in
      this arena. Here we explore the complexities of flavor perception, including the
      role that select flavors and media have on identification and localization. We
      also discuss some common neural imaging techniques used in this field, as
      odorants activate different neural responses in diverse areas of the brain, as
      well as the different stimulation patterns derived from perceiving food and
      nonfood related odorants. The information provided will be useful for sensory
      scientists and industry alike for the development of novel food and beverages
      that positively impact the consumer experience.

PMID- 27646482
TI  - Evidence that activation of nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      alpha (PPARalpha) modulates sleep homeostasis in rats.
AB  - The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a member of
      the nuclear receptor superfamily that has been suggested as a modulator of
      several physiological functions. The PPARalpha recognizes as an endogenous ligand
      the anorexic lipid mediator oleoylethanolamide (OEA) which displays wake-inducing
      properties. Despite that recent evidence indicates that activation of PPARalpha
      by synthetic agonists such as Wy14643 enhances waking as well as the
      extracellular contents of wake-related neurotransmitters, the role of PPARalpha
      in sleep recovery after prolonged waking has not been fully described. Thus, the
      aim of this study was to characterize if PPARalpha regulates sleep rebound after
      total sleep deprivation (TSD). We report that after 6h of TSD activation of
      PPARalpha by pharmacological systemic administration of OEA (10, 20 or 30mg/Kg,
      i.p.) promoted alertness by blocking the sleep rebound after TSD. Besides, wake
      linked compounds such as dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, or adenosine
      collected from nucleus accumbens were enhanced after TSD in OEA-treated animals.
      These sleep and neurochemical results were mimicked after injection of PPARalpha
      agonist Wy14643 (10, 20, 30mg/Kg, i.p.). However, similar findings from the sham
      of vehicle groups were observed if PPARalpha antagonist MK-886 was administered
      to rats (10, 20, 30mg/Kg, i.p.). Our results strengthened the hypothesis that
      PPARalpha might modulate sleep and neurochemical homeostasis after sleep
      deprivation.

PMID- 27646490
TI  - Mass-gathering Medicine: Risks and Patient Presentations at a 2-day Electronic
      Dance Music Event - Year Two.
AB  - Turris SA , Camporese M , Gutman SJ , Lund A . Mass-gathering medicine: risks and
      patient presentations at a 2-day electronic dance music event - year two. Prehosp
      Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):687-688.

PMID- 27646489
TI  - Bipolar disorder comorbidity in patients with a primary diagnosis of OCD.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bipolar disorder (BD) is considered to be a common comorbid condition
      in subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but there is limited
      literature on the prevalence of BD and its clinical correlates in those with a
      primary diagnosis of OCD. METHODS: We studied the prevalence of BD in a sample of
      consecutively registered outpatients attending a specialty OCD clinic in India
      over a period of 13 months. One hundred and seventy-one patients with a primary
      diagnosis of OCD were assessed systematically using structured and semi
      structured instruments. RESULTS: The prevalence of lifetime BD in OCD was 4%. The
      OCD + BD group had an episodic course of OCD and higher rate of lifetime suicide
      attempts. CONCLUSIONS: BD may not be as highly prevalent in OCD as reported in
      literature. Those with OCD seem to have only a marginally higher risk for
      developing BD than the general population. A diagnosis of BD seems to have a
      pathoplastic effect on the course of OCD. Patients with OCD-BD comorbidity have
      to be specifically assessed for suicide risk.

PMID- 27646491
TI  - Claire Douillard, Pascal Houillier, Juerg Nussberger and Xavier Girerd in
      response to the correspondence by Damien Denimal entitled: "Comments on French
      SFE/SFHTA/AFCE Consensus on Primary aldosteronism, Part 2: Diagnosis First
      steps". Ann Endocrinol 2016.

PMID- 27646492
TI  - Impact of maternal steroids during pregnancy.
AB  - Increased fetal exposure to glucocorticoids is a key mechanism thought to
      underlie the early life programming of later life disease. There is substantial
      experimental data in animal models in support of this hypothesis. Emerging
      evidence suggests glucocorticoid programming may also occur in humans with some
      studies now linking maternal endogenous cortisol levels with size at birth and
      gestation at delivery. The dramatic changes to the maternal hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal axis during pregnancy mean that large-scale studies in humans
      are challenging to conduct. One of the key regulators of fetal glucocorticoid
      exposure is the activity of placental "barrier" enzyme 11beta-hydroxysteroid
      dehydrogenase type 2 (HSD2) which converts active cortisol to inactive cortisone.
      In animal models, this enzyme is down-regulated by various influences including
      maternal malnutrition, inflammation or stress but it is not known whether this is
      a major factor in regulation of human fetal glucocorticoid exposure. More studies
      are needed to understand the mechanisms whereby altered fetal glucocorticoid
      exposure may alter fetal growth trajectories and whether changes in the maternal
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in pregnancy could be suitable as a biomarker
      to identify those pregnancies most at risk.

PMID- 27646493
TI  - Reasons for non-intensification of treatment in people with type 2 diabetes
      receiving oral monotherapy: Outcomes from the prospective DIAttitude study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the management of glucose-lowering agents in people with
      type 2 diabetes initially on oral monotherapy, cared for by French general
      practitioners, and to identify reasons underlying treatment non-intensification.
      METHODS: People with type 2 diabetes on oral monotherapy were recruited by
      general practitioners and followed-up over 12 months. Patient characteristics,
      HbA1c, and glucose-lowering treatments were recorded electronically. Management
      objectives and reasons for treatment non-intensification were solicited from the
      general practitioners. RESULTS: A total of 1212 patients were enrolled by 198
      general practitioners; 937 patients (mean age 68 years) were treated with oral
      monotherapy, and 916 patients had at least two successive HbA1c values recorded.
      Of these, 390 patients (43%) had HbA1c>=6.5% on both occasions, and 164/390 (42%)
      had their treatment intensified. The 226 patients whose treatment was not
      intensified were older (69+/-11 years vs. 66+/-12 years, P=0.02) and had better
      glycaemic control at study inclusion (6.9%+/-0.6 vs. 7.3%+/-0.8, P<0.0001) than
      treatment intensified patients. Among uncontrolled patients, there were no
      differences in general practitioner treatment objectives at inclusion for
      treatment intensified and non-intensified patients; the main reason given by
      general practitioners for non-intensification was that the patient had an
      adequate HbA1c (66%). HbA1c did exceed the 6.5% target, but was less than 7.0% in
      69% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: General practitioners showed a patient-centred
      approach to treatment, but clinical inertia was apparent for 31% of the
      uncontrolled patients.

PMID- 27646495
TI  - Prospective study of hypothalamo-hypophyseal dysfunction in children and
      adolescents following traumatic brain injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Retrospective studies of TBI have found a neuroendocrine
      dysfunction following traumatic brain injury in 23 to 60% of adults and 15 to 21%
      of children. Our aims were to determine the prevalence of hypothalamo-hypophyseal
      dysfunction in children following brain injury, assess its relationship to the
      type of injury and the course of the acute post-traumatic phase. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Body development (growth, pubertal development, and skeletal maturity)
      were evaluated in 58 patients (21 girls) after a brain injury rated 3 to 12 on
      the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The patients underwent standard endocrine tests -
      TSH, fT4, IGF-1, PRL, morning cortisol, FSH, LH, and testosterone in boys and
      estradiol in girls - in the early post-traumatic period (2 to 14 days; T0) and at
      3, 6, and 12 months after the injury (T3, T6, and T12). Dynamic tests were
      carried out in patients with abnormalities in their clinical examination and/or
      laboratory results. An MRI was performed on all patients at T12. RESULTS: The
      median age at the time of injury was 11.3 (0.5 to 18.7) years. Of the 58
      patients, 23 had GCS < 8, corresponding to severe brain injury. At T0, diabetes
      insipidus (DI) was diagnosed in 12 patients, and the syndrome of inappropriate
      antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) was found in 4 patients. Frequent hormonal
      changes simulated central hypothyroidism (in 45% of patients) and
      hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (in 25% of adolescents who were already pubertal at
      the time of injury > Tanner II). Examination at T3 (n = 58) confirmed a combined
      pituitary hormone deficiency in two boys and DI in another one. At T6 (n = 49),
      hormonal dysfunctions were diagnosed in two boys (precocious puberty and growth
      hormone deficiency). At T12 (n = 39), a new endocrine dysfunction was diagnosed
      in five patients (growth hormone deficiency in two, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism
      in two, and in one patient, already diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency,
      central hypothyroidism, as well). Brain MRI revealed an empty sella in two
      patients with growth hormone deficiency. Patients with GCS < 8 had more symptoms
      of SIADH or DI in the early post-traumatic period 11/23 vs. patients with GCS of
      8 to 13 (4/35), and more frequent hormonal disorder (6/23) than individuals with
      moderate trauma (3/35), P = 0.0135. The incidence of endocrine dysfunction at T0
      significantly correlated with the severity of injury (P = 0.05), but it was not
      an indicator for the development of a late hormonal disorder. CONCLUSION: Within
      a year after injury, a hormonal disorder was found in 17.6% of the patients.
      Neuroendocrine dysfunction as a late consequence of craniocerebral trauma in
      children and adolescents was less frequent than in adults. Risk factors for its
      development are the gravity of the injury, brain scan pathology, and possibly the
      development of DI, SIADH, or CSWS in the acute post-traumatic phase.

PMID- 27646496
TI  - The safety and efficacy of Heparin and Nadroparin compared to placebo in acute
      ischemic stroke - pilot study.
AB  - AIMS: This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of heparin and
      nadroparin in order to provide an additional therapeutic option for patients with
      acute ischemic stroke in, whom systemic thrombolysis was excluded, or
      thrombectomy could not be performed. METHODS: We describe a prospective
      randomized double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study in acute ischemic stroke.
      The therapeutic window was between 4.5 and 24 h after the onset of stroke. During
      the first 24 h of treatment, the patients divided into 3 groups received placebo,
      heparin or nadroparin (in therapeutic doses). During the following 48 h, each
      patient received nadroparin in the therapeutic dose. 24 h after start of
      treatment they began taking 100 mg aspirin daily. The primary safety indicator
      was incidence of complications such as intracerebral or systemic hemorrhage, or
      death. Efficacy was primarily monitored by the neurological modified Rankin Scale
      (mRS) at 90 days. RESULTS: There were no signs of intracerebral or systemic
      bleeding in the cohort of 87 patients. Two patients died - one (3.7%) in the
      heparin and one (3.8%) in the placebo group due to causes not connected with the
      treatment. There was a statistically significant difference in mRS on the 90th
      day between the heparin and placebo groups (21 (80%) vs 13 (50%), P=0.0350) and
      between the nadroparin and placebo groups (29 (85%) vs 13 (50%), P=0.0031).
      CONCLUSION: The results show that the treatment with heparin and nadroparin is
      safe and effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial is registered in
      ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01862978.

PMID- 27646498
TI  - The Association Between Familial Homelessness, Aggression, and Victimization
      Among Children.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the
      number of periods children were exposed to familial homelessness and childhood
      aggression and victimization. METHODS: Survey data were obtained from 4,297 fifth
      grade children and their caregivers in three U.S. cities. Children and primary
      caregivers were surveyed longitudinally in 7th and 10th grades. Family
      homelessness, measured at each wave as unstable housing, was self-reported by the
      caregiver. Children were categorized into four mutually exclusive groups: victim
      only, aggressor only, victim-aggressor, and neither victim nor aggressor at each
      time point using validated measures. Multinomial, multilevel mixed models were
      used to evaluate the relationship among periods of homelessness and longitudinal
      victimization, aggression, and victim aggression compared to children who were
      nonvictims and nonaggressors. RESULTS: Results suggest that children who
      experienced family homelessness were more likely than domiciled children to
      report aggression and victim aggression but not victimization only. Multivariate
      analyses suggested that even brief periods of homelessness were positively
      associated with aggression and victim aggression (relative to neither) compared
      to children who were never homeless. Furthermore, childhood victimization and
      victim aggression significantly decreased from 5th grade to 10th grade while
      aggression significantly increased in 10th grade. CONCLUSIONS: Children who
      experienced family homelessness for brief periods of time were significantly more
      likely to be a victim-aggressor or aggressor compared to those who were never
      homeless. Prevention efforts should target housing security and other important
      factors that may reduce children's likelihood of aggression and associated
      victimization.

PMID- 27646499
TI  - Adolescents' Responses to Pictorial Warnings on Their Parents' Cigarette Packs.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pictorial cigarette pack warnings are a promising policy solution to
      increase smoking cessation among adults. However, little is known regarding
      adolescents' responses to pictorial warnings, particularly in real-world
      settings. METHODS: Participants were 112 adolescent children, ages 13-17, whose
      parents received either text-only warnings on the side of their cigarette packs
      or pictorial warnings on the top half of the front and back of their cigarette
      packs for 4 weeks as part of a trial. We measured adolescents' recall and
      recognition of these warnings, negative emotional reactions to the warnings,
      perceived effectiveness of the warnings, social interactions about the warnings,
      and smoking risk beliefs. RESULTS: Adolescents accurately recalled pictorial
      warnings more often than text-only warnings (82% vs. 19%, p < .001). Recognition
      of warnings was also higher for pictorial than text-only warnings (82% vs. 34%, p
      < .001). Pictorial warnings drew greater attention (p < .001), elicited greater
      negative emotional reactions (p < .05), and sparked more social interactions (p <
      .01) than text-only warnings. CONCLUSIONS: Pictorial warnings on cigarette packs
      may have important effects on adolescent children of smokers. Future research
      should further investigate the impact of such messages on adolescents'
      susceptibility to smoking initiation and interest in quitting smoking,
      particularly as the United States and other countries work to implement pictorial
      warning regulations.

PMID- 27646500
TI  - Graphomotor skills in children with prenatal alcohol exposure and fetal alcohol
      spectrum disorder: A population-based study in remote Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Few studies have examined graphomotor skills in children with
      prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
      METHODS: Graphomotor skills were assessed in 108 predominantly Australian
      Aboriginal children aged 7.5-9.6 years in remote Western Australia using clinical
      observations (pencil grasp; writing pressure) and standardised assessment tools
      (the Evaluation Tool of Children's Handwriting; and the Miller Function and
      Participation Scales - The Draw-a-Kid Game). Skills were compared between
      children (i) without PAE, (ii) PAE but not FASD and (iii) FASD. RESULTS: Most
      children used a transitional pencil grasp and exerted heavy handwriting pressure
      (83.3% and 30.6% of the cohort). The percentage of letters (M = 62.9%) and words
      (M = 73.3%) written legibly was low. Children with FASD were more likely than
      children without PAE to use a cross-thumb grasp (P = 0.027), apply heavy writing
      pressure (P = 0.036), be unable to write a sentence (P = 0.041) and show poorer
      word legibility (P = 0.041). There were no significant differences between groups
      for drawing outcomes, although some children with FASD drew pictures that
      appeared delayed for their age. There were no significant differences between
      children without PAE and those with PAE but who were not diagnosed with FASD.
      CONCLUSIONS: Overall, graphomotor skills were poor in this cohort, but children
      with FASD performed significantly worse than children without PAE. Findings
      suggest the need for improved occupational therapy services for children in
      remote regions and evaluation of graphomotor skills in children with PAE.

PMID- 27646502
TI  - Fe3O4/BSA particles induce osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells
      under static magnetic field.
AB  - : Differentiation of stem cells is influenced by many factors, yet uptake of the
      magnetic particles with or without magnetic field is rarely tackled. In this
      study, iron oxide nanoparticles-loaded bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Fe3O4/BSA)
      particles were prepared, which showed a spherical morphology with a diameter
      below 200 nm, negatively charged surface, and tunable magnetic property. The
      particles could be internalized into bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs),
      and their release from the cells was significantly retarded under external
      magnetic field, resulting in almost twice intracellular amount of the particles
      within 21 d compared to that of the magnetic field free control. Uptake of the
      Fe3O4/BSA particles enhanced significantly the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs
      under a static magnetic field, as evidenced by elevated alkaline phosphatase
      (ALP) activity, calcium deposition, and expressions of collagen type I and
      osteocalcin at both mRNA and protein levels. Therefore, uptake of the Fe3O4/BSA
      particles brings significant influence on the differentiation of MSCs under
      magnetic field, and thereby should be paid great attention for practical
      applications. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Differentiation of stem cells is
      influenced by many factors, yet uptake of the magnetic particles with or without
      magnetic field is rarely tackled. In this study, iron oxide nanoparticles-loaded
      bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Fe3O4/BSA) particles with a diameter below 200nm,
      negatively charged surface, tunable Fe3O4 content and subsequently adjustable
      magnetic property were prepared. The particles could be internalized into bone
      marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and their release from the cells was
      significantly retarded under external magnetic field. Uptake of the Fe3O4/BSA
      particles enhanced significantly the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs under a
      constant static magnetic field, while the magnetic particles and external
      magnetic field alone do not influence significantly the osteogenic
      differentiation potential of MSCs regardless of the uptake amount. The results
      demonstrate a potential magnetic manipulation method for stem cell
      differentiation, and also convey the significance of careful evaluation of the
      safety issue of magnetic particles in real an application situation.

PMID- 27646503
TI  - Biocomposites of copper-containing mesoporous bioactive glass and nanofibrillated
      cellulose: Biocompatibility and angiogenic promotion in chronic wound healing
      application.
AB  - : Biocomposites of copper-containing mesoporous bioactive glass (Cu-MBG) and
      nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) were designated as potential dressing material
      for chronic wound healing. The phase composition and mesoporous micro-structure
      of the synthesized Cu-MBGs were elaborately characterized by combining several
      techniques, including TEM, SEM, XRD, SXAS and N2 physisorption. High bioactivity
      of the Cu-MBG was confirmed in stimulated body fluids in vitro. A controlled
      dissolution of Cu from the glass suggests Cu-MBG a suitable source for Cu release
      in wound healing dressings. Depending on the content of Cu-MBG in the composite
      formulation, the composites were fabricated as membranes and aerogels. In
      biocompatibility assessment of the composites, a dose-dependent cytotoxicity of
      Cu2+ on 3T3 fibroblasts was found. Importantly, a critical biological level of
      Cu2+ below 10mg/L was suggested for the survival and growth of 3T3 fibroblasts.
      The Cu2+ released from the composite aerogel of NFC and Cu-MBG showed a profound
      angiogenic effect in the 3D spheroid culture system of human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells. Moreover, the angiogenic gene expression of 3T3 fibroblast was
      upregulated in the real-time quantitative PCR analysis, which also confirms that
      the incorporation of Cu-MBG into NFC matrix enhances the proangiogenic potential
      of the biocomposites. In addition, composites of NFC and Cu-MBG also showed an
      inhibiting effect on the growth of E. coli. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: To address
      an urgent need in clinics on developing a new generation of therapeutic dressings
      with advanced functionalities, this study has exploited the utilization of Cu
      containing mesoporous bioactive glass in the nanocellulose matrix to release Cu2+
      as therapeutic ions for its angiogenic effect on promoting wound healing. This
      manuscript reports research work on biomaterial design, fabrication development,
      material characterizations and bioassessments in 2D cellular studies. To utilize
      nanocellulose derived from the wood resource in biomedical applications is of
      great significance, due to its vast availability and bioeconomy competence. The
      use of Cu-containing bioactive glass in tissue engineering scaffolds, including
      wound healing, is an intriguing research topic, which has been recently discussed
      in the field of biomaterials. I think that our manuscript title with
      'Biocomposites of copper-containing mesoporous bioactive glass and
      nanofibrillated cellulose: biocompatibility and angiogenic promotion in chronic
      wound healing application' will make its own contribution on understanding the
      complex effects of Cu2+ on wound-healing-relevant events with acceptable novelty
      for Acta Biomaterialia.

PMID- 27646504
TI  - Selective internal radiation therapy in untreated patients with unresectable
      liver dominant metastatic colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27646506
TI  - Progressive gene dose-dependent disruption of the methamphetamine-sensitive
      circadian oscillator-driven rhythms in a knock-in mouse model of Huntington's
      disease.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive genetic neurodegenerative disorder
      characterised by motor and cognitive deficits, as well as sleep and circadian
      abnormalities. In the R6/2 mouse, a fragment model of HD, rest-activity rhythms
      controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus disintegrate completely by 4months of
      age. Rhythms driven by a second circadian oscillator, the methamphetamine
      sensitive circadian oscillator (MASCO), are disrupted even earlier, and cannot be
      induced after 2months of age. Here, we studied the effect of the HD mutation on
      the expression of MASCO-driven rhythms in a more slowly developing, genetically
      relevant mouse model of HD, the Q175 'knock-in' mouse. We induced expression of
      MASCO output by administering low dose methamphetamine (0.005%) chronically via
      the drinking water. We measured locomotor activity in constant darkness in wild
      type and Q175 mice at 2 (presymptomatic), 6 (early symptomatic), and 12
      (symptomatic) months of age. At 2months, all mice expressed MASCO-driven rhythms,
      regardless of genotype. At older ages, however, there was a progressive gene dose
      dependent deficit in MASCO output in Q175 mice. At 6months of age, these rhythms
      could be observed in only 45% of heterozygous and 15% of homozygous mice. By
      1year of age, 90% of homozygous mice had an impaired MASCO output. There was also
      an age-dependent disruption of MASCO output seen in wild-type mice. The fact that
      the progressive deficit in MASCO-driven rhythms in Q175 mice is HD gene dose
      dependent suggests that, whatever its role in humans, abnormalities in MASCO
      output may contribute to the HD circadian phenotype.

PMID- 27646507
TI  - A longitudinal study on the information needs and preferences of patients after
      an acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research has shown that the provision of pertinent health information
      to patients with cardiovascular disease is associated with better adherence to
      medical prescriptions, behavioral changes, and enhanced perception of control
      over the disease. Yet there is no clear knowledge on how to improve information
      pertinence. Identifying and meeting the information needs of patients and their
      preferences for sources of information is pivotal to developing patient-led
      services. This prospective, observational study was aimed at exploring the
      information needs and perceived relevance of different information sources for
      patients during the twenty-four months following an acute coronary syndrome.
      METHODS: Two hundred and seventeen newly diagnosed patients with acute coronary
      syndrome were enrolled in the study. The patients were primarily men (83.41 %)
      with a mean age of 57.28 years (range 35-75; SD = 7.98). Patients' needs for
      information and the perceived relevance of information sources were evaluated
      between 2 and 8 weeks after hospitalization (baseline) and during three follow
      ups at 6, 12 and 24 months after baseline. Repeated measures ANOVA, Bonferroni
      post hoc tests and Cochran's Q Test were performed to test differences in
      variables of interest over time. RESULTS: Results showed a reduction in
      information needs, but this decrease was significant only for topics related to
      daily activities, behavioral habits, risk and complication. At baseline, the
      primary sources of information were specialists and general practitioners,
      followed by family members and information leaflets given by physicians.
      Relevance of other sources changed differently over time. CONCLUSION: The present
      longitudinal study is an original contribution to the investigation of changes in
      information needs and preferences for sources of information among patients who
      are diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome. One of the main results of this study
      is that information on self-disease management is perceived as a minor theme for
      patients even two years after the event. Knowledge on how patients' information
      needs and perceived relevance of information sources change over time could
      enhance the quality of chronic disease management, leading health-care systems to
      move toward more patient-tailored care.

PMID- 27646509
TI  - Major acetabular defects treated with the Burch-Schneider antiprotrusion cage and
      impaction bone allograft in a large series: a 5- to 7- year follow-up study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Major bone defects are the greatest challenge in hip revision
      arthroplasty. METHODS: In a prospective, consecutive nonrandomised study we
      followed up 74 patients with Type III (AAOS) acetabular bone defects who
      underwent revision hip arthroplasty with bone grafting and implantation of a
      Burch-Schneider anti-protrusion cage (APC). The patients were examined pre- and
      postoperatively according to a standardised clinical and radiological protocol.
      No patient was lost to follow-up. RESULTS: 9 patients died before follow-up. In 9
      other patients the APC was revised within the follow-up period. In 4 of these
      patients the revision was necessary because of aseptic loosening. In the
      remaining 5 cases joint infection, recurrent dislocation and 1 trauma were the
      reasons for revision. 56 patients were included in the statistical analysis. In
      the follow-up group the mean Harris Hip Score increased from 39.9 preoperatively
      to 73.2. 85% of the patients assessed their operation result as good or
      excellent. CONCLUSIONS: In a large consecutive series the Burch-Schneider anti
      protrusion cage proved to be a valuable option in the treatment of major
      acetabular bone defects in hip revision surgery.

PMID- 27646508
TI  - The design and conduct of Keep It Off: An online randomized trial of financial
      incentives for weight-loss maintenance.
AB  - Background Obesity continues to be a serious public health challenge. Rates are
      increasing worldwide, with nearly 70% of the US adults overweight or obese,
      leading to increased clinical and economic burden. While successful approaches
      for achieving weight loss have been identified, techniques for long-term
      maintenance of initial weight loss have largely been unsuccessful. Financial
      incentive interventions have been shown in several settings to be successful in
      motivating participants to adopt healthy behaviors. Purpose Keep It Off is a
      three-arm randomized controlled trial that compares the efficacy of a lottery
      based incentive, traditional direct payment incentive, and control of daily
      feedback without any incentive for weight-loss maintenance. This design allows
      comparison of a traditional direct payment incentive with one based on behavioral
      economic principles that consider the underlying psychology of decision-making.
      Methods Participants were randomized in a 2:1 ratio for each active arm relative
      to control, with a targeted 188 participants in total. Eligible participants were
      those aged 30-80 who lost at least 11 lb (5 kg) during the first 4 months of
      participation in Weight Watchers, a national weight-loss program, with whom we
      partnered. The interventions lasted 6 months (Phase I); participants were
      followed for an additional 6 months without intervention (Phase II). The primary
      outcome is weight change from baseline to the end of Phase I, with the change at
      the end of Phase II a key secondary endpoint. Keep It Off is a pragmatic trial
      that recruited, consented, enrolled, and followed patients electronically.
      Participants were provided a wireless weight scale that electronically
      transmitted daily self-monitored weights. Weights were verified every 3 months at
      a Weight Watchers center local to the participant and electronically transmitted.
      Results Using the study web-based platform, we integrated recruitment,
      enrollment, and follow-up procedures into a digital platform that required little
      staff effort to implement and manage. We randomized 191 participants in less than
      1 year. We describe the design of Keep It Off and implementation of enrollment.
      Lessons Learned We demonstrated that our pragmatic design was successful in rapid
      accrual of participants in a trial of interventions to maintain weight loss.
      Limitations Despite the nationwide reach of Weight Watchers, the generalizability
      of study findings may be limited by the characteristics of its members. The
      interventions under study are appropriate for settings where an entity, such as
      an employer or health insurance company, could offer them as a benefit.
      Conclusions Keep It Off was implemented and conducted with minimal staff effort.
      This study has the potential to identify a practical and effective weight-loss
      maintenance strategy.

PMID- 27646510
TI  - High serum ion levels in Conserve Plus big femoral head cemented total hip
      arthroplasty.
AB  - AIM: We report the short-term clinical, radiographic and ion level data of the
      Conserve Plus metal-on-metal (MoM) big femoral head (BFH) total hip arthroplasty
      (THA), used with a cemented cobalt-chrome (Co-Cr) Profemur Xm stem and a titanium
      (Ti) modular neck. RESULTS: In a consecutive series of 40 hips, survivorship at 3
      years was 92.5% with revision for any reason. Average Harris Hip Score was 91.3.
      There were no implant loosenings. No osteolysis was observed. 5 patients had
      signs of adverse local tissue reaction (ALTR); their clinical scores were not
      different from the whole cohort. All but 1 patient had their Co serum ion levels
      measured. The average Co level was 14,1 ug/l (range 0.9-29.0; median 13.0 ug/l).
      Clinical scores did not correlate with ion level data. A comparative group of 42
      hip resurfacing arthroplasties from the same manufacturer had significantly lower
      serum Co levels: 1.51 ug/l (range 0.9-4.0; median 0.9 ug/l). CONCLUSIONS: All
      patients with the MoM BFH THA design should be followed regularly and should have
      ion level testing.

PMID- 27646511
TI  - An unusual cause of neonatal hip dislocation: infantile myofibromatosis
      presenting as developmental dysplasia of the hip.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Infantile myofibromatosis (IM) is a rare paediatric fibrous tumour
      also known as a desmoid tumour that occurs in around 1:150000 live births. It
      manifests as solitary or multicentric fibrous masses in the musculoaponeurotic
      soft tissues and can affect the visceral organs and bones. CASE DISCUSSION: We
      report a case of infantile myofibromatosis of the gluteus maximus muscle in an 18
      day old neonate presenting atypically as a case of developmental dysplasia of the
      hip due to local involvement of the sciatic nerve. However, failure of
      improvement with conventional management and clinical wasting of the lower leg
      muscles was indicative of a secondary cause of the patient's hip dislocation,
      which was confirmed on imaging and surgical biopsy. DISCUSSION: This case report
      aims to emphasise the importance of considering secondary causes of neonatal hip
      dislocation, especially in cases where imaging findings are atypical of
      conventional DDH. Although imaging appearances on ultrasound and CT may vary, the
      signal characteristics and enhancement pattern of soft tissue myofibromata on MRI
      with and without gadolinium contrast appear to be the most consistent finding in
      these cases.

PMID- 27646512
TI  - Morbidity and mortality risk factors of pertussis in pediatrics.

PMID- 27646513
TI  - Targeted Raman Imaging of Cells Using Graphene Oxide-Based Hybrids.
AB  - Graphene oxide (GO) is a reliable and multifunctional platform to perform cell
      imaging. In this work, a controllable Pt-seed-mediated method is used to prepare
      GO/gold nanoparticle (AuNP) hybrids, and after the covalent binding of folic acid
      (FA), GO/AuNP/FA hybrids are prepared. Selective labeling and Raman imaging of
      folate receptor (FR)-positive HeLa cells are realized using such GO-based
      hybrids. In this system, FA is the targeting agent, AuNPs work as surface
      enhanced Raman scattering substrates, and GO takes the role of both supporting
      the AuNPs with FA and acting as a Raman probe. This research further extends the
      application of GO as a multifunctional platform in bioimaging and other
      biomedical processes.

PMID- 27646515
TI  - COPD-treating nurses' preferences for inhaler attributes - a discrete choice
      experiment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess nurses' preferences for various attributes of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) inhalation devices in order to obtain
      information about the relative importance of the different attributes and their
      assigned levels. METHODS: Data from a web-based questionnaire among Danish nurses
      who treat patients with COPD (accomplished in the spring/summer of 2015) was
      used. A total of 222 nurses completed the questionnaire which was based on
      discrete choice experiment (DCE) methodology. The probability of choosing an
      alternative from a number of choices in a discrete choice game was estimated by
      means of the conditional logit model. RESULTS: The two most important attributes
      according to the COPD-treating nurses were "Indicator when empty" and
      "Inspiratory flow rate". In addition, the nurses considered the attribute
      "Obvious that dose is given" important. The three least-valued attributes were
      frequency of doses, whether the inhaler requires fine motor skills and whether it
      requires hand strength. CONCLUSION: Inhalation devices can be classified into
      five categories, where the soft mist inhaler (SMI) includes the three most
      important attributes among its characteristics. LIMITATIONS: The study sample
      size does not allow for subgroup analysis, which would have been valuable. The
      questionnaire design gives an indication of nurses' preferences and it is assumed
      that these are similar to real life choices, but the current study cannot
      conclude on the nurses' actual choices.

PMID- 27646518
TI  - MRI-guided Wire Localization Surgical Biopsy in an Adolescent Patient with a
      Difficult to Diagnose Case of Lymphoma.
AB  - A 17-year-old previously healthy female presented with a progressive soft tissue
      infiltrative process involving the neck and thorax. Extensive diagnostic
      evaluation including multiple imaging, laboratory, and biopsy studies was
      nondiagnostic. Due to an urgent need to establish a diagnosis and several
      previous nondiagnostic biopsies, she was referred to interventional radiology for
      MRI-guided wire localization immediately prior to open surgical biopsy. Under
      general anesthesia, wires were placed in the areas of increased T2 signal within
      the bilateral splenius capitis muscles using intermittent MRI-guidance followed
      by immediate surgical biopsy down to the wires. Pathology confirmed the diagnosis
      of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

PMID- 27646520
TI  - Pseudoaneurysm: Some Differences in its Character Between the Mesenteric vs.
      Uterine Artery Highlighting the Unique Feature of This Vascular Disorder:
      Comments.

PMID- 27646519
TI  - Doxorubicin-Loaded 70-150 MUm Microspheres for Liver-Dominant Metastatic Breast
      Cancer: Results and Outcomes of a Pilot Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with breast cancer liver metastasis have a poor prognosis.
      Local therapy for liver metastasis increases survival. The purpose of this pilot
      prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of doxorubicin drug
      eluting beads chemoembolization for liver-dominant breast cancer metastasis
      (LdBM) refractory to chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients with LdBM
      refractory to of two or more lines of systemic chemotherapy were screened. Two
      chemoembolizations at 1-month intervals were scheduled for each patient. Tumor
      responses were evaluated by MRI every 3 months until progression or death.
      Adverse events were recorded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for
      Adverse Events (CTCAE version 4.02) 1 month after each chemoembolization. All
      patients were free from systemic treatment until progression. Patients with
      hormone-positive receptors and/or HER-positive disease status continued their
      targeted therapy. RESULTS: Out of 23 patients enrolled (mean age: 57.5 +/- 11.5
      years), 17 completed two chemoembolizations and six underwent only one because of
      severe adverse events. At 3-month follow-up, the disease control rate was 83 %.
      The median progression-free survival from the first chemoembolization was 8
      months, and the median overall survival was 17 months. Nineteen patients remained
      free from any systemic chemotherapy for a mean of 209 +/- 92 days until
      progression. Eight grade 3 (asthenia n = 3, anemia n = 2, thrombocythemia n = 2,
      liver toxicity n = 1) (Rev 1 Comment 1) occurred after the first procedure. No
      patient died directly due to the procedure. CONCLUSION: While chemoembolization
      with doxorubicin eluding beads for refractory LdBM leads to an 83 % disease
      control rate, it also causes severe side effects that need to be adequately
      managed.

PMID- 27646521
TI  - Interventional Radiology as a (Sub) Specialty: A Word of Caution.

PMID- 27646522
TI  - Pseudoaneurysm: Some Differences in its Character Between the Mesenteric vs.
      Uterine Artery Highlighting the Unique Feature of This Vascular Disorder.

PMID- 27646523
TI  - Transcatheter Arterial Embolization with N-Butyl-2-Cyanoacrylate in the
      Management of Spontaneous Hematomas.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous hematoma refractory to conservative management is a
      potentially serious condition that requires prompt diagnosis and intervention.
      The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of computed tomography
      (CT) in the treatment planning and to report the effectiveness of transcatheter
      embolization with N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty
      one interventions in 38 patients within a 12-year period were evaluated. CT and
      angiograms were reviewed for the location of the hematoma, the presence of
      extravasation, and the correlation of CT and angiography findings. RESULTS:
      Arterial extravasation was present on 34/39 CT scans. Angiograms confirmed the CT
      scans in 29 cases. Angiograms revealed extravasation in four cases which CT
      showed venous bleeding (n = 2) or no bleeding (n = 2). Five patients with
      arterial and 1 patient with venous extravasation on CT images had no
      extravasation on angiograms. Embolization was performed to all arteries with
      extravasation on angiograms. Empiric embolization of the corresponding artery on
      the CT was performed when there was no extravasation on angiograms. Embolization
      procedures were performed with 15 % NBCA diluted with iodized oil. Technical
      success was achieved in 40/41 (97.6 %) interventions. Clinical success was
      achieved in 35 patients with a single, in 1 patient with 2, and in 1 patient with
      3 interventions. No complications related to embolization procedure occurred.
      None of the patients died due to a progression of the hematoma. CONCLUSION: NBCA
      is an effective and safe embolic agent to treat hematoma refractory to
      conservative management. Contrast-enhanced CT may provide faster and more
      effective intervention. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: Retrospective.

PMID- 27646524
TI  - Development and in-use evaluation of a novel Luminex MicroPlex microsphere-based
      (TRIOL) assay for simultaneous identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and
      detection of first-line and second-line anti-tuberculous drug resistance in
      China.
AB  - AIMS: Rapid and accurate diagnostic assays with simultaneous microbial
      identification and drug resistance detection are essential for optimising
      treatment and control of tuberculosis. METHODS: We developed a novel multiplex
      (TRIOL, Tuberculosis-Rifampicin-Isoniazid-Ofloxacin-Luminex) assay using the
      Luminex xMAP system that simultaneously identifies Mycobacterium tuberculosis and
      detects resistance to first-line and second-line anti-tuberculous drugs, and
      compared its performance with that by PCR sequencing, using phenotypic drug
      susceptibility testing as the gold standard. RESULTS: Identification of M.
      tuberculosis by the TRIOL assay was highly sensitive (100%) and specific (100%).
      The overall drug-specific specificities were excellent (100%). The overall
      sensitivity of the TRIOL assay was lower than that of the PCR-sequencing assays
      (72.4% vs 82.8%) because of a lower sensitivity of detecting rifampicin
      resistance (71.4% vs 92.9%). The sensitivity of detecting isoniazid and ofloxacin
      resistance was as good as the PCR-sequencing assays. Importantly, the TRIOL assay
      did not miss any mutations that were included in the assay. All of the resistant
      isolates that were missed had uncommon mutations or unknown resistance mechanisms
      that were not included in the assay. CONCLUSIONS: The TRIOL assay has higher
      throughput, lower cost and is less labour intensive than the PCR-sequencing
      assays. The TRIOL assay is advantageous in having the capability to detect
      resistance to multiple drugs and an open-architecture system that allows addition
      of more specific primers to detect uncommon mutations. Inclusion of additional
      primers for the identification of non-tuberculous mycobacteria, spoligotyping and
      improvement of rifampicin resistance detection would enhance the use of the TRIOL
      assay in future clinical and epidemiological studies.

PMID- 27646526
TI  - Autoinflammatory diseases: update on classification diagnosis and management.
AB  - The spectrum of systemic autoinflammatory disorders broadens continually. In
      part, this is due to the more widespread application of massive parallel
      sequencing, helping with novel gene discovery in this and other areas of rare
      diseases. Some of the conditions that have been described fit neatly into a
      conventional idea of autoinflammation. Others, such as interferon-mediated
      autoinflammatory diseases, are broadening the concept which we consider to be
      autoinflammatory disorders. There is also a widening of the clinical phenotypes
      associated with certain genetic mutations, as genetic testing is used more
      regularly and increasing numbers of patients are screened. It is also
      increasingly evident that both autoinflammatory and autoimmune problems are
      frequently seen as complications of primary immunodeficiency disorders. The aim
      of this review is to provide an update on some recently discovered conditions and
      to discuss how these disorders help to define the concept of autoinflammation.
      The review will also cover recent discoveries in the biology of innate-immune
      mediated inflammation and describe how this has provided the biological rationale
      for using anti-interleukin-1 therapies in the treatment of many such conditions.
      Finally, we discuss the importance of recognising somatic mutations as causes of
      autoinflammatory clinical phenotypes and provide practical advice on how this
      could be tackled in everyday clinical practice.

PMID- 27646525
TI  - Significance of coexistent granulomatous inflammation and lung cancer.
AB  - AIMS: Coexistence of lung cancer and granulomatous inflammation in the same
      patient confuses clinicians. We aimed to document the prevalence,
      clinicopathological features, treatment outcomes and prognosis in patients with
      coexisting granulomatous inflammation undergoing curative lung resection for lung
      cancer, in a tuberculosis (TB)-endemic country. METHODS: An observational cohort
      study of patients with lung cancer undergoing curative resection between 2012 and
      2015 in a tertiary centre in Singapore. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-seven
      patients underwent lung resection for cancer, out of which 19 (14.9%) had
      coexistent granulomatous inflammation in the resected specimen. Median age was 68
      years and 58.2% were males. Overall median (range) survival was 451 (22-2452)
      days. Eighteen (14%) patients died at median duration of 271 days after surgery.
      The postsurgery median survival for those alive was 494 (29-2452) days in the
      whole group. Subgroup analysis did not reveal any differences in age, gender,
      location of cancer, radiological features, type of cancer, chemotherapy, history
      of TB or survival in patients with or without coexistent granulomatous
      inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Incidental detection of granulomatous inflammation in
      patients undergoing lung resection for cancer, even in a TB-endemic country, may
      not require any intervention. Such findings may be due to either mycobacterial
      infection in the past or 'sarcoid reaction' to cancer. Although all patients
      should have their resected specimen sent for acid-fast bacilli culture and
      followed up until the culture results are reported, the initiation of the
      management of such patients as per existing lung cancer management guidelines
      does not affect their outcome adversely.

PMID- 27646528
TI  - Preparing anesthesiology faculty for competency-based medical education.
AB  - PURPOSE: Competency-based medical education (CBME) is quickly becoming the
      dominant organizing principle for medical residency programs. As CBME requires
      changes in the way medical education is delivered, faculty will need to acquire
      new skills in teaching and assessment in order to navigate the transition. In
      this paper, we examine the evidence supporting best practices in faculty
      development, propose strategies for faculty development for CBME-based residency
      programs, and discuss the results of faculty development initiatives at the
      pioneering anesthesia CBME residency program at the University of Ottawa. SOURCE:
      Review of the current literature and information from the University of Ottawa
      anesthesia residency program. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Faculty development is critical
      to the success of CBME programs. Attention must be paid to the competence of
      faculty to teach and assess all of the CanMEDS roles. At the University of
      Ottawa, some faculty development initiatives were very successful, while others
      were hindered by factors both internal and external to the residency program.
      Many faculty development activities had low attendance rates. CONCLUSIONS:
      Faculty development must be considered in the rollout of any new educational
      initiative. Experts suggest that faculty development for CBME should incorporate
      educational activities using multiple teaching and delivery methods, and should
      be offered longitudinally through the planning, development, and implementation
      phases of curriculum change. Additionally, these educational activities must
      continue until all faculty have demonstrated an acceptable level of competence.
      Faculty buy-in is paramount to the successful delivery of any faculty development
      program that is not mandatory in nature.

PMID- 27646527
TI  - Sugammadex as rescue therapy for residual neuromuscular blockade in the intensive
      care unit.

PMID- 27646531
TI  - Exclusively Ligand-Mediated Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Alcohols.
AB  - Design of an efficient new catalyst that can mimic the enzymatic pathway for
      catalytic dehydrogenation of liquid fuels like alcohols is described in this
      report. The catalyst is a nickel(II) complex of 2,6-bis(phenylazo)pyridine ligand
      (L), which possesses the above requisite with excellent catalytic efficiencies
      for controlled dehydrogenation of alcohols using ligand-based redox couple.
      Mechanistic studies supported by density functional theory calculations revealed
      that the catalytic cycle involves hydrogen atom transfer via quantum mechanical
      tunneling with significant kH/kD isotope effect of 12.2 +/- 0.1 at 300 K. A
      hydrogenated intermediate compound, [NiIICl2(H2L)], is isolated and
      characterized. The results are promising in the context of design of cheap and
      efficient earth-abundant metal catalyst for alcohol oxidation and hydrogen
      storage.

PMID- 27646533
TI  - Translational plasticity facilitates the accumulation of nonsense genetic
      variants in the human population.
AB  - Genetic variants that disrupt protein-coding DNA are ubiquitous in the human
      population, with about 100 such loss-of-function variants per individual. While
      most loss-of-function variants are rare, a subset have risen to high frequency
      and occur in a homozygous state in healthy individuals. It is unknown why these
      common variants are well tolerated, even though some affect essential genes
      implicated in Mendelian disease. Here, we combine genomic, proteomic, and
      biochemical data to demonstrate that many common nonsense variants do not ablate
      protein production from their host genes. We provide computational and
      experimental evidence for diverse mechanisms of gene rescue, including
      alternative splicing, stop codon readthrough, alternative translation initiation,
      and C-terminal truncation. Our results suggest a molecular explanation for the
      mild fitness costs of many common nonsense variants and indicate that
      translational plasticity plays a prominent role in shaping human genetic
      diversity.

PMID- 27646532
TI  - Spinal microglial activation in a murine surgical model of knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Microgliosis, the activation of microglial cells, is thought to
      contribute to synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn and thereby promote
      chronic pain. The primary aim of this study was to document the temporal profile
      of dorsal horn microgliosis after destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) in
      wild type (WT) and Adamts5 null mice. Since neuronal fractalkine (CX3CL1)
      contributes to microgliosis, we assessed its release from dorsal root ganglia
      (DRG) cultures after DMM. DESIGN: DMM or sham surgery was performed in the right
      knee of 10-week old male WT, CX3CR1-green fluorescent protein (GFP), or Adamts5
      null C57BL/6 mice. Hind paw mechanical allodynia was monitored using von Frey
      fibers. L4 dorsal horn microgliosis was assessed 4, 8 and 16 weeks after surgery,
      based on the morphology of Iba1-immunoreactive microglia. DRG cells (L3-L5) were
      cultured and supernatants collected for fractalkine (FKN) ELISA. RESULTS: In WT
      mice, numbers of activated microglia were increased 8 and 16 weeks, but not 4
      weeks, after DMM but not sham surgery. DRG cultures showed increased basal FKN
      release at 8 and 16 weeks. Adamts5 null mice did not develop mechanical allodynia
      up to 16 weeks after DMM. Accordingly, DRG cultures from these mice did not
      exhibit increased FKN release and dorsal horn microgliosis did not occur.
      CONCLUSION: DMM surgery leads to late stage dorsal horn microgliosis. The
      temporal correlation with DRG FKN release suggests it may contribute to
      microgliosis. Reduced microgliosis in Adamts5 null mice, which are protected from
      joint damage and associated mechanical allodynia after DMM, suggests that
      microgliosis is associated with joint damage and accompanying persistent pain.

PMID- 27646534
TI  - Comprehensive variation discovery and recovery of missing sequence in the pig
      genome using multiple de novo assemblies.
AB  - Uncovering genetic variation through resequencing is limited by the fact that
      only sequences with similarity to the reference genome are examined. Reference
      genomes are often incomplete and cannot represent the full range of genetic
      diversity as a result of geographical divergence and independent demographic
      events. To more comprehensively characterize genetic variation of pigs (Sus
      scrofa), we generated de novo assemblies of nine geographically and
      phenotypically representative pigs from Eurasia. By comparing them to the
      reference pig assembly, we uncovered a substantial number of novel SNPs and
      structural variants, as well as 137.02-Mb sequences harboring 1737 protein-coding
      genes that were absent in the reference assembly, revealing variants left by
      selection. Our results illustrate the power of whole-genome de novo sequencing
      relative to resequencing and provide valuable genetic resources that enable
      effective use of pigs in both agricultural production and biomedical research.

PMID- 27646535
TI  - Direct chromosome-length haplotyping by single-cell sequencing.
AB  - Haplotypes are fundamental to fully characterize the diploid genome of an
      individual, yet methods to directly chart the unique genetic makeup of each
      parental chromosome are lacking. Here we introduce single-cell DNA template
      strand sequencing (Strand-seq) as a novel approach to phasing diploid genomes
      along the entire length of all chromosomes. We demonstrate this by building a
      complete haplotype for a HapMap individual (NA12878) at high accuracy
      (concordance 99.3%), without using generational information or statistical
      inference. By use of this approach, we mapped all meiotic recombination events in
      a family trio with high resolution (median range ~14 kb) and phased larger
      structural variants like deletions, indels, and balanced rearrangements like
      inversions. Lastly, the single-cell resolution of Strand-seq allowed us to
      observe loss of heterozygosity regions in a small number of cells, a significant
      advantage for studies of heterogeneous cell populations, such as cancer cells. We
      conclude that Strand-seq is a unique and powerful approach to completely phase
      individual genomes and map inheritance patterns in families, while preserving
      haplotype differences between single cells.

PMID- 27646536
TI  - NGS-based reverse genetic screen for common embryonic lethal mutations
      compromising fertility in livestock.
AB  - We herein report the result of a large-scale, next generation sequencing (NGS)
      based screen for embryonic lethal (EL) mutations in Belgian beef and New Zealand
      dairy cattle. We estimated by simulation that cattle might carry, on average,
      ~0.5 recessive EL mutations. We mined exome sequence data from >600 animals, and
      identified 1377 stop-gain, 3139 frame-shift, 1341 splice-site, 22,939 disruptive
      missense, 62,399 benign missense, and 92,163 synonymous variants. We show that
      cattle have a comparable load of loss-of-function (LoF) variants (defined as stop
      gain, frame-shift, or splice-site variants) as humans despite having a more
      variable exome. We genotyped >40,000 animals for up to 296 LoF and 3483
      disruptive missense, breed-specific variants. We identified candidate EL
      mutations based on the observation of a significant depletion in homozygotes. We
      estimated the proportion of EL mutations at 15% of tested LoF and 6% of tested
      disruptive missense variants. We confirmed the EL nature of nine candidate
      variants by genotyping 200 carrier * carrier trios, and demonstrating the absence
      of homozygous offspring. The nine identified EL mutations segregate at
      frequencies ranging from 1.2% to 6.6% in the studied populations and collectively
      account for the mortality of ~0.6% of conceptuses. We show that EL mutations
      preferentially affect gene products fulfilling basic cellular functions. The
      resulting information will be useful to avoid at-risk matings, thereby improving
      fertility.

PMID- 27646538
TI  - Game Changing Innovation in Chemical Production Methods, Concepts & Examples.

PMID- 27646539
TI  - An Approach to the Commercial Production of Highly Active Pharmaceutical
      Ingredients.
AB  - To meet the requirements for production of highly active pharmaceutical
      ingredients (API) new approaches and technical solutions are required. Prior to
      the design and construction of a new multipurpose manufacturing facility, a
      process study was performed to clarify the future needs. During the planning
      phase, concepts were defined and elaborated to meet production, cleaning, health
      and safety standards. The ideas were taken into account and a small-scale
      manufacturing facility was designed and realized accordingly. 

PMID- 27646540
TI  - Quantitative Assessment of Mass Flow Boundaries in Continuous Twin-screw
      Granulation.
AB  - In pharmaceutical manufacturing, there is an increasing interest in continuous
      manufacturing. As an example for fast continuous processes in general of
      considerable complexity, this study was focussed on improving the understanding
      of twin-screw wet granulation. The impact of the liquid-to-solid (L/S) mass flow
      ratio on product quality (granules) as well as on downstream process operations
      (tableting) was investigated in detail. Initially two methods were used to define
      L/S ratio boundaries for the granulation regime in twin-screw wet granulation. It
      was shown that the first method, which is based on measuring the wet granule mass
      flow variation, can be used to define the upper L/S ratio boundary of the
      granulation regime. The second method, based on measuring the granule size
      distribution, can be used to define the lower L/S ratio boundary of the regime.
      Using these methods, the granulation regime for different formulations could be
      established. This information was then used to show that the formulation could be
      optimised such that the process is more robust (i.e. wider L/S ratio boundaries
      for the granulation regime). Also it could be used to optimise the formulation
      considering further downstream processing such as drying (using as little water
      as possible to reduce drying efforts) or tableting (obtain granules with
      optimised tableting properties). Preferably, the process should be performed
      close to the lower L/S ratio boundary of the granulation regime. In summary,
      these tools enabled the quantitative establishment of granulation regime
      boundaries in a twin-screw wet granulation process and can be used to optimise
      formulation and to create a robust process. Analogies to other continuous
      processes in completely different applications can be conceived. 

PMID- 27646537
TI  - Respiratory symptoms, sleep-disordered breathing and biomarkers in nocturnal
      gastroesophageal reflux.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux (nGER) is associated with
      respiratory symptoms and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), but the pathogenesis
      is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between nGER and respiratory
      symptoms, exacerbations of respiratory symptoms, SDB and airway inflammation.
      METHODS: Participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey III in
      Iceland with nGER symptoms (n = 48) and age and gender matched controls (n = 42)
      were studied by questionnaires, exhaled breath condensate (EBC), particles in
      exhaled air (PEx) measurements, and a home polygraphic study. An exacerbation of
      respiratory symptoms was defined as an episode of markedly worse respiratory
      symptoms in the previous 12 months. RESULTS: Asthma and bronchitis symptoms were
      more common among nGER subjects than controls (54 % vs 29 %, p = 0.01; and 60 %
      vs 26 %, p < 0.01, respectively), as were exacerbations of respiratory symptoms
      (19 % vs 5 %, p = 0.04). Objectively measured snoring was more common among
      subjects with nGER than controls (snores per hour of sleep, median (IQR): 177 (79
      281) vs 67 (32-182), p = 0.004). Pepsin (2.5 ng/ml (0.8-5.8) vs 0.8 ng/ml (0.8
      3.6), p = 0.03), substance P (741 pg/ml (626-821) vs 623 pg/ml (562-676), p <
      0.001) and 8-isoprostane (3.0 pg/ml (2.7-3.9) vs 2.6 pg/ml (2.2-2.9), p = 0.002)
      in EBC were higher among nGER subjects than controls. Albumin and surfactant
      protein A in PEx were lower among nGER subjects. These findings were independent
      of BMI. CONCLUSION: In a general population sample, nGER is associated with
      symptoms of asthma and bronchitis, as well as exacerbations of respiratory
      symptoms. Also, nGER is associated with increased respiratory effort during
      sleep. Biomarker measurements in EBC, PEx and serum indicate that micro
      aspiration and neurogenic inflammation are plausible mechanisms.

PMID- 27646541
TI  - Lonza Error Prevention System (EPS) - Changing Human Performance in
      Pharmaceutical Operations.
AB  - Errors are a part of life. With human errors accounting for approximately 50% of
      quality incidents and related problems within the pharmaceutical industry, the
      need to improve human performance in manufacturing operations is obvious. The
      purpose of this article is to describe error-proofing ways of structuring and
      writing knowledge documents, procedures, batch records, as well as practices for
      structuring, conducting, and documenting training to assure competence. These
      practices are recommended for adoption to shift the current 'training for
      compliance' paradigm to a 'training for competence' paradigm. It will also be
      demonstrated that a training for competence focus achieves GMP compliance.
      Results at Lonza have been encouraging, with human error-related quality
      deviations and non-conformities reduced by more than 40% across 13 sites globally
      within the first two years of the implementation of its Error Prevention System. 

PMID- 27646542
TI  - Manufacturing Execution Systems: Examples of Performance Indicator and
      Operational Robustness Tools.
AB  - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are computerized systems used to measure
      production performance in terms of productivity, yield, and quality. In the first
      part, performance indicator and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), process
      robustness tools and statistical process control are described. The second part
      details some tools to help process robustness and control by operators by
      preventing deviations from target control charts. MES was developed by Syngenta
      together with CIMO for automation. 

PMID- 27646543
TI  - Comprehensive Analysis Competence and Innovative Approaches for Sustainable
      Chemical Production.
AB  - Humanity currently sees itself facing enormous economic, ecological, and social
      challenges. Sustainable products and production in specialty chemistry are an
      important strategic element to address these megatrends. In addition to that,
      digitalization and global connectivity will create new opportunities for the
      industry. One aspect is examined in this paper, which shows the development of
      comprehensive analysis of production networks for a more sustainable production
      in which the need for innovative solutions arises. Examples from data analysis,
      advanced process control and automated performance monitoring are shown. These
      efforts have significant impact on improved yields, reduced energy and water
      consumption, and better product performance in the application of the products.

PMID- 27646544
TI  - Industry 4.0: Reality, Future or just Science Fiction? How to Convince Today's
      Management to Invest in Tomorrow's Future! Successful Strategies for Industry 4.0
      and Manufacturing IT.
AB  - Manufacturing IT and Industry 4.0 is the Fourth Industrial Revolution with a
      potential of 12 bn Euros in Germany's chemicals industry. But Switzerland is
      currently the best prepared of all countries in Europe. Many of the ideas are
      still very vague. This article discusses how to identify what is already reality,
      which ideas might become reality in the future and which ideas will stay science
      fiction. As projects in Manufacturing IT and Industry 4.0 are different from
      classical technical projects other strategies, for example agile project
      management, are necessary to secure success. 

PMID- 27646548
TI  - Thematic Platform in vitro Diagnostics Technological Progress with a Powerful
      Network.
AB  - In vitro diagnostics (IVD) has huge potential. Primary drivers in the global
      market are the patient's awareness of infectious diseases, the introduction of
      advanced molecular and tissue diagnostic tests for patient-stratified and
      targeted anti-cancer therapy and, last but not least, the growing geriatric
      population. Rapid progress in device miniaturization and information technology
      (IT) offers new possibilities in decentralized testing. Grand View Research Inc.
      expects the global market for IVD to reach US $ 74.3 billion by 2020. Hence the
      launch in 2015 by the NTN Swiss Biotech - together with the driving forces of
      Biotechnet Switzerland - of the 'Thematic Platform in vitro Diagnostics'. 

PMID- 27646552
TI  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms in exomes of high- and low-marbled meats in
      Korean cattle.

PMID- 27646551
TI  - Gamma-glutamyltransferase as novel biomarker in patients with uterine
      leiomyosarcoma.
AB  - Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) is an established marker for
      proliferative/apoptotic balance and has been associated with cancer risk and
      prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of pre-treatment GGT
      serum levels as prognostic biomarker in patients with primary uterine
      leiomyosarcoma (ULMS). Data of women with ULMS were extracted from a multi-center
      database. Pre-treatment GGT serum levels were measured and patients assigned to
      predefined GGT risk groups. GGT values were correlated with clinico-pathological
      parameters and univariate and multivariable survival analyses were performed. A
      total of 44 patients with ULMS were analyzed. Mean (SD) pre-therapeutic GGT serum
      level was 33.8 (39.8) U/L. In Figo Stage I versus II-IV mean (SD) GGT values were
      28.8 (34.0) U/l and 43.5 (49.2) U/l, respectively (p = 0.25). Five-year overall
      survival (OS) rates in ULMS patients with normal low versus higher GGT levels
      were 70% and 37%, respectively (p = 0.043). Univariate and multivariable analyses
      revealed that higher GGT serum levels (p = 0.043, p = 0.005) and high
      histological grade (p = 0.029, p = 0.012) were independently associated with
      impaired OS, respectively. Higher pre-treatment GGT serum levels were
      independently associated with unfavorable prognosis in women with ULMS. Thus, GGT
      seems to be a useful novel biomarker in ULMS.

PMID- 27646550
TI  - Past racial discrimination exacerbates the effects of racial exclusion on
      negative affect, perceived control, and alcohol-risk cognitions among Black young
      adults.
AB  - Racial discrimination is associated with alcohol use and risky sex cognitions and
      behaviors, which are risk factors for negative health outcomes, including human
      immunodeficiency virus infection. The current study investigated the causal
      impact of racial discrimination on alcohol and sexual-risk cognitions while
      exploring potential mediators that might help explain this relation: negative
      affect, perceived control, and meaningful existence. We also examined if past
      discrimination impacts the strength of (moderates) these effects. Participants
      were 287 Black/African American young adults aged 18-25. They were randomly
      assigned to be excluded or included by White peers via the game Cyberball. Racial
      exclusion (vs. inclusion) predicted greater: perceived racial discrimination,
      negative affect, alcohol use willingness, and reduced perceived control and
      meaningful existence. Furthermore, excluded participants who experienced more
      past racial discrimination reported the lowest perceived control, and greatest
      negative affect and alcohol-risk cognitions. The findings suggest that past
      racial discrimination exacerbates the harmful health effects of immediate
      experiences of discrimination.

PMID- 27646555
TI  - Advancing preconception health in the United States: strategies for change.
AB  - In January 2015, the US Preconception Health and Health Care Initiative (PCHHC)
      established a new national vision that all women and men of reproductive age will
      achieve optimal health and wellness, fostering a healthy life course for them and
      any children they may have. Achieving this vision presents both challenges and
      opportunities. This manuscript describes the reasons why the US needs to
      prioritize preconception health as well as its efforts historically to advance
      change. The authors share lessons from past work and current strategies in the US
      to reach this ambitious goal.

PMID- 27646556
TI  - Ventrolateral periaqueductal grey matter neurotransmission modulates cardiac
      baroreflex activity.
AB  - Baroreflex activity is a neural mechanism responsible for short-term adjustments
      in blood pressure (BP). Several supramedullary areas, which send projections to
      the medulla, are able to control this reflex. In this context, the ventrolateral
      part of the periaqueductal grey matter (vlPAG), which is a mesencephalic
      structure, has been suggested to regulate the cardiovascular system. However, its
      involvement in baroreflex control has never been addressed. Therefore, our
      hypothesis is that the vlPAG neurotransmission is involved in baroreflex cardiac
      activity. Male Wistar rats had stainless steel guide cannulae unilaterally or
      bilaterally implanted in the vlPAG. Afterward, a catheter was inserted into the
      femoral artery for BP and HR recording. A second catheter was implanted into the
      femoral vein for baroreflex activation. When the nonselective synaptic blocker
      cobalt chloride (CoCl2 ) was unilaterally injected into the vlPAG, in either the
      left or the right hemisphere, it increased the tachycardic response to baroreflex
      activation. However, when CoCl2 was bilaterally microinjected into the vlPAG it
      decreased the tachycardic response to baroreflex stimulation. This work shows
      that vlPAG neurotransmission is involved in modulation of the tachycardic
      response of the baroreflex. Moreover, we suggest that the interconnections
      between the vlPAG of both hemispheres are activated during baroreflex
      stimulation. In this way, our work helps to improve the understanding about brain
      heart circuitry control, emphasizing the role of the autonomic nervous system in
      such modulation.

PMID- 27646557
TI  - Improvement in the detection of enteric protozoa from clinical stool samples
      using the automated urine sediment analyzer sediMAX(r) 2 compared to sediMAX(r)
      1.
AB  - Detection of intestinal parasites from fecal samples is routinely performed by
      direct wet mount examination. This method requires skilled personnel, and it is
      time consuming. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the usefulness of the
      newer automated urinary sediment analyser sediMAX 2 for a fast detection of
      intestinal protozoa in stool samples. A total of 700 consecutively preserved
      samples consisting of 70 positives and 630 negatives were analyzed. SediMAX 2
      takes digital images of each sediment sample, and analysis was conducted using a
      dilution of stool specimens, allowing determination of typical morphology.
      Compared to manual microscopy, sediMAX 2 showed sensitivity and specificity of
      100 % in the detection of intestinal parasites, as also recently demonstrated for
      sediMAX 1. However, all clinically important human protozoa were detected using
      only 15 images for each specimen, compared to 30 images required in sediMAX 1
      analysis. Moreover, changing manually the focus, it is possible to carry out a
      discrimination between morphologically identical Entamoeba complex members,
      including the pathogenic E. histolytica and the non-pathogenic E. dispar, E.
      moshkovskii and E. Bangladeshi, from the non-pathogenic Entamoeba coli based on
      the number of nuclei present in the cells. This study presents sediMAX 2 as an
      automatic aid to traditional microscopy.

PMID- 27646558
TI  - Risk factors of keloids in Syrians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Keloid is a benign fibrous growth, which presents in scar tissue of
      predisposed individuals. It is a result of irregular wound healing, but the exact
      mechanism is unknown. However, several factors may play a role in keloid
      formation. To date, there are no studies of keloids in Syria, and limited studies
      on Caucasians, so we have investigated the risk factors of keloids in Syrians
      (Caucasians), and this is the main objective of this study. METHODS: Diagnosis of
      keloids was clinically made after an interview and physical examination. We did a
      histopathological study in case the physical examination was unclear. The
      following information was taken for each patient; sex, Blood groups (ABO?Rh),
      cause of scarring, anatomical sites, age of onset, number of injured sites
      (single?multiple) and family history. RESULTS: We have studied the clinical
      characteristics of 259 patients with keloids,130 (50.2 %) females and 129 (49.8
      %) males. There were 209 (80.7 %) patients with keloids in a single anatomical
      site compared to 50 (19.3 %) patients with 130 keloids in multiple anatomical
      sites, 253 (97.68 %) patients with keloids caused by a single cause for each
      patient compared to 6 (2.32 %) patients with keloids caused by two different
      causes for each patient. Keloids could follow any form of skin injury, but burn
      was the most common (28.68 %). Also, keloids could develop at any anatomical
      sites, but upper limb (20 %) followed by sternum (19.17 %) was the most common.
      Over half of the patients developed keloids in the 11-30 age range. 19.3 %
      (50/259) of patients had family history, 76 % (38/50) of them had keloids located
      in the same anatomical sites of relative, also, 66 % (33?50) of them had keloids
      caused by the same cause. The following information was found to be statistically
      significant; people with blood group A (p = 0.01) compared with other blood
      groups, spontaneous keloids in patients with blood group A (p = 0.01), acne in
      males (p = 0.0008) compared to females, acne in someone who has a previous acne
      keloid (p = 0.0002), burn in someone who has a previous burn keloid (p = 0.029),
      family history, especially for spontaneous (p = 0.005), presternal (p = 0.039)
      and shoulder (p = 0.008) keloids, people in second and third decades (p = 0.02)
      (p = 0.01) respectively. CONCLUSION: Age of onset, sex, cause of scarring, blood
      groups, anatomical site, presence of family history and the number of site
      (multiple?single) were significant in keloid formation in Syrians.

PMID- 27646559
TI  - Subchronic Arsenic Exposure Through Drinking Water Alters Lipid Profile and
      Electrolyte Status in Rats.
AB  - Arsenic is a groundwater pollutant and can cause various cardiovascular disorders
      in the exposed population. The aim of the present study was to assess whether
      subchronic arsenic exposure through drinking water can induce vascular
      dysfunction associated with alteration in plasma electrolytes and lipid profile.
      Rats were exposed to arsenic as 25, 50, and 100 ppm of sodium arsenite through
      drinking water for 90 consecutive days. On the 91st day, rats were sacrificed and
      blood was collected. Lipid profile and the levels of electrolytes (sodium,
      potassium, and chloride) were assessed in plasma. Arsenic reduced high-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio, but increased the levels
      of triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),
      and electrolytes. The results suggest that the arsenic-mediated dyslipidemia and
      electrolyte retention could be important mechanisms in the arsenic-induced
      vascular disorder.

PMID- 27646562
TI  - Virulence plasmid stability in environmentally occurring Bacillus anthracis from
      North East Turkey.
AB  - The Bacillus anthracis virulence plasmid pXO2, which encodes for a polypeptide
      capsule, can be lost during long term laboratory storage. To determine if pXO2 is
      lost in nature we screened B. anthracis isolates obtained from B. anthracis
      spores from contaminated animal burial sites in Turkey for their ability to
      express a capsule upon primary culture. A total of 672 B. anthracis colonies were
      examined of which ten produced a mixed mucoid (capsule +ve)/non-mucoid (capsule 
      ve) phenotype and a further one colony yielded non-mucoid colonies upon repeated
      culture. Screening by PCR using pXO2 specific primers revealed that seven of
      these isolates had eliminated the plasmid. Of the four colonies which were
      positive by PCR, one regained the ability to express a capsule upon repeated
      culture suggesting that the defect was reversible. This is an important
      observation as capsule expression is a principal marker of virulence and in the
      absence of PCR serves as a key diagnostic marker. The results of this preliminary
      study suggest that pXO2 is lost in nature and that further studies are need to
      determine the mechanisms by which this occurs.

PMID- 27646564
TI  - RET kinase inhibitors: a review of recent patents (2012-2015).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tyrosine kinases are involved in the control of several biological
      processes and have been recognized as hot spots of oncogenic transformation, thus
      representing a major therapeutic target. Dysregulated activation of RET kinase,
      either through point mutations or gene fusions, is accountable for a significant
      fraction of thyroid carcinomas, as well as a minor population of lung cancers.
      Two drugs are currently available for the treatment of medullary thyroid
      carcinoma and two additional compounds have been approved for differentiated
      thyroid carcinoma. Several other molecules are under preclinical and clinical
      evaluation. Areas covered: This review covers the most recent patent literature
      (2012-2015) describing compounds with activity against the RET kinase, trying to
      catch a view of the next generation of potential anti-RET drugs. Expert opinion:
      RET has been a focus of molecularly targeted efforts for over a decade. However,
      none of the drugs currently on the clinical stage were specifically developed to
      hit RET, which was rather an off-target. Besides, only two of four drugs have
      activity on metastatic medullary carcinoma. Therefore, there is still a need of
      additional, more potent and more specific RET inhibitors, which will hopefully
      emerge from the new generation of compounds disclosed in most recent patents.

PMID- 27646566
TI  - Exploring Differences between TTO and DCE in the Valuation of Health States.
AB  - There is recent interest in using discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to derive
      health state utility values, and results can differ from time tradeoff (TTO).
      Clearly, DCE is "choice based," whereas TTO is generally considered a "matching"
      task. We explore whether procedural adaptations to the TTO, which make the method
      more closely resemble a DCE, make TTO and choice converge. In particular, we test
      whether making the matching procedure in TTO less "transparent" to the respondent
      reduces disparities between TTO and DCE. We designed an interactive survey that
      was hosted on the Internet, and 2022 interviews were achieved in the United
      Kingdom in a representative sample of the population. We found a marked
      divergence between TTO and DCE, but this was not related to the "transparency" of
      the TTO procedure. We conclude that a difference in the error structure between
      TTO and choice and that factors other than differences in utility are affecting
      choices is driving the divergence. The latter has fundamental implications for
      the way choice data are analyzed and interpreted.

PMID- 27646567
TI  - Progression and Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PATH 2.0).
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV transmission is the result of complex dynamics in the risk
      behaviors, partnership choices, disease stage and position along the HIV care
      continuum-individual characteristics that themselves can change over time.
      Capturing these dynamics and simulating transmissions to understand the chief
      sources of transmission remain important for prevention. METHODS: The Progression
      and Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PATH 2.0) is an agent-based model of a sample of
      10,000 people living with HIV (PLWH), who represent all men who have sex with men
      (MSM) and heterosexuals living with HIV in the U.S.A. Persons uninfected were
      modeled as populations, stratified by risk and gender. The model included
      detailed individual-level data from several large national surveillance
      databases. The outcomes focused on average annual transmission rates from 2008
      through 2011 by disease stage, HIV care continuum, and sexual risk group.
      RESULTS: The relative risk of transmission of those in the acute phase was nine
      times [5th and 95th percentile simulation interval (SI): 7, 12] that of those in
      the non-acute phase, although, on average, those with acute infections comprised
      1% of all PLWH. The relative risk of transmission was 24- to 50-times as high for
      those in the non-acute phase who had not achieved viral load suppression as
      compared with those who had. The relative risk of transmission among MSM was 3.2
      times [SI: 2.7, 4.0] that of heterosexuals. Men who have sex with men and women
      generated 46% of sexually acquired transmissions among heterosexuals.
      CONCLUSIONS: The model results support a continued focus on early diagnosis,
      treatment and adherence to ART, with an emphasis on prevention efforts for MSM, a
      subgroup of whom appear to play a role in transmission to heterosexuals.

PMID- 27646561
TI  - Antifungal therapeutics for dimorphic fungal pathogens.
AB  - Dimorphic fungi cause several endemic mycoses which range from subclinical
      respiratory infections to life-threatening systemic disease. Pathogenic-phase
      cells of Histoplasma, Blastomyces, Paracoccidioides and Coccidioides escape
      elimination by the innate immune response with control ultimately requiring
      activation of cell-mediated immunity. Clinical management of disease relies
      primarily on antifungal compounds; however, dimorphic fungal pathogens create a
      number of challenges for antifungal drug therapy. In addition to the drug
      toxicity issues known for current antifungals, barriers to efficient drug
      treatment of dimorphic fungal infections include natural resistance to the
      echinocandins, residence of fungal cells within immune cells, the requirement for
      systemic delivery of drugs, prolonged treatment times, potential for latent
      infections, and lack of optimized standardized methodology for in vitro testing
      of drug susceptibilities. This review will highlight recent advances, current
      therapeutic options, and new compounds on the horizon for treating infections by
      dimorphic fungal pathogens.

PMID- 27646569
TI  - A four-part working bibliography of neuroethics: part 3 - "second tradition
      neuroethics" - ethical issues in neuroscience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuroethics describes several interdisciplinary topics exploring the
      application and implications of engaging neuroscience in societal contexts. To
      explore this topic, we present Part 3 of a four-part bibliography of neuroethics'
      literature focusing on the "ethics of neuroscience." METHODS: To complete a
      systematic survey of the neuroethics literature, 19 databases and 4 individual
      open-access journals were employed. Searches were conducted using the indexing
      language of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). A Python code was used
      to eliminate duplications in the final bibliography. RESULTS: This bibliography
      consists of 1137 papers, 56 books, and 134 book chapters published from 2002
      through 2014, covering ethical issues in neuroimaging, neurogenetics,
      neurobiomarkers, neuro-psychopharmacology, brain stimulation, neural stem cells,
      neural tissue transplants, pediatric-specific issues, dual-use, and general
      neuroscience research issues. These works contain explanations of recent research
      regarding neurotechnology, while exploring ethical issues in future discoveries
      and use.

PMID- 27646568
TI  - Fish Consumption, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Data on omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in relation to
      cardiovascular disease are limited in women. The aim of this study was to examine
      longitudinal relations of tuna and dark fish, alpha-linolenic acid, and marine
      omega-3 fatty acid intake with incident major cardiovascular disease in women.
      METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of U.S. women participating in the
      Women's Health Study from 1993 to 2014, during which the data were collected and
      analyzed. A total of 39,876 women who were aged >=45 years and free of
      cardiovascular disease at baseline provided dietary data on food frequency
      questionnaires. Analyses used Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate the
      association between fish and energy-adjusted omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid
      intake and the risk of major cardiovascular disease, defined as a composite
      outcome of myocardial infarction, stroke, and cardiovascular death, in 38,392
      women in the final analytic sample (96%). RESULTS: During 713,559 person years of
      follow-up, 1,941 cases of incident major cardiovascular disease were confirmed.
      Tuna and dark fish intake was not associated with the risk of incident major
      cardiovascular disease (p-trend >0.05). Neither alpha-linolenic acid nor marine
      omega-3 fatty acid intake was associated with major cardiovascular disease or
      with individual cardiovascular outcomes (all p-trend >0.05). There was no effect
      modification by age, BMI, or baseline history of hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: In
      this cohort of women without history of cardiovascular disease, intakes of tuna
      and dark fish, alpha-linolenic acid, and marine omega-3 fatty acids were not
      associated with risk of major cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 27646571
TI  - [Skin and mucosal erosions revealing secondary syphilis with otologic and eye
      disorders].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical polymorphism of syphilis leads to diagnostic issues. We
      report a case of secondary syphilis revealed by skin and mucosal erosions, and
      responsible for sensorineural hearing loss and asymptomatic papillitis. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: A 55-year-old man presented oral and peri-anal erosions as the
      initial symptoms of secondary syphilis. He reported hypoacusis and a pure-tone
      audiogram revealed bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Ophthalmological
      investigation revealed isolated right papillitis and superior temporal scotoma
      with blind-spot enlargement. TPHA-VDRL serology was strongly positive for plasma
      (TPHA 1/10,240 and VDRL 1/64) but doubtful for cerebrospinal fluid. For his
      hearing and eye disorders, considered as related to neurosyphilis, the patient
      received a 14-day course of intravenous penicillin G, associated with systemic
      corticosteroids with gradual reduction over a period of fifteen weeks. The
      patient's skin and mucosal erosions resolved, as did his papillitis. His hearing
      loss remained stable. Serological monitoring at three months showed a sixteen
      fold decrease in VDRL titre. DISCUSSION: The re-emergence of syphilis has led to
      increasing incidence of related ophthalmological and otological disorders. This
      report highlights the first-line role of the dermatologist in systematic
      diagnosis and in screening for associated involvement.

PMID- 27646575
TI  - Membranous nephropathy in the kidney allograft.
AB  - Membranous nephropathy (MN) may occur in a kidney transplant as recurrence of the
      original disease (rMN) or as a de novo MN (dnMN). rMN often occurs early, within
      the first year, and often in a mild or subclinical fashion. Recurrence cannot be
      predicted by clinical features at the time of transplantation. The natural
      history is increasing proteinuria over time, with less chance for spontaneous
      remission compared to primary MN (pMN). Antiphospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)
      antibodies should be evaluated in all patients with pMN at the time of
      transplantation and serially. If titers persist or rise, biopsy is indicated.
      Irrespective of PLA2R status, any case with proteinuria reaching 1 g/day should
      be biopsied. No randomized controlled trials have been published regarding
      treatment of rMN. Observational data support use of rituximab. Given the
      progressive nature of rMN and lack of spontaneous remissions, a period of
      observation does not seem justifiable. dnMN occurs with about equal frequency as
      rMN and shares features of secondary MN in native kidneys. Causes include viral
      infections (e.g., hepatitis B or C), which should be treated. In some cases, dnMN
      may represent an atypical alloimmune response. The role of rituximab in dnMN is
      undefined.

PMID- 27646574
TI  - Agaricus blazei extract attenuates rotenone-induced apoptosis through its
      mitochondrial protective and antioxidant properties in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma
      cells.
AB  - The present study was aimed to find out the effect of Agaricus blazei mushroom
      extract against rotenone-induced cellular model. SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells are
      divided into four experimental groups (control, rotenone (100 nM), A. blazei (5
      MUg/ml) + rotenone (100 nM), and A. blazei alone treated) based on MTT assay,
      cells were allowed to measure the ROS, TBARS levels, and antioxidants activities.
      Finally, mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MMP) and expressions of apoptotic
      proteins were also analyzed. Pre-treatment with A. blazei significantly enhanced
      cell viability, attenuated rotenone-induced ROS, MMP, and apoptosis. Our results
      indicated that anti-apoptotic properties of this natural compound due to its
      antioxidant and mitochondrial protective function protect rotenone-induced
      cytotoxicity. Therefore, it may be concluded that A. blazei can be further
      developed as a promising drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD).

PMID- 27646576
TI  - Beta Blockers and the Cardiac Complications of Methamphetamine.

PMID- 27646577
TI  - Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement is Associated with Comparable Clinical
      Outcomes to Open Aortic Valve Surgery but with a Reduced Length of In-Patient
      Hospital Stay: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aortic valve replacement is indicated in patients with severe
      symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS). Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
      has evolved as a potential strategy in a growing proportion of patients in
      preference to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). This meta-analysis aims
      to assess the differential outcomes of TAVR and SAVR in patients enrolled in
      published randomised controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: A systematic literature
      search of Cochrane Library, EMBASE, OVID, and PubMed MEDLINE was performed.
      Randomised controlled trials of patients with severe AS undergoing TAVR compared
      with SAVR were included. Clinical outcomes and procedural complications were
      assessed. RESULTS: Five RCTs with a total of 3,828 patients (1,928 TAVR and 1,900
      SAVR) were analysed. There was no statistically significant difference in
      combined rates of all-cause mortality and stroke at 30-days for TAVR vs SAVR
      (6.3% vs 7.5%; OR 0.83; 95% CI: 0.64-1.08; P=0.17) or at 12 months (17.2% vs
      19.2%; OR 0.87; 95% CI: 0.73-1.03; P=0.29). No statistically significant
      difference was seen for death or stroke separately at any time point although a
      numerical trend in favour of TAVR for both was recorded. Length of in-patient
      stay was significantly less with TAVR vs SAVR (9.6 +/- 7.7 days vs 12.2 +/- 8.8
      days; OR -2.94; 95% CI: -4.64 to -1.24; P=0.0007). Major vascular complications
      were more frequent in patients undergoing TAVR vs SAVR (8.2% vs. 4.0%; OR 2.15;
      95% CI: 1.62-2.86; P <0.00001) but major bleeding was more common among SAVR
      patients (20.5% vs 44.2%; OR 0.34; 95% CI: 0.22-0.52; P=<0.00001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Transcatheter aortic valve replacement and SAVR are associated with overall
      similar rates of death and stroke among patients in intermediate to high-risk
      cohorts but with reduced length of in-patient hospital stay.

PMID- 27646580
TI  - [Current Status of Translational Research on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease].
AB  - The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and the incidence of
      some of its complications have risen strikingly over the last few decades. With
      the increase in our understanding of the pathophysiology of GERD along with the
      development of proton pump inhibitors, the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches
      to GERD have changed dramatically over the past decade. However, GERD still poses
      a problem to many clinicians since the spectrum of the disease has evolved to
      encompass more challenging presentations such as refractory GERD and extra
      esophageal manifestations. The aim of this article is to provide a review of
      available current translational research on GERD. This review includes acid
      pocket, ambulatory pH monitoring, impedance pH monitoring, mucosa impedance, and
      high resolution manometry. This article discusses current translational research
      on GERD. 

PMID- 27646581
TI  - [Current Status of Translational Research on Functional Dyspepsia].
AB  - Functional dyspepsia (FD) has a diverse pathophysiology and treatment is
      difficult. Translational research to understand its pathophysiology is underway.
      Hormonal factors, including ghrelin, seem promising, offering an understanding of
      appetite and eating. Functional MRI brain study can expand our knowledge of the
      brain-gut axis. Finally, immune systems research, including mast cells, can help
      with comprehensive understanding of FD. The clinical approaches based on these
      translational research projects are necessary to improve understanding of FD,
      leading to more effective treatment. 

PMID- 27646578
TI  - Effects of omega-3 Fatty Acids and Catechins on Fatty Acid Synthase in the
      Prostate: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - Animal and human studies suggest fish oil and green tea may have protective
      effect on prostate cancer. Fatty acid synthase (FAS) has been hypothesized to be
      linked to chemoprotective effects of both compounds. This study evaluated the
      independent and joint effects of fish oil (FO) and green tea supplement
      (epigallocatechin-3-gallate, EGCG) on FAS and Ki-67 levels in prostate tissue.
      Through a double-blinded, randomized controlled trial with 2 * 2 factorial
      design, 89 men scheduled for repeat prostate biopsy following an initial negative
      prostate biopsy were randomized into either FO alone (1.9 g DHA + EPA/day), EGCG
      alone (600 mg/day), a combination of FO and EGCG, or placebo. We used linear
      mixed-effects models to test the differences of prostate tissue FAS and Ki-67 by
      immunohistochemistry between pre- and post-intervention within each group, as
      well as between treatment groups. Results did not show significant difference
      among treatment groups in pre-to-post-intervention changes of FAS (P = 0.69) or
      Ki-67 (P = 0.26). Comparing placebo group with any of the treatment groups, we
      did not find significant difference in FAS or Ki-67 changes (all P > 0.05).
      Results indicate FO or EGCG supplementation for a short duration may not be
      sufficient to produce biologically meaningful changes in FAS or Ki-67 levels in
      prostate tissue.

PMID- 27646582
TI  - [Current Status of Translational Research on Irritable Bowel Syndrome].
AB  - Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder.
      The pathophysiology of IBS is not completely understood. Genetic, immune,
      environmental, inflammatory, neurological and psychological factors contribute to
      the risk of this condition. Traditional research explored gastrointestinal motor
      abnormalities, central neural dysregulation, abnormal psychological features, and
      visceral hypersensitivity. More recent investigations consider bacterial
      overgrowth, abnormal serotonin pathways, altered gut flora, immune activation and
      mucosal inflammation. The purpose of this article is to review recent
      translational research concerning the pathophysiology, biomarker and genetic
      factors of IBS and to encourage IBS research in Korea. 

PMID- 27646583
TI  - [Current Status of Translational Research on Constipation].
AB  - Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders with a
      prevalence up to 16.5% in the general population. It is frequently multifactorial
      and the pathophysiologic mechanism of constipation is not fully understood. Many
      preclinical studies of constipation have used animal models. Translational
      research using these animal models is essential to the investigation of
      neurogenic and myogenic mechanisms of colon, and to the estimation of the
      clinical efficacy of new drugs. In this review, we discuss some of the current
      translational research projects on constipation using animal models. 

PMID- 27646584
TI  - A Case of Myeloid Sarcoma of Intestine.
AB  - Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is an extramedullary involvement of immature myeloid
      proliferation. An isolated MS is defined as a myeloblastic tumor when it arises
      without any concomitant circulating disease. A diagnosis of MS is established
      using pathologic features including infiltration of myeloblasts and strong
      myeloperoxidase expression with negative cytokeratin immunohistochemical
      staining. We report a rare case of colonic MS without any peripheral blood
      abnormality. If the affected patient were left untreated, the MS could evolve
      into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) within one year. Several studies recommend the
      same regimens of chemotherapy as used for circulating AML to treat isolated MS.
      We focused on the diagnosis of MS in this study. The correct diagnosis of MS is
      important for adequate treatment. In conclusion, MS should be considered in the
      differential diagnosis of intestinal tumor. 

PMID- 27646585
TI  - Spontaneous Bleeding from a Short Gastric Artery after Vomiting Successfully
      Treated without Surgery.
AB  - Spontaneous bleeding from a short gastric artery in the absence of pre-disposing
      trauma is reported very rarely. To the best of our knowledge, the published
      literature includes only 14 cases. Young men comprise almost all of the patients,
      and were induced by vomiting or gagging. The patients usually required emergent
      surgery. Our patient, a 32-year-old man, was diagnosed with spontaneous
      hemoperitoneum due to short gastric artery tearing after a few instances of
      vomiting. We managed him conservatively including fluid, vitamin K and
      antifibrinolytic agent without surgery. 

PMID- 27646586
TI  - Hepatic Infarction Caused by Portal Vein Thrombophlebitis Misdiagnosed as
      Infiltrative Hepatic Malignancy with Neoplastic Thrombus.
AB  - Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a form of venous thrombosis that usually presents
      in chronic form without any sequalae in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC) or liver cirrhosis. Accurate differential diagnosis of bland PVT from
      neoplastic PVT is an important step for planning treatment options, but the acute
      form can be challenging. Here we present a case of acute hepatic infarction
      caused by acute bland PVT combined with pylephlebitis, which was misdiagnosed as
      infiltrative hepatic malignancy with neoplastic PVT owing to the perplexing
      imaging results and elevated tumor markers. 

PMID- 27646587
TI  - A Case of Idiopathic Severe Acute Pancreatitis following Cesarean Section
      Delivery.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis rarely occurs in the postpartum period. Furthermore, there are
      very few reports of it after cesarean section delivery. A 35-year-old woman
      presented with dyspnea and abdominal distension on the third day after cesarean
      section delivery. Under a suspicion of acute pancreatitis, she was initially
      managed with conservative treatment. However, she developed intra-abdominal fluid
      collections and gastric bleeding, which were managed with percutaneous drainage,
      endoscopic hemostasis, and angiographic embolization. She was discharged with
      good clinical recovery. Postpartum pancreatitis, especially after cesarean
      section, is rare; however, its management is not different from that for usual
      pancreatitis. 

PMID- 27646588
TI  - Prostate tumor attenuation in the nu/nu murine model due to anti-sarcosine
      antibodies in folate-targeted liposomes.
AB  - Herein, we describe the preparation of liposomes with folate-targeting properties
      for the encapsulation of anti-sarcosine antibodies (antisarAbs@LIP) and sarcosine
      (sar@LIP). The competitive inhibitory effects of exogenously added folic acid
      supported the role of folate targeting in liposome internalization. We examined
      the effects of repeated administration on mice PC-3 xenografts. Sar@LIP treatment
      significantly increased tumor volume and weight compared to controls treated with
      empty liposomes. Moreover, antisarAbs@LIP administration exhibited a mild
      antitumor effect. We also identified differences in gene expression patterns post
      treatment. Furthermore, Sar@LIP treatment resulted in decreased amounts of tumor
      zinc ions and total metallothioneins. Examination of the spatial distribution
      across the tumor sections revealed a sarcosine-related decline of the MT1X
      isoform within the marginal regions but an elevation after antisarAbs@LIP
      administration. Our exploratory results demonstrate the importance of sarcosine
      as an oncometabolite in PCa. Moreover, we have shown that sarcosine can be a
      potential target for anticancer strategies in management of PCa.

PMID- 27646589
TI  - Reduction of Isoagglutinin in Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) Using Blood Group
      A- and B-Specific Immunoaffinity Chromatography: Industry-Scale Assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemolysis, a rare but potentially serious complication of intravenous
      immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy, is associated with the presence of antibodies to
      blood groups A and B (isoagglutinins) in the IVIG product. An immunoaffinity
      chromatography (IAC) step in the production process could decrease isoagglutinin
      levels in IVIG. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to compare isoagglutinin levels
      in a large number of IVIG (Privigen(r)) batches produced with or without IAC and
      to assess the feasibility of the production process with an IAC step on an
      industrial scale. METHODS: The IAC column comprised a blend of anti-A and anti-B
      resins formed by coupling synthetic blood group antigens (A/B-trisaccharides) to
      a base bead matrix, and was introduced towards the end of the industrial-scale
      IVIG manufacturing process. Isoagglutinin levels in IVIG were determined by anti
      A and anti-B hemagglutinin direct and indirect methods according to the European
      Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) and an isoagglutinin flow cytometry assay. IVIG product
      quality was assessed with respect to the retention of immunoglobulin G (IgG)
      subclasses, specific antibodies, and removal of IgM using standardized
      procedures. RESULTS: The IAC step reduced isoagglutinins in IVIG by two to three
      titer steps compared with lots produced without IAC. The median anti-A and anti-B
      titers with IAC were 1:8 and 1:4, respectively, when measured by the Ph. Eur.
      direct method, and 1:2 and <1, respectively, when measured by the Ph. Eur.
      indirect method. The isoagglutinin flow cytometry assay showed an 87-90 %
      reduction in isoagglutinins in post-IAC versus pre-IAC fractions. IAC alone
      reduced anti-A and anti-B of the IgMs isotype by 92.5-97.8 % and 95.4-99.2 %,
      respectively. Other product quality characteristics were similar with and without
      IAC. CONCLUSIONS: IAC is an effective method for reducing isoagglutinin levels in
      IVIG, and it is feasible on an industrial scale.

PMID- 27646591
TI  - pH/NIR Light-Controlled Multidrug Release via a Mussel-Inspired Nanocomposite
      Hydrogel for Chemo-Photothermal Cancer Therapy.
AB  - This study reports on an intelligent composite hydrogel with both pH-dependent
      drug release in a cancer environment and heat generation based on NIR laser
      exposure, for the combined application of photothermal therapy (PTT) and
      multidrug chemotherapy. For the first time in the literature, Dopamine
      nanoparticle (DP) was incorporated as a highly effective photothermal agent as
      well as anticancer drug, bortezomib (BTZ) carrier inside a stimuli responsive
      pNIPAAm-co-pAAm hydrogel. When light is applied to the composite hydrogel, DP
      nanoparticle absorbs the light, which is dissipated locally as heat to impact
      cancer cells via hyperthermia. On the other hand, facile release of the
      anticancer drug BTZ from the surface of DP encapsulated hydrogel could be
      achieved due to the dissociation between catechol groups of DP and the boronic
      acid functionality of BTZ in typical acidic cancer environment. In order to
      increase the synergistic effect by dual drug delivery, Doxorubicin (DOXO) were
      also loaded to pNIPAAm-co-pAAm/DP-BTZ hydrogel and the effect of monotherapy as
      well as combined therapy were detailed by a complete characterization. Our
      results suggest that these mussel inspired nanocomposite with excellent heating
      property and controllable multidrug release can be considered as a potential
      material for cancer therapy.

PMID- 27646595
TI  - [Palliative medicine].

PMID- 27646592
TI  - In silico prediction of chemical mechanism of action via an improved network
      based inference method.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Deciphering chemical mechanism of action (MoA) enables
      the development of novel therapeutics (e.g. drug repositioning) and evaluation of
      drug side effects. Development of novel computational methods for chemical MoA
      assessment under a systems pharmacology framework would accelerate drug discovery
      and development with greater efficiency and low cost. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: In
      this study, we proposed an improved network-based inference method, balanced
      substructure-drug-target network-based inference (bSDTNBI), to predict MoA for
      old drugs, clinically failed drugs and new chemical entities. Specifically, three
      parameters were introduced into network-based resource diffusion processes to
      adjust the initial resource allocation of different node types, the weighted
      values of different edge types and the influence of hub nodes. The performance of
      the method was systematically validated by benchmark datasets and bioassays. KEY
      RESULTS: High performance was yielded for bSDTNBI in both 10-fold and leave-one
      out cross validations. A global drug-target network was built to explore MoA of
      anticancer drugs and repurpose old drugs for 15 cancer types/subtypes. In a case
      study, 27 predicted candidates among 56 commercially available compounds were
      experimentally validated to have binding affinities on oestrogen receptor alpha
      with IC50 or EC50 values <=10 MUM. Furthermore, two dual ligands with both
      agonistic and antagonistic activities <=1 MUM would provide potential lead
      compounds for the development of novel targeted therapy in breast cancer or
      osteoporosis. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: In summary, bSDTNBI would provide a
      powerful tool for the MoA assessment on both old drugs and novel compounds in
      drug discovery and development.

PMID- 27646594
TI  - Halobacterial nano vesicles displaying murine bactericidal permeability
      increasing protein rescue mice from lethal endotoxic shock.
AB  - Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) had been shown to possess anti
      inflammatory and endotoxin neutralizing activity by interacting with LPS of Gram
      negative bacteria. The current study examines the feasibility of using murine BPI
      (mBPI) expressed on halophilic Archaeal gas vesicle nanoparticles (GVNPs) for the
      treatment of endotoxemia in high-risk patients, using a murine model of D
      galactosamine-induced endotoxic shock. Halobacterium sp. NRC-1was used to express
      the N-terminal 199 amino acid residues of mBPI fused to the GVNP GvpC protein,
      and bound to the surface of the haloarchaeal GVNPs. Our results indicate that
      delivery of mBPIN-GVNPs increase the survival rate of mice challenged with lethal
      concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and D-galactosamine. Additionally, the
      mBPIN-GVNP-treated mice displayed reduced symptoms of inflammation, including
      inflammatory anemia, recruitment of neutrophils, liver apoptosis as well as
      increased pro-inflammatory serum cytokine levels.

PMID- 27646598
TI  - Recent trends in targeted therapy of cancer using graphene oxide-modified
      multifunctional nanomedicines.
AB  - Rapid progresses in nanotechnology fields have led us to use a number of advanced
      nanomaterials (NMs) for engineering smart multifunctional nanoparticles
      (NPs)/nanosystems (NSs) for targeted diagnosis and therapy of various diseases
      including different types of malignancies. For the effective therapy of any type
      of solid tumor, the treatment modality should ideally solely target the aberrant
      cancerous cells/tissue with no/trivial impacts on the healthy cells. One approach
      to achieve such unprecedented impacts can be fulfilled through the use of
      seamless multimodal NPs/NSs with photoacoustic properties that can be achieved
      using advanced NMs such as graphene oxide (GO). It is considered as one of the
      most promising materials that have been used in the development of various
      NPs/NSs. GO-based targeted NSs can be engineered as programmable drug delivery
      systems (DDSs) to perform on-demand chemotherapy combined with photonic energy
      for photothermal therapy (PTT) or photodynamic therapy (PDT). In the current
      review, we provide important insights on the GO-based NSs and discuss their
      potentials for the photodynamic/photothermal ablation of cancer in combination
      with anticancer agents.

PMID- 27646600
TI  - Body representations in schizophrenia: an alteration of body structural
      description is common to people with schizophrenia while alterations of body
      image worsen with passivity symptoms.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Individuals with schizophrenia, particularly those with passivity
      symptoms, often feel that their actions and thoughts are controlled by an
      external agent. Recent evidence has elucidated the role of body representations
      in the aetiology of passivity symptoms, yet one representation - body structural
      description - has not yet been examined. Additionally, body image has rarely been
      examined outside of bodily illusions (e.g., rubber hand experiments) and external
      validation is required. METHODS: Body structural description was assessed with an
      in-between task and a matching body parts by location task, and body image with a
      questionnaire examining body distortion experiences (containing subscales
      assessing boundary loss, depersonalisation and body size distortions).
      Individuals with schizophrenia (20 with current, 12 with past and 21 with no
      history of passivity symptoms) and 48 healthy controls participated in the study.
      RESULTS: People with schizophrenia (as a group) made more errors on the in
      between task, but not on the matching body parts by location task. Individuals
      with current passivity symptoms reported greater distortions on all subscales
      relative to the other clinical samples, except for experiences of boundary loss
      which were common to both passivity symptom groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      indicate that body structural description may be altered in schizophrenia
      generally and body image alterations are worsened in passivity symptoms, and
      these alterations likely contribute to the emergence of passivity symptoms.

PMID- 27646597
TI  - Protection Provided by a Gabexate Mesylate Thermo-Sensitive In Situ Gel for Rats
      with Grade III Pancreatic Trauma.
AB  - Background/Aims: This study investigated the protection provided by gabexate
      mesylate thermo-sensitive in-situ gel (GMTI) against grade III pancreatic trauma
      in rats. Methods: A grade III pancreatic trauma model with main pancreatic duct
      dividing was established, and the pancreas anatomical diagram, ascites, and serum
      biochemical indices, including amylase, lipase, C-reactive protein (CRP),
      interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), were examined.
      The pancreas was sliced and stained with hematoxylin eosin and subjected to
      terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining.
      Results: Ascites, serum amylase, lipase, CRP, IL-6, and TNF-alpha levels were
      significantly increased in the pancreas trauma (PT) groups with prolonged trauma
      time and were significantly decreased after GMTI treatment. The morphological
      structure of the pancreas was loose, the acinus was significantly damaged, the
      nuclei were irregular and hyperchromatic, and there was inflammatory cell
      invasion in the PT group compared to the control. After GMTI treatment, the
      morphological structure of the pancreas was restored, and the damaged acinus and
      inflammatory cell invasion were decreased compared to the PT group. Moreover, the
      cell apoptosis index was significantly increased in the PT group and restored to
      the same levels as the control group after GMTI treatment. Conclusions: GMTI, a
      novel formulation and drug delivery method, exhibited specific effective
      protection against PT with acute pancreatitis therapy and has potential value as
      a minimally invasive adjuvant therapy for PT with acute pancreatitis.

PMID- 27646602
TI  - Ancistectorine D, a naphthylisoquinoline alkaloid with antiprotozoal and
      antileukemic activities, and further 5,8'- and 7,1'-linked metabolites from the
      Chinese liana Ancistrocladus tectorius.
AB  - From the twigs and stems of the Chinese liana Ancistrocladus tectorius
      (Ancistrocladaceae), two new 5,8'-coupled naphthylisoquinolines, ancistectorine D
      (5) and its 6-O-demethyl derivative 6, were isolated, along with two new 7,1'
      linked alkaloids, 6-O-methylancistectorine B1 (7) and ancistectorine B2 (8). Two
      further compounds, ancistroealaine A (4) and 6-O-demethyl-8-O-methyl-7-epi
      ancistrobrevine D (10), already known from related Asian and African
      Ancistrocladus species, were discovered for the first time in A. tectorius. The
      structure elucidation was achieved by spectroscopic analysis including HRESIMS,
      1D and 2D NMR, and by chemical (oxidative degradation) and chiroptical (circular
      dichroism) methods. Chemotaxonomically remarkable, 5,8'-coupled
      naphthylisoquinolines have as yet been found quite rarely in Asian Ancistrocladus
      species, where only two examples have so far been detected, while alkaloids with
      this coupling type represent the by far the largest group of constituents in
      African taxa. Ancistectorine D (5) shows promising activities against the
      protozoan parasites Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania donovani, and it was
      likewise found to display strong cytotoxic activities against human leukemia
      (CCRF-CEM) and multidrug-resistant tumor cells (CEM/ADR5000).

PMID- 27646601
TI  - Drug development in Alzheimer's disease: the path to 2025.
AB  - The global impact of Alzheimer's disease (AD) continues to increase, and focused
      efforts are needed to address this immense public health challenge. National
      leaders have set a goal to prevent or effectively treat AD by 2025. In this
      paper, we discuss the path to 2025, and what is feasible in this time frame given
      the realities and challenges of AD drug development, with a focus on disease
      modifying therapies (DMTs). Under the current conditions, only drugs currently in
      late Phase 1 or later will have a chance of being approved by 2025. If pipeline
      attrition rates remain high, only a few compounds at best will meet this time
      frame. There is an opportunity to reduce the time and risk of AD drug development
      through an improvement in trial design; better trial infrastructure; disease
      registries of well-characterized participant cohorts to help with more rapid
      enrollment of appropriate study populations; validated biomarkers to better
      detect disease, determine risk and monitor disease progression as well as predict
      disease response; more sensitive clinical assessment tools; and faster regulatory
      review. To implement change requires efforts to build awareness, educate and
      foster engagement; increase funding for both basic and clinical research; reduce
      fragmented environments and systems; increase learning from successes and
      failures; promote data standardization and increase wider data sharing;
      understand AD at the basic biology level; and rapidly translate new knowledge
      into clinical development. Improved mechanistic understanding of disease onset
      and progression is central to more efficient AD drug development and will lead to
      improved therapeutic approaches and targets. The opportunity for more than a few
      new therapies by 2025 is small. Accelerating research and clinical development
      efforts and bringing DMTs to market sooner would have a significant impact on the
      future societal burden of AD. As these steps are put in place and plans come to
      fruition, e.g., approval of a DMT, it can be predicted that momentum will build,
      the process will be self-sustaining, and the path to 2025, and beyond, becomes
      clearer.

PMID- 27646607
TI  - Research advances on structural characterization of resistant starch and its
      structure-physiological function relationship: A review.
AB  - Resistant starch (RS) is defined as the fraction of starch that escapes digestion
      in the small intestine due to either difficult enzyme/starch contact or to the
      strength of the crystalline regions formed both in native starch and in those
      retrograded starch. RS occurs naturally in some foods, and some may be generated
      in others as the results of several processing conditions. Varieties of
      techniques have been employed to obtain structural characteristics of RS such as
      their crystallinity, structural order, chain-length distribution and
      conformation, helicity, and double-helical structures. These structures play an
      important role in determining the physiological properties of RS such as their
      prebiotic and hypoglycaemic properties. However, such topic on structural
      characterization of RS and their structure-physiological function relationship
      have not been reviewed in previous literatures. Therefore, this review focuses on
      the past and current achievements of research on structural characterizations of
      a range of RS prepared from different sources of native starches as a result of a
      variety of processing conditions. The potential relationships between the
      structure and the physiological properties of RS, which is of paramount
      importance for the furtherance understanding and application of RS, are also
      reviewed in this study.

PMID- 27646604
TI  - The Mucus Barrier to Inhaled Gene Therapy.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that the airway mucus gel layer may be impermeable to
      the viral and synthetic gene vectors used in past inhaled gene therapy clinical
      trials for diseases like cystic fibrosis. These findings support the logic that
      inhaled gene vectors that are incapable of penetrating the mucus barrier are
      unlikely to provide meaningful benefit to patients. In this review, we discuss
      the biochemical and biophysical features of mucus that contribute its barrier
      function, and how these barrier properties may be reinforced in patients with
      lung disease. We next review biophysical techniques used to assess the potential
      ability of gene vectors to penetrate airway mucus. Finally, we provide new data
      suggesting that fresh human airway mucus should be used to test the penetration
      rates of gene vectors. The physiological barrier properties of spontaneously
      expectorated CF sputum remained intact up to 24 hours after collection when
      refrigerated at 4  degrees C. Conversely, the barrier properties were
      significantly altered after freezing and thawing of sputum samples. Gene vectors
      capable of overcoming the airway mucus barrier hold promise as a means to provide
      the widespread gene transfer throughout the airway epithelium required to achieve
      meaningful patient outcomes in inhaled gene therapy clinical trials.

PMID- 27646608
TI  - Comparison of clinical outcomes of squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and
      adenosquamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix after definitive radiotherapy: a
      population-based analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical outcomes in patients with International
      Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I to IVA squamous cell
      carcinoma (SCC), adenocarcinoma (AC), and adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) of the
      uterine cervix after definitive radiotherapy. METHODS: Patients with a primary
      diagnosis of FIGO stage I-IVA SCC, AC, and ASC of the uterine cervix who had
      undergone definitive beam radiation with implants or isotopes between 1988 and
      2013 were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
      database. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to
      analyze the effect of histologic subtype on cause-specific survival (CSS) and
      overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 8751 were identified, and 86.0, 10.6,
      and 3.4 % of patients were SCC, AC, and ASC, respectively. AC patients were more
      often well differentiated, while more patients were poorly/undifferentiated in
      ASC subtype. A higher percentage of AC and ASC patients were stage I, and fewer
      had stage III compared to SCC. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses showed
      that histologic subtype was an independent prognostic factor for CSS and OS. SCC
      subtype had a better CSS and OS compared to AC and ASC subtype. The survival
      between AC and ASC had no significant difference. The impact of the histologic
      subtype on CSS and OS was not affected by FIGO stage and the year of diagnosis.
      CONCLUSION: AC and ASC subtypes are independent prognostic factors for cervical
      cancer patients treated with definitive radiotherapy. AC and ASC subtypes are
      associated with poor survival outcomes than those with SCC.

PMID- 27646609
TI  - Perilipin 1 is a highly specific marker for adipocytic differentiation in
      sarcomas with intermediate sensitivity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Liposarcomas are the most common soft tissue sarcomas of adults. The
      identification of lipoblastic cells in soft tissue sarcomas is mandatory for the
      diagnosis of most subtypes of liposarcomas but may be difficult in conventional
      histology. The present study focuses on the expression and possible diagnostic
      impact of two PAT family proteins, perilipin 1/perilipin and perilipin
      2/adipophilin in human liposarcomas. METHODS: Eighty-seven cases of liposarcomas
      and 30 cases of non-lipomatous sarcomas were investigated immunohistochemically
      for perilipin 1 and 2 using entire tissue sections. Statistical analyses were
      performed using appropriate tests. RESULTS: Most liposarcomas and non-lipomatous
      sarcomas displayed positivity for perilipin 2. In contrast, while more than two
      thirds of liposarcomas presented perilipin 1 positivity, all non-lipomatous
      sarcomas studied were negative for this marker, with statistical significance (p
      < 0.001). Perilipin 1 expression increased with adipocytic differentiation of
      liposarcoma subtypes showing statistical significance (p < 0.001). Non-lipomatous
      sarcomas demonstrated variable expression levels of perilipin 2. The expression
      level of perilipin 2 appeared to be correlated with tumor cell degeneration,
      e.g., through hypoxia. CONCLUSIONS: Perilipin 2 is not well suitable for
      distinction between liposarcomas and non-lipomatous sarcomas. However, perilipin
      1 appeared to be a highly specific marker for liposarcoma and adipocytic
      differentiation in sarcomas with intermediate sensitivity.

PMID- 27646611
TI  - Review of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Framework of Disaster Nursing
      Competencies.
AB  - The International Council of Nurses (ICN; Geneva, Switzerland) and the World
      Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM; Madison, Wisconsin USA)
      joined together in 2014 to review the use of the ICN Framework of Disaster
      Nursing Competencies. The existing ICN Framework (version 1.10; dated 2009)
      formed the starting point for this review. The key target audiences for this
      process were members of the disaster nursing community concerned with pre-service
      education for professional nursing and the continuing education of practicing
      professional nurses. To minimize risk in the disaster nursing practice,
      competencies have been identified as the foundation of evidence-based practice
      and standard development. A Steering Committee was established by the WADEM
      Nursing Section to discuss how to initiate a review of the ICN Framework of
      Disaster Nursing Competencies. The Steering Committee then worked via email to
      develop a survey to send out to disaster/emergency groups that may have nurse
      members who work/respond in disasters. Thirty-five invitations were sent out with
      20 responses (57%) received. Ninety-five percent of respondents knew of the ICN
      Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies, with the majority accessing these
      competencies via the Internet. The majority of those who responded said that they
      make use of the ICN Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies with the most
      common use being for educational purposes. Education was done at a local,
      national, and international level. The competencies were held in high esteem and
      valued by these organizations as the cornerstone of their disaster education, and
      also were used for the continued professional development of disaster nursing.
      However, respondents stated that five years on from their development, the
      competencies also should include the psychosocial elements of nurses caring for
      themselves and their colleagues. Additionally, further studies should explore if
      there are other areas related to the disaster nursing practice (in addition to
      psychosocial concerns) that may be missing or not fully developed. Finally, the
      authors of this report recommend that future research explore how the ICN
      Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies do or do not assist in maintaining
      best practices in this field and improve outcomes for victims of disaster. Hutton
      A , Veenema TG , Gebbie K . Review of the International Council of Nurses (ICN)
      Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):680
      683.

PMID- 27646612
TI  - Transesophageal Echocardiography Complications in Adult Cardiac Surgery: A
      Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there have been several large reviews documenting the
      complications following intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE),
      most of these prior reports are almost 2 decades old and may not reflect current
      practices. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and types of
      complications following TEE in a contemporary cardiac surgical population.
      METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all cardiac surgical patients
      having undergone an intraoperative TEE between April 1, 2004, and April 30, 2012.
      Patients with TEE-related complications were identified from our institutional
      cardiac surgical database to have their medical records manually reviewed through
      International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision coding for: 1) a priori
      defined complications including dysphagia, vocal cord and laryngeal injury,
      dysphonia, accidental puncture and laceration during a procedure, and hemorrhage
      and hematoma complicating a procedure; 2) the requirement for an in-hospital
      esophageal or bronchial endoscopy procedure; or 3) the requirement for
      postoperative specialist consultation from gastrointestinal bleed or other
      surgery services. A multivariable model was then developed to identify risk
      factors for TEE complications. RESULTS: Of the 7,954 cardiac surgical cases
      performed during the study period, 1,074 had their records manually reviewed and
      111 (1.4%) patients had possible complications. Multivariate analysis showed an
      increased risk of complications associated with age, body mass index, previous
      stroke, procedure other than isolated coronary artery bypass grafting,
      cardiopulmonary bypass time, and return to the operating room for any reason
      (model c-statistic = 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of TEE
      complications after cardiac surgery was 1.4%. Advanced age, low body mass index,
      complexity of procedure, prior stroke, prolonged bypass time, and return to the
      operating room appear to be significant risk factors for TEE complications.

PMID- 27646613
TI  - Increased indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in type 2 diabetic nephropathy.
AB  - AIM: The study aimed to test the hypothesis that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase
      (IDO) plays a pathogenic role in type 2 diabetic nephropathy (DN). METHODS: One
      hundred individuals were recruited in our study from January 2012 to December
      2013, including group A (control group, 24 healthy adults), group B (20 patients
      with latent glomerulonephritis), group C (32 type 2 DN patients, estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >30ml/min per 1.73m2), group D (24 maintenance
      hemodialysis, MHD patients). Clinical parameters such as gender, age, urine
      samples, serum creatinine, eGFR, L-tryptophan, L-kynurenine and 24h urinary
      protein were collected and analyzed. Group C was further divided on C1 (eGFR
      >60ml/min per 1.73m2) and C2 (eGFR 31-60ml/min per 1.73m2). RESULTS: Age was not
      related to IDO activity (r=0.27, P=0.057), while eGFR was significantly related
      to IDO activity (r=-0.54, P=0.002). IDO activity was significantly higher in the
      group C1 than group A (P=0.003), group B (P=0.008), and lower than in group D
      (P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: IDO activity increased with severity of chronic kidney
      disease and negatively correlated with eGFR. Moreover, IDO activity was
      significantly increased in type 2 DN when eGFR was >60ml/min per 1.73m2, which
      suggested that IDO may closely correlate with the pathogenesis of type 2 DN.

PMID- 27646614
TI  - Prognostic impact of splenic artery invasion for pancreatic cancer of the body
      and tail.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognostic impact of splenic artery (SA) invasion after resection
      for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail has not been investigated. The aim of
      this study was to assess the clinical value of SA invasion for pancreatic cancer
      of the body and tail. METHODS: Between 1993 and 2015, 64 patients who underwent
      distal pancreatectomy (DP) for histologically confirmed pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma of the body and tail were included in this study.
      Clinicopathological prognostic factors for survival were analyzed using a
      prospectively collected database. RESULTS: Of the 64 study patients, histologic
      invasion of the SA was confirmed in 23 (35.9%) cases. The prognosis of patients
      with SA invasion was significantly worse than that of patients with non-SA
      invasion (median survival: 16.0 versus 34.7 months, p = 0.014). Multivariate
      analysis indicated that lymph node metastases (risk ratio: 2.817, p = 0.005) and
      R1 resection (risk ratio: 2.715, p = 0.006) were independently associated with
      overall survival after DP for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail. In
      contrast, SA invasion was not extracted as an independent prognostic factor.
      CONCLUSIONS: SA invasion after resection for pancreatic cancer of the body and
      tail does not have the prognostic impact that surpasses lymph node metastases.

PMID- 27646616
TI  - Self - Reported Depression, Anxiety and Evaluation of Own Pain in Clinical Sample
      of Patients with Different Location of Chronic Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression, anxiety and chronic pain are frequent co-occurrent
      disorders. Patients with these mental disorders experience more intense pain that
      lasts for a longer time. METHOD: Questionnaire with 228 variables was applied to
      109 randomly chosen patients that were treated at an outpatient clinic for
      treatment of chronic pain of the University Clinical Centre Ljubljana from March
      to June 2013. 87 patients responded to the questionnaire (79.8%). Location of
      pain considering diagnosis was the criterion in the discriminant analysis (soft
      tissue disorders; headache; symptoms not elsewhere classified; back pain) and
      following summative scores as predictors: level of depression and anxiety (The
      Zung Self-Rating Depression/Anxiety Scale), evaluation of pain and perceptions of
      being threatened in social relations. RESULTS: Average age of participants was M
      = 52.7 years (SD 13.9), with 70.9% female, 29.1% male participants. 63% of
      respondents achieved clinically important level of depression and 54% clinically
      important level of anxiety. On univariate level, the highest level of depression
      and anxiety was found for back pain and the lowest for headache. No significant
      difference was found in evaluation of pain and perceptions of being threatened in
      social relations regarding location of pain. Self-evaluation of depression has,
      in the framework of discriminant analysis, the largest weight for prediction of
      differentiation between different locations of pain. CONCLUSION: Different
      locations of pain have different connections with mood levels. The results of
      research on a preliminary level indicate the need to consider mental experience
      in the treatment of chronic pain.

PMID- 27646617
TI  - Leadership Competences in Slovenian Health Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leadership competences play an important role for the success of
      effective leadership. The purpose of this study was to examine leadership
      competences of managers in the healthcare sector in Slovenia. METHODS: Data were
      collected in 2008. The research included 265 employees in healthcare and 267
      business managers. Respondents assessed their level of 16 leadership relevant
      competences on a 7-point Likert-type scale. RESULTS: Test of differences between
      competences and leader position of health care professionals yielded
      statistically significant differences between leader and non-leader positions.
      Leaders gave strongest emphasis to interpersonal and informational competences,
      while regarding decision making competences, the differences between leaders and
      other employees are not that significant. When comparing competences of
      healthcare managers with those of business managers, results show that healthcare
      managers tend to give weaker emphasis to competences related to all three
      managerial roles than business managers. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that in
      Slovenian health care, leaders distinguish themselves from other employees in
      some leadership competences. In addition, all three dimensions of leadership
      competences significantly distinguished the group of healthcare managers from the
      business managers, which indicates a serious lag in leadership competences among
      leaders in Slovenian healthcare.

PMID- 27646618
TI  - Quality of Life and Patient Satisfaction with Family Practice Care in a Roma
      Population with Chronic Conditions in Northeast Slovenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures a patient's
      subjective experience of his or her health status. We aimed to show how the
      presence of chronic diseases and satisfaction with family physicians (FPs) were
      associated with the HRQoL of a Roma population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study
      was carried out in May 2011 on a representative sample of 650 Roma living in
      Prekmurje, Slovenia. The EQ-5D questionnaire was used for measuring the HRQoL of
      the Roma. Demographical data, 12 groups of diseases diagnosed in the last 12
      months and satisfaction with FPs were included in the questionnaire. RESULTS: The
      response rate was 88.3% 574), of which 56.4% were female, and the average age of
      the participants had a mean value of 40.2+/-12.7 years. The presence of
      cardiovascular problems with risk factors for them or presence of musculoskeletal
      disorders were strongly associated with the presence of pain (Cramer's V = 0.40
      and 0.46 respectively). There was a strong association between the presence of
      mental disorders and anxiety and depression (Cramer's V = 0.58). The average
      satisfaction with the family physician was 3.9 (mean+/-1.10) on a five-point
      Likert scale. There was no significant association between HRQoL and satisfaction
      with the family physician. CONCLUSIONS: Roma with chronic mental health problems
      had the lowest HRQoL in the Roma population. More attention should be paid to
      this subgroup of Roma in family medicine, and interventions should be provided.
      High satisfaction with their FPs is not associated with the observed quality of
      life variables.

PMID- 27646619
TI  - Key Determinants Influencing the Health Literacy of Pregnant Women in the Czech
      Republic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health literacy is a critical determinant of women's and children's
      health and therefore has immense consequences for the health of society as well.
      Evidence from epidemiological, clinical and experimental studies indicates that
      unhealthy lifestyles and risky behavioural habits of parents before conception
      and during pregnancy influence the etiology of various health defects. Decreasing
      primary risk factors, practicing physical wellness, monitoring physiological
      markers and preparing for labour, breastfeeding and newborn care should be the
      main parental responsibilities during the prenatal period. METHODS: Our study
      focused on specifying the main determinants of health literacy among 360 pregnant
      Czech women by using an anonymous questionnaire and selected anthropometric data
      of mothers. The criteria for study participation produced a sample representing
      1.41% of Czech women in labour during a given 2012 reference period. RESULTS:
      Despite quite adequate knowledge of both risks and supporting factors for
      pregnancy and foetal development, the lifestyles of a majority of the women
      surveyed were far from optimum: only 30% reported good dietary and physical
      activity habits, 24% were active or passive smokers and one third of the women
      occasionally drank alcohol, more often among those who were university educated.
      CONCLUSION: Our results have confirmed previously published data noting that
      health literacy and a healthier lifestyle of pregnant women are associated with a
      higher level of education (except for alcohol drinking) and with contact with a
      midwife (in some examined parameters) in prenatal courses.

PMID- 27646620
TI  - Investigation of Two Outbreaks of Gastroenteritis in Trzic in September 2011.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An outbreak of gastroenteritis of etiologically unspecified origin
      and an outbreak of Salmonellosis occurred simultaneously in September 2011 in
      Trzic. The purpose of the investigation of both outbreaks was to identify the
      most probable source and the mode of transmission and to implement preventive
      measures. METHODS: In two retrospective case-control studies, the association
      between gastroenteritis of etiologically unspecified origin or Salmonellosis and
      food from a restaurant or drinking tap water were tested by univariate and
      multivariate analysis. The subject in the first study was a sick person with
      salmonellosis, and the subject in the second study was a resident that developed
      diarrhoea and/ or vomiting. Cases were reported by doctors, and controls were
      selected from healthy persons who responded to the questionnaire. RESULTS: A
      person exposed to food from the restaurant had a 24.8 times higher odds ratio
      (univariate analysis OR 24.8, 95% CI 7.5 to 82.3, p <0.05; multivariate analysis
      OR 14.7, 95% CI 3.5 - 61.3, p <0.05) for salmonellosis than non-exposed. A
      resident exposed to tap water from specific water source had a 3.4 times higher
      odds ratio (univariate analysis of OR 3.4, 95% CI 2.2 to 5.1 is p <0.05,
      multivariate analysis of RO 2.9, 95% CI 1, 7 to 5.3, p <0.05), for
      gastroenteritis of unspecific etiology than non-exposed. The dose response
      relationship was also statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Analytical cases -
      controls studies confirmed a causal relationship between salmonellosis and food
      from the specific restaurant and the causal relationship between gastroenteritis
      of etiologically unspecified origin and drinking tap water from specific water
      source. Salmonella enteritidis may have entered into the restaurant through tap
      water.

PMID- 27646621
TI  - Depression and Anxiety in Women During Pregnancy in Slovenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of elevated
      depression and anxiety among pregnant women and to examine its correlation with
      medical complications and socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: The study
      is based on a cross-sectional design of a sample of 348 women in three trimesters
      of pregnancy who received routine obstetrical care at the University Medical
      Centre Ljubljana, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The responding women
      filled out a questionnaire on socio-demographic variables, the Centre for
      Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale CES-D and the State Trait Anxiety
      Inventory STAI. RESULTS: 21.7% of pregnant women were identified as suffering
      from elevated depression symptomatology, 15.7% reported high state anxiety and
      12.5% had high trait anxiety. No significant differences in depression and
      anxiety across pregnancy trimesters were found. The women who have suffered from
      health complications during previous pregnancies showed higher state anxiety;
      those experiencing complications during their current pregnancy reported more
      intense symptoms of depression and of state and trait anxiety than women free of
      complications. Less educated, lower income and mothers of many children in the
      third pregnancy trimester reported more intensive symptoms of depression and
      trait anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated depression and anxiety are frequent among
      pregnant women. The results draw attention to the need for early detection and
      treatment of depression and anxiety during pregnancy.

PMID- 27646622
TI  - A Five Site Clostridium Perfringens Food-Borne Outbreak: A Retrospective Cohort
      Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In May of 2012, we investigated a food-borne Clostridium
      perfringens outbreak in Slovenia involving a single kitchen and five venues, with
      477 exposed persons. METHODS: In order to identify the causative agent, vehicle
      of infection and source of contamination, we conducted microbiological and
      environmental investigations and an analytical cohort study (n = 138). RESULTS:
      The case definition in the outbreak was met by 104 persons. Predominant symptoms
      were diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramps. Median incubation time and duration
      of illness were 12 and 22.5 hours respectively. Stool samples were collected from
      18 persons and in 13 C. perfringens spores were present; enterotoxin was detected
      in 9 persons. PCR and PFGE analysis of isolates from a cook with earlier onset
      time, who did not consume the implicated food, and cases from four venues showed
      the same strain of C. perfringens type A (with cpe-gene), indistinguishable by
      PFGE analysis. No food samples could be obtained. An analytical study showed that
      one food item (French salad) was the most likely vehicle of infection (RR: 6.35;
      95% CI: 1.62-24.90). CONCLUSIONS: This was the largest C. perfringens outbreak in
      Slovenia to date. Proper analytical study in combination with detailed laboratory
      investigation with genotypisation enabled us to identify a causative agent,
      vehicle of infection and possible source of contamination. Fast response and
      interdisciplinary collaboration led to timely implementation of control measures.
      These have led to the kitchen acquiring new equipment and improving staff
      knowledge of risks and processes, thus reducing the likelihood of future
      reoccurrences.

PMID- 27646623
TI  - Risk Factors for Eating Disorders among Male Adolescent Athletes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders (ED) are an important and increasing problem in
      adolescents. The objective of this study was to examine the risk factors and the
      prevalence of risk for ED among male adolescent elite athletes and nonathletic
      controls. Differences between male athletes competing in aerobic, anaerobic and
      aerobic-anaerobic sports were examined as well. METHODS: This was a cross
      sectional epidemiological study. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey and
      anthropometric measurements were conducted on 351 adolescents (athletes n = 228;
      controls n = 123). All participants were aged 15-17 at the time of measuring.
      Risk for ED was determined using a SCOFF questionnaire. RESULTS: The overall
      prevalence of the risk for ED in male adolescents was 24.8%, with no significant
      differences among athletes and controls or different subgroups of athletes
      (p>0.05), although the highest prevalence (37.2%) was registered in aerobic
      subgroup of athletes. Higher number of attempts to lose weight was associated
      with increased risk of ED in each group (athletes and controls). Other predictors
      referred to lack of breakfast and body composition in aerobic subgroup of
      athletes and number of meals and training frequency in anaerobic subgroup. The
      most common reasons for dieting were improvement of sport results (19.6-44.2%)
      and better self-esteem (41.5%) in athletes and controls respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Participation in the competitive sport itself is not associated with
      the increased risk for ED. It seems that risk factors for ED for adolescent
      athletes competing in aerobic and anaerobic sports represent a subject that
      deserves consideration and further investigation in the future.

PMID- 27646624
TI  - Upper limb motor training using a SaeboTM orthosis is feasible for increasing
      task-specific practice in hospital after stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Assistive technologies have the potential to increase the amount
      of movement practice provided during inpatient stroke rehabilitation. The primary
      aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the Saebo-FlexTM
      device in a subacute stroke setting to increase task-specific practice for people
      with little or no active hand movement. The secondary aim was to collect
      preliminary data comparing hand/upper limb function between a control group that
      received usual rehabilitation and an intervention group that used, in addition,
      the Saebo-FlexTM device. METHODS: Nine inpatients (mean three months (median six
      weeks) post-stroke) participated in this feasibility study conducted in an
      Australian rehabilitation setting, using a randomised pre-test and post-test
      design with concealed allocation and blinded outcome assessment. In addition to
      usual rehabilitation, the intervention group received eight weeks of daily motor
      training using the Saebo-FlexTM device. The control group received usual
      rehabilitation (task-specific motor training) only. Participants were assessed at
      baseline (pre-randomisation) and at the end of the eight-week study period.
      Feasibility was assessed with respect to ease of recruitment, application of the
      device, compliance with the treatment programme and safety. Secondary outcome
      measures included the Motor Assessment Scale (upper limb items), Box and Block
      Test, grip strength and the Stroke Impact Scale. RESULTS: Recruitment to the
      study was very slow because of the low number of patients with little or no
      active hand movement. Otherwise, the study was feasible in terms of being able to
      apply the Saebo-FlexTM device and compliance with the treatment programme. There
      were no adverse events, and a greater amount of upper limb rehabilitation was
      provided to the intervention group. While there were trends in favour of the
      intervention group, particularly for dexterity, no between-group differences were
      seen for any of the secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot feasibility study
      showed that the use of assistive technology, specifically the Saebo-FlexTM
      device, could be successfully used in a sample of stroke patients with little or
      no active hand movement. However, recruitment to the trial was very slow. The use
      of the Saebo-FlexTM device had variable results on outcomes, with some positive
      trends seen in hand function, particularly dexterity.

PMID- 27646625
TI  - Expression of Sialyl Lewis a, Sialyl Lewis x, Lewis y, Gal-3, Gal-7, STMN1 and
      p16 in cervical dysplasia.
AB  - AIM: Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is commonly divided into three
      grades. Guidelines increasingly recommend surgery only in CIN 3 lesions. We
      investigated markers to evaluate differences in CIN 2 and 3 lesions as well as
      possible predictors for regression/progression in CIN 2 lesions. MATERIALS &
      METHODS: Biopsies (n = 128) of healthy cervical tissue and CIN 1-3 were stained
      for Sialyl Lewis a, Sialyl Lewis x, Lewis y, Gal-3, Gal-7, STMN1 and p16.
      RESULTS: We observed significant differences between CIN 2 and 3 lesions for
      Sialyl Lewis a, Sialyl Lewis x, Gal-3, Gal-7, STMN1 and p16. Expression of Sialyl
      Lewis a was significantly higher in CIN 2 patients who progressed during follow
      up. CONCLUSION: Significant differences in marker expression support the
      differentiation of CIN 2 and 3. Lewis a may help to predict
      progression/regression in CIN 2 patients.

PMID- 27646626
TI  - Melaleuca alternifolia anthelmintic activity in gerbils experimentally infected
      by Haemonchus contortus.
AB  - Gastrointestinal parasites are one of the biggest health problems faced in sheep,
      mainly due to their pathogenicity and resistance to drugs used to control these
      parasites. Thus, the following study aimed to assess the anthelmintic efficacy of
      Melaleuca alternifolia against Haemonchus contortus in gerbils (Meriones
      unguiculatus) experimentally infected. Three treatments were tested: M.
      alternifolia essential oil, popularly known as tea tree oil (TTO), a solid lipid
      nanocarrier made with essential oil of Melaleuca (nanoTTO), and terpinen-4-ol
      (terp-4-ol). In vivo studies were performed by determining the mean worm burden
      of H. contortus in gerbils TTO (0.75 mL/kg); nanoTTO (0.5 mL/kg) and terp-4-ol
      (0.5 mL l/kg) were able to reduce 46.36%; 48.64%, and 43.18% worm burden,
      respectively. H. contortus increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate
      aminotransferase (AST) levels, as demonstrated by liver injury. It was found that
      the TTO, nanoTTO, and terp-4-ol were not toxic to liver and kidneys since hepatic
      and renal functions were not affected. Moreover, terp-4-ol was able to prevent
      increased levels of seric AST and ALT in infected animals, indicating a
      hepatoprotective effect. Thus, our results indicate that TTO, nanoTTO, and terp-4
      ol are safe and efficient against H. contortus infection in gerbils, and possibly
      the terp-4-ol may be considered the compound present in the Melaleuca
      alternifolia responsible for parasitic action against H. contortus.

PMID- 27646627
TI  - TLR4 and TLR9 signals stimulate protective immunity against blood-stage
      Plasmodium yoelii infection in mice.
AB  - The mechanisms regulating the induction of protective immunity against blood
      stage malaria remain unclear. Resistant DBA/2 mouse develops a higher Th1
      response compared with a susceptible BALB/c strain during Plasmodium yoelii (Py)
      infection. It is known that the T helper cell response is initiated and polarized
      by dendritic cells (DCs) of the innate immune system, during which TLR4 and TLR9
      are important receptors for the innate recognition of the malaria parasite and
      its products. We hypothesized that TLR4/9 may play critical roles in the
      induction of protective immunity against Py infection. We used TLR4/9 antagonists
      and agonists to study their effects on mouse resistance to Py infection. We found
      that the administration of an antagonist prior to infection aggravated disease
      outcomes, impaired DC functions and suppressed the pro-inflammatory response to
      Py infection in resistant DBA/2 mice. Treatment with the TLR4 agonist
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) but not TLR9 agonist significantly improved the survival
      rate of susceptible Py-infected BALB/c mice. LPS administration promoted the
      activation and expansion of DCs and drove a Th1-biased response. Our data
      demonstrate the important roles of TLR4/9 signals in inducing resistance to
      malaria parasites and provide evidence for the rational use of TLR agonists to
      potentiate protective immunity against Plasmodium infection.

PMID- 27646628
TI  - Innate lymphoid cells type 2 - emerging immune regulators of obesity and
      atherosclerosis.
AB  - The low-grade inflammation present in obese visceral adipose tissue impairs
      glucose metabolism, and contributes to the development of insulin resistance and
      weight gain. Immune processes occurring in response to the deposition of
      cholesterol within the vascular walls support atherosclerotic plaque growth and
      contribute to the cardiovascular complications. In both the obese adipose tissue
      and the atherosclerotic plaque, the Th1-type immune environment dominates over
      the Th2/Treg-type due to the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN
      gamma, IL-6, TNF-alpha) and the deficiency of Th2-type processes and interleukins
      (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13). So far, Th2 cells and eosinophils have been
      considered as the main providers of Th2-type mediators and the basis of Th2-type
      immunity in tissues. However, recently discovered innate lymphoid type 2 cells
      (ILC2s), which infiltrate lean visceral adipose tissue and the vascular wall, are
      believed to orchestrate local Th2-like immune responses. Upon activation by
      tissue-derived IL-33 and IL-25, ILCs2 secrete mostly IL-4, IL-5, IL-9 and IL-13:
      cytokines responsible for the accumulation of eosinophils and polarization of
      alternatively-activated macrophages, which altogether create the beneficial anti
      inflammatory and metabo-regulatory environment in the adipose tissue and the
      vascular wall. Consequently, ILC2s-orchestrated immune environment seems to
      prevent obesity and atherosclerosis. Thus, ILCs2 appear to be the emerging immune
      regulators of immune and metabolic homeostasis in both adipose tissue and the
      vascular wall.

PMID- 27646629
TI  - Shear bond strengths of brackets bonded with a new self-adhering resin composite.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets
      bonded with a self-adhering resin composite. METHODS: 45 freshly extracted
      mandibular incisors were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 15 per group).
      Brackets were bonded with 3 bonding systems and cured with an LED light. Brackets
      were bonded with a new self-adhering resin cement in the study group. A
      conventional etch-and-rinse adhesive system and a self-etching adhesive system
      were used for comparison. After bonding, the SBS of the brackets were tested with
      a universal testing machine. RESULTS: Analysis of variance indicated a
      significant difference between groups (p<0.001). The highest values for SBS were
      measured in group I (21.80 +/- 2.57 MPa). The SBS was significantly lower in
      groups II and III than in group I (P<.001). The lowest values for SBS were
      measured in group III (5.90 +/- 0.90 MPa). SBS was significantly higher in group
      II than in group III (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The self-adhering adhesive system
      showed a clinically insufficient SBS, whereas the SBS of conventional etch-and
      rinse adhesive system and the self-etching adhesive system were significantly
      higher and clinically sufficient.

PMID- 27646630
TI  - Optimisation of the Sputnik-VAD design.
AB  - PURPOSE: Miniaturisation of VADs can offer important benefits, including less
      invasive implantation techniques and more versatility in patient selection. The
      aim of this work was to reduce the weight, size, and energy consumption of the
      Sputnik VAD. METHODS: The second generation of the Sputnik VAD was developed with
      a set of changes in construction. The head pressure-flow rate (H-Q) and power
      consumption-flow rate curves for the Sputnik VADs were measured at different
      rotational speeds. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were used for operating
      condition simulation and the LVADs were compared under the simulated
      physiological conditions. RESULTS: The slope of the H-Q curves for the Sputnik 1
      VAD remains almost invariable over the entire range of the measured flow rate, in
      contrast to the curves for the Sputnik 2 VAD, which become flat in the high flow
      rate region. Despite the design modification, the operating rotor speed remained
      invariable. The preload sensitivity of the Sputnik VAD is higher than that of the
      other rotary blood pumps and amounts to 0.111 +/- 0.0092 L min-1 mmHg-1. The
      power consumption for the Sputnik 2 VAD is lower over the entire speed range,
      except for at 5,000 rpm. CONCLUSIONS: The pump weight was reduced from 246 to 205
      g, the pump length was decreased from 82 to 66 mm, and the pump diameter was
      decreased from 32 to 29 mm. The total energy consumption of the pump was reduced
      by 15%.

PMID- 27646631
TI  - Poly (L-lactic acid) porous scaffold-supported alginate hydrogel with improved
      mechanical properties and biocompatibility.
AB  - PURPOSE: Polymer porous scaffolds and hydrogels have been separately employed and
      explored for a wide range of applications including cell encapsulation, drug
      delivery, and tissue engineering. METHODS: In this study, a three-dimensional
      poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) scaffold with interconnected and homogeneously
      distributed pores was fabricated to support the alginate hydrogel (Alg). The gels
      were filled into the porous scaffold, which acted as an analogue of native
      extracellular matrix (ECM) for entrapment of cells within a support of predefined
      shape. The mechanical strength of the composite scaffold was characterized by
      compression testing. The chondrocyte behavior in the scaffold was determined by
      inverted microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and MTT viability assay.
      The repair efficiency of such a composite scaffold was further investigated in
      dog spinal defects by histological evaluation after implantation for 4 weeks.
      RESULTS: Results showed that the composite scaffold possessed superior mechanical
      properties and hierarchical porous structure in comparison to pure Alg. Cell
      culture revealed that the cells presented a specific cartilage status in the
      composite scaffold in line with higher adherence and proliferation ratio. The
      histological analyses suggested that the composite scaffold substantially
      promotes its integration in the host tissue accompanied with a low inflammatory
      reaction and new tissue formation. CONCLUSIONS: The method thus provides a useful
      pathway for scaffold preparation that can simultaneously achieve suitable
      mechanical properties and good biocompatibility.

PMID- 27646632
TI  - Prospects for clinical applications of polymer-coated haemoconcentrator on
      extracorporeal circuit in cardiopulmonary bypass surgeries.
AB  - PURPOSE: Extracorporeal circulation circuits used in cardiopulmonary bypass
      surgeries are increasingly being coated with polymer materials to reduce the
      thrombogenicity of extracorporeal devices. However, a haemoconcentrator, which
      corrects haematocrit and electrolyte imbalances, is not coated with polymers. In
      this study, we sought to assess the filtration performance of polymer-coated
      haemoconcentrators in order to obtain insight into their prospects for use in
      clinical applications. METHODS: In vitro experiments were performed to evaluate
      the water pressure and flow properties of polymer-coated haemoconcentrators by
      comparing 3 polymer-coated haemoconcentrators with 3 non-coated
      haemoconcentrators. The cross-sectional surfaces of both types of
      haemoconcentrators were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
      RESULTS: The slopes of the regression lines for estimating the filtrated fluid
      flow as a function of the transmembrane pressure were 6.286 +/- 0.320 for polymer
      coated haemoconcentrators and 3.712 +/- 0.170 for non-coated haemoconcentrators.
      These slopes were found to be significantly different and indicate that the
      filtration velocity is enhanced in polymer-coated haemoconcentrators over that in
      non-coated haemoconcentrators. However, the hollow fibre damage observed by SEM
      was not shown to contribute to higher filtration flow in the polymer-coated
      haemoconcentrator. Taking these results into consideration, we hypothesise that a
      polymer coating makes a foreign surface on a hollow fibre slippery, owing to the
      hydrophobicity of the polymer, thereby enhancing the velocity of the filtration.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this preliminary investigation suggest that a polymer
      coating can enhance the filtration performance of a haemoconcentrator and that
      polymer-coated haemoconcentrators might be useful in clinical applications.

PMID- 27646633
TI  - Partial LVAD restores ventricular outputs and normalizes LV but not RV stress
      distributions in the acutely failing heart in silico.
AB  - PURPOSE: Heart failure is a worldwide epidemic that is unlikely to change as the
      population ages and life expectancy increases. We sought to detail significant
      recent improvements to the Dassault Systemes Living Heart Model (LHM) and use the
      LHM to compute left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) myofiber stress
      distributions under the following 4 conditions: (1) normal cardiac function; (2)
      acute left heart failure (ALHF); (3) ALHF treated using an LV assist device
      (LVAD) flow rate of 2 L/min; and (4) ALHF treated using an LVAD flow rate of 4.5
      L/min. METHODS AND RESULTS: Incorporating improved systolic myocardial material
      properties in the LHM resulted in its ability to simulate the Frank-Starling law
      of the heart. We decreased myocardial contractility in the LV myocardium so that
      LV ejection fraction decreased from 56% to 28%. This caused mean LV end diastolic
      (ED) stress to increase to 508% of normal, mean LV end systolic (ES) stress to
      increase to 113% of normal, mean RV ED stress to decrease to 94% of normal and RV
      ES to increase to 570% of normal. When ALHF in the model was treated with an LVAD
      flow rate of 4.5 L/min, most stress results normalized. Mean LV ED stress became
      85% of normal, mean LV ES stress became 109% of normal and mean RV ED stress
      became 95% of normal. However, mean RV ES stress improved less dramatically (to
      342% of normal values). CONCLUSIONS: These simulations strongly suggest that an
      LVAD is effective in normalizing LV stresses but not RV stresses that become
      elevated as a result of ALHF.

PMID- 27646634
TI  - Super-Resolution Genome Mapping in Silicon Nanochannels.
AB  - Optical genome mapping in nanochannels is a powerful genetic analysis method,
      complementary to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing. The method is based on
      detecting a pattern of fluorescent labels attached along individual DNA
      molecules. When such molecules are extended in nanochannels, the labels create a
      fluorescent genetic barcode that is used for mapping the DNA molecule to its
      genomic locus and identifying large-scale variation from the genome reference.
      Mapping resolution is currently limited by two main factors: the optical
      diffraction limit and the thermal fluctuations of DNA molecules suspended in the
      nanochannels. Here, we utilize single-molecule tracking and super-resolution
      localization in order to improve the mapping accuracy and resolving power of this
      genome mapping technique and achieve a 15-fold increase in resolving power
      compared to currently practiced methods. We took advantage of a naturally
      occurring genetic repeat array and labeled each repeat with custom-designed
      Trolox conjugated fluorophores for enhanced photostability. This model system
      allowed us to acquire extremely long image sequences of the equally spaced
      fluorescent markers along DNA molecules, enabling detailed characterization of
      nanoconfined DNA dynamics and quantitative comparison to the Odijk theory for
      confined polymer chains. We present a simple method to overcome the thermal
      fluctuations in the nanochannels and exploit single-step photobleaching to
      resolve subdiffraction spaced fluorescent markers along fluctuating DNA molecules
      with ~100 bp resolution. In addition, we show how time-averaging over just ~50
      frames of 40 ms enhances mapping accuracy, improves mapping P-value scores by 3
      orders of magnitude compared to nonaveraged alignment, and provides a significant
      advantage for analyzing structural variations between DNA molecules with similar
      sequence composition.

PMID- 27646639
TI  - Comparison of clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics in patients with
      mucinous carcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach.
AB  - AIM: To determine whether there are any clinicopathological or prognostic
      differences between mucinous gastric carcinoma (MGC) and signet ring cell
      carcinoma (SRCC). METHODS: Pathological parameters, clinical parameters, and
      treatment efficacy were compared in patients with MGC and SRCC. RESULTS: In
      total, 193 patients (51 with MGC and 142 with SRCC) were included in this study.
      Patients with SRCC in particular had notably higher lymphovascular invasion,
      perineural invasion, rate of Borrmann types III and IV, and stage III-IV cancer
      (according to its TNM stage) compared with patients with MGC. However, tumor size
      was larger in patients with MGC (tumor size >=5 cm). Median overall survival (OS)
      was 29.8 months in the MGC group and 16.6 months in the SRCC group (p = .04). The
      median OS in stage I-III patients was 59.9 and 42.5 months in the MGC and SRCC
      groups, respectively (p = .35). Comparing OS between MGC and SRCC stage IV
      patients revealed that the median OS was 10.1 and 8.8 months, respectively (p =
      .96). Multivariate analysis of the entire patient group revealed that the
      presence of weight loss at diagnosis, distant metastasis, and lymph node
      involvement were significantly related to OS. Multivariate analysis also revealed
      that weight loss at the diagnosis and T3-4 tumors were significant factors
      influencing OS in the stage I-III group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SRCC had
      generally poorer prognosis and lower survival rates compared with patients with
      MGC. Further studies on the prognosis and treatment plan based on the
      pathological subtypes of SRCC and MGC are still needed.

PMID- 27646635
TI  - Test site predicts HIV care linkage and antiretroviral therapy initiation: a
      prospective 3.5 year cohort study of HIV-positive testers in northern Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Linkage to HIV care is crucial to the success of antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) programs worldwide, loss to follow up at all stages of the care
      continuum is frequent, and long-term prospective studies of care linkage are
      currently lacking. METHODS: Consecutive clients who tested HIV-positive were
      enrolled from four HIV testing centers (1 health facility and 3 community-based
      centers) in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania as part of the larger Coping with
      HIV/AIDS in Tanzania (CHAT) prospective observational study. Biannual interviews
      were conducted over 3.5 years, assessing care linkage, retention, and mental
      health. Bivariable and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted
      to determine associations with early death (prior to the second follow up
      interview) and delayed (>6 months post-test) or failed care linkage. RESULTS: A
      total of 263 participants were enrolled between November, 2008 and August, 2009
      and 240 participants not already linked to care were retained in the final
      dataset. By 6 months after enrollment, 169 (70.4 %) of 240 participants had
      presented to an HIV care and treatment facility; 41 (17.1 %) delayed more than 6
      months, 15 (6.3 %) died, and 15 (6.3 %) were lost to follow up. Twenty-six
      patients died before their second follow up visit and were analyzed in the early
      death group (10.8 %). Just 15 (9.6 %) of those linked to care had started ART
      within 6 months, but 123 (89.1 %) of patients documented to be ART eligible by
      local guidelines had started ART by the end of 3.5 years. On multivariate
      analysis, male gender (OR 1.72; 95 % CI 1.08, 2.75), testing due to illness (OR
      1.63; 95 % CI 1.01, 2.63), and higher mean depression scale scores (4 % increased
      risk per increase in depression score; 95 % CI 1 %, 8 %) were associated with
      early death. Testing at a community versus a hospital-based site (OR 2.89; 95 %
      CI 1.79, 4.66) was strongly associated with delaying or never entering care.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 30 % of the cohort did not have timely care linkage, ART
      initiation was frequently delayed, and testing at a hospital outpatient
      department versus community-based testing centers was strongly associated with
      successful care linkage.

PMID- 27646642
TI  - Contribution to the anatomical nomenclature concerning upper limb anatomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to revise and extend the existing sections of
      Terminologia Anatomica dealing with the upper limb structures, which nomenclature
      belongs to its most neglected and not developing parts, and to justify the use of
      the proposed anatomical terms in the clinical practice, research, and education.
      METHODS: A sample collected from own educational and research experience was
      matched in the main anatomical textbooks as well as old and recent anatomical
      journals and compared with four versions of the official Latin anatomical
      nomenclatures. RESULTS: The authors summarize here 145 terms, completed with
      their definitions or explanations, concerning both constant and variable
      (inconstant) morphological structures (bones, joints, muscles, vessels, and
      nerves) of the pectoral girdle, arm, cubital region, forearm, wrist, and hand,
      completed with some grammar remarks and several general terms. CONCLUSION: After
      a broad discussion on this topic, the Terminologia Anatomica should be revised
      and extend with the listed terms (or their equivalents).

PMID- 27646643
TI  - Evaluation of anatomy and variations of superficial palmar arch and upper
      extremity arteries with CT angiography.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the abnormalities and variations of the arterial system of upper
      extremities and superficial palmar arch with computed tomography angiography and
      to guide the clinician during this procedure. METHODS: A total of 156 upper
      extremities of 78 cases were retrospectively analyzed using computed tomography
      angiography. The study was approved by the local ethics committee of the
      hospital. From the analysis of the computed tomography angiography images, the
      following information was recorded; the diameters and abnormalities of radial,
      ulnar and brachial arteries in both upper extremities, the presence of
      atherosclerotic changes or stenosis in these arteries, whether the superficial
      palmar arch was complete or incomplete, and arterial dominance. Also, the
      computed tomography angiography classification of superficial palmar arch
      distribution and anatomic configuration was performed. RESULTS: The mean baseline
      diameters of the radial, ulnar and brachial arteries of the cases were; 2.8 +/-
      0.6, 2.5 +/- 0.7, and 4.7 +/- 0.6 mm, respectively. A complete superficial palmar
      arch was observed in 69.2 % of the right hands and 70.5 % of the left hands. For
      the superficial palmar arches on the right side, the radial artery was dominant
      in two and the ulnar artery was dominant in 47 with the remaining showing
      codominance. On the left side, the radial artery was dominant in one hand, with
      the ulnar artery being dominant in 49 cases, and in 28 cases, there was
      codominance. In the superficial palmar arch classification, four of the arches (A
      D) were defined as complete and the remaining three (E-G) as incomplete.
      CONCLUSION: The current study clarified different variations in palmar
      circulation and forearm arteries to aid the surgeon during trans-radial or trans
      ulnar catheterization, hemodialysis, or coronary artery bypass grafting.

PMID- 27646644
TI  - Pile driving into the skull and suspending the bridging veins? An undescribed
      role of arachnoid granulations.
AB  - PURPOSE: Arachnoid granulations (AGs) occasionally appear to protrude into the
      calvarial convexity, lying close to the bridging veins (BVs). This study aims to
      characterize such AGs and BVs using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS:
      Ninety-five patients were enrolled in this study. Initially, stepwise frontal
      craniotomy was performed in an injected cadaver head. Next, examinations with
      contrast MRI were performed involving the whole cranial vault. RESULTS: In
      cadaveric dissection, the AGs located in the parasagittal regions appeared as
      outward protrusions through the dura mater and in contact with the diploic veins.
      Forming tent-shaped sleeves, these AGs and the continuous arachnoid membranes
      suspended the BVs coursing just below. A total of 237 AGs were identified on
      contrast MRI that protruded into the skull, lying close to the BVs. Among them,
      78 % were located in parasagittal regions as AG-BV pairs. These pairs were most
      frequently found in the middle third of the calvarial hemisphere, followed by the
      anterior and posterior thirds. In 34 %, the BV segments were lodged in the AGs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Some AGs located in the parasagittal regions and cerebral convexity
      pass through the dura mater and pile drive into the skull, which contribute to
      forming hanging-type arachnoid sleeves suspending the BVs. These structures may
      underpin the predisposition of BVs to injury following mechanical impacts.

PMID- 27646646
TI  - Short versus prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy duration after bare-metal stent
      implantation: 2-month landmark analysis from the CREDO-Kyoto registry cohort-2.
AB  - One-month duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) has widely been adopted
      after bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation in the real clinical practice. However,
      it has not been adequately addressed yet whether DAPT for only 1-month could
      provide sufficient protection from ischemic events beyond 1-month after BMS
      implantation. We assessed the effects of short DAPT relative to prolonged DAPT on
      clinical outcomes with the landmark analysis at 2 month after BMS implantation.
      Among 13,058 consecutive patients enrolled in the CREDO-Kyoto registry cohort-2,
      this study population consisted of 4905 patients treated with BMS only in whom
      the information on the status of antiplatelet therapy was available at 2 month
      after stent implantation [single-antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) group: N = 2575
      (acute myocardial infarction (AMI): N = 1257, and non-AMI: N = 1318), and DAPT
      group: N = 2330 (AMI: N = 1304, and non-AMI: N = 1026)]. Cumulative 3-year
      incidence of the primary outcome measure (a composite of cardiovascular death,
      myocardial infarction, stroke, definite stent thrombosis, and GUSTO
      moderate/severe bleeding) was not significantly different between the SAPT and
      DAPT groups (9.8 versus 10.6 %, P = 0.34). After adjusting confounders, the risk
      of SAPT relative to DAPT for the primary outcome measure remained insignificant
      in the entire cohort (HR 0.97, 95 % CI 0.79-1.19, P = 0.77), and in both AMI and
      non-AMI strata without any significant interaction between clinical presentation
      (AMI versus non-AMI) and the effect of SAPT relative to DAPT (P interaction =
      0.56). In conclusion, short DAPT <2 month after BMS implantation was as safe as
      prolonged DAPT >=2-month in both AMI and non-AMI patients.

PMID- 27646648
TI  - Genome-wide proteomics analysis on longissimus muscles in Qinchuan beef cattle.
AB  - To gain further insight into the molecular mechanism of bovine muscle
      development, we combined mass spectrometry characterization of proteins with
      Illumina deep sequencing of RNAs obtained from bovine longissimus muscle (LD) at
      prenatal and postnatal stages. For the proteomic study, each group of LD proteins
      was extracted and labeled using isobaric tags for relative and absolute
      quantitation (iTRAQ) method. Among the 1321 proteins identified from six samples,
      390 proteins were differentially expressed in embryos at day 135 post
      fertilization (Emb135d) vs. 30-month-old adult cattle (Emb135d vs. 30M) samples.
      Gene Ontology, Cluster of Orthologous Groups and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and
      Genomes analyses were further conducted to better understand the different
      functions. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship between transcript and
      protein regulation between samples by direct comparison of expression levels from
      transcriptomic and iTRAQ-based proteomics. Association results indicated that
      1295 of 1321 proteins could be mapped to transcriptome sequencing data. This
      study provides the most comprehensive, targeted survey of bovine LD proteins to
      date and has shown the power of combining transcriptomic and proteomic approaches
      to provide molecular insights for understanding the developmental characteristics
      in bovine muscle, and even in other mammals.

PMID- 27646647
TI  - Combined Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Arterial Spin Labeling as Markers of Early
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - This study aimed to identify a PD-specific MRI pattern using combined diffusion
      tensor imaging (DTI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) to discriminate patients
      with early PD from healthy subjects and evaluate disease status. Twenty-one early
      and 22 mid-late PD patients, and 22 healthy, age/gender-matched controls
      underwent 3-T MRI with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional
      anisotropy (FA), fiber number (FN) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurements. We
      found that compared with healthy subjects, there was a profound reduction in FN
      passing through the SN in PD. FA in the SN and CBF in the caudate nucleus were
      inversely correlated with motor dysfunction. A negative correlation was observed
      between FA in the hippocampus (Hip) and the NMSS-Mood score, whereas CBF in the
      Hip and the prefrontal cortex(PFC) correlated with declined cognition. Stratified
      five-fold cross-validation identified FA in the SN(FA-SNAv), CBF in the PFC(CBF
      PFCAv) and FA in the parietal white matter(FA-PWMAv), and the combination of
      these measurements offered relatively high accuracy (AUC 0.975, 90% sensitivity
      and 100% specificity) in distinguishing those with early PD from healthy
      subjects. We demonstrate that the decreased FNs through SN in combination with
      changes in FA-SNAv, CBF-PFCAv and FA-PWMAv values might serve as potential
      markers of early-stage PD.

PMID- 27646649
TI  - Impact of the Mass Drug Administration for malaria in response to the Ebola
      outbreak in Sierra Leone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As emergency response to the Ebola epidemic, the Government of Sierra
      Leone and its partners implemented a large-scale Mass Drug Administration (MDA)
      with artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) covering >2.7 million people in the districts
      hardest hit by Ebola during December 2014-January 2015. The World Health
      Organization (WHO) and the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) evaluated
      the impact of the MDA on malaria morbidity at health facilities and the number of
      Ebola alerts received at District Ebola Command Centres. METHODS: The coverage of
      the two rounds of MDA with ASAQ was estimated by relating the number anti
      malarial medicines distributed to the estimated resident population. Segmented
      time-series analysis was applied to weekly data collected from 49 primary health
      units (PHUs) and 11 hospitals performing malaria parasitological testing during
      the study period, to evaluate trends of malaria cases and Ebola alerts during the
      post-MDA weeks compared to the pre-MDA weeks in MDA- and non-MDA-cheifdoms.
      RESULTS: After two rounds of the MDA, the number of suspected cases tested with
      rapid diagnostic test (RDT) decreased significantly by 43 % (95 % CI 38-48 %) at
      week 1 and remained low at week 2 and 3 post-first MDA and at week 1 and 3 post
      second MDA; RDT positive cases decreased significantly by 47 % (41-52 %) at week
      1 post-first and remained lower throughout all post-MDA weeks; and the RDT test
      positivity rate (TPR) declined by 35 % (32-38 %) at week 2 and stayed low
      throughout all post-MDA weeks. The total malaria (clinical + confirmed) cases
      decreased significantly by 45 % (39-52 %) at week 1 and were lower at week 2 and
      3 post-first MDA; and week 1 post-second MDA. The proportion of confirmed malaria
      cases (out of all-outpatients) fell by 33 % (29-38 %) at week 1 post-first MDA
      and were lower during all post-MDA weeks. On the contrary, the non-malaria
      outpatient cases (cases due to other health conditions) either remained unchanged
      or fluctuated insignificantly. The Ebola alerts decreased by 30 % (13-46 %) at
      week 1 post-first MDA and much lower during all the weeks post-second MDA.
      CONCLUSIONS: The MDA achieved its goals of reducing malaria morbidity and febrile
      cases that would have been potentially diagnosed as suspected Ebola cases with
      increased risk of nosocomial infections. The intervention also helped reduce
      patient case-load to the severely strained health services at the peak of the
      Ebola outbreak and malaria transmission. As expected, the effect of the MDA waned
      in a matter of few weeks and malaria intensity returned to the pre-MDA levels.
      Nevertheless, the approach was an appropriate public health intervention in the
      context of the Ebola epidemic even in high malaria transmission areas of Sierra
      Leone.

PMID- 27646650
TI  - Synthesis, Optical Investigation and Biological Properties of Europium(III)
      Complexes with 2-(4-Chlorophenyl)-1-(2-Hydroxy-4-Methoxyphenyl)Ethan-1-one and
      Ancillary Ligands.
AB  - Synthesis and photoluminescence behaviour of six novel europium complexes with
      novel beta-hydroxyketone ligand, 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2-hydroxy-4
      methoxyphenyl)ethan-1-one (CHME) and 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) or neocuproine (neo)
      or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or 5,6-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen) or
      bathophenanthroline (bathophen) were reported in solid state. The free ligand
      CHME and europium complexes, Eu(CHME)3.2H2O [1] Eu(CHME)3.bipy [2], Eu(CHME)3.neo
      [3], Eu(CHME)3.phen [4], Eu(CHME)3.dmphen [5] and Eu(CHME)3.bathophen [6]were
      characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and 1H-NMR. The photoluminescence
      emission spectra exhibited four characteristic peaks arising from the 5D0 -> 7FJ
      (J = 1-4) transitions of the europium ion in the solid state on monitoring
      excitation at lambdaex = 395 nm. The luminescence decay curves of these europium
      complexes possess single exponential behaviour indicating the presence of a
      single luminescent species and having only one site symmetry in the complexes.
      The luminescence quantum efficiency (eta) and the experimental intensity
      parameters, Omega 2 and Omega 4 of europium complexes have also been calculated
      on the basis of emission spectra and luminescence decay curves. In addition, the
      antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were also studied of the investigated
      complexes.

PMID- 27646651
TI  - Organic Material Based Fluorescent Sensor for Hg2+: a Brief Review on Recent
      Development.
AB  - Due to the deleterious effects of mercury on human health and natural ecosystems,
      high reactivity, non-degradability, extreme volatility and relative water and
      tissue solubility, it would consider as one of the most toxic environmental
      pollutants among the transition metals. In the present investigation, we have
      tried to summarized the several organic material based fluorescent sensor
      including rhodamine, boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPYs), thiourea, crown-ether,
      coumarine, squaraines, pyrene, imidazole, triazole, anthracene, dansyl,
      naphthalenedimide/ naphthalene/ naphthalimide, naphthyridine, iridium (III)
      complexes, polymeric materials, cyclodextrin, phthalic anhydride, indole, calix
      [4]arene, chromenone, 1,8-naphthalimides, lysine, styrylindolium, phenothiazine,
      thiocarbonyl quinacridone, oxadiazole, triphenylamine-triazines,
      tetraphenylethene, peptidyl and semicarbazone for the trace mercury detection in
      the aqueous, aqueous-organic and cellular media. The present review provides a
      brief look over the previous development in the organic material based
      fluorescent sensor for mercuric ion detection. Furthermore, the ligand-metal
      binding stoichiometry, binding/association/dissociation constants and the
      detection limit by the receptors have been particularly highlighted which might
      be useful for the future design and development of more sensitive and robust
      fluorescent chemosensor/chemodosimeter for the mercuric ion detection. Graphical
      Abstract Dummy.

PMID- 27646655
TI  - Prevention of unintended pregnancy and use of contraception-important factors for
      preconception care.
AB  - Preservation of fertility and optimizing health before pregnancy is becoming
      increasingly important in societies where childbirth often is postponed. Research
      shows that as women postpone childbirth they achieve higher levels of education
      and higher incomes. This leads to advantages for their children and for society.
      However, as women postpone childbearing they are at risk for contracting
      conditions which may affect fertility and/or pregnancies, pregnancy outcome, and
      the newborn child. Preconception counseling is therefore becoming increasingly
      important. Women are often unaware of the added health benefits of contraception
      and have the right to be well informed so they can make decisions to fulfill
      their reproductive desires. Contraception can reduce the risk of unintended
      pregnancies, ectopic and molar pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections.
      In addition, hormonal contraceptives reduce the risk of some types of cancer,
      dysmenorrhea, heavy menstrual bleeding, and anemia and are a treatment for
      endometriosis. Contraception should increasingly be looked upon as a means of
      preserving fertility and optimizing health status before a planned pregnancy.
      Thus, effective contraception can provide women with a possibility of achieving
      their long-term reproductive goals, although childbearing is actually postponed.
      The most effective contraceptive methods are the long-acting reversible
      contraceptives, which have been shown to be highly effective especially in young
      women who have difficulties with adherence to user-dependent methods. Therefore,
      these methods should increasingly be promoted in all age groups.

PMID- 27646657
TI  - [Tuberous breast: Current concept].
AB  - Tuberous breast deformity is a congenital breast anomaly with different clinical
      signs. The most consistent sign is the constricting ring at the base of the
      breast. There is deficiency in the horizontal and/or vertical dimensions of the
      breast and often herniation of breast parenchyma toward the nipple-areola complex
      with areola enlargement. Breast asymmetry is frequently associated. This anomaly
      occurs only in females, during breast development at puberty. The incidence is
      unknown because of minor forms more difficult to diagnose. This deformity
      produces psychological morbidity and encourages the patients to consult. In 1999,
      Grolleau publishes a classification with three types of tuberous breast
      deformity. The goals of the surgical treatment are the expansion of the
      constricted base, the redistribution of volume, the correction of areolar size
      and of herniated subareolar breast tissue. In type II and III, the simple use of
      breast implant involves the "memory" of the previous inframammary fold line. To
      avoid this complication, it is necessary to make a glandular rearrangement with
      parenchymal flaps like Puckett and Ribeiro. It is a real challenge for the
      plastic surgeon who must reshape the breast and obtain a symmetry of volume. It
      would be delusive to think all types of tuberous breast can be corrected with the
      same one-step technique. It is often necessary to plan several surgeries and
      patient must always be informed about the strategy.

PMID- 27646656
TI  - Hippocampal shape alterations are associated with regional Abeta load in
      cognitively normal elderly individuals.
AB  - Abeta deposition is a driving force of Alzheimer's disease pathology and can be
      detected early by amyloid positron emission tomography. Identifying
      presymptomatic structural brain changes associated with Abeta deposition might
      lead to a better understanding of its consequences and provide early diagnostic
      information. In this respect we analyzed measures of cortical thickness and
      subcortical volumes along with hippocampal, thalamic and striatal shape and
      surface area by applying novel analysis strategies for structural magnetic
      resonance imaging. We included 69 cognitively normal elderly subjects after
      careful clinical and neuropsychological workup. Standardized uptake value ratios
      (cerebellar reference) for uptake of 11-C-Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) were
      calculated from positron emission tomographic data for a cortical measurement and
      for bilateral hippocampus, thalamus and striatum. Associations to shape, surface
      area, volume and cortical thickness were tested using regression models that
      included significant predictors as covariates. Left anterior hippocampal shape
      was associated with regional PiB uptake (P < 0.05, FDR corrected), whereas
      volumes of the hippocampi and their subregions were not associated with cortical
      or regional PiB uptake (all P > 0.05, FDR corrected). Within the entorhinal
      cortical region of both hemispheres, thickness was negatively associated with
      cortical PiB uptake (P < 0.05, FDR corrected). Hence, localized shape measures
      and cortical thickness may be potential biomarkers of presymptomatic Alzheimer's
      disease.

PMID- 27646659
TI  - Cutaneous sarcoidosis masquerading as chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus -
      case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown
      origin. Chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CCLE) is an autoimmune disease
      that is associated with autoantibody production and T-cell dysfunction. Cutaneous
      manifestations of sarcoidosis may mimic CCLE and vice versa making it difficult
      to reach a diagnosis clinically. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 57
      year-old woman with long-standing sarcoidosis who presented to clinic with
      diffuse painful plaques that were very distinct and suggestive of CCLE. She had a
      family history of both sarcoidosis and CCLE. The patient was immediately started
      on topical corticosteroids and oral hydroxychloroquine. Skin biopsy and the
      absence of direct immunofluorescence confirmed a skin manifestation of her
      previously diagnosed sarcoidosis, despite the clinical morphology favoring
      classic CCLE. CONCLUSION: Sarcoidosis may have diverse manifestations and may
      mimic other disease processes. A detailed history along with a low threshold for
      biopsy is important for determining a diagnosis.

PMID- 27646660
TI  - A Simple Analytical Approximation to an Inhomogeneously-Broadened Dispersion
      Spectrum. Application to Absorption-Dispersion Admixtures.
AB  - A simple analytical approximation to an inhomogeneously-broadened dispersion
      signal is proposed and tested with resonance lines broadened by unresolved
      hyperfine structure. Spectral parameters may be rapidly and accurately extracted
      using a nonlinear least-squares fitting algorithm. Combining the new
      approximation to a dispersion signal with a well-known approximation to the
      absorption signal allows dispersion-absorption admixtures, a problem of growing
      importance, to be analyzed quickly and accurately. For pure dispersion signals,
      the maximum difference between the fit and the signal for unresolved lines is 1.1
      % of the maximum intensity. For pure absorption, the difference is 0.33 % of the
      peak-to-peak intensity, and for admixtures up to 40 % dispersion (maximum
      intensity/peak-to-peak intensity), the difference is 0.7 %. The accuracy of the
      recovered spectral parameters depends on the degree of inhomogeneously-broadened
      and the percentage admixture, but they are generally about 1 % at most. A
      significant finding of the work is that the parameters pertinent to the
      dispersion or the absorption are insignificantly different when fitting isolated
      lines vs. fitting admixtures. Admixtures with added noise or an unsuspected
      extraneous line are investigated.

PMID- 27646666
TI  - Ketamine's antidepressant action: beyond NMDA receptor inhibition.
AB  - The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine is one of the most
      attractive antidepressants since this drug causes rapid-onset and sustained
      antidepressant effects in treatment resistant patients with depression. There are
      unanswered questions about how ketamine induces its rapid and sustained
      antidepressant actions. This key article suggests that (2R,6R)-HNK
      (hydroxynorketamine), a major metabolite of (R)-ketamine, shows antidepressant
      effects in rodent models of depression, indicating that the metabolism of (R)
      ketamine to (2R,6R)-HNK is pivotal in its antidepressant action. Here these
      findings are put into context and their significance is discussed.

PMID- 27646667
TI  - [Lung adenocarcinoma with concomitant EGFR mutation and ALK rearrangement].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Among patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, coexistence of EGFR
      mutation and ALK rearrangement is rare. We describe the clinical features of two
      patients with this double anomaly. CASE REPORTS: A 62-year-old Caucasian non
      smoking woman was diagnosed with cT4N0M0 lung adenocarcinoma. Initial biopsy
      showed EGFR mutation and ALK rearrangement. She received cisplatin-gemcitabine,
      followed by 17 months of gemcitabine. Owing to progression, she received
      erlotinib for 14 months, then paclitaxel for 6 months and finally crizotinib. A
      partial response was achieved and maintained for 24 months. A 45-year-old
      Caucasian woman, light smoker, was diagnosed with cT2N3M0 lung adenocarcinoma.
      Only EGFR mutation was found on initial analysis. She underwent treatment with
      cisplatin-gemcitabine and thoracic radiotherapy. Progression occurred after 8
      months and afatinbib was started. Eight months later, progression was observed
      with a neoplasic pleural effusion in which tumor cells expressing ALK
      rearrangement were found. A new FISH analysis was performed on the initial tumor
      but did not find this rearrangement. Despite a third line of crizotinib, the
      patient died one month later. DISCUSSION: The literature shows 45 other cases of
      these two abnormalities, observed either from the start or during follow-up.
      EGFR's TKI were almost always given before ALK's TKI. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic
      strategy needs to be clarified in cases of double alteration. With regard to the
      second patient, appearance of ALK rearrangement may constitute a resistance
      mechanism to EGFR's TKI.

PMID- 27646675
TI  - Neonatal administration of goat whey modulates memory and cortical spreading
      depression in rats previously suckled under different litter sizes: Possible role
      of sialic acid.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Goat whey, a usually discarded byproduct from goat cheese
      manufacturing, is a good source of sialic acid (SA), an oligosaccharide that is
      involved in processes such as memory and brain excitability. Here, we
      investigated in rats the effect of dried goat whey (DGW) on memory and the brain
      excitability-dependent phenomenon known as cortical spreading depression (CSD).
      We also provide evidence for the involvement of SA in this effect. In addition,
      we tested animals under unfavorable suckling conditions to evaluate whether
      nutritional deficiency would modulate DGW action. METHODS: Wistar rats were
      suckled in litters with 9 and 15 pups (groups L9 and L15, respectively). From
      postnatal (P) days 7-14, the animals received per gavage 17.45 g of DGW/kg/day,
      or SA (20 mg/kg/day or 100 mg/kg/day). At P28-30, we tested the animals' memory
      in the object recognition paradigm. At P35-45 we recorded CSD and analyze its
      velocity of propagation, amplitude, and duration. RESULTS: In the object
      recognition test, the L15 DGW-treated rats performed better than the L15
      controls. The L15 rats displayed higher CSD velocities compared with L9 groups.
      The DGW and SA groups exhibited higher CSD velocity than the naive- and saline
      treated controls, regardless the lactation status (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Our
      results documented a novel effect of DGW on memory and CSD. SA dose-dependently
      facilitated CSD, suggesting its involvement on the DGW action. DGW is considered
      a potential supplement to improve brain development and function in malnourished
      children, and this shall be further translationally investigated.

PMID- 27646674
TI  - Too much or never enough: a response to Treatment of opioid disorders in Canada:
      looking at the 'other epidemic'.
AB  - Prescription opioid (PO) misuse is a major health concern across North America,
      and it is the primary cause of preventable death for the 18-35 year old
      demographic. Medication assisted therapy including methadone and buprenorphine,
      is the standard of care for patients with opioid-dependence. Moreover, both of
      these medications are recognized as essential medicines by World Health
      Organization. In Ontario Canada, the availability of medication assisted therapy
      has expanded substantially, with almost a ten-fold increase number of patients
      accessing methadone in Ontario in the past decade. In their manuscript, Fischer
      et. al. (2016), present a view that expansion of opioid maintenance therapy (OMT)
      has outpaced true patient need and alternate strategies should be considered as
      first-line treatments. Here, we present a countering perspective-that medication
      assisted therapy, along with other harm reduction strategies, should be widely
      available to all opioid-dependent people as first-line treatments.

PMID- 27646676
TI  - A clinical tool to risk stratify potential kidney transplant recipients and
      predict severe adverse events.
AB  - Preoperative risk assessment of potential kidney transplant recipients often
      fails to adequately balance risk related to underlying comorbidities with the
      beneficial impact of kidney transplantation. We sought to develop a simple
      scoring system based on factors known at the time of patient assessment for
      placement on the waitlist to predict likelihood of severe adverse events 1 year
      post-transplant. The tool includes four components: age, cardiopulmonary factors,
      functional status, and metabolic factors. Pre-transplant factors strongly
      associated with severe adverse events include diabetic (OR: 3.76, P<.001),
      coronary artery disease (OR: 3.45, P<.001), history of CABG/PCI (OR 3.1, P=.001),
      and peripheral vascular disease (OR 2.74, P=.008).The score was evaluated by
      calculation of concordance index. The C statistic of 0.74 for the risk
      stratification group was considered good discrimination in the validation cohort
      (N=127) compared to the development cohort (N=368). The pre-transplant risk group
      was highly predictive of severe adverse events (OR 2.36, P<.001). Patients
      stratified into the above average-risk group were four times more likely to
      experience severe adverse events compared to average-risk patients, while
      patients in the high-risk group were nearly 11 times more likely to experience
      severe adverse events. The pre-transplant risk stratification tool is a simple
      scoring scheme using easily obtained preoperative characteristics that can
      meaningfully stratify patients in terms of post-transplant risk and may
      ultimately guide patient selection and inform the counseling of potential kidney
      transplant recipients.

PMID- 27646677
TI  - Improving ICSI: A review from the spermatozoon perspective.
AB  - : Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is the most frequently applied method
      for fertilization making the process of identifying the perfect spermatozoon
      fundamental. Herein we offer a critical and thorough presentation on the
      techniques reported regarding (i) handling and preparing semen samples, (ii)
      identifying and 'fishing' spermatozoa, and (iii) improving key factors, such as
      motility for a successful ICSI practice. These approaches are suggested to make
      the process easier and more effective especially in atypical and challenging
      circumstances. Furthermore, we present an epigrammatic opinion-where appropriate
      based upon our collective experience. Techniques such as intracytoplasmic
      morphologically selected sperm injection, hyaluronic binding, polarized light
      microscopy, and annexin V agent identification for comparing sperm cells and
      their chromatin integrity are analyzed. Moreover, for the demanding cases of
      total sperm immotility the use of the hypoosmotic swelling test, methylxanthines,
      as well as the option of laser assisted immotile sperm selection are discussed.
      Finally, we refer to the employment of myoinositol as a way to bioreactively
      improve ICSI outcome for oligoasthenoteratozoospermic men. The diversity and the
      constant development of novel promising techniques to improve ICSI from the
      spermatozoon perspective, is certainly worth pursuing. The majority of the
      techniques discussed are still a long way from being established in routine
      practices of the standard IVF laboratory. In most cases an experienced
      embryologist could yield the same results. Although some of the techniques show
      great benefits, there is a need for large scale multicenter randomized control
      studies to be conducted in order to specify their importance before suggesting
      horizontal application. Taking into consideration the a priori invasive nature of
      ICSI, when clinical application becomes a possibility we need to proceed with
      caution and ensure that in the pursuit for innovation we are not sacrificing
      safety and the balance of the physiological and biological pathways of the
      spermatozoon's dynamic. ABBREVIATIONS: ICSI: intracytoplasmic sperm injection;
      IVF: in vitro fertilization; PGD: reimplantation genetic diagnosis; IVM: in vitro
      maturation; HCV/HIV: hepatitis C virus/human immunodeficiency virus; IMSI:
      intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection; DGC: density gradient
      centrifugations; S-U: swim-up; ART: assisted reproduction technology; IUI:
      intrauterine insemination; PVP: polyvinylpyrrolidone; HA: hyaluronic acid; MSOME:
      motile sperm organelle morphology examination; ZP: zona pellucida; MACS: magnetic
      activation cell sorting; HOST: hypo-osmotic swelling test; TESE: testicular sperm
      extraction; MMP: mitochondrial membrane potential; OAT:
      oligoasthenoteratozoospermic.

PMID- 27646678
TI  - A new clinical test for measurement of lower limb specific range of motion in
      football players: Design, reliability and reference findings in non-injured
      players and those with long-standing adductor-related groin pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The association between groin pain and range of motion is poorly
      understood. The aim of this study was to develop a test to measure sport specific
      range of motion (SSROM) of the lower limb, to evaluate its reliability and
      describe findings in non-injured (NI) and injured football players. DESIGN: Case
      controlled. SETTING: 6 Dutch elite clubs, 6 amateur clubs and a sports medicine
      practice. PARTICIPANTS: 103 NI elite and 83 NI amateurs and 57 football players
      with unilateral adductor-related groin pain. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sport
      specific hip extension, adduction, abduction, internal and external rotation of
      both legs were examined with inclinometers. Test-retest reliability (ICC),
      standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC) were
      calculated. Non-injured players were compared with the injured group. RESULTS:
      Intra and inter tester ICCs were acceptable and ranged from 0.90 to 0.98 and 0.50
      0.88. SEM ranged from 1.3 to 9.2 degrees  and MDC from 3.7 to 25.6 degrees  for
      single directions and total SSROM. Both non-injured elite and amateur players had
      very similar total SSROM in non-dominant and dominant legs (188-190, SD +/- 25).
      Injured players had significant (p < 0.05) total SSROM deficits with 187(SD +/-
      31) degrees  on the healthy and 135(SD +/- 29) degrees  on the injured side.
      CONCLUSION: The SSROM test shows acceptable reliability. Loss of SSROM is found
      on the injured side in football players with unilateral adductor-related groin
      pain. Whether this is the cause or effect of groin pain cannot be stated due to
      the study design. Whether restoration of SSROM in injured players leads to
      improved outcomes should be investigated in new studies.

PMID- 27646682
TI  - Cyprininae phylogeny revealed independent origins of the Tibetan Plateau endemic
      polyploid cyprinids and their diversifications related to the Neogene uplift of
      the plateau.
AB  - Origin and diversification of the Tibetan polyploid cyprinids (schizothoracins)
      may help us to explore relationships between diversification of the cyprinids and
      the Tibetan Plateau uplift. Cyprininae phylogeny was analyzed using mitochondrial
      and nuclear DNA sequences to trace origins of polyploidy and diversifications of
      schizothoracins. Ancestral states reconstruction for ploidy levels indicated that
      the Cyprininae was diploid origin and the schizothoracin clades tetraploid
      origins. There were two diversification rate shifts along with diversification of
      the cyprinine fishes in response to the Tibetan uplift. The unusual
      diversification shifts were located to branches subtending the clades of Tibetan
      polyploid cyprinids. Our analyses suggested that (i) phylogeny of Cyprininae
      recovered two independent origins of the Tibetan polyploidy schizothoracins; (ii)
      diversifications of the schizothoracins were closely related to the Neogene
      uplift of the Tibetan plateau in the following ways: the relatively ancient Late
      Oligocene-Middle Miocene adaptive radiation may be associated with the uplift of
      the southern Tibet and Himalaya; the Middle Miocene-Early Pleistocene lineage
      specific diversification broadly coincident with major phase of the Neogene
      Tibetan uplift; and the most recent Pleistocene diversification shift in
      Schizothorax closely coincident with the successive Kunlun-Huanghe and Gonghe
      movements of the Tibetan uplift and the glaciation-induced climate oscillations
      on the plateau.

PMID- 27646684
TI  - Temporal Development of Gut Microbiota in Triclocarban Exposed Pregnant and
      Neonatal Rats.
AB  - Alteration of gut microbial colonization process may influence susceptibility of
      the newborn/infant to infectious and chronic disease. Infectious disease risk
      leads to widespread use of non-prescription antimicrobials in household products
      such as Triclocarban (TCC), an antimicrobial compound in personal care products.
      TCC concentrates in and is transferred through the milk to suckling offspring.
      TCC exposure during gestation and lactation significantly reduced phylogenetic
      diversity (PD) among exposed dams and neonates. Among dams using weighted UniFrac
      distances, TCC induced significant dysbiosis of gut microbiota by gestational day
      (GD) 18, a trend that continued after delivery. Similarly, an overall
      restructuring of gut microbiota occurred in neonates. By postnatal day (PND) 12,
      communities separated based on exposure status and became significantly different
      at PND 16. The ability of TCC to drive microbial dysbiosis warrants future
      investigation to evaluate the safety of non-prescription antimicrobial use,
      including TCC, during critical exposure windows.

PMID- 27646687
TI  - A Hardy Plant Facilitates Nitrogen Removal via Microbial Communities in
      Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands in Winter.
AB  - The plants effect in subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSF-CWs) is
      controversial, especially at low temperatures. Consequently, several SSF-CWs
      planted with Iris pseudacorus (CWI) or Typha orientalis Presl. (CWT) and several
      unplanted ones (CWC) were set up and fed with secondary effluent of sewage
      treatment plant during the winter in Eastern China. The 16S rDNA Illumina Miseq
      sequencing analysis indicated the positive effects of I. pseudacorus on the
      bacterial community richness and diversity in the substrate. Moreover, the
      community compositions of the bacteria involved with denitrification presented a
      significant difference in the three systems. Additionally, higher relative
      abundances of nitrifying bacteria (0.4140%, 0.2402% and 0.4318% for Nitrosomonas,
      Nitrosospira and Nitrospira, respectively) were recorded in CWI compared with CWT
      (0.2074%, 0.0648% and 0.0181%, respectively) and CWC (0.3013%, 0.1107% and
      0.1185%, respectively). Meanwhile, the average removal rates of NH4(+)-N and TN
      in CWI showed a prominent advantage compared to CWC, but no distinct advantage
      was found in CWT. The hardy plant I. pseudacorus, which still had active root
      oxygen release in cold temperatures, positively affected the abundance of
      nitrifying bacteria in the substrate, and accordingly was supposed to contribute
      to a comparatively high nitrogen removal efficiency of the system during the
      winter.

PMID- 27646688
TI  - N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine Kinase Interacts with Dynein-Lis1-NudE1 Complex and
      Regulates Cell Division.
AB  - N-acetyl-D-glucosamine kinase (GlcNAc kinase or NAGK) primarily catalyzes
      phosphoryl transfer to GlcNAc during amino sugar metabolism. Recently, it was
      shown NAGK interacts with dynein light chain roadblock type 1 (DYNLRB1) and
      upregulates axo-dendritic growth, which is an enzyme activity-independent, non
      canonical structural role. The authors examined the distributions of NAGK and
      NAGK-dynein complexes during the cell cycle in HEK293T cells. NAGK was expressed
      throughout different stages of cell division and immunocytochemistry (ICC) showed
      NAGK was localized at nuclear envelope, spindle microtubules (MTs), and
      kinetochores (KTs). A proximity ligation assay (PLA) for NAGK and DYNLRB1
      revealed NAGK-dynein complex on nuclear envelopes in prophase cells and on
      chromosomes in metaphase cells. NAGK-DYNLRB1 PLA followed by Lis1/NudE1
      immunostaining showed NAGK-dynein complexes were colocalized with Lis1 and NudE1
      signals, and PLA for NAGK-Lis1 showed similar signal patterns, suggesting a
      functional link between NAGK and dynein-Lis1 complex. Subsequently, NAGK-dynein
      complexes were found in KTs and on nuclear membranes where KTs were marked with
      CENP-B ICC and nuclear membrane with lamin ICC. Furthermore, knockdown of NAGK by
      small hairpin (sh) RNA was found to delay cell division. These results indicate
      that the NAGK-dynein interaction with the involvements of Lis1 and NudE1 plays an
      important role in prophase nuclear envelope breakdown (NEB) and metaphase MT-KT
      attachment during eukaryotic cell division. 

PMID- 27646689
TI  - Uncoupling Protein, UCP-4 May Be Involved in Neuronal Defects During Aging and
      Resistance to Pathogens in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial inner membrane proteins that
      function to dissipate proton motive force and mitochondrial membrane potential.
      One UCP has been identified in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), namely UCP-4.
      In this study, we examined its expression and localization using a GFP marker in
      C. elegans. ucp-4 was expressed throughout the body from early embryo to aged
      adult and UCP-4 was localized in the mitochondria. It is known that increased
      mitochondrial membrane protential leads to a reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      increase, which is associated with age-related diseases, including
      neurodegenerative diseases in humans. A ucp-4 mutant showed increased
      mitochondrial membrane protential in association with increased neuronal defects
      during aging, and the neurons of ucp-4 overexpressing animals showed decreased
      neuronal defects during aging. These results suggest that UCP-4 may be involved
      in neuroprotection during aging via relieving mitochondrial membrane protential.
      We also investigated the relationship between UCP-4 and innate immunity because
      increased ROS can affect innate immunity. ucp-4 mutant displayed increased
      resistance to the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus compared to wild type. The
      enhanced immunity in the ucp-4 mutant could be related to increased mitochondrial
      membrane protential, presumably followed by increased ROS. In summary, UCP-4
      might have an important role in neuronal aging and innate immune responses
      through mediating mitochondrial membrane protential. 

PMID- 27646692
TI  - Interference-based molecular transistors.
AB  - Molecular transistors have the potential for switching with lower gate voltages
      than conventional field-effect transistors. We have calculated the performance of
      a single-molecule device in which there is interference between electron
      transport through the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest
      unoccupied molecular orbital of a single molecule. Quantum interference results
      in a subthreshold slope that is independent of temperature. For realistic
      parameters the change in gate potential required for a change in source-drain
      current of two decades is 20 mV, which is a factor of six smaller than the
      theoretical limit for a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor.

PMID- 27646690
TI  - Proanthocyanidins and hydrolysable tannins: occurrence, dietary intake and
      pharmacological effects.
AB  - : Tannins are a heterogeneous group of high MW, water-soluble, polyphenolic
      compounds, naturally present in cereals, leguminous seeds and, predominantly, in
      many fruits and vegetables, where they provide protection against a wide range of
      biotic and abiotic stressors. Tannins exert several pharmacological effects,
      including antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity as well as
      antimicrobial, anti-cancer, anti-nutritional and cardio-protective properties.
      They also seem to exert beneficial effects on metabolic disorders and prevent the
      onset of several oxidative stress-related diseases. Although the bioavailability
      and pharmacokinetic data for these phytochemicals are still sparse, gut
      absorption of these compounds seems to be inversely correlated with the degree of
      polymerization. Further studies are mandatory to better clarify how these
      molecules and their metabolites are able to cross the intestinal barrier in order
      to exert their biological properties. This review summarizes the current
      literature on tannins, focusing on the main, recently proposed mechanisms of
      action that underlie their pharmacological and disease-prevention properties, as
      well as their bioavailability, safety and toxicology. LINKED ARTICLES: This
      article is part of a themed section on Principles of Pharmacological Research of
      Nutraceuticals. To view the other articles in this section visit
      http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.11/issuetoc.

PMID- 27646693
TI  - Using PROMs in Healthcare: Who Should Be in the Driving Seat-Policy Makers,
      Health Professionals, Methodologists or Patients?

PMID- 27646695
TI  - Use of antibiotics in childhood and risk of Type 1 diabetes: a population-based
      case-control study.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate whether the use of antibiotics from infancy to adolescence
      influences the risk of Type 1 diabetes. METHODS: We conducted a population-based
      case-control study, including all Type 1 diabetes cases in Denmark among children
      born between 1997 and 2012 (n = 1578). Odds ratios associating Type 1 diabetes
      with use of antibiotics were calculated using conditional logistic regression.
      RESULTS: Overall, we found no association between the use of antibiotics and risk
      of Type 1 diabetes. Furthermore, no associations were seen specifically for broad
      spectrum, narrow-spectrum, bactericidal or bacteriostatic types of antibiotics or
      for the most frequently used individual classes of antibiotics. No differences
      were observed in subgroups defined by sex or by age at time of diagnosis.
      However, filling five or more antibiotic prescriptions in the first 2 years of
      life specifically was associated with a higher odds ratio of 1.35 (95% CI 1.10
      1.64). This association appeared to be driven by exposure to broad-spectrum
      antibiotics within the second year of life. CONCLUSION: Antibiotic exposure in
      childhood is generally not associated with the risk of developing Type 1
      diabetes. Future studies should investigate the effects of multiple exposures to
      broad-spectrum antibiotics during the second year of life.

PMID- 27646696
TI  - [Intraoperative 3D imaging in spinal surgery].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intraoperative imaging during spinal interventions has experienced
      significant developments over the last two decades. By the introduction of flat
      screen detectors, 3D imaging has been made possible and easier and by developing
      compact and mobile systems computed tomography can even be used in the operating
      theater. OBJECTIVE: Presentation of modern intraoperative 3D imaging and
      navigation in spinal surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The techniques of
      intraoperative 3D imaging and navigation during spinal procedures are presented
      based on the currently available literature and own experiences at a German
      national spine and trauma center. RESULTS: The use of flat panel detectors and
      the possibility of 3D visualization nowadays substantially facilitate the use of
      navigation and allow certain control of surgical results even during the
      intervention. Radiation exposure of the whole team in the operating theater can
      be significantly reduced by the new techniques. CONCLUSION: The advantages of
      intraoperative 3D imaging with a clear improvement of visualization for spinal
      surgeons and the certain control of materials at the end of the operation are
      obvious. Even the use of navigation has been greatly simplified and can therefore
      lead to an even greater precision and less radiation exposure. There are even
      more sophisticated developments, such as operation suites and intraoperative
      computed tomography but these are initially reserved for selected centers.

PMID- 27646697
TI  - [The evolution of 3D imaging in orthopedic trauma care. German version].
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) imaging can enhance trauma care by allowing better
      evaluation of bony detail and implant position compared to conventional
      fluoroscopy or x-ray. Intraoperative 3D imaging further improves this evaluation
      by allowing any necessary revisions to be made in the operating room prior to the
      patient emerging from anesthesia. This revision, if necessary, better achieves
      the surgical goals and alleviates the stressful situation of obtaining
      postoperative 3D imaging, where the benefit of revision must be balanced against
      the cost and risk of returning to the operating room. Improved image volume,
      resolution, and software capability have allowed surgeons to obtain high quality,
      wide field views of bony anatomy that can include the uninjured side as a
      comparison. In this paper, the evolution of intraoperative 3D imaging over the
      past 25 years is discussed. 

PMID- 27646698
TI  - [Antivenom therapy after a black mamba snakebite].
AB  - A 24-year-old man was bitten on his right forefinger by his black mamba while he
      was feeding the animal. The primary symptoms caused by a full injection of the
      snake's venom therefore presented a life-threating situation. Due to pre-hospital
      troubleshooting of the emergency medical service and the timely administration of
      the antivenom further potentially harmful effects caused by the snakes venom were
      avoided.

PMID- 27646699
TI  - [Intraoperative 3D imaging : Diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic benefits].
AB  - Intraoperative 3D imaging has a marked impact on the surgical treatment of
      articular fractures. In theory, insufficient reduction of fracture fragments and
      malpositioning of implants can be corrected in the same session so that
      unnecessary secondary imaging and revision surgery can be avoided. Current
      evidence on the accuracy of 3D scans, however, relies on heterogeneous
      preclinical data and must be interpreted with caution. Every fourth 3D scan seems
      to lead to a repositioning of fracture fragments or implants, despite unproven
      sensitivity and specificity. The interaction between diagnostic accuracy and
      therapeutic consequences needs exploration before any conclusions on the
      (additional) benefits of intraoperative 3D imaging can be drawn. 

PMID- 27646700
TI  - Preparation of alkyne-labeled 2-nitroimidazoles for identification of tumor
      hypoxia by Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - Hypoxia is a characteristic feature of solid tumors. Herein, we have developed
      novel hypoxia-sensitive probes (IM-ACs) for Raman spectroscopic analysis,
      consisting of nitroimidazole as a hypoxia-targeting unit and acetylene group as
      the signal-emitting unit. Among IM-ACs synthesized in this study, IM-AC
      possessing a diacetylene group (IM-AC 3), showed suitable properties as a hypoxia
      indicator. When administered to A549 cells, we observed a strong signal of IM-AC
      3 around 2200cm-1 in the Raman spectra from hypoxic cells. Ex vivo experiments
      suggest that IM-AC 3 remained in hypoxic tumor tissue and emitted a strong
      signal.

PMID- 27646701
TI  - Individual variation in an acute stress response reflects divergent coping
      strategies in a large herbivore.
AB  - Individuals differ in the manner that they cope with risk. When these behavioral
      differences are manifested in risky or challenging environments (i.e. stressful
      situations), they are generally interpreted within the "coping style" framework.
      As studying inter-individual variability in behavior is particularly challenging
      in the wild, we used a captive facility to explore consistency in the individual
      behavioral response to an acute stress in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). Using
      behavioral and physiological parameters measured six times across a calendar
      year, we first quantified individual repeatability and, second, explored the
      correlations among these parameters that might indicate a coherent stress
      response. Finally, we analyzed the link between the stress response and
      individual body mass, a reliable indicator of phenotypic quality in roe deer. We
      found that the measured parameters were highly repeatable across seasons,
      indicating that the individual stress response is consistent over time.
      Furthermore, there was considerable covariation among the stress response
      parameters, describing a proactivity-reactivity gradient at the individual level.
      Finally, proactive individuals had higher body mass than reactive individuals. We
      suggest that consistent individual differences in energy metabolism and
      physiology may promote consistent individual differences in behavioral traits,
      providing a mechanistic link between food acquisition tactics and demographic
      performance.

PMID- 27646703
TI  - Determinants in the LIN-12/Notch Intracellular Domain That Govern Its Activity
      and Stability During Caenorhabditis elegans Vulval Development.
AB  - Upon ligand binding, the LIN-12/Notch intracellular domain is released from its
      transmembrane tether to function in a nuclear complex that activates
      transcription of target genes. During Caenorhabditis elegans vulval development,
      LIN-12/Notch is activated by ligand in two of six multipotential vulval precursor
      cells (VPCs), specifying the "secondary vulval fate" and descendants that
      contribute to the vulva. If LIN-12 is ectopically activated in other VPCs, they
      also adopt the secondary fate, dividing to produce extra vulval cells, resulting
      in a "Multivulva" phenotype. Here, we identify determinants in the LIN-12
      intracellular domain ["LIN-12(intra)"] that govern its activity and stability
      during C. elegans vulval development; we assayed activity of mutant forms based
      on their ability to cause a Multivulva phenotype and stability using a GFP tag to
      visualize their accumulation. Our analysis has revealed that, while the ubiquitin
      ligase SEL-10/Fbw7 promotes LIN-12(intra) downregulation in VPCs, there is a
      distinct mechanism for downregulation of LIN-12(intra) in VPC descendants. Our
      analysis also revealed that LIN-12(intra) must be in the nuclear complex to be
      regulated appropriately in VPCs and their descendants, and that the structure or
      conformation of the carboxy-terminal region influences stability as well.
      Although activity and stability are generally well-correlated, exceptions where
      they are uncoupled suggest that there may be roles for the carboxy-terminal
      region and sel-10 that are independent of their roles in regulating LIN-12(intra)
      stability.

PMID- 27646704
TI  - Genomic Prediction of Single Crosses in the Early Stages of a Maize Hybrid
      Breeding Pipeline.
AB  - Prediction of single-cross performance has been a major goal of plant breeders
      since the beginning of hybrid breeding. Recently, genomic prediction has shown to
      be a promising approach, but only limited studies have examined the accuracy of
      predicting single-cross performance. Moreover, no studies have examined the
      potential of predicting single crosses among random inbreds derived from a series
      of biparental families, which resembles the structure of germplasm comprising the
      initial stages of a hybrid maize breeding pipeline. The main objectives of this
      study were to evaluate the potential of genomic prediction for identifying
      superior single crosses early in the hybrid breeding pipeline and optimize its
      application. To accomplish these objectives, we designed and analyzed a novel
      population of single crosses representing the Iowa Stiff Stalk synthetic/non
      Stiff Stalk heterotic pattern commonly used in the development of North American
      commercial maize hybrids. The performance of single crosses was predicted using
      parental combining ability and covariance among single crosses. Prediction
      accuracies were estimated using cross-validation and ranged from 0.28 to 0.77 for
      grain yield, 0.53 to 0.91 for plant height, and 0.49 to 0.94 for staygreen,
      depending on the number of tested parents of the single cross and genomic
      prediction method used. The genomic estimated general and specific combining
      abilities showed an advantage over genomic covariances among single crosses when
      one or both parents of the single cross were untested. Overall, our results
      suggest that genomic prediction of single crosses in the early stages of a hybrid
      breeding pipeline holds great potential to redesign hybrid breeding and increase
      its efficiency.

PMID- 27646705
TI  - Divergent DNA Methylation Provides Insights into the Evolution of Duplicate Genes
      in Zebrafish.
AB  - The evolutionary mechanism, fate and function of duplicate genes in various taxa
      have been widely studied; however, the mechanism underlying the maintenance and
      divergence of duplicate genes in Danio rerio remains largely unexplored. Whether
      and how the divergence of DNA methylation between duplicate pairs is associated
      with gene expression and evolutionary time are poorly understood. In this study,
      by analyzing bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) and RNA-seq datasets from public data,
      we demonstrated that DNA methylation played a critical role in duplicate gene
      evolution in zebrafish. Initially, we found promoter methylation of duplicate
      genes generally decreased with evolutionary time as measured by synonymous
      substitution rate between paralogous duplicates (Ks). Importantly, promoter
      methylation of duplicate genes was negatively correlated with gene expression.
      Interestingly, for 665 duplicate gene pairs, one gene was consistently promoter
      methylated, while the other was unmethylated across nine different datasets we
      studied. Moreover, one motif enriched in promoter methylated duplicate genes
      tended to be bound by the transcription repression factor FOXD3, whereas a motif
      enriched in the promoter unmethylated sequences interacted with the transcription
      activator Sp1, indicating a complex interaction between the genomic environment
      and epigenome. Besides, body-methylated genes showed longer length than body
      unmethylated genes. Overall, our results suggest that DNA methylation is highly
      important in the differential expression and evolution of duplicate genes in
      zebrafish.

PMID- 27646706
TI  - Transcriptome Profiling in Rat Inbred Strains and Experimental Cross Reveals
      Discrepant Genetic Architecture of Genome-Wide Gene Expression.
AB  - To test the impact of genetic heterogeneity on cis- and trans-mediated mechanisms
      of gene expression regulation, we profiled the transcriptome of adipose tissue in
      20 inbred congenic strains derived from diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats and
      Brown-Norway (BN) controls, which contain well-defined blocks (1-183 Mb) of
      genetic polymorphisms, and in 123 genetically heterogeneous rats of an (GK *
      BN)F2 offspring. Within each congenic we identified 73-1351 differentially
      expressed genes (DEGs), only 7.7% of which mapped within the congenic blocks, and
      which may be regulated in cis The remainder localized outside the blocks, and
      therefore must be regulated in trans Most trans-regulated genes exhibited
      approximately twofold expression changes, consistent with monoallelic expression.
      Altered biological pathways were replicated between congenic strains sharing
      blocks of genetic polymorphisms, but polymorphisms at different loci also had
      redundant effects on transcription of common distant genes and pathways. We
      mapped 2735 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) in the F2 cross, including
      26% predominantly cis-regulated genes, which validated DEGs in congenic strains.
      A hotspot of >300 eQTL in a 10 cM region of chromosome 1 was enriched in DEGs in
      a congenic strain. However, many DEGs among GK, BN and congenic strains did not
      replicate as eQTL in F2 hybrids, demonstrating distinct mechanisms of gene
      expression when alleles segregate in an outbred population or are fixed
      homozygous across the entire genome or in short genomic regions. Our analysis
      provides conceptual advances in our understanding of the complex architecture of
      genome expression and pathway regulation, and suggests a prominent impact of
      epistasis and monoallelic expression on gene transcription.

PMID- 27646707
TI  - Climate analogues suggest limited potential for intensification of production on
      current croplands under climate change.
AB  - Climate change could pose a major challenge to efforts towards strongly increase
      food production over the coming decades. However, model simulations of future
      climate-impacts on crop yields differ substantially in the magnitude and even
      direction of the projected change. Combining observations of current maximum
      attainable yield with climate analogues, we provide a complementary method of
      assessing the effect of climate change on crop yields. Strong reductions in
      attainable yields of major cereal crops are found across a large fraction of
      current cropland by 2050. These areas are vulnerable to climate change and have
      greatly reduced opportunity for agricultural intensification. However, the total
      land area, including regions not currently used for crops, climatically suitable
      for high attainable yields of maize, wheat and rice is similar by 2050 to the
      present-day. Large shifts in land-use patterns and crop choice will likely be
      necessary to sustain production growth rates and keep pace with demand.

PMID- 27646710
TI  - Natural antioxidant polyphenols on inflammation management: Anti-glycation
      activity vs metalloproteinases inhibition.
AB  - The diet polyphenols are a secondary metabolites of plants able to act on
      inflammation process. Their anti-inflammatory activity is articulated through
      several mechanisms that are related to their antioxidative and radical scavengers
      properties. Our work is focused on a novel approach to inflammatory disease
      management, based on anti-glycative and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)
      inhibition effects, as a connected phenomena. To better understand these
      correlation, polyphenols Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) studies were also
      reported. The antioxidant polyphenols inhibit the AGEs at different levels of the
      glycation process in the following ways: (1) prevention of Amadori adduct
      oxidation; (2) trapping reactive dycarbonyl compounds; (3) attenuation of
      receptor for AGEs (RAGE) expression. Moreover, several flavonoids with radical
      scavenging property showed also MMPs inhibition interact directly with MMPs or
      indirectly via radical scavengers and AGEs reduction. The essential polyphenols
      features involved in these mechanisms are C2-C3 double bond and number and
      position of hydroxyl, glycosyl and O-methyl groups. These factors induce a change
      in molecular planarity interfering with the hydrogen bond formation, electron
      delocalization and metal ion chelation. In particular, C2-C3 double bond improve
      the antioxidant and MMPs inhibition, while the hydroxylation, glycosylation and
      methylation induce a positive and negative correlation, respectively.

PMID- 27646711
TI  - Male Youth Perceptions of Violent Extremism: towards a Test of Rational Choice
      Theory.
AB  - Understanding how people perceive the pros and cons of risky behaviors such as
      terrorism or violent extremism represents a first step in developing research
      testing rational choice theory aiming to explain and predict peoples' intentions
      to engage in, or support, these behaviors. Accordingly, the present study
      provides a qualitative, exploratory analysis of a sample of 57 male youths'
      perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of: (a) accessing a violent extremist
      website, (b) joining a violent extremist group, and (c) leaving such a group.
      Youth perceived significantly more drawbacks than benefits of joining a violent
      extremist group (p = .001, d = .46) and accessing a violent extremist website (p
      = .001, d = .46). The perceived benefits of engagement referred to gaining
      knowledge/awareness, being part of a group/similar people, and fighting the
      enemy/for a cause. The drawbacks referred to being exposed to negative material
      and emotions, having violent/criminal beliefs and behaviors, and getting in
      trouble with the law. The perceived benefits of disengagement referred to no
      longer committing illegal acts, and regaining independence/not being manipulated.
      The drawbacks referred to exposing oneself to harm and reprisal. These findings
      provide an insight into how male youth think about (dis)engagement in violent
      extremism, and can inform future quantitative research designed to explain and
      predict (dis)engagement in violent extremism. Eventually, such research may
      inform the development of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies. 

PMID- 27646712
TI  - Predictors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in primary care: a
      systematic review protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapies for human immunodeficiency virus are more
      effective if infected individuals are diagnosed early, before they have
      irreversible immunologic damage. A large proportion of patients that are
      diagnosed with HIV, in United Kingdom, would have seen a general practitioner
      (GP) within the previous year. Determining the demographic and clinical
      characteristics of HIV-infected patients prior to diagnosis of HIV may be useful
      in identifying patients likely to be HIV positive in primary care. This could
      help inform a strategy of early HIV testing in primary care. This systematic
      review aims to identify characteristics of HIV-infected adults prior to diagnosis
      that could be used in a prediction model for early detection of HIV in primary
      care. METHODS: The systematic review will search for literature, mainly
      observational (cohort and case-control) studies, with human participants aged 18
      years and over. The exposures are demographic, socio-economic or clinical risk
      factors or characteristics associated with HIV infection. The comparison group
      will be patients with no risk factors or no comparison group. The outcome is
      laboratory-confirmed HIV/AIDS infection. Evidence will be identified from
      electronic searches of online databases of EMBASE, MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library
      and grey literature search engines of Open Grey, Web of Science Conference
      Proceedings Citation Index and examination of reference lists from selected
      studies (reference searching). Two reviewers will be involved in quality
      assessment and data extraction of the review. A data extraction form will be
      developed to collate data from selected studies. A checklist for quality
      assessment will be adapted from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network
      (SIGN). DISCUSSION: This systematic review will identify and consolidate existing
      scientific evidence on characteristics of HIV infected individuals that could be
      used to inform decision-making in prognostic model development. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
      REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016042427.

PMID- 27646715
TI  - Long-term outcome of medically treated epilepsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review the long-term outcome of epilepsy in population-based studies.
      METHOD: Analysis of population-based studies. RESULTS: About two of three
      patients with new-onset epilepsy will, in the long run, enter five-year terminal
      remission. Chances for remission are best for those with idiopathic or
      cryptogenic epilepsy. It is unclear whether the seizure outcome has improved over
      the last several decades. Social outcome, however, may have become better because
      of the improved level of knowledge on and public attitudes toward people with
      epilepsy, and possibly fewer prejudices at home, daycare, school, military and
      labor market. CONCLUSION: While we still do not have a cure for epilepsy for all
      patients, relief of the medical and social consequences is available for many and
      hope is on the horizon for people with epilepsy.

PMID- 27646713
TI  - Changes in the expression of N- and O-glycopeptides in patients with colorectal
      cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma quantified by full-MS scan FT-ICR and
      multiple reaction monitoring.
AB  - : Alternations in the glycosylation of proteins have been described in connection
      with several cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal
      cancer. Analytical tools, which use combination of liquid chromatography and mass
      spectrometry, allow precise and sensitive description of these changes. In this
      study, we use MRM and FT-ICR operating in full-MS scan, to determine ratios of
      intensities of specific glycopeptides in HCC, colorectal cancer, and liver
      metastasis of colorectal cancer. Haptoglobin, hemopexin and complement factor H
      were detected after albumin depletion and the N-linked glycopeptides with
      fucosylated glycans were compared with their non-fucosylated forms. In addition,
      sialylated forms of an O-linked glycopeptide of hemopexin were quantified in the
      same samples. We observe significant increase in fucosylation of all three
      proteins and increase in bi-sialylated O-glycopeptide of hemopexin in HCC of
      hepatitis C viral (HCV) etiology by both LC-MS methods. The results of the MRM
      and full-MS scan FT-ICR analyses provide comparable quantitative readouts in
      spite of chromatographic, mass spectrometric and data analysis differences. Our
      results suggest that both workflows allow adequate relative quantification of
      glycopeptides and suggest that HCC of HCV etiology differs in glycosylation from
      colorectal cancer and liver metastasis of colorectal cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: The
      article compares N- and O-glycosylation of several serum proteins in different
      diseases by a fast and easy sample preparation procedure in combination with high
      resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The
      results show successful glycopeptides relative quantification in a complex
      peptide mixture by the high resolution instrument and the detection of glycan
      differences between the different types of cancer diseases. The presented method
      is comparable to conventional targeted MRM approach but allows additional
      curation of the data.

PMID- 27646716
TI  - Experimental tests of light-pollution impacts on nocturnal insect courtship and
      dispersal.
AB  - Though a number of effects of artificial light pollution on behavior and
      physiology have been described, there is little understanding of their
      consequences for the growth and distribution of populations. Here, we document
      impacts of light pollution on aspects of firefly population ecology and
      underlying mating behaviors. Many firefly species have a unique communication
      system whereby bioluminescent flashes are used in courtship displays to find and
      attract mates. We performed a series of manipulative field experiments in which
      we quantified the effects of adding artificial nighttime lighting on abundances
      and total flashing activity of fireflies, courtship behaviors and mating between
      tethered females and free-flying males, and dispersal distances of marked
      individuals. We show that light pollution reduces flashing activities in a dark
      active firefly species (Photuris versicolor) by 69.69 % and courtship behavior
      and mating success in a twilight-active species (Photinus pyralis). Though
      courtship behavior and mating success of Photinus pyralis was reduced by light
      pollution, we found no effects of light pollution on male dispersal in this
      species. Our findings suggest that light pollution is likely to adversely impact
      firefly populations, and contribute to wider discussions about the ecological
      consequences of sensory pollution.

PMID- 27646719
TI  - Development of real-time PCR for quantitation of simian immunodeficiency virus 2
      LTR circles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-human primates infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)
      represent a robust model to evaluate pre-clinical efficacy of HIV-1 preventive
      strategies and to determine the size of reservoir. METHODS: We developed a real
      time qPCR assay to specifically quantify episomal 2-LTR circular DNA in
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells and brain tissues from SIV-infected macaques.
      RESULTS: This assay has sensitivity, accuracy and reproducibility over seven
      orders of magnitude. High copy numbers of SIV 2-LTR circles were correlated to
      high proviral DNA levels in brains of two SIV encephalitic animals. In contrast,
      no 2-LTR circles were detectable in two SIV-infected animals with no sign of
      encephalitis or two animals that had mild encephalitis with low levels of
      proviral DNA. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that simultaneous application of
      total proviral DNA and 2-LTR circle assays provides quantitative evaluation of
      pathogenesis and outcome of SIV infection in macaques.

PMID- 27646717
TI  - Negative impact of urban habitat on immunity in the great tit Parus major.
AB  - Urban habitats are described as having an overall negative influence on many
      fitness-related traits in several bird species, but a vital function such as
      immunity remains poorly studied. The immune response is strongly linked to
      individual condition, which partly depends on resource availability and the
      parasitic context that often differ between urban and natural habitats. A
      difference between the immunity of populations dwelling in urban areas and
      populations from more natural habitats can, therefore, be hypothesized. We
      conducted a 2-year experimental study on great tits (Parus major) in urban and
      forest areas. We stimulated the constitutive immunity of nestlings and assessed
      both the inflammatory response by measuring the plasma levels of haptoglobin, an
      inflammatory marker, and its activation cost through the loss of body mass. In
      addition, we checked the nestlings for ectoparasites and assessed haemosporidian
      prevalence in adults. Nestlings from urban sites produced relatively less
      haptoglobin and lost more body mass than those from forest sites, which suggests
      that the activation of constitutive immunity is more costly for birds living in
      urban sites than for those living in the forest. We detected no ectoparasite in
      birds in both habitats. However, urban adults showed lower haemosporidian
      prevalence than forest ones, suggesting a reduced exposure to these parasites and
      their vectors in towns. Overall, our study provides evidence for an immune
      difference between urban and forest populations. Because immunity is crucial for
      organism fitness, it is of prime interest to identify causes and processes at the
      origin of this difference.

PMID- 27646720
TI  - Vitamin C in Infant Formula and Adult/Pediatric Nutritional Formula by Liquid
      Chromatography with UV Detection: Collaborative Study, Final Action 2012.22.
AB  - To determine the repeatability and reproducibility values of the AOAC
      INTERNATIONAL First Action Method 2012.22, Vitamin C in Infant Formula and
      Adult/Pediatric Nutritional Formula by Liquid Chromatography with UV Detection, a
      collaborative study was organized. The study was divided into two parts: method
      setup and qualification of participants (part 1) and collaborative study
      participation (part 2). During part 1, each laboratory was asked to analyze two
      practice samples using the aforementioned method. Laboratories that provided
      results within a range of expected levels were qualified for part 2, where they
      analyzed 10 samples in blind duplicates. Two of the samples were suspected of
      spoilage during the test and new cans of the same type of product were analyzed
      by a subset of laboratories in part 3. The results were compared with Standard
      Method Performance Requirement (SMPR(r)) 2012.012 established for vitamin C. The
      precision results were within the requirements stated in the SMPR: 1.4-7.3% and
      3.2-11.4% respectively, for repeatability and reproducibility. Finally, Horwitz
      ratio values were all <2 (0.5-1.7). The Expert Review Panel for Stakeholder Panel
      for Infant Formula and Adult Nutritionals Nutrient Methods determined that the
      data presented met the SMPR and therefore recommended the method be granted Final
      Action status.

PMID- 27646721
TI  - Frequent alterations of homologous recombination repair pathway in primary and
      chemotolerant breast carcinomas: clinical importance.
AB  - AIM: To understand the importance of homologous recombination repair pathway in
      development of breast carcinoma (BC), alterations of some key regulatory genes
      like BRCA1, BRCA2, FANCC and FANCD2 were analyzed in pretherapeutic/neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy (NACT)-treated BC samples. MATERIALS & METHODS: Alterations
      (deletion/methylation/expression) of the genes were analyzed in 118
      pretherapeutic and 41 NACT-treated BC samples. RESULTS: High deletion/methylation
      (29-68%) and 64-78% overall alterations of the genes were found in the samples.
      Concordance was evident between alteration and protein expression of the genes.
      Estrogen/progesterone receptor-negative tumors showed significantly high
      alterations even in NACT-treated samples having low CD44 and proliferating cell
      nuclear antigen expression. Pretherapeutic patients with alterations showed poor
      prognosis. CONCLUSION: Alterations of homologous recombination repair pathway
      genes are needed for the development of BC.

PMID- 27646722
TI  - Comparison of Cardiovascular Risk Screening Methods and Mortality Data among
      Hungarian Primary Care Population: Preliminary Results of the First Government
      Financed Managed Care Program.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Besides participation in the primary prevention, screening as
      secondary prevention is an important requirement for primary care services. The
      effect of this work is influenced by the characteristics of individual primary
      care practices and doctors' screening habits, as well as by the regulation of
      screening processes and available financial resources. Between 1999 and 2009, a
      managed care program was introduced and carried out in Hungary, financed by the
      government. This financial support and motivation gave the opportunity to
      increase the number of screenings. METHOD: 4,462 patients of 40 primary care
      practices were screened on the basis of SCORE risk assessment. The results of the
      screening were compared on the basis of two groups of patients, namely: those who
      had been pre-screened (pre-screening method) for known risk factors in their
      medical history (smoking, BMI, age, family cardiovascular history), and those
      randomly screened. The authors also compared the mortality data of participating
      primary care practices with the regional and national data. RESULTS: The average
      score was significantly higher in the pre-screened group of patients, regardless
      of whether the risk factors were considered one by one or in combination.
      Mortality was significantly lower in the participating primary practices than had
      been expected on the basis of the national mortality data. CONCLUSION: This
      government-financed program was a big step forward to establish a proper
      screening method within Hungarian primary care. Performing cardiovascular
      screening of a selected target group is presumably more appropriate than
      screening within a randomly selected population. Both methods resulted in a
      visible improvement in regional mortality data, though it is very likely that
      with pre-screening a more cost-effective selection for screening may be obtained.

PMID- 27646723
TI  - Screening and Registering Patients with Asthma and Copd in Slovenian Primary
      Care: First Results.
AB  - AIM: This study aimed to evaluate a new project of the Slovene Ministry of Health
      - the Family Medicine Model Practices (MPs) Project in Slovenia, and to show its
      effectiveness in the management of asthma and COPD by family medicine practice
      teams, consisting of a family physician, a nurse practitioner and a practice
      nurse. METHODS: A total of 107 family practices with 203122 patients joined the
      project during the first year of its initiation. The effectiveness of the program
      in disease management was analysed in two phases according to the registration of
      family practices. The number of patients registered and the number of asthma and
      COPD patients (existing and newly detected) by model practice teams were being
      reported. Descriptive analyses were used to describe the study populations.
      Prevalence by diseases and phases was established after the initial round of data
      collection. Chi square (chi(2)) test was used to analyse the difference between
      the phases. RESULTS: The frequency of asthma was 2.12%, while the frequency of
      COPD was 1.15% throughout the study period. For both diseases, more than 30% of
      patients were newly diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: The project of implementing Family
      Medicine MPs in the area of COPD has given first positive results and the project
      is still ongoing to its full implementation.

PMID- 27646724
TI  - Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior and Substance Use among Adolescents in
      Slovenian Urban Area.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of the relationship between leisure time physical activity,
      sedentary behaviour and substance use among adolescents report contradictory
      results. The aim of our study was to examine the association between self
      reported leisure time physical activity, sedentary behaviour and alcohol, tobacco
      and cannabis use among adolescents in Slovenia. METHODS: Subjects consisted of
      822 school children aged from 14 to 16 years, living in urban area of Ljubljana
      and Maribor. The data was collected using the EURO URHIS 2 survey. Logistic
      regressions were conducted to assess the correlation between the independent
      variables of physical activity; time spent watching television and using the
      computer, and each of the five substance use dependent variables. RESULTS:
      Frequency of daily smoking was significantly associated with leisure time
      physical activity, while alcohol and cannabis use were not. Watching TV >= 2
      hours per day was associated with heavy episodic drinking in the past month, no
      associations were found for smoking and cannabis use. Using the computer >= 2
      hours per day was positively associated with daily smoking, drinking alcohol in
      the past month, heavy episodic drinking in the past month and ever being
      intoxicated, while cannabis use was not. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that
      leisure time physical activity is associated with daily cigarette smoking, and
      leisure time sedentary behaviour is associated with alcohol and tobacco use among
      adolescents. The results of our study show the need for the formation of suitable
      preventive measures concerning reduced sitting time as well as leisure time
      physical activity targeted to adolescents.

PMID- 27646725
TI  - The Influence of Workers' Health Status on Employers' Decision-Making During
      Personnel Restructuring in a Typical Public Limited Enterprise in Slovenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Alongside individual indicators of job performance, even workers'
      health status could be a criterion for selection. The mechanisms for health
      selection are a reduction of productivity in relation to illness or certain
      health behaviour. The aim of the study was to establish how indicators of
      workers' health status, which are accessible to the employer, influence the
      employer's decision-making on which workers to retain and which to dismiss during
      personnel restructuring in the enterprise. METHODS: Due to a planned closure of a
      plant, the observed company began personnel restructuring which included a
      strategic decrease in the number of employees and the relocation of workers
      within the company. Two nested case control studies were conducted. The cases
      were divided into two groups and defined as follows: employees who were relocated
      and employees whose employment contract was terminated. RESULTS: The results show
      that the disability category and long-time sick leave exert the greatest
      influence on the employer's decision on the selection of workers. Workers with
      work-related disability have lower odds to be relocated to a new workplace
      (OR=0.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 1.1) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=6.51; 95% CI 3.33
      to 12.72). The workers with a history of a long-time sick leave also have lower
      odds to be relocated (OR=0.31; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.88) and higher odds to be
      dismissed (OR=4.32; 95% CI 2.08 to 8.96). CONCLUSIONS: Indicators of health which
      were accessible to the employer actually exerted influence on the employer's
      decision-making, which could show a direct form of health selection.

PMID- 27646726
TI  - Neonatal Prophylaxis: Prevention of Vitamin K Deficiency Haemorrhage and Neonatal
      Ophthalmia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to explore two aspects of neonatal
      prophylaxis: the application of the vitamin K injection to the newborns and the
      prophylaxis against chlamydial and gonococcal eye infections, comparing Slovenian
      and Croatian practices. METHODS: A causal non-experimental method of quantitative
      empirical approach was used. The data was collected by means of predesigned
      questionnaires. The questionnaires were sent to 14 Slovenian and 32 Croatian
      birth hospitals. The data was analysed with descriptive statistics and the
      Kullback test. RESULTS: Vitamin K is applied to all newborns in 9 (out of 14)
      Slovene and 22 (out of 32) Croatian birth hospitals that returned the
      questionnaire. The prophylaxis against chlamydial gonococcal eye infections is
      applied to all newborns in 9 Slovene and 16 Croatian birth hospitals that offered
      answers to the questionnaire. The majority of Slovene and Croatian birth
      hospitals perform these procedures in the first hour after birth. The majority of
      Slovene birth hospitals still apply vitamin K in the gluteal muscle, whereas the
      majority of Croatian birth hospitals usually use the thigh as an injection site.
      In Slovenia, 1 % Targesin is used for the prophylaxis against chlamydial and
      gonococcal eye infections, whereas in Croatia the prevailing medicine is
      Erythromycin. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of oral vitamin K application should
      be offered to parents, and pain management in practice should be discussed. The
      form of written informed consent could be offered to parents. Health
      professionals should provide intimacy and exclude routine procedures in the first
      couple of hours after birth. However, more research is needed as delayed
      administration might be related to lower efficacy and, as a consequence of that,
      the safety of newborns is questionable.

PMID- 27646727
TI  - Drinking Water Quality and the Geospatial Distribution of Notified Gastro
      Intestinal Infections.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Even brief episodes of fecal contamination of drinking water can
      lead directly to illness in the consumers. In water-borne outbreaks, the
      connection between poor microbial water quality and disease can be quickly
      identified. The impact of non-compliant drinking water samples due to E. coli
      taken for regular monitoring on the incidence of notified acute gastrointestinal
      infections has not yet been studied. METHODS: The objective of this study was to
      analyse the geographical distribution of notified acute gastrointestinal
      infections (AGI) in Slovenia in 2010, with hotspot identification. The second aim
      of the study was to correlate the fecal contamination of water supply system on
      the settlement level with the distribution of notified AGI cases. Spatial
      analysis using geo-information technology and other methods were used. RESULTS:
      Hot spots with the highest proportion of notified AGI cases were mainly
      identified in areas with small supply zones. The risk for getting AGI was
      drinking water contaminated with E. coli from supply zones with 50-1000 users: RR
      was 1.25 and significantly greater than one (p-value less than 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: This study showed the correlation between the frequency of notified
      AGI cases and non-compliant results in drinking water monitoring.

PMID- 27646728
TI  - The Impact of Patient's Socio-Demographic Characterictics, Comorbidities and
      Attitudes on Flu Vaccination Uptake in Family Practice Settings.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In Slovenia, the role of family physicians in primary care and
      preventive procedures is very important. Influenza vaccination rates in Slovenia
      are low. The reasons for low vaccination rates in Slovenia were not clear. We
      suppose that patient's beliefs and attitudes are important factors. We assessed
      patients' opinions regarding the acceptance of flu vaccination by their family
      physicians and their beliefs and attitudes about flu and vaccination. The aim was
      to check out factors that influence the decision to take the vaccine in family
      physician offices. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, multicenter,
      observational study in the Styria region in Slovenia. We included patients from
      seven family physicians during regular office visits. They filled in a
      questionnaire about their general demographic data and attitudes regarding
      influenza and vaccination. The main outcome was the decision to be vaccinated.
      RESULTS: The logistic regression model identified five predictors for influenza
      vaccination, namely: heart disease, previous vaccination, an agreement with the
      beliefs 'the vaccination is an efficient measure to prevent influenza', 'after
      the vaccination there are usually no important side effects' and 'the vaccination
      is also recommended for a healthy adult person'. The belief that vaccinations
      harm the immune system is negatively associated with vaccination. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients' beliefs are an important factor to decide for vaccination or not.
      Family physician teams should discuss with patients their beliefs and concerns
      about vaccination.

PMID- 27646729
TI  - A Comparison of Dietary Habits between Recreational Runners and a Randomly
      Selected Adult Population in Slovenia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to compare the dietary habits of
      recreational runners with those of a random sample of the general population. We
      also wanted to determine the influence of gender, age and sports performance of
      recreational runners on their basic diet and compliance with recommendations in
      sports nutrition. METHODS: The study population consisted of 1,212 adult
      Slovenian recreational runners and 774 randomly selected residents of Slovenia
      between the ages of 18 and 65 years. The data on the dietary habits of our
      subjects was gathered by means of two questionnaires. The following parameters
      were evaluated: the type of diet, a food pattern, and the frequency of
      consumption of individual food groups, the use of dietary supplements, fluid
      intake, and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Recreational runners had better
      compliance with recommendations for healthy nutrition than the general
      population. This pattern increased with the runner's age and performance level.
      Compared to male runners, female runners ate more regularly and had a more
      frequent consumption of food groups associated with a healthy diet (fruit,
      vegetables, whole grain foods, and low-fat dairy products). The consumption of
      simple sugars and use of nutritional supplements by well-trained runners was
      inadequate with values recommended for physically active individuals. CONCLUSION:
      Recreational runners are an exemplary population group that actively seeks to
      adopt a healthier lifestyle.

PMID- 27646730
TI  - Anxiety, Self-Esteem and Coping with Stress in Secondary School Students in
      Relation to Involvement in Organized Sports.
AB  - AIM: The objective of the study was to examine self-esteem, anxiety level and
      coping strategies among secondary school students in relation to their
      involvement in organized sports. METHODS: The sample included 280 Slovenian male
      and female secondary school students aged between 15 and 19 years. The
      participants completed The Adolescent Coping Scale, the Spielberger State-Trait
      Anxiety Inventory, and the PSDQ Selfesteem Scale. RESULTS: Participants engaged
      in organized sports exhibited higher self-esteem scores and lower anxiety scores
      in comparison to non-sport participants. Differences between the two groups have
      also been identified with respect to the use of certain coping strategies. Sport
      participants reported more productive coping than non-sport participants, which
      represents an active and problem-focused approach to dealing with everyday
      problems. Gender differences in the referred variables have also been studied,
      with female athletes exhibiting higher levels of anxiety than male athletes.
      Female participants were also found to use more non-productive coping than males,
      focused mainly on reducing emotional effects of stress. CONCLUSIONS: Organized
      youth sports have an important role in improving and maintaining a favorable
      sense of self-worth, reducing anxiety, and promoting productive coping strategies
      in adolescents when dealing with everyday problems.

PMID- 27646731
TI  - The Effect of Educational Intervention on the Patient's Willingness to Carry out
      the Immunochemical Faecal Occult Blood Test for Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is now compelling evidence that screening for colorectal cancer
      may result in significantly reduced mortality. Screening tests for colorectal
      cancer are not systematically performed in Bulgaria. AIM: This article explores
      the effect of an educational intervention on the willingness of patients to
      participate in the screening for colorectal cancer with the immunochemical faecal
      occult blood test in the home setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A before-after
      design study of the effects of educational intervention comprising distribution
      of a brochure and one-to-one discussion with a GP. A self-administered, original
      questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention to 600 randomly
      selected patients in 40 general practices (15 patients per practice) in Plovdiv
      district. RESULTS: The intervention led to an increase with >20% of the patient's
      knowledge of the importance of the test and on how to carry out the test.
      Statistical analysis indicated that there was an increase in knowledge after the
      educational intervention about the usefulness of the test (24.8% in males, 18.3%
      in females) and its performance (22.7% in males, 25.4% in females). CONCLUSION:
      The educational intervention has significantly influenced the patient's awareness
      about the test's usefulness and its self-administration. It improved the
      awareness by providing an easy access to information, thus fostering the active
      involvement of the patients. A strength of the intervention was the patient
      centered approach in providing additional information through one-to-one
      discussions, and it ensured a higher quality of the preventive screening in the
      general practice.

PMID- 27646733
TI  - Heat accumulation and development rate of massed maggots of the sheep blowfly,
      Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae).
AB  - Blowfly larvae aggregate on exposed carcasses and corpses and pass through three
      instars before wandering from the carcass and pupating. The developmental
      landmarks in this process can be used by forensic entomologists to estimate the
      time since the insects colonised the carcass, which sets a minimum post mortem
      interval. Large aggregations of feeding larvae generate a microclimate with
      temperatures up to 15 degrees C above ambient conditions, which may accelerate
      larval development and affect forensic estimates of post-mortem intervals. This
      study investigated the effects of heat accumulated by maggot masses of Lucilia
      cuprina at aggregations of 20, 50 and 100 larvae, each at incubation temperatures
      of 18 degrees C, 24 degrees C and 30 degrees C, using body length and life stage
      as developmental indicators. Aggregation temperatures reached up to 18.7 degrees
      C above ambient temperature, with significant effects of both size and
      temperature of the aggregation on the development time of its larvae.
      Survivorship was highest for all life stages at 24 degrees C, which is near the
      developmental optimum of L. cuprina. The results of this study provide a broadly
      applicable method of quantifying heat accumulation by aggregations of a wide
      range of species of forensic importance, and the results obtained from such
      studies will demonstrate that ambient temperature cannot be considered the only
      source of heat that blowfly larvae experience when they develop on a carcass.
      Neglect of temperatures within larval aggregations will result in an
      overestimation of post-mortem intervals and thus have far-reaching medicolegal
      consequences.

PMID- 27646732
TI  - Genetic Vulnerability as a Distal Risk Factor for Suicidal Behaviour: Historical
      Perspective and Current Knowledge.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Suicide is a multidimensional problem. Observations of family
      history of suicide suggest the existence of a genetic vulnerability to suicidal
      behaviour. AIM: Starting with a historical perspective, the article reviews
      current knowledge of a genetic vulnerability to suicidal behaviour, distinct from
      the genetic vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, focused on clinical and
      population-based studies, and findings from recent molecular genetics association
      studies. METHOD: The review includes peer-reviewed research articles and review
      papers from the professional literature in English language, retrieved from
      PubMed/Medline and PsycINFO. RESULTS: The research literature confirms a
      existence of a genetic vulnerability to suicidal behaviour. Even though the
      results of individual studies are difficult to compare, genetic influences could
      explain up to half of the variance of the occurrence of suicide. CONCLUSION:
      Genetic vulnerability could be a distal risk factor for suicide, which helps us
      to understand the occurrence of suicide among vulnerable people. Ethical
      implications of such vulnerability are highlighted.

PMID- 27646734
TI  - Multiregion sequencing reveals the intratumor heterogeneity of driver mutations
      in TP53-driven non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may account
      for resistance after a period of targeted therapies because drugs destroy only a
      portion of tumor cells. The recognition of ITH helps identify high-risk patients
      to make effective treatment decisions. However, ITH studies are confounded by
      interpatient heterogeneity in NSCLC and a large amount of passenger mutations. To
      address these issues, we recruited NSCLC patients carrying TP53 mutations and
      selected driver mutations within recurrently mutated genes in NSCLC. A total of
      12-paired normal-tumor tissues were subjected to whole-genome/whole-exome
      sequencing. From these, 367 non-silent mutations were selected as driver
      mutations and deeply sequenced in 61 intratumoral microdissections. We identified
      a universal prevalence of heterogeneity in all 12 tumors, indicating branched
      evolution. Although TP53 mutations were observed in single biopsy of all 12
      tumors, most tumors consist of both TP53 mutated and non-mutated cells in
      separate regions within the same tumor. This suggests the late molecular timing
      of the acquisition of TP53 mutations; therefore, the detection of TP53 mutations
      in a single biopsy may simply not reflect the early malignant potential. In
      addition, we identified regions of loss of heterozygosity surrounding TP53 and
      CDKN2A mutations in tumor 711, which also exhibited heterogeneity in different
      regional samples. Because the ITH of driver mutations likely has clinical
      consequences, further efforts are needed to limit the impact of ITH and to
      improve therapeutic efficiency, which will benefit NSCLC patients receiving
      targeted treatments.

PMID- 27646736
TI  - Nevi and pregnancy.
AB  - Changes in the moles of pregnant women are frequently attributed to pregnancy,
      but recent studies suggest that pregnancy does not induce significant physiologic
      changes in nevi. It is common for nevi on the breasts and abdomen to grow with
      normal skin expansion, but studies that have examined melanocytic nevi on the
      backs or lower extremities have found no significant changes in size during
      pregnancy. Several studies have also investigated the belief that moles darken
      during pregnancy and have found insufficient evidence to support this idea.
      Dermoscopically, transient changes have been identified, but none are suggestive
      of melanoma. Results vary in terms of histologic changes seen in samples taken
      from pregnant women, but all authors agree that any histopathologic features
      consistent with melanoma should be viewed as melanoma and not attributed to
      pregnancy. Biopsy specimens should be obtained promptly from any changing mole
      that would raise concern for malignancy in a nonpregnant patient. Such procedures
      can be performed safely during pregnancy. 

PMID- 27646738
TI  - Commentary: Factors associated with positive or equivocal margins of atypical
      intraepidermal melanocytic proliferations: True conundrum or imprecise language?

PMID- 27646737
TI  - Pregnancy and melanoma.
AB  - Malignant melanoma is the most common malignancy during pregnancy, and is
      diagnosed during childbearing age in approximately one-third of women diagnosed
      with melanoma. The impact of hormonal changes during pregnancy and from
      iatrogenic hormones on melanoma is controversial. Women undergo immunologic
      changes during pregnancy that may decrease tumor surveillance. In addition,
      hormone receptors are found on some melanomas. In spite of these observations,
      the preponderance of evidence does not support a poorer prognosis for pregnancy
      associated melanomas. There is also a lack of evidence that oral contraceptives
      or hormone replacement therapy worsens melanoma prognosis. 

PMID- 27646739
TI  - Multiple Mohs micrographic surgery is the most common reason for divergence from
      the appropriate use criteria: A single institution retrospective cohort study.

PMID- 27646740
TI  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus and risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 27646741
TI  - Understanding patient experience in university-based dermatology clinics: Time
      motion analysis.

PMID- 27646742
TI  - Inpatient dermatology consultation in patients with hematologic malignancies.

PMID- 27646743
TI  - Blue-gray blotch: A helpful dermoscopic finding in optimal biopsy site selection
      for true vasculitis.

PMID- 27646744
TI  - The proteolytic effect of bromelain on bullous pemphigoid antigen-2.

PMID- 27646745
TI  - The cutaneous expression of vitamin K-dependent and other osteogenic proteins in
      calciphylaxis stratified by clinical features and warfarin use: A case control
      study.

PMID- 27646747
TI  - See one, do one, teach one: The ethical dilemma of residents performing their
      first procedure on patients.

PMID- 27646746
TI  - Retrospective analysis of data from an itch center: Integrating validated tools
      in the electronic health record.

PMID- 27646748
TI  - Molecular testing to differentiate melanoma from benign nevi: The gold standard
      limitation.

PMID- 27646749
TI  - Beyond JAAD October 2016: Articles of interest from the nondermatologic
      literature.

PMID- 27646750
TI  - Diffuse hypotrichosis from early childhood.

PMID- 27646751
TI  - Cutaneous horn on the penis.

PMID- 27646752
TI  - Scattered targetoid papules and mucosal erosions after vaccination.

PMID- 27646754
TI  - Epidermotropic progression of melanoma during therapy with vemurafenib and
      trametinib.

PMID- 27646755
TI  - Dermoscopy of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (PCBCL).

PMID- 27646756
TI  - Starburst hair follicles: A dermoscopic clue for aplasia cutis congenita.

PMID- 27646757
TI  - Palmar wrinkling: Identification of a peculiar pattern at incident light
      dermoscopy with confocal microscopy correlation.

PMID- 27646758
TI  - Casts and pseudocasts.

PMID- 27646760
TI  - A template for estimating doses of deoxycholic acid for submental fat fullness.

PMID- 27646759
TI  - Antibiotic safety considerations in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      postpartum mastitis.

PMID- 27646761
TI  - Undermining the dry red lip for improved contour of full-thickness lip defects.

PMID- 27646762
TI  - Head-draping technique for office-based procedures.

PMID- 27646763
TI  - The absence of multiple atypical nevi in germline CDKN2A mutations: Comment on
      "Hereditary melanoma: Update on syndromes and management: Genetics of familial
      atypical multiple mole melanoma syndrome".

PMID- 27646765
TI  - The relationship between lymphocytic thrombophilic arteritis and cutaneous
      polyarteritis nodosa.

PMID- 27646764
TI  - Reply to: "The absence of multiple atypical nevi in germline CDKN2A mutations".

PMID- 27646766
TI  - Comment on: "Risk of subsequent melanoma after melanoma in situ and invasive
      melanoma: A population-based study from 1973 to 2011".

PMID- 27646767
TI  - Reply: "Risk of subsequent melanoma after melanoma in situ and invasive melanoma:
      A population-based study from 1973 to 2011".

PMID- 27646768
TI  - The role of delayed-delayed corticosteroid contact dermatitis in topical steroid
      withdrawal.

PMID- 27646769
TI  - Loss of efficacy of secukinumab for psoriasis at 24 to 32 weeks.

PMID- 27646770
TI  - Optimizing "best available" medical options when practicing complex medical
      dermatology in resource-limited settings.

PMID- 27646771
TI  - Umbelliferone reverses depression-like behavior in chronic unpredictable mild
      stress-induced rats by attenuating neuronal apoptosis via regulating ROCK/Akt
      pathway.
AB  - There is increasing evidence that major depressive disorder (MDD) is also a
      progressive neurodegeneration disorder and neuronal damage is the major pathology
      of MDD. Umbelliferone, a coumarin derivative, was found in a range of plants with
      proved anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. The primary
      purpose of this investigation was to evaluate whether umbelliferone could confer
      an antidepressant-like effect on the depressive model in rats developed by
      chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and explore the possible mechanism
      involved in its neuroprotective effects. We found that treatments with
      umbelliferone (15mg/kg, 30mg/kg) significantly ameliorated CUMS-induced
      depressive-like behaviors, such as decreased sucrose consumption, reduced
      locomotor activity and prolonged immobility time. Rats under CUMS stimulation
      treated with umbelliferone (15mg/kg, 30mg/kg) showed reduced neuronal apoptosis,
      as well as inhibited inflammatory cytokines levels by down-regulating Rho
      associated protein kinase (ROCK) signaling and up-regulating protein kinase B
      (Akt) signaling. In conclusion, umbelliferone showed neuroprotective effects on
      CUMS-induced model of depression, which was associated with the inhibition of
      neuronal apoptosis modulated by ROCK/Akt pathway.

PMID- 27646772
TI  - Roles of hippocampal subfields in verbal and visual episodic memory.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Selective hippocampal (HC) subfield atrophy has been reported in
      older adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. The goal of
      this study was to investigate the associations between the volume of hippocampal
      subfields and visual and verbal episodic memory in cognitively normal older
      adults. METHODS: This study was conducted on a subset of 133 participants from
      the Einstein Aging Study (EAS), a community-based study of non-demented older
      adults systematically recruited from the Bronx, N.Y. All participants completed
      comprehensive EAS neuropsychological assessment. Visual episodic memory was
      assessed using the Complex Figure Delayed Recall subtest from the Repeatable
      Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Verbal episodic
      memory was assessed using Delayed Recall from the Free and Cued Selective
      Reminding Test (FCSRT). All participants underwent 3T MRI brain scanning with
      subsequent automatic measurement of the hemispheric hippocampal subfield volumes
      (CA1, CA2-CA3, CA4-dente gyrus, presubiculum, and subiculum). We used linear
      regressions to model the association between hippocampal subfield volumes and
      visual and verbal episodic memory tests while adjusting for age, sex, education,
      and total intracranial volume. RESULTS: Participants had a mean age of 78.9
      (SD=5.1) and 60.2% were female. Total hippocampal volume was associated with
      Complex Figure Delayed Recall (beta=0.31, p=0.001) and FCSRT Delayed Recall
      (beta=0.27, p=0.007); subiculum volume was associated with Complex Figure Delayed
      Recall (beta=0.27, p=0.002) and FCSRT Delayed Recall (beta=0.24, p=0.010); CA1
      was associated with Complex Figure Delayed Recall (beta=0.26, p<0.002) and FCSRT
      Delayed Recall (beta=0.20, p=0.025). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm previous
      research on the specific roles of CA1 and subiculum in episodic memory. Our
      results suggest that hippocampal subfields have sensitive roles in the process of
      visual and verbal episodic memory.

PMID- 27646773
TI  - Association of DW/DCE-MRI features with prognostic factors in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Through analyzing apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and
      morphological evaluations, this research aimed to study how magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI)-based breast lesion characteristics can enhance the diagnosis and
      prognosis of breast cancer. METHODS:: A total of 118 breast lesions, including 50
      benign and 68 malignant lesions, from 106 patients were analyzed. All lesions
      were measured with both diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced
      (DCE) MRI. The average ADC of breast lesions was analyzed at b values of 600, 800
      and 1,000 s/mm2. Lesion margins, lesion enhancement patterns, and dynamic curves
      were also investigated. The relations between MRI-based features and molecular
      prognostic factors were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation analysis.
      RESULTS:: A b value of 800 s/mm2 was used to distinguish malignant from benign
      breast lesions, with an ADC cutoff value of 1.365 * 10-3 mm2/s. The average ADC
      value between invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
      was significantly different. Malignant lesions were more likely to have
      spiculated margins, heterogeneous enhancement and washout curves. On the other
      hand, DCIS was more likely to have spiculated margins, heterogeneous/rim
      enhancement and plateau/washout dynamic curves. A significant negative
      correlation was found between progesterone receptor (PR) status and dynamic
      imaging (p = 0.027), while a significant positive correlation was found between
      Ki-67 status and lesion enhancement (p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS:: Both ADC values
      and MRI morphological assessment could be used to distinguish malignant breast
      lesions from benign ones.

PMID- 27646774
TI  - Assessment of the association between ZBTB20 rs9841504 polymorphism and gastric
      and esophageal cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The protein encoded by ZBTB20 is a member of the POK family, whose
      members function as transcriptional repressors through interactions mediated by
      their conserved C2H2 Kruppel-type zinc finger and BTB/POZ domains. Polymorphisms
      in ZBTB20 appeared to be associated with gastric and esophageal cancer
      susceptibility in biological models, but the results of these studies were
      inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis by pooling all available
      data to assess the exact association between the ZBTB20 rs9841504 polymorphism
      and gastric and esophageal cancer susceptibility. METHOD: The meta-analysis was
      performed for homozygote comparison, heterozygote comparison, and dominant and
      recessive models by applying a fixed- or random-effects model. The pooled odds
      ratios (ORs) with the corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
      Moreover, the data were analyzed using the Stata 12.0 software(StataCorp).
      RESULT: A total of 8 independent case-control studies comprising 9,994 cases and
      10,258 controls were included. We found a significant association between the
      rs9841504 polymorphism and decreased gastric cancer susceptibility in the
      allelic, homozygous, dominant and recessive models (B vs. A:OR = 0.797, 95% CI
      0.644-0.986, p = 0.036; BB vs. AA:OR = 0.601, 95% CI 0.366-0.988, p = 0.045; BA +
      BB vs. AA:OR = 0.789, 95% CI 0.627-0.992, p = 0.043; BB vs. BA + AA:OR = 0.635,
      95% CI 0.405-0.997, p = 0.049). Conversely, no association between the rs9841504
      polymorphism and esophageal cancer susceptibility was found. In subgroup analysis
      by ethnicity, we observed a significantly decreased susceptibility to gastric
      cancer in Asian populations in the allele contrast, homozygous and recessive
      models (B vs. A:OR = 0.791, 95% CI 0.628-0.996, p = 0.046; BB vs. AA:OR = 0.559,
      95% CI 0.323-0.966, p = 0.037; BB vs. BA + AA:OR = 0.593, 95% CI 0.361-0.972, p =
      0.038). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our work suggests that the ZBTB20 rs9841504
      polymorphism is a protective factor for gastric cancer rather than esophageal
      cancer.

PMID- 27646775
TI  - Serum mesothelin, osteopontin and vimentin: useful markers for clinical
      monitoring of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a relatively rare tumor,
      with the epithelioid type occurring more frequently. Several biomarkers have been
      suggested for screening and early diagnosis of MPM. Currently, high levels of
      soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP), plasma osteopontin (pOPN) and
      vimentin have been reported in patients with MPM as promising markers for
      diagnosis, but their clinical use in monitoring is still discussed. The aim of
      our study was to evaluate the usefulness of these substances as markers of the
      clinical response to treatment in patients suffering from epithelioid
      mesothelioma. METHODS: 219 serum samples from 56 patients were collected during
      follow-up and the clinical response to therapy was recorded. Percentage
      differences between 2 consecutive measurements of SMRP, osteopontin and vimentin
      (Delta markers) by means of commercially available kits were correlated with
      changes in the clinical course. RESULTS: Delta SMRP, Delta pOPN and Delta
      vimentin showed statistically significant differences between the disease
      categories stable disease, partial response and disease progression (p = 0.0001,
      p = 0.035 and p = 0.0025 for SMRP, pOPN and vimentin, respectively). Moreover,
      contingency table analysis showed statistically significant differences between
      clinical response and Delta of each marker clustered into 3 groups (<-20%,
      between -20% and +20%, >+20%). CONCLUSIONS: The time course of Delta SMRP and
      Delta vimentin was strongly associated with disease status, and so was the time
      course of pOPN, albeit to a lesser extent. These markers appear to be
      particularly effective in cases of partial response and disease progression,
      while their possible use in stable disease should be better investigated.

PMID- 27646776
TI  - The role of MDM4 SNP34091 A>C polymorphism in cancer: a meta-analysis on 19,328
      patients and 51,058 controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Several
      observational studies have suggested a significant association of the MDM4
      SNP34091 A>C polymorphism with cancers. However, the results of the published
      studies are inconsistent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Embase/Ovid and the
      Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for relevant studies with
      a time limit of April 20, 2016. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence
      intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the strength of the association between
      MDM4 polymorphism and cancer risk. Publication bias was estimated using Begg's
      funnel plots and Egger's regression test. RESULTS: A total of 19,328 patients and
      51,058 controls were included in the analysis. Overall, a significantly decreased
      risk of cancer was associated with MDM4 SNP34091 polymorphism for the allele
      model (C vs. A, OR = 0.715, 95% CI: 0.622-0.821, p = 0.000), dominant model (CC +
      AC vs. AA, OR = 0.684, 95% CI: 0.563-0.831, p = 0.000), recessive model (CC vs.
      AC + AA, OR = 1.139, 95% CI = 1.055-1.230, p = 0.001) and heterozygote model (AC
      vs. AA, OR = 0.687, 95% CI = 0.568-0.832). In the subgroup analysis by cancer
      type, no significant association was found in the breast cancer subgroup. In the
      subgroup analysis by geographical region, 2 genetic models, the allele and
      heterozygote models, showed a significant association in Chinese populations.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of our meta-analysis showed that the MDM4 SNP34091 A>C
      polymorphism may function as a protective factor against cancer risk.

PMID- 27646777
TI  - Time-Resolved Stark Spectroscopy in CdSe Nanoplatelets: Exciton Binding Energy,
      Polarizability, and Field-Dependent Radiative Rates.
AB  - We present a study of the application potential of CdSe nanoplatelets (NPLs), a
      model system for colloidal 2D materials, as field-controlled emitters. We
      demonstrate that their emission can be changed by 28% upon application of
      electrical fields up to 175 kV/cm, a very high modulation depth for field
      controlled nanoemitters. From our experimental results we estimate the exciton
      binding energy in 5.5 monolayer CdSe nanoplatelets to be EB = 170 meV; hence CdSe
      NPLs exhibit highly robust excitons which are stable even at room temperature.
      This opens up the possibility to tune the emission and recombination dynamics
      efficiently by external fields. Our analysis further allows a quantitative
      discrimination of spectral changes of the emission energy and changes in PL
      intensity related to broadening of the emission line width as well as changes in
      the intrinsic radiative rates which are directly connected to the measured
      changes in the PL decay dynamics. With the developed field-dependent population
      model treating all occurring field-dependent effects in a global analysis, we are
      able to quantify, e.g., the ground state exciton transition dipole moment (3.0 *
      10-29 Cm) and its polarizability, which determine the radiative rate, as well as
      the (static) exciton polarizability (8.6 * 10-8 eV cm2/kV2), all in good
      agreement with theory. Our results show that an efficient field control over the
      exciton recombination dynamics, emission line width, and emission energy in these
      nanoparticles is feasible and opens up application potential as field-controlled
      emitters.

PMID- 27646778
TI  - Healthcare seeking behavior of patients with influenza like illness: comparison
      of the summer and winter influenza epidemics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Influenza often causes winter and summer epidemics in subtropical
      regions, but few studies have investigated the difference in healthcare seeking
      behavior of patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) between these two
      epidemics. METHODS: Household telephone surveys were conducted using random digit
      dialing in Hong Kong during July-August 2014 and March-April 2015. One adult from
      each household was interviewed for ILI symptoms and associated healthcare seeking
      behaviour of themselves and one child in the household (if any), during the
      preceding 30 days. Healthcare seeking behavior of respondents with self-reported
      ILI was compared between summer and winter influenza. Logistic regression was
      used to explore the factors associated with healthcare seeking behavior. RESULTS:
      Among 516 and 539 adult respondents in the summer and winter surveys, 22.6 and
      38.0 % reported ILI symptoms, and 40.9 and 46.8 % of them sought medical care,
      respectively. There was no significant difference in healthcare seeking behavior
      between the summer and winter epidemics, except a higher proportion of self
      medication in summer in the adult respondents. Among 155 and 182 children
      reported by the adults in both surveys, the proportion of self-reported ILI was
      32.9 and 40.1 % in the summer and winter surveys, respectively. Of these
      children, 47.1 and 56.2 % were brought for medical consultation in summer and
      winter, respectively. Women, adults with diabetes and those with symptoms of
      cough, shortness of breath, and runny nose were more likely to seek medical
      consultations for ILI symptoms. The factors associated with seeking medical
      consultations in children with ILI symptoms included being female, age under 10
      years, and with symptoms of sore throat or vomiting. Those older than 60 years
      were less likely to self-medicate, whereas regular smokers and those with symptom
      of sore throat were more likely to do so. CONCLUSION: Healthcare seeking behavior
      of the general public was not significantly different between these two
      epidemics. However ILI was associated with increased healthcare utilization in
      both winter and summer epidemics in Hong Kong.

PMID- 27646783
TI  - Characterization and cholesterol management in patients with cardiovascular
      events and/or type 2 diabetes in the Netherlands.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical characteristics and cholesterol management of
      patients with cardiovascular events (CVEs) and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
      with high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) > 1.8 mmol/L in the
      Netherlands. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: From the PHARMO Database Network a
      cross-sectional cohort was constructed. The descriptive study included patients
      on lipid modifying therapy (LMT) in 2009, classified as high cardiovascular risk
      based on a history of T2DM or CVE, with 2010 LDL-C levels above 1.8 mmol/L (2011
      European Society of Cardiology [ESC] target). Sub-cohorts were created: T2DM +
      CVE from the T2DM cohort and multiple CVE from the CVE only cohort. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Clinical characteristics and drug treatment were determined at the time
      of the last LDL-C measurement in 2010. RESULTS: Of 10,864 very high risk
      patients, 66% had T2DM, 37% of whom also had CVE. In the CVE only cohort (34%),
      18% had multiple events. More regular check-ups skewed inclusion towards diabetes
      patients. T2DM vs. CVE cohort characteristics were: 53% vs. 63% male, 42% vs. 27%
      obese, 19% vs. 24% current smoker, 54% vs. 51% systolic blood pressure <140 mmHg,
      with similar proportions in the sub-cohorts. Proportions reaching the Dutch
      guideline LDL-C target of <2.5 mmol/L were 56% (T2DM), 57% (T2DM + CVE), 48% (CVE
      only) and 53% (multiple CVE only). Frequencies of high intensity dose statin
      (simvastatin >=80 mg, atorvastatin >=40 mg or rosuvastatin >=20 mg) were 6%
      (T2DM), 9% (T2DM + CVE, CVE only) and 14% (multiple CVE only); 1-2% received
      additional ezetimibe and 3-5% received non-statin LMT only, including ezetimibe.
      CONCLUSION: Despite LMT, >40% of the patients above ESC target also failed to
      reach the less stringent Dutch target, even in the higher risk groups. Therefore,
      management of hypercholesterolemia after CVE or T2DM should be optimized to
      improve cardiovascular outcomes. There is substantial room for improving other
      cardiovascular risk factors.

PMID- 27646787
TI  - Extending the duration of long-term memories: Interactions between environmental
      darkness and retinoid signaling.
AB  - Retinoid signaling plays an important role in hippocampal-dependent vertebrate
      memories. However, we have previously demonstrated that retinoids are also
      involved in the formation of long-term implicit memory following operant
      conditioning of the invertebrate mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis. Furthermore, we have
      discovered an interaction between environmental light/dark conditions and
      retinoid signaling and the ability of both to convert intermediate-term memory
      into long-term memory. In this study, we extend these findings to show that
      retinoid receptor agonists and environmental darkness can both also extend the
      duration of long-term memory. Interestingly, exposure to constant environmental
      darkness significantly increased the expression of retinoid receptors in the
      adult central nervous system, as well as induced specific changes in a key neuron
      mediating the conditioned behaviour. These studies not only shed more light on
      how retinoids influence memory formation, but also further link environmental
      light conditions to the retinoid signaling pathway.

PMID- 27646786
TI  - Charge-Disproportionation Symmetry Breaking Creates a Heterodimeric Myoglobin
      Complex with Enhanced Affinity and Rapid Intracomplex Electron Transfer.
AB  - We report rapid photoinitiated intracomplex electron transfer (ET) within a
      "charge-disproportionated" myoglobin (Mb) dimer with greatly enhanced affinity.
      Two mutually supportive Brownian Dynamics (BD) interface redesign strategies, one
      a new "heme-filtering" approach, were employed to "break the symmetry" of a Mb
      homodimer by pairing Mb constructs with complementary highly positive and highly
      negative net surface charges, introduced through D/E -> K and K -> E mutations,
      respectively. BD simulations using a previously developed positive mutant, Mb(+6)
      = Mb(D44K/D60K/E85K), led to construction of the complementary negative mutant
      Mb(-6) = Mb(K45E, K63E, K95E). Simulations predict the pair will form a well
      defined complex comprising a tight ensemble of conformations with nearly parallel
      hemes, at a metal-metal distance ~18-19 A. Upon expression and X-ray
      characterization of the partners, BD predictions were verified through ET
      photocycle measurements enabled by Zn-deuteroporphyrin substitution, forming the
      [ZnMb(-6), Fe(3+)Mb(+6)] complex. Triplet ET quenching shows charge
      disproportionation increases the binding constant by no less than ~5 orders of
      magnitude relative to wild-type Mb values. All progress curves for charge
      separation (CS) and charge recombination (CR) are reproduced by a generalized
      kinetic model for the interprotein ET photocycle. The intracomplex ET rate
      constants for both CS and CR are increased by over 5 orders of magnitude, and
      their viscosity independence is indicative of true interprotein ET, rather than
      dynamic gating as seen in previous studies. The complex displays an unprecedented
      timecourse for CR of the CS intermediate I. After a laser flash, I forms through
      photoinduced CS, accumulates to a maximum concentration, then dies away through
      CR. However, before completely disappearing, I reappears without another flash
      and reaches a second maximum before disappearing completely.

PMID- 27646789
TI  - Receptor and transporter binding and activity profiles of albiflorin extracted
      from Radix paeoniae Alba.
AB  - Albiflorin, a traditional Chinese herb, is a main component of Radix paeoniae
      Alba, which has been used for the treatment of depressive disorders since ancient
      times. However, the mechanism of the antidepressant effect of albiflorin is
      poorly understood. Thus, we explored the binding profile of albiflorin at
      neurotransmitter receptors and transporters. We also characterised the in vivo
      effect of albiflorin on monoaminergic systems by using microanalysis to determine
      the extracellular levels of serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) in the
      hypothalamus of freely moving rats administered albiflorin. We found that
      albiflorin inhibited the uptake of 5-HT and NE and displayed robust binding
      affinities for the transporters of both neurotransmitters. By contrast,
      albiflorin (10 MUM) showed no significant affinity to a wide array of central
      nervous system receptors. The results of our in vivo microdialysis studies showed
      that administration of albiflorin (3.5, 7.0, 14.0 mg/kg) significantly increased
      extracellular concentrations of 5-HT and NE in the hypothalamus of freely moving
      rats. Overall, the current study showed that albiflorin is a novel 5-HT and NE
      reuptake inhibitor with high selectivity.

PMID- 27646791
TI  - The effect of cyclophosphamide on the immune system: implications for clinical
      cancer therapy.
AB  - Cyclophosphamide is an alkylating agent belonging to the group of
      oxazaphosporines. As cyclophosphamide is in clinical use for more than 40 years,
      there is a lot of experience using this drug for the treatment of cancer and as
      an immunosuppressive agent for the treatment of autoimmune and immune-mediated
      diseases. Besides antimitotic and antireplicative effects, cyclophosphamide has
      immunosuppressive as well as immunomodulatory properties. Cyclophosphamide shows
      selectivity for T cells and is therefore now frequently used in tumour
      vaccination protocols and to control post-transplant allo-reactivity in haplo
      identical unmanipulated bone marrow after transplantation. The schedule of
      administration is of special importance for the immunological effect: while
      cyclophosphamide can be used in high-dose therapy for the complete eradication of
      haematopoietic cells, lower doses of cyclophosphamide are relatively selective
      for T cells. Of special interest is the fact that a single administration of low
      dose cyclophosphamide is able to selectively suppress regulatory T cells (Tregs).
      This effect can be used to counteract immunosuppression in cancer. However,
      cyclophosphamide can also increase the number of myeloid-derived suppressor
      cells. Combination of cyclophosphamide with other immunomodulatory agents could
      be a promising approach to treat different forms of advanced cancer.

PMID- 27646792
TI  - Reproducibility of different arrangement of resin copings by dental
      microstereolithography: Evaluating the marginal discrepancy of resin copings.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Microstereolithography (MU-SLA), a form of additive
      manufacturing, can produce one or more platforms of resin copings. However, no
      evaluation has been made of the variation in marginal discrepancy using this
      method, even though this is an important factor for a successful restoration.
      PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the reproducibility
      and marginal discrepancy of resin copings fabricated using dental MU-SLA.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: A master die of a mandibular right first molar tooth was
      made from Type IV stone and scanned to produce a stereolithography file. Resin
      copings were then fabricated using MU-SLA additive manufacturing by repeating 1,
      3, or 6 arrays to give a total number of 18. The marginal discrepancies of these
      resin copings were measured using digital microscopy (at *160 magnification), and
      the data obtained were analyzed using a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis H test, post
      hoc Mann-Whitney U-test, and Bonferroni correction. RESULTS: The mean +/-SD total
      marginal discrepancies of 1, 3, and 6 arrays were found to be 72.2 +/-39.1 MUm,
      61.2 +/-37.3 MUm, and 92.5 +/-54.1 MUm. Statistically significant differences
      were found among the compared groups (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the marginal
      discrepancy, MU-SLA of additive manufacturing is more precise when 3 arrays are
      used than when 1 or 6 arrays are used on a single build platform. Because the fit
      is affected by the number of copings fabricated, further research of multiple
      resin copings is required.

PMID- 27646793
TI  - Light-transmitting fiber optic posts: An in vitro evaluation.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: The clinical challenge of adhering cement to intracanal
      dentin is transmitting light to the most apical parts of root canals to allow
      more efficient polymerization of the cement. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in
      vitro study was to compare the cement-polymerizing ability, microstructure, and
      radiopacity of a new fiber optic post (iLumi fiber optic Post) with a clinically
      successful fiber post (DT Light Post). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Polymerizing ability
      was compared using a modified depth-of-polymerization protocol. A split aluminum
      mold with a 12-mm cylindrical hole (diameter=4.7 mm) was filled with light
      polymerized resin cement (Variolink Esthetic LC). Each fiber post (n=12) was
      positioned and light-polymerized on the coronal end for 60 seconds with a light
      emitting diode polymerization light. Unpolymerized resin was dissolved with an
      organic solvent, and the weight and length of the polymerized resin cement were
      measured. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine vertical and
      horizontal cross-sections. The radiopacity values of both the posts and 5
      additional reference posts were evaluated using an aluminum step wedge. RESULTS:
      The weight and length of the polymerized resin cement were significantly greater
      (P<.05) with the fiber optic post, which scanning electron microscopy showed to
      have a higher density of parallel fibers. The iLumi post demonstrated greater
      radiopacity among the tested fiber posts and a titanium alloy post. CONCLUSIONS:
      The iLumi fiber optic posts have a unique structural fiber composition and
      excellent radiopacity and light-transmitting ability that produce more complete
      polymerization of the resin cement than the DT Light posts.

PMID- 27646795
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27646794
TI  - Reducing the surface roughness of dental acrylic resins by using an eggshell
      abrasive material.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Excessive surface roughness of denture base resins
      adversely impacts oral health. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to
      examine the abrasive potential of eggshell powder in reducing the surface
      roughness of denture base resins. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty poly(methyl
      methacrylate) specimens were fabricated and polished with eggshell powders of
      different particle sizes and with pumice. The average surface roughness (Ra)
      after polishing was measured with a profilometer. Scanning electron microscope
      and optical electron microscope techniques were used to assess the surface
      roughness morphology of the specimens. ANOVA was used to analyze the Ra values.
      The Tukey honest significant differences and Bonferroni tests were used to
      identify differences between the 2 abrasive materials (alpha=.05). RESULTS:
      Significant differences in the Ra values were observed between the fine and
      medium eggshell powder abrasives (P<.05). Similarly, significant differences were
      found between pumice and the fine eggshell powder abrasives (P<.001). No
      significant differences were found between pumice and the medium eggshell powder
      abrasive (P>.05). Specimens polished with pumice had the highest Ra values,
      whereas specimens polished with the fine eggshell powder abrasive had the lowest
      Ra values. CONCLUSIONS: By connecting the Ra values to the threshold limit value
      of 0.2 MUm, eggshell powder abrasive finished denture acrylic resin surfaces
      better than pumice.

PMID- 27646796
TI  - Cast erosion from the cleaning of debris after the use of a cast trimmer.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Whether using tap water to rinse off debris will make a
      clinical difference to the surface detail of a gypsum cast is unknown. In
      addition, how best to remove debris from the cast is unknown. PURPOSE: The
      purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the efficiency of different
      methods of cleaning a gypsum cast after trimming and the effect of short-term
      exposure to tap water on the surface quality of the cast. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      die fitting American National Standards Institute/American Dental Association
      specification 25 (International Standards Organization specification 6873) for
      dental gypsum products was embedded in a Dentoform with the machined lines
      positioned at the same level as the occlusal surface of the posterior teeth. A
      flat plate was used to ensure that the plane of occlusion for the die was at the
      same position as the posterior teeth. Forty polyvinyl siloxane impressions of the
      Dentoform were made and poured with vacuum-mixed improved Type IV dental stone.
      Each cast was inspected for the accurate reproduction of the lines. The base of
      the 2-stage pour was trimmed with a cast trimmer with water, and surface debris
      was removed by rinsing by hand under tap water for 10 seconds, by brushing the
      cast with a soft toothbrush for 10 seconds, or by resoaking the cast and using a
      soft camel hair brush in slurry water for 10 seconds. The amount of debris was
      evaluated on a scale of 1 to 4, and the quality of the 20-MUm line was evaluated
      on a scale of 1 to 4 under *15 magnification. The nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis
      ranks test was used to identify significant differences among the different
      cleaning methods (alpha=.05). RESULTS: Results of the Kruskal-Wallis and Kruskal
      Wallis Z-value tests demonstrated that all cleaning methods produced cleaner
      casts than were observed for uncleansed controls (P<.001), but no differences in
      debris removal were found among the different cleaning methods (.065<=P<=.901).
      The ability to see the quality of a 20-MUm line (P=.974) was not statistically
      different among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Rinsing the cast under flowing tap water
      and brushing, or hand washing under flowing tap water, or using a soft camel hair
      brush in slurry water for 10 seconds had no noticeable effects on the quality of
      a 20-MUm line, and all 3 methods resulted in a clean cast.

PMID- 27646797
TI  - Evaluation of correlations between frequencies of complete denture relines and
      serum levels of 3 bone metabolic markers: A cross-sectional pilot study.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Continuous bone resorption is the primary reason for
      complete denture relines. Because resorption rates vary, the frequency at which
      individuals require relines also varies. Currently, there are no predictors to
      identify individuals at risk of frequent relines or to guide clinicians in
      decisions related to relines. PURPOSE: The purpose of this cross-sectional pilot
      study was to determine the utility of measuring bone metabolic markers (C
      terminal telopeptide, osteocalcin, 25-OH hydroxy vitamin D) to predict the
      frequency of complete denture relines. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred adult
      participants with complete dentures (either maxillary, mandibular, or both)
      participated in 1 dental clinic visit involving a dental examination and brief
      interview to obtain relevant medical and dental history, information on
      medication/supplement use, and 1 laboratory blood draw for the measurement of
      bone metabolic markers. Data were analyzed by using the Pearson correlation,
      independent Student t test, or analysis of variance (alpha=.05). RESULTS:
      Significant correlations were found between the frequency of relines and C
      telopeptide and osteocalcin levels but not with vitamin D or age. No significant
      associations with reline frequency and other factors (sex, ethnicity, presence or
      absence of diabetes, use of calcium and vitamin D supplements) were observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Elevated levels of bone turnover markers in individuals with
      edentulism were associated with increased frequency of denture relines.

PMID- 27646798
TI  - Marginal bone loss around dental implants with and without microthreads in the
      neck: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Whether microthreads in the crestal portion can reduce the
      amount of marginal bone loss (MBL) around implants has not yet been determined.
      PURPOSE: The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the marginal
      bone loss around dental implants with and without microthreads in the neck.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: This review was based on the PRISMA guidelines. An
      electronic search with no restrictions on language was performed from inception
      to August 19, 2015, in PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,
      EMBASE, Web of Sciences, and AMED (Ovid) databases. A manual search was also
      performed. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compared the MBL between
      implants with and without microthreads in the neck were included. Qualitative
      synthesis and meta-analysis were performed. MBL was measured by using the mean
      difference (MD). Review Manager v5.3 software was used for meta-analysis
      (alpha=.05). RESULTS: Five articles were included in the qualitative synthesis,
      and 3 articles were included in the meta-analysis. Four studies found that a
      microthread design can significantly reduce MBL under functional loading, whereas
      1 study found no significant difference. The homogeneity test of meta-analysis
      confirmed acceptable heterogeneity among the 3 studies (I2=0.49). A random
      effects model was used. The result shows that MBL around implants with
      microthread design can be reduced significantly (P=.030; MD: -0.09; CI: -0.18 to 
      0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Meta-analysis showed that microthread design in the implant
      neck can reduce the amount of MBL; however, RCTs included in the review were few
      and the difference was small. In clinical practice, an implant with a roughened
      surface and microthreaded neck could be selected to maintain bone level.

PMID- 27646799
TI  - Influence of tongue position on the determination of tooth shade.
AB  - STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Dentists frequently use electronic devices to determine
      tooth color. However, neither the instructions for these devices nor the
      accompanying brochures refer to the environmental conditions required at the
      point of measurement. PURPOSE: The purpose of this multicenter prospective
      clinical study was to reveal whether a change in the oral background influences
      tooth color determination. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Students (N=42) at the dental
      clinic in Berlin, Leipzig, Greifswald and Olomouc (women n=27, men n=15)
      participated in this study. It was their first contact with the spectral
      photometer (Easyshade Advance 4.0; VITA Zahnfabrik). After a short introduction
      on how to use the device, the students made 1-point measurements on the same
      patient on the maxillary central incisor. In the first measurement, the patient's
      mouth was open, and the palatal surface uncovered. In the second measurement, the
      patient's mouth was closed slightly, and the tongue pressed on the lingual
      surface of the maxillary central incisor. The mean +/-SD and the 95% confidence
      interval (95 % CI) were calculated using the Student t test for each test series
      (alpha=.05). RESULTS: Statistical evaluation of the 2 measurements revealed
      changes in the L*a*b* values with a mean L*=0.204, a*=-0.351, and b*=0.02; a
      median of 0.4, -0.3, and -0.1, respectively; a +/-SD of 2.37, 0.64, and 0.89,
      respectively; and 95% CIs of L*=-0.476 to 0.884, a*=-0.531 to -0.702, and b*=
      0.23 to 0.52, respectively. These differences were not statistically significant
      (P>.05). The measurements of L*, a*, and b* with and without tongue coverage of
      the lingual surfaces of the maxillary teeth did not show any statistically
      significant differences (P=.663). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that the
      position of the tongue does not influence measurement accuracy during the
      application of the Easyshade Advance device.

PMID- 27646800
TI  - Ensuring passivity and retrievability for immediate complete-arch implant
      supported prostheses.
AB  - This technique describes the fabrication of frameworks for immediate complete
      arch implant-supported prostheses to ensure that the dimensional alterations that
      occur during the casting procedure do not interfere with passivity. As sectioning
      and soldering are not necessary, there is no delay in the fabrication process,
      and the framework is not weakened. Titanium abutments for interim screw-retained
      prostheses are prepared on the definitive cast, and framework waxing preserves
      the access holes to the screws. After casting, the framework is cemented on the
      prepared abutments. The proposed technique has been created to combine the
      advantages of cement-retained frameworks and the retrievability of screw-retained
      ones.

PMID- 27646801
TI  - Fabrication of a complete, removable dental prosthesis from a digital intraoral
      impression for a patient with an excessively tight reconstructed lip after oral
      cancer treatment: A clinical report.
AB  - This clinical report describes the management of a patient who had an excessively
      tight reconstructed lip because of oral cancer surgery and postoperative
      radiotherapy. The presented technique used an intraoral scanner for a preliminary
      impression and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM)
      technology for preliminary laboratory procedures. This digital impression
      technique may reduce patient discomfort.

PMID- 27646802
TI  - A method for using solid modeling CAD software to create an implant library for
      the fabrication of a custom abutment.
AB  - This article describes a method that incorporates the solid modeling CAD software
      Solidworks with a dental milling machine to fabricate individual abutments in
      house. This process involves creating an implant library with 3-dimensional (3D)
      models and manufacturing a base, scan element, abutment, and crown anatomy. The
      3D models can be imported into any dental computer-aided design and computer
      aided (CAD-CAM) manufacturing system. This platform increases abutment design
      flexibility, as the base and scan elements can be designed to fit several shapes
      as needed to meet clinical requirements.

PMID- 27646807
TI  - Anticoagulation clinics offer seasonal influenza vaccination.

PMID- 27646803
TI  - Society of Behavioral Medicine supports implementation of high quality lung
      cancer screening in high-risk populations.
AB  - The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) supports the United States Preventive
      Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation of low-dose computed tomography
      (LDCT) screening of the chest for eligible populations to reduce lung cancer
      mortality. Consistent with efforts to translate research findings into real-world
      settings, SBM encourages health-care providers and health-care systems to (1)
      integrate evidence-based tobacco treatment as an essential component of LDCT
      based lung cancer screening, (2) examine the structural barriers that may impact
      screening uptake, and (3) incorporate shared decision-making as a clinical
      platform to facilitate consultations and engagement with individuals at high risk
      for lung cancer about the potential benefits and harms associated with
      participation in a lung cancer screening program. We advise policy makers and
      legislators to support screening in high-risk populations by continuing to (1)
      expand access to high quality LDCT-based screening among underserved high-risk
      populations, (2) enhance cost-effectiveness by integrating evidence-based tobacco
      treatments into screening in high-risk populations, and (3) increase funding for
      research that explores implementation science and increased public awareness and
      access of diverse populations to participate in clinical and translational
      research.

PMID- 27646809
TI  - Hospitals seek solutions for narcotics disposal.

PMID- 27646808
TI  - Corrections.

PMID- 27646810
TI  - Medicare quality measure puts pressure on postacute care facilities.

PMID- 27646811
TI  - Is a postgraduate year 2 residency necessary to practice in ambulatory care?

PMID- 27646812
TI  - Evidence of a clinically significant interaction between warfarin and
      intravesical gemcitabine.
AB  - PURPOSE: A case of supratherapeutic International Normalized Ratio (INR) values
      and hematomas subsequent to concomitant administration of warfarin and
      intravesical gemcitabine is reported. SUMMARY: A 90-year-old man with bladder
      cancer refractory to bacillius Calmette-Guerin was diagnosed with deep vein
      thrombosis (DVT) and started on warfarin one month before starting treatment with
      intravesical gemcitabine 2 g (one dose per week for six weeks). Before
      intravesical gemcitabine was started, the patient reached consecutive therapeutic
      INR values. During the first five cycles of intravesical gemcitabine, the patient
      began to experience critically elevated INRs, which resulted in hospitalization
      and led to the discovery of hematomas. At hospital discharge, the decision was
      made to discontinue warfarin permanently given the patient's history of
      critically elevated INRs. Instead, enoxaparin was initiated due to the patient's
      history of DVT and active malignancy. Enoxaparin was started at a therapeutic,
      renally adjusted dosage of 60 mg subcutaneously once daily after the patient's
      hematomas resolved and hemoglobin level stabilized. The patient was cleared for
      discharge to his home after 17 days of hospitalization. He was scheduled to
      follow up with both urology and hematology departments regarding any further
      treatment for bladder cancer. A week after discharge, the patient's family
      decided that he would not receive the last (sixth) cycle of intravesical
      gemcitabine. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an interaction
      between intravesical gemcitabine and warfarin. CONCLUSION: A 90-year-old man on a
      stable dose of warfarin experienced an increase in INR values after receiving
      intravesical gemcitabine for the treatment of bladder cancer.

PMID- 27646813
TI  - Evaluation of heparin dosing based on adjusted body weight in obese patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Results of a study to determine whether heparin dosing based on adjusted
      body weight (BWAdj) instead of actual body weight (ABW) can lead to faster
      achievement of therapeutic activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) values in
      obese patients are presented. METHODS: A single-center retrospective cohort study
      was conducted to assess aPTT outcomes before and after implementation of a
      revised heparin protocol specifying BWAdj-based dosing for obese patients. The
      primary outcome was the percentage of first aPTT values within the target range
      after heparin initiation. Secondary outcomes included the median time to the
      first on-target aPTT and the rate of clinically significant bleeding. RESULTS:
      After protocol implementation, there was no significant difference between obese
      and nonobese patients in the primary outcome (17% and 21%, respectively, had
      first aPTT values in the target range) or in the median time to achieve the first
      on-target aPTT value. Among obese patients, on-target aPTT values were achieved
      significantly faster with BWAdj-versus ABW-based dosing (14 hours versus 24
      hours, p = 0.002). Prior to implementation of BWAdj-based heparin dosing, obese
      patients had a higher rate of clinically significant bleeding than nonobese
      patients (11% versus 1%, p = 0.01); postimplementation bleeding rates did not
      differ significantly. CONCLUSION: The percentages of first aPTT values in the
      targeted range did not differ significantly in obese and nonobese patients before
      and after protocol implementation. The use of BWAdj for dose calculation in obese
      patients was associated with faster achievement of an aPTT value in the target
      range.

PMID- 27646814
TI  - Implementation and optimization of automated dispensing cabinet technology.
AB  - PURPOSE: A multifaceted automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) optimization
      initiative at a large hospital is described. SUMMARY: The ADC optimization
      project, which was launched approximately six weeks after activation of ADCs in
      30 patient care unit medication rooms of a newly established adult hospital,
      included (1) adjustment of par inventory levels (desired on-hand quantities of
      medications) and par reorder quantities to reduce the risk of ADC supply
      exhaustion and improve restocking efficiency, (2) expansion of ADC "common stock"
      (medications assigned to ADC inventories) to increase medication availability at
      the point of care, and (3) removal of some infrequently prescribed medications
      from ADCs to reduce the likelihood of product expiration. The purpose of the
      project was to address organizational concerns regarding widespread ADC
      medication stockouts, growing reliance on cart-fill medication delivery systems,
      and suboptimal medication order turnaround times. Leveraging of the ADC
      technology platform's reporting functionalities for enhanced inventory control
      yielded a number of benefits, including cost savings resulting from reduced
      pharmacy technician labor requirements (estimated at $2,728 annually), a
      substantial reduction in the overall weekly stockout percentage (from 3.2% before
      optimization to 0.5% eight months after optimization), an improvement in the
      average medication turnaround time, and estimated cost avoidance of $19,660
      attributed to the reduced potential for product expiration. CONCLUSION: Efforts
      to optimize ADCs through par level optimization, expansion of common stock, and
      removal of infrequently used medications reduced pharmacy technician labor,
      decreased stockout percentages, generated opportunities for cost avoidance, and
      improved medication turnaround times.

PMID- 27646815
TI  - Pharmacy research and predatory journals: Authors beware.

PMID- 27646817
TI  - Using the Reproductive Life Plan in contraceptive counselling.
AB  - Having children or not is one of the most important decisions that a person will
      make in his or her lifetime. The Reproductive Life Plan (RLP) is a protocol that
      aims to encourage both women and men to reflect on their reproductive intentions
      and to find strategies for successful family planning, for example to have the
      wanted number of children and to avoid unwanted pregnancies as well as ill-health
      that may threaten reproduction. The RLP was developed in an American context for
      promotion of reproductive health in a life cycle perspective. Few studies have
      systematically evaluated the effectiveness of using an RLP protocol in clinical
      practice. This article describes the application of using the RLP protocol in
      contraceptive counselling in Sweden.

PMID- 27646819
TI  - Current treatments for renal failure due to multiple myeloma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Renal impairment (RI) is one of the most common complication of
      multiple myeloma (MM). RI is present in almost 20% of MM patients at diagnosis
      and in 40%-50% of patients during the course of their disease. Areas covered:
      Biology along with tools for diagnosis and management of RI are reported in this
      paper. Papers published in PubMed and reported abstracts up to May 2016 were
      used. Expert opinion: Moderate and severe RI increases the risk of early death;
      thus rapid intervention and initiation of anti-myeloma treatment is essential and
      improves renal outcomes in RI patients. Bortezomib and dexamethasone triplet
      combinations are the current standard of therapy for MM patients with acute
      kidney injury due to cast nephropathy; they offer high rates of both anti-myeloma
      response and renal recovery. Thalidomide and lenalidomide may be used in
      bortezomib refractory patients. In the relapsed/refractory setting additional
      treatment options such as carfilzomib, pomalidomide and monoclonal antibodies are
      available; however, there is limited data for their effects on patients with RI.
      High dose melphalan with autologous stem cell transplantation should be
      considered in otherwise eligible patients with RI. Finally, high cut-off
      hemodialysis membranes do not seem to offer significant additive effects on anti
      myeloma therapies.

PMID- 27646820
TI  - The Return of GOLD 0?

PMID- 27646821
TI  - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Non-Smokers.

PMID- 27646822
TI  - Failure of dihydroartemisinin plus piperaquine treatment of falciparum malaria by
      under-dosing in an overweight patient.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) introduced in the mid
      1990s has been recommended since 2005 by the World Health Organization as first
      line treatment against Plasmodium falciparum in all endemic countries. In 2010,
      the combination dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) was recommended for the
      treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. DP is one of the first-line
      treatments used by the French army since 2013. CASE PRESENTATION: A case of P.
      falciparum clinical failure with DP at day 20 was described in a 104 kg French
      soldier deployed in Djibouti. He was admitted to hospital for supervision of oral
      treatment with DP [40 mg dihydroartemisinin (DHA) plus 320 mg piperaquine
      tetraphosphate (PPQ)]. This corresponded to a cumulative dose of 4.6 mg/kg DHA
      and 37 mg/kg PPQ in the present patient, which is far below the WHO recommended
      ranges. No mutation was found in the propeller domain of the Kelch 13 (k13) gene,
      which is associated with artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia. Pfmdr1 N86,
      184F, S1034 and N1042 polymorphisms and haplotype 72-76 CVIET for the pfcrt gene
      were found in the present case. There was no evidence of resistance to DP.
      CONCLUSION: This case confirms the risk of therapeutic failure with
      dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine by under-dosing in patients weighing more than 100
      kg. This therapeutic failure with DP by under-dosing highlighted the importance
      of appropriate dosing guidelines and the need of research data (efficacy,
      pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics) in over-weight patient group.

PMID- 27646824
TI  - Wireless, accelerometry-triggered functional electrical stimulation of the
      peroneal nerve in spastic paresis: A randomized, controlled pilot study.
AB  - In hemiparesis, Wireless, Accelerometry-Triggered Functional Electrical
      Stimulation (WAFES) of the common peroneal nerve may hold intrinsic
      rehabilitative properties. The present pilot study analyzes WAFES against
      conventional therapy. Twenty adults with chronic hemiparesis (time since lesion
      7(6) years; median (interquartile range)) were randomized into 2 10-week
      rehabilitation programs: a 45-minute (min) daily walk using WAFES (n = 10) and
      conventional physical therapy (CPT), 3 * 45 min per week (n = 10). The outcomes
      were 3D sagittal speed measurements, step length, cadence, maximal amplitude and
      velocity of hip, knee, and ankle during gait at free and fast speed without WAFES
      and clinical assessments of plantar flexor angles of shortening, spasticity, and
      weakness, before (D1) and after the program (W10). Kinematic and spasticity
      improvements occurred in the WAFES group only: (i) ankle dorsiflexion velocity
      (D1 versus W10, free speed, WAFES, +4(5) degrees /sec, p = 0.002; CPT, -3(8)
      degrees /sec, p = 0.007; fast, WAFES, +8(6) degrees /sec, p = 0.03; CPT, -1(4)
      degrees /sec, NS); (ii) maximal passive ankle dorsiflexion (WAFES,+26(85)%;
      CPT,+0(27)%; group-visit, p = 0.007) and knee flexion (WAFES, +13(17)%; CPT, 
      1(11)%; group-visit, p = 0.006) at fast speed only; (iii) 15% plantar flexor
      spasticity grade reduction with WAFES. Over 10 weeks, gait training using WAFES
      improved ankle and knee kinematics and reduced plantar flexor spasticity compared
      with CPT. Studies with longer WAFES use should explore functional effects.

PMID- 27646823
TI  - Ethnic and Nativity Differences in the Social Support-Physical Health Association
      Among Black Americans.
AB  - Despite an abundant literature on social support and health, relatively less is
      known about how support and its impact on physical health vary within the Black
      population. Using the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), this paper
      examines which sources and types of support are associated with physical health
      among African Americans, U.S.-born Caribbean Blacks and foreign-born Caribbean
      Blacks. The results showed that for U.S.-born Caribbean Blacks, being married was
      especially beneficial to health. Closeness to family was associated with better
      health while negative interactions with family members was associated with worse
      health for African Americans and foreign-born Caribbean Blacks. Different sources
      of instrumental support affected all three groups. Overall, the findings reveal
      that, among Black Americans, the association between social support and physical
      health is contingent upon ethnicity, nativity, and the ways in which social
      support and health are operationalized.

PMID- 27646826
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27646829
TI  - The prescriptions from Shenghui soup enhanced neurite growth and GAP-43
      expression level in PC12 cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Shenghui soup is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used in clinic
      for the treatment of forgetfulness. In order to understanding the prescription
      principle, the effects of "tonifying qi and strengthening spleen" group (TQSS)
      including Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf. and Panax ginseng C.A.Mey and "eliminating
      phlegm and strengthening intelligence" group (EPSI) composed of Polygala
      tenuifolia Willd., Acorus calamus L. and Sinapis alba L from the herb complex on
      neurite growth in PC12 cells, two disassembled prescriptions derived from
      Shenghui soup and their molecular mechanisms were investigated. METHODS: Firstly,
      CCK-8 kit was used to detect the impact of the two prescriptions on PC12 cell
      viability; and Flow cytometry was performed to measure the cell apoptosis when
      PC12 cells were treated with these drugs. Secondly, the effect of the two
      prescriptions on the differentiation of PC12 cells was observed. Finally, the
      mRNA and protein expression levels of GAP-43 were analyzed by RT-PCR and western
      blot, respectively. RESULTS: "Tonifying qi and strengthening spleen" prescription
      decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, but had no significant
      effect on cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, it could improve neurite growth and elevate
      the mRNA and protein expression level of GAP-43. "Eliminating phlegm and
      strengthening intelligence" prescription also exerted the similar effects on cell
      viability and apoptosis. Furthermore, it could also enhance cell neurite growth,
      with a higher expression level of GAP-43 mRNA and protein. CONCLUSION: "Tonifying
      qi and strengthening spleen" and "eliminating phlegm and strengthening
      intelligence" prescriptions from Shenghui soup have a positive effect on neurite
      growth. Their effects are related to the up-regulating expression of GAP-43.

PMID- 27646831
TI  - The regulatory roles of O-GlcNAcylation in mitochondrial homeostasis and
      metabolic syndrome.
AB  - Nutrients excess is one of the leading causes of metabolic syndrome globally.
      Protein post-translational O-GlcNAc modification has been recognized as an
      essential nutrient sensor of the cell. Emerging studies suggest that O
      GlcNAcylation lies at the core linking nutritional stress to insulin resistance.
      Mitochondria are the major site for ATP production in most eukaryotes.
      Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have long been considered as an
      important mechanism underlying insulin resistance. The metabolic process is under
      the influence of environmental and nutritional factors, thus sensing and
      transducing nutritional signals sit at the pivot of metabolism control. For a
      long time little was known about O-GlcNAcylation within mitochondria since
      mitochondrial O-GlcNAcylation was regarded rare. Recent findings have
      demonstrated that O-GlcNAcylation is widely spread among mitochondrial proteins,
      and that mitochondrial function and oxidative stress both can be regulated by O
      GlcNAcylation, particularly under diabetic circumstances.

PMID- 27646832
TI  - Periprosthetic Infection Recurrence After 2-Stage Exchange Arthroplasty: Failure
      or Fate?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two-stage exchange arthroplasty remains the preferred method for
      treating a chronic periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in North America.
      However, infection recurrence may occur. Previously, recurrent infections have
      been classified as persistent (same isolated pathogen) or new (different pathogen
      identified). We sought to determine (1) recurrence rates among patients with
      chronic hip and knee PJI, treated with 2-stage exchange arthroplasty; (2) risk
      factors for infection recurrence; and (3) risk factors for developing persistent
      vs new infection. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed clinical characteristics
      of patients with chronic hip and knee PJI, treated with 2-stage revision between
      January 1998 and March 2014. Minimum follow-up was 24 months. Two multivariate
      logistic regression models were constructed to determine independent predictors
      for infection recurrence and persistence. RESULTS: In total, 548 patients were
      identified (283 men, 265 women). Forty-eight had a recurrent infection (8.76%).
      Men had 54.8% lower odds of PJI recurrence than women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.452;
      95% confidence interval [CI], 0.235-0.869). Patients with heart disease had 109%
      higher odds of infection recurrence than patients without heart disease (OR =
      2.09; 95% CI, 1.097-3.081). The risk of infection recurrence was 119% higher in
      patients with psychiatric disorders than in patients without psychiatric
      disorders (OR = 2.19; 95% CI, 1.011-4.761). Patients with recurrent knee PJI had
      84.6% lower odds of persistent infection (OR = 0.154; 95% CI, 0.034-0.696)
      compared to hip PJI. Patients with heart disease had 5-fold increased odds for
      persistent PJI (OR = 5.068; 95% CI, 1.38-22.56). CONCLUSION: Female gender, heart
      disease, and psychiatric disorders increase the risk of hip and knee PJI
      recurrence. Patients with PJI of the hip and with heart disease are at higher
      risk of infection persistence.

PMID- 27646833
TI  - The Effects of Pharmacological Compounds on Beat Rate Variations in Human Long QT
      Syndrome Cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Healthy human heart rate fluctuates overtime showing long-range fractal
      correlations. In contrast, various cardiac diseases and normal aging show the
      breakdown of fractal complexity. Recently, it was shown that human induced
      pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) intrinsically exhibit
      fractal behavior as in humans. Here, we investigated the fractal complexity of
      hiPSC-derived long QT-cardiomyocytes (LQT-CMs). We recorded extracellular field
      potentials from hiPSC-CMs at baseline and under the effect of various compounds
      including beta-blocker bisoprolol, ML277, a specific and potent IKs current
      activator, as well as JNJ303, a specific IKs blocker. From the peak-to-peak
      intervals, we determined the long-range fractal correlations by using detrended
      fluctuation analysis. Electrophysiologically, the baseline corrected field
      potential durations (cFPDs) were more prolonged in LQT-CMs than in wildtype (WT)
      CMs. Bisoprolol did not have significant effects to the cFPD in any CMs. ML277
      shortened cFPD in a dose-dependent fashion by 11 % and 5-11 % in WT- and LQT-CMs,
      respectively. JNJ303 prolonged cFPD in a dose-dependent fashion by 22 % and 7-13
      % in WT- and LQT-CMs, respectively. At baseline, all CMs showed fractal
      correlations as determined by short-term scaling exponent alpha. However, in all
      CMs, the alpha was increased when pharmacological compounds were applied
      indicating of breakdown of fractal complexity. These findings suggest that the
      intrinsic mechanisms contributing to the fractal complexity are not altered in
      LQT-CMs. The modulation of IKs channel and beta1-adrenoreceptors by
      pharmacological compounds may affect the fractal complexity of the hiPSC-CMs.

PMID- 27646835
TI  - Randomized multicentre pilot study of sacubitril/valsartan versus irbesartan in
      patients with chronic kidney disease: United Kingdom Heart and Renal Protection
      (HARP)- III-rationale, trial design and baseline data.
AB  - Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at risk of progression
      to end-stage renal disease and cardiovascular disease. Data from other
      populations and animal experiments suggest that neprilysin inhibition (which
      augments the natriuretic peptide system) may reduce these risks, but clinical
      trials among patients with CKD are required to test this hypothesis. Methods: UK
      Heart and Renal Protection III (HARP-III) is a multicentre, double-blind,
      randomized controlled trial comparing sacubitril/valsartan 97/103 mg two times
      daily (an angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor) with irbesartan 300 mg one
      time daily among 414 patients with CKD. Patients >=18 years of age with an
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of >=45 but <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and
      urine albumin:creatinine ratio (uACR) >20 mg/mmol or eGFR >=20 but <45
      mL/min/1.73 m2 (regardless of uACR) were invited to be screened. Following a 4-
      to 7-week pre-randomization single-blind placebo run-in phase (during which any
      current renin-angiotensin system inhibitors were stopped), willing and eligible
      participants were randomly assigned either sacubitril/valsartan or irbesartan and
      followed-up for 12 months. The primary aim was to compare the effects of
      sacubitril/valsartan and irbesartan on measured GFR after 12 months of therapy.
      Important secondary outcomes include effects on albuminuria, change in eGFR over
      time and the safety and tolerability of sacubitril/valsartan in CKD. Results:
      Between November 2014 and January 2016, 620 patients attended a screening visit
      and 566 (91%) entered the pre-randomization run-in phase. Of these, 414 (73%)
      participants were randomized (mean age 63 years; 72% male). The mean eGFR was
      34.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 and the median uACR was 58.5 mg/mmol. Conclusions: UK HARP
      III will provide important information on the short-term effects of
      sacubitril/valsartan on renal function, tolerability and safety among patients
      with CKD.

PMID- 27646838
TI  - Laboratory diagnosis and genetic analysis of a family clustering outbreak of
      aseptic meningitis due to echovirus 30.
AB  - Echovirus 30 (E30) is a major pathogen associated with aseptic meningitis. In the
      summer of 2014, a family clustering aseptic meningitis outbreak occurred in urban
      rural fringe of Ningbo city in Zhejiang Province in China. To identify the
      etiologic agent, specimens were tested by cell culture and reverse transcriptase
      polymerase chain reaction. Pathogenic examination confirmed that the outbreak is
      caused by E30. The first case is a 6-year-old child, who studied in kindergarten
      in local, suffered from headache and fever. Same symptoms appeared in his
      parents, aunts, and other six relatives continuously. Meanwhile, vomiting
      occurred in majority of the patients and diarrhea in parts of them. White blood
      cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exceeded normal range in all patients. Protein
      levels in CSF were above normal range in half of the patients. Glucose levels in
      CSF were within normal range in all patients. We isolated six strains E30 in the
      stool specimens of patients, and carried out sequencing analysis to VP1 region.
      Sequencing results showed that 100% sequence identity was seen in both nucleotide
      and amino acid levels. Phylogenetic analysis discovered that isolate in this
      study was grouped into sublineage D2 together with sequences isolated from other
      areas of China in the 2000s and 2010s. Our study is the first family clustering
      outbreak of aseptic meningitis caused by E30 in Zhejiang Province in China. It is
      essential to establish an enterovirus molecular surveillance system in China to
      prevent mass outbreaks in Zhejiang.

PMID- 27646840
TI  - Altered White Matter and Sensory Response to Bodily Sensation in Female-to-Male
      Transgender Individuals.
AB  - While most people take identification with their body for granted, conditions
      such as phantom limb pain, alien hand syndrome, and xenomelia suggest that the
      feeling of bodily congruence is constructed and susceptible to alteration.
      Individuals with xenomelia typically experience one of their limbs as over
      present and aversive, leading to a desire to amputate the limb. Similarly, many
      transgender individuals describe their untreated sexed body parts as incongruent
      and aversive, and many experience phantom body parts of the sex they identify
      with (Ramachandran, 2008). This experience may relate to differences in brain
      representation of the sexed body part, as suggested in xenomelia (McGeoch et al.,
      2011). We utilized magnetoencephalography imaging to record brain activity during
      somatosensory stimulation of the breast-a body part that feels incongruent to
      most presurgical female-to-male (FtM)-identified transgender individuals-and the
      hand, a body part that feels congruent. We measured the sensory evoked response
      in right hemisphere somatosensory and body-related brain areas and found
      significantly reduced activation in the supramarginal gyrus and secondary
      somatosensory cortex, but increased activation at the temporal pole for chest
      sensation in the FtM group (N = 8) relative to non-transgender females (N = 8).
      In addition, we found increased white matter coherence in the supramarginal gyrus
      and temporal pole and decreased white matter diffusivity in the anterior insula
      and temporal pole in the FtM group. These findings suggest that dysphoria related
      to gender-incongruent body parts in FtM individuals may be tied to differences in
      neural representation of the body and altered white matter connectivity.

PMID- 27646841
TI  - Statewide opioid prescriptions and the prevalence of adolescent opioid misuse in
      Ohio.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the relationship between opioid prescribing
      practices and the prevalence of adolescent opioid misuse. OBJECTIVE: To examine
      the relationships between both opioid prescriptions filled by adolescents and
      adults and adolescents seeking treatment for opioid misuse in Ohio. METHODS:
      Analyses of large statewide databases from 2008 to 2012, including all 88
      counties in Ohio. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy provided data regarding prescription
      opioids filled by adolescents (12-20 years, N = 50,030,820 doses) and adults (>20
      years, N = 3,811,288,395 doses) by county of residence. The Ohio Department of
      Mental Health and Drug Addiction Services provided annual treatment admissions
      for adolescent opioid misuse by county of residence (N = 6446). RESULTS: Adults
      filled prescriptions for nearly 100 oral opioid doses per capita annually, while
      adolescents filled prescriptions for approximately 7 oral opioid doses per capita
      annually. In Bayesian Poisson modeling examining the effect of annual adult per
      capita dose on adolescent treatment admissions, adjusted for annual adolescent
      per capita dose and year, an increase of one in the annual adult per capita
      opioid dose resulted in an increase of 1.3% (RR = 1.013, 95% HPD CI = [1.008,
      1.017]) in the rate of adolescent treatment admissions. This association
      corresponds to a 99.99% chance that the adolescent treatment rate increases when
      the annual per capita adult dose is increased by one unit. CONCLUSION: The amount
      of opioids filled by adults in Ohio, although relatively stable from 2008 to
      2012, is approximately 13 times that filled by adolescents and is significantly
      associated with adolescents seeking treatment for opioid misuse. Efforts to
      decrease adolescent opioid misuse should also focus on reducing adult opioid
      prescriptions.

PMID- 27646842
TI  - A selective histone deacetylase inhibitor for myeloma.

PMID- 27646843
TI  - Ricolinostat plus lenalidomide, and dexamethasone in relapsed or refractory
      multiple myeloma: a multicentre phase 1b trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are an important new class of
      therapeutics for treating multiple myeloma. Ricolinostat (ACY-1215) is the first
      oral selective HDAC6 inhibitor with reduced class I HDAC activity to be studied
      clinically. Motivated by findings from preclinical studies showing potent
      synergistic activity with ricolinostat and lenalidomide, our goal was to assess
      the safety and preliminary activity of the combination of ricolinostat with
      lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
      METHODS: In this multicentre phase 1b trial, we recruited patients aged 18 years
      or older with previously treated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma from
      five cancer centres in the USA. Inclusion criteria included a Karnofsky
      Performance Status score of at least 70, measureable disease, adequate bone
      marrow reserve, adequate hepatic function, and a creatinine clearance of at least
      50 mL per min. Exclusion criteria included previous exposure to HDAC inhibitors;
      previous allogeneic stem-cell transplantation; previous autologous stem-cell
      transplantation within 12 weeks of baseline; active systemic infection;
      malignancy within the last 5 years; known or suspected HIV, hepatitis B, or
      hepatitis C infection; a QTc Fridericia of more than 480 ms; and substantial
      cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, psychiatric, or other medical disorders. We
      gave escalating doses (from 40-240 mg once daily to 160 mg twice daily) of oral
      ricolinostat according to a standard 3 + 3 design according to three different
      regimens on days 1-21 with a conventional 28 day schedule of oral lenalidomide
      (from 15 mg [in one cohort] to 25 mg [in all other cohorts] once daily) and oral
      dexamethasone (40 mg weekly). Primary outcomes were dose-limiting toxicities, the
      maximum tolerated dose of ricolinostat in this combination, and the dose and
      schedule of ricolinostat recommended for further phase 2 investigation. Secondary
      outcomes were the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ricolinostat in this
      combination and the preliminary anti-tumour activity of this treatment. The trial
      is closed to accrual and is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01583283.
      FINDINGS: Between July 12, 2012, and Aug 20, 2015, we enrolled 38 patients. We
      observed two dose-limiting toxicities with ricolinostat 160 mg twice daily: one
      (2%) grade 3 syncope and one (2%) grade 3 myalgia event in different cohorts. A
      maximum tolerated dose was not reached. We chose ricolinostat 160 mg once daily
      on days 1-21 of a 28 day cycle as the recommended dose for future phase 2 studies
      in combination with lenalidomide 25 mg and dexamethasone 40 mg. The most common
      adverse events were fatigue (grade 1-2 in 14 [37%] patients; grade 3 in seven
      [18%]) and diarrhoea (grade 1-2 in 15 [39%] patients; grade 3 in two [5%]). Our
      pharmacodynamic studies showed that at clinically relevant doses, ricolinostat
      selectively inhibits HDAC6 while retaining a low and tolerable level of class I
      HDAC inhibition. The pharmacokinetics of ricolinostat and lenalidomide were not
      affected by co-administration. In a preliminary assessment of antitumour
      activity, 21 (55% [95% CI 38-71]) of 38 patients had an overall response.
      INTERPRETATION: The findings from this study provide preliminary evidence that
      ricolinostat is a safe and well tolerated selective HDAC6 inhibitor, which might
      partner well with lenalidomide and dexamethasone to enhance their efficacy in
      relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. FUNDING: Acetylon Pharmaceuticals.

PMID- 27646845
TI  - Pharmacological Neuroenhancement: teachers' knowledge and attitudes-Results from
      a survey study among teachers in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) is a topic of increasing
      importance. Its prevalence rates range from 1 % to more than 20 %. Students are a
      group that shows exceptionally high prevalence rates. However, little is known
      about teachers' knowledge, management, attitudes and ethical judgements regarding
      PN. METHODS: A web-based survey containing 40 closed questions was developed. All
      teachers working at all private and public schools in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a
      state in northeastern Germany, were invited to participate after their respective
      school offices were contacted by telephone, email and mail. RESULTS: In total,
      255 teachers participated in the survey. Of those, 73.3 % had already heard about
      PN in general, and 68.2 % had heard about PN in students. Their sources of
      knowledge were digital media such as TV (73.8 %) and the internet (40.6 %) and
      print media (64.7 %); their own students informed 29.9 % of the teachers about PN
      in general and 35.6 % of them about PN among students. Furthermore, 34.9 % of the
      surveyed teachers were convinced that PN substance use was ineffective in
      general, and 51.8 % of the surveyed teachers believed that PN substances were
      ineffective in achieving better grades. Only 1.2 % thought that none of the so
      called PN substances could lead to addiction, and 37.6 % would classify PN
      substance use as general drug misuse. The highest values regarding risk of
      addiction were observed for illicit drugs. The prevalence of PN substance use was
      evaluated to be very low and to be significantly higher in male, highly skilled
      and college/university students. In total, 1.6 school lessons per year were used
      to discuss PN. Finally, 55.7 % of the surveyed teachers believed that performance
      enhancing substances should be forbidden at schools. CONCLUSION: Teachers, as an
      integral part of the education of children and adolescents, often know about PN
      substances and mostly refuse their use being afraid about the risk of addiction.
      However, regarding effects as well as side effects of PN substances, teachers
      have very different opinions. Furthermore, they seem to underestimate the
      prevalence among their students and broach the topic infrequently. Teachers
      should be sensitized for high prevalence rates and should broach the topic of PN
      more frequently to their students to prevent potential misuse of PN substances.

PMID- 27646847
TI  - Synthesis and Evaluation of (18)F-labeled Pyridaben Analogues for Myocardial
      Perfusion Imaging in Mice, Rats and Chinese mini-swine.
AB  - This study reports three novel (18)F-labeled pyridaben analogues for potential
      myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Three precursors and the corresponding
      nonradioactive compounds were synthesized and characterized. The radiolabeled
      tracers were obtained by substituting tosyl with (18)F. The total radiosynthesis
      time of these tracers was 70-90 min. Typical decay-corrected radiochemical yields
      were 47-58%, with high radiochemical purities (>98%). Tracers were evaluated as
      MPI agents in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo. In the mouse biodistribution study, all
      three radiotracers showed high initial heart uptake (34-54% ID/g at 2 min after
      injection) and fast liver clearance. In the microPET imaging study, [(18)F]Fmpp2
      produced heart images with good quality in both mice and rats. In the whole-body
      PET/CT images of mini-swine, [(18)F]Fmpp2 showed excellent initial heart
      standardized uptake value (SUV) (7.12 at 5 min p.i.) and good retention (5.75 at
      120 min p.i.). The heart/liver SUV ratios were 4.12, 5.42 and 5.99 at 30, 60 and
      120 min after injection, respectively. The favorable biological properties of
      [(18)F]Fmpp2 suggest that it is worth further investigation as a potential MPI
      agent.

PMID- 27646849
TI  - Identification of antisense long noncoding RNAs that function as SINEUPs in human
      cells.
AB  - Mammalian genomes encode numerous natural antisense long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)
      that regulate gene expression. Recently, an antisense lncRNA to mouse Ubiquitin
      carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (Uchl1) was reported to increase UCHL1 protein
      synthesis, representing a new functional class of lncRNAs, designated as SINEUPs,
      for SINE element-containing translation UP-regulators. Here, we show that an
      antisense lncRNA to the human protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 12A
      (PPP1R12A), named as R12A-AS1, which overlaps with the 5' UTR and first coding
      exon of the PPP1R12A mRNA, functions as a SINEUP, increasing PPP1R12A protein
      translation in human cells. The SINEUP activity depends on the aforementioned
      sense-antisense interaction and a free right Alu monomer repeat element at the 3'
      end of R12A-AS1. In addition, we identify another human antisense lncRNA with
      SINEUP activity. Our results demonstrate for the first time that human natural
      antisense lncRNAs can up-regulate protein translation, suggesting that endogenous
      SINEUPs may be widespread and present in many mammalian species.

PMID- 27646850
TI  - Effect of Fibrin Glue on the Incidence of Surgical Complications After Living
      Related-Donor Kidney Transplantation: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND The incidence of surgical complications after kidney transplantation
      ranges from 10-25%. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the application
      of fibrin glue as a preventive agent reduces surgical morbidity after a living
      related-donor kidney transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS A controlled clinical
      trial involving 78 recipients randomly assigned to receive fibrin glue and 79 in
      the control group without the application of fibrin glue. Patients were followed
      for six months after surgery. RESULTS The average ages were 24.8+/-9.4 and 27.4+/
      11.3 years in the control and study groups, respectively (p=0.11). Individual
      morbidities, such as urologic, lymphatic, vascular, and wound complications, were
      not statistically different between groups; however, the total number of surgical
      complications observed were in five patients in the study group and 16 patients
      in the control group. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.01,
      relative risk 0.44, 95% CI 0.20-0.97). There was no mortality or adverse reaction
      to fibrin glue. One kidney graft was lost because of uncontrollable bleeding
      secondary to tearing of the renal capsule. The incidence of early medical
      complications was similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS Applications of the
      biological adhesive reduced the incidence of surgical complications. 

PMID- 27646853
TI  - One-Step Formation of Silicon-Graphene Composites from Silicon Sludge Waste and
      Graphene Oxide via Aerosol Process for Lithium Ion Batteries.
AB  - Over 40% of high-purity silicon (Si) is consumed as sludge waste consisting of
      Si, silicon carbide (SiC) particles and metal impurities from the fragments of
      cutting wire mixed in ethylene glycol based cutting fluid during Si wafer slicing
      in semiconductor fabrication. Recovery of Si from the waste Si sludge has been a
      great concern because Si particles are promising high-capacity anode materials
      for Li ion batteries. In this study, we report a novel one-step aerosol process
      that not only extracts Si particles but also generates Si-graphene (GR)
      composites from the colloidal mixture of waste Si sludge and graphene oxide (GO)
      at the same time by ultrasonic atomization-assisted spray pyrolysis. This process
      supports many advantages such as eco-friendly, low-energy, rapid, and simple
      method for forming Si-GR composite. The morphology of the as-formed Si-GR
      composites looked like a crumpled paper ball and the average size of the
      composites varied from 0.6 to 0.8 MUm with variation of the process variables.
      The electrochemical performance was then conducted with the Si-GR composites for
      Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs). The Si-GR composites exhibited very high
      performance as Li ion battery anodes in terms of capacity, cycling stability, and
      Coulombic efficiency.

PMID- 27646852
TI  - Congruence of Home, Social and Sex Neighborhoods among Men Who Have Sex with Men,
      NYCM2M Study.
AB  - Substantial literature demonstrates the influence of the neighborhood environment
      on health behaviors and outcomes. But limited research examines on how gay and
      bisexual men experience and exist in various geographic and virtual spaces and
      how this relates to their sexual behavior. New York City Men 2 Men (NYCM2M) was a
      cross-sectional study designed to identify neighborhood-level characteristics
      within the urban environment that influence sexual risk behaviors, substance use,
      and depression among men who have sex with men (MSM) living in NYC. The sample
      was recruited using a modified venue-based time-space sampling methodology and
      through select websites and mobile applications. Whether key neighborhoods of
      human activity, where a participant resided (termed home), socialized (termed
      social), or had sex most often (termed sex), were the same or different was
      evaluated. "Congruence" (or the sameness) of home, social, and most often sex
      neighborhood was reported by 17 % of men, while 30 % reported that none of their
      neighborhoods were the same. The largest group of men (39 %) reported that their
      home and sex neighborhoods were the same but their social neighborhood was
      different while 10 % reported that their home neighborhood was different than
      their social and sex neighborhood; 5 % men reported same home and social
      neighborhoods with a different sex neighborhood. Complete neighborhood
      incongruence was highest among men who were Black and/or Latino, had lower
      education and personal income levels, and had greater financial insecurity. In
      adjusted analysis, serodiscordant condomless anal intercourse and condomless anal
      intercourse with partners from the Internet or mobile applications were
      significantly associated with having the same social and sex (but not home)
      neighborhoods. Understanding the complexity of how different spaces and places
      relate to the health and sexual behavior of MSM is essential for focusing
      interventions to best reach various populations of interest.

PMID- 27646854
TI  - Efficacy and epigenetic interactions of novel DNA hypomethylating agent
      guadecitabine (SGI-110) in preclinical models of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a deadly malignancy characterized at the
      epigenetic level by global DNA hypomethylation and focal hypermethylation on the
      promoter of tumor suppressor genes. In most cases it develops on a background of
      liver steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Guadecitabine (SGI-110) is a
      second-generation hypomethylating agent, which inhibits DNA methyltransferases.
      Guadecitabine is formulated as a dinucleotide of decitabine and deoxyguanosine
      that is resistant to cytidine deaminase (CDA) degradation and results in
      prolonged in vivo exposure to decitabine following small volume subcutaneous
      administration of guadecitabine. Here we found that guadecitabine is an effective
      demethylating agent and is able to prevent HCC progression in pre-clinical
      models. In a xenograft HCC HepG2 model, guadecitabine impeded tumor growth and
      inhibited angiogenesis, while it could not prevent liver fibrosis and
      inflammation in a mouse model of steatohepatitis. Demethylating efficacy of
      guadecitabine on LINE-1 elements was found to be the highest 8 d post-infusion in
      blood samples of mice. Analysis of a panel of human HCC vs. normal tissue
      revealed a signature of hypermethylated tumor suppressor genes (CDKN1A, CDKN2A,
      DLEC1, E2F1, GSTP1, OPCML, E2F1, RASSF1, RUNX3, and SOCS1) as detected by
      methylation-specific PCR. A pronounced demethylating effect of guadecitabine was
      obtained also in the promoters of a subset of tumor suppressors genes (CDKN2A,
      DLEC1, and RUNX3) in HepG2 and Huh-7 HCC cells. Finally, we analyzed the role of
      macroH2A1, a variant of histone H2A, an oncogene upregulated in human
      cirrhosis/HCC that synergizes with DNA methylation in suppressing tumor
      suppressor genes, and it prevents the inhibition of cell growth triggered by
      decitabine in HCC cells. Guadecitabine, in contrast to decitabine, blocked growth
      in HCC cells overexpressing macroH2A1 histones and with high CDA levels, despite
      being unable to fully demethylate CDKN2A, RUNX3, and DLEC1 promoters altered by
      macroH2A1. Collectively, our findings in human and mice models reveal novel
      epigenetic anti-HCC effects of guadecitabine, which might be effective
      specifically in advanced states of the disease.

PMID- 27646856
TI  - Risk of diabetic retinopathy at first screen in children at 12 and 13 years of
      age.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the relationships between age at diagnosis of diabetes, age
      at diabetic eye screening and severity of diabetic retinopathy at first and
      subsequent screenings in children aged 12 or 13 years. METHODS: Data were
      extracted from four English screening programmes and from the Scottish, Welsh and
      Northern Irish programmes on all children with diabetes invited for their first
      and subsequent screening episodes from the age of 12 years. Retinopathy levels at
      first and subsequent screens, time from diagnosis of diabetes to first screening
      and age at diagnosis in years were calculated. RESULTS: Data were available for
      2125 children with diabetes screened for the first time at age 12 or 13 years. In
      those diagnosed with diabetes at 2 years of age or less, the proportion with
      retinopathy in one or both eyes was 20% and 11%, respectively, decreasing to 8%
      and 2% in those diagnosed between 2 and 12 years (P < 0.0001). Only three
      children (aged 8, 10 and 11 years at diagnosis of diabetes) had images graded
      with referable retinopathy and, of these, two had non-referable diabetic
      retinopathy at all subsequent screenings. Of 1703 children with subsequent
      images, 25 were graded with referable diabetic retinopathy over a mean follow-up
      of 3.1 years, an incidence rate of 4.7 (95% confidence interval, 3.1-7.0) per
      1000 per year. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of children, the low prevalence
      and incidence rates of referable diabetic retinopathy suggest that screening
      earlier than age 12 is not necessary.

PMID- 27646857
TI  - First-Line, Early and Long-Term Eculizumab Therapy in Atypical Hemolytic Uremic
      Syndrome: A Case Series in Pediatric Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Studies relating to first-line, early, and long-term eculizumab
      treatment and outcomes in children with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS)
      are scarce and unclear. The aim of this case-series study was to evaluate the
      outcomes of first-line, early, and long-term eculizumab treatment in our aHUS
      patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the data from four pediatric
      patients with aHUS who were treated with eculizumab. In three of them, eculizumab
      was used as a first-line therapy, and the follow-up period was >=2 years in three
      patients. RESULTS: Plasma exchange could not be performed in any patient. Plasma
      infusions were used only in Patient 1 (a 14-month-old boy) for 8 days without any
      response. Therefore, eculizumab was started on day 11 after admission. Patient 2
      (a 16-month-old boy), Patient 3 (an 11-year-old girl), and Patient 4 (a 32-month
      old girl) were treated with eculizumab as a first-line therapy, which was started
      2-4 days after admission. The dosage of eculizumab was adjusted according to body
      weight. The hematologic parameters (the time frames were 3-17 days) and C 3 (the
      time frames were 10-17 days) returned to normal in all patients after receipt of
      eculizumab. Although Patient 1 developed stage III chronic kidney disease,
      complete renal recovery occurred in Patients 2 and 4. Patient 3 also had reflux
      nephropathy with bilateral grade III vesicoureteral reflux and renal scars. Her
      creatinine clearance returned to the baseline value after receiving eculizumab.
      No complications related to eculizumab were observed in any patient during the
      follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab can be successfully used as a first-line
      therapy in pediatric aHUS patients. We observed that the early initiation of
      eculizumab was associated with the complete recovery of renal function.

PMID- 27646860
TI  - Impact of Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations at
      Screening Mammography: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
AB  - : Purpose To evaluate the impact of accountable care organizations (ACOs) on use
      of screening mammography in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), the
      largest value-based reimbursement program in U.S. HISTORY: Materials and Methods
      Institutional review board approval was waived, as the study used publicly
      available unidentifiable data. Medicare data were retrospectively obtained for
      participating ACOs from 2012 to 2014. Baseline information and the ACO-20 measure
      (percentage of women aged 40-69 years who underwent screening mammography within
      24 months) were obtained. Negative binomial regression models were used to
      evaluate baseline and longitudinal mammography use, with stratified analyses
      performed for year of entry into the ACO, number of beneficiaries, and geographic
      region. Results A total of 333 ACOs with 5 329 831 Medicare beneficiaries (mean
      size, 16 006 beneficiaries) participated in the MSSP. Screening use varied across
      ACOs (median, 63.0%; range, 8.8%-90.3%), with differences found across regions
      (use was highest in the Midwest [66.6%] and lowest in the South [58.2%], P =
      .038). A total of 208 ACOs reported longitudinal outcomes, with mean change in
      screening mammography use of +2.6% (range, -33.2% to +42.2%), with 128 (61.6%)
      ACOs reporting improvements (incidence rate ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval:
      1.02, 1.07) (P = .002). No longitudinal differences in use were seen across
      regions (P = .078), year of entry (P = .902), number of beneficiaries (P = .814),
      or total composite quality score (P = .324), nor was there a difference between
      ACOs that saved money and those that did not (P = .391). Conclusion ACOs in the
      MSSP have produced small significant improvements in screening mammography use.
      (c) RSNA, 2016.

PMID- 27646861
TI  - What's in the Bottle? A Review of Infant Formulas.
AB  - Infant formulas are designed to be a substitute for breast milk. Since they are
      sole source of nutrition for growing and developing infants, they are highly
      regulated by the government. All ingredients in infant formulas must be
      considered "generally recognized as safe." Manufacturers are continually
      modifying their products to make them more like breast milk. Functional
      ingredients added to infant formula include long-chain polyunsaturated fatty
      acids, nucleotides, prebiotics, and probiotics. The most common breast milk
      substitutes are standard cow's milk-based term infant formulas, which include
      subcategories of organic and breast milk supplementation, and come in standard
      dilutions of 19 or 20 calories per ounce. In addition to standard cow's milk
      based term infant formulas, there is a line of term infant formulas marketed for
      signs and symptoms of intolerance. These products include modifications in
      lactose content, partially hydrolyzed protein, added probiotics, or added rice
      starch. There are also specialized formulas for medical conditions such as
      prematurity, gastrointestinal disorders, allergy, disorders of fat metabolism,
      and renal insufficiency. Infants on specialty formulas should be monitored
      closely by medical professionals. Formulas come in ready-to-feed, liquid
      concentrate, and powder forms. Each offers advantages and disadvantages. Each
      step in the formula mixing process or each manipulation required for the feeding
      is another opportunity to introduce bacteria to the formula. There are guidelines
      for preparing formula in institutions. Standard dilution and mixing instructions
      are different for each formula, so individual recipes are needed. Caregivers
      should also be educated on proper hygiene when preparing formula at home.

PMID- 27646862
TI  - Reemergence of Blenderized Tube Feedings: Exploring the Evidence.
AB  - A blenderized tube feeding (BTF) is a mixture of food and liquid that is pureed
      and administered through a feeding tube. This method of providing nourishment has
      been used for millenniums. In fact, it could be viewed as the original form of
      nutrition support. However, over time, the role of BTF has changed. Initially, it
      was the only method of nourishing a patient who could not sustain himself or
      herself on oral feeds. With the development of commercial formulas in the mid
      20th century, the usage of this feeding modality declined drastically due to the
      nutrition precision, ease, and sterility of commercial formulas. Recently, there
      has been a reemergence in blenderized tube feeds, largely due to patient/family
      request. The modern perception is that BTF is more natural because the nutrition
      is coming from whole foods and is able to be varied, as it would be in an oral
      diet. There are also reports of improved feeding tolerance, such as a reduction
      in constipation and gagging/retching. However, concerns also exist, such as
      contamination of the blend with microorganisms and increased viscosity causing
      feeding tube occlusion. This review summarizes key historical points of the diet,
      discusses the rationale for use, describes points to consider when using a
      blenderized diet, and reviews the evidence in practice.

PMID- 27646863
TI  - Interchangeability between first-line generic antiretroviral products
      prequalified by WHO using adjusted indirect comparisons.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The scaling-up of access to antiretroviral therapy, particularly in
      low- to middle-income countries, was facilitated by the introduction and
      widespread use of generic antiretroviral medicines and fixed-dose combinations.
      Generic medicines are approved by regulatory authorities based on the
      demonstration of bioequivalence with the innovator or reference product, as well
      as meeting quality standards. In clinical practice, however, it is not unusual
      for generics to be interchanged between each other. This study investigated the
      differences in bioavailability between WHO-prequalified first-line antiretroviral
      generics by means of adjusted indirect comparisons to ensure interchangeability
      between these generics. METHODS: Data on 34 products containing emtricitabine,
      tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and efavirenz in single formulations or
      fixed-dose combinations were included in the analysis. The 90% CI for the
      adjusted indirect comparisons was calculated using the homoscedastic method that
      uses the conventional t-test, and assumes homogeneity of variances between the
      studies and small sample sizes. The combined standard deviation of both
      bioequivalence studies was calculated from the variability of each individual
      study. RESULTS: The adjusted indirect comparisons between generics showed that
      the differences, expressed as 90% CIs, are less than 30%. Confidence in the
      interchangeability of two generic products was reduced if the mean difference
      between the test and reference in the original studies is more than 10%.
      CONCLUSIONS: From a bioequivalence perspective, the generic antiretroviral
      medicines prequalified by WHO are interchangeable with the reference, as well as
      between each other without safety or efficacy concerns.

PMID- 27646864
TI  - Hearing sensitivity differs between zebrafish lines used in auditory research.
AB  - Zebrafish are increasingly used in auditory studies, in part due to the
      development of several transgenic lines that express hair cell-specific
      fluorescent proteins. However, it is largely unknown how transgene expression
      influences auditory phenotype. We previously observed reduced auditory
      sensitivity in adult Brn3c:mGFP transgenic zebrafish, which express membrane
      bound green fluorescent protein (GFP) in sensory hair cells. Here, we examine the
      auditory sensitivity of zebrafish from multiple transgenic and background
      strains. We recorded auditory evoked potentials in adult animals and observed
      significantly higher auditory thresholds in three lines that express hair cell
      specific GFP. There was no obvious correlation between hair cell density and
      auditory thresholds, suggesting that reduced sensitivity was not due to a
      reduction in hair cell density. FM1-43 uptake was reduced in Brn3c:mGFP fish but
      not in other lines, suggesting that a mechanotransduction defect may be
      responsible for the auditory phenotype in Brn3c animals, but that alternate
      mechanisms underlie the increased AEP thresholds in other lines. We found reduced
      prepulse inhibition (a measure of auditory-evoked behavior) in larval Brn3c
      animals, suggesting that auditory defects develop early in this line. We also
      found significant differences in auditory sensitivity between adults of different
      background strains, akin to strain differences observed in mouse models of
      auditory function. Our results suggest that researchers should exercise caution
      when selecting an appropriate zebrafish transgenic or background strain for
      auditory studies.

PMID- 27646865
TI  - Pre-eclampsia is associated with a twofold increase in diabetes: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy-specific multisystem disorder and a
      state of physiological insulin resistance. Our aim was to systematically evaluate
      and quantify the evidence on the relationship between pre-eclampsia and the
      future risk of diabetes. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta
      analysis of studies that evaluated diabetes in women with and without pre
      eclampsia. We performed a systematic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE to identify
      relevant studies. Independent double data extractions were conducted by four
      reviewers. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to estimate the risk of future
      diabetes following pre-eclampsia. RESULTS: A total of 21 studies were identified
      with more than 2.8 million women, including more than 72,500 women with pre
      eclampsia. Meta-analysis of studies that adjusted for potential confounders
      demonstrated that pre-eclampsia was independently associated with an increased
      risk of future diabetes (RR 2.37 [95% CI 1.89, 2.97]). This risk appeared in
      studies that followed women from less than 1 year postpartum (RR 1.97 [95% CI
      1.35, 2.87]) and persisted to more than 10 years postpartum (RR 1.95 [95% CI
      1.28, 2.97]). After adjusting for BMI or gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia
      remained linked with an increased risk of future diabetes (RR 2.38 [95% CI 1.74,
      3.24] and RR 2.36 [95% CI 1.94, 2.88], respectively). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION:
      Pre-eclampsia is independently associated with a twofold increase in future
      diabetes. Our study highlights the importance of clinical risk assessment for the
      future development of diabetes in women with pre-eclampsia. We recommend detailed
      evaluation of a screening programme for diabetes in this high-risk population.

PMID- 27646870
TI  - Embedding of the progress test in an assessment program designed according to the
      principles of programmatic assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Progress tests (PT) are used to assess students on topics from all
      medical disciplines. Progress testing is usually one of the assessment methods of
      the cognitive domain. There is limited knowledge on how positioning of the PT in
      a program of assessment (PoA) influences students' PT scores, use of PT feedback
      and perceived learning value. METHODS: We compared PT total scores and use of a
      PT test feedback (ProF) system in two medical courses, where the PT is either
      used as a summative assessment or embedded in a comprehensive PoA and used
      formatively. In addition, an interview study was used to explore the students'
      perception on use of PT feedback and perceived learning value. RESULTS: PT total
      scores were higher, with considerable effect sizes (ESs) and students made more
      use of ProF when the PT was embedded in a comprehensive PoA. Analysis of feedback
      in the portfolio stimulated students to look for patterns in PT results, link the
      PT to other assessment results, follow-up on learning objectives, and integrate
      the PT in their learning for the entire PoA. CONCLUSIONS: Embedding the PT in an
      assessment program designed according to the principles of programmatic
      assessment positively affects PT total scores, use of PT feedback, and perceived
      learning value.

PMID- 27646867
TI  - Optogenetically enhanced pituitary corticotroph cell activity post-stress onset
      causes rapid organizing effects on behaviour.
AB  - The anterior pituitary is the major link between nervous and hormonal systems,
      which allow the brain to generate adequate and flexible behaviour. Here, we
      address its role in mediating behavioural adjustments that aid in coping with
      acutely threatening environments. For this we combine optogenetic manipulation of
      pituitary corticotroph cells in larval zebrafish with newly developed assays for
      measuring goal-directed actions in very short timescales. Our results reveal
      modulatory actions of corticotroph cell activity on locomotion, avoidance
      behaviours and stimulus responsiveness directly after the onset of stress.
      Altogether, the findings uncover the significance of endocrine pituitary cells
      for rapidly optimizing behaviour in local antagonistic environments.

PMID- 27646872
TI  - What Factors Moderate Self-Other Discrepancies in Decision Making? Results from a
      Vaccination Scenario.
AB  - When we make risky decisions for others, we tend to follow social norms about
      risks. This often results in making different decisions for others than we would
      make for ourselves in a similar situation (i.e., self-other discrepancies). In an
      experiment, we investigated self-other discrepancies in young adults' decisions
      to purchase a vaccine against a sexually-transmitted virus for themselves or for
      another person (i.e., the target of the decision). When the target's preferences
      were in line with social norms, surrogates showed large self-other discrepancies
      in line with these norms. When the target's preferences were contrary to social
      norms, surrogates did not show self-other discrepancies in line with these
      preferences; instead they still followed social norms, F(1, 140) = 21.45, p <
      .001, eta p 2 = .13. Surrogates with lower numeracy, F(2, 128) = 3.44, p = .035,
      eta p 2 = .05, and higher empathy, F(2, 128) = 3.72, p = .027, eta p 2 = .06,
      showed self-other discrepancies more in line with the target's preferences, even
      when these were contrary to the norm. Surrogates whose own risk attitudes were
      contrary to social norms showed larger self-other discrepancies, F(1, 128) =
      5.38, p = .022, eta p 2 = .04. These results demonstrate that perceived social
      norms about risk can predict self-other discrepancies in risky decisions, even
      when the target's preferences are known and at odds with the social norm.
      Further, the surrogates' numeracy, empathy, and propensity to take risks
      influence the extent to which risky decisions for others resemble risky decisions
      for oneself. 

PMID- 27646874
TI  - Zbtb7c is a molecular 'off' and 'on' switch of Mmp gene transcription.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-containing endopeptidases that play
      roles in cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, angiogenesis, and
      apoptosis. The expression of MMP gene is tightly regulated and shows cell- and
      tissue-specific expression patterns. Despite their differential expression, MMP
      genes have AP-1 (activator protein-1) binding elements within their promoters.
      Interestingly, c-JUN phosphorylation by cytokine signaling decreased its
      interaction with NCoR, but increased its interaction with p300, resulting in
      activation of MMP gene transcription. Here, we found that Zbtb7c (Kr-pok) is a
      critical component of a transcriptional repressor complex containing c-Jun and
      NCoR. c-Jun, bound at AP-1, interacts with Zbtb7c, which in turn recruits an
      NCoR/Hdac3 complex to repress several Mmp (-8, -10, -13, and -16) genes. The
      molecular interaction between c-Jun and Zbtb7c also prevents phosphorylation of c
      Jun by p-Jnk, However, Zbtb7c phosphorylation by p-Jnk (induced by TNFalpha), and
      its (Zbtb7c) subsequent degradation by the ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal
      pathway, leads to c-Jun phosphorylation by p-Jnk. Promoter-bound p-c-Jun then
      recruits the coactivator p300 to upregulate Mmp gene. Overall, these findings
      show that Zbtb7c is a key molecule that recruits an NCoR/Hdac3 complex to inhibit
      phosphorylation of c-Jun, and thereby repress Mmp gene expression.

PMID- 27646879
TI  - Review of Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2.
AB  - Prostate MRI has been a hot topic in recent years in large part due to the high
      incidence of prostate cancer worldwide. Advances in technology have allowed
      multiparametric MRI to improve lesion detection and characterization in prostate
      imaging. Additionally, prostate MRI has shown great promise in the detection of
      clinically significant cancer. In 2012, the European Society of Urogenital
      Radiology established clinical guidelines for multiparametric MRI of the prostate
      to facilitate a greater level of standardization and consistency, which became
      known as the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS). Subsequently,
      the American College of Radiology, European Society of Urogenital Radiology and
      the AdMeTech Foundation jointly created PI-RADS version 2. This article focuses
      on summarizing the key points of PI-RADS version 2.

PMID- 27646875
TI  - Prognostic significance of markers of systemic inflammatory response in patients
      with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the C-reactive protein
      (CRP) are markers of systemic inflammatory response, which have been associated
      with the prognosis of multiple malignancies, but their relationships with
      oncologic outcomes of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) have not been
      well studied yet. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical
      records of 1,117 patients with NMIBC who underwent a transurethral resection of
      the bladder. Univariable and multivariable competing risk regression models were
      used to assess the association of preoperative NLR and CRP with disease
      recurrence and progression to muscle-invasive disease. The median follow-up was
      64 months. RESULTS: In total, 360 patients (32.2%) had a high NLR (>=2.5) and 145
      (13.0%) had a high CRP (>=5mg/l). On multivariable analyses, a high NLR was
      associated with both disease recurrence (subhazard ratio [SHR] = 1.27, P = 0.013)
      and progression (SHR = 1.72, P = 0.007), and high CRP was associated with disease
      progression (SHR = 1.72, P = 0.031). Adding NLR and CRP to the multivariable
      model predicting disease progression lead to a relevant change in discrimination
      (+2.0%). In a subgroup analysis of 300 patients treated with bacillus Calmette
      Guerin, both high NLR and high CRP were associated with disease progression (SHR
      = 2.80, P = 0.026 and SHR = 3.51, P = 0.021, respectively), and NLR was
      associated with disease recurrence (SHR = 1.46, P = 0.046). There was also an
      increase in the discrimination of the model predicting progression after bacillus
      Calmette-Guerin following the inclusion of both markers (+2.4%). CONCLUSION: In
      patients with NMIBC, markers of systemic inflammation response are associated
      with disease recurrence and progression. The inclusion of such markers in
      prognostic models does enhance their accuracy.

PMID- 27646882
TI  - Pigmentation-Independent Susceptibility Loci for Actinic Keratosis Highlighted by
      Compound Heterozygosity Analysis.
AB  - Actinic keratosis (AK) is a skin disease frequently found in European elderly,
      and it represents the precursor of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Our recent
      genome-wide association study highlighted DNA variants in two pigmentation genes,
      IRF4 and MC1R, that confer AK risk in Europeans. Here, we performed a genome-wide
      search for relaxed forms of compound heterozygosity in association with AK using
      our recently developed software CollapsABEL. In a discovery dataset of 3,193
      Dutch Europeans, a total of 15 genetic loci showed genome-wide significant
      association with AK (P < 1.25 * 10-10). Of those, three loci (6p21.2, 6p12.2, and
      6q13) were confirmed in a replication dataset that included 624 additional Dutch
      Europeans (P < 0.05). These replicated loci harbored six genes (KCNK5/KCNK17,
      PAQR8/GSTA2, and KCNQ5/KHDC1), none of them known to be involved in pigmentation.
      A candidate compound heterozygosity analysis for 12 pigmentation loci highlighted
      SLC24A4 at 14q32.12 as showing significant association with AK (P = 8.83 * 10-9).
      The four significantly AK-associated compound heterozygosity single-nucleotide
      polymorphism pairs together explained 4.37% of the total AK variation, which was
      2.62 times greater than the two top-associated individual single nucleotide
      polymorphisms together (1.67%) identified in the previous conventional genome
      wide association study. In conclusion, CollapsABEL showed compound heterozygosity
      in non-pigmentation- and pigmentation-related loci conferring genetic risk of AK.

PMID- 27646885
TI  - [Pathologic diagnosis of early lung adenocarcinoma].

PMID- 27646886
TI  - [Diagnosis difficulties and criteria for classification of chondrosarcoma].

PMID- 27646884
TI  - Why not nursing? Factors influencing healthcare career choice among Singaporean
      students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internationally, and particularly in Singapore, health education
      institutions are facing challenges in attracting school leavers to enter nursing
      courses. OBJECTIVES: To identify the factors influencing the career choice of
      Singaporean healthcare students and determine the deterrents in choosing nursing
      as a career choice. DESIGN: An exploratory descriptive qualitative study design
      was used. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-nine healthcare students from three higher
      education institutions were recruited. METHOD: Four nursing and four non-nursing
      focus groups discussion were held. Interview transcripts were analysed using
      thematic analysis. RESULTS: Six themes emerged as follows: 'personal interest';
      'prior healthcare exposure'; 'job prospects'; 'academic performance'; 'perceived
      nature of work'; and 'social influences'. DISCUSSION: The personal interests to
      help and care along with prior healthcare exposures were found to influence the
      students' choice. Job prospects such as the ease of getting a job, job stability,
      and job salary were considered. Nursing was perceived as a course for students
      with poor academic ability. Misconceptions about the nature of work and a lack of
      social recognition were identified as deterring factors in students' choice of
      nursing as a career. CONCLUSIONS: An understanding of the career decision process
      among healthcare students enables educational leaders and policy-makers to
      enhance the focus of nursing recruitment strategies. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
      AND/OR HEALTH POLICY: Strategies for nursing recruitment in Singapore must
      include creating more opportunities for exposure to nursing in early school
      years, reviewing the admission policies for nursing programmes to attract
      academically abled students, ensuring that nursing graduates' salaries are
      comparable with other healthcare graduates, promoting a better understanding on
      the role of a registered nurse and its career developments, and providing support
      for those who are interested in nursing but are faced with career decision-making
      difficulties due to their families.

PMID- 27646883
TI  - Lupus Skin Is Primed for IL-6 Inflammatory Responses through a Keratinocyte
      Mediated Autocrine Type I Interferon Loop.
AB  - Cutaneous lupus erythematosus is a disfiguring and common manifestation in
      systemic lupus erythematosus, and the etiology of this predisposition for
      cutaneous inflammation is unknown. Here, we sought to examine the keratinocyte as
      an important source of IL-6 and define the mechanism for its increased production
      in cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Evaluation of discoid and subacute cutaneous
      lupus erythematosus lesions showed significant epidermal up-regulation of IL-6
      compared with control via real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Keratinocytes
      from unaffected skin of lupus patients produced significantly more IL-6 compared
      with healthy control subjects after exposure to toll-like receptor 2, 3, or 4
      agonists or exposure to UVB radiation. Pretreatment with type I interferons (IFN
      alpha and IFN-kappa) increased IL-6 production by control keratinocytes, and type
      I IFN blockade decreased IL-6 secretion by lupus keratinocytes. Secretion of
      keratinocyte-specific IFN-kappa was significantly increased after toll-like
      receptor 2 and UVB treatment in lupus keratinocytes, and neutralization of IFN
      kappa decreased IL-6 production by lupus keratinocytes. Thus, lupus keratinocytes
      are primed for IL-6 hyperproduction in a type I IFN-dependent manner. Increased
      production of IFN-kappa by lupus keratinocytes drives this response, indicating
      that IFN-kappa may play a pathogenic role in cutaneous lupus erythematosus and
      serve as a target for treatment.

PMID- 27646878
TI  - Immunopathology alters Th17 cell glucocorticoid sensitivity.
AB  - Th17 cells contribute to several inflammatory conditions and increasing evidence
      supports that Th17 cells are glucocorticoid resistant. However, Th17 cells in
      psoriasis and related diseases are glucocorticoid sensitive. We compare
      glucocorticoid sensitive and resistant immunological diseases and suggest that
      several aspects in Th17-related diseases alter glucocorticoid sensitivity of Th17
      cells. We identify molecular pathways that are implicated in glucocorticoid
      sensitivity of Th17 cells in the literature, as this information is useful for
      developing approaches to overcome glucocorticoid-resistant immunopathology.

PMID- 27646881
TI  - Comparison of sedation strategies for critically ill patients: a protocol for a
      systematic review incorporating network meta-analyses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sedatives and analgesics are administered to provide sedation and
      manage agitation and pain in most critically ill mechanically ventilated
      patients. Various sedation administration strategies including protocolized
      sedation and daily sedation interruption are used to mitigate drug
      pharmacokinetic limitations and minimize oversedation, thereby shortening the
      duration of mechanical ventilation. At present, it is unclear which strategy is
      most effective, as few have been directly compared. Our review will use network
      meta-analysis (NMA) to compare and rank sedation strategies to determine their
      efficacy and safety for mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS: We will search
      the following from 1980 to March 2016: Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO,
      and Web of Science. We will also search the Cochrane Library, gray literature,
      and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. We will use a validated
      randomized control trial search filter to identify studies evaluating any
      strategy to optimize sedation in mechanically ventilated adult patients. Authors
      will independently extract data from eligible studies in duplicate and complete
      the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Our outcomes of interest include duration of
      mechanical ventilation, time to first extubation, ICU and hospital length of
      stay, re-intubation, tracheostomy, mortality, total sedative and opioid exposure,
      health-related quality of life, and adverse events. To inform our NMA, we will
      first conduct conventional pair-wise meta-analyses using random-effects models.
      Where appropriate, we will perform Bayesian NMA using WinBUGS software.
      DISCUSSION: There are multiple strategies to optimize sedation for mechanically
      ventilated patients. Current ICU guidelines recommend protocolized sedation or
      daily sedation interruption. Our systematic review incorporating NMA will provide
      a unified analysis of all sedation strategies to determine the relative efficacy
      and safety of interventions that may not have been compared directly. We will
      provide knowledge users, decision makers, and professional societies with ranking
      of multiple sedation strategies to inform future sedation guidelines. SYSTEMATIC
      REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016037480.

PMID- 27646887
TI  - [Expression of ALK protein in 7 371 pulmonary adenocarcinoma samples, with
      analysis of clinicopathologic features].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of ALK protein in pulmonary adenocarcinoma as
      detected by Ventana immunohistochemistry, with correlation of clinicopathologic
      features. METHODS: Immunohistochemical study for ALK protein using Ventana ALK
      (D5F3) kit was carried in 7 371 pulmonary adenocarcinoma samples. The
      clinicopathologic features were subsequently analyzed. RESULTS: ALK fusion
      protein was detected in 446 of the 7 371 lung adenocarcinoma samples studied
      (6.05%). The ALK positivity rate in small biopsy samples was higher than that in
      surgical specimens [9.02% (153/1 696) versus 5.16% (293/5 675); P<0.01]. ALK
      fusion protein expression correlated with patient age, sample type and smoking
      history. ALK positivity rate in each age group increased with younger patient
      age. ALK positivity rate was 45.45% (10/22) in patients younger than 30 years
      old. The positivity rate of ALK fusion protein in adenocarcinoma in-situ,
      minimally invasive adenocarcinoma and invasive adenocarcinoma was 0, 0.48%
      (2/418) and 5.63% (291/5 165), respectively. The differences of ALK positivity
      rate amongst different subtypes had statistical significance (P<0.01). Invasive
      mucinous adenocarcinoma had highest ALK positivity rate, followed by invasive
      adenocarcinoma with predominantly solid pattern. CONCLUSIONS: ALK fusion protein
      is more often found in young patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma, especially
      in those younger than 30 years old. ALK fusion protein is rarely expressed in
      early-stage pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma and
      invasive adenocarcinoma with solid pattern have higher ALK positivity rate than
      other adenocarcinoma subtypes.

PMID- 27646888
TI  - [Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor mutation specific antibodies in
      lung adenocarcinoma: evaluation of sensitivity, specificity and relationship to
      histologic subtypes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      mutation specific antibodies in invasive lung adenocarcinomas, and their
      sensitivity, specificity, as well as relationship to histological subtypes.
      METHODS: Immunostaining with EGFR mutation-specific antibodies, del E746-A750 in
      exon 19 and L858R in exon 21, was performed in tissue microarrays of 884 cases of
      resection specimens to study the relationship between the immunophenotypes and
      morphologic subtypes. The sensitivity and specificity of the stains were compared
      with gene mutations detected by amplified refractory mutation system-polymerase
      chain reaction (ARMS-PCR). RESULTS: Of the 884 cases, the expression of del E746
      A750 in exon 19 was 3+ , 2+ , 1+ and 0 in 7 cases (0.79%), 38 cases (4.30%), 129
      cases (14.59%) and 710 cases (80.32%), respectively. For L858R in exon 21, 3+ ,
      2+ , 1+ and 0 staining were seen in 82 cases (9.28%), 93 cases (10.52%), 82 cases
      (9.28%) and 627 cases (70.93%), respectively. For both antibodies, positive
      expression (1+ or more) was mainly observed in lepidic, acinar and papillary
      predominant subtypes, and rarely seen in solid subtype or invasive mucinous
      adenocarcinoma (P=0.014 and 0.016). If 1+ to 3+ expression was set as positive,
      the specificity of exon 19/exon 21 reached 98.59%/92.98%, while the sensitivity
      was relatively lower (62.86%/88.89%). If 2+ to 3+ expression was read as
      positive, the specificity and sensitivity were 99.30%/97.37% and 25.71%/74.60%
      for exon 19/exon 21. If only 3+ expression was considered positive, the
      specificity was 100.0% for both antibodies, with a low sensitivity (8.57% for
      exon 19 and 34.92% for exon 21). Of the 18 cases with E746-A750 del in exon 19
      based on molecular detection, the sensitivity of immunohistochemistry for exon 19
      was 88.89% if a positive cutoff value >=1+ was used; in contrast, of the 8 cases
      harboring other deletions in exon 19, only two cases were positive as 1+ .
      CONCLUSIONS: Both the EGFR mutation specific antibodies del E746-A750 in exon 19
      and L858R in exon 21 demonstrate high specificity and relatively low sensitivity,
      and are mostly expressed in lepidic, acinar and papillary predominant subtypes,
      but rarely in solid subtype or invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma. For cases with
      3+ expression, a mutational statue for EGFR is likely. For the 2+ positive cases,
      the accuracy to predict mutation almost reaches 90%, but molecular detection for
      confirmation is desirable. For the 1+ and negative cases, DNA-based test is
      essential to avoid false negativity.

PMID- 27646889
TI  - [Clinicopathologic features and epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutation of
      primary pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinicopathological features and epidermal growth
      factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation of primary pulmonary mucoepidermoid
      carcinoma (PMC). METHODS: Fifth-five cases of PMC were included in the study;
      their clinicopathological, immunohistochemical features were evaluated, and in 31
      cases, paraffin embedded specimens were subjected to mutation analysis of exons
      18, 19, 20 and 21 of the EGFR gene by ARMS method. RESULTS: There were 32 females
      and 23 males. The patients' age ranged from 11 to 68 years(mean 36 years). The
      tumor size ranged from 0.7 to 5.5 cm(mean 2.4 cm). The tumors were located in the
      segmental bronchus and upper segmental bronchus. The tumors were well-demarcated,
      had no obvious capsules, and protruded into the bronchial lumen. Microscopically,
      there were three types of tumor cells including squamous cells, mucin-producing
      cells and intermediate cells. Fifty-three cases were low grade, two were high
      grade and both showed lymph node metastases. Immunohistochemically the tumor
      cells were uniformly negative for TTF1, Napsin A and ALK (Ventana D5F3) in all 55
      cases. The tumor cells were positive for CK7, and some squamous and intermediate
      cells were positive for p63 and CK5/6 in all 55 cases; whereas they were positive
      for p40 in 53 cases. The mucin-producing cells were negative for CK5/6, p63 and
      p40, but were positive for PAS in all 55 cases. The Ki-67 positive rate was <10%
      in the low grade PMC, and was about 80%-90% in the high grade cases. Follow-up
      information was available in 37 patients, with no recurrence or death. There were
      no EGFR gene mutations in all 31 patients of PMC. CONCLUSIONS: PMC is a rare
      malignant salivary gland-type tumor occurring mainly in the central trachea of
      young patients.Most PMCs are low grade with good prognosis. The rate of lymph
      node metastasis of high grade PMC is high. Diagnosing PMC in small biopsies could
      be problematic. The lack of TTF1 expression is helpful to differentiate from
      other primary lung cancers. There is no EGFR gene mutation in PMC.

PMID- 27646890
TI  - [Fetal adenocarcinoma of the lung: a clinicopathologic analysis of six cases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinicopathologic features, diagnosis and
      differential diagnosis, and genetic alterations of fetal adenocarcinoma of lung
      (FACL). METHODS: Six cases of FACL were collected from Fujian Provincial
      Hospital, the clinicopathologic features and immunophenotype were retrospectively
      evaluated, PAS/PASD staining and genetic mutation analysis of epidermal growth
      factor receptor (EGFR) were performed. RESULTS: There were three male and three
      female patients, aged 40 to 75 years (median 59 years). Tumor size ranged from
      2.5-6.0 cm (mean 3.8 cm). Histologically, the tumors showed classic glandular
      structure similar to fetal lung tubules. The neoplastic glands were lined by non
      ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium with clear or granular cytoplasm.
      Some cells showed subnuclear or supranuclear vacuoles. Squamoid morules were also
      noted. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for TTF1, Napsin A,
      CKL, and focally positive for CKH (2/6), synaptophysin (1/6), chromogranin A
      (1/6), CD56 (2/6), and EGFR (4/6). PAS/PASD staining was positive in the tumor
      cells. Five cases showed EGFR mutation, one case was of wild type. All six
      patients underwent surgical resection, and four had chemotherapy. All patients
      had no evidence of recurrence or metastasis during 1-40 months follow-up period.
      CONCLUSIONS: FACL is a rare tumor with low malignant potential and has distinct
      morphologic feature. Clinically and pathologically, it needs to be differentiated
      from alveolar adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, pneumoblastoma, and
      metastatic endometrioid adenocarcinoma. The primary treatment for FACL is
      complete surgical excision and chemotherapy, with good outcome.

PMID- 27646891
TI  - [Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: a clinicopathologic analysis of six
      cases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics, differential
      diagnosis and prognosis of pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendotheliomas (PEHs).
      METHODS: The clinical symptoms and imaging findings of 6 cases of PEHs were
      investigated and pathologic analyses including histomorphologic and
      immunohistochemical studies were performed. RESULTS: Clinical symptoms of the
      patients were nonspecific and insidious. The typical radiological manifestation
      was characterized by multiple small pulmonary nodules. The pathological findings
      were well-demarcated hypocellular hyalinized nodules with more cellularity at the
      periphery of the nodule. The neoplastic cells showed mild nuclear atypia and
      prominent eosinophilic cytoplasm with vacuoles, attempting to form primitive
      vasculature. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells were positive to CD31, CD34 and
      ERG. Follow-up data from 8 months to 5 years showed no tumor progression, except
      for the development of bone metastases in one case at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: PEHs
      are uncommon vascular tumors with low-intermediate malignancy. Using H&E and
      immunohistochemistry, the final pathological diagnosis can be made and
      misdiagnosed as a benign fibrotic nodule or other malignant tumors can be
      avoided. The most effective treatment is surgical resection, if necessary,
      combined with chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

PMID- 27646892
TI  - [Characterization of mutational pattern in patients with Ph negative
      myeloproliferative neoplasms].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the molecular profile in patients with Ph negative
      myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) by exploring 49 gene mutations. METHODS:
      Targeted gene sequencing were performed to analyze 49 MPN-associated genes in 51
      patients with Ph negative MPN, of which CARL (exon 9), NPM1 (exon 12) and CEBPA
      (TAD, BZIP domains) were investigated by using Sanger sequencing simultaneously,
      while FLT3-ITD was assessed by PCR method. RESULTS: Mutations were detected in
      73.5% (36/49) of genes, and the mutational rates of JAK2-V617F, CALR (exon 9) and
      MPL were 60.8%(31/51), 7.8%(4/51) and 7.8%(4/51) respectively, whereas the
      mutational rates of ASXL1, SETBP1, and SF3B1 were around 10%. In addition, 96.1%
      (49/51) of patients harbored at least one mutation, and more than half of the
      patients (52.9%, 27/51) possessed 3 or 4 gene mutations. The amount of gene
      mutations was significantly higher in patients with JAK2-V617F mutation than
      those without JAK2-V617F or CALR (exon 9) mutation (P<0.05). The last finding was
      that there was no statistically significant difference in the amount of mutations
      among four MPN subtypes (PV, ET, PMF, and MPN-U). CONCLUSION: Most patients with
      Ph negative MPN possesses three or more gene mutations, with various mutational
      profiles.

PMID- 27646893
TI  - [Significance of SATB2 in the pathologic diagnosis of osteosarcoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of SATB2 in the pathological diagnosis and
      differential diagnosis of osteosarcoma. METHODS: Immunostaining of SATB2 was
      performed in 47 cases of osteosarcomas, 5 osteoblastomas, 4 fibrous dysplasias, 5
      myositis ossificans, 10 chondroblastomas, 8 chondrosarcomas, 5 Ewing sarcomas, 5
      undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas, 6 fibrosarcomas and 2 leiomyosarcomas.
      RESULTS: All osteoblastomas (5/5) and myositis ossificans (5/5), 83.0%(39/47) of
      osteosarcomas and 2/10 of chondroblastomas showed nuclear immunoreactivity for
      SATB2. SATB2 staining was negative in all cases of fibrous dysplasia,
      chondrosarcomas, Ewing sarcomas and all bone primary spindle cell
      sarcomas(undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, fibrosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma).
      CONCLUSION: SATB2 is a reliable osteoblastic marker for differential diagnosis of
      osteosarcoma and non-osteoid sarcoma, although with a limited role in separating
      osteosarcoma from non-malignant osteoblastic lesions.

PMID- 27646895
TI  - [Expression of ALK with clinicopathologic features in lung cancer using biopsy
      specimens].

PMID- 27646894
TI  - [Clinicopathologic features of non-keratinizing carcinoma of nasal cavity and
      paranasal sinus].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinicopathologic features, immunophenotype, differential
      diagnosis and prognosis of non-keratinizing carcinoma of nasal cavity and
      paranasal sinus. METHODS: Four hundred and forty-one cases of squamous cell
      carcinoma of the nasal cavity and sinuses diagnosed in Beijing Tongren Hospital
      from January 2008 to August 2015 were included. Twenty-six cases of non
      keratinizing carcinomas were selected. The histopathologic features and the
      clinicopathologic data of these twenty-six cases were retrospectively analyzed.
      Immunohistochemistry (two-step EnVision method) was done to evaluate the
      expression of CK, vimentin, CK5/6, CK7, CK8/18, p16, p53, Ki-67 etc. In situ
      hybridization was used to detect Epstein-Barr virus mRNA(EBER), and flow-through
      hybridization was used to evaluate the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV).
      One of the cases which HPV is positive was detected by HPV in situ hybridization
      and RNAscope technology. RESULTS: The mean age for the twenty-six patients (16
      males, 10 females) was 51.2 years (range 22 to 79 years). Three patients had a
      history of inverted papilloma.Microscopically the tumors showed invasive
      papillary and inverted growth, and formed solid cell nests with different sizes.
      It was similar to papillary carcinoma of the urinary tract: the nuclei of the
      tumor were rounded and the nucleolus are clear. Three cases displayed transition
      between normal epithelium to neoplastic cells; in two cases (2/26), some tumor
      cells were spindle shaped. Twenty cases (20/20) were strongly positive for CK,
      p63; 17 cases (17/20) were strongly positive for CK5/6 and three cases (3/20)
      were focally positive. Sixteen cases were strongly positive for CK8/18 and three
      cases (3/20) were focally positive and one case was negative. Seven cases (7/20)
      were strongly positive for CK7 and 13 cases (13/20) were negative. Two cases
      (2/20) were focally positive for vimentin and eighteen (18/20) cases were
      negative. One case (1/20) was strongly positive for p16 and nineteen cases
      (19/20) were negative. Nineteen cases (19/20) were positive for p53 and one case
      (1/20) was negative. Ki-67 index was >50% in 11 cases. Twenty cases (20/20) were
      negative for AFP, NUT, S-100 protein, HMB45 and Melan A. One case was positive
      for HPV (6, 11, 16, 18), as detected by in situ hybridization. The HPV18 mRNA was
      detected by RNAscope technique. In situ hybridization were negative in all twenty
      cases. The mean follow-up time of the patients in this group was less than 5
      years, and the prognosis needs further observation. CONCLUSIONS: Non-keratinizing
      squamous cell carcinoma is a rare neoplasm with distinct morphological
      characteristics. Its diagnosis is primarily based on the site of lesions and the
      histological features.Immunohistochemistry staining can aid the diagnosis and
      differential diagnoses. The tumor may originate from the epithelium of nasal
      cavity and sinus. This disease has no relation with HPV and EBV infection, and
      the treatment is primarily surgical excision combined with postoperative
      radiotherapy.

PMID- 27646896
TI  - [Clinicopathologic analysis of tubulocystic oncocytoma of kidney].

PMID- 27646897
TI  - [Congenital mesoblastic nephroma: a clinicopathologic analysis of 17 cases].

PMID- 27646899
TI  - [Plumonary adenofibroma: report of a case].

PMID- 27646898
TI  - [Correlation between estrogen receptoralpha 36 and HER2 expression].

PMID- 27646900
TI  - [Atrial glomus tumor: report of a case].

PMID- 27646901
TI  - [Extranodal follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of nasopharynx: report of a case].

PMID- 27646902
TI  - [Lumbosacral lipoma with macrodactyly deformities: report of a case].

PMID- 27646903
TI  - [Glant peritoneal loose body: report of a case].

PMID- 27646904
TI  - [Interpretation on 2015 edition of WHO classification of heart tumor].

PMID- 27646905
TI  - [Development of PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in non-small cell lung cancer].

PMID- 27646906
TI  - [Pleural invasion in lung cancer: diagnosis and research progress].

PMID- 27646907
TI  - Production of carotenoids and lipids by Rhodococcus opacus PD630 in batch and fed
      batch culture.
AB  - Production of carotenoids by Rhodococcus opacus PD630 is reported. A modified
      mineral salt medium formulated with glycerol as an inexpensive carbon source was
      used for the fermentation. Ammonium acetate was the nitrogen source. A dry cell
      mass concentration of nearly 5.4 g/L could be produced in shake flasks with a
      carotenoid concentration of 0.54 mg/L. In batch culture in a 5 L bioreactor,
      without pH control, the maximum dry biomass concentration was ~30 % lower than in
      shake flasks and the carotenoids concentration was 0.09 mg/L. Both the biomass
      concentration and the carotenoids concentration could be raised using a fed-batch
      operation with a feed mixture of ammonium acetate and acetic acid. With this
      strategy, the final biomass concentration was 8.2 g/L and the carotenoids
      concentration was 0.20 mg/L in a 10-day fermentation. A control of pH proved to
      be unnecessary for maximizing the production of carotenoids in this fermentation.

PMID- 27646908
TI  - 2-Pyrrolidone synthesis from gamma-aminobutyric acid produced by Lactobacillus
      brevis under solid-state fermentation utilizing toxic deoiled cottonseed cake.
AB  - There is an increasing demand of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as drug and food
      additive, as well as feedstock to produce 2-pyrrolidone, a precursor for the
      synthesis of nylon 4. 2-Pyrrolidone is a petrochemical and depleting reserve
      which raises concern for its bio-based production. The study herein describes bio
      based economical GABA production from Lactobacillus brevis by solid-state
      fermentation (SSF) using toxic deoiled cottonseed cake (CSC) as substrate. In
      general, the use of cottonseed cake remains restricted due to the presence of
      toxic gossypols. Thus, simultaneous detoxification observed during fermentation
      also widens the scope of utilization of this residual seedcake for feed use vis-a
      vis production of other value added chemicals. The SSF conditions were optimized
      for maximum GABA production, viz., 19.7 mg/g, CSC of GABA was obtained at 6th day
      of fermentation with 70 % degradation of gossypols simultaneously. The potential
      of this bio-based GABA as a platform chemical is demonstrated in the synthesis of
      2-pyrrolidone. Thus, a simple and cost-effective strategy for utilizing toxic
      biomass has been developed as an alternate to chemical synthetic route.

PMID- 27646909
TI  - Fifty-Five Years of Pediatric Endocrinology and 50 Years of the Department of
      Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases in Slovenia.
AB  - Paediatric endocrinology started its independent development early in the general
      development of this specialty, with a strong focus on research and clinical
      excellence. Slovenian paediatric endocrinology was an integral part of the
      European paediatric endocrinology from its beginnings and a founding member of
      the first 'International Study Group for Diabetes in Children and Adolescents'.
      After the pioneering work of Prof. Lev Matajc, Prof. Ciril Krzisnik firmly
      integrated the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic
      Diseases at the University Children's Hospital in Ljubljana in the international
      scientific community. In the last decade, the department participates in cutting
      edge research and provides clinical services at highest international standards. 

PMID- 27646910
TI  - Clinical and Molecular Cytogenetic Characterisation of Children with
      Developmental Delay and Dysmorphic Features.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Developmental delay and dysmorphic features affect 1 - 3 % of
      paediatric population. In the last few years molecular cytogenetic high
      resolution techniques (comparative genomic hybridization arrays and single
      nucleotide polymorphism arrays) have been proven to be a first-tier choice for
      clinical diagnostics of developmental delay and dysmorphic features. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: In the present article we describe the clinical advantages of molecular
      cytogenetic approach (comparative genomic hybridization arrays and single
      nucleotide polymorphism arrays) in the diagnostic procedure of two children with
      developmental delay, dysmorphic features and additional morphological phenotypes.
      Additionally, we demonstrate the necessity of fluorescent in situ hybridization
      utilisation to identify the localisation and underlying mechanism of detected
      chromosomal rearrangement. CONCLUSIONS: Two types of chromosomal abnormalities
      were identified and confirmed using different molecular genetic approaches.
      Comparative genomic hybridization arrays and single nucleotide polymorphism
      arrays are hereby presented as important methods to identify chromosomal
      imbalances in patients with developmental delay and dysmorphic features. We
      emphasize the importance of molecular genetic testing in patients' parents for
      the demonstration of the origin and clinical importance of the aberrations prior
      determined in the patients. The results obtained using molecular cytogenetic high
      resolution techniques methods are the cornerstone for proper genetic counselling
      to the affected families.

PMID- 27646911
TI  - Association of Average Telomere Length with Body-Mass Index and Vitamin D Status
      in Juvenile Population with Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune chronic disease where
      hyperglycemia, increased risk of oxidative stress, advanced glycation end
      products and other genetic and environmental factors lead to T1D complications.
      Shorter telomeres are associated with hyperglycemic levels and lower serum
      vitamin D levels. METHODS: Average telomere length (ATL) in whole blood DNA
      samples was assessed with qPCR method in 53 Slovenian T1D children/adolescents
      (median age 8.7 years, 1:1.3 male/female ratio). Body mass index standard
      deviation score (BMI-SDS), glycated haemoglobin and serum level of vitamin D
      metabolite (25-(OH)-D3) and the age at the onset of T1D were collected from the
      available medical documentation. RESULTS: Results indicate shorter ATL in
      subjects with higher BMI-SDS when compared to those with longer ATL (0.455 +/-
      0.438, -0.63 +/- 0.295; p=0.049). Subjects with higher BMI-SDS had lower serum
      vitamin D levels when compared to those with lower BMI-SDS (40.66 +/- 3.07 vs.
      52.86 +/- 4.85 nmol/L; p=0.045). Vitamin D serum levels did not significantly
      differ between subjects with longer/shorter ATL. CONCLUSION: T1D
      children/adolescents with shorter ATL tend to have higher BMI-SDS. Lower serum
      vitamin D levels were associated with higher BMI-SDS, while associations between
      vitamin D serum levels, age at the onset of T1D, glycated haemoglobin and ATL
      were not observed. Additional studies with more participants are required to
      clarify the role of the telomere dynamics in T1D aetiology and development of
      complications.

PMID- 27646912
TI  - Support Group for Parents Coping with Children with Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in
      childhood. Active parental involvement, parental support in the diabetes
      management and family functioning are associated with optimal diabetes management
      and glycemic control. The purpose of this study was to assess parental
      satisfaction with participation in the group and their perceptions of the impact
      of the intervention on living and coping with childrens T1D. METHODS: A sample of
      34 parents of children with T1D participated in this trend study. The
      participants' experience and satisfaction with support group was measured by a
      self- evaluation questionnaire, designed for the purpose of the present study.
      RESULTS: Quantitative data show that parents were overall satisfied with almost
      all measured items of the evaluation questionnaire (wellbeing in the group,
      feeling secure, experiencing new things, being able to talk and feeling being
      heard) during the 4-year period. However, parents from the second and third
      season, on average, found that the support group has better fulfilled their
      expectations than the parents from the first season (p = 0,010). The qualitative
      analysis of the participants' responses to the open-ended questions was
      underpinned by four themes: support when confronting the diagnosis,
      transformation of the family dynamics, me as a parent, exchange of experience and
      good practice and facing the world outside the family. DISCUSSION: The presented
      parent support group showed to be a promising supportive, therapeutic and
      psychoeducative space where parents could strengthen their role in the upbringing
      of their child with T1D.

PMID- 27646913
TI  - Newborn Screening in Slovenia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Newborn screening in whole Slovenia started in 1979 with screening
      for phenylketonuria (PKU). Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) was added into the
      programme in 1981. The aim of this study was to analyse the data of neonatal
      screening in Slovenia from 1993 to 2012 for PKU, and from 1991 to 2012 for CH.
      METHODS: Blood samples were collected from the heels of newborns between the
      third and the fifth day after birth. Fluorometric method was used for screening
      for PKU, CH screening was done by dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluorescent
      immunoassay (DELFIA). RESULTS: From 1993 to 2012, from 385,831 newborns 57 were
      identified with PKU. 184 newborns out of 427,396 screened from 1991 to 2012, were
      confirmed for CH. Incidences of PKU and CH in the periods stated are 1:6769 and
      1:2323, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Successful implementation of newborn screening
      for PKU and CH has helped in preventing serious disabilities of the affected
      children. Adding screening for new metabolic diseases in the future would be
      beneficial.

PMID- 27646914
TI  - Comparison of a Web-Based Dietary Assessment Tool with Software for the
      Evaluation of Dietary Records.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dietary assessment in clinical practice is performed by means of
      computer support, either in the form of a web-based tool or software. The aim of
      the paper is to present the results of the comparison of a Slovenian web-based
      tool with German software for the evaluation of four-day weighted paper-and
      pencil-based dietary records (paper-DRs) in pregnant women. METHODS: A volunteer
      group of pregnant women (n=63) completed paper-DRs. These records were entered by
      an experienced research dietitian into a web-based application (Open Platform for
      Clinical Nutrition, OPEN, http://opkp.si/en, Ljubljana, Slovenia) and software
      application (Prodi 5.7 Expert plus, Nutri-Science, Stuttgart, Germany, 2011). The
      results for calculated energy intake, as well as 45 macro- and micronutrient
      intakes, were statistically compared by using the non-parametric Spearman's rank
      correlation coefficient. The cut-off for Spearman's rho was set at >0.600.
      RESULTS: 12 nutritional parameters (energy, carbohydrates, fat, protein, water,
      potassium, calcium, phosphorus, dietary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and stearic
      acid) were in high correlation (>0.800), 18 in moderate (0.600-0.799), 11 in weak
      correlation (0.400-0.599), while 5 (arachidonic acid, niacin, alpha-linolenic
      acid, fluoride, total sugars) did not show any statistical correlation.
      CONCLUSION: Comparison of the results of the evaluation of dietary records using
      a web-based dietary assessment tool with those using software shows that there is
      a high correlation for energy and macronutrient content.

PMID- 27646915
TI  - Cytogenetic and Molecular Genetic Characterization of Children with Short
      Stature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The deficiency of SHOX gene (short stature homeobox-containing gene)
      has been recognized as the most frequent monogenetic cause of short stature. SHOX
      gene has been associated with short stature in Turner syndrome and Leri Weill
      dyschondrosteosis as well with non-syndromic idiopathic short stature. The aim of
      this study was to determine the frequency of SHOX deletions and mutations in a
      cohort of Slovenian children with short stature, and to delineate indications for
      routine SHOX gene mutation screening. METHODS AND RESULTS: 40 selected subjects
      with idiopathic short stature were screened for entire SHOX gene deletion and for
      mutations in the SHOX gene coding region (exon 2 to 6), together with sequences
      flanking the exon-intron boundaries. FISH analysis on metaphase and interphase
      spreads revealed no entire gene deletion. Additionally, no pathogenic point
      mutations or smaller deletion/duplications were identified in this study group.
      CONCLUSIONS: SHOX gene deletions and point mutations are not a common cause of
      idiopathic short stature in a cohort of Slovenian children with short stature.
      Therefore, the frequency of SHOX mutations must be much lower as expected based
      on the reported data.

PMID- 27646916
TI  - Annual Psychological Screening in Youth and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - AIM: Youth and young adults with type 1 diabetes are at a great risk for
      developing depression and diabetes specific distress, therefore, systematic
      psychological screening is recommended. Routine psychological screening was
      implemented in Slovene diabetes clinic for children, adolescents and young adults
      in 2012. One-year results are presented. METHODS: Adolescents and young adults (N
      = 159, aged 11 - 25 years), attending the obligatory yearly educational
      outpatient visit at University Children's Hospital, Ljubljana, Slovenia, were
      examined using questionnaires measuring depression (depression scale from Slovene
      version of Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children) and diabetes distress (Diabetes
      Distress Screening Scale). Six additional items were included to assess the fear
      of hypoglycemia and family support. Socio-demographic and diabetes-related data
      were collected. Questionnaires were analyzed by a psychologist, and the patients
      that scored above cut-off point were invited to an individual psychological
      assessment. RESULTS: Of the sample, 1.3 % reached the threshold for elevated
      depressive symptoms, and 32.7 % reported significant diabetes distress. The need
      for psychological support from a specialist was expressed by 5.0 %. There were
      statistically significant associations between all psychological variables;
      moreover, better glycemic control was associated with lower diabetes distress and
      better family support. Nine patients (5.7 %) started with psychological treatment
      according to the referrals after screening. CONCLUSIONS: The results after one
      year of psychological screening in Slovene type 1 diabetes population displayed
      small rates of depression and a large proportion of diabetes distress. Only a
      small percentage of patients attended the offered individual psychological
      assessment.

PMID- 27646917
TI  - Clinical, Genetic and Immunological Characteristics of Paediatric Autoimmune
      Polyglandular Syndrome Type 1 Patients in Slovenia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS-1) is an autosomal
      recessive disorder, caused by mutations in the AIRE gene. The major components of
      APS-1 are chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), hypoparathyroidism (HP) and
      Addison's disease (AD). Clinical, genetic and immunological characteristics of
      Slovenian paediatric APS-1 patients were investigated. METHODS: Existing medical
      records of 15 APS-1 patients were rewieved, when necessary, additional clinical
      and laboratory investigations were issued. AIRE gene analysis was performed to
      identify causative mutations, and autoantibodies against type I interferons were
      measured by luminescence immunoprecipitation system. RESULTS: Patients had one to
      eight different manifestations of the disease. CMC was present in all, HP in
      12/15 (80 %) and AD in 8/15 (53 %) patients. Growth retardation, due to
      hyposomatotropism, growth hormone resistance, autoimmune thyroiditis,
      corticosteroid treatment, malabsorption or secretory failure of exocrine
      pancreas, was observed in altogether 7 (46 %) patients. Six different AIRE gene
      mutations were detected and p.R257X mutation was present in 63.3 % of
      pathological alleles. Antibodies against type I interferons were detected in all
      patients. CONCLUSION: APS-1 is a rare disorder with a broad spectrum of clinical
      manifestations, which, if unrecognized or inadequately treated may be fatal. AIRE
      gene mutational analysis and autoantibodies against type I interferons are
      important in early identification of the disease. The aetiology of growth
      retardation was shown to be extremely diverse, frequently caused by less
      characteristic manifestations. APS-1 may affect patients' quality of life in
      numerous ways, and may cause great psychosocial burden leading to depression and
      suicidal thoughts even in paediatric patients.

PMID- 27646919
TI  - Attachment to Caregivers and Type 1 Diabetes in Children.
AB  - Attachment is a behavioral and physiological system, which enables individual's
      dynamic adaptation to its environment. Attachment develops in close interaction
      between an infant and his/her mother, plays an important role in the development
      of the infant's brain, and influences the quality of interpersonal relationships
      throughout life. Security of attachment is believed to influence individual
      response to stress, exposing insecurely organized individuals to deregulated
      autonomic nervous system and exaggerated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity,
      which, in turn, produces increased and prolonged exposure to stress-hormones.
      Such stress responses may have considerable implications for the development of
      diverse health-risk conditions, such as insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia,
      shown by numerous studies. Although the mechanisms are not yet fully understood,
      there is compelling evidence highlighting the role of psychological stress in the
      development of type 1 diabetes (T1D). One of the possible contributing factors
      for the development of T1D may be the influence of attachment security on
      individual stress reactivity. Thus, the suggestion is that insecurely attached
      individuals are more prone to experience increased and prolonged influence of
      stress hormones and other mechanisms causing pancreatic beta-cell destruction.
      The present paper opens with a short overview of the field of attachment in
      children, the principal attachment classifications and their historic
      development, describes the influence of attachment security on individual stress
      reactivity and the role of the latter in the development of T1D. Following is a
      review of recent literature on the attachment in patients with T1D with a
      conclusion of a proposed role of attachment organization in the etiology of T1D. 

PMID- 27646918
TI  - Childhood Osteoporosis and Presentation of Two Cases with Osteogenesis Imperfecta
      Type V.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is etiologically heterogeneous
      disorder characterized by childhood osteoporosis. A subtype OI type V is caused
      by the same c.-14C>T mutation in the IFITM5 gene. Nevertheless, there is a marked
      interindividual phenotypic variability in clinical presentation; however,
      response to bisphosphonates is reported to be good. METHODS: Two individuals with
      OI type V had multiple recurrent fractures with hypertrophic calluses, scoliosis
      and ossifications of the forearm interosseous membranes. Sequencing of IFITM5,
      genotyping of variants rs2297480 in farnesyl diphosphate synthase gene (FDPS),
      and rs3840452 in geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase 1 gene (GGPS1), both
      involved in bisphosphonate metabolism, was performed. RESULTS: In patient 1 BMD
      reached normal values during bisphosphonate treatment and remained normal four
      years after the treatment discontinuation. In patient 2 no increase in BMD after
      five years of bisphosphonate treatment was observed and callus formation
      continued. The c.-14C>T IFITM5 mutation in heterozygous state was detected in
      both individuals. Additionally, both patients carried FDPS variant rs2297480 in
      homozygous state, and were heterozygous for GGPS 1 variant rs3840452.
      CONCLUSIONS: The paper presents a short overview of childhood osteoporosis with a
      special emphasis on OI type V by presenting two cases. Both OI type V patients
      had identical disease-causing mutation, but marked interindividual phenotypic
      variability. The striking failure in response to bisphosphonate treatment in one
      of the patients could not be explained by the variants in genes involved in
      bisphosphonate metabolism.

PMID- 27646920
TI  - Endocrine and Metabolic Effects of Adipose Tissue in Children and Adolescents.
AB  - Adipose tissue is implicated in many endocrine and metabolic processes. Leptin
      was among the first identified adipose-secreted factors, which act in an auto-,
      para- and endocrine manner. Since leptin, many other adipose tissue factors were
      determined, some primarily secreted from the adipocytes, some from other cells of
      the adipose tissue. So-called adipokines are not only involved in obesity and its
      complications, as are insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and other components of
      the metabolic syndrome, but also in growth, reproduction, bone metabolism, immune
      response, cancer development and many other important biological processes.
      Research in the field of adipokines has revealed new insights into the
      physiological and pathophysiologal processes and opened new therapeutic
      possibilities. In the present article, a special emphasis is devoted to research
      in children and adolescents. 

PMID- 27646922
TI  - Activation of apoptosis signalling pathways by reactive oxygen species.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are short-lived and highly reactive molecules. The
      generation of ROS in cells exists in equilibrium with a variety of antioxidant
      defences. At low to modest doses, ROS are considered to be essential for
      regulation of normal physiological functions involved in development such as cell
      cycle progression and proliferation, differentiation, migration and cell death.
      ROS also play an important role in the immune system, maintenance of the redox
      balance and have been implicated in activation of various cellular signalling
      pathways. Excess cellular levels of ROS cause damage to proteins, nucleic acids,
      lipids, membranes and organelles, which can lead to activation of cell death
      processes such as apoptosis. Apoptosis is a highly regulated process that is
      essential for the development and survival of multicellular organisms. These
      organisms often need to discard cells that are superfluous or potentially
      harmful, having accumulated mutations or become infected by pathogens. Apoptosis
      features a characteristic set of morphological and biochemical features whereby
      cells undergo a cascade of self-destruction. Thus, proper regulation of apoptosis
      is essential for maintaining normal cellular homeostasis. ROS play a central role
      in cell signalling as well as in regulation of the main pathways of apoptosis
      mediated by mitochondria, death receptors and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).
      This review focuses on current understanding of the role of ROS in each of these
      three main pathways of apoptosis. The role of ROS in the complex interplay and
      crosstalk between these different signalling pathways remains to be further
      unravelled during the coming years.

PMID- 27646923
TI  - Corrigendum to "Triboelectrification: A review of experimental and mechanistic
      modeling approaches with a special focus on pharmaceutical powders" [Int. J.
      Pharm. 510 (2016) 375-385].

PMID- 27646921
TI  - Type 1 Diabetes in the Young: Organization of Two National Centers in Israel and
      Slovenia.
AB  - Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects mainly young people.
      In the last 50 years, a steady increase of the T1D incidence in the young is
      reported worldwide, with an average 4 % increase annually. In addition, the mean
      age at the diagnosis is decreasing. Studies show that good metabolic control is
      important not only for delaying the chronic complications of diabetes but also
      for improving the quality of life of patients and their families. Continuous
      education, together with modern technology, is crucial in achieving these goals.
      Longitudinal data on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), along with the data on severe
      hypoglycemia and severe diabetic ketoacidosis, can describe the quality of care
      in a defined population. Two national reference diabetes centres taking care of
      children, adolescents and young adults with diabetes in Israel and Slovenia are
      described. 

PMID- 27646924
TI  - Low-angled peripheral intravenous catheter tip placement decreases phlebitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) are frequently removed due
      to phlebitis. We hypothesized that catheters made of polyurethane, which is more
      flexible than Teflon, would decrease phlebitis, and that flexibility could be
      estimated by measuring the catheter-tip angle. Ultrasonography in two groups of
      patients with different catheter types was then used to compare catheter-tip
      angles and phlebitis. METHODS: Observational studies were carried out at a
      medical ward in a university hospital. Infusion therapy was administered to one
      group of patients in 2014 using Teflon catheters (control group, n = 200), and to
      another group of patients in 2015 using polyurethane catheters (investigational
      group, n = 207). The symptoms were assessed according to a scale developed by the
      Infusion Nurses Society. Long-axis ultrasonography images taken immediately
      before catheter removal were used to measure the angle between the central line
      of the catheter within 2 mm from the distal point and a tangent to the vessel
      wall. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups with
      respect to sex, age, and medical diagnosis. In the control and investigational
      groups, the rates of phlebitis were 37% (73/200) and 17% (36/207), respectively
      (p<0.001). The median angles of the catheter tip were 7.8 degrees  and 4.1
      degrees , respectively (p<0.001). Phlebitis occurred more frequently when the
      catheter-tip was placed at angle >5.8 degrees . DISCUSSION: The frequency of
      phlebitis was lower in the polyurethane, in which the catheter was placed at
      lower angle, almost parallel to the vessel. Our results will aid in developing
      new catheters and in improving PIVC-securement techniques.

PMID- 27646925
TI  - Arterial stiffness and arteriovenous fistula failure of maturation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Increased arterial stiffness is a common finding in patients with end
      stage renal disease. Following creation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF),
      appropriate dilation of the feeding artery must occur to facilitate AVF
      maturation. Arterial stiffness may impair the arterial dilation required to
      facilitate AVF development and contribute to subsequent failure to mature (FTM).
      The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the association between
      measurements of central and peripheral arterial stiffness, and AVF FTM. METHODS:
      Patients undergoing AVF creation in a single centre (Belfast City Hospital, UK)
      between January and December 2015 were invited to have their carotid-femoral
      pulse wave velocity (PWV), brachial-radial PWV and augmentation index (AI)
      measured prior to AVF creation. Subsequent AVF outcomes were identified. RESULTS:
      Fifty-nine patients who had an AVF procedure were included in the final analysis
      (mean age 62 years); 50.8% had diabetes mellitus. The mean pre-operative arterial
      diameter for all AVFs was 3.9 mm. Average values for carotid-femoral PWV were 9.5
      m/s, brachial-radial PWV 7.7 m/s and AI 25.6%. Using logistic regression, these
      arterial stiffness parameters did not predict AVF FTM: carotid-femoral PWV (P =
      0.20), brachial-radial PWV (P = 0.13), AI (P = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: This is the
      largest study to date exploring the association between arterial stiffness and
      AVF FTM. The measured central and peripheral arterial stiffness parameters were
      not associated with AVF FTM. Further research is needed to define if non-invasive
      arterial physiological measurements would be clinically useful in the prediction
      of AVF FTM.

PMID- 27646926
TI  - Impact of the shape of the needle tip on the efficacy of flushing implantable
      port chambers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To follow international guidelines and protect healthcare workers
      from needle stick injuries, manufacturers now provide safety non-coring needles.
      METHODS: Numerical simulations show the potential efficacy of infusion and
      flushing flow in straight and curved side wall port chambers from a beveled non
      coring needle (BNCN) or a bevel-free cannula (BFC). RESULTS: In straight and
      curved side wall port chambers, the stream of flow with a BNCN is determined by
      the direction of the bevel, whereas the outlet stream from a BFC leads to a
      cylindrical symmetric flow. This, along with the position of the BFC impacts the
      wall shear rate of the port chamber, and the hydraulic resistance within the
      chamber. DISCUSSION: This last factor has never been the subject of extensive
      hydrodynamic study. Caregiver safety and patient comfort are paramount but
      physics show that the shape of the needle tip affects the hydrodynamics of the
      injected flow. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a bevel at the needle tip is a key
      factor for ensuring efficient flushing of the port. The absence of a bevel may
      increase hydraulic resistance and deposits in the port chamber. Implantable port
      flushing protocols must take this notion into account if the patency of port
      chambers is to be maintained. The clinical impact of this study has yet to be
      determined.

PMID- 27646927
TI  - Surveillance for hemodialysis access stenosis: usefulness of ultrasound vector
      volume flow.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate if ultrasound vector-flow imaging (VFI) is equal to the
      reference method ultrasound dilution technique (UDT) in estimating volume flow
      and changes over time in arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) for hemodialysis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2014 to January 2015, patients with end-stage
      renal disease and matured functional AVFs were consecutively solicited to
      participate in this prospective study. All patients were included after written
      informed consent and approval by the National Committee on Biomedical Research
      Ethics and the local Ethics Committee (journal no. H-4-2014-FSP). VFI and UDT
      measurements were performed monthly over a six-month period. Nineteen patients
      were included in the study. VFI measurements were performed before dialysis, and
      UDT measurements after. Statistical analyses were performed with Bland-Altman
      plot, Student's t-test, four-quadrant plot, and regression analysis. Repeated
      measurements and precision analysis were used for reproducibility determination.
      RESULTS: Precision measurements for UDT and VFI were 32% and 20%, respectively (p
      = 0.33). Average volume flow measured with UDT and VFI were 1161 mL/min (+/-778
      mL/min) and 1213 mL/min (+/-980 mL/(min), respectively (p = 0.3). The mean
      difference was -51 mL/min (CI: -150 mL/min to 46 mL/min) with limits of agreement
      from -35% to 54%, with a strong correlation (r2 = 0.87). A large change in volume
      flow between dialysis sessions detected by UDT was confirmed by VFI (p = 0.0001),
      but the concordance rate was poor (0.72). CONCLUSIONS: VFI is an acceptable
      method for volume flow estimation and volume flow changes over time in AVFs.

PMID- 27646928
TI  - Intradialytic ultrafiltration volume and vascular access outcomes: a Japan
      Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study subanalysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The relationship between intradialytic ultrafiltration volume and
      vascular access (VA) patency remains unclear. Using data from the Japan Dialysis
      Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study, we analyzed whether large-volume
      ultrafiltration was associated with VA failure in hemodialysis patients. METHODS:
      We included 2736 patients for whom it was possible to evaluate VA patency and
      bodyweight change during dialysis. Patients were divided into three groups
      according to the tertile of intradialytic ultrafiltration by bodyweight: low, 
      9.5%-3.8%; middle, 3.8%-5.1%; and high, 5.1%-13.7%. Primary VA patency was
      defined as the time to first VA intervention, and secondary patency as the time
      to creation of a new VA. Hazard ratios for VA failure were compared across groups
      by using Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, diabetes,
      hemoglobin and phosphorus levels, Kt/V, and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent and
      antiplatelet use. RESULTS: For the low, middle, and high groups, the incidences
      of primary and secondary VA patency were 4.7, 5.6, and 6.7 events/100 person
      years and 1.3, 1.6, and 1.7 events/100 person-years, respectively. Adjusted
      hazard ratios for primary VA patency in the middle and high groups versus the low
      group were 1.16 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88-1.52) and 1.41 (95% CI, 1.07
      1.87), respectively; those for secondary VA patency were 1.29 (95% CI, 0.78-2.13)
      and 1.45 (95% CI, 0.86-2.45), respectively. DISCUSSION: Large-volume
      ultrafiltration during dialysis tended to increase VA failure in hemodialysis
      patients. We thus recommend smaller ultrafiltration volumes during hemodialysis
      to secure VA safely.

PMID- 27646929
TI  - Pediatric patients undergoing arteriovenous fistula surgery without
      intraoperative heparin.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation in children could be extremely
      challenging for vascular surgeons due to small vessels with a high tendency of
      vasospasm. This could be one reason for primary failures (PF) and early access
      thrombosis. There exists no guideline for the need of intraoperative heparin
      administration during hemodialysis fistula creation. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the effect of intra-operative heparin administration on immediate
      outcome. METHODS: Medical records of 42 pediatric patients aged between 7 and 17
      years were retrospectively reviewed. All received an AVF under inpatient
      conditions by exclusively one vascular surgeon with many years of professional
      experience. The intraoperative anticoagulation standards changed by the years
      2001 based on the decision of the vascular surgeon. Therefore, we build two
      groups (group 1: 14 patients with 5000 IU of intravenous heparin during surgery
      and group 2: 28 patients without heparin). Major complications included hematoma
      or bleeding leading to surgery. PF was defined as the inability to use the AVF
      even once due to absent maturation or occlusion within 4 weeks after creation.
      RESULTS: We found 6 (14%) PF with the need of immediate surgical access revision
      (three from group 1 and three from group 2; p = 0.350). There were no bleedings
      leading to surgery in all cases, but 5 (12%) hematomas without the need of
      surgical revision (three from group 1 and two from group 2; p = 0.736).
      CONCLUSIONS: We found no benefit of heparin administration during clamping the
      arteries while performing the arteriovenous fistula in pediatric patients.

PMID- 27646931
TI  - Giant Excitonic Exchange Splittings at Zero Field in Single Colloidal CdSe
      Quantum Dots Doped with Individual Mn2+ Impurities.
AB  - Replacing a single atom of a host semiconductor nanocrystal with a functional
      dopant can introduce completely new properties potentially valuable for
      "solotronic" information-processing applications. Here, we report successful
      doping of colloidal CdSe quantum dots with a very small number of manganese ions
      down to the ultimate limit of one. Single-particle spectroscopy reveals spectral
      fingerprints of the spin-spin interactions between individual dopants and quantum
      dot excitons. Spectrally well-resolved emission peaks are observed that can be
      related to the discrete spin projections of individual Mn2+ ions. In agreement
      with theoretical predictions, the exchange splittings are enhanced by more than
      an order of magnitude in these quantum dots compared to their epitaxial
      counterparts, opening a path for solotronic applications at elevated
      temperatures.

PMID- 27646933
TI  - Current and upcoming pharmacotherapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - Given the high prevalence and rising incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver
      disease (NAFLD), the absence of approved therapies is striking. Although the
      mainstay of treatment of NAFLD is weight loss, it is hard to maintain, prompting
      the need for pharmacotherapy as well. A greater understanding of disease
      pathogenesis in recent years was followed by development of new classes of
      medications, as well as potential repurposing of currently available agents.
      NAFLD therapies target four main pathways. The dominant approach is targeting
      hepatic fat accumulation and the resultant metabolic stress. Medications in this
      group include peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor agonists (eg,
      pioglitazone, elafibranor, saroglitazar), medications targeting the bile acid
      farnesoid X receptor axis (obeticholic acid), inhibitors of de novo lipogenesis
      (aramchol, NDI-010976), incretins (liraglutide) and fibroblast growth factor
      (FGF)-21 or FGF-19 analogues. A second approach is targeting the oxidative
      stress, inflammation and injury that follow the metabolic stress. Medications
      from this group include antioxidants (vitamin E), medications with a target in
      the tumour necrosis factor alpha pathway (emricasan, pentoxifylline) and immune
      modulators (amlexanox, cenicriviroc). A third group has a target in the gut,
      including antiobesity agents such as orlistat or gut microbiome modulators (IMM
      124e, faecal microbial transplant, solithromycin). Finally, as the ongoing injury
      leads to fibrosis, the harbinger of liver-related morbidity and mortality,
      antifibrotics (simtuzumab and GR-MD-02) will be an important element of therapy.
      It is very likely that in the next few years several medications will be
      available to clinicians treating patients with NAFLD across the entire spectrum
      of disease.

PMID- 27646937
TI  - Effects of different doses of remifentanil on hemodynamic response to anesthesia
      induction in healthy elderly patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects of three different doses of remifentanil
      infusion, which were performed for the induction of anesthesia in elder patients,
      on cardiovascular response. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The present study was
      designed as a randomized, prospective and double-blind study. A total of 90 ASA I
      II patients over the age of 65 years were enrolled. The patients were randomly
      (by lot) assigned to receive one of the three doses of remifentanil infusion
      (0.1, 0.2 or 0.3 MUg/kg/min) for two minutes. Subsequently, 0.5 mg/kg propofol
      was administered via IV route and 0.5 mg/kg rocuronium was administered via IV
      route at the time eyelash reflex disappeared. Intubation was performed after 2
      minutes. Patients who had an allergy against opioids, were chronic substance
      users, were obese, expected to have difficult airway, had hypertension, or were
      receiving any drug influencing the cardiovascular system were excluded. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: In this study after recording baseline values of heart rate
      (HR), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and
      mean arterial pressure (MAP), these values were recorded at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
      4th and 5th minutes of induction. RESULTS: A significant increase was observed in
      heart rate at the 1st and 2nd minutes of induction versus baseline in the Remi
      0.1 group and at the 2nd minute of induction versus baseline in the Remi 0.2
      group, with no additional significant change in heart rate. A significant
      decrease was determined in the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures in
      all groups from the 1st minute of induction of anesthesia to the pre-intubation
      period compared to baseline (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: It was determined that each
      dose of remifentanil used was quite high for patients of this age-group.
      ClinicalTrials.gov trial number: NCT02763098.

PMID- 27646940
TI  - How to Select Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy or Primary Debulking Surgery in Patients
      With Stage IIIC or IV Ovarian Carcinoma.

PMID- 27646934
TI  - Dynamic landscape of pancreatic carcinogenesis reveals early molecular networks
      of malignancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The initial steps of pancreatic regeneration versus carcinogenesis are
      insufficiently understood. Although a combination of oncogenic Kras and
      inflammation has been shown to induce malignancy, molecular networks of early
      carcinogenesis remain poorly defined. DESIGN: We compared early events during
      inflammation, regeneration and carcinogenesis on histological and transcriptional
      levels with a high temporal resolution using a well-established mouse model of
      pancreatitis and of inflammation-accelerated KrasG12D-driven pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma. Quantitative expression data were analysed and extensively
      modelled in silico. RESULTS: We defined three distinctive phases-termed
      inflammation, regeneration and refinement-following induction of moderate acute
      pancreatitis in wild-type mice. These corresponded to different waves of
      proliferation of mesenchymal, progenitor-like and acinar cells. Pancreas
      regeneration required a coordinated transition of proliferation between
      progenitor-like and acinar cells. In mice harbouring an oncogenic Kras mutation
      and challenged with pancreatitis, there was an extended inflammatory phase and a
      parallel, continuous proliferation of mesenchymal, progenitor-like and acinar
      cells. Analysis of high-resolution transcriptional data from wild-type animals
      revealed that organ regeneration relied on a complex interaction of a gene
      network that normally governs acinar cell homeostasis, exocrine specification and
      intercellular signalling. In mice with oncogenic Kras, a specific carcinogenic
      signature was found, which was preserved in full-blown mouse pancreas cancer.
      CONCLUSIONS: These data define a transcriptional signature of early pancreatic
      carcinogenesis and a molecular network driving formation of preneoplastic
      lesions, which allows for more targeted biomarker development in order to detect
      cancer earlier in patients with pancreatitis.

PMID- 27646941
TI  - The Day Two Talk: Early Integration of Palliative Care Principles in Pediatric
      Oncology.

PMID- 27646944
TI  - Is Participation in Cancer Phase I Trials Really Therapeutic?

PMID- 27646942
TI  - Pneumonitis in Patients Treated With Anti-Programmed Death-1/Programmed Death
      Ligand 1 Therapy.
AB  - Purpose Pneumonitis is an uncommon but potentially fatal toxicity of anti
      programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibodies
      (mAbs). Clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features are poorly described.
      Methods Patients who received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy or in combination with
      anti-cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte-4 mAb were identified at two institutions
      (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: advanced solid cancers, 2009 to 2014,
      and Melanoma Institute of Australia: melanomas only, 2013 to 2015). Pneumonitis
      was diagnosed by the treating investigator; cases with confirmed malignant lung
      infiltration or infection were excluded. Clinical, radiologic, and pathologic
      features of pneumonitis were collected. Associations among pneumonitis incidence,
      therapy received, and underlying malignancy were examined with Fisher's exact
      test as were associations between pneumonitis features and outcomes. Results Of
      915 patients who received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mAbs, pneumonitis developed in 43 (5%;
      95% CI, 3% to 6%; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 27 of 578 [5%];
      Melanoma Institute of Australia, 16 of 337 [5%]). Time to onset of pneumonitis
      ranged from 9 days to 19.2 months. The incidence of pneumonitis was higher with
      combination immunotherapy versus monotherapy (19 of 199 [10%] v 24 of 716 [3%]; P
      < .01). Incidence was similar in patients with melanoma and non-small-cell lung
      cancer (overall, 26 of 532 [5%] v nine of 209 [4%]; monotherapy, 15 of 417 v five
      of 152 [ P = 1.0]; combination, 11 of 115 v four of 57 [ P = .78]). Seventy-two
      percent (31 of 43) of cases were grade 1 to 2, and 86% (37 of 43)
      improved/resolved with drug holding/immunosuppression. Five patients worsened
      clinically and died during the course of pneumonitis treatment; proximal cause of
      death was pneumonitis (n = 1), infection related to immunosuppression (n = 3), or
      progressive cancer (n = 1). Radiologic and pathologic features of pneumonitis
      were diverse. Conclusion Pneumonitis associated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mAbs is a
      toxicity of variable onset and clinical, radiologic, and pathologic appearances.
      It is more common when anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mAbs are combined with anti-cytotoxic T
      cell lymphocyte-4 mAb. Most events are low grade and improve/resolve with drug
      holding/immunosuppression. Rarely, pneumonitis worsens despite immunosuppression,
      and may result in infection and/or death.

PMID- 27646943
TI  - Genetic Determinants of Cisplatin Resistance in Patients With Advanced Germ Cell
      Tumors.
AB  - Purpose Owing to its exquisite chemotherapy sensitivity, most patients with
      metastatic germ cell tumors (GCTs) are cured with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
      However, up to 30% of patients with advanced GCT exhibit cisplatin resistance,
      which requires intensive salvage treatment, and have a 50% risk of cancer-related
      death. To identify a genetic basis for cisplatin resistance, we performed whole
      exome and targeted sequencing of cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant
      GCTs. Methods Men with GCT who received a cisplatin-containing chemotherapy
      regimen and had available tumor tissue were eligible to participate in this
      study. Whole-exome sequencing or targeted exon-capture-based sequencing was
      performed on 180 tumors. Patients were categorized as cisplatin sensitive or
      cisplatin resistant by using a combination of postchemotherapy parameters,
      including serum tumor marker levels, radiology, and pathology at surgical
      resection of residual disease. Results TP53 alterations were present exclusively
      in cisplatin-resistant tumors and were particularly prevalent among primary
      mediastinal nonseminomas (72%). TP53 pathway alterations including MDM2
      amplifications were more common among patients with adverse clinical features,
      categorized as poor risk according to the International Germ Cell Cancer
      Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) model. Despite this association, TP53 and MDM2
      alterations predicted adverse prognosis independent of the IGCCCG model.
      Actionable alterations, including novel RAC1 mutations, were detected in 55% of
      cisplatin-resistant GCTs. Conclusion In GCT, TP53 and MDM2 alterations were
      associated with cisplatin resistance and inferior outcomes, independent of the
      IGCCCG model. The finding of frequent TP53 alterations among mediastinal primary
      nonseminomas may explain the more frequent chemoresistance observed with this
      tumor subtype. A substantial portion of cisplatin-resistant GCTs harbor
      actionable alterations, which might respond to targeted therapies. Genomic
      profiling of patients with advanced GCT could improve current risk stratification
      and identify novel therapeutic approaches for patients with cisplatin-resistant
      disease.

PMID- 27646945
TI  - Risk of Neutropenia-Related Hospitalization in Patients Who Received Colony
      Stimulating Factors With Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.
AB  - Purpose To describe outcomes after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)
      prophylaxis in patients with breast cancer who received chemotherapy regimens
      with low-to-intermediate risk of induction of neutropenia-related
      hospitalization. Patients and Methods We identified 8,745 patients age >= 18
      years from a medical and pharmacy claims database for 14 commercial US health
      plans. This retrospective analysis included patients with breast cancer who began
      first-cycle chemotherapy from 2008 to 2013 using docetaxel and cyclophosphamide
      (TC); docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab (TCH); or doxorubicin and
      cyclophosphamide (conventional-dose AC) regimens. Primary prophylaxis (PP) was
      defined as G-CSF administration within 5 days of beginning chemotherapy. Outcome
      was neutropenia, fever, or infection-related hospitalization within 21 days of
      initiating chemotherapy. Multivariable regressions and number-needed-to-treat
      analyses were used. Results A total of 4,815 patients received TC (2,849 PP;
      1,966 no PP); 2,292 patients received TCH (1,444 PP; 848 no PP); and 1,638
      patients received AC (857 PP; 781 no PP) regimen. PP was associated with reduced
      risk of neutropenia-related hospitalization for TC (2.0% PP; 7.1% no PP; adjusted
      odds ratio [AOR], 0.29; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.39) and TCH (1.3% PP; 7.1% no PP; AOR,
      0.19; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.30), but not AC (4.7% PP; 3.8% no PP; AOR, 1.21; 95% CI,
      0.75 to 1.93) regimens. For the TC regimen, 20 patients (95% CI, 16 to 26) would
      have to be treated for 21 days to avoid one neutropenia-related hospitalization;
      with the TCH regimen, 18 patients (95% CI, 13 to 25) would have to be treated.
      Conclusion Primary G-CSF prophylaxis was associated with low-to-modest benefit in
      lowering neutropenia-related hospitalization in patients with breast cancer who
      received TC and TCH regimens. Further evaluation is needed to better understand
      which patients benefit most from G-CSF prophylaxis in this setting.

PMID- 27646947
TI  - Postmastectomy Radiotherapy: An American Society of Clinical Oncology, American
      Society for Radiation Oncology, and Society of Surgical Oncology Focused
      Guideline Update.
AB  - Purpose A joint American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society for
      Radiation Oncology, and Society of Surgical Oncology panel convened to develop a
      focused update of the American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline concerning
      use of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT). Methods A recent systematic literature
      review by Cancer Care Ontario provided the primary evidentiary basis. The joint
      panel also reviewed targeted literature searches to identify new, potentially
      practice-changing data. Recommendations The panel unanimously agreed that
      available evidence shows that PMRT reduces the risks of locoregional failure
      (LRF), any recurrence, and breast cancer mortality for patients with T1-2 breast
      cancer with one to three positive axillary nodes. However, some subsets of these
      patients are likely to have such a low risk of LRF that the absolute benefit of
      PMRT is outweighed by its potential toxicities. In addition, the acceptable ratio
      of benefit to toxicity varies among patients and physicians. Thus, the decision
      to recommend PMRT requires a great deal of clinical judgment. The panel agreed
      clinicians making such recommendations for individual patients should consider
      factors that may decrease the risk of LRF, attenuate the benefit of reduced
      breast cancer-specific mortality, and/or increase risk of complications resulting
      from PMRT. When clinicians and patients elect to omit axillary dissection after a
      positive sentinel node biopsy, the panel recommends that these patients receive
      PMRT only if there is already sufficient information to justify its use without
      needing to know additional axillary nodes are involved. Patients with axillary
      nodal involvement after neoadjuvant systemic therapy should receive PMRT. The
      panel recommends treatment generally be administered to both the internal mammary
      nodes and the supraclavicular-axillary apical nodes in addition to the chest wall
      or reconstructed breast.

PMID- 27646946
TI  - Antitumor Activity of Pembrolizumab in Biomarker-Unselected Patients With
      Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Results From
      the Phase Ib KEYNOTE-012 Expansion Cohort.
AB  - Purpose Treatment with pembrolizumab, an anti-programmed death-1 antibody, at 10
      mg/kg administered once every 2 weeks, displayed durable antitumor activity in
      programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) -positive recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M)
      head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in the KEYNOTE-012 trial. Results
      from the expansion cohort, in which patients with HNSCC, irrespective of
      biomarker status, received a fixed dose of pembrolizumab at a less frequent
      dosing schedule, are reported. Patients and Methods Patients with R/M HNSCC,
      irrespective of PD-L1 or human papillomavirus status, received pembrolizumab 200
      mg intravenously once every 3 weeks. Imaging was performed every 8 weeks. Primary
      end points were overall response rate (ORR) per central imaging vendor (Response
      Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v1.1) and safety. Secondary end points
      included progression-free survival, overall survival, and association of response
      and PD-L1 expression. Patients who received one or more doses of pembrolizumab
      were included in analyses. Results Of 132 patients enrolled, median age was 60
      years (range, 25 to 84 years), 83% were male, and 57% received two or more lines
      of therapy for R/M disease. ORR was 18% (95% CI, 12 to 26) by central imaging
      vendor and 20% (95% CI, 13 to 28) by investigator review. Median duration of
      response was not reached (range, >= 2 to >= 11 months). Six-month progression
      free survival and overall survival rates were 23% and 59%, respectively. By using
      tumor and immune cells, a statistically significant increase in ORR was observed
      for PD-L1-positive versus -negative patients (22% v 4%; P = .021). Treatment
      related adverse events of any grade and grade >= 3 events occurred in 62% and 9%
      of patients, respectively. Conclusion Fixed-dose pembrolizumab 200 mg
      administered once every 3 weeks was well tolerated and yielded a clinically
      meaningful ORR with evidence of durable responses, which supports further
      development of this regimen in patients with advanced HNSCC.

PMID- 27646948
TI  - Statins Are Associated With Reduced Mortality in Multiple Myeloma.
AB  - Purpose The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins)
      have activity in one of the pathways influenced by nitrogen-containing
      bisphosphonates, which are associated with improved survival in multiple myeloma
      (MM). To understand the benefit of statins in MM, we evaluated the association
      between statin use and mortality in a large cohort of patients with MM. Patients
      and Methods From the Veterans Administration Central Cancer Registry, we
      identified patients diagnosed with MM between 1999 and 2013. We defined statin
      use as the presence of any prescription for a statin within 3 months before or
      any time after MM diagnosis. Cox proportional hazards regression assessed the
      association of statin use with mortality, while controlling for known MM
      prognostic factors. Results We identified a cohort of 4,957 patients, of whom
      2,294 received statin therapy. Statin use was associated with a 21% decrease in
      all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.86; P < .001)
      as well as a 24% decrease in MM-specific mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.76;
      95% CI, 0.67 to 0.86; P < .001). This association remained significant across all
      sensitivity analyses. In addition to reductions in mortality, statin use was
      associated with a 31% decreased risk of developing a skeletal-related event.
      Conclusion In this cohort study of US veterans with MM, statin therapy was
      associated with a reduced risk of both all-cause and MM-specific mortality. Our
      findings suggest a potential role for statin therapy in patients with MM. The
      putative benefit of statin therapy in MM should be corroborated in prospective
      studies.

PMID- 27646950
TI  - Revised Overall Survival Analysis of a Phase II, Randomized, Double-Blind,
      Controlled Study of PROSTVAC in Men With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate
      Cancer.

PMID- 27646949
TI  - Vasectomy and Prostate Cancer Incidence and Mortality in a Large US Cohort.
AB  - Purpose In a recent large prospective study, vasectomy was associated with
      modestly higher risk of prostate cancer, especially high-grade and lethal
      prostate cancer. However, evidence from prospective studies remains limited.
      Therefore, we assessed the associations of vasectomy with prostate cancer
      incidence and mortality in a large cohort in the United States. Patients and
      Methods We examined the association between vasectomy and prostate cancer
      mortality among 363,726 men in the Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II) cohort, of
      whom 7,451 died as a result of prostate cancer during follow-up from 1982 to
      2012. We also examined the association between vasectomy and prostate cancer
      incidence among 66,542 men in the CPS-II Nutrition Cohort, a subgroup of the CPS
      II cohort, of whom 9,133 were diagnosed with prostate cancer during follow-up
      from 1992 to 2011. Cox proportional hazards regression modeling was used to
      estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. Results In the
      CPS-II cohort, vasectomy was not associated with prostate cancer mortality (HR,
      1.01; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.10). In the CPS-II Nutrition Cohort, vasectomy was not
      associated with either overall prostate cancer incidence (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.96
      to 1.08) or high-grade prostate cancer incidence (HR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.07
      for cancers with Gleason score >= 8). Conclusion Results from these large
      prospective cohorts do not support associations of vasectomy with either prostate
      cancer incidence or prostate cancer mortality.

PMID- 27646951
TI  - Enrollment Trends and Disparity Among Patients With Lung Cancer in National
      Clinical Trials, 1990 to 2012.
AB  - Purpose Under-representation of elderly, women, and racial/ethnic minority
      patients with cancer in clinical trials is of national concern. The goal of this
      study was to characterize enrollment trends and disparities by age, sex, and
      race/ethnicity in lung cancer trials. Methods We analyzed data for 23,006
      National Cancer Institute cooperative group lung cancer trial participants and
      578,476 patients with lung cancer from the SEER registry from 1990 to 2012. The
      enrollment disparity difference (EDD) and enrollment disparity ratio (EDR) were
      calculated on the basis of the proportion of each subgroup in the trial
      population and the US lung cancer population. Annual percentage changes (APCs) in
      the subgroup proportions in each population were compared over time. Results
      Enrollment disparity for patients >= 70 years of age with non-small-cell lung
      cancer improved from 1990 to 2012 (test of parallelism, P = .020), with a
      remaining EDD of 0.22 (95% CI, 0.19 to 0.25) and EDR of 1.65 (95% CI, 1.51 to
      1.82) in 2010 to 2012. No improvement was seen for elderly patients with small
      cell lung cancer (SCLC), with an APC of 0.20 ( P = .714) among trial
      participants, despite a rising proportion of elderly patients with SCLC in the US
      population (APC, 0.32; P = .020). Enrollment disparity for women with lung cancer
      improved overall, with the gap closing by 2012 (EDD, 0.03 [95% CI, 0.00 to 0.06];
      EDR, 1.07 [95% CI, 1.00 to 1.16]). Enrollment disparities persisted without
      significant improvement for elderly women, blacks, Asians/Pacific Islanders, and
      Hispanics. Conclusion Under-representation in lung cancer trials improved
      significantly from 1990 to 2012 for elderly patients with non-small-cell lung
      cancer and for women, but ongoing efforts to improve the enrollment of elderly
      patients with SCLC and minorities are needed. Our study highlights the importance
      of addressing enrollment disparities by demographic and disease subgroups to
      better target under-represented groups of patients with lung cancer.

PMID- 27646954
TI  - Nitric oxide coupling to generate N2O promoted by a single-heme system as
      examined by density functional theory.
AB  - Bacteria utilize a heme/non-heme enzyme system to detoxify nitric oxide (NO) to
      N2O. In order to probe the capacity of a single-heme system to mediate this NO-to
      N2O transformation, various scenarios for addition of electrons, protons, and a
      second NO molecule to a heme nitrosyl to generate N2O were explored by density
      functional theory calculations. We describe, utilizing this single-heme system,
      several stepwise intermediates along pathways that enable the critical N-N bond
      formation step yielding the desired Fe-N2O product. We also report a hitherto
      unreported directional second protonation that results in either productive N2O
      formation with loss of water, or formation of a non-productive hyponitrous acid
      adduct Fe{HONNOH}.

PMID- 27646952
TI  - Modified Staging Classification for Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors on the Basis
      of the American Joint Committee on Cancer and European Neuroendocrine Tumor
      Society Systems.
AB  - Purpose The European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) and the American Joint
      Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging classifications are two widely used systems in
      managing pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. However, there is no universally
      accepted system. Methods An analysis was performed to evaluate the application of
      the ENETS and AJCC staging classifications using the SEER registry (N = 2,529
      patients) and a multicentric series (N = 1,143 patients). A modified system was
      proposed based on analysis of the two existing classifications. The modified
      system was then validated. Results The proportion of patients with AJCC stage III
      disease was extremely low for both the SEER series (2.2%) and the multicentric
      series (2.1%). For the ENETS staging system, patients with stage I disease had a
      similar prognosis to patients with stage IIA disease, and patients with stage
      IIIB disease had a lower hazard ratio for death than did patients with stage IIIA
      disease. We modified the ENETS staging classification by maintaining the ENETS T,
      N, and M definitions and adopting the AJCC staging definitions. The proportion of
      patients with stage III disease using the modified ENETS (mENETS) system was
      higher than that of the AJCC system in both the SEER series (8.9% v 2.2%) and the
      multicentric series (11.6% v 2.1%). In addition, the hazard ratio of death for
      patients with stage III disease was higher than that for patients with stage IIB
      disease. Moreover, statistical significance and proportional distribution were
      observed in the mENETS staging classification. Conclusion An mENETS staging
      classification is more suitable for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors than either
      the AJCC or ENETS systems and can be adopted in clinical practice.

PMID- 27646953
TI  - Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome associated with dermatophytoses in
      two HIV-1 positive patients in rural Tanzania: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome associated with
      dermatophytoses (tinea-IRIS) may cause considerable morbidity. Yet, it has been
      scarcely reported and is rarely considered in the differential diagnosis of HIV
      associated cutaneous lesions in Africa. If identified, it responds well to
      antifungals combined with steroids. We present two cases of suspected tinea
      immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome from a large HIV clinic in rural
      Tanzania. CASES PRESENTATION: A first case was a 33 years-old female newly
      diagnosed HIV patient with CD4 count of 4 cells/MUL (0 %), normal complete blood
      count, liver and renal function tests was started on co-formulated
      tenofovir/emtricitabine/efavirenz and prophylactic cotrimoxazole. Two weeks later
      she presented with exaggerated inflammatory hyperpigmented skin plaques with
      central desquamation, active borders and scratch lesions on the face, trunk and
      lower limbs. Tinea-IRIS was suspected and fluconazole (150 mg daily) and
      prednisolone (1 mg/Kg/day tapered down after 1 week) were given. Her symptoms
      subsided completely after 8 weeks of treatment, and her next CD4 counts had
      increased to 134 cells/MUL (11 %). The second case was a 35 years-old female
      newly diagnosed with HIV. She had 1 CD4 cell/MUL (0 %), haemoglobin 9.8 g/dl, and
      normal renal and liver function tests. Esophageal candidiasis and normocytic
      normochromic anaemia were diagnosed. She received fluconazole, prophylactic
      cotrimoxazole and tenofovir/emtricitabine/efavirenz. Seven weeks later she
      presented with inflammatory skin plaques with elevated margins and central
      hyperpigmentation on the trunk, face and limbs in the frame of a good general
      recovery and increased CD4 counts (188 cells/MUL, 6 %). Tinea-IRIS was suspected
      and treated with griseofulvin 500 mg daily and prednisolone 1 mg/Kg tapered down
      after 1 week, with total resolution of symptoms in 2 weeks. CONCLUSION: The two
      cases had advanced immunosuppression and developed de-novo exaggerated
      manifestation of inflammatory lesions compatible with tinea corporis and tinea
      facies in temporal association with antiretroviral treatment initiation and good
      immunological response. This is compatible with unmasking tinea-IRIS, and reminds
      African clinicians about the importance of considering this entity in the
      differential diagnosis of patients with skin lesions developing after
      antiretroviral treatment initiation.

PMID- 27646956
TI  - Anterior eye tissue morphology: Scleral and conjunctival thickness in children
      and young adults.
AB  - The sclera and conjunctiva form part of the eye's tough, protective outer coat,
      and play important roles in the eye's mechanical protection and immune defence,
      as well as in determining the size and shape of the eye globe. Advances in ocular
      imaging technology now allow these tissues in the anterior eye to be imaged non
      invasively and with high resolution, however there is a paucity of data examining
      the dimensions of these tissues in paediatric populations. In this study, we have
      used optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging to examine the normal in vivo
      thickness profile of the anterior sclera and overlying conjunctiva in 111 healthy
      young participants, including a large proportion of paediatric subjects. We
      demonstrate that the thickness of the anterior sclera varies significantly with
      measurement location and meridian. Tissue thickness also varied significantly
      with age, with younger subjects exhibiting significantly thinner scleras and
      significantly greater conjunctival thickness. Males were also found to exhibit
      significantly greater scleral thickness. Refractive error however was not
      significantly associated with either scleral or conjunctival thickness in this
      population. These findings provide new data describing the normative dimensions
      of anterior eye tissues in children and the factors that can influence these
      dimensions in young populations.

PMID- 27646957
TI  - Comparison of adaptive treatment strategies based on longitudinal outcomes in
      sequential multiple assignment randomized trials.
AB  - In sequential multiple assignment randomized trials, longitudinal outcomes may be
      the most important outcomes of interest because this type of trials is usually
      conducted in areas of chronic diseases or conditions. We propose to use a
      weighted generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach to analyzing data from
      such type of trials for comparing two adaptive treatment strategies based on
      generalized linear models. Although the randomization probabilities are known, we
      consider estimated weights in which the randomization probabilities are replaced
      by their empirical estimates and prove that the resulting weighted GEE estimator
      is more efficient than the estimators with true weights. The variance of the
      weighted GEE estimator is estimated by an empirical sandwich estimator. The time
      variable in the model can be linear, piecewise linear, or more complicated forms.
      This provides more flexibility that is important because, in the adaptive
      treatment setting, the treatment changes over time and, hence, a single linear
      trend over the whole period of study may not be practical. Simulation results
      show that the weighted GEE estimators of regression coefficients are consistent
      regardless of the specification of the correlation structure of the longitudinal
      outcomes. The weighted GEE method is then applied in analyzing data from the
      Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness. Copyright (c) 2016
      John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27646958
TI  - Assessment of the King-Devick(r) (KD) test for screening acute mTBI/concussion in
      warfighters.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The Department of Defense reported that 344,030 cases of traumatic
      brain injury (TBI) were clinically confirmed from 2000 to 2015, with mild TBI
      (mTBI) accounting for 82.3% of all cases. Unfortunately, warfighters with TBI are
      often identified only when moderate or severe head injuries have occurred,
      leaving more subtle mTBI cases undiagnosed. This study aims to identify and
      validate an eye-movement visual test for screening acute mTBI. METHODS: Two
      hundred active duty military personnel were recruited to perform the King
      Devick(r) (KD) test. Subjects were equally divided into two groups: those with
      diagnosed acute mTBI (<=72h) and age-matched controls. The KD test was
      administered twice for test-retest reliability, and the outcome measure was total
      cumulative time to complete each test. RESULTS: The mTBI group had approximately
      36% mean slower performance time with significant differences between the groups
      (p<0.001) in both tests. There were significant differences between the two KD
      test administrations in each group, however, a strong correlation was observed
      between each test administration. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences in KD test
      performance were seen between the acute mTBI and control groups. The results
      suggest the KD test can be utilized for screening acute mTBI. A validated and
      rapidly administered mTBI screening test with results that are easily interpreted
      by providers is essential in making return-to-duty decisions in the injured
      warfighter.

PMID- 27646961
TI  - [Overview of the Ebola vaccines in pre-clinical and clinical development].
AB  - The Ebola epidemic that occurred in West Africa between 2013-2016 significantly
      accelerated the research and development of Ebola vaccines. Few dozens of
      clinical trials have been recently conducted leading to opportunities to test
      several new vaccine candidates. Other vaccines are still in early development
      phases (table 1). This paper provides an overview of the new developments in that
      area.

PMID- 27646959
TI  - Tolerogenic dendritic cells.
AB  - Deficits in immunological tolerance against self-antigens and antigens provided
      by the diet and commensal microbiota can result in the development of
      inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Dendritic cells (DCs) are pivotal
      regulators of the immune response, specialized in antigen presentation to drive T
      cell priming and differentiation. DCs also have a tolerogenic function,
      participating in the enforcement of central and peripheral tolerance and the
      resolution of ongoing immune responses. Thus, DCs control effector and regulatory
      mechanisms relevant to the pathology of autoimmune disorders. In this review, we
      discuss recent findings regarding the control of the adaptive immune response by
      tolerogenic DCs. A thorough understanding of the mechanisms that control the
      tolerogenic DC phenotype will guide the development of novel strategies for the
      treatment of autoimmunity.

PMID- 27646962
TI  - Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ouazzane and Sidi Kacem provinces, Morocco (1997
      2012).
AB  - Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major public health problem in Morocco. Three
      distinct parasites are involved; Leishmania tropica, Leishmania major and
      Leishmania infantum. The objective of this study is to investigate the
      epidemiological and the clinical features of endemic foci of CL in Sidi Kacem and
      Ouazzane provinces in the north of Morocco including molecular identification of
      parasites. We studied the evolution and the distribution of 1,656 CL cases coming
      from 39 sectors in these provinces between 1997 and 2012. The causative agents of
      CL in these areas were identified by using the ITS1-PCR-RFLP method. A tendency
      of seasonality in incidence was observed, showing a peak in April. Most infected
      patients were from Ouazzane province. The patients' ages ranged from 6 months to
      85 years; 54% of them were females. The highest rate lesions were found in the
      age group of 9 years or less and most lesions were localized in the face (79.6%).
      The movement of populations from neighboring endemic areas and establishment of
      habitation in areas where housing conditions are unfavorable favored the
      emergence of the disease.

PMID- 27646963
TI  - General practitioners' knowledge, attitudes and views of providing preconception
      care: a qualitative investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preconception health and care aims to reduce parental risk factors
      before pregnancy through health promotion and intervention. Little is known about
      the preconception interventions that general practitioners (GPs) provide. The aim
      of this study was to examine GPs' knowledge, attitudes, and views towards
      preconception health and care in the general practice setting. METHODS: As part
      of a large mixed-methods study to explore preconception care in England, we
      surveyed 1,173 women attending maternity units and GP services in London and
      interviewed women and health professionals. Seven GPs were interviewed, and the
      framework analysis method was used to analyse the data. FINDINGS: Seven themes
      emerged from the data: Knowledge of preconception guidelines; Content of
      preconception advice; Who should deliver preconception care?; Targeting provision
      of preconception care; Preconception health for men; Barriers to providing
      preconception care; and Ways of improving preconception care. A lack of knowledge
      and demand for preconception care was found, and although reaching women before
      they are pregnant was seen as important it was not a responsibility that could be
      adequately met by GPs. Specialist preconception services were not provided within
      GP surgeries, and care was mainly targeted at women with medical conditions. GPs
      described diverse patient groups with very different health needs. CONCLUSION:
      Implementation of preconception policy and guidelines is required to engage women
      and men and to develop proactive delivery of care with the potential to improve
      pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. The role of education and of nurses in improving
      preconception health was acknowledged but remains under-developed.

PMID- 27646965
TI  - New and developing chemical pharmacotherapy for treating hormone receptor
      positive/HER2-negative breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Endocrine therapy is the mainstay of treatment for a substantial
      proportion of hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer (BC). Indeed,
      patients with metastatic disease not immediately life threatening may experience
      long disease control across several lines of endocrine therapy. The major
      limitation of this therapeutic approach is primary or acquired resistance. A
      better understanding of endocrine resistance has resulted in newer targeted
      agents to be added to endocrine therapy. Areas covered: This review highlights
      new findings in the treatment of HR+/HER2- BC, with a particular focus on new
      drugs from phase 3 development onwards. Expert opinion: Combining endocrine
      therapy with agents targeting putative mechanisms of endocrine resistance is a
      newer treatment paradigm in HR+ BC. Adding a biologically targeted agent to
      endocrine therapy results in improved response rate, and clinical benefit rate,
      and prolonged progression-free survival. A clear advantage in overall survival
      has not yet been reported. Combination therapy allows to delay chemotherapy but
      increases toxicities and costs, which are critical factors in decision making in
      the clinical practice. Moreover, identification and validation of biomarkers of
      response are needed. Ongoing and future trials should elucidate the role of these
      compounds in the treatment of HR+/HER2- BC.

PMID- 27646966
TI  - Short-term practice effects in mild cognitive impairment: Evaluating different
      methods of change.
AB  - Practice effects are improvements on cognitive tests as a result of repeated
      exposure to testing material. However, variability exists in the literature about
      whether patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) display practice
      effects, which may be partially due to the methods used to calculate these
      changes on repeated tests. The purpose of the current study was to examine
      multiple methods of assessing short-term practice effects in 58 older adults with
      MCI. The cognitive battery, which included tests of memory (Hopkins Verbal
      Learning Test-Revised and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised) and processing
      speed (Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Trail Making Test Parts A and B), was
      administered twice across one week. Dependent t tests showed statistically
      significant improvement on memory scores (ps < .01, ds = 0.8-1.3), but not on
      processing speed scores. Despite this, the sample showed no clinically meaningful
      improvement on any cognitive scores using three different reliable change
      indices. Regression-based change scores did identify relatively large groups of
      participants who showed smaller than expected practice effects, which may
      indicate that this method is more sensitive in identifying individuals who may
      portend a declining trajectory. Practice effects remain a complex construct,
      worthy of continued investigation in diverse clinical conditions.

PMID- 27646967
TI  - Transition-Metal Substitution Doping in Synthetic Atomically Thin Semiconductors.
AB  - Large-area "in situ" transition-metal substitution doping for chemical-vapor
      deposited semiconducting transition-metal-dichalcogenide monolayers deposited on
      dielectric substrates is demonstrated. In this approach, the transition-metal
      substitution is stable and preserves the monolayer's semiconducting nature, along
      with other attractive characteristics, including direct-bandgap
      photoluminescence.

PMID- 27646969
TI  - A Multiserver Biometric Authentication Scheme for TMIS using Elliptic Curve
      Cryptography.
AB  - Recently several authentication schemes are proposed for telecare medicine
      information system (TMIS). Many of such schemes are proved to have weaknesses
      against known attacks. Furthermore, numerous such schemes cannot be used in real
      time scenarios. Because they assume a single server for authentication across the
      globe. Very recently, Amin et al. (J. Med. Syst. 39(11):180, 2015) designed an
      authentication scheme for secure communication between a patient and a medical
      practitioner using a trusted central medical server. They claimed their scheme to
      extend all security requirements and emphasized the efficiency of their scheme.
      However, the analysis in this article proves that the scheme designed by Amin et
      al. is vulnerable to stolen smart card and stolen verifier attacks. Furthermore,
      their scheme is having scalability issues along with inefficient password change
      and password recovery phases. Then we propose an improved scheme. The proposed
      scheme is more practical, secure and lightweight than Amin et al.'s scheme. The
      security of proposed scheme is proved using the popular automated tool ProVerif. 

PMID- 27646968
TI  - Emerging azithromycin-resistance among the Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated
      in Hungary.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the 1990s, azithromycin became the drug of choice for many
      infectious diseases but emerging resistance to the drug has only been reported in
      the last decade. In the last 5 years, the National Neisseria gonorrhoeae
      Reference Laboratory of Hungary (NNGRLH) has also observed an increased number of
      N. gonorrhoeae strains resistant to azithromycin. The aim of this study was to
      determine the most frequent sequence types (ST) of N. gonorrhoeae related to
      elevated levels of azithromycin MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration).
      Previously and currently isolated azithromycin-resistant strains have been
      investigated for the existence of molecular relationship. METHODS: Maldi-Tof
      technic was applied for the identification of the strains isolated from
      outpatients attending the reference laboratory. Testing antibiotic susceptibility
      of azithromycin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, tetracycline, spectinomycin and
      ciprofloxacin was carried out for all the identified strains, using MIC strip
      test Liofilchem((r)). N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST) was
      performed exclusively on azithromycin-resistant isolates. A phylogenetic tree was
      drawn using MEGA6 (Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 6.0)
      Neighbour-Joining method. RESULTS: Out of 192 N. gonorrhoeae isolates, 30.0 %
      (58/192) proved resistant to azithromycin (MIC > 0.5 mg/L). Of the azithromycin
      resistant isolates, ST1407, ST4995 and ST11064 were the most prevalent. Based on
      the phylogenetic analysis, the latter two STs are closely related. CONCLUSIONS:
      In contrast to West-European countries, in our region, resistance to azithromycin
      has increased up to 30 % in the last 5 years, so the recommendation of the
      European Guideline -500 mg of ceftriaxone combined with 2 g of azithromycin as
      first choice therapy against N. gonorrhoeae- should be seriously considered in
      case of Hungary.

PMID- 27646971
TI  - MDCT of pelvic inflammatory disease: a review of the pathophysiology, gamut of
      imaging findings, and treatment.
AB  - Representing an ascending, sexually spread pyogenic infection of the female
      genital tract, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a commonly encountered cause
      for emergency visits and hospitalizations among young and adult female patients.
      Though gynecologic evaluation and sonography constitute the mainstay of
      diagnosis, multidetector CT imaging of the abdomen and pelvis is not uncommonly
      performed, often as the initial imaging modality, due to the frequently vague and
      indeterminate clinical presentation. As such, knowledge and attenuation to the
      often subtle early imaging features of PID afford the radiologist a critical
      chance to direct and expedite appropriate pathways of patient care, minimizing
      the risk for secondary complications, including infertility, ectopic pregnancy,
      and enteric adhesions. In this paper, we will review the pathophysiology,
      clinical presentation, early and late imaging features of PID as well as
      potential secondary complications and treatment options. Additionally, we will
      discuss published data metrics on CT performance regarding sensitivity and
      specificity for diagnosis as well as potential imaging differential diagnostic
      considerations.

PMID- 27646972
TI  - Association between COMT Val158Met polymorphism and preeclampsia in the Chinese
      Han population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have been indicated that catechol-O-methyltransferase
      gene (COMT) might play a significant role in the development of preeclampsia
      (PE). Our study aims to investigate the association between polymorphism in COMT
      with the susceptibility to PE in Chinese Han women. METHOD: A total of 1028 PE
      patients and 1399 normal pregnant women were enrolled. We detected the genotyping
      of COMT Val158Met loci by the TaqMan allelic discrimination real-time PCR .
      RESULTS: No significant difference in the genotypic and allelic distribution was
      found between the two groups (genotype: X2 = 0.583, p = 0.747; allele:X2 = 0.526,
      p = 0.468). CONCLUSION: The COMT Val158Met polymorphism might not be associated
      with PE in Chinese women.

PMID- 27646977
TI  - Independence and cognition post-stroke and its relationship to burden and quality
      of life of family caregivers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke is a chronic disease responsible for changes in the functional
      capacity of the patients. Patient care is usually provided by family caregivers,
      but with great burden and negative impact on their quality of life. OBJECTIVES:
      (1) To investigate whether a correlation existed between the levels of
      independence and cognition in stroke patients and the burden and quality of life
      of their caregivers; (2) to assess whether periods of injury, rehabilitation and
      care, and age of the stroke patients interfered with these correlations. METHODS:
      This was a cross-sectional and correlational study that included 60 participants,
      of which 30 were post-stroke patients and 30 were their caregivers. The data
      collection instruments were the Mini Mental State Examination and the Functional
      Independence Measure for the post-stroke participants, and the Zarit Burden
      Interview Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF, for the
      caregivers. The Pearson's product-moment correlation was used for the data
      analysis. RESULTS: Independence and cognition showed no correlation with the
      burden and quality of life of the caregivers. We identified a strong positive
      correlation between independence and cognition (r = 0.882), and a moderate
      negative correlation between independence and rehabilitation period (r = -0.398)
      and between burden and quality of life of the caregivers (r = -0.414).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest the need for health interventions aimed not only at
      stroke patients, but also at their family caregivers, given the association
      between the burden and the low levels of quality of life of the caregivers.

PMID- 27646974
TI  - Comparison of cytotoxicity between extracts of Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. f.)
      Lindau leaves from different locations and the induction of apoptosis by the
      crude methanol leaf extract in D24 human melanoma cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. f.) Lindau leaves are widely used by
      cancer patients and the leaf extracts possess cytotoxic and antiproliferative
      effects on several human cancer cell lines. However, the effect of C. nutans leaf
      extract on human melanoma, which is the least common but most fatal form of skin
      cancer and one of the most common cancers diagnosed in both sexes worldwide, is
      unknown. There is also limited information on whether the bioactivity of extracts
      differs between C. nutans leaves grown in different geographical locations with
      varying environmental conditions. METHODS: The present study, for the first time,
      compared and demonstrated the cytotoxicity of the crude methanol extracts of C.
      nutans leaves from 11 different locations in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with
      diverse environmental conditions against D24 melanoma cells through WST-8 assay.
      The percentage of apoptotic cells following treatment with the most active
      extract was determined in a dose- and time-dependent manner by a cytofluorometric
      double staining technique. Biochemical and morphological changes in the treated
      and untreated cells were examined by fluorescence and transmission electron
      microscopy techniques, respectively, to further affirm the induction of
      apoptosis. RESULTS: The leaves of plants grown at higher elevations and lower air
      temperatures were more cytotoxic to the D24 melanoma cells than those grown at
      lower elevations and higher air temperatures, with the leaf extract from Chiang
      Dao, Chiang Mai, Thailand exhibited the highest cytotoxicity (24 h EC50: 0.95
      mg/mL and 72 h EC50: 0.77 mg/mL). This most active crude extract induced
      apoptotic cell death in the D24 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner.
      Typical biochemical and morphological characteristics of apoptosis were also
      observed in the treated D24 cells. CONCLUSIONS: The results, showing the
      cytotoxicity of C. nutans and the induction of apoptosis in D24 cells, are
      significant and useful to facilitate the development of C. nutans as a potential
      novel chemotherapeutic agent for the management of skin melanoma.

PMID- 27646980
TI  - Hereditary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy caused by the novel variant
      transthyretin A36D.

PMID- 27646979
TI  - Cerebrospinal Fluid Stanniocalcin-1 as a Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease and
      Other Neurodegenerative Disorders.
AB  - Stanniocalcin-1 (STC-1) is a nerve cell-enriched protein involved in
      intracellular calcium homeostasis regulation. Changes in calcium regulation are
      hypothesized to play a role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      The expression of STC-1 increases in response to ischemic stroke, but whether it
      is altered in neurodegenerative disorder, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD),
      has not been investigated before. We measured STC-1 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
      samples from a total of 163 individuals including AD, prodromal AD (pAD), mixed
      AD, stable mild cognitive impairment (sMCI), and diagnoses of other dementia than
      AD, as well as cognitively normal controls (CNC) enrolled at academic centers in
      France and Sweden. STC-1 concentration was reliably measureable in all CSF
      samples and was significantly increased in the initial exploratory cohort of
      neurochemically enriched AD patients versus AD biomarker-negative controls. In
      the second cohort, STC-1 was increased in AD versus pAD, and other dementia
      disorders, but the difference was not statistically significant. In the third
      cohort, there was no significant difference in STC-1 concentration between AD and
      CNC; however, STC-1 concentration was significantly decreased in patients with
      other dementia disorders compared with AD and CNC. Taken together, CSF STC-1
      showed an increasing trend in AD, but the findings were not consistent across the
      three study cohorts. In contrast, CSF STC-1 concentrations were reduced in
      patients with dementia diagnoses other than AD, as compared with both AD patients
      and CNC. The findings from these studies suggest CSF STC-1 as a potential
      biomarker in differential diagnosis of dementias.

PMID- 27646983
TI  - American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) sets new exam.

PMID- 27646982
TI  - Hedgehog signal expression in articular cartilage of rat temporomandibular joint
      and association with adjuvant-induced osteoarthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in hedgehog (Hh)
      expression and its possible effects on cartilage degeneration in adjuvant-induced
      temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) of rats. METHODS: Forty-eight male
      Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into experimental osteoarthritis (OA)
      and sham control groups. The bilateral TMJs of six rats from each group were
      harvested at three, seven, 14, and 28 days. Histological changes in condylar
      cartilage were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue, and safranin O
      staining. The expression of Hh signal-related proteins including Indian hedgehog
      (Ihh), patched-1 (Ptch1), smoothened (Smo), glioma-associated oncogene homologue1
      (Gli1) in cartilage was assessed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The
      protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), type X collagen, and
      a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 5 (ADAMTS-5) in
      cartilage was evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: The histological analysis
      showed marked cartilage degeneration in adjuvant-induced OA groups, including
      reduced cartilage cellular density, thinner and degraded cartilage, and decreased
      proteoglycan content in the extracellular matrix. Compared with matched control
      groups, the expression of Ihh, Ptch1, Smo, and Gli1 in the OA groups was higher
      in a time-dependent manner. The protein levels of MMP-13, type X collagen, and
      ADAMTS-5 were substantially increased in OA cartilage compared with those in
      matched control rats. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the activation of
      Ihh signaling may be correlated with pathological changes of condylar cartilage
      in adjuvant-induced TMJOA.

PMID- 27646984
TI  - Transfusion under triple threat: Lessons from Japan's 2011 earthquake, tsunami,
      and nuclear crisis.
AB  - The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 provoked tsunami waves with
      inland penetration up to 5 km and run-up heights to 40 m. More than 400 km2 were
      flooded, mainly along the northeast coast of Japan's largest island, Honshu.
      Nearly 20,000 human lives were abruptly taken by this natural disaster. Four
      coastal nuclear facilities went into automatic shutdown; at one, Fukushima
      Daiichi, cooling system failures resulted in the meltdown of three reactor cores,
      accompanied by explosive release of radioisotopes. Essentials of modern blood
      banking and transfusion medicine were lost: roads, vehicles, blood collection
      venues, and facilities for blood testing and processing. Normal channels of
      communication were interrupted, not only by physical damage but also due to
      circuit overload as mobile phone users sought information and tried to exchange
      messages about their own and others' health, welfare, and whereabouts. The
      Japanese Red Cross, as a monopoly supplier of allogeneic blood, responded with a
      nationally coordinated effort that met the transfusion demands of a disaster
      characterized by immediate mass fatality rather than mass injury. Japan's routine
      transfusion demands are also met by hospital-based autologous blood programs,
      which could be pressed into service for emergency allogeneic collections. Herein
      we report institutional and personal experience in anticipation of future
      disasters, in which transfusion needs might differ from routine demand.

PMID- 27646987
TI  - Selection of helical braided flow diverter stents based on hemodynamic
      performance and mechanical properties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although flow diversion is a promising procedure for the treatment of
      aneurysms, complications have been reported and it remains poorly understood. The
      occurrence of adverse outcomes is known to depend on both the mechanical
      properties and flow reduction effects of the flow diverter stent. OBJECTIVE: To
      clarify the possibility of designing a flow diverter stent considering both
      hemodynamic performance and mechanical properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted based on an ideal
      aneurysm model with flow diverters. Structural analyses of two flow diverter
      models exhibiting similar flow reduction effects were performed, and the radial
      stiffness and longitudinal flexibility were compared. RESULTS: In CFD
      simulations, two stents-Pore2-d35 (26.77 degrees  weave angle when fully
      expanded, 35 MUm wire thickness) and Pore3-d50 (36.65 degrees , 50 MUm
      respectively)-demonstrated similar flow reduction rates (68.5% spatial-averaged
      velocity reduction rate, 85.0% area-averaged wall shear stress reduction rate for
      Pore2-d35, and 68.6%, 85.4%, respectively, for Pore3-d50). However, Pore3-d50
      exhibited greater radial stiffness than Pore2-d35 (40.0 vs 21.0 mN/m at a 3.5 mm
      outer diameter) and less longitudinal flexibility (0.903 vs 0.104 N.mm bending
      moments at 90 degrees ). These measurements indicate that changing the wire
      thickness and weave angle allows adjustment of the mechanical properties while
      maintaining the same degree of flow reduction effects. CONCLUSIONS: The
      combination of CFD and structural analysis can provide promising solutions for an
      optimized stent. Stents exhibiting different mechanical properties but the same
      flow reduction effects could be designed by varying both the weave angle and wire
      thickness.

PMID- 27646988
TI  - An engineered Lactococcus lactis strain exerts significant immune responses
      through efficient expression and delivery of Helicobacter pylori Lpp20 antigen.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To produce and deliver Helicobacter pylori lipoprotein Lpp20 via
      using Lactococcus lactis with aim of developing an efficient way to use this
      protective antigen in vaccine formulation. RESULTS: An engineered L. lactis
      strain carrying the lpp20 gene from H. pylori was constructed. The inducible
      expression of Lpp20 in L. lactis was detected as a 20 kDa intracellular protein
      by SDS-PAGE. Lpp20 constituted 10 % of the L. lactis cellular proteins. The
      expression product was highly immunoreactive, as demonstrated by western blot
      assays using mouse anti-H. pylori sera. Animal experimentation showed that oral
      vaccination with the engineered strain excited significantly elevated levels of
      serum Lpp20-specific IgG antibodies in BALB/c mice (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This
      report presents the first efficient expression and delivery of whole Lpp20
      protein to the immunization sites by using L. lactis, demonstrating an efficient
      utilization mode of Lpp20 in anti-H. pylori vaccination.

PMID- 27646992
TI  - Executive Summary of the Key Concepts.

PMID- 27646993
TI  - Research, Research-Informed Design, Evidence-Based Design: What Is the Difference
      and Does It Matter?

PMID- 27646994
TI  - A Commentary on "Healing Environments: What Design Factors Really Matter
      According to Patients? An Exploratory Analysis".

PMID- 27646989
TI  - Ablation of Y1 receptor impairs osteoclast bone-resorbing activity.
AB  - Y1 receptor (Y1R)-signalling pathway plays a pivotal role in the regulation of
      bone metabolism. The lack of Y1R-signalling stimulates bone mass accretion that
      has been mainly attributed to Y1R disruption from bone-forming cells. Still, the
      involvement of Y1R-signalling in the control of bone-resorbing cells remained to
      be explored. Therefore, in this study we assessed the role of Y1R deficiency in
      osteoclast formation and resorption activity. Here we demonstrate that Y1R
      germline deletion (Y1R(-/-)) led to increased formation of highly multinucleated
      (n > 8) osteoclasts and enhanced surface area, possibly due to monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) overexpression regulated by RANKL-signalling.
      Interestingly, functional studies revealed that these giant Y1R(-/-)
      multinucleated cells produce poorly demineralized eroded pits, which were
      associated to reduce expression of osteoclast matrix degradation markers, such as
      tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b (TRAcP5b), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP
      9) and cathepsin-K (CTSK). Tridimensional (3D) morphologic analyses of resorption
      pits, using an in-house developed quantitative computational tool (BonePit),
      showed that Y1R(-/-) resorption pits displayed a marked reduction in surface
      area, volume and depth. Together, these data demonstrates that the lack of Y1Rs
      stimulates the formation of larger multinucleated osteoclasts in vitro with
      reduced bone-resorbing activity, unveiling a novel therapeutic option for
      osteoclastic bone diseases based on Y1R-signalling ablation.

PMID- 27646995
TI  - Qualified Researchers Bring Value to a Design Practice.

PMID- 27646996
TI  - Can We Influence "Quality of Life" for Patients in Hospital?

PMID- 27646997
TI  - Consider the Benefits of Virtual Windows for Clinicians and Healthcare Staff.

PMID- 27646999
TI  - Polycomb repressive complex 2 facilitates the nuclear export of the influenza
      viral genome through the interaction with M1.
AB  - The organization of nuclear domains is crucial for biological events including
      virus infection. Newly synthesized influenza viral genome forms viral
      ribonucleoprotein (vRNP) complexes and is exported from the nucleus to the
      cytoplasm through a CRM1-dependent pathway mediated by viral proteins M1 and NS2.
      However, the spatio-temporal regulation of the progeny vRNP in the nucleus is
      still unclear. Here we found that polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which
      contains a methyltransferase subunit EZH2 and catalyzes histone H3K27me3 for the
      formation of facultative heterochromatin, is a positive factor for the virus
      production. Depletion of PRC2 complex showed the nuclear accumulation of vRNP and
      the reduction of M1-vRNP complex formation. We also found that PRC2 complex
      directly binds to M1, and facilitates the interaction of M1 with vRNP. In
      conclusion, we propose that the progeny vRNP could be recruited to facultative
      heterochromatin and assembled into the export complex mediated by PRC2 complex.

PMID- 27647001
TI  - Abstracts of the Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons of Great Britain
      and Ireland, 19th Annual Scientific Meeting, 22-23 September 2016.

PMID- 27647000
TI  - Effectiveness of multifaceted implementation strategies for the implementation of
      back and neck pain guidelines in health care: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For the optimal use of clinical guidelines in daily practice, mere
      distribution of guidelines and materials is not enough, and active implementation
      is needed. This review investigated the effectiveness of multifaceted
      implementation strategies compared to minimal, single, or no implementation
      strategy for the implementation of non-specific low back and/or neck pain
      guidelines in health care. METHODS: The following electronic databases were
      searched from inception to June 1, 2015: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, the Cochrane
      Library, and CINAHL. The search strategy was restricted to low back pain, neck
      pain, and implementation research. Studies were included if their design was a
      randomized controlled trial, reporting on patients (age >=18 years) with non
      specific low back pain or neck pain (with or without radiating pain). Trials were
      eligible if they reported patient outcomes, measures of healthcare professional
      behaviour, and/or outcomes on healthcare level. The primary outcome was
      professional behaviour. Guidelines that were evaluated in the studies had to be
      implemented in a healthcare setting. No language restrictions were applied, and
      studies had to be published full-text in peer-reviewed journals, thus excluding
      abstract only publications, conference abstracts, and dissertation articles. Two
      researchers independently screened titles and abstract, extracted data from
      included studies, and performed risk of bias assessments. RESULTS: After removal
      of duplicates, the search resulted in 4750 abstracts to be screened. Of 43 full
      text articles assessed for eligibility, 12 were included in this review,
      reporting on 9 individual studies, and separate cost-effectiveness analyses of 3
      included studies. Implementation strategies varied between studies. Meta-analyses
      did not reveal any differences in effect between multifaceted strategies and
      controls. CONCLUSION: This review showed that multifaceted strategies for the
      implementation of neck and/or back pain guidelines in health care do not
      significantly improve professional behaviour outcomes. No effects on patient
      outcomes or cost of care could be found. More research is necessary to determine
      whether multifaceted implementation strategies are conducted as planned and
      whether these strategies are effective in changing professional behaviour and
      thereby clinical practice.

PMID- 27647002
TI  - Origin of the plant Tm-1-like gene via two independent horizontal transfer events
      and one gene fusion event.
AB  - The Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) resistance gene Tm-1 encodes a direct inhibitor of
      ToMV RNA replication to protect tomato from infection. The plant Tm-1-like (Tm
      1L) protein is predicted to contain an uncharacterized N-terminal UPF0261 domain
      and a C-terminal TIM-barrel signal transduction (TBST) domain. Homologous
      searches revealed that proteins containing both of these two domains are mainly
      present in charophyte green algae and land plants but absent from glaucophytes,
      red algae and chlorophyte green algae. Although Tm-1 homologs are widely present
      in bacteria, archaea and fungi, UPF0261- and TBST-domain-containing proteins are
      generally encoded by different genes in these linages. A co-evolution analysis
      also suggested a putative interaction between UPF0261- and TBST-domain-containing
      proteins. Phylogenetic analyses based on homologs of these two domains revealed
      that plants have acquired UPF0261- and TBST-domain-encoding genes through two
      independent horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events before the origin of land
      plants from charophytes. Subsequently, gene fusion occurred between these two
      horizontally acquired genes and resulted in the origin of the Tm-1L gene in
      streptophytes. Our results demonstrate a novel evolutionary mechanism through
      which the recipient organism may acquire genes with functional interaction
      through two different HGT events and further fuse them into one functional gene.

PMID- 27647003
TI  - Rapid Virological Response After Early Treatment with a Combined Therapy of
      Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir in HCV Genotype 4 After Living Donor Liver
      Transplantation in a HCC Downstaged Patient: Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 (GT-4) is widespread in the Middle
      East, where it is responsible for the majority of HCV infections. It shows
      moderate treatment response rates when compared to other genotypes in the current
      era of interferon-based regimens. However, in the era of direct acting antiviral
      (DAA) drugs, its response is at least as good as observed for HCV genotypes 1-3.
      CASE REPORT We present a case of a 44-year-old patient with HCV cirrhosis. Since
      2007, he has been treated for HCV infection with multiple ineffective regimens of
      interferon (INF) and ribavirin. A liver biopsy in 2010 revealed stage 5-6/6
      indicating cirrhosis, which was later complicated by the occurrence of portal
      vein thrombosis and a large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (maximum diameter 9
      cm). The patient was successfully treated with sorafenib, transcatheter arterial
      chemoembolization (TACE), and radiofrequency ablation. After four TACE
      procedures, the patient's AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) decreased remarkably and almost
      normalized. The HCC disappeared radiologically as shown by triple phase CT, MRI
      with contrast, and PET-CT. He successfully underwent a living donor liver
      transplantation. Four weeks post liver transplantation he started treatment with
      sorafenib, and switched from tacrolimus to Rapamune (sirolimus) as
      immunosuppressant therapy. Ten weeks after liver transplantation, HCV treatment
      was introduced along with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir due to his increasing liver
      enzyme levels. A rapid viral response was achieved after 14 days. In total, the
      patient received 12 weeks of this treatment. CONCLUSIONS This case study might be
      of significance in informing early management and personalized treatment of
      patients with recurrent HCV GT-4 infections after liver transplantation, even in
      complex clinical surroundings. 

PMID- 27647004
TI  - Cost-Utility of Quadrivalent Versus Trivalent Influenza Vaccine in Germany, Using
      an Individual-Based Dynamic Transmission Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seasonal influenza infection is primarily caused by circulation of
      two influenza A strain subtypes and strains from two B lineages that vary each
      year. Trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) contains only one of the two B-lineage
      strains, resulting in mismatches between vaccine strains and the predominant
      circulating B lineage. Quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) includes both B
      lineage strains. The objective was to estimate the cost-utility of introducing
      QIV to replace TIV in Germany. METHODS: An individual-based dynamic transmission
      model (4Flu) using German data was used to provide realistic estimates of the
      impact of TIV and QIV on age-specific influenza infections. Cases were linked to
      health and economic outcomes to calculate the cost-utility of QIV versus TIV,
      from both a societal and payer perspective. Costs and effects were discounted at
      3.0 and 1.5 % respectively, with 2014 as the base year. Univariate and
      probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Using QIV instead of
      TIV resulted in additional quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and cost savings
      from the societal perspective (i.e. it represents the dominant strategy) and an
      incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of ?14,461 per QALY from a healthcare payer
      perspective. In all univariate analyses, QIV remained cost-effective (ICUR
      <?50,000). In probabilistic sensitivity analyses, QIV was cost-effective in >98
      and >99 % of the simulations from the societal and payer perspective,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: This analysis suggests that QIV in Germany would
      provide additional health gains while being cost-saving to society or costing
      ?14,461 per QALY gained from the healthcare payer perspective, compared with TIV.

PMID- 27647008
TI  - Climate Change and Integrodifference Equations in a Stochastic Environment.
AB  - Climate change impacts population distributions, forcing some species to migrate
      poleward if they are to survive and keep up with the suitable habitat that is
      shifting with the temperature isoclines. Previous studies have analysed whether
      populations have the capacity to keep up with shifting temperature isoclines, and
      have mathematically determined the combination of growth and dispersal that is
      needed to achieve this. However, the rate of isocline movement can be highly
      variable, with much uncertainty associated with yearly shifts. The same is true
      for population growth rates. Growth rates can be variable and uncertain, even
      within suitable habitats for growth. In this paper, we reanalyse the question of
      population persistence in the context of the uncertainty and variability in
      isocline shifts and rates of growth. Specifically, we employ a stochastic
      integrodifference equation model on a patch of suitable habitat that shifts
      poleward at a random rate. We derive a metric describing the asymptotic growth
      rate of the linearised operator of the stochastic model. This metric yields a
      threshold criterion for population persistence. We demonstrate that the
      variability in the yearly shift and in the growth rate has a significant negative
      effect on the persistence in the sense that it decreases the threshold criterion
      for population persistence. Mathematically, we show how the persistence metric
      can be connected to the principal eigenvalue problem for a related integral
      operator, at least for the case where isocline shifting speed is deterministic.
      Analysis of dynamics for the case where the dispersal kernel is Gaussian leads to
      the existence of a critical shifting speed, above which the population will go
      extinct, and below which the population will persist. This leads to clear bounds
      on rate of environmental change if the population is to persist. Finally, we
      illustrate our different results for butterfly population using numerical
      simulations and demonstrate how increased variances in isocline shifts and growth
      rates translate into decreased likelihoods of persistence.

PMID- 27647007
TI  - Evolution of Site-Selection Stabilizes Population Dynamics, Promotes Even
      Distribution of Individuals, and Occasionally Causes Evolutionary Suicide.
AB  - Species that compete for access to or use of sites, such as parasitic mites
      attaching to honey bees or apple maggots laying eggs in fruits, can potentially
      increase their fitness by carefully selecting sites at which they face little or
      no competition. Here, we systematically investigate the evolution of site
      selection strategies among animals competing for discrete sites. By developing
      and analyzing a mechanistic and population-dynamical model of site selection in
      which searching individuals encounter sites sequentially and can choose to accept
      or continue to search based on how many conspecifics are already there, we give a
      complete characterization of the different site-selection strategies that can
      evolve. We find that evolution of site-selection stabilizes population dynamics,
      promotes even distribution of individuals among sites, and occasionally causes
      evolutionary suicide. We also discuss the broader implications of our findings
      and propose how they can be reconciled with an earlier study (Nonaka et al. in J
      Theor Biol 317:96-104, 2013) that reported selection toward ever higher levels of
      aggregation among sites as a consequence of site-selection.

PMID- 27647010
TI  - Allanblackia floribunda Oliv.: An aphrodisiac plant with vasorelaxant properties.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Allanblackia floribunda Oliv. is one of the most
      commonly used medicinal plant in Cameroon. The stem bark of the plant is
      traditionally used for its aphrodisiac and antihypertensive properties. AIM OF
      THE STUDY: To validate the traditional uses of Allanblackia floribunda stem bark
      ethanol extract through the evaluation of their aphrodisiac and vasorelaxant
      properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The extract's ability to increase sexual
      desire and the frequencies of erection (mount), intromission and prolonged
      latency of ejaculation were studied on adult male rats. The vasodilator effect
      was investigated using isolated rat aorta rings. Tests were conducted using
      fractions obtained by reverse phase column-chromatography (CC), after the
      acquisition of the HPLC fingerprint of the ethanol extract, resulted the most
      active in previous studies. RESULTS: The CC allowed the isolation of five
      fractions whose aphrodisiac and vasodilator activities were tested and compared
      with those of the whole extract. Four compounds were identified and
      characterized, three of them, Fukugiside, Morelloflavone and Volkensiflavone, are
      secondary metabolites known to be in Allanblackia floribunda; the fourth,
      Spicataside, is a biflavonoid glycoside known to be present in the genus Garcinia
      but never found neither in Allanblackia floribunda nor in Allanblackia genus. The
      crude ethanolic extract (CEE) induced a relaxation on aorta rings with EC50=11+/
      2MUg/mL and Morelloflavone displayed a similar activity with EC50=42+/-6MUg/mL;
      for all the other compounds only the vasodilation % at the maximum concentration
      assessable (90MUg/mL) was determined: 30+/-8 (Fukugiside), 24+/-6 (Spicataside),
      33+/-4 (Morelloflavone+Volkensiflavone), 47+/-1 (Volkensiflavone). Regarding the
      activity on male sexual behaviour, only CEE and Fukugiside showed activity in the
      9 parameters evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: These results may support the traditional
      uses of Allanblackia floribunda as aphrodisiac plant with antihypertensive
      properties suggesting the phytocomplex as responsible for the claimed activity.

PMID- 27647009
TI  - Acute effect of Capparis spinosa root extracts on rat articular pain.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Capparis spinosa L. originates from dry regions
      of Asia and Mediterranean basin. In traditional medicine of these areas,
      infusions from caper root are considered to be beneficial for the treatment of
      rheumatism, gout and against abdominal pains. AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the
      pain relieving properties of a Syrian cultivar of Capparis spinosa roots in rat
      models of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Decoction (DEC) and hydroalcoholic extract (EtH2O) were obtained from powdered
      roots; the latter was further separated in CH2Cl2 and aqueous (H2O-Res)
      fractions. The extracts were characterized in terms of spermidine alkaloids by
      HPLC/DAD/MS and stachydrine by NMR. Different amount of free and glycosilated
      forms of capparispine and analogues (from 0.5% w/w for DEC up to 7.6% w/w for
      CH2Cl2 fraction) were detected. Rat models of rheumatoid arthritis and
      osteoarthritis were induced by the intra-articular administration of Complete
      Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) or monosodium iodoacetate (MIA), respectively. RESULTS:
      Fourteenth days after CFA or MIA injection, the different preparations of
      Capparis spinosa (3, 30, 100 and 300mgkg-1) were acutely administered p.o..
      Powdered roots (300mgkg-1), DEC (100mgkg-1), and EtH2O (300mgkg-1) significantly
      reduced hypersensitivity to mechanical noxious stimuli as well as spontaneous
      pain evaluated as hind limb bearing alterations in both models. The CH2Cl2 and
      the H2O-Res (30mgkg-1) were the most potent in reverting pain threshold
      alterations despite the different content of free alkaloids. CONCLUSIONS:
      Capparis spinosa extracts relieved pain related to rheumatoid arthritis and
      osteoarthritis after single administration. A synergistic effect due to a
      specific "phytochemical mixture" is suggested.

PMID- 27647011
TI  - Antiviral activities of compounds from aerial parts of Salvia plebeia R. Br.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Salvia plebeia R. Br. is an edible plant widely
      spread in many countries. It has been used as a traditional medicine to treat
      common cold, flu, cough, hepatitis, hemorrhoids, etc. The purpose of the study is
      to explicate antiviral compounds responsible for its traditional use for the
      common cold or flu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The methanolic extract of the aerial
      parts of S. plebeia was extracted with CHCl3, EtOAc, and n-BuOH, successively.
      The EtOAc and CHCl3 fractions were subjected to a successive of chromatographic
      method, which led to the isolation of fourteen compounds. Inhibition activities
      of the isolated compounds were evaluated against influenza A (H1N1)
      neuraminidase. RESULTS: Chemical investigation of the methanolic extracts of S.
      plebeia resulted in the isolation of two novel benzoylated monoterpene
      glycosides, named as plebeiosides A (1) and B (2), together with twelve known
      compounds including four flavonoids (4-5, 7, 10), two sesquiterpenoids (8, 12),
      four phenolics (9-10, 13-14), a steroid (6), and a triterpenoid (3). Their
      chemical structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic data and absolute
      stereochemistries of 1 and 2 were determined by comparison of optical rotations
      of their hydrolysates with literature values. Compounds 5, 7, 9, and 11 exhibited
      potent enzymatic inhibition against H1N1 neuraminidase (IC50 values ranging from
      11.18+/-1.73 to 19.83+/-2.28MUM). Furthermore, two flavonoids (5 and 7) and one
      rosmarinic acid methyl ester (9) reduced cytopathic effects of the H1N1 virus
      during replication. CONCLUSIONS: The antiviral activities of the flavonoids and
      phenolics isolated from the extracts of S. plebeia supported the traditional
      application of this medicine on common cold or flu. In this study, benzoylated
      monoterpene glycosides were first found to exist in this species. Moreover, the
      present study suggested potential of three compounds (5, 7, and 9) to be new lead
      structures for the development of new neuraminidase inhibitors in the future.

PMID- 27647012
TI  - Antioxidant and neuroprotective effects of Dictyophora indusiata polysaccharide
      in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Dictyophora indusiata is a medicinal mushroom
      traditionally used in China for a variety of conditions, including inflammatory
      and neural diseases. D. indusiata polysaccharides (DiPS) are shown to have in
      vitro antioxidant activity but in vivo evidence is lacking. This study aimes to
      explore the antioxidant capacity and related neuroptotective activities of DiPS
      using wild-type and neurodegenerative Caenorhabditis elegans models. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The antioxidant capacities of DiPS were first determined using
      paraquat survival and Pgst-4::GFP expression assays in wild-type and transgenic
      C. elegans models, respectively, and then further investigated by determining
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide
      dismutase (SOD) activity as well as functional parameters of mitochondria. The
      activation of stress response transcription factors and neuroptotective
      activities were examined using nuclear localization and chemosensory behavioral
      assays in transgenic nematodes, respectively. RESULTS: DiPS was shown not only to
      increase survival rate and reduce stress level under paraquat-induced oxidative
      conditions but also to decrease ROS and MDA levels and increase SOD activity in
      C. elegans models. Moreover, DiPS was also able to restore the functional
      parameters of mitochondria, including membrane potential and ATP content, in
      paraquat-stressed nematodes. In addition, nuclear translocation assays
      demonstrate that the stress response transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO was
      involved in the antioxidant activity of the polysaccharide. Further experiments
      reveal that DiPS was capable of reducing ROS levels and alleviating chemosensory
      behavior dysfunction in transgenic nematode models of neurodegenerative diseases
      mediated by polyglutamine and amyloid-beta protein. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      demonstrate the antioxidant and neuroprotective activities of the D. indusiata
      polysaccharide DiPS in wild-type and neurodegenerative C. elegans models, and
      thus provide an important pharmacological basis for the therapeutic potential of
      D. indusiata in neurodegeneration.

PMID- 27647013
TI  - Viburnum opulus L.: A remedy for the treatment of endometriosis demonstrated by
      rat model of surgically-induced endometriosis.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Endometriosis is a gynecological disorder
      characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity.
      The fruits of Viburnum opulus L. have been used to treat gynecological disorders
      including primary and secondary dysmenorrhea and ovarian cysts. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Air-dried and powdered fruits of V. opulus were extracted sequentially
      with n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and methanol (MeOH), respectively for four
      days. Endometriosis was induced by suturing 15mm piece of endometrium into
      abdominal wall of Sprague Dawley rats. In second laparotomy, the dimensions of
      endometrial implants were measured and intra-abdominal adhesions were scored. The
      abdomen was closed. Extracts were daily administered to the rats. At the end of
      the experiment, rats were sacrified and endometriotic foci areas and intra
      abdominal adhesions were re-evaluated. The tissues were also histopathologically
      investigated. Furthermore, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels of peritoneal
      fluid were measured. HPLC analyses were conducted on the most potent EtOAc and
      MeOH extracts to determine the amount of the major compound, chlorogenic acid.
      RESULTS: The endometriotic volumes were found to be reduced significantly in the
      EtOAc extract-administered group to 30.1mm3 and in the MeOH extract-administered
      group to 34.7mm3 as compared to the control group. No adhesion was observed in
      the reference and EtOAc groups. Histopathological data also supported the
      results. Both EtOAc and MeOH extract-administered groups displayed significant
      remission in the levels of TNF-alpha, VEGF and IL-6. When the active extracts
      were subjected to HPLC analysis, chlorogenic acid was found to be the major
      compound and the amount of this compound was calculated as 0.5112+/-0.0012mg and
      1.7072+/-0.0277mg/100mg extract, repectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the
      present study indicate that the effectiveness of the fruit extract of V. opulus
      could be partially attributed chlorogenic acid. Other phenolic compounds could
      potentiate the activity due to their amount.

PMID- 27647014
TI  - Flavonoids, gallotannins and ellagitannins in Syzygium guineense and the
      traditional use among Malian healers.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Syzygium guineense has been traditionally used in
      Mali in West Africa for the treatment of different diseases such as stomach
      problems, wounds, inflammations and various female disorders. AIMS OF THE STUDY:
      (1) To perform an ethnopharmacological survey on the traditional use of S.
      guineense among Malian healers. (2) To isolate and identify chemical constituents
      from S. guineense leaves and to study their radical scavenging and enzyme
      inhibitory effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In four different districts in Mali,
      44 healers were interviewed about their medicinal use of S. guineense. A methanol
      extract of the leaves of this tree was prepared and further fractionated using
      different chromatographic methods. Isolated compounds were identified by 1D and
      2D NMR spectroscopy. Extracts and isolated compounds were investigated as DPPH
      radical scavengers and as inhibitors of xanthine oxidase and 15-lipoxygenase, and
      the methanol extract was tested for toxicity towards Artemia salina nauplii.
      RESULTS: Major uses by Malian healers were against dermatosis, pain,
      malaria/fever and for wound healing. There was little consensus about the use in
      the different districts. Leaves were most commonly used. From the methanol leaf
      extract, the flavonoids gallocatechin (1), myricetin (2), myricetin-3-O-glucoside
      (3), myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside (4), myricetin-3-O-glucuronide (5) and myricetin-3
      O-beta-D-(6"-galloyl)galactoside (6), the gallotannins 1,2,3,6-tetra-O-galloyl
      beta-D-glucose (7) and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose (8), and the
      ellagitannins casuarictin (9) and casuarinin (10) were isolated. These ten
      polyphenols are all new for the species. The crude methanol extract was active as
      a radical scavenger and as an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase and 15-lipoxygenase.
      Among the isolated compounds, pentagalloylglucose was the best enzyme inhibitor
      (IC50 25+/-4MUM for 15-lipoxygenase, 8+/-1MUM for xanthine oxidase), while
      casuarictin (IC50 3.9+/-0.1MUM), casuarinin (IC50 4.5+/-0.3MUM) and
      pentagalloylglucose (IC50 5+/-1MUM) showed the highest radical scavenging
      activity. The methanol extract was non-toxic to Artemia salina nauplii.
      CONCLUSION: S. guineense leaves are commonly used among Malian healers, however
      the traditional practice varies a lot between different regions. The leaves of S.
      guineense are rich in polyphenols; several are galloylated, either as galloylated
      flavonoids, gallotannins or ellagitannins. The high content of biologically
      active polyphenols might be important for medicinal effects of this plant and
      might give a rationale for the widespread usage of S. guineense in Mali.

PMID- 27647015
TI  - Screening of Cyanobacterial Peptide Toxin, Microcystins in Hyperscum Water
      Samples from an Inland Sub Saharan Drinking Freshwater Reservoir.
AB  - A study which probed the occurrence and quantitative variations hepatotoxic
      microcystin in a Sub Saharan drinking freshwater reservoir was carried out
      between November 2014 and March 2015. Results reveal the presence of MCYST-YR,
      MCYST-LR, MCYST-RR, MCYST-LA and MCYST-LF variants either in cells collected
      directly from bloom or toxic isolates cultured under laboratory conditions. Two
      minor microcystin congeners (MCYST-(H4)YR) and (D-Asp3, Dha7) MCYST-RR) were
      identified, but not quantified. Variants dominance were in the order MCYST-LR >
      MCYST-RR > MCYST-YR > MCYST-LA > MCYST-LF across sampling sites. Maximum and
      minimum concentrations of quantified MCYSTs congeners were (489.25, 50.95 ug
      toxin/g DW), (98.92, 9.11 ug toxin/g DW), (140.25, 12.07 ug toxin/g DW), (56.99,
      6.20 ug toxin/g DW) and (50.46, 3.65 ug toxin/g DW) for MCYST-LR, MCYST-YR, MCYST
      RR, MCYST-LA and MCYST-LF, respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed
      there was a high significant difference between mean microcystin concentrations
      across sampling sites (p < 0.05).

PMID- 27647017
TI  - Low vitamin D levels are not a contributing factor to higher prevalence of
      depressive symptoms in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Hoorn study.
AB  - AIM: To test whether a low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level explains the greater
      prevalence of depression among people with Type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We performed
      a cross-sectional analysis of 527 people, aged 60-87 years, who participated in a
      population-based cohort study. Type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance,
      impaired fasting glucose and normal glucose tolerance were defined according to
      the 2006 WHO criteria. The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression
      questionnaire was administered, using a cut-off score of >= 16 to determine
      clinically relevant depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis
      confirmed that women with impaired glucose tolerance/impaired fasting glucose and
      people with Type 2 diabetes did have a higher risk of depressive symptoms
      [unadjusted odds ratios 3.66 (95% CI 1.59 to 8.43) and 3.04 (95% CI 1.57 to
      5.88), respectively], compared with people with normal glucose tolerance. Serum
      25-hydroxyvitamin D level was not a mediating factor in the association between
      impaired glucose tolerance/impaired fasting glucose or Type 2 diabetes and
      depressive symptoms [unstandardized indirect effect 0.001 (95% CI -0.063 to
      0.079) and 0.004 (95% CI -0.025 to 0.094), respectively]. CONCLUSIONS: The study
      found no evidence that low vitamin D levels are a contributing factor to higher
      depression scores in people with Type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27647018
TI  - Disassembly of the Dying: Mechanisms and Functions.
AB  - The disassembly of an apoptotic cell into subcellular fragments, termed apoptotic
      bodies (ApoBDs), is a hallmark of apoptosis. Although the generation of ApoBDs is
      generally understood as being stochastic, it is becoming increasingly clear that
      ApoBD formation is a highly regulated process involving distinct morphological
      steps and molecular factors. Functionally, ApoBDs could facilitate the efficient
      clearance of apoptotic material by surrounding phagocytes as well as mediate the
      transfer of biomolecules including microRNAs and proteins between cells to aid in
      intercellular communications. Therefore, the formation of ApoBDs is an important
      process downstream from apoptotic cell death. We discuss here the mechanisms and
      functions of apoptotic cell disassembly.

PMID- 27647020
TI  - Registered nurse scope of practice in Australia: an integrative review of the
      literature.
AB  - The nursing profession comprises Australia's largest regulated health workforce
      yet its practice boundaries are poorly understood. The ambiguity surrounding the
      practice scope of nurses limits the profession's ability to fully respond to
      Australia's current and emerging health system challenges. The aim of this review
      is to explore the concept of scope of practice of registered nurses (RN) in
      Australia, as reflected in contemporary literature. An integrative review of
      literature relating to the scope of practice of the Australian registered nurse
      published between 2007 and 2014 was conducted. Twenty primary papers and nine
      secondary source papers were included in the review. Themes that arose from the
      analysis are: Scope of practice - an elusive concept; Scope of practice and
      context; Scope of practice and boundaries; and Scope of practice and advanced
      practice. Discussion of these themes includes consideration of the professional,
      legal and ethical significance of scope of practice for the RN, as well as the
      legislative, professional and contextual influences on, and challenges to,
      defining scope of practice at both a professional and individual level. For the
      Australian registered nursing workforce to continue to be a significant and
      influential contributor to Australia's dynamic healthcare context, a clearly
      articulated scope of practice is both necessary and overdue.

PMID- 27647022
TI  - Cochleovestibular Nerve Compression Syndrome Caused by Intrameatal Anterior
      Inferior Cerebellar Artery Loop: Synthesis of Best Evidence for Clinical
      Decisions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intrameatal cochleovestibular neurovascular conflict is a rare
      condition with specific clinical and therapeutic implications. Although surgery
      is commonly indicated in other neurovascular conflicts, for this subset of
      patients there is little evidence to guide treatment decisions. Moving from a
      case description, we performed a review of the literature on this topic to
      systematically present the best available evidence to guide clinical decisions.
      METHODS: We performed a literature review on reported cases of surgically treated
      intrameatal anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA)-cochleovestibular nerve
      neurovascular conflict, analyzing preoperative clinical data, surgical
      techniques, and outcomes. We analyzed the levels of evidence using the King's
      College guidelines. DISCUSSION: We found 35 studies of neurovascular compression
      of the cochleovestibular nerve by AICA for 536 patients operated on to resolve
      their neurovascular conflict. Only 4 of these studies describe intrameatal AICA
      neurovascular conflicts, for 9 cases, including our own. Tinnitus was the most
      frequent symptom (9/9), followed by vertigo (2/9). Our case was the only one
      showing unilateral hearing loss. Surgery consisted of microsurgical mobilization
      of the AICA loop performed through a retrosigmoid craniotomy. Tinnitus and
      vertigo resolved after surgery in all cases, whereas hearing loss did not improve
      after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatment offers the best results for
      tinnitus and vertigo, but it seems to have no effect on hearing loss, not even at
      long-term follow-up. Microvascular decompression should be proposed to
      intrameatal symptomatic patients before the onset of hearing loss.

PMID- 27647021
TI  - Incidental findings on chest computed tomography are common and linked to
      inflammation in HIV-infected adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chest imaging is performed for a variety of reasons in HIV-infected
      adults. There are limited data on the prevalence of incidental findings,
      progression of these findings over time and the relationship with inflammation in
      antiretroviral therapy (ART)-treated HIV-infected adults. METHODS: This study
      utilized data from a randomized clinical trial of rosuvastatin in HIV-infected
      adults on ART. Incidental findings were reported from chest computed tomography
      (CT) scans obtained for coronary artery calcium score at entry, week 48 and 96.
      Markers of immune activation and inflammation were measured concurrently. Poisson
      regression and generalized estimating equations were used. RESULTS: A total of
      147 participants were enrolled. Median age was 46 years, 78% were male, 68%
      African American and 63% current smokers. At baseline, 57% of participants had at
      least one incidental lung finding (ILF) and four additional participants had at
      least one ILF by week 96. At baseline, older age, current smoking, lower nadir
      CD4+ T-cell count and low-density lipoprotein and higher lipoprotein-associated
      phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) were independently associated with having a greater
      number of ILFs. In the longitudinal analyses, older age, lower nadir CD4+ T-cell
      count and higher baseline soluble tumour necrosis factor alpha-receptor I (sTNF
      RI) were independently associated with having a greater number of ILFs over 96
      weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Over half of participants had at least one incidental finding
      on chest CT. Beyond traditional factors of older age and smoking, lower nadir
      CD4+ T-cell count and higher markers of inflammation were associated with having
      a greater number of ILFs in HIV-infected adults on ART.

PMID- 27647024
TI  - Patient Satisfaction with Posterior Decompression Surgery for Cervical
      Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament: Prognostic Radiographic
      Factors and Patient-Reported Outcomes for the Effectiveness of Surgical
      Treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the prognostic factors associated with patient
      satisfaction after double-door laminoplasty for cervical compression myelopathy
      due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). METHODS: The
      study group comprised 44 patients (30 males and 14 females) with OPLL who
      underwent double-door laminoplasty at our institution with a minimum follow-up of
      1 year. The mean patient age was 63.8 years (range, 48-86 years). We evaluated
      the patients' postoperative satisfaction using a questionnaire and divided them
      into 2 groups, satisfied and dissatisfied. We assessed various radiographic
      parameters. The patient-reported outcomes, including the Short Form-36 Physical
      Component Summary (SF-36 PCS), Neck Disability Index, neck pain, arm pain, and
      Japanese Orthopedic Association Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire
      (JOACMEQ), were assessed and used to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical
      treatment according to the concept of minimum clinically important difference
      (MCID). RESULTS: The satisfied group comprised 29 patients (65.9%). The
      dissatisfied group had a higher percentage of hill-shaped ossifications compared
      with the satisfied group (46.7% vs 17.2%; P = 0.04). The satisfied group had a
      higher proportion of patients with SF-36 PCS reaching the MCID threshold value
      (81.8% vs 14.3%; P < 0.01) and with effective surgical treatment as evaluated by
      the JOACMEQ lower extremity function domain (61.5% vs 10.0%; P < 0.01).
      CONCLUSION: Patient satisfaction after laminoplasty was insufficient in patients
      with a hill-shaped ossification. The patients with OPLL who were able to
      recognize a difference in their clinical physical function, especially lower
      extremity function, were satisfied after laminoplasty.

PMID- 27647023
TI  - Bypass Revascularization Applied to the Posterior Cerebral Artery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The application of bypass procedures to the posterior cerebral artery
      (PCA) in combination with proximal clipping or trapping is a useful option for
      the treatment of complex posterior circulation aneurysms, especially those of the
      PCA. Because of its course around the midbrain through various cisterns,
      different approaches are required to access the PCA. OBJECTIVE: The presented
      study analyzes a retrospective case series of bypass procedures to the PCA to
      investigate the relevant treatment strategies and their outcomes. METHODS: Seven
      patients with bypass procedures to the PCA bypass were analyzed. The location of
      the aneurysms, approaches, site of anastomosis, bypass patency, pre- and
      postoperative modified Rankin Scale scores, and transient and permanent morbidity
      were assessed. RESULTS: Analyzed patients were treated for intracranial aneurysm
      located on the P2 (n = 3) or P3 (n = 2) of the PCA, bilateral vertebral artery
      dissecting aneurysm (n = 1) or internal carotid artery-posterior communicating
      artery aneurysm (n = 1). The following approaches were used: anterior temporal
      approach (n = 2), anterior temporal approach combined with subtemporal approach
      (n = 2), combined transpetrosal approach (n = 1), posterior interhemispheric
      approach (n = 1), and posterior interhemispheric approach with subtemporal
      approach (n = 1). All bypasses were patent. Permanent morbidity occurred in 2
      patients via cognitive dysfunction (n = 1) and hemiparesis (n = 1). CONCLUSIONS:
      Bypass revascularization of the PCA territory is effective for the treatment of
      complex vascular lesions affecting the posterior circulation. To address the
      various surgical segments of the PCA, different approaches are required. Combined
      approaches allow access to the PCA proximal and distal from the lesion.

PMID- 27647025
TI  - Chronic Subdural Hematoma: A Questionnaire Survey of Management Practice in India
      and Review of Literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the current management modalities practiced by
      neurosurgeons in India for chronic subdural hematoma. METHODS: A questionnaire
      was prepared for the survey and sent via e-mail to neurosurgeons. It covered the
      following aspects of managing chronic subdural hematoma: 1) demographic and
      institutional details; 2) choice of surgical procedure; 3) surgical adjutants
      such as placing a subdural drain; 4) pre- and postoperative care; and 5)
      recurrences and management. Responses obtained were entered in a SPSS data sheet
      and analyzed. RESULTS: Response rate of the survey was 9.3%. The majority of
      neurosurgeons (75%) preferred to do burr whole drainage for primary chronic
      subdural hematoma and also for recurrences. Only one third of routinely placed a
      subdural drain. Considerable practice variations exist for medical and
      perioperative management. CONCLUSIONS: Bedside twist drill drainage, which is
      effective and less costly than operative room procedures, has not gained
      popularity in practice. The present survey points towards the importance of
      making management guidelines for this common neurosurgical entity.

PMID- 27647026
TI  - Corneal Injury from Presurgical Chlorhexidine Skin Preparation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chlorhexidine skin preparation has been shown to provide highly
      effective antimicrobial presurgical skin cleansing. However, there is a
      significant risk of ocular toxicity when it is used in periocular areas. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: We describe 2 cases of significant corneal damage resulting from 4%
      chlorhexidine gluconate preoperative skin cleanser, despite the use of protective
      occlusive dressing over the eyes. Because of the potential for severe corneal
      toxicity resulting from use of chlorhexidine, alternative agents such as 10%
      povidone-iodine should be considered for skin preparation near periocular areas
      whenever possible. CONCLUSIONS: If chlorhexidine gluconate must be employed near
      periocular areas, great care must be exercised to avoid contact with the eyes,
      and additional protective measures (e.g., absorbent eye pads along with tightly
      occlusive dressings) must be used whenever possible.

PMID- 27647027
TI  - Traumatic Spinal Perimedullary Arteriovenous Fistula Induced by a Cervical Glass
      Stab Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the literature, perimedullary arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is an
      uncommon spinal vascular malformation that is generally regarded as a congenital
      lesion. To our knowledge, only a few cases of traumatic perimedullary AVF have
      been reported in the literature so far. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 58-year-old man
      presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) resulting from a secondary
      perimedullary arteriovenous fistula (AVF) induced by a glass stab injury to his
      right posterior neck. The glass had been removed, and the lacerated dura mater
      was closed. Hydrocephalus was diagnosed 2 months later, and the patient underwent
      ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement. Magnetic resonance imaging and digital
      subtraction angiography subsequently revealed dissection of the extradural right
      vertebral artery. However, there were no signs of perimedullary AVF. The patient
      presented 9 months after injury with sudden onset of severe headache, and SAH was
      diagnosed. Repeat digital subtraction angiography showed that the right vertebral
      artery dissection remained unchanged and was unlikely to be the underlying cause
      of SAH. However, a new diagnosis of perimedullary AVF at the craniocervical
      junction was made, and this was considered as a potential cause of SAH. The
      lesion was surgically obliterated. The hemosiderin deposits on the surface of the
      spinal cord confirmed that perimedullary AVF was the origin of SAH. CONCLUSIONS:
      Cervical trauma should be considered as a possible cause of de novo perimedullary
      AVF. Recognition of this phenomenon is important.

PMID- 27647028
TI  - Primary Hemorrhagic Neurovascular Diseases in Tibetans: A Retrospective
      Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although there have been many studies on primary hemorrhagic
      neurovascular diseases (PHNVDs) in different populations, a study focusing on
      PHNVDs in Tibetan people was lacking. This study aimed to explore the notable
      characteristics of Tibetan PHNVDs by comparing the 3 most common PHNVDs
      (aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, and
      arteriovenous malformation) in our institution between Tibetan and Han patients.
      METHODS: In this retrospective observational study, the hospital information
      system was used to access the records of patients with PHNVDs. A total of 249
      Tibetan patients and 2093 corresponding contemporary Han patients were recruited
      from January 2012 to January 2016. Sociodemographic information and clinical data
      on each PHNVD subtype were collected and compared between the 2 races. RESULTS:
      For Tibetan patients, a significantly higher incidence (P < 0.05) of rebleeding
      and cerebral infarction was observed in all 3 PHNVD subtypes. In the aneurysmal
      subarachnoid hemorrhage group, Tibetan patients had significantly higher
      incidence of blood blisterlike aneurysms (BLAs) (19.6% [19/97] vs. 3.2%
      [34/1071]; P < 0.001). In the spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage group, Tibetan
      patients had a significantly higher incidence of brainstem hemorrhage in the
      subtentorial area (10.8% vs. 5.1%; P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: For Tibetan PHNVDs, a
      high incidence of BLAs in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, a tendency toward
      brainstem hemorrhage in subtentorial spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, and a
      high rate of infarction and rebleeding in all 3 subtypes were all recognized.

PMID- 27647029
TI  - Clinical Features and Long-Term Outcomes of Unilateral Moyamoya Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the clinical features, risk factors for contralateral
      progression, and long-term outcomes of patients with unilateral moyamoya disease
      (MMD). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 109 patients with unilateral MMD
      treated at Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Clinical features, radiologic findings, and
      outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 30.8 +/- 14.2
      years with a one-peak distribution in the thirties. The ratio of women to men was
      1.1:1. Familial occurrence was 5.5%. The primary symptoms at initial presentation
      were transient ischemic attack (39.4%), infarction (22%), and hemorrhage (26.6%).
      The distribution of the initial Suzuki stage was as follows: stage 2, n = 33;
      stage 3, n = 35; stage 4, n = 27; stage 5, n = 11, and stage 6, n = 3.
      Contralateral abnormality on initial angiography occurred in 19 adult patients
      (17.4%). Posterior cerebral artery involvement was observed in 28 (25.7%)
      patients. During the average follow-up of 43.8 +/- 21.3 months, contralateral
      progression was observed in 18 patients (16.5%). Contralateral abnormalities (P =
      0.033) on initial angiography and infarction at initial presentation (P = 0.041)
      were significantly associated with contralateral progression in adults and
      children, respectively. Approximately 91.7% of patients had a modified Rankin
      Scale score of 0-2 during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: A one-peak pattern in age
      distribution, lower grade of Suzuki stage, fewer familial cases, and posterior
      cerebral artery involvement were observed in patients with unilateral MMD.
      Contralateral abnormalities on initial angiography and infarction at onset were
      risk factors for contralateral progression in adult and pediatric patients,
      respectively. Good functional outcomes can be anticipated in the vast majority of
      surgically treated patients.

PMID- 27647030
TI  - Auditory Monitoring in Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery: Intraoperative Development
      and Outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The auditory brainstem response (ABR) may be a predictor of
      postoperative cochlear nerve function. In this study, the course of
      intraoperative ABR monitoring was analyzed to find predictive markers for
      postoperative hearing function. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 2010 to 2012, 46
      patients who had had vestibular schwannoma surgery were investigated by
      intraoperative ABR monitoring. The type of ABR development was identified: type
      A, improved or stable ABR; type B, fluctuating or deteriorated ABR; and type C,
      slow or sudden ABR loss. Hearing function was correlated with ABR monitoring.
      RESULTS: The different types of ABR development showed a strong correlation with
      postoperative hearing (P < 0.001). ABR quality after 60% tumor removal was
      independently significant for hearing outcome. Possible interpretations are: 1)
      Independent of positive factors at the start of surgery at the final phase of
      tumor resection, what mattered for hearing outcome was the ABR quality (P <
      0.001). 2) Dependence on ABR quality in the last phase might be a result of what
      the cochlear nerve has endured during resection. 3) The importance of ABR quality
      in the last phase might be because the tumor capsule is dissected from the nerves
      in that final phase. ANALYSIS: of critical actions with incidence of ABR
      impairment showed that dissection in the internal auditory canal and drilling
      were most critical. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative ABR development is a predictive
      factor for postoperative hearing outcome. Deterioration should be avoided,
      because ABR improvement as a result of good status at the beginning of surgery
      could not be assumed.

PMID- 27647031
TI  - Automated Pressure-Controlled Discography in Patients Undergoing Anterior Lumbar
      Interbody Fusion for Discogenic Back Pain.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical
      outcomes of patients undergoing anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) with or
      without automated pressure-controlled discography (APCD) before the procedure.
      METHODS: Patients (n = 36) who underwent ALIF for lumbar discogenic back pain
      between 2008 and 2013 and were followed for more than 6 months were enrolled in
      this study. APCD was performed to identify discogenic back pain. Preoperative x
      rays, computed tomography images, and magnetic resonance images were obtained.
      The intervertebral disc height, type of Modic change, grade of disc degeneration,
      and fusion rate were determined. Additionally, the presence or absence of high
      intensity zone and vacuum disc were checked preoperatively. Clinical evaluation
      was performed by visual analog scale (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain imaginable),
      Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey before
      surgery and every 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The average patient age was
      53.3 years (range, 31-73 years). The mean follow-up durations were 19.7 months.
      Seventeen patients (the APCD-ALIF group) underwent ALIF after APCD, and 19
      patients underwent ALIF without APCD. The APCD-ALIF group had significantly
      improved clinical outcomes compared with the control group (visual analog scale
      score 1.8 +/- 1.6 vs. 3.3 +/- 2.4; P = 0.039: ODI score 6.7 +/- 6.3 vs. 12.1 +/-
      6.8; P = 0.019). The surgical improvement rate was significantly associated with
      ODI score (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm that APCD
      aids surgical outcomes of ALIF in patients with suspected lumbar discogenic pain.
      We recommend performing APCD before ALIF to confirm lumbar discogenic pain.

PMID- 27647033
TI  - New, High-Quality Evidence for Vertebroplasty in the Management of Painful Recent
      Compression Fractures: Review of the VAPOUR Trial.

PMID- 27647032
TI  - Daughter Sac Formation Related to Blood Inflow Jet in an Intracranial Aneurysm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We performed a hemodynamic study of an intracranial aneurysm with a
      newly developed daughter sac during observation to investigate the role of
      hemodynamics on the formation of a daughter sac. METHODS: A 75-year-old man
      underwent magnetic resonance angiography that revealed a large internal carotid
      artery aneurysm with inflow jet inside the aneurysm. The aneurysm was stable for
      18 months, but a new daughter sac developed at the tip of the aneurysm during the
      next 6 months. The daughter sac seemed to be related to the inflow jet on
      magnetic resonance angiography. Aneurysm geometries before and after daughter sac
      formation were reconstructed using the longitudinal data of magnetic resonance
      angiography. Computational fluid dynamic simulations were conducted under the
      patient-specific pulsatile inlet conditions measured by magnetic resonance
      velocimetry. RESULTS: The hemodynamic simulation revealed that the inflow jet
      impinged on 2 sites of the aneurysm: the right side of the aneurysmal dome and
      the tip of the aneurysm. The flow impingement caused elevation of pressure at
      both sites. However, the daughter sac formed at the latter site surrounded by the
      basal cistern but did not form at the former site that was in contact with the
      right temporal lobe. CONCLUSIONS: Blood inflow jet caused local elevation of
      pressure, and the formation of the daughter sac occurred at the site with high
      pressure but without the surrounding structure, which may cancel the
      perpendicular wall tension.

PMID- 27647034
TI  - Neurofibromatosis Type 1-Associated Extracranial Vertebral Artery Aneurysm
      Complicated by Vertebral Arteriovenous Fistula After Rupture: Case Report and
      Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extracranial vertebral artery aneurysm related to neurofibromatosis
      type 1 (NF1) is rare. Aneurysmal rupture typically induces such symptoms as
      cervical hematoma, hemothorax, and hypotension. Here we report a case of ruptured
      extracranial vertebral artery aneurysm in a patient with NF1 who, rather than
      cervical hematoma, hemothorax, or hypotension, developed a vertebral
      arteriovenous fistula (AVF) after aneurysm rupture. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 35-year
      old woman with a family history of NF1 presented with sudden-onset right neck and
      shoulder pain. Computed tomography angiography showed a right extracranial
      vertebral artery aneurysm. She had neither a cervical hematoma nor hypotension;
      however, angiography showed an AVF secondary to aneurysmal rupture. The patient
      was treated with endovascular coil embolization to prevent re-rupture.
      Postoperatively, her right neck and shoulder pain improved, and she was
      discharged without further neurologic deficits. CONCLUSIONS: This patient's
      clinical course suggests that if there is minimal bleeding from an NF1-associated
      ruptured extracranial vertebral artery aneurysm, then typical symptoms, such as
      cervical hematoma, hemothorax, and hypotension, may be absent. Thus, ruptured
      extracranial vertebral artery aneurysm should be considered in the differential
      diagnosis of patients with NF1 with sudden-onset radiculopathy, even in the
      absence of typical symptoms. The detection of a vertebral AVF provides a useful
      clue to the diagnosis of aneurysm rupture in such cases.

PMID- 27647035
TI  - Comparison of Stent-Assisted Coiling and Balloon-Assisted Coiling in the
      Treatment of Ruptured Wide-Necked Intracranial Aneurysms in the Acute Period.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy, stability, and
      safety of stent-assisted coiling (SAC) and balloon-assisted coiling (BAC) in the
      treatment of ruptured wide-necked aneurysms in the acute period. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients including 65 cases treated with SAC and 32 with BAC were
      reviewed at the authors' institution between November 2011 and December 2014. The
      efficacy of these 2 approaches and the incidence of periprocedural complications
      were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Morphologic analysis showed a lower
      fundus/neck ratio (1.2 vs. 1.6) in the aneurysms treated with SAC versus BAC (P <
      0.001). The mean neck width of aneurysms was 4.0 mm in the patients treated with
      SAC versus 3.4 mm in those treated with BAC (P < 0.04). Coil protrusion into the
      parent vessels during embolization was an independent risk factor for cerebral
      ischemic events (odds ratio [OR], 4.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-16.2).
      Neck width (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.44-0.97) and aneurysm perforation during
      procedure (OR, 6.24; 95% CI, 1.21-32.3) were independent predictors of complete
      occlusion (Raymond 1) by immediate postembolization angiography. There was no
      statistical difference between the 2 techniques regarding the rate of aneurysm
      occlusion at the end of procedure, periprocedural complications, and favorable
      outcome at discharge and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that
      SAC was more appropriate than BAC for ruptured wide-necked aneurysms with lower
      fundus/neck ratio or wider neck size. However, periprocedural complications,
      occlusion rates, and favorable outcomes did not differ between the 2 techniques.

PMID- 27647036
TI  - The Usefulness of Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography in Defining Painful
      Upper Cervical Facet Arthropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Standard imaging techniques have low predictive value for identifying
      sources of neck pain. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging
      in conjunction with computed tomography (CT) provides the sensitivity of bone
      scanning for areas of high metabolic activity with the sensitivity of CT for
      anatomic localization. We evaluated the usefulness of SPECT-CT imaging in
      identifying pain generators in upper cervical facet arthropathy. METHODS: In a
      retrospective study, we reviewed 7 patients (mean age, 68.7 years) who underwent
      diagnostic SPECT-CT imaging for upper cervical neck pain at our institution from
      August 2011 to February 2015. We assessed SPECT-CT radiotracer uptake and
      postoperative neck disability index (NDI) and visual analog scale (VAS) scores.
      RESULTS: Mean preoperative NDI and VAS scores were 42% (range, 34%-72%) and 7/10
      (range, 5-8), respectively. SPECT-CT showed increased radiotracer uptake and
      inflammation at the level of pain generation indicated by history and physical
      examination. Intraoperatively, all patients had corresponding facet hypertrophy
      with degeneration at the site of increased radiotracer uptake. The mean
      postoperative NDI and VAS scores at 9 months were 23% (0%-54%) and 2/10 (0-5),
      respectively, representing improvements of 20% (P = 0.025) and 4 (P = 0.0028),
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SPECT-CT imaging of the upper cervical spine is a
      potentially sensitive diagnostic test that can implicate pain generators with
      increased metabolic activity. We propose that SPECT-CT may be a useful adjunct in
      the workup for neck pain secondary to facet arthropathy that could obviate
      diagnostic injections.

PMID- 27647037
TI  - Elective Thoracolumbar Spine Fusion Surgery in Patients with Parkinson Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Few data are available concerning clinical outcomes in patients with
      Parkinson disease who undergo elective thoracolumbar spine fusion surgery. The
      goal of this study is to elucidate complication and revision rates after
      posterior thoracolumbar fusion surgery in patients with Parkinson disease, with a
      focus on how Parkinson disease modifies these rates. METHODS: The PearlDiver
      database (2005-2012) was queried for patients who underwent posterior approach
      thoracolumbar fusion from 2006 to 2011. Cohorts of patients with a previous
      diagnosis of Parkinson disease (n = 4816) and without (n = 280,702) were
      compared. Multivariate analysis that included various comorbidities and
      demographics was used to calculate effects of Parkinson disease on development of
      postoperative infection and major medical complications within 90 days and
      revision surgery within 1 year. For analyses, significance was set at P < 0.001.
      RESULTS: Major medical complications were observed in 545 patients (11.3%) for 90
      days after the index procedure. Postoperative infection was noted in 91 patients
      (1.9%) within 90 days, and revision surgeries were performed in 250 patients
      (5.2%) within 1 year. Multivariate analysis showed that Parkinson disease was
      significantly associated with an increased risk for medical complications
      (adjusted odds ratio, 1.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.34; P < 0.001) and
      revision surgery (adjusted odds ratio, 1.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.49-1.93;
      P < 0.001), but not postoperative infection (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with Parkinson disease are more likely to require revision surgery and have
      higher rates of adverse medical events postoperatively. Patients with Parkinson
      disease should be appropriately selected to ensure favorable clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27647038
TI  - Complications After In Vivo and Ex Vivo Autologous Bone Flap Storage for
      Cranioplasty: A Comparative Analysis of the Literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The most common bone flap storage strategies after decompressive
      hemicraniectomy for malignant intracranial hypertension include freezer
      cryopreservation (CP) and subcutaneous abdominal implantation (AP). Numerous
      series have reported on patient outcomes after cranioplasty in terms of
      infection, cosmesis, and resorption. This meta-analysis compares published
      outcomes of bone flap CP and subcutaneous storage with respect to efficacy and
      complication risk in patients undergoing cranioplasty after hemicraniectomy.
      METHODS: A systematic review was performed using PubMed-searchable studies that
      included bone flap storage methods and outcome data for cranioplasties performed
      between 1975 and 2015. RESULTS: A total of 48 studies including 5346 patients
      were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Of these patients, 4096
      underwent cranioplasty with an autologous flap. Mean bone flap storage times for
      CP and AP flaps were 69.9 and 69.7 days. Mean follow-up time for CP and AP flaps
      was 16.9 and 16.5 months. No statistically significant differences were found
      when comparing CP with subcutaneous storage of bone flaps with respect to
      percentage of patients developing infection (7.3% vs. 7.1%), percentage of
      patients needing revision surgery (15.9% vs. 7.6%), and percentage of patients
      experiencing resorption (9.7% vs. 7.7%). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest and
      most robust review comparing published outcomes of CP and subcutaneous storage of
      bone flaps in patients who have undergone decompressive hemicraniectomy. This
      review found no statistically significant differences in clinical outcomes
      (infection, resorption, reoperation) when comparing storage methods for bone flap
      preservation. This study suggests that both strategies may be used safely and
      successfully.

PMID- 27647039
TI  - Ultrasensitive mechanical detection of magnetic moment using a commercial disk
      drive write head.
AB  - Sensitive detection of weak magnetic moments is an essential capability in many
      areas of nanoscale science and technology, including nanomagnetism, quantum
      readout of spins and nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging. Here we show that the
      write head of a commercial hard drive may enable significant advances in
      nanoscale spin detection. By approaching a sharp diamond tip to within 5 nm from
      a write pole and measuring the induced diamagnetic moment with a nanomechanical
      force transducer, we demonstrate a spin sensitivity of 0.032 MUB Hz(-1/2),
      equivalent to 21 proton magnetic moments. The high sensitivity is enabled in part
      by the pole's strong magnetic gradient of up to 28 * 10(6) T m(-1) and in part by
      the absence of non-contact friction due to the extremely flat writer surface. In
      addition, we demonstrate quantitative imaging of the pole field with ~10 nm
      spatial resolution. We foresee diverse applications for write heads in
      experimental condensed matter physics, especially in spintronics, ultrafast spin
      manipulation and mesoscopic physics.

PMID- 27647040
TI  - Modifying Evaluations and Decisions in Risky Situations.
AB  - The main aim of this research was to investigate the decision making process in
      risky situations. We studied how different types of feedback on risky driving
      behaviors modulate risk evaluation and risk-taking. For a set of risky traffic
      situations, participants had to make evaluative judgments (judge the situation as
      risky or not) and urgent decisions (brake or not). In Experiment 1, participants
      received feedback with and without negative emotional content when they made
      risky behaviors. In Experiment 2 we investigated the independent effects of
      feedback and negative emotional stimuli. The results showed three important
      findings: First, urgent decisions were faster [F(1, 92) = 6.76, p = .01] and more
      cautious [F(1, 92) = 17.16, p < .001] than evaluative judgments. These results
      suggest that evaluative judgments of risk and actual risk-taking may not always
      coincide, and that they seem to be controlled by two different processing systems
      as proposed by dual process theories. Second, feedback made participants'
      responses even faster [F(1, 111) = 71.53, p < .001], allowing greater risk
      sensitivity [F(1, 111) = 22.12, p < .001] and skewing towards more cautious
      responses [F(1, 111) = 14.09, p < .001]. Finally, emotional stimuli had an effect
      only when they were presented as feedback. The results of this research increase
      our understanding of the processes involved in risky driving behavior and suggest
      efficient ways to control risk taking through the use of feedback. 

PMID- 27647042
TI  - Interprofessional learning through shadowing: Insights and lessons learned.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) aims to improve patient outcomes.
      Interprofessional shadowing improves students' knowledge of different roles and
      attitudes toward other professionals. AIM: This study evaluates (1) how pre
      clinical medical students describe the roles of the healthcare professionals they
      shadowed, and (2) whether shadowing can be used to introduce medical students to
      the benefits of interprofessional collaboration, and if so, in what ways.
      METHODS: Second-year medical students shadow another discipline and write a
      reflection on the shadowed discipline (SD)'s role and collaboration in patient
      care. A non-proportional stratified random sample of these reflections was coded
      during an iterative process. Any number of the 13 possible codes could be
      assigned to each reflection. Codes relevant to the research questions underwent
      narrative analysis. RESULTS: The most frequent codes were "specific function of
      SD" (88%), "SD's general purpose" (86%), and "value of SD's role" (68%). One
      third of reflections referenced "communication," and one-third mentioned
      "teamwork." Insights gained included an appreciation for interprofessional care
      and a global perspective on patient care, extending beyond the inpatient
      encounter. CONCLUSION: Through shadowing, students achieve several IPE core
      competencies and a broader perspective on patient care. Shadowing is an effective
      pedagogical method for IPE in the pre-clerkship curriculum.

PMID- 27647045
TI  - Financial capacity in dementia: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Financial capacity (FC) refers to a set of cognitively mediated
      abilities related to one's competency to manage propriety and income. Identifying
      intact from impaired FC in older persons with dementia is a growing concern in
      geriatric practice, but the best methods to assess this function still need to be
      determined. This study aims to review data on FC in dementia and on instruments
      used to assess this domain of capacity. METHODS: Database search was performed in
      Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, LILACS and PsycINFO. Studies that objectively
      assessed FC in dementia of any etiology were included. RESULTS: Of a total of 125
      articles, 10 were included. Mild Alzheimer's Disease (AD) was associated with
      impaired complex FC abilities, namely checkbook management, bank statement
      management and financial judgment, but simple FC skills were preserved. Moderate
      AD was associated with impairment in all domains of FC. The Financial Capacity
      Instrument (FCI) was applied in most of the selected studies and correlated with
      neuropsychological and neuroimaging variables. CONCLUSIONS: Early dementia is
      associated with partially preserved FC. More validation studies using objective
      and evidence-based FC assessment tools, such as the FCI, are still needed.

PMID- 27647044
TI  - Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression is increased in the alveolar
      compartment of asthmatic patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Increased exhaled nitric oxide (NO) levels in asthma are suggested
      to be through inducible NO synthase (iNOS). The aim of this study was to
      investigate the expression of iNOS in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells and
      tissue from central and peripheral airways and compare it with the exhaled
      bronchial and alveolar NO levels in patients with asthma vs a control group.
      METHODS: Thirty-two patients with asthma (defined as controlled or uncontrolled
      according to Asthma Control Test score cut-off: 20) and eight healthy controls
      were included. Exhaled NO was measured, and alveolar concentration and bronchial
      flux were calculated. iNOS was measured in central and peripheral lung biopsies,
      as well as BAL cells. Bronchoalveolar lavage macrophages were stimulated in
      vitro, and iNOS expression and NO production were investigated. RESULTS:
      Expression of iNOS was increased in central airway tissue and the alveolar
      compartment in uncontrolled as compared to controlled asthmatics and healthy
      controls. There were no differences, however, in iNOS mRNA levels in total BAL
      cells in uncontrolled as compared to controlled asthma. Bronchoalveolar lavage
      cell mRNA levels of iNOS or iNOS expression in central and alveolar tissue did
      not relate to alveolar NO, nor to bronchial flux of NO. In vitro stimulation with
      leukotriene D4 increased iNOS mRNA levels and NO production in cultured BAL
      macrophages. CONCLUSION: The levels of both bronchial and alveolar iNOS are
      increased in uncontrolled as compared to controlled asthma. However, levels of
      iNOS in BAL macrophages were not reflected by alveolar NO. Both central and
      distal iNOS levels may reflect responsiveness to steroid treatment.

PMID- 27647046
TI  - Mapping of the Communication-Mediating Interface in Nonribosomal Peptide
      Synthetases Using a Genetically Encoded Photocrosslinker Supports an Upside-Down
      Helix-Hand Motif.
AB  - Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are large modular protein templates that
      assemble bioactive peptides, many of which possess therapeutic importance.
      Protein-protein interactions between subunits of bacterial NRPSs are essential
      for proper template formation. The structural basis of the typical subunit
      interface between epimerization (E) and condensation domains is only poorly
      understood. Conflicting helix-helix and helix-hand models were previously
      proposed. Here, the genetically encoded photocrosslinker p-benzoylphenylalanine
      (BpF) was incorporated into the C-terminal communication-mediating domain (COM)
      of GrsA. Using the partner elongation module TycB1 to form a dipeptide product,
      we could correlate the ability to form covalent crosslinks with the functional
      module interaction. Perturbation of the module interaction with the large side
      chain of BpF in a scan at 19 positions demonstrated the importance of three
      hydrophobic residues in an alpha-helical arrangement. Mapping of covalent
      crosslinks using tandem mass spectrometry revealed the residues from the interior
      of the condensation domain as part of the protein interface; a finding not
      predicted by the helix-helix model. The epimerization domain of GrsA was found to
      be important for the interaction. Together with multiple sequence analyses and
      structural modeling, our results suggest an upside-down helix-hand model in which
      the C-terminal COM-helix is embedded in a hand motif with a hydrophobic core in a
      reversed orientation compared to a previous proposal. Our results provide a more
      detailed and the first direct structural understanding of the COM domain
      interaction and will contribute to successful biocombinatorial engineering
      attempts in the design of artificial NRPS templates.

PMID- 27647047
TI  - The effect of adenoid hypertrophy on maxillofacial development: an objective
      photographic analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deformity in the dental arc and facial skeleton by adenoid
      hypertrophy due to chronic mouth breathing is a well-known process. Most of the
      related studies have been based on cephalometric analyses. The aim of this study
      is to detect the presence of skeletal deformities on the soft tissue by analyzing
      distances and angles on photographs. METHODS: Ninety-seven children having
      between 25 and 100 % of adenoids, ages 4-12 years (48 boys, 49 girls), and 90
      cases having 0-25 % adenoid tissue, ages 4-12 years (54 boys, 36 girls), were
      studied by clinical history, physical examination (including endoscopy), and
      standardized clinical photographs. The children and parents were asked if any of
      the following were present in the children: snoring, sleep apnea, daytime
      sleepiness, poor school performance, mouth breathing during sleep, smoking
      parents, and restlessness during sleep. RESULTS: The assessment of linear and
      angular measurements on the clinical photographs showed, in the group having
      thicker adenoids compared with controls, a statistically significant increase in
      the distance between nasion and tip and nasion and subnasale and in the angle
      between Frankfort horizontal plane-gnathion-angulus mandible; there was also a
      statistically significant decrease in the distance between endocanthion and
      exocanthion and the angles between tragion-angulus mandible and gnathion and
      between nasion-angulus mandible and gnathion. CONCLUSIONS: The analyses showed a
      significant increase in the anterior face height and increase in the angle
      between Frankfort horizontal plane-gnathion-angulus mandible and a
      retropositioned and posterior-rotated mandible due to thicker adenoids. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: 2010/140 Date: 04 January 2010.

PMID- 27647049
TI  - Editorial: The effects of early trauma and deprivation on human development -
      from measuring cumulative risk to characterizing specific mechanisms.
AB  - Science is not a linear process of accumulating knowledge. To the contrary,
      progress in understanding is most likely to occur, especially in less 'mature'
      disciplines, when healthy debate between opposing points of view create a
      dialectic in which thesis and antithesis force a new synthesis. In developmental
      psychopathology, such tension between opposing schools of thought continue to
      play a vital role in driving discovery across a wide range of topics.

PMID- 27647050
TI  - Lest we forget: comparing retrospective and prospective assessments of adverse
      childhood experiences in the prediction of adult health.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; e.g. abuse, neglect, and
      parental loss) have been associated with increased risk for later-life disease
      and dysfunction using adults' retrospective self-reports of ACEs. Research should
      test whether associations between ACEs and health outcomes are the same for
      prospective and retrospective ACE measures. METHODS: We estimated agreement
      between ACEs prospectively recorded throughout childhood (by Study staff at Study
      member ages 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15) and retrospectively recalled in adulthood
      (by Study members when they reached age 38), in the population-representative
      Dunedin cohort (N = 1,037). We related both retrospective and prospective ACE
      measures to physical, mental, cognitive, and social health at midlife measured
      through both objective (e.g. biomarkers and neuropsychological tests) and
      subjective (e.g. self-reported) means. RESULTS: Dunedin and U.S. Centers for
      Disease Control ACE distributions were similar. Retrospective and prospective
      measures of adversity showed moderate agreement (r = .47, p < .001; weighted
      Kappa = .31, 95% CI: .27-.35). Both associated with all midlife outcomes. As
      compared to prospective ACEs, retrospective ACEs showed stronger associations
      with life outcomes that were subjectively assessed, and weaker associations with
      life outcomes that were objectively assessed. Recalled ACEs and poor subjective
      outcomes were correlated regardless of whether prospectively recorded ACEs were
      evident. Individuals who recalled more ACEs than had been prospectively recorded
      were more neurotic than average, and individuals who recalled fewer ACEs than
      recorded were more agreeable. CONCLUSIONS: Prospective ACE records confirm
      associations between childhood adversity and negative life outcomes found
      previously using retrospective ACE reports. However, more agreeable and neurotic
      dispositions may, respectively, bias retrospective ACE measures toward
      underestimating the impact of adversity on objectively measured life outcomes and
      overestimating the impact of adversity on self-reported outcomes. Associations
      between personality factors and the propensity to recall adversity were extremely
      modest and warrant further investigation. Risk predictions based on retrospective
      ACE reports should utilize objective outcome measures. Where objective outcome
      measurements are difficult to obtain, correction factors may be warranted.

PMID- 27647052
TI  - Moderators of treatment response to trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy
      among youth in Zambia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of mental health interventions such as trauma
      focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) may vary by client, caregiver, and
      intervention-level variables, but few randomized trials in low- and middle-income
      countries (LMIC) have conducted moderation analyses to investigate these
      characteristics. This study explores moderating factors to TF-CBT treatment
      response among a sample of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zambia.
      METHODS: Data were obtained from a completed randomized trial of TF-CBT among 257
      OVC in Zambia. Trauma symptoms and functioning were measured at baseline and
      following the end of treatment. Mixed effects regression models were estimated
      for each moderator of interest: gender, age, number of trauma types experienced,
      history of sexual abuse, orphan status, primary caretaker, school status, and
      parental involvement in treatment. RESULTS: Treatment effectiveness was moderated
      by history of sexual abuse with greater reductions in both outcomes (trauma, p <
      .05; functioning, p < .01) for those that experienced sexual abuse. Primary
      caretaker was also a moderator with greater trauma reductions in those who
      identified their mother as the primary caretaker (p < .01), and better
      functioning in those that identified their father as the primary caretaker (p <
      .05). Nonorphans and single orphans (mother alive) showed greater reduction in
      functional impairment (p < .01) compared with double orphans. There was no
      significant moderator effect found by gender, age, number of trauma types, school
      status, or caregiver participation in treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests
      that TF-CBT was effective in reducing trauma symptoms and functional impairment
      among trauma-affected youth overall and that it may be particularly effective for
      survivors of child sexual abuse and children whose primary caretaker is a
      biological parent. Scale-up of TF-CBT is warranted given the wide range of
      effectiveness and prevalence of child sexual abuse. Future randomized trials of
      interventions in LMIC should power for moderation analyses in the study design
      phase when feasible.

PMID- 27647054
TI  - Community-wide Interventions to Prevent Skin Cancer: Recommendation of the
      Community Preventive Services Task Force.

PMID- 27647051
TI  - Childhood abuse and reduced cortical thickness in brain regions involved in
      emotional processing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alterations in gray matter development represent a potential pathway
      through which childhood abuse is associated with psychopathology. Several prior
      studies find reduced volume and thickness of prefrontal (PFC) and temporal cortex
      regions in abused compared with nonabused adolescents, although most prior
      research is based on adults and volume-based measures. This study tests the
      hypothesis that child abuse, independent of parental education, predicts reduced
      cortical thickness in prefrontal and temporal cortices as well as reduced gray
      mater volume (GMV) in subcortical regions during adolescence. METHODS: Structural
      MRI scans were obtained from 21 adolescents exposed to physical and/or sexual
      abuse and 37 nonabused adolescents (ages 13-20). Abuse was operationalized using
      dichotomous and continuous measures. We examined associations between abuse and
      brain structure in several a priori-defined regions, controlling for parental
      education, age, sex, race, and total brain volume for subcortical GMV.
      Significance was evaluated at p < .05 with a false discovery rate correction.
      RESULTS: Child abuse exposure and severity were associated with reduced thickness
      in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), right lateral orbitofrontal cortex,
      right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), left
      temporal pole, and bilateral inferior, right middle, and right superior temporal
      gyri. Neither abuse measure predicted cortical surface area or subcortical GMV.
      Bilateral PHG thickness was inversely related to externalizing symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Child abuse, an experience characterized by a high degree of threat,
      is associated with reduced cortical thickness in ventromedial and ventrolateral
      PFC and medial and lateral temporal cortex in adolescence. Reduced PHG thickness
      may be a mediator linking abuse with externalizing psychopathology, although
      prospective research is needed to evaluate this possibility.

PMID- 27647055
TI  - CHARTing the Future Course of Tobacco-Cessation Interventions for Hospitalized
      Smokers.

PMID- 27647053
TI  - Community-wide Interventions to Prevent Skin Cancer: Two Community Guide
      Systematic Reviews.
AB  - CONTEXT: Skin cancer is a preventable and commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S.
      Excessive ultraviolet radiation exposure is a known cause of skin cancer. This
      article presents updated results of two types of interventions evaluated in a
      previously published Community Guide systematic review: multicomponent community
      wide interventions and mass media interventions when used alone. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: Studies assessing multicomponent community-wide and mass media
      interventions to prevent skin cancer by reducing ultraviolet radiation exposure
      were evaluated using Community Guide systematic review methods. Relevant studies
      published between 1966 and 2013 were included and analyzed for this review.
      EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Seven studies evaluating the effectiveness of multicomponent
      community-wide interventions showed a median increase in sunscreen use of 10.8
      (interquartile interval=7.3, 23.2) percentage points, a small decrease in
      ultraviolet radiation exposure, a decrease in indoor tanning device use of 4.0
      (95% CI=2.5, 5.5) percentage points, and mixed results for other protective
      behaviors. Four studies evaluating the effectiveness of mass media interventions
      found that they generally led to improved ultraviolet protection behaviors among
      children and adults. CONCLUSIONS: The available evidence showed that
      multicomponent community-wide interventions are effective in reducing the
      deleterious effects of ultraviolet radiation exposure by increasing sunscreen
      use. There was, however, insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of
      mass media interventions alone in reducing ultraviolet radiation exposure and
      increasing ultraviolet protection behaviors, indicating a continuing need for
      more research in this field to improve assessment of effectiveness.

PMID- 27647056
TI  - Effectiveness of the Tobacco Tactics Program in the Trinity Health System.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study determined the effectiveness of the Tobacco Tactics
      intervention. DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: This was a pragmatic, quasi
      experimental study conducted from 2010 to 2013 and analyzed from 2014 to 2015 in
      five Michigan community hospitals; three received the Tobacco Tactics
      intervention, and two received usual care. Smokers (N=1,528) were identified
      during hospitalization, and sent surveys and cotinine tests after 6 months.
      Changes in pre- to post-intervention quit rates in the intervention sites were
      compared with usual care control sites. INTERVENTION: The toolkit for nurses
      included: (1) 1 continuing education unit contact hour for training; (2) a
      PowerPoint presentation on behavioral and pharmaceutical interventions; (3) a
      pocket card entitled "Helping Smokers Quit: A Guide for Clinicians"; (4)
      behavioral and pharmaceutical protocols; and (5) a computerized template for
      documentation. The toolkit for patients included: (1) a brochure; (2) a cessation
      DVD; (3) the Tobacco Tactics manual; (4) a 1-800-QUIT-NOW card; (5) nurse
      behavioral counseling and pharmaceuticals; (6) physician reminders to offer brief
      advice to quit coupled with medication sign-off; and (7) follow-up phone calls by
      trained hospital volunteers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The effectiveness of the
      intervention was measured by 6-month 30-day point prevalence; self-reported quit
      rates with NicAlert((r)) urinary biochemical verification (48-hour detection
      period); and the use of electronic medical record data among non-responders.
      RESULTS: There were significant improvements in pre- to post-intervention self
      reported quit rates (5.7% vs 16.5%, p<0.001) and cotinine-verified quit rates
      (4.3% vs 8.0%, p<0.05) in the intervention sites compared with no change in the
      control sites. Propensity-adjusted multivariable analyses showed a significant
      improvement in self-reported 6-month quit rates from the pre- to post
      intervention time periods in the intervention sites compared to the control sites
      (p=0.044) and a non-statistically significant improvement in the cotinine
      verified 6-month quit rate. CONCLUSIONS: The Tobacco Tactics intervention, which
      meets the Joint Commission standards for inpatient smoking, has the potential to
      significantly decrease smoking among inpatient smokers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This
      study is registered at www.clinicaltrial.gov NCT01309217.

PMID- 27647057
TI  - Smoking-Cessation Interventions for Urban Hospital Patients: A Randomized
      Comparative Effectiveness Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hospitalization is a unique opportunity for smoking cessation, but
      prior interventions have measured efficacy with narrowly defined populations. The
      objective of this study was to enroll smokers admitted to two "safety net"
      hospitals and compare the effectiveness of two post-discharge cessation
      interventions. DESIGN: A randomized comparative effectiveness trial was
      conducted. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: At two New York City public hospitals, every
      hospitalized patient identified as a smoker (based on admission records) was
      approached. Inclusion criteria were: smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days; spoke
      English, Spanish, or Mandarin; had a U.S. phone number; not discharged to an
      institution where follow-up or smoking was limited; and not
      pregnant/breastfeeding. Of 18,797 patients identified as current smokers between
      July 2011 and April 2014, a total of 3,047 (16%) were discharged before being
      approached, 3,273 (17%) were not current smokers, 4,026 (21%) had no U.S. phone
      number, 2,831 (15%) were ineligible for other reasons, and 3,983 (21%) refused
      participation. In total, 1,618 (9%) participants enrolled in the study. During
      follow-up, 69% of participants were reached at 2 months and 68% at 6 months.
      INTERVENTION: At discharge, participants were randomized to multisession
      telephone counseling from study staff (n=804) or referral to the state quitline
      for proactive outreach and counseling (n=814). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self
      reported abstinence at 6 months was measured. Analyses were conducted in late
      2015. RESULTS: One quarter of participants were homeless or in unstable housing,
      60% had a history of substance abuse, 43% reported current hazardous drinking,
      and half had a psychiatric diagnosis other than substance abuse. At follow-up,
      the rate of abstinence (30-day point prevalence) was higher in the intensive
      counseling arm than the quitline arm at 2 months (29.0% vs 20.7%; relative
      risk=1.40; 95% CI=1.13, 1.73) and 6 months (37.4% vs 31.5%; relative risk=1.19;
      95% CI=1.01, 1.40). CONCLUSIONS: Intensive counseling was more effective than
      referral to the state quitline. Long-term abstinence was excellent in both
      groups. Many patients were not eligible for enrollment despite minimal exclusion
      criteria. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov
      NCT01363245.

PMID- 27647058
TI  - Helping Hospitalized Smokers: A Factorial RCT of Nicotine Patches and Counseling.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Most smokers abstain from smoking during hospitalization but
      relapse upon discharge. This study tests the effectiveness of two proven
      treatments (i.e., nicotine patches and telephone counseling) in helping these
      patients stay quit after discharge from the hospital, and assesses a model of
      hospital-quitline partnership. STUDY DESIGN: This study had a 2*2 factorial
      design in which participants were stratified by recruitment site and smoking rate
      and randomly assigned to usual care, nicotine patches only, counseling only, or
      patches plus counseling. They were evaluated at 2 and 6 months post
      randomization. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1,270 hospitalized adult smokers
      were recruited from August 2011 to November 2013 from five hospitals within three
      healthcare systems. INTERVENTION: Participants in the patch condition were
      provided 8 weeks of nicotine patches at discharge (or were mailed them post
      discharge). Quitline staff started proactively calling participants in the
      counseling condition 3 days post-discharge to provide standard quitline
      counseling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was self-reported
      30-day abstinence at 6 months using an intention-to-treat analysis. Data were
      analyzed from September 2015 to May 2016. RESULTS: The 30-day abstinence rate at
      6 months was 22.8% for the nicotine patch condition and 18.3% for the no-patch
      condition (p=0.051). Nearly all participants (99%) in the patch condition were
      provided nicotine patches, although 36% were sent post-discharge. The abstinence
      rates were 20.0% and 21.1% for counseling and no counseling conditions,
      respectively (p=0.651). Fewer than half of the participants in the counseling
      condition (47%) received counseling (mean follow-up sessions, 3.6). CONCLUSIONS:
      Provision of nicotine patches proved feasible, although their effectiveness in
      helping discharged patients stay quit was not significant. Telephone counseling
      was not effective, in large part because of low rates of engagement. Future
      interventions will need to be more immediate to be effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01289275.

PMID- 27647060
TI  - A Post-Discharge Smoking-Cessation Intervention for Hospital Patients: Helping
      Hand 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hospitalization provides an opportunity for smokers to quit, but
      tobacco-cessation interventions started in hospital must continue after discharge
      to be effective. This study aimed to improve the scalability of a proven
      effective post-discharge intervention by incorporating referral to a telephone
      quitline, a nationally available cessation resource. STUDY DESIGN: A three-site
      RCT compared Sustained Care, a post-discharge tobacco-cessation intervention,
      with Standard Care among hospitalized adult smokers who wanted to quit smoking
      and received in-hospital tobacco-cessation counseling. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A
      total of 1,357 daily smokers admitted to three hospitals were enrolled from
      December 2012 to July 2014. INTERVENTION: Sustained Care started at discharge and
      included automated interactive voice response telephone calls and the patient's
      choice of cessation medication for 3 months. Each automated call advised
      cessation, supported medication adherence, and triaged smokers seeking additional
      counseling or medication support directly to a telephone quitline. Standard Care
      provided only medication and counseling recommendations at discharge. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Biochemically confirmed past 7-day tobacco abstinence 6 months
      after discharge (primary outcome) and self-reported tobacco abstinence and
      tobacco-cessation treatment use at 1, 3, and 6 months and overall (0-6 months).
      Analyses were done in 2015-2016. RESULTS: Smokers offered Sustained Care (n=680),
      versus those offered Standard Care (n=677), did not have greater biochemically
      confirmed abstinence at 6 months (17% vs 16%, p=0.58). However, the Sustained
      Care group reported more tobacco-cessation counseling and medication use at each
      follow-up and higher rates of self-reported past 7-day tobacco abstinence at 1
      month (43% vs 32%, p<0.0001) and 3 months (37% vs 30%, p=0.008). At 6 months, the
      difference narrowed (31% vs 27%, p=0.09). Overall, the intervention increased
      self-reported 7-day abstinence over the 6-month follow-up (relative risk, 1.25;
      95% CI=1.10, 1.40; p=0.0006). CONCLUSIONS: A 3-month post-discharge smoking
      cessation intervention for hospitalized smokers who wanted to quit did not
      increase confirmed tobacco abstinence at 6 months but did increase self-reported
      abstinence during the treatment period (3 months). Real-time linkage of
      interactive voice response calls to a quitline, done in this trial to increase
      scalability of a previously proven cessation intervention, demonstrated short
      term promise but did not sustain long-term intervention effectiveness. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01714323.

PMID- 27647059
TI  - Warm Handoff Versus Fax Referral for Linking Hospitalized Smokers to Quitlines.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Few hospitals treat patients' tobacco dependence. To be effective,
      hospital-initiated cessation interventions must provide at least 1 month of
      supportive contact post-discharge. STUDY DESIGN: Individually randomized clinical
      trial. Recruitment commenced July 2011; analyses were conducted October 2014-June
      2015. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted in two large Midwestern
      hospitals. Participants included smokers who were aged >=18 years, planned to
      stay quit after discharge, and spoke English or Spanish. INTERVENTION: Hospital
      based cessation counselors delivered the intervention. For patients randomized to
      warm handoff, staff immediately called the quitline from the bedside and handed
      the phone to participants for enrollment and counseling. Participants randomized
      to fax were referred on the day of hospital discharge. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Outcomes at 6 months included quitline enrollment/adherence, medication use,
      biochemically verified cessation, and cost effectiveness. RESULTS: Significantly
      more warm handoff than fax participants enrolled in quitline (99.6% vs 59.6%;
      relative risk, 1.67; 95% CI=1.65, 1.68). One in four (25.4% warm handoff, 25.3%
      fax) were verified to be abstinent at 6-month follow-up; this did not differ
      significantly between groups (relative risk, 1.02; 95% CI=0.82, 1.24). Cessation
      medication use in the hospital and receipt of a prescription for medication at
      discharge did not differ between groups; however, significantly more fax
      participants reported using cessation medication post-discharge (32% vs 25%,
      p=0.01). The average incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of enrolling
      participants into warm handoff was $0.14. Hospital-borne costs were significantly
      lower in warm handoff than in fax ($5.77 vs $9.41, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: One in
      four inpatient smokers referred to quitline by either method were abstinent at 6
      months post-discharge. Among motivated smokers, fax referral and warm handoff are
      efficient and comparatively effective ways to link smokers with evidence-based
      care. For hospitals, warm handoff is a less expensive and more effective method
      for enrolling smokers in quitline services.

PMID- 27647061
TI  - Referring Hospitalized Smokers to Outpatient Quit Services: A Randomized Trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Linking outpatient cessation services to bedside counseling for
      hospitalized smokers can improve long-run quit rates. Adding an assisted referral
      (AR) offer to a tobacco treatment specialist consult service fits the team
      approach to care in U.S. hospitals. DESIGN: A two-arm patient-randomized trial
      tested the effectiveness of adding an AR offer to outpatient smoking-cessation
      services and interactive voice recognition (AR+IVR) follow-up to a usual care
      (UC) tobacco-cessation consult for hospitalized smokers. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:
      Over 24 months (November 2011-November 2013), 898 hospitalized adult smokers
      interested in quitting smoking were recruited from three large hospitals in the
      Portland, Oregon, area: an integrated group model HMO (n=622), a community
      hospital (n=195), and an academic health center (n=81). INTERVENTION: Tobacco
      treatment specialists identified smokers and provided an intensive bedside
      tobacco use assessment and cessation consultation (UC). AR+IVR recipients also
      received proactive ARs to available outpatient counseling programs and
      medications, and linked patients to a tailored IVR telephone follow-up system.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was self-reported 30-day abstinence at
      6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included self-reported and continuous
      abstinence and biochemically confirmed 7-day abstinence at 6 months. Follow-up
      was completed in September 2014; data were analyzed in 2015. RESULTS: A total of
      597 and 301 hospitalized smokers were randomized to AR+IVR and UC, respectively.
      AR+IVR and UC recipients received 19.3 and 17.0 minutes of bedside counseling
      (p=0.372), respectively. Most (58%) AR+IVR patients accepted referrals for
      counseling, 43% accepted medications, and 28% accepted both. Self-reported 30-day
      abstinence for AR+IVR (17.9%) and UC (17.3%) were not statistically significant
      (p=0.569). Differences in 7-day, continuous, and biochemically confirmed
      abstinence by treatment group also were insignificant, overall and adjusting for
      site. CONCLUSIONS: Adding an AR to outpatient counseling and medications did not
      increase cigarette abstinence at 6 months compared to UC alone.

PMID- 27647062
TI  - Web-Based Intervention for Transitioning Smokers From Inpatient to Outpatient
      Care: An RCT.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Smoking-cessation follow-up care after hospitalization is known to
      be effective. Cost-effective and disseminable interventions adoptable by
      hospitals are needed. DESIGN: RCT. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen hundred eighty
      eight current smokers recruited during a tertiary care hospital stay were
      randomly assigned to Usual Care (UC) or Usual Care plus Web-Based Intervention
      (WI). Data were collected in 2011-2013 and analyzed in 2014-2015. INTERVENTION:
      UC provided brief bedside advice to quit, a quit plan template, and quitline
      contact information. WI included access to a website with asynchronous e-message
      communication with a tobacco counselor, use of interactive self-assessments,
      helpful cessation information, and access to additional web resources, as well as
      automated e-mail messages tailored for health concern and readiness to quit. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported 30-day abstinence at 6 months was the primary
      outcome; a subset was verified by saliva cotinine. RESULTS: Six-month follow-up
      was completed by 83% of participants. No difference was found between study arms
      for self-reported abstinence rates in intent-to-treat (25.4% WI vs 26.8% UC) and
      complete case (31.3% WI vs 31.4% UC) analyses. Reduced smoking was reported by
      45.5% (WI, n=276) and 47% (UC, n=296) of non-abstinent responders (p=0.59). Using
      a 10-ng/mL cotinine cut off, abstinence was verified in 52.1% of WI and 62.5% of
      UC (p=0.11). Significant covariates associated with abstinence at 6 months were
      being male, not smoking during hospitalization, being very confident in quitting,
      planning to quit/stay quit, smoking fewer days in the past 30 days, fewer years
      of smoking, and having cerebrovascular or connective tissue rheumatic disease as
      primary hospital diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of difference between treatment
      arms suggests a strong effect for UC, WI was not effective, or both. Low
      intervention engagement may be partially responsible. Self-reported abstinence
      rates were relatively high in both arms, although the biochemically verified
      rates indicate over-reporting of abstinence. These findings suggest brief bedside
      counseling for all hospitalized smokers is beneficial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This
      study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01277250.

PMID- 27647064
TI  - Influence of culture conditions for clinically isolated non-albicans Candida
      biofilm formation.
AB  - Non-albicans Candida species have been isolated in increasing numbers in
      patients. Moreover, they are adept at forming biofilms. This study analyzed
      biofilm formation of clinically isolated non-albicans Candida, including Candida
      tropicalis, Candida krusei and Candida parapsilosis under the influence of
      different growth media (RPMI 1640, YPD and BHI) and several culture variables
      (inoculum concentration, incubation period and feeding conditions). The results
      showed that culture conditions strongly influenced non-albicans Candida species
      biofilm formation. YPD and BHI resulted in larger amount of biofilm formation
      with higher metabolic activity of biofilms. Furthermore, the growth media seems
      to have varying effects on adhesion and biofilm development. Growth conditions
      may also influence biofilm formation, which was enhanced when starting the
      culture with a larger inoculum, longer incubation period and using a fed-batch
      system. Therefore, the potential influences of external environmental factors
      should be considered when studying the non-albicans Candida biofilms in vitro.

PMID- 27647063
TI  - CHARTing a Path to Pragmatic Tobacco Treatment Research.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is important to consider the degree to which studies are
      explanatory versus pragmatic to understand the implications of their findings for
      patients, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. Pragmatic trials test the
      effectiveness of interventions in real-world conditions; explanatory trials test
      for efficacy under ideal conditions. The Consortium of Hospitals Advancing
      Research on Tobacco (CHART) is a network of seven NIH-funded trials designed to
      identify effective programs that can be widely implemented in routine clinical
      practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of CHART trial study designs was
      conducted to place each study on the pragmatic-explanatory continuum. After
      reliability training, six raters independently scored each CHART study according
      to ten PRagmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS) dimensions,
      which covered participant eligibility criteria, intervention flexibility,
      practitioner expertise, follow-up procedures, participant compliance,
      practitioner adherence, and outcome analyses. Means and SDs were calculated for
      each dimension of each study, with lower scores representing more pragmatic
      elements. Results were plotted on "spoke and wheel" diagrams. The rating process
      and analyses were performed in October 2014 to September 2015. RESULTS: All seven
      CHART trials tended toward the pragmatic end of the spectrum, although there was
      a range from 0.76 (SD=0.23) to 1.85 (SD=0.58). Most studies included some
      explanatory design elements. CONCLUSIONS: CHART findings should be relatively
      applicable to clinical practice. Funders and reviewers could integrate PRECIS
      criteria into their guidelines to better facilitate pragmatic research. CHART
      study protocols, coupled with scores reported here, may help readers improve the
      design of their own pragmatic trials.

PMID- 27647066
TI  - [Inventory building of phages against extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii isolated from wounds of patients with severe burn and related
      characteristic analysis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To build inventory of phages against extensively drug-resistant
      Acinetobacter Baumannii isolated from wounds of inpatients of burn ICU and
      analyze related characteristics. METHODS: In 2014 and 2015, 131 strains of
      extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii were isolated from wounds of
      inpatients of burn ICU from one hospital in Chongqing. In 2015, 98 strains of
      extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii were isolated from wounds of
      inpatients of burn ICU from 6 hospitals in Guangdong province. Above-mentioned
      229 strains were collected for conducting experiments as follows: (1) Multilocus
      sequence typing (MLST) of strains isolated from Chongqing and Guangdong province
      was analyzed. (2) Sewage co-culture method was applied for isolation of phages
      with above-mentioned strains and sewage from Chongqing and Guangdong province.
      Numbers of isolated phages and times of successful isolation and unsuccessful
      isolation were recorded. (3) The most prevalent subtypes of strains from
      Chongqing and Guangdong province in 2015 were collected, and their phages
      respectively underwent cross infection with all strains from Chongqing and those
      from Guangdong province. The lysis ability of phage was observed when phage
      underwent cross infection with the same subtype of strain or not the same, and
      the lytic ratio was calculated. (4) Fluid of phage in one type was randomly
      selected and equally divided into 3 parts, and its titer was determined by double
      dilution method. Then each part of phage fluid was subdivided into 3 small parts,
      which were cultured with LB fluid medium and respectively stored under the
      condition of -20 C, 4 C, and room temperature. After being stored for 1 month and
      2 months, the titer of phage was determined for evaluating stability of phage.
      Data were processed with Fisher's exact test, chi-square test, and one-way
      analysis of variance. RESULTS: (1) The major type of strains from Chongqing in
      2014 was ST368 (45%, 31/69), and major types of strains from Chongqing in 2015
      were ST75 (26%, 16/62) and ST195 (24%, 15/62), while that from Guangdong province
      in 2015 was ST977 (46%, 45/98). (2) For strains from Chongqing, isolation effect
      of phage with sewage of Chongqing (8 times of successful isolation with 9 strains
      of phages and 1 time of unsuccessful isolation) was better than that with sewage
      of Guangdong province (1 time of successful isolation with 1 strain of phage and
      7 times of unsuccessful isolation). For strains from Guangdong province,
      isolation effect of phage with sewage of Guangdong province (8 times of
      successful isolation with 6 strains of phages) was better than that with sewage
      of Chongqing (7 times of unsuccessful isolation with no phage). These differences
      were statistically significant (P<0.05 or P<0.01). There was no obvious
      difference in isolation effect of phage between strains from Chongqing with
      sewage of Chongqing and strains from Guangdong province with sewage of Guangdong
      province (P>0.05). (3) The ratios of phages of ST75 and ST977 extensively drug
      resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii strains lysing the strains with the same type
      were respectively 13/16 and 8/9, which were obviously higher than those lysing
      the strains with different type (respectively 11/115 and 3/53, with chi(2) values
      respectively 48.23 and 68.46, P values below 0.001). (4) Compared with that
      before storage, titer of phage under storage condition of -20 C, 4 C, and room
      temperature for 1 month decreased by approximately 1 order of magnitude, and that
      for 2 months decreased by approximately 2 orders of magnitude. After being stored
      for 1 month and 2 months, there were no statistically significant differences in
      titer of phage among 3 storage conditions (with F values respectively 1.29 and
      1.07, P values above 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study has successfully built an
      inventory covering 229 strains of phages of extensively drug-resistant
      Acinetobacter Baumannii. MLST of extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii varies in different area and different time. Phage can be well isolated
      using sewage with the same source as that of strain. The lysis ability of phage
      is closely related to the MLST of strains. Inventory of phages should be built
      according to regional division. Moreover, phage cultured with LB fluid medium
      shows good stability without special requirements for storage conditions.

PMID- 27647065
TI  - [Phage therapy for bacterial infection of burn].
AB  - With the long-term and widespread use of antibiotics, drug resistance of bacteria
      has become a major problem in the treatment of burn infection. For treating
      multidrug resistant bacteria, phage therapy has become the focus of attention.
      Development of phage therapy to fill the blank of this field in China is
      extremely urgent. 

PMID- 27647069
TI  - [Advances in the research of LuxR family protein in quorum-sensing system of gram
      negative bacteria].
AB  - Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-density-dependent method for information
      transmission among bacteria, as well as a mechanism for the bacteria to adapt to
      environment. LuxR family protein plays a key role in gram-negative bacterial QS
      system as a kind of transcription regulators and participates in a variety of
      biological behaviors with LuxI protein and signal molecules, such as
      bioluminescence, biofilm formation, virulence factors production, and so on. The
      advances in the research of LuxR family protein in QS system of gram-negative
      bacteria were summarized in this review. 

PMID- 27647067
TI  - [Therapeutic effect of phages on extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii-induced sepsis in mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the therapeutic effect of phages on extensively drug
      resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-induced sepsis in mice. METHODS: (1) Sixty
      BALB/c mice were divided into blank control group, sepsis control group,
      antibiotics treatment group, phage treatment group, and phage control group
      according to the random number table, with 12 mice in each group. Mice in blank
      control group were intraperitoneally (the same injection position below) injected
      with 1 mL normal saline. Mice in sepsis control group, antibiotics treatment
      group, and phage treatment group were injected with 1 mL extensively drug
      resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (the strain was isolated from the blood of a
      severely burned patient hospitalized in our unit) in the concentration of 5*10(7)
      colony-forming unit/mL to reproduce sepsis model. Two hours later, mice in sepsis
      control group, antibiotics treatment group, and phage treatment group were
      injected with 1 mL saline, 1 mg/mL imipenem/cilastatin, and 1*10(8) plaque
      forming unit (PFU)/mL phages screened based on above-mentioned Acinetobacter
      baumannii (the same phages below) respectively. Mice in phage control group were
      injected with 1 mL phages in the titer of 1*10(8) PFU/mL. The injection was
      performed continuously for 7 days in each living mouse, and the survival
      situation of mice was observed each day to calculate the survival ratio in one
      week. (2) Another 60 BALB/c mice were grouped and treated as in experiment (1),
      and the injection was performed continuously for 5 days in each living mouse. On
      experiment day 2, 4, and 6, 3 mice from each group were selected (if the number
      of survived mouse in any group was less than 3 at sample collecting, all the
      survived mice were selected), and blood was drawn to determine white blood cell
      count (WBC, with 3 samples at each time point in each group). On experiment day
      2, blood was drawn from the mice that had their blood taken earlier for bacterial
      culture, and lung, liver, kidney, and spleen tissue was collected from the same
      mice. The tissue samples were added to the LB solid medium after being
      homogenized and diluted for bacterial culture. The content of bacteria was
      calculated after the bacterial colony number was counted. Data were processed
      Wilcoxon rank sum test, one-way analysis of variance, LSD test and Kruskal-Wallis
      rank sum test. RESULTS: (1) On experiment day 7, there were 12, 8, 10, and 12
      mice survived in blank control group, antibiotics treatment group, phage
      treatment group, and phage control group respectively, while no mouse survived in
      sepsis control group. Compared with that in sepsis control group, the survival
      ratio of mice was significantly higher in the other four groups (with Z values
      from 55.635 to 106.593, P values below 0.05). The survival ratio of mice in phage
      treatment group was slightly higher than that in antibiotics treatment group,
      without statistically significant difference (Z=2.797, P>0.05). (2) On experiment
      day 2, WBC data of mice in blank control group, phage treatment group, and phage
      control group were close[respectively (5.60+/-0.94)*10(9)/L, (5.16+/
      0.36)*10(9)/L, and (5.26+/-1.89)*10(9)/L], all significantly lower than the datum
      in sepsis control group[(8.64+/-0.64)*10(9)/L, P<0.05 or P<0.01], and the WBC
      data in the latter two groups were significantly lower than the datum in
      antibiotics treatment group[(7.80+/-1.76)*10(9)/L, with P values below 0.05]. On
      experiment day 4, WBC data of mice in antibiotics treatment group, phage
      treatment group, and phage control group were close, all significantly lower than
      the datum in blank control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and WBC data in the above
      mentioned four groups were all lower than the datum in sepsis control group (with
      P values below 0.01). On experiment day 6, there was no statistically significant
      difference in WBC among blank control group, antibiotics treatment group, phage
      treatment group, and phage control group (chi(2)=4.128, P>0.05). On experiment
      day 2, respectively 12, 7, and 2 mice were detected as blood bacterial culture
      positive in sepsis control group, antibiotics treatment group, and phage
      treatment group, while no positive result was detected in the other two groups.
      Positive ratios of blood bacterial culture of mice in blank control group, phage
      treatment group, phage control group were significantly lower than the ratio in
      sepsis control group (with chi(2) values from -30.000 to 30.000, P values below
      0.01). Positive ratio of blood bacterial culture of mice in antibiotics treatment
      group was significantly higher than that in blank control group or phage control
      group (with chi(2) values respectively 17.500 and -17.500, P values below 0.05).
      On experiment day 2, except for the kidney tissue of mice in phage treatment
      group, the bacteria load in each viscus of mice in blank control group, phage
      treatment group, and phage control group was significantly lower than that in
      sepsis control group (with chi(2) values from -9.000 to 9.000, P values below
      0.01). The bacteria load in kidney of mice in antibiotics treatment group was
      significantly higher than that in blank control group or phage control group
      (with chi(2) values respectively -7.500 and 7.500, P values below 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Phages can significantly improve survival ratio, control
      inflammation response, and effectively clean bacteria in lung, liver, spleen, and
      kidney in treating extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-induced
      sepsis in mice.

PMID- 27647068
TI  - [Analysis of the pathogenic characteristics of 162 severely burned patients with
      bloodstream infection].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the distribution and drug resistance of pathogen isolated
      from severely burned patients with bloodstream infection, so as to provide
      reference for the clinical treatment of these patients. METHODS: Blood samples of
      162 severely burned patients (including 120 patients with extremely severe burn)
      with bloodstream infection admitted into our burn ICU from January 2011 to
      December 2014 were collected. Pathogens were cultured by fully automatic blood
      culture system, and API bacteria identification panels were used to identify
      pathogen. Kirby-Bauer paper disk diffusion method was used to detect the drug
      resistance of major Gram-negative and -positive bacteria to 37 antibiotics
      including ampicillin, piperacillin and teicoplanin, etc. (resistance to
      vancomycin was detected by E test), and drug resistance of fungi to 5 antibiotics
      including voriconazole and amphotericin B, etc. Modified Hodge test was used to
      further identify imipenem and meropenem resistant Klebsiella pneumonia. D test
      was used to detect erythromycin-induced clindamycin resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus. The pathogen distribution and drug resistance rate were analyzed by
      WHONET 5.5. Mortality rate and infected pathogens of patients with extremely
      severe burn and patients with non-extremely severe burn were recorded. Data were
      processed with Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: (1) Totally 1 658 blood samples
      were collected during the four years, and 339 (20.4%) strains of pathogens were
      isolated. The isolation rate of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria,
      and fungi were 68.4% (232/339), 24.5% (83/339), and 7.1% (24/339), respectively.
      The top three pathogens with isolation rate from high to low were Acinetobacter
      baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in turn. (2) Except
      for the low drug resistance rate to polymyxin B and minocycline, drug resistance
      rate of Acinetobacter baumannii to the other antibiotics were relatively high
      (81.0%-100.0%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was sensitive to polymyxin B but highly
      resistant to other antibiotics (57.7%-100.0%). Enterobacter cloacae was sensitive
      to imipenem and meropenem, while its drug resistance rates to ciprofloxacin,
      levofloxacin, cefoperazone/sulbactam, cefepime, piperacillin/tazobactam were
      25.0%-49.0%, and those to the other antibiotics were 66.7%-100.0%. Drug
      resistance rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae to cefoperazone/sulbactam, imipenem,
      and meropenem were low (5.9%-15.6%, two imipenem- and meropenem-resistant strains
      were identified by modified Hodge test), while its drug resistance rates to
      amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin/tazobactam, cefepime, cefoxitin,
      amikacin, levofloxacin were 35.3%-47.1%, and those to the other antibiotics were
      50.0%-100.0%. (3) Drug resistance rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
      aureus (MRSA) to most of the antibiotics were higher than those of the
      methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). MRSA was sensitive to
      linezolid, vancomycin, and teicoplanin, while its drug resistance rates to
      compound sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, minocycline, and erythromycin were 5.3%
      31.6%, and those to the other antibiotics were 81.6%-100.0%. Except for totally
      resistant to penicillin G and tetracycline, MSSA was sensitive to the other
      antibiotics. Fourteen Staphylococcus aureus strains were resistant to
      erythromycin-induced clindamycin. Enterococcus was sensitive to vancomycin and
      teicoplanin, while its drug resistance rates to linezolid, chloramphenicol,
      nitrofurantoin, and high unit gentamicin were low (10.0%-30.0%), and those to
      ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, minocycline, and ampicillin were high (60.0%-80.0%).
      Enterococcus was fully resistant to rifampicin. (4) Fungi was sensitive to
      amphotericin B, and drug resistance rates of fungi to voriconazole, fluconazole,
      itraconazole, and ketoconazole were 7.2%-12.5%. (5) The mortality of patients
      with extremely severe burn was higher than that of patients with non-extremely
      severe burn. The variety of infected pathogens in patients with extremely severe
      burn significantly outnumbered that in patients with non-extremely severe burn
      (Z=-2.985, P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The variety of pathogen in severely burned
      patients with bloodstream infection is wide, with the main pathogens as
      Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and
      the drug resistance situation is grim. The types of infected pathogen in patients
      with extremely severe burn are more complex, and the mortality of these patients
      is higher when compared with that of patients with non-extremely severe burn.

PMID- 27647070
TI  - [Advances in the research of treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections].
AB  - It is imperative to research the treatment strategy for infections caused by
      multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria, as there are increasing reports showing that
      more and more patients are decimated by the infections of MDR bacteria and the
      development of antimicrobial drugs is in downturn. Current researches mainly
      focus on the following three aspects: developing new antimicrobial agents with
      the aid of basic scientific achievements in finding new antibacterial targets,
      achieving antimicrobial purpose by specific lysis of host bacteria with phages of
      high specificity, and killing bacteria potently by destroying its cytomembrane
      using broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides. 

PMID- 27647072
TI  - [Efficacy of a hydrosurgery system applied in the debridement of extensive
      residual wounds of patients with severe burn].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy of a hydrosurgery system applied in the
      debridement of extensive residual wounds of patients with severe burn
      prospectively. METHODS: Seventy-six severely burned patients with extensive
      residual wounds after treatment were admitted into Department of Burn Surgery of
      Changhai Hospital of the Second Military Medical University from May 2012 to
      November 2015. The patients were divided into hydrosurgery system debridement
      group (HD, n=34) and traditional debridement group (TD, n=42) according to the
      random number table, and their residual wounds were debrided by a hydrosurgery
      system and conventional surgical instruments respectively. The wounds of patients
      in two groups were repaired with stamp-like grafts made from split-thickness
      autoskin after debridement. Second time of debridement and skin grafting as above
      was performed if necessary. The time used in debriding 1% TBSA wound in the first
      surgery, positive rate of bacterial culture of wound exudate on post first
      surgery day (PFSD) 3, survival rate of skin grafts on PFSD 7, second debridement
      rate, and wound healing time of patients in two groups were compared. Data were
      processed with two independent-sample t test and chi-square test. RESULTS: The
      time used in debriding 1% TBSA wound of patients in the first surgery in group HD
      was (1.2+/-0.3) min, which was significantly shorter than that in group TD[(1.9+/
      0.4) min, t=-9.098, P<0.001]. On PFSD 3, positive rate of bacterial culture of
      wound exudate of patients in group HD was 11.76% (4/34), which was significantly
      lower than that in group TD[38.10% (16/42), chi(2)=6.718, P=0.010]. On PFSD 7,
      the survival rate of skin grafts of patients in group HD was (90+/-8)%, which was
      significantly higher than that in group TD[(83+/-15)%, t=2.334, P=0.022]. The
      second debridement rate of patients in group HD was 5.88% (2/34), which was
      significantly lower than that in group TD[23.81% (10/42), chi(2)=4.542, P=0.033].
      The wound healing time of patients in group HD was (10.6+/-1.5) d, which was
      significantly shorter than that in group TD[(13.3+/-2.5) d, t=-5.442, P<0.001].
      CONCLUSIONS: The hydrosurgery system applied in the debridement of extensive
      residual wounds of patients with severe burn is thorough and highly efficient,
      which is beneficial to improving the survival rate of skin grafts and
      accelerating wound healing.

PMID- 27647071
TI  - [Phase IV clinical trial for external use of recombinant human granulocyte
      macrophage colony-stimulating factor gel in treating deep partial-thickness burn
      wounds].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of external use of
      recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) gel
      on deep partial-thickness burn wounds. METHODS: Sixty-eight hospitals in our
      country including our unit performed a phase IV clinical trial for rhGM-CSF gel
      in patients (conforming to the study criteria) with deep partial-thickness burn
      wounds from November 2010 to July 2012. Multicenter, randomized, positive
      homogenous-controlled, and open trial method was used in the trial, and patients
      from 10 hospitals were grouped into the positive-homogenous-controlled trial,
      while patients from the other 58 hospitals were grouped into open trial. (1)
      Controlled trial. Patients were divided into rhGM-CSF group and conventional
      treatment group (CT) with the ratio of 1?1 according to the stratified
      randomization method. Wounds of patients in rhGM-CSF group were coated with rhGM
      CSF gel, and wounds of patients in group CT were covered by gauze with iodophor.
      Scores of wound exudate and wound edge response before treatment and on treatment
      day (TD) 2, 4, 8, 10, 14, 20, and 28 were conventionally evaluated. Wound healing
      rates on TD 8, 10, 14, 20, and 28 were calculated. Complete wound healing time
      and overall efficiency including cure, excellence, progress, and invalid
      situation on TD 28 were recorded. Safety indexes including vital signs and
      laboratory test indexes before and during treatment, and adverse reactions during
      treatment were observed. (2) Open trial. Wounds of patients in this trail were
      all coated with rhGM-CSF gel. Complete wound healing time, overall efficiency,
      and safety indexes of patients were recorded as in controlled trial. Data were
      processed with CMH-chi(2) test, Fisher's exact test, signed rank sum test, paired
      t test, Log-Rank test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: (1) Controlled trail.
      A total of 366 patients from 10 hospitals were included in this trial, and 358
      cases with 177 cases in rhGM-CSF group and 181 cases in group CT finished the
      trial. There were no statistically significant differences in gender, age, injury
      characteristics, and combined medication situation between patients in two groups
      (chi(2)=1.510, with t values from 0.458 to 0.820, P values above 0.05). Scores of
      wound exudate of patients in two groups were similar before treatment and on TD
      2, 20, and 28 (t=0.420, with Z values from 0.735 to 1.939, P values above 0.05).
      Scores of wound exudate of patients in rhGM-CSF group were significantly lower
      than those in group CT on TD 4, 8, 10, and 14 (with Z values from 2.054 to 2.580,
      P values below 0.05). Scores of wound edge response of patients in two groups
      were similar before treatment and on each TD (t=0.340, with Z values from -1.147
      to 1.874, P values above 0.05). Wound healing rate of patients in rhGM-CSF group
      was significantly higher than that in group CT on each TD (with Z values from
      2.630 to 5.235, P values below 0.01). The complete wound healing time of patients
      in rhGM-CSF group was (16.93+/-0.40) d, which was significantly shorter than that
      in group CT[(19.88+/-0.41) d, chi(2)=26.732, P<0.001]. At last, 171 (96.61%)
      patients were completely cured in rhGM-CSF group, while excellence, progress, and
      invalid results were achieved in 3 (1.69%), 1 (0.56%), and 2 (1.13%) patients,
      respectively. Whereas, 161 (88.95%) patients were completely cured in group CT,
      while excellence, progress, and invalid results were achieved in 11 (6.08%), 5
      (2.76%), and 4 (2.12%) patients, respectively. Total efficacy of patients in rhGM
      CSF group was significantly higher than that in group CT (chi(2)=5.784, P<0.05).
      Levels of vital signs and laboratory test indexes of patients in two groups
      before and during treatment were similar. There were no statistically significant
      differences in adverse reaction or drug-related adverse reaction between patients
      in two groups during treatment (with P values above 0.05). (2) Open trial. A
      total of 2 380 patients were enrolled in, and 2 329 patients finished the trial.
      The complete wound healing time of patients was (16.28+/-0.10)d. At last, 2 257
      (96.91%) patients were totally cured, while excellence, progress, and invalid
      results were achieved in 36 (1.55%), 16 (0.69%), and 20 (0.86%) patients,
      respectively. Vital signs and laboratory test indexes of patients before and
      during treatment were similar. The drug-related adverse reaction was observed in
      44 patients (1.89%). CONCLUSIONS: External use of rhGM-CSF gel on deep partial
      thickness burn wounds can promote wound healing and is safe for clinical use.

PMID- 27647073
TI  - [Influence of covering of auto-crosslinked sodium hyaluronate gel in combination
      with xenogenic acellular dermal matrix on healing of full-thickness skin defect
      wound in pig].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the influence of covering of auto-crosslinked sodium
      hyaluronate gel in combination with xenogenic acellular dermal matrix (ADM) on
      healing of full-thickness skin defect wound in pig. METHODS: Totally four 10
      cm*10 cm full-thickness skin defect wounds were reproduced symmetrically on both
      sides of spine on the back of each one of the six Chinese experimental minipigs.
      After autologous microskin grafting, the 4 wounds in each pig were divided into 4
      groups according to the random number table, with 6 wounds in each group. Wounds
      in allogenic skin group (AS) were covered by full-thickness skin from one (not
      the recipient) of the 6 pigs; wounds in xenogenic skin group (XS) were covered by
      full-thickness skin of sheep; wounds in xenogenic ADM group (XA) were covered by
      ADM of sheep; wounds in combination group (C) were covered by ADM of sheep
      combined with auto-crosslinked sodium hyaluronate gel. The wounds were bound up
      with pressure, and the dressing was changed once every 7 days. On post surgery
      day (PSD) 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 when changing dressing, the condition of
      wounds and the exfoliation of the covering on microskin were observed, and the
      complete exfoliation time of the covering was recorded. On PSD 28, 35, and 42,
      the wound healing rate was calculated. Data were processed with one-way analysis
      of variance and SNK test. RESULTS: (1) On PSD 7, no fluid appeared under the
      covering of wounds in groups AS and C, while plenty of fluid appeared under the
      covering of wounds in groups XS and XA. From PSD 14 to 35, most of the full
      thickness skin of pig in group AS did not exfoliate. All the full-thickness skin
      of sheep in group XS exfoliated, leaving a lot of crusts on the surface of the
      wounds on PSD 14. Most of the ADM of sheep in group XA separated from the wound
      with the crusts turning dry and exfoliating on PSD 14. All the ADM of sheep
      exfoliated with most of the wounds healed in group C on PSD 35. On PSD 42, all
      the full-thickness skin of pig in group AS exfoliated, leaving most of the wounds
      unhealed; all the crusts exfoliated and the majority of wounds were healed in
      group XS and XA group; all the wounds in group C were healed. (2) Compared with
      that in group C[(32.7+/-3.3) d], the complete exfoliation time of the covering
      was obviously shorter in group XS[(15.2+/-4.8) d]and group XA[(22.2+/-6.3) d],
      with P values below 0.05, while the complete exfoliation time of the covering in
      group AS[(44.8+/-2.7) d]was obviously longer (P<0.05). (3) On PSD 28, 35, and 42,
      the wound healing rates in groups XS and XA[(21.2+/-2.6)%, (51.4+/-2.4)%, (89.6+/
      2.8)%, and (23.7+/-3.4)%, (53.6+/-6.3)%, (91.3+/-4.9)%, respectively]were
      obviously lower than those in group C[(35.1+/-3.4)%, (62.1+/-6.7)%, (98.8+/
      1.0)%, respectively, with P values below 0.05]. On PSD 42, the wound healing rate
      in group AS[(44.0+/-3.8)%]was significantly lower than the rates in the other 3
      groups (with P values below 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Auto-crosslinked sodium
      hyaluronate gel combined with ADM of sheep used as covering of microskin grafts
      on full-thickness wound in pig can lengthen the persistence time of ADM of sheep
      on the wound, as well as promote wound healing.

PMID- 27647075
TI  - [Current situation and reflection on the treatment of relative low-heat burns].
AB  - Relative low-heat burn can cause primary and secondary damage, and its basic
      research and clinical studies need to be carried out urgently. In this article,
      we review content related to relative low-heat burn, including pathogenesis,
      epidemiological characteristics, and prevention and treatment based on retrieving
      relevant domestic literature. 

PMID- 27647074
TI  - [Effect of low-energy 633 nm red light stimulation on proliferation and reactive
      oxygen species level of human epidermal cell line HaCaT].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes of proliferative activity and reactive
      oxygen species level of human epidermal cell line HaCaT after being irradiated
      with low-energy 633 nm red light. METHODS: Irradiation distance was determined
      through preliminary experiment. HaCaT cells were conventionally sub-cultured with
      RPMI 1640 culture medium containing 10% fetal calf serum, 100 U/mL penicillin,
      and 100 MUg/mL streptomycin. Cells of the third passage were used in the
      following experiments. (1) Cells were divided into blank control group and 0.082,
      0.164, 0.245, 0.491, 1.472, 2.453, 4.910, and 9.810 J/cm(2) irradiation groups
      according to the random number table, with 3 wells in each group. Cells in blank
      control group were not irradiated, while cells in the latter 8 irradiation groups
      were irradiated with 633 nm red light for 10, 20, 30, 60, 180, 300, 600, and 1
      200 s in turn. Cells were reirradiated once every 8 hours. After being irradiated
      for 48 hours (6 times) in irradiation groups, the proliferative activity of cells
      in 9 groups was determined with cell counting kit 8 and microplate reader
      (denoted as absorbance value). (2) Another batch of cells were grouped and
      irradiated as in experiment (1). After being irradiated for once in irradiation
      groups, cells in 9 groups were conventionally cultured for 60 min with detection
      reagent of reactive oxygen species. At post culture minute (PCM) 0 (immediately),
      30, 60, and 120, reactive oxygen species level of cells was determined with
      microplate reader (denoted as absorbance value). (3) Another batch of cells were
      divided into blank control group, 0.082, 0.491, 2.453, and 9.810 J/cm(2)
      irradiation groups, and positive control group. Cells in blank control group and
      positive control group were not irradiated (positive control reagent of reactive
      oxygen species was added to cells in positive control group), and cells in
      irradiation groups were irradiated as in experiment (1) for once. The expression
      of reactive oxygen species in cells of each group was observed by confocal laser
      scanning microscope. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance,
      analysis of variance for repeated measurement, and t test. RESULTS: (1)
      Irradiation distance was 10 cm. Proliferative activity of cells in blank control
      group and 0.082, 0.164, 0.245, 0.491, 1.472, 2.453, 4.910, and 9.810 J/cm(2)
      irradiation groups was 1.000, 1.116+/-0.031, 1.146+/-0.016, 1.162+/-0.041,
      1.179+/-0.016, 1.207+/-0.016, 1.247+/-0.040, 1.097+/-0.059, and 0.951+/-0.118,
      respectively. Compared with that in blank control group, proliferative activity
      of cells in 0.082-2.453 J/cm(2) irradiation groups was significantly higher (with
      t values from -22.803 to -6.779, P values below 0.05). Proliferative activity of
      cells in 4.910 and 9.810 J/cm(2) irradiation groups was similar to that in blank
      control group (with t values respectively -2.854 and 0.711, P values above 0.05).
      (2) Compared with that in blank control group, reactive oxygen species level of
      cells was significantly enhanced at PCM 0 and 30 in 0.164-2.453 J/cm(2)
      irradiation groups (with t values from -12.453 to -4.684, P<0.05 or P<0.01),
      while that showed no significant change in 0.082, 4.910, and 9.810 J/cm(2)
      irradiation groups (with t values from -3.925 to -0.672, P values above 0.05).
      Compared with that in blank control group, reactive oxygen species level of cells
      was significantly enhanced at PCM 60 in 0.082-2.453 J/cm(2) irradiation groups
      (with t values from -11.387 to -4.717, P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with that in
      blank control group, reactive oxygen species level of cells was significantly
      enhanced at PCM 120 in 0.491-2.453 J/cm(2) irradiation groups (with t values from
      -10.657 to -6.644, P<0.05 or P<0.01). (3) Compared with that in blank control
      group, the expression of reactive oxygen species of cells was increased in 0.082,
      0.491, and 2.453 J/cm(2) irradiation groups and positive control group. The
      expression of reactive oxygen species of cells in 9.810 J/cm(2) irradiation group
      was attenuated when compared with the expressions in the other irradiation
      groups. Reactive oxygen species expressed in mitochondria of cells in each group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Low-energy 633 nm red light can enhance the proliferation of human
      epidermal cell line HaCaT, and the effect is closely related to the increase of
      reactive oxygen species produced by mitochondria after being stimulated by red
      light irradiation.

PMID- 27647076
TI  - [Application of a hydrosurgery system in debridement of various types of burn
      wounds].
AB  - Burn wound healing is closely associated with the depth of wound and early
      debridement. The traditional ways of debridement have certain limitations and
      often result in poor appearance and function of repaired area. At present, the
      hydrosurgery system has been applied clinically in burn field. This paper
      summarizes advantages and disadvantages of application of the hydrosurgery system
      in debridement of burn wound with different depths, different periods,
      extraordinary region, and uncommon agent. 

PMID- 27647077
TI  - Italian-validated questionnaires for pelvic floor disorders: on behalf of the
      Italian Society of Urodynamics.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs), which include urinary incontinence,
      pelvic organ prolapse, sexual dysfunction and gastrointestinal disorders, affect
      over 20% of adult population. The prevalence and demand for care of PFDs appear
      to be increasing more quickly than would be expected from simple population
      growth, creating substantial physical and emotional distress and a large
      financial burden. Suitable diagnostic tools are necessary to investigate these
      problems. The aim of this article is to list Symptom and Quality of Life
      questionnaires [briefly identified as patient-reported outcomes (PROs)] formally
      validated into the Italian language to provide Italian clinicians and researchers
      a tool for the assessment of pelvic area dysfunctions in our country. A synthetic
      key points summary concerning concepts behind Symptom and Quality of Life
      Questionnaires will be also provided. METHODS: PubMed/MEDLINE databases and
      websites were used to identify Italian-validated questionnaires for PFDs. Once
      identified, the possibility to get a copy of the questionnaire was verified and
      steps to obtain it are reported in the table. RESULTS: Questionnaires validated
      into the Italian language, for diagnosis and overall management of common
      urinary, vaginal, sexual and bowel conditions, are listed in the table.
      CONCLUSIONS: This format is intended to serve as a tool to promote
      appropriateness in PROs adoption while investigating PFDs in Italian patients.

PMID- 27647078
TI  - Seminal plasma calcium in normal and infertile patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this study an attempt is made to find out the level of calcium
      in seminal plasma of normal and infertile patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semen
      samples are collected from 34 normal men and 112 infertile patients. After semen
      evaluation seminal plasma was separated and calcium level was measured in it.
      RESULTS: Calcium level in mg% is recorded in each group as follows; in
      normozospermia (n34) 20.14 +/- 1.25 (+/-SE), oligozoospermia (n26) 9.76 +/- 1.17,
      azoospermia (n33) 14.65 +/- 2.63, oligoasthenozoosperma (n28) 20.91 +/- 1.94 and
      in asthenozoospermia (n25) 11.56 +/- 1.68. Statistically highly significant
      reduction in calcium is seen in Oligozoospermia and asthenozoospermia.
      CONCLUSIONS: The probable reasons for these two conditions are discussed.

PMID- 27647079
TI  - Bilateral single system ectopic ureter with urolithiasis: a rare case entity.
AB  - ABSTRACTBilateral single system ureteral ectopia (BSSEU) is an uncommon entity.
      Ureteric calculi in BSSEU are never reported so far. We herein report a case of
      BSSEU with left lower urtereic calculi managed by bilateral ureteric tapering and
      reimplantation with stone removal.

PMID- 27647081
TI  - Mitomycin C: new strategies to improve efficacy of a well-known therapy.
AB  - Mitomycin C (MMC) as an intravesical chemotherapeutic agent is a well-known
      option for treatment of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) recurrence; it
      is probably the most commonly used agent given its low rate of side effects and
      its efficacy.Both the American Urologic Association (AUA) and European
      Association of Urology (EAU) consider MMC as a standard treatment for immediate
      single-dose postoperative treatment and for adjuvant therapy in low and
      intermediate-risk NMIBC.Despite the popularity of this agent in the treatment of
      NMIBCs, many questions regarding the optimal approach to MMC therapy remain
      unanswered and the schedule widely used is empirical.Nevertheless, even when the
      current optimal approaches to MMC administration are used, a large proportion of
      NMIBCs recur.This apparent treatment resistance might be overcome by an
      optimization of standard MMC therapy or with a combination of MMC with other
      agents that have different mechanisms of action.Strategies to enhance passive
      delivery of MMC have been well studied and multiple measures are recommended for
      implementation of use in routine clinical practice.A modified scheme of
      instillation seems to be an easy and inexpensive alternative to increase efficacy
      of intravesical MMC and to also use this agent with an ablative intent.Enhancing
      tumor response with a sequential therapy is another option that has been
      investigated, mostly for chemo-immunotherapy wherein the different mechanisms of
      action of Bacillus of Calmette and Guerin (BCG) and MMC are combined to achieve a
      higher response.

PMID- 27647080
TI  - Level of copper in human split ejaculate.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the details of splits of an
      ejaculate and to locate the origin of release of copper into semen. METHODS:
      Laboratory methods routinely followed for semen analysis were carried out. Copper
      was estimated by employing atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: First
      split of ejaculate showed the highest number of motile sperm, the quality of
      which decreased from first to third. Copper level in splits 1, 2 and 3 was 29, 23
      and 22 ug%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that copper was
      released from throughout the genital tract.

PMID- 27647082
TI  - Distal corporoplasty for distal cylinders extrusion after penile prosthesis
      implantation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Distal extrusion of cylinders is a potential complication of the
      penile prosthesis implantation. Several methods have been proposed for repairing
      a distal penile erosion. We present our preliminary experience in "Distal
      corporoplasty" technique. METHODS: We enrolled 18 consecutive patients whose
      underwent a distal corporoplasty with simultaneous reimplantation of an "AMS 700
      inflatable penile prosthesis (LGX)" from January 2013 to November 2015 at our
      hospital. All procedures were performed by a single surgical team. Intraoperative
      and postoperative complications have been classified and reported according to
      Satava6 and Clavien-Dindo (CD) system.7 Mean values with standard deviations (+/
      SD) were computed and reported for all items. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients
      was 53.61 (+/-11.90) years. Mean body max index (BMI) was 24.22 (+/-2.51). Mean
      operative time was 85.2 (+/-13.1) minutes. Blood losses were minimal. No
      intraoperative complications are reported according to Satava classification.
      Four out of 18 patients (22.22%) experienced postoperative complications
      according to CD system. All patients had sexual intercourse for the first time
      postsurgery after a mean of 59.11 +/- 2.08 days. Mean follow-up was 22.11 (+/
      9.95). DISCUSSIONS: Distal extrusion of cylinders is a potential complication of
      the penile prosthesis implantation. Distal corporoplasty was first described by
      Mulcahy. He reported a series of 14 patients with a follow-up of about 2 years
      with optimal functional outcomes. Moreover, distal corporoplasty resulted in
      shorter operative time, better function, less pain, and fewer recurrences than
      Gortex windsock repair.10 In our experience, distal corporoplasty is a simple and
      safe procedure in the treatment of distal cylinders extrusion when the prosthetic
      material is not exposed to the exterior.

PMID- 27647083
TI  - The Quality of Life in Pregnant Women Conceiving Through in Vitro Fertilization.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine whether pregnant women conceiving through in
      vitro fertilization (IVF) differ from those conceiving spontaneously in terms of
      psychological well-being and the quality of life. METHODS: In a prospective study
      we included 75 women conceived after IVF and 78 who conceived spontaneously in
      the same time period (control group). All the women were sent a self-report
      questionnaire about demographic and reproductive history, health, pregnancy
      concerns, containing Subjective Quality of Life Scale (QLS), Positive and
      Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), Beck
      Depression Inventory (BDI), and Zung Self-Assessment Anxiety Scale (SAS);
      obstetric and newborn's data were obtained from medical records. Response rate
      was 66.6% in the IVF and 83.3% in control group. RESULTS: The mean women's age
      was 33.8 years in the IVF, and 32.5 years in the control group (NS). There were
      no significant differences between groups on the most of the outcome measures
      assessing psychological status. IVF mothers were just less satisfied in
      "friend/acquaintances" (P=0.03), a higher percentage had sexual problems prior to
      conception (P=0.03); the length of hospitalization during pregnancy was longer
      (P=0.02), and the preterm delivery rate was higher (P=0.01). Withingroup changes
      over gestation time indicated that IVF women, not controls, showed an increase in
      positive affect (P=0.04) and purpose in life (P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IVF women are
      inclined to social isolation. Despite more medical problems during pregnancy,
      they reported improved positive emotions and purpose in life as the pregnancy
      progressed.

PMID- 27647084
TI  - Barriers to Screening and Possibilities for Active Detection of Family Medicine
      Attendees Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 1996 the World Health Organization declared intimate partner
      violence (IPV) the most important public health problem. Meta-analyses in 2013
      showed every third female globally had been a victim of violence. Experts find
      screening controversial; family medicine is the preferred environment for
      identifying victims of violence, but barriers on both sides prevent patients from
      discussing it with doctors. METHODS: In July 2014, a qualitative study was
      performed through semi-structured interviews with ten family doctors of different
      ages and gender, working in rural or urban environments. Sound recordings of the
      interviews were transcribed, and the record verified. The data were interpreted
      using content analysis. A coding scheme was developed and later verified and
      analysed by two independent researchers. The text of the interviews was analysed
      according to the coding scheme. RESULTS: Two coding schemes were developed: one
      for screening, and the other for the active detection of IPV. The main themes
      emerging as barriers to screening were lack of time, staff turnover, inadequate
      finance, ignorance of a clear definition, poor commitment to screening,
      obligatory follow-up, risk of deterioration of the doctor-patient relationship,
      and insincerity on the part of the patient. Additionally, cultural aspects of
      violence, uncertainty/ helplessness, fear, lack of competence and qualifications,
      autonomy/negative experience, and passive role/stigma/ fear on the part of the
      patients were barriers to active detection. CONCLUSION: All the participating
      doctors had had previous experience with active detection of IPV and were aware
      of its importance. Due to several barriers to screening for violence they
      preferred active detection.

PMID- 27647085
TI  - The Occurrence of Diseases and Related Factors in a Center for Asylum Seekers in
      Italy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Italy is the main recipient of asylum seekers in the European
      region, and Sicily is their first point of arrival. This geographical position
      creates a large job for Health Authorities to identify and deal with the health
      of immigrants. This study evaluates the prevalence of disease among asylum
      seekers, assessing which are associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study
      was conducted to analyse demographic and clinical data in an Acceptance Centres
      for Asylum Seekers from February 2012 to May 2013. All variables that were found
      to be significant on unvariable analysis for the most frequent pathologies were
      included in a multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: Post-traumatic
      stress disorders with 17.4% and major depression with 7.3% were the most frequent
      diseases. The factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorders among
      asylum seekers were: major depression diagnosis (OR=2.91, p=0.004), Pakistan as a
      country of origin (OR=3.88, p<0.001), the largest number of medical visits
      (OR=1.02, p=0.033) and refugee status (OR=1.97, p=0.036). The variables linked
      with the diagnosis of major depression from the multivariable analysis were:
      suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders (OR=3.83, p<0.001), Pakistan as a
      country of origin (OR=3.45, p=0.004) and the highest number of visits to
      psychologist (OR=1.15, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The mental wellbeing of asylum
      seekers needs special attention, and interventions should be done to prevent the
      consolidation of psychiatric morbidity. A short psychological screening after the
      arrival might prove helpful here. Moreover, carefully designed longitudinal
      studies should be carried out when political recommendations try to change the
      organization of psychological and healthcare services.

PMID- 27647086
TI  - Continued Smoking in Lung Transplant Patients: A Cross Sectional Survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Smoking is associated with a higher incidence of post-lung
      transplantation complications and mortality. Prior to inclusion on the lung
      transplant waiting list in the Czech Republic, patients are supposed to be
      tobacco free for at least 6 months. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of
      smoking, validated by urinary cotinine, among patients post lung transplantation
      and prior to inclusion on the transplant waiting list. METHODS: Between 2009 and
      2012, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of urinary cotinine to assess tobacco
      exposure in 203 patients in the Lung Transplant Program in the Czech Republic. We
      measured urinary cotinine in 163 patients prior to inclusion on the
      transplantation waiting list, and 53 patients post bilateral lung
      transplantation. RESULTS: 15.1% (95% CI 0.078 to 0.269) of all lung transplant
      recipients had urinary cotinine levels corresponding to active smoking; and a
      further 3.8% (95% CI 0.007 to 0.116) had borderline results. Compared to patients
      with other diagnoses, patients with COPD were 35 times more likely to resume
      smoking post- transplantation (95% CI 1.92 to 637.37, p-value 0.016). All
      patients who tested positive for urinary cotinine levels were offered smoking
      cessation support. Only one Tx patient sought treatment for tobacco dependence,
      but was unsuccessful. CONCLUSION: Smoking resumption may be an underrecognized
      risk for lung transplantation recipients, particularly among patients with
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. More rigorous screening, as well as
      support and treatment to stop smoking among these patients are needed.

PMID- 27647087
TI  - The Drinking Habits of Users of an Alcohol Drinking Screening Website in
      Slovenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption in Slovenia is one of the highest in Europe. In
      Slovenia there were a few epidemiological studies on drinking habits among adult
      population, but none of them has used the AUDIT questionnaire or the Internet for
      research. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyse the drinking habits of
      the visitors of our website www.nalijem.si, which included an anonymous
      questionnaire for self-assessment of alcohol drinking. METHODS: A cross sectional
      survey was conducted between January 2010 and December 2013. The front page of
      our website included an invitation to fill in the anonymous web-based
      questionnaire; a part of it was the AUDIT 10 questionnaire. Everyone who filled
      in the questionnaire completely received an individualized feedback on his
      drinking. RESULTS: 54.020 persons visited our website, 15.817 (29.3%) of them
      started to fill in the questionnaire, 12.800 (80.9%) filled it in completely. In
      the analysis, 9.087 (71.0%) persons were included who completed the questionnaire
      for themselves. There were 37.1% (N=3.373) women and 62.9% (N=5.714) men. The
      average age was 33 years, the majority was employed (59.7%, N=5.222). The
      minority drank alcohol 2-4 times per month (32.8%, N=2.977) and most of them
      (64.5%, N=5.869) drank more than 3 units of alcohol per one occasion on a typical
      day. The average AUDIT 10 score was 11.7 for men, 8.1 for women. CONCLUSIONS: A
      large percentage of participants were identified as hazardous and harmful
      drinkers, which should be a matter of serious concern.

PMID- 27647088
TI  - The Impact of Socio-Economic Determinants on the Vaccination Rates with Rotavirus
      and Human Papiloma Virus Vaccine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Socio-economic inequalities may have an impact on the uptake of
      selfpaid vaccines. The aim of the study was to identify the effect of some socio
      economic determinants on vaccination rates with self-paid human papilloma virus
      (HPV) and rotavirus (RV) vaccines. METHODS: Vaccination coverage data, available
      in electronic database cepljenje.net (administered by the National Institute of
      Public Health), were collected at administrative unit level. The socio-economic
      determinants (the average gross pay in euros, the unemployment rate, the
      educational and households structure, the population density, the number of
      inhabitants, the number of children aged from 0 to 4, the number of women aged
      from 15 to 30) were extracted from Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
      web page. The strength of the correlation between socioeconomic variables and
      self-paid HPV and RV vaccination rates was determined. RESULTS: Rotavirus
      vaccination rates show a slight negative correlation with the number of residents
      per administrative unit (rho=-0.29, p=0.04), and no correlation with other socio
      economic variables. Likewise, no correlation has been found between HPV
      vaccination rates and the selected socio-economic variables. CONCLUSION:
      Ecological study did not reveal any correlations between socio economic variables
      and vaccination rates with RV and HPV self-paid vaccines on administrative unit
      level.

PMID- 27647089
TI  - An Increasing Trend of Illicit Drug use among Romanian University Students from
      1999 to 2011.
AB  - AIM: The present study investigates the evolution of illicit drug use among
      Romanian university students from 1999 to 2011. METHODS: The study was performed
      in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in three phases: in 1999 (T1), in 2003 (T2) and in 2011
      (T3). The study was carried out by means of anonymous questionnaires among
      university students aged 19-24. RESULTS: The results show that among girls the
      lifetime illicit drugs use increased statistically significantly from 2.5% in
      1999 to 7.5% in 2003 and to 15% in 2011. Among boys the trend was also
      increasing, the prevalence of illicit drug use was 14.2% at T1, 18.1% at T2, and
      it increased dramatically to 30.6% at T3. The percentage of students reporting
      cannabis use was almost identical with the total prevalence of illicit drug use.
      Ecstasy was the second most frequent drug used by the students; its consumption
      had also an increasing trend during the examined periods (from 0 to 5.6% among
      girls and from 0.8% to 11.2% among boys). The results of the bivariate
      correlation analyses show that lifetime illicit drug use was associated with
      having friends who experimented with illicit drugs both among boys and girls.
      Moreover, girls who declared stress management problems and depressive episodes
      were more likely to try illicit drugs, while among boys illicit drug use was
      associated with poorer academic performance. CONCLUSIONS: The data pointed out by
      our study call for comprehensive actions regarding the prevention of illicit drug
      use among Romanian young people.

PMID- 27647090
TI  - Drinking Patterns and Behavioral Consequences: A Cross-Sectional Study among
      Romanian University Students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol/binge drinking among university students has become a major
      public health problem. Many of young students will be exposed to substantial
      changes in living arrangements, socialization groups and social activities during
      the transitional period. AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse the alcohol
      consumption in Romanian university students, and to describe the behaviours
      occurring after drinking. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 468
      undergraduate students, from a university for medicine and law. Of these
      students, 35.5% were males and 64.5% were females. The mean age of students was
      21.9 +/- 3.22 years. Validated anonymous paper questionnaires were completed
      voluntary by the students. Questionnaires contained demographic items, six
      questions for determining the level of alcohol consumed in terms of quantity and
      frequency, and 19 statements or problems resulting from drinking. RESULTS: The
      findings of the study showed that males drunk more units of alcohol/week than
      females (p<0.001). The prevalence of abstainers was 10.8% in males and 17.6% in
      women. Heavy drinkers (drinking 5 or more drinks more than once a week) were more
      common among male (19.3%) than among female students (16.2%). Most frequently,
      drinking behaviours are related to academic performance, and the possible link
      between poor academic performance and alcohol consumption appears tenuous and
      merits further investigation. CONCLUSION: Effective intervention strategies
      should be implemented to prevent students' alcohol consumption and adverse health
      and social consequences resulting from this behaviour.

PMID- 27647091
TI  - The Analysis of Slovenian Political Party Programs Regarding Doctors and Health
      Workers from 1992 to 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study focuses on the programmatic bases of Slovenian political
      parties since independence. It presents an analysis of party programs and their
      preferences regarding doctors and other health workers, as well as the contents
      most commonly related to them. At the same time, the study also highlights the
      intensity of the presence of doctors on the policy agenda through time. METHODS:
      In the study, 83 program documents of political parties have been analysed. The
      study includes programmes of political parties that have occurred in
      parliamentary elections in Slovenia between 1992 and 2014 and have exceeded the
      parliamentary threshold. The data were analysed using the content analysis
      method, which is suitable for analysing policy texts. The analysis was performed
      using ATLAS.ti, the premier software tool for qualitative data analysis. RESULTS:
      The results showed that doctors and other health workers are an important
      political topic in non-crisis periods. At that time, the parties in the context
      of doctors mostly dealt with efficiency and the quality of services in the health
      system. They often criticize doctors and expose the need for their control. In
      times of economic crisis, doctors and other health workers are less important in
      normative commitments of parties. CONCLUSIONS: Slovenian political parties and
      their platforms cannot be distinguished ideologically, but primarily on the
      principle of access to government. It seems reasonable to conclude that parties
      do not engage in dialogue with doctors, and perceive the latter aspassive
      recipients of government decisions-politics.

PMID- 27647092
TI  - Determinants of Unmet Needs among Slovenian Old Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Population ageing has significant effects on societies. The
      organization of care for dependent old people is one of the key issues for ageing
      societies. The majority of care for homebound dependent old people in Slovenia is
      still performed by informal carers, even though the use of formal services has
      been increasing over the last 20 years. The proportion and characteristics of
      people with unmet needs are important for the development of long term care
      social policy. METHOD: The SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in
      Europe) survey was used to assess the determinants of care arrangements and of
      unmet needs of the aging population in Slovenia. Multinomial regression analysis
      was used to evaluate individual and contextual determinants of care arrangements
      and unmet needs. RESULTS: The proportion of older people with unmet needs is 4%.
      As expected, "needs" (Functional impairment OR=4.89, P=0.000, Depression OR=2.59,
      P=0.001) were the most important determinant, followed by the predisposing factor
      "age" (age OR 1.15, P=0.000) and two enabling factors, namely:"community setting
      and "availability of informal care within household" (Urban areas OR=.47,
      P=0.021; Household size 3+ OR=2.11, P=0.030). CONCLUSION: This study showed that
      there are a proportion of older people in Slovenia with severe needs for care,
      which are being unmet. As shown by the importance of enabling factors, social
      policy should encourage the development of formal services in rural areas and
      elaborate policy measures for informal carers.

PMID- 27647094
TI  - Editor's perspectives - September 2016.

PMID- 27647093
TI  - The Role of the Psychosocial Dimension in the Improvement of Quality of Care: A
      Systematic Review.
AB  - The aim of our systematic review was to analyse the published literature on the
      psychosocial dimension of care in family medicine and its relationship with
      quality of care. We wanted to find out whether there is any evidence on the
      psychosocial approach in (family) medicine. The recommended bio-psycho-social
      approach, besides the biomedical model of illness, takes into account several co
      influencing psychological, sociological and existential factors. An online search
      of nine different databases used Boolean operators and the following selection
      criteria: the paper contained information on the holistic approach, quality
      indicators, family medicine, patient-centred care and/or the bio-psycho-social
      model of treatment. We retrieved 743 papers, of which 36 fulfilled our inclusion
      criteria. Including the psychosocial dimension in patient management has been
      found to be useful in the prevention and treatment of physical and psychiatric
      illness, resulting in improved social functioning and patient satisfaction,
      reduced health care disparities, and reduced annual medical care charges. The
      themes of patient-centred, behavioural or psychosocial medicine were quite well
      presented in several papers. We could not find any conclusive evidence of the
      impact of a holistic bio-psycho-social-approach. Weak and variable definitions of
      psychosocial dimensions, a low number of well-designed intervention studies, and
      low numbers of included patients limited our conclusions. 

PMID- 27647095
TI  - Facilitating the safe use of insulin pens in hospitals through a mentored quality
      improvement program.
AB  - PURPOSE: Results of the MENTORED QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IMPACT PROGRAMSM (MQIIP) on
      Ensuring Insulin Pen Safety in Hospitals, which was part of an ASHP educational
      initiative aimed at ensuring the safe use of insulin pens in hospitals, are
      described. METHODS: During this ASHP initiative, which also included continuing
      education activities and Web-based resources, distance mentoring by pharmacists
      with expertise in the safe use of insulin pens was provided to interprofessional
      teams at 14 hospitals between September 2014 and May 2015. The results of
      baseline assessments of nursing staff knowledge of insulin pen use, insulin pen
      storage and labeling audits, and insulin pen injection observations conducted in
      September and October 2014 were the basis for insulin pen quality-improvement
      plans. Postintervention data were collected in April and May 2015. RESULTS:
      Compared with the baseline period, significant improvements in nurses' knowledge
      of insulin pen use, insulin pen labeling and storage, and insulin pen
      administration were observed in the postintervention period despite the
      relatively short time frame for implementation of quality-improvement plans.
      Program participants are committed to sustaining and building on improvements
      achieved during the program. The outcome measures described in this report could
      be adapted by other health systems to identify opportunities to improve the
      safety of insulin pen use. CONCLUSION: Focused attention on insulin pen safety
      through an interprofessional team approach during the MQIIP enabled participating
      sites to detect potential safety issues based on collected data, develop targeted
      process changes, document improvements, and identify areas requiring further
      intervention. A sustained organizational commitment is required to ensure the
      safe use of insulin pen devices in hospitals.

PMID- 27647096
TI  - Best practices in ensuring the safe use of insulin pens in the hospital:
      Introduction.

PMID- 27647097
TI  - Participation in a mentored quality-improvement program for insulin pen safety:
      Opportunity to augment internal evaluation and share with peers.
AB  - PURPOSE: UF Health's participation in a mentored quality-improvement impact
      program for health professionals as part of an ASHP initiative-"Strategies for
      Ensuring the Safe Use of Insulin Pens in the Hospital"-is described. SUMMARY:
      ASHP invited hospitals to participate in its initiative at a time when UF Health
      was evaluating the risks and benefits of insulin pen use due to external reports
      of safety concerns and making a commitment to continue insulin pen use and
      optimize safeguards. Improvement opportunities in insulin pen best practices and
      staff education on insulin pen preparation and injection technique were
      identified and implemented. The storage of insulin pens for patients with contact
      isolation precautions was identified as a problem in certain patient care areas,
      and a practical solution was devised. Other process improvements included
      implementation of barcode medication administration, with scanning of insulin
      pens designated for specific patients to avoid inadvertent and intentional
      sharing of pens among multiple patients. Mentored calls with teams at other
      hospitals conducted as part of the program provided the opportunity to share
      experiences and solutions to improve insulin pen use. CONCLUSION: Participating
      with a knowledgeable mentor and other hospital teams struggling with the same
      issues and concerns related to safe insulin pen use facilitated problem solving.
      Discussing challenges and sharing ideas for solutions to safety concerns with
      other hospitals identified new process enhancements, which have the potential to
      improve the safety of insulin pen use at UF Health.

PMID- 27647098
TI  - Building on a safety culture with transparency by participating in a mentored
      quality-improvement program for insulin pen safety.
AB  - PURPOSE: The experience at a medium-sized regional medical center participating
      in the ASHP MENTORED QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IMPACT PROGRAMSM (MQIIP) on Insulin Pen
      Safety in Hospitals is described. SUMMARY: With the support of top hospital
      leaders, Munson Medical Center (MMC) applied in June 2014 to participate in the
      MQIIP to complement its ongoing risk assessment related to the use of pen devices
      for insulin administration. Nurse knowledge deficits, problems with insulin pen
      storage and labeling, and improper insulin injection practices identified in
      baseline assessments for the MQIIP were the basis for process improvements,
      including new policies and procedures, an electronic alert and education for
      nurses, and individualized communication with pharmacy and nursing personnel
      about insulin pen safety. The experiences of other hospitals helped us identify
      solutions to safety issues and formulate communication strategies for improving
      insulin pen safety in our hospital. Awareness of the importance of insulin pen
      safety increased in all staff. Implementing these process improvements during the
      five-month intervention period resulted in increases in nurse knowledge and
      improvements in insulin pen storage, labeling, and injection practices, although
      problems persisted. Additional plans have been made to further enhance the safety
      of insulin use at MMC. CONCLUSION: The ASHP MQIIP on Insulin Pen Safety in
      Hospitals provided a structured and supportive approach to identifying and
      addressing insulin pen safety issues at MMC. The insight gained through
      participation enabled us to devise strategies to communicate with staff about
      safety issues and improve the safety of insulin pen use in the institution.

PMID- 27647099
TI  - Best practices for safe use of insulin pen devices in hospitals: Recommendations
      from an expert panel Delphi consensus process.
AB  - PURPOSE: A Delphi consensus development process was used to identify best
      practices for the safe use of insulin pen devices in hospitals. METHODS: A panel
      of healthcare professionals with experience in patient safety activities and
      development of insulin-use guidelines was selected. In round 1 of a 4-round
      Delphi process, panelists were asked to identify key concepts and practices
      relating to safe use of insulin pen devices in hospitals. In round 2, panelists
      indicated their level of agreement with draft practice statements reflecting
      input received in round 1; statements with strong support were refined based on
      panelist suggestions. In round 3, the modified draft statements were rated for
      potential impact on patient safety. In round 4, panelists selected a final list
      of statements to recommend as best practices. RESULTS: A 12-member
      interprofessional panel consisting of nurses, pharmacists, and physicians
      participated in the Delphi process. In round 1, panelists submitted more than 450
      statements describing safe practices for insulin pen use. Based on that input,
      125 draft practice statements were developed; among 98 statements receiving
      panelist support in round 2, 76 were judged in round 3 to be critical to patient
      safety or likely to have a positive impact on patient safety. In round 4,
      panelists unanimously affirmed a final list of 35 best-practice statements for
      the safe use of insulin pens in hospitals. CONCLUSION: A Delphi consensus
      development process yielded a list of recommended best practices to help ensure
      the safe use of insulin pen devices in hospitals and health systems.

PMID- 27647100
TI  - Best Practices in Ensuring the Safe Use of Insulin Pens in the Hospital.

PMID- 27647101
TI  - Total Synthesis of Grifolin, Grifolic Acid, LL-Z1272alpha, LL-Z1272beta, and
      Ilicicolinic Acid A.
AB  - A novel synthetic approach for the synthesis of bioactive phenolic natural
      products is reported. This strategy highlights the power of halogenative
      aromatization reactions recently developed in our group for preparing densely
      functionalized arenes in a controlled fashion. Five natural products related by
      an aromatic core and a farnesyl side chain are synthesized. In contrast to prior
      methods, this synthesis features high efficiency and generality that permits
      preparation of targets in gram-scale quantities.

PMID- 27647110
TI  - Occupational Experiences of Refugees and Asylum Seekers Resettling in Australia:
      A Narrative Review.
AB  - The contexts into which refugees and asylum seekers resettle, particularly the
      socio-political context as represented through various discourses, shape their
      occupational opportunities, health, and well-being. This article explores current
      literature in regard to the contemporary Australian discursive climate,
      particularly in relation to the way it may shape the occupational experiences of
      refugees and asylum seekers. In addition, a synthesis of current research
      regarding the occupational experiences of refugees and asylum seekers during
      their period of resettlement is presented. These two topics of research, drawn
      from 42 articles, were thematically analyzed. Identified themes include imagined
      possibilities prior to arrival, establishing occupational routines on entry to
      the Australian community, and pursuing a personally meaningful life. The authors
      argue that consideration of the way in which discourse shapes the lived world,
      and in turn, the occupational opportunities of refugees and asylum seekers, is of
      key importance for those working with these marginalized groups.

PMID- 27647105
TI  - Treatment patterns of rheumatoid arthritis in Japanese hospitals and predictors
      of the initiation of biologic agents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the usage of different biologic agents for rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA) in Japan over time and to identify factors that affects the
      decision to initiate treatment with biologic agents. Determinants of a switch to
      another biologic agent for patients who are already on biologic treatment were
      also analyzed. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We utilized a hospital claims
      database containing 36,504 Japanese patients with a confirmed RA diagnosis. To
      analyze the determinants of treatment choices, we applied logistic regression
      analysis taking into account socio-demographic and medical factors. RESULTS:
      Analyses determined that 11.8% of diagnoses and 25.4% of treated patients in
      Japan receive a biologic agent. Significant factors associated with biologic
      treatment initiation include younger age, female sex, and a higher comorbidity
      index. The route of administration plays a major role when it comes to a switch
      between different biologic agents. CONCLUSIONS: The lower likelihood of elderly
      patients to be initiated on biologic treatment might be explained by the risk
      aversion of Japanese physicians' and patients who are afraid of the potential
      side effects of biologics. This finding is also consistent with the notion of an
      age bias that impedes elderly patients from optimal access to biologic treatment.
      Because claims data does not contain clinical parameters such as disease activity
      the results should be validated in a clinical context.

PMID- 27647111
TI  - Critical Reflections on Participatory Action Research in a Prison Setting: Toward
      Occupational Justice.
AB  - There is little information about prison-related occupational deprivation, and
      about doing research in prison. To document an occupational therapist and two
      prisoners' critical reflections on an informal occupational therapy education
      program using participatory action research (PAR), we reflect on our combined
      experiences of evaluating an occupational therapy program. The reflections
      include articulation of power differentials and examples of occupational
      deprivation and injustice at every stage of the program evaluation process. We
      found that the PAR process allowed all collaborators to engage of co-occupation
      and gain a keener understanding of occupational justice. With co-occupation came
      personal growth and an appreciation for each other's humanity despite our diverse
      backgrounds. Recognizing that research in prison can be challenging, the results
      suggest it can also be rewarding. We offer insights and practical suggestions for
      doing research in prison.

PMID- 27647112
TI  - Efficacy of a vision-screening tool for birth to 3 years early intervention
      programs.
AB  - PURPOSE: To validate a screening tool used to detect unsuspected visual pathway
      pathology in preschool children under 3 years of age with developmental
      disabilities enrolled in an early intervention program using guidelines from the
      Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). METHODS: The records of 300
      consecutive children screened at a birth to 3 early intervention program from
      2011 to 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. Inclusion criteria were documented
      KDHE vision screening examinations performed by trained early interventionist and
      full ophthalmic evaluations by a general ophthalmologist. The evaluation was only
      considered a pass if it was recorded on the chart and the child did not have any
      known risk factors. The visual pathway pathology status was determined after
      comprehensive ophthalmic examination, with the ophthalmologist masked to the
      vision screening results. RESULTS: A total of 216 children met inclusion
      criteria, of whom 137 were referred. The sensitivity was 95.3% (95% CI, 90.8
      99.8); specificity, 57.25% (95% CI, 48.3-65.7); positive predictive value, 59.1%
      (95% CI, 50.4-67.3); negative predictive value, 94.9% (95% CI, 86.8-98.4); and
      negative likelihood ratio, 0.082 (95% CI, 0.031-0.22). A Pearson chi2 test for
      fit yielded an approximate P value of <0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: In this study
      population, good sensitivity and negative predictive value were demonstrated by
      the inexpensive screening examination coupled with associated risk factors for
      the 0-3 population of children with developmental disabilities.

PMID- 27647113
TI  - Partial tendon recession for small-angle vertical strabismus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the partial tendon recession procedure
      in correcting small-angle vertical deviations. METHODS: The medical records of
      patients who underwent partial tendon recession (one pole) were reviewed
      retrospectively. Orthophoria was the primary outcome success criterion; residual
      deviation, torsion, and the dose-response relationship were also evaluated. A
      secondary analysis was performed on subsets of patients with thyroid eye disease
      (TED) and those with procedures on a muscle that had previous surgery. RESULTS: A
      total of 53 procedures in 44 patients (average age, 58 years; age range 8-88
      years) were evaluated. The mean preoperative vertical deviation was 4.3Delta +/-
      1.8Delta (range, 2Delta-9Delta); the mean postoperative vertical deviation was
      0Delta +/- 2.3Delta. The mean response to surgery was 1.5Delta/mm. In the entire
      cohort, 62% of the procedures resulted in orthophoria, but 82% of patients had
      resolution of vertical diplopia with a single procedure. In TED patients, 60% of
      the procedures resulted in orthophoria, whereas only 29% of procedures on
      previously operated muscles resulted in orthophoria. CONCLUSIONS: Partial tendon
      recession of vertical rectus muscles reliably corrects small vertical deviations.
      This is equally true for patients with TED, but results are less predictable with
      reoperated muscles.

PMID- 27647114
TI  - Pulled-in-two syndrome: a multicenter survey of risk factors, management and
      outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulled-in-two syndrome (PITS) is a serious complication of strabismus
      surgery that occurs when an extraocular muscle ruptures under tension. The
      purpose of this study was to establish a database of PITS patients to identify
      risk factors and management of PITS. METHODS: Strabismus surgeons from around the
      world contributed cases of PITS through an online survey. Risk factors,
      management, and outcomes were identified. RESULTS: A total of 40 cases of PITS
      from 29 physicians in 6 countries were collected. The most commonly involved
      muscles were the medial rectus (18/40 [45%]) and the inferior rectus (17/40
      [43%]). The most commonly identified risk factors were previous ocular surgery
      (11/40 [28%]) and cranial nerve palsy (11/40 [28%]). Advanced age was also a
      significant risk factor, with 28/40 (70%) of reported patients being >=50 years
      of age. In most cases the muscle was found and reattached to the globe (28/40
      [70%]). The muscle was lost in 12 cases (30%). Half of these patients received a
      transposition surgery; the other half were followed by observation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our data suggests that strabismus surgeons might encounter one case of PITS
      approximately every 10 years. Major risk factors for PITS appear to be changes in
      the extraocular muscle due to cranial nerve palsy, prior surgery, and advancing
      age. The preferred management for PITS is surgical recovery and reattachment of
      the muscle; however, if the muscle is lost, transposition surgery or observation
      are common forms of management.

PMID- 27647115
TI  - Characterization of the ocular findings in the nablus masklike facial syndrome.
AB  - Nablus masklike facial syndrome (NMLFS), characterized by tight, expressionless
      facial features resembling a mask, was first described in 2000. Since then, 10
      cases have been identified with the same phenotype and genotype. Although
      detailed descriptions of the facial and external ear characteristics unique to
      the syndrome exist, no clear description of the ocular anatomic findings and
      management of ocular complications has been detailed. We present a confirmed case
      of NMLFS with detailed descriptions of the ocular anatomy encountered in this
      patient and a discussion regarding the clinical significance of these findings.

PMID- 27647116
TI  - Photoscreening for amblyogenic risk factors in 1-year-olds: results from a single
      center in Portugal over a 9-year period.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the experience of a single center in photoscreening 1-year
      olds for amblyogenic risk factors over a 9-year period and to estimate amblyopia
      prevalence in this population. METHODS: The records of 11,029 children 11-18
      months of age who were screened for amblyogenic risk factors at Centro Hospitalar
      de Entre o Douro e Vouga between 2004 and 2012 were reviewed. Measurements were
      performed with MTI (until 2008) and plusoptiX S04 (from 2009). The screening
      results were evaluated according to criteria adapted from Donahue and colleagues.
      RESULTS: The screening was negative in 8,985 children (82%), positive in 519
      (5%), unreadable in 201 (2%), and borderline in 1,324 (12%). The overall positive
      predictive value (PPV) for the presence of at least one amblyogenic risk factor
      was 56.8%. The estimated prevalence of meaningful refractive errors in this
      population was 2.2%; of strabismus, 0.3%. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of unreadable
      screenings was low. The overall PPV was lower than other large studies, at older
      ages, but higher than those of the same-age children. Considering the potential
      benefits of early intervention in preventing the development of amblyopia, this
      study demonstrates the feasibility of screening 1-year-olds.

PMID- 27647117
TI  - Improving access to vision screening in urban Philadelphia elementary schools.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Wills Eye Vision Screening Program for Children is a community
      based vision screening program for children in urban Philadelphia elementary
      schools that aims to provide vision screening, remedy refractive error by
      providing glasses, and refer children with suspected nonrefractive eye disease
      for eye care. METHODS: Children in grades K-5 from 45 Philadelphia elementary
      schools were screened for distance and near visual acuity, stereopsis, and color
      vision from January 2014 to June 2015. Children who failed were assessed by an on
      site optometrist. Two pairs of eyeglasses were provided at no cost. Children with
      suspected, nonrefractive disease were referred to Wills Eye Hospital Pediatric
      Ophthalmology and contacted by a social worker to schedule an appointment.
      RESULTS: Over 84 days, 10,726 children were screened for vision problems at 45
      schools. A total of 1,321 children (12%) had refractive error and 1,015 children
      (77%) returned the consent form and received two pairs of glasses. Of the 509
      children (5%) referred to Wills Eye, 177 returned consent forms and were not
      being followed by an ophthalmologist. Of these, 127 children (72%) completed an
      eye examination at Wills. CONCLUSIONS: The program described herein can provide
      comprehensive vision screening, with eyeglasses and/or referrals, to children
      within an underserved community.

PMID- 27647118
TI  - A cross-sectional examination of visual acuity by specific type of albinism.
AB  - PURPOSE: Reports of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in albinism are often
      based on overlapping clinical phenotypes. BCVA in albinism has been shown to
      improve with age. This study reports a large cross-sectional investigation to
      determine whether BCVA differs by specific type of albinism when age-corrected.
      METHODS: This retrospective review identified 170 individuals with a specific
      type of albinism identified by mutation(s) in a gene known to cause albinism (for
      OCA1, OCA2, and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome ([HPS]) or a specific phenotype (white
      hair and no melanin pigment in OCA1A; pigmentary mosaicism in the obligate
      carriers for males with OA1). We recorded optotype binocular BCVA at final follow
      up. Patients were age-grouped (2-5 years, 6-14 years, and >=15 years) for
      comparison. RESULTS: The greatest visual acuity deficit was found for OCA1A in
      all age groups. At age >=15 years (n = 79), mean BCVA was 20/128 for OCA1A, 20/37
      for OCA1B, 20/59 for OCA2, 20/63 for OA1, and 20/121 for HPS. Significant
      differences between BCVA at >=15 years were found in the following: OCA1A vs
      OCA1B, OCA1A vs OCA2, OCA1A vs OA1, OCA1B vs HPS, OCA2 vs HPS, and OA1 vs HPS (P
      <= 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a large sample size and includes only
      those with a specific type of albinism. BCVA varies by albinism type, and there
      is overlap in BCVA, particularly in the younger age groups. For ages >=15 years,
      there are significant differences in BCVA between several types of albinism.

PMID- 27647119
TI  - Large benign de novo conjunctival hemangioma in an 11-year-old boy: case report
      and literature review.
AB  - Benign hemangiomas are rare vascular tumors of the conjunctiva that typically
      present clinically in the first few weeks of life and resolve spontaneously. De
      novo presentation later in childhood has not been well documented. We present the
      unusual case of an 11-year-old boy with a rapidly growing benign de novo
      conjunctival hemangioma that was treated with surgical excision.

PMID- 27647120
TI  - Comparison between medial rectus pulley fixation and augmented recession in
      children with convergence excess and variable-angle infantile esotropia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the outcomes of medial rectus (MR) muscle pulley fixation and
      augmented recession in children with convergence excess esotropia and variable
      angle infantile esotropia. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized
      interventional study in which children with convergence excess esotropia or
      variable-angle infantile esotropia were randomly allocated to either augmented MR
      muscle recession (augmented group) or MR muscle pulley posterior fixation (pulley
      group). In convergence excess, the MR recession was based on the average of
      distance and near angles of deviation with distance correction in the augmented
      group, and on the distance angle of deviation in the pulley group. In variable
      angle infantile esotropia, the MR recession was based on the average of the
      largest and smallest angles in the augmented group and on the smallest angle in
      the pulley group. Pre- and postoperative ductions, versions, pattern strabismus,
      smallest and largest angles of deviation, and angle disparity were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Surgery was performed on 60 patients: 30 underwent bilateral augmented
      MR recession, and 30 underwent bilateral MR recession with pulley fixation. The
      success rate was statistically significantly higher (P = 0.037) in the pulley
      group (70%) than in the augmented group (40%). The postoperative smallest and
      largest angles and the angle disparity were statistically significantly lower in
      the pulley group than the augmented group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Medial rectus
      muscle pulley fixation is a useful surgical step for addressing marked
      variability of the angle in variable angle esotropia and convergence excess
      esotropia.

PMID- 27647121
TI  - Histomorphometric and ultrastructural analysis of the tendon-bone interface after
      rotator cuff repair in a rat model.
AB  - Successful rotator cuff repair requires biological anchoring of the repaired
      tendon to the bone. However, the histological structure of the repaired tendon
      bone interface differs from that of a normal tendon insertion. We analysed
      differences between the normal tendon insertion and the repaired tendon-bone
      interface after surgery in the mechanical properties, histomorphometric analysis,
      and 3-dimensional ultrastructure of the cells using a rat rotator cuff repair
      model. Twenty-four adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats underwent complete cuff tear
      and subsequent repair of the supraspinatus tendon. The repaired tendon-bone
      interface was evaluated at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery. At each time point,
      shoulders underwent micro-computed tomography scanning and biomechanical testing
      (N = 6), conventional histology and histomorphometric analysis (N = 6), and
      ultrastructural analysis with focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope
      (FIB/SEM) tomography (N = 4). We demonstrated that the cellular distribution
      between the repaired tendon and bone at 12 weeks after surgery bore similarities
      to the normal tendon insertion. However, the ultrastructure of the cells at any
      time point had a different morphology than those of the normal tendon insertion.
      These morphological differences affect the healing process, partly contributing
      to re-tearing at the repair site. These results may facilitate future studies of
      the regeneration of a normal tendon insertion.

PMID- 27647122
TI  - Vancomycin in infusion during vitrectomy in surgical treatment of acute
      postoperative and posttraumatic endophthalmitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endophthalmitis is potentially devastating intraocular inflammation
      following eye trauma or surgery. We describe the visual outcomes and causative
      pathogens in acute bacterial postoperative and posttraumatic endophthalmitis
      treated with immediate pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with Vancomycin dissolved in
      the infusion fluid. METHODS: Clinical records of consecutive 30 patients with
      postoperative endophthalmitis and 15 patients with posttraumatic endophthalmitis
      were evaluated. Vancomycin was administered constantly in the infusion fluid at
      the time of complete PPV. Cultures were prepared from anterior chamber
      paracentesis. The mean follow-up period was 13 months. RESULTS: The visual
      acuities were improved in 38 cases (84 %) and remained stable in seven cases (16
      %). Median post-PPV visual acuity was 1.0 logMAR in a group with postoperative
      endophthalmitis and 1.3 logMAR in a group with posttraumatic endophthalmitis (p <
      0.05). Twenty cases (44 %) were culture-positive (Staphylococcus, Streptococcus,
      Enterococcus and Bacillus spp). CONCLUSIONS: Early PPV with Vanomycin in infusion
      leads to vision improvement in patients with both posttraumatic and postoperative
      endophthalmitis. In our series of 45 cases culture was positive only in half of
      the cases.

PMID- 27647125
TI  - Swedish parents' interest in preconception genetic carrier screening.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Genetic technologies advance rapidly. It is possible to undergo
      genetic carrier screening before pregnancy to examine genetic risks to future
      offspring. We aimed to investigate parents' interest and motives towards
      preconception genetic carrier screening (PCS) as well as factors associated with
      interest in PCS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our study sample consists of 777 parent
      couples within the longitudinal Swedish Pregnancy Planning study. Women responded
      to questionnaires at three occasions: in early pregnancy, late pregnancy, and one
      year after childbirth. Male partners responded to one questionnaire one year
      after childbirth. RESULTS: One-third of the parents were positive (30% versus 34%
      of women and men, respectively), less than a third were negative (26% versus
      28%), and 45% versus 38% were uncertain about whether to consider PCS before a
      future pregnancy. No differences in PCS interest were found between women and men
      (P = 0.091), but a higher proportion of women were concerned about negative
      consequences (53% versus 46%, P < 0.003) and were 'opposed to such a way of child
      selection' (31.8% versus 25.2%, P = 0.002). Factors associated with PCS interest
      were experiences of prenatal diagnostics and positive attitudes towards finding
      out or choosing sex of one's child (women), and prenatal diagnostics, self-rated
      poor health, and pregnancy planning (men). CONCLUSION: Both women and men had
      relatively high uncertainty towards PCS, but women were more concerned about
      negative consequences. The future extent of the clinical utility of PCS is
      currently unknown, but parents' interests and doubts are important aspects to
      consider.

PMID- 27647123
TI  - Proteasome inhibitors in AL amyloidosis: focus on mechanism of action and
      clinical activity.
AB  - Proteasome inhibitors are the backbone in the treatment of multiple myeloma with
      3 of its representatives (bortezomib, carfilzomib, and ixazomib) having already
      been approved. There is a different situation altogether in the treatment of
      amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis where owing to the rarity of this entity
      neither of these drugs has currently gained approval. Amyloid light chain plasma
      cells are possibly more vulnerable to bortezomib than myeloma plasmocytes because
      of a slightly distinct mechanism of action, which is described in depth in this
      manuscript. Bortezomib is highly active and rapidly effective as a single agent
      and even more potent in combination with dexamethasone and alkylators. Bortezomib
      based regimens have become a standard part of the initial treatment of AL
      amyloidosis in the majority of centers. We have reviewed all available data on
      bortezomib in various combinations and settings. Carfilzomib seems to be
      effective but also toxic in these fragile patients with a high rate of cardiac
      events. Oral ixazomib has shown a surprisingly high efficacy with manageable
      toxicity and has received the Food and Drug Administration Breakthrough Therapy
      designation in 2014 for relapsed AL amyloidosis patients. In this review we have
      comprehensively described the current available knowledge of these 3 proteasome
      inhibitors and their use in AL amyloidosis.

PMID- 27647126
TI  - Survival and extinction results for a patch model with sexual reproduction.
AB  - We consider a version of the contact process with sexual reproduction on a graph
      with two levels of interactions modeling metapopulations. The population is
      spatially distributed into patches and offspring are produced in each patch at a
      rate proportional to the number of pairs of individuals in the patch (sexual
      reproduction) rather than simply the number of individuals as in the basic
      contact process. Offspring produced at a given patch either stay in their
      parents' patch or are sent to a nearby patch with some fixed probabilities. As
      the patch size tends to infinity, we identify a mean-field limit consisting of an
      infinite set of coupled differential equations. For the mean-field equations, we
      find explicit conditions for survival and extinction that we call expansion and
      retreat. Using duality techniques to compare the stochastic model to its mean
      field limit, we find that expansion and retreat are also precisely the conditions
      needed to ensure survival and extinction of the stochastic model when the patch
      size is large. In addition, we study the dependence of survival on the dispersal
      range. We find that, with probability close to one and for a certain set of
      parameters, the metapopulation survives in the presence of nearest neighbor
      interactions while it dies out in the presence of long range interactions,
      suggesting that the best strategy for the population to spread in space is to use
      intermediate dispersal ranges.

PMID- 27647130
TI  - Evaluation of Pipeline Flex delivery system for the treatment of unruptured
      aneurysms.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Refinements in endovascular technology have revolutionized the
      treatment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) with the development of flow-diversion
      technology. The first generation of the Pipelin Embolization Device (PED) has
      demonstrated its safety and efficacy. However, the deployment technique was a
      difficult task that often led to complex maneuvers. The Pipeline Flex
      Embolization Device (PED Flex) is the second generation and its introduction has
      arrived with high expectations due to a completely redesigned delivery system
      that intends to overcome deployment difficulties seen in the previous generation.
      Areas covered: Preclinical studies, mechanism of action of flow-diverters,
      technical aspects and deployment system of the PED Flex, and clinical outcomes
      with both PED generations. Expert commentary: Flow diversion has allowed us to
      treat lesions that would be otherwise challenging for surgical clipping or
      unsuitable for other endosaccular strategies. Although the experience with PED
      Flex is limited, initial results suggest its safety and short-term efficacy.

PMID- 27647127
TI  - Mathematical assessment of the role of temperature and rainfall on mosquito
      population dynamics.
AB  - A new stage-structured model for the population dynamics of the mosquito (a major
      vector for numerous vector-borne diseases), which takes the form of a
      deterministic system of non-autonomous nonlinear differential equations, is
      designed and used to study the effect of variability in temperature and rainfall
      on mosquito abundance in a community. Two functional forms of eggs oviposition
      rate, namely the Verhulst-Pearl logistic and Maynard-Smith-Slatkin functions, are
      used. Rigorous analysis of the autonomous version of the model shows that, for
      any of the oviposition functions considered, the trivial equilibrium of the model
      is locally- and globally-asymptotically stable if a certain vectorial threshold
      quantity is less than unity. Conditions for the existence and global asymptotic
      stability of the non-trivial equilibrium solutions of the model are also derived.
      The model is shown to undergo a Hopf bifurcation under certain conditions (and
      that increased density-dependent competition in larval mortality reduces the
      likelihood of such bifurcation). The analyses reveal that the Maynard-Smith
      Slatkin oviposition function sustains more oscillations than the Verhulst-Pearl
      logistic function (hence, it is more suited, from ecological viewpoint, for
      modeling the egg oviposition process). The non-autonomous model is shown to have
      a globally-asymptotically stable trivial periodic solution, for each of the
      oviposition functions, when the associated reproduction threshold is less than
      unity. Furthermore, this model, in the absence of density-dependent mortality
      rate for larvae, has a unique and globally-asymptotically stable periodic
      solution under certain conditions. Numerical simulations of the non-autonomous
      model, using mosquito surveillance and weather data from the Peel region of
      Ontario, Canada, show a peak mosquito abundance for temperature and rainfall
      values in the range [Formula: see text]C and [15-35] mm, respectively. These
      ranges are recorded in the Peel region between July and August (hence, this study
      suggests that anti-mosquito control effects should be intensified during this
      period).

PMID- 27647132
TI  - The conceptualization and measurement of cognitive reserve using common proxy
      indicators: Testing some tenable reflective and formative models.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The examination of cognitive reserve (CR) literature reveals a lack
      of consensus regarding conceptualization and pervasive problems with its
      measurement. This study aimed at examining the conceptual nature of CR through
      the analysis of reflective and formative models using eight proxies commonly
      employed in the CR literature. We hypothesized that all CR proxies would
      significantly contribute to a one-factor reflective model and that educational
      and occupational attainment would produce the strongest loadings on a single CR
      factor. METHOD: The sample consisted of 149 participants (82 male/67 female),
      with 18.1 average years of education and ages of 45-99 years. Participants were
      assessed for eight proxies of CR (parent socioeconomic status, intellectual
      functioning, level of education, health literacy, occupational prestige, life
      leisure activities, physical activities, and spiritual and religious activities).
      Primary statistical analyses consisted of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to
      test reflective models and structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate
      multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) models. RESULTS: CFA did not produce
      compelling support for a unitary CR construct when using all eight of our CR
      proxy variables in a reflective model but fairly cogent evidence for a one-factor
      model with four variable proxies. A second three-factor reflective model based
      upon an exploratory principal components analysis of the eight proxies was tested
      using CFA. Though all eight indicators significantly loaded on their assigned
      factors, evidence in support of overall model fit was mixed. Based upon the
      results involving the three-factor reflective model, two alternative formative
      models were developed and evaluated. While some support was obtained for both,
      the model in which the formative influences were specified as latent variables
      appeared to best account for the contributions of all eight proxies to the CR
      construct. CONCLUSION: While the findings provide partial support for our
      hypothesis regarding CR as a one-dimensional reflective construct, the results
      strongly suggest that the construct is more complex than what can be captured in
      a reflective model alone. There is a need for theory to better identify and
      differentiate formative from reflective indicators and to articulate the
      mechanisms by which CR develops and operates.

PMID- 27647133
TI  - Do forests represent a long-term source of contaminated particulate matter in the
      Fukushima Prefecture?
AB  - The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident resulted in
      radiocesium fallout contaminating coastal catchments of the Fukushima Prefecture.
      As the decontamination effort progresses, the potential downstream migration of
      radiocesium contaminated particulate matter from forests, which cover over 65% of
      the most contaminated region, requires investigation. Carbon and nitrogen
      elemental concentrations and stable isotope ratios are thus used to model the
      relative contributions of forest, cultivated and subsoil sources to deposited
      particulate matter in three contaminated coastal catchments. Samples were taken
      from the main identified sources: cultivated (n = 28), forest (n = 46), and
      subsoils (n = 25). Deposited particulate matter (n = 82) was sampled during four
      fieldwork campaigns from November 2012 to November 2014. A distribution modelling
      approach quantified relative source contributions with multiple combinations of
      element parameters (carbon only, nitrogen only, and four parameters) for two
      particle size fractions (<63 MUm and <2 mm). Although there was significant
      particle size enrichment for the particulate matter parameters, these differences
      only resulted in a 6% (SD 3%) mean difference in relative source contributions.
      Further, the three different modelling approaches only resulted in a 4% (SD 3%)
      difference between relative source contributions. For each particulate matter
      sample, six models (i.e. <63 MUm and <2 mm from the three modelling approaches)
      were used to incorporate a broader definition of potential uncertainty into model
      results. Forest sources were modelled to contribute 17% (SD 10%) of particulate
      matter indicating they present a long term potential source of radiocesium
      contaminated material in fallout impacted catchments. Subsoils contributed 45%
      (SD 26%) of particulate matter and cultivated sources contributed 38% (SD 19%).
      The reservoir of radiocesium in forested landscapes in the Fukushima region
      represents a potential long-term source of particulate contaminated matter that
      will require diligent management for the foreseeable future.

PMID- 27647131
TI  - miR-181b functions as an oncomiR in colorectal cancer by targeting PDCD4.
AB  - Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) is a RNA-binding protein that acts as a tumor
      suppressor in many cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). During CRC
      carcinogenesis, PDCD4 protein levels remarkably decrease, but the underlying
      molecular mechanism for decreased PDCD4 expression is not fully understood. In
      this study, we performed bioinformatics analysis to identify miRNAs that
      potentially target PDCD4. We demonstrated miR-181b as a direct regulator of
      PDCD4. We further showed that activation of IL6/STAT3 signaling pathway increased
      miR-181b expression and consequently resulted in downregulation of PDCD4 in CRC
      cells. In addition, we investigated the biological effects of PDCD4 inhibition by
      miR-181b both in vitro and in vivo and found that miR-181b could promote cell
      proliferation and migration and suppress apoptosis in CRC cells and accelerate
      tumor growth in xenograft mice, potentially through targeting PDCD4. Taken
      together, this study highlights an oncomiR role for miR-181b in regulating PDCD4
      in CRC and suggests that miR-181b may be a novel molecular therapeutic target for
      CRC.

PMID- 27647134
TI  - 3D Arrays of 1024-Pixel Image Sensors based on Lead Halide Perovskite Nanowires.
AB  - Large-scale and highly ordered 3D perov-skite nanowire (NW) arrays are achieved
      in nanoengineering templates by a unique vapor-solid-solid reaction process. The
      excellent material properties, in conjunction with the high integration density
      of the NW arrays, make them promising for 3D integrated
      nanoelectronics/optoelectronics. Image sensors with 1024 pixels are assembled and
      characterized to demonstrate the technological potency.

PMID- 27647137
TI  - Research agenda for integrated knowledge translation (IKT) in healthcare: what we
      know and do not yet know.

PMID- 27647138
TI  - Social mobility and inflammatory and metabolic markers at older ages: the English
      Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since our knowledge of the associations between socioeconomic
      position (SEP) over the life course and inflammatory and metabolic markers, which
      are excellent predictors of cardiovascular disease, remains limited, we examined
      the association between social mobility over the life course and these markers at
      older ages. METHODS: Our study used cross-sectionally collected data from 6142
      participants aged 50 years and older from the English Longitudinal Study of
      Ageing. We estimated linear and logistic models of the associations between
      social mobility, using information on childhood and adult SEP, C reactive protein
      (CRP), fibrinogen, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL) cholesterol. Our models were gradually adjusted for age, sex, chronic
      diseases, obesity, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking status and
      depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Participants who experienced upward social mobility
      had higher CRP, fibrinogen and HbA1c levels compared with those who had stable
      high SEP over the life course, but lower compared with those who experienced
      downward social mobility or had stable low SEP. They also had lower HDL levels
      compared with those who had stable high SEP or downwardly mobile. Adjustment for
      covariates partially explained the associations between social mobility and CRP
      and HDL, and fully explained those between social mobility and fibrinogen and
      HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: Social mobility is associated with inflammatory and metabolic
      markers at older ages with some of the observed associations persisting after
      accounting for covariates. Upward social mobility appears to partially reverse
      the damaging effect of childhood social disadvantage on inflammatory profiles in
      older ages.

PMID- 27647140
TI  - Ethnomedicines and anti-parasitic activities of Pakistani medicinal plants
      against Plasmodia and Leishmania parasites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis and malaria are the two most common parasitic diseases
      and responsible for large number of deaths per year particularly in developing
      countries like Pakistan. Majority of Pakistan population rely on medicinal plants
      due to their low socio-economic status. The present review was designed to gather
      utmost fragmented published data on traditionally used medicinal plants against
      leishmaniasis and malaria in Pakistan and their scientific validation. METHODS:
      Pub Med, Google Scholar, Web of Science, ISI Web of knowledge and Flora of
      Pakistan were searched for the collection of data on ethnomedicinal plants. Total
      89 articles were reviewed for present study which was mostly published in
      English. We selected only those articles in which complete information was given
      regarding traditional uses of medicinal plants in Pakistan. RESULTS: Total of 56
      plants (malaria 33, leishmaniasis 23) was found to be used traditionally against
      reported parasites. Leaves were the most focused plant part both in traditional
      use and in in vitro screening against both parasites. Most extensively used plant
      families against Leishmaniasis and Malaria were Lamiaceae and Asteraceae
      respectively. Out of 56 documented plants only 15 plants (Plasmodia 4, Leishmania
      11) were assessed in vitro against these parasites. Mostly crude and ethanolic
      plant extracts were checked against Leishmania and Plasmodia respectively and
      showed good inhibition zone. Four pure compounds like artemisinin, physalins and
      sitosterol extracted from different plants proved their efficacy against these
      parasites. CONCLUSIONS: Present review provides the efficacy and reliability of
      ethnomedicinal practices and also invites the attention of chemists,
      pharmacologist and pharmacist to scientifically validate unexplored plants that
      could lead toward the development of novel anti-malarial and anti-leishmanial
      drugs.

PMID- 27647142
TI  - Anti-proliferative and anti-migration effects of Polish propolis combined with
      Hypericum perforatum L. on glioblastoma multiforme cell line U87MG.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Propolis and Hypericum perforatum L. are natural products which
      contain many active compounds and have numerous beneficial effects, including an
      antitumor effect. Gliobmastoma multiforme (GBM) is a common primary brain tumor
      with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. In this study, the effect of
      propolis (EEP) combined with H. perforatum L. (HPE) on glioblastoma cell line
      U87MG was investigated for the first time. METHODS: Anti-proliferative activity
      of EEP, HPE and their combination (EEP + HPE) was determined by a cytotoxicity
      test, DNA binding by [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation and cell migration assay.
      Anti-metastatic properties in U87MG treated with EEP, HPE and EEP + HPE were
      estimated on cells migration test (scratch assay) and metalloproteinases (MMP2
      and MMP9) secretion (gelatin zymography). RESULTS: Combination of HPE and EEP
      extracts was found to have a time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the
      viability of U87MG cells. This effect was significantly higher (p < 0.05) when
      compared to these two extracts applied separately, which was confirmed by the
      significant reduction of DNA synthesis and significantly higher mitochondrial
      membrane permeabilization. A significant decreasing in migration cells and in pro
      MMP9 and pro-MMP2 secretion in U87MG cells were demonstrated after exposure to
      combination of EEP (30 MUg/ml) with HPE (6.25 MUg/ml). CONCLUSIONS: In this
      study, the combination of ethanolic extract from propolis and ethanolic extract
      of fresh-cut H. perforatum L. was proved the ability to reduce invasiveness of
      glioma cells through the inhibition of MMP2 and MMP9 secretion and suppression of
      cell migration. It has a more potent anti-proliferative effect on U87MG glioma
      cell line compared to using propolis and H. perforatum L. separately. Further
      studies are required to verify whether the examined extracts can activate
      apoptotic pathways.

PMID- 27647141
TI  - Systematic Review of Prognostic Factors for Return to Work in Workers with Sub
      Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain.
AB  - Purpose We systematically reviewed the evidence on factors that predict duration
      of sick leave in workers after 6 weeks low back pain (LBP) related sick leave. We
      hypothesized that different factors affect the duration of the leave depending on
      the time away from work. Methods The review occurred in seven phases: (1)
      developing the central question, (2) conducting the literature search, (3)
      identifying relevant publications, (4) quality appraisal, (5) data extraction,
      (6) evidence synthesis, and (7) knowledge translation. We searched for studies
      that reported episodes of LBP and sick leave that lasted more than 6 weeks. All
      included studies reported at least one prognostic factor where return to work was
      the outcome. Results We identified twenty-two relevant publications. The impact
      of pain, functional status and radiating pain seems to change with duration of
      work disability. Workers' recovery expectations remain important after 6 weeks.
      Modified duties are rarely studied in later phases of work disability.
      Depression/mental health did not appear to be an important factor in later
      phases. Workplace physical factors remain important. There is insufficient
      evidence that pain catastrophising and fear avoidance are predictive factors in
      later phases. There was moderate evidence for age in the later phases. Functional
      capacity and claim related factors were supported by some evidence. Discusion
      Physical demands in the workplace are preventing workers from getting back to
      work in a timely fashion across phases. The psychosocial work environment is
      understudied in later phases. Overall, we cannot conclude that prognostic factors
      change over time.

PMID- 27647143
TI  - Integrative analysis of signaling pathways and diseases associated with the miR
      106b/25 cluster and their function study in berb erine-induced multiple myeloma
      cells.
AB  - Berberine (BBR), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine compound, has emerged as a
      novel class of anti-tumor agent. Our previous microRNA (miRNA) microarray
      demonstrated that miR-106b/25 was significantly down-regulated in BBR-treated
      multiple myeloma (MM) cells. Here, systematic integration showed that miR-106b/25
      cluster is involved in multiple cancer-related signaling pathways and
      tumorigenesis. MiREnvironment database revealed that multiple environmental
      factors (drug, ionizing radiation, hypoxia) affected the miR-106b/25 cluster
      expression. By targeting the seed region in the miRNA, tiny anti-mir106b/25
      cluster (t-anti-mir106b/25 cluster) significantly induced suppression in cell
      viability and colony formation. Western blot validated that t-anti-miR-106b/25
      cluster effectively inhibited the expression of P38 MAPK and phospho-P38 MAPK in
      MM cells. These findings indicated the miR-106b/25 cluster functioned as oncogene
      and might provide a novel molecular insight into MM.

PMID- 27647146
TI  - Biomarkers and Pathogenic Mechanisms in Autoimmunity.

PMID- 27647147
TI  - High-efficient and high-content cytotoxic recording via dynamic and continuous
      cell-based impedance biosensor technology.
AB  - Cell-based bioassays were effective method to assess the compound toxicity by
      cell viability, and the traditional label-based methods missed much information
      of cell growth due to endpoint detection, while the higher throughputs were
      demanded to obtain dynamic information. Cell-based biosensor methods can
      dynamically and continuously monitor with cell viability, however, the dynamic
      information was often ignored or seldom utilized in the toxin and drug
      assessment. Here, we reported a high-efficient and high-content cytotoxic
      recording method via dynamic and continuous cell-based impedance biosensor
      technology. The dynamic cell viability, inhibition ratio and growth rate were
      derived from the dynamic response curves from the cell-based impedance biosensor.
      The results showed that the biosensors has the dose-dependent manners to
      diarrhetic shellfish toxin, okadiac acid based on the analysis of the dynamic
      cell viability and cell growth status. Moreover, the throughputs of dynamic
      cytotoxicity were compared between cell-based biosensor methods and label-based
      endpoint methods. This cell-based impedance biosensor can provide a flexible,
      cost and label-efficient platform of cell viability assessment in the shellfish
      toxin screening fields.

PMID- 27647148
TI  - Autoinducer-2 analogs and electric fields - an antibiotic-free bacterial biofilm
      combination treatment.
AB  - Bacterial biofilms are a common cause of chronic medical implant infections.
      Treatment and eradication of biofilms by conventional antibiotic therapy has
      major drawbacks including toxicity and side effects associated with high-dosage
      antibiotics. Additionally, administration of high doses of antibiotics may
      facilitate the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Thus, there is an
      urgent need for the development of treatments that are not based on conventional
      antibiotic therapies. Presented herein is a novel bacterial biofilm combination
      treatment independent of traditional antibiotics, by using low electric fields in
      combination with small molecule inhibitors of bacterial quorum sensing -
      autoinducer-2 analogs. We investigate the effect of this treatment on mature
      Escherichia coli biofilms by application of an alternating and offset electric
      potential in combination with the small molecule inhibitor for 24 h using both
      macro and micro-scale devices. Crystal violet staining of the macro-scale
      biofilms shows a 46 % decrease in biomass compared to the untreated control. We
      demonstrate enhanced treatment efficacy of the combination therapy using a high
      throughput polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic biofilm analysis platform.
      This microfluidic flow cell is designed to reduce the growth variance of in vitro
      biofilms while providing an integrated control, and thus allows for a more
      reliable comparison and evaluation of new biofilm treatments on a single device.
      We utilize linear array charge-coupled devices to perform real-time tracking of
      biomass by monitoring changes in optical density. End-point confocal microscopy
      measurements of biofilms treated with the autoinducer analog and electric fields
      in the microfluidic device show a 78 % decrease in average biofilm thickness in
      comparison to the negative controls and demonstrate good correlation with real
      time optical density measurements. Additionally, the combination treatment showed
      76 % better treatment efficacy compared to conventional antibiotic therapy. Taken
      together these results suggest that the antibiotic-free combination treatment
      described here may provide an effective alternative to traditional antibiotic
      therapies against bacterial biofilm infections. Use of this combination treatment
      in the medical and environmental fields would alleviate side effects associated
      with high-dosage antibiotic therapies, and reduce the rise of antibiotic
      resistant bacteria.

PMID- 27647149
TI  - Controlled evacuation using the biocompatible and energy efficient microfluidic
      ejector.
AB  - Development of controlled vacuum is having many applications in the realm of
      biotechnology, cell transfer, gene therapy, biomedical engineering and other
      engineering activities involving separation or chemical reactions. Here we show
      the controlled vacuum generation through a biocompatible, energy efficient, low
      cost and flexible miniature device. We have designed and fabricated microfluidic
      devices from polydimethylsiloxane which are capable of producing vacuum at a
      highly controlled rate by using water as a motive fluid. Scrupulous removal of
      infected fluid/body fluid from the internal hemorrhage affected parts during
      surgical operations, gene manipulation, cell sorting, and other biomedical
      activities require complete isolation of the delicate cells or tissues adjacent
      to the targeted location. We demonstrate the potential of the miniature device to
      obtain controlled evacuation without the use of highly pressurized motive fluids.
      Water has been used as a motive liquid to eject vapor and liquid at ambient
      conditions through the microfluidic devices prepared using a low-cost fabrication
      method. The proposed miniature device may find applications in vacuum generation
      especially where the controlled rate of evacuation, and limited vacuum generation
      are of utmost importance in order to precisely protect the cells in the nearby
      region of the targeted evacuated area.

PMID- 27647153
TI  - Increased prenatal blood manganese may induce gestational blood pressure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy hypertension is the most common gestational complication and
      poses a critical risk for mother and fetus. Whether environmental factors may
      play an important role in disease occurrence is not fully determined. METHODS: To
      investigate the effects of prenatal manganese (Mn) exposure on gestational blood
      pressure, 386 women were examined. RESULTS: Early pregnancy blood Mn was
      significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with blood pressure through gestation. A
      significant association between odds of pre-hypertension with blood Mn was shown
      (OR:1.150, 95% CI:1.052-1.258). CONCLUSION: The current study results might
      suggest the blood Mn level during early stage of pregnancy as a potential risk
      factor for increasing the risk of gestational blood pressure.

PMID- 27647152
TI  - Do complexity-informed health interventions work? A scoping review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The lens of complexity theory is widely advocated to improve health
      care delivery. However, empirical evidence that this lens has been useful in
      designing health care remains elusive. This review assesses whether it is
      possible to reliably capture evidence for efficacy in results or process within
      interventions that were informed by complexity science and closely related
      conceptual frameworks. METHODS: Systematic searches of scientific and grey
      literature were undertaken in late 2015/early 2016. Titles and abstracts were
      screened for interventions (A) delivered by the health services, (B) that
      explicitly stated that complexity science provided theoretical underpinning, and
      (C) also reported specific outcomes. Outcomes had to relate to changes in actual
      practice, service delivery or patient clinical indicators. Data extraction and
      detailed analysis was undertaken for studies in three developed countries:
      Canada, UK and USA. Data were extracted for intervention format, barriers
      encountered and quality aspects (thoroughness or possible biases) of evaluation
      and reporting. RESULTS: From 5067 initial finds in scientific literature and 171
      items in grey literature, 22 interventions described in 29 articles were
      selected. Most interventions relied on facilitating collaboration to find
      solutions to specific or general problems. Many outcomes were very positive.
      However, some outcomes were measured only subjectively, one intervention was
      designed with complexity theory in mind but did not reiterate this in subsequent
      evaluation and other interventions were credited as compatible with complexity
      science but reported no relevant theoretical underpinning. Articles often omitted
      discussion on implementation barriers or unintended consequences, which suggests
      that complexity theory was not widely used in evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: It is hard
      to establish cause and effect when attempting to leverage complex adaptive
      systems and perhaps even harder to reliably find evidence that confirms whether
      complexity-informed interventions are usually effective. While it is possible to
      show that interventions that are compatible with complexity science seem
      efficacious, it remains difficult to show that explicit planning with complexity
      in mind was particularly valuable. Recommendations are made to improve future
      evaluation reports, to establish a better evidence base about whether this
      conceptual framework is useful in intervention design and implementation.

PMID- 27647154
TI  - Bilateral Thalamic Lesions in Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy Due to H1N1
      Infection.

PMID- 27647155
TI  - Implementation of a Neurocritical Care Program: Improved Seizure Detection and
      Decreased Antiseizure Medication at Discharge in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic
      Encephalopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We report the impact of implementing continuous video
      electroencephalography monitoring for neonates with hypoxic-ischemic
      encephalopathy via a protocol in the context of neonatal neuro-critical care
      program. METHODS: Neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy were studied
      retrospectively two years before and after implementing continuous video
      electroencephalography for 72 hours as a care protocol. Before continuous video
      electroencephalography, a 60-minute routine electroencephalography was performed
      at the discretion of the provider. PRIMARY OUTCOME: electrographic seizure
      detection; secondary outcome: use of maintenance antiseizure medications,
      discharge antiseizure medications, and cumulative burden for each antiseizure
      medication defined as total mg/kg during hospital stay. RESULTS: A total of 157
      patients with a median gestation of 40 weeks were analyzed; 103 (66%) underwent
      therapeutic hypothermia. Baseline and clinical characteristics including disease
      severity and cooling were similar. Before continuous video-electroencephalography
      (n = 86), 44 (51.2%) had clinical seizures, of those 35 had available routine
      electroencephalography; 12 of 35 (34%) had electrographic seizures. None of the
      infants without clinical seizures showed electrographic seizures. After
      continuous video-electroencephalography (n = 71), 34 (47.9%) had clinical
      seizures, of those 18 (53%) had electrographic seizures; five of 37 (14%) of
      infants with no clinical seizures had electrographic seizures. The introduction
      of continuous video-electroencephalography significantly increased electrographic
      seizure detection (P = 0.016). Although there was no significant difference in
      the initiation and maintenance use of antiseizure medications after continuous
      video-electroencephalography, fewer infants were discharged on any antiseizure
      medication (P = 0.008). Also, the mean phenobarbital burden reduced (P = 0.04),
      without increase in other antiseizure medications use or burden. CONCLUSION: Use
      of continuous video-electroencephalography as part of the neonatal neuro-critical
      care program was associated with improved electrographic seizure detection,
      decreased phenobarbital burden, and antiseizure medication use at discharge.

PMID- 27647156
TI  - The Development and Validation of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale
      (GUESS).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically validate a
      new instrument that comprehensively measures video game satisfaction based on key
      factors. BACKGROUND: Playtesting is often conducted in the video game industry to
      help game developers build better games by providing insight into the players'
      attitudes and preferences. However, quality feedback is difficult to obtain from
      playtesting sessions without a quality gaming assessment tool. There is a need
      for a psychometrically validated and comprehensive gaming scale that is
      appropriate for playtesting and game evaluation purposes. METHOD: The process of
      developing and validating this new scale followed current best practices of scale
      development and validation. As a result, a mixed-method design that consisted of
      item pool generation, expert review, questionnaire pilot study, exploratory
      factor analysis (N = 629), and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 729) was
      implemented. RESULTS: A new instrument measuring video game satisfaction, called
      the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS), with nine subscales emerged.
      The GUESS was demonstrated to have content validity, internal consistency, and
      convergent and discriminant validity. CONCLUSION: The GUESS was developed and
      validated based on the assessments of over 450 unique video game titles across
      many popular genres. Thus, it can be applied across many types of video games in
      the industry both as a way to assess what aspects of a game contribute to user
      satisfaction and as a tool to aid in debriefing users on their gaming experience.
      APPLICATION: The GUESS can be administered to evaluate user satisfaction of
      different types of video games by a variety of users.

PMID- 27647159
TI  - SnpFilt: A pipeline for reference-free assembly-based identification of SNPs in
      bacterial genomes.
AB  - De novo assembly of bacterial genomes from next-generation sequencing (NGS) data
      allows a reference-free discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP).
      However, substantial rates of errors in genomes assembled by this approach remain
      a major barrier for the reference-free analysis of genome variations in medically
      important bacteria. The aim of this report was to improve the quality of SNP
      identification in bacterial genomes without closely related references. We
      developed a bioinformatics pipeline (SnpFilt) that constructs an assembly using
      SPAdes and then removes unreliable regions based on the quality and coverage of
      re-aligned reads at neighbouring regions. The performance of the pipeline was
      compared against reference-based SNP calling for Illumina HiSeq, MiSeq and
      NextSeq reads from a range of bacterial pathogens including Salmonella, which is
      one of the most common causes of food-borne disease. The SnpFilt pipeline removed
      all false SNP in all test NGS datasets consisting of paired-end Illumina reads.
      We also showed that for reliable and complete SNP calls, at least 40-fold
      coverage is required. Analysis of bacterial isolates associated with
      epidemiologically confirmed outbreaks using the SnpFilt pipeline produced results
      consistent with previously published findings. The SnpFilt pipeline improves the
      quality of de-novo assembly and precision of SNP calling in bacterial genomes by
      removal of regions of the assembly that may potentially contain assembly errors.
      SnpFilt is available from https://github.com/LanLab/SnpFilt.

PMID- 27647158
TI  - Oscillatory activity in auditory cortex reflects the perceptual level of audio
      tactile integration.
AB  - Cross-modal interactions between sensory channels have been shown to depend on
      both the spatial disparity and the perceptual similarity between the presented
      stimuli. Here we investigate the behavioral and neural integration of auditory
      and tactile stimulus pairs at different levels of spatial disparity.
      Additionally, we modulated the amplitudes of both stimuli in either a coherent or
      non-coherent manner. We found that both auditory and tactile localization
      performance was biased towards the stimulus in the respective other modality.
      This bias linearly increases with stimulus disparity and is more pronounced for
      coherently modulated stimulus pairs. Analyses of electroencephalographic (EEG)
      activity at temporal-cortical sources revealed enhanced event-related potentials
      (ERPs) as well as decreased alpha and beta power during bimodal as compared to
      unimodal stimulation. However, while the observed ERP differences are similar for
      all stimulus combinations, the extent of oscillatory desynchronization varies
      with stimulus disparity. Moreover, when both stimuli were subjectively perceived
      as originating from the same direction, the reduction in alpha and beta power was
      significantly stronger. These observations suggest that in the EEG the level of
      perceptual integration is mainly reflected by changes in ongoing oscillatory
      activity.

PMID- 27647157
TI  - Chronic Adaptations to Eccentric Training: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resistance training is an integral component of physical preparation
      for athletes. A growing body of evidence indicates that eccentric strength
      training methods induce novel stimuli for neuromuscular adaptations. OBJECTIVE:
      The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the effects of eccentric
      training in comparison to concentric-only or traditional (i.e. constrained by
      concentric strength) resistance training. METHODS: Searches were performed using
      the electronic databases MEDLINE via EBSCO, PubMed and SPORTDiscus via EBSCO.
      Full journal articles investigating the long-term (>=4 weeks) effects of
      eccentric training in healthy (absence of injury or illness during the 4 weeks
      preceding the training intervention), adult (17-35 years), human participants
      were selected for the systematic review. A total of 40 studies conformed to these
      criteria. RESULTS: Eccentric training elicits greater improvements in muscle
      strength, although in a largely mode-specific manner. Superior enhancements in
      power and stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) function have also been reported.
      Eccentric training is at least as effective as other modalities in increasing
      muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), while the pattern of hypertrophy appears
      nuanced and increased CSA may occur longitudinally within muscle (i.e. the
      addition of sarcomeres in series). There appears to be a preferential increase in
      the size of type II muscle fibres and the potential to exert a unique effect upon
      fibre type transitions. Qualitative and quantitative changes in tendon tissue
      that may be related to the magnitude of strain imposed have also been reported
      with eccentric training. CONCLUSIONS: Eccentric training is a potent stimulus for
      enhancements in muscle mechanical function, and muscle-tendon unit (MTU)
      morphological and architectural adaptations. The inclusion of eccentric loads not
      constrained by concentric strength appears to be superior to traditional
      resistance training in improving variables associated with strength, power and
      speed performance.

PMID- 27647160
TI  - BS-RNA: An efficient mapping and annotation tool for RNA bisulfite sequencing
      data.
AB  - Cytosine methylation is one of the most important RNA epigenetic modifications.
      With the development of experimental technology, scientists attach more
      importance to RNA cytosine methylation and find bisulfite sequencing is an
      effective experimental method for RNA cytosine methylation study. However, there
      are only a few tools can directly deal with RNA bisulfite sequencing data
      efficiently. Herein, we developed a specialized tool BS-RNA, which can analyze
      cytosine methylation of RNA based on bisulfite sequencing data and support both
      paired-end and single-end sequencing reads from directional bisulfite libraries.
      For paired-end reads, simply removing the biased positions from the 5' end may
      result in "dovetailing" reads, where one or both reads seem to extend past the
      start of the mate read. BS-RNA could map "dovetailing" reads successfully. The
      annotation result of BS-RNA is exported in BED (.bed) format, including
      locations, sequence context types (CG/CHG/CHH, H=A,T, or C), reference sequencing
      depths, cytosine sequencing depths, and methylation levels of covered cytosine
      sites on both Watson and Crick strands. BS-RNA is an efficient, specialized and
      highly automated mapping and annotation tool for RNA bisulfite sequencing data.
      It performs better than the existing program in terms of accuracy and efficiency.
      BS-RNA is developed by Perl language and the source code of this tool is freely
      available from the website: http://bs-rna.big.ac.cn.

PMID- 27647161
TI  - Identification of prognostic markers in transthyretin and AL cardiac amyloidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognosis of amyloidosis is known to depend heavily on cardiac
      function and may be improved by identifying patients at highest risk for adverse
      cardiac events. AIMS: Identify predictors of mortality in patients with cardiac
      light-chain amyloidosis (AL), hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (m-TTR), or
      wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (WT-TTR) to prompt physician to refer these
      patients to dedicated centers. METHODS AND RESULTS: Observational study. About
      266 patients referred for suspected cardiac amyloidosis (CA) in two French
      university centers were included. About 198 patients had CA (AL = 118, m-TTR =
      57, and WT-TTR = 23). Their median (25th-75th percentile) age, NT-proBNP left
      ventricular ejection fraction were, respectively, 68 years (59-76), 2339 pg mL-1
      (424-5974), and 60% (48-66). About 31% were in NYHA class III-IV.
      Interventricular septal thickness was greater in the m-TTR and WT-TTR groups than
      in the AL group (p < 0.0001). Median follow-up in survivor was 26 months (15-44)
      and 87 (44%) patients died. By multivariate analysis, independent predictors of
      mortality for AL amyloidosis were the following: age, cardiac output and NT
      proBNP; for TTR amyloidosis was: NT-proBNP. When all amyloidosis were combined NT
      proBNP, low cardiac output and pericardial effusion were independently associated
      with mortality. CONCLUSION: NT-proBNP is a strong prognosticator in the three
      types of cardiac amyloidosis. High NT-proBNP, low cardiac output, and pericardial
      effusion at the time of screening should prompt physician to refer the patients
      to amyloidosis referral center.

PMID- 27647163
TI  - Diagnostic performance of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for
      detecting peritoneal metastases: systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Primary end point was to assess diagnostic accuracy of computed
      tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting peritoneal
      metastases (PM). Secondary end points were determining the diagnostic sensitivity
      and specificity of CT in detecting PM according to the peritoneal cancer index
      (PCI), investigating correlations between radiological and surgical PCI, and
      comparing diagnostic yield of CT versus positron emission tomography (PET)/CT.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of
      Science databases. Analytic methods were based on PRISMA. Pooled estimates for
      sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated
      using fixed and random effect models. I 2 was used to evaluate heterogeneity.
      RESULTS: Of the 529 articles initially identified, 22 were selected for inclusion
      (934 patients). Cumulative data for per patient CT diagnostic accuracy were
      sensitivity 83 % (95 % CI 79-86 %), specificity 86 % (95 % CI 82-89 %), pooled
      positive LR 4.37 (2.58-7.41), and pooled negative LR 0.20 (0.11-0.35). On a per
      region basis CT performed best in epigastrium and pelvis. Correlation analysis
      showed a high correlation between CT-PCI and surgical-PCI scores, ranging from
      0.49 to 0.96. MRI and PET/CT achieved similar per patient diagnostic accuracy.
      CONCLUSIONS: CT should be the preferred diagnostic imaging modality for detecting
      peritoneal metastases because of the robustness of the data. MRI and PET/CT
      should be considered second choices, until more consistent information on their
      diagnostic yield in detecting PM are obtained.

PMID- 27647164
TI  - [Post-traumatic arthritis in the young patient : Treatment options before the
      endoprosthesis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the young patient, treatment of post-traumatic elbow arthritis
      remains difficult. Total elbow arthroplasty must be delayed for as long as
      possible. Therapy starts with nonoperative treatment. If this fails, operative
      options can be discussed. TREATMENT AIM: The aim of surgery is to provide a
      functional range of motion with acceptable pain without obstructing future
      treatment options. THERAPY: Patients with pain at terminal extension and/or
      flexion may benefit from arthroscopic or open debridement. Patients with advanced
      osteoarthritis and pain throughout the complete range of motion, who are too
      young for total elbow arthroplasty, are offered interposition arthroplasty or
      arthrodesis. Arthrodesis of the elbow leads to significant restrictions in daily
      life due to the complete loss of extension/flexion. Therefore, arthrodesis is
      only offered as treatment in exceptional circumstances. Interposition
      arthroplasty is a reasonable option for the young patient without significant
      bony defects, which may provide a stable, functional flexion arc with an
      acceptable pain level. Interposition arthroplasty preserves the revision options
      of re-interposition arthroplasty as well as the withdrawal to total elbow
      arthroplasty. Partial and total elbow arthroplasty are treatment options of elbow
      arthritis but are not subjects of this article.

PMID- 27647162
TI  - Activation of Adenosine 2A receptor inhibits neutrophil apoptosis in an autophagy
      dependent manner in mice with systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
AB  - Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is an overwhelming whole body
      inflammation caused by infectious diseases or sterile insults. Neutrophils are
      the dominant participants during inflammation, and their survival and death
      determine the initiation as well as resolution of SIRS. Apoptosis and autophagy
      are two fundamental cellular processes that modulating cell fate, but their
      correlation and regulators in neutrophils under SIRS condition have not been
      elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that high dose of LPS induced both
      apoptosis and autophagy of neutrophils in a mouse SIRS model and LPS-stimulated
      neutrophils in vitro. Moreover, we found that the adenosine 2A receptor (A2AR), a
      known anti-inflammatory G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), could inhibit LPS
      induced neutrophil apoptosis by suppressing the LPS-induced autophagy. Activation
      of A2AR suppressed LPS-induced autophagy by inhibiting the ROS-JNK pathway as
      well as promoting GPCR betaUpsilon subunit-AKT signaling. The A2AR-inhibited
      autophagy suppressed apoptosis of neutrophils by blocking caspase8, caspase3 and
      PARP signaling. These findings not only increase our understandings of
      neutrophils' fate and function in response to systemic inflammation, but also
      identify a novel anti-inflammatory role of A2AR in modulating neutrophils'
      survival during inflammation.

PMID- 27647165
TI  - [Post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the elbow joint : Endoprosthetic options in
      young patients].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In young patients, post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the elbow is a
      rare condition. Whereas clinical manifestations often differ from radiological
      findings, pain and stiffness are variably combined in symptomatic forms. In
      deciding whether to perform surgery, the patient's age, activity level, and
      symptoms, as well as the location and severity of the osteoarthritis have to be
      taken into account. Elbow joint instability has to be identified to stop the post
      traumatic osteoarthritic progress. If joint preserving surgical methods fail,
      diverse options for partial or total joint replacement are available. THERAPY:
      The treatment goal in young patients, therefore, is to reduce pain with a
      sufficient range of elbow motion.

PMID- 27647167
TI  - Aortic stenosis and CT calcium scoring: is it for everyone?

PMID- 27647170
TI  - Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and cardiovascular risks in patients with pre
      existing heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although recent clinical trials raised concerns about the risk for
      heart failure (HF) in dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor use, data on the
      cardiovascular risks in the patients with pre-existing HF are still lacking.
      METHODS: We used Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database to identify
      196 986 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who had previous
      history of HF between 2009 and 2013. This population included 30 204 DPP-4
      inhibitor users and 166 782 propensity score-matched DPP-4 inhibitor non-users.
      The outcomes of interest were all-cause mortality, combination of myocardial
      infarction (MI) and ischaemic stroke, and hospitalisation for HF. RESULTS: The
      incidence in DPP-4 users compared with non-users was 67.02 vs 102.85 per 1000
      person-years for all-cause mortality, 37.89 vs 47.54 per 1000 person-years for
      the combination of MI and ischaemic stroke, 12.70 vs 16.18 per 1000 person-years
      for MI and 26.37 vs 32.46 per 1000 person-years for ischaemic stroke. The risk of
      all-cause mortality was lower in DPP-4 inhibitor users (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.64 to
      0.70), combination of MI and stroke (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.87), MI (HR 0.80,
      95% CI 0.71 to 0.89) and ischaemic stroke (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.89) than in
      non-users. Notably, the risk of hospitalisation for HF did not differ
      significantly between groups. The results were similar after accounting for death
      as a competing risk. CONCLUSIONS: In this nationwide T2DM cohort, the risks of
      mortality and the combination of MI and ischaemic stroke were lower for patients
      receiving DPP-4 inhibitors than for those who did not receive such treatment. DPP
      4 inhibitor use was not associated with a higher risk of hospitalisation for HF
      even in patients with pre-existing HF.

PMID- 27647171
TI  - Echocardiographic phenotype in osteogenesis imperfecta varies with disease
      severity.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Our purpose was to investigate cardiovascular
      abnormalities in children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). METHODS: Two hundred
      children (100 OI, 100 matched volunteers) were prospectively studied. Aortic and
      left ventricular (LV) measurements were performed using transthoracic
      echocardiography. Patients were typed according to modified phenotypical Sillence
      classification as published in the Nosology and Classification of Genetic
      Skeletal disorders: 2015 Revision. RESULTS: Patients (age 9.6+/-4.1 years, body
      surface area 1.08+/-0.47 m2) consisted of OI types: 1 (n=44), 3/4 (n=54), 4 (n=1)
      and 15 (n=1). The 95% CIs for Z-score of aortic annulus, sinus, sinotubular
      junction and ascending aorta for OI were 0.43 to 0.73, 0.56 to 0.94, 0.28 to 0.70
      and 0.78 to 1.24, respectively. In type 1, sinus, sinotubular junction and
      ascending aorta diameters were 2.29 cm, 1.81 cm and 2.05 cm, respectively, which
      did not differ compared with controls. The LV dimensions were larger in type 1.
      In type 3/4, aortic dimensions were larger than controls at all levels: annulus
      (1.61 vs 1.50 cm, p<0.001), sinus (2.19 vs 2.05 cm, p=0.001), sinotubular
      junction (1.77 vs 1.64 cm, p<0.001) and ascending aorta (1.98 vs 1.82 cm,
      p<0.001), but LV dimensions were normal. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular effects are
      identifiable in childhood even in mild forms of OI. Aortic dilation was the
      predominant finding, while valvular abnormalities were infrequent. Patients with
      more severe skeletal pathology (types 3/4) have more significant findings. Aortic
      and LV dilation in type 1 vs type 3/4 appears to differ based on the biochemical
      mechanism of disease.

PMID- 27647169
TI  - Contemporary risk estimates of three HbA1c variables in relation to heart failure
      following diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We evaluated the association between glycaemic control and the risk
      of heart failure (HF) in a contemporary cohort of persons followed after
      diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS AND RESULTS: Persons with T2D
      diagnosed between 1998 and 2012 were retrieved from the Clinical Practice
      Research Data Link in the UK and followed from diagnosis until the event of HF,
      mortality, drop out from the database due to any other reason, or the end of the
      study on 1 July 2015. The association between each of three different haemoglobin
      A1C (HbA1c) metrics and HF was estimated using adjusted proportional hazard
      models. In the overall cohort (n=94 332), the increased risk for HF per 1% (10
      mmol/mol) increase in HbA1c was 1.15 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.18) for updated mean
      HbA1c, and 1.06 (1.04 to 1.07) and 1.06 (1.04 to 1.08) for baseline HbA1c and
      updated latest HbA1c, respectively. When categorised, the hazard risk (HR) for
      the updated mean HbA1c in relation to HF became higher than for baseline and
      updated latest HbA1c above HbA1c levels of 9%, but did not differ at lower HbA1c
      levels. The updated latest variable showed an increased risk for HbA1c <6% (42
      mmol/mol) of 1.16 (1.07 to 1.25), relative category 6-7%, while the HRs for
      updated mean and baseline HbA1c showed no such J-shaped pattern. CONCLUSIONS:
      Hyperglycaemia is still a risk factor for HF in persons with T2D of similar
      magnitude as in earlier cohorts. Such a relationship exists for current glycaemic
      levels, at diagnosis and the overall level but the pattern differs for these
      variables.

PMID- 27647168
TI  - Evolving antithrombotic treatment patterns for patients with newly diagnosed
      atrial fibrillation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We studied evolving antithrombotic therapy patterns in patients with
      newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and >=1 additional stroke
      risk factor between 2010 and 2015. METHODS: 39 670 patients were prospectively
      enrolled in four sequential cohorts in the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the
      FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF): cohort C1 (2010-2011), n=5500; C2 (2011
      2013), n=11 662; C3 (2013-2014), n=11 462; C4 (2014-2015), n=11 046. Baseline
      characteristics and antithrombotic therapy initiated at diagnosis were analysed
      by cohort. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar across cohorts. Median
      CHA2DS2-VASc (cardiac failure, hypertension, age >=75 (doubled), diabetes, stroke
      (doubled)-vascular disease, age 65-74 and sex category (female)) score was 3 in
      all four cohorts. From C1 to C4, the proportion of patients on anticoagulant (AC)
      therapy increased by almost 15% (C1 57.4%; C4 71.1%). Use of vitamin K antagonist
      (VKA)+/-antiplatelet (AP) (C1 53.2%; C4 34.0%) and AP monotherapy (C1 30.2%; C4
      16.6%) declined, while use of non-VKA oral ACs (NOACs)+/-AP increased (C1 4.2%;
      C4 37.0%). Most CHA2DS2-VASc >=2 patients received AC, and this proportion
      increased over time, largely driven by NOAC prescribing. NOACs were more
      frequently prescribed than VKAs in men, the elderly, patients of Asian ethnicity,
      those with dementia, or those using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and
      current smokers. VKA use was more common in patients with cardiac, vascular, or
      renal comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: Since NOACs were introduced, there has been an
      increase in newly diagnosed patients with AF at risk of stroke receiving
      guideline-recommended therapy, predominantly driven by increased use of NOACs and
      reduced use of VKA+/-AP or AP alone. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01090362; Pre
      results.

PMID- 27647172
TI  - Aging amplifies multiple phenotypic defects in mice with zinc transporter Zip14
      (Slc39a14) deletion.
AB  - Inflammation and zinc dyshomeostasis are two common hallmarks of aging. A major
      zinc transporter ZIP14 (slc39a14) is upregulated by proinflammatory stimuli, e.g.
      interleukin-6. We have evaluated the influence of age on the Zip14 KO phenotype
      using wild-type (WT) and Zip14 knockout (KO) mice. Aging produced a major
      increase in serum IL-6 concentrations that was dramatically augmented in the
      Zip14 KO mice. In keeping with enhanced serum IL-6 concentrations, aging produced
      tissue-specific increases in zinc concentration of skeletal muscle and white
      adipose tissue. Metabolic endotoxemia produced by Zip14 ablation is maintained in
      aged KO mice. Muscle non-heme iron (NHI) was increased in aged WT mice but not in
      aged Zip14 KO mice demonstrating NHI uptake by muscle is ZIP14-dependent and
      increases with age. NF-kappaB and STAT3 activation was greater in aged mice, but
      was tissue specific and inversely related to tissue zinc. Micro-CT analysis
      revealed that Zip14 KO mice had markedly reduced trabecular bone that was greatly
      amplified with aging. These results demonstrate that the inflammation-responsive
      zinc transporter ZIP14 has phenotypic effects that are amplified with aging.

PMID- 27647177
TI  - Erratum: Pallini R, Ricci-Vitiani L, Montano N, Mollinari C, Biffoni M, Cenci T,
      Pierconti F, Martini M, De Maria R and Larocca LM. Expression of the stem cell
      marker CD133 in recurrent glioblastoma and its value for prognosis. Cancer.
      2011;117:162-174.

PMID- 27647176
TI  - Experimental investigation of a four-qubit linear-optical quantum logic circuit.
AB  - We experimentally demonstrate and characterize a four-qubit linear-optical
      quantum logic circuit. Our robust and versatile scheme exploits encoding of two
      qubits into polarization and path degrees of single photons and involves two
      crossed inherently stable interferometers. This approach allows us to design a
      complex quantum logic circuit that combines a genuine four-qubit C(3)Z gate and
      several two-qubit and single-qubit gates. The C(3)Z gate introduces a sign flip
      if and only if all four qubits are in the computational state |1>. We verify high
      fidelity performance of this central four-qubit gate using Hofmann bounds on
      quantum gate fidelity and Monte Carlo fidelity sampling. We also experimentally
      demonstrate that the quantum logic circuit can generate genuine multipartite
      entanglement and we certify the entanglement with the use of suitably tailored
      entanglement witnesses.

PMID- 27647178
TI  - Risk of future microvascular and macrovascular disease in people with Type 1
      diabetes of very long duration: a national study with 10-year follow-up.
AB  - AIMS: To describe factors associated with prevalence or absence of microvascular
      and macrovascular complications in people with Type 1 diabetes of very long
      duration and to investigate the risk factors associated with the incidence of
      such complications. METHODS: We included individuals with Type 1 diabetes who had
      been entered in the Swedish National Diabetes Register between 2002 and 2004 (n =
      18 450). First, risk factor distribution in people with diabetes duration of >=
      50 years was compared between people with and without complications. Second, the
      incidence of complications during a 10-year follow-up period was studied in all
      individuals who had no complications at baseline. RESULTS: Among people with a
      diabetes duration of >= 50 years (n = 1023), 453 (44%) had macrovascular disease,
      534 (52%) had microvascular disease and 319 (31%) did not have either of the
      diagnoses. Factors that differed significantly between people with and without
      macrovascular disease were gender, age, HbA1c , BMI, LDL cholesterol, HDL
      cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, albuminuria,
      antihypertensive medication and lipid-lowering medication. The same factors
      differed significantly between people with and without microvascular disease,
      with the exception of gender and HDL cholesterol. During the follow-up period,
      6.1% of the study cohort were diagnosed with macrovascular disease and 19.6% with
      microvascular disease. Incidence of macrovascular disease was significantly
      associated with HbA1c levels. Hazard ratios decreased with longer diabetes
      duration. CONCLUSIONS: People with Type 1 diabetes who have survived >= 50 years
      without complications are significantly younger, and have significantly lower
      HbA1c levels, BMI and triglyceride levels than survivors with complications.
      HbA1c level is a predictor of macrovascular disease, independently of diabetes
      duration.

PMID- 27647180
TI  - The effect of low back pain on trunk muscle size/function and hip strength in
      elite football (soccer) players.
AB  - Low back pain (LBP) is a common problem in football (soccer) players. The effect
      of LBP on the trunk and hip muscles in this group is unknown. The relationship
      between LBP and trunk muscle size and function in football players across the
      preseason was examined. A secondary aim was to assess hip muscle strength. Twenty
      five elite soccer players participated in the study, with assessments conducted
      on 23 players at both the start and end of the preseason. LBP was assessed with
      questionnaires and ultrasound imaging was used to assess size and function of
      trunk muscles at the start and end of preseason. Dynamometry was used to assess
      hip muscle strength at the start of the preseason. At the start of the preseason,
      28% of players reported the presence of LBP and this was associated with reduced
      size of the multifidus, increased contraction of the transversus abdominis and
      multifidus muscles. LBP decreased across the preseason, and size of the
      multifidus muscle improved over the preseason. Ability to contract the abdominal
      and multifidus muscles did not alter across the preseason. Asymmetry in hip
      adductor and abductor muscle strength was found between players with and without
      LBP. Identifying modifiable factors in players with LBP may allow development of
      more targeted preseason rehabilitation programmes.

PMID- 27647179
TI  - Inhibiting CD146 by its Monoclonal Antibody AA98 Improves Radiosensitivity of
      Cervical Cancer Cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND Cervical cancer is one of the major causes of cancer death of females
      worldwide. Radiotherapy is considered effective for cervical cancer treatment,
      but the low radiosensitivity found in some cases severely affects therapeutic
      outcomes. This study aimed to reveal the role of CD146, an important adhesion
      molecule facilitating tumor angiogenesis, in regulating radiosensitivity of
      cervical cancer cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS CD146 protein expression was compared
      in normal cells, cervical cancer cells with lower radiosensitivity, and cervical
      cancer cells with higher sensitivity from cervical squamous cell carcinoma
      patients. Anti-CD146 monoclonal antibody AA98 was used to inhibit CD146 in human
      cervical cancer SiHa cells with relatively low radiosensitivity, and then the
      cell survival and apoptosis changes after radiation were detected by colony
      formation assay and flow cytometry. RESULTS CD146 protein was significantly up
      regulated in cervical cancer cells (P<0.001), especially in cancer cells with
      lower radiosensitivity. The SiHa cells treated with AA98 showed more obvious
      inhibition in cell survival (P<0.05) and promotion in cell apoptosis (P<0.01)
      after radiation, compared to the untreated cells. More dramatic changes in
      apoptotic factors Caspase 3 and Bcl-XL were also detected in AA98-treated cells.
      CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that inhibiting CD146 improves the effect of
      radiation in suppressing SiHa cells. This study shows the potential of CD146 as a
      target for increasing radiosensitivity of cervical cancer cells, which might
      allow improvement in treatment outcome in cervical cancer. Further studies are
      necessary for understanding the detailed mechanism of CD146 in regulating
      radiosensitivity. 

PMID- 27647182
TI  - Can the new CKD-EPI BTP-B2M formula be applied in children?
AB  - Although measuring creatinine to determine kidney function is currently the
      clinical standard, new markers such as beta-trace protein (BTP) and beta-2
      microglobulin (B2M) are being investigated in an effort to measure glomerular
      filtration rate more accurately. In their recent publication, Inker et al. (Am J
      Kidney Dis 2015; 67:40-48) explored the use of these two relatively new markers
      in combination with some commonly available clinical characteristics in a large
      cohort of adults with chronic kidney disease. Their research led them to develop
      three formulae using BTP, B2M, and a combination of the two. The combined formula
      is particularly attractive as it removes all gender bias, which applies to both
      serum creatinine and cystatin C. Using data from a cohort of 127 pediatric
      patients from our center, we sought to determine whether these formulae would be
      equally as effective in children as in adults. Unfortunately, we found that the
      formulae cannot be applied to the pediatric population.

PMID- 27647184
TI  - Mineral and Bone Disorder and Its Association with Cardiovascular Parameters in
      Chinese Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mineral and bone disorder (MBD), especially hyperphosphatemia, is an
      independently risk factor for adverse prognosis in patients with chronic kidney
      disease (CKD). However, CKD-MBD among Chinese population was poorly studied. This
      study aimed to investigate the status of MBD and its association with
      cardiovascular parameters in Chinese patients with predialysis CKD. METHODS:
      Chinese Cohort Study of Chronic Kidney Disease (C-STRIDE) is a prospective
      multicenter cohort study involving predialysis CKD patients in China. Markers of
      MBD, including serum phosphorus, calcium, and intact parathyroid hormone, were
      measured in baseline samples at the patients' entry. The association between
      serum phosphorus and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), left ventricular
      hypertrophy (LVH) were examined by logistic regression models. RESULTS:
      Altogether 3194 predialysis patients with mean estimated glomerular filtration of
      51.8 +/- 33.1 ml.min-1.1.73 m-2 were included. The proportion of patients with
      hyperphosphatemia were 2.6%, 2.9%, 6.8%, and 27.1% in CKD Stages 3a, 3b, 4, and
      5, respectively. Moreover, 71.6% of the patients with hyperphosphatemia did not
      receive any phosphate-binder (PB). Lateral abdominal X-rays were obtained in 2280
      patients, 9.8% of the patients were diagnosed as having AAC. Altogether 2219
      patients had data of echocardiography, and 13.2% of them were diagnosed with LVH.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum phosphorus was
      independently associated with the presence of AAC and LVH. CONCLUSIONS: In
      Chinese patients with CKD, the percentage of hyperphosphatemia is comparable to
      that of other countries while the usage of PBs is suboptimal. The prevalence of
      vascular calcification in Chinese patients is relatively lower compared with the
      Caucasian population.

PMID- 27647183
TI  - Head to Head Comparison of Two Point-of-care Platelet Function Tests Used for
      Assessment of On-clopidogrel Platelet Reactivity in Chinese Acute Myocardial
      Infarction Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Platelet function tests are widely used in clinical practice to guide
      personalized antiplatelet therapy. In China, the thromboelastography (TEG) test
      has been well accepted in clinics, whereas VerifyNow, mainly used for scientific
      research, has not been used in routine clinical practice. The aim of the current
      study was to compare these two point-of-care platelet function tests and to
      analyze the consistency between the two tests for evaluating on-clopidogrel
      platelet reactivity in Chinese acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of 184 patients
      admitted to Fuwai Hospital between August 2014 and May 2015 were enrolled in the
      study. On-clopidogrel platelet reactivity was assessed 3 days after PCI by TEG
      and VerifyNow using adenosine diphosphate as an agonist. Based on the previous
      reports, an inhibition of platelet aggregation (IPA) <30% for TEG or a P2Y12
      reaction unit (PRU) >230 for VerifyNow was defined as high on-clopidogrel
      platelet reactivity (HPR). An IPA >70% or a PRU <178 was defined as low on
      clopidogrel platelet reactivity (LPR). Correlation and agreement between the two
      methods were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient (r) and kappa
      value (kappa), respectively. RESULTS: Our results showed that VerifyNow and TEG
      had a moderate but significant correlation in evaluating platelet reactivity (r =
      -0.511). A significant although poor agreement (kappa = 0.225) in identifying HPR
      and a significantly moderate agreement in identifying LPR (kappa = 0.412) were
      observed between TEG and VerifyNow. By using TEG as the reference for comparison,
      the cutoff values of VerifyNow for the Chinese patients in this study were
      identified as PRU >205 for HPR and PRU <169 for LPR. CONCLUSIONS: By comparing
      VerifyNow to TEG which has been widely used in clinics, VerifyNow could be an
      attractive alternative to TEG for monitoring on-clopidogrel platelet reactivity
      in Chinese patients.

PMID- 27647185
TI  - Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine Jinlida Granule in Treatment of Patients with
      Impaired Glucose Tolerance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) remains a major health problem worldwide.
      Several clinical trials have shown the superiority of the Traditional Chinese
      Medicine in delaying or reversing the development and progression of DM. This
      study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Jinlida (JLD) granule, a Chinese herbal
      recipe, in the treatment of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and its effect on
      the prevention of DM. METHODS: Sixty-five IGT patients were randomized to receive
      one bag of JLD granules three times daily (JLD group, n = 34) or no drug
      intervention (control group, n = 31) for 12 weeks. Oral glucose tolerance test,
      glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), body mass index, blood lipids levels, fasting
      insulin, and insulin resistance calculated using homeostatic model assessment
      (HOMA-IR) of all the patients were observed and compared before and after the
      treatment. RESULTS: Sixty-one participants completed the trial (32 in JLD group
      and 29 in the control group). There were statistically significant decreases in
      HbA1c (P < 0.001), 2-h plasma glucose (P < 0.001), and HOMA-IR (P = 0.029) in JLD
      group compared with the control group after 12 weeks of treatment. After 12 weeks
      of treatment, two (6.9%) patients returned to normal blood glucose, and five
      (17.2%) patients turned into DM in control group, while in the JLD group, 14
      (43.8%) returned to normal blood glucose and 2 (6.2%) turned into DM. There was a
      significant difference in the number of subjects who had normal glucose at the
      end of the study between two groups (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: JLD granule
      effectively improved glucose control, increased the conversion of IGT to normal
      glucose, and improved the insulin resistance in patients with IGT. This Chinese
      herbal medicine may have a clinical value for IGT.

PMID- 27647186
TI  - Dysferlin Gene Mutation Spectrum in a Large Cohort of Chinese Patients with
      Dysferlinopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysferlinopathy is caused by mutations in the dysferlin (DYSF) gene.
      Here, we described the genetic features of a large cohort of Chinese patients
      with this disease. METHODS: Eighty-nine index patients were included in the
      study. DYSF gene analysis was performed by Sanger sequencing in 41 patients and
      targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) in 48 patients. Multiplex ligation
      dependent probe amplification (MLPA) was performed to detect exon
      duplication/deletion in patients with only one pathogenic mutation. RESULTS:
      Among the 89 index patients, 79 patients were demonstrated to carry two disease
      causing (73 cases) or possibly disease-causing mutations (6 cases), including 26
      patients with homozygous mutations. We identified 105 different mutations,
      including 59 novel ones. Notably, in 13 patients in whom only one pathogenic
      mutation was initially found by Sanger sequencing or NGS, 3 were further
      identified to carry exon deletions by MLPA. The mutations identified in this
      study appeared to cluster in the N-terminal region. Mutation types included
      missense mutations (30.06%), nonsense mutations (17.18%), frameshift mutations
      (30.67%), in-frame deletions (2.45%), intronic mutations (17.79%), and exonic
      rearrangement (1.84%). No genotype-phenotype correlation was identified.
      CONCLUSIONS: DYSF mutations in Chinese patients clustered in the N-terminal
      region of the gene. Exonic rearrangements were found in 23% of patients with only
      one pathogenic mutation identified by Sanger sequencing or NGS. The novel
      mutations found in this study greatly expanded the mutational spectrum of
      dysferlinopathy.

PMID- 27647188
TI  - Association of Metabolic Factors with Symptomatic Hand Osteoarthritis in the
      Chinese Han Population Aged 40 Years and above.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between hand osteoarthritis (HOA) and systemic
      metabolic factors is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      prevalence of systemic metabolic factors including obesity, hypertension,
      diabetes mellitus, and atherosclerosis in symptomatic patients with HOA and the
      association between these systemic metabolic factors and symptomatic HOA in the
      Chinese Han population aged 40 years and above. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey
      was conducted on Chinese Han population aged 40 years and above in six centers in
      China. The sociodemographic features, lifestyle of the participants, and medical
      history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and atherosclerosis were collected.
      The cases with hand symptoms underwent anteroposterior radiographic examination
      of both hands to obtain a diagnosis. The correlations between systemic metabolic
      factors and symptomatic HOA were analyzed using Logistic regression analysis.
      RESULTS: Overweight (39.3% vs. 30.5%, P< 0.001), hypertension (34.7% vs. 18.6%,
      P< 0.001), diabetes mellitus (11.2% vs. 3.3%, P< 0.001), and atherosclerosis
      (19.8% vs. 8.3%, P< 0.001) were more prevalent in symptomatic patients with HOA
      than those in the population without HOA. Overweight (odds ratio [OR] = 1.35, 95%
      confidence interval [CI]: 1.10-1.65, P = 0.005), hypertension (OR = 1.47, 95% CI:
      1.18-1.83, P < 0.001), and diabetes mellitus (OR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.74-3.45, P<
      0.001) were associated with a higher prevalence of symptomatic HOA and the OR of
      symptomatic HOA significantly increased with the accumulated number of the three
      metabolic factors. Symptomatic HOA was associated with a higher prevalence of
      atherosclerosis (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.05-1.85, P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS:
      Overweight, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were associated with a higher
      prevalence of HOA, showing cumulative effects. Atherosclerosis risk should be
      assessed in patients with HOA.

PMID- 27647187
TI  - "Fast-track" and "Minimally Invasive" Surgery for Gastric Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols or fast-track (FT)
      programs enable a shorter hospital stay and lower complication rate. Minimally
      invasive surgery (MIS) is associated with a lesser trauma and a quicker recovery
      in many elective abdominal surgeries. However, little is known of the safety and
      effectiveness made by ERAS protocols combined with MIS for gastric cancer. The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness made by FT
      programs and MIS in combination or alone. METHODS: We summarized an 11-year
      experience on gastric cancer patients undergoing elective laparotomy or minimally
      invasive gastric resection in standard cares (SC) or FT programs during January
      2004 to December 2014. A total of 984 patients were enrolled and assigned into
      four groups: open gastrectomies (OG) with SC (OG + SC group, n = 167); OG with FT
      programs (OG + FT group, n = 277); laparoscopic gastrectomies (LG) with FT
      programs (LG + FT group, n = 248); and robot-assisted gastrectomies (RG) with FT
      programs (RG + FT group, n = 292). Patients' data were collected to evaluate the
      clinical outcome. The primary end point was the length of postoperative hospital
      stay. RESULTS: The OG + SC group showed the longest postoperative hospital stay
      (mean: 12.3 days, median: 11 days, interquartile range [IQR]: 6-16 days), while
      OG + FT, LG + FT, and RG + FT groups recovered faster (mean: 7.4, 6.4, and 6.6
      days, median: 6, 6, and 6 days, IQR: 3-9, 4-8, and 3-9 days, respectively, all P<
      0.001). The postoperative rehabilitation parameters such as flatus time after
      surgery (4.7 +/- 0.9, 3.1 +/- 0.8, 3.0 +/- 0.9, and 3.1 +/- 0.9 days) followed
      the same manner. After 30 postoperative days' follow-up, the total incidence of
      complications was 9.6% in OG + SC group, 10.1% in OG + FT group, 8.1% in LG + FT
      group, and 10.3% in RG + FT group. The complications showed no significant
      differences between the four groups (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ERAS protocols
      alone could significantly bring fast recovery after surgery regardless of the
      surgical technique. MIS further reduces postoperative hospital stay. It is safe
      and effective to apply ERAS protocols combined with MIS for gastric cancer.

PMID- 27647189
TI  - Association between Maternal Serum Concentrations of Angiopoietin-like Protein 2
      in Early Pregnancy and Subsequent Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A recent study reported a positive association between elevated serum
      levels of angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) and the development of type 2
      diabetes in a general population. However, the relationship of serum ANGPTL2
      levels with the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has not
      been reported to date. The aim of this study was to investigate the change of
      maternal serum ANGPTL2 concentrations in the first trimester of pregnancy and to
      determine whether ANGPTL2 is a biomarker for subsequent GDM development. METHODS:
      We conducted a prospective, nested case-control study in a pregnancy cohort.
      First-trimester ANGPTL2 levels were measured using a high-resolution assay in 89
      women who subsequently developed GDM and in a random sample of 177 women who
      remained euglycemic throughout the pregnancy. Median ANGPTL2 levels were compared
      using Mann-Whitney U-test. Logistic regression was used to compute unadjusted and
      multivariable-adjusted odds ratios for developing GDM among ANGPTL2 quartiles.
      RESULTS: The serum levels of ANGPTL2 was higher in women with GDM than that in
      women without GDM (3.06 [2.59, 3.65] ng/ml vs. 2.46 [2.05, 2.96] ng/ml, P =
      0.003). Fasting blood glucose was higher in women with GDM than that in women
      without GDM (5.0 +/- 0.9 mmol/L vs. 4.4 +/- 0.6 mmol/L, P < 0.001). Glucose
      challenge test showed that the blood glucose was higher in women with GDM than
      that in women without GDM (9.1 +/- 3.5 mmol/L vs. 6.2 +/- 1.2 mmol/L, P < 0.001).
      A multivariate model adjusted for baseline characteristics, medical
      complications, and gestational characteristics revealed that the risk of
      developing GDM among women in Q4 compared with Q1 was 2.90-fold more likely to
      develop GDM later in pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: At 11-13 weeks in pregnancies that
      develop GDM, the serum concentration of ANGPTL2 is increased, and it can be
      combined with maternal factors to provide effective early screening for GDM.

PMID- 27647190
TI  - Fluoroscopy-guided Bipolar Radiofrequency Thermocoagulation Treatment for
      Discogenic Low Back Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency
      thermocoagulation (PIRFT) for the treatment of discogenic low back pain (LBP)
      remains controversial. However, all the PIRFT studies utilized monopolar
      radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFTC). The aim of this study was to investigate
      the safety and efficacy of bipolar RFTC for the treatment of discogenic LBP.
      METHODS: A total of 23 patients with discogenic LBP were treated with single
      level bipolar RFTC. The patients were assessed before the procedure and at 1
      week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the procedure. The primary
      outcome included the visual analog scale (VAS) score and the Oswestry Disability
      Index (ODI) score. The secondary outcome included pain relief, reduction of
      analgesic dose, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: The VAS and ODI scores were
      significantly decreased after bipolar RFTC treatment at all time points of follow
      up (P < 0.05). Bipolar RFTC treatment also resulted in a significant change in
      all secondary measures, such as pain relief, reduction of analgesic dose, and
      patient satisfaction. No serious complications or neurological sequelae were
      observed in any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar RFTC treatment can
      significantly attenuate pain and improve the function of patients with discogenic
      LBP.

PMID- 27647191
TI  - Molecular Epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus among Patients with Skin and Soft
      Tissue Infections in Two Chinese Hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the predominant causes of skin and
      soft tissue infections (SSTIs), but limited data were available regarding the
      characterization of S. aureus from SSTIs patients in Jiangsu Province in China.
      We aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus among SSTIs
      patients in two hospitals of Jiangsu Province. METHODS: Sixty-two patients with
      SSTIs from two Chinese hospitals in Jiangsu Province were enrolled in this study,
      and 62 S. aureus isolates were collected from February 2014 to January 2015. S.
      aureus isolates were characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, toxin
      gene detection, and molecular typing with sequence type, Staphylococcus protein A
      gene type, accessory gene regulator (agr) group, and Staphylococcal cassette
      chromosome mec t ype. RESULTS: Sixteen (25.8%) methicillin-resistant S. aureus
      (MRSA) isolates were detected, and there was no isolate found resistant to
      vancomycin, teicoplanin, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and linezolid. The sei
      was the toxin gene most frequently found, and no lukS/F-PV-positive isolates were
      detected among the SSTIs' patients. Molecular analysis revealed that ST398
      (10/62, 16.1%; 2 MRSA and 8 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus) to be the dominant
      clone, followed by ST5 (8/62, 12.9%) and ST7 (8/62, 12.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The
      livestock ST398 was the most common clone among patients with S. aureus SSTIs in
      Jiangsu Province, China. Surveillance and further studies on the important
      livestock ST398 clone in human infections are necessarily requested.

PMID- 27647192
TI  - Research on 2041 Cases of High Inpatient Expenditure and Influence Factors during
      3 Years in a Single Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study was to explore the causes of high inpatient expenditure
      through analyzing the distribution characteristics as well as the influence
      factors of high inpatient expenditure cases during 3 years within a Grade-A
      tertiary hospital through various aspects and multiple angles, thus identifying
      the major influence factors for high medical expenditure to develop further
      research. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 2041 inpatient cases which cost
      more than RMB 100,000 Yuan per case in a Grade-A tertiary hospital from 2013 to
      2015. We analyzed the compositions of the medical cost to evaluate the major
      factors that cause the high inpatient expenditure. All the data and materials
      were collected from medical record system, and the statistical methods included t
      test, variance of analysis, and multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: The
      average cost of the 2,041 cases was RMB 152,173 Yuan for medicines and materials
      of medical costs, which respectively accounted for 33.03% and 32.32% of the total
      cost; and the average length of hospital stay was 28.39 days/person. Diseases of
      skeletal and muscular system, circulatory system, and tumor were the top three
      disease categories of high inpatient expenditure, which accounted for 39.00%,
      33.46%, and 18.03%, respectively. Complications, criticality of the disease,
      gender of the patients, the occurrence of death, and the excessive length of
      hospital stay all had great impacts on average medical expenditure, while age,
      hospital infection, and surgery showed no significant impact on average medical
      cost. CONCLUSIONS: The main factors for high inpatient expenditure included the
      inadequate use of high-value medicines and materials, lacking cost control
      measures within the hospital, the excessive length of hospital stay for
      inpatients, and the unnecessary treatment for the patients.

PMID- 27647193
TI  - Hydrogen-rich Water Exerting a Protective Effect on Ovarian Reserve Function in a
      Mouse Model of Immune Premature Ovarian Failure Induced by Zona Pellucida 3.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a disease that affects female
      fertility but has few effective treatments. Ovarian reserve function plays an
      important role in female fertility. Recent studies have reported that hydrogen
      can protect male fertility. Therefore, we explored the potential protective
      effect of hydrogen-rich water on ovarian reserve function through a mouse immune
      POF model. METHODS: To set up immune POF model, fifty female BALB/c mice were
      randomly divided into four groups: Control (mice consumed normal water, n = 10),
      hydrogen (mice consumed hydrogen-rich water, n = 10), model (mice were immunized
      with zona pellucida glycoprotein 3 [ZP3] and consumed normal water, n = 15), and
      model-hydrogen (mice were immunized with ZP3 and consumed hydrogen-rich water, n
      = 15) groups. After 5 weeks, mice were sacrificed. Serum anti-Mullerian hormone
      (AMH) levels, granulosa cell (GC) apoptotic index (AI), B-cell leukemia/lymphoma
      2 (Bcl-2), and BCL2-associated X protein (Bax) expression were examined. Analyses
      were performed using SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software. RESULTS:
      Immune POF model, model group exhibited markedly reduced serum AMH levels
      compared with those of the control group (5.41 +/- 0.91 ng/ml vs. 16.23 +/- 1.97
      ng/ml, P = 0.033) and the hydrogen group (19.65 +/- 7.82 ng/ml, P = 0.006). The
      model-hydrogen group displayed significantly higher AMH concentrations compared
      with that of the model group (15.03 +/- 2.75 ng/ml vs. 5.41 +/- 0.91 ng/ml, P =
      0.021). The GC AI was significantly higher in the model group (21.30 +/- 1.74%)
      than those in the control (7.06 +/- 0.27%), hydrogen (5.17 +/- 0.41%), and model
      hydrogen groups (11.24 +/- 0.58%) (all P < 0.001). The GC AI was significantly
      higher in the model-hydrogen group compared with that of the hydrogen group
      (11.24 +/- 0.58% vs. 5.17 +/- 0.41%, P = 0.021). Compared with those of the model
      group, ovarian tissue Bcl-2 levels increased (2.18 +/- 0.30 vs. 3.01 +/- 0.33, P
      = 0.045) and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio decreased in the model-hydrogen group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hydrogen-rich water may improve serum AMH levels and reduce ovarian
      GC apoptosis in a mouse immune POF model induced by ZP3.

PMID- 27647194
TI  - Effect of Static Load on the Nucleus Pulposus of Rabbit Intervertebral Disc
      Motion Segment in Ex vivo Organ Culture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The development of mechanically active culture systems helps increase
      the understanding of the role of mechanical stress in intervertebral disc (IVD)
      degeneration. Motion segment cultures allow for preservation of the native IVD
      structure, and adjacent vertebral bodies facilitate the application and control
      of mechanical loads. The purpose of this study was to establish loading and organ
      culture methods for rabbit IVD motion segments to study the effect of static load
      on the whole disc organ. METHODS: IVD motion segments were harvested from rabbit
      lumbar spines and cultured in no-loading 6-well plates (control conditions) or
      custom-made apparatuses under a constant, compressive load (3 kg, 0.5 MPa) for up
      to 14 days. Tissue integrity, matrix synthesis, and the matrix gene expression
      profile were assessed after 3, 7, and 14 days of culturing and compared with
      those of fresh tissues. RESULTS: The results showed that ex vivo culturing of
      motion segments preserved tissue integrity under no-loading conditions for 14
      days whereas the static load gradually destroyed the morphology after 3 days.
      Proteoglycan contents were decreased under both conditions, with a more obvious
      decrease under static load, and proteoglycan gene expression was also
      downregulated. However, under static load, immunohistochemical staining intensity
      and collagen Type II alpha 1 (COL2A1) gene expression were significantly enhanced
      (61.54 +/- 5.91, P = 0.035) and upregulated (1.195 +/- 0.040, P = 0.000),
      respectively, compared with those in the controls (P < 0.05). In contrast, under
      constant compression, these trends were reversed. Our initial results indicated
      that short-term static load stimulated the synthesis of collagen Type II alpha 1;
      however, sustained constant compression led to progressive degeneration and
      specifically to a decreased proteoglycan content. CONCLUSIONS: A loading and
      organ culture system for ex vivo rabbit IVD motion segments was developed. Using
      this system, we were able to study the effects of mechanical stimulation on the
      biology of IVDs, as well as the pathomechanics of IVD degeneration.

PMID- 27647195
TI  - Available Evidence of Association between Zika Virus and Microcephaly.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To clarify the possible association between the Zika virus (ZIKV) and
      microcephaly and understand where we are in terms of research and the debate on
      the causation between mild maternal clinical features and severe fetal
      microcephaly. DATA SOURCES: We did a comprehensive literature review with the
      keywords "zika" and/or "microcephaly" from inception to May 27, 2016, with
      PubMed. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included and analyzed if they met all of
      the following criteria: "probable or confirmed infant microcephaly" and "probable
      or confirmed ZIKV infection among mothers or infants". RESULTS: We emphasize the
      diagnosis of ZIKV infection, including maternal clinical manifestations, maternal
      and fetal laboratory confirmation, and possible autopsy if need. Other
      confounders that may lead to microcephaly should be excluded from the study. We
      presented the results from clinical manifestations of ZIKV infection, testing
      methods evolving but the mechanism of microcephaly uncertain, flexible definition
      challenging the diagnosis of microcephaly, and limited causal reference on
      pregnant women. We made analog comparison of severe acute respiratory syndrome
      and chikungunya virus in terms of DNA mutation and global movement to provide
      further research recommendation. The chance of catch-up growth may decrease the
      number of pervious "diagnosed" microcephaly. CONCLUSIONS: There are some evidence
      available through mice models and direct isolation of ZIKV in affected
      pregnancies on kindly causal relationship but not convincible enough. We analyzed
      and presented the weakness or limitation of published reports with the desire to
      shed light to further study directions.

PMID- 27647196
TI  - Mass Spectrometry-based Proteomics in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A
      Powerful Modality for Pulmonary Precision Medicine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an acute and lethal
      clinical syndrome that is characterized by hypoxemic respiratory failure and
      diffuse alveolar inflammatory damage. This review aimed to search and discuss the
      mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic studies on different subsets of ARDS
      patients. DATA SOURCES: Original research articles were collected from the PubMed
      database published in English up to December 2015. STUDY SELECTION: The
      literature search was done using the term "(acute lung injury OR acute
      respiratory distress syndrome) AND (proteomics OR proteome OR mass spectrum OR
      differential in-gel electrophoresis OR two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis)". Related original research articles were included and were
      carefully analyzed. RESULTS: Eight original proteomic researches on ARDS patients
      were found. The common proteomic modalities were two-dimensional (2D) high
      performance liquid chromatography-based electronic spray ion-MS/MS and 2D
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis/differential in-gel electrophoresis-based
      matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight/MS. They compared the
      proteome between ARDS patients and normal controls and analyzed the dynamic
      changes of proteome at different ARDS stages or severity. The disturbed proteome
      in ARDS patients includes plasma acute-phase proteins, inflammatory/immune
      associated proteins, and coagulation proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Although several
      previous studies have provided some useful information about the lung proteome in
      ARDS patients and gained several interesting disease-associated biomarkers,
      clinical proteomic studies in ARDS patients are still in the initial stage. An
      increased cooperation is still needed to establish a global and faithful database
      containing disease-specific proteome from the largest ARDS subsets.

PMID- 27647197
TI  - Regulatory Mechanisms of the Molecular Pathways in Fibrosis Induced by MicroRNAs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) play critical roles in the fibrotic process
      in different organs. We summarized the latest research progress on the roles and
      mechanisms of miRNAs in the regulation of the molecular signaling pathways
      involved in fibrosis. DATA SOURCES: Papers published in English from January 2010
      to August 2015 were selected from the PubMed and Web of Science databases using
      the search terms "microRNA", "miR", "transforming growth factor beta", "tgf
      beta", "mitogen-activated protein kinase", "mapk", "integrin", "p38", "c-Jun NH2
      terminal kinase", "jnk", "extracellular signal-regulated kinase", "erk", and
      "fibrosis". STUDY SELECTION: Articles were obtained and reviewed to analyze the
      regulatory effects of miRNAs on molecular signaling pathways involved in the
      fibrosis. RESULTS: Recent evidence has shown that miRNAs are involved in
      regulating fibrosis by targeting different substrates in the molecular processes
      that drive fibrosis, such as immune cell sensitization, effector cell activation,
      and extracellular matrix remodeling. Moreover, several important molecular
      signaling pathways involve in fibrosis, such as the transforming growth factor
      beta (TGF-beta) pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, and
      the integrin pathway are regulated by miRNAs. Third, regulation of the fibrotic
      pathways induced by miRNAs is found in many other tissues in addition to the
      heart, lung, liver, and kidney. Interestingly, the actions of many drugs on the
      human body are also induced by miRNAs. It is encouraging that the fibrotic
      process can be blocked or reversed by targeting specific miRNAs and their
      signaling pathways, thereby protecting the structures and functions of different
      organs. CONCLUSIONS: miRNAs not only regulate molecular signaling pathways in
      fibrosis but also serve as potential targets of novel therapeutic interventions
      for fibrosing diseases.

PMID- 27647199
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Complete Transposition of the Great Arteries in Newborn.

PMID- 27647200
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features of Extraocular Muscle Lymphoma in Five Cases.

PMID- 27647198
TI  - Gut Microbiota-brain Axis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the updated information about the gut
      microbiota-brain axis. DATA SOURCES: All articles about gut microbiota-brain axis
      published up to July 18, 2016, were identified through a literature search on
      PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science, with the keywords of "gut microbiota",
      "gut-brain axis", and "neuroscience". STUDY SELECTION: All relevant articles on
      gut microbiota and gut-brain axis were included and carefully reviewed, with no
      limitation of study design. RESULTS: It is well-recognized that gut microbiota
      affects the brain's physiological, behavioral, and cognitive functions although
      its precise mechanism has not yet been fully understood. Gut microbiota-brain
      axis may include gut microbiota and their metabolic products, enteric nervous
      system, sympathetic and parasympathetic branches within the autonomic nervous
      system, neural-immune system, neuroendocrine system, and central nervous system.
      Moreover, there may be five communication routes between gut microbiota and
      brain, including the gut-brain's neural network, neuroendocrine-hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal axis, gut immune system, some neurotransmitters and neural
      regulators synthesized by gut bacteria, and barrier paths including intestinal
      mucosal barrier and blood-brain barrier. The microbiome is used to define the
      composition and functional characteristics of gut microbiota, and metagenomics is
      an appropriate technique to characterize gut microbiota. CONCLUSIONS: Gut
      microbiota-brain axis refers to a bidirectional information network between the
      gut microbiota and the brain, which may provide a new way to protect the brain in
      the near future.

PMID- 27647201
TI  - A Case of Nipple Adenoma Detected by Sonography.

PMID- 27647203
TI  - Over-the-scope Clip System for Wound Closure after Endoscopic Resection of an
      Esophageal Submucosal Tumor: A Case Report.

PMID- 27647202
TI  - In vitro Activity of Different Antibacterial Agents in Combination with Each
      Other against Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

PMID- 27647204
TI  - Primary Laryngo-tracheobronchial Amyloidosis: An Unusual Cause of Hoarseness and
      Dyspnea.

PMID- 27647205
TI  - Rupture of a Choledochal Cyst in an Adult Female: A Rare Consequence of Blunt
      Abdominal Trauma.

PMID- 27647206
TI  - Status-Relevant Experiences and Conspicuous Consumption - the Moderating Role of
      Prenatal Androgen Exposure.
AB  - In this paper we study consumers' interest in acquiring and displaying expensive
      luxury products. Based on recent insights in consumer psychology, which build on
      developments in evolutionary biology, we consider luxury products as "costly
      signals": wasteful and costly goods, whose purpose is to communicate one's
      biological fitness, and social status, to others. In line with previous research,
      we show that experiences that trigger mate attraction goals (Study 1: Exposure to
      others in bathing outfit) or status display goals (Study 2: Experiencing a
      vicarious victory of one's favorite sports team) can increase people's interest
      in luxury products. However, we demonstrate that some individuals are predictably
      more responsive to those experiences than others. We used a physiological measure
      (the proportion of the length of the index finger and ring finger of the right
      hand, 2D:4D) as a proxy for individual differences in exposure to prenatal
      androgens (i.e., testosterone). This measure has been related to dominant and
      competitive behavior later in life. We predict and find that individuals with a
      low 2D:4D (i.e., high exposure to prenatal androgens) were more responsive to the
      status-relevant experiences: they became more interested in luxury goods after
      these experiences. This was not the case for high 2D:4D individuals. 

PMID- 27647207
TI  - Family caregiver support groups: spiritual reflections' impact on stress
      management.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Caregiving for people with neurodegenerative disease (e.g.
      Alzheimer's disease (AD); frontotemporal dementia (FTD)) is provided primarily by
      the family care system. Caregiving is taxing and much of the caregiving research
      is guided by a stress/adaptation theoretical perspective. Within this theoretical
      model, the role of spirituality in rendering meaning to the caregiver role
      remains unexplored. We conducted a qualitative analysis of expressions of
      spirituality and its meaningfulness during the caregiving journey within the
      context of an online video conferencing support group intervention program.
      METHODS: Eighteen AD and six FTD caregivers participated in the Caring for Others
      evidence-based program consisting of 10 weekly virtual online support group
      sessions facilitated by experienced gerontological social workers. RESULTS:
      Content analysis of the video-recorded group interactions yielded recurrent
      themes of caregivers' spiritual reflections and their associations with managing
      caregiver stress responses. CONCLUSION: The findings inform professional
      observations of the importance of spiritual beliefs in understanding how
      caregivers ascribe both positive and negative meanings to critical life events
      and their management.

PMID- 27647212
TI  - Coding Regions of Intrinsic Disorder Accommodate Parallel Functions.
AB  - Numerous DNA- and RNA-level functions are embedded in protein-coding regions,
      which constrains their structure, function, and evolution. Accumulating evidence
      suggests that such additional, overlapping functions occur preferentially in the
      coding sequences of intrinsically disordered proteins/regions (IDPs/IDRs),
      especially in those that are newly incorporated and thus have reduced selective
      pressure. It is the lack of strict structural constraints that makes disordered
      proteins more tolerant to mutations and thus more permissive to the appearance of
      overlapping functions within their coding sequences than structured domains.
      Therefore, IDPs/IDRs are often mosaics of segments fulfilling protein
      functionalities and intervening regions primarily carrying nucleotide-level
      functions. The ensuing complexification of gene-regulatory circuits may have
      contributed to the evolutionary spread of structural disorder in complex
      eukaryotic organisms.

PMID- 27647213
TI  - Emerging Themes in Regulation of Global mRNA Turnover in cis.
AB  - mRNA is the molecule that conveys genetic information from DNA to the translation
      apparatus. mRNAs in all organisms display a wide range of stability, and
      mechanisms have evolved to selectively and differentially regulate individual
      mRNA stability in response to intracellular and extracellular cues. In recent
      years, three seemingly distinct aspects of RNA biology-mRNA N6-methyladenosine
      (m6A) modification, alternative 3' end processing and polyadenylation (APA), and
      mRNA codon usage-have been linked to mRNA turnover, and all three aspects
      function to regulate global mRNA stability in cis. Here, we discuss the discovery
      and molecular dissection of these mechanisms in relation to how they impact the
      intrinsic decay rate of mRNA in eukaryotes, leading to transcriptome
      reprogramming.

PMID- 27647214
TI  - Prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in a blood donor population
      born prior to and after implementation of universal HBV vaccination in Shenzhen,
      China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal hepatitis B vaccination program at birth has been
      implemented nationwide since 1992 in China. However, current HBV prevalence
      status in blood donors has not been entirely examined, which may impact HBV
      safety in blood donations as the vaccinees over 18 years old progressively become
      the majority population of blood donors. METHODS: In this study, 569,145 blood
      donors were screened for HBsAg by rapid tests and enzyme immunoassays, among them
      475,538 blood samples with negative HBsAg were further screened for HBV DNA by
      nucleic acid testing between 2005 and 2014 at Shenzhen blood center. RESULTS: An
      overall 2.3 % HBsAg prevalence was found in the blood donor population during the
      past 10 years (2.86 % in 2005, 1.76 % in 2010, and 2.79 % in 2014, respectively).
      HBsAg seroconversion occurred in 0.37 % of repeat-donors. When stratified by age,
      the prevalence of HBsAg was found significantly higher in younger donors age 18
      25 years (2.73 %) than in those 26-35 years (2.13 %), 36-45 years (2.03 %) and 46
      58 years (1.71 %) (P < 0.001), unexpectedly suggesting that younger donors
      remained at risk of chronic HBV infection. Assuming that donors aged 18-22 born
      before or after 1992 were non-vaccinated and vaccinated, respectively, HBsAg
      prevalence was higher in first-time donors born >=1992 (3.9 %) than prior to 1992
      (3.5 %, P = 0.005). The incidence of HBV infection in the 5-year period examined
      was significantly lower in repeat-donors born >=1992 (0.27 %) than prior to 1992
      (0.6 %, P = 0.008). The yield of HBV DNA+/HBsAg- donors was 1:3,302, including
      1:4,486 occult infections and 1:43,231 window period infections. CONCLUSION:
      Young blood donors born after implementation of universal HBV vaccination in
      China presented higher prevalence of HBsAg but lower incidence of HBsAg
      seroconversion than older, presumed unvaccinated, donors. HBV vaccine boosting
      for adolescents at 15-17 years old prior to reaching blood donor age might help
      improve blood safety.

PMID- 27647215
TI  - Secondary Health Conditions, Activity Limitations, and Life Satisfaction in Older
      Adults With Long-Term Spinal Cord Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI) have lived several
      decades with their injury, leading to a need for a deeper understanding of
      factors associated with healthy aging in people with long-term SCI. OBJECTIVES:
      To (1) describe secondary health conditions, activity limitations, and life
      satisfaction in older adults with long-term SCI, and to (2) investigate how
      sociodemographics, injury characteristics, and secondary health conditions are
      associated with their activity limitations and life satisfaction. DESIGN: Cross
      sectional descriptive cohort study. SETTING: Home and community settings.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 123 individuals (71% men, injury levels C1-L5, American
      Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale A-D), mean age 63 years, mean time
      since injury 24 years. METHODS: Baseline data as part of the Swedish Aging with
      Spinal Cord Injury Study. Associations between variables were investigated with
      multivariable linear regression analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Bowel and
      bladder function, nociceptive and neuropathic pain, spasticity, the Spinal Cord
      Independence Measure, third version, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale.
      RESULTS: Bowel-related and bladder-related problems were reported by 32% and 44%,
      respectively, 66% reported moderate or severe nociceptive and/or neuropathic
      pain, and 44% reported spasticity. Activity limitations were moderate (mean
      Spinal Cord Independence Measure, third version, total score 65.2, range 8-100)
      where injury characteristics and spasticity explained 68% of the variance. Higher
      level and more severe SCI (based on the American Spinal Injury Association
      Impairment Scale) exhibited the strongest association with more activity
      limitations. Life satisfaction was rated just above the midpoint between
      satisfied and dissatisfied with life (mean Satisfaction With Life Scale total
      score 20.7, range 6-34). Marital status, vocational situation, bladder function
      and injury characteristics explained 38% of the variance, where having a partner
      showed the strongest association with greater life satisfaction. Activity
      limitations and life satisfaction were not associated with gender, age and time
      since injury. CONCLUSION: Older adults with long-term SCI can maintain a
      relatively high level of physical independence and generally are satisfied with
      their lives, regardless of gender, age or time since injury. The associations
      demonstrate the importance of injury characteristics for the performance of daily
      activities and the social context for life satisfaction in older adults with long
      term SCI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27647216
TI  - Diastematomyelia as an Incidental Finding Lumbar on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

PMID- 27647219
TI  - Characterization of silver particles in the stratum corneum of healthy subjects
      and atopic dermatitis patients dermally exposed to a silver-containing garment.
AB  - Silver is increasingly being used in garments to exploit its antibacterial
      properties. Information on the presence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in
      garments and their in vivo penetration across healthy and impaired skin from use
      is limited. We investigated the presence of AgNPs in a silver containing garment
      and in the stratum corneum (SC) of healthy subjects (CTRLs) and individuals with
      atopic dermatitis (AD). Seven CTRLs and seven AD patients wore a silver sleeve
      (13% Ag w/w) 8 h/day for five days on a forearm and a placebo sleeve on the other
      forearm. After five days, the layers of the SC were collected by adhesive tapes.
      The silver particles in the garment and SC were characterized by scanning
      electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and atomic
      force microscopy (AFM). AFM and SEM revealed the presence of sub-micrometre
      particles having a broad range of sizes (30-500 nm) on the surface of the garment
      that were identified as silver. On the SC tapes collected from different depths,
      aggregates with a wide range of sizes (150 nm-2 MUm) and morphologies were found.
      Most aggregates contained primarily silver, although some also contained chlorine
      and sulfur. There was no clear difference in the number or size of the aggregates
      observed in SC between healthy and AD subjects. After use, AgNPs and their
      aggregates were present in the SC at different depths of both healthy subjects
      and AD patients. Their micrometre size suggests that aggregation likely occurred
      in the SC.

PMID- 27647221
TI  - External beam radiotherapy in thyroid carcinoma: clinical review and
      recommendations of the AIRO "Radioterapia Metabolica" Group.
AB  - The therapeutic approach to thyroid carcinoma usually involves surgery as initial
      treatment. The use of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is limited to high-risk
      patients and depends on clinical stage and histologic type. Different behavior
      patterns and degrees of aggressiveness of thyroid carcinomas require different
      management for differentiated, medullary, and anaplastic carcinoma. However, the
      role of EBRT is an issue of debate. Most clinical studies are retrospective and
      based on single-institution experiences. In this article, we review the main
      literature and give recommendations for the use of EBRT in thyroid carcinoma on
      behalf of the "Radioterapia Metabolica" Group of the Italian Radiation Oncology
      Association.

PMID- 27647222
TI  - Safety and efficacy of dose-dense chemotherapy with TCF regimen in elderly
      patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dose-dense TCF in elderly (>=65
      years) compared to younger patients. METHODS: Safety and efficacy data relative
      to 119 consecutive patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer
      treated at our institution and enrolled in different phase II trials were
      retrospectively collected. All patients were treatment-naive and received
      docetaxel 70 mg/m2 day 1, cisplatin 60 mg/m2 day 1, l-folinic acid 100 mg/m2 days
      1-2, followed by 5-fluorouracil 400 mg/m2 bolus days 1-2, and then 600 mg/m2 as a
      22-hour continuous infusion days 1-2, every 14 days, plus pegfilgrastim 6 mg on
      day 3. Sixty patients (50%) aged >=65 years received the same schedule with a
      dose reduction by 30%. RESULTS: A total of 86% of patients were evaluable for
      response and all for toxicity. In patients aged >=65 years, we observed an
      overall response rate of 51%. Median overall survival was 11.2 (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 7.3-15.1) and 11.8 months (95% CI 9.2-16.2) in elderly and younger
      patients, respectively. In the elderly patients, the most frequent grade 3-4
      toxicities were neutropenia (13%), leukopenia (7%), thrombocytopenia (18%),
      anemia (3%), and febrile neutropenia (8%); in the younger patients, neutropenia
      (56%), leucopenia (31%), thrombocytopenia (22%), anemia (15%), and febrile
      neutropenia (15%). CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients can be safely treated with a
      dose-dense TCF regimen with a 30% dose reduction achieving similar efficacy
      results as younger patients with lesser toxicity.

PMID- 27647223
TI  - Efficacy and safety of vinorelbine-capecitabine oral metronomic combination in
      elderly metastatic breast cancer patients: VICTOR-1 study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Elderly patients with metastatic breast cancer are expected to derive
      similar benefits from chemotherapy as younger patients, but are more likely to
      experience therapy-related toxicity. Data from the VICTOR-1 study showed that
      metronomic therapy with vinorelbine and capecitabine was effective and well
      tolerated in patients with metastatic breast cancer. This analysis determined the
      efficacy and safety of the metronomic combination of oral vinorelbine and
      capecitabine in a subgroup of VICTOR-1 study patients aged >=70 years. METHODS:
      Eighteen of the 32 patients enrolled in VICTOR-1 were aged >=70 years. Objective
      response and clinical benefit rates were calculated and toxicity was determined
      using the NCI-CTCAE criteria. RESULTS: All patients had at least 1 comorbidity (4
      had 2 comorbidities), and 77.7% were taking concomitant medication. Eight
      patients (44%) had received >=1 chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease and
      most (78%) had >=2 metastatic sites. Grade 1-2 adverse events occurred in 45.8%
      of cycles, whereas the incidence of grade 3 and grade 4 events was very low (1.5%
      and 0.7%, respectively). Median time to progression was 10.5 months (range 1-40).
      The objective response rate was 33% and the clinical benefit rate was 67%.
      CONCLUSIONS: The all-oral metronomic combination of vinorelbine and capecitabine
      had an acceptable efficacy profile and appears to be better tolerated than
      standard treatment schedules in elderly metastatic breast cancer patients (age
      >=70 years).

PMID- 27647218
TI  - Role of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors in Action-Based Predictive Coding Deficits
      in Schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent theoretical models of schizophrenia posit that dysfunction of
      the neural mechanisms subserving predictive coding contributes to symptoms and
      cognitive deficits, and this dysfunction is further posited to result from N
      methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction. Previously, by
      examining auditory cortical responses to self-generated speech sounds, we
      demonstrated that predictive coding during vocalization is disrupted in
      schizophrenia. To test the hypothesized contribution of NMDAR hypofunction to
      this disruption, we examined the effects of the NMDAR antagonist, ketamine, on
      predictive coding during vocalization in healthy volunteers and compared them
      with the effects of schizophrenia. METHODS: In two separate studies, the N1
      component of the event-related potential elicited by speech sounds during
      vocalization (talk) and passive playback (listen) were compared to assess the
      degree of N1 suppression during vocalization, a putative measure of auditory
      predictive coding. In the crossover study, 31 healthy volunteers completed two
      randomly ordered test days, a saline day and a ketamine day. Event-related
      potentials during the talk/listen task were obtained before infusion and during
      infusion on both days, and N1 amplitudes were compared across days. In the case
      control study, N1 amplitudes from 34 schizophrenia patients and 33 healthy
      control volunteers were compared. RESULTS: N1 suppression to self-produced
      vocalizations was significantly and similarly diminished by ketamine (Cohen's d =
      1.14) and schizophrenia (Cohen's d = .85). CONCLUSIONS: Disruption of NMDARs
      causes dysfunction in predictive coding during vocalization in a manner similar
      to the dysfunction observed in schizophrenia patients, consistent with the
      theorized contribution of NMDAR hypofunction to predictive coding deficits in
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 27647224
TI  - Sporadic desmoid tumors of the abdominal wall: the results of surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Before the wait-and-see policy became the standard approach in abdominal
      wall desmoid tumors, surgery was performed on a systematic basis. Surgery remains
      indicated for progressing tumors but its extent is debatable. The abdominal wall
      is a common site of origin of sporadic desmoids, usually associated with a
      favorable prognosis. We analyzed the results of surgery at this specific site.
      METHODS: Data from 33 patients affected by sporadic desmoid tumors of the
      abdominal wall (31 primary, 2 recurrent) consecutively treated at our cancer
      center between January 2000 and September 2013 were retrospectively studied.
      RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients underwent surgery upfront and 1 after progression
      during the initial wait-and-see period. Prosthetic reconstruction of the
      abdominal wall was required in 28 patients. The average hospital stay was 5 days.
      Three patients developed surgical complications. Local recurrence-free survival
      was 90% at 5 and 10 years. Three patients had an uneventful childbirth during the
      follow-up after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Desmoid tumors of the abdominal wall have a
      favorable prognosis after surgical resection, which remains a safe and effective
      treatment. Wild-type tumors are common, whereas the incidence of S45F mutation in
      the beta-catenin gene is lower than in other anatomic sites. Upfront surgery may
      be considered in selected women who wish to bear a child.

PMID- 27647225
TI  - Reduced response of IRE1alpha/Xbp-1 signaling pathway to bortezomib contributes
      to drug resistance in multiple myeloma cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: Proteasome inhibition with bortezomib eliminates multiple myeloma (MM)
      cells by partly disrupting unfolded protein response (UPR). However, the
      development of drug resistance limits its utility and resistance mechanism
      remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the role of IRE1alpha/Xbp-1
      mediated branch of the UPR in bortezomib resistance. METHODS: The expression
      level of Xbp-1s was measured in 4 MM cell lines and correlated with sensitivity
      to bortezomib. LP1 and MY5 cells with different Xbp-1s level were treated with
      bortezomib; then pivotal UPR regulators were compared by immunoblotting. RPMI
      8226 cells were transfected with plasmid pEX4-Xbp-1s and exposed to bortezomib;
      then apoptosis was determined by immunoblotting and flow cytometry. Bortezomib
      resistant myeloma cells JJN3.BR were developed and the effect on UPR signaling
      pathway was determined. RESULTS: By analyzing 4 MM cell lines, we found little
      correlation between Xbp-1s basic level and bortezomib sensitivity. Bortezomib
      induced endoplasmic reticulum stress-initiated apoptosis via inhibiting
      IRE1alpha/Xbp-1 pathway regardless of Xbp-1s basic level. Exogenous Xbp-1s
      reduced cellular sensitivity to bortezomib, suggesting the change of Xbp-1s
      expression, not its basic level, is a potential marker of response to bortezomib
      in MM cells. Furthermore, sustained activation of IRE1alpha/Xbp-1 signaling
      pathway in JJN3.BR cells was identified. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that
      reduced response of IRE1alpha/Xbp-1 signaling pathway to bortezomib may
      contribute to drug resistance in myeloma cells.

PMID- 27647226
TI  - How the lab is changing our view of colorectal cancer.
AB  - In metastatic colorectal cancer, the optimization of upfront treatment and the
      continuum of care based on patients' exposure to multiple treatment lines have
      reached a plateau of efficacy. Therefore, a paradigm shift is ongoing towards
      precision medicine and personalized treatments based on the specific molecular
      features of the disease. In this perspective, the improved knowledge of disease
      biology coming from the lab has prompted a rapid translation from bench to
      bedside of newer targeted strategies. Here, we focus on the most promising
      biomarkers already included or close to adoption in daily clinical practice. In
      particular, evidence about the potential roles of BRAF mutation, HER2
      amplification, MGMT methylation, microsatellite instability, and ALK, ROS and
      NTRK1-3 rearrangements as positive predictors of benefit from biological agents
      is reviewed and discussed.

PMID- 27647227
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in breast cancer
      patients.
AB  - AIMS AND BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD) in breast cancer patients using liver magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI), and to investigate factors associated with NAFLD. METHODS: We
      evaluated 104 patients surgically treated for breast cancer at our hospital
      between September and November 2013. None of the patients had any other causes of
      secondary hepatic fat accumulation (such as significant alcohol consumption, use
      of steatogenic medication or inborn disorders). Hepatic fat accumulation was
      measured using liver MRI perfomed in all patients before surgical treatment.
      RESULTS: Based on the fat signal percentage from liver MRIs, 19 of 104 breast
      cancer patients were diagnosed with NAFLD, so the prevalence of NAFLD was 18.3%.
      In univariate analysis, factors associated with NAFLD were older age, high body
      mass index, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, elevated aspartate
      aminotransferase, elevated alanine aminotransferase and elevated triglycerides
      (TG). In multivariate analysis, factors associated with NAFLD were high body mass
      index (BMI) (odds ratio [OR] 1.403; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.111-1.771; p =
      0.005), type 2 DM (OR 11.872; 95% CI 1.065-132.373; p = 0.044), and an elevated
      TG level (OR 50.267; 95% CI 4.409-573.030; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The
      prevalence of NAFLD in breast cancer patients was not different from that of the
      general population. High BMI, type 2 DM and an elevated serum TG level were
      factors associated with NAFLD.

PMID- 27647228
TI  - Posttransplant solid organ malignancies in lung transplant recipients: a single
      center experience and review of the literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: Solid-organ tumor incidences are higher in solid organ transplant
      patients than in the general population. The aim of this study was to analyze
      solid-organ tumor frequency and characteristics in a population of lung
      transplant patients and provide a brief review of the literature. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was conducted of all patients who underwent a lung
      transplant in the Lung Transplant Program at the University Hospital of Siena,
      Italy, from 2001 to 2014 (n = 119). Patients' demographics, pretransplant
      characteristics, immunosuppressive therapy, and infectious factors were recorded.
      RESULTS: Nine patients with a median age of 59.0 years (range 50-63) of our
      cohort developed a solid-organ tumor (7.5%). Most of the patients experienced
      nonmelanoma skin cancer (44.4%); the others were diagnosed with lung cancer
      (22.2%), breast cancer (22.2%), and colon-rectal cancer (11.2%). The median time
      from transplantation to tumor diagnosis was 895.0 days (range 321-2046). No
      differences in pretransplant characteristics, immunosuppressive therapy, or
      infectious factors were found between patients who developed solid organ tumors
      and those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirmed that de novo
      malignancies are a major issue in lung transplant patients; in particular, skin
      and lung cancers demonstrated a higher incidence rate. Oncologic treatment of
      these patients is complex, requiring close collaboration between the transplant
      team and oncologist. Strict screening programs are key factors for an early
      diagnosis and to allow for prompt treatment resulting in a better outcome.

PMID- 27647229
TI  - Estimating long-term crude probability of death among young breast cancer
      patients: a Bayesian approach.
AB  - AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Bayesian survival analysis was applied to assess the long
      term survival and probability of death due to breast cancer (BC) in Girona, the
      Spanish region with the highest BC incidence. METHODS: A Bayesian autoregressive
      model was implemented to compare survival indicators between the periods 1985
      1994 and 1995-2004. We assessed the long-term excess hazard of death, relative
      survival (RS), and crude probability of death due to BC (PBC) up to 20 years
      after BC diagnosis, reporting the 95% credible intervals (CI) of these
      indicators. RESULTS: Patients diagnosed from 1995 onwards showed lower 20-year
      excess hazards of death than those diagnosed earlier (RS during 1985-1994: local
      stage: 76.6%; regional stage: 44.9%; RS during 1995-2004: local stage: 85.2%;
      regional stage: 57.0%). The PBC after 20 years of BC diagnosis for patients
      diagnosed in 1995 and after might reach 14.4% (95% CI: 8.9%-21.2%) in local stage
      and 41.0% (95% CI: 36.1%-47.1%) in regional stage. CONCLUSIONS: The method
      presented could be useful when dealing with population-based survival data from a
      small region. Better survival prospects were found in patients diagnosed after
      1994, although we detected a non-decreasing long-term excess hazard of death,
      suggesting that these patients have higher mortality than the general population
      even 10 years after the diagnosis of BC.

PMID- 27647230
TI  - Response to pazopanib in two pediatric patients with pretreated relapsing
      synovial sarcoma.
AB  - Pazopanib is an oral multikinase inhibitor that has proved effective in adults
      treated for relapsing soft tissue sarcoma and synovial sarcoma in particular. Two
      cases are reported here of pediatric patients with pretreated relapsing synovial
      sarcoma whose tumors showed a prolonged response to pazopanib given on
      compassionate grounds. These results suggest that new agents found effective in
      adult patients might achieve similar results in adolescents with the same
      disease. Facilitating the availability of new drugs for children and adolescents
      is a major challenge for pediatric oncologists.

PMID- 27647232
TI  - Trends in gastric and esophageal cancer incidence in northern Portugal (1994
      2009) by subsite and histology, and predictions for 2015.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gastric cancer (GC) and esophageal cancer (EC) share risk factors,
      and the incidence trends reflect differences in etiology according to their
      subtypes. We aimed to describe the incidence trends of GC (by topography) and EC
      (by histological type) in northern Portugal for 1994-2009 and to estimate the
      incidence for 2015. We further analyzed exposure to the main risk factors for
      these cancers in the region over the last decades. METHODS: GC and EC data were
      obtained from the North Region Cancer Registry of Portugal (RORENO). Joinpoint
      regression was used to compute annual percent changes (APC) in incidence trends.
      Poisson regression yielded estimates for 2015. A literature review up to 2014
      provided data on exposure to risk factors. RESULTS: GC rates decreased in 1994
      2009 (men, APC = -1.3; women, APC = -1.6); GC, unspecified subtype, had the
      steepest decline since the early 2000s (men, APC = -4.9; women, APC = -6.3). The
      incidence for 2015 will increase for EC in men (up to ~190 cases) and stabilize
      in women (~30) and for GC (~730 men, ~500 women). Increasing prevalence of
      tobacco smoking among women and overweight/obesity, fairly stable prevalence of
      alcohol, fruit and vegetable consumption, and no trend for Helicobacter pylori
      infection were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The declining incidence of GC unspecified
      subtype indicated an improvement in cancer registration accuracy, but precluded a
      sound assessment of trends by subtype. Variations in the prevalence of exposure
      to some risk factors were consistent with observed incidence trends, and future
      studies should aim to quantify their contribution to the GC and EC burden in the
      region.

PMID- 27647233
TI  - TNF-alpha and LT-alpha polymorphisms and the risk of leukemia: a meta-analysis.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study is to investigate whether TNF-alpha or LT-alpha
      polymorphisms are associated with the risk of leukemia. METHODS: A meta-analysis
      was performed to examine the association between the TNF-alpha -308 G>A and LT
      alpha +252 A>G polymorphisms and the incidence of leukemia. We also performed
      subgroup analyses based on the classification of leukemias. Odds ratios (ORs)
      with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the association.
      RESULTS: A total of 19 publications comprising 1,509 cases and 4,075 controls
      were selected in the study. An association between the risk of leukemia and the
      LT-alpha +252 AA genotype was found (GG + AG vs. AA, OR = 0.485, 95% CI 0.368
      0.639, p = 0.000). After multivariable analysis TNF-alpha polymorphism showed no
      consistent association with leukemia. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests
      that the LT-alpha +252 AA polymorphism is associated with the risk of leukemia.

PMID- 27647231
TI  - Bevacizumab as first-line treatment in HER2-negative advanced breast cancer: pros
      and cons.
AB  - PURPOSE: Bevacizumab, a humanized, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor-A
      monoclonal antibody, has shown efficacy in a number of cancers. However, its use
      in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) remains controversial. METHODS: A literature
      review using the PubMed database was performed to update the currently available
      clinical trials evidence on bevacizumab in the first-line treatment of breast
      cancer. In addition, the proceedings of selected oncology annual meetings were
      searched for relevant presentations. RESULTS: This article reviews the available
      evidence for bevacizumab as first-line therapy for MBC and discusses its current
      and future applicability in the management of MBC. Three phase III trials (ECOG
      2100, AVADO, RIBBON-1) demonstrated that the addition of bevacizumab to
      chemotherapy is well-tolerated and improves progression-free survival and
      objective response rates in the first-line setting. These findings were supported
      by a large clinical practice-based study (ATHENA) and a recent clinical trial in
      which bevacizumab added to paclitaxel showed notable activity in triple-negative
      MBC. However, bevacizumab has thus far not demonstrated a significant benefit in
      overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy is
      well-tolerated and produces substantial improvements in overall response rate and
      progression-free survival, compared with chemotherapy alone, in advanced HER2
      negative breast cancer. Nevertheless, it has thus far not demonstrated a
      significant benefit in overall survival. Whether prolongation of progression-free
      survival is enough to consider bevacizumab efficacious is unclear. Based on the
      available clinical trials results, bevacizumab is a part of the complex
      therapeutic strategy of advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.

PMID- 27647234
TI  - Impact of alkaline dust pollution on genetic variation of Usnea subfloridana
      populations.
AB  - Very little is known whether and how air pollution impacts genetic diversity of
      lichenized fungi that are well-known indicators of environmental quality. We
      studied the genetic variation of eight Usnea subfloridana populations in Pinus
      sylvestris-dominated boreal forest stands in southern Estonia, Northern Europe;
      four of these populations were exposed to long-term dust pollution released from
      unpaved road. The mean bark pH of lichen phorophyte differed considerably between
      polluted and unpolluted forest stands. We genotyped 274 Usnea thalli using nine
      specific fungal microsatellite markers. Genetic variation measures were
      calculated and compared between populations from different habitats. Allelic
      richness, Shannon's information index, and genetic diversity of lichen
      populations were significantly higher in unpolluted forest sites than in polluted
      forest sites. We conclude that environmental disturbances caused by alkaline dust
      pollution had negative impact on the genetic variation of U. subfloridana, a
      common species of lichenized fungi.

PMID- 27647235
TI  - A comparison between cactophilic yeast communities isolated from Cereus
      hildmannianus and Praecereus euchlorus necrotic cladodes.
AB  - In the cactus-yeast-Drosophila model system, the necrotic cladode is used as
      substrate by a diverse and specific microbiota, which is utilized as food source
      by Drosophila. Although this association has been the focus of many studies in
      arid regions of North America, little is known of its composition in South
      America. This study analysed yeast communities isolated from two South American
      cacti species: Cereus hildmannianus and Praecereus euchlorus. Fourteen yeast
      species were isolated and identified by their morpho-physiological character and
      partial rRNA gene sequencing. Arthropods hatched from the analysed cladodes were
      identified. There was little similarity between the isolated yeast communities
      either in terms of cacti species (S = 0.286) or collection sites (S = 0.214
      0.335). To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that
      Metschnikowia koreensis and Hannaella sinensis have been described in association
      with cacti. Also, Drosophila buzzatti has not been described in association with
      Praecereus. The similarity between cactophilic arthropod communities found in the
      different cacti was low (S = 0.266) and zero when only Drosophila was considered.
      These results suggest that exploration by Drosophila species is the main factor
      that drives low yeast community similarity between cacti species.

PMID- 27647236
TI  - Modulation of oxidative responses by a virulent isolate of Colletotrichum
      fructicola in apple leaves.
AB  - Apple bitter rot (ABR) and Glomerella leaf spot (GLS) can be caused by
      Colletotrichum fructicola. Although both diseases can occur simultaneously in
      orchards, some isolates show clear organ specialization. Thus, this work was
      aimed to compare microscopically the development of preinfective structures of
      ABR- and GLS isolates and their impact on the enzymatic oxidant defense system
      during the leaf infection process. On leaves, conidial germlings of GLS-isolate
      formed appressoria mostly sessile. In contrast, those of ABR-isolate were
      pedicellate and formed multiple melanized appressoria probably as a sign of
      unsuccessful infection attempts. Neither ABR- nor GLS isolate triggered
      hypersensitive response in apple leaves. In overall, the activity of scavenging
      enzymes was higher and long-lasting in leaves inoculated by GLS- than by ABR
      isolate and control. Guaiacol peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase had
      activity peaks within 24 h after inoculation (HAI). Ascorbate peroxidase activity
      was higher only in GLS-infected leaves at 6 HAI, while superoxide dismutase
      remained unaltered. A lower level of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was determined in
      GLS-infected plants at 48 HAI, but the electrolyte leakage markedly increased.
      Disease symptoms in leaves were only caused by GLS-isolate. Results suggest that
      the virulent isolate coordinately downregulates the oxidative plant defense
      responses enabling its successful establishment in apple leaves.

PMID- 27647237
TI  - Fungal and cyanobacterial gene expression in a lichen symbiosis: Effect of
      temperature and location.
AB  - Organisms have evolved different cellular mechanisms to deal with environmental
      stress, primarily through complex molecular mechanisms including protein
      refolding and DNA repair. As mutualistic symbioses, lichens offer the possibility
      of analyzing molecular stress responses in a particularly tight interspecific
      relationship. We study the widespread cyanolichen Peltigera membranacea, a key
      player in carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems at northern
      latitudes. We ask whether increased temperature is reflected in mRNA levels of
      selected damage control genes, and do the response patterns show geographical
      associations? Using real-time PCR quantification of 38 transcripts, differential
      expression was demonstrated for nine cyanobacterial and nine fungal stress
      response genes (plus the fungal symbiosis-related lec2 gene) when the temperature
      was increased from 5  degrees C to 15  degrees C and 25  degrees C. Principle
      component analysis (PCA) revealed two gene groups with different response
      patterns. Whereas a set of cyanobacterial DNA repair genes and the fungal lec2
      (PC1 group) showed an expression drop at 15  degrees C vs. 5  degrees C, most
      fungal candidates (PC2 group) showed increased expression at 25  degrees C vs. 5 
      degrees C. PC1 responses also correlated with elevation. The correlated
      downregulation of lec2 and cyanobacterial DNA repair genes suggests a possible
      interplay between the symbionts warranting further studies.

PMID- 27647238
TI  - Characterizing the nuclear proteome of Paracoccidioides spp.
AB  - Paracoccidioidomycosis is an endemic disease in Latin America, caused by thermo
      dimorphic fungi of the genus Paracoccidioides. Although previous proteome
      analyses of Paracoccidioides spp. have been carried out, the nuclear subproteome
      of this pathogen has not been described. In this way, we aimed to characterize
      the nuclear proteome of Paracoccidioides species, in the yeast form. For that,
      yeast cells were disrupted and submitted to cell fractionation. The purity of the
      nuclear fraction was confirmed by fluorescence and electron microscopy. Liquid
      chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) allowed the
      identification of 867 proteins. In order to support our enrichment method for
      nuclear proteins, bioinformatics analysis were applied that allowed the
      identification of 281 proteins with nuclear localization. The analysis revealed
      proteins related to DNA maintenance, gene expression, synthesis and processing of
      messenger and ribosomal RNAs, likewise proteins of nuclear-cytoplasmic traffic.
      It was also possible to detect some proteins that are poorly expressed, like
      transcription factors involved in important roles such as resistance to abiotic
      stress, sporulation, cellular growth and DNA and chromatin maintenance. This is
      the first descriptive nuclear proteome of Paracoccidioides spp. that can be
      useful as an important platform base for fungi-specific nuclear processes.

PMID- 27647239
TI  - The F-actin capping protein is required for hyphal growth and full virulence but
      is dispensable for septum formation in Botrytis cinerea.
AB  - Filamentous (F-) actin is an integral part of the cytoskeleton allowing for cell
      growth, intracellular motility, and cytokinesis of eukaryotic cells. Its assembly
      from G-actin monomers and its disassembly are tightly regulated processes
      involving a number of actin-binding proteins (ABPs) such as F-actin nucleators
      and cross-linking proteins. F-actin capping protein (CP) is an alpha/beta
      heterodimer known from yeast and higher eukaryotes to bind to the fast growing
      ends of the actin filaments stabilizing them. In this study, we identified the
      orthologs of the two CP subunits, named BcCPA1 and BcCPB1, in the plant
      pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea and showed that the two proteins physically
      interact in a yeast two-hybrid approach. GFP-BcCPA1 fusion proteins were
      functional and localized to the assumed sites of F-actin accumulation, i.e. to
      the hyphal tips and the sites of actin ring formation. Deletion of bccpa1 had a
      profound effect on hyphal growth, morphogenesis, and virulence indicating the
      importance of F-actin capping for an intact actin cytoskeleton. As polarized
      growth - unlike septum formation - is impaired in the mutants, it can be
      concluded that the organization and/or localization of actin patches and cables
      are disturbed rather than the functionality of the actin rings.

PMID- 27647240
TI  - Up-regulation of carbon metabolism-related glyoxylate cycle and toxin production
      in Beauveria bassiana JEF-007 during infection of bean bug, Riptortus pedestris
      (Hemiptera: Alydidae).
AB  - Beauveria bassiana (Bb) is used as an environment-friendly biopesticide. However,
      the molecular mechanisms of Bb-host interactions are not well understood. Herein,
      RNA isolated from B. bassiana (Bb JEF-007) and Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera:
      Alydidae) infected with this strain were firstly subjected to high-throughput
      next generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze and compare transcriptomes. Due to
      lack of fungal and host genome information, fungal transcriptome was processed to
      partially exclude non-infection specific genes and host-flora. Differentially
      Expressed Gene (DEG) analysis showed that 2381 genes were up-regulated and 2303
      genes were down-regulated upon infection. Most DEGs were classified into the
      categories of single-organism, cellular and metabolism processes by Gene Ontology
      analysis. Most DEGs were involved in metabolic pathways based on Kyoto
      Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway mapping. Carbon metabolism-related
      enzymes in the glyoxylate cycle were significantly up-regulated, suggesting a
      possible role for them in Bb growth in the host. Additionally, transcript levels
      of several fungal genes were dramatically increased after infection, such as
      cytotoxic lectin-like protein, bacterial-like toxin, proteins related to cell
      wall formation, hyphal growth, nutrient uptake, and halogenated compound
      synthesis. This work provides insight into how entomopathogenic B. bassiana grows
      in agriculturally harmful bean bug at 6 d post infection.

PMID- 27647241
TI  - Using aquatic fungi for pharmaceutical bioremediation: Uptake of acetaminophen by
      Mucor hiemalis does not result in an enzymatic oxidative stress response.
AB  - The increasing anthropogenic pollution of aquatic environments and fresh water
      scarcity worldwide have prompted the development of low-cost and effective water
      treatment alternatives. One example of a highly released anthropogenic
      xenobiotics is acetaminophen (APAP), which has been detected in surface waters at
      concentrations as high as 5 MUg L(-1). To date, traditional water treatment
      plants were unable to remove all pharmaceutical xenobiotics and as in the case
      with APAP, the breakdown products are toxic. Phytoremediation has proved to
      remove xenobiotics efficiently producing no toxic breakdown products, however,
      they are often restrained in their application range. Therefore, it was necessary
      to find alternate remediation tools to extend and complement the application
      ranges of existing bioremediation techniques. With the success of mycoremediation
      as well as the adaptability of fungi, Mucor hiemalis was investigated in terms of
      its APAP uptake capabilities. The investigation included the examination of
      concentration- and time-dependent uptake studies to examine the effects of each
      of these parameters independently. Additionally, the extracellular peroxidase
      activity of M. hiemalis was measured with exposure to APAP to evaluate possible
      breakdown and the antioxidative stress enzymes, catalase, glutathione peroxidase,
      and glutathione reductase, were assayed to investigate whether APAP caused
      oxidative stress. The results showed that M. hiemalis was able to internalize
      between 1 and 2 MUg APAP per g dried fungal biomass when exposed to 5, 10, 50 and
      100 ng mL(-1) APAP for 24-48 h, but not beyond this time frame. Further, exposure
      to APAP did not result in elevated extracellular peroxidase activity or oxidative
      stress. The findings led to the conclusion that M. hiemalis could be integrated
      in bioremediation systems, for short-term degradation at low concentrations of
      APAP with effective management.

PMID- 27647242
TI  - The Aspergillus flavus fluP-associated metabolite promotes sclerotial production.
AB  - Aspergillus flavus is able to synthesize a variety of polyketide-derived
      secondary metabolites including the hepatocarcinogen, aflatoxin B1. The fungus
      reproduces and disseminates predominantly by production of conidia. It also
      produces hardened mycelial aggregates called sclerotia that are used to cope with
      unfavourable growth environments. In the present study, we examined the role of
      A. flavus fluP, the backbone polyketide synthase gene of secondary metabolite
      gene cluster 41, on fungal development. The A. flavus CA14 fluP deletion mutant
      (AfDeltafluP) grew and accumulated aflatoxin normally but produced a lower amount
      of sclerotia than the parental strain. This was also true for the Aspergillus
      parasiticus BN9 fluP deletion mutant (ApDeltafluP). The A. flavus fluP gene was
      positively regulated by developmental regulators of VeA and VelB but not by the
      global regulator of secondary metabolism, LaeA. Overexpression of fluP in
      AfDeltafluP (OEfluP) elevated its ability to produce sclerotia compared to that
      of the parental strain. Coculture of OEfluP with CA14, AfDeltafluP, ApDeltafluP,
      or an A. flavus pptA deletion mutant incapable of producing functional polyketide
      synthases also allowed increased sclerotial production of the respective strains
      at edges where colonies made contact. Acetone extracts of OEfluP but not of
      AfDeltafluP exhibited the same effect in promoting sclerotial production of
      AfDeltafluP. These results suggest that FluP polyketide synthase is involved in
      the synthesis of a diffusible metabolite that could serve as a signal molecule to
      regulate sclerotiogenesis.

PMID- 27647243
TI  - [Pay attention to the donor material supply for corneal transplantation].
AB  - Corneal transplantation is an important method in the treatment of corneal
      blindness. It is imperative to improve the treatment effectiveness of corneal
      disease and reduce the possibility of corneal blindness with the progress of
      corneal transplantation surgery, the construction and development of eye banks
      and the rational use of donor materials. This article reviews the component
      corneal transplantation technology promotion, eye bank construction and
      preparation of donor slices for component corneal transplantation surgery. (Chin
      J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 641-643). 

PMID- 27647244
TI  - [In vivo confocal microscopy evaluation of meibomian glands in meibomian gland
      dysfunction patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the morphology, fibrosis grade and inflammatory
      infiltration of meibomian glands using in vivo confocal microscopy(IVCM)in
      meibomian gland dysfunction(MGD)patients. METHODS: A prospective case-controlled
      study. According to the diagnostic criteria of MGD, 20 MGD patients(20 eyes)were
      included in our study from August to October 2015. Fifteen normal subjects(15
      eyes)were also studied. METHODS All subjects completed the questionnaire of the
      Ocular Surface Disease Index(OSDI), lid margin and ocular surface examination by
      slit lamp microscropy, tear film break-up time(TBUT)test, corneal and
      conjunctival staining(Oxford scale), Schirmer I test, infrared meibomian
      photography and IVCM. Main outcomes in IVCM included meibomian gland acinar
      longest diameter(MGALD), meibomian gland acinar shortest diameter(MGASD),
      meibomian gland acinar unit density(MGAUD), meibomian gland acinar unit
      area(MGAUA), meibomian gland inflammatory cell density and fibrosis degree. The
      parameters between the MGD group and the control group were compared using the
      independent samples t test. RESULTS: The OSDI score[(31.80+/-22.97)points], 1id
      margin abnormality score[(3.10+/-0.31)points], loss rate of meibomian
      glands(38.31%+/-19.94%)and corneal and conjunctival staining
      score[1.00(2.75)points]in the MGD group were obviously higher than those in the
      control group[(7.93+/-6.51)points,(0.33+/-0.31)points, 21.31% +/- 7.70%, and
      0.00(1.00)points, P=0.001, P<0.001, P=0.004, and P=0.037, respectively]. The TBUT
      was significantly lower in the MGD group[(3.35+/-2.28)s]than in the control
      group[(6.67+/-2.51)s, P<0.001]. According to Schirmer I test, there was no
      significant difference in the two groups(P=0.139). The mean values of
      MGALD[(156.80 +/- 46.10)MUm], MGASD[(38.75 +/- 11 .72)MUm], MGAUA[(10 113.84 +/-
      5 531.21)MUm(2)], meibomian gland inflammatory cell density[(621.90 +/-
      405.63)cells/mm(2)]and fibrosis degree 1.50(1.00)in the MGD patients were larger
      than those in the control group[(67.47 +/- 9.117)MUm,(22.00 +/- 2.95)MUm,(3
      102.13 +/- 1111.97)MUm(2),(188.80 +/- 72.25)cells/mm(2), and 0.00(0.00), all
      P<0.001, respectively]. The mean MGAUD was lower in the MGD patients[(61.10 +/-
      34.97)glands/mm(2)]than in the control group[(105.07+/-18.58)glands/mm(2),
      P<0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: IVCM was pertinent to investigate the meibomian glands by
      detecting the irregularity of meibomian orifices, the diameter and area, and the
      inflammation and fibrosis levels in MGD patients. It may have a potential
      clinical value for the diagnosis of MGD. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 649-656).

PMID- 27647245
TI  - [Topical voriconazole as an effective treatment for fungal keratitis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of topical voriconazole in patients with
      fungal keratitis caused by different fungal species. METHODS: Interventional case
      series. Eighty-four patients aged 18 years or older from central China with
      confirmed fungal keratitis who presented at the outpatient department of Henan
      Eye Institute were enrolled in the study. The patients underwent in vivo confocal
      scanning laser microscopy examination, coneal scraping and microscopic
      examination and fungal culture, and then received topical voriconazole, closed
      curative effects were conducted. The sensitivity of three different diagnostic
      techniques, spectrum of the fungi, cure rate for fungal corneal infection related
      to each species were analyzed. RESULTS: In our study, 84 patients were diagnosed
      with fungal keratitis based on clinical symptoms, and results of at least one of
      the examinations of in vivo confocal scanning laser microscopy, conventional
      smear, and corneal scraping culture and the sensitivity were 92.85%(78/84),
      85.71%(72/84), 84.52%(71/84)respectively. In viro confocal scanning laser
      microscopy. Successful management was achieved in 83.33% of the patients. Topical
      voriconazole treatment failed in 14 patients(16.67%), who required surgical
      treatment. In 36 patients with Fusarium corneal infections, 26(72.22%)were
      successfully treated with topical voriconazole; however, in 18 patients with
      Aspergillus corneal infections and 7 patients with Alternaria corneal infections,
      94.44% and 100.00% of them were successfully treated, respectively. In a case
      based dynamic tracking study, in vivo confocal microscopy provided real-time
      dynamic detection of surviving hyphae. The existence of hyphae was(38.35+/
      17.32)days for Fusarium,(25.00+/-16.11)days for Aspergillus,(21.00+/-4.36)days
      for Alternaria, and(41.50+/-31.68)days for the focus in the deep stroma. The
      duration of treatment was similar for all four groups. CONCLUSIONS: Topical
      application of voriconazole is on effective method for the freatment of fungal
      keratitis Topical voriconazole is highly effective for fungal keratitis caused by
      Alternaria spp. and Aspergillus, however, for Fusarium, it is relatively low
      effective. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 657-662).

PMID- 27647246
TI  - [Autologous ipsilateral lamellar corneal-flap transposition for treatment of
      peripheral corneal perforation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical outcome of autologous ipsilateral lamellar
      corneal-flap transposition for treatment of peripheral corneal perforation.
      METHODS: Medical records of 13 patients who underwent autologous ipsilateral
      lamellar corneal-flap transposition for peripheral corneal perforation from
      January 2008 to February 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The diameter of the
      corneal ulcers was all <= 3.0 mm, and the diameter of perforations was all <= 2.0
      mm. All patients were followed up for 3-12 months with an average of 8 months.
      The healing of ulcer, clarity of the grafts, pre-and postoperative visual acuity,
      and astigmatism were documented and analyzed. RESULTS: At 1 day after surgery,
      all patients had normal anterior chamber depth without aqueous leak. No double
      chamber or iris synechia was found. The corneal grafts showed mild to moderate
      edema. On postoperative days 7-14, the corneal edema receded, the grafts became
      transparent gradually, and the ulcer margin was blurred. Three months after
      surgery, all the grafts remained transparent. There was no recurrence of ulcer
      during the follow-up period. The best corrected visual acuity before and after
      surgery was 0.44 +/- 0.19 and 0.47 +/- 0.20, respectively, which indicated no
      statistically significant difference(t=0.706, P=0.461). The corneal astigmatism
      before and after surgery was 0.44+/-0.19 and 0.47+/-0.20, respectively, which
      showed statistically significant difference(t=2.391, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Autologous ipsilateral lamellar corneal-flap transposition is a safe and
      effective surgical procedure for treating peripheral corneal perforation. It can
      be considered as an alternative method for penetrating or lamellar keratoplaty
      when the availability of corneal tissue is limited, or for cases with a high risk
      of developing immunologic allograft rejection, although the surgical indications
      are limited. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 663-668).

PMID- 27647247
TI  - [Corneal biomechanical properties in keratoconic and normal eyes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the corneal biomechanical properties of keratoconic and
      normal eyes, and to explore the changing characteristics in keratoconic eyes.
      METHODS: Case-control study. Thirty-two keratoconic subjects(41 eyes)and 41
      subjects(41 eyes)with normal corneas were enrolled in this study. Scheimpflug
      noncontact tonometry(Corvis ST)was performed to measure the length of Appl 1(1st
      A length), velocity of Appl 1(Vin), length of Appl 2(2nd A length), velocity of
      Appl 2(Vout), deformation amplitude(DA), peak distance, and radius. Comparison of
      the biomechanical property values between the keratoconic and normal eyes was
      performed using One-Way ANOVA. Pearson or Spearman correlations were used to
      evaluate the relationship between corneal biomechanical properties and corneal
      morphology parameters. The areas under ROC curves of the biomechanical properties
      of Corvis ST were calculated. RESULTS: In the keratoconic group, the values of
      Vin, Vout, and DA were(0.201+/-0.268),(0.463+/-0.121), and(1.146+/-0.113)mm,
      respectively, which were obviously greater than the normal group[(0.151+/
      0.017),(0.418+/-0.060), and(1.146 +/- 0.113)mm, respectively; F=6.028, 20.724,
      10.606, P=0.016, 0.000, 0.001]. The radius in the keratoconic eyes was(5.898 +/-
      0.976)mm, apparently shorter than the normal eyes[(7.012 +/- 0.728)mm; F=5.277,
      P=0.023]. In the keratoconic eyes, there were significant correlations between
      the 1st A length, Vout, DA, radius and the thickness of the thinnest
      cornea(r=0.330,-0.490,-0.482, 0.676, P=0.035, 0.001, 0.001, 0.000). There were
      significant correlations between the DA, radius and the anterior surface
      refractive power Km(r=0.751,-0.528, P=0.044, 0.019). The Vin, Vout, DA, and
      radius had statistically significant correlations with the maximum posterior
      surface elevation(r=0.475,-0.552,-0.399, 0.273, P=0.021, 0.015, 0.001, 0.000).
      The areas under ROC curves of the radius, DA, Vout, and Vin were all greater than
      0.9. CONCLUSIONS: There were obvious changes of corneal biomechanical properties
      in keratoconic eyes compared with normal eyes. The radius showed a better
      sensitivity for the change of corneal biomechanical properties and a major
      reference value for the diagnosis of keratoconus. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016,
      52:669-673).

PMID- 27647248
TI  - [Finite element analysis of astigmatic keratotomy based on corneal biomechanical
      properties].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish a finite-element biomechanical model of astigmatic
      keratotomy, and to investigate the impact of surgical parameters on corneal
      deformation, stress distribution and astigmatism correction. METHODS: With
      Rhinoceros modeling and Abaqus finite element analysis software, a three
      dimensional finite-element model of astigmatic cornea was developed, and surgical
      parameters such as incision optical zone, incision depth and length were varied.
      Postoperative corneal stress, apical deformation and astigmatism correction were
      assessed. RESULTS: A significant increase of stress was noticed near corneal
      incisions, and maximum corneal stress decreased with the increase of incision
      depth. Both anterior and posterior corneal surface moved slightly forward
      postoperatively. Maximum corneal stress was 340 392, 361 022 and 214 187 Pa, and
      anterior and posterior apical deformation was 49.80, 51.64, 55.53 MUm and 54.15,
      55.91, 59.67 MUm, with 45 degrees , 60 degrees  and 90 degrees  in arc length of
      the incision, respectively. The refractive power decreased in steep meridian and
      increased in flat meridian, resulting in a total decrease of corneal astigmatism.
      The magnitude of astigmatism correction was 0.85, 1.59, 2.23 and 3.06 D with 30
      degrees , 45 degrees , 60 degrees  and 90 degrees  in arc length of the incision,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The finite-element biomechanical model of astigmatic
      keratotomy could be used to predict the optical outcomes after surgery. The
      magnitude of astigmatism correction is positively correlated with the surgical
      incision arc length. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 674-680).

PMID- 27647249
TI  - [Comparison of the anterior corneal asphericity after small incision lenticule
      extraction and femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the anterior corneal asphericity after small
      incision lenticule extraction(SMILE)and femtosecond laser in situ
      keratomileusis(FS-LASIK). METHODS: In this case-control study, 45 subjects who
      underwent SMILE operation comprised the study group, and 33 subjects with FS
      LASIK operation comprised the control group. The asphericity coefficient Q-value
      of the right eyes in both groups was measured at diameters of 6, 7, 8 and 9 mm,
      respectively, before surgery and at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 6 months following
      surgery. The correlation between the variation of Q-value and the central cutting
      depth was analyzed. RESULTS: The Q-value of anterior corneal surface was 0.85 +/-
      0.31, 0.80+/-0.28, 0.69+/-0.25 and 0.51+/-0.23 after SMILE, and 1.13+/-0.56,
      1.01+/-0.47, 0.80+/-0.39 and 0.51+/-0.31 after FS-LASIK at 1 week. In both
      groups, the Q-value was significantly different before and after surgery(P<
      0.05); there were interaction effects between the operation method and time; the
      difference between the two groups at 6-mm and 7-mm diameters was statistically
      significant(P<0.05). The variation of the Q-value before and after
      operation(DeltaQ)showed significant difference(P6mm=0.004, P7mm=0.014)between the
      two groups at 6-mm and 7-mm diameters. The cap diameter of the SMILE group was
      smaller than that of the FS-LASIK group, but the cutting depth was larger. There
      was no correlation between DeltaQ and the cap/disc diameter. It showed a linear
      relationship(P<0.05)between DeltaQ and the central cutting depth at all examined
      diameters in the two groups, and the relation degree in the FS-LASIK group was
      superior to the SMILE group. CONCLUSIONS: Both SMILE and FS-LASIK operations can
      change the negative Q-value of the anterior corneal surface to the positive. The
      impact of SMILE on the asphericity is smaller than that of FS-LASIK. (Chin J
      Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 681-685).

PMID- 27647250
TI  - [Effect of a new ROCK inhibitor thiazovivin on the morphology and function of
      human corneal endothelial cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of thiazovivin, a novel ROCK inhibitor, on the
      morphology and function of human corneal endothelial cells(HCECs). METHODS: The
      primary HCECs were identified by light microscopy and immunofluorescence staining
      of neuron-specific enolase. To screen the optimal concentration and action time
      of thiazovivin for maintaining the morphology and function of primary HCECs, Na
      (+)/K (+)-ATPase and N-cadherin were chosen as indicators, and the morphology and
      function of HCECs in various concentrations(0 MUmol/L, 2 MUmol/L, 4 MUmol/L, and
      6 MUmol/L)for different durations(24 h and 48 h)were examined by
      immunofluorescence experiments. The effect of thiazovivin on the expression of
      ROCK was investigated by immunofluorescence and Western blot. RESULTS: The
      primary HCECs cultured were hexagonal, closely packed, homogeneously and
      obviously stained by neuron-specific enolase. The immunofluorescence staining of
      Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase showed that when the primary HCECs cultured with various
      concentrations of thiazovivin(0, 2, 4, 6 MUmol/L)for 24 h, the fluorescence were
      obvious, and the average absorbance values(A)were 1.27+/-0.08, 3.72+/-0.17,
      21.07+/-4.67, 3.69+/-0.34, respectively. And the immunofluorescence staining of N
      cadherin revealed that when the primary HCECs treated with 4 MUmol/L thiazovivin
      for 24 h, the cell boundary was clear and the structure of the cells was intact.
      While the treating time of thiazovivin(4 MUmol/L)on HCECs extended to 48 h, the
      immunofluorescence staining of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase and N-cadherin showed that
      compared to HCECs treated with thiazovivin(4 MUmol/L)for 24 h, the fluorescence
      intensity did not change significantly, but the cells arranged slightly untidy.
      In addition, the immunofluorescence staining of ROCK was weakened and the
      expression of ROCK was reduced by thiazovivin. Thiazovivin was effective for
      protecting the morphology and function of HCECs. An optimal improvement in the
      morphology, connection and function of HCECs was found when the primary HCECs
      were cultured with 4 MUmol/L thiazovivin for 24 h. Moreover, the expression of
      ROCK protein could be significantly inhibited by thiazovivin. (Chin J Ophthalmol,
      2016, 52: 686-692).

PMID- 27647251
TI  - [Research progress of corneal epithelial basal cells and basement membrane].
AB  - The cylinder cells at the bottom of corneal epithelial cells are basal cells.
      Their cytoplasm contains keratin intermediate filament which is important in
      secretion of basement membrane. Corneal epithelial dysfunction due to diabetes or
      ocular surgery is intimately related with basal cell abnormality. Corneal
      epithelial basement membrane is a highly specific extracellular matrix which is
      made up of lamina lucida and lamina densa. It plays an extremely important role
      in renewal and restoration. Many ocular abnormalities and diseases have been
      described to relate to the corneal epithelial basement membrane, such as
      traumatic recurrent corneal erosion, corneal dystrophy and keratoconus. (Chin J
      Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 703-707). 

PMID- 27647252
TI  - [Recent progress in research of pathogeneses of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and
      toxic epidermal necrolysis].
AB  - Stevens-Johnson syndrome(SJS)and toxic epidermal necrolysis(TEN)are life
      threatening cutaneous adverse drug reactions that induce widespread epidermal
      necrosis. Ocular and cutaneous diseases are common chronic sequelae of SJS and
      TEN. Several concepts have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of severe
      cutaneous adverse drug reactions. Recent advances in genetic, pharmacogenomics
      and immunologic studies have provided evidences of genetic predispositions, drug
      metabolism and cytokines related to SJS and TEN. With regard to keratinocyte
      death, several cell death mediators, such as Fas/FasL, granulysin and TNF, have
      been proposed to play an important role in the pathogeneses of SJS and TEN. A
      subset of T lymphocytes, including regulatory T cells, may also play a role. This
      review summarizes the pathogeneses of SJS and TEN mainly from the aspects of
      genetic susceptibilities, drug metabolism, and immune cells and cytokines. (Chin
      J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 708-713). 

PMID- 27647253
TI  - [Is glaucoma a mitochondrial neurodegenerative disease].
AB  - The retinal ganglion cell, due to peculiar structural and energetic constraints,
      appears acutely susceptible to mitochondrial dysfunction. Emerging evidence
      suggests that changes in the mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA)and in nuclear DNA genes
      that encode mitochondrial proteins may influence mitochondrial structure and
      function and, therefore, contribute to the pathogenesis of primary open angle
      glaucoma. As the main glaucoma risk factors are elevated intraocular pressure and
      older age, we discuss their relationship with mitochondrial dysfunction. If the
      contribution of mitochondrial dysfunction to glaucoma pathogenesis is further
      established, emerging therapies aiming to optimize mitochondrial function
      represent potential clinical treatments. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 714-717). 

PMID- 27647255
TI  - [Inaugural speech of the Congress President of the German Society of Pathology].

PMID- 27647254
TI  - [Otto Haferkamp : 29.12.1926 - 05.04.2016].

PMID- 27647256
TI  - Are filtered plasma proteins processed in the same way by the kidney?
AB  - In order to understand the mechanism of albuminuria we have explored how other
      plasma proteins are processed by the kidney as compared to inert molecules like
      Ficolls. When fractional clearances are plotted versus protein radius there is a
      remarkable parallelism between protein (molecular weight range 30-150kDa)
      clearance in healthy controls, in Dent's disease, in nephrotic states and the
      clearance of Ficolls. Although there are significant differences in the levels of
      fractional clearances in these states. Dent's disease results in a 2-fold
      increase in the fractional clearance of proteins as compared to healthy controls
      whereas in nephrotic states there is a further 3-fold increase in fractional
      clearance. Previous thinking that albumin uptake was controlled primarily by the
      megalin/cubilin receptor does not explain the albumin urinary excretion data and
      is therefore an incorrect concept. Protein clearance in nephrotic states approach
      the fractional clearance of inert Ficolls for a given radius. It therefore
      appears that there are two pathways processing these proteins. A low capacity
      pathway associated with megalin/cubilin that degrades filtered protein (that is
      inhibited in Dent's disease) and a high capacity pathway that retrieves the
      filtered protein and returns it to the blood supply (without retrieval nephrotic
      protein excretion will occur and this will account for hypoproteinemia). On the
      other hand low molecular weight proteins (<20kDa) are processed entirely
      differently by the kidney. They are not retrieved but are comprehensively
      degraded in the kidney with the degradation products predominantly returned to
      the blood supply.

PMID- 27647257
TI  - Boundary propagation of planar cell polarity is robust against cell packing
      pattern.
AB  - Planar cell polarity is an important property of epithelial tissue. The boundary
      propagation model was proposed as the mechanism of PCP induction, while it has
      been doubted whether it can induce PCP on wide tissue. Using simulation, a set of
      proteins can be shown to induce PCP, but it does not explain why and how the set
      can induce PCP. In this study, we made theoretical model and simulation model to
      explore when and how the boundary propagation induce PCP. We incorporated
      multipolar cell in our model. Intracellular interactions have been thought to
      amplify polarity of a cell, but we propose instead that they are to keep a cell
      cell interface polarized, and bipolarity of cell is obtained as a result. We show
      that the boundary propagation can propagate polarity as long as average size of
      local cell group is constant and levels of PCP proteins are balanced in every
      cell. Therefore, this model provide an explanation for PCP induction on a tissue
      with multiple cell types.

PMID- 27647259
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of liposomal encapsulated buprenorphine suspension following
      subcutaneous administration to cats.
AB  - We investigated the effects of liposome encapsulation at prolonging the systemic
      exposure of buprenorphine following subcutaneous administration in cats. Seven
      healthy male cats were dosed intravenously with 0.02 mg/kg buprenorphine solution
      (STD-BUP), followed 14 days later by a subcutaneous injection of 0.2 mg/kg
      buprenorphine as a liposomal suspension (SUS-BUP) containing drug molecules both
      in liposomes and the suspending vehicle. Buprenorphine time plasma concentration
      data for both dosing routes were analyzed simultaneously with four compartmental
      models. Goodness of fit was assessed both graphically and with the Akaike
      information criterion. The time-course of intravenous STD-BUP was biphasic, with
      a 4.39 h average terminal half-life. The subcutaneous SUS-BUP produced plasma
      buprenorphine concentrations above 0.5 MUg/L for more than 96 h, with three
      distinct peaks in the first 15 h. The model with best fit comprised a central and
      a peripheral compartment, plus three subcutaneous absorption compartments: one of
      dissolved drug molecules that were absorbed through a first-order process, and
      two of liposome-encapsulated drug molecules that were transferred to the solution
      compartment through separate zero-order processes. Liposomes effectively
      prolonged the systemic exposure of buprenorphine in cats.

PMID- 27647260
TI  - Real-time visualization of conformational changes within single MloK1 cyclic
      nucleotide-modulated channels.
AB  - Eukaryotic cyclic nucleotide-modulated (CNM) ion channels perform various
      physiological roles by opening in response to cyclic nucleotides binding to a
      specialized cyclic nucleotide-binding domain. Despite progress in structure
      function analysis, the conformational rearrangements underlying the gating of
      these channels are still unknown. Here, we image ligand-induced conformational
      changes in single CNM channels from Mesorhizobium loti (MloK1) in real-time,
      using high-speed atomic force microscopy. In the presence of cAMP, most channels
      are in a stable conformation, but a few molecules dynamically switch back and
      forth (blink) between at least two conformations with different heights. Upon
      cAMP depletion, more channels start blinking, with blinking heights increasing
      over time, suggestive of slow, progressive loss of ligands from the tetramer. We
      propose that during gating, MloK1 transitions from a set of mobile conformations
      in the absence to a stable conformation in the presence of ligand and that these
      conformations are central for gating the pore.

PMID- 27647263
TI  - The effects of selenium supplementation on biomarkers of inflammation and
      oxidative stress in patients with diabetic nephropathy: a randomised, double
      blind, placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - This study was carried out to assess the effects of Se supplementation on
      biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with diabetic
      nephropathy (DN). This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical
      trial was conducted among sixty patients with DN. Patients were randomly divided
      into two groups to take either 200 ug/d Se supplements as Se yeast (n 30) or
      placebo (n 30) for 12 weeks. In unadjusted analyses, compared with the placebo,
      Se supplementation led to a significant reduction in high-sensitivity C-reactive
      protein (hs-CRP) (-1069.2 (sd 1752.2) v. -135.3 (sd 1258.9) ng/ml, P=0.02),
      matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) (-612.3 (sd 679.6) v. +76.0 (sd 309.1) ng/ml,
      P<0.001) and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations (-0.1 (sd 0.7) v. +0.4
      (sd 0.9) umol/l, P=0.01). In addition, a significant increase in plasma total
      antioxidant capacity (TAC) (+174.9 (sd 203.9) v. +15.8 (sd 382.2) mmol/l, P=0.04)
      was observed following supplementation with Se compared with the placebo.
      Subjects who received Se supplements experienced a borderline statistically
      significant decrease in serum protein carbonyl (PCO) levels (P=0.06) compared
      with the placebo. When we adjusted the analysis for baseline values of
      biochemical parameters, age and BMI, serum hs-CRP (P=0.14) and MDA levels
      (P=0.16) became non-significant, whereas plasma nitric oxide (NO) (P=0.04) and
      glutathione (GSH) (P<0.001) became statistically significant, and other findings
      did not change. Supplementation with Se had no significant effect on NO,
      transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), advanced glycation end products
      (AGE), PCO and GSH compared with the placebo. Overall, our study demonstrated
      that Se supplementation among DN patients had favourable effects on serum MMP-2,
      plasma NO, TAC and GSH, but did not affect hs-CRP, TGF-beta, AGE, PCO and MDA.

PMID- 27647261
TI  - Activating Patients With a Tailored Bone Density Test Results Letter and
      Educational Brochure: the PAADRN Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - In cross-sectional studies, patient activation has been associated with better
      health behaviors, health outcomes, and health-care experiences. Moreover,
      tailored interventions have led to clinically meaningful improvements in patient
      activation, as well as health outcomes over time. We tested whether a tailored
      patient-activation letter communicating bone mineral density (BMD) test results
      plus an educational brochure improved patient activation scores and levels at 12
      and 52 wk post-baseline as the mechanism leading to enhanced bone healthcare. In
      a randomized, controlled, double-blinded, multicenter pragmatic clinical trial,
      we randomized 7749 patients >=50 yr old and presenting for BMD testing at 3
      medical centers in the United States between February 2012 and August 2014. The
      outcome measures were patient activation scores and levels based on 6 items taken
      from the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) that were administered at the baseline,
      12-wk, and 52-wk follow-up interviews. Mean age was 66.6 yr, 83.8% were women,
      and 75.3% were Non-Hispanic-Whites. Overall, PAM activation scores improved from
      58.1 at baseline to 76.4 by 12 wk (p < 0.001) and to 77.2 (p = 0.002) by 52 wk
      post-baseline. These improvements, however, were not significantly different
      between the intervention and usual care groups (18.7 vs 18.1, p = 0.176, at 12
      wk) in intention-to-treat analyses. PAM activation scores and levels
      substantially improved at 12 wk and 52 wk, but no differences were observed in
      these improvements between the intervention and usual care groups. These null
      findings may have occurred because the tailoring focused on the patient's BMD and
      fracture risk results, rather than on the patient's BMD and fracture risk results
      as well as the patient's baseline PAM activation scores or levels.

PMID- 27647264
TI  - High content reduced graphene oxide reinforced copper with a bioinspired nano
      laminated structure and large recoverable deformation ability.
AB  - By using CuO/graphene-oxide/CuO sandwich-like nanosheets as the building blocks,
      bulk nacre-inspired copper matrix nano-laminated composite reinforced by
      molecular-level dispersed and ordered reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with content
      as high as ~45 vol% was fabricated via a combined process of assembly, reduction
      and consolidation. Thanks to nanoconfinement effect, reinforcing effect, as well
      as architecture effect, the nanocomposite shows increased specific strength and
      at least one order of magnitude greater recoverable deformation ability as
      compared with monolithic Cu matrix.

PMID- 27647265
TI  - Detection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in goats.
AB  - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of acute hepatitis worldwide. Genotypes
      1 and 2 are restricted to humans, whereas genotypes 3 and 4 also occur in animals
      and are recognized as zoonotic pathogens. In this study, by screening goat faecal
      samples collected from six small farms located in the province of Teramo (Abruzzo
      region, Italy), HEV RNA was found with an overall prevalence of 9.2% (11/119).
      Upon sequence analysis of a 0.8kb portion of the ORF2 gene, four strains were
      grouped with animal and human genotype 3 HEVs, subtype c, with the highest match
      (94.2-99.4% nt identity) to a wild boar strain, WB/P6-15/ITA, identified in the
      same geographical area in which the six goat farms were located. Further
      investigations are needed in order to assess if goat may represent an additional
      active host for HEV.

PMID- 27647266
TI  - Adherence to treatment in men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Men with congenital hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (CHH) typically
      require lifelong hormonal therapy, and discontinuing treatment can have negative
      health consequences. Little is known about adherence to treatment or the
      psychosocial impact of CHH. DESIGN: A sequential, multiple methods approach was
      used. A quantitative online survey assessed adherence to treatment, depressive
      symptoms and illness perceptions. Subsequently, qualitative focus groups explored
      patient-reported factors for adherence. PATIENTS: Adult men with CHH on at least
      1 year of treatment were recruited internationally. MEASUREMENTS: Adherence
      (Morisky medication adherence scale), depressive symptoms (Zung self-rating
      depression scale) and patient perception of CHH (revised illness perception
      questionnaire) were assessed in an online survey, and comparisons were made to
      reference groups. Patient focus group discussions were conducted and thematic
      analysis was employed to identify patient-reported factors for adherence.
      RESULTS: In total, 101 men on long-term treatment were included (mean age 37 +/-
      11 years). Forty three percent (43/101) exhibited low medication adherence and a
      significantly elevated prevalence of mild, moderate or severe depressive symptoms
      (27%, 17%, 20%, respectively, all P < 0.001 vs reference population). Patients
      reported negative illness perceptions and significant psychosocial consequences.
      Focus group discussions (n = 3, 26 total patients) identified patient-, health
      professional- and healthcare system-related barriers as targets for improving
      adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism men are
      challenged to adhere to long-term treatment. Poor adherence may contribute to
      adverse effects on bone, sexual and psychological health. The psychosocial
      morbidity of CHH is significant and appears to be underappreciated by healthcare
      providers.

PMID- 27647269
TI  - Metathesis Reaction of Diazo Compounds and para-Quinone Methides for C-C Double
      Bond Formation: Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Alkenes and Quinolinones.
AB  - The para-quinone methides (p-QMs) are activated by Lewis acid and then attacked
      by diazo compounds. The following rearrangement leads to nitrogen gas extrusion
      and C-C double bond formation to constitute a metathesis reaction process.
      Therefore, the diazoester is transformed into tetrasubstituted alkenes, whereas
      the diazo-oxindole delivers the quinolinone products. Furthermore, the 13C
      labeling experiments were also conducted to elucidate a possible mechanism.

PMID- 27647271
TI  - Molecular characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from various
      healthcare institutions in Nairobi, Kenya: a cross sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has established itself over the
      years as a major cause of morbidity and mortality both within the community and
      in healthcare settings. Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in particular has
      been a major cause of nosocomial infections resulting in significant increase in
      healthcare costs. In Africa, the MRSA prevalence has been shown to vary across
      different countries. In order to better understand the epidemiology of MRSA in a
      setting, it is important to define its population structure using molecular tools
      as different clones have been found to predominate in certain geographical
      locations. METHODS: We carried out PFGE, MLST, SCCmec and spa typing of selected
      S. aureus isolates from a private and public referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.
      RESULTS: A total of 93 S. aureus isolates were grouped into 19 PFGE clonal
      complexes (A-S) and 12 singletons. From these, 55 (32 MRSA and 23 MSSA)
      representative isolates from each PFGE clonal complex and all singletons were spa
      typed. There were 18 different MRSA spa types and 22 MSSA spa types. The
      predominant MRSA spa type was t037 comprising 40.6 % (13/32) of all MRSA. In
      contrast, the MSSA were quite heterogeneous, only 2 out of 23 MSSA shared the
      same spa type. Two new MRSA spa types (t13149 and t13150) and 3 new MSSA spa
      types (t13182, t13193 and t13194) were identified. The predominant clonal complex
      was CC 5 which included multi-locus sequence types 1, 8 and 241. CONCLUSION: In
      contrast to previous studies published from Kenya, there's marked genetic
      diversity amongst clinical MRSA isolates in Nairobi including the presence of
      well-known epidemic MRSA clones. Given that these clones are resident within our
      referral hospitals, adherence to strict infection control measures needs to be
      ensured to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with hospital acquired MRSA
      infections.

PMID- 27647272
TI  - Assessment of DCE-MRI parameters for brain tumors through implementation of
      physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model approaches for Gd-DOTA.
AB  - Dynamic-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is used for
      detailed characterization of pathology of lesions sites, such as brain tumors, by
      quantitative analysis of tracer's data through the use of pharmacokinetic (PK)
      models. A key component for PK models in DCE-MRI is the estimation of the
      concentration-time profile of the tracer in a nearby vessel, referred as Arterial
      Input Function (AIF). The aim of this work was to assess through full body
      physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model approaches the PK profile of
      gadoteric acid (Gd-DOTA) and explore potential application for parameter
      estimation in DCE-MRI based on PBPK-derived AIFs. The PBPK simulations were
      generated through Simcyp((r)) platform and the predicted PK parameters for Gd
      DOTA were compared with available clinical data regarding healthy volunteers and
      renal impairment patients. The assessment of DCE-MRI parameters was implemented
      by utilizing similar virtual profiles based on gender, age and weight to clinical
      profiles of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme. The PBPK-derived
      AIFs were then used to compute DCE-MRI parameters through the Extended Tofts
      Model and compared with the corresponding ones derived from image-based AIF
      computation. The comparison involved: (i) image measured AIF of patients vs AIF
      of in silico profile, and, (ii) population average AIF vs in silico mean AIFs.
      The results indicate that PBPK-derived AIFs allowed the estimation of comparable
      imaging biomarkers with those calculated from typical DCE-MRI image analysis. The
      incorporation of PBPK models and potential utilization of in silico profiles to
      real patient data, can provide new perspectives in DCE-MRI parameter estimation
      and data analysis.

PMID- 27647274
TI  - Re: Non-Invasive Evaluation of Liver Fibrosis: 2-D Shear Wave Elastography,
      Transient Elastography or Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging?

PMID- 27647276
TI  - The superior petrosal sinus: a review of anatomy, embryology, pathology, and
      neurosurgical relevance.
AB  - The superior petrosal sinus is located between the middle and posterior cranial
      fossae and is important during many neurosurgical approaches to the skull base.
      Using standard search engines, the anatomical and clinical importance of the
      superior petrosal sinus was investigated. The superior petrosal sinus is
      important in many neurosurgical approaches and pathological entities. Therefore,
      it is important for those who operate at the skull base or interpret imaging here
      to have a good working knowledge of its anatomy, development, and pathological
      involvement.

PMID- 27647279
TI  - Oxytocin Modulates Semantic Integration in Speech Comprehension.
AB  - Listeners interpret utterances by integrating information from multiple sources
      including word level semantics and world knowledge. When the semantics of an
      expression is inconsistent with their knowledge about the world, the listener may
      have to search through the conceptual space for alternative possible world
      scenarios that can make the expression more acceptable. Such cognitive
      exploration requires considerable computational resources and might depend on
      motivational factors. This study explores whether and how oxytocin, a
      neuropeptide known to influence social motivation by reducing social anxiety and
      enhancing affiliative tendencies, can modulate the integration of world knowledge
      and sentence meanings. The study used a between-participant double-blind
      randomized placebo-controlled design. Semantic integration, indexed with
      magnetoencephalography through the N400m marker, was quantified while 45 healthy
      male participants listened to sentences that were either congruent or incongruent
      with facts of the world, after receiving intranasally delivered oxytocin or
      placebo. Compared with congruent sentences, world knowledge incongruent sentences
      elicited a stronger N400m signal from the left inferior frontal and anterior
      temporal regions and medial pFC (the N400m effect) in the placebo group. Oxytocin
      administration significantly attenuated the N400m effect at both sensor and
      cortical source levels throughout the experiment, in a state-like manner.
      Additional electrophysiological markers suggest that the absence of the N400m
      effect in the oxytocin group is unlikely due to the lack of early sensory or
      semantic processing or a general downregulation of attention. These findings
      suggest that oxytocin drives listeners to resolve challenges of semantic
      integration, possibly by promoting the cognitive exploration of alternative
      possible world scenarios.

PMID- 27647280
TI  - Reduced Left Lateralization of Language in Congenitally Blind Individuals.
AB  - Language processing depends on a left-lateralized network of frontotemporal
      cortical regions. This network is remarkably consistent across individuals and
      cultures. However, there is also evidence that developmental factors, such as
      delayed exposure to language, can modify this network. Recently, it has been
      found that, in congenitally blind individuals, the typical frontotemporal
      language network expands to include parts of "visual" cortices. Here, we report
      that blindness is also associated with reduced left lateralization in
      frontotemporal language areas. We analyzed fMRI data from two samples of
      congenitally blind adults (n = 19 and n = 13) and one sample of congenitally
      blind children (n = 20). Laterality indices were computed for sentence
      comprehension relative to three different control conditions: solving math
      equations (Experiment 1), a memory task with nonwords (Experiment 2), and a "does
      this come next?" task with music (Experiment 3). Across experiments and
      participant samples, the frontotemporal language network was less left
      lateralized in congenitally blind than in sighted individuals. Reduction in left
      lateralization was not related to Braille reading ability or amount of occipital
      plasticity. Notably, we observed a positive correlation between the
      lateralization of frontotemporal cortex and that of language-responsive occipital
      areas in blind individuals. Blind individuals with right-lateralized language
      responses in frontotemporal cortices also had right-lateralized occipital
      responses to language. Together, these results reveal a modified neurobiology of
      language in blindness. Our findings suggest that, despite its usual consistency
      across people, the neurobiology of language can be modified by nonlinguistic
      experiences.

PMID- 27647273
TI  - Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models: approaches for enabling
      personalized medicine.
AB  - Personalized medicine strives to deliver the 'right drug at the right dose' by
      considering inter-person variability, one of the causes for therapeutic failure
      in specialized populations of patients. Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic
      (PBPK) modeling is a key tool in the advancement of personalized medicine to
      evaluate complex clinical scenarios, making use of physiological information as
      well as physicochemical data to simulate various physiological states to predict
      the distribution of pharmacokinetic responses. The increased dependency on PBPK
      models to address regulatory questions is aligned with the ability of PBPK models
      to minimize ethical and technical difficulties associated with pharmacokinetic
      and toxicology experiments for special patient populations. Subpopulation
      modeling can be achieved through an iterative and integrative approach using an
      adopt, adapt, develop, assess, amend, and deliver methodology. PBPK modeling has
      two valuable applications in personalized medicine: (1) determining the
      importance of certain subpopulations within a distribution of pharmacokinetic
      responses for a given drug formulation and (2) establishing the formulation
      design space needed to attain a targeted drug plasma concentration profile. This
      review article focuses on model development for physiological differences
      associated with sex (male vs. female), age (pediatric vs. young adults vs.
      elderly), disease state (healthy vs. unhealthy), and temporal variation
      (influence of biological rhythms), connecting them to drug product formulation
      development within the quality by design framework. Although PBPK modeling has
      come a long way, there is still a lengthy road before it can be fully accepted by
      pharmacologists, clinicians, and the broader industry.

PMID- 27647281
TI  - The Importance of Spatiotemporal Information in Biological Motion Perception:
      White Noise Presented with a Step-like Motion Activates the Biological Motion
      Area.
AB  - Humans can easily recognize the motion of living creatures using only a handful
      of point-lights that describe the motion of the main joints (biological motion
      perception). This special ability to perceive the motion of animate objects
      signifies the importance of the spatiotemporal information in perceiving
      biological motion. The posterior STS (pSTS) and posterior middle temporal gyrus
      (pMTG) region have been established by many functional neuroimaging studies as a
      locus for biological motion perception. Because listening to a walking human also
      activates the pSTS/pMTG region, the region has been proposed to be supramodal in
      nature. In this study, we investigated whether the spatiotemporal information
      from simple auditory stimuli is sufficient to activate this biological motion
      area. We compared spatially moving white noise, having a running-like tempo that
      was consistent with biological motion, with stationary white noise. The moving
      minus-stationary contrast showed significant differences in activation of the
      pSTS/pMTG region. Our results suggest that the spatiotemporal information of the
      auditory stimuli is sufficient to activate the biological motion area.

PMID- 27647282
TI  - Domain-specific and Domain-general Processing in Left Perisylvian Cortex:
      Evidence from Russian.
AB  - The processing of words containing inflectional affixes triggers
      morphophonological parsing and affix-related grammatical information processing.
      Increased perceptual complexity related to stem-affix parsing is hypothesized to
      create predominantly domain-general processing demands, whereas grammatical
      processing primarily implicates domain-specific linguistic demands. Exploiting
      the properties of Russian morphology and syntax, we designed an fMRI experiment
      to separate out the neural systems supporting these two demand types, contrasting
      inflectional complexity, syntactic (phrasal) complexity, and derivational
      complexity in three comparisons: (a) increase in parsing demands while
      controlling for grammatical complexity (inflections vs. phrases), (b) increase in
      grammatical processing demands, and (c) combined demands of morphophonological
      parsing and grammatical processing (inflections and phrases vs. derivations).
      Left inferior frontal and bilateral temporal areas are most active when the two
      demand types are combined, with inflectional and phrasal complexity contrasting
      strongly with derivational complexity (which generated only bilateral temporal
      activity). Increased stem-affix parsing demands alone did not produce unique
      activations, whereas grammatical structure processing activated bilateral
      superior and middle temporal areas. Selective left frontotemporal language system
      engagement for short phrases and inflections seems to be driven by simultaneous
      and interdependent domain-general and domain-specific processing demands.

PMID- 27647283
TI  - Dopamine Receptor Genes Modulate Associative Memory in Old Age.
AB  - Previous research shows that associative memory declines more than item memory in
      aging. Although the underlying mechanisms of this selective impairment remain
      poorly understood, animal and human data suggest that dopaminergic modulation may
      be particularly relevant for associative binding. We investigated the influence
      of dopamine (DA) receptor genes on item and associative memory in a population
      based sample of older adults (n = 525, aged 60 years), assessed with a face-scene
      item associative memory task. The effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of
      DA D1 (DRD1; rs4532), D2 (DRD2/ANKK1/Taq1A; rs1800497), and D3 (DRD3/Ser9Gly;
      rs6280) receptor genes were examined and combined into a single genetic score.
      Individuals carrying more beneficial alleles, presumably associated with higher
      DA receptor efficacy (DRD1 C allele; DRD2 A2 allele; DRD3 T allele), performed
      better on associative memory than persons with less beneficial genotypes. There
      were no effects of these genes on item memory or other cognitive measures, such
      as working memory, executive functioning, fluency, and perceptual speed,
      indicating a selective association between DA genes and associative memory. By
      contrast, genetic risk for Alzheimer disease (AD) was associated with worse item
      and associative memory, indicating adverse effects of APOE epsilon4 and a genetic
      risk score for AD (PICALM, BIN1, CLU) on episodic memory in general. Taken
      together, our results suggest that DA may be particularly important for
      associative memory, whereas AD-related genetic variations may influence overall
      episodic memory in older adults without dementia.

PMID- 27647290
TI  - Integrated assessment of biomarker responses and microbiological analysis of
      oysters from Sao Luis Island, Brazil.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the use of biochemical biomarkers and
      microbiological analysis to identify levels of oyster contamination at different
      ports in Sao Luis Island (Maranhao), Brazil. Oysters were analyzed for total
      coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, Escherichia coli and Aeromonas spp. In
      addition, tissue was removed from the digestive gland to determine the
      glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) activity. The highest
      percentage of microbiological contamination of oyster samples occurred during the
      rainy season. The activity of GST and catalase in oysters was also higher in the
      rainy season, coinciding with the greatest abundance of total and thermotolerant
      coliforms. Among the prospective biomarkers, GST showed the best results for
      identification of areas with higher levels of contamination.

PMID- 27647291
TI  - Levels and distribution of tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate and
      hexabromocyclododecanes in surface sediments from the Yellow River Delta wetland
      of China.
AB  - The levels and distribution of tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate (TBC) and
      hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) of surface sediments in the Yellow River Delta
      wetland had been investigated. The concentrations of TBC and ?HBCDs ranged from
      0.20 to 29.03ng.g-1dw and below limits of detections (LODs) to 20.25ng.g-1dw. The
      average composition profile of three HBCDs isomers were 10.1%, 6.1% and 83.8% for
      alpha-, beta- and gamma-HBCD, respectively. Moreover, correlation analysis
      indicated there are similar sources among three isomers and positive correlations
      between total organic carbon (TOC) content and concentrations of TBC and HBCDs.
      The mass inventory of TBC,alpha-, beta-, gamma-HBCD, SigmaHBCDs in surface
      sediments of Yellow River Delta wetland were estimated about 725.50, 72.76,
      44.29, 548.34, 665.39kg. Therefore, further investigations on potential human
      health and environmental risk assessments of TBC and HBCDs were needed.

PMID- 27647293
TI  - Reactivity of an FeIV-Oxo Complex with Protons and Oxidants.
AB  - High-valent Fe-OH species are often invoked as key intermediates but have only
      been observed in Compound II of cytochrome P450s. To further address the
      properties of non-heme FeIV-OH complexes, we demonstrate the reversible
      protonation of a synthetic FeIV-oxo species containing a tris-urea tripodal
      ligand. The same protonated FeIV-oxo species can be prepared via oxidation,
      suggesting that a putative FeV-oxo species was initially generated.
      Computational, Mossbauer, XAS, and NRVS studies indicate that protonation of the
      FeIV-oxo complex most likely occurs on the tripodal ligand, which undergoes a
      structural change that results in the formation of a new intramolecular H-bond
      with the oxido ligand that aids in stabilizing the protonated adduct. We suggest
      that similar protonated high-valent Fe-oxo species may occur in the active sites
      of proteins. This finding further argues for caution when assigning unverified
      high-valent Fe-OH species to mechanisms.

PMID- 27647294
TI  - A Flexible Nanostructured Paper of a Reduced Graphene Oxide-Sulfur Composite for
      High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Unconventional Configurations.
AB  - Flexible nanostructured reduced graphene oxide-sulfur (rGO-S) composite films are
      fabricated by synchronously reducing and assembling GO sheets with S
      nanoparticles on a metal surface. The nanostructured architecture in such
      composite films not only provides effective pathways for electron transport, but
      also suppresses the diffusion of polysulfides. Furthermore, they can serve as the
      cathodes of flexible Li-S batteries.

PMID- 27647297
TI  - Limitation of Infarct Size and the Open Artery Hypothesis: A Conversation With
      Eugene Braunwald, MD.

PMID- 27647296
TI  - Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy:
      making sense of the total score through a second order confirmatory factor
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Empathy is a key aspect of the physician-patient interactions. The
      Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) is one of the most used empathy measures of
      medical students. The development of cross-cultural empathy studies depends on
      valid and reliable translations of the JSE. This study sought to: (1) adapt and
      assess the psychometric properties in Spanish students of the Spanish JSE
      validated in Mexican students; (2) test a second order latent factor model.
      METHODS: The Spanish JSE was adapted from the Spanish JSE-S, resulting in a final
      version of the measure. A non-probabilistic sample of 1104 medical students of
      two Spanish medical schools completed a socio-demographic and the Spanish JSE-S.
      Descriptive statistics, along with a confirmatory factor analysis, the average
      variance extracted (AVE), Cronbach's alphas and composite reliability (CR)
      coefficients were computed. An independent samples t-test was performed to access
      sex differences. RESULTS: The Spanish JSE-S demonstrated acceptable to good
      sensitivity (individual items - except for item 2 - and JSE-S total score: -2.72
      < Sk < 0.35 and -0.77 < Ku < 7.85), convergent validity (AVE: between 0.28 and
      0.45) and reliability (Cronbach's alphas: between 0.62 and 0.78; CR: between 0.62
      and 0.87). The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor solution
      and the second order latent factor model. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide
      support for the sensitivity, construct validity and reliability of the adapted
      Spanish JSE-S with Spanish medical students. Data confirm the hypothesized second
      order latent factor model. This version may be useful in future research
      examining empathy in Spanish medical students, as well as in cross-cultural
      studies.

PMID- 27647298
TI  - Chagas Heart Disease an Emerging Concern in the United States.

PMID- 27647299
TI  - Lung Cancer Screening Eligibility in the Community: Cardiovascular Risk Factors,
      Coronary Artery Calcification, and Cardiovascular Events.

PMID- 27647300
TI  - Letter by Kochilas et al Regarding Article, "Report of the National Heart, Lung,
      and Blood Institute Working Group: An Integrated Network for Congenital Heart
      Disease Research".

PMID- 27647301
TI  - Letter by Lippi and Franchini Regarding Article, "ABO Blood Group and Risk of
      Thromboembolic and Arterial Disease: A Study of 1.5 Million Blood Donors".

PMID- 27647302
TI  - Correction to: Treatment of Hypertension in Patients With Coronary Artery
      Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association, American
      College of Cardiology, and American Society of Hypertension.

PMID- 27647303
TI  - Correction to: Drugs That May Cause or Exacerbate Heart Failure: A Scientific
      Statement From the American Heart Association.

PMID- 27647306
TI  - The Future for Dementia Research: a Perspective from the Journal of Molecular
      Neuroscience.

PMID- 27647309
TI  - Thrombospondin-4 Promotes Neuronal Differentiation of NG2 Cells via the ERK/MAPK
      Pathway.
AB  - NG2-expressing neural progenitors can produce neurons in the central nervous
      system, providing a potential cell resource of therapy for neurological
      disorders. However, the mechanism underlying neuronal differentiation of NG2
      cells remains largely unknown. In this report, we found that a thrombospondin
      (TSP) family member, TSP4, is involved in the neuronal differentiation of NG2
      cells. When TSP4 was overexpressed, NG2 cells underwent spontaneous neuronal
      differentiation, as demonstrated by the induction of various neuronal
      differentiation markers such as NeuN, Tuj1, and NF200, at the messenger RNA and
      protein levels. In contrast, TSP4 silencing had an opposite effect on the
      expression of neuronal differentiation markers in NG2 cells. Next, the signaling
      pathway responsible for TSP4-mediated NG2 cell differentiation was investigated.
      We found that ERK but not p38 and AKT signaling was affected by TSP4
      overexpression. Furthermore, when ERK signaling was blocked by the inhibitor
      U0126, the neuronal marker expression of NG2 cells was substantially increased.
      Together, these findings suggested that TSP4 promoted neuronal differentiation of
      NG2 cells by inhibiting ERK/MAPK signaling, revealing a novel role of TSP4 in
      cell fate specification of NG2 cells.

PMID- 27647310
TI  - Upregulation of Abeta42 in the Brain and Bodily Fluids of Rhesus Monkeys with
      Aging.
AB  - The cerebral accumulation of amyloid beta (Abeta) is one of the key pathological
      hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Abeta is also found in bodily fluids such
      as the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma. However, the significance of Abeta
      accumulation in the brain and different bodily pools, as well as its correlation
      with aging and cerebral amyloid pathology, is not completely understood. To
      better understand this question, we selected the rhesus monkey, which is
      phylogenetically and physiologically highly similar to the human, as a model to
      study. We quantified the levels of the two main Abeta isoforms (Abeta42 and
      Abeta40) in different sections of the brain (frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and
      hippocampus) and bodily fluids (CSF and plasma) of rhesus monkeys at different
      developmental phases (young, 5-9 years of age; mature, 10-19 years of age; and
      old, 21-24 years of age). We found that the levels of neuronal and insoluble
      Abeta42 increased significantly in the brain with aging, suggesting that this
      specific isoform might be directly involved in aging and AD-like pathophysiology.
      There was no significant change in the Abeta40 level in the brain with aging. In
      addition, the Abeta42 level, but not the Abeta40 level, in both the CSF and
      plasma increased with aging. We also identified a positive correlation between
      Abeta42 in the CSF and plasma and Abeta42 in the brain. Taken collectively, our
      results indicate that there is an association between Abeta accumulation and age.
      These results support the increased incidence of AD with aging.

PMID- 27647307
TI  - The Complex Role of Apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer's Disease: an Overview and
      Update.
AB  - Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) plays a crucial role in the homeostatic control of lipids
      in both the periphery and the central nervous system (CNS). In humans, ApoE
      exists in three different isoforms: epsilon2, epsilon3 and epsilon4. ApoE
      epsilon3 is the most common isoform, while the epsilon4 isoform confers the
      greatest genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the mechanisms
      underlying how ApoE contributes to the pathogenesis of AD are still debated. ApoE
      has been shown to impact amyloid beta (Abeta) deposition and clearance in the
      brain. ApoE also has Abeta-independent pathways in AD, which has led to the
      discovery of new roles of ApoE ranging from mitochondria dysfunction to, most
      recently, iron metabolism. Here, we review the role of ApoE in health and in AD,
      with the view of identifying therapeutic approaches that could prevent the risk
      associated with the epsilon4 isoform.

PMID- 27647312
TI  - Emotional conflict processing in adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome: A pilot
      study using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Studies of neurocognition suggest that abnormalities in cognitive
      control contribute to the pathophysiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in
      adolescents, yet these abnormalities remain poorly understood at the
      neurobiological level. Reports indicate that adolescents with CFS are
      significantly impaired in conflict processing, a primary element of cognitive
      control. METHOD: In this study, we examine whether emotional conflict processing
      is altered on behavioral and neural levels in adolescents with CFS and a healthy
      comparison group. Fifteen adolescent patients with CFS and 24 healthy adolescent
      participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while
      performing an emotional conflict task that involved categorizing facial affect
      while ignoring overlaid affect labeled words. RESULTS: Adolescent CFS patients
      were less able to engage the left amygdala and left midposterior insula (mpINS)
      in response to conflict than the healthy comparison group. An association between
      accuracy interference and conflict-related reactivity in the amygdala was
      observed in CFS patients. A relationship between response time interference and
      conflict-related reactivity in the mpINS was also reported. Neural responses in
      the amygdala and mpINS were specific to fatigue severity. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      demonstrate that adolescent CFS patients displayed deficits in emotional conflict
      processing. Our results suggest abnormalities in affective and cognitive
      functioning of the salience network, which might underlie the pathophysiology of
      adolescent CFS.

PMID- 27647308
TI  - A Novel Combination of Docosahexaenoic Acid, All-Trans Retinoic Acid, and 1, 25
      Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Reduces T-Bet Gene Expression, Serum Interferon Gamma, and
      Clinical Scores but Promotes PPARgamma Gene Expression in Experimental Autoimmune
      Encephalomyelitis.
AB  - Vitamins are immunologically interesting due to their significant
      immunomodulatory activities. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is
      one of the most commonly used experimental models for studying autoimmune
      disorder in multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      protective and ameliorative effects of novel combination of all-trans retinoic
      acid (ATRA), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (D3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on EAE
      specific determinants and target gene expressions. Mice were randomly categorized
      into three groups before EAE induction [non-treated EAE (Group E), treated EAE
      (Group T), and healthy mice (Group H)]. Encephalomyelitis was induced in female
      C57BL/6 mice by subcutaneous immunization using commercial kits. Preceding day of
      EAE induction, combination of ATRA, D3, and DHA was administered with a single IP
      injection every 48 h and continued until day 26. Findings of present study showed
      that administration of vitamins A, D, and DHA significantly decreased average
      clinical scores, cumulative EAE score, and EAE incidence in Group T, compared to
      Group E (p values <0.001). Interferon gamma secretion in serum and T-bet mRNA
      expression in splenocytes were significantly reduced (p = 0.004, p = 0.029,
      respectively) while PPARgamma mRNA expression was significantly increased in
      Group T compared to Group E (p = 0.021). These findings highlighted that ATRA,
      D3, and DHA combination modulated PPARgamma and T-bet gene expression and
      resulted in decrease in Th1 response and lymphocyte invasion into the central
      nervous system (CNS) and resultant inflammation. In conclusion, the results of
      this study suggested the potential use of this intervention in treatment and/or
      prevention of EAE/MS and probably other Th1 cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 27647315
TI  - Prognostic value of phosphorylated Raf kinase inhibitory protein at serine 153
      and its predictive effect on the clinical response to radiotherapy in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiation is an effective treatment against nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      (NPC). However, radioresistance-induced locoregional recurrence remains as a
      major cause of treatment failure. Therefore, radiosensitivity indicators prior to
      treatment should be developed to screen radioresistant patients. Previous studies
      revealed that RKIP (Raf kinase inhibitor protein) is associated with NPC
      prognosis and radiosensitivity. However, the relationship of p-Ser153 RKIP (RKIP
      in a phosphorylated form at residue serine153) expression with the effect of
      radiation and prognosis of NPC patients is not elucidated. Thus, these clinical
      implication of the phosphorylated RKIP in NPC has yet to be described. METHODS:
      The effect of p-Ser153 RKIP on locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS) was
      first analyzed in a retrospective cohort of NPC patients without distant
      metastasis at initial diagnosis. They received radical intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy alone. Of 180 patients were enrolled in the ongoing matched pair
      study. The patients were re-classified into radioresistant group or
      radiosensitive group on the basis of the specified criteria. Patients in the two
      groups were matched in terms of radiosensitivity-related factors. p-Ser153 RKIP
      was examined by immunohistochemical staining on a NPC tissue microarray before
      radiotherapy. The relationship between the expression of p-Ser153 RKIP and the
      effect of radiotherapy was also analyzed. RESULTS: In this study, a retrospective
      cohort with 733 cases who received radical radiotherapy alone was established.
      Using the cohort, we validated that the p-Ser153 RKIP expression observed through
      immunohistochemical staining in a pretreatment NPC tissue microarray was an
      independent prognostic factor of LRRFS and OS; we also confirmed that endemic
      patients with a positive p-Ser153 RKIP expression benefited from irradiation
      alone in terms of locoregional relapse-free survival. A total of 180 patients
      were enrolled in a matched pair study. Both groups were well matched in terms of
      radiosensitivity-related factors. On the basis of the p-Ser153 RKIP expression,
      we predicted the following data: 80.0 % sensitivity, 73.3 % specificity, 76.7 %
      accuracy, 75.0 % positive predictive value, and 78.6 % negative predictive value.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed for the first time that positive p-Ser153 RKIP
      expression was a favorable prognostic factor. It was also positively correlated
      with the radiosensitivity of NPC. p-Ser153 RKIP could also be used as a
      biomolecular marker with good availability and authenticity to preliminarily
      screen NPC-related clinical radiosensitivity.

PMID- 27647317
TI  - Association Between Resting-State Microstates and Ratings on the Amsterdam
      Resting-State Questionnaire.
AB  - There is a gap in understanding on how physiologically observed activity is
      related to the subjective, internally oriented experience during resting state.
      Microstate analysis is a frequent approach to evaluate resting-state EEG. But the
      relationship of commonly observed resting-state microstates to psychological
      domains of resting is not clear. The Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire (ARSQ)
      was recently introduced, offering an effective way to quantify subjective states
      after a period of resting and associate these quantifiers to psychological and
      physiological variables. In a sample of 94 healthy volunteers who participated in
      closed-eyes 5 min resting session with concurrent EEG recording and subsequent
      filling of the ARSQ we evaluated parameters of microstate Classes A, B, C, D. We
      showed a moderate negative association between contribution (r = -0.40) of Class
      C and experienced somatic awareness (SA). The negative correlation between Class
      C and SA seems reasonable as Class C becomes more dominant when connections to
      contextual information (and bodily sensations as assessed with SA) are loosened
      (in reduced attention states, during sleep, hypnosis, or psychosis). We suggest
      that the use of questionnaires such as the ARSQ is helpful in exploring the
      variation of resting-state EEG parameters and its relationship to variation in
      sensory and non-sensory experiences.

PMID- 27647319
TI  - Triplet Repeat Primed PCR (TP-PCR) in Molecular Diagnostic Testing for
      Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3).
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is a
      polyglutamine (polyQ) disorder for which the routine molecular testing is based
      on PCR and automated capillary electrophoresis. When only a normal allele is
      detected by standard PCR, the hypothesis of a failed amplification of the
      expanded allele must be raised. In such cases, complementary techniques such as
      Southern Blot or triplet repeat primed PCR (TP-PCR) have to be applied. For SCA3,
      TP-PCR is implemented in some diagnostic laboratories, but a tested protocol has
      yet to be published. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a TP-PCR
      protocol for SCA3. METHODS: Sixty-five blood samples previously genotyped by
      standard PCR were used in the TP-PCR assay. Fourteen buccal swab samples were
      also analyzed to confirm the robustness of the technique. The reproducibility of
      the TP-PCR was evaluated by analyzing all samples in a second laboratory.
      RESULTS: The results obtained by TP-PCR confirmed the previous PCR results for 64
      blood samples; in one sample an expanded allele, previously undetected by PCR,
      was identified. The results obtained for the buccal swab samples were totally
      concordant with those obtained for blood. Furthermore, the results obtained in
      the alternative laboratory were in full agreement with the results obtained in
      our study. CONCLUSION: The present TP-PCR protocol developed for SCA3 should
      constitute a reliable complementary technique to overcome the limitations of
      standard PCR.

PMID- 27647320
TI  - Electrically controllable sudden reversals in spin and valley polarization in
      silicene.
AB  - We study the spin and valley dependent transport in a silicene superlattice under
      the influence of a magnetic exchange field, a perpendicular electric field and a
      voltage potential. It is found that a gate-voltage-controllable fully spin and
      valley polarized current can be obtained in the proposed device, and the spin and
      valley polarizations are sensitive oscillatory functions of the voltage
      potential. In properly designed superlattice structure, the spin and valley
      polarizations can be reversed from -100% to 100% by a slight change in the
      external voltage potential. The energy dispersion relations of the superlattice
      structure are also investigated, which helps us to understand the effects of the
      superlattice structure. The switching of the spin direction and the valley of the
      tunneling electrons by a gate voltage enables new possibilities for spin or
      valley control in silicene-based spintronics and valleytronics.

PMID- 27647321
TI  - Aluminum hydroxide nanoparticles show strong activity to stimulate Th-1 immune
      response against tuberculosis.
AB  - Many materials such as aluminum hydroxide have been tried as adjuvants to
      compensate low inherent immunogenicity of subunit vaccines. The aim of this study
      was to evaluate the specific immune response following the administration of
      aluminum hydroxide nanoparticles with EsxV antigen. The physiochemical properties
      of the nanoparticle were characterized in vitro. After subcutaneous immunization,
      cytokine secretion patterns including IFN-gama,IL-4, and TGF-beta levels were
      measured by indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Aluminum
      hydroxide-NPs were demonstrated excellent effects to raise of IFN-gamma secretion
      in compare to EsxV alone. Administration of aluminum hydroxide nanoparticles
      stimulates strong cellular immune response and could be considered as appropriate
      adjuvant against TB infection.

PMID- 27647322
TI  - Journey Toward Evidence-Based Status: Seeking Admission to Formal Program
      Registries.
AB  - In the past two decades, evidence-based status has been a coveted credential for
      many nonprofit organizations hoping to legitimize their programs or
      interventions. Several formal registries exist to provide a collection of health
      and prevention programs evaluated by experts and deemed "evidence-based." While
      registries offer positive benefits like allowing for a centralized listing of
      approved programs, there have been concerns about issues pertaining to the
      process of obtaining the evidence-based credential. Namely, some of the
      criticisms include the use of inappropriate study designs, the lack of consistent
      evaluation of evidence provided in support of programs, as well as program
      creators being involved in the evaluation that ultimately shows positive program
      effects. Using focus groups of prevention specialists, this study explores the
      quest for evidence-based status. The results show themes of vindication, acting
      as a resource, and perceptions of relevant others informing the deeper meaning of
      motivation for pursuit of evidence-based status. Additionally, emergent themes of
      program iteration and evolution inform program preparation. The article shows
      that while placement on an evidence-based registry is a highly sought-after
      achievement, many program creators fail to understand the evaluation process for
      admittance as well as the potential criticisms of the lists.

PMID- 27647323
TI  - Commentary to 'Perineal ultrasound offers useful information in girls with CAH'.

PMID- 27647324
TI  - Absence of apolipoprotein E protects mice from cerebral malaria.
AB  - Cerebral malaria claims the life of millions of people each year, particularly
      those of children, and is a major global public health problem. Thus, the
      identification of novel malaria biomarkers that could be utilized as diagnostic
      or therapeutic targets is becoming increasingly important. Using a proteomic
      approach, we previously identified unique biomarkers in the sera of malaria
      infected individuals, including apolipoprotein E (ApoE). ApoE is the dominant
      apolipoprotein in the brain and has been implicated in several neurological
      disorders; therefore, we were interested in the potential role of ApoE in
      cerebral malaria. Here we report the first demonstration that cerebral malaria is
      markedly attenuated in ApoE(-/-) mice. The protection provided by the absence of
      ApoE was associated with decreased sequestration of parasites and T cells within
      the brain, and was determined to be independent from the involvement of ApoE
      receptors and from the altered lipid metabolism associated with the knock-out
      mice. Importantly, we demonstrated that treatment of mice with the ApoE
      antagonist heparin octasaccharide significantly decreased the incidence of
      cerebral malaria. Overall, our study indicates that the reduction of ApoE could
      be utilized in the development of therapeutic treatments aimed at mitigating the
      neuropathology of cerebral malaria.

PMID- 27647326
TI  - Glypican-3 distinguishes aggressive from non-aggressive odontogenic tumors: a
      preliminary study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glypican-3 is a cell surface proteoglycan that is found in embrionary
      tissues, and there are no studies investigating this protein in odontogenic
      tumor. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate glypican-3 in a series of
      aggressive and non-aggressive odontogenic tumors. METHODS: Fifty-nine cases of
      tumors were divided into aggressive odontogenic tumors (20 solid ameloblastomas,
      four unicystic ameloblastoma, 28 KOTs including five associated with Gorlin-Goltz
      syndrome) and non-aggressive odontogenic tumors (five adenomatoid odontogenic
      tumors and two calcifying cystic odontogenic tumors) and analyzed for glypican-3
      using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Glypican-3 was observed in seven solid
      ameloblastoma and eighteen keratocystic odontogenic tumors including three of the
      five syndromic cases, but there was no significant difference between syndromic
      and sporadic cases (P > 0.05; Fisher's exact Test). All cases of unicystic
      ameloblastoma (n = 4), adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (n = 5), and calcifying
      cystic odontogenic tumor (n = 2) were negative. CONCLUSIONS: This provided
      insights into the presence of glypican-3 in odontogenic tumors. This protein
      distinguished aggressive from non-aggressive odontogenic tumors.

PMID- 27647325
TI  - 'Emotional Intelligence': Lessons from Lesions.
AB  - 'Emotional intelligence' (EI) is one of the most highly used psychological terms
      in popular nomenclature, yet its construct, divergent, and predictive validities
      are contentiously debated. Despite this debate, the EI construct is composed of a
      set of emotional abilities - recognizing emotional states in the self and others,
      using emotions to guide thought and behavior, understanding how emotions shape
      behavior, and emotion regulation - that undoubtedly influence important social
      and personal outcomes. In this review, evidence from human lesion studies is
      reviewed in order to provide insight into the necessary brain regions for each of
      these core emotional abilities. Critically, we consider how this
      neuropsychological evidence might help to guide efforts to define and measure EI.

PMID- 27647329
TI  - Is transpulmonary pressure-guided PEEP titration really optimal?

PMID- 27647327
TI  - Touchless interaction with software in interventional radiology and surgery: a
      systematic literature review.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this article, we systematically examine the current state of research
      of systems that focus on touchless human-computer interaction in operating rooms
      and interventional radiology suites. We further discuss the drawbacks of current
      solutions and underline promising technologies for future development. METHODS: A
      systematic literature search of scientific papers that deal with touchless
      control of medical software in the immediate environment of the operation room
      and interventional radiology suite was performed. This includes methods for
      touchless gesture interaction, voice control and eye tracking. RESULTS: Fifty
      five research papers were identified and analyzed in detail including 33 journal
      publications. Most of the identified literature (62 %) deals with the control of
      medical image viewers. The others present interaction techniques for laparoscopic
      assistance (13 %), telerobotic assistance and operating room control (9 % each)
      as well as for robotic operating room assistance and intraoperative registration
      (3.5 % each). Only 8 systems (14.5 %) were tested in a real clinical environment,
      and 7 (12.7 %) were not evaluated at all. CONCLUSION: In the last 10 years, many
      advancements have led to robust touchless interaction approaches. However, only a
      few have been systematically evaluated in real operating room settings. Further
      research is required to cope with current limitations of touchless software
      interfaces in clinical environments. The main challenges for future research are
      the improvement and evaluation of usability and intuitiveness of touchless human
      computer interaction and the full integration into productive systems as well as
      the reduction of necessary interaction steps and further development of hands
      free interaction.

PMID- 27647330
TI  - Is transpulmonary pressure-guided PEEP titration really optimal? Response to
      Yamaga et al.

PMID- 27647332
TI  - Comparison of the qSOFA and CRB-65 for risk prediction in patients with community
      acquired pneumonia.

PMID- 27647331
TI  - Extracorporeal life support during cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock: a
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Veno-arterial extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is increasingly used in
      patients during cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock, to support both cardiac and
      pulmonary function. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort
      studies comparing mortality in patients treated with and without ECLS support in
      the setting of refractory cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock complicating acute
      myocardial infarction. METHODS: We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the publisher subset of PubMed
      updated to December 2015. Thirteen studies were included of which nine included
      cardiac arrest patients (n = 3098) and four included patients with cardiogenic
      shock after acute myocardial infarction (n = 235). Data were pooled by a Mantel
      Haenzel random effects model and heterogeneity was examined by the I 2 statistic.
      RESULTS: In cardiac arrest, the use of ECLS was associated with an absolute
      increase of 30 days survival of 13 % compared with patients in which ECLS was not
      used [95 % CI 6-20 %; p < 0.001; number needed to treat (NNT) 7.7] and a higher
      rate of favourable neurological outcome at 30 days (absolute risk difference 14
      %; 95 % CI 7-20 %; p < 0.0001; NNT 7.1). Propensity matched analysis, including 5
      studies and 438 patients (219 in both groups), showed similar results. In
      cardiogenic shock, ECLS showed a 33 % higher 30-day survival compared with IABP
      (95 % CI, 14-52 %; p < 0.001; NNT 13) but no difference when compared with
      TandemHeart/Impella (-3 %; 95 % CI -21 to 14 %; p = 0.70; NNH 33). CONCLUSIONS:
      In cardiac arrest, the use of ECLS was associated with an increased survival rate
      as well as an increase in favourable neurological outcome. In the setting of
      cardiogenic shock there was an increased survival with ECLS compared with IABP.

PMID- 27647333
TI  - Understanding resistance.

PMID- 27647334
TI  - English Language Proficiency and Early School Attainment Among Children Learning
      English as an Additional Language.
AB  - Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) often experience lower
      academic attainment than monolingual peers. In this study, teachers provided
      ratings of English language proficiency and social, emotional, and behavioral
      functioning for 782 children with EAL and 6,485 monolingual children in reception
      year (ages 4-5). Academic attainment was assessed in reception and Year 2 (ages 6
      7). Relative to monolingual peers with comparable English language proficiency,
      children with EAL displayed fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties
      in reception, were equally likely to meet curriculum targets in reception, and
      were more likely to meet targets in Year 2. Academic attainment and social,
      emotional, and behavioral functioning in children with EAL are associated with
      English language proficiency at school entry.

PMID- 27647337
TI  - Drug-eluting stents in superficial femoral artery treatment: could they be the
      standard of care?
AB  - Endovascular techniques have improved markedly over the past several decades.
      Plain old balloon angioplasty can only reach patencies around 40% after 1 year.
      Scaffolding stents have resulted in improved short-term results but encountered
      limitations for longer-term durability. With the introduction of drug-eluting
      technologies the process of intimal hyperplasia might be slowed, resulting in
      improved long-term patency results. At first, limus-eluting technologies were not
      able to transfer the enthusiasm from the coronaries to the infrainguinal vascular
      bed. However, the newer generation paclitaxel-eluting technologies perform
      significantly better in femoropopliteal arteries than their non-eluting or non
      coated counterparts. The results of a prospective randomized trial comparing DES
      versus DCB is eagerly awaited. For the moment there seems, based on the meta
      analysis, no difference between the two treatment modalities. Although, we need
      to keep in mind that DCB perform worse in long calcified lesions.

PMID- 27647339
TI  - New materials in embolizations.
AB  - Percutaneous, catheter-directed embolotherapy is an established interventional
      technique for the management of many vascular disorders. For more than three
      decades, typical embolization devices included macro and microcoils, polyvinyl
      alcohol microparticles, glue and certain liquids such as absolute alcohol. In the
      past decade, however, several new embolic devices and refinements of existing
      embolic devices have arrived on the market and a number of clinical studies have
      demonstrated their added value. In this review article, these new embolic devices
      and their typical indications will be discussed, as well as the results of
      studies involving the embolic devices.

PMID- 27647338
TI  - New devices to cross chronic total occlusion in critical limb ischemia.
AB  - Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) represent a technically demanding subset of
      lesions, which in most cases require special endovascular methods, advanced
      operator skills, and utilization of sophisticated assisting devices for
      successful treatment. CTO crossing devices offer an additional option to
      interventionists in the treatment of challenging lower extremity peripheral
      arterial occlusions. These devices may improve crossing rates, allowing delivery
      of therapeutic devices to the target lesion. Initial technical results seem quite
      promising, although adequate data on patient and device selection are lacking.
      Until long-term clinical data verify the durability of those techniques, these
      devices must be used in a stepwise fashion in selected patients with CLI.

PMID- 27647341
TI  - Constrictive Pericarditis Following Correction of Partial Anomalous Pulmonary
      Venous Drainage.
AB  - We report the case of a 23-year-old man who developed constrictive pericarditis
      within four months after pulmonary valve replacement and repair of partial
      anomalous pulmonary venous connection. He had previously undergone repair of
      tetralogy of Fallot in infancy. After an unsuccessful trial of medical management
      for persistent right heart failure, magnetic resonance imaging was done, which
      showed a thickened pericardium. He underwent a radical pericardiectomy with a
      good outcome. The case is presented to illustrate a less well-recognized cause of
      cardiac failure following congenital cardiac surgery, which may otherwise be
      attributed to the failure of surgery or residual complications.

PMID- 27647342
TI  - Patent Ductus Arteriosus Banding for Circular Shunting After Pulmonary
      Valvuloplasty.
AB  - We report two cases of newborns with critical pulmonary stenosis having intact
      ventricular septum, who underwent pulmonary valve balloon valvuloplasty followed
      by banding of a patent ductus arteriosus. Transcatheter pulmonary valvuloplasty
      was performed one week after delivery. Following the procedure, both developed
      "circular shunting" as a consequence of left-to-right ductal flow and pulmonary
      regurgitation. This in turn caused increased blood flow into a dysfunctional
      right ventricle and low systemic cardiac output syndrome. The PDA banding was
      performed urgently as a rescue measure in order to restore systemic flow while
      still maintaining some duct-dependent pulmonary blood flow. This approach
      resolved the circular shunting. Outcome was favorable in both the patients.

PMID- 27647343
TI  - Cigarette smoke exposure during adolescence but not adulthood induces anxiety
      like behavior and locomotor stimulation in rats during withdrawal.
AB  - Adolescence is a critical period for cigarette smoking. Studies have shown that
      adolescent smokers are more likely to become addicted, are less likely to quit,
      and are more prone to relapse. In the present study, we examined the affective
      symptoms experienced by adolescents during withdrawal from cigarette smoke
      exposure. Towards this goal, adolescent male rats were repeatedly exposed to
      cigarette smoke, through an automated smoking machine, for 14 days. Then,
      cigarette smoke exposure was discontinued to induce spontaneous withdrawal.
      During the withdrawal period, anxiety-like behavior (elevated plus-maze test),
      locomotor activity (open-field test), and learning and memory (passive-avoidance
      test) were evaluated. These behavioral evaluations were conducted during the
      first, third, seventh, and fourteenth day of withdrawal. For comparison, parallel
      experiments were performed in adult rats. We found that adolescent rats exposed
      to cigarette smoke experiences increased anxiety-like behavior and locomotor
      activity during withdrawal relative to control rats. Learning and memory
      processes were undisturbed. On the other hand, adult rats exposed to cigarette
      smoke did not show any statistically significant behavioral alteration during
      withdrawal. These results are consistent with the notion that adolescents are
      differentially sensitive to the withdrawal effects of cigarette smoking. This
      sensitivity might be a factor why adolescent smokers have difficulty quitting and
      are more prone to relapse.

PMID- 27647345
TI  - Multi-Phenotypic subtyping of circulating tumor cells using sequential
      fluorescent quenching and restaining.
AB  - In tissue biopsies formalin fixed paraffin embedded cancer blocks are micro
      sectioned producing multiple semi-identical specimens which are analyzed and
      subtyped proteomically, and genomically, with numerous biomarkers. In blood based
      biopsies (BBBs), blood is purified for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and
      clinical utility is typically limited to cell enumeration, as only 2-3 positive
      fluorescent markers and 1 negative marker can be used. As such, increasing the
      number of subtyping biomarkers on each individual CTC could dramatically enhance
      the clinical utility of BBBs, allowing in depth interrogation of clinically
      relevant CTCs. We describe a simple and inexpensive method for quenching the
      specific fluors of fluorescently stained CTCs followed by sequential restaining
      with additional biomarkers. As proof of principle a CTC panel, immunosuppression
      panel and stem cell panel were used to sequentially subtype individual
      fluorescently stained patient CTCs, suggesting a simple and universal technique
      to analyze multiple clinically applicable immunomarkers from BBBs.

PMID- 27647347
TI  - Dpy30 is critical for maintaining the identity and function of adult
      hematopoietic stem cells.
AB  - As the major histone H3K4 methyltransferases in mammals, the Set1/Mll complexes
      play important roles in animal development and are associated with many diseases,
      including hematological malignancies. However, the role of the H3K4 methylation
      activity of these complexes in fate determination of hematopoietic stem and
      progenitor cells (HSCs and HPCs) remains elusive. Here, we address this question
      by generating a conditional knockout mouse for Dpy30, which is a common core
      subunit of all Set1/Mll complexes and facilitates genome-wide H3K4 methylation in
      cells. Dpy30 loss in the adult hematopoietic system results in severe
      pancytopenia but striking accumulation of HSCs and early HPCs that are defective
      in multilineage reconstitution, suggesting a differentiation block. In mixed bone
      marrow chimeras, Dpy30-deficient HSCs cannot differentiate or efficiently up
      regulate lineage-regulatory genes, and eventually fail to sustain for long term
      with significant loss of HSC signature gene expression. Our molecular analyses
      reveal that Dpy30 directly and preferentially controls H3K4 methylation and
      expression of many hematopoietic development-associated genes including several
      key transcriptional and chromatin regulators involved in HSC function.
      Collectively, our results establish a critical and selective role of Dpy30 and
      the H3K4 methylation activity of the Set1/Mll complexes for maintaining the
      identity and function of adult HSCs.

PMID- 27647348
TI  - The scaffolding function of the RLTPR protein explains its essential role for
      CD28 co-stimulation in mouse and human T cells.
AB  - The RLTPR cytosolic protein, also known as CARMIL2, is essential for CD28 co
      stimulation in mice, but its importance in human T cells and mode of action
      remain elusive. Here, using affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry
      analysis, we showed that RLTPR acts as a scaffold, bridging CD28 to the
      CARD11/CARMA1 cytosolic adaptor and to the NF-kappaB signaling pathway, and
      identified proteins not found before within the CD28 signaling pathway. We
      further demonstrated that RLTPR is essential for CD28 co-stimulation in human T
      cells and that its noncanonical pleckstrin-homology domain, leucine-rich repeat
      domain, and proline-rich region were mandatory for that task. Although RLTPR is
      thought to function as an actin-uncapping protein, this property was dispensable
      for CD28 co-stimulation in both mouse and human. Our findings suggest that the
      scaffolding role of RLTPR predominates during CD28 co-stimulation and underpins
      the similar function of RLTPR in human and mouse T cells. Along that line, the
      lack of functional RLTPR molecules impeded the differentiation toward Th1 and
      Th17 fates of both human and mouse CD4+ T cells. RLTPR was also expressed in both
      human and mouse B cells. In the mouse, RLTPR did not play, however, any
      detectable role in BCR-mediated signaling and T cell-independent B cell
      responses.

PMID- 27647350
TI  - Recommendations for a standardized avian coronavirus (AvCoV) nomenclature:
      outcome from discussions within the framework of the European Union COST Action
      FA1207: "towards control of avian coronaviruses: strategies for vaccination,
      diagnosis and surveillance".
AB  - Viruses within the Coronaviridae family show variations within their genome
      sequences, especially within the major structural protein the Spike (S)
      glycoprotein gene. Therefore, many different antigenic forms, serotypes or
      variant strains of avian coronaviruses (AvCoV) exist worldwide. Only a few of
      them, the so called protectotypes, cross protect against different serotypes. New
      serotypes arise by recombination or spontaneous mutations. From time to time,
      antigenic virus variants appear, which differ significantly from known serotypes.
      The result of this variability is an inconsistent nomenclature and classification
      of virus strains. Furthermore, there are currently no standard classification
      methods defined. Within the framework of the COST Action FA1207 "Towards control
      of avian coronaviruses: strategies for diagnosis, surveillance and vaccination"
      (working groups "Molecular virology" and "Epidemiology"), we aimed at defining
      and developing a unified and internationally standardized nomenclature and
      classification of AvCoVs. We recommend the use of "CoV
      Genus/AvCov/host/country/specimen id/year" to refer to AvCoV strains. 

PMID- 27647353
TI  - Group acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for bipolar disorder and co
      existing anxiety - an open pilot study.
AB  - Previous studies have supported acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for
      reducing impairment related to various chronic conditions. ACT may possibly be
      beneficial for bipolar disorder (BD) with co-existing anxiety, which is
      associated with a poorer treatment outcome. Efforts are needed to identify
      suitable psychological interventions for BD and co-existing anxiety. In this open
      clinical trial, we included 26 patients with BD type 1 or 2 at an outpatient
      psychiatric unit specializing in affective disorders. The intervention consisted
      of a 12-session manualized group treatment that included psychoeducation,
      mindfulness, engaging in values-based behaviour, cognitive defusion, acceptance
      and relapse prevention modules. Participants completed four self-report
      questionnaires covering anxiety symptoms (Beck Anxiety Inventory - BAI),
      depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory - BDI-II), quality of life
      (Quality of Life Inventory - QOLI) and psychological flexibility (Acceptance and
      Action Questionnaire - AAQ-2) before, during and after the treatment. At post
      treatment, the participants reported significant improvements in all outcome
      measures, with large effects (Cohen's d between 0.73 and 1.98). The mean
      reduction in anxiety symptoms was 45%. At post-treatment, 96% of the patients
      were classified as responders on at least one of the outcome measures. A
      limitation is that the trial is uncontrolled. The results suggest that ACT has
      the potential to be an effective treatment for BD patients with co-existing
      anxiety. Further randomized studies are warranted.

PMID- 27647354
TI  - Pearly penile papules.

PMID- 27647355
TI  - Intralesional drug therapy in dermatology.

PMID- 27647356
TI  - Innovations in dermatology.

PMID- 27647357
TI  - Multiple reddish papules in the bathing trunk distribution.

PMID- 27647358
TI  - Unusual targetoid nodule on the back.

PMID- 27647359
TI  - Cutaneous problems in elderly diabetics: A population-based comparative cross
      sectional survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are few population-based studies on prevalence of cutaneous
      problems in diabetes mellitus. AIMS: To identify skin problems associated with
      diabetes mellitus among elderly persons in a village in Kerala. METHODS: In this
      population-based cross-sectional survey, we compared the prevalence of skin
      problems among 287 elderly diabetics (aged 65 years or more) with 275 randomly
      selected elderly persons without diabetes mellitus. RESULTS: Numbness, tingling
      and burning sensation of extremities,"prayer sign", finger pebbling, skin tags,
      stiff joints and acanthosis nigricans were noted more frequently in diabetics as
      compared to non-diabetics. Ache in extremities, dermatophytosis, candidiasis,
      seborrheic keratoses/dermatosis papulosa nigra, xerosis/ichthyosis, idiopathic
      guttate hypomelanosis, nonspecific itching, and eczema were equally frequent in
      both groups. Among the diagnostic categories, neurovascular, metabolic and
      autoimmune findings were associated with diabetes mellitus, whereas bacterial and
      fungal infections were not. LIMITATIONS: Initial misclassification errors, no
      laboratory confirmation of dermatological diagnosis during survey, coexistence of
      findings related to aging and not analyzing the effects of glycemic level,
      concurrent diseases and medications. CONCLUSIONS: Numbness, tingling and burning
      sensation of extremities, prayer sign, finger pebbling, skin tags, stiff joints
      and acanthosis nigricans were associated with diabetes mellitus among elderly
      persons in a village in Kerala.

PMID- 27647349
TI  - Dual T cell- and B cell-intrinsic deficiency in humans with biallelic RLTPR
      mutations.
AB  - Combined immunodeficiency (CID) refers to inborn errors of human T cells that
      also affect B cells because of the T cell deficit or an additional B cell
      intrinsic deficit. In this study, we report six patients from three unrelated
      families with biallelic loss-of-function mutations in RLTPR, the mouse orthologue
      of which is essential for CD28 signaling. The patients have cutaneous and
      pulmonary allergy, as well as a variety of bacterial and fungal infectious
      diseases, including invasive tuberculosis and mucocutaneous candidiasis.
      Proportions of circulating regulatory T cells and memory CD4+ T cells are
      reduced. Their CD4+ T cells do not respond to CD28 stimulation. Their CD4+ T
      cells exhibit a "Th2" cell bias ex vivo and when cultured in vitro, contrasting
      with the paucity of "Th1," "Th17," and T follicular helper cells. The patients
      also display few memory B cells and poor antibody responses. This B cell
      phenotype does not result solely from the T cell deficiency, as the patients' B
      cells fail to activate NF-kappaB upon B cell receptor (BCR) stimulation. Human
      RLTPR deficiency is a CID affecting at least the CD28-responsive pathway in T
      cells and the BCR-responsive pathway in B cells.

PMID- 27647360
TI  - Paraffinoma of the penis and scrotum (sclerosing granuloma of the male
      genitalia).

PMID- 27647361
TI  - Non-pigmenting fixed drug eruption due to fluoroquinolones.

PMID- 27647363
TI  - Towards a Decision Quality Model for Shot Selection in Basketball: an Exploratory
      Study.
AB  - We take the first steps towards a shot selection quality model in basketball that
      incorporates decisional cues that might be predictive, not only of proximal
      results (e.g., scoring), but also of distal results (e.g., winning/losing the
      match). 2976 jump-shots from 50 Euroleague matches were sampled, following
      systematic observation guidelines. The decisional cues under scrutiny were
      shooting opposition, distance and lateral angle, disposition to offensive rebound
      and disposition to defensive balance at the moment of shooting. A first set of
      regressions between decisional cues and proximal results showed higher opposition
      and distance to decrease the probability of scoring (OR = .81; p < .001 and OR =
      .89; p = .013); a better disposition towards rebound to increase the chances of
      catching rebound (OR = 1.57; p < .001); and better defensive balance disposition
      to decrease the probability of a fast break (OR = 1.27; p < .036). A second set
      of regressions between proximal and distal results showed shooting and offensive
      rebound effectiveness to predict total points scored (beta = .62; p < .001 and
      beta = .32; p < .001) and game result (winning/losing the game; OR = 1.12; p <
      .001 and OR = 1.05; p = .021). Finally, an analysis of the impact of decisional
      cues on distal results showed a positive relationship between likelihood of
      winning and average team's disposition to offensive rebound (OR = 1.18; p =
      .018). These results cast light on the actual weights (validities) of the
      different cues involved in predicting outcomes of shooting decisions. This
      evidence could help coaches provide objective feedback about players' shooting
      performance beyond hit percentages. 

PMID- 27647366
TI  - Free fatty acid receptor 1 (GPR40) agonists containing spirocyclic periphery
      inspired by LY2881835.
AB  - The free fatty acid receptor 1 (FFA1), a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)
      naturally activated by long-chain fatty acids is a novel target for the treatment
      of metabolic diseases. The basic amine spirocyclic periphery of Eli Lilly's drug
      candidate LY2881835 for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (which reached
      phase I clinical trials) inspired a series of novel FFA1 agonists. These were
      designed to incorporate the 3-[4-(benzyloxy)phenyl]propanoic acid pharmacophore
      core decorated with a range of spirocyclic motifs. The latter were prepared via
      the Prins cyclization and subsequent modification of the 4-hydroxytetrahydropyran
      moiety in the Prins product. Here, we synthesize 19 compounds and test for FFA1
      activity. Within this pilot set, a nanomolar potency (EC50=55nM) was reached.
      Four lead compounds (EC50 range 55-410nM) were characterized for aqueous
      solubility, metabolic stability, plasma protein binding and Caco-2 permeability.
      While some instability in the presence of mouse liver microsomes was noted, mouse
      pharmacokinetic profile of the compound having the best overall ADME properties
      was evaluated to reveal acceptable bioavailability (F=10.3%) and plasma levels
      achieved on oral administration.

PMID- 27647364
TI  - The accuracy of combined use of troponin and red cell distribution width in
      predicting mortality of patients with acute pulmonary embolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac troponins and red cell distribution width (RDW) are
      associated with increased mortality in acute pulmonary embolism (PE). In this
      study, we aimed to investigate the accuracy of the combined use of troponin and
      RDW in predicting short-term mortality in acute PE patients. METHODS: The data of
      201 patients with the diagnosis of acute PE were retrospectively analyzed. We
      obtained troponin-RDW scores (TR scores) using a combination of troponin and RDW
      values, and then evaluated this score's accuracy in predicting mortality in
      patients with acute PE. RESULTS: The mean participant age was 68 +/- 16 years,
      and 52 % of patients were female. Fifteen (7.4 %) patients died during the first
      month. Patients classified as high-risk according to TR scores were older (72 +/-
      15 vs. 66 +/- 15 years, p = 0.005), and they had higher heart rates (101 +/- 20
      vs. 90 +/- 15 beat/min, p < 0.001) and respiratory rates (23 +/- 4 vs. 21 +/- 3
      breath/min, p = 0.001). In multivariate analysis, TR (odds ratio [OR] 4.93, 95 %
      confidence interval [CI] 1.13-21.38, p = 0.033) and simplified pulmonary embolism
      severity index (sPESI) scores (OR 3.78, 95 % CI 1.71-8.37, p = 0.002) were
      independent predictors of 30-day mortality. For 30-day mortality, the TR score
      had a slightly lower sensitivity (87 % vs. 93 %), but a higher specificity (69 %
      vs. 52 %) compared to the sPESI score. CONCLUSION: The TR score is easy to
      calculate, and it may be used to predict early mortality in patients with acute
      PE.

PMID- 27647367
TI  - A new Suzuki synthesis of triphenylethylenes that inhibit aromatase and bind to
      estrogen receptors alpha and beta.
AB  - The design and synthesis of dual aromatase inhibitors/selective estrogen receptor
      modulators (AI/SERMs) is an attractive strategy for the discovery of new breast
      cancer therapeutic agents. Previous efforts led to the preparation of
      norendoxifen (4) derivatives with dual aromatase inhibitory activity and estrogen
      receptor binding activity. In the present study, some of the structural features
      of the potent AI letrozole were incorporated into the lead compound
      (norendoxifen) to afford a series of new dual AI/SERM agents based on a
      symmetrical diphenylmethylene substructure that eliminates the problem of E,Z
      isomerization encountered with norendoxifen-based AI/SERMs. Compound 12d had good
      aromatase inhibitory activity (IC50=62.2nM) while also exhibiting good binding
      activity to both ER-alpha (EC50=72.1nM) and ER-beta (EC50=70.8nM). In addition, a
      new synthesis was devised for the preparation of norendoxifen and its analogues
      through a bis-Suzuki coupling strategy.

PMID- 27647368
TI  - Synthesis of arylated coumarins by Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. Reactions and
      anti-HIV activity.
AB  - Arylated coumarins were prepared by site-selective Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling
      reaction of the bis(triflate) of 4-methyl-6,7-dihydroxycoumarin. Triarylated
      coumarins were prepared by Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of 3-bromo-4
      methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromene-6,7-diylbis(trifluoromethanesulfonate). The in vitro
      anti-HIV activity of the products was investigated. Two lead structures with
      considerable activities were identified.

PMID- 27647369
TI  - Optimization and biological evaluation of celastrol derivatives as Hsp90-Cdc37
      interaction disruptors with improved druglike properties.
AB  - Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) as a molecular target for oncology therapeutics has
      attracted much attention in the last decade. The Hsp90 multichaperone complex has
      important roles in the growth and/or survival of cancer cells. Cdc37, as a
      cochaperone, associates kinase clients to Hsp90 and promotes the development of
      malignant tumors. Disrupting the Hsp90-Cdc37 interaction provides an alternative
      strategy to inhibit the function of Hsp90 for cancer therapy. Celastrol, as a
      natural product, can disrupt the Hsp90-Cdc37 interaction and induce degradation
      of kinase clients. The study conducted here attempted to elucidate the structure
      activity relationship of celastrol derivatives as Hsp90-Cdc37 disruptors and to
      improve the druglike properties. 23 celastrol derivatives were designed,
      synthesized, and the biological activities and physicochemical properties were
      determined. The derivative CEL20 showed improved Hsp90-Cdc37 disruption activity,
      anti-proliferative activities as well as druglike properties. Additionally, CEL20
      induced clients degradation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in Panc-1 cells.
      This study can provide reference for the discovery of novel Hsp90-Cdc37
      disruptors.

PMID- 27647370
TI  - Discovery and structure-activity relationship studies of quinolinone derivatives
      as potent IL-2 suppressive agents.
AB  - The quinolinone skeleton has been utilized to develop various mechanism-based
      immune modulators. However, the effects of quinolinone derivatives on the release
      of T cell-associated interleukin-2 (IL-2) have not been established. In this
      study, a series of novel quinolinone derivatives was synthesized, and their
      immunosuppressive activity was evaluated by measuring suppression of IL-2 release
      from activated Jurkat T cells. Optimizing the three side chains around the
      quinolinone skeleton revealed the most active compound: 11l. This compound
      exhibits potent inhibitory activity toward IL-2 release in both 12-o
      tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (PMA)/A23187 (ionomycin) (IC50=80+/-10nM) and
      anti-CD3/CD28-stimulated Jurkat T cells (83% inhibition at 10MUM) without
      cytotoxic effects. Further investigation into the underlying mechanism of 11l
      indicated the suppression of NF-kappaB and nuclear factor of activated T cells
      (NFAT) promoter activities in Jurkat T cells.

PMID- 27647371
TI  - ArgTX-636, a polyamine isolated from spider venom: A novel class of melanogenesis
      inhibitors.
AB  - To discover new molecules with an inhibitory activity of melanogenesis a hundred
      of scorpions, snakes, spiders and amphibians venoms were screened for their
      capacity to inhibit mushroom tyrosinase using 3,4-l-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l
      DOPA) as substrate. The Argiope lobata spider venom proved to be the most active.
      HPLC fraction containing Argiotoxine-636 (ArgTX-636), a polyamine known for its
      numerous biological activities, was found to also show a good regulation activity
      of melanogenesis by inhibiting DOPA and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid
      (DHICA) oxidases activities, wore by tyrosinase (TYR) and tyrosinase-related
      protein 1 (TRP-1), respectively. Our results demonstrate that ArgTX-636 reduced
      the mushroom tyrosinase activity in a dose-dependent way with a maximal half
      inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 8.34MUM, when l-DOPA is used as
      substrate. The Lineweaver-Burk study showed that ArgTX-636 is a mixed type
      inhibitor of the diphenolase activity. Moreover, ArgTX-636 inhibits DHICA oxydase
      activity of mushroom tyrosinase activity with IC50 at 41.3MUM. ArgTX-636 has no
      cytotoxicity in B16F10 melanoma cells at concentrations up to 42.1MUM. The effect
      of ArgTX-636 on melanogenesis showed that melanin production in B16F10 melanoma
      cell decreased by approximatively 70% compared to untreated cells. ArgTX-636
      displayed no significant effect on the TYR expression while the protein level of
      TRP-1 decreased in B16F10 cells. Thus, ArgTX-636 could have particular interest
      for cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical use in order to reduce important dermatoses in
      black and mixed skins.

PMID- 27647372
TI  - Exploration of substituted arylpiperazine-tetrazoles as promising dual
      norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors.
AB  - In the search for potent dual norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors,
      several substituted arylpiperazine-tetrazoles were designed, synthesized and
      evaluated for their neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitory activities. Various
      derivatives exhibited selective and strong neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitory
      activity. In particular, compounds with a three-carbon linker displayed selective
      and stronger potency than those with two-carbon and four-carbon linkers.
      Interestingly, six compounds, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9o, 9q and 9u displayed more effective
      activity than the standard drug, bupropion. The provided SAR data and potent
      biological activity can offer useful guidelines for designing dual norepinephrine
      and dopamine reuptake inhibitors as effective therapeutic agents for treatment of
      several central nervous system diseases.

PMID- 27647373
TI  - 1,2,3-Triazole-based inhibitors of Porphyromonas gingivalis adherence to oral
      streptococci and biofilm formation.
AB  - The development and use of small-molecule inhibitors of the adherence of
      Porphyromonas gingivalis to oral streptococci represents a potential therapy for
      the treatment of periodontal disease as these organisms work in tandem to
      colonize the oral cavity. Earlier work from these laboratories demonstrated that
      a small synthetic peptide was an effective inhibitor of the interaction between
      P. gingivalis and Streptococcus gordonii and that a small-molecule peptidomimetic
      would provide a more stable, less expensive and more effective inhibitor. An
      array of 2-(azidomethyl)- and 2-(azidophenyl)-4,5-diaryloxazoles having a full
      range of hydrophobic groups were prepared and reacted with substituted
      arylacetylenes to afford the corresponding 'click' products. The title compounds
      were evaluated for their ability to inhibit P. gingivalis' adherence to oral
      streptococci and several were found to be inhibitory in the range of (IC50) 5.3
      67MUM.

PMID- 27647374
TI  - Human 15-LOX-1 active site mutations alter inhibitor binding and decrease
      potency.
AB  - Human 15-lipoxygenase-1 (h15-LOX-1 or h12/15-LOX) reacts with polyunsaturated
      fatty acids and produces bioactive lipid derivatives that are implicated in many
      important human diseases. One such disease is stroke, which is the fifth leading
      cause of death and the first leading cause of disability in America. The
      discovery of h15-LOX-1 inhibitors could potentially lead to novel therapeutics in
      the treatment of stroke, however, little is known about the inhibitor/active site
      interaction. This study utilizes site-directed mutagenesis, guided in part by
      molecular modeling, to gain a better structural understanding of inhibitor
      interactions within the active site. We have generated eight mutants (R402L,
      R404L, F414I, F414W, E356Q, Q547L, L407A, I417A) of h15-LOX-1 to determine
      whether these active site residues interact with two h15-LOX-1 inhibitors, ML351
      and an ML094 derivative, compound 18. IC50 values and steady-state inhibition
      kinetics were determined for the eight mutants, with four of the mutants
      affecting inhibitor potency relative to wild type h15-LOX-1 (F414I, F414W, E356Q
      and L407A). The data indicate that ML351 and compound 18, bind in a similar
      manner in the active site to an aromatic pocket close to F414 but have subtle
      differences in their specific binding modes. This information establishes the
      binding mode for ML094 and ML351 and will be leveraged to develop next-generation
      inhibitors.

PMID- 27647376
TI  - Ultrasonographic diaphragmatic excursion is inaccurate and not better than the
      MRC score for predicting weaning-failure in mechanically ventilated patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the ability of diaphragmatic ultrasound (US) to predict
      weaning failure in mechanically ventilated patients undergoing a first
      spontaneous breathing trial (SBT). METHODS: During a 4-month period, 67
      consecutive patients eligible for a first SBT underwent US measurements of
      maximal diaphragmatic excursion (MDE) by a right anterior subcostal approach.
      Weaning failure was defined as either the failure of SBT or the need for
      resumption of ventilatory support for acute respiratory failure or death within
      48h following successful extubation. The accuracy of diaphragmatic ultrasound and
      the Medical Research Council (MRC) score when predicting weaning failure was
      assessed via a receiver operating curve analysis. RESULTS: The feasibility rate
      for the ultrasound measurements was 63%. Mean values of MDE were significantly
      higher in patients who succeeded at their first weaning attempt (4.1+/-2.1 versus
      3+/-1.8cm, P=0.04). Using a threshold of MDE<=2.7cm, the sensitivity and
      specificity of diaphragmatic ultrasound in predicting weaning failure were 59%
      [39-77%] and 71% [57-82%] with an AUC at 0.65 [0.51-0.78]. There was no
      significant difference between MDE values and MRC scores for predicting weaning
      failure (P=0.73). CONCLUSION: A decrease in MDE values may be associated with an
      unfavourable weaning outcome. Diaphragmatic excursion measured by ultrasound is
      however unable by itself to predict weaning failure at the bedside of patients
      undergoing a first spontaneous breathing trial and does not provide any
      additional value compared to the MRC score.

PMID- 27647377
TI  - Fluid resuscitation in Ebola Virus Disease: Witch method of intravascular access
      choice?

PMID- 27647375
TI  - Design and synthesis of triarylacrylonitrile analogues of tamoxifen with improved
      binding selectivity to protein kinase C.
AB  - The clinical selective estrogen receptor modulator tamoxifen is also a modest
      inhibitor of protein kinase C, a target implicated in several untreatable brain
      diseases such as amphetamine abuse. This inhibition and tamoxifen's ability to
      cross the blood brain barrier make it an attractive scaffold to conduct further
      SAR studies toward uncovering effective therapies for such diseases. Utilizing
      the known compound 6a as a starting template and guided by computational tools to
      derive physicochemical properties known to be important for CNS permeable drugs,
      the design and synthesis of a small series of novel triarylacrylonitrile
      analogues have been carried out providing compounds with enhanced potency and
      selectivity for PKC over the estrogen receptor relative to tamoxifen. Shortened
      synthetic routes compared to classical procedures have been developed for
      analogues incorporating a beta-phenyl ring, which involve installing
      dialkylaminoalkoxy side chains first off the alpha and/or alpha' rings of a
      precursor benzophenone and then condensing the resultant ketones with
      phenylacetonitrile anion. A second novel, efficient and versatile route utilizing
      Suzuki chemistry has also been developed, which will allow for the introduction
      of a wide range of beta-aryl or beta-heteroaryl moieties and side-chain
      substituents onto the acrylonitrile core. For analogues possessing a single side
      chain off the alpha- or alpha'-ring, novel 2D NMR experiments have been carried
      out that allow for unambiguous assignment of E- and Z-stereochemistry. From the
      SAR analysis, one compound, 6c, shows markedly increased potency and selectivity
      for inhibiting PKC with an IC50 of 80nM for inhibition of PKC protein substrate
      and >10MUM for binding to the estrogen receptor alpha (tamoxifen IC50=20MUM and
      222nM, respectively). The data on 6c provide support for further exploration of
      PKC as a druggable target for the treatment of amphetamine abuse.

PMID- 27647378
TI  - Apnoea after extubation following an inadvertent remifentanil bolus.

PMID- 27647379
TI  - Monocyte phenotypic aberrancies are an unfavorable prognostic factor in patients
      with myelodysplastic syndromes and low IPSS-R scores.

PMID- 27647380
TI  - Association of Parkinson's disease with hospitalization for traumatic brain
      injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of our study was to determine if patients with Parkinson's
      disease (PD) are more susceptible to hospitalization for traumatic brain injury
      (TBI). METHODS: The US Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was queried (2004
      2011) to identify cohorts of patients with PD (N = 1 047 656) and without PD (N =
      115 95 173). The age range of the study population was 60-89 years. The incidence
      of TBI among patients with PD was compared to the incidence of TBI in patients
      without PD. A multivariate logistic regression model, adjusted for all covariates
      that significantly differed in the bivariate analyses, was used to determine if
      PD was an independent predictor of TBI hospitalization. RESULTS: The incidence of
      TBI hospitalization was significantly higher (relative risk: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.73
      1.80) in the PD cohort. The PD cohort with TBI had fewer comorbidities and risk
      factors for falls/TBI compared to the non-PD cohort with TBI. The multivariable
      analysis, adjusting for other TBI risk factors, revealed that PD status increased
      the likelihood of TBI hospitalization (odds ratio: 2.99, 95% CI: 2.93-3.05).
      CONCLUSION: Our study shows that patients with PD are more susceptible to
      hospitalization for TBI. A greater proportion of fall-related TBI occurs in
      patients with PD compared to patients without PD. Further research is needed to
      prevent falls in PD patients to avoid TBI.

PMID- 27647382
TI  - Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Vicinal Dithiol-Containing Proteins in Living
      Cells Designed via Modulating the Intramolecular Charge Transfer-Twisted
      Intramolecular Charge Transfer Conversion Process.
AB  - Vicinal dithiol-containing proteins (VDPs) play a significant role in maintaining
      the cellular redox homeostasis and are implicated in many diseases. To provide
      new chemical tools for VDPs imaging, we report here a ratiometric fluorescent
      probe CAsH2 for VDPs using 7-diethylaminiocoumarin as the fluorescent reporter
      and cyclic 1,3,2-dithiarsenolane as the specific ligand. CAsH2 shows peculiar
      dual fluorescence emission from the excited intramolecular charge transfer (ICT)
      and twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) states in aqueous media.
      However, upon selective binding of protein vicinal dithiols to the trivalent
      arsenical of CAsH2, the probe was brought from the polar water media into the
      hydrophobic protein domain, causing the excited state ICT to TICT conversion to
      be restricted; as a result, an increase from the ICT emission band and a decrease
      from the TICT emission band were observed simultaneously. The designed probe
      shows high selectivity toward VDPs over other proteins and biological thiols.
      Preliminary experiments show that CAsH2 can be used for the ratiometric imaging
      of endogenous VDPs in living cells. So far as we know, this is a rare example of
      the ratiometric fluorescent probe designed via modulating the ICT-TICT conversion
      process, which provides a new way to construct various protein-specific
      ratiometric fluorescent probes.

PMID- 27647383
TI  - Risk factors for differential outcome following directly observed treatment (DOT)
      of slum and non-slum tuberculosis patients: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brazil's National Tuberculosis Control Program seeks to improve
      tuberculosis (TB) treatment in vulnerable populations. Slum residents are more
      vulnerable to TB due to a variety of factors, including their overcrowded living
      conditions, substandard infrastructure, and limited access to healthcare compared
      to their non-slum dwelling counterparts. Directly observed treatment (DOT) has
      been suggested to improve TB treatment outcomes among vulnerable populations, but
      the program's differential effectiveness among urban slum and non-slum residents
      is not known. METHODS: We retrospectively compared the impact of DOT on TB
      treatment outcome in residents of slum and non-slum census tracts in Rio de
      Janeiro reported to the Brazilian Notifiable Disease Database in 2010. Patient
      residential addresses were geocoded to census tracts from the 2010 Brazilian
      Census, which were identified as slum (aglomerados subnormais -AGSN) and non-slum
      (non-AGSN) by the Census Bureau. Homeless and incarcerated cases as well as those
      geocoded outside the city's limits were excluded from analysis. RESULTS: In 2010,
      6,601 TB cases were geocoded within Rio de Janeiro; 1,874 (27.4 %) were residents
      of AGSN, and 4,794 (72.6 %) did not reside in an AGSN area. DOT coverage among
      AGSN cases was 35.2 % (n = 638), while the coverage in non-AGSN cases was 26.2 %
      (n = 1,234). Clinical characteristics, treatment, follow-up, cure, death and
      abandonment were similar in both AGSN and non-AGSN TB patients. After adjusting
      for covariates, AGSN TB cases on DOT had 1.67 (95 % CI: 1.17, 2.4) times the risk
      of cure, 0.61 (95 % CI: 0.41, 0.90) times the risk of abandonment, and 0.1 (95 %
      CI: 0.01, 0.77) times the risk of death from TB compared to non-AGSN TB cases not
      on DOT. CONCLUSION: While DOT coverage was low among TB cases in both AGSN and
      non-AGSN communities, it had a greater impact on TB cure rate in AGSN than in non
      AGSN populations in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

PMID- 27647384
TI  - From honeycomb- to microsphere-patterned surfaces of poly(lactic acid) and a
      starch-poly(lactic acid) blend via the breath figure method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study investigated the preparation of ordered patterned surfaces
      and/or microspheres from a natural-based polymer, using the breath figure and
      reverse breath figure methods. METHODS: Poly(D,L-lactic acid) and starch
      poly(lactic acid) solutions were precipitated in different conditions - namely,
      polymer concentration, vapor atmosphere temperature and substrate - to evaluate
      the effect of these conditions on the morphology of the precipitates obtained.
      RESULTS: The possibility of fine-tuning the properties of the final patterns
      simply by changing the vapor atmosphere was also demonstrated here using a range
      of compositions of the vapor phase. Porous films or discrete particles are formed
      when the differences in surface tension determine the ability of polymer solution
      to surround water droplets or methanol to surround polymer droplets,
      respectively. In vitro cytotoxicity was assessed applying a simple standard
      protocol to evaluate the possibility to use these materials in biomedical
      applications. Moreover, fluorescent microscopy images showed a good interaction
      of cells with the material, which were able to adhere on the patterned surfaces
      after 24 hours in culture. CONCLUSIONS: The development of patterned surfaces
      using the breath figure method was tested in this work for the preparation of
      both poly(lactic acid) and a blend containing starch and poly(lactic acid). The
      potential of these films to be used in the biomedical area was confirmed by a
      preliminary cytotoxicity test and by morphological observation of cell adhesion.

PMID- 27647385
TI  - Evaluation of calcium dihydroxide- and silver-coated implants in the rat tibia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Silver ions (Ag+) have strong antibacterial effects, and silver
      coated materials are in widespread clinical use. However, the application of
      silver-coated medical devices is not without concerns: its use with direct bone
      contact is not established, and systemic toxic side effects of released Ag+ have
      been described. Therefore, alternative bactericidal coatings with a more
      localized way of acting - e.g., calcium dihydroxide, Ca(OH)2 (CH) - would be
      advantageous. METHODS: A new rat model of the animal's tibial metaphysis was
      developed. In the left proximal tibiae of 36 male Wistar rats, titanium screws
      were implanted. The screws were coated with hydroxyapatite (HA; 12 animals: group
      I), low-dosed HA silver (HA-Ag; 12 animals: group II) and CH (12 animals: group
      III). After 6 weeks, all rats were sacrificed. The implants were evaluated for
      morphological changes on their surfaces, by light microscopy, scanning electron
      microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy; for osteointegration, by
      measurement of resistance to removal; and for bacterial colonization, by
      quantitative culture analysis. Additionally, the tibial bone was investigated
      histologically for signs of osteomyelitis and sonicated to detect bacterial
      loads. RESULTS: (i) No microbiological or histological signs of infection could
      be determined on any of the screws or the surrounding bone. (ii) The bone-implant
      interface analysis revealed extensive bone formation and direct bone-implant
      contact on all HA, HA-Ag and HA-CH coated screws. (iii) HA and HA-Ag were
      partially, and CH was fully, degraded on the screw coating, allowing host bone to
      osteointegrate.

PMID- 27647386
TI  - Design and cytocompatibility of chitosan-based thermoresponsive cell culture
      plates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to develop a novel thermoresponsive
      material suited for tissue engineering and investigate the growth and harmless
      detachment of cells cultured on the surface of thermoresponsive tissue culture
      polystyrene (TCPS). METHODS: Thermoresponsive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and
      biocompatible chitosan (CS) were grafted onto the surface of TCPS by ultraviolet
      (UV)-induced graft polymerization. The chemical composition, surface morphology
      and thermoresponsiveness of the modified TCPS were investigated by X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atom force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle
      (CA), respectively. Furthermore, the growth and detachment behaviors of mouse
      fibroblast cells (L929) on the surface of the modified TCPS were studied by 3
      (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. RESULTS:
      The modified TCPS exhibited good hydrophobic/hydrophilic property alterations in
      response to temperature. The cytocompatibility of the materials was improved due
      to the introduction of CS. Cells could be spontaneously detached from the surface
      without any damage, by controlling environmental temperature. The viability of
      cells obtained by temperature induction was higher than that obtained by
      enzymatic digestion. CONCLUSIONS: This study developed a simple and economical
      method to fabricate thermoresponsive cell culture dishes and provided new
      thoughts and experimental bases for exploring novel material applied in tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 27647387
TI  - Measuring the remineralization potential of different agents with quantitative
      light-induced fluorescence digital Biluminator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of
      different remineralization agents by quantitative light-induced fluorescence
      digital BiluminatorTM (QLF-D). METHODS: Artificial caries lesions were created,
      and the teeth were divided according to the tested materials: (i) distilled
      water, (ii) acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF), (iii) Curodont Repair (CR), (iv)
      ammonium hexafluorosilicate (SiF) and (v) ammonium hexafluorosilicate plus
      cetylpyridinium chloride (SiF + CPC). After treatment procedures, each of the
      samples was placed in artificial saliva. After demineralization and 1 and 4 weeks
      of remineralization procedures, fluorescence loss and lesion areas were measured
      with QLF-D. Data were statistically analyzed (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS:: The
      fluorescence values of the demineralized enamel specimens treated with the
      various agents differed significantly compared with pretreatment values for both
      1 and 4 weeks (p<0.05). At 4 weeks, the highest fluorescence gain was calculated
      in the CR, APF and SiF groups compared with the control (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS::
      APF, SiF and CR groups yielded greater remineralization ability than SiF + CPC
      and control groups.

PMID- 27647388
TI  - Effect of graphene oxide on bacteria and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Driven by the potential biological applications of graphene, many
      groups have studied the response of cells exposed to graphene oxide (GO). In
      particular, investigations of bacteria indicate that there are 2 crucial
      parameters, which so far have only been investigated separately: GO size and
      exposure methodology. Our study took into account both parameters. We carefully
      characterized the samples to catalog sizes and structural properties, and tested
      different exposure methodologies: exposure in saline solution and in the presence
      of growth media. Furthermore, we performed experiments with peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells exposed to our GO materials. METHODS: Atomic force microscopy,
      scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the
      morphology and composition of different samples of GO: GO-H2O, GO-PBS and GO-MG.
      Our samples had 2D sizes of ~100 nm (GO-H2O and GO-PBS) and >2 um (GO-MG). We
      tested antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity toward peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells of 3 different GO samples. RESULTS: A size-dependent growth
      inhibition of Escherichia coli (DH5 alpha) in suspension was found, which proved
      that this effect depends strongly on the protocol followed for exposure.
      Hemocompatibility was confirmed by exposing peripheral blood mononuclear cells to
      materials for 24 hours; viability and apoptosis tests were also carried out.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our experiments provide vital information for future applications of
      GO in suspension. If its antibacterial properties are to be potentiated, care
      should be taken to select 2D sizes in the micrometer range, and exposure should
      not be carried out in the presence of grow media.

PMID- 27647390
TI  - Statistical optimization of chitosan nanoparticles as protein vehicles, using
      response surface methodology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been increased attention given to polymeric nanoparticles
      as protein carriers. In this regard, chitosan/tripolyphosphate (TPP)
      nanoparticles are considered to be a simple and efficient carrier. However, to
      have an ideal protein release profile, we need to optimize the properties of the
      carrier. METHODS: This study examined the influence of 4 critical process
      parameters on the physicochemical characteristics of final nanoparticles.
      Chitosan-based nanoparticles were produced by ionic gelation, and then the size,
      polydispersity and zeta potential of those resulting nanoparticles were
      evaluated. Subsequently, the encapsulation efficiency of bovine serum albumin as
      model protein was investigated. RESULTS: The morphologies of nanoparticles were
      characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Linear
      mathematical models were presented for each response through 3 levels using
      Central Composite Design with the help of design of experiments software, and
      formulation optimization was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Such research will serve as
      a basic study in protein loading into TPP cross-linked chitosan nanoparticles.

PMID- 27647389
TI  - Does acid etching morphologically and chemically affect lithium disilicate glass
      ceramic surfaces?
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the surface morphology, chemical composition and
      adhesiveness of lithium disilicate glass ceramic after acid etching with
      hydrofluoric acid or phosphoric acid. METHODS: Lithium disilicate glass ceramic
      specimens polished by 600-grit silicon carbide paper were subjected to one or a
      combination of these surface treatments: airborne particle abrasion with 50-MUm
      alumina (AA), etching with 5% hydrofluoric acid (HF) or 36% phosphoric acid
      (Phos), and application of silane coupling agent (Si). Stainless steel rods of
      3.6-mm diameter and 2.0-mm height were cemented onto treated ceramic surfaces
      with a self-adhesive resin cement (Clearfil SA Cement). Shear bond strengths
      between ceramic and cement were measured after 24-hour storage in 37 degrees C
      distilled water. RESULTS: SEM images of AA revealed the formation of conventional
      microretentive grooves, but acid etching with HF or Phos produced a porous
      surface. Bond strengths of AA+HF+Si (28.1 +/- 6.0 MPa), AA+Phos+Si (17.5 +/- 4.1
      MPa) and HF+Si (21.0 +/- 3.0 MPa) were significantly greater than those of non
      pretreated controls with Si (9.7 +/- 3.7 MPa) and without Si (4.1 +/- 2.4 MPa)
      (p<0.05). In addition, HF etching alone (26.2 +/- 7.5 MPa) had significantly
      higher bond strength than AA alone (11.5 +/- 4.0 MPa) (p<0.05). AA+HF, AA+Phos
      and HF showed cohesive failures. CONCLUSIONS: Etching with HF or Phos yielded
      higher bond strength between lithium disilicate glass ceramic and self-adhesive
      resin cement without microcrack formation.

PMID- 27647391
TI  - Is micro-computed tomography useful for wear assessment of ceramic femoral heads?
      A preliminary evaluation of volume measurements.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wear associated with hip components represents the main clinical
      problem in these patients, and it is important to develop new techniques for more
      accurate measurements of that wear. Currently, the gravimetric method is the gold
      standard for assessing mass measurements in preclinical evaluations. However,
      this method does not give other information such as volumetric loss or surface
      deviation. This work aimed to develop and validate a new technique to quantify
      ceramic volume loss from in vitro experiments using micro-computed tomography
      (micro-CT). METHODS: An alumina (BIOLOX(r) forte) femoral head (O = 28 mm) was
      used. Mass and volume loss were approached by gravimetric method (using a four
      decimal place digital microbalance) and by using Skyscan 1176 microtomographic
      system, respectively. RESULTS: Standard error and coefficient of variance of both
      gravimetric and experimental groups demonstrated the reliability of the micro-CT
      analysis technique. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the findings of the present study
      suggest that this new protocol could be considered an important tool for wear
      assessment and that we have found a reliable metrological protocol for volumetric
      analysis of ceramic femoral head prostheses, demonstrating that the micro-CT
      technique can be an important tool for wear assessment.

PMID- 27647392
TI  - Anisotropy in the viscoelastic response of knee meniscus cartilage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The knee meniscus is instrumental to stability, shock absorption,
      load transmission and stress distribution within the knee joint. Such functions
      are mechanically demanding, and replacement constructs used in meniscus repair
      often fail because of a poor match with the surrounding tissue. This study
      focused on the native structure-mechanics relationships and on their anisotropic
      behavior in meniscus, to define the target biomechanical viscoelastic properties
      required by scaffolds upon loading. METHODS: To show regional orientation of the
      collagen fibers and their viscoelastic behavior, bovine lateral menisci were
      characterized by second harmonic generation microscopy and through time-dependent
      mechanical tests. Furthermore, their dynamic viscoelastic response was analyzed
      over a wide range of frequencies. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Multilevel
      characterization aims to expand the biomimetic approach from the structure
      itself, to include the mechanical characteristics that give the meniscus its
      peculiar properties, thus providing tools for the design of novel, effective
      scaffolds. An example of modeling of anisotropic open-cell porous material
      tailored to fulfill the measured requirements is presented, leading to a
      definition of additional parameters for a better understanding of the load
      transmission mechanism and for better scaffold functionality.

PMID- 27647393
TI  - [Current status and prospect of treatment for esophageal cancer in the era of
      precision medicine].
AB  - Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors around the
      world and has a high incidence in China. Chinese EC patients account for more
      than 50% in the world. The pathological subtype of EC shows a geographic
      distribution. Adenocarcinoma is the main pathological type in western countries,
      while squamous cell carcinoma is the dominant subtype in China. Thus specific
      diagnosis and treatment of EC are needed for Chinese patients. Although early
      diagnosis, progress in surgery and comprehensive treatment of EC have made
      remarkable achievements in China in recent years, yet the prognosis for
      resectable EC patients remains poor, with a 5-year survival of 30%. In addition,
      as the level of treatment varies significantly in different regions and centers
      around China, the current status of treatment for EC needs further improvement.
      This article reviews the advances in the treatment for EC in recent years,
      analyzes the present problems, and explores the perspective of the progress in
      esophageal cancer treatment in the era of precision medicine. 

PMID- 27647394
TI  - [Current status of surgical treatment of esophageal carcinoma and related hot
      issues].
AB  - Surgery is the major approach for the treatment of patients with resectable
      esophageal cancer. Patients treated with conventional surgery have poor survival
      rates. In recent years, many new theories of surgery for esophageal cancer are
      springing up and the quality of life and survival rates have been improved.
      However, controversies exist in the selection of appropriate surgical approach,
      minimally invasive esophagectomy and neoadjuvant therapy. The aim of this article
      is to discuss these three hot issues. 

PMID- 27647395
TI  - [Current status and perspectives of radiotherapy for esophageal cancer].
AB  - Esophageal cancer is one of the most common cancers in China. More than 80% of
      esophageal cancer patients are diagnosed at a late stage and are not eligible for
      surgery. Radiotherapy is one of the most important modalities in esophageal
      cancer treatment. Here we reviewed the advances in esophageal cancer radiotherapy
      and radiotherapy-based combined-modality therapy, such as optimization of
      radiation dose and target volume, application of precise radiotherapy technique
      and the integration of radiotherapy with chemotherapy and targeted therapy. 

PMID- 27647396
TI  - [Current status and future prospect of internal medicine treatment for advanced
      esophageal cancer].
AB  - Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of common malignant tumors, and the incidence and
      mortality of EC in China rank the first place in the world. Because of the occult
      onset, the early atypical symptoms, and the lack of effective early diagnostic
      methods, most of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease and
      lost the chance of surgery. Comprehensive treatment including palliative medical
      treatment, molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy and so on is appropriate for
      these patients. How to choose the chemotherapy regimen and formulate reasonable
      treatment plan has become a hot spot in clinical research. Molecular targeted
      drugs have become a new developmental direction in cancer treatment because of
      their high specificity and antitumor activity, but the effects on esophageal
      cancer remain controversial. With the development of immune check point blockade
      treatment, breakthrough has been made in tumor immunotherapy, which has become an
      important means in cancer comprehensive treatment and shown a good prospect of
      treatment. 

PMID- 27647397
TI  - [Multiregion sequencing reveals intratumor heterogeneity in esophageal squamous
      cell carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the intratumor heterogeneity of esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: We used whole-exome sequencing and array-based
      comparative genomic hybridization to profile mutations and changes in copy number
      from 11 regions within 2 cases of ESCC and from the metastatic lymph nodes.
      RESULTS: The numbers of somatic single nuclear polymorphisms (SNPs) in 4 regions
      within the tumors in case 1 and case 2 were 93+/-17 and 124+/-28, respectively.
      The majority of SNPs were non synonymous mutations, synonymous mutations,
      nonsense mutations and splicing junction mutations. The average indels in the 4
      tumor regions of case 1 and case 2 were 40+/-6 and 51+/-3, respectively. These
      small indels mainly occurred in exonic (frame-shift and non-frame-shift),
      untranslational regions of genes and splicing junction regions. All regions from
      a tumor exhibitedo bvious heterogeneity, and mutational similarity of all four
      regions within a tumor was less than 25%. Furthermore, gene copy number
      alteration (gain or loss) varied among multiple regions of a tumor, and the
      similarity of gene copy number was less than 20%. Phylogenetic analysis of the
      somatic mutation frequency suggests that multiple, genomic heterogeneous clones
      co-exist within a primary ESCC, and metastatic subclones may evolve from the
      primary non-metastatic parental clone. These results indicated that a single
      region sampling can not reflect the architecture of the genomic landscape of
      mutations in ESCC tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Sequence analysis of whole genome exon in
      multiple regions can provide strong evidence for genomic heterogeneity in
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 27647398
TI  - [HER-2 expression and clinical significance in esophagogastric junction
      adenocarcinoma (Siewert type II)].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)
      expression in esophagogastirc junction adenocarcinoma(Siewert type II)and its
      clinical significance. METHODS: A total of 180 patients with esophagogastric
      junction adenocarcinoma (Siewert type II) were included in this study. The HER-2
      expression was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) analysis was performed to assess the HER-2 gene
      amplification in the IHC-positive and IHC-weak positive cases. RESULTS: HER-2
      overexpression (3+ ), weak positive (2+ ) and negative (1+ /0) was 11.7%(21/180),
      8.9%(16/180), and 79.4%(143/180), respectively. The FISH analysis showed HER-2
      gene amplification in 95.2%(20/21) of HER-2(3+ ) cases and 18.8% (3/16) of HER
      2(2+ ) cases. The concordance rate between IHC and FISH was 95.2%. Overexpression
      of HER-2(3+ ) was associated with the tumor differentiation (P<0.05), and
      irrelevant to age, sex, pT stage, pN stage, pM stage and pTNM stage (P>0.05). The
      median overall survival time (OS) was 13 months in HER-2(3+ ) patients,
      significantly shorter than the 21 months in HER-2(2+ ) and HER-2(+ /-) cases
      (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 11.7% of the patients with esophagogastric
      junction adenocarcinoma (Siewert type II) are HER-2-positive on IHC. HER-2
      overexpression is associated with the tumor differentiation. IHC can be used as a
      screening test for the positive expression of HER-2 in the esophagogastirc
      junction adenocarcinoma (Siewert type II). However, FISH detection can be used as
      a more reliable detection method.

PMID- 27647399
TI  - [Patterns and influencing factors of lymph node metastasis of adenocarcinoma of
      the esophagogastric junction in 393 patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the patterns and influencing factors of lymph node
      metastasis of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG). METHODS:
      Clinicopathological data of 393 AEG patients who underwent radical resection and
      lymphadenectomy in the thoracic or abdominal cavity were collected. We analyzed
      the metastatic patterns of 5 119 excised lymph nodes with an average of 13 nodes
      per patient according to Siewert classification, and the associations between
      lymphatic metastasis and clinicopathological factors, such as tumor invasion,
      differentiation, maximum diameter, or pathological type were analyzed. RESULTS:
      The lymph node metastasis rate and ratio (LNR) were 70.0% (275/393) and 29.1% (1
      492/5 119), respectively. All the Siewert subtypes of AEG mainly metastasize
      downwards to the abdominal lymph nodes, while also spread upwards to the
      mediastinal lymph nodes. Among them, the lymph node metastasis rate was highest
      in Siewert type I and lowest in Siewert type III AEG. The lymph node metastasis
      rate and ratio in T1, T2, T3, T4 AEGs were 0%, 29.4%, 75.0%, 74.6% and 0%, 10.1%,
      14.2%, 32.0%, respectively (chi(2)=35.305, P<0.001 and chi(2)=134.034, P<0.001).
      The lymph node metastasis rate and ratio of the poorly differentiated
      adenocarcinoma were 36.0% and 79.3%, respectively, significantly higher than
      22.1% and 61.7% of the well-differentiated adenocarcinoma (chi(2)=14.468, P<0.001
      and chi(2)=120.009, P<0.001). The lymph node metastasis rate and ratio of
      patients with a tumor in maximum diameter >=4 cm were 73.1% and 30.9%,
      significantly higher than 46.8% and 14.6%, respectively, in the patients with a
      tumor in maximum diameter of <4 cm (chi(2)=13.636, P<0.001 and chi(2)=64.767,
      P<0.001). The group of vascular tumor thrombus showed significantly higher lymph
      node metastasis rate and ratio than those in the group with no vascular tumor
      thrombus (84.6% versus 67.1%, chi(2)=7.946, P=0.005; and 45.0% versus 26.0%,
      chi(2)=112.723, P<0.001). The lymph node metastasis ratio of mucinous and signet
      ring cell adenocarcinoma was 34.9%, significantly higher than 28.5% of the
      adenocarcinoma (chi(2)=8.710, P<0.001) The depth of tumor invasion and degree of
      tumor differentiation were independent factors affecting lymph node metastasis
      (P=0.001 and P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The lymph node metastasis rate and ratio of
      AEG are high and influenced by many clinicopathological factors. The patterns of
      lymph node metastasis are different among different Siewert subtype AEGs.The
      depth of tumor invasion and differentiation degree are independent factors
      affecting lymphatic metastasis.

PMID- 27647400
TI  - [Clinical value of classified detection of circulating tumor cells in peripheral
      blood of NSCLC patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical value of detection of circulating tumor
      cells (CTCs) classified by epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in
      peripheral blood of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS:
      Peripheral blood samples (7.5 ml each time) were collected from 47 NSCLC
      patients. Among them, blood samples were collected at the end of each therapy
      cycle in three patients for longitudinal monitoring of CTCs. CTCs were enriched
      by the depletion of leucocytes using a magnetic bead separation technique,
      stained with EpCAM, cytokeratin 7/8 and their isotypic control antibodies,
      respectively, and then identified and counted by multi-parameter flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: In the blood samples from 47 patients, EpCAM-positive CTCs were detected
      in 64.3%(9/14), 40.0%(4/10) and 43.5%(10/23) of patients in stages I-II, III and
      IV, respectively. EpCAM-negative CTCs were detected in 78.6%(11/14), 90.0%(9/10)
      and 91.3%(21/23) of patients in stage I-II, III, and IV, respectively. The total
      detection rates of EpCAM-positive and EpCAM-negative CTCs were 48.9%(23/47) and
      87.2%(41/47), respectively, showing a statistically significant difference
      between them (P<0.001). According to the stage of the cancer, there was a
      significant difference between the detection rates of the two types of CTCs in
      patients of stage IV(P=0.001), but not in stage I-II and III (P>0.05). The number
      of EpCAM-negative CTCs was significantly higher than that of EpCAM-positive CTCs
      in all stages (P<0.05). The frequency of patients with the percentage of EpCAM
      negative CTCs >90% was significantly higher in stage IV patients than that in
      stage I-II cases (P=0.030), while the frequency of patients with the percentage
      of EpCAM-negative CTCs between 50%~90% was significantly lower in the stage IV
      than that in the stage I-II patients (P=0.001). The treatment of most patients
      with EpCAM-negative CTCs >50% showed to be ineffective (P=0.033). CONCLUSION:
      Detection of CTCs classified by EpCAM in peripheral blood is helpful in
      evaluating the distant metastasis and treatment effectiveness of NSCLC patients.

PMID- 27647401
TI  - [IMRT-based preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for thoracic esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC): an analysis of outcome and prognosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the outcome and prognostic factors of IMRT-based
      preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in patients with thoracic esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Clinical data of 62 patients with
      thoracic ESCC who received IMRT-based neoajuvant chemoradiotherapy from January
      2009 to January 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The radiation therapy was
      given 1.8-2 Gy/fraction per day over 5 days per week with 6 MV X-rays, and then
      all patients underwent esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy. RESULTS: Among the 62
      patients, the R0 resection rate was 96.8%. Twenty (32.3%) patients achieved pCR
      and 56 (90.3%) cases got down-staging. Grade III marrow suppression and
      esophagitis were seen in 8 (12.9%) and 2 (3.2%) patients, respectively. Eleven
      (17.7%) patients experienced postoperative complications and three died. The
      median follow-up was 27 months. The 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival rates were
      88.0%, 63.3% and 44.2%, respectively, with a corresponding disease-free survival
      rate of 68.1%, 54.8%, and 43.9%, respectively.The univariate analysis showed that
      pre-treatment stage II, down-staging, T/N pCR, good tumor response to neoadjuvant
      chemoradiotherapy, pN0 and R0 resection were favorable prognostic factors
      (P<0.05). The multivariate analyses indicated that pre-treatment stage was an
      independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with thoracic ESCC, IMRT
      based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery can achieve a higher R0
      resection rate, down-staging rate, higher pCR rate, and a better tolerance. The
      incidence of postoperative complications is low. Pre-treatment stage, down
      staging, pathological tumor response, lymph node status and R0 resection results
      are prognostic factors, and the pre-treatment stage is an independent prognostic
      factor.

PMID- 27647402
TI  - [Lack of progesterone receptor expression predicts poor prognosis in patients
      with operable ER-positive invasive breast cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of lack of progesterone receptor (PR)
      expression on the prognosis of patients with operable ER (estrogen receptor)
      positive invasive breast cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the
      clinicopathological features, treatment and survival data of 318 women with ER+
      /PR+ and ER+ /PR- invasive breast cancer. RESULTS: Among the 318 patients, there
      were 219 PR-positive and 99 PR-negative cases. The 5-year overall survival (OS)
      rate was 92.5%, and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 87.2% in the
      318 ER-positive patients. Among them, the 5-year OS rates were significantly
      different between the PR-positive group (94.6%) and PR-negative group (87.8%,
      P=0.020), and the 5-year DFS rates were also significantly different from each
      other (89.8% and 81.6%, respectively, P=0.019). Univariate analysis showed that
      PR status, tumor size, T stage, axillary lymph node metastasis, and clinical
      stage were prognostic factors for OS (P<0.05 for all). Multivariate analysis
      showed that lack of PR expression, T stage >=2, and positive axillary lymph node
      metastasis were independent risk factors for poor DFS and OS in ER-positive
      breast cancer patients (P<0.05 for all). Subgroup analysis showed that lack of PR
      expression was not significant in predicting poor DFS or OS when patients were in
      stage I or with a small tumor (<=2 cm) (P>0.05 for all), and also showed that
      premenopausal women with PR-negative disease had poorer DFS and OS than PR
      positive patients (P<0.05 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Lack of PR expression is an
      independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with operable ER-positive
      invasive breast cancer, especially in patients with a large tumor (>2 cm),
      advanced clinical stage (Stage II or III) or in premenopausal status.

PMID- 27647403
TI  - [Clinical significance of combined detection of urine NTX and serum ICTP for
      breast cancer patients with bone metastases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical significance and prognostic value of combined
      detection of urinary N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) and serum C
      terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) in breast cancer patients with
      bone metastases. METHODS: Serum and urine samples from 68 women with advanced
      breast cancer who received the treatment in Jilin Cancer Hospital between October
      2012 and October 2008 were collected before and 2 months after treatment. Among
      them, 35 patients had bone metastases (group A), including 12 cases with single
      bone metastasis and 23 cases with multiple bone metastases. 33 out of the 68
      patients had other organ metastases (group B). 30 healthy females were included
      as the control group (group C). The levels of urine NTX and serum ICTP were
      measured by ELISA. RESULTS: The levels of NTx and ICTP of group A were
      significantly higher than those of groups B and C [NTx: (7.17+/-1.11) nmol/L vs.
      (2.08+/-0.22) nmol/L and (2.09+/-0.24) nmol/L, respectively, (P<0.05); ICTP:
      (7.75+/-1.14) ng/ml vs. (2.15+/-0.34) ng/ml and (2.22+/-0.31) ng/ml,
      respectively, (P<0.05)], while no significant difference was found between the
      groups B and C. Compared with the patients with single bone metastasis, the
      patients with >=2 bone metastases had significantly higher NTx and ICTP levels
      [NTx: (7.69+/-0.93) nmol/L vs. (6.16+/-0.62) nmol/L, P<0.05; ICTP: (8.21+/-1.00)
      ng/ml) vs. (6.88+/-0.81) ng/ml (P<0.05)]. At two months after treatment,
      40.0%(14/35) of patients with bone metastasis had partial remission (PR),
      42.9%(15/35) of patients had stable disease (SD), and 6 patients with progressive
      disease (PD). Both urinary NTx and serum ICTP of the patients with PR and SD were
      significantly decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05). 10 cases
      of patients (28.6%) with bone metastases had skeletal-related events (SREs)
      during the treatment, including one PR patient (1/14, 7.1%), 5 SD patients (5/15,
      33.3%) and 4 PD patients (4/6, 66.7%). CONCLUSION: The combined detection of
      urinary NTx and serum ICTP is of important significance for early diagnosis and
      efficacy evaluation and to control skeletal-related adverse events in breast
      cancer patients with bone metastases.

PMID- 27647404
TI  - [Relationship between treatment-related hypertension and therapeutic efficacy of
      vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors in
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors
      (VEGFR-TKIs) are widely used for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma
      (mRCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between
      treatment-related hypertension and the therapeutic efficacy of VEGFR-TKIs.
      METHODS: Clinical data of 155 mRCC patients treated with VEGFR-TKIs at the Cancer
      Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 2006 to 2014 were
      retrospectively analyzed. All patients received first-line TKI therapy. Among
      them, 69 patients were treated with sunitinib, 14 cases with pazopanib, and 51
      cases with fazotinib. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to evaluate the survival of
      the patients. RESULTS: The median survival for the whole group (n=155) was 36.2
      months. Among the 98 (63.2%) patients who developed hypertension, 9 patients
      (5.8%) were evaluated as grade I, 54 (34.8%) as grade II and 35 (22.6%) as grade
      III, and there was no patient with grade IV hypertension. The occurrence of TKI
      related hypertension was correlated with age and MSKCC score (P<0.05), while not
      significantly correlated with gender, nephrectomy, T stage, number of metastases,
      lung metastasis or sunitinib treatment (P>0.05 for all). For the whole group
      (n=155), the therapeutic efficacy rate was 43.2% (67/155), the median progression
      free survival (PFS) was 12.0 months, and the median overall survival (OS) was
      36.2 months. The response rate (RR) was 26.3% (15/57) in patients with normal
      blood pressure and 53.1% (52/98) in patients with hypertension (P=0.001). The
      median PFS was 7.1 months in the cases with normal blood pressure and 13.8 months
      in patients with hypertension (P=0.032). The response rates were 33.3% (3/9),
      51.9% (28/54) and 60.0% (21/35) in patients with grade I, II and III hypertension
      (P=0.006). The median PFS was 7.1, 9.7, and 12.0 and 19.5 months in patients with
      normal blood pressure, and patients with grade I, II and III hypertension,
      respectively (P=0.039). Both univariant and multivariant analyses indicated that
      treatment-related hypertension is an important predictive factor for the efficacy
      of VEGFR-TKIs therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension might be an effective predictive
      factor for efficacy of VEGFR-TKIs therapy in mRCC patients. Large-sample studies
      are warranted to further prove these results.

PMID- 27647405
TI  - [Incidence and trend analysis of esophageal cancer in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Incidence data retrieved from population-based cancer registration
      were used to analyze the esophageal cancer incidence and trend in China. The
      results can provide basic information for prevention and control of esophageal
      cancer. METHODS: Esophageal cancer incidence data in 2012 were retrieved from the
      National Central Cancer Registry, nationwide new esophageal cancer cases were
      estimated using age-specific rate by urban or rural and gender and national
      population in 2012. Esophageal cancer incidence data from 22 cancer registries
      were used to analyze the trend during 2000-2011. RESULTS: The estimates of new
      cases of esophageal cancer were about 286.7 thousand in 2012 in China. The
      incidence rate was 21.17/10(5,) the age-standardized incidence rates by Chinese
      standard population and by world population were 14.73/10(5) and 14.93/10(5,)
      respectively, and the cumulative incidence rate was 1.91%.There was a decreasing
      trend of incidence rate of esophageal cancer in registration areas of China
      during 2000-2011 with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) of 0.9% (95%CI: 
      1.6% to -0.1%), no significant differences were observed in urban area and an
      increasing trend with AAPC of 1.3% (95%CI: 0.2% to 2.5%) in rural area. After age
      standardization, the incidence rate was significantly decreased, with AAPC of 
      4.0% (95%CI: -5.5% to -2.6%) overall, -3.8% (95%CI: -4.9% to -2.7%) in urban and 
      1.7% (95%CI: -3.0% to -0.4%) in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: Esophageal cancer is
      one of the most common cancers in China and is an emphasis for cancer control.
      After effective control of risk factors and development of esophageal cancer
      screening techniques in high-risk areas for years, esophageal cancer incidence
      appears to have a significant decreasing trend.

PMID- 27647407
TI  - [A case report of refractory ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma treated
      with Brentuximab vedotin].

PMID- 27647406
TI  - [Mortality and survival analysis of esophageal cancer in China].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the nationwide mortality of esophageal cancer in China in
      2012, to investigate the trends of the disease, and to provide support data for
      esophageal cancer prevention and control in China. METHODS: Data of population
      based cancer registry of China were extracted by sex and geographical area.
      Joinpoint software was used to analyze the trends of esophageal cancer from 2000
      to 2011 using the continuous data of 22 cancer registries. Average annual
      percentage change rates (AAPC) were calculated, and 17 cancer registries data
      during 2003-2005 were analyzed. RESULTS: In 2012, there were estimated 210.9
      thousand new cases of esophageal cancer death in China, with 149 thousand in
      males and 61.9 thousand in females, accounting for 9.65% of overall cancer death.
      The crude mortality rate of esophageal cancer in 2012 was 15.58 per 100 000,
      accounting for the fourth-leading cause of overall cancer deaths. The age
      standardized mortality rates by world population and China population were 10.67
      per 100 000 and 10.62 per 100 000, respectively. The cumulative mortality rate
      for age 0-74 was 1.28%. The age-specific mortality rates were increasing with
      age, and there was a sharp increase after 50 years of age. From 2000 to 2011,
      there was a slight decreasing trend for crude mortality rate, with the AAPC of 
      1.1% (95% CI: -1.8% to -0.5%). However, the age standardized mortality rates were
      decreasing significantly with the AAPC of -4.6% (95% CI: -5.7% to -3.6%). The
      AAPCs for age-standardized esophageal cancer mortality were -3.8% in urban areas
      and -2.4% in rural areas. For combined 5-year age standardized relative survival
      was 20.9% (95%CI: 20.2% to 21.7%) and the 1-, 3- and 5-year observed survival
      rates were 54.0%, 25.5%, 18.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION: There is still a heavy
      burden of esophageal cancer in China. Prevention and early diagnosis of the
      disease in esophageal cancer high-risk areas is very essential.

PMID- 27647408
TI  - [Historic significance and future prospect of cancer high incidence scenes in
      China based on the development of esophageal cancer high incidence scene in
      Linzhou, Henan province].
AB  - Cancer high incidence scenes are specific and distinguishing characteristics of
      cancer prevention in China, which not only have made significant contributions to
      cancer control with Chinese characteristics, but also benefited the masses in
      cancer high incidence areas and have achieved a great deal of success. These
      achievements affect not only the prevention and control of cancer, but also of
      chronic non-communicable diseases both in China and in the world. This paper
      reviews the history, successes and problems of cancer prevention and control in
      esophageal cancer high incidence areas in Linzhou City, Henan Province and other
      provinces in China, and point out the future direction of cancer high incidence
      scenes on the basis of opportunities and challenges to be faced in modern era. 

PMID- 27647410
TI  - A Multidisciplinary Approach to Treating Obesity in a Community Health Centre.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to assess the weight loss programme with
      regards to the long-term effectiveness of weight reduction and weight
      maintenance, using completion rate and BMI, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood
      pressure levels as outcomes. The aim of the study also includes identifying the
      factors associated with adherence to the programme. METHODS: The programme was
      developed by a multidisciplinary team. It included 6 months of introduction and
      another 18 months of maintenance. The data for 397 participants was collected
      after 24 months. RESULTS: 346 participants have completed the introduction and
      123 have completed the programme. In the introduction, the average weight loss
      was 12% of the initial weight. The participants, who completed the full
      programme, lost 9.4% of their initial weight. The participants also significantly
      (p<0.05) reduced their blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as their blood
      pressure. The factors associated with adherence to the programme are: age over
      50, lower educational levels, lower initial weight and higher weight loss in the
      introduction. CONCLUSIONS: The multi-disciplinary approach to obesity treatment
      was effective for a selected group of people. The proportion of dropouts was
      relatively high, but still low compared to similar programmes. Group treatment
      and mutual support are of a great importance in bringing about and maintaining
      the changes.

PMID- 27647411
TI  - Alcohol Drinking Among the Students of the University of Maribor, Slovenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hazardous and harmful alcohol drinking is an important health, social
      and economic issue in Slovenia amongst all age groups. While drinking in Slovenia
      has been well researched amongst elementary and high school students, there is a
      lack of research on drinking amongst university students. METHODS: We conducted a
      cross-sectional study among first- and fourth-year students of the University of
      Maribor, Slovenia, attending the mandatory preventive health check between
      October 2009 and May 2010. During this health check, they filled in a non
      anonymous lifestyle questionnaire. AUDIT-C questionnaire on alcohol use and
      questions on smoking and illicit drug use were also included. RESULTS: 3.130
      students were included in the analysis, 1219 (38.9%) were males. There were 871
      (27.8%) students that were screened as risky drinkers. The highest percentage of
      risky drinkers attended the Faculty for Wood Technology and the lowest the
      Faculty for Health Sciences. Students, recognized as healthier by the physicians,
      reported risky drinking significantly less often (p=0.015). Students with higher
      BMI reported risky drinking significantly more often (p=0.012). Variables, proved
      to be independently associated with the risky drinking in the multivariate
      analysis, were: bad health status (p=0.044), male sex (p<0.001), daily
      consumption of fried food (p=0.017), smoking (p<0.001), illicit drugs (p<0.001),
      attending the Faculty for Civil Engineering (p=0.006), not attending the Faculty
      for Health Sciences (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: While the prevalence of risky
      drinking among students in this study is high, a structured preventive programme
      should be implemented for students, which will include also illicit drug use and
      smoking.

PMID- 27647412
TI  - Socio-Economic Characteristics in Notified Erythema Migrans Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lyme borreliosis disease results from infection by members of the
      Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The most common clinical presentation of
      Lyme borreliosis is erythema migrans (EM). To gain knowledge of the
      epidemiological parameters and the risk factors of EM in Slovenia, a survey has
      been carried out in 2010. METHODS: A short anonymous and self-administrated
      questionnaire was sent to 4917 notified EM patients in 2010, aiming to collect
      epidemiological data and assess socio-economic determinants in patients with EM.
      RESULTS: Three thousand and five (61%) patients with EM returned completed
      questionnaires. One thousand and nine hundred twenty-nine (74%) patients noted
      the tick where the EM developed. The tick bite was most often located on the legs
      in adults and in the head/neck area in children. The time that elapsed before the
      tick has been removed increased significantly with age. The attached tick was
      most frequently overlooked in preschool children. Nearly 70% of patients believed
      that they contracted the infection with borrelia near home. Infection away from
      their permanent residence was more often the case in those with a higher level of
      education and in 15-49 age groups. Compared to the Slovenian general population
      over 14 years of age, those with a higher level of education, the unemployed and
      farmers were overrepresented among the EM patients. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of Lyme
      borreliosis is widespread in Slovenia, with some areas more affected then others.
      Determinants of exposure to infected ticks are different, and depend on the socio
      economic status and demographic characteristics.

PMID- 27647413
TI  - Age at Smoking Initiation in Slovenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smoking is initiated mostly by adolescents and young adults. In
      Slovenia, we have limited data about this. The purpose of this paper is to show
      data on age at smoking initiation and differences in age at smoking initiation by
      gender, age groups, education, social class and geographical region among
      inhabitants of Slovenia. METHODS: We used data from the cross-sectional survey
      'Health-related behaviour 2012' in Slovenian population aged from 25 to 74 years.
      RESULTS: 4591 ever smokers, aged 25-74, that gave information about the age at
      smoking initiation were included in the analysis. At the age of 25 or less,
      smoking was initiated by 96.7% of Slovene ever smokers, at the age of 18 or less
      by 71.0%. The average age at smoking initiation was 17.7 years. Male ever smokers
      initiated smoking at an earlier age compared to female ones. Age at smoking
      initiation was decreasing in both male and female ever smokers, but was more
      pronounced in females. In male ever smokers, there were no differences in average
      smoking initiation age by education, self-reported social class and geographical
      regions, while in female ever smokers, there were significant differences in
      terms of education and geographical regions. CONCLUSION: The initiation of
      smoking predominantly occurs in adolescents and young adults. Age at smoking
      initiation has decreased in recent decades. Our study confirms the importance of
      early and sustained smoking prevention programmes in youth and the importance of
      national comprehensive tobacco control programme with effective tobacco control
      measures to ban tobacco products marketing.

PMID- 27647414
TI  - Assessing Empathic Attitudes in Medical Students: The Re-validation of the
      Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student Version Report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Self-reported scales, such as the Jefferson Scale of Empathy -
      Student version (JSE-S), had been recognised to measure the empathic disposition
      rather than behavioural expression. This study aimed to re-validate the JSE-S and
      its factor structure prior further research on empathy in medical students.
      METHODS: A convenience sampling method was employed in two consecutive academic
      years, in 2012/13 and 2013/14, at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana, Slovenia;
      first and final year students participated voluntarily. The JSE-S examined
      empathy levels. The principal component analysis was performed with Oblimin
      rotation and Kaisers' criteria. Factors with eigenvalues >= 1.25 were retained
      and items loading >= |0.40| were required for the interpretation of the factor
      structure. RESULTS: The total study sample size was 845 students, (580 (68.6%))
      of them women; 327 (72.2%) were in the first (19.2 +/- 1.9 years old) and 253
      (61.7%) in the sixth (24.9 +/- 1.1 years old) year of medical school. Females
      achieved higher JSE-S scores in all groups. The three-factor JSE-S was confirmed,
      but only seven items were concordant in all groups. A higher proportion of
      explained variation for Perspective Taking and Standing in the Patient's Shoes,
      and better internal consistency, was found in a reduced-item scale (16-18 items).
      When performing factor analysis of a seven-item scale, the percentages of
      explained variance increased with two factors extracted. CONCLUSIONS: Only the
      cognitive dimension of JSE-S gave results as expected, therefore proper
      terminology, i.e. the object of assessment, must be used in further
      administration of JSE-S and empathy-related research in medical students.

PMID- 27647418
TI  - Salt accelerates aldosterone-induced cardiac remodeling in the absence of
      guanylyl cyclase-A signaling.
AB  - AIMS: Excess sodium causes the development of cardiovascular diseases in
      conjunction with enhancing renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS).
      Natriuretic peptides are sodium regulators and prevent pathological cardiac
      alterations by counteracting RAAS. However, it is unknown whether natriuretic
      peptides inhibit the sodium effect in adverse cardiac alterations. Here, we
      investigated whether excess salt intake could exacerbate cardiac remodeling in
      mice with impaired natriuretic peptide signaling. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mice
      lacking the gene encoding the natriuretic peptide receptor, guanylyl cyclase-A
      (GC-A), and wild-type mice were administered with either a vehicle substance or a
      subpressor dose of aldosterone (100ng/kg/min), alongside low salt (0.001% NaCl),
      normal salt (0.6% NaCl), or high salt diets (6.0% NaCl) for four weeks. Mice were
      then sacrificed and the hearts were evaluated by histology and RT-PCR. KEY
      FINDINGS: Salt load did not induce cardiac changes in vehicle and aldosterone
      groups in wild-type mice. On the other hand, cardiac hypertrophy and interstitial
      fibrosis were significantly exacerbated in a salt dependent manner in GC-A
      knockout (KO) mice administered aldosterone, and were associated with enhanced
      gene expression relevant to hypertrophy, fibrosis, and oxidative stress
      conditions. Of note, excess salt intake increased the expression of Sgk1, serum
      and glucocorticoid responsive kinase-1, in aldosterone-administered GC-A KO mice.
      These molecular changes were not observed in wild-type mice. SIGNIFICANCE: The
      results of the present study demonstrate that excess salt intake induced cardiac
      remodeling in conjunction with aldosterone administration in GC-A KO mice,
      indicating that GC-A signaling attenuated the deleterious salt effect in
      aldosterone-induced cardiac remodeling.

PMID- 27647415
TI  - Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 6 regulates lipid synthesis and mitochondrial
      oxidative capacity in human and rat skeletal muscle.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 6 (ACSL6) mRNA is present in human and
      rat skeletal muscle, and is modulated by nutritional status: exercise and fasting
      decrease ACSL6 mRNA, whereas acute lipid ingestion increase its expression. ACSL6
      genic inhibition in rat primary myotubes decreased lipid accumulation, as well as
      activated the higher mitochondrial oxidative capacity programme and fatty acid
      oxidation through the AMPK/PGC1-alpha pathway. ACSL6 overexpression in human
      primary myotubes increased phospholipid species and decreased oxidative
      metabolism. ABSTRACT: Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL 1 to 6) are key
      enzymes regulating the partitioning of acyl-CoA species toward different
      metabolic fates such as lipid synthesis or beta-oxidation. Despite our
      understanding of ecotopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle being associated
      with metabolic diseases such as obesity and type II diabetes, the role of
      specific ACSL isoforms in lipid synthesis remains unclear. In the present study,
      we describe for the first time the presence of ACSL6 mRNA in human skeletal
      muscle and the role that ACSL6 plays in lipid synthesis in both rodent and human
      skeletal muscle. ACSL6 mRNA was observed to be up-regulated by acute high-fat
      meal ingestion in both rodents and humans. In rats, we also demonstrated that
      fasting and chronic aerobic training negatively modulated the ACSL6 mRNA and
      other genes of lipid synthesis. Similar results were obtained following ACSL6
      knockdown in rat myotubes, which was associated with a decreased accumulation of
      TAGs and lipid droplets. Under the same knockdown condition, we further
      demonstrate an increase in fatty acid content, p-AMPK, mitochondrial content,
      mitochondrial respiratory rates and palmitate oxidation. These results were
      associated with increased PGC-1alpha, UCP2 and UCP3 mRNA and decreased reactive
      oxygen species production. In human myotubes, ACSL6 overexpression reduced
      palmitate oxidation and PGC-1alpha mRNA. In conclusion, ACSL6 drives acyl-CoA
      toward lipid synthesis and its downregulation improves mitochondrial biogenesis,
      respiratory capacity and lipid oxidation. These outcomes are associated with the
      activation of the AMPK/PGC1-alpha pathway.

PMID- 27647420
TI  - X-rays and virtual taphonomy resolve the first Cissus (Vitaceae) macrofossils
      from Africa as early-diverging members of the genus.
AB  - PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Fossilized seeds similar to Cissus (Vitaceae) have been
      recognized from the Miocene of Kenya, though some were previously assigned to the
      Menispermaceae. We undertook a comparative survey of extant African Cissus seeds
      to identify the fossils and consider their implications for the evolution and
      biogeography of Cissus and for African early Miocene paleoenvironments. METHODS:
      Micro-computed tomography (uCT) and synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic
      microscopy (SRXTM) were used to study seed morphology and anatomy. Virtual
      taphonomy, using SRXTM data sets, produced digital fossils to elucidate seed
      taphonomy. Phylogenetic relationships within Cissus were reconstructed using
      existing and newly produced DNA sequences for African species. Paleobiology and
      paleoecology were inferred from African nearest living relatives. KEY RESULTS:
      The fossils were assigned to four new Cissus species, related to four modern
      clades. The fossil plants were interpreted as climbers inhabiting a mosaic of
      riverine woodland and forest to more open habitats. Virtual taphonomy explained
      how complex mineral infill processes concealed key seed features, causing the
      previous taxonomic misidentification. Newly sampled African species, with seeds
      most similar to the fossils, belong to four clades within core Cissus, two of
      which are early diverging. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual taphonomy, combined with X-ray
      imaging, has enabled recognition of the first fossil Cissus and Vitaceae from
      Africa. Early-divergent members of the core Cissus clade were present in Africa
      by at least the early Miocene, with an African origin suggested for the Cissus
      sciaphila clade. The fossils provide supporting evidence for mosaic
      paleoenvironments inhabited by early Miocene hominoids.

PMID- 27647423
TI  - Sub-10-fs control of dissociation pathways in the hydrogen molecular ion with a
      few-pulse attosecond pulse train.
AB  - The control of the electronic states of a hydrogen molecular ion by
      photoexcitation is considerably difficult because it requires multiple sub-10 fs
      light pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) wavelength region with a
      sufficiently high intensity. Here, we demonstrate the control of the dissociation
      pathway originating from the 2psigmau electronic state against that originating
      from the 2ppiu electronic state in a hydrogen molecular ion by using a pair of
      attosecond pulse trains in the XUV wavelength region with a train-envelope
      duration of ~4 fs. The switching time from the peak to the valley in the
      oscillation caused by the vibrational wavepacket motion in the 1ssigmag ground
      electronic state is only 8 fs. This result can be classified as the fastest
      control, to the best of our knowledge, of a molecular reaction in the simplest
      molecule on the basis of the XUV-pump and XUV-probe scheme.

PMID- 27647425
TI  - RNA transcript expression of IGF-I/PI3K pathway components in regenerating
      skeletal muscle is sensitive to initial injury intensity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Skeletal muscle regeneration is a complex process involving the
      coordinated input from multiple stimuli. Of these processes, actions of the
      insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)
      pathways are vital; however, whether IGF-I or PI3K expression is modified during
      regeneration relative to initial damage intensity is unknown. The objective of
      this study was to determine whether mRNA expression of IGF-I/PI3K pathway
      components was differentially regulated during muscle regeneration in mice in
      response to traumatic injury induced by freezing of two different durations.
      DESIGN: Traumatic injury was imposed by applying a 6-mm diameter cylindrical
      steel probe, cooled to the temperature of dry ice (-79 degrees C), to the belly
      of the left tibialis anterior muscle of 12-week-old C57BL/6J mice for either 5s
      (5s) or 10s (10s). The right leg served as the uninjured control. RNA was
      obtained from injured and control muscles following 3, 7, and 21days recovery and
      examined by real-time PCR. Expression of transcripts within the IGF, PI3K, and
      Akt families, as well as for myogenic regulatory factors and micro-RNAs were
      studied. RESULTS: Three days following injury, there was significantly increased
      expression of Igf1, Igf2, Igf1r, Igf2r, Pik3cb, Pik3cd, Pik3cg, Pik3r1, Pik3r5,
      Akt1, and Akt3 in response to either 5s or 10s injury compared to uninjured
      control muscle. There was a significantly greater expression of Pik3cb, Pik3cd,
      Pik3cg, Pik3r5, Akt1, and Akt3 in 10s injured muscle compared to 5s injured
      muscle. Seven days following injury, we observed significantly increased
      expression of Igf1, Igf2, Pik3cd, and Pik3cg in injured muscle compared to
      control muscle in response to 10s freeze injury. We also observed significantly
      reduced expression of Igf1r and miR-133a in response to 5s freeze injury compared
      to control muscle, and significantly reduced expression of Ckm, miR-1 and miR
      133a in response to 10s freeze injury as compared to control. Twenty-one days
      following injury, 5s freeze-injured muscle exhibited significantly increased
      expression of Igf2, Igf2r, Pik3cg, Akt3, Myod1, Myog, Myf5, and miR-206 compared
      to control muscle, while 10s freeze-injured muscles showed significantly
      increased expression of Igf2, Igf2r, Pik3cb, Pik3cd, Pik3r5, Akt1, Akt3, and Myog
      compared to control. Expression of miR-1 was significantly reduced in 10s freeze
      injured muscle compared to control muscle at this time. There were no significant
      differences in RNA expression between 5s and 10s injury at either 7d or 21d
      recovery in any transcript examined. CONCLUSIONS: During early skeletal muscle
      regeneration in mice, transcript expressions for some components of the IGF
      I/PI3K pathway are sensitive to initial injury intensity induced by freeze
      damage.

PMID- 27647426
TI  - An Energy Harvesting Underwater Acoustic Transmitter for Aquatic Animals.
AB  - Acoustic telemetry is the primary method to actively track aquatic animals for
      behavioral studies. However, the small storage capacities of the batteries used
      in the transmitters limit the time that the implanted animals can be studied. In
      this research, we developed and implemented a battery-free acoustic transmitter
      that uses a flexible piezoelectric beam to harvest energy from fish swimming as
      the power source. The transmitter sends out a unique identification code with a
      sufficiently strong signal (150 dB, ref: 1 MUPa at 1 meter) that has a detection
      range of up to 100 meters. Two prototypes, 100 mm and 77 mm long, respectively,
      weighing only about 1 gram or less in air, were sub-dermally implanted in two
      species of live fish. Transmissions were successfully detected as the fish swam
      in a natural manner. This represents the first known implanted energy-harvesting
      transmitter demonstrated in vivo. Successful development of this transmitter
      greatly expands the potential for long-term studies of the behaviors of aquatic
      animals and for subsequently developing strategies to mitigate the environmental
      impacts of renewable energy systems.

PMID- 27647428
TI  - Gut and liver T-cells of common clonal origin in primary sclerosing cholangitis
      inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recruitment of gut-derived memory T-cells to the liver is
      believed to drive hepatic inflammation in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).
      However, whether gut-infiltrating and liver-infiltrating T-cells share T cell
      receptors (TCRs) and antigenic specificities is unknown. We used paired gut and
      liver samples from PSC patients with concurrent inflammatory bowel disease (PSC
      IBD), and normal tissue samples from colon cancer controls, to assess potential T
      cell clonotype overlap between the two compartments. METHODS: High-throughput
      sequencing of TCRbeta repertoires was applied on matched colon, liver and blood
      samples from patients with PSC-IBD (n=10), and on paired tumor-adjacent normal
      gut and liver tissue samples from colon cancer patients (n=10). RESULTS: An
      average of 9.7% (range: 4.7-19.9%) memory T cell clonotypes overlapped in paired
      PSC-IBD affected gut and liver samples, after excluding clonotypes present at
      similar frequencies in blood. Shared clonotypes constituted on average 16.0%
      (range: 8.7-32.6%) and 15.0% (range: 5.9-26.3%) of the liver and gut memory T
      cells, respectively. A significantly higher overlap was observed between paired
      PSC-IBD affected samples (8.7%, p=0.0007) compared to paired normal gut and liver
      samples (3.6%), after downsampling to equal number of reads. CONCLUSION: Memory T
      cells of common clonal origin were detected in paired gut and liver samples of
      patients with PSC-IBD. Our data indicate that this is related to PSC-IBD
      pathogenesis, suggesting that memory T-cells driven by shared antigens are
      present in the gut and liver of PSC-IBD patients. Our findings support efforts to
      therapeutically target memory T cell recruitment in PSC-IBD. LAY SUMMARY: Primary
      sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a devastating liver disease strongly associated
      with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The cause of PSC is unknown, but it has
      been suggested that the immune reactions in the gut and the liver are connected.
      Our data demonstrate for the first time that a proportion of the T-cells in the
      gut and the liver react to similar triggers, and that this proportion is
      particularly high in patients with PSC and IBD.

PMID- 27647429
TI  - Riedel's thyroiditis association with IgG4-related disease.
AB  - CONTEXT: IgG4-positive (+) plasma cells have been reported in both Riedel's
      thyroiditis (RT) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). These cells are the hallmark
      of IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD). OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether RT
      is part of IgG4-RD spectrum. DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS: This was a case
      control study performed at a tertiary medical centre. We included RT cases from
      the period 1958 to 2008 that had sufficient paraffin-embedded tissue for IgG4
      immunostaining. Controls were patients with HT, age and gender matched, with
      similar pathology criteria. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcome measures were
      the intensity of the IgG4 staining and the clinical and histological correlates
      with IgG4-RD. RESULTS: Six pairs of RT and HT were analysed. The mean age was
      44.7 years. In both groups, 5/6 cases had positive IgG4 staining. The mean number
      of IgG4 + cells/ HPF, normalized to the degree of inflammation, was 3.2 +/- 3.0
      SD (RT) vs 0.9 +/- 0.7 (HT), P = 0.15, for fibrotic areas and 2.1 +/- 2.3 SD vs
      1.0 +/- 0.8 (P = 0.39) for areas with lymphoid aggregates. We found the number of
      IgG4 +  cells in RT to be inversely correlated with the duration of disease (P =
      0.046). Three RT cases had associated comorbidities from the IgG4-RD spectrum
      while none of the HT cases had such conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Riedel's thyroiditis
      is a component of IgG4-RD with the density of the IgG4 +  lymphocytic infiltrate
      being time dependent. In this small study, we did not identify differences in
      IgG4 infiltration between RT and HT, minimizing the utility of this marker in RT
      diagnosis.

PMID- 27647431
TI  - Cascade Reaction of Alkynols and 7-Oxabenzonorbornadienes Involving Transient
      Hemiketal Group Directed C-H Activation and Synergistic RhIII/ScIII Catalysis.
AB  - As the first cascade C-H activation directed by a transient group, reaction of
      alkynols and 7-oxabenzonorbornadienes has been achieved via synergistic rhodium
      and scandium catalysis to afford spirocyclic dihydrobenzo[a]fluorenefurans. This
      transformation proceeds by a transient hemiketal group directed C-H activation,
      dehydrative naphthylation, and intramolecular Prins-type cyclization. Mechanistic
      studies and density functional theory calculations indicate that the rate
      determining step is C-H bond cleavage and both the transient hemiketal group and
      synergistic RhIII/ScIII catalysis play key roles.

PMID- 27647432
TI  - Enhanced protein and biochemical production using CRISPRi-based growth switches.
AB  - Production of proteins and biochemicals in microbial cell factories is often
      limited by carbon and energy spent on excess biomass formation. To address this
      issue, we developed several genetic growth switches based on CRISPR interference
      technology. We demonstrate that growth of Escherichia coli can be controlled by
      repressing the DNA replication machinery, by targeting dnaA and oriC, or by
      blocking nucleotide synthesis through pyrF or thyA. This way, total GFP-protein
      production could be increased by up to 2.2-fold. Single-cell dynamic tracking in
      microfluidic systems was used to confirm functionality of the growth switches.
      Decoupling of growth from production of biochemicals was demonstrated for
      mevalonate, a precursor for isoprenoid compounds. Mass yield of mevalonate was
      increased by 41%, and production was maintained for more than 45h after
      activation of the pyrF-based growth switch. The developed methods represent a
      promising approach for increasing production yield and titer for proteins and
      biochemicals.

PMID- 27647434
TI  - Reply to Marcus V. Cronauer, Axel S. Merseburger, and M. Raschid Hoda's Letter to
      the Editor re: Christof Bernemann, Thomas J. Schnoeller, Manuel Luedeke, et al.
      Expression of AR-V7 in Circulating Tumour Cells Does Not Preclude Response to
      Next Generation Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Patients with Castration
      Resistant Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol 2017;71:1-3.

PMID- 27647436
TI  - Empirical likelihood method for non-ignorable missing data problems.
AB  - Missing response problem is ubiquitous in survey sampling, medical, social
      science and epidemiology studies. It is well known that non-ignorable missing is
      the most difficult missing data problem where the missing of a response depends
      on its own value. In statistical literature, unlike the ignorable missing data
      problem, not many papers on non-ignorable missing data are available except for
      the full parametric model based approach. In this paper we study a semiparametric
      model for non-ignorable missing data in which the missing probability is known up
      to some parameters, but the underlying distributions are not specified. By
      employing Owen (1988)'s empirical likelihood method we can obtain the constrained
      maximum empirical likelihood estimators of the parameters in the missing
      probability and the mean response which are shown to be asymptotically normal.
      Moreover the likelihood ratio statistic can be used to test whether the missing
      of the responses is non-ignorable or completely at random. The theoretical
      results are confirmed by a simulation study. As an illustration, the analysis of
      a real AIDS trial data shows that the missing of CD4 counts around two years are
      non-ignorable and the sample mean based on observed data only is biased.

PMID- 27647438
TI  - Assessment of physiological performance and perception of pushing different
      wheelchairs on indoor modular units simulating a surface roughness often
      encountered in under-resourced settings.
AB  - In under-resourced settings where motorized wheelchairs are rarely available,
      manual wheelchair users with limited upper-body strength and functionalities need
      to rely on assisting pushers for their mobility. Because traveling surfaces in
      under-resourced settings are often unpaved and rough, wheelchair pushers could
      experience high physiological loading. In order to evaluate pushers'
      physiological loading and to improve wheelchair designs, we built indoor modular
      units that simulate rough surface conditions, and tested a hypothesis that
      pushing different wheelchairs would result in different physiological
      performances and pushers' perception of difficulty on the simulated rough
      surface. Eighteen healthy subjects pushed two different types of pediatric
      wheelchairs (Moti-Go manufactured by Motivation, and KidChair by Hope Haven)
      fitted with a 50-kg dummy on the rough and smooth surfaces at self-selected
      speeds. Oxygen uptake, traveling distance for 6 minutes, and the rating of
      difficulty were obtained. The results supported our hypothesis, showing that
      pushing Moti-Go on the rough surface was physiologically less loading than
      KidChair, but on the smooth surface, the two wheelchairs did not differ
      significantly. These results indicate wheelchair designs to improve pushers'
      performance in under-resourced settings should be evaluated on rough surfaces.

PMID- 27647437
TI  - A long non-coding RNA signature to improve prognosis prediction of gastric
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are
      frequently aberrantly expressed in cancers, however, few related lncRNA
      signatures have been established for prediction of cancer prognosis. We aimed at
      developing alncRNA signature to improve prognosis prediction of gastric cancer
      (GC). METHODS: Using a lncRNA-mining approach, we performed lncRNA expression
      profiling in large GC cohorts from Gene Expression Ominus (GEO), including
      GSE62254 data set (N = 300) and GSE15459 data set (N = 192). We established a set
      of 24-lncRNAs that were significantly associated with the disease free survival
      (DFS) in the test series. RESULTS: Based on this 24-lncRNA signature, the test
      series patients could be classified into high-risk or low-risk subgroup with
      significantly different DFS (HR = 1.19, 95 % CI = 1.13-1.25, P < 0.0001). The
      prognostic value of this 24-lncRNA signature was confirmed in the internal
      validation series and another external validation series, respectively. Further
      analysis revealed that the prognostic value of this signature was independent of
      lymph node ratio (LNR) and postoperative chemotherapy. Gene set enrichment
      analysis (GSEA) indicated that high risk score group was associated with several
      cancer recurrence and metastasis associated pathways. CONCLUSIONS: The
      identification of the prognostic lncRNAs indicates the potential roles of lncRNAs
      in GC biogenesis. Our results may provide an efficient classification tool for
      clinical prognosis evaluation of GC.

PMID- 27647442
TI  - Exercise-induced heat stress disrupts the shear-dilatory relationship.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? Although heat stress is
      known to increase cardiovascular strain, no study, to date, had explored the
      potential impact of exercise-induced heat stress on vascular function. What is
      the main finding and its importance? We found that acute exercise tended to
      reduce flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), owing in part to reduced reactive
      hyperaemia/shear stimulus; thus, when FMD is normalized to shear no postexercise
      deficit exists. Exercise-induced heat stress increased reactive hyperaemia, shear
      rate, coupled with a sustained FMD postexercise, suggests that exercise-induced
      heat stress increases the amount of shear stimulus to elicit a similar response,
      indicating reduced vascular responsiveness, or reserve, which might increase
      cardiovascular susceptibility. Heat stress increases cardiovascular strain and is
      of particular concern in occupations, such as firefighting, in which individuals
      are required to perform strenuous work while wearing personal protective
      equipment. Sudden cardiac events are associated with strenuous activity and are
      the leading cause of duty-related death among firefighters, accounting for ~50%
      of duty-related fatalities per year. Understanding the acute effects of exercise
      induced heat stress (EIHS) on vascular endothelial function may provide insight
      into the mechanisms precipitating acute coronary events in firefighters. The
      purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine the effects of EIHS on
      vascular endothelial function. Using a balanced crossover design, 12 healthy men
      performed 100 min of moderate-intensity, intermittent exercise with and without
      EIHS (personal protective equipment or cooling vest, respectively). Measurements
      of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), reactive hyperaemia and shear rate area under
      the curve (SRAUC ) were performed pre- and postexercise. During EIHS, core
      temperature was significantly higher (38 +/- 0.1 versus 37 +/- 0.1 degrees C).
      Postexercise FMD tended to be suppressed in both conditions, but was not
      different from pre-exercise. Reactive hyperaemia was reduced after no-EIHS but
      increased after EIHS. Thus, normalizing FMD to the shear stimulus (FMD/SRAUC )
      revealed a significant reduction in FMD after EIHS only (pre-exercise 0.15 +/-
      0.04 and 0.13 +/- 0.02 s-1 versus postexercise, 0.13 +/- 0.02 and 0.06 +/- 0.02 s
      1 , no-EIHS and EIHS, respectively). We conclude that moderate heat stress
      superimposed on moderate-intensity exercise resulted in reduced vascular
      endothelial function. This heat stress-induced alteration in the shear-dilatory
      relationship may relate to the increased risk of acute coronary events associated
      with activities that combine physical exertion and heat stress (i.e.
      firefighting).

PMID- 27647443
TI  - Effect of body mass index on knee function outcomes following continuous passive
      motion in patients with osteoarthritis after total knee replacement: a
      retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obesity may influence postoperative rehabilitation outcomes after
      total knee replacement (TKR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects
      of body mass index (BMI) on the progression of inpatient rehabilitation using
      continuous passive motion (CPM) and its treatment outcomes. PARTICIPANTS AND
      SETTING: A retrospective study was conducted in a rehabilitation centre. In
      total, 354 patients undergoing primary TKR were enrolled through medical chart
      review. INTERVENTION: All patients commenced the CPM programme immediately after
      surgery and continued until hospital discharge. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Knee
      flexion, pain score, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis
      Index (WOMAC) physical function score. DESIGN: Patients were divided into five
      BMI groups: normal weight (n=59), overweight (n=95), Class I obesity (n=90),
      Class II obesity (n=82) and Class III obesity (n=28). All outcome measures were
      recorded at admission; daily during the inpatient stay; at discharge; and at 1-,
      3- and 6-month follow-up assessments. RESULTS: During CPM exercises, obese
      patients had a smaller initial flexion angle (P<0.001) and a smaller daily
      increment in the CPM motion arc (P<0.001) compared with patients of normal
      weight. Severe obesity was associated with poor knee flexion [adjusted odds ratio
      (aOR) 11.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.49 to 40.94, P<0.001] and WOMAC
      physical function score (aOR 5.09, 95% CI 1.62 to 16.03, P=0.005) at 6-month
      follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity had a negative effect on progress during the CPM
      protocol, which commenced immediately after surgery and continued until
      discharge. Obesity was also associated with poorer self-reported function at 6
      month follow-up.

PMID- 27647444
TI  - Direct Tryptophols Synthesis from 2-Vinylanilines and Alkynes via C=C Triple Bond
      Cleavage and Dioxygen Activation.
AB  - An unexpected metal-free C=C triple bond cleavage, dioxygen activation, and
      reassembly into tryptophol derivatives has been developed. This chemistry
      provides a novel, simple, and efficient approach to highly valuable tryptophol
      derivatives from simple substrates under mild conditions. The mechanistic studies
      may promote the discovery of new methodologies through C-C bond cleavage and
      dioxygen activation.

PMID- 27647449
TI  - Codelivery of salinomycin and doxorubicin using nanoliposomes for targeting both
      liver cancer cells and cancer stem cells.
AB  - AIM: To develop salinomycin-loaded nanoliposomes (SLN), doxorubicin-loaded
      nanoliposomes (DLN) and nanoliposomes codelivering salinomycin and doxorubicin
      (SDLN) to target both liver cancer cells and cancer stem cells. MATERIALS &
      METHODS: The characterization and antitumor activity of SLN, DLN and SDLN were
      evaluated. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: The doxorubicin/salinomycin sodium mole ratio of
      1:1 had the best synergistic combination index value, and was chosen as the drug
      ratio in SDLN. SDLN could maintain the drug ratio between 1:1 and 3:1 in 12 h in
      vivo. SDLN and SLN + DLN showed the best tumor inhibitory rate, and could
      significantly decrease the percentage of liver cancer stem cells in vivo. SDLN
      and SLN + DLN may serve as an effective approach to treat liver cancer.

PMID- 27647454
TI  - Attribution of hydrological change in Heihe River Basin to climate and land use
      change in the past three decades.
AB  - The contributions of climate and land use change (LUCC) to hydrological change in
      Heihe River Basin (HRB), Northwest China were quantified using detailed climatic,
      land use and hydrological data, along with the process-based SWAT (Soil and Water
      Assessment Tool) hydrological model. The results showed that for the 1980s, the
      changes in the basin hydrological change were due more to LUCC (74.5%) than to
      climate change (21.3%). While LUCC accounted for 60.7% of the changes in the
      basin hydrological change in the 1990s, climate change explained 57.3% of that
      change. For the 2000s, climate change contributed 57.7% to hydrological change in
      the HRB and LUCC contributed to the remaining 42.0%. Spatially, climate had the
      largest effect on the hydrology in the upstream region of HRB, contributing
      55.8%, 61.0% and 92.7% in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, respectively. LUCC had the
      largest effect on the hydrology in the middle-stream region of HRB, contributing
      92.3%, 79.4% and 92.8% in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, respectively.
      Interestingly, the contribution of LUCC to hydrological change in the upstream,
      middle-stream and downstream regions and the entire HRB declined continually over
      the past 30 years. This was the complete reverse (a sharp increase) of the
      contribution of climate change to hydrological change in HRB.

PMID- 27647452
TI  - Sindbis Virus-Pseudotyped Lentiviral Vectors Carrying VEGFR2-Specific Nanobody
      for Potential Transductional Targeting of Tumor Vasculature.
AB  - Introduction of selectivity/specificity into viral-based gene delivery systems,
      such as lentiviral vectors (LVs), is crucial in their systemic administration for
      cancer gene therapy. The pivotal role of tumor-associated endothelial cells
      (TAECs) in tumor angiogenesis and overexpression of vascular endothelial growth
      factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2 or KDR) in TAECs makes them a potent target in cancer
      treatment. Herein, we report the development of VEGFR2-targeted LVs pseudotyped
      with chimeric sindbis virus E2 glycoprotein (cSVE2s). For this purpose, either
      sequence of a VEGFR2-specific nanobody or its natural ligand (VEGF121) was
      inserted into the binding site of sindbis virus E2 glycoprotein. In silico
      modeling data suggested that the inserted targeting motifs were exposed in the
      context of cSVE2s. Western blot analysis of LVs indicated the incorporation of
      cSVE2s into viral particles. Capture ELISA demonstrated the
      specificity/functionality of the incorporated cSVE2s. Transduction of 293/KDR
      (expressing VEGFR2) or 293T cells (negative control) by constructed LVs followed
      by fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometric analyses indicated selective
      transduction of 293/KDR cells (30 %) by both targeting motifs compared to 293T
      control cells (1-2 %). These results implied similar targeting properties of
      VEGFR2-specific nanobody compared to the VEGF121 and indicated the potential for
      transductional targeting of tumor vasculature by the nanobody displaying LVs.

PMID- 27647455
TI  - A 49-Year-Old Man with Progressive Cranial Neuropathies.

PMID- 27647451
TI  - Sleep Duration and Quality: Impact on Lifestyle Behaviors and Cardiometabolic
      Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.
AB  - Sleep is increasingly recognized as an important lifestyle contributor to health.
      However, this has not always been the case, and an increasing number of Americans
      choose to curtail sleep in favor of other social, leisure, or work-related
      activities. This has resulted in a decline in average sleep duration over time.
      Sleep duration, mostly short sleep, and sleep disorders have emerged as being
      related to adverse cardiometabolic risk, including obesity, hypertension, type 2
      diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. Here, we review the evidence
      relating sleep duration and sleep disorders to cardiometabolic risk and call for
      health organizations to include evidence-based sleep recommendations in their
      guidelines for optimal health.

PMID- 27647456
TI  - Deformable image registration for adaptive radiotherapy with guaranteed local
      rigidity constraints.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deformable image registration (DIR) is a key component in many
      radiotherapy applications. However, often resulting deformations are not
      satisfying, since varying deformation properties of different anatomical regions
      are not considered. To improve the plausibility of DIR in adaptive radiotherapy
      in the male pelvic area, this work integrates a local rigidity deformation model
      into a DIR algorithm. METHODS: A DIR framework is extended by constraints,
      enforcing locally rigid deformation behavior for arbitrary delineated structures.
      The approach restricts those structures to rigid deformations, while surrounding
      tissue is still allowed to deform elastically. The algorithm is tested on ten
      CT/CBCT male pelvis datasets with active rigidity constraints on bones and
      prostate and compared to the Varian SmartAdapt deformable registration (VSA) on
      delineations of bladder, prostate and bones. RESULTS: The approach with no rigid
      structures (REG0) obtains an average dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.87 +/
      0.06 and a Hausdorff-Distance (HD) of 8.74 +/- 5.95 mm. The new approach with
      rigid bones (REG1) yields a DSC of 0.87 +/- 0.07, HD 8.91 +/- 5.89 mm. Rigid
      deformation of bones and prostate (REG2) obtains 0.87 +/- 0.06, HD 8.73 +/- 6.01
      mm, while VSA yields a DSC of 0.86 +/- 0.07, HD 10.22 +/- 6.62 mm. No deformation
      grid foldings are observed for REG0 and REG1 in 7 of 10 cases; for REG2 in 8 of
      10 cases, with no grid foldings in prostate, an average of 0.08 % in bladder
      (REG2: no foldings) and 0.01 % inside the body contour. VSA exhibits grid
      foldings in each case, with an average percentage of 1.81 % for prostate, 1.74 %
      for bladder and 0.12 % for the body contour. While REG1 and REG2 keep bones
      rigid, elastic bone deformations are observed with REG0 and VSA. An average
      runtime of 26.2 s was achieved with REG1; 31.1 s with REG2, compared to 10.5 s
      with REG0 and 10.7 s with VMS. CONCLUSIONS: With accuracy in the range of VSA,
      the new approach with constraints delivers physically more plausible deformations
      in the pelvic area with guaranteed rigidity of arbitrary structures. Although the
      algorithm uses an advanced deformation model, clinically feasible runtimes are
      achieved.

PMID- 27647457
TI  - Portable microsystem integrates multifunctional dielectrophoresis manipulations
      and a surface stress biosensor to detect red blood cells for hemolytic anemia.
AB  - Hemolytic anemia intensity has been suggested as a vital factor for the growth of
      certain clinical complications of sickle cell disease. However, there is no
      effective and rapid diagnostic method. As a powerful platform for bio-particles
      testing, biosensors integrated with microfluidics offer great potential for a new
      generation of portable point of care systems. In this paper, we describe a novel
      portable microsystem consisting of a multifunctional dielectrophoresis
      manipulations (MDM) device and a surface stress biosensor to separate and detect
      red blood cells (RBCs) for diagnosis of hemolytic anemia. The peripheral circuit
      to power the interdigitated electrode array of the MDM device and the surface
      stress biosensor test platform were integrated into a portable signal system. The
      MDM includes a preparing region, a focusing region, and a sorting region.
      Simulation and experimental results show the RBCs trajectories when they are
      subjected to the positive DEP force, allowing the successful sorting of
      living/dead RBCs. Separated RBCs are then transported to the biosensor and the
      capacitance values resulting from the variation of surface stress were measured.
      The diagnosis of hemolytic anemia can be realized by detecting RBCs and the
      portable microsystem provides the assessment to the hemolytic anemia patient.

PMID- 27647458
TI  - Who will benefit most from hydrogel rectum spacer implantation in prostate cancer
      radiotherapy? A model-based approach for patient selection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies confirmed that implantable rectum
      spacers (IRS) decreased acute gastro-intestinal (GI) toxicity in a significant
      percentage of prostate cancer patients undergoing intensity modulated radiation
      therapy (IMRT). We developed decision rules based on clinical risk factors (CRFs)
      to select those patients who are expected to benefit most from IRS implantation.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: For 26 patients dose distributions with (IMRT+IRS) and
      without (IMRT-IRS) IRS were calculated. Validated nomograms based on CRFs and
      dosimetric criteria (anorectal V40Gy and V75Gy) were used to predict
      probabilities for grade 2-3 (G2-3) acute GI toxicity, G2-3 late rectal bleeding
      (LRB), G3 LRB, and G2-3 faecal incontinence (FI) for IMRT+IRS and IMRT-IRS. All
      permutations of CRFs were generated to identify most benefit scenarios (MBS) in
      which a predicted toxicity reduction of ?5% points in ?25% of the cohort was
      present due to IRS implantation. RESULTS: IMRT+IRS revealed a significant
      reduction in V40Gy (p=0.0357) and V75Gy (p<0.0001) relative to IMRT-IRS. For G2-3
      acute GI toxicity and G2-3 LRB, the predicted toxicity rates decreased in 17/26
      (65%) and 20/26 (77%) patients, and decision rules were derived for 22/32 (69%)
      and 12/64 (19%) MBS, respectively. From the decision rules, it follows that
      diabetes status has no impact on G2-3 acute toxicity, and in absence of pre-RT
      abdominal surgery, the implantation of an IRS is predicted to show no clinically
      relevant benefit for G2-3 LRB. CONCLUSIONS: Prostate cancer patients who are
      expected to benefit most from IRS implantation can be identified prior to IMRT
      based on their CRFs profile.

PMID- 27647459
TI  - Adaptive radiotherapy for advanced lung cancer ensures target coverage and
      decreases lung dose.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Advanced lung cancer patients experience anatomical
      changes during radiotherapy. Uncorrected, these may lead to lower tumor dose, but
      can be corrected for by adaptive radiotherapy (ART). MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Anatomical changes in 233 patients were monitored online on cone-beam CT-scans
      used for daily soft-tissue matching. If systematic changes above the pre-defined
      trigger criteria were observed, a new CT-scan, delineations, and treatment plan
      were made, restoring the intended dose distribution. Dose distributions with and
      without adaptation were compared. The first fifty ART patients were given two
      surveillance CT-scans during radiotherapy. These were used to evaluate delivered
      dose for patients without adaptation. The first fifty-two patients treated with
      ART were also compared with 52 pre-ART patients to evaluate the reduction in
      normal tissue doses. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients (27%) were adapted. Seventy
      five per cent of all adaptations correctly adjusted for a decrease in tumor dose.
      Eighty-seven surveillance CT-scans were obtained for the first fifty patients and
      in only 2% of the cases, a decrease in tumor coverage (DeltaV95%CTV>1%) was
      observed. With ART we observed a significant decrease in lung dose (MLD reduced
      from 14.6Gy to 12.6Gy on average). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of soft-tissue
      match combined with ART decreased the lung dose. The trigger criteria used
      correctly identified all but one (98%) of the patients requiring adaptation with
      a false positive rate of 20%.

PMID- 27647463
TI  - Changes in Beliefs About Category Homogeneity and Variability Across Childhood.
AB  - Effective category-based induction requires understanding that categories include
      both fundamental similarities between members and important variation. This
      article explores 4- to 11-year-olds' (n = 207) and adults' (n = 49) intuitions
      about this balance between within-category homogeneity and variability using a
      novel induction task in which participants predict the distribution of a property
      among members of a novel category. Across childhood, children learned to
      recognize variability within categories-showing increasing sensitivity to the
      role of property type and domain in constraining inferences. Children below the
      age of 6 showed evidence for a domain-general assumption that categories are
      homogeneous-generalizing properties broadly to 100% of category members. These
      studies support important developmental changes in category representations that
      may influence category-based induction.

PMID- 27647462
TI  - The importance of a high rectal pressure on strain in constipated patients:
      implications for biofeedback therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A subset of patients with chronic constipation display a relatively
      high manometric rectal pressure on strain. We hypothesized that these patients
      represent a unique phenotype of functional defecatory disorder (FDD) and would
      benefit from undergoing anorectal biofeedback (BF). METHODS: Of 138 consecutive
      patients with chronic constipation and symptoms of FDD, 19 were defined as having
      a high rectal pressure on strain, using a statistically derived cut-off of 78 mm
      Hg. This subset was compared with remaining patients in regard to baseline
      clinical profile and physiology, and outcome of BF. KEY RESULTS: There was a
      greater representation of males in the high rectal pressure group. Their
      constipation score, impact of bowel dysfunction on quality of life and
      satisfaction with bowel habits did not differ from the remaining patients. Eighty
      four percent of patients in the high group successfully expelled the rectal
      balloon and 95% displayed paradoxical anal contraction on strain (P<.05 compared
      with the remaining patients). Following BF, 89% of patients in the high group
      reduced their rectal pressure to normal. End of BF treatment outcomes improved
      significantly, and to a similar degree, in both groups. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES:
      We have identified a subgroup of patients with dyssynergic symptoms but without a
      formal Rome III diagnosis of FDD, who were characterized by a high straining
      rectal pressure. Although these patients displayed some physiological differences
      to the patients with lower straining rectal pressure, they suffer similarly.
      Importantly, we have shown that these patients can respond favorably to anorectal
      BF.

PMID- 27647460
TI  - Young adult breast cancer patients have a poor prognosis independent of
      prognostic clinicopathological factors: a study from the Japanese Breast Cancer
      Registry.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether young age at onset of
      breast cancer is an independent prognostic factor in patients from the Japanese
      Breast Cancer Registry, after adjustment of known clinicopathological prognostic
      factors. METHODS: Of the 53,670 patients registered between 2004 and 2006 and
      surveyed after a 5-year follow-up prognosis, 25,898 breast cancer patients (48.3
      %), who were obtained prognostic data, were examined. Clinicopathological factors
      were compared between young adult (YA; <35 years), middle-aged adult (MA; 35-50
      years), and older adult (OA; >50 years) patients. Five-year disease-free survival
      (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were studied. RESULTS: YA patients were
      associated with an advanced TNM stage and aggressive characteristics (e.g. human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive or oestrogen receptor (ER)
      negative breast cancers) compared to MA and OA patients (P < 0.001). The 5-year
      DFS and OS rates were 79.4 % and 90.8, 88.5 and 95.0 %, and 87.8 % and 91.6 % for
      YA, MA, and OA patients, respectively. From the multivariable regression
      analysis, young age at onset was confirmed as an independent prognostic factor
      for both DFS (hazard ratio 1.73, 95 % confidence interval 1.42-2.10; P < 0.001)
      and OS (hazard ratio 1.58, 95 % confidence interval 1.16-2.15; P = 0.004).
      CONCLUSIONS: Young age at onset is an independent negative prognostic factor in
      breast cancer. Further studies are required to develop new therapeutic strategies
      for YA breast cancer patients.

PMID- 27647464
TI  - Treatment-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS)/acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
      in children with cancer: A single-center experience.
AB  - Treatment-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS)/acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
      is a devastating early or late complication of treatment for childhood cancer
      related with a significant morbidity and mortality. We retrospectively studied
      survivors of childhood cancer. Overall, 287 patients were recorded in the
      databases and we identified three (1.04%) with t-MDS. The primary cancer
      diagnoses were Langerhans cell histiocytosis (one patient) and acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; two patients). The mean age of patients was 12.1
      years. All patients had received systemic antifungal treatment for invasive
      pulmonary aspergillosis successfully treated with voriconazole and liposomal
      amphotericin B before diagnosis of t-MDS. Two patients (66%) remain alive after a
      median follow-up period of 3.5 years.

PMID- 27647466
TI  - Opioids and chronic pain. Data from the "other side of the pond".

PMID- 27647465
TI  - Neurological assessment with validated tools in general ICU: multicenter,
      randomized, before and after, pragmatic study to evaluate the effectiveness of an
      e-learning platform for continuous medical education.
AB  - BACKGROUND: International guidelines recommend systematic assessment of pain,
      agitation/sedation and delirium with validated scales for all ICU patients.
      However, these evaluations are often not done. We have created an e-learning
      training platform for the continuous medical education, and assessed its efficacy
      in increasing the use of validated tools by all medical and nursing staff of the
      participating ICUs during their daily practice. METHODS: Multicenter, randomized,
      before and after study. The eight participating centers were randomized in two
      groups, and received training at different times. The use of validated tools
      (Verbal Numeric Rating or Behavioral Pain Scale for pain; Richmond Agitation
      Sedation Scale for agitation; Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU for
      delirium) was evaluated from clinical data recorded in medical charts during a
      week, with follow-up up to six months after the training. All the operators were
      invited to complete a questionnaire, at baseline and after the training. RESULTS:
      Among the 374 nurses and physicians involved, 140 (37.4%) completed at least one
      of the three courses. The assessment of pain (38.1 vs. 92.9%, P<0.01) and
      delirium (0 vs. 78.6%, P<0.01) using validated tools significantly increased
      after training. Observation in the follow-up showed further improvement in
      delirium monitoring, with no signs of extinction for pain and sedation/agitation
      measurements. CONCLUSIONS: This e-learning program shows encouraging
      effectiveness, and the increase in the use of validated tools for neurological
      monitoring in critically ill patients lasts over time.

PMID- 27647467
TI  - Predictors of voiding dysfunction following extensive vaginal pelvic
      reconstructive surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to identify the
      predictors of postoperative voiding dysfunction in women following extensive
      vaginal pelvic reconstructive surgery. METHODS: We enrolled 1,425 women who had
      pelvic organ prolapse of POP-Q stage III or IV and had undergone vaginal pelvic
      reconstructive surgery with or without transvaginal mesh insertion from January
      2006 to December 2014. All subjects were required to complete a 72-h voiding
      diary, and the IIQ-7, UDI-6, POPDI-6 and PISQ-12 questionnaires. Urodynamic study
      was performed preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULTS: Of the 1,425 women, 54
      were excluded due to incomplete data, and 1,017 of the remaining 1,371 (74.2 %)
      had transvaginal mesh surgery and 247 (18 %) had concurrent midurethral sling
      insertion. Of 380 women (27.7 %) with preoperative voiding dysfunction, 37 (9.7
      %) continued to have voiding dysfunction postoperatively. Of the remaining 991
      women (72.3 %) with normal preoperative voiding function, 11 (1.1 %) developed de
      novo voiding dysfunction postoperatively. The overall incidence of postoperative
      voiding dysfunction was 3.5 % (48/1,371). Those with concurrent midurethral sling
      insertion were at higher risk of developing voiding dysfunction postoperatively
      (OR 3.12, 95 % CI 1.79 - 5.46, p < 0.001). Diabetes mellitus, preoperative
      detrusor pressure at maximal flow (Dmax) <10 cm H2O and postvoid residual volume
      >=200 ml were significant risk factors for the development of postoperative
      voiding dysfunction (OR 3.07, 1.84 and 2.15, respectively; 95 % CI 1.69 - 5.60,
      1.39 - 2.91 and 1.10 - 3.21, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes mellitus,
      concurrent midurethral sling insertion, preoperative Dmax <10 cm H2O and postvoid
      residual volume >=200 ml in patients with advanced pelvic organ prolapse were
      risk factors for the development of postoperative voiding dysfunction after
      vaginal pelvic reconstructive surgery. Therefore, counseling is worthwhile before
      considering vaginal pelvic reconstructive surgery.

PMID- 27647468
TI  - Re: Influence of TVT properties on outcomes of midurethral sling procedures: high
      stiffness versus low-stiffness tape.

PMID- 27647469
TI  - Reply to the letter to the editor on Prien-Larsen et al.: Influence of TVT
      properties of midurethral sling procedures: high-stiffness versus low-stiffness
      tape.

PMID- 27647470
TI  - Vaginal prolapse in bladder exstrophy with complete duplication of the uterus.

PMID- 27647472
TI  - Evidence-based HMO care for prostate specific antigen testing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is pressure in the U.S. system to move away from fee-for
      service models to a more pre-paid system, which may result in decreased costs,
      but the impact on evidence-based care is unclear. We examined a large pre-paid
      Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) in Israel to see if evidence-based
      guidelines are followed for prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort of ambulatory visits from 2002 to 2011 of patients age >75
      receiving care from Clalit Health Services was conducted. Historically reported
      U.S. cohorts were used for comparison. The main measure was the percent of
      patients who had at least one PSA after age 75. RESULTS: In each of the 10 years
      of follow-up, 22% of the yearly Israeli cohort, with no known malignancy or
      benign prostatic hyperplasia, had at least one PSA, while for the total 10 years,
      30% of the men had at least one PSA. These rates are considerably lower than
      previously reported U.S. rates. CONCLUSIONS: In a pre-paid system in which
      physicians have no incentive to order tests, they appear to order PSA tests at a
      lower rate than has been observed in the U.S. system. Additional quality of
      measures should continue to be examined as the U.S. shifts away from a fee-for
      service model. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27647473
TI  - In vitro 6-hydroxydopamine-induced toxicity in striatal, cerebrocortical and
      hippocampal slices is attenuated by atorvastatin and MK-801.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) involves the loss of striatal dopaminergic neurons,
      although other neurotransmitters and brain areas are also involved in its
      pathophysiology. In rodent models to PD it has been shown statins improve
      cognitive and motor deficits and attenuate inflammatory responses evoked by PD
      related toxins. Statins are the drugs most prescribed to hypercholesterolemia,
      but neuroprotective effects have also been attributed to statins treatment in
      humans and in animal models. This study aimed to establish an in vitro model of 6
      hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced toxicity, used as an initial screening test to
      identify effective drugs against neural degeneration related to PD. The putative
      neuroprotective effect of atorvastatin against 6-OHDA-induced toxicity in rat
      striatal, cerebrocortical and hippocampal slices was also evaluated. 6-OHDA
      (100MUM) decreased cellular viability in slices obtained from rat cerebral
      cortex, hippocampus and striatum. 6-OHDA also induced an increased reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondrial dysfunction. Co-incubation of 6
      OHDA with atorvastatin (10MUM) or MK-801 (50MUM) an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)
      receptor antagonist, partially attenuated the cellular damage evoked by 6-OHDA in
      the three brain areas. Atorvastatin partially reduced ROS production in the
      hippocampus and striatum and disturbances of mitochondria membrane potential in
      cortex and striatum. 6-OHDA-induced toxicity in vitro displays differences among
      the brain structures, but it is also observed in cerebrocortical and hippocampal
      slices, besides striatum.

PMID- 27647474
TI  - Cadmium-induced oxidative damages in the human BJAB cells correlate with changes
      in intracellular trace elements levels and zinc transporters expression.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd), a potent toxic heavy metal, is a widespread environmental
      contaminant. Its cellular traffic via pathways dedicated to transition metals
      contributes to the toxicity mechanisms. Zinc (Zn) homeostasis is complex,
      involving both zinc importers (Zip) and zinc exporters (ZnT). Cellular signal
      transduction pathways are influenced by Zn and redox status of the cell. The aim
      of the present study is to examine if the accumulation of Cd in the human
      lymphocyte B cell line BJAB and its capacity to promote oxidative stress and
      adverse effects could result from changes in the mRNA expression pattern of Zn
      transporters and metallothioneins. Cells were exposed to 5, 10, 20 and 40MUM of
      CdCl2 equivalent to 0.91, 1.83, 3.66 and 7.33MUg/ml respectively, for 24h. Cd
      significantly reduced the viability of BJAB cells and induced a dose-dependent
      increase in DNA damage. Cd also induced the formation of 8-hydroxy-2'
      deoxyguanosine adducts and augmented MTF1 expression in BJAB cells. We observed
      interesting responses in relative gene expression to Cd exposure among the seven
      transporters we analyzed. Cd exposure increased the expression of DMT1 and caused
      an up-regulation of ZnT1. However, the T calcium channel alpha1G subunit could
      not be detected. A change in expression of ZnTs and Zips in response to Cd
      exposure emphasizes the involvement of Zn transporters in Cd cellular metabolism
      and induced oxidative stress.

PMID- 27647477
TI  - Perception and recognition of faces in adolescence.
AB  - Most studies on the development of face cognition abilities have focussed on
      childhood, with early maturation accounts contending that face cognition
      abilities are mature by 3-5 years. Late maturation accounts, in contrast, propose
      that some aspects of face cognition are not mature until at least 10 years. Here,
      we measured face memory and face perception, two core face cognition abilities,
      in 661 participants (397 females) in four age groups (younger adolescents (11.27
      13.38 years); mid-adolescents (13.39-15.89 years); older adolescents (15.90-18.00
      years); and adults (18.01-33.15 years)) while controlling for differences in
      general cognitive ability. We showed that both face cognition abilities mature
      relatively late, at around 16 years, with a female advantage in face memory, but
      not in face perception, both in adolescence and adulthood. Late maturation in the
      face perception task was driven mainly by protracted development in identity
      perception, while gaze perception abilities were already comparatively mature in
      early adolescence. These improvements in the ability to memorize, recognize and
      perceive faces during adolescence may be related to increasing exploratory
      behaviour and exposure to novel faces during this period of life.

PMID- 27647475
TI  - A Qualitative Study of Family Experience With Hospitalization for Neonatal
      Abstinence Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome
      (NAS) in the United States quintupled between 2000 and 2012, little is known
      about the family perspective of the hospital stay. We interviewed families to
      understand their experiences during the newborn hospitalization for NAS and to
      improve family-centered care. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team from 3 hospital
      units composed open-ended interview questions based on a literature review,
      clinical experience, and an internal iterative process. Trained investigators
      conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 families of newborns with NAS at
      hospital discharge. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two
      investigators independently analyzed each transcript, identified themes via an
      inductive qualitative approach, and reached a consensus on each code. The
      research team sorted the themes into broader domains through an iterative process
      that required consensus of 4 team members. RESULTS: Five domains of family
      experience were identified: parents' desire for education about the course and
      treatment of NAS; parents valuing their role in the care team; quality of
      interactions with staff (supportive versus judgmental) and communication
      regarding clinical course; transfers between units and inconsistencies among
      providers; and external factors such as addiction recovery and economic
      limitations. CONCLUSIONS: Families face many challenges during newborn
      hospitalization for NAS. Addressing parental needs through improved perinatal
      education, increased involvement in the care team, consistent care and
      communication, and minimized transitions in care could improve the NAS hospital
      experience. The results of this qualitative study may allow for improvements in
      family-centered care of infants with NAS.

PMID- 27647481
TI  - Role of functional mitral regurgitation in heart failure with preserved ejection
      fraction: an unrecognized protagonist?

PMID- 27647478
TI  - Outcomes of Infants With Home Tube Feeding: Comparing Nasogastric vs Gastrostomy
      Tubes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the tube-related complications
      and feeding outcomes of infants discharged home from the neonatal intensive care
      unit (NICU) with nasogastric (NG) tube feeding or gastrostomy (G-tube) feeding.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a chart review of 335 infants discharged from
      our NICU with home NG tube or G-tube feeding between January 2009 and December
      2013. The primary outcome was the incidence of feeding tube-related complications
      requiring emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, or deaths.
      Secondary outcome was feeding status at 6 months postdischarge. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: There were 322 infants discharged
      with home enteral tube feeding (NG tube, n = 84; G-tube, n = 238), with available
      outpatient data for the 6-month postdischarge period. A total of 115 ED visits,
      28 hospitalizations, and 2 deaths were due to a tube-related complication. The
      incidence of tube-related complications requiring an ED visit was significantly
      higher in the G-tube group compared with the NG tube group (33.6% vs 9.5%, P <
      .001). Two patients died due to a G-tube-related complication. By 6 months
      postdischarge, full oral feeding was achieved in 71.4% of infants in the NG tube
      group compared with 19.3% in the G-tube group ( P < .001). Type of feeding tube
      and percentage of oral feeding at discharge were significantly associated with
      continued tube feeding at 6 months postdischarge. CONCLUSION: Home NG tube
      feeding is associated with fewer ED visits for tube-related complications
      compared with home G-tube feeding. Some infants could benefit from a trial home
      NG tube feeding.

PMID- 27647480
TI  - Efficacy and safety of repaglinide added to sitagliptin in Japanese patients with
      type 2 diabetes: A randomized 24-week open-label clinical trial.
AB  - Although sitagliptin and repaglinide monotherapies improve postprandial
      hyperglycemia, the long-term effects and safety of their combination has not been
      examined. In this randomized 24-week trial of Japanese patients with poor control
      (HbA1c 7.0-8.5%) by sitagliptin, we divided 40 patients randomly into two equal
      groups of the repaglinide add-on to sitagliptin (ADD-ON, n=20), or sitagliptin
      switched to repaglinide (SWITCH, n=20). The meal tolerance test was carried out
      at weeks 0 and 24. The primary outcomes were changes in HbA1c and area under the
      curves (AUC) of glucose from the baseline to week 24. The mean change in HbA1c
      from baseline to week 24 was larger in the ADD-ON (-0.87+/-0.63%, mean+/-SD),
      compared with the SWITCH (0.03+/-0.65%, p=0.000). Significant improvements were
      noted in the mean changes in fasting glucose and AUCs of glucose in the ADD-ON
      vs. SWITCH (p=0.007 and p=0.000). Insulin secretion relative to glucose elevation
      (ISG; defined as AUC insulin/AUC glucose) increased significantly in the ADD-ON,
      although the mean change in fasting insulin level was significantly decreased in
      the ADD-ON (p=0.015 and p=0.026). The AUC of glucagon was significantly lower at
      24-week relative to baseline in the ADD-ON, but was not significant in the two
      groups (p=0.047 and p=0.056, respectively). The combination therapy produced
      significant reductions in HbA1c, AUC of glucose and fasting glucose compared with
      switching to repaglinide without weight gain or severe hypoglycemia. The improved
      glycemic control with this combination therapy may be at least in part due to
      augmentation of repaglinide-induced insulin secretion by sitagliptin.

PMID- 27647482
TI  - Spinal muscular atrophy associated with progressive myoclonus epilepsy.
AB  - A rare syndrome characterized by lower motor neuron disease associated with
      progressive myoclonic epilepsy, referred to as "spinal muscular atrophy
      associated with progressive myoclonic epilepsy" (SMA-PME), has been described in
      childhood and is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. SMA-PME is caused by
      mutation in the ASAH1 gene encoding acid ceramidase. Ceramide and the metabolites
      participate in various cellular events as lipid mediators. The catabolism of
      ceramide in mammals occurs in lysosomes through the activity of ceramidase. Three
      different ceramidases (acid, neutral and alkaline) have been identified and
      appear to play distinct roles in sphingolipid metabolism. The enzymatic activity
      of acid ceramidase is deficient in two rare inherited disorders; Farber disease
      and SMA-PME. Farber disease is a very rare and severe autosomal recessive
      condition with a distinct clinical phenotype. The marked difference in disease
      manifestations may explain why Farber and SMA-PME diseases were not previously
      suspected to be allelic conditions. The precise molecular mechanism underlying
      the phenotypic differences remains to be clarified. Recently, a condition with
      mutation in CERS1, the gene encoding ceramide synthase 1, has been identified as
      a novel form of PME. This finding underlies the essential role of enzymes
      regulating either the synthesis (CERS1) or degradation (ASAH1) of ceramide, and
      the link between defects in ceramide metabolism and PME.

PMID- 27647483
TI  - Financial Surrogate Decision Making: Lessons from Applied Experimental
      Philosophy.
AB  - An estimated 1 in 4 elderly Americans need a surrogate to make decisions at least
      once in their lives. With an aging population, that number is almost certainly
      going to increase. This paper focuses on financial surrogate decision making. To
      illustrate some of the empirical and moral implications associated with financial
      surrogate decision making, two experiments suggest that default choice settings
      can predictably influence some surrogate financial decision making. Experiment 1
      suggested that when making hypothetical financial decisions, surrogates tended to
      stay with default settings (OR = 4.37, 95% CI 1.52, 12.48). Experiment 2
      replicated and extended this finding suggesting that in a different context (OR =
      2.27, 95% CI 1.1, 4.65). Experiment 2 also suggested that those who were more
      numerate were less likely to be influenced by default settings than the less
      numerate, but only when the decision is whether to "opt in" (p = .05). These data
      highlight the importance of a recent debate about "nudging." Defaults are common
      methods to nudge people to make desirable choices while allowing the liberty to
      choose otherwise. Some of the ethics of using default settings to nudge surrogate
      decision makers are discussed. 

PMID- 27647485
TI  - Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Real-Time
      Hydrodynamic Spectroscopy of Porous Solids in Contact with Liquids.
AB  - Using multiharmonic electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation
      (EQCM-D) monitoring, a new method of characterization of porous solids in contact
      with liquids has been developed. The dynamic gravimetric information on the
      growing, dissolving, or stationary stored solid deposits is supplemented by their
      precise in-operando porous structure characterization on a mesoscopic scale. We
      present a very powerful method of quartz-crystal admittance modeling of
      hydrodynamic solid-liquid interactions in order to extract the porous structure
      parameters of solids during their formation in real time, using different
      deposition modes. The unique hydrodynamic spectroscopic characterization of
      electrolytic and rf-sputtered solid Cu coatings that we use for our "proof of
      concept" provides a new strategy for probing various electrochemically active
      thin and thick solid deposits, thereby offering inexpensive, noninvasive, and
      highly efficient quantitative control over their properties. A broad spectrum of
      applications of our method is proposed, from various metal electroplating and
      finishing technologies to deeper insight into dynamic build-up and subsequent
      development of solid-electrolyte interfaces in the operation of Li-battery
      electrodes, as well as monitoring hydrodynamic consequences of metal corrosion,
      and growth of biomass coatings (biofouling) on different solid surfaces in
      seawater.

PMID- 27647486
TI  - Fast Water Relaxation through One-Dimensional Channels by Rapid Energy Transfer.
AB  - Water in carbon nanotubes is surrounded by hydrophobic carbon surfaces and shows
      anomalous structural and fast transport properties. However, the dynamics of
      water in hydrophobic nanospaces is only phenomenologically understood. In this
      study, water dynamics in hydrophobic carbon nanotubes is evaluated based on water
      relaxation using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular dynamics
      simulations. Extremely fast relaxation (0.001 s) of water confined in carbon
      nanotubes of 1 nm in diameter on average is observed; the relaxation times of
      water confined in carbon nanotubes with an average diameter of 2 nm (0.40 s) is
      similar to that of bulk water (0.44 s). The extremely fast relaxation time of
      water confined in carbon nanotubes with an average diameter of 1 nm is a result
      of frequent energy transfer between water and carbon surfaces. Water relaxation
      in carbon nanotubes of average diameter 2 nm is slow because of the limited
      number of collisions between water molecules. The dynamics of interfacial water
      can therefore be controlled by varying the size of the hydrophobic nanospace.

PMID- 27647488
TI  - Mutant form C115H of Clostridium sporogenes methionine gamma-lyase efficiently
      cleaves S-Alk(en)yl-l-cysteine sulfoxides to antibacterial thiosulfinates.
AB  - Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent methionine gamma-lyase (MGL) catalyzes the beta
      elimination reaction of S-alk(en)yl-l-cysteine sulfoxides to thiosulfinates,
      which possess antimicrobial activity. Partial inactivation of the enzyme in the
      course of the reaction occurs due to oxidation of active site cysteine 115
      conserved in bacterial MGLs. In this work, the C115H mutant form of Clostridium
      sporogenes MGL was prepared and the steady-state kinetic parameters of the enzyme
      were determined. The substitution results in an increase in the catalytic
      efficiency of the mutant form towards S-substituted l-cysteine sulfoxides
      compared to the wild type enzyme. We used a sulfoxide/enzyme system to generate
      antibacterial activity in situ. Two-component systems composed of the mutant
      enzyme and three S-substituted l-cysteine sulfoxides were demonstrated to be
      effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and three clinical
      isolates from mice. (c) 2016 IUBMB Life, 68(10):830-835, 2016.

PMID- 27647489
TI  - Plasma transfusions prior to insertion of central lines for people with abnormal
      coagulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The insertion of central venous catheters (CVCs) may be associated
      with peri- and post-procedural bleeding. People who require a central line often
      have disorders of coagulation as a result of their underlying illness, co
      morbidities or the effects of treatment. Clinical practice in some institutions
      is to mitigate the risk of bleeding in these patients by prophylactically
      transfusing fresh frozen plasma (FFP) in order to correct clotting factor
      deficiencies prior to central line insertion. However, FFP transfusion is not
      without risk, and it remains unclear whether this intervention is associated with
      reduced rates of bleeding or other clinically-meaningful outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To
      assess the effect of different prophylactic plasma transfusion regimens prior to
      central line insertion in people with abnormal coagulation. SEARCH METHODS: We
      searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in the Cochrane Central Register
      of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (the Cochrane Library 2016, Issue 3), PubMed (e
      publications only), Ovid MEDLINE (from 1946), Ovid Embase (from 1974), the
      Transfusion Evidence Library (from 1950) and ongoing trial databases to 1 March
      2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included RCTs involving transfusions of plasma to
      prevent bleeding in people of any age with abnormal coagulation requiring
      insertion of a central venous catheter, published in English. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. MAIN
      RESULTS: We identified four trials eligible for inclusion, of which three are
      ongoing. We did not exclude any studies because they were not published in
      English.The included study randomised 81 adults in intensive care whose INR
      (International Normalised Ratio) was greater than or equal to 1.5 to no FFP or to
      a single dose of 12 mL/kg FFP prior to undergoing central venous catheterisation
      (58 participants) or other invasive procedure (23 participants). It is the
      subgroup of 58 adults undergoing CVC insertion that were included in this review,
      the study authors provided unpublished data for this review's outcomes.The
      quality of the evidence was low or very low across different outcomes according
      to the GRADE methodology. The included study was at high risk of bias due to lack
      of blinding of participants and personnel and imbalance in the number of
      participants who had liver disease between study arms.There was insufficient
      evidence to determine a difference in major procedure-related bleeding within 24
      hours (one RCT; 58 participants; no events in either study arm, very low-quality
      evidence). We are very uncertain whether FFP reduces minor procedure-related
      bleeding within 24 hours of the study (one RCT; 58 participants, RR 0.67, 95% CI
      0.12 to 3.70, very low-quality evidence).No studies were found that looked at:
      all-cause mortality; the proportion of participants receiving plasma or red cell
      transfusions; serious adverse reactions (transfusion or line-related
      complications); number of days in hospital; change in INR; or quality of life.The
      three ongoing studies are still recruiting participants (expected recruitment: up
      to 355 participants in total). and are due to be completed by February 2018.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is only very limited evidence from one RCT to inform
      the decision whether or not to administer prophylactic plasma prior to central
      venous catheterisation for people with abnormal coagulation. It is not possible
      from the current RCT evidence to recommend whether or not prophylactic plasma
      transfusion is beneficial or harmful in this situation. The three ongoing RCTs
      will not be able to answer this review's questions, because they are small
      studies and do not address all of the comparisons included in this review (355
      participants in total). To detect an increase in the proportion of participants
      who had major bleeding from 1 in 100 to 2 in 100 would require a study containing
      at least 4634 participants (80% power, 5% significance).

PMID- 27647492
TI  - Suboptimal breastfeeding in the United States: Maternal and pediatric health
      outcomes and costs.
AB  - The aim of this study was to quantify the excess cases of pediatric and maternal
      disease, death, and costs attributable to suboptimal breastfeeding rates in the
      United States. Using the current literature on the associations between
      breastfeeding and health outcomes for nine pediatric and five maternal diseases,
      we created Monte Carlo simulations modeling a hypothetical cohort of U.S. women
      followed from age 15 to age 70 years and their children from birth to age 20
      years. We examined disease outcomes using (a) 2012 breastfeeding rates and (b)
      assuming that 90% of infants were breastfed according to medical recommendations.
      We measured annual excess cases, deaths, and associated costs, in 2014 dollars,
      using a 2% discount rate. Annual excess deaths attributable to suboptimal
      breastfeeding total 3,340 (95% confidence interval [1,886 to 4,785]), 78% of
      which are maternal due to myocardial infarction (n = 986), breast cancer (n =
      838), and diabetes (n = 473). Excess pediatric deaths total 721, mostly due to
      Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (n = 492) and necrotizing enterocolitis (n = 190).
      Medical costs total $3.0 billion, 79% of which are maternal. Costs of premature
      death total $14.2 billion. The number of women needed to breastfeed as medically
      recommended to prevent an infant gastrointestinal infection is 0.8; acute otitis
      media, 3; hospitalization for lower respiratory tract infection, 95; maternal
      hypertension, 55; diabetes, 162; and myocardial infarction, 235. For every 597
      women who optimally breastfeed, one maternal or child death is prevented.
      Policies to increase optimal breastfeeding could result in substantial public
      health gains. Breastfeeding has a larger impact on women's health than previously
      appreciated.

PMID- 27647490
TI  - The complementary and divergent roles of uncoupling proteins 1 and 3 in
      thermoregulation.
AB  - KEY POINTS: Both uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and UCP3 are important for mammalian
      thermoregulation. UCP1 and UCP3 in brown adipose tissue mediate early and late
      phases of sympathomimetic thermogenesis, respectively. Lipopolysaccharide
      thermogenesis requires skeletal muscle UCP3 but not UCP1. Acute noradrenaline
      induced hyperthermia requires UCP1 but not UCP3. Loss of both UCP1 and UCP3
      accelerate the loss of body temperature compared to UCP1KO alone during acute
      cold exposure. ABSTRACT: Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) is the established mediator
      of brown adipose tissue-dependent thermogenesis. In contrast, the role of UCP3,
      expressed in both skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue, in thermoregulatory
      physiology is less well understood. Here, we show that mice lacking UCP3 (UCP3KO)
      have impaired sympathomimetic (methamphetamine) and completely abrogated
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) thermogenesis, but a normal response to noradrenaline.
      By comparison, UCP1 knockout (UCP1KO) mice exhibit blunted methamphetamine and
      fully inhibited noradrenaline thermogenesis, but an increased febrile response to
      LPS. We further establish that mice lacking both UCP1 and 3 (UCPDK) fail to show
      methamphetamine-induced hyperthermia, and have a markedly accelerated loss of
      body temperature and survival after cold exposure compared to UCP1KO mice.
      Finally, we show that skeletal muscle-specific human UCP3 expression is able to
      significantly rescue LPS, but not sympathomimetic thermogenesis blunted in UCP3KO
      mice. These studies identify UCP3 as an important mediator of physiological
      thermogenesis and support a renewed focus on targeting UCP3 in metabolic
      physiology.

PMID- 27647493
TI  - The 5-HT6 receptor antagonist idalopirdine potentiates the effects of donepezil
      on gamma oscillations in the frontal cortex of anesthetized and awake rats
      without affecting sleep-wake architecture.
AB  - The 5-HT6 receptor is a promising target for cognitive disorders, in particular
      for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The high affinity and selective 5-HT6 receptor
      antagonist idalopirdine (Lu AE58054) is currently in development for mild
      moderate AD as adjunct therapy to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs). We
      studied the effects of idalopirdine alone and in combination with the AChEI
      donepezil on cortical function using two in vivo electrophysiological methods.
      Neuronal network oscillations in the frontal cortex were measured during
      electrical stimulation of the brainstem nucleus pontis oralis (nPO) in the
      anesthetized rat and by an electroencephalogram (EEG) in the awake, freely moving
      rat. In conjunction with the EEG study, we investigated the effects of
      idalopirdine and donepezil on sleep-wake architecture using telemetric
      polysomnography. Idalopirdine (2 mg/kg i.v.) increased gamma power in the medial
      prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during nPO stimulation. Donepezil (0.3 and 1 mg/kg i.v.)
      also increased cortical gamma power and pretreatment with idalopirdine (2 mg/kg
      i.v.) potentiated and prolonged the effects of donepezil. Similarly, donepezil (1
      and 3 mg/kg s.c.) dose-dependently increased frontal cortical gamma power in the
      freely moving rat and pretreatment with idalopirdine (10 mg/kg p.o.) augmented
      the effect of donepezil 1 mg/kg. Analysis of the sleep-wake architecture showed
      that donepezil (1 and 3 mg/kg s.c.) dose-dependently delayed sleep onset and
      decreased the time spent in both REM and non REM sleep stages. In contrast,
      idalopirdine (10 mg/kg p.o.) did not affect sleep-wake architecture nor the
      effects of donepezil. In summary, we show that idalopirdine potentiates the
      effects of donepezil on frontal cortical gamma oscillations, a pharmacodynamic
      biomarker associated with cognition, without modifying the effects of donepezil
      on sleep. The increased cortical excitability may contribute to the procognitive
      effects of idalopirdine in donepezil-treated AD patients.

PMID- 27647498
TI  - Benefits of inspiratory muscle training in patients with pulmonary hypertension:
      A pilot study.

PMID- 27647496
TI  - Approaches to vaccination against Theileria parva and Theileria annulata.
AB  - Despite having different cell tropism, the pathogenesis and immunobiology of the
      diseases caused by Theileria parva and Theileria annulata are remarkably similar.
      Live vaccines have been available for both parasites for over 40 years, but
      although they provide strong protection, practical disadvantages have limited
      their widespread application. Efforts to develop alternative vaccines using
      defined parasite antigens have focused on the sporozoite and intracellular
      schizont stages of the parasites. Experimental vaccination studies using viral
      vectors expressing T. parva schizont antigens and T. parva and T. annulata
      sporozoite antigens incorporated in adjuvant have, in each case, demonstrated
      protection against parasite challenge in a proportion of vaccinated animals.
      Current work is investigating alternative antigen delivery systems in an attempt
      to improve the levels of protection. The genome architecture and protein-coding
      capacity of T. parva and T. annulata are remarkably similar. The major sporozoite
      surface antigen in both species and most of the schizont antigens are encoded by
      orthologous genes. The former have been shown to induce species cross-reactive
      neutralizing antibodies, and comparison of the schizont antigen orthologues has
      demonstrated that some of them display high levels of sequence conservation.
      Hence, advances in development of subunit vaccines against one parasite species
      are likely to be readily applicable to the other.

PMID- 27647497
TI  - Delayed glial clearance of degenerating axons in aged Drosophila is due to
      reduced PI3K/Draper activity.
AB  - Advanced age is the greatest risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders, but the
      mechanisms that render the senescent brain vulnerable to disease are unclear.
      Glial immune responses provide neuroprotection in a variety of contexts. Thus, we
      explored how glial responses to neurodegeneration are altered with age. Here we
      show that glia-axon phagocytic interactions change dramatically in the aged
      Drosophila brain. Aged glia clear degenerating axons slowly due to low
      phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) signalling and, subsequently, reduced expression
      of the conserved phagocytic receptor Draper/MEGF10. Importantly, boosting
      PI3K/Draper activity in aged glia significantly reverses slow phagocytic
      responses. Moreover, several hours post axotomy, early hallmarks of Wallerian
      degeneration (WD) are delayed in aged flies. We propose that slow clearance of
      degenerating axons is mechanistically twofold, resulting from deferred initiation
      of axonal WD and reduced PI3K/Draper-dependent glial phagocytic function.
      Interventions that boost glial engulfment activity, however, can substantially
      reverse delayed clearance of damaged neuronal debris.

PMID- 27647500
TI  - Looking for cues - infant communication of hunger and satiation during milk
      feeding.
AB  - It is known that duration of breastfeeding and responsive feeding are associated
      with decreased risk of obesity. It is however, not clear whether breastfed
      infants signal more to mothers to facilitate responsive feeding, compared to
      formula fed, nor what communication cues are important during the feeding
      interaction. The present study aimed to explore feeding cues in milk-fed infants
      and to examine if such cues vary by mode of feeding. Twenty-seven mothers and
      infants were filmed while breastfeeding or formula feeding. Infants' age ranged
      from 3 to 22 weeks. Feeding cues were identified using a validated list of
      communication cues (NCAST). The frequency of each cue during the beginning,
      middle, and end of the meal was recorded. There were 22 feeding cues identified
      during the feeds, with significantly more frequent disengagement cues expressed
      than engagement cues. Significantly more frequent feeding cues were observed at
      the beginning than at the end of the meal showing that cue frequency changes with
      satiation. Breastfeeding infants exhibited more engagement and disengagement cues
      than formula fed infants. Supporting mothers to identify engagement and
      disengagement cues during a milk feed may promote more responsive feeding
      strategies that can be acquired by mothers using different modes of feeding.

PMID- 27647501
TI  - A concept mapping study on organic food consumers in Shanghai, China.
AB  - Despite some similarities with developed countries, the growth of organic market
      in China seems to follow a different path. Thus, important questions are how
      Chinese urban consumers perceive organic food, and what are the main concepts
      associated to the organic attribute. We aimed at representing in graphic form the
      network of mental associations with the organic concept. We used an adapted
      version of the "Brand concept mapping" method to acquire, process, and draw
      individual concept networks perceived by 50 organic food consumers in Shanghai.
      We then analyzed the data using network and cluster analysis to create aggregated
      maps for two distinct groups of consumers. Similarly to their peers in developed
      countries, Chinese consumers perceive organic food as healthy, safe and
      expensive. However, organic is not necessarily synonymous with natural produce in
      China, also due to a translation of the term that conveys the idea of a
      "technology advanced" product. Organic overlaps with the green food label in
      terms of image and positioning in the market, since they are easily associated
      and often confused. The two groups we identified show clear differences in the
      way the organic concept is associated to other concepts and features. The study
      provides useful information for practitioners: marketers of organic products in
      China should invest in communication to emphasize the differences with Green Food
      products and they should consider the possibility of segmenting organic
      consumers; Chinese policy makers should consider implementing information
      campaigns aimed at achieving a better understanding of the features of these
      quality labels among consumers. For researchers, the study confirms that the BCM
      method is effective and its integration with network and cluster analysis
      improves the interpretation of individual and aggregated maps.

PMID- 27647505
TI  - Copper-Catalyzed Regio- and Stereoselective Aminoboration of Alkenylboronates.
AB  - A copper-catalyzed aminoboration of alkenyl dan boronates (dan = 1,8
      diaminonaphthyl) with diboron reagents and hydroxylamines has been developed. The
      reaction proceeds regio- and stereoselectively to form the corresponding beta
      boryl-alpha-aminoboronic acid derivatives of potent interest in medicinal
      chemistry. Additionally, the ligand-controlled syn/anti diastereoselectivity
      switching and preliminary asymmetric catalysis are also described.

PMID- 27647503
TI  - Fatty acids characterization, oxidative perspectives and consumer acceptability
      of oil extracted from pre-treated chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds have been described as a good source
      of lipids, protein, dietary fiber, polyphenolic compounds and omega-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids. The consumption of chia seed oil helps to improve
      biological markers related to metabolic syndrome diseases. The oil yield and
      fatty acids composition of chia oil is affected by several factors such as pre
      treatment method and size reduction practices. Therefore, the main mandate of
      present investigate was to study the effect of different seed pre-treatments on
      yield, fatty acids composition and sensory acceptability of chia oil at different
      storage intervals and conditions. METHODS: Raw chia seeds were characterized for
      proximate composition. Raw chia seeds after milling were passed through sieves to
      obtain different particle size fractions (coarse, seed particle size >= 10 mm;
      medium, seed particle size >= 5 mm; fine, seed particle size <= 5 mm). Heat pre
      treatment of chia seeds included the water boiling (100 C degrees , 5 min),
      microwave roasting (900 W, 2450 MHz, 2.5 min), oven drying (105 +/- 5  degrees C,
      1 h) and autoclaving (121  degrees C, 15 lbs, 15 min) process. Extracted oil from
      pre-treated chia seeds were stored in Tin cans at 25 +/- 2  degrees C and 4 +/- 1
      degrees C for 60-days and examined for physical (color, melting point,
      refractive index), oxidative (iodine value, peroxide value, free fatty acids),
      fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic) composition and
      sensory (appearance, flavor, overall acceptability) parameters, respectively.
      RESULTS: The proximal composition of chia seeds consisted of 6.16 +/- 0.24 %
      moisture, 34.84 +/- 0.62 % oil, 18.21 +/- 0.45 % protein, 4.16 +/- 0.37 % ash,
      23.12 +/- 0.29 % fiber, and 14.18 +/- 0.23 % nitrogen contents. The oil yield as
      a result of seed pre-treatments was found in the range of 3.43 +/- 0.22 % (water
      boiled samples) to 32.18 +/- 0.34 % (autoclaved samples). The oil samples at day
      0 indicated the maximum color (R and Y Lovibond scale) value for oven drying
      while at storage day 60 (25 +/- 2  degrees C), the highest color value was found
      for autoclave pre-treatment. The slightly increasing trend of color values for
      all treatments was observed during the storage period. The lowest iodine value
      (182.83 +/- 1.18 g/100 g at storage day 0 & 173.49 +/- 1.21 g/100 g at storage
      day 60, 25 +/- 2  degrees C) was calculated for autoclaved samples while the
      maximum iodine value (193.42 +/- 1.14 g/100 g at storage day 0 & 190.36 +/- 1.17
      g/100 g at storage day 60, 25 +/- 2  degrees C) was recorded for raw chia
      samples. The significant increasing trend for all treatments was observed in case
      of peroxide value and free fatty acids production during storage. Maximum
      decrease in linoleic (35 %) and alpha-linolenic (18 %) fatty acids was observed
      in autoclaved samples. The oil from pre-treated seed samples obtained decreasing
      scores for sensory parameters throughout the storage period at different
      conditions. CONCLUSIONS: As a result, chia seeds are an important source of
      lipids and essential fatty acids. The water boiling and high temperature
      processing of chia seeds provides instability to lipids during storage at room
      temperature. However, detailed investigation is required on the processing
      performance and storage stability of food products supplemented with pre-treated
      chia seeds and furthers their effect on biological system.

PMID- 27647508
TI  - Misoprostol modulates the gene expression prostaglandin E2 and oxidative stress
      markers in myometrial cells.
AB  - Misoprostol, prostaglandin E1 analogue, used for labour induction. However, one
      third of patients who have labour induced with prostaglandins do not reach
      vaginal delivery. The differential expression of prostaglandin receptors in
      myometrial cells could account for this differential response. Since delivery
      physiology also involves modulation of oxidative metabolism that can be
      potentially affected by pharmacological drugs, in the present investigation the
      role of misoprostol on expression of prostaglandin receptors, and oxidative
      markers of myometrial cells was evaluated. Samples of myometrial tissues procured
      from women with spontaneous (SL) and nonspontaneous (NSL) labours were cultured
      in vitro and exposed to different concentrations of misoprostol. Gene expression
      was evaluated by qRT-PCR and oxidative biomarkers were evaluated by
      spectrophotometric and fluorometric analysis. Cells from SL women presented
      greater responsiveness to misoprostol, since an upregulation of genes related to
      increased muscle contraction was observed. Otherwise, cells from NSL women had
      low responsiveness to misoprostol exposure or even a suppressive effect on the
      expression of these genes. Oxidative biomarkers that previously have been related
      to labour physiology were affected by misoprostol treatment: lipoperoxidation and
      protein carbonylation (PC). However, a decrease in lipoperoxidation was observed
      only in SL cells treated with low concentrations of misoprostol, whereas a
      decrease of PC occurred in all samples treated with different misoprostol
      concentrations. The results suggest a pharmacogenetic effect of misoprostol in
      labour induction involving differential regulation of EP receptor genes, as well
      as some minor differential modulation of oxidative metabolism in myometrial
      cells.

PMID- 27647513
TI  - A blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the safety of lokivetmab (ZTS
      00103289), a caninized anti-canine IL-31 monoclonal antibody in client-owned dogs
      with atopic dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lokivetmab (ZTS-00103289) is a caninized anti-canine IL-31 monoclonal
      antibody that has demonstrated efficacy in reducing pruritus associated with
      atopic dermatitis (AD) in dogs in field trials. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: This study
      evaluated the safety of lokivetmab in a randomized, double blind, placebo
      controlled trial in client owned dogs with AD with minimal restrictions on
      concomitant medications and co-morbidities. ANIMALS: Clinicians at 14 veterinary
      clinics enrolled client owned dogs (n = 245) with chronic AD. METHODS: Dogs were
      randomized at a 2:1 ratio to receive either lokivetmab (1.0-3.3 mg/kg) or placebo
      administered subcutaneously on days 0 and 28. Clinicians examined dogs, and
      collected blood and urine for assessment of clinical pathology and immunogenicity
      (days 0, 28 and 42). RESULTS: There were no immediate hypersensitivity reactions
      (e.g. wheals, vomiting). Discomfort at administration occurred in 5.1% of dogs
      and was similar in frequency and severity between lokivetmab- and placebo-treated
      groups. Pruritus was reported as an adverse event during the study less
      frequently in the lokivetmab-treated group (4.9% and 19.3%, respectively);
      otherwise, adverse events occurred at a similar frequency between treatment
      groups. There were no clinically important differences between groups in clinical
      pathology results. Treatment-induced immunogenicity was found in 2.5% of
      lokivetmab treated dogs. A wide variety of concomitant medications were used with
      no clinically apparent adverse interactions. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE:
      Among a diverse population of 162 client owned dogs with a clinical diagnosis of
      AD, treatment with two monthly doses of lokivetmab was safe, based on observed
      adverse events and clinical pathology results over a 42 day period.

PMID- 27647512
TI  - A Novel Naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c']Bis([1,2,5]Thiadiazole)-Based Narrow-Bandgap pi
      Conjugated Polymer with Power Conversion Efficiency Over 10.
AB  - A novel naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c']bis([1,2,5]-thiadiazole)-based narrow-bandgap pi
      conjugated polymer is designed for application in polymer solar cells. Remarkable
      power conversion efficiencies over 10% can be achieved based on both conventional
      and inverted device architectures with thick photoactive layers, which are
      processed by using chlorinated or nonhalogenated solvents, suggesting its great
      promise toward practical applications based on high-throughput roll-to-roll
      processing.

PMID- 27647519
TI  - A Mixed-Methods Study of Patient Views on Reflux Symptoms and Medication
      Routines.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a chronic disorder often
      accompanied by laryngopharyngeal reflux. Speech-language pathologists are tasked
      with treating these patients with voice, dysphagia, and/or reflux therapy. This
      study investigated patient-reported reasons for reduced compliance with
      recommended reflux treatment and the top symptoms in patients with reflux,
      dysphagia, and voice symptoms. STUDY DESIGN: This study used a cross-sectional
      qualitative and quantitative mixed-methods design to identify and describe
      patients' reflux symptoms and reflux medication routines. METHODS: Fifty-one
      patients completed a face-to-face, semistructured interview, a questionnaire, and
      the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI). Interview transcripts were coded by authors for
      concepts in two cycles. RESULTS: During the 51 interviews, the top four reported
      symptoms were heartburn (n = 17), mucous (n = 11), dysphagia, and globus (n =
      10). Further, 62.7% (n = 32/51) described an incorrect routine in taking their
      proton pump inhibitor (PPI): taking it with other pills, taking it with
      food/drink, and uncertainty about which pill is for reflux. RSI scores were
      moderately correlated with patient-reported reflux severity (r = 0.62, P <
      0.0001, r2 = 0.34). Correct compliance with PPI timing was not enough to
      significantly lower RSI scores more than those who did not comply (an average RSI
      of 20.0 vs. 25.9, P = 0.1252). CONCLUSIONS: Literature has not described the most
      relevant reflux-related symptoms and why PPI compliance is notoriously poor, from
      the patients' perspective. The results of this study confirm that PPI compliance
      is poor, and the reasons for poor compliance could have been prevented with
      patient education. Even when PPI compliance was adequate, symptoms like globus,
      mucous, voice dysfunction, and dysphagia persisted. Other interventions such as
      evidence-based diet and behavioral changes should be a part of
      voice/dysphagia/reflux therapy.

PMID- 27647520
TI  - A 37-Year-Old Pregnant Female with Multifocal Brain Lesions.

PMID- 27647521
TI  - Desynchronization of autonomic response and central autonomic network
      connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although dysfunctional emotion regulatory capacities are increasingly
      recognized as contributing to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), little work
      has sought to identify biological markers of this vulnerability. Heart rate
      variability (HRV) is a promising biomarker that, together with neuroimaging, may
      assist in gaining a deeper understanding of emotion dysregulation in PTSD. The
      objective of the present study was, therefore, to characterize autonomic response
      patterns, and their related neuronal patterns in individuals with PTSD at rest.
      METHODS: PTSD patients (N = 57) and healthy controls (N = 41) underwent resting
      state fMRI. Connectivity patterns of key regions within the central autonomic
      network (CAN)-including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), amygdala, and
      periaqueductal gray (PAG)-were examined using a seed-based approach. Observed
      connectivity patterns were then correlated to resting HRV. RESULTS: In contrast
      to controls, individuals with PTSD exhibited lower HRV. In addition, whereas
      controls engaged a localized connectivity pattern of CAN-related brain regions,
      in PTSD, key CAN regions were associated with widespread connectivity patterns in
      regions related to emotional reactivity (vmPFC and amygdala to insular cortex and
      lentiform nucleus; PAG to insula) and motor readiness (vmPFC and amygdala to
      precentral gyrus; PAG to precentral gyrus and cerebellum). Critically, whereas
      CAN connectivity in controls was strongly related to higher HRV (insula, mPFC,
      superior frontal cortex, thalamus), HRV covariation was absent in PTSD subjects.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence for a specific
      psychophysiological-neuronal profile in PTSD individuals characterized by lower
      resting HRV and a lack of HRV covariation with CAN-related brain connectivity.
      Hum Brain Mapp 38:27-40, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647522
TI  - High-resolution impedance manometry parameters enhance the esophageal motility
      evaluation in non-obstructive dysphagia patients without a major Chicago
      Classification motility disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-resolution impedance manometry (HRIM) allows evaluation of
      esophageal bolus retention, flow, and pressurization. We aimed to perform a
      collaborative analysis of HRIM metrics to evaluate patients with non-obstructive
      dysphagia. METHODS: Fourteen asymptomatic controls (58% female; ages 20-50) and
      41 patients (63% female; ages 24-82), 18 evaluated for dysphagia and 23 for
      reflux (non-dysphagia patients), with esophageal motility diagnoses of normal
      motility or ineffective esophageal motility, were evaluated with HRIM and a
      global dysphagia symptom score (Brief Esophageal Dysphagia Questionnaire). HRIM
      was analyzed to assess Chicago Classification metrics, automated pressure-flow
      metrics, the esophageal impedance integral (EII) ratio, and the bolus flow time
      (BFT). KEY RESULTS: Significant symptom-metric correlations were detected only
      with basal EGJ pressure, EII ratio, and BFT. The EII ratio, BFT, and impedance
      ratio differed between controls and dysphagia patients, while the EII ratio in
      the upright position was the only measure that differentiated dysphagia from non
      dysphagia patients. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: The EII ratio and BFT appear to
      offer an improved diagnostic evaluation in patients with non-obstructive
      dysphagia without a major esophageal motility disorder. Bolus retention as
      measured with the EII ratio appears to carry the strongest association with
      dysphagia, and thus may aid in the characterization of symptomatic patients with
      otherwise normal manometry.

PMID- 27647524
TI  - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in the Treatment of Fontaine Stage IV Thromboangiitis
      Obliterans.
AB  - Ischemic wounds unresponsive to standard treatment in thromboangiitis obliterans
      are associated with amputation, morbidity, and mortality. In this study,
      hyperbaric oxygen therapy was added to standard treatment of 36 patients with
      thromboangiitis obliterans with ischemic ulcerated wounds in the extremities.
      Full recovery was observed in 52.7% of cases (25% at discharge, 27.7% during
      follow-up). Resting pain after treatment decreased significantly compared to
      pretreatment levels based on visual analog scale scores (7.1 +/- 1.7 vs 2.2 +/-
      3.0, P = .0001). Mean wound area also decreased significantly after treatment
      (22.6 +/- 17.5 vs 13.02 +/- 16.5, P = .0001). The number of patients requiring no
      assistance during routine daily activities increased significantly (25% vs 55.5%,
      P = .001). All patients were at Fontaine stage IV before hyperbaric oxygen
      therapy. The number of patients at stage IIB increased significantly after
      treatment, while that of patients at stage IV decreased significantly (0% vs
      47.2%, P = .0001, and 100% vs 47.2%, P = .0001, respectively). None of our
      patients was able to walk without pain before treatment; however, walking
      distance was significantly extended in 16 patients who were capable of walking (0
      vs 190.6 +/- 129.4 meters, P = .0001). In addition, 11.1% of patients underwent
      major amputation during follow-up.

PMID- 27647523
TI  - Transcriptomic comparison between Brassica oleracea and rice (Oryza sativa)
      reveals diverse modulations on cell death in response to Sclerotinia
      sclerotiorum.
AB  - Sclerotinia stem rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating disease
      of Brassica crops, but not in rice. The leaves of a rice line, a partial
      resistant (R) and a susceptible (S) Brassica oleracea pool that bulked from a
      resistance-segregating F2 population were employed for transcriptome sequencing
      before and after inoculation by S. sclerotiorum for 6 and 12 h. Distinct
      transcriptome profiles were revealed between B. oleracea and rice in response to
      S. sclerotiorum. Enrichment analyses of GO and KEGG indicated an enhancement of
      antioxidant activity in the R B. oleracea and rice, and histochemical staining
      exhibited obvious lighter reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and cell
      death in rice and the R B. oleracea as compared to that in the S B. oleracea.
      Significant enhancement of Ca(2+) signalling, a positive regulator of ROS and
      cell death, were detected in S B. oleracea after inoculation, while it was
      significantly repressed in the R B. oleracea group. Obvious difference was
      detected between two B. oleracea groups for WRKY transcription factors,
      particularly for those regulating cell death. These findings suggest diverse
      modulations on cell death in host in response to S. sclerotiorum. Our study
      provides useful insight into the resistant mechanism to S. sclerotiorum.

PMID- 27647526
TI  - Structural basis for disruption of claudin assembly in tight junctions by an
      enterotoxin.
AB  - The food-poisoning bacterium Clostridium perfringens produces an enterotoxin (~35
      kDa) that specifically targets human claudin-4, among the 26 human claudin
      proteins, and causes diarrhea by fluid accumulation in the intestinal cavity. The
      C-terminal domain of the Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (C-CPE, ~15 kDa)
      binds tightly to claudin-4, and disrupts the intestinal tight junction barriers.
      In this study, we determined the 3.5-A resolution crystal structure of the cell
      free synthesized human claudin-4*C-CPE complex, which is significantly different
      from the structure of the off-target complex of an engineered C-CPE with mouse
      claudin-19. The claudin-4*C-CPE complex structure demonstrated the mechanism
      underlying claudin assembly disruption. A comparison of the present C-CPE-bound
      structure of claudin-4 with the enterotoxin-free claudin-15 structure revealed
      sophisticated C-CPE-induced conformation changes of the extracellular segments,
      induced on the foundation of the rigid four-transmembrane-helix bundle structure.
      These conformation changes provide a mechanistic model for the disruption of the
      lateral assembly of claudin molecules. Furthermore, the present novel structural
      mechanism for selecting a specific member of the claudin family can be used as
      the foundation to develop novel medically important technologies to selectively
      regulate the tight junctions formed by claudin family members in different
      organs.

PMID- 27647527
TI  - Further major uncorrected errors in National Osteoporosis Foundation meta
      analyses of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in fracture prevention.

PMID- 27647529
TI  - A pilot randomized controlled trial of a decision aid with tailored fracture risk
      tool delivered via a patient portal.
AB  - : We tested the feasibility of a fracture prevention decision aid in an online
      patient portal. The decision aid was acceptable for patients and successfully
      decreased decisional conflict. This study suggests the possible utility of
      leveraging the patient portal to enhance patient education and decision making in
      osteoporosis care. INTRODUCTION: Although interventions have improved
      osteoporosis screening and/or treatment for certain populations of high-risk
      patients, recent national studies suggest that large-scale uptake of these
      interventions has been limited. We aimed to determine the feasibility and
      potential efficacy of a patient portal-based osteoporosis decision aid (DA).
      METHODS: We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial of primary care
      patients aged >=55 who were enrolled in a patient portal and had a T-score of <
      1. Intervention subjects were provided a link to a patient DA. The DA contained a
      10-year fracture risk calculator, summary of medication risks and benefits
      (prescription and nonprescription), and an elicitation of values. Subjects
      completed questionnaires assessing the primary outcomes of decisional conflict
      and preparation for decision making and secondary outcomes related to feasibility
      and planning for a larger trial. Charts were reviewed for physician-subject
      interactions and medication uptake. RESULTS: The DA was acceptable to subjects,
      but 17 % of the patients in the decision aid arm incorrectly entered their T
      scores into FRAX-based risk calculator. Decisional conflict was lower post
      intervention for those who were randomized to the decision aid arm compared to
      controls (17.8 vs. 47.1, p < .001), and there was a significant difference in the
      percentage of patients who made a treatment decision at 3 months. No significant
      differences were observed in medication uptake. CONCLUSIONS: A portal-based
      osteoporosis DA was acceptable and improved several measures of decision quality.
      Given its effect on improving the quality of patients' decisions, future studies
      should examine whether it improves physician guideline adherence or medication
      adherence uptake among treated patients.

PMID- 27647528
TI  - Recent hip fracture trends in Sweden and Denmark with age-period-cohort effects.
AB  - : This study used nationwide hip fracture data from Denmark and Sweden during
      1987-2010 to examine effects of (birth) cohort and period. We found that time
      trends, cohort, and period effects were different in the two countries. Results
      also indicated that hip fracture rates may increase in the not so far future.
      INTRODUCTION: The reasons for the downturn in hip fracture rates remain largely
      unclear but circumstances earlier in life seem important. METHODS: We ascertained
      hip fractures in the populations >=50 years in Denmark and Sweden in national
      discharge registers. Country- and sex-specific age-period-cohort (APC) effects
      during 1987-2010 were evaluated by log-likelihood estimates in Poisson regression
      models presented as incidence rate ratios (IRR). RESULTS: There were 399,596 hip
      fractures in SE and 248,773 in DK. Age-standardized hip fracture rate was stable
      in SE men but decreased in SE women and in DK. Combined period + cohort effects
      were generally stronger in SE than DK and in women than men. IRR per period
      ranged from 1.05 to 1.30 in SE and 0.95 to 1.21 in DK. IRR per birth cohort
      ranged from 1.07 to 3.13 in SE and 0.77 to 1.67 in DK. Relative period effects
      decreased with successive period in SE and described a convex curve in DK.
      Relative cohort effects increased with successive birth cohort in both countries
      but with lower risks for DK women and men and SE women born around the 1930s (age
      75-86 years today and responsible for most hip fractures) partly explaining the
      recent downturn. Men and women born thereafter however seem to have a higher hip
      fracture risk, and we expect a reversal of the present decline in rates, with
      increasing hip fracture rates in both Denmark and Sweden during the upcoming
      decade. CONCLUSIONS: Time trends, cohort, and period effects were different in SE
      and DK. This may reflect differences in general health as evident in known
      differences in life expectancy, healthcare organization, and prevention such as
      use of anti-osteoporosis drugs. Analyses indicate that hip fracture rates may
      increase in the not so far future.

PMID- 27647532
TI  - Ds-HMGB1 and fr-HMGB induce depressive behavior through neuroinflammation in
      contrast to nonoxid-HMGB1.
AB  - High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has been implicated as a key factor in several
      neuroinflammatory conditions. Our previous study suggested that the release of
      central HMGB1 acts as a late-phase mediator in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced
      depression. Recent findings indicate that the redox state of HMGB1 is a critical
      determinant of its immunomodulatory properties. Here, we aimed to investigate the
      potential mechanisms that link the redox states of HMGB1 to depression in mice.
      Distinct redox forms of recombinant HMGB1 (rHMGB1) were used that included fully
      reduced HMGB (fr-HMGB1), which acted as a chemokine, and disulfide-HMGB1 (ds
      HMGB1), which possessed cytokine activity. Fr-HMGB1 in vivo was partially
      oxidized into ds-HMGB1; thus, the mutant protein non-oxidizable chemokine-HMGB
      (nonoxid-HMGB1) was applied. Concurrent with depressive behavior induced by four
      week stress exposure, the HMGB1 concentrations in the serum and cerebral cortex
      substantially increased. Therefore, a single dose of rHMGB1 (200ng/5MUl/mice) or
      vehicle was administered to mice via intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection.
      The receptor inhibitors of TLR4/RAGE/CXCR4 (TAK-242/FPS-ZM1/AMD3100) (3mg/kg)
      were intraperitoneally injected 30min prior to rHMGB1 treatment. Depressive-like
      behavior was measured 20h post i.c.v. injection. Administration of fr-HMGB1
      prolonged the immobility duration in the tail suspension test (TST) and decreased
      sucrose preference. In addition to depressive behavior, the hippocampal TNF-alpha
      protein slightly increased. These depressive behaviors and upregulation of
      hippocampal TNF-alpha were alleviated or abrogated by pretreatment with the
      inhibitors AMD3100, FPS-ZM1, and TAK-242. Alternatively, nonoxid-HMGB1 failed to
      induce TNF-alpha protein or prolong the immobility duration. As expected, ds
      HMGB1 administration substantially upregulated hippocampal TNF-alpha protein,
      increased the immobility time in the TST and decreased sucrose preference.
      Moreover, both glycyrrhizin and TAK-242 improved ds-HMGB1-induced depressive
      behavior. Furthermore, TAK-242 significantly blocked the upregulation of
      hippocampal TNF-alpha protein and protected hippocampal myelin basic protein from
      ds-HMGB1-induced reduction. These drugs had no effect on the total or central
      distance in the open field test. Collectively, this initial experiment
      demonstrates the role and receptor mechanisms of HMGB1 under different redox
      states on the induction of depressive-like behavior. Both ds-HMGB1 and fr-HMGB1
      may induce depressive-like behavior in vivo mainly via neuroinflammatory response
      activation.

PMID- 27647531
TI  - Adolescent intermittent ethanol reduces serotonin expression in the adult raphe
      nucleus and upregulates innate immune expression that is prevented by exercise.
AB  - Serotonergic neurons of the raphe nucleus regulate sleep, mood, endocrine
      function, and other processes that mature during adolescence. Alcohol abuse and
      binge drinking are common during human adolescence. We tested the novel
      hypothesis that adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure would alter the
      serotonergic system that would persist into adulthood. Using a Wistar rat model
      of adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE; 5.0g/kg, i.g., 2-day on/2-day off from
      postnatal day [P]25 to P55), we found a loss of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN)
      serotonin (5-HT)-immunoreactive (+IR) neurons that persisted from late
      adolescence (P56) into adulthood (P220). Hypothalamic and amygdalar DRN
      serotonergic projections were reduced following AIE. Tryptophan hydroxylase 2,
      the rate-limiting 5-HT synthesizing enzyme, and vesicular monoamine transporter
      2, which packages 5-HT into synaptic vesicles, were also reduced in the young
      adult midbrain following AIE treatment. Adolescent intermittent ethanol treatment
      increased expression of phosphorylated (activated) NF-kappaB p65 as well as
      markers of microglial activation (i.e., Iba-1 and CD11b) in the adult DRN.
      Administration of lipopolysaccharide to mimic AIE-induced innate immune
      activation reduced 5-HT+IR and increased phosphorylated NF-kappaB p65+IR similar
      to AIE treatment. Voluntary exercise during adolescence through young adulthood
      blunted microglial marker and phosphorylated NF-kappaB p65+IR, and prevented the
      AIE-induced loss of 5-HT+IR neurons in the DRN. Together, these novel data reveal
      that AIE reduces 5-HT+IR neurons in the adult DRN, possibly through an innate
      immune mechanism, which might impact adult cognition, arousal, or reward
      sensitivity. Further, exercise prevents the deleterious effects of AIE on the
      serotonergic system.

PMID- 27647534
TI  - Adenylation by testis-specific cytoplasmic poly(A) polymerase, PAPOLB/TPAP, is
      essential for spermatogenesis.
AB  - The testis-specific cytoplasmic poly(A) polymerase PAPOLB/TPAP is essential for
      spermatogenesis. Although this enzyme is responsible for poly(A) tail extension
      of a subset of mRNAs in round spermatids, the stability and translational
      efficiency of these mRNAs are unaffected by the absence of PAPOLB. To clarify the
      functional importance of this enzyme's adenylation activity, we produced PAPOLB
      null mice expressing a polyadenylation-defective PAPOLB mutant (PAPOLBD114A), in
      which the catalytic Asp at residue 114 was mutated to Ala. Introducing
      PAPOLBD114A failed to rescue PAPOLB-null phenotypes, such as reduced expression
      of haploid-specific mRNAs, spermiogenesis arrest, and male infertility. These
      results suggest that PAPOLB regulates spermatogenesis through its adenylation
      activity.

PMID- 27647536
TI  - Excess cement and the risk of peri-implant disease - a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the role of excess
      cement as risk indicator for peri-implant diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A
      systematic literature search with the keywords peri-implant disease, peri-implant
      mucositis, peri-implantitis, excess cement, cemented, and screw-retained
      restorations was performed for articles published by June 2016 using MEDLINE and
      EMBASE electronic databases, complemented by hand searching. RESULTS: The
      included 26 publications referring to 21 study groups were published between 1999
      and 2016 and comprised 945 subjects with 1010 cemented implant restorations in 10
      prospective and eight retrospective studies and eight case reports/series with
      pronounced heterogeneity of the study designs. Prevalence of peri-implant
      diseases varied between 1.9% and 75% of the implants with cemented restorations,
      with proportions of 33-100% associated with excess cement. In publications
      including early follow-ups and regular recall intervals, peri-implant disease was
      mostly detected at an early stage. Cofactors, such as type of abutment
      (standardized or individualized) and cementum medium used, did not have a
      significant influence, while higher prevalence of peri-implant diseases was found
      with immediate loading or cementation subsequent to reentry, and with cemented
      vs. screw-retained restorations. CONCLUSIONS: Excess cement was identified as a
      possible risk indicator for peri-implant diseases and was more frequently
      observed with soft tissue healing periods shorter than 4 weeks. To reduce the
      risk of peri-implant disease associated with excess cement, a crown margin at the
      level of the mucosal margin providing sufficient access is recommendable, and
      soft tissue maturation and early follow-ups after restoration placement should be
      assured.

PMID- 27647537
TI  - Successful treatment of proliferative verrucous leukoplakia with 5% topical
      imiquimod.

PMID- 27647538
TI  - Mood disorders and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
AB  - The association between gluten related disorders and psychiatric diseases has
      been firmly demonstrated. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a syndrome
      diagnosed in patients responsive to gluten-free diet after ruling out celiac
      disease and wheat allergy. The pathogenesis of neuro-psychiatric disorders in
      NCGS is unclear. An association between gluten and schizophrenia was described
      for the first time in 1950 by Bender et al. In the 1950's, Dicke noted that
      gluten-free diet improved mood in celiac patients. In 1970, Goldberg et al., in a
      study of 80 celiac patients, found that 34% of them showed minor affective
      disorders. Bipolar disorder patients show an increase of blood anti gliadin
      deamidated antibodies (IgG). The effect of diet and nutrition on autistic
      spectrum disorders has been investigated in the last two decades, particularly
      focusing on the symptoms of hyperactivity and attention. Toxoplasma gondii and
      other neurotropic pathogens as Influenzavirus and Coronavirus may be associated
      with mood disorders, probably secondary to an increased intestinal permeability.
      Abnormalities of host-microbiota interactions or of gut-microbiota composition
      have been associated with central nervous system disorders, such as autism,
      anxiety, depression and the integrity of intestinal microbiota may be considered
      a potential therapeutic goal to treat these conditions.

PMID- 27647540
TI  - Preparation of alginate hydrogels through solution extrusion and the release
      behavior of different drugs.
AB  - Homogeneous alginate hydrogels were facilely fabricated through solution
      extrusion process. CaCO3 and D-glucono-delta-lactone (GDL) were used as the
      gelation agents. The slow gelation of alginate was realized by the in-situ
      release of Ca2+ from CaCO3 particles induced by hydrolysis of GDL to reduce pH.
      Slight gelation during the extrusion caused the enhanced strength of the alginate
      solutions, leading to the extrudability of the blends. This method enables to
      produce alginate hydrogels in a single step via extrusion, which is economically
      advantageous to conventional lab-scale preparation for mass production. Three
      different drugs, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and methylthionine chloride, were used
      as model drugs to evaluate the drug release behavior of the alginate hydrogels.
      It was demonstrated that the drug release behavior was significantly adjusted by
      both the drug solubility and the ionic interaction between alginate and the drug
      molecule. It was shown that solution extrusion process is a feasible method to
      produce alginate-based drug delivery systems.

PMID- 27647541
TI  - A randomized, double blind placebo controlled study of efficacy and tolerability
      of Withaina somnifera extracts in knee joint pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Root extracts of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) are known to
      possess analgesic, anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects. An aqueous
      extract of roots plus leaves of this plant has shown to yield higher percentages
      of withanolide glycosides and, accordingly, may possess better analgesic, anti
      inflammatory and chondroprotective effects than root alone extracts. OBJECTIVES:
      To evaluate efficacy and tolerability of a standardized aqueous extract of roots
      plus leaves of W. somnifera in patients with knee joint pain and discomfort.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty patients with knee joint pain and discomfort were
      randomized in a double-blind manner to W. somnifera 250 mg, W. somnifera 125 mg
      and placebo, all given twice daily. Assessment was done by Modified WOMAC, Knee
      Swelling Index (KSI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at baseline and at the end of
      4, 8, 12 weeks. Tolerability was assessed by incidence of adverse effects in
      treatment groups. Student's 't' test and ANOVA were used to compare mean change
      from baseline within and between the study groups. A p < 0.05 was considered
      significant. RESULTS: At the end of 12 weeks, compared to baseline and placebo,
      significant reductions were observed in mean mWOMAC and KSI in W. somnifera 250
      mg (p < 0.001), W. somnifera 125 mg (p < 0.05) groups. VAS scores for pain,
      stiffness and disability were significantly reduced in W. somnifera 250 mg (p <
      0.001), W. somnifera 125 mg (p < 0.01) groups. W. somnifera 250 mg group showed
      earliest efficacy (at 4 weeks). All treatments were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS:
      Both the doses of an aqueous extract of W. somnifera produced significant
      reduction in outcome variables, with the 250 mg group showing significantly
      better response. In addition, the therapeutic response appears to be dose
      dependent and free of any significant GI disturbances.

PMID- 27647542
TI  - The Third International Congress of Society for Ethnopharmacology, India 2016.

PMID- 27647544
TI  - Influence of Familiarization of Preschool Children With Motor Tests on Test
      Results and Reliability Coefficients.
AB  - The study was conducted with the aim to research the influence of familiarization
      on test results for the assessment of motor skills in preschool children. In sum,
      165 children (84 boys and 81 girls; mean age = 5.2 years, SD = 0.91) participated
      in the study. The measurement protocol consisted of six series of measurements in
      three different motor tests. Results showed a significant improvement of 11.51%
      in the standing long jump test, 13.02% in the polygon backwards test, and 26.29%
      in the hand taping test. In assessing the motor status of preschool children, it
      is essential to conduct a process of familiarizing with motor tests as well as
      the overall situation in which the measurement is carried out and wait for the
      stabilization of scores before their use.

PMID- 27647543
TI  - Social Comparisons are Associated with Poorer and Riskier Financial Decision
      Making, no Matter whether Encounters are Sporadic or Repeated.
AB  - Previous research suggests that social comparisons affect decision making under
      uncertainty. However, the role of the length of the social interaction for this
      relationship remains unknown. This experiment tests the effect of social
      comparisons on financial risk taking and how this effect is modulated by whether
      social encounters are sporadic or repeated. Participants carried out a computer
      task consisting of a series of binary choices between lotteries of varying
      profitability and risk, with real monetary stakes. After each decision,
      participants could compare their own payoff to that of a counterpart who made the
      same decision at the same time and whose choices/earnings did not affect the
      participants' earnings. The design comprised three between-subjects treatments
      which differed in the nature of the social interaction: participants were
      informed that they would be matched with either (a) a different participant in
      each trial, (b) the same participant across all trials, or (c) a "virtual
      participant", i.e., a computer algorithm. Compared to the non-social condition
      (c), subjects in both social conditions (a and b) chose lotteries with lower
      expected value (z = -3.10, p < .01) and higher outcome variance (z = 2.13, p =
      .03). However, no differences were found between the two social conditions (z =
      1.15, p = .25 and z = 0.35, p = .73, respectively). These results indicate that
      social comparison information per se leads to poorer and riskier financial
      decisions, irrespective of whether or not the referent other is encountered
      repeatedly. 

PMID- 27647546
TI  - A comparison of adaptive iterative dose reduction 3D and filtered back projection
      in craniocervical CT angiography.
AB  - AIM: To compare the effects of exposure parameters on image quality and radiation
      dose for craniocervical computed tomography angiography (CTA) using adaptive
      iterative dose reduction in three dimensions (AIDR 3D) and filtered back
      projection (FBP) algorithms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and eighty
      patients were divided into three groups; group A (120 kV, 300 mA, FBP), group B
      (100 kV, automatic mA, AIDR 3D) and group C (80kV, automatic mA, AIDR 3D). Image
      quality and radiation dose were evaluated for each group. RESULTS: For both
      cervical and intracranial vessels, CT attenuation, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),
      and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were higher in the AIDR 3D groups. The
      difference in mean vascular noise was also statistically significant (p<0.001),
      with group B having the lowest value at 16.5+/-3.2 HU and group C having the
      highest at 19.1+/-2.9 HU. FBP reconstruction resulted in lower image-quality
      scores for the common carotid artery. Parenchymal image-quality scores also
      varied significantly different between groups with group C partially failing to
      meet the minimum standards for diagnostic use. For the middle cerebral artery,
      image-quality scores were significantly better in group A, although images from
      groups B and C also satisfied clinical diagnostic requirements. The image quality
      of the internal carotid artery was the best in group B. Image-quality scores
      between groups were not significantly different for the carotid sinus. Radiation
      doses in the groups using AIDR 3D were >70% lower than in the FBP group.
      CONCLUSION: AIDR 3D (100 kV, automatic modulation) provides optimal image quality
      of vascular and parenchymal tissues at significantly lower radiation doses (mSV)
      than FBP in craniocervical CTA. For cases in which highly accurate parenchymal
      assessment is not required, the tube voltage can be lowered to 80 kV to further
      decrease radiation dose.

PMID- 27647548
TI  - Reaping the benefits of meaningful work: The mediating versus moderating role of
      work engagement.
AB  - This study examined whether meaningful work may improve one's quality of life
      outside of the workplace (i.e., work-to-life enrichment). More importantly, we
      proposed and tested competing hypotheses regarding the role of work engagement in
      the relationship between meaningful work and work-to-life enrichment.
      Specifically, we investigated whether work engagement served as a mediator of
      this relationship, as suggested by the job demands-resources model, or instead a
      moderator, as suggested by conservation of resources theory. Two-wave survey data
      were collected from 194 respondents recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk.
      Analyses showed that meaningful work was positively related to work-to-life
      enrichment over time (i.e., 3 months later). Additionally, work engagement
      mediated but did not moderate the relationship between meaningful work at Time 1
      and work-to-life enrichment at Time 2. We suggest that organizations foster a
      sense of meaningfulness in employees to facilitate engagement and in turn enrich
      employees' lives beyond the workplace. Therefore, not only organizations, but
      individuals as well may reap the benefits of meaningful work.

PMID- 27647547
TI  - Pharmaceutically inhibiting polo-like kinase 1 exerts a broad anti-tumour
      activity in retinoblastoma cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retinoblastoma is the most common malignant cancer of the eye in
      children. Although metastatic retinoblastoma is rare, cure rates for this
      advanced disease remain below 50%. High-level polo-like kinase 1 expression in
      retinoblastomas has previously been shown to be correlated with adverse outcome
      parameters. Polo-like kinase 1 is a serine/threonine kinase involved in cell
      cycle regulation at the G2/M transition. Polo-like kinase 1 inhibition has been
      demonstrated to have anti-tumour effects in preclinical models of several
      paediatric tumours. Here, we assessed its efficacy against retinoblastoma cell
      lines. METHODS: Expression of polo-like kinase 1 was determined in a panel of
      retinoblastoma cell lines by polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis.
      We analysed viability (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium
      bromide) (MTT assay), proliferation (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay), cell cycle progression (propidium iodid staining) and
      apoptosis (cell death enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) in three retinoblastoma
      cell lines after treatment with two adenosine triphosphate-competitive polo-like
      kinase 1 inhibitors, BI6727 or GSK461364. Activation of polo-like kinase 1
      downstream signalling components including TP53 were assessed. RESULTS: Treatment
      of retinoblastoma cells with either BI6727 or GSK461364 reduced cell viability
      and proliferative capacity and induced both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Polo
      like kinase 1 inhibition also induced the p53 signalling pathway. Analysis of key
      players in cell cycle control revealed that low nanomolar concentrations of
      either polo-like kinase 1 inhibitor upregulated cyclin B1 and increased activated
      cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (phosphorylated at Y15) in retinoblastoma cell lines.
      CONCLUSIONS: These preclinical data indicate that polo-like kinase 1 inhibitors
      could be useful as components in rationally designed chemotherapy protocols to
      treat patients with metastasized retinoblastoma in early phase clinical trials.

PMID- 27647550
TI  - Findings from a clinical audit in regional general practice of management of
      patients following acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) require ongoing treatment and support
      from their primary care provider to modify cardiovascular risk factors (including
      diet, exercise and mood), to receive evidence-based pharmacotherapies and be
      properly monitored and to ensure their take-up and completion of cardiac
      rehabilitation (CR). This study assesses adherence to National Heart Foundation
      guidelines for ACS in primary care in a regional centre in Western Australia.
      Patients discharged from hospital after a coronary event (unstable angina or
      myocardial infarction) or a coronary procedure (stent or coronary artery bypass
      graft) were identified through general practice electronic medical records.
      Patient data was extracted using a data form based on National Heart Foundation
      guidelines. Summary statistics were calculated and reported. Our study included
      22 GPs and 44 patients in a regional centre. In total, 90% (n=39) of discharge
      summaries recorded medications. Assessment of pharmacological management showed
      that 53% (n=23) of patients received four or more classes of pharmacotherapy and
      that GPs often augmented medication beyond that prescribed at discharge. Of 15
      smokers, 13 (87%) had advice to quit documented. Minimal advice for other risk
      factor modification was documented in care plans. Patients with type 2 diabetes
      (n=20) were 70% more likely to receive allied health referral (P=0.02) and 60%
      more likely to receive advice regarding diet and exercise (P=0.007). However,
      overall, only 30% (n=13) of those eligible were referred to a dietician, and only
      25% were referred to CR (n=10) with six completing CR. Although most GPs did not
      use standardised tools for mood assessment, 18 (41%) patients were diagnosed as
      depressed, of which 88% (n=16) were started on antidepressants and 28% (n=6) were
      referred to a psychologist. Although pharmacotherapy, mood management and smoking
      cessation management generally followed recommended guidelines, risk factor
      management relating to diet and exercise by GPs require improvement. Detailed
      care plans and referral to CR and allied health staff for patient support is
      recommended.

PMID- 27647553
TI  - The role of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in inhibition mechanism: A study on
      cognitive reflection test and similar tasks through neuromodulation.
AB  - The main characteristic of the cognitive reflection test (CRT) is that it
      requires people to overcome a cognitive conflict. Solving this conflict requires
      (1) inhibitory control of prepotent but incorrect responses and (2) mental set
      shifting in order to reframe the problem and reach a meaningful solution. Based
      on the well-known involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in
      inhibitory control we hypothesised that transcranial direct current stimulation
      (tDCS) of the DLPFC would modulate its contribution to problem-solving
      performance. Thirty-nine participants undergoing anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS
      were asked to solve the CRT and similar mathematical problems that were
      structured to induce an automatic, impulsive but incorrect response. To provide a
      multi-dimensional picture of the processes underlying responding we assessed
      impulsivity traits using self-report measures and recorded physiological indices
      using biofeedback equipment. The results indicated that participants were more
      likely to provide incorrect impulsive responses after cathodal stimulation, i.e.
      when inhibitory control associated to the DLPFC was reduced. Baseline values of
      blood volume pulses predicted solution recognition, highlighting the potential
      role of individual physiological differences in problem solving. In conclusion,
      this study provides evidence supporting the role of the DLPFC in modulation of
      processes involved in solving CRTs and similar problems, thanks to its
      association to the inhibitory control mechanisms involved in suppressing
      impulsive responses.

PMID- 27647556
TI  - [Effectiveness of a web-based smoking cessation personalized multiple program
      with adapted counseling by nurses].

PMID- 27647555
TI  - Low transplantability of 0 blood group and highly sensitized candidates in the
      Portuguese kidney allocation algorithm: quantifying an old problem in search of
      new solutions.
AB  - The impact of patient's biological differences in waiting time for kidney
      transplantation is well known and has been a subject of extensive debate and
      struggle in transplantation community. Our purpose was to evaluate patient's
      access to kidney transplantation in Portugal, regarding their degree of
      allosensitization and blood type. A retrospective cohort study including 1020
      candidates for kidney transplantation between 01 January 2010 and 31 December
      2011 in transplant unit Centro Hospitalar do Porto was performed. The deceased
      donor organ offer by blood type decreased with the calculated panel reactive
      antibody (cPRA) increase for A and B blood groups candidates, while in 0 blood
      group candidates, a significant reduction in organ offer was only observable in
      hypersensitized (HS) ones. As a consequence, the median waiting time was also
      significantly higher in 0 blood group patients, when compared to the remaining
      groups. However, waiting time increased extensively with cPRA regardless blood
      type, especially HS patients with increases of 368%, 632%, 486%, and 140% for
      blood groups A, B, AB, and 0, respectively, when compared to each blood group
      global median waiting time. Our study shows that important measures need to be
      undertaken in order to mitigate the huge disadvantage that HS and 0 blood type
      patients naturally have.

PMID- 27647557
TI  - [Quality of diagnosis information given to terminal cancer patients].
AB  - AIM: To determine the information that terminal cancer patients have about their
      diagnosis, identifying key words used, and quantifying the conspiracy of silence.
      METHOD: A cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted by reviewing the
      hospice support team data base which contains the medical history and a semi
      structured interview with terminal cancer patients in the first visit to the
      hospice. Demographic and socioeconomic data was collected, as well as relevant
      clinical information (diagnosis, prevalent symptoms, number of symptoms, patient
      functionality, QoL, information given, and words used). RESULTS: Out of total of
      sample of 723 records, 77.87% (95% CI: 74.70-80.74) of the patients were properly
      informed about their diagnosis. The most used words were cancer in 26% of the
      patients, tumour in 51.59%, and for the remaining 10.65%, the word inflammation
      was used. Statistically significant differences of information were found between
      sexes, age, types of cancer, and hospital ward. CONCLUSIONS: Terminal cancer
      patients have knowledge on their diagnosis, suggesting that the conspiracy of
      silence is present to a lesser extent. This knowledge is transmitted using
      different words and with euphemisms.

PMID- 27647562
TI  - Corticosteroids in treating community-acquired pneumonia: has the time really
      come?

PMID- 27647563
TI  - Detection of interleukin-2 is not useful for distinguishing between latent and
      active tuberculosis in clinical practice: a prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous reports have identified interleukin-2 (IL-2), quantified in
      the supernatants of QuantiFERON(r)-TB Gold In-tube (QFT) after 72 h of
      incubation, as a potential biomarker for distinguishing between latent and active
      tuberculosis (TB). However, its validity has not been tested in an appropriate
      clinical cohort. METHODS: A multicentre study of 161 consecutive adult patients
      undergoing evaluation for active TB at eight TB Units in Spain. Interferon-gamma
      (IFN-gamma) and IL-2 were assessed in the supernatant of QFT after 16-24 h and 72
      h of incubation. The accuracy of IL-2 for indicating latent TB infection (LTBI)
      was assessed by receiving operating characteristic curves. . RESULTS: Twenty
      eight participants were not infected, 43 had LTBI, 69 had TB, and 21 were not
      classifiable. Median (interquartile range) IL-2 concentrations after 72 h of
      incubation were 0.0 pg/mL (0.0-0.0) in uninfected individuals, 261.0 pg/mL (81.0
      853.0) in LTBI individuals, 166.5 pg/mL (33.5-551.5) in patients with
      extrapulmonary TB, 95.0 pg/mL (26.0-283.0) in patients with smear-negative
      pulmonary TB, and 38.5 pg/mL (7.5-178.0) in patients with smear-positive
      pulmonary TB (p <0.0001). The area under the curve of the receiving operating
      characteristic curve (95% CI) of IL-2 after 72 h of incubation for the diagnosis
      of LTBI was 0.63 (0.53-0.74) when all TB cases were considered as a single group,
      ranging from 0.59 (0.47-0.71) to 0.72 (0.58-0.85) when only extrapulmonary and
      smear-positive pulmonary TB cases respectively were considered. CONCLUSIONS:
      Quantification of IL-2 in the supernatant of QFT after a prolonged incubation is
      not useful to distinguish between LTBI and active disease in clinical practice.

PMID- 27647568
TI  - Somatic Symptom Disorder in Semantic Dementia: The Role of Alexisomia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Semantic dementia (SD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized
      by loss of semantic knowledge. SD may be associated with somatic symptom disorder
      due to excessive preoccupation with unidentified somatic sensations. OBJECTIVE:
      To evaluate the frequency of somatic symptom disorder among patients with SD in
      comparison to comparably demented patients with Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort study was conducted using clinical data from a referral
      based behavioral neurology program. Fifty-three patients with SD meeting criteria
      for imaging-supported semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (another term
      for SD) were compared with 125 patients with clinically probable Alzheimer
      disease. Logistic regression controlled for sex, age, disease duration,
      education, overall cognitive impairment, and depression. RESULTS: The prevalence
      of somatic symptom disorder was significantly higher among patients with SD
      (41.5%) compared to patients with Alzheimer disease (11.2%) (odds ratio = 6:1; p
      < 0.001). Somatic symptom disorder was associated with misidentification and
      preoccupation with normal bodily sensations such as hunger, bladder filling,
      borborygmi, rhinorrhea, and reflux; excessive concern over the incompletely
      understood meaning or source of pain or other symptoms; and Cotard syndrome or
      the delusion that unidentified somatic symptoms signify death or deterioration.
      CONCLUSIONS: SD, a disorder of semantic knowledge, is associated with somatic
      symptom disorder from impaired identification of somatic sensations. Their
      inability to read and name somatic sensations, or "alexisomia," results in
      disproportionate and persistent concern about somatic sensations with consequent
      significant disability.

PMID- 27647567
TI  - Microsized Sn as Advanced Anodes in Glyme-Based Electrolyte for Na-Ion Batteries.
AB  - Microsized Sn presents stable cyclic performance in a glyme-based electrolyte,
      which brings 19% increase in energy density of Sn/Na3 V2 (PO4 )3 cells as
      compared to the cells using a hard carbon anode. The Na?Sn intermediate phases
      are also clarified.

PMID- 27647569
TI  - A blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, dose determination trial of lokivetmab
      (ZTS-00103289), a caninized, anti-canine IL-31 monoclonal antibody in client
      owned dogs with atopic dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pruritus is the hallmark clinical sign of atopic dermatitis (AD) in
      dogs. Lokivetmab, a caninized anti-canine IL-31 monoclonal antibody, reduced
      pruritus and associated inflammatory skin lesions in a proof-of-concept study in
      dogs with AD. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: The objective was to describe lokivetmab
      dose response in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial. ANIMALS:
      Clinicians at 15 referral clinics enrolled 211 client owned dogs with a history
      of chronic AD. METHODS: Dogs were randomized to treatment with lokivetmab (0.125,
      0.5 or 2.0 mg/kg) or placebo administered subcutaneously once on Day 0. Dog
      owners assessed visual analog scale (VAS) scores of pruritus on days 0, 1, 2, 3,
      7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56. Clinicians assessed Canine AD Extent and
      Severity Index (CADESI-03) scores on days 0, 7, 14, 28, 42 and 56. RESULTS:
      Treatment with lokivetmab (2 mg/kg) resulted in a greater percentage reduction
      from baseline in owner assessed pruritus (days 1-49) and clinician assessed
      CADESI-03 scores (days 7-56) compared to placebo (P < 0.05); differences were
      achieved in lower dose groups but at later time points and for shorter duration
      for both owner assessed pruritus (0.5 mg/kg, days 2-35; 0.125 mg/kg, days 7-21)
      and clinician assessed CADESI-03 scores (0.5 mg/kg and 0.125 mg/kg, Day 14).
      CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Lokivetmab (0.5, 2.0 mg/kg) reduced pruritus
      compared to placebo for at least 1 month. Level and duration of response
      increased with increasing dose. Further studies are needed to better understand
      variability in individual responses across a broader population of dogs with AD.

PMID- 27647573
TI  - Schistosoma mansoni infection and related knowledge among schoolchildren in an
      endemic area of Minas Gerais, Brazil, prior to educational actions.
AB  - As a signatory to World Health Assembly Resolution WHA65.21 on eliminating
      schistosomiasis, the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) recommends early
      identification and timely treatment of the infection carriers for morbidity
      control, plus complementary preventive measures, such as health education, for
      transmission control. This study reports infection and awareness of
      schistosomiasis among schoolchildren before the implementation of school-based
      educational actions in an endemic municipality with persisting moderate
      prevalence levels despite successive control campaigns since the late 1990s. A
      questionnaire was applied in April 2013 to schoolchildren in the middle years of
      schooling (6th to 8th year) of Malacacheta municipality to assess baseline
      knowledge and risk behaviour related to schistosomiasis. A stool survey was
      conducted in May/June 2013 in 2519 schoolchildren from all years of fundamental
      education (first to 9th year) to identify the infection carriers, as well as to
      assess baseline prevalence and intensity of infection using the Kato-Katz method
      (one sample, two slides). The infected schoolchildren were treated promptly with
      single-dose praziquantel 60mg/kg and followed up after 45days for treatment
      efficacy. Relevant outcomes from baseline stool survey, treatment and follow-up
      were statistically evaluated in relation to area of residence (rural/urban),
      gender, age group (<11/>=years) and infection. Adherence to baseline survey was
      81.2%, and prevalence of infection was 21.4%. Of the 539 positives, 60 (11.1%)
      had >=400 eggs per gram of faeces (heavy-intensity infection). Prevalence of
      infection was significantly higher among rural residents and>=11year olds,
      whereas intensity of infection was higher among rural residents,>=11year olds and
      boys. Adherence by the positives to treatment was 93.3% and adherence by the
      treated children to 45-day follow-up was 72.2%. At 45days after treatment, 97.0%
      of the 363 children surveyed were egg-negative; the egg reduction rate was 99.4%.
      Of the 924 children who responded to the questionnaire, 95.5% showed awareness of
      schistosomiasis, although 76.2% reported contact with natural, unsafe bodies of
      water. Reported contact with water was significantly more frequent among infected
      than non-infected, and boys than girls. The results show persisting infection and
      risk behaviour among schoolchildren, regardless of their basic knowledge about
      schistosomiasis. These are grounds for implementing specific educational actions
      to improve awareness and behavioural change, jointly with other control measures,
      to attain the MoH goals.

PMID- 27647576
TI  - A 71-Year-Old Man Presenting with Headache, Blurry Vision and Alexia without
      Agraphia.

PMID- 27647575
TI  - Molecular surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance markers reveals
      partial recovery of chloroquine susceptibility but sustained sulfadoxine
      pyrimethamine resistance at two sites of different malaria transmission
      intensities in Rwanda.
AB  - Faced with intense levels of chloroquine (CQ) resistance in Plasmodium falciparum
      malaria, Rwanda replaced CQ with amodiaquine (AQ)+sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP)
      in 2001, and subsequently with artemether-lumefantrine (AL) in 2006, as first
      line treatments for uncomplicated malaria. Following years of discontinuation of
      CQ use, re-emergence of CQ-susceptible parasites has been reported in countries
      including Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania. In contrast, high levels of SP resistant
      mutant parasites continue to be reported even in countries of presumed reduced SP
      drug selection pressure. The prevalence and distributions of genetic
      polymorphisms linked with CQ and SP resistance at two sites of different malaria
      transmission intensities are described here to better understand drug-related
      genomic adaptations over time and exposure to varying drug pressures in Rwanda.
      Using filter paper blood isolates collected from P. falciparum infected patients,
      DNA was extracted and a nested PCR performed to identify resistance-mediating
      polymorphisms in the pfcrt, pfmdr1, pfdhps and pfdhfr genes. Amplicons from a
      total of 399 genotyped samples were analysed by ligase detection reaction
      fluorescent microsphere assay. CQ susceptible pfcrt 76K and pfmdr1 86N wild-type
      parasites were found in about 50% and 81% of isolates, respectively.
      Concurrently, SP susceptible pfdhps double (437G-540E), pfdhfr triple (108N-51I
      59R), quintuple pfdhps 437G-540E/pfdhfr 51I-59R-108N and sextuple haplotypes were
      found in about 84%, 85%, 74% and 18% of isolates, respectively. High-level SP
      resistance associated pfdhfr 164L and pfdhps 581G mutant prevalences were noted
      to decline. Mutations pfcrt 76T, pfdhfr 59R and pfdhfr 164L were found
      differentially distributed between the two study sites with the pfdhfr 164L
      mutants found only at Ruhuha site, eastern Rwanda. Overall, sustained intense
      levels of SP resistance mutations and a recovery of CQ susceptible parasites were
      found in this study following 7 years and 14 years of drug withdrawal from use,
      respectively. Most likely, the sustained high prevalence of resistant parasites
      is due to the use of DHFR/DHPS inhibitors like trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TS)
      for the treatment of and prophylaxis against bacterial infections among HIV
      infected individuals as well as the continued use of IPTp-SP within the East and
      Central African regions for malaria prevention among pregnant women. With regard
      to CQ, the slow recovery of CQ susceptible parasites may have been caused partly
      by the continued use of CQ and/or CQ mimicking antimalarial drugs like AQ in
      spite of policies to withdraw it from Rwanda and the neighbouring countries of
      Uganda and Tanzania. Continued surveillance of P. falciparum CQ and SP associated
      polymorphisms is recommended for guiding future rational drug policy-making and
      mitigation of future risk of anti-malaria drug resistance development.

PMID- 27647574
TI  - Trypanosome species, including Trypanosoma cruzi, in sylvatic and peridomestic
      bats of Texas, USA.
AB  - In contrast to other mammalian reservoirs, many bat species migrate long
      distances and have the potential to introduce exotic pathogens to new areas. Bats
      have long been associated with blood-borne protozoal trypanosomes of the
      Schizotrypanum subgenus, which includes the zoonotic parasite Trypanosoma cruzi,
      agent of Chagas disease. Another member of the subgenus, Trypanosoma dionisii,
      infects bats of Europe and South America, and genetic similarities between
      strains from the two continents suggest transcontinental movement of this
      parasite via bats. Despite the known presence of diverse trypanosomes in bats of
      Central and South America, and the presence of T. cruzi-infected vectors and
      wildlife in the US, the role of bats in maintaining and dispersing trypanosomes
      in the US has not yet been reported. We collected hearts and blood from 8 species
      of insectivorous bats from 30 counties across Texas. Using PCR and DNA
      sequencing, we tested 593 bats for trypanosomes and found 1 bat positive for T.
      cruzi (0.17%), 9 for T. dionisii (1.5%), and 5 for Blastocrithidia spp. (0.8%), a
      group of insect trypanosomes. The T. cruzi-infected bat was carrying TcI, the
      strain type associated with human disease in the US. In the T. dionisii-infected
      bats, we detected three unique variants associated with the three infected bat
      species. These findings represent the first report of T. cruzi in a bat in the
      US, of T. dionisii in North America, and of Blastocrithidia spp. in mammals, and
      underscore the importance of bats in the maintenance of trypanosomes, including
      agents of human and animal disease, across broad geographic locales.

PMID- 27647579
TI  - Separate spatial and temporal frequency tuning to visual motion in human MT+
      measured with ECoG.
AB  - The human middle temporal complex (hMT+) has a crucial biological relevance for
      the processing and detection of direction and speed of motion in visual stimuli.
      Here, we characterized how neuronal populations in hMT+ encode the speed of
      moving visual stimuli. We evaluated human intracranial electrocorticography
      (ECoG) responses elicited by square-wave dartboard moving stimuli with different
      spatial and temporal frequency to investigate whether hMT+ neuronal populations
      encode the stimulus speed directly, or whether they separate motion into its
      spatial and temporal components. We extracted two components from the ECoG
      responses: (1) the power in the high-frequency band (HFB: 65-95 Hz) as a measure
      of the neuronal population spiking activity and (2) a specific spectral component
      that followed the frequency of the stimulus's contrast reversals (SCR responses).
      Our results revealed that HFB neuronal population responses to visual motion
      stimuli exhibit distinct and independent selectivity for spatial and temporal
      frequencies of the visual stimuli rather than direct speed tuning. The SCR
      responses did not encode the speed or the spatiotemporal frequency of the visual
      stimuli. We conclude that the neuronal populations measured in hMT+ are not
      directly tuned to stimulus speed, but instead encode speed through separate and
      independent spatial and temporal frequency tuning. Hum Brain Mapp 38:293-307,
      2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647581
TI  - Mercy killing in neurology: The beginnings of neurology on screen (II).
AB  - The history of Neurocinema includes neuroethics, and this theme was first used in
      2 films released in the 1940s in both Germany and the United States. Ich Klage An
      (I Accuse) is about "terminal" multiple sclerosis in a young woman and the
      decision to determine one's own fate. The protagonist anticipates becoming "deaf,
      blind, and idiotic" and asks her husband to administer a toxic drug dose, which
      he does. The film disturbingly suggests that the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
      is tantamount to a death sentence. Ich Klage An (1941) played during the medical
      murders era ("Aktion T-4" program) but has few references to National Socialism,
      except for judges with Nazi emblems on their robes making a brief Nazi salute and
      a jury chamber with a bust of Hitler. Party leadership agreed that the film made
      a deep impression, but the intended effect on the viewing public is largely
      unknown. An Act of Murder (1948) involves another young woman with an inoperable
      brain tumor. When her condition worsens during a trip, her husband deliberately
      crashes the car, killing her but surviving himself. A subsequent trial finds that
      she died of an overdose rather than the crash. The trial judge dismisses the
      murder charge, but the film argues the morals of mercy killing. These films came
      out during the Nazi euthanasia program and founding of the Euthanasia Society of
      America in 1938. The choice of neurologic disease by these filmmakers and
      scriptwriters to defend euthanasia is remarkable. 

PMID- 27647578
TI  - Exploring hypotheses and rationale for causes of infantile colic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infantile colic is a frequent problem in neonates and infants. This
      review addresses current management including the results for nutrient
      modifications; soy-based formulas; and prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics.
      PURPOSE: Given the evidence that there is still an unmet clinical need, as
      current treatments are incompletely efficacious, we have examined the evidence
      around three hypothetical mechanisms that could potentially be involved in
      etiopathogenesis of infantile colic: immaturity of bile acid mechanisms that
      alter intraluminal and absorptive mechanisms, immaturity in motility and
      alterations in the microbiome. Understanding these potential mechanisms may lead
      to the introduction of diagnostic procedures that should enhance the selection or
      individualization of therapy for infantile colic.

PMID- 27647582
TI  - Acute spinal cord syndrome secondary to venous congestion.

PMID- 27647583
TI  - Late attacks of paroxysmal ocular tilt reaction.

PMID- 27647584
TI  - "Dark Victory" (prognosis negative): The beginnings of neurology on screen.

PMID- 27647585
TI  - The place of generic modified-release formulations for epilepsy: Slow and steady.

PMID- 27647586
TI  - Low-frequency and common genetic variation in ischemic stroke: The METASTROKE
      collaboration.

PMID- 27647587
TI  - Clinical Reasoning: A 73-year-old man with sarcoidosis and multifocal ischemic
      strokes.

PMID- 27647588
TI  - Clinical Reasoning: A case of subacute cognitive decline in a 76-year-old man.

PMID- 27647589
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: Skull and dural lesions in neurosyphilis.

PMID- 27647590
TI  - Teaching Video NeuroImages: Primary writing tremor: Lessons from a patient with
      multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27647593
TI  - Organochlorine pesticide exposure in mothers and neural tube defects in
      offsprings.
AB  - We explored the association between maternal exposure to organochlorine
      pesticides and neural tube defects (NTDs) in the offspring. Blood was collected
      from 35 mothers and their offsprings with NTDs (case group) and from 35 mothers
      neonate dyads without congenital anomalies (control group). The median blood
      levels of DDE, t-HCH and endosulphan in mothers in the case group and of
      dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE),
      total hexachlorocyclohexane (t-HCH) and endosulfan in the neonates with NTDs were
      significantly higher. Neonates with NTDs had 3.6 times more chances of having
      blood levels of endosulfan above the median level of the control group. Mothers
      delivering offsprings with NTDs had 11.3 times greater chances of having DDE
      levels above the median concentration in the control group. We recommend a
      restrained use of organochlorine pesticides like DDT, DDE, and endosulfan, while
      monitoring the expectant mothers closely for birth defects like NTDs.

PMID- 27647594
TI  - Evidence of oxidative damage and reproductive dysfunction accompanying 4
      vinylcyclohexene diepoxide exposure in female Wistar rats.
AB  - 4-Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) is an occupational chemical widely reported to
      deplete ovarian follicles in rodents. Here, we investigated VCD-induced
      reproductive dysfunction in female Wistar rats. The rats were orally administered
      with VCD (100, 250 and 500mg/kg) for twenty-eight days. Thereafter, we evaluated
      selected biomarkers of oxidative damage, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and
      apoptosis. We observed that VCD increased ovarian and uterine malondialdehyde
      (MDA) level, and catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione S
      transferase (GST) activities in rats (p<0.05). Also, VCD induced hormonal
      imbalance, increased ovarian superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and depleted
      uterine SOD activity and ovarian glutathione (GSH) level in rats (p<0.05).
      Lastly, VCD markedly increase immunohistochemical expressions of ovarian
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Caspase-9 and
      Caspase-3. Overall, VCD induced reproductive dysfunctions in rats via ovarian and
      uterine oxidative damage, hormonal imbalance, as well as inflammation and
      apoptosis in the ovary of rats.

PMID- 27647596
TI  - Dosimetric Verification around High-density Materials for External Beam
      Radiotherapy.
AB  - It is generally known that the dose distribution around the high-density
      materials is not accurate with commercially available radiation treatment
      planning systems (RTPS). Recently, Acuros XB (AXB) has been clinically available
      for dose calculation algorithm. The AXB is based on the linear Boltzmann
      transport equation - the governing equation - that describes the distribution of
      radiation particles resulting from their interactions with matter. The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate the dose calculation accuracy around high-density
      materials for AXB under three X-rays energy on the basis of measured values with
      EBT3 and compare AXB with various dose calculation algorithms (AAA, XVMC) in RTPS
      and Monte Carlo. First, two different metals, including titanium and stainless
      steel, were inserted at the center of a water-equivalent phantom, and the depth
      dose was measured with EBT3. Next, after a phantom which reproduced the geometry
      of measurement was virtually created in RTPS, dose distributions were calculated
      with three commercially available algorithms (AXB, AAA, and XVMC) and MC. The
      calculated doses were then compared with the measured ones. As a result, compared
      to other algorithms, it was found that the dose calculation accuracy of AXB at
      the exit side of high-density materials was comparable to that of MC and measured
      value with EBT3. However, note that AXB underestimated the dose up to
      approximately 30% at the plane of incidence because it cannot exactly estimate
      the impact of the backscatter.

PMID- 27647595
TI  - Evaluation of Size Correction Factor for Size-specific Dose Estimates (SSDE)
      Calculation.
AB  - American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Report No.204 recommends
      the size-specific dose estimates (SSDE), wherein SSDE=computed tomography dose
      index-volume (CTDIvol )*size correction factor (SCF), as an index of the CT dose
      to consider patient thickness. However, the study on SSDE has not been made yet
      for area detector CT (ADCT) device such as a 320-row CT scanner. The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate the SCF values for ADCT by means of a simulation
      technique to look into the differences in SCF values due to beam width. In the
      simulation, to construct the geometry of the Aquilion ONE X-ray CT system (120
      kV), the dose ratio and the effective energies were measured in the cone angle
      and fan angle directions, and these were incorporated into the simulation code,
      Electron Gamma Shower Ver.5 (EGS5). By changing the thickness of a PMMA phantom
      from 8 cm to 40 cm, CTDIvol and SCF were determined. The SCF values for the beam
      widths in conventional and volume scans were calculated. The differences among
      the SCF values of conventional, volume scans, and AAPM were up to 23.0%. However,
      when SCF values were normalized in a phantom of 16 cm diameter, the error tended
      to decrease for the cases of thin body thickness, such as those of children. It
      was concluded that even if beam width and device are different, the SCF values
      recommended by AAPM are useful in clinical situations.

PMID- 27647599
TI  - 4.COI: Conflict of Interest.

PMID- 27647597
TI  - Study of the Usefulness of the 3D-distortion Correction in MRI.
AB  - Static magnetic field non-uniformity and gradient magnetic field non-linearity
      can be considered as the causes of geometric distortion in MRI images. The impact
      of a distortion in imaging such as whole body imaging or whole spine imaging can
      be serious. A standard 2D-distortion correction method does not correct the
      distortion in the slice encoding direction. This study examined the effect of 3D
      distortion correction with a correction effect in both the imaging plane and the
      slice-encoding plane using three MRI devices with differing static magnetic field
      intensities and boa diameters. Imaging of a nickel sulfate bottle phantom
      attached to the MRI device was conducted using a CT scan to measure the
      distortion rate based on the CT image. The result of the distortion rate at 
      39.1% in the Z-axis direction was reduced to -1.3%, and the distortion rate at
      about -9.8% in the magnetic X-axis was reduced to -1.7%. In addition, the
      reduction effect was greater on the 70 cm boa device compared to the 60 cm boa
      device, and it was also greater at 1.5 T compared to 3 T. 3D-distortion
      correction is believed to be useful for wide scope imaging using large FOV.

PMID- 27647600
TI  - 8.Imaging of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

PMID- 27647602
TI  - Be Creative, And Be Challenging.

PMID- 27647601
TI  - Activity Report of JIRA Small and Medium Enterprise and Information Technology
      Industry Promotion Committee, Academic Society.

PMID- 27647603
TI  - The effect of thumb splinting on thenar muscles atrophy, pain, and function in
      subjects with thumb carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When the first carpometacarpal joint of the wrist is immobilized
      using an orthosis to combat the effects of osteoarthritis, atrophy of the thenar
      muscles may occur. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the thenar
      muscle diameter and cross-sectional area, joint function, and pain, before and
      after being supplied with an orthosis in patients with grades 1 and 2
      carpometacarpal osteoarthritis compared to a control group. STUDY DESIGN:
      Randomized clinical trial. METHODS: A total of 25 volunteer patients were
      randomized into two groups (an orthosis group and a control group) using a
      randomization table. A visual analog scale, the Michigan Hand Questionnaire, and
      ultrasound were used to measure pain, function, and specific muscle cross
      sectional areas at baseline and after 4 weeks in both groups. RESULTS: Mean
      visual analog scale pain scores decreased by 20% after 4 weeks of splinting,
      while those in the control group decreased by 3%. Changes in scores were
      significantly different between both groups ( p = 0.001). There was no
      significant difference between the groups in either the Michigan Hand
      Questionnaire score or the muscle cross-sectional area. CONCLUSION: A large and
      significant effect on perceived pain in patients with first carpometacarpal joint
      osteoarthritis was observed after 4 weeks of splint use. Differences in treatment
      effects were found with regard to muscle cross-sectional areas, but these were
      not significant. Clinical relevance Custom-made splints may be recommended for
      the treatment of first carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis. Moderate to large
      but non-significant treatment effects were found with regard to muscle cross
      sectional areas.

PMID- 27647604
TI  - Personal suffering and social criticism in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and A.
      Ginsberg's Howl: Implications for social psychiatry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and A. Ginsberg's Howl are two landmark
      poems of the 20th century which have a unique way of dealing with emotional
      suffering. AIMS: (a) To explore the interplay between emotional suffering,
      conflicting relationships and societal perceptions; (b) to show the therapeutic
      effect of the writing process; (c) to analyse the portrayal of 'madness'; and (d)
      to discuss, in contemporary psychiatric terms, the 'solutions' offered by the
      poets. METHOD: Qualitative research with a narrative, hermeneutic approach.
      RESULTS: Against the background of wartime/genocide and postwar disillusionment,
      close relationships are projected onto societal perceptions. Concepts of (self
      )control, compassion, empowerment and self-efficacy are offered as solutions to
      overcome feelings of despair. CONCLUSION: In a time of perceived societal and
      environmental crises, both poems help us understand people's fears and how to
      counteract them. Besides biological approaches, the narrative approach to the
      suffering human being has not lost its significance.

PMID- 27647605
TI  - Patients' perceptions of barriers to self-managing bipolar disorder: A
      qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-management of bipolar disorder (BD) is challenging for many
      individuals. MATERIAL: Interviews were used to assess perceived barriers to
      disease self-management among 21 high-risk patients with BD. Content analysis,
      with an emphasis on dominant themes, was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Three
      major domains of barriers emerged: individual barriers (psychological, knowledge,
      behavioral and physical health); family/community-level barriers (lack of support
      and resources); and provider/healthcare system (inadequate communication and
      access to care). CONCLUSION: Care approaches providing social and peer support,
      optimizing communication with providers and integrating medical and psychiatric
      care may improve self-management of BD in this vulnerable population.

PMID- 27647607
TI  - Rouviere's sulcus-Aspects of incorporating this valuable sign for laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy.
AB  - Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most common procedures performed
      worldwide. Despite advances in technique, injury to the common bile duct and
      blood vessels still occurs. Rouviere's sulcus, a naturally occurring cleft in the
      right lobe, anterior to Segment 1, occurs in over 80% of normal livers. It is a
      useful, but often ignored, anatomical landmark for beginning dissection of
      Calot's triangle, and also for confirming its location. Despite this, its
      usefulness is not widely known or appreciated by general surgeons. This article
      discusses the critical aspects of incorporating this useful landmark in safe
      laparoscopic surgery, including pitfalls, where the landmark may not be present
      or misleading. The useful mnemonic of "RANGERS"- Rouviere's At Neck of
      Gallbladder Eases Recognition of Structures, helps draw attention to the sulcus
      to facilitate safer laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PMID- 27647606
TI  - Effectiveness of Depression-Suicidal Behaviour Gatekeeper Training among police
      officers in three European regions: Outcomes of the Optimising Suicide Prevention
      Programmes and Their Implementation in Europe (OSPI-Europe) study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gatekeeper training for community facilitators, to identify and
      respond to those at risk of suicide, forms an important part of multi-level
      community-based suicide prevention programmes. AIMS: This study examined the
      effects of gatekeeper training on attitudes, knowledge and confidence of police
      officers in dealing with persons at risk of suicide. METHODS: A total of 828
      police officers across three European regions participated in a 4-hour training
      programme which addressed the epidemiology of depression and suicidal behaviour,
      symptoms of depression, warning signs and risk factors associated with suicidal
      behaviour, motivating help-seeking behaviour, dealing with acute suicidal crisis
      and informing bereaved relatives. Participants completed internationally
      validated questionnaires assessing stigmatising attitudes, knowledge about
      depression and confidence in dealing with suicidal persons pre- and post
      training. RESULTS: There were significant differences among countries in terms of
      previous exposure to suicidal persons and extent of previous training. Post
      training evaluation demonstrated significant improvements in stigmatising
      attitudes, knowledge and confidence in all three countries. CONCLUSION: The
      consistently positive effects of gatekeeper training of police officers across
      different regions support inclusion of this type of training as a fundamental
      part of multi-level community-based suicide prevention programmes and roll-out,
      nationally and internationally.

PMID- 27647610
TI  - Public health experts urge realistic pot laws.

PMID- 27647611
TI  - Cutting through the shame.

PMID- 27647612
TI  - Intervenors decry Charter challenge of medicare.

PMID- 27647613
TI  - Network tackles overprescribing.

PMID- 27647609
TI  - Lifetime risk of diabetes among First Nations and non-First Nations people.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lifetime risk is a relatively straightforward measure used to
      communicate disease burden, representing the cumulative risk of an outcome during
      the remainder of an individual's life starting from a disease-free index age. We
      estimated the lifetime risk of diabetes among men and women in both First Nations
      and non-First Nations populations using a cohort of adults in a single Canadian
      province. METHODS: We used a population-based cohort consisting of Alberta
      residents from 1997 to 2008 who were free of diabetes at cohort entry to estimate
      the lifetime risk of diabetes among First Nations and non-First Nations people.
      We calculated age-specific incidence rates with the person-year method in 5-year
      bands. We estimated the sex- and index-age-specific lifetime risk of incident
      diabetes, after adjusting for the competing risk of death. RESULTS: The cohort
      included 70 631 First Nations and 2 732 214 non-First Nations people aged 18
      years or older. The lifetime risk of diabetes at 20 years of age was 75.6% among
      men and 87.3% among women in the First Nations group, as compared with 55.6%
      among men and 46.5% among women in the non-First Nations group. The risk was
      higher among First Nations people than among non-First Nations people for all
      index ages and for both sexes. Among non-First Nations people, men had a higher
      lifetime risk of diabetes than women across all index ages. In contrast, among
      First Nations people, women had a higher lifetime risk than men across all index
      ages. INTERPRETATION: About 8 in 10 First Nations people and about 5 in 10 non
      First Nations people of young age will develop diabetes in their remaining
      lifetime. These population-based estimates may help health care planners and
      decision-makers set priorities and increase public awareness and interest in the
      prevention of diabetes.

PMID- 27647614
TI  - BC refutes Charter challenge of medicare.

PMID- 27647615
TI  - River otter bite in a 52-year-old woman: managing animal bites.

PMID- 27647617
TI  - Brodie abscess.

PMID- 27647616
TI  - Caring for patients with opioid use disorder in the hospital.

PMID- 27647619
TI  - Application of Rasch analysis in the development and psychometric evaluation of
      dental undergraduates preparedness assessment scale.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure
      preparedness of new dental graduates. METHODS: The scale development and
      validation was carried out using the Rasch measurement model. Following a pilot
      and pre-testing of the scale, a national study was undertaken with undergraduate
      students from all dental schools as well as foundation dentists in UK. RESULTS:
      To examine the internal validity of the scale, we conducted a Rasch analysis.
      External validity of the scale was checked through validation with a range of
      stakeholders. An excellent fit to the Rasch model provided evidence of internal
      construct validity. The scale demonstrated invariance, ordered thresholds and
      lack of differential item functioning. Unidimensionality of the scale was
      confirmed by independent t-tests. The PSI value was 0.877, indicating a good
      degree of person separation and internal consistency. Test-retest reliability of
      the scale was also established. CONCLUSIONS: The preparedness scale developed in
      this project reflects innovative research using a systematic approach and
      employment of modern psychometric methods. The scale can be used for assessment
      of the preparedness of undergraduate students by dental educators and potential
      employers as well as by the student for self-assessment.

PMID- 27647621
TI  - Looking Forward and Looking Back: The Likelihood of an Event's Future
      Reoccurrence Affects Perceptions of the Time It Occurred in the Past.
AB  - Past events are perceived to be temporally more distant when they are unlikely
      rather than likely to reoccur in the future. This can be because (a) future
      events that are unlikely to occur are perceived to be temporally remote and (b)
      these feelings of remoteness can generalize and influence subjective distance
      judgments of the events' occurrences in the past. Six studies confirmed this
      effect and provided insights into the processes that underlie it. Alternative
      interpretations and implications of the current findings are discussed.

PMID- 27647620
TI  - Chronic bronchitis incidence in the extended cohort of Mayak workers first
      employed during 1948-1982.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This paper describes findings from the study of chronic bronchitis
      (CB) incidence after occupational exposure to ionising radiation among workers
      employed at Russian Mayak Production Association (PA) during 1948 and 1982 and
      followed up until 2008 based on 'Mayak Worker Dosimetry System 2008'. METHODS:
      Analyses were based on 2135 verified cases among 21 417 workers. Rate ratios (RR)
      were estimated by categorical analysis for non-radiation and radiation factors.
      Excess rate ratios per Gy (ERR/Gy) of external or internal exposures with
      adjustments via stratification on other factors were calculated. RESULTS: The
      interesting finding in relation to non-radiation factors was a sharp increase in
      the RR for CB incidence before 1960, which could be caused by a number of
      factors. Analyses restricted to the follow-up after 1960 revealed statistically
      significant associations of the CB incidence and external gamma-ray radiation,
      ERR/Gy=0.14 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.28) having adjusted for sex, attained age, calendar
      period, plant, smoking status and lung alpha-particle dose, and internal alpha
      particle radiation, ERR/Gy=1.14 (95% CI 0.41 to 2.18) having adjusted for sex,
      attained age, calendar period, plant, smoking status and lung gamma-ray dose and
      ERR/Gy=1.19 (95% CI 0.32 to 2.53) having additionally adjusted for pre-employment
      occupational hazards and smoking index instead of smoking status. CONCLUSIONS:
      Analyses of CB incidence in the study cohort identified positive significant
      association with occupational exposure to radiation: however, there are no
      similar studies of CB incidence in relation to radiation in other cohorts to date
      with which a meaningful comparison of the results could be made.

PMID- 27647618
TI  - The added value of C-reactive protein measurement in diagnosing pneumonia in
      primary care: a meta-analysis of individual patient data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: C-reactive protein (CRP) is increasingly being included in the
      diagnostic work-up for community-acquired pneumonia in primary care. Its added
      diagnostic value beyond signs and symptoms, however, remains unclear. We
      conducted a meta-analysis of individual patient data to quantify the added value
      of CRP measurement. METHODS: We included studies of the diagnostic accuracy of
      CRP in adult outpatients with suspected lower respiratory tract infection. We
      contacted authors of eligible studies for inclusion of data and for additional
      data as needed. The value of adding CRP measurement to a basic signs-and-symptoms
      prediction model was assessed. Outcome measures were improvement in
      discrimination between patients with and without pneumonia in primary care and
      improvement in risk classification, both within the individual studies and across
      studies. RESULTS: Authors of 8 eligible studies (n = 5308) provided their data
      sets. In all of the data sets, discrimination between patients with and without
      pneumonia improved after CRP measurement was added to the prediction model
      (extended model), with a mean improvement in the area under the curve of 0.075
      (range 0.02-0.18). In a hypothetical cohort of 1000 patients, the proportion of
      patients without pneumonia correctly classified at low risk increased from 28% to
      36% in the extended model, and the proportion with pneumonia correctly classified
      at high risk increased from 63% to 70%. The number of patients with pneumonia
      classified at low risk did not change (n = 4). Overall, the proportion of
      patients assigned to the intermediate-risk category decreased from 56% to 51%.
      INTERPRETATION: Adding CRP measurement to the diagnostic work-up for suspected
      pneumonia in primary care improved the discrimination and risk classification of
      patients. However, it still left a substantial group of patients classified at
      intermediate risk, in which clinical decision-making remains challenging.

PMID- 27647622
TI  - Prevalence of Celiac Disease Is Not Increased in ADHD Sample.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence of
      celiac disease (CD) in children and adolescents with ADHD. METHOD: In all, 102
      participants between 4 and 18 years of age diagnosed with ADHD participated in
      the study (M = 12.8 years; 84 boys and 18 girls). CD was diagnosed according to
      the adapted guidelines of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology,
      Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPHGAN). RESULTS: Among 102 tested children and
      teenagers with ADHD, we did not find anyone with suspected CD, so further
      diagnostic procedures for CD were not indicated. CONCLUSION: In our sample of
      children and teenagers with ADHD, the prevalence of CD was not higher than in the
      general population. On the basis of the obtained results and the results of
      similar studies, we conclude that there are not enough data to support screening
      for CD and the introduction of a gluten-free diet in children with ADHD unless
      there are additional indications.

PMID- 27647623
TI  - Continuous wavelet analysis of postprandial EGGs suggests sustained gastric slow
      waves may be slow to develop in infants with colic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electrogastrography in conjunction with Fast Fourier transform has
      limited success in detecting low grade abnormalities in gastric
      electrophysiological activity owing to the non-stationarity of the signal.
      Analysis by continuous wavelet transform is suitable for non-stationary signals
      and was used to analyse EGG activity in babies with and without colic. METHODS:
      Thirty minute postprandial EGG recordings were obtained from 23 sleeping breast
      fed infants with clinically validated recurrent colic and 26 breast-fed non
      colicky infants. Continuous wavelet transform analysis (CWT) identified three
      principal frequency components. The mean, standard deviation, and the number of
      frequency maxima that fell below one standard deviation from the mean were
      determined for each infant and each frequency. KEY RESULTS: Three component
      frequencies in the ranges 1.4-2.5 cpm, 2.5-4.0 cpm, and 4.0-15 cpm were found in
      all EGGs. Pairwise comparisons of the characteristics of each of the frequency
      ranges by univariate analyses showed significant differences between colicky and
      non-colicky subjects only in the number of maxima in the mid range of frequencies
      that lay below one standard deviation from the mean. However, CWT based on all
      frequencies allowed discrimination of the EGGS of colicky from non-colicky babies
      on a basis of number of frequency maxima below one standard deviation from the
      mean in the midrange of frequencies and in the mean and standard deviation in the
      low range of frequencies that was likely a harmonic of the midrange. CONCLUSIONS
      & INFERENCES: CWT allowed distinction of EGG signals from colicky and healthy
      babies. The results indicate that colic may result from tardiness in the
      establishment of coherent propagation of the gastric slow wave in colicky babies.

PMID- 27647624
TI  - Corrigendum to "Implications for women of Louisiana's law requiring abortion
      providers to have hospital admitting privileges" [Contraception (2015) 91:368-72.
      doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2015.02.001].

PMID- 27647625
TI  - Risk factors for short- and long-term mortality in very old patients with
      Clostridium difficile infection: A retrospective study.
AB  - AIM: Most cases of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) occur in patients aged
      65 years and older. Older age is associated with increased mortality. Risk
      factors for mortality in patients aged 80 years and older are not well
      recognized. METHODS: We analyzed retrospective data including 184 patients aged
      80 years and older hospitalized with CDI during 2009-2014. We aimed to delineate
      risk factors for short- and long-term mortality. RESULTS: The 30-day mortality
      was 33.2%; 1-year mortality was 64.7%. Median survival was 110 days
      (interquartile range 24-655 days). All four patients who underwent colectomy
      died. Risk factors for 30-day mortality in multivariate analysis were diabetes
      mellitus, low albumin and therapy other than metronidazole monotherapy, the
      latter probably reflecting higher severity of disease rather than a true
      predictor of mortality. Risk factors for long-term mortality analyzed in Cox
      regression were albumin <=2.5 g/dL (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.395-0.850), presentation
      with sepsis (HR 0.597, 95% CI 0.408-0.873), a non-independent activities of daily
      living baseline status (HR 0.460, 95% CI 0.236--0.897) and Charlson score (HR
      0.867, 95% CI 0.801-0.938). None of the traditional severity indices for CDI
      (such as leukocytosis or creatinine increase) proved to be predictors of
      mortality over the age of 80 years. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis of old patients
      with CDI is dismal. Considering the high mortality, efforts to prevent CDI should
      be first priority in patients aged 80 years and older. Assessment of albumin
      levels should be part of the evaluation at presentation and considered when
      choosing treatment, rather than standard severity indexes for CDI. Geriatr
      Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1378-1383.

PMID- 27647628
TI  - Results from oral gavage carcinogenicity studies of ruxolitinib in Tg.rasH2 mice
      and Sprague-Dawley (Crl:CD) rats.
AB  - Ruxolitinib is a selective and potent inhibitor of Janus kinase (JAK) 1 and JAK2.
      It is approved for the treatment of patients with intermediate or high-risk
      myelofibrosis, or those with polycythemia vera who have had an inadequate
      response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea. To investigate its carcinogenic
      potential, ruxolitinib was administered by oral gavage once daily to Tg.rasH2
      mice for 6 months at doses of 15, 45 or 125 mg/kg/day, and to Sprague-Dawley
      (Crl:CD) rats for 2 years at 10, 20 or 60 mg/kg/day. Ruxolitinib had no effect on
      survival, and did not increase the incidence of any neoplastic findings in either
      species. Exposure (AUC) was similar to or exceeded that associated with
      therapeutic use. Lymphoid depletion and a decrease in extramedullary
      hematopoiesis in the spleen occurred in rats, which were attributed to the
      pharmacologic activity of ruxolitinib. In Tg.rasH2 mice, increased inflammation
      in the nasal cavity was observed. Dose-dependent decreases in a number of
      spontaneous neoplastic/preneoplastic lesions were observed in rats, including
      mammary tumors in females, adrenal pheochromocytomas in males, hepatocellular
      adenomas/carcinomas in males, and hepatic basophilic (males and females) and
      eosinophilic (males) foci. Peribiliary fibrosis was also decreased. Clear cell
      foci in the liver were increased in females. Based on the results of these
      studies, ruxolitinib is not considered to be carcinogenic.

PMID- 27647626
TI  - Social and Financial Outcomes of Living Liver Donation: A Prospective
      Investigation Within the Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort
      Study 2 (A2ALL-2).
AB  - Because results from single-center (mostly kidney) donor studies demonstrate
      interpersonal relationship and financial strains for some donors, we conducted a
      liver donor study involving nine centers within the Adult-to-Adult Living Donor
      Liver Transplantation Cohort Study 2 (A2ALL-2) consortium. Among other
      initiatives, A2ALL-2 examined the nature of these outcomes following donation.
      Using validated measures, donors were prospectively surveyed before donation and
      at 3, 6, 12, and 24 mo after donation. Repeated-measures regression models were
      used to examine social relationship and financial outcomes over time and to
      identify relevant predictors. Of 297 eligible donors, 271 (91%) consented and
      were interviewed at least once. Relationship changes were positive overall across
      postdonation time points, with nearly one-third reporting improved donor family
      and spousal or partner relationships and >50% reporting improved recipient
      relationships. The majority of donors, however, reported cumulative out-of-pocket
      medical and nonmedical expenses, which were judged burdensome by 44% of donors.
      Lower income predicted burdensome donation costs. Those who anticipated financial
      concerns and who held nonprofessional positions before donation were more likely
      to experience adverse financial outcomes. These data support the need for
      initiatives to reduce financial burden.

PMID- 27647629
TI  - Residue behavior and dietary intake risk assessment of three fungicides in
      tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) under greenhouse conditions.
AB  - The residue behavior and dietary intake risk of three fungicides (pyrimethanil,
      iprodione, kresoxim-methyl) in tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) grown in
      greenhouse were investigated. A simple, rapid analytical method for the
      quantification of fungicide residues in tomatoes was developed using gas
      chromatography coupled with mass spectrum detection (GC-MSD). The fortified
      recoveries were ranged from 87% to 103% with relative standard deviations (RSDs)
      varied from 4.7% to 12.1%. The results indicated that the dissipation rate of the
      studied fungicides in tomatoes followed first order kinetics with half lives in
      the range of 8.6-11.5 days. The final residues of all the fungicides in tomatoes
      were varied from 0.241 to 0.944 mg/kg. The results of dietary intake assessment
      indicated that the dietary intake of the three fungicides from tomatoes
      consumption for Chinese consumers were acceptable. This study would provide more
      understanding of residue behavior and dietary intake risk by these fungicides
      used under greenhouse conditions.

PMID- 27647630
TI  - A practice analysis of toxicology.
AB  - In 2015, the American Board of Toxicology (ABT), with collaboration from the
      Society of Toxicology (SOT), in consultation with Professional Examination
      Service, performed a practice analysis study of the knowledge required for
      general toxicology. The purpose of this study is to help assure that the
      examination and requirements for attainment of Diplomate status are relevant to
      modern toxicology and based upon an empirical foundation of knowledge. A profile
      of the domains and tasks used in toxicology practice was developed by subject
      matter experts representing a broad range of experiences and perspectives. An on
      line survey of toxicologists, including Diplomates of the ABT and SOT members,
      confirmed the delineation. Results of the study can be used to improve
      understanding of toxicology practice, to better serve all toxicologists, and to
      present the role of toxicologists to those outside the profession. Survey results
      may also be used by the ABT Board of Directors to develop test specifications for
      the certifying examination and will be useful for evaluating and updating the
      content of professional preparation, development, and continuing education
      programs.

PMID- 27647632
TI  - The relevance of good research reporting.

PMID- 27647631
TI  - An enzymatic approach to configurationally rare trans-androsteronyl-alpha
      glucoside and Its potential anticancer application.
AB  - Enzymatic glycosylation of sterols/steroids with glycosyltransferase HP0421 shows
      protein plasticity on generation of configurationally rare steryl-alpha
      glucosides. Investigation of trans-androsteronyl-alpha-glucoside on tamoxifen
      treated MCF-7 breast cancer cells shows dose-dependent depression of cell
      viability and enhanced drug effectiveness, illustrating a new avenue for the
      production of novel steryl-alpha-glucosides with useful biological activities.

PMID- 27647633
TI  - Classifying change and heterogeneity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PMID- 27647634
TI  - Worldwide collaboration in the Microbleeds International Collaborative Network.

PMID- 27647635
TI  - Towards new methods of diagnosis in disorders of consciousness.

PMID- 27647636
TI  - Towards new methods of diagnosis in disorders of consciousness - Authors' reply.

PMID- 27647637
TI  - Haematoma expansion and vitamin K antagonist reversal.

PMID- 27647639
TI  - The sharp drop in the number of faculty positions is compromising the future of
      neuroscience.

PMID- 27647638
TI  - Haematoma expansion and vitamin K antagonist reversal - Authors' reply.

PMID- 27647640
TI  - Calpain 1 in neurodegeneration: a therapeutic target?

PMID- 27647641
TI  - Claudia Lucchinetti: clinician, scientist, and leader.

PMID- 27647643
TI  - Sonoko Misawa.

PMID- 27647642
TI  - Painting neurofibromatosis type 1 in the 15th century.

PMID- 27647645
TI  - Insomnia, parasomnias, and narcolepsy in children: clinical features, diagnosis,
      and management.
AB  - Sleep problems are frequently encountered as presenting complaints in child
      neurology clinical practice. They can affect the functioning and quality of life
      of children, particularly those with primary neurological and neurodevelopmental
      disorders, since coexisting sleep problems can add substantially to
      neurocognitive and behavioural comorbidities. Additionally, symptoms of some
      sleep disorders such as parasomnias and narcolepsy can be confused with those of
      other neurological disorders (eg, epilepsy), posing diagnostic challenges for
      paediatric neurologists. The understanding of the neurophysiology of sleep
      disorders such as insomnia, parasomnias, and narcolepsy is still evolving. There
      is a complex relation between the sleeping brain and its waking function. The
      interplay among genetic factors, alterations in neurotransmitters,
      electrophysiological changes, and environmental factors potentially contribute to
      the genesis of these sleep disorders.

PMID- 27647647
TI  - Positive state observer for the automatic control of the depth of anesthesia
      Clinical results.
AB  - The depth of anesthesia (DoA) is a crucial feature in general anesthesia.
      Nowadays the DoA is usually evaluated by the bispectral index (BIS). According to
      the surgical procedure, different reference levels for the BIS may be clinically
      required. This can be achieved by the simultaneous administration of an analgesic
      (e.g. remifentanil) and an hypnotic (eg propofol). As a contribution to the
      effort of automating the processes of drug delivery in general anesthesia, in
      this paper, a positive state observer is designed for the implementation of a
      control scheme proposed for the automatic administration of propofol and of
      remifentanil, in order to track a desired level for the BIS. It is proved and
      illustrated by simulations that the controller-observer scheme has a very good
      performance. This scheme was implemented, tested and evaluated both by means of
      simulations and for a set of patients during surgical procedures.

PMID- 27647646
TI  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: moving towards a new classification system.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive adult-onset neurodegenerative
      disease that primarily affects upper and lower motor neurons, but also
      frontotemporal and other regions of the brain. The extent to which each neuronal
      population is affected varies between individuals. The subsequent patterns of
      disease progression form the basis of diagnostic criteria and phenotypic
      classification systems, with considerable overlap in the clinical terms used.
      This overlap can lead to confusion between diagnosis and phenotype. Formal
      classification systems such as the El Escorial criteria and the International
      Classification of Diseases are systematic approaches but they omit features that
      are important in clinical management, such as rate of progression, genetic basis,
      or functional effect. Therefore, many neurologists use informal classification
      approaches that might not be systematic, and could include, for example,
      anatomical descriptions such as flail-arm syndrome. A new strategy is needed to
      combine the benefits of a systematic approach to classification with the rich and
      varied phenotypic descriptions used in clinical practice.

PMID- 27647648
TI  - The novel HLA-C*15:103 is characterised by an amino acid substitution in the
      alpha 2 domain.
AB  - HLA-C*15:103 allele is characterised by one amino acid substitution in the alpha
      2 domain.

PMID- 27647649
TI  - [Patient information before bladder wall injection of botulinum toxin A
      (Botox(r)): Which essential items? Results of Delphi consensus from GENULF
      experts].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Preoperative information before bladder wall injection of botulinum
      toxin A (Botox(r)) holds several essential facts to understand and retain by the
      patients. The aim of this study was a review of essential preoperative
      information items according to GENULF medical experts. METHOD: It was a
      prospective review from December 2015 to April 2016. Three Delphi rounds had been
      done from the Survey Monkey(r) software. The initial questionnaire was composed
      of items from the patient information sheet edited by the GENULF. Each item had
      been rated by the medical expert on a numeric scale of importance for patient
      information. The last round asked to experts to confirm items eventually
      selected. RESULTS: A list of 27 items regarded as essentials for patient
      information had been checked by experts after three Delphi rounds, confirmed by
      15/19 experts (75%). Best rated items were "learning self-catheterisation is
      essential" (mean interest 8,5/9 ; number of rate 8 or 9: 15), "kidney are
      protected over the long term" (mean interest 8,3/9 ; number of rate 8 or 9: 15),
      "efficiency is 6 to 9 months long" (mean interest 8,2/9 ; number of rate 8 or 9:
      14). Discrepancies were mostly on lack of distinction between neurologic and non
      neurologic patients. CONCLUSION: We identified accurate items considered as
      essential for preoperative information to patients before bladder wall injection
      of botulinum toxin A (Botox(r)) by a Delphi method recommended by HAS. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: 4.

PMID- 27647650
TI  - [Andrologic consequences of chronic renal failure: State of the art for the
      yearly scientific report of the French National Association of Urology].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the state of the art of current knowledge regarding
      gonadal consequences of end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and renal
      transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A systematic review of the literature
      search was performed from the databases Medline (NLM, Pubmed) and Embase, focused
      on the following keywords: "chronic kidney disease"; "chronic renal failure";
      "hypogonadism"; "kidney transplantation"; "testicular dysfunction";
      "testosterone". Publications obtained were selected based on methodology,
      language, date of publication (last 10 years) and relevance. Prospective and
      retrospective studies, in English or French, review articles; meta-analysis and
      guidelines were selected and analyzed. This search found 383 articles. After
      reading titles and abstracts, 51 were included in the text, based on their
      relevance. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypogonadism in CKD is reported between 24
      % and 66 %, and decreases partially after renal transplantation. This is a
      hypogonadotropic hypogonadism whose pathophysiology is multifactorial, involving
      mainly a primitive testicular deficit, a hypothalamic-pituitary dysregulation,
      and an hyperprolactinemia. The consequences of this hypogonadism are not only
      sexual but also contribute to anemia, sarcopenia, atherosclerosis, and
      potentially in the progression of CKD. Hypogonadism is an independent risk factor
      for mortality in CKD patients. CONCLUSIONS: CKD is frequently associated with an
      hypogonadism whose correction is validated only in the setting of erectile
      dysfunction treatment. The other benefits of the correction of hypogonadism in
      the CKD patients, including overall survival, needs to be evaluated.

PMID- 27647651
TI  - [Urinary lithiasis in renal transplant recipient].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report epidemiology and characteristics of urinary lithiasis and
      its management in kidney allograft at the time of organ procurement or after
      kidney transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An exhaustive systematic review of
      the scientific literature was performed in the Medline database
      (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Embase (http://www.embase.com) using different
      associations of the following keywords (MESH): urinary lithiasis, stone, kidney
      transplantation. Publications obtained were selected based on methodology,
      language, date of publication (last 10 years) and relevance. Prospective and
      retrospective studies, in English or French, review articles; meta-analysis and
      guidelines were selected and analyzed. This search found 58 articles. After
      reading, 37 were included in the text based on their relevance. RESULTS:
      Frequency of urinary lithiasis in renal transplant recipient is similar to those
      observed in the general population. Generally, urinary lithiasis of the graft is
      asymptomatic because of renal denervation after organ procurement and
      transplantation. Nevertheless, this situation may be at high risk due to the
      immunosuppressed state of the recipient with a unique functioning kidney. Most of
      the time, the diagnosis is incidental during routine post-transplantation follow
      up. Management of urolithiasis in renal transplant recipient is similar to that
      performed in general population. CONCLUSION: Due to its potential severity in
      transplanted immunosuppressed patients with a sole kidney, urolithiasis requires
      expert urological management.

PMID- 27647653
TI  - RAFT-Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly and Reorganizations: Ultrahigh
      Molecular-Weight Polymer and Morphology-Tunable Micro-/Nanoparticles in One Pot.
AB  - A one-pot method is introduced for the successful synthesis of narrow-distributed
      (D = 1.22) vinyl polymer with both ultrahigh molecular weight (UHMW) (M w = 1.31
      * 106 g mol-1 ) and micro-/nanomorphology under mild conditions. The method
      involves the following four stages: homogeneous polymerization, polymerization
      induced self-assembly (PISA), PISA and reorganization, and PISA and multiple
      reorganizations. The key points to the production of UHMW polystyrene are to
      minimize radical termination by segregating radicals in different nanoreactors
      and to ensure sufficient chain propagation by promoting further reorganizations
      of these reactors in situ. This method therefore endows polymeric materials with
      the outstanding properties of both UHMW and tunable micro-/nanoparticles under
      mild conditions in one pot.

PMID- 27647655
TI  - Repeated daily restraint stress induces adaptive behavioural changes in both
      adult and juvenile mice.
AB  - Chronic stress is known to be a risk factor for the development of depression and
      anxiety, disorders which often begin during adolescence. Restraint stress is a
      commonly used stressor in adult rodents, however the effects of repeated
      restraint stress in juvenile mice have not been well characterised. Here we have
      shown for the first time the behavioural and hormonal effects of repeated
      restraint stress in both adult and juvenile BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Repeated
      daily restraint stress (2h/day for 3, 7 or 14days) provoked a robust
      physiological response evident as increased corticosterone levels and decreased
      body weight after 14days. However, habituation of the stress-response was evident
      during repeated exposure to the stressor in both adult and juvenile mice. The
      behavioural changes seen in response to repeated restraint stress were complex.
      In juvenile mice, repeated restraint stress evoked an increase in exploratory
      behaviours in the elevated plus maze, a decrease in time spent immobile in the
      forced swim test and a decrease in sucrose preference. In adult mice fewer
      behavioural changes were seen. Interestingly BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice showed
      qualitatively similar response to 3days repeated restraint stress. The
      behavioural changes we observed, as a result of prior stress exposure, may
      represent an adaptive stress-coping response or resilience. Both the hormonal and
      behavioural effects of stress were more pronounced in juvenile mice than in
      adults. This wider range of behavioural responses seen in juvenile mice might
      reflect a greater ability to engage in adaptive stress-coping strategies that
      likely have beneficial effects evident in future stress challenges.

PMID- 27647656
TI  - Hair growth promoting effect of dermal papilla like tissues from canine adipose
      derived mesenchymal stem cells through vascular endothelial growth factor.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the protein expression pattern and
      the in vivo trichogenicity of dermal papilla-like tissues (DPLTs) made from
      canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) in athymic nude mice. Canine
      ASCs were isolated and cultured from adipose tissue, and differentiation was
      induced by culturing ASCs in dermal papilla forming media. DPLTs were embedded in
      collagen gel, and their structural characteristics and protein expression were
      evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin stain and immunohistochemistry. Athymic nude
      mice were divided into two groups (control and DPLTs groups), and DPLTs were
      injected in skin wounds of mice in the DPLTs group. The trichogenicity of DPLTs
      was assessed by gross and histological evaluations for 30 days. The fate and the
      growth factor-secretion effect of DPLTs were evaluated by immunohistochemistry
      and Western blotting. DPLTs have a compact aggregated structure, form
      extracellular matrix and highly express the protein specific for dermal papillae,
      including ALP and versican. New hair follicle formation was remarkable in nude
      mice of the DPLTs group in gross findings and H&E stain. Vascularization was
      increased in the DPLTs group, which was the effect of vascular endothelial growth
      factor secreted by DPLTs in vitro and in vivo. These data suggest that engineered
      canine DPLTs have characteristics of dermal papillae and have a positive effect
      on hair regeneration by secreting growth factors.

PMID- 27647658
TI  - A Global Antimicrobial Conservation Fund for Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

PMID- 27647657
TI  - Up-Regulation of PKR Signaling Pathway by Ethanol Displays an Age of Onset
      Dependent Relationship.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ethanol (EtOH) neurotoxicity can result in devastating effects on
      brain and behavior by disrupting homeostatic signaling cascades and inducing cell
      death. One such mechanism involves double-stranded RNA activated protein kinase
      (PKR), a primary regulator of protein translation and cell viability in the
      presence of a virus or other external stimuli. EtOH-mediated up-regulation of
      interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma; the oxidative stress-inducible regulator of PKR),
      PKR, and its target, p53, are still being fully elucidated. METHODS: Using
      Western blot analysis, immunofluorescence, and linear regression analyses,
      changes in the IFN-gamma-PKR-p53 pathway following chronic EtOH treatment in the
      frontal cortex of rodents were examined. The role of PKR on cell viability was
      also assessed in EtOH-treated cells using PKR overexpression vector and PKR
      inhibitor (PKRI). RESULTS: In rats chronically fed EtOH, PKR, phosphorylated PKR
      (p-PKR), IFN-gamma, and p53 were significantly increased following chronic EtOH
      exposure. Linear regression revealed a significant correlation between IFN-gamma
      and p-PKR protein levels, as well as p-PKR expression and age of EtOH exposure.
      Overexpression of PKR resulted in greater cell death, while use of PKRI enhanced
      cell viability in EtOH-treated cells. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic EtOH exposure
      activates the IFN-gamma-PKR-p53 pathway in the frontal cortex of rodents. p-PKR
      expression is greater in brains of rodents exposed to EtOH at earlier ages
      compared to later life, suggesting a mechanism by which young brains could be
      more susceptible to EtOH-related brain injury. PKR and p-PKR were also
      colocalized in neurons and astrocytes of rats. This study provides additional
      insight into biochemical mechanisms underlying alcohol use disorder related
      neuropathology and warrants further investigation of PKR as a potential
      pharmacotherapeutic target to combat EtOH-related neurotoxicity, loss of protein
      translation and brain injury.

PMID- 27647659
TI  - Positive influence of a dental anaesthesia simulation model on the perception of
      learning by Mexican dental students.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study evaluated the influence of three-repetition training
      with a dental anaesthesia simulation model (DASM) on the perception of learning
      by dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dental students who had never used a
      dental anaesthesia technique were randomly divided into two groups that were
      taught the anterior superior alveolar nerve infiltrative anaesthesia technique.
      Group 1 (G1; N = 10) followed a three-stage learning method: (i) theoretical
      lecture, (ii) clinical demonstration and (iii) DASM training, including three
      repetitions of the anaesthesia technique. Group 2 (G2; N = 10) followed only the
      1st and 2nd stages. The students in both groups then performed the anaesthesia
      technique. The perception of the students was evaluated by four learning
      concepts. Each was evaluated with a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The
      average score of each item of the questionnaire for G1 was compared with that of
      G2. Statistically significant differences were identified with the Mann-Whitney
      test. The average working time of each group was timed and compared by Student's
      t-test to identify possible statistically significant differences. RESULTS:
      Students in G1 showed higher average scores of perception in controlling the
      handling of the dental syringe and confidence in performing the injection (P <
      0.05) and showed an average working time shorter than that of the students in G2
      (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The DASM positively influenced the perception learning of
      the dental students; it increased their confidence and syringe handling ability,
      as well as skills to perform the injection of anaesthesia more quickly.

PMID- 27647660
TI  - Subcortical roles in lexical task processing: Inferences from thalamic and
      subthalamic event-related potentials.
AB  - Subcortical functions for language capacities are poorly defined, but may be
      investigated in the context of deep brain stimulation. Here, we studied event
      related potentials recorded from electrodes in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and
      the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) together with surface-EEG.
      Participants completed a lexical decision task (LDT), which required the
      differentiation of acoustically presented words from pseudo-words by button
      press. Target stimuli were preceded by prime-words. In recordings from VIM, a
      slow potential shift apparent at the lower electrode contacts persisted during
      target stimulus presentation (equally for words and pseudo-words). In contrast,
      recordings from STN electrodes showed a short local activation on prime-words but
      not target-stimuli. In both depth-recording regions, further components related
      to contralateral motor responses to target words were evident. On scalp level,
      mid-central activations on (pseudo)lexical stimuli were obtained, in line with
      the expression of N400 potentials. The prolonged activity recorded from VIM,
      exclusively accompanying the relevant LDT phase, is in line with the idea of
      thalamic "selective engagement" for supporting the realization of the behavioral
      focus demanded by the task. In contrast, the phasic prime related activity rather
      indicates "procedural" STN functions, for example, for trial sequencing or
      readiness inhibition of prepared target reactions. Hum Brain Mapp 38:370-383,
      2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647663
TI  - The White House Organ Summit.

PMID- 27647662
TI  - Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency predicts poor outcome amongst acute
      ischaemic stroke patients with low high density lipoprotein cholesterol.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Current observational studies indicate that a lower
      vitamin D level is associated with a higher risk of poor ischaemic stroke
      prognosis. Whether this association is affected by lipid levels is unclear. Our
      aim was to examine the effect of serum vitamin D especially its deficiency on the
      global outcome of ischaemic stroke stratified by individual lipid component
      level. METHODS: A total of 3181 ischaemic patients from China Antihypertensive
      Trial in Acute Ischaemic Stroke were included in this study and their baseline
      serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were tested. They were prospectively followed up
      for death, major disability and vascular events for 3 months after acute
      ischaemic stroke. A multivariable logistic model was used to evaluate the
      association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and clinical outcomes of
      ischaemic stroke in the 3-month period of follow-up in all patients and in
      different lipid-level subgroups. RESULTS: Vitamin D deficiency was associated
      with poor clinical outcomes only in ischaemic stroke patients with high density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) <1.04 mmol/l rather than all patients. The
      multivariable adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of major disability
      and composite adverse events were 1.98 (1.08-3.63) and 2.24 (1.22-4.12),
      respectively. There was a significant interaction effect between vitamin D and
      HDLC levels on major disability and the composite outcome (P for interaction <
      0.05 for both). A significant linear trend existed between 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      and risk of poor prognosis (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency may be
      merely an independent risk factor of poor prognosis in ischaemic stroke patients
      with low HDLC level.

PMID- 27647665
TI  - Indications, complications and outcomes of elderly patients undergoing
      retrievable inferior vena cava filter placement.
AB  - AIM: The utilization of inferior vena cava filter placement for pulmonary
      embolism prevention in elderly patients has not been well characterized. The
      present study aimed to review indications, complications and follow-up data of
      elderly patients undergoing inferior vena cava filter placement. METHODS: A
      retrospective review was carried out of consecutive admitted patients who
      underwent inferior vena cava filter insertion at a large university hospital with
      a level I trauma center. RESULTS: Overall, 455 retrievable filters were inserted
      between 2009 and 2014. A total of 133 patients (29.2%) were aged >=70 years.
      Elderly patients were less likely to have their filter retrieved compared with
      non-elderly patients (5.3% vs 21.4%, P < 0.001). Filter-related complications
      occurred in 13% of non-elderly patients and 14.3% of elderly patients (P = 0.72),
      most of them occurring in the first 3 months after filter placement. Survival
      among elderly patients with no evidence of active malignancy was similar to the
      non-elderly patients with a 1-year survival rate of 76.3% versus 82% in non
      elderly patients (P = 0.22), and a 2-year survival rate of 73.1% versus 78.6% in
      non-elderly patients (P = 0.27). Although decreased, survival rates among elderly
      patients with active cancer were still substantial, with a 1-year survival rate
      of 45% and 2-year survival rate of 40%. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients had
      significantly lower rates of filter retrieval with similar complication rate.
      Survival rates among elderly patients were substantial, and in elderly patients
      with no active cancer were even comparable with non-elderly patients. When
      feasible, filter retrieval should be attempted in all elderly patients in order
      to prevent filter-related complications. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1508
      1514.

PMID- 27647666
TI  - Selling science 2.0: What scientific projects receive crowdfunding online?
AB  - Crowdfunding has emerged as an additional source for financing research in recent
      years. The study at hand identifies and tests explanatory factors influencing the
      success of scientific crowdfunding projects by drawing on news value theory, the
      "reputation signaling" approach, and economic theories of online payment. A
      standardized content analysis of 371 projects on English- and German-language
      platforms reveals that each theory provides factors influencing crowdfunding
      success. It shows that projects presented on science-only crowdfunding platforms
      have a higher success rate. At the same time, projects are more likely to be
      successful if their presentation includes visualizations and humor, the lower
      their targeted funding is, the less personal data potential donors have to
      relinquish and the more interaction between researchers and donors is possible.
      This suggests that after donors decide to visit a scientific crowdfunding
      platform, factors unrelated to science matter more for subsequent funding
      decisions, raising questions about the potential and implications of crowdfunding
      science.

PMID- 27647667
TI  - Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Model to Predict the Effects of Commonly Used
      Anticoagulants on the Human Coagulation Network.
AB  - Warfarin is the anticoagulant of choice for venous thromboembolism (VTE)
      treatment, although its suppression of the endogenous clot-dissolution complex
      APC:PS may ultimately lead to longer time-to-clot dissolution profiles, resulting
      in increased risk of re-thrombosis. This detrimental effect might not occur
      during VTE treatment using other anticoagulants, such as rivaroxaban or
      enoxaparin, given their different mechanisms of action within the coagulation
      network. A quantitative systems pharmacology model was developed describing the
      coagulation network to monitor clotting factor levels under warfarin, enoxaparin,
      and rivaroxaban treatment. The model allowed for estimation of all factor rate
      constants and production rates. Predictions of individual coagulation factor time
      courses under steady-state warfarin, enoxaparin, and rivaroxaban treatment
      reflected the suppression of protein C and protein S under warfarin compared to
      rivaroxaban and enoxaparin. The model may be used as a tool during clinical
      practice to predict effects of anticoagulants on individual clotting factor time
      courses and optimize antithrombotic therapy.

PMID- 27647668
TI  - One-Step Seeding of Neural Stem Cells with Vitronectin-Supplemented Medium for
      High-Throughput Screening Assays.
AB  - Human neuronal cells differentiated from induced pluripotent cells have emerged
      as a new model system for the study of disease pathophysiology and evaluation of
      drug efficacy. Differentiated neuronal cells are more similar in genetics and
      biological content to human brain cells than other animal disease models.
      However, culture of neuronal cells in assay plates requires a labor-intensive
      procedure of plate precoating, hampering its applications in high-throughput
      screening (HTS). We developed a simplified method with one-step seeding of neural
      stem cells in assay plates by supplementing the medium with a recombinant human
      vitronectin (VTN), thus avoiding plate precoating. Robust results were obtained
      from cell viability, calcium response, and neurite outgrowth assays using this
      new method. Our data demonstrate that this approach greatly simplifies high
      throughput assays using neuronal cells differentiated from human stem cells for
      translational research.

PMID- 27647671
TI  - fMRI brain activation changes following treatment of a first bipolar manic
      episode.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that, with treatment, functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) regional brain activation in first-episode mania would
      normalize - i.e., that differences from healthy subjects would diminish over
      time, and would be associated with clinical remission status, potentially
      identifying neuroanatomic treatment response markers. METHODS: Forty-two
      participants with bipolar I disorder were recruited during their first manic
      episode, pseudo-randomized to open-label lithium or quetiapine, and followed for
      8 weeks. fMRI scans were obtained at baseline and then after 1 and 8 weeks of
      treatment, while participants performed a continuous performance task with
      emotional distracters. Healthy participants received fMRI scans at these same
      intervals. Specific region-of-interest (ROI) activations within prefrontal
      emotional networks were assessed as potential measures of treatment response.
      RESULTS: ROI data were reduced using exploratory factor analysis, which
      identified five factors that were organizationally consistent with functional
      anatomic models of human emotion modulation. Half of the participants with
      bipolar disorder achieved remission by Week 8 and were contrasted with the other
      half that did not. Analyses demonstrated that, in the bipolar disorder group in
      general, treatment led to decreases in activation across brain regions toward
      healthy subject values. However, differences in activation changes were observed
      between subjects with bipolar disorder who did or did not achieve remission in
      subcortical and amygdala factors. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence
      for potential neuroanatomic treatment response markers in first-episode bipolar
      disorder.

PMID- 27647672
TI  - Creative females have larger white matter structures: Evidence from a large
      sample study.
AB  - The importance of brain connectivity for creativity has been theoretically
      suggested and empirically demonstrated. Studies have shown sex differences in
      creativity measured by divergent thinking (CMDT) as well as sex differences in
      the structural correlates of CMDT. However, the relationships between regional
      white matter volume (rWMV) and CMDT and associated sex differences have never
      been directly investigated. In addition, structural studies have shown poor
      replicability and inaccuracy of multiple comparisons over the whole brain. To
      address these issues, we used the data from a large sample of healthy young
      adults (776 males and 560 females; mean age: 20.8 years, SD = 0.8). We
      investigated the relationship between CMDT and WMV using the newest version of
      voxel-based morphometry (VBM). We corrected for multiple comparisons over whole
      brain using the permutation-based method, which is known to be quite accurate and
      robust. Significant positive correlations between rWMV and CMDT scores were
      observed in widespread areas below the neocortex specifically in females. These
      associations with CMDT were not observed in analyses of fractional anisotropy
      using diffusion tensor imaging. Using rigorous methods, our findings further
      supported the importance of brain connectivity for creativity as well as its
      female-specific association. Hum Brain Mapp 38:414-430, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647674
TI  - Peri-procedural silent cerebral infarcts after left atrial appendage occlusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To determine the rate of peri-interventional silent brain
      infarcts after left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). METHODS: In this
      prospective, uncontrolled single-center pilot study, consecutive patients with
      atrial fibrillation undergoing LAAO between July 2013 and January 2016 were
      included. The Amplatzer Cardiac Plug, WATCHMAN or Amulet device was used. A
      neurological examination and cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were
      performed within 48 h before and after the procedure. MRI was evaluated for new
      diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) hyperintensities, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs)
      and white-matter lesions (WMLs). RESULTS: Left atrial appendage occlusion was
      performed in 21 patients (mean age, 73.2 +/- 9.5 years). Main reasons for LAAO
      were previous intracerebral hemorrhage (n = 11) and major systemic bleeding (n =
      6). No clinically overt stroke occurred peri-interventionally. After the
      intervention, one patient had a small cerebellar hyperintensity on DWI (4.8%; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.0-14.3) that was not present on the MRI 1 day before the
      procedure. Among 11 patients with available MRI just before LAAO, there were no
      significant changes in the number of CMBs and the severity of WMLs after LAAO.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study of peri-interventional MRI in LAAO suggests a low rate of
      silent peri-procedural infarcts in this elderly population. Confirmation in
      larger studies is needed.

PMID- 27647675
TI  - An Unexpected Surge in Plasma BKPyV Viral Load Heralds the Development of BKPyV
      Associated Metastatic Bladder Cancer in a Lung Transplant Recipient With BKPyV
      Nephropathy.
AB  - We report a lung transplant recipient who developed BK polyoma virus (BKPyV)
      DNAemia and BKPyV nephropathy. With careful management of his immunosuppression
      he achieved significant reduction in BKPyV DNAemia and stabilization of his
      kidney function. He later developed a high-grade bladder cancer and shortly
      thereafter he experienced a major upsurge in the level of BKPyV DNAemia that
      coincided with the discovery of hepatic metastasis. Retrospectively, the bladder
      cancer and the hepatic secondary tumor stained uniformly for SV40 large T
      antigen, and the BKPyV DNA sequences identified in plasma corresponded to BKPyV
      DNA within hepatic tissue, indicating that the spike in BKPyV load was likely
      derived from the circulating tumor cells or cell-free tumor DNA following
      metastases of a BKV-associated cancer. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first description of a surge in BKPyV load in a patient with controlled BKPyVN
      that heralded the appearance of a metastatic urothelial malignancy. This report
      discusses the literature on BKPyV-associated malignancies and the possibility
      that unexplained increases in BKPyV DNAemia may be a biomarker for metastatic
      BKPyV-related urothelial cancer.

PMID- 27647678
TI  - Commentary on: "Levofloxacin-Induced QTc Prolongation Depends on the Time of Drug
      Administration".
AB  - Circadian variations in the corrected QT (QTc) interval have been documented in
      clinical trials. Animal models show circadian variations in expression of the
      cardiac ion channels that are necessary to maintain the heart's
      electrophysiological properties. Can these diurnal rhythms in QTc affect the
      ability of a drug to delay cardiac repolarization?

PMID- 27647676
TI  - Trends in pathology and long-term outcomes after resection of colorectal cancer:
      1971-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe temporal trends in tumour
      pathology and long-term outcomes in 5217 patients recorded in a registry of
      colorectal cancer resections initiated at Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia, in
      1971. METHODS: This report is based on consecutive resections up to December
      2013, with no exclusions. Categories in variables examined were expressed as
      percentages over annual totals of relevant patients or annual mean values. The
      statistical significance of temporal trends was examined by least squares
      regression. RESULTS: The percentages of patients with local spread beyond the
      muscularis propria, nodal metastasis, distant metastasis and tumour in a line of
      resection all declined significantly. In consequence, the percentage of stage D
      patients fell, whereas the percentage in stage A rose. Other tumour variables
      that increased significantly were polypoid morphology, contiguous adenoma and
      invasion of a free serosal surface. Tumours in which an adherent adjacent
      structure was partly or completely removed also increased. There were significant
      declines in high-grade malignancy, venous invasion and tumour size. The
      recurrence rate for rectal cancers declined significantly, whereas for rectal and
      colonic cancers combined, both the overall 5-year survival rate and the 5-year
      cancer-specific survival rate increased markedly. CONCLUSION: These results show
      a reduction in adverse pathology findings and favourable trends in recurrence and
      survival after colorectal cancer resections in a high-incidence country over a
      period of 43 years.

PMID- 27647680
TI  - PCL-PEG-PCL film promotes cartilage regeneration in vivo.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Management of chondral defects has long been a challenge due to poor
      self-healing capacity of articular cartilage. Many approaches, ranging from
      symptomatic treatment to structural cartilage regeneration, have obtained very
      limited satisfactory results. Cartilage tissue engineering, which involves
      optimized combination of novel scaffolds, cell sources and growth factors, has
      emerged as a promising strategy for cartilage regeneration and repair. In this
      study, the aim was to investigate the role of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)
      poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL-PEG-PCL, PCEC) PCEC
      scaffold in cartilage repair. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, PCEC film was
      fabricated, and its characteristics were tested using SEM and AFM. Cell (rASC -
      rat adipose-derived stem cells, and mASCs - green fluorescent mouse adipose
      derived stem cells) morphologies on PCEC film were observed using SEM and
      fluorescence microscopy, after cell seeding. Tests of cell viability on PCEC film
      were conducted using the CCK-8 assay. Furthermore, full cartilage defects in rats
      were created, and PCEC films were implanted, to evaluate their healing effects,
      over 8 weeks. RESULTS: It was found that PCEC film, as a biomaterial implant,
      possessed good in vitro properties for cell adhesion, migration and
      proliferation. Importantly, in the in vivo experiment, PCEC film exhibited
      desirable healing outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that PCEC
      film was a good scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering for improving cell
      proliferation and adhesion and could lead to excellent repair of cartilage
      defects.

PMID- 27647681
TI  - A Quantitative Fluorescence-Based Assay for Assessing LIM Domain-Peptide
      Interactions.
AB  - We have developed Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based experiments for
      measuring the binding affinity, off-rates, and inferred on-rates for interactions
      between a family of transcriptional regulators and their intrinsically disordered
      binding partners. It was difficult to evaluate these interactions previously, as
      the transcriptional regulators are obligate binding proteins that aggregate in
      the absence of a binding partner. The assays rely on fusion constructs where
      binding domains are linked by a flexible tether containing a specific protease
      site, with fluorescent proteins at either end that display FRET when the complex
      is formed. Loss of FRET is monitored after cutting the tether followed by
      dilution or competition with a non-fluorescent peptide. These methods allowed a
      wide range of binding affinities (10-9 -10-5  m) to be determined. Our data
      indicate that interactions of closely related proteins can have surprisingly
      different binding properties.

PMID- 27647684
TI  - Health-related quality-of-life outcome in patients with idiopathic normal
      pressure hydrocephalus - a 1-year follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This prospective study explored the factors affecting the
      health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) outcome in patients with idiopathic normal
      pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) 1 year after the installation of the cerebrospinal
      fluid shunt. METHODS: The HRQoL outcome was evaluated using a 15D instrument, in
      which the minimum clinically significant change/difference has been estimated to
      be +/-0.015. The follow-up data (15D, Mini-Mental State Examination, Beck
      Depression Inventory, iNPH Grading Scale), frontal cortical biopsy, Charlson Age
      Comorbidity Index and body mass index of 145 patients diagnosed with iNPH by
      clinical and radiological examination were analyzed. RESULTS: At 1-year follow
      up, 63 (43%) patients had experienced a clinically significant improvement in
      HRQoL. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis indicated that the
      absence of amyloid-beta and hyperphosphorylated tau pathology in the frontal
      cortical biopsy (53% vs. 33%; absolute risk difference, 20%; adjusted odds ratio,
      2.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-4.84; P < 0.05) and lower body mass index
      (adjusted odds ratio, 0.90, 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.98; P < 0.05)
      predicted favorable HRQoL outcome 1 year after the shunting. CONCLUSIONS: Less
      than half of the patients with iNPH experienced clinically significant favorable
      HRQoL outcome, partly explained by the patient's characteristics and
      comorbidities. The HRQoL approach reveals aspects that are important for the
      patient's well-being, but may also improve the quality of the outcome assessment
      of cerebrospinal fluid shunting. Study results may help clinicians to estimate
      which patients will benefit shunt surgery.

PMID- 27647682
TI  - Active delineation of Meyer's loop using oriented priors through MAGNEtic
      tractography (MAGNET).
AB  - Streamline tractography algorithms infer connectivity from diffusion MRI (dMRI)
      by following diffusion directions which are similarly aligned between neighboring
      voxels. However, not all white matter (WM) fascicles are organized in this
      manner. For example, Meyer's loop is a highly curved portion of the optic
      radiation (OR) that exhibits a narrow turn, kissing and crossing pathways, and
      changes in fascicle dispersion. From a neurosurgical perspective, damage to
      Meyer's loop carries a potential risk of inducing vision deficits to the patient,
      especially during temporal lobe resection surgery. To prevent such impairment,
      achieving an accurate delineation of Meyer's loop with tractography is thus of
      utmost importance. However, current algorithms tend to under-estimate the full
      extent of Meyer's loop, mainly attributed to the aforementioned rule for
      connectivity which requires a direction to be chosen across a field of
      orientations. In this article, it was demonstrated that MAGNEtic Tractography
      (MAGNET) can benefit Meyer's loop delineation by incorporating anatomical
      knowledge of the expected fiber orientation to overcome local ambiguities. A new
      ROI-mechanism was proposed which supplies additional information to streamline
      reconstruction algorithms by the means of oriented priors. Their results showed
      that MAGNET can accurately generate Meyer's loop in all of our 15 child subjects
      (8 males; mean age 10.2 years +/- 3.1). It effectively improved streamline
      coverage when compared with deterministic tractography, and significantly reduced
      the distance between the anterior-most portion of Meyer's loop and the temporal
      pole by 16.7 mm on average, a crucial landmark used for preoperative planning of
      temporal lobe surgery. Hum Brain Mapp 38:509-527, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647686
TI  - Human papillomavirus and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a New Zealand
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell
      carcinomas (OPSCC) are clinically, epidemiologically and prognostically distinct
      from other OPSCCs. The incidence of HPV-related OPSCCs has increased
      significantly worldwide over the past few decades. However, no studies of OPSCC
      with direct molecular HPV testing has been conducted in New Zealand. AIMS: To
      estimate the proportion of OPSCCs attributable to HPV infections in a New Zealand
      population with a validated HPV testing algorithm. METHODS: HPV-status was
      determined by p16 immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of
      both L1 and E6/7 genes on 55 OPSCCs diagnosed in 2010 and 2011 in Central and
      South Auckland. Baseline and survival analyses were performed according to HPV
      status. RESULTS: Forty-one (75%) of OPSCC tumours had HPV infections. There was
      98% concordance between p16 immunohistochemistry and real-time E6/E7 PCR. After a
      median follow-up period of 2.6 years, patients with OPSCC of HPV aetiology had
      more favourable outcomes compared to patients with HPV-negative OPSCC (hazard
      ratio 0.14, P = 0.02) after adjustment for other variables. CONCLUSION: This
      study highlights the significant role that HPV plays in the aetiology of OPSCC in
      New Zealand, and confirms the high rate of accuracy of p16 immunostaining.

PMID- 27647685
TI  - Acute West Nile Virus Meningoencephalitis Diagnosed Via Metagenomic Deep
      Sequencing of Cerebrospinal Fluid in a Renal Transplant Patient.
AB  - Solid organ transplant patients are vulnerable to suffering neurologic
      complications from a wide array of viral infections and can be sentinels in the
      population who are first to get serious complications from emerging infections
      like the recent waves of arboviruses, including West Nile virus, Chikungunya
      virus, Zika virus, and Dengue virus. The diverse and rapidly changing landscape
      of possible causes of viral encephalitis poses great challenges for traditional
      candidate-based infectious disease diagnostics that already fail to identify a
      causative pathogen in approximately 50% of encephalitis cases. We present the
      case of a 14-year-old girl on immunosuppression for a renal transplant who
      presented with acute meningoencephalitis. Traditional diagnostics failed to
      identify an etiology. RNA extracted from her cerebrospinal fluid was subjected to
      unbiased metagenomic deep sequencing, enhanced with the use of a Cas9-based
      technique for host depletion. This analysis identified West Nile virus (WNV).
      Convalescent serum serologies subsequently confirmed WNV seroconversion. These
      results support a clear clinical role for metagenomic deep sequencing in the
      setting of suspected viral encephalitis, especially in the context of the high
      risk transplant patient population.

PMID- 27647687
TI  - Assessment of the Placenta in Intrauterine Growth Restriction by Diffusion
      Weighted Imaging and Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.
AB  - Placental insufficiency is a major cause of intrauterine growth restriction
      (IUGR) and seriously affects fetal development. When placental insufficiency
      happened, the diffusion of water molecule was restricted and the metabolic
      balance was destroyed in the placenta. In this prospective study, we aimed to
      evaluate the diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in combination
      with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) for placental insufficiency
      in IUGR. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were calculated using
      DWI, and the metabolism of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline, and lipid and their
      ratios in the placenta were calculated using 1H MRS. Data were statistically
      analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic
      regression analysis. The NAA and choline peaks were decreased in IUGR placentas
      compared with normal placentas, while lipid peaks showed an opposite trend. The
      average ADC value and the NAA/lipid and choline/lipid ratios were lower in the
      IUGR group than in the normal group ( P < .01). Logistic regression with multiple
      parameters showed that combination of the ADC value and choline/lipid ratio was
      more favorable than either parameter alone in analyzing placental insufficiency
      of IUGR ( P < .05). The area under the ROC curve for the combination was 0.939,
      indicating reasonably good discrimination. We concluded that reduced ADC and
      NAA/lipid and choline/lipid ratios could serve as potential markers for placental
      insufficiency of IUGR. Furthermore, the combination of ADC value and
      choline/lipid ratio greatly improved the diagnostic value.

PMID- 27647691
TI  - Assessment of problems and symptoms in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic
      leukaemia.
AB  - Significant physical and psychosocial problems and related symptoms are observed
      in cancer survivors after treatment as well as during the treatment period. This
      study was aimed to assess problems and symptoms in childhood acute lymphoblastic
      leukaemia (ALL) survivors. Study was applied in three hospitals in Ankara/Turkey
      with 91 children who were diagnosed and treated with ALL and with their family.
      Data were collected using the data collection form developed by the researchers.
      The variables were investigated using the Mann-Whitney U and chi-square test. The
      most common physical problems and symptoms seen in survivors are respiratory
      system infections (40.7%), reduction in bone mineral density (26.4%), exercise
      intolerance (45.1%), pain (41.8%) and fatigue (29.7%). Among the most frequent
      social problems experienced, educational problems (19.8%) is indicated. In
      children carrying increased duration of therapy, urinary system infections (p =
      .016), anorexia (0.020) and pain (p = .007) rates are increasing. Many problems
      and symptoms related to disease and treatment in survivors of ALL have been
      realised. Therefore, planning and implementation of nursing interventions
      required to sustaining and developing survivor's health status are important.

PMID- 27647689
TI  - Deformation of the Femoropopliteal Segment: Effect of Stent Length, Location,
      Flexibility, and Curvature.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify the deformation behavior of the diseased femoropopliteal
      segment and assess the change to deformation behavior due to various stent
      placements. METHODS: The length and curvature changes of 6 femoropopliteal
      segments (the right and left superficial femoral and popliteal arteries) from 3
      cadavers were measured in 3-dimensional space based on rotational angiography
      image data in straight leg and flexed hip/knee (50 degrees /90 degrees )
      positions before and after placement of nitinol stents of varying type (EverFlex,
      Misago, and BioMimics 3D) and length (60, 100, and 200 mm) in different locations
      along the arteries. Three-dimensional centerline data were extracted for the
      measurements. RESULTS: All 6 femoropopliteal cadaver segments displayed signs of
      peripheral artery disease. Hip/knee flexion resulted in vessel shortening and
      increases in the mean and maximum vessel curvatures in all cases. Location
      specific results of the unstented arteries showed that magnitudes of vessel
      length and curvature change vary as a function of vessel length. The average
      shortening of the entire femoropopliteal segment due to flexion was observed at
      10.7%+/-0.7%, which was reduced to 8.1%+/-0.9% after stent deployment. Average
      and maximum curvatures of the unstented segment increased due to flexion
      (average: 0.008+/-0.002 mm-1 to 0.019+/-0.006 mm-1, maximum: 0.030+/-0.009 mm-1
      to 0.091+/-0.045 mm-1). After stent deployment, average and maximum curvatures of
      the flexed stented segments increased compared with the flexed unstented segments
      (average: 0.019+/-0.006 mm-1 to 0.022+/-0.004 mm-1, maximum: 0.091+/-0.045 mm-1
      to 0.103+/-0.025 mm-1). The most flexurally stiff stent demonstrated the least
      ability to axially shorten during flexion of the leg at the knee joint.
      CONCLUSION: The deformation characteristics of the femoropopliteal segment change
      in the presence of a stent, with the change to the deformation behavior dependent
      on stent type, stent length, location, flexibility, and intrinsic centerline
      curvature.

PMID- 27647692
TI  - Hidden Hydride Transfer as a Decisive Mechanistic Step in the Reactions of the
      Unligated Gold Carbide [AuC]+ with Methane under Ambient Conditions.
AB  - The reactivity of the cationic gold carbide [AuC]+ (bearing an electrophilic
      carbon atom) towards methane has been studied using Fourier transform ion
      cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). The product pairs generated,
      that is, Au+ /C2 H4 , [Au(C2 H2 )]+ /H2 , and [C2 H3 ]+ /AuH, point to the
      breaking and making of C-H, C-C, and H-H bonds under single-collision conditions.
      The mechanisms of these rather efficient reactions have been elucidated by high
      level quantum-chemical calculations. As a major result, based on molecular
      orbital and NBO-based charge analysis, an unprecedented hydride transfer from
      methane to the carbon atom of [AuC]+ has been identified as a key step. Also, the
      origin of this novel mechanistic scenario has been addressed. The mechanistic
      insights derived from this study may provide guidance for the rational design of
      carbon-based catalysts.

PMID- 27647694
TI  - Right insular infarction and mortality after ischaemic stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Several studies have described an association between
      insular infarction and mortality. Large infarcts often include the insula and
      lesion size is associated with mortality. We hypothesized that there is an
      association between insular infarction and mortality independent of lesion
      volume. METHODS: We included consecutive stroke patients between 1 September 2008
      and 11 November 2012 from the 1000Plus database with an acute ischaemic lesion on
      diffusion-weighted imaging on day 1 and a completed 90-day follow-up. Insular
      infarct location was determined using the in-house software Stroke Lesion Atlas.
      In multiple Cox regression analysis (dependent variable: mortality), we adjusted
      for insular infarcts, age, lesion volume, history of atrial fibrillation,
      National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and previous stroke. RESULTS: We
      included 736 patients, of whom 168 had an insular infarction. Within a medium
      follow-up time of 107 days, cumulative survival was 90% in patients with insular
      infarction and 99% in patients without insular infarction (P < 0.001). Right
      insular infarction was independently associated with mortality (hazard ratio,
      2.60; confidence interval, 1.3-5.4; P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, right
      insular involvement was a prognostic marker for mortality after ischaemic stroke.
      A selection bias towards patients able to give informed consent warrants further
      studies.

PMID- 27647695
TI  - The neurobiology of emotion regulation in posttraumatic stress disorder: Amygdala
      downregulation via real-time fMRI neurofeedback.
AB  - Amygdala dysregulation has been shown to be central to the pathophysiology of
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) representing a critical treatment target.
      Here, amygdala downregulation was targeted using real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rt
      fMRI-nf) in patients with PTSD, allowing us to examine further the regulation of
      emotional states during symptom provocation. Patients (n = 10) completed three
      sessions of rt-fMRI-nf with the instruction to downregulate activation in the
      amygdala, while viewing personalized trauma words. Amygdala downregulation was
      assessed by contrasting (a) regulate trials, with (b) viewing trauma words and
      not attempting to regulate. Training was followed by one transfer run not
      involving neurofeedback. Generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) and
      dynamic causal modeling (DCM) analyses were also computed to explore task-based
      functional connectivity and causal structure, respectively. It was found that
      PTSD patients were able to successfully downregulate both right and left amygdala
      activation, showing sustained effects within the transfer run. Increased
      activation in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), regions
      related to emotion regulation, was observed during regulate as compared with view
      conditions. Importantly, activation in the PFC, rostral anterior cingulate
      cortex, and the insula, were negatively correlated to PTSD dissociative symptoms
      in the transfer run. Increased functional connectivity between the amygdala- and
      both the dorsolateral and dorsomedial PFC was found during regulate, as compared
      with view conditions during neurofeedback training. Finally, our DCM analysis
      exploring directional structure suggested that amygdala downregulation involves
      both top-down and bottom-up information flow with regard to observed PFC-amygdala
      connectivity. This is the first demonstration of successful downregulation of the
      amygdala using rt-fMRI-nf in PTSD, which was critically sustained in a subsequent
      transfer run without neurofeedback, and corresponded to increased connectivity
      with prefrontal regions involved in emotion regulation during the intervention.
      Hum Brain Mapp 38:541-560, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647696
TI  - Continuous Normothermic Ex Vivo Kidney Perfusion Is Superior to Brief
      Normothermic Perfusion Following Static Cold Storage in Donation After
      Circulatory Death Pig Kidney Transplantation.
AB  - Hypothermic preservation is known to cause renal graft injury, especially in
      donation after circulatory death (DCD) kidney transplantation. We investigated
      the impact of cold storage (SCS) versus short periods of normothermic ex vivo
      kidney perfusion (NEVKP) after SCS versus prolonged, continuous NEVKP with near
      avoidance of SCS on kidney function after transplantation. Following 30 min of
      warm ischemia, kidneys were removed from 30-kg Yorkshire pigs and preserved for
      16 h with (A) 16 h SCS, (B) 15 h SCS + 1 h NEVKP, (C) 8 h SCS + 8 h NEVKP, and
      (D) 16 h NEVKP. After contralateral kidney resection, grafts were
      autotransplanted and pigs followed up for 8 days. Perfusate injury markers such
      as aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase remained low; lactate
      decreased significantly until end of perfusion in groups C and D (p < 0.001 and p
      = 0.002). Grafts in group D demonstrated significantly lower serum creatinine
      peak when compared to all other groups (p < 0.001) and 24-h creatinine clearance
      at day 3 after surgery was significantly higher (63.4 +/- 19.0 mL/min) versus all
      other groups (p < 0.001). Histological assessment on day 8 demonstrated fewer
      apoptotic cells in group D (p = 0.008). In conclusion, prolonged, continuous
      NEVKP provides superior short-term outcomes following DCD kidney transplantation
      versus SCS or short additional NEVKP following SCS.

PMID- 27647697
TI  - Diagnostic role of staging laparoscopy in a subset of biliary cancers: a meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate preoperative radiological staging of biliary cancers remains
      difficult. Despite the improvement in imaging techniques, a number of patients
      with biliary cancers who undergo laparotomy are ultimately found to have
      unresectable diseases. The goals of staging laparoscopy (SL) are to rule out
      metastatic and locally advanced unresectable diseases and better define locally
      advanced unresectable diseases. This study evaluates the efficiency of SL in
      ruling out unresectable disease in a subset of biliary cancers. METHODS:
      Literature published between January 2000 and December 2015 on the use of SL for
      patients with biliary cancers was retrieved from five electronic databases.
      Summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio were
      calculated. RESULTS: Eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. During the
      laparoscopy, unresectable disease was found in 316 of 1062 patients (29.8%), of
      whom 32.4% were patients with suspected hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) and 27.6%
      were patients with suspected gallbladder cancer (GBC). The sensitivities were
      0.556 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.495-0.616) for patients with HC and 0.642
      (95% CI: 0.579-0.701) for patients with GBC. The pooled specificity for the SL
      was 100% (95% CI: 0.993-1.000) for all studies. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis
      revealed that 32.4% of patients with HC and 27.6% of patients with GBC may avoid
      unnecessary laparotomy with the use of SL. It is worthwhile to perform SL
      combined with an intraoperative ultrasound in patients with suspected GBC or HC.

PMID- 27647701
TI  - Choir singing and health status in people affected by cancer.
AB  - Cancer survival rates have improved dramatically over recent years, however,
      health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for many patients, survivors and their
      families remains low even after successful treatment. This mixed-methods
      observational study explored the effects of participation in community choirs on
      HRQoL in individuals who have had cancer (patients) or have been affected by
      cancer (non-patients). This included a longitudinal analysis of choristers
      commencing the Tenovus Cancer Care "Sing with Us" choirs across Wales and a
      series of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Participants completed the
      Short-form 36 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale on commencement of
      the choir and 3 and 6 months later. On joining the choir, several domains of the
      SF36 were lower, indicating worse HRQoL and greater depression in patients than
      non-patients (p < .05). In patients, choir participation improved vitality,
      overall mental health and anxiety. In non-patients, choir participation improved
      anxiety (p < .05). Participants experienced the choirs as both an uplifting
      musical activity and a supportive community group. The results support the
      provision of a spectrum of support options to meet the different needs and
      preferences of people affected by cancer.

PMID- 27647702
TI  - BOIMPYs: Rapid Access to a Family of Red-Emissive Fluorophores and NIR Dyes.
AB  - A fundamental, highly fluorescent, and easily accessible scaffold derived from
      the BODIPY core is reported. The use of benzimidazole as a bridging ligand at the
      meso position enables the binding of two BF2 units to provide sufficient rigidity
      and enhanced electron-withdrawing strength. Absorption and emission events thus
      take place in the red (lambda~600 nm); the fluorescence quantum yields can reach
      unity (0.96) and show little dependence on solvent polarity. The synthetic route
      was shortened to two steps starting from commercially available precursors while
      the preparation is modular and tolerates various pyrrole and benzimidazole
      moieties. Fluoride replacement by propynyl groups, various halogenations, as well
      as Knoevenagel-type condensations were applied to extend the versatility of these
      new photostable fluorophores, which we termed BOIMPYs.

PMID- 27647699
TI  - Prescription drug monitoring program data tracking of opioid addiction treatment
      outcomes in integrated dual diagnosis care involving injectable naltrexone.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Fourfold increases in opioid prescribing and
      dispensations over 2 decades in the U.S. has paralleled increases in opioid
      addictions and overdoses, requiring new preventative, diagnostic, and treatment
      strategies. This study examines Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
      tracking as a novel measure of opioid addiction treatment outcomes in a
      university-affiliated integrated mental health-addiction treatment clinic.
      METHODS: Repeated measure parametrics examined PDMP and urine drug screening
      (UDS) data before and after first injection for all patients (N = 68) who
      received at least one long-acting naltrexone injection (380 mg/IM) according to
      diagnostic groupings of having either (i) alcohol (control); (ii) opioid; or
      (iii) combined alcohol and opioid use disorders. RESULTS: There were no group
      differences post-injection in treatment days, injections delivered, or treatment
      service encounters. UDS and PDMP measures of opioid exposures were greater in
      opioid compared to alcohol-only patients. Post-first injection, UDS's positive
      for opioids declined (p < .05) along with PDMP measures of opioid prescriptions
      (p < .001), doses (p < .01), types (p < .001), numbers of dispensing prescribers
      (p < .001) and pharmacies (p < .001). Opioid patients without alcohol disorders
      showed the best outcomes with 50% to 80% reductions in PDMP-measures of opioids,
      down to levels of alcohol-only patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows PDMP
      utility for measuring opioid addiction treatment outcomes, supporting the routine
      use of PDMPs in clinical and research settings. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: These
      findings demonstrate that opioid addiction in patients with complex addictions
      and mental illnesses comorbidities can show effective treatment responses as
      measured by PDMP tracking of decreases in opioid prescriptions to those patients.
      (Am J Addict 2016;25:557-564).

PMID- 27647704
TI  - Epidemiological, clinical and genetic aspects of adult onset isolated focal
      dystonia in Ireland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adult onset idiopathic isolated focal dystonia presents with a number
      of phenotypes. Reported prevalence rates vary considerably; well-characterized
      cohorts are important to our understanding of this disorder. AIM: To perform a
      nationwide epidemiological study of adult onset idiopathic isolated focal
      dystonia in the Republic of Ireland. METHODS: Patients with adult onset
      idiopathic isolated focal dystonia were recruited from multiple sources.
      Diagnosis was based on assessment by a neurologist with an expertise in movement
      disorders. When consent was obtained, a number of clinical features including
      family history were assessed. RESULTS: On the prevalence date there were 592
      individuals in Ireland with adult onset idiopathic isolated focal dystonia, a
      point prevalence of 17.8 per 100 000 (95% confidence interval 16.4-19.2).
      Phenotype numbers were cervical dystonia 410 (69.2%), blepharospasm 102 (17.2%),
      focal hand dystonia 39 (6.6%), spasmodic dysphonia 18 (3.0%), musician's dystonia
      17 (2.9%) and oromandibular dystonia six (1.0%). Sixty-two (16.5%) of 375
      consenting index cases had a relative with clinically confirmed adult onset
      idiopathic isolated focal dystonia (18 multiplex and 24 duplex families). Marked
      variations in the proportions of patients with tremor, segmental spread, sensory
      tricks, pain and psychiatric symptoms by phenotype were documented. CONCLUSIONS:
      The prevalence of adult onset idiopathic isolated focal dystonia in Ireland is
      higher than that recorded in many similar service-based epidemiological studies
      but is still likely to be an underestimate. The low proportion of individuals
      with blepharospasm may reflect reduced environmental exposure to sunlight in
      Ireland. This study will serve as a resource for international comparative
      studies of environmental and genetic factors in the pathogenesis of the disorder.

PMID- 27647706
TI  - Surgical capacity building in Timor-Leste: a review of the first 15 years of the
      Royal Australasian College of Surgeons-led Australian Aid programme.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Timor-Leste suffered a destructive withdrawal by the Indonesian
      military in 1999, leaving only 20 Timorese-based doctors and no practising
      specialists for a population of 700 000 that has now grown to 1.2 million.
      METHODS: This article assesses the outcomes and impact of Royal Australasian
      College of Surgeons (RACS) specialist medical support from 2001 to 2015. Three
      programmes were designed collaboratively with the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health
      and Australian Aid. The RACS team began to provide 24/7 resident surgical and
      anaesthesia services in the capital, Dili, from July 2001. The arrival of the
      Chinese and Cuban Medical Teams provided a medical workforce, and the Cubans
      initiated undergraduate medical training for about 1000 nationals both in Cuba
      and in Timor-Leste, whilst RACS focused on specialist medical training. RESULTS:
      Australian Aid provided AUD$20 million through three continuous programmes over
      15 years. In the first 10 years over 10 000 operations were performed. Initially
      only 10% of operations were done by trainees but this reached 77% by 2010. Twenty
      one nurse anaesthetists were trained in-country, sufficient to cover the needs of
      each hospital. Seven Timorese doctors gained specialist qualifications (five
      surgery, one ophthalmology and one anaesthesia) from regional medical schools in
      Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Indonesia and Malaysia. They introduced local specialist
      and family medicine diploma programmes for the Cuban graduates. CONCLUSIONS:
      Timor-Leste has developed increasing levels of surgical and anaesthetic self
      sufficiency through multi-level collaboration between the Ministry of Health,
      Universidade Nacional de Timor Lorosa'e, and sustained, consistent support from
      external donors including Australian Aid, Cuba and RACS.

PMID- 27647707
TI  - High-resolution computed tomography evaluation of the bronchial lumen to
      vertebral body diameter and pulmonary artery to vertebral body diameter ratios in
      anesthetized ventilated normal cats.
AB  - Objectives Bronchial lumen to pulmonary artery diameter (BA) ratio has been
      utilized to investigate pulmonary pathology on high-resolution CT images.
      Diseases affecting both the bronchi and pulmonary arteries render the BA ratio
      less useful. The purpose of the study was to establish bronchial lumen diameter
      to vertebral body diameter (BV) and pulmonary artery diameter to vertebral body
      diameter (AV) ratios in normal cats. Methods Using high-resolution CT images, 16
      sets of measurements (sixth thoracic vertebral body [mid-body], each lobar
      bronchi and companion pulmonary artery diameter) were acquired from young adult
      female cats and 41 sets from pubertal female cats. Results Young adult and
      pubertal cat BV ratios were not statistically different from each other in any
      lung lobe. Significant differences between individual lung lobe BV ratios were
      noted on combined age group analysis. Caudal lung lobe AV ratios were
      significantly different between young adult and pubertal cats. All other lung
      lobe AV ratios were not significantly different. Caudal lung lobe AV ratios were
      significantly different from all other lung lobes but not from each other in both
      the young adult and pubertal cats. Conclusions and relevance BV ratio reference
      intervals determined for individual lung lobes could be applied to both young
      adult and pubertal cats. Separate AV ratios for individual lung lobes would be
      required for young adult and pubertal cats. These ratios should allow more
      accurate evaluation of cats with concurrent bronchial and pulmonary arterial
      disease.

PMID- 27647705
TI  - A multimodal imaging study of recognition memory in very preterm born adults.
AB  - Very preterm (<32 weeks of gestation) birth is associated with structural brain
      alterations and memory impairments throughout childhood and adolescence. Here, we
      used functional MRI (fMRI) to study the neuroanatomy of recognition memory in 49
      very preterm-born adults and 50 controls (mean age: 30 years) during completion
      of a task involving visual encoding and recognition of abstract pictures. T1
      weighted and diffusion-weighted images were also collected. Bilateral hippocampal
      volumes were calculated and tractography of the fornix and cingulum was performed
      and assessed in terms of volume and hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy
      (HMOA). Online recognition memory task performance, assessed with A scores, was
      poorer in the very preterm compared with the control group. Analysis of fMRI data
      focused on differences in neural activity between the recognition and encoding
      trials. Very preterm born adults showed decreased activation in the right middle
      frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and increased activation
      in the left inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral lateral occipital cortex (LOC)
      compared with controls. Hippocampi, fornix and cingulum volume was significantly
      smaller and fornix HMOA was lower in very preterm adults. Among all the
      structural and functional brain metrics that showed statistically significant
      group differences, LOC activation was the best predictor of online task
      performance (P = 0.020). In terms of association between brain function and
      structure, LOC activation was predicted by fornix HMOA in the preterm group only
      (P = 0.020). These results suggest that neuroanatomical alterations in very
      preterm born individuals may be underlying their poorer recognition memory
      performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:644-655, 2017. (c) 2016 The Authors Human Brain
      Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27647708
TI  - Surgical outcomes of lamellar macular holes with and without lamellar hole
      associated epiretinal proliferation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the clinical findings and surgical outcomes of lamellar
      macular holes (LMHs) with and without lamellar hole-associated epiretinal
      proliferation (LHEP). METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of 73 eyes of
      73 patients who underwent vitrectomy for LMH. Patients were grouped according to
      the presence of LHEP on preoperative spectral-domain optical coherence tomography
      (SD-OCT). Postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and OCT features were
      compared between LMH patients with and without LHEP. RESULTS: Lamellar hole
      associated epiretinal proliferation (LHEP) was found in 15 of 73 eyes with LMHs
      (20.5%). The mean age was 65.0 years. The mean follow-up duration was 21.5
      months. Preoperatively, eyes with LHEP were characterized by a greater hole
      diameter (p = 0.007), thinner fovea (p = 0.002) and greater incidence of outer
      retinal disruption (p < 0.001). Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) significantly
      improved after surgery in eyes without LHEP (p < 0.001), but showed no change in
      eyes with LHEP (p = 0.185). Initial BCVA was not different between the two
      groups; however, final BCVA was better in eyes without LHEP (logarithm of the
      minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) BCVA, 0.10 +/- 0.10 versus 0.33 +/- 0.40, p
      = 0.003). OCT evaluations of postoperative foveal configurations showed no
      difference between the two groups (p = 0.171). No case developed a full-thickness
      macular hole after surgery. CONCLUSION: There was no visual benefit after surgery
      in LMH patients with LHEP. Different surgical indications for LMHs may be
      warranted based on the presence of LHEP-associated pathology.

PMID- 27647710
TI  - Measuring affiliation in group therapy for substance use disorders in the Women's
      Recovery Group study: Does it matter whether the group is all-women or mixed
      gender?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A Stage II, two-site randomized clinical trial
      compared the manualized, single-gender Women's Recovery Group (WRG) to mixed
      gender group therapy (Group Drug Counseling; GDC) and demonstrated efficacy.
      Enhanced affiliation and support in the WRG is a hypothesized mechanism of
      efficacy. This study sought to extend results of the previous small Stage I trial
      that showed the rate of supportive affiliative statements occurred more
      frequently in WRG than GDC. METHODS: Participants (N = 158; 100 women, 58 men)
      were 18 years or older, substance dependent, and had used substances within the
      past 60 days. Women were randomized to WRG (n = 52) or GDC (n = 48). Group
      therapy videos were coded by two independent raters; Rater 1 coded 20% of videos
      (n = 74); Rater 2 coded 25% of videos coded by Rater 1 (n = 19). RESULTS: The
      number of affiliative statements made in WRG was 66% higher than in GDC. Three of
      eight affiliative statement categories occurred more frequently in WRG than GDC:
      supportive, shared experience, and strategy statements. DISCUSSION AND
      CONCLUSIONS: This larger Stage II trial provided a greater number of group
      therapy tapes available for analysis. Results extended our previous findings,
      demonstrating both greater frequency of all affiliative statements, as well as
      specific categories of statements, made in single-gender WRG than mixed-gender
      GDC. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Greater frequency of affiliative statements among
      group members may be one mechanism of enhanced support and efficacy in women-only
      WRG compared with standard mixed-gender group therapy for substance use
      disorders. (Am J Addict 2016;25:573-580).

PMID- 27647712
TI  - Associations between aerobic exercise levels and physical and mental health
      outcomes in men with bone metastatic prostate cancer: a cross-sectional
      investigation.
AB  - Cancer patients with bone metastases have previously been excluded from
      participation in physical activity programmes due to concerns of skeletal
      fractures. Our aim was to provide initial information on the association between
      physical activity levels and physical and mental health outcomes in prostate
      cancer patients with bone metastases. Between 2012 and 2015, 55 prostate cancer
      patients (mean age 69.7 +/- 8.3; BMI 28.6 +/- 4.0) with bone metastases (58.2% >2
      regions affected) undertook assessments for self-reported physical activity,
      physical and mental health outcomes (SF-36), objective physical performance
      measures and body composition by DXA. Sixteen men (29%) met the current aerobic
      exercise guidelines for cancer survivors, while 39 (71%) reported lower aerobic
      exercise levels. Men not meeting aerobic exercise guidelines had lower physical
      functioning (p = .004), role functioning (physical and emotional) (p < .05),
      general health scores (p = .014) as well all lower measures of physical
      performance (p < .05). Lower levels of aerobic exercise are associated with
      reduced physical and mental health outcomes in prostate cancer patients with bone
      metastases. While previous research has focused primarily in those with non
      metastatic disease, our initial results suggest that higher levels of aerobic
      exercise may preserve physical and mental health outcomes in prostate cancer
      patients with bone metastases. Clinical Trial Registry: Trial Registration:
      ACTRN12611001158954.

PMID- 27647713
TI  - An Integrated Chemical Cytometry Method: Shining a Light on Akt Activity in
      Single Cells.
AB  - Tools to evaluate oncogenic kinase activity in small clinical samples have the
      power to guide precision medicine in oncology. Existing platforms have
      demonstrated impressive insights into the activity of protein kinases, but these
      technologies are unsuitable for the study of kinase behavior in large numbers of
      primary human cells. To address these limitations, we developed an integrated
      analysis system that utilizes a light-programmable, cell-permeable reporter
      deliverable simultaneously to many cells. The reporter's ability to act as a
      substrate for Akt, a key oncogenic kinase, was masked by a 2-4,5-dimethoxy 2
      nitrobenzyl (DMNB) moiety. Upon exposure to ultraviolet light and release of the
      masking moiety, the substrate sequence enabled programmable reaction times within
      the cell cytoplasm. When coupled to automated single-cell capillary
      electrophoresis, statistically significant numbers of primary human cells were
      readily evaluated for Akt activity.

PMID- 27647715
TI  - A Baby-Led Approach to Eating Solids and Risk of Choking.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of a baby-led approach to complementary
      feeding on infant choking and gagging. METHODS: Randomized controlled trial in
      206 healthy infants allocated to control (usual care) or Baby-Led Introduction to
      SolidS (BLISS; 8 contacts from antenatal to 9 months providing resources and
      support). BLISS is a form of baby-led weaning (ie, infants feed themselves all
      their food from the beginning of complementary feeding) modified to address
      concerns about choking risk. Frequencies of choking and gagging were collected by
      questionnaire (at 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 months) and daily calendar (at 6 and 8 months);
      3-day weighed diet records measured exposure to foods posing a choking risk (at 7
      and 12 months). RESULTS: A total of 35% of infants choked at least once between 6
      and 8 months of age, and there were no significant group differences in the
      number of choking events at any time (all Ps > .20). BLISS infants gagged more
      frequently at 6 months (relative risk [RR] 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.13-2.17), but less frequently at 8 months (RR 0.60; 95% CI, 0.42-0.87), than
      control infants. At 7 and 12 months, 52% and 94% of infants were offered food
      posing a choking risk during the 3-day record, with no significant differences
      between groups (7 months: RR 1.12; 95% CI, 0.79-1.59; 12 months: RR 0.94; 95% CI,
      0.83-1.07). CONCLUSIONS: Infants following a baby-led approach to feeding that
      includes advice on minimizing choking risk do not appear more likely to choke
      than infants following more traditional feeding practices. However, the large
      number of children in both groups offered foods that pose a choking risk is
      concerning.

PMID- 27647717
TI  - Codeine: Time to Say "No".
AB  - Codeine has been prescribed to pediatric patients for many decades as both an
      analgesic and an antitussive agent. Codeine is a prodrug with little inherent
      pharmacologic activity and must be metabolized in the liver into morphine, which
      is responsible for codeine's analgesic effects. However, there is substantial
      genetic variability in the activity of the responsible hepatic enzyme, CYP2D6,
      and, as a consequence, individual patient response to codeine varies from no
      effect to high sensitivity. Drug surveillance has documented the occurrence of
      unanticipated respiratory depression and death after receiving codeine in
      children, many of whom have been shown to be ultrarapid metabolizers. Patients
      with documented or suspected obstructive sleep apnea appear to be at particular
      risk because of opioid sensitivity, compounding the danger among rapid
      metabolizers in this group. Recently, various organizations and regulatory
      bodies, including the World Health Organization, the US Food and Drug
      Administration, and the European Medicines Agency, have promulgated stern
      warnings regarding the occurrence of adverse effects of codeine in children.
      These and other groups have or are considering a declaration of a
      contraindication for the use of codeine for children as either an analgesic or an
      antitussive. Additional clinical research must extend the understanding of the
      risks and benefits of both opioid and nonopioid alternatives for orally
      administered, effective agents for acute and chronic pain.

PMID- 27647716
TI  - Suicide in Elementary School-Aged Children and Early Adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Suicide in elementary school-aged children is not well
      studied, despite a recent increase in the suicide rate among US black children.
      The objectives of this study were to describe characteristics and precipitating
      circumstances of suicide in elementary school-aged children relative to early
      adolescent decedents and identify potential within-group racial differences.
      METHODS: We analyzed National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) surveillance
      data capturing suicide deaths from 2003 to 2012 for 17 US states. Participants
      included all suicide decedents aged 5 to 14 years (N = 693). Age group
      comparisons (5-11 years and 12-14 years) were conducted by using the chi2 test or
      Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. RESULTS: Compared with early adolescents who
      died by suicide, children who died by suicide were more commonly male, black,
      died by hanging/strangulation/suffocation, and died at home. Children who died by
      suicide more often experienced relationship problems with family members/friends
      (60.3% vs 46.0%; P = .02) and less often experienced boyfriend/girlfriend
      problems (0% vs 16.0%; P < .001) or left a suicide note (7.7% vs 30.2%; P <
      .001). Among suicide decedents with known mental health problems (n = 210),
      childhood decedents more often experienced attention-deficit disorder with or
      without hyperactivity (59.3% vs 29.0%; P = .002) and less often experienced
      depression/dysthymia (33.3% vs 65.6%; P = .001) compared with early adolescent
      decedents. CONCLUSIONS: These findings raise questions about impulsive responding
      to psychosocial adversity in younger suicide decedents, and they suggest a need
      for both common and developmentally-specific suicide prevention strategies during
      the elementary school-aged and early adolescent years. Further research should
      investigate factors associated with the recent increase in suicide rates among
      black children.

PMID- 27647718
TI  - Concise Review: The Malignant Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) proliferation, self-renewal, and trafficking are
      dependent, in part, upon signals generated by stromal cells in the bone marrow.
      Stromal cells are organized into niches that support specific subsets of
      hematopoietic progenitors. There is emerging evidence that malignant
      hematopoietic cells may generate signals that alter the number and/or function of
      specific stromal cell populations in the bone marrow. At least in some cases, the
      resulting alterations in the bone marrow microenvironment confer a competitive
      advantage to the malignant HSC and progenitor cells and/or render them less
      sensitive to chemotherapy. Targeting these signals represents a promising
      therapeutic strategy for selected hematopoietic malignancies. In this review, we
      focus on two questions. How do alterations in bone marrow stromal cells arise in
      hematopoietic malignancies, and how do they contribute to disease pathogenesis?
      Stem Cells 2017;35:3-8.

PMID- 27647719
TI  - Trends in short-term outcomes after resection of colorectal cancer: 1971-2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe temporal trends in
      presentation, surgical management and immediate postoperative outcomes in
      patients recorded in a registry of colorectal cancer resections that was
      initiated at Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia, in 1971. A companion paper
      describes tumour pathology and long-term recurrence and survival. METHODS: This
      report is based on 5217 consecutive resections up to 2013, with no exclusions.
      Categories in variables examined were expressed as percentages over annual totals
      of relevant patients or annual mean values. The statistical significance of
      trends was examined by least squares regression. RESULTS: The percentage of
      asymptomatic patients increased over time, whereas urgent presentations declined.
      Tumour size declined. The percentage of rectal cancers fell but the percentage of
      low rectal tumours rose. Initially, restorative rectal resections increased
      rapidly but later remained stable. There was no trend in medical complications,
      whereas surgical complications declined. Anastomotic leakage after restorative
      rectal resections declined but it was low and stable for colonic tumours. The
      rate of early reoperation remained stable, whereas 30-day mortality declined.
      Neoadjuvant radiotherapy for rectal cancer and adjuvant chemotherapy for stages B
      and C were introduced in 1992 and applied increasingly thereafter. CONCLUSION:
      Our findings, based on a 43-year prospective study, indicate sustained trends
      towards the earlier diagnosis of colorectal cancer and favourable short-term
      outcomes following bowel resection.

PMID- 27647721
TI  - Abstracts of the 18th Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology
      Congress (APLAR), 26-29 September 2016, Shanghai, China.

PMID- 27647720
TI  - Effects of different orthodontic retention protocols on the periodontal health of
      mandibular incisors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To test the following two hypotheses: 1) different types of retainers
      result in distinct levels of biomarkers in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and 2)
      the retainer bonded to all mandibular anterior teeth induces more detrimental
      outcomes to the periodontium. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: The Department of
      Orthodontics at the University of Florida. The population consisted of
      individuals in the retention phase of orthodontic treatment. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that enrolled 36 individuals. Subjects
      in group 1 had retainers bonded to the mandibular canines only. Group 2 consisted
      of individuals having retainers bonded to all mandibular anterior teeth. Group 3
      included patients using mandibular removable retainers. After clinical
      examination, GCF was collected from the mandibular incisor and biomarker levels
      were compared between the groups. RESULTS: Plaque accumulation and gingivitis
      differed significantly among groups, with the highest median values in group 2
      subjects. Pairwise comparison of the groups with respect to gingivitis showed
      significant differences between groups 1 and 2. Significant differences among
      groups were detected for RANKL, OPG, OPN, M-CSF, MMP-3, and MMP-9. The ratio
      RANKL/OPG was significantly higher in group 2 subjects, with pairwise comparisons
      indicating that groups 1 and 2 differed from group 3. CONCLUSION: An association
      was found between orthodontic retention groups and GCF biomarker levels, which
      should be further explored in longitudinal studies. The presence of retainers
      bonded to all anterior teeth seems to increase plaque accumulation and
      gingivitis.

PMID- 27647724
TI  - Reversible Carbon-Carbon Bond Breaking and Spin Equilibria in
      Bis(pyrimidinenorcorrole).
AB  - Reversible homolytic dissociation of the bis(pyrimidinenorcorrole) sigma-dimer
      was elucidated by means of variable temperature ESR and 1 H NMR spectroscopy,
      mass spectrometry, and optical spectrocopy. Dehydrogenation of the sigma-dimer
      yielded another dimer displaying a singlet-triplet equilibrium in solution,
      strong NIR absorption (1570 nm), and a narrow electrochemical HOMO-LUMO gap (0.74
      V).

PMID- 27647723
TI  - CaLecRK-S.5, a pepper L-type lectin receptor kinase gene, confers broad-spectrum
      resistance by activating priming.
AB  - In Arabidopsis, several L-type lectin receptor kinases (LecRKs) have been
      identified as putative immune receptors. However, to date, there have been few
      analyses of LecRKs in crop plants. Virus-induced gene silencing of CaLecRK-S.5
      verified the role of CaLecRK-S.5 in broad-spectrum resistance. Compared with
      control plants, CaLecRK-S.5-silenced plants showed reduced hypersensitive
      response, reactive oxygen species burst, secondary metabolite production, mitogen
      activated protein kinase activation, and defense-related gene expression in
      response to Tobacco mosaic virus pathotype P0 (TMV-P0) infection. Suppression of
      CaLecRK-S.5 expression significantly enhanced the susceptibility to Pepper mild
      mottle virus pathotype P1,2,3, Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria,
      Phytophthora capsici, as well as TMV-P0 Additionally, beta-aminobutyric acid
      treatment and a systemic acquired resistance assay revealed that CaLecRK-S.5 is
      involved in priming of plant immunity. Pre-treatment with beta-aminobutyric acid
      before viral infection restored the reduced disease resistance phenotypes shown
      in CaLecRK-S.5-silenced plants. Systemic acquired resistance was also abolished
      in CaLecRK-S.5-silenced plants. Finally, RNA sequencing analysis indicated that
      CaLecRK-S.5 positively regulates plant immunity at the transcriptional level.
      Altogether, these results suggest that CaLecRK-S.5-mediated broad-spectrum
      resistance is associated with the regulation of priming.

PMID- 27647728
TI  - Developing and assessing a cadaveric training model for transanal total
      mesorectal excision: initial experience in the UK and USA.
AB  - AIM: Transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) has become one of the most
      promising technical advancements in the surgical treatment of rectal cancer, with
      rising numbers of surgeons seeking training. We describe our experience with
      human cadaveric courses for taTME delivered in two countries. METHOD: Four fresh
      human cadaveric workshops conducted in Oxford, UK, in 2015 and two in Chicago,
      USA, in 2013-2014, trained a total of 52 surgeons. Parameters of operative
      performance for each delegate were recorded. Previous surgical experience and
      uptake of taTME in the surgeons' clinical setting were surveyed. RESULTS: Forty
      seven taTME cases were performed on cadaveric models. Participating surgeons had
      previous experience in laparoscopic TME surgery and transanal approaches but
      limited taTME exposure. The purse-string remained occluded throughout in 93% of
      UK and 60% of US cases. Operative timings for key procedural steps were similar
      between the two countries with a mean time from start of circumferential
      dissection to peritoneal entry of 79.5 min (range 25-155). 96% of surgeons
      dissected transanally to a level S2 or above. The TME specimen quality was
      complete or near complete in 81%, with improvements noted between the first and
      second procedure performed. 81% of surgeons surveyed are currently performing
      taTME in their local hospitals. CONCLUSION: Fresh-frozen cadavers provide
      excellent teaching models for complex pelvic surgery. A structured training
      curriculum including reading material, dry-lab purse-string practice and
      postcourse mentorship will provide surgeons with a more complete training package
      and ongoing support, to ultimately ensure the safe introduction of taTME in the
      clinical setting.

PMID- 27647727
TI  - Influence of red blood cell aggregation on perfusion of an artificial
      microvascular network.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: RBCs suspended in plasma form multicellular aggregates under low-flow
      conditions, increasing apparent blood viscosity at low shear rates. It has
      previously been unclear, however, if RBC aggregation affects microvascular
      perfusion. Here, we analyzed the impact of RBC aggregation on perfusion and
      'capillary' hematocrit in an AMVN at driving pressures ranging from 5 to 60 cm H2
      O to determine if aggregation could improve tissue oxygenation. METHODS: RBCs
      were suspended at 30% hematocrit in either 46.5 g/L dextran 40 (D40, non
      aggregating medium) or 35 g/L dextran 70 (D70, aggregating medium) solutions with
      equal viscosity. RESULTS: Aggregation was readily observed in the AMVN for RBCs
      suspended in D70 at driving pressures <=40 cm H2 O. The AMVN perfusion rate was
      the same for RBCs suspended in aggregating and non-aggregating medium, at both
      'venular' and 'capillary' level. Estimated 'capillary' hematocrit was higher for
      D70 suspensions than for D40 suspensions at intermediate driving pressures (5-40
      cm H2 O). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that although RBC aggregation did not affect
      the AMVN perfusion rate independently of the driving pressure, a higher
      hematocrit in the 'capillaries' of the network for D70 suspensions suggested a
      better oxygen transport capacity in the presence of RBC aggregation.

PMID- 27647729
TI  - Identification of Sternbin and Naringenin as Detoxified Metabolites from the Rice
      Flavanone Phytoalexin Sakuranetin by Pyricularia oryzae.
AB  - Sakuranetin (1) is a flavanone phytoalexin that has been reported to play an
      important role in disease resistance in rice plants. The rice blast fungus
      Pyricularia oryzae (syn. Magnaporthe oryzae) has been reported to metabolize 1 to
      lower its antifungal activity. Here, two flavanones, sternbin (2) and naringenin
      (3), were identified as metabolites of 1 in P. oryzae suspension culture by
      liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The inhibition of 1,
      2, and 3 on P. oryzae mycelial growth were 45%, 19%, and 19%, respectively, at a
      concentration of 100 MUm. Thus, 2 and 3 are detoxified metabolites of 1 by P.
      oryzae.

PMID- 27647732
TI  - Biocatalytic Synthesis of Allylic and Allenyl Sulfides through a Myoglobin
      Catalyzed Doyle-Kirmse Reaction.
AB  - The first example of a biocatalytic [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement reaction
      involving allylic sulfides and diazo reagents (Doyle-Kirmse reaction) is
      reported. Engineered variants of sperm whale myoglobin catalyze this
      synthetically valuable C-C bond-forming transformation with high efficiency and
      product conversions across a variety of sulfide substrates (e.g., aryl-, benzyl-,
      and alkyl-substituted allylic sulfides) and alpha-diazo esters. Moreover, the
      scope of this myoglobin-mediated transformation could be extended to the
      conversion of propargylic sulfides to give substituted allenes. Active-site
      mutations proved effective in enhancing the catalytic efficiency of the
      hemoprotein in these reactions as well as modulating the enantioselectivity,
      resulting in the identification of the myoglobin variant Mb(L29S,H64V,V68F),
      which is capable of mediating asymmetric Doyle-Kirmse reactions with an
      enantiomeric excess up to 71 %. This work extends the toolbox of currently
      available biocatalytic strategies for the asymmetric formation of carbon-carbon
      bonds.

PMID- 27647735
TI  - Four domains of Ada1 form a heterochromatin boundary through different
      mechanisms.
AB  - In eukaryotic cells, there are two chromatin states, silenced and active, and the
      formation of a so-called boundary plays a critical role in demarcating these
      regions; however, the mechanisms underlying boundary formation are not well
      understood. In this study, we focused on S. cerevisiae ADA1, a gene previously
      shown to encode a protein with a robust boundary function. Ada1 is a component of
      the histone modification complex Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase (SAGA) and the
      SAGA-like (SLIK) complex, and it helps to maintain the integrity of these
      complexes. Domain analysis showed that four relatively small regions of Ada1
      (Region I; 66-75 aa, II; 232-282 aa, III; 416-436 aa and IV; 476-488 aa) have a
      boundary function. Among these, Region II could form an intact SAGA complex,
      whereas the other regions could not. Investigation of cellular factors that
      interact with these small regions identified a number of proteasome-associated
      proteins. Interestingly, the boundary functions of Region II and Region III were
      affected by depletion of Ump1, a maturation and assembly factor of the 20S
      proteasome. These results suggest that the boundary function of Ada1 is
      functionally linked to proteasome processes and that the four relatively small
      regions in ADA1 form a boundary via different mechanisms.

PMID- 27647736
TI  - Long-term functional outcome of colonic resections: how much does faecal
      impairment influence quality of life?
AB  - AIM: Older data suggest that colonic resection has a negative impact on
      continence and quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      functional outcome of colonic resections for colonic cancer and diverticulitis
      and its influence on quality of life. METHODS: Patients who underwent colonic
      resection between 2005 and 2013 were identified from a prospective database. A
      survey with two questionnaires [Faecal Incontinence Quality of Life (FIQL) scale,
      Short Form 12 (SF-12)] and additional questions concerning bowel function was
      sent to all patients. RESULTS: Colonic resection was performed in 362 patients in
      the study period; 297 patients returned the questionnaires (response rate 82.0%).
      Faecal urgency or incontinence more than once a month was present in 15% of
      patients and 25% of patients reported that bowel symptoms limited their quality
      of life. The mean total FIQL score for all patients was 3.58. The SF-12 score was
      comparable to a reference population without prior colonic resection. Patients
      after right-sided resections had liquid stool more often than others (45.3% vs
      38.7%, P = 0.011). No differences in bowel function and quality of life were
      detected between resections for colonic cancer and diverticulitis. CONCLUSION:
      Most patients experience no limitation in bowel function after segmental
      colectomy. Those with limitations in bowel function still seem to cope well, as
      the quality of life is not severely affected. Nevertheless, most patients with
      lower functional scores also had lower quality of life scores. Whether surgery is
      a relevant factor has to be questioned, as the prevalence of faecal incontinence
      in a comparable population without prior surgery is almost identical.

PMID- 27647730
TI  - A mosaic world: puzzles revealed by adult neural stem cell heterogeneity.
AB  - Neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in specialized niches in the adult mammalian
      brain. The ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ), adjacent to the lateral
      ventricles, gives rise to olfactory bulb (OB) neurons, and some astrocytes and
      oligodendrocytes throughout life. In vitro assays have been widely used to
      retrospectively identify NSCs. However, cells that behave as stem cells in vitro
      do not reflect the identity, diversity, and behavior of NSCs in vivo. Novel tools
      including fluorescence activated cell sorting, lineage-tracing, and clonal
      analysis have uncovered multiple layers of adult V-SVZ NSC heterogeneity,
      including proliferation state and regional identity. In light of these findings,
      we reexamine the concept of adult NSCs, considering heterogeneity as a key
      parameter for analyzing their dynamics in vivo. V-SVZ NSCs form a mosaic of
      quiescent (qNSCs) and activated cells (aNSCs) that reside in regionally distinct
      microdomains, reflecting their regional embryonic origins, and give rise to
      specific subtypes of OB interneurons. Prospective purification and transcriptome
      analysis of qNSCs and aNSCs has illuminated their molecular and functional
      properties. qNSCs are slowly dividing, have slow kinetics of neurogenesis in
      vivo, can be recruited to regenerate the V-SVZ, and only rarely give rise to in
      vitro colonies. aNSCs are highly proliferative, undergo rapid clonal expansion of
      the neurogenic lineage in vivo, and readily form in vitro colonies. Key open
      questions remain about stem cell dynamics in vivo and the lineage relationship
      between qNSCs and aNSCs under homeostasis and regeneration, as well as context
      dependent plasticity of regionally distinct adult NSCs under different external
      stimuli. WIREs Dev Biol 2016, 5:640-658. doi: 10.1002/wdev.248 For further
      resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

PMID- 27647737
TI  - A statistical model of the penetrating arterioles and venules in the human
      cerebral cortex.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Models of the cerebral microvasculature are required at many different
      scales in order to understand the effects of microvascular topology on CBF. There
      are, however, no data-driven models at the arteriolar/venular scale. In this
      paper, we develop a data-driven algorithm based on available data to generate
      statistically accurate penetrating arterioles and venules. METHODS: A novel order
      based density-filling algorithm is developed based on the statistical data
      including bifurcating angles, LDRs, and area ratios. Three thousand simulations
      are presented, and the results validated against morphological data. These are
      combined with a previous capillary network in order to calculate full vascular
      network parameters. RESULTS: Statistically accurate penetrating trees were
      successfully generated. All properties provided a good fit to experimental data.
      The k exponent had a median of 2.5 and an interquartile range of 1.75-3.7. CBF
      showed a standard deviation ranging from +/-18% to +/-34% of the mean, depending
      on the penetrating vessel diameter. CONCLUSIONS: Small CBF variations indicate
      that the topology of the penetrating vessels plays only a small part in the large
      regional variations of CBF seen in the brain. These results open up the
      possibility of efficient oxygen and blood flow simulations at MRI voxel scales
      which can be directly validated against MRI data.

PMID- 27647739
TI  - Corrigendum: Amphiphilic Bicyclic Peptides as Cellular Delivery Agents.

PMID- 27647744
TI  - The Connecticut Experiment; The Third Installment: 4 Years of Screening Women
      with Dense Breasts with Bilateral Ultrasound.
AB  - To determine if the addition of breast ultrasound in women with dense breasts
      finds cancers that otherwise would have been obscured. Retrospective chart review
      from five sites from October 2009 through December 2013. Data included: number of
      screening mammograms; number of screening ultrasounds; Breast Imaging Reporting
      Data System code results; biopsy results including type of lesion, size, nuclear
      grade, receptor and node status, and patient demographic data. Year 1, 2,706
      ultrasound with 151 biopsies yielded 11 cancers, positive predictive value (PPV)
      7.3%. Detection rate of 4.0/1,000. Year 2, 3,351 ultrasounds with 180 biopsies
      yielded 11 cancers and high risk lesions (HRL), PPV 6.1%. Detection rate
      3.3/1,000. Year 3, 4,128 ultrasounds with 148 biopsies yielded 13 cancers and
      HRL, PPV 8.8%. Detection rate 3.1/1,000. Year 4, 3,331 ultrasounds with 53
      biopsies yielded 11 cancers and HRL, PPV of 20.1%. Detection rate of 3.3/1,000.
      Lesion size ranged 0.3-8.0 cm. Patient age 45-77 years. Three tumors nuclear
      grade 3 and 1 nuclear grade 2 had positive sentinel nodes. 8 patents had risk
      factors other than dense breasts. Cancers in patients with prior negative
      screening ultrasound measured 0.4-1.2 cm and were node negative. Breast
      ultrasound in women with dense breasts detects mammographically occult
      malignancy. Over 4 years, the PPV doubled indicating increased accuracy of
      lesions biopsied while rate of detection remained stable. Lesions were of all
      cancer types, grade and hormonal status. Only high grade cancers were sentinel
      node positive and women returning for yearly ultrasound had small lesions with no
      positive sentinel nodes.

PMID- 27647741
TI  - Transforming LiTMP Lithiation of Challenging Diazines through Gallium Alkyl Trans
      Metal-Trapping.
AB  - This study establishes a new trans-metal-trapping (TMT) procedure based on a
      mixture of LiTMP (the base) and tris(trimethylsilylmethyl)gallium [Ga(CH2 SiMe3
      )3 , GaR3 ] (the trap) that, operating in a tandem manner, is effective for the
      regioselective deprotonation of sensitive diazines in hydrocarbon solution, as
      illustrated through reactions of pyrazine, pyridazine, and pyrimidine, as well as
      through the N-S heterocycle benzothiazole. The metallo-activated complexes of all
      of these compounds were isolated and structurally defined.

PMID- 27647747
TI  - Polarity-Reversed Allylations of Aldehydes, Ketones, and Imines Enabled by
      Hantzsch Ester in Photoredox Catalysis.
AB  - The polarity reversal (umpolung) reaction is an invaluable tool for reversing the
      chemical reactivity of carbonyl and iminyl groups, which subsequent cross
      coupling reactions to form C-C bonds offers a unique perspective in synthetic
      planning and implementation. Reported herein is the first visible-light-induced
      polarity-reversed allylation and intermolecular Michael addition reaction of
      aldehydes, ketones, and imines. This chemoselective reaction has broad substrate
      scope and the engagement of alkyl imines is reported for the first time. The
      mechanistic investigations indicate the formation of ketyl (or alpha-aminoalkyl)
      radicals from single-electron reduction, where the Hantzsch ester is crucial as
      the electron/proton donor and the activator.

PMID- 27647750
TI  - 'Being the bridge and the beacon': a qualitative study of the characteristics and
      functions of the liaison role in child and family health services in Australia.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This article explores the characteristics and functions of
      the liaison role in child and family health services in Australia. BACKGROUND:
      Liaison roles are increasingly being used to improve communication between health
      services and professionals and to facilitate access to support for individuals
      and families in need. Nurses are commonly, although not always, the professionals
      who undertake these roles. Research on the role and outcomes of liaison positions
      in child and family health services is limited in Australia and internationally.
      DESIGN: A qualitative interpretive design informed this study. Interviews and
      focus groups were conducted with 40 liaison and other health professionals,
      primarily nurses, working with families with newborn and young children in two
      Australian States. Data were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Three major themes
      were identified reflecting the importance of defining the role and tasks which
      included building bridges between services and professionals, supporting families
      during transition between services and supporting clinicians. Several
      facilitators and barriers were identified, including concerns about
      sustainability of the roles. CONCLUSIONS: Professionals working in a liaison role
      in child and family health services emphasise that these positions have the
      potential to link services and professionals, thereby providing more effective
      care pathways for children and families especially for those with complex and
      multiple vulnerabilities. While a few children and family health services in
      Australia provide liaison services, the extent of liaison support and the
      outcomes for families in Australia is unknown. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Nurses working with children and families are the most likely health
      professionals to undertake a liaison role. In many nursing contexts, liaison
      roles are relatively new and those in the role have the responsibility to define
      the key purpose of their role. Liaison roles are multifaceted requiring the nurse
      to have excellent communication and negotiation skills to effectively link
      diverse professionals and services, while simultaneously engaging with and
      supporting vulnerable families and children. Nurses in these roles also support
      and educate clinical colleagues.

PMID- 27647751
TI  - Prevalence of lactic acidaemia in patients with advanced heart failure and
      depressed cardiac output.
AB  - AIMS: Heart failure (HF) has been defined classically as a condition in which the
      heart is unable to deliver sufficient oxygen to match the needs of the
      metabolizing tissues. Surprisingly, this definition has never been validated. The
      goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of elevated lactate levels in
      a cohort of patients with advanced heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      retrospectively analysed the arterio-venous oxygen difference (A-V O2 ),
      haemodynamics, and plasma lactate levels in stage D heart failure patients who
      were being evaluated for a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). We identified
      359 patients with a right heart catheterization (RHC) performed prior to LVAD
      implantation. Plasma lactate was available for 96 patients. RHC showed that 93%
      of the patients had an A-V O2 above the upper limit of normal (>5 mL/100 mL).
      Among patients with measured lactate levels, the prevalence of elevated lactate
      (>2.1 mmol/L) was 25% (95% confidence interval 16.7-34.9). The A-V O2 was widened
      in all patients with elevated lactate, but plasma lactate did not correlate with
      A-V O2 (r = 0.02) and only 27% of patients with increased A-V O2 had elevated
      plasma lactate. CONCLUSIONS: Lactate levels were normal in ~75% of the patients
      with advanced heart failure and a widened A-V O2 , suggesting that the cardiac
      output was sufficient to meet the metabolic needs of the peripheral metabolizing
      tissues. Given that ~4% of heart failure patients are in NYHA class IV, these
      findings suggest that the classic definition of heart failure pertains to ~1% of
      patients with HF.

PMID- 27647752
TI  - Resistance to citrus canker induced by a variant of Xanthomonas citri ssp. citri
      is associated with a hypersensitive cell death response involving autophagy
      associated vacuolar processes.
AB  - Xanthomonas citri ssp. citri (X. citri) is the causal agent of Asiatic citrus
      canker, a disease that seriously affects most commercially important Citrus
      species worldwide. We have identified previously a natural variant, X. citri AT ,
      that triggers a host-specific defence response in Citrus limon. However, the
      mechanisms involved in this canker disease resistance are unknown. In this work,
      the defence response induced by X. citri AT was assessed by transcriptomic,
      physiological and ultrastructural analyses, and the effects on bacterial biofilm
      formation were monitored in parallel. We show that X. citri AT triggers a
      hypersensitive response associated with the interference of biofilm development
      and arrest of bacterial growth in C. limon. This plant response involves an
      extensive transcriptional reprogramming, setting in motion cell wall
      reinforcement, the oxidative burst and the accumulation of salicylic acid (SA)
      and phenolic compounds. Ultrastructural analyses revealed subcellular changes
      involving the activation of autophagy-associated vacuolar processes. Our findings
      show the activation of SA-dependent defence in response to X. citri AT and
      suggest a coordinated regulation between the SA and flavonoid pathways, which is
      associated with autophagy mechanisms that control pathogen invasion in C. limon.
      Furthermore, this defence response protects C. limon plants from disease on
      subsequent challenges by pathogenic X. citri. This knowledge will allow the
      rational exploitation of the plant immune system as a biotechnological approach
      for the management of the disease.

PMID- 27647753
TI  - Temperature-Controlled High-Speed AFM: Real-Time Observation of Ripple Phase
      Transitions.
AB  - With nanometer lateral and Angstrom vertical resolution, atomic force microscopy
      (AFM) has contributed unique data improving the understanding of lipid bilayers.
      Lipid bilayers are found in several different temperature-dependent states,
      termed phases; the main phases are solid and fluid phases. The transition
      temperature between solid and fluid phases is lipid composition specific. Under
      certain conditions some lipid bilayers adopt a so-called ripple phase, a
      structure where solid and fluid phase domains alternate with constant
      periodicity. Because of its narrow regime of existence and heterogeneity ripple
      phase and its transition dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, a temperature
      control device to high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) to observe dynamics
      of phase transition from ripple phase to fluid phase reversibly in real time is
      developed and integrated. Based on HS-AFM imaging, the phase transition processes
      from ripple phase to fluid phase and from ripple phase to metastable ripple phase
      to fluid phase could be reversibly, phenomenologically, and quantitatively
      studied. The results here show phase transition hysteresis in fast cooling and
      heating processes, while both melting and condensation occur at 24.15  degrees C
      in quasi-steady state situation. A second metastable ripple phase with larger
      periodicity is formed at the ripple phase to fluid phase transition when the
      buffer contains Ca2+ . The presented temperature-controlled HS-AFM is a new
      unique experimental system to observe dynamics of temperature-sensitive processes
      at the nanoscopic level.

PMID- 27647757
TI  - Right ventricular recovery during follow-up is associated with improved survival
      in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
AB  - AIMS: A compromised tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) is
      associated with worse survival in patients with chronic heart failure with
      reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, it is not known whether a reversible
      abnormal TAPSE at follow-up predicts survival. Our aim was to evaluate whether a
      reversible abnormal TAPSE is associated with a better survival in patients with
      chronic HFrEF. METHODS AND RESULTS: A complete echocardiography was performed in
      706 patients with chronic HFrEF (LVEF <=45%) at baseline and after 6 +/- 3
      months. Right ventricular (RV) systolic function was evaluated using TAPSE. The
      study endpoint was all-cause mortality. At baseline, TAPSE was severely reduced
      (<=14 mm) in 89 (13%) patients, and slightly reduced (>14 but <18 mm) in 157
      (22%) patients. During a median follow-up of 40 months, 152 patients reached the
      endpoint. The event rate (per 100 patients/year) was lower in patients with
      persistently normal TAPSE (>=18 mm, n = 393) [3.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      2.5-4.3], and in those with reversible TAPSE (n = 120) (4.6%, 95% CI 3.1-7.0),
      compared with patients with worsening TAPSE (n = 90) (11.9%, 95% CI 8.7-16.3),
      and those with persistently reduced TAPSE (n = 103) (12.6%, 95% CI 9.3-17.1; log
      rank 69.4, P < 0.0001). A reversible abnormal TAPSE was associated with improved
      survival at multivariable Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio 0.48, 95% CI 0.29
      0.79, P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic HFrEF who have abnormal
      TAPSE at baseline but reverse their dysfunction during follow-up have better
      survival than patients with either worsened TAPSE or persistently abnormal TAPSE,
      and similar to that of patients with persistently normal TAPSE.

PMID- 27647758
TI  - The patient-provider discordance in patients' needs assessment: a qualitative
      study in breast cancer patients receiving oral chemotherapy.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the differing perspectives of patients and
      providers and their assessment of supportive care needs in breast cancer patients
      receiving oral chemotherapy. BACKGROUND: The patient-provider concordance in
      patients' needs assessment is critical to the effective management of cancer.
      Self-administered oral chemotherapy greatly shifts responsibilities for side
      effect monitoring, symptom management and dose adjustments from the provider to
      the patient. Home-based care plans will be central to the effective management of
      these patients. DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative design was used. METHODS: A
      purposive sample of nine breast cancer patients, four oncologists and four
      oncology nurses were recruited in Shanghai, China. Semi-structured and in-depth
      interviews were conducted to collect data. A qualitative content analysis aimed
      at finding manifest and latent meanings of data was applied to analyse the
      information. RESULTS: Four themes of needs emerged from the interviews with
      patients and providers: information/knowledge, communication, social support and
      symptom management, but patients and providers only agreed on the assessment of
      symptom and side-effects management needs. Patients want more positive
      encouraging information from providers, but providers think patients need more
      information of efficacy and safety. Patients appreciate support from other peer
      patients with similar experiences, but providers think the support from families
      and friends are readily available to them. Patients discussed their spiritual
      needs, while oncologists see the need to improve patient adherence to medication.
      CONCLUSION: Breast cancer patients differed from their providers in assessment of
      healthcare needs. Further investigation of the relationships between patient
      provider discordance and patient outcomes may guide interventions to improve care
      for cancer patients receiving oral chemotherapy. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Oncology nurses should develop a holistic home-based care plan by exploring and
      integrating the discordance of needs assessment of both patients and health
      providers.

PMID- 27647760
TI  - The relationship between polymorphisms of BDNFOS and BDNF genes and heroin
      addiction in the Han Chinese population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of heroin addicts is increasing in the world. Both
      environmental and genetic factors both play critical roles in the process of
      heroin addiction. We aimed to investigate the associations between single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in LIN7C, BDNFOS and BDNF genes and drug
      addiction in the Han Chinese population. METHODS: We conducted a case-control
      study among 692 cases and 700 healthy controls from Xi'an, China. Eight SNPs were
      selected and genotyped using MassARRAY technology (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA).
      Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by
      unconditional logistic regression adjusting for age and sex. RESULTS: Using the
      chi-squared test, we found that rs7481311 (OR =1.275, 95% CI = 1.087-1.497, p =
      0.009) and rs11030096 (OR =1.227, 95% CI = 1.049-1.436, p = 0.011) in the BNDFOS
      were associated with an increased risk of heroin addiction. By contrast, rs988712
      located in BDNFOS showed a decreased risk of heroin addiction (OR =0.734, 95% CI
      = 0.582-0.925, p = 0.003). By genetic model analysis, we found that the 'T'
      allele of rs988712 in BDNFOS had a protective role for heroin addiction in the
      additive model and dominant model (p < 0.05). By contrast, the allele 'T' of
      rs7481311 in BDNFOS significantly elevated the risk of heroin addiction in the
      additive model, recessive model and dominant model (p < 0.05). We also found that
      allele 'C' of rs11030096 was associated with an increased risk of addiction in
      the dominant model and additive model (p < 0.05). Additionally, we found that
      rs6265, rs11030104 and rs10767664 in BDNF were associated with a decreased risk
      of heroin addiction (p < 0.05). However, only rs7481311 in BDNFOS remained
      significant after Bonferroni correction (p < 0.00625). CONCLUSIONS: These results
      suggest that polymorphisms of BDNFOS play an important role in heroin addiction
      susceptibility in the Chinese Han population.

PMID- 27647761
TI  - Low-level laser therapy stimulates bone metabolism and inhibits root resorption
      during tooth movement in a rodent model.
AB  - This study evaluated the biological effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on
      bone remodeling, tooth displacement and root resorption, occurred during the
      orthodontic tooth movement. Upper first molars of a total of sixty-eight male
      rats were subjected to orthodontic tooth movement and euthanized on days 3, 6, 9,
      14 and 21 days and divided as negative control, control and LLLT group. Tooth
      displacement and histomorphometric analysis were performed in all animals;
      scanning electron microscopy analysis was done on days 3, 6 and 9, as well as the
      immunohistochemistry analysis of RANKL/OPG and TRAP markers. Volumetric changes
      in alveolar bone were analyzed using MicroCT images on days 14 and 21. LLLT
      influenced bone resorption by increasing the number of TRAP-positive osteoclasts
      and the RANKL expression at the compression side. This resulted in less alveolar
      bone and hyalinization areas on days 6, 9 and 14. LLLT also induced less bone
      volume and density, facilitating significant acceleration of tooth movement and
      potential reduction in root resorption besides stimulating bone formation at the
      tension side by enhancing OPG expression, increasing trabecular thickness and
      bone volume on day 21. Taken together, our results indicate that LLLT can
      stimulate bone remodeling reducing root resorption in a rat model. LLLT improves
      tooth movement via bone formation and bone resorption in a rat model.

PMID- 27647762
TI  - Theranostic Upconversion Nanobeacons for Tumor mRNA Ratiometric Fluorescence
      Detection and Imaging-Monitored Drug Delivery.
AB  - Remote optical detection and imaging of specific tumor-related biomarkers and
      simultaneous activation of therapy according to the expression level of the
      biomarkers in tumor site with theranostic probes should be an effective modality
      for treatment of cancers. Herein, an upconversion nanobeacon (UCNPs-MB/Dox) is
      proposed as a new theranostic nanoprobe to ratiometrically detect and visualize
      the thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) mRNA that can simultaneously trigger the Dox release
      to activate the chemotherapy accordingly. UCNPs-MB/Dox is constructed with the
      conjugation of a TK1 mRNA-specific molecular beacon (MB) bearing a quencher (BHQ
      1) and an alkene handle modified upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) through click
      reaction and subsequently loading with a chemotherapy drug (Dox). With this
      nanobeacon, quantitative ratiometric upconversion detection of the target with
      high sensitivity and selectivity as well as the target triggered Dox release in
      vitro is demonstrated. The sensitive and selective ratiometric detection and
      imaging of TK1 mRNA under the irradiation of near infrared light (980 nm) and the
      mRNA-dependent release of Dox for chemotherapy in the tumor MCF-7 cells and A549
      cells are also shown. This work provides a smart and robust platform for gene
      related tumor theranostics.

PMID- 27647764
TI  - PILOT STUDY TO ASSESS MEAL PROGRESSION THROUGH THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT OF
      HABITUATED DOGS DETERMINED BY FLUOROSCOPIC IMAGING WITHOUT SEDATION OR PHYSICAL
      RESTRAINT.
AB  - A limiting factor of radiographic contrast studies is the requirement for
      restraint of the animal in order to reduce movement artifacts. To demonstrate
      that gastrointestinal transit can be analyzed by a barium meal in nonsedated and
      unrestrained dogs, a pilot study of six adult Labrador retriever dogs was
      undertaken. Study subjects were selected by convenience sampling from an
      available population of Labrador dogs and were trained to stand motionless during
      radiographic fluoroscopy. Following a meal containing 7% w/w powdered barium
      sulfate, radiographic images were generated using a digital fluoroscope C-arm, at
      intervals of 5, 15, and 30 min, and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 h. A
      qualitative assessment of fill density using a 5-point scale was made for the
      stomach, small intestine, and ascending, transverse, and descending regions of
      the colon at each timepoint. Gastric emptying half-time occurred between 1 and 2
      h postmeal. Mean fill density of the small intestine increased from 15 min
      postmeal and reached a peak at 3 h postmeal. Mean fill density of the proximal
      large intestine mirrored that of the small intestine. The distal large intestine
      remained empty for the first 2 h postmeal, then increased between hours 2 and 5
      postmeal, and was subsequently at maximum fill density from hour 6 postmeal
      onwards. Fluoroscopic observation of a barium contrast meal provided an effective
      indication of the amount and progression of ingested food through the various
      regions of the gastrointestinal tract in habituated, fully conscious dogs.

PMID- 27647766
TI  - Myocardial iron content and mitochondrial function in human heart failure: a
      direct tissue analysis.
AB  - AIMS: Iron replacement improves clinical status in iron-deficient patients with
      heart failure (HF), but the pathophysiology is poorly understood. Iron is
      essential not only for erythropoiesis, but also for cellular bioenergetics. The
      impact of myocardial iron deficiency (MID) on mitochondrial function, measured
      directly in the failing human heart, is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Left
      ventricular samples were obtained from 91 consecutive HF patients undergoing
      transplantation and 38 HF-free organ donors (controls). Total myocardial iron
      content, mitochondrial respiration, citric acid cycle and respiratory chain
      enzyme activities, respiratory chain components (complex I-V), and protein
      content of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-protective enzymes were measured in
      tissue homogenates to quantify mitochondrial function. Myocardial iron content
      was lower in HF compared with controls (156 +/- 41 vs. 200 +/- 38 ug.g-1 dry
      weight, P < 0.001), independently of anaemia. MID (the lowest iron tercile in HF)
      was associated with more extensive coronary disease and less beta-blocker usage
      compared with non-MID HF patients. Compared with controls, HF patients displayed
      reduced myocardial oxygen2 respiration and reduced activity of all examined
      mitochondrial enzymes (all P < 0.001). MID in HF was associated with preserved
      activity of respiratory chain enzymes but reduced activity of aconitase and
      citrate synthase (by -26% and -15%, P < 0.05) and reduced expression of catalase,
      glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase 2. CONCLUSION: Myocardial iron
      content is decreased and mitochondrial functions are impaired in advanced HF. MID
      in HF is associated with diminished citric acid cycle enzyme activities and
      decreased ROS-protecting enzymes. MID may contribute to altered myocardial
      substrate use and to worsening of mitochondrial dysfunction that exists in HF.

PMID- 27647768
TI  - Day surgery nurses' selection of patient preoperative information.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine selection and delivery of preoperative verbal
      information deemed important by nurses to relay to patients immediately prior to
      day surgery. BACKGROUND: Elective day-case surgery is expanding, patient turnover
      is high and nurse-patient contact limited. In the brief time-frame available,
      nurses must select and precisely deliver information to patients, provide answers
      to questions and gain compliance to ensure a sustained, co-ordinated patient
      throughput. Concise information selection is therefore necessary especially given
      continued day surgery expansion. STUDY DESIGN: Electronic questionnaire. METHODS:
      A survey investigating nurses' choice of patient information prior to surgery was
      distributed throughout the UK via email addresses listed on the British
      Association of Day Surgery member's website (January 2015-April 2015). RESULTS:
      Participants were requested to undertake the survey within 2-3 weeks, with 137
      participants completing the survey giving a 44% response rate. Verbal information
      deemed most important by nurses preoperatively was checking fasting time,
      information about procedure/operation, checking medication, ensuring presence of
      medical records/test results and concluding medical investigations checks. To a
      lesser extent was theatre environment information, procedure/operation start time
      and possible time to discharge. Significant differences were established between
      perceived importance of information and information delivery concerning the
      procedure/operation and anaesthesia details. CONCLUSION: Nurses working with
      competing demands and frequent interruptions, prioritised patient safety
      information. Although providing technical details during time-limited encounters,
      efforts were made to individualise provision. A more formal plan of verbal
      information provision could help ease nurses' cognitive workload and enhance
      patient satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study provides
      evidence that verbal information provided immediately prior to day surgery may
      vary with experience. Nurse educators and managers may need to provide greater
      guidance for such complex care settings as delivery of increasingly technical
      details during brief encounters is gaining increasing priority.

PMID- 27647769
TI  - The comparison between intradermal injection of abobotulinumtoxinA and normal
      saline for face-lifting: a split-face randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Botulinum toxin type A (BTA) has been approved for the treatment of
      strabismus, blepharospasm, muscle spasm, cervical dystonia, pain syndrome,
      glabella wrinkles, and severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis. Intradermal
      injection of BTA has been used off-label by many clinicians for the purpose of
      face-lifting effect. Few studies on onabotulinumtoxinA (ONA) demonstrated no
      clinical efficacy on face-lifting effect when comparing to normal saline solution
      (NSS). So far, there is no split-face comparison study on face-lifting effect of
      abobotulinumtoxinA (ABO). OBJECTIVE: To determine the face-lifting effect of ABO
      intradermal injection and NSS. METHODS: Twenty-two subjects with symmetrical
      faces on both facial expression and expressionless were randomly injected with
      ABO at 1:7 cc dilution (500 unit or one vial in 7 cc of NSS) on one side and NSS
      on the other side using intradermal injection technique. Standardized
      photographic documentation was obtained at baseline, and at 2 weeks after
      treatment. The face-lifting effect was graded by two blinded dermatologists using
      photographic comparison and rated by the patients. Side effects were also
      recorded at the end of the study. RESULTS: Face-lifting effect was demonstrated
      in 40.9% and 4.5% of patients with ABO and NSS, respectively. There was a
      statistically significant difference in face-lifting effect when comparing
      between ABO and NSS (P = 0.021). The face-lifting was reported in 50.0% of
      patients receiving ABO injection. The patients with oval-face shape tended to
      respond better with ABO (P = 0.046). The odd of face-lifting effect for patients
      aged younger than 32 was higher than patients aged older than 32 with the odds
      ratio of 7.9 and 95% confidence interval of 1.1-56.1. Facial asymmetry was found
      in 22.7% of subjects. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the face-lifting
      effect of ABO intradermal injection. Patients with oval-face shape and aged
      younger than 32 tended to respond better. Therefore, patient selection should be
      emphasized to improve efficacy of this technique.

PMID- 27647770
TI  - Efficacy of ormeloxifene versus oral contraceptive in the management of abnormal
      uterine bleeding due to uterine leiomyoma.
AB  - AIM: To compare ormeloxifene with combined oral contraceptive (COC) in abnormal
      uterine bleeding (AUB) due to leiomyoma (AUB-L). METHODS: Fifty women with AUB-L
      were randomized after informed consent and institute ethics clearance. Group I (n
      = 25) was given ormeloxifene (a SERM i.e. selective estrogen receptor modulator)
      60 mg twice per week and group II (n = 25) was given COC (ethinyl estradiol 30
      MUg with desogestrel 150 MUg) on days 1-21 for 6 months. Menstrual blood loss was
      assessed on pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC) score and leiomyoma
      volume was assessed on ultrasound. Fibroids were classified according to FIGO
      PALM-COEIN classification for AUB where leiomyomas were further sub-classified as
      types 0 to 8 according to their location. Follow up was done at 1, 3, 6 and 9
      months. RESULTS: Mean PBAC score reduced by 81% with ormeloxifene (group I)
      compared with 43.8% for COC (group II). After 6 months, 18 patients (72%) in
      group I had PBAC score in the non-menorrhagic range (<100) compared with only two
      (8%) in group II. In group I, PBAC score in FIGO-PALM-COEIN leiomyoma types 2, 3,
      4, 5, 6 reduced by 90.2%, 82.5%, 93.3%, 56.4% and 100%, respectively and 14 (56%)
      developed amenorrhea; compared with reduction of 64%, 27.5%, 25.9% in types 4, 5
      and 6, respectively in group II. Dysmenorrhea visual analog scale score decreased
      in both groups. Mean leiomyoma volume increased in both groups: by 25.7% with
      ormeloxifene versus 16.9% with COC; only grade 2 leiomyoma in group I reduced by
      44%. One patient in group II with grade 2 leiomyoma discontinued treatment at 3
      months. Seven patients (28%) developed ovarian cyst in group I with no other
      major adverse effect in either group. CONCLUSION: Ormeloxifene with its
      convenient twice-weekly dosage schedule was effective in treating AUB-L, with 72%
      of patients responding to 6-month treatment compared with 8% with COC, even
      though leiomyoma volume increased insignificantly with both ormeloxifene and
      COCs.

PMID- 27647771
TI  - A Simple and Resource-efficient Setup for the Computer-aided Drug Design
      Laboratory.
AB  - Undertaking modelling investigations for Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD)
      requires a proper environment. In principle, this could be done on a single
      computer, but the reality of a drug discovery program requires robustness and
      high-throughput computing (HTC) to efficiently support the research. Therefore, a
      more capable alternative is needed but its implementation has no widespread
      solution. Here, the realization of such a computing facility is discussed, from
      general layout to technical details all aspects are covered.

PMID- 27647772
TI  - Crucial Role of P2X7 Receptor in Regulating Exocytosis of Single-Walled Carbon
      Nanotubes in Macrophages.
AB  - Exocytosis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) determines therapeutic
      efficiency and toxicity of nanoproducts but its underlying mechanism remains
      elusive. In this study, it is found that the exocytosis mechanism of SWCNTs is
      mediated mainly through the activation of P2X7 receptor (P2X7 R), an ATP-gated
      membrane receptor highly expressed in macrophages. Inhibition of P2X7 R signaling
      by either a specific inhibitor (oxidized ATP) or small interfering RNA targeting
      P2X7 R largely prevents the exocytosis of SWCNTs from Raw264.7 cells, resulting
      in significant accumulation of SWCNTs within cells. In contrast, activation of
      P2X7 R with ATP promotes exocytosis of SWCNTs. Specifically, it is elucidated
      that internalized SWCNTs are accumulated in lysosomes and induce transitional
      release of ATP into extracellular space, which further activates P2X7 R, leading
      to the influx of calcium ions, phosphorylation of protein kinase C, ERK1/2, p38,
      and JNK, as well as alkalization of lysosomes. SWCNTs exposure also induces
      microtubules reorganization that facilitates the secretion of SWCNTs-containing
      lysosomes. It is also found that P2X7 R simultaneously mediates secretion of IL
      1beta from Raw264.7 cells during the process of SWCNTs exocytosis. The combined
      data reveals that P2X7 R-mediated pathway is the predominant molecular mechanism
      for exocytosis of SWCNTs in Raw264.7 cells. Moreover, SWCNT-induced inflammation
      is closely coupled with the exocytosis of SWCNTs through P2X7 R.

PMID- 27647774
TI  - Am I My Family's Keeper? Disclosure Dilemmas in Next-Generation Sequencing.
AB  - Ever since genetic testing is possible for specific mutations, ethical debate has
      sparked on the question of whether professionals have a duty to warn not only
      patients but also their relatives that might be at risk for hereditary diseases.
      As next-generation sequencing (NGS) swiftly finds its way into clinical practice,
      the question who is responsible for conveying unsolicited findings to family
      members becomes increasingly urgent. Traditionally, there is a strong emphasis on
      the duties of the professional in this debate. But what is the role of the
      patient and her family? In this article, we discuss the question of whose duty it
      is to convey relevant genetic risk information concerning hereditary diseases
      that can be cured or prevented to the relatives of patients undergoing NGS. We
      argue in favor of a shared responsibility for professionals and patients and
      present a strategy that reconciles these roles: a moral accountability nudge.
      Incorporated into informed consent and counseling services such as letters and
      online tools, this nudge aims to create awareness on specific patient
      responsibilities. Commitment of all parties is needed to ensure adequate
      dissemination of results in the NGS era.

PMID- 27647775
TI  - Carotid body resection for sympathetic modulation in systolic heart failure:
      results from first-in-man study.
AB  - AIMS: Augmented reflex responses from peripheral chemoreceptors, which are mainly
      localized in the carotid bodies (CBs), characterize patients with systolic heart
      failure and contribute to adrenergic hyperactivation. We investigated whether
      surgical resection of CBs in these patients can be performed safely to decrease
      sympathetic tone. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 10 male patients with systolic
      heart failure (age, 59 +/- 3 years; LVEF, 27 +/- 7%) who underwent unilateral
      right-sided CB resection (four patients) or bilateral CB resection (six
      patients). Primary endpoints of the study were changes in muscle sympathetic
      nerve activity (MSNA) and peripheral chemosensitivity measured as ventilatory
      response to hypoxia from baseline to 1 month post-CB resection. Safety analysis
      included analysis of arterial blood gas and oxygenation at night through 2 months
      post-procedure and adverse events assessed up to 12 months. At the 1-month visit,
      CB resection was associated with a significant decrease both in MSNA (86.6 +/-
      3.1 vs. 79.7 +/- 4.2 bursts/100 beats, P = 0.03) and in peripheral
      chemosensitivity (1.35 +/- 0.19 vs. 0.41 +/- 0.17 L/min/SpO2 , P = 0.005). It
      also resulted in improved exercise tolerance. Amongst some patients with
      bilateral CB resection, there was a trend towards worsening of oxygen saturation
      at night, which in one case required therapy with non-invasive ventilation.
      CONCLUSION: We present first-in-man evidence that CB resection in patients with
      systolic heart failure is associated with a decrease in sympathetic activity. A
      bilateral procedure may carry a risk of worsening oxygenation at night. CB
      modulation constitutes an interesting research avenue, but careful consideration
      of the balance between safety and efficacy is necessary before further clinical
      trials.

PMID- 27647777
TI  - Reassigning Sense Codon AGA to Encode Noncanonical Amino Acids in Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - A new method has been developed to reassign the rare codon AGA in Escherichia
      coli by engineering an orthogonal tRNA/aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase pair derived
      from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. The tRNA mutant was introduced with a UCU
      anticodon, and the synthetase was evolved to correctly recognize the modified
      tRNA anticodon loop and to selectively charge a target noncanonical amino acid
      (NAA) onto the tRNA. In order to maximize the efficiency of AGA codon
      reassignment, while avoiding the lethal effects caused by global codon
      reassignment in cellular proteins, an inducible promoter (araBAD) was utilized to
      provide temporal controls for overexpression of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and
      switch on codon reassignment. Using this system, we were able to efficiently
      incorporate p-acetylphenylalanine, O-methyl-tyrosine, and p-iodophenylalanine
      into proteins in response to AGA codons. Also, we found that E. coli strain GM10
      was optimal in achieving the highest AGA reassignment rates. The successful
      reassignment of AGA codons reported here provides a new avenue to further expand
      the genetic code.

PMID- 27647779
TI  - Evaluation of impact of social support and care on HIV-positive and AIDS
      individuals' quality of life: a nonrandomised community trial.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Our study was conducted to further investigate the model of
      social support and care for People Living with HIV/AIDS(PLHA), to explore their
      role in People Living with AIDS's quality of life (QOL) as reference for
      improving nursing policies for AIDS. BACKGROUND: Social support and care are the
      most important factors impacting the QOL of People Living with HIV/AIDS, but most
      studies conducted upon the influence of social support and QOL of People Living
      with HIV/AIDS are mainly based on cross-sectional design. DESIGN: Our study was a
      nonrandomised controlled community intervention study. METHODS: The participants
      diagnosed as People Living with HIV/AIDS at Beijing You An Hospital received a
      comprehensive social support care from December 2013 to December 2014. To
      evaluate the impact of social support and care model on People Living with
      HIV/AIDS, our study analysed the different dimension scores of social support
      scale and quality of life before and after the intervention. Correlation between
      the net benefit value of social support and that of QOL from various dimensions
      were analysed. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the score of
      objective support and usage of support (all p = 0.02) for social support. Net
      values of objective support score and usage of support were 0.25 and 0.19,
      respectively, after intervention. There were significant differences in
      physiological function, role physical, general health, vitality, social function,
      mental health, health transition and total score of quality of life (all p <
      0.05). The canonical correlation analysis of net values of social support and QOL
      indicated that the first and second canonical correlation were statistically
      significant, with correlation coefficients of 0.53 (p = 0.00) and 0.21 (p =
      0.04). CONCLUSION: Social support and care intervention model can effectively
      improve perceived subjective feeling on social support and QOL condition for
      People Living with HIV/AIDS. And strategies to improve social support and care
      intervention programmes are strongly encouraged. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      The method is simple and cost-effective and could be a way to improve the quality
      of life condition for People Living with HIV/AIDS.

PMID- 27647778
TI  - Efficacy and safety of endometrial ablation for treating abnormal uterine
      bleeding in pre- and postmenopausal women with liver cirrhosis.
AB  - AIM: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) occurs in 10-30% of women of reproductive
      age and up to 61% of cirrhotic women. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of
      endometrial ablation (NovaSure therapy) for AUB in cirrhotic women. METHODS: This
      prospective, two-arm, observational study enrolled patients for NovaSure
      treatment, and they were followed for 12 months. Primary measurements were the
      amenorrhea rate and changes of pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBLAC)
      scores at 1-month post-therapy. Key secondary end-points included the longevity
      of amenorrhea at 12 months, safety profile, and progression of cirrhosis.
      RESULTS: Among 88 women, 26 were cirrhotic and 62 were non-cirrhotic. At 1-month
      post-NovaSure treatment, a significant reduction of mean PBLAC scores was
      observed in cirrhotic patients compared to those at baseline (0.4 +/- 1.3 vs
      215.2 +/- 410.9, P < 0.001), and the amenorrhea rate was 88.5%. The efficacy
      outcomes of the PBLAC scores and amenorrhea rate were maintained until the end of
      the 12-month follow-up. A significant improvement in quality of life scores was
      observed 1-month post-therapy compared to those at baseline (5.4 +/- 3.1 vs 20.5
      +/- 5.5, P < 0.001). Patients' satisfaction rates were 100% and 92.31% at 6 and
      12 months, respectively. The aforementioned outcomes were comparable with those
      in non-cirrhotic patients. No significant progression of cirrhosis or safety
      concern was reported. CONCLUSION: Cirrhotic patients on NovaSure therapy had a
      high rate of amenorrhea 1-month post-treatment, which maintained longevity for 12
      months. The safety profile was similar to that in non-cirrhotic patients.

PMID- 27647781
TI  - New Organic Semiconducting Scaffolds by Supramolecular Preorganization: Dye
      Intercalation and Dye Oxidation and Reduction.
AB  - The assembly of melamine and 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone results in new "sheet
      like" supramolecular crystals that by controlled thermal condensation can be
      converted to photoactive materials at relativity low temperatures. The
      condensation temperature alters the materials properties from polymer-like to
      carbon materials alongside their morphology and elemental ratio. This new method
      opens the possibility for the synthesis of new organic, photoactive carbon
      nitrogen based frameworks at low calcination temperatures with great simplicity.
      Photodegradation experiments of methylene blue reveal that the obtained materials
      can perform dye reduction photochemically with visible photons, while at the same
      time the photogenerated holes oxidize the dye toward small molecular fragments.

PMID- 27647783
TI  - WES/WGS Reporting of Mutations from Cardiovascular "Actionable" Genes in Clinical
      Practice: A Key Role for UMD Knowledgebases in the Era of Big Databases.
AB  - High-throughput next-generation sequencing such as whole-exome and whole-genome
      sequencing are being rapidly integrated into clinical practice. The use of these
      techniques leads to the identification of secondary variants for which decisions
      about the reporting or not to the patient need to be made. The American College
      of Medical Genetics and Genomics recently published recommendations for the
      reporting of these variants in clinical practice for 56 "actionable" genes. Among
      these, seven are involved in Marfan Syndrome And Related Disorders (MSARD)
      resulting from mutations of the FBN1, TGFBR1 and 2, ACTA2, SMAD3, MYH11 and MYLK
      genes. Here, we show that mutations collected in UMD databases for MSARD genes
      (UMD-MSARD) are rarely reported, including the most frequent ones, in global
      scale initiatives for variant annotation such as the NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing
      Project (ESP), the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC), and ClinVar. The
      predicted pathogenic mutations reported in global scale initiatives but absent in
      locus-specific databases (LSDBs) mainly correspond to rare events. UMD-MSARD
      databases are therefore the only resources providing access to the full spectrum
      of known pathogenic mutations. They are the most comprehensive resources for
      clinicians and geneticists to interpret MSARD-related variations not only primary
      variants but also secondary variants.

PMID- 27647784
TI  - Pulmonary artery pressure-guided heart failure management: US cost-effectiveness
      analyses using the results of the CHAMPION clinical trial.
AB  - AIMS: Haemodynamic-guided heart failure (HF) management effectively reduces
      decompensation events and need for hospitalizations. The economic benefit of
      clinical improvement requires further study. METHODS AND RESULTS: An estimate of
      the cost-effectiveness of haemodynamic-guided HF management was made based on
      observations published in the randomized, prospective single-blinded CHAMPION
      trial. A comprehensive analysis was performed including healthcare utilization
      event rates, survival, and quality of life demonstrated in the randomized portion
      of the trial (18 months). Markov modelling with Monte Carlo simulation was used
      to approximate comprehensive costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) from a
      payer perspective. Unit costs were estimated using the Truven Health MarketScan
      database from April 2008 to March 2013. Over a 5-year horizon, patients in the
      Treatment group had average QALYs of 2.56 with a total cost of US$56 974;
      patients in the Control group had QALYs of 2.16 with a total cost of US$52 149.
      The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was US$12 262 per QALY. Using
      comprehensive cost modelling, including all anticipated costs of HF and non-HF
      hospitalizations, physician visits, prescription drugs, long-term care, and
      outpatient hospital visits over 5 years, the Treatment group had a total cost of
      US$212 004 and the Control group had a total cost of US$200 360. The ICER was
      US$29 593 per QALY. CONCLUSIONS: Standard economic modelling suggests that
      pulmonary artery pressure-guided management of HF using the CardioMEMSTM HF
      System is cost-effective from the US-payer perspective. This analysis provides
      the background for further modelling in specific country healthcare systems and
      cost structures.

PMID- 27647787
TI  - Letter to "Application effect of sterile normal saline ice for post-partum
      hemorrhage at the time of cesarean delivery: A retrospective review": Is it safe?

PMID- 27647786
TI  - Light-Activated Triazabutadienes for the Modification of a Viral Surface.
AB  - Chemical crosslinking is a versatile tool for the examination of biochemical
      interactions, in particular host-pathogen interactions. We report the critical
      first step toward the goal of probing these interactions by the synthesis and use
      of a new heterobifunctional crosslinker containing a triazabutadiene scaffold.
      The triazabutadiene is stable to protein conjugation and liberates a reactive
      aryl diazonium species upon irradiation with 350 nm light. We highlight the use
      of this technology by modifying the surface of several proteins, including the
      dengue virus envelope protein.

PMID- 27647788
TI  - Person-Based Versus Generalized Impulsivity Disinhibition in Frontotemporal
      Dementia and Alzheimer Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While much disinhibition in dementia results from generalized
      impulsivity, in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) disinhibition
      may also result from impaired social cognition. OBJECTIVE: To deconstruct
      disinhibition and its neural correlates in bvFTD vs. early-onset Alzheimer's
      disease (eAD). METHODS: Caregivers of 16 bvFTD and 21 matched-eAD patients
      completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale disinhibition items. The
      disinhibition items were further categorized into (1) "person-based" subscale
      which predominantly associated with violating social propriety and personal
      boundary and (2) "generalized-impulsivity" subscale which included nonspecific
      impulsive acts. Subscale scores were correlated with grey matter volumes from
      tensor-based morphometry on magnetic resonance images. RESULTS: In comparison to
      the eAD patients, the bvFTD patients developed greater person-based disinhibition
      ( P < 0.001) but comparable generalized impulsivity. Severity of person-based
      disinhibition significantly correlated with the left anterior superior temporal
      sulcus (STS), and generalized-impulsivity correlated with the right orbitofrontal
      cortex (OFC) and the left anterior temporal lobe (aTL). CONCLUSIONS: Person-based
      disinhibition was predominant in bvFTD and correlated with the left STS. In both
      dementia, violations of social propriety and personal boundaries involved fronto
      parieto-temporal network of Theory of Mind, whereas nonspecific disinhibition
      involved the OFC and aTL.

PMID- 27647789
TI  - Convergent Validity, Concurrent Validity, and Diagnostic Accuracy of the interRAI
      Depression Rating Scale.
AB  - AIMS: Depression Rating Scale (DRS) is one of the clinical outcome measures of
      the International Resident Assessment Instrument (interRAI) assessment. The
      primary aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy and
      concurrent validity of the 3-day assessment window version of the DRS. METHODS:
      The performance of DRS was compared with a gold standard clinical diagnosis of
      depression in 92 patients (age >=65) who had interRAI version 9.1 Home Care
      assessment completed within 30 days of discharge from psychogeriatric inpatient
      care or memory clinic assessment. RESULTS: The DRS had poor diagnostic accuracy
      for depression diagnosis with an area under the curve of 0.68 (95% confidence
      interval [CI] = 0.57-0.77). The DRS score had a poor to moderate correlation with
      the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale 65+ depression item score ( rs = 0.30, 95%
      CI = 0.09-0.48, P = .006). CONCLUSION: This study and the existing literature
      raise concerns that the DRS is not an adequate measure of depression.

PMID- 27647790
TI  - Office-Based Assessment of At-Risk Driving in Older Adults With and Without
      Cognitive Impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A multitest approach is optimal for the identification of at-risk
      driving among older adults. This study examined the predictive validity of a
      combination of office-based screening tests for on-road driving performance in
      older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/dementia. METHODS:
      Forty-four normal control, 20 participants with MCI, and 20 participants with
      dementia completed a battery of office-based assessments. On-road driving
      evaluation classified participants as not at-risk (n = 65) or at-risk drivers (n
      = 19). RESULTS: Logistic regression revealed age and 2 tests of visual attention
      abilities (Useful Field of View [UFOV] Divided Attention and Neuropsychological
      Assessment Battery [NAB] Driving Scenes) best predicted at-risk drivers ( C
      statistic = 0.90); no cutoff score had both sensitivity and specificity >80%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Future research on larger and more clinically representative
      neurological samples will improve understanding of the utility of the UFOV
      Divided Attention and NAB Driving Scenes in detecting at-risk older adult drivers
      in the clinic.

PMID- 27647791
TI  - The Frontal Assessment Battery: Normative Performance in a Large Sample of Older
      Community-Dwelling Hospital Outpatient or General Practitioner Attenders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) is a short battery designed to
      assess frontal executive functioning, but data for interpretation of performance
      are limited. OBJECTIVES: The Trinity, Ulster, Department of Agriculture (TUDA)
      study provided the opportunity to derive performance data from a large sample of
      community-dwelling hospital outpatient or general practitioner (GP) attenders.
      METHODS: Normative analysis based on 2508 TUDA participants meeting these
      criteria: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) >26/30, not depressed (Center for
      Epidemiologic Studies Depression <16) or anxious (Hospital Anxiety and Depression
      Scale <8), no history of stroke, or transient ischemic attack. Correlation and
      regression analyses were used to evaluate the effects of age, education, gender,
      and general cognition (MMSE). Norms for FAB were created stratified by age and
      education, using overlapping midpoint ranges of 10 years with a 3-year interval
      from age 60 to 97. RESULTS: Age and education accounted for 9.6% of variance in
      FAB score ( r2 = .096) with no significant effect of gender. The FAB and MMSE
      were modestly correlated ( r = .29, P < .01) with MMSE increasing the model's
      total explained variance in FAB score from 9.6% to 14%. CONCLUSION: This is the
      largest study to date to create normative data for the FAB. Age and education had
      the most significant impact on FAB performance, which was largely independent of
      global cognition (MMSE). These data may be of benefit in interpreting FAB
      performance in individuals with similar demographic/health status characteristics
      in hospital outpatient or GP settings.

PMID- 27647792
TI  - Risk Factors for Cognitive Impairment in Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia
      Syndrome.
AB  - Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late-onset
      neurodegenerative disease with motor, psychiatric, and cognitive manifestations
      that occurs in carriers of the fragile X mental retardation 1 ( FMR1) gene
      premutations. This was a retrospective chart review of 196 individuals (127 men
      and 69 women) with FXTAS. Forty-six (23%) participants were cognitively impaired,
      of whom 19 (10%) had dementia. Risk factors for dementia were examined (CGG
      repeat size; alcohol, benzodiazepine, and opioid use; diabetes; hyperlipidemia;
      hypertension; hypothyroidism; obesity; sleep apnea; surgeries with general
      anesthesia; depression; family history of dementia). Thirteen individuals with
      FXTAS and dementia were then compared to 13 cognitively intact individuals
      matched on age, gender, and FXTAS stage. CGG repeat size was significantly higher
      (mean = 98.5, standard deviation [SD] = 22.2) in the dementia group, compared to
      the cognitively intact group (mean = 81.6, SD = 11.5; P = .0256). These results
      show that CGG repeat size is a risk factor for FXTAS dementia.

PMID- 27647795
TI  - Graphene-based pipette tip solid-phase extraction with ultra-high performance
      liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of carbamate
      pesticide residues in fruit juice.
AB  - Graphene-based pipette tip solid-phase extraction was combined with ultra-high
      performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for the
      determination of carbamate pesticide residues in fruit juice samples. Four
      milligrams of graphene was used as sorbent material to pack a 1000 MUL pipette
      tip for the extraction of pirimicarb, propoxur, isoprocarb, fenobucarb, and
      diethofencarb from 3 mL of fruit juice sample. The whole extraction process was
      finished in 12 min, and the volume of eluent used was only 1.5 mL. Under the
      optimized conditions, good linear relationship (R > 0.999) and lower limits of
      detection (0.0022-0.033 ng/mL) were achieved. The recoveries at three spiked
      levels ranged from 80.90 to 124.60% with relative standard deviations less than
      4.88%. Compared with commercially available sorbents including propylsulfonic
      acid silica, graphitized carbon black, and C18 , graphene was superior in
      extraction efficiency. The proposed method is simple, rapid, sensitive,
      selective, and solvent saving.

PMID- 27647793
TI  - Preoperative Cognitive Performance Dominates Risk for Delirium Among Older
      Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is a well-recognized risk factor for delirium.
      Our goal was to determine whether the level of cognitive performance across the
      nondemented cognitive ability spectrum is correlated with delirium risk and to
      gauge the importance of cognition relative to other known risk factors for
      delirium. METHODS: The Successful Aging after Elective Surgery study enrolled 566
      adults aged >=70 years scheduled for major surgery. Patients were assessed
      preoperatively and daily during hospitalization for the occurrence of delirium
      using the Confusion Assessment Method. Cognitive function was assessed
      preoperatively with an 11-test neuropsychological battery combined into a
      composite score for general cognitive performance (GCP). We examined the risk for
      delirium attributable to GCP, as well as demographic factors, vocabulary ability,
      and informant-rated cognitive decline, and compared the strength of association
      with risk factors identified in a previously published delirium prediction rule
      for delirium. RESULTS: Delirium occurred in 135 (24%) patients. Lower GCP score
      was strongly and linearly predictive of delirium risk (relative risk = 2.0 per
      each half standard deviation difference in GCP score, 95% confidence interval,
      1.5-2.5). This effect was not attenuated by statistical adjustment for
      demographics, vocabulary ability, and informant-rated cognitive decline. The
      effect was stronger than, and largely independent from, both standard delirium
      risk factors and comorbidity. CONCLUSION: Risk of delirium is linearly and
      strongly related to presurgical cognitive performance level even at levels above
      the population median, which would be considered unimpaired.

PMID- 27647797
TI  - Differential analysis of muscle fatigue induced elbow and wrist tremor in
      controlled laparoscopic manoeuvring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fatigue induced hand tremor (FIT) is a primary limiting concern for
      the prolonged surgical intervention in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and robot
      assisted-minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS). A thorough analysis is necessary to
      understand the FIT characteristics in laparoscopic tool movement. The primary aim
      of this study is to perform a differential analysis of the elbow and wrist tremor
      due to muscle fatigue in laparoscopic manoeuvring. METHODS: We have introduced a
      joint angle based tremor analysis method, which enables us to perform a
      differential study of FIT characteristics at the individual joint. Experimental
      data was acquired from a group of subjects during static and dynamic laparoscopic
      movement in an imitative RAMIS master manipulation scenario. A repetitive task
      was performed with a total span of 1 h for observing the effect of muscle
      fatigue. Along with the joint angle variation, surface electromyography (sEMG)
      signal was also studied in the analysis. RESULTS: The wrist tremor is more
      predominant than tremor generated at the elbow, especially in highly fatigued
      condition. The high-frequency tremor (>4 Hz) is contributed by the wrist joint.
      Moreover, the variation of the wrist and elbow tremor ratio was found to be
      dependent upon the experience of the surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: In this work, we have
      investigated the attribution of elbow and wrist joints in FIT during laparoscopic
      tool manipulation. The outcomes may be useful for the design of robot-assisted
      surgical manipulator, and can be used for quality assessment of surgical training
      as well.

PMID- 27647798
TI  - Giant cell myocarditis: still a conundrum. The need for a worldwide registry.

PMID- 27647801
TI  - Content Analysis of Informed Consent for Whole Genome Sequencing Offered by
      Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Companies.
AB  - Whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) have become
      increasingly available in the research and clinical settings and are now also
      being offered by direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing (GT) companies. This
      offer can be perceived as amplifying the already identified concerns regarding
      adequacy of informed consent (IC) for both WES/WGS and the DTC GT context. We
      performed a qualitative content analysis of Websites of four companies offering
      WES/WGS DTC regarding the following elements of IC: pre-test counseling, benefits
      and risks, and incidental findings (IFs). The analysis revealed concerns,
      including the potential lack of pre-test counseling in three of the companies
      studied, missing relevant information in the risks and benefits sections, and
      potentially misleading information for consumers. Regarding IFs, only one
      company, which provides opportunistic screening, provides basic information about
      their management. In conclusion, some of the information (and related practices)
      present on the companies' Web pages salient to the consent process are not
      adequate in reference to recommendations for IC for WGS or WES in the clinical
      context. Requisite resources should be allocated to ensure that commercial
      companies are offering high-throughput sequencing under responsible conditions,
      including an adequate consent process.

PMID- 27647799
TI  - Excellent analytical and clinical performance of a dry self-sampling device for
      human papillomavirus detection in an urban Chinese referral population.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the analytical and clinical effectiveness of cervicovaginal self
      sampling with a dry sampling device (Evalyn Brush) for high-risk human
      papillomavirus (hr-HPV) testing and detection of cervical disease. METHODS: The
      study population consisted of 101 patients from a large gynecological outpatient
      clinic in Shanghai referred for abnormal cervical screening results and 101 women
      without cervical lesions. Self-samples obtained in the clinic and physician
      collected cervical specimens (reference) were stored at -20  degrees C for 16-18
      weeks and then transferred to 20 ml of ThinPrep medium and tested for hr-HPV
      using a multiplex real time polymerase chain reaction assay. All women had a
      colposcopic examination with a Pap smear and directed or random biopsies.
      RESULTS: High risk-HPV was detected in 92 patients (45.5%) with the self
      collected cervicovaginal specimens and in 93 (46.0%) with the physician-collected
      cervical specimens, resulting in an agreement of 97.5% and a Kappa of 0.95 (95%
      confidence interval 0.91-0.99). Among all of the included women, 46 (22.8%) had
      cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or worse (cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia 3+). Hr-HPV was found in 43 of these patients (93.5%) with self
      sampling and in 44 (95.7%) with the physician-collected specimens. CONCLUSIONS:
      Self-collected dry cervicovaginal samples transferred to ThinPrep medium and
      tested for hr-HPV using a clinically validated polymerase chain reaction assay
      showed very good agreement with physician-collected cervical specimens and a very
      high hr-HPV positivity rate for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 +.

PMID- 27647802
TI  - Next-generation sequencing adds value to the preoperative diagnosis of pancreatic
      cysts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of a pancreatic cyst as mucinous or high-risk dictates
      the need for follow-up or surgery. Molecular analysis of aspirated pancreatic
      cyst fluid (PCF) can provide valuable information not obtained by
      carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) analysis or cytology. METHODS: All patients who
      underwent molecular analysis of PCF between March 2013 and June 2015 were
      reviewed, including pathology, imaging, and follow-up. Molecular testing was
      performed using a patented, anchored multiplex polymerase chain reaction next
      generation sequencing (NGS) platform, which sequenced numerous hotspots in 39
      genes linked with malignancy. Performance of NGS and cytology was calculated
      using final outcome, as determined by clinicopathologic follow-up. RESULTS: The
      study cohort included 113 PCFs from 105 patients. In total, 119 variants were
      detected in 67 PCFs (59%). Variants were more common in intraductal papillary
      mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs)/cancer than in nonmucinous cysts (P < .005). The
      inclusion of v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS)/guanine
      nucleotide-binding protein (GNAS) variants improved the classification of IPMNs
      as mucinous from 50% by microscopy to 100%. Seventy-five percent of cancers had
      high-grade atypia versus 0% of IPMNs and nonmucinous cysts (P < .002). Variants
      in tumor protein 53 (TP53), SMAD family member 4 (SMAD4), cyclin-dependent kinase
      inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A), and notch1 (NOTCH1) were detected only in malignant cysts.
      Cytology was similarly specific (100%) for detecting malignant cysts but was more
      sensitive than the identification of late mutations by NGS (75% vs 46%).
      CONCLUSIONS: The detection of KRAS/GNAS variants improves the identification of
      mucinous neoplasms. Variants in TP53, SMAD4, CDKN2A, and NOTCH1 support the
      diagnosis of a high-risk cyst requiring surgery or additional sampling. Although
      molecular analysis is not a replacement for cytopathology, it does provide
      valuable information for accurate preoperative diagnosis, helping to classify
      mucinous neoplasms and high-risk cysts that require surgical resection. Cancer
      Cytopathol 2017;125:41-47. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27647806
TI  - Data-driven methods towards learning the highly nonlinear inverse kinematics of
      tendon-driven surgical manipulators.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate motion control of flexible surgical manipulators is crucial
      in tissue manipulation tasks. The tendon-driven serpentine manipulator (TSM) is
      one of the most widely adopted flexible mechanisms in minimally invasive surgery
      because of its enhanced maneuverability in torturous environments. TSM, however,
      exhibits high nonlinearities and conventional analytical kinematics model is
      insufficient to achieve high accuracy. METHODS: To account for the system
      nonlinearities, we applied a data driven approach to encode the system inverse
      kinematics. Three regression methods: extreme learning machine (ELM), Gaussian
      mixture regression (GMR) and K-nearest neighbors regression (KNNR) were
      implemented to learn a nonlinear mapping from the robot 3D position states to the
      control inputs. RESULTS: The performance of the three algorithms was evaluated
      both in simulation and physical trajectory tracking experiments. KNNR performed
      the best in the tracking experiments, with the lowest RMSE of 2.1275 mm.
      CONCLUSIONS: The proposed inverse kinematics learning methods provide an
      alternative and efficient way to accurately model the tendon driven flexible
      manipulator.

PMID- 27647805
TI  - A novel, multiplexed targeted mass spectrometry assay for quantification of
      complement factor H (CFH) variants and CFH-related proteins 1-5 in human plasma.
AB  - Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual loss among
      older adults. Two variants in the complement factor H (CFH) gene, Y402H and I62V,
      are strongly associated with risk of AMD. CFH is encoded in regulator of
      complement activation gene cluster in chromosome 1q32, which includes complement
      factor related (CFHR) proteins, CFHR1 to CFHR5, with high amino acid sequence
      homology to CFH. Our goal was to build a SRM assay to measure plasma
      concentrations of CFH variants Y402, H402, I62, and V62, and CFHR1-5. The final
      assay consisted of 24 peptides and 72 interference-free SRM transition ion pairs.
      Most peptides showed good linearity over 0.3-200 fmol/MUL concentration range.
      Plasma concentrations of CFH variants and CFHR1-5 were measured using the SRM
      assay in 344 adults. Plasma CFH concentrations (mean, SE in MUg/mL) by inferred
      genotype were: YY402, II62 (170.1, 31.4), YY402, VV62 (188.8, 38.5), HH402, VV62
      (144.0, 37.0), HY402, VV62 (164.2, 42.3), YY402, IV62 (194.8, 36.8), HY402, IV62
      (181.3, 44.7). Mean (SE) plasma concentrations of CFHR1-5 were 1.63 (0.04), 3.64
      (1.20), 0.020 (0.001), 2.42 (0.18), and 5.49 (1.55) MUg/mL, respectively. This
      SRM assay should facilitate the study of the role of systemic complement and risk
      of AMD.

PMID- 27647807
TI  - Arterial stiffening, pulse pressure, and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.

PMID- 27647808
TI  - Recommendations on multiple testing adjustment in multi-arm trials with a shared
      control group.
AB  - Multi-arm clinical trials assessing multiple experimental treatments against a
      shared control group can offer efficiency advantages over independent trials
      through assessing an increased number of hypotheses. Published opinion is divided
      on the requirement for multiple testing adjustment to control the family-wise
      type-I error rate (FWER). The probability of a false positive error in multi-arm
      trials compared to equivalent independent trials is affected by the correlation
      between comparisons due to sharing control data. We demonstrate that this
      correlation in fact leads to a reduction in the FWER, therefore FWER adjustment
      is not recommended solely due to sharing control data. In contrast, the
      correlation increases the probability of multiple false positive outcomes across
      the hypotheses, although standard FWER adjustment methods do not control for
      this. A stringent critical value adjustment is proposed to maintain equivalent
      evidence of superiority in two correlated comparisons to that obtained within
      independent trials. FWER adjustment is only required if there is an increased
      chance of making a single claim of effectiveness by testing multiple hypotheses,
      not due to sharing control data. For competing experimental therapies, the
      correlation between comparisons can be advantageous as it eliminates bias due to
      the experimental therapies being compared to different control populations.

PMID- 27647809
TI  - Multiple imputation by chained equations for systematically and sporadically
      missing multilevel data.
AB  - In multilevel settings such as individual participant data meta-analysis, a
      variable is 'systematically missing' if it is wholly missing in some clusters and
      'sporadically missing' if it is partly missing in some clusters. Previously
      proposed methods to impute incomplete multilevel data handle either
      systematically or sporadically missing data, but frequently both patterns are
      observed. We describe a new multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE)
      algorithm for multilevel data with arbitrary patterns of systematically and
      sporadically missing variables. The algorithm is described for multilevel normal
      data but can easily be extended for other variable types. We first propose two
      methods for imputing a single incomplete variable: an extension of an existing
      method and a new two-stage method which conveniently allows for heteroscedastic
      data. We then discuss the difficulties of imputing missing values in several
      variables in multilevel data using MICE, and show that even the simplest joint
      multilevel model implies conditional models which involve cluster means and
      heteroscedasticity. However, a simulation study finds that the proposed methods
      can be successfully combined in a multilevel MICE procedure, even when cluster
      means are not included in the imputation models.

PMID- 27647811
TI  - Multiple imputation with non-additively related variables: Joint-modeling and
      approximations.
AB  - This paper investigates multiple imputation methods for regression models with
      interacting continuous and binary predictors when continuous variable may be
      missing. Usual implementations for parametric multiple imputation assume a
      multivariate normal structure for the variables, which is not satisfied for a
      binary variable nor its interaction with a continuous variable. To accommodate
      interactions, missing covariates are multiply imputed from conditional
      distribution in a manner consistent with the joint model. Alternative imputation
      methods under multivariate normal assumptions are also considered as candidate
      approximations and evaluated in a simulation study. The results suggest that the
      joint modeling procedure performs generally well across a wide range of scenarios
      and so do the approximation methods that incorporate interactions in the model
      appropriately by stratification. It is critical to include interactions in the
      imputation model as failure to do so may result in low coverage and bias. We
      apply the joint modeling approach and approximation methods in the study of
      childhood trauma with gender * trauma interaction.

PMID- 27647810
TI  - Measurement error, time lag, unmeasured confounding: Considerations for
      longitudinal estimation of the effect of a mediator in randomised clinical
      trials.
AB  - Clinical trials are expensive and time-consuming and so should also be used to
      study how treatments work, allowing for the evaluation of theoretical treatment
      models and refinement and improvement of treatments. These treatment processes
      can be studied using mediation analysis. Randomised treatment makes some of the
      assumptions of mediation models plausible, but the mediator-outcome relationship
      could remain subject to bias. In addition, mediation is assumed to be a
      temporally ordered longitudinal process, but estimation in most mediation studies
      to date has been cross-sectional and unable to explore this assumption. This
      study used longitudinal structural equation modelling of mediator and outcome
      measurements from the PACE trial of rehabilitative treatments for chronic fatigue
      syndrome (ISRCTN 54285094) to address these issues. In particular, autoregressive
      and simplex models were used to study measurement error in the mediator,
      different time lags in the mediator-outcome relationship, unmeasured confounding
      of the mediator and outcome, and the assumption of a constant mediator-outcome
      relationship over time. Results showed that allowing for measurement error and
      unmeasured confounding were important. Contemporaneous rather than lagged
      mediator-outcome effects were more consistent with the data, possibly due to the
      wide spacing of measurements. Assuming a constant mediator-outcome relationship
      over time increased precision.

PMID- 27647812
TI  - Bayesian correction for covariate measurement error: A frequentist evaluation and
      comparison with regression calibration.
AB  - Bayesian approaches for handling covariate measurement error are well established
      and yet arguably are still relatively little used by researchers. For some this
      is likely due to unfamiliarity or disagreement with the Bayesian inferential
      paradigm. For others a contributory factor is the inability of standard
      statistical packages to perform such Bayesian analyses. In this paper, we first
      give an overview of the Bayesian approach to handling covariate measurement
      error, and contrast it with regression calibration, arguably the most commonly
      adopted approach. We then argue why the Bayesian approach has a number of
      statistical advantages compared to regression calibration and demonstrate that
      implementing the Bayesian approach is usually quite feasible for the analyst.
      Next, we describe the closely related maximum likelihood and multiple imputation
      approaches and explain why we believe the Bayesian approach to generally be
      preferable. We then empirically compare the frequentist properties of regression
      calibration and the Bayesian approach through simulation studies. The flexibility
      of the Bayesian approach to handle both measurement error and missing data is
      then illustrated through an analysis of data from the Third National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey.

PMID- 27647813
TI  - Association analysis of successive events data in the presence of competing
      risks.
AB  - We aim to close a methodological gap in analyzing durations of successive events
      that are subject to induced dependent censoring as well as competing-risk
      censoring. In the Bipolar Disorder Center for Pennsylvanians study, some patients
      who managed to recover from their symptomatic entry later developed a new
      depressive or manic episode. It is of great clinical interest to quantify the
      association between time to recovery and time to recurrence in patients with
      bipolar disorder. The estimation of the bivariate distribution of the gap times
      with independent censoring has been well studied. However, the existing methods
      cannot be applied to failure times that are censored by competing causes such as
      in the Bipolar Disorder Center for Pennsylvanians study. Bivariate cumulative
      incidence function has been used to describe the joint distribution of parallel
      event times that involve multiple causes. To the best of our knowledge, however,
      there is no method available for successive events with competing-risk censoring.
      Therefore, we extend the bivariate cumulative incidence function to successive
      events data, and propose non-parametric estimators of the bivariate cumulative
      incidence function and the related conditional cumulative incidence function.
      Moreover, an odds ratio measure is proposed to describe the cause-specific
      dependence, leading to the development of a formal test for independence of
      successive events. Simulation studies demonstrate that the estimators and tests
      perform well for realistic sample sizes, and our methods can be readily applied
      to the Bipolar Disorder Center for Pennsylvanians study.

PMID- 27647814
TI  - Control limits to identify outlying hospitals based on risk-stratification.
AB  - Outcome indicators are routinely used to compare hospitals with respect to
      quality of care. Indicators might be based on observed proportions of adverse
      events (binary outcomes) or observed averages of e.g. lengths or costs of
      hospital stays (continuous outcomes). These observed values are compared with
      expected ones in an average hospital, which might be estimated from a reference
      sample and should be appropriately adjusted for the case mix of patients. One
      possibility to achieve a reliable adjustment is to stratify the patients
      according to their risks, where each patient belongs to one and only one stratum.
      Control limits calculated under the null hypothesis of an average hospital,
      allowing to decide whether a discrepancy between an observed and an expected
      value might be explained by chance or not, are then plotted around the indicator,
      such that hospitals falling above those control limits are detected as being
      statistically worse than an average hospital. Calculation of valid control limits
      is however not always obvious. In this article, we propose a simple and unified
      framework to calculate such control limits when adjustment is based on
      stratification, where we allow to distinguish and disentangle the variability
      explained by stratification and the variability due to chance, where we take into
      account the uncertainty about the estimation of the expected values, and where it
      is possible not only to detect those hospitals which are statistically worse, but
      also those which are statistically much worse than an average hospital. The
      method applies both to binary and continuous outcomes and is illustrated on Swiss
      hospital discharge data.

PMID- 27647815
TI  - Does ignoring clustering in multicenter data influence the performance of
      prediction models? A simulation study.
AB  - Clinical risk prediction models are increasingly being developed and validated on
      multicenter datasets. In this article, we present a comprehensive framework for
      the evaluation of the predictive performance of prediction models at the center
      level and the population level, considering population-averaged predictions,
      center-specific predictions, and predictions assuming an average random center
      effect. We demonstrated in a simulation study that calibration slopes do not only
      deviate from one because of over- or underfitting of patterns in the development
      dataset, but also as a result of the choice of the model (standard versus mixed
      effects logistic regression), the type of predictions (marginal versus
      conditional versus assuming an average random effect), and the level of model
      validation (center versus population). In particular, when data is heavily
      clustered (ICC 20%), center-specific predictions offer the best predictive
      performance at the population level and the center level. We recommend that
      models should reflect the data structure, while the level of model validation
      should reflect the research question.

PMID- 27647816
TI  - Testing of non-inferiority and superiority for three-arm clinical studies with
      multiple experimental treatments.
AB  - The purpose of a non-inferiority trial is to assert the efficacy of an
      experimental treatment compared with a reference treatment by showing that the
      experimental treatment retains a substantial proportion of the efficacy of the
      reference treatment. Statistical methods have been developed to test multiple
      experimental treatments in three-arm non-inferiority trials. In this paper, we
      report the development of procedures that simultaneously test the non-inferiority
      and the superiority of experimental treatments after the assay sensitivity has
      been established. The advantage of the proposed test procedures is the additional
      ability to identify superior treatments while retaining an non-inferiority
      testing power comparable to that of existing testing procedures. Single-step and
      stepwise procedures are derived and then compared with each other to determine
      their relative testing power and testing error in a simulation study. Finally,
      the suggested procedures are illustrated with two clinical examples.

PMID- 27647818
TI  - Prior uterine bleeding is associated with low visibility due to discolored
      amniotic fluid on fetoscopic laser photocoagulation.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the association between uterine bleeding preceding fetoscopic
      laser photocoagulation (FLP) and the presence of discolored amniotic fluid that
      impedes FLP. METHODS: A retrospective review of all multiple gestations requiring
      FLP at the present institution was conducted. The rate of low visibility because
      of discolored amniotic fluid at the beginning of FLP was compared between
      patients with and without a history of uterine bleeding, defined as either
      genital bleeding or ultrasonographically detected subchorionic hematoma. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of low visibility because of discolored amniotic fluid was 4.5%
      (seven in 156 patients). Two of the seven cases of low visibility resulted in
      double fetal death. The incidence of low visibility was significantly higher in
      the group with uterine bleeding before surgery compared with that without
      bleeding (28.6% vs 0.74%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a history of
      uterine bleeding prior to FLP may encounter more technical difficulties owing to
      discolored amniotic fluid during FLP.

PMID- 27647819
TI  - 'Effects of novel root repair materials on attachment and morphological behaviour
      of periodontal ligament fibroblasts: Scanning electron microscopy observation'.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the adhesion of periodontal ligament
      fibroblasts (PDLs) on newly proposed root repair materials [Biodentine, MM-MTA,
      polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement, and SDR], in comparison with
      contemporary root repair materials [IRM, Dyract compomer, ProRoot MTA (PMTA), and
      Vitrebond]. Five discs from each material were fabricated in sterile Teflon
      molds, and the specimens were aged and prewetted in cell culture media for 96
      hours. Three material discs were used for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for
      the assessment of the attachment, density, and morphological changes in the PDLs,
      while two samples were used for energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) to
      determine the elemental composition of the materials. Human PDLs were plated onto
      the materials at a density of 10,000/well, and incubated for 3 days. The SEM
      micrographs were taken at different magnifications (500* and 5000*). In the SEM,
      the cells were attached and well spread-out on the surfaces of the Biodentine,
      PMTA, and Dyract compomer, while varied cell densities and morphological
      alterations were observed in the Vitrebond, IRM, MM-MTA, SDR, and PMMA bone
      cement groups. The SEM-EDX analysis revealed a maximum calcium percentage in the
      PMTA specimens, as well a maximum silicon percentage in the Dyract compomer
      specimens. This in vitro study demonstrated that the Biodentine and Dyract
      compomer supported PDL cell adhesion and spreading. The PMTA presented a
      favorable scaffold for better attachment of the PDL cell aggregates. Therefore,
      the calcium and silicon content of a material may enhance the PDL cell
      attachment.

PMID- 27647823
TI  - Chlorhexidine Loaded Cyclodextrin Containing PMMA Nanogels as Antimicrobial
      Coating and Delivery Systems.
AB  - Antimicrobial nanogels, aggregates, and films are prepared by complexation of the
      antiseptic and bacteriostatic agent chlorhexidine (CHX) for medical and dental
      applications. A series of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrin methacrylate (CD
      MA) containing hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) based nanogels are
      loaded quantitatively with CHX in aqueous dispersion. The results show that CHX
      is enhancedly complexed by the use of CD-MA domains in the particles structure.
      beta-CD-MA nanogels present the highest uptake of CHX. Furthermore, it is
      observed that the uptake of CHX in nanogels is influenced by the hydrophobic PMMA
      structure. CHX acts as external cross-linker of nanogels by formation of 1:2
      (CHX:CD-MA) inclusion complexes of two beta-CD-MA units on the surfaces of two
      different nanogels. The nanogels adsorb easily onto glass surfaces by physical
      self-bonding and formation of a dense crosslinked nanogel film. Biological tests
      of the applied CHX nanogels with regard to antimicrobial efficiency are
      successfully performed against Staphylococcus aureus.

PMID- 27647820
TI  - Cannabinoid disposition in oral fluid after controlled smoked, vaporized, and
      oral cannabis administration.
AB  - Oral fluid (OF) is an important matrix for monitoring drugs. Smoking cannabis is
      common, but vaporization and edible consumption also are popular. OF
      pharmacokinetics are available for controlled smoked cannabis, but few data exist
      for vaporized and oral routes. Frequent and occasional cannabis smokers were
      recruited as participants for four dosing sessions including one active (6.9%
      Delta9 -tetrahydrocannabinol, THC) or placebo cannabis-containing brownie,
      followed by one active or placebo cigarette, or one active or placebo vaporized
      cannabis dose. Only one active dose was administered per session. OF was
      collected before and up to 54 (occasional) or 72 (frequent) h after dosing from
      cannabis smokers. THC, 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC
      (THCCOOH), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabigerol
      (CBG) were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. OF
      cannabinoid Cmax occurred during or immediately after cannabis consumption due to
      oral mucosa contamination. Significantly greater THC Cmax and significantly later
      THCV, CBD, and CBG tlast were observed after smoked and vaporized cannabis
      compared to oral cannabis in frequent smokers only. No significant differences in
      THC, 11-OH-THC, THCV, CBD, or CBG tmax between routes were observed for either
      group. For occasional smokers, more 11-OH-THC and THCCOOH-positive specimens were
      observed after oral dosing than after inhaled routes, increasing % positive
      cannabinoid results and widening metabolite detection windows after oral cannabis
      consumption. Utilizing 0.3 ug/L THCV and CBG cut-offs resulted in detection
      windows indicative of recent cannabis intake. OF pharmacokinetics after high
      potency CBD cannabis are not yet available precluding its use currently as a
      marker of recent use. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and
      is in the public domain in the USA.

PMID- 27647824
TI  - Evaluating safety of tunneled small bore central venous catheters in chronic
      kidney disease population: A quality improvement initiative.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) may
      adversely impact future successful arteriovenous fistulae (AVF). As part of a
      quality improvement project, the performance of tunneled small bore tunneled
      central venous catheters (TSB-CVCs), as alternatives to PICCs, was evaluated.
      METHODS: A retrospective observational study, involving individuals >=18 years of
      age who underwent TSB-CVC placement by Interventional Radiology at Mayo Clinic,
      Rochester, MN between 1/1/2010 and 8/30/2013. FINDINGS: The study cohort included
      92 patients with a median age of 55 (46-67) years, who underwent 108 TSB-CVC
      placements. Baseline renal disease was present in 71% (77/108). Most TSB-CVCs
      were placed in hospitalized patients (94%; 102/108); five French in diameter
      (61%; 66/108) and located in an internal jugular vein (84%; 91/108). Median
      catheter indwelling time was 20 (11-43) days (n = 84). TSB-CVC-related
      bloodstream infection, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and superficial venous
      thrombosis (SpVT) rates per line were 0.009 (1/108), 0.018 (2/108), and 0.009
      (1/108), respectively. Venous outcomes in a subgroup of 54 patients, who had
      documented PICC placements (n = 161) in addition to TSB-CVC (n = 58) were
      compared. TSB-CVC-DVT rate was lower than the PICC-DVT rate (0.017 [1/58] vs.
      0.106 per line [17/161]; P = 0.04). The TSB-CVC-SpVT rate was not different from
      the PICC-SpVT rate (0 [0/58] vs. 0.037 [6/161] per line; P = 0.14). DISCUSSION:
      TSB-CVCs demonstrated an excellent safety profile in our study. These catheters
      should be preferentially utilized for arm vein preservation in advanced kidney
      disease. Their impact on future AVF success needs further evaluation.

PMID- 27647826
TI  - Morphology of the intralobular duct of the submandibular gland in rats in case of
      experimental diabetes mellitus.
AB  - : The objective of study is to study the peculiarities of morphological changes
      in different subdivisions of the intralobular duct of the submandibular gland
      (SMG) in rats in case of experimental diabetes mellitus (DM). The study included
      sexually mature male Wistar rats. Experimental DM was induced by streptozotocin.
      Electron microscopic study of subdivisions of the intralobular duct of the SMG
      was carried out on the 14th, 28th, 42nd, 56th, and 70th days of the experiment.
      In early stages of experimental DM the intercalated ducts are characterized by a
      relatively unchanged structure, and in late stages vacuolization of the cytoplasm
      of their epithelial cells is observed. Since the 14th day vacuolization of
      mitochondria is observed in epithelial cells of the granular ducts being the most
      pronounced on the 28th day and not apparent over the subsequent periods. The
      degree of filling with granules reduces till 56th day, however, it increases
      sligthly on the last day of the experiment. On the 28th-70th days vacuolization
      of the cytoplasm is observed in epithelial cells of the striated ducts. In
      addition, on the 14th day the mitochondrial matrix of these cells condenses; over
      the next periods it becomes enlightened and mitochondrial cristae are clearly
      visualized and disorganized. CONCLUSION: In the intralobular duct of the SMG in
      experimental DM dystrophic changes of different intensity occur in the granular
      and striated ducts on the 14th day and in the intercalated ducts only since the
      42nd day of the experiment.

PMID- 27647827
TI  - Leather quality of beefalo-Nellore cattle in different production systems.
AB  - The aim was to compare the effects of two production systems on performance,
      carcass traits and physical-mechanical characteristics of leather from Beefalo
      Nellore steers and heifers and to determine if the response to the production
      system was similar for both genders. A total of 40 Beefalo-Nellore cattle, 20
      steers and 20 heifers, were evaluated. Animals were divided into two production
      systems: slaughtered at 15 (intensive system) or 26 (extensive system) months of
      age. In the intensive system, all animals received a ration containing 600 g/kg
      corn silage and 400 g/kg concentrate. In the extensive system, animals were kept
      on a pasture predominantly based on Brachiaria sp. and supplemented with 2 kg/day
      concentrate. In the intensive system, there was no difference in slaughter weight
      (470 kg body weight) between steers and heifers but steers in the extensive
      system had greater slaughter weight than heifers (463 and 428 kg body weight,
      respectively). Leather weight was higher for animals in the intensive than
      extensive system but there was no difference in leather weight once excess fat
      was removed. Leather quality from Beefalo-Nellore cattle slaughtered at 15 or 26
      months of age is similar although carcass yield is higher for cattle slaughtered
      at a younger age.

PMID- 27647828
TI  - 36-Year-Old Man with Parietal Scalp Mass.

PMID- 27647829
TI  - Bone Morphogenetic Protein 9 Enhances Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Leukocyte
      Recruitment to the Vascular Endothelium.
AB  - Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)9 is a circulating growth factor that is part of
      the TGF-beta superfamily and is an essential regulator of vascular endothelial
      homeostasis. Previous studies have suggested a role for BMP9 signaling in
      leukocyte recruitment to the endothelium, but the directionality of this effect
      and underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated. In this study, we report that
      BMP9 upregulates TLR4 expression in human endothelial cells and that BMP9
      pretreatment synergistically increases human neutrophil recruitment to LPS
      stimulated human endothelial monolayers in an in vitro flow adhesion assay. BMP9
      alone did not induce neutrophil recruitment to the endothelium. We also show that
      E-selectin and VCAM-1, but not ICAM-1, are upregulated in response to BMP9 in LPS
      stimulated human endothelial cells. Small interfering RNA knockdown of activin
      receptor-like kinase 1 inhibited the BMP9-induced expression of TLR4 and VCAM-1
      and inhibited BMP9-induced human neutrophil recruitment to LPS-stimulated human
      endothelial cells. BMP9 treatment also increased leukocyte recruitment within the
      pulmonary circulation in a mouse acute endotoxemia model. These results
      demonstrate that although BMP9 alone does not influence leukocyte recruitment, it
      primes the vascular endothelium to mount a more intense response when challenged
      with LPS through an increase in TLR4, E-selectin, and VCAM-1 and ultimately
      through enhanced leukocyte recruitment.

PMID- 27647830
TI  - Signaling and Immunoresolving Actions of Resolvin D1 in Inflamed Human Visceral
      Adipose Tissue.
AB  - Persistent activation of the innate immune system greatly influences the risk for
      developing metabolic complications associated with obesity. In this study, we
      explored the therapeutic potential of the specialized proresolving mediator (SPM)
      resolvin D1 (RvD1) to actively promote the resolution of inflammation in human
      visceral adipose tissue from obese (Ob) patients. Using liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry-based metabololipidomic analysis, we identified
      unbalanced production of SPMs (i.e., D- and E-series resolvins, protectin D1,
      maresin 1, and lipoxins) with respect to inflammatory lipid mediators (i.e.,
      leukotriene B4 and PGs) in omental adipose tissue from Ob patients. In parallel,
      high-throughput transcriptomic analysis revealed a unique signature in this
      tissue that was characterized by overactivation of the IL-10 signaling pathway.
      Incubation of inflamed Ob visceral adipose tissues and human macrophages with
      RvD1 limited excessive activation of the IL-10 pathway by reducing
      phosphorylation of STAT proteins. Of interest, RvD1 blocked STAT-1 and its target
      inflammatory genes (i.e., CXCL9), as well as persistent STAT3 activation, without
      affecting the IL-10 anti-inflammatory response characterized by inhibition of IL
      6, IL-1beta, IL-8, and TNF-alpha. Furthermore, RvD1 promoted resolution by
      enhancing expression of the IL-10 target gene heme oxygenase-1 by mechanisms
      dependent on p38 MAPK activity. Together, our data show that RvD1 can tailor the
      quantitative and qualitative responses of human inflamed adipose tissue to IL-10
      and provide a mechanistic basis for the immunoresolving actions of RvD1 in this
      tissue. These findings may have potential therapeutic implications in obesity
      related insulin resistance and other metabolic complications.

PMID- 27647831
TI  - Imbalance of the Vanin-1 Pathway in Systemic Sclerosis.
AB  - Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of
      the skin and visceral organs and vascular alterations. SSc pathophysiology
      involves systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. Because the vanin-1 gene
      (vnn1) encodes an enzyme with pantetheinase activity that converts
      vasculoprotective pantethine into profibrotic pantothenic acid and pro-oxidant
      cystamine, we tested this pathway in the pathophysiology of SSc. Activation of
      the vanin-1/pantetheinase pathway was investigated in wild-type BALB/c mice with
      hypochlorous acid (HOCl)-induced SSc by ELISA and Western blotting. We then
      evaluated the effects of the inactivation of vnn1 on the development of fibrosis,
      endothelial alterations, and immunological activation in mice with HOCl- and
      bleomycin-induced SSc. We then explored the vanin-1/pantetheinase pathway in a
      cohort of patients with SSc and in controls. In wild-type mice with HOCl-induced
      SSc, the vanin-1/pantetheinase pathway was dysregulated, with elevation of vanin
      1 activity in skin and high levels of serum pantothenic acid. Inactivation of the
      vnn1 gene in vnn1-/- mice with HOCl-induced SSc prevented the development of
      characteristic features of the disease, including fibrosis, immunologic
      abnormalities, and endothelial dysfunction. Remarkably, patients with diffuse SSc
      also had increased expression of vanin-1 in skin and blood and elevated levels of
      serum pantothenic acid that correlated with the severity of the disease. Our data
      demonstrate that vanin-1/pantetheinase controls fibrosis, vasculopathy,
      autoimmunity, and oxidative stress in SSc. The levels of vanin-1 expression and
      pantothenic acid determine SSc severity and can be used as markers of disease
      severity. More importantly, inhibition of vanin-1 can open new therapeutic
      approaches in SSc.

PMID- 27647832
TI  - IDO1 and TGF-beta Mediate Protective Effects of IFN-alpha in Antigen-Induced
      Arthritis.
AB  - IFN-alpha prevents Ag-induced arthritis (AIA), and in this study we investigated
      the role of IDO1 and TGF-beta signaling for this anti-inflammatory property of
      IFN-alpha. Arthritis was induced by methylated BSA (mBSA) in mBSA-sensitized wild
      type (WT), Ido1-/-, or Ifnar-/- mice, treated or not with IFN-alpha or the IDO1
      product kynurenine (Kyn). Enzymatic IDO1 activity, TGF-beta, and plasmacytoid
      dendritic cells (pDC) were neutralized by 1-methyltryptophan and Abs against TGF
      beta and pDC, respectively. IDO1 expression was determined by RT-PCR, Western
      blot, and FACS, and enzymatic activity by HPLC. Proliferation was measured by 3H
      thymidine incorporation and TGF-beta by RT-PCR and ELISA. WT but not Ido1-/- mice
      were protected from AIA by IFN-alpha, and Kyn, the main IDO1 product, also
      prevented AIA, both in WT and Ifnar-/- mice. Protective treatment with IFN-alpha
      increased the expression of IDO1 in pDC during AIA, and Ab-mediated depletion of
      pDC, either during mBSA sensitization or after triggering of arthritis,
      completely abrogated the protective effect of IFN-alpha. IFN-alpha treatment also
      increased the enzymatic IDO1 activity (Kyn/tryptophan ratio), which in turn
      activated production of TGF-beta. Neutralization of enzymatic IDO1 activity or
      TGF-beta signaling blocked the protective effect of IFN-alpha against AIA, but
      only during sensitization and not after triggering of arthritis. Likewise,
      inhibition of the IDO1 enzymatic activity in the sensitization phase, but not
      after triggering of arthritis, subdued the IFN-alpha-induced inhibition of mBSA
      induced proliferation. In conclusion, presence of IFN-alpha at Ag sensitization
      activates an IDO1/TGF-beta-dependent anti-inflammatory program that upon
      antigenic rechallenge prevents inflammation via pDC.

PMID- 27647835
TI  - Scavenger Receptor SCARA5 Acts as an HMGB1 Recognition Molecule Negatively
      Involved in HMGB1-Mediated Inflammation in Fish Models.
AB  - Scavenger receptor class A member 5 (SCARA5) and high-mobility group box 1
      (HMGB1) protein have become increasingly attractive for their critical functions
      in innate inflammatory reactions and disorders. However, the functional relevance
      between these two molecules has never been described. This study discovered that
      SCARA5 is an HMGB1 recognition receptor that is negatively involved in HMGB1
      mediated inflammation in pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis) and zebrafish (Danio
      rerio) models. Hence, SCARA5 is added as a new member to the HMGB1 receptor
      family. Tetraodon HMGB1 (TnHMGB1) is a trafficking protein that can be secreted
      from the nucleus to the outside of cells upon CpG-oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN)
      stimulation. This protein exerts a strong synergistic effect on CpG-ODN-induced
      inflammation, as determined by the enhanced proinflammatory cytokine expression
      through coadministration of TnHMGB1 with CpG-ODN and impaired inflammatory
      responses through TnHMGB1 depletion. Tetraodon SCARA5 (TnSCARA5) is an inducible
      protein detected upon TnHMGB1 stimulation; this protein plays an inhibitory role
      in CpG-ODN-induced inflammation because TnSCARA5 overexpression suppresses cell
      responsiveness to CpG-ODN induction, whereas TnSCARA5 ablation intensifies the
      inflammatory reactions. TnSCARA5 can strongly associate with TnHMGB1 through the
      A and B boxes, depending on the redox state of the cysteine residues, but T box
      inhibits the association. TnSCARA5 mediates the endocytosis of TnHMGB1 into
      lysosomes. Results suggest that TnSCARA5 inhibits the CpG-ODN-mediated
      inflammation via the clearance of HMGB1 mediator for CpG-ODN stimulant. The above
      findings highlight a novel regulatory mechanism underlying innate inflammation
      and provide new insights into the clinical treatment of HMGB1-mediated diseases.

PMID- 27647834
TI  - Direct IL-6 Signals Maximize Protective Secondary CD4 T Cell Responses against
      Influenza.
AB  - Memory T cells can often respond against pathogens that have evaded neutralizing
      Abs and are thus key to vaccine-induced protection, yet the signals needed to
      optimize their responses are unclear. In this study, we identify a dramatic and
      selective requirement for IL-6 to achieve optimal memory CD4 T cell recall
      following heterosubtypic influenza A virus (IAV) challenge of mice primed
      previously with wild-type or attenuated IAV strains. Through analysis of
      endogenous T cell responses and adoptive transfer of IAV-specific memory T cell
      populations, we find that without IL-6, CD4+, but not CD8+, secondary effector
      populations expand less and have blunted function and antiviral impact. Early and
      direct IL-6 signals to memory CD4 T cells are required to program maximal
      secondary effector responses at the site of infection during heterosubtypic
      challenge, indicating a novel role for a costimulatory cytokine in recall
      responses.

PMID- 27647833
TI  - Dichotomy between T Cell and B Cell Tolerance to Neonatal Retroviral Infection
      Permits T Cell Therapy.
AB  - Elucidation of the immune requirements for control or elimination of retroviral
      infection remains an important aim. We studied the induction of adaptive immunity
      to neonatal infection with a murine retrovirus, under conditions leading to
      immunological tolerance. We found that the absence of either maternal or
      offspring adaptive immunity permitted efficient vertical transmission of the
      retrovirus. Maternal immunodeficiency allowed the retrovirus to induce central Th
      cell tolerance in the infected offspring. In turn, this compromised the
      offspring's ability to mount a protective Th cell-dependent B cell response.
      However, in contrast to T cells, offspring B cells were not centrally tolerized
      and retained their ability to respond to the infection when provided with T cell
      help. Thus, escape of retrovirus-specific B cells from deletional tolerance
      offers the opportunity to induce protective retroviral immunity by restoration of
      retrovirus-specific T cell help, suggesting similar T cell immunotherapies for
      persistent viral infections.

PMID- 27647836
TI  - Presentation of Cryptic Peptides by MHC Class I Is Enhanced by Inflammatory
      Stimuli.
AB  - Cytolytic T cells eliminate infected or cancer cells by recognizing peptides
      presented by MHC class I molecules on the cell surface. The antigenic peptides
      are derived primarily from newly synthesized proteins including those produced by
      cryptic translation mechanisms. Previous studies have shown that cryptic
      translation can be initiated by distinct mechanisms at non-AUG codons in addition
      to conventional translation initiated at the canonical AUG start codon. In this
      study, we show that presentation of endogenously translated cryptic peptides is
      enhanced by TLR signaling pathways involved in pathogen recognition as well as by
      infection with different viruses. This enhancement of cryptic peptides was caused
      by proinflammatory cytokines, secreted in response to microbial infection.
      Furthermore, blocking these cytokines abrogated the enhancement of cryptic
      peptide presentation in response to infection. Thus, presentation of cryptic
      peptides is selectively enhanced during inflammation and infection, which could
      allow the immune system to detect intracellular pathogens that might otherwise
      escape detection because of inhibition of conventional host translation
      mechanisms.

PMID- 27647837
TI  - Adherence to a lifestyle programme in overweight/obese pregnant women and effect
      on gestational diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - This study aims to determine whether the prescription of a detailed lifestyle
      programme in overweight/obese pregnant women influences the occurrence of
      gestational diabetes (GDM), and if this kind of prescription increases the
      adherence to a healthier lifestyle in comparison to standard care. The study was
      designed as a randomized controlled trial, with open allocation, enrolling women
      at 9-12 weeks of pregnancy with a BMI >= 25 kg/m2 . The women assigned to the
      Intervention group (I = 96) received a hypocaloric, low-glycaemic, low-saturated
      fat diet and physical activity recommendations. Those assigned to the Standard
      Care group (SC = 95) received lifestyle advices regarding healthy nutrition and
      exercise. Follow-up was planned at the 16th , 20th , 28th and 36th weeks. A total
      of 131 women completed the study (I = 69, SC = 62). The diet adherence was higher
      in the I (57.9%) than in the SC (38.7%) group. GDM occurred less frequently in
      the I (18.8%) than in the SC (37.1%, P = 0.019) group. The adherent women from
      either groups showed a lower GDM rate (12.5% vs. 41.8%, P < 0.001). After
      correcting for confounders, the GDM rate was explained by allocation into the I
      group (P = 0.034) and a lower BMI category (P = 0.039). The rates of
      hypertension, preterm birth, induction of labour, large for gestational age
      babies and birthweight > 4000 g were significantly lower in I group. The
      incidence of small for gestational age babies was not different. These findings
      demonstrate that the adherence to a personalized, hypocaloric, low-glycaemic, low
      saturated fat diet started early in pregnancy prevents GDM occurrence, in women
      with BMI >= 25 kg/m2 .

PMID- 27647838
TI  - Esterification of 24S-OHC induces formation of atypical lipid droplet-like
      structures, leading to neuronal cell death.
AB  - The 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol (24S-OHC), which plays an important role in
      maintaining brain cholesterol homeostasis, has been shown to possess
      neurotoxicity. We have previously reported that 24S-OHC esterification by ACAT1
      and the resulting lipid droplet (LD) formation are responsible for 24S-OHC
      induced cell death. In the present study, we investigate the functional roles of
      24S-OHC esters and LD formation in 24S-OHC-induced cell death, and we identify
      four long-chain unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic
      acid, and DHA) with which 24S-OHC is esterified in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y
      cells treated with 24S-OHC. Here, we find that cotreatment of cells with 24S-OHC
      and each of these four unsaturated fatty acids increases prevalence of the
      corresponding 24S-OHC ester and exacerbates induction of cell death as compared
      with cell death induced by treatment with 24S-OHC alone. Using electron
      microscopy, we find in the present study that 24S-OHC induces formation of LD
      like structures coupled with enlarged endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumina, and that
      these effects are suppressed by treatment with ACAT inhibitor. Collectively,
      these results illustrate that ACAT1-catalyzed esterification of 24S-OHC with long
      chain unsaturated fatty acid followed by formation of atypical LD-like structures
      at the ER membrane is a critical requirement for 24S-OHC-induced cell death.

PMID- 27647840
TI  - First Records of the Syringophilid Mites (Acariformes: Prostigmata) Parasitizing
      Ibises and Spoonbills (Pelecaniformes: Threskiornithidae), With Description of
      Four New Species.
AB  - The parasitic quill mites of the family Syringophilidae (Acariformes:
      Prostigmata) are recorded on ibises and spoonbills (Pelecaniformes:
      Threskiornithidae) for the first time. Four new species of the genus Stibarokris
      Kethley, 1970 are described: 1) S. theristicus Skoracki, Zmudzinski & Unsoeld sp.
      nov. ex Theristicus caudatus (Boddaert, 1783) from Brazil, 2) S. geronticus
      Skoracki, Zmudzinski & Unsoeld sp. nov. ex Geronticus calvus (Boddaert, 1783)
      from South Africa, 3) S. brevisetosus Skoracki & Zmudzinski sp. nov. ex Plegadis
      falcinellus (L., 1766) from Turkey, and 4) S. plataleus Skoracki & Zmudzinski sp.
      nov. ex Platalea leucorodia L., 1758 from Austria. Additionally, a key to all
      described species in the genus is presented, and hypothesis of the Gondwanan
      origin of syringophilids associated with ibises and spoonbills is briefly
      discussed.

PMID- 27647841
TI  - When should I suspect childhood leukaemia?

PMID- 27647839
TI  - Disorders of the calcium-sensing receptor and partner proteins: insights into the
      molecular basis of calcium homeostasis.
AB  - The extracellular calcium (Ca(2+) o)-sensing receptor (CaSR) is a family C G
      protein-coupled receptor, which detects alterations in Ca(2+) o concentrations
      and modulates parathyroid hormone secretion and urinary calcium excretion. The
      central role of the CaSR in Ca(2+) o homeostasis has been highlighted by the
      identification of mutations affecting the CASR gene on chromosome 3q21.1. Loss-of
      function CASR mutations cause familial hypocalciuric hypercalcaemia (FHH),
      whereas gain-of-function mutations lead to autosomal dominant hypocalcaemia
      (ADH). However, CASR mutations are only detected in <=70% of FHH and ADH cases,
      referred to as FHH type 1 and ADH type 1, respectively, and studies in other FHH
      and ADH kindreds have revealed these disorders to be genetically heterogeneous.
      Thus, loss- and gain-of-function mutations of the GNA11 gene on chromosome
      19p13.3, which encodes the G-protein alpha-11 (Galpha11) subunit, lead to FHH
      type 2 and ADH type 2, respectively; whilst loss-of-function mutations of AP2S1
      on chromosome 19q13.3, which encodes the adaptor-related protein complex 2 sigma
      (AP2sigma) subunit, cause FHH type 3. These studies have demonstrated Galpha11 to
      be a key mediator of downstream CaSR signal transduction, and also revealed a
      role for AP2sigma, which is involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, in CaSR
      signalling and trafficking. Moreover, FHH type 3 has been demonstrated to
      represent a more severe FHH variant that may lead to symptomatic hypercalcaemia,
      low bone mineral density and cognitive dysfunction. In addition, calcimimetic and
      calcilytic drugs, which are positive and negative CaSR allosteric modulators,
      respectively, have been shown to be of potential benefit for these FHH and ADH
      disorders.

PMID- 27647843
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27647842
TI  - Clinical presentation of childhood leukaemia: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Leukaemia is the most common cancer of childhood, accounting for a
      third of cases. In order to assist clinicians in its early detection, we
      systematically reviewed all existing data on its clinical presentation and
      estimated the frequency of signs and symptoms presenting at or prior to
      diagnosis. DESIGN: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for all studies describing
      presenting features of leukaemia in children (0-18 years) without date or
      language restriction, and, when appropriate, meta-analysed data from the included
      studies. RESULTS: We screened 12 303 abstracts for eligibility and included 33
      studies (n=3084) in the analysis. All were cohort studies without control groups.
      95 presenting signs and symptoms were identified and ranked according to
      frequency. Five features were present in >50% of children: hepatomegaly (64%),
      splenomegaly (61%), pallor (54%), fever (53%) and bruising (52%). An additional
      eight features were present in a third to a half of children: recurrent
      infections (49%), fatigue (46%), limb pain (43%), hepatosplenomegaly (42%),
      bruising/petechiae (42%), lymphadenopathy (41%), bleeding tendency (38%) and rash
      (35%). 6% of children were asymptomatic on diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Over 50% of
      children with leukaemia have palpable livers, palpable spleens, pallor, fever or
      bruising on diagnosis. Abdominal symptoms such as anorexia, weight loss,
      abdominal pain and abdominal distension are common. Musculoskeletal symptoms such
      as limp and joint pain also feature prominently. Children with unexplained
      illness require a thorough history and focused clinical examination, which should
      include abdominal palpation, palpation for lymphadenopathy and careful scrutiny
      of the skin. Occurrence of multiple symptoms and signs should alert clinicians to
      possible leukaemia.

PMID- 27647845
TI  - Anxiety delivered direct-to-consumer: are we asking the right questions about the
      impacts of DTC genetic testing?

PMID- 27647846
TI  - Biomarkers for Predicting Improved Outcomes With Renal Artery Stenting.

PMID- 27647850
TI  - Colonoscopy as best screening test not proven.

PMID- 27647847
TI  - Relationship of Albuminuria and Renal Artery Stent Outcomes: Results From the
      CORAL Randomized Clinical Trial (Cardiovascular Outcomes With Renal Artery
      Lesions).
AB  - : Randomized clinical trials have not shown an additional clinical benefit of
      renal artery stent placement over optimal medical therapy alone. However, studies
      of renal artery stent placement have not examined the relationship of albuminuria
      and treatment group outcomes. The CORAL study (Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal
      Atherosclerotic Lesions) is a prospective clinical trial of 947 participants with
      atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis randomized to optimal medical therapy with
      or without renal artery stent which showed no treatment differences (3(5.8% and
      35.1% event rate at mean 43-month follow-up). In a post hoc analysis, the study
      population was stratified by the median baseline urine albumin/creatinine ratio
      (n=826) and analyzed for the 5-year incidence of the primary end point
      (myocardial infarction, hospitalization for congestive heart failure, stroke,
      renal replacement therapy, progressive renal insufficiency, or cardiovascular
      disease- or kidney disease-related death), for each component of the primary end
      point, and overall survival. When baseline urine albumin/creatinine ratio was <=
      median (22.5 mg/g, n=413), renal artery stenting was associated with
      significantly better event-free survival from the primary composite end point
      (73% versus 59% at 5 years; P=0.02), cardiovascular disease-related death (93%
      versus 85%; P<= 0.01), progressive renal insufficiency (91% versus 77%; P=0.03),
      and overall survival (89% versus 76%; P<=0.01), but not when baseline urine
      albumin/creatinine ratio was greater than median (n=413). These data suggest that
      low albuminuria may indicate a potentially large subgroup of those with renal
      artery stenosis that could experience improved event-free and overall-survival
      after renal artery stent placement plus optimal medical therapy compared with
      optimal medical therapy alone. Further research is needed to confirm these
      preliminary observations. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00081731.

PMID- 27647851
TI  - Palliative care most effective when invisible.

PMID- 27647848
TI  - Muscarinic Stimulation Facilitates Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca Release by
      Modulating Ryanodine Receptor 2 Phosphorylation Through Protein Kinase G and
      Ca/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II.
AB  - Although the effects and the underlying mechanism of sympathetic stimulation on
      cardiac Ca handling are relatively well established both in health and disease,
      the modes of action and mechanisms of parasympathetic modulation are poorly
      defined. Here, we demonstrate that parasympathetic stimulation initiates a novel
      mode of excitation-contraction coupling that enhances the efficiency of cardiac
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca store utilization. This efficient mode of excitation
      contraction coupling involves reciprocal changes in the phosphorylation of
      ryanodine receptor 2 at Ser-2808 and Ser-2814. Specifically, Ser-2808
      phosphorylation was mediated by muscarinic receptor subtype 2 and activation of
      PKG (protein kinase G), whereas dephosphorylation of Ser-2814 involved activation
      of muscarinic receptor subtype 3 and decreased reactive oxygen species-dependent
      activation of CaMKII (Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II). The overall
      effect of these changes in phosphorylation of ryanodine receptor 2 is an increase
      in systolic Ca release at the low sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca content and a
      paradoxical reduction in aberrant Ca leak. Accordingly, cholinergic stimulation
      of cardiomyocytes isolated from failing hearts improved Ca cycling efficiency by
      restoring altered ryanodine receptor 2 phosphorylation balance.

PMID- 27647852
TI  - Patterns of Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate Decline Leading to End-Stage
      Renal Disease in Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The patterns of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline to
      end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients with type 1 diabetes has not been
      conclusively described. Decline could be linearly progressive to ESRD but with a
      variable rate. Conversely, decline may be linear but interrupted by periods of
      plateaus or improvements. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This observational study
      included 364 patients with type 1 diabetes attending the Joslin Clinic who
      developed ESRD between 1991 and 2013. We retrieved serum creatinine measurements
      from clinic visits or research examinations up to 24 years (median 6.7 years)
      preceding the onset of ESRD. Using serial measurements of serum creatinine to
      estimate renal function (eGFR), we used regression-based spline methods and a
      data smoothing approach to characterize individual trajectories of eGFR over time
      for the 257 patients with five or more data points. RESULTS: The rate of eGFR
      decline per year ranged widely, from -72 to -2 mL/min/1.73 m2 (median -8.5). The
      trajectories, as characterized with linear regression-based spline models, were
      linear or nearly so for 87% of patients, accelerating for 6%, and decelerating
      for 7%. Smoothed trajectories evaluated by a Bayesian approach did not
      significantly depart from a linear fit in 76%. CONCLUSIONS: The decline of eGFR
      in type 1 diabetes is predominantly linear. Deviations from linearity are small,
      with little effect on the expected time of ESRD. A single disease process most
      likely underlies renal decline from its initiation and continues with the same
      intensity to ESRD. Linearity of renal decline suggests using slope reduction as
      the measure of effectiveness of interventions to postpone ESRD.

PMID- 27647853
TI  - Lats1/2 Regulate Yap/Taz to Control Nephron Progenitor Epithelialization and
      Inhibit Myofibroblast Formation.
AB  - In the kidney, formation of the functional filtration units, the nephrons, is
      essential for postnatal life. During development, mesenchymal progenitors tightly
      regulate the balance between self-renewal and differentiation to give rise to all
      nephron epithelia. Here, we investigated the functions of the Hippo pathway
      serine/threonine-protein kinases Lats1 and Lats2, which phosphorylate and inhibit
      the transcriptional coactivators Yap and Taz, in nephron progenitor cells.
      Genetic deletion of Lats1 and Lats2 in nephron progenitors of mice led to
      disruption of nephrogenesis, with an accumulation of spindle-shaped cells in both
      cortical and medullary regions of the kidney. Lineage-tracing experiments
      revealed that the cells that accumulated in the interstitium derived from nephron
      progenitor cells and expressed E-cadherin as well as vimentin, a myofibroblastic
      marker not usually detected after mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition. The
      accumulation of these interstitial cells associated with collagen deposition and
      ectopic expression of the myofibroblastic markers vimentin and alpha-smooth
      muscle actin in developing kidneys. Although these myofibroblastic cells had high
      Yap and Taz accumulation in the nucleus concomitant with a loss of phosphorylated
      Yap, reduction of Yap and/or Taz expression levels completely rescued the Lats1/2
      phenotype. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Lats1/2 kinases restrict
      Yap/Taz activities to promote nephron progenitor cell differentiation in the
      mammalian kidney. Notably, our data also show that myofibroblastic cells can
      differentiate from nephron progenitors.

PMID- 27647855
TI  - Anti-TGF-beta1 Antibody Therapy in Patients with Diabetic Nephropathy.
AB  - TGF-beta has been implicated as a major pathogenic factor in diabetic
      nephropathy. This randomized, double-blind, phase 2 study assessed whether
      modulating TGF-beta1 activity with a TGF-beta1-specific, humanized, neutralizing
      monoclonal antibody (TGF-beta1 mAb) is safe and more effective than placebo in
      slowing renal function loss in patients with diabetic nephropathy on chronic
      stable renin-angiotensin system inhibitor treatment. We randomized 416 patients
      aged >=25 years with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, a serum creatinine (SCr) level of
      1.3-3.3 mg/dl for women and 1.5-3.5 mg/dl for men (or eGFR of 20-60 ml/min per
      1.73 m2), and a 24-hour urine protein-to-creatinine ratio >=800 mg/g to TGF-beta1
      mAb (2-, 10-, or 50-mg monthly subcutaneous dosing for 12 months) or placebo. We
      assessed a change in SCr from baseline to 12 months as the primary efficacy
      variable. Although the Data Monitoring Committee did not identify safety issues,
      we terminated the trial 4 months early for futility on the basis of their
      recommendation. The placebo group had a mean+/-SD change in SCr from baseline to
      end of treatment of 0.33+/-0.67 mg/dl. Least squares mean percentage change in
      SCr from baseline to end of treatment did not differ between placebo (14%; 95%
      confidence interval [95% CI], 9.7% to 18.2%) and TGF-beta1 mAb treatments (20%
      [95% CI, 15.3% to 24.3%], 19% [95% CI, 14.2% to 23.0%], and 19% [95% CI, 14.0% to
      23.3%] for 2-, 10-, and 50-mg doses, respectively). Thus, TGF-beta1 mAb added to
      renin-angiotensin system inhibitors did not slow progression of diabetic
      nephropathy.

PMID- 27647857
TI  - Yes, rolling averages are a good way to assess training load for injury
      prevention. Is there a better way? Probably, but we have not seen the evidence.

PMID- 27647856
TI  - IL-1 Inhibition and Vascular Function in CKD.
AB  - Vascular endothelial dysfunction and increased arterial stiffness contribute to
      increased cardiovascular risk in patients with CKD who exhibit chronic systemic
      inflammation. Because chronic inflammation contributes to vascular dysfunction,
      blocking inflammation may reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with CKD. In a
      two-site, double-blind trial, we randomized 42 adult patients with stage 3-4 CKD
      who were already receiving optimal background therapy to receive either IL-1 trap
      rilonacept or placebo for 12 weeks. Coprimary end points included change in
      brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMDBA) and aortic pulse-wave velocity
      (aPWV) after 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Exploratory end points included change in high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), FMDBA after acute ascorbic acid infusion,
      and vascular endothelial cell protein expression of NADPH oxidase. Participants
      were 63+/-11 (mean+/-SD) years of age and 24% were women; mean eGFR was 38+/-13
      ml/min per 1.73 m2 Compared with placebo, rilonacept improved FMDBA (baseline:
      3.36%+/-2.06% [mean+/-SD], 12 weeks: 2.45%+/-2.29% with placebo and baseline:
      3.75%+/-3.12%, 12 weeks: 4.86%+/-3.20% with rilonacept; P<0.01), without changing
      aPWV (P=0.56). Rilonacept also reduced hsCRP levels (median [interquartile
      range]) (baseline: 4.60 [1.90-8.22] mg/L, 12 weeks: 2.16 [0.92-7.38] mg/L;
      P<0.01) and endothelial cell NADPH oxidase expression (P<0.05). Acute infusion of
      ascorbic acid to inhibit superoxide production associated with a nonsignificant
      trend toward increased FMDBA in the placebo group (P=0.07) but not the rilonacept
      group (P=0.56). Rilonacept was well tolerated (five adverse events versus two
      with placebo). In conclusion, treatment with an IL-1 trap improved FMDBA without
      changing aPWV and reduced systemic inflammation in patients with CKD.

PMID- 27647858
TI  - Predicting the Individual Risk of Acute Severe Colitis at Diagnosis.
AB  - Background and Aims : Acute severe colitis [ASC] is associated with major
      morbidity. We aimed to develop and externally validate an index that predicted
      ASC within 3 years of diagnosis. Methods: The development cohort included
      patients aged 16-89 years, diagnosed with ulcerative colitis [UC] in Oxford and
      followed for 3 years. Primary outcome was hospitalization for ASC, excluding
      patients admitted within 1 month of diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression
      examined the adjusted association of seven risk factors with ASC. Backwards
      elimination produced a parsimonious model that was simplified to create an easy
      to-use index. External validation occurred in separate cohorts from Cambridge,
      UK, and Uppsala, Sweden. Results: The development cohort [Oxford] included 34/111
      patients who developed ASC within a median 14 months [range 1-29]. The final
      model applied the sum of 1 point each for extensive disease, C-reactive protein
      [CRP] > 10mg/l, or haemoglobin < 12g/dl F or < 14g/dl M at diagnosis, to give a
      score from 0/3 to 3/3. This predicted a 70% risk of developing ASC within 3 years
      [score 3/3]. Validation cohorts included different proportions with ASC
      [Cambridge = 25/96; Uppsala = 18/298]. Of those scoring 3/3 at diagnosis, 18/18
      [Cambridge] and 12/13 [Uppsala] subsequently developed ASC. Discriminant ability
      [c-index, where 1.0 = perfect discrimination] was 0.81 [Oxford], 0.95
      [Cambridge], 0.97 [Uppsala]. Internal validation using bootstrapping showed good
      calibration, with similar predicted risk across all cohorts. A nomogram predicted
      individual risk. Conclusions: An index applied at diagnosis reliably predicts the
      risk of ASC within 3 years in different populations. Patients with a score 3/3 at
      diagnosis may merit early immunomodulator therapy.

PMID- 27647859
TI  - Smoking is Associated with Higher Disease-related Costs and Lower Health-related
      Quality of Life in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
AB  - Background and Aims: Smoking affects the course of inflammatory bowel disease
      [IBD]. We aimed to study the impact of smoking on IBD-specific costs and health
      related quality-of-life [HrQoL] among adults with Crohn's disease [CD] and
      ulcerative colitis [UC]. Methods: A large cohort of IBD patients was
      prospectively followed during 1 year using 3-monthly questionnaires on smoking
      status, health resources, disease activity and HrQoL. Costs were calculated by
      multiplying used resources with corresponding unit prices. Healthcare costs,
      patient costs, productivity losses, disease course items and HrQoL were compared
      between smokers, never-smokers and ex-smokers, adjusted for potential
      confounders. Results: In total, 3030 patients [1558 CD, 1054 UC, 418 IBD-unknown]
      were enrolled; 16% smoked at baseline. In CD, disease course was more severe
      among smokers. Smoking was associated with > 30% higher annual societal costs in
      IBD (?7,905 [95% confidence interval ?6,234 - ?9,864] vs ?6,017 [?5,186 - ?6,946]
      in never-smokers and ?5,710 [?4,687 - ?6,878] in ex-smokers, p = 0.06 and p =
      0.04, respectively). In CD, smoking patients generated the highest societal
      costs, primarily driven by the use of anti-tumour necrosis factor compounds. In
      UC, societal costs of smoking patients were comparable to those of non-smokers.
      Societal costs of IBD patients who quitted smoking > 5 years before inclusion
      were lower than in patients who quitted within the past 5 years (? 5,135 [95% CI
      ?4,122 - ?6,303] vs ?9,342 [?6,010 - ?12,788], p = 0.01). In both CD and UC,
      smoking was associated with a lower HrQoL. Conclusions: Smoking is associated
      with higher societal costs and lower HrQoL in IBD patients. Smoking cessation may
      result in considerably lower societal costs.

PMID- 27647860
TI  - Myometrial cytokines and their role in the onset of labour.
AB  - Human labour is an inflammatory event, physiologically driven by an interaction
      between hormonal and mechanical factors and pathologically associated with
      infection, bleeding and excessive uterine stretch. The initiation and
      communicators of inflammation is still not completely understood; however, a key
      role for cytokines has been implicated. We summarise the current understanding of
      the nature and role of cytokines, chemokines and hormones and their involvement
      in signalling within the myometrium particularly during labour.

PMID- 27647854
TI  - The Genetic Landscape of Renal Complications in Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - Diabetes is the leading cause of ESRD. Despite evidence for a substantial
      heritability of diabetic kidney disease, efforts to identify genetic
      susceptibility variants have had limited success. We extended previous efforts in
      three dimensions, examining a more comprehensive set of genetic variants in
      larger numbers of subjects with type 1 diabetes characterized for a wider range
      of cross-sectional diabetic kidney disease phenotypes. In 2843 subjects, we
      estimated that the heritability of diabetic kidney disease was 35% (P=6.4*10-3).
      Genome-wide association analysis and replication in 12,540 individuals identified
      no single variants reaching stringent levels of significance and, despite
      excellent power, provided little independent confirmation of previously published
      associated variants. Whole-exome sequencing in 997 subjects failed to identify
      any large-effect coding alleles of lower frequency influencing the risk of
      diabetic kidney disease. However, sets of alleles increasing body mass index
      (P=2.2*10-5) and the risk of type 2 diabetes (P=6.1*10-4) associated with the
      risk of diabetic kidney disease. We also found genome-wide genetic correlation
      between diabetic kidney disease and failure at smoking cessation (P=1.1*10-4).
      Pathway analysis implicated ascorbate and aldarate metabolism (P=9.0*10-6), and
      pentose and glucuronate interconversions (P=3.0*10-6) in pathogenesis of diabetic
      kidney disease. These data provide further evidence for the role of genetic
      factors influencing diabetic kidney disease in those with type 1 diabetes and
      highlight some key pathways that may be responsible. Altogether these results
      reveal important biology behind the major cause of kidney disease.

PMID- 27647862
TI  - How to use... serum creatinine, cystatin C and GFR.
AB  - Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best overall measure of kidney function.
      The GFR is relatively low at birth but increases through infancy and early
      childhood to reach adult levels of approximately 120 mL/min/1.73 m2 by age 2.
      While GFR can be measured most accurately by the urinary clearance of an
      exogenous ideal filtration marker such as inulin, it is more clinically useful to
      estimate GFR using a single serum measurement of an endogenous biomarker such as
      creatinine or cystatin C. When in steady state, there is an inverse relationship
      between creatinine/cystatin C and GFR, allowing GFR to be estimated from either
      using simple equations. Because of the non-linear relationship between
      creatinine/cystatin C and GFR, relatively small initial increases in these
      markers represent significant decreases in GFR. While cystatin C is produced by
      all nucleated cells, creatinine is a waste product of muscle metabolism and is
      therefore influenced by diet and muscle mass/body habitus. Decreased GFR is used
      to diagnose and stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) using the Kidney Disease:
      Improving Global Outcomes system. A diagnosis of CKD requires GFR <60 mL/min/1.73
      m2 for more than 3 months; higher GFR also represents CKD if evidence of kidney
      damage (such as albuminuria or abnormal imaging) is present. Changes in serum
      creatinine and urine output are used to diagnose acute kidney injury. It is
      possible to calculate a kinetic GFR when the creatinine is changing rapidly,
      though more complex calculations are required.

PMID- 27647863
TI  - Commentary: Routh Early Career Award: How I Navigated My Early Career as a
      Pediatric Psychologist.

PMID- 27647861
TI  - Metabolic dysfunction in female mice with disruption of 5alpha-reductase 1.
AB  - 5alpha-Reductases irreversibly catalyse A-ring reduction of pregnene steroids,
      including glucocorticoids and androgens. Genetic disruption of 5alpha-reductase 1
      in male mice impairs glucocorticoid clearance and predisposes to glucose
      intolerance and hepatic steatosis upon metabolic challenge. However, it is
      unclear whether this is driven by changes in androgen and/or glucocorticoid
      action. Female mice with transgenic disruption of 5alpha-reductase 1 (5alphaR1
      KO) were studied, representing a 'low androgen' state. Glucocorticoid clearance
      and stress responses were studied in mice aged 6 months. Metabolism was assessed
      in mice on normal chow (aged 6 and 12 m) and also in a separate cohort following
      1-month high-fat diet (aged 3 m). Female 5alphaR1-KO mice had adrenal suppression
      (44% lower AUC corticosterone after stress), and upon corticosterone infusion,
      accumulated hepatic glucocorticoids (~27% increased corticosterone). Female
      5alphaR1-KO mice aged 6 m fed normal chow demonstrated insulin resistance (~35%
      increased area under curve (AUC) for insulin upon glucose tolerance testing) and
      hepatic steatosis (~33% increased hepatic triglycerides) compared with controls.
      This progressed to obesity (~12% increased body weight) and sustained insulin
      resistance (~38% increased AUC insulin) by age 12 m. Hepatic transcript profiles
      supported impaired lipid beta-oxidation and increased triglyceride storage.
      Female 5alphaR1-KO mice were also predisposed to develop high-fat diet-induced
      insulin resistance. Exaggerated predisposition to metabolic disorders in female
      mice, compared with that seen in male mice, after disruption of 5alphaR1 suggests
      phenotypic changes may be underpinned by altered metabolism of glucocorticoids
      rather than androgens.

PMID- 27647864
TI  - Phase 1/2 study of lenalidomide combined with low-dose cyclophosphamide and
      prednisone in lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma.
AB  - The prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM) patients who become refractory to
      lenalidomide and bortezomib is very poor, indicating the need for new therapeutic
      strategies for these patients. Next to the development of new drugs, the strategy
      of combining agents with synergistic activity may also result in clinical benefit
      for patients with advanced myeloma. We have previously shown in a retrospective
      analysis that lenalidomide combined with continuous low-dose cyclophosphamide and
      prednisone (REP) had remarkable activity in heavily pretreated, lenalidomide
      refractory MM patients. To evaluate this combination prospectively, we initiated
      a phase 1/2 study to determine the optimal dose and to assess its efficacy and
      safety in lenalidomide-refractory MM patients. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD)
      was defined as 25 mg lenalidomide (days 1-21/28 days), combined with continuous
      cyclophosphamide (50 mg/d) and prednisone (20 mg/d). At the MTD (n = 67
      patients), the overall response rate was 67%, and at least minimal response was
      achieved in 83% of the patients. Median progression-free survival and overall
      survival were 12.1 and 29.0 months, respectively. Similar results were achieved
      in the subset of patients with lenalidomide- and bortezomib-refractory disease as
      well as in patients with high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities, defined as t(4;14),
      t(14;16), del(17p), and/or ampl(1q) as assessed by fluorescence in situ
      hybridization. Neutropenia (22%) and thrombocytopenia (22%) were the most common
      grade 3-4 hematologic adverse events. Infections (21%) were the most common grade
      3-5 nonhematologic adverse events. In conclusion, the addition of continuous low
      dose oral cyclophosphamide to lenalidomide and prednisone offers a new
      therapeutic perspective for multidrug refractory MM patients. This trial was
      registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01352338.

PMID- 27647865
TI  - Coexistence of gain-of-function JAK2 germ line mutations with JAK2V617F in
      polycythemia vera.

PMID- 27647866
TI  - Thermal Unfolding of the Pertussis Toxin S1 Subunit Facilitates Toxin
      Translocation to the Cytosol by the Mechanism of Endoplasmic Reticulum-Associated
      Degradation.
AB  - Pertussis toxin (PT) moves from the host cell surface to the endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER) by retrograde vesicular transport. The catalytic PTS1 subunit
      dissociates from the rest of the toxin in the ER and then shifts to a disordered
      conformation which may trigger its export to the cytosol through the quality
      control mechanism of ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Functional roles for toxin
      instability and ERAD in PTS1 translocation have not been established. We
      addressed these issues with the use of a surface plasmon resonance system to
      quantify the cytosolic pool of PTS1 from intoxicated cells. Only 3% of surface
      associated PTS1 reached the host cytosol after 3 h of toxin exposure. This
      represented, on average, 38,000 molecules of cytosolic PTS1 per cell. Cells
      treated with a proteasome inhibitor contained larger quantities of cytosolic
      PTS1. Stabilization of the dissociated PTS1 subunit with chemical chaperones
      inhibited toxin export to the cytosol and blocked PT intoxication. ERAD-defective
      cell lines likewise exhibited reduced quantities of cytosolic PTS1 and PT
      resistance. These observations identify the unfolding of dissociated PTS1 as a
      trigger for its ERAD-mediated translocation to the cytosol.

PMID- 27647867
TI  - The Helical Shape of Campylobacter jejuni Promotes In Vivo Pathogenesis by Aiding
      Transit through Intestinal Mucus and Colonization of Crypts.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni is a helix-shaped enteric bacterial pathogen and a common
      cause of gastroenteritis. We recently developed a mouse model for this human
      pathogen utilizing the SIGIRR-deficient mouse strain, which exhibits significant
      intestinal inflammation in response to intestinal C. jejuni infection. In the
      current study, this mouse model was used to define whether C. jejuni's
      characteristic helical shape plays a role in its ability to colonize and elicit
      inflammation in the mouse intestine. Mice were infected with the previously
      characterized straight-rod Deltapgp1 and Deltapgp2 mutant strains, along with a
      newly characterized curved-rod Delta1228 mutant strain. We also compared the
      resultant infections and pathology to those elicited by the helix-shaped wild
      type C. jejuni and complemented strains. Despite displaying wild-type
      colonization of the intestinal lumen, the straight-rod Deltapgp1 and Deltapgp2
      mutants were essentially nonpathogenic, while all strains with a curved or
      helical shape retained their expected virulence. Furthermore, analysis of C.
      jejuni localization within the ceca of infected mice determined that the primary
      difference between the rod-shaped, nonpathogenic mutants and the helix-shaped,
      pathogenic strains was the ability to colonize intestinal crypts. Rod-shaped
      mutants appeared unable to colonize intestinal crypts due to an inability to pass
      through the intestinal mucus layer to directly contact the epithelium. Together,
      these results support a critical role for C. jejuni's helical morphology in
      enabling it to traverse and colonize the mucus-filled intestinal crypts of their
      host, a necessary step required to trigger intestinal inflammation in response to
      C. jejuni.

PMID- 27647868
TI  - Progress toward the Development of a NEAT Protein Vaccine for Anthrax Disease.
AB  - Bacillus anthracis is a sporulating Gram-positive bacterium that is the causative
      agent of anthrax and a potential weapon of bioterrorism. The U.S.-licensed
      anthrax vaccine is made from an incompletely characterized culture supernatant of
      a nonencapsulated, toxigenic strain (anthrax vaccine absorbed [AVA]) whose
      primary protective component is thought to be protective antigen (PA). AVA is
      effective in protecting animals and elicits toxin-neutralizing antibodies in
      humans, but enthusiasm is dampened by its undefined composition, multishot
      regimen, recommended boosters, and potential for adverse reactions. Improving
      next-generation anthrax vaccines is important to safeguard citizens and the
      military. Here, we report that vaccination with recombinant forms of a conserved
      domain (near-iron transporter [NEAT]), common in Gram-positive pathogens, elicits
      protection in a murine model of B. anthracis infection. Protection was observed
      with both Freund's and alum adjuvants, given subcutaneously and intramuscularly,
      respectively, with a mixed composite of NEATs. Protection correlated with an
      antibody response against the NEAT domains and a decrease in the numbers of
      bacteria in major organs. Anti-NEAT antibodies promote opsonophagocytosis of
      bacilli by alveolar macrophages. To guide the development of inactive and safe
      NEAT antigens, we also report the crystal structure of one of the NEAT domains
      (Hal) and identify critical residues mediating its heme-binding and acquisition
      activity. These results indicate that we should consider NEAT proteins in the
      development of an improved antianthrax vaccine.

PMID- 27647870
TI  - Filifactor alocis Promotes Neutrophil Degranulation and Chemotactic Activity.
AB  - Filifactor alocis is a recently recognized periodontal pathogen; however, little
      is known regarding its interactions with the immune system. As the first
      responder phagocytic cells, neutrophils are recruited in large numbers to the
      periodontal pocket, where they play a crucial role in the innate defense of the
      periodontium. Thus, in order to colonize, successful periodontal pathogens must
      devise means to interfere with neutrophil chemotaxis and activation. In this
      study, we assessed major neutrophil functions, including degranulation and cell
      migration, associated with the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)
      signaling pathway upon challenge with F. alocis. Under conditions lacking a
      chemotactic gradient, F. alocis-challenged neutrophils had increased migration
      compared to uninfected cells, indicating that F. alocis increases chemokinesis in
      human neutrophils. In addition, neutrophil chemotaxis induced by interleukin-8
      was significantly enhanced when cells were challenged with F. alocis, compared to
      noninfected cells. Similar to live bacteria, heat-killed F. alocis induced both
      random and directed migration of human neutrophils. The interaction of F. alocis
      with Toll-like receptor 2 induced granule exocytosis along with a transient
      ERK1/2 and sustained p38 MAPK activation. Moreover, F. alocis-induced secretory
      vesicle and specific granule exocytosis were p38 MAPK dependent. Blocking
      neutrophil degranulation with TAT-SNAP23 fusion protein significantly reduced the
      chemotactic and random migration induced by F. alocis Therefore, we propose that
      induction of random migration by F. alocis will prolong neutrophil traffic time
      in the gingival tissue, and subsequent degranulation will contribute to tissue
      damage.

PMID- 27647871
TI  - Influenza A Virus Infection Predisposes Hosts to Secondary Infection with
      Different Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotypes with Similar Outcome but Serotype
      Specific Manifestation.
AB  - Influenza A virus (IAV) and Streptococcus pneumoniae are major causes of
      respiratory tract infections, particularly during coinfection. The synergism
      between these two pathogens is characterized by a complex network of dysregulated
      immune responses, some of which last until recovery following IAV infection.
      Despite the high serotype diversity of S. pneumoniae and the serotype replacement
      observed since the introduction of conjugate vaccines, little is known about
      pneumococcal strain dependency in the enhanced susceptibility to severe secondary
      S. pneumoniae infection following IAV infection. Thus, we studied how
      preinfection with IAV alters host susceptibility to different S. pneumoniae
      strains with various degrees of invasiveness using a highly invasive serotype 4
      strain, an invasive serotype 7F strain, and a carrier serotype 19F strain. A
      murine model of pneumococcal coinfection during the acute phase of IAV infection
      showed a significantly increased degree of pneumonia and mortality for all tested
      pneumococcal strains at otherwise sublethal doses. The incidence and kinetics of
      systemic dissemination, however, remained bacterial strain dependent.
      Furthermore, we observed strain-specific alterations in the pulmonary levels of
      alveolar macrophages, neutrophils, and inflammatory mediators ultimately
      affecting immunopathology. During the recovery phase following IAV infection,
      bacterial growth in the lungs and systemic dissemination were enhanced in a
      strain-dependent manner. Altogether, this study shows that acute IAV infection
      predisposes the host to lethal S. pneumoniae infection irrespective of the
      pneumococcal serotype, while the long-lasting synergism between IAV and S.
      pneumoniae is bacterial strain dependent. These results hold implications for
      developing tailored therapeutic treatment regimens for dual infections during
      future IAV outbreaks.

PMID- 27647869
TI  - The Phosphotransfer Protein CD1492 Represses Sporulation Initiation in
      Clostridium difficile.
AB  - The formation of spores is critical for the survival of Clostridium difficile
      outside the host gastrointestinal tract. Persistence of C. difficile spores
      greatly contributes to the spread of C. difficile infection (CDI), and the
      resistance of spores to antimicrobials facilitates the relapse of infection.
      Despite the importance of sporulation to C. difficile pathogenesis, the molecular
      mechanisms controlling spore formation are not well understood. The initiation of
      sporulation is known to be regulated through activation of the conserved
      transcription factor Spo0A. Multiple regulators influence Spo0A activation in
      other species; however, many of these factors are not conserved in C. difficile
      and few novel factors have been identified. Here, we investigated the function of
      a protein, CD1492, that is annotated as a kinase and was originally proposed to
      promote sporulation by directly phosphorylating Spo0A. We found that deletion of
      CD1492 resulted in increased sporulation, indicating that CD1492 is a negative
      regulator of sporulation. Accordingly, we observed increased transcription of
      Spo0A-dependent genes in the CD1492 mutant. Deletion of CD1492 also resulted in
      decreased toxin production in vitro and in decreased virulence in the hamster
      model of CDI. Further, the CD1492 mutant demonstrated effects on gene expression
      that are not associated with Spo0A activation, including lower sigD and rstA
      transcription, suggesting that this protein interacts with factors other than
      Spo0A. Altogether, the data indicate that CD1492 negatively affects sporulation
      and positively influences motility and virulence. These results provide further
      evidence that C. difficile sporulation is regulated differently from that of
      other endospore-forming species.

PMID- 27647872
TI  - Early detection of biochemically occult autonomous thyroid nodules.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Autonomously functioning thyroid areas may be associated with
      subclinical or overt hyperthyroidism, but may exist even in the presence of
      normal TSH. This study was aimed at comparing the rate of autonomously
      functioning areas and their cardiac sequelae in patients with nodular goitre
      studied with the usual and a novel approach. DESIGN AND METHODS: In total 490
      adult outpatients with thyroid nodular goitre, living in a mild iodine-deficient
      area, were selected in our referral centre for thyroid diseases from 2009 to 2014
      on the basis of a suspicion of thyroid functional autonomy. They were divided in
      three groups according to a non-conventional approach (excessive response to
      thyroxine treatment: group 1) or conventional approach (low/normal TSH with
      clinical suspicion or low TSH: groups 2 and 3). All patients of the study with
      the suspicion of thyroid functional autonomy underwent thyroid scan with
      radioactive iodine (I131) uptake (RAIU). RESULTS: The percentage of confirmed
      thyroid functional autonomy was 319/490, being significantly higher in group 3
      than in groups 1 and 2 (81.5 vs 64.7 vs 52.6%; chi-square P < 0.0001). However,
      the diagnosis with non-conventional approach was made at a significant earlier
      age (P < 0.0001). Cardiac arrhythmias as well as atrial fibrillation were
      similarly detected by conventional and non-conventional approaches (chi-square
      test: P = 0.2537; P = 0.8425). CONCLUSIONS: The hyper-responsiveness to thyroxine
      treatment should induce the suspicion of thyroid functional autonomy at an early
      stage, allowing to detect autonomous functioning areas in apparently euthyroid
      patients.

PMID- 27647873
TI  - Abuse Potential and Pharmacodynamic Characteristics of Oral and Intranasal
      Eluxadoline, a Mixed MU- and kappa-Opioid Receptor Agonist and delta-Opioid
      Receptor Antagonist.
AB  - Drugs with MU-opioid receptor (OR) activity can be associated with abuse and
      misuse. The peripherally acting mixed MU-OR and kappa-OR agonist and delta-OR
      antagonist eluxadoline is approved in the United States for the treatment of
      irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea. In two separate crossover studies, we
      evaluated the oral and intranasal abuse potential of eluxadoline versus placebo
      and the active control oxycodone. Healthy recreational opioid users received
      eluxadoline 100, 300, and 1000 mg, oxycodone 30 and 60 mg, and placebo (oral
      study), or eluxadoline 100 and 200 mg, oxycodone 15 and 30 mg, and placebos
      matched to eluxadoline and oxycodone (intranasal study). In the oral study, Drug
      Liking Visual Analog Scale (VAS) peak (maximum) effect (Emax) score (primary
      endpoint) was significantly greater with eluxadoline 300 and 1000 mg versus
      placebo, but scores were significantly lower versus oxycodone. Following
      intranasal insufflation of eluxadoline, Drug Liking VAS Emax scores were not
      statistically different versus placebo, and were significantly lower versus
      oxycodone. Across other subjective measures, eluxadoline was generally similar to
      or disliked versus placebo. Pupillometry indicated no or minimal central effects
      with oral and intranasal eluxadoline, respectively. Adverse events of euphoric
      mood were reported with oral and intranasal eluxadoline but at a far lower
      frequency versus oxycodone. These data demonstrate that eluxadoline has less
      abuse potential than oxycodone in recreational opioid users.

PMID- 27647875
TI  - TUT-DIS3L2 is a mammalian surveillance pathway for aberrant structured non-coding
      RNAs.
AB  - Uridylation of various cellular RNA species at the 3' end has been generally
      linked to RNA degradation. In mammals, uridylated pre-let-7 miRNAs and mRNAs are
      targeted by the 3' to 5' exoribonuclease DIS3L2. Mutations in DIS3L2 have been
      associated with Perlman syndrome and with Wilms tumor susceptibility. Using in
      vivo cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP) method, we discovered the
      DIS3L2-dependent cytoplasmic uridylome of human cells. We found a broad spectrum
      of uridylated RNAs including rRNAs, snRNAs, snoRNAs, tRNAs, vault, 7SL, Y RNAs,
      mRNAs, lncRNAs, and transcripts from pseudogenes. The unifying features of most
      of these identified RNAs are aberrant processing and the presence of stable
      secondary structures. Most importantly, we demonstrate that uridylation mediates
      DIS3L2 degradation of short RNA polymerase II-derived RNAs. Our findings
      establish the role of DIS3L2 and oligouridylation as the cytoplasmic quality
      control for highly structured ncRNAs.

PMID- 27647876
TI  - An essential step of kinetochore formation controlled by the SNARE protein
      Snap29.
AB  - The kinetochore is an essential structure that mediates accurate chromosome
      segregation in mitosis and meiosis. While many of the kinetochore components have
      been identified, the mechanisms of kinetochore assembly remain elusive. Here, we
      identify a novel role for Snap29, an unconventional SNARE, in promoting
      kinetochore assembly during mitosis in Drosophila and human cells. Snap29
      localizes to the outer kinetochore and prevents chromosome mis-segregation and
      the formation of cells with fragmented nuclei. Snap29 promotes accurate
      chromosome segregation by mediating the recruitment of Knl1 at the kinetochore
      and ensuring stable microtubule attachments. Correct Knl1 localization to
      kinetochore requires human or Drosophila Snap29, and is prevented by a Snap29
      point mutant that blocks Snap29 release from SNARE fusion complexes. Such mutant
      causes ectopic Knl1 recruitment to trafficking compartments. We propose that part
      of the outer kinetochore is functionally similar to membrane fusion interfaces.

PMID- 27647879
TI  - US to impose tougher rules on reporting clinical trial data.

PMID- 27647878
TI  - Modified Atkins diet induces subacute selective ragged-red-fiber lysis in
      mitochondrial myopathy patients.
AB  - Mitochondrial myopathy (MM) with progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO) is a
      common manifestation of mitochondrial disease in adulthood, for which there is no
      curative therapy. In mice with MM, ketogenic diet significantly delayed
      progression of the disease. We asked in this pilot study what effects high-fat,
      low-carbohydrate "modified Atkins" diet (mAD) had for PEO/MM patients and control
      subjects and followed up the effects by clinical, morphological, transcriptomic,
      and metabolomic analyses. All of our five patients, irrespective of genotype,
      showed a subacute response after 1.5-2 weeks of diet, with progressive muscle
      pain and leakage of muscle enzymes, leading to premature discontinuation of the
      diet. Analysis of muscle ultrastructure revealed selective fiber damage,
      especially in the ragged-red-fibers (RRFs), a MM hallmark. Two years of follow-up
      showed improvement of muscle strength, suggesting activation of muscle
      regeneration. Our results indicate that (i) nutrition can modify mitochondrial
      disease progression, (ii) dietary counseling should be part of MM care, (iii)
      short mAD is a tool to induce targeted RRF lysis, and (iv) mAD, a common weight
      loss method, may induce muscle damage in a population subgroup.

PMID- 27647880
TI  - Direct brain recordings reveal hippocampal rhythm underpinnings of language
      processing.
AB  - Language is classically thought to be supported by perisylvian cortical regions.
      Here we provide intracranial evidence linking the hippocampal complex to
      linguistic processing. We used direct recordings from the hippocampal structures
      to investigate whether theta oscillations, pivotal in memory function, track the
      amount of contextual linguistic information provided in sentences. Twelve
      participants heard sentences that were either constrained ("She locked the door
      with the") or unconstrained ("She walked in here with the") before presentation
      of the final word ("key"), shown as a picture that participants had to name.
      Hippocampal theta power increased for constrained relative to unconstrained
      contexts during sentence processing, preceding picture presentation. Our study
      implicates hippocampal theta oscillations in a language task using natural
      language associations that do not require memorization. These findings reveal
      that the hippocampal complex contributes to language in an active fashion,
      relating incoming words to stored semantic knowledge, a necessary process in the
      generation of sentence meaning.

PMID- 27647882
TI  - Network architecture of the cerebral nuclei (basal ganglia) association and
      commissural connectome.
AB  - The cerebral nuclei form the ventral division of the cerebral hemisphere and are
      thought to play an important role in neural systems controlling somatic movement
      and motivation. Network analysis was used to define global architectural features
      of intrinsic cerebral nuclei circuitry in one hemisphere (association
      connections) and between hemispheres (commissural connections). The analysis was
      based on more than 4,000 reports of histologically defined axonal connections
      involving all 45 gray matter regions of the rat cerebral nuclei and revealed the
      existence of four asymmetrically interconnected modules. The modules form four
      topographically distinct longitudinal columns that only partly correspond to
      previous interpretations of cerebral nuclei structure-function organization. The
      network of connections within and between modules in one hemisphere or the other
      is quite dense (about 40% of all possible connections), whereas the network of
      connections between hemispheres is weak and sparse (only about 5% of all possible
      connections). Particularly highly interconnected regions (rich club and hubs
      within it) form a topologically continuous band extending through two of the
      modules. Connection path lengths among numerous pairs of regions, and among some
      of the network's modules, are relatively long, thus accounting for low global
      efficiency in network communication. These results provide a starting point for
      reexamining the connectional organization of the cerebral hemispheres as a whole
      (right and left cerebral cortex and cerebral nuclei together) and their relation
      to the rest of the nervous system.

PMID- 27647881
TI  - WASH drives early recycling from macropinosomes and phagosomes to maintain
      surface phagocytic receptors.
AB  - Macropinocytosis is an ancient mechanism that allows cells to harvest nutrients
      from extracellular media, which also allows immune cells to sample antigens from
      their surroundings. During macropinosome formation, bulk plasma membrane is
      internalized with all its integral proteins. It is vital for cells to salvage
      these proteins before degradation, but the mechanisms for sorting them are not
      known. Here we describe the evolutionarily conserved recruitment of the WASH
      (WASP and SCAR homolog) complex to both macropinosomes and phagosomes within a
      minute of internalization. Using Dictyostelium, we demonstrate that WASH drives
      protein sorting and recycling from macropinosomes and is thus essential to
      maintain surface receptor levels and sustain phagocytosis. WASH functionally
      interacts with the retromer complex at both early and late phases of
      macropinosome maturation, but mediates recycling via retromer-dependent and 
      independent pathways. WASH mutants consequently have decreased membrane levels of
      integrins and other surface proteins. This study reveals an important pathway
      enabling cells to sustain macropinocytosis without bulk degradation of plasma
      membrane components.

PMID- 27647884
TI  - Transparent conducting oxide induced by liquid electrolyte gating.
AB  - Optically transparent conducting materials are essential in modern technology.
      These materials are used as electrodes in displays, photovoltaic cells, and
      touchscreens; they are also used in energy-conserving windows to reflect the
      infrared spectrum. The most ubiquitous transparent conducting material is tin
      doped indium oxide (ITO), a wide-gap oxide whose conductivity is ascribed to n
      type chemical doping. Recently, it has been shown that ionic liquid gating can
      induce a reversible, nonvolatile metallic phase in initially insulating films of
      WO3 Here, we use hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and spectroscopic
      ellipsometry to show that the metallic phase produced by the electrolyte gating
      does not result from a significant change in the bandgap but rather originates
      from new in-gap states. These states produce strong absorption below ~1 eV,
      outside the visible spectrum, consistent with the formation of a narrow
      electronic conduction band. Thus WO3 is metallic but remains colorless, unlike
      other methods to realize tunable electrical conductivity in this material. Core
      level photoemission spectra show that the gating reversibly modifies the atomic
      coordination of W and O atoms without a substantial change of the stoichiometry;
      we propose a simple model relating these structural changes to the modifications
      in the electronic structure. Thus we show that ionic liquid gating can tune the
      conductivity over orders of magnitude while maintaining transparency in the
      visible range, suggesting the use of ionic liquid gating for many applications.

PMID- 27647883
TI  - Support vector machine applied to predict the zoonotic potential of E. coli O157
      cattle isolates.
AB  - Sequence analyses of pathogen genomes facilitate the tracking of disease
      outbreaks and allow relationships between strains to be reconstructed and
      virulence factors to be identified. However, these methods are generally used
      after an outbreak has happened. Here, we show that support vector machine
      analysis of bovine E. coli O157 isolate sequences can be applied to predict their
      zoonotic potential, identifying cattle strains more likely to be a serious threat
      to human health. Notably, only a minor subset (less than 10%) of bovine E. coli
      O157 isolates analyzed in our datasets were predicted to have the potential to
      cause human disease; this is despite the fact that the majority are within
      previously defined pathogenic lineages I or I/II and encode key virulence
      factors. The predictive capacity was retained when tested across datasets. The
      major differences between human and bovine E. coli O157 isolates were due to the
      relative abundances of hundreds of predicted prophage proteins. This finding has
      profound implications for public health management of disease because
      interventions in cattle, such a vaccination, can be targeted at herds carrying
      strains of high zoonotic potential. Machine-learning approaches should be applied
      broadly to further our understanding of pathogen biology.

PMID- 27647885
TI  - Structural basis for norovirus neutralization by an HBGA blocking human IgA
      antibody.
AB  - Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) cause sporadic and epidemic gastroenteritis worldwide.
      They are classified into two major genogroups (GI and GII), with each genogroup
      further divided into multiple genotypes. Susceptibility to these viruses is
      influenced by genetically determined histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) expression.
      HBGAs function as cell attachment factors by binding to a surface-exposed region
      in the protruding (P) domain of the capsid protein. Sequence variations in this
      region that result in differential HBGA binding patterns and antigenicity are
      suggested to form a basis for strain diversification. Recent studies show that
      serum antibodies that block HBGA binding correlate with protection against
      illness. Although genogroup-dependent variation in HBGA binding specificity is
      structurally well characterized, an understanding of how antibodies block HBGA
      binding and how genotypic variations affect such blockade is lacking. Our
      crystallographic studies of the GI.1 P domain in complex with the Fab fragment of
      a human IgA monoclonal antibody (IgA 5I2) with HBGA blocking activity show that
      the antibody recognizes a conformational epitope formed by two surface-exposed
      loop clusters in the P domain. The antibody engulfs the HBGA binding site but
      does not affect its structural integrity. An unusual feature of the antigen
      recognition by IgA 5I2 is the predominant involvement of the CDR light chain 1 in
      contrast to the commonly observed CDR heavy chain 3, providing a unique
      perspective into antibody diversity in antigen recognition. Identification of the
      antigenic site in the P domain shows how genotypic variations might allow escape
      from antibody neutralization and exemplifies the interplay between antigenicity
      and HBGA specificity in HuNoV evolution.

PMID- 27647886
TI  - Structural definition of the lysine swing in Arabidopsis thaliana PDX1:
      Intermediate channeling facilitating vitamin B6 biosynthesis.
AB  - Vitamin B6 is indispensible for all organisms, notably as the coenzyme form
      pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Plants make the compound de novo using a relatively
      simple pathway comprising pyridoxine synthase (PDX1) and pyridoxine glutaminase
      (PDX2). PDX1 is remarkable given its multifaceted synthetic ability to carry out
      isomerization, imine formation, ammonia addition, aldol-type condensation,
      cyclization, and aromatization, all in the absence of coenzymes or recruitment of
      specialized domains. Two active sites (P1 and P2) facilitate the plethora of
      reactions, but it is not known how the two are coordinated and, moreover, if
      intermediates are tunneled between active sites. Here we present X-ray structures
      of PDX1.3 from Arabidopsis thaliana, the overall architecture of which is a
      dodecamer of (beta/alpha)8 barrels, similar to the majority of its homologs. An
      apoenzyme structure revealed that features around the P1 active site in PDX1.3
      have adopted inward conformations consistent with a catalytically primed state
      and delineated a substrate accessible cavity above this active site, not noted in
      other reported structures. Comparison with the structure of PDX1.3 with an
      intermediate along the catalytic trajectory demonstrated that a lysine residue
      swings from the distinct P2 site to the P1 site at this stage of catalysis and is
      held in place by a molecular catch and pin, positioning it for transfer of
      serviced substrate back to P2. The study shows that a simple lysine swinging arm
      coordinates use of chemically disparate sites, dispensing with the need for
      additional factors, and provides an elegant example of solving complex chemistry
      to generate an essential metabolite.

PMID- 27647887
TI  - Crystal structures and dynamical properties of dense CO2.
AB  - Structural polymorphism in dense carbon dioxide (CO2) has attracted significant
      attention in high-pressure physics and chemistry for the past two decades. Here,
      we have performed high-pressure experiments and first-principles theoretical
      calculations to investigate the stability, structure, and dynamical properties of
      dense CO2 We found evidence that CO2-V with the 4-coordinated extended structure
      can be quenched to ambient pressure below 200 K-the melting temperature of CO2-I.
      CO2-V is a fully coordinated structure formed from a molecular solid at high
      pressure and recovered at ambient pressure. Apart from confirming the
      metastability of CO2-V (I-42d) at ambient pressure at low temperature, results of
      ab initio molecular dynamics and metadynamics (MD) simulations provided insights
      into the transformation processes and structural relationship from the molecular
      to the extended phases. In addition, the simulation also predicted a phase
      V'(Pna21) in the stability region of CO2-V with a diffraction pattern similar to
      that previously assigned to the CO2-V (P212121) structure. Both CO2-V and -V' are
      predicted to be recoverable and hard with a Vicker hardness of ~20 GPa.
      Significantly, MD simulations found that the CO2 in phase IV exhibits large
      amplitude bending motions at finite temperatures and high pressures. This finding
      helps to explain the discrepancy between earlier predicted static structures and
      experiments. MD simulations clearly indicate temperature effects are critical to
      understanding the high-pressure behaviors of dense CO2 structures-highlighting
      the significance of chemical kinetics associated with the transformations.

PMID- 27647888
TI  - Dynamics of Escherichia coli's passive response to a sudden decrease in external
      osmolarity.
AB  - For most cells, a sudden decrease in external osmolarity results in fast water
      influx that can burst the cell. To survive, cells rely on the passive response of
      mechanosensitive channels, which open under increased membrane tension and allow
      the release of cytoplasmic solutes and water. Although the gating and the
      molecular structure of mechanosensitive channels found in Escherichia coli have
      been extensively studied, the overall dynamics of the whole cellular response
      remain poorly understood. Here, we characterize E. coli's passive response to a
      sudden hypoosmotic shock (downshock) on a single-cell level. We show that initial
      fast volume expansion is followed by a slow volume recovery that can end below
      the initial value. Similar response patterns were observed at downshocks of a
      wide range of magnitudes. Although wild-type cells adapted to osmotic downshocks
      and resumed growing, cells of a double-mutant ([Formula: see text]) strain
      expanded, but failed to fully recover, often lysing or not resuming growth at
      high osmotic downshocks. We propose a theoretical model to explain our
      observations by simulating mechanosensitive channels opening, and subsequent
      solute efflux and water flux. The model illustrates how solute efflux, driven by
      mechanical pressure and solute chemical potential, competes with water influx to
      reduce cellular osmotic pressure and allow volume recovery. Our work highlights
      the vital role of mechanosensation in bacterial survival.

PMID- 27647890
TI  - Superflexibility of graphene oxide.
AB  - Graphene oxide (GO), the main precursor of graphene-based materials made by
      solution processing, is known to be very stiff. Indeed, it has a Young's modulus
      comparable to steel, on the order of 300 GPa. Despite its very high stiffness, we
      show here that GO is superflexible. We quantitatively measure the GO bending
      rigidity by characterizing the flattening of thermal undulations in response to
      shear forces in solution. Characterizations are performed by the combination of
      synchrotron X-ray diffraction at small angles and in situ rheology (rheo-SAXS)
      experiments using the high X-ray flux of a synchrotron source. The bending
      modulus is found to be 1 kT, which is about two orders of magnitude lower than
      the bending rigidity of neat graphene. This superflexibility compares with the
      fluidity of self-assembled liquid bilayers. This behavior is discussed by
      considering the mechanisms at play in bending and stretching deformations of
      atomic monolayers. The superflexibility of GO is a unique feature to develop
      bendable electronics after reduction, films, coatings, and fibers. This unique
      combination of properties of GO allows for flexibility in processing and
      fabrication coupled with a robustness in the fabricated structure.

PMID- 27647889
TI  - Calmodulin in complex with the first IQ motif of myosin-5a functions as an intact
      calcium sensor.
AB  - The motor function of vertebrate myosin-5a is inhibited by its tail in a Ca2+
      dependent manner. We previously demonstrated that the calmodulin (CaM) bound to
      the first isoleucine-glutamine (IQ) motif (IQ1) of myosin-5a is responsible for
      the Ca2+-dependent regulation of myosin-5a. We have solved the crystal structure
      of a truncated myosin-5a containing the motor domain and IQ1 (MD-IQ1) complexed
      with Ca2+-bound CaM (Ca2+-CaM) at 2.5-A resolution. Compared with the structure
      of the MD-IQ1 complexed with essential light chain (an equivalent of apo-CaM), MD
      IQ1/Ca2+-CaM displays large conformational differences in IQ1/CaM and little
      difference in the motor domain. In the MD-IQ1/Ca2+-CaM structure, the N-lobe and
      the C-lobe of Ca2+-CaM adopt an open conformation and grip the C-terminal and the
      N-terminal portions of the IQ1, respectively. Remarkably, the interlobe linker of
      CaM in IQ1/Ca2+-CaM is in a position opposite that in IQ1/apo-CaM, suggesting
      that CaM flip-flops relative to the IQ1 during the Ca2+ transition. We
      demonstrated that CaM continuously associates with the IQ1 during the Ca2+
      transition and that the binding of CaM to IQ1 increases Ca2+ affinity and
      substantially changes the kinetics of the Ca2+ transition, suggesting that the
      IQ1/CaM complex functions as an intact Ca2+ sensor responding to distinct calcium
      signals.

PMID- 27647891
TI  - Rotation of artificial rotor axles in rotary molecular motors.
AB  - F1- and V1-ATPase are rotary molecular motors that convert chemical energy
      released upon ATP hydrolysis into torque to rotate a central rotor axle against
      the surrounding catalytic stator cylinder with high efficiency. How
      conformational change occurring in the stator is coupled to the rotary motion of
      the axle is the key unknown in the mechanism of rotary motors. Here, we generated
      chimeric motor proteins by inserting an exogenous rod protein, FliJ, into the
      stator ring of F1 or of V1 and tested the rotation properties of these chimeric
      motors. Both motors showed unidirectional and continuous rotation, despite no
      obvious homology in amino acid sequence between FliJ and the intrinsic rotor
      subunit of F1 or V1 These results showed that any residue-specific interactions
      between the stator and rotor are not a prerequisite for unidirectional rotation
      of both F1 and V1 The torque of chimeric motors estimated from viscous friction
      of the rotation probe against medium revealed that whereas the F1-FliJ chimera
      generates only 10% of WT F1, the V1-FliJ chimera generates torque comparable to
      that of V1 with the native axle protein that is structurally more similar to FliJ
      than the native rotor of F1 This suggests that the gross structural mismatch
      hinders smooth rotation of FliJ accompanied with the stator ring of F1.

PMID- 27647892
TI  - Nanoparticles size-dependently initiate self-limiting NETosis-driven
      inflammation.
AB  - The critical size for strong interaction of hydrophobic particles with
      phospholipid bilayers has been predicted to be 10 nm. Because of the wide
      spreading of nonpolar nanoparticles (NPs) in the environment, we aimed to reveal
      the ability of living organisms to entrap NPs via formation of neutrophil
      extracellular traps (NETs). Upon interaction with various cell types and tissues,
      10- to 40-nm-sized NPs induce fast (<20 min) damage of plasma membranes and
      instability of the lysosomal compartment, leading to the immediate formation of
      NETs. In contrast, particles sized 100-1,000 nm behaved rather inertly. Resulting
      NET formation (NETosis) was accompanied by an inflammatory reaction intrinsically
      endowed with its own resolution, demonstrated in lungs and air pouches of mice.
      Persistence of small NPs in joints caused unremitting arthritis and bone
      remodeling. Small NPs coinjected with antigen exerted adjuvant-like activity.
      This report demonstrates a cellular mechanism that explains how small NPs
      activate the NETosis pathway and drive their entrapping and resolution of the
      initial inflammatory response.

PMID- 27647893
TI  - Critical reappraisal confirms that Mitofusin 2 is an endoplasmic reticulum
      mitochondria tether.
AB  - The discovery of the multiple roles of mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      juxtaposition in cell biology often relied upon the exploitation of Mitofusin
      (Mfn) 2 as an ER-mitochondria tether. However, this established Mfn2 function was
      recently questioned, calling for a critical re-evaluation of Mfn2's role in ER
      mitochondria cross-talk. Electron microscopy and fluorescence-based probes of
      organelle proximity confirmed that ER-mitochondria juxtaposition was reduced by
      constitutive or acute Mfn2 deletion. Functionally, mitochondrial uptake of Ca2+
      released from the ER was reduced following acute Mfn2 ablation, as well as in
      Mfn2-/- cells overexpressing the mitochondrial calcium uniporter. Mitochondrial
      Ca2+ uptake rate and extent were normal in isolated Mfn2-/- liver mitochondria,
      consistent with the finding that acute or chronic Mfn2 ablation or overexpression
      did not alter mitochondrial calcium uniporter complex component levels. Hence,
      Mfn2 stands as a bona fide ER-mitochondria tether whose ablation decreases
      interorganellar juxtaposition and communication.

PMID- 27647895
TI  - Evolutionary learning of adaptation to varying environments through a
      transgenerational feedback.
AB  - Organisms can adapt to a randomly varying environment by creating phenotypic
      diversity in their population, a phenomenon often referred to as "bet hedging."
      The favorable level of phenotypic diversity depends on the statistics of
      environmental variations over timescales of many generations. Could organisms
      gather such long-term environmental information to adjust their phenotypic
      diversity? We show that this process can be achieved through a simple and general
      learning mechanism based on a transgenerational feedback: The phenotype of the
      parent is progressively reinforced in the distribution of phenotypes among the
      offspring. The molecular basis of this learning mechanism could be searched for
      in model organisms showing epigenetic inheritance.

PMID- 27647896
TI  - Focal colors across languages are representative members of color categories.
AB  - Focal colors, or best examples of color terms, have traditionally been viewed as
      either the underlying source of cross-language color-naming universals or derived
      from category boundaries that vary widely across languages. Existing data
      partially support and partially challenge each of these views. Here, we advance a
      position that synthesizes aspects of these two traditionally opposed positions
      and accounts for existing data. We do so by linking this debate to more general
      principles. We show that best examples of named color categories across 112
      languages are well-predicted from category extensions by a statistical model of
      how representative a sample is of a distribution, independently shown to account
      for patterns of human inference. This model accounts for both universal
      tendencies and variation in focal colors across languages. We conclude that
      categorization in the contested semantic domain of color may be governed by
      principles that apply more broadly in cognition and that these principles clarify
      the interplay of universal and language-specific forces in color naming.

PMID- 27647894
TI  - Striosome-dendron bouquets highlight a unique striatonigral circuit targeting
      dopamine-containing neurons.
AB  - The dopamine systems of the brain powerfully influence movement and motivation.
      We demonstrate that striatonigral fibers originating in striosomes form highly
      unusual bouquet-like arborizations that target bundles of ventrally extending
      dopamine-containing dendrites and clusters of their parent nigral cell bodies.
      Retrograde tracing showed that these clustered cell bodies in turn project to the
      striatum as part of the classic nigrostriatal pathway. Thus, these striosome
      dendron formations, here termed "striosome-dendron bouquets," likely represent
      subsystems with the nigro-striato-nigral loop that are affected in human
      disorders including Parkinson's disease. Within the bouquets, expansion
      microscopy resolved many individual striosomal fibers tightly intertwined with
      the dopamine-containing dendrites and also with afferents labeled by
      glutamatergic, GABAergic, and cholinergic markers and markers for astrocytic
      cells and fibers and connexin 43 puncta. We suggest that the striosome-dendron
      bouquets form specialized integrative units within the dopamine-containing nigral
      system. Given evidence that striosomes receive input from cortical regions
      related to the control of mood and motivation and that they link functionally to
      reinforcement and decision-making, the striosome-dendron bouquets could be
      critical to dopamine-related function in health and disease.

PMID- 27647899
TI  - Mechanical approach to chemical transport.
AB  - Nonequilibrium thermodynamics describes the rates of transport phenomena with the
      aid of various thermodynamic forces, but often the phenomenological transport
      coefficients are not known, and the description is not easily connected with
      equilibrium relations. We present a simple and intuitive model to address these
      issues. Our model is based on Lagrangian dynamics for chemical systems with
      dissipation, so one may think of the model as physicochemical mechanics. Using
      one main equation, the model allows a systematic derivation of all transport and
      equilibrium equations, subject to the limitation that heat generated or absorbed
      in the system must be small for the model to be valid. A table with all major
      examples of transport and equilibrium processes described using physicochemical
      mechanics is given. In equilibrium, physicochemical mechanics reduces to standard
      thermodynamics and the Gibbs-Duhem relation, and we show that the First and
      Second Laws of thermodynamics are satisfied for our system plus bath model. Out
      of equilibrium, our model provides relationships between transport coefficients
      and describes system evolution in the presence of several simultaneous external
      fields. The model also leads to an extension of the Onsager-Casimir reciprocal
      relations for properties simultaneously transported by many components.

PMID- 27647897
TI  - BMI1-UBR5 axis regulates transcriptional repression at damaged chromatin.
AB  - BMI1 is a component of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1), which plays a
      key role in maintaining epigenetic silencing during development. BMI1 also
      participates in gene silencing during DNA damage response, but the precise
      downstream function of BMI1 in gene silencing is unclear. Here we identified the
      UBR5 E3 ligase as a downstream factor of BMI1. We found that UBR5 forms damage
      inducible nuclear foci in a manner dependent on the PRC1 components BMI1, RNF1
      (RING1a), and RNF2 (RING1b). Whereas transcription is repressed at UV-induced
      lesions on chromatin, depletion of the PRC1 members or UBR5 alone derepressed
      transcription elongation at these sites, suggesting that UBR5 functions in a
      linear pathway with PRC1 in inducing gene silencing at lesions. Mass spectrometry
      (MS) analysis revealed that UBR5 associates with BMI1 as well as FACT components
      SPT16 and SSRP1. We found that UBR5 localizes to the UV-induced lesions along
      with SPT16. We show that UBR5 ubiquitinates SPT16, and depletion of UBR5 or BMI1
      leads to an enlargement of SPT16 foci size at UV lesions, suggesting that UBR5
      and BMI1 repress SPT16 enrichment at the damaged sites. Consistently, depletion
      of the FACT components effectively reversed the transcriptional derepression
      incurred in the UBR5 and BMI1 KO cells. Finally, UBR5 and BMI1 KO cells are
      hypersensitive to UV, which supports the notion that faulty RNA synthesis at
      damaged sites is harmful to the cell fitness. Altogether, these results suggest
      that BMI1 and UBR5 repress the polymerase II (Pol II)-mediated transcription at
      damaged sites, by negatively regulating the FACT-dependent Pol II elongation.

PMID- 27647898
TI  - A single heterologously expressed plant cellulose synthase isoform is sufficient
      for cellulose microfibril formation in vitro.
AB  - Plant cell walls are a composite material of polysaccharides, proteins, and other
      noncarbohydrate polymers. In the majority of plant tissues, the most abundant
      polysaccharide is cellulose, a linear polymer of glucose molecules. As the load
      bearing component of the cell wall, individual cellulose chains are frequently
      bundled into micro and macrofibrils and are wrapped around the cell. Cellulose is
      synthesized by membrane-integrated and processive glycosyltransferases that
      polymerize UDP-activated glucose and secrete the nascent polymer through a
      channel formed by their own transmembrane regions. Plants express several
      different cellulose synthase isoforms during primary and secondary cell wall
      formation; however, so far, none has been functionally reconstituted in vitro for
      detailed biochemical analyses. Here we report the heterologous expression,
      purification, and functional reconstitution of Populus tremula x tremuloides
      CesA8 (PttCesA8), implicated in secondary cell wall formation. The recombinant
      enzyme polymerizes UDP-activated glucose to cellulose, as determined by enzyme
      degradation, permethylation glycosyl linkage analysis, electron microscopy, and
      mutagenesis studies. Catalytic activity is dependent on the presence of a lipid
      bilayer environment and divalent manganese cations. Further, electron microscopy
      analyses reveal that PttCesA8 produces cellulose fibers several micrometers long
      that occasionally are capped by globular particles, likely representing PttCesA8
      complexes. Deletion of the enzyme's N-terminal RING-finger domain almost
      completely abolishes fiber formation but not cellulose biosynthetic activity. Our
      results demonstrate that reconstituted PttCesA8 is not only sufficient for
      cellulose biosynthesis in vitro but also suffices to bundle individual glucan
      chains into cellulose microfibrils.

PMID- 27647900
TI  - Fluorescent metallacycle-cored polymers via covalent linkage and their use as
      contrast agents for cell imaging.
AB  - The covalent linkage of supramolecular monomers provides a powerful strategy for
      constructing dynamic polymeric materials whose properties can be readily tuned
      either by the selection of monomers or the choice of functional linkers. In this
      strategy, the stabilities of the supramolecular monomers and the reactions used
      to link the monomers are crucial because such monomers are normally dynamic and
      can disassemble during the linking process, leading to mixture of products.
      Therefore, although noncovalent interactions have been widely introduced into
      metallacycle structures to prepare metallosupramolecular polymers, metallacycle
      cored polymers linked by covalent bonds have been rarely reported. Herein, we
      used the mild, highly efficient amidation reaction between alkylamine and N
      hydroxysuccinimide-activated carboxylic acid to link the pendent amino functional
      groups of a rhomboidal metallacycle 10 to give metallacycle-cored polymers P1 and
      P2, which further yielded nanoparticles at low concentration and transformed into
      network structures as the concentration increased. Moreover, these polymers
      exhibited enhanced emission and showed better quantum yields than metallacycle 10
      in methanol and methanol/water (1/9, vol/vol) due to the aggregation-induced
      emission properties of a tetraphenylethene-based pyridyl donor, which serves as a
      precursor for metallacycle 10. The fluorescence properties of these polymers were
      further used in cell imaging, and they showed a significant enrichment in lung
      cells after i.v. injection. Considering the anticancer activity of rhomboidal
      Pt(II) metallacycles, this type of fluorescent metallacycle-cored polymers can
      have potential applications toward lung cancer treatment.

PMID- 27647901
TI  - Fast revascularization of the injured area is essential to support zebrafish
      heart regeneration.
AB  - Zebrafish have a remarkable capacity to regenerate their heart. Efficient
      replenishment of lost tissues requires the activation of different cell types
      including the epicardium and endocardium. A complex set of processes is
      subsequently needed to support cardiomyocyte repopulation. Previous studies have
      identified important determinants of heart regeneration; however, to date, how
      revascularization of the damaged area happens remains unknown. Here, we show that
      angiogenic sprouting into the injured area starts as early as 15 h after injury.
      To analyze the role of vegfaa in heart regeneration, we used vegfaa mutants
      rescued to adulthood by vegfaa mRNA injections at the one-cell stage.
      Surprisingly, vegfaa mutants develop coronaries and revascularize after injury.
      As a possible explanation for these observations, we find that vegfaa mutant
      hearts up-regulate the expression of potentially compensating genes. Therefore,
      to overcome the lack of a revascularization phenotype in vegfaa mutants, we
      generated fish expressing inducible dominant negative Vegfaa. These fish
      displayed minimal revascularization of the damaged area. In the absence of fast
      angiogenic revascularization, cardiomyocyte proliferation did not occur, and the
      heart failed to regenerate, retaining a fibrotic scar. Hence, our data show that
      a fast endothelial invasion allows efficient revascularization of the injured
      area, which is necessary to support replenishment of new tissue and achieve
      efficient heart regeneration. These findings revisit the model where
      neovascularization is considered to happen concomitant with the formation of new
      muscle. Our work also paves the way for future studies designed to understand the
      molecular mechanisms that regulate fast revascularization.

PMID- 27647902
TI  - Functional analysis of molecular interactions in synthetic auxin response
      circuits.
AB  - Auxin-regulated transcription pivots on the interaction between the AUXIN/INDOLE
      3-ACETIC ACID (Aux/IAA) repressor proteins and the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF)
      transcription factors. Recent structural analyses of ARFs and Aux/IAAs have
      raised questions about the functional complexes driving auxin transcriptional
      responses. To parse the nature and significance of ARF-DNA and ARF-Aux/IAA
      interactions, we analyzed structure-guided variants of synthetic auxin response
      circuits in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Our analysis revealed that
      promoter architecture could specify ARF activity and that ARF19 required
      dimerization at two distinct domains for full transcriptional activation. In
      addition, monomeric Aux/IAAs were able to repress ARF activity in both yeast and
      plants. This systematic, quantitative structure-function analysis identified a
      minimal complex-comprising a single Aux/IAA repressing a pair of dimerized ARFs
      sufficient for auxin-induced transcription.

PMID- 27647904
TI  - Origin of the multiple configurations that drive the response of delta
      plutonium's elastic moduli to temperature.
AB  - The electronic and thermodynamic complexity of plutonium has resisted a
      fundamental understanding for this important elemental metal. A critical test of
      any theory is the unusual softening of the bulk modulus with increasing
      temperature, a result that is counterintuitive because no or very little change
      in the atomic volume is observed upon heating. This unexpected behavior has in
      the past been attributed to competing but never-observed electronic states with
      different bonding properties similar to the scenario with magnetic states in
      Invar alloys. Using the recent observation of plutonium dynamic magnetism, we
      construct a theory for plutonium that agrees with relevant measurements by using
      density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations with no free parameters to compute
      the effect of longitudinal spin fluctuations on the temperature dependence of the
      bulk moduli in delta-Pu. We show that the softening with temperature can be
      understood in terms of a continuous distribution of thermally activated spin
      fluctuations.

PMID- 27647903
TI  - Ab initio structure determination from prion nanocrystals at atomic resolution by
      MicroED.
AB  - Electrons, because of their strong interaction with matter, produce high
      resolution diffraction patterns from tiny 3D crystals only a few hundred
      nanometers thick in a frozen-hydrated state. This discovery offers the prospect
      of facile structure determination of complex biological macromolecules, which
      cannot be coaxed to form crystals large enough for conventional crystallography
      or cannot easily be produced in sufficient quantities. Two potential obstacles
      stand in the way. The first is a phenomenon known as dynamical scattering, in
      which multiple scattering events scramble the recorded electron diffraction
      intensities so that they are no longer informative of the crystallized molecule.
      The second obstacle is the lack of a proven means of de novo phase determination,
      as is required if the molecule crystallized is insufficiently similar to one that
      has been previously determined. We show with four structures of the amyloid core
      of the Sup35 prion protein that, if the diffraction resolution is high enough,
      sufficiently accurate phases can be obtained by direct methods with the cryo-EM
      method microelectron diffraction (MicroED), just as in X-ray diffraction. The
      success of these four experiments dispels the concern that dynamical scattering
      is an obstacle to ab initio phasing by MicroED and suggests that structures of
      novel macromolecules can also be determined by direct methods.

PMID- 27647905
TI  - Binding of phosphatidic acid by NsD7 mediates the formation of helical defensin
      lipid oligomeric assemblies and membrane permeabilization.
AB  - Defensins are cationic antimicrobial peptides that serve as important components
      of host innate immune defenses, often by targeting cell membranes of pathogens.
      Oligomerization of defensins has been linked to their antimicrobial activity;
      however, the molecular basis underpinning this process remains largely unclear.
      Here we show that the plant defensin NsD7 targets the phospholipid phosphatidic
      acid (PA) to form oligomeric complexes that permeabilize PA-containing membranes.
      The crystal structure of the NsD7-PA complex reveals a striking double helix of
      two right-handed coiled oligomeric defensin fibrils, the assembly of which is
      dependent upon the interaction with PA at the interface between NsD7 dimers.
      Using site-directed mutagenesis, we demonstrate that key residues in this PA
      binding site are required for PA-mediated NsD7 oligomerization and coil
      formation, as well as permeabilization of PA-containing liposomes. These data
      suggest that multiple lipids can be targeted to induce oligomerization of
      defensins during membrane permeabilization and demonstrate the existence of a
      "phospholipid code" that identifies target membranes for defensin-mediated attack
      as part of a first line of defense across multiple species.

PMID- 27647906
TI  - Molecular mechanism of Zn2+ inhibition of a voltage-gated proton channel.
AB  - Voltage-gated proton (Hv1) channels are involved in many physiological processes,
      such as pH homeostasis and the innate immune response. Zn2+ is an important
      physiological inhibitor of Hv1. Sperm cells are quiescent in the male
      reproductive system due to Zn2+ inhibition of Hv1 channels, but become active
      once introduced into the low-Zn2+-concentration environment of the female
      reproductive tract. How Zn2+ inhibits Hv1 is not completely understood. In this
      study, we use the voltage clamp fluorometry technique to identify the molecular
      mechanism of Zn2+ inhibition of Hv1. We find that Zn2+ binds to both the
      activated closed and resting closed states of the Hv1 channel, thereby inhibiting
      both voltage sensor motion and gate opening. Mutations of some Hv1 residues
      affect only Zn2+ inhibition of the voltage sensor motion, whereas mutations of
      other residues also affect Zn2+ inhibition of gate opening. These effects are
      similar in monomeric and dimeric Hv1 channels, suggesting that the Zn2+-binding
      sites are localized within each subunit of the dimeric Hv1. We propose that Zn2+
      binding has two major effects on Hv1: (i) at low concentrations, Zn2+ binds to
      one site and prevents the opening conformational change of the pore of Hv1,
      thereby inhibiting proton conduction; and (ii) at high concentrations, Zn2+, in
      addition, binds to a second site and inhibits the outward movement of the voltage
      sensor of Hv1. Elucidating the molecular mechanism of how Zn2+ inhibits Hv1 will
      further our understanding of Hv1 function and might provide valuable information
      for future drug development for Hv1 channels.

PMID- 27647908
TI  - Mechanism and energetics of <c + a> dislocation cross-slip in hcp metals.
AB  - Hexagonal close-packed (hcp) metals such as Mg, Ti, and Zr are lightweight and/or
      durable metals with critical structural applications in the automotive (Mg),
      aerospace (Ti), and nuclear (Zr) industries. The hcp structure, however, brings
      significant complications in the mechanisms of plastic deformation,
      strengthening, and ductility, and these complications pose significant challenges
      in advancing the science and engineering of these metals. In hcp metals,
      generalized plasticity requires the activation of slip on pyramidal planes, but
      the structure, motion, and cross-slip of the associated [Formula: see text]
      dislocations are not well established even though they determine ductility and
      influence strengthening. Here, atomistic simulations in Mg reveal the unusual
      mechanism of [Formula: see text] dislocation cross-slip between pyramidal I and
      II planes, which occurs by cross-slip of the individual partial dislocations. The
      energy barrier is controlled by a fundamental step/jog energy and the near-core
      energy difference between pyramidal [Formula: see text] dislocations. The near
      core energy difference can be changed by nonglide stresses, leading to tension
      compression asymmetry and even a switch in absolute stability from one glide
      plane to the other, both features observed experimentally in Mg, Ti, and their
      alloys. The unique cross-slip mechanism is governed by common features of the
      generalized stacking fault energy surfaces of hcp pyramidal planes and is thus
      expected to be generic to all hcp metals. An analytical model is developed to
      predict the cross-slip barrier as a function of the near-core energy difference
      and applied stresses and quantifies the controlling features of cross-slip and
      pyramidal I/II stability across the family of hcp metals.

PMID- 27647907
TI  - Optimal activation of Fc-mediated effector functions by influenza virus
      hemagglutinin antibodies requires two points of contact.
AB  - Influenza virus strain-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) provide protection
      independent of Fc gamma receptor (FcgammaR) engagement. In contrast, optimal in
      vivo protection achieved by broadly reactive mAbs requires Fc-FcgammaR
      engagement. Most strain-specific mAbs target the head domain of the viral
      hemagglutinin (HA), whereas broadly reactive mAbs typically recognize epitopes
      within the HA stalk. This observation has led to questions regarding the
      mechanism regulating the activation of Fc-dependent effector functions by broadly
      reactive antibodies. To dissect the molecular mechanism responsible for this
      dichotomy, we inserted the FLAG epitope into discrete locations on HAs. By
      characterizing the interactions of several FLAG-tagged HAs with a FLAG-specific
      antibody, we show that in addition to Fc-FcgammaR engagement mediated by the FLAG
      specific antibody, a second intermolecular bridge between the receptor-binding
      region of the HA and sialic acid on effector cells is required for optimal
      activation. Inhibition of this second molecular bridge, through the use of an
      F(ab')2 or the mutation of the sialic acid-binding site, renders the Fc-FcgammaR
      interaction unable to optimally activate effector cells. Our findings indicate
      that broadly reactive mAbs require two molecular contacts to possibly stabilize
      the immunologic synapse and potently induce antibody-dependent cell-mediated
      antiviral responses: (i) the interaction between the Fc of a mAb bound to HA with
      the FcgammaR of the effector cell and (ii) the interaction between the HA and its
      sialic acid receptor on the effector cell. This concept might be broadly
      applicable for protective antibody responses to viral pathogens that have
      suitable receptors on effector cells.

PMID- 27647909
TI  - Whole-exome sequencing identifies multiple loss-of-function mutations of NF
      kappaB pathway regulators in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AB  - Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial malignancy with a unique
      geographical distribution. The genomic abnormalities leading to NPC pathogenesis
      remain unclear. In total, 135 NPC tumors were examined to characterize the
      mutational landscape using whole-exome sequencing and targeted resequencing. An
      APOBEC cytidine deaminase mutagenesis signature was revealed in the somatic
      mutations. Noticeably, multiple loss-of-function mutations were identified in
      several NF-kappaB signaling negative regulators NFKBIA, CYLD, and TNFAIP3
      Functional studies confirmed that inhibition of NFKBIA had a significant impact
      on NF-kappaB activity and NPC cell growth. The identified loss-of-function
      mutations in NFKBIA leading to protein truncation contributed to the altered NF
      kappaB activity, which is critical for NPC tumorigenesis. In addition, somatic
      mutations were found in several cancer-relevant pathways, including cell cycle
      phase transition, cell death, EBV infection, and viral carcinogenesis. These data
      provide an enhanced road map for understanding the molecular basis underlying
      NPC.

PMID- 27647910
TI  - Ultradonut topology of the nuclear envelope.
AB  - The nuclear envelope is a unique topological structure formed by lipid membranes
      in eukaryotic cells. Unlike other membrane structures, the nuclear envelope
      comprises two concentric membrane shells fused at numerous sites with toroid
      shaped pores that impart a "geometric" genus on the order of thousands. Despite
      the intriguing architecture and vital biological functions of the nuclear
      membranes, how they achieve and maintain such a unique arrangement remains
      unknown. Here, we used the theory of elasticity and differential geometry to
      analyze the equilibrium shape and stability of this structure. Our results show
      that modest in- and out-of-plane stresses present in the membranes not only can
      define the pore geometry, but also provide a mechanism for destabilizing
      membranes beyond a critical size and set the stage for the formation of new
      pores. Our results suggest a mechanism wherein nanoscale buckling instabilities
      can define the global topology of a nuclear envelope-like structure.

PMID- 27647911
TI  - Biophysical comparison of ATP synthesis mechanisms shows a kinetic advantage for
      the rotary process.
AB  - The ATP synthase (F-ATPase) is a highly complex rotary machine that synthesizes
      ATP, powered by a proton electrochemical gradient. Why did evolution select such
      an elaborate mechanism over arguably simpler alternating-access processes that
      can be reversed to perform ATP synthesis? We studied a systematic enumeration of
      alternative mechanisms, using numerical and theoretical means. When the
      alternative models are optimized subject to fundamental thermodynamic
      constraints, they fail to match the kinetic ability of the rotary mechanism over
      a wide range of conditions, particularly under low-energy conditions. We used a
      physically interpretable, closed-form solution for the steady-state rate for an
      arbitrary chemical cycle, which clarifies kinetic effects of complex free-energy
      landscapes. Our analysis also yields insights into the debated "kinetic
      equivalence" of ATP synthesis driven by transmembrane pH and potential
      difference. Overall, our study suggests that the complexity of the F-ATPase may
      have resulted from positive selection for its kinetic advantage.

PMID- 27647914
TI  - Correction for Liao et al., Impaired lymphatic contraction associated with
      immunosuppression.

PMID- 27647912
TI  - Vascular smooth muscle cell durotaxis depends on extracellular matrix
      composition.
AB  - Mechanical compliance has been demonstrated to be a key determinant of cell
      behavior, directing processes such as spreading, migration, and differentiation.
      Durotaxis, directional migration from softer to more stiff regions of a
      substrate, has been observed for a variety of cell types. Recent stiffness
      mapping experiments have shown that local changes in tissue stiffness in disease
      are often accompanied by an altered ECM composition in vivo. However, the
      importance of ECM composition in durotaxis has not yet been explored. To address
      this question, we have developed and characterized a polyacrylamide hydrogel
      culture platform featuring highly tunable gradients in mechanical stiffness. This
      feature, together with the ability to control ECM composition, allows us to
      isolate the effects of mechanical and biological signals on cell migratory
      behavior. Using this system, we have tracked vascular smooth muscle cell
      migration in vitro and quantitatively analyzed differences in cell migration as a
      function of ECM composition. Our results show that vascular smooth muscle cells
      undergo durotaxis on mechanical gradients coated with fibronectin but not on
      those coated with laminin. These findings indicate that the composition of the
      adhesion ligand is a critical determinant of a cell's migratory response to
      mechanical gradients.

PMID- 27647913
TI  - Structure of the unliganded form of the proprotein convertase furin suggests
      activation by a substrate-induced mechanism.
AB  - Proprotein convertases (PCs) are highly specific proteases required for the
      proteolytic modification of many secreted proteins. An unbalanced activity of
      these enzymes is connected to pathologies like cancer, atherosclerosis,
      hypercholesterolaemia, and infectious diseases. Novel protein crystallographic
      structures of the prototypical PC family member furin in different functional
      states were determined to 1.8-2.0 A. These, together with biochemical data and
      modeling by molecular dynamics calculations, suggest essential elements
      underlying its unusually high substrate specificity. Furin shows a complex
      activation mechanism and exists in at least four defined states: (i) the "off
      state," incompatible with substrate binding as seen in the unliganded enzyme;
      (ii) the active "on state" seen in inhibitor-bound furin; and the respective
      (iii) calcium-free and (iv) calcium-bound forms. The transition from the off to
      the on state is triggered by ligand binding at subsites S1 to S4 and appears to
      underlie the preferential recognition of the four-residue sequence motif of
      furin. The molecular dynamics simulations of the four structural states reflect
      the experimental observations in general and provide approximations of the
      respective stabilities. Ligation by calcium at the PC-specific binding site II
      influences the active-site geometry and determines the rotamer state of the
      oxyanion hole-forming Asn295, and thus adds a second level of the activity
      modulation of furin. The described crystal forms and the observations of
      different defined functional states may foster the development of new tools and
      strategies for pharmacological intervention targeting furin.

PMID- 27647915
TI  - Mechanism of inhibition of the tumor suppressor Patched by Sonic Hedgehog.
AB  - The Hedgehog cell-cell signaling pathway is crucial for animal development, and
      its misregulation is implicated in numerous birth defects and cancers. In
      unstimulated cells, pathway activity is inhibited by the tumor suppressor
      membrane protein, Patched. Hedgehog signaling is triggered by the secreted
      Hedgehog ligand, which binds and inhibits Patched, thus setting in motion the
      downstream events in signal transduction. Despite its critical importance, the
      mechanism by which Hedgehog antagonizes Patched has remained unknown. Here, we
      show that vertebrate Patched1 inhibition is caused by direct, palmitate-dependent
      interaction with the Sonic Hedgehog ligand. We find that a short palmitoylated N
      terminal fragment of Sonic Hedgehog binds Patched1 and, strikingly, is sufficient
      to inhibit it and to activate signaling. The rest of Sonic Hedgehog confers high
      affinity Patched1 binding and internalization through a distinct binding site,
      but, surprisingly, it is not absolutely required for signaling. The palmitate
      dependent interaction with Patched1 is specifically impaired in a Sonic Hedgehog
      mutant causing human holoprosencephaly, the most frequent congenital brain
      malformation, explaining its drastically reduced potency. The palmitate-dependent
      interaction is also abolished in constitutively inhibited Patched1 point mutants
      causing the Gorlin cancer syndrome, suggesting that they might adopt a
      conformation distinct from the wild type. Our data demonstrate that Sonic
      Hedgehog signals via the palmitate-dependent arm of a two-pronged contact with
      Patched1. Furthermore, our results suggest that, during Hedgehog signaling,
      ligand binding inhibits Patched by trapping it in an inactive conformation, a
      mechanism that explains the dramatically reduced activity of oncogenic Patched1
      mutants.

PMID- 27647917
TI  - Spin and valence dependence of iron partitioning in Earth's deep mantle.
AB  - We performed laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments combined with state-of
      the-art electron microanalysis (focused ion beam and aberration-corrected
      transmission electron microscopy) to study the distribution and valence of iron
      in Earth's lower mantle as a function of depth and composition. Our data
      reconcile the apparently discrepant existing dataset, by clarifying the effects
      of spin (high/low) and valence (ferrous/ferric) states on iron partitioning in
      the deep mantle. In aluminum-bearing compositions relevant to Earth's mantle,
      iron concentration in silicates drops above 70 GPa before increasing up to 110
      GPa with a minimum at 85 GPa; it then dramatically drops in the postperovskite
      stability field above 116 GPa. This compositional variation should strengthen the
      lowermost mantle between 1,800 km depth and 2,000 km depth, and weaken it between
      2,000 km depth and the D" layer. The succession of layers could dynamically
      decouple the mantle above 2,000 km from the lowermost mantle, and provide a
      rheological basis for the stabilization and nonentrainment of large low-shear
      velocity provinces below that depth.

PMID- 27647916
TI  - Three-dimensional localization of T-cell receptors in relation to microvilli
      using a combination of superresolution microscopies.
AB  - Leukocyte microvilli are flexible projections enriched with adhesion molecules.
      The role of these cellular projections in the ability of T cells to probe antigen
      presenting cells has been elusive. In this study, we probe the spatial relation
      of microvilli and T-cell receptors (TCRs), the major molecules responsible for
      antigen recognition on the T-cell membrane. To this end, an effective and robust
      methodology for mapping membrane protein distribution in relation to the 3D
      surface structure of cells is introduced, based on two complementary
      superresolution microscopies. Strikingly, TCRs are found to be highly localized
      on microvilli, in both peripheral blood human T cells and differentiated effector
      T cells, and are barely found on the cell body. This is a decisive demonstration
      that different types of T cells universally localize their TCRs to microvilli,
      immediately pointing to these surface projections as effective sensors for
      antigenic moieties. This finding also suggests how previously reported membrane
      clusters might form, with microvilli serving as anchors for specific T-cell
      surface molecules.

PMID- 27647920
TI  - Correction to Supporting Information for Smits, Expected time-invariant effects
      of biological traits on mammal species duration.

PMID- 27647918
TI  - Cyclic-nucleotide-gated cation current and Ca2+-activated Cl current elicited by
      odorant in vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons.
AB  - Olfactory transduction in vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) involves
      primarily a cAMP-signaling cascade that leads to the opening of cyclic-nucleotide
      gated (CNG), nonselective cation channels. The consequent Ca2+ influx triggers
      adaptation but also signal amplification, the latter by opening a Ca2+-activated
      Cl channel (ANO2) to elicit, unusually, an inward Cl current. Hence the olfactory
      response has inward CNG and Cl components that are in rapid succession and not
      easily separable. We report here success in quantitatively separating these two
      currents with respect to amplitude and time course over a broad range of odorant
      strengths. Importantly, we found that the Cl current is the predominant component
      throughout the olfactory dose-response relation, down to the threshold of
      signaling to the brain. This observation is very surprising given a recent report
      by others that the olfactory-signal amplification effected by the Ca2+-activated
      Cl current does not influence the behavioral olfactory threshold in mice.

PMID- 27647919
TI  - Diabetic wound regeneration using peptide-modified hydrogels to target re
      epithelialization.
AB  - There is a clinical need for new, more effective treatments for chronic wounds in
      diabetic patients. Lack of epithelial cell migration is a hallmark of nonhealing
      wounds, and diabetes often involves endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, targeting
      re-epithelialization, which mainly involves keratinocytes, may improve
      therapeutic outcomes of current treatments. In this study, we present an integrin
      binding prosurvival peptide derived from angiopoietin-1, QHREDGS (glutamine
      histidine-arginine-glutamic acid-aspartic acid-glycine-serine), as a therapeutic
      candidate for diabetic wound treatments by demonstrating its efficacy in
      promoting the attachment, survival, and collective migration of human primary
      keratinocytes and the activation of protein kinase B Akt and MAPKp42/44 The
      QHREDGS peptide, both as a soluble supplement and when immobilized in a
      substrate, protected keratinocytes against hydrogen peroxide stress in a dose
      dependent manner. Collective migration of both normal and diabetic human
      keratinocytes was promoted on chitosan-collagen films with the immobilized
      QHREDGS peptide. The clinical relevance was demonstrated further by assessing the
      chitosan-collagen hydrogel with immobilized QHREDGS in full-thickness excisional
      wounds in a db/db diabetic mouse model; QHREDGS showed significantly accelerated
      and enhanced wound closure compared with a clinically approved collagen wound
      dressing, peptide-free hydrogel, or blank wound controls. The accelerated wound
      closure resulted primarily from faster re-epithelialization and increased
      formation of granulation tissue. There were no observable differences in blood
      vessel density or size within the wound; however, the total number of blood
      vessels was greater in the peptide-hydrogel-treated wounds. Together, these
      findings indicate that QHREDGS is a promising candidate for wound-healing
      interventions that enhance re-epithelialization and the formation of granulation
      tissue.

PMID- 27647921
TI  - Molecular organization of cytokinesis nodes and contractile rings by super
      resolution fluorescence microscopy of live fission yeast.
AB  - Cytokinesis in animals, fungi, and amoebas depends on the constriction of a
      contractile ring built from a common set of conserved proteins. Many fundamental
      questions remain about how these proteins organize to generate the necessary
      tension for cytokinesis. Using quantitative high-speed fluorescence
      photoactivation localization microscopy (FPALM), we probed this question in live
      fission yeast cells at unprecedented resolution. We show that nodes, protein
      assembly precursors to the contractile ring, are discrete structural units with
      stoichiometric ratios and distinct distributions of constituent proteins. Anillin
      Mid1p, Fes/CIP4 homology-Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs (F-BAR) Cdc15p, IQ motif containing
      GTPase-activating protein (IQGAP) Rng2p, and formin Cdc12p form the base of the
      node that anchors the ends of myosin II tails to the plasma membrane, with myosin
      II heads extending into the cytoplasm. This general node organization persists in
      the contractile ring where nodes move bidirectionally during constriction. We
      observed the dynamics of the actin network during cytokinesis, starting with the
      extension of short actin strands from nodes, which sometimes connected
      neighboring nodes. Later in cytokinesis, a broad network of thick bundles
      coalesced into a tight ring around the equator of the cell. The actin ring was
      ~125 nm wide and ~125 nm thick. These observations establish the organization of
      the proteins in the functional units of a cytokinetic contractile ring.

PMID- 27647922
TI  - Normalizing translation through 4E-BP prevents mTOR-driven cortical mislamination
      and ameliorates aberrant neuron integration.
AB  - Hyperactive mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a shared
      molecular hallmark in several neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by
      abnormal brain cytoarchitecture. The mechanisms downstream of mTORC1 that are
      responsible for these defects remain unclear. We show that focally increasing
      mTORC1 activity during late corticogenesis leads to ectopic placement of upper
      layer cortical neurons that does not require altered signaling in radial glia and
      is accompanied by changes in layer-specific molecular identity. Importantly, we
      found that decreasing cap-dependent translation by expressing a constitutively
      active mutant of the translational repressor eukaryotic initiation factor 4E
      binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) prevents neuronal misplacement and soma enlargement,
      while partially rescuing dendritic hypertrophy induced by hyperactive mTORC1.
      Furthermore, overactivation of translation alone through knockdown of 4E-BP2 was
      sufficient to induce neuronal misplacement. These data show that many aspects of
      abnormal brain cytoarchitecture can be prevented by manipulating a single
      intracellular process downstream of mTORC1, cap-dependent translation.

PMID- 27647923
TI  - Cellulose synthase complexes act in a concerted fashion to synthesize highly
      aggregated cellulose in secondary cell walls of plants.
AB  - Cellulose, often touted as the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, is a critical
      component of the plant cell wall and is synthesized by plasma membrane-spanning
      cellulose synthase (CESA) enzymes, which in plants are organized into rosette
      like CESA complexes (CSCs). Plants construct two types of cell walls, primary
      cell walls (PCWs) and secondary cell walls (SCWs), which differ in composition,
      structure, and purpose. Cellulose in PCWs and SCWs is chemically identical but
      has different physical characteristics. During PCW synthesis, multiple dispersed
      CSCs move along a shared linear track in opposing directions while synthesizing
      cellulose microfibrils with low aggregation. In contrast, during SCW synthesis,
      we observed swaths of densely arranged CSCs that moved in the same direction
      along tracks while synthesizing cellulose microfibrils that became highly
      aggregated. Our data support a model in which distinct spatiotemporal features of
      active CSCs during PCW and SCW synthesis contribute to the formation of cellulose
      with distinct structure and organization in PCWs and SCWs of Arabidopsis thaliana
      This study provides a foundation for understanding differences in the formation,
      structure, and organization of cellulose in PCWs and SCWs.

PMID- 27647924
TI  - ACOX2 deficiency: A disorder of bile acid synthesis with transaminase elevation,
      liver fibrosis, ataxia, and cognitive impairment.
AB  - Acyl CoA Oxidase 2 (ACOX2) encodes branched-chain acyl-CoA oxidase, a peroxisomal
      enzyme believed to be involved in the metabolism of branched-chain fatty acids
      and bile acid intermediates. Deficiency of this enzyme has not been described
      previously. We report an 8-y-old male with intermittently elevated transaminase
      levels, liver fibrosis, mild ataxia, and cognitive impairment. Exome sequencing
      revealed a previously unidentified homozygous premature termination mutation
      (p.Y69*) in ACOX2 Immunohistochemistry confirmed the absence of ACOX2 expression
      in the patient's liver, and biochemical analysis showed marked elevation of
      intermediate bile acids upstream of ACOX2. These findings define a potentially
      treatable inborn error of bile acid biosynthesis caused by ACOX2 deficiency.

PMID- 27647926
TI  - A survey on internet usage and online learning behaviour among medical
      undergraduates.
AB  - AIM: To determine the magnitude and pattern of internet usage by undergraduate
      medical students to retrieve medical information. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      pretested questionnaire-based survey was conducted among undergraduate medical
      students who were willing to participate. The institute ethics committee approved
      the study. The responses of students to the questionnaire were analysed using
      VassarStats online statistical programme. Categorical variables were expressed as
      proportions. To determine the significance of the difference between proportions,
      the chi2 test or Fisher's exact test was used. Log-linear analysis was performed
      for significance of association among interacting variables. A p value <0.05 was
      considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 115 undergraduate medical students
      participated in the survey. The response was 100% and involved mainly IX and VIII
      semester students. Internet usage was found to be 97.4%. Of the students
      interviewed, 35.7% were frequent internet users and 57.4% used their mobile
      phones to access the internet. The majority (60.9%) had their own portable 3G
      internet connection. Monthly expenditure for the majority (82.6%) was less than
      1000 Indian Rupees per month. The most popular medical site accessed by students
      was Medscape, followed by Wikipedia and WebMD. Of the students studied, 8% had
      attended one or more online continuing medical education programmes. On log
      linear analysis, a linear relationship was found for medical time and social
      time. CONCLUSIONS: An encouraging trend is seen in the use of the internet by
      medical students to access medical information, but this has not translated into
      improved online learning behaviour.

PMID- 27647927
TI  - The effects of opioids on the endocrine system: an overview.
AB  - Opioids commonly used for pain relief may lead to hypogonadism, which is
      characterised by suppression of production of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone
      (GnRH) resulting in inadequate production of sex hormones. The aim of this
      narrative review was to highlight the effects of opioids on the endocrine system
      and the development of hypogonadism. MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library were
      searched for relevant articles investigating hypogonadism in patients undertaking
      opioid therapy by using a combination of both indexing and free-text terms. The
      suppression of GnRH leading to a decrease in sex hormones has been described as
      the principal mechanism of opioid-induced hypogonadism. However, there is no
      consensus on the threshold for the clinical diagnosis of hypogonadism. Evidence
      indicates that chronic opioid use can lead to hypogonadism. Clinicians should be
      aware of symptomatology associated with hypogonadism and should regularly monitor
      patients with appropriate laboratory investigations.

PMID- 27647928
TI  - Maternally derived anti-fibroblast growth factor 23 antibody as new tool to
      reduce phosphorus requirement of chicks.
AB  - Novel means to reduce phosphate input into poultry feeds and increase its
      retention would preserve world phosphate reserves and reduce environmental impact
      of poultry production. Here we show that a maternally derived antibody to a
      fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) peptide (GMNPPPYS) alleviated phosphorus
      deficiency in chicks fed low non-phytate phosphorus (nPP) diets. White Leghorn
      laying hens were vaccinated with either an adjuvant control or the synthetic FGF
      23 peptide, and chicks with control or anti-FGF-23 maternal antibodies were fed a
      diet containing either 0.13 or 0.45% nPP (experiment 1), and 0.20 or 0.45% nPP
      (experiment 2) for 14 d. In both experiments, decreasing nPP from 0.45 to 0.13 or
      0.20% decreased BW gain, G:F, excreta phosphorus, plasma phosphate, and plasma
      FGF-23 at all time periods examined (nPP main effect, P < 0.05). In experiment 1,
      chicks with maternal anti-FGF-23 antibody had increased tibiotarsi ash (d 14),
      and decreased excreta phosphate (d 7, 14) and plasma intact parathyroid hormone
      (d 7) when compared to chicks with control antibody (antibody main effect, P <
      0.05). Mortality (d 7 to 14, 1 to 14), posture scores (d 7, 14) and bone lesion
      scores (d 14) decreased and plasma phosphate (d 14) increased in anti-FGF-23
      chicks fed 0.13% nPP, compared to those with control antibody on the same diet (P
      < 0.05). In experiment 2, chicks with maternal anti-FGF-23 antibody had increased
      tibiotarsi ash (d 14), and plasma phosphate (d 14) and 1,25(OH)2D3 (d 14) levels,
      compared to chicks with control antibody (antibody main effect, P < 0.05). BW
      gain and G:F were increased in chicks with anti-FGF-23 antibody fed 0.20% nPP,
      compared to control antibody chicks on the same diet, at all time periods
      examined (P < 0.05). In conclusion, maternally-derived anti-FGF-23 antibody
      increased phosphorus retention in chicks fed diets containing either 0.13 or
      0.20% nPP and thereby, reduced signs of phosphorus deficiency.

PMID- 27647925
TI  - Cell cycle progression in Caulobacter requires a nucleoid-associated protein with
      high AT sequence recognition.
AB  - Faithful cell cycle progression in the dimorphic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus
      requires spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression and cell pole
      differentiation. We discovered an essential DNA-associated protein, GapR, that is
      required for Caulobacter growth and asymmetric division. GapR interacts with
      adenine and thymine (AT)-rich chromosomal loci, associates with the promoter
      regions of cell cycle-regulated genes, and shares hundreds of recognition sites
      in common with known master regulators of cell cycle-dependent gene expression.
      GapR target loci are especially enriched in binding sites for the transcription
      factors GcrA and CtrA and overlap with nearly all of the binding sites for MucR1,
      a regulator that controls the establishment of swarmer cell fate. Despite
      constitutive synthesis, GapR accumulates preferentially in the swarmer
      compartment of the predivisional cell. Homologs of GapR, which are ubiquitous
      among the alpha-proteobacteria and are encoded on multiple bacteriophage genomes,
      also accumulate in the predivisional cell swarmer compartment when expressed in
      Caulobacter The Escherichia coli nucleoid-associated protein H-NS, like GapR,
      selectively associates with AT-rich DNA, yet it does not localize preferentially
      to the swarmer compartment when expressed exogenously in Caulobacter, suggesting
      that recognition of AT-rich DNA is not sufficient for the asymmetric accumulation
      of GapR. Further, GapR does not silence the expression of H-NS target genes when
      expressed in E. coli, suggesting that GapR and H-NS have distinct functions. We
      propose that Caulobacter has co-opted a nucleoid-associated protein with high AT
      recognition to serve as a mediator of cell cycle progression.

PMID- 27647929
TI  - Estimation of optimal ratios of digestible phenylalanine + tyrosine, histidine,
      and leucine to digestible lysine for performance and breast yield in broilers.
AB  - Three experiments were carried out to estimate the optimal ratios of digestible
      phenylalanine + tyrosine (Phe + Tyr), histidine (His), and leucine (Leu) relative
      to digestible lysine (Lys) for performance and carcass criteria of Cobb-500
      broilers from 8 to 17 d of age. In each experiment, 160 male chicks were
      allocated to a completely randomized experimental design with eight replicate
      pens, each receiving five dietary treatments. A common, semi-purified basal diet
      was formulated to meet all dietary recommendations except for those of the tested
      amino acids (i.e., Phe + Tyr, His, and Leu). Growth performance and carcass
      characteristics data were analyzed using various requirement-estimation models,
      including 95% of the quadratic regression, linear response plateau (LRP; i.e.,
      stepwise regression), LRP-to-quadratic regression ratio; and quadratic broken
      line (QBL). Graded digestible Phe + Tyr ratios elicited a quadratic response (P <
      0.05) in body weight gain and linear responses (P < 0.05) in breast and breast
      fillet weights. Linear effects (P < 0.05) were also observed when graded ratios
      of digestible His were fed for feed intake and weight gain, and quadratic
      responses (P < 0.05) were noted for feed conversion ratio and breast and breast
      fillet weights and yields. Graded Leu ratios elicited quadratic responses (P <
      0.05) in feed intake, weight gain, and breast and breast fillet weight and yield.
      Based on growth and carcass parameters, the estimated ideal digestible ratios of
      Phe + Tyr, His, and Leu relative to digestible Lys were 112, 38, and 104%,
      respectively, for broiler chicks raised from 8 to 17 d of age.

PMID- 27647930
TI  - Effect of a nano-silver coating on the quality of fresh turkey meat during
      storage after modified atmosphere or vacuum packaging.
AB  - Nano-silver is used in consumer products due to its antibacterial properties. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a nano-silver-coated film on the
      quality of turkey meat during vacuum-sealed and modified atmosphere packaging up
      to 12 days of storage. In the first part of the experiment, turkey breasts were
      packaged using either vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packages (MAPs) and
      contained films with or without a nano-silver coating (control film). Parameters
      such as pH, electrical conductivity, color (lightness L*, redness a*), myoglobin
      redox forms, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), biogenic amines
      (BAs), total viable bacterial counts, Pseudomonas species counts, and
      Enterobacteriaceae species counts were evaluated on storage days 4, 8, and 12. In
      the second part of the study, the antimicrobial effect of a nano-silver-coated
      film on turkey breast was evaluated after inoculation with Escherichia coli (E.
      coli). Turkey meat packaged with the nano-silver film exhibited lower a* values
      on days 1 (3.15 +/- 0.62), 4 (3.90 +/- 0.68), and 8 (4.27 +/- 0.76) compared to
      the packaged meat with the control film (3.41 +/- 0.73, 4.35 +/- 0.94, 4.85 +/-
      0.89, respectively), indicating special optical properties of nanoparticles.
      Concerning the BAs, silver packaged meat showed higher values of tyramine on day
      12 (1274 +/- 392 ng/g meat) and cadaverine on day 4 (1224 +/- 435 ng/g meat)
      compared to the normal packaged products (647 +/- 576 and 508 +/- 314 ng/g meat,
      respectively). MAP meat revealed higher L* and TBARS values and lower microbial
      counts than the vacuum packaged products on all days. The MAP meat also showed
      lower a* results on days 4 and 8 and higher metmyoglobin (metMb) values on days 8
      and 12 compared to th E: vacuum products. In the inoculation study, the microbial
      counts of the turkey meat were comparable between the two film types. The study
      showed that the nano-silver coating did not exhibit any advantageous effects on
      the quality and microbiological parameters of the turkey meat.

PMID- 27647931
TI  - Evaluation of non-additive genetic variation in feed-related traits of broiler
      chickens.
AB  - Genome-wide association mapping and genomic predictions of phenotype of
      individuals in livestock are predominately based on the detection and estimation
      of additive genetic effects. Non-additive genetic effects are largely ignored.
      Studies in animals, plants, and humans to assess the impact of non-additive
      genetic effects in genetic analyses have led to differing conclusions. In this
      paper, we examined the consequences of including non-additive genetic effects in
      genome-wide association mapping and genomic prediction of total genetic values in
      a commercial population of 5,658 broiler chickens genotyped for 45,176 single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We employed mixed-model equations and
      restricted maximum likelihood to analyze 7 feed related traits (TRT1 - TRT7).
      Dominance variance accounted for a significant proportion of the total genetic
      variance in all 7 traits, ranging from 29.5% for TRT1 to 58.4% for TRT7. Using a
      5-fold cross-validation schema, we found that in spite of the large dominance
      component, including the estimated dominance effects in the prediction of total
      genetic values did not improve the accuracy of the predictions for any of the
      phenotypes. We offer some possible explanations for this counter-intuitive result
      including the possible confounding of dominance deviations with common
      environmental effects such as hatch, different directional effects of SNP
      additive and dominance variations, and the gene-gene interactions' failure to
      contribute to the level of variance.

PMID- 27647932
TI  - Comparison of goblet cell staining methods in jejunal mucosa of turkey poults.
AB  - This study compared the intestinal goblet cell density of turkey poults at 2
      different ages using Alcian blue-periodic acid-Shiff (AB-PAS) and mucicarmine
      stains. Neutral mucins are stained with periodic acid-Shiff whereas acidic mucins
      are stained with Alcian blue. Mucicarmine and AB-PAS are specific to the mucins
      of epithelial origin. Mucicarmine has only been used for the assessment of goblet
      cells in human specimens, and it may have advantages for use in animals as a
      result of the methodological simplicity of staining as compared to AB-PAS. A mid
      section of jejunum was taken from 80 turkey poults at 21 and 28 d, and fixed in
      10% buffered formalin for 48 h. Each fixed tissue was dehydrated with ethanol,
      cleared with Sub-X, placed in paraffin wax, prepared on 2 slides, cleared and
      hydrated. The 2 slides were randomly assigned to 2 treatments which consisted of
      AB-PAS and mucicarmine stains in a completely randomized design. Goblet cell
      counts were taken from four villi per slide and the villus height was measured
      and averaged. There was no difference in the goblet cell density between the
      staining methods AB-PAS and mucicarmine at 21 or 28 d posthatch. These results
      show that both staining methods are viable for assessment of goblet cell density
      in turkey poults.

PMID- 27647933
TI  - Wnt/beta-catenin-dependent acetylation of Pygo2 by CBP/p300 histone
      acetyltransferase family members.
AB  - Pygopus 2 (Pygo2) is a chromatin effector that plays an essential role in
      canonical Wnt signaling associated with development and stem cell growth. Its
      function is to facilitate histone acetylation by recruitment of histone
      acetyltransferases (HATs) at active sites of beta-catenin-mediated transcription.
      In the present study, we report that Pygo2 itself is transiently acetylated when
      bound to the activated TCF/beta-catenin transcription complex, which correlated
      with beta-catenin binding and Axin2 gene activation. The HAT CBP/p300, but not
      GCN5/PCAF, targeted specific lysine residues of the N-terminal homology domain of
      Pygo2 for acetylation. Functional analyses revealed that the presence of CBP and
      p300 increased the association of Pygo2 with GCN5, independent of Pygo2
      acetylation status. Finally, while acetylation of Pygo2 had little effect on
      active beta-catenin complex formation, p300-mediated Pygo2 acetylation resulted
      in the displacement of Pygo2 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm by targeting
      specific lysine residues in the Pygo2 nuclear localization sequence. Taken
      together, these findings are consistent with a model in which acetylation of
      Pygo2 by CBP/p300 family members in the active TCF/beta-catenin complex occurs
      coincident with histone acetylation and may be required for the recycling of
      Pygo2 away from the complex subsequent to target gene activation.

PMID- 27647934
TI  - Identification of keratan sulfate disaccharide at C-3 position of glucuronate of
      chondroitin sulfate from Mactra chinensis.
AB  - Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), including chondroitin sulfate (CS), dermatan sulfate,
      heparin, heparan sulfate and keratan sulfate (KS) are linear sulfated repeating
      disaccharide sequences containing hexosamine and uronic acid [or galactose (Gal)
      in the case of KS]. Among the GAGs, CS shows structural variations, such as
      sulfation patterns and fucosylation, which are responsible for their
      physiological functions through CS interaction with CS-binding proteins. Here, we
      solved the structure of KS-branched CS-E derived from a clam, Mactra chinensis KS
      disaccharide [d-GlcNAc6S-(1->3)-beta-d-Gal-(1->] was attached to the C-3 position
      of GlcA, and consecutive KS-branched disaccharide sequences were found in a CS
      chain. KS-branched polysaccharides clearly exhibited resistance to degradation by
      chondroitinase ABC or ACII (at low concentrations) compared with typical CS
      structures. Furthermore, KS-branched polysaccharides stimulated neurite outgrowth
      of hippocampal neurons. These results strongly suggest that M. chinensis is a
      rich source of KS-branched CS, and it has important biological activities.

PMID- 27647935
TI  - The drug ornidazole inhibits photosynthesis in a different mechanism described
      for protozoa and anaerobic bacteria.
AB  - Ornidazole of the 5-nitroimidazole drug family is used to treat protozoan and
      anaerobic bacterial infections via a mechanism that involves preactivation by
      reduction of the nitro group, and production of toxic derivatives and radicals.
      Metronidazole, another drug family member, has been suggested to affect
      photosynthesis by draining electrons from the electron carrier ferredoxin, thus
      inhibiting NADP+ reduction and stimulating radical and peroxide production. Here
      we show, however, that ornidazole inhibits photosynthesis via a different
      mechanism. While having a minute effect on the photosynthetic electron transport
      and oxygen photoreduction, ornidazole hinders the activity of two Calvin cycle
      enzymes, triose-phosphate isomerase (TPI) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
      dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Modeling of ornidazole's interaction with ferredoxin of
      the protozoan Trichomonas suggests efficient electron tunneling from the iron
      sulfur cluster to the nitro group of the drug. A similar docking site of
      ornidazole at the plant-type ferredoxin does not exist, and the best simulated
      alternative does not support such efficient tunneling. Notably, TPI was inhibited
      by ornidazole in the dark or when electron transport was blocked by
      dichloromethyl diphenylurea, indicating that this inhibition was unrelated to the
      electron transport machinery. Although TPI and GAPDH isoenzymes are involved in
      glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, ornidazole's effect on respiration of
      photoautotrophs is moderate, thus raising its value as an efficient inhibitor of
      photosynthesis. The scarcity of Calvin cycle inhibitors capable of penetrating
      cell membranes emphasizes on the value of ornidazole for studying the regulation
      of this cycle.

PMID- 27647936
TI  - Effects of heterologous expression of human cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase
      3A (hPDE3A) on redox regulation in yeast.
AB  - Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases
      and diabetes; however, the roles of protein kinase A (PKA) and human
      phosphodiesterase 3A (hPDE3A) remain unknown. Here, we show that yeast expressing
      wild-type (WT) hPDE3A or K13R hPDE3A (putative ubiquitinylation site mutant)
      exhibited resistance or sensitivity to exogenous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2),
      respectively. H2O2-stimulated ROS production was markedly increased in yeast
      expressing K13R hPDE3A (Oxidative stress Sensitive 1, OxiS1), compared with yeast
      expressing WT hPDE3A (Oxidative stress Resistant 1, OxiR1). In OxiR1, YAP1 and
      YAP1-dependent antioxidant genes were up-regulated, accompanied by a reduction in
      thioredoxin peroxidase. In OxiS1, expression of YAP1 and YAP1-dependent genes was
      impaired, and the thioredoxin system malfunctioned. H2O2 increased cyclic
      adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-hydrolyzing activity of WT hPDE3A, but not K13R
      hPDE3A, through PKA-dependent phosphorylation of hPDE3A, which was correlated
      with its ubiquitinylation. The changes in antioxidant gene expression did not
      directly correlate with differences in cAMP-PKA signaling. Despite differences in
      their capacities to hydrolyze cAMP, total cAMP levels among OxiR1, OxiS1, and
      mock were similar; PKA activity, however, was lower in OxiS1 than in OxiR1 or
      mock. During exposure to H2O2, however, Sch9p activity, a target of Rapamycin
      complex 1-regulated Rps6 kinase and negative-regulator of PKA, was rapidly
      reduced in OxiR1, and Tpk1p, a PKA catalytic subunit, was diffusely spread
      throughout the cytosol, with PKA activation. In OxiS1, Sch9p activity was
      unchanged during exposure to H2O2, consistent with reduced activation of PKA.
      These results suggest that, during oxidative stress, TOR-Sch9 signaling might
      regulate PKA activity, and that post-translational modifications of hPDE3A are
      critical in its regulation of cellular recovery from oxidative stress.

PMID- 27647937
TI  - Serelaxin improves the therapeutic efficacy of RXFP1-expressing human amnion
      epithelial cells in experimental allergic airway disease.
AB  - Current asthma therapies primarily target airway inflammation (AI) and suppress
      episodes of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) but fail to treat airway remodelling
      (AWR), which can develop independently of AI and contribute to irreversible
      airway obstruction. The present study compared the anti-remodelling and
      therapeutic efficacy of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
      to that of human amnion epithelial stem cells (AECs) in the setting of chronic
      allergic airways disease (AAD), in the absence or presence of an anti-fibrotic
      (serelaxin; RLX). Female Balb/c mice subjected to the 9-week model of ovalbumin
      (OVA)-induced chronic AAD, were either vehicle-treated (OVA alone) or treated
      with MSCs or AECs alone [intranasally (i.n.)-administered with 1*106 cells once
      weekly], RLX alone (i.n.-administered with 0.8 mg/ml daily) or a combination of
      MSCs or AECs and RLX from weeks 9-11 (n=6/group). Measures of AI, AWR and AHR
      were then assessed. OVA alone exacerbated AI, epithelial damage/thickness, sub
      epithelial extracellular matrix (ECM) and total collagen deposition, markers of
      collagen turnover and AHR compared with that in saline-treated counterparts (all
      P<0.01 compared with saline-treated controls). RLX or AECs (but not MSCs) alone
      normalized epithelial thickness and partially diminished the OVA-induced fibrosis
      and AHR by ~40-50% (all P<0.05 compared with OVA alone). Furthermore, the
      combination treatments normalized epithelial thickness, measures of fibrosis and
      AHR to that in normal mice, and significantly decreased AI. Although AECs alone
      demonstrated greater protection against the AAD-induced AI, AWR and AHR, compared
      with that of MSCs alone, combining RLX with MSCs or AECs reversed airway fibrosis
      and AHR to an even greater extent.

PMID- 27647939
TI  - World pulmonary fibrosis conference-ICLAF 2016.

PMID- 27647940
TI  - Proton pump inhibitors in IPF: beyond mere suppression of gastric acidity.
AB  - Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are structurally composed of benzimidazole core; a
      pharmacologically common scaffold that makes up nearly one quarter of the hundred
      most selling drugs including anticancer, opioid, antihistaminic and antihelmintic
      drugs. In medicinal chemistry, benzimidazoles are coined as privileged scaffolds
      due to their ability to recognize and bind diverse biological targets. In this
      regard, PPIs have been linked to other extra-intestinal functions including
      direct modulation of airway epithelial, vascular endothelial and immune cells.
      PPIs have been reported to improve outcomes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
      (IPF) including slowing the decline in measures of lung function, reducing
      episodes of acute exacerbations and prolonging transplant-free survival.
      Recently, the evidence-based guidelines for IPF treatment conditionally
      recommended the use of PPIs in IPF. However, no prospective clinical trial has
      been conducted to empirically evaluate the safety and efficacy of PPIs in IPF.
      Here, we discuss emerging anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic activity of PPIs in
      the context of IPF. We also discuss possible molecular mechanisms by which PPIs
      may unleash their beneficial effect in IPF. 

PMID- 27647941
TI  - Porous photonic crystal external cavity laser biosensor.
AB  - We report the design, fabrication, and testing of a photonic crystal (PC)
      biosensor structure that incorporates a porous high refractive index TiO2
      dielectric film that enables immobilization of capture proteins within an
      enhanced surface-area volume that spatially overlaps with the regions of resonant
      electromagnetic fields where biomolecular binding can produce the greatest shifts
      in photonic crystal resonant wavelength. Despite the nanoscale porosity of the
      sensor structure, the PC slab exhibits narrowband and high efficiency resonant
      reflection, enabling the structure to serve as a wavelength-tunable element of an
      external cavity laser. In the context of sensing small molecule interactions with
      much larger immobilized proteins, we demonstrate that the porous structure
      provides 3.7* larger biosensor signals than an equivalent nonporous structure,
      while the external cavity laser (ECL) detection method provides capability for
      sensing picometer-scale shifts in the PC resonant wavelength caused by small
      molecule binding. The porous ECL achieves a record high figure of merit for label
      free optical biosensors.

PMID- 27647942
TI  - Persistent-current switch for pancake coils of rare earth-barium-copper-oxide
      high-temperature superconductor: Design and test results of a double-pancake coil
      operated in liquid nitrogen (77-65 K) and in solid nitrogen (60-57 K).
AB  - We present design and test results of a superconducting persistent current switch
      (PCS) for pancake coils of rare-earth-barium-copper-oxide, REBCO, high
      temperature superconductor (HTS). Here, a REBCO double-pancake (DP) coil, 152-mm
      ID, 168-mm OD, 12-mm high, was wound with a no-insulation technique. We converted
      a ~10-cm long section in the outermost layer of each pancake to a PCS. The DP
      coil was operated in liquid nitrogen (77-65 K) and in solid nitrogen (60-57 K).
      Over the operating temperature ranges of this experiment, the normal-state PCS
      enabled the DP coil to be energized; thereupon, the PCS resumed the
      superconducting state and the DP coil field decayed with a time constant of 100
      h, which would have been nearly infinite, i.e., persistent-mode operation, were
      the joint across the coil terminals superconducting.

PMID- 27647943
TI  - Place of birth effects on self-reported discrimination: Variations by type of
      discrimination.
AB  - Researchers have suggested that perceptions of discrimination may vary depending
      on place of birth and the length of time spent living in the U.S., variables
      related to acculturation. However, the existing literature provides a mixed
      picture, with data suggesting that the effects of acculturation on perceptions of
      discrimination vary by race and other sociodemographic factors. This study
      evaluated the role of place of birth (POB: defined as U.S.-born vs. foreign
      born), age at immigration, and length of residence in the U.S. on self-reported
      discrimination in a sample of urban-dwelling Asian and Black adults (n= 1454).
      Analyses examined POB effects on different types of discrimination including race
      related stigmatization, exclusion, threat, and workplace discrimination.
      Sociodemographic variables (including age, gender, employment status and
      education level) were tested as potential moderators of the relationship between
      POB and discrimination. The results revealed a significant main effect for POB on
      discrimination, with U.S.-born individuals reporting significantly more
      discrimination than foreign-born individuals, although the effect was reduced
      when sociodemographic variables were controlled. Across the sample, POB effects
      were seen only for race-related stigmatization and exclusion, not for threat and
      workplace discrimination. With the exception of limited effects for gender,
      sociodemographic variables did not moderate these effects. Younger age at
      immigration and greater years of residence in the U.S. were also positively
      associated with higher levels of perceived discrimination. These findings suggest
      increasing acculturation may shape the experience and perception of racial and
      ethnic discrimination.

PMID- 27647945
TI  - Parental aggression as a predictor of boys' hostile attribution across the
      transition to middle school.
AB  - Aggression among youth is public health problem that is often studied in the
      context of how youth interpret social information. Social cognitive factors,
      especially hostile attribution biases, have been identified as risk factors for
      the development of youth aggression, particularly across the transition to middle
      school. Parental behaviors, including parental aggression to children in the form
      of corporal punishment and other aggressive behavior, have also been linked to
      aggressive behavior in children at these ages. Despite the important role played
      by these two risk factors, the connection between the two has not been fully
      studied in the literature. This study examined the link between parental
      aggression and children' hostile attributions longitudinally among a diverse
      sample of 123 boys as they entered middle school. Results support acceptance of a
      model in which parental aggression to children prior to entering middle school
      predicted children's hostile attributions after the transition to middle school
      above and beyond that which was predicted by previous levels of hostile
      attributions. As expected, hostile attributions also predicted change in parent-
      and teacher-rated child aggression. These findings provides important evidence of
      the role that parental behavior plays in youth social cognition at this critical
      age, which has implications for understanding the development of aggressive
      behavior.

PMID- 27647944
TI  - Perturbation Detection Through Modeling of Gene Expression on a Latent Biological
      Pathway Network: A Bayesian hierarchical approach.
AB  - Cellular response to a perturbation is the result of a dynamic system of
      biological variables linked in a complex network. A major challenge in drug and
      disease studies is identifying the key factors of a biological network that are
      essential in determining the cell's fate. Here our goal is the identification of
      perturbed pathways from high-throughput gene expression data. We develop a three
      level hierarchical model, where (i) the first level captures the relationship
      between gene expression and biological pathways using confirmatory factor
      analysis, (ii) the second level models the behavior within an underlying network
      of pathways induced by an unknown perturbation using a conditional autoregressive
      model, and (iii) the third level is a spike-and-slab prior on the perturbations.
      We then identify perturbations through posterior-based variable selection. We
      illustrate our approach using gene transcription drug perturbation profiles from
      the DREAM7 drug sensitivity predication challenge data set. Our proposed method
      identified regulatory pathways that are known to play a causative role and that
      were not readily resolved using gene set enrichment analysis or exploratory
      factor models. Simulation results are presented assessing the performance of this
      model relative to a network-free variant and its robustness to inaccuracies in
      biological databases.

PMID- 27647946
TI  - Correlation of Serum beta-Endorphin and the Quality of Life in Allergic Rhinitis.
AB  - Background. Allergic rhinitis (AR) significantly impairs the quality of life of
      the patients; however, a questionnaire alone is an insufficient and subjective
      measure of this condition. Obtaining an objective clinical assessment of the
      level of impairment will be valuable for its treatment. beta-Endorphin is one of
      the most important mediators of both mental state and specific immunity. Thus, we
      investigated the possibility of using beta-endorphin as a biomarker for
      evaluating the impairment level in AR. Methods. This study included 48 patients
      with AR and 32 healthy volunteers. The serum beta-endorphin level was determined
      by enzyme immunoassay, and the serum-specific IgE and total IgE levels were
      determined by immunoblot assay. The Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life
      Questionnaire (RQLQ) was used to assess the impairment level in the symptom
      duration. Results. The beta-endorphin concentration was significantly decreased
      in AR patients compared to the healthy controls (p = 0.000, p < 0.05). There was
      significant negative correlation between the impairment level and serum beta
      endorphin level (correlation coefficient: -0.468; p = 0.001; p < 0.05), but there
      was no association between the serum beta-endorphin and total IgE levels (p =
      0.947, p > 0.05). Conclusion. beta-Endorphin is a systemic biomarker that has the
      potential to assess the impairment level in AR and may therefore be a novel
      therapeutic target for the treatment of AR. 

PMID- 27647948
TI  - A semiparametrically efficient estimator of the time-varying effects for survival
      data with time-dependent treatment.
AB  - The timing of a time-dependent treatment-e.g., when to perform a kidney
      transplantation-is an important factor for evaluating treatment efficacy. A naive
      comparison between the treated and untreated groups, while ignoring the timing of
      treatment, typically yields biased results that might favor the treated group
      because only patients who survive long enough will get treated. On the other
      hand, studying the effect of a time-dependent treatment is often complex, as it
      involves modeling treatment history and accounting for the possible time-varying
      nature of the treatment effect. We propose a varying-coefficient Cox model that
      investigates the efficacy of a time-dependent treatment by utilizing a global
      partial likelihood, which renders appealing statistical properties, including
      consistency, asymptotic normality and semiparametric efficiency. Extensive
      simulations verify the finite sample performance, and we apply the proposed
      method to study the efficacy of kidney transplantation for end-stage renal
      disease patients in the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR).

PMID- 27647949
TI  - Multiple Imputation in Three or More Stages.
AB  - Missing values present challenges in the analysis of data across many areas of
      research. Handling incomplete data incorrectly can lead to bias, over-confident
      intervals, and inaccurate inferences. One principled method of handling
      incomplete data is multiple imputation. This article considers incomplete data in
      which values are missing for three or more qualitatively different reasons and
      applies a modified multiple imputation framework in the analysis of that data.
      Included are a proof of the methodology used for three-stage multiple imputation
      with its limiting distribution, an extension to more than three types of missing
      values, an extension to the ignorability assumption with proof, and simulations
      demonstrating that the estimator is unbiased and efficient under the ignorability
      assumption.

PMID- 27647947
TI  - Galactose-Deficient IgA1 as a Candidate Urinary Polypeptide Marker of IgA
      Nephropathy?
AB  - In patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN), circulatory IgA1 and IgA1 in mesangial
      deposits contain elevated amounts of galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1). We
      hypothesized that a fraction of Gd-IgA1 from the glomerular deposits and/or
      circulation may be excreted into the urine and thus represent a disease-specific
      biomarker. Levels of urinary IgA and Gd-IgA1 were determined in 207 patients with
      IgAN, 205 patients with other renal diseases, and 57 healthy controls, recruited
      in USA, Japan, and Italy. Urinary IgA was similarly elevated in patients with
      IgAN and renal-disease controls compared with healthy controls. However, urinary
      Gd-IgA1 levels were higher in patients with IgAN (IgAN, 28.0 +/- 17.9; disease
      controls, 20.6 +/- 17.4 units/mg urinary creatinine; P < 0.0001). Lectin western
      blotting data confirmed these results. In IgAN patients, levels of urinary Gd
      IgA1 correlated with proteinuria (P < 0.001). When we purified IgA from serum and
      urine of an IgAN patient, the relative proportion of Gd-IgA1 to total IgA1 was
      higher in the urine compared with serum, suggesting selective excretion of Gd
      IgA1 in IgAN. In summary, urinary excretion of Gd-IgA1 was elevated in patients
      with IgAN and the urinary Gd-IgA1 levels correlated with proteinuria. Urinary Gd
      IgA1 may thus represent a disease-specific biomarker of IgAN. 

PMID- 27647950
TI  - Portable Cytometry Using Microscale Electronic Sensing.
AB  - In this manuscript, we present three different micro-impedance sensing
      architectures for electronic counting of cells and beads. The first method of
      sensing is based on using an open circuit sensing electrode integrated in a micro
      pore, which measures the shift in potential as a micron-sized particle passes
      through. Our micro-pore, based on a funnel shaped microchannel, was fabricated in
      PDMS and was bound covalently to a glass substrate patterned with a gold open
      circuit electrode. The amplification circuitry was integrated onto a battery
      powered custom printed circuit board. The second method is based on a three
      electrode differential measurement, which opens up the potential of using signal
      processing techniques to increase signal to noise ratio post measurement. The
      third architecture uses a contactless sensing approach, which significantly
      minimizes the cost of the consumable component of the impedance cytometer. We
      demonstrated proof of concept for the three sensing architectures by measuring
      the detected signal due to the passage of micron sized beads through the pore.

PMID- 27647952
TI  - Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Artemisia Leaf Extract in Mice with Contact
      Dermatitis In Vitro and In Vivo.
AB  - The leaves of Artemisia argyi Lev. et Vant. and A. princeps Pamp. are well known
      medicinal herbs used to treat patients in China, Japan, and Korea with skin
      problems such as eczema and itching, as well as abdominal pain and dysmenorrhoea.
      We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of Artemisia leaf extract (ALE)
      using CD mice and Raw 264.7 cells. The effects of ALE on histopathological
      changes and cytokine production in ear tissues were assessed in mice with CD
      induced by 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNFB). Moreover, the anti-inflammatory
      effects on production levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and nitric oxide (NO) and
      expression levels of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase
      (iNOS) were investigated in Raw 264.7 cells. Topical application of ALE
      effectively prevented ear swelling induced by repeated DNFB application. ALE
      prevented epidermal hyperplasia and infiltration of immune cells and lowered the
      production of interferon- (IFN-) gamma (gamma), tumour necrosis factor- (TNF-)
      alpha (alpha), and interleukin- (IL-) 6 in inflamed tissues. In addition, ALE
      inhibited expression of COX-2 and iNOS and production of NO and PGE2 in Raw 264.7
      cells. These results indicate that Artemisia leaf can be used as a therapeutic
      agent for inflammatory skin diseases and that its anti-inflammatory effects are
      closely related to the inhibition of inflammatory mediator release from
      macrophages and inflammatory cytokine production in inflamed tissues. 

PMID- 27647954
TI  - Educational Neuroscience: Challenges and Opportunities.

PMID- 27647955
TI  - Successfully Managing Swine Flu (H1N1) 2015 and the Way Ahead: The Rajasthan
      Model.

PMID- 27647953
TI  - Inflammation-Related DNA Damage and Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Nasopharyngeal
      Carcinoma.
AB  - Nitrative and oxidative DNA damage plays an important role in inflammation
      related carcinogenesis. To investigate the involvement of stem cells in Epstein
      Barr virus infection-related nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), we used double
      immunofluorescence staining to examine several cancer stem/progenitor cell
      markers (CD44v6, CD24, and ALDH1A1) in NPC tissues and NPC cell lines. We also
      measured 8-nitroguanine formation as an indicator of inflammation-related DNA
      lesions. The staining intensity of 8-nitroguanine was significantly higher in
      cancer cells and inflammatory cells in the stroma of NPC tissues than in chronic
      nasopharyngitis tissues. Expression levels of CD44v6 and ALDH1A1 were
      significantly increased in cancer cells of primary NPC specimens in comparison to
      chronic nasopharyngitis tissues. Similarly, more intense staining of CD44v6 and
      ALDH1A1 was detected in an NPC cell line than in an immortalized nasopharyngeal
      epithelial cell line. In the case of CD24 staining, there was no significant
      difference between NPC and chronic nasopharyngitis tissues. 8-Nitroguanine was
      detected in both CD44v6- and ALDH1A1-positive stem cells in NPC tissues. In
      conclusion, CD44v6 and ALDH1A1 are candidate stem cell markers for NPC, and the
      increased formation of DNA lesions by inflammation may result in the mutation of
      stem cells, leading to tumor development in NPC. 

PMID- 27647951
TI  - Inflammatory Mechanisms Associated with Skeletal Muscle Sequelae after Stroke:
      Role of Physical Exercise.
AB  - Inflammatory markers are increased systematically and locally (e.g., skeletal
      muscle) in stroke patients. Besides being associated with cardiovascular risk
      factors, proinflammatory cytokines seem to play a key role in muscle atrophy by
      regulating the pathways involved in this condition. As such, they may cause
      severe decrease in muscle strength and power, as well as impairment in
      cardiorespiratory fitness. On the other hand, physical exercise (PE) has been
      widely suggested as a powerful tool for treating stroke patients, since PE is
      able to regenerate, even if partially, physical and cognitive functions. However,
      the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical exercise in
      poststroke patients remain poorly understood. Thus, in this study we analyze the
      candidate mechanisms associated with muscle atrophy in stroke patients, as well
      as the modulatory effect of inflammation in this condition. Later, we suggest the
      two strongest anti-inflammatory candidate mechanisms, myokines and the
      cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, which may be activated by physical
      exercise and may contribute to a decrease in proinflammatory markers of
      poststroke patients. 

PMID- 27647957
TI  - Experimental Model of Intervertebral Disk Mediated Postoperative Epidural
      Fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative epidural fibrosis (EF) after lumbar discectomy is the
      most common and at the same time controversial issue. PURPOSE: The etiology and
      pathogenesis creates a lot of discussion and selection of methods of treatment
      and prevention continues. METHODS: LIV laminectomy with dura mater (DM)
      exposition was done in 24 rats, and then, 0.3 ml of elements of suspension of
      autologous intervertebral disk was implicated on DM. As autologous intervertebral
      disk, we used the intervertebral disk from amputated tail. In all the animals,
      incisions were closed with 3/0 Vicryl. EF was examined. Fibroblast cell density
      was calculated in each field at *40 magnification: Grade 1 - fewer than 100
      fibroblasts in each field; Grade 2 - 100-150 fibroblasts in each field; Grade 3 -
      more than 150 fibroblasts in each field. RESULTS: Based on histological results,
      we confirmed our model of experiment. On the 30th day of evaluation, there were
      significant histological evidences of postoperative epidural adhesions in
      experimental animals, which included the obliteration of epidural space, the
      presence of adhesions in the dura and nerve roots, the restructuring of the
      yellow ligament, bone sclerosis, excessive appearance of fibrous tissue around
      the autologous intervertebral disk tissue that applied on the DM. CONCLUSION: In
      our work, we describe a new experimental model, where the elements of autologous
      intervertebral disk play the role of inflammation trigger, which cause
      postoperative scar and EF.

PMID- 27647956
TI  - Assessment of Cholinergic Properties of Ashwagandha Leaf-Extract in the Amnesic
      Mouse Brain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In our earlier study, we have shown the memory enhancing and
      scopolamine-induced amnesia recovery properties of Ashwagandha leaf extract using
      behavioral paradigm and expression analysis of synaptic plasticity genes.
      PURPOSE: However, the exact mechanism through which Ashwagandha demonstrates
      these effects is still unknown. METHODS: In the present study, we hypothesized
      that the alcoholic extract of Ashwagandha leaves (i-Extract) possesses
      cholinergic properties, which in turn inhibit the anti-cholinergic nature of
      scopolamine. Therefore, the potential of i-Extract to recover from the
      scopolamine-induced cholinergic deficits was assessed by measuring acetylcholine
      (neurotransmitter) and Arc (synaptic activity-related gene) expression level in
      the mouse brain. RESULTS: The enzymatic activity of acetyl cholinesterase and
      choline acetyltransferase was assessed through colorimetric assays, and
      expression level of Arc protein was examined by Western blotting. Furthermore,
      mRNA level of these genes was examined by semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase
      PCR. We observed that the treatment of i-Extract in scopolamine-induced amnesic
      mouse attenuates scopolamine-induced detrimental alterations in the cholinergic
      system. CONCLUSION: Thus, our study provided biochemical and molecular evidence
      of cholinergic properties of Ashwagandha leaf extract during brain disorders
      associated with cholinergic dysfunction.

PMID- 27647958
TI  - Heart Rate Variability in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:
      A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood
      neuropsychiatric disorder. Autonomic nervous system plays a vital role in
      attention, self-regulation, emotional stability and social affiliation, which are
      affected in ADHD. The prefrontal cortex, which is vital for attention, motor
      control, emotional regulation and higher order autonomic control, is
      hypofunctional in ADHD. In addition, catecholamine dysregulation is there.
      PURPOSE: We hypothesized that there is autonomic dysfunction: reduction in
      overall heart rate variability (HRV) and sympathovagal imbalance in children with
      ADHD. METHODS: Study criteria were drug-naive ADHD children who were 7-12 years
      of age of either gender who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and did not have
      any associated comorbid psychiatric/neurological/medical disorders. Two hundred
      and seventy ADHD children were screened out of which only 12 were found eligible
      and 10 participated. Sample size was 20 (cases = 10, age- and gender-matched
      healthy controls = 10). Short-term HRV of both time and frequency domains were
      assessed by recording lead II electrocardiogram after using Tell-Show-Do, a
      behavior shaping technique. Comparison between groups was done using Mann-Whitney
      and Wilcoxon test. Demographic variables like age, height, weight and body mass
      index were similar between groups. RESULTS: Among time domain parameters, SD of
      all NN intervals, square root of the mean of the sum of squares of differences
      between adjacent NN intervals and percentage of count of number of pairs of
      adjacent NN intervals differing by more than 50 ms were reduced in ADHD group
      with p < 0.05. Among frequency domain parameters, total power was reduced in ADHD
      group with p < 0.05, high frequency power (HF) was reduced in ADHD group with p <
      0.01 and low frequency power to HF ratio was higher in ADHD group with p < 0.01.
      CONCLUSION: There is autonomic dysfunction in children with ADHD - reduction in
      overall HRV with sympathovagal imbalance with sympathetic dominance.

PMID- 27647960
TI  - Ambulatory Seizure Monitoring: From Concept to Prototype Device.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The brain, made up of billions of neurons and synapses, is the
      marvelous core of human thought, action and memory. However, if neuronal activity
      manifests into abnormal electrical activity across the brain, neural behavior may
      exhibit synchronous neural firings known as seizures. If unprovoked seizures
      occur repeatedly, a patient may be diagnosed with epilepsy. PURPOSE: The scope of
      this project is to develop an ambulatory seizure monitoring system that can be
      used away from a hospital, making it possible for the user to stay at home, and
      primary care personnel to monitor a patient's seizure activity in order to
      provide deeper analysis of the patient's condition and apply personalized
      intervention techniques. METHODS: The ambulatory seizure monitoring device is a
      research device that has been developed with the objective of acquiring a
      portable, clean electroencephalography (EEG) signal and transmitting it
      wirelessly to a handheld device for processing and notification. RESULT: This
      device is comprised of 4 phases: acquisition, transmission, processing and
      notification. During the acquisition stage, the EEG signal is detected using EEG
      electrodes; these signals are filtered and amplified before being transmitted in
      the second stage. The processing stage encompasses the signal processing and
      seizure prediction. A notification is sent to the patient and designated
      contacts, given an impending seizure. Each of these phases is comprised of
      various design components, hardware and software. The experimental findings
      illustrate that there may be a triggering mechanism through the phase lock value
      method that enables seizure prediction. CONCLUSION: The device addresses the need
      for long-term monitoring of the patient's seizure condition in order to provide
      the clinician a better understanding of the seizure's duration and frequency and
      ultimately provide the best remedy for the patient.

PMID- 27647961
TI  - APOEepsilon2 is Associated with Milder Clinical and Pathological Alzheimer's
      Disease.

PMID- 27647959
TI  - The Antidepressant Effect of L-Tyrosine-Loaded Nanoparticles: Behavioral Aspects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression has been linked to disruption in the cerebral levels of
      specific neurotransmitters. L-tyrosine is a precursor of more than one of the
      neurotransmitters affected by depression. Even though setbacks of monoamines
      precursors include high doses and low efficiency, many studies have suggested
      using L-tyrosine as antidepressant. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to
      explore the possible antidepressant effect of L-tyrosine loaded in a nanoparticle
      designed formula, using behavioral tests in acute and chronic mild stress (CMS)
      models of depression in rats. METHODS: Animals from both models received L
      tyrosine-loaded nanoparticles (5 or 10 mg/kg), L-tyrosine solution (10 mg/kg),
      fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) or placebo daily for 21 days. Rats from the acute stress
      model of depression were subjected to open field and forced swim tests (FSTs).
      For the CMS model, sucrose preference test was carried out. Additionally, 3
      profiles of the nanoparticles formula were tested in vitro. High dissolution rate
      and entrapment efficiency were obtained from the in vitro tests. Moreover, L
      tyrosine-loaded nanoparticles 10 mg/kg and fluoxetine 10 mg/kg significantly
      decreased the immobility time in the FST, concomitant with restoration of the
      basal levels of locomotor activity, distance travelled and rearing counts. Also,
      an increase of the sucrose consumption was recorded in the sucrose preference
      test after treatment with L-tyrosine-loaded nanoparticles 10 mg/kg and fluoxetine
      10 mg/kg. RESULTS: The positive results after treatment with L-tyrosine-loaded
      nanoparticles, through behavioral tests, are probably attributed to restorating
      the basal levels of the cerebral noradrenaline. CONCLUSION: The effects of L
      tyrosine administration on the cerebral levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and
      corticotropin-releasing factor should be further investigated.

PMID- 27647962
TI  - Association between Apolipoprotein epsilon4 Gene Polymorphism and Risk of
      Ischemic Stroke: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies examining the association of apolipoprotein E (APOE)
      gene polymorphism with the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) have yielded conflicting
      results. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association
      between APOE epsilon4 gene polymorphism and risk of IS. SUMMARY: A literature
      search for genetic association studies published before May 30, 2015, was
      conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases. The following
      search terms were used: (apolipoprotein E) or (APOE) and (epsilon4) and
      (polymorphism) or (polymorphisms) and ('ischemic stroke' or 'IS') and ('cerebral
      infarction' or 'CI') and ('genetic polymorphism' or 'single nucleotide
      polymorphisms' or 'SNP'). ORs and 95% CIs were used to calculate the strength of
      association. Begg's funnel plot was used to assess the potential for publication
      bias. In our meta-analysis, 26 case-control studies involving 6,397 IS cases and
      19,053 controls were included. Overall significant association between carrier of
      epsilon4 allele and risk of IS was observed (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.10-1.85, p =
      0.007). In the subgroup analysis based on ethnicity, a significant association
      between Apo epsilon4 carrier and risk of IS was observed in Asian studies (OR
      1.53, 95% CI 1.04-2.25, p = 0.031) whereas borderline significant association
      between APO epsilon4 carrier and risk of IS was observed in Caucasian studies (OR
      1.36, 95% CI 0.95-1.93, p = 0.093). KEY MESSAGES: Our meta-analysis suggests that
      APOE epsilon4 allele is associated with higher risk of IS in Asian population as
      compared to Caucasian population.

PMID- 27647963
TI  - International Brain Research Organization-Asia Pacific Regional Committee
      Neuroscience School - Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2015.

PMID- 27647964
TI  - Artery of Percheron Infarction.
AB  - Artery of Percheron (AOP) occlusion is a rare cause of ischemic stroke
      characterized by bilateral paramedian thalamic infarcts, with or without
      mesencephalic infarction. Clinically it presents with mental state disturbances,
      hypersomnolence, aphasia/dysarthria, amnesia and ocular movement disorders,
      including vertical gaze palsy. Here, we report a case of cardioembolic AOP
      infarction in a 37-year-old woman with rheumatic mitral valvular stenosis. This
      case is being reported to highlight the interesting clinical and neuroimaging
      features of this rare condition, and the differential diagnosis of AOP infarction
      on imaging have been discussed. 

PMID- 27647965
TI  - Nominations for B. K. Bachhawat Memorial Life Time Achievement Award & KT Shetty
      Memorial Oration of Indian Academy of Neurosciences.

PMID- 27647967
TI  - Evaluation of rational extent lymphadenectomy for local advanced gastric cancer.
AB  - Based upon studies from randomized clinical trials, the extended (D2) lymph node
      dissection is now recommended as a standard procedure for local advanced gastric
      cancer worldwide. However, the rational extent lymphadenectomy for local advanced
      gastric cancer has remained a topic of debate in the past decades. Due to the
      limitation of low metastatic rate in para-aortic nodes (PAN) in JCOG9501, the
      clinical benefit of D2+ para-aortic nodal dissection (PAND) for patients with
      stage T4 and/or stage N3 disease, which is very common in China and other
      countries except Japan and Korea, cannot be determined. Furthermore, the role of
      splenectomy for complete resection of No.10 and No.11 nodes has been
      controversial, and however, the final results from the randomized trial of
      JCOG0110 have yet to be completed. Gastric cancer with the No.14 and No.13 lymph
      node metastasis is defined as M1 stage in the current version of the Japanese
      classification. We propose that D2+No.14v and +No.13 lymphadenectomy may be an
      option in a potentially curative gastrectomy for tumors with apparent metastasis
      to the No.6 nodes or infiltrate to duodenum. The examined lymph node and
      extranodal metastasis are significantly associated with the survival of gastric
      cancer patients. 

PMID- 27647968
TI  - DNA image cytometry test for primary screening of esophageal cancer: a population
      based multi-center study in high-risk areas in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of DNA image cytometry (DNA-ICM) as a
      primary screening method for esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC). METHODS: A
      total of 5,382 local residents aged 40-69 years from three high-risk areas in
      China (Linzhou in Henan province, Feicheng in Shandong province and Cixian in
      Hebei province) from 2008 to 2011 were recruited in this population-based
      screening study. And 2,526 subjects declined to receive endoscopic biopsy
      examination with Lugol's iodine staining, while 9 and 815 subjects were excluded
      from liquid-based cytology and DNA-ICM test respectively due to slide quality.
      Finally, 2,856, 5,373 and 4,567 subjects were enrolled in the analysis for
      endoscopic biopsy examination, liquid-based cytology and DNA-ICM test,
      respectively. Sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), negative predictive values
      (NPV) and positive predictive values (PPV) as well as their 95% confidence
      intervals (95% CI) for DNA-ICM, liquid-based cytology and the combination of the
      two methods were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were
      applied to determine the cutoff point of DNA-ICM for esophageal cancer. RESULTS:
      DNA-ICM results were significantly correlative with esophageal cancer and
      precancer lesions (chi(2)=18.016, P<0.001). The cutoff points were 5,802, 5,803
      and 8,002 based on dissimilar pathological types of low grade intraepithelial
      neoplasia (LGIN), high grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), and ESCC,
      respectively, and 5,803 was chosen in this study considering the SE and SP. The
      SE, SP, PPV, NPV of DNA-ICM test (cutoff point 5,803) combined with liquid-based
      cytology [threshold atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS)]
      were separately 72.1% (95% CI: 70.3%-73.9%), 43.3% (95% CI: 41.3%-45.3%), 22.8%
      (95% CI: 21.1%-24.5%) and 87.0% (95% CI: 85.7%-88.3%) for LGIN, 85.7% (95% CI:
      84.3%-87.1%), 41.3% (95% CI: 39.3%-43.3%), 4.6% (95% CI: 3.8%-5.4%) and 98.9%
      (95% CI: 98.5%-99.3%) for HGIN, and 96.0% (95% CI: 95.2%-96.8%), 40.8% (95% CI:
      38.8%-42.8%), 1.7% (95% CI: 1.2%-2.2%) and 99.9% (95% CI: 99.8%-100.0%) for ESCC.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to use DNA-ICM test as a primary screening method
      before endoscopic screening for esophageal cancer.

PMID- 27647966
TI  - Overproduction of reactive oxygen species - obligatory or not for induction of
      apoptosis by anticancer drugs.
AB  - Many studies demonstrate that conventional anticancer drugs elevate intracellular
      level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and alter redox-homeostasis of cancer
      cells. It is widely accepted that anticancer effect of these chemotherapeutics is
      due to induction of oxidative stress and ROS-mediated apoptosis in cancer. On the
      other hand, the harmful side effects of conventional anticancer chemotherapy are
      also due to increased production of ROS and disruption of redox-homeostasis of
      normal cells and tissues. This article describes the mechanisms for triggering
      and modulation of apoptosis through ROS-dependent and ROS-independent pathways.
      We try to answer the question: "Is it possible to induce highly specific
      apoptosis only in cancer cells, without overproduction of ROS, as well as without
      harmful effects on normal cells and tissues?" The review also suggests a new
      therapeutic strategy for selective killing of cancer cells, without significant
      impact on viability of normal cells and tissues, by combining anticancer drugs
      with redox-modulators, affecting specific signaling pathways and avoiding
      oxidative stress. 

PMID- 27647969
TI  - Comparison of survival outcomes between transthoracic and transabdominal surgical
      approaches in patients with Siewert-II/III esophagogastric junction
      adenocarcinoma: a single-institution retrospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the survival outcomes of transabdominal (TA) and
      transthoracic (TT) surgical approaches in patients with Siewert-II/III
      esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma. METHODS: This retrospective study was
      conducted in patients with Siewert-II/III esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma
      who underwent either TT or TA operations in the West China Hospital between
      January 2006 and December 2009. RESULTS: A total of 308 patients (109 in the TT
      and 199 in the TA groups) were included in this study with a follow-up rate of
      87.3%. The median (P25, P75) number of harvested perigastric lymph nodes was 8
      (5, 10) in the TT group and 23 (16, 34) in the TA group (P<0.001), and the number
      of positive perigastric lymph nodes was 2 (0, 5) in the TT group and 3 (1, 8) in
      the TA group (P<0.004). The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 36% in the TT
      group and 51% in the TA group (P=0.005). Subgroup analysis by Siewert
      classification showed that 5-year OS rates for patients with Siewert II tumors
      were 38% and 48% in TT and TA groups, respectively (P=0.134), whereas the 5-year
      OS rate for patients with Siewert III tumors was significantly lower in the TT
      group than that in the TA group (33% vs. 53%; P=0.010). Multivariate analysis
      indicated that N2 and N3 stages, R1/R2 resection and a TT surgical approach were
      prognostic factors for poor OS. CONCLUSIONS: Improved perigastric lymph node
      dissection may be the main reason for better survival outcomes observed with a TA
      gastrectomy approach than with TT gastrectomy for Siewert III tumor patients.

PMID- 27647970
TI  - Total mesopancreas excision for pancreatic head cancer: analysis of 120 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of total mesopancreas excision
      (TMpE) in the treatment of pancreatic head cancer. METHODS: The clinical and
      pathological data of 120 patients with pancreatic head cancer who had undergone
      TMpE in our center from May 2010 to January 2014 were retrospectively analyzed.
      RESULTS: The mean operative time was (275.0+/-50.2) min and the average intra
      operative blood loss was (390.0+/-160.5) mL. Post-operative complications were
      reported in 45 patients, while no peri-operative death was noted. The specimen
      margins were measured in three dimensions, and 86 patients (71.6%) achieved R0
      resection. CONCLUSIONS: TMpE is safe and feasible for pancreatic head cancer and
      is particularly helpful to increase the R0 resection rate.

PMID- 27647971
TI  - Radical nerve dissection for the carcinoma of head of pancreas: report of 30
      cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical value of the radical nerve dissection (RND)
      for the carcinoma of head of pancreas (CHP). METHODS: The clinical and
      pathological data of 30 CHP patients who underwent RND in our hospital were
      retrospectively analyzed, with an attempt to explore the safety and short-term
      efficacy of this procedure. RESULTS: Among these 30 patients, the operative time
      was (351+/-61) min, the intra-operative blood loss was 350 (range, 300-600) mL,
      and the grades B and C pancreatic fistula was 23.33%. During the follow-up
      (range, 2-30 months; median: 17 months), the 1-year survival rate was 63.33% and
      the 1-year disease-free survival rate was 56.67%. Among the 23 patients (76.66%)
      with positive extra-pancreatic perineural invasion (PNI), the 1-year casefatality
      rate was 34.78%, which was not significantly different from that (28.57%) of
      patients with negative PNI (P=0.760). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested
      potential advantages of RND in the fields of surgery-associated risk and
      prognosis compared with the Whipple operation in the treatment of CHP. Due to the
      low sample size of this study, further well-designed research of large sample
      size is needed.

PMID- 27647972
TI  - A case-control study about the association between vascular endothelial growth
      inhibitor gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk in female patients in
      Northeast China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The inhibition of the neovascularization in tumors is a potential
      therapeutic target of cancer. Vascular endothelial growth inhibitor (VEGI) is a
      member of the TNF superfamily which has the ability to suppress the formation of
      new vessels in tumors. In order to study the association between VEGI gene
      polymorphisms and breast cancer risk, a case-control study was conducted in
      Chinese Han women in Northeast China. METHODS: Our study involved 708 female
      breast cancer patients and 685 healthy volunteers. Four SNPs of VEGI gene were
      analyzed through the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The association between VEGI gene polymorphisms
      and breast cancer risk was analyzed in our study. The relation between VEGI gene
      variants and clinical features of breast cancer including lymph node (LN)
      metastasis, estrogen receptor (ER), progestrogen receptor (PR), tumor protein 53
      (p53), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2) and triple negative (ER
      /PR-/Her-2-) status was analyzed as well. RESULTS: We found that the CT genotype
      and T allele of rs6478106 were more frequent in patients than in controls. There
      was also a statistical difference in the distribution of Crs6478106Grs4263839
      haplotype between patients and controls. In addition, SNP rs6478106 and rs4979462
      were related with the Her-2 status. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that VEGI
      gene variants may be related to the breast cancer risk and the clinical features
      of breast cancer in Chinese Han women in Northeast China.

PMID- 27647973
TI  - A phase I trial of an oral subtype-selective histone deacetylase inhibitor,
      chidamide, in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with
      advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This phase I study was to evaluate safety, maximum tolerated dose,
      pharmacokinetics and preliminary antitumor activity of chidamide, a novel subtype
      selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, in combination with paclitaxel
      and carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
      METHODS: Ten patients received oral chidamide 20, 25, or 30 mg twice per week
      continuously with paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) and carboplatin [area under the curve
      (AUC) 5 mg/mL/min] administered in a 3-week cycle. Patients with response and
      stable disease after four cycles maintained chidamide monotherapy until disease
      progression or unacceptable toxicity. Blood samples were collected for
      pharmacokinetic analysis after the first single oral of chidamide and first
      combination treatment in cycle 1 from all patients. RESULTS: Two dose-limiting
      toxicities were recorded in the 30 mg cohort, including thrombocytopenia and
      prolonged neutropenia in the first cycle. Grade 3/4 neutropenia in any cycle was
      observed in all patients, but was not associated with significant complications.
      Other grade 3/4 hematologic toxicities included thrombocytopenia and leucopenia.
      No significant changes were observed in pharmacokinetic parameters for both
      chidamide and paclitaxel. One patient in the 20 mg cohort had confirmed partial
      response (PR). Two out of 5 patients with brain metastases had intracranial
      complete remission after 4-cycle treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Chidamide combined with
      paclitaxel and carboplatin was generally tolerated without unanticipated
      toxicities or clinically relevant pharmacokinetic interactions. The recommended
      dose for chidamide in this combination was established at 20 mg, and a phase II
      trial is ongoing with this regimen in patients with advanced NSCLC.

PMID- 27647975
TI  - Intraoperative radiation therapy deserves to be made more readily available to
      patients.

PMID- 27647974
TI  - Endostatin enhances antitumor effect of tumor antigen-pulsed dendritic cell
      therapy in mouse xenograft model of lung carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antitumor effect of endostatin combined with tumor
      antigen-pulsed dendritic cell (DC)-T cell therapy on lung cancer. METHODS:
      Transplanted Lewis lung cancer (LLC) models of C57BL/6 mice were established by
      subcutaneous injection of LLC cells in left extremity axillary. Tumor antigen
      pulsed DC-T cells from spleen cells and bone of mice were cultured in vitro.
      Tumor-bearing mice were randomly divided into three groups, including DC
      T+endostatin group, DC-T group, and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) control
      group. Microvessel density (MVD) of tumor tissue in tumor-bearing mice was
      determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The expressions of vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) were
      determined by Western blotting and IHC staining. The proportions of CD8+ T cells,
      mature dendritic cells (mDC), tumor-associated macrophages [TAM (M1/M2)], and
      myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) in suspended cells of tumor tissue were
      determined by flow cytometry. The expressions of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL
      17, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)
      in suspended cells of tumor tissue were detected by enzyme-linked immune sorbent
      assay (ELISA). RESULTS: DC-T cells combined with endostatin remarkably suppressed
      tumor growth. MVD of mice in DC-T+endostatin group was significantly lower than
      that of the control group and DC-T monotherapy group. The expressions of VEGF, IL
      6 and IL-17 in tumors were markedly decreased, but IFN-gamma and HIF-1alpha
      increased after treating with DC-T cells combined with endostatin, compared to
      control group and DC-T group. In the DC-T+endostatin group, the proportions of
      MDSC and TAM (M2 type) were significantly decreased, mDC and TAM (M1 type) were
      up-regulated, and CD8+ T cells were recruited to infiltrate tumors, in contrast
      to PBS control and DC-T monotherapy. DC-T cells combined with endostatin potently
      reduced the expressions of IL-6, IL-10, TGF-beta and IL-17 in tumor tissue, and
      enhanced the expression of IFN-gamma. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicated the
      synergic antitumor effects between endostatin and tumor antigen-pulsed DC-T
      cells, which may be a prospective therapy strategy to achieve potent antitumor
      effects on lung cancer.

PMID- 27647976
TI  - Experience with intraoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer: the Geneva
      University Hospital's experience.

PMID- 27647978
TI  - Management of Prolonged Pulmonary Air Leaks With Endobronchial Valve Placement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prolonged pulmonary air leaks (PALs) are associated with increased
      morbidity and extended hospital stay. We sought to investigate the role of
      bronchoscopic placement of 1-way valves in treating this condition. METHODS: We
      queried a prospectively maintained database of patients with PAL lasting more
      than 7 days at a tertiary medical center. Main outcome measures included duration
      of chest tube placement and hospital stay before and after valve deployment.
      RESULTS: Sixteen patients were eligible to be enrolled from September 2012
      through December 2014. One patient refused to give consent, and in 4 patients,
      the source of air leak could not be identified with bronchoscopic balloon
      occlusion. Eleven patients (9 men; mean age, 65 +/- 15 years) underwent
      bronchoscopic valve deployment. Eight patients had postoperative PAL and 3 had a
      secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. The mean duration of air leak before valve
      deployment was 16 +/- 12 days, and the mean number of implanted valves was 1.9
      (median, 2). Mean duration of hospital stay before and after valve deployment was
      18 and 9 days, respectively (P = .03). Patients who had more than a 50% decrease
      in air leak on digital monitoring had the thoracostomy tube removed within 3-6
      days. There were no procedural complications related to deployment or removal of
      the valves. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchoscopic placement of 1-way valves is a safe
      procedure that could help manage patients with prolonged PAL. A prospective
      randomized trial with cost-efficiency analysis is necessary to better define the
      role of this bronchoscopic intervention and demonstrate its effect on air leak
      duration.

PMID- 27647977
TI  - Strong Association Between Endometriosis and Symptomatic Leiomyomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The relationship between leiomyoma and endometriosis
      is poorly understood. Both contribute to considerable pain and may cause
      subfertility or infertility in women. We conducted this retrospective study to
      assess the rate of coexistence of endometriosis in women with symptomatic
      leiomyoma. The primary outcome measured was the coexistence of histology-proven
      endometriosis in women with symptomatic leiomyoma. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective review of a data-based collection of medical records of 244
      patients treated at a tertiary medical center, who were evaluated for symptomatic
      leiomyoma from March 2011 through December 2015. Of those, 208 patients underwent
      laparoscopic or laparoscopic-assisted myomectomy or hysterectomy. All patients
      provided consent for possible concomitant diagnosis and treatment of
      endometriosis. The remaining 36 patients underwent medical therapy and were
      excluded from the study. All patients who had myomectomy or supracervical
      hysterectomy underwent minilaparotomy for extracorporeal morcellation and
      specimen removal beginning in April 2012. RESULTS: Of the 208 patients with the
      presenting chief concern of symptomatic leiomyoma and who underwent surgical
      therapy, 181 had concomitant diagnoses of leiomyoma and endometriosis, whereas 27
      had leiomyoma. Of the 27 patients, 9 also had adenomyosis. Patients with only
      fibroid tumors were, on average, 4.0 years older than those with endometriosis
      and fibroids (mean age, 44 vs 40 +/- SD). Patients with both pathologies were
      also more likely to present with pelvic pain and nulliparity than those with
      fibroid tumors alone. CONCLUSIONS: In our patient population, 87.1% of patients
      with a chief concern of symptomatic fibroids also had a diagnosis of histology
      proven endometriosis, which affirms the need for concomitant diagnosis and
      intraoperative treatment of both conditions. Overlooking the coexistence of
      endometriosis in women with symptomatic leiomyoma may lead to suboptimal
      treatment of fertility and persistent pelvic pain. It is important for physicians
      to be aware of the possibility of this association and to thoroughly evaluate the
      abdomen and pelvis for endometriosis at the time of myomectomy or hysterectomy in
      an effort to avoid the need for reoperation.

PMID- 27647979
TI  - Laparoscopy for Small Bowel Obstruction Caused by Single Adhesive Band.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There are still concerns about the comparative
      outcomes of operative treatment (OT) and conservative (nonsurgical) treatment
      (CT) for small bowel obstruction (SBO), especially that caused by single adhesive
      bands. We performed a retrospective study to compare surgical with nonsurgical
      outcomes. METHODS: A total of 62 patients were enrolled. The OT group underwent
      laparoscopy (n = 16), and the CT group (n = 46) did not. We compared early and
      late outcomes between the 2 groups. RESULTS: Times to first flatus, oral intake,
      and defecation after treatment were shorter in the OT group (P = .030, .033, and
      .024), and the recurrence rate was lower in the OT group than in the CT group
      (6.2% vs 32.6%; P = .038). Time from discharge to first recurrence was longer in
      the OT group than in the CT group (172 vs 104.6 +/- 26.5 days, P = .027).
      CONCLUSIONS: SBO related to a single adhesive band is not effectively treated by
      CT. However, laparoscopic OT provides notable success if the surgery is performed
      early. Therefore, it should be the preferred treatment.

PMID- 27647981
TI  - Gynaecological cancers coexisting with pregnancy - a literature review.
AB  - The coexistence of malignant tumour and pregnancy is a state of simultaneous
      occurrence of two completely contradictory philosophical and biological phenomena
      - the development of a new life and a life-threatening terminal illness. Finally,
      a physician - in fact the whole team of doctors - is facing the fight for two
      lives: of the mother and her unborn child. The incidence of malignant disease in
      pregnancy is 0.05 to 0.1%. This condition is a major challenge for physicians
      because there are no randomised studies that could be the basis to choose the
      therapeutic methods - the medical knowledge merely comes from case reports,
      registries, and observational studies. The following cancers most often coexist
      with pregnancy: gynaecological neoplasm (especially cervical and ovarian cancer),
      breast cancer, lymphatic system neoplasm, and melanoma. Formerly, the diagnosis
      was clearly the necessity of abortion. Today - although unskilled doctors still
      propose the only therapeutic option - termination of pregnancy is not the only
      solution. The past few years have seen the updating of reports and guidelines for
      the management of pregnant women with cancer. This paper is a review and summary
      of the information from these publications. 

PMID- 27647980
TI  - Potential Nociceptive Regulatory Effect of Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus PB01
      (DSM 14870) on Mechanical Sensitivity in Diet-Induced Obesity Model.
AB  - Treatments for obesity have been shown to reduce pain secondary to weight loss.
      Intestinal microbiota, as an endogenous factor, influences obesity and pain
      sensitivity but the effect of oral probiotic supplementation on musculoskeletal
      pain perception has not been studied systematically. The present study examined
      the effect of a single daily oral dose (1 * 10(9) CFU) of probiotics
      (Lactobacillus rhamnosus PB01, DSM14870) supplement on mechanical pain thresholds
      in behaving diet-induced obese (DIO) mice and their normal weight (NW) controls.
      The mice (N = 24, 6-week-old male) were randomly divided into four groups on
      either standard or high fat diet with and without probiotic supplementation. Both
      DIO and NW groups with probiotic supplementation maintained an insignificant
      weight gain while the control groups gained significant weight (P < 0.05).
      Similarly, both DIO and NW probiotics supplemented groups demonstrated a
      significantly (P < 0.05) lower sensitivity to mechanical stimulation compared to
      their corresponding control. The results of this study suggest a protective
      effect of probiotics on nociception circuits, which propose a direct result of
      the weight reduction or an indirect result of anti-inflammatory properties of the
      probiotics. Deciphering the exact underlying mechanism of the weight loss and
      lowering nociception effect of the probiotic applied in this study require
      further investigation.

PMID- 27647982
TI  - Fertility impairment in radiotherapy.
AB  - Infertility as a result of antineoplastic therapy is becoming a very important
      issue due to the growing incidence of neoplastic diseases. Routinely applied
      antineoplastic treatments and the illness itself lead to fertility disorders.
      Therapeutic methods used in antineoplastic treatment may cause fertility
      impairment or sterilization due to permanent damage to reproductive cells. The
      risk of sterilization depends on the patient's sex, age during therapy, type of
      neoplasm, radiation dose and treatment area. It is known that chemotherapy and
      radiotherapy can lead to fertility impairment and the combination of these two
      gives an additive effect. The aim of this article is to raise the issue of
      infertility in these patients. It is of growing importance due to the increase in
      the number of children and young adults who underwent radiotherapy in the past.
      The progress in antineoplastic therapy improves treatment results, but at the
      same time requires a deeper look at existential needs of the patient.
      Reproductive function is an integral element of self-esteem and should be taken
      into account during therapy planning. 

PMID- 27647983
TI  - The application of positron emission tomography (PET/CT) in diagnosis of breast
      cancer. Part II. Diagnosis after treatment initiation, future perspectives.
AB  - Similarly to the applications described in the first part of this publication,
      positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET/CT) is also gaining
      importance in monitoring a tumour's response to therapy and diagnosing breast
      cancer recurrences. This is additionally caused by the fact that many new
      techniques (dual-time point imaging, positron emission tomography with magnetic
      resonance PET/MR, PET/CT mammography) and radiotracers (16alpha-18F-fluoro-17beta
      estradiol, 18F-fluorothymidine) are under investigation. The highest sensitivity
      and specificity when monitoring response to treatment is achieved when the PET/CT
      scan is made after one or two chemotherapy courses. Response to anti-hormonal
      treatment can also be monitored, also when new radiotracers, such as FES, are
      used. When monitoring breast cancer recurrences during follow-up, PET/CT has
      higher sensitivity than conventional imaging modalities, making it possible to
      monitor the whole body simultaneously. New techniques and radiotracers enhance
      the sensitivity and specificity of PET and this is why, despite relatively high
      costs, it might become more widespread in monitoring response to treatment and
      breast cancer recurrences. 

PMID- 27647984
TI  - Optimal duration of a first-line palliative chemotherapy in disseminated
      colorectal cancer - a review of the literature from a developing country
      perspective.
AB  - We still do not know whether the presently used protocol of the first-line
      palliative treatment of disseminated colorectal cancer (FOLFOX/FOLFIRI protocol)
      allows maximization of therapeutic response and minimization of side effects. No
      one has verified whether continuation of the first-line chemotherapy despite the
      lack of progression is reflected by improved prognosis or significant risk of
      toxicity. This issue is of vital importance in the case of developing countries
      where targeted therapies are not available due to financial shortages. We have
      identified three potential strategies of the palliative therapy of disseminated
      colorectal cancer: 1) discontinuation of chemotherapy after a fixed number of
      cycles with its restart on progression (stop-and-go strategy), 2) intermittent
      protocol of chemotherapy, and 3) continuation of chemotherapy with
      discontinuation of the most toxic agent. None of the studies proved the
      superiority of the most commonly used standard, i.e. 12 cycles of the FOLFOX or
      FOLFIRI regimen. Although longer duration of this treatment may be associated
      with higher response rates and longer progression-free survival, these
      improvements frequently prove insignificant on statistical analysis. 

PMID- 27647985
TI  - The inflammatory cytokine interleukin-23 is elevated in lung cancer, particularly
      small cell type.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-23 play roles in inflammation and
      autoimmunity. The function of the IL-17/IL-23 pathway has not been completely
      evaluated in cancer patients. We aimed to investigate serum IL-17 and IL-23
      levels and their relationship with clinicopathological and biochemical parameters
      in lung cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-five lung cancer patients
      and 46 healthy volunteers were included in the study. IL-17 and IL-23
      measurements were made with the ELISA method. The ages of patients (53-84 years)
      and healthy subjects (42-82 years) were similar. RESULTS: Serum IL-23 levels were
      higher in lung cancer patients than in healthy subjects (491.27 +/-1263.38 pg/ml
      vs. 240.51 +/-233.18 pg/ml; p = 0.032). IL-23 values were higher in small cell
      lung cancer (SCLC) patients than in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients
      (1325.30 +/-2478.06 pg/ml vs. 229.15 +/-103.22 pg/ml; p = 0.043). Serum IL-17
      levels were lower in the patients, but the difference was not statistically
      significant (135.94 +/-52.36 pg/ml vs. 171.33 +/-133.51 pg/ml; p = 0.124).
      Presence of comorbid disease (diabetes mellitus, hypertension or chronic
      obstructive lung disease) did not have any effect on the levels of IL-17 or IL
      23. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate values were positively correlated with
      cytokine levels, but serum albumin levels were negatively correlated.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum IL-23 levels are elevated in lung cancer patients,
      particularly those with SCLC. IL-17 and IL-23 values are correlated with
      inflammatory markers in the patients.

PMID- 27647986
TI  - Can we find a good biochemical marker of early cardiotoxicity in children treated
      with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation?
AB  - Cardiotoxicity is one of the complications following haematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT), but its diagnosis may be hampered due to the presence of
      different post-transplant comorbidities. The aim of the study was to assess the
      incidence of cardiac complications and the significance of biochemical markers
      (NT-proBNP, ANP, ET-1, and TnI) and ECHO systolic and diastolic parameters
      analysis in children treated with HSCT. Thirty consecutive children (median age
      9.6 years) were included in the study. The control group consisted of 14 healthy
      children (median age of 10.9 years). None of the transplanted children developed
      clinical cardiotoxicity. Median ET-1 and NT-proBNP plasma levels were elevated
      when compared to controls in at least 3 out of 4 analysed time points, median ANP
      levels differed only in one time point, and no difference was found between
      median TnI values in all analysed time points. Echocardiographic systolic
      parameters were within the normal range, while median E/A ratio assessed before
      HSCT, on day +30, and +100 post-transplant was statistically lower in HSCT
      patients (respectively, 1.34, 1.37, and 1.42 vs. 1.73). It confirms the need for
      careful follow up in patients who have received chemotherapy and have been
      treated with HSCT. 

PMID- 27647987
TI  - Differential expression of matrix metalloproteinase-13 in association with
      invasion of breast cancer.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) has a potential role in tumour invasion and
      metastasis. However, its relevance to the prognosis of human breast cancer is
      poorly understood. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression
      patterns of MMP-13 protein and to determine its prognostic value in breast
      cancer, and to define its relation to the clinicopathological features.
      Immunohistochemistry analysis of MMP-13 was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin
      embedded sections of cancerous breast tissue (n = 76) and normal breast tissue (n
      = 20), all of which had clinicopathological information available. Based on the
      principle of immunoreactivity, the detection of MMP-13 on breast tissue was
      conducted using monoclonal antibodies against MMP-13. A semi-quantitative scoring
      system was used to assess the presence of, as well as the cellular localisation
      of MMP-13. MMP-13 expression was significantly greater in the cancerous breast
      tissues in comparison to those of normal breast tissues. In addition, high levels
      of MMP-13 expression were also found to be related to the positive detection of
      breast cancer cells in lymph nodes-amongst breast cancer patients. The results of
      this study showed that MMP-13 was frequently present in breast tumours,
      especially when tumours were accompanied by positive breast cancer cell detection
      in lymph nodes. This suggests that MMP-13 plays a potentially significant role in
      breast cancer invasion and metastasis. 

PMID- 27647988
TI  - Vitamin E does not decrease the incidence of chemotherapy-induced peripheral
      neuropathy: a meta-analysis.
AB  - AIM OF THIS STUDY: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a major
      complication of cancer patients with chemotherapy. Although many interventions
      have been evaluated in previous studies, findings are controversial. The aim of
      this meta-analysis is to assess the efficacy of vitamin E supplementation in
      preventing CIPN. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were systematically
      searched from their inception to December 31, 2013 to identify relevant
      randomised controlled trials. Two reviewers independently scanned and extracted
      the data of included studies. Review Manager 5.2 was used to analyse data.
      RESULTS: Six articles involving 353 patients were included in meta-analysis. The
      results showed that vitamin E supplementation did not appear to significantly
      decrease the incidence of CIPN (relative risk (RR), 0.55; 95% confidence interval
      (CI), 0.29 to 1.05; p = 0.07), with significant heterogeneity (I(2) = 77%).
      However, Vitamin E supplementation can significantly prevent cisplatin associated
      neurotoxicity (RR, 0.31; 95%CI, 0.17 to 0.58; p = 0.0002), with no heterogeneity
      (I(2) = 0%). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin E administration dose not decrease the
      incidence of CIPN. However, additional randomised controlled trials using large
      samples are needed to confirm the role of vitamin E supplementation.

PMID- 27647990
TI  - Radiotherapy with or without temozolomide in elderly patients aged >= 70 years
      with glioblastoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although the recommended optimal treatment of glioblastoma
      multiforme (GBM) is adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, trials in GBM have excluded
      patients older than 70 years. In this study, we aimed to assess overall survival
      (OS) and prognostic factors in elderly patients (>= 70 years) with newly
      diagnosed GBM treated with radiotherapy (RT) +/- concurrent/adjuvant temozolomide
      (TMZ). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Inclusion criteria were patients >= 70 years, pre-RT
      Karnofsky performance status (KPS) >= 60, and time between diagnosis and start of
      RT <= 2 months. A total of 40 patients aged >= 70 years, 12 female and 28 male,
      treated between January 2004 and December 2012, were evaluated. Median age was
      73.5 years (range, 70-83 years). The median RT dose was 60 Gy (range, 30-62 Gy).
      Twenty-one (52.5%) received concurrent TMZ, and of those 12 (30%) went on to
      receive adjuvant TMZ. RESULTS: The median OS was 7 months (95% CI: 5.45-8.54).
      One- and two-year OS for the whole cohort was 38% and 16%, respectively. Sex,
      type of surgery, tumor size, and RT dose did not significantly affect the OS.
      Presence of concurrent TMZ (p < 0.005) and presence of adjuvant TMZ (p < 0.001)
      were associated with longer OS in our cohort. CONCLUSIONS: RT +/- TMZ seems to be
      a well-tolerated treatment in patients >= 70 years with GBM. Even though no
      superiority was found between conventional or hypofractionated RT regimens (p =
      0.405), the addition of concurrent and adjuvant TMZ to RT increased the OS in our
      study.

PMID- 27647989
TI  - Skeletal muscle metastases on magnetic resonance imaging: analysis of 31 cases.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of
      skeletal muscle metastases (SMM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The records of 31
      patients with proven SMM were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical history, type of
      primary malignancy, location of metastases, and MRI features of SMM were
      evaluated. Based on MRI findings, SMM were divided into three MRI types. The
      correlation between MRI types with ages and pathology category, between MRI types
      of SMM and ages, as well as MRI types of SMM and pathology category were analysed
      with Spearman's rho. RESULTS: The most common primary tumour was genital tumour
      (25.8%) and bronchial carcinoma (19.4%), and the most common cell type was
      adenocarcinoma (58.1%). SMM were located in the iliopsoas muscle (26.3%),
      paravertebral muscles (21.1%), and upper extremity muscles (18.4%). MRI features:
      (1) Type-I localised lesions (12.90%), round-like mass limited to local regions
      with heterogeneous iso-signal intensity in T1WI and heterogeneous hyper-intensity
      in T2WI; (2) Type-II diffuse lesions without bone destruction (35.48%), abnormal
      diffuse swelling of the muscle with irregular boundaries and slightly hypo- to
      iso-intensity in T1WI and hyper-intensity in T2WI; and (3) Type-III diffuse
      lesions with bone destruction (51.61%), distinct irregular lump with iso
      intensity in T1WI and heterogeneous hyper-intensity in T2WI with adjacent bone
      invasion. There was positive correlation between MRI types and ages (r = 0.431, p
      < 0.05). There were no significant differences of MRI types with pathology
      category (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: SMM features on MRI can be broadly used to
      classify lesions, which is beneficial for SMM diagnosis.

PMID- 27647992
TI  - The assessment of the impact of socio-economic factors in accepting cancer using
      the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS).
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: The paper presents the results of examining the level of
      acceptance of the illness in cancer patients using the Acceptance of Illness
      Scale (AIS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved cancer patients treated at
      the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry the Interior in Warsaw in 2014. The
      questionnaire comprised basic demographic questions (socio-economic factors) and
      the AIS test estimating the level of illness acceptance in patients. RESULTS: For
      the group of patients in the research group, the arithmetic mean amounted to
      27.56 points. The period of time that elapsed between the first cancer diagnosis
      and the start of the study did not influence the score of accepting illness. The
      acceptance of illness in patients diagnosed with metastases differed from the
      acceptance of illness by patients diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Females
      obtained the average of 29.59 in the AIS test, whereas the average in male
      patients was 26.17. The patients' age did not impact the AIS test. There were no
      differences in the AIS test results between a group of people with secondary
      education and a group of people with higher education. There were no differences
      in the AIS test results between employed individuals versus pensioners. The
      inhabitants of cities were characterized by the highest degree of acceptance of
      their health condition. The lowest degree of acceptance of illness was observed
      in the group with the lowest average incomes. In the group of married individuals
      the average degree of acceptance of illness amounted to 27.37 points. The average
      degree of acceptance of illness in patients that declared themselves as single
      amounted to 25.75. CONCLUSIONS: The average degree of acceptance of illness in
      the study group was 27.56 points, which is a relatively high level of acceptance
      of cancer. The main socio-economic factor, which influenced the AIS test results
      was whether metastases were diagnosed or not. There were no differences between
      patients in groups where the time that elapsed from the first diagnosis of cancer
      varied. There were no statistical differences between female and male patients as
      well as patients of different age. Additionally, the level of education and
      patients' professional status did not impact in the AIS test results.

PMID- 27647991
TI  - Oncoplastic reduction mammoplasty for breast cancer in women with macromastia:
      long term aesthetic, functional and satisfaction outcomes.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Despite the increase in studies concerning oncoplastic
      reduction mammoplasty (ORM), data showing long-term aesthetic and patient
      satisfaction for ORM in patients with macromastia remain limited. Therefore, this
      study evaluated the long-term results of tumorectomy and concomitant bilateral
      ORM for early-stage breast cancer patients with macromastia in terms of cosmesis,
      patient satisfaction, and functional outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Retrospective data of patients with macromastia undergoing ORM for breast cancer
      between 1996 and 2011 were examined and evaluated regarding the aesthetic
      results, patient satisfaction, and functional outcomes. RESULTS: The median age
      of the 82 patients was 50 years. The median follow-up was 120 months (range: 28
      212 months). The median breast volume was 1402 cm(3), and the median weight of
      the excised breast material was 679 g. A good or excellent evaluation of the
      cosmetic outcome was as follows: self-evaluation: 84.1% at the early-stage, 80.3%
      at the later stage; panel evaluation: 75.4% at the late-stage. Median patient
      satisfaction rates were 9.1% for early-stage disease and 8.8% for late-stage
      disease. Reduced mobility and intertrigo improved by three-fold during the post
      operative period. CONCLUSIONS: ORM for early-stage breast cancer in women with
      macromastia results in good cosmesis in both the early-stage and long-term, and
      is quite acceptable for use in patients. Patients reacted favorably to the
      prospect of having their breast cancer and macromastia treated in a single
      session, and positive results continued over the long-term.

PMID- 27647993
TI  - Microbiological spectrum of pneumonia in patients with lung cancer.

PMID- 27647994
TI  - Preventative Effects of Sodium Alginate on Indomethacin-induced Small-intestinal
      Injury in Mice.
AB  - Recent advances in diagnostic technologies have revealed that nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause serious mucosal injury in the upper and
      lower gastrointestinal tract (including the small intestine). A drug to treat
      NSAID-induced small-intestinal injury (SII) is lacking. Sodium alginate is a
      soluble dietary fiber extracted from brown seaweed and its solution has been used
      as a hemostatic agent to treat gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastric ulcers.
      Whether sodium alginate has therapeutic effects on NSAID-induced SII and its
      mechanism of action are not known. Here, we investigated if administration of two
      forms (high-molecular-weight (HMW) and low-molecular-weight (LMW)) of sodium
      alginate could ameliorate indomethacin-induced SII. Pretreatment with HMW sodium
      alginate or LMW sodium alginate before indomethacin administration improved
      ulceration and the resultant intestinal shortening was associated with reduced
      histological severity of mucosal injury and ameliorated mRNA expression of
      inflammation-related molecules in the small intestine. We found that mRNAs of
      secretory Muc2 and membrane-associated Muc1, Muc3 and Muc4 were expressed in the
      small intestine. mRNA expression of Muc1-4 was increased in indomethacin-induced
      SII, and these increases were prevented by sodium alginate. Thus, administration
      of sodium alginate could be a therapeutic approach to prevent indomethacin
      induced SII. 

PMID- 27647996
TI  - Utility of Plasma Osteopontin Levels in Management of Community-Acquired
      Pneumonia.
AB  - Osteopontin (OPN) is an essential cytokine involved in immune cell recruitment
      and an important regulator of inflammation. The purpose of this study was to
      examine differences in OPN plasma levels between before and after antibiotic
      treatment in hospitalized adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
      OPN levels were measured in 93 patients with CAP and 54 healthy controls using a
      commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The CURB-65, Pneumonia
      Severity Index (PSI), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II
      (APACHE II) scores were used to determine the CAP severity in patients upon
      initial hospitalization. A decline in the number of white blood cells (WBCs) and
      neutrophils, and decreases in the levels of OPN and C-reactive protein (CRP) were
      observed after antibiotic treatment. Only the plasma level of OPN, but not CRP,
      was correlated with the severity of CAP based on the PSI (r = 0.514, p < 0.001),
      CURB-65 (r = 0.396, p < 0.001), and APACHE II scores (r = 0.473, p < 0.001). The
      OPN level also showed a significant correlation with the length of hospital stay
      (r = 0.210, p = 0.044). In conclusion, plasma level of OPN may act as diagnostic
      adjuvant biomarkers for CAP and further play a role in clinical assessment of the
      severity of CAP, which could potentially guide the development of treatment
      strategies. 

PMID- 27647995
TI  - Impact of Cryoballoon Ablation in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy-related Heart
      Failure due to Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation. A Comparative Case Series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents a turning point in hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy (HCM). Pulmonary Vein Isolation (PVI) with Radiofrequency Catheter
      Ablation (RFCA) is accepted to be successful in restoring sinus rhythm (SR) in
      HCM patients. The efficacy of cryoballoon (CB) therapy in HCM patients has not
      been studied so far. METHODS: 166 patients with AF underwent PVI with CB
      technology in our single center between 1/2012 and 12/2015. To evaluate the
      efficacy of the CB therapy in HCM patients, we compared their clinical outcome
      with those in "Non-HCM" AF patients in a 3 and 6 months follow-up. RESULTS: Out
      of 166 AF patients (65.7% paroxysmal AF, PAF), 4 patients had HCM and PAF (young
      males < 50 years). During the blanking period, 26 patients (15.8%) suffered from
      AF recurrence (11.0% PAF), including all HCM patients. The 6 months follow up of
      "Non-HCM" AF patients showed acceptable results (80% stable SR), whereas the HCM
      patients remained AF. IN CONCLUSION: Even if the CB provides advantages, the
      single device cannot be recommended in HCM patients because of early AF
      recurrences. Anyway, because of the specific hemodynamic changes in HCM patients
      with AF, ablation should be sought in an early state of its occurrence, then,
      however, preferably with RFCA.

PMID- 27647997
TI  - Suppression of Myostatin Stimulates Regenerative Potential of Injured
      Antigravitational Soleus Muscle in Mice under Unloading Condition.
AB  - Effects of myostatin (MSTN)-suppression on the regeneration of injured skeletal
      muscle under unloading condition were investigated by using transgenic mice
      expressing a dominant-negative form of MSTN (MSTN-DN). Both MSTN-DN and wild-type
      (WT) mice were subjected to continuous hindlimb suspension (HS) for 6 weeks.
      Cardiotoxin (CTX) was injected into left soleus muscle under anesthesia 2 weeks
      after the initiation of HS. Then, the soleus muscles were excised following 6
      week HS (4 weeks after CTX-injection). CTX-injection caused to reduce the soleus
      fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) in WT mice under both unloading and weight
      bearing conditions, but not in MSTN-DN mice. Under unloading condition, CTX
      injected muscle weight and fiber CSA in MSTN-DN mice were significantly higher
      than those in WT mice. CTX-injected muscle had many damaged and regenerating
      fibers having central nuclei in both WT and MSTN-DN mice. Significant increase in
      the population of Pax7-positive nuclei in CTX-injected muscle was observed in
      MSTN-DN mice, but not in WT mice. Evidences indicate that the suppression of MSTN
      cause to increase the regenerative potential of injured soleus muscle via the
      increase in the population of muscle satellite cells regardless of unloading
      conditions. 

PMID- 27647998
TI  - Overhydration Negatively Affects Quality of Life in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients:
      Evidence from a Prospective Observational Study.
AB  - Backgound: This study evaluated whether the hydration status affected health
      related quality of life (HRQOL) during 12 months in peritoneal dialysis (PD)
      patients. METHODS: The hydration status and the HRQOL were examined at baseline
      and after 12 months using a bioimpedance spectroscopy and Kidney Disease Quality
      of Life-Short Form, respectively in PD patients. Four hundred eighty-one patients
      were included and divided according to the baseline overhydration (OH) value;
      normohydration group (NH group, -2L<= OH <=+2L, n=266) and overhydration group
      (OH group, OH >+2L, n=215). Baseline HRQOL scores were compared between the two
      groups. The subjects were re-stratified into quartiles according to the OH
      difference (OH value at baseline - OH value at 12 months; <-1, -1 - -0.1, -0.1 -
      +1, and >=+1L). The relations of OH difference with HRQOL scores at 12 months and
      the association of OH difference with the HRQOL score difference (HRQOL score at
      baseline - HRQOL score at 12 months) were assessed. RESULTS: The OH group showed
      significantly lower baseline physical and mental health scores (PCS and MCS), and
      kidney disease component scores (KDCS) compared with the NH group (all, P<0.01).
      At 12 months, the adjusted PCS, MCS, and KDCS significantly increased as the OH
      difference quartiles increased (P<0.001, P=0.002, P<0.001, respectively). In
      multivariate analysis, the OH difference was independently associated with higher
      PCS (beta = 2.04, P< .001), MCS (beta=1.02, P=0.002), and KDCS (beta=1.06,
      P<0.001) at 12 months. The OH difference was independently associated with the
      PCS difference (beta = -1.81, P<0.001), MCS difference (beta=-0.92, P=0.01), and
      KDCS difference (beta=-0.90, P=0.001). CONCLUSION: The hydration status was
      associated with HRQOL and increased hydration status negatively affected HRQOL
      after 12 months in PD patients.

PMID- 27647999
TI  - Prognostic Value of Prostaglandin-endoperoxide Synthase 2 Polymorphisms in
      Prostate Cancer Recurrence after Radical Prostatectomy.
AB  - Backgroud: Increasing evidence suggests the involvement of chronic inflammation
      in the progression of prostate cancer, and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2
      (PTGS2), also known as cyclooxygenase-2, catalyzes the rate-limiting steps of the
      pathway. We hypothesized that genetic variants of PTGS2 can influence the outcome
      of prostate cancer patients. METHODS: We genotyped five haplotype-tagging single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to detect common genetic variations across the
      PTGS2 region in 458 prostate cancer patients treated with radical prostatectomy.
      RESULTS: One SNP, rs4648302, was associated with disease recurrence. Five-year
      recurrence-free survival rate increased according to the number of variant
      alleles inherited (55.6%, 70.7%, and 100.0% for patients with different
      genotypes; P = 0.037), and the effect was maintained in multivariable analysis.
      Public dataset analyses also suggested that PTGS2 expression was correlated with
      prostate cancer prognosis. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that PTGS2 could be
      a potential prognostic marker to improve the prediction of disease recurrence in
      prostate cancer patients.

PMID- 27648000
TI  - Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on Radial and Ulnar Arterial Vasoreactivity after
      Radial Artery Cannulation: A Randomized Controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) may
      influence arterial vasoreactivity after arterial stimulus, such as cannulation,
      and cause changes in diameter and blood flow. Despite the frequent use of
      arterial cannulation during anesthesia and critical care, little information is
      available regarding vasoreactivity of the radial and ulnar arteries and its
      influence on underlying DM. METHODS: Forty non-DM and 40 DM patients, who
      required arterial cannulation during general anesthesia, were enrolled. Using
      duplex Doppler ultrasonography, we measured the patients' arterial diameter, peak
      systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, resistance index, and mean volume flow
      of both arteries at five different time points. RESULTS: After radial artery
      cannulation, ulnar arterial diameter and blood flow did not significantly
      increase in DM group, as they did in non-DM group. Ulnar arterial resistance
      index significantly increased in both groups, but the degree of decrease in DM
      group was significantly less than non-DM. CONCLUSION: Ulnar artery's ability to
      increase blood flow for compensating the sudden reduction of radial arterial flow
      in DM patients was significantly less than that in non-DM patients under general
      anesthesia. Such attenuated vasoreactivity of ulnar artery to compensate the
      reduced radial arterial flow may have to be considered in radial arterial
      cannulation for DM patients.

PMID- 27648001
TI  - Effects for Sequential Treatment of siAkt and Paclitaxel on Gastric Cancer Cell
      Lines.
AB  - Real-time screening of cellular response on the drugs could provide valuable
      insights for the early detection of therapeutic efficiency and the evaluation of
      disease progression. Cancer cells have the ability to vary widely in response to
      stress in a manner to adjust the signaling pathway to promote the survival or
      having a resistance to stimulation. Cell-based label-free technologies using
      electronic impedance sensor have strategies for constructing the signature
      profiles of each cells. To achieve exquisite sensitivity to substantially change
      of live-cell response have an important role that predict the potential of
      therapeutic effects. In this study, we use an impedance-based real-time cell
      analysis system to investigate dynamic phenotypes of cells described as a
      cellular index value. We show that gastric cancer cells generated characteristic
      kinetic patterns that corresponded to the treatment order of therapeutics. The
      kinetic feature of the cells offers insightful information that cannot be
      acquired from a conventional single end-point assay. Furthermore, we employ a
      'sequential treatment strategy' to increase cytotoxic effects with minimizing the
      use of chemotherapeutics. Specifically, treatment of paclitaxel (PTX) after down
      regulating Akt gene expression using RNAi reduces the cell proliferation and
      increases apoptosis. We propose that the sequential treatment may exhibit more
      effective approach rather than traditional combination therapy. Moreover, the
      dynamic monitoring of cell-drug interaction enables us to obtain a better
      understanding of the temporal effects in vitro. 

PMID- 27648002
TI  - Regulatory SNPs Alter the Gene Expression of Diabetic Retinopathy Associated
      Secretary Factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common microvascular complication in
      both type I and type II diabetes. Several previous reports indicated the serum
      centration of some secretary factors were highly associated with DR. Therefore,
      we hypothesis regulatory SNPs (rSNPs) genotype in secretary factors may alter
      these gene expression and lead to DR. METHODS: At first, pyrosequencing were
      applying to screen the SNPs which present allele frequency different in DR and
      DNR. Then individual genotyping was processed by Taqman assays in Taiwanese DR
      and DNR patients. To evaluate the effect of SNP allele on transcriptional
      activity, we measured promoter activity using luciferase reporter constructs.
      RESULTS: We found the frequencies of the CC, CG, and GG genotype of the rs2010963
      polymorphism were 15.09%, 47.14%, and 37.74% in DR and 12.90%, 19.35%, and 67.74%
      in DNR, respectively (p = 0.0205). The prevalence of DR was higher (p = 0.00793)
      in patients with the CC or CG genotype (62.26% and 32.26% for DR and DNR,
      respectively) compared with the patients with the GG genotype. To evaluate the
      effect of rs2010963-C allele on transcriptional activity, we measured promoter
      activity using luciferase reporter constructs. The rs2010963-C reporter showed
      1.6 to 2-fold higher luciferase activity than rs2010963-G in 3 cell lines.
      CONCLUSION: Our data proposed rs2010963-C altered the expression level of VEGFA
      in different tissues. We suggested small increase but long term exposure to VEGFA
      may lead to DR finally.

PMID- 27648003
TI  - Adding Biotin to Parenteral Nutrition Solutions Without Lipid Accelerates the
      Growth of Candida albicans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have previously demonstrated that Candida albicans requires
      multivitamins (MVs) or lipid to increase rapidly in parenteral nutrition (PN)
      solutions. In this study, in detail, the effects of vitamins on the growth of C.
      albicans in PN solutions without lipid were investigated. METHODS: In the 1st
      experiment, a commercial PN solution without lipid was supplemented with water
      soluble vitamins (SVs: vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12 and C, folic acid, nicotinamide,
      biotin and panthenol), water-insoluble vitamins (IVs: vitamins A, D, E and K) or
      both (MVs). In the 2nd experiment, the test solutions were prepared by
      supplementing the PN solution with one of each or all of the SVs. In the 3rd
      experiment, another commercial peripheral PN (PPN) solution without lipid was
      supplemented with SVs, nicotinic acid, biotin or both nicotinic acid and biotin.
      In each of the experiments, a specified number of C. albicans organisms was added
      to each test solution, and all of the test solutions were allowed to stand at
      room temperature (23-26oC). The number of C. albicans was counted at 0, 24, 48
      and 72 hours after the addition of the organism. RESULTS: In the 1st experiment,
      the C. albicans increased rapidly in the PN solution supplemented with the SVs,
      but increased slowly without the SVs, regardless of the addition of the IVs. In
      the 2nd experiment, the C. albicans increased rapidly in the PN solution
      supplemented with the SVs or biotin, but increased slowly with each of the other
      water-soluble vitamins. In the 3rd experiment, the C. albicans increased rapidly
      in the PPN solution supplemented with the SVs or biotin, but increased slowly
      with the addition of nicotinic acid. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that
      adding MVs or SVs to PN solutions without lipid promotes the growth of C.
      albicans, and that this effect is mostly attributable to biotin.

PMID- 27648004
TI  - Reversible Oxygenation of 2,4-Diaminobutanoic Acid-Co(II) Complexes.
AB  - This paper introduces the structural characterization and studies on reversible
      oxygenation behavior of a new oxygen carrier Co(II)-2,4-diaminobutanoic acid
      (DABA) complex in aqueous solution. The composition of the oxygenated complex was
      determined by gas volumetric method, molar ratio method, and mass spectrometry,
      and the formula of the oxygenated complex was determined to be [Co(DABA)2O2]. In
      aqueous solution, the complex can continuously uptake and release dioxygen and
      exhibit excellent reversibility of oxygenation and deoxygenation ability. This
      complex can maintain 50% of its original oxygenation capacity after 30 cycles in
      24 h and retain 5% of the original oxygenation capacity after more than 260
      cycles after 72 h. When a ligand analogue was linked to histidine (His), the new
      complex exhibited as excellent reversible oxygenation property as His-Co(II)
      complex. Insight into the relationship between structural detail and oxygenation
      properties will provide valuable suggestion for a new family of oxygen carriers. 

PMID- 27648005
TI  - Corrigendum: Dryocrassin ABBA, a novel active substance for use against
      amantadine-resistant H5N1 avian influenza virus.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 592 in vol. 6, PMID: 26136733.]. 

PMID- 27648006
TI  - Corrigendum: Regulation of T Cell Differentiation and Function by EZH2.
AB  - [This corrects the article on p. 172 in vol. 7, PMID: 27199994.]. 

PMID- 27648007
TI  - Beta-Blocker Use Is Associated with Higher Renal Tissue Oxygenation in
      Hypertensive Patients Suspected of Renal Artery Stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic renal hypoxia influences the progression of chronic kidney
      disease (CKD). Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance (MR) is a
      noninvasive tool for the assessment of renal oxygenation. The impact of beta
      blockers on renal hemodynamics and oxygenation is not completely understood. We
      sought to determine the association between beta-blocker use, renal cortical and
      medullary oxygenation, and renal blood flow in patients suspected of renal artery
      stenosis. METHODS: We measured renal cortical and medullary oxygenation using
      BOLD MR and renal artery blood flow using MR phase contrast techniques in 38
      participants suspected of renal artery stenosis. RESULTS: Chronic beta-blocker
      therapy was associated with improved renal cortical (p < 0.001) and medullary (p
      = 0.03) oxygenation, while the use of calcium channel blockers or diuretics
      showed no association with either cortical or medullary oxygenation. Receipt of
      angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers was
      associated with reduced medullary oxygenation (p = 0.01). In a multivariable
      model, chronic receipt of beta-blockers was the only significant predictor of
      renal tissue oxygenation (beta = 8.4, p = 0.008). Beta-blocker therapy was not
      associated with significant changes in renal artery blood flow, suggesting that
      improved renal oxygenation may be related to reduced renal oxygen consumption.
      CONCLUSIONS: In addition to known benefits to reduce cardiovascular mortality in
      patients with renal disease, beta-blockers may reduce or prevent the progression
      of renal dysfunction in patients with hypertension, diabetes, and renovascular
      disease, partly by reducing renal oxygen consumption. These observations may have
      important implications for the treatment of patients with CKD.

PMID- 27648008
TI  - Impact of Cardiorenal Anemia Syndrome on Short- and Long-Term Clinical Outcomes
      in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysfunctional interplay between the heart and kidneys may lead to the
      development of anemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of
      cardiorenal anemia syndrome (CRAS) on short- and long-term outcomes among
      patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF). METHODS: We enrolled 303 patients
      hospitalized with HF. We divided the patients into two groups: a CRAS group (n =
      64) and a non-CRAS group (n = 239). We defined CRAS as HF accompanied by (1) an
      estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2) calculated by the
      Modification of Diet in Renal Disease at admission and (2) a hemoglobin level <12
      g/dl for females and <13 g/dl for males at admission. The primary outcome was a
      composite of cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and rehospitalization
      for HF. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 25.6 months (range 0.1-35.3
      months), the patients with CRAS had a significantly increased risk for the
      primary outcome (27.5 vs. 10.7%, p < 0.001) compared with the patients in the non
      CRAS group. Using Cox proportional hazard analyses, the hazard ratio (HR) for the
      presence of CRAS was found to be 1.874 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.011-3.475,
      p = 0.046); HRs were also computed for the presence of diabetes mellitus (HR =
      2.241, 95% CI 1.221-4.112, p = 0.009), New York Heart Association class III or IV
      HF (HR = 2.948, 95% CI 1.206-7.205, p = 0.018) and the use of intravenous loop
      diuretics (HR = 2.286, 95% CI 0.926-5.641, p = 0.073). CONCLUSIONS: Renal
      dysfunction and anemia are a fatal combination and are associated with poor
      prognosis in patients with HF.

PMID- 27648009
TI  - Predictive Value of the Mehran Score for Contrast-Induced Nephropathy after
      Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in Patients with Aortic Stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The Mehran risk score (MS) was adopted to predict the
      development of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and includes clinical and
      procedural variables. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the value of MS in the
      prediction of CIN development after transcatheter aortic valve implantation
      (TAVI). METHODS: Ninety-three patients (47 females; mean age, 77.2 +/- 7.6 years)
      who underwent aortic valve replacement with TAVI for severe aortic stenosis in
      our center between June 2013 and November 2014 were included in the study.
      Patients were categorized into four risk groups based on MS: low (<=5), moderate
      (6-10), high (11-15), and very high (>=16). RESULTS: CIN was recorded in 24
      patients after TAVI (25.8%). The amount of contrast medium was significantly
      higher in the CIN+ group (p = 0.029), and total mortality was higher in the CIN+
      group than in the CIN- group (20.1 vs. 2.9%, respectively; p = 0.024). In
      univariate analysis, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, ejection
      fraction, baseline creatinine, baseline glomerular filtration rate, contrast
      medium volume, and MS were found to be significant risk factors for CIN (p < 0.05
      for all). The receiver operating characteristic analysis of the significant
      variables in multivariate regression analysis revealed that the cutoff MS to
      predict the development of CIN was 13.0 (area under the curve, 0.654; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.495-0.758; sensitivity, 62%; specificity, 68%).
      CONCLUSION: MS is a predictor of CIN development after TAVI. We think that the
      use of MS in clinical practice may decrease renal complications after TAVI.

PMID- 27648010
TI  - Association of Inflammation prior to Kidney Transplantation with Post-Transplant
      Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is both common and
      associated with poor outcomes after kidney transplantation. Our objective was to
      examine relationships of uremia-associated inflammation and adiponectin with
      PTDM. METHODS: Nondiabetic kidney transplant patients were enrolled with donor
      controls. Inflammatory cytokines and adiponectin were measured before and after
      transplantation. Adipose tissue was obtained for gene expression analysis.
      Glucose transport was quantified in vitro in C2C12 cells following cytokine
      exposure. The patients were monitored up to 12 months for PTDM. RESULTS: We
      studied 36 controls and 32 transplant patients, of whom 11 (35%) developed PTDM.
      Compared to controls, plasma TNFalpha, IL-6, MCP-1, and CRP levels were higher in
      transplant patients (p < 0.01). In multivariable analysis, TNFalpha plasma levels
      before transplantation were associated with development of PTDM (OR = 2.03, p =
      0.04). Visceral adipose tissue TNFalpha mRNA expression was higher in transplant
      patients than controls (fold change 1.33; p < 0.05). TNFalpha mRNA expression was
      also higher in patients who developed PTDM than in those who did not (fold change
      1.42; p = 0.05), and adiponectin mRNA expression was lower (fold change 0.48; p <
      0.05). The studies on the C2C12 cells demonstrated an increase in glucose uptake
      following exposure to adiponectin and no significant change after exposure to
      TNFalpha alone. Concomitant TNFalpha and adiponectin exposure blunted adiponectin
      induced glucose uptake (11% reduction; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our in vitro and
      clinical observations suggest that TNFalpha could contribute to PTDM through an
      effect on adiponectin. Our study proposes that inflammation is involved in
      glucose regulation after kidney transplantation.

PMID- 27648011
TI  - Genetic Variants in Toll-Like Receptor 4 Gene and Their Association Analysis with
      Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate in Mexican American Families.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is one of the regulators of the
      innate immune response. Genetic variations in TLR4 have been associated with
      inflammatory diseases, including type 2 diabetes. However, to our knowledge,
      there are no reports on the role of variations in TLR4 in chronic kidney disease
      susceptibility. The objective of this study is to determine whether the genetic
      variants in TLR4 are associated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (eGFR), a measure of renal function. METHODS: To evaluate the association between
      TLR4 variants and eGFR, we used data obtained from 434 Mexican American
      participants from the San Antonio Family Diabetes/Gallbladder Study. GFR was
      estimated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula. The
      Asp(299)Gly (rs4986790) and Thr(399)Ile (rs4986791) variants of TLR4 were
      genotyped using the TaqMan assay. Association analyses between genotypes and eGFR
      were performed using the measured genotype approach. RESULTS: Of the two genetic
      markers examined for association, only the Asp(299)Gly variant of TLR4 exhibited
      a nominally significant association with eGFR (p = 0.025) after accounting for
      the covariate effects of age and sex terms, diabetes, duration of diabetes,
      systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and antihypertensive treatment.
      Carriers of Gly299 had significantly decreased eGFR values. Although, the
      Thr(399)Ile variant failed to exhibit a statistically significant association
      with eGFR, the carriers of Ile399, however, showed a trend towards decrease in
      eGFR. CONCLUSION: We show for the first time that Asp(299)Gly variants of TLR4
      are associated with decrease in renal function in Mexican Americans.

PMID- 27648013
TI  - High-NaCl Diet Aggravates Cardiac Injury in Rats with Adenine-Induced Chronic
      Renal Failure and Increases Serum Troponin T Levels.
AB  - AIMS: To examine the effects of 2 weeks of high-NaCl diet on left ventricular
      (LV) morphology and serum levels of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in rats with
      adenine-induced chronic renal failure (ACRF). METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats
      either received chow containing adenine or were pair-fed an identical diet
      without adenine [controls (C)]. Approximately 10 weeks after the beginning of the
      study, the rats were randomized to either remain on a normal NaCl diet (NNa;
      0.6%) or to be switched to high-NaCl chow (HNa; 4%) for 2 weeks, after which
      acute experiments were performed. RESULTS: Rats with ACRF showed statistically
      significant increases (p < 0.001) in arterial pressure (AP), LV weight and
      fibrosis, and serum cTnT levels compared to controls. Two weeks of high-NaCl
      intake augmented the increases in AP, LV weight and fibrosis, and serum cTnT
      concentrations only in ACRF rats (p < 0.05 for group * NaCl intake interaction).
      Compared to group C-NNa, cTnT levels were elevated approximately 6-fold in group
      ACRF-NNa and 24-fold in group ACRF-HNa. Focal LV injury with cardiomyocyte
      necrosis, scarring, and fibrinoid necrosis of small arteries were only detected
      in group ACRF-HNa. There was a strong correlation between the degree of LV
      fibrosis and serum cTnT levels in ACRF rats (r = 0.81, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Two
      weeks of high-NaCl diet in rats with ACRF produces LV injury and aggravates
      increases in serum cTnT levels, presumably by causing hypertension-induced small
      artery lesions leading to myocardial ischemia. This model may be suitable for
      studying pathophysiological mechanisms in chronic renicardiac syndromes.

PMID- 27648012
TI  - Association between Age at Menarche and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in
      China: A Large Population-Based Investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association between age at menarche (AAM) and cardiovascular
      disease (CVD) has previously been investigated with controversial results. The
      relationship between the psychological characteristic of AAM and many
      cardiovascular risk factors remains unclear. PURPOSE: To assess the association
      between AAM and CVD risk factors in a large population. DESIGN AND SETTING:
      13,242 women aged 24-79 years were recruited from China mainland during 2009-2013
      for a cross-sectional, population-based study to investigate the association
      between AAM and CVD risk factors. Information on AAM was obtained from self
      report and information on CVD risk factors from physical examination. RESULTS: In
      age-, body-mass-index- and height-adjusted analyses, AAM was positively
      associated with hypertension and 'college or above' educational level and
      incident CVD events. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals
      for hypertension across AAM categories (<=12, 13-14, 15-16, and >=17 years) were
      0.820 (0.70-0.96), 0.82 (0.70-0.96), 0.88 (0.79-0.99) and 1 (referent),
      respectively; adjusted ORs for high educational level ('college or above') were
      0.29 (0.24-0.34), 0.60 (0.41-0.51), 0.69 (0.62-0.76), and 1 (referent),
      respectively; adjusted ORs for incident CVD events were 0.18 (0.08-0.41), 0.18
      (0.08-0.41), 0.62 (0.41-0.93), 1 (referent), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Earlier
      AAM were positively associated with incident CVD events, hypertension and
      'college or above' educational level.

PMID- 27648014
TI  - Evaluation of Nephroprotective Efficacy of Hypoxic Preconditioning in Patients
      Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonpulsatile blood flow plays an important role in the pathogenesis
      of renal dysfunction in patients with extracorporeal circulation. In our opinion,
      hypoxic preconditioning (HP) can be used to protect kidneys from postsurgical
      dysfunction. The aim of this study was to evaluate nephroprotective efficacy of
      HP in myocardial revascularization with extracorporeal circulation. METHODS: The
      randomized, controlled trial was performed in 63 patients undergoing coronary
      artery bypass grafting (CABG). Thirty-three patients were subjected to HP during
      CABG; 30 patients were included in the comparison group. All patients underwent
      dynamic renal scintigraphy with (99m)Tc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid and
      were subjected to measuring the concentration of lipocalin in blood serum before
      and after CABG. RESULTS: After CABG, the mean values of the total glomerular
      filtration rate (GFR) and GFR for each kidney significantly decreased only in
      patients of the comparison group. Significant increases in the concentration of
      serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin occurred 5 h after surgery both
      in the group with HP (70.65 +/- 46.71 to 127.58 +/- 98.46 ng/ml) and in the
      comparison group (65.01 +/- 38.64 to 171.65 +/- 89.91 ng/ml). At the same time,
      the mean difference values between pre- and postoperative lipocalin levels were
      56.94 +/- 51.75 ng/ml in the study group and 106.64 +/- 51.27 ng/ml in the
      comparison group; these differences were highly statistically significant (r =
      0.004). CONCLUSION: The results of our study showed that (i) HP exerts
      nephroprotection in patients undergoing on-pump CABG, and (ii) determination of
      the lipocalin-2 level can be used for early diagnosis of acute kidney injury in
      cardiac surgery patients.

PMID- 27648015
TI  - Brain Natriuretic Peptide and Body Fluid Composition in Patients with Chronic
      Kidney Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study to Evaluate the Relationship between
      Volume Overload and Malnutrition.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Fluid volume overload occurs in chronic kidney disease (CKD),
      leading to the compensatory release of natriuretic peptides. However, the
      elevated cardiac peptides may also be associated with malnutrition as well as
      volume overload. METHODS: Body fluid composition was measured in 147 patients
      with CKD between 2009 and 2015, and its relationship to brain natriuretic peptide
      (BNP) levels was examined. Body fluid composition was separated into three
      components: (a) a water-free mass consisting of muscle, fat, and minerals; (b)
      intracellular water (ICW) content, and (c) extracellular water (ECW) content.
      Excess fluid mass was calculated using Chamney's formula. RESULTS: The measured
      BNP levels in the tertile groups were 10.9 +/- 5.4, 36.3 +/- 12.5, and 393 +/-
      542 pg/ml, respectively. Patients in a higher log-transformed BNP level tertile
      were more likely to be older, to have a higher frequency of cardiac
      comorbidities, pulse pressure, C-reactive protein levels, and proteinuria, and to
      have lower serum sodium, kidney function, and serum albumin (p < 0.05). In body
      fluid composition, decreased body mass was significantly associated with the ECW
      to-ICW ratio in relation to the downward ICW slope (r = -0.235, p = 0.004) and
      was strongly correlated with excess fluid mass (r = -0.701, p < 0.001). The ECW
      to-ICW ratio and excess fluid mass was independently associated with the BNP
      levels. CONCLUSION: Fluid volume imbalance between intra- and extracellular water
      regulated by decreased cell mass was independently associated with BNP levels,
      which may explain the reserve capacity for fluid accumulation in patients with
      CKD.

PMID- 27648016
TI  - Impact of Impact Factor, Publication Audit and the importance of Citations.

PMID- 27648017
TI  - Concept mapping improves academic performance in problem solving questions in
      biochemistry subject.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of concept mapping (CM) on the academic
      performance of medical students' in problem-solving as well as in declarative
      knowledge questions and their perception regarding CM. METHODS: The present
      analytical and questionnaire-based study was carried out at Bahria University
      Medical and Dental College (BUMDC), Karachi, Pakistan. In this analytical study,
      students were assessed with problem-solving questions (A-type MCQs), and
      declarative knowledge questions (short essay questions), and 50% of the questions
      were from the topics learned by CM. Students also filled a 10-item, 3-point
      Likert scale questionnaire about their perception regarding the effectiveness of
      the CM approach, and two open-ended questions were also asked. RESULTS: There was
      a significant difference in the marks obtained in those problem-solving
      questions, which were learned by CM as compared to those topics which were taught
      by the traditional lectures (p<0.001), while no significant difference was
      observed in marks in declarative knowledge questions (p=0.704). Analysis of
      students' perception regarding CM showed that majority of the students perceive
      that CM is a helpful technique and it is enjoyed by the students. In open-ended
      questions, the majority of the students commented positively about the
      effectiveness of CM. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that CM improves academic
      performance in problem solving but not in declarative knowledge questions.
      Students' perception about the effectiveness of CM was overwhelmingly positive.

PMID- 27648018
TI  - Comparison of Effects of Propofol and Isosorbide Dinitrate during Rewarming on
      Cardiopulmonary Bypass.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Comparison of effects of propofol and isosorbide dinitrate during
      rewarming on cardiopulmonary bypass in patients undergoing coronary artery
      bypasses grafting. METHODS: It was randomized prospective clinical trial. One
      hundred and twenty patient (120) undergoing CABG surgery were included in this
      study. Group-I (Study group, n=60): in which only propofol infusion used during
      rewarming and Group-II (control Group, n=60) in which isosorbide dinitrate and
      propofol infusion combination was used during rewarming. The data was entered and
      analyzed through SPSS Version 19. Independent sample T-test and chi-square test
      were used for data analysis. P value of <= 0.05 was taken as significant.
      RESULTS: Mean arterial pressures during rewarming were 63.41+/-3.61 mmHg in
      propofol group versus 60.80+/-4.86 mmHg in control group (p-value 0.001). Core
      temperature on weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass was 37.11+/-0.49  degrees C in
      propofol group and 37.00+/-0.18  degrees C in control group. After drop in core
      temperature was little more in propofol group (1.02+/-0.36  degrees C) versus
      0.96+/-0.37  degrees C in control group but this difference was not statistically
      significant (p-value 0.41). Mean Ventilation time after surgery in propofol group
      was 4.65+/-0.65 hours versus 5.03+/-0.81 hours in control group (p-value 0.006).
      CONCLUSION: Propofol alone is capable of fulfilling the requirements of adequate
      rewarming during Cardiopulmonary bypass and can produce more hemodynamic
      stability and early post-operative recovery.

PMID- 27648019
TI  - Clinical efficacy and safety of hypernormal shortened door to needle time (DNT)
      plus individualized low-dose alteplase therapy in treating acute ischemic stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to observe the clinical efficacies of hyper-early low
      dose alteplase thrombolysis in treating acute ischemic stroke (AIS). METHODS: Two
      hundred twenty AIS patients were randomly divided into group A (90 cases), group
      B (90 cases), and group C (40 cases). The National Institutes of Health Stroke
      Scale (NIHSS) scores, mRS score-evaluated prognosis, intracranial hemorrhage, and
      mortality of the three groups were observed before and after the treatment.
      RESULTS: The NIHSS scores of the three groups were significantly reduced after
      the treatment (P<0.05), among which the NIHSS score of group A was the lowest
      (P<0.05); and the difference between group B and C was not significant (P>0.05).
      The incidence of such complications as cerebral hemorrhage in the three groups
      was low, and there was no significant difference among the groups (P>0.05). The
      modified Rankin Scale (mRS)scores of the three groups showed that group A had
      much better prognosis than group B and C, while the difference between group B
      and group C was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The hyper-early low-dose alteplase
      thrombolysis was safe and effective in Acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

PMID- 27648020
TI  - An assessment of ventilator-associated pneumonias and risk factors identified in
      the Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a significant cause of
      hospital-related infections, one that must be prevented due to its high morbidity
      and mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and risk
      factors in patients developing VAP in our intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS:
      This retrospective cohort study involved in mechanically ventilated patients
      hospitalized for more than 48 hours. VAP diagnosed patients were divided into two
      groups, those developing pneumonia (VAP(+)) and those not (VAP(-)).?. RESULTS: We
      researched 1560 patients in adult ICUs, 1152 (73.8%) of whom were mechanically
      ventilated. The MV use rate was 52%. VAP developed in 15.4% of patients. The VAP
      rate was calculated as 15.7/1000 ventilator days. Mean length of stay in the ICU
      for VAP(+) and VAP(-) patients were (26.7+/-16.3 and 18.1+/-12.7 days (p<0.001))
      and mean length of MV use was (23.5+/-10.3 and 12.6+/-7.4 days (p<0.001)). High
      APACHE II and Charlson co-morbidity index scores, extended length of
      hospitalization and MV time, previous history of hospitalization and
      antibiotherapy, reintubation, enteral nutrition, chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and organ failure were
      determined as significant risk factors for VAP. The mortality rate in the VAP(+)
      was 65.2%, with 23.6% being attributed to VAP. CONCLUSION: VAPs are prominent
      nosocomial infections that can cause considerable morbidity and mortality in
      ICUs. Patient care procedures for the early diagnosis of patients with a high
      risk of VAP and for the reduction of risk factors must be implemented by
      providing training concerning risk factors related to VAP for ICU personnel, and
      preventable risk factors must be reduced to a minimum.

PMID- 27648021
TI  - Frequency of hospital acquired pneumonia and its microbiological etiology in
      medical intensive care unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objectives were to assess the frequency of hospital acquired
      pneumonia (HAP) in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and to
      determine the frequencies of different etiological organisms in these patients.
      METHODS: This was descriptive cross sectional study, which was carried out in
      medical ICU of Shifa International Hospital Islamabad from January 2013 to
      January 2014. A total of 1866 patients were admitted in the department of
      medicine including medical ICU. They were evaluated for HAP and the causative
      organisms were cultured from these patients. Identification was carried out by
      standard biochemical profile of the organisms. RESULTS: The total number of
      patients admitted in medical ICU for any reason were 346. HAP was diagnosed in 88
      patients (25.4%). The average age of patients admitted in Medical ICU with HAP
      was 48 years with the range of 16 to 82 years. 56 were male and 32 females. 42
      patients (47.7%) died in medical ICU with HAP. Microbiological analysis showed
      that Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 27 (30.6%), Acinetobacter spp. were 12 (13.6%),
      Candida albicans were 12 (13.6%), Klebsiellapneumoniae were 9 (10.2%),
      Streptococcus spp. were 9 (10.2%), Escherichia coli were 5 (5.6%),
      Stenotrophomonas spp. were 4(4.5%), Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
      (MRSA) were 4 (4.5%) others organisms 6 (6.8%). CONCLUSION: The frequency of HAP
      in Medical ICU of our hospital is 88 out of 346 (25.4%). The commonest organism
      identified was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30.6%) followed by Acinetobacter and
      Candida albican (13.6% each).

PMID- 27648022
TI  - Effect of age on the outcome of renal transplantation: A single-center
      experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the effects of old age on renal transplantation (Tx)
      results and graft survival, and compared elderly patient population with the
      young patients. METHODS: A total of 1946 renal transplant were performed from
      1537 living and 409 cadaveric donors between 2003 and 2014. The recipients were
      divided into two groups according to their age at the time of transplantation.
      The young age group consisted of 18-59-year-old, and the elderly group consisted
      of the ones >= 60 years. RESULTS: Acute rejection was seen in 19.5% of the young
      age group while this rate was 16.7% in the old age group (p=0.535). DGF was seen
      in 6.3% of the young age group, and in 13.5% of the old age group (p<0.001).
      Analysis of the overall survival rates demonstrated that 1.6% of the patients in
      the young age group and 6.8% of the patients in the old age groups died
      (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Renal transplant had high graft survival rates in the
      elderly as in the young patients. However, the risks for complications were
      higher in the older age group compared to the younger age group. Thus, it is
      important to make a careful selection among elderly candidates for renal
      transplantation.

PMID- 27648023
TI  - Compliance and Effectiveness of WHO Surgical Safety Check list: A JPMC Audit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist
      (SSC), compliance and its effectiveness in reducing complications and final
      outcome of patients. METHODS: This was a prospective study done in Department of
      General Surgery (Ward 02), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi.
      The study included Total 3638 patients who underwent surgical procedure in
      elective theatre in four years from November 2011 to October 2015 since the SSC
      was included as part of history sheets in ward. Files were checked to confirm the
      compliance with regards to filling the three stage checklist properly and
      complications were noted. RESULTS: In 1st year, out of 840 surgical procedures,
      SSC was properly marked in 172 (20.4%) cases. In 2nd year, out of 857 surgical
      procedures 303 (35.3%) cases were marked which increased in 3rd year out of 935
      surgical procedures 757 (80.9%) cases and in 4th year out of 932 surgical
      procedures 838 (89.9%) cases were marked. No significant change in site and side
      (left or right) complications were noted in all four years. Surgical Site
      Infection (SSI) was noted in 59 (7.50%), 52 (6.47%), 44 (4.70%) and 20 (2.12%)
      cases in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year respectively. SSI in laparoscopic
      cholecystectomies was 41 (20.8 %), 45 (13%), 20 (5.68%) and 4 (1.12%) in 1st,
      2nd, 3rd and 4th year respectively. No significant change in chest complications
      were noted in all four years. Mortality rate also remained same in all four
      years. CONCLUSION: WHO SSC is an effective tool in reducing in-hospital
      complications thus producing a favorable outcome. Realization its efficacy would
      improve compliance.

PMID- 27648024
TI  - A Non-invasive Method for Assessment of Intravascular Fluid Status: Inferior Vena
      Cava Diameters and Collapsibility Index.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between central venous pressure (CVP) and
      inferior vena cava (IVC) diameters measured by ultrasonography (Ultrasound) in
      critically ill patients. METHODS: Intubated critically ill patients were
      enrolled. The CVP values were measured using a U-tube manometer and were compared
      to the IVC diameters and collapsibility index, which were measured by bedside
      Ultrasound. Patients younger than 18 years old, who were not intubated, who had
      an abdominal pressure greater than 12 mmHg, and/or who were admitted for trauma
      were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Eighty three patients with a mean age of
      73.6+/-11.2 years were enrolled. The most common diagnosis was sepsis (21
      patients, 25.30%). IVC inspiration measurements were statistically significantly
      correlated with CVP measurements (p0.05, r: 0.1). IVC collapsibility measurements
      showed a negative correlation with CVP measurements (p<0.01, r: 0.68).
      CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong correlation between CVP and IVC diameters and the
      collapsibility index. This is a new formula for evaluating CVP, based on our
      statistical analyses.

PMID- 27648026
TI  - Ramadan and diabetes - knowledge, attitude and practices of general
      practitioners; a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Fasting during Ramadan is obligatory for all Muslims across
      the world. Through literature review, it has been found out that there are
      various articles published for the awareness of patients and general population
      regarding safe fasting during Ramadan. But very few studies highlight the Ramadan
      specific knowledge of general practitioners engaged in providing care to people
      with diabetes. This study aims to describe the practice, knowledge and attitude
      of general practitioners regarding treatment and dietary modifications for people
      with diabetes during Ramadan across Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      descriptive study was undertaken among a sample of 274 general practitioners.
      Data was collected by means of a questionnaire that consisted of 25 questions
      that were structured according to three categories i-e. Ramadan specific
      knowledge, diet and physical activity and treatment modification related
      knowledge and practices of GPs. RESULTS: Out of the total population of GPs
      surveyed, 70% responded correctly to the questions while 30% responded
      incorrectly. 1/4(th) of GPs incorrectly responded to questions regarding basic
      concepts of diabetes and Ramadan. 1/3(rd) of GPs responded incorrectly regarding
      questions on diet. Almost 40% of the GPs responded incorrectly to the questions
      regarding drug dosage adjustment in people with diabetes during Ramadan. However,
      more than 80% responded in agreement regarding alteration in medication timings.
      CONCLUSION: Almost one third of the studied populations of general practitioners
      across Pakistan lack the knowledge of basic principles that are important to be
      employed in the management of diabetes during Ramadan. Hence there is need to
      promote educational programmes and CMEs to improve the knowledge of our GPs that
      should be reflected by their sound clinical practices in the field of diabetes.

PMID- 27648025
TI  - Acute coronary syndrome in young adults from a Malaysian tertiary care centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one of the leading
      cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is relatively uncommon in young
      adults as compared to the older population. Our objective was to assess the
      prevalence, demographic distribution, and risk factors for acute coronary
      syndrome (ACS) in patients less than 45 years of age admitted to a Malaysian
      tertiary care centre. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, retrospective, and
      single centre study with random sampling of the patients admitted for ACS to
      hospital from January 2005 to December 2013. Data were collected and analyzed.
      Patients less than 45 years of age were compared with patients more than 45 years
      of age. RESULT: A total of 628 patients were included in the study and with the
      prevalence of young ACS was 6.1% and mean age of 39+/-6 years. All the young ACS
      patients were diagnosed with unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial
      infarction (NSTEMI). Tobacco smoking and family history of coronary artery
      disease (CAD) were more frequent in young ACS. 59.5% of the young ACS patients
      were smokers, while 37.8% and 51.4% of them were found to suffer from diabetes
      mellitus and hypertension respectively. Tobacco smoking, diabetes mellitus, and
      hypertension had shown significant association with the onset of young ACS (p <=
      0.05). CONCLUSION: Three leading risk factors (tobacco smoking, diabetes
      mellitus, and hypertension) had been shown to be significantly associated with
      the onset of young ACS. Thus, it is important to identify this cohort and
      implement aggressive measures in tackling the risk factors in order to prevent or
      halt the development of coronary artery disease.

PMID- 27648027
TI  - Does menopausal status impact urinary continence outcomes following abdominal
      sacrocolpopexy without anti-incontinence procedures in continent women?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the impact of menopausal status on urinary continence
      following abdominal sacrocolpopexy (ASC) without an anti-incontinence procedure
      in continent women. METHODS: We conducted a clinical follow-up study of 137
      patients diagnosed with stage 3 or higher pelvic organ prolapse (POP) without
      urinary incontinence between January 2012 and December 2014. Patients were
      provided with detailed a priori information pertaining to the abdominal
      sacrocolpopexy procedure and were invited to attend follow-up visits at 1, 3, 12,
      and 24 months. Follow-up visits included a gynecological examination, cough test,
      and validated Urinary Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact
      Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7) questionnaires. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time for the
      cohort was 16.5+/-3.45 months. The study group was divided according to
      menopausal status: premenopausal (Group-1) and postmenopausal women (Group-II).
      Anatomical recurrence was not detected during the follow-up period in either
      group, but de novo stress urinary incontinence was seen in 15 of 53 (28.3%) Group
      I patients and in 6 of 84 (7.1%; p < 0.01) Group-II patients. CONCLUSIONS: The
      risk of de novo stress urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women after ASC is
      low. However, premenopausal patients have a higher incidence of de novo stress
      incontinence which affect quality of life.

PMID- 27648028
TI  - Complications in operative fixation of calcaneal fractures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study focused on a number of factors that have
      been implicated in calcaneal complications and find the incidence of wound
      complications. METHODS: This was a retrospective study. A total of 162 patients
      (176 feet) who underwent calcaneal fractures between 2007 and 2012 were included.
      The patient's personal details, age, time from injury to surgery, cause of
      injury, type of fracture, operative details, operating and tourniquet times were
      collected from hospital computers and paper records. Evidence of complications
      including wound infection, wound necrosis, pain, malunion, nonunion, impingement,
      loss of fixation, ect were studied. RESULTS: Forty-seven of one hundred and
      seventy-six fractures (26.704%) had complications, wound infection was noted in
      seven fractures (3.977%), twelve fractures developed necrosis (6.818%), 14
      fractures (7.955%) developed pain. Malunion was found in five fractures (2.841%),
      nonunion in two fractures (1.136%) and loss of fixation in four fractures
      (2.272%). Three neurologic injury was also seen in our study (1.705%). Operating
      time, time from injury to surgery and type of fracture had some association with
      complications in operative fixation of calcaneal fractures, which showed a
      statistically significant improvement (P=0.000, 0.031, 0.020, respectively), but
      there were no evidence that age and tourniquet time affect the incidence of
      complication after calcaneal fracture surgery (P=0.119, 0.682, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite developments in the surgical treatment of calcaneal
      fracture, wound complications still remain inevitable. Advanced imaging
      techniques, less invasive surgical procedures, wealth of anatomical knowledge,
      surgical experience and better postoperative care should be ensured.

PMID- 27648030
TI  - Comparison of McGrath((r)) Series 5 video laryngoscope with Macintosh
      laryngoscope: A prospective, randomised trial in patients with normal airways.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The McGrath Video laryngoscope is a newly developed video laryngoscope
      that significantly improves laryngeal view and facilitates endotracheal
      intubation in difficult airways. However in patients with normal airway that is
      not mentioned before. The aim of this study was to compare the McGrath video
      laryngoscope with the Macintosh laryngoscope in patients with normal airways.
      METHODS: A total of 100 patients requiring orotracheal intubation, were
      randomized to either having intubation with the McGrath video laryngoscope or the
      Macintosh laryngoscope. The primary outcome was the laryngoscopy view using
      percentage of glottic opening (POGO) score. Secondary outcomes included Cormack
      and Lehane grading system, time to intubation, number of failed intubations,
      number of attempts before successful intubation and hemodynamic parameters during
      intubation. RESULTS: POGO scores were significantly higher in the McGrath group
      compared with the Macintosh group (p<0.001) despite time to successful intubation
      was similar in both groups. The McGrath video laryngoscope provided more Grade-I
      laryngoscopic views than the Macintosh laryngoscope (p<0.001). Number of more
      than one attempts in order to achieve success was significantly higher in the
      Macintosh group (p=0.001). The number of minor complications were significantly
      higher in the Macintosh group (p=0.004). There were no significant changes in
      hemodynamic responses between the two groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: McGrath video
      laryngoscope allows patients with normal airways to achieve higher POGO scores
      and significantly more Grade-I laryngoscopic views when compared with the
      Macintosh laryngoscope.

PMID- 27648029
TI  - Comparison of clinicopathological characteristics of lymph node positive and
      lymph node negative breast cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To record various clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer
      (BC) in our population and to find an association between these characteristics
      and axillary nodal metastasis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 150
      BC patients from two tertiary care centers in Karachi from 15(th) February, 2013
      to 31(st) March, 2015. Frequencies, percentages, and odds ratio were estimated to
      find out an association between various clinicopathological characteristics and
      lymph node status using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Approximately 75.4% patients
      had axillary lymph node metastasis ('1-3' LN = 34.4% and '>3' LN = 44%).
      Menopausal status (p <0.013), tumor grades ('II' p <0.03; 'III' p <0.01), and
      stages ('III' p <0.002; 'IV' p <0.0001), tumor sizes ('T2' p <0.014; 'T3' p
      <0.002), perineural invasion (PNI) (p <0.007), lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p
      <0.0001), and skin and nipple invasion (p <0.024) were significant predictors for
      '>3' LN metastasis. Association of these variables with '1-3' LN involvement was
      insignificant. CONCLUSION: Clinical spectrum of BC remains unchanged in 2016 with
      most of the patients presenting with high-grade, late-stage advanced disease.
      Moreover, clinicopathological variables, especially primary tumor size, tumor
      stage and lymphovascular invasion were significant predictors of >3 lymph node
      metastasis with high accuracy.

PMID- 27648031
TI  - Short term outcome of laparoscopic ventral rectopexy for rectal prolapse.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To find out the short term outcomes of effectiveness and safety of
      laparoscopic ventral rectopexy for rectal prolapse. METHODS: It was a descriptive
      case series study of 31 consecutive patients of rectal prolapse in Colorectal
      division of Ward 2, Department of General surgery, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical
      Center, Karachi, from November 2009 to November 2015. These patients were
      admitted through outpatient department with complains of something coming out of
      anus, constipation and per rectal bleeding. All patients were clinically examined
      and baseline investigations were done. All patients underwent laparoscopic repair
      with ventral mesh placement on rectum. RESULTS: Among 31 patients, mean age was
      45 years range (20 - 72). While females were 14(45%) and males 17(55%). We
      observed variety of presentations, including solitary rectal ulcers (n=4) and
      rectocele (n=3) but full thickness rectal prolapse was predominant(n=24). All
      patients had laparoscopic repair with mesh placement. Average hospital stay was
      three days. Out of 31 patients, there was one (3.2%) recurrence. Port site minor
      infection in 3(9.7%) patients, while conversion to open approach was done in two
      (6.4%), postoperative ileus observed in two (6.4%) patients. one(3.2%) patient
      developed intractable back pain and mesh was removed six weeks after the
      operation. one(4.8%) patient complained of abdominal pain off and on
      postoperatively. No patient developed denovo or worsening constipation while
      constipation was improved in 21 patients (67%). Sexual dysfunction such as
      dysperunia in females and impotence in males was not detected in follow up.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the limited evidence that nerve sparing
      laparoscopic ventral rectopexy is safe and effective treatment of external and
      symptomatic internal rectal prolapse. It has better cosmetic and functional
      outcome as advantages of minimal access and comparable recurrence rate.

PMID- 27648032
TI  - Interleukin-6 polymorphisms and risk of coronary artery diseases in a Chinese
      population: A case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the relationship between IL-6-174G>C, -572G>C and
      -597G>A polymorphisms and development of coronary artery diseases in a Chinese
      population. METHODS: A total of 275 patients with coronary artery disease and 296
      healthy control subjects were collected between January 2013 and November 2014.
      The IL-6 genotyping for -174G>C, -592G>C and -597G>A polymorphic sites was
      determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism
      (PCR-RFLP) according to the manufacturer instructions. RESULTS: Using
      unconditional regression analysis, we observed that the AC and CC genotypes of IL
      6 -592A>C were associated with the increased risk of developing coronary artery
      disease when compared with the AA genotype, and the adjusted ORs (95%CI) were
      1.63(1.12-2.38) and 2.70(1.57-4.67), respectively. Additionally, the C allele of
      IL-6 -592A>C (OR=1.65, 95%CI=1.29-2.11) was correlated with a higher risk of
      developing coronary artery disease in comparison to the A allele. However, no
      relationship was found between IL-6-174G>C and -597G>A polymorphisms and coronary
      artery disease susceptibility. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that IL-6 -592G>C
      polymorphism is correlated with the risk of coronary artery disease. More well
      designed prospective studies based on large sample size, multiple SNPs or
      haplotypes are required to confirm the current findings.

PMID- 27648033
TI  - Comparison of Risk Factors and survival of Type 1 and Type II Endometrial
      Cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare risk factors and progression free survival of type 1 & 2
      endometrial cancers. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 149 patients with early
      stage endometrial carcinoma treated between 1997 and 2012 in Aga Khan University
      Hospital, Karachi was performed. RESULTS: A total of 149 patients were analyzed.
      Type I tumors accounted for 92% of cases in the study while 8% were type II
      tumors. The mean age, BMI, parity, co-morbidities (hypertension & Diabetes),
      family history and history of polycystic disease were comparable in both groups.
      Overall better survival (113 Vs 24 months) was observed for type I endometrial
      cancer. CONCLUSION: Both types of endometrial cancer may share common etiologic
      factors. Despite the limitation of small numbers in one group this study confirms
      better survival in type 1 endometrial cancer.

PMID- 27648034
TI  - Tinea pedis and onychomycosis frequency in diabetes mellitus patients and
      diabetic foot ulcers. A cross sectional - observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Impaired cellular immunity and reduced phagocytic function of
      polymorphonuclear leukocytes facilitate the development of skin fungal and
      bacterial infections due to uncontrolled hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. In
      our study, we aimed to assess onychomycosis and/or tinea pedis frequency in
      diabetic patients, and effects on the development of chronic complications,
      particularly foot ulcer. METHODS: We included 227 diabetic patients in the study.
      Forty-three patients had diabetic foot ulcer. We screened and recorded
      demographic characteristics, HbA1c levels of patients, and presence of
      complications We examined patients dermatologically, and collected samples by
      scalpel from skin between toes, and from sole, toe nail, and area surrounding
      nails from suspected to have fungal infection. RESULTS: Native positivity between
      toes was higher in men compared to women (p<0.05). We obtained significant
      relation between HbA1c elevation and native positivity between toes (p<0.05).
      Fungal infection between toes, at sole and toe nail significantly increased in
      patients with diabetic foot ulcer compared to patients without diabetic foot
      ulcer (p<0.05). Moreover, native positivity in patients with diabetic foot ulcer
      correlated with presence of fungal infection examination findings (p<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Fungal infections were more frequently observed in the presence of
      poor glycemic control and peripheral vascular disease in diabetic patients in
      compliance with the literature, and the presence of fungal infection may also
      responsible for the development of foot ulcers.

PMID- 27648035
TI  - Sucralfate and Lidocain: Antacid 50:50 solution in Post Esophageal Variceal Band
      Ligation Pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of pain relief of Sucralfate and lidocain
      antacid 50:50 solution in post esophageal variceal band ligation pain. METHODS:
      All patients who had under gone Esophageal Variceal Band Ligation (EVBL) were
      included in the study. Patients un-willing to be included in the study or those
      who didn't have post EVBL pain were excluded. Patients with post EVBL pains were
      divided into two groups: one group was given sucralfate and other was given
      lidocaine: antacid 50:50 solution. Both were inquired about the duration of the
      pain relief after the medication. The results were analyzed on SPSS 23.
      Independent samples T-test was performed to find out whether the difference in
      duration of pain relief was significantly different in the two groups. RESULTS:
      Out of 110 patients who have EVBL, 66(60.00%) had pain and 44(40.00%) were pain
      free. In the pain group 46 (69.7%) were given sucralfate and 20 (30.3%) were
      given lidocain: antacid 50:50 solution. Mean duration of pain relief in two
      groups was 2.78 (SD +/- 2.096) and 2.5 days (SD +/-. 0.76) respectively.
      Independent samples T-test results revealed that there was no statistically
      significant difference in the duration of pain relief between these two groups
      with p value 0.426. CONCLUSION: Both Sucralfate and Lidocain: antacid 50:50
      solutions are effective in relieving the post EVBL pain. However, no
      statistically significant difference in duration of pain relief was detected in
      separate groups of patients treated with either treatment.

PMID- 27648037
TI  - The effect of sodium hypochlorite and resin cement systems on push-out bond
      strength of cemented fiber posts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of different endodontic irrigant
      solutions and resin cement systems on the bond strength of cemented fiber posts.
      METHODS: Sixty human single-rooted anterior teeth were sectioned transversely at
      2 mm incisal to the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ). The roots were treated
      endodontically, and teeth were distributed into six groups: group A, includes
      5.25%NaOCl irrigant with MultiCore Flow Core Build-Up material; group B, includes
      5.25%NaOCl irrigant with RelyX-Unicem Self-Adhesive Universal Resin Cement; group
      C, includes 2.5% NaOCl irrigant with MultiCore Flow; group D, includes 2.5%NaOCl
      irrigant with RelyX-Unicem; group E, includes NaCl, irrigant with MultiCore Flow;
      and group F, includes NaCl irrigant with RelyX-Unicem. Universal tapered fiber
      posts (No. 3 RelyX Fiber Post) were cemented, and roots were sectioned into
      cervical and apical segments. Samples were then subjected to a push-out bond
      strength test and failure modes were examined. RESULTS: The mean push-out bond
      strength for group D showed the highest mean value (20.07 MPa), while the lowest
      value was found in group A. There was a significant difference between groups
      with regard to the irrigants used (p<0.001), however, no significant difference
      was found between groups with regard to resin systems (p>0.05). The total mean
      push-out bond strength of the cervical segments was found to be significantly
      higher than the apical segments (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The irrigant solution have
      a clear influence on the push-out bond strength of the fiber posts regardless of
      the cement used. Both adhesive resin systems showed similar bonding strength.

PMID- 27648038
TI  - Stretching the boundaries of medical education A case of medical college
      embracing humanities and social sciences in medical education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aga Khan University, a private medical college, had a vision of
      producing physicians who are not only scientifically competent, but also socially
      sensitive, the latter by exposure of medical students to a broad-based
      curriculum. The objective of this study was to identify the genesis of broad
      based education and its integration into the undergraduate medical education
      program as the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) course. METHODS: A
      qualitative methodology was used for this study. Sources of data included
      document review and in-depth key informant interviews. Nvivo software was
      utilized to extract themes. RESULTS: The study revealed the process of
      operationalization of the institutional vision to produce competent and
      culturally sensitive physicians. The delay in the establishment of the Faculty of
      Arts and Sciences, which was expected to take a lead role in the delivery of a
      broad-based education, led to the development of an innovative HASS course in the
      medical curriculum. The study also identified availability of faculty and
      resistance from students as challenges faced in the implementation and evolution
      of HASS. CONCLUSIONS: The description of the journey and viability of integration
      of HASS into the medical curriculum offers a model to medical colleges seeking
      ways to produce socially sensitive physicians.

PMID- 27648036
TI  - Relationship between plasma level of vitamin D and post operative atrial
      fibrillation in patients undergoing CABG.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia after cardiac
      surgery. Several studies have shown the impact of vitamin D on heart disease;
      however, there have been few studies for the incidence of AF and its relationship
      with vitamin D levels. According to the different results of these studies, we
      decided to evaluate the relation of plasma levels of vitamin D and postoperative
      atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).
      METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 50 patients after CABG
      surgery. Simple random sampling was done. Twenty five patients who developed AF
      within 48 hours after CABG with Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were enrolled in the
      case group and 25 patients who did not develop AF within 48 hours after CABG with
      CPB were enrolled in the control group. Plasma levels of vitamin D in both groups
      of patients were recorded. Collected data were analyzed by the SPSS software
      version 17. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in terms of demographic
      characteristics, comorbidities, lipid profile and kidney function between two
      groups. The mean plasma level of vitamin D was 27.4 +/- 2.22 ng/ml in the case
      group and was 28.2 +/- 1.18 ng/ml in the control group it (p= 0.803).
      CONCLUSIONS: Plasma levels of vitamin D were almost the same in both groups and
      there was no statistically significant difference between the groups with and
      without atrial fibrillation following CABG.

PMID- 27648039
TI  - Early outcomes of on-pump versus off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To see the early post-operative outcomes of off-pump versus on-pump
      coronary artery bypass graft surgery. METHODS: This retrospective analytical
      study was conducted at Ch. Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology Multan,
      Pakistan. Our Primary outcome variables were; necessity of inotropic support,
      nonfatal myocardial infarction, ICU stay, nonfatal stroke, new renal failure
      requiring dialysis and death within 30 days after operation. There were two
      groups of patients; Group-I (On-pump group) and Group-II (Off-pump Group). SPSS
      V17 was used for data analysis. Independent sample t-test and Mann Whitney U test
      were used to compare quantitative Variables. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact
      test were used to analyze qualitative variables. P-value <= 0.05 was considered
      significant. RESULTS: Three hundred patients were included in this study. There
      were no significant difference regarding risk factors except hyper-cholestrolemia
      which was high in off pump group (p-value 0.05). Angiographic and
      Echocardiographic characteristics e.g. preoperative ejection fraction, LV
      function grade and severity of CAD was same between the groups. Mortality risk
      scores and Priority status for surgery were also same. Regarding post-operative
      outcomes; Post-op CKMB Levels, need and duration of inotropic support, mechanical
      ventilation time and ICU stay was significantly less in Off-Pump group (p-value
      0.001, <0.0001, 0.006, 0.025 and 0.001 resp.). Peri-operative chest drainage was
      significantly high in On-pump CABG group (p-value 0.027). Incidence of post-op
      complications was not statistically different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: At
      30 days follow-up, Incidence of myocardial infarction, necessity and duration of
      inotropic support, ICU stay period and peri-operative bleeding were significantly
      less in off-pump group. The incidence of neurologic, pulmonary and renal
      complications was same between the off-pump and on-pump groups.

PMID- 27648040
TI  - Preterm birth in twin pregnancies: Clinical outcomes and predictive parameters.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To document the neonatal outcomes of preterm birth in twin pregnancies
      and to investigate whether perinatal and obstetric parameters are associated with
      clinical outcomes. METHODS: This retrospective trial was conducted on data
      gathered from 176 preterm twins delivered in the obstetrics and gynecology
      department of our tertiary care center. Data extracted from medical files of 88
      pregnant women who gave preterm birth (at 26(0/7) to 36(6/7) gestational weeks)
      to twins were analyzed. Maternal/fetal descriptive and obstetric parameters,
      sonographic data, route of delivery, indication for cesarean section, birth
      weight, Apgar scores, head circumference, umbilical cord length and placental
      weight were noted. RESULTS: The average age of the pregnant women was 28.8+/-6.4
      years and ultrasonographic gestational age was 31.9+/-2.6 weeks. Apgar scores at
      1(st) minute were affected significantly by fetal body weight (p=0.001),
      gestational age (p=0.001), height (p=0.004) and head circumference (p=0.011).
      None of these variables exhibited a noteworthy effect on Apgar scores at 5(th)
      minute. CONCLUSION: Efforts must be made to achieve advancement of gestational
      age until delivery in the follow-up preterm of twins. A well-established
      algorithm with special emphasis to risk factors is necessary to standardize and
      popularize the appropriate management strategy.

PMID- 27648041
TI  - Comparison of permeatal medial placement of graft without raising the tympano
      meatal flaps to conventional methods of myringoplasty: An experience at tertiary
      care hospital in Pakistan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of permeatal approach without raising the
      tympano-meatal flap to end-aural or post-aural approach in myringoplasty.
      METHODS: This Quasi-experimental study was carried out in CMH (Combined Military
      Hospital) Peshawar, from August 2006 to July 2013. Three hundred fifty patients
      of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) with dry central; small, medium and
      large perforations were selected. They were divided into two groups depending
      upon the type of approach. In Group-A (n-200); permeatal approach without raising
      tympano-meatal flap was used; while in Group-B (n-150) end-aural or post-aural
      approach was used. Subjects were followed up for two years; graft take was
      checked regularly by examinations of ear under microscope. Data was collected on
      structured Performa and analysed by SPSS-17. RESULTS: Male and female were 74%
      and 26% respectively; Age ranged from 15 to 46 Years. There was no significant
      difference in the graft success at the end of two years in Group-A(80%) and Group
      B(85%) (p-0.261). Type of approach had a significant impact on duration of
      surgery(p<0.001) and post-operative recovery time(p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The
      permeatal approach and end-aural/post-aural approach had almost equal graft
      success rates, but former is more useful as it causes lesser morbidity, decreased
      post-operative hospital stay and reduced operative time. It is under-utilized and
      should be employed more frequently.

PMID- 27648042
TI  - Analysis of Carotid color ultrasonography and high sensitive C-reactive protein
      in patients with atherosclerotic cerebral infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To detect the correlation between high-sensitivity-CRP, carotid
      plaque, neurological function and intima-media thickness, and help physicians in
      the diagnosis of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction. METHODS: A total of 96
      patients with the first onset of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction were
      included in the study from July 2013 to May 2015. The test of high-sensitivity
      CRP, examination of carotid color ultrasonography and neurological function
      evaluation were carried out for all the participants. RESULTS: Ninety-six
      patients were divided into carotid plaque group and non-plaque group according to
      the existence of a carotid plaque after carotid artery ultrasonography. The
      carotid plaque group was further subdivided into stable plaque and unstable
      plaque subgroups according to plaque characteristics. The age in two subgroups
      was significantly higher than the non-plaque group (p<0.05). The unstable plaque
      subgroup presented with the highest values in intima-media thickness and high
      sensitivity-CRP level, followed by stable plaque subgroup and non-plaque group
      (p<0.05). With the nervous damage scale increase, the level of high-sensitivity
      CRP increase significantly (p<0.05). In addition, there was significant
      correlation between NIHSS score and high-sensitivity-CRP in patients with
      atherosclerotic cerebral infarction (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The level of high
      sensitivity-CRP and intima-media thickness is closely associated with the
      development of carotid plaque, and high-sensitivity-CRP can be regarded as a high
      sensitive index in deciding the risk and prognosis of atherosclerotic cerebral
      infarction.

PMID- 27648043
TI  - Doppler waveform study as indicator of change of portal pressure after
      administration of octreotide.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of portal pressure lowering drug 'octreotide',
      by observing the Doppler waveform before and after the administration of
      intravenous bolus of octreotide and thus to assess indirectly its efficacy to
      lower the portal pressure. METHODS: This quassi experimental study was carried
      out in Medical Department in collaboration with Radiology Department of Jinnah
      Postgraduate Medical Center Karachi Pakistan from September 10, 2015 to February
      5, 2016. Cases were selected from patients admitted in Medical Wards and those
      attending Medical OPD. Diagnosis of cirrhosis was confirmed by Clinical
      Examination and Lab & Imaging investigation in Medical Department. Doppler
      waveform study was done by experienced radiologist in Radiology Department before
      and after administration of octreotide. Doppler signals were obtained from the
      right hepatic vein. Waveform tracings were recorded for five seconds and
      categorized as 'monophasic', 'biphasic' and 'triphasic'. Waveform changes from
      one waveform to other were noted and analyzed. RESULTS: Significant change i.e.
      from 'monophasic' to 'biphasic' or 'biphasic' to 'triphasic' was seen in 56%
      cases while 'monophasic' to 'triphasic' was seen in 20% cases. No change was seen
      in 24% cases. Improvement in waveform reflects lowering of portal vein pressure.
      CONCLUSION: Non invasive Hepatic vein Doppler waveform study showed improvement
      in Doppler waveform after administration of octreotide in 76% cases. Doppler
      waveform study has the potential of becoming non invasive 'follow up tool' of
      choice for assessing portal pressure in patients having variceal bleed due to
      portal hypertension.

PMID- 27648044
TI  - Impact of admission serum total cholesterol level on in-hospital mortality in
      patients with acute aortic dissection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To find out the association between serum total cholesterol (TC) on
      admission and in-hospital mortality in patients with acute aortic dissection
      (AAD). METHODS: From January 2007 to January 2014, we enrolled 1492 consecutive
      AAD patients with serum TC measured immediately on admission. Baseline
      characteristics and in-hospital mortality were compared between the patients with
      serum TC above and below the median (4.00 mmol/L). Propensity score matching
      (PSM) was used to account for known confounders in the study. Cox proportional
      hazard model was performed to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence
      interval (CI) for admission serum TC levels. RESULTS: With the use of PSM, 521
      matched pairs of patients with AAD were yielded in this analysis due to their
      similar propensity scores. Patients with admission serum TC < 4.00 mmol/L, as
      compared with those with admission serum TC >= 4.00 mmol/L, had higher in
      hospital mortality (11.7% vs. 5.8%; HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.33-3.19, P = 0.001).
      Stratified analysis according to Stanford classification showed that the inverse
      association between admission serum TC and in-hospital mortality was observed in
      patients with Type-A AAD (24.0% vs. 11.3%; HR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.33 - 3.57, P =
      0.002) but not in those with Type-B AAD (3.8% vs. 2.2%; HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 0.67 -
      4.34, P = 0.261). CONCLUSIONS: Lower serum TC level on admission was strongly
      associated with higher in-hospital mortality in patients with Type-A AAD.

PMID- 27648045
TI  - Anti Mullerian Hormone: Ovarian response indicator in young patients receiving
      Long GnRH Agonist Protocol for Ovarian Stimulation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Anti Mullerian hormone (AMH) is gaining place as ovarian marker,
      chiefly in infertility assistance. We explored its correlation with oocytes
      retrieval after long GnRH agonist protocol for stimulation, in younger and older
      infertile population. METHODS: This retrospective analysis compiled data of 166
      females, receiving ICSI treatment from June 2014 to March 2015. Serum FSH, LH,
      Estadiol, AMH and antral follicle count were assessed. Outcomes were measured as
      good (5 to 19 oocytes) and bad responders. RESULTS: Higher discriminatory power
      of AMH (AUROC; 0.771; p < 0.05) was seen in comparison to FSH (0.692; p < 0.05)
      and AFC (0.690; p < 0.01). AMH reported strongest association with oocyte
      retrieved (odds ratio of 15.06). Subgroup analysis reported 68.6 % risk of bad
      response with AMH levels of less than 1.37ng/ml. This association was observed
      more significant in young infertile patients <35 year of age (r=0.245; p=0.012)
      versus older population >35 year (r=0.169; p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study
      reaffirms that serum AMH correlates well with oocytes retrieved, particularly in
      females younger than 35 years. We suggest incorporation of AMH in baseline
      assessment of infertile females, who are falsely advised to postpone
      interventions based on their age and normal FSH levels.

PMID- 27648046
TI  - Pregnancy rhinitis in Turkish women: Do gestational week, BMI and parity affect
      nasal congestion?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the cumulative incidence of pregnancy rhinitis along with
      prevalence in different trimesters and to find out whether gestational age, BMI
      and parity have any effect on pregnancy related nasal congestion. METHODS: In the
      prospective protocol at the obstetrics outpatient clinic, 167 pregnant women were
      enrolled consecutively. According to exclusion criteria, 67 of them were
      excluded. Visual-Analogue-Scale (VAS), Nasal-Obstructive-Symptom-Evaluation
      (NOSE) scale and Discharge-Inflammation-Polyps/Oedema (DIP) scoring were utilized
      for diagnosis of pregnancy rhinitis. Besides, weight, length, age, parity and
      week of pregnancy were recorded. RESULTS: Total prevalence of pregnancy rhinitis
      was 17.17% and cumulative incidence was 38.89%. Our study revealed significant
      relation of NOSE score with both gestational week (r=0.474, p=0.001) and BMI
      (r=0.301, p=0.003). VAS score was significantly related with gestational week
      (r=0.409, p=0.001) and BMI (r=0.270, p=0.007). DIP score was found to be
      correlated only with gestational week (r=0.375, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Cumulative
      incidence of pregnancy rhinitis was 38.89%. Nasal congestion was significantly
      associated with BMI and gestational week. Patients should be informed about
      unfavorable fetal and maternal outcomes of pregnancy related nasal congestion
      which is triggered by obesity and excessive weight gain in pregnancy.

PMID- 27648047
TI  - Measured versus calculated LDL-cholesterol in subjects with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is a strong positive association between increased low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and coronary heart disease (CHD). The accuracy of
      LDL-C estimation is essential and critically important. The aim of present study
      was to compare calculated LDL-C with direct homogeneous assay in patients with
      type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This observational study was carried out at Baqai
      Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BIDE) from January 2011 to December
      2013. A total of 9620 patients with type 2 diabetes were included in the study.
      Fasting blood glucose, total Cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol and LDL
      cholesterol were obtained using standard methods. Calculated LDL-C was obtained
      by Friedewald formula. RESULTS: Mean difference of measured and calculated LDL-C
      was found to be -0.25, 6.63 and 46.55 mg/dl at triglyceride levels < 150 mg/dl,
      150 - 400 mg/dl and >= 400 mg/dl, respectively. The result shows that the
      difference between measured and calculated LDL-C increases as the triglyceride
      level increases. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study suggested that calculated
      LDL-C was lower, as compared to measured LDL-C, which may cause
      misclassifications that may have an impact on therapeutic decisions in patients
      with diabetes. Calculated LDL-C may depend on triglyceride levels so LDL-C should
      be measured by direct assay in routine clinical laboratories.

PMID- 27648048
TI  - Therapeutic effects of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of combined 5-aminolevulinic acid
      (ALA) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) on genital warts and the safety. METHODS:
      One hundred ten patients with genital warts who were treated in our hospital from
      June 2013 to October 2014 were selected. The warts and affected parts were
      disinfected with benzalkonium bromide solution, and the warts were covered with
      absorbent cotton that had already been added freshly prepared 20% ALA solution,
      packaged and fixed. Then they were wet-dressed in dark, into which ALA solution
      was added according to the proportion of 5:3:2 every 30 minutes for three
      consecutive hours. Afterwards, the warts were illuminated by using photodynamic
      laser apparatus. The clinical outcomes, adverse reactions and recurrence rates
      were observed. RESULTS: Genital warts were relieved in 107 out of the 110 cases
      (cure rate: 97.3%). Male patients had significantly better treatment outcomes at
      the urethral orifice than those in other affected parts. In the 107 patients, the
      cure rate of male patients was 98.8%, and they were cured after being treated
      four times. In contrast, female patients, who were cured after 5 times of
      treatment, had the cure rate of 91.7%. Their cure rates were similar (chi(2)=0,
      P>0.05), but the males were cured after significantly fewer times of treatment
      than the females (t=-7.432, P<0.05). Five patients suffered from mild tingling or
      burning sensation upon dressing at the urethral orifice, and the others were all
      free from systemic adverse reactions. After illumination, a small portion of the
      patients had mildly red, swelling, painful affected parts, with mild edema that
      almost disappeared within three days. Three patients relapsed at the urethral
      orifice and were then cured after further treatment. CONCLUSION: ALA-PDT can
      treat genital warts safely with high cure rate and low recurrence rate,
      particularly working for those of males at the urethral orifice.

PMID- 27648049
TI  - Corneal Collagen Cross Linking (CXL) in treatment of Pseudophakic Bullous
      Keratopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine mean change in visual acuity, central corneal thickness
      and symptoms in patients with pseudophakic bullous keratopathy after treatment
      with corneal collagen crosslinking. METHODS: This quasi experimental study was
      conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from
      April 2015 to Nov 2015. A total of 24 eyes of 24 patients were included in the
      study. Visual symptoms were graded in five grades (Grade 1-5), Grade-1 being very
      mild with decreased vision only while patients with all five symptoms (decreased
      vision, foreign body sensations, pain, watering and photophobia) were graded as
      Grade-5. Corneal collagen cross linking using topical isotonic riboflavin
      followed by UVA radiations (3mW/cm(2) for 10 minutes) was performed in all the
      patients. Visual acuity (VA), visual symptoms and central corneal thickness (CCT)
      were recorded before and 04 weeks after the treatment. RESULTS: A total of 24
      eyes of 24 patients (18 male and 6 females) underwent surgery. Age of the
      patients ranged from 55 to 75 years with mean age 65.83 + 3.89 years. Mean visual
      acuity was 2.09 + 0.23 before treatment while after treatment it was 2.13 + 0.22.
      Mean CCT as measured by optical pachymetry (Galilae G6) was 753.96 + 55.16 and
      641+ 29.25 before and after surgery respectively. Improvement of clinical
      symptoms was seen in all the patients. CONCLUSION: Corneal collagen cross linking
      is a temporary but effective symptomatic treatment of pseudophakic bullous
      keratopathy.

PMID- 27648050
TI  - Clinical Comparative Study of the Effects of Helicobacter Pylori Colonization on
      Oral Health in Children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To isolate Helicobacter pylori (HP) from the dental plaque of a
      selected group of children and to compare the oral and salivary findings of
      patients with those of a healthy control group. METHODS: A total of 70 children
      aged 5-15 years were included in this study. An intraoral examination was
      performed for each patient, and dental plaque and saliva specimens were collected
      for analysis. Oral health conditions, nutritional habits, tooth brushing
      frequency, saliva pH levels, flow velocity, and buffering capacities were noted.
      The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparison of the DMFT and dft index. The
      significance level was set at p=0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of HP in dental
      plaque was higher in study group than controls (p<0.05). There were no
      significant differences between groups with respect to DMFT and dft scores,
      nutritional habits, tooth brushing frequency, saliva pH level or flow velocity
      (p>0.05). Meanwhile, the buffering capacity of saliva was lower in HP gastritis
      patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of HP in dental
      plaque; thus, the oral cavity may be an important reservoir for HP. Good oral
      hygiene could be a positive contributor to the treatment of gastritis.

PMID- 27648051
TI  - Comparison of effectiveness and cost of patent ductus arteriosus device occlusion
      versus surgical ligation of patent ductus arteriosus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Comparison of effectiveness and cost of transcatheter occlusion of
      patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with surgical ligation of PDA. METHODS: This
      retrospective comparative study was conducted in the pediatric cardiology
      department of Ch. Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology Multan, Pakistan. Data of
      250 patients who underwent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure either surgical
      or trans-catheter closure using SHSMA Occluder having weight >5 kg from April
      2012 to October 2015 were included in this study. SPSS version 20 was used for
      data analysis. Quantitative variables were compared using independent sample t
      test. Chi-square test and fishers exact was used for qualitative variables. P
      value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were one
      hundred and twenty (120) patients who underwent transcatheter occlusion of PDA
      using SHSMA occluder (PDA Device Group) and one hundred and thirty (130) patients
      who underwent surgical ligation of PDA (Surgical Group). Incidence of residual
      shunting was two (1.5%) in surgical group and 0 (0.0%) in PDA Device group for
      one month follow up period. There were 4 (3.1%) major complications in surgical
      group. The rate of blood transfusions were high in surgical group (p-value 0.04).
      Hospital stay time was significantly less in PDA Device group (P-value <0.001).
      Total procedural cost was 110695+1054 Pakistani rupees in PDA Device group and
      92414+3512 in surgical group (p-value <0.001). The cost of PDA device closure was
      16.52% higher than the surgical ligation of PDA. There was no operative
      mortality. CONCLUSION: The transcatheter closure of PDA is an effective and less
      invasive method as compared to the surgical ligation. There is a lower rate of
      complications and the cost is not much high as compared to surgical PDA ligation.

PMID- 27648052
TI  - Advantages of caudal block over intrarectal local anesthesia plus periprostatic
      nerve block for transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare caudal block with intrarectal local anesthesia plus
      periprostatic nerve block for transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy.
      METHODS: One hundred and ninety patients scheduled for transrectal ultrasound
      guided prostate biopsy were randomized equally into Group-A who received caudal
      block (20 ml 1.2% lidocaine) and Group-B who received intrarectal local
      anesthesia (0.3% oxybuprocaine cream) plus periprostatic nerve block (10 ml 1%
      lidocaine plus 0.5% ropivacaine) before biopsy. During and after the procedure,
      the patients rated the level of pain/discomfort at various time points.
      Complications during the whole study period and the patient overall satisfaction
      were also evaluated. RESULTS: More pain and discomfort was detected during
      periprostatic nerve block than during caudal block. Pain and discomfort was
      significantly lower during prostate biopsy and during the manipulation of the
      probe in the rectum in Group-A than in Group-B. No significant differences were
      detected in the pain intensity after biopsy and side effects between the two
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Caudal block provides better anesthesia than periprostatic
      nerve block plus intrarectal local anesthesia for TRUS guided prostate biopsy
      without an increase of side effects.

PMID- 27648053
TI  - Task oriented training improves the balance outcome & reducing fall risk in
      diabetic population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective was to determine the balance impairments and to compare
      task oriented versus traditional balance training in fall reduction among
      diabetic patients. METHODS: The randomized control trial with descriptive survey
      and 196 diabetic patients were recruited to assess balance impairments through
      purposive sampling technique. Eighteen patients were randomly allocated into two
      groups; task oriented balance training group TOB (n=8) and traditional balance
      training group TBT (n=10). The inclusion criteria were 30-50 years age bracket
      and diagnosed cases of Diabetes Mellitus with neuropathy. The demographics were
      taken through standardized & valid assessment tools include Berg Balance Scale
      and Functional Reach Test. The measurements were obtained at baseline, after 04
      and 08 weeks of training. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 49 +/
      6.79. The result shows that 165(84%) were at moderate risk of fall and 31(15%)
      were at mild risk of fall among total 196 diabetic patients. There was
      significant improvement (p <0.05) in task oriented balance training group for
      dynamic balance, anticipatory balance and reactive balance after 8 weeks of
      training as compare to traditional balance training. CONCLUSION: Task oriented
      balance training is effective in improving the dynamic, anticipator and reactive
      balance. The task oriented training reduces the risk of falling through enhancing
      balance outcome.

PMID- 27648054
TI  - Factors influencing development of professional values among nursing students.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the professional values of Turkish nursing students, and
      to explore the relationships between their characteristics. METHODS: The cross
      sectional study participants consisted of 416 nursing students who were studying
      in a nursing faculty in Western Turkey. A questionnaire was used to identify
      socio-demographic and educational characteristics and the Nursing Professional
      Values Scale- Revised (NPVS-R) was used for this study.. RESULTS: The total mean
      score of the NPVS-R was found to be 99.45+/-1.96, and items mean score was 3.82+/
      0.62. The NPVS-R score was significantly higher in students who were female, and
      who chose their profession willingly, had information about values, and who were
      members of a professional organization. CONCLUSION: The students were found to
      have strong professional values, and professional values affected some of the
      personal and educational characteristics of nursing students.

PMID- 27648055
TI  - Son Preference in Pakistan; A Myth or Reality.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze desire for sons/daughters among ladies of Peshawar,
      Pakistan, with a view to rule out son preference and to study impact of various
      demographic characteristics on the subject. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive
      study conducted at Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar, from August 2015 -
      January 2016; sampling technique was random/probability/non-purposive. Self
      designed questionnaire was utilized; carrying questions pertinent to desire for
      sons/daughters during marital life, and demographic details. Data analyzed via
      descriptive analysis (SPSS-21), expressed as frequencies/percentages and mean +/-
      standard deviation(minimum/maximum). Sons and daughters desired (dependent
      variables) were cross-tabulated with independent variables. RESULTS: Response
      rate was 63.25% (n-506). Data revealed following: Sons desired 3.05+/
      2.061(1/12); Daughters desired 1.15+/-0.767(0/4); 6.1%(n-31) and 0.6%(n-3)
      desired infinite number of sons and daughters respectively, 18.2%(n-92) did not
      desire to have even one daughter, while 2.2%(n-11) considered it immaterial to
      have daughters or sons. There was a significant relation between sons desired and
      client's education (p<0.001), husband's education (p<0.001) and socioeconomic
      class (p<0.001). There was no significant impact of religion (p-0.142) on desire
      for sons. Impact of independent variables on daughters desired was similar but
      less pronounced. CONCLUSION: There was candid son preference among the
      respondents. Gender discrimination can be attenuated by adequately addressing son
      preference at all tiers.

PMID- 27648056
TI  - Antimicrobial stewardship program in a Malaysian district hospital: First year
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS & OBJECTIVE: Antimicrobial resistance is an alarming public health
      threat that requires urgent global solution. Implementation of antimicrobial
      stewardship program (ASP) is an essential practice element for healthcare
      institutions in gate-keeping judicious antimicrobial use. This study highlighted
      the development, first year experience, and result of the implementation of ASP
      utilizing persuasive and restrictive approaches in a Malaysian district hospital.
      METHODS: An observational study was conducted between January 2015 to December
      2015 on implementation of ASP among hospitalized inpatients age 12 years old and
      above. RESULTS: Recommendations were provided for 60% of cases (110 patients)
      with the average acceptance rate of 83.33%. Majority of the interventions were to
      stop the antimicrobial therapy (30.3%), and the most common audited
      antimicrobials was Piperacillin/Tazobactam (25.5%), followed by Meropenem
      (11.82%), Amoxicillin/Clavulanate and Vancomycin (8.18%) respectively. The
      concordance rate towards authorization policy was increased in 2015 (71.59% of
      cases) as compared before the implementation of ASP in 2014 (60.6% of cases).
      Restrictive enforcement under ASP had been shown to improve significantly
      adherence rate towards antimicrobials authorization policy (p-value: 0.004).
      CONCLUSION: ASP was successfully implemented in a district hospital. Future
      studies on its clinical outcomes are important to evaluate its effectiveness as
      well as focus on the improvement to the pre-existing strategies and measures.

PMID- 27648057
TI  - Effect of aerobic exercises on stuttering.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Stuttering is one of the most common speech disorders
      in adolescents than adults. Stuttering results in depression, anxiety, behavioral
      problem, social isolation and communication problems in daily life. Our objective
      was to determine the effect of Aerobic Exercises (AE) on stuttering. METHODS: A
      quasi trail was conducted at National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM)
      from January to June 2015. Thirty patients were selected and placed in three
      different groups Experimental Group A, (EG = 10 patients, age between 7-14
      years), Experimental Group B (EG =10 patients age between 15-28 years) and
      control group -group C, (CG = 10 patients, age between 7-28 years). Patient who
      stutter were included in this study and those with any other pathology or
      comorbidity of speech disorders were excluded. The assessment tool used was Real
      Time analysis of speech fluency scale. Participants in all the groups received
      speech therapy while only the EG - A and B received aerobic exercises (AE) using
      treadmill and stationary bicycle along with the speech therapy. Pre
      interventional and post interventional assessments were analyzed using the SPSS
      21 in order to determine the significance of new treatment approach and the
      effectiveness of physical therapy on speech disorders. RESULTS: All the groups
      showed significant treatment effects but both the EG groups (Group A, Group B)
      showed high improvement in the severity level of stuttering as compared to
      control group C. The results also showed that AE treated group B had significant
      difference in p-value (p=0.027) as compared to control group (p<0.05) while
      experimental group A had no significant difference (p > 0.05) between these
      groups. CONCLUSION: The eclectic approach of aerobic exercises with the
      traditional speech therapy provides proximal rehabilitation of stuttering.

PMID- 27648058
TI  - Peer Interaction and Group Education for Adaptation to Disease in Adolescents
      with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of group interaction and training in the
      adaptation process to disease in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus
      (T1DM). METHODS: This experimental study with pre- and post-test control groups
      was conducted in the pediatric endocrine clinic at a university hospital. The
      data were collected through descriptive data form, social support assessment
      scale, self-esteem inventory and information form. The data collection forms were
      administered four times with 3-month intervals to the study and control groups.
      Training, peer interaction and social support attempts were provided to the study
      group. RESULTS: After the training and peer interaction, it was determined that
      there was a decrease in HbA1c levels and an increase in self-esteem (p<0.001) and
      mean scores of social support (p<0.05), and significant increase in knowledge
      levels (p<0.001). As for the adolescents in the control group, it was determined
      that there was no change in their HbA1c levels (p>0.05), and that there was no
      difference in their self-esteem scores, mean knowledge levels (p>0.05) in
      comparison with their pre-test scores. CONCLUSION: The training and peer
      interaction in adolescents were found to be effective in the adaptation process
      to the disease.

PMID- 27648059
TI  - Knowledge and attitude regarding Ebola virus disease among medical students of
      Rawalpindi: A preventable threat not yet confronted.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding Ebola virus disease
      (EVD) among medical students of Rawalpindi. METHODS: A descriptive cross
      sectional study was carried out in a medical college of Rawalpindi from September
      2014-November 2014. About 400 students were inducted with 77% (n=308) response
      rate. After taking informed verbal consent from students and administration, a
      pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was circulated among students of third,
      fourth and final year MBBS as well as third and fourth year BDS. The data
      collected was entered and analyzed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: The response rate was
      77% (308/400). About 244 (79.2%) of students had heard about EVD before. One
      hundred and sixty four (53.2%) of the students correctly identified that no
      treatment is available for EVD as yet. Also 163 (52.9%) said that no vaccine was
      available against the virus either. Washing hands every time after touching a
      patient in clinics/wards was important for 151 (49.0%) while 223 (72.4%) claimed
      to use proper techniques to dispose off used injections. CONCLUSION: Students
      have basic knowledge regarding EVD. However, there is deficient information
      regarding the diagnosis and precautionary measures required to control it.

PMID- 27648060
TI  - Clinical value of mammography in diagnosis and identification of breast mass.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effect and clinical value of mammography in the diagnosis
      of breast lump so as to improve the diagnosis level of breast cancer. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was carried out on clinical data of 110 patients with
      mammary lump confirmed by pathology to study the compliance of mammography
      diagnosis and Pathology diagnosis in breast lump, and the detection of
      microcalcifications, phyllode, and observe the image performance of mammography.
      Taking infitrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) as an example, the correlation of image
      performance and clinical pathological features of different types was studied so
      as to predict if mammography performance was effective in the treatment and
      prognosis in breast cancer. RESULTS: Taking Breast Imaging Reporting and Data
      System (BI-RADS) grade 4A as the critical point, the sensitivity, specificity and
      accuracy of mammography was 90.80% (109/120), 84.60% (126/149) and 87.40%
      (235/269); taking BI-RADS grade 4B as the critical point, the sensitivity,
      specificity and accuracy of mammography was 85.00% (102/120), 93.30% (139/149)
      and 89.60% (241/269); the correlation analysis suggested that, there was some
      kind of correlation between the mammography performance and clinical features of
      breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Mammography is worth being promoted in clinic for its
      significant clinical value in diagnosing and identifying breast lump.

PMID- 27648061
TI  - Comparison of maternal serum lipoproteins in normal pregnancy and primiparous
      patients with eclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with
      eclampsia and compare it with pregnant women having normal blood pressure.
      METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted on 65 primiparous eclamptic
      patients and 21 normotensive pregnant women in the tertiary care hospitals of
      Peshawar. History of each woman was recorded on a questionnaire. Blood pressure
      was measured using standard methods. About 5 ml of venous blood was drawn for the
      analysis of lipoproteins. The data was analyzed using computer software package
      SPSS version 10. The P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
      RESULTS: Mean age of hypertensive cases was 23.2 +/- 0.52 years while that for
      controls was 23.9 +/- 1.16 years. Significant differences were found in serum
      lipoproteins. Women having eclampsia had 28.8%, 29.5%, 31.1%, 32.9% and 65.3%
      higher, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDLC), triglycerides (TG), total
      cholesterol (TC):high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDLC) ratio, LDLC: HDLC
      ratio and TG: HDLC ratio respectively as compared to the control group. The HDLC
      concentrations, HDLC: VLDLC ratio and apolipoprotein-A1 level were 26.9%, 56.6%
      and 27.9% respectively, lower in the patient group as compared to the controls.
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests that evaluation of lipoprotein concentrations
      during antenatal period can be helpful in the early detection and prevention of
      developing eclampsia.

PMID- 27648063
TI  - Zika virus: Epidemiology, current phobia and preparedness for upcoming mass
      gatherings, with examples from World Olympics and Pilgrimage.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe Zika Virus (ZIKV) epidemiology, current phobia, and the
      required preparedness for its prevention during the upcoming Mass Gathering (MG)
      events. METHODS: Electronic databases of PubMed, WHO, CDC, Pan American Health
      Organization (PAHO), Google, and Cochrane library were extensively searched for
      ZIKV. Articles were reviewed, scrutinized and critically appraised and the most
      relevant articles were utilized. RESULTS: ZIKV is an emerging Flavivirus which
      was first isolated from Uganda in 1947. It is transmitted mainly through bite of
      Aedes mosquitoes. Sexual, perinatal and blood-borne transmissions are implicated.
      ZIKV is incriminated to cause microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome. The spiky
      spread of ZIKV and its epidemic potential are especially problematic in countries
      which host big MGs with endogenous ZIKV circulation. This put millions of
      international travelers and local inhabitants at risk of acquiring ZIKV,
      especially in absence of vaccine until now. Brazil Olympic and Paralympics Games,
      and Muslims Hajj in Saudi Arabia are important upcoming MGs. Regarding Brazil,
      swiftly epidemic of ZIKV causes phobia and provokes claims and counter-claims
      about possible postponing or cancellation of such events. RECOMMENDATIONS:
      Intensifying ZIKV epidemiological surveillance (sentinel, syndromic,
      environmental, laboratory and electronic), and conduction of educational programs
      are required. Controlling Aedes vector (chemically & biologically) is essential.
      Multidisciplinary cooperation is required to win the war against ZIKV.

PMID- 27648062
TI  - Insomnia during pregnancy: Diagnosis and Rational Interventions.
AB  - Sleep disturbances are common in pregnancy. Insomnia is a frequent sleep
      disturbance experienced by pregnant women which can be primary or due to co
      morbid conditions. The differential diagnosis of insomnia in pregnancy includes
      anxiety disorders, mood disorders, breathing related sleep disorders and restless
      legs syndrome. Early interventions to treat the sleep disturbance are recommended
      to avoid adverse pregnancy outcomes. Management strategies include improving
      sleep hygiene, behavioral therapies, and pharmacotherapy. The risks of
      pharmacotherapy must be weighed against their benefits due to the possible risk
      of teratogenicity associated with some medications. METHODS: We searched PubMed
      and Google Scholar employing a combination of key words: pregnancy, sleep
      disturbances, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep disorders and insomnia. We included
      original studies, review articles, meta-analysis and systematic reviews in our
      search prioritizing articles from the last 10-15 years. Articles older than 15
      years were only included if their findings had not been superseded by more recent
      data. Further selection of articles was done from bibliographies and references
      of selected articles. CONCLUSION: Sleep disturbances in pregnancy are common and
      cause considerable morbidity. Management includes a combination of non
      pharmacological and pharmacological treatments carefully weighing the risks and
      benefits of each for the expectant mother and fetus.

PMID- 27648064
TI  - Adrenalectomy for solitary metastasis of Hepatocellular carcinoma post liver
      transplantation: Case report and literature review.
AB  - Liver transplantation (LT) is the treatment of choice for localized
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with cirrhosis. Extra hepatic
      metastasis is the most common cause of death in these patients. There is very
      little evidence regarding the natural history and treatment options for patients
      developing HCC recurrence after LT. Surgical resection offers a unique
      opportunity for solitary metastasis. We report a 61 year old male with solitary
      right adrenal metastasis 15 months post LT which was managed with open
      adrenalectomy. The patient is alive and disease free 24 months after the surgery.
      The case, histo-pathological findings and literature review is discussed. 

PMID- 27648065
TI  - An Unusual Cause of Foot Drop: Peroneal Extraneural Ganglion Cyst.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathies caused by ganglion cysts are quite rare, especially in
      the lower extremities. The case of a 64-year-old male with a 2-day history of
      foot drop and tenderness in the region of the left fibular neck is presented.
      Physical examination and electromyogram findings verified peroneal nerve palsy.
      Ultrasonography showed cystic mass localized proximal of the peroneal muscle
      structures. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic-appearing mass around
      the fibular neck that compressed the common peroneal nerve. Surgical excision and
      ligation of the cyst pedicle were performed. The pathology reports confirmed the
      diagnosis of a ganglion cyst. The patient regained full function within two
      months of the surgery. Early sensory symptoms before foot drop should be
      considered as an indication of surgical excision to prevent delayed damage.
      Ligation or electrocoagulation of the cyst pedicle should be a part of surgical
      procedure to avoid recurrences. 

PMID- 27648066
TI  - Hyperthyroid hypokalemic periodic paralysis.
AB  - Hyperthyroid periodic paralysis (HPP) is a rare life threatening complication of
      hyperthyroidism commonly occurring in young Asian males but sporadically found in
      other races. It is characterised by hypokalemia and acute onset paraparesis with
      prevalence of one in one hundred thousand (1 in 100000). The symptoms resolve
      promptly with potassium supplementation. Nonselective beta blockers like
      propranol can also be used to ameliorate and prevent subsequent paralytic attack.
      We report a case of 22 year old male presenting with hyperthyroid periodic
      paralysis (HPP) having very low serum potassium level. 

PMID- 27648067
TI  - Proceedings of International Medical Conference organized by Royal College of
      Physicians London and Azra Naheed Medical College, Lahore (February 26-28, 2016).

PMID- 27648068
TI  - Self-Reported Prevalence of Gluten-Related Disorders and Adherence to Gluten-Free
      Diet in Colombian Adult Population.
AB  - Background. Celiac disease seems to be rare in Colombians, but there are
      currently no data about the prevalence rates of symptomatic adverse reactions to
      gluten or adherence to gluten-free diet (GFD) in this population. Aim. to
      evaluate the self-reported prevalence rates of adverse reactions to gluten,
      adherence to GFD, and gluten-related disorders at population level in Colombia.
      Methods. A self-administered questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was
      conducted in a population from Northwest Colombia. Results. The estimated
      prevalence rates were (95% CI) 7.9% (6.5-9.6) and 5.3% (4.1-6.7) for adverse and
      recurrent adverse reactions to wheat/gluten, respectively, adherence to GFD 5.9%
      (4.7-7.4), wheat allergy 0.74% (0.3-1.4), and nonceliac gluten sensitivity 4.5%
      (3.5-5.8). There were no self-reported cases of celiac disease. Prevalence of
      self-reported physician-diagnosis of gluten-related disorders was 0.41% (0.17
      0.96). Most respondents reported adherence to GFD without a physician-diagnosis
      of gluten-related disorders (97.2%). The proportion of gluten avoiders was 17.2%
      (15.2-19.5). Most of them did not report recurrent adverse reactions to
      wheat/gluten (87.0%). Conclusions. Nonceliac gluten sensitivity is rarely
      formally diagnosed in Colombia, but this population has the highest prevalence
      rate of adherence to GFD reported to date. Consequently, most respondents were
      avoiding wheat- and/or gluten-based products for reasons other than health
      related symptoms. 

PMID- 27648069
TI  - Epidemiological Mapping of Human Onchocerciasis in Transmission Suspected
      Districts of Bale, Borena, and West Arsi Zones of Eastern Ethiopia.
AB  - Onchocerciasis is mainly found in western part of Ethiopia and there is no
      evidence of transmission in the east ward. However, some zones (Bale, Borena, and
      West Arsi) are suspected for transmission given the area has fast flowing rivers
      and is covered with vegetation. Therefore, this study was conducted to map
      onchocerciasis transmission in those zones. About 19 villages were selected based
      on proximity to the rivers, representation of districts, zones, and vegetation
      covers, whereas the study participants, all village residents of age > 5 years
      with good health condition, were skin sniped and examined using microscopy. In
      this study a total of 2560 study participants were surveyed of which 1332 were
      female (52%) and 122 were male (48%). The age group of 21-30 years was highest
      (34.4%) and that of age > 51 years was the lowest (3.1%) study participants. The
      survey result revealed that none of the study participants regardless of age,
      sex, and location demonstrated skin snip Onchocerca microfilariae. The prevalence
      of microfilariae and community microfilarial load (CMFL) were 0% and 0 mf/s,
      respectively. The finding implied that there is no onchocerciasis in the area
      and, therefore, there is no need for interventions. Black fly distribution,
      cytotaxonomic study, and intraborder cross transmission monitoring are
      recommended. 

PMID- 27648070
TI  - The Association between Treatment for Metabolic Disorders and Breast Cancer
      Characteristics.
AB  - Purpose. To evaluate the associations between metformin, insulin, statins, and
      levothyroxine and breast cancer characteristics and outcome. Methods.
      Retrospective chart review of patients treated in our institute for early
      estrogen receptor (ER) positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
      negative breast cancer, whose tumors were sent to Oncotype DX (ODX) analysis.
      Patients were grouped according to medications usage during the time of breast
      cancer diagnosis. Each group was compared to the rest of the study population.
      Results. The study cohort included 671 patients. Sixty (9.1%) patients were
      treated with metformin, 9 (1.4%) with insulin, 208 (31.7%) with statins, and 62
      (9.4%) with levothyroxine. Patients treated with metformin had more intense ER
      stain (p = 0.032) and a lower ODX recurrence score (RS) (p = 0.035). Diagnosis of
      diabetes mellitus was also associated with lower ODX RS (p = 0.014). Insulin
      usage was associated with a higher rate of angiolymphatic invasion (p = 0.041),
      but lower Ki67% (p = 0.017). Levothyroxine usage was associated with different
      histological subtype distribution (p = 0.02). Extended levothyroxine usage was
      associated with lower ODX RS (p = 0.005). Statin usage had no impact on tumor
      characteristics. Outcome was comparable in the studied subgroups. Conclusions.
      Common medications for metabolic disorders might be associated with breast cancer
      characteristics. 

PMID- 27648071
TI  - The Improvement of Hyperglycemia after RYGB Surgery in Diabetic Rats Is Related
      to Elevated Hypothalamus GLP-1 Receptor Expression.
AB  - Objectives. This study aimed to explore the expression of GLP-1 receptor in
      hypothalamus and gastrointestinal tissues after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB)
      surgery in diabetic rats. Methods. Male 12-week-old Wistar rats (control) and
      Goto-Kakizaki rats (diabetic) were randomly divided into two groups,
      respectively: control sham surgery group (C), control RYGB group (C + R),
      diabetic sham surgery group (D), and diabetic RYGB group (D + R). Body weight and
      blood glucose were monitored before and after surgery every week. Eight weeks
      after surgery, all rats were sacrificed and the serum fasting GLP-1
      concentrations were measured by ELISA. GLP-1R and DPP-4 expression in
      hypothalamus and ileum were measured by RT-PCR. Results. The body weight and
      fasting/random blood glucose in the D + R group decreased significantly compared
      with the D group (P < 0.05). Serum GLP-1 levels in diabetic rats treated with
      RYGB were higher than the corresponding sham surgery rats. The expression of GLP
      1R of hypothalamus in RYGB-treated diabetic rats was significantly higher than
      those of the sham surgery diabetic rats and both control group rats (P < 0.05).
      We found a negative correlation between hypothalamus GLP-1R mRNA and blood
      glucose level. No significant difference was seen in ileum GLP-1R and DPP-4
      expression among all groups. Conclusions. RYGB efficiently promoted serum GLP-1
      levels and the expression of GLP-1 receptor in the hypothalamus in diabetic rats.
      These data suggest that the hypothalamus GLP-1R may play an important role in the
      GLP-1 system for improving glucose homeostasis after reconstruction of the
      gastrointestinal tract. 

PMID- 27648072
TI  - A Potential Therapeutic Role of Myoinositol in the Metabolic and Cardiovascular
      Profile of PCOS Iranian Women Aged between 30 and 40 Years.
AB  - Introduction. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder in
      reproductive age. This pilot study investigated the effects of myoinositol (MI)
      treatment on metabolic and cardiovascular profile in PCOS women over 30 years of
      age. Methods. Between 2015 and 2016, 50 women with diagnosis of PCOS by the
      Rotterdam Criteria were included in the study. All women received MI 2 g plus 200
      MUg of folic acid (Inofolic, Health Parsian, Iran; twice daily) for 3 months.
      Baseline and 3-month serum samples were taken after an overnight fast to evaluate
      the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), fasting glucose, and the levels of
      triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density
      lipoprotein (LDL), homocysteine, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood
      pressure. Participants' weight was measured before and after treatment and body
      mass index (BMI) was calculated. Results. The data showed a significant
      improvement in the serum level of insulin sensitivity and a reduction of
      cholesterol, LDL, and homocysteine after three months of treatment. Furthermore,
      blood pressure was significantly reduced in the treated patients. Three
      participants became pregnant during treatment. Conclusion. Results showed that
      supplementation with MI and folic acid in PCOS patients over 30 years of age
      could decrease the risk of cardiovascular problems by normalizing the metabolic
      profile. 

PMID- 27648073
TI  - Knowledge of Latin American Obstetricians and Gynecologists regarding Heavy
      Menstrual Bleeding.
AB  - Background. Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is a common gynecological complaint
      affecting quality of life. Objectives. To assess knowledge on diagnosis and
      treatments of HMB of Latin American (LA) obstetricians and gynecologists
      (OBGYNs). Methods. A survey was conducted during a scientific meeting, organized
      to provide updated information on topics of reproductive medicine to OBGYNs from
      12 LA countries who were invited to respond to a multiple-choice questionnaire.
      Results. Of the 210 OBGYNs participating in the survey, from 169 (80.4%) to 203
      (96.7%) answered the questions. Most respondents (80%) gave accurate answers
      regarding the amount of blood loss which defines HMB, underreported the
      proportion of women who consulted due to HMB, and were aware that the use of
      combined oral contraceptives (COCs) with ethynyl estradiol is not an adequate
      treatment in women with HMB. Female OBGYNs and those who worked in the private
      sector were more prone to report a higher possibility of improvement of HMB with
      a COC that contained estradiol valerate and dienogest or with a levonorgestrel
      releasing intrauterine system. Conclusions. In general, the respondents were
      aware of the importance of HMB in gynecological practice and of the new medical
      treatments and underreported the proportion of women who consulted due to HMB. 

PMID- 27648074
TI  - The Regulatory Effects of Long Noncoding RNA-ANCR on Dental Tissue-Derived Stem
      Cells.
AB  - Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) have been recognized as important regulators in
      diverse biological processes, such as transcriptional regulation, stem cell
      proliferation, and differentiation. Previous study has demonstrated that lncRNA
      ANCR (antidifferentiation ncRNA) plays a key role in regulating the proliferation
      and osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs).
      However, little is known about the role of ANCR in regulating other types of
      dental tissue-derived stem cells (DTSCs) behaviours (including proliferation and
      multiple-potential of differentiation). In this study, we investigated the
      regulatory effects of lncRNA-ANCR on the proliferation and differentiation
      (including osteogenic, adipogenic, and neurogenic differentiation) of DTSCs,
      including dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), PDLSCs, and stem cells from the apical
      papilla (SCAP) by downregulation of lncRNA-ANCR. We found that downregulation of
      ANCR exerted little effect on proliferation of DPSCs and SCAP but promoted the
      osteogenic, adipogenic, and neurogenic differentiation of DTSCs. These data
      provide an insight into the regulatory effects of long noncoding RNA-ANCR on
      DTSCs and indicate that ANCR is a very important regulatory factor in stem cell
      differentiation. 

PMID- 27648075
TI  - Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cell Treatment Induces Specific Alloantibodies in
      Horses.
AB  - Background. It is unknown whether horses that receive allogeneic mesenchymal stem
      cells (MSCs) injections develop specific humoral immune response. Our goal was to
      develop and validate a flow cytometric MSC crossmatch procedure and to determine
      if horses that received allogeneic MSCs in a clinical setting developed
      measurable antibodies following MSC administration. Methods. Serum was collected
      from a total of 19 horses enrolled in 3 different research projects. Horses in
      the 3 studies all received unmatched allogeneic MSCs. Bone marrow (BM) or adipose
      tissue derived MSCs (ad-MSCs) were administered via intravenous, intra-arterial,
      intratendon, or intraocular routes. Anti-MSCs and anti-bovine serum albumin
      antibodies were detected via flow cytometry and ELISA, respectively. Results.
      Overall, anti-MSC antibodies were detected in 37% of the horses. The majority of
      horses (89%) were positive for anti-bovine serum albumin (BSA) antibodies prior
      to and after MSC injection. Finally, there was no correlation between the amount
      of anti-BSA antibody and the development of anti-MSC antibodies. Conclusion. Anti
      allo-MSC antibody development was common; however, the significance of these
      antibodies is unknown. There was no correlation between either the presence or
      absence of antibodies and the percent antibody binding to MSCs and any adverse
      reaction to a MSC injection. 

PMID- 27648076
TI  - Innovative Dental Stem Cell-Based Research Approaches: The Future of Dentistry.
AB  - Over the past decade, the dental field has benefited from recent findings in stem
      cell biology and tissue engineering that led to the elaboration of novel ideas
      and concepts for the regeneration of dental tissues or entire new teeth. In
      particular, stem cell-based regenerative approaches are extremely promising since
      they aim at the full restoration of lost or damaged tissues, ensuring thus their
      functionality. These therapeutic approaches are already applied with success in
      clinics for the regeneration of other organs and consist of manipulation of stem
      cells and their administration to patients. Stem cells have the potential to self
      renew and to give rise to a variety of cell types that ensure tissue repair and
      regeneration throughout life. During the last decades, several adult stem cell
      populations have been isolated from dental and periodontal tissues,
      characterized, and tested for their potential applications in regenerative
      dentistry. Here we briefly present the various stem cell-based treatment
      approaches and strategies that could be translated in dental practice and
      revolutionize dentistry. 

PMID- 27648077
TI  - Role of MSX1 in Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells.
AB  - Msh homeobox 1 (MSX1) encodes a transcription factor implicated in embryonic
      development of limbs and craniofacial tissues including bone and teeth. Although
      MSX1 regulates osteoblast differentiation in the cranial bone of young animal,
      little is known about the contribution of MSX1 to the osteogenic potential of
      human cells. In the present study, we investigate the role of MSX1 in osteogenic
      differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells isolated from deciduous teeth.
      When these cells were exposed to osteogenesis-induction medium, runt-related
      transcription factor-2 (RUNX2), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2), alkaline
      phosphatase (ALPL), and osteocalcin (OCN) mRNA levels, as well as alkaline
      phosphatase activity, increased on days 4-12, and thereafter the matrix was
      calcified on day 14. However, knockdown of MSX1 with small interfering RNA
      abolished the induction of the osteoblast-related gene expression, alkaline
      phosphatase activity, and calcification. Interestingly, DNA microarray and PCR
      analyses revealed that MSX1 knockdown induced the sterol regulatory element
      binding protein 2 (SREBP2) transcriptional factor and its downstream target genes
      in the cholesterol synthesis pathway. Inhibition of cholesterol synthesis
      enhances osteoblast differentiation of various mesenchymal cells. Thus, MSX1 may
      downregulate the cholesterol synthesis-related genes to ensure osteoblast
      differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells. 

PMID- 27648079
TI  - Comparison of Axillary and Tympanic Temperature Measurements in Children
      Diagnosed with Acute Otitis Media.
AB  - Background. Acute otitis media [AOM] may affect the accuracy of tympanic
      temperature measurements. We aimed to compare tympanic temperature measurements
      in patients with AOM against control groups, as well as compare the tympanic
      temperatures with axillary thermometry. Methods. This is a prospective,
      observational study. Patients from pediatric outpatient and emergency clinics who
      were diagnosed as single-sided AOM were included consecutively in the study.
      Normal ears of patients and children having the same age and gender who were not
      diagnosed as AOM were also studied as controls. Results. In patients with AOM,
      infected ears had higher temperatures than normal ears with a mean of 0.48 +/-
      0.01 degrees C. There was no significant difference between the right and left
      tympanic temperatures in control group. Compared with axillary temperature, the
      sensitivity of tympanic temperature in the infected ear was 91.7% and the
      specificity was 74.8%. Conclusion. Comparisons of axillary and tympanic
      temperatures in children with AOM during the active infection concluded higher
      tympanic temperatures in infected ears. We suggest that the higher tympanic
      temperatures, approximately 0.5 degrees C in our study, in infected ears may aid
      in diagnosis of patients with fever without a source in pediatric clinics. 

PMID- 27648078
TI  - Optimization of Corneal Epithelial Progenitor Cell Growth on Bombyx mori Silk
      Fibroin Membranes.
AB  - Scaffolds prepared from silk fibroin derived from cocoons of the domesticated
      silkworm moth Bombyx mori have demonstrated potential to support the attachment
      and growth of human limbal epithelial (HLE) cells in vitro. In this study, we
      attempted to further optimize protocols to promote the expansion of HLE cells on
      B. mori silk fibroin- (BMSF-) based scaffolds. BMSF films were initially coated
      with different extracellular matrix proteins and then analysed for their impact
      on corneal epithelial cell adhesion, cell morphology, and culture confluency.
      Results showed that collagen I, collagen III, and collagen IV consistently
      improved HCE-T cell adherence, promoted an elongated cell morphology, and
      increased culture confluency. By contrast, ECM coating had no significant effect
      on the performance of primary HLE cells cultured on BMSF films. In the second
      part of this study, primary HLE cells were grown on BMSF films in the presence of
      medium (SHEM) supplemented with keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and the Rho
      kinase inhibitor, Y-27632. The results demonstrated that SHEM medium supplemented
      with KGF and Y-27632 dramatically increased expression of corneal differentiation
      markers, keratin 3 and keratin 12, whereas expression of the progenitor marker,
      p63, did not appear to be significantly influenced by the choice of culture
      medium. 

PMID- 27648080
TI  - Identifying the Prognosis Factors in Death after Liver Transplantation via
      Adaptive LASSO in Iran.
AB  - Despite the widespread use of liver transplantation as a routine therapy in liver
      diseases, the effective factors on its outcomes are still controversial. This
      study attempted to identify the most effective factors on death after liver
      transplantation. For this purpose, modified least absolute shrinkage and
      selection operator (LASSO), called Adaptive LASSO, was utilized. One of the best
      advantages of this method is considering high number of factors. Therefore, in a
      historical cohort study from 2008 to 2013, the clinical findings of 680 patients
      undergoing liver transplant surgery were considered. Ridge and Adaptive LASSO
      regression methods were then implemented to identify the most effective factors
      on death. To compare the performance of these two models, receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve was used. According to the results, 12 factors in
      Ridge regression and 9 ones in Adaptive LASSO regression were significant. The
      area under the ROC curve (AUC) of Adaptive LASSO was equal to 89% (95% CI: 86%
      91%), which was significantly greater than Ridge regression (64%, 95% CI: 61%
      68%) (p < 0.001). As a conclusion, the significant factors and the performance
      criteria revealed the superiority of Adaptive LASSO method as a penalized model
      versus traditional regression model in the present study.

PMID- 27648081
TI  - Utilization of prostate brachytherapy for low risk prostate cancer: Is the
      decline overstated?
AB  - PURPOSE: Several prior studies have suggested that brachytherapy utilization has
      markedly decreased, coinciding with the recent increased utilization of intensity
      modulated radiation therapy, as well as an increase in urologist-owned centers.
      We sought to investigate the brachytherapy utilization in a large, hospital-based
      registry. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Men with prostate cancer diagnosed between 2004
      2012 and treated with either external beam radiation and/or prostate
      brachytherapy were abstracted from the National Cancer Database. In order to be
      included, men had to be clinically staged as T1c-T2aNx-0Mx-0, Gleason 6, PSA <=
      10.0 ng/ml. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze brachytherapy utilization
      over time and were compared via chi(2). Multivariate logistic regression was used
      to assess for covariables associated with increased brachytherapy usage. RESULTS:
      There were 89,413 men included in this study, of which 37,054 (41.6%) received
      only external beam radiation, and 52,089 (58.4%) received prostate brachytherapy.
      The use of brachytherapy declined over time from 62.9% in 2004 to 51.3% in 2012
      (p < 0.001). This decline was noted in both academic facilities (60.8% in 2004 to
      47.0% in 2012, p < 0.001) as well as in non-academic facilities (63.7% in 2004 to
      53.0% in 2012, p < 0.001). The decline was more pronounced in patients who lived
      closer to treatment facilities than those who lived further. The use of intensity
      modulated radiation therapy increased during this same time period from 18.4% in
      2004 to 38.2% in 2012 (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, treatment at an
      academic center, increasing age, decreasing distance from the treatment center,
      and years of diagnosis from 2006-2012 were significantly associated with reduced
      brachytherapy usage. CONCLUSIONS: In this hospital-based registry, prostate
      brachytherapy usage has declined for low risk prostate cancer as intensity
      modulated radiation therapy usage has increased. However, it still remains the
      treatment of choice for 51.3% of patients as of 2012.

PMID- 27648082
TI  - External beam boost versus interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy boost in the
      adjuvant radiotherapy following breast-conserving therapy in early-stage breast
      cancer: a dosimetric comparison.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to compare the dosimetric data of local tumor's bed dose
      escalation (boost) with photon beams (external beam radiation therapy - EBRT)
      versus high-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy (HDR-BT) after breast-conserving
      treatment in women with early-stage breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      analyzed the treatment planning data of 136 irradiated patients, treated between
      2006 and 2013, who underwent breast-conserving surgery and adjuvant whole breast
      irradiation (WBI; 50.4 Gy) and boost (HDR-BT: 10 Gy in one fraction [n = 36];
      EBRT: 10 Gy in five fractions [n = 100]). Organs at risk (OAR; heart, ipsilateral
      lung, skin, most exposed rib segment) were delineated. Dosimetric parameters were
      calculated with the aid of dose-volume histograms (DVH). A non-parametric test
      was performed to compare the two different boost forms. RESULTS: There was no
      difference for left-sided cancers regarding the maximum dose to the heart (HDR-BT
      29.8% vs. EBRT 29.95%, p = 0.34). The maximum doses to the other OAR were
      significantly lower for HDR-BT (Dmax lung 47.12% vs. 87.7%, p < 0.01; rib 61.17%
      vs. 98.5%, p < 0.01; skin 57.1% vs. 94.75%, p < 0.01; in the case of right-sided
      breast irradiation, dose of the heart 6.00% vs. 16.75%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Compared to EBRT, local dose escalation with HDR-BT presented a significant dose
      reduction to the investigated OAR. Only left-sided irradiation showed no
      difference regarding the maximum dose to the heart. Reducing irradiation exposure
      to OAR could result in a reduction of long-term side effects. Therefore, from a
      dosimetric point of view, an interstitial boost complementary to WBI via EBRT
      seems to be more advantageous in the adjuvant radiotherapy of breast cancer.

PMID- 27648083
TI  - Implementation of image-guided brachytherapy (IGBT) for patients with uterine
      cervix cancer: a tumor volume kinetics approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate tumor shrinking kinetics in order to implement image-guided
      brachytherapy (IGBT) for the treatment of patients with cervix cancer. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: This study has prospectively evaluated tumor shrinking kinetics of
      thirteen patients with uterine cervix cancer treated with combined
      chemoradiation. Four high dose rate brachytherapy fractions were delivered during
      the course of pelvic external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) exams were acquired at diagnosis (D), first (B1), and third (B3)
      brachytherapy fractions. Target volumes (GTV and HR-CTV) were calculated by both
      the ellipsoid formula (VE) and MRI contouring (VC), which were defined by a
      consensus between at least two radiation oncologists and a pelvic expert
      radiologist. RESULTS: Most enrolled patients had squamous cell carcinoma and FIGO
      stage IIB disease, and initiated brachytherapy after the third week of pelvic
      external beam radiation. Gross tumor volume volume reduction from diagnostic MRI
      to B1 represented 61.9% and 75.2% of the initial volume, when measured by VE and
      VC, respectively. Only a modest volume reduction (15-20%) was observed from B1 to
      B3. CONCLUSIONS: The most expressive tumor shrinking occurred in the first three
      weeks of oncological treatment and was in accordance with gynecological
      examination. These findings may help in IGBT implementation.

PMID- 27648084
TI  - Neither high-dose nor low-dose brachytherapy increases flap morbidity in salvage
      treatment of recurrent head and neck cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: While brachytherapy is often used concurrently with flap reconstruction
      following surgical ablation for head and neck cancer, it remains unclear whether
      it increases morbidity in the particularly high risk subset of patients
      undergoing salvage treatment for recurrent head and neck cancer (RH&NC). MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was undertaken that evaluated patients
      with RH&NC who underwent flap coverage after surgical re-resection and
      concomitant brachytherapy. The primary endpoint was flap viability, and the
      secondary endpoints were flap and recipient site complications. RESULTS: In the
      23 subjects included in series, flap viability and skin graft take was 100%.
      Overall recipient site complication rate was 34.8%, high-dose radiation (HDR)
      group 50%, and low-dose radiation (LDR) group 29.4%. There was no statistically
      significant difference between these groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients who undergo
      flap reconstruction and immediate postoperative radiotherapy following salvage
      procedures for RH&NC, flap coverage of defects in combination with brachytherapy
      remains a safe and effective means of providing stable soft tissue coverage.

PMID- 27648085
TI  - Modelling the radiobiological effect of intraoperative X-ray brachytherapy for
      breast cancer using an air-filled spherical applicator.
AB  - PURPOSE: We present a framework, in which we compare a conventional standard dose
      of 50 Gy in 25 fractions with accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using
      electronic brachytherapy (eBT). We discuss how radiobiological modelling enables
      us to establish a framework, within which we can compare external beam
      radiotherapy (EBRT). This leads to a determination of the shell of isoeffect in
      breast tissue, at which very low kV eBT can be considered to be clinically
      equivalent to standard EBRT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To estimate relative
      biological effectiveness (RBE) values as a function of dose and irradiation time,
      we used a modified linear quadratic (LQ) approach, taking into account the
      ability of this new device, to deliver 20 Gy at the surface of a 40 mm diameter
      rigid, hollow spherical applicator in less than 2 minutes. In this study, we
      considered the radiobiological effectiveness of the Papillon +TM X-ray
      brachytherapy device operating at 30 kV, 0.3 mA producing dose rates in excess of
      14 Gy/min. RESULTS: Calculated clinical RBEs ranged from 1.154 at the surface of
      a 40 mm diameter applicator to 1.100 at 35 mm from the applicator surface for the
      Papillon+ device. The absolute physical dose D (abs) 30 kV ranged from 20.00 Gy
      at the applicator surface to 1.20 at 35 mm distant. The product of the
      isoeffective single dose of (60)Co reference radiation - (RBE)(60)Co, and the RBE
      corrected standard 2 Gy equivalent dose fractions (EQD2) doses, EQD2(30 kV) *
      (RBE)(60)Co ranged from 98.62 Gy at the applicator surface to 1.13 at 35 mm. The
      'shell of isoeffect', the value on the X-axis where the EQD2(30 kV) * (RBE)(60)Co
      line crosses the 50 Gy mark on the Y-axis, was found to be approximately 3.5 mm
      beyond the applicator surface. CONCLUSIONS: The 'shell of isoeffect' can serve as
      a useful metric with which to compare the radiobiological effectiveness of low kV
      eBT with various regimes of conventional EBRT.

PMID- 27648086
TI  - Clinical implementation of a novel applicator in high-dose-rate brachytherapy
      treatment of esophageal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, we present the clinical implementation of a novel
      transoral balloon centering esophageal applicator (BCEA) and the initial clinical
      experience in high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatment of esophageal cancer,
      using this applicator. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Acceptance testing and commissioning
      of the BCEA were performed prior to clinical use. Full performance testing was
      conducted including measurements of the dimensions and the catheter diameter,
      evaluation of the inflatable balloon consistency, visibility of the radio-opaque
      markers, congruence of the markers, absolute and relative accuracy of the HDR
      source in the applicator using the radiochromic film and source position
      simulator, visibility and digitization of the applicator on the computed
      tomography (CT) images under the clinical conditions, and reproducibility of the
      offset. Clinical placement of the applicator, treatment planning, treatment
      delivery, and patient's response to the treatment were elaborated as well.
      RESULTS: The experiments showed sub-millimeter accuracy in the source positioning
      with distal position at 1270 mm. The digitization (catheter reconstruction) was
      uncomplicated due to the good visibility of markers. The treatment planning
      resulted in a favorable dose distribution. This finding was pronounced for the
      treatment of the curvy anatomy of the lesion due to the improved repeatability
      and consistency of the delivered fractional dose to the patient, since the
      radioactive source was placed centrally within the lumen with respect to the
      clinical target due to the five inflatable balloons. CONCLUSIONS: The consistency
      of the BCEA positioning resulted in the possibility to deliver optimized non
      uniform dose along the catheter, which resulted in an increase of the dose to the
      cancerous tissue and lower doses to healthy tissue. A larger number of patients
      and long-term follow-up will be required to investigate if the delivered
      optimized treatment can lead to improved clinical outcomes.

PMID- 27648087
TI  - Film based verification of calculation algorithms used for brachytherapy planning
      getting ready for upcoming challenges of MBDCA.
AB  - PURPOSE: Well-known defect of TG-43 based algorithms used in brachytherapy is a
      lack of information about interaction cross-sections, which are determined not
      only by electron density but also by atomic number. TG-186 recommendations with
      using of MBDCA (model-based dose calculation algorithm), accurate tissues
      segmentation, and the structure's elemental composition continue to create
      difficulties in brachytherapy dosimetry. For the clinical use of new algorithms,
      it is necessary to introduce reliable and repeatable methods of treatment
      planning systems (TPS) verification. The aim of this study is the verification of
      calculation algorithm used in TPS for shielded vaginal applicators as well as
      developing verification procedures for current and further use, based on the film
      dosimetry method. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Calibration data was collected by
      separately irradiating 14 sheets of Gafchromic((r)) EBT films with the doses from
      0.25 Gy to 8.0 Gy using HDR (192)Ir source. Standard vaginal cylinders of three
      diameters were used in the water phantom. Measurements were performed without any
      shields and with three shields combination. Gamma analyses were performed using
      the VeriSoft((r)) package. RESULTS: Calibration curve was determined as third
      degree polynomial type. For all used diameters of unshielded cylinder and for all
      shields combinations, Gamma analysis were performed and showed that over 90% of
      analyzed points meets Gamma criteria (3%, 3 mm). CONCLUSIONS: Gamma analysis
      showed good agreement between dose distributions calculated using TPS and
      measured by Gafchromic films, thus showing the viability of using film dosimetry
      in brachytherapy.

PMID- 27648088
TI  - ENT COBRA (Consortium for Brachytherapy Data Analysis): interdisciplinary
      standardized data collection system for head and neck patients treated with
      interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy).
AB  - PURPOSE: Aim of the COBRA (Consortium for Brachytherapy Data Analysis) project is
      to create a multicenter group (consortium) and a web-based system for
      standardized data collection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: GEC-ESTRO (Groupe Europeen de
      Curietherapie - European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology) Head and Neck (H&N)
      Working Group participated in the project and in the implementation of the
      consortium agreement, the ontology (data-set) and the necessary COBRA software
      services as well as the peer reviewing of the general anatomic site-specific
      COBRA protocol. The ontology was defined by a multicenter task-group. RESULTS:
      Eleven centers from 6 countries signed an agreement and the consortium approved
      the ontology. We identified 3 tiers for the data set: Registry (epidemiology
      analysis), Procedures (prediction models and DSS), and Research (radiomics). The
      COBRA-Storage System (C-SS) is not time-consuming as, thanks to the use of
      "brokers", data can be extracted directly from the single center's storage
      systems through a connection with "structured query language database" (SQL-DB),
      Microsoft Access((r)), FileMaker Pro((r)), or Microsoft Excel((r)). The system is
      also structured to perform automatic archiving directly from the treatment
      planning system or afterloading machine. The architecture is based on the concept
      of "on-purpose data projection". The C-SS architecture is privacy protecting
      because it will never make visible data that could identify an individual
      patient. This C-SS can also benefit from the so called "distributed learning"
      approaches, in which data never leave the collecting institution, while learning
      algorithms and proposed predictive models are commonly shared. CONCLUSIONS:
      Setting up a consortium is a feasible and practicable tool in the creation of an
      international and multi-system data sharing system. COBRA C-SS seems to be well
      accepted by all involved parties, primarily because it does not influence the
      center's own data storing technologies, procedures, and habits. Furthermore, the
      method preserves the privacy of all patients.

PMID- 27648089
TI  - Novel simple templates for reproducible positioning of skin applicators in
      brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Esteya and Valencia surface applicators are designed to treat skin
      tumors using brachytherapy. In clinical practice, in order to avoid errors that
      may affect the treatment outcome, there are two issues that need to be carefully
      addressed. First, the selected applicator for the treatment should provide
      adequate margin for the target, and second, the applicator has to be precisely
      positioned before each treatment fraction. In this work, we describe the
      development and use of a new acrylic templates named Template La Fe-ITIC. They
      have been designed specifically to help the clinical user in the selection of the
      correct applicator, and to assist the medical staff in reproducing the
      positioning of the applicator. These templates are freely available upon request.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Templates that were developed by University and Polytechnic
      Hospital La Fe (La Fe) and Hospital Clinica Benidorm (ITIC) in cooperation with
      Elekta, consist of a thin sheet made of transparent acrylic. For each applicator,
      a crosshair and two different circles are drawn on these templates: the inner one
      corresponds to the useful beam, while the outer one represents the external
      perimeter of the applicator. The outer circle contains slits that facilitate to
      draw a circle on the skin of the patient for exact positioning of the applicator.
      In addition, there are two perpendicular rulers to define the adequate margin.
      For each applicator size, a specific template was developed. RESULTS: The
      templates have been used successfully in our institutions for more than 50
      patients' brachytherapy treatments. They are currently being used for Esteya and
      Valencia applicators. CONCLUSIONS: The template La Fe-ITIC is simple and
      practical. It improves both the set-up time and reproducibility. It helps to
      establish the adequate margins, an essential point in the clinical outcome.

PMID- 27648091
TI  - Y-configured metallic stent combined with (125)I seed strands cavity
      brachytherapy for a patient with type IV Klatskin tumor.
AB  - We report a case in an inoperable patient with type IV Klatskin tumor treated by
      the use of a novel, two piece, Y-configured self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS)
      combined with two (125)I seed strands via bilateral approach. The placement of
      the Y-shaped SEMS was successful and resulted in adequate biliary drainage. After
      2 months of intraluminal brachytherapy (ILBT), both (125)I seed strands and
      temporary drainage catheter were removed after patency of the expanded stents was
      confirmed by the cholangiogram. This technique was feasible and could be
      considered for the treatment of patients with Bismuth type IV Klatskin tumors. 

PMID- 27648090
TI  - An evaluation of the robustness of organ-at-risk recommendations made by
      GEC/ESTRO according to interobserver variability: a single-center experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: Groupe Europeen de Curietherapie (GEC) and European Society for
      Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) has proposed a rectal dose constraint of the most
      exposed 2-cc volume (D2cc of <= 75 Gy EQD2alpha/beta = 3) during external-beam
      plus high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) in localized prostate cancer patients.
      This study aimed to evaluate D2cc for rectal contouring via interobserver
      variability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four blinded observers contoured rectums of 5
      patients. Rectal contouring anatomical limits were determined through previous
      consensus. Dose-volume histogram (DVH) dosimetric parameters (D0.1cc, D1cc, and
      D2cc) were analyzed according to GEC/ESTRO recommendations and subjected to intra
      and interobserver comparisons. Latter comparisons involved coefficients of
      variation. For each parameter, the mean, standard deviation (SD), and range were
      evaluated. The effect of interobserver variation on total dose was analyzed by
      estimating the biologically equivalent rectal dose (EQD2alpha/beta = 3). RESULTS:
      Interobserver coefficients of variation for D0.1cc, D1cc, and D2cc were 5.7%,
      4.5%, and 4%, respectively. The highest interobserver rectal delineation
      variation yielded a rectal dose difference up to 5.8 Gy EQD2. Estimated
      intraobserver variation for the reported D2cc was 5.5% in the worst-case scenario
      (non-significant). CONCLUSIONS: We observed acceptable interobserver variability
      in EQD2 for D2cc, with strong impacts on clinical threshold levels (D2cc <= 75 Gy
      EQD2) in some cases. This small, single-center analysis will be extended in a
      multicenter study.

PMID- 27648093
TI  - Female Sexual Function During the Menopausal Transition in a Group of Iranian
      Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of sexual problems in Iranian women and
      association of sexual dysfunction with menopausal symptoms. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 151 married women with the age of 40-60
      yearsold who were referred for treatmentto Department of Gynecology in Vali-e-Asr
      Hospital (Tehran, Iran) from April to July 2012, were recruited. They were
      evaluated concerning their sexual function in the domains of desire, arousal,
      lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain with the female sexual function index
      (FSFI) questionnaire.Menopause rating scale (MRS) was developed for the diagnosis
      and quantification of climacteric symptoms. RESULTS: Total frequency of sexual
      dysfunction was 53% with the domains of lubrication, arusal and desire being
      commonly affected 62%, 70% and 98.5% of cases respectively. There is a
      relationship between severity of somatic and urogenital symptoms with sexual
      dysfunction (p = 0.03, p = 0.00 respectively). CONCLUSION: A considerable
      percentage of women experienced sexual dysfunctions in this period. Somatic and
      urogenital symptoms during the menopausal period could be a factor to maintain or
      intensity of sexual dysfunctions.

PMID- 27648092
TI  - Metal artefacts in MRI-guided brachytherapy of cervical cancer.
AB  - The importance of assessing the metal-induced artefacts in magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI)-guided brachytherapy is growing along with the increasing interest
      of integrating MRI into the treatment procedure of cervical cancer. Examples of
      metal objects in use include intracavitary cervical applicators and interstitial
      needles. The induced artefacts increase the uncertainties in the clinical
      workflow and can be a potential obstacle for the accurate delivery of the
      treatment. Overcoming this problem necessitates a good understanding of its
      originating sources. Several efforts are recorded in the literature to quantify
      the extent of such artefacts, in phantoms and in clinical practice. Here, we
      elaborate on the origin of metal-induced artefacts in the light of brachytherapy
      applications, while summarizing recent efforts that have been made to assess and
      overcome the induced distortions. 

PMID- 27648094
TI  - The Role of Plasma Creatine Phosphokinase (CPK) Level in Prediction of Response
      to Methotrexate for Ectopic Pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the plasma creatine phosphokinase (CPK) level after
      injection of methotrexate (MTX) as a predictor of treatment success in ectopic
      pregnancy (EP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred women treated with single dose
      of methotrexate for ectopic pregnancy were evaluated in a prospective study, for
      CPK and beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) levels. They
      received intramuscular MTX at a dose of 50 mg/m2. The day of injection was
      considered as day 1 (D1). CPK level on the day of Methotrexate injection was
      compared between success group who were treated by a single MTX injection, and
      the unsuccessful groupwho were treated by two or three MTX injections or by
      surgery. RESULTS: The success rate of single dose of MTX injection was 78 (78%).
      The mean of CPK was higher in success group than unsuccessful group. (86 +/- 10.7
      vs. 73 +/- 11.8), the difference was significant (p = 0.04). The mean of beta-hCG
      was significantly lower in treatment success group than unsuccessful group
      (1421.3 +/- 443.6 vs. 1925.6 +/- 185.4, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The success of
      single dose of MTX treatment in ectopic pregnancy may be predicted by CPK levels
      and the higher levels of CPK may be useful for detecting of patients with
      successful response to MTX.

PMID- 27648095
TI  - Immunohistochemical Expression of Myeloperoxidase in Placental Samples of
      Systematic Lupus Erythematosus Pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Reports of increased level of Myeloperoxidase (MPO) in plasma and
      placental extracts of Systematic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) has been proposed that
      MPO may have an important role in this pregnancy complication. In present study
      immunohistochemical MPO expression was investigated in placental samples of SLE
      women compared with normal controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients with SLE
      were recruited as case group. Control group was selected from mothers with normal
      uncomplicated pregnancies. A monoclonal antibody specific for MPO was used for
      immunohistochemical staining and then the staining was quantified and differences
      between groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: There were
      significant differences in the expression levels of MPO in the
      syncytiotrophoblast cells and the extravillous trophoblast cells between the
      control and SLE groups (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the
      expression level of MPO in the vascular endothelium and the relative number of
      the MPO-positive leukocytes in placental tissue between SLE and control groups (p
      > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that MPO expression is increased in
      syncytiotrophoblast cells and the extravillous trophoblast cells of SLE placentas
      compared to healthy subjects. It seems that these changes are able to impress
      structure and function of placenta and survival of the fetus.

PMID- 27648096
TI  - Comparison of Gene Expression Profiles in Human Germinal Vesicle Before and After
      Cytoplasmic Transfer From Mature Oocytes in Iranian Infertile Couples.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of cytoplasm transfer from mature oocytes to
      germinal vesicle(GV)s on promoting the maturation of cytoplasm of GV at the mRNA
      level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty six in vitro fertilization (IVF) operations
      between June 2012 and November 2013 were included in this study. Totally 120 GVs
      were obtained. Normal GVs were categorized into 3 groups (n = 40) randomly: the
      first comprised oocytes that did not receive the cytoplasm of mature oocytes; the
      second group comprised oocytes that did not receive the cytoplasm of mature
      oocytes but were incubated for 24 h; and the third group comprised oocytes that
      received 10-15% the cytoplasm of mature oocytes and were then incubated for 24 h.
      Each group was separately analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction
      (qPCR) and the expression levels of selected genes were assessed. RESULTS: The
      expression levels of genes involved in the cytoplasmic maturity, and energy
      producing mitochondria were significantly higher in the pooled oocytes of 2(nd)
      control group than those of the 1(st) control and intervention groups (p <
      0.001). The genes involved in the meiosis, spindle check point, DNA repairing and
      cell cycle checkpoint did not have any expression in the 1(st) and intervention
      groups; however, these genes were expressed in the 2(nd) group, significantly. In
      the 2(nd) group, the highest expression level was observed for genes involved in
      the DNA repairing and cell cycle checkpoint. In the intervention group, none of
      the genes were expressed except for energy-producing mitochondria gene; even in
      this case, the expression level of this gene in this group of oocytes was
      significantly lower than that in other groups (p < 0.001). After 24 h meiosis
      assumption was significantly higher in the third group than in the second group
      (95% vs. 68%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The cytoplasm transfer technique is not
      effective in cytoplasmic maturity of the recipient GV oocytes. In contrast, 24-hr
      in-vitro culture is associated with increased expression of studied genes in GVs.

PMID- 27648097
TI  - Association of Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Ectopic Pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the importance of cytokine type in embryo implantation in
      uterus specified and activated macrophages interfere the tube movements and
      embryo retention in uterine tubes by smooth muscle relaxation and disrupting
      ciliary function. Therefore, increased risk of infection with HP during
      pregnancy, we investigated relation between Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection
      and prevalence of ectopic pregnancy (EP) in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This is cross-sectional study from March 2012 to May 2013. Totally 207 women were
      enrolled randomly from which 101 had EP (Case group) and 106 were selected as
      control group with normal pregnancy. A 2-cc blood sample was taken from each
      patient to evaluate the specific IgG titer by ELISA method. All results of
      samples with positive H. pylori IgG were assayed for anti-CagA, IgG antibodies. A
      questionnaire was filled for each subject. The associations between CagA positive
      cases with odds of Ectopic pregnancy incidence were analyzed by using SPSS
      software, ver. 19 (Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: Mean (+/- SD) of age were 21.0 +/-
      5.78 and 30.78 +/- 5.10 years for cases and controls group respectively. These
      groups didn't show any significance difference in age and parity.H. pylori IgG
      antibodies were positive among 99 and 103 (98.2% vs. 97.2%) in women with EP and
      normal pregnancy respectively. Relationship between IgG status and EP was not
      significant (OR = 1.31: 95% CI = 0.7-2.52, Pvalue = 0.37). In particular anti
      CagA antibodies were positive among 45 and 39(45.92% vs. 36.97%) in women with EP
      and normal pregnancy respectively. Among women with CagA positive strains had
      higher odds of Ep (OR = 1.46: 95% CI = 0.8-2.65, Pvalue = 0.18), but it wasn't
      significant. CONCLUSION: According to the result of this study there was not any
      association between HP infection and Ectopic pregnancy. We recommend more studies
      with larger sample size for determining the effect of CagA positive strains on
      EP.

PMID- 27648098
TI  - Effects of Diets Enriched in Omega-9 or Omega-6 Fatty Acids on Reproductive
      Process.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Maternal type and amounts of dietary fatty acids affect on
      reproductive process in the mice. The present study investigated the effects of
      maternal supplementation with different amounts of omega-6 or omega-9 during
      pregnancy on the number of offspring, sex-ratio and duration of gestation.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight-week-old female C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned
      into four dietary groups including low omega-6 (16%; LO6), low omega-9 (16%;
      LO9), high omega-6 (45%; HO6) and high omega-9 (45%; HO9) during gestation.
      Number of offspring, sex-ratio and duration of pregnancy were compared among four
      dietary groups. RESULTS: There was significant difference between LO6 and HO6 (p
      < 0.0001), LO9 and HO9 (p < 0.0001) groups in total number of pups. The number of
      female and male offspring were significantly different between LO6 and LO9 (p =
      0.009 and p = 0.001, respectively), LO9 and HO9 (p = 0.01 and p = 0.025) groups.
      Duration of pregnancy was significantly higher in low fat diet than high fat diet
      groups (< 0.001). CONCLUSION: High fat diet reduced number of pups, gestation
      duration and lead to early labor. Omega-9 fatty acids shifted sex of offspring to
      females.

PMID- 27648099
TI  - Comparing Sexual Function and Quality of Life in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and
      Healthy Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine
      disorders that is associated with different metabolic, reproductive and
      psychological consequences. The main aim of this study was to compare the sexual
      function and quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and healthy
      women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a causal-comparative study in which 129
      women with polycystic ovary syndrome were qualified as the research group. The
      control group consisted of 125 healthy women. The sampling method was convenient
      and was done using Rotterdam criteria. Women of both research and control groups
      responded to the FSFI and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires. Data were analyzed with
      SPSS software using MANOVA. RESULTS: According to findings, all of quality of
      life subscales except environment domain were significantly lower in research
      group than healthy group (p < 0.01), but none of sexual function subscales were
      significantly different between two groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Women with
      PCOS in term of some quality of life parameters have lower performance than
      healthy women. Therefore, it seems to be essential to increase awareness about
      symptoms and psychological consequences and referring process in order to take
      advantage of the advisory services.

PMID- 27648100
TI  - Effects of Community-Based Newborn Care Intervention on Neonate Health Status in
      a District of Tehran (Iran).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the effects of community-based interventions on the
      Neonatal Health Index in one district of Tehran-Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      community and healthcare center-based study was carried out from January 2011
      through September 2014. The population of the study included newborns from
      mothers residing in the 4(th) district of Tehran, Iran. Demographic data of
      mothers and infants were recorded in questionnaires before and after
      intervention. Interventions were implemented in hospitals, participants' homes,
      and health centers. The primary outcomes were comparison of mean birth weight,
      weight gain during the first 3-7 days, first week visit rate, hospitalization
      rate between the before and after intervention groups. RESULTS: The populations
      in the before and after intervention groups were 274 and 250, respectively. A
      significant difference was seen between the gestational ages (P value = 0.007) of
      the two groups. Mean birth height in the first group was 50.35 +/- 3.48 and in
      the second group was 55 +/- 5.32 cm (P value = 0.04). Neonatal complications in
      the second group were 6.9% lower than in the first group (P value = 0.048). In
      the first group 41 neonates (15%) were hospitalized in the NICU while in the
      second group 12 cases (4.8%) were hospitalized (P value = 0.018). Seven cases
      (2.6%) in the first group and one case (0.4%) in the second group were
      resuscitated (P value = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The results of implementing
      community-based newborn care strategies witnessed at the first week postnatal
      visit included improvements inneonatal gestational growth, management of neonates
      with potentially serious illnesses, diagnosis of warning signs and neonatal care
      practices.

PMID- 27648101
TI  - Closing the knowledge gap on cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes: the EMPA
      REG OUTCOME trial and beyond.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with marked cardiovascular (CV)
      morbidity and mortality, including heart failure (HF). Until recently, an oral
      glucose-lowering agent that improved hyperglycemia as well as provided CV
      benefits in patients with T2DM and cardiovascular disease (CVD) was lacking. The
      newest class of glucose-lowering agents, sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2)
      inhibitors, includes canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin. Prior to
      the release of the LEADER trial results, the recent EMPA-REG OUTCOME study was
      the only dedicated CV trial to demonstrate a reduction in major adverse cardiac
      events, CV mortality, and all-cause mortality and a reduction in hospitalization
      for HF with empagliflozin, given on top of standard-of-care therapy in patients
      with T2DM and CVD. This paper summarizes the results from EMPA-REG OUTCOME and
      discusses their significance and clinical implications. 

PMID- 27648102
TI  - Preservation of Cognitive Function by Lepidium meyenii (Maca) Is Associated with
      Improvement of Mitochondrial Activity and Upregulation of Autophagy-Related
      Proteins in Middle-Aged Mouse Cortex.
AB  - Maca has been used as a foodstuff and a traditional medicine in the Andean region
      for over 2,000 years. Recently the neuroprotective effects of maca also arouse
      interest of researchers. Decrease in mitochondrial function and decline in
      autophagy signaling may participate in the process of age-related cognitive
      decline. This study aimed to investigate if maca could improve cognitive function
      of middle-aged mice and if this effect was associated with improvement of
      mitochondrial activity and modulation of autophagy signaling in mouse cortex.
      Fourteen-month-old male ICR mice received maca powder administered by gavage for
      five weeks. Maca improved cognitive function, motor coordination, and endurance
      capacity in middle-aged mice, accompanied by increased mitochondrial respiratory
      function and upregulation of autophagy-related proteins in cortex. Our findings
      suggest that maca is a newly defined nutritional plant which can improve
      mitochondrial function and upregulate autophagy-related proteins and may be an
      effective functional food for slowing down age-related cognitive decline. 

PMID- 27648103
TI  - Effects of Transcutaneous Electrical Acustimulation on Refractory
      Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.
AB  - Objective. To investigate effects and possible mechanisms of transcutaneous
      electrical acustimulation (TEA) performed by a wearable watch-size stimulator for
      refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (RGERD). Methods. Twenty patients
      diagnosed as RGERD were enrolled in the study and randomly divided into four
      groups: esomeprazole group (Group A), esomeprazole combined with TEA group (Group
      B), esomeprazole combined with sham-TEA group (Group C), and esomeprazole
      combined with domperidone group (Group D). HRM and 24 h pH-impedance monitoring
      and GerdQ score were used to measure related indexes before and after treatment.
      Results. (1) TEA significantly increased LESP, compared with PPI treatment only
      or PPI plus sham-TEA. After pairwise comparison, LESP of Group B was increased
      more than Group A (P = 0.008) or Group C (P = 0.021). (2) PPI plus TEA decreased
      not only the number of acid reflux episodes but also the number of weak acid
      reflux episodes (P = 0.005). (3) Heartburn and reflux symptoms were improved more
      with PPI + TEA than with PPI treatment only or PPI plus sham-TEA (GerdQ scores, P
      = 0.001). Conclusion. TEA can improve symptoms in RGERD patients by increasing
      LESP and decreasing events of weak acid reflux and acid reflux; addition of TEA
      to esomeprazole significantly enhances the effect of TEA. 

PMID- 27648104
TI  - Curative Effects of Suhuang Zhike Capsule on Postinfectious Cough: A Meta
      Analysis of Randomized Trials.
AB  - Objective. In this paper, we intended to systematically evaluate the efficacy of
      Suhuang Zhike Capsule (SZC) on postinfectious cough (PIC) in adults (age > 18).
      Methods. MEDLINE (PubMed), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI),
      Cqvip Database (VIP), and Wanfang Database were researched for the randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) of SZC for PIC. The search was limited to human studies,
      using the search keywords or free-text terms "cough," "post-infectious cough,"
      "postinfectious cough," "post-cold cough," "postviral cough," "postcold cough,"
      "Suhuang Zhike capsule," "Chinese Medicine," and "randomized clinical trials".
      Two reviewers individually extracted data from the included RCTs and then the
      extracted data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.3 software. Results. Seven
      RCTs involving 573 patients entered the inclusion criteria. Findings suggested
      that, compared with western conventional medicine (WCM) and other Chinese
      medicine, SZC could effectively improve the efficacy rate (OR 2.68, 95%  CI, 1.48
      4.84, P = 0.001; OR 4.86, 95%  CI, 1.50-15.73, P = 0.008, separately). Moreover,
      SZC could also improve the efficacy rate of Chinese medicine symptom (MD -0.74,
      95%  CI, -1.46~-0.02, P = 0.04). However, in terms of cough relief time, more
      evidence is needed to prove that SZC have an earlier antitussive effect (MD 
      1.31, 95%  CI, -3.06~0.45, P = 0.14). Conclusion. The current evidence shows that
      SZC is effective in the treatment of PIC in adults and can significantly improve
      the effective rate of Chinese medicine symptoms. 

PMID- 27648107
TI  - Not Birds of a Feather: Case Reports, Case Studies, and Single-Subject Research.
AB  - If the practice of therapeutic massage and bodywork (TMB) is to become evidence
      informed, practitioners, educators, and presenters must better develop their
      research literacy and critical appraisal skills. Given that the IJTMB supports
      the publication of case reports as one fundamental form of knowledge development
      within the fields of TMB, it is imperative that researchers, educators, and
      practitioners know the difference between case reports and similar, but
      unrelated, forms of research. There are legal and ethical implications that must
      be carefully considered for each form of research or reporting. 

PMID- 27648105
TI  - Genus Tinospora: Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology.
AB  - The genus Tinospora includes 34 species, in which several herbs were used as
      traditional medicines by indigenous groups throughout the tropical and
      subtropical parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The extensive literature survey
      revealed Tinospora species to be a group of important medicinal plants used for
      the ethnomedical treatment of colds, headaches, pharyngitis, fever, diarrhea,
      oral ulcer, diabetes, digestive disorder, and rheumatoid arthritis. Indian
      ethnopharmacological data points to the therapeutic potential of the T.
      cordifolia for the treatment of diabetic conditions. While Tinospora species are
      confusing in individual ingredients and their mechanisms of action, the
      ethnopharmacological history of those plants indicated that they exhibit
      antidiabetic, antioxidation, antitumor, anti-inflammation, antimicrobial,
      antiosteoporosis, and immunostimulation activities. While the clinical
      applications in modern medicine are lacking convincing evidence and support, this
      review is aimed at summarizing the current knowledge of the traditional uses,
      phytochemistry, biological activities, and toxicities of the genus Tinospora to
      reveal its therapeutic potentials and gaps, offering opportunities for future
      researches. 

PMID- 27648106
TI  - Use and Adoption of an Assisted Cognition System to Support Therapies for People
      with Dementia.
AB  - The cognitive deficits in persons with dementia (PwD) can produce significant
      functional impairment from early stages. Although memory decline is most
      prominent, impairments in attention, orientation, language, reasoning, and
      executive functioning are also common. Dementia is also characterized by changes
      in personality and behavioral functioning that can be very challenging for
      caregivers and patients. This paper presents results on the use and adoption of
      an assisted cognition system to support occupational therapy to address
      psychological and behavioral symptoms of dementia. During 16 weeks, we conducted
      an in situ evaluation with two caregiver-PwD dyads to assess the adoption and
      effectiveness of the system to ameliorate challenging behaviors and reducing
      caregiver burden. Evaluation results indicate that intervention personalization
      and a touch-based interface encouraged the adoption of the system, helping reduce
      challenging behaviors in PwD and caregiver burden. 

PMID- 27648110
TI  - Case Study: The Use of Massage Therapy to Relieve Chronic Low-Back Pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the effects of massage on chronic low-back pain in a patient
      with four different diagnoses: osteoarthritis, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, and
      degenerative disc disease. The patient's goal was to cut down on the amount of
      pain medication he takes. METHODS: A 63-year-old man with chronic back pain
      received four massages across a twenty-day period. Progress was recorded using
      the Oswestry Low Back Pain Scale, as he self-reported on levels of pain and
      interference with his activities of daily living. RESULTS: Improvement was noted
      in 9 out of 10 measurements of self-reported pain and activities of daily living,
      with the only exception being his ability to lift heavy objects, which remained
      unchanged. The most dramatic differences were improvements in his ability to
      walk, and in the changing degrees of pain. The client also self-reported being
      able to decrease his pain medication and the ability to ride his bicycle for the
      first time in years. CONCLUSIONS: Massage therapy is a promising treatment for
      chronic low-back pain for patients who may have multiple pathologies, any one of
      which could be responsible for the condition. Further study is encouraged to
      determine the efficacy of massage therapy as a readily accessible, lower-cost
      alternative to more invasive therapies and as an adjunct to regular medical care,
      when appropriate.

PMID- 27648109
TI  - Clarifying Definitions for the Massage Therapy Profession: the Results of the
      Best Practices Symposium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Massage therapists are at times unclear about the definition of
      massage therapy, which creates challenges for the profession. It is important to
      investigate the current definitions and to consider the field as a whole in order
      to move toward clarity on what constitutes the constructs within the profession.
      PURPOSE: To determine how a sample of experts understand and describe the field
      of massage therapy as a step toward clarifying definitions for massage and
      massage therapy, and framing the process of massage therapy practice. SETTING: A
      two-day symposium held in 2010 with the purpose of gathering knowledge to inform
      and aid in the creation of massage therapy best practice guidelines for stress
      and low back pain. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two experts in the field of massage
      therapy from the United States, Europe, and Canada. DESIGN: Qualitative analysis
      of secondary cross-sectional data using a grounded theory approach. RESULTS:
      Three over-arching themes were identified: 1) What is massage?; 2) The
      multidimensional nature of massage therapy; and 3) The influencing factors on
      massage therapy practice. DISCUSSION: The data offered clarifying definitions for
      massage and massage therapy, as well as a framework for the context for massage
      therapy practice. These clarifications can serve as initial steps toward the
      ultimate goal of creating new theory for the field of massage therapy, which can
      then be applied in practice, education, research, and policy. CONCLUSIONS:
      Foundational research into how experts in the profession understand and describe
      the field of massage therapy is limited. Understanding the potential differences
      between the terms massage and massage therapy could contribute to a
      transformation in the profession in the areas of education, practice, research,
      policy and/or regulation. Additionally, framing the context for massage therapy
      practice invites future discussions to further clarify practice issues.

PMID- 27648111
TI  - Erratum: Oral & Poster Abstracts from the 2016 International Massage Therapy
      Research Conference.

PMID- 27648108
TI  - Identifying Inconsistencies and Reporting Deficits in Therapeutic Massage and
      Bodywork (TMB) Case Reports Authored by TMB Practitioners: a TMB-Adapted CAse
      REport (CARE) Guidelines Audit Through 2014.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Case reports are a fundamental tool through which therapeutic
      massage and bodywork (TMB) practitioners can inform research and impact their
      field by detailing the presentation, treatment, and follow-up of a single
      individual encountered in practice. Inconsistencies in case reporting limit their
      impact as fundamental sources of clinical evidence. Using the TMB-adapted CAse
      REport (CARE) guidelines, the current study sought to provide a rich description
      regarding the reporting quality of TMB practitioner authored TMB case reports in
      the literature. METHODS: 1) Systematic identification of published, peer-reviewed
      TMB case reports authored by TMB practitioners following PRISMA recommendations;
      2) audit development based on TMB-adapted CARE guidelines; 3) audit
      implementation; and 4) descriptive analysis of audit scores. RESULTS: Our search
      identified 977 articles and 35 met study inclusion criteria. On average, TMB case
      reports included approximately 58% of the total items identified as necessary by
      the TMB-adapted CARE guidelines. Introduction sections of case reports had the
      best item reporting (80% on average), while Case Presentation (54%) and Results
      (52%) sections scored moderately overall, with only 20% of necessary Practitioner
      Description items included on average. Audit scores revealed inconsistent
      abstract reporting and few audited case reports including client race (20%),
      perspective (26%), and occupation/activities (40%); practitioner practice setting
      (12%), training (12%), scope-of-practice (29%), and credentialing (20%); adverse
      events or lack thereof (17%); and some aspect of informed consent (34%).
      Treatment descriptor item reporting varied from high to low. Various implications
      of concern are discussed. CONCLUSION: The current audit and descriptive analysis
      highlight several reporting inconsistencies in TMB case reports prior to 2015.
      Reporting guidelines for case reports are important if standards for, and impact
      of, TMB case reports are desired. Adherence to reporting specifications outlined
      by the TMB-adapted CARE guidelines could improve the impact and usability of TMB
      case reports in research, education, and practice.

PMID- 27648112
TI  - Preface to Special Topic: Invited Articles on Microfluidic Rheology.

PMID- 27648113
TI  - A microfluidic optical platform for real-time monitoring of pH and oxygen in
      microfluidic bioreactors and organ-on-chip devices.
AB  - There is a growing interest to develop microfluidic bioreactors and organ-on-chip
      platforms with integrated sensors to monitor their physicochemical properties and
      to maintain a well-controlled microenvironment for cultured organoids.
      Conventional sensing devices cannot be easily integrated with microfluidic organ
      on-chip systems with low-volume bioreactors for continual monitoring. This paper
      reports on the development of a multi-analyte optical sensing module for dynamic
      measurements of pH and dissolved oxygen levels in the culture medium. The sensing
      system was constructed using low-cost electro-optics including light-emitting
      diodes and silicon photodiodes. The sensing module includes an optically
      transparent window for measuring light intensity, and the module could be
      connected directly to a perfusion bioreactor without any specific modifications
      to the microfluidic device design. A compact, user-friendly, and low-cost
      electronic interface was developed to control the optical transducer and signal
      acquisition from photodiodes. The platform enabled convenient integration of the
      optical sensing module with a microfluidic bioreactor. Human dermal fibroblasts
      were cultivated in the bioreactor, and the values of pH and dissolved oxygen
      levels in the flowing culture medium were measured continuously for up to 3 days.
      Our integrated microfluidic system provides a new analytical platform with ease
      of fabrication and operation, which can be adapted for applications in various
      microfluidic cell culture and organ-on-chip devices. 

PMID- 27648115
TI  - Biceps Tendon Lengthening Surgery for Failed Serial Casting Patients With Elbow
      Flexion Contractures Following Brachial Plexus Birth Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Assessment of surgical outcomes of biceps tendon lengthening (BTL)
      surgery in obstetric brachial plexus injury (OBPI) patients with elbow flexion
      contractures, who had unsuccessful serial casting. BACKGROUND: Serial casting and
      splinting have been shown to be effective in correcting elbow flexion
      contractures in OBPI. However, the possibilities of radial head dislocations and
      other complications have been reported in serial casting and splinting.
      Literature indicates surgical intervention when such nonoperative techniques and
      range-of-motion exercises fail. Here, we demonstrated a significant reduction of
      the contractures of the affected elbow and improvement in arm length to more
      normal after BTL in these patients, who had unsuccessful serial casting. METHODS
      AND PATIENTS: Ten OBPI patients (6 girls and 4 boys) with an average age of 11.2
      years (4-17.7 years) had BTL surgery after unsuccessful serial casting. RESULTS:
      Mean elbow flexion contracture was 40 degrees  before and 37 degrees  (average)
      after serial casting. Mean elbow flexion contracture was reduced to 8 degrees  (0
      degrees -20 degrees ) post-BTL surgical procedure with an average follow-up of 11
      months. This was 75% improvement and statistically significant (P < .001) when
      compared to 7% insignificant (P = .08) improvement after serial casting.
      CONCLUSION: These OBPI patients in our study had 75% significant reduction in
      elbow flexion contractures and achieved an improved and more normal length of the
      affected arm after the BTL surgery when compared to only 7% insignificant
      reduction and no improvement in arm length after serial casting.

PMID- 27648116
TI  - Dehydrated Human Amnion/Chorion Grafts May Accelerate the Healing of Ulcers on
      Free Flaps in Patients With Venous Insufficiency and/or Lymphedema.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ulceration of free flaps in patients with venous insufficiency and/or
      lymphedema is an uncommon but challenging problem. We hypothesized that
      dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (Epifix) grafts would accelerate healing
      of these challenging ulcers. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively
      acquired data identified 8 lower extremity free flaps with ulcerations in the
      context of venous insufficiency and/or lymphedema. The first 4 were flaps that
      had been treated with conservative wound care to healing. The second group was
      treated conservatively initially but then converted to treatment with dehydrated
      human amnion/chorion membrane grafts. The primary endpoint was time to healing.
      RESULTS: Comparison of Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed a significant
      difference between the conservatively and dehydrated human amnion/chorion
      membrane-treated flap ulcers, favoring graft treatment (P = .0361). In those
      ulcers that healed, the average time to healing was 87 days for the conservative
      treatment group and 33 days for the dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane
      treatment group (with an average of 1.7 grafts per ulcer). CONCLUSIONS:
      Dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane may accelerate healing of ulcers on
      lower extremity free flaps in patient with lymphedema and/or venous disease in
      the treated leg.

PMID- 27648114
TI  - Temporary Ectopic Implantation of a Single Finger Using a Perforator as a Feeding
      Vessel, and Subsequent Prefabricated Chimeric Flap Transplantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ectopic implantation was first reported by Godina in 1986. We herein
      present 2 cases in which amputated fingers were salvaged and reconstructed by
      means of temporary ectopic implantation utilizing perforator anastomoses and
      chimeric flaps. METHODS: Case 1. A 30-year-old man injured his right hand. All of
      the fingers were completely crushed with the exception of the little finger. We
      performed an ectopic implantation by using the superficial circumflex iliac
      artery perforator. Three months later, the little finger was transplanted with
      the superficial circumflex iliac artery perforator flap, vascularized nerve, and
      the 2nd metacarpal bone. Case 2. A 29-year-old man suffered a degloving injury of
      the index finger. The digital artery was anastomosed to deep inferior epigastric
      artery perforator. One month later, a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator
      flap containing the ectopically transplanted index finger was transplanted, but
      the index fingertip became pale and necrotized. After debridement, a hemipulp
      transplantation was performed. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: As the diameter of
      perforators is similar to that of digital arteries, and perforators are capable
      of supplying large areas of tissue, they can be used as recipient vessels for
      ectopic implantation in finger salvage procedures. Another advantage of
      perforators as feeding vessels in ectopic implantation is the possibility of
      forming an ectopic chimera; the finger can be incorporated as a part of the
      chimeric reconstructive flap. With respect to these advantages, the perforator
      can be used as a feeder in an ectopic implantation of single finger.

PMID- 27648117
TI  - Healing Rates in a Multicenter Assessment of a Sterile, Room Temperature,
      Acellular Dermal Matrix Versus Conventional Care Wound Management and an Active
      Comparator in the Treatment of Full-Thickness Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

PMID- 27648119
TI  - Hiatal hernia.

PMID- 27648118
TI  - [Immunity impact of pregnancy on the experience of the Obstetrics and Gynecology
      Department of Moulay Ismail Military Hospital].
AB  - The influence of hormonal status during the autoimmune disease is clearly
      established, with peak prevalence during the reproductive years where the
      interest of our retrospective study of 32 cases of pregnant patients with
      autoimmune pathologies. Relapses of the disease during pregnancy are especially
      observed in pregnant with lupus erythematosus and Behcet's disease while in post
      partum complications were observed in cases of rheumatoid arthritis, multiple
      sclerosis and scleroderma. The fetal complications depend on the stage and type
      of autoimmune disease and the association with other pathologies. Taking multi
      disciplinary charge and adjustment of treatment resulted in stabilizing the
      autoimmune disease and improves fetal prognosis. 

PMID- 27648120
TI  - Cathepsin B Regulates Collagen Expression by Fibroblasts via Prolonging TLR2/NF
      kappaB Activation.
AB  - Fibroblasts are essential for tissue repair due to producing collagens, and
      lysosomal proteinase cathepsin B (CatB) is involved in promoting chronic
      inflammation. We herein report that CatB regulates the expression of collagens
      III and IV by fibroblasts in response to a TLR2 agonist, lipopolysaccharide from
      Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g. LPS). In cultured human BJ fibroblasts, mRNA
      expression of CatB was significantly increased, while that of collagens III and
      IV was significantly decreased at 24 h after challenge with P.g. LPS (1 MUg/mL).
      The P.g. LPS-decreased collagen expression was completely inhibited by CA-074Me,
      the specific inhibitor of CatB. Surprisingly, expression of collagens III and IV
      was significantly increased in the primary fibroblasts from CatB-deficient mice
      after challenge with P.g. LPS. The increase of CatB was accompanied with an
      increase of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and a decrease of IkappaBalpha.
      Furthermore, the P.g. LPS-increased 8-OHdG and decreased IkappaBalpha were
      restored by CA-074Me. Moreover, 87% of CatB and 86% of 8-OHdG were colocalized
      with gingival fibroblasts of chronic periodontitis patients. The findings
      indicate the critical role of CatB in regulating the expression of collagens III
      and IV by fibroblasts via prolonging TLR2/NF-kappaB activation and oxidative
      stress. CatB-specific inhibitors may therefore improve chronic inflammation
      delayed tissue repair. 

PMID- 27648121
TI  - Effects of targeted silencing of FOXC1 gene on proliferation and in vitro
      migration of human non-small-cell lung carcinoma cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of targeted
      silencing of forkhead box C1 (FOXC1) gene with small interfering RNA (siRNA) on
      the proliferation and in vitro migration of human non-small-cell lung carcinoma
      (NSCLC) A549 and NCIH460 cells, and to explore the molecular mechanism. METHODS:
      These cells were divided into FOXC1 siRNA groups and negative control groups.
      RESULTS: Quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction
      (qRT-PCR) showed that compared with normal cells and paracancerous tissues, FOXC1
      mRNA expressions in NSCLC cells and tissues were significantly higher (P<0.05).
      qRT-PCR and Western blot showed that FOXC1 siRNA effectively silenced FOXC1 gene
      expression in NSCLC cells. EdU labeling assay revealed that the proliferative
      capacity significantly decreased compared with that of normal control group after
      FOXC1 silencing (P<0.05). Significantly fewer cells in the transfected group
      migrated than those in negative control group did. After FOXC1 silencing, NSCLC
      cells were arrested in the G0/G1 phase, which were significantly different from
      those in negative control group (P<0.05). Compared with negative control group,
      the expression of cyclin D1 decreased and that of E-cadherin increased.
      Meanwhile, vimentin and MMP-2 expressions significantly reduced (P<0.05). FOXC1
      siRNA effectively silenced FOXC1 gene expressions in NSCLC cells, inhibited their
      proliferation and invasion, and arrested them in the G0/G1 phase, suggesting that
      FOXC1 affected proliferation probably by regulating the expression of cell cycle
      related protein cyclin D1. CONCLUSION: Silencing FOXC1 may evidently inhibit the
      migration of these cells by reversing the EMT process through suppressing
      cadherin, being associated with the expressions of extracellular MMPs.

PMID- 27648122
TI  - Vitexin exerts cardioprotective effect on chronic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion
      injury in rats via inhibiting myocardial apoptosis and lipid peroxidation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the cardioprotective effect of
      vitexin on chronic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats and potential
      mechanisms. METHODS: A chronic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury model was
      established by ligating left anterior descending coronary for 60 minutes, and
      followed by reperfusion for 14 days. After 2 weeks ischemia/reperfusion, cardiac
      function was measured to assess myocardial injury. The level of ST segment was
      recorded in different periods by electrocardiograph. The change of left
      ventricular function and myocardial reaction degree of fibrosis of heart was
      investigated by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and Sirius red staining.
      Endothelium-dependent relaxations due to acetylcholine were observed in isolated
      rat thoracic aortic ring preparation. The blood samples were collected to measure
      the levels of MDA, the activities of SOD and NADPH in serum. Epac1, Rap1, Bax and
      Bcl-2 were examined by using Western Blotting. RESULTS: Vitexin exerted
      significant protective effect on chronic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury,
      improved obviously left ventricular diastolic function and reduced myocardial
      reactive fibrosis degree in rats of myocardial ischemia. Medium and high-dose
      vitexin groups presented a significant decrease in Bax, Epac1 and Rap1 production
      and increase in Bcl-2 compared to the I/R group. It may be related to preventing
      myocardial cells from apoptosis, improving myocardial diastolic function and
      inhibiting lipid peroxidation. CONCLUSIONS: Vitexin is a cardioprotective herb,
      which may be a promising useful complementary and alternative medicine for
      patients with coronary heart disease.

PMID- 27648123
TI  - Insulin-like growth factor 1 regulates growth of endometrial carcinoma through
      PI3k signaling pathway in insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) may be
      responsible for the higher risk for developing endometrial carcinoma (EMC) in
      insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. However, the
      underlying mechanisms are not understood. Here, we compared T2DM patients with or
      without EMC. We did not find difference in the serum levels of IGF-1, insulin
      like growth factor 2 (IGF-2), IGF-1 binding protein 3, as well as the activation
      of IGF-1 receptor (IGF1R) in endometrial cells between T2DM patients with or
      without EMC. However, the levels of IGF2R activation and activation of PI3k, an
      IGF1R downstream factor, were significantly higher in endometrial cells in T2DM
      patients with EMC. In vitro analyses of activation of IGF1R, IGF2R, PI3k and
      CCND1 in EMC cells or IGF2R-overexpressing EMC cells by IGF-1 or IGF-2 suggest
      that increases in IGF2R in endometrial cells in T2DM may increase PI3k/CCND1
      dependent cell growth through loss of competitive binding of IGF-2 to IGF1R, as a
      possible explanation for the higher risk for developing EMC in T2DM. 

PMID- 27648124
TI  - Invasive ductal carcinoma with in situ pattern: how to avoid this diagnostic
      pitfall?
AB  - Although the microscopic features of invasion are usually readily recognized,
      occasionally invasive ductal carcinoma may mimic the pattern of comedo ductal
      carcinoma in situ (DCIS) by forming large cellular nests with circumscribed
      borders, but lacking a definitive myoepithelial cell layer. In these cases, the
      histologic pattern may appear deceptively noninvasive and the absence of a
      myoepithelial layer can be easily overlooked. We prospectively examined 10 cases
      of high grade DCIS. P63, smooth muscle actin, muscle specific actin and calponin
      immunohistochemical stains were used to identify the presence of myoepithelial
      cells. In our study, 20% of apparent high grade DCIS cases did not exhibit a
      myoepithelial layer surrounding large, solid nests with comedo necrosis. Since
      invasion is defined by the absence of a myoepithelial layer, these results
      suggest that a DCIS-like pattern may actually represent invasive disease in some
      cases. Immunohistochemical studies may be essential in making this distinction
      and in avoiding the potential diagnostic pitfall. 

PMID- 27648125
TI  - Exogenous NAD(+) administration significantly protects against myocardial
      ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat model.
AB  - Acute myocardial infarction is one of the leading causes for death around the
      world. Although essential for successful interventional therapy, it is inevitably
      complicated by reperfusion injury. Thus effective approaches to reduce
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury are still critically needed. To test our
      hypothesis that intravenous administration of NAD(+) can attenuate I/R injury by
      reducing apoptotic damage and enhancing antioxidant capacity, we used a rat mode
      of myocardial I/R. Our study found that administration of 10-20 mg/kg NAD(+) can
      dose dependently reduce myocardial infarct induced by I/R, with an approximately
      85% reduction of the infarct at the dosage of 20 mg/kg NAD(+). We further found
      that the injection of NAD(+) can significantly decrease I/R-induced apoptotic
      damage in the heart: NAD(+) administration can both decrease the TUNEL signals,
      Bax, cleaved caspase-3 levels and increase the Bcl-XL levels in the rats that are
      subjected to myocardial I/R injury. NAD(+) administration can also significantly
      attenuate I/R-induced decreases in SOD activity and SOD-2 protein levels in the
      hearts. NAD(+) can profoundly decrease myocardial I/R injury at least partially
      by attenuating apoptotic damage and enhancing the antioxidant capacity, thus
      suggesting that NAD(+) may become a promising therapeutic agent for myocardial
      I/R injury. 

PMID- 27648126
TI  - Effects of metformin treatment on glioma-induced brain edema.
AB  - Considerable evidence has demonstrated that metformin can activate 5'-AMP
      activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway, which plays a critical role in
      protection of endothelial cell permeability. Hence, the present study evaluated
      the effects of metformin on blood brain barrier permeability and AQP4 expression
      in vitro, and assessed the effects of metformin treatment on tumor-induced brain
      edema in vivo. Hypoxia or VEGF exposure enhanced bEnd3 endothelial cell monolayer
      permeability and attenuated the expression of tight junction proteins including
      Occludin, Claudin-5, ZO-1, and ZO-2. However, 0.5 mM metformin treatment
      protected bEnd3 endothelial cell monolayer from hypoxia or VEGF-induced
      permeability, which was correlated with increased expression of tight junction
      proteins. Furthermore, metformin treatment attenuated AQP4 protein expression in
      cultured astrocytes. Such an effect involved the activation of AMPK and
      inhibition of NF-kappaB. Finally, metformin treatment dose-dependently reduced
      glioma induced vascular permeability and cerebral edema in vivo in rats. Thus,
      our results suggested that metformin may protect endothelial cell tight junction,
      prevent damage to the blood brain barrier induced by brain tumor growth, and
      alleviate the formation of cerebral edema. Furthermore, since the formation of
      cytotoxic edema and AQP4 expression was positively correlated, our results
      indicated that metformin may reduce the formation of cytotoxic edema. However,
      given that AQP4 plays a key role in the elimination of cerebral edema,
      attenuation of AQP4 expression by metformin may reduce the elimination of
      cerebral edema. Hence, future studies will be necessary to dissect the specific
      mechanisms of metformin underlying the dynamics of tumor-induced brain edema in
      vivo. 

PMID- 27648128
TI  - An experimental study on use of 7T MRI for evaluation of myocardial infarction in
      SD rats transfected with pcDNA 3.1(+)/VEGF121 plasmid.
AB  - This study aims to build the myocardial infarction model in SD rats transfected
      with pcDNA 3.1(+)/VEGF121 plasmid and study the effect of the transfection using
      7T MRI. Twenty-four male SD rats were randomly divided into 2 groups, pcDNA
      3.1(+)/VEGF121 plasmid transfection group (with improved coronary perfusion
      delivery) and myocardial infarction model group. Cardiac cine magnetic resonance
      imaging (Cine-MRI), T2-mapping and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac
      imaging were performed at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 7 d after myocardial infarction,
      respectively. The signal intensity, area at risk (AAR), myocardium infarction
      core (MIC) and salvageable myocardial zone (SMZ) were compared. The hearts were
      harvested for anatomic characterization, which was related to pathological
      examination (TTC staining, HE staining, Masson staining and immunohistochemical
      staining). The Cine-MRI results showed that pcDNA 3.1(+)/VEGF121 plasmid
      transfection group had higher end-diastolic volume (EDV) with a reduction in MIC
      and SMZ, as compared with the myocardial infarction model group. MIC, SMZ and AAR
      of the plasmid transfection declined over time. At 7 d, the two groups did not
      differ significantly in AAR and T2 value. According to Western Blotting, VEGF was
      up-regulated, while CaSR and caspase-3 were downregulated in the plasmid
      transfection group, as compared with the model group. In conclusion, a good
      treatment effect was achieved by coronary perfusion of pcDNA 3.1(+)/VEGF121
      plasmid. 7T CMR sequences provide a non-invasive quantification of the treatment
      efficacy. However, the assessment of myocardial injury using T2 value and AAR in
      the presence of edema is less accurate. The myocardial protection of the plasmid
      transfection group may be related to the inhibition of myocardial apoptosis,
      vascular endothelial cell (VEC) proliferation and collagen proliferation. The
      CaSR signaling pathway may contribute to reversing the apoptosis. 

PMID- 27648127
TI  - Short-term starvation attenuates liver ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) by Sirt1
      autophagy signaling in mice.
AB  - Calorie restriction or starvation (fasting) has some beneficial effects in terms
      of prolonging life and increasing resistance to stress. It has also been shown
      that calorie restriction has a protective role during ischemia-reperfusion injury
      (IRI) in several organs, but the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated. In
      this study we investigated the effects and molecular mechanisms of short-term
      starvation (STS) on liver IRI in a mouse liver IRI model. We found that STS
      significantly attenuated liver IRI in this model, as evidenced by inhibition of
      serum aminotransferase levels, and decreased pathological damage and
      hepatocellular apoptosis, especially after 2- or 3-day starvation. Furthermore,
      we found that 2- or 3-day starvation induced expression of hepatocellular
      autophagy in vivo and in vitro. Further experiments provided support for the
      notion that STS-induced autophagy played a key role during starvation-regulated
      protection against liver IRI via autophagy inhibition with 3-methyladenine.
      Interestingly, the longevity gene Sirt1 was also significantly up-regulated in
      liver after STS. Importantly, inhibition of Sirt1 by sirtinol abolished STS
      induced autophagy and further abrogated STS-mediated protection against liver
      IRI. In conclusion, our results indicate that STS attenuates liver IRI via the
      Sirt1-autophagy pathway. Our findings provide a rationale for a novel therapeutic
      strategy for managing liver IRI. 

PMID- 27648129
TI  - PAK2 promotes migration and proliferation of salivary gland adenoid cystic
      carcinoma.
AB  - P21 activated kinase 2 (PAK2) is a member of Group I PAKs family and highly
      expressed in various cancers. Current studies have demonstrated that PAK2 played
      a pivotal role in tumor progression. However, the role of PAK2 in salivary
      adenoid cystic carcinoma is still unclear. This study aims to explore the
      expression and the function of PAK2 in AdCC. Human salivary gland tissue
      microarray, including 18 normal salivary glands (NSG), 12 pleomorphic adenoma
      (PMA) and 72 AdCC, and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate the expression
      of PAK2. The result showed that PAK2 was significantly increased in AdCC compared
      with NSG and PMA. Then the Pearson correlation analysis using serial tissue
      sections showed a close correlation of PAK2 with Cyclin D1, Phospho-STAT3 at
      Tyrosine 705 (p-STAT3) and Ki-67. Further in vitro study utilizing PAK2 knockdown
      via siRNA transfection revealed significantly reduced migration and proliferation
      of AdCC cell lines compared with control group. Knockdown of PAK2 decreased the
      expression of Cyclin D1 in AdCC cell lines. In addition, the inhibition of STAT3
      reduced the expression of PAK2 in AdCC cell lines. These findings suggested that
      PAK2 promotes AdCC cell migration and proliferation and may be a potential
      therapeutic target. 

PMID- 27648130
TI  - Silencing of CXCR2 and CXCR7 protects against esophageal cancer.
AB  - This study was aimed to investigate the functional roles of cytokine receptor
      (CXCR) CXCR2 and CXCR7 in esophageal cancer (EC). Specific small interfering RNAs
      (siRNA) against CXCR2 and CXCR7 were transfected into EC cell lines TE-1, EC9706,
      and EC109 cells. Expression of CXCR2 and CXCR7 was validated, along with cell
      viability, chemotaxis, apoptosis rate, and ERK1/2 pathways associated protein
      after transfection. Moreover, EC9706 cells treated with or without CXCR2/7 siRNA
      were injected into athymic nude mice. Tumor volumes were measured. Besides,
      immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was performed to investigate the expression of
      CXCR2/7 in adjacent normal tissues and tumor tissues from esophageal squamous
      cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Also, the associations between CXCR2/7 expression
      and clinicopathological features and progression were explored. The mRNA levels
      of CXCR2 and CXCR7 were significantly reduced after transfection. Silencing of
      CXCR2 and CXCR7 statistically decreased cell viability and chemotaxis, and
      increased apoptotic rate. Cells invasion was significantly reduced by silencing
      of CXCR2, however, no significance was found in silencing of CXCR7. The protein
      levels of pERK1/2 were significantly decreased by silencing of CXCR2 and CXCR7.
      Besides, silencing of CXCR2 and CXCR7 significantly reduced tumor growth in vivo,
      and associated with clinicopathological features and progression. Silencing of
      CXCR2 and CXCR7 protects against EC by inhibiting cell growth and chemotaxis, and
      inducing apoptosis though ERK1/2 pathways. Silencing of CXCR2 and CXCR7 has
      potentially therapeutic target for EC. 

PMID- 27648131
TI  - LncRNAs BCYRN1 promoted the proliferation and migration of rat airway smooth
      muscle cells in asthma via upregulating the expression of transient receptor
      potential 1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) played important roles in several
      biological processes through regulating the expression of protein. However, the
      function of lncRNA BCYRN1 in airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) has not been
      reported. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into control and
      asthma groups and the ovalbumin (OVA) model was constructed. The expression of
      BCYRN1 and transient receptor potential 1 (TRPC1) were detected in the ASMCs
      separated from these rats. Then 2-(4-iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4
      disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (WST-1) assay, Roche real-time cell analyzer (RTCA)
      DP assay and Transwell cell migration assay were performed to detect the effect
      of BCYRN1 on the viability/proliferation and migration of ASMCs. RNA pull-down
      assays and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were used to identify and verify the
      binding between BCYRN1 and TRPC1. Inspiratory resistance and expiratory
      resistance were measured in OVA challenged rats with BCYRN1 knockdown. RESULTS:
      We foundthe high expression of BCYRN1 and TRPC1 in asthma groups and ASMCs
      treated with PDGF-BB. Overexpression of BCYRN1 greatly promoted the proliferation
      and migration of ASMCs. In addition,TRPC1 overexpression reversed the function of
      si-BCYRN1 indecreasing the viability/proliferation and migration of ASMCs treated
      with PDGF-BB. BCYRN1 could up-regulate the protein level of TRPC1 through
      increasing the stability of TRPC1. Finally, we found that BCYRN1 knockdown
      reduced the inspiratory resistance and expiratory resistance in OVA challenged
      rats. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that BCYRN1 promotedthe proliferation and
      migration of rat ASMCs in asthma via upregulating the expression of TRPC1.

PMID- 27648132
TI  - Preferential Tim-3 expression on Treg and CD8(+) T cells, supported by tumor
      associated macrophages, is associated with worse prognosis in gastric cancer.
AB  - While infection with H. pylori is a strong risk factor for gastric cancer, most
      H. pylori-colonized individuals, even those with the high-risk CagA(+)VacA(+)
      strain, remain asymptomatic over their lifetime. We hypothesized that the
      discordant outcomes were due to differences in the host immune responses.
      Previously, Tim-3-mediated immune modulation was observed in H. pylori-challenged
      mice. In this study, we compared Tim-3-related responses in CagA(+)VacA(+) H.
      pylori-infected asymptomatic individuals and H. pylori-associated gastric
      adenocarcinoma patients. We showed that compared to H. pylori-uninfected
      individuals, both H. pylori-infected asymptomatic and gastric cancer patients
      upregulated Tim-3 overall. However, the Tim-3 upregulation was enriched on Th1
      cells in asymptomatic patients and on Treg and CD8(+) T cells in gastric cancer
      patients, with respective differences in T cell subset functions. In gastric
      cancer patients, high Tim-3 expression on Treg and CD8(+) T cells, but not on Th1
      cells, was associated with worse prognosis. H. pylori-antigen presentation by
      tumor-associated macrophages upregulated Tim-3 expression more effectively than
      by blood monocyte-derived macrophages in vitro. The upregulation of Tim-3 in
      vitro depended on the concentration of H. pylori antigen but not on whether the
      cells were from asymptomatic or cancer patients. These data suggest that the
      discrepancy in Tim-3 upregulation in asymptomatic and cancer subjects is induced
      by cancer but not the other way around. Once gastric cancer is developed, Tim-3
      expression is associated with worse prognosis. 

PMID- 27648133
TI  - Condition medium of HepG-2 cells induces the transdifferentiation of human
      umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into cancerous mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the transdifferentiation of human umbilical cord
      mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) into cancer-associated mesenchymal stem cells
      (CA-MSCs) after incubation with condition medium (CM) from liver cancer HepG-2
      cells, and the biobehaviors (proliferation and migration) of these CA-MSCs were
      further evaluated. The supernatant of HepG-2 cells was collected and mixed with
      equal volume of low glucose DMEM. The resultant medium was used to treat hUCMSCs
      for 48 h. The expression of CA-MSCs related proteins and miR-221 was detected in
      cells. The supernatant of induced hUCMSCs was mixed with equal volume of high
      glucose DMEM, and the resultant medium was used treat HepG-2 cells for 48 h and
      the proliferation and migration of HepG-2 cells were evaluated. Moreover, HepG-2
      cells were co-cultured with hUCMSCs and then the proliferation and migration of
      HepG-2 cells were assessed. After incubation with the supernatant from HepG-2
      cells, hUCMSCs showed significantly elevated expression of vimentin, fibroblast
      activation protein (FAP) and miR-221. The supernatant of induced hUCMSCs was able
      to significantly increase the proliferation and migration of HepG-2 cells.
      Following co-culture, the proliferation and migration of HepG-2 cells increased
      dramatically. These findings suggest that the supernatant of HepG-2 cells is able
      to induce the phenotype of CA-MSCs and the supernatant of CA-MSCs may promote the
      proliferation and migration of HepG-2 cells. These findings provide experimental
      evidence for the cellular remodeling in tumor microenvironment and the safety of
      clinical use of hUCMSCs. 

PMID- 27648134
TI  - MicroRNA-494 inhibits proliferation and metastasis of osteosarcoma through
      repressing insulin receptor substrate-1.
AB  - Despite microRNA-494 (miR-494) has a well-established role in many types of
      cancer; the biological function and potential mechanism of miR-494 in human
      osteosarcoma (OS) has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was therefore to
      investigate the role and underlying mechanism of miR-494 expression in
      osteosarcoma. Here, we found that miR-494 was significantly decreased in OS
      tissues and cell lines compared to the adjacent noncancerous bone tissues
      (P<0.01) and human normal osteoblast cells (NHOst) (P<0.05), respectively.
      Functional assays demonstrated that ectopic overexpression of miR-494 could
      significantly inhibit cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and
      invasion in vitro, as well as suppress tumor growth in nude mice model. Further
      integrative and functional studies suggested insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1)
      as a target gene of miR-494 in OS cells. IRS1 expression was upregulated, and
      inversely correlated with miR-494 expression in clinical OS tissues (r=-0.589,
      P=0.001). Moreover, downregulation of IRS1 had similar the inhibition effect on
      cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of miR-494
      overexpression. Overexpresion of miR-494 obviously decreased AKT signal pathway
      activation. These findings suggested that miR-494 functioned as a tumor
      suppressor in OS, at least in part, by targeting IRS1. 

PMID- 27648136
TI  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonist troglitazone suppresses
      transforming growth factor-beta1 signalling through miR-92b upregulation
      inhibited Axl expression in human keloid fibroblasts in vitro.
AB  - Keloid, a skin benign tumor, is characterized by overgrowth of fibroblasts and
      the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix in wounded skin. Peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) agonist was recently evaluated
      to inhibit fibrosis. This study explored the underlying mechanisms. Fibroblasts
      isolated from 25 keloid patients (KFs) and fibroblasts isolated from healthy
      controls (NSFBs) were also subjected to treatment with PPAR-gamma agonist
      troglitazone and antagonist GW9662 or for transfection with miR-92 mimics or
      inhibitor, Axl siRNA, and miR-92b or Axl promoter constructs, as well as being
      subjected to qRT-PCR, ELISA, Western blot, protein array, luciferase, and ChIP
      assays. The data demonstrated that TGF-beta1 and Axl proteins were significantly
      elevated in samples from keloid patients, while troglitazone treatment
      significantly reduced levels of TGF-beta1 and Axl mRNA and proteins in KFs.
      Moreover, knockdown of Axl expression reduced expression of TGF-beta1 and its
      pathway genes (such as alpha-SMA and Snail). PPAR-gamma regulation of Axl
      expression was through transcriptional activation of miR-92b. miR-92b expression
      downregulated Axl expression at both mRNA and protein levels, whereas GW9662
      completely reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-92b mimics on Axl expression.
      Gene ontology analysis of miR-92b targeting genes showed that TGF-beta and Axl
      were both potential targets of miR-92b, as confirmed by luciferase assay. These
      findings demonstrated that PPAR-gamma-induced miR-92b expression inhibited Axl
      expression and in turn reduced expression of TGF-beta1 and the downstream genes
      in KFs, suggesting that targeting of this novel gene pathway may be useful for
      therapeutic control of fibrosis or keloid. 

PMID- 27648137
TI  - Abeta mediates Sigma receptor degradation via CaN/NFAT pathway.
AB  - Sigma receptor is an endoplasmic reticulum protein and belongs to non-opioid
      receptor. Increasing evidence shows that Sigma receptor activation can
      significantly attenuate AD induced neurological dysfunction and the functional
      deficiency of Sigma receptor plays an important role in the Abeta induced
      neuronal loss. This study aimed to investigate the influence of extracellular
      accumulation of Abeta on the Sigma receptor expression. Our results showed the
      increase in extracellular Abeta had little influence on the mRNA expression of
      Sigma receptor, but gradually reduced its protein expression. Co
      immunoprecipitation was employed to evaluate the interaction of Sigma receptor
      with other proteins. Results showed BIP could bind to Sigma receptor to affect
      the ubiquitination of Sigma receptor. Further investigation showed there was a
      NFAT binding site at the promoter of BIP. Then, Western blot assay was performed
      to detect NFAT expression. Results showed extracellular Abeta affected the
      nuclear translocation of NFAT and the CaN activity of NFAT also increased with
      the accumulation of extracellular Abeta. In this study, NFAT-BIP luciferase
      reporter gene system was constructed. Results showed NFAT was able to regulate
      the transcription of BIP. Thus, we speculate that extracellular Abeta
      accumulation may activate CaN/NFAT signaling pathway to induce chaperone BIP
      expression, which results in Sigma receptor ubiquitination and its degradation. 

PMID- 27648135
TI  - Dietary fats and pharmaceutical lipid excipients increase systemic exposure to
      orally administered cannabis and cannabis-based medicines.
AB  - There has been an escalating interest in the medicinal use of Cannabis sativa in
      recent years. Cannabis is often administered orally with fat-containing foods, or
      in lipid-based pharmaceutical preparations. However, the impact of lipids on the
      exposure of patients to cannabis components has not been explored. Therefore, the
      aim of this study is to elucidate the effect of oral co-administration of lipids
      on the exposure to two main active cannabinoids, Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol
      (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). In this study, oral co-administration of lipids
      enhanced the systemic exposure of rats to THC and CBD by 2.5-fold and 3-fold,
      respectively, compared to lipid-free formulations. In vitro lipolysis was
      conducted to explore the effect of lipids on the intestinal solubilisation of
      cannabinoids. More than 30% of THC and CBD were distributed into micellar
      fraction following lipolysis, suggesting that at least one-third of the
      administered dose will be available for absorption following co-administration
      with lipids. Both cannabinoids showed very high affinity for artificial CM-like
      particles, as well as for rat and human CM, suggesting high potential for
      intestinal lymphatic transport. Moreover, comparable affinity of cannabinoids for
      rat and human CM suggests that similar increased exposure effects may be expected
      in humans. In conclusion, co-administration of dietary lipids or pharmaceutical
      lipid excipients has the potential to substantially increase the exposure to
      orally administered cannabis and cannabis-based medicines. The increase in
      patient exposure to cannabinoids is of high clinical importance as it could
      affect the therapeutic effect, but also toxicity, of orally administered cannabis
      or cannabis-based medicines. 

PMID- 27648139
TI  - Liquid extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal: use of THAM (tris-hydroxymethyl
      aminomethane) coupled to hemofiltration to control hypercapnic acidosis in a
      porcine model of protective mechanical ventilation.
AB  - A promising approach to facilitate protective mechanical ventilation is the use
      of extracorporeal CO2 removal techniques. Several strategies based on membrane
      gas exchangers have been developed. However, these techniques are still poorly
      available. The goal of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of THAM
      infusion coupled to hemofiltration for the management of hypercapnic acidosis. A
      severe respiratory acidosis was induced in seven anesthetized pigs. Five of them
      were treated with THAM 8-mmol.kg(-1).h(-1) coupled to hemofiltration (THAM+HF
      group) at 100 mL.kg(-1).h(-1). After 18-hours of treatment the THAM infusion was
      stopped but hemofiltration was kept on until 24-hours. The 2 other animals were
      treated with THAM but without hemofiltration. After 1-hour of treatment in
      THAM+HF, PaCO2 rapidly decreased from a median of 89.0 (IQR) (80.0, 98.0) to 71.3
      (65.8, 82.0) mmHg (P<0.05), while pH increased from 7.12 (7.01, 7.15) to 7.29
      (7.27, 7.30) (P<0.05). Thereafter PaCO2 remained stable between 60-70 mmHg, while
      pH increased above 7.4. After stopping THAM at 18 hours of treatment a profound
      rebound effect was observed with severe hypercapnic acidosis. The most important
      side effect we observed was hyperosmolality, which reached a maximum of 330 (328,
      332) mOsm.kg H2O(-1) at T18. The animals treated only with THAM developed severe
      hypercapnia, despite the fact that pH returned to normal values, and died after
      12 hours. Control-group had an uneven evolution until the end of the experiment.
      A combined treatment with THAM coupled to hemofiltration may be an effective
      treatment to control severe hypercapnic acidosis. 

PMID- 27648138
TI  - A human apolipoprotein E mimetic peptide reduces atherosclerosis in aged
      apolipoprotein E null mice.
AB  - Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is well known as an antiatherogenic protein via
      regulating lipid metabolism and inflammation. We previously reported that a human
      apoE mimetic peptide, EpK, reduced atherosclerosis in apoE null (apoE(-/-)) mice
      through reducing inflammation without affecting plasma lipid levels. Here, we
      construct another human apoE mimetic peptide, named hEp, and investigate whether
      expression of hEp can reduce atherosclerotic lesion development in aged female
      apoE(-/-) mice with pre-existing lesions. We found that chemically synthesized
      hEp significantly decreased cholesterol accumulation induced by oxidized low
      density lipoprotein and the expression of inflammatory cytokines TNFalpha and IL
      6 induced by lipopolysaccharide in macrophages. In an in vivo study, Lv-hEp-GFP
      lentiviruses were intravenously injected into 9 month-old apoE(-/-) mice. Mice
      were then fed a chow diet for 18 weeks. Results showed that in comparison to the
      Lv-GFP lentivirus injection (Lv-GFP) group, Lv-hEp-GFP lentivirus injection
      achieved hepatic hEp expression and secretion in apoE(-/-) mice. It was observed
      that hEp expression significantly reduced plasma VLDL and LDL cholesterol levels
      and decreased aortic atherosclerotic lesions. This was accompanied by an increase
      of LDL receptor expression and a reduction of TNFalpha and IL-6 mRNA levels in
      the liver. Moreover, expression of hEp increased plasma paraoxonase-1 activity
      and decreased plasma myeloperoxidase activity and serum amyloid A levels. Our
      study provides evidence that hEp may be developed as a promising therapeutic apoE
      mimetic peptide for atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases through its
      induction of plasma VLDL/LDL cholesterol clearance as well as its anti-oxidative
      and anti-inflammatory activities. 

PMID- 27648140
TI  - Upregulation of lncRNA HNF1A-AS1 promotes cell proliferation and metastasis in
      osteosarcoma through activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway.
AB  - HNF1A-antisense 1 (HNF1A-AS1), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), is associated with
      metastasis and is an independent prognostic factor for lung cancer. Recent
      studies demonstrated that HNF1A-AS1 play important roles in cacinogenesis.
      However, the exact effects and molecular mechanisms of HNF1A-AS1 in osteosarcoma
      (OS) progression is still unclear. In the present study, we found that HNF1A-AS1
      was markedly up-regulated in OS tissues compared to their adjacent non-tumor
      tissues. HNF1A-AS1 expression levels were positively associated with the clinical
      stage, distant metastasis, and reduced overall survival of OS patients. In
      addition, knockdown HNF1A-AS1 expression inhibited cell proliferation, metastasis
      and influences the activity of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in OS cells. Wnt/beta
      catenin pathway activator (LiCl) rescued the anticancer effect of knockdown HNF1A
      AS1 expression in OS cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that HNF1A-AS1
      promoted the progression of OS via regulating the activity of the Wnt/beta
      catenin pathway, indicating that HNF1A-AS1 might be a potential target for the
      treatment of OS. 

PMID- 27648141
TI  - MicroRNA-141 inhibits glioma cells growth and metastasis by targeting TGF-beta2.
AB  - MicroRNA-141 (miR-141) has been reported to function as tumor suppressor in many
      types of cancer. However, the molecular function and underlying mechanisms of miR
      141 in glioma is still unknown. The aims of this study were to investigate miR
      141 expression and determine its biological function and underlying mechanism in
      glioma. In this study, we found that miR-141 expression levels, both in glioma
      cell lines and in tissues, were significantly lower than that in a normal human
      astrocyte cell line or adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Overexpression of miR-141
      significantly inhibited glioma cell proliferation, colony formation, migration
      and invasion in vitro, as well as suppressed glioma tumor growth in vivo. In
      addition, transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF-beta2) was identified as a
      target of miR-141 in glioma cells. TGF-beta2 expression was also found to be
      upregulated, and negatively associated with miR-141 in glioma tissues. TGF-beta2
      over-expression partly reversed the effect caused by transfection of miR-141
      mimic. These findings together suggested that miR-141 functioned as tumor
      suppressor by targeting TGF-beta2, and that miR-141 might be a promising
      therapeutic strategy for future treatment of glioma. 

PMID- 27648142
TI  - Long non-coding RNA CASC2 suppresses the proliferation of gastric cancer cells by
      regulating the MAPK signaling pathway.
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play important roles in
      tumorigenesis. However, the biological functions and molecular mechanisms
      underlying aberrantly expressed lncRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) is still unclear.
      In this study, a novel lncRNA CASC2 was chosen to evaluate the effect on GC cell
      growth and the possible mechanism. Our results showed that CASC2 was
      significantly downregulated in human GC tissues and cell lines by quantitative RT
      PCR. Overexpression of CASC2 in GC cells significantly inhibited the cell growth
      in vitro and in vivo. We further found that MAPK pathway especially the ERK1/2
      and JNK component were involved in the CASC2 mediated GC cell proliferation.
      Moreover, combination treatment of CASC2 overexpression and suppression ERK1/2 or
      JNK produced synergistic inhibitory effects in vitro. Thus, these results
      indicated that CASC2 might serve as a tumor suppressor lncRNA that suppressed
      cell proliferation by inactivation of MAPK pathway. These findings suggested that
      CASC2 could be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of GC patients. 

PMID- 27648143
TI  - Downregulation of androgen receptor is strongly associated with diabetes in
      triple negative breast cancer patients.
AB  - Developing of personalized therapies for Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)
      requires a more detailed knowledge of its biology and a correct stratification of
      molecular subtypes. Androgen Receptor (AR) is expressed in a large part of TNBCs
      but its prognostic role in this Breast Cancer (BC) subtype is highly debated. In
      this study, we analyzed AR expression in a series of 238 TNBCs and correlated its
      expression with clinical-pathological features, survival, and metabolic profile.
      We showed a consistent association between AR expression and a better prognosis
      of TNBC patients, while its downregulation appeared strongly associated with
      diabetic disease. Since a recent prospective study reported a lower BC risk in
      diabetic women treated with drugs able to reduce circulating levels of glucose
      compared with non-diabetic woman, and in vitro studies showed that AR level are
      regulated directly by hyperglycemia, we speculate on the perspective of new
      integrated therapies for TNBC. 

PMID- 27648144
TI  - Exendin-4 protects Abeta(1-42) oligomer-induced PC12 cell apoptosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increases the risk of developing
      Alzheimer's disease. Most recently, GLP-1 analogs have been shown to have a
      significant neuroprotective role in several neurodegenerative diseases. However,
      few are known on its potential mechanism. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we report the
      effect of exendin-4 (Ex-4), a GLP-1 receptor agonist, on amyloid-beta(1-42)
      peptide oligomer-induced apoptosis in a PC12 neuronal cell model. METHODS: MTT,
      DAPI and Annexin-V/PI assays revealed that the viability of PC12 cells decreased
      in a dose- and time-dependent manner after exposure to amyloid-beta(1-42)
      oligomers. This apoptotic effect could be attenuated by Ex-4 (100-300 nM) pre
      treatment, compared with the PC12 cells treated with amyloid-beta(1-42) oligomers
      alone. Moreover, treatment with amyloid-beta(1-42) oligomers (10 MUM) resulted in
      a decrease in active- and pro-caspase-3 expression, as well as in Bcl-2 protein
      expression; suggesting that amyloid-beta(1-42) oligomers impaired neuronal cells
      via the apoptosis signaling pathway. A further study of this mechanism revealed
      that amyloid-beta oligomers (AbetaOs) decreased the phosphorylation of Akt and
      CREB. As expected, pre-treatment with Ex-4 (300 nM) increased the expression of
      anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and reduced active caspase-3 expression levels. In
      addition, Ex-4 upregulated the phosphorylation levels of Akt and CREB.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that GLP-1 analogue Ex-4 has a
      neuroprotective effect against AbetaO-induced PC12 cell apoptosis through
      reversing the impairment of the neuronal survival signaling pathway. This
      strongly suggests that Ex-4 is a potential therapeutic option for ameliorating
      AbetaO-induced neurotoxicity in the clinical application of Ex-4 for AD
      treatment, particularly when associated with diabetes.

PMID- 27648145
TI  - Anti-proliferative role and prognostic implication of miR-141 in gastric cancer.
AB  - Gastric cancer is a prevalent disease causing a high annual death rate worldwide.
      Recent studies suggest the pivotal regulatory role of microRNAs in gastric cancer
      and the aberrant expression of microRNA-141 (miR-141) in gastric cancer cells.
      This study aims to explore the role and possible mechanism of miR-141 in gastric
      cancer prognosis and cell proliferation. A total of 30 gastric cancer patients
      were recruited for miR-141 level detection and a follow up of 115 weeks. Human
      adenocarcinoma cell line AGS was transfected with miR-141 mimic or inhibitor for
      cell viability, colony formation and cell cycle assays. A gastric cancer mouse
      model was constructed by implantation of transfected AGS cells. Insulin-like
      growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) was overexpressed in AGS cells to investigate
      miR-141 mechanism. Results showed that miR-141 was significantly down-regulated
      in gastric cancer tissue (P < 0.001). The patients with lower miR-141 levels
      exhibited poorer prognosis. miR-141 inhibited AGS cell viability (P < 0.01),
      colony formation (P < 0.01) and cell cycle (P < 0.05), and the mice implanted
      with miR-141 mimic cells showed an obvious smaller tumor size (P < 0.01),
      suggesting the anti-proliferative role of miR-141. Both the phosphorylated and
      total IGF1R protein levels were inhibited by miR-141, while IGF1R overexpression
      reversed the effects of miR-141 in AGS cell proliferation. These results indicate
      the potential roles of miR-141 as a prognostic factor and as a therapeutic
      alternative for gastric cancer. Its mechanism may be associated with IGF1R, and
      further research is necessary for more detail information. 

PMID- 27648146
TI  - Quercetin induces mitochondrial biogenesis in experimental traumatic brain injury
      via the PGC-1alpha signaling pathway.
AB  - Quercetin, a dietary flavonoid used as a food supplement, has been found to have
      protective effect against mitochondria damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI)
      in mice. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are still not well
      understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of
      quercetin on the potential mechanism mediating these effects in the weight-drop
      model of TBI in male mice that were treated with quercetin or vehicle via
      intraperitoneal injection administration 30 min after TBI. Brain samples were
      collected 24 h later for analysis. Quercetin treatment upregulated the expression
      of PGC-1alpha and restored the level of cytochrome c, malondialdehyde (MDA) and
      superoxide dismutase (SOD). These results demonstrate that quercetin improves
      mitochondrial function in mice by improving the level of PGC-1alpha following
      TBI. 

PMID- 27648147
TI  - Poly r(C) binding protein (PCBP) 1 is a negative regulator of thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - Poly r(C) binding protein (PCBP) 1 or heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) E1
      is a RNA binding protein functional in multiple biological processes. PCBP1 has
      been shown to function as a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating translation
      of EMT inducer proteins in different cancers. Loss of PCBP1 expression or its
      Akt2-mediated phosphorylation at serine residue 43 has both been indicated to de
      repress its regulation of EMT inducer proteins. However, its role in thyroid
      carcinoma has not been elucidated. Here we report that PCBP1 expression is
      significantly downregulated in thyroid carcinoma patients. In vitro kinase assay
      revealed that immunoprecipitated PCBP1 from transient or stably transfected
      thyroid carcinoma cells can be phosphorylated by recombinant Akt2 kinase. In situ
      analysis revealed that PCBP1 is a putative target of miR-490-3p, which was
      further confirmed by PCBP1 3'UTR-based reporter assays using the wild-type or a
      miR-490 seed mutant 3'UTR. The endogenous regulation of the PCBP1 3'UTR reporter
      by miR-490-3p could be rescued by transfection of miR-490 antagomir in WRO and
      BCPAP cells. Stably overexpressing PCBP1 BCPAP cells attenuated tumor formation
      completely as compared to empty vector overexpressing cells in xenograft assay.
      Cumulatively, our results indicate that PCBP1 functions as a tumor suppressor in
      thyroid carcinoma and that its expression is down regulated by high expression of
      the miR-490-3p observed in thyroid carcinoma patients. 

PMID- 27648148
TI  - Rodent model choice has major impact on variability of standard preclinical
      readouts associated with diabetes and obesity research.
AB  - Laboratory rodents are available as either genetically defined inbred strains or
      genetically undefined outbred stocks. As outbred rodents are generally thought to
      display a higher level of phenotypic variation compared to inbred strains, it has
      been argued that experimental studies should preferentially be performed by using
      inbred rodents. However, very few studies with adequate sample sizes have in fact
      compared phenotypic variation between inbred strains and outbred stocks of
      rodents and moreover, these studies have not reached consistent conclusions. The
      aim of the present study was to compare the phenotypic variation in commonly used
      experimental readouts within obesity and diabetes research, for four of the most
      frequently used mouse strains: inbred C57BL/6 and BALB/c and outbred NMRI and CD
      1 mice. The variation for all readouts was examined by calculating the
      coefficient of variation (CV), i.e., the relative variation, including a 95%
      confidence interval for the CV. We observed that for the majority of the selected
      readouts, inbred and outbred mice showed comparable phenotypic variation. The
      observed variation appeared highly influenced by strain choice and type of
      readout, which suggests that these collectively would serve as more predictive of
      the phenotypic variation than the more general classification of mice as inbred
      or outbred based on genetic heterogeneity. 

PMID- 27648149
TI  - Association of CYP2D6*10 (c.100C>T) polymorphisms with clinical outcome of breast
      cancer after tamoxifen adjuvant endocrine therapy in Chinese population.
AB  - Tamoxifen is the most widely used adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer.
      However, the pharmacogenetic effect of CYP2D6 on its efficacy remains unclear.
      Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association of CYP2D6*10 (c.100C>T)
      polymorphisms with clinical outcome in Chinese breast cancer patients. A total of
      72 tamoxifen-treated early breast cancer patients were included in this study.
      CYP2D6*10 (c.100C>T) polymorphisms (C/C: wild type; T/T: homozygous mutant
      genotype T; C/T: heterozygote genotype C) were detected by pyrosequencing. The
      plasma concentrations of tamoxifen and its two major active metabolites were
      determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Disease
      free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed by Kaplan-Meier
      analysis, while the Cox proportional hazards model was used in multivariate tests
      for prognostic significance. We found that T/T carrier showed the lowest serum
      concentration of endoxifen as compared to C/C and C/T carriers (p<0.01). In the
      subgroup of patients below 40 years of age, T/T carriers appeared to have the
      shortest DFS and OS as compared to other genotype carriers (p<0.01). When
      genotypes (C/C, C/T and T/T carriers) and other clinical characteristics were
      adjusted, tumor size (>2 cm) and grades were independent prognostic factors for
      DFS but not OS (tumor size >2 cm: HR: 3.870, 95% CI: 1.045-14.330, P = 0.043;
      tumor grades: HR: 2.230, 95% CI: 1.090-4.562, P = 0.028). In conclusion, the T/T
      genotype is a negative prognostic factor in young breast cancer patients using
      tamoxifen. Tumor size (>2 cm) and grades are independent prognostic factors for
      DFS, when genotype of CYP2D6*10 (c.100C>T) is adjusted. 

PMID- 27648150
TI  - The role of autophagy in lung ischemia/reperfusion injury after lung
      transplantation in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to explore the role of autophagy in the
      cold I/R injury following lung transplantation. METHODS: The rat orthotopic lung
      transplantation model was established to perform the level of autophagy in the
      cold I/R injury in this study. The pretreatment of inhibitor (3-Methyladenine [3
      MA]) and activator (rapamycin [RAPA]) of autophagy were performed to assess the
      role of autophagy in the cold I/R injury following lung transplantation in rats.
      RESULTS: After lung transplantation, the autophagy, lung cell apoptosis and lung
      injury were aggravated and peaked at 6 h following the transplantation. The
      inhibition of autophagy by 3-MA induced downregulated of autophagy, decreased
      cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, the lung injury, which was indicated by calculating
      the peak inspiratory pressure (PIP), pulmonary vein blood gas analysis (PO2) and
      ratio of wet to dry in lung (W/D), was ameliorated after treatment with 3-MA. The
      activation of autophagy by RAPA causing the upregulated of autophagy and
      apoptosis of lung cells, and enhanced the lung injury. CONCLUSION: All the
      results suggested that the autophagy was involved in the cold I/R injury in lung
      transplantation model, and played a potential role on the regulation of I/R
      injury after lung transplantation.

PMID- 27648151
TI  - BATF inhibition prevent acute allograft rejection after cardiac transplantation.
AB  - Acute allograft rejection is a serious and life-threatening complication of organ
      transplantation. Th17 cells induced inflammation has been described to play an
      important role in allograft rejection. Since there is a plenty of evidence
      indicating that transcriptional factor BATF regulates the differentiation of Th17
      and follicular T helper cells both in vitro and in vivo, we investigated whether
      is BATF involved in acute rejection and allograft survival by injecting
      lentivirus containing BATF shRNA through tail vein before the cardiac
      transplantation operation. We found that the allograft survival time of the mice
      treated with BATF shRNA was significantly prolonged compared with that of
      negative shRNA treated group and the control group. Further pathological analysis
      revealed that the BATF shRNA treatment group had significantly lower rejection
      degree than the negative shRNA group, while there was no significant difference
      between the negative shRNA group and the control group. Furthermore, flow
      cytometry analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked
      immuno sorbent assay were used to determine the proportion of T helper cells, the
      expression of specific transcription factor and the inflammatory cytokines
      respectively. Data showed that BATF regulated Th17 and Treg responses during
      allograft rejection. And BATF inhibition led to reduction of the expression level
      of Rorgamma-t and enhancement of the Foxp-3. In addition, cytokines IL-17A and IL
      4 were found decreased. This may indicate BATF as a novel therapy target for
      treatment of acute allograft rejection. 

PMID- 27648153
TI  - Rethinking the role of non-selective beta blockers in patients with cirrhosis and
      portal hypertension.
AB  - Non-selective beta blockers (NSBB) are commonly used to prevent portal
      hypertensive bleeding in cirrhotics. Nevertheless, in the last years, the use of
      NSBB in critically decompensated patients, especially in those with refractory
      ascites, has been questioned, mainly for an increased risk of mortality and
      worsening of systemic hemodynamics. Moreover, even if NSBB have been reported to
      correlate with a higher risk of renal failure and severe infection in patients
      with advanced liver disease and hypotension, their use has been associated with a
      reduction of risk of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, modification of gut
      permeability and reduction of bacterial translocation. This manuscript
      systematically reviews the published evidences about harms and benefits of the
      use of NSBB in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. 

PMID- 27648152
TI  - Outcomes of liver transplantation in patients with hepatorenal syndrome.
AB  - Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) plays an important role in patients with liver
      cirrhosis on the wait list for liver transplantation (LT). The 1 and 5-year
      probability of developing HRS in cirrhotic with ascites is 20% and 40%,
      respectively. In this article, we reviewed current concepts in HRS
      pathophysiology, guidelines for HRS diagnosis, effective treatment options
      presently available, and controversies surrounding liver alone vs simultaneous
      liver kidney transplant (SLKT) in transplant candidates. Many treatment options
      including albumin, vasoconstrictors, renal replacement therapy, and eventual LT
      have remained a mainstay in the treatment of HRS. Unfortunately, even after
      aggressive measures such as terlipressin use, the rate of recovery is less than
      50% of patients. Moreover, current SLKT guidelines include: (1) estimation of
      glomerular filtration rate of 30 mL/min or less for 4-8 wk; (2) proteinuria > 2
      g/d; or (3) biopsy proven interstitial fibrosis or glomerulosclerosis. Even with
      these updated criteria there is a lack of consistency regarding long-term
      benefits for SLKT vs LT alone. Finally, in regards to kidney dysfunction in the
      post-transplant setting, an estimation of glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min
      per 1.73 m(2) may be associated with an increased risk of patients having long
      term end stage renal disease. HRS is common in patients with cirrhosis and those
      on liver transplant waitlist. Prompt identification and therapy initiation in
      transplant candidates with HRS may improve post-transplantation outcomes. Future
      studies identifying optimal vasoconstrictor regimens, alternative therapies, and
      factors predictive of response to therapy are needed. The appropriate use of SLKT
      in patients with HRS remains controversial and requires further evidence by the
      transplant community. 

PMID- 27648154
TI  - Hypolactasia is associated with insulin resistance in nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis.
AB  - AIM: To assess lactase gene (LCT)-13910C>T polymorphisms in Brazilian non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
      patients in comparison with healthy controls. METHODS: This was a transverse
      observational clinical study with NAFLD patients who were followed at the
      Hepatology Outpatient Unit of the Hospital das Clinicas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The
      polymorphism of lactase non-persistence/lactase persistence (LCT-13910C>T) was
      examined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique in 102 liver
      biopsy-proven NAFLD patients (steatosis in 9 and NASH in 93) and compared to
      those of 501 unrelated healthy volunteers. Anthropometric, clinical, biochemical
      and liver histology data were analyzed. Continuous variables were compared using
      the t or Mann-Whitney tests, and categorical data were compared with the Fisher's
      exact test. Univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression
      adjusted for gender and age were performed. RESULTS: No differences in the LCT
      13910 genotype frequencies were noted between the NAFLD patients (66.67% of the
      patients with steatosis were CC, 33.33% were CT, and none were TT; 55.91% of the
      patients with NASH were CC, 39.78% were CT, and 4.3% were TT; P = 0.941) and the
      healthy controls (59.12% were CC, 35.67% were CT, and 5.21% were TT) or between
      the steatosis and NASH patients. That is, the distribution of the lactase non
      persistence/lactase persistence polymorphism (LCT-13910C>T) in the patients with
      NAFLD was equal to that in the general population. In the NASH patients, the
      univariate analysis revealed that the lactase non-persistence (low lactase
      activity or hypolactasia) phenotype was associated with higher insulin levels
      (23.47 +/- 15.94 MUU/mL vs 15.8 +/- 8.33 MUU/mL, P = 0.027) and a higher
      frequency of insulin resistance (91.84% vs 72.22%, P = 0.02) compared with the
      lactase persistence phenotype. There were no associations between the LCT
      genotypes and diabetes (P = 0.651), dyslipidaemia (P = 0.328), hypertension (P =
      0.507) or liver histology in these patients. Moreover, in the NASH patients,
      hypolactasia was an independent risk factor for insulin resistance even after
      adjusting for gender and age [OR = 5.0 (95%CI: 1.35-20; P = 0.017)]. CONCLUSION:
      The LCT-13910 genotype distribution in Brazilian NAFLD patients was the same as
      that of the general population, but hypolactasia increased the risk of insulin
      resistance in the NASH patients.

PMID- 27648155
TI  - Diagnostic non-invasive model of large risky esophageal varices in cirrhotic
      hepatitis C virus patients.
AB  - AIM: To build a diagnostic non-invasive model for screening of large varices in
      cirrhotic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. METHODS: This study was conducted on
      124 post-HCV cirrhotic patients presenting to the clinics of the Endemic Medicine
      Department at Mansoura University Hospital for evaluation before HCV antiviral
      therapy: 78 were Child A and 46 were Child B (score <= 8). Inclusion criteria for
      patients enrolled in this study was presence of cirrhotic HCV (diagnosed by
      either biopsy or fulfillment of clinical basis). Exclusion criteria consisted of
      patients with other etiologies of liver cirrhosis, e.g., hepatitis B virus and
      patients with high MELD score on transplant list. All patients were subjected to
      full medical record, full basic investigations, endoscopy, and computed
      tomography (CT), and then divided into groups with no varices, small varices, or
      large risky varices. In addition, values of Fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4),
      aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and platelet count/splenic
      diameter ratio (PC/SD) were also calculated. RESULTS: Detection of large varies
      is a multi-factorial process, affected by many variables. Choosing binary
      logistic regression, dependent factors were either large or small varices while
      independent factors included CT variables such coronary vein diameter, portal
      vein (PV) diameter, lieno-renal shunt and other laboratory non-invasive variables
      namely FIB-4, APRI, and platelet count/splenic diameter. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to determine the accuracy of non-invasive
      parameters for predicting the presence of large esophageal varices and the area
      under the ROC curve for each one of these parameters was obtained. A model was
      established and the best model for prediction of large risky esophageal varices
      used both PC/SD and PV diameter (75% accuracy), while the logistic model equation
      was shown to be (PV diameter * -0.256) plus (PC/SD * -0.006) plus (8.155). Values
      nearing 2 or more denote large varices. CONCLUSION: This model equation has 86.9%
      sensitivity and 57.1% specificity, and would be of clinical applicability with
      75% accuracy.

PMID- 27648156
TI  - Liver resections can be performed safely without Pringle maneuver: A prospective
      study.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate liver resections without Pringle maneuver, i.e., clamping of the
      portal triad. METHODS: Between 9/2002 and 7/2013, 175 consecutive liver
      resections (n = 101 major anatomical and n = 74 large atypical > 5 cm) without
      Pringle maneuver were performed in 127 patients (143 surgeries). Accompanying, 37
      wedge resections (specimens < 5 cm) and 43 radiofrequency ablations were
      performed. Preoperative volumetric calculation of the liver remnant preceeded all
      anatomical resections. The liver parenchyma was dissected by water-jet. The
      median central venous pressure was 4 mmHg (range: 5-14). Data was collected
      prospectively. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 60 years (range: 16-85).
      Preoperative chemotherapy was used in 70 cases (49.0%). Liver cirrhosis was
      present in 6.3%, and liver steatosis of >= 10% in 28.0%. Blood loss was median
      400 mL (range 50-5000 mL). Perioperative blood transfusions were given in 22/143
      procedures (15%). The median weight of anatomically resected liver specimens was
      525 g (range: 51-1850 g). One patient died postoperatively. Biliary leakages (n =
      5) were treated conservatively. Temporary liver failure occurred in two patients.
      CONCLUSION: Major liver resections without Pringle maneuver are feasible and
      safe. The avoidance of liver inflow clamping might reduce liver damage and
      failure, and shorten the hospital stay.

PMID- 27648157
TI  - Unexpected gallbladder cancer: Surgical strategies and prognostic factors.
AB  - Gallbladder cancer is the most common tumor of the biliary tract and it is
      associated with a poor prognosis. Unexpected gallbladder cancer is a cancer
      incidentally discovered, as a surprise, at the histological examination after
      cholecystectomy for gallstones or other indications. It is a potentially curable
      disease, with an intermediate or good prognosis in most cases. An adequate
      surgical strategy is mandatory to improve the prognosis and an adjunctive radical
      resection may be required depending on the depth of invasion. If the cancer
      discovered after cholecystectomy is a pTis or a pT1a, a second surgical procedure
      is not mandatory. In the other cases (pT1b, pT2 and pT3 cancer) a re-resection
      (4b + 5 liver segmentectomy, lymphadenectomy and port-sites excision in some
      cases) is required to obtain a radical excision of the tumor and an accurate
      disease staging. The operative specimens of re-resection should be examined by
      the pathologist to find any "residual" tumor. The "residual disease" is the most
      important prognostic factor, significantly reducing median disease-free survival
      and disease-specific survival. The other factors include depth of parietal
      invasion, metastatic nodal disease, surgical margin status, cholecystectomy for
      acute cholecystitis, histological differentiation, lymphatic, vascular and peri
      neural invasion and overall TNM-stage. 

PMID- 27648158
TI  - Surgical palliation of gastric outlet obstruction in advanced malignancy.
AB  - Gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) is a common problem associated with advanced
      malignancies of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Palliative treatment of
      patients' symptoms who present with GOO is an important aspect of their care.
      Surgical palliation of malignancy is defined as a procedure performed with the
      intention of relieving symptoms caused by an advanced malignancy or improving
      quality of life. Palliative treatment for GOO includes operative (open and
      laparoscopic gastrojejunostomy) and non-operative (endoscopic stenting) options.
      The performance status and medical condition of the patient, the extent of the
      cancer, the patients prognosis, the availability of a curative procedure, the
      natural history of symptoms of the disease (primary and secondary), the
      durability of the procedure, and the quality of life and life expectancy of the
      patient should always be considered when choosing treatment for any patient with
      advanced malignancy. Gastrojejunostomy appears to be associated with better long
      term symptom relief while stenting appears to be associated with lower immediate
      procedure related morbidity. 

PMID- 27648161
TI  - Can the prognosis of colorectal cancer be improved by surgery?
AB  - Surgical resection is the only curative treatment modality for colorectal cancer
      limited locally. Evidence for the kind of resection procedure that is effective
      for improving prognosis is insufficient. Prognosis improvement is expected with
      the no-touch isolation technique (NTIT), making it the most important resection
      procedure. We are conducting a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) to
      confirm the efficacy of NTIT in patients with colorectal cancer. The present
      review serves as a preface to our trial, as it focuses on basic and clinical
      studies that support the efficacy of NTIT. The detection ratios of circulating
      tumor cells (CTCs) of peripheral blood indicate the progress and prognosis of
      colorectal cancer. In a rabbit liver tumor model, metastases increased after
      surgical manipulation. Also, CTCs increased during the radical excision of
      colorectal cancer. However, NTIT decreased the detection of CTCs of
      intraoperative portal vein blood in patients with colorectal cancer. Although
      these aforementioned results support the use of NTIT, a previous controlled
      prospective trial was not able to confirm the clinical benefit of NTIT, as it had
      an insufficient sample size and many patients were lost to follow-up. Therefore,
      we initiated a large-scale high-quality RCT to confirm the efficacy of NTIT for
      colorectal cancer. 

PMID- 27648159
TI  - Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative
      colitis: A narrative review.
AB  - Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (RP-IPAA) is the
      gold standard surgical treatment for ulcerative colitis. However, despite the
      widespread use of RP-IPAA, many aspects of this treatment still remain
      controversial, such as the approach (open or laparoscopic), number of stages in
      the surgery, type of pouch, and construction type (hand-sewn or stapled ileal
      pouch-anal anastomosis). The present narrative review aims to discuss current
      evidence on the short-, mid-, and long-term results of each of these technical
      alternatives as well as their benefits and disadvantages. A review of the
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Ovid databases was performed to identify studies published
      through March 2016. Few large, randomized, controlled studies have been
      conducted, which limits the conclusions that can be drawn regarding controversial
      issues. The available data from retrospective studies suggest that laparoscopic
      surgery has no clear advantages compared with open surgery and that one-stage RP
      IPAA may be indicated in selected cases. Regarding 2- and 3-stage RP-IPAA,
      patients who underwent these surgeries differed significantly with respect to
      clinical and laboratory variables, making any comparisons extremely difficult.
      The long-term results regarding the pouch type show that the W- and J-reservoirs
      do not differ significantly, although the J pouch is generally preferred by
      surgeons. Hand-sewn and stapled ileal pouch-anal anastomoses have their own
      advantages, and there is no clear benefit of one technique over the other. 

PMID- 27648160
TI  - Surgical approach to right colon cancer: From open technique to robot. State of
      art.
AB  - This work is a topic highlight on the surgical treatment of the right colon
      pathologies, focusing on the literature state of art and comparing the open
      surgery to the different laparoscopic and robotic procedures. Different
      laparoscopic procedures have been described for the treatment of right colon
      tumors: Totally laparoscopic right colectomy, laparoscopic assisted right
      colectomy, laparoscopic facilitated right colectomy, hand-assisted right
      colectomy, single incision laparoscopic surgery colectomy, robotic right
      colectomy. Two main characteristics of these techniques are the different type of
      anastomosis: Intracorporeal (for totally laparoscopic right colectomy, single
      incision laparoscopic surgery colectomy, laparoscopic assisted right colectomy
      and robotic technique) or extracorporeal (for laparoscopic assisted right
      colectomy, laparoscopic facilitated right colectomy, hand-assisted right
      colectomy and open right colectomy) and the different incision (suprapubic,
      median or transverse on the right side of abdomen). The different laparoscopic
      techniques meet the same oncological criteria of radicalism as the open surgery
      for the right colon. The totally laparoscopic right colectomy with intracorporeal
      anastomosis and even more the single incision laparoscopic surgery colectomy,
      remain a technical challenge due to the complexity of procedures (especially for
      the single incision laparoscopic surgery colectomy) and the particular right
      colon vascular anatomy but they seem to have some theoretical advantages compared
      to the other laparoscopic and open procedures. Data reported in literature while
      confirming the advantages of laparoscopic approach, do not allow to solve
      controversies about which is the best laparoscopic technique (Intracorporeal vs
      Extracorporeal Anastomosis) to treat the right colon cancer. However, the
      laparoscopic techniques with intracorporeal anastomosis for the right colon seem
      to show some theoretical advantages (functional, technical, oncological and
      cosmetic advantages) even if all studies conclude that further prospective
      randomized trials are necessary. Robotic technique may be useful to overcome the
      problems related to inexperience in laparoscopy in some surgical centers. 

PMID- 27648162
TI  - Hand-assisted laparoscopic restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the utility of hand-assisted laparoscopic restorative
      proctocolectomy (HALS-RP) compared with the conventional open procedure (OPEN
      RP). METHODS: Fifty-one patients who underwent restorative total proctocolectomy
      with rectal mucosectomy and ileal pouch anal anastomosis between January 2008 and
      July 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-three patients in the HALS-RP
      group and twenty-four patients in the OPEN-RP group were compared. Four patients
      who had purely laparoscopic surgery were excluded. Restorative total
      proctocolectomy was performed with mucosectomy and a hand-sewn ileal-pouch-anal
      anastomosis. Preoperative comorbidities, intraoperative factors such as blood
      loss and operative time, postoperative complications, and postoperative course
      were compared between two groups. RESULTS: Patients in both groups were matched
      with regards to patient age, gender, and American Society of Anesthesiologists
      score. There were no significant differences in extent of colitis, indications
      for surgery, preoperative comorbidities, and preoperative medications in the two
      groups. The median operative time for the HALS-RP group was 369 (320-420) min,
      slightly longer than the OPEN-RP group at 355 (318-421) min; this was not
      statistically significant. Blood loss was significantly less in HALS-RP [300 (230
      402) mL] compared to OPEN-RP [512 (401-1162) mL, P = 0.003]. Anastomotic leakage
      was noted in 3 patients in the HALS-RP group and 2 patients in the OPEN-RP group
      (13% vs 8.3%, NS). The rates of other postoperative complications and the length
      of hospital stay were not different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: HALS-RP
      can be performed with less blood loss and smaller skin incisions. This procedure
      is a feasible technique for total proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 27648163
TI  - Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A study from India on the impact of evolution from a low
      to a high volume unit.
AB  - AIM: To analyse the impact of turning of our department from a low to a high
      volume provider of pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) on surgical outcome. METHODS: A
      retrospective collection of data was done for patients who underwent PD.
      According to the number of PDs undertaken per year, we categorized the volume
      into low volume (< 10 PDs/year), medium volume (10-24 PDs/year) and high volume
      (> 25 PDs/year) groups. RESULTS: From 2002 to 2013, 200 patients underwent PD.
      The annual number of PD increased from 4 in 2002 to 34 in 2013. The mean
      operative time, operative blood loss and need for intraoperative blood
      transfusion decreased considerably over the volume categories (P < 0.001, P <
      0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). Increased procedural volume was associated
      with a lower morbidity (P = 0.021) and shorter length of hospital stay (P <
      0.001). Similarly the rate of mortality dropped from 10% for the low volume group
      to 2.2% for the medium volume group and 0.0% for the high volume group (P =
      0.007). CONCLUSION: The transformation from a low volume to a high volume
      provider of PD resulted in most favourable outcomes favouring the continued
      centralization of this high risk procedure.

PMID- 27648164
TI  - Open abdomen in gastrointestinal surgery: Which technique is the best for
      temporary closure during damage control?
AB  - AIM: To compare the 3 main techniques of temporary closure of the abdominal
      cavity, vacuum assisted closure (vacuum-assisted closure therapy - VAC), Bogota
      bag and Barker technique, in damage control surgery. METHODS: After systematic
      review of the literature, 33 articles were selected to compare the efficiency of
      the three procedures. Criteria such as cost, infections, capacity of
      reconstruction of the abdominal wall, diseases associated with the technique,
      among others were analyzed. RESULTS: The Bogota bag and Barker techniques present
      as advantage the availability of material and low cost, what is not observed in
      the VAC procedure. The VAC technique is the most efficient, not only because it
      reduces the tension on the boarders of the lesion, but also removes stagnant
      fluids and debris and acts at cellular level increasing cell proliferation and
      division. Bogota bag presents the higher rates of skin laceration and
      evisceration, greater need for a stent for draining fluids and wash-ups, higher
      rates of intestinal adhesion to the abdominal wall. The Barker technique presents
      lack of efficiency in closing the abdominal wall and difficulty on maintaining
      pressure on the dressing. The VAC dressing can generate irritation and dermatitis
      when the drape is applied, in addition to pain, infection and bleeding, as well
      as toxic shock syndrome, anaerobic sepsis and thrombosis. CONCLUSION: The VAC
      technique, showed to be superior allowing a better control of liquid on the third
      space, avoiding complications such as fistula with small mortality, low infection
      rate, and easier capability on primary closure of the abdominal cavity.

PMID- 27648165
TI  - Peripheral nerve imaging: Not only cross-sectional area.
AB  - Peripheral nerve imaging is recognized as a complement to clinical and
      neurophysiological assessment in the evaluation of peripheral nerves with the
      ability to impact patient management, even for small and difficult nerves. The
      European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology, suggest to use ultrasound (US) for
      nerve evaluation due to the fact that, in sever anatomical area, magnetic
      resonance imaging is not able to give additional informations. US could be
      considered the first-choice approach for the assessment of peripheral nerves. The
      relative drawback of peripheral nerve US is the long learning curve and the deep
      anatomic competence to evaluate even small nerves. In the recent years, the role
      of US in peripheral nerve evaluation has been widened. In the past, nerve US was
      mainly used to assess nerve-cross sectional area, but now more advanced
      measurements and considerations are desirable and can boost the role of
      peripheral nerve US. Nerve echotexture evaluation was defined in 2010: The ratio
      between the hypoechoic and hyperechoic areas of peripheral nerves on US was
      called "nerve density". For evaluation of patients who have peripheral
      neuropathies, the role of peripheral nerve is US wider than simple cross
      sectional area evaluation. Quantitative measurements describing the internal
      fascicular echotexture of peripheral nerves introduce the concept of considering
      US as a possible quantitative imaging biomarker technique. The potential of nerve
      US has started to be uncovered. It seems clear that only cross-sectional area
      measurement is no more sufficient for a comprehensive US evaluation of peripheral
      nerves. 

PMID- 27648166
TI  - Enhanced characterization of solid solitary pulmonary nodules with Bayesian
      analysis-based computer-aided diagnosis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the accuracy gain of Bayesian
      analysis-based computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) vs human judgment alone in
      characterizing solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) at computed tomography (CT). The
      study included 100 randomly selected SPNs with a definitive diagnosis. Nodule
      features at first and follow-up CT scans as well as clinical data were evaluated
      individually on a 1 to 5 points risk chart by 7 radiologists, firstly blinded
      then aware of Bayesian Inference Malignancy Calculator (BIMC) model predictions.
      Raters' predictions were evaluated by means of receiver operating characteristic
      (ROC) curve analysis and decision analysis. Overall ROC area under the curve was
      0.758 before and 0.803 after the disclosure of CAD predictions (P = 0.003). A net
      gain in diagnostic accuracy was found in 6 out of 7 readers. Mean risk class of
      benign nodules dropped from 2.48 to 2.29, while mean risk class of malignancies
      rose from 3.66 to 3.92. Awareness of CAD predictions also determined a
      significant drop on mean indeterminate SPNs (15 vs 23.86 SPNs) and raised the
      mean number of correct and confident diagnoses (mean 39.57 vs 25.71 SPNs). This
      study provides evidence supporting the integration of the Bayesian analysis-based
      BIMC model in SPN characterization. 

PMID- 27648167
TI  - Helical tomotherapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy: New therapeutic arms in
      the breast cancer radiotherapy.
AB  - AIM: To analyse clinical and dosimetric results of helical tomotherapy (HT) and
      volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in complex adjuvant breast and nodes
      irradiation. METHODS: Seventy-three patients were included (31 HT and 42 VMAT).
      Dose were 63.8 Gy (HT) and 63.2 Gy (VMAT) in the tumour bed, 52.2 Gy in the
      breast, 50.4 Gy in supraclavicular nodes (SCN) and internal mammary chain (IMC)
      with HT and 52.2 Gy and 49.3 Gy in IMC and SCN with VMAT in 29 fractions. Margins
      to particle tracking velocimetry were greater in the VMAT cohort (7 mm vs 5 mm).
      RESULTS: For the HT cohort, the coverage of clinical target volumes was as
      follows: Tumour bed: 99.4% +/- 2.4%; breast: 98.4% +/- 4.3%; SCN: 99.5% +/- 1.2%;
      IMC: 96.5% +/- 13.9%. For the VMAT cohort, the coverage was as follows: Tumour
      bed: 99.7% +/- 0.5%, breast: 99.3% +/- 0.7%; SCN: 99.6% +/- 1.4%; IMC: 99.3% +/-
      3%. For ipsilateral lung, Dmean and V20 were 13.6 +/- 1.2 Gy, 21.1% +/- 5% (HT)
      and 13.6 +/- 1.4 Gy, 20.1% +/- 3.2% (VMAT). Dmean and V30 of the heart were 7.4
      +/- 1.4 Gy, 1% +/- 1% (HT) and 10.3 +/- 4.2 Gy, 2.5% +/- 3.9% (VMAT). For
      controlateral breast Dmean was 3.6 +/- 0.2 Gy (HT) and 4.6 +/- 0.9 Gy (VMAT).
      Acute skin toxicity grade 3 was 5% in the two cohorts. CONCLUSION: HT and VMAT in
      complex adjuvant breast irradiation allow a good coverage of target volumes with
      an acceptable acute tolerance. A longer follow-up is needed to assess the impact
      of low doses to healthy tissues.

PMID- 27648168
TI  - Tumor characteristics of ductal carcinoma in situ of breast visualized on [F-18]
      fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography: Results from
      a retrospective study.
AB  - AIM: To clarify clinicopathological features of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
      visualized on [F-18] fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed
      tomography (FDG-PET/CT). METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed 52
      consecutive tumors in 50 patients with pathologically proven pure DCIS who
      underwent [F-18] FDG-PET/CT before surgery. [F-18] FDG-PET/CT was performed after
      biopsy in all patients. The mean interval from biopsy to [F-18] FDG-PET/CT was
      29.2 d. [F-18] FDG uptake by visual analysis and maximum standardized uptake
      value (SUVmax) was compared with clinicopathological characteristics. RESULTS: [F
      18] FDG uptake was visualized in 28 lesions (53.8%) and the mean and standard
      deviation of SUVmax was 1.63 and 0.90. On univariate analysis, visual analysis
      and the SUVmax were associated with symptomatic presentation (P = 0.012 and
      0.002, respectively), palpability (P = 0.030 and 0.024, respectively), use of
      core-needle biopsy (CNB) (P = 0.023 and 0.012, respectively), ultrasound-guided
      biopsy (P = 0.040 and 0.006, respectively), enhancing lesion >= 20 mm on magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) (P = 0.001 and 0.010, respectively), tumor size >= 20 mm
      on histopathology (P = 0.002 and 0.008, respectively). However, [F-18] FDG uptake
      parameters were not significantly associated with age, presence of calcification
      on mammography, mass formation on MRI, presence of comedo necrosis, hormone
      status (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth
      factor receptor-2), and nuclear grade. The factors significantly associated with
      visual analysis and SUVmax were symptomatic presentation (P = 0.019 and 0.001,
      respectively), use of CNB (P = 0.001 and 0.031, respectively), and enhancing
      lesion >= 20 mm on MRI (P = 0.001 and 0.049, respectively) on multivariate
      analysis. CONCLUSION: Although DCIS of breast is generally non-avid tumor,
      symptomatic and large tumors (>= 20 mm) tend to be visualized on [F-18] FDG
      PET/CT.

PMID- 27648169
TI  - Relative volume measured with magnetic resonance imaging is an articular collapse
      predictor in hematological pediatric patients with femoral head osteonecrosis.
AB  - AIM: To assess the potential value of femoral head (FH) volume measurements to
      predict joint collapse, as compared to articular surface involvement, in post
      treatment osteonecrosis (ON) in pediatric patients affected by
      lymphoproliferative diseases. METHODS: Considering 114 young patients with
      lymphoproliferative diseases undergone a lower-limbs magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) examination between November 2006 and August 2012 for a suspected post
      treatment ON, we finally considered a total of 13 cases (7 males, mean age 15.2
      +/- 4.8 years), which developed a FH ON lesions (n = 23). The MRI protocol
      included coronal short tau inversion recovery and T1-weighted sequences, from the
      hips to the ankles. During the follow-up (elapsed time: 9.2 +/- 2 mo), 13/23 FH
      articular surface (FHS) developed articular deformity. The first MRI studies with
      diagnosis of ON were retrospectively analyzed, measuring FH volume (FHV), FHS, ON
      volume (ONV) and the articular surface involved by ON (ONS). The relative
      involvement of FHS, in terms of volume [relative volume (RV): ONV/FHV] and
      articular surface [relative surface (RS): ONS/FHS], was then calculated. RESULTS:
      By using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (threshold of 23% of
      volume involvement), RV predicted articular deformity in 13/13 FHS [sensitivity
      100%, specificity 90%, accuracy 95%, positive predictive value (PPV) 93%,
      negative predictive value (NPV) 100%]. Considering a threshold of 50% of
      articular involvement, RS predicted articular deformity in 10/13 femoral heads
      (sensitivity 77%, specificity 100%, accuracy 87%, PPV 100%, NPV 77%). CONCLUSION:
      RV might be a more reliable parameter than RS in predicting FH deformity and
      could represent a potential complementary diagnostic tool in the follow-up of
      femoral heads ON lesions.

PMID- 27648170
TI  - Unusual presentation of Erdheim-Chester disease in a child with acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is an uncommon, non-familial, non-Langerhans cell
      histiocytosis, which involves skeletal system and soft tissue usually in middle
      aged and elderly patients. The characteristic radiologic features include
      bilateral, symmetric cortical osteosclerosis of the diaphyseal and metaphyseal
      parts of the long bones, or bilateral symmetrically abnormal intense
      (99m)Technetium labelling of the metaphyseal-diaphyseal region of the long bones,
      and computed tomography scan findings of "coated aorta" or "hairy kidneys". ECD
      in childhood with osteolytic lesion is extremely rare. We describe an unusual
      case with an expansile lytic bone lesion at presentation in a case of acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia. 

PMID- 27648171
TI  - A combined exercise model for improving muscle strength, balance, walking
      distance, and motor agility in multiple sclerosis patients: A randomized clinical
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease with a variety of
      signs and symptoms. Exercise therapy has been shown to improve physical functions
      in MS. However, questions about an optimal exercise therapy remain. In this
      regard, we suggest a combined exercise therapy including aerobic and resistance
      exercises for MS patients. The study is designed to observe, test and compare the
      effects of proposed combined exercises on strength, balance, agility, fatigue,
      speed, and walking distance in people with mild to moderate MS [0 < expanded
      disability status scale (EDSS) < 5]. METHODS: A total of 40 people with relapse
      remitting MS (16 male, 0 < EDSS < 5) were randomized into one of the four groups
      (3 intervention and one control). The intervention consisted of various
      combinations of aerobic and resistance exercises with different repetition rates.
      Pre- and post-intervention scores of fatigue severity scale (FSS), timed up and
      go (TUG) test, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 10- and 20-MWT, Berg balance scale
      (BBS), and one repetition maximum (1RM) test were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS:
      For most tests, post-intervention values of the group 1, with 3-aerobic and 1
      resistance exercises, were significantly higher compared to control group (P <
      0.050). However, no significant progression was observed in the other two
      intervention groups. CONCLUSION: A combination of three aerobic exercises with
      one resistance exercise may result in improved balance, locomotion, and endurance
      in MS patients.

PMID- 27648172
TI  - The correlation between dietary fat intake and blood pressure among people with
      spinal cord injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated the effect of different dietary fats on
      blood pressure (BP) in general population. However, these associations have not
      yet been described in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: Referred
      patients to Brain and SCI Research Center between 2011 and 2014 have been invited
      to participate. Only paraplegic individuals were recruited and patients with
      injury at cervical or higher thoracic sections were excluded to omit the bias
      effect of autonomic dysreflexia. Dietary intakes were assessed by recording
      consumed foods by 24-hour dietary recall interviews using Nutritionist IV 3.5.3
      modified for Iranian foods. Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were
      measured 3 times and the mean values entered analysis. RESULTS: Higher intakes of
      cholesterol were related to higher BP (P = 0.010 and 0.011 for SBP and DBP,
      respectively). Similarly, intake of saturated fat was positively correlated to
      both SBP (P = 0.016, r = 0.21) and DBP (P = 0.011, r = 0.22). The effect of
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) on BP was insignificant (P = 0.760 and 0.720 for SBP
      and DBP, respectively). However, intake of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was related
      to lower BP among people with SCI. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that
      higher intakes of cholesterol and saturated fat are associated with increased BP,
      whereas DHA is an antihypertensive agent. Dietary modifications with reduction of
      cholesterol and saturated fat along with intake of additional DHA supplements may
      help to reduce BP in spinal cord injured-individuals with hypertension.

PMID- 27648173
TI  - Validation of the Persian version of the dysphagia handicap index in patients
      with neurological disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysphagia as a common condition affecting many aspects of the
      patient's life. The Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI) is a reliable self-reported
      questionnaire developed specifically to measure the impact of dysphagia on the
      patient's quality of life. The aim of this study was to translate the
      questionnaire to Persian and to measure its validity and reliability in patients
      with neurogenic oropharyngeal dysphagia. METHODS: A formal forward-backward
      translation of DHI was performed based on the guidelines for the cross-cultural
      adaptation of self-report measures. A total of 57 patients with neurogenic
      dysphagia who were referred to the neurology clinics of Tehran University of
      Medical Sciences, Iran, participated in this study. Internal consistency
      reliability of the DHI was examined using Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest
      reliability of the scale was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficient
      (ICC). RESULTS: The internal consistency of the Persian DHI (P-DHI) was
      considered to be good; Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total P-DHI was 0.88.
      The test-retest reliability for the total and three subscales of the P-DHI ranged
      from 0.95 to 0.98 using ICC. CONCLUSION: The P-DHI demonstrated a good
      reliability, and it can be a valid instrument for evaluating the dysphagia
      effects on quality of life among Persian language population.

PMID- 27648174
TI  - Prevalence of intracranial artery stenosis in Iranian patients with acute
      ischemic stroke using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of intracranial
      artery stenosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke in Iran. METHODS: A total
      of 169 patients with acute ischemic stroke were eligible to participate and were
      enrolled in this study from January 2012 to February 2013. All the patients were
      admitted to the Nemazee Hospital, affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical
      Sciences, Iran. They underwent transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography. Mean
      flow velocity (MFV) of basilar artery, vertebral artery, middle cerebral artery
      (MCA), anterior cerebral artery (ACA), and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) were
      evaluated. RESULTS: A mean of patients' age was 67.80 +/- 8.14 years. There were
      83 men (49.1%) and 86 women (50.9%). Overall, 43 patients (25.4%), with a mean
      age of 66.7 +/- 6.2 years, had intracranial stenosis. The number of men and women
      with intracranial stenosis was comparable (52.4% men vs. 47.6% women).
      Hypertension (P < 0.001), hyperlipidemia (P < 0.001), and diabetes mellitus (DM)
      (P < 0.001) were major risk factors for intracranial stenosis. CONCLUSION: The
      prevalence of intracranial artery stenosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke
      is 25.4% which is comparable with previous reports from Iran and other Middle
      East countries.

PMID- 27648175
TI  - A single-subject study to evaluate the inhibitory repetitive transcranial
      magnetic stimulation combined with traditional dysphagia therapy in patients with
      post-stroke dysphagia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-stroke dysphagia is common and is associated with the
      development of pneumonia. To investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial
      magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with traditional dysphagia therapy (TDT) on
      swallowing function in patients with post-stroke dysphagia. METHODS: In this
      single-subject study, four patients with dysphagia post-stroke included. The
      patients received the rTMS applied to the intact cerebral hemisphere at 1 Hz with
      train of 1200 for 5 consecutive days combined with TDT 3 days per week for 6
      weeks. The main outcome measure was the Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability
      (MASA). Measurements were taken before, after the end of 5(th), 10(th), 15(th)
      treatment sessions, and after the end of the treatment (18(th) session). RESULTS:
      The MASA scores improved in all patients following treatment. The maximum and
      minimum change in level between the baseline phase and treatment phase was +84
      and +36. The greatest percentage improvement was observed after 5(th) treatment
      sessions ranging between 11 and 35%. The treatment trend was upward shown by the
      directions of the slopes indicated by positive values (+9.1-+20.7). The dysphagia
      was resolved after 10(th) treatment session in all participants. The aspiration
      resolved in two participants after the 5(th) treatment session and resolved in
      another 2 participants after the 10(th) treatment session. CONCLUSION: The
      combination therapy of rTMS plus TDT improved swallowing function in patients
      with post-stroke dysphagia. Further research with a larger sample size is
      recommended.

PMID- 27648176
TI  - Study of atherogenic lipid profile, high sensitive C-reactive protein
      neurological deficit and short-term outcome in stroke subtypes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stroke is one of the most frequent causes of death and disability
      worldwide and has significant clinical and socioeconomic impact. Hyperlipidemia
      and inflammation play major roles in atherothrombosis and in stroke. This study
      is conducted to compare the high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels and
      the lipid profile parameters between stroke patients and control group and
      demonstrate correlation between markers, neurological deficit, and short-term
      outcome. METHODS: We have studied a total 162 patients according to inclusion
      criteria. Serum level of hs-CRP and lipid profile estimated and correlated with
      neurological deficit and short-term outcome. RESULTS: We found stroke patients
      had significantly higher levels of hs-CRP, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride
      (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and low level of high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL) than control. When we compared ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke (HS), data
      show increased level of triglyceride, LDL and HDL, and decreased the level of hs
      CRP in ischemic stroke group than HS group. However, the National Institutes of
      Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score significantly higher in HS as compared to
      ischemic stroke at the time of admission and on the 7(th) day. CONCLUSION: Thus,
      continuous clinical observation is necessary for clear differentiation of those
      changes. Furthermore, the determination of some reliable soluble markers of
      neuronal damage in blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the early infarction period
      would be much easier and more useful for tracking the course and prognosis of the
      disease and for any appropriate therapeutic approach.

PMID- 27648178
TI  - Population attributable fraction of modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer
      disease: A systematic review of systematic reviews.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia.
      Demonstrating the modifiable risk factors of AD can help to plan for prevention
      of this disease. The aim of the current review was to characterize modifiable
      cardiovascular risk factors of AD using existing data and determine their
      contribution in AD development in Iran and the world. METHODS: The systematic
      search was done in Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane databases from inception to May
      2014 to find systematic reviews or meta-analyses about association between AD and
      cardiovascular modifiable risk factors included diabetes, hypertension (HTN),
      physical inactivity, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and overweight and obesity.
      The population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated for these risk factors
      in Iran and the world. RESULTS: Of 2651 articles, 11 were eligible for data
      extraction after assessing relevancy and quality. Diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2,
      smoking, physical inactivity, overweight and obesity were significantly
      associated with increased risk of AD. Physical inactivity with 22.0% and smoking
      with 15.7% had the highest PAF for AD in Iran and the world, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that modifiable cardiovascular risk factors
      could increase the risk of AD. Moreover, about one-third of AD cases were
      attributed to five modifiable risk factors.

PMID- 27648179
TI  - Carpal compression, Phalen's and Tinel's test: Which one is more suitable for
      carpal tunnel syndrome?

PMID- 27648180
TI  - Bacterial meningitis in a patient with multiple sclerosis receiving Tysabri.

PMID- 27648177
TI  - Temporal plus epilepsy: Anatomo-electroclinical subtypes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a remediable epileptic
      syndrome. About 40% of patients continue to have seizures after standard temporal
      lobectomy. It has been suggested that some of these patients could actually
      suffer from a more complex epileptogenic network. Because a few papers have been
      dedicated to this topic, we decided to write an article updating this theme.
      METHODS: We performed a literature search using the following terminology:
      "temporal plus epilepsy and networks," "temporal plus epilepsy," "orbito-temporal
      epilepsy," "temporo-insular epilepsy," "temporo-parieto-occipital (TPO)
      epilepsy," "parieto-temporal epilepsy," "intracortical evoked potential and
      temporal plus epilepsy," "temporal lobe connectivity and epilepsy,"
      "intracortical evoked potential and epilepsy surgery," "role of extratemporal
      structures in TLE," "surgical failure after temporal lobectomy," "Diffusion
      tensor imaging (DTI) and temporal epilepsy," and "positron emission tomography
      (PET) in temporal plus lobe epilepsy" in the existing PubMed databases. We
      searched only English and Spanish literature. Only papers that fit with the above
      mentioned descriptors were included as part of the evidence. Other articles were
      used to reference some aspects of the temporal plus epilepsy. RESULTS: A total of
      48 papers from 2334 were revised. The most frequently reported auras in these
      groups of patients are gustatory hallucinations, vestibular illusions, laryngeal
      and throat constriction, atypical distribution of somatosensory symptoms
      (perioral and hands, bilaterally hands paresthesias, trunk and other). The most
      common signs are tonic posturing, hemifacial twist, and frequent bilateral clonic
      movements. Interictal electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns exhibit regional and
      frequently bilateral spikes and/or slow waves. The first ictal electrographic
      change is mostly regional. It is important to note that the evidence is supported
      by case series or case reports. Thus, most of the data presented could represent
      the features on these cases and not actually the totality of the iceberg.
      CONCLUSION: Temporal plus epilepsy is a diagnosis that can be done only after the
      invasive recordings have been analyzed but an adequate suspicion may arise based
      on clinical, EEG and imaging data.

PMID- 27648181
TI  - Multiple cerebral infarctions in a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenic
      purpura.

PMID- 27648182
TI  - Follow-up of hypertension in patients with multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 27648183
TI  - Bodybuilding championships and myotonia congenita.

PMID- 27648184
TI  - Evaluation of serum Resistin in children with chronic renal failure undergoing
      hemodialysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: High serum resistin levels are associated with the incidence of
      chronic kidney disease (CKD). The objectives of this study were to determine the
      serum concentrations of resistin in children that present with chronic renal
      failure (CRF) and end stage renal disease (ESRD), in order to examine the impact
      of hemodialysis (HD) on serum resistin levels, and to determine if a correlation
      exists between resistin and growth retardation in patients with CRF. METHODS:
      This case control study was undertaken in the pediatric hemodialysis unit of the
      Benha and Menoufia University hospitals from April 2014 to March 2015. The case
      group consisted of 50 patients with CRF aged from 6-18 years (25 of them under HD
      and 25 of them under conservative treatment) and 30 healthy children who
      constituted the control group. Urea, creatinine, and serum resistin were measured
      before and after the HD session for patients with CRF who are already under HD.
      RESULTS: A highly significant difference was found between the resistin levels in
      the two groups with mean level of 20.2 +/- 7.58 ng/ml in the patient case group
      as compared to 4.9 +/- 1.72 ng/ml in the control group. This highly significant
      difference found in the resistin level differed according to the Chronic Kidney
      Disease (CKD) stage of progression as patients on regular HD had resistin levels
      with a mean of 24.6 +/- 7.28 ng/ml while the CKD patients under conservative
      treatment have resistin level mean of 15.6 +/- 4.72 ng/ml. there was a highly
      significant difference in resistin levels before HD (mean = 24.6 +/- 7.28) and
      after hemodialysis (mean = 14.7 +/- 5.2). CONCLUSION: Patients with CRF
      experienced higher than normal resistin levels as compared to the case control
      group and it was found that patients on HD had more elevated levels of resistin
      than did those patients who were on conservative treatment. HD treatments were
      found to be capable of lowering a patient's resistin levels. A highly significant
      negative correlation was found between serum resistin levels and the two
      contributing factors of total body weight and body mass index (BMI) as well as
      demonstrating a significant negative correlation between serum resistin levels
      and height percentiles.

PMID- 27648185
TI  - The effect of intravenous magnesium sulfate infusion on reduction of pain after
      abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia: a double-blind, randomized
      clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-surgical pain is a physiological response to tissue trauma that
      produces unpleasant physiological effects with manifestations on various organic
      systems. OBJECTIVE: According to the effect of magnesium sulfate on the N-methyl
      d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, this study examined the effect of magnesium sulfate
      on the reduction of pain and the mean amount of narcotics consumed by patients
      after abdominal hysterectomies. METHODS: This double-blind clinical trial study
      was performed on 60 patients who had undergone abdominal hysterectomies in Shahid
      Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran, from 2013 to 2015. The patients were divided
      randomly into two groups of 30 members each. All of the patients received 2 mg of
      Midazolam and 2 mcg/kg of Fentanyl as the induction of anesthesia with propofol
      (2-2.5 mg/kg) and Atracurium 0.5 mg/kg was conducted. All of the patients
      received 5 mg of intravenous morphine 30 min after induction of anesthesia.
      Afterwards, the study group received 50 mg/kg of magnesium sulfate in 500 cm(3)
      of Ringer's serum during the 20 minutes, and 500 cm(3) of Ringer's serum was
      administered to the members of the placebo group. Visual analogue scale VAS
      scores were evaluated to reach the minimum difference of 0.8 in mean pain score.
      RESULTS: The results of this study indicated that the mean pain scores
      immediately after surgery and at 1, 2, 6, and 12 hr after surgery were lower in
      the study group than in the placebo group. The mean value of narcotic consumption
      at all measured time points was higher in the placebo group. No significant
      differences were found between two groups concerning drug complications.
      CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that the intravenous injection of
      magnesium sulfate can reduce pain, reduce morphine consumption, and reduce the
      side effects of morphine in patients after surgery. FUNDING: This study was
      funded by Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. CLINICAL
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at the Thai Clinical Trials Registry
      (http://www.clinicaltrials.in.th) with the registration ID: TCTR20160308001.

PMID- 27648186
TI  - Trends of geographic inequalities in the distribution of human resources in
      healthcare system: the case of Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Considering the scarcity of skilled workers in the health sector,
      the appropriate distribution of human resources in this sector is very important
      for improving people's health. Having information about the degree of equality in
      the distribution of health human resources and their time trends is necessary for
      better planning and efficient use of these resources. The aim of this study was
      to determine the trend of inequality in the allocation of human resources in the
      health sector in Tehran between 2007 and 2013. METHODS: This cross-sectional
      study was conducted in Tehran Province in Iran. The inequality in the
      distribution of human resources (specialists, general practitioners, pharmacists,
      paramedics, dentists, nurses and community health workers (Behvarz)) in 10 cities
      in Tehran Province was investigated using the Gini coefficient and the
      dissimilarity index. The time trend of inequality was examined by regression
      analysis. The required data were collected from the statistical yearbook of the
      Iran Statistics Center (ISC). RESULTS: The highest value of the Gini coefficient
      (GC) was related to nurses (GC = 0.291) in 2007. The highest value of the Gini
      coefficient was related to nurses and Behvarzs in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
      The distribution of specialists had the highest inequality in 2010 (GC = 0.298),
      2011 (GC = 0.300) and 2013 (GC = 0.316). General practitioners had the lowest
      Gini coefficient for 2007, 2008 and 2012. Nurses for 2009 and Behvarzs for 2010,
      2011 and 2013 had the lowest value of Gini coefficient. The dissimilarity indexes
      for specialists and general practitioners were 26.64 and 8.72 in 2013,
      respectively. The means of this index for included resources were 31.35, 18.27,
      16.91, 22.32, 15.82, 26.74, and 24.33, respectively. The time trend analysis
      showed that the coefficient of time was positive for all of the human resources,
      except Behvarzes, and only the coefficient of general practitioners was
      statistically significant ( p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Over time, inequalities in the
      distribution of resources in the health sector have been increasing. By
      developing the private sector and considering the trend of this sector to operate
      in the more developed regions, health policy makers should continually evaluate
      the distribution of human resources, and they should arrange a specific plan for
      the allocation of human resources in the health sector.

PMID- 27648187
TI  - Serum and Urinary Malondialdehyde (MDA), Uric acid, and Protein as markers of
      perinatal asphyxia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is among the leading causes of neonatal
      morbidity and death in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The aims of this
      research were to determine the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), urine
      MDA, uric acid, and protein in the cord blood of neonates with perinatal asphyxia
      and to determine their relationship with the severity of perinatal asphyxia.
      METHODS: This matched case-control study was conducted from October 2012 to March
      2013. All of the cases and controls were selected from the Gynecology &
      Obstetrics Department and the NICUs, at Qous Central Hospital in Qena, Egypt. We
      allocated 20 full-term neonates who had perinatal asphyxia to the case group.
      Also, we selected 20 healthy neonates for the control group. The subjects were
      matched with respect to age and gender. At birth and 48 hours later, measurements
      were made of MDA in cord blood and urine, and uric acid, protein, and creatinine
      also were measured in both groups. The data were analyzed by SPSS, version 17,
      using the independent-samples t-test, ANOVA, Tukey's test, and Spearman's
      correlation coefficient. RESULTS: At birth and 48 hr later, the newborns' with PA
      had significantly higher levels of MDA in the cord blood, mean urinary uric
      acid/creatinine (UUA:Cr), protein/creatinine (UP:Cr), and MDA/creatinine ratio
      (UMDA:Cr) than the controls; their PA levels were correlated with the degree of
      hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The babies who died due to PA had
      significantly higher levels of cord blood MDA, and they also had higher UUA:Cr,
      UP:Cr, and UMDA:Cr ratios than the babies who survived. CONCLUSION: The
      concentration of MDA in cord blood can be used as a diagnostic marker of
      oxidative stress in asphyxiated neonates. The ratios of the urinary excretion
      rates of uric acid, protein, and MDA to creatinine increased as the severity of
      perinatal asphyxia and associated brain damage increased.

PMID- 27648188
TI  - Evaluation of serum levels in T3, T4 and TSH in beta-thalassemic patients
      referred to the Abuzar hospital in Ahwaz.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Regarding the functioning of the endocrine system, and especially
      in the thyroid of patients with thalassemia, multiple studies in different parts
      of the world have reported conflicting results. The aim of this study was to
      assess the levels of thyroid hormones and TSH in beta-thalassemic patients in the
      city of Ahwaz. METHODS: In this matched case-control study, 105 patients in the
      case group and 105 subjects as controls were randomly selected from clients
      referred to the Abuzar hospital in 2015-2016. Serum levels of T3, T4, and TSH
      hormones were measured using ELISA. Data was processed with the SPSS15 software
      and tested by using independent t-tests and logistic regression. RESULTS: The
      study results showed that the serum level of T3 hormone did not significantly
      differ between the two groups (p> 0.05). Whereas the serum level of T4 was lower
      in the case group, compared to the controls, which was statistically significant
      (p <0.05). The serum level of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in the case group
      was higher than the control group, and this difference was statistically
      significant (p <0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed significant
      differences in serum levels of T4 (OR: 0.58) and TSH (OR: 1.57) between the case
      and control groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Hypothyroidism is clear in patients with
      beta thalassemia. With regard to the possible effect of iron on the disorder, a
      blood transfusion schedule should be performed at intervals, and the desferal
      injection program should be done regularly to prevent hemochromatosis in patients
      with thalassemia major due to the effect of accumulation of iron on thyroid
      function and detection of hypothyroidism. This course of action will prevent
      incidence of this complication in patients with thalassemia major.

PMID- 27648189
TI  - A study of job stress and burnout and related factors in the hospital personnel
      of Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Job stress has become one of the main factors in reducing
      efficiency and the loss of human resources that may cause physical and
      psychological adverse effects in employees. Hospital personnel are facing
      different stressful events, such as birth, pain and death, in a single day.
      Hence, identifying the job stress rates and related factors may be effective in
      offering proper strategies. Therefore, the present research was done to study the
      rate of job stress and burnout in hospital personnel and compare some of the
      related factors in hospitals personnel of Yazd, Iran. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted on 306 hospital personnel (Male: 114, Female: 192)
      in Yazd in 2015-16. The data were collected using a demographic questionnaire,
      Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Hospital Stress (HSS-35). SPSS-16 software
      and Pearson-product moment correlation and independent-samples t-test were used
      for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean job stress score was above average. The mean
      burnout dimensions that were above average included emotional exhaustion (21.7 +/
      7.27), depersonalization (9.61 +/- 3.74) and personal accomplishment (26.80 +/-
      6.17). While Pearson correlation revealed a significant positive relationship
      between job stress, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization, there was a
      negative relationship between job stress and personal accomplishment (p < 0.01).
      Independent-samples t-test results showed that the rate of job stress, emotional
      exhaustion, and depersonalization in males is higher than females, married people
      have more emotional exhaustion than single ones, and, finally, health staff have
      more job stress than administrative staff. At the same time, the administrative
      staff and females have better personal accomplishment than other groups (p <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: Since the rate of job stress in hospital personnel is worrying
      and it has adverse effects on personnel health, effective strategies on physical
      and mental health, such as employment support and stress management training,
      seem crucial to enhance physical and psychological health of hospital personnel.

PMID- 27648190
TI  - Evaluating the protective effects of vitamin C on serum and erythrocyte
      cholinesterase activity of male rats exposed to malathion.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Malathion is one of organophosphate poisons (OPPs) that inhibit
      cholinesterase activity and induce oxidative stress in target organs, such as the
      reproductive system. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of Malathion
      on serum and erythrocyte cholinesterase activity in male rats and also to assess
      the protective effects of vitamin C in this regard. METHODS: This experimental
      study was performed in the Pharmacology Laboratory of the Pharmacy Faculty and in
      the Advanced Histology Techniques Laboratory of the Medical Faculty of Mashhad
      University of Medical Sciences (MUMS) in January 2014. Thirty male wistar rats,
      weighting 200-250 g, were divided into five groups of six. The different groups
      were exposed as follows: group 1: Malathion 50 mg/kg; group 2: Vitamin C; group
      3: Malathion plus Vitamin C with the specified doses; sham group: normal saline;
      and control group: no exposure. After six weeks, 3 ml blood samples were taken
      from the rats, and titrimetric and Ellman methods were used to assess serum and
      erythrocyte cholinesterase activity, respectively. The data was analyzed by SPSS
      16, and p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The activities of serum and
      erythrocyte cholinesterase were inhibited significantly in the Malathion exposed
      group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The administration of Vitamin C
      alone significantly increased the activities of serum and erythrocyte
      cholinesterase. The serum and erythrocyte cholinesterase inhibition showed
      improvement in the group that received both Malathion and Vitamin C. CONCLUSION:
      Malathion reduced the activities of serum and erythrocyte cholinesterase in
      exposed animals. It probably has the same intoxication effects on people who are
      exposed. Improvement of cholinesterase activity by antioxidant effects of Vitamin
      C suggests that Vitamin C supplementation can be used to decrease side effects of
      OPP exposure.

PMID- 27648191
TI  - Correlation of maternal-fetal attachment and health practices during pregnancy
      with neonatal outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Low birth weight due to preterm delivery or intrauterine growth
      restriction (IUGR) is the strongest factor contributing to prenatal, neonatal,
      and postnatal mortality. Maternal-fetal attachment plays a significant role in
      maternal and fetal health. Health practices performed by the mother during
      pregnancy constitute one of the factors that may affect neonatal outcomes. The
      present study was conducted to identify the relationship between maternal-fetal
      attachment and health practices during pregnancy with neonatal outcomes. METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study was conducted on 315 pregnant women with a gestational
      age of 33-41 weeks who presented to hospitals in Sirjan (Iran) between December
      2014 and February 2015. The data collection tools used included the Health
      Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire and the Maternal Fetal Attachment Scale.
      Data were analyzed using IBM-SPSS version 20, focusing on the Pearson product
      moment correlation and the logistic regression model. Statistical significance
      was set to p<0.05. RESULTS: The mean score of maternal-fetal attachment was
      60.34, and the mean score of health practices was 123.57. The mean birth weight
      of the neonates was 3052.38 g. Health practices (p<0.05, r=0.11) and maternal
      fetal attachment (p<0.01, r=0.23) were positively and significantly correlated
      with neonatal outcomes. A significant positive relationship was also observed
      between maternal-fetal attachment and neonatal outcomes. No significant
      relationships were observed between health practices during pregnancy and
      neonatal outcomes. CONCLUSION: Maternal-fetal attachment and health practices
      during pregnancy are positively and significantly correlated with neonatal
      outcomes.

PMID- 27648192
TI  - Analysis of equality in Iranian household healthcare payments during Iran's
      fourth development program.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Today, the provision of healthcare should be efficient and
      equitable to achieve the health system's goals. The aim of this study was to
      survey equality in healthcare expenditures and its effects on income
      redistribution. METHODS: This study was a descriptive-analysis, cross-sectional
      study that was conducted with data obtained from the Statistical Center of Iran
      (SCI) during 2006 and 2011. The source population and study population were the
      urban and rural residents of Iran and their households' income and expenditures
      on health. The analysis was based on annually aggregated data from all provinces
      relative to their share of the total population. The data were collected using a
      pre-tested checklist consisting of two sections. The first section was used to
      retrieve data about total gross non-food expenditures of households. The second
      section retrieved out-of-pocket payments for healthcare. The data that were
      collected were analyzed using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The Kakwani index
      was used to measure the extent of the deviation from equity. The redistributive
      effect of healthcare costs was considered as the impact of healthcare payments on
      households' income distribution. RESULTS: The overall Kakwani index during the
      fourth development program for urban households was progressive (OKI = 0.013),
      but it was regressive for rural households (OKI = -0.012). Healthcare payments
      had a negative effect on income redistribution in urban areas during the entire
      period of the study, and they had a positive effect in rural areas, except for
      the years 2010 and 2011, for which the effects were negative and non-existent,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: By regarding the regressive Kakwani index and the
      negative effect of healthcare expenditures on income redistribution in some
      years, the government can use health grants, such as increasing health facilities
      and supplementary insurance, to increase the ability of households to deal with
      the cost of developing a remedy and reducing health inequalities.

PMID- 27648193
TI  - The Effect of Extended Injection of Subcutaneous Heparin on Pain Intensity and
      Bruising Incidence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reducing patients' pain is one of the main goals of providing
      clinical services, which requires nursing skill. As a simple technique,
      increasing the duration of subcutaneous heparin injection may affect the
      intensity of pain and bruising. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess
      the effect of increasing the heparin injection time on pain intensity and
      bruising associated with subcutaneous injection. METHODS: The present quasi
      experimental study consisted of 86 patients, admitted to our hospital, who were
      treated with subcutaneous heparin injection. A McGill pain intensity
      questionnaire was used to measure pain severity in a purposive sampling. All of
      the subjects received subcutaneous heparin twice for 10 seconds. They also were
      injected twice with heparin infusion, although it was for 30 seconds this time.
      The interval between the two injections was 24 h, and the intensity of the pain
      was measured after each injection. The Pearson correlation coefficient was
      measured, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the t-test were used to analyze
      the data. RESULTS: Eighty patients received heparin. The body mass indexes were
      reported as 52 (60%) and 34 (40%) for subjects within the age range of 18.5-24.9
      and 25-29.9, respectively. Regarding the mean of pain intensity, there was a
      significant difference between the 10 and 30 s injections (p < 0.05).
      Additionally, there was a significant difference in bruising rates between the
      two methods 48 and 72 h after injection (p < 0.05). The ANOVA test showed a
      significant association between gender and bruising (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION:
      According to the results, by elevating the duration of heparin injection, the
      severity of pain was reduced, and, therefore, the patients felt more comfortable.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at the Thai Clinical Trials Registry
      (TCTR) with the TCTR identification of TCTR20160221001. FUNDING: This research
      was supported by the research cluster grant (88186-25/01/89) from Mashhad
      University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. The authors received no financial
      support for the authorship and/or publication of this article.

PMID- 27648194
TI  - A review on Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and the reproductive system.
AB  - Environmental factors, such as electromagnetic waves, induce biological and
      genetic effects. One of the most important physiological systems involved with
      electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is the genital system. This paper reviews the
      effects of EMFs on human reproductive organs, female animals, fetus development
      and the importance of two types of natural antioxidants, i.e., vitamin E and
      fennel. The studies presented in this review referred to the effects of different
      exposures to EMFs on the reproductive system, and we tried to show the role of
      natural antioxidants in reducing the effects of the exposures. Many studies have
      been done on the effects of ionizing and non-ionizing electromagnetic waves on
      the cell line of spermatogenesis, sexual hormones, and the structure of the
      testes. Also, about the hormonal cycle, folliculogenesis and female infertility
      related to EMF have been given more consideration. In particular, attention is
      directed to pregnant women due to the importance of their fetuses. However, in
      addition to the studies conducted on animals, further epidemiological research
      should be conducted. 

PMID- 27648195
TI  - An investigation on social accountability of general medicine curriculum.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Experts consider social accountability as a new paradigm in medical
      education and a cultural change that is necessary to be studied and understood
      more deeply. One of the problems of medical education is the inadequacy of
      medicine graduates to meet the social accountability. Therefore, the aim of this
      study was to examine the general medicine curriculum for social accountability.
      METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on three groups of experts,
      faculty members, and general physicians working in health centers in Mashhad in
      2014. According to the needs assessment and definition of need as a requirement
      or preference, the research was conducted in three stages using the Delphi
      method, in which the opinions of experts, lecturers, and practitioners were
      collected and classified based on the CARE model in four areas, i.e., clinical
      activities, advocacy, research, and educational categories, and, ultimately, the
      percentage of agreement was determined. RESULTS: As indicated by the results of
      the need analysis, in order to reach social accountability of medical students of
      Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, the curriculum should cover four major
      areas, i.e., clinical activities, advocacy, research, and training. We found 38
      items for social accountability that are required in the general medical
      curriculum, including clinical activities (12 items), advocacy (10 items), and
      scope of research (8 items). The educational area was comprised of 8 items. In
      this study, from 30 participants, only 19 people participated in the three-step
      Delphi, and there was a 70% response rate in the first stage and second stage,
      but 90.47% in the third stage. CONCLUSION: There is a growing interest around the
      world for social accountability in medical schools and other health-related
      schools. It is expected that the results will be of interest to planners and
      policy-makers in this field so that we will observe a promotion in the culture of
      social accountability in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

PMID- 27648196
TI  - Insight on Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 in Ankylosing Spondylitis and its
      association with disease activity and radiographic damage.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fusion of joints as well as intervertebral spaces by the formation
      of bony spurs appearing as syndesmophytes and osteophytes are the hallmark of
      spondyloarthropathies which accounts for disability. The aim of this study was to
      assess the serum level of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-7 in ankylosing
      spondylitis and its relationship with disease activity and the radiographic
      damage. METHODS: This longitudinal case control study was conducted in Ain Shams
      University Hospitals (Egypt). A total of 55 subjects were included in two case
      groups and one control group. Group I included 20 patients with Ankylosing
      Spondylitis (AS) assessed at baseline (defined as Ia and after 18 months defined
      as Ib). Group II included 20 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Group
      III included 15 healthy subjects as controls. Patients with other forms of
      seronegative spondyloarthropathies, bone forming diseases were excluded from the
      study. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and the
      Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) were used to assess disease
      activity in AS patients. RA disease activity was assessed using the disease
      activity score 28 (DAS28). Radiographic changes were assessed using the Bath AS
      Radiographic Index (BASRI) in AS and Larsen scores in RA. Laboratory
      investigations included: Complete blood picture (CBC), Erythrocyte sedimentation
      rate (ESR), quantitative CRP, serum calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase.
      Determination of serum bone morphogenetic protein-7 level (BMP-7) was done using
      enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Sample collections, clinical and
      radiological assessments were performed at baseline for all groups and after a
      mean follow-up of 18 months for Group I. Data were analyzed by SPSS 17, using t
      test, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, Fischer exact test, Chi square, and Pearson
      Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. RESULTS: There were statistically
      significant differences between the 3 groups as regard baseline BMP-7 levels; the
      mean BMP-7 level of AS patients was significantly higher than that of RA patients
      and controls and significantly higher in the RA group than that of controls. BMP
      7 levels were not associated with any of the clinical or drug related variables
      either in AS or RA. In AS BMP-7 levels showed significant increase after follow
      up and significant positive correlation with serum alkaline phosphatase (both at
      baseline and after follow up) and BASDAI score (after follow up) respectively.
      Despite the parallel increase of BMP7 and BASRI score during the follow-up period
      no statistically significant correlation was detected. There were no significant
      correlations between BMP7 level and patient's age or any disease related
      characteristics in the RA group. CONCLUSION: A significant progressive increase
      in serum BMP-7 was noted in AS patients that correlated with serum markers of
      bone formation. Such a biomarker measurement may not only act as a surrogate
      marker for the disease but has the potential to contribute to the pathogenesis of
      AS that may provide a complementary or alternative therapeutic approach.

PMID- 27648197
TI  - Pattern and Outcome of Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in Children:
      Experience in a Tertiary Center, Upper Egypt.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an immune mediated
      disease of the brain. Although it occurs in all ages, most reported cases are in
      children and adolescents. The aims of this study were to study the clinical
      pattern and outcome of ADEM in children in a tertiary center in Upper Egypt and
      to determine the effect of combined use of steroids and IVIg on outcome. METHODS:
      This observational study was carried out from January 2014 through December 2014
      in the Pediatric Department of Sohag University Hospital (Egypt). All children
      diagnosed as ADEM during a one year period were included in this study. The
      treatments used were IV methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisone taper and
      intravenous immunoglobulin for severe cases. All studied cases were followed up
      and reevaluated at three months and six months. We used SPSS version 10 and Chi
      Square, Spearman's test and t-test for data analysis. RESULTS: Eighteen children
      were included in this study (10 males and 8 females), the average age was 5.5 +/-
      0.9 years. Prodroma was found in 72.22% of the cases while the main complaint was
      encephalopathy (83.33%) followed by seizures (11.11%). The neurological findings
      were convulsions in 83.33%, quadriparesis (33.33%), hemiparesis (33.33), bladder
      involvement (both retention and incontinence) in 61.11%, and cranial nerve
      affection (11.11%). Demyelination patches were multifocal in 50%, mainly
      subcortical in 27.78%. Intelligence quotient (IQ) assessment after 6 months
      follow up showed that 50% were below average, 25% had mild MR while neurological
      evaluation showed that 75% of our patients were completely cured. The predictors
      of better outcome were; children related to the age group (1-4 years) (p = 0.01),
      children with higher GCS (6-14) (p = 0.01), and children who received steroids on
      the first day of symptoms and intravenous immunoglobulin in the first week (p =
      0.03). CONCLUSION: The clinical pattern of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
      is variable, and a disturbed level of consciousness was the most common
      presentation. The outcome is generally favorable although motor deficit and
      cognitive impairment were reported. The combined use of steroids and IVIg has
      substantial effect on the outcome in children with ADEM.

PMID- 27648198
TI  - Detection of ctx-M gene in ESBL-producing E. coli strains isolated from urinary
      tract infection in Semnan, Iran.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of urinary tract infections caused by Extended
      Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains due
      to long term and overuse of broad-spectrum cephalosporine is on the rise. CTX
      beta-lactamase type, a broad-spectrum beta-lactamase, has been expanding in many
      countries. The ctx gene is harbored on a plasmid that is spread between
      Enterobacteriaceae family, especially in E. coli. The aim of this study was to
      determine the pattern of antimicrobial resistance and investigate the prevalent
      ESBL phenotype and the ctx-M gene in E. coli isolated from patients with urinary
      tract infections (UTI) in Semnan. METHODS: A cross sectional study was performed
      on 109 strains of E. coli isolated from the urine culture of patient suffering
      from a UTI referred to Shafa hospital (Semnan, Iran) during March-July 2015.
      Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was applied and the prevalence of the ESBL
      phenotype was confirmed using combination disk. PCR methods were completed for
      amplification of the bla ctx gene. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18
      software. RESULTS: One hundred ninety samples (4.16%) were identified as E. coli.
      Twenty one (26.6%) of E. coli were ESBL positive and 73.4% were ESBL negative.
      There was 100% susceptibility to imipeneme. Twenty (68.97%) out of 29 isolates
      were positive for the ctx-M gene, as detected by PCR. CONCLUSION: In urinary
      tract infections, antibiotic treatment was experimental and detailed information
      regarding the sensitivity of bacteria in the area can be useful to achieve the
      best treatment.

PMID- 27648199
TI  - Effect of Education of Principles of Drug Prescription and Calculation through
      Lecture and Designed Multimedia Software on Nursing Students' Learning Outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Medication errors are risk factors for patients' health and may
      have irrecoverable effects. These errors include medication miscalculations by
      nurses and nursing students. This study aimed to design a multimedia application
      in the field of education for drug calculations in order to compare its
      effectiveness with the lecture method. METHODS: This study selected 82 nursing
      students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in their second and third
      semesters in 2015. They were pre-tested by a researcher-made multiple-choice
      questionnaire on their knowledge of drug administration principles and ability to
      carry out medicinal calculations before training and were then divided through a
      random block design into two groups of intervention (education with designed
      software) and control (lecturing) based on the mean grade of previous semesters
      and the pre-test score. The knowledge and ability post-test was performed using
      the same questions after 4 weeks of training, and the data were analyzed with IBM
      SPSS 20 using independent samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, and ANCOVA.
      RESULTS: Drug calculation ability significantly increased after training in both
      the control and experimental groups (p<0.05). However, no significant difference
      emerged between the two groups in terms of medicinal calculation ability after
      training (p>0.05). The results showed that both training methods had no
      significant effect on study participants' knowledge of medicinal principles
      (p>0.05), whereas the score of knowledge of medicinal principles in the control
      group increased non-significantly. The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
      show that, since p>0.05, the data in the variable of knowledge of drug
      prescription principles and ability of medicinal calculations had a normal
      distribution. CONCLUSION: The use of educational software has no significant
      effect on nursing students' drug knowledge or medicinal calculation ability.
      However, an e-learning program can reduce the lecture time and cost of repeated
      topics, such as medication, suggesting that it can be an effective component in
      nurse education programs.

PMID- 27648200
TI  - Effects of Factor XIII Deficiency on Thromboelastography. Thromboelastography
      with Calcium and Streptokinase Addition is more Sensitive than Solubility Tests.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Homozygous or double heterozygous factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency is
      characterized by soft tissue hematomas, intracranial and delayed spontaneous
      bleeding. Alterations of thromboelastography (TEG) parameters in these patients
      have been reported. The aim of the study was to show results of TEG, TEG Lysis
      (Lys 60) induced by subthreshold concentrations of streptokinase (SK), and to
      compare them to the clot solubility studies results in samples of a 1-year-old
      girl with homozygous or double heterozygous FXIII deficiency. CASE: A year one
      girl with a history of bleeding from the umbilical cord. During her first year of
      life, several hematomas appeared in soft upper limb tissue after punctures for
      vaccination and a gluteal hematoma. One additional sample of a heterozygous
      patient and three samples of acquired FXIII deficiency were also evaluated.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clotting tests, von Willebrand factor (vWF) antigen and
      activity, plasma FXIII-A subunit (pFXIII-A) were measured by an
      immunoturbidimetric assay in a photo-optical coagulometer. Solubility tests were
      performed with Ca(2+)-5 M urea and thrombin-2% acetic acid. Basal and post-FXIII
      concentrate infusion samples were studied. TEG was performed with CaCl2 or CaCl2
      + SK (3.2 U/mL) in a Thromboelastograph. RESULTS: Prothrombin time (PT),
      activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time, fibrinogen, factor
      VIIIc, vWF, and platelet aggregation were normal. Antigenic pFXIII-A subunit was
      < 2%. TEG, evaluated at diagnosis and post FXIII concentrate infusion (pFXIII-A=
      37%), presented a normal reaction time (R), 8 min, prolonged k (14 and 11min
      respectively), a low Maximum-Amplitude (MA) ( 39 and 52 mm respectively), and
      Clot Lysis (Lys60) slightly increased (23 and 30% respectively). In the sample at
      diagnosis, clot solubility was abnormal, 50 and 45 min with Ca-Urea and thrombin
      acetic acid, respectively, but normal (>16 hours) 1-day post-FXIII infusion.
      Analysis of FXIII deficient and normal plasma mixtures (< 2-102% of pFXIII-A),
      showed that Ca-urea solubility was abnormal at pFXIII-A < 9%, thrombin-acetic
      acid at pFXIII-A<18%, but TEG MA and elasticity at 23% and Lys60 with SK at
      pFXIII-A< 40%. CONCLUSIONS: TEG parameters MA and elasticity, and Lys 60 in TEG
      either with Ca(2+) or Ca(2+) and SK are more sensitive to low levels of pFXIII
      than solubility tests. The increased Lys60 induced by a subthreshold
      concentration of SK could probably reflect the clot characteristics "in vivo" in
      many patients with pFXIII levels between 5-40% and could be potentially
      considered as screening test.

PMID- 27648201
TI  - Detection of Occult Acute Kidney Injury in Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase
      Deficiency Anemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency anemia is
      associated with intravascular hemolysis. The freely filtered hemoglobin can
      damage the kidney. We aimed to assess any subclinical renal injury in G6PD
      children. METHODS: Sixty children were included. Thirty G6PD deficiency anemia
      children were enrolled during the acute hemolytic crisis and after the hemolytic
      episode had elapsed. Another thirty healthy children were included as controls.
      Serum cystatin C, creatinine levels, and urinary albumin/creatinine (A/C) ratio
      were measured, and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated. RESULTS:
      Significantly higher urinary A/C ratio (p=0.001,0.002 respectively) and lower GFR
      (p=0.001 for both) were found during hemolysis and after the hemolytic episode
      compared to the controls. Also, significant higher serum cystatin C (p=0.001),
      creatinine (p=0.05) and A/C (p= 0.001) ratio and insignificant lower GFR (p=0.3)
      during acute hemolytic crisis compared to the same children after the hemolytic
      episode subsided. CONCLUSIONS: G6PD deficiency anemia is associated with a
      variable degree of acute renal injury during acute hemolytic episodes which may
      persist after elapsing of the hemolytic crises.

PMID- 27648202
TI  - Antifungal Therapy in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients.
AB  - Invasive fungal infections (IFI) represent a major hindrance to the success of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), contributing substantially to
      morbidity and infection-related mortality. During the most recent years several
      reports indicate an overall increase of IFI among hematologic patients, in
      particular, invasive aspergillosis, that may be explained, at least partially, by
      the fact that diagnoses only suspected in the past, are now more easily
      established due to the application of serum biomarkers and early use of CT scan.
      Along with new diagnostic options, comes the recent development of novel
      antifungal agents that expanded the spectrum of activity over traditional
      treatments contributing to the successful management of fungal diseases. When
      introduced in 1959, Amphotericin B deoxycholate (d-AmB) was a life-saving drug,
      and the clinical experience over 50 years has proven that this compound is
      effective although toxic. Given the superior safety profile, lipid formulations
      of AmB have now replaced d-AmB in many circumstances. Similarly, echinocandins
      have been investigated as initial therapy for IA in several clinical trials
      including HSCT recipients, although the results were moderately disappointing
      leading to a lower grade of recommendation in the majority of published
      guidelines. Azoles represent the backbone of therapy for treating
      immunocompromised patients with IFI, including voriconazole and the newcomer
      isavuconazole; in addition, large studies support the use of mold-active azoles,
      namely voriconazole and posaconazole, as antifungal prophylaxis in HSCT
      recipients. The aim of the present review is to summarize the clinical
      application of antifungal agents most commonly employed in the treatment of IFI. 

PMID- 27648203
TI  - Antifungal Prophylaxis in Immunocompromised Patients.
AB  - Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) represent significant complications in patients
      with hematological malignancies. Chemoprevention of IFIs may be important in this
      setting, but most antifungal drugs have demonstrated poor efficacy, particularly
      in the prevention of invasive aspergillosis. Antifungal prophylaxis in
      hematological patients is currently regarded as the gold standard in situations
      with a high risk of infection, such as acute leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes,
      and autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Over the
      years, various scientific societies have established a series of recommendations
      for antifungal prophylaxis based on prospective studies performed with different
      drugs. However, the prescription of each agent must be personalized, adapting its
      administration to the characteristics of individual patients and taking into
      account possible interactions with concomitant medication. 

PMID- 27648204
TI  - Limited Stage Follicular Lymphoma: Current Role of Radiation Therapy.
AB  - Radiation therapy (RT) alone has been considered for a long time as the standard
      therapeutic option for limited stage FL, due to its high efficacy in terms of
      local disease control with a quite significant proportion of "cured" patients
      (without further relapses at 10-15 years). Multiple therapeutic choices are
      currently accepted for the management of early stage FL at diagnosis, and better
      staging procedures as well as better systemic therapy partially modified the role
      of RT in this setting. RT has also changed in terms of prescribed dose as well as
      treatment volumes. In this review, we present and discuss the current role of RT
      for limited stage FL in light of the historical data and the modern RT concepts
      along with the possible combination with systemic therapy. 

PMID- 27648205
TI  - Outcome of Candida Parapsilosis Complex Infections Treated with Caspofungin in
      Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the correlation of caspofungin E-tests with the
      prognosis and response to caspofungin therapy of Candida parapsilosis complex
      bloodstream infections in children hospitalized in a pediatric intensive care
      unit. METHODS: All children who had C. parapsilosis complex bloodstream
      infections and who were treated with caspofungin were included in this
      retrospective study. For each patient, the following parameters, including all
      consecutive blood and central venous catheter (CVC) cultures, the duration
      between diagnosis and CVC removal, mortality rate, relapses of the C.
      parapsilosis complex infections as well as the demographic features, were
      recorded. RESULTS: The central venous catheter survival rate was 33.3% under
      caspofungin treatment. In 92.4 % of the patients, the negative culture was
      achieved within a median duration of 12.5 days. The rate of relapses was 18.9%.
      The overall mortality rate was 37.7% (20 of 53 patients), and the 30-days
      mortality rate was 7.5% (4 of 53 patients). There was no statistically
      significant difference between the groups with MIC<2 mg/l and MIC =2 mg/l using
      CVC survival rate; rate and duration of achieving negative blood culture for C.
      parapsilosis complex; duration of hospital stay; rate and duration of relapses;
      overall mortality and 30-days mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The beneficial effects of
      Caspofungin on biofilms has been shown in vivo, while its impact in children for
      maintenance of CVC was limited in our study but should not be underestimated in
      children who strongly need the presence of CVCs. The clinicians should weigh
      their priority for their patients and choose the optimal antifungal therapy for
      C. parapsilosis complex infections in children.

PMID- 27648206
TI  - Protective Role of Silymarin on Hepatic and Renal Toxicity Induced by MTX Based
      Chemotherapy in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: ALL is the most common childhood malignancy. The children with ALL
      are treated with methotrexate (MTX) based chemotherapy protocols. MTX causes
      unpredictable serious hepatic and renal side effects. Silymarin has antioxidant
      and anti-inflammatory activities and stimulates tissue regeneration. This study
      aims to evaluate the protective effects of Silymarin on MTX-based chemotherapy
      induced Hepatic and renal toxicity in children with ALL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 80
      children with newly diagnosed ALL were enrolled in the study. They were randomly
      divided into two groups. Group I included 40 children with ages ranging from 4-13
      years and the mean age of 6.85+/- 2.89 years, who received Silymarin 420 mg/day
      in 3 divided doses for one week after each MTX dose. Group II included 40
      children, with ages ranging from 4-12 years and the mean age of 7.30+/-2.6 years,
      who received placebo for one week after MTX therapy. For all patients liver
      functions including serum bilirubin, total proteins, albumin, globulin and
      albumin-globulin ratio, alkaline phosphatase, ALT and AST, prothrombin time and
      activity and renal functions including blood urea and serum creatinine, serum
      cystatin C and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase were done to assess
      hepatic and renal toxicity before and after chemotherapy. RESULTS: There were no
      significant differences between group I and II as regard liver and renal
      functions before chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, there were significantly
      higher values of ALT and AST and alkaline phosphatase, and significantly lower
      Prothrombin activity in group II compared with group I. No significant
      differences between group I and II were found in total bilirubin, serum protein,
      and albumin levels. There was significantly lower blood urea, serum creatinine,
      and cystatin C and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase in group I compared
      with group II. CONCLUSION: Silymarin improved some hepatic and renal functions in
      children with ALL who received MTX-based chemotherapy protocols. RECOMMENDATIONS:
      Extensive multicenter studies could be recommended to prove the hepatic and renal
      protective effects of Silymarin in patients with ALL who received MTX-based
      chemotherapy protocols.

PMID- 27648209
TI  - Seropositivity of Hepatitis B and C among Syrian Multi-transfused Patients with
      Hemoglobinopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Blood transfusion is a lifesaving therapy for patients
      with hemoglobinopathies. However, the need of frequent transfusion carries the
      risk of transmitting hepatitis B and C infections which are intermediately
      prevalent in Syria. Despite screening blood donations with sensitive methods, the
      risk of transmission is still present when infectious blood is donated within the
      window period. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of HBV and HCV
      seropositivity, and its association with multiple transfusions among Syrian
      hemoglobinopathies patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs and
      anti-HCV were tested for 159 Syrian multi-transfused patients by Enzyme-Linked
      Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Thirty-nine of 159 (24.5%) multi-transfused
      patients were HBsAg/anti-HBc or anti-HCV positive, 26 (16%) of which never
      visited the dentist, and they either tested postsurgically negative for HBsAg and
      anti-HCV or never underwent a surgical procedure. On the contrary of anti-HCV
      seropositivity, HBsAg/anti-HBc seropositivity was significantly associated with
      the number of blood transfusions, number of blood units and age (P < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: About one-sixth of our patients most likely acquired HBV/HCV
      infection via blood transfusion. Administering HBV vaccine, ensuring the immune
      status, and monitoring hepatitis markers might considerably minimize the
      incidence of viral hepatitis among multi-transfused patients.

PMID- 27648210
TI  - Normal-Hearing Listeners' and Cochlear Implant Users' Perception of Pitch Cues in
      Emotional Speech.
AB  - In cochlear implants (CIs), acoustic speech cues, especially for pitch, are
      delivered in a degraded form. This study's aim is to assess whether due to
      degraded pitch cues, normal-hearing listeners and CI users employ different
      perceptual strategies to recognize vocal emotions, and, if so, how these differ.
      Voice actors were recorded pronouncing a nonce word in four different emotions:
      anger, sadness, joy, and relief. These recordings' pitch cues were phonetically
      analyzed. The recordings were used to test 20 normal-hearing listeners' and 20 CI
      users' emotion recognition. In congruence with previous studies, high-arousal
      emotions had a higher mean pitch, wider pitch range, and more dominant pitches
      than low-arousal emotions. Regarding pitch, speakers did not differentiate
      emotions based on valence but on arousal. Normal-hearing listeners outperformed
      CI users in emotion recognition, even when presented with CI simulated stimuli.
      However, only normal-hearing listeners recognized one particular actor's emotions
      worse than the other actors'. The groups behaved differently when presented with
      similar input, showing that they had to employ differing strategies. Considering
      the respective speaker's deviating pronunciation, it appears that for normal
      hearing listeners, mean pitch is a more salient cue than pitch range, whereas CI
      users are biased toward pitch range cues. 

PMID- 27648207
TI  - Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination in Hematological Malignancies: a
      Systematic Review of Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Safety.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of getting influenza and pneumococcal disease is higher in
      cancer patients, and serum antibody levels tend to be lower in patients with
      hematological malignancy. OBJECTIVE: To assess flu and pneumococcal vaccinations
      efficacy, effectiveness, and safety in onco-hematological patients. METHODS: Two
      systematic reviews and possible meta-analysis were conducted to summarize the
      results of all primary study in the scientific literature about the flu and
      pneumococcal vaccine in onco-hematological patients. Literature searches were
      performed using Pub-Med and Scopus databases. StatsDirect 2.8.0 was used for the
      analysis. RESULTS: 22 and 26 studies were collected respectively for flu and
      pneumococcal vaccinations. Protection rate of booster dose was 30% (95% CI=6-62%)
      for H1N1. Pooled prevalence protection rate of H3N2 and B was available for meta
      analysis only for first dose, 42.6% (95% CI=23.2 - 63.3 %) and 39.6 % (95% CI=26%
      54.1%) for H3N2 and B, respectively. Response rate of booster dose resulted 35%
      (95% CI=19.7-51.2%) for H1N1, 23% (95% CI=16.6-31.5%) for H3N2, 29% (95% CI=21.3
      37%) for B. CONCLUSION: Despite the low rate of response, flu, and pneumococcal
      vaccines are worthwhile for patients with hematological malignancies. Patients
      undergoing chemotherapy in particular rituximab, splenectomy, transplant
      recipient had lower and impaired response. No serious adverse events were
      reported for both vaccines.

PMID- 27648208
TI  - The Role of Autologous and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation in Follicular
      Lymphoma in The New Drugs Era.
AB  - Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common histotype of non-Hodgkin's
      lymphoma, and it is generally characterized by a heterogeneous clinical course.
      Despite recent therapeutic and diagnostic improvements, a significant fraction of
      FL patients still relapsed. In younger and/or fit FL relapsed patients bone
      marrow transplant (BMT) has represented the main salvage therapy for many years.
      Thanks to the ability of high-dose chemotherapy to overcome the lymphoma
      resistance and refractoriness, autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) can
      achieve a high complete remission rate (CR) and favorable outcome regarding
      progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Allogeneic stem cell
      transplantation (alloSCT) combines the high dose chemotherapy effect together
      with the immune reaction of the donor immune system against lymphoma, the so
      called 'graft versus lymphoma' (GVL) effect. Considering the generally higher
      transplant-related mortality (TRM), alloSCT is mostly indicated for FL relapsed
      after ASCT. During the last years, there have been a great spread of novel
      effective and feasible drugs Although these and future novel drugs will probably
      change our current approach to FL, the OS post-BMT (ASCT and alloSCT) has never
      been reproduced by any novel combination. In this scenario, it is important to
      correctly evaluate the disease status, the relapse risk and the comorbidity
      profile of the relapsed FL patients in order to provide the best salvage therapy
      and eventually transplant consolidation. 

PMID- 27648211
TI  - Own Variety Bias.
AB  - In a language identification task, native Belgian French and native Swiss French
      speakers identified French from France as their own variety. However, Canadian
      French was not subject to this bias. Canadian and French listeners didn't claim a
      different variety as their own. 

PMID- 27648212
TI  - Cognitive Bias for Learning Speech Sounds From a Continuous Signal Space Seems
      Nonlinguistic.
AB  - When learning language, humans have a tendency to produce more extreme
      distributions of speech sounds than those observed most frequently: In rapid,
      casual speech, vowel sounds are centralized, yet cross-linguistically, peripheral
      vowels occur almost universally. We investigate whether adults' generalization
      behavior reveals selective pressure for communication when they learn skewed
      distributions of speech-like sounds from a continuous signal space. The domain
      specific hypothesis predicts that the emergence of sound categories is driven by
      a cognitive bias to make these categories maximally distinct, resulting in more
      skewed distributions in participants' reproductions. However, our participants
      showed more centered distributions, which goes against this hypothesis,
      indicating that there are no strong innate linguistic biases that affect learning
      these speech-like sounds. The centralization behavior can be explained by a lack
      of communicative pressure to maintain categories. 

PMID- 27648214
TI  - Give It a Tug and Feel It Grow: Extending Body Perception Through the Universal
      Nature of Illusory Finger Stretching.
AB  - If British teenage boy asks you to pull his finger, it is usually an indication
      that he simultaneously wishes to break wind. If you were to tell him that you
      could pull his finger and stretch it to twice its length, you might expect a
      similarly irreverent response yet when we pulled the fingers of nearly 600
      children and adolescents, 93% reported the illusion of stretching. Grossly
      distorted body representations need not be the preserve of clinical disorders and
      can reliably be induced in healthy participants across all ages. 

PMID- 27648215
TI  - The Relative Nature of Perception: A Response to Canal-Bruland and van der Kamp
      (2015).
AB  - Canal-Bruland and van der Kamp present an argument about the incommensurate
      relationship between affordance perception and spatial perception in a criticism
      of Proffitt and Linkenauger's phenotypic approach to perception. Many of their
      criticisms are based on a difference in the interpretation of the core ideas
      underlying the phenotypic approach. The most important of these differences in
      interpretations concern fundamental assumptions about the nature of the
      perceptions of size and distance themselves. Extent perception must be relative
      to the organism; therefore, there can be no veridical perception of space. Also,
      we argue in the phenotypic approach that space perception is an emergent property
      of affordance perception; they are not different types of perceptions as Canal
      Bruland and van der Kamp presume. Third, affordance perception need not be
      perfectly accurate, just good enough. Additionally, affordance perception need
      not be dichotomous; this presumption likely originates in the methodology
      typically employed to study affordance perception. Finally, I agree with Canal
      Bruland and van der Kamp that joint research efforts will clarify and improve our
      understanding of these issues. 

PMID- 27648213
TI  - Sigmund Exner's (1887) Einige Beobachtungen uber Bewegungsnachbilder (Some
      Observations on Movement Aftereffects): An Illustrated Translation With
      Commentary.
AB  - In his original contribution, Exner's principal concern was a comparison between
      the properties of different aftereffects, and particularly to determine whether
      aftereffects of motion were similar to those of color and whether they could be
      encompassed within a unified physiological framework. Despite the fact that he
      was unable to answer his main question, there are some excellent-so far unknown
      contributions in Exner's paper. For example, he describes observations that can
      be related to binocular interaction, not only in motion aftereffects but also in
      rivalry. To the best of our knowledge, Exner provides the first description of
      binocular rivalry induced by differently moving patterns in each eye, for motion
      as well as for their aftereffects. Moreover, apart from several known, but
      beautifully addressed, phenomena he makes a clear distinction between motion in
      depth based on stimulus properties and motion in depth based on the
      interpretation of motion. That is, the experience of movement, as distinct from
      the perception of movement. The experience, unlike the perception, did not result
      in a motion aftereffect in depth. 

PMID- 27648216
TI  - The Star Wars Scroll Illusion.
AB  - The Star Wars Scroll Illusion is a dynamic version of the Leaning Tower Illusion.
      When two copies of a Star-Wars-like scrolling text are placed side by side (with
      separate vanishing points), the two scrolls appear to head in different
      directions even though they are physically parallel in the picture plane.
      Variations of the illusion are shown with one vanishing point, as well as from an
      inverted perspective where the scrolls appear to originate in the distance. The
      demos highlight the conflict between the physical lines in the picture plane and
      perspective interpretation: With two perspective points, the scrolling texts are
      parallel to each other in the picture plane but not in perspective
      interpretation; with one perspective point, the texts are not parallel to each
      other in the picture plane but are parallel to each other in perspective
      interpretation. The size of the effect is linearly related to the angle of
      rotation of the scrolls into the third dimension; the Scroll Illusion is stronger
      than the Leaning Tower Illusion for rotation angles between 35 degrees  and 90
      degrees . There is no effect of motion per se on the strength of the illusion. 

PMID- 27648217
TI  - Local Solid Shape.
AB  - Local solid shape applies to the surface curvature of small surface patches
      essentially regions of approximately constant curvatures-of volumetric objects
      that are smooth volumetric regions in Euclidean 3-space. This should be
      distinguished from local shape in pictorial space. The difference is categorical.
      Although local solid shape has naturally been explored in haptics, results in
      vision are not forthcoming. We describe a simple experiment in which observers
      judge shape quality and magnitude of cinematographic presentations. Without prior
      training, observers readily use continuous shape index and Casorati curvature
      scales with reasonable resolution. 

PMID- 27648218
TI  - Does Preference for Abstract Patterns Relate to Information Processing and
      Perceived Duration?
AB  - Repetitive prestimulation, in the form of click trains, is known to alter a wide
      range of cognitive and perceptual judgments. To date, no research has explored
      whether click trains also influence subjective preferences. This is plausible
      because preference is related to perceptual fluency and clicks may increase
      fluency, or, because preference is related to arousal and clicks may increase
      arousal. In Experiment 1, participants heard a click train, white noise, or
      silence through headphones and then saw an abstract symmetrical pattern on the
      screen for 0.5, 1, or 1.5 s. They rated the pattern on a 7-point scale. Click
      trains had no effect on preference ratings, although patterns that lasted longer
      were preferred. In Experiment 2, we again presented a click train, silence, or
      white noise but included both symmetrical and random patterns. Participants made
      both a duration and a preference judgment on every trial. Auditory click trains
      increased perceived duration, and symmetrical patterns were perceived as lasting
      longer than random patterns. Again there was no effect of auditory click trains
      on preference, and again patterns that were presented for longer were preferred.
      We conclude that click trains alter perceptual and cognitive processes, but not
      preferences. This helps clarify the nature of the click train effect and shows
      which predictions implicit in the existing literature are supported. 

PMID- 27648219
TI  - Seeing Objects as Faces Enhances Object Detection.
AB  - The face is a special visual stimulus. Both bottom-up processes for low-level
      facial features and top-down modulation by face expectations contribute to the
      advantages of face perception. However, it is hard to dissociate the top-down
      factors from the bottom-up processes, since facial stimuli mandatorily lead to
      face awareness. In the present study, using the face pareidolia phenomenon, we
      demonstrated that face awareness, namely seeing an object as a face, enhances
      object detection performance. In face pareidolia, some people see a visual
      stimulus, for example, three dots arranged in V shape, as a face, while others do
      not. This phenomenon allows us to investigate the effect of face awareness
      leaving the stimulus per se unchanged. Participants were asked to detect a face
      target or a triangle target. While target per se was identical between the two
      tasks, the detection sensitivity was higher when the participants recognized the
      target as a face. This was the case irrespective of the stimulus eccentricity or
      the vertical orientation of the stimulus. These results demonstrate that seeing
      an object as a face facilitates object detection via top-down modulation. The
      advantages of face perception are, therefore, at least partly, due to face
      awareness. 

PMID- 27648220
TI  - Bias in Auditory Perception.

PMID- 27648221
TI  - Deploying the Mental Eye.
AB  - Three observers performed a task designed to quantify their "pictorial relief" in
      visual awareness for a photograph of a piece of sculpture. In separate sessions,
      they were instructed to assume one of two "mental viewpoints." The main objective
      was to investigate whether human observers have such command. All three observers
      could redirect their "mental view direction" by up to 20 degrees . These
      observers experience "paradoxical monocular" stereopsis, whereas a sizable
      fraction of the population does not. Moreover, they had some experience in
      assuming various "viewing modes." Whereas one cannot generalize to the population
      at large, these findings at least prove that it is possible to direct the mental
      viewpoint actively. This is of importance to the visual arts. For instance,
      academic drawings require one to be simultaneously aware of a "viewing" (for the
      drawing) and an "illumination direction" (for the shading). Being able to
      mentally deploy various vantage points is a crucial step from the "visual field"
      to the "visual space." 

PMID- 27648222
TI  - The Perspective Structure of Visual Space.
AB  - Luneburg's model has been the reference for experimental studies of visual space
      for almost seventy years. His claim for a curved visual space has been a source
      of inspiration for visual scientists as well as philosophers. The conclusion of
      many experimental studies has been that Luneburg's model does not describe visual
      space in various tasks and conditions. Remarkably, no alternative model has been
      suggested. The current study explores perspective transformations of Euclidean
      space as a model for visual space. Computations show that the geometry of
      perspective spaces is considerably different from that of Euclidean space.
      Collinearity but not parallelism is preserved in perspective space and angles are
      not invariant under translation and rotation. Similar relationships have shown to
      be properties of visual space. Alley experiments performed early in the
      nineteenth century have been instrumental in hypothesizing curved visual spaces.
      Alleys were computed in perspective space and compared with reconstructed alleys
      of Blumenfeld. Parallel alleys were accurately described by perspective geometry.
      Accurate distance alleys were derived from parallel alleys by adjusting the
      interstimulus distances according to the size-distance invariance hypothesis.
      Agreement between computed and experimental alleys and accommodation of
      experimental results that rejected Luneburg's model show that perspective space
      is an appropriate model for how we perceive orientations and angles. The model is
      also appropriate for perceived distance ratios between stimuli but fails to
      predict perceived distances. 

PMID- 27648223
TI  - Genetic diversity and evolutionary history of the Schizothorax species complex in
      the Lancang River (upper Mekong).
AB  - The genus Schizothorax (Cyprinidae), one of the most diverse genera of
      ichthyofauna of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), is a good candidate for
      investigating patterns of genetic variation and evolutionary mechanisms. In this
      study, sequences from the mitochondrial control region, the cytochrome b gene,
      and two nuclear genes were used to re-examine the genetic diversity and
      investigate the evolutionary history of the Schizothorax species complex
      inhabiting the Lancang River. Three maternal clades were detected in the
      Schizothorax species complex, but frequent nuclear allele sharing also occurred
      among the three maternal clades. A discrepancy between topologies of
      mitochondrial and nuclear loci might result from introgression or/and incomplete
      lineage sorting. The divergence of the clades of the Schizothorax species complex
      was closely related to the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene orogenesis of the
      QTP and Southwest Mountains of China. Demographic analyses indicated that the
      species complex subsequently persisted in situ with stable populations during
      Pleistocene glacial cycling, which suggested that Pleistocene climate changes did
      not exert a remarkable influence on the species complex. Our study provides a
      comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of the
      Schizothorax species complex in the Lancang River.

PMID- 27648224
TI  - High herbivore pressure favors constitutive over induced defense.
AB  - Theoretical and empirical studies show that, when past or current herbivory is a
      reliable cue of future attack and defenses are costly, defenses can be induced
      only when needed and thereby permit investment in other functions such as growth
      or reproduction. Theory also states that, in environments where herbivory is
      constantly high, constitutive defenses should be favored. Here, we present data
      to support the second aspect of the induced resistance hypothesis. We examined
      herbivore-induced responses for four species of Inga (Fabaceae), a common canopy
      tree in Neotropical forests. We quantified chemical defenses of expanding leaves,
      including phenolic, saponin and toxic amino acids, in experimental field
      treatments with and without caterpillars. Because young leaves lack fiber and are
      higher in protein than mature leaves, they typically lose >25% of their leaf area
      during the few weeks of expansion. We predicted that the high rates of attack
      would select for investment in constitutive defenses over induction. Our data
      show that chemical defenses were quite unresponsive to herbivory. We demonstrated
      that expanding leaves showed no or only small increases in investment in
      secondary metabolites, and no qualitative changes in the phenolic compound
      profile in response to herbivory. The proteinogenic amino acid tyrosine, which
      can be toxic at high concentrations, showed the greatest levels of induction.
      SYNTHESIS: These results provide some of the first support for theoretical
      predictions that the evolution of induced vs. constitutive defenses depends on
      the risk of herbivory. In habitats with constant and high potential losses to
      herbivores, such as tropical rainforests, high investments in constitutive
      defenses are favored over induction.

PMID- 27648225
TI  - Human-modified habitats change patterns of population genetic structure and group
      relatedness in Peter's tent-roosting bats.
AB  - Although coloniality is widespread among mammals, it is still not clear what
      factors influence composition of social groups. As animals need to adapt to
      multiple habitat and environmental conditions throughout their range, variation
      in group composition should be influenced by adaptive adjustment to different
      ecological factors. Relevant to anthropogenic disturbance, increased habitat
      modification by humans can alter species' presence, density, and population
      structure. Therefore, it is important to understand the consequences of changes
      to landscape composition, in particular how habitat modification affects social
      structure of group-forming organisms. Here, we combine information on roosting
      associations with genetic structure of Peter's tent-roosting bats, Uroderma
      bilobatum to address how different habitat characteristics at different scales
      affect structure of social groups. By dividing analyses by age and sex, we
      determined that genetic structure was greater for adult females than adult males
      or offspring. Habitat variables explained 80% of the variation in group
      relatedness (mainly influenced by female relatedness) with roost characteristics
      contributing the most explained variation. This suggests that females using
      roosts of specific characteristics exhibit higher relatedness and seem to be
      philopatric. These females mate with more males than do more labile female
      groups. Results describe ecological and microevolutionary processes, which affect
      relatedness and social structure; findings are highly relevant to species
      distributions in both natural and human-modified environments. 

PMID- 27648227
TI  - Linking leaf veins to growth and mortality rates: an example from a subtropical
      tree community.
AB  - A fundamental goal in ecology is to link variation in species function to
      performance, but functional trait-performance investigations have had mixed
      success. This indicates that less commonly measured functional traits may more
      clearly elucidate trait-performance relationships. Despite the potential
      importance of leaf vein traits, which are expected to be related to resource
      delivery rates and photosynthetic capacity, there are few studies, which examine
      associations between these traits and demographic performance in communities.
      Here, we examined the associations between species traits including leaf venation
      traits and demographic rates (Relative Growth Rate, RGR and mortality) as well as
      the spatial distributions of traits along soil environment for 54 co-occurring
      species in a subtropical forest. Size-related changes in demographic rates were
      estimated using a hierarchical Bayesian approach. Next, Kendall's rank
      correlations were quantified between traits and estimated demographic rates at a
      given size and between traits and species-average soil environment. Species with
      denser venation, smaller areoles, less succulent, or thinner leaves showed higher
      RGR for a wide range of size classes. Species with leaves of denser veins, larger
      area, cheaper construction costs or thinner, or low-density wood were associated
      with high mortality rates only in small size classes. Lastly, contrary to our
      expectations, acquisitive traits were not related to resource-rich edaphic
      conditions. This study shows that leaf vein traits are weakly, but significantly
      related to tree demographic performance together with other species traits.
      Because leaf traits associated with an acquisitive strategy such as denser
      venation, less succulence, and thinner leaves showed higher growth rate, but
      similar leaf traits were not associated with mortality, different pathways may
      shape species growth and survival. This study suggests that we are still not
      measuring some of key traits related to resource-use strategies, which dictate
      the demography and distributions of species. 

PMID- 27648226
TI  - Differentiation in putative male sex pheromone components across and within
      populations of the African butterfly Bicyclus anynana as a potential driver of
      reproductive isolation.
AB  - Sexual traits are often the most divergent characters among closely related
      species, suggesting an important role of sexual traits in speciation. However, to
      prove this, we need to show that sexual trait differences accumulate before or
      during the speciation process, rather than being a consequence of it. Here, we
      contrast patterns of divergence among putative male sex pheromone (pMSP)
      composition and the genetic structure inferred from variation in the
      mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 and nuclear CAD loci in the African butterfly
      Bicyclus anynana (Butler, 1879) to determine whether the evolution of "pheromonal
      dialects" occurs before or after the differentiation process. We observed
      differences in abundance of some shared pMSP components as well as differences in
      the composition of the pMSP among B. anynana populations. In addition, B. anynana
      individuals from Kenya displayed differences in the pMSP composition within a
      single population that appeared not associated with genetic differences. These
      differences in pMSP composition both between and within B. anynana populations
      were as large as those found between different Bicyclus species. Our results
      suggest that "pheromonal dialects" evolved within and among populations of B.
      anynana and may therefore act as precursors of an ongoing speciation process. 

PMID- 27648228
TI  - Early warning signals detect critical impacts of experimental warming.
AB  - Earth's surface temperatures are projected to increase by ~1-4 degrees C over the
      next century, threatening the future of global biodiversity and ecosystem
      stability. While this has fueled major progress in the field of physiological
      trait responses to warming, it is currently unclear whether routine population
      monitoring data can be used to predict temperature-induced population collapse.
      Here, we integrate trait performance theory with that of critical tipping points
      to test whether early warning signals can be reliably used to anticipate
      thermally induced extinction events. We find that a model parameterized by
      experimental growth rates exhibits critical slowing down in the vicinity of an
      experimentally tested critical threshold, suggesting that dynamical early warning
      signals may be useful in detecting the potentially precipitous onset of
      population collapse due to global climate change. 

PMID- 27648229
TI  - Strategies for determining kinship in wild populations using genetic data.
AB  - Knowledge of kin relationships between members of wild animal populations has
      broad application in ecology and evolution research by allowing the investigation
      of dispersal dynamics, mating systems, inbreeding avoidance, kin recognition, and
      kin selection as well as aiding the management of endangered populations.
      However, the assessment of kinship among members of wild animal populations is
      difficult in the absence of detailed multigenerational pedigrees. Here, we first
      review the distinction between genetic relatedness and kinship derived from
      pedigrees and how this makes the identification of kin using genetic data
      inherently challenging. We then describe useful approaches to kinship
      classification, such as parentage analysis and sibship reconstruction, and
      explain how the combined use of marker systems with biparental and uniparental
      inheritance, demographic information, likelihood analyses, relatedness
      coefficients, and estimation of misclassification rates can yield reliable
      classifications of kinship in groups with complex kin structures. We outline
      alternative approaches for cases in which explicit knowledge of dyadic kinship is
      not necessary, but indirect inferences about kinship on a group- or population
      wide scale suffice, such as whether more highly related dyads are in closer
      spatial proximity. Although analysis of highly variable microsatellite loci is
      still the dominant approach for studies on wild populations, we describe how the
      long-awaited use of large-scale single-nucleotide polymorphism and sequencing
      data derived from noninvasive low-quality samples may eventually lead to highly
      accurate assessments of varying degrees of kinship in wild populations. 

PMID- 27648230
TI  - Cyto-nuclear discordance suggests complex evolutionary history in the cave
      dwelling salamander, Eurycea lucifuga.
AB  - Our understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of cave-associated
      species has been driven historically by studies of morphologically adapted cave
      restricted species. Our understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of
      nonrestricted cave species, troglophiles, is limited to a few studies, which
      present differing accounts of troglophiles' relationship with the cave habitat,
      and its impact on population dynamics. Here, we used phylogenetics, demographic
      statistics, and population genetic methods to study lineage divergence, dates of
      divergence, and population structure in the Cave Salamander, Eurycea lucifuga,
      across its range. In order to perform these analyses, we sampled 233 individuals
      from 49 populations, using sequence data from three gene loci as well as
      genotyping data from 19 newly designed microsatellite markers. We find, as in
      many other species studied in a phylogeographic context, discordance between
      patterns inferred from mitochondrial relationships and those inferred by nuclear
      markers indicating a complicated evolutionary history in this species. Our
      results suggest Pleistocene-based divergence among three main lineages within E.
      lucifuga corresponding to the western, central, and eastern regions of the range,
      similar to patterns seen in species separated in multiple refugia during climatic
      shifts. The conflict between mitochondrial and nuclear patterns is consistent
      with what we would expect from secondary contact between regional populations
      following expansion from multiple refugia.

PMID- 27648231
TI  - Two in one: cryptic species discovered in biological control agent populations
      using molecular data and crossbreeding experiments.
AB  - There are many examples of cryptic species that have been identified through DNA
      barcoding or other genetic techniques. There are, however, very few confirmations
      of cryptic species being reproductively isolated. This study presents one of the
      few cases of cryptic species that has been confirmed to be reproductively
      isolated and therefore true species according to the biological species concept.
      The cryptic species are of special interest because they were discovered within
      biological control agent populations. Two geographically isolated populations of
      Eccritotarsus catarinensis (Carvalho) [Hemiptera: Miridae], a biological control
      agent for the invasive aquatic macrophyte, water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes
      (Mart.) Solms [Pontederiaceae], in South Africa, were sampled from the native
      range of the species in South America. Morphological characteristics indicated
      that both populations were the same species according to the current taxonomy,
      but subsequent DNA analysis and breeding experiments revealed that the two
      populations are reproductively isolated. Crossbreeding experiments resulted in
      very few hybrid offspring when individuals were forced to interbreed with
      individuals of the other population, and no hybrid offspring were recorded when a
      choice of mate from either population was offered. The data indicate that the two
      populations are cryptic species that are reproductively incompatible. Subtle but
      reliable diagnostic characteristics were then identified to distinguish between
      the two species which would have been considered intraspecific variation without
      the data from the genetics and interbreeding experiments. These findings suggest
      that all consignments of biological control agents from allopatric populations
      should be screened for cryptic species using genetic techniques and that the
      importation of multiple consignments of the same species for biological control
      should be conducted with caution.

PMID- 27648233
TI  - The converse to Bergmann's rule in bumblebees, a phylogenetic approach.
AB  - Two patterns commonly emerge when animal body size is analyzed as a function of
      latitudinal distribution. First, body size increases with latitude, a temperature
      effect known as Bergmann's rule, and second, the converse to Bergmann's rule, a
      pattern in which body size decreases with latitude. However, other geographic
      patterns can emerge when the mechanisms that generate Bergmann's and the converse
      to Bergmann's clines operate together. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative
      analysis in order to control for phylogenetic inertia, and we show that
      bumblebees exhibit the converse to Bergmann's rule. Bumblebee taxa are
      distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical regions. The largest species are
      found in places with high water availability during the driest time of the year.
      Nonetheless, large body size is constrained by extreme temperatures. Bumblebees'
      body size could be related to a higher extent to the size of food rewards to be
      harvested than to the energetic advantages of thermoregulation. Moreover, we
      found that the body size of eusocial and cuckoo species responded in the same way
      to environmental variables, suggesting that they have not diverged due to
      different selective pressures.

PMID- 27648232
TI  - Airport noise predicts song timing of European birds.
AB  - Anthropogenic noise is of increasing concern to biologists and medical
      scientists. Its detrimental effects on human health have been well studied, with
      the high noise levels from air traffic being of particular concern. However, less
      is known about the effects of airport noise pollution on signal masking in wild
      animals. Here, we report a relationship between aircraft noise and two major
      features of the singing behavior of birds. We found that five of ten songbird
      species began singing significantly earlier in the morning in the vicinity of a
      major European airport than their conspecifics at a quieter control site. As
      birds at both sites started singing before the onset of air traffic in the
      morning, this suggests that the birds in the vicinity of the airport advanced
      their activity to gain more time for unimpaired singing before the massive plane
      noise set in. In addition, we found that during the day, chaffinches avoided
      singing during airplane takeoffs, but only when the noise exceeded a certain
      threshold, further suggesting that the massive noise caused by the airport can
      impair acoustic communication in birds. Overall, our study indicates that birds
      may be adjusting their mating signals and time budgets in response to aircraft
      noise.

PMID- 27648234
TI  - Population attenuation in zooplankton communities during transoceanic transfer in
      ballast water.
AB  - Successful biological invasion requires introduction of a viable population of a
      nonindigenous species (NIS). Rarely have ecologists assessed changes in
      populations while entrained in invasion pathways. Here, we investigate how
      zooplankton communities resident in ballast water change during transoceanic
      voyages. We used next-generation sequencing technology to sequence a nuclear
      small subunit ribosomal DNA fragment of zooplankton from ballast water during
      initial, middle, and final segments as a vessel transited between Canada and
      Brazil. Operational taxonomic unit (OTU) diversity decreased as voyage duration
      increased, indicating loss of community-based genetic diversity and development
      of bottlenecks for zooplankton taxa prior to discharge of ballast water. On
      average, we observed 47, 26, and 24 OTUs in initial, middle, and final samples,
      respectively. Moreover, a comparison of genetic diversity within taxa indicated
      likely attenuation of OTUs in final relative to initial samples. Abundance of the
      most common taxa (copepods) declined in all final relative to initial samples.
      Some taxa (e.g., Copepoda) were represented by a high number of OTUs throughout
      the voyage, and thus had a high level of intraspecific genetic variation. It is
      not clear whether genotypes that were most successful in surviving transit in
      ballast water will be the most successful upon introduction to novel
      environments. This study highlights that population bottlenecks may be common
      prior to introduction of NIS to new ecosystems. 

PMID- 27648235
TI  - Top-down network analysis characterizes hidden termite-termite interactions.
AB  - The analysis of ecological networks is generally bottom-up, where networks are
      established by observing interactions between individuals. Emergent network
      properties have been indicated to reflect the dominant mode of interactions in
      communities that might be mutualistic (e.g., pollination) or antagonistic (e.g.,
      host-parasitoid communities). Many ecological communities, however, comprise
      species interactions that are difficult to observe directly. Here, we propose
      that a comparison of the emergent properties from detail-rich reference
      communities with known modes of interaction can inform our understanding of
      detail-sparse focal communities. With this top-down approach, we consider
      patterns of coexistence between termite species that live as guests in mounds
      built by other host termite species as a case in point. Termite societies are
      extremely sensitive to perturbations, which precludes determining the nature of
      their interactions through direct observations. We perform a literature review to
      construct two networks representing termite mound cohabitation in a Brazilian
      savanna and in the tropical forest of Cameroon. We contrast the properties of
      these cohabitation networks with a total of 197 geographically diverse
      mutualistic plant-pollinator and antagonistic host-parasitoid networks. We
      analyze network properties for the networks, perform a principal components
      analysis (PCA), and compute the Mahalanobis distance of the termite networks to
      the cloud of mutualistic and antagonistic networks to assess the extent to which
      the termite networks overlap with the properties of the reference networks. Both
      termite networks overlap more closely with the mutualistic plant-pollinator
      communities than the antagonistic host-parasitoid communities, although the
      Brazilian community overlap with mutualistic communities is stronger. The
      analysis raises the hypothesis that termite-termite cohabitation networks may be
      overall mutualistic. More broadly, this work provides support for the argument
      that cryptic communities may be analyzed via comparison to well-characterized
      communities.

PMID- 27648237
TI  - Breeding phenology in Rana temporaria. Local variation is due to pond temperature
      and population size.
AB  - Frog breeding phenology in temperate zones is usually compared to progress of
      spring temperatures at a regional scale. However, local populations may differ
      substantially in phenology. To understand this, local climate and other aspects
      must be studied. In this study, breeding phenology of the common frog, Rana
      temporaria, in a set of ponds in southern Sweden is analyzed. There was within
      year a variation of up to 3 weeks in start of breeding among local populations.
      Water temperature was measured in the ponds, and breeding tended to be earlier in
      warmer ponds (surprise!). Breeding was also earlier in ponds with a large
      breeding congregation. Alternative reasons for these patterns are suggested and
      discussed. There was a large residual variation. The common frog has a wide range
      of acceptable wintering sites, and I hypothesize that the particular choice by a
      local population may explain part of this residual variation. 

PMID- 27648236
TI  - Genetic connectivity across marginal habitats: the elephants of the Namib Desert.
AB  - Locally isolated populations in marginal habitats may be genetically distinctive
      and of heightened conservation concern. Elephants inhabiting the Namib Desert
      have been reported to show distinctive behavioral and phenotypic adaptations in
      that severely arid environment. The genetic distinctiveness of Namibian desert
      elephants relative to other African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana)
      populations has not been established. To investigate the genetic structure of
      elephants in Namibia, we determined the mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region
      sequences and genotyped 17 microsatellite loci in desert elephants (n = 8) from
      the Hoanib River catchment and the Hoarusib River catchment. We compared these to
      the genotypes of elephants (n = 77) from other localities in Namibia. The mtDNA
      haplotype sequences and frequencies among desert elephants were similar to those
      of elephants in Etosha National Park, the Huab River catchment, the Ugab River
      catchment, and central Kunene, although the geographically distant Caprivi Strip
      had different mtDNA haplotypes. Likewise, analysis of the microsatellite
      genotypes of desert-dwelling elephants revealed that they were not genetically
      distinctive from Etosha elephants, and there was no evidence for isolation by
      distance across the Etosha region. These results, and a review of the historical
      record, suggest that a high learning capacity and long-distance migrations
      allowed Namibian elephants to regularly shift their ranges to survive in the face
      of high variability in climate and in hunting pressure.

PMID- 27648238
TI  - Improving the accuracy of estimates of animal path and travel distance using GPS
      drift-corrected dead reckoning.
AB  - Route taken and distance travelled are important parameters for studies of animal
      locomotion. They are often measured using a collar equipped with GPS. Collar
      weight restrictions limit battery size, which leads to a compromise between
      collar operating life and GPS fix rate. In studies that rely on linear
      interpolation between intermittent GPS fixes, path tortuosity will often lead to
      inaccurate path and distance travelled estimates. Here, we investigate whether
      GPS-corrected dead reckoning can improve the accuracy of localization and
      distance travelled estimates while maximizing collar operating life. Custom-built
      tracking collars were deployed on nine freely exercising domestic dogs to collect
      high fix rate GPS data. Simulations were carried out to measure the extent to
      which combining accelerometer-based speed and magnetometer heading estimates
      (dead reckoning) with low fix rate GPS drift correction could improve the
      accuracy of path and distance travelled estimates. In our study, median 2
      dimensional root-mean-squared (2D-RMS) position error was between 158 and 463 m
      (median path length 16.43 km) and distance travelled was underestimated by
      between 30% and 64% when a GPS position fix was taken every 5 min. Dead reckoning
      with GPS drift correction (1 GPS fix every 5 min) reduced 2D-RMS position error
      to between 15 and 38 m and distance travelled to between an underestimation of 2%
      and an overestimation of 5%. Achieving this accuracy from GPS alone would require
      approximately 12 fixes every minute and result in a battery life of approximately
      11 days; dead reckoning reduces the number of fixes required, enabling a collar
      life of approximately 10 months. Our results are generally applicable to GPS
      based tracking studies of quadrupedal animals and could be applied to studies of
      energetics, behavioral ecology, and locomotion. This low-cost approach overcomes
      the limitation of low fix rate GPS and enables the long-term deployment of
      lightweight GPS collars. 

PMID- 27648239
TI  - Both morph- and species-dependent asymmetries affect reproductive barriers
      between heterostylous species.
AB  - The interaction between floral traits and reproductive isolation is crucial to
      explaining the extraordinary diversity of angiosperms. Heterostyly, a complex
      floral polymorphism that optimizes outcrossing, evolved repeatedly and has been
      shown to accelerate diversification in primroses, yet its potential influence on
      isolating mechanisms remains unexplored. Furthermore, the relative contribution
      of pre- versus postmating barriers to reproductive isolation is still debated. No
      experimental study has yet evaluated the possible effects of heterostyly on pre-
      and postmating reproductive mechanisms. We quantify multiple reproductive
      barriers between the heterostylous Primula elatior (oxlip) and P. vulgaris
      (primrose), which readily hybridize when co-occurring, and test whether traits of
      heterostyly contribute to reproductive barriers in unique ways. We find that
      premating isolation is key for both species, while postmating isolation is
      considerable only for P. vulgaris; ecogeographic isolation is crucial for both
      species, while phenological, seed developmental, and hybrid sterility barriers
      are also important in P. vulgaris, implicating sympatrically higher gene flow
      into P. elatior. We document for the first time that, in addition to the
      aforementioned species-dependent asymmetries, morph-dependent asymmetries affect
      reproductive barriers between heterostylous species. Indeed, the interspecific
      decrease of reciprocity between high sexual organs of complementary floral morphs
      limits interspecific pollen transfer from anthers of short-styled flowers to
      stigmas of long-styled flowers, while higher reciprocity between low sexual
      organs favors introgression over isolation from anthers of long-styled flowers to
      stigmas of short-styled flowers. Finally, intramorph incompatibility persists
      across species boundaries, but is weakened in long-styled flowers of P. elatior,
      opening a possible backdoor to gene flow through intramorph pollen transfer
      between species. Therefore, patterns of gene flow across species boundaries are
      likely affected by floral morph composition of adjacent populations. To
      summarize, our study highlights the general importance of premating isolation and
      newly illustrates that both morph- and species-dependent asymmetries shape
      boundaries between heterostylous species.

PMID- 27648240
TI  - Factors influencing IUCN threat levels to orchids across Europe on the basis of
      national red lists.
AB  - The red list has become a ubiquitous tool in the conservation of species. We
      analyzed contemporary trends in the threat levels of European orchids, in total
      166 species characterized in 27 national red lists, in relation to their
      reproductive biology and growth form, distribution area, and land cover where
      they occur. We found that species in central Europe are more threatened than
      those in the northern, southern, or Atlantic parts of Europe, while species were
      least threatened in southern Europe. Nectarless and tuberous species are
      significantly more threatened than nectariferous and rhizomatous taxa. Land cover
      (ratios of artificial land cover, area of pastures and grasslands, forests and
      inland wetlands) also significantly impacted the threat level. A bigger share of
      artificial land cover increases threat, and a bigger share of pasture and
      grassland lowers it. Unexpectedly, a bigger share of inland wetland area in a
      country increased threat level, which we believe may be due to the threatened
      nature of wetlands themselves relative to other natural land cover types.
      Finally, species occurring in multiple countries are on average less threatened.
      We believe that large-scale analysis of current IUCN national red lists as based
      on their specific categories and criteria may particularly inform the development
      of coordinated regional or larger-scale management strategies. In this case, we
      advocate for a coordinated EU protection and restoration strategy particularly
      aimed at central European orchids and those occurring in wetland area. 

PMID- 27648242
TI  - Desiccation resistance in tropical insects: causes and mechanisms underlying
      variability in a Panama ant community.
AB  - Desiccation resistance, the ability of an organism to reduce water loss, is an
      essential trait in arid habitats. Drought frequency in tropical regions is
      predicted to increase with climate change, and small ectotherms are often under a
      strong desiccation risk. We tested hypotheses regarding the underexplored
      desiccation potential of tropical insects. We measured desiccation resistance in
      82 ant species from a Panama rainforest by recording the time ants can survive
      desiccation stress. Species' desiccation resistance ranged from 0.7 h to 97.9 h.
      We tested the desiccation adaptation hypothesis, which predicts higher
      desiccation resistance in habitats with higher vapor pressure deficit (VPD) - the
      drying power of the air. In a Panama rainforest, canopy microclimates averaged a
      VPD of 0.43 kPa, compared to a VPD of 0.05 kPa in the understory. Canopy ants
      averaged desiccation resistances 2.8 times higher than the understory ants. We
      tested a number of mechanisms to account for desiccation resistance. Smaller
      insects should desiccate faster given their higher surface area to volume ratio.
      Desiccation resistance increased with ant mass, and canopy ants averaged 16%
      heavier than the understory ants. A second way to increase desiccation resistance
      is to carry more water. Water content was on average 2.5% higher in canopy ants,
      but total water content was not a good predictor of ant desiccation resistance or
      critical thermal maximum (CT max), a measure of an ant's thermal tolerance. In
      canopy ants, desiccation resistance and CT max were inversely related, suggesting
      a tradeoff, while the two were positively correlated in understory ants. This is
      the first community level test of desiccation adaptation hypothesis in tropical
      insects. Tropical forests do contain desiccation-resistant species, and while we
      cannot predict those simply based on their body size, high levels of desiccation
      resistance are always associated with the tropical canopy.

PMID- 27648241
TI  - Large-scale dark diversity estimates: new perspectives with combined methods.
AB  - Large-scale biodiversity studies can be more informative if observed diversity in
      a study site is accompanied by dark diversity, the set of absent although
      ecologically suitable species. Dark diversity methodology is still being
      developed and a comparison of different approaches is needed. We used plant data
      at two different scales (European and seven large regions) and compared dark
      diversity estimates from two mathematical methods: species co-occurrence (SCO)
      and species distribution modeling (SDM). We used plant distribution data from the
      Atlas Florae Europaeae (50 * 50 km grid cells) and seven different European
      regions (10 * 10 km grid cells). Dark diversity was estimated by SCO and SDM for
      both datasets. We examined the relationship between the dark diversity sizes
      (type II regression) and the overlap in species composition (overlap
      coefficient). We tested the overlap probability according to the hypergeometric
      distribution. We combined the estimates of the two methods to determine consensus
      dark diversity and composite dark diversity. We tested whether dark diversity and
      completeness of site diversity (log ratio of observed and dark diversity) are
      related to various natural and anthropogenic factors differently than simple
      observed diversity. Both methods provided similar dark diversity sizes and
      distribution patterns; dark diversity is greater in southern Europe. The
      regression line, however, deviated from a 1:1 relationship. The species
      composition overlap of two methods was about 75%, which is much greater than
      expected by chance. Both consensus and composite dark diversity estimates showed
      similar distribution patterns. Both dark diversity and completeness measures
      exhibit relationships to natural and anthropogenic factors different than those
      exhibited by observed richness. In summary, dark diversity revealed new
      biodiversity patterns which were not evident when only observed diversity was
      examined. A new perspective in dark diversity studies can incorporate a
      combination of methods. 

PMID- 27648244
TI  - State dependence, personality, and plants: light-foraging decisions in Mimosa
      pudica (L.).
AB  - Plants make foraging decisions that are dependent on ecological conditions, such
      as resource availability and distribution. Despite the field of plant behavioral
      ecology gaining momentum, ecologists still know little about what factors impact
      plant behavior, especially light-foraging behavior. We made use of the behavioral
      reaction norm approach to investigate light foraging in a plant species that
      exhibits rapid movement: Mimosa pudica. We explored how herbivore avoidance
      behavior in M. pudica (which closes its leaflets temporarily when disturbed) is
      affected by an individual's energy state and the quality of the current
      environment and also repeatedly tested the behavior of individuals from two seed
      sources to determine whether individuals exhibit a "personality" (i.e.,
      behavioral syndrome). We found that when individuals are in a low-energy state,
      they adopt a riskier light-foraging strategy, opening leaflets faster, and not
      closing leaflets as often in response to a disturbance. However, when plants are
      in a high-energy state, they exhibit a plastic light-foraging strategy dependent
      on environment quality. Although we found no evidence that individuals exhibit
      behavioral syndromes, we found that individuals from different seed sources
      consistently behave differently from each other. Our results suggest that plants
      are capable of making state-dependent decisions and that plant decision making is
      complex, depending on the interplay between internal and external factors. 

PMID- 27648243
TI  - Adaptive and neutral markers both show continent-wide population structure of
      mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae).
AB  - Assessments of population genetic structure and demographic history have
      traditionally been based on neutral markers while explicitly excluding adaptive
      markers. In this study, we compared the utility of putatively adaptive and
      neutral single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for inferring mountain pine beetle
      population structure across its geographic range. Both adaptive and neutral SNPs,
      and their combination, allowed range-wide structure to be distinguished and
      delimited a population that has recently undergone range expansion across
      northern British Columbia and Alberta. Using an equal number of both adaptive and
      neutral SNPs revealed that adaptive SNPs resulted in a stronger correlation
      between sampled populations and inferred clustering. Our results suggest that
      adaptive SNPs should not be excluded prior to analysis from neutral SNPs as a
      combination of both marker sets resulted in better resolution of genetic
      differentiation between populations than either marker set alone. These results
      demonstrate the utility of adaptive loci for resolving population genetic
      structure in a nonmodel organism.

PMID- 27648245
TI  - Tree seedling richness, but not neighborhood composition, influences insect
      herbivory in a temperate deciduous forest community.
AB  - Insect herbivores can serve as important regulators of plant dynamics, but their
      impacts in temperate forest understories have received minimal attention at local
      scales. Here, we test several related hypotheses about the influence of plant
      neighborhood composition on insect leaf damage in southwestern Pennsylvania, USA.
      Using data on seedlings and adult trees sampled at 36 sites over an approximately
      900 ha area, we tested for the effects of total plant density, rarefied species
      richness (i.e., resource concentration and dietary-mixing hypotheses),
      conspecific density (i.e., Janzen-Connell hypothesis), and heterospecific density
      (i.e., herd-immunity hypothesis), on the proportion of leaf tissue removed from
      290 seedlings of 20 species. We also tested for the effects of generic- and
      familial-level neighborhoods. Our results showed that the proportion of leaf
      tissue removed ranged from zero to just under 50% across individuals, but was
      generally quite low (<2%). Using linear mixed models, we found a significant
      negative relationship between insect damage and rarefied species richness, but no
      relationship with neighborhood density or composition. In addition, leaf damage
      had no significant effect on subsequent seedling growth or survival, likely due
      to the low levels of damage experienced by most individuals. Our results provide
      some support for the resource concentration hypothesis, but suggest a limited
      role for insect herbivores in driving local-scale seedling dynamics in temperate
      forest understories.

PMID- 27648246
TI  - Local adaptation to temperature in populations and clonal lineages of the Irish
      potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans.
AB  - Environmental factors such as temperature strongly impact microbial communities.
      In the current context of global warming, it is therefore crucial to understand
      the effects of these factors on human, animal, or plant pathogens. Here, we used
      a common-garden experiment to analyze the thermal responses of three life-history
      traits (latent period, lesion growth, spore number) in isolates of the potato
      late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans from different climatic zones. We
      also used a fitness index (FI) aggregating these traits into a single parameter.
      The experiments revealed patterns of local adaptation to temperature for several
      traits and for the FI, both between populations and within clonal lineages. Local
      adaptation to temperature could result from selection for increased survival
      between epidemics, when isolates are exposed to more extreme climatic conditions
      than during epidemics. We also showed different thermal responses among two
      clonal lineages sympatric in western Europe, with lower performances of lineage
      13_A2 compared to 6_A1, especially at low temperatures. These data therefore
      stress the importance of thermal adaptation in a widespread, invasive pathogen,
      where adaptation is usually considered almost exclusively with respect to host
      plants. This must now be taken into account to explain, and possibly predict, the
      global distribution of specific lineages and their epidemic potential. 

PMID- 27648248
TI  - The influence of variability in species trait data on community-level ecological
      prediction and inference.
AB  - Species trait data have been used to predict and infer ecological processes and
      the responses of biological communities to environmental changes. It has also
      been suggested that, in lieu of trait, data niche differences can be inferred
      from phylogenetic distance. It remains unclear how variation in trait data may
      influence the strength and character of ecological inference. Using species-level
      trait data in community ecology assumes intraspecific variation is small in
      comparison with interspecific variation. Intraspecific variation across species
      ranges or within populations may lead to variability in trait data derived from
      different scales (i.e., local or regional) and methods (i.e., mean or maximum
      values). Variation in trait data across species can affect community-level
      relationships. I examined variability in body size, a key trait often measured
      across taxa. I collected 12 metrics of fish species length (including common and
      maximum values) for 40 species from literature, online databases, museum
      collections, and field data. I then tested whether different metrics of fish
      length could consistently predict observed species range boundary shifts and the
      impacts of an introduced predator on inland lake fish communities across Ontario,
      Canada. I also investigated whether phylogenetic signal, an indicator of niche
      conservativism, changed among measures. I found strong correlations between
      length metrics and limited variation across metrics. Accordingly, length was a
      consistently significant predictor of the response of fish communities to
      environmental change. Additionally, I found significant evidence of phylogenetic
      signal in fish length across metrics. Limited variation in length across metrics
      (within species), in comparison with variation within metrics (across species),
      made fish species length a reliable predictor at a community-level. When
      considering species-level trait data from different sources, researchers should
      examine the potential influence of intraspecific trait variation on data derived
      by different metrics and at different scales. 

PMID- 27648247
TI  - Environmental versus geographical effects on genomic variation in wild soybean
      (Glycine soja) across its native range in northeast Asia.
AB  - A fundamental goal in evolutionary biology is to understand how various
      evolutionary factors interact to affect the population structure of diverse
      species, especially those of ecological and/or agricultural importance such as
      wild soybean (Glycine soja). G. soja, from which domesticated soybeans (Glycine
      max) were derived, is widely distributed throughout diverse habitats in East Asia
      (Russia, Japan, Korea, and China). Here, we utilize over 39,000 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms genotyped in 99 ecotypes of wild soybean sampled across their
      native geographic range in northeast Asia, to understand population structure and
      the relative contribution of environment versus geography to population
      differentiation in this species. A STRUCTURE analysis identified four genetic
      groups that largely corresponded to the geographic regions of central China,
      northern China, Korea, and Japan, with high levels of admixture between genetic
      groups. A canonical correlation and redundancy analysis showed that environmental
      factors contributed 23.6% to population differentiation, much more than that for
      geographic factors (6.6%). Precipitation variables largely explained divergence
      of the groups along longitudinal axes, whereas temperature variables contributed
      more to latitudinal divergence. This study provides a foundation for further
      understanding of the genetic basis of climatic adaptation in this ecologically
      and agriculturally important species. 

PMID- 27648249
TI  - Demographic differences in diet breadth of Canada lynx during a fluctuation in
      prey availability.
AB  - Population dynamics of specialist carnivores are closely linked to prey
      availability, but the extent of variability in diet breadth of individual
      carnivores relative to natural variability in the abundance of their primary prey
      is not well understood. Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) specialize on snowshoe
      hares (Lepus americanus) and exhibit cyclic fluctuations in abundance that lag 1
      2 years behind those of snowshoe hares. Declining hare densities spur demographic
      changes in lynx, but it is unclear whether a corresponding increase in diet
      breadth occurs: (1) broadly across a lynx population; (2) only among individuals
      who are able to effectively switch to alternative prey; or (3) only among
      individuals who cannot capture sufficient primary prey. We measured stable
      isotope ratios of lynx muscle tissue spanning a cyclic increase and decline in
      hare density (1998-2001) in Fort Providence, NT, Canada. We found that lynx
      cohorts responded differently to hare population change, with yearling animals
      having broader diets at low hare densities, while adults and dependent juveniles
      maintained a constant diet through the initial decline in hare density. This
      result was consistent irrespective of lynx sex and indicates that yearling lynx
      likely are forced to adopt a broader diet when primary prey densities decline.
      Our results imply that select cohorts of specialist carnivores can exhibit high
      dietary plasticity in response to changes in primary prey abundance, prompting
      the need to determine whether increased diet breadth in young lynx is a
      successful strategy for surviving through periods of snowshoe hare scarcity. In
      this way, cohort-specific niche expansion could strongly affect the dynamics of
      organisms exhibiting population cycles.

PMID- 27648251
TI  - Species traits and environmental characteristics together regulate ant-associated
      biodiversity.
AB  - Host-associated organisms (e.g., parasites, commensals, and mutualists) may rely
      on their hosts for only a portion of their life cycle. The life-history traits
      and physiology of hosts are well-known determinants of the biodiversity of their
      associated organisms. The environmental context may strongly influence this
      interaction, but the relative roles of host traits and the environment are poorly
      known for host-associated communities. We studied the roles of host traits and
      environmental characteristics affecting ant-associated mites in semi-natural
      constructed grasslands in agricultural landscapes of the Midwest USA. Mites are
      frequently found in ant nests and also riding on ants in a commensal dispersal
      relationship known as phoresy. During nonphoretic stages of their development,
      ant-associated mites rely on soil or nest resources, which may vary depending on
      host traits and the environmental context of the colony. We hypothesized that
      mite diversity is determined by availability of suitable host ant species, soil
      detrital resources and texture, and habitat disturbance. Results showed that that
      large-bodied and widely distributed ant species within grasslands support the
      most diverse mite assemblages. Mite richness and abundance were predicted by
      overall ant richness and grassland area, but host traits and environmental
      predictors varied among ant hosts: mites associated with Aphaenogaster rudis
      depended on litter depth, while Myrmica americana associates were predicted by
      host frequency and grassland age. Multivariate ordinations of mite community
      composition constructed with host ant species as predictors demonstrated host
      specialization at both the ant species and genus levels, while ordinations with
      environmental variables showed that ant richness, soil texture, and grassland age
      also contributed to mite community structure. Our results demonstrate that large
      bodied, locally abundant, and cosmopolitan ant species are especially important
      regulators of phoretic mite diversity and that their role as hosts is also
      dependent on the context of the interaction, especially soil resources, texture,
      site age, and area. 

PMID- 27648250
TI  - Evaluating the influence of life-history characteristics on genetic structure: a
      comparison of small mammals inhabiting complex agricultural landscapes.
AB  - Conversion of formerly continuous native habitats into highly fragmented
      landscapes can lead to numerous negative demographic and genetic impacts on
      native taxa that ultimately reduce population viability. In response to concerns
      over biodiversity loss, numerous investigators have proposed that traits such as
      body size and ecological specialization influence the sensitivity of species to
      habitat fragmentation. In this study, we examined how differences in body size
      and ecological specialization of two rodents (eastern chipmunk; Tamias striatus
      and white-footed mouse; Peromyscus leucopus) impact their genetic connectivity
      within the highly fragmented landscape of the Upper Wabash River Basin (UWB),
      Indiana, and evaluated whether landscape configuration and complexity influenced
      patterns of genetic structure similarly between these two species. The more
      specialized chipmunk exhibited dramatically more genetic structure across the UWB
      than white-footed mice, with genetic differentiation being correlated with
      geographic distance, configuration of intervening habitats, and complexity of
      forested habitats within sampling sites. In contrast, the generalist white-footed
      mouse resembled a panmictic population across the UWB, and no landscape factors
      were found to influence gene flow. Despite the extensive previous work in
      abundance and occupancy within the UWB, no landscape factor that influenced
      occupancy or abundance was correlated with genetic differentiation in either
      species. The difference in predictors of occupancy, abundance, and gene flow
      suggests that species-specific responses to fragmentation are scale dependent. 

PMID- 27648252
TI  - A simple framework for a complex problem? Predicting wildlife-vehicle collisions.
AB  - Collisions of vehicles with wildlife kill and injure animals and are also a risk
      to vehicle occupants, but preventing these collisions is challenging. Surveys to
      identify problem areas are expensive and logistically difficult. Computer
      modeling has identified correlates of collisions, yet these can be difficult for
      managers to interpret in a way that will help them reduce collision risk. We
      introduce a novel method to predict collision risk by modeling hazard (presence
      and movement of vehicles) and exposure (animal presence) across geographic space.
      To estimate the hazard, we predict relative traffic volume and speed along road
      segments across southeastern Australia using regression models based on human
      demographic variables. We model exposure by predicting suitable habitat for our
      case study species (Eastern Grey Kangaroo Macropus giganteus) based on existing
      fauna survey records and geographic and climatic variables. Records of reported
      kangaroo-vehicle collisions are used to investigate how these factors
      collectively contribute to collision risk. The species occurrence (exposure)
      model generated plausible predictions across the study area, reducing the null
      deviance by 30.4%. The vehicle (hazard) models explained 54.7% variance in the
      traffic volume data and 58.7% in the traffic speed data. Using these as
      predictors of collision risk explained 23.7% of the deviance in incidence of
      collisions. Discrimination ability of the model was good when predicting to an
      independent dataset. The research demonstrates that collision risks can be
      modeled across geographic space with a conceptual analytical framework using
      existing sources of data, reducing the need for expensive or time-consuming field
      data collection. The framework is novel because it disentangles natural and
      anthropogenic effects on the likelihood of wildlife-vehicle collisions by
      representing hazard and exposure with separate, tunable submodels. 

PMID- 27648253
TI  - Corrigendum.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1892.]. 

PMID- 27648254
TI  - Factors influencing physicians' choice of workplace: systematic review of drivers
      of attrition and policy interventions to address them.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The movement of skilled physicians from the public to the private
      sector is a key constraint to achieving universal health coverage and is
      currently affecting health systems worldwide. This systematic review aims to
      assess factors influencing physicians' choice of workplace, and policy
      interventions for retaining physicians in the public sector. METHODS: Five
      literature databases were searched. Studies were included in the review if they
      focused on at least one of the following criteria: (i) incentives or motivators
      for retaining physicians in the public sector, (ii) pull factors that encouraged
      physicians to move to the private sector, (iii) push factors that forced
      physicians to leave the public sector, (iv) policy interventions or case studies
      that addressed physician retention in the public sector, and (v) qualitative
      reviews of policy interventions that were implemented in different health system
      settings. RESULTS: Nineteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Six major themes
      that affected physicians' choice of workplace were identified including:
      financial incentives, career development, infrastructure and staffing,
      professional work environment, workload and autonomy. The majority of the studies
      suggested that the use of financial incentives was a motivator in retaining
      physicians in the public sector. The review also identified policy interventions
      including: regulatory controls, incentives and management reforms. Regulatory
      controls and incentives were the two most frequently reported policy
      interventions. CONCLUSION: While factors affecting physicians' choice of
      workplace are country specific, financial incentives and professional development
      are core factors. Other factors are highly influenced by context, and thus, it
      would be useful for future cross-country research to use standardized data
      collection tools, allowing comparison of contextual factors as well as the
      examination of how context affects physician retention in the public sector.

PMID- 27648255
TI  - Digital technology for health sector governance in low and middle income
      countries: a scoping review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poor governance impedes the provision of equitable and cost-effective
      health care in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although systemic
      problems such as corruption and inefficiency have been characterized as
      intractable, "good governance" interventions that promote transparency,
      accountability and public participation have yielded encouraging results. Mobile
      phones and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are beginning
      to play a role in these interventions, but little is known about their use and
      effects in the context of LMIC health care. METHODS: Multi-stage scoping review:
      Research questions and scope were refined through a landscape scan of relevant
      implementation activities and by analyzing related concepts in the literature.
      Relevant studies were identified through iterative Internet searches (Google,
      Google Scholar), a systematic search of academic databases (PubMed, Web of
      Science), social media crowdsourcing (targeted LinkedIn and Twitter appeals) and
      reading reference lists and websites of relevant organizations. Parallel expert
      interviews helped to verify concepts and emerging findings and identified
      additional studies for inclusion. Results were charted, analyzed thematically and
      summarized. RESULTS: We identified 34 articles from a wide range of disciplines
      and sectors, including 17 published research articles and 17 grey literature
      reports. Analysis of these articles revealed 15 distinct ways of using ICTs for
      good governance activities in LMIC health care. These use cases clustered into
      four conceptual categories: 1) gathering and verifying information on services to
      improve transparency and auditability 2) aggregating and visualizing data to aid
      communication and decision making 3) mobilizing citizens in reporting poor
      practices to improve accountability and quality and 4) automating and auditing
      processes to prevent fraud. Despite a considerable amount of implementation
      activity, we identified little formal evaluative research. CONCLUSION: Innovative
      digital approaches are increasingly being used to facilitate good governance in
      the health sectors of LMICs but evidence of their effectiveness is still limited.
      More empirical studies are needed to measure concrete impacts, document
      mechanisms of action, and elucidate the political and sociotechnical dynamics
      that make designing and implementing ICTs for good governance so complex. Many
      digital good governance interventions are driven by an assumption that
      transparency alone will effect change; however responsive feedback mechanisms are
      also likely to be necessary.

PMID- 27648256
TI  - Burden of severe maternal morbidity and association with adverse birth outcomes
      in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia: protocol for a prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The AMANHI morbidity study aims to quantify and describe severe
      maternal morbidities and assess their associations with adverse maternal, fetal
      and newborn outcomes in predominantly rural areas of nine sites in eight South
      Asian and sub-Saharan African countries. METHODS: AMANHI takes advantage of on
      going population-based cohort studies covering approximately 2 million women of
      reproductive age with 1- to 3-monthly pregnancy surveillance to enrol pregnant
      women. Morbidity information is collected at five follow-up home visits - three
      during the antenatal period at 24-28 weeks, 32-36 weeks and 37+ weeks of
      pregnancy and two during the postpartum period at 1-6 days and after 42-60 days
      after birth. Structured-questionnaires are used to collect self-reported maternal
      morbidities including hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, infections, difficulty
      in labor and obstetric fistula, as well as care-seeking for these morbidities and
      outcomes for mothers and babies. Additionally, structured questionnaires are used
      to interview birth attendants who attended women's deliveries. All protocols were
      harmonised across the sites including training, implementation and
      operationalising definitions for maternal morbidities. IMPORTANCE OF THE AMANHI
      MORBIDITY STUDY: Availability of reliable data to synthesize evidence for policy
      direction, interventions and programmes, remains a crucial step for
      prioritization and ensuring equitable delivery of maternal health interventions
      especially in high burden areas. AMANHI is one of the first large harmonized
      population-based cohort studies being conducted in several rural centres in South
      Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and is expected to make substantial contributions to
      global knowledge on maternal morbidity burden and its implications.

PMID- 27648257
TI  - Burden, timing and causes of maternal and neonatal deaths and stillbirths in sub
      Saharan Africa and South Asia: protocol for a prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The AMANHI mortality study aims to use harmonized methods, across
      eleven sites in eight countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, to estimate
      the burden, timing and causes of maternal, fetal and neonatal deaths. It will
      generate data to help advance the science of cause of death (COD) assignment in
      developing country settings. METHODS: This population-based, cohort study is
      being conducted in the eleven sites where approximately 2 million women of
      reproductive age are under surveillance to identify and follow-up pregnancies
      through to six weeks postpartum. All sites are implementing uniform protocols.
      Verbal autopsies (VAs) are conducted for deaths of pregnant women, newborns or
      stillbirths to confirm deaths, ascertain timing and collect data on the
      circumstances around the death to help assign causes. Physicians from the sites
      are selected and trained to use International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
      principles to assign CODs from a limited list of programmatically-relevant
      causes. Where the cause cannot be determined from the VA, physicians assign that
      option. Every physician who is trained to assign causes of deaths from any of the
      study countries is tested and accredited before they start COD assignment in
      AMANHI. IMPORTANCE OF THE AMANHI MORTALITY STUDY: It is one of the first to
      generate improved estimates of burden, timing and causes of maternal, fetal and
      neonatal deaths from empirical data systematically collected in a large
      prospective cohort of women of reproductive age. AMANHI makes a substantial
      contribution to global knowledge to inform policies, interventions and investment
      decisions to reduce these deaths.

PMID- 27648258
TI  - Shifting chronic disease management from hospitals to primary care in Estonian
      health system: analysis of national panel data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia
      introduced a national insurance system, consolidated the number of health care
      providers, and introduced family medicine centred primary health care (PHC) to
      strengthen the health system. METHODS: Using routinely collected health billing
      records for 2005-2012, we examine health system utilisation for seven ambulatory
      care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      [COPD], depression, Type 2 diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and ischemic
      heart disease [IHD]), and by patient characteristics (gender, age, and number of
      co-morbidities). The data set contained 552 822 individuals. We use patient level
      data to test the significance of trends, and employ multivariate regression
      analysis to evaluate the probability of inpatient admission while controlling for
      patient characteristics, health system supply-side variables, and PHC use.
      FINDINGS: Over the study period, utilisation of PHC increased, whilst inpatient
      admissions fell. Service mix in PHC changed with increases in phone, email,
      nurse, and follow-up (vs initial) consultations. Healthcare utilisation for
      diabetes, depression, IHD and hypertension shifted to PHC, whilst for COPD, heart
      failure and asthma utilisation in outpatient and inpatient settings increased.
      Multivariate regression indicates higher probability of inpatient admission for
      males, older patient and especially those with multimorbidity, but protective
      effect for PHC, with significantly lower hospital admission for those utilising
      PHC services. INTERPRETATION: Our findings suggest health system reforms in
      Estonia have influenced the shift of ACSCs from secondary to primary care, with
      PHC having a protective effect in reducing hospital admissions.

PMID- 27648259
TI  - Intramembranous bone regeneration and implant placement using mechanical femoral
      marrow ablation: rodent models.
AB  - In this paper, we provide a detailed protocol for a model of long bone mechanical
      marrow ablation in the rodent, including surgical procedure, anesthesia, and pre-
      and post-operative care. In addition, frequently used experimental end points are
      briefly discussed. This model was developed to study intramembranous bone
      regeneration following surgical disruption of the marrow contents of long bones.
      In this model, the timing of the appearance of bone formation and remodeling is
      well-characterized and therefore the model is well-suited to evaluate the in vivo
      effects of various agents which influence these processes. When biomaterials such
      as tissue engineering scaffolds or metal implants are placed in the medullary
      cavity after marrow ablation, end points relevant to tissue engineering and
      implant fixation can also be analyzed. By sharing a detailed protocol, we hope to
      improve inter-laboratory reproducibility. 

PMID- 27648260
TI  - Osteocyte isolation and culture methods.
AB  - The aim of this paper is to present several popular methods for in vitro culture
      of osteocytes and osteocyte cell lines. Osteocytes are located extremely suitably
      within the calcified bone matrix to sense mechanical signals, and are equipped
      with a multitude of molecular features that allow mechanosensing. However,
      osteocytes are more than specialized mechanosensing cells. Several signaling
      molecules are preferentially produced by osteocytes, and osteocytes hold a tight
      reign over osteoblast and osteoclast formation and activity, but also have a role
      as endocrine cell, communicating with muscles or organs as remote as the kidneys.
      In order to facilitate further research into this fascinating cell type, three
      protocols will be provided in this paper. The first protocol will be on the
      culture of mouse (early) osteocyte cell lines, the second on the isolation and
      culture of primary mouse bone cells, and the third on the culture of fully
      embedded human osteocytes within their own three-dimensional bone matrix. 

PMID- 27648261
TI  - Solitary extraosseous plasmacytoma.
AB  - Plasma cell neoplasms are characterized by a neoplastic plasma cell lineage which
      produces a monoclonal immunoglobulin. These neoplasms can present as a single
      lesion (solitary plasmacytoma) or as multiple lesions (multiple myeloma).
      Solitary plasmacytomas most frequently occur in bone (plasmacytomas of bone), but
      can also be found outside bone in soft tissues (extramedullary plasmacytomas). 

PMID- 27648262
TI  - Optic nerve astrocytoma in a dog.
AB  - Intracranial astrocytomas are relatively uncommon in dogs and optic nerve
      astrocytomas even more so. This neoplasm should be considered as differential in
      canine patients with vision loss, retinal detachment, ocular mass, and
      histopathologic findings of infiltrative fusiform to polygonal glial cells
      possibly associated with glomeruloid vascular proliferation.

PMID- 27648263
TI  - Treatment of complex regional pain syndrome with stellate ganglion local
      anesthetic blockade: a case report of one patient's experiences with traditional
      bupivacaine HCl and liposome bupivacaine.
AB  - Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a poorly understood, debilitating
      disorder characterized by severe chronic pain in an affected limb or region of
      the body. This case presentation is the first to describe the effectiveness and
      prolonged duration of the effect of liposome bupivacaine in stellate ganglion
      block for CRPS. 

PMID- 27648264
TI  - An atypical case of meconium periorchitis as paratesticular mass in a neonate.
AB  - A 20-day-old boy was presented with left scrotal swelling, clinically diagnosed
      as hydrocele. Ultrasonographic findings suggested hydrocele with paratesticular
      mass. Intraoperatively we found paratesticular mass, separate from left testis.
      Specimen revealed fibroconnective tissue with mucoid degeneration and focal areas
      of calcification suggesting meconium periorchitis. It is important to consider
      meconium periorchitis as one of the etiologies, thereby avoiding unnecessary
      orchidectomies. 

PMID- 27648265
TI  - Pure red cell aplasia caused by parvovirus B19 in a heart transplant recipient.
AB  - A case of parvovirus B19-induced pure red cell aplasia occurring in a heart
      transplant recipient is reported. The diagnosis of this rare but clinically
      important complication can be suspected on the basis of the pathognomonic
      morphological features of the bone marrow. 

PMID- 27648266
TI  - A case of Klumpke's obstetric brachial plexus palsy following a Cesarean section.
AB  - It is generally thought that Klumpke's palsy is not seen as obstetric injury. The
      authors present a case of Klumpke's palsy with Horner syndrome following delivery
      by emergency Cesarean section. Neurolysis and nerve grafting partially corrected
      the paralysis. 

PMID- 27648267
TI  - Fetal urine biochemistry in antenatal Bartter syndrome: a case report.
AB  - Bartter syndrome is a severe inherited tubulopathy responsible for renal salt
      wasting, and hence electrolyte disorders and dehydration. Prenatally, it is
      characterized by severe polyhydramnios caused by fetal polyuria. We studied for
      the first time fetal urine in a Bartter syndrome case and demonstrated that the
      tubulopathy is already present at 24 weeks of gestation.

PMID- 27648268
TI  - Co-segregation of a homozygous SMN1 deletion and a heterozygous PMP22 duplication
      in a patient.
AB  - Despite co-segregation of two different genetic neurological disorders within a
      family is rare, clinicians should take into consideration this possibility in
      patients presenting with unusual complex phenotypes or with unexpected
      electrophysiological findings. Here, we report a Spanish 11-month-old patient
      with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 and Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1A.

PMID- 27648270
TI  - Airway obstruction caused by rapid enlargement of cervical lymphangioma in a five
      month-old boy.
AB  - Cervical lymphangioma can cause airway obstruction secondary to enlargement
      following infection. Physicians should be aware that the airway obstruction can
      progress rapidly when patients with cervical lymphangioma have respiratory
      symptoms. Sclerotherapy for lymphangioma can cause both transient swelling and
      airway obstruction; thus, prophylactic and elective tracheostomy should be
      considered. 

PMID- 27648269
TI  - Functional characterization of a GFAP variant of uncertain significance in an
      Alexander disease case within the setting of an individualized medicine clinic.
AB  - A de novo GFAP variant, p.R376W, was identified in a child presenting with
      hypotonia, developmental delay, and abnormal brain MRI. Following the 2015 ACMG
      variant classification guidelines and the functional studies showing protein
      aggregate formation in vitro, p.R376W should be classified as a pathogenic
      variant, causative for Alexander disease.

PMID- 27648272
TI  - The forgotten biliary stent: an unusual cause of diarrhea.
AB  - This case highlights the possible complications of biliary stents, which may
      include migration and impaction in the gastrointestinal tract. It also emphasizes
      the need for a robust follow-up system after stent placement, to minimize the
      risks and possible sequelae of a forgotten stent. 

PMID- 27648271
TI  - Egg provoked food protein-induced enterocolitis-like syndrome in an adult.
AB  - Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome is a non-IgE-mediated food allergy
      usually diagnosed in infancy. We report a case of a similar syndrome in an adult,
      following ingestion of egg. We remind clinicians to consider this diagnosis which
      may present to emergency physicians and gastroenterologists long before an
      allergist is consulted. 

PMID- 27648273
TI  - An unusual cause of dyspnea and tachycardia.
AB  - Diaphragmatic hernias are typically congenital or caused by trauma. Delayed
      presentation is not uncommon. Repair can be undertaken through an open or
      minimally invasive abdominal or thoracic approach. Small defects can be repaired
      with sutures, while larger defects require a mesh repair. This patient's
      comorbidities precluded him from surgery.

PMID- 27648274
TI  - Hypopyon complicating the course of anterior uveitis in a patient with Behcet's
      syndrome.
AB  - Physicians caring for patients with Behcet's should be aware of the potential
      complication of uveitis with hypopyon in these patients, and the condition
      warrants prompt management. 

PMID- 27648276
TI  - Side marker creep: have radiographers changed their side marker habits?
AB  - Has side marker use changed with the introduction of digital radiography? This
      editorial explores this question. 

PMID- 27648277
TI  - Increasing consistency and accuracy in radiation therapy via educational
      interventions is not just limited to radiation oncologists.
AB  - This editorial is advocating that increasing consistency and accuracy in
      radiation therapy via educational interventions is important for radiation
      therapist. Education and training with ongoing refreshers is the key to
      maintaining consistency throughout the radiotherapy process, which in turn will
      ensure all patients receive accurate treatment. 

PMID- 27648279
TI  - Maintaining prostate contouring consistency following an educational
      intervention.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess variation in prostate
      contouring 12 months following a structured interactive educational intervention
      (EI) and to test the hypothesis that EIs positively impact on prostate contouring
      accuracy and consistency long term. METHODS: A common set of computed tomography
      (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data sets were used to assess prostate
      contouring consistency before, immediately after and 12 months following an EI.
      No further EIs were provided after the initial EI. Contour variation was assessed
      using the volume ratio (VR), defined as the ratio of the encompassing volume to
      common volume. RESULTS: Of the original five radiation oncologists (ROs) at
      baseline, four completed all assessments, and one was unavailable at 12 months
      follow-up. At 12 months, mean VR deteriorated by 3.2% on CT and 1.9% on MRI
      compared to immediately post EI. Overall, compared to the pre-EI baseline VR, an
      improvement of 11.4% and 10.8% was demonstrated on CT and MRI, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Good retention of applied knowledge 12 months following an EI on
      prostate contouring was demonstrated. This study advocates for EIs to be included
      as part of continuing medical education to reduce contour variation among ROs and
      improve knowledge retention long term.

PMID- 27648278
TI  - A clinical audit of anatomical side marker use in a paediatric medical imaging
      department.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The gold standard in general radiography is to place a radiopaque
      anatomical side marker in the field of view for each radiographic image prior to
      exposure. The advent of digital radiography has allowed for anatomical side
      markers to be digitally added to films as part of post-processing. The aim of
      this audit was to identify whether general X-ray images performed in a tertiary
      Women's and Children's Hospital were being appropriately annotated with a
      definitive side marker, and to identify factors that may contribute to
      inappropriately labelled images. METHODS: Four hundred images from 201 patients'
      examinations occurring within a randomly selected time period were assessed to
      ascertain whether radiographic anatomical side markers were visible when images
      were viewed via the hospitals main viewing platform. The audit occurred in
      January 2014. The scope included both mobile and in-department general X-ray
      examinations, with the patient age range extending from 1 day to 18 years.
      RESULTS: Of the 400 images evaluated, 88 (22%) were found to have a lead marker
      that matched the anatomy being imaged within the primary beam; 289 (72.3%) images
      contained a correct digital marker inserted as part of the post-processing of the
      image. In total, 377 (94.2%) images were appropriately marked. Of the 23 (5.8%)
      images not marked correctly, 22 images had no marker and 1 was incorrectly marked
      with a digital marker. There was a noticeable relationship between absent
      anatomical markers and chest X-rays performed outside of the medical imaging
      department. CONCLUSIONS: While it is encouraging that the majority of the images
      assessed were correctly annotated, with only a small number of missing markers,
      there are opportunities for further improvement. The audit findings suggest that
      reduced access to lead markers influences marker use. Strategies that may improve
      compliance at an individual level include distribution of personalised anatomical
      side markers, and targeted staff education sessions. At a department level,
      regular audits and monitoring should be encouraged.

PMID- 27648280
TI  - Long-term outcomes following post-operative radiotherapy for Stage I/II
      testicular seminoma - an Australasian single-institution experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to review the long-term oncological
      outcomes and adverse effects of post-operative radiotherapy (PORT) for Stage I/II
      seminoma patients in an Australian radiation treatment centre. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective study of 125 patients with Stage I/II seminoma treated with PORT at
      the Alfred Health Radiation Oncology Service between 1992 and 2013. Patients were
      linked to the Victorian Cancer Registry to enable confirmation of survival and
      diagnosis of secondary malignancies (SM). The relapse-free survival (RFS),
      testicular-cancer-specific survival (TCSS), overall survival (OS) and SM-free
      survival (SMFS) were estimated with Kaplan-Meier methods. RESULTS: The median age
      at diagnosis was 36 (range 20-62). The median time between diagnosis and PORT was
      1.6 months (range: 0.5-4.5). Fifty patients (40%) had PORT to the para-aortic
      (PA) target alone, while the remaining had PORT to PA and ipsilateral or
      bilateral iliac lymph nodes. There were no acute adverse effects requiring
      admission. The median follow-up after PORT was 7.8 years (range = 0.1-19.1).
      There were two relapses, both of which occurred within 1 year of PORT (estimated
      10-year RFS = 98.4%). Five deaths were reported, none of which were testicular
      cancer-related death (estimated 10-year TCSS = 100%, 10-year OS = 97.3%). There
      were seven SM (one lower lip cancer, one upper shoulder melanoma, one
      mesothelioma, two prostate cancer, one acute myeloid leukaemia and one
      contralateral testicular seminoma) reported in six patients, with estimated 10
      year SMFS of 92.9%. CONCLUSION: Our series confirms excellent oncological
      outcomes among patients with Stage I/II seminoma treated with PORT, with uncommon
      occurrence of SM.

PMID- 27648281
TI  - Toxicity and dosimetric analysis of non-small cell lung cancer patients
      undergoing radiotherapy with 4DCT and image-guided intensity modulated
      radiotherapy: a regional centre's experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: For patients receiving radiotherapy for locally advance non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the probability of experiencing severe radiation
      pneumonitis (RP) appears to rise with an increase in radiation received by the
      lungs. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) provides the ability to reduce
      planned doses to healthy organs at risk (OAR) and can potentially reduce
      treatment-related side effects. This study reports toxicity outcomes and provides
      a dosimetric comparison with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT).
      METHODS: Thirty curative NSCLC patients received radiotherapy using four
      dimensional computed tomography and five-field IMRT. All were assessed for early
      and late toxicity using common terminology criteria for adverse events. All plans
      were subsequently re-planned using 3DCRT to the same standard as the clinical
      plans. Dosimetric parameters for lungs, oesophagus, heart and conformity were
      recorded for comparison between the two techniques. RESULTS: IMRT plans achieved
      improved high-dose conformity and reduced OAR doses including lung volumes
      irradiated to 5-20 Gy. One case each of oesophagitis and erythema (3%) were the
      only Grade 3 toxicities. Rates of Grade 2 oesophagitis were 40%. No cases of
      Grade 3 RP were recorded and Grade 2 RP rates were as low as 3%. CONCLUSION: IMRT
      provides a dosimetric benefit when compared to 3DCRT. While the clinical benefit
      appears to increase with increasing target size and increasing complexity, IMRT
      appears preferential to 3DCRT in the treatment of NSCLC.

PMID- 27648282
TI  - Use of a prospective cohort study in the development of a bladder scanning
      protocol to assist in bladder filling consistency for prostate cancer patients
      receiving radiation therapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Evidence of variations in bladder filling effecting prostate
      stability and therefore treatment and side-effects is well established with
      intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This study aimed to increase
      bladder volume reproducibility for prostate radiation therapy by implementing a
      bladder scanning (BS) protocol that could assist patients' bladder filling at
      computed tomography (CT) simulation and treatment. METHODS: Based on a
      retrospective review of 524 prostate cancer patients, a bladder volume of 250-350
      mL was adopted as 'ideal' for achieving planning dose constraints. A prospective
      cohort study was conducted to assess the clinical utility of measuring patients'
      bladder volumes at CT simulation using an ultrasound bladder scanner (Verathon
      9400 BladderScan((r))). A revised bladder preparation protocol was utilised by a
      bladder scan group (BS) and a non-BS group followed the standard departmental
      bladder preparation protocol. Time and volume data for the BS group (n = 17) were
      compared with the non-BS group (n = 17). RESULTS: The BS cohort had a CT bladder
      volume range of 221-588 mL; mean 379 mL, SD 125 mL. The non-BS group had a larger
      range: 184-757 mL; mean 373 mL, SD 160 mL (P = 0.9171). There was a positive
      correlation between CT volume and BS volume in the BS group (r = 0.797; P =
      0.0002) although BS volumes were smaller: range 160-420 mL; mean 251 mL; SD 91
      mL; P < 0.0001). The maximum bladder volume receiving 50 Gy (V50) from the BS
      group was 46.4%, mean 24.5%. The maximum bladder V50 from the non-BS group was
      50.9%, mean 27.3% (P = 0.5178). Treatment data from weekly cone beam CT scans
      were also compared over 6 weeks. They were assessed as being a pass if bladder
      and bowel requirements were acceptable. The BS group proceeded to treatment on
      the basis of a pass 92.7% of the time, whereas the pass rate for non-BS group was
      75%; difference 17.7% (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The BS is a useful tool for
      achieving consistent, appropriately sized bladder volumes in prostate cancer
      patients.

PMID- 27648283
TI  - Conformal orbit sparing radiation therapy: a treatment option for advanced skin
      cancer of the parotid and ear region.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: New surgical methods have enabled resection of previously in
      operable tumours in the region of the parotid gland and ear. This has translated
      to deeper target volumes being treated with adjuvant radiotherapy. Due to the
      limitations of existing conformal techniques, alternative planning approaches are
      required to cover the target volume with appropriate sparing of adjacent critical
      structures. Although intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) may be able to
      achieve these goals compared with the existing conformal method, a new orbital
      sparing radiation therapy (OSRaT) technique was evaluated as an alternative
      conformal planning process. The study objective was to evaluate the dosimetry of
      three planning methods: pre-existing conformal, IMRT and OSRaT techniques.
      METHODS: Ten patients were planned retrospectively using the existing three
      dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), IMRT and OSRaT techniques. Dosimetry
      was analysed using the homogeneity index (HI), conformity index (CI), the volume
      of planning target volumes (PTV) under and over treated by the 95% isodose and
      dose to critical structures. RESULTS: OSRaT achieved superior 95% coverage of the
      high-dose PTV while delivering HI similar to IMRT for intermediate and high-dose
      PTVs. The CI for the high-dose PTV was comparable between the three techniques,
      however IMRT was statistically better for the low- and intermediate dose PTVs.
      All three techniques showed adequate orbital sparing, however OSRaT and IMRT
      achieved this with less under dosing of the PTVs. CONCLUSION: For the treatment
      of patients with advanced skin cancer of the parotid and ear, both IMRT and the
      OSRaT techniques are viable options.

PMID- 27648284
TI  - Sign language in the CT suite: a new approach in communicating between
      radiologists and radiographers.
AB  - When performing CT-guided procedures or angiographic procedures, radiologists
      performing procedures need to communicate with radiographers at a workstation
      behind radiation shielding glass. As shielding renders verbal communication
      impossible, we have developed a set of standardised hand signals for use at our
      department to help us achieve clear and efficient communication between
      radiologists and radiographers while performing CT-guided or angiographic
      procedures.

PMID- 27648285
TI  - Hyperinsulinemia and sulfonylurea use are independently associated with left
      ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with
      suboptimal blood glucose control.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk of
      heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, the underlying mechanisms leading
      to left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) remain poorly understood. The
      study was designed to assess the risk factors for LVDD in patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study cohort included 101
      asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus without overt heart disease.
      Left ventricular diastolic function was estimated as the ratio of early diastolic
      velocity (E) from transmitral inflow to early diastolic velocity (e') of tissue
      Doppler at mitral annulus (E/e'). Parameters of glycemic control, plasma insulin
      concentration, treatment with antidiabetic drugs, lipid profile, and other
      clinical characteristics were evaluated, and their association with E/e'
      determined. Patients with New York Heart Association class >1, ejection fraction
      <50%, history of coronary artery disease, severe valvulopathy, chronic atrial
      fibrillation, or creatinine clearance <30 mL/min, as well as those receiving
      insulin treatment, were excluded. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that E/e'
      was significantly correlated with age (p<0.001), sex (p<0.001), duration of
      diabetes (p=0.002), systolic blood pressure (p=0.017), pulse pressure (p=0.010),
      fasting insulin concentration (p=0.025), and sulfonylurea use (p<0.001).
      Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that log E/e' was significantly
      and positively correlated with log age (p=0.034), female sex (p=0.019), log
      fasting insulin concentration (p=0.010), and sulfonylurea use (p=0.027).
      CONCLUSIONS: Hyperinsulinemia and sulfonylurea use may be important in the
      development of LVDD in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 27648286
TI  - Impact of symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections on insulin absorption
      and action of Technosphere inhaled insulin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Uncomplicated, acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) occur
      in patients with diabetes at a similar frequency to the general population. This
      study (NCT00642681) investigated the effect of URTIs on the pharmacokinetic (PK)
      and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of Technosphere inhaled insulin (TI) in
      patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a
      phase 2 study conducted in patients who developed a URTI while being treated with
      TI in a phase 3 study (N=20, mean age 50 years, 60% men). Patients underwent two
      4-hour meal challenges, during which blood samples were drawn to measure serum
      fumaryl diketopiperazine (FDKP; the excipient representing an essential part of
      TI), serum insulin, serum C-peptide, and plasma glucose. The primary outcome was
      the ratio of serum FDKP area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 240 min
      (AUC0-240 min) during URTI and after clinical resolution of URTI symptoms (>=15
      to <=45 days). RESULTS: No significant differences in PK parameters were seen
      during URTI versus post-URTI for FDKP. The ratio of serum FDKP AUC0-240 min
      during URTI and post-URTI was 1.1 (SD 0.6), p=0.4462. Plasma glucose
      concentrations during each 4-hour meal challenge were similar, showing small non
      significant differences. No adverse events, including hypoglycemia, occurred
      during meal challenge visits. CONCLUSIONS: Development of an active, symptomatic
      URTI during treatment with TI had no significant impact on the PK/PD properties
      of TI, suggesting that no adjustment in prandial insulin dosing is needed.
      However, if patients are unable to conduct proper inhalation, they should
      administer their prandial insulin subcutaneously. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT00642681; Results.

PMID- 27648288
TI  - Correction.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2016-000232.]. 

PMID- 27648287
TI  - Association of Mediterranean diet and cardiorespiratory fitness with the
      development of pre-diabetes and diabetes: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in
      Young Adults (CARDIA) study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To better understand the association between a modified Mediterranean
      diet pattern in young adulthood, cardiorespiratory fitness in young adulthood,
      and the odds of developing pre-diabetes or diabetes by middle age. RESEARCH
      DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in
      Young Adults (CARDIA) study who did not have pre-diabetes or diabetes at baseline
      (year 0 (Y0), ages 18-30) and who had data available at the Y0 and year 25 (Y25)
      visits were included in this analysis (n=3358). Polytomous logistic regression
      models were used to assess the association between baseline dietary intake and
      fitness data and odds of pre-diabetes or diabetes by middle age (Y25, ages 43
      55). RESULTS: At the Y25 visit, 1319 participants (39%) had pre-diabetes and 393
      (12%) had diabetes. Higher baseline fitness was associated with lower odds of pre
      diabetes and of diabetes at Y25. After adjustment for covariates, each SD
      increment in treadmill duration (181 s) was associated with lower odds for pre
      diabetes (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.95, p=0.005) and for diabetes (OR 0.71, 95%
      CI 0.60 to 0.85, p=0.0002) when compared to normal glycemia. A modified
      Mediterranean diet pattern was not associated with either pre-diabetes or
      diabetes. No interaction between cardiorespiratory fitness and dietary intake was
      observed, but baseline fitness remained independently associated with incident
      pre-diabetes and diabetes following adjustment for diet. CONCLUSIONS: Higher
      cardiorespiratory fitness in young adulthood, but not a modified Mediterranean
      diet pattern, is associated with lower odds of pre-diabetes and of diabetes in
      middle age. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00005130.

PMID- 27648289
TI  - Parity and type 2 diabetes mellitus: a study of insulin resistance and beta-cell
      function in women with multiple pregnancies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Increasing parity may be a risk factor for the development of type 2
      diabetes mellitus and the metabolic alterations during a normal pregnancy induces
      a prediabetic state; thus, multiple pregnancies may act as a risk factor for
      development of type 2 diabetes if these physiological alterations in glucose
      homeostasis are not reversed postpartum. We hypothesize that multiple pregnancies
      may lead to beta-cell exhaustion and that the insulin resistance that occurs
      during pregnancy may persist after multiple births. RESEARCH DESIGN AND MEASURES:
      A total of 28 healthy premenopausal women were recruited: 15 high parity women
      (>=4 children) and 13 body mass index (BMI)-matched and age-matched low parity
      women (1 and 2 children). The study consisted of an intravenous glucose tolerance
      test for assessment of beta-cell function followed by a hyperinsulinemic
      euglycemic clamp for assessment of insulin sensitivity. Dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry was performed to assess body composition. RESULTS: All
      anthropometric measures, measures of body composition and baseline blood samples
      were comparable between the 2 groups. Neither first phase insulin release (0-10
      min, p=0.92) nor second phase insulin release (10-60 min, p=0.62), both measured
      as area under the curve, differed between the 2 groups. The M-value, calculated
      as the mean glucose infusion rate during the last 30 min of the clamp period, was
      8.66 (7.70 to 9.63) mg/kg/min in the high parity group compared with 8.41 (7.43
      to 9.39) mg/kg/min in the low parity group (p=0.69). CONCLUSIONS: We did not
      detect any effects of increasing parity on insulin sensitivity or beta-cell
      function.

PMID- 27648290
TI  - Plasma glucose and insulin response to two oral nutrition supplements in adults
      with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this clinical trial was to compare the glucose usage of
      two oral nutritional supplement (ONS) products and to assess whether a diabetes
      specific formulation provides improved glucose stabilization and management
      compared with a standard formula. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 12
      subjects with type 2 diabetes (7 males and 5 females) completed a randomized,
      cross-over design trial. Each subject consumed isocaloric amounts of either the
      standard ONS or the diabetes-specific formula ONS on different dates, 1 week
      apart. Glucose and insulin measures were recorded at baseline, and 10, 20, 30,
      60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 min after the beverage was consumed and then
      used to calculate area under the curve (AUC) for each subject. RESULTS: The mean
      glucose AUC was lower in the diabetes-specific ONS group than in the standard
      group (p<0.0001), but there was not a significant difference observed for mean
      insulin AUC (p=0.068). A sensitivity analysis of the mean insulin AUC measures
      was performed by removing a potential outlier from the analysis, and this
      resulted in a significant difference between the groups (p=0.012). First-phase
      insulin measures and an insulinogenic index calculated for the beverages showed
      no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the results of this
      trial of 12 subjects, the diabetes-specific ONS appears to provide better glucose
      maintenance in persons with type 2 diabetes when compared to the standard formula
      ONS. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02612675.

PMID- 27648291
TI  - High-risk glycated hemoglobin trajectories established by mid-20s: findings from
      a birth cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the natural history of glycemia (as measured by glycated
      hemoglobin (HbA1c)) over 12 years using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM),
      and to examine baseline predictors of trajectory. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
      HbA1c data collected at ages 26, 32 and 38 in the long-running, prospective
      Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study were used to assign study
      members (n=893) to trajectories applying GBTM. A generalization of the model
      allowed the statistical linking of baseline demographic, smoking and
      anthropometric characteristics to group membership probability. RESULTS: Mean
      HbA1c increased with age, as did prevalence of prediabetes, diabetes and
      dysglycemia. The greatest increase occurred between ages 26 and 32. Glycemic
      health status at age 26 predicted glycemic health status at age 38. 3 HbA1c
      trajectory groups were identified: 'low' (n=98, 11.0%); 'medium' (n=482, 54.0%);
      and 'high' (n=313, 35.0%) with mean HbA1c of 29.6, 34.1, and 38.7 mmol/mol,
      respectively, at age 38. High waist circumference (>=880 mm for women and >=1020
      mm for men), high waist-height ratio (>=0.50), and being a smoker at age 26
      predicted membership of the least favorable trajectory over the next 12 years.
      High body mass index (>=30) at age 26 did not predict of trajectory. CONCLUSIONS:
      Trajectories of HbA1c are established relatively early in adulthood. HbA1c
      levels, waist circumference, waist-height ratio, and smoking status at age 26 are
      valid clinical predictors for future dysglycemic risk. The identification of
      HbA1c trajectories and their predictors introduces the possibility of an
      individualized approach to prevention at an earlier stage than is currently done.

PMID- 27648292
TI  - Evaluation of statin prescriptions in type 2 diabetes: India Heart Watch-2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contemporary treatment guidelines advise statin use in all patients
      with diabetes for reducing coronary risk. Use of statins in patients with type 2
      diabetes has not been reported from India. METHODS: We performed a multisite
      (n=9) registry-based study among internists (n=3), diabetologists (n=3), and
      endocrinologists (n=3) across India to determine prescriptions of statins in
      patients with type 2 diabetes. Demographic and clinical details were obtained and
      prescriptions were audited for various medications with a focus on statins.
      Details of type of statin and dosage form (low, moderate, and high) were
      obtained. Patients were divided into categories based on presence of
      cardiovascular risk into low (no risk factors, n=1506), medium (>=1 risk factor,
      n=5425), and high (with vascular disease, n=1769). Descriptive statistics are
      presented. RESULTS: Prescription details were available in 8699 (men 5292, women
      3407). Statins were prescribed in 55.2% and fibrates in 9.2%. Statin prescription
      was significantly greater among diabetologists (64.4%) compared with internists
      (n=53.3%) and endocrinologists (46.8%; p<0.001). Atorvastatin was prescribed in
      74.1%, rosuvastatin in 29.2%, and others in 3.0%. Statin prescriptions were lower
      in women (52.1%) versus men (57.2%; p<0.001) and in patients aged <40 years
      (34.3%), versus those aged 40-49 (49.7%), 50-59 (60.1%), and >=60 years (62.2%;
      p<0.001). Low-dose statins were prescribed in 1.9%, moderate dose in 85.4%, and
      high dose in 12.7%. Statin prescriptions were greater in the high-risk group
      (58.0%) compared with those in the medium-risk (53.8%) and low-risk (56.8%)
      groups (p <0.001). High-dose statin prescriptions were similar in the high-risk
      (14.5%), medium-risk (11.8%), and low-risk (13.5%) groups (p=0.31). CONCLUSIONS:
      Statins are prescribed in only half of the clinic-based patients in India with
      type 2 diabetes. Prescription of high-dose statins is very low.

PMID- 27648293
TI  - Accuracy of BMI correction using multiple reports in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Errors in reported height and weight raise concerns about body mass
      index (BMI) and obesity estimates obtained from self or proxy reports.
      Researchers have corrected BMI using linear statistical models, primarily with
      adult samples. We compared the accuracy of BMI correction in children for models
      that included child or parent reports versus both reports, and models that
      separately predicted height and weight compared to a single model for BMI.
      METHODS: Height and weight from child reports, parent reports, and objective
      measurements for 475 children participating in the Military Teenagers'
      Environment, Exercise and Nutrition Study were analyzed. Two approaches were
      evaluated: (1) separate linear correction models for height and weight versus (2)
      a single linear correction model for BMI. Each approach considered models for
      height, weight, or BMI with child reports, parent reports, or both reports,
      respectively, as predictors, stratified by gender. Prediction accuracy was
      computed using leave-one-out validation. Models were compared using root mean
      squared error for BMI, and sensitivity and specificity for overweight and obesity
      indicators. RESULTS: Models that included both reports provided the best fit
      relative to a model using either set of reports, with adjusted R(2) of height,
      weight, and BMI models ranging from 67.1 to 87.6 % in males, and 69.2 to 88.3 %
      in females. Estimates of BMI from separate models for height and weight had the
      least prediction error, relative to those derived from a single model for BMI or
      from uncorrected (child or parent) reports. Cross-validated Root Mean Squared
      Error (RMSEs) preferred a model that included only parent reports among males and
      females, compared to models with only child reports or both reports. When
      assessing sensitivity (true positive) for obesity and overweight/obesity, the
      results varied by gender and outcomes. Specificity (true negative) was similarly
      high for all models. CONCLUSION: Objective measurements are more accurate than
      self- or proxy-reports of BMI. In situations where objective measurement is
      infeasible, an approach that combines collecting a validation sub-sample
      including multiple reports of children's height and weight, with estimation of
      BMI correction models maybe a cost-effective and practical solution. Correction
      models generate BMI estimates that are closer to objective measurements than
      reports.

PMID- 27648295
TI  - Correction: Percutaneous endoscopic transgastric jejunostomy (PEG-J): a
      retrospective analysis on its utility in maintaining enteral nutrition after
      unsuccessful gastric feeding.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjgast-2016-000098.]. 

PMID- 27648294
TI  - Phase II study of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival of locally advanced
      gastric cancer patients. However, benefit is limited and the best regimen remains
      controversial. OBJECTIVES: Our primary objective of this prospective, multicenter
      phase 2 study was to evaluate the pathological complete response rate (PCR) with
      2 cycles of docetaxel and capecitabine. METHODS: To be eligible, patients had to
      have histologically documented gastric cancer, a ECOG performance status 0 or 1,
      T3or4 Nany M0 staging after oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD), endoscopic
      ultrasound (EUS), CT scan of thorax and abdomen, and negative laparoscopic
      examination and peritoneal washing. Eligible patients received two cycles of
      intravenous docetaxel 60 mg/m(2) on day 1 and oral capecitabine 900 mg/m(2) two
      times per day from day 1 to day 14 every 3 weeks. We evaluated the response by CT
      scan and EUS. The patients underwent curative resection with D2 lymphadenectomy
      subsequently. RESULTS: 18 patients were enrolled in the study: 66% were male and
      the median age was 60 years. 17 patients had T3 disease at diagnosis. There was
      no pCR noted. 4 patients had a partial response of 22% (95% CI: 7-42%), 8
      patients had stable disease and 3 patients had disease progression. The median
      survival was 17.1 months with 3 long-term survivors after at least 3 years of
      follow-up. The treatment was well tolerated with neutropenia being the most
      common toxicity. We observed 22% grade III and 33% grade IV neutropenia, but no
      neutropenic fever or death was observed from chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Neo
      adjuvant chemotherapy with docetaxel and capecitabine has limited activity
      against GC. More effective treatment regimens are needed urgently. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00414271.

PMID- 27648296
TI  - Usefulness of sulfasalazine for patients with refractory-ulcerative colits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with refractory-ulcerative colitis (UC) require therapy
      escalation. Sulfasalazine (SASP) could deliver a high concentration of 5
      aminosalicylic acid to the colon. The usefulness of SASP for refractory-UC
      patients, however, is unclear. AIM: The aim was to evaluate the usefulness of
      SASP for refractory-UC patients. METHOD: We retrospectively analysed 36 (11.4%)
      of 316 patients with refractory-UC who had been treated with SASP. Clinical and
      endoscopic activities were evaluated with Lichtiger index and Mayo score,
      respectively. We analysed the induction-remission rate, predictive factors for
      the efficacy of SASP, and adverse events. RESULTS: Of 36 refractory-UC patients,
      14 (38.9%) were treated with concomitant mesalazine enemas, 10 (27.8%) with
      azathiopurine, 4 (11.1%) with tacrolimus and 6 (16.7%) with an antitumour
      necrosis factor-alpha agent. After initiating SASP treatment, 25 patients (69.4%)
      achieved clinical remission. In 9 (64.3%) of 14 patients with UC treated with
      mesalazine enemas, mesalazine enemas could be discontinued with SASP. In all
      patients treated with tacrolimus, tacrolimus could be discontinued with SASP.
      Clinical activity score upon the initiation of SASP was significantly lower
      (p=0.024) and the number of patients treated with thiopurine was significantly
      higher (p=0.016) in the clinical remission group than in the non-clinical
      remission group. These factors might be predictive for the efficacy of SASP,
      although multivariate analysis demonstrated no statistically significant effect.
      Adverse events occurred in 7 patients (19.4%), and reduction or discontinuation
      of SASP led to improvement. CONCLUSIONS: SASP appears to be more effective for
      refractory-UC patients with low clinical-activity and/or thiopurine-use. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN000021615; Results.

PMID- 27648297
TI  - Assessment of health utilities and quality of life in patients with non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common
      causes of chronic liver disease associated with increased liver-related
      mortality. Additionally, NAFLD could potentially impair health-related quality of
      life. Although an approved treatment for NAFLD does not exist, a number of new
      drugs for treatment of NAFLD are being developed. As the efficacy and safety of
      these regimens are being established, their cost-effectiveness, which requires
      the use of quality of life metrics and health utility scores to quality-adjusted
      outcomes, must also be assessed. The aim of this study was to report quality of
      life and health utilities in patients with NAFLD with and without cirrhosis for
      future use. METHODS: Patients with NAFLD were seen in an outpatient clinic
      setting. Each patient had extensive clinical data and completed the Short Form-36
      (SF-36 V.1) questionnaire. The SF-6D health utility scores were calculated.
      RESULTS: There were 89 patients with the spectrum of NAFLD completed the SF-36
      questionnaire: 59 with non-cirrhotic NAFLD and 30 with cirrhosis. Patients with
      NAFLD had significantly lower quality of life and health utility scores than the
      general population (all p<0.0001). Furthermore, patients with cirrhosis had lower
      quality of life and utility scores than non-cirrhotic NAFLD patients: SF-6D
      0.660+/-0.107 in non-cirrhotic NAFLD vs 0.551+/-0.138 in cirrhotic NAFLD
      (p=0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: Health utilities and quality of life scores are impaired
      in patients with cirrhotic NAFLD. These values should be used in cost
      effectiveness analysis of the upcoming treatment regimens for advanced NAFLD.

PMID- 27648298
TI  - Utility of wireless motility capsule and lactulose breath testing in the
      evaluation of patients with chronic functional bloating.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The precise aetiology of chronic bloating remains poorly understood
      and underlying gastroparesis, small bowel bacterial overgrowth and colonic
      inertia may, individually or collectively, play a role. AIMS: In this
      retrospective cohort analysis of symptomatic patients with chronic persistent
      bloating, we determined the clinical utility of wireless motility capsule and
      lactulose breath test in further defining the underlying aetiology for functional
      bloating. METHODS: Consecutive patients with chronic bloating underwent clinical
      assessment, wireless motility capsule testing and lactulose breath testing using
      standard protocols. RESULTS: 52 patients qualified for inclusion in this
      analysis, fulfilling Rome III criteria for functional bloating. Most patients
      (54%) had an abnormal wireless motility capsule study; of those, 11.5% had
      evidence of gastroparesis, 7.7% had small bowel transit delay, 15.8% had colonic
      inertia, 3.8% had delayed gastric and small bowel transit, 5.6% had combined
      gastric and colonic transit delay, 3.8% had delayed small bowel and colonic
      transit, and 5.6% had delayed gastric, small bowel and colon transit times. Using
      clinical questionnaires the median scores for bloating, constipation and
      eructation were not significantly different. Neither constipation nor eructation
      was specific to gastroparesis or colonic inertia but bloating was numerically
      more prevalent and severe in patients with delayed small bowel transit. 40% of
      patients had positive lactulose breath test but had no distinguishing clinical
      characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic functional bloating may reflect underlying
      gastroparesis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or colonic inertia. Wireless
      motility capsule and lactulose breath test are useful in the assessment of
      patients with bloating and should be considered during evaluation.

PMID- 27648300
TI  - Structural insight into the arginine-binding specificity of CASTOR1 in amino acid
      dependent mTORC1 signaling.
AB  - The mechanistic Target Of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) is central to the cellular
      response to changes in nutrient signals such as amino acids. CASTOR1 is shown to
      be an arginine sensor, which plays an important role in the activation of the
      mTORC1 pathway. In the deficiency of arginine, CASTOR1 interacts with GATOR2,
      which together with GATOR1 and Rag GTPases controls the relocalization of mTORC1
      to lysosomes. The binding of arginine to CASTOR1 disrupts its association with
      GATOR2 and hence activates the mTORC1 signaling. Here, we report the crystal
      structure of CASTOR1 in complex with arginine at 2.5 A resolution. CASTOR1
      comprises of four tandem ACT domains with an architecture resembling the C
      terminal allosteric domains of aspartate kinases. ACT1 and ACT3 adopt the typical
      betaalphabetabetaalphabeta topology and function in dimerization via the
      conserved residues from helices alpha1 of ACT1 and alpha5 of ACT3; whereas ACT 2
      and ACT4, both comprising of two non-sequential regions, assume the unusual
      betabetaalphabetabetaalpha topology and contribute an arginine-binding pocket at
      the interface. The bound arginine makes a number of hydrogen-bonding interactions
      and extensive hydrophobic contacts with the surrounding residues of the binding
      pocket. The functional roles of the key residues are validated by mutagenesis and
      biochemical assays. Our structural and functional data together reveal the
      molecular basis for the arginine-binding specificity of CASTOR1 in the arginine
      dependent activation of the mTORC1 signaling. 

PMID- 27648301
TI  - Targeting the metabolic pathway of human colon cancer overcomes resistance to
      TRAIL-induced apoptosis.
AB  - Colon cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality for which targeted
      therapy is needed; however, trials using apoptosis-inducing ligand monotherapy to
      overcome resistance to apoptosis have not shown clinical responses. Since colon
      cancer cells selectively uptake and rapidly metabolize glucose, a property
      utilized for clinical staging, we investigated mechanisms to alter glucose
      metabolism in order to selectively target the cancer cells and to overcome
      evasion of apoptosis. We demonstrate TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related
      apoptosis-inducing ligand) resistance in the majority of human colon cancers
      tested and utilize the glucose analog 2-deoxy-d-glucose to sensitize TRAIL
      resistant gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma cells, and not normal gastrointestinal
      epithelial cells, to TRAIL-induced apoptosis through enhanced death receptor 5
      expression, downstream modulation of MAPK signaling and subsequent miRNA
      expression modulation by increasing the expression of miR-494 via MEK activation.
      Further, established human colon cancer xenografts treated with this strategy
      experience anti-tumor responses. These findings in colon adenocarcinoma support
      further investigation of manipulation of cellular energetics to selectively
      overcome resistance to apoptosis and to impart tumor regressions in established
      colon cancer tumors. 

PMID- 27648299
TI  - JUN dependency in distinct early and late BRAF inhibition adaptation states of
      melanoma.
AB  - A prominent mechanism of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors in BRAF (V600) 
      mutant melanoma is associated with the upregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases.
      Evidences suggested that this resistance mechanism is part of a more complex
      cellular adaptation process. Using an integrative strategy, we found this
      mechanism to invoke extensive transcriptomic, (phospho-) proteomic and phenotypic
      alterations that accompany a cellular transition to a de-differentiated,
      mesenchymal and invasive state. Even short-term BRAF-inhibitor exposure leads to
      an early adaptive, differentiation state change-characterized by a slow-cycling,
      persistent state. The early persistent state is distinct from the late
      proliferative, resistant state. However, both differentiation states share common
      signaling alterations including JUN upregulation. Motivated by the similarities,
      we found that co-targeting of BRAF and JUN is synergistic in killing fully
      resistant cells; and when used up-front, co-targeting substantially impairs the
      formation of the persistent subpopulation. We confirmed that JUN upregulation is
      a common response to BRAF inhibitor treatment in clinically treated patient
      tumors. Our findings demonstrate that events shared between early- and late
      adaptation states provide candidate up-front co-treatment targets. 

PMID- 27648302
TI  - Proteolytic inactivation of nuclear alarmin high-mobility group box 1 by
      complement protease C1s during apoptosis.
AB  - Effective clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytes prevents the release of
      intracellular alarmins and manifestation of autoimmunity. This prompt
      efferocytosis is complemented by intracellular proteolytic degradation that
      occurs within the apoptotic cells and in the efferosome of the phagocytes.
      Although the role of extracellular proteases in apoptotic cells clearance is
      unknown, the strong association of congenital C1s deficiency with Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus highlights the protective nature that this extracellular protease
      has against autoimmunity. The archetypical role of serine protease C1s as the
      catalytic arm of C1 complex (C1qC1r2C1s2) involve in the propagation of the
      classical complement pathway could not provide the biological basis for this
      association. However, a recent observation of the ability of C1 complex to cleave
      a spectrum of intracellular cryptic targets exposed during apoptosis provides a
      valuable insight to the underlying protective mechanism. High-mobility group box
      1 (HMGB1), an intracellular alarmin that is capable of inducing the formation of
      antinuclear autoantibodies and causes lupus-like conditions in mice, is
      identified as a novel potential target by bioinformatics analysis. This is
      verified experimentally with C1s, both in its purified and physiological form as
      C1 complex, cleaving HMGB1 into defined fragments of 19 and 12 kDa. This cleavage
      diminishes HMGB1 ability to enhance lipopolysaccharide mediated pro-inflammatory
      cytokines production from monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. Further
      mass spectrometric analysis of the C1 complex treated apoptotic cellular proteins
      demonstrated additional C1s substrates and revealed the complementary role of C1s
      in apoptotic cells clearance through the proteolytic cleavage of intracellular
      alarmins and autoantigens. C1 complex may have evolved as, besides the
      bacteriolytic arm of antibodies in which it activates the complement cascade, a
      tissue renewal mechanism that reduces the immunogenicity of apoptotic tissue
      debris and decreases the likelihood of autoimmunity. 

PMID- 27648303
TI  - Evaluation of Anterior Segment's Structures in Tilted Disc Syndrome.
AB  - Purpose. To evaluate anterior segment's structures by Pentacam in patients with
      tilted disc syndrome (TDS). Methods. Group 1 included forty-six eyes of forty-six
      patients who have the TDS. Group 2 including forty-six eyes of forty-six cases
      was the control group which was equal to the study group in age, gender, and
      refraction. A complete ophthalmic examination was performed in both groups. All
      cases were evaluated by Pentacam. The axial length (AL) of eyes was measured by
      ultrasound. Quantitative data obtained from these measurements were compared
      between two groups. Results. There was no statistically significant difference
      for age, gender, axial length, and spherical equivalent measurements between two
      groups (p = 0.625, p = 0.830, p = 0.234, and p = 0.850). There was a
      statistically significant difference for central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal
      volume (CV), anterior chamber angle (ACA), and pupil size measurements between
      two groups (p = 0.001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.003, and p = 0.001). Also, there was no
      statistically significant difference for anterior chamber depth (ACD), anterior
      chamber volume (ACV), and lens thickness (LT) measurements between two groups (p
      = 0.130, p = 0.910, and p = 0.057). Conclusion. We determined that CCT was
      thinner, CV was less, and ACA was narrower in patients with TDS. There are some
      changes in the anterior segment of the eyes with tilted disc. 

PMID- 27648305
TI  - Incidence of Clavicular Rhomboid Fossa in Northeastern Thais: An Anthropological
      Study.
AB  - The rhomboid fossa of clavicle is used to determine the age and sex in
      anthropology and forensic sciences. The variant types of rhomboid fossa on
      inferior surface have been reported in many races except in Thais. This study
      therefore was aimed at classifying the types of the rhomboid fossa in
      Northeastern Thais. The identified 476 Northeastern Thais dried clavicles (270
      males and 206 females) were observed and recorded for the types of rhomboid
      fossa. The results showed that Thai-rhomboid fossa could be classified into 4
      types: Type 1: smooth; Type 2: flat; Type 3: elevated; and Type 4: depressed,
      respectively. The incidences of rhomboid fossa were as follows: Type 1: 0.21%;
      Type 2: 19.75%; Type 3: 76.26%; and Type 4: 3.78%, respectively. Additionally, it
      was found that the percentage of Type 4 (11.84%) was much greater than that of
      female (1.94%) compared to other types. This incidence of rhomboid fossa types
      especially Type 4 may be a basic knowledge to be used in sex identification. The
      high incidence of rhomboid fossa in both sexes of Northeastern Thai clavicles was
      Type 3 (elevated type). 

PMID- 27648304
TI  - Opinions and Practice of US-Based Obstetrician-Gynecologists regarding Vitamin D
      Screening and Supplementation of Pregnant Women.
AB  - Vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is prevalent among pregnant women.
      Recommendations for adequate levels of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D and
      appropriate vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy differ between the
      Institute of Medicine and the Endocrine Society. Obstetrician-gynecologists must
      make clinical decisions in this environment of uncertain guidance. An online
      questionnaire regarding physician practice patterns for screening and
      supplementing pregnant women was administered to 225 randomly selected practicing
      obstetrician-gynecologists of whom 101 (45%) completed the questionnaire. A
      majority indicated that vitamin D insufficiency was a problem in their patient
      population (68.4%) and that most of their pregnant patients would benefit from
      vitamin D supplementation (66.3%). Half (52.5%) would recommend vitamin D
      supplementation during pregnancy to some patients, but only 16.8% to all. Only
      one in four (25.8%) routinely screen their pregnant patients for vitamin D
      status. Physicians who indicated that vitamin D status was a problem in their
      patient population were more likely to screen routinely (32.8% versus 9.7%, P =
      0.002) and believe their patients would benefit from supplementation (91.2%
      versus 16.1%, P = 0.001). Opinion regarding supplementation levels and indicators
      of adequacy were split between the two competing recommendations, suggesting that
      clinical practice will likely remain variable across physicians, with uncertain
      public health consequences. 

PMID- 27648307
TI  - beta-Cyclodextrin Production by Cyclodextrin Glucanotransferase from an
      Alkaliphile Microbacterium terrae KNR 9 Using Different Starch Substrates.
AB  - Cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.19) is an important member of
      alpha-amylase family which can degrade the starch and produce cyclodextrins (CDs)
      as a result of intramolecular transglycosylation (cyclization). beta-Cyclodextrin
      production was carried out using the purified CGTase enzyme from an alkaliphile
      Microbacterium terrae KNR 9 with different starches in raw as well as gelatinized
      form. Cyclodextrin production was confirmed using thin layer chromatography. Six
      different starch substrates, namely, soluble starch, potato starch, sago starch,
      corn starch, corn flour, and rice flour, were tested for CD production. Raw
      potato starch granules were found to be the best substrate giving 13.46 gm/L of
      cyclodextrins after 1 h of incubation at 60 degrees C. Raw sago starch gave 12.96
      gm/L of cyclodextrins as the second best substrate. To achieve the maximum
      cyclodextrin production, statistical optimization using Central Composite Design
      (CCD) was carried out with three parameters, namely, potato starch concentration,
      CGTase enzyme concentration, and incubation temperature. Cyclodextrin production
      of 28.22 (gm/L) was achieved with the optimized parameters suggested by the model
      which are CGTase 4.8 U/L, starch 150 gm/L, and temperature 55.6 degrees C. The
      suggested optimized conditions showed about 15% increase in beta-cyclodextrin
      production (28.22 gm/L) at 55.6 degrees C as compared to 24.48 gm/L at 60 degrees
      C. The degradation of raw potato starch granules by purified CGTase was also
      confirmed by microscopic observations. 

PMID- 27648306
TI  - Gender-Based Differences and Barriers in Skin Protection Behaviors in Melanoma
      Survivors.
AB  - Purpose. Skin protection behaviors and environmental exposure play a crucial role
      in the development and subsequent management of melanoma. This study investigates
      gender-based differences in skin protection behaviors after melanoma treatment.
      Methods. Patients diagnosed and surgically treated for cutaneous melanomas over
      the last six years in a geographically high risk area were surveyed over
      telephone using a standardized script. Results. Of 150 survey results obtained,
      there were 82 males and 68 females. Overall, 87% of participants reported skin
      self-examination for abnormal markings more often and 94% reported wearing skin
      protective clothing more often, with females being more than males. Females
      limited outdoor activity more often than males, 79% to 54%, p < 0.05. When
      outside, females sought shade more often than males, 75% to 56%, p < 0.05.
      However, males wore a wide brim hat more often than females, 52% to 28%, p <
      0.05. Interestingly, 60% of participants reported wearing SPF 30 sunscreen less
      often, p < 0.05. Conclusion. Larger percentage of females adopted behavioral
      changes to prevent future melanoma. Those living in high risk areas and with
      outdoor occupations need particular attention to skin care. Population based
      screening should be adopted to deal with this rising public health crisis. 

PMID- 27648308
TI  - Impact of a New Nasal Pillows Mask on Patients' Acceptance, Compliance, and
      Willingness to Remain on CPAP Therapy.
AB  - Aim. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) masks are a key factor in patient
      compliance. This program assessed the performance of a new nasal pillows mask
      (NPM) on a variety of new and established obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients
      using CPAP therapy. Methods. Five programs were developed to assess the new NPM
      [AirFit P10, ResMed] on naive patients; patients established on another NPM;
      patients using a nasal mask; patients with low CPAP compliance; and patients who
      wished to stop using CPAP therapy. Results. A total of 212 patients were
      included. In naive patients, CPAP usage after 3 months was 5.9 +/- 1.7
      hours/night, compared with the control group at 4.6 +/- 2.4 hours/night (p <
      0.05). In patients established on another NPM, usage improved to 7.4 +/- 1.1
      hours/night versus 6.7 +/- 1.4 (p = 0.001). 78% of nasal mask users wished to
      continue using the new NPM. Low compliance patients improved with an average of
      0.87 hours/night (p = 0.001) when using the new NPM. In patients at the point of
      quitting CPAP, 60% continued with therapy using the new NPM. Conclusion. The new
      NPM mask performed well in a variety of clinical groups of OSA patients receiving
      CPAP therapy and shows that technical advances in CPAP masks can improve patient
      compliance. 

PMID- 27648310
TI  - Anesthetic Management of a Surgical Patient with Chronic Renal Tubular Acidosis
      Complicated by Subclinical Hypothyroidism.
AB  - A 53-year-old man with chronic renal tubular acidosis and subclinical
      hypothyroidism underwent lower leg amputation surgery under general anesthesia.
      Perioperative acid-base management in such patients poses many difficulties
      because both pathophysiologies have the potential to complicate the
      interpretation of capnometry and arterial blood gas analysis data; inappropriate
      correction of chronic metabolic acidosis may lead to postoperative respiratory
      deterioration. We discuss the management of perioperative acidosis in order to
      achieve successful weaning from mechanical ventilation and promise a complete
      recovery from anesthesia. 

PMID- 27648309
TI  - Brain Responses during the Anticipation of Dyspnea.
AB  - Dyspnea is common in many cardiorespiratory diseases. Already the anticipation of
      this aversive symptom elicits fear in many patients resulting in unfavorable
      health behaviors such as activity avoidance and sedentary lifestyle. This study
      investigated brain mechanisms underlying these anticipatory processes. We induced
      dyspnea using resistive-load breathing in healthy subjects during functional
      magnetic resonance imaging. Blocks of severe and mild dyspnea alternated, each
      preceded by anticipation periods. Severe dyspnea activated a network of
      sensorimotor, cerebellar, and limbic areas. The left insular, parietal opercular,
      and cerebellar cortices showed increased activation already during dyspnea
      anticipation. Left insular and parietal opercular cortex showed increased
      connectivity with right insular and anterior cingulate cortex when severe dyspnea
      was anticipated, while the cerebellum showed increased connectivity with the
      amygdala. Notably, insular activation during dyspnea perception was positively
      correlated with midbrain activation during anticipation. Moreover, anticipatory
      fear was positively correlated with anticipatory activation in right insular and
      anterior cingulate cortex. The results demonstrate that dyspnea anticipation
      activates brain areas involved in dyspnea perception. The involvement of emotion
      related areas such as insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala during
      dyspnea anticipation most likely reflects anticipatory fear and might underlie
      the development of unfavorable health behaviors in patients suffering from
      dyspnea.

PMID- 27648311
TI  - Ultrasound Assisted Catheter Directed Thrombolysis in the Management of a Right
      Atrial Thrombus: A New Weapon in the Armamentarium?
AB  - Catheter related thrombosis (CRT) is a commonly encountered entity fraught with
      substantial risk for mortality secondary to various complications including
      pulmonary embolism (PE), tricuspid regurgitation, endocarditis, right sided heart
      failure, and cardiogenic and septic shock. CRT carries a mortality rate of 18% in
      hemodialysis patients and more than 40% in nonhemodialysis patients. Management
      strategies include systemic anticoagulation, systemic thrombolysis, surgical
      evacuation, and percutaneous retrieval with no established guidelines. Ultrasound
      assisted catheter directed thrombolysis emerges as promising modality with a
      relatively lower risk of hemorrhage compared to systemic thrombolysis. We report
      a case of a 75-year-old man with dialysis catheter related thrombosis without PE
      for which ultrasound assisted catheter directed thrombolysis was used
      successfully as an alternative therapy. 

PMID- 27648312
TI  - Hemodynamic Transesophageal Echocardiography-Guided Venous-Arterial
      Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support in a Case of Giant Cell Myocarditis.
AB  - Giant cell myocarditis (GCM) is a rare and commonly fatal form of fulminant
      myocarditis. During the acute phase, while immunosuppressive therapy is
      initiated, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) support is
      commonly used as a bridge to heart transplantation or recovery. Until recently,
      conventional transesophageal echocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography
      were the tools available for hemodynamic assessment of patients on this form of
      mechanical circulatory support. Nevertheless, both techniques have their
      limitations. We present a case of a 54-year-old man diagnosed with GCM requiring
      VA-ECMO support that was monitored under a novel miniaturized transesophageal
      echocardiography (hTEE) probe recently approved for 72 hours of continuous
      hemodynamic monitoring. Our case highlights the value of this novel, flexible,
      and disposable device for hemodynamic monitoring, accurate therapy guidance, and
      potential VA-ECMO weaning process of patients with this form of severe
      myocarditis. 

PMID- 27648313
TI  - Denosumab Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw with Spontaneous Necrosis of the Soft
      Palate: Report of a Life Threatening Case.
AB  - Bisphosphonates have been used for years in the treatment of patients with
      distant bony metastasis and in the prevention of osteoporosis. One of main side
      effects of these medications is the development of bisphosphonate related
      osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) in a small subset of patients. A new class of
      medications with a shorter half-life, known as receptor activator of nuclear
      factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) inhibitors, was introduced with the hopes of
      avoiding this side effect. However, reports of osteonecrosis of the jaw after the
      use of RANKL inhibitors have also been documented. We report on a patient who
      developed a life threatening osteonecrosis of the jaw with sepsis shortly after
      switching from a bisphosphonate to a RANKL inhibitor for osteoporosis treatment.
      This patient developed several soft tissue defects including spontaneous necrosis
      of the soft palate. To our knowledge this is the first time this presentation has
      been described. 

PMID- 27648314
TI  - Clinical Management of Two Root Resorption Cases in Endodontic Practice.
AB  - Root resorption is a pathological process involving loss of hard dental tissues.
      It may occur as a consequence of dental trauma, orthodontic treatment, and
      bleaching, and occasionally it accompanies periodontal disease. Although the
      mechanism of resorption process is examined in detail, its etiology is not fully
      understood. Wide open apical foramen is more difficult to manage and the root
      canal may often overfill. In this report we present two cases of root resorption
      and describe means for its clinical management. We conclude that useful measure
      of a success or failure in managing root resorption is the persistence of the
      resorption process. It is a clear sign of an active ongoing inflammatory process
      and shows the clinical need for retreatment. 

PMID- 27648316
TI  - A Case of p63 Positive Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma of the Bladder.
AB  - Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), currently the most common type of non
      Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is an aggressive B cell neoplasm that typically presents
      in older adults as a rapidly enlarging mass. The enlarging mass typically
      represents a lymph node, although extranodal disease can occur in a significant
      percentage (40%) of cases. The most common extranodal sites of involvement
      include the gastrointestinal tract and skin; primary bladder lymphoma represents
      only 0.2% of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphomas. We report a case of diffuse large
      B cell lymphoma occurring in the bladder of an 83-year-old gentleman with an
      initial presentation of hematuria. This neoplasm displayed large, atypical cells
      with vesicular chromatin and prominent nucleoli that involved the bladder mucosa
      with invasion into muscularis propria, prostate, and urethra. Positive staining
      for p63 initially raised suspicion for poorly differentiated urothelial
      carcinoma; however, lack of staining for pancytokeratin and positive staining for
      LCA, CD20, CD79a, and PAX-5 confirmed the diagnosis of diffuse large B cell
      lymphoma. Though it does not occur in all cases, p63 can be positive in a
      significant percentage of cases of DLBCL; therefore, a diagnosis of lymphoma
      remains an important entity on the differential diagnosis of aggressive and
      particularly poorly differentiated neoplasms. 

PMID- 27648315
TI  - A 26-Year-Old Female with Systemic Mastocytosis with Associated Myeloid Neoplasm
      with Eosinophilia and Abnormalities of PDGFRB, t(4;5)(q21;q33).
AB  - Various translocations involving the PDGFRB gene are identified in myeloid
      neoplasms. However, the PRKG2/PDGFRB fusion gene associated with t(4;5)(q21;q33)
      has previously been reported in only 3 patients. We present the case of a 26-year
      old woman with microcytic anemia, basophilia, thrombocytosis, and massive
      splenomegaly, who was found to have systemic mastocytosis and associated clonal
      hematological non-mast cell lineage disease (SM-AHNMD), with myeloid neoplasm
      with PRKG2/PDGFRB rearrangement. Initial findings included basophilia (37%, 4.1
      k/MUL), hypercellular marrow with eosinophilia, and increased and atypical
      megakaryocytes, suggestive of myeloproliferative neoplasm. Additional studies
      revealed large clusters of CD25 positive mast cells, fulfilling the criteria for
      the diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis. Consistent with prior reports of this
      translocation, our patient has responded well to imatinib. This case, in
      conjunction with others in the literature, suggests a possible connection between
      t(4;5)(q21;q33) PRKG2/PDGFRB and systemic mastocytosis and highlights their
      favorable response to imatinib. 

PMID- 27648317
TI  - Long-Term Treatment with Romidepsin in Patients with Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma.
AB  - Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a heterogeneous group of aggressive non
      Hodgkin lymphomas. Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is a common subtype
      of PTCL, and patients with AITL typically have a poor prognosis with limited
      treatment options. Clinical studies have demonstrated the activity of romidepsin,
      a structurally unique, potent, bicyclic class 1 selective histone deacetylase
      inhibitor, in patients with relapsed or refractory AITL. In the case presented
      herein, we describe a patient treated with single-agent romidepsin at first
      diagnosis of AITL, resulting in complete remission for over 2 years and leading
      to the use of maintenance dosing. The patient eventually underwent a successful
      autologous stem cell transplant. This case illustrates the successful use of
      romidepsin for the long-term treatment of a patient with AITL in a clinical
      setting. Maintenance dosing may be an option for patients who have an extended
      response to romidepsin in order to optimize outcomes and to prolong time to the
      next subsequent line of therapy. In our case, the patient was able to remain in
      complete remission for more than 1 year while receiving maintenance dosing of
      romidepsin. 

PMID- 27648318
TI  - Pneumocystis Pneumonia Presenting as an Enlarging Solitary Pulmonary Nodule.
AB  - Pneumocystis pneumonia is a life threatening infection that usually presents with
      diffuse bilateral ground-glass infiltrates in immunocompromised patients. We
      report a case of a single nodular granulomatous Pneumocystis pneumonia in a male
      with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after R-CHOP therapy. He presented with
      symptoms of productive cough, dyspnea, and right-sided pleuritic chest pain that
      failed to resolve despite treatment with multiple antibiotics. Chest X-ray
      revealed right lower lobe atelectasis and CT of chest showed development of 2 cm
      nodular opacity with ground-glass opacities. Patient underwent bronchoscopy and
      biopsy that revealed granulomatous inflammation in a background of organizing
      pneumonia pattern with negative cultures. Respiratory symptoms resolved but the
      solitary nodular opacity increased in size prompting a surgical wedge resection
      which revealed granulomatous Pneumocystis pneumonia infection. This case is the
      third documented report of Pneumocystis pneumonia infection within a solitary
      pulmonary nodule in an individual with hematologic neoplasm. Although
      Pneumocystis pneumonia most commonly occurs in patients with HIV/acquired
      immunodeficiency syndrome and with diffuse infiltrates, the diagnosis should not
      be overlooked when only a solitary nodule is present. 

PMID- 27648319
TI  - Acute and Fatal Isoniazid-Induced Hepatotoxicity: A Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - This paper describes a case of an acute and fatal isoniazid-induced
      hepatotoxicity and provides a review of the literature. A 65-year-old female
      diagnosed with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection was receiving oral
      isoniazid 300 mg daily. She was admitted to the hospital for epigastric and right
      sided flank pain of one-week duration. Laboratory results and imaging confirmed
      hepatitis. After ruling out all other possible causes, she was diagnosed with
      isoniazid-induced acute hepatitis (probable association by the Naranjo scale).
      After discharge, the patient was readmitted and suffered from severe
      coagulopathy, metabolic acidosis, acute kidney injury, hepatic encephalopathy,
      and cardiorespiratory arrest necessitating two rounds of cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation. Despite maximal hemodynamic support, the patient did not survive.
      A review of the literature, from several European countries and the United States
      of America, revealed a low incidence of mortality due to isoniazid-induced
      hepatotoxicity when used as a single agent for latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      infection. As for the management, the first step consists of withdrawing
      isoniazid and rechallenge is usually discouraged. Few treatment modalities have
      been proposed; however there is no robust evidence to support any of them.
      Routine monitoring for hepatotoxicity in patients receiving isoniazid is
      warranted to prevent morbidity and mortality. 

PMID- 27648320
TI  - FLAIR Hyperintense Vessel Sign of Both MCAs with Severe Heart Failure.
AB  - Introduction. Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery hyperintense vessels (FHVs) can
      be seen in patients with occlusion or severe stenosis of the cerebral arteries.
      FHVs are known to reflect stagnant or slow blood flow within the cerebral artery.
      Case Report. A 75-year-old woman presented with suddenly developed gait
      disturbance. She had a history of hypertension, heart failure, and dementia.
      Brain MRI demonstrated FHVs within both middle cerebral arteries (MCAs). However,
      there was no acute ischemic lesion and severe stenosis or occlusion of the
      cerebral arteries. In the baseline routine laboratory investigations, the AST,
      ALT, and B-type natriuretic peptide levels were elevated. Transthoracic
      echocardiography (TTE) showed mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation.
      Blood pressure control and conservative management for ischemic hepatitis were
      performed. After 7 days, the transaminase levels were normalized, and the patient
      was able to walk with normal gait. Conclusions. In this patient, underlying
      chronic cerebral hypoperfusion and additionally decreased systemic perfusion
      seemed to provoke ischemic hepatitis and contribute to the development of FHVs. 

PMID- 27648321
TI  - A Case of Painless Legs and Moving Toes Syndrome in Parkinson's Disease
      Responsive to Dopaminergic Therapy.
AB  - Painless Legs and Moving Toes Syndrome (PoLMT) is a rare movement disorder
      characterized by flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, and torsion of toes
      without pain. It is considered a variant of Painful Legs and Moving Toes Syndrome
      (PLMT), which is characterized by similar movements but with pain. Although
      neuropathy and several central nervous system (CNS) involvements have been
      reported to be associated with PoLMT, the actual cause and mechanism remain
      unclear. Here we describe the first case of PoLMT in Parkinson's Disease (PD),
      parallel to parkinsonism in severity, who demonstrated a good response to
      dopaminergic therapy. 

PMID- 27648322
TI  - Internal Occipital Crest Misalignment with Internal Occipital Protuberance: A
      Case Report of Posterior Cranial Fossa Anatomic Variations.
AB  - During gross anatomy head and neck laboratory session, one dissection group
      observed an abnormal anatomic variation in the posterior cranial fossa of a 94
      year-old male cadaver. The internal occipital crest was not aligned with internal
      occipital protuberance and groove for superior sagittal sinus. It seemed that the
      internal occipital protuberance was shifted significantly to the right side. As a
      result the skull was overly stretched in order to connect with the internal
      occipital ridge. These internal skull variations of occipital bone landmarks can
      influence the location of adjacent dural venous sinuses and possibly influence
      cerebrospinal fluid flow. Similar anatomical anomalies have been attributed to
      presence of hydrocephalus and abnormalities in cisterna magna. 

PMID- 27648323
TI  - Ectopic Molar Pregnancy: Diagnostic Efficacy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and
      Review of the Literature.
AB  - Ectopic molar pregnancy is extremely rare, and preoperative diagnosis is
      difficult. Our literature search found only one report of molar pregnancy
      diagnosed preoperatively. Moreover, there is no English literature depicting
      magnetic resonance image (MRI) findings of ectopic molar pregnancy. We report a
      case of ectopic molar pregnancy preoperatively diagnosed using MRI. A literature
      review of 31 cases of ectopic molar pregnancy demonstrated that lesions have been
      found in the fallopian tube (19 cases, 61%), ovary (5 cases, 16%), cornu (3
      cases, 10%), peritoneum (2 cases, 6%), uterine cervix (1 case, 3%), and cesarean
      scar (1 case, 3%). Abdominal pain and abnormal vaginal bleeding were reported in
      70% and 61% of the patients, respectively. Twenty-one cases (67%) presented with
      rupture and hemoperitoneum. All patients underwent surgical resection or
      dilatation and curettage. Methotrexate therapy was performed in one case because
      residual trophoblastic tissue was suspected. A second operation was performed in
      one case of ovarian molar pregnancy because serum hCG levels increased again
      after primary focal ovarian resection. No patients developed metastatic disease
      or relapsed. These findings suggest the prognosis of ectopic molar pregnancy to
      be favorable. 

PMID- 27648324
TI  - A Rare Case of Symptomatic Double Optic Disc Pit without Maculopathy.
AB  - Optic disc pits are an uncommon congenital abnormality. Patients remain
      asymptomatic unless they develop maculopathy. We present a rare case of a double
      optic disc pit of which only three others have been reported worldwide. A 51-year
      old gentleman presented with blurred vision. Fundoscopy revealed a right double
      optic disc pit. Though he was symptomatic there was no evidence of maculopathy.
      OCT of macula and disc was otherwise unremarkable. Visual field demonstrated a
      paracentral defect. Although optic disc pits are rare they are still an important
      clinical entity. Prompt identification and treatment of complications are
      required to prevent a poor visual prognosis. 

PMID- 27648325
TI  - Metallosis after Exchange of the Femoral Head and Liner following Ceramic
      Acetabular Liner Dissociation in Total Hip Arthroplasty with a Modular Layered
      Acetabular Component.
AB  - The type of bearing material that should be used in revision surgery after the
      failure of ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasty (THA) remains controversial.
      In the case of ceramic fracture, the residual ceramic particles can cause
      consequent metallosis when metal implants are used for revision THA. On the other
      hand, in the case of THA failure without ceramic fracture, revision THA with a
      metal femoral head provides satisfactory results. We report an unusual case of
      progressive osteolysis due to metallosis that developed after revision THA for
      ceramic liner dissociation without a liner fracture performed using a metal
      femoral head and polyethylene liner. The residual metal debris and abnormal
      pumping motion of the polyethylene liner due to the breakage of the locking
      system or the aspherical metal shell being abraded by the ceramic head seemed to
      be the cause of the progressive osteolysis. 

PMID- 27648326
TI  - A Rare Case of Progressive Palsy of the Lower Leg Caused by a Huge Lumbar
      Posterior Endplate Lesion after Recurrent Disc Herniation.
AB  - A lesion of the lumbar posterior endplate is sometimes identified in the spinal
      canal of children and adolescents; it causes symptoms similar to those of a
      herniated disc. However, the pathology of the endplate lesion and the pathology
      of the herniated disc are different. We present a rare case of a 23-year-old
      woman who developed progressive palsy of the lower leg caused by huge lumbar
      posterior endplate lesion after recurrent disc herniation. 

PMID- 27648327
TI  - Resection and Resolution of Bone Marrow Lesions Associated with an Improvement of
      Pain after Total Knee Replacement: A Novel Case Study Using a 3-Tesla Metal
      Artefact Reduction MRI Sequence.
AB  - We present our case report using a novel metal artefact reduction magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) sequence to observe resolution of subchondral bone marrow
      lesions (BMLs), which are strongly associated with pain, in a patient after total
      knee replacement surgery. Large BMLs were seen preoperatively on the 3-Tesla MRI
      scans in a patient with severe end stage OA awaiting total knee replacement
      surgery. Twelve months after surgery, using a novel metal artefact reduction MRI
      sequence, we were able to visualize the bone-prosthesis interface and found
      complete resection and resolution of these BMLs. This is the first reported study
      in the UK to use this metal artefact reduction MRI sequence at 3-Tesla showing
      that resection and resolution of BMLs in this patient were associated with an
      improvement of pain and function after total knee replacement surgery. In this
      case it was associated with a clinically significant improvement of pain and
      function after surgery. Failure to eradicate these lesions may be a cause of
      persistent postoperative pain that is seen in up to 20% of patients following TKR
      surgery. 

PMID- 27648328
TI  - Gait Analysis of Conventional Total Knee Arthroplasty and Bicruciate Stabilized
      Total Knee Arthroplasty Using a Triaxial Accelerometer.
AB  - One component of conventional total knee arthroplasty is removal of the anterior
      cruciate ligament, and the knee after total knee arthroplasty has been said to be
      a knee with anterior cruciate ligament dysfunction. Bicruciate stabilized total
      knee arthroplasty is believed to reproduce anterior cruciate ligament function in
      the implant and provide anterior stability. Conventional total knee arthroplasty
      was performed on the right knee and bicruciate stabilized total knee arthroplasty
      was performed on the left knee in the same patient, and a triaxial accelerometer
      was fitted to both knees after surgery. Gait analysis was then performed and is
      reported here. The subject was a 78-year-old woman who underwent conventional
      total knee arthroplasty on her right knee and bicruciate stabilized total knee
      arthroplasty on her left knee. On the femoral side with bicruciate stabilized
      total knee arthroplasty, compared to conventional total knee arthroplasty, there
      was little acceleration in the x-axis direction (anteroposterior direction) in
      the early swing phase. Bicruciate stabilized total knee arthroplasty may be able
      to replace anterior cruciate ligament function due to the structure of the
      implant and proper anteroposterior positioning. 

PMID- 27648329
TI  - Simultaneous Bilateral Transient Osteoporosis of the Hip without Pregnancy.
AB  - Transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) is a rare disorder characterized by acute
      severe coxalgia and temporary osteopenia in the proximal femur. Although most
      cases were unilateral or staged bilateral TOH, some authors reported that the
      pregnant patients simultaneously had TOH in their bilateral hips. However, there
      has been no report of simultaneous bilateral TOH in the patient without
      pregnancy. A 25-year-old Japanese woman without pregnancy had acute simultaneous
      bilateral hip pain. Plain X-ray of the bilateral hips did not show a
      periarticular osteopenia. However, magnetic resonance image obtained one week
      after the onset demonstrated increased T2-weighted signal intensity and decreased
      T1-weighted signal intensity in the bilateral femoral heads. She was treated
      conservatively, and follow-up magnetic resonance image at seven weeks after the
      onset returned to normal bone marrow signal intensity. Her bilateral coxalgia
      subsided gradually. At one year after the onset, she had no sign of symptomatic
      flair. Our experience with this case indicates that recognizing the possibility
      of simultaneous bilateral TOH is important unless the patient is pregnant, and
      magnetic resonance image is predictable test to make a diagnosis of TOH, even in
      the absence of abnormal finding on plain X-ray. 

PMID- 27648331
TI  - Intramuscular Hemangioma of Thyrohyoid Muscle.
AB  - Intramuscular hemangiomas are rare benign vascular neoplasms. IMH accounts for
      less than 1% of all hemangiomas. These neoplasms commonly occur in trunk and
      extremities but are rare in head and neck region. The present case is a 17-year
      old female patient, who presented with a painless, slowly enlarging mass in left
      sided upper neck for 4 years. Investigations were suggestive of vascular
      neoplasm. She underwent excision of the mass in toto under general anesthesia.
      Postoperative period was uneventful. Histopathological examination of the mass
      revealed it as mixed type of intramuscular hemangioma. She did not have any signs
      of recurrences on her last follow-up at 6 months postoperatively. This case
      report discusses the rare IMH arising from thyrohyoid strap muscle. 

PMID- 27648330
TI  - Abnormal Congenital Location of Stapes' Superstructure: Clinical and
      Embryological Implications.
AB  - Congenital middle ear malformations are rare. Most part of them are usually
      associated with other malformations, such as aural atresia, microtia, and
      dysmorphic craniofacial features. A clinical case of a 24-year-old male with a
      right-sided conductive hearing loss since his childhood, without craniofacial
      malformation, is presented. He was proposed for exploratory tympanotomy under the
      suspicious diagnosis of otosclerosis. The surgery revealed an abnormal location
      of stapes' superstructure, which was attached to the promontory and had an
      isolated and mobile osseous footplate in the oval window. A stapes prosthesis was
      inserted and resulted in closure of the air-bone gap by 25 dB. A review of the
      literature was also performed using MEDLINE. Two theories diverge on the
      embryologic origin of the stapes. Our findings seem to be in favour of the theory
      that defines two different embryologic origins to the stapes. 

PMID- 27648332
TI  - Maxillary Osteomyelitis: A Rare Entity.
AB  - Osteomyelitis of the maxilla is now a rare event with the advent of antibiotics.
      The two predominant causes are odontogenic infections and sinusitis.
      Immunocompromised states such as diabetes, HIV, and malnutrition increase the
      risk of osteomyelitis. It is important to recognize this early as it is a
      difficult entity to treat with potentially serious consequences. We report an
      unusual case of right sided maxillary osteomyelitis in a lady with poorly
      controlled diabetes in rural Lincolnshire. Biopsy of the right maxillary bone
      showed features of acute osteomyelitis. This responded well to a prolonged course
      of oral antibiotics. 

PMID- 27648333
TI  - High Flow Priapism in a Pediatric Patient after Circumcision with Dorsal Penile
      Nerve Block.
AB  - We report the first documented case of high flow priapism after circumcision with
      dorsal penile nerve block. A 7-year-old male who had undergone circumcision three
      years before presented to our institution with a 3-year history of persistent
      nonpainful erections. Workup revealed a high flow priapism and, after discussion
      of the management options, the patient's family elected continued observation. 

PMID- 27648334
TI  - Empedobacter brevis Meningitis in a Neonate: A Very Rare Case of Neonatal
      Meningitis and Literature Review.
AB  - Empedobacter brevis is gram-negative bacilli that belongs to Flavobacteriaceae
      family. It was previously known with name of Flavobacterium breve. The reservoir
      of these bacteria is soil, plants, water, food, hospital water sources, including
      incubators, sinks, faucets, tap water, hemodialysis systems, saline solutions,
      and other pharmaceutical solutions. We report a case of term female newborn,
      admitted with complaint of respiratory distress developing soon after birth and
      developed clinical features of sepsis at age of 92 hours of postnatal life. The
      sepsis screen was positive and blood culture and cerebrospinal fluid showed
      growth of Empedobacter brevis that was resistant to multiple antibiotics. The
      neonate was treated with appropriate antibiotics and was discharged successfully.
      The novelty of the case report is that this is the first case report of neonatal
      sepsis caused by Empedobacter brevis. 

PMID- 27648335
TI  - An Unusual Trocar Site Hernia after Prostatectomy.
AB  - Trocar site hernias are rare complications after laparoscopic surgery but most
      commonly occur at larger trocar sites placed at the umbilicus. With increased
      utilization of the laparoscopic approach the incidence of trocar site hernia is
      increasing. We report a case of a trocar site hernia following an otherwise
      uncomplicated robotic prostatectomy at a 12 mm right lower quadrant port. The
      vermiform appendix was incarcerated within the trocar site hernia. Subsequent
      appendectomy and primary repair of the hernia were performed without
      complication. 

PMID- 27648336
TI  - Successful Resection of Isolated Para-Aortic Lymph Node Recurrence from Advanced
      Sigmoid Colon Cancer following 156 Courses of FOLFIRI Regimen.
AB  - Isolated para-aortic lymph node (PLN) recurrence from colorectal cancer (CRC) is
      rare, with no currently validated treatments. Few reports have described the
      successful resection of isolated PLN involvement from CRC following chemotherapy.
      We report the case of a 63-year-old man who underwent sigmoidectomy for sigmoid
      colon cancer at our hospital. Pathological examination demonstrated advanced
      sigmoid colon cancer with metastatic involvement in both of the tested PLNs.
      Palliative chemotherapy was initiated four weeks after surgical resection, with
      administration of the FOLFIRI regimen. Four years after the operation, computed
      tomography (CT) revealed an enlarged PLN below the left renal vein. As PLN
      enlarged to 15 mm in the minor axis on a CT scan in 2014 after receiving a total
      of 156 courses of the FOLFIRI regimen, we considered the enlarged PLN to
      represent an isolated metastasis. Accordingly, lymph node resection was performed
      with microscopically negative margins. The patient maintained a good quality of
      life without any side effects throughout the whole course of his treatment and
      remains disease-free at 24 months without chemotherapy after resection of the
      isolated PLN. Curative resection following chemotherapy may improve survival of
      carefully selected advanced CRC patients with locoregional recurrence, such as
      isolated PLN involvement. 

PMID- 27648337
TI  - Malrotated Subhepatic Caecum with Subhepatic Appendicitis: Diagnosis and
      Management.
AB  - Subhepatically located caecum and appendix is a very rare entity. It occurs due
      to the anomaly in fetal gut rotation that results in an incomplete rotation and
      fixation of the intestine. Appendicitis, which is a common surgical emergency, in
      combination with the abnormal subhepatic location, presents a great challenge in
      its diagnosis and management. Here, we describe a 42-year-old male with chronic
      dyspepsia who presented with sepsis and severe pain at his right hypochondriac
      and epigastric region. The final diagnosis was acute appendicitis of the
      subhepatic appendix. Our discussion focuses on the diagnostic approach and
      clinical and surgical management. We hope that our report will increase the
      awareness among the clinicians and hasten the management of such rare condition
      to avoid complications. 

PMID- 27648338
TI  - Skeletal Muscle Metastases to the Flexor Digitorum Superficialis and Profundus
      from Urothelial Cell Carcinoma and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) metastases to skeletal muscle are extremely rare
      and usually found in patients with advanced stage cancer. The most common sites
      of bladder cancer metastases are lymph nodes, lung, liver, and bones. Muscle is
      an unusual site of metastases from a distant primary cancer, due to several
      protective factors. We present a rare case of 76-year-old patient with metastases
      in the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) and flexor digitorum profundus (FDP)
      muscles, 2 years after a radical cystectomy for invasive UCC of the bladder. This
      case is the first description of a forearm lesion, with an extensive infiltration
      of the volar compartments of the forearm, and the first one with a clear
      functional impairment. 

PMID- 27648339
TI  - Morphological Diversity of Pretibial Myxedema and Its Mechanism of Evolving
      Process and Outcome: A Retrospective Study of 216 Cases.
AB  - Background. Pretibial myxedema (PTM) is a rare dermopathy. The morphologic
      features and mechanism of its evolving process are not reported in large case
      series. Methods. 216 cases with PTM were retrospectively reviewed to analyze
      demographics, history, lesional morphology and its evolving process,
      histopathology and immunohistochemistry, serum TRAb levels, treatment, and
      outcome. Results. First appearing lesions evolved into 6 variants that were
      correlated with serum TRAb levels. Subvariants were caused by different kinds and
      frequencies of local trauma. The evolving process could be classified into 4
      stages that were correlated with serum TRAb levels and perivascular infiltration
      of CD8+ and CD4+ lymphocytes. Serum TRAb levels at remission and in nonrecurred
      cases became lower than those before therapy and in recurred cases, respectively,
      but increased when PTM relapsed. TRAb level in nodule variant went down
      invariably with the extension of course and its autoimmune activity had a trend
      to stop but in other 5 variants TRAb levels fluctuated. Their autoimmune
      activities had no trends to stop and clinically worsen through intermittent
      repeats of active and stable stages. Conclusions. In the chronic course of PTM,
      nodule variant is self-limited and other 5 variants are not self-limited. PTM
      needed early treatment to avoid severe variants. 

PMID- 27648341
TI  - Analysis of the current rib support practices and techniques in U.S. coal mines.
AB  - Design of rib support systems in U.S. coal mines is based primarily on local
      practices and experience. A better understanding of current rib support practices
      in U.S. coal mines is crucial for developing a sound engineering rib support
      design tool. The objective of this paper is to analyze the current practices of
      rib control in U.S. coal mines. Twenty underground coal mines were studied
      representing various coal basins, coal seams, geology, loading conditions, and
      rib control strategies. The key findings are: (1) any rib design guideline or
      tool should take into account external rib support as well as internal bolting;
      (2) rib bolts on their own cannot contain rib spall, especially in soft ribs
      subjected to significant load-external rib control devices such as mesh are
      required in such cases to contain rib sloughing; (3) the majority of the studied
      mines follow the overburden depth and entry height thresholds recommended by the
      Program Information Bulletin 11-29 issued by the Mine Safety and Health
      Administration; (4) potential rib instability occurred when certain geological
      features prevailed-these include draw slate and/or bone coal near the rib/roof
      line, claystone partings, and soft coal bench overlain by rock strata; (5) 47% of
      the studied rib spall was classified as blocky-this could indicate a high
      potential of rib hazards; and (6) rib injury rates of the studied mines for the
      last three years emphasize the need for more rib control management for mines
      operating at overburden depths between 152.4 m and 304.8 m.

PMID- 27648342
TI  - The American Cancer Society Guidelines on Screening for Breast Cancer: What's
      New?

PMID- 27648340
TI  - Drosophila Mutant Model of Parkinson's Disease Revealed an Unexpected Olfactory
      Performance: Morphofunctional Evidences.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases
      characterized by the clinical triad: tremor, akinesia, and rigidity. Several
      studies have suggested that PD patients show disturbances in olfaction as one of
      the earliest, nonspecific nonmotor symptoms of disease onset. We sought to use
      the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to explore olfactory
      function in LRRK loss-of-function mutants, which was previously demonstrated to
      be a useful model for PD. Surprisingly, our results showed that the LRRK mutant,
      compared to the wild flies, presents a dramatic increase in the amplitude of the
      electroantennogram responses and this is coupled with a higher number of
      olfactory sensilla. In spite of the above reported results, the behavioural
      response to olfactory stimuli in mutant flies is impaired compared to that
      obtained in wild type flies. Thus, behaviour modifications and morphofunctional
      changes in the olfaction of LRRK loss-of-function mutants might be used as an
      index to explore the progression of parkinsonism in this specific model, also
      with the aim of studying and developing new treatments. 

PMID- 27648343
TI  - The Advanced Practitioner and Collaborative Practice in Oncology.

PMID- 27648345
TI  - Ketamine Protocol for Palliative Care in Cancer Patients With Refractory Pain.

PMID- 27648344
TI  - Managing Patients With Myelofibrosis in the Era of Janus Kinase Inhibitors.

PMID- 27648346
TI  - Radium-223 for the Management of Bone Metastases in Castration-Resistant Prostate
      Cancer.

PMID- 27648347
TI  - Palbociclib: A New Option for Front-Line Treatment of Metastatic, Hormone
      Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer.

PMID- 27648348
TI  - Hypercalcemia of Malignancy.
AB  - CASE STUDY: A 60-year-old man initially presented with pain in the right upper
      quadrant in October 2010. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen pelvis
      completed at that time showed a mass at the junction of the body and tail of the
      pancreas and multiple large liver lesions. A CT-guided liver biopsy revealed low
      grade neuroendocrine carcinoma. The patient was initially started on systemic
      treatment with sunitinib (Sutent) and octreotide. He developed intolerable side
      effects, including nausea and migraine. Therapy was discontinued in October 2011,
      when a CT scan revealed evidence of disease progression. At this point, he was
      transitioned to everolimus (Afinitor). He was treated with everolimus, with
      overall stable disease, until a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the abdomen and
      pelvis showed enlarging hepatic metastases in April 2014. Everolimus was
      discontinued. The patient presented to the clinic to start third-line systemic
      therapy; he described the recent onset of disorientation at home, with difficulty
      in concentration and mild muscle weakness. He was found to be lethargic on the
      day of the visit. He was noted to have a 4-kg weight loss. Blood pressure was
      82/45 mm Hg, with a heart rate of 115 beats/minute. Lab tests revealed a serum
      calcium level of 12.7 mg/dL (9.5 mg/dL prior). At that time, the serum albumin
      level was 2.4 mg/dL. The corrected calcium for albumin was 14 mg/dL. The patient
      was treated with intravenous (IV) hydration, and vital signs normalized post
      treatment. Labs revealed an improvement in serum calcium to 11.8 mg/dL (corrected
      = 13.1 mg/dL). Additional laboratory analysis revealed vitamin D, 25-hydroxy
      level of 40 ng/mL (reference range, 20-50 ng/mL), parathyroid hormone-related
      protein of 5.2 pmol/L (reference range, < 2.0 pmol/L), thyroid-stimulating
      hormone of 1.04 mIU/mL (reference range, 0.35-4.00 mIU/mL). An electrocardiogram
      revealed sinus tachycardia with a QT of 31.6 ms (QTc of 38.4 ms). The patient
      improved symptomatically and was sent home. The patient returned for repeat labs
      1 week later, with worsening of previously described weakness and lethargy. The
      serum calcium level had increased to 13.2 mg/dL, with a serum albumin level of
      2.8 mg/dL. Intravenous zoledronic acid (4 mg) was administered, and he was
      admitted for symptomatic hypercalcemia. He received continuous IV hydration with
      normal saline at 300 mL/hr and telemetry monitoring. Once hydrated, he was
      treated with IV furosemide. His serum calcium level rapidly improved to 10 mg/dL
      by day 2 of admission, and lethargy and weakness symptoms resolved. He was
      discharged from the hospital at that time. After discharge, the patient continued
      on third-line capecitabine-based systemic therapy, with excellent radiologic and
      tumor marker response to therapy and monthly zoledronic acid infusion. Serum
      calcium levels returned to within the normal range and stable, and he remained
      without relapse of hypercalcemia. After 2 months, zoledronic acid was
      discontinued, and the serum corrected calcium remained within normal limits.

PMID- 27648349
TI  - Review of a Study on Late Referral to a Palliative Care Consultation Service:
      Length of Stay and In-Hospital Mortality Outcomes.

PMID- 27648350
TI  - Hospital-Based Palliative Care: Quality Metrics That Matter.

PMID- 27648351
TI  - Disrupting P-glycoprotein function in clinical settings: what can we learn from
      the fundamental aspects of this transporter?
AB  - P-glycoprotein is one of the most well-studied drug transporters, significant for
      its role in cancer multiple drug resistance. However, using P-gp inhibitors with
      the aim of enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of anti-cancer drugs has led to
      disappointing outcomes. Furthermore, several lead compounds suggested by in vitro
      and pre-clinical studies have shown variable pharmacokinetics and therapeutic
      efficacies when applied in the clinical setting. This review will highlight the
      need to revisit a sound approach to better design and apply P-gp inhibitors in
      light of safety and efficacy. Challenges confronting the issue hinge upon myriad
      studies that do not necessarily represent the heterogeneous target population of
      this therapeutic approach. The application of P-gp modulators has also been
      complicated by the promiscuous substrate-binding behaviour of P-gp, as well as
      toxicities related to its intrinsic presence in healthy tissue. This review
      capitalizes on information spanning genetics, energetics, and pharmacology,
      bringing to light some fundamental aspects that ought to be reconsidered in order
      to improve upon and design the next generation of P-gp inhibitors. 

PMID- 27648352
TI  - Glucose transport: meeting the metabolic demands of cancer, and applications in
      glioblastoma treatment.
AB  - GLUT1, and to a lesser extent, GLUT3, appear to be interesting targets in the
      treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. The current review aims to give a brief
      history of the scientific community's understanding of these glucose transporters
      and to relate their importance to the metabolic changes that occur as a result of
      cancer. One of the primary changes that occurs in cancer, the Warburg Effect, is
      characterized by an extreme shift toward glycolysis from the usual reliance on
      oxidative phosphorylation and is currently being investigated to target the
      upstream and downstream factors responsible for Warburg-induced changes. Further,
      it aims to explain the differential expression of GLUT1 and GLUT3 in glioblastoma
      tissue, and how these modulations in expression can serve as targets to restore a
      more normal metabolism. Additionally, hypoxia-induced factor-1alpha's (HIF1alpha)
      role in a number of transcriptional changes typical to GBM will be discussed,
      including its role in GLUT upregulation. Finally, the four known subtypes of GBM
      [proneural, neural, mesenchymal, and classical] will be characterized in order to
      discuss how metabolic changes differ in each subtype. These changes have the
      potential to be selectively targeted in order to provide specificity to the
      clinical treatment options in GBM. 

PMID- 27648353
TI  - A perspective on anti-EGFR therapies targeting triple-negative breast cancer.
AB  - Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which lacks estrogen receptor (ER),
      progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2),
      accounts for about 15-20% of breast cancers and is the most aggressive breast
      cancer subtype. There are currently no effective therapies against metastatic
      TNBC. Compared with other breast cancer subtypes, EGFR is frequently
      overexpressed in TNBC and a potential therapeutic target for this disease. There
      are two types of EGFR inhibitors, small molecular tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)
      and monoclonal antibody (mAb), for the treatment of cancers, such as non-small
      cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer. For breast cancer, however, the clinical
      trials of EGFR inhibitors have failed due to low response rates. Because a small
      portion of patients do demonstrate response to EGFR inhibitors, it may be
      necessary to stratify patients to enhance the efficacy of EGFR inhibitors in TNBC
      and to develop the effective combination therapy for this patient population. In
      this review, we describe some of the molecular mechanisms underlying EGFR
      inhibitor sensitivity and further discuss the possible therapeutic strategies to
      increase the efficacy of EGFR inhibitors in TNBC. 

PMID- 27648356
TI  - miR-186 inhibits cell proliferation of prostate cancer by targeting GOLPH3.
AB  - Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men, many
      miRNAs have been demonstrated to play critical role in the progression of
      prostate cancer, miR-186 suppresses the progression of many tumors, such as
      bladder cancer and glioma. Previous study shows miR-186 is downregulated in
      prostate cancer tissues, and is a good prognosis for prostate cancer patients. In
      this study, we found miR-186 was downregulated in prostate cancer cells and
      tissues, overexpression of miR-186 inhibited cell proliferation and tumorigenesis
      in vitro determined by MTT assay, colony formation assay and soft agar growth
      assay, whereas knockdown of miR-186 reduced these effects. Cell cycle analysis
      found miR-186 overexpression arrested cell cycle in G0/G1 phase, and reduced p21
      and p27 levels, and enhanced Cyclin D1 and the phosphorylation of Rb levels,
      suggesting miR-186 blocked G1/S transition. A novel oncogene Golgi
      phhosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) was the target of miR-186, miR-186 bound to the 3'UTR
      of GOLPH3. Moreover, miR-186 was negatively correlated with GOLPH3 in prostate
      cancer tissues. In conclusion, our study suggested miR-186 inhibited cell
      proliferation through targeting oncogene GOLPH3. 

PMID- 27648354
TI  - Paclitaxel targets VEGF-mediated angiogenesis in ovarian cancer treatment.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is one of the gynecologic cancers with the highest mortality,
      wherein vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is involved in regulating tumor
      vascularization, growth, migration, and invasion. VEGF-mediated angiogenesis in
      tumors has been targeted in various cancer treatments, and anti-VEGF therapy has
      been used clinically for treatment of several types of cancer. Paclitaxel is a
      natural antitumor agent in the standard front-line treatment that has significant
      efficiency to treat advanced cancers, including ovarian cancer. Although
      platinum/paclitaxel-based chemotherapy has good response rates, most patients
      eventually relapse because the disease develops drug resistance. We aim to review
      the recent advances in paclitaxel treatment of ovarian cancer via
      antiangiogenesis. Single-agent therapy may be used in selected cases of ovarian
      cancer. However, to prevent drug resistance, drug combinations should be
      identified for optimal effectiveness and existing therapies should be improved. 

PMID- 27648355
TI  - SERPINA4 is a novel independent prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic
      target for colorectal cancer.
AB  - Serpina family A member 4 (SERPINA4), also known as kallistatin, exerts important
      effects in inhibiting tumor growth and angiogenesis in many malignancies.
      However, the precise role of SERPINA4 in CRC has not been fully elucidated. The
      present study aimed to investigate the expression of SERPINA4 and its clinical
      significance in CRC. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)
      and western blot analyses showed that the mRNA and protein expression of SERPINA4
      in colorectal cancer (CRC) specimens was significantly decreased than that in
      adjacent normal mucosa. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was conducted to characterize
      the expression pattern of SERPINA4 by using a tissue microarray (TMA) containing
      327 archived paraffin-embedded CRC specimens. Statistical analyses revealed that
      decreased SERPINA4 expression was significantly associated with invasion depth,
      nodal involvement, distant metastasis, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)
      stage, and tumor differentiation. SERPINA4 was also an independent prognostic
      indicator of disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with CRC.
      Furthermore, the impact of altered SERPINA4 expression on CRC cells was analyzed
      with a series of in vitro and in vivo assays. The results demonstrated that
      SERPINA4 significantly inhibits malignant tumor progression and serves as a novel
      prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic target for CRC. 

PMID- 27648357
TI  - EZH2 inhibitors transcriptionally upregulate cytotoxic autophagy and
      cytoprotective unfolded protein response in human colorectal cancer cells.
AB  - Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) has been emerged as novel anticancer target.
      Various EZH2 small-molecule inhibitors have been developed in recent years. A
      major class of EZH2 inhibitors are S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM)-competitive
      inhibitors, such as EPZ005687, EI1, GSK126, UNC1999 and GSK343. Autophagy, a
      physiological process of self-digestion, is involved in the turnover of proteins
      or intracellular organelles. It can serve as cytoprotective or cytotoxic function
      in cancer. Our previous study has found that UNC1999 and GSK343 are potent
      autophagy inducers. In this study, the underlying molecular mechanisms were
      further investigated. Our results showed that UNC1999 and GSK343
      transcriptionally upregulated autophagy of human colorectal cancer (CRC) cells
      through inducing LC3B gene expression. Besides, UNC1999/GSK343-induced autophagy
      was partially dependent on ATG7 but independent to EZH2 inhibition. Microarray
      and PCR array analyses identified that UNC1999 and GSK343 also induced
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and unfolded protein response (UPR).
      UNC1999/GSK343-induced ER stress/UPR contributed to the survival of cancer cells,
      which was opposite to UNC1999/GSK343-induced autophagy that promoted cell death. 

PMID- 27648358
TI  - Targeting PCDH20 gene by microRNA-122 confers 5-FU resistance in hepatic
      carcinoma.
AB  - Drug resistance is one of the main hurdles for the successful treatment of
      hepatic carcinoma. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying resistance remain
      largely unknown and therapeutic approaches are limited. In the present study, we
      show that miR-122 confers resistance to 5-fluorouracil induced hepatocellular
      carcinoma cell apoptosis in vitro and reduces the potency of 5-fluorouracil in
      the inhibition of tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model in vivo. Further
      studies indicate that miR-122 modulates drug resistance through down-regulation
      of expression of PCDH20, which belongs to the protocadherin gene family and
      negatively regulates Akt activation. Knockdown of PCDH20 expression increases Akt
      phosphorylation, which leads to elevated mTOR activity and enhanced 5
      fluorouracil resistance; whereas rescue of PCDH20 expression in miR-122
      expressing cells decreases Akt and mTOR phosphorylation, re-sensitizing
      hepatocellular carcinoma cell to 5-fluorouracil induced apoptosis. Moreover, a
      specific and potent Akt inhibitor reverses miR-122-conferred 5-fluorouracil
      resistance. These findings indicate that the miR-122/PCDH20/Akt/mTOR signaling
      axis has an important role in mediating response to chemotherapy in human
      hepatocellular carcinoma. A major implication of our study is that inhibition of
      miR-122 or restoration of PCDH20 expression may have significant therapeutic
      potential to overcome drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma and that the
      combined use of an Akt inhibitor with 5-fluorouracil may increase efficacy in
      liver cancer treatment. 

PMID- 27648359
TI  - MiR-422a acts as a tumor suppressor in glioblastoma by targeting PIK3CA.
AB  - Although surgical treatment, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy have improved the
      overall survival rate in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), further intensive
      research of GBM's molecular mechanism is still needed. In this study, we observed
      that miR-422a was downregulated in GBM tissues and cell lines by quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and primer extension assay.
      Overexpression of miR-422a significantly reduced the cell proliferation,
      migration, and invasion of GBM cells. Functional study indicated that miR-422a
      inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, and migration by targeting PIK3CA, an
      important member of PI3K/Akt signal pathway. These results demonstrate that the
      miR-422a/PIK3CA axis may constitute a potential target for GBM therapy. 

PMID- 27648360
TI  - Afatinib down-regulates MCL-1 expression through the PERK-eIF2alpha-ATF4 axis and
      leads to apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Afatinib is the second generation of irreversible inhibitor of EGFR, HER2 and
      HER4, which has shown encouraging phase II and III clinical outcomes in the
      treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, the
      molecular mechanism of afatinib-induced apoptosis in HNSCC is poorly understood.
      In the present investigation, we discovered that down-regulation of MCL-1, an
      anti-apoptotic member of BCL-2 family, was responsible for afatinib-triggered
      apoptosis. And the inactivation of AKT-mTOR signaling caused by afatinib lead to
      translational inhibition of MCL-1 expression. As a crucial branch of ER stress,
      PERK-eIF2alpha-ATF4 axis was also stimulated in HNSCC cells after afatinib
      incubation. Silencing either eIF2alpha or ATF4 by siRNA transfection relieved
      afatinib-caused suppression of AKT-mTOR activity, attenuating MCL-1 down
      regulation as well as subsequent apoptosis. Collectively, the results show that
      afatinib hampers AKT-mTOR activation by stimulating PERK-eIF2alpha-ATF4 signaling
      pathway, giving rise to MCL-1 down-regulation mediated apoptosis in HNSCC cells.
      Therefore, our findings reveal the elaborate molecular network of afatinib
      induced apoptosis in HNSCC, which would provide substantial theoretical
      underpinnings for afatinib clinical application and highlight its promising
      prospect in HNSCC treatment. 

PMID- 27648361
TI  - The proteome signature of the inflammatory breast cancer plasma membrane
      identifies novel molecular markers of disease.
AB  - Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is the most lethal form of breast cancer with a
      35% 5-year survival rate. The accurate and early diagnosis of IBC and the
      development of targeted therapy against this deadly disease remain a great
      medical challenge. Plasma membrane proteins (PMPs) such as E-cadherin and EGFR,
      play an important role in the progression of IBC. Because the critical role of
      PMPs in the oncogenic processes they are the perfect candidates as molecular
      markers and targets for cancer therapies. In the present study, Stable Isotope
      Labeling with Amino Acids in Cell Culture (SILAC) followed by mass spectrometry
      analysis was used to compare the relative expression levels of membrane proteins
      (MP) between non-cancerous mammary epithelial and IBC cells, MCF-10A and SUM-149,
      respectively. Six of the identified PMPs were validated by immunoblotting using
      the membrane fractions of non-IBC and IBC cell lines, compared with MCF-10A
      cells. Immunohistochemical analysis using IBC, invasive ductal carcinoma or
      normal mammary tissue samples was carried out to complete the validation method
      in nine of the PMPs. We identified and quantified 278 MPs, 76% of which
      classified as PMPs with 1.3-fold or higher change. We identified for the first
      time the overexpression of the novel plasminogen receptor, PLGRKT in IBC and of
      the carrier protein, SCAMP3. Furthermore, we describe the positive relationship
      between L1CAM expression and metastasis in IBC patients and the role of SCAMP3 as
      a tumor-related protein. Overall, the membrane proteomic signature of IBC
      reflects a global change in cellular organization and suggests additional
      strategies for cancer progression. Together, this study provides insight into the
      specialized IBC plasma membrane proteome with the potential to identify a number
      of novel therapeutic targets for IBC. 

PMID- 27648362
TI  - DEC2 suppresses tumor proliferation and metastasis by regulating ERK/NF-kappaB
      pathway in gastric cancer.
AB  - Differentiated embryonic chondrocyte expressed gene 2 (DEC2; BHLHE41/Sharp1) is a
      helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, and its deregulation has been
      observed in several tumors. However, this gene's effects on tumor progression are
      controversial, and its roles in gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. In the
      present study, we found that DEC2 expression level is lower in GC tissues
      compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues, and negatively correlated with tumor
      invasion, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and poor survival of GC patients.
      Positive clinical correlations of DEC2 with EMT regulator, E-cadherin, were also
      observed in the tissue sections. Overexpression of DEC2 inhibits cell
      proliferation and EMT in vitro, as well as tumor growth and metastasis in vivo.
      DEC2 expression also induces cell apoptosis. Furthermore, the anti-metastatic
      effect of DEC2 was mediated by inhibiting ERK/NF-kappaB/EMT axis. After treatment
      with ERK1/2 chemical inhibitor (U0126), DEC2's inhibitory effect on ERK/NF
      kappaB/EMT was further decreased. Collectively, these data helped to characterize
      DEC2, which might be a potential molecular target for diagnostic and therapeutic
      approaches for GC. 

PMID- 27648363
TI  - Cordycepin promotes apoptosis by modulating the ERK-JNK signaling pathway via
      DUSP5 in renal cancer cells.
AB  - Constitutive activation of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK)-Jun NH2
      terminal kinase (JNK) signaling commonly occurs in tumors. The activation of ERK
      promotes cell proliferation, whereas that of JNK induces cell apoptosis. However,
      the apoptotic mechanism of ERK-JNK signaling in cancer is not well understood.
      Recently, we identified that apoptosis and activation of the JNK signaling
      pathway were induced after cordycepin treatment in human renal cancer, suggesting
      that JNK signaling might contribute to TK-10 cell apoptosis. We investigated the
      apoptotic effects of cordycepin by evaluating the activation of the ERK-JNK
      signaling pathway in renal cancer TK-10 cells. We found that cordycepin
      downregulated ERK and DUSP5, upregulated phosphorylated-JNK (p-JNK), and induced
      apoptosis. Moreover, we showed that siRNA-mediated inhibition of ERK
      downregulated DUSP5, whereas ERK overexpression upregulated DUSP5, and that DUSP5
      knockdown by siRNA upregulated p-JNK. The JNK-specific inhibitor SP600125
      upregulated nuclear translocation of beta-catenin, and downregulated Dickkopf-1
      (Dkk1), which has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of Wnt signaling. Dkk1
      knockdown by siRNA upregulated nuclear beta-catenin, suggesting the involvement
      of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. DUSP5 overexpression in TK-10 cells
      decreased p-JNK and increased nuclear beta-catenin. The decreased Bax activation
      markedly protected against cordycepin-induced apoptosis. Bax subfamily proteins
      induced apoptosis through caspase-3. Taken together, we show that JNK signaling
      activation by cordycepin mediated ERK inhibition, which might have induced Bax
      translocation and caspase-3 activation via regulation of DUSP5 in TK-10 cells,
      thereby promoting the apoptosis of TK-10 cells. Targeting ERK-JNK signaling via
      the apoptotic effects of cordycepin could be a potential therapeutic strategy to
      treat renal cancer. 

PMID- 27648365
TI  - MiR-182 promotes proliferation and invasion and elevates the HIF-1alpha-VEGF-A
      axis in breast cancer cells by targeting FBXW7.
AB  - The feature of imperfect complementary effect of miRNAs to mRNAs implies that
      miRNAs may simultaneously target different mRNAs to affect multiple aspects of
      tumorigenesis. In our previous results, we demonstrated that miR-182 was over
      expressed in breast cancer cell lines and clinical tumor tissues and its up
      regulation increased tumorigenicity and invasiveness by repressing a tumor
      suppressor RECK. In this study, we showed that overexpression miR-182 regulated
      actin distribution and filopodia formation to increase invasiveness of breast
      cancer cells. In addition, miR-182 enhanced cell cycle progression and
      proliferation. We further identified the E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase FBXW7 as a
      target gene of miR-182. We also demonstrated that miR-182-overexpressing cells
      were highly sensitive to hypoxia. Under hypoxic condition, HIF-1alpha and VEGF-A
      proteins were significantly upregulated in these cells. In addition, the
      conditioned medium of miR-182-overexpressing cells contained more VEGF-A than the
      control cells and induced angiogenesis more efficiently in vitro. All these
      effects could be counteracted by ectopic expression of FBXW7 in cells or
      neutralization of VEGF-A in the conditioned media by specific antibody. Finally,
      our data showed that miR-182 expression was inversely correlated with FBXW7 in
      breast tumor tissues. In conclusion, our study explores a novel mechanism by
      which miR-182 elevates HIF-1alpha expression to promote breast cancer
      progression. 

PMID- 27648364
TI  - Rapamycin inhibits prostate cancer cell growth through cyclin D1 and enhances the
      cytotoxic efficacy of cisplatin.
AB  - Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in Western men and hormone
      refractory cancer (HRPC) kills most of the patients. Chemo-resistance is a major
      obstacle for the treatment of prostate cancer. Platinum-complexes have been used
      to treat a number of malignancies including prostate cancer. However, it has
      limited effect to prostate cancer and with significant toxicity at higher doses.
      In recent years, increasing numbers of new agents targeting cancer specific
      pathways have become available and with low toxic side-effects. Rapamycin
      (Sirolimus) is an mTORC1 inhibitor, which inhibits the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling
      pathway, which is commonly altered in prostate cancer. We determined the
      expression of cyclin D1 and phosphorylated-mTOR proteins in association with the
      response to rapamycin in two androgen sensitive (22RV1 and LNCaP) and two
      androgen independent (DU145 and PC3) prostate cancer cell lines and found that
      the base-line and changes of cyclin D1 level, but not the expression level of p
      mTOR, correlated with rapamycin sensitivity. We evaluated the cell killing effect
      of combined rapamycin and cisplatin treatment and showed that the combination had
      a more than additive effect in both androgen dependent and independent prostate
      cancer cells, which may be partially explained by the reduction of cyclin D1
      expression by rapamycin. We also evaluated a range of combined treatment
      schedules, simultaneously or sequentially and found that continuous rapamycin
      treatment after a short cisplatin exposure was effective. The clinical
      application of these findings for prostate cancer treatment should be further
      investigated. 

PMID- 27648366
TI  - Prognostic significance of MST1R dysregulation in renal cell tumors.
AB  - Macrophage stimulating 1 receptor (MST1R) is a C-MET proto-oncogene family
      receptor tyrosine kinase. Promoter methylation patterns determine transcription
      of MST1R variants as hypermethylation of a region upstream of transcription start
      site (TSS) is associated with lack of MST1R long transcript (MST1R long) and
      expression of a short transcript with oncogenic potential. Thus, we aimed to
      investigate MST1R variant transcript regulation in renal cell tumors (RCT) and
      assess their prognostic potential. We found, in a series of 120 RCT comprising
      the four main subtypes (clear cell, papillary and chromophobe renal cell
      carcinoma, and oncocytoma), that higher methylation levels close to TSS were
      associated with total MST1R expression levels (MST1R total) in primary tumors
      (p=0.049) and renal cancer cell lines. After demethylating treatment, MST1R
      long/MST1R total ratio increased, as expected, in two renal cell carcinoma cell
      lines tested. However, in primary tumors with hypermethylation upstream of TSS, a
      decrease in MST1R long/MST1R total ratio was not detected, although higher
      expression ratio of nuclear factor-kappaB was apparent. Furthermore, survival
      analysis demonstrated that MST1R long/MST1R total ratio was independently
      associated with shorter disease-specific and disease-free survival, whereas MST1R
      total expression associated with shorter disease-specific survival. In
      conclusion, although promoter methylation patterns seem to determine MST1R global
      transcription regulation in renal cell carcinoma, other mechanisms might
      contribute to deregulate MST1R variant expression in RCT. Nevertheless, MST1R
      total expression and MST1R long/MST1R total ratio modulate the biological and
      clinical aggressiveness of renal cell carcinoma, as depicted by its prognostic
      significance, a finding that requires validation in a larger independent series. 

PMID- 27648367
TI  - Changes in the spectral index of skin-surface laser Doppler signals of nude mice
      following the injection of CT26 tumor cells.
AB  - This study investigated microcirculatory-blood-flow responses in nude mice
      following the injection of CT26 tumor cells by analyzing the frequency content of
      skin blood-flow signals recorded on the skin surface. CT26 cells were injected
      subcutaneously (10^4/100 MUl) into the right back flank of each 7-week-old mouse.
      Three-minute laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) signals were measured in 60 nude mice.
      The data sequences were obtained at 1, 2, and 3 weeks after injecting CT26 cells.
      Mouse tissue samples were cut into sections and examined microscopically to
      determine the condition of cancer metastasis. Spectral analysis performed after 1
      week revealed a significant decrease in the relative energy contribution of the
      endothelium-related frequency band, and significant increases in those of the
      myogenic and respiration-related frequency bands of the LDF signals in the
      metastasis group (n=12). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study
      demonstrating the feasibility of evaluating metastasis in animal subjects based
      on changes in noninvasively measured LDF parameters. Changes in the LDF spectral
      indexes can be attributed to differences in the microcirculatory regulatory
      activities. The present measurements performed on the skin surface provide a
      noninvasive and real-time method for evaluating the microcirculatory responses
      induced by implanting CT26 tumor cells. 

PMID- 27648368
TI  - Elevated expression of CTHRC1 predicts unfavorable prognosis in patients with
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Collagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1), a secreted protein, has been
      demonstrated as an oncogene in many types of human cancers including pancreatic
      ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, little is known about the prognostic value
      of CTHRC1 in PDAC. In current study, we investigated the expression pattern and
      underlying clinical significance of CTHRC1 in PDAC. Data from public PDAC
      microarray datasets, real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry demonstrated that
      CTHRC1 expression was dramatically increased in PDAC compared with normal tissues
      at both mRNA and protein level, which was consistent with previous studies.
      Analysis of its correlation with clinicopathological parameters indicated that
      high protein expression level of CTHRC1 was significantly associated with lymph
      node metastasis, vascular invasion and perineural invasion. Kaplan-Meier survival
      analysis showed that patients with higher CTHRC1 expression exhibited a
      remarkably shorter overall survival in four different PDAC patient cohorts.
      Importantly, univariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that
      CTHRC1 protein expression level was a significant and independent prognostic
      factor for overall survival rate of PDAC patients. Together, these data suggested
      that CTHRC1 is an unfavorable biomarker of prognosis in PDAC and may serve as a
      potential therapeutic candidate for PDAC treatment. 

PMID- 27648369
TI  - Haptoglobin is a serological biomarker for adenocarcinoma lung cancer by using
      the ProteomeLab PF2D combined with mass spectrometry.
AB  - Identification of serological biomarker is urgently needed for cancer screening,
      monitoring cancer progression, treatment response, and surveillance for
      recurrence in lung cancer. Therefore, we try to find new serological biomarker
      that has more specificity and sensitivity for lung cancer diagnostics. In this
      study, the 2-D liquid phase fractionation system (PF2D) and mass spectrometry
      approach has been used for comparison the serum profiles between lung cancer
      patients and healthy individuals. Eight proteins were identified form PF2D and
      subsequently by mass spectrometry. Among these proteins, haptoglobin (HP) and
      apolipoprotein AI (APOA1) were chosen and validated with turbidimetric assay. We
      found that HP levels were significantly higher and APOA1 levels were
      significantly lower in lung cancer patients. However, after the participants were
      stratified by gender, the expression trends of HP and APOA1 in lung cancer
      patients existed only in men, which is gender specific phenomenon. HP, APOA1 and
      carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), used for distinguishing lung adenocarcinoma, had
      a sensitivity of 64%, 64% and 79%, respectively. Area under the ROC curve (AUC)
      of HP, APOA1 and CEA were 0.768, 0.761 and 0.884, respectively. When restricted
      to male subjects, HP, APOA1 and CEA showed sensitivity of 89%, 73% and 100%,
      respectively. AUC of HP, APOA1 and CEA were 0.929, 0.840 and 0.877, respectively.
      Therefore, our results showed that combined with PF2D system and mass
      spectrometry, this is a promising novel approach to identify new serological
      biomarkers for lung cancer research. In addition, HP may be a potential
      serological biomarker for lung adenocarcinoma diagnostics, especially in male
      subjects. 

PMID- 27648370
TI  - DNA integrity as biomarker in pancreatic cyst fluid.
AB  - Identification of pancreatic cysts with malignant potential is important to
      prevent pancreatic cancer development. Integrity of cell free DNA (cfDNA) has
      been described as tumor biomarker, but its potential for pancreatic cancer is
      unclear. While normal apoptotic cells release uniformly truncated DNA, malignant
      tissues release long fragments of cell free DNA (cfDNA). We measured 247 base
      pair (bp) and 115 bp DNA fragments of ALU repeats by qPCR in serum from healthy
      controls and pancreatic cancer patients, and in cyst fluid from pancreatic cyst
      patients. No differences in total cfDNA (ALU115) and cfDNA integrity (ALU247/115)
      were observed between sera from healthy controls (n=19) and pancreatic cancer
      patients (n=19). Although elevated as compared to serum, but no differences in
      cfDNA were found in cyst fluid from high risk (n=10) and low risk (n=20) cyst
      patients. We conclude that cfDNA integrity is not a useful marker to identify
      (pre)malignant pancreatic lesions. 

PMID- 27648371
TI  - Seed layer technique for high quality epitaxial manganite films.
AB  - We introduce an innovative approach to the simultaneous control of growth mode
      and magnetotransport properties of manganite thin films, based on an easy-to
      implement film/substrate interface engineering. The deposition of a manganite
      seed layer and the optimization of the substrate temperature allows a persistent
      bi-dimensional epitaxy and robust ferromagnetic properties at the same time.
      Structural measurements confirm that in such interface-engineered films, the
      optimal properties are related to improved epitaxy. A new growth scenario is
      envisaged, compatible with a shift from heteroepitaxy towards pseudo-homoepitaxy.
      Relevant growth parameters such as formation energy, roughening temperature,
      strain profile and chemical states are derived.

PMID- 27648373
TI  - The benefit of personalized hybrid SPECT/CT pulmonary imaging.
AB  - Hybrid pulmonary imaging in the present day has seen a fusion of various uses of
      CT scans, including angiography (CTAG), diagnostic CT, low dose CT (LDCT), and
      perfusion or ventilation scintigraphy in tomographic or planar imaging.
      Determining the most effective individualized test for the complete diagnostics
      of patients with pulmonary symptoms for various groups of patients is a major
      issue. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of the
      implementation of hybrid imaging in current methods of nuclear medicine in
      differential diagnostics of pulmonary embolism (PE). 326 patients were examined
      for symptomatology of PE. Patients were initially examined with SPECT perfusion
      scintigraphy. SPECT finding without sub-segmental or segmental defects was
      considered unproven PE but the finding of more segments or sub-segments in
      various lung parts was considered nearly proven PE. In the case of unclear
      findings, LDCT was added and in the case of a higher suspicion of PE, a
      ventilation examination was applied. It was possible to determine 83% of patients
      with the occurrence or exclusion of PE only on the basis of the perfusion SPECT
      examination and an X-ray or LDCT. LDCT was determined with 26% of the patients.
      With 41% of them, the use of LDCT resulted in an alternative diagnosis,
      explaining perfusion abnormalities. The research proved that use of SPECT/LDCT
      for differential diagnosis of lung symptoms brings about improvement in the
      diagnosis of pulmonary embolism or the identification of other lung diseases when
      lung perfusion abnormalities are recorded. 

PMID- 27648372
TI  - PET imaging reveals sex differences in kappa opioid receptor availability in
      humans, in vivo.
AB  - Opioid receptors may play critical roles in alcoholism and other addictions,
      addiction withdrawal, and depression and are considered pharmacological targets
      for treatment of these conditions. Sex differences have been demonstrated in mu
      (MOR) and delta (DOR) opioid receptors in humans, in vivo. In addition, sex
      differences have been observed in efficacy of treatment targeting kappa opioid
      receptors (KOR). Our goal in the present study was to compare the availability of
      KOR (1) between healthy control (HC) men and women. Twenty-seven subjects-18
      males (M) and 9 females (F)-underwent PET scans with [(11)C] LY2795050, a
      selective kappa antagonist tracer. Partial volume correction was applied to all
      PET data. Volume of distribution (V T) of the tracer was estimated regionally as
      well as at the voxel level. V T values of males versus females were compared for
      19 defined ROIs. Results at the regional and voxel levels were consistent. Males
      had significantly higher V T and thus a higher KOR availability than women in
      multiple brain regions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of sex
      differences in the KOR system in humans, in vivo. These findings could have
      implications for the treatment of pain with kappa opioid analgesics. The results
      may also have an impact on the diagnosis and treatment of addictive and other
      disorders. 

PMID- 27648375
TI  - A pink papule on the back of an 82-year-old man: an example of the buttonhole
      sign on reflectance confocal microscopy.

PMID- 27648374
TI  - Feasibility of carotid artery PET/MRI in psoriasis patients.
AB  - We report our initial experience of performing integrated PET/MR imaging of the
      carotid arteries in psoriatic patients. Eleven patients with psoriasis and ten
      controls underwent carotid PET/MRI. Following injection of the FDG tracer, 3d T1w
      gradient echo sequence (atMR) was obtained for attenuation correction of PET
      data. High resolution images of carotid artery were then obtained, including pre
      and post-contrast T1-w, T2-w and proton-density images as well as TOF images
      followed by PET imaging of the torso. From the fused axial PET/MRI, the arterial
      wall SUVmax and TBRmax was quantified in each slice. MRI images were also
      evaluated for vessel wall volume, plaque and internal composition. SUVmax and
      TBRmax were respectively, 1.72 +/- 0.38 & 1.17 +/- 0.27 in L- CCA, 1.75 +/- 0.39
      & 1.24 +/- 0.19 in R-CCA, 1.59 +/- 0.24 & 1.08 +/- 0.14 in L-ICA and 1.62 +/-
      0.27 & 1.15 +/- 0.17 in R-ICA in psoriatic patients and 1.74 +/- 0.22 & 1.28 +/-
      0.44 in L- CCA, 1.74 +/- 0.33 & 1.07 +/- 0.28 in R-CCA, 1.78 +/- 0.32 & 1.29 +/-
      0.39 in L-ICA and 1.60 +/- 0.29 & 0.98 +/- 0.25 in R-ICA in the controls. No
      discrete plaques were identified in any of the vessel segments in MRI. PET/MRI is
      feasible in evaluation of carotid arteries in psoriatic patients. 

PMID- 27648376
TI  - A slowly enlarging purple nodule on the arm.

PMID- 27648377
TI  - An unusual lesion in the right place.

PMID- 27648378
TI  - Effect of itraconazole on the quality of life in patients with moderate to severe
      seborrheic dermatitis: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the effect of seborrheic dermatitis (SD)
      and/or its consequent therapy on a patient's quality of life. Itraconazole has
      been suggested as an effective therapy for severe SD but its impact on Quality of
      Life (QoL) in these patients has never been studied before. OBJECTIVE: The study
      aimed to verify the efficacy of the itraconazole on the quality of life in
      patients with moderate to severe SD. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, placebo
      controlled trial was planned to describe the effect of SD per se on QoL and to
      determine the impact of oral itraconazole or placebo on QoL of SD patients. Sixty
      eight patients with moderate to severe SD participated in the study to receive
      either itraconazole or placebo. Dermatology Life Quality Index was used to
      evaluate their quality of life before and after treatment. Itraconazole 200
      mg/daily or placebo was prescribed for one week and then the first two days of
      every month for the following three months. Fifty-seven patients completed the
      study. RESULTS: Significant improvement was observed in QoL of both itraconazole
      and placebo groups, but itraconazole group showed significantly higher
      improvement as compared to placebo (p=0.001). QoL was impaired significantly with
      high disease severity (p=0.002) and facial involvement (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS:
      Itraconazole significantly improves the QoL in patients with moderate to severe
      SD.

PMID- 27648379
TI  - Dermoscopy could be useful in differentiating sarcoidosis from necrobiotic
      granulomas even after treatment with systemic steroids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnosing cutaneous sarcoidosis and necrobiotic granulomas is
      challenging. OBJECTIVE: Assessing the value of dermoscopy in differentiating
      cutaneous sarcoidosis from necrobiotic granulomas and evaluating whether their
      dermoscopic features will be altered after treatment. METHODS: Nineteen cutaneous
      sarcoidosis and 11 necrobiotic granuloma patients (2 necrobiosis lipoidica, 4
      granuloma annulare and 5 rheumatoid nodule) were included in this study. The
      diagnosis was confirmed by skin biopsy. The lesions were examined using non
      contact polarized dermoscope (Dermlite 2 HR-Pro; 3Gen, San Juan Capistrano, CA).
      RESULTS: Ten out of 19 cutaneous sarcoidosis patients and 7/11 necrobiotic cases
      group were receiving treatments (topical, intralesional or systemic steroids +/-
      chloroquine) but still have cutaneous lesions. Treatment duration in the
      sarcoidosis group ranged from 2 months to 10 years (median 3 years) and in the
      necrobiotic cases group ranged from 3 months to 16 years (median 2 years). Pink
      homogenous background, translucent orange areas, white scar-like depigmentation
      and fine white scales were significantly associated with the cutaneous
      sarcoidosis compared to necrobiotic cases group. On the other hand mixed pink,
      white and yellowish background was significantly associated with the necrobiotic
      cases group. No significant difference in the dermoscopic findings was detected
      between treated and non-treated patients. CONCLUSION: Some dermoscopic findings
      are shared between the cutaneous sarcoidosis group and the necrobiotic cases
      group, yet dermoscopy could be a useful aid in differentiating them even after
      treatment.

PMID- 27648380
TI  - Diet and eczema: a review of dietary supplements for the treatment of atopic
      dermatitis.
AB  - In the context of increasing popularity of "natural" alternatives to conventional
      medicine, several dietary supplements have gained the attention of researchers
      and consumers alike in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). Readily available
      without a prescription and frequently perceived to have fewer side effects than
      traditional medications, these "natural" remedies may be featured in discussions
      with patients, and clinicians should therefore be familiar with their efficacy
      and safety. Based on trials to date, no dietary supplements can be recommended
      for routine use in the treatment of AD. However, some promising results have been
      noted from the use of probiotics and prebiotics taken in combination. Given
      significant differences in study design to date, however, further studies would
      be needed to clarify dose and strains of probiotics. Studies of vitamin D have
      been limited and have produced conflicting results, although further trials in
      selected subsets of patients may be indicated. Very limited data is available on
      fish oil supplements, while future studies on Chinese herbal medicine would
      require evaluation of comparable herbs and formulations. Finally, multiple trials
      of evening primrose oil and borage seed oil have shown improvement similar to
      placebo, and neither is currently recommended in eczema therapy. 

PMID- 27648381
TI  - Solitary mastocytoma presenting in an adult: report and literature review of
      adult-onset solitary cutaneous mastocytoma with recommendations for evaluation
      and treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mastocytosis is either cutaneous (with skin-limited proliferation of
      mast cells) or systemic (with mast cells in extracutaneous sites). The onset of
      solitary mastocytoma in an adult is rare. PURPOSE: A woman with the new onset of
      solitary mastocytoma is described. The clinical features of patients with adult
      onset solitary mastocytoma are summarized. Recommendations for the evaluation and
      treatment of individuals with adult-onset solitary mastocytoma are proposed.
      METHODS: PubMed was searched with the key words: adult, CD2, CD25, cell,
      cutaneous, disease, KIT, KIT D816V, mast, mastocytoma, mutation, pigmentosa,
      solitary, tryptase, and urticarial. The papers generated by the search, and their
      references, were reviewed. RESULTS: A 38-year-old Taiwanese woman presented with
      an asymptomatic brown patch, which morphologically mimicked a dysplastic nevus,
      on her right abdomen; biopsy demonstrated a solitary mastocytoma. Comprehensive
      evaluation (including serologic and bone marrow examination) excluded systemic
      mastocytosis and her residual mastocytoma is being monitored. Adult-onset
      solitary mastocytoma has been described in 16 patients. Lesions were either on
      the head and neck (5/14), torso (5/14) or extremities (4/14). Urtication
      following lesion rubbing was noted in 79% (11/14) of patients. Excision of the
      mastocytoma [75% (9/12)] was the most common treatment. Other management
      approaches included corticosteroids (topical or intralesional), antihistamines
      (systemic) or observation. Systemic symptoms were noted in 5 patients: flushing
      (3 women) and pruritus (3 women); gastrointestinal symptoms and headaches,
      flushing and/or anaphylaxis were each noted in one woman. None of the patients
      with adult-onset solitary mastocytoma had systemic mastocytosis; however, only 3
      women were evaluated for systemic mastocytosis. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic
      mastocytosis is common in adults with new onset cutaneous mastocytosis.
      Therefore, a conservative work up for new onset solitary mastocytosis in adults
      is proposed to include complete blood cell counts, serum chemistries (including
      liver function tests), and serum tryptase level and bone marrow biopsy to
      evaluate for mast cell clusters, morphology and immunophenotype and KIT gene
      mutation in codon 816. Similar serologic testing should be considered annually
      for adult-onset solitary mastocytosis patients without systemic disease.

PMID- 27648382
TI  - Pityriasis rosea in pregnancy: report of a spousal occurrence and
      craniosynostosis in the healthy newborn.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pityriasis rosea is a papulosquamous disease. It may occur during
      pregnancy; in this setting, it has occasionally been associated with adverse
      outcomes. PURPOSE: A woman who developed pityriasis rosea at the beginning of her
      eighth week of gestation is described. The outcomes in newborns delivered by
      pregnant women who developed pityriasis rosea during gestation are summarized.
      METHOD: A 28-year-old woman developed pityriasis rosea during her eighth week of
      pregnancy. Her husband had pityriasis rosea two months earlier. PubMed was
      searched for the following terms: conjugal, craniosynostosis, newborn,
      pityriasis, pregnancy, rosea, sagittal, spouse. The papers were reviewed and the
      references cited were evaluated. RESULTS: Our patient delivered a healthy male
      infant after 41 weeks of gestation. He had normal weight, height, and Apgar
      scores. Isolated sagittal craniosynostosis was diagnosed and was successfully
      treated at nine weeks after birth without complications. CONCLUSION: Several
      retrospective studies have investigated the possibility of adverse outcomes in
      infants born to women who developed pityriasis rosea during pregnancy, such as
      stillbirth, low gestational weight, hypotonia, and premature delivery. However,
      there are also reports of healthy newborns in women who have had pityriasis rosea
      during gestation. Our patient carried the fetus one week post-term and delivered
      a healthy boy via C-section; isolated sagittal craniosynostosis was later
      diagnosed and successfully repaired. The occurrence of craniosynostosis in a
      woman who developed pityriasis rosea during her first trimester of pregnancy may
      be two coincidental events.

PMID- 27648383
TI  - Superficial angiomyxoma of the skin.
AB  - Superficial angiomyxomas (SA) of the skin are rare benign cutaneous tumors of
      soft tissue composed of prominent myxoid matrix and numerous blood vessels. SA
      are more common in males [1] and they are usually located on the trunk but can
      also appear on the lower limbs, head, neck and genitalia [2,3]. Treatment is
      surgical, the total excision is curative, but local recurrence is possible [4].
      Herein we present a 72-year-old patient with a history of melanoma in situ, with
      a new lesion on the lower back. 

PMID- 27648384
TI  - Multiple familial trichoepithelioma: confirmation via dermoscopy.
AB  - Trichoepitheliomas are uncommon benign adnexal neoplasms that originate from the
      hair follicles. Multiple familial trichoepithelioma constitute an autosomal
      dominant disease characterized by the appearance of multiple flesh-colored,
      symmetrical papules, tumors and/or nodules in the central face and occasionally
      on the scalp. Although clinical diagnosis is usually straightforward in light of
      the family history and naked-eye examination, dermoscopy may aid in its
      confirmation. Dermoscopy of each papule revealed in-focus arborizing vessels,
      multiple milia-like cysts and rosettes amidst a whitish background. In a patient
      with multiple facial papules revealing a dermoscopic appearance described above,
      the diagnosis of sporadic or familial multiple trichoepithelioma should be
      considered. 

PMID- 27648385
TI  - Two neutrophilic dermatoses captured simultaneously on histology.
AB  - A number of neutrophilic dermatoses are associated with malignancies and their
      treatment. These rarely occur together in the same patient. A Caucasian 72-year
      old male was treated for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with chemotherapy including
      daunorubicin and cytarabine. Within 48 hours of commencing treatment, he
      developed pyrexia and, two days later, disseminated non-tender pink plaques on
      the limbs and trunk. A skin biopsy showed a dermal interstitial infiltrate of
      lymphocytes, histiocytoid cells and predominantly neutrophils. This extended into
      the subcutis, where a neutrophilic lobular panniculitis was seen. These findings
      are consistent with Sweet's syndrome. In addition, a neutrophilic and lymphocytic
      infiltrate was also present around eccrine coils and lower ducts. The eccrine
      epithelium showed squamous metaplasia with dyskeratosis and sloughing into the
      lumen. These latter findings are consistent with neutrophilic eccrine
      hidradenitis (NEH). These two histologically distinct entities form part of the
      neutrophilic dermatoses that have been described in oncology patients with
      reports of concurrent or sequential occurrence of various neutrophilic dermatoses
      in the same patient. Ours, however, is only the second reported case of
      simultaneously captured Sweet's and NEH in the setting of AML. The most likely
      explanation is that of an epiphenomenon, whereby the neutrophilic infiltrate
      extended around the sweat glands in the context of the neutrophilic dermatosis. 

PMID- 27648386
TI  - Pigmented eccrine poroma: dermoscopic and confocal features.
AB  - Eccrine poroma is a rare benign adnexal tumor of epithelial cells originating
      from the terminal ductal portion of the sweat glands that is typically located on
      palms and soles, although other cutaneous sites can be affected [1]. It is
      usually nonpigmented even if there is a pigmented variant that corresponds to 17%
      of cases and it is usually underdiagnosed, since it is mistakenly confused with
      other pigmented tumors [2,3]. Dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy
      (RCM) may assist in the correct diagnosis of this tumor. Herein, we report one
      case of pigmented eccrine poroma (PEP) that simulated clinically a cutaneous
      melanoma or a basal cell carcinoma. Dermoscopy and RCM excluded the possibilities
      of those two diagnoses; the overall confocal findings were suggestive for a
      benign epithelial tumor. Histology was fundamental to diagnose this lesion as a
      pigmented eccrine poroma. Even if the diagnosis of eccrine poroma remains
      histopathological still, as in this case report, noninvasive tools such as
      dermoscopy and RCM examinations can be of help to rule out the diagnosis of
      melanoma. Larger studies on this rare pigmented variant of eccrine poroma could
      shed new light on the identification of specific diagnostic dermoscopic and
      confocal features. 

PMID- 27648387
TI  - Dermoscopy as a useful supportive tool for the diagnosis of pityriasis amiantacea
      like tinea capitis.
AB  - Clinical distinction between pityriasis amiantacea-like tinea capitis and
      pityriasis amiantacea due to noninfectious inflammatory diseases is a troublesome
      task, with a significant likelihood of diagnostic errors/delays and prescription
      of inappropriate therapies. We report a case of pityriasis amiantacea-like tinea
      capitis with its dermoscopic findings in order to highlight the usefulness of
      dermoscopy in improving the recognition of such a condition. 

PMID- 27648388
TI  - In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy features of a large cell acanthoma:
      report of a case.
AB  - Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is an FDA approved noninvasive optical
      imaging technique that acquires cellular level-resolution skin images in vivo.
      Herein, we report a case of histopathologically proven large cell acanthoma (LCA)
      whose RCM features simulate those of squamous cell carcinoma in situ. 

PMID- 27648389
TI  - Isolated giant molluscum contagiosum mimicking epidermoid cyst.
AB  - Molluscum contagiosum is a benign cutaneous viral infection which is caused by
      double- stranded DNA poxvirus. It affects mainly children and young adults and
      usually presents with single or multiple umblicated papules or nodules on face,
      arms, legs and anogenital regions. It may present in atypical size and clinical
      appearance in patients with altered or impaired immunity and rarely in
      immuncompetent patients. Herein we present an immuncompetent young adult patient
      with isolated giant molluscum contagiosum, which was mimicking epidermoid cyst
      clinically. 

PMID- 27648392
TI  - Retraction: Cadaveric Study of Anatomic Far Distal Musculocutaneous and Median
      Nerve Communication.
AB  - [This retracts the article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.627.]. 

PMID- 27648390
TI  - The Role of Vitamin K in Chronic Aging Diseases: Inflammation, Cardiovascular
      Disease, and Osteoarthritis.
AB  - Vitamin K is an enzyme cofactor required for the carboxylation of vitamin K
      dependent proteins, several of which have been implicated in diseases of aging.
      Inflammation is recognized as a crucial component of many chronic aging diseases
      and evidence suggests vitamin K has an anti-inflammatory action that is
      independent of its role as an enzyme co-factor. Vitamin K-dependent proteins and
      inflammation have been implicated in cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis,
      which are leading causes of disability and mortality in older adults. The purpose
      of this review is to summarize observational studies and randomized trials
      focused on vitamin K status and inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and
      osteoarthritis. Although mechanistic evidence suggests a protective role for
      vitamin K in these age-related conditions, the benefit of vitamin K
      supplementation is controversial because observational data are equivocal and the
      number of randomized trials is few.

PMID- 27648391
TI  - Lipid specific molecular ion emission as a function of the primary ion
      characteristics in TOF-SIMS.
AB  - In the present work, the emission characteristics of lipids as a function of the
      primary ion cluster size and energy were studied using time-of-flight secondary
      ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). Characteristic fragmentation patterns for
      common lipids are described, and changes in secondary ion (SI) yields using
      various primary ion beams are reported. In particular, emission characteristics
      were studied for pairs of small polyatomic and nanoparticle primary ion beams
      (e.g., Bi3+ versus Ar1000+ and Au3+ versus Au400+4) based on the secondary ion
      yield of characteristic fragment and intact molecular ions as a function of the
      lipid class. Detailed descriptions of the fragmentation patterns are shown for
      positive and negative mode TOF-SIMS. Results demonstrate that the lipid structure
      largely dictates the spectral presence of molecular and/or fragment ions in each
      ionization mode due to the localization of the charge carrier (head group or
      fatty acid chain). Our results suggest that the larger the energy per atom for
      small polyatomic projectiles (Bi3+ and Au3+), the larger the SI yield; in the
      case of nanoparticle projectiles, the SI increase with primary ion energy (200
      500 keV range) for Au400+4 and with the decrease of the energy per atom (10-40
      eV/atom range) for Arn=500-2000+ clusters. The secondary ion yield of the
      molecular ion of lipids from a single standard or from a mixture of lipids does
      not significantly change with the primary ion identity in the positive ion mode
      TOF-SIMS and slightly decreases in the negative ion mode TOF-SIMS.

PMID- 27648393
TI  - Skull Base Trauma: Commentary.

PMID- 27648394
TI  - Basic Imaging of Skull Base Trauma.
AB  - Skull base fractures extend through the floor of the anterior, middle, or
      posterior cranial fossa. They are frequently associated with complex facial
      fractures and serious complications such as cranial nerve or vascular injury,
      cerebrospinal fluid leak, or meningitis. Several distinct patterns of skull base
      fractures have been recognized, each of them associated with different
      complications. Recognition of, often subtle, skull base fracture is essential to
      prevent or allow early treatment of these serious complications. 

PMID- 27648395
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Craniovertebral Junction Ligaments: Normal
      Anatomy and Traumatic Injury.
AB  - The superb stability and flexibility of the craniovertebral junction (CVJ) are
      enabled by the ligaments that connect the occipital bone and the C1 and C2
      vertebral bodies. Radiographically, these ligaments are best assessed with
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which has excellent soft tissue contrast, but
      typically poor spatial resolution. With the advent of advanced MRI techniques,
      including volumetric sequences, high spatial resolution and contrast resolution
      can both be attained, allowing for detailed analysis of the ligaments,
      particularly in trauma settings. We have instituted a cervical spine trauma
      protocol which utilizes a high resolution (1-mm voxel) volumetric proton density
      sequence to detect injuries to the ligaments of the CVJ in all trauma patients
      who receive a cervical spine MRI in our emergency room. In this article, we
      review techniques for imaging the ligaments at the CVJ, the normal imaging
      anatomy and the function of the CVJ ligaments, and their appearance in cases of
      traumatic injury. 

PMID- 27648396
TI  - Surgical and Nonsurgical Treatment of Vascular Skull Base Trauma.
AB  - Vascular trauma is associated with blunt skull base fractures and penetrating
      injuries. We review the contemporary management of cranial vascular trauma,
      including blunt and penetrating cerebrovascular injury as well as refractory
      epistaxis from facial trauma. 

PMID- 27648398
TI  - Neurosurgery: Skull Base Craniofacial Trauma.
AB  - Much of craniofacial trauma involves the frontal sinuses. Because of its response
      to injury, the frontal sinus mucosa has an innate ability to develop mucoceles,
      and if infected, mucopyocoeles. This article presents a therapeutic algorithm for
      all forms of craniofacial trauma with concentration on the most severe injury-the
      through and through fracture and its surgical remediation. 

PMID- 27648397
TI  - Management of Anterior Skull Base Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks.
AB  - Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak occurs from traumatic, iatrogenic, and idiopathic
      etiologies. Its timely diagnosis requires clinical, radiographic, and laboratory
      testing. Medical and surgical management can mitigate the risk of life
      threatening infection and morbidity. This article outlines the pathophysiology,
      diagnosis, and management or CSF leak of the anterior skull base. 

PMID- 27648400
TI  - Management of Battlefield Injuries to the Skull Base.
AB  - High velocity skull base injuries on the battlefield are unique in comparison to
      most civilian sector trauma. With more than 43,000 United States military
      personnel injuries during Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom
      (OEF), the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have significantly
      expanded the understanding of the physiology of modern battlefield trauma and how
      to appropriately address these injuries. The acute care principles of effective
      triage, airway management, and hemorrhage control in these injuries can be life
      saving and are reviewed here. Specific injury patterns and battlefield examples
      are reviewed as well, with a review of some of the lessons learned while
      providing care in a deployed setting. Utilization of the knowledge learned in
      Iraq and Afghanistan, which have improved casualty care of deployed service
      members, can be used both in future military conflicts and in civilian trauma
      care. 

PMID- 27648399
TI  - Treatment of Temporal Bone Fractures.
AB  - Traumatic injury to the temporal bone can lead to significant morbidity or
      mortality and knowledge of the pertinent anatomy, pathophysiology of injury, and
      appropriate management strategies is critical for successful recovery and
      rehabilitation of such injured patients. Most temporal bone fractures are caused
      by motor vehicle accidents. Temporal bone fractures are best classified as either
      otic capsule sparing or otic capsule disrupting-type fractures, as such
      classification correlates well with risk of concomitant functional complications.
      The most common complications of temporal bone fractures are facial nerve injury,
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, and hearing loss. Assessment of facial nerve
      function as soon as possible following injury greatly facilitates clinical
      decision making. Use of prophylactic antibiotics in the setting of CSF leak is
      controversial; however, following critical analysis and interpretation of the
      existing classic and contemporary literature, we believe its use is absolutely
      warranted. 

PMID- 27648401
TI  - Pharmacologic Treatment of Pediatric Anxiety Disorders.
AB  - The last decade has seen considerable advances in the treatment of anxiety
      disorders in children and adolescents and a considerable expansion of the
      evidence base for psychopharmacologic in this population. The extant data suggest
      that, for fear-based anxiety disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder,
      social phobia/social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder),
      selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective serotonin
      norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSNRIs) are well tolerated and offer
      considerable benefit. However, the salutary effects of SSRIs and SSNRIs in
      pediatric anxiety disorders are consistently amplified by the addition of
      psychotherapy, particularly in individuals with social anxiety disorder.
      Additionally, several key demographic and clinical factors, including male sex,
      non-minority status, and better family functioning and younger age predict
      greater symptomatic improvement in youth with fear-based anxiety disorders. Thus,
      current data suggest that in addition to several forms of psychotherapy,
      including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), SSRIs and SSNRIs are efficacious in
      the treatment of these conditions in youth and that CBT + an SSRI may be
      associated with greater improvement than would be expected with either treatment
      as monotherapy. Finally, given that some children and adolescents may exhibit
      partial response to current pharmacotherapies, benzodiazepines, anti-histamines
      and other agents may have adjunctive roles, despite a lack of data in terms of
      large, randomized controlled trials.

PMID- 27648402
TI  - Survey of strain distribution and antibiotic resistance pattern of group B
      streptococci (Streptococcus agalactiae) isolated from clinical specimens.
AB  - AIM: The aims of the present study were to determine the antibiotic
      susceptibility profils with particular emphasis on susceptible or resistant
      strains to macrolides and lincosamids antibiotics and to determine possible
      antibiotic resistance mechanisms occurring in group B streptococci (GBS) strains
      using PCR assay and disk diffusion method. METHODS: A total of 62 clinical GBS
      strains were investigated. Antibacterial susceptibility testing was performed
      using the disk diffusion method and inducible resistance test for clindamycin by
      standard double disk diffusion or D-zone test for all isolates to differentiate
      macrolide resistance phenotype (M), constitutive macrolide-lincosamide
      streptogramin B phenotype (cMLSB) and induced macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin
      B phenotype (iMLSB). In addition, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of
      penicillin were determined for all isolates. Finally, possible existence of
      antibiotic resistance genes for erythromycin (ermTR, ermB and mefA/E) and for
      clindamycin (linB) were examined among isolates using PCR assay. RESULTS: All 62
      isolates were susceptible to penicillin, ampicillin, linezolid, cefazoline and
      vancomycin. However, 93.5% (n=58) of isolates showed an increased MIC to
      penicillin. The overall rate of erythromycin resistance was 35.5% (n=22). All
      erythromycin-resistant isolates displayed the M phenotype (100%, n=22). All three
      erythromycin resistance genes (i.e. ermTR, ermB and mefA/E) were found in
      erythromycin-resistant isolates. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that prescribing
      antibiotic without antibacterial susceptibility tests should be prevented because
      of the high prevalence of erythromycin-resistant GBS strains and the fact that
      erythromycin-resistant GBS strains has shown an increased MIC to penicillin, as
      the drug of choice for treating GBS infections.

PMID- 27648403
TI  - Latin American Dialysis and Transplant Registry: Experience and contributions to
      end-stage renal disease epidemiology.
AB  - In 2015, 634387 million people (9% of the world's population) resided in Latin
      America (LA), with half of those populating Brazil and Mexico. The LA Dialysis
      and Transplant Registry was initiated in 1991, with the aim of collecting data on
      renal replacement therapy (RRT) from the 20 LA-affiliated countries. Since then,
      the Registry has revealed a trend of increasing prevalence and incidence of end
      stage kidney disease on RRT, which is ongoing and is correlated with gross
      national income, life expectancy at birth, and percentage of population that is
      older than 65 years. In addition, the rate of kidney transplantation has
      increased yearly, with > 70% being performed from deceased donors. According to
      the numbers reported for 2013, the rates of prevalence, incidence and
      transplantation were (in patients per million population) 669, 149 and 19.4,
      respectively. Hemodialysis was the treatment of choice (90%), and 43% of the
      patients undergoing this treatment was located in Brazil; in contrast, peritoneal
      dialysis prevailed in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala. To date, the
      Registry remains the only source of RRT data available to healthcare authorities
      in many LA countries. It not only serves to promote knowledge regarding
      epidemiology of end-stage renal disease and the related RRT but also for training
      of nephrologists and renal researchers, to improve understanding and clinical
      application of dialysis and transplantation services. In LA, accessibility to RRT
      is still limited and it remains necessary to develop effective programs that will
      reduce risk factors, promote early diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney
      disease, and strengthen transplantation programs. 

PMID- 27648405
TI  - Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.
AB  - Renal injury or failure may occur in the context of pregnancy requiring special
      considerations with regard to fetal and maternal health. The condition of
      pregnancy itself may be a major factor in such injuries. In addition, for many
      young women previously known to be healthy, pregnancy may be the first
      presentation for routine urine and blood testing which may yield previously
      subclinical renal disease. As such, pregnancy may add complexity to
      considerations in the management of renal disease presenting coincidentally
      requiring knowledge of the physiologic changes and potential renal disorders that
      may be encountered during pregnancy. 

PMID- 27648406
TI  - Carbon dioxide: Global warning for nephrologists.
AB  - The large prevalence of respiratory acid-base disorders overlapping metabolic
      acidosis in hemodialysis population should prompt nephrologists to deal with the
      partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) complying with the reduced bicarbonate
      concentration. What the most suitable formula to compute pCO2 is reviewed. Then,
      the neglected issue of CO2 content in the dialysis fluid is under the spotlight.
      In fact, a considerable amount of CO2 comes to patients' bloodstream every
      hemodialysis treatment and "acidosis by dialysate" may occur if lungs do not
      properly clear away this burden of CO2. Moreover, vascular access recirculation
      may be easy diagnosed by detecting CO2 in the arterial line of extracorporeal
      circuit if CO2-enriched blood from the filter reenters arterial needle. 

PMID- 27648407
TI  - Parathyroid ultrasonography and bone metabolic profile of patients on dialysis
      with hyperparathyroidism.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the parathyroid ultrasonography and define parameters that can
      predict poor response to treatment in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism
      due to renal failure. METHODS: This cohort study evaluated 85 patients with
      chronic kidney disease stage V with parathyroid hormone levels above 800 pg/mL.
      All patients underwent ultrasonography of the parathyroids and the following
      parameters were analyzed: Demographic characteristics (etiology of chronic kidney
      disease, gender, age, dialysis vintage, vascular access, use of vitamin D),
      laboratory (calcium, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, alkaline phosphatase, bone
      alkaline phosphatase), and the occurrence of bone changes, cardiovascular events
      and death. The chi(2) test were used to compare proportions or the Fisher exact
      test for small sample frequencies. Student t-test was used to detect differences
      between the two groups regarding continuous variables. RESULTS: Fifty-three
      patients (66.4%) had parathyroid nodules with higher levels of parathyroid
      hormone, calcium and phosphorus. Sixteen patients underwent parathyroidectomy and
      had higher levels of phosphorus and calcium * phosphorus product (P = 0.03 and P
      = 0.006, respectively). They also had lower mortality (32% vs 68%, P = 0.01) and
      lower incidence of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events (27% vs 73%, P =
      0.02). Calcium * phosphorus product above 55 mg(2)/dL(2) [RR 1.48 (1.06, 2.08), P
      = 0.03], presence of vascular calcification [1.33 (1.01, 1.76), P = 0.015] and
      previous occurrence of vascular events [RR 2.25 (1.27, 3.98), P < 0.001] were
      risk factors for mortality in this population. There was no association between
      the occurrence of nodules and mortality. CONCLUSION: The identification of
      nodules at ultrasonography strengthens the indication for parathyroidectomy in
      patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism due to renal failure.

PMID- 27648408
TI  - Is overhydration in peritoneal dialysis patients associated with cardiac
      mortality that might be reversible?
AB  - AIM: To study the relationship between overhydration (OH) in peritoneal dialysis
      (PD) patients and cardiac mortality. METHODS: OH, as measured by body composition
      monitor (BCM), is associated with increased mortality in dialysis patients. BCM
      has been used to guide treatment on the assumption that correcting OH will
      improve cardiac morbidity and mortality although data demonstrating causality
      that is reversible is limited. We wished to determine if OH in PD patients
      predicted cardiac mortality, and if there was a correlation between OH and
      cardiac troponin-T (cTnT) levels. Finally, we wished to determine if improving OH
      values would lead to a decrement in cTnT. All prevalent PD patients over the
      study period of 57 mo who had contemporaneous BCM and cTnT measurements were
      followed irrespective of transplantation or PD technique failure. We also studied
      a cohort of patients with who had severe OH (> +2L). The Fresenius Body
      Composition Monitor was used to obtain hydration parameters. cTnT levels were
      done as part of routine clinical care. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.0.
      RESULTS: There were 48 deaths in the 336 patients. The patients that died from
      cardiac or non-cardiac causes were similar with respect to their age, incidence
      of diabetes mellitus, gender, ethnicity and cause of renal failure. However, the
      patients with cardiac causes of death had significantly shorter dialysis vintage
      (10.3 mo vs 37.0 mo, P < 0.0001) and were significantly more overhydrated by BCM
      measurement (2.95 L vs 1.35 L, P < 0.05). The mean (standard error of the means)
      hydration status of the 336 patients was +1.15 (0.12) L and the median
      [interquartile range (IQR)] cTnT level was 43.5 (20-90) ng/L. The cTnT results
      were not normally distributed and were therefore transformed logarithmically.
      There was a statistically significant correlation between Log (cTnT) with the OH
      value (Spearman r value 0.425, P < 0.0001). We identified a sub-group of patients
      that were severely overhydrated; median (IQR) hydration at baseline was +2.7 (2.3
      to 3.7) L. They were followed up for a minimum of 6 mo. Reduction in OH values in
      these patients over 6 mo correlated with lowering of cTnT levels (Spearman r
      value 0.29, P < 0.02). CONCLUSION: Patients that were overhydrated had higher
      cTnT, and had deaths that were more likely to be cardiac related. Reduction in OH
      correlated with lowering of cTnT.

PMID- 27648410
TI  - Immunofluorescence on paraffin embedded renal biopsies: Experience of a tertiary
      care center with review of literature.
AB  - AIM: To describe the technique of immunofluorescence on paraffin embedded tissue
      sections and discuss the potential pitfalls with an in depth review of
      literature. METHODS: Immunofluorescence is integral to diagnostic renal
      pathology. Immunofluorescence on paraffin embedded renal biopsies (IF-P) after
      enzyme treatment has been described in literature, however has not found
      widespread use in renal pathology laboratories. In our laboratory proteinase K
      digestion of paraffin embedded renal biopsy material was standardized and applied
      prospectively in cases where immunofluorescence on fresh frozen tissue was non
      contributory or not possible. Diagnostic utility was assessed and in a cohort of
      cases comparison of intensity of staining with routine immunofluorescence was
      performed. RESULTS: Over the 5-year study period, of the 3141 renal biopsies
      received IF-P was performed on 246 cases (7.7%) and was interpretable with
      optimal digestion in 214 cases (6.8%). It was of diagnostic utility in the
      majority of cases, which predominantly included glomerular disease. Non
      diagnostic IF-P was found in membranous nephropathy (2 of 11 cases),
      membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (2 of 32 cases), lupus nephritis (1 of
      25 cases), post infectious glomerulonephritis (1 of 11 cases) and chronic
      glomerulonephritis (3 of 8 cases). Comparing cases with both routine IF and IF-P,
      35 of 37 showed either equal intensity or a minor difference in intensity of
      staining (1+) for the diagnostic immunoglobulin/complement. Technically
      assessment of immunofluorescence on the paraffin embedded tissue was found to be
      easier with clearly observed morphology, however a false positive staining
      pattern was observed in under-digested tissue. CONCLUSION: As a "salvage"
      technique, immunofluorescence on paraffin embedded renal biopsies is of great
      diagnostic utility, however not without pitfalls.

PMID- 27648409
TI  - Factors associated with regular dental visits among hemodialysis patients.
AB  - AIM: To investigate awareness and attitudes about preventive dental visits among
      dialysis patients; to clarify the barriers to visiting the dentist. METHODS:
      Subjects included 141 dentate outpatients receiving hemodialysis treatment at two
      facilities, one with a dental department and the other without a dental
      department. We used a structured questionnaire to interview participants about
      their awareness of oral health management issues for dialysis patients, perceived
      oral symptoms and attitudes about dental visits. Bivariate analysis using the
      chi(2) test was conducted to determine associations between study variables and
      regular dental check-ups. Binominal logistic regression analysis was used to
      determine factors associated with regular dental check-ups. RESULTS: There were
      no significant differences in patient demographics between the two participating
      facilities, including attitudes about dental visits. Therefore, we included all
      patients in the following analyses. Few patients (4.3%) had been referred to a
      dentist by a medical doctor or nurse. Although 80.9% of subjects had a primary
      dentist, only 34.0% of subjects received regular dental check-ups. The most
      common reasons cited for not seeking dental care were that visits are burdensome
      and a lack of perceived need. Patients with gum swelling or bleeding were much
      more likely to be in the group of those not receiving routine dental check-ups
      (chi(2) test, P < 0.01). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that receiving
      dental check-ups was associated with awareness that oral health management is
      more important for dialysis patients than for others and with having a primary
      dentist (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Dialysis patients should be educated about the
      importance of preventive dental care. Medical providers are expected to
      participate in promoting dental visits among dialysis patients.

PMID- 27648404
TI  - Vascular calcification: When should we interfere in chronic kidney disease
      patients and how?
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are endangered with the highest mortality
      rate compared to other chronic diseases. Cardiovascular events account for up to
      60% of the fatalities. Cardiovascular calcifications affect most of the CKD
      patients. Most of this calcification is related to disturbed renal phosphate
      handling. Fibroblast growth factor 23 and klotho deficiency were incriminated in
      the pathogenesis of vascular calcification through different mechanisms including
      their effects on endothelium and arterial wall smooth muscle cells. In addition,
      deficient klotho gene expression, a constant feature of CKD, promotes vascular
      pathology and shares in progression of the CKD. The role of gut in the etio
      pathogenesis of systemic inflammation and vascular calcification is a newly
      discovered mechanism. This review will cover the medical history, prevalence,
      pathogenesis, clinical relevance, different tools used to diagnose, the ideal
      timing to prevent or to withhold the progression of vascular calcification and
      the different medications and medical procedures that can help to prolong the
      survival of CKD patients. 

PMID- 27648413
TI  - Do Carpets Alleviate Stress?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Owing to increased complexity in the evolution of society, stress has
      become an important public health problem, and is responsible for more than 30
      types of diseases. Most of the research on stress conducted to date has focused
      on physical and psychological aspects; however, there are very few reports about
      the association between psychological stress and elements within the residential
      environment, such as the home, room, and furniture. Therefore, in this study, we
      focused on the effects of indoor flooring in the residential environment on
      stress, as flooring is a feature that the human body is in contact with for long
      periods of time. We objectively measured the extent of psychological stress
      perceived while walking on carpeting and on wood flooring. METHODS: Forty-two
      healthy subjects were recruited for this study, and were asked to walk on
      carpeting and wood flooring for 10 min each. Their electroencephalogram (EEG) and
      skin impedance values were measured for each task. RESULTS: The alpha-wave
      content percentage in EEG data and skin impedance values were significantly
      higher just after walking on carpet than just after walking on wood flooring.
      CONCLUSION: Walking on carpeting induces less stress than walking on wood
      flooring.

PMID- 27648412
TI  - Association of blood transfusion with acute kidney injury after transcatheter
      aortic valve replacement: A meta-analysis.
AB  - AIM: To assess red blood cell (RBC) transfusion effects on acute kidney injury
      (AKI) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). METHODS: A literature
      search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic
      Reviews, and clinicaltrials.gov from the inception of the databases through
      December 2015. Studies that reported relative risk, odds ratio or hazard ratio
      comparing the risks of AKI following TAVR in patients who received periprocedural
      RBC transfusion were included. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and 95%CI were calculated
      using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method. RESULTS: Sixteen cohort
      studies with 4690 patients were included in the analyses to assess the risk of
      AKI after TAVR in patients who received a periprocedural RBC transfusion. The
      pooled RR of AKI after TAVR in patients who received a periprocedural RBC
      transfusion was 1.95 (95%CI: 1.56-2.43) when compared with the patients who did
      not receive a RBC transfusion. The meta-analysis was then limited to only studies
      with adjusted analysis for confounders assessing the risk of AKI after TAVR; the
      pooled RR of AKI in patients who received periprocedural RBC transfusion was 1.85
      (95%CI: 1.29-2.67). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis demonstrates an association
      between periprocedural RBC transfusion and a higher risk of AKI after TAVR.
      Future studies are required to assess the risks of severe AKI after TAVR
      requiring renal replacement therapy and mortality in the patients who received
      periprocedural RBC transfusion.

PMID- 27648411
TI  - What is the optimal level of vitamin D in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease
      population?
AB  - AIM: To evaluate thresholds for serum 25(OH)D concentrations in relation to
      death, kidney progression and hospitalization in non-dialysis chronic kidney
      disease (CKD) population. METHODS: Four hundred and seventy non-dialysis 3-5
      stage CKD patients participating in OSERCE-2 study, a prospective, multicenter,
      cohort study, were prospectively evaluated and categorized into 3 groups
      according to 25(OH)D levels at enrollment (less than 20 ng/mL, between 20 and 29
      ng/mL, and at or above 30 ng/mL), considering 25(OH)D between 20 and 29 ng/mL as
      reference group. Association between 25(OH)D levels and death (primary outcome),
      and time to first hospitalization and renal progression (secondary outcomes) over
      a 3-year follow-up, were assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox
      proportional hazard models. To identify 25(OH)D levels at highest risk for
      outcomes, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed. RESULTS:
      Over 29 +/- 12 mo of follow-up, 46 (10%) patients dead, 156 (33%) showed kidney
      progression, and 126 (27%) were hospitalized. After multivariate adjustment,
      25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (HR =
      2.33; 95%CI: 1.10-4.91; P = 0.027) and kidney progression (HR = 2.46; 95%CI: 1.63
      3.71; P < 0.001), whereas the group with 25(OH)D at or above 30 ng/mL did not
      have a different hazard for outcomes from the reference group. Hospitalization
      outcomes were predicted by 25(OH) levels (HR = 0.98; 95%CI: 0.96-1.00; P = 0.027)
      in the unadjusted Cox proportional hazards model, but not after multivariate
      adjusting. ROC curves identified 25(OH)D levels at highest risk for death, kidney
      progression, and hospitalization, at 17.4 ng/mL [area under the curve (AUC) =
      0.60; 95%CI: 0.52-0.69; P = 0.027], 18.6 ng/mL (AUC = 0.65; 95%CI: 0.60-0.71; P <
      0.001), and 19.0 ng/mL (AUC = 0.56; 95%CI: 0.50-0.62; P = 0.048), respectively.
      CONCLUSION: 25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL was an independent predictor of death and
      progression in patients with stage 3-5 CKD, with no additional benefits when
      patients reached the levels at or above 30 ng/mL suggested as optimal by CKD
      guidelines.

PMID- 27648414
TI  - Prevalence and Trends of Obesity among Chinese Korean Nationality Children and
      Adolescents, 1991-2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Obesity has become a serious problem for Chinese Han nationality.
      This research aimed to evaluate the prevalence of and trends in obesity among
      Chinese Korean nationality children and adolescents (1991-2010). METHODS: We used
      data from Chinese National Surveys on Students' Constitution and Health (CNSSCH).
      CNSSCH was utilized to monitor Chinese students' health condition and released
      its data every 5 yr (1991, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010). The standard weight-for
      height was the 80th percentile for sex- and age-specific growth charts based on
      the 1985 CNSSCH data. Obesity was defined as ?120% of standard weight-for-height.
      RESULTS: The total age-adjusted prevalence of obesity was 15.9% (95% confidence
      interval (CI), 14.9-16.9%) among Chinese Korean children and adolescents aged 7
      to 18 yr. Children or adolescents who were boys (Rate ratios (RR), 1.35; 95% CI,
      1.19-1.53) or aged 10-12 (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.17-1.63) were more likely to be
      obese. The trend analysis of the 19-yr period implied a serious annual increasing
      trend during 1991-2000 (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02-1.07) and during 2000-2010 (RR,,
      1.12; 95% CI, 1.11-1.13). Chinese Korean children may also be more likely to
      become obese than Han nationality children during 1991-2010. CONCLUSION: A
      serious and continuous increasing trend was in the prevalence of obesity among
      Chinese Korean children and adolescents during 1991-2010. Childhood obesity had
      become a serious problem. This prognosis is worrisome.

PMID- 27648415
TI  - Are Women of East Kazakhstan Satisfied with the Quality of Maternity Care?
      Implementing the WHO Tool to Assess the Quality of Hospital Services.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the satisfaction of mothers with the quality of care
      provided by maternity institutions in East Kazakhstan on the basis of the
      "Quality of hospital Care for mothers and newborn babies, assessment tool" (WHO,
      2009). METHODS: This cross-sectional study took place in 2013 and covered five
      maternity hospitals in East Kazakhstan (one referral, two urban and two rural).
      To obtain information, interviews with 872 patients were conducted. The standard
      tool covered 12 areas ranging from pregnancy to childcare. A score was assigned
      to each area of care (from 0 to 3). The assessment provided the semi-quantitative
      data on the quality of hospital care for women and newborns from the perception
      of mothers. RESULTS: The average satisfaction score was 2.48 with a range from
      2.2 to 2.7. The mean age of women was 27.4 yr. Forty-two percent were primiparas.
      Mean birth weight was 3455.4 g. All infants had 'skin to skin' contact with their
      mothers immediately after birth. Mean number of antenatal visits to family
      clinics was 8.6. Only 42.1% of the respondents used contraceptives while the rest
      were not aware of contraception, never applied it and could not distinguish
      between different methods and devices. CONCLUSION: The quality of care was
      substandard in all institutions. To improve the quality of care, WHO technologies
      in perinatal care could be applied.

PMID- 27648417
TI  - A Comparative Study of the Efficacy and Psychological States between Patients
      with Senile Ischemic Heart Failure Undergone ICU and Conventional Therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our aim was to forward an effective therapeutic approach by comparing
      efficacy and psychological states between patients with senile ischemic heart
      failure undergone ICU and conventional therapies. METHODS: We selected 64
      patients from Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Rizhao (Shandong,
      China) between June 2013 and June 2014. The patients had ischemic heart disease,
      and were monitored for one-year time span. They were randomly divided into the
      experiment and control group, each of which of 32 cases. The experimental group
      received an ICU therapy, whereas the control group was treated with conventional
      therapy. The result of patients' cardiac function, SDSSAS index and clinical
      efficacies were monitored and compared. RESULTS: Both groups, especially the
      experiment group showed significant improvement in the left ventricular end
      diastolic diameter, left ventricular ejection fraction and cardiac NYHA rating
      (P<0.05). The experiment group needed less hospital stay and hence significantly
      more cost effective in comparison to control group (P<0.05). The therapy in terms
      of stent implantation, coronary artery bypass surgery and pure medication was not
      of statistical significant (P>0.05). In comparison to control group, the
      experiment group showed significantly lower mortality rate in short and long term
      (P<0.05). The SDSSAS rating of the 2 groups, especially the control group was
      significantly increased (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: We observed improvement in
      clinical efficacy and depressed anxiety among patients with serious senile
      ischemic heart failure, after specialized ICU therapy.

PMID- 27648416
TI  - Cytogenetic Investigation in a Group of Ten Infertile Men with Non-Obstructive
      Azoospermia: First Algerian 46, XX Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Algeria, the data on infertility and its various causes are rare.
      Recently, the introduction of assisted reproduction has allowed expecting that
      300000 couples, which represent 7% of couples of reproductive age, face
      difficulty conceiving a child. Knowing that most idiopathic cases are likely to
      be due to chromosomal abnormalities, we aimed to investigate genetic defects by
      karyotype analysis in Algerian infertile men, using peripheral blood lymphocytes.
      METHODS: A cytogenetic study was conducted on 10 men from infertile couples by
      Karyotype analysis of R-banding performed by lymphocyte culture technique.
      Fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed and molecular abnormalities were
      investigated by polymerase chain reaction. Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and
      luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were evaluated by immunoradiometric method.
      RESULTS: Chromosomal abnormalities were observed in 30% of the patients. We
      identified a homogenous Klinefelter syndrome patient with 47, XXY karyotype, a
      mosaic Klinefelter syndrome patient with 47, XXY/46, XY karyotype and a 46, XX
      male. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that the sex-determining region Y
      was translocated to the short arm of the X chromosome in patient with 46, XX
      chromosomal constitution and the presence of the SRY gene was confirmed by
      polymerase chain reaction and electrophoresis. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of
      chromosomal abnormalities in 30% of the infertile men strongly supports the
      inclusion of routine cytogenetic testing for diagnostic establishment and
      suitable counseling for couples seeking for assisted reproduction technologies.

PMID- 27648418
TI  - Socio-cultural Factors in the Access of Women to HIV/AIDS Prevention and
      Treatment Services in South-southern Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The South-southern zone of Nigeria is one of the zones in the country
      that has reported consistent high prevalent rates of HIV/AIDS pandemic in the
      last decade. In spite of bio-medical reasons adduced for the spread of the
      pandemic, socio-cultural factors may be major issues in the access to both
      prevention and treatment services especially for women. Hence, this study
      investigated the socio-cultural factors, which influence the access of women to
      HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services in Nigeria. METHODS: We utilised the
      social survey viz. the unstructured interviews and the focus group discussions
      (FGDs) as methods for collecting data. RESULTS: Socio-cultural norms, stereotypes
      and expectations still influence the access of women to these services. Such
      socio-cultural barriers are not significantly reduced by urbanization and the
      deadly threat of the epidemic. These socio-cultural variables, which impede the
      access of women to these services, are webbed around the dominant narratives of
      male superiority and the immorality culturally ascribed to women who openly
      discuss safe sex or seek prevention devices like the condom. CONCLUSION: There is
      need for more emphasis on gender equality in sexuality and for HIV/AIDS programme
      planners and policy makers to think and act outside the box of the narratives of
      male superiority sponsored by socio-cultural norms in addressing the peculiar
      challenges of women in accessing HIV/AIDS services.

PMID- 27648419
TI  - Different Risk Indictors of Diabetic Nephropathy in Transforming Growth Factor
      beta1 T869C CC/CT Genotype and TT Genotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transforming growth factor-beta 1(TGF-beta1) T869C (rs1800470, the
      same below) gene polymorphism is notably relative with the development of
      Diabetic Nephropathy (DN), and CC/CT genotype diabetic have higher frequency of
      than TT genotype diabetic. To find out individual risk factors in the two
      genotypes especially in susceptible genotype could provide more efficient and
      targeted prevention. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study. A total of 251
      type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients [53.4% male, 56(52-67) years] were
      enrolled in this cohort study. Multiple concerned factors were collected and the
      relationship of these risk factors and development of DN were evaluated by Cox
      regression analysis. Hazard ratios of development of DN were calculated by Kaplan
      Meier curves and the Cox proportional hazards model for CC/CT genotype versus TT
      genotype patients. RESULTS: TGF-beta1 T869C gene polymorphism was an independent
      predictor of DN in T2DM patients (HR, 2.08; 95%CI, 1.18-3.66; P=0.012).
      Hyperlipemia (HR, 1.91; 95%CI, 1.19-3.08; P=0.007), age (HR, 0.95; 95%CI, 0.93
      0.98; P=0.001) and smoking status (HR, 2.36; 95%CI, 1.07-5.21; P=0.033) were risk
      indictors of the development of DN in CC/CT genotype patients. HbA1c (HR, 2.8;
      95%CI, 1.07-7.30; P=0.036), hypertension (HR, 7.46; 95%CI, 1.38-40.29; P=0.02),
      and hyperlipemia (HR, 12.33; 95%CI, 1.05-145.39; P=0.046) were risk indictors for
      the development of DN in TT genotype patients. CONCLUSION: TGF-beta1 T869C gene
      polymorphism was an independent predictor of DN for T2DM patients and CC/CT
      genotype had higher susceptibility to DN. CC/CT genotype and TT genotype patients
      had different risk indictors of DN.

PMID- 27648420
TI  - Effect of Social Factors on Cesarean Birth in Primiparous Women: A Cross
      Sectional Study (Social Factors and Cesarean Birth).
AB  - BACKGROUND: P Cesarean delivery rates have been increasing throughout the world.
      Parallel to the developments in the world the cesarean rate in Turkey has risen
      to 48.1% in 2013. Some of the social factors were related with cesarean births.
      The purpose of this study was to determine cesarean birth rates and to find out
      social factors affecting the cesarean birth in primiparous women. METHODS: This
      study was conducted in Burdur Province, Turkey between the dates of 1 Jan 2012-31
      Dec 2012 on 223 primiparous women. The data was collected with data collection
      form prepared by the researchers by using face-to-face interview technique. In
      these analyses, chi-square and Backward Logistic regression analyses were used.
      RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, the place of delivery (OR: 11.2 [2.9-42.46] in
      private hospital and OR: 6.1 [2.6-14.1] in university hospital); time of the
      birth (OR: 7.1 [3.1-16.0]); doctor's effect (OR: 4.0 [1.8-8.95]) and husband's
      employment status (OR: 2.23 [1.0-4.7]) have been identified as factors affecting
      the caesarean delivery in primiparous women. CONCLUSION: Although the results do
      not show all of the factors affecting the caesarean delivery in primiparous
      women, they reveal that medical reasons are not the only reason in this increase
      trend. Health policy makers and health professionals are required to identify the
      causes of this increase and to take measures.

PMID- 27648421
TI  - Seroprevalence of Human Fascioliasis in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiyari Province,
      Southwestern Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fascioliasis caused by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica is a
      foodborne and waterborne zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution. The
      illness occurs in regions with intensive sheep or cattle production. In some
      parts of Iran the incidence of human infection has increased over the past
      decades. Since Chaharmahal and Bakhtiyari Province has been known as a main pole
      of traditional animal husbandry and there was no information about human
      fascioliasis in this region, the present study was carried out on human
      population to determine the seroprevalence of this infection. METHODS: In this
      cross-sectional study 1475 serum samples collected from individuals attended to
      clinical laboratory of the province were subjected to ELISA to detect anti-F.
      hepatica IgG antibodies. The socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects
      were also collected through questionnaires. RESULTS: In spite of expectation, the
      present study showed that out of the 1475 serum samples examined anti-F. hepatica
      IgG antibodies were found only in two of the subjects (0.135%). Therefore,
      because of the very few number of positive cases no statistical analysis was
      applicable. CONCLUSION: According to the finding of this investigation, human
      fascioliasis may not be an important health problem in this region of Iran.
      However, for a better understanding of situation of this parasitic infection in
      this area more comprehensive animal and human studies are needed.

PMID- 27648423
TI  - The Past and Future Trends of Heat Stress Based On Wet Bulb Globe Temperature
      Index in Outdoor Environment of Tehran City, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The workers who are working in the open and warm environments are at
      risk of health effects of climate and heat changes. It is expected that the risk
      is increase with global warming. This study aimed to investigate the changes of
      Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index in the past and to predict their trend of
      future changes in Tehran, capital of Iran. METHODS: The meteorological data
      recorded in Tehran, Iran during the statistical period between 1961 and 2009 were
      obtained from the Iran Meteorological Organization and based on them, WBGT index
      was calculated and processed using Man-Kendall correlation test. RESULTS: The
      results of Man-Kendall correlation test showed that the trend of changes of
      annual mean WBGT during the statistical period under study (1961-2009) has been
      significantly increasing. In addition, the result of proposed predictive model
      estimated that an increase of about 1.55 degree in WBGT index will be seen over
      40 years from 2009 to 2050 in Tehran. CONCLUSION: Climate change in Tehran has
      had an effect on person's exposure to heat stresses consistent with global
      warming.

PMID- 27648422
TI  - Investigation the Effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei on
      aflR Gene expression in Aspergillus parasiticus by Real Time-PCR.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus and L.
      casei) as safe organisms was examined on fungal growth and aflatoxin gene
      regulation in Aspergillus parasiticus. METHODS: The fungus was cultured in
      presence of two different concentrations of L. acidophilus and L. casei in MRS
      broth medium. Mycelia dry weight is indicated as criteria to evaluate fungal
      growth. Besides, investigation of aflR gene expression by Real Time PCR was
      performed for analysis of gene regulatory effects in aflatoxin biosynthetic
      pathway. RESULTS: Both Lactobacillus strongly inhibited fungal growth in the
      concentrations of 1. 5*10(2), [Formula: see text] . Expression analysis of
      aflatoxin genes pathway by real time PCR showed inhibitory effect of L.
      acidophilus and L. casei on expression of aflR gene. The gene expression revealed
      to be reduced at the approximate rates of 99. 7% and 98% respectively by L.
      acidopholus and L. casei in concentrations of [Formula: see text] and more.
      CONCLUSION: L. acidophilus and L. casei may be used successfully as suitable
      candidates in controlling of A. parasiticus growth on food and feed as well as
      reducing of aflatoxin contamination.

PMID- 27648424
TI  - The Impact of Future World Events on Iranians' Social Health: A Qualitative
      Futurology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social health is a dimension of health affected and interacts with
      other dimensions. Considering the rate of world changes, foresighting the
      influence of future events and possible trends on social health could bring about
      advantageous information for social policy makers. METHODS: This is a qualitative
      study of futurology with cross impact analysis approach. After studying possible
      trends and events in future, they were categorized in four domains including
      population, resources, climate changes, and globalization and 12 groups of
      events; and they were used to design a questionnaire. It was given to experts and
      their opinions were collected through depth interviews between May 2013 and Sep
      2013. RESULTS: Analysis of experts' opinions reveals that future trends in four
      main potential domains may have some positive and more negative impacts on
      Iranians' social health. CONCLUSION: The global "resource challenge" is the most
      important incoming event, considering to the four domains of global events and
      its final and potential effects will be the increase of inequalities leading to
      social threat. Since inequalities are considered the most important risk factor
      of health in the societies, the solution for dispel the impact of world trends on
      Iranians' social health is managing the crisis of inequalities which is started
      with fore sighting and adopting preventive strategies in all four domains.

PMID- 27648425
TI  - Prevalence of Virulence Factors and Vancomycin-resistant Genes among Enterococcus
      faecalis and E. faecium Isolated from Clinical Specimens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of virulence
      determinants and vancomycin-resistant genes among Enterococcus faecalis and E.
      faecium obtained from various clinical sources. METHODS: The study was performed
      on the 280 enterococcal isolated from clinical specimens in Hamadan hospitals,
      western Iran in 2012-14. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using
      disk diffusion and Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) methods. The presence
      of vancomycin-resistant genes and virulence genes was investigated using PCR.
      RESULTS: Totally 280 enterococcal isolates were identified as follows: E.
      faecalis (62.5%), E. faecium (24%) and Enterococcus spp (13.5%). The results of
      antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that resistance rates to vancomycin and
      teicoplanin in E. faecalis and E. faecium isolates were 5% and 73%, respectively.
      Of Sixty vancomycin-resistant Enterococci strains, fifty-one isolates were
      identified as E. faecium (VREfm) and nine as E. faecalis (VREfs). Prevalence of
      esp, hyl, and asa1 genes were determined as 82%, 71.6%, and 100%, respectively in
      E. faecium strains; and 78%, 56/6%, and 97%, respectively in E. faecalis strains.
      CONCLUSION: The increased frequency of VREF, as seen with rapid rise in the
      number of vanA isolates should be considered in infection control practices.

PMID- 27648426
TI  - First Report of Mycobacterium bovis Isolation from a European Fallow Deer (Dama
      Dama Dama) in Iran.
AB  - At present, most of Iran is free of bovine tuberculosis (TB). The strategy of
      control and eradication in Iran involves a tuberculation test and slaughter of
      reactors, a procedure transformed the present-day prevalence of TB into a
      sporadic occurrence. This paper describes the first report of bovine tuberculosis
      in a European fallow deer (Dama dama dama) in Iran. The deer was emaciated and
      found dead in the Hoveize Provincial Zoo Park. Post-mortem examinations revealed
      multifocal granulomatous and suppurative abscesses in the lungs and mesenteric
      lymph nodes. These post-mortem indicators led the authors to suspect TB, and the
      PCR test and bacteriology tests confirmed it as an infection by the Mycobacterium
      bovis. This survey discusses the important implications of such findings for
      wildlife, especially livestock, as well as for human TB disease control, because
      deer are often conserved in public zoos and humans often come into contact with
      them. 

PMID- 27648427
TI  - Blood Lactate Levels after All-out Exercise Depend on Body Fat Percentage in
      Korean College Students.

PMID- 27648428
TI  - Evaluation of the Oral Condition of Women Predisposed to Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 27648430
TI  - Innovation and Research of Teaching Way of Clinical Nursing Interns in Internal
      Neurology Department.

PMID- 27648429
TI  - How Medical Students Attending Italian Schools of Medicine Maybe Introduced Into
      the Debate of the Expert Community? An Educational Perspective.

PMID- 27648431
TI  - Differential Content of the Total Polyphenols and Flavonoids in Three Romanian
      White Grape Cultivars.

PMID- 27648432
TI  - Utility of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire and Urocortin Level in Urine as
      Screening Tools in Pediatric Patients with Suspected Obstructive Sleep Apnea
      Syndrome.

PMID- 27648433
TI  - Effect of the Family-based Art Therapy Program on the Social Interactions, Verbal
      Skills and Stereotypic Behaviors of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
      (ASD).

PMID- 27648434
TI  - Relationship of High Risk Behaviors and Negative Life Events with Mental Health
      of Female Students in High Schools.

PMID- 27648435
TI  - Finger Printlessness in Scleroderma.

PMID- 27648436
TI  - Comments on "Iran Hospital Accreditation System".

PMID- 27648437
TI  - Responses to the Criticisms about "The Accreditation of Hospitals in Iran".

PMID- 27648438
TI  - Esophageal Intramural Pseudodiverticulosis and Concomitant Eosinophilic
      Esophagitis: A Case Series.
AB  - Background. Esophageal intramural pseudodiverticulosis (EIPD) is an idiopathic
      benign chronic disease characterized by flask-like outpouchings of the esophageal
      wall. It is unknown whether there is a genuine association between EIPD and
      eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Aims. To investigate a possible relationship
      between EIPD and EoE. Methods. Patients with radiographic or endoscopic evidence
      of pseudodiverticulosis were identified from the database at a single academic
      center. Cases were analyzed in three areas: clinical information, endoscopic
      findings, and course. Results. Sixteen cases of esophageal pseudodiverticulosis
      were identified. Five patients had histologic evidence of eosinophilic
      esophagitis. Patients with EoE had pseudodiverticula in the mid-to-distal
      esophagus while those with EIPD had pseudodiverticula predominantly in the
      proximal esophagus (p < 0.001). EoE with pseudodiverticulosis occurred in younger
      patients (p < 0.019). Food bolus obstructions were more common in patients with
      EoE and pseudodiverticulosis than in EIPD (p < 0.034). Conclusions. This is the
      first case series supporting a potential association between EoE and
      pseudodiverticulosis. We also identify characteristic features of
      pseudodiverticulosis that may raise clinical suspicion of underlying eosinophilic
      esophagitis. 

PMID- 27648439
TI  - Endoscopic versus Percutaneous Biliary Drainage in Palliation of Advanced
      Malignant Hilar Obstruction: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.
AB  - Background. Palliation in advanced unresectable hilar malignancies can be
      achieved by endoscopic (EBD) or percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage
      (PTBD). It is unclear if one approach is superior to the other in this group of
      patients. Aims. Compare clinical outcomes of EBD versus PTBD. Methods. (i) Study
      Selection Criterion. Studies using PTBD and EBD for palliation of advanced
      unresectable hilar malignancies. (ii) Data Collection and Extraction. Articles
      were searched in Medline, PubMed, and Ovid journals. (iii) Statistical Method.
      Fixed and random effects models were used to calculate the pooled proportions.
      Results. Initial search identified 786 reference articles, in which 62 articles
      were selected and reviewed. Data was extracted from nine studies (N = 546) that
      met the inclusion criterion. The pooled odds ratio for successful biliary
      drainage in PTBD versus EBD was 2.53 (95% CI = 1.57 to 4.08). Odds ratio for
      overall adverse effects in PTBD versus EBD groups was 0.81 (95% CI = 0.52 to
      1.26). Odds ratio for 30-day mortality rate in PTBD group versus EBD group was
      0.84 (95% CI = 0.37 to 1.91). Conclusions. In patients with advanced unresectable
      hilar malignancies, palliation with PTBD seems to be superior to EBD. PTBD is
      comparable to EBD in regard to overall adverse effects and 30-day mortality. 

PMID- 27648440
TI  - Repeat Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration in Patients with
      Suspected Pancreatic Cancer: Diagnostic Yield and Associated Change in Access to
      Appropriate Care.
AB  - Background. There is a high incidence of inconclusive cytopathology at initial
      EUS-FNA (endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration) for suspected
      malignant pancreatic lesions. To obtain appropriate preoperative or palliative
      chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer, definitive cytopathology is often required.
      The utility of repeat EUS-FNA is not well established. Methods. A retrospective
      cohort study was conducted evaluating the yield of repeat EUS-FNA in determining
      a cytological diagnosis in patients who had undergone a prior EUS-FNA for
      diagnosis of suspected malignant pancreatic lesions with inconclusive
      cytopathology. The wait times to the second procedure and to decisions regarding
      therapy were calculated. Results. Overall, 45 repeat EUS-FNA procedures were
      performed over seven years for suspected malignant pancreatic lesions.
      Cytopathological class (I to IV) changed between first and second EUS-FNA in 32
      patients (71%). Of 34 patients with an initially nonconclusive diagnosis, 20 had
      a conclusive diagnosis (59%) on repeat EUS-FNA. The cumulative yield after repeat
      EUS-FNA for definite pancreatic adenocarcinoma was 7 (16%). The median time
      interval between first and second EUS-FNA was 31 (7-175) days. Conclusions. A
      substantial number of patients had a definitive diagnosis of adenocarcinoma on
      repeat FNA and were, therefore, subsequently able to access appropriate care. 

PMID- 27648441
TI  - Diazoxide Attenuates Postresuscitation Brain Injury in a Rat Model of Asphyxial
      Cardiac Arrest by Opening Mitochondrial ATP-Sensitive Potassium Channels.
AB  - Objective. We investigated whether and how diazoxide can attenuate brain injury
      after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by selective opening of mitochondrial
      ATP-sensitive potassium (mitoKATP) channels. Methods. Adult male Sprague-Dawley
      rats with induced cerebral ischemia (n = 10 per group) received an
      intraperitoneal injection of 0.1% dimethyl sulfoxide (1 mL; vehicle group),
      diazoxide (10 mg/kg; DZ group), or diazoxide (10 mg/kg) plus 5-hydroxydecanoate
      (5 mg/kg; DZ + 5-HD group) 30 min after CPR. The control group (sham group, n =
      5) underwent sham operation, without cardiac arrest. Mitochondrial respiratory
      control rate (RCR) was determined. Brain cell apoptosis was assessed using TUNEL
      staining. Expression of Bcl-2, Bax, and protein kinase C epsilon (PKCepsilon) in
      the cerebral cortex was determined by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry.
      Results. The neurological deficit scores (NDS) in the vehicle group decreased
      significantly at 24 h and 48 h after CPR. Diazoxide significantly improved NDS
      and mitochondrial RCR after CPR at both time points; 5-HD cotreatment abolished
      these effects. Diazoxide decreased TUNEL-positive cells following CPR,
      upregulated Bcl-2 and PKCepsilon, downregulated Bax, and increased the Bcl-2/Bax
      ratio; 5-HD cotreatment reversed these effects. Conclusions. Diazoxide attenuates
      postresuscitation brain injury, protects mitochondrial function, inhibits brain
      cell apoptosis, and activates the PKC pathway by opening mitoKATP channels. 

PMID- 27648442
TI  - Coronary Artery Calcification Is Related to Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis:
      A Long-Term Follow-Up Study.
AB  - Objective. A long-term follow-up of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to
      evaluate factors related to coronary artery calcification (CAC). Methods. All 22
      eligible patients (4 males/18 females, mean age 65 years, and RA-duration 30-36
      years) from the original (baseline; n = 39) study of atherosclerosis were
      included. Inflammation, cardiovascular risk factors, and biomarkers were measured
      at baseline. At follow-up 13 years later, CAC was assessed by computed tomography
      (CT) and the grade of inflammation was measured. Multivariate analysis of
      differences between patients with low (0-10) and high CAC (>10) was done by
      orthogonal projection to latent structures (OPLS). Results. Ten patients had CAC
      0-10 and 12 had >10 (range 18-1700). Patients with high CAC had significantly
      higher ESR (24.3 versus 9.9 mm/h) and swollen joint count (2 versus 0). The OPLS
      models discriminated between patients having high or low CAC. With only baseline
      variables, the sensitivity was 73% and the specificity 82%. The model that also
      included inflammatory variables from follow-up had a sensitivity of 89% and a
      specificity of 85%. Exclusion of baseline intima media thickness and plaque from
      the latter model modestly reduced the accuracy (sensitivity 80% and specificity
      83%). Conclusions. CAC is related to inflammation in patients with RA. 

PMID- 27648443
TI  - Transcriptome Analysis of HepG2 Cells Expressing ORF3 from Swine Hepatitis E
      Virus to Determine the Effects of ORF3 on Host Cells.
AB  - Hepatitis E virus- (HEV-) mediated hepatitis has become a global public health
      problem. An important regulatory protein of HEV, ORF3, influences multiple signal
      pathways in host cells. In this study, to investigate the function of ORF3 from
      the swine form of HEV (SHEV), high-throughput RNA-Seq-based screening was
      performed to identify the differentially expressed genes in ORF3-expressing HepG2
      cells. The results were validated with quantitative real-time PCR and gene
      ontology was employed to assign differentially expressed genes to functional
      categories. The results indicated that, in the established ORF3-expressing HepG2
      cells, the mRNA levels of CLDN6, YLPM1, APOC3, NLRP1, SCARA3, FGA, FGG, FGB, and
      FREM1 were upregulated, whereas the mRNA levels of SLC2A3, DKK1, BPIFB2, and
      PTGR1 were downregulated. The deregulated expression of CLDN6 and FREM1 might
      contribute to changes in integral membrane protein and basement membrane protein
      expression, expression changes for NLRP1 might affect the apoptosis of HepG2
      cells, and the altered expression of APOC3, SCARA3, and DKK1 may affect lipid
      metabolism in HepG2 cells. In conclusion, ORF3 plays a functional role in virus
      cell interactions by affecting the expression of integral membrane protein and
      basement membrane proteins and by altering the process of apoptosis and lipid
      metabolism in host cells. These findings provide important insight into the
      pathogenic mechanism of HEV. 

PMID- 27648444
TI  - Phenolic Compounds and In Vitro Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Three
      Tropic Fruits: Persimmon, Guava, and Sweetsop.
AB  - In our previous study, we have found that persimmon, guava, and sweetsop owned
      considerably high antioxidant activity and contained high total phenolic contents
      as well. In order to further supply information on the antibacterial and
      antioxidant activity of these three tropic fruits, they were extracted by 80%
      methanol. We then examined the extractions about their phenolic compounds and
      also studied the extractions and phenolic contents about their minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against twelve
      targeted pathogens including 8 standard strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus
      cereus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Monilia albican, Escherichia coli, Salmonella
      typhimurium, Shigella flexneri, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and 4 multidrug
      resistant strains (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, ESBLs-producing
      Escherichia coli, carbapenems-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and multidrug
      resistant Acinetobacter baumannii), which are common and comprehensive in clinic.
      We also employed two ways, that is, FRAP and TEAC, to evaluate their antioxidant
      activities, using ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer. Our study indicated
      that the three tropical fruits possessed obvious antioxidant and antibacterial
      activity, which supported the possibility of developing the fruits into new
      natural resource food and functional food as well as new natural antimicrobial
      agent and food preservatives. Moreover, phenolic compounds detected in the fruits
      could be used as a potential natural antibacterial agent and antioxidant. 

PMID- 27648445
TI  - The Strategy and Early Clinical Outcome of Percutaneous Full-Endoscopic
      Interlaminar or Extraforaminal Approach for Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation.
AB  - Objective is to analyze the surgical strategy, safety, and clinical results of
      percutaneous full-endoscopic discectomy through interlaminar or extraforaminal
      puncture technique for LDH. Preoperative CT and MRI were analyzed, which were
      based on the main location of the herniated disc and its relationship with
      compressed nerve root. Sixty-two patients satisfied the inclusion criteria during
      the period from August 2012 to March 2014. We use percutaneous full-endoscopic
      discectomy through different puncture technique to remove the protrusive NP for
      LDH. Sixty patients completed the full-endoscopic operation successfully. Their
      removed disc tissue volume ranged from 1.5 mL to 3.8 mL each time. Postoperative
      ODI and VAS of low back and sciatica pain were significantly decreased in each
      time point compared to preoperative ones. No nerve root injury, infection, and
      other complications occurred. The other two patients were shifted to open
      surgery. No secondary surgery was required and 91.6% of excellent-to-good ratio
      was achieved on the basis of Macnab criteria at postoperative 12 months. Acquired
      benefits are fewer complications, rapid recovery, complete NP removal, effective
      nerve root decompression, and satisfactory cosmetic effect as well. This is a
      safe, effective, and rational minimally invasive spine-surgical technology with
      excellent clinical outcome. 

PMID- 27648446
TI  - The Clinical and Medicolegal Analysis of Electrical Shocked Rats: Based on the
      Serological and Histological Methods.
AB  - This research was aimed at discovering the serological and histological changes
      in cardiac and hepatic tissue after electric shock. The CK-MB, ALT, and AMS
      indexes were tested with serological methods. Moreover, the Bcl-2, Bax, and Hsp
      60 expression levels were carefully measured. An electrical injury model was
      established by giving rats electric shocks at 110 V with alternating electric
      current. Blood samples from the rats were analyzed for the biochemical indexes.
      The degrees of pathological changes in the heart and liver were evaluated using
      IHC staining for Bcl-2, Bax, and Hsp-60. The levels of CK-MB in the electrical
      injury group rapidly peaked at 0.5 hours after the electric shock. Additionally,
      the levels of Bcl-2, Bax, and Hsp-60 in the cardiac and hepatic tissues changed
      regularly after the electrical injury and exhibited apparent differences from the
      levels in the control group. CK-MB, ALT, and AMS were altered regularly after
      electric shock, and these results provide significant information for clinical
      and medicolegal practice. This research has shed light on the assessment of
      electrical injury without obvious electrical burns. Furthermore, the findings
      obtained for Bcl-2/Bax and Hsp-60 can also facilitate pathological diagnosis and
      the identification of antemortem and postmortem electrical injury. 

PMID- 27648448
TI  - Multigrid Nonlocal Gaussian Mixture Model for Segmentation of Brain Tissues in
      Magnetic Resonance Images.
AB  - We propose a novel segmentation method based on regional and nonlocal information
      to overcome the impact of image intensity inhomogeneities and noise in human
      brain magnetic resonance images. With the consideration of the spatial
      distribution of different tissues in brain images, our method does not need
      preestimation or precorrection procedures for intensity inhomogeneities and
      noise. A nonlocal information based Gaussian mixture model (NGMM) is proposed to
      reduce the effect of noise. To reduce the effect of intensity inhomogeneity, the
      multigrid nonlocal Gaussian mixture model (MNGMM) is proposed to segment brain MR
      images in each nonoverlapping multigrid generated by using a new multigrid
      generation method. Therefore the proposed model can simultaneously overcome the
      impact of noise and intensity inhomogeneity and automatically classify 2D and 3D
      MR data into tissues of white matter, gray matter, and cerebral spinal fluid. To
      maintain the statistical reliability and spatial continuity of the segmentation,
      a fusion strategy is adopted to integrate the clustering results from different
      grid. The experiments on synthetic and clinical brain MR images demonstrate the
      superior performance of the proposed model comparing with several state-of-the
      art algorithms. 

PMID- 27648447
TI  - Statistical Approaches for the Construction and Interpretation of Human Protein
      Protein Interaction Network.
AB  - The overall goal is to establish a reliable human protein-protein interaction
      network and develop computational tools to characterize a protein-protein
      interaction (PPI) network and the role of individual proteins in the context of
      the network topology and their expression status. A novel and unique feature of
      our approach is that we assigned confidence measure to each derived interacting
      pair and account for the confidence in our network analysis. We integrated
      experimental data to infer human PPI network. Our model treated the true
      interacting status (yes versus no) for any given pair of human proteins as a
      latent variable whose value was not observed. The experimental data were the
      manifestation of interacting status, which provided evidence as to the likelihood
      of the interaction. The confidence of interactions would depend on the strength
      and consistency of the evidence. 

PMID- 27648449
TI  - Embryoid Body-Explant Outgrowth Cultivation from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
      in an Automated Closed Platform.
AB  - Automation of cell culture would facilitate stable cell expansion with consistent
      quality. In the present study, feasibility of an automated closed-cell culture
      system "P 4C S" for an embryoid body- (EB-) explant outgrowth culture was
      investigated as a model case for explant culture. After placing the induced
      pluripotent stem cell- (iPSC-) derived EBs into the system, the EBs successfully
      adhered to the culture surface and the cell outgrowth was clearly observed
      surrounding the adherent EBs. After confirming the outgrowth, we carried out
      subculture manipulation, in which the detached cells were simply dispersed by
      shaking the culture flask, leading to uniform cell distribution. This enabled
      continuous stable cell expansion, resulting in a cell yield of 3.1 * 10(7). There
      was no evidence of bacterial contamination throughout the cell culture
      experiments. We herewith developed the automated cultivation platform for EB
      explant outgrowth cells. 

PMID- 27648450
TI  - Removing Noises Induced by Gamma Radiation in Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging Using
      a Temporal Median Filter.
AB  - Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) can provide information of medical
      radionuclides used in nuclear imaging based on Cerenkov radiation, which makes it
      possible for optical means to image clinical radionuclide labeled probes.
      However, the exceptionally weak Cerenkov luminescence (CL) from Cerenkov
      radiation is susceptible to lots of impulse noises introduced by high energy
      gamma rays generating from the decays of radionuclides. In this work, a temporal
      median filter is proposed to remove this kind of impulse noises. Unlike
      traditional CLI collecting a single CL image with long exposure time and
      smoothing it using median filter, the proposed method captures a temporal
      sequence of CL images with shorter exposure time and employs a temporal median
      filter to smooth a temporal sequence of pixels. Results of in vivo experiments
      demonstrated that the proposed temporal median method can effectively remove
      random pulse noises induced by gamma radiation and achieve a robust CLI image. 

PMID- 27648451
TI  - Recombination Hotspot/Coldspot Identification Combining Three Different
      Pseudocomponents via an Ensemble Learning Approach.
AB  - Recombination presents a nonuniform distribution across the genome. Genomic
      regions that present relatively higher frequencies of recombination are called
      hotspots while those with relatively lower frequencies of recombination are
      recombination coldspots. Therefore, the identification of hotspots/coldspots
      could provide useful information for the study of the mechanism of recombination.
      In this study, a new computational predictor called SVM-EL was proposed to
      identify hotspots/coldspots across the yeast genome. It combined Support Vector
      Machines (SVMs) and Ensemble Learning (EL) based on three features including
      basic kmer (Kmer), dinucleotide-based auto-cross covariance (DACC), and pseudo
      dinucleotide composition (PseDNC). These features are able to incorporate the
      nucleic acid composition and their order information into the predictor. The
      proposed SVM-EL achieves an accuracy of 82.89% on a widely used benchmark
      dataset, which outperforms some related methods. 

PMID- 27648453
TI  - The Risk of Transphyseal Drilling in Skeletally Immature Patients With Anterior
      Cruciate Ligament Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) in skeletally
      immature patients can result in growth plate injury, which can cause growth
      disturbances. PURPOSE: To evaluate radiological tibial and femoral length and
      axis growth disturbances as well as clinical outcomes in skeletally immature ACLR
      patients treated with a transphyseal drilling technique. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort
      study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: A total of 39 pediatric patients with ACL
      injury and open physes at time of surgery, as diagnosed clinically and with
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were treated using transphyseal ACLR using
      hamstring graft. Mean patient age was 11.7 years (range, 9.0-14.0 years).
      Patients were evaluated with full extremity radiographs measuring leg length
      discrepancy and malalignment, as well as clinical evaluation with KT-1000
      arthrometer measurements and Tegner activity scale and Knee injury and
      Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) outcomes after follow-up of 68 months (range,
      29-148 months). RESULTS: Of the 39 initial patients, 33 were evaluated both
      clinically and radiographically. We found a mean femoral length shortening of 3.5
      mm (P = .01) on the operated leg. Eight patients (24%) had a more than 10-mm
      shortening of the operated leg, whereas only 1 patient (3%) had a 10-mm
      shortening of the nonoperated leg. In 27 of 33 patients (82%; P < .001), the
      anatomic femoral axes of the operated leg were found to be more than 2 degrees 
      of valgus compared with the nonoperated leg. The tibial anatomic axes changed
      into a less pronounced varus angulation (P = .02). The femoral-tibial anatomic
      axes were not significantly different when comparing the 2 legs. We did not find
      any statistical difference in growth arrest comparing patients treated surgically
      at the ages of 13 to 14 years to patients younger than 13 years. Tegner and KOOS
      scores were significantly lower among girls compared with boys. Side-to-side KT
      1000 arthrometer difference improved from 5.2 mm preoperatively to 1.6 mm at
      follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study shows that transphyseal ACLR in children
      results in minor length growth disturbances in 24% of patients. The surgically
      induced distal femoral valgus angulation is counterbalanced by a proximal tibial
      varus angulation. Growth disturbance after surgery is not associated with a
      certain pediatric age group. Otherwise, transphyseal ACLR has satisfactory
      clinical outcomes, with good subjective outcomes, function level, and knee
      stability.

PMID- 27648452
TI  - Role of Macrophages in the Repair Process during the Tissue Migrating and
      Resident Helminth Infections.
AB  - The Th1/Th2/Th17 balance is a fundamental feature in the regulation of the
      inflammatory microenvironment during helminth infections, and an imbalance in
      this paradigm greatly contributes to inflammatory disorders. In some cases of
      helminthiasis, an initial Th1 response could occur during the early phases of
      infection (acute), followed by a Th2 response that prevails in chronic
      infections. During the late phase of infection, alternatively activated
      macrophages (AAMs) are important to counteract the inflammation caused by the
      Th1/Th17 response and larval migration, limiting damage and repairing the tissue
      affected. Macrophages are the archetype of phagocytic cells, with the primary
      role of pathogen destruction and antigen presentation. Nevertheless, other
      subtypes of macrophages have been described with important roles in tissue repair
      and immune regulation. These types of macrophages challenge the classical view of
      macrophages activated by an inflammatory response. The role of these subtypes of
      macrophages during helminthiasis is a controversial topic in immunoparasitology.
      Here, we analyze some of the studies regarding the role of AAMs in tissue repair
      during the tissue migration of helminths. 

PMID- 27648455
TI  - Forward Collision Warning: Clues to Optimal Timing of Advisory Warnings.
AB  - We examined the effectiveness of a heads-up Forward Collision Warning (FCW)
      system in 39 younger to middle aged drivers (25-50, mean = 35 years) and 37 older
      drivers (66-87, mean = 77 years). The warnings were implemented in a fixed based,
      immersive, 180 degree forward field of view simulator. The FCW included a visual
      advisory component consisting of a red horizontal bar which flashed in the center
      screen of the simulator that was triggered at time-to-collision (TTC) 4 seconds.
      The bar roughly overlapped the rear bumper of the lead vehicle, just below the
      driver's line-of-sight. A sustained auditory tone (~80 dB) was activated at TTC=2
      to alert the driver to an imminent collision. Hence, the warning system differed
      from the industry standard in significant ways. 95% Confidence intervals for the
      safety gains ranged from -.03 to .19 seconds in terms of average correction time
      across several activations. Older and younger adults did not differ in terms of
      safety gains. Closer inspection of data revealed that younger to middle aged
      drivers were already braking (42%) on a larger proportion of FCW activations than
      older drivers (26%), p < .001. Conversely, older drivers were still accelerating
      (38%) on a larger proportion of FCW activations than younger to middle aged
      drivers (23%) at the time FCW was activated, p < .009. There were no differences
      in the proportion of activations when drivers were coasting at the time FCW was
      activated, p = .240. Furthermore, large individual differences in basic visual,
      motor, and cognitive function predicted the tendency to brake prior to FCW
      activation. Those who tended to be better functioning in each of these domains
      were more likely to be already braking prior to FCW activation at the fixed
      threshold of TTC=4. These findings suggest optimal timing for advisory alerts for
      forward events may need to be larger than TTC=4.

PMID- 27648454
TI  - Femoral Aperture Fixation Improves Anterior Cruciate Ligament Graft Function When
      Added to Cortical Suspensory Fixation: An In Vivo Computer Navigation Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recommendations for bone tunnel placement during anterior cruciate
      ligament (ACL) reconstruction have become more precise. However, these
      recommendations differ neither with the choice of graft nor with the method of
      fixation used. The influence of the method of femoral fixation used on the
      biomechanical function of a soft tissue ACL graft remains unknown. HYPOTHESIS:
      Our null hypothesis was that adding femoral aperture fixation to femoral cortical
      fixation, using the same bone tunnels, will not alter the control of anterior
      translation (AT) and internal rotation (IR) during ACL reconstruction using a
      hamstring graft. STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: A total of
      22 patients with an acute isolated ACL rupture underwent reconstruction using a
      single-bundle autologous hamstring graft. Computer navigation was used
      intraoperatively to plot the AT and IR during the pivot-shift test before
      reconstruction, after ACL reconstruction using cortical suspensory fixation, and
      after the addition of femoral aperture fixation. Statistical analysis (analysis
      of variance) was used to compare the AT and IR during the pivot shift at each
      stage in the procedure. RESULTS: Before ACL reconstruction, the mean (+/-SD) AT
      was 14.2 +/- 7.3 mm and mean IR was 17.2 degrees  +/- 5.5 degrees . After
      reconstruction using femoral cortical suspension, these figures were
      significantly reduced to 6.2 +/- 3.5 mm and 12.5 degrees  +/- 3.20 degrees ,
      respectively (P < .001). The addition of the aperture fixation was associated
      with a further significant reduction to 4.6 +/- 3.2 mm and 10.4 degrees  +/- 2.7
      degrees , respectively (P < .001). CONCLUSION: The addition of femoral aperture
      fixation to suspensory fixation results in a significant reduction in both the AT
      and IR that occurs during the pivot-shift assessment immediately after ACL
      reconstruction using autologous hamstring graft. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The most
      precise positioning of bone tunnels during soft tissue ACL reconstruction needs
      to take into consideration the type of fixation being used.

PMID- 27648457
TI  - Microalbuminuria could improve risk stratification in patients with TIA and minor
      stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and minor strokes are important risk
      factors for recurrent strokes. Current stroke risk prediction scores such as
      ABCD2, although widely used, lack optimal sensitivity and specificity. Elevated
      urinary albumin excretion predicts cardiovascular disease, stroke, and mortality.
      We explored the role of microalbuminuria (using albumin creatinine ratio (ACR))
      in predicting recurrence risk in patients with TIA and minor stroke. METHODS:
      Urinary ACR was measured on a spot sample in 150 patients attending a daily
      stroke clinic with TIA or minor stroke. Patients were followed up at day 7, 30,
      and 90 to determine recurrent stroke, cardiovascular events, or death. Eligible
      patients had a carotid ultrasound Doppler investigation. High-risk patients were
      defined as those who had an event within 90 days or had >50% internal carotid
      artery (ICA) stenosis. RESULTS: Fourteen (9.8%) recurrent events were reported by
      day 90 including two deaths. Fifteen patients had severe ICA stenosis. In total,
      26 patients were identified as high risk. These patients had a higher frequency
      of previous stroke or hypercholesterolemia compared to low-risk patients (P =
      0.04). ACR was higher in high-risk patients (3.4 [95% CI 2.2-5.2] vs. 1.7 [1.5
      2.1] mg/mmol, P = 0.004), independent of age, sex, blood pressure, diabetes, and
      previous stroke. An ACR greater than 1.5 mg/mmol predicted high-risk patients
      (Cox proportional hazard ratio 3.5 (95% CI 1.3-9.5, P = 0.01). INTERPRETATION:
      After TIA or minor stroke, a higher ACR predicted recurrent events and
      significant ICA stenosis. Incorporation of urinary ACR from a spot sample in the
      acute setting could improve risk stratification in patients with TIA and minor
      stroke.

PMID- 27648456
TI  - Age-dependent effects of APOE epsilon4 in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the strongest known
      common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and alters age of onset
      in retrospective studies. Here, we longitudinally test the effects of APOE
      epsilon4 genotype and age during progression from normal cognition to AD.
      METHODS: Using data from 5381 cognitively normal older individuals and Cox
      proportional hazards models, we longitudinally tested the effects of APOE
      genotype on progression from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
      or AD in four age strata (<60, 60-70, 70-80, 80 + ) and with a sliding window
      approach between ages 60 and 85. RESULTS: We found that APOE epsilon4 carrier
      status and dosage significantly influenced progression to MCI or AD in all four
      age groups and that APOE epsilon4-associated progression risk peaked between ages
      70 and 75. We confirmed APOE epsilon4-associated progression risk in a subset of
      the cohort with pathologically proven diagnoses. INTERPRETATION: Our findings
      indicate that in clinically normal individuals, APOE epsilon4 status
      significantly predicts progression to MCI or AD across older adulthood and that
      this risk varies with age. This information will be useful as therapeutic
      interventions become available and clinical decisions can be individually
      tailored based on age and genetic data.

PMID- 27648458
TI  - Progression of Friedreich ataxia: quantitative characterization over 5 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder
      of adults and children. This study analyzed neurological outcomes and changes to
      identify predictors of progression and generate power calculations for clinical
      trials. METHODS: Eight hundred and twelve subjects in a natural history study
      were evaluated annually across 12 sites using the Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale
      (FARS), 9-Hole Peg Test, Timed 25-Foot Walk, visual acuity tests, self-reported
      surveys and disability scales. Cross-sectional outcomes were assessed from recent
      visits, and longitudinal changes were gaged over 5 years from baseline. RESULTS:
      Cross-sectional outcomes correlated with measures of disease severity. Age,
      genetic severity (guanine-adenine-adenine [GAA] repeat length), and testing site
      predicted performance. Serial progression was relatively linear using FARS and
      composite measures of performance, while individual performance outcomes were
      nonlinear over time. Age strongly predicted change from baseline until removing
      the effects of baseline FARS scores, when GAA becomes a more important factor.
      Progression is fastest in younger subjects and subjects with longer GAA repeats.
      Improved coefficients of variation show that progression results are more
      reproducible over longer assessment durations. INTERPRETATION: While age
      predicted progression speed in simple analyses and may provide an effective way
      to stratify cohorts, separating the effects of age and genetic severity is
      difficult. Controlling for baseline severity, GAA is the major determinant of
      progression rate in FRDA. Clinical trials will benefit from enrollment of younger
      subjects, and sample size requirements will shrink with longer assessment
      periods. These findings should prove useful in devising gene therapy trials in
      the near future.

PMID- 27648461
TI  - Terminal complement activation is increased and associated with disease severity
      in CIDP.
AB  - Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is the most common
      chronic autoimmune neuropathy. While both cell-mediated and humoral mechanisms
      contribute to its pathogenesis, the rapid clinical response to plasmapheresis
      implicates a circulating factor responsible for peripheral nerve injury. We
      report that treatment-naive patients with CIDP show increased serum and CSF
      levels of the anaphylatoxin C5a and the soluble terminal complement complex
      (sTCC). Systemic terminal complement activation correlates with clinical disease
      severity as determined by the Inflammatory Neuropathy Cause and Treatment (INCAT)
      disability scale. These data indicate that complement activation contributes to
      peripheral nerve injury and suggest that complement inhibition should be explored
      for its potential therapeutic merit in CIDP.

PMID- 27648460
TI  - Interplay of brain structure and function in neonatal congenital heart disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether structural and microstructural brain abnormalities
      in neonates with congenital heart disease (CHD) correlate with neuronal network
      dysfunction measured by analysis of EEG connectivity. METHODS: We studied a
      prospective cohort of 20 neonates with CHD who underwent continuous EEG
      monitoring before surgery to assess functional brain maturation and network
      connectivity, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine the
      presence of brain injury and structural brain development, and diffusion tensor
      MRI to assess brain microstructural development. RESULTS: Neonates with MRI brain
      injury and delayed structural and microstructural brain development demonstrated
      significantly stronger high-frequency (beta and gamma frequency band)
      connectivity. Furthermore, neonates with delayed microstructural brain
      development demonstrated significantly weaker low-frequency (delta, theta, alpha
      frequency band) connectivity. Neonates with brain injury also displayed delayed
      functional maturation of EEG background activity, characterized by greater
      background discontinuity. INTERPRETATION: These data provide new evidence that
      early structural and microstructural developmental brain abnormalities can have
      immediate functional consequences that manifest as characteristic alterations of
      neuronal network connectivity. Such early perturbations of developing neuronal
      networks, if sustained, may be responsible for the persistent neurocognitive
      impairment prevalent in adolescent survivors of CHD. These foundational insights
      into the complex interplay between evolving brain structure and function may have
      relevance for a wide spectrum of neurological disorders manifesting early
      developmental brain injury.

PMID- 27648462
TI  - Preface to the Special Edition on Femtochemistry and "The Hamburg Conference on
      Femtochemistry 2015 (FEMTO12)".

PMID- 27648459
TI  - Mutation of orthologous prickle genes causes a similar epilepsy syndrome in flies
      and humans.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Genetically tractable fruit flies have been used for decades to study
      seizure disorders. However, there is a paucity of data specifically correlating
      fly and human seizure phenotypes. We have previously shown that mutation of
      orthologous PRICKLE genes from flies to humans produce seizures. This study aimed
      to determine whether the prickle-mediated seizure phenotypes in flies closely
      parallel the epilepsy syndrome found in PRICKLE patients. METHODS: Virtually all
      fly seizure studies have relied upon characterizing seizures that are evoked. We
      have developed two novel approaches to more precisely characterize seizure
      related phenotypes in their native state in prickle mutant flies. First, we used
      high-resolution videography to document spontaneous, unprovoked seizure events.
      Second, we developed a locomotion coordination assay to assess whether the
      prickle mutant flies were ataxic. Third, we treated the mutant flies with
      levetiracetam to determine whether the behavioral phenotypes could be suppressed
      by a common antiepileptic drug. RESULTS: We find that the prickle mutant flies
      exhibit myoclonic-like spontaneous seizure events and are severely ataxic. Both
      these phenotypes are found in human patients with PRICKLE mutations, and can be
      suppressed by levetiracetam, providing evidence that the phenotypes are due to
      neurological dysfunction. These results document for the first time spontaneous,
      unprovoked seizure events at high resolution in a fly human seizure disorder
      model, capturing seizures in their native state. INTERPRETATION: Collectively,
      these data underscore the striking similarities between the fly and human PRICKLE
      mediated epilepsy syndromes, and provide a genetically tractable model for
      dissecting the underlying causes of the human syndromic phenotypes.

PMID- 27648463
TI  - Restoring immune tolerance in neuromyelitis optica: Part I.
AB  - Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and spectrum disorder (NMO/SD) represent a vexing
      process and its clinical variants appear to have at their pathogenic core the
      loss of immune tolerance to the aquaporin-4 water channel protein. This process
      results in a characteristic pattern of astrocyte dysfunction, loss, and
      demyelination that predominantly affects the spinal cord and optic nerves.
      Although several empirical therapies are currently used in the treatment of
      NMO/SD, none has been proven effective in prospective, adequately powered,
      randomized trials. Furthermore, most of the current therapies subject patients to
      long-term immunologic suppression that can cause serious infections and
      development of cancers. The following is the first of a 2-part description of
      several key immune mechanisms in NMO/SD that might be amenable to therapeutic
      restoration of immune tolerance. It is intended to provide a roadmap for how
      potential immune tolerance restorative techniques might be applied to patients
      with NMO/SD. This initial installment provides a background rationale underlying
      attempts at immune tolerization. It provides specific examples of innovative
      approaches that have emerged recently as a consequence of technical advances. In
      several autoimmune diseases, these strategies have been reduced to practice.
      Therefore, in theory, the identification of aquaporin-4 as the dominant
      autoantigen makes NMO/SD an ideal candidate for the development of tolerizing
      therapies or cures for this increasingly recognized disease. 

PMID- 27648464
TI  - Restoring immune tolerance in neuromyelitis optica: Part II.
AB  - Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMO/SD) and its clinical variants have at
      their core the loss of immune tolerance to aquaporin-4 and perhaps other
      autoantigens. The characteristic phenotype is disruption of astrocyte function
      and demyelination of spinal cord, optic nerves, and particular brain regions. In
      this second of a 2-part article, we present further perspectives regarding the
      pathogenesis of NMO/SD and how this disease might be amenable to emerging
      technologies aimed at restoring immune tolerance to disease-implicated self
      antigens. NMO/SD appears to be particularly well-suited for these strategies
      since aquaporin-4 has already been identified as the dominant autoantigen. The
      recent technical advances in reintroducing immune tolerance in experimental
      models of disease as well as in humans should encourage quantum leaps in this
      area that may prove productive for novel therapy. In this part of the article
      series, the potential for regulatory T and B cells is brought into focus, as are
      new approaches to oral tolerization. Finally, a roadmap is provided to help
      identify potential issues in clinical development and guide applications in
      tolerization therapy to solving NMO/SD through the use of emerging technologies.
      Each of these perspectives is intended to shine new light on potential cures for
      NMO/SD and other autoimmune diseases, while sparing normal host defense
      mechanisms. 

PMID- 27648465
TI  - The topographical model of multiple sclerosis: A dynamic visualization of disease
      course.
AB  - Relapses and progression contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease course,
      but neither the relationship between them nor the spectrum of clinical
      heterogeneity has been fully characterized. A hypothesis-driven, biologically
      informed model could build on the clinical phenotypes to encompass the dynamic
      admixture of factors underlying MS disease course. In this medical hypothesis, we
      put forth a dynamic model of MS disease course that incorporates localization and
      other drivers of disability to propose a clinical manifestation framework that
      visualizes MS in a clinically individualized way. The topographical model
      encapsulates 5 factors (localization of relapses and causative lesions; relapse
      frequency, severity, and recovery; and progression rate), visualized utilizing
      dynamic 3-dimensional renderings. The central hypothesis is that, like symptom
      recrudescence in Uhthoff phenomenon and pseudoexacerbations, progression
      clinically recapitulates prior relapse symptoms and unmasks previously silent
      lesions, incrementally revealing underlying lesion topography. The model uses
      real-time simulation software to depict disease course archetypes and illuminate
      several well-described but poorly reconciled phenomena including the clinical/MRI
      paradox and prognostic significance of lesion location and burden on disease
      outcomes. Utilization of this model could allow for earlier and more clinically
      precise identification of progressive MS and predictive implications can be
      empirically tested. 

PMID- 27648468
TI  - Blatchford Score Is Superior to AIMS65 Score in Predicting the Need for Clinical
      Interventions in Elderly Patients with Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed.
AB  - Background. Blatchford and AIMS65 scores were developed to risk stratify patients
      with upper gastrointestinal bleed (UGIB). We sought to assess the performance of
      Blatchford and AIMS65 scores in predicting outcomes in elderly patients with
      nonvariceal UGIB. Methods. A retrospective cohort study of elderly patients (over
      65 years of age) with nonvariceal UGIB admitted to a tertiary care center.
      Primary outcome was a combined outcome of in-hospital mortality, need for any
      therapeutic endoscopic, radiologic, or surgical intervention, rebleeding within
      30 days, or blood transfusion. Secondary outcome was a combined outcome of in
      hospital mortality or need for an intervention to control the bleed. Results. 164
      patients were included. The primary outcome occurred in 119 (72.5%) patients. The
      secondary outcome occurred in 12 patients (7.2%). Blatchford score was superior
      to AIMS65 score in predicting the primary outcome (area under the receiver
      operator curve (AUROC) 0.84 versus 0.68, resp., p < 0.001). Both scores performed
      poorly in predicting the secondary outcome (AUROC 0.56 versus 0.52, resp., p =
      0.18). Conclusions. Blatchford score could be useful in predicting the need for
      hospital based interventions in elderly patients with nonvariceal UGIB.
      Blatchford and AIMS65 scores are poor predictors of the need for a therapeutic
      intervention to control bleeding. 

PMID- 27648467
TI  - Transactional Sex among Noninjecting Illicit Drug Users: Implications for HIV
      Transmission.
AB  - Noninjecting illicit drug users (NIDUs) present high risk for HIV infection, due
      especially to transactional sex. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and
      risk factors for transactional sex among NIDUs in the Southwest region of Goias
      State, Central Brazil. The prevalence of self-reported transactional sex was
      22.8%. Prevalence in women and men was 52.7% and 16.8%, respectively, a
      significant difference (p < 0.001). Crack use and history of sexually transmitted
      infections (STI) were risk factors for transactional sex in men. Homelessness,
      crack use, sex under the influence of drugs, and history of sexual violence were
      risk factors for transactional sex in women. A high prevalence of transactional
      sex was observed among NIDUs. This risk behavior may contribute to the high rates
      of HIV among this population and their social networks and in the general
      population.

PMID- 27648469
TI  - Enhanced Recovery after Surgery in a Single High-Volume Surgical Oncology Unit:
      Details Matter.
AB  - Benefits of ERAS protocol have been well documented; however, it is unclear
      whether the improvement stems from the protocol or shifts in expectations.
      Interdisciplinary educational seminars were conducted for all health
      professionals. However, one test surgeon adopted the protocol. 394 patients
      undergoing elective abdominal surgery from June 2013 to April 2015 with a median
      age of 63 years were included. The implementation of ERAS protocol resulted in a
      decrease in the length of stay (LOS) and mortality, whereas the difference in
      cost was found to be insignificant. For the test surgeon, ERAS was associated
      with decreased LOS, cost, and mortality. For the control providers, the LOS,
      cost, mortality, readmission rates, and complications remained similar both
      before and after the implementation of ERAS. An ERAS protocol on the single high
      volume surgical unit decreased the cost, LOS, and mortality. 

PMID- 27648471
TI  - GBA p.T369M substitution in Parkinson disease: Polymorphism or association? A
      meta-analysis.
AB  - The lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCase), encoded by GBA, has an important
      role in Parkinson disease (PD). GBA mutation carriers have an increased risk for
      PD, earlier age at onset, faster progression, and various nonmotor symptoms
      including cognitive decline, REM sleep behavior disorder, hyposmia, and autonomic
      dysfunction.(1) Furthermore, GCase enzymatic activity is reduced in the
      peripheral blood(2) and brain(3) of noncarrier, sporadic PD patients. Biallelic
      GBA mutations, which have been classified as "severe" or "mild," may cause
      Gaucher disease (GD), a lysosomal storage disorder. Mild mutations may lead to GD
      type 1, and 2 severe mutations result in neuronopathic GD (type 2 and type 3).(4)
      There are 2 GBA variants, p.E326K and p.T369M, which do not cause GD in
      homozygous carriers, but may modify GCase activity and GD phenotype. It is now
      clear that p.E326K is a risk factor for PD,(5) but whether p.T369M is associated
      with PD is still controversial. In some studies, the p.T369M substitution was
      associated with PD,(6) while in others it had similar or increased frequency in
      controls. Of interest, it was recently demonstrated that the GBA p.T369M
      substitution was associated with reduced enzymatic activity in patients with PD
      and controls compared with that in noncarriers (7.64 vs 11.93 MUmol/L/h, p <
      0.001).(2) Of interest, it was even lower than the average enzymatic activity of
      the p.E326K substitution, which was 9.81 MUmol/L/h. Because clinical trials on
      GBA-associated PD are ongoing, and because treatment specifically targeting GBA
      is likely to be available in the future, it is important to determine whether the
      GBA p.T369M substitution is associated with PD. 

PMID- 27648466
TI  - Measurement of Gastrointestinal and Colonic Motor Functions in Humans and
      Animals.
AB  - Accurately measuring the complex motor behaviors of the gastrointestinal tract
      has tremendous value for the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of digestive
      diseases. This review synthesizes the literature regarding current tests that are
      used in both humans and animals. There remains further opportunity to enhance
      such tests, especially when such tests are able to provide value in both the
      preclinical and the clinical settings.

PMID- 27648470
TI  - VTA Projection Neurons Releasing GABA and Glutamate in the Dentate Gyrus.
AB  - Both dopamine and nondopamine neurons from the ventral tegmental area (VTA)
      project to a variety of brain regions. Here we examine nondopaminergic neurons in
      the mouse VTA that send long-range projections to the hippocampus. Using a
      combination of retrograde tracers, optogenetic tools, and electrophysiological
      recordings, we show that VTA GABAergic axons make synaptic contacts in the
      granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus, where we can elicit small postsynaptic
      currents. Surprisingly, the currents displayed a partial sensitivity to both
      bicuculline and NBQX, suggesting that these mesohippocampal neurons corelease
      both GABA and glutamate. Finally, we show that this projection is functional in
      vivo and its stimulation reduces granule cell-firing rates under anesthesia.
      Altogether, the present results describe a novel connection between GABA and
      glutamate coreleasing of cells of the VTA and the dentate gyrus. This connection
      could be relevant for a variety of functions, including reward-related memory and
      neurogenesis.

PMID- 27648472
TI  - Loss of MUNC13-1 function causes microcephaly, cortical hyperexcitability, and
      fatal myasthenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the molecular basis of a fatal syndrome of microcephaly,
      cortical hyperexcitability, and myasthenia. METHODS: We performed clinical and in
      vitro microelectrode studies of neuromuscular transmission, examined
      neuromuscular junctions cytochemically and by electron microscopy (EM), and
      searched for mutations by Sanger and exome sequencing. RESULTS: Neuromuscular
      transmission was severely compromised by marked depletion of the readily
      releasable pool of quanta, but the probability of quantal release was normal.
      Cytochemical and EM studies revealed normal endplate architecture. Exome
      sequencing identified a homozygous nonsense mutation in the N-terminal domain of
      MUNC13-1 (UNC13A) truncating the protein after 101 residues. CONCLUSIONS: Loss of
      Munc13-1 function predicts that syntaxin 1B is consigned to a nonfunctional
      closed state; this inhibits cholinergic transmission at the neuromuscular
      junction and glutamatergic transmission in the brain. Inactivation of syntaxin 1B
      likely accounts for the patient's cortical hyperexcitability because mutations of
      syntaxin 1B cause febrile seizures with or without epilepsy, haploinsufficiency
      of the STX1B is associated with myoclonic astatic epilepsy, and antisense
      knockdown of stx1b in zebrafish larvae elicits epileptiform discharges. A very
      recent publication also shows that syntaxin 1B has a separate obligatory role for
      maintenance of developing and mature neurons and illustrates impaired brain
      development in syntaxin 1A/1B double knockout mice. We therefore attribute our
      patient's microcephaly to the truncating homozygous Munc13-1 mutation that
      consigns syntaxin 1B to a permanently closed nonfunctional state akin to a
      knockout.

PMID- 27648473
TI  - Rapid, Reliable Shape Setting of Superelastic Nitinol for Prototyping Robots.
AB  - Shape setting Nitinol tubes and wires in a typical laboratory setting for use in
      superelastic robots is challenging. Obtaining samples that remain superelastic
      and exhibit desired precurvatures currently requires many iterations, which is
      time consuming and consumes a substantial amount of Nitinol. To provide a more
      accurate and reliable method of shape setting, in this paper we propose an
      electrical technique that uses Joule heating to attain the necessary shape
      setting temperatures. The resulting high power heating prevents unintended aging
      of the material and yields consistent and accurate results for the rapid creation
      of prototypes. We present a complete algorithm and system together with an
      experimental analysis of temperature regulation. We experimentally validate the
      approach on Nitinol tubes that are shape set into planar curves. We also
      demonstrate the feasibility of creating general space curves by shape setting a
      helical tube. The system demonstrates a mean absolute temperature error of 10
      degrees C.

PMID- 27648476
TI  - Detection and Mapping of Cannabinoids in Single Hair Samples through Rapid
      Derivatization and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - The sample preparation method reported in this work has permitted for the first
      time the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-MS) profiling and imaging for the detection and mapping of
      cannabinoids in a single hair sample. MALDI-MS imaging analysis of hair samples
      has recently been suggested as an alternative technique to traditional methods of
      GC/MS and LC/MS due to simpler sample preparation, the ability to detect a
      narrower time frame of drug use, and a reduction in sample amount required.
      However, despite cannabis being the most commonly used illicit drug worldwide, a
      MALDI-MS method for the detection and mapping of cannabinoids in a single hair
      has not been reported. This is probably due to the poor ionization efficiency of
      the drug and its metabolites and low concentration incorporated into hair. This
      research showed that in situ derivatization of cannabinoids through addition of
      an N-methylpyridium group resulted in improved ionization efficiency, permitting
      both detection and mapping of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol
      (CBN), cannabidiol (CBD), and the metabolites 11-nor-9-carboxy-Delta9
      tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH), 11-hydroxy-Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH
      THC), and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol glucuronide (THC-COO-glu).
      Additionally, for the first time an in-source rearrangement of THC was observed
      and characterized in this paper, thus contributing to new and accurate knowledge
      in the analysis of this drug by MALDI-MS.

PMID- 27648474
TI  - Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and back pain.
AB  - This broad narrative review addresses the relationship between adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and back pain. AIS can be responsible for low back
      pain, particularly major cases. However, a linear relationship between back pain
      and the magnitude of the deformity cannot be expected for any individual patient.
      A large number of juvenile patients can remain pain-free. The long-term prognosis
      is rather benign for many cases and thus a tailored approach to the individual
      patient seems mandatory. The level of evidence available does not allow stringent
      recommendations for any of the disorders included in this review. 

PMID- 27648475
TI  - Phenanthriplatin Acts As a Covalent Poison of Topoisomerase II Cleavage
      Complexes.
AB  - Drugs capable of trapping topoisomerase II (Top2), an essential enzyme that
      cleaves DNA to remove naturally occurring knots and tangles, can serve as potent
      anticancer agents. The monofunctional platinum agent phenanthriplatin, cis
      [Pt(NH3)2(phenanthridine)Cl](NO3), is shown here to trap Top2 in addition to its
      known modes of inhibition of DNA and RNA polymerases. Its potency therefore
      combines diverse modes of action by which phenanthriplatin kills cancer cells.
      The observation that phenanthriplatin can act as a Top2 poison highlights
      opportunities to design nonclassical platinum anticancer agents with this novel
      mechanism of action. Such complexes have the potential to overcome current
      limitations with chemotherapy, such as resistance, and to provide treatment
      options for cancers that do not respond well to classical agents. Covalent DNA
      platinum lesions implicated in Top2 poisoning are distinctive from those
      generated by known therapeutic topoisomerase poisons, which typically exert their
      action by reversible binding at the interface of Top2-DNA cleavage complexes.

PMID- 27648478
TI  - Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Tannic Acid Hydrogels with Excellent Mechanical Properties
      and Shape Memory Behaviors.
AB  - Shape memory hydrogels have promising applications in a wide variety of fields.
      Here we report the facile fabrication of a novel type of shape memory hydrogels
      physically cross-linked with both stronger and weaker hydrogen bonding (H
      bonding). Strong multiple H-bonding formed between poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and
      tannic acid (TA) leads to their coagulation when they are physically mixed at an
      elevated temperature and easy gelation at room temperature. The amorphous
      structure and strong H-bonding endow the PVA-TA hydrogels with excellent
      mechanical properties, as indicated by their high tensile strengths (up to 2.88
      MPa) and high elongations (up to 1100%). The stronger H-bonding between PVA and
      TA functions as the "permanent" cross-link and the weaker H-bonding between PVA
      chains as the "temporary" cross-link. The reversible breakage and formation of
      the weaker H-bonding imparts the PVA-TA hydrogels with excellent temperature
      responsive shape memory. Wet and dried hydrogel samples with a deformed or
      elongated shape can recover to their original shapes when immersed in 60  degrees
      C water in a few seconds or at 125  degrees C in about 2.5 min, respectively.

PMID- 27648477
TI  - Synovial Tissue Infection with Burkholderia fungorum.

PMID- 27648480
TI  - Asymmetric Synthesis of Apratoxin E.
AB  - An efficient method for asymmetric synthesis of apratoxin E 2 is described in
      this report. The chiral lactone 8, recycled from the degradation of saponin
      glycosides, was utilized to prepare the non-peptide fragment 6. In addition to
      this "from nature to nature" strategy, olefin cross-metathesis (CM) was applied
      as an alternative approach for the formation of the double bond. Moreover,
      pentafluorophenyl diphenylphosphinate was found to be an efficient condensation
      reagent for the macrocyclization.

PMID- 27648479
TI  - Synthesis and Stabilization of Blue-Black TiO2 Nanotube Arrays for
      Electrochemical Oxidant Generation and Wastewater Treatment.
AB  - Efficient, inexpensive, and stable electrode materials are key components of
      commercially viable electrochemical wastewater treatment system. In this study,
      blue-black TiO2 nanotube array (BNTA) electrodes are prepared by electrochemical
      self-doping. The 1-D structure, donor state density, and Fermi energy level
      position are critical for maintaining the semimetallic functionality of the BNTA.
      The structural strength of the BNTA is enhanced by surface crack minimization,
      reinforcement of the BNTA-Ti metal interface, and stabilized by a protective
      overcoating with nanoparticulate TiO2 (Ti/EBNTA). Ti/EBNTA electrodes are
      employed as both anodes and cathodes with polarity switching at a set frequency.
      Oxidants are generated at the anode, while the doping levels are regenerated
      along with byproduct reduction at the cathode. The estimated maximum electrode
      lifetime is 16 895 h. Ti/EBNTA has comparable hydroxyl radical production
      activity (6.6 * 10-14 M) with boron-doped diamond (BDD, 7.4 * 10-14 M)
      electrodes. The chlorine production rate follows a trend with respective to
      electrode type of Ti/EBNTA > BDD > IrO2. Ti/EBNTA electrodes operated in a
      bipolar mode have a minimum energy consumption of 62 kWh/kg COD, reduced foam
      formation due to less gas bubble production, minimum scale formation, and lower
      chlorate production levels (6 mM vs 18 mM for BDD) during electrolytic wastewater
      treatment.

PMID- 27648481
TI  - Advances in the molecular diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the era
      of precision medicine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The adoption of high-throughput technologies has led to a
      transformation in our ability to classify diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)
      into unique molecular subtypes. In parallel, the expansion of agents targeting
      key genetic and gene expression signatures has led to an unprecedented
      opportunity to personalize cancer therapies, paving the way for precision
      medicine. Areas covered: This review summarizes the key molecular subtypes of
      DLBCL and outlines the novel technology platforms in development to discriminate
      clinically relevant subtypes. Expert commentary: The application of emerging
      diagnostic tests into routine clinical practise is gaining momentum following the
      demonstration of subtype specific activity by novel agents. Co-ordinated efforts
      are required to ensure that these state of the art technologies provide reliable
      and clinically meaningful results accessible to the wider haematology community.

PMID- 27648482
TI  - Microcalcification on mammography: approaches to interpretation and biopsy.
AB  - This article discusses the significance of microcalcifications on mammography and
      the changes in technology that have influenced management; it also describes a
      pragmatic approach to investigation of microcalcification in a UK screening
      programme.

PMID- 27648484
TI  - Handbook of neurosurgery, 8th edition.

PMID- 27648483
TI  - Enteric Micromotor Can Selectively Position and Spontaneously Propel in the
      Gastrointestinal Tract.
AB  - The gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which hosts hundreds of bacteria species,
      becomes the most exciting organ for the emerging microbiome research. Some of
      these GI microbes are hostile and cause a variety of diseases. These bacteria
      colonize in different segments of the GI tract dependent on the local
      physicochemical and biological factors. Therefore, selectively locating
      therapeutic or imaging agents to specific GI segments is of significant
      importance for studying gut microbiome and treating various GI-related diseases.
      Herein, we demonstrate an enteric micromotor system capable of precise
      positioning and controllable retention in desired segments of the GI tract. These
      motors, consisting of magnesium-based tubular micromotors coated with an enteric
      polymer layer, act as a robust nanobiotechnology tool for site-specific GI
      delivery. The micromotors can deliver payload to a particular location via
      dissolution of their enteric coating to activate their propulsion at the target
      site toward localized tissue penetration and retention.

PMID- 27648485
TI  - Hepatitis B virus infection and risk of gallstones: a systematic review and meta
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Gallstone disease and its complications are common,
      particularly in Western populations. Recent studies have reported a significantly
      increased risk of gallstones among hepatitis C virus-infected patients. However,
      the data on patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are still limited.
      This meta-analysis was carried out with the aim of summarizing all available
      evidence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A literature search was performed using MEDLINE
      and the EMBASE database from inception to May 2016. Studies that reported
      relative risks, odd ratios, or hazard ratios comparing the risk of gallstones
      among HBV-infected patients versus patients without HBV infection were included.
      Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a
      random-effect, generic inverse-variance method. RESULTS: Nine studies fulfilled
      our eligibility criteria and were included in the analysis. We found no
      significant association between HBV infection and the risk of gallstones, with a
      pooled OR of 1.10 (95% CI, 0.91-1.33). The statistical heterogeneity was
      moderate, with an I of 69%. Subgroup analysis was carried out. The pooled OR of
      cross-sectional studies was 1.01 (95% CI, 0.91-1.12; I 0%), whereas the pooled OR
      of case-control studies was 1.53 (95% CI, 0.85-2.74; I 80%). CONCLUSION: A
      significant association between HBV infection and the risk of gallstones was not
      observed in this study.

PMID- 27648486
TI  - The quest for host targets to combat dengue virus infections.
AB  - Dengue virus (DENV) is a human threat of increasing importance. Although a
      tetravalent vaccine has been recently approved, owing to limited efficacy there
      is still an urgent need for antiviral drugs to prevent or treat DENV infections.
      Traditionally, antiviral drug discovery has focused on molecules targeting viral
      factors. However, thus far the identification of direct-acting antiviral drugs
      with potent DENV pan-serotypic activity has been problematic. An alternative are
      host-targeting antiviral drugs that hold great promise for broad-spectrum
      activity. In this review, we summarize cellular factors and pathways required by
      DENV for efficient replication and in principle suitable for antiviral therapy,
      including host-directed inhibitors that have even been advanced into clinical
      trials.

PMID- 27648487
TI  - Rh(III)-Catalyzed Carbocyclization of 3-(Indolin-1-yl)-3-oxopropanenitriles with
      Alkynes and Alkenes through C-H Activation.
AB  - Rh(III)-catalyzed carbocyclization reactions of 3-(indolin-1-yl)-3
      oxopropanenitriles with alkynes and alkenes have been developed to form 1,7-fused
      indolines through C-H activation. These reactions have a broad range of
      substrates and high yields. Unsymmetrical aryl-alkyl substituted alkynes
      proceeded smoothly with high regioselectivity. Electron-rich alkynes could
      undergo further oxidative coupling reaction to form polycyclic compounds. For
      alkenes, 1,2-dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-4-ones were formed via C(sp2)-H
      bond alkenylation and C(sp2)-H, C(sp3)-H oxidative coupling reactions.

PMID- 27648489
TI  - Solid-state amorphization of rebamipide and investigation on solubility and
      stability of the amorphous form.
AB  - Solid-state amorphization of crystalline rebamipide (RBM) was realized by ball
      milling and spray drying. The amorphous content of samples milled for various
      time was quantified using X-ray powder diffraction. Crystalline RBM and three
      amorphous RBM obtained by milling and spray drying were characterized by
      morphological analysis, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and vibrational
      spectroscopy. The crystal structure of RBM was first determined by single-crystal
      X-ray diffraction. In addition, the solubility and dissolution rate of the RBM
      samples were investigated in different media. Results indicated that the
      solubility and the dissolution rates of spray-dried RBM-PVP in different media
      were highly improved compared with crystalline RBM. The physical stabilities of
      the three amorphous RBM were systematically investigated, and the stability
      orders under different storage temperatures and levels of relative humidity (RH)
      were both as follows: spray dried RBM < milled RBM < spray dried RBM-PVP. A
      direct glass-to-crystal transformation was induced under high RH, and the
      transformation rate rose with increasing RH. However, amorphous RBM could stay
      stable at RH levels lower than 57.6% (25  degrees C).

PMID- 27648488
TI  - Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in HIV infected patients in Israel since the
      introduction of pneumococcal conjugated vaccines (PCV): Analysis of a nationwide
      surveillance study, 2009-2014.
AB  - STUDY AIM: to assess the incidence, risk factors and outcome of invasive
      pneumococcal disease (IPD) among the Israeli HIV population. A matched case
      control study nested in a nationwide, prospective, population-based, cohort of
      adult IPD was performed. In addition, the HIV-IPD patients were compared to the
      general adult HIV population in Israel. STUDY PERIOD: from the introduction of
      PCV into the national immunization program (NIP) in July 2009 to June 2014. Each
      HIV patient within the IPD cohort was matched to 4 non-HIV controls. Serotyping
      was performed by a central laboratory using the Quellung reaction. Thirty-five
      IPD episodes in 33 HIV patients were identified, with a median annual incidence
      of 128/100,000 HIV+ persons compared to 5.1/100,000 in the age-matched, non-HIV
      population. Compared to the general HIV population, HIV-IPD patients practiced
      intravenous drug use more frequently and originated from a country with
      generalized epidemic (OGE), mainly non-citizens lacking medical insurance. The
      proportion of men who have sex with men (MSM) was lower than in the general HIV
      population. Pneumonia was the most common clinical presentation (81%), while
      meningitis occurred in only one patient. Outcomes were similar to those of the
      IPD non-HIV population. Nineteen serotypes were identified, of which only 42%
      were covered by PCV13 vaccine. By 2014, none of the HIV-IPD cases belonged to
      serotypes covered by PCV13. In conclusion, most HIV IPD cases were from
      marginalized populations with poor access to health services. A decrease in IPD
      cases covered by PCV 13 was observed.

PMID- 27648491
TI  - EPR Study of UV-Irradiated Thymidine Microcrystals Supports Radical Intermediates
      in Spore Photoproduct Formation.
AB  - Spore photoproduct is a thymidine dimer formed when bacterial endospore DNA is
      exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The mechanism of formation of this
      thymidine dimer has been proposed to proceed through a radical-pair intermediate.
      The intermediate forms when a methyl-group hydrogen atom of one thymidine
      nucleobase is transferred to the C6 position of an adjacent thymidine nucleobase,
      forming two species, the TCH2 and TH radicals, respectively. Using a series of
      thymidine isotopologues and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy,
      we show that microcrystals of thymidine exposed to UV radiation produce these two
      radical species. We observe three sources that donate the additional hydrogen at
      the C6 position of the TH radical. One of the three sources is the methyl group
      of another thymidine molecule in a significant fraction of the TH species. This
      lends support to the radical-pair intermediate proposed in the formation of spore
      photoproduct.

PMID- 27648490
TI  - Transporter-Mediated Hepatic Uptake Plays an Important Role in the
      Pharmacokinetics and Drug-Drug Interactions of Montelukast.
AB  - Montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist commonly prescribed for treatment
      of asthma, is primarily metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP)2C8, and has been
      suggested as a probe substrate for investigating CYP2C8 activity in vivo. We
      evaluated the quantitative role of hepatic uptake transport in its
      pharmacokinetics and drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Montelukast was characterized
      with significant active uptake in human hepatocytes, and showed affinity towards
      organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) in transfected cell systems.
      Single-dose rifampicin, an OATP inhibitor, decreased montelukast clearance in
      rats and monkeys. Clinical DDIs of montelukast were evaluated using
      physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling; and simulation of the
      interactions with gemfibrozil-CYP2C8 and OATP1B1/1B3 inhibitor, clarithromycin
      CYP3A and OATP1B1/1B3 inhibitor, and itraconazole-CYP3A inhibitor, implicated
      OATPs-CYP2C8-CYP2C8 interplay as the primary determinant of montelukast
      pharmacokinetics. In conclusion, hepatic uptake plays a key role in the
      pharmacokinetics of montelukast, which should be taken into account when
      interpreting clinical interactions.

PMID- 27648492
TI  - Validation of JCountPro software for efficient assessment of ionizing radiation
      induced foci in human lymphocytes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Ionizing radiation-induced foci (IRIF) known also as DNA repair foci
      represent the most sensitive and specific assay for assessing DNA double-strand
      break (DSB). IRIF are usually visualized and enumerated with the aid of
      fluorescence microscopy using antibodies to phosphorylated gammaH2AX and 53BP1.
      Although several approaches and software packages were developed for
      quantification of IRIF, not one of them was commonly accepted and inter
      laboratory variability in the outputs was reported. In this study, JCountPro
      software was validated for IRIF enumeration in two independent laboratories.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human lymphocytes were gamma-irradiated at doses of 0, 2,
      5, 10 and 50 cGy. The cells were fixed, permeabilized and IRIF were immunostained
      using appropriate antibodies. Cell images were acquired with automatic Metafer
      system. Endogenous and radiation-induced gammaH2AX and 53BP1 foci were enumerated
      using JCountPro. This analysis was performed from the same cell galleries by the
      researchers from two laboratories. Yield of foci was analyzed by either
      arithmetic mean (AM) value (foci/cell) or principal average (PA) derived from the
      approximation of foci distribution with Poisson statistics. Statistical analysis
      was performed using factorial ANOVA. RESULTS: Enumeration of 53BP1, gammaH2AX and
      co-localized 53BP1/gammaH2AX foci by JCountPro was essentially the same between
      laboratories. IRIF were detected at all doses and linear dose response was
      obtained in the studied dose range. PA values from Poisson distribution fitted
      the data better as compared to AM values and were more powerful and sensitive for
      IRIF analysis than the AM values. All JCountPro data were confirmed by visual
      focus enumeration. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the JCountPro software was
      efficient in objectively enumerating IRIF regardless of an individual
      researcher's bias and has a potential for usage in clinics and molecular
      epidemiology.

PMID- 27648493
TI  - Dimensional Effects on the Charge Density Waves in Ultrathin Films of TiSe2.
AB  - Charge density wave (CDW) formation in solids is a critical phenomenon involving
      the collective reorganization of the electrons and atoms in the system into a
      wave structure, and it is expected to be sensitive to the geometric constraint of
      the system at the nanoscale. Here, we study the CDW transition in TiSe2, a quasi
      two-dimensional layered material, to determine the effects of quantum confinement
      and changing dimensions in films ranging from a single layer to multilayers. Of
      key interest is the characteristic length scale for the transformation from a two
      dimensional case to the three-dimensional limit. Angle-resolved photoemission
      spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of films with thicknesses up to six layers
      reveal substantial variations in the energy structure of discrete quantum well
      states; however, the temperature-dependent band gap renormalization converges at
      just three layers. The results indicate a layer-dependent mixture of two
      transition temperatures and a very-short-range CDW interaction within a three
      dimensional framework.

PMID- 27648495
TI  - Specificity of relations between adolescents' cognitive emotion regulation
      strategies and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which cognitive emotion
      regulation strategies were "common or transdiagnostic correlates" of symptoms of
      depression and anxiety and/or "specific correlates" distinguishing one problem
      category from the other. The sample comprised 582 13- to 16-year-old secondary
      school students. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured by the SCL-90,
      and cognitive emotion regulation strategies were measured by the CERQ, in a cross
      sectional design. Multivariate regression analyses were performed. Before
      controlling for comorbidity, the same cognitive emotion regulation strategies
      that were related to symptoms of depression were also related to symptoms of
      anxiety. However, after controlling for comorbid anxiety symptoms, rumination,
      self-blame (only girls), positive reappraisal, and positive refocusing (the
      latter two inversely) were uniquely (and significantly) associated with
      depression symptoms; and after controlling for comorbid depression symptoms,
      catastrophising and other-blame were uniquely related to anxiety symptoms. The
      results supported the cognitive content-specificity model, in which anxiety is
      supposed to be uniquely characterised by thoughts concerning the overestimation
      of threats and harm, and depression is supposed to be uniquely characterised by
      negative evaluations of self, and of past and future events.

PMID- 27648494
TI  - Elucidating the "Gravome": Quantitative Proteomic Profiling of the Response to
      Chronic Hypergravity in Drosophila.
AB  - Altered gravity conditions, such as experienced by organisms during spaceflight,
      are known to cause transcriptomic and proteomic changes. We describe the
      proteomic changes in whole adult Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) but focus
      specifically on the localized changes in the adult head in response to chronic
      hypergravity (3 g) treatment. Canton S adult female flies (2 to 3 days old) were
      exposed to chronic hypergravity for 9 days and compared with 1 g controls. After
      hypergravity treatment, either whole flies (body + head) or fly-head-only samples
      were isolated and evaluated for quantitative comparison of the two gravity
      conditions using an isobaric tagging liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry approach. A total of 1948 proteins from whole flies and 1480
      proteins from fly heads were differentially present in hypergravity-treated
      flies. Gene Ontology analysis of head-specific proteomics revealed host immune
      response, and humoral stress proteins were significantly upregulated. Proteins
      related to calcium regulation, ion transport, and ATPase were decreased.
      Increased expression of cuticular proteins may suggest an alteration in chitin
      metabolism and in chitin-based cuticle development. We therefore present a
      comprehensive quantitative survey of proteomic changes in response to chronic
      hypergravity in Drosophila, which will help elucidate the underlying molecular
      mechanism(s) associated with altered gravity environments.

PMID- 27648496
TI  - In-Depth Insights into the Key Steps of Delamination of Charged 2D Nanomaterials.
AB  - Delamination is a key step to obtain individual layers from inorganic layered
      materials needed for fundamental studies and applications. For layered van der
      Waals materials such as graphene, the adhesion forces are small, allowing for
      mechanical exfoliation, whereas for ionic layered materials such as layered
      silicates, the energy to separate adjacent layers is considerably higher. Quite
      counterintuitively, we show for a synthetic layered silicate (Na0.5-hectorite)
      that a scalable and quantitative delamination by simple hydration is possible for
      high and homogeneous charge density, even for aspect ratios as large as 20000. A
      general requirement is the separation of adjacent layers by solvation to a
      distance where layer interactions become repulsive (Gouy-Chapman length). Further
      hydration up to 34 nm leads to the formation of a highly ordered lamellar liquid
      crystalline phase (Wigner crystal). Up to eight higher-order reflections indicate
      excellent positional order of individual layers. The Wigner crystal melts when
      the interlayer separation reaches the Debye length, where electrostatic
      interactions between adjacent layers are screened. The layers become weakly
      charge-correlated. This is indicated by fulfilling the classical Hansen-Verlet
      and Lindeman criteria for melting. We provide insight into the requirements for
      layer separation and controlling the layer distances for a broad range of
      materials and outline an important pathway for the integration of layers into
      devices for advanced applications.

PMID- 27648497
TI  - The Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform (PRPP) system for persons with Parkinson's
      disease: a psychometric study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Perceive, Recall, Plan & Perform (PRPP) system of task analysis
      might be feasible to evaluate occupational performance and information processing
      strategies for persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). AIM: To evaluate: (1) the
      random error between raters (inter-rater study), (2) the random error within
      raters (intra-rater study), and (3) the internal consistency of the PRPP.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: (1) video-recorded performance of meaningful activities of
      13 Dutch persons with PD, scored independently by 38 Dutch PRPP trained
      occupational therapists were included in the analysis. The random error between
      raters was analyzed with two-way random Intraclass Correlation Coefficients
      (ICC). (2) Four videos were scored twice by 30 raters (6 week time interval). The
      random error within raters was analyzed using one-way random ICC's. (3) Internal
      consistency study: data of 190 persons with PD were analyzed using Cronbach's
      alpha (alpha). RESULTS: Inter-rater reliability ranged from slight to moderate
      (ICC= 0.06-0.43). The mean intra-rater reliability ranged from moderate to almost
      perfect (ICC= 0.60-0.83). Internal consistency is good (alpha = 0.60-0.86).
      CONCLUSION: The limited inter-rater reliability but adequate intra-rater
      reliability and internal consistency show the feasibility of the PRPP when used
      for persons with PD. Implications for reliable clinical use are discussed.

PMID- 27648499
TI  - The Continuing Challenge of Suicide Prevention.

PMID- 27648498
TI  - Multiparametric MRI findings of sinonasal rhabdomyosarcoma in adults with
      comparison to carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of sinonasal
      rhabdomyosarcoma in adults, including diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic
      contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI features as compared with carcinomas. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Sixty-four patients were included in this study, including 12 sinonasal
      rhabdomyosarcomas and 52 sinonasal carcinomas. MRI was completed in all 64
      patients with a 3T MR scanner. Conventional MR (nonenhanced and static contrast
      enhanced) imaging features, DCE-MRI parameters, and the apparent diffusion
      coefficients (ADCs) were analyzed by two authors independently (X.Y.W. and
      Y.Z.W.). RESULTS: Compared with gray matter, sinonasal rhabdomyosarcomas appeared
      isointense on T1 -weighted images in 11 cases (91.7%, 11 of 12), and hyperintense
      on T2 -weighted images in 9 patients (75%, 9 of 12). After contrast, sinonasal
      rhabdomyosarcomas showed inhomogeneous enhancement in 10 cases (83.3%, 10 of 12).
      Skull involvement was found in eight patients (66.7%) with rhabdomyosarcomas. On
      T2 -weighted images, sinonasal carcinomas demonstrated isointense in 31 cases
      (59.6%, 31/52), hyperintense in 14 (26.9%, 14/52), and hypointense in 7 (13.5%,
      7/52). Skull involvement was detected in 14 cases (14/52, 26.9%). There were
      significant differences in T2 signal intensity (P = 0.005) and skull involvement
      (P = 0.016) between sinonasal rhabdomyosarcoma and carcinomas. There was a
      marginal difference in time to peak enhancement (P = 0.061), while no difference
      in time to maximum enhancement (P = 0.403), maximum contrast index (P = 0.368),
      and time-intensity curve types (P = 0.138) between rhabdomyosarcoma and
      carcinomas. The ADCs of sinonasal rhabdomyosarcoma were significantly lower than
      those of sinonasal carcinomas (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A multiparametric approach
      using conventional MRI with added ADCs had the potential to improve the
      diagnostic accuracy of sinonasal rhabdomyosarcoma in adults. Evidence level: 4 J.
      Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:998-1004.

PMID- 27648500
TI  - Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in a Child and Adolescent Clinical Outpatient Setting.
AB  - Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms have largely emerged from investigations
      of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent research has
      demonstrated the relevance of SCT symptoms in the field of clinical child and
      adolescent psychiatry. The goal of this research was to study the symptoms of SCT
      in a clinical child and adolescent sample and to define its features and comorbid
      conditions. We reviewed 834 clinical records of patients referred to Child and
      Adolescent Mental Health Services and examined SCT symptoms and their relation
      with sociodemographic data, clinical diagnosis, comorbid conditions, Child
      Behavior Checklist dimensions, and intelligence quotient. Of the 515 patients
      (age range, 4 to 17 y, 62.5% male) for whom a fully completed Child Behavior
      Checklist for Children and Adolescents was available, 20.8% showed high levels of
      SCT symptoms. SCT symptoms were strongly associated with age, internalizing
      symptoms, learning disabilities, and ADHD inattentive subtype (ADHD-I). No
      significant correlations with intelligence quotient were found. We concluded that
      SCT symptoms are highly prevalent in a clinical sample, and that these symptoms
      might be related to the difficulties that some individuals have in responding to
      demands in their environments, such as academic or social demands, as they
      increase over time.

PMID- 27648501
TI  - Risks, Benefits, and Recommendations for Pastoral Care on Inpatient Psychiatric
      Units: A Systematic Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A systematic review was conducted of the biomedical literature
      regarding pastoral care (PaC) providers on inpatient psychiatric units with the
      aim of answering 3 questions: (1) What are the risks and benefits of PaC
      providers' presence on inpatient psychiatric units? (2) What are current
      recommendations for integration of PaC providers into a psychiatric team? and (3)
      What gaps exist in the literature? METHODS: PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, CINAHL, and
      Scopus were searched from the start of each database to July 9, 2014 using terms
      related to PaC providers and inpatient psychiatry. Two independent reviewers
      performed full-text reviews of each article identified by independent review of
      all titles/abstracts from the electronic search and by a hand search of articles
      included in reference lists. Inclusion criteria were: English-language article,
      published in a peer-reviewed journal, and focus on a PaC provider working in a
      psychiatric hospital setting. One author performed data extraction. RESULTS:
      Forty-nine articles were identified by electronic (84%) and hand search (16%), 18
      of which were evaluative studies: 5 qualitative and 13 quantitative. Most of the
      literature viewed integration of PaC providers in inpatient treatment teams as
      beneficial. Potential harms were noted and mitigation strategies suggested,
      including providing training to PaC providers concerning psychiatric illness,
      clearly defining roles, and enhancing team integration. None of the articles
      reported outcomes data. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric inpatients often have unmet
      spiritual needs. Although the literature suggests potential benefits of PaC
      providers for psychiatric inpatients, more rigorous studies are needed to
      establish these benefits as efficacious. The authors of this review recommend the
      cautious integration of PaC providers into the psychiatric inpatient care team.

PMID- 27648502
TI  - Constant Observation of Suicidal Patients: The Intervention We Love to Hate.
AB  - Constant observation (CO) of psychiatric inpatients at risk for suicidal behavior
      has been criticized in the literature because of the absence of demonstrable
      effectiveness, associated costs, staff and patient acceptance, and related
      issues. Our inability to demonstrate effectiveness, however, is an ethical
      conundrum that cannot readily be solved. Frequent and often vociferous references
      in the literature to the absence of an evidence base for this intervention
      carries the risk that CO may be underutilized in particular clinical
      circumstances with untoward results. A case is made for shifting focus from the
      lack of evidence supporting CO to agreement on an observation protocol that
      achieves the desired goal of maximizing patient safety. A sample protocol is
      presented.

PMID- 27648503
TI  - Factors Associated With High Frequency of Suicidal Ideation in Medically Ill
      Veterans.
AB  - Suicide is a leading cause of death, and rates are especially high among
      medically ill, older individuals. Health-related psychosocial correlates of
      suicidal ideation (SI) may be particularly important for medically ill older
      adults as they may clarify who may benefit from interventions to reduce SI. This
      study examined whether demographic, physical health, and/or health-related
      psychosocial factors were associated with high frequency of SI in older,
      medically ill Veterans experiencing elevated anxiety or depression. This cross
      sectional study included 302 Veterans with (1) a cardiopulmonary condition and
      functional impairment and (2) elevated symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.
      Participants were classified as having either no, low, or high SI, based on self
      reported ideation, from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. SI was reported in
      26.8% of the full sample and high SI was reported by 12.6% of participants.
      Logistic regression analyses predicting high versus no SI found the odds of high
      SI increased 4.7 times (95% confidence interval, 2.6-8.3) for each 1-unit
      increase in maladaptive coping and 4.1 times (95% confidence interval, 1.2-14.3)
      for each 1-unit increase in physical health severity/functional limitations.
      Older, medically ill Veterans with comorbid depression and/or anxiety frequently
      reported SI and were at greater risk of experiencing a high frequency of SI if
      they engaged in maladaptive coping strategies and/or had high levels of
      functional impairment. Effective interventions to reduce SI for this population
      should focus on reducing maladaptive coping and minimizing negative behavioral,
      cognitive, and emotional reactions to functional limitations.

PMID- 27648504
TI  - National Initiative to Prevent Suicide (NIPS): A New Proposal to Improve the
      Understanding and Prevention of Suicide.
AB  - Suicide is a staggering, tragic, and growing cause of death in the United States.
      Despite a government-led 20-year effort, the suicide rate increased by 25%
      between 1999 and 2014. To prevent suicide, it is essential to understand the
      biological factors-genetic and epigenetic-and environmental factors that underlie
      it. To gain this increased understanding, the equivalent of the "War on Cancer"
      initiative is needed. The War on Cancer initiative, which began in the 1970s, has
      transformed the treatments and outcomes of cancer, and the same could occur with
      a similar initiative on suicide. This article proposes a National Initiative to
      Prevent Suicide (NIPS), with the first step being the establishment of a National
      Suicide Database (NSD). The NSD would be established by a government-private
      partnership much as was done by the National Cancer Institute in the War on
      Cancer. The NSD would be established under the auspices of the National Institute
      of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
      Approximately $600 million are currently spent annually by taxpayers in the
      United States to support the medicolegal death investigation system, composed of
      3137 county coroner or medical examiner offices across the country. In their
      investigation of deaths due to suicide, these offices collect extensive
      information, including biological samples, from the >40,000 deaths due to suicide
      that occur each year. The proposal presented in this column calls for this
      material to be stored in the NSD so that vetted government and public/private
      researchers can investigate the causes of suicide. This information will make
      possible the development of new methods, including laboratory evaluations, for
      assessing suicide risk as well as new treatments to prevent suicide. In support
      of this proposed new initiative, this article/proposal reviews the current
      medicolegal death investigation system and recent advances in our understanding
      of the biological basis of suicide. The time for action on this proposal is now.

PMID- 27648505
TI  - Atypical Findings in Massive Bupropion Overdose: A Case Report and Discussion of
      Psychopharmacologic Issues.
AB  - Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant that is structurally similar to
      amphetamines. Its primary toxic effects include seizure, sinus tachycardia,
      hypertension, and agitation; however, at higher amounts of ingestion, paradoxical
      cardiac effects are seen. We report the case of a 21-year-old woman who ingested
      13.5 g of bupropion, a dose higher than any other previously reported. The
      patient presented with seizure, sinus tachycardia with prolonged QTc and QRS
      intervals, dilated pupils, and agitation. Four days after overdose, the patient's
      sinus tachycardia and prolonged QTc and QRS intervals resolved with symptomatic
      management, but she soon developed sinus bradycardia, hypotension, and mild
      transaminitis. With continued conservative management and close monitoring, her
      sinus bradycardia resolved 8 days after the overdose. The transaminitis resolved
      12 days after the overdose. Our findings are consistent with previously reported
      toxic effects associated with common overdose amounts of bupropion. In addition,
      we have observed transient cardiotoxicity manifesting as sinus bradycardia
      associated with massive bupropion overdose. These findings are less frequently
      reported and must be considered when managing patients with massive bupropion
      overdose. We review the psychopharmacologic implications of this and comment on
      previous literature.

PMID- 27648506
TI  - Pyrotherapy for the Treatment of Psychosis in the 21st Century: A Case Report and
      Literature Review.
AB  - The concept that fevers can improve the condition of patients with certain
      medical and psychiatric diseases dates back to Hippocrates. Over the centuries,
      it has been observed that fevers and infectious agents have been beneficial for a
      broad spectrum of diseases, including neurologic conditions such as epilepsy and
      psychiatric illnesses including melancholy and psychosis. Interest in the concept
      of fever as a treatment for disease, termed pyrotherapy or pyretotherapy, peaked
      in the late 1800s and early 1900s thanks to the Nobel Prize winning work of
      Julius Wagner-Jauregg for his studies with malaria therapy for general paralysis
      of the insane, now more commonly referred to as neurosyphilis. The use of
      inoculations of infectious agents for their fever-inducing effects in the
      treatment of neurosyphilis quickly spread throughout the world, and, by the
      1920s, it was considered by many to be the treatment of choice for neurosyphilis
      as well as other psychotic disorders. However, with the discovery of penicillin
      for the treatment of syphilis, which coincided with the advent of convulsion
      oriented practices including electroconvulsive therapy and insulin coma for the
      treatment of psychotic disorders, pyrotherapy soon lost favor among psychiatrists
      and, since the 1950s, it has largely been overlooked by the scientific community.
      In this article, the authors provide a brief literature review of the history of
      pyrotherapy and present a case report of a woman with schizoaffective disorder
      and severe psychotic symptoms who experienced a remarkable resolution of
      psychotic symptoms following an episode of bacteremia with high fever.

PMID- 27648507
TI  - Content-Area Framework for Conducting Family Meetings for Acutely Ill Psychiatric
      Patients.
AB  - Family meetings are a critically important component of managing acutely
      psychiatrically ill patients, and learning how to conduct such a meeting is
      critically important in the training of psychiatrists. Because we found no
      published comprehensive tools that dealt with the biopsychosocial content areas
      to be covered in family meetings in acute psychiatric settings, we developed and
      present such a comprehensive tool that is based in part on a review of existing
      tools utilized by other disciplines. This article describes the specific steps
      involved in premeeting planning, the formal topic areas that might be canvassed
      during the meeting, and postmeeting documentation and debriefing. The general
      content areas for discussion during the meeting include the setting of goals and
      expectations, relevant history-gathering, assessment of the family's
      understanding of the issues at stake, formal psychoeducation, and review of
      specific treatment strategies and clinical progress. The meeting may also include
      a discussion of resources available to the patient and family members and a
      review of issues related to the safety of the patient and others, management of
      early warning signs, and sensitive topics such as trauma, abuse, or violence that
      may play a role in the presentation or treatment of the patient to best translate
      established goals into a longer term plan of care. Implementation of this
      comprehensive and necessarily structured model should enhance the patient's and
      family's understanding of the issues at stake and should improve satisfaction,
      promote trust and an effective working alliance, and enhance the quality of the
      biopsychosocial care plan.

PMID- 27648508
TI  - Cerebral granulomatous condition mimicking optic pathway glioma.

PMID- 27648509
TI  - Evaluation of a Robotic Assistance-System For Percutaneous Computed Tomography
      Guided (CT-Guided) Facet Joint Injection: A Phantom Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to compare robotic assisted and freehand
      facet joint puncture on a phantom model in regards to time requirements and
      puncture accuracy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty facet joints were punctured, 20
      using a robotic guidance system and 20 using a freehand procedure. Side and
      height of the facet joints were randomized and identical for both groups.
      Procedural accuracy, defined as axial and sagittal deviation, as well as the
      number of corrections were assessed. Procedure times for each step were
      documented and time requirements for pre-positioning, reconstruction, planning,
      and total intervention were calculated. RESULTS Total procedure time for robotic
      guidance was 259+/-111 seconds versus 119+/-77 seconds for freehand procedure
      (p=1.0). Procedural accuracy for robotic guidance was significantly higher with 0
      corrections versus 1.3 corrections for freehand procedure (p=0.02). Needle
      deviation in the robotics arm was 0.35+/-1.1 mm in the axial and 2.15+/-1.2 mm in
      the sagittal reconstruction. CONCLUSIONS Robotic assisted puncture of the facet
      joint allowed accurate positioning of the needle with a lower number of needle
      readjustments. Higher procedural accuracy was marginally offset by a slightly
      longer intervention time. 

PMID- 27648510
TI  - Systems Vaccinology Applied to DNA Vaccines: Perspective and Challenges.
AB  - DNA vaccination represents a new milestone in our technological efforts to avoid
      infectious diseases. Although this method of vaccination has had success in
      providing protection in animals, these vaccines suffer from low immunogenicity in
      humans. Questions remain over the molecular mechanism of DNA vaccination, the
      best ways in which to safely increase vaccine reactogenecity, and what biomarkers
      can be used as correlates of protection. Systems vaccinology, which utilizes
      modern experimental and computational approaches to provide an integrated view of
      the vaccination process, offers the potential to answer these questions. In this
      review we discuss the current tools utilized in systems vaccinology, the ways in
      which they have and can be applied to DNA vaccinology, and challenges faced in
      the field.

PMID- 27648511
TI  - Valuing and Integrating Informal Care as a Core Component of Long-Term Care for
      Older People: A Comparison of Recent Developments in Italy and Spain.
AB  - The international long-term care (LTC) debate has recently been focusing on how
      to strengthen home care provision. In this regard, a major role has been played
      by informal care and how to best integrate it in a holistic care approach. Italy
      and Spain, usually labeled as "familialist" or "family-based" care models, have
      been promoting national reforms or actions to support the integration of
      "informal" actors into the overall LTC system. Through a comparative review of
      recent trends observed in the two care regimes, this article aims at contributing
      to improve our cross-national understanding of how LTC is changing across Europe,
      identifying the basic approaches adopted in Italy and Spain and highlighting both
      their strengths and drawbacks.

PMID- 27648513
TI  - Psychological predictors of mobile phone use while crossing the street among
      college students: An application of the theory of planned behavior.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: As the prevalence of mobile phone use has increased globally, experts
      have verified the effects of mobile phone distraction on traffic safety. However,
      the psychological factors underlying pedestrians' decisions to use their mobile
      phones while crossing the street have received little attention. METHODS: The
      present study employed the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate the
      psychological factors that influence pedestrians' intentions to use a mobile
      phone while crossing the street. The additional predictors of descriptive norms,
      moral norms, risk perception, mobile phone involvement, and perceived ability to
      compensate are included. RESULTS: Approximately 40% of participants reported
      having used a mobile phone while crossing during the previous week and 5.4% had
      been involved in crossing accidents due to mobile phone distractions.
      Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed overall support for the
      predictive utility of the TPB. The standard TPB variables accounted for 13.3% of
      variance in intentions after demographic variables were controlled, and the
      extended predictors contributed an additional 7.6% beyond the standard
      constructs. CONCLUSION: The current study revealed that attitude, perceived
      behavior control, descriptive norms, mobile phone involvement, and perceived
      ability to compensate all emerged as significant predictors of intentions. The
      findings could support the design of more effective safety campaigns and
      interventions to reduce pedestrians' distracted crossing behaviors.

PMID- 27648512
TI  - Vaccine-Derived Polioviruses and Children with Primary Immunodeficiency, Iran,
      1995-2014.
AB  - Widespread use of oral poliovirus vaccine has led to an ~99.9% decrease in global
      incidence of poliomyelitis (from ~350,000 cases in 1988 to 74 cases in 2015) and
      eradication of wild-type poliovirus serotypes 2 and 3. However, patients with
      primary immunodeficiency might shed vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) for an
      extended period, which could pose a major threat to polio eradication programs.
      Since 1995, sixteen VDPV populations have been isolated from 14 patients with
      immunodeficiency in Iran. For these patients, vaccine-associated paralysis,
      mostly in >1 extremity, was the first manifestation of primary immunodeficiency.
      Seven patients with humoral immunodeficiency cleared VDPV infection more
      frequently than did 6 patients with combined immunodeficiencies. Our results
      raise questions about manifestations of VDPVs in immunodeficient patients and the
      role of cellular immunity against enterovirus infections. On the basis of an
      association between VDPVs and immunodeficiency, we advocate screening of patients
      with primary immunodeficiency for shedding of polioviruses.

PMID- 27648514
TI  - Development of skeletal system for mesh-type ICRP reference adult phantoms.
AB  - The reference adult computational phantoms of the international commission on
      radiological protection (ICRP) described in Publication 110 are voxel-type
      computational phantoms based on whole-body computed tomography (CT) images of
      adult male and female patients. The voxel resolutions of these phantoms are in
      the order of a few millimeters and smaller tissues such as the eye lens, the
      skin, and the walls of some organs cannot be properly defined in the phantoms,
      resulting in limitations in dose coefficient calculations for weakly penetrating
      radiations. In order to address the limitations of the ICRP-110 phantoms, an ICRP
      Task Group has been recently formulated and the voxel phantoms are now being
      converted to a high-quality mesh format. As a part of the conversion project, in
      the present study, the skeleton models, one of the most important and complex
      organs of the body, were constructed. The constructed skeleton models were then
      tested by calculating red bone marrow (RBM) and endosteum dose coefficients (DCs)
      for broad parallel beams of photons and electrons and comparing the calculated
      values with those of the original ICRP-110 phantoms. The results show that for
      the photon exposures, there is a generally good agreement in the DCs between the
      mesh-type phantoms and the original voxel-type ICRP-110 phantoms; that is, the
      dose discrepancies were less than 7% in all cases except for the 0.03 MeV cases,
      for which the maximum difference was 14%. On the other hand, for the electron
      exposures (?4 MeV), the DCs of the mesh-type phantoms deviate from those of the
      ICRP-110 phantoms by up to ~1600 times at 0.03 MeV, which is indeed due to the
      improvement of the skeletal anatomy of the developed skeleton mesh models.

PMID- 27648519
TI  - Calcium/Calmodulin Protein Kinase II-Dependent Ryanodine Receptor Phosphorylation
      Mediates Cardiac Contractile Dysfunction Associated With Sepsis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Sepsis is associated with cardiac contractile dysfunction attributed
      to alterations in Ca handling. We examined the subcellular mechanisms involved in
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca loss that mediate altered Ca handling and contractile
      dysfunction associated with sepsis. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING:
      Research laboratorySUBJECTS:: Male wild type and transgenic miceINTERVENTIONS::
      We induced sepsis in mice using the colon ascendens stent peritonitis model.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Twenty-four hours after colon ascendens stent
      peritonitis surgery, we observed that wild type mice had significantly elevated
      proinflammatory cytokine levels, reduced ejection fraction, and fractional
      shortening (ejection fraction %, 54.76 +/- 0.67; fractional shortening %, 27.53
      +/- 0.50) compared with sham controls (ejection fraction %, 73.57 +/- 0.20;
      fractional shortening %, 46.75 +/- 0.38). At the cardiac myocyte level, colon
      ascendens stent peritonitis cells showed reduced cell shortening, Ca transient
      amplitude and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca content compared with sham
      cardiomyocytes. Colon ascendens stent peritonitis hearts showed a significant
      increase in oxidation-dependent calcium and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase
      II activity, which could be prevented by pretreating animals with the antioxidant
      tempol. Pharmacologic inhibition of calcium and calmodulin-dependent protein
      kinase II with 2.5 uM of KN93 prevented the decrease in cell shortening, Ca
      transient amplitude, and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca content in colon ascendens
      stent peritonitis myocytes. Contractile function was also preserved in colon
      ascendens stent peritonitis myocytes isolated from transgenic mice expressing a
      calcium and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitory peptide (AC3-I) and
      in colon ascendens stent peritonitis myocytes isolated from mutant mice that have
      the ryanodine receptor 2 calcium and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II
      dependent phosphorylation site (serine 2814) mutated to alanine (S2814A).
      Furthermore, colon ascendens stent peritonitis S2814A mice showed preserved
      ejection fraction and fractional shortening (ejection fraction %, 73.06 +/- 6.31;
      fractional shortening %, 42.33 +/- 5.70) compared with sham S2814A mice (ejection
      fraction %, 71.60 +/- 4.02; fractional shortening %, 39.63 +/- 3.23).
      CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that oxidation and subsequent activation of calcium
      and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II has a causal role in the contractile
      dysfunction associated with sepsis. Calcium and calmodulin-dependent protein
      kinase II, through phosphorylation of the ryanodine receptor would lead to Ca
      leak from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, reducing sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca content,
      Ca transient amplitude and contractility. Development of organ-specific calcium
      and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitors may result in a beneficial
      therapeutic strategy to ameliorate contractile dysfunction associated with
      sepsis.

PMID- 27648521
TI  - Increase in Meningococcal Serogroup W Disease, Victoria, Australia, 2013-2015.
AB  - In Victoria, Australia, invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria
      meningitidis serogroup W increased from 4% of all cases in 2013 to 30% in 2015.
      This increase resulted largely from strains similar to those in the serogroup W
      sequence type 11 clonal complex, previously described in the United Kingdom and
      South America.

PMID- 27648520
TI  - Relation of comorbidities and patient navigation with the time to diagnostic
      resolution after abnormal cancer screening.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whether patient navigation improves outcomes for patients with
      comorbidities is unknown. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of
      comorbidities on the time to diagnostic resolution after an abnormal cancer
      screening test and to examine whether patient navigation improves the timeliness
      and likelihood of diagnostic resolution for patients with comorbidities in
      comparison with no navigation. METHODS: A secondary analysis of comorbidity data
      collected by Patient Navigation Research Program sites using the Charlson
      Comorbidity Index (CCI) was conducted. The participants were 6,349 patients with
      abnormal breast, cervical, colon, or prostate cancer screening tests between 2007
      and 2011. The intervention was patient navigation or usual care. The CCI data
      were highly skewed across projects and cancer sites, and the CCI scores were
      categorized as 0 (CCI score of 0 or no comorbidities identified; 76% of cases); 1
      (CCI score of 1; 16% of cases), or 2 (CCI score >= 2; 8% of cases). Separate
      adjusted hazard ratios for each site and cancer type were obtained, and then they
      were pooled with a meta-analysis random effects methodology. RESULTS: Patients
      with a CCI score >= 2 had delayed diagnostic resolution after an abnormal cancer
      screening test in comparison with those with no comorbidities. Patient navigation
      reduced delays in diagnostic resolution, with the greatest benefits seen for
      those with a CCI score >= 2. CONCLUSIONS: Persons with a CCI score >= 2
      experienced significant delays in timely diagnostic care in comparison with
      patients without comorbidities. Patient navigation was effective in reducing
      delays in diagnostic resolution among those with CCI scores > 1. Cancer
      2017;123:312-318. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27648524
TI  - Using sulfur stable isotopes to assess mercury bioaccumulation and
      biomagnification in temperate lake food webs.
AB  - Nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes (delta15 N, delta13 C) are commonly used to
      understand mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation and biomagnification in freshwater food
      webs. Though sulfur isotopes (delta34 S) can distinguish between energy sources
      from the water column (aqueous sulfate) and from sediments to freshwater
      organisms, little is known about whether delta34 S can help interpret variable Hg
      concentrations in aquatic species or food webs. Seven acidic lakes in Kejimkujik
      National Park (Nova Scotia, Canada) were sampled for biota, water, and sediments
      in 2009 and 2010. Fishes, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates were analyzed for
      delta34 S, delta15 N, delta13 C, and Hg (methyl Hg in invertebrates, total Hg in
      fishes); aqueous sulfate and profundal sediments were analyzed for delta34 S.
      Within lakes, mean delta34 S values in sediments and sulfate differed between
      0.530/00 and 1.980/00, limiting their use as tracers of energy sources to the
      food webs. However, log-Hg and delta34 S values were negatively related (slopes 
      0.14 to -0.35, R2 0.20-0.39, p < 0.001-0.01) through each food web, and slopes
      were significantly different among lakes (analysis of covariance, lake * delta34
      S interaction term p = 0.04). Despite these relationships, multiple regression
      analyses within each taxon showed that biotic Hg concentrations were generally
      better predicted by delta15 N and/or delta13 C. The results indicate that delta34
      S values are predictive of Hg concentrations in these food webs, although the
      mechanisms underlying these relationships warrant further study. Environ Toxicol
      Chem 2017;36:661-670. (c) 2016 SETAC.

PMID- 27648523
TI  - Controlled randomized study comparing the cardiovascular profile of everolimus
      with tacrolimus in renal transplantation.
AB  - Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) regression after kidney transplantation may be
      influenced by immunosuppression. In a 24-month open-label, multicenter, phase-IV
      study, 71 kidney allograft recipients without previous acute rejection, showing
      eGFR >40 ml/min and proteinuria <500 mg/day and between 6 months and 3 years post
      transplantation, were randomized to receive everolimus (EVR) + mycophenolic acid
      (MPA) or were maintained on tacrolimus (TAC) + MPA. The aim was to assess whether
      the conversion to EVR could reduce left ventricular mass index (LVMi) at month
      24. LVMi at month-24 decreased without differences between groups (TAC: 54.0 vs.
      48.2 g/m2.7 ; EVR: 53.4 vs. 49.4 g/m2.7 ). The LVH prevalence at baseline and
      month-24 was 59.4% and 40.6% in TAC group and 57.1% and 50.0% in EVR group. EVR
      conversion was associated with nearly disappearance of concentric LVH and
      concentric remodeling pattern. The procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide at
      month-24 showed greater reduction in EVR group (51.6 vs. 58.2 mg/l; P = 0.004).
      Conversion from TAC to EVR was associated with a significant improvement of eGFR
      (P = 0.0315, ancova). Adverse events were similar between groups without
      rejection episode or graft loss. Conversion from TAC to EVR did not further
      reduce LVMi after 24 months, although its effect on concentric LVH deserves
      further investigation (NCT01169701).

PMID- 27648522
TI  - RGDfK-functionalized gold nanorods bind only to activated platelets.
AB  - Integrin-targeting peptide RGDfK-labeled gold nanorods (GNR) seek to improve
      hyperthermia targeted to solid tumors by exploiting the known up-regulation of
      integrin alphavbeta3 cell membrane proteins on solid tumor vasculature surfaces.
      Tumor binding specificity might be expected since surrounding tissues and
      endothelial cells have limited numbers of these receptors. However, RGD peptide
      binding to many proteins is promiscuous, with known affinity to several families
      of cell integrin receptors, and also possible binding to platelets after
      intravenous infusion via a different integrin receptor, alphaIIbbeta3, on
      platelets. Binding of RGDfK-targeted GNR could considerably impact platelet
      function, ultimately leading to increased risk of bleeding or thrombosis
      depending on the degree of interaction. We sought to determine if RGDfK-labeled
      GNR could interact with platelets and alter platelet function. Targeted and
      untargeted nanorods exhibited little interaction with resting platelets in
      platelet rich plasma (PRP) preparations. However, upon platelet activation,
      peptide-targeted nanorods bound actively to platelets. Addition of RGDfK-GNR to
      unactivated platelets had little effect on markers of platelet activation,
      indicating that RGDfK-nanorods were incapable of inducing platelet activation. We
      next tested whether activated platelet function was altered in the presence of
      peptide-targeted nanorods. Platelet aggregation in whole blood and PRP in the
      presence of targeted nanorods had no significant effect on platelet aggregation.
      These data suggest that RGDfK-GNR alone have little impact on platelet function
      in plasma. However, nonspecific nanorod binding may occur in vascular beds where
      activated platelets are normally cleared, such as the spleen and liver, producing
      a possible toxicity risk for these nanomaterials. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 209-217, 2017.

PMID- 27648525
TI  - Risk and protective factors associated with adolescent girls' substance use: Data
      from a nationwide Facebook sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite overall reductions in teenage substance use, adolescent
      girls' rates of substance use remain unacceptably high. This article examines
      whether girls' substance use is associated with general risk and protective
      factors (goal setting, problem solving, refusal skills, peer use, and self
      efficacy) and gender-specific risk and protective factors (communication style,
      coping skills, self-esteem, body image, perceived stress, anxiety, and
      depression). METHODS: Cross-sectional data were collected in 2013 via online
      surveys from a nationwide sample of adolescent girls (N = 788), aged 13 and 14
      years, who were recruited through Facebook. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses,
      controlling for correlates of adolescent substance use, 11 of the 13 general and
      gender-specific risk and protective factors were consistently associated with
      past-month alcohol, cigarette, and other drug use in the expected direction; past
      month marijuana use was associated with 8 of the 13 factors. Refusal skills, peer
      use, coping, and depressive mood were most consistently and strongly associated
      with substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Substance abuse prevention programs targeting
      adolescent girls should focus on such general risk and protective factors as
      problem solving, refusal skills, peer influences, and self-efficacy, as well as
      such gender-specific risk and protective factors as communication style, coping,
      self-esteem, body image, perceived stress, and mood management.

PMID- 27648527
TI  - Improving the Sun Drying of Apricots (Prunus armeniaca) with Photo-Selective
      Dryer Cabinet Materials.
AB  - Photo-selective materials have been studied for their effects on the preharvest
      quality of horticultural crops, but little work has been done on potential
      postharvest processing effects. The aim of this work was to characterize the
      effects of 5 different photo-selective acrylic materials (used as the lid to a
      single-layer sun drying cabinet) on the drying rate and quality of apricots
      (Prunus armeniaca). Photo-selective cabinet materials that transmit light in the
      visible portion of the solar spectrum accelerate the apricots' drying rate in
      both the early period of drying and the course of drying as a whole. These
      materials do not significantly affect the measured quality metrics during the
      first day of sun drying. However, when drying is taken to completion, some minor
      but significant quality differences are observed. Infrared-blocking material
      produces dried apricot with lower red color, compared to clear, opaque black, and
      ultraviolet-blocking materials. Clear material produced dried apricot with
      significantly lower antioxidant activity, compared to black and infrared-blocking
      materials. Using appropriate photo-selective drying cabinet materials can reduce
      the required sun drying time for apricots by 1 to 2 d, compared with fully shaded
      drying. Ultraviolet-blocking material is recommended to maximize drying rate and
      minimize quality degradation.

PMID- 27648528
TI  - Nutrients structure changes impact the competition and succession between diatom
      and dinoflagellate in the East China Sea.
AB  - Nutrients variations caused by anthropogenic activities alter phytoplankton
      community interactions, especially competition and succession between two algal
      species. East China Sea experiences annual successions of Skeletonema costatum
      and Prorocentrum donghaiense and large-scale blooms of P. donghaiense. In this
      study, the growth and competition responses of S. costatum and P. donghaiense to
      different inorganic nutrients structure were evaluated through field and indoors
      experiments to further understand the nutrients mechanism of these events.
      Results showed that low Si/N ratio (Si/N<1) and high N/P (>50) possibly
      accelerated P. donghaiense outbreak and decreased Si/N caused by low Si
      concentration could speed up S. costatum decay. Excessive DIN also accelerated
      blooms dominated by P. donghaiense (Dt up to -3) when S. costatum perished.
      Increased DIN loads from anthropogenic activities were possibly responsible for
      the changes in phytoplankton communities and dinoflagellate outbreak when Si
      concentration decreased as a result of governmental control efforts. With
      effective management practices for Si and P reductions worldwide, managers should
      be aware of the negative implications of unsuccessful management of system N
      loading because N may significantly alter the composition and ecosystem of
      phytoplankton communities.

PMID- 27648529
TI  - Mobility and speciation of geogenic arsenic in bedrock groundwater from the
      Canadian Shield in western Quebec, Canada.
AB  - High arsenic concentrations occur in groundwater collected from a fractured
      crystalline bedrock aquifer in western Quebec (Canada). Sampling and analysis of
      water from 59 private wells reveal that more than half of the bedrock wells
      exceed the Canadian guideline value of 10MUg/l for arsenic, whereas shallow wells
      in unconsolidated surficial deposits are not affected by the contamination. The
      weathering of arsenic-bearing sulfides present along the mineralized fault zone
      is considered to be the primary source of arsenic in groundwater. High-arsenic
      wells are generally characterized by mildly reducing conditions (Eh<250mV), weak
      alkaline conditions (pH>7.4), low Ca/Na ratios, elevated dissolved Fe and Mn
      concentrations and high proportions of As(III). Private bedrock wells are open
      boreholes that likely receive groundwater from multiple contributing fractures.
      Hence, it is proposed that dissolved arsenic is mainly derived from the
      contribution to the well discharge of reducing and alkaline geochemically evolved
      groundwater that contains arsenic as As(III). Geochemically evolved groundwater
      provides favorable conditions to release arsenic by reductive dissolution of iron
      and manganese oxyhydroxides and alkaline desorption from mineral surfaces. Thus,
      high-arsenic wells would contain a high proportion of geochemically evolved
      groundwater, while oxidizing low-pH recharge water causes dilution and
      sequestration of arsenic. In relation with the chemical evolution of groundwater
      along the flow path, most contaminated wells are located in confined areas
      whereas most of the wells located in unconfined recharge areas are not
      contaminated. The occurrence of boreholes with high dissolved arsenic as As(V)
      and oxidizing conditions is attributed to extensive sulfide oxidation and
      alkaline desorption. This work shows that the determination of arsenic speciation
      provides a valuable tool to investigate the behavior of arsenic in bedrock
      groundwater.

PMID- 27648526
TI  - The influence of FKBP5 genotype on expression of FKBP5 and other glucocorticoid
      regulated genes, dependent on trauma exposure.
AB  - The FK506 binding protein 51 (FKBP5), an intrinsic regulator of the
      glucocorticoid receptor, has been associated with pathological behaviors
      particularly in the context of childhood trauma (CT), via a putatively regulatory
      polymorphism, rs1360780. However, trans- and cis-acting effects of this locus and
      its interaction with CT are incompletely understood. To study its effects on the
      expression of glucocorticoid-regulated genes including FKBP5, we used
      lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) derived from 16 CT-exposed patients with greater
      than two substance dependence/suicidal behavior diagnoses (casesCT+) and 13 non
      CT-exposed controls (controlsCT-). This study in LCLs measures long-term trait
      like differences attributable to genotype or lasting epigenetic modification.
      Through analysis of differential allelic expression (DAE) using an FKBP5 3'-UTR
      reporter single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs3800373, that is in strong
      linkage disequilibrium with rs1360780, we confirmed that the rs1360780 risk
      allele (A) (or conceivably that of a linked SNP) leads to higher FKBP5 expression
      in controlsCT-. Intriguingly, casesCT+ did not show DAE, perhaps because of a
      genotype-predicted difference in FKBP5 DNA methylation restricted to casesCT+.
      Furthermore, through correlation analyses on FKBP5 expression at baseline and
      after induction by dexamethasone, we observed that casesCT+ had lower induction
      of FKBP5 expression, indicating that overall they may have strong ultra-short
      negative-feedback. Only casesCT+ showed an effect of rs1360780 genotype on
      expression of FKBP5 and other glucocorticoid-regulated genes. Together, these
      results confirm that the rs1360780 locus alters FKBP5 expression and further that
      in trans-fashion this locus affects the expression of other glucocorticoid
      regulated genes after a glucocorticoid challenge. The CT exposure appears to be
      essential for trans-effects of rs1360780 on glucocorticoid-regulated genes.

PMID- 27648530
TI  - Reduction of ammonia emissions from dairy cattle cubicle houses via improved
      management- or design-based strategies: A modeling approach.
AB  - Given the current scarcity of empirical data on ammonia (NH3) emissions from
      dairy cattle under different management-based mitigation techniques, a modeling
      approach to assess potential NH3 emission reduction factors is needed. This paper
      introduces a process-based model that estimates NH3 emission reduction factors
      for a dairy cattle barn featuring single or multiple management-based NH3
      emission mitigation techniques, as compared to another barn, to which no
      mitigation measure is applied. The model accounts for the following emission
      mitigation measures: (a) floor scraping, (b) floor type, (c) floor flushing with
      water and (d) indoor acidification of manure. Model sensitivity analysis
      indicated that manure acidification was the most efficient NH3 emission reduction
      technique. A fair agreement was observed between reduction factors from the model
      and empirical estimates found in the literature. We propose a list of
      combinations of techniques that achieve the largest reductions. In order of
      efficiency, they are: (a) floor scraping combined with manure acidification
      (reduction efficiency 44-49%); (b) solid floor combined with scraping and
      flushing (reduction efficiency 21-27%); (c) floor scraping combined with flushing
      and (d) floor scraping alone (reduction efficiency 17-22%). The model is
      currently being used to advise the Flemish Government (Belgium), on the
      performance of certain NH3 emission reduction systems for dairy barns in
      Flanders.

PMID- 27648531
TI  - A graphical approach to characterize sub-daily flow regimes and evaluate its
      alterations due to hydropeaking.
AB  - Most flow regime characterizations focus on long time scale flow patterns, which
      are not precise enough to capture key components of short-term flow fluctuations.
      Recent proposed methods describing sub-daily flow fluctuations are focused on
      limited components of the flow regime being unable to fully represent it, or on
      the identification of peaking events based on subjectively defined thresholds,
      being unsuitable for evaluations of short-term flow regime alterations through
      comparisons between regulated and free-flowing rivers. This study aims to launch
      an innovative approach based on the visual display of quantitative information to
      address the challenge of the short-term hydrologic characterization and
      evaluation of alteration resulting from hydropeaking. We propose a graphical
      method to represent a discrete set of ecologically relevant indices that
      characterize and evaluate the alteration of sub-daily flow regimes. The frequency
      of occurrence of classified values of a descriptive hydrological variable is
      represented in a map-like graph where longitude, latitude and altitude represent
      the Julian day, the value of the variable and the frequency of occurrence,
      respectively. Subsequently, we tested the method on several rivers, both free
      flowing and subjected to hydropower production. The advantages of our approach
      compared to other analytical methods are: (i) it displays a great amount of
      information without oversimplification; (ii) it takes into account changes in the
      intensity, timing and frequency of the sub-daily flows, without needing a priori
      defined thresholds to identify hydropeaking events; and (iii) it supports the
      Water Framework Directive goal. Specifically, results from applications of our
      graphical method agree with Sauterleute and Charmasson (2014) analytical method.

PMID- 27648532
TI  - A relative method for measuring nitric oxide (NO) fluxes from forest soils.
AB  - Many forest ecosystems in the world are suffering from high load of nitrogen (N)
      deposition and acting as potential contributors to atmospheric nitric oxide (NO),
      which regulates the oxidative capacity of the troposphere. However, the
      observation of NO flux with traditional dynamic chamber method is laborious in
      the forest ecosystem, particularly when the electric power generation system is
      unavailable. In this work, a relative method based on Fick's law of diffusion was
      developed to measure NO fluxes from forest soils. This method describes the
      relationship between NO and other trace gases, such as N2O or CO2, concerning gas
      fluxes and gas concentration gradients between the uppermost soil layer and the
      atmosphere. This relative method can be expressed as two forms: based on the
      directly obtained soil gas and based on the equilibrium gas at soil water
      surface. To testify the applicability of this method, both laboratory and field
      experiments were conducted with soil from an N-saturated subtropical forest in
      Southwestern China. The results demonstrate that the NO fluxes measured based on
      the later form agreed well with those observed by chamber method, with the
      deviation rates of around 9% and 30%, respectively. In conclusion, this relative
      method provides a sound methodological basis for interpreting NO flux variations
      in the field, especially in N-saturated forest ecosystems, and allows an
      improvement of statistical N-budget in the world.

PMID- 27648534
TI  - A decision support tool for evaluating the air quality and wind comfort induced
      by different opening configurations for buildings in canyons.
AB  - This study formulated a new index for evaluating both the air quality and wind
      comfort induced by building openings at the pedestrian level of street canyons.
      The air pollutant concentrations and wind velocities induced by building openings
      were predicted by a series of CFD simulations using ANSYS Fluent software based
      on standard k-E model. The types of opening configurations investigated inside
      isolated and non-isolated canyons included separations, voids and permeable
      elements. It was found that openings with permeability values of 10% were
      adequate for improving the air quality and wind comfort conditions for
      pedestrians after considering the reduction in development floor areas. Openings
      were effective in improving the air quality in isolated canyons and different
      types of opening configurations were suggested for different street aspect
      ratios. On the contrary, openings were not always found effective for non
      isolated canyons if there were pollutant sources in adjacent street canyons. As
      such, it would also be recommended introducing openings to adjacent canyons along
      with openings to the target canyons. The formulated index can help city planners
      and building designers to strike an optimal balance between air quality and wind
      comfort for pedestrians when designing and planning buildings inside urban
      streets and thus promoting urban environmental sustainability.

PMID- 27648533
TI  - Anthropogenic versus mineral aerosols in the stimulation of microbial planktonic
      communities in coastal waters of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea.
AB  - The atmosphere of the northwestern (NW) Mediterranean Sea is affected by
      continuous inputs of anthropogenic aerosols and episodic Saharan dust events.
      These atmospheric inputs deliver to the surface waters high amounts of
      macronutrients and trace metals that can constitute their main source at certain
      times of the year. The effect of both anthropogenic and crustal particles over
      the autotrophic and heterotrophic planktonic community assembles was evaluated
      through three microcosm experiments carried out in the summer of 2013 and in the
      winter and spring of 2014 at an urban coastal location of the NW Mediterranean
      (Barcelona, Spain). Particles were added to seawater at a concentration of 0.8mgl
      1. The results showed that (i) a greater stimulation of the whole community was
      observed in summer and spring than in winter; (ii) both kinds of aerosols
      produced an increase in the growth of phytoplankton, although the stimulation of
      nanoeukaryotes was significantly larger with anthropogenic aerosols; and (iii)
      bacterial abundance increased more with mineral dust, whereas bacterial
      production was more stimulated with anthropogenic inputs. Overall, the effect of
      atmospheric particles was dependent on their composition and solubility in
      seawater, as well as on the initial biogeochemical conditions present in the
      seawater and had the potential to change the net metabolic balance of the
      microbial planktonic community.

PMID- 27648535
TI  - The fate of selected pharmaceuticals in solar stills: Transfer, thermal
      degradation or photolysis?
AB  - The increase in demand for, and disposal of, pharmaceuticals, positively
      correlated with the growing human population, has led to the emergence of
      contaminants with high environmental and health impacts. Several developing
      countries that endure problems related to water sufficiency and/or quality resort
      to the use solar stills as an affordable water treatment method. This research is
      aimed at investigating the fate of five chemically distinct pharmaceuticals that
      might pervade solar stills; ibuprofen (IBU), diclofenac (DCF), carbamazepine
      (CBZ), ampicillin (AMP) and naproxen (NPX). The experiments were conducted under
      three conditions. The first condition studied the combined effect of temperature
      and light in simulated field-test-scale solar stills. The effect of temperature
      as a sole variable was investigated in the second while the third condition
      studied the effect of light only via concentrated solar power (CSP). Results show
      that distillates from solar stills did not contain the parent compounds for four
      out of the five pharmaceuticals. IBU was the only pharmaceutical that showed a
      transfer via vapor into the distillate with the highest recorded transfer
      percentage of 2.1% at 50 degrees C when subjected to temperature alone and 0.6%
      under the combined effect of temperature and light. In the case of NPX and DCF,
      the parent compounds did not undergo transfer into the distillate phase; however
      their degradation by-products did. In addition, the results also showed that in
      the case of NPX, IBU and CBZ both high temperatures and sunlight combined were
      required to attain noticeable degradation. CSP accelerated the degradation of
      DCF, NPX and IBU with a three-minutes-degradation percentage of 44%, 13% and 2%
      respectively.

PMID- 27648536
TI  - Progress on thymic function from Maui.
AB  - Maui, Hawaii, was the home for the latest Global Thymus Network meeting 5-9 June
      2016. Participants gathered together to discuss how one little organ can have
      such huge effects. 

PMID- 27648537
TI  - Cracking the code of skin inflammation with CD1a.

PMID- 27648538
TI  - Dances with cytokines, featuring TFH cells, IL-21, IL-4 and B cells.

PMID- 27648539
TI  - Reining in uncontrolled inflammasome with PKA.

PMID- 27648540
TI  - R.I.P. dead bacteria, you will not be attacked.

PMID- 27648541
TI  - Shaping the healthy repertoire.

PMID- 27648542
TI  - Fueling IgA production.

PMID- 27648544
TI  - The survival factor.

PMID- 27648543
TI  - Neutrophilic tumor suppressors.

PMID- 27648545
TI  - Macrophage core program.

PMID- 27648546
TI  - Germline TCR contributions.

PMID- 27648548
TI  - Erratum: CD69 controls the uptake of L-tryptophan through LAT1-CD98 and AhR
      dependent secretion of IL-22 in psoriasis.

PMID- 27648549
TI  - Corrigendum: Gut microbiome-derived metabolites modulate intestinal epithelial
      cell damage and mitigate graft-versus-host disease.

PMID- 27648547
TI  - Regulation and function of the cGAS-STING pathway of cytosolic DNA sensing.
AB  - The recognition of microbial nucleic acids is a major mechanism by which the
      immune system detects pathogens. Cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) is a
      cytosolic DNA sensor that activates innate immune responses through production of
      the second messenger cGAMP, which activates the adaptor STING. The cGAS-STING
      pathway not only mediates protective immune defense against infection by a large
      variety of DNA-containing pathogens but also detects tumor-derived DNA and
      generates intrinsic antitumor immunity. However, aberrant activation of the cGAS
      pathway by self DNA can also lead to autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Thus,
      the cGAS pathway must be properly regulated. Here we review the recent advances
      in understanding of the cGAS-STING pathway, focusing on the regulatory mechanisms
      and roles of this pathway in heath and disease.

PMID- 27648550
TI  - Corrigendum: Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Nef suppresses CD40-dependent
      immunoglobulin class switching in bystander B cells.

PMID- 27648551
TI  - Erratum: Activin A programs the differentiation of human TFH cells.

PMID- 27648552
TI  - Azathioprine and 6-Mercaptopurine-induced Liver Injury: Clinical Features and
      Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to define the clinical, biochemical,
      and histologic features of liver injury from thiopurines. BACKGROUND:
      Azathioprine (Aza) and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) can cause liver injury, but no
      large series exist. METHODS: Clinical and laboratory data and 6-month outcomes of
      patients with thiopurine hepatotoxicity from the Drug-Induced Liver Injury
      Network Prospective Study were analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were
      identified, 12 due to Aza and 10 due to 6-MP, with a median age of 55 years; the
      majority were female (68%). Inflammatory bowel disease was the indication in 55%,
      and the median thiopurine dose was 150 (range, 25 to 300) mg daily. The median
      latency to onset was 75 (range, 3 to 2584) days. Injury first arose after a dose
      escalation in 59% of patients, the median latency after dose increase being 44
      (range, 3 to 254) days. At onset, the median alanine aminotransferase level was
      210 U/L, alkaline phosphatase was 151 U/L, and bilirubin was 7.4 mg/dL (peak,
      13.4 mg/dL). There were no major differences between Aza and 6-MP cases, but
      anicteric cases typically had nonspecific symptoms and a hepatocellular pattern
      of enzyme elevations, whereas icteric cases experienced cholestatic hepatitis
      with modest enzyme elevations in a mixed pattern. One patient with preexisting
      cirrhosis required liver transplantation; all others resolved clinically. One
      patient still had moderate alkaline phosphatase elevations 2 years after onset.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nearly three-quarters of patients with thiopurine-induced liver
      injury present with self-limited, cholestatic hepatitis, typically within 3
      months of starting or a dose increase. The prognosis is favorable except in
      patients with preexisting cirrhosis.

PMID- 27648553
TI  - Therapy of 645 children with parapneumonic effusion and empyema-A German
      nationwide surveillance study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the initial management of pediatric parapneumonic effusion
      or pleural empyema (PPE/PE) with regard to length of hospital stay (LOS).
      METHODS: Collection of pediatric PPE/PE cases using a nationwide surveillance
      system (ESPED) from 10/2010 to 06/2013, in all German pediatric hospitals.
      Inclusion of PPE/PE patients <18 years of age requiring drainage or with a PPE/PE
      persistence >7 days. Staging of PPE/PE based on reported pleural sonographic
      imaging. Comparison of LOS after diagnosis between children treated with
      different forms of initial invasive procedures performed <=3 days after PPE/PE
      diagnosis: pleural puncture, draining catheter, intrapleural fibrinolytic
      therapy, surgical procedures. RESULTS: Inclusion of 645 children (median age 5
      years); median total LOS 17 days. Initial therapy was non-invasive in 282 (45%)
      cases and invasive in 347 (55%) cases (pleural puncture: 62 [10%], draining
      catheter: 153 [24%], intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy: 89 [14%], surgical
      procedures: 43 [7%]). LOS after diagnosis did not differ between children
      initially treated with different invasive procedures. Results remained unchanged
      when controlling for sonographic stage, preexisting diseases, and other potential
      confounders. Repeated use of invasive procedures was observed more often after
      initial non-invasive treatment or pleural puncture alone than after initial
      pleural drainage, intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy or surgery. CONCLUSIONS:
      Initial treatment with intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy or surgical procedures
      did not result in shorter LOS than initial pleural puncture alone. Larger
      prospective studies are required to investigate which children benefit
      significantly from more intensive forms of initial invasive treatment. Pediatr
      Pulmonol. 2017;52:540-547. (c) 2016 The Authors. Pediatric Pulmonology Published
      by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648554
TI  - Striving for balance between caring and restraint: young adults' experiences with
      parental multiple sclerosis.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore and describe how young adults between 18-25 years
      of age experienced growing up with a parent with multiple sclerosis and how these
      experiences continue to influence their daily lives. BACKGROUND: Chronic parental
      illness is occurring in about 10% of families worldwide, but little is known
      about how the children experience growing up with a parent with multiple
      sclerosis during their childhood and into young adulthood. DESIGN: We chose a
      qualitative design using a phenomenological approach based on Giorgi. METHODS:
      Exploratory and open-ended interviews with 14 young adults were conducted.
      RESULTS: The essence of the phenomenon of having a parent with multiple sclerosis
      was synthesized into 'Striving for balance between caring and restraint' from two
      themes 'caring' and 'restraint' and eight subthemes. Participants' experiences of
      caring for parents with multiple sclerosis continued influencing their other
      close relationships, in which they tended to assume responsibility while
      concealing some of their feelings and desires. Most participants showed restraint
      among parents with and without multiple sclerosis, friends and partners.
      CONCLUSION: It seems that one of the greatest challenges of having a parent with
      multiple sclerosis is achieving a balance between caring for others and asserting
      one's own desires. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals can
      support the family by encouraging family members to participate in consultations
      and to assist the parents in providing information about multiple sclerosis and
      its symptoms to the children. Parents might need assistance in applying for help
      with domestic chores or referrals to support groups for their children or other
      family members.

PMID- 27648555
TI  - Gastroprotective Effect of Alkaloids from Cortex Phellodendri on Gastric Ulcers
      in Rats through Neurohumoral Regulation.
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the gastroprotective activity of the total
      alkaloids from the bark of Phellodendron amurense and identify their possible
      mechanism. Total alkaloids were obtained through an alcohol extraction method and
      were analyzed using LC-MS/MS. Chronic gastric ulcers were induced by acetic acid
      (0.14 mol/L) filter paper on the gastric serosa. The antiulcer effect of total
      alkaloids was evaluated using the ulcer area, the ulcer inhibition ratio, and
      epidermal growth factor. The gastroprotective mechanism of total alkaloids was
      revealed using the levels of serotonin and noradrenaline. The results showed that
      oral administration of total alkaloids (30 mg/kg/day) obviously decreased the
      ulcer area (7.67 +/- 2.06 mm2; p < 0.01) compared with the model group (15.15 +/-
      2.34 mm2). The ulcer inhibition ratio of the total alkaloids group (50 %) was
      higher than the omeprazole-treated group (46 %), which showed that the antiulcer
      effect of the total alkaloids may be superior to omeprazole. Besides, the total
      alkaloids significantly increased the epidermal growth factor level and
      accelerated the healing of ulcers. Histological examination of gastric tissues
      also supported the same conclusion. In addition, the total alkaloids
      significantly elevated the levels of serotonin and noradrenaline (both p < 0.01
      compared to the model group). Our data indicates that total alkaloids of Cortex
      Phellodendri exerts a beneficial gastroprotective effect and the involved
      mechanism is likely neurohumoral regulation. Thus, Cortex Phellodendri may
      develop into a promising clinical medicinal agent for improving the quality of
      ulcer healing.

PMID- 27648556
TI  - Usnic Acid Activity on Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress of Azole-Resistant
      Candida albicans Biofilm.
AB  - Several studies report that (+)-usnic acid, a lichen secondary metabolite,
      inhibits growth of different bacteria and fungi; however, the mechanism of its
      antimicrobial activity remains unknown. In this study, we explored the ability of
      usnic acid, obtained from Usnea amblyoclada, as an antibiofilm agent against
      azole-resistant and azole-sensitive Candida albicans strains by studying the
      cellular stress and antioxidant response in biofilms. The biofilm inhibitory
      concentration of usnic acid (4 ug/mL) exhibited a significant biofilm inhibition,
      71.08 % for azole-resistant and 87.84 % for azole-sensitive C. albicans strains.
      Confocal scanning laser microscopy showed that the morphology of mature biofilm
      was altered (reduced the biomass and thickness) in the presence of usnic acid.
      The antifungal effect was mediated by an oxidative and nitrosative stress, with a
      significant accumulation of intracellular and extracellular reactive oxygen
      species detected by confocal scanning laser microscopy and by nitro blue
      tetrazolium, respectively. In fact, azole-resistant and azole-sensitive C.
      albicans biofilms treated at the biofilm inhibitory concentration of usnic acid
      presented 30-fold and 10-fold increased reactive oxygen species measurements
      compared to basal levels, respectively, and important nitric oxide generation,
      showing 25-fold and 60-fold increased reactive nitrogen intermediates levels with
      respect to the controls, respectively. Nonenzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant
      defenses were increased in both strains compared to biofilm basal levels as
      response to the increase of oxidant metabolites. The present study shows for the
      first time that usnic acid can alter the prooxidant-antioxidant balance, which
      may be the cause of the irreversible cell damage and lead to cell death. Our
      results suggest that usnic acid could be an alternative for the treatment of
      Candida infections, which deserves further investigation.

PMID- 27648557
TI  - New Structurally Diverse Limonoids from the Seeds of Khaya senegalensis.
AB  - Twelve new limonoids (khasenegasins O-Z; 1-12) with three different kinds of
      skeletons, including eight mexicanolides, two gedunins, and two andirobins,
      together with four known limonoids (13-16) were isolated from the seeds of Khaya
      senegalensis. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic
      analyses (HR-ESI-MS, 1D/2D NMR), and the absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were
      established by the electronic circular dichroism exciton chirality method.
      Moreover, a new andirobin-type limonoid (12) showed significant neuroprotective
      activity against glutamate-induced injury in primary rat cerebellar granule
      neuronal cells with increased viability of 83.3 +/- 6.0 % at 10 uM and 80.3 +/-
      3.2 % at 1 uM.

PMID- 27648558
TI  - Correction: Knock-in Luciferase Reporter Mice for In Vivo Monitoring of CREB
      Activity.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158274.].

PMID- 27648559
TI  - Hypervariability of Nucleolus Organizer Regions in Bengal Slow Lorises,
      Nycticebus bengalensis (Primates, Lorisidae).
AB  - Slow lorises are a cryptic species complex, and thus genetic markers are needed
      to identify distinct evolutionary lineages or species. We examined the nucleolus
      organizer regions (NORs) of Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) using
      FISH with 18S rDNA (rDNA-FISH) and silver nitrate staining (Ag-NOR stain). Ten
      individuals of the putatively single species N. bengalensis showed higher
      variability in localization than 3 other congeners, though their overall
      karyotypes were similar. The rDNA-FISH analysis detected a total of 18 loci, in
      contrast to previous studies of other slow loris species that revealed far fewer
      (6-10) loci. Eight of the 18 loci detected in the present analysis were found to
      be semi-stable localizations at 4 different chromosomes, while 10 were found to
      be unstable localizations at 5 other chromosomes. The semi-stable locations
      showed occasional presence/absence of variations for rDNA-FISH, and unstable
      locations were polymorphic among individuals, contributing to the higher
      variability of NORs in this taxon. We hypothesize that the larger numbers of rDNA
      loci found in N. bengalensis were introduced by genomic dispersion through
      ectopic recombination in association with terminal regions including rDNA. Such
      differences are potentially very powerful chromosomal markers to be used in
      species identification and conservation.

PMID- 27648560
TI  - Development of a Blue Emitting Calcium-Aluminate Phosphor.
AB  - We report methodological advances that enhance the phosphorescence efficiency of
      a blue-emitting calcium aluminate phosphor (CaAl2O4: Eu2+, Nd3+). The
      investigation of long-persistence blue-emitting phosphors is highly desirable due
      to their promising applications, such as white LEDs; however, the development of
      highly efficient blue-emitting phosphors is still challenging. Here, we have
      quantitatively characterized the phosphorescence properties of the blue-emitting
      phosphor CaAl2O4:Eu2+, Nd3+ with various compositions and directly related these
      properties to the quality of its luminescence. We optimized the composition of
      the activator Eu2+ and the co-activator Nd3+, the doping conditions with alkaline
      earth metals, alkali metals, and Si to create crystallographic distortions and,
      finally, the flux conditions to find the best parameters for bright and
      persistent blue-emitting phosphors. Our research has identified several doping
      compositions with good to excellent performance, with which we have demonstrated
      bright and persistent phosphors with afterglow characteristics superior to those
      of conventional phosphors. 

PMID- 27648561
TI  - NR0B1 Frameshift Mutation in a Boy with Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty.
AB  - NR0B1 is the causative gene for X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita,
      characterized by adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and
      infertility. We identified an NR0B1 frameshift mutation in a boy with precocious
      puberty who had no signs of adrenal insufficiency. Blood examination revealed
      elevated testosterone levels and gonadotropin hyperresponses to gonadotropin
      releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation, together with normal adrenal hormone
      levels. GnRH analog treatment partially ameliorated his clinical features.
      Molecular analysis identified a p.Glu3fsAla*16 in NR0B1. These results expand the
      clinical manifestations of NR0B1 mutations to include central precocious puberty
      without adrenal insufficiency. NR0B1 mutations likely underlie androgen
      overproduction via GnRH-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

PMID- 27648562
TI  - Introducing Mushroom Fruiting Patterns from the Swiss National Poisons
      Information Centre.
AB  - Changes in the ecology of macrofungi are poorly understood, not only because much
      of their life cycle is hidden belowground, but also because experiments often
      miss real-world complexity and most fruitbody inventories are limited in space
      and time. The National Poisons Information Centre 'Tox Info Suisse' provides
      countrywide 24hours/7days medical advice in case of poisonings since 1966. Here,
      we introduce a total of 12,126 mushroom-related phone calls that were received by
      Tox Info Suisse between 1966 and 2014. This indirect source of mycological
      information is dominated by the families of Boletaceae (11%), Agaricaceae (10%)
      and Amanitaceae (8%), which account for ~30% of all cases. Mushroom fruiting
      patterns revealed by the Poisons Centre inventory statistically resemble changes
      in fungal phenology, productivity and diversity as reflected by the Swiss
      National Data Centre 'SwissFungi'. Although the newly developed Tox Info Suisse
      dataset provides an innovative basis for timely environmental research, caution
      is advised when interpreting some of the observed long-term changes and autumnal
      extremes. Uncertainty of the new record relates to possible data incompleteness,
      imprecise species description and/or identification, as well as the inclusion of
      cultivated and non-indigenous mushrooms. Nevertheless, we hope that the Tox Info
      Suisse inventory will stimulate and enable a variety of ecological-oriented
      follow-up studies. 

PMID- 27648565
TI  - Erratum.

PMID- 27648564
TI  - Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary Care: Outcomes after Five Years in a
      Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is commonly managed in primary care, but
      most guidelines have a secondary care perspective emphasizing the risk of end
      stage kidney disease (ESKD) and need for renal replacement therapy. In this
      prospective cohort study, we sought to study in detail the natural history of CKD
      in primary care to better inform the appropriate emphasis for future guidance.
      METHODS AND FINDINGS: In this study, 1,741 people with CKD stage 3 were
      individually recruited from 32 primary care practices in Derbyshire, United
      Kingdom. Study visits were undertaken at baseline, year 1, and year 5. Binomial
      logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to model
      progression, CKD remission, and all-cause mortality. We used Kidney Disease:
      Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria to define CKD progression and defined
      CKD remission as the absence of diagnostic criteria (estimated glomerular
      filtration rate [eGFR] >60 ml/min/1.73 m2 and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio
      [uACR] <3 mg/mmol) at any study visit. Participants were predominantly elderly
      (mean +/- standard deviation (SD) age 72.9 +/- 9.0 y), with relatively mild
      reduction in GFR (mean +/- SD eGFR 53.5 +/- 11.8 mL/min/1,73 m2) and a low
      prevalence of albuminuria (16.9%). After 5 y, 247 participants (14.2%) had died,
      most of cardiovascular causes. Only 4 (0.2%) developed ESKD, but 308 (17.7%)
      evidenced CKD progression by KDIGO criteria. Stable CKD was observed in 593
      participants (34.1%), and 336 (19.3%) met the criteria for remission. Remission
      at baseline and year 1 was associated with a high likelihood of remission at year
      5 (odds ratio [OR] = 23.6, 95% CI 16.5-33.9 relative to participants with no
      remission at baseline and year 1 study visits). Multivariable analyses confirmed
      eGFR and albuminuria as key risk factors for predicting adverse as well as
      positive outcomes. Limitations of this study include reliance on GFR estimated
      using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study (MDRD) equation for
      recruitment (but not subsequent analysis) and a study population that was
      predominantly elderly and white, implying that the results may not be directly
      applicable to younger populations of more diverse ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Management of CKD in primary care should focus principally on identifying the
      minority of people at high risk of adverse outcomes, to allow intervention to
      slow CKD progression and reduce cardiovascular events. Efforts should also be
      made to identify and reassure the majority who are at low risk of progression to
      ESKD. Consideration should be given to adopting an age-calibrated definition of
      CKD to avoid labelling a large group of people with age-related decline in GFR
      and low associated risk as having CKD.

PMID- 27648563
TI  - Influence of Human p53 on Plant Development.
AB  - Mammalian p53 is a super tumor suppressor and plays a key role in guarding genome
      from DNA damage. However, p53 has not been found in plants which do not bear
      cancer although they constantly expose to ionizing radiation of ultraviolet
      light. Here we introduced p53 into the model plant Arabidopsis and examined p53
      conferred phenotype in plant. Most strikingly, p53 caused early senescence and
      fasciation. In plants, fasciation has been shown as a result of the elevated
      homologous DNA recombination. Consistently, a reporter with overlapping segments
      of the GUS gene (1445) showed that the frequency of homologous recombination was
      highly induced in p53-transgenic plants. In contrast to p53, SUPPRESSOR OF NPR1-1
      INDUCIBLE 1 (SNI1), as a negative regulator of homologous recombination in
      plants, is not present in mammals. Comet assay and clonogenic survival assay
      demonstrated that SNI1 inhibited DNA damage repair caused by either ionizing
      radiation or hydroxyurea in human osteosarcoma U2OS cancer cells. RAD51D is a
      recombinase in homologous recombination and functions downstream of SNI1 in
      plants. Interestingly, p53 rendered the sni1 mutants madly branching of
      inflorescence, a phenotype of fasciation, whereas rad51d mutant fully suppressed
      the p53-induced phenotype, indicating that human p53 action in plant is mediated
      by the SNI1-RAD51D signaling pathway. The reciprocal species-swap tests of p53
      and SNI1 in human and Arabidopsis manifest that these species-specific proteins
      play a common role in homologous recombination across kingdoms of animals and
      plants. 

PMID- 27648566
TI  - Sustainability and Long Term-Tenure: Lion Trophy Hunting in Tanzania.
AB  - It is argued that trophy hunting of large, charismatic mammal species can have
      considerable conservation benefits but only if undertaken sustainably. Social
      ecological theory suggests such sustainability only results from developing
      governance systems that balance financial and biological requirements. Here we
      use lion (Panthera leo) trophy hunting data from Tanzania to investigate how
      resource ownership patterns influence hunting revenue and offtake levels.
      Tanzania contains up to half of the global population of free-ranging lions and
      is also the main location for lion trophy hunting in Africa. However, there are
      concerns that current hunting levels are unsustainable. The lion hunting industry
      in Tanzania is run by the private sector, although the government leases each
      hunting block to companies, enforces hunting regulation, and allocates them a
      species-specific annual quota per block. The length of these leases varies and
      theories surrounding property rights and tenure suggest hunting levels would be
      less sustainable in blocks experiencing a high turnover of short-term leases. We
      explored this issue using lion data collected from 1996 to 2008 in the Selous
      Game Reserve (SGR), the most important trophy hunting destination in Tanzania. We
      found that blocks in SGR with the highest lion hunting offtake were also those
      that experienced the steepest declines in trophy offtake. In addition, we found
      this high hunting offtake and the resultant offtake decline tended to be in
      blocks under short-term tenure. In contrast, lion hunting levels in blocks under
      long-term tenure matched more closely the recommended sustainable offtake of 0.92
      lions per 1000 km2. However, annual financial returns were higher from blocks
      under short-term tenure, providing $133 per km2 of government revenue as compared
      to $62 per km2 from long-term tenure blocks. Our results provide evidence for the
      importance of property rights in conservation, and support calls for an overhaul
      of the system in Tanzania by developing competitive market-based approaches for
      block allocation based on long-term tenure of ten years. 

PMID- 27648567
TI  - Clinicopathological Features and Prognostic Factors Affecting Survival Outcomes
      in Isolated Locoregional Recurrence of Breast Cancer: Single-Institutional
      Series.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic
      features and prognostic factors affecting outcome in patients with isolated
      locoregional recurrence of breast cancer (ILRR). METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed the medical records of 104 patients who were diagnosed with ILRR and
      underwent curative surgery from January 2000 to December 2010 at Samsung Medical
      Center. RESULTS: Among 104 patients, 43 (41%) underwent total mastectomy and 61
      (59%) underwent breast-conserving surgery for primary breast cancer. The median
      time from initial operation to ILRR was 35.7 months (4.5-132.3 months). After
      diagnosis of ILRR, 45 (43%) patients were treated with mastectomy, 41 (39%) with
      excision of recurred lesion, and 18 (17%) with node dissection. During a median
      follow-up of 8.9 years, the 5-year overall survival was 77% and 5-year distant
      metastasis-free survival (DMFS) was 54%. On multivariate analysis, younger age (<
      35 years), higher stage, early onset of elapse (<= 24 months), lymph node
      recurrences, and subtype of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) were found to be
      independently associated with DMFS. Patients in the no chemotherapy group showed
      a longer DMFS after surgery for ILRR than those treated with chemotherapy (median
      101.5 vs. 48.0 months, p = 0.072) but without statistical significance.
      CONCLUSION: Our analysis showed that younger age (< 35 years), higher stage,
      early onset of relapse (<= 24 months), lymph node recurrence, and subtype of TNBC
      are the worst prognostic factors for ILRR.

PMID- 27648568
TI  - Indigenous Ethnicity and Low Maternal Education Are Associated with Delayed
      Diagnosis and Mortality in Infants with Congenital Heart Defects in Panama.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This is the first study in Panama and Central America that has
      included indigenous populations in an assessment of the association between
      socioeconomic variables with delayed diagnosis and mortality due to congenital
      heart defects (CHD). METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted.
      A sample calculation was performed and 954 infants born from 2010 to 2014 were
      randomly selected from clinical records of all Panamanian public health
      institutions with paediatric cardiologists. Critical CHD was defined according to
      the defects listed as targets of newborn pulse oximetry screening. Diagnoses were
      considered delayed when made after the third day of life for the critical CHD and
      after the twentieth day of life for the non-critical. A logistic regression model
      was performed to examine the association between socioeconomic variables and
      delayed diagnosis. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the
      relationship between socioeconomic features and mortality. RESULTS: An increased
      risk of delayed diagnosis was observed in infants with indigenous ethnicity (AOR,
      1.56; 95% CI, 1.03-2.37), low maternal education (AOR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.09-2.25)
      and homebirth (AOR, 4.32; 95% CI, 1.63-11.48). Indigenous infants had a higher
      risk of dying due to CHD (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.03-1.99), as did those with low
      maternal education (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.45-2.62). CONCLUSION: Inequalities in
      access to health care, conditioned by unfavourable socioeconomic features, may
      play a key role in delayed diagnosis and mortality of CHD patients. Further
      studies are required to study the relationship between indigenous ethnicity and
      these adverse health outcomes.

PMID- 27648569
TI  - Sequential Change of Wound Calculated by Image Analysis Using a Color Patch
      Method during a Secondary Intention Healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Photographs of skin wounds have the most important information during
      the secondary intention healing (SIH). However, there is no standard method for
      handling those images and analyzing them efficiently and conveniently. OBJECTIVE:
      To investigate the sequential changes of SIH depending on the body sites using a
      color patch method. METHODS: We performed retrospective reviews of 30 patients
      (11 facial and 19 non-facial areas) who underwent SIH for the restoration of skin
      defects and captured sequential photographs with a color patch which is specially
      designed for automatically calculating defect and scar sizes. RESULTS: Using a
      novel image analysis method with a color patch, skin defects were calculated more
      accurately (range of error rate: -3.39% ~ + 3.05%). All patients had smaller scar
      size than the original defect size after SIH treatment (rates of decrease: 18.8%
      ~ 86.1%), and facial area showed significantly higher decrease rate compared with
      the non-facial area such as scalp and extremities (67.05 +/- 12.48 vs. 53.29 +/-
      18.11, P < 0.05). From the result of estimating the date corresponding to the
      half of the final decrement, all of the facial area showed improvements within
      two weeks (8.45 +/- 3.91), and non-facial area needed 14.33 +/- 9.78 days.
      CONCLUSION: From the results of sequential changes of skin defects, SIH can be
      recommended as an alternative treatment method for restoration with more careful
      dressing for initial two weeks.

PMID- 27648572
TI  - Naegleria fowleri Meningoencephalitis Associated with Public Water Supply,
      Pakistan, 2014.

PMID- 27648570
TI  - The Inhibitory Effects of Anti-Oxidants on Ultraviolet-Induced Up-Regulation of
      the Wrinkling-Inducing Enzyme Neutral Endopeptidase in Human Fibroblasts.
AB  - We recently reported that the over-expression of skin fibroblast-derived neutral
      endopeptidase (NEP) plays a pivotal role in impairing the three-dimensional
      architecture of dermal elastic fibers during the biological mechanism of
      ultraviolet (UV)-induced skin wrinkling. In that process, a UVB-associated
      epithelial-mesenchymal cytokine interaction as well as a direct UVA-induced
      cellular stimulation are associated with the up-regulation of NEP in human
      fibroblasts. In this study, we characterized the mode of action of ubiquinol10
      which may abrogate the up-regulation of NEP by dermal fibroblasts, resulting in a
      reported in vivo anti-wrinkling action, and compared that with 3 other anti
      oxidants, astaxanthin (AX), riboflavin (RF) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN). Post
      irradiation treatment with all 4 of those anti-oxidants elicited an interrupting
      effect on the UVB-associated epithelial-mesenchymal cytokine interaction leading
      to the up-regulation of NEP in human fibroblasts but with different modes of
      action. While AX mainly served as an inhibitor of the secretion of wrinkle
      inducing cytokines, such as interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) and granulocyte
      macrophage colony stimulatory factor (GM-CSF) in UVB-exposed epidermal
      keratinocytes, ubiquinol10, RF and FMN predominantly interrupted the IL-1alpha
      and GM-CSF-stimulated expression of NEP in dermal fibroblasts. On the other hand,
      as for the UVA-associated mechanism, similar to the abrogating effects reported
      for AX and FMN, ubiquinol10 but not RF had the potential to abrogate the
      increased expression of NEP and matrix-metalloproteinase-1 in UVA-exposed human
      fibroblasts. Our findings strongly support the in vivo anti-wrinkling effects of
      ubiquinol10 and AX on human and animal skin and provide convincing proof of the
      UV-induced wrinkling mechanism that essentially focuses on the over-expression of
      NEP by dermal fibroblasts as an intrinsic causative factor. 

PMID- 27648571
TI  - Interplay between Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Score and Childhood Adversity in
      First-Presentation Psychotic Disorder: A Pilot Study.
AB  - A history of childhood adversity is associated with psychotic disorder, with an
      increase in risk according to number or severity of exposures. However, it is not
      known why only some exposed individuals go on to develop psychosis. One
      possibility is pre-existing genetic vulnerability. Research on gene-environment
      interaction in psychosis has primarily focused on candidate genes, although the
      genetic effects are now known to be polygenic. This pilot study investigated
      whether the effect of childhood adversity on psychosis is moderated by the
      polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (PRS). Data were utilised from the Genes
      and Psychosis (GAP) study set in South London, UK. The GAP sample comprises 285
      first-presentation psychosis cases and 256 unaffected controls with information
      on childhood adversity. We studied only white subjects (80 cases and 110
      controls) with PRS data, as the PRS has limited predictive ability in patients of
      African ancestry. The occurrence of childhood adversity was assessed with the
      Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) and the PRS was
      based on genome-wide meta-analysis results for schizophrenia from the Psychiatric
      Genomics Consortium. Higher schizophrenia PRS and childhood adversities each
      predicted psychosis status. Nevertheless, no evidence was found for interaction
      as departure from additivity, indicating that the effect of polygenic risk scores
      on psychosis was not increased in the presence of a history of childhood
      adversity. These findings are compatible with a multifactorial threshold model in
      which both genetic liability and exposure to environmental risk contribute
      independently to the etiology of psychosis. 

PMID- 27648573
TI  - Radiographic Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis and the Ability to Drive.
AB  - The question of whether patients with musculoskeletal disorders are fit to drive
      is of paramount importance for them and frequently is directed to the treating
      orthopedic specialist. Although perioperative braking performance has been
      increasingly investigated in recent years, scientific data on braking safety in
      individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) are scarce. This study analyzed the braking
      performance of 158 patients with OA of the right or left knee or hip and compared
      the results with radiographic OA grading according to the Kellgren-Lawrence
      classification scale. Reaction time and foot transfer time (together called brake
      response time [BRT]) and brake force were measured in a real car cabin, and the
      values were compared with measurements obtained from young (n=34) and age-matched
      (n=36) control groups. Although the majority of BRTs in both control groups
      remained below 600 milliseconds, patients with both hip and knee OA, whether on
      the right or left side, had significantly worse values (P<.001) and frequently
      exceeded this limit. A stronger impact was observed on the right side and in knee
      OA, with the worst results found in patients with bilateral OA (median BRT for
      bilateral hip OA, 656 milliseconds [range, 468-1459 milliseconds]; median BRT for
      bilateral knee OA, 696 milliseconds [range, 527-772 milliseconds]), leading to an
      increased total stopping distance of up to 32 m at 100 km/h. No correlation of
      braking performance with radiographic OA manifestation was observed (Kendall tau
      for BRT: tau=0.007, P=.92; Kendall tau for brake force: tau=-0.014, P=.82), which
      makes radiographs an inadequate tool for medical driving recommendations.
      [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):e82-e89.].

PMID- 27648574
TI  - BiPOD Arthroscopic Acromioclavicular Repair Restores Bidirectional Stability.
AB  - Stabilizing the acromioclavicular joint in the vertical and horizontal planes is
      challenging, and most current techniques do not reliably achieve this goal. The
      BiPOD repair is an arthroscopically assisted procedure performed with image
      intensifier guidance that reconstructs the coracoclavicular ligaments as well as
      the acromioclavicular ligaments to achieve bidirectional stability. Repair is
      achieved with a combination of 2-mm FiberTape (Arthrex, Naples, Florida) and 20
      mm Poly-Tape (Neoligaments, Leeds, England) to achieve rigid repair, prevent bone
      abrasion, and promote tissue ingrowth. This study is a prospective review of the
      first 6 patients treated for high-grade acute acromioclavicular injury with the
      BiPOD technique. The study included 6 men who were 21 to 36 years old (mean, 27
      years). At 6-month follow-up, complications were recorded and radiographic
      analysis was used to determine the coracoclavicular distance for vertical
      reduction and the amount of acromioclavicular translation on the Alexander
      axillary view was used to determine horizontal reduction. One patient had a
      superficial infection over the tape knot. The difference in coracoclavicular
      distance between the operated side and the uninvolved side was 9+/-2 mm
      preoperatively and 0.3+/-2 mm at 6-month follow-up. On Alexander axillary view,
      all 6 patients showed stable reduction, which is defined as a clavicle that is in
      line with the acromion. The findings show that BiPOD acromioclavicular
      reconstruction restores bidirectional stability of the acromioclavicular joint at
      6 months. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):e35-e43.].

PMID- 27648575
TI  - Comparison of Median Nerve Cross-sectional Area on 3-T MRI in Patients With
      Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
AB  - This study correlated morphologic abnormalities of idiopathic carpal tunnel
      syndrome (CTS) with the severity of CTS using 3-T magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). The relationship of the severity of CTS and the cross-sectional area of
      the median nerve (CSA) was assessed at several levels. Seventy wrists of 35
      patients (27 women and 8 men) with unilateral idiopathic CTS underwent nerve
      conduction study and 3-T MRI of the wrist. The CSA at 4 levels (distal radioulnar
      joint, body of scaphoid, tubercule of scaphoid, and hook of hamate) and the
      thickness of the transverse carpal ligament at 3 levels in both affected and
      unaffected hands were measured using 3-T MRI and correlated with the severity of
      CTS assessed with distal motor latency. The CSA in the affected hand at the
      scaphoid body level was significantly higher than in the unaffected hand. The CSA
      at the scaphoid body level was positively correlated with distal motor latency in
      the affected hand. The CSA in the affected hand at the scaphoid tubercule level
      was significantly lower than in the unaffected hand. The CSA had a negative
      correlation with distal motor latency at the scaphoid tubercule level. The CSA at
      the distal radioulnar joint and the hamate hook was not significantly different
      between the affected hand and the unaffected hand. The CSA at the distal
      radioulnar joint level and hook level were not correlated significantly with
      distal motor latency in the affected hand. The mean CSA of the affected hand at
      the scaphoid body level was highest in 4 levels. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):e77
      e81.].

PMID- 27648576
TI  - Predictors of Hospital Readmission After Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.
AB  - The study was conducted to determine the incidence rate, risk factors, and
      postoperative conditions associated with 30-day readmission after total shoulder
      arthroplasty (TSA). A total of 3547 patients who underwent primary TSA were
      identified from the 2011-2013 American College of Surgeons National Surgical
      Quality Improvement Program. The 30-day readmission rate was 2.9%. The only
      preoperative predictors of hospital readmission were American Society of
      Anesthesiologists classification of 3 or greater (odds ratio, 2.16; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.30-3.61) and a history of cardiac disease (odds ratio,
      2.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-4.31). Of patients with any perioperative
      complications, 42 (34%) were readmitted, and the presence of any complication
      increased the risk of readmission (odds ratio, 28.95; 95% confidence interval,
      18.44-45.46). Periprosthetic joint infection, myocardial infarction, pulmonary
      embolism, deep venous thrombosis, and pneumonia were significant predictors of
      hospital readmission after TSA (P<.0001). The incidence of hospital readmission
      after TSA peaked within the first 5 days after discharge, and 26%, 32%, and 55%
      of all hospital readmissions occurred by postoperative days 5, 7, and 14,
      respectively. Pre-operative medical optimization to reduce the rates of
      postoperative complications, such as periprosthetic joint infection, myocardial
      infarction, pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, pneumonia, and urinary
      tract infection, are likely to decrease the need for subsequent readmission.
      Patients should be counseled about these risk factors preoperatively.
      [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):e1-e10.].

PMID- 27648577
TI  - Chronic Quadriceps Tendon Rupture After Total Knee Arthroplasty Augmented With
      Synthetic Mesh.
AB  - Tear of the quadriceps tendon after revision or primary total knee arthroplasty
      is a rare complication, but when it occurs, this injury has serious functional
      consequences. In complete tears, the outcome of direct repair is unpredictable,
      and several authors recommend that the suture should be reinforced. Several
      techniques have been described, including the use of autografts, allografts, and
      synthetic mesh. The goal of this study was to assess the outcomes of a
      reconstruction technique augmented with synthetic mesh. A retrospective study was
      performed involving 3 patients who had chronic partial quadriceps tendon tear
      after total knee revision. In 2 cases, proximal quadriceps release was performed.
      When conservative management failed, surgical reconstruction with suture
      reinforced with synthetic mesh was attempted. The knee was immobilized in full
      extension for 6 weeks after the surgical procedure. A minimum follow-up of 12
      months was required to assess results. All reconstructions showed clinical
      success at a mean follow-up of 19 months. Mean Knee Society Score improved from
      55.7 to 87.3, with average postoperative extensor lag of 3.3 degrees  (range, 0
      degrees -10 degrees ). The mean visual analog scale pain score was 2.3 (range, 0
      4). No complications were reported. Synthetic mesh has previously been shown to
      be an effective treatment for patellar tendon repairs after total knee
      replacement, but there have been few articles on quadriceps rupture. Surgical
      reconstruction with synthetic mesh is a viable option that provides good
      functional outcomes in chronic quadriceps tendon rupture after total knee
      arthroplasty. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):38-42.].

PMID- 27648579
TI  - A histone H3K9M mutation traps histone methyltransferase Clr4 to prevent
      heterochromatin spreading.
AB  - Histone lysine-to-methionine (K-to-M) mutations are associated with multiple
      cancers, and they function in a dominant fashion to block the methylation of
      corresponding lysines on wild type histones. However, their mechanisms of
      function are controversial. Here we show that in fission yeast, introducing the
      K9M mutation into one of the three histone H3 genes dominantly blocks H3K9
      methylation on wild type H3 across the genome. In addition, H3K9M enhances the
      interaction of histone H3 tail with the H3K9 methyltransferase Clr4 in a SAM (S
      adenosyl-methionine)-dependent manner, and Clr4 is trapped at nucleation sites to
      prevent its spreading and the formation of large heterochromatin domains. We
      further determined the crystal structure of an H3K9M peptide in complex with
      human H3K9 methyltransferase G9a and SAM, which reveales that the methionine side
      chain had enhanced van der Waals interactions with G9a. Therefore, our results
      provide a detailed mechanism by which H3K9M regulates H3K9 methylation.

PMID- 27648581
TI  - Molecular Adjuvants for DNA Vaccines.
AB  - Poor immunogenicity remains the single biggest obstacle to human DNA vaccines
      achieving their potential. Strategies to improve DNA vaccine efficacy include
      codon optimization, transfection reagents, electroporation, vaccine adjuvants or
      combination with a protein or vector boost. Increased understanding of molecular
      events driving innate and adaptive immune responses has assisted development of
      molecular adjuvants for DNA vaccine use. Such adjuvants comprise plasmid-encoded
      signalling molecules including cytokines, chemokines, immune costimulatory
      molecules, toll-like receptor agonists or inhibitors of immune suppressive
      pathways. New approaches including gene knockdown, epigenetics and systems
      biology have also contributed to an increased range of molecular adjuvant
      options. This review explores current and future trends in vaccine design
      including the latest molecular adjuvants for enhanced DNA vaccine efficacy.

PMID- 27648578
TI  - Autophagy linked FYVE (Alfy/WDFY3) is required for establishing neuronal
      connectivity in the mammalian brain.
AB  - The regulation of protein degradation is essential for maintaining the
      appropriate environment to coordinate complex cell signaling events and to
      promote cellular remodeling. The Autophagy linked FYVE protein (Alfy), previously
      identified as a molecular scaffold between the ubiquitinated cargo and the
      autophagic machinery, is highly expressed in the developing central nervous
      system, indicating that this pathway may have yet unexplored roles in
      neurodevelopment. To examine this possibility, we used mouse genetics to
      eliminate Alfy expression. We report that this evolutionarily conserved protein
      is required for the formation of axonal tracts throughout the brain and spinal
      cord, including the formation of the major forebrain commissures. Consistent with
      a phenotype reflecting a failure in axon guidance, the loss of Alfy in mice
      disrupts localization of glial guidepost cells, and attenuates axon outgrowth in
      response to Netrin-1. These findings further support the growing indication that
      macroautophagy plays a key role in the developing CNS.

PMID- 27648580
TI  - Tackling breast cancer chemoresistance with nano-formulated siRNA.
AB  - Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed in women and the second leading
      cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Current limitations to standard
      chemotherapy in the clinic are extensively researched, including problems arising
      from repeated treatments with the same drugs. The phenomenon that cancer cells
      become resistant toward certain chemo drugs is called chemotherapy resistance. In
      this review, we are focusing on nanoformulation of siRNA for the fight against
      breast cancer chemoresistance.

PMID- 27648582
TI  - Infection-Related Death among Persons with Refractory Juvenile Idiopathic
      Arthritis.
AB  - Severe infections are emerging as major risk factors for death among children
      with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). In particular, children with refractory
      JIA treated with long-term, multiple, and often combined immunosuppressive and
      antiinflammatory agents, including the new biological disease-modifying
      antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), are at increased risk for severe infections and
      death. We investigated 4 persons with JIA who died during 1994-2013, three of
      overwhelming central venous catheter-related bacterial sepsis caused by coagulase
      negative Staphylococus or alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus infection and 1 of
      disseminated adenovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infection). All 4 had active JIA
      refractory to long-term therapy with multiple and combined conventional and
      biological DMARDs. Two died while receiving high-dose systemic corticosteroids,
      methotrexate, and after recent exposure to anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      biological DMARDs, and 2 during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      procedure. Reporting all cases of severe infections and especially deaths in
      these children is of paramount importance for accurate surveillance.

PMID- 27648583
TI  - Streptococcus suis Serotype 2 Capsule In Vivo.
AB  - Many Streptococcus suis isolates from porcine endocarditis in slaughterhouses
      have lost their capsule and are considered avirulent. However, we retrieved
      capsule- and virulence-recovered S. suis after in vivo passages of a
      nonencapsulated strain in mice, suggesting that nonencapsulated S. suis are still
      potentially hazardous for persons in the swine industry.

PMID- 27648585
TI  - DISTINCTIVE WHITE FUNDUS LESIONS IN FAMILIAL EXUDATIVE VITREORETINOPATHY: A NEWLY
      CHARACTERIZED CLINICAL FEATURE.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a novel clinical finding associated with familial exudative
      vitreoretinopathy in three patients using fundus photography, fluorescein
      angiography, and histopathology. METHODS: Observational case series of three
      patients with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, an ophthalmic examination
      with fundus photography, and fluorescein angiography were used to document
      clinical findings between January 2007 and January 2015. Surgical specimens from
      one case were examined using standard histopathologic techniques, as well as
      transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. RESULTS:
      Distinctive white preretinal granules were noted in all cases and were found to
      be extramacular in location. Histopathology in one case revealed the granules to
      be crystalline structures with a regular pattern evident on higher magnification.
      The chemical constitution was found to be carbon, oxygen, and fluorine.
      CONCLUSION: Our case series represents the first description of white preretinal
      granules in association with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy. The authors
      have not seen these granules in other forms of retinopathy and their presence may
      aid in differentiating this disease from other entities.

PMID- 27648584
TI  - MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIA-ASSOCIATED CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION-BEVACIZUMAB
      INTRAVITREAL INJECTION AND LASER TREATMENT.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a rare case of bilateral subretinal granulomas with choroidal
      neovascularization after Mycoplasma pneumoniae atypical pneumonia. METHODS:
      Presentation of a 7-year-old girl, who showed bilateral atypical subretinal
      granulomas with choroidal neovascularization. Visual acuity was 20/20 oculus
      dexter and 20/200 oculus sinister. Evaluation revealed a systemic Mycoplasma
      pneumoniae infection with pulmonary involvement. Successful ocular treatment was
      performed by intravitreal injection of Bevacizumab and laser photocoagulation.
      RESULTS: Visual acuity was unchanged 36 months after treatment. No further
      subretinal lesions were seen oculus uterque. CONCLUSION: To the best of their
      knowledge and according to literature this patient report is the first one of
      subretinal granuloma formation after pneumonia due to mycoplasma infection. Since
      Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common pathogen, especially in children and young
      adults, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any febrile
      illness accompanied by ocular signs.

PMID- 27648586
TI  - EXUDATIVE RETINAL DETACHMENT CAUSED BY A CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULAR MEMBRANE IN
      HALLERMANN-STREIFF SYNDROME.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of exudative retinal detachment caused by a choroidal
      neovascular membrane in Hallermann-Streiff syndrome. METHODS: The authors report
      a 7-year-old white male with Hallermann-Streiff syndrome who developed exudative
      retinal detachments secondary to choroidal neovascular membrane that resolved
      after off-label use of intravitreal injections of bevacizumab 1.25 mg.
      CONCLUSION: Patients with Hallermann-Streiff syndrome and exudative retinal
      detachment present with choroidal neovascular membrane can respond well with
      intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor.

PMID- 27648587
TI  - Psychological Predictors of Acute Postoperative Pain After Hysterectomy for
      Benign Causes.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Psychological parameters have been shown to contribute significantly
      to the development of acute postoperative pain (APOP). For the prediction of APOP
      in chest malformation patients and cancer patients, we found pain-specific
      psychological predictors to be of higher relevance than general psychological
      predictors. The current study aims to further substantiate these findings.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a sample of 73 middle-aged hysterectomy patients, 3
      predictor sets were assessed 1 day before surgery: attentional biases (toward
      pain-related, social threat, and positive words in a dot-probe task), pain
      related emotions and cognitions (pain anxiety, pain catastrophizing, and pain
      hypervigilance), and affective state variables (depression and somatization).
      APOP intensity rated 2 to 3 days after surgery and analgesic consumption during
      the first 48 postoperative hours were used as outcome measures. RESULTS: APOP
      intensity ratings were significantly explained by their best single predictors in
      a multiple regression analysis: social threat words of the dot-probe task, pain
      anxiety, and somatization (14.7% of explained variance). When comparing
      standardized beta coefficients, pain-specific psychological predictors appeared
      to be of higher explanatory relevance than general psychological predictors. In
      contrast, analgesic consumption could not be significantly predicted by the
      psychological variables. DISCUSSION: Hysterectomy patients at risk for high APOP
      intensity could be characterized by the psychological variables used, whereas
      their predictive value for analgesic consumption was limited. The high predictive
      potency of pain-specific psychological variables should be considered for further
      improvement of pain management and prevention, because pain-specific variables
      such as pain anxiety can be the target of focal psychological interventions when
      preparing for surgery.

PMID- 27648588
TI  - Pain Sensitivity and its Relation to Spreading on the Body, Intensity, Frequency,
      and Duration of Pain: A Cross-Sectional Population-based Study (SwePain).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Individuals with chronic pain often report increased pain sensitivity
      compared with pain-free individuals; hence, it is crucial to determine whether
      and how different pain characteristics influence or interact with pain
      sensitivity. An alternative to experimental pain sensitivity testing is the self
      reported pain sensitivity questionnaire (PSQ), which captures pain sensitivity in
      various body areas.This study compares PSQ in individuals with and without pain
      and clarifies how pain sensitivity relates to spreading of pain on the body, and
      to intensity, frequency, duration of pain and to age and sex. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 5905 individuals with pain and 572 individuals without pain
      from the general population in southeastern Sweden completed and returned a
      postal questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean PSQ score was 3.9 (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 3.88-3.98) in individuals with pain and 3.5 (95% CI, 3.38-3.64) in
      pain-free individuals. Hence, PSQ was the highest among individuals with pain,
      with a difference of 0.4 (95% CI, 0.30-0.56). There was a considerable variation
      in the PSQ values (mean=3.5; SD=1.54) among pain-free individuals. Pain
      sensitivity was positively related to spreading, intensity, and frequency of
      pain, with a correlation coefficient of 0.3. PSQ was higher in widespread pain,
      4.5 (95% CI, 4.27-4.69) in women and 4.3 (95% CI, 3.94-4.71) in men, than in
      local pain, 3.7 (95% CI, 3.61-3.91) in women and 3.8 (95% CI, 3.66-3.95) in men.
      The score for women with regional pain was between local and widespread pain at
      4.0 (95% CI, 3.95-4.11) and that for men with regional pain was 3.8 (95% CI, 3.69
      3.87), which is equal to that of local pain. DISCUSSION: The positive association
      between pain sensitivity and spreading of pain on the body provides some evidence
      that the extent of spreading may be related to the degree of pain sensitivity.
      Before clinical use of PSQ, psychometric development and further research are
      needed.

PMID- 27648589
TI  - Insights for Clinicians From Brain Imaging Studies of Pain.

PMID- 27648590
TI  - A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Migraine and Suicidal Ideation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between migraine
      and major depressive disorder. However, relatively little is known about the
      relationship between suicidal ideation, with or without concurrent depression,
      and migraine. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a systematic literature review to
      synthesize the available research focused on investigating the association of
      migraine with suicidal ideation. METHODS: Relevant research papers were
      identified through searches of major electronic databases including PubMed,
      Embase (Elsevier), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), PsycINFO (EBSCO), and Google
      Scholar. We performed a meta-analysis to estimate the pooled unadjusted and
      adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the
      association between migraine and suicidal ideation extracted from each study.
      RESULTS: A total of 148,977 participants in 6 studies were included in this
      analysis. Overall, findings from available studies documented elevated odds of
      suicidal ideation among individuals with migraines. In unadjusted models, the
      odds of suicidal ideation was 2.49-fold higher among individuals with migraine
      (OR, 2.49; 95% CI, 2.34-2.65) compared with those without migraine. In
      multivariate-adjusted models, the pooled adjusted OR of suicidal ideation was
      1.31 (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.10-1.55). CONCLUSIONS: A meta-analysis of available
      studies suggests a modest positive association between migraine and suicidal
      ideation. Further studies allowing for a more comprehensive investigation of the
      association between migraine and the full range of suicidal behaviors are
      warranted. A larger and more robust evidence-base may be useful to inform the
      clinical screening and diagnoses of comorbid conditions in migraineurs.

PMID- 27648591
TI  - Impact of Road Traffic Pollution on Pre-eclampsia and Pregnancy-induced
      Hypertensive Disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Road traffic is a major source of air pollution and noise. Both
      exposures have been associated with hypertension in adults, but pregnant women
      have been less studied. METHODS: We examined single and joint effects of ambient
      air pollution and road traffic noise on pre-eclampsia and pregnancy-induced
      hypertensive disorders among 72,745 singleton pregnancies (1997-2002) from the
      Danish National Birth Cohort with complete covariate data and residential address
      history from conception until live born birth. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and noise
      from road traffic (Lden) were modeled at all addresses. Outcome and covariate
      data were derived from registries, hospital records, and questionnaires. RESULTS:
      A 10-ug/m increase in NO2 exposure during first trimester was associated with
      increased risk of pre-eclampsia (n = 1,880, adjusted odds ratio = 1.07 [95%
      confidence interval = 1.01, 1.14]) and pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders
      (n = 2,430, adjusted odds ratio = 1.07 [1.01, 1.13]). A 10 dB higher road traffic
      noise was also associated with increased risk of pre-eclampsia (1.10 [1.02,
      1.18]) and pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders (1.08 [1.02, 1.15]). For both
      exposures, the associations were strongest for mild pre-eclampsia (n = 1,393) and
      early-onset pre-eclampsia (n = 671), whereas higher risk for severe pre-eclampsia
      (n = 487) was not evident. In mutually adjusted models, estimates for both
      exposures decreased and only the association between NO2 and mild pre-eclampsia
      remained. CONCLUSIONS: Road traffic may increase the risk of pre-eclampsia and
      hypertensive disorders in pregnancy through exposure to both ambient air
      pollution and noise, although associations with the two exposures were generally
      not found to be independent of one another. See video abstract,
      http://links.lww.com/EDE/B112.

PMID- 27648592
TI  - Wildfire-specific Fine Particulate Matter and Risk of Hospital Admissions in
      Urban and Rural Counties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The health impacts of wildfire smoke, including fine particles
      (PM2.5), are not well understood and may differ from those of PM2.5 from other
      sources due to differences in concentrations and chemical composition. METHODS:
      First, for the entire Western United States (561 counties) for 2004-2009, we
      estimated daily PM2.5 concentrations directly attributable to wildfires
      (wildfires-specific PM2.5), using a global chemical transport model. Second, we
      defined smoke wave as >=2 consecutive days with daily wildfire-specific PM2.5 >
      20 MUg/m, with sensitivity analysis considering 23, 28, and 37 MUg/m. Third, we
      estimated the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory hospital admissions
      associated with smoke waves for Medicare enrollees. We used a generalized linear
      mixed model to estimate the relative risk of hospital admissions on smoke wave
      days compared with matched comparison days without wildfire smoke. RESULTS: We
      estimated that about 46 million people of all ages were exposed to at least one
      smoke wave during 2004 to 2009 in the Western United States. Of these, 5 million
      are Medicare enrollees (>=65 years). We found a 7.2% (95% confidence interval:
      0.25%, 15%) increase in risk of respiratory admissions during smoke wave days
      with high wildfire-specific PM2.5 (>37 MUg/m) compared with matched non smoke
      wave days. We did not observe an association between smoke wave days with
      wildfire-specific PM2.5 <= 37 MUg/mand respiratory or cardiovascular admissions.
      Respiratory effects of wildfire-specific PM2.5 may be stronger than that of PM2.5
      from other sources. CONCLUSION: Short-term exposure to wildfire-specific PM2.5was
      associated with risk of respiratory diseases in the elderly population in the
      Western United States during severe smoke days. See video abstract at,
      http://links.lww.com/EDE/B137.

PMID- 27648593
TI  - Theoretical Effects of Substituting Butter with Margarine on Risk of
      Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several recent articles have called into question the deleterious
      effects of high animal fat diets due to mixed results from epidemiologic studies
      and the lack of clinical trial evidence in meta-analyses of dietary intervention
      trials. We were interested in examining the theoretical effects of substituting
      plant-based fats from different types of margarine for animal-based fat from
      butter on the risk of atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease (CVD).
      METHODS: We prospectively studied 71,410 women, aged 50-79 years, and evaluated
      their risk for clinical myocardial infarction (MI), total coronary heart disease
      (CHD), ischemic stroke, and atherosclerosis-related CVD with an average of 13.2
      years of follow-up. Butter and margarine intakes were obtained at baseline and
      year 3 by means of a validated food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional
      hazards regression using a cumulative average diet method was used to estimate
      the theoretical effect of substituting 1 teaspoon/day of three types of margarine
      for the same amount of butter. RESULTS: Substituting butter or stick margarine
      with tub margarine was associated with lower risk of MI (HRs = 0.95 and 0.91).
      Subgroup analyses, which evaluated these substitutions among participants with a
      single source of spreadable fat, showed stronger associations for MI (HRs = 0.92
      and 0.87). Outcomes of total CHD, ischemic stroke, and atherosclerosis-related
      CVD showed wide confidence intervals but the same trends as the MI results.
      CONCLUSIONS: This theoretical dietary substitution analysis suggests that
      substituting butter and stick margarine with tub margarine when spreadable fats
      are eaten may be associated with reduced risk of myocardial infarction.

PMID- 27648594
TI  - Prescribing of FDA-approved and compounded hormone therapy differs by specialty.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prescribing patterns of general practitioners (GPs),
      obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), and wellness physicians (WPs) of menopausal
      hormone therapy (HT) for both compounded (CHT) and Food and Drug Administration
      (FDA)-approved products, using a survey of US physicians. METHODS: Nine thousand
      one US physicians were invited to participate in a survey to report on their HT
      prescribing patterns. Physicians were eligible if they prescribed HT for at least
      six patients per month. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 440 eligible
      physicians (893 responded of 9,001 invited) including 171 GPs, 170 OB/GYNs, and
      84 WPs. Physicians prescribed HT for 15% to 30% of their female patients, with
      WPs numerically most likely to prescribe HT. Menopausal symptoms were the leading
      reason for HT prescriptions among all specialties. WPs seemed more likely to
      prescribe HT for general/cardiovascular health (28%), and for shorter durations,
      than other specialties. WPs prescribed proportionally more compounded (vs FDA
      approved) estrogens/progestogens than GPs or OB/GYNs, but OB/GYNs seemed to
      prescribe more compounded dehydroepiandrosterone and testosterone (prescribed
      alone) than did others. OB/GYNs seemed least likely to consider CHT being more
      safe or effective than FDA-approved HT. Symptom relief was the main determinant
      of efficacy for all specialties; WPs also used blood (61%) or saliva testing
      (25%) for dose adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Although all physician specialties
      surveyed prescribed HT, differences in prescribing CHT versus FDA-approved
      formulations by medical specialty/practice seemed to exist. Of those surveyed,
      OB/GYNs and GPs prescribed proportionally more FDA-approved HT, whereas WPs,
      similarly, prescribed more CHT. More discussion is needed concerning physicians'
      decisions to prescribe CHT versus FDA-approved formulations.

PMID- 27648595
TI  - Fractional microablative CO2 laser for vulvovaginal atrophy in women treated with
      chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy for breast cancer: a retrospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women.
      Hormonal treatment and chemotherapy induce a transient or permanent menopause
      status. Vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) is a frequent debilitating symptom of
      menopause that is best treated with local or systemic estrogen formulations.
      Because estrogens drive the growth of the majority of breast cancers, most
      effective VVA therapies are precluded. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      effects of fractional microablative CO2 laser on sexual function and in relieving
      symptoms in women with breast cancer and VVA induced or exacerbated by iatrogenic
      menopause. METHODS: This retrospective study included 26 women affected by
      hormone-receptor positive breast tumors and treated for VVA symptoms with the
      fractional microablative CO2 laser system. Every 30 to 40 days, women underwent a
      cycle of treatment for a total of three cycles. During each cycle, women
      underwent a gynecological examination and completed visual analog scale
      questionnaires designed to assess (1) the degree of symptoms and (2) procedure
      related discomfort. RESULTS: Treatment resulted in a significant regression of
      VVA symptoms and procedure-related discomfort versus baseline (P < 0.001 in
      almost all cases). No adverse reactions were observed nor reported by women.
      CONCLUSIONS: Fractional microablative CO2 laser treatment is associated with a
      significant improvement of VVA symptoms in women affected by hormone-driven
      breast cancer. This procedure has the advantage of relieving
      iatrogenic/physiological VVA symptoms without resorting to contraindicated
      estrogen preparations, which have been the most effective therapy thus far.

PMID- 27648596
TI  - Age at natural menopause in women on long-term methotrexate therapy for
      rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to compare the natural menopause ages of
      healthy women with those of women with methotrexate (MTX)-treated rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA), and to specifically assess the effect of disease onset and
      activity and the use of MTX on the age of the last menstruation. METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective review of medical records to identify the ages at which
      menopause occurred in women with premenopausal RA treated with MTX and in women
      with postmenopausal onset, irrespective of therapy. Natural menopause ages were
      also compared between participants with and without RA. RESULTS: Women with
      premenopausal onset of RA underwent menopause at a significantly younger age than
      did healthy women (P < 0.001) or those with postmenopausal disease onset (P =
      0.001). Menopause also occurred at younger ages in participants with
      postmenopausal disease onset than in healthy controls (P = 0.012). The study
      suggested that menopause age was positively correlated with the age at which RA
      was diagnosed (R = 0.51; P < 0.001) in women with premenopausal RA onset, but was
      independent of the participant's age at menarche, number of pregnancies, or MTX
      therapy. Participants with RA onset at <= 35 years of age had a ninefold higher
      risk of premature menopause (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The age at which menopause
      occurs in a patient with RA depends on the patient's age at the time of disease
      onset and its duration, but is not influenced by MTX treatment.

PMID- 27648597
TI  - Bone mass improved effect of icariin for postmenopausal osteoporosis in
      ovariectomy-induced rats: a meta-analysis and systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ovariectomy (OVX)-induced rats are the most frequently used animal
      model to research postmenopausal osteoporosis. Our objective was to summarize and
      critically assess the bone mass improved effect of icariin (ICA) for treatment of
      postmenopausal osteoporosis in an OVX-induced rat model. METHODS: The PUBMED,
      EMBASE, and Chinese databases were searched from their inception date to February
      2015. Two reviewers independently selected animal studies that evaluated the bone
      mass improved effect of ICA compared with control in OVX-induced rats. Extracted
      data were analyzed by RevMan statistical software, and the methodological quality
      of each study was assessed. RESULTS: Seven studies with adequate randomization
      were included in the systematic review. Overall, ICA seemed to significantly
      improve bone mass as assessed using the bone mineral density (seven studies, n =
      169; weighted mean difference, 0.02; 95% CI, 0.01-0.02, I = 77%, P < 0.00001)
      using a random-effects model. There is no significant difference between ICA and
      estrogen (E) (six studies, n = 128; weighted mean difference, 0.00; 95% CI, -0.00
      to 0.01, I = 54%, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Bone mass improved effect of ICA for
      postmenopausal osteoporosis was observed in OVX-induced rats. Assessment of the
      methodological quality of studies involving OVX-induced animal models is
      required, and good methodological quality should be valued in systematic reviews
      of animal studies.

PMID- 27648599
TI  - Isolated Polar Amino Acid Residues Modulate Lipid Binding in the Large
      Hydrophobic Cavity of CD1d.
AB  - The CD1d protein is a nonpolymorphic MHC class I-like protein that controls the
      activation of natural killer T (NKT) cells through the presentation of self- and
      foreign-lipid ligands, glycolipids, or phospholipids, leading to the secretion of
      various cytokines. The CD1d contains a large hydrophobic lipid binding pocket:
      the A' pocket of CD1d, which recognizes hydrophobic moieties of the ligands, such
      as long fatty acyl chains. Although lipid-protein interactions typically rely on
      hydrophobic interactions between lipid chains and the hydrophobic sites of
      proteins, we showed that the small polar regions located deep inside the
      hydrophobic A' pocket could be used for the modulation of the lipid binding. A
      series of the ligands, alpha-galactosyl ceramide (alpha-GalCer) derivatives
      containing polar groups in the acyl chain, was synthesized, and the structure
      activity relationship studies demonstrated that simple modification from a
      methylene to an amide group in the long fatty acyl chain, when introduced at
      optimal positions, enhanced the CD1d recognition of the glycolipid ligands.
      Formation of hydrogen bonds between the amide group and the polar residues was
      supported by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and WaterMap calculations. The
      computational studies suggest that localized hydrating water molecules may play
      an important role in the ligand recognition. Here, the results showed that
      confined polar residues in the large hydrophobic lipid binding pockets of the
      proteins could be potential targets to modulate the affinity for its ligands.

PMID- 27648600
TI  - A Method for Reducing the Singlet-Triplet Energy Gaps of TADF Materials for
      Improving the Blue OLED Efficiency.
AB  - We have successfully synthesized a series of blue thermally activated delayed
      fluorescence emitters, BPy-pC, BPy-pTC, BPy-p2C, and BPy-p3C, bearing a 4
      benzoylpyridine core as the electron-accepting unit and carbazolyl, tert
      butylcarbazolyl, dicarbazolyl, and tercarbazolyl groups as the electron-donating
      units, respectively. The density functional theory calculation shows that all of
      the compounds have their lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals on the
      benzoylpyridine moiety. However, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of
      BPy-p3C is widely dispersed to the whole tercarbazolyl group, while the HOMOs of
      BPy-pC and BPy-pTC are mainly on the carbazolyl and extended to the phenyl ring.
      As a result, DeltaEST is reduced from 0.29 eV for BPy-pC to 0.05 eV for BPy-p3C,
      and the organic light-emitting diodes using these materials as dopants emit blue
      light and their maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) increase from 4.2%
      to 23.9% for BPy-pC and BPy-p3C, respectively. The EQE of the BPy-p3C-based
      device increases 2 times more than that of the BPy-pTC-based device without a
      significant change in the color coordinates.

PMID- 27648601
TI  - A General Tool for Engineering the NAD/NADP Cofactor Preference of
      Oxidoreductases.
AB  - The ability to control enzymatic nicotinamide cofactor utilization is critical
      for engineering efficient metabolic pathways. However, the complex interactions
      that determine cofactor-binding preference render this engineering particularly
      challenging. Physics-based models have been insufficiently accurate and blind
      directed evolution methods too inefficient to be widely adopted. Building on a
      comprehensive survey of previous studies and our own prior engineering successes,
      we present a structure-guided, semirational strategy for reversing enzymatic
      nicotinamide cofactor specificity. This heuristic-based approach leverages the
      diversity and sensitivity of catalytically productive cofactor binding geometries
      to limit the problem to an experimentally tractable scale. We demonstrate the
      efficacy of this strategy by inverting the cofactor specificity of four
      structurally diverse NADP-dependent enzymes: glyoxylate reductase, cinnamyl
      alcohol dehydrogenase, xylose reductase, and iron-containing alcohol
      dehydrogenase. The analytical components of this approach have been fully
      automated and are available in the form of an easy-to-use web tool: Cofactor
      Specificity Reversal-Structural Analysis and Library Design (CSR-SALAD).

PMID- 27648603
TI  - Anomalous Growth and Coalescence Dynamics of Hybrid Perovskite Nanoparticles
      Observed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy.
AB  - We report on in situ observations of nucleation, growth, and aggregation of
      hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites by liquid-cell transmission electron
      microscopy. Direct crystallization of hybrid CH3NH3PbI3 nanoparticles is achieved
      through an electron beam-assisted solvent evaporation approach. Time-lapse liquid
      cell TEM imaging of the nanoparticles reveals a growth trend which is not
      entirely consistent with the classical Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner growth model.
      Significantly complex dynamical behaviors are observed during the coalescence
      process of CH3NH3PbI3 nanoparticles. We propose that the chemical instability
      inherent in the hybrid perovskite iodides should be considered to understand this
      phenomenon in addition to the oriented attachment mechanism. This study provides
      a useful reference for understanding the intriguing chemical and physical
      properties of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites.

PMID- 27648602
TI  - Synthesis of a 1,3-Bridged Macrobicyclic Enyne via Chemoselective
      Cycloisomerization Using Palladium-Catalyzed Alkyne-Alkyne Coupling.
AB  - A unique intramolecular Pd-catalyzed alkyne-alkyne coupling is presented. This
      transformation generates a strained, 1,3-bridged, macrocyclic enyne. The process
      was readily executed on gram scale, and the structure of the product was
      elucidated via X-ray crystallographic analysis. A mechanistic rationale for the
      observed chemoselectivity is provided.

PMID- 27648604
TI  - Aggregation Kinetics of Hematite Particles in the Presence of Outer Membrane
      Cytochrome OmcA of Shewanella oneidenesis MR-1.
AB  - The aggregation behavior of 9, 36, and 112 nm hematite particles was studied in
      the presence of OmcA, a bacterial extracellular protein, in aqueous dispersions
      at pH 5.7 through time-resolved dynamic light scattering, electrophoretic
      mobility, and circular dichroism spectra, respectively. At low salt
      concentration, the attachment efficiencies of hematite particles in all sizes
      first increased, then decreased, and finally remained stable with the increase of
      OmcA concentration, indicating the dominant interparticle interaction changed
      along with the increase in the protein-to-particle ratio. Nevertheless, at high
      salt concentration, the attachment efficiencies of all hematite samples gradually
      decreased with increasing OmcA concentration, which can be attributed to
      increasing steric force. Additionally, the aggregation behavior of OmcA-hematite
      conjugates was more correlated to total particle-surface area than primary
      particle size. It was further established that OmcA could stabilize hematite
      nanoparticles more efficiently than bovine serum albumin (BSA), a model plasma
      protein, due to the higher affinity of OmcA to hematite surface. This study
      highlighted the effects of particle properties, solution conditions, and protein
      properties on the complicated aggregation behavior of protein-nanoparticle
      conjugates in aqueous environments.

PMID- 27648605
TI  - Two Dimensional Antiferromagnetic Chern Insulator: NiRuCl6.
AB  - Density functional theory (DFT) and Berry curvature calculations show that
      quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) can be realized in two-dimensional(2D)
      antiferromagnetic (AFM) NiRuCl6. The results indicate that NiRuCl6 behaves as an
      AFM Chern insulator and its spin-polarized electronic structure and strong spin
      orbit coupling (SOC) are responsible for the QAHE. By tuning SOC, we found that
      the topological property of NiRuCl6 arises from its energy band inversion.
      Considering the compatibility between the AFM and insulators, AFM Chern insulator
      provides a new way to archive high temperature QAHE in experiments due to its
      different magnetic coupling mechanism from that of ferromagnetic (FM) Chern
      insulator.

PMID- 27648606
TI  - Origin of Stereoselectivity and Substrate/Ligand Recognition in an FAD-Dependent
      R-Selective Amine Oxidase.
AB  - Elucidation of the molecular mechanism of amine oxidases (AOx) will help to
      extend their reactivity by rational design and their application to
      deracemization of various amine compounds. To date, several studies have been
      performed on S-selective AOx, but relatively few have focused on R-selective AOx.
      In this study, we sought to elucidate the mechanism of pkAOx, an R-selective AOx
      that we designed by introducing the Y228L and R283G mutations into d-amino acid
      oxidase from pig kidney. Four crystal structures of the substrate-bound protein
      and first-principles calculations based on the correlated fragment molecular
      orbital (FMO) indicated that two aromatic residues, Tyr224 and Phe242, form
      stable pi-pi stacking interaction with substrates. Enzyme kinetics also supported
      the importance of Tyr224 in catalysis: the kcat/Km value of the Y224L mutant was
      reduced by 300-fold than that of wild-type (WT) when utilizing either (R)
      methylbenzylamine [(R)-MBA] or (R)-1-(2-naphthyl)ethylamine [(R)-NEA] as the
      substrate. On the other hand, several Phe242 mutants exhibited higher reactivity
      toward (R)-NEA than the WT enzyme. In addition, FMO analysis indicated that pkAOx
      forms ~13 kcal/mol more stable interaction with (R)-MBA than with (S)-MBA; this
      energy difference contributes to specific recognition of (R)-MBA in the racemate.
      Through the present study, we clarified three features of pkAOx: the roles of
      Tyr224 and Phe242 in catalysis, the origin of high stereoselectivity, and the
      potential to extend its reactivity toward amine compounds with bulky groups.

PMID- 27648607
TI  - Photoelectron Imaging Spectra of O2-.VOC and O4-.VOC Complexes.
AB  - The anion photoelectron imaging spectra of O2-.VOC and O4-.VOC (VOC = hexane,
      isoprene, benzene, and benzene-d6) complexes measured using 3.49 eV photon
      energy, along with the results of ab initio and density functional theory results
      are reported and analyzed. Photodetachment of these anionic complexes accesses
      neutrals that model collision complexes, offering a probe of the effects of
      symmetry-breaking collision events on the electronic structure of normally
      transparent neutral molecules. The energies of O2-.VOC spectral features compared
      to the bare O2- indicate that photodetachment of the anion accesses a modestly
      repulsive region of the O2-VOC potential energy surface, with subtle VOC
      dependence on the relative energies of the O2 (X 3Sigmag-).VOC ground state and
      O2 (a 1Deltag).VOC excited state. In contrast, a significantly higher intensity
      of the transition to the O2 (a 1Deltag).VOC excited state relative to the O2 (X
      3Sigmag-).VOC ground state is observed for VOC = benzene, with a less pronounced
      effect observed for VOC = isoprene. Similar spectral effects are observed in the
      O4-.benzene and O4-.isoprene PE spectra. Several explanations are considered,
      with involvement of a temporary anion state emerging as the most plausible.

PMID- 27648608
TI  - Synthesis of Spiromamakone A Benzo Analogues via Double Oxa-Michael Addition of
      1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene.
AB  - Two benzo analogues of cytotoxic spiromamakone A, comprising carbon atoms with
      the same oxidation state and unsaturation degree as those of the natural
      products, are synthesized and biologically evaluated. Substitution of
      alpha,alpha'-dioxoketene dithioacetals, derived from 1,3-cyclopentanediones with
      protected (2-formylphenyl)magnesium bromide and 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene,
      followed by deprotection, generated these analogues via an intramolecular aldol
      reaction. The cytotoxicity of benzo analogues and synthetic intermediates against
      cervical carcinoma HeLa cells shows the necessity of the 4-cyclopentene-1,3-dione
      moiety for biological activity.

PMID- 27648609
TI  - Rice Bran Protein as a Potent Source of Antimelanogenic Peptides with Tyrosinase
      Inhibitory Activity.
AB  - Rice (Oryza sativa) is consumed as a staple food globally, and rice bran, the
      byproduct, is an unused biomass that is ultimately discarded as waste. Thus, in
      the present study, a technique for producing tyrosinase inhibitory peptides from
      rice bran protein (RBP) was developed. Simultaneous treatment of RBP with
      chymotrypsin and trypsin produced numerous peptides. Subsequently, six tyrosinase
      inhibitory peptides were isolated from the hydrolysate fractions in a multistep
      purification protocol, and their amino acid sequences were determined. Three of
      these peptides had a C-terminal tyrosine residue and exhibited significant
      inhibitory effects against tyrosinase-mediated monophenolase reactions.
      Furthermore, peptide CT-2 (Leu-Gln-Pro-Ser-His-Tyr) potently inhibited
      melanogenesis in mouse B16 melanoma cells without causing cytotoxicity,
      suggesting the potential of CT-2 as an agent for melanin-related skin disorder
      treatment. The present data indicate that RBP is a potent source of tyrosinase
      inhibitory peptides and that simultaneous treatment of RBP with chymotrypsin and
      trypsin efficiently produces these peptides.

PMID- 27648610
TI  - Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura and Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
      Microangiopathy in Pregnancy.
AB  - Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome
      (aHUS) are thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) that can present in pregnancy. The
      presentation can be with typical microangiopathic features and thrombocytopenia,
      but there is also a significant risk of in-utero fetal loss. TTP presents most
      commonly in the third trimester and aHUS in the postpartum period. On presumptive
      diagnosis, plasma exchange should be started and ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and
      metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13) activity
      measured. An activity of < 10% is in keeping with TTP, which may be late-onset
      congenital TTP or acquired disease: the former will require regular plasma
      therapy and the latter immunosuppression. In aHUS, eculizumab is the therapy of
      choice. In future pregnancies, follow-up with a multidisciplinary team including
      fetomaternal and specialist obstetrics should be undertaken.

PMID- 27648611
TI  - Von Willebrand Disease and Pregnancy: A Review of Evidence and Expert Opinion.
AB  - von Willebrand disease (VWD) is a common, inherited bleeding disorder. There are
      three main types of VWD, which result in a quantitative or qualitative deficiency
      in von Willebrand factor (VWF) and in severe cases, also Factor VIII (FVIII). The
      severity of bleeding depends on the underlying pathophysiology. Type 1 VWD is
      usually mild, while types 2 or 3 VWD can be associated with moderate or
      significant bleeding. Managing pregnant women with VWD requires a
      multidisciplinary approach. Such patients are at increased risk of postpartum
      hemorrhage. Whether women with VWD are at increased risk of spontaneous abortion
      remains unclear. Because of increased risk of bleeding, there are special
      considerations for delivery and obstetrical analgesia. There is a lack of high
      quality evidence supporting monitoring and treatment of VWD in pregnancy. Most
      experts recommend that FVIII and VWF levels be monitored prior to delivery and
      treatment initiated when levels remain below 0.50 IU/mL. Some experts consider
      desmopressin (DDAVP) to be the preferred initial treatment in type 1 and most
      type 2 VWD. DDAVP is relatively contraindicated in type 2B disease. Plasma
      derived FVIII and VWF replacements are the treatment of choice in type 2B and 3
      VWD and in type 1 or 2 VWD when patients do not respond to DDAVP.

PMID- 27648612
TI  - Effect of an Anionic Lipid on the Barotropic Behavior of a Ternary Bicellar
      Mixture.
AB  - Dispersions of lipid mixtures comprising long- and short-chain phospholipids
      (bicellar mixtures) can form small isotropically reorienting particles (bilayered
      micelles), magnetically orientable stuctures, or unorientable lamellar
      structures. Application of hydrostatic pressure can also induce interdigitation
      of the long-chain lipid components. In this work, variable-pressure 2H NMR was
      used to study the effect of head group charge on the barotropic behavior of
      bicellar mixtures. Observations at pressures up to 152 MPa and temperatures up to
      64  degrees C were combined with earlier observations at lower pressure and lower
      temperature to obtain a pressure-temperature phase diagram for DMPC-d54/DMPG/DHPC
      (3:1:1). In this phase diagram, a region corresponding to small, isotropically
      reorienting particles at lower temperature and higher pressure is separated from
      a region corresponding to unorientable lamellar organization, at higher
      temperature and lower pressure, by a band in which the magnetically orientable
      phase is stable below ~100 MPa and in which an interdigitated gel phase is stable
      above ~120 MPa. From ~46 to ~52  degrees C, the dispersion transforms directly
      from the unorientable lamellar to isotropically reorienting particle phases upon
      isothermal pressurization. The extent to which this behavior reflects the
      presence of anionic lipid in the long-chain fraction of this mixture is
      illustrated by comparison with spectral series obtained during isothermal
      pressurization of DMPC-d54/DHPC (4:1) and DMPC-d54/DMPG/DHPC (2.7:1.3:1) at
      selected temperatures. These observations show how electrostatic interactions at
      a bilayer surface can affect the balance between hydrophobic and hydrophilic
      interactions that is reflected by a dispersion's barotropic phase behavior.

PMID- 27648613
TI  - Novel Single-Stranded DNA Circular Viruses in Pericardial Fluid of Patient with
      Recurrent Pericarditis.

PMID- 27648614
TI  - Necrotic Bone Stimulates Proinflammatory Responses in Macrophages through the
      Activation of Toll-Like Receptor 4.
AB  - In Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, loss of blood supply results in ischemic
      osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). Generally, macrophages play important
      roles in inflammatory responses to tissue necrosis, but their role in ONFH is not
      known. The purpose of this study was to determine the macrophage-inflammatory
      responses after ONFH and the receptor mechanisms involved in sensing the necrotic
      bone, using a piglet model of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. Induction of ONFH
      resulted in increased numbers of CD14+ macrophages in the fibrovascular repair
      tissue compared with normal, as determined by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative
      real-time PCR analysis of macrophages isolated by laser capture microdissection
      showed significantly increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta,
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and IL-6 in ONFH compared with normal. Because Toll
      like receptors (TLRs) mediate macrophage-inflammatory responses in other
      inflammatory conditions, we determined their gene expression in macrophages and
      found significantly increased levels of TLR4 but not TLR2 and TLR9 in ONFH.
      Mechanistically, in vitro, bone marrow-derived macrophages treated with necrotic
      bone showed increased extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 and Ikappa
      kinase-alpha phosphorylation, increased proliferation, migration, and
      inflammatory cytokine expression, which were blocked by TLR4 inhibitor, TAK242,
      and by TLR4 ablation in macrophages using the clustered regularly interspaced
      short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease method.
      In conclusion, necrotic bone stimulates macrophage-inflammatory responses through
      TLR4 activation.

PMID- 27648616
TI  - Sir Malcom Macnaughton.

PMID- 27648617
TI  - Evaluation of Early Surgical Treatment Results Considering Venous Leg Ulcers.
AB  - Lower leg ulcers are characterized by a chronic and recurrent course, being
      considered as a difficult therapeutic problem. Based on epidemiological data
      chronic ulcers concern 0.2 to 2% of the Western European population. The above
      mentioned problem affects women more often than men, and increases with age.
      Treatment and recurrence prevention methods remain under discussion and research.
      The aim of the study was to evaluate the early surgical treatment results of
      venous leg ulcers at the Department of Traumatology and Emergency Medicine,
      Medical University of Lublin. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated patients
      hospitalized at the Department of Traumatology and Emergency Medicine, Medical
      University of Lublin during the period between 2009-2014. Inclusion criteria were
      as follows: venous leg ulceration, full documentation. The study group comprised
      62 patients subjected to treatment for leg ulcerations, including 35 women and 27
      men, aged between 30 and 94 years. The treatment method included the excision of
      the ulcers with the deep fascia, and the implantation of the mesh graft
      (thickness of skin) directly into the exposed muscle. RESULTS: Amongst patients
      evaluated at discharge, the healing of the transplant was as follows: in case of
      44 patients 90-100%, in 8 patients - 75-89%, in 5 patients 50-74% and in 5
      patients less than 50%. The predominating bacteria collected from ulceration
      samples was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (32%) and Staphylococcus aureus (35%).
      CONCLUSIONS: The patient outcome shows that surgery is an effective method
      considering treatment of venous leg ulcers. Earlier qualification for this type
      of surgery will improve patient outcome.

PMID- 27648615
TI  - Adipocyte-Lineage Cells Support Growth and Dissemination of Multiple Myeloma in
      Bone.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) cells reside in the bone marrow microenvironment and form
      complicated interactions with nonneoplastic, resident stromal cells. We
      previously found that aggressive MM cells shift osteoblast progenitors toward
      adipogenesis. In addition, adipocytes are among the most common cell types in the
      adult skeleton; both mature adipocytes and preadipocytes serve as endocrine cells
      that secrete a number of soluble molecules into the microenvironment. Therefore,
      we used a combination of in vivo and in vitro methods to test the hypothesis that
      an increase in adipocyte lineage cells feeds back to promote MM progression. The
      results of this study revealed that bone marrow from patients with MM indeed
      contains increased preadipocytes and significantly larger mature adipocytes than
      normal bone marrow. We also found that preadipocytes and mature adipocytes
      secrete many molecules important for supporting MM cells in the bone marrow and
      directly recruit MM cells through both monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and stromal
      cell-derived factor-1alpha. Co-culture experiments found that preadipocytes
      activate Wnt signaling and decrease cleaved caspase-3, whereas mature adipocytes
      activate ERK signaling in MM cells. Furthermore, mature adipocyte conditioned
      medium promotes MM growth, whereas co-culture with preadipocytes results in
      enhanced MM cell chemotaxis in vitro and increased tumor growth in bone in vivo.
      Combined, these data reveal the importance of preadipocytes and mature adipocytes
      on MM progression and represent a unique target in the bone marrow
      microenvironment.

PMID- 27648618
TI  - Evaluation of the Surgery Wound Healing Process Using Self-Adaptive Skin Suture
      or Mechanical Stapler.
AB  - Wound healing is a complex and time-phased process. The occurrence of numerous
      negative conditions as well as external factors have a significant influence on
      the risk of potential complications. Preparing the patient for surgery, attention
      should be paid to a number of factors determining the proper healing process. The
      aim of the study was to compare the results of the early period of surgical wound
      healing process with access via laparotomy using techniques, which are self
      adaptive sutures and mechanical staplers used for skin closure. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The study included 120 patients divided into three groups, according to
      the degree of wound continence, in accordance with the CDC (Center for Disease
      Control and Prevention). Exclusion criteria based on objective analysis were
      applied for patients with a higher risk of complications. In all cases the skin
      layer was closed with monofilament suture or single-patient use stapler. A ten
      day observation of the wound healing process was implemented. The study was
      randomized. RESULTS: In the case of patients groups identified as a "Clean Wound"
      and " Clean / Infected Wound" no significant differences were discovered. In the
      group "Contaminated/Infected Wound" significantly higher percentage of wound
      healing complications were reported (p < 0.05) for which monofilament sutures was
      used. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed, that mechanical stapler is recommended for
      contaminated/infected surgical wounds due to significantly lower risk of
      complications. In the case of wounds divided as a "Clean" and "Clean/Infected"
      type of suturing material has no significant effect on wound healing.

PMID- 27648619
TI  - Assessment of the Surgical Treatment Results in Patients with Colorectal Cancer
      in a District Hospital Versus Treatment Results in a Highly Specialized Center.
AB  - In Poland there there are about 15-16 thousand cases of colon cancer per year.
      The health care system allows the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer in
      highly specialized hospitals, oncology centers and district hospitals. The
      results of treatment within different reference level differ. The aim of the
      study was to evaluate the results of surgical treatment of patients with
      colorectal cancer at a district hospitals compared with the results of highly
      specialized center. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study. The material
      consisted of 171 consecutively operated patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer
      treated in the Department of Surgery, District Hospital in Wolomin. The control
      group consisted of 200 patients treated surgically at the Department of General
      and Colorectal Surgery, University Hospital in Lodz. In both centers, the
      patients were operated on by surgeons with experience in operations on the large
      bowel. The demographic data, information on the type of indication (elective vs
      emergent), and the severity of the disease by AJCC / TNM scale were collected. In
      the district hospital there were patients with more advanced disease (p <0.001),
      older (p = 0.0001), and often operated under emergent indication (p = 0.0001).
      The telephone survey collected data on survival or the date of death of the
      patient and set the percentage of five-year survival. RESULTS: The proportion of
      five-year survival in the study group and control group was respectively 46% and
      71% (p <0.0001). The percentage of five-year survival among patients undergoing
      elective procedure in both centers were respectively for Wolomin and Lodz 58% and
      73% (p = 0.008). The proportion of 5-year survival among "younger" patients (<70)
      was respectively in Wolomin and Lodz 64% and 81% (p = 0.004) for "older" patients
      with (> 70) 50% and 60% (p = 0.6747) Conclusions. Overall results of surgical
      treatment of patients with colorectal cancer in the district hospital are
      inferior to treatment results in a highly specialized center. The population
      treated in the district hospital is statistically significantly different in
      comparison to patients treated in highly specialized center. The following
      differences were captured: severity of the disease, age and type of indication
      (elective vs emergent). The diffrences has an influence on the outcomes. The five
      years survival for patients > 70 years undergoing elective procedure is not
      statistically different between the district hospital and highly specialized
      center.

PMID- 27648620
TI  - Reoperations for Intraabdominal Bleeding Following Deceased Donor Liver
      Transplantation.
AB  - Intraabdominal hemorrhage remains one of the most frequent surgical complications
      after liver transplantation. The aim of the study was to evaluate risk factors
      for intraabdominal bleeding requiring reoperation and to assess the relevance of
      the reoperations with respect to short- and long-term outcomes following liver
      transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data of 603 liver transplantations
      performed in the Department of General, Transplant and Liver Surgery in the
      period between January 2011 and September 2014 were analyzed retrospectively.
      Study end-points comprised: reoperation due to bleeding and death during the
      first 90 postoperative days and between 90 postoperative day and third post
      transplant year. RESULTS: Reoperations for intraabdominal bleeding were performed
      after 45 out of 603 (7.5%) transplantations. Low pre-transplant hemoglobin was
      the only independent predictor of reoperation (p=0.002) with the cut-off of 11.3
      g/dl. Postoperative 90-day mortality was significantly higher in patients
      undergoing reoperation as compared to the remaining patients (15.6% vs 5.6%,
      p=0.008). Post-transplant survival from 90 days to 3 years was non-significantly
      lower in patients after reoperation for bleeding (83.3%) as compared to the
      remaining patients (92.2%, p=0.096). Nevertheless, multivariable analyses did not
      reveal any significant negative impact of reoperations for bleeding on short-term
      mortality (p=0.589) and 3-year survival (p=0.079). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical
      interventions due to postoperative intraabdominal hemorrhage do not appear to
      affect short- and long-term outcomes following liver transplantation.
      Preoperative hemoglobin concentration over 11.3 g/dl is associated with decreased
      risk of this complication, yet the clinical relevance of this phenomenon is
      doubtful.

PMID- 27648621
TI  - Assessment of Abdominal Belts Impact on the Lungs Ventilation and Their
      Application in Early Physiotherapy after Major Abdominal Surgery - Prospective
      Trial.
AB  - Early physiotherapy is an important part of the comprehensive treatment of
      patients after major abdominal surgery (MAS). Accelerated mobilization should be
      safe and requires the use of appropriate techniques. Most of the physiotherapists
      and surgeons recommends using abdominal belts. Opponents claim that belts have an
      adverse effect on lungs ventilation. The aim of the study was to determine the
      effect of abdominal belt on lung ventilation efficiency in the early period after
      MAS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 20 patients after MAS. Including 9
      women and 11 men, aged between 40 to 90 years (x 66.7). In the scheduled 7
      patients and urgent 13. All of them were in the early period after surgery.
      Dynamic spirometry was performed twice in the postoperative period. For the first
      time wearing a belt, and then without the belt in the same group. Evaluated the
      forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and
      peak expiratory flow (PEF). For the analysis uses the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test
      and Spearman's rank correlations. P values <0.05 were considered significant.
      RESULTS: The value of the ventilation indicators measured wearing abdominal belt
      were slightly lower than the values evaluated without the belt. The results are
      shown in percent predicted for age and gender, FEV wearing belt 52%, without belt
      53%; FEV1 59% vs 61%; PEF 46% vs 51%. There were no statistically significant
      differences Conclusions. There were no significant negative influence of
      abdominal belt on lungs ventilation in early period after MAS. There was no
      correlations between age, body mass index and changes in ventilation indicators.

PMID- 27648622
TI  - Personality Traits and Decision on Breast Reconstruction in Women after
      Mastectomy.
AB  - The aim of the study was evaluation of the correlation between selected
      personality traits in women after mastectomy and their decision on breast
      reconstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted between 2013-2015,
      in the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Medical
      University of Lodz, and Department of Oncological and Breast Surgery, CZMP.
      Comparative analysis comprised 40 patients, in whom mastectomy and breast
      reconstruction was done, and 40 women after breast amputation, who did not
      undergo reconstructive surgery. Basing on self-constructed questionnaire, five
      features of personality were evaluated in these women: pursue of success in life,
      ability to motivate others, openness to other people, impact of belonging to a
      social group on sense of security and the importance of opinion of others about
      the respondent. Apart from the questionnaire, in both groups of women a
      psychologic tool was used (SUPIN S30 and C30 tests) to determine the intensity of
      positive and negative emotions. RESULTS: Women who did not choose the
      reconstructive option were statistically significantly older at mastectomy than
      women who underwent breast reconstruction. There were statistically significant
      differences between both groups in response to question on being open to other
      people and value of other people's opinion. The differences in responses to
      question on the impact of belonging to a social group on personal sense of safety
      were hardly statistically significant. In psychometric studies there were
      significant differences in responses to SUPIN C30 test for negative emotions and
      S-30 for positive emotions. The level of negative emotions - feature of group A
      was in 47.5% in the range of high scores and in 47.5% within low and low-average
      scores. Among women from group B 57.5% had high scores, while 37.5% low and
      average scores. There were significant differences in the results of positive
      emotions evaluation in S-30. Women who did not undergo breast reconstruction
      usually had high scores, while those who decided on reconstructive surgery
      usually had low scores and low-high scores. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The decision on
      breast reconstruction after mastectomy is connected with personality features of
      patients. Introvert women, who base their self-opinion on opinion of others and
      their sense of security on belonging to a social group, rarely choose to undergo
      breast reconstruction. 2. Younger patients after mastectomy more frequently
      choose the breast reconstructive option. 3. A special algorithm of medical and
      psychological care in patients after mastectomy should be created to improve
      their further quality of life.

PMID- 27648623
TI  - Perforation of the Peptic Ulcer Localized in the Proximal Jejunum - Case Report.
AB  - Non-traumatic perforation of the digestive tract occurs most often in the
      duodenum and stomach (peptic ulcer), as well as the colon (diverticulitis, cancer
      or ischemic lesions). Perforation of the small bowel is very rare. The Authors of
      the study presented a case of proximal jejunum perforation, which occurred in a
      patient with a history of duodenal peptic ulcer disease. Diagnosis posed no
      difficulties, and treatment included the excision of the ulceration and suturing
      of the bowel. The patient recovered without complications and the histological
      examination failed to reveal the nature of the ulcer. However, based on the
      medical history, one may suppose that it might be of peptic etiology, which makes
      this case exceptional. 

PMID- 27648624
TI  - An Adolescent Girl with Giant Fibroadenoma - A Case Report.
AB  - Though fibroadenoma is the most common benign tumor of the breast and is more
      common under the age of 30, giant fibroadenoma is rare representing less than 4%
      of all fibroadenomas. A 12 years old girl presented with rapidly enlarging well
      circumscribed firm, non-tender mass in right breast for 2 months which was
      painless and with no history of trauma, nipple discharge, fever, anorexia, weight
      loss or axillary lymphadenopathy. There was no family history of neoplasms.
      Clinically, the lump was about 12 * 12 cm and not fixed to skin or underlying
      structures with the absence of nipple retraction or discharge. There was no
      axillary lymphadenopathy. Fine needle aspiration cytology showed a benign
      proliferative breast disease. Total excision of mass was done preserving nipple
      and areola having weight of 535 gm with histopathological features suggestive of
      giant fibroadenoma. Giant fibroadenoma is a benign breast disease that may mimic
      rare malignant lesion. So, breast and nipple conserving surgery should always be
      performed irrespective of size of tumor as in this case. 

PMID- 27648625
TI  - Elective Surgery of Umbilical Hernia as a First Clinical Manifestation of a
      Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (Gist) - Case Report.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumor is a rare pathology. GISTs account for 0.3-1% of
      all tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. At the same time, this type of cancer
      is the most common, malignant, non-epithelial tumor of the gastrointestinal tube.
      Over 90% of GISTs are found in the stomach and small intestine. This cancer
      usually develops without characteristic clinical symptoms and is diagnosed
      incidentally. This clinical situation, in which the first symptom of a GIST
      pattern tumor includes a fully-symptomatic, non-complicated umbilical hernia, is
      an unprecedented anomaly. This work presents a case report of a 77-year old
      female patient undergoing elective surgery, in which the contents of the hernial
      sac included a stromal tumor. Disseminated, multi-focal progression of the
      disease was found intraoperatively. Postoperative histopathology and
      immunohistochemistry revealed a gastrointestinal stromal tumor GIST of the
      spindle cell type, showing a CD-117, CD-34, SMA expression with possible starting
      point in the small intestine. 

PMID- 27648626
TI  - Modern Materials Applied in Hernioplasty.

PMID- 27648627
TI  - Why do we publish review articles on environmental health topics?

PMID- 27648628
TI  - Pokemon decreases the transcriptional activity of RARalpha in the absence of
      ligand.
AB  - Pokemon is a transcriptional repressor that belongs to the POZ and Kruppel (POK)
      protein family. In this study, we investigated the potential interaction between
      Pokemon and retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARalpha) and determined the role of
      Pokemon in regulation of RARalpha transcriptional activity in the absence of
      ligand. We found that Pokemon could directly interact with RARalpha. Moreover, we
      demonstrated that Pokemon could decrease the transcriptional activity of RARalpha
      in the absence of ligand. Furthermore, we showed that Pokemon could repress the
      transcriptional activity of RARalpha by increasing the recruitment of nuclear
      receptor co-repressor (NCoR) and silencing mediator of retinoic acid and thyroid
      hormone receptor (SMRT) to the retinoic acid response element (RARE) element.
      Taken together, these data suggest that Pokemon is a novel partner of RARalpha
      that acts as a co-repressor to regulate RARalpha transcriptional activity in the
      absence of ligand.

PMID- 27648629
TI  - The Assessment of short-term effect of L-Citrulline on endothelial function via
      FMD to NMD ratio in known CAD patients: A randomized, cross-over clinical trial
      (Clinical trial number: NCT02638727).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies have confirmed the essential and paramount role of the
      L-Citrulline on the nitric oxide regulation and the endothelial function
      improvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-over clinical trial, thirty
      patients, diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) and flow mediated dilation
      to nitroglycerin dependent vasodilation (FMD/NMD) ratio less than 1, were
      included. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of 15 patients and
      underwent treatment by L-Citrulline or placebo for 15 days, in 2 step protocol.
      The indicators of assessment in the current study were the ratio of the FMD/NMD
      and FMD value. RESULTS: In the current cross-over clinical trial, the mean of FMD
      to NMD ratio and mean FMD value of all patients before starting the protocol were
      0.91 +/- 0.08 and 4.04 +/- 0.51 mm, respectively. The final results of study
      showed that following L-Citrulline administration, mean FMD to NMD ratio and mean
      FMD value were enhanced to: 1.03 +/- 0.09 and 4.96 +/- 0.72 mm, respectively,
      which were statistically significant (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively).
      However, following placebo administration, mean FMD to NMD ratio and mean FMD
      value were receded to: 0.92 +/- 0.09 and 4.06 +/- 0.22 mm, respectively, which
      were not statistically significant (P = 0.75 and P = 0.89, respectively).
      Moreover, the improvement of mean FMD to NMD ratio (0.12 +/- 0.02) and mean FMD
      value (0.92 +/- 0.16 mm), following L-Citrulline administration, were
      statistically significant in comparison with the change of mean FMD to NMD ratio
      (0.01 +/- 0.002) and mean FMD value (0.02 +/- 0.003), following placebo
      administration (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: L-Citrulline
      treatment can lead to improvement of the endothelial function in patients
      diagnosed with CAD which are assessed via FMD to NMD ratio FMD value
      enhancements.

PMID- 27648630
TI  - Iron deficiency anemia and megaloblastic anemia in obese patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association between obesity and different types of anemia
      remained uncertain. The present study aimed to assess the relation between
      obesity parameters and the occurrence of iron deficiency anemia and also
      megaloblastic anemia among Iranian population. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This cross
      sectional study was performed on 1252 patients with morbid obesity that randomly
      selected from all patients referred to Clinic of obesity at Rasoul-e-Akram
      Hospital in 2014. The morbid obesity was defined according to the guideline as
      body mass index (BMI) equal to or higher than 40 kg/m2. Various laboratory
      parameters including serum levels of hemoglobin, iron, ferritin, folic acid, and
      vitamin B12 were assessed using the standard laboratory techniques. RESULTS: BMI
      was adversely associated with serum vitamin B12, but not associated with other
      hematologic parameters. The overall prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was
      9.8%. The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was independent to patients' age
      and also to body mass index. The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was totally
      20.9%. According to the multivariable logistic regression model, no association
      was revealed between BMI and the occurrence of iron deficiency anemia adjusting
      gender and age. A similar regression model showed that higher BMI could predict
      occurrence of vitamin B12 deficiency in morbid obese patients. CONCLUSION:
      Although iron deficiency is a common finding among obese patients, vitamin B12
      deficiency is more frequent so about one-fifth of these patients suffer vitamin
      B12 deficiency. In fact, the exacerbation of obesity can result in exacerbation
      of vitamin B12 deficiency.

PMID- 27648631
TI  - Experience with suspecting child maltreatment in the Norwegian public dental
      health services, a national survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Detecting and responding to child-maltreatment is a serious challenge
      and public health concern. In Norway, public dental health personnel (PDHP) have
      a mandatory obligation to report to child welfare services (CWS) if they suspect
      child-maltreatment. This study aimed to assess PDHP's frequency of reporting and
      failing to report to CWS and whether the frequencies varied according to
      personal, organizational and external characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An
      electronic questionnaire was sent to 1542 public dental hygienists and dentists
      in Norway, 1200 of who responded (77.8%). RESULTS: The majority 60.0%, reported
      having sent reports of concern to CWS throughout their career, 32.6% had
      suspected child-maltreatment but failed to report it in their career and 42.5%
      had sent reports during the three-year period from 2012 to 2014. The reporting
      frequency to CWS was influenced by PDHP's personal, organizational and external
      characteristics, while failure to report was influenced by personal
      characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to international studies, PDHP in Norway
      sends reports of concern and fails to report to CWS at relatively high rates.
      PDHP's likelihood of reporting was influenced by age, working experience, number
      of patients treated, size of the municipality and geographical region, while
      failure to report to CWS was influenced by working experience.

PMID- 27648632
TI  - Effects of radiofrequency field exposure on glutamate-induced oxidative stress in
      mouse hippocampal HT22 cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: To define the impact of radiofrequency (RF) under in vitro experimental
      Alzheimer's disease conditions, we investigated the effect of RF radiation on
      glutamate-induced oxidative stress in mouse hippocampal neuronal HT22 cells.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell survival rate was measured by MTT and trypan blue
      exclusion assays. Cell cycle distribution, cell death, and ROS production were
      analyzed using flow cytometry. Expression of proteins was analyzed by Western
      blot. RESULTS: RF exposure alone had a marginal impact on cell proliferation;
      however, it significantly enhanced glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT22 cells.
      Glutamate augmented the subG1 fraction of cell cycle, annexin/propidium iodide
      positive cell population, and expression of cleaved poly (ADP ribose) polymerase,
      which were further increased by RF exposure. Glutamate induced reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) generation and RF exposure further upregulated it. N-acetylcysteine
      (NAC) treatment completely abrogated glutamate- and RF-induced ROS production
      followed by cell death and restored cell proliferation in HT22 cells. Finally,
      glutamate phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and RF increased this
      event further. Treatment with NAC and inhibitor of JNK decreased JNK
      phosphorylation and restored cell proliferation, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results demonstrate that RF exposure enhanced glutamate-induced cytotoxicity by
      further increase of ROS production in HT22 cells.

PMID- 27648634
TI  - Periventricular glioblastomas and ependymal involvement interrogated using
      intraoperative fluorescence - a pathological correlative study.
AB  - RATIONALE: Subventricular zone (SVZ) involvement has been proposed as an adverse
      prognostic factor in glioblastomas (GBM). The true extent of ventricular
      involvement at surgery is often difficult to establish and is poorly studied.
      Tumour fluorescence provides us with an exciting opportunity to interrogate
      tumour extent intraoperatively. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of
      all cases of GBMs operated using aminolevulinic acid-induced fluorescence and
      analyzed radiological SVZ involvement alongwith the incidence of ventricular
      entry at surgery, ependymal fluorescence and histological correlation of the
      ependymal involvement. RESULTS: Of 30 GBMs, radiological SVZ involvement was seen
      in 26 of which ventricles were opened at surgery in 19. Diffuse ependymal
      fluorescence was seen in 10 of the 19 cases (51%) and histology revealed tumour
      infiltration in only one of the five cases where ependymal tissue was sampled.
      Focal ependymal fluorescence seen in two of the 19 cases was always pathological.
      Diffuse ependymal fluorescence did not always correlate with gross appearance of
      the ventricular lining at surgery. Nor did it correlate with SVZ involvement.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pathological significance of diffusely fluorescing ependymal lining
      seen during surgery is questionable and need not represent tumour extension.
      Ependymal fluorescence may sometimes not be visualized even when the tumour
      appears to involve the SVZ. These results highlight the potential limitations of
      fluorescence especially in the bordering infiltrating zone where its predictive
      value is diminished.

PMID- 27648633
TI  - A combination of complexation and self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system for
      enhancing oral bioavailability and anticancer efficacy of curcumin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Curcumin, the golden spice from Indian saffron, has shown
      chemoprotective action against many types of cancer including breast cancer.
      However, poor oral bioavailability is the major hurdle in its clinical
      application. In the recent years, self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system
      (SNEDDS) has emerged as a promising tool to improve the oral absorption and
      enhancing the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. In this context,
      complexation with lipid carriers like phospholipid has also shown the tremendous
      potential to improve the solubility and therapeutic efficacy of certain drugs
      with poor oral bioavailability. METHODS: In the present investigation, a
      systematic combination of both the approaches is utilized to prepare the
      phospholipid complex of curcumin and facilitate its incorporation into SNEDDS.
      The combined use of both the approaches has been explored for the first time to
      enhance the oral bioavailability and in turn increase the anticancer activity of
      curcumin. RESULTS: As evident from the pharmacokinetic studies and in situ single
      pass intestinal perfusion studies in Sprague-Dawley rats, the optimized SNEDDS of
      curcumin-phospholipid complex has shown enhanced oral absorption and
      bioavailability of curcumin. The cytotoxicity study in metastatic breast
      carcinoma cell line has shown the enhancement of cytotoxic action by 38.7%. The
      primary tumor growth reduction by 58.9% as compared with the control group in 4T1
      tumor-bearing BALB/c mice further supported the theory of enhancement of
      anticancer activity of curcumin in SNEDDS. CONCLUSION: The developed formulation
      can be a potential and safe carrier for the oral delivery of curcumin.

PMID- 27648635
TI  - Comparative study on stabilization mechanism of monomeric cytochrome c5 from deep
      sea piezophilic Shewanella violacea.
AB  - Monomeric cytochrome c5 from deep-sea piezophilic Shewanella violacea (SVcytc5)
      was stable against heat and denaturant compared with the homologous protein from
      shallow-sea piezo-sensitive Shewanella livingstonensis (SLcytc5). Here, the
      SVcytc5 crystal structure revealed that the Lys-50 side chain on the flexible
      loop formed a hydrogen bond with heme whereas that of corresponding hydrophobic
      Leu-50 could not form such a bond in SLcytc5, which appeared to be one of
      possible factors responsible for the difference in stability between the two
      proteins. This structural insight was confirmed by a reciprocal mutagenesis study
      on the thermal stability of these two proteins. As SVcytc5 was isolated from a
      deep-sea piezophilic bacterium, the present comparative study indicates that
      adaptation of monomeric SVcytc5 to high pressure environments results in
      stabilization against heat.

PMID- 27648636
TI  - Reassortment of high-yield influenza viruses in vero cells and safety assessment
      as candidate vaccine strains.
AB  - Vaccination is the practiced and accessible measure for preventing influenza
      infection. Because chicken embryos used for vaccine production have various
      insufficiencies, more efficient methods are needed. African green monkey kidney
      (Vero) cells are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a safe
      substitute for influenza vaccine production for humans. However, the influenza
      virus usually had low-yield in Vero cells, which limits the usage of Vero
      cellular vaccines. This study used 2 high-yield influenza viruses in Vero cells:
      A/Yunnan/1/2005Va (H3N2) and B/Yunnan/2/2005Va (B) as donor viruses. It used 3
      wild strain viruses to reassort new adaptation viruses, including:
      A/Tianjin/15/2009(H1N1), A/Fujian/196/2009(H3N2), and B/Chongqing/1384/2010(B).
      These three new viruses could maintain the characteristic of high-yield in Vero
      cells. Furthermore, they could keep the immunogenic characteristics of the
      original wild influenza viruses. Importantly, these viruses were shown as safe in
      chicken embryo and guinea pigs assessment systems. These results provide an
      alternative method to produce influenza vaccine based on Vero cells.

PMID- 27648637
TI  - Patient experiences with pharmacogenetic testing in a primary care setting.
AB  - AIM: To investigate patient experiences with pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing.
      METHODS: Patients were offered PGx testing through a study on pharmacist-assisted
      delivery of PGx testing and invited to complete pre- and post-testing surveys
      about their experience. RESULTS: Of 63 patients tested, 17 completed the baseline
      survey (27%). Interest in testing was mostly impacted by desire to inform
      selection of best treatment (n = 13). Seven of 12 patients that completed the
      follow-up survey indicated that their provider discussed the test result with
      them. Five patients understood their test result very or somewhat well. All would
      be likely to have PGx testing again. CONCLUSION: Patients perceived PGx testing
      to be useful, though more effort may be needed to improve patient-provider
      communication of test results.

PMID- 27648638
TI  - LYSOPHOSPHATIDIC ACIDS AND AUTOTAXIN IN RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the levels of lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) and autotaxin
      (ATX) in undiluted vitreous of untreated patients with retinal vein occlusion
      (RVO). METHODS: Sixty-four vitreous samples (40 RVO, 24 controls with idiopathic
      floaters) were analyzed in this retrospective case series using LC/MS for LPAs
      16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 20:4, and ELISA kits or Luminex technology for ATX, angiopoetin
      1 (ANG-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-7 (IL-7), interleukin-8 (IL-8),
      monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), pigment epithelium-derived factor
      (PEDF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). LPA and ATX levels were
      correlated with the visual acuity, central macular thickness (CMT), average
      retinal thickness (AvT), vitreal cytokine levels and with each other. RESULTS:
      Levels of every LPA species tested and ATX were significantly increased in the
      vitreous fluid from all patients with RVO (total LPAs: 968.0 +/- 842.3 nM; ATX:
      2.5 +/- 1.02 nM) compared with controls (total LPAs: 225.2 +/- 292.8 nM, P <
      0.0001; ATX: 1.9 +/- 1.00 nM, P = 0.005). There were strong positive correlations
      between the vitreal levels of IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, VEGF and LPAs. CONCLUSION:
      Levels of LPAs and ATX were positively correlated with proinflammatory cytokines
      and VEGF and might thus play an important role in the development of macular
      edema secondary to RVO.

PMID- 27648639
TI  - Accuracy of Diagnosis of Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis in China.
AB  - In 2008, human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) was reported from China. However,
      the clinical and laboratory findings, including reports of nosocomial
      transmission, were inconsistent with those reported for HGA in the United States.
      In 2012, it was demonstrated that the patients described in the 2008 report had
      all been infected with a newly discovered bunyavirus, severe fever with
      thrombocytopenia syndrome virus, which causes an illness with the same clinical
      features described for the patients in the 2008 report. This finding raises the
      question of HGA misdiagnosis in China and establishes the need for further
      studies to determine whether HGA occurs there.

PMID- 27648640
TI  - Estimation of Severe Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Cases in the Middle East,
      2012-2016.
AB  - Using data from travelers to 4 countries in the Middle East, we estimated 3,250
      (95% CI 1,300-6,600) severe cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome occurred in
      this region during September 2012-January 2016. This number is 2.3-fold higher
      than the number of laboratory-confirmed cases recorded in these countries.

PMID- 27648642
TI  - Genome-Wide Analysis of RNA Secondary Structure.
AB  - Single-stranded RNA molecules fold into extraordinarily complicated secondary and
      tertiary structures as a result of intramolecular base pairing. In vivo, these
      RNA structures are not static. Instead, they are remodeled in response to changes
      in the prevailing physicochemical environment of the cell and as a result of
      intermolecular base pairing and interactions with RNA-binding proteins.
      Remarkable technical advances now allow us to probe RNA secondary structure at
      single-nucleotide resolution and genome-wide, both in vitro and in vivo. These
      data sets provide new glimpses into the RNA universe. Analyses of RNA
      structuromes in HIV, yeast, Arabidopsis, and mammalian cells and tissues have
      revealed regulatory effects of RNA structure on messenger RNA (mRNA)
      polyadenylation, splicing, translation, and turnover. Application of new methods
      for genome-wide identification of mRNA modifications, particularly methylation
      and pseudouridylation, has shown that the RNA "epitranscriptome" both influences
      and is influenced by RNA structure. In this review, we describe newly developed
      genome-wide RNA structure-probing methods and synthesize the information emerging
      from their application.

PMID- 27648643
TI  - The Plant Microbiota: Systems-Level Insights and Perspectives.
AB  - Plants do not grow as axenic organisms in nature, but host a diverse community of
      microorganisms, termed the plant microbiota. There is an increasing awareness
      that the plant microbiota plays a role in plant growth and can provide protection
      from invading pathogens. Apart from intense research on crop plants, Arabidopsis
      is emerging as a valuable model system to investigate the drivers shaping stable
      bacterial communities on leaves and roots and as a tool to decipher the intricate
      relationship among the host and its colonizing microorganisms. Gnotobiotic
      experimental systems help establish causal relationships between plant and
      microbiota genotypes and phenotypes and test hypotheses on biotic and abiotic
      perturbations in a systematic way. We highlight major recent findings in plant
      microbiota research using comparative community profiling and omics analyses, and
      discuss these approaches in light of community establishment and beneficial
      traits like nutrient acquisition and plant health.

PMID- 27648644
TI  - Optimising rigid motion compensation for small animal brain PET imaging.
AB  - Motion compensation (MC) in PET brain imaging of awake small animals is
      attracting increased attention in preclinical studies since it avoids the
      confounding effects of anaesthesia and enables behavioural tests during the scan.
      A popular MC technique is to use multiple external cameras to track the motion of
      the animal's head, which is assumed to be represented by the motion of a marker
      attached to its forehead. In this study we have explored several methods to
      improve the experimental setup and the reconstruction procedures of this method:
      optimising the camera-marker separation; improving the temporal synchronisation
      between the motion tracker measurements and the list-mode stream; post
      acquisition smoothing and interpolation of the motion data; and list-mode
      reconstruction with appropriately selected subsets. These techniques have been
      tested and verified on measurements of a moving resolution phantom and brain
      scans of an awake rat. The proposed techniques improved the reconstructed spatial
      resolution of the phantom by 27% and of the rat brain by 14%. We suggest a set of
      optimal parameter values to use for awake animal PET studies and discuss the
      relative significance of each parameter choice.

PMID- 27648645
TI  - Dual role of delay effects in a tumour-immune system.
AB  - In this paper, a previous tumour-immune interaction model is simplified by
      neglecting a relatively weak direct immune activation by the tumour cells, which
      can still keep the essential dynamics properties of the original model. As the
      immune activation process is not instantaneous, we now incorporate one delay for
      the activation of the effector cells (ECs) by helper T cells (HTCs) into the
      model. Furthermore, we investigate the stability and instability regions of the
      tumour-presence equilibrium state of the delay-induced system with respect to two
      parameters, the activation rate of ECs by HTCs and the HTCs stimulation rate by
      the presence of identified tumour antigens. We show the dual role of this delay
      that can induce stability switches exhibiting destabilization as well as
      stabilization of the tumour-presence equilibrium. Besides, our results reveal
      that an appropriate immune activation time delay plays a significant role in
      control of tumour growth.

PMID- 27648646
TI  - Hysterectomy for Uterine Cancer in the Elderly: A Comparison Between Laparoscopic
      and Robot-Assisted Techniques.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The mainstay of treatment for uterine corpus cancer is surgical, and
      the gold standard approach has become minimally invasive surgery. The aim of this
      study is to compare the perioperative complications and demographics of patients
      80 years old or more undergoing robotic and laparoscopic hysterectomy for uterine
      cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we
      retrospectively identified all women aged 80 years or older who had
      hysterectomies for uterine cancer by either modality. The complication rates of
      surgery in both groups were adjusted for potential confounding and compared using
      logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: There were 915 women aged 80 years or
      older identified with uterine corpus cancer who had either laparoscopic or
      robotic surgery. Robotically treated patients were more likely to be obese (8.8%
      vs 3.5%) but were otherwise similar in terms of mean age, comorbidities, income,
      ethnicity, and insurance status. Those undergoing robotic surgery were less
      likely to have admissions beyond 3 days (29.0% vs 38.2%; adjusted odds ratio,
      0.66; P < 0.01) and had a lower composite incidence of any complication (24.3% vs
      31.6%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.7; P < 0.05). When looking at those who had lymph
      node dissections, there was a lower rate of postoperative ileus, and a trend
      toward fewer venous thromboembolic events. CONCLUSIONS: Among octogenarians and
      nonagenarians with uterine corpus cancer, robotic surgery is associated with a
      shorter hospital admission and a better complication profile than laparoscopy.

PMID- 27648647
TI  - Perceived Health-Related Quality of Life in Women With Vulvar Neoplasia: A Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine health-related quality of life
      (HRQoL) of women with surgically treated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN)
      and vulvar cancer (VC) during the first week after hospital discharge. Further
      objectives were to investigate differences between women with VIN and VC as well
      as to examine whether correlations exist between women's symptom experience and
      HRQoL. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 8 hospitals in
      Germany and Switzerland. Women with VIN and VC rated HRQoL with the validated
      German Short-Form 36. Differences between HRQoL in women with VIN and VC were
      tested with Wilcoxon rank-sum score. The WOMen with vulvAr Neoplasia (WOMAN) -
      Patient reported Outcome (PRO) self-report instrument was used to measure women's
      symptom experience. Correlations between symptoms and HRQoL were calculated using
      Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Women with VIN and VC (n = 65)
      reported lower HRQoL in physical aspects (Physical Component Summary [PCS], 34.9)
      than that in mental aspects (Mental Component Summary, 40.5). Women with VC had
      lower HRQoL than women with VIN, as manifested by significant differences
      concerning the dimensions of "physical functioning" and "role-physical."
      "Difficulties in daily life" as a distressing symptom correlated with MCS and
      PCS. Wound-related symptoms correlated with PCS and psychosocial symptoms/issues
      with MCS. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis showed that women with vulvar neoplasia reported
      lower HRQoL in the physical and mental dimensions 1 week after discharge than
      comparable studies referring to months or years after surgery. Health-related
      quality of life is influenced by physical impairment because physical symptoms
      are prevalent 1 week after discharge. Patient education should focus on symptom
      management in an early postsurgical phase to enhance women's HRQoL.

PMID- 27648641
TI  - Control of Meiotic Crossovers: From Double-Strand Break Formation to Designation.
AB  - Meiosis, the mechanism of creating haploid gametes, is a complex cellular process
      observed across sexually reproducing organisms. Fundamental to meiosis is the
      process of homologous recombination, whereby DNA double-strand breaks are
      introduced into the genome and are subsequently repaired to generate either
      noncrossovers or crossovers. Although homologous recombination is essential for
      chromosome pairing during prophase I, the resulting crossovers are critical for
      maintaining homolog interactions and enabling accurate segregation at the first
      meiotic division. Thus, the placement, timing, and frequency of crossover
      formation must be exquisitely controlled. In this review, we discuss the proteins
      involved in crossover formation, the process of their formation and designation,
      and the rules governing crossovers, all within the context of the important
      landmarks of prophase I. We draw together crossover designation data across
      organisms, analyze their evolutionary divergence, and propose a universal model
      for crossover regulation.

PMID- 27648648
TI  - European Society of Gynaecologic Oncology Quality Indicators for Advanced Ovarian
      Cancer Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The surgical management of advanced ovarian cancer involves complex
      surgery. Implementation of a quality management program has a major impact on
      survival. The goal of this work was to develop a list of quality indicators (QIs)
      for advanced ovarian cancer surgery that can be used to audit and improve the
      clinical practice. This task has been carried out under the auspices of the
      European Society of Gynaecologic Oncology (ESGO). METHODS: Quality indicators
      were based on scientific evidence and/or expert consensus. A 4-step evaluation
      process included a systematic literature search for the identification of
      potential QIs and the documentation of scientific evidence, physical meetings of
      an ad hoc multidisciplinarity International Development Group, an internal
      validation of the targets and scoring system, and an external review process
      involving physicians and patients. RESULTS: Ten structural, process, or outcome
      indicators were selected. Quality indicators 1 to 3 are related to achievement of
      complete cytoreduction, caseload in the center, training, and experience of the
      surgeon. Quality indicators 4 to 6 are related to the overall management,
      including active participation to clinical research, decision-making process
      within a structured multidisciplinary team, and preoperative workup. Quality
      indicator 7 addresses the high value of adequate perioperative management.
      Quality indicators 8 to 10 highlight the need of recording pertinent information
      relevant to improvement of quality. An ESGO-approved template for the operative
      report has been designed. Quality indicators were described using a structured
      format specifying what the indicator is measuring, measurability specifications,
      and targets. Each QI was associated with a score, and an assessment form was
      built. CONCLUSIONS: The ESGO quality criteria can be used for self-assessment,
      for institutional or governmental quality assurance programs, and for the
      certification of centers. Quality indicators and corresponding targets give
      practitioners and health administrators a quantitative basis for improving care
      and organizational processes in the surgical management of advanced ovarian
      cancer.

PMID- 27648649
TI  - Facial Artery Myomucosal Flap, Pedicled Solely on the Facial Artery: Experimental
      Design Study on Survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Facial artery myomucosal flap pedicled solely on skeletonized facial
      artery has been reported in the literature. Venous drainage of this modified flap
      is doubtful so an animal study was designed to verify the survival of this flap.
      MATERIAL: Three healthy adult male mongrel dogs with weight between 20 to 30 kg
      were enrolled in this study. Split mouth technique was used in this experiment.
      Flap paddle was designed over the facial artery and vein. Facial vein was ligated
      and divided. Flap was returned to the original site and sutured (experimental
      group). In the other side, flap was harvested but returned to the original
      position without disturbing the vascular pedicle (positive control). RESULTS: All
      buccal mucosa island flaps with preserved facial artery and vein were survived,
      whereas all the flaps with the occlusion of facial vein undergo necrosis.
      CONCLUSION: Island FAMM flap, pedicled only on skeletonized facial artery, is not
      biologically accepted for clinical usage.

PMID- 27648651
TI  - Concha Bullosa and Ethmoid Structures Pneumatization: The Effect of Altitude and
      Other Variables.
AB  - The effect of altitude on the paranasal sinus pneumatization is not well
      understood. This study aims to evaluate the effect of altitude on the surface
      area and type of the concha bullosa (CB) as well as the number of aerated ethmoid
      structures, and to study the correlation between CB, age, gender, and Lund-Mackay
      score (LMS).Sixty-five randomly collected paranasal sinus computed tomography
      scans of adult patients with sinonasal symptoms who had CB were reviewed for the
      type and surface area of CB, ethmoid structures pnumatization including crista
      galli, nasal septum, superior turbinate, and uncinate process, as well as the
      LMS. The mean age of patients was 35 +/- 9.64 years, with 29 females (41.7%) and
      36 males (58.3%). The average LMS, altitude, and number of aerated ethmoid
      structures were 6 +/- 4, 580 +/- 325 m, and 4 +/- 1.4, respectively.The average
      CB surface area in females was 163 mm compared to 109 mm in men; this difference
      was statistically significant. Furthermore, females had significantly higher
      prevalence of bulbous and extensive CB. There was no significant correlation
      between altitude and the presence of ethmoid structures pneumatization.We
      concluded that altitude is not an important factor in ethmoid structures
      aeration. Our results indicate that female patients have larger CB and number of
      pneumatized ethmoid structures than males. We found a significant correlation
      between the surface area of CB and the number of aerated ethmoid structures,
      which indicates possible common etiology.

PMID- 27648650
TI  - Giant Cell Tumor of Midface: A Rare Aggressive Entity With an Easy Solution That
      Even Caters for Recurrence.

PMID- 27648652
TI  - Aphthous Ulcer of the Vocal Cord Leading to Hoarseness.
AB  - Acute or chronic laryngitis, laryngeal trauma, vocal cord paralysis, cysts of the
      vocal cord, and benign or malignant tumors of the vocal folds are frequent causes
      of hoarseness. It is important to identify the cause of hoarseness to rule out
      potential malignancies. In this case report, we describe a patient with a
      bilateral aphthous ulcer in the vocal cords who was admitted with hoarseness and
      had been previously diagnosed with Behcet disease. Behcet disease is
      characterized by mucosal aphthous lesions, which are found primarily in oral and
      genital regions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance of a
      patient with bilateral aphthous ulcer in the vocal cords.

PMID- 27648653
TI  - Characteristics of Posed Smiles for Class III Female Patients Before and After
      Osteotomy Using Principal Component Analysis.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristics of posed smiles for
      Class III female patients before and after orthognathic surgery. Just before
      retrusion surgery and the removal of fixation plates, 2 sets of posed smiles were
      recorded for 7 Class III female patients. As normal controls, 7 healthy female
      volunteers were also recorded. Using our video-based motion analyzing system,
      range images and 5 * 5 virtual grids projected onto the lips were recorded for
      all patients while making a posed smile. The gravity for each area in the lips
      was calculated from the intersections of the virtual grids. Principal component
      analysis was applied to the normalized virtual grids, that is, a homologous model
      of lip shape, for all frames of the posed smiles. While the sample size was too
      small to generalize from these results, we found that the upper vermilion shifted
      posteriorly and laterally in posed smiles for Class III female patients after
      retrusion surgery as compared with the preoperative posed smiles. In addition,
      the characteristic lip movements during postoperative posed smiles for Class III
      female patients did not resemble those of the normal controls.

PMID- 27648654
TI  - Evaluation of Repairing Facial Depression Deformities Secondary to Lupus
      Erythematosus Panniculitis With Autologous Fat Grafting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A facial depression deformity secondary to lupus erythematosus
      panniculitis results from fat necrosis, which seriously alters the patients'
      appearance and thus affects their psychological health. Few studies have
      discussed the repair of depression deformities. The authors repaired depression
      deformities due to atrophic lesions by using autologous fat grafting to obtain
      volumetric restoration of the facial skin, and the authors report our outcomes.
      METHODS: In this series, 30 depression deformities in 18 patients were repaired.
      The authors suctioned fat grafts from the abdomen and centrifuged them at 500*g
      for 2 minutes. After discarding the upper oil and bottom liquid, the middle fat
      was injected into the depressed areas (ie, the cheek, temple, and zygoma) by
      using multiplane and multitunnel injections. The patients, plastic surgeons on
      staff, and laypersons evaluated the cosmetic outcome of each patient. RESULTS: No
      infection, subcutaneous nodules or cysts, cutaneous necrosis, blood vessel
      embolism, or other complications were found in any patient. Five patients had 1
      injection, 5 had 2 injections, and 8 had 3 injections. All depression deformities
      improved. Regarding the cosmetic outcome, 33.3% of patients, 27.8% of laypersons,
      and 38.9% of doctors were satisfied with the results; 44.4% of patients, 55.6% of
      laypersons, and 50.0% of doctors were mostly satisfied. CONCLUSION: Autologous
      fat grafting can be a good choice for repairing facial depression deformities in
      patients with lupus erythematosus panniculitis, although 1 or more subsequent
      injections may be required to maintain the improved outcome.

PMID- 27648656
TI  - Ophthalmologic Outcomes Following Fronto-Orbital Advancement for Unicoronal
      Craniosynostosis.
AB  - Unicoronal craniosynostosis predisposes to ophthalmologic abnormalities such as
      strabismus, astigmatism, and amblyopia. The authors explored the ophthalmologic
      outcomes following fronto-orbital advancement (FOA). A systematic search of
      PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was conducted. Included studies reported
      postoperative rates of strabismus, astigmatism, and/or amblyopia. Two independent
      reviewers performed screening and extracted data including preoperative rates,
      laterality and severity of findings, need for ocular surgery, and timing of FOA.
      Methodologic quality was assessed using the Methodologic Index for Non-Randomized
      Studies scale and American Society of Plastic Surgeons Evidence Rating Scale for
      Therapeutic Studies. A total of 231 abstracts were screened. Sixteen articles
      were eligible for qualitative synthesis including 13 case series and 3
      retrospective comparative studies. Nine studies contained both preoperative and
      postoperative data, but for strabismus only. Postoperative prevalence of
      strabismus was 19% to 100%. Rates increased in 4 studies and decreased in 3.
      Incidences of new and resolved cases of strabismus were 0% to 60% and 0% to 33%,
      respectively. Twenty-five percent to 100% of patients required strabismus
      surgery. Postoperative rates of astigmatism were 15% to 92%. Fourteen percent to
      41% had clinically significant anisometropia, predisposing to amblyopia. The
      postoperative prevalence of amblyopia was 3% to 56%. In summary, FOA does not
      appear to reduce rates of strabismus, astigmatism, or amblyopia. In addition,
      surgery carries the risk of iatrogenic strabismus. Earlier intervention and
      endoscopic techniques may reduce prevalence and severity, but additional research
      is required.

PMID- 27648655
TI  - Useful Method for Intraoperative Monitoring of Facial Nerve in a Scarred Bed.
AB  - Facial nerve is the main cranial nerve for the innervation of facial expression
      muscles. Main trunk of facial nerve passes approximately 1 to 2 cm deep to tragal
      pointer. In some patients, where a patient has multiple operations, fibrosis due
      to previous operations may change the natural anatomy and direction of the
      branches of facial nerve. A 22-year-old male patient had 2 operations for
      mandibular reconstruction after gunshot wound. During the second operation, there
      was a possible injury to the marginal mandibular nerve and a nerve stimulator was
      used intraoperatively to monitor the nerve at the tragal pointer because the
      excitability of the distal segments remains intact for 24 to 48 hours after nerve
      injuries. Thus, using a nerve stimulator at the operational site may lead to
      false-positive muscle movements in case of injuries. Using the nerve stimulator
      to stimulate the main trunk at the tragal point may help to distinguish the
      presence of possible injuries. A reliable method for intraoperative facial nerve
      monitoring in a scarred operational site was introduced in this letter.

PMID- 27648657
TI  - Evaluation of Three Different Osteosynthesis Methods for Mandibular Angle
      Fractures: Vertical Load Test.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the mechanical behavior of different rigid
      fixation methods in mandible angle fractures. Three different plates were tested:
      one 4-hole grid miniplate, one 8-hole curved grid miniplate, and one 4-hole
      straight miniplate.For the loading tests, 30 polyurethane hemimandibles sectioned
      at the angle area to simulate a simple angle fracture were used: 10 hemimandibles
      for each group. The mechanical evaluation revealed that the straight plate
      positioned at the tension zone presented the best results in supporting vertical
      loading in the predefined displacement moments of 1, 3, and 5 mm. Regarding the
      grid plates, there was no statistically significant difference between the
      smaller and the larger plate.According to this sample, the straight plate
      positioned in the tension zone presented better results than the other 2
      different grid plates positioned at the neutral zone.

PMID- 27648658
TI  - To assess differential features of marrow adiposity between postmenopausal women
      with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis using water/fat MRI.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the differential features of marrow adiposity between
      osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis (OP) in postmenopausal women using water/fat
      MRI. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 97 postmenopausal women (OA [n
      = 25], OA + osteopenia [n = 27], OA + OP [n = 23], and OP groups [n = 22]).
      Water/fat MRI, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and biochemical analysis were
      performed to assess vertebral marrow fat fraction, bone mineral density, and bone
      biomarkers, respectively. Harris Hip Score was recorded to evaluate hip function.
      RESULTS: There were significant differences in marrow fat content among the OA,
      OA + osteopenia, and OA + OP groups, between OP and OA participants with normal
      bone mass or osteopenia (all P < 0.05); no significant difference was observed
      between OA + OP and OP groups. Serum levels of leptin and beta-Crosslaps in OA
      with normal bone mass and osteopenic OA groups were higher than in OP group.
      Marrow fat fraction was inversely correlated with Harris Hip Score (r = -0.371, P
      = 0.013), bone mineral density (r = -0.554, P = 0.009) and leptin levels (r = 
      0.610, P < 0.001). In multivariate regression analysis, marrow fat fraction was
      found to have a consistent and unchanged inverse association with leptin levels
      (Sbeta = -0.311, P = 0.002) and bone mineral density (Sbeta =  -0.265, P = 0.006)
      after adjusting for age, years since menopause, and body mass index. CONCLUSIONS:
      Postmenopausal OA with OP have a phenotype with higher marrow adiposity. OA and
      OP could coexist, for the presence of a specific subgroup of OA with increased
      marrow fat accumulation and high risk of developing OP.

PMID- 27648659
TI  - Association of estradiol with sleep apnea in depressed perimenopausal and
      postmenopausal women: a preliminary study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Women's risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases substantially
      during and after the menopausal transition, when depression risk is also
      elevated, raising the possibility that estrogen withdrawal contributes to OSA
      vulnerability, in turn contributing to mood disturbance. We examined the
      association between estradiol levels and OSA in depressed peri- and
      postmenopausal women. METHODS: Thirty depressed peri-/postmenopausal women (mean
      body mass index [BMI] 30.82 kg/m) without known OSA completed routine
      polysomnography concurrent with serum estradiol levels. Estradiol in women with
      apnea-hypopnea indices (AHI) >=15 indicating moderate-to-severe OSA was compared
      against those with AHI less than 15 using logistic regression adjusting for age
      and BMI. RESULTS: Thirteen women (43%) had AHI >=15 (median AHI 21.6). Estradiol
      levels were lower (P = 0.02) in those with OSA (median 19, interquartile range 9
      25 pg/mL) than without OSA (median 29, interquartile range 19-66 pg/mL). On
      univariate analysis, higher estradiol was associated with reduced odds of OSA
      (odds ratio 0.95, 95% CI 0.90-0.99, P = 0.04). After adjusting for age and BMI,
      estradiol levels remained associated with lower odds of OSA (odds ratio 0.90),
      but the association was no longer statistically significant (95% CI 0.76-1.05, P
      = 0.18). Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale scores did not differ between
      those with and without OSA. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that,
      in addition to higher BMI and age, lower estradiol may be associated with
      increased OSA risk in depressed women during the peri- and postmenopause, raising
      the possibility that estradiol withdrawal associated with menopause influences
      upper-airway patency in women.

PMID- 27648660
TI  - Frequent nocturia episodes, a suboptimal response to treatment, and small bladder
      capacity predict the need for persistent antimuscarinic therapy or re-treatment
      after discontinuation of antimuscarinics in female overactive bladder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate predictive factors of the need
      for persistent antimuscarinic therapy or re-treatment (PR) after discontinuation
      of antimuscarinic therapy for women with overactive bladder syndrome (OAB).
      METHODS: All consecutive OAB women were enrolled in a prospective cohort study,
      and treated with solifenacin for 12 weeks in a University Hospital. Factors
      affecting PR were analyzed by Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 122
      women were enrolled, and 107 women underwent 12-week solifenacin treatment. The
      dropout rate was 12.3%. The median follow-up period was 20.4 weeks (25-75
      interquartile range: 16-102.3 wk). Twenty-seven (25%) women had PR. The median PR
      free interval was 125.4 weeks (95% CI = 58.4 to - wk). Nocturia episodes (hazard
      ratio = 1.54), a suboptimal response (hazard ratio = 2.53), and the strong-desire
      volume (hazard ratio = 0.992) were independent predictors of PR by Cox backward
      stepwise regression analysis. The areas under the receiver-operating
      characteristic curves for nocturia episodes, a suboptimal response, and the
      strong-desire volume to predict PR were only 0.65, 0.63, and 0.59, respectively.
      In addition, normalized urinary nerve growth factor level was not significant
      (hazard ratio = 1.005, P = 0.68) for predicting PR. Furthermore, normalized
      urodynamic findings did not correlate with PR, a suboptimal response, or changes
      of Overactive Bladder Symptom Score and urinary nerve growth factor level.
      CONCLUSIONS: Frequent nocturia episodes, a suboptimal response, and small bladder
      capacity may predict PR after solifenacin treatment. These findings may serve as
      an initial guide in consultation regarding the treatment of OAB.

PMID- 27648661
TI  - Association between urinary incontinence and climacteric symptoms in
      postmenopausal women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether climacteric symptoms are
      related to urinary incontinence (UI) in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A cross
      sectional investigation was performed on 1,502 postmenopausal women attending the
      outpatient service for menopause at a University Hospital. Data regarding
      climacteric symptoms, evaluated by the Greene Climacteric Scale, objective pelvic
      floor defects, and UI of any type, were retrieved from an electronic database.
      Additional information retrieved were age, anthropometric measures, personal and
      reproductive history, use of medication or drugs, smoking, state of anxiety
      (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scale score), and depression (Zung's scale score).
      RESULTS: The score of the Greene Climacteric Scale was higher (P = 0.0001) in
      women with (n = 534) than without (n = 902) UI (32.3 +/- 13.1 vs 26.5 +/- 12.5; P
      < 0.0011). The same was true when considering stress (n = 370) (31.4 +/- 13.4; P
      =  0.0007), urge (n = 84) (34.5 +/- 13.5; P =  0.005), or mixed (n = 89) (34.3 +/
      11.4; P =  0.006) UI. In multiple logistic regression models, the Greene
      climacteric score was independently related to UI (odds ratio [OR] 1.05; 95% CI,
      1.03-1.07), along with the presence of a bladder prolapse (OR 3.72; 95% CI, 2.59
      5.34), age at menopause (OR 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09), and previous hysterectomy
      (OR 1.80; 95% CI, 1.08-3.01). Women in the fourth quartile of the Greene
      Climacteric Scale score had an OR of UI of 2.09 (95% CI, 1.5-2.9). CONCLUSIONS:
      In postmenopausal women, higher symptom burden, as captured by the Greene
      Climacteric Scale, relates to UI. Underlying mechanisms were not assessed, and
      deserve further investigation.

PMID- 27648662
TI  - Long-term effects of exercise in postmenopausal women: 16-year results of the
      Erlangen Fitness and Osteoporosis Prevention Study (EFOPS).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Multimorbidity related to menopause and/or increased age will put
      healthcare systems in western nations under ever-greater strain. Effective
      strategies to prevent diseases are thus of high priority and should be started
      earlier in life. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the long-term effect of
      exercise on different important health parameters in initially early
      postmenopausal women over a 16-year period. METHODS: In 1998, 137 early
      postmenopausal women with osteopenia living in Erlangen-Nurnberg were included in
      the study. Eighty-six women joined the exercise group (EG) and conducted two
      supervised group and two home training sessions per week, whereas the control
      group (CG: n = 51) maintained their physical activity level. Primary outcome
      parameters were clinical overall fractures incidence; secondary study endpoint
      was Framingham study-based 10-year risk of coronary death/myocardial infarction
      and low back pain. RESULTS: In 2014, 59 women of the EG and 46 women of the CG
      were included in the 16-year follow-up analysis. Framingham study-based 10-year
      risk of myocardial infarction/coronary death increased significantly (P < 0.001)
      in both groups; however, changes were significantly more favorable in the EG
      (5.00% +/- 2.94% vs CG: 6.90% +/- 3.98%; P = 0.02). The ratio for clinical
      "overall" fractures was 0.47 (95% CI: 0.24-0.92; P = 0.03), and thus
      significantly lower in the EG. Although we focused on a high-intensity exercise
      strategy, low back pain was favorably affected in the EG. CONCLUSIONS:
      Multipurpose exercise programs demonstrated beneficial effects on various
      relevant risk factors and diseases of menopause or/and increased age, and should
      thus be preferentially applied for primary or secondary prevention in
      postmenopausal women.

PMID- 27648663
TI  - Compliance to vaginal treatment-tablets versus cream: a retrospective 9 years
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Local estrogens are used for the treatment of genitourinary symptoms
      of menopause. The efficacy and adverse effects of both estrogen-containing
      vaginal tablets (VT) and estrogen-containing vaginal creams (VC)/gels are
      comparable. Our objective was to assess the compliance and adherence to treatment
      in a large population. METHODS: A retrospective study on women aged 40 to 89 was
      performed in the Central District of the "Clalit" Health Services between 2006
      and 2014. Demographic data on all women and usage details were electronically
      recorded. Patients eligible for analysis used VT or VC for at least 4 consecutive
      months. RESULTS: A total of 2,269 patients used continuous monotherapy, of them
      1,782 patients received treatment only with VC and 487 received treatment only
      with VT. Sixty-four percent of women treated with VT were treated for at least 4
      months compared with 39% of women administered with VC (P < 0.000006). After 6
      months of treatment, 83% of women with VT were asked for another prescription
      compared with 54% of women with VC (P < 0.001). The mean duration of treatment
      was 1,002 +/- 38 days for the VT-treated women, and 787 +/- 25 days for the VC
      treated group (P < 0.000006). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed superiority
      in the compliance and adherence of postmenopausal women to treatment with
      estrogen tablets over estrogen gel.

PMID- 27648664
TI  - Enantioselective Cyclopropanation of a Wide Variety of Olefins Catalyzed by
      Ru(II)-Pheox Complexes.
AB  - The transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation of olefins with
      diazoacetates has become one of the most important methods for the synthesis of
      optically active cyclopropane derivatives, which are key pharmaceutical building
      blocks and present in a large number of natural products. To date, significant
      progress has been made in this area of research, and efficient stereocontrolled
      synthetic approaches to cyclopropane derivatives have been developed using
      rhodium, ruthenium, copper, and cobalt catalysts. However, the vast majority of
      these strategies are limited to electron-rich olefins, such as styrene
      derivatives, due to the electrophilicity of the metal-carbene intermediates
      generated from the reaction of the metal with the diazo compound. Recently, the
      D2-symmetric Co(II)-phophyrin complexes developed by Zhang et al. were shown to
      be the most efficient catalysts for the asymmetric cyclopropanation of electron
      deficient olefins. This catalytic system is mechanistically distinct from the
      previous rhodium and copper catalytic systems, proceeding via radical
      intermediates. However, the asymmetric cyclopropanation of vinyl carbamates,
      allenes, and alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds has rarely been reported.
      Therefore, the development of new powerful catalysts for the asymmetric
      cyclopropanation of a wide range of olefinic substrates is the next challenge in
      this field. In this Account, we summarize our recent studies on the Ru(II)-Pheox
      catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation of various olefins, including vinyl
      carbamates, allenes, and alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. We
      demonstrate that the developed catalytic system effectively promotes the
      asymmetric cyclopropanation of a wide variety of olefins to produce the desired
      cyclopropane products in high yields with excellent stereocontrol. The use of
      succinimidyl-, ketone-, and ester-functionalized diazoacetates as carbene sources
      was found to be crucial for the high stereoselectivity of the cyclopropanation
      reactions. In addition, we describe reusable chiral Ru(II)-Pheox catalysts,
      namely, water-soluble Ru(II)-hm-Pheox and polymer-supported PS-Ru(II)-Pheox,
      which can be reused at least five times in inter- and intramolecular
      cyclopropanation reactions without any significant loss of catalytic activity or
      enantioselectivity. These Ru(II)-Pheox-catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation
      reactions provide an elegant method to access a series of optically active
      cyclopropane derivatives, including cyclopropylamines, dicarbonyl cyclopropanes,
      alkylidenecyclopropanes, and cyclopropane-fused gamma-lactones, which are
      intermediates in the syntheses of various biologically active compounds. The
      novel chiral Ru(II)-Pheox complexes are readily synthesized in high yield from
      inexpensive, commercially available benzoyl chloride and amino alcohols, then
      fully characterized using X-ray diffraction analysis, NMR, and elemental
      analysis. These catalysts are easy to handle and stable under ordinary
      temperatures and conditions and can be used after three months of storage without
      any loss of catalytic activity or stereoselectivity.

PMID- 27648665
TI  - Rapid and Inexpensive Evaluation of Nonstandard Amino Acid Incorporation in
      Escherichia coli.
AB  - By introducing engineered tRNA and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase pairs into an
      organism, its genetic code can be expanded to incorporate nonstandard amino acids
      (nsAAs). The performance of these orthogonal translation systems (OTSs) varies
      greatly, however, with respect to the efficiency and accuracy of decoding a
      reassigned codon as the nsAA. To enable rapid and systematic comparisons of these
      critical parameters, we developed a toolkit for characterizing any Escherichia
      coli OTS that reassigns the amber stop codon (TAG). It assesses OTS performance
      by comparing how the fluorescence of strains carrying plasmids encoding a fused
      RFP-GFP reading frame, either with or without an intervening TAG codon, depends
      on the presence of the nsAA. We used this kit to (1) examine nsAA incorporation
      by seven different OTSs, (2) optimize nsAA concentration in growth media, (3)
      define the polyspecificity of an OTS, and (4) characterize evolved variants of
      amberless E. coli with improved growth rates.

PMID- 27648666
TI  - Improved Performance by SiO2 Hollow Nanospheres for Silver Nanowire-Based
      Flexible Transparent Conductive Films.
AB  - Flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) have attracted tremendous interest
      thanks to the rapid development of portable/flexible/wearable electronics. TCFs
      on the basis of silver nanowires (AgNWs) with excellent performance are becoming
      an efficient alternative to replace the brittle transparent metal oxide. In this
      study, a promising method was developed by introducing SiO2 hollow nanospheres
      (SiO2-HNSs) into the film to significantly improve the performance of AgNW-based
      TCFs. Since SiO2-HNSs have opposite charges to AgNWs, the strong attraction had
      promoted a uniform distribution of AgNWs and made the distance between AgNWs
      closer, which could decrease the contact resistance greatly. The introduction of
      SiO2 layer remarkably enhanced the transmission of visible light and the
      conductivity. In addition, the TCFs constructed by AgNWs and SiO2-HNSs showed
      much higher thermal stability and adhesive force than those by only AgNWs. As an
      example, the transmission of AgNW/SiO2-HNS-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate)
      (PET) could increase about 14.3% in comparison to AgNW-coated PET. Typically, a
      AgNW/SiO2-HNS-based TCF with a sheet resistance of about 33 Omega/sq and
      transmittance of about 98.0% (excluding substrate) could be obtained with
      excellent flexibility, adhesion, and thermal stability. At last some devices were
      fabricated.

PMID- 27648668
TI  - Stiffer but More Healable Exponential Layered Assemblies with Boron Nitride
      Nanoplatelets.
AB  - Self-healing ability and the elastic modulus of polymeric materials may seem
      conflicting because of their opposite dependence on chain mobility. Here, we show
      that boron nitride (BN) nanoplatelets can simultaneously enhance these seemingly
      contradictory properties in exponentially layer-by-layer-assembled nanocomposites
      as both surface coatings and free-standing films. On one hand, embedding hard BN
      nanoplatelets into a soft hydrogen bonding network can enhance the elastic
      modulus and ultimate strength through effective load transfer strengthened by the
      incorporation of interfacial covalent bonding; on the other hand, during a water
      enabled self-healing process, these two-dimensional flakes induce an anisotropic
      diffusion, maintain the overall diffusion ability of polymers at low loadings,
      and can be "sealing" agents to retard the out-of-plane diffusion, thereby
      hampering polymer release into the solution. A detailed mechanism study supported
      by a theoretical model reveals the critical parameters for achieving a complete
      self-healing process. The insights gained from this work may be used for the
      design of high-performance smart materials based on other two-dimensional
      fillers.

PMID- 27648667
TI  - The Origin of High Stereoselectivity in Di-tert-butylsilylene-Directed alpha
      Galactosylation.
AB  - The origin of the high alpha(1,2-cis)-stereoselectivity in the reaction of
      galactosyl and galactosaminyl donors with a di-tert-butylsilylene (DTBS) group
      with several nucleophiles has been elucidated by means of experimental and
      computational approaches. DTBS overcomes any other cyclic protecting groups
      examined to date and the beta(1,2-trans)-directing effect due to the neighboring
      participation by CO groups at C2. Requirements for the alpha(1,2-cis)
      stereoselectivity are as follows: (1) generation of an oxocarbenium ion; (2) a
      galacto-type glycosyl donor with a cyclic protecting group bridging O4 and O6 to
      form a six-membered ring; (3) through-space electron donation from O4 and O6 into
      the empty p-orbital of the anomeric carbon to stabilize the oxocarbenium
      intermediate; (4) steric hindrance due to bulky alkyl substituents on the cyclic
      protecting group to prevent nucleophilic attack from the beta-face; and (5) a 4,6
      O-silylene structure. Furthermore, it was found that the strong stereodirecting
      effect of the DTBS group was unique and specific among the various cyclic
      protecting groups examined.

PMID- 27648669
TI  - Dissolved Organic Matter or Salts Change the Bioavailability Processes and
      Toxicity of the Nanoscale Tetravalent Lead Corrosion Product PbO2 to Medaka Fish.
AB  - Nanoscale lead dioxide (nPbO2(s)) is a corrosion product formed from the
      chlorination of lead-containing plumbing materials. This metal oxide nanoparticle
      (NP) plays a key role in determining lead pollution in drinking water and
      receiving water bodies. This study uses nPbO2(s) and medaka fish (Oryzias
      latipes) as surrogates to investigate the aqueous fate and toxicological risk of
      metal oxide NPs associated with water matrices. The larvae of medaka were treated
      with solutions containing nPbO2(s) or Pb(II)aq in different water matrices for 7
      14 days to investigate the in vivo toxic effects of NPs. Ionic strength enhanced
      aggregation and sedimentation of nPbO2(s) in water, leading to increased lead
      contents in fish bodies. However, the presence of dissolved organic matter in
      water enhanced particle stability and accelerated the lead dissolution, thus
      changing the bioavailability processes (bioaccessibility) of particles. Oxidative
      stress response and neurotoxicity in exposed fish was greater for nPbO2(s)
      solution with increased salinity than dissolved organic matter. We predict the
      bioavailability processes and toxicity of nPbO2(s) in medaka from the aqueous
      particle behavior under environmentally relevant exposure conditions. Our
      investigation suggests a toxicological risk of metal oxide NP pollution in the
      aquatic environment.

PMID- 27648670
TI  - Blue Phosphorene Oxide: Strain-Tunable Quantum Phase Transitions and Novel 2D
      Emergent Fermions.
AB  - Tunable quantum phase transitions and novel emergent fermions in solid-state
      materials are fascinating subjects of research. Here, we propose a new stable two
      dimensional (2D) material, the blue phosphorene oxide (BPO), which exhibits both.
      On the basis of first-principles calculations, we show that its equilibrium state
      is a narrow-bandgap semiconductor with three bands at low energy. Remarkably, a
      moderate strain can drive a semiconductor-to-semimetal quantum phase transition
      in BPO. At the critical transition point, the three bands cross at a single point
      at Fermi level, around which the quasiparticles are a novel type of 2D pseudospin
      1 fermions. Going beyond the transition, the system becomes a symmetry-protected
      semimetal, for which the conduction and valence bands touch quadratically at a
      single Fermi point that is protected by symmetry, and the low-energy
      quasiparticles become another novel type of 2D double Weyl fermions. We construct
      effective models characterizing the phase transition and these novel emergent
      fermions, and we point out several exotic effects, including super Klein
      tunneling, supercollimation, and universal optical absorbance. Our result reveals
      BPO as an intriguing platform for the exploration of fundamental properties of
      quantum phase transitions and novel emergent fermions and also suggests its great
      potential in nanoscale device applications.

PMID- 27648671
TI  - Divergent Synthesis of Dihydroxanthene-Hemicyanine Fused Near-Infrared
      Fluorophores through the Late-Stage Amination of a Bifunctional Precursor.
AB  - A late-stage amination of a bifunctional dihydroxanthene (DHX) scaffold is
      reported to access a wide variety of new near-infrared (NIR)
      chromophores/fluorophores. The divergent approach allows the coupling of
      aliphatic and aromatic amines and readily provides molecular diversity shedding
      light on the structure-fluorescence relationship of this emerging class of NIR
      fluorophores.

PMID- 27648673
TI  - Theoretical Study of Small Scandium-Doped Silver Clusters ScAgn with n = 1-7:
      sigma-Aromatic Feature.
AB  - Geometry, chemical bonding, and aromatic feature of a series of small silver
      clusters doped by an Sc atom (ScAgn with n = 1-7) were investigated by means of
      density functional theory calculations. A planar shape is found for ScAgn
      including n from 4 to 7. The growth mechanism is established for the formation of
      the hexagonal and heptagonal metallic cycles following increase of the number of
      Ag atoms. Particularly, both clusters ScAg6- and ScAg7 present a planar cyclic
      form in which the Sc atom is situated at the central position of the Ag6 and Ag7
      cycles. The sigma aromaticity is unambiguously demonstrated by the existence of
      strongly diatropic current flows within the ring in both ScAg6- and ScAg7. The
      isovalent ScCu7 cluster has a similar ring current characteristic. In the Sc
      doped ScAgn clusters, a delocalized bonding pattern is found as a connector
      between the dopant Sc and the Agn host, as indicated by an ELI_D analysis.

PMID- 27648672
TI  - Stereoselective Synthesis of Homoneryl and Homogeranyl Triazole Bisphosphonates.
AB  - Isoprenoid-substituted bisphosphonates are known to serve as inhibitors of the
      enzyme geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, and their activity can be highly
      sensitive to olefin stereochemistry. A mixture of homogeranyl and homoneryl
      triazole bisphosphonates has previously demonstrated potent activity, and thus
      stereocontrolled syntheses of the individual isomers have been developed.

PMID- 27648674
TI  - Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - Does the Surgeon Risk Worsening of
      the Clinical Outcome During the Learning Curve if He Switches from Single Bundle
      Technique to Double Bundle Technique?
AB  - Background: Anatomical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
      using the double-bundle (DB) technique is becoming increasingly popular. Despite
      its proved biomechanical and anatomical superiority, clinical studies have found
      little advantage for the DB technique. The aim of this study was therefore to
      evaluate whether an experienced surgeon is able to obtain his usual good results
      with ACL reconstruction with the single-bundle (SB) technique directly after
      changing to the DB technique. Patients/Material and Methods: In a prospective,
      non-randomised and controlled interventional study, we compared the first 19
      patients in our clinic who had an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using
      the DB technique with 31 patients who underwent a SB ACL reconstruction performed
      by the same surgeon during the same period of investigation. The visual analog
      scale (VAS) for pain and function, the Tegner activity score, the International
      Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), the Lysholm and the Marshall scores were
      used as evaluation methods, the anterior stability (KT-1000-arthrometer
      measurement) and the deficits in muscle strength in extension and flexion of both
      knees were measured in a standard manner one year after operation. Results: The
      Lysholm scores in the SB group (93.6 [+/- 3.8] points) and in the DB group (93.1
      [+/- 4.2] points) were not significantly different (p > 0.05). Neither the VAS
      for pain (1 [+/- 2] points for both techniques), nor the VAS for function (8 [+/-
      2] versus 7 [+/- 2] points) were significantly different (p > 0.05). For the
      anterior stability under Maximum Measurement Displacement (MMD), the SB group
      achieved a difference of 1.75 (+/- 1.94) mm, in comparison with 1.32 (+/- 1.89)
      mm for the DB group (p > 0.05). There was a trend to less deficit in muscle
      strength after DB ACL reconstruction. No complications were recorded in either
      group. Conclusion: Experienced surgeons in ACL reconstruction can change from the
      popular SB ACL reconstruction to the DB ACL reconstruction without causing
      clinical problems or additional complications. The well-known good results of the
      DB technique were attained in the first operations performed by an experienced
      surgeon and are compareable to the results of the SB technique.

PMID- 27648675
TI  - [Complex Pathologies of the Spine: Trauma meets Degeneration].
AB  - Treating vertebral body fractures is challenging when there is relevant pre
      existing spinal degeneration. Both vertebral body fractures and spinal
      degeneration are related to the physiological aging process. The increases in
      both are linked to increases in life expectancy. Several factors promote spinal
      degeneration and increase fracture risk, such as disc degeneration, spinal
      imbalance and osteoporosis. The main diagnostic and therapeutic challenge is to
      identify the sources of pain and to start appropriate therapy. A structured and
      advanced algorithm is then essential. Unstable fractures must always be
      stabilised. However, surgical strategy may be greatly influenced if there are
      also degenerative diseases, such as segmental decompression, multisegmental
      instrumentation or fusion, or complex reconstructive spondylodesis, including
      osteotomies. Notwithstanding this, the individual therapy concept has to be
      adapted to the demands and pathology of the individual patient.

PMID- 27648676
TI  - Luminescent Helical Nanofiber Self-Assembled from a Cholesterol-Based
      Metalloamphiphile and Its Application in DNA Conformation Recognition.
AB  - Compared to pure organic amphiphiles, metalloamphiphiles display distinctive
      features, including luminescence, magnetism and catalytic properties. However,
      the self-organization of metalloamphiphiles is commonly driven by solvophobic
      effects. Alkyl chains and oligomeric ethylene glycol moieties are thus the most
      frequently used aggregation units to drive the self-assembly of
      metalloamphiphiles. We expect novel metallo-supramolecular structures with
      exciting functions to be created if additional noncovalent interaction modes are
      incorporated. In this work, a new type of metalloamphiphile, consisting of a
      Tb(III) complex head and a cholesteryl unit (TbL3+(I)), was designed and
      synthesized. TbL3+(I) spontaneously self-assembles into helical nanofibers (d = 6
      nm) in water. This synthetic multivalent nanoscale binding array displays
      powerful capability for the recognition of DNA conformations through a turn-on
      luminescence sensing mechanism. ssDNA-kit1 triggered a 26-fold increase in the
      luminescence intensity of TbL3+(I). Its corresponding G-quadruplex structure (G
      quadruplex-kit1), however, induced a 6.6-fold enhancement under the same
      conditions. Consequently, TbL3+(I) nanofibers can monitor DNA folding. In
      contrast, neither ssDNA-kit1 nor G-quadruplex-kit1 markedly promoted the
      luminescence of molecularly dispersed TbL3+(II), illustrating that the
      multivalent electrostatic interactions between the phosphate groups on the
      backbone of DNA and TbL3+(I) self-assembled into nanofibers could greatly improve
      the efficiency of the energy transfer between the guanine units and the organized
      TbL3+(I). The TbL3+(I) nanofibers could bind and distinguish not only the kit1
      ssDNA/G-quadruplex but also the conformations of other G-rich DNA, such as spb1,
      htelo, and intermolec-htelo. The self-assembly of luminescent metalloamphiphiles
      thus provides a general and convenient strategy for the efficient recognition and
      conversion of molecular information.

PMID- 27648677
TI  - Reemergence of Japanese Encephalitis in South Korea, 2010-2015.

PMID- 27648678
TI  - Clinical Association of a Soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells
      1 (sTREM-1) in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
AB  - A triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) is a member of the
      immunoglobulin superfamily with an established role in innate and adaptive immune
      response. We aimed to determine the plasma concentrations and clinical
      association of sTREM-1 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. Plasma
      from 79 SLE patients and 35 normal healthy subjects were assayed for sTREM-1 and
      IL-6 levels using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA). The clinical disease
      characteristics and serological data were prospectively assessed. Disease
      activity was scored using the SLE disease activity index. We detected
      significantly higher levels of sTREM-1 in plasma of SLE patients than the healthy
      control group. We also detected high sTREM-1 levels in subgroups of patients with
      neuropsychiatric manifestations (NPLE) and patients with the total high disease
      activity and NPLE activity. In addition, sTREM-l levels were significantly
      correlated with parameters of disease activity, i.e. SLEDAI score, IL-6,
      hypoalbuminemia. On the other hand, we did not find significant differences in
      sTREM-1 levels in relation to age, disease duration, medications, ESR, other
      organ system involvement, or the presence of anti-dsDNA. Our preliminary data
      indicated that sTREM-1 levels may be an additional useful marker of disease
      activity in SLE. It also highlights its importance in patients with NPLE. An
      additional prospective longitudinal study should be carried out to support these
      findings.

PMID- 27648679
TI  - COPD-related Mortality by Sex and Race Among Adults Aged 25 and Over: United
      States, 2000-2014.
AB  - KEY FINDINGS: Data from the National Vital Statistics System, Mortality *From
      2000 through 2014, the age-adjusted rate for chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease (COPD)-related deaths decreased 22.5% for men and 3.8% for women aged 25
      and over. *Between 2000 and 2014, the COPD-related death rate decreased for both
      men and women aged 65-84 and for men aged 85 and over. The rate increased for
      both men and women aged 45-64 and for women aged 85 and over. *The age-adjusted
      death rate declined for white men but remained stable for white women from 2000
      through 2014. *The age-adjusted death rate declined for black men but increased
      for black women from 2000 through 2014. *The major underlying causes of death for
      COPD-related deaths were COPD, heart disease, and cancer for both men and women.

PMID- 27648680
TI  - Risk Factors for Poor Quality of Life among Patients with Age-Related Macular
      Degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in
      patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and compare it with that of
      healthy controls. Additionally, our study aims to investigate the possible risk
      factors for poor quality of life in AMD patients. METHODS: Participants in the
      study were 114 patients with AMD, 63 male and 51 female, mean-aged 76.5 +/- 6.1
      years. Demographic data, lifestyle factors, and medical history were recorded.
      All patients underwent a routine examination for AMD, including best-corrected
      visual acuity measurement, dilated fundoscopy and optical coherence tomography,
      and completed three questionnaires assessing quality of life (SF-36, EQ-5D, NEI
      VFQ-25). In addition, 100 controls, adjusted for gender and age, were included in
      the study. Risk factors for quality of life in AMD patients were investigated.
      Univariate analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0. RESULTS: Patients with AMD
      scored lower in vision- and health-related quality-of-life questionnaires
      compared to controls. Risk factors associated with quality of life in patients
      with AMD were found to be the female gender, alcohol consumption, the presence of
      hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, myosceletal problems,
      migraine, anxiety/depression, subretinal or intraretinal fluid, pigment
      epithelium detachment, previous treatment for AMD, visual acuity, the stage of
      the disease, and the integrity of the ellipsoid zone. CONCLUSION: Patients with
      AMD presented lower quality of life in comparison with controls. Potential risk
      factors should be taken into account and clinicians should thus focus on the most
      vulnerable subgroups.

PMID- 27648681
TI  - New doxorubicin nanoparticles engineered from calcium-crosslinked carbomer and a
      microemulsion precursor.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate a new polymeric system and
      production process in which self-assembled doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles were
      synthetized by using a water-in-oil microemulsion as a template and calcium ions
      as cross-linkers. The manufacturing process combined cross-linking of carbomer
      within a W/O microemulsion followed by a phase-separation technique to avoid
      using organic solvents for extraction. To assess the sustained release behavior
      of doxorubicin from the nanoparticles, we have developed a new simple method
      based on the permeability coefficient of a synthetic membrane mounted on Franz
      diffusion cell system. Franz cells were preferred over the commonly used dialysis
      tubing because they provide adequate measures of the diffusion area as well as
      the volumes of the media in both sides of the membrane. The lower permeability
      values obtained for nanoparticles have shown that the release is a limiting step
      of the diffusion process, while the calculated straight lines may imply that the
      apparent release rate of the nanoparticle ensembles is close to a zero-order
      kinetics. The new drug release method for the evaluation of nano-carriers,
      utilizing a simple linear model to determine the permeability coefficient, has
      been proposed for perfect sink and non-sink conditions.

PMID- 27648683
TI  - Decompression surgery for lumbar spinal canal stenosis in octogenarians; a single
      center experience of 121 consecutive patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: With increasing age, ubiquitous degeneration processes lead to a
      narrowing of the spinal canal. Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) causes
      functional disability and is associated with back and lower extremity pain in
      older individuals. The goal of this study was to determine if decompression
      surgery can be performed safely and provide a stable benefit in our octogenarian
      patient population. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 121 patients over the
      age of 80 (mean age: 82.7 years SD: 2.4 years) with the diagnosis of central
      spinal canal stenosis who underwent posterior decompression surgery without
      fusion for DLSS between January 2006 and August 2013 were followed up from
      November to December 2013. Peri- and post-operative complications were recorded.
      Walking distances and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were determined before
      surgery and at follow up time (mean follow up time 36 months). Patient's
      satisfaction with treatment was documented with the overall satisfaction degree
      scale in Zurich Claudicatio Questionnaire (ZCQ). RESULTS: The peri-operative
      complication rate was 6.6% with five dural tears, two wound infections and one
      epidural haematoma. Four patients required revision surgery (three re
      decompression and one secondary spondylodesis). Walking distance improved from
      147 meters (SD +/-110 m) to 340 m (SD +/-170 m) p < .001. Pain improved with
      change of the VAS scores from 7.2 (SD +/-1.2) to 4.5 (SD +/-1.0), p < .001. The
      overall satisfaction scale in ZCQ was 2.2 at follow up. CONCLUSION: A minimal
      surgical intervention, namely decompression, improves walking ability, decreases
      pain and has marginal potential for complications in patients with DLSS who are
      over 80 years old.

PMID- 27648682
TI  - Ocular and electrophysiological findings in a patient with Sly syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sly syndrome (Mucopolysaccharidosis Type VII) is an autosomal
      recessive metabolic storage disorder due to mutations in the GUSB gene encoding
      the enzyme beta-glucuronidase. Deficiency of this lysosomal enzyme impairs the
      body's ability to break down the glycosaminoglycans - dermatan, heparan and
      chondroitin sulphate. Coarse facial features and macrocephaly are typically seen
      along with bony and skeletal abnormalities, including joint contractures and
      short stature. Widespread involvement occurs in many other tissues including
      cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, and neurological systems. In view of the
      rarity of Sly syndrome the ophthalmic features have not been well described.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Case report of a 16-year-old boy with Sly syndrome with
      serial OCT, ocular ultrasound, and electroretinogram (ERG). RESULTS: Corneal
      clouding was present but there was no evidence of glaucoma or optic neuropathy.
      Despite no clinical evidence of retinopathy, electrophysiology showed reduced
      photopic and scotopic responses, particularly involving the b-wave which appears
      progressive. OCT showed normal foveal architecture and normal retinal nerve fiber
      thickness. CONCLUSION: Corneal clouding was noted in this patient and there is no
      evidence of glaucoma or optic neuropathy. Although retinopathy has not been
      previously described in Sly syndrome, the ERG changes in this patient suggest
      that retinopathy may be a feature of MPS VII.

PMID- 27648684
TI  - Rapid immunization effects of a new type of 60 MUg hepatitis B vaccine compared
      with traditional 20 MUg hepatitis B vaccines in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The widely recommended standard schedule of hepatitis B vaccine for
      adults is months 0, 1 and 6, which takes 6 months to complete. Rapid completion
      of one vaccination schedule is important to adults because of its low compliance
      with follow-up doses. A new type of 60 MUg Hepatitis B vaccine, made by Shenzhen
      Kangtai Biological Products Co., LTD., is originally recommended for low or non
      responders. The objective of this clinical trial was to test whether this 60 MUg
      hepatitis B vaccine could be used in primary immune population and what is its
      level of immunogenicity and safety compared with other hepatitis B vaccines.
      METHODS: This is a 2-center randomized controlled study. A total of 1169 healthy
      adults aged between 25 and 55 who tested negative for HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti
      HBc were eligible for the study and were enrolled from relatively fixed and
      stable sites, such as villages, schools and large enterprises et al in Xuanhua
      county in Hebei province and Huaibei county in Anhui province. They were
      randomized to group A (20 MUg Engerix-B(r) with 0, 1, 6 month intervals), group B
      (20 MUg Kangtai hepatitis B vaccine with 0, 1, 6 month intervals), group C (60
      MUg Kangtai hepatitis B vaccine with 0, 2 month intervals) and group D (20 MUg
      Huabei hepatitis B vaccine made by recombinant DNA techniques in CHO cell with 0,
      1, 6 month intervals). In group A, B and D, every study object's blood sample was
      collected in the second month after their final injection to test the anti-HBs
      levels; while in group C, the blood sample was collected in the second month
      after the first and the second injection to test the anti-HBs levels. Adverse
      events were collected after each dose to assess the vaccines' safety. RESULTS:
      The seroprotection rates were 93.17%, 97.23%, 93.54% and 98.98% respectively and
      the geometric mean titers (GMTs) were 1033.38 mIU/ml, 600.75 mIU/ml, 265.69
      mIU/ml and 1627.05 mIU/ml in group A,B,C and D respectively. The difference of
      seroprotection rate among the 4 groups was statistically significant (chi2 =
      17.26, P<0.05). The difference of titers of anti-HBs among the 4 groups was
      statistically significant (H = 162.42, P<0.05). BMI, age (older than 40) and
      smoking were the influence factors of anti-HBs levels on 60 MUg hepatitis B
      vaccine. CONCLUSION: 60 MUg hepatitis B vaccine has a satisfactory safety and
      seroprotection rate in adult, It could be used in rapid adult hepatitis B
      immunization.

PMID- 27648685
TI  - Purification and characterization of a novel alginate lyase from the marine
      bacterium Cobetia sp. NAP1 isolated from brown algae.
AB  - The application of marine resources, instead of fossil fuels, for biomass
      production is important for building a sustainable society. Seaweed is valuable
      as a source of marine biomass for producing biofuels such as ethanol, and can be
      used in various fields. Alginate is an anionic polysaccharide that forms the main
      component of brown algae. Various alginate lyases (e.g. exo- and endo-types and
      oligoalginate lyase) are generally used to degrade alginate. We herein describe a
      novel alginate lyase, AlgC-PL7, which belongs to the polysaccharide lyase 7
      family. AlgC-PL7 was isolated from the halophilic Gram-negative bacterium Cobetia
      sp. NAP1 collected from the brown algae Padina arborescens Holmes. The optimal
      temperature and pH for AlgC-PL7 activity were 45  degrees C and 8, respectively.
      Additionally, AlgC-PL7 was thermostable and salt-tolerant, exhibited broad
      substrate specificity, and degraded alginate into monosaccharides. Therefore,
      AlgC-PL7 is a promising enzyme for the production of biofuels.

PMID- 27648686
TI  - Teaching of geriatric health in India: Mapping the terrain.
AB  - India is currently undergoing a rapid demographic transition along with a
      dramatic upsurge in the number of elderly adults. Creating a cadre of specialized
      health care professionals in geriatric medicine is clearly vital to address the
      health care needs of this growing population. The authors undertook a mapping of
      the available academic programs in geriatric health in India and examined their
      content, duration, architecture, and student intake. A total of 20 programs were
      identified in geriatric health, thus highlighting a paucity of training options
      in this field. Compared to Western countries, relatively few programs are offered
      in clinical and public health geriatrics in India. This is further compounded by
      an insignificant thrust of geriatrics in undergraduate health professional
      curricula. Our results underscore the need for a national-level curricular
      initiative to strengthen and mainstream the teaching of geriatric health in the
      country. Alternative educational strategies such as blended learning and
      interprofessional education should be explored to enhance geriatric health
      workforce competence.

PMID- 27648687
TI  - Rooted in risk: genetic predisposition for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      level associates with diminished low-density lipoprotein cholesterol response to
      statin treatment.
AB  - AIMS: To utilize previously reported lead SNPs for low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (LDL-c) levels to find additional loci of importance to statin
      response, and examine whether genetic predisposition to LDL-c levels associates
      with differential statin response. METHODS: We investigated effects on statin
      response of 59 LDL-c SNPs, by combining summary level statistics from the Global
      Lipids Genetics and Genomic Investigation of Statin Therapy consortia. RESULTS:
      Lead SNPs for APOE, SORT1 and NPC1L1 were associated with a decreased LDL-c
      response to statin treatment, as was overall genetic predisposition for increased
      LDL-c levels as quantified with 59 SNPs, with a 5.4% smaller statin response per
      standard deviation increase in genetically raised LDL-c levels. CONCLUSION:
      Genetic predisposition for increased LDL-c level may decrease efficacy of statin
      therapy.

PMID- 27648689
TI  - Hyperoxia Induces Inflammation and Cytotoxicity in Human Adult Cardiac Myocytes.
AB  - Supplemental oxygen (O2) is used as adjunct therapy in anesthesia, emergency, and
      intensive care medicine. We hypothesized that excessive O2 levels (hyperoxia) can
      directly injure human adult cardiac myocytes (HACMs). HACMs obtained from the
      explanted hearts of transplantation patients were exposed to constant hyperoxia
      (95% O2), intermittent hyperoxia (alternating 10 min exposures to 5% and 95% O2),
      constant normoxia (21% O2), or constant mild hypoxia (5% O2) using a bioreactor.
      Changes in cell morphology, viability as assessed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
      release and trypan blue (TB) staining, and secretion of vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), and various
      pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin, IL; chemokine C-X-C motif ligand, CXC;
      granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, G-CSF; intercellular adhesion molecule,
      ICAM; chemokine C-C motif ligand, CCL) were compared among treatment groups at
      baseline (0 h) and after 8, 24, and 72 h of treatment. Changes in HACM protein
      expression were determined by quantitative proteomic analysis after 48 h of
      exposure. Compared with constant normoxia and mild hypoxia, constant hyperoxia
      resulted in a higher TB-positive cell count, greater release of LDH, and elevated
      secretion of VEGF, MIF, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, CXCL-1, CXCL-10, G-CSF, ICAM-1, CCL
      3, and CCL-5. Cellular inflammation and cytotoxicity gradually increased and was
      highest after 72 h of constant and intermittent hyperoxia. Quantitative proteomic
      analysis revealed that hypoxic and hyperoxic O2 exposure differently altered the
      expression levels of proteins involved in cell-cycle regulation, energy
      metabolism, and cell signaling. In conclusion, constant and intermittent
      hyperoxia induced inflammation and cytotoxicity in HACMs. Cell injury occurred
      earliest and was greatest after constant hyperoxia, but even relatively brief
      repeating hyperoxic episodes induced a substantial inflammatory response.

PMID- 27648690
TI  - Time Course of CD64, a Leukocyte Activation Marker, During Cardiopulmonary Bypass
      Surgery.
AB  - Distinction between inflammation secondary to surgery, especially coronary artery
      bypass graft with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and inflammation due to infection
      is difficult in surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Development of
      biomarkers of infection could help clinicians in the early identification and
      thus treatment of sepsis in these patients. We compared the time course of the
      neutrophil CD64 index, a high affinity immunoglobulin FC gamma receptor I whose
      expression is increased in bacterial infection, in 39 patients undergoing cardiac
      surgery with CPB and 11 patients admitted to the ICU with severe sepsis or septic
      shock. The CD64 index was significantly more elevated in septic patients than in
      patients who had CPB except at day 5. The CD64 index increased moderately on day
      1 after cardiac surgery but the value remained lower than in septic patients. The
      duration for which the CD64 index was greater than 1.0 was longer in septic than
      in CPB patients. Receiver operating curves to differentiate CPB from sepsis on
      day 1 were not significantly different between C-reactive protein (CRP)
      concentrations and CD 64 index. Nevertheless, combination of low CD64 index with
      low CRP concentrations on day 1 ruled out sepsis except in three patients. There
      were no correlations between the CD64 index and cytokine levels (tumor necrosis
      factor [TNF]-alpha, interferon [IFN]gamma, interleukin [IL]-6, IL-10, IL-8, IL
      12) measured in subpopulations. In conclusion, CD64 index only in combination
      with CRP concentrations could be used to discriminate inflammation due to surgery
      from that due to infection in this particular population.

PMID- 27648691
TI  - The Predictive Value of Plasma Galectin-3 for Ards Severity and Clinical Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Galectin-3 is a beta-galactoside-binding lectin implicated as a
      mediator in a variety of inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. However, information
      about galectin-3 release in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome
      (ARDS) is very limited. We sought to determine whether plasma galectin-3 levels
      were increased in ARDS patients and were associated with disease severity.
      METHODS: Patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) within 48 h and diagnosed
      with ARDS were identified. In addition, healthy subjects were assigned to a
      control group. Plasma samples were collected from patients within 48 h after ICU
      admission as well as healthy subjects. Plasma galectin-3 levels were measured by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The primary outcome was mortality at 28 days.
      RESULTS: Sixty-three ARDS patients were identified. Among these, 27 patients died
      within 28 days of admission. The plasma galectin-3 levels of the patients were
      significantly higher than those of control subjects (median [IQR]: 12.37 [7.94
      18.79] vs. 5.01 [4.15-5.69] ng/mL, respectively, P <0.0001). Furthermore,
      galectin-3 levels were significantly higher in non-surviving patients than in
      those who survived (15.38 [11.59-22.98] vs. 10.07 [7.39-15.54] ng/mL,
      respectively, P = 0.0136). Plasma galectin-3 levels were significantly correlated
      with acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II scores and arterial oxygen
      tension/inspiratory oxygen fraction ratios (Spearman rho = 0.44, P <0.0001 and 
      0.616, P <0.0001, respectively). At an optimal cutoff of 10.59 ng/mL, the
      sensitivity and specificity of galectin-3 for prediction of 28-day mortality were
      81.48% (95% CI 0.62-0.94) and 55.56% (95% CI 0.38-0.72), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of galectin-3 were significantly associated with
      disease severity and worse outcomes in ARDS patients.

PMID- 27648688
TI  - Population-Level Effects of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Programs on
      Infections with Nonvaccine Genotypes.
AB  - We analyzed human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalences during prevaccination and
      postvaccination periods to consider possible changes in nonvaccine HPV genotypes
      after introduction of vaccines that confer protection against 2 high-risk types,
      HPV16 and HPV18. Our meta-analysis included 9 studies with data for 13,886 girls
      and women <=19 years of age and 23,340 women 20-24 years of age. We found
      evidence of cross-protection for HPV31 among the younger age group after vaccine
      introduction but little evidence for reductions of HPV33 and HPV45. For the group
      this same age group, we also found slight increases in 2 nonvaccine high-risk HPV
      types (HPV39 and HPV52) and in 2 possible high-risk types (HPV53 and HPV73).
      However, results between age groups and vaccines used were inconsistent, and the
      increases had possible alternative explanations; consequently, these data
      provided no clear evidence for type replacement. Continued monitoring of these
      HPV genotypes is important.

PMID- 27648692
TI  - Burn Injury Alters Epidermal Cholinergic Mediators and Increases HMGB1 and
      Caspase 3 in Autologous Donor Skin and Burn Margin.
AB  - Burn wound healing complications, such as graft failure or infection, are a major
      source of morbidity and mortality in burn patients. The mechanisms by which local
      burn injury alters epidermal barrier function in autologous donor skin and
      surrounding burn margin are largely undefined. We hypothesized that defects in
      the epidermal cholinergic system may impair epidermal barrier function and innate
      immune responses. The objective was to identify alterations in the epidermal
      cholinergic pathway, and their downstream targets, associated with inflammation
      and cell death. We established that protein levels, but not gene expression, of
      the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (CHRNA7) were significantly reduced
      in both donor and burn margin skin. Furthermore, the gene and protein levels of
      an endogenous allosteric modulator of CHRNA7, secreted mammalian Ly-6/ urokinase
      type plasminogen activator receptor-related protein-1, and acetylcholine were
      significantly elevated in donor and burn margin skin. As downstream proteins of
      inflammatory and cell death targets of nAChR activation, we found significant
      elevations in epidermal High Mobility Group Box Protein 1 and caspase 3 in donor
      and burn margin skin. Lastly, we employed a novel in vitro keratinocyte burn
      model to establish that burn injury influences the gene expression of these
      cholinergic mediators and their downstream targets. These results indicate that
      defects in cholinergic mediators and inflammatory/apoptotic molecules in donor
      and burn margin skin may directly contribute to graft failure or infection in
      burn patients.

PMID- 27648693
TI  - Multiplex Cytokine Profiling Identifies Interleukin-27 as a Novel Biomarker For
      Neonatal Early Onset Sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early onset sepsis (EOS) remains a major cause of mortality and
      morbidity in neonates, and traditional clinical markers effective for adults are
      less effective in these patients. This study aimed to assess the value of
      individual plasma biomarkers as well as biomarker combinations for predicting EOS
      in neonates. METHODS: This prospective study included 151 neonates with suspected
      EOS. Plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-27, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF)-alpha, heat shock protein (HSP) 70, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)
      1alpha, MIP-1beta, granzyme B, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8 were measured
      through multiplex cytokine profiling and assessed along with C-reactive protein
      (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve
      analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive ability of biomarkers
      individually and in combination. Logistic regression model was constructed to
      identify independent predictors of EOS. RESULTS: The proven sepsis and probable
      sepsis groups were combined to form the infected group (n = 68), and the possible
      sepsis and low-risk sepsis groups were combined to form the uninfected group (n =
      83). The ROC area under the curve was 0.747 for IL-27 (P <0.01). In addition, IL
      6, TNF-alpha, HSP 70, MMP-8, PCT, and CRP were significantly predictive of EOS,
      whereas IL-8, granzyme B, MIP-1alpha, and MIP-1beta were not. Both IL-27 and PCT
      were identified as independent predictors of EOS in the multivariate model, and
      the combined use of these markers showed significantly increased predictive
      ability for EOS. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that elevated IL-27 strongly
      correlates with EOS and may provide additional diagnostic value along with PCT.

PMID- 27648694
TI  - Differential Effects of Kupffer Cell Inactivation on Inflammation and The Liver
      Sieve Following Caecal-Ligation and Puncture-Induced Sepsis in Mice.
AB  - Sepsis remains a common clinical problem with significant mortality. Activation
      of the Kupffer cells during sepsis is associated with systemic inflammatory
      response and multiple organ failure. Kupffer cell activation also leads to
      structural changes in the liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) during
      endotoxemia. However, these effects remain to be elucidated in caecal-ligation
      and puncture (CLP)-induced polymicrobial sepsis. To investigate the role of
      Kupffer cells on LSECs fenestrae and inflammation during CLP-induced sepsis,
      sepsis was induced by CLP and mice were treated with gadolinium chloride (GdCl3)
      before CLP-induced sepsis, to inactivate Kupffer cells. Mice were sacrificed
      after 8 h. Blood, liver, and lung tissues were collected and processed to measure
      LSECs fenestration, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, alanine transaminase (ALT)
      and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity, histological examination, and
      various cytokines/chemokines levels. LSECs fenestrae was studied using scanning
      electron micrographs of the LSECs. Strikingly, CLP mice treated with GdCl3 were
      protected against liver injury as evidenced by decreased LSECs defenestration and
      damage, MPO, ALT and AST activities, liver tissue damage, and inflammatory
      cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-1beta, and chemokines MCP-1 and MIP-2alpha.
      However, CLP mice treated with GdCl3 had no protection against increased lung MPO
      activity, tissue damage, inflammatory cytokines, and chemokines. Treatment with
      GdCl3 also had no effect on the systemic inflammatory response as shown by no
      change in the circulatory inflammatory cytokines and chemokines following CLP
      induced sepsis. Collectively, these data suggest that inactivation of Kupffer
      cells by GdCl3 protects the liver but had no effect on lung injury or
      inflammation and systemic inflammatory response following CLP-induced sepsis.

PMID- 27648695
TI  - Tranexamic Acid Attenuates The Loss of Lung Barrier Function in a Rat Model of
      Polytrauma And Hemorrhage With Resuscitation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Severe trauma, hemorrhage, and resuscitation can lead to a trauma
      related acute lung injury that involves rapid infiltration of immune cells and
      platelets. This infiltration involves exymatic degradation of matrix proteins,
      including plasmin, and causes loss of barrier function. Since tranexamic acid
      (TXA) inhibits plasminogen/ plasmin binding to target substrates, it may
      attenuate loss of barrier function after severe trauma, hemorrhage, and
      resuscitation. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to polytrauma
      (laparotomy, and trauma to intestines, liver, right leg skeletal muscle, and
      right femur fracture), then bled 40% of their blood volume. One hour after
      completion of polytrauma and hemorrhage, resuscitation was begun with fresh whole
      blood (FWB) or FWB with prior bolus administration of TXA (10 mg/kg in 0.2 mL).
      RESULTS: Polytrauma, hemorrhage, and resuscitation with FWB led to an elevation
      in lung water content that was significantly reduced with TXA administration.
      Polytrauma and hemorrhage led to rise in the number of neutrophils/monocytes and
      platelets in the lungs, and a rise in myeloperoxidase (MPO), neutrophil elastase
      and complement C5a content. While resuscitation with FWB significantly reduced
      the cellular infiltrate and MPO, FWB/TXA further reduced the levels of
      neutrophil/monocytes, neutrophil elastase, and complement C5a. Polytrauma and
      hemorrhage led to rise in lung plasmin activity that was significantly reduced
      with either FWB or FWB/TXA resuscitation. CONCLUSION: Severe trauma and
      hemorrhage leads to increases in lung water content, and immune cell, platelets,
      MPO, elastase, and C5a content in lung tissue, all markers of inflammation and
      acute lung injury. The addition of TXA to FWB resuscitation markedly attenuated
      the rise in these parameters suggesting its utility in treating acute lung
      injury.

PMID- 27648696
TI  - IL-6 Signal From the Bone Marrow is Required for the Browning of White Adipose
      Tissue Post Burn Injury.
AB  - The hypermetabolic stress response after burn contributes to multi-organ failure,
      sepsis, morbidity, and mortality. The cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) has been
      hypothesized to mediate not only white adipose tissue (WAT) browning in burns,
      but also other hypermetabolic conditions. In addition to its inflammatory
      effects, IL-6 also acts as a metabolic mediator that affects metabolic tissues.
      Therefore, we sought to uncover the origin of circulating IL-6 post burn injury
      that regulates WAT browning. WAT and sera samples were collected from both adult
      burn patients admitted to the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital and
      mice subjected to a burn injury. Collected tissues were analyzed for browning
      markers and metabolic state via histology, gene expression, and resting energy
      expenditure. Increased WAT browning was observed in burn patients as well as mice
      subjected to burn injury. Circulating IL-6 levels were significantly elevated
      post burn injury in mice (<0.05) and in burn patients (<0.05), the latter of
      which was positively correlated with elevated REE. Genetic loss of whole body IL
      6 in mice prevented burn-induced WAT browning. Transplanting IL-6 knockout (KO)
      mice with bone marrow (BM) from wild-type (WT) mice, recovered the browning
      phenotype in these mice, as evaluated by increased uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)
      expression (<0.05). Conversely, transplanting irradiated WT mice with BM from IL
      6 KO mice impaired burn induced browning with no significant expression of UCP1.
      Together, our findings implicate BM derived IL-6 as the source controlling
      browning of WAT post burn injury. Thus, targeting IL-6 is a promising target for
      hypermetabolism in burns.

PMID- 27648698
TI  - Limited Resuscitation With Fresh or Stored Whole Blood Corrects Cardiovascular
      and Metabolic Function in a Rat Model of Polytrauma and Hemorrhage.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We have recently shown that human whole blood stored at 4 degrees C
      maintains hemostatic and platelet function. In this study, we compared
      restoration of hemodynamic, metabolic and hemostatic function after limited
      resuscitation with rat fresh whole blood, rat stored whole blood, or Lactated
      Ringers in traumatized rats. METHODS: Rat whole blood was stored for 10 days at 4
      degrees C for evaluation of hemostatic function. Polytrauma was performed on
      isoflurane-anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats (350-450 g) by damage to the
      intestines, liver, right leg skeletal muscle, and right femur fracture, followed
      by 40% hemorrhage. At 1 h, rats were resuscitated (20%) with either fresh whole
      blood (FWB), stored whole blood, 4 degrees C for 7 days (SWB), Lactated Ringers
      (LR), or nothing. Blood samples were taken before and 2 h after trauma and
      hemorrhage to evaluate metabolic and hemostatic function. RESULTS: Whole blood
      stored for 10 days showed a significant prolongation in prothrombin time (PT) and
      activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and fall in fibrinogen
      concentration, but no change in Maximum Clot Firmness or speed of clot formation.
      Platelet function was maintained until day 7 in storage, than fell significantly.
      Polytrauma and hemorrhage in rats led to a fall in arterial pressure, plasma
      bicarbonate, fibrinogen, and platelet function, and a rise in plasma lactate, PT,
      aPTT, and creatinine. Resuscitation with either FWB or 7 day SWB, but not LR,
      returned arterial pressure, plasma lactate and plasma bicarbonate to levels
      similar to control, but had no effect on the fall in fibrinogen or platelet
      function, or the rise in PT, aPTT, or creatinine. CONCLUSION: Hemostatic and
      platelet function of rat whole blood stored at 4 degrees C is preserved for at
      least 7 days in vitro. Low volume resuscitation with SWB or FWB, but not LR,
      restores hemodynamic and metabolic function, but not the coagulopathy after
      severe trauma and hemorrhage.

PMID- 27648697
TI  - Interleukin-18 Reduces Blood Glucose and Modulates Plasma Corticosterone in a
      Septic Mouse Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of glucose metabolism, including hyperglycemia with
      insulin resistance, is commonly observed in critically ill patients. Interleukin
      18 (IL-18) improves the insulin resistance associated with obesity, but the
      relationship between IL-18 and glucose metabolism in sepsis was unclear. The
      purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of IL-18 on hyperglycemia
      during sepsis. METHODS: Sepsis was induced using cecal ligation and puncture
      (CLP) in wild-type (WT) mice, IL-18 knockout (KO) mice, and IL-18 KO mice
      pretreated with recombinant IL-18. Blood glucose and plasma insulin, glucagon,
      and corticosterone were measured. The mRNAs for gluconeogenic enzymes (g6pc,
      pck1) and activation of insulin signaling were also analyzed. RESULTS: In both WT
      and IL-18 KO mice, CLP operation led to hyperglycemia that lasted longer (18 h)
      than after sham operation (6 h). Blood glucose levels in IL-18 KO mice were
      significantly higher than in WT mice, without alteration of insulin or glucagon
      levels. In IL-18 KO mice, insulin signaling in the liver and skeletal muscle was
      decreased during hyperglycemia as compared with WT mice without suppression of
      hepatic glucose production enzymes. Pretreatment with recombinant IL-18 reduced
      blood glucose levels after CLP. Additionally, corticosterone levels were higher
      after CLP in the presence of either endogenous or exogenous IL-18. CONCLUSION: IL
      18 may reduce blood glucose by modulating insulin signaling in the liver during
      sepsis-induced hyperglycemia. IL-18 is an important factor associated with
      alterations in blood glucose during sepsis.

PMID- 27648701
TI  - Left, right, and meeting in the middle: Addressing addiction is something we can
      agree about.
AB  - The United States faces an addiction health crisis. Presidential election cycles
      in the United States are cause for creation of political party platforms. These
      platforms provide general stances and specific policies on a variety of issues.
      We undertook a review of the addiction policies of the 2016 Republican and
      Democratic platforms. Despite differences in focus, we found more similarities
      than differences between the two. We call upon those in political power to use
      every evidence-based policy at their disposal to promote addiction treatment and
      prevention.

PMID- 27648699
TI  - Of Mice and Men: Proteasome's Role in LPS-Induced Inflammation and Tolerance.
AB  - The molecular basis responsible for tolerance following inflammatory response to
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is not well understood. We hypothesized that
      inflammation/tolerance in monocytes/ macrophages is dependent on the proteases of
      proteasome. To test our hypothesis, first, we examined the expression of
      different proteasome subunits in different human and mouse monocytes/macrophages.
      Secondly, we investigated the effect of proteasome subunits/ proteases on LPS
      induced expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and nitric oxide
      (NO) during inflammation and tolerance using mouse RAW 264.7 macrophages, THP1
      cells, and cluster of differentiation 14 positive (CD14) human monocytes. We
      found that RAW 264.7 cells (XYZ), mouse peritoneal resident, thioglycollate
      elicited macrophages, primed RAW 264.7 (XYZ, LMP), and human monocytes (LMP)
      expressed different types of proteasome subunits/activities. Cells containing
      predominantly either LMP subunits (such as THP-1 and human monocytes), or only X,
      Y, Z subunits (RAW 264.7 cells not primed) could only induce TNF-alpha, but not
      NO, while cells containing all five to six subunits (XYZ, LMP) of the proteasome
      could induce both mediators in response to LPS. Distinct states of
      inflammation/tolerance in LPS treated cells, strongly correlated with an
      upregulation or downregulation of proteasome's subunits (proteases),
      respectively. Moreover, interferon-gamma treatment of tolerant cells caused
      robust induction of proteasome's subunit expression in mouse macrophages and
      human monocytes, and cells regained their ability to respond to LPS. These
      studies are vital for understanding function of proteasome's subunits during
      inflammation/tolerance in mouse and human cells, and for design of therapeutic
      strategies for all diseases based on inflammation.

PMID- 27648702
TI  - Hypervirulent Clone of Group B Streptococcus Serotype III Sequence Type 283, Hong
      Kong, 1993-2012.
AB  - We describe a hypervirulent clone of group B Streptococcus serotype III, subtype
      4, sequence type 283, that caused invasive disease with a predilection for
      meningitis in Hong Kong during 1993-2012. The organism is associated with high
      mortality and increased summer prevalence and is linked to diseased fish from
      freshwater fish farms.

PMID- 27648704
TI  - Dual-Tracer PET/CT Using 18F-FDG and 11C-Acetate in Gastric Adenocarcinoma With
      Liver Metastasis.
AB  - Dual-tracer F-FDG and C-acetate PET/CT has been shown to demonstrate good
      sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. We
      present a case of gastric adenocarcinoma with liver metastasis with positive
      uptake of F-FDG and C-acetate highlighting an unusual appearance in dual-tracer
      PET/CT.

PMID- 27648703
TI  - MRI and 11C-methyl-L-methionine PET Differentiate Bevacizumab True Responders
      After Initiating Therapy for Recurrent Glioblastoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Normalization of tumor vasculature after administering bevacizumab (BEV)
      makes assessment of therapeutic response using MRI difficult. The aim of this
      study was to clarify whether PET with C-methyl-L-methionine (MET-PET) would
      supplement MRI assessing of response after initiating BEV in glioblastoma.
      METHODS: Twenty patients with recurrent glioblastoma were treated with biweekly
      BEV plus temozolomide. Both MRI and MET-PET were performed before treatment
      (baseline) and at 4 and 8 weeks after starting treatment. Results on MRI
      (response or nonresponse) were compared with those on MET-PET, with response
      defined as a tumor-to-normal brain ratio of SUV (SUVT/N) of less than 1.6.
      Progression-free survival (PFS) was compared between responders and nonresponders
      on MRI alone and MET-PET alone. Progression-free survival was also compared
      between patients showing response on both MRI and MET-PET and patients showing
      response on MRI but nonresponse on MET-PET at each time point. RESULTS: PFS was
      significantly longer in responders than nonresponders on both MRI at 4 and 8
      weeks and MET-PET at 8 weeks, whereas MET-PET at 4 weeks provided no information
      regarding outcomes. Combined assessment with MRI and MET-PET at 4 weeks was not
      provide predictive of PFS, whereas patients showing response on both modalities
      (true responders) at 8 weeks exhibited significantly longer PFS than did patients
      showing response on MRI but nonresponse on MET-PET (pseudoresponders).
      CONCLUSIONS: Combined assessment with MRI and MET-PET at 8 weeks can
      differentiate true responders who are predicted to show more favorable prognosis
      from pseudoresponders.

PMID- 27648705
TI  - Can Interim 18F-FDG PET or Diffusion-Weighted MRI Predict End-of-Treatment
      Outcome in FDG-Avid MALT Lymphoma After Rituximab-Based Therapy?: A Preliminary
      Study in 15 Patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether interim F-FDG PET or interim diffusion-weighted
      magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) can predict the end-of-treatment (EOT) outcome
      after immunotherapy in patients with FDG-avid extranodal marginal zone B-cell
      lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Patients with untreated MALT lymphoma prospectively underwent whole-body F-FDG
      PET/CT and DWI before treatment (baseline), and after three cycles (interim) of
      rituximab-based immunotherapy. Maximum and mean standardized uptake values
      (SUVmax, SUVmean), and minimum and mean apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCmin,
      ADCmean), were measured for up to three target lesions per patient. Rates of
      change between baseline and interim examinations (DeltaSUVmax, DeltaSUVmean,
      DeltaADCmin, and DeltaADCmean) were compared, using ANOVAs, between the four end
      of-treatment (EOT, after six cycles of immunotherapy) outcomes: complete
      remission (CR), partial remission (PR), stable disease (SD), or progressive
      disease (PD). RESULTS: Fifteen patients with 25 lesions were included. Lesion
      based post hoc tests showed significant differences between CR and PR for
      DeltaSUVmax (P < 0.001), DeltaSUVmean (P < 0.001), and DeltaADCmin (P = 0.044),
      and between CR and SD for DeltaSUVmax (P < 0.001), DeltaSUVmean (P < 0.001),
      DeltaADCmin (P = 0.021), and DeltaADCmean (P = 0.022). No lesion showed PD at
      EOT. CONCLUSIONS: Both quantitative interim F-FDG PET and interim DWI may
      possibly be useful to predict complete remission at end-of-treatment in MALT
      lymphoma patients after immunotherapy.

PMID- 27648706
TI  - Familial Gigantiform Cementoma on 99mTc MDP Bone Scintigraphy.
AB  - A 14-year-old girl underwent a Tc MDP bone scan to evaluate multiple fractures.
      The images showed not only expected increased activity at the fracture sites of
      lower extremities but also intense activity in both sides of the maxilla and
      mandible. Microscopic examination of the mandible was consistent with a diagnosis
      of gigantiform cementoma.

PMID- 27648707
TI  - 18F-NaF and 18F-FDG PET/CT in Gorham-Stout Disease.
AB  - Gorham-Stout disease (GSD) is an extremely rare skeletal disorder of unknown
      etiology characterized by benign proliferation of vascular or lymphatic channels,
      leading to progressive bone resorption. We report on a patient diagnosed with GSD
      affecting the right scapula and the right ribs, who underwent PET/CT scans using
      F-FDG and F-NaF. The remnant upper portion of the affected scapula did not show F
      FDG uptake but demonstrated markedly increased F-NaF activity. Furthermore,
      intense F-NaF activity was seen on the right posterior ribs, which were actively
      being resorbed, suggesting the potential application of F-NaF-PET/CT imaging in
      GSD diagnosis and follow-up.

PMID- 27648711
TI  - Letter From Editor-October 2016.

PMID- 27648708
TI  - Analysis of computer-aided detection techniques and signal characteristics for
      clustered microcalcifications on digital mammography and digital breast
      tomosynthesis.
AB  - With IRB approval, digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images of human subjects
      were collected using a GE GEN2 DBT prototype system. Corresponding digital
      mammograms (DMs) of the same subjects were collected retrospectively from patient
      files. The data set contained a total of 237 views of DBT and equal number of DM
      views from 120 human subjects, each included 163 views with microcalcification
      clusters (MCs) and 74 views without MCs. The data set was separated into training
      and independent test sets. The pre-processing, object prescreening and
      segmentation, false positive reduction and clustering strategies for MC detection
      by three computer-aided detection (CADe) systems designed for DM, DBT, and a
      planar projection image generated from DBT were analyzed. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curves based on features extracted from microcalcifications
      and free-response ROC (FROC) curves based on scores from MCs were used to
      quantify the performance of the systems. Jackknife FROC (JAFROC) and non
      parametric analysis methods were used to determine the statistical difference
      between the FROC curves. The difference between the CADDM and CADDBT systems when
      the false positive rate was estimated from cases without MCs did not reach
      statistical significance. The study indicates that the large search space in DBT
      may not be a limiting factor for CADe to achieve similar performance as that
      observed in DM.

PMID- 27648712
TI  - The Prognostic Value of Plasma YKL-40 in Patients With Chemotherapy-Resistant
      Ovarian Cancer Treated With Bevacizumab.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: YKL-40 is a proangiogenic glycoprotein that is secreted by cancer
      cells and inflammatory cells. The expression of YKL-40 is induced by vascular
      endothelial growth factor inhibition. We tested the hypothesis that low baseline
      plasma YKL-40 is associated with improved outcomes in patients with ovarian
      cancer treated with bevacizumab. METHODS: One hundred forty patients with
      chemotherapy-refractory epithelian ovarian cancer were treated with single-agent
      bevacizumab 10 mg/kg every 3 weeks in a prospective trial. Plasma YKL-40 was
      determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before and during treatment. Both
      raw YKL-40 concentrations and age-corrected percentiles of normal YKL-40 level
      were used. Associations between plasma YKL-40 level and progression-free survival
      (PFS) and overall survival were tested using univariate and multivariate Cox
      proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Baseline plasma YKL-40 levels were higher
      in patients with poor performance status, less differentiated tumors, residual
      disease after primary surgery, higher than the median serum CA-125 level, and
      higher than the median serum vascular endothelial growth factor level. Age
      corrected percentile of normal plasma YKL-40 greater than the lowest quartile
      (Q1, 85th percentile) was associated with shorter PFS in univariate (hazard
      ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-2.89; P = 0.010) and multivariate
      analyses and shorter overall survival in univariate analysis (hazard ratio, 1.96;
      95% confidence interval, 1.27-3.03; P = 0.003). Increase in plasma YKL-40 during
      bevacizumab treatment, with correction for baseline plasma YKL-40, was a
      predictor of shorter PFS. Using normal versus elevated plasma YKL-40 as a cutoff
      did not provide the same discriminative value. CONCLUSIONS: Low plasma YKL-40 at
      baseline and during treatment is associated with improved outcomes in patients
      with chemotherapy-refractory advanced ovarian cancer treated with single-agent
      bevacizumab.

PMID- 27648715
TI  - The deployment of visual spatial attention during visual search predicts response
      time: electrophysiological evidence from the N2pc.
AB  - We tracked the deployment of visual spatial attention, as indexed by an
      electrophysiological event-related potential named the N-2-posterior
      contralateral (N2pc). We expected that a stronger and/or earlier deployment of
      attention would predict faster responses in a visual search task. We tested this
      hypothesis by sorting the electrophysiological segments into two categories (slow
      vs. fast) by trial-by-trial response times (RTs), for each participant, on the
      basis of the median RT within each condition of the experiment. We also
      classified participants on the basis of overall mean RTs into those faster than
      the group median and those slower than the group median. The N2pc was larger and
      earlier for fast responders compared with slow responders. Furthermore, within
      each of these groups, faster responses were associated with a larger and earlier
      N2pc. These results provide further evidence that the N2pc is a valid index of
      the deployment of visual attention, and suggest that a more effective deployment
      of visual spatial attention (larger and/or earlier N2pc) predicts a faster
      response, both within and between subjects. 

PMID- 27648713
TI  - Evaluation of Metachronous Breast and Endometrial Cancers: Preroutine and
      Postroutine Adjuvant Tamoxifen Use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The time interval between diagnoses of breast cancer (BC) and
      endometrial cancer (EC) is not well established in women with metachronous
      primary tumors. We sought to examine this interval and identify associations with
      treatment-related and clinicopathologic factors. METHODS: We identified 141
      patients who developed both cancers during 1966 to 2013. Patients were divided
      into 2 groups: group 1, BC first, and group 2, EC first. Subanalysis performed of
      group 1 (59 patients) stratified around adjuvant tamoxifen use: pre-1990 BC
      diagnosis and post. RESULTS: Fifty-nine and 82 patients were in groups 1 and 2,
      respectively. The mean time interval was comparable (76 vs 74 months, P = 0.861).
      Subanalysis divided group 1 into pre- (n = 27) and post- (n = 32) 1990 and
      resulted in different mean time intervals between diagnosis of metachronous
      cancers (106 vs 50 months, respectively [P = 0.042]). Median progression-free
      survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for EC were longer in the pre group
      (PFS, 51 vs 26 months [P = 0.169]; OS, 59 vs 27 months [P = 0.190]). Median PFS
      and OS for BC were also longer in this group (PFS, 147 vs 109 months [P = 0.005];
      OS, 166 vs 114 months [P < 0.001]). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate the mean time
      interval between the diagnosis of EC and BC was approximately 6 years. Disease
      specific EC survival was worse for patients with a previous diagnosis of BC.
      Stratification around implementation of tamoxifen use shows comparable grade and
      stage but different time interval and survival, suggesting resulting effects from
      adjuvant therapy for BC. These results are useful in counseling women at risk.

PMID- 27648714
TI  - L1 Cell Adhesion Molecule as a Predictor of Disease-Specific Survival and
      Patterns of Relapse in Endometrial Cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim was to study the association of L1 cell adhesion molecule
      (L1CAM) expression with the outcome of patients with endometrial cancer,
      especially with regard to conventional risk variables, and to compare the
      patterns of relapse in L1CAM-positive and -negative cancers. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective study of 805 women. The Kaplan-Meier method and univariate and
      multivariate Cox regression models were applied for survival analyses. Missing
      data were replaced using multiple imputation. The median follow-up time was 51
      months (range, 1-98). RESULTS: One hundred twenty-one (15.0%) cases were L1CAM
      positive. L1CAM positivity was associated with high stage (I vs II-IV) (odds
      ratio [OR], 2.3), lymph node involvement (OR, 2.9), poor differentiation (OR,
      6.1), non-endometrioid histology (OR, 9.9), lymphovascular space invasion (OR,
      2.8), cervical stromal invasion (OR, 1.8), positive peritoneal cytology (OR,
      4.1), and age older than 65 years (OR, 2.8). The frequencies of deep myometrial
      invasion (50% or deeper), tumor size 2 cm or greater, and body mass index 30 kg/m
      or greater were not significantly different between L1CAM-positive and -negative
      cases. L1CAM predicted poor disease-specific survival in endometrioid (P <
      0.0001) but not in non-endometrioid carcinomas (P = 0.934). The negative impact
      of L1CAM on outcome was confirmed in a Cox multivariate disease-specific survival
      analysis. Univariate survival analyses in the different ESMO-ESGO-ESTRO
      endometrial cancer risk groups showed an association between L1CAM positivity and
      poor outcome in intermediate (hazard ratio, 12) and high-risk advanced metastatic
      (hazard ratio, 2.0) groups. Extra-abdominal relapses were more frequent in L1CAM
      positive (13.2%) than L1CAM-negative (1.9%) stage I endometrioid carcinomas (P <
      0.0001), whereas other site-specific relapses in local cancers were L1CAM
      independent. CONCLUSIONS: L1CAM is associated with the occurrence of poor
      prognostic variables and predicts advanced disease in endometrial cancer. L1CAM
      predicts extra-abdominal relapses and poor survival in endometrioid endometrial
      cancer, but seems not to be a prognostic factor in non-endometrioid carcinomas.

PMID- 27648716
TI  - Meliorating microcirculatory with melatonin in rat model of spinal cord injury
      using laser Doppler flowmetry.
AB  - The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of melatonin on spinal cord
      perfusion, the permeability of blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB), and edema at the
      contusion epicenter and regions rostral and caudal to the injury site in rats
      with spinal cord injury (SCI). Thirty-six female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided
      into three groups (12 animals in each group): sham, SCI, and melatonin groups.
      Melatonin (50 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally at 30 min after a moderate
      injury at T10 in the melatonin group (twice a day). At 24 h postinjury, spinal
      cord perfusion was estimated using laser Doppler flowmetry, the permeability of
      BSCB was detected by Evan's blue, and edema was estimated by calculating the
      water content. A linear regression analysis was performed to assess the
      correlation between spinal cord perfusion and the permeability of BSCB or water
      content. Our results showed that melatonin significantly upregulated spinal cord
      blood flow and oxygen saturation in SCI rats using laser Doppler perfusion
      monitoring. Simultaneously, laser Doppler perfusion imaging indicated that
      melatonin markedly meliorated spinal cord perfusion in regions rostral and caudal
      to the injury site, rather than the epicenter site. Consistent with the results
      of laser Doppler flowmetry, melatonin significantly reduced the amount of Evan's
      blue dye and water content in regions of rostral and caudal cords. In addition,
      perfusion correlated with the permeability of BSCB and water content. These
      findings indicated that melatonin might exert a protective effect by meliorating
      microcirculation, which coordinated a corresponding response in the integrity of
      BSCB and edema.

PMID- 27648717
TI  - Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with blood pressure and carotid arterial
      stiffness in obese children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Both sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and high blood pressure (BP)
      occur more frequently among obese children than among normal weight children, and
      this may be due to endothelial dysfunction and worsened arterial stiffness. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the possible association between SDB and BP,
      and the possible role of endothelial function and local and systemic arterial
      stiffness in a sample of obese children asymptomatic for sleep disturbances.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-nine obese children were included in the study.
      Children underwent overnight limited channel polysomnography, and the vascular
      measurements included the following: office and 24-h ambulatory BP; brachial flow
      mediated dilatation, carotid intima-media thickness and carotid distensibility
      measured using ultrasound; and systemic arterial stiffness index measured using
      digital volume pulse analysis. RESULTS: Significant correlations between
      different BP measurements (both office and ambulatory BP monitoring and estimated
      by Z score) and SDB were found, including correlations involving the respiratory
      disturbance index, the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), the number of desaturations
      per hour and the mean peripheral saturation (r ranging between 0.330 and 0.474).
      Carotid distensibility was correlated with the AHI (r = -0.367; P = 0.030) and
      with the mean oxygen saturation (r = 0.401; P = 0.017). In contrast, there was no
      relationship among flow-mediated dilatation, stiffness index, carotid intima
      media thickness and all the tested respiratory markers. In the multivariate
      analysis, the supine Z SBP remained independently associated with the number of
      desaturations per hour and the AHI, even after correction for carotid
      distensibility and BMI. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that in obese children
      asymptomatic for sleep respiratory problems, SDB might worsen BP, in part,
      through an increase in arterial stiffness.

PMID- 27648719
TI  - Blood pressure variability and cognitive decline in older people: a 5-year
      longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is common in later life. Identifying potential
      modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline may ameliorate the burden of
      disease. Cross-sectional studies show an association between blood pressure (BP)
      variability and impaired cognitive function in patients with hypertension and/or
      dementia. However, research examining the association between BP variability and
      cognitive function in the general older population is scarce. OBJECTIVE: In this
      study, we examined the association between BP variability and cognitive function
      over 5-year follow-up in an unselected community-dwelling cohort. METHODS:
      Ambulatory BP monitoring was performed in 353 community-dwelling people aged at
      least 65 years. Cognitive assessment, using the Mini Mental State Examination
      (MMSE) and Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG), was performed at baseline
      and at 5-year follow-up. BP variability was calculated using the coefficient of
      variation. Cognitive change over 5 years was defined as baseline score minus
      follow-up score. RESULTS: Increased daytime systolic variability was associated
      with poorer performance on the CAMCOG total score and subscores. Daytime
      diastolic variability was associated with poorer performance on total CAMCOG,
      CAMCOG executive score, and MMSE. These findings were independent of demographic
      and cardiovascular risk factors. Daytime systolic variability was also
      independently associated with greater decline in total CAMCOG and MMSE scores
      over 5-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: Increased BP variability is associated with
      poorer cognitive function in older people and may represent a novel modifiable
      risk factor for cognitive decline.

PMID- 27648718
TI  - Cholecalciferol treatment downregulates renin-angiotensin system and improves
      endothelial function in essential hypertensive patients with hypovitaminosid D.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is related to an increased prevalence of
      cardiovascular disease. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system suppression and
      vascular dysfunction are considered among the main mechanisms implicated in this
      association. However, interventional studies demonstrating that vitamin D
      replacement reduces circulating renin-angiotensin-aldosterone components and
      improves vascular function in humans are still lacking. METHODS: Thirty-three
      consecutive patients with essential hypertension and hypovitaminosis D underwent
      therapy with cholecalciferol 50 000 IU/week orally for 8 weeks. Thirty-three
      hypertensive patients with normal vitamin D levels and 20 normotensive
      individuals were also enrolled as control groups. At baseline and at the end of
      the study, we evaluated plasma renin activity, circulating renin, angiotensin II,
      aldosterone and plasma vitamin D levels. Endothelial function [flow-mediated
      dilation (FMD)], carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index,
      peripheral and central blood pressure were also acquired. RESULTS: After 8-week
      cholecalciferol administration, all treated patients normalized plasma 25(OH)D
      values. Furthermore, a reduction in plasma levels of plasma renin activity (1.17
      +/- 0.3 vs 1.51 +/- 0.4 ng/ml per h, P = 0.02), renin (13.4 +/- 1.7 vs 19.2 +/-
      2.9 pg/ml, P < 0.001), angiotensin II (11.6 +/- 1.6 vs 15.8 +/- 2.7 pg/ml, P =
      0.02) was observed at the end of the study. FMD was significantly increased after
      cholecalciferol treatment (4.4 +/- 2.6 vs 3.3 +/- 2.1%, P < 0.05), in the absence
      of changes of brachial artery diameter and endothelium-independent vasodilation.
      Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index were not modified, as
      well peripheral and central blood pressure. CONCLUSION: The restoration of normal
      vitamin D levels after 8-week cholecalciferol treatment is able to inhibit
      peripheral renin-angiotensin system and improve FMD in essential hypertensive
      patients with hypovitaminosis D.

PMID- 27648721
TI  - Childhood body mass index and blood pressure in prediction of subclinical
      vascular damage in adulthood: Beijing blood pressure cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness predict cardiovascular
      morbidity and mortality. We aimed to investigate the influence of BMI and blood
      pressure (BP) in childhood, and change in BMI and BP, on the development of
      subclinical atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness in adulthood. METHODS: The
      study consisted of 1252 individuals aged 27-42 years who had 2-10 measurements of
      BMI and BP from childhood. In the final survey (2010-2011), subclinical markers
      of vascular damage, including carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), carotid
      femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity
      (baPWV), were measured. RESULTS: Pearson correlation analyses showed that BMI and
      BP in childhood and adulthood, and also cumulative and incremental values from
      childhood to adulthood, were all significantly associated with adult cIMT, cfPWV,
      and baPWV in males and in females (all P < 0.05). In the multivariate logistical
      analyses, for both sexes, childhood BMI and systolic BP (SBP) predicted high cIMT
      in adulthood, and childhood SBP predicted high cfPWV and high baPWV in adulthood.
      However, these associations were largely attenuated and became nonsignificant
      after additional adjustment for adult BMI and SBP, except that childhood SBP
      showed a borderline significant association with high cfPWV in adulthood for
      males. In addition, for both sexes, incremental BMI and SBP from childhood to
      adulthood predicted high cIMT in adulthood, and incremental SBP predicted high
      cfPWV and high baPWV in adulthood, independent of childhood values. CONCLUSION:
      The adverse influence of high BMI and high BP on subclinical vascular damage
      begins in childhood. This study enhances the importance of early prevention and
      lifelong treatment of excessive weight and elevated BP.

PMID- 27648720
TI  - Determinants of high blood pressure and barriers to diagnosis and treatment in
      Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We assessed the prevalence and determinants of high blood pressure
      (BP), and barriers to diagnosis and treatment, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
      METHODS: We surveyed and screened 2174 community-dwelling adults aged at least 40
      years in 2014 and conducted a follow-up after 1 year. RESULTS: Median BP was
      131/81 mmHg, and hypertension prevalence was 37%. Mean adjusted difference in SBP
      was 4.0 mmHg for overweight, 6.3 mmHg for obese class I, and 10.5 mmHg for obese
      class II/III compared with normal weight participants. Those who were physically
      inactive had 4.8 mmHg higher SBP compared with those with more than 24 h of
      moderate or vigorous activity per week. Drinkers of at least 10 g of alcohol per
      day had 4.5 mmHg higher SBP than did nondrinkers. Among hypertensive
      participants, 48% were previously diagnosed, 22% were treated, and 10% were
      controlled. Hypertensive participants without health insurance were 12% less
      likely to have been previously diagnosed than insured hypertensive participants.
      Of referred participants, 68% sought care, but only 27% were on treatment and 8%
      had controlled BP at follow-up. Reasons for not seeking care included lack of
      symptoms, cost of visit, and lack of time. Reasons for not being on treatment
      included lack of symptoms, not being prescribed treatment, and having finished
      one course of treatment. CONCLUSION: Major risk factors for hypertension in Dar
      es Salaam are overweight, obesity, inadequate physical activity, and limited
      access to quality medical care. Increased insurance coverage and community-based
      screening, along with quality medical care and patient education, may help
      control this burgeoning epidemic.

PMID- 27648722
TI  - Decatungstate Anion for Photocatalyzed "Window Ledge" Reactions.
AB  - The majority of organic reactions are commonly carried out inside a lab, under a
      fume hood. A particular case is that of photochemical reactions, a field where
      the pioneering experiments by Giacomo Ciamician demonstrated more than one
      century ago that different processes can be carried out outdoors, for example, on
      the balcony of his own department, upon exposure of the reacting mixtures to
      sunlight. The main problem related to this chemistry of the "window ledge" is
      that most organic compounds are colorless and their absorption in the solar light
      region is in most cases negligible. Recently, the impressive development in the
      use of visible light absorbing photocatalysts (e.g., RuII or IrIII complexes, as
      well as organic dyes) made light-induced processes convenient even for non
      photochemistry practitioners. It is thus possible to easily perform the reactions
      by simply placing the reaction vessel in a sunny place outside the lab. However,
      most of these processes are based on single electron transfer (SET) reactions
      (photoredox catalysis). Other photocatalysts able to activate substrates via
      alternative paths, such as hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), are emerging. In the
      last years, we were deeply involved in the use of the decatungstate anion
      ([W10O32]4-, a polyoxometalate) in synthesis. Indeed, such a versatile species is
      able to promote the photocatalytic C-H activation of organic compounds via either
      SET or HAT reactions. Interestingly, though the absorption spectrum of [W10O32]4-
      does not extend into the visible region, it shows an overlap with solar light
      emission. In this Account, we provide an overview on the application of
      decatungstate salts as photocatalysts in window ledge chemistry. We initially
      discuss the nature of the photogenerated species involved in the mechanism of
      action of the anion, also supported by theoretical simulations. The first-formed
      excited state of the decatungstate anion decays rapidly to the active species, a
      dark state tagged wO, featuring the presence of electron-deficient oxygen
      centers. Next, we describe the main applications of decatungstate chemistry. A
      significant part of this Account is devoted to photocatalyzed synthesis (C-X bond
      formation, with X = C, N, O, and oxidations) carried out by adopting sunlight (or
      simulated solar light). This synthetic approach is versatile, and most of the
      reactions involved C-H activation in cycloalkanes, alkylaromatics, amides, ethers
      (1,4-dioxane, oxetane, benzodioxole, and THF), aldehydes, nitriles, and
      cyclopentanones, and the ensuing addition of the resulting radicals onto electron
      deficient olefins. Finally, the increasing role of the decatungstate anion in
      water depollution and polymerization is briefly discussed.

PMID- 27648723
TI  - Further evidence to support bimodality of oestrogen receptor expression in breast
      cancer.
AB  - AIMS: Although oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancers (BCs) do not
      respond to hormone therapy, the response of ER-positive BCs is reported to be
      variable, which may suggest a dose-dependent effect. The aim of this study was to
      assess the pattern of ER expression in BCs at the protein (immunohistochemistry)
      and transcriptome (microarray-based gene expression) levels. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      ER immunohistochemical (IHC) expression was assessed in a large series of BCs,
      including 3649 core biopsies and 1892 cases prepared as tissue microarrays (TMAs)
      stained with specific antibodies. ESR1 mRNA expression was assessed in the
      METABRIC study (1980 cases), by the use of the Linear Models for Microarray Data
      (limma) software, and the results were compared with protein levels. IHC data
      confirmed the bimodality of ER expression, with 92.2% and 89.2% of the cases
      showing completely negative (<1%) or highly positive (>=70%) expression on the
      cores and TMAs, respectively. Weakly positive cases (1-10%) and intermediately
      positive (11-69%) cases were infrequent (2.7% and 5.1%, and 1.6% and 9.2%, in
      cores and TMAs, respectively), and did not show survival difference from ER
      negative tumours. When full-face sections of the corresponding excision specimens
      were immunostained, 47% of the ER-low/intermediate group were deemed to be ER
      negative. Transcriptomic data not only showed a significant correlation between
      ESR1 mRNA and protein expression levels, but also confirmed the bimodality of ER
      expression at the mRNA level. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides further evidence
      that ER expression is bimodal, and that it is observed at both the mRNA and
      protein levels. The reported poor survival of BC patients with low ER expression
      in the early clinical trials may be related to the inclusion of ER-negative
      cases.

PMID- 27648724
TI  - Expanded Genetic Alphabets: Managing Nucleotides That Lack Tautomeric,
      Protonated, or Deprotonated Versions Complementary to Natural Nucleotides.
AB  - 2,4-Diaminopyrimidine (trivially K) and imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazine-2(8H)-4(3H)
      dione (trivially X) form a nucleobase pair with Watson-Crick geometry as part of
      an artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS). Neither K nor X can
      form a Watson-Crick pair with any natural nucleobase. Further, neither K nor X
      has an accessible tautomeric form or a protonated/deprotonated state that can
      form a Watson-Crick pair with any natural nucleobase. In vitro experiments show
      how DNA polymerase I from E. coli manages replication of DNA templates with one
      K:X pair, but fails with templates containing two adjacent K:X pairs. In
      analogous in vivo experiments, E. coli lacking dKTP/dXTP cannot rescue
      chloramphenicol resistance from a plasmid containing two adjacent K:X pairs.
      These studies identify bacteria able to serve as selection environments for
      engineering cells that replicate AEGIS pairs that lack forms that are Watson
      Crick complementary to any natural nucleobase.

PMID- 27648725
TI  - Essential competencies in prescribing: A first european cross-sectional study
      among 895 final-year medical students.
AB  - European medical students should have acquired adequate prescribing competencies
      before graduation, but it is not known whether this is the case. In this
      international multicenter study, we evaluated the essential knowledge, skills,
      and attitudes in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) of final-year
      medical students across Europe. In a cross-sectional design, 26 medical schools
      from 17 European countries were asked to administer a standardized assessment and
      questionnaire to 50 final-year students. Although there were differences between
      schools, our results show an overall lack of essential prescribing competencies
      among final-year students in Europe. Students had a poor knowledge of drug
      interactions and contraindications, and chose inappropriate therapies for common
      diseases or made prescribing errors. Our results suggest that undergraduate
      teaching in CPT is inadequate in many European schools, leading to incompetent
      prescribers and potentially unsafe patient care. A European core curriculum with
      clear learning outcomes and assessments should be urgently developed.

PMID- 27648726
TI  - The psychosocial experiences of women with breast cancer across the lifespan: a
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize the psychosocial experience of women with breast cancer
      from a lifespan perspective by examining the findings of qualitative studies.
      METHODS: A meta-aggregate review of 24 qualitative studies was undertaken. To be
      included, studies must include women with a breast cancer diagnosis and focus on
      younger or older women (as defined by the study), or compare a psychosocial issue
      across the lifespan. Eight databases were searched systematically. RESULTS: Study
      participants ranged in age from 26 to 91 years. Sixteen studies focused on
      younger women, six focused on older women, and two included women across the
      lifespan. A total of 155 findings were extracted from the studies and were
      aggregated into 11 categories. These were synthesized into four synthesized
      findings: (a) dealing with cancer, (b) the importance of caring, (c) the
      aftermath of cancer, and (d) fertility and infertility. CONCLUSIONS: Further
      research is required to explore these findings, and to examine the needs of older
      women in particular. Delineating the similarities and differences in the needs of
      women across the lifespan will inform the development of psychosocial
      interventions for all women with breast cancer.

PMID- 27648728
TI  - Light-Triggered Specific Cancer Cell Release from Cyclodextrin/Azobenzene and
      Aptamer-Modified Substrate.
AB  - Cell adhesion behaviors of stimuli-responsive surfaces have attracted significant
      attention for their potential biomedical applications. Distinct from temperature
      and pH stimuli, photoswitching avoids the extra input of thermal energy or
      chemicals. Herein, we designed a novel reusable cyclodextrin (CD)-modified
      surface to realize photoswitched specific cell release utilizing host-guest
      interactions between CD and azobenzene. The azobenzene-grafted specific cell
      capture agent was assembled onto the CD-modified surface to form a smart surface
      controlling cell adhesion by light radiation. After UV light irradiation, the
      azobenzene switched from trans- to cis-isomers, and the cis-azobenzene was not
      recognized by CD due to the unmatched host-guest pairs; thus, the captured MCF-7
      cells could be released. Light-triggered specific cancer cell release with high
      efficiency may afford a smart surface with significant potential applications for
      the isolation and analysis of circulating tumor cells.

PMID- 27648727
TI  - A phase 2 study of dalantercept, an activin receptor-like kinase-1 ligand trap,
      in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and
      neck.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with platinum-refractory, recurrent or metastatic squamous
      cell carcinoma of the head and neck (RM-SCCHN) have limited options. Activin
      receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1) is a type I receptor of the transforming growth
      factor beta superfamily expressed on activated endothelial cells. Dalantercept is
      an ALK1 receptor fusion protein that acts as a ligand trap to block signaling
      through ALK1 and inhibits stages of angiogenesis involved in blood vessel
      maturation and stabilization. In a phase 1 study, dalantercept demonstrated
      clinical activity in patients with RM-SCCHN. The objective of the current study
      was to evaluate the activity of dalantercept in RM-SCCHN. METHODS: Forty-six
      patients received dalantercept at doses of 80 mg (n = 2), 0.6 mg/kg (n = 13), or
      1.2 mg/kg (n = 31) subcutaneously every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was the
      overall response rate according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors
      (RECIST version 1.1). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival and
      overall survival, safety and tolerability, and pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamic assessments. RESULTS: Forty patients were evaluable for response
      (13 who received dalantercept 0.6 mg/kg and 27 who received dalantercept 1.2
      mg/kg). The overall response rate was 5% (n = 2), and 35% of patients had stable
      disease; 44% of patients who received 1.2 mg/kg and 30.8% of those who received
      0.6 mg/kg achieved disease control (partial response or stable disease). The
      median progression-fee survival was 1.4 months (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.2
      months), and the median overall survival was 7.1 months (95% confidence interval,
      5.5-11.1 months). Drug-related adverse events (>15%) were anemia, fatigue,
      peripheral edema, headache, and hyponatremia. CONCLUSIONS: In an unselected,
      heavily pretreated population of patients with RM-SCCHN, dalantercept monotherapy
      resulted in a favorable safety profile but only modest dose-dependent activity,
      and it did not meet the primary efficacy objective of the study. Cancer
      2016;122:3641-9. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27648729
TI  - Cyclization of Tetraaryl-Substituted Benzoquinones and Hydroquinones through the
      Scholl Reaction.
AB  - 2,3,5,6-Tetrakis(5'-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)-benzoquinones and 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(5'
      dodecylthiophen-2'-yl)-hydroquinones were prepared via the Stille or Suzuki cross
      coupling reactions, followed by oxidation by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4
      benzoquinone (DDQ) in the case that aryl groups are dodecylthiophenyl. 2,3,5,6
      Tetrakis(5'-dodecylthiophen-2'-yl)benzoquinone and 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(5'
      dodecylthiophen-2'-yl)-1,4-bis(dodecyloxy)benzene underwent the Scholl reaction
      to give their corresponding predictable cyclization products anthra[2,1-b:3,4
      b':6,5-b":7,8-b''']tetrathiophene-7,14-dione (3) and anthra[1,2-b:4,3-b':5,6
      b":8,7-b''']tetrathiophene (5), respectively. Cyclization of 2,3,4,5-tetra(p-tert
      butyl-phenyl) benzoquinones through the Scholl reaction, however, gave rise to a
      mixture of two cyclization products including an unusual major product,
      benzo[4',5']furo[3',2':3,4]triphenyleno[1,2-b]benzofuran (9), with 84% yield and
      a minor product, 2,3-diphenyltriphenylene-1,4-diol (10), with 11% yield. In
      contrast, cyclization of 2,3,4,5-tetrakis(p-dodecyloxyphenyl)benzoquinone only
      afforded 2,3-diphenyltriphenylene-1,4-diol (8) with 34% yield. The optical and
      electrochemistry properties of these fused aromatics were studied. Light emitting
      diode devices using compound 9 as the fluorescent dopant were fabricated. A
      maximum external quantum efficiency of 3.23% was achieved for a 4,4'
      bis(carbazole)biphenyl/9 based device, revealing the potential for such fused
      aromatics as dopant to be a blue LED component, subject to the functionalization
      on these novel pi-structures as well as further device optimization.

PMID- 27648730
TI  - Electrostatic-Charge- and Electric-Field-Induced Smart Gating for Water
      Transportation.
AB  - Regulating and controlling the transport of water across nanochannels is of great
      importance in both fundamental research and practical applications because it is
      difficult to externally control water flow through nanochannels as in biological
      channels. To date, only a few hydrophobic nanochannels controlling the transport
      of water have been reported, all of which use exotic hydrophobic molecules.
      However, the effect of electrostatic charges, which plays an indispensable role
      in membrane proteins and dominates the energetics of water permeation across
      aquaporins, has not gained enough attention to control water transport through a
      solid-state nanochannel/nanopore. Here, we report electrostatic-charge-induced
      water gating of a single ion track-etched sub-10 nm channel. This system can
      directly realize the gating transition between an open, conductive state and a
      closed, nonconductive state by regulating the surface charge density through a
      process that involves alternating capillary evaporation and capillary
      condensation. Compared to the introduction of exotic hydrophobic molecules, water
      gating controlled by electrostatic charges is simple, convenient, and effective.
      Such a system anticipates potential applications including desalination,
      controllable valves, and drug delivery systems.

PMID- 27648731
TI  - Increased risk of graft failure and mortality in Dutch recipients receiving an
      expanded criteria donor kidney transplant.
AB  - Survival of expanded criteria donor (ECD) kidneys and their recipients has not
      been thoroughly evaluated in Europe. Therefore, we compared the outcome of ECD
      and non-ECD kidney transplantations in a Dutch cohort, stratifying by age and
      diabetes. In all first Dutch kidney transplants in recipients >=18 years between
      1995 and 2005, both relative risks (hazard ratios, HR) and adjusted absolute risk
      differences (RD) for ECD kidney transplantation were analysed. In 3062
      transplantations [recipient age 49.0 (12.8) years; 20% ECD], ECD kidney
      transplantation was associated with graft failure including death [HR 1.62 (1.44
      1.82)]. The adjusted HR was lower in recipients >=60 years of age [1.32 (1.07
      1.63)] than in recipients 40-59 years [1.71 (1.44-2.02) P = 0.12 for comparison
      with >=60 years] and recipients 18-39 years [1.92 (1.42-2.62) P = 0.03 for
      comparison with >=60 years]. RDs showed a similar pattern. In diabetics, the
      risks for graft failure and death were higher than in the nondiabetics. ECD
      kidney grafts have a poorer prognosis than non-ECD grafts, especially in younger
      recipients (<60 years), and diabetic recipients. Further studies and ethical
      discussions should reveal whether ECD kidneys should preferentially be allocated
      to specific subgroups, such as elderly and nondiabetic individuals.

PMID- 27648734
TI  - Implantable doppler signal distortion from a calcified arterial pedicle.

PMID- 27648732
TI  - Accelerated skin wound healing using electrospun nanofibrous mats blended with
      mussel adhesive protein and polycaprolactone.
AB  - Nanofibrous scaffolds have been assessed as one of many promising tissue
      engineering scaffolds to be utilized for wound-healing applications. Previously,
      we reported multi-functionalized electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds blended with
      mussel adhesive protein (MAP) and polycaprolactone (PCL), which provide durable
      mechanical strength, cell-friendly environments, and a substantial ability to
      capture diverse bioactive molecules without any surface modifications. In the
      present work, we applied the blended nanofibrous mats of MAP and PCL for in vivo
      skin wound healing. The nanofibrous mats showed accelerated regeneration in a rat
      skin wound-healing model, which might be attributed to a highly compatible
      environment for keratinocyte cell growth, an ability to capture inherent growth
      factors, and an efficient exudate absorption capacity. Thus, this work would
      suggest that adhesive property of scaffold could be a factor of successful
      application for wound healing. The MAP-blended nanofibers could also be
      potentially exploited for diverse tissue regeneration applications. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 218-225, 2017.

PMID- 27648733
TI  - Controllable Large-Scale Transfection of Primary Mammalian Cardiomyocytes on a
      Nanochannel Array Platform.
AB  - While electroporation has been widely used as a physical method for gene
      transfection in vitro and in vivo, its application in gene therapy of
      cardiovascular cells remains challenging. Due to the high concentration of ion
      transport proteins in the sarcolemma, conventional electroporation of primary
      cardiomyocytes tends to cause ion-channel activation and abnormal ion flux,
      resulting in low transfection efficiency and high mortality. In this work, a high
      throughput nanoelectroporation technique based on a nanochannel array platform is
      reported, which enables massively parallel delivery of genetic cargo (microRNA,
      plasmids) into mouse primary cardiomyocytes in a controllable, highly efficient,
      and benign manner. A simple "dipping-trap" approach was implemented to precisely
      position a large number of cells on the nanoelectroporation platform. With dosage
      control, our device precisely titrates the level of miR-29, a potential
      therapeutic agent for cardiac fibrosis, and determines the minimum concentration
      of miR-29 causing side effects in mouse primary cardiomyocytes. Moreover, the
      dose-dependent effect of miR-29 on mitochondrial potential and homeostasis is
      monitored. Altogether, our nanochannel array platform provides efficient trapping
      and transfection of primary mouse cardiomyocyte, which can improve the quality
      control for future microRNA therapy in heart diseases.

PMID- 27648735
TI  - Evaluation of a bovine antibody test for diagnosing Mycobacterium avium complex
      in patients with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to test a commercial bovine enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay for investigating antibody activity against Mycobacterium
      avium complex. METHODS: All patients at the Copenhagen Cystic Fibrosis (CF)
      Center who had culture for nontuberculous mycobacteria performed were included. A
      commercially available antibody test used in veterinary medicine, was adjusted
      for human use, and applied to patient sera in a cross sectional test. The test
      positivity threshold was determined using a receiver operating curve (ROC). A
      longitudinal analysis of antibody kinetics before and after culture conversion
      was performed in case patients. RESULTS: Out of 286 included subjects, six had
      clinical M. avium complex pulmonary disease at the time of sera sampling. These
      patients presented with higher antibody test values (P-value <0.01). A test cut
      point of 0.78 was chosen, corresponding to a sensitivity of 100% (54-100),
      specificity of 66% (60-72), a positive predictive value of 6% (2-13), and
      negative predictive value of 100% (98-100). CONCLUSION: While not suited for
      direct diagnosis of M. avium complex due to a high number of false positive
      subjects, the assay proved useful at ruling out pulmonary disease. Screening sera
      from patients with CF could guide clinicians to focus attention on patients at
      higher risk of M. avium complex pulmonary disease. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:34
      40. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648736
TI  - Anti-inflammatory Potential of Quercetin-3-O-beta-D-("2"-galloyl)-glucopyranoside
      and Quercetin Isolated from Diospyros kaki calyx via Suppression of MAP Signaling
      Molecules in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 Macrophages.
AB  - Diospyros kaki (DK) contains an abundance of flavonoids and has been used in folk
      medicine in Korea for centuries. Here, we report for the first time the anti
      inflammatory activities of Quercetin (QCT) and Quercetin 3-O-beta-("2"-galloyl)
      glucopyranoside (Q32G) isolated from DK. We have determine the no cytotoxicity of
      Q32G and QCT against RAW 264.7 cells up to concentration of 50 MUM. QCT and Q32G
      demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory activities by reducing expression of nitric
      oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6
      inducible NO synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, and mitogen-activated
      protein kinase (MAPKs) in mouse RAW 264.7 macrophages activated with
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Both QCT or Q32G could decrease cellular protein levels
      of COX-2 and iNOS as well as secreted protein levels of NO, PGE2 , and cytokines
      (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6) in culture medium of LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7
      macrophages. Immunoblot analysis showed that QCT and Q32G suppressed LPS-induced
      MAP kinase pathway proteins p-p38, ERK, and JNK. This study revealed that QCT and
      Q32G have anti-inflammatory potential, however Q32G possess comparable activity
      as that of QCT and could be use as adjuvant to treat inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 27648737
TI  - Down-regulation of beta-catenin and the associated migration ability by Taiwanin
      C in arecoline and 4-NQO-induced oral cancer cells via GSK-3beta activation.
AB  - Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and oral squamous cell
      carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for almost a sixth of all reported cancers. Arecoline,
      from areca nut is known to enhance carcinogenesis in oral squamous cells. The
      objective of this study is to determine the effect of Taiwanin C, from Taiwania
      cryptomerioides Hayata against Arecoline-associated carcinogenesis. An OSCC model
      was created in C57BL/6J Narl mice by administrating 0.5 mg mL-1 arecoline with
      0.2 mg mL-1 4-NQO carcinogen for 8 and 28 wk to mimic the etiology of oral cancer
      patients in Asia. Mice were sacrificed and two cell lines, T28 from the tumor and
      N28 cancerous cell line from the surrounding non tumor area, were established.
      Taiwanin C showed effective anti-tumor activity in nude mice models. Taiwanin C
      significantly inhibited the cell viability of T28 cells in a dose dependent
      manner, but did not inflict any effect on N28 normal cells. Taiwanin C treatment
      inhibited the migration ability of T28 cells in a dose dependent manner as
      determined by wound healing and migration assays. Taiwanin C also reduced the
      levels of beta-catenin and its downstream metastatic proteins, Tbx3 and c-Myc.
      Besides, Taiwanin C inhibited the nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin and
      induced beta-catenin degradation via proteasome-mediated pathway. Moreover,
      Taiwanin C enhanced GSK-3beta and reduced the p-ser9 GSK-3beta protein level to
      inactivate Wnt signaling. Taken together, Taiwanin C blocked the cell migration
      effects of T28 cells mediated through the activation of GSK-3beta to enhance
      protein degradation and reduce nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648739
TI  - Medication-taking behaviours in chronic kidney disease with multiple chronic
      conditions: a meta-ethnographic synthesis of qualitative studies.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To identify behaviours associated with taking medications
      and medication adherence reported in qualitative studies of adults with chronic
      kidney disease and coexisting multiple chronic conditions. BACKGROUND: To inform
      medication adherence interventions, information is needed to clarify the nature
      of the relationships between behaviours that support medication-taking and
      medication adherence in multiple chronic conditions. DESIGN: Meta-ethnographic
      review and synthesis. METHODS: CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases
      were searched. Five qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. A meta
      ethnographic approach was used for synthesis. Medication-taking behaviours were
      abstracted from study findings and synthesised according to the contexts in which
      they occur and interpreted within a new developing framework named the Medication
      taking Across the Care Continuum and Adherence-related Outcomes. RESULTS: Twenty
      categories of medication-taking behaviours occurred in three main contexts: (1)
      patient-provider clinical encounters, (2) pharmacy encounters and (3) day-to-day
      management. These behaviours are distinctly different, multilevel and
      interrelated. Together they represent a process occurring across a continuum.
      CONCLUSIONS: Future medication adherence research should consider using a
      multilevel ecological view of medication management. Clinical practice and policy
      development can benefit from further understanding socio-contextual behaviours
      that occur across the continuum. Nurses should have greater presence in chronic
      disease management and be positioned to support the day-to-day home management of
      patients' medications. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals
      can partner with patients to elucidate how these behaviours are enacted across
      the care continuum and in day-to-day management to identify opportunities to
      intervene on specific behaviours and promote medication adherence.

PMID- 27648740
TI  - Impacts of (Nano)formulations on the Fate of an Insecticide in Soil and
      Consequences for Environmental Exposure Assessment.
AB  - The development of nanopesticides has recently received an increased level of
      attention. However, there are very few data about the environmental fate of these
      new products, and it is not known whether nanoformulations can be evaluated
      within the current pesticide regulatory framework. Sorption and degradation
      parameters of the insecticide bifenthrin were measured in two soils for (i) the
      pure active ingredient, (ii) three nanoformulations, and (iii) a commercially
      available formulation. In most cases, fate parameters derived for the
      nanopesticides were significantly different from those derived for the pure
      active ingredient (factors of up to 10 for sorption and 1.8 for degradation), but
      discrepancies were not easy to relate to the characteristics of the nanocarriers.
      In some cases, differences were also observed between the commercial formulation
      and the pure active ingredient (factors of up to 1.4 for sorption and 1.7 for
      degradation). In the regulatory context, the common assumption that formulations
      do not influence the environmental fate of pesticide active ingredients after
      application seems therefore not always adequate. In the absence of direct
      measurement, an inverse modeling approach was successfully applied to evaluate
      the durability of the formulations in soil (release half-life ranged between 11
      and 74 days). Predicted groundwater concentrations very much depended on the
      modeling approach adopted but overall suggest that the nanoformulations studied
      could reduce losses to groundwater.

PMID- 27648741
TI  - Light-Induced Polarization-Directed Growth of Optically Printed Gold
      Nanoparticles.
AB  - Optical printing has been proved a versatile and simple method to fabricate
      arbitrary arrays of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) on substrates. Here, we show
      that is also a powerful tool for studying chemical reactions at the single NP
      level. We demonstrate that 60 nm gold NPs immobilized by optical printing can be
      used as seeds to obtain larger NPs by plasmon-assisted reduction of aqueous
      HAuCl4. The final size of each NP is simply controlled by the irradiation time.
      Moreover, we show conditions for which the growth occurs preferentially in the
      direction of light polarization, enabling the in situ anisotropic reshaping of
      the NPs in predetermined orientations.

PMID- 27648742
TI  - Theory for Modeling of High Resolution Resonant and Nonresonant Raman Images.
AB  - Tip-enhanced Raman imaging is capable of resolving the inner structure of a
      single molecule owing to the generation of highly localized nanocavity plasmon.
      Here we present a general theory and detailed computational methodology to fully
      describe resonant and nonresonant Raman scattering under the localized plasmonic
      field. We use an allylcarbinol molecule adsorbed on the gold surface as a model
      system to illustrate different effects on the Raman images. It is found that the
      ability of distinguishing an individual vibration mode is highly limited under
      the resonant condition due to the dominant contribution from the Franck-Condon
      term and the mode-independent component of the Herzberg-Teller term. The
      nonresonant Raman images of the single molecule are vibrationally distinguishable
      and present the vibrational motion of the corresponding vibrational modes in real
      space. Furthermore, the calculated results confirm that nonlinear optical effects
      can further improve the resolution of the images. The theoretical and
      computational methods presented here provide the basic tools to model high
      resolution Raman images at the single molecular level.

PMID- 27648743
TI  - The cost of virtual wins: An examination of gambling-related risks in youth who
      spend money on social casino games.
AB  - Background and aims Social casino games (SCGs) are not technically considered a
      form of gambling but they do enable players to spend money in a game that is
      gambling themed or structurally approximate to gambling. It has been theorized
      that SCGs could be a gateway to gambling activities or otherwise normalize the
      experience of gambling for young people, particularly when money becomes
      involved. The aim of this study was to investigate whether adolescents' financial
      expenditure in SCGs was associated with broader gambling activity, including
      level of participation, expenditure, and problem gambling symptoms. Methods An
      online survey was administered to 555 adolescents, including 130 SCG players (78
      non-paying and 52 paying users). Results Paying SCG users tended to be employed
      males who play more frequently and engage in more SCG activities, who report more
      symptoms of problem gambling and higher psychological distress than non-paying
      SCG users. Paying SCG users reported more frequent engagement and spending in
      monetary gambling activities, and two-thirds of SCG payers recalled that their
      SCG use had preceded involvement in financial gambling. Discussion and
      conclusions Spending in simulated gambling activities by adolescents may be a
      risk factor for problem gambling. Although SCGs may currently defy classification
      as a form of gambling, these activities will likely continue to be scrutinized by
      regulators for the use of dubious or exploitative payment features offered in a
      gambling-themed format that is available to persons of all ages. 

PMID- 27648745
TI  - The Influence of Metal Ion Binding on the IR Spectra of Nitrogen-Containing PAHs.
AB  - Astronomical IR emission spectra form the basis for the now widely accepted
      abundant presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in inter- and
      circumstellar environments. A small but consistent frequency mismatch is found
      between the astronomically observed emission band near 6.2 MUm and typical CC
      stretching vibrations of PAHs measured in laboratory spectra near 6.3-6.4 MUm.
      The shift of the band has been tentatively attributed to a variety of effects,
      among which the inclusion of heteroatoms, in particular nitrogen, in the PAH
      skeleton (PANH) as well as to metal ion binding to the PAH molecule. Here we
      experimentally investigate the combined effect of nitrogen-inclusion and metal
      ion binding on the IR spectra. In particular, infrared multiple-photon
      dissociation (IRMPD) spectra are recorded for coordination complexes of Cu+ with
      one or two quinoline, isoquinoline, and acridine ligands; complexes of the form
      Cu+(PANH) (MeCN), where the MeCN (acetonitrile) ligand acts as a relatively
      weakly bound "messenger" are also recorded to qualitatively verify that potential
      frequency shifts induced by IRMPD are minimal. The experimental IR spectra
      document the accuracy of IR spectral predictions by density functional theory
      calculations performed at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2df,2p) level and confirm that a
      sigma-bond is formed between the copper ion and the exoskeletal N atom. The
      experimental spectra suggest that the CNC stretching mode undergoes a small red
      shift of up to 20 cm-1, with respect to the band position in the uncomplexed PANH
      molecule, away from the 6.2 MUm interstellar position.

PMID- 27648744
TI  - Gambling disorders, gambling type preferences, and psychiatric comorbidity among
      the Thai general population: Results of the 2013 National Mental Health Survey.
AB  - Background and aims To estimate the prevalence of problem and pathological
      gambling, gender and age-group differences in gambling types, and comorbidities
      with other psychiatric disorders among the Thai general population. Methods
      Analysis was conducted on 4,727 participants of Thailand's 2013 National Mental
      Health Survey, a multistage stratified cluster survey, using the Composite
      International Diagnostic Interview. Diagnoses of problem and pathological
      gambling and other psychiatric disorders were based on the DSM-IV-TR criteria
      with the following additional criteria for gamblers: more than 10 lifetime
      gambling episodes and a single year loss of at least 365 USD from gambling.
      Results The estimated lifetime prevalence rates of pathological and problem
      gambling were 0.90% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.51-1.29] and 1.14% (95% CI:
      0.58-1.70), respectively. The most popular type of gambling was playing lotteries
      [69.5%, standard error (SE) = 1.9], the prevalence of which was significantly
      higher among females and older age groups. The most common psychiatric disorders
      seen among pathological gamblers were alcohol abuse (57.4%), nicotine dependence
      (49.5%), and any drug use disorder (16.2%). Pathological gambling was highly
      prevalent among those who ever experienced major depressive episodes (5.5%), any
      drug dependence (5.1%), and intermittent explosive disorder (4.8%). The
      association between pathological gambling was strongest with a history of major
      depressive episode [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 10.4, 95% CI: 2.80-38.4].
      Conclusion The study confirms the recognition of gambling disorders as a public
      health concern in Thailand and suggests a need for culturally specific preventive
      measures for pathological gamblers and those with a history of substance use
      disorders or major depression. 

PMID- 27648746
TI  - Does Anterior Cruciate Ligament Innervation Matter for Joint Function and
      Development of Osteoarthritis?
AB  - Complications following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and
      reconstruction that include chronic dysfunction, second ACL injury, and
      posttraumatic osteoarthritis (OA) may be interrelated and stem from the inability
      to fully restore native ACL integrity and function. The loss of ACL sensory input
      following injury may significantly contribute to joint dysfunction. We developed
      a novel preclinical animal model to assess the contributions of ACL sensory
      afferents to knee joint function and health. We hypothesized that ACL sensory
      denervation would manifest in knee joint dysfunction and development of early OA.
      Purpose-bred, adult research dogs (n = 9 dogs, 18 knees) underwent arthroscopic
      surgery to create three treatment groups: (1) partial ACL tear, (2) ACL
      denervated, and (3) whole-joint denervated. A neurotoxin injected directly into
      the ACL or into the joint space was used to induce sensory denervation, and sham
      procedures were done on contralateral knees. After intervention, dogs
      participated in a regimented exercise program. Gait analysis and clinically
      relevant functional assessments were performed. At week 12, the animals were
      humanely euthanatized for arthroscopic, gross, and histologic assessments. ACL
      partial tear group demonstrated the greatest overall knee dysfunction. Clinical
      measures of function revealed a significant difference between the ACL partial
      tear and ACL denervated group (p < 0.05), but these differences were not observed
      between the ACL and whole-joint denervated groups (p > 0.05). A significant
      reduction in limb loading was experienced by the ACL partial tear group compared
      with controls (p < 0.05) but not between other groups. Arthroscopic evaluation
      found no evidence for overt articular cartilage damage, meniscal pathology, or
      osteophyte formation was noted in any group. No significant differences (p >
      0.05) were observed in ACL pathology and OA severity scores between the ACL
      partial tear and the ACL denervated groups. The results of our study indicate
      that ACL sensory loss may contribute to joint dysfunction and subsequent OA
      changes. Further investigation and development of this model are important to
      improve clinical therapies and optimize patient outcomes following ACL injury.

PMID- 27648747
TI  - Tantalum Cones in Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - The best strategy to address large bony defects in revision total knee
      arthroplasty has yet to be determined. The relatively recent development of
      porous tantalum cones and their use to address massive bone loss in knee
      arthroplasty has shown promising short- and intermediate-term results. The
      purpose of this review is to present the current literature on: (1) basic science
      of porous tantalum, (2) classification and treatment for bone loss, (3) clinical
      results, and (4) evolution of newer generation cones.

PMID- 27648748
TI  - Cerebral Syphilitic Gumma within 5 Months of Syphilis in HIV-Infected Patient.

PMID- 27648749
TI  - Developing a recovery college: a preliminary exercise in establishing regional
      readiness and community needs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recovery orientated intervention has experienced a paradigm shift
      towards stakeholder training and education within recovery colleges. Such
      colleges are typically underpinned by a culture of emancipatory education that
      aims to facilitate recovery through educational choice. AIMS: The study aims to
      establish regional readiness for a recovery college. Specifically, we aim to
      uncover key stakeholder attitudes towards recovery, outline a contextual
      conceptualization of recovery and show how inductive, community-based research
      can incorporate stakeholder views with core fidelity markers of a recovery
      college. METHOD: A mixed methods approach, specifically a cross-sectional survey,
      was adopted to intersect quantitative scales of stakeholder attitudes and
      qualitative assessment of recovery concepts and community needs. RESULTS:
      Stakeholders' recovery attitudes were positive overall with some variation
      between participant groups. Concepts of recovery were developing independent
      abilities, establishing connectedness to support and as a journey. The needs
      cited by the stakeholders were largely correlated with the core fidelity markers
      of a recovery college. CONCLUSION: A community psychology approach offers a means
      to ascertain regional readiness for a recovery college, and uncover key
      development foci based on community needs. We recommend that service areas adopt
      a similar approach when considering recovery-orientated service developments.

PMID- 27648750
TI  - Methodological considerations when conducting in vitro, air-liquid interface
      exposures to engineered nanoparticle aerosols.
AB  - Little consistency exists in the methodology for toxicological testing of
      aerosolized nanoparticles used in in vitro, air-interfaced culture (AIC) exposure
      systems for engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) risk-assessment, preventing inter
      laboratory comparisons to identify dose thresholds for adverse effects. These
      inconsistencies result from heterogeneity in particle types, exposure durations,
      exposure systems, and dose metrics reported. We screened 10,241 studies in the
      literature for toxicological assessment of ENPs, resulting in 110 publications
      included after meeting eligibility criteria. In this review, we critically
      analyzed methodology within these studies to answer whether: (1) the administered
      dose or the deposited dose correlated better with biological response, (2) a
      difference existed between various AIC exposure systems when depositing the same
      dose, (3) consistent results were generated for nanomaterials with similar
      physico-chemical properties, (4) the deposited dose in vitro correlated to the
      deposited dose in vivo, and (5) AIC studies reliably modeled acute toxicity in
      vivo. Methods used in delivering, measuring, and reporting ENP aerosol doses in
      vitro are summarized. Dosimetry and biological response comparisons of AIC,
      conventional suspensions, and in vivo exposures are discussed through case
      studies on silver, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, and multi-walled carbon nanotube
      exposures. Finally, based on these findings, recommendations are offered for
      design of future AIC experiments to aid standardization and comparisons of
      results.

PMID- 27648751
TI  - Hemispheric asymmetries of a motor memory in a recognition test after learning a
      movement sequence.
AB  - Two experiments utilizing a spatial-temporal movement sequence were designed to
      determine if the memory of the sequence is lateralized in the left or right
      hemisphere. In Experiment 1, dominant right-handers were randomly assigned to one
      of two acquisition groups: a left-hand starter and a right-hand starter group.
      After an acquisition phase, reaction time (RT) was measured in a recognition test
      by providing the learned sequential pattern in the left or right visual half
      field for 150ms. In a retention test and two transfer tests the dominant
      coordinate system for sequence production was evaluated. In Experiment 2 dominant
      left-handers and dominant right-handers had to acquire the sequence with their
      dominant limb. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that RT was significantly
      shorter when the acquired sequence was provided in the right visual field during
      the recognition test. The same results occurred in Experiment 2 for dominant
      right-handers and left-handers. These results indicated a right visual field left
      hemisphere advantage in the recognition test for the practiced stimulus for
      dominant left and right-handers, when the task was practiced with the dominant
      limb.

PMID- 27648752
TI  - Reduction of depersonalization during social stress through cognitive therapy for
      social anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Symptoms of depersonalization during feared social situations are commonly
      experienced by individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Despite its
      clinical relevance, it is not addressed in standard treatment manuals and it
      remains unclear if depersonalization is reduced by well-established treatments.
      This study investigated whether cognitive therapy (CT) for SAD effectively
      reduces depersonalization and whether pre-treatment severity of depersonalization
      predicts or mediates treatment outcome. In a randomized controlled trial,
      patients underwent the standardized Trier Social Stress Test before and after CT
      (n=20) or a waitlist period (n=20) and were compared to healthy controls (n=21).
      Self-reported depersonalization was measured immediately after each stress test.
      Depersonalization significantly decreased following CT, especially in treatment
      responders (etap2=0.32). Pre-treatment depersonalization did neither predict nor
      mediate post-treatment severity of social anxiety. Further prospective studies
      are needed for a better scientific understanding of this effect. It should be
      scrutinized whether SAD-patients suffering from depersonalization would benefit
      from a more specific therapy.

PMID- 27648753
TI  - Intra-molecular lysine-arginine derived advanced glycation end-product cross
      linking in Type I collagen: A molecular dynamics simulation study.
AB  - Covalently cross-linked advanced glycation end products (AGE) are among the major
      post-translational modifications to proteins as a result of non-enzymatic
      glycation. The formation of AGEs has been shown to have adverse effects on the
      properties of the collagenous tissue; they are even linked to a number of age
      related disorders. Little is known about the sites at which these AGEs form or
      why certain sites within the collagen are energetically more favourable than
      others. In this study we have used a proven fully atomistic molecular dynamics
      approach to identify six sites where the formation of the intra-molecular 3
      deoxyglucosone-derived imidazolium cross-link (DOGDIC) is energetically
      favourable. We have also conducted a comparison of these positions with those of
      the more abundant glucosepane cross-link, to determine any site preference. We
      show that when we consider both lysine and arginine AGEs, they exhibit a
      prevalence to form within the gap region of the collagen fibril.

PMID- 27648755
TI  - On the evolutionary trajectories of signal-transducing amyloids in fungi and
      beyond.
AB  - In the last decade, multiple reports have established that amyloids can bear
      important functional roles in a variety of biological processes and in distant
      taxonomic clades. In filamentous fungi, amyloids are involved in a signal
      transducing mechanism in which a group of NOD-like receptors (NLRs) controls
      downstream effector proteins to induce a programmed cell death reaction. A
      structurally characterized example of fungal signal-transducing amyloid is the
      prion-forming domain (PFD) of the HET-S toxin from Podospora anserina. Amyloid
      mediated programmed cell death is equally reported in metazoans in the context of
      innate immunity and antiviral response. The cell death reaction, described as
      programmed necrosis, is dependent on an amyloid-forming RHIM motif (RIP homotypic
      interaction motif). An evolutionary link between the RHIM and the PFD signaling
      amyloids has been previously reported. Our recent study ties further the
      signaling amyloids in fungi and metazoans, reporting a fungal signal-transducing
      domain with amyloid and prion-like properties, which shows significant sequence
      similarity to the metazoan RHIM motif. Here, I discuss the expanding class of the
      signal-transducing amyloids and reflect on the possible evolutionary scenarios of
      their diversification.

PMID- 27648754
TI  - Mechanical, structural, and dynamical modifications of cholesterol exposed
      porcine aortic elastin.
AB  - Elastin is a protein of the extracellular matrix that contributes significantly
      to the elasticity of connective tissues. In this study, we examine dynamical and
      structural modifications of aortic elastin exposed to cholesterol by NMR
      spectroscopic and relaxation methodologies. Macroscopic measurements are also
      presented and reveal that cholesterol treatment may cause a decrease in the
      stiffness of tissue. 2H NMR relaxation techniques revealed differences between
      the relative populations of water that correlate with the swelling of the tissue
      following cholesterol exposure. 13C magic-angle-spinning NMR spectroscopy and
      relaxation methods indicate that cholesterol treated aortic elastin is more
      mobile than control samples. Molecular dynamics simulations on a short elastin
      repeat VPGVG in the presence of cholesterol are used to investigate the energetic
      and entropic contributions to the retractive force, in comparison to the same
      peptide in water. Peptide stiffness is observed to reduce following cholesterol
      exposure due to a decrease in the entropic force.

PMID- 27648756
TI  - Regulations governing the multicellular lifestyle of Myxococcus xanthus.
AB  - In living organisms, cooperative cell movements underlie the formation of
      differentiated tissues. In bacteria, Myxococcus xanthus uses cooperative group
      movements, to predate on prey and to form multicellular fruiting bodies, where
      the cells differentiate into dormant spores. Motility is controlled by a central
      signaling Che-like pathway, Frz. Single cell studies indicate Frz regulates the
      frequency at which cells reverse their direction of movement by transmitting
      signals to a molecular system that controls the spatial activity of the motility
      engines. This regulation is central to all Myxococcus multicellular behaviors but
      how Frz signaling generates ordered patterns is poorly understood. In this
      review, we first discuss the genetic structure of the Frz pathway and possible
      regulations that could explain its action during Myxococcus development.

PMID- 27648757
TI  - Nanoparticle-protein complexes mimicking corona formation in ocular environment.
AB  - Nanoparticles adsorb biomolecules to form corona upon entering the biological
      environment. In this study, tissue-specific corona formation is provided as a way
      of controlling protein interaction with nanoparticles in vivo. In the vitreous,
      the composition of the corona was determined by the electrostatic and hydrophobic
      properties of the associated proteins, regardless of the material (gold and
      silica) or size (20- and 100-nm diameter) of the nanoparticles. To control
      protein adsorption, we pre-incubate 20-nm gold nanoparticles with 5 selectively
      enriched proteins from the corona, formed in the vitreous, to produce
      nanoparticle-protein complexes. Compared to bare nanoparticles, nanoparticle
      protein complexes demonstrate improved binding to vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) in the vitreous. Furthermore, nanoparticle-protein complexes retain
      in vitro anti-angiogenic properties of bare nanoparticles. In particular, priming
      the nanoparticles (gold and silica) with tissue-specific corona proteins allows
      nanoparticle-protein complexes to exert better in vivo therapeutic effects by
      higher binding to VEGF than bare nanoparticles. These results suggest that
      controlled corona formation that mimics in vivo processes may be useful in the
      therapeutic use of nanomaterials in local environment.

PMID- 27648758
TI  - Inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus by antimicrobial biofilms formed by
      competitive exclusion microorganisms on stainless steel.
AB  - The goal of this study was to develop a desiccation resistant antimicrobial
      surface using biofilm of competitive exclusion (CE) microorganism inhibitory to
      Staphylococcus aureus. We isolated 161 microorganisms from soils, foods, and food
      contact surfaces that are inhibitory to S. aureus. Among them, three CE
      microorganisms (Streptomyces spororaveus strain Gaeunsan-18, Bacillus safensis
      strain Chamnamu-sup 5-25, and Pseudomonas azotoformans strain Lettuce-9)
      exhibiting strong antibacterial activity and high growth rates were selected for
      evaluation. These isolates formed biofilms within 24h on stainless steel coupons
      (SSCs) immersed in Bennet's broth and tryptic soy broth at 25 degrees C. Cells in
      these biofilms showed significantly (P<=0.05) enhanced resistance to a
      desiccation (43% relative humidity [RH]) compared to those attached to SSCs but
      not in biofilms. The antimicrobial activities of biofilms formed by these
      isolates on SSCs against S. aureus at 25 degrees C and 43% RH were determined.
      Compared to SSCs lacking biofilms formed by CE microorganisms, populations of S.
      aureus on SSCs harboring CE biofilms were significantly lower (P<=0.05). Results
      indicate that persistent antimicrobial activity against S. aureus on stainless
      steel surfaces can be achieved by the presence of biofilms of CE microorganisms.
      This information will be useful when developing strategies to improve the
      microbiological safety of foods during storage, processing, and distribution by
      facilitating the development of effective antimicrobial food-contact surfaces.

PMID- 27648759
TI  - Chemical, physical and morphological properties of bacterial biofilms affect
      survival of encased Campylobacter jejuni F38011 under aerobic stress.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni is a microaerophilic pathogen and leading cause of human
      gastroenteritis. The presence of C. jejuni encased in biofilms found in meat and
      poultry processing facilities may be the major strategy for its survival and
      dissemination in aerobic environment. In this study, Staphylococcus aureus,
      Salmonella enterica, or Pseudomonas aeruginosa was mixed with C. jejuni F38011 as
      a culture to form dual-species biofilms. After 4days' exposure to aerobic stress,
      no viable C. jejuni cells could be detected from mono-species C. jejuni biofilm.
      In contrast, at least 4.7logCFU/cm2 of viable C. jejuni cells existed in some
      dual-species biofilms. To elucidate the mechanism of protection mode, chemical,
      physical and morphological features of biofilms were characterized. Dual-species
      biofilms contained a higher level of extracellular polymeric substances with a
      more diversified chemical composition, especially for polysaccharides and
      proteins, than mono-species C. jejuni biofilm. Structure of dual-species biofilms
      was more compact and their surface was >8 times smoother than mono-species C.
      jejuni biofilm, as indicated by atomic force microscopy. Under desiccation
      stress, water content of dual-species biofilms decreased slowly and remained at
      higher levels for a longer time than mono-species C. jejuni biofilm. The surface
      of all biofilms was hydrophilic, but total surface energy of dual-species
      biofilms (ranging from 52.5 to 56.2mJ/m2) was lower than that of mono-species C.
      jejuni biofilm, leading to more resistance to wetting by polar liquids. This
      knowledge can aid in developing intervention strategies to decrease the survival
      and dispersal of C. jejuni into foods or environment.

PMID- 27648760
TI  - The efficacy of Mentha arvensis L. and M. piperita L. essential oils in reducing
      pathogenic bacteria and maintaining quality characteristics in cashew, guava,
      mango, and pineapple juices.
AB  - This study evaluated the ability of the essential oil from Mentha arvensis L.
      (MAEO) and M. piperita L. (MPEO) to induce >=5-log reductions in counts (CFU/mL)
      of E. coli, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in
      Brain-Heart Infusion broth (BHIB) and cashew, guava, mango, and pineapple juices
      during refrigerated storage (4+/-0.5 degrees C). The effects of the incorporation
      of these essential oils on some physicochemical and sensory parameters of juices
      were also evaluated. The incorporation of 5, 2.5, 1.25, or 0.625MUL/mL of MAEO in
      BHIB caused a >=5-log reduction in counts of E. coli and Salmonella Enteritidis
      after 24h of storage; but only 5MUL/mL was able to cause the same reduction in
      counts of L.monocytogenes. The incorporation of 10MUL/mL of MPEO in BHIB caused a
      >=5-log reduction in counts of E. coli, Salmonella Enteritidis, and L.
      monocytogenes after 24h of storage; smaller reductions were observed in BHIB
      containing 5, 2.5, and 1.25MUL/mL of MPEO. Similar reductions were observed when
      the MAEO or MPEO was incorporated at the same concentrations in mango juice. The
      incorporation of MAEO or MPEO at all tested concentrations in cashew, guava, and
      pineapple juices resulted in a >=5-log reduction in pathogen counts within 1h.
      The incorporation of MAEO and MPEO (0.625 and 1.25MUL/mL, respectively) in fruit
      juices did not induce alterations in  degrees Brix, pH, and acidity, but
      negatively affected the taste, aftertaste, and overall acceptance. The use of
      MAEO or MPEO at low concentrations could constitute an interesting tool to
      achieve the required 5-log reduction of pathogenic bacteria in cashew, guava,
      mango, and pineapple fruit juices. However, new methods combining the use of MAEO
      or MPEO with other technologies are necessary to reduce their negative impacts on
      specific sensory properties of these juices.

PMID- 27648761
TI  - Minimally invasive costotransversectomy for the resection of large thoracic
      dumbbell tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to their important size and complex localization, the management
      of thoracic dumbbell tumors is challenging, frequently requiring the need for an
      anterior approach. Our study aims to first report the feasibility and safety of a
      single-stage posterior minimally invasive procedure in achieving complete
      resection of voluminous thoracic dumbbell tumors. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed the medical records of five consecutive patients, who underwent the
      minimally invasive resection of a type III thoracic dumbbell tumor in our
      institution between March 2007 and March 2012. There were two men and three
      women, with a mean age at diagnosis of 57 years (range 41-68 years). After the
      placement of a non-expandable tubular retractor under fluoroscopic control, a
      costotransversectomy was achieved. By moving the retractor in all directions, the
      tumor was largely exposed and resected with the cavitron ultrasonic surgical
      aspirator. Clinical and radiological monitoring was performed before discharge,
      at 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. RESULTS: No major intraoperative complication
      was reported. Gross total resection was achieved in four patients. The mean
      operative time was 219 mins (range 75-540 mins) and the mean estimated blood loss
      was 230 ml (range 50-500 ml). No postoperative complication was reported. The
      mean length of hospital stay was 3.6 days (range 2-6 days) and all patients were
      discharged home. Histological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of grade 1
      schwannoma in four patients and revealed a hemangiopericytoma in one patient. No
      tumor recurrence was noted with a mean follow up period of 46 months (range 32-54
      months). CONCLUSION: Thoracic dumbbell tumors can be safely and completely
      resected using a single-stage minimally invasive procedure. The
      costotransversectomy can be performed through a non-expandable retractor allowing
      sufficient access to all parts of the tumor.

PMID- 27648762
TI  - Production of high activity Aspergillus niger BCC4525 beta-mannanase in Pichia
      pastoris and its application for mannooligosaccharides production from biomass
      hydrolysis.
AB  - A cDNA encoding beta-mannanase was cloned from Aspergillus niger BCC4525 and
      expressed in Pichia pastoris KM71. The secreted enzyme hydrolyzed locust bean gum
      substrate with very high activity (1625 U/mL) and a relatively high kcat/Km (461
      mg-1 s-1 mL). The enzyme is thermophilic and thermostable with an optimal
      temperature of 70  degrees C and 40% retention of endo-beta-1,4-mannanase
      activity after preincubation at 70  degrees C. In addition, the enzyme exhibited
      broad pH stability with an optimal pH of 5.5. The recombinant enzyme hydrolyzes
      low-cost biomass, including palm kernel meal (PKM) and copra meal, to produce
      mannooligosaccharides, which is used as prebiotics to promote the growth of
      beneficial microflora in animals. An in vitro digestibility test simulating the
      gastrointestinal tract system of broilers suggested that the recombinant beta
      mannanase could effectively liberate reducing sugars from PKM-containing diet.
      These characteristics render this enzyme suitable for utilization as a feed
      additive to improve animal performance.

PMID- 27648763
TI  - Intestinal and Hepatocellular Transporters: Therapeutic Effects and Drug
      Interactions of Herbal Supplements.
AB  - Herbal supplements are generally considered safe; however, drug disposition is
      influenced by the interactions of herbal supplements and food constituents with
      transport and metabolic processes. Although the interference of herbal
      supplements with drug metabolism has been studied extensively, knowledge of how
      they interact with the drug transport processes is less advanced. Therefore, we
      describe here specific examples of experimental and human interaction studies of
      herbal supplement components with drug transporters addressing, for example,
      organic anion transporting polypeptides or P-glycoprotein, as such interactions
      may lead to severe side effects and altered drug efficacy. Hence, it is clearly
      necessary to increase the awareness of the clinical relevance of the interference
      of herbal supplements with the drug transport processes.

PMID- 27648764
TI  - Co-prescribing naloxone does not increase liability risk.
AB  - The opioid overdose epidemic claims the lives of tens of thousands of Americans
      every year. Opioid overdose is reversible by the administration of naloxone, a
      pure antagonist now available in formulations specifically designed and labeled
      for layperson use. Despite broad support for layperson access to naloxone from
      professional organizations, health officials, and clinical experts, qualitative
      studies suggest that some providers have concerns about legal risks associated
      with naloxone prescribing, particularly co-prescribing naloxone to pain patients.
      Such concerns are unfounded. The legal risk associated with prescribing naloxone
      is no higher than that associated with any other medication and is lower than
      many. Additionally, laws in a majority of states provide explicit legal
      protections for providers who prescribe or dispense naloxone, in many cases
      extending this protection to prescriptions issued to friends, family members, and
      others. In this large and increasing number of states, the liability risk of
      prescribing or dispensing naloxone in good faith to a patient at risk of overdose
      (or, in states where such prescribing is permitted, to an associate of such a
      patient) is either extremely low or absent entirely. Where a prescriber
      determines, in his or her clinical judgment, that a patient is at risk of
      overdose, co-prescribing naloxone is a reasonable and prudent clinical and legal
      decision. No clinician should fail or refuse to issue such a prescription based
      on liability concerns.

PMID- 27648765
TI  - Integration or specialization? Similarities and differences between Sweden and
      the United States in gerontology education and training.
AB  - This article examines the similarities and differences in the education and
      training of gerontologists and others who work with older people in Sweden and
      the United States. It outlines the aging trends in both countries and assesses
      the level of training for those who provide care in a variety of fields. Both
      countries are aging, but the programs for gerontological training are quite
      different in the two countries, reflecting underlying cultural values. Sweden's
      education is generally more oriented toward the integration of some aging
      education in more disciplinary fields, such as nursing and social work and thus
      could benefit from more specialized, aging-specific courses. The United States is
      highly specialized, with multiple programs in various subfields of aging (e.g.,
      geropsychology; aging services administration) and could benefit from integrating
      more aging knowledge into courses in other disciplines. The authors challenge
      professionals to consider if there is a basic but global curriculum and/or set of
      competencies in gerontology that could be agreed upon. As an increasingly global
      village, the ability to share and learn is more easily achievable. Sweden and the
      United States have much to learn from each other in terms of appropriately
      educating and training those who support our older people.

PMID- 27648766
TI  - The complete mitochondrial genome of the threatened Neotropical catfish
      Lophiosilurus alexandri (Silurifomes: Pseudopimelodidae) and phylogenomic
      analysis indicate monophyly of Pimelodoidea.
AB  - Lophiosilurus alexandri is an endemic catfish from the Sao Francisco River Basin
      (Brazil) popularly known as pacama, which has economic potential for aquaculture
      farming. The mitochondrial genome was sequenced for the threatened Neotropical
      catfish L. alexandri. Assembly into scaffolds using MIRA and MITObim software
      produced the whole, circularized mitochondrial genome, which comprises 16,445 bp
      and presents the typical gene arrangement of Teleostei mitochondria. A
      phylogenomic analysis was performed after the concatenation of all proteins
      obtained from whole mitogenomes of 20 Siluriformes and two outgroups. The results
      confirmed the monophyly of nine families of catfishes and also clustered L.
      alexandri as a sister group to the family Pimelodidae, thus confirming the
      monophyly of the superfamily Pimelodoidea. This is the first mitochondrial
      phylogenomics study for Pimelodoidea and the first mitogenome described for the
      Pseudopimelodidae family, representing an important resource for phylogeography,
      evolutionary biology, and conservation genetics studies in Neotropical fishes.

PMID- 27648767
TI  - The rearranged mitochondrial genome of Leptopilina boulardi (Hymenoptera:
      Figitidae), a parasitoid wasp of Drosophila.
AB  - The partial mitochondrial genome sequence of Leptopilina boulardi (Hymenoptera:
      Figitidae) was characterized. Illumina sequencing was used yielding 35,999,679
      reads, from which 102,482 were utilized in the assembly. The length of the
      sequenced region of this partial mitochondrial genome is 15,417 bp, consisting of
      13 protein-coding, two rRNA, and 21tRNA genes (the trnaM failed to be sequenced)
      and a partial A+T-rich region. All protein-coding genes start with ATN codons.
      Eleven protein-coding genes presented TAA stop codons, whereas ND6 and COII that
      presented TA, and T nucleotides, respectively. The gene pattern revealed
      extensive rearrangements compared to the typical pattern generally observed in
      insects. These rearrangements involve two protein-coding and two ribosomal genes,
      along with the 16 tRNA genes. This gene order is different from the pattern
      described for Ibalia leucospoides (Ibaliidae, Cynipoidea), suggesting that this
      particular gene order can be variable among Cynipoidea superfamily members. A
      maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of the main groups of Apocrita was
      performed using amino acid sequence of 13 protein-coding genes, showing monophyly
      for the Cynipoidea superfamily within the Hymenoptera phylogeny.

PMID- 27648768
TI  - Wolbachia in guilds of Anastrepha fruit flies (Tephritidae) and parasitoid wasps
      (Braconidae).
AB  - The endosymbiont Wolbachia is efficiently transmitted from females to their
      progenies, but horizontal transmission between different taxa is also known to
      occur. Aiming to determine if horizontal transmission might have occurred between
      Anastrepha fruit flies and associated braconid wasps, infection by Wolbachia was
      screened by amplification of a fragment of the wsp gene. Eight species of the
      genus Anastrepha were analyzed, from which six species of associated parasitoid
      wasps were recovered. The endosymbiont was found in seven Anastrepha species and
      in five species of braconids. The WSP Typing methodology detected eight wsp
      alleles belonging to Wolbachia supergroup A. Three were already known and five
      were new ones, among which four were found to be putative recombinant haplotypes.
      Two samples of Anastrepha obliqua and one sample of Doryctobracon brasiliensis
      showed multiple infection. Single infection by Wolbachia was found in the
      majority of samples. The distribution of Wolbachia harboring distinct alleles
      differed significantly between fruit flies and wasps. However, in nine samples of
      fruit flies and associated wasps, Wolbachia harbored the same wsp allele. These
      congruences suggest that horizontal transfer of Wolbachia might have occurred in
      the communities of fruit flies and their braconid parasitoids.

PMID- 27648769
TI  - Classification and team response to nonroutine events occurring during pediatric
      trauma resuscitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Errors directly causing serious harm are rare during pediatric trauma
      resuscitation, limiting the use of adverse outcome analysis for performance
      improvement in this setting. Errors not causing harm because of mitigation or
      chance may have similar causation and are more frequent than those causing
      adverse outcomes. Analyzing these error types is an alternative to adverse
      outcome analysis. The purpose of this study was to identify errors of any type
      during pediatric trauma resuscitation and evaluate team responses to their
      occurrence. METHODS: Errors identified using video analysis were classified as
      errors of omission or commission and selection errors using input from trauma
      experts. The responses to error types and error frequency based on patient and
      event features were compared. RESULTS: Thirty-nine resuscitations were reviewed,
      identifying 337 errors (range, 2-26 per resuscitation). The most common errors
      were related to cervical spine stabilization (n = 93, 27.6%). Errors of omission
      (n = 135) and commission (n = 106) were more common than errors of selection (n =
      96). Although 35.9% of all errors were acknowledged and compensation occurred
      after 43.6%, no response (acknowledgement or compensation) was observed after
      51.3% of errors. Errors of omission and commission were more often acknowledged
      (40.7% and 39.6% vs. 25.0%, p = 0.03 and p = 0.04, respectively) and compensated
      for (50.4% and 47.2% vs. 29.2%, p = 0.004 and p = 0.01, respectively) than
      selection errors. Response differences between errors of omission and commission
      were not observed. The number of errors and the number of high-risk errors that
      occurred did not differ based on patient or event features. CONCLUSIONS: Errors
      are common during pediatric trauma resuscitation. Teams did not respond to most
      errors, although differences in team response were observed between error types.
      Determining causation of errors may be an approach for identifying latent safety
      threats contributing to adverse outcomes during pediatric trauma resuscitation.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, level III.

PMID- 27648770
TI  - Prehospital shock index and pulse pressure/heart rate ratio to predict massive
      transfusion after severe trauma: Retrospective analysis of a large regional
      trauma database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early and accurate detection of severe hemorrhage is critical for a
      timely trigger of massive transfusion (MT). Hemodynamic indices combining heart
      rate (HR) and either systolic (shock index [SI]) or pulse pressure (PP) (PP/HR
      ratio) have been shown to track blood loss during hemorrhage. The present study
      assessed the accuracy of prehospital SI and PP/HR ratio to predict subsequent MT,
      using the gray-zone approach. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis (January
      1, 2009, to December 31, 2011) of a prospectively developed trauma registry
      (TRENAU), in which the triage scheme combines patient severity and hospital
      facilities. Thresholds for MT were defined as either classic (>=10 red blood cell
      units within the first 24 hours [MT1]) or critical (>=3 red blood cells within
      the first hour [MT2]). The receiver operating characteristic curves and gray
      zones were defined for SI and PP/HR ratio to predict MT1 and MT2 and faced with
      initial triage scheme. RESULTS: The TRENAU registry included 3,689 trauma
      patients, of which 2,557 had complete chart recovery and 176 (6.9%) required MT.
      In the whole population, PP/HR ratio and SI moderately and similarly predicted
      MT1 (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.77 [95% confidence
      interval {CI}, 0.70-0.84] and 0.80 [95% CI, 0.74-0.87], respectively, p = 0.064)
      and MT2 (0.71 [95% CI, 0.67-0.76] and 0.72 [95% CI, 0.68-0.77], respectively, p =
      0.48). The proportions of patients in the gray zone for PP/HR ratio and SI were
      61% versus 40%, respectively, to predict MT1 (p < 0.001) and 62% versus 71%,
      respectively, to predict MT2 (p < 0.001). In the least severe patient, both
      indices had fair accuracy to predict MT1 (0.91 [95% CI, 0.82-1.00] vs. 0.87 [95%
      CI, 0.79-1.00]; p = 0.638), and PP/HR ratio outperformed SI to predict MT2 (0.72
      [95% CI, 0.59-0.84] vs. 0.54 [95% CI, 0.33-0.74]; p < 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: In an
      unselected trauma population, prehospital SI and PP/HR ratio were moderately
      accurate in predicting MT. In the seemingly least severe patients, an improvement
      of prehospital undertriage for MT may be gained by using the PP/HR ratio. LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiolgic study, level III.

PMID- 27648771
TI  - Prehospital point-of-care lactate following trauma: A systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum lactate serves as a surrogate marker for global tissue hypoxia
      following traumatic injury and has potential to guide resuscitation. Portable,
      handheld point-of-care monitoring devices enable lactate values to be readily
      available in the prehospital environment. The current review examines the utility
      of prehospital lactate (pLa) measurement in the management of trauma. METHODS:
      MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched using predefined criteria (pLa
      measurement, trauma patients) until March 10, 2016. Studies were examined for
      lactate measurement as an intervention, prognostic indicator, and utilization in
      the guidance of goal-directed therapy. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to
      assess risk of bias, and quality of evidence was evaluated using the Grading of
      Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. Data were
      unsuitable for meta-analysis and are presented in narrative form. RESULTS: Of
      2,415 articles of interest, seven met the inclusion criteria, all of which were
      observational studies, including 2,085 trauma patients. Lactate sampling
      techniques, timings, and thresholds were heterogeneous. No studies used pLa to
      guide intervention. Elevated pLa may be an independent prognostic marker of
      critical illness in trauma patients, particularly in blunt trauma. Prehospital
      lactate measurement may be more sensitive than systolic blood pressure in
      determining need for resuscitative care. Early lactate measurement may be
      particularly useful in the detection of occult hypoperfusion, with elevated pLa
      detectable within 30 minutes of injury. All current studies were assessed as
      being of "low" or "very low" quality and were at risk of bias. Considerable
      logistical barriers to pLa measurement exist. CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital point-of
      care lactate monitoring for trauma has been variably performed. There is a
      paucity of evidence relating to its use. The limited data available show
      feasibility and potential clinical utility, and further investigation is
      warranted to establish whether lactate might give meaningful guidance during
      prehospital triage and trauma patient resuscitation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Systematic review, level IV.

PMID- 27648772
TI  - Fecal microbiota transplant in patients with Clostridium difficile infection: A
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) restores a diverse bacterial
      profile to the gastrointestinal tract and may effectively treat patients with
      Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). The objective of this systematic review
      was to evaluate the effectiveness of FMT in the treatment of CDI. METHODS: Ovid
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane database were used. The authors
      searched studies with 10 or more patients examining the resolution of symptoms
      after FMT in patients with CDI. Reviews, letters to the editors, and abstracts
      were excluded. Participants were patients with CDI. Intervention used was FMT.
      Quality assessment was performed using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool.
      Results were synthesized using a narrative approach. RESULTS: Retrospective and
      uncontrolled prospective cohort studies suggest that FMT is a highly effective
      therapy for recurrent/refractory CDI, with clinical success rates ranging from
      83% to 100%, which is similar to rates published by two randomized controlled
      trials. Fecal microbiota transplantation may be effectively administered via
      antegrade (upper gastrointestinal) or retrograde (lower gastrointestinal) routes
      of delivery. Fecal microbiota transplantation rarely results in major adverse
      events. However, diarrhea, cramping, and bloating commonly occur and are
      typically self-limited. Most studies were uncontrolled retrospective studies.
      CONCLUSION: Fecal microbiota transplantation should be considered in patients
      with recurrent episodes of mild to moderate CDI who have failed conventional
      antimicrobial therapy. There is insufficient evidence to recommend FMT for the
      treatment of severe CDI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic review, level III.

PMID- 27648773
TI  - Declines in Cancer Death Rates Among Children and Adolescents in the United
      States, 1999-2014.
AB  - KEY FINDINGS: Data from the National Vital Statistics System *During 1999-2014,
      the cancer death rate for children and adolescents aged 1-19 years in the United
      States declined 20%, from 2.85 to 2.28 per 100,000 population. *The cancer death
      rate for males aged 1-19 years in 2014 was 30% higher than for females. *Declines
      in cancer death rates during 1999-2014 were experienced among both white and
      black persons aged 1-19 years and for all 5-year age groups. *During 1999-2014,
      brain cancer replaced leukemia as the most common cancer causing death among
      children and adolescents aged 1-19 years, accounting for 3 out of 10 cancer
      deaths in 2014. Since the mid-1970s, cancer death rates among children and
      adolescents in the United States showed marked declines despite a slow increase
      in incidence for some of the major types (1-3). These trends have previously been
      shown through 2012. This data brief extends previous research by showing trends
      in cancer death rates through 2014 among children and adolescents aged 1-19 years
      in the United States. Cancer death rates for 1999-2014 are presented and trends
      are compared for both females and males, by 5-year age group, and for white and
      black children and adolescents. Percent distributions of cancer deaths among
      children and adolescents aged 1-19 years are shown by anatomical site for 1999
      and 2014.

PMID- 27648774
TI  - A biodistribution study of two differently shaped plant virus nanoparticles
      reveals new peculiar traits.
AB  - Self-assembling plant virus nanoparticles (pVNPs) have started to be explored as
      nanometre-sized objects for biomedical applications, such as vaccine or drug
      delivery and imaging. Plant VNPs may be ideal tools in terms of biocompatibility
      and biodegradability endowed with a wide diversity of symmetries and dimensions,
      easy chemical/biological engineering, and rapid production in plants. Recently,
      we defined that icosahedral Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) and filamentous
      Potato virus X (PVX) are neither toxic nor teratogenic. We report here the
      results of an interdisciplinary study aimed to define for the first time the
      biodistribution of unlabelled, unpegylated, underivatized TBSV and PVX by proved
      detecting antibodies. These data add new insights on the in vivo behaviour of
      these nano-objects and demonstrate that the pVNPs under scrutiny are each
      intrinsically endowed with peculiar properties foreshadowing different
      applications in molecular medicine.

PMID- 27648775
TI  - Promotion of osteointegration under diabetic conditions by tantalum coating-based
      surface modification on 3-dimensional printed porous titanium implants.
AB  - Clinical evidence indicates a high failure rate for titanium implants (TiI) in
      diabetic patients, involving the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      at the implant/bone interface. Tantalum coating on titanium (TaTi) has exerted
      better tissue integration properties than TiI, but its biological performance
      under diabetic conditions remains elusive. To investigate whether TaTi may
      ameliorate diabetes-induced implant destabilization and the underlying
      mechanisms, primary rabbit osteoblasts cultured on 3-dimensional printed TiI and
      TaTi were exposed to normal serum (NS), diabetic serum (DS), DS+NAC (a potent ROS
      inhibitor), and DS+SB203580 (a specific p38 MAPK inhibitor). An in vivo study was
      performed on diabetic sheep implanted with TiI or TaTi. Diabetes induced
      mitochondrial-derived ROS overproduction and caused cellular dysfunction and
      apoptosis, together with the activation of p38 MAPK in osteoblasts on TiI
      surface. Importantly, TaTi significantly attenuated ROS production and p38 MAPK
      phosphorylation and exerted more osseointegrative cell behavior than TiI, as
      shown by improved osteoblast adhesion, increased cell proliferation and
      differentiation and decreased apoptosis. These results were confirmed in vivo by
      the enhanced bone healing efficacy of TaTi. Moreover, treatment with NAC or
      SB203580 on TiI not only inhibited the activation of p38 MAPK but also improved
      cell function and alleviated apoptotic injury, whereas TaTi combined with NAC or
      SB203580 failed to further improve osteoblast functional recovery compared with
      TaTi alone. These results demonstrated that the tantalum coating markedly
      improved diabetes-induced impaired osteogenesis of TiI, which may be attributed
      to the suppression of the ROS-mediated p38 MAPK pathway.

PMID- 27648776
TI  - Pharmacological approaches to restoring lens transparency: Real world
      applications.
AB  - Cataract is the most common cause of blindness and a major cause of visual
      impairment worldwide. As the world's population ages, cataract-induced visual
      impairment is of increasing prevalence, and treatment is limited to those with
      access to surgical care. While cataracts are mainly a disease of the elderly,
      infantile cataracts lead to lifelong visual impairment if untreated. Even in
      those with surgical treatment early in life, visual prognosis is often guarded.
      Consequently, there is an increasing impetus for alternative therapeutic
      modalities. Makley and Zhao utilize two different experimental approaches to
      identify novel pharmacological substances able to improve lens transparency by
      reducing aggregation of crystalline proteins. These data support an alternative
      to surgical correction that may be applied to adult patients without access to
      surgical care as well as address the unique challenges of infantile cataracts.

PMID- 27648778
TI  - Cat-Scratch Disease in the United States, 2005-2013.
AB  - Cat-scratch disease (CSD) is mostly preventable. More information about the
      epidemiology and extent of CSD would help direct prevention efforts to those at
      highest risk. To gain such information, we reviewed the 2005-2013 MarketScan
      national health insurance claims databases and identified patients <65 years of
      age with an inpatient admission or outpatient visit that included a CSD code from
      the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical
      Modification. Incidence of CSD was highest among those who lived in the southern
      United States (6.4 cases/100,000 population) and among children 5-9 years of age
      (9.4 cases/100,000 population). Inpatients were significantly more likely than
      outpatients to be male and 50-64 years of age. We estimate that each year, 12,000
      outpatients are given a CSD diagnosis and 500 inpatients are hospitalized for
      CSD. Prevention measures (e.g., flea control for cats) are particularly helpful
      in southern states and in households with children.

PMID- 27648777
TI  - Daily Reportable Disease Spatiotemporal Cluster Detection, New York City, New
      York, USA, 2014-2015.
AB  - Each day, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene uses the free
      SaTScan software to apply prospective space-time permutation scan statistics to
      strengthen early outbreak detection for 35 reportable diseases. This method
      prompted early detection of outbreaks of community-acquired legionellosis and
      shigellosis.

PMID- 27648780
TI  - Prevalence and treatment of eating disorders among Hispanics/Latino Americans in
      the United States.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We reviewed the recent literature on prevalence rates, and
      application of evidence-based treatments for eating disorders among
      Hispanics/Latinos residing in the United States. RECENT FINDINGS: Lifetime
      prevalence rates of anorexia nervosa are lower among Hispanic/Latinos than non
      Hispanic Whites. There are comparable rates of bulimia nervosa and binge eating
      disorder (BED) among Hispanic/Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites. BED is the most
      common eating disorder among Hispanic/Latinos. Evidence-based treatments have
      begun to be implemented with Hispanics/Latinos. The core concepts of cognitive
      behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa and BED apply to this population. Culture
      specific adaptations include strengthening the collectivistic framework within an
      individualistic treatment, psychoeducation of immediate and extended family, and
      adjustment of meal plans that incorporated cultural foods. SUMMARY: There are
      more similarities than differences in the prevalence of eating disorders across
      Hispanics/Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites. However, the social context such as
      immigration status and acculturation is important to consider in the development
      of eating disorders. In addition, the Westernization of Latin America may change
      the future relationship of immigration status and development of eating disorder
      within the United States. Overall, cultural adaptations of evidence-based
      treatments involved the inclusion of family within treatment, acculturation
      related issues, and managing family conflicts that arise because of the changes
      in eating patterns.

PMID- 27648779
TI  - Incidental learning from the coding subtest of the Repeatable Battery for the
      Assessment of Neuropsychological Status.
AB  - Incidental learning (IL) measures provide complementary assessment data
      reflecting subconscious encoding of information using methods that differ from
      the procedures of many traditional memory tests. We examined the concurrent
      validity of an IL measure based on the coding subtest of the Repeatable Battery
      for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Participants included
      veterans referred for outpatient neuropsychological testing. Performance on the
      IL procedures correlated more strongly with memory indices than other indices on
      the RBANS. Patients with at least four correct responses very rarely had
      significant memory impairments. Thus, IL appears to contribute to the overall
      assessment of memory and requires little administration time.

PMID- 27648781
TI  - Updates in the epidemiology of eating disorders in Asia and the Pacific.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review summarizes and contextualizes the recent
      epidemiologic data on eating disorders in the Asia and Pacific regions. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Gaps in epidemiologic data on eating disorders from the Asia and
      Pacific regions stem, in part, from omission of eating disorder-specific
      assessments in large nationally representative cohort studies of mental
      disorders. Available data - often from clinical and school-going cohorts -
      support that the prevalence of both eating disorders and associated attitudes and
      behaviors in many Asian and Pacific regions studied may be comparable to those
      reported in Europe and North America. Moreover, the prevalence of eating
      disorders in some regions of Asia may be increasing. Some of the national and
      subnational regions with the highest annual percent increases in disability
      adjusted life years per 100 000 caused by eating disorders over the past two
      decades are located in Asia. SUMMARY: Notwithstanding sparse epidemiologic data
      concerning eating disorders in Asia and the Pacific, available evidence supports
      comparable prevalence to other global regions and that associated health burdens
      in some regions of Asia may be rising. This further supports that eating
      disorders are trans-national in distribution and challenges the previous
      understanding that they were primarily culture-bound to the Global North.

PMID- 27648782
TI  - Insomnia and obesity.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Accumulating data suggest that short sleep plays a role in the
      development of obesity in general population. Insomnia disorder is characterized
      by short sleep and may persist for years. The question whether these patients
      have a higher risk of obesity is of socioeconomic as well as therapeutic
      interest. RECENT FINDINGS: Numerous recently published cross-sectional and
      longitudinal studies show positive as well as negative associations between short
      sleep and overweight. Critical reviews note several methodological limitations
      that weaken the assumption of short sleep duration as the potential cause for
      obesity. From a sleep medical perspective, a basic methodological problem is the
      lack of a biological cut-off for short sleep duration. Therefore, recent findings
      on the relation between emotional stress in short sleepers and incident of
      obesity opens a more promising perspective on sleep quality as a possible factor.
      A few studies on patients with insomnia disorder, however, do not show higher
      BMIs adding data to a research puzzle. SUMMARY: The relation of sleep duration
      and incident obesity so far has insufficient evidence base. Few data on patients
      with insomnia disorder do not confirm the association. Further research is
      necessary with focus on sleep quality instead of sleep duration.

PMID- 27648783
TI  - Delay grid multiplexing: simple time-based multiplexing and readout method for
      silicon photomultipliers.
AB  - In this paper, we propose a fully time-based multiplexing and readout method that
      uses the principle of the global positioning system. Time-based multiplexing
      allows simplifying the multiplexing circuits where the only innate traces that
      connect the signal pins of the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) channels to the
      readout channels are used as the multiplexing circuit. Every SiPM channel is
      connected to the delay grid that consists of the traces on a printed circuit
      board, and the inherent transit times from each SiPM channel to the readout
      channels encode the position information uniquely. Thus, the position of each
      SiPM can be identified using the time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements.
      The proposed multiplexing can also allow simplification of the readout circuit
      using the time-to-digital converter (TDC) implemented in a field-programmable
      gate array (FPGA), where the time-over-threshold (ToT) is used to extract the
      energy information after multiplexing. In order to verify the proposed
      multiplexing method, we built a positron emission tomography (PET) detector that
      consisted of an array of 4  *  4 LGSO crystals, each with a dimension of 3  *  3 
      *  20 mm3, and one- to-one coupled SiPM channels. We first employed the waveform
      sampler as an initial study, and then replaced the waveform sampler with an FPGA
      TDC to further simplify the readout circuits. The 16 crystals were clearly
      resolved using only the time information obtained from the four readout channels.
      The coincidence resolving times (CRTs) were 382 and 406 ps FWHM when using the
      waveform sampler and the FPGA-TDC, respectively. The proposed simple multiplexing
      and readout methods can be useful for time-of-flight (TOF) PET scanners.

PMID- 27648786
TI  - Safety Is Everyone's Job.

PMID- 27648785
TI  - Composite Serous Borderline Tumor and Adult Granulosa Cell Tumor-like Area: Is it
      a True Neoplastic AGCT or Tumor-like Proliferation?
AB  - We report the 402C-G FOXL2 mutation status in 1 epithelial ovarian lesion in a 38
      yr-old woman showing stromal proliferations that were morphologically
      indistinguishable from adult granulosa cell tumor (AGCT). The lesion was a serous
      borderline tumor. The AGCT-like components were distributed within the septa and
      cyst walls. FOXL2 mutation was absent. The combination of an epithelial neoplasm
      and AGCT-like areas is rare but described. The AGCT-like components are likely to
      be tumor-like proliferations but not truly neoplastic AGCT. FOXL2 mutation
      testing may be useful in confirming an AGCT-like component.

PMID- 27648787
TI  - NAON Foundation...Are You Engaged in Your Organization?

PMID- 27648788
TI  - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Reducing Length of Stay in Joint Replacement
      Patients.
AB  - Demand for hip and knee arthroplasty in the United States is rising rapidly. This
      is creating considerable strain on healthcare systems' institutional resources
      and finances. To reduce this strain, Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI,
      developed a strategy to decrease length of stay for most primary hip and knee
      joint replacement patients. Four specific interventions were undertaken
      concurrently: (1) communication with providers, (2) modification of patient
      communications, (3) standardized risk assessment and prediction, and (4) physical
      therapy on POD (postoperative day) 0 (i.e., the day of surgery). Length of stay
      was reduced an average of 0.5 days per patient for primary hip and knee joint
      replacement surgeries, creating a positive financial outcome without negatively
      affecting quality and patient satisfaction. This demonstrated the ability of a
      large, high-volume joint replacement center to transform organizational culture
      and generate rapid, measureable change. 

PMID- 27648789
TI  - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Reducing Length of Stay in Joint Replacement
      Patients.

PMID- 27648791
TI  - Caring for the Transgender Individual.

PMID- 27648790
TI  - Caring for the Transgender Individual.
AB  - Issues about transgender individuals (TIs) as a disparate population are now
      being more openly discussed in the general public. However, healthcare providers
      often express feeling uncomfortable in interacting with TIs because they have not
      been educated about care of TIs and often base their care on insensitive
      stereotyping. The purpose of this informational article is to provide a
      foundation of knowledge for nurses and healthcare professionals for providing
      competent patient-centered care for TIs. Topics discussed include a description
      of the transgender population, commonly used terms to describe TIs, health risks
      and healthcare needs of TIs, and how to provide quality healthcare for TIs. 

PMID- 27648792
TI  - Multifaceted Comparison of Two Cryotherapy Devices Used After Total Knee
      Arthroplasty: Cryotherapy Device Comparison.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some form of cryotherapy used after total knee arthroplasty is
      commonplace. However, various factors determine the specific device deployed.
      PURPOSE: This study aimed to answer the following questions: METHODS: : A group
      of 100 patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty by a single surgeon
      were enrolled in an institutional review board-approved, prospective study and
      randomized to receive either a circulating cold water or ice/gel pack cryotherapy
      device postoperatively. Demographic, pain, swelling, blood loss, range of motion,
      compliance, satisfaction, and adverse event outcomes were recorded until 6 weeks
      after surgery. Hospital staff satisfaction and economic variables were examined.
      RESULTS: The ice/gel pack cryotherapy wrap was noninferior to the cold water
      cryotherapy device for any patient outcome measured. Average pain level at 6
      weeks postoperative was significantly less in the ice/gel pack cryotherapy wrap
      group. Hospital staff satisfaction was higher with the ice/gel pack cryotherapy
      wrap.Substantial economic savings can be realized at our institution by switching
      to the lower cost cryotherapy device. CONCLUSION: In this study, the lower cost
      ice/gel pack cryotherapy wrap was noninferior to the circulating ice water
      cryotherapy device with respect to objective patient outcomes and subjective
      patient satisfaction after total knee arthroplasty. Hospital staff satisfaction
      and economic considerations also favor the ice/gel pack compression cryotherapy
      wraps.

PMID- 27648794
TI  - Nurse Practitioners' Education, Awareness and Therapeutic Approaches for the
      Management of Fibromyalgia.

PMID- 27648793
TI  - Nurse Practitioners' Education, Awareness, and Therapeutic Approaches for the
      Management of Fibromyalgia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the United States, fibromyalgia affects 2%-5% of the adult
      population, rendering it the most common chronic, widespread pain condition. The
      American College of Rheumatology has published diagnostic criteria for
      fibromyalgia, with the latest version in 2010. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study
      was to evaluate nurse practitioners' education and awareness of fibromyalgia and
      to evaluate nurse practitioners' practices for the management of fibromyalgia.
      METHODS: Sixty-six nurse practitioners voluntarily completed an online survey
      regarding their education, diagnosis, and treatment options for patients with
      fibromyalgia. RESULTS: The majority of participants reported that they always or
      occasionally had difficulty diagnosing fibromyalgia and worried about labeling
      their patients as having fibromyalgia. The most commonly used agents were
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (70%), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake
      inhibitors (61%), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (51%), and muscle
      relaxants (44%). Nondrug therapies included exercise (88%), cognitive behavior
      therapy (58%), and nutrition (56%). CONCLUSION: Further education is needed for
      nurse practitioners to increase confidence in diagnosing and managing
      fibromyalgia.

PMID- 27648795
TI  - How Well Are Nurse Practitioners Prepared to Treat Common Musculoskeletal
      Conditions?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders affect a third of the U.S. population and
      are among the most prevalent, costly, and debilitating medical conditions. Basic
      familiarity with musculoskeletal conditions is essential for all primary care
      providers, including nurse practitioners (NPs). PURPOSE: The purpose of this
      study was: (1) to estimate the quantity of musculoskeletal education provided in
      NP programs; (2) to evaluate NPs' perceptions of their own confidence in
      providing musculoskeletal care versus other areas of primary care; and (3) to
      determine how well NPs score on a test of basic musculoskeletal knowledge.
      METHODS: An online self-reporting survey was conducted to evaluate NPs'
      knowledge, competence, and confidence in treating common musculoskeletal
      disorders. RESULTS: Most NPs receive fewer than 10 hours of musculoskeletal
      education, are subjectively less confident about their musculoskeletal skill set
      compared to other areas of primary care, and lack the basic knowledge to
      competently manage musculoskeletal problems in primary care. CONCLUSION: The
      findings of this study confirm earlier conclusions that, like our physician
      colleagues, the vast majority of nurse practitioners lack adequate preparation to
      manage common nonsurgical musculoskeletal problems.

PMID- 27648796
TI  - Application and Interpretation of Hierarchical Multiple Regression.
AB  - The authors reported the association between motivation and self-management
      behavior of individuals with chronic low back pain after adjusting control
      variables using hierarchical multiple regression (). This article describes
      details of the hierarchical regression applying the actual data used in the
      article by , including how to test assumptions, run the statistical tests, and
      report the results. 

PMID- 27648798
TI  - Chronic Patellar Tendon Rupture: A Case Report With Associated Imaging.

PMID- 27648799
TI  - Chronic Patellar Tendon Rupture: A Case Report with Associated Imaging.

PMID- 27648800
TI  - Two Books With Different Yet Important Messages: Nurse On Board and Being Mortal.

PMID- 27648801
TI  - Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board, New Certificants January-March 2016.

PMID- 27648802
TI  - Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board, New Certificants April-June 2016.

PMID- 27648803
TI  - Editors' Note.

PMID- 27648805
TI  - A Rare Complication of Spine Surgery: Case Report of Peripheral Facial Palsy.

PMID- 27648804
TI  - Hypertension After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Friend or Foe?
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health problem, with severe TBI
      contributing to a large number of deaths and disability worldwide. Early
      hypotension has been linked with poor outcomes following severe TBI, and
      guidelines suggest early and aggressive management of hypotension after TBI.
      Despite these recommendations, no guidelines exist for the management of
      hypertension after severe TBI, although observational data suggests that early
      hypertension is also associated with an increased risk of mortality after severe
      TBI. The purpose of this review is to discuss the underlying pathophysiology of
      hypertension after TBI, provide an overview of the current clinical data on early
      hypertension after TBI, and discuss future research that should test the benefits
      and harms of treating high blood pressure in TBI patients.

PMID- 27648806
TI  - Conformational Activation of a Transmembrane Proton Channel from Constant pH
      Molecular Dynamics.
AB  - Proton-coupled transmembrane proteins play important roles in human health and
      diseases; however, detailed mechanisms are often elusive. Experimentally
      resolving proton positions and structural details is challenging, and
      conventional molecular dynamics simulations are performed with preassigned and
      fixed protonation states. To address this challenge, here we illustrate the use
      of the state-of-the-art continuous constant pH molecular dynamics (CpHMD) to
      directly describe the activation of the M2 channel of influenza virus, for which
      abundant experimental data are available. Starting from the closed crystal
      structure, simulation reveals a pH-dependent conformational switch to an
      activated state that resembles the open crystal structure. Importantly,
      simulation affords the free energy of channel opening coupled to the titration of
      a histidine tetrad, thereby providing a thermodynamic mechanism for M2
      activation, that is consistent with NMR data and resolves the controversy with
      crystal structures obtained at different pH values. This work illustrates the
      utility of CpHMD in offering previously unattainable conformational details and
      thermodynamic information for proton-coupled transmembrane channels and
      transporters.

PMID- 27648807
TI  - Is the perceived placebo effect comparable between adults and children? A meta
      regression analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A potential larger perceived placebo effect in children compared with
      adults could influence the detection of the treatment effect and the
      extrapolation of the treatment benefit from adults to children. This study aims
      to explore this potential difference, using a meta-epidemiological approach.
      METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was done to identify trials
      included in meta-analyses evaluating a drug intervention with separate data for
      adults and children. The standardized mean change and the proportion of
      responders (binary outcomes) were used to calculate the perceived placebo effect.
      A meta-regression analysis was conducted to test for the difference between
      adults and children of the perceived placebo effect. RESULTS: For binary
      outcomes, the perceived placebo effect was significantly more favorable in
      children compared with adults (beta = 0.13; P = 0.001). Parallel group trials
      (beta = -1.83; P < 0.001), subjective outcomes (beta = -0.76; P < 0.001), and the
      disease type significantly influenced the perceived placebo effect. CONCLUSION:
      The perceived placebo effect is different between adults and children for binary
      outcomes. This difference seems to be influenced by the design, the disease, and
      outcomes. Calibration of new studies for children should consider cautiously the
      placebo effect in children.

PMID- 27648809
TI  - Insight into the Working Mechanism of Quenchbody: Transition of the Dye around
      Antibody Variable Region That Fluoresces upon Antigen Binding.
AB  - Recently, we reported a novel immunoassay reagent Quenchbody (Q-body): a single
      chain antibody variable region (scFv) fragment labeled with fluorescent dye,
      whose fluorescence intensity increases when it binds to the antigen. Here we
      analyze its working mechanism by immuno- and fluorescence polarization (FP)
      assays. In an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we found that in the presence of
      antigen osteocalcin peptide (BGP-C7), more TAMRA-labeled Q-bodies bound to anti
      TAMRA antibody than in its absence. Moreover, we found that anti-BGP Q-body with
      the shortest linker that exhibits the largest antigen-dependency in fluorescence
      showed the highest binding signal. Similar results were obtained with anti
      bisphenol A (BPA) Q-bodies, with inversed correlation with their linker lengths.
      In the FP assay, when the ATTO 520 labeled Q-body was added with antigen, the
      Brownian motion of the dye became more active, which resulted in reduced
      fluorescence anisotropy r. In other words, in the presence of antigen, 1/r
      showing that the dye mobility is larger than in the absence of its antigen. In
      addition, anti-BGP Q-body with the largest antigen-dependency in fluorescence
      showed the highest mobility. Overall, these results clearly suggest that the
      antigen-dependent fluorescence quenching and recovery of Q-body is caused by the
      movement of the dye within and around scFv, which moves out of scFv upon binding
      with its antigen.

PMID- 27648808
TI  - Biochemical surrogate markers of hemolysis do not correlate with directly
      measured erythrocyte survival in sickle cell anemia.
AB  - Hemolysis is a key feature of sickle cell anemia (HbSS). Direct quantitation of
      hemolysis could be used as an objective outcome in clinical trials of new
      therapeutics for HbSS and would also enable better human studies of the
      pathogenesis of complications of HbSS that are ostensibly hemolysis-related, such
      as pulmonary hypertension. However, contemporary human studies in HbSS have used
      only surrogate markers of hemolysis rather than direct measurements of RBC
      survival. We directly quantified hemolysis in HbSS by measuring survival of an
      age cohort of RBCs labeled with a stable isotope, administered orally as 15 N
      glycine, a metabolic precursor of heme. The atomic excess of 15 N in heme
      extracted from blood was monitored by mass spectrometry over time. We performed
      13 labeling experiments in 11 individuals with HbSS. Mean RBC survival was 31.9
      days (range 14.1-53.6). Both HbF level, a known determinant of hemolysis, and
      absolute reticulocyte count (ARC), an index of the marrow's response to
      hemolysis, correlated with directly measured RBC survival (r = 0.61, P < 0.002; r
      = -0.84, P < 0.001). However, commonly used biochemical surrogates of hemolysis
      (LDH, AST, bilirubin, and plasma free hemoglobin) did not correlate with directly
      measured RBC survival. These biochemical surrogates should be interpreted
      cautiously, at best, in clinical trials and human physiologic studies in HbSS.
      ARC was the best correlate of total hemolysis, but only 70% of the variation in
      RBC survival was reflected in this marker. If greater accuracy is required in
      human studies, 15 N-glycine RBC labeling can directly and accurately quantify
      hemolysis. Am. J. Hematol. 91:1195-1201, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648811
TI  - Eukaryotic microbes, principally fungi and labyrinthulomycetes, dominate biomass
      on bathypelagic marine snow.
AB  - In the bathypelagic realm of the ocean, the role of marine snow as a carbon and
      energy source for the deep-sea biota and as a potential hotspot of microbial
      diversity and activity has not received adequate attention. Here, we collected
      bathypelagic marine snow by gentle gravity filtration of sea water onto 30 MUm
      filters from ~1000 to 3900 m to investigate the relative distribution of
      eukaryotic microbes. Compared with sediment traps that select for fast-sinking
      particles, this method collects particles unbiased by settling velocity. While
      prokaryotes numerically exceeded eukaryotes on marine snow, eukaryotic microbes
      belonging to two very distant branches of the eukaryote tree, the fungi and the
      labyrinthulomycetes, dominated overall biomass. Being tolerant to cold
      temperature and high hydrostatic pressure, these saprotrophic organisms have the
      potential to significantly contribute to the degradation of organic matter in the
      deep sea. Our results demonstrate that the community composition on bathypelagic
      marine snow differs greatly from that in the ambient water leading to wide
      ecological niche separation between the two environments.

PMID- 27648813
TI  - Is empathy associated with a self-ascribed sense of meaning among resident
      physicians working with patients nearing the end of life on a hematology-oncology
      ward?

PMID- 27648810
TI  - Interleukin-15 promotes intestinal dysbiosis with butyrate deficiency associated
      with increased susceptibility to colitis.
AB  - Dysbiosis resulting in gut-microbiome alterations with reduced butyrate
      production are thought to disrupt intestinal immune homeostasis and promote
      complex immune disorders. However, whether and how dysbiosis develops before the
      onset of overt pathology remains poorly defined. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is
      upregulated in distressed tissue and its overexpression is thought to predispose
      susceptible individuals to and have a role in the pathogenesis of celiac disease
      and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although the immunological roles of IL-15
      have been largely studied, its potential impact on the microbiota remains
      unexplored. Analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA-based inventories of bacterial
      communities in mice overexpressing IL-15 in the intestinal epithelium (villin-IL
      15 transgenic (v-IL-15tg) mice) shows distinct changes in the composition of the
      intestinal bacteria. Although some alterations are specific to individual
      intestinal compartments, others are found across the ileum, cecum and feces. In
      particular, IL-15 overexpression restructures the composition of the microbiota
      with a decrease in butyrate-producing bacteria that is associated with a
      reduction in luminal butyrate levels across all intestinal compartments. Fecal
      microbiota transplant experiments of wild-type and v-IL-15tg microbiota into germ
      free mice further indicate that diminishing butyrate concentration observed in
      the intestinal lumen of v-IL-15tg mice is the result of intrinsic alterations in
      the microbiota induced by IL-15. This reconfiguration of the microbiota is
      associated with increased susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate-induced
      colitis. Altogether, this study reveals that IL-15 impacts butyrate-producing
      bacteria and lowers butyrate levels in the absence of overt pathology, which
      represent events that precede and promote intestinal inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 27648812
TI  - Phylogenomic networks reveal limited phylogenetic range of lateral gene transfer
      by transduction.
AB  - Bacteriophages are recognized DNA vectors and transduction is considered as a
      common mechanism of lateral gene transfer (LGT) during microbial evolution.
      Anecdotal events of phage-mediated gene transfer were studied extensively,
      however, a coherent evolutionary viewpoint of LGT by transduction, its extent and
      characteristics, is still lacking. Here we report a large-scale evolutionary
      reconstruction of transduction events in 3982 genomes. We inferred 17 158 recent
      transduction events linking donors, phages and recipients into a phylogenomic
      transduction network view. We find that LGT by transduction is mostly restricted
      to closely related donors and recipients. Furthermore, a substantial number of
      the transduction events (9%) are best described as gene duplications that are
      mediated by mobile DNA vectors. We propose to distinguish this type of paralogy
      by the term autology. A comparison of donor and recipient genomes revealed that
      genome similarity is a superior predictor of species connectivity in the network
      in comparison to common habitat. This indicates that genetic similarity, rather
      than ecological opportunity, is a driver of successful transduction during
      microbial evolution. A striking difference in the connectivity pattern of donors
      and recipients shows that while lysogenic interactions are highly species
      specific, the host range for lytic phage infections can be much wider, serving to
      connect dense clusters of closely related species. Our results thus demonstrate
      that DNA transfer via transduction occurs within the context of phage-host
      specificity, but that this tight constraint can be breached, on rare occasions,
      to produce long-range LGTs of profound evolutionary consequences.

PMID- 27648815
TI  - Efficiency Enhancement of Quantum Dot Sensitized TiO2/ZnO Nanorod Arrays Solar
      Cells by Plasmonic Ag Nanoparticles.
AB  - A high efficiency quantum dot sensitized solar cell (QDSC) based on Ag
      nanoparticles (NPs) decorated TiO2/ZnO nanorod arrays (NAs) photoelectrode has
      been constructed. The incorporation of Ag NPs to TiO2/ZnO NAs photoelectrode not
      only increases light harvesting efficiency and facilitates exciton dissociation
      but also decreases surface charge recombination and prolongs electron lifetime,
      which collectively contribute to improving the Jsc of the CdS/CdSe QDs
      cosensitized solar cells. The direct contact of Ag NPs with TiO2 NPs is
      undergoing Fermi level alignment; thus, the apparent Fermi level is supposed to
      trigger an upward shift of more negative potential, which results in an increase
      the Voc of the QDSCs. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of the QDSCs
      with Ag NPs decorated TiO2/ZnO NAs photoelectrode reached 5.92%, which is about
      22% enhancement of the efficiency for the solar cells without Ag NPs (4.80%).

PMID- 27648816
TI  - Continuous-Flow Electrophilic Amination of Arenes and Schmidt Reaction of
      Carboxylic Acids Utilizing the Superacidic Trimethylsilyl Azide/Triflic Acid
      Reagent System.
AB  - A continuous flow protocol for the direct stoichiometric electrophilic amination
      of aromatic hydrocarbons and the Schmidt reaction of aromatic carboxylic acids
      using the superacidic trimethylsilyl azide/triflic acid system is described.
      Optimization of reagent stoichiometry, solvent, reaction time, and temperature
      led to an intensified protocol at elevated temperatures that allows the direct
      amination of arenes to be completed within 3 min at 90  degrees C. In order to
      improve the selectivity and scope of this direct amination protocol, aromatic
      carboxylic acids were additionally chosen as substrates. Selected carboxylic
      acids could be converted to their corresponding amine counterparts in good to
      excellent yields (11 examples, 55-83%) via a Schmidt reaction employing similar
      flow reaction conditions (<5 min at 90  degrees C) and a similar reactor setup as
      for the amination. The safety issues derived from the explosive, toxic, and
      volatile hydrazoic acid intermediate, the corrosive nature of triflic acid, and
      the exothermic quenching were addressed by designing a suitable continuous flow
      reaction setup for both types of transformations.

PMID- 27648814
TI  - Enzalutamide in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with visceral
      disease in the liver and/or lung: Outcomes from the randomized controlled phase 3
      AFFIRM trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC)
      and visceral metastases have a worse prognosis than those with nonvisceral
      metastases. Treatment with the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide in the
      phase 3 AFFIRM trial led to significant improvements in outcomes for patients
      with mCRPC. For the current report, the authors analyzed the efficacy of
      enzalutamide among patients from the AFFIRM trial who had visceral disease.
      METHODS: Patients who had liver and/or lung metastases at baseline were selected
      for prespecified overall survival (OS) and exploratory post hoc analyses,
      including prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response and the time to PSA and
      radiographic progression. RESULTS: In patients who had liver metastases (n = 92),
      enzalutamide was associated with a lower risk of radiographic progression (hazard
      ratio [HR], 0.645; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.413-1.008), improved 12-month
      OS (37.7% vs 20.6%) and radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) (11.6% vs
      3.0%) rates, and higher PSA response rates (35.1% vs 4.8%) compared with placebo.
      Enzalutamide-treated patients who had lung metastases (n = 104) had improved
      median OS (HR, 0.848; 95% CI, 0.510-1.410), a substantially reduced risk of
      radiographic progression (HR, 0.386; 95% CI, 0.259-0.577), improved 12-month OS
      (65.1% vs 55.3%) and rPFS (30.9% vs 8.2%) rates, increased time to PSA
      progression (HR, 0.358; 95% CI, 0.204-0.627), and a better PSA response rate
      (52.1% vs 4.9%) compared with those who received placebo. No increase in
      treatment-related adverse events was observed for the visceral metastases cohort
      compared with the nonvisceral metastases cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Across multiple
      endpoints, patients who have visceral metastases have better outcomes with
      enzalutamide than with placebo. Cancer 2017;123:253-262. (c) 2016 American Cancer
      Society.

PMID- 27648817
TI  - Monitoring of human herpesviruses-6 and -7 DNA in saliva samples during the acute
      and convalescent phases of exanthem subitum.
AB  - The amounts of the DNAs of human herpesviruses-6 (HHV-6) and -7 (HHV-7) in saliva
      samples were monitored during the acute and convalescent phases of exanthem
      subitum (ES) to elucidate the kinetics of virus shedding after ES. A total of 247
      saliva samples were collected from 17 children (5 males and 12 females: 8-31
      months old at onset). The monitoring period ranged from 152 to 721 days after
      onset, and in 15 children it was longer than 1 year. Among the 17 cases, 16 were
      attributed to HHV-6B, while a single case was attributed to HHV-7. Detection
      rates and average amounts of HHV-6 DNA in saliva samples after ES attributed to
      HHV-6B were low in the acute phase, increased to the maximum in the convalescent
      phase at 3-7 months, and then decreased. In addition, to investigate the source
      of infection, saliva samples from the older siblings (age 3-9 years) and parents
      of ES patients and children with a history of ES were also examined. The
      detection rate of HHV-6 DNA in saliva samples from 3- to 9-year-old children was
      significantly higher than the rate in adult saliva samples. Taken together, these
      findings suggest that the saliva of children in the convalescent phase of ES
      might be a more likely source of HHV-6 infection than that of adults. J. Med.
      Virol. 89:696-702, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648818
TI  - The Weakness of B-H???pi Interactions: Much Softer than a Hydrogen Bond.
AB  - Recently, a new type of non-covalent interaction, the B-H???pi interaction, was
      introduced. Nevertheless, the unique determination of individual, non-covalent
      bond strengths in complex molecular systems is a non-trivial task with often
      controversial results. The utilization of generalized compliance constants
      (relaxed force constants) is proposed as unique bond-strength descriptors for
      classical and non-classical hydrogen bonds. The strength of recently proposed B
      H???pi bonds is discussed.

PMID- 27648819
TI  - Controlled Release of Hepatocyte Growth Factor from MPEG-b-(PCL-ran-PLLA) Diblock
      Copolymer for Improved Vocal Fold Regeneration.
AB  - An in situ-forming gel system comprised of diblock copolymer formed from
      polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polycaprolactone (PCL) {MPEG-b-(PCL-ran-PLLA)}
      could be used in controlled drug delivery for tissue remodeling. The purpose of
      this study is to demonstrate favorable vocal folds (VF) regeneration by using
      MPEG-b-(PCL-ran-PLLA) diblock copolymers (C97L3; CL/LA ratio 97:3) incorporating
      hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Gradual release of HGF from C97L3 is detected and
      biochemical properties of released HGF are maintained. A scar is made with
      microscissors on both VFs in 32 rabbits, followed by injection of HGF-only, C97L3
      only, or HGF-C97L3 composite gel in the left side VF, while the right side VF is
      left untreated. In vivo fluorescence live imaging system demonstrates that C97L3
      enables the sustained release of injected HGF in the scarred VF for 12 weeks. The
      histological analysis shows increased glycosaminoglycan including hyaluronic acid
      accumulation and decreased collagen deposition. Videokymographic analysis shows
      more favorable vibrations of HGF-C97L3 treated VF mucosa, compared to other
      treatment groups. In conclusion, the controlled HGF release helps to regulate
      extracellular matrix synthesis, and leads to the eventual functional improvement
      of the scarred VF.

PMID- 27648821
TI  - Efficacy of a new hemostatic forceps during gastric endoscopic submucosal
      dissection: A prospective randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Currently, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a widely
      accepted standard treatment for early gastric cancer, but one challenging aspect
      of ESD is hemostasis. We developed a new hemostatic forceps (FD-Y0007) with the
      aim of achieving more effective hemostasis and investigated the hemostatic
      ability of the FD-Y0007 during gastric ESD in humans. METHODS: This study was a
      prospective randomized controlled trial, which was conducted at a cancer referral
      center. Sixty-six patients who were scheduled to undergo ESD were enrolled and
      randomly assigned to either the Coagrasper or the FD-Y0007, which was used for
      hemostasis throughout the case. The primary end point was the time required to
      obtain hemostasis, which was measured for the first episode of bleeding during
      each case. RESULTS: Hemostasis time for the first bleeding episode during ESD was
      73.0 s for the Coagrasper and 21.5 s for the FD-Y0007 (P < 0.001). When all
      episodes of bleeding were included, hemostasis time was 56.8 s in the Coagrasper
      group and 25.5 s in FD-Y0007group (P < 0.0001). The frequency of adverse events
      (perforation: 3.4% vs 7.1%; delayed bleeding: 0% vs 0%) was not significantly
      different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the Coagrasper, the
      FD-Y0007 efficiently reduces the hemostatic time during gastric ESD with no
      increase in adverse events.

PMID- 27648820
TI  - Effect of amine content and chemistry on long-term, three-dimensional hepatocyte
      spheroid culture atop aminated elastin-like polypeptide coatings.
AB  - Culture conditions that induce hepatic spheroidal aggregates sustain liver cells
      with metabolism that mimics in vivo hepatocytes. Here we present an array of
      elastin-like polypeptide conjugate coating materials (Aminated-ELPs) that are
      biocompatible, have spheroid-forming capacity, can be coated atop traditional
      culture surfaces, and maintain structural integrity while ensuring adherence of
      spheroids over long culture period. The Aminated-ELPs were synthesized either by
      direct conjugation of ELP and various polyelectrolytes or by conjugating both ELP
      and various small electrolytes to the reactive polymer poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethyl
      azlactone) (PVDMA). Spheroid morphology, cellular metabolic function, and liver
      specific gene expression over the long-term, 20-day culture period were assessed
      through optical microscopy, measurement of total protein content and albumin and
      urea production, and quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR. We found that the amine
      content of the Aminated-ELP coatings dictated the initial hepatocyte attachment,
      but not the subsequent hepatocyte spheroid formation and their continued
      attachment. A lower amine content was generally found to sustain higher albumin
      production by the spheroids. Out of the 19 Aminated-ELP coatings tested, we found
      that the lysine-containing substrates comprising ELP-polylysine or ELP-PVDMA
      butanediamine proved to consistently culture productive spheroidal hepatocytes.
      We suggest that the incorporation of lysine functional groups in Aminated-ELP
      rendered more biocompatible surfaces, increasing spheroid attachment and leading
      to increased liver-specific function. Taken together, the Aminated-ELP array
      presented here has the potential to create in vitro hepatocyte culture models
      that mimic in vivo liver functionality and thus, lead to better understanding of
      liver pathophysiology and superior screening methods for drug efficacy and
      toxicity. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 377
      388, 2017.

PMID- 27648823
TI  - Foreign body removal in children: Recommendations versus real life-A survey of
      current clinical management in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Task forces of the European Respiratory Society (ERS, 2003) and the
      American Thoracic Society (ATS, 2015) both recommend rigid bronchoscopy for
      foreign body removal in children. However, there is an increasing number of
      publications recommending flexible bronchoscopy as primary method for foreign
      body removal in children. METHODS: We therefore initiated a nationwide survey,
      investigating the routinely used method of foreign body removal in children in
      different centers in Germany. RESULTS: In total, 259 centers took part in the
      survey. Twenty percent used flexible bronchoscopy as primary method of choice for
      foreign body removal. Of note, only 40% of the respondents reported that they had
      attended formal training courses in flexible bronchoscopy, 15% in rigid
      bronchoscopy, and 42% had never attended a formal training. Twenty-five percent
      indicated that they had already encountered an emergency situation during or
      after foreign body removal, requiring intensive care. CONCLUSION: Published data
      shows that rigid bronchoscopy involves fewer complications and is more successful
      in foreign body removal in children. It is consequently questionable, why 20% of
      the medical centers report a preference for the flexible method. One reason might
      be the poor availability of rigid bronchoscopy and the difficulty gaining
      sufficient expertise in rigid bronchoscopy in Germany. Pediatr Pulmonol.
      2017;52:656-661. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648822
TI  - An unexplored pathway for degradation of cholate requires a 7alpha-hydroxysteroid
      dehydratase and contributes to a broad metabolic repertoire for the utilization
      of bile salts in Novosphingobium sp. strain Chol11.
AB  - Bile salts such as cholate are surface-active steroid compounds with functions
      for digestion and signaling in vertebrates. Upon excretion into soil and water
      bile salts are an electron- and carbon-rich growth substrate for environmental
      bacteria. Degradation of bile salts proceeds via intermediates with a 3-keto
      Delta1,4 -diene structure of the steroid skeleton as shown for e.g. Pseudomonas
      spp. Recently, we isolated bacteria degrading cholate via intermediates with a 3
      keto-7-deoxy-Delta4,6 -structure of the steroid skeleton suggesting the existence
      of a second pathway for cholate degradation. This potential new pathway was
      investigated with Novosphingobium sp. strain Chol11. A 7alpha-hydroxysteroid
      dehydratase encoded by hsh2 was identified, which was required for the formation
      of 3-keto-7-deoxy-Delta4,6 -metabolites. A hsh2 deletion mutant could still grow
      with cholate but showed impaired growth. Cholate degradation of this mutant
      proceeded via 3-keto-Delta1,4 -diene metabolites. Heterologous expression of Hsh2
      in the bile salt-degrading Pseudomonas sp. strain Chol1 led to the formation of a
      dead-end steroid with a 3-keto-7-deoxy-Delta4,6 -diene structure. Hsh2 is the
      first steroid dehydratase with an important function in a metabolic pathway of
      bacteria that use bile salts as growth substrates. This pathway contributes to a
      broad metabolic repertoire of Novosphingobium strain Chol11 that may be
      advantageous in competition with other bile salt-degrading bacteria.

PMID- 27648824
TI  - Comparison of Microwave and Conventional Frying on Quality Attributes and Fat
      Content of Potatoes.
AB  - A comparative analysis of quality attributes (moisture, fat, color, and
      relaxation modulus) of French fries was performed between conventional and
      microwave frying. Experiments were performed in triplicate for both frying
      operations at temperatures of 177, 185, and 193  degrees C for frying times of
      60, 90, and 120 s. The real-time pressure and temperature profiles at above
      conditions indicated that during microwave frying, gage pressure had greater
      magnitudes that lasted longer, and the temperature increased to boiling point of
      water faster in comparison to conventional frying. Lower magnitude of negative
      pressure during microwave frying is expected to have caused lower fat content in
      fries obtained using this method (0.08 g/g solids less at 185  degrees C and 0.07
      g/g solids less at 193  degrees C) than conventional frying. The lightness
      parameter (L* ) decreased to a lesser extent in microwave frying than in
      conventional frying. The stress relaxation function of the French fries were
      significantly different between the 2 frying operations. Consumer test confirmed
      that reduced fat uptake during microwave frying did not compromise with desirable
      quality attributes of French fries. X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning
      provided complementary understanding about differences in microstructural
      properties of fries made using microwave and conventional frying.

PMID- 27648826
TI  - Interplay between Diagnostic Criteria and Prognostic Accuracy in Chronic Kidney
      Disease.
AB  - In a Perspective, Giuseppe Remuzzi and Richard Glassock discuss diagnostic
      criteria for chronic kidney disease and implications for disease progression.

PMID- 27648825
TI  - Exploiting agonist biased signaling of chemokines to target cancer.
AB  - As knowledge of growth-independent functions of cancer cells is expanding,
      exploration into the role of chemokines in modulating cancer pathogenesis,
      particularly metastasis, continues to develop. However, more study into the
      mechanisms whereby chemokines direct the migration of cancer cells is needed
      before specific therapies can be generated to target metastasis. Herein, we draw
      attention to the longstanding conundrum in the field of chemokine biology that
      chemokines stimulate migration in a biphasic manner; and explore this
      phenomenon's impact on chemokine function in the context of cancer. Typically,
      low concentrations of chemokines lead to chemotactic migration and higher
      concentrations halt migration. The signaling mechanisms that govern this
      phenomenon remain unclear. Over the last decade, we have defined a novel
      signaling mechanism for regulation of chemokine migration through ligand
      oligomerization and biased agonist signaling. We provide insight into this new
      paradigm for chemokine signaling and discuss how it will impact future
      exploration into chemokine function and biology. In the pursuit of producing more
      novel cancer therapies, we suggest a framework for pharmaceutical application of
      the principles of chemokine oligomerization and biased agonist signaling in
      cancer. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648827
TI  - Association between P16INK4a Promoter Methylation and Ovarian Cancer: A Meta
      Analysis of 12 Published Studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is the primary cause of death in women diagnosed with
      gynecological malignancies worldwide. Absence of early symptoms prevents prompt
      diagnosis or successful therapeutic intervention. P16INK4a is a well-known tumor
      suppressor gene (TSG). Aberrant methylation of TSG promoter is an important
      epigenetic silencing mechanism leading to ovarian cancer progression. Studies
      have reported differences in methylation frequencies of the p16INK4a promoter
      between ovarian cancer and the corresponding control group. However, the
      association between p16INK4a promoter methylation and ovarian cancer remains
      unclear and controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to clarify
      the relationship between p16INK4a promoter methylation and ovarian cancer.
      METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and CNKI were searched to identify
      eligible studies for the evaluation of the association between p16INK4a promoter
      methylation and ovarian cancer. Odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals
      (95%CI) were calculated to determine the strength of association between p16INK4a
      promoter methylation and ovarian cancer. RESULTS: A total of 612 ovarian cancer
      patients and 289 controls from 12 eligible studies were included in the meta
      analysis. Overall, a significant association was observed between p16INK4a
      methylation status and ovarian cancer risk using a fixed-effects model (OR =
      2.02, 95% CI = 1.39-2.94). CONCLUSION: The results of our meta-analysis show that
      aberrant methylation of p16INK4a promoter was significantly associated with
      ovarian cancer. It may represent a promising molecular marker to monitor the
      disease and provides new insights into the treatment of human ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27648828
TI  - A Prediction Model for ROS1-Rearranged Lung Adenocarcinomas based on Histologic
      Features.
AB  - AIMS: To identify the clinical and histological characteristics of ROS1
      rearranged non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs) and build a prediction model
      to prescreen suitable patients for molecular testing. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      identified 27 cases of ROS1-rearranged lung adenocarcinomas in 1165 patients with
      NSCLCs confirmed by real-time PCR and FISH and performed univariate and
      multivariate analyses to identify predictive factors associated with ROS1
      rearrangement and finally developed prediction model. Detected with ROS1
      immunochemistry, 59 cases of 1165 patients had a certain degree of ROS1
      expression. Among these cases, 19 cases (68%, 19/28) with 3+ and 8 cases (47%,
      8/17) with 2+ staining were ROS1 rearrangement verified by real-time PCR and
      FISH. In the resected group, the acinar-predominant growth pattern was the most
      commonly observed (57%, 8/14), while in the biopsy group, solid patterns were the
      most frequently observed (78%, 7/13). Based on multiple logistic regression
      analysis, we determined that female sex, cribriform structure and the presence of
      psammoma body were the three most powerful indicators of ROS1 rearrangement, and
      we have developed a predictive model for the presence of ROS1 rearrangements in
      lung adenocarcinomas. CONCLUSIONS: Female, cribriform structure and presence of
      psammoma body were the three most powerful indicator of ROS1 rearrangement
      status, and predictive formula was helpful in screening ROS1-rearranged NSCLC,
      especially for ROS1 immunochemistry equivocal cases.

PMID- 27648829
TI  - Internal Resonance in a Vibrating Beam: A Zoo of Nonlinear Resonance Peaks.
AB  - In oscillating mechanical systems, nonlinearity is responsible for the departure
      from proportionality between the forces that sustain their motion and the
      resulting vibration amplitude. Such effect may have both beneficial and harmful
      effects in a broad class of technological applications, ranging from
      microelectromechanical devices to edifice structures. The dependence of the
      oscillation frequency on the amplitude, in particular, jeopardizes the use of
      nonlinear oscillators in the design of time-keeping electronic components.
      Nonlinearity, however, can itself counteract this adverse response by triggering
      a resonant interaction between different oscillation modes, which transfers the
      excess of energy in the main oscillation to higher harmonics, and thus stabilizes
      its frequency. In this paper, we examine a model for internal resonance in a
      vibrating elastic beam clamped at its two ends. In this case, nonlinearity occurs
      in the form of a restoring force proportional to the cube of the oscillation
      amplitude, which induces resonance between modes whose frequencies are in a ratio
      close to 1:3. The model is based on a representation of the resonant modes as two
      Duffing oscillators, coupled through cubic interactions. Our focus is put on
      illustrating the diversity of behavior that internal resonance brings about in
      the dynamical response of the system, depending on the detailed form of the
      coupling forces. The mathematical treatment of the model is developed at several
      approximation levels. A qualitative comparison of our results with previous
      experiments and numerical calculations on elastic beams is outlined. 

PMID- 27648830
TI  - A Genome-Wide Survey of the Microsatellite Content of the Globe Artichoke Genome
      and the Development of a Web-Based Database.
AB  - The recently acquired genome sequence of globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var.
      scolymus) has been used to catalog the genome's content of simple sequence repeat
      (SSR) markers. More than 177,000 perfect SSRs were revealed, equivalent to an
      overall density across the genome of 244.5 SSRs/Mbp, but some 224,000 imperfect
      SSRs were also identified. About 21% of these SSRs were complex (two stretches of
      repeats separated by <100 nt). Some 73% of the SSRs were composed of dinucleotide
      motifs. The SSRs were categorized for the numbers of repeats present, their
      overall length and were allocated to their linkage group. A total of 4,761
      perfect and 6,583 imperfect SSRs were present in 3,781 genes (14.11% of the
      total), corresponding to an overall density across the gene space of 32,5 and
      44,9 SSRs/Mbp for perfect and imperfect motifs, respectively. A putative function
      has been assigned, using the gene ontology approach, to the set of genes
      harboring at least one SSR. The same search parameters were applied to reveal the
      SSR content of 14 other plant species for which genome sequence is available.
      Certain species-specific SSR motifs were identified, along with a hexa-nucleotide
      motif shared only with the other two Compositae species (sunflower (Helianthus
      annuus) and horseweed (Conyza canadensis)) included in the study. Finally, a
      database, called "Cynara cardunculus MicroSatellite DataBase" (CyMSatDB) was
      developed to provide a searchable interface to the SSR data. CyMSatDB facilitates
      the retrieval of SSR markers, as well as suggested forward and reverse primers,
      on the basis of genomic location, genomic vs genic context, perfect vs imperfect
      repeat, motif type, motif sequence and repeat number. The SSR markers were
      validated via an in silico based PCR analysis adopting two available assembled
      transcriptomes, derived from contrasting globe artichoke accessions, as
      templates. 

PMID- 27648833
TI  - Promoting health in lesbian and bisexual women: it is not just about behaviour
      change.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To highlight different ways that healthcare professionals
      can promote health and reduce health inequalities of lesbian and bisexual women
      using a health promotion framework that focusses on the wider healthcare context.
      BACKGROUND: Lesbian and bisexual women experience numerous health disparities
      that place them at high risk of poor health outcomes. The Frieden health impact
      pyramid (American Journal for Public Health, 100, 2010 and 590) identifies five
      tiers of public health interventions. This pyramid could be used to promote
      health in lesbian and bisexual women in healthcare settings. DESIGN: A discursive
      paper. METHODS: Literature was searched from 2008-2015 using PubMed,
      ScienceDirect and published grey literature. Individual key words were used to
      locate articles that focused on lesbian and bisexual women's health inequalities
      and to identify the interventions to address these. RESULTS: Examples are
      presented across the tiers of the health impact pyramid in the context of
      healthcare settings that healthcare practitioners could action to promote health
      in lesbian and bisexual women. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the Frieden triangle
      offers an alternative way to promote health by conceptualising health promotion
      interventions that promote lesbian and bisexual women without just focusing on
      behaviour change. The importance of changing areas of practice in healthcare
      organisations to be more supportive of lesbian and bisexual women and their
      healthcare needs is highlighted. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study
      highlights the ways that healthcare professionals can promote health of lesbian
      and bisexual women within their healthcare practice to help reduce health
      disparities.

PMID- 27648832
TI  - Chlorinated Methylsiloxanes Generated in the Papermaking Process and Their Fate
      in Wastewater Treatment Processes.
AB  - Simulated experiments indicated that chlorinated volatile methylsiloxanes,
      detected by Q-TOF GC/MS, could be generated in a pulp-bleaching process, where
      poly(dimethylsiloxane)s fluids with volatile methylsiloxanes as impurities and
      molecular chlorine were used as a defoamer and bleaching agent, respectively. In
      the producing processes of one papermaking factory, the mean total concentrations
      of monochlorinated D4, D5, and D6, i.e., D3D(CH2Cl), D4D(CH2Cl), and D5D(CH2Cl),
      were 0.0430-287 MUg/L in aqueous samples, while they were 0.0329-270 MUg/g in
      solid samples. In the coupled papermaking-wastewater treatment processes,
      D3D(CH2Cl), D4D(CH2Cl), and D5D(CH2Cl) were detected in all water (0.113-8.68
      MUg/L) and solid samples (0.888-26.2 MUg/g), with solid-water partition values
      (468-3982 L/kg) 1.08-4.82 times higher than those of their corresponding
      nonchlorinated analogs. The removing efficiencies of D3D(CH2Cl)-D5D(CH2Cl) in the
      whole wastewater treatment processes were 77.1-81.6%, and sorption to sludge
      (35.7-74.1%) and removal in the primary clarifier (7.19-32.5%) had major
      contributions to their total removal. Elimination experiments showed that 1)
      hydrolysis half-lives of D3D(CH2Cl)-D5D(CH2Cl) (0.9-346 h) in the primary
      clarifier (pH = 7.8-9.2) were 2.16-3.60 times shorter than those of their
      nonchlorinated analogs; 2) D3D(CH2Cl)-D5D(CH2Cl) were hardly degraded in oxic
      sludge treatment process, and their volatilization half-lives (7.38-21.1 h) in
      oxic sludge were 1.21-1.50 times longer than those of their nonchlorinated
      analogs.

PMID- 27648834
TI  - Fano Interference in the Optical Absorption of an Individual Gold-Silver
      Nanodimer.
AB  - Fano resonances are central features in the responses of many systems including
      atoms, molecules, and nanomaterials. They arise as a consequence of interferences
      between two channels, most frequently associated with two system modes. In
      plasmonic materials, Fano interferences between optical modes have been shown,
      experimentally and theoretically, to induce narrow features in their scattering
      spectra. By investigating individual silver-gold heterodimers, we first
      experimentally demonstrate that Fano interference is also a key effect in the
      optical absorption of plasmonic nano-objects, in agreement with theoretical
      predictions. Conversely to previously investigated systems, the two interacting
      modes at the origin of absorptive Fano effect are mostly localized on either one
      or the other dimer component. Experimental results were obtained by selectively
      monitoring the optical absorption of one dimer component using a two-color
      nonlinear time-resolved technique. This also opens the way to full optical far
      field noncontact investigations of charge or energy exchanges between nano
      objects with a spatial resolution much smaller than the optical wavelength.

PMID- 27648831
TI  - Preventing Unnecessary Costs of Drug-Induced Hypoglycemia in Older Adults with
      Type 2 Diabetes in the United States and Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The costs of drug-induced hypoglycemia are a critical but often
      neglected component of value-based arguments to reduce tight glycemic control in
      older adults with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: An economic (decision-tree) analysis
      compared rates, costs, quality-adjusted life-years, and incremental costs per
      quality-adjusted life-year gained associated with mild, moderate and severe
      hypoglycemic events for 6 glucose-lowering medication classes in type 2 diabetic
      adults aged 65-79 versus those 80 years and older. The national U.S. (Center for
      Medicare Services) and Canadian public health payer perspectives were adopted.
      FINDINGS: Incidence rates of drug-induced hypoglycemia were the highest for basal
      insulin and sulfonylureas: 8.64 and 4.32 events per person-year in 65-79 year
      olds, and 12.06 and 6.03 events per person-year for 80 years and older. In both
      the U.S. and Canada, metformin dominated sulfonylureas, basal insulin and
      glucagon-like peptide1 receptor agonists. Relative to sulfonylureas,
      thiazolidinediones had the lowest incremental cost-effectiveness ratios in the
      U.S. and dominated sulfonylureas in Canada for adults 80 years and older.
      Relative to sulfonylureas, dipeptidyl peptidase4 inhibitors were cost-effective
      for adults 80 years and older in both countries, and for 65-79 year olds in
      Canada. Annual costs of hypoglycemia for older adults attaining very tight
      glycemic control with the use of insulin or sulfonylureas were estimated at
      U.S.$509,214,473 in the U.S. and CAN$65,497,849 in Canada. CONCLUSIONS:
      Optimizing drug therapy for older type 2 diabetic adults through the avoidance of
      drug-induced hypoglycemia will dramatically improve patient health while also
      generating millions of dollars by saving unnecessary medical costs.

PMID- 27648835
TI  - Fast Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Calculations of the X-ray
      Absorption Spectroscopy of Large Systems.
AB  - The computational cost of calculations of K-edge X-ray absorption spectra using
      time-dependent density functional (TDDFT) within the Tamm-Dancoff approximation
      is significantly reduced through the introduction of a severe integral screening
      procedure that includes only integrals that involve the core s basis function of
      the absorbing atom(s) coupled with a reduced quality numerical quadrature for
      integrals associated with the exchange and correlation functionals. The memory
      required for the calculations is reduced through construction of the TDDFT matrix
      within the absorbing core orbitals excitation space and exploiting further
      truncation of the virtual orbital space. The resulting method, denoted fTDDFTs,
      leads to much faster calculations and makes the study of large systems tractable.
      The capability of the method is demonstrated through calculations of the X-ray
      absorption spectra at the carbon K-edge of chlorophyll a, C60 and C70.

PMID- 27648836
TI  - Assessment of Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide/Oxygen, Isoflurane and Pentobarbital
      Killing Methods in Adult Female Sprague-Dawley Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to carbon dioxide (CO2) gas as a killing method is aversive
      and exposure to high concentrations is likely to be painful. Bradycardia during
      exposure to CO2 is associated with nociception and pain. However, it is unclear
      if bradycardia occurs before loss of consciousness as definitions of loss of
      consciousness vary in the literature. The objectives of this study were to
      explore the relationship between recumbency, loss of righting reflex (LORR) and a
      quiescent electromyograph as measures of loss of consciousness, and identify the
      onset of bradycardia in relation to these measures. Our primary hypothesis was
      that CO2 exposure would result in bradycardia, which would precede LORR. METHODS:
      Thirty-two adult, female Sprague-Dawley rats were instrumented with a telemetry
      device and randomly assigned to one of four killing methods (concentrations of
      100% CO2, CO2 (70%)/O2 (30%), isoflurane (5%) and intraperitoneal pentobarbital
      (200 mg/kg). Time to achieve recumbency, LORR, quiescent electromyograph,
      isoelectric electrocorticograph, heart rate and apnea were recorded. RESULTS: The
      general order of progression was recumbency, LORR, quiescent electromyograph,
      isoelectric electrocorticograph and apnea. Recumbency preceded LORR in the
      majority of animals (CO2; 7/8, CO2/O2; 8/8, isoflurane; 5/8, pentobarbital; 4/8).
      Bradycardia occurred before recumbency in the CO2 (p = 0.0002) and CO2/O2 (p =
      0.005) groups, with a 50% reduction in heart rate compared to baseline. The
      slowest (time to apnea) and least consistent killing methods were CO2/O2 (1180 +/
      658.1s) and pentobarbital (875 [239 to 4680]s). CONCLUSION: Bradycardia, and
      consequently nociception and pain, occurs before loss of consciousness during CO2
      exposure. Pentobarbital displayed an unexpected lack of consistency, questioning
      its classification as an acceptable euthanasia method in rats.

PMID- 27648838
TI  - Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Cellular Drug Transporters Are Associated with
      Intolerance to Antiretroviral Therapy in Brazilian HIV-1 Positive Individuals.
AB  - Adverse reactions are the main cause of treatment discontinuation among HIV+
      individuals. Genes related to drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and
      excretion (ADME) influence drug bioavailability and treatment response. We have
      investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 29
      ADME genes and intolerance to therapy in a case-control study including 764
      individuals. Results showed that 15 SNPs were associated with intolerance to
      nucleoside and 11 to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs and
      NNRTIs), and 8 to protease inhibitors (PIs) containing regimens under alpha =
      0.05. After Bonferroni adjustment, two associations remained statistically
      significant. SNP rs2712816, at SLCO2B1 was associated to intolerance to NRTIs
      (ORGA/AA = 2.37; p = 0.0001), while rs4148396, at ABCC2, conferred risk of
      intolerance to PIs containing regimens (ORCT/TT = 2.64; p = 0.00009).
      Accordingly, haplotypes carrying rs2712816A and rs4148396T alleles were also
      associated to risk of intolerance to NRTIs and PIs, respectively. Our data
      reinforce the role of drug transporters in response to HIV therapy and may
      contribute to a future development of personalized therapies. 

PMID- 27648840
TI  - Sex Reversal in Amphibians.
AB  - Amphibians have been widely used to study developmental biology due to the fact
      that embryo development takes place independently of the maternal organism and
      that observations and experimental approaches are easy. Some amphibians like
      Xenopus became model organisms in this field. In the first part of this article,
      the differentiation of the gonads in amphibians and the mechanisms governing this
      process are reviewed. In the second part, the state of the art about sex
      reversal, which can be induced by steroid hormones in general and by temperature
      in some species, is presented. Also information about pollutants found in the
      environment that could interfere with the development of the amphibian
      reproductive apparatus or with their reproductive physiology is given. Such
      compounds could play a part in the amphibian decline, since in the wild, many
      amphibians are endangered species.

PMID- 27648839
TI  - HIV-1 Vpr Abrogates the Effect of TSG101 Overexpression to Support Virus Release.
AB  - HIV-1 budding requires interaction between Gag and cellular TSG101 to initiate
      viral particle assembly and release via the endosomal sorting complexes required
      for transport (ESCRT) pathway. However, some reports show that overexpression of
      TSG101 inhibits virus release by disruption of Gag targeting process. Since a HIV
      1 accessory protein, Vpr binds to Gag p6 domain at the position close to the
      binding site for TSG101, whether Vpr implicates TSG101 overexpression effect has
      not been investigated. Here, we found that Vpr abrogates TSG101 overexpression
      effect to rescue viral production. Co-transfection of TSG101 and Gag with Vpr
      prevented TSG101-induced Gag accumulation in endosomes and lysosomes. In
      addition, Vpr rescued virus-like particle (VLP) production in a similar manner as
      a lysosomal inhibitor, Bafilomycin A1 indicating that Vpr inhibits TSG101-induced
      Gag downregulation via lysosomal pathway. Vpr and Gag interaction is required to
      counteract TSG101 overexpression effect since Vpr A30F mutant which is unable to
      interact with Gag and incorporate into virions, reduced ability to prevent Gag
      accumulation and to rescue VLP production. In addition, GST pull-down assays and
      Biacore analysis revealed that Vpr competed with TSG101 for Gag binding. These
      results indicate that Vpr overcomes the effects of TSG101 overexpression to
      support viral production by competing with TSG101 to bind Gag. 

PMID- 27648837
TI  - MicroRNA-138 and MicroRNA-25 Down-regulate Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter,
      Causing the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Cancer Phenotype.
AB  - RATIONALE: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an obstructive vasculopathy
      characterized by excessive pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PASMC)
      proliferation, migration, and apoptosis resistance. This cancer-like phenotype is
      promoted by increased cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]cyto), aerobic glycolysis, and
      mitochondrial fission. OBJECTIVES: To determine how changes in mitochondrial
      calcium uniporter (MCU) complex (MCUC) function influence mitochondrial dynamics
      and contribute to PAH's cancer-like phenotype. METHODS: PASMCs were isolated from
      patients with PAH and healthy control subjects and assessed for expression of
      MCUC subunits. Manipulation of the pore-forming subunit, MCU, in PASMCs was
      achieved through small interfering RNA knockdown or MCU plasmid-mediated up
      regulation, as well as through modulation of the upstream microRNAs (miRs) miR
      138 and miR-25. In vivo, nebulized anti-miRs were administered to rats with
      monocrotaline-induced PAH. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Impaired MCUC function,
      resulting from down-regulation of MCU and up-regulation of an inhibitory subunit,
      mitochondrial calcium uptake protein 1, is central to PAH's pathogenesis. MCUC
      dysfunction decreases intramitochondrial calcium ([Ca2+]mito), inhibiting
      pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and glucose oxidation, while increasing
      [Ca2+]cyto, promoting proliferation, migration, and fission. In PAH PASMCs,
      increasing MCU decreases cell migration, proliferation, and apoptosis resistance
      by lowering [Ca2+]cyto, raising [Ca2+]mito, and inhibiting fission. In normal
      PASMCs, MCUC inhibition recapitulates the PAH phenotype. In PAH, elevated miRs
      (notably miR-138) down-regulate MCU directly and also by decreasing MCU's
      transcriptional regulator cAMP response element-binding protein 1. Nebulized anti
      miRs against miR-25 and miR-138 restore MCU expression, reduce cell
      proliferation, and regress established PAH in the monocrotaline model.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight miR-mediated MCUC dysfunction as a unifying
      mechanism in PAH that can be therapeutically targeted.

PMID- 27648841
TI  - Comparison of the Therapeutic Efficacy of the Early and the Delayed Use of
      Vinorelbine-Based Regimens for Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of vinorelbine
      based regimens as first-, second- and more-line therapies in advanced breast
      cancer (ABC) and to analyze the best timing of vinorelbine treatment. METHODS: A
      total of 71 ABC patients were retrospectively reviewed. Of these, 35 patients
      were treated with vinorelbine-based regimens as first-line chemotherapy, and 36
      patients were treated with vinorelbine-based regimens as second-line or more-line
      therapy. The primary end point of the study was progression-free survival (PFS).
      RESULTS: No difference was found in baseline characteristics between the two
      groups (p > 0.1 for all comparisons). There was a significant difference in the
      objective response rate (ORR; p = 0.006) and clinical benefit rate (CBR; p =
      0.013) between the first-line group and the second- or more-line groups. In the
      vinorelbine first-line group, the ORR was 68.6% (24 patients), and in the second
      line or more-line groups the ORR was 36.1% (13 patients). A significant
      difference in PFS between the first-line group and the second-line or more-line
      groups was also observed (p = 0.030). The median PFS in the overall population
      was 6.3 +/- 1.32 months (95% CI 3.69-8.90). The median PFS was 11.1 +/- 3.76
      months (95% CI 3.73-18.47) in the first-line group compared with 5.2 +/- 1.35
      months (95% CI 2.54-7.85) in the second-line or more-line groups. In patients
      treated with vinorelbine-trastuzumab combination as the first-line therapy, a
      complete response was observed in 1 patient (12.5%) and partial response in 5
      patients (62.5%), giving an ORR of 75.0%. Progressive disease was observed in 1
      patient (12.5%), and stable disease in 1 patient (12.5%), leading to a CBR of
      87.5%. The median PFS was 13.8 +/- 2.75 months (95% CI 8.42-19.18), and median OS
      was 37.0 +/- 11.6 months (95% CI 14.18-59.82). No significant difference was
      found in overall survival (OS) between the groups (p = 0.612). CONCLUSION: For
      ABC patients, no significant difference in median OS was found between the early
      use and delayed use of vinorelbine-based regimens, but the short-term efficacy
      and PFS of vinorelbine-based regimens were significantly better in the early use
      group than in the delayed use group.

PMID- 27648843
TI  - Correction: High Levels of Sample-to-Sample Variation Confound Data Analysis for
      Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening of Fetal Microdeletions.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153182.].

PMID- 27648842
TI  - Does Gender Influence Colour Choice in the Treatment of Visual Stress?
AB  - PURPOSE: Visual Stress (VS) is a condition in which words appear blurred, in
      motion, or otherwise distorted when reading. Some people diagnosed with VS find
      that viewing black text on white paper through coloured overlays or precision
      tinted lenses (PTLs) reduces symptoms attributed to VS. The aim of the present
      study is to determine whether the choice of colour of overlays or PTLs is
      influenced by a patient's gender. METHODS: Records of all patients attending a VS
      assessment in two optometry practices between 2009 and 2014 were reviewed
      retrospectively. Patients who reported a significant and consistent reduction in
      symptoms with either overlay and or PTL were included in the analysis. Overlays
      and PTLs were categorized as stereotypical male, female or neutral colours based
      on gender preferences as described in the literature. Chi-square analysis was
      carried out to determine whether gender (across all ages or within age groups)
      was associated with overlay or PTL colour choice. RESULTS: 279 patients (133
      males and 146 females, mean age 17 years) consistently showed a reduction in
      symptoms with an overlay and were included. Chi-square analysis revealed no
      significant association between the colour of overlay chosen and male or female
      gender (Chi-square 0.788, p = 0.674). 244 patients (120 males and 124 females,
      mean age 24.5 years) consistently showed a reduction in symptoms with PTLs and
      were included. Chi-square analysis revealed a significant association between
      stereotypical male/female/neutral colours of PTLs chosen and male/female gender
      (Chi-square 6.46, p = 0.040). More males preferred stereotypical male colour PTLs
      including blue and green while more females preferred stereotypical female colour
      PTLs including pink and purple. CONCLUSIONS: For some VS patients, the choice of
      PTL colour is influenced not only by the alleviation of symptoms but also by
      other non-visual factors such as gender.

PMID- 27648844
TI  - African Tick-Bite Fever in Traveler Returning to Slovenia from Uganda.

PMID- 27648845
TI  - Critical factors and their impact on bioelectrical impedance analysis in
      children: a review.
AB  - Several guidelines for bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) have been prepared
      for adults, but not for children. For that reason, there is a pressing need to
      develop a consensus set of guidelines to facilitate standardisation of BIA in
      this important group. This review provides an introduction to BIA, highlights
      critical factors that may impact on BIA and identifies areas where there is a
      need for further research in order to increase the quality of impedance
      measurements and prediction of body composition in children. Although the results
      of this review highlights a lack of studies in children to provide definitive BIA
      guidelines, the technique has, however, still proven valuable for body
      composition assessment in ill and healthy children. To fill the gaps in our
      knowledge, future studies should focus on methodological issues, particularly
      with regard to hydration, voiding, clothing, skin preparation and body position.
      The review may advantageously be used as a checklist in the planning of future
      studies. Finally, this review forms the basis for the development of guidelines
      for BIA assessment in this particular group; a task appropriately to be
      undertaken by scientific societies within the field.

PMID- 27648846
TI  - Rubber dam isolation for restorative treatment in dental patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Successful restorations in dental patients depend largely on the
      effective control of moisture and microbes during the procedure. The rubber dam
      technique has been one of the most widely used isolation methods in dental
      restorative treatments. The evidence on the effects of rubber dam usage on the
      longevity of dental restorations is conflicting. Therefore, it is important to
      summarise the available evidence to determine the effects of this method.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of rubber dam isolation compared with other
      types of isolation used for direct and indirect restorative treatments in dental
      patients. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the following electronic databases:
      Cochrane Oral Health's Trials Register (searched 17 August 2016), Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 7) in the Cochrane
      Library (searched 17 August 2016), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 17 August 2016), Embase
      Ovid (1980 to 17 August 2016), LILACS BIREME Virtual Health Library (Latin
      American and Caribbean Health Science Information database; 1982 to 17 August
      2016), SciELO BIREME Virtual Health Library (1998 to 17 August 2016), Chinese
      BioMedical Literature Database (CBM, in Chinese) (1978 to 30 August 2016), VIP
      (in Chinese) (1989 to 30 August 2016), and China National Knowledge
      Infrastructure (CNKI, in Chinese) (1994 to 30 August 2016). We searched
      ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical
      Trials Registry Platform, OpenGrey and Sciencepaper Online (in Chinese) for
      ongoing trials. There were no restrictions on the language or date of publication
      when searching the electronic databases. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included
      randomised controlled trials (including split-mouth trials) assessing the effects
      of rubber dam isolation for restorative treatments in dental patients. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened the results of
      the electronic searches, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the
      included studies. We resolved disagreement by discussion. MAIN RESULTS: We
      included four studies that analysed 1270 participants (among which 233
      participants were lost to follow-up). All the included studies were at high risk
      of bias. We excluded one trial from the analysis due to inconsistencies in the
      presented data.The results indicated that dental restorations had a significantly
      higher survival rate in the rubber dam isolation group compared to the cotton
      roll isolation group at six months in participants receiving composite
      restorative treatment of non-carious cervical lesions (risk ratio (RR) 1.19, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 1.04 to 1.37, very low-quality evidence). It also showed
      that the rubber dam group had a lower risk of failure at two years in children
      undergoing proximal atraumatic restorative treatment in primary molars (hazard
      ratio (HR) 0.80, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.97, very low-quality evidence). One trial
      reported limited data showing that rubber dam usage during fissure sealing might
      shorten the treatment time. None of the included studies mentioned adverse
      effects or reported the direct cost of the treatment, or the level of patient
      acceptance/satisfaction. There was also no evidence evaluating the effects of
      rubber dam usage on the quality of the restorations. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We
      found some very low-quality evidence, from single studies, suggesting that rubber
      dam usage in dental direct restorative treatments may lead to a lower failure
      rate of the restorations, compared with the failure rate for cotton roll usage.
      Further high quality research evaluating the effects of rubber dam usage on
      different types of restorative treatments is required.

PMID- 27648847
TI  - Intranasal brain-targeted clonazepam polymeric micelles for immediate control of
      status epilepticus: in vitro optimization, ex vivo determination of cytotoxicity,
      in vivo biodistribution and pharmacodynamics studies.
AB  - Clonazepam (CZ) is an anti-epileptic drug used mainly in status epilepticus (SE).
      The drug belongs to Class II according to BCS classification with very limited
      solubility and high permeability and it suffers from extensive first-pass
      metabolism. The aim of the present study was to develop CZ-loaded polymeric
      micelles (PM) for direct brain delivery allowing immediate control of SE. PM were
      prepared via thin film hydration (TFH) technique adopting a central composite
      face-centered design (CCFD). The seventeen developed formulae were evaluated in
      terms of entrapment efficiency (EE), particle size (PS), polydispersity index
      (PDI), zeta potential (ZP), and in vitro release. For evaluating the in vivo
      behavior of the optimized formula, both biodistrbution using 99mTc-radiolabeled
      CZ and pharmacodynamics studies were done in addition to ex vivo cytotoxicty. At
      a drug:Pluronic(r) P123:Pluronic(r) L121 ratio of 1:20:20 (PM7), a high EE, ZP,
      Q8h, and a low PDI was achieved. The biodistribution studies revealed that the
      optimized formula had significantly higher drug targeting efficiency (DTE =
      242.3%), drug targeting index (DTI = 144.25), and nose-to-brain direct transport
      percentage (DTP = 99.30%) and a significant prolongation of protection from
      seizures in comparison to the intranasally administered solution with minor
      histopathological changes. The declared results reveal the ability of the
      developed PM to be a strong potential candidate for the emergency treatment of
      SE.

PMID- 27648848
TI  - Hyperactivity in motor response inhibition networks in unmedicated children with
      attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Hypo/reduced activity in motor response inhibition (RI) cerebral
      networks was recently proposed as a promising specific neurobiological marker of
      attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Before adopting such a pattern
      as a key diagnosis tool, we aim to replicate in an independent study the
      mechanisms underlying reduced RI-related activity in ADHD, after controlling for
      potentially confounding effects. METHODS: In this fMRI study, we investigated the
      neural networks mediating successful and failed motor RI in children with ADHD
      and typically developing children (TDC) using the stop-signal task (SST)
      paradigm. RESULTS: In contrast to hypofrontality predictions, children with ADHD
      exhibit increased neural activity during successful response inhibition in an RI
      related brain network encompassing the indirect and/or hyperdirect pathways
      between the basal ganglia and cortex. Voxel-based morphometry analyses have
      further evidenced reduced grey matter volume in the left caudate in children with
      ADHD, which paralleled higher functional responses. Finally, connectivity
      analyses disclosed tighter coupling between a set of cortical regions and the
      right caudate as well as the right IFG, networks involved in successful RI.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hypo/reduced activity in RI cerebral networks in children with ADHD
      cannot at this time be considered as a systematic biomarker for ADHD.

PMID- 27648849
TI  - Differences between the activity of the masticatory muscles of adults with
      cerebral palsy and healthy individuals while at rest and in function.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare the electromyographic
      activity of masticatory muscles of adult patients with different degrees of oral
      motor impairment (cerebral palsy) with the electromyographic activity of healthy
      individuals in a control group. Electromyographic activity was compared when the
      masticatory muscles were at rest and in motion. DESIGN: Thirty adult patients
      with cerebral palsy and 30 subjects without neuromotor disorders were enrolled in
      the present study. Oral motor function impairment was classified for each subject
      according to the Orofacial Motor Function Assessment Scale. Surface
      electromyography was bilaterally recorded in the masseter and anterior temporalis
      muscles at rest, during maximal voluntary clench and mouth opening. Comparisons
      between the groups were statistically assessed using Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS:
      At rest and mouth opening, electromyographic values were higher among patients
      with cerebral palsy than control group. During maximal voluntary clench, the
      opposite occurred. The degree of oral motor impairment affected mouth opening.
      CONCLUSION: There are significant differences in masticatory muscle activity
      between adult patients with CP and healthy individuals, and the degree of oral
      motor impairment is important. SIGNIFICANCE: To improve the masticatory function
      of these patients, muscle therapy should approach rest, mouth opening and
      clenching differently.

PMID- 27648850
TI  - Isolation of lignin by organosolv process from different varieties of rice husk:
      Understanding their physical and chemical properties.
AB  - The aim of this work was to study the difference in properties of lignins, those
      (organosolv lignins (ORGLs, 12+/-3% yield and 93+/-5% mass balance) were isolated
      from diverse rice husk (RH) substrates using organosolv procedure (water:ethanol,
      H2SO4) carried out at 180 degrees C for 1h. To identify the possible alterations
      in lignin structures several bulk and molecular level advanced characterization
      tools were employed. Even though lignins were extracted using common isolation
      procedure from three varieties of similar species of RH; from XRD, GPC, and
      elemental analysis it was found that those have comparable properties on bulk
      level. But molecular level analysis conducted using UV-vis, ATR, 1D/2D HSQC NMR
      techniques could help disclose that isolated lignins have varying concentrations
      of G, H, S and T substructures. Additionally, the double bond equivalence of 4.4
      4.7 reveals that few of the aromatic rings are devoid of substituent.

PMID- 27648851
TI  - Biohydrogen production from waste bread in a continuous stirred tank reactor: A
      techno-economic analysis.
AB  - Biohydrogen production from waste bread in a continuous stirred tank reactor
      (CSTR) was techno-economically assessed. The treating capacity of the H2
      producing plant was assumed to be 2 ton waste bread per day with lifetime of
      10years. Aspen Plus was used to simulate the mass and energy balance of the
      plant. The total capital investment (TCI), total annual production cost (TAPC)
      and annual revenue of the plant were USD931020, USD299746/year and
      USD639920/year, respectively. The unit hydrogen production cost was USD1.34/m3 H2
      (or USD14.89/kg H2). The payback period and net present value (NPV) of the plant
      were 4.8years and USD1266654, respectively. Hydrogen price and operators cost
      were the most important variables on the NPV. It was concluded that biohydrogen
      production from waste bread in the CSTR was feasible for practical application.

PMID- 27648852
TI  - Biohydrogen and methane production via a two-step process using an acid
      pretreated native microalgae consortium.
AB  - A native microalgae consortium treated under thermal-acidic hydrolysis was used
      to produce hydrogen and methane in a two-step sequential process. Different acid
      concentrations were tested, generating hydrogen and methane yields of up to
      45mLH2gVS-1 and 432mLCH4gVS-1, respectively. The hydrogen production step
      solubilized the particulate COD (chemical oxygen demand) up to 30%, creating
      considerable amounts of volatile fatty acids (up to 10gCODL-1). It was observed
      that lower acid concentration presented higher hydrogen and methane production
      potential. The results revealed that thermal acid hydrolysis of a native
      microalgae consortium is a simple but effective strategy for producing hydrogen
      and methane in the sequential process. In addition to COD removal (50-70%), this
      method resulted in an energy recovery of up to 15.9kJ per g of volatile solids of
      microalgae biomass, one of the highest reported.

PMID- 27648853
TI  - Poly iron sulfate flocculant as an effective additive for improving the
      performance of microbial fuel cells.
AB  - Laboratory microbial fuel cells were supplied with artificial wastewater and used
      to examine how supplementation with poly iron sulfate, an inorganic polymer
      flocculant widely used in wastewater-treatment plants, affects electricity
      generation and anode microbiomes. It is shown that poly iron sulfate
      substantially increases electric outputs from microbial fuel cells.
      Microbiological analyses show that iron and sulfate separately affect anode
      microbiomes, and the increase in power output is associated with the increases in
      bacteria affiliated with the families Geobacteraceae and/or Desulfuromonadaceae.
      We suggest that poly iron sulfate is an effective additive for increasing the
      electric output from microbial fuel cells. Other utilities of poly iron sulfate
      in microbial fuel cells are also discussed.

PMID- 27648854
TI  - The effects of the therapeutic workplace and heavy alcohol use on homelessness
      among homeless alcohol-dependent adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A clinical trial demonstrated that a therapeutic workplace could
      promote alcohol abstinence in homeless, alcohol-dependent adults. This secondary
      data analysis examined rates of homelessness and their relation to the
      therapeutic workplace intervention and alcohol use during the trial. METHODS: In
      the trial, homeless, alcohol-dependent adults could work in a therapeutic
      workplace for 6 months and were randomly assigned to Unpaid Training, Paid
      Training, or Contingent Paid Training groups. Unpaid Training participants were
      not paid for working. Paid Training participants were paid for working.
      Contingent Paid Training participants were paid for working if they provided
      alcohol-negative breath samples. Rates of homelessness during the study were
      calculated for each participant and the three groups were compared. Mixed-effects
      regression models were conducted to examine the relation between alcohol use
      (i.e., heavy drinking, drinks per drinking day, and days of alcohol abstinence)
      and homelessness. RESULTS: Unpaid Training, Paid Training, and Contingent Paid
      Training participants did not differ in the percentage of study days spent
      homeless (31%, 28%, 17%; respectively; F(2,94)=1.732, p=0.183). However,
      participants with more heavy drinking days (b=0.350, p<0.001), more drinks per
      drinking day (b=0.267, p<0.001), and fewer days of alcohol abstinence (b=-0.285,
      p<0.001) spent more time homeless. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing heavy drinking and
      alcohol use may help homeless, alcohol-dependent adults transition out of
      homelessness.

PMID- 27648856
TI  - Do depressive symptoms explain associations between binge eating symptoms and
      later psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood?
AB  - Prospective associations between binge eating symptoms (i.e., objective
      overeating [OOE] and loss of control [LOC] eating) and psychosocial functioning
      during emerging adulthood were examined using data from the Longitudinal Study of
      Adolescent to Adult Health. We examined associations between OOE and LOC eating
      and psychosocial functioning variables with and without adjusting for concurrent
      depressive symptoms. Analyses revealed that OOE at Wave 3 (ages 18-28) was
      associated with depressive symptoms, social isolation, weight perception, and
      perceived attractiveness seven years later at Wave 4 (ages 25-35) and LOC eating
      at Wave 3 was associated with later depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts,
      weight perception, social isolation, number of close friends, and sleep
      difficulty. Analyses adjusted for depressive symptoms at Wave 3 revealed that OOE
      at Wave 3 was associated with social isolation and perceived attractiveness at
      Wave 4 and LOC eating at Wave 3 was associated with later depressive symptoms,
      isolation, number of close friends, and sleep difficulty. Results show that binge
      eating symptoms are prospectively associated with psychosocial impairment during
      emerging adulthood even after controlling for depressive symptoms. Rather than
      simply screening for depressive symptoms, results highlight the utility of
      screening for binge eating symptoms as these symptoms are independently
      associated with psychosocial impairment in emerging adults.

PMID- 27648857
TI  - Improved enzyme-mediated synthesis and supramolecular self-assembly of naturally
      occurring conjugates of beta-sitosterol.
AB  - Naturally occurring acylated beta-sitosteryl glucosides have been investigated
      for their novel properties. The synthetic protocol based on the literature data
      was improved and optimized. The main improvement consists in employing systems of
      ionic liquids combined with organic solvents in lipase-mediated esterification of
      (3beta)-stigmast-5-en-3-yl beta-d-glucopyranoside to get (3beta)-stigmast-5-en-3
      yl 6-O-acyl-beta-d-glucopyranosides. Maximum yields of these products were
      achieved with Candida antarctica lipase B immobilized on Immobead 150,
      recombinant from yeast, in absolute THF and in the presence of either ionic
      liquid [1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM]BF4) or 1-butyl-3
      methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([BMIM]PF6)] employed. Pharmacological
      activity of (3beta)-stigmast-5-en-3-yl 6-O-acyl-beta-d-glucopyranosides was
      studied in tests on MCF7 tumor cell lines; the compounds displayed moderate
      activity which was higher than the activity of beta-sitosterol. Supramolecular
      characteristics were discovered at (3beta)-stigmast-5-en-3-yl 6-O-dodecanoyl-beta
      d-glucopyranoside that formed supramolecular polymer through multiple H-bonds in
      a methanol/water system (60/40). Its formation was confirmed by the independent
      UV-vis measurements during certain time period, by variable temperature DOSY-NMR
      measurement in deuteriochloroform, and visualized by transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) showing chiral helical
      structures and complex superassembly systems based on fibrous supramolecular
      polymer. In contrary, no such properties have been observed for the other two
      (3beta)-stigmast-5-en-3-yl 6-O-acyl-beta-d-glucopyranosides under the given
      experimental conditions.

PMID- 27648858
TI  - The production and secretion of complement component C1q by human mast cells.
AB  - C1q is the initiation molecule of the classical pathway of the complement system
      and is produced by macrophages and immature dendritic cells. As mast cells share
      the same myeloid progenitor cells, we have studied whether also mast cells can
      produce and secrete C1q. Mast cells were generated in vitro from CD34+ progenitor
      cells from buffy coats or cord blood. Fully differentiated mast cells were shown
      by both RNA sequencing and qPCR to express C1QA, C1QB and C1QC. C1q produced by
      mast cells has a similar molecular make-up as serum C1q. Reconstituting C1q
      depleted serum with mast cell supernatant in haemolytic assays, indicated that
      C1q secreted by mast cells is functionally active. The level of C1q in
      supernatants produced under basal conditions was considerably enhanced upon
      stimulation with LPS, dexamethasone in combination with IFN- gamma or via
      FcepsilonRI triggering. Mast cells in human tissues stained positive for C1q in
      both healthy and in inflamed tissue. Moreover, mast cells in healthy and diseased
      skin appear to be the predominant C1q positive cells. Together, our data reveal
      that mast cells are able to produce and secrete functional active C1q and
      indicate mast cells as a local source of C1q in human tissue.

PMID- 27648855
TI  - SMN - A chaperone for nuclear RNP social occasions?
AB  - Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein localizes to both the nucleus and the
      cytoplasm. Cytoplasmic SMN is diffusely localized in large oligomeric complexes
      with core member proteins, called Gemins. Biochemical and cell biological studies
      have demonstrated that the SMN complex is required for the cytoplasmic assembly
      and nuclear transport of Sm-class ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). Nuclear SMN
      accumulates with spliceosomal small nuclear (sn)RNPs in Cajal bodies, sub-domains
      involved in multiple facets of snRNP maturation. Thus, the SMN complex forms
      stable associations with both nuclear and cytoplasmic snRNPs, and plays a
      critical role in their biogenesis. In this review, we focus on potential
      functions of the nuclear SMN complex, with particular emphasis on its role within
      the Cajal body.

PMID- 27648859
TI  - Pellino-1 derived cationic antimicrobial prawn peptide: Bactericidal activity,
      toxicity and mode of action.
AB  - The antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are multifunctional molecules which represent
      significant roles in the innate immune system. These molecules have been well
      known for decades because of their role as natural antibiotics in both
      invertebrates and vertebrates. The development of multiple drug resistance
      against conventional antibiotics brought a greater focus on AMPs in recent years.
      The cationic peptides, in particular, proven as host defense peptides and are
      considered as effectors of innate immunity. Among the various innate immune
      molecules, functions of pellino-1 (Peli-1) have been recently studied for its
      remarkable role in specific immune functions. In our study, we have identified
      Peli-1 from the cDNA library of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Mr)
      and analyzed its features using various in-silico methods. Real time PCR analysis
      showed an induced expression of MrPeli-1 during white spot syndrome virus (WSSV),
      bacteria (Vibrio harveyi) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli
      challenge. Also, a cationic AMP named MrDN was derived from MrPeli-1 protein
      sequence and its activity was confirmed against various pathogenic bacteria. The
      mode of action of MrDN was determined to be its membrane permeabilization ability
      against Bacillus cereus ATCC 2106 as well as its DNA binding ability. Further,
      scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images showed the membrane disruption and
      leakage of cellular components of B. cereus cells induced by MrDN. The toxicity
      of MrDN against normal cells (HEK293 cells) was demonstrated by MTT and hemolysis
      assays. Overall, the results demonstrated the innate immune function of MrPeli-1
      with a potential cationic AMP in prawn.

PMID- 27648861
TI  - Clinical features and long-term surgical outcomes in 39 patients withtumor
      related trigeminal neuralgia compared with 360 patients with idiopathic
      trigeminal neuralgia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare clinical features, long-term
      surgical outcomes between patients with idiopathic and tumor-related trigeminal
      neuralgia (TN), and to identify factors associated with the maintenance of
      permanent pain-free state. METHODS: Between January 2003 and December 2013, 360
      patients with idiopathic TN and 39 patients with tumor-related TN who had
      undergone microsurgery were retrospectively studied. Kaplan-Meier survival curves
      were generated and compared by Log-rank test, and the possible prognostic factors
      were analyzed by the Cox proportional-hazards regression. RESULTS: Patients with
      tumor-related TN exhibited a younger age of pain onset (46.28 +/- 18.18y vs.
      53.03 +/- 11.90y, p = .006), a briefer symptom duration (3.20 +/- 4.38y vs. 7.01
      +/- 6.04y, p = .000), and much more preoperative neuropathic deficits (61.54%%
      vs. 24.17%%, p = .000), as compared with patients with idiopathic TN. Using
      Kaplan-Meier analysis, we found microsurgery was effective in 72.3% of patients
      with idiopathic TN, and in 86.4% of cases with tumor-related TN at six years
      follow-up postoperatively. Prognostic analysis suggested that a clear-cut
      neurovascular compression in patients with idiopathic TN (HR = 3.098, 95%CI:
      1.800-5.311; p = .000) and total tumor removal in patients with tumor secondary
      TN (HR = 7.662, 95%CI: 0.098-36.574; p = .044) were positively correlated with
      excellent long-term outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrences of TN at younger age,
      a shorter duration and preponderance of preclinical neuropathic symptoms are the
      characteristics of TN patients secondary to intracranial tumor, in contrast to
      patients with TN caused by a compressed vessel. Microsurgery is an effective and
      safe treatment modality for TN regardless of the disease etiology, the
      involvement of a clear-cut vascular offender and total tumor resection are the
      most important predictors of excellent outcome for microsurgery in idiopathic and
      tumor-related TN patients, respectively.

PMID- 27648860
TI  - Identification and characterization of a novel nanobody against human placental
      growth factor to modulate angiogenesis.
AB  - Placental growth factor (PlGF), a member of vascular endothelial growth factors
      (VEGF) family, is considered as an important antigen associated with pathological
      conditions such as cancer cell growth, and metastasis. PlGF-targeting via
      nanobody (Nb) therefore could be beneficial to modulate these pathologies. In
      this work, phage-display and computational approach was employed to develop a
      high affinity PlGF-specific Nb. An Nb library was constructed against human
      recombinant PlGF (rPlGF). After panning on immobilized rPlGF the periplasmic
      extract (PE) of individual colonies were screened by ELISA (PE-ELISA). The 3D
      structures of selected Nbs were then homology modeled and energy minimized using
      the AMBER force field. Binding score calculations were also assessed to reveal
      possible Nb-PlGF interactions. Via ELISA-based affinity/specificity
      determinations, the best-qualified Nb was further evaluated by proliferation,
      migration, 3D capillary formation, invasion assays and on Chick chorioallantoic
      membrane (CAM) model. An immune library of 1.5*107 individual Nb clones was
      constructed. By PE-ELISA 12 clones with strong signals were selected. Three out
      of 12 sequenced Nbs (Nb-C13, Nb-C18 and Nb-C62) showed high binding scores
      ranging between -378.7 and -461kcal/mol. Compared to a control Nb, Nb-C18
      significantly inhibited proliferation, migration and the 3D-capillary formation
      of HUVEC cells (p<0.05) with an EC50 of 35nM, 42nM and 24nM and invasion of MDA
      MB231was significantly suppressed (p<0.05) with an EC50 of57nM. The result of the
      CAM assay shows that Nb-C18 could inhibit the vascular formation in the chicken
      chorioallantoic membrane. This Nb can be used as anti-angiogenesis agent in
      future.

PMID- 27648862
TI  - Numerical compliance testing of human exposure to electromagnetic radiation from
      smart-watches.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the electromagnetic dosimetry for smart-watches.
      At present, the standard for compliance testing of body-mounted and handheld
      devices specifies the use of a flat phantom to provide conservative estimates of
      the peak spatial-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR). This means that the
      estimated SAR using a flat phantom should be higher than the SAR in the exposure
      part of an anatomical human-body model. To verify this, we numerically calculated
      the SAR for a flat phantom and compared it with the numerical calculation of the
      SAR for four anatomical human-body models of different ages. The numerical
      analysis was performed using the finite difference time domain method (FDTD). The
      smart-watch models were used in the three antennas: the shorted planar inverted-F
      antenna (PIFA), loop antenna, and monopole antenna. Numerical smart-watch models
      were implemented for cellular commutation and wireless local-area network
      operation at 835, 1850, and 2450 MHz. The peak spatial-averaged SARs of the smart
      watch models are calculated for the flat phantom and anatomical human-body model
      for the wrist-worn and next to mouth positions. The results show that the flat
      phantom does not provide a consistent conservative SAR estimate. We concluded
      that the difference in the SAR results between an anatomical human-body model and
      a flat phantom can be attributed to the different phantom shapes and tissue
      structures.

PMID- 27648863
TI  - Effect of epigallocatechin-3-o-gallate and quercetin on the cryopreservation of
      cartilage tissue.
AB  - The effects of epigallocatechin-3-o-gallate (EGCG) and quercetin on the contents
      of extracellular matrix (ECM) in porcine cartilage at 4  degrees C were
      investigated. The addition of quercetin at 0.01 mM for the incubation of porcine
      cartilage disks at 4  degrees C for 2 week could suppress the decrease in ECM and
      the compliance of the disks, markedly greater than those of EGCG (1.0 mM).

PMID- 27648869
TI  - Drugs to Treat Hypertension.

PMID- 27648865
TI  - The evolution of gerontology and geriatrics in an era of a politics of aging.
AB  - The fields of gerontology and geriatrics are facing unprecedented changes,
      pressures, and opportunities. The 21st century requires that we utilize
      contemporary approaches to modernizing these disciplines for new populations, new
      cohorts and new social, economic and political demands. This article draws on the
      authors professional, academic, and public policy experiences to suggest
      initiatives and paradigms that can set a road map to both change the last
      centuries' notions of longevity and social supports to one that accounts for
      technology, varied cohorts, a public/private sector divide, and the nexus of
      aging and diversity.

PMID- 27648866
TI  - Do You Believe in Groundhogs?

PMID- 27648864
TI  - The prevalence of binge drinking among primary care residents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over one quarter of American adults binge drink, resulting in
      significant alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. Although brief interventions
      can decrease patients' alcohol use, many physicians in training do not provide
      this service. This study examines the prevalence of binge drinking among primary
      care residents, and the association of resident drinking behaviors with
      addressing patients' hazardous alcohol use. METHODS: Between July 2013 and August
      2014, the authors surveyed all trainees in 6 primary care residency programs. The
      survey assessed self-reported frequency of binge drinking, confidence working
      with hazardous drinkers, and the performance of brief interventions when
      hazardous drinking was detected in patients. RESULTS: 221 of 246 residents
      completed the survey (response rate 89.8%). Half of residents (109/221) reported
      at least one episode of binge drinking in the prior year, and 18% (39/221)
      reported binge drinking at least once a month. In multivariable analysis, monthly
      binge drinking was associated with male gender (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.4) and year
      of training (OR 0.25 for Year 3 vs. Year 1, 95% CI 0.07-0.90). Few residents felt
      confident they could help patients cut down or quit alcohol, regardless of
      personal binge drinking history (19% for those who binged monthly, 24% for those
      who binged 1-11 times a year, and 27% for those who never binged, p for trend =
      0.31). Performance of brief interventions did not vary by personal binge drinking
      history. CONCLUSIONS: Binge drinking is common among primary care residents. In
      addition to training residents to effectively intervene with hazardous drinkers,
      residency programs should address the high prevalence of binge drinking by their
      physicians in training.

PMID- 27648870
TI  - Antidepressant Drugs and the Risk of Intracranial Bleeding: Parsing an
      Observational Study.
AB  - Observational studies have suggested that antidepressant drug use is associated
      with a small but increased risk of intracranial bleeding. Because of the
      widespread use of antidepressant drugs and the potential public health
      significance of this finding, the current article critically evaluates the
      methodology and findings of a recently published observational study.
      Observational studies reveal associations, but cannot establish causality.
      Establishing causality from observed associations requires evidence from
      different scientific perspectives. Claims arising from observational studies are
      likely to be wrong, especially for small effects, because of bias and
      confounding. Statistical testing does not prove the validity of an association,
      nor does a meta-analysis of multiple observational studies. A valid association
      may not be clinically meaningful if the magnitude of the effect is small or the
      outcome is rare. Based on a critical analysis of these observational studies, it
      is concluded that the risk of intracranial bleeding associated with
      antidepressant drugs is likely to be a false alarm. [Journal of Psychosocial
      Nursing and Mental Health Services, 54(2), 21-24.]. 

PMID- 27648871
TI  - An Update on Teen Pregnancy.
AB  - After years of high teen birth rates, there is currently a decline in U.S.
      pregnancy and birth rates among teens. Nevertheless, these rates continue to be
      higher than those of most global counterparts, and psychosocial and physical
      adversities still occur for pregnant teens and their children. The declining
      birth rates may be due to teens making better choices about contraceptive use and
      sexual behaviors. Psychiatric-mental health nurses are in key positions to
      enhance pregnancy prevention for teens. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and
      Mental Health Services, 54(2), 25-28.]. 

PMID- 27648872
TI  - An Older Transgender Woman's Quest for Identity.
AB  - Despite sensationalized media attention, transgender individuals are the most
      marginalized and misunderstood group in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
      transgender (LGBT) community. The current article presents a case study of one
      woman's quest for identity. Narrative inquiry was used to analyze data from
      interview transcripts and four themes emerged during analysis: (a) naming the
      ambiguity, (b) revealing-concealing the authentic self, (c) discovering the
      transgender community, and (d) embracing the "T" identity. Lifespan and
      empowerment theories were used to harvest meanings from these themes.
      Implications for nursing practice and research were examined based on study
      findings. Participatory action research offers an approach for future studies in
      which researchers advocate for transgender individuals and remove obstacles to
      their health care access. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health
      Services, 54(2), 31-38.]. 

PMID- 27648873
TI  - A Recovery-Oriented Care Approach: Weighing the Pros and Cons of a Newly Built
      Mental Health Facility.
AB  - The current study adopted a recovery-oriented care approach by emphasizing
      patients' perspectives and experiences regarding changes to a newly built mental
      health facility. The inpatient entrance, or "portal," intended to balance the
      aims of recovery-oriented care with minimizing risk. A mixed-methods study of the
      portal's pros and cons was conducted, according to four themes: (a) autonomy
      versus inconvenience; (b) safety and security versus stigma; (c) unit door versus
      portal operating costs; and (d) privacy versus community integration. Focus
      groups engaging with patients (N = 39) indicated that the design effectively
      supported recovery-oriented care. Patients did not find the portal to be
      stigmatizing or triggering and valued the safety and privacy it created, and
      visitors also generally had a positive experience. Survey responses (N = 101)
      from portal users were also positive about the new design. The study findings
      suggest that the pros outweighed the cons of the new design. [Journal of
      Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 54(2), 39-48.]. 

PMID- 27648874
TI  - The Transition to Independence Process: Promoting Self-Efficacy in Transition
      Aged Youths.
AB  - Transition to adulthood is a developmental stage that presents unique and
      challenging problems. For individuals with dual diagnoses of mental disorders and
      substance abuse, the tragic dilemma confronting them is one of limited or
      nonexistent options as they attempt to navigate their way from child and
      adolescent services to adult programs. The Transition to Independence Process
      (TIP) is designed to facilitate more successful outcomes in the transition to
      adulthood by offering continuity of support. Nursing plays a crucial role in
      enabling young adults to develop a healthy sense of self-efficacy, thus
      facilitating the success of a TIP program. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and
      Mental Health Services, 54(2), 49-53.]. 

PMID- 27648876
TI  - Births in the United States, 2015.
AB  - KEY FINDINGS: Data from the National Vital Statistics System *There were 3.978
      million births in the United States in 2015, down less than 1% from 2014. *The
      2015 U.S. general fertility rate (births per 1,000 women aged 15-44) was down 1%
      from 2014. *Birth rates dropped in 2015 to record lows among women under age 30
      and rose for those aged 30-44. *The cesarean delivery rate declined to 32.0% of
      births in 2015; the preterm birth rate rose slightly to 9.63% from 2014 to 2015.
      This report presents several key demographic and maternal and infant health
      indicators using 2015 final birth data. Trends in general fertility rates, age
      specific birth rates, cesarean and low-risk cesarean delivery, and preterm birth
      rates are presented. Data are from the national vital statistics birth files.

PMID- 27648877
TI  - Noninvasive brain stimulation after stroke: it is time for large randomized
      controlled trials!
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We here provide an update about studies published recently in
      the field of noninvasive neuromodulation of the motor system, aiming at
      facilitating recovery of function after stroke. RECENT FINDINGS: A number of
      longitudinal studies have confirmed that repeated stimulation of the motor cortex
      in combination with motor training improves performance compared with control or
      sham stimulation. In the early postacute stroke phase, enhancement of
      ipsilesional motor cortex excitability by means of repetitive transcranial
      magnetic stimulation (rTMS) seems to be a well tolerated and effective strategy
      to promote motor recovery. In contrast, recent studies suggest that transcranial
      direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the early poststroke phase does not
      facilitate motor recovery. In the chronic phase, however, both rTMS and tDCS have
      been shown to be beneficial when applied over several days combined with
      training. Interestingly, bihemispheric stimulation strategies (ipsilesional
      activation and contralesional suppression) seem to constitute effective
      protocols, especially when using rTMS. SUMMARY: Noninvasive brain stimulation
      seems to support motor recovery. However, to date randomised controlled trials
      (RCTs) that are sufficiently powered are lacking. Data suggest that the most
      promising protocols should now be tested in RCTs with sufficiently large samples
      taking into account the clinical heterogeneity of stroke.

PMID- 27648878
TI  - Neurorehabilitation interventions to move beyond a plateau in motor outcomes.

PMID- 27648879
TI  - Further validation of booklet category test subscales for learning, set loss, and
      memory in a mixed clinical sample.
AB  - Although it has long been proposed that performance on the Booklet Category Test
      (BCT) relies on a number of different cognitive abilities, including executive
      functioning, perceptual reasoning, and memory, only a single total error score is
      typically derived and interpreted in clinical practice. BCT subscales based on
      factor analyses of subtest errors or designed specifically to measure specific
      cognitive domains have been proposed to better assess the multidimensional
      abilities underlying BCT performance. The aim of this study was to independently
      replicate and extend previous findings regarding the validity of these subscales.
      A mixed clinical sample of 137 patients completed the BCT and a number of
      additional measures used to assess neuropsychological domains of selective
      attention, various aspects of executive functioning, intellectual functioning,
      and memory. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the
      convergent and discriminant validity of each subscale. Subscales varied in the
      number and magnitude of their significant correlations with scores derived from
      traditional measures. In general, findings supported the convergent validity of
      BCT category learning, set loss, and memory subscales. However, findings
      regarding discriminant validity were more variable across subscales. Results
      provide additional support for the multidimensional nature of the BCT and the
      validity of derived subscales to measure specific aspects of cognitive
      functioning beyond what is measured by a total errors score. The recently
      proposed subscales examined in the current study appear to be worthy of further
      investigation by clinicians and researchers to determine their clinical utility.

PMID- 27648881
TI  - Sporotrichosis-Associated Hospitalizations, United States, 2000-2013.
AB  - To determine frequency and risk for sporotrichosis-associated hospitalizations,
      we analyzed the US 2000-2013 National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample. An estimated
      1,471 hospitalizations occurred (average annual rate 0.35/1 million persons).
      Hospitalizations were associated with HIV/AIDS, immune-mediated inflammatory
      diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Although rare, severe
      sporotrichosis should be considered for at-risk patients.

PMID- 27648880
TI  - Effects of hydroxytyrosol on cardiovascular biomarkers in experimental diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the influence of hydroxytyrosol (HT) on
      cardiovascular biomarkers and morphometric parameters of the arterial wall in
      streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Seven groups of rats (N=10 per group) were studied
      for 2 months: nondiabetic rats (NDR), diabetic rats treated with saline (DR) and
      DR treated with HT (0.5, 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg kg-1 day-1 p.o.). DR had higher
      platelet aggregation values, higher thromboxane B2, plasma lipid peroxidation, 3
      nitrotyrosine, oxidized LDL (oxLDL), myeloperoxidase, vascular cell adhesion
      molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) concentrations, and lower
      aortic 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha and nitric oxide production than NDR. Aortic
      wall area and smooth muscle cell count were also higher in DR than in NDR. HT
      significantly reduced both oxidative and nitrosative stress, oxLDL concentration,
      VCAM-1 and inflammatory mediators, platelet aggregation and thromboxane B2
      production. Morphometric values in the aortic wall were reduced to values near
      those in NDR. In conclusion, HT influenced the major biochemical processes
      leading to diabetic vasculopathy, and reduced cell proliferation in the vascular
      wall in this experimental model.

PMID- 27648882
TI  - A retrospective study of acute kidney injury in hip arthroplasty patients
      receiving gentamicin and dicloxacillin.
AB  - Background and purpose - Acute kidney injury is a known complication of
      antibiotic use. Antibiotic prophylaxis is essential to prevent periprosthetic
      infections after total hip replacement. We experienced a rise in the incidence of
      acute kidney injury (AKI), and in an effort to solve this problem, we changed our
      antibiotic prophylaxis protocol. We investigated whether removing gentamicin from
      our antibiotic protocol would cause fewer and less severe cases of renal
      impairment. Patients and methods - We performed a retrospective study involving
      136 cases of total hip replacement, with 66 patients receiving dicloxacillin and
      gentamicin and 70 patients receiving dicloxacillin alone. Results - We found less
      cases of AKI in the dicloxacillin group (p = 0.03): the mean creatine level in
      the dicloxacillin/gentamicin group was 126 (25-422) MUmol/L whereas it was 93 (39
      278) MUmol/L in the group that received dicloxacillin alone. We also found that
      cases were less severe in the dicloxacillin group than in the
      dicloxacillin/gentamicin group (p = 0.02). The relative risk of developing AKI
      was 3 times higher if dicloxacillin and gentamicin were both used (p = 0.02).
      Interpretation - After removing gentamicin, there were fewer and less severe
      cases of acute kidney injury.

PMID- 27648883
TI  - A theoretical stochastic control framework for adapting radiotherapy to hypoxia.
AB  - Hypoxia, that is, insufficient oxygen partial pressure, is a known cause of
      reduced radiosensitivity in solid tumors, and especially in head-and-neck tumors.
      It is thus believed to adversely affect the outcome of fractionated radiotherapy.
      Oxygen partial pressure varies spatially and temporally over the treatment course
      and exhibits inter-patient and intra-tumor variation. Emerging advances in non
      invasive functional imaging offer the future possibility of adapting radiotherapy
      plans to this uncertain spatiotemporal evolution of hypoxia over the treatment
      course. We study the potential benefits of such adaptive planning via a
      theoretical stochastic control framework using computer-simulated evolution of
      hypoxia on computer-generated test cases in head-and-neck cancer. The exact
      solution of the resulting control problem is computationally intractable. We
      develop an approximation algorithm, called certainty equivalent control, that
      calls for the solution of a sequence of convex programs over the treatment
      course; dose-volume constraints are handled using a simple constraint generation
      method. These convex programs are solved using an interior point algorithm with a
      logarithmic barrier via Newton's method and backtracking line search. Convexity
      of various formulations in this paper is guaranteed by a sufficient condition on
      radiobiological tumor-response parameters. This condition is expected to hold for
      head-and-neck tumors and for other similarly responding tumors where the linear
      dose-response parameter is larger than the quadratic dose-response parameter. We
      perform numerical experiments on four test cases by using a first-order vector
      autoregressive process with exponential and rational-quadratic covariance
      functions from the spatiotemporal statistics literature to simulate the evolution
      of hypoxia. Our results suggest that dynamic planning could lead to a
      considerable improvement in the number of tumor cells remaining at the end of the
      treatment course. Through these simulations, we also gain insights into when and
      why dynamic planning is likely to yield the largest benefits.

PMID- 27648886
TI  - Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Perioperative Intervention in Cancer Surgery: The
      Potential to Influence Outcome.

PMID- 27648884
TI  - Community- and Healthcare-Associated Clostridium difficile Infections, Finland,
      2008-2013(1).
AB  - We evaluated incidence, case-fatality rate, and trends of community-associated
      (CA) and healthcare-associated (HA) Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) in
      Finland during 2008-2013. CDIs were identified in the National Infectious Disease
      Register, deaths in the National Population Information System, hospitalizations
      to classify infections as CA or HA in the National Hospital Discharge Register,
      and genotypes in a reference laboratory. A total of 32,991 CDIs were identified:
      10,643 (32.3%) were CA (32.9 cases/100,000 population) and 22,348 (67.7%) HA
      (69.1/100,000). Overall annual incidence decreased from 118.7/100,000 in 2008 to
      92.1/100,000 in 2013, which was caused by reduction in HA-CDI rates (average
      annual decrease 8.1%; p<0.001). The 30-day case-fatality rate was lower for CA
      CDIs than for HA-CDIs (3.2% vs. 13.3%; p<0.001). PCR ribotypes 027 and 001 were
      more common in HA-CDIs than in CA-CDIs. Although the HA-CDI incidence rate
      decreased, which was probably caused by increased awareness and improved
      infection control, the CA-CDI rate increased.

PMID- 27648887
TI  - Perioperative Medicine within the Context of Global Health: A Billion Shades of
      Grey, Weighing it up, and the Emperor of All Maladies.

PMID- 27648888
TI  - Making the Case for the Subspecialty of Onco-Anesthesia.

PMID- 27648889
TI  - Mechanisms of Metastasis of Solid Organ Tumors in the Perioperative Period.

PMID- 27648890
TI  - Adrenergic, Inflammatory, and Immune Function in the Setting of Oncological
      Surgery: Their Effects on Cancer Progression and the Role of the Anesthetic
      Technique in their Modulation.

PMID- 27648892
TI  - Exercise and Nutrition Prehabilitation for the Evaluation of Risk and Therapeutic
      Potential in Cancer Patients: A Review.

PMID- 27648893
TI  - An Update on Existing Ongoing Prospective Trials Evaluating the Effect of
      Anesthetic and Analgesic Techniques During Primary Cancer Surgery on Cancer
      Recurrence or Metastasis.

PMID- 27648891
TI  - Long-term Consequences of the Acute Neural-Inflammatory Stress Response in the
      Cancer Surgical Patient: New Findings and Perspectives.

PMID- 27648895
TI  - The Experience of Long-Stay Parents in the ICU: A Qualitative Study of Parent and
      Staff Perspectives.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Meeting the needs of parents of critically ill children is
      increasingly being recognized as an important factor in the child's clinical
      outcome as well as the implications it has for future parenting. Little is
      specifically known about the experience of parents who have a child in the ICU
      for a prolonged period. Our objective was to understand the experiences of this
      group to assist in the identification of mechanisms for providing support.
      DESIGN: Qualitative study based on semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed
      using the Framework approach. SETTING: The study took place in a tertiary
      pediatric hospital containing three ICUs: PICU, cardiac ICU, and neonatal ICU
      (ICU will be used to encompass neonatal ICU, cardiac ICU, and PICU for the
      remainder of the article). SUBJECTS: Seventeen members of staff and 26 parents of
      a child who had a long stay in one of the three ICUs. INTERVENTIONS:
      Semistructured, tape-recorded interviews. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Analyses
      identified two overarching themes, "parent process" and "parent/staff interface,"
      and six subthemes: adjustment, normalization/institutionalization, conflict,
      involvement in child's care, individualized care, and transition. Themes have
      been modeled to account for the parental process during a long stay in the ICU
      and the potential implications for the relationships and interactions between
      parents and staff. Findings are presented from the data related to the parent
      process and parent/staff interface. Inclusion of an element in the model related
      to staff indicates where support mechanisms should be focused. CONCLUSIONS: Over
      time, long-stay families will likely become more familiar with the environment of
      the ICU, more knowledgeable about their child's medical needs and more familiar
      with the staff looking after their child. This has a number of implications for
      staff working in the ICU.

PMID- 27648898
TI  - Content Validation and Utility of a Critical Reflective Inquiry Assessment Tool.
AB  - A Critical Reflective Inquiry (CRI) Assessment Tool was developed based on the
      CRI Model to assess reflection in nursing practice. Experienced clinicians
      evaluated the CRI Assessment for clarity and relevance to the CRI Model and
      nursing practice utility. Content validity index was calculated for each item in
      the scale and then averaged across all items. The tool has potential in education
      and orientation for assessing the depth and focus of reflection and what is
      learned. 

PMID- 27648896
TI  - Association of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support Adequacy and Residual
      Lesions With Outcomes in Neonates Supported After Cardiac Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of data regarding the impact of extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation support, adequacy of surgical repair, and timing of
      intervention for residual structural lesions in neonates cannulated to
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after cardiac surgery. Our goal was to
      determine how these factors were associated with survival. DESIGN: Retrospective
      study. SETTING: Cardiovascular ICU. SUBJECTS: Neonates (<= 28 d old) with
      congenital heart disease cannulated to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after
      cardiac surgery during 2006-2013. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: Eighty-four neonates were cannulated to venoarterial extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation after cardiac surgery. Survival to discharge was 50%. There
      was no difference in survival based on surgical complexity and those with single
      or biventricular congenital heart disease. Prematurity (<= 36 wk gestation; odds
      ratio, 2.33; p = 0.01), preextracorporeal membrane oxygenation pH less than or
      equal to 7.17 (odds ratio, 2.01; p = 0.04), need for inotrope support during
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (odds ratio, 3.99; p = 0.03), and
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation duration greater than 168 hours (odds ratio,
      2.04; p = 0.04) were all associated with increased mortality. Although
      preextracorporeal membrane oxygenation lactate was not significantly different
      between survivors and nonsurvivors, unresolved lactic acidosis greater than or
      equal to 72 hours after cannulation (odds ratio, 2.77; p = 0.002) was associated
      with increased mortality. Finally, many patients (n = 70; 83%) were noted to have
      residual lesions after cardiac surgery, and time to diagnosis or correction of
      residual lesions was significantly shorter in survivors (1 vs 2 d; p = 0.02).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that clearance of lactate is an important
      therapeutic target for patients cannulated to extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation. In addition, timely identification of residual lesions and expedient
      interventions on those lesions may improve survival.

PMID- 27648897
TI  - The Power of Publishing.

PMID- 27648899
TI  - Nursing Professional Development Organizational Value Demonstration Project.
AB  - A common question nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners ask is,
      "How many NPD practitioners should my organization have?" This study examined
      correlations among facility size and structure, NPD practitioner characteristics
      and time in service, and organizational outcomes. Organizations with a higher
      rate of NPD full-time equivalents per bed had higher patient satisfaction with
      nurses' communication and provision of discharge instruction on their HCAHPS
      (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems) scores. 

PMID- 27648900
TI  - Improving Competence and Confidence With Evidence-Based Practice Among Nurses:
      Outcomes of a Quality Improvement Project.
AB  - Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an integral part of quality patient care,
      reduction in practice variation, and increased nursing autonomy. Yet, EBP is not
      a consistent standard in many organizations. Although many barriers to EBP have
      been cited, this project focused on poor knowledge of the EBP process and a lack
      of available EBP mentors or experts. A bundled set of educational interventions
      to improve the EBP confidence and self-efficacy of nurses was developed and
      implemented. Comparison of pre/post data showed improvement in all categories and
      questions. Committee members expressed greater confidence with the process and
      comfort level with leading EBP projects following the intervention. The
      educational bundle used in this project can serve as a model for others looking
      to develop competent EBP mentors within their organization. 

PMID- 27648901
TI  - Making Research Delicious: An Evaluation of Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, and
      Practice Using the Great American Cookie Experiment With Mobile Device Gaming.
AB  - In the current healthcare environment, nurses must have a basic understanding of
      research to lead change and implement evidence-based practice. The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention
      formulated on the framework of the Great American Cookie Experiment measuring
      nurses' research knowledge, attitudes, and practice using mobile device gaming.
      This multisite quantitative study provides insight into promotion of research and
      information about best practices on innovative teaching strategies for nurses. 

PMID- 27648902
TI  - Increasing the Number of Certified Registered Nurses in an Emergency Department:
      A Cohort Program Implementation.
AB  - Nationally, hospital emergency departments are met with challenges because of
      increasing patient demands, overcrowding, and the need to protect patient safety.
      It is imperative that frontline emergency department nurses are prepared to meet
      the complex needs of diverse patient populations by having appropriate continuing
      education, training, and institutional resources. Professional certification is
      associated with improved patient safety, higher organizational performance
      scores, professional growth, and credibility among nurses. The purpose of this
      article is to describe the process and outcome of a nursing professional
      development-practitioner-led intervention to promote professional certification
      among nurses in an urban adult emergency department while reducing overall cost
      of institutional support for certification preparation. 

PMID- 27648903
TI  - Analyzing and Solving Performance Problems...to Educate or not to Educate?

PMID- 27648904
TI  - Transforming Nursing Organizations Through Implementation of Nurse Residency
      Programs.

PMID- 27648905
TI  - Implementing the Nursing Professional Development Practitioner Scope and
      Standards of Practice 2016 Revisions: The Time Is Now to Maximize Simulation
      Education Offerings.

PMID- 27648907
TI  - ANPD Board: Transitioning Leadership.

PMID- 27648906
TI  - Human Flourishing: Precepting With Purpose.

PMID- 27648908
TI  - Using Nursing Professional Development Skills With Magnet(r) Recognition.

PMID- 27648909
TI  - The Nursing Professional Development Practice Model.

PMID- 27648910
TI  - Lessons Learned: Newly Hired Nurses' Perspectives on Transition Into Practice.
AB  - This descriptive qualitative study explored data from debriefs of all newly hired
      nurses at 3, 6, and 12 months posthire during a newly designed transition-to
      practice program at a pediatric hospital. Four major themes emerged: preceptors,
      education process, adaptation to the organization, and role transition.
      Supportive factors included staged orientation, limited preceptors, mentors,
      regular communication with leaders, and a culture of teamwork. Stressors included
      too many preceptors, mentorship needs, floating, communication challenges, and
      organizational changes. 

PMID- 27648912
TI  - Defining Competence in Nursing and Its Relevance to Quality Care.
AB  - A consistent definition of competence in nursing is needed considering the
      significance to nursing professional development. The author bridges the gap
      between previous concept analyses of competence by creating an overarching model,
      while discussing the relationship to quality of nursing care. Significance of
      competence and quality care to nursing professional development is explored. The
      author concludes with implications for nursing professional development practice
      and research, while highlighting the relevance to professional nursing. 

PMID- 27648913
TI  - Resistive Pulse Delivery of Single Nanoparticles to Electrochemical Interfaces.
AB  - An experimental system for controlling and interrogating the collisions of
      individual nanoparticles at electrode/electrolyte interfaces is described. A
      nanopipet positioned over a 400 nm radius Pt ultramicroelectrode is used to
      deliver individual nanoparticles, via pressure-driven solution flow, to the
      underlying electrode, where the nanoparticles undergo collisions and are detected
      electrochemically. High-velocity collisions result in elastic collisions of
      negatively charged polystyrene nanospheres at the Pt/water interface, while low
      velocity collisions result in nanoparticle adsorption ("sticky" collisions). The
      ability to position the nanopipet with respect to the underlying
      ultramicroelectrode also allows the time between particle release from the
      nanopipet and electrode collision to be investigated as a function of nanopipet
      electrode separation, d. The time between release and collision of the
      nanoparticle is found to be proportional to d3, in excellent agreement with an
      analytical expression for convective fluid flow from a pipet orifice.

PMID- 27648914
TI  - Tetrapeptide Endomorphin Analogs Require Both Full Length and Truncated Splice
      Variants of the Mu Opioid Receptor Gene Oprm1 for Analgesia.
AB  - The mu opioid receptor gene undergoes extensive alternative splicing. Mu opioids
      can be divided into three classes based on the role of different groups of splice
      variants. Morphine and methadone require only full length seven transmembrane
      (7TM) variants for analgesia, whereas IBNtxA (3'-iodobenzyol-6beta-naltrexamide)
      needs only truncated 6TM variants. A set of endomorphin analogs fall into a third
      group that requires both 6TM and 7TM splice variants. Unlike morphine,
      endomorphin 1 and 2, DAPP (Dmt,d-Ala-Phe-Phe-NH2), and IDAPP (3'-iodo-Dmt-d-Ala
      Phe-Phe-NH2) analgesia was lost in an exon 11 knockout mouse lacking 6TM
      variants. Restoring 6TM variant expression in a knockout mouse lacking both 6TM
      and 7TM variants failed to rescue DAPP or IDAPP analgesia. However, re
      establishing 6TM expression in an exon 11 knockout mouse that still expressed 7TM
      variants did rescue the response, consistent with the need for both 6TM and 7TM
      variants. In receptor binding assays, 125I-IDAPP labeled more sites (Bmax) than
      3H-DAMGO ([d-Ala2,N-MePhe4,Gly(ol)5]-enkephalin) in wild-type mice. In exon 11
      knockout mice, 125I-IDAPP binding was lowered to levels similar to 3H-DAMGO,
      which remained relatively unchanged compared to wild-type mice. 125I-IDAPP
      binding was totally lost in an exon 1/exon 11 knockout model lacking all Oprm1
      variant expression, confirming that the drug was not cross labeling non-mu opioid
      receptors. These findings suggested that 125I-IDAPP labeled two populations of mu
      binding sites in wild-type mice, one corresponding to 7TM variants and the second
      dependent upon 6TM variants. Together, these data indicate that endomorphin
      analogs represent a unique, genetically defined, and distinct class of mu opioid
      analgesic.

PMID- 27648915
TI  - Characterizing cognitive control abilities in children with 16p11.2 deletion
      using adaptive 'video game' technology: a pilot study.
AB  - Assessing cognitive abilities in children is challenging for two primary reasons:
      lack of testing engagement can lead to low testing sensitivity and inherent
      performance variability. Here we sought to explore whether an engaging, adaptive
      digital cognitive platform built to look and feel like a video game would
      reliably measure attention-based abilities in children with and without
      neurodevelopmental disabilities related to a known genetic condition, 16p11.2
      deletion. We assessed 20 children with 16p11.2 deletion, a genetic variation
      implicated in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism, as well as 16
      siblings without the deletion and 75 neurotypical age-matched children. Deletion
      carriers showed significantly slower response times and greater response
      variability when compared with all non-carriers; by comparison, traditional non
      adaptive selective attention assessments were unable to discriminate group
      differences. This phenotypic characterization highlights the potential power of
      administering tools that integrate adaptive psychophysical mechanics into video
      game-style mechanics to achieve robust, reliable measurements.

PMID- 27648916
TI  - Metabolomic signatures of drug response phenotypes for ketamine and esketamine in
      subjects with refractory major depressive disorder: new mechanistic insights for
      rapid acting antidepressants.
AB  - Ketamine, at sub-anesthetic doses, is reported to rapidly decrease depression
      symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD).
      Many patients do not respond to currently available antidepressants, (for
      example, serotonin reuptake inhibitors), making ketamine and its enantiomer,
      esketamine, potentially attractive options for treatment-resistant MDD. Although
      mechanisms by which ketamine/esketamine may produce antidepressant effects have
      been hypothesized on the basis of preclinical data, the neurobiological
      correlates of the rapid therapeutic response observed in patients receiving
      treatment have not been established. Here we use a pharmacometabolomics approach
      to map global metabolic effects of these compounds in treatment-refractory MDD
      patients upon 2 h from infusion with ketamine (n=33) or its S-enantiomer,
      esketamine (n=20). The effects of esketamine on metabolism were retested in the
      same subjects following a second exposure administered 4 days later. Two
      complementary metabolomics platforms were used to provide broad biochemical
      coverage. In addition, we investigated whether changes in particular metabolites
      correlated with treatment outcome. Both drugs altered metabolites related to
      tryptophan metabolism (for example, indole-3-acetate and methionine) and/or the
      urea cycle (for example, citrulline, arginine and ornithine) at 2 h post infusion
      (q<0.25). In addition, we observed changes in glutamate and circulating
      phospholipids that were significantly associated with decreases in depression
      severity. These data provide new insights into the mechanism underlying the rapid
      antidepressant effects of ketamine and esketamine, and constitute some of the
      first detailed metabolomics mapping for these promising therapies.

PMID- 27648917
TI  - White blood cell inflammatory markers are associated with depressive symptoms in
      a longitudinal study of urban adults.
AB  - Total white blood cell count (TWBCC) and percentage (%) composition of
      lymphocytes (PL) or neutrophils (PN) are linked to mid- and late-life depression,
      though sex-specific temporal relationships between those inflammatory markers and
      depressive symptoms remain unclear. The association between inflammation and
      depressive symptoms in longitudinal data on ethnically and socioeconomically
      diverse urban adults was examined with two hypotheses. In hypothesis 1, we
      examined the relationship between TWBCC, PL and PN with change in level of
      depressive symptoms from baseline to follow-up, stratifying by sex. In hypothesis
      2, we examined reverse causality, by testing the relationship of depressive
      symptoms with change in TWBCC, PL and PN. Multiple linear mixed-effects
      regression models were performed to examine both the hypotheses. The sample sizes
      of participants (n) and repeated observations (n') were: Hypothesis 1 (n=2009;
      n'=3501); Hypothesis 2 (n=2081; n'=3560). Among key findings (Hypothesis 1), in
      women, higher TWBCC was linked to a faster increase in depressive symptom total
      score (gamma1112+/-s.e.: +0.81+/-0.28, P=0.003), with a slower increase over time
      in the positive affect subdomain coupled with faster increases in depressed
      affect and somatic complaints. Among women, baseline score on somatic complaints
      was positively associated with low PN (gamma01a=+1.61+/-0.48, P<0.001) and high
      PL (gamma01a=+1.16+/-0.45, P=0.011), whereas baseline score on positive affect
      was inversely related to higher PL (gamma01a=-0.69+/-0.28, P=0.017). Results
      among men indicated that there was a positive cross-sectional relationship
      between low TWBCC and depressive symptoms, depressed affect and an inverse cross
      sectional relationship with positive affect. However, over time, a low TWBCC in
      men was linked to a higher score on positive affect. There was no evidence of a
      bi-directional relationship between WBC parameters and depressive symptoms
      (Hypothesis 2). In sum, TWBCC and related markers were linked to depressive
      symptoms, mostly among women. Further longitudinal studies are needed to
      replicate this sex-specific association.

PMID- 27648921
TI  - Trajectories of adolescent conduct problems in relation to cortical thickness
      development: a longitudinal MRI study.

PMID- 27648919
TI  - Prediction of transition from ultra-high risk to first-episode psychosis using a
      probabilistic model combining history, clinical assessment and fatty-acid
      biomarkers.
AB  - Current criteria identifying patients with ultra-high risk of psychosis (UHR)
      have low specificity, and less than one-third of UHR cases experience transition
      to psychosis within 3 years of initial assessment. We explored whether a Bayesian
      probabilistic multimodal model, combining baseline historical and clinical risk
      factors with biomarkers (oxidative stress, cell membrane fatty acids, resting
      quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG)), could improve this specificity. We
      analyzed data of a UHR cohort (n=40) with a 1-year transition rate of 28%.
      Positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated for predictor variables
      with statistically significant receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs),
      which excluded oxidative stress markers and qEEG parameters as significant
      predictors of transition. We clustered significant variables into historical
      (history of drug use), clinical (Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale positive,
      negative and general scores and Global Assessment of Function) and biomarker
      (total omega-3, nervonic acid) groups, and calculated the post-test probability
      of transition for each group and for group combinations using the odds ratio form
      of Bayes' rule. Combination of the three variable groups vastly improved the
      specificity of prediction (area under ROC=0.919, sensitivity=72.73%,
      specificity=96.43%). In this sample, our model identified over 70% of UHR
      patients who transitioned within 1 year, compared with 28% identified by standard
      UHR criteria. The model classified 77% of cases as very high or low risk (P>0.9,
      <0.1) based on history and clinical assessment, suggesting that a staged approach
      could be most efficient, reserving fatty-acid markers for 23% of cases remaining
      at intermediate probability following bedside interview.

PMID- 27648920
TI  - Insulin-like growth factor 1 and risk of depression in older people: the English
      Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
AB  - Depressive disorders are a leading cause of disability in older age. Although the
      role of psychosocial and behavioural predictors has been well examined, little is
      known about the biological origins of depression. Findings from animal studies
      have implicated insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the aetiology of this
      disorder. A total of 6017 older adults (mean age of 65.7 years; 55% women) from
      the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing provided serum levels of IGF-1
      (mean=15.9 nmol l(-1), s.d. 5.7) during a nurse visit in 2008. Depression
      symptoms were assessed in the same year and again in 2012 using the eight-item
      Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Self-reports of a physician
      diagnosis of depression were also collected at both time points. In separate
      analyses for men and women, the results from both the cross-sectional and
      longitudinal analyses revealed a 'U'-shaped pattern of association, such that
      lower and higher levels of IGF-1 were associated with a slightly elevated risk of
      depression, whereas the lowest risk was seen around the median levels. Thus, in
      men, with the lowest quintile of IGF-1 as the referent, the age-adjusted odds
      ratios (95% confidence interval) of developing depression symptoms after 4 years
      of follow-up, for increasing quintiles of IGF-1, were: 0.51 (0.28-0.91), 0.50
      (0.27-0.92), 0.63 (0.35-1.15) and 0.63 (0.35-1.13) (P-value for quadratic
      association 0.002). Some attenuation of these effects was apparent after
      adjustment for co-morbidity, socioeconomic status and health behaviours. In
      conclusion, in the present study of older adults, there was some evidence that
      moderate levels of IGF-1 levels conferred a reduced risk of depression.

PMID- 27648922
TI  - Organ response in patients with AL amyloidosis treated with NEOD001, an amyloid
      directed monoclonal antibody.

PMID- 27648918
TI  - Antidepressive and BDNF effects of enriched environment treatment across ages in
      mice lacking BDNF expression through promoter IV.
AB  - Reduced promoter IV-driven expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
      is implicated in stress and major depression. We previously reported that
      defective promoter IV (KIV) caused depression-like behavior in young adult mice,
      which was reversed more effectively by enriched environment treatment (EET) than
      antidepressants. The effects of promoter IV-BDNF deficiency and EET over the life
      stages remain unknown. Since early-life development (ED) involves dynamic
      epigenetic processes, we hypothesized that EET during ED would provide maximum
      antidepressive effects that would persist later in life due to enhanced, long
      lasting BDNF induction. We tested this hypothesis by determining EET effects
      across three life stages: ED (0-2 months), young adult (2-4 months), and old
      adult (12-14 months). KIV mice at all life stages showed depression-like behavior
      in the open-field and tail-suspension tests compared with wild-type mice. Two
      months of EET reduced depression-like behavior in ED and young adult, but not old
      adult mice, with the largest effect in ED KIV mice. This effect lasted for 1
      month after discontinuance of EET only in ED mice. BDNF protein induction by EET
      in the hippocampus and frontal cortex was also the largest in ED mice and
      persisted only in the hippocampus of ED KIV mice after discontinuance of EET. No
      gender-specific effects were observed. The results suggest that defective
      promoter IV causes depression-like behavior, regardless of age and gender, and
      that EET during ED is particularly beneficial to individuals with promoter IV
      BDNF deficiency, while additional treatment may be needed for older adults.

PMID- 27648923
TI  - Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT) Positively Regulates 26S
      Proteasome Activity.
AB  - Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is the catalytic subunit of
      telomerase, an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase that elongates telomeric DNA. hTERT
      displays several extra-telomeric functions that are independent of its telomere
      regulatory function, including tumor progression, and neuronal cell death
      regulation. In this study, we evaluated these additional hTERT non-telomeric
      functions. We determined that hTERT interacts with several 19S and 20S proteasome
      subunits. The 19S regulatory particle and 20S core particle are part of 26S
      proteasome complex, which plays a central role in ubiquitin-dependent
      proteolysis. In addition, hTERT positively regulated 26S proteasome activity
      independent of its enzymatic activity. Moreover, hTERT enhanced subunit
      interactions, which may underlie hTERT's ability of hTERT to stimulate the 26S
      proteasome. Furthermore, hTERT displayed cytoprotective effect against ER stress
      via the activation of 26S proteasome in acute myeloid leukemia cells. Our data
      suggest that hTERT acts as a novel chaperone to promote 26S proteasome assembly
      and maintenance. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2083-2093, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648924
TI  - Carrier-free Gene Silencing by Amphiphilic Nucleic Acid Conjugates in
      Differentiated Intestinal Cells.
AB  - Nucleic acid therapy can be beneficial for the local treatment of
      gastrointestinal diseases that currently lack appropriate treatments. Indeed,
      several oligonucleotides (ONs) are currently progressing through clinical trials
      as potential treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases. However, due to low
      uptake of carrier-free ONs by mucosal cells, strategies aimed at increasing the
      potency of orally administered ONs would be highly desirable. In this work, we
      explored the silencing properties of chemically modified and highly resistant ONs
      derivatized with hydrophobic alkyl chain on intestinal epithelial cells. We
      screened a set of lipid-ON conjugates for the silencing of model Bcl-2 mRNA and
      selected 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-arabinonucleic acid modified ON bearing docosanoyl
      moiety (L-FANA) as the most potent candidate with lowest toxicity. The efficacy
      of L-FANA conjugate was preserved in simulated intestinal fluids and in the
      inverted transfection setup. Importantly, L-FANA conjugate was able to
      downregulate target gene expression at both mRNA and protein levels in a
      difficult-to-transfect polarized epithelial cell monolayer in the absence of
      delivery devices and membrane disturbing agents. These findings indicate that
      lipid-ON conjugates could be promising therapeutics for the treatment of
      intestinal diseases as well as a valuable tool for the discovery of new
      therapeutic targets. 

PMID- 27648925
TI  - Targeting Insulin Receptor with a Novel Internalizing Aptamer.
AB  - Nucleic acid-based aptamers are emerging as therapeutic antagonists of disease
      associated proteins such as receptor tyrosine kinases. They are selected by an in
      vitro combinatorial chemistry approach, named Systematic Evolution of Ligands by
      Exponential enrichment (SELEX), and thanks to their small size and unique
      chemical characteristics, they possess several advantages over antibodies as
      diagnostics and therapeutics. In addition, aptamers that rapidly internalize into
      target cells hold as well great potential for their in vivo use as delivery tools
      of secondary therapeutic agents. Here, we describe a nuclease resistant RNA
      aptamer, named GL56, which specifically recognizes the insulin receptor (IR).
      Isolated by a cell-based SELEX method that allows enrichment for internalizing
      aptamers, GL56 rapidly internalizes into target cells and is able to discriminate
      IR from the highly homologous insulin-like growth factor receptor 1. Notably,
      when applied to IR expressing cancer cells, the aptamer inhibits IR dependent
      signaling. Given the growing interest in the insulin receptor as target for
      cancer treatment, GL56 reveals a novel molecule with great translational
      potential as inhibitor and delivery tool for IR-dependent cancers. 

PMID- 27648926
TI  - Whole-exome sequencing and targeted gene sequencing provide insights into the
      role of PALB2 as a male breast cancer susceptibility gene.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease whose etiology appears to
      be largely associated with genetic factors. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations account for
      about 10% of all MBC cases. Thus, a fraction of MBC cases are expected to be due
      to genetic factors not yet identified. To further explain the genetic
      susceptibility for MBC, whole-exome sequencing (WES) and targeted gene sequencing
      were applied to high-risk, BRCA1/2 mutation-negative MBC cases. METHODS: Germ
      line DNA of 1 male and 2 female BRCA1/2 mutation-negative breast cancer (BC)
      cases from a pedigree showing a first-degree family history of MBC was analyzed
      with WES. Targeted gene sequencing for the validation of WES results was
      performed for 48 high-risk, BRCA1/2 mutation-negative MBC cases from an Italian
      multicenter study of MBC. A case-control series of 433 BRCA1/2 mutation-negative
      MBC and female breast cancer (FBC) cases and 849 male and female controls was
      included in the study. RESULTS: WES in the family identified the partner and
      localizer of BRCA2 (PALB2) c.419delA truncating mutation carried by the proband,
      her father, and her paternal uncle (all affected with BC) and the N
      acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) c.97C>T nonsense mutation carried by the proband's
      maternal aunt. Targeted PALB2 sequencing detected the c.1984A>T nonsense mutation
      in 1 of the 48 BRCA1/2 mutation-negative MBC cases. NAT1 c.97C>T was not found in
      the case-control series. CONCLUSIONS: These results add strength to the evidence
      showing that PALB2 is involved in BC risk for both sexes and indicate that
      consideration should be given to clinical testing of PALB2 for BRCA1/2 mutation
      negative families with multiple MBC and FBC cases. Cancer 2017;123:210-218. (c)
      2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27648928
TI  - Cationic Redistribution at Epitaxial Interfaces in Superconducting Two
      Dimensionally Doped Lanthanum Cuprate Films.
AB  - The exploration of interface effects in complex oxide heterostructures has led to
      the discovery of novel intriguing phenomena in recent years and has opened the
      path toward the precise tuning of material properties at the nanoscale. One
      recent example is space-charge superconductivity. Among the complex range of
      effects which may arise from phase interaction, a crucial role is played by
      cationic intermixing, which defines the final chemical composition of the
      interface. In this work, we performed a systematic study on the local cationic
      redistribution of two-dimensionally doped lanthanum cuprate films grown by oxide
      molecular beam epitaxy, in which single LaO layers in the epitaxial crystal
      structure were substituted by layers of differently sized and charged dopants
      (Ca, Sr, Ba, and Dy). In such a model system, in which the dopant undergoes an
      asymmetric redistribution across the interface, the evolution of the cationic
      concentration profile can be effectively tracked by means of atomically resolved
      imaging and spectroscopic methods. This allowed for the investigation of the
      impact of the dopant chemistry (ionic size and charge) and of the growth
      conditions (temperature) on the final superconducting and structural properties.
      A qualitative model for interface cationic intermixing, based on thermodynamic
      considerations, is proposed. This work highlights the key role which cationic
      redistribution may have in the definition of the final interface properties and
      represents a further step forward the realization of heterostructures with
      improved quality.

PMID- 27648930
TI  - Influence of Superparamagnetism on Exchange Anisotropy at CoO/[Co/Pd] Interfaces.
AB  - Magnetic systems exhibiting an exchange bias effect are being considered as
      materials for applications in data storage devices, sensors, and biomedicine.
      Because the size of new magnetic devices is being continuously reduced, the
      influence of thermally induced instabilities in magnetic order has to be taken
      into account during their fabrication process. In this study, we show the
      influence of superparamagnetism on the magnetic properties of an exchange-biased
      [CoO/Co/Pd]10 multilayer. We find that the process of progressive thermal
      blocking of the superparamagnetic clusters causes an unusually fast rise of the
      exchange anisotropy field and coercivity and promotes easy-axis switching to the
      out-of-plane direction.

PMID- 27648927
TI  - Symptom experiences in metastatic breast cancer patients: relationships to
      activity engagement, value-based living, and psychological inflexibility.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined symptom-based subgroups of metastatic breast
      cancer (MBC) patients and the extent to which they differed across key constructs
      of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). METHODS: Eighty women with MBC
      completed self-report surveys assessing 10 common symptoms and several ACT
      variables (ie, activity engagement, psychological inflexibility, value
      obstruction, and value progress) during a single time point. RESULTS: A cluster
      analysis yielded 3 patient subgroups: low symptoms, low-moderate symptoms, and
      moderate-high symptoms. Relative to the subgroup with low symptoms, the other
      subgroups reported less activity engagement. In addition, compared with patients
      with low symptoms, the subgroup with moderate-high symptoms reported greater
      psychological inflexibility (ie, avoidance of unwanted internal experiences) and
      greater difficulty living consistently with their values. CONCLUSIONS: Women with
      MBC show heterogeneity in their symptom profiles, and those with higher symptom
      burden are more likely to disengage from valued activities and avoid unwanted
      experiences (eg, thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations). Findings are largely
      consistent with the ACT model and provide strong justification for testing ACT to
      address symptom interference in MBC patients.

PMID- 27648931
TI  - Understanding the Central Location of a Hexagonal Hole in a B36 Cluster.
AB  - The most stable form of a B36 cluster has a central hexagonal hole. Such an
      interesting finding has led to the possible synthesis of a 2D boron sheet by
      employing the B36 cluster as the building unit. Herein, a DFT study to
      investigate the reason for the central location of the hexagonal hole in the B36
      cluster is presented. The results show that the B36 cluster with a central
      hexagonal hole is highly thermodynamically and kinetically stable. More
      importantly, such high stability is further understood through chemical bonding
      analysis.

PMID- 27648929
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Central Kenya before
      vaccine introduction, 2009-2014.
AB  - Between July 2009 and June 2014, a total of 1,546 fecal specimens were collected
      from children <5 years of age with acute gastroenteritis admitted to Kiambu
      County Hospital, Central Kenya. The specimens were screened for group A rotavirus
      (RVA) using ELISA, and RVA-positive specimens were subjected to semi-nested RT
      PCR to determine the G and P genotypes. RVA was detected in 429/1,546 (27.5%)
      fecal specimens. RVA infections occurred in all age groups <59 months, with an
      early peak at 6-17 months. The infections persisted year-round with distinct
      seasonal peaks depending on the year. G1P[8] (28%) was the most predominant
      genotype, followed by G9P[8] (12%), G8P[4] (7%), G1P[4] (5%), G9P[4] (4%), and
      G12P[6] (3%). In the yearly change of G and P genotypes, a major shift from
      G9P[8] to G1P[8] was found in 2012. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide
      sequences of the VP7 and VP4 genes of seven strains with unusual G8 or P[6]
      showed that the VP7 nucleotide sequences of G8 were clustered in lineage 6 in
      which African strains are included, and that there are at least two distinct VP4
      nucleotide sequences of P[6] strains. These results represent basic data on RVA
      strains circulating in this region before vaccine introduction. J. Med. Virol.
      89:809-817, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648932
TI  - Varied incidence of immediate adverse reactions to low-osmolar non-ionic iodide
      radiocontrast media used in computed tomography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low-osmolar non-ionic radiocontrast media (RCMs) are commonly used
      throughout hospitals. However, the incidence of immediate adverse drug reactions
      (ADRs) to various low-osmolar non-ionic RCMs is not well studied. We compared the
      incidence of immediate ADRs among different low-osmolar non-ionic RCMs used in
      computed tomography (CT). METHODS: Severance Hospital has collected data for
      adverse reactions occurring in-hospital using an internally developed system.
      Using this data, we reviewed 1969 immediate ADRs from 286 087 RCM-contrasted CT
      examinations of 142 099 patients and compared the immediate ADRs of iobitridol,
      iohexol, iopamidol, and iopromide. We analysed the incidence of immediate ADRs to
      different RCMs, as well as the effect of single or multiple CT examinations per
      day. RESULTS: Iopromide showed the highest incidence of immediate ADRs (1.03%)
      and was followed by iopamidol (0.67%), iohexol (0.64%), and iobitridol (0.34%).
      In cases of anaphylaxis, iopromide also showed the highest incidence (0.041%),
      followed by iopamidol (0.023%), iohexol (0.018%), and iobitridol (0.012%). Risk
      of immediate ADR due to multiple CT examinations (1.19%) was significantly higher
      than the risk due to a single CT examination (0.63%). Risk of anaphylaxis was
      also higher for multiple CT examinations (0.052%) than for a single CT
      examination (0.020%). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The incidence of
      immediate ADRs varied according to the low-osmolar non-ionic RCM used. Iopromide
      induced immediate ADRs were more frequent, while iobitridol was associated with
      fewer immediate ADRs than other RCMs. Multiple CT examinations per day resulted
      in a higher incidence of immediate ADRs and anaphylaxis than a single CT
      examination. Clinicians should consider these risk differences of immediate ADRs
      when prescribing contrasted CT examinations.

PMID- 27648934
TI  - Satiety Effects of Lentils in a Calorie Matched Fruit Smoothie.
AB  - The food environment is changing, with consumers being more health conscious and
      concerned about the wholesomeness of their food than ever before. Consumers are
      looking for nutritious whole food alternatives to fill their plates and stomachs.
      Pulse grains, rich in both protein and fiber, may be the ideal candidate to
      promote satiety at meals. In a crossover feeding study, participants consumed
      calorie-matched fruit smoothies prepared with either an ice cream base or pureed
      red lentils. Self-reported satiety, blood glucose response, and ad libitum food
      intake at a secondary meal were all measured along with breath hydrogen and
      methane and gastrointestinal tolerance. While there was no significant difference
      in satiety response or energy intake at the secondary meal, the nutrient profile
      of the lentil smoothie was improved with increased protein and fiber and
      dramatically lower fat content. Blood glucose response was not statistically
      different between the 2 treatments. Both smoothies were generally well tolerated;
      however, there was a slightly elevated AUC for perceived gastrointestinal
      tolerance over 24 h in the lentil smoothie. No difference in breath hydrogen or
      methane response was seen between treatments. The substitution of lentils into a
      meal is not likely to improve satiety; however lentils are a good source of fiber
      and protein and can greatly improve nutritional content of the meal.

PMID- 27648935
TI  - Temperature moderates the infectiousness of two conspecific Symbiodinium strains
      isolated from the same host population.
AB  - Symbioses between cnidarians and symbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium) are
      ecologically important and physiologically diverse. This diversity contributes to
      the spatial distribution of specific cnidarian-Symbiodinium associations.
      Physiological variability also exists within Symbiodinium species, yet we know
      little regarding its relevance for the establishment of symbiosis under different
      environmental conditions. Two putatively conspecific Symbiodinium strains (both
      ITS2-type A4) were isolated from the sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida and placed
      into unialgal culture. Thermal tolerance of these cultures was compared following
      heating from 26 degrees C to 33.5 degrees C over 18 days. Photosystem II function
      was negatively impacted by heating in one strain while PSII function in the other
      showed little response to elevated temperature. Additionally, infection of
      Symbiodinium cells into aposymbiotic anemones was assessed for both strains at 26
      degrees C and 30.5 degrees C. The heat-sensitive strain had greater infection
      success at 26 degrees C, while there was no difference in infection between the
      two strains at the higher temperature. Results from this work suggest that
      variability in thermal optima or -tolerance within Symbiodinium spp. has
      relevance for early stages of host-Symbiodinium interactions. Thus, varying
      infectiousness among differentially heat-sensitive Symbiodinium strains could
      provide a mechanism for the emergence of novel and potentially resilient
      cnidarian-Symbiodinium associations in a rapidly warming environment.

PMID- 27648933
TI  - Phenotype and genotype in 52 patients with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome caused by
      EP300 mutations.
AB  - Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) is a developmental disorder characterized by a
      typical face and distal limbs abnormalities, intellectual disability, and a vast
      number of other features. Two genes are known to cause RSTS, CREBBP in 60% and
      EP300 in 8-10% of clinically diagnosed cases. Both paralogs act in chromatin
      remodeling and encode for transcriptional co-activators interacting with >400
      proteins. Up to now 26 individuals with an EP300 mutation have been published.
      Here, we describe the phenotype and genotype of 42 unpublished RSTS patients
      carrying EP300 mutations and intragenic deletions and offer an update on another
      10 patients. We compare the data to 308 individuals with CREBBP mutations. We
      demonstrate that EP300 mutations cause a phenotype that typically resembles the
      classical RSTS phenotype due to CREBBP mutations to a great extent, although most
      facial signs are less marked with the exception of a low-hanging columella. The
      limb anomalies are more similar to those in CREBBP mutated individuals except for
      angulation of thumbs and halluces which is very uncommon in EP300 mutated
      individuals. The intellectual disability is variable but typically less marked
      whereas the microcephaly is more common. All types of mutations occur but
      truncating mutations and small rearrangements are most common (86%). Missense
      mutations in the HAT domain are associated with a classical RSTS phenotype but
      otherwise no genotype-phenotype correlation is detected. Pre-eclampsia occurs in
      12/52 mothers of EP300 mutated individuals versus in 2/59 mothers of CREBBP
      mutated individuals, making pregnancy with an EP300 mutated fetus the strongest
      known predictor for pre-eclampsia. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648936
TI  - KITENIN functions as a fine regulator of ErbB4 expression level in colorectal
      cancer via protection of ErbB4 from E3-ligase Nrdp1-mediated degradation.
AB  - Understanding the complex biological functions of E3-ubiquitin ligases may
      facilitate the development of mechanism-based anti-cancer drugs. We recently
      identified that the KITENIN/ErbB4-Dvl2-c-Jun axis works as a novel unconventional
      downstream signal of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in colorectal cancer (CRC)
      tissues. Here we addressed whether E3-ubiquitin ligases are required for
      operation of this axis. We found that Nrdp1, an E3-ligase for ErbB3/ErbB4,
      interacted with KITENIN (KAI1 C-terminal interacting tetraspanin) to form a
      functional KITENIN/ErbB4/Nrdp1 complex and is responsible for down-regulating
      Dvl2 within this complex. Interestingly, ErbB4 was resistant to degradation by
      Nrdp1 in KITENIN/Nrdp1-co-transfected CRC cells, and KITENIN bound to the C
      terminal coiled-coil domain of Nrdp1. Chemical blockade of ErbB kinase did not
      block the action of EGF to increase in total/phospho-ErbB4 and phospho-ERK in
      KITENIN/ErbB4-cotransfected cells, whereas it blocked the action of EGF in ErbB4
      alone-transfected CRC cells. In human CRC tissues, higher expressions of ErbB4
      and KITENIN and lower expression of Dvl2 was observed in stage IV samples than in
      stage I, but a low level of Nrdp1 was expressed in both stages and it did not
      differ significantly by stage. These results indicated that Nrdp1 is necessary
      for the reduction in Dvl2 to generate c-Jun in the EGF-KITENIN/ErbB4-c-Jun axis,
      but more importantly, elevated KITENIN protects KITENIN-bound ErbB4 from Nrdp1
      mediated degradation via physical collaboration between the KITENIN/ErbB4 complex
      and Nrdp1, but not via modulation of ErbB kinase activity. Thus, KITENIN
      functions in the maintenance of a higher expression level of ErbB4 in advanced
      CRC tissues, independent of ubiquitin-mediated degradation via Nrdp1. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27648937
TI  - Assessment of the U3O7 Crystal Structure by X-ray and Electron Diffraction.
AB  - Polycrystalline U3O7 powder was synthesized by oxidation of UO2 powder under
      controlled conditions using in situ thermal analysis, and by heat treatment in a
      tubular furnace. The O/U ratio of the U3O7 phase was measured as 2.34 +/- 0.01.
      The crystal structure was assessed from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected-area
      electron diffraction (SAED) data. Similar to U4O9-epsilon (more precisely
      U64O143), U3O7 exhibits a long-range ordered structure, which is closely related
      to the fluorite-type arrangement of UO2. Cations remain arranged identical to
      that in the fluorite structure, and excess anions form distorted cuboctahedral
      oxygen clusters, which periodically replace the fluorite anion arrangement. The
      structure can be described in an expanded unit cell containing 15 fluorite-like
      subcells (U15O35), and spanned by basis vectors A = ap - 2bp, B = -2ap + bp, and
      C = 3cp (lattice parameters of the subcell are ap = bp = 538.00 +/- 0.02 pm and
      cp = 554.90 +/- 0.02 pm; cp/ap = 1.031). The arrangement of cuboctahedra in U3O7
      results in a layered structure, which is different from the well-known U4O9
      epsilon crystal structure.

PMID- 27648938
TI  - Molecular Diagnosis of Chagas Disease in Colombia: Parasitic Loads and Discrete
      Typing Units in Patients from Acute and Chronic Phases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of Chagas disease is complex due to the dynamics of
      parasitemia in the clinical phases of the disease. The molecular tests have been
      considered promissory because they detect the parasite in all clinical phases.
      Trypanosoma cruzi presents significant genetic variability and is classified into
      six Discrete Typing Units TcI-TcVI (DTUs) with the emergence of foreseen
      genotypes within TcI as TcIDom and TcI Sylvatic. The objective of this study was
      to determine the operating characteristics of molecular tests (conventional and
      Real Time PCR) for the detection of T. cruzi DNA, parasitic loads and DTUs in a
      large cohort of Colombian patients from acute and chronic phases.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Samples were obtained from 708 patients in all
      clinical phases. Standard diagnosis (direct and serological tests) and molecular
      tests (conventional PCR and quantitative PCR) targeting the nuclear satellite DNA
      region. The genotyping was performed by PCR using the intergenic region of the
      mini-exon gene, the 24Sa, 18S and A10 regions. The operating capabilities showed
      that performance of qPCR was higher compared to cPCR. Likewise, the performance
      of qPCR was significantly higher in acute phase compared with chronic phase. The
      median parasitic loads detected were 4.69 and 1.33 parasite equivalents/mL for
      acute and chronic phases. The main DTU identified was TcI (74.2%). TcIDom
      genotype was significantly more frequent in chronic phase compared to acute phase
      (82.1% vs 16.6%). The median parasitic load for TcIDom was significantly higher
      compared with TcI Sylvatic in chronic phase (2.58 vs.0.75 parasite
      equivalents/ml). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The molecular tests are a precise tool
      to complement the standard diagnosis of Chagas disease, specifically in acute
      phase showing high discriminative power. However, it is necessary to improve the
      sensitivity of molecular tests in chronic phase. The frequency and parasitemia of
      TcIDom genotype in chronic patients highlight its possible relationship to the
      chronicity of the disease.

PMID- 27648942
TI  - Synthesis of alpha-Halo-gamma-hydroxyenamides by Titanium Tetrahalide Mediated
      Addition of Aldehydes or Ketones to Ynamides.
AB  - alpha-Chloro- or alpha-bromo-gamma-hydroxyenamides were synthesized by the
      reaction of an ynamide, titanium tetrahalide, and an aldehyde or a ketone. A
      gamma-hydroxy trisubstituted enamide was prepared stereoselectively by Suzuki
      coupling of an obtained alpha-chloro-gamma-hydroxyenamide with phenyl boronic
      acid. Intramolecular cyclization of alpha-chloro-gamma-hydroxyenamide took place
      to provide a 2,3-dihydrobenzoisothiazole 1,1-dioxide derivative by palladium
      catalyzed C-H activation of the tosyl group. Hydrochlorination of ynamides
      proceeded to give alpha-chloroenamides by treatment with titanium tetrachloride
      followed by addition of water.

PMID- 27648939
TI  - The gp63 Gene Cluster Is Highly Polymorphic in Natural Leishmania (Viannia)
      braziliensis Populations, but Functional Sites Are Conserved.
AB  - GP63 or leishmanolysin is the major surface protease of Leishmania spp. involved
      in parasite virulence and host cell interaction. As such, GP63 is a potential
      target of eventual vaccines against these protozoa. In the current study we
      evaluate the polymorphism of gp63 in Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis isolated
      from two sets of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) cases from Corte de
      Pedra, Brazil, including 35 cases diagnosed between 1994 and 2001 and 6 cases
      diagnosed between 2008 and 2011. Parasites were obtained from lesions by needle
      aspiration and cultivation. Genomic DNA was extracted, and 405 bp fragments,
      including sequences encoding the putative macrophage interacting sites, were
      amplified from gp63 genes of all isolates. DNA amplicons were cloned into plasmid
      vectors and ten clones per L. (V.) braziliensis isolate were sequenced. Alignment
      of cloned sequences showed extensive polymorphism among gp63 genes within, and
      between parasite isolates. Overall, 45 different polymorphic alleles were
      detected in all samples, which could be segregated into two clusters. Cluster one
      included 25, and cluster two included 20 such genotypes. The predicted peptides
      showed overall conservation below 50%. In marked contrast, the conservation at
      segments with putative functional domains approached 90% (Fisher's exact test
      p<0.0001). These findings show that gp63 is very polymorphic even among parasites
      from a same endemic focus, but the functional domains interacting with the
      mammalian host environment are conserved. 

PMID- 27648940
TI  - Characterization and Transposon Mutagenesis of the Maize (Zea mays) Pho1 Gene
      Family.
AB  - Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for all plants, but also one of the least
      mobile, and consequently least available, in the soil. Plants have evolved a
      series of molecular, metabolic and developmental adaptations to increase the
      acquisition of phosphorus and to maximize the efficiency of use within the plant.
      In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the AtPHO1 protein regulates and
      facilitates the distribution of phosphorus. To investigate the role of PHO1
      proteins in maize (Zea mays), the B73 reference genome was searched for
      homologous sequences, and four genes identified that were designated ZmPho1;1,
      ZmPho1;2a, ZmPho1;2b and ZmPho1;3. ZmPho1;2a and ZmPho1;2b are the most similar
      to AtPHO1, and represent candidate co-orthologs that we hypothesize to have been
      retained following whole genome duplication. Evidence was obtained for the
      production of natural anti-sense transcripts associated with both ZmPho1;2a and
      ZmPho1;2b, suggesting the possibility of regulatory crosstalk between paralogs.
      To characterize functional divergence between ZmPho1;2a and ZmPho1;2b, a program
      of transposon mutagenesis was initiated using the Ac/Ds system, and, here, we
      report the generation of novel alleles of ZmPho1;2a and ZmPho1;2b. 

PMID- 27648941
TI  - Long-Range Correlations in Sentence Series from A Story of the Stone.
AB  - A sentence is the natural unit of language. Patterns embedded in series of
      sentences can be used to model the formation and evolution of languages, and to
      solve practical problems such as evaluating linguistic ability. In this paper, we
      apply de-trended fluctuation analysis to detect long-range correlations embedded
      in sentence series from A Story of the Stone, one of the greatest masterpieces of
      Chinese literature. We identified a weak long-range correlation, with a Hurst
      exponent of 0.575+/-0.002 up to a scale of 104. We used the structural stability
      to confirm the behavior of the long-range correlation, and found that different
      parts of the series had almost identical Hurst exponents. We found that noisy
      records can lead to false results and conclusions, even if the noise covers a
      limited proportion of the total records (e.g., less than 1%). Thus, the
      structural stability test is an essential procedure for confirming the existence
      of long-range correlations, which has been widely neglected in previous studies.
      Furthermore, a combination of de-trended fluctuation analysis and diffusion
      entropy analysis demonstrated that the sentence series was generated by a
      fractional Brownian motion. 

PMID- 27648943
TI  - Numerical Study on the Stomatal Responses to Dry-Hot Wind Episodes and Its
      Effects on Land-Atmosphere Interactions.
AB  - The wheat production in midland China is under serious threat by frequent Dry-Hot
      Wind (DHW) episodes with high temperature, low moisture and specific wind as well
      as intensive heat transfer and evapotranspiration. The numerical simulations of
      these episodes are important for monitoring grain yield and estimating
      agricultural water demand. However, uncertainties still remain despite that
      enormous experiments and modeling studies have been conducted concerning this
      issue, due to either inaccurate synoptic situation derived from mesoscale weather
      models or unrealistic parameterizations of stomatal physiology in land surface
      models. Hereby, we investigated the synoptic characteristics of DHW with widely
      used mesoscale model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and the effects of
      leaf physiology on surface evapotranspiration by comparing two land surface
      models: The Noah land surface model, and Peking University Land Model (PKULM)
      with stomata processes included. Results show that the WRF model could well
      replicate the synoptic situations of DHW. Two types of DHW were identified: (1)
      prevailing heated dry wind stream forces the formation of DHW along with intense
      sensible heating and (2) dry adiabatic processes overflowing mountains. Under
      both situations, the PKULM can reasonably model the stomatal closure phenomena,
      which significantly decreases both evapotranspiration and net ecosystem exchange
      of canopy, while these phenomena cannot be resolved in the Noah simulations.
      Therefore, our findings suggest that the WRF-PKULM coupled method may be a more
      reliable tool to investigate and forecast DHW as well as be instructive to crop
      models. 

PMID- 27648945
TI  - Downregulation of miR-150 Expression by DNA Hypermethylation Is Associated with
      High 2-Hydroxy-(4-methylthio)butanoic Acid-Induced Hepatic Cholesterol
      Accumulation in Nursery Piglets.
AB  - Excess 2-hydroxy-(4-methylthio)butanoic acid (HMB) supplementation induces
      hyperhomocysteinemia, which contributes to hepatic cholesterol accumulation.
      However, it is unclear whether and how high levels of HMB break hepatic
      cholesterol homeostasis in nursery piglets. In this study, HMB
      oversupplementation suppressed food intake and decreased body weight in nursery
      piglets. Hyperhomocysteinemia and higher hepatic cholesterol accumulation were
      observed in HMB groups. Accordingly, HMB significantly increased the protein
      content of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) and glycine N
      methyltransferase (GNMT) but decreased that of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol
      acyltransferase-1 (ACAT1). Significant downregulation of miR-150, miR-181d-5p,
      and miR-296-3p targeting the 3'-untranslated regions (UTRs) of GNMT and HMGCR was
      detected in the liver of HMB-treated piglets, and their functional validation was
      confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, hypermethylation of miR
      150 promoter was detected in association with suppressed miR-150 expression in
      the livers of HMB-treated piglets. This study indicated a new mechanism of
      hepatic cholesterol unhomeostasis by dietary methyl donor supplementation.

PMID- 27648944
TI  - Translational Advances in the Field of Pulmonary Hypertension. Translating
      MicroRNA Biology in Pulmonary Hypertension. It Will Take More Than "miR" Words.

PMID- 27648946
TI  - Running Speed Can Be Predicted from Foot Contact Time during Outdoor over Ground
      Running.
AB  - The number of validation studies of commercially available foot pods that provide
      estimates of running speed is limited and these studies have been conducted under
      laboratory conditions. Moreover, internal data handling and algorithms used to
      derive speed from these pods are proprietary and thereby unclear. The present
      study investigates the use of foot contact time (CT) for running speed
      estimations, which potentially can be used in addition to the global positioning
      system (GPS) in situations where GPS performance is limited. CT was measured with
      tri axial inertial sensors attached to the feet of 14 runners, during natural
      over ground outdoor running, under optimized conditions for GPS. The individual
      relationships between running speed and CT were established during short runs at
      different speeds on two days. These relations were subsequently used to predict
      instantaneous speed during a straight line 4 km run with a single turning point
      halfway. Stopwatch derived speed, measured for each of 32 consecutive 125m
      intervals during the 4 km runs, was used as reference. Individual speed-CT
      relations were strong (r2 >0.96 for all trials) and consistent between days.
      During the 4km runs, median error (ranges) in predicted speed from CT 2.5% (5.2)
      was higher (P<0.05) than for GPS 1.6% (0.8). However, around the turning point
      and during the first and last 125m interval, error for GPS-speed increased to
      5.0% (4.5) and became greater (P<0.05) than the error predicted from CT: 2.7%
      (4.4). Small speed fluctuations during 4km runs were adequately monitored with
      both methods: CT and GPS respectively explained 85% and 73% of the total speed
      variance during 4km runs. In conclusion, running speed estimates bases on speed
      CT relations, have acceptable accuracy and could serve to backup or substitute
      for GPS during tarmac running on flat terrain whenever GPS performance is
      limited. 

PMID- 27648947
TI  - Diversity of SCCmec Elements in Staphylococcus aureus as Observed in South
      Eastern Germany.
AB  - SCCmec elements are very important mobile genetic elements in Staphylococci that
      carry beta-lactam resistance genes mecA/mecC, recombinase genes and a variety of
      accessory genes. Twelve main types and a couple of variants have yet been
      described. In addition, there are also other SCC elements harbouring other
      markers. In order to subtype strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA)
      based on variations within their SCCmec elements, 86 markers were selected from
      published SCC sequences for an assay based on multiplexed primer extension
      reactions followed by hybridisation to the specific probes. These included
      mecA/mecC, fusC, regulatory genes, recombinase genes, genes from ACME and heavy
      metal resistance loci as well as several genes of unknown function. Hybridisation
      patterns for published genome or SCC sequences were theoretically predicted. For
      validation of the microarray based assay and for stringent hybridisation protocol
      optimization, real hybridization experiments with fully sequenced reference
      strains were performed modifying protocols until yielded the results were in
      concordance to the theoretical predictions. Subsequently, 226 clinical isolates
      from two hospitals in the city of Dresden, Germany, were characterised in detail.
      Beside previously described types and subtypes, a wide variety of additional SCC
      types or subtypes and pseudoSCC elements were observed as well as numerous
      composite elements. Within the study collection, 61 different such elements have
      been identified. Since hybridisation cannot recognise the localisation of target
      genes, gene duplications or inversions, this is a rather conservative estimate.
      Interestingly, some widespread epidemic strains engulf distinct variants with
      different SCCmec subtypes. Notable examples are ST239-MRSA-III, CC5-, CC22-, CC30
      , and CC45-MRSA-IV or CC398-MRSA-V. Conversely, identical SCC elements were
      observed in different strains with SCCmec IVa being spread among the highest
      number of Clonal Complexes. The proposed microarray can help to distinguish
      isolates that appear similar or identical by other typing methods and it can be
      used as high-throughput screening tool for the detection of putative new SCC
      types or variants that warrant further investigation and sequencing. The high
      degree of diversity of SCC elements even within so-called strains could be
      helpful for epidemiological typing. It also raises the question on scale and
      speed of the evolution of SCC elements. 

PMID- 27648949
TI  - Evaluation of Dose Distribution in Intensity Modulated Radiosurgery for Lung
      Cancer under Condition of Respiratory Motion.
AB  - The dose of a real tumor target volume and surrounding organs at risk (OARs)
      under the effect of respiratory motion was calculated for a lung tumor plan,
      based on the target volume covering the whole tumor motion range for intensity
      modulated radiosurgery (IMRS). Two types of IMRS plans based on simulated
      respiratory motion were designed using humanoid and dynamic phantoms. Delivery
      quality assurance (DQA) was performed using ArcCHECK and MapCHECK2 for several
      moving conditions of the tumor and the real dose inside the humanoid phantom was
      evaluated using the 3DVH program. This evaluated dose in the tumor target and OAR
      using the 3DVH program was higher than the calculated dose in the plan, and a
      greater difference was seen for the RapidArc treatment than for the standard
      intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with fixed gantry angle beams. The
      results of this study show that for IMRS plans based on target volume, including
      the whole tumor motion range, tighter constraints of the OAR should be considered
      in the optimization process. The method devised in this study can be applied
      effectively to analyze the dose distribution in the real volume of tumor target
      and OARs in IMRT plans targeting the whole tumor motion range. 

PMID- 27648948
TI  - Effect of Topically Applied Anaesthetic Formulation on the Sensitivity of Scoop
      Dehorning Wounds in Calves.
AB  - The post-operative effects of three formulations of topical anaesthetic and a
      cornual nerve block on the sensitivity of scoop dehorning wounds in calves were
      compared in two trials. In Trial 1, 21 female Holstein dairy calves aged 8 to 24
      weeks were randomly allocated to two groups: (1) scoop dehorning with a post
      operative application of a novel topical anaesthetic powder (DTAP, n = 10); and
      (2) scoop dehorning with a post-operative application of a novel topical
      anaesthetic ethanol liquid (DTAE, n = 11). In Trial 2, 18 castrated male and 18
      female Hereford beef calves aged 16 to 20 weeks were randomly allocated to four
      groups: (1) scoop dehorning with a pre-operative cornual nerve block of
      lignocaine (DCB, n = 9); (2) scoop dehorning with a post-operative application of
      the novel topical anaesthetic ethanol liquid from Trial 1 (DTAE, n = 9); (3)
      scoop dehorning with a post-operative application of a topical anaesthetic gel
      (DTAG, n = 9); and (4) sham dehorning (CON, n = 9). Sensitivity was assessed by
      scoring the behavioural response of calves to stimulation of the wound or skin at
      time points before and after treatment. In Trial 1, DTAP calves had a greater
      probability of displaying more severe responses than DTAE calves at 90 and 180
      min (P < 0.001). In Trial 2, at 1 h, DTAG calves had a greater probability of
      displaying more severe responses than CON calves. At 2 h onwards, all dehorned
      calves had a greater probability of displaying more severe responses than CON
      calves (P < 0.001). There were no differences between the responses of DCB, DTAG
      and DTAE calves at any time point. Topical anaesthetic formulations result in
      almost immediate but temporary anaesthesia of the wound following scoop dehorning
      in calves and may provide a practical option for pain relief on-farm. 

PMID- 27648950
TI  - Long-Term Outcome of Patients with Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defect:
      Results from the Belgian Registry on Adult Congenital Heart Disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Studies evaluating the long-term outcome of adults with ventricular
      septal defect (VSD) are important to inform patients about prognosis. This study
      investigated the long-term outcome of patients with perimembranous VSD (pmVSD)
      followed in the Belgian Registry on Adult Congenital Heart Disease. METHODS: All
      pmVSD patients in the registry were analyzed. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty-six
      patients were studied. Fifteen patients had Eisenmenger syndrome. One hundred and
      seventy-three had isolated pmVSD and 78 had pmVSD with concomitant lesions. Of
      the patients with isolated pmVSD, 52% were male, median age was 29 years (IQR 24
      35 years) and median follow-up duration was 18 years (IQR 10-25 years). Fifty
      three (31%) patients underwent VSD closure and 10 (19%) had a residual shunt.
      Most (93%) patients were in NYHA class I. No patients died. Two (4%) patients
      developed atrial arrhythmia and 2 (4%) required pacemaker implantation. Seven
      (14%) developed left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO). In the
      unrepaired pmVSD group, 4 developed endocarditis. In the entire group, moderate
      or severe aortic regurgitation (AR) occurred in 9 (5%) patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Long-term survival in patients with isolated pmVSD was not uneventful. Moderate
      or severe AR might develop and endocarditis occurred in patients without VSD
      repair. Complications after VSD closure included atrial arrhythmia, pacemaker
      implantation and LVOTO.

PMID- 27648951
TI  - Polymyxin B Resistance in Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, Sao Paulo,
      Brazil.

PMID- 27648952
TI  - On the Morphological Description of Tracheal and Esophageal Displacement and Its
      Phylogenetic Distribution in Avialae.
AB  - This research examines the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of a peculiar
      and often overlooked character seen in birds, herein called tracheal and
      esophageal displacement. Tracheal and esophageal displacement refers to an
      asymmetrically situated trachea and/or esophagus along the length of the neck.
      This contrasts with what would be perceived as the "normal" (midsagittal)
      placement of these organs, wherein the two organs are situated along the ventral
      midline of the neck with no deviation. A total of forty-two bird species were
      examined (thirty-six of which came from dissections whereas six came from
      comments from previous literature or personal observations), as well as turtles,
      lizards, crocodylians, and mammals. This study found that essentially all birds
      have a laterally displaced trachea and/or esophagus. Lizards and mammals were
      seen to have normal, midsagittally placed tracheae and esophagi. Crocodylians
      were interesting in that alligators were defined by a normally situated trachea
      and esophagus whereas some crocodiles were characterized by displacement. In
      birds, the displacement may occur gradually along the neck, or it may happen
      immediately upon exiting the oropharynx. Displacement of these organs in birds is
      the result of a heavily modified neck wherein muscles that restrict mobility of
      the trachea and esophagus in lizards, alligators, and mammals (e.g., m.
      episternocleidomastoideus, m. omohyoideus, and m. sternohyoideus) no longer
      substantially restrict positions of the trachea and esophagus in birds. Rather,
      these muscles are modified in ways which may assist with making tracheal
      movements. The implications of this study may provide interesting insights for
      future comparisons in extinct taxa. 

PMID- 27648953
TI  - Correction: Positive Contrast MRI Techniques for Visualization of Iron-Loaded
      Hernia Mesh Implants in Patients.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155717.].

PMID- 27648954
TI  - Intermittent Testicular Torsion in Adults: An Overlooked Clinical Condition.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the management protocol for
      intermittent testicular torsion (ITT) in adults and report the outcome of this
      clinical condition, which is commonly overlooked in adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      Sixty-three patients were included in the study. The inclusion criterion was the
      presence of sudden intermittent testicular pain over a duration of 3 months. All
      the patients underwent clinical examination, urine analysis, culture, and scrotal
      ultrasound with Doppler. The testicle was in an abnormal or in transverse lie
      and/or could easily be twisted. Scrotal support and analgesia were given for 1
      month, then patients were offered orchidopexy or conservative treatment. Nineteen
      patients chose orchidopexy while 44 chose conservative treatment. Follow-up
      ranged from 3 months to 2 years. The improvement was assessed using a visual
      analog pain score. The outcome of the treatment was compared between the surgical
      and conservative groups using a chi2 test. RESULTS: The median age of the
      patients was 28 years (range: 17-50). Of the 19 patients who underwent
      orchidopexy, the pain resolved or visual analog pain scores improved (median
      1/10) in 18 (94.7%) cases. On the other hand, 21 of the 44 (47.7%) cases that
      chose the conservative approach claimed their pain resolved or improved (visual
      analog pain scores: median 3/10) with a median of 13 months of follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: In this study, scrotal orchidopexy proved to be superior to
      conservative measures in cases of ITT in adults.

PMID- 27648956
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Risperidone versus other atypical antipsychotic medication for
      schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risperidone is one of a number of 'atypical antipsychotics' which are
      currently being marketed for the treatment of those with schizophrenia, largely
      on the basis of claims of improved tolerability and effectiveness compared to
      much cheaper conventional antipsychotics. The efficacy of risperidone has already
      been compared to conventional drugs, but it remains unclear how risperidone
      compares with other atypical antipsychotic drugs such as clozapine. OBJECTIVES:
      To determine the effects of risperidone compared with other atypical
      antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia. SEARCH METHODS: Electronic searches of
      Biological Abstracts (1980-1999), The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2000), The
      Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (January 1999), EMBASE (1980-1999),
      MEDLINE (1966-1999), LILACS (1982-1999), PSYNDEX (1977-1999) and PsycLIT (1974
      1999) were undertaken. In addition, pharmaceutical databases on the Dialog
      Corporation Datastar and Dialog services were searched. References of all
      identified studies were searched for further trials. Pharmaceutical companies and
      authors of trials were contacted. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised controlled
      clinical trials that compared risperidone to other atypical antipsychotic
      treatments for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychoses were included by
      independent assessment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Citations and, where
      possible, abstracts were independently inspected by reviewers, papers ordered, re
      inspected and quality assessed. Data were independently extracted. For
      homogeneous dichotomous data the risk ratio (RR), 95% confidence interval (CI)
      and, where appropriate, the number needed to treat (NNT) were calculated on an
      intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, standardised and weighted mean
      differences were calculated (SMD, WMD). All data were inspected for
      heterogeneity. MAIN RESULTS: Nine studies were obtained, comparing risperidone
      with clozapine (five studies - largely amongst treatment resistant patients);
      olanzapine (three studies); and amisulpiride (one study). The research was beset
      by problems of high attrition rates and short term follow up.Clozapine does seem
      equally acceptable to risperidone in the short term (leaving the study early,
      n=466, RR 1.00 CI 0.73-1.37). For most other outcomes wide confidence intervals
      were obtained, which meant that it was impossible to judge whether the two
      compounds were equally effective, or whether one was in fact superior to the
      other.Olanzapine and risperidone seem broadly similar according to numbers of
      patients responding to treatment (40% reduction in PANSS scores: n=339, RR 1.14,
      CI 0.99-1.32). Olanzapine caused fewer people to leave the study early (n=404, RR
      1.31 CI 1.06-1.60; NNT 8 CI 4-32) and fewer extrapyramidal side effects (n=339,
      RR 1.67 CI 1.14-2.46; NNH 8 CI 5-33), although comparative doses of risperidone
      were higher than those recommended in practice.In one single study (n=228)
      amisulpiride seemed broadly similar to risperidone in most respects.There were no
      useful data presented relating to service use and costs. Very few data relating
      to quality of life were presented. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The equivalence of
      clozapine and risperidone for treatment resistant schizophrenia cannot yet be
      assumed and there seems to be little to chose between risperidone and both
      olanzapine and amisulpiride. The research is limited in many respects, and longer
      term studies measuring clinically important outcomes, including service use and
      quality of life are needed to judge the comparative value of the various atypical
      drugs.

PMID- 27648955
TI  - Human circulating ribosomal DNA content significantly increases while circulating
      satellite III (1q12) content decreases under chronic occupational exposure to low
      dose gamma- neutron and tritium beta-radiation.
AB  - A single exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) results in an elevated cell-free DNA
      (cfDNA) content in the blood plasma. In this case, the cfDNA concentration can be
      a marker of the cell death in the organism. However, a chronic exposure to a low
      dose IR enhances both the endonuclease activity and titer of antibodies to DNA in
      blood plasma, resulting in a decrease of the total concentration of circulating
      cfDNA in exposed people. In this case, the total cfDNA concentration should not
      be considered as a marker of the cell death in an exposed body. We assumed that a
      pool of the cfDNA circulating in the exposed people contains DNA fragments, which
      are resistant to a double-strand break formation in the environment of the
      elevated plasma endonuclease activity, and can be accumulated in the blood
      plasma. In order to test this hypothesis, we studied the content of GC-rich
      sequences (69%GC) of the transcribed region of human ribosomal repeat (rDNA), as
      well as the content of AT-rich repeat (63%AT) of satellite III (1q12) in the
      cfDNA samples obtained from 285 individuals. We have found that a chronic
      exposure to gamma-neutron radiation (N=88) and tritium beta-radiation (N=88)
      evokes an increase of the rDNA content (RrDNA index) and a decrease of the
      satellite III content (RsatIII index) in the circulating cfDNA as compared with
      the cfDNA of non-exposed people (N=109). Such index that simultaneously displays
      both the increase of rDNA content and decrease of satellite III content in the
      cfDNA (RrDNA/RsatIII) can be recommended as a marker of chronic processes in the
      body that involve the elevated cell death rate and/or increased blood plasma
      endonuclease activity.

PMID- 27648957
TI  - Ordered mesoporous silica to enhance the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble
      drugs: Proof of concept in man.
AB  - Formulating poorly water soluble drugs using ordered mesoporous silica materials
      is an emerging approach to tackle solubility-related bioavailability problems.
      The current study was conducted to assess the bioavailability-enhancing potential
      of ordered mesoporous silica in man. In this open-label, randomized, two-way
      cross-over study, 12 overnight fasted healthy volunteers received a single dose
      of fenofibrate formulated with ordered mesoporous silica or a marketed product
      based on micronized fenofibrate. Plasma concentrations of fenofibric acid, the
      pharmacologically active metabolite of fenofibrate, were monitored up to 96h post
      dose. The rate (Cmax/dose increased by 77%; tmax reduced by 0.75h) and extent of
      absorption (AUC0-24h/dose increased by 54%) of fenofibrate were significantly
      enhanced following administration of the ordered mesoporous silica based
      formulation. The results of this study serve as a proof of concept in man for
      this novel formulation approach.

PMID- 27648958
TI  - Extension of the dissolution-precipitation model for kinetic elucidation of
      solvent-mediated polymorphic transformations.
AB  - Thorough understanding and control of the different crystal forms of a drug
      product is key for fine chemistry and materials science; it ultimately determines
      the product's physicochemical properties and performance. In this work, we extend
      the application of a mechanistic dissolution-precipitation model to solvent
      mediated solid form transformations. To address the relevance of the model,
      various kinetic solvent-mediated polymorphic transition studies were retrieved
      from the literature. Our model succeeds in accurately describing the experimental
      data, shedding light on the molecular steps driving the polymorphic conversion.
      Given its simplicity and mechanistic character, the model can be viewed as a
      useful tool to monitor, predict and optimize the solvent-mediated transformations
      of solid forms.

PMID- 27648959
TI  - Adverse safety events in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) confers a higher risk of adverse
      safety events as a result of many factors including medication dosing errors and
      use of nephrotoxic drugs, which can cause kidney injury and renal function
      decline. CKD patients may also have comorbidities such as hypertension and
      diabetes for which they require more frequent care from different providers, and
      for which standard, but countervailing treatments, may put them at risk for
      adverse safety events. Areas covered: In addition to the well-known agents such
      as iodinated radiocontrast, antimicrobials, diuretics and angiotensin converting
      enzyme (ACE) inhibitors which can directly affect renal function, safety
      considerations in the treatment of common CKD complications such as anemia,
      diabetes, analgesia and thrombosis will also be discussed. Expert opinion: Better
      outcomes in CKD may be achieved by alerting care providers to the special care
      needs of kidney patients and encouraging patients to self-manage their disease
      with the decision support of multidisciplinary patient care teams.

PMID- 27648961
TI  - Liver and Muscle Contribute Differently to the Plasma Acylcarnitine Pool During
      Fasting and Exercise in Humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasma acylcarnitine levels are elevated by physiological conditions
      such as fasting and exercise but also in states of insulin resistance and
      obesity. AIM: To elucidate the contribution of liver and skeletal muscle to
      plasma acylcarnitines in the fasting state and during exercise in humans.
      METHODS: In 2 independent studies, young healthy males were fasted overnight and
      performed an acute bout of exercise to investigate either acylcarnitines in
      skeletal muscle biopsies and arterial-to-venous plasma differences over the
      exercising and resting leg (n = 9) or the flux over the hepato-splanchnic bed (n
      = 10). RESULTS: In the fasting state, a pronounced release of C2- and C3
      carnitines from the hepato-splanchnic bed and an uptake of free carnitine by the
      legs were detected. Exercise further increased the release of C3-carnitine from
      the hepato-splanchnic bed and the uptake of free carnitine in the exercising leg.
      In plasma and in the exercising muscle, exercise induced an increase of most
      acylcarnitines followed by a rapid decline to preexercise values during recovery.
      In contrast, free carnitine was decreased in the exercising muscle and quickly
      restored thereafter. C8-, C10-, C10:1-, C12-, and C12:1-carnitines were released
      from the exercising leg and simultaneously; C6, C8, C10, C10:1, C14, and C16:1
      were taken up by the hepato-splanchnic. CONCLUSION: These data provide novel
      insight to the organo-specific release/uptake of acylcarnitines. The liver is a
      major contributor to systemic short chain acylcarnitines, whereas the muscle
      tissue releases mostly medium chain acylcarnitines during exercise, indicating
      that other tissues are contributing to the systemic increase in long chain
      acylcarnitines.

PMID- 27648960
TI  - Role of Gut Microbiota and Short Chain Fatty Acids in Modulating Energy Harvest
      and Fat Partitioning in Youth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed at determining the relationship of the gut microbiota and
      short chain fatty acids with obesity and fat partitioning and at testing
      potential differences in the ability of gut microbiota to ferment equal amounts
      of carbohydrates (CHO) between lean and obese youth. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
      We analyzed the gut microbiota of 84 youth in whom body fat distribution was
      measured by fast-magnetic resonance imaging, de novo lipogenesis (DNL)
      quantitated using deuterated water, and the capability of gut flora to ferment
      CHO was assessed by 13C-fructose treatment in vitro. RESULTS: A significant
      association was found between the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, and the
      abundance of Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria with body mass index, visceral and
      SC fat (all P < .05). Plasma acetate, propionate, and butyrate were associated
      with body mass index and visceral and SC fat (all P < .05) and with hepatic DNL
      (P = .01, P = .09, P = .04, respectively). Moreover, the rate of CHO fermentation
      from the gut flora was higher in obese than in lean subjects (P = .018).
      CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that obese youth show a different gut flora
      composition than lean and that short chain fatty acids are associated with body
      fat partitioning and DNL. Also, the gut microbiota of obese youth have a higher
      capability than the gut flora of lean to oxidize CHO.

PMID- 27648962
TI  - Aldosterone-Producing Adenoma With a Somatic KCNJ5 Mutation Revealing APC
      Dependent Familial Adenomatous Polyposis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Recurrent somatic mutations in KCNJ5, CACNA1D, ATP1A1, and ATP2B3 have
      been identified in aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs). The question as to
      whether they are responsible for both nodulation and aldosterone production is
      not solved. CASE DESCRIPTION: We describe the case of a young patient who was
      diagnosed with severe arterial hypertension due to primary aldosteronism at age
      26 years, followed by hemorrhagic stroke 4 years later. Abdominal computed
      tomography showed bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia. Identification of
      lateralized aldosterone secretion led to right adrenalectomy, followed by
      normalization of biochemical and hormonal parameters and amelioration of blood
      pressure. The resected adrenal showed three nodules, one of them expressing
      aldosterone synthase and harboring a somatic KNCJ5 mutation. A Weiss revisited
      index of 3 of the APA prompted us to perform a second 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D
      glucose-positron emission tomography after surgery, which revealed abnormal
      rectal activity despite the absence of clinical symptoms. Gastrointestinal
      exploration showed multiple polyps with severe dysplasia, and the diagnosis of
      familial adenomatous polyposis was established in the presence of a germline
      heterozygous APC gene mutation. Sequencing of somatic DNA from the APA and a
      second adrenal nodule revealed biallelic APC inactivation due to loss of
      heterozygosity in both nodules. CONCLUSIONS: This case report underlines the need
      for establishing the frequency of germline APC variants in patients with primary
      aldosteronism and bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia because their
      presence may predispose to APA development and severe hypertension well before
      the first familial adenomatous polyposis symptoms appear. From a mechanistic
      point of view, it supports a two-hit model for APA development, whereby the first
      hit drives increased cell proliferation whereas the second hit specifies the
      pattern of hormonal secretion.

PMID- 27648963
TI  - Thyroid Function and Cancer Risk: The Rotterdam Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: In vitro and in vivo experiments have assigned both oncosuppressive and
      oncogenic properties to thyroid hormones. Population-based studies have found
      inconclusive results. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to prospectively assess the relation
      between thyroid function and incident cancer in a population-based setting.
      DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The current study is a prospective population
      based cohort study including 10 318 participants for whom baseline measurements
      of free T4 (FT4) and/or TSH were available. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cox
      proportional hazards models were used to assess hazard ratios (HRs) of any solid
      non-skin cancer, as well as lung, breast, prostate, and gastrointestinal cancer
      specifically. RESULTS: Higher FT4 levels were associated with a higher risk of
      any solid cancer (HR, 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-1.79), lung cancer
      (HR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.39-3.92) and breast (HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.10-2.84) cancer.
      The risk estimates were similar after exclusion of thyroid-altering medication,
      but the association lost significance for breast cancer. Compared with the lowest
      FT4 tertile, the highest tertile was associated with a 1.13-fold increased risk
      of any solid, 1.79-fold increased risk of lung, and 1.14-fold increased risk of
      breast cancer (P for trend <.05 for all). For TSH levels we found no associations
      with cancer risk. There was no differential effect of sex or age on the
      association between thyroid function and cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: Higher FT4
      levels are significantly associated with an increased risk of any solid, lung,
      and breast cancer. Further research should elucidate the underlying
      pathophysiological mechanisms.

PMID- 27648966
TI  - Body Fat Mass Is Associated With Ratio of Steroid Metabolites Reflecting 17,20
      Lyase Activity in Prepubertal Girls.
AB  - CONTEXT: Pediatric obesity has been related to hyperandrogenism and premature
      adrenarche in previous studies. However, little is known regarding the
      association between body fat mass and steroidogenic enzyme activities in
      children. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether body fat mass is associated with serum
      steroid profiles in girls. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND SETTING: We enrolled 242
      girls (125 prepubertal, 117 pubertal; age, 7-13 years). Early morning blood
      samples were drawn at a university hospital to measure serum steroid profiles
      using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and steroidogenic enzyme activities
      were assessed from the ratios of steroid metabolites. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We
      evaluated serum steroid profiles and estimated steroidogenic enzyme activities
      and their association with anthropometric indices and body composition. RESULTS:
      Prepubertal obese girls demonstrated significantly higher progestin, androgens
      (dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA], androstenedione [A-dione], T, androsterone), and
      ratio of steroid metabolites reflecting 17,20-lyase activity [(DHEA + A-dione)/17
      hydroxypregnenolone] compared with prepubertal controls. Pubertal obese girls
      demonstrated significantly higher serum T and androsterone than pubertal
      controls; however, serum steroid metabolite ratios reflecting steroidogenic
      enzyme activities did not significantly differ among obese and non-obese girls.
      Partial correlation analysis revealed that body fat mass was positively
      correlated with pregnenolone, DHEA, A-dione, T, androsterone, and ratio of (DHEA
      + A-dione)/17-hydroxypregnenolone in prepubertal girls only. Prepubertal girls
      with increased body fat mass had significantly higher serum DHEA and ratio of
      (DHEA + A-dione)/17-hydroxypregnenolone than controls. CONCLUSIONS: Increased
      androgen production in prepubertal obese girls could be at least partly due to
      increased body fat mass and 17,20-lyase activity.

PMID- 27648965
TI  - The Risk of Preeclampsia According to High Thyroid Function in Pregnancy Differs
      by hCG Concentration.
AB  - CONTEXT: During pregnancy, there is an increased demand for thyroid hormone. The
      pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is an important
      physiological stimulator of thyroid function. Already high-normal maternal free
      T4 concentrations are associated with a higher risk of preeclampsia. OBJECTIVE:
      The objective of the investigation was to study our hypothesis that hCG
      concentrations can distinguish a physiological form of high thyroid function from
      a more pathological form of high thyroid function and that the risk of
      preeclampsia would differ accordingly. DESIGN: TSH, free T4, hCG, or
      thyroperoxidase antibody concentrations were determined in pregnant women
      participating in a population-based prospective cohort study. SETTING: The study
      was conducted in the general community. PARTICIPANTS: A nonselected sample of
      5146 pregnant women participated in the study. INTERVENTIONS: There were no
      interventions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Preeclampsia was measured. RESULTS: Women
      with high hCG-associated high thyroid function did not have a higher risk of
      preeclampsia than women with normal thyroid function. In contrast, women with low
      hCG and high thyroid function had a 3.4- to 11.1-fold higher risk of
      preeclampsia. These risk estimates were amplified in women with a high body mass
      index. Women with a low hCG and suppressed TSH (<0.10 mU/L) had a 3.2- to 8.9
      fold higher risk of preeclampsia. hCG was not associated with preeclampsia, and
      results remained similar after exclusion of thyroperoxidase antibody-positive
      women. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that, in contrast to women with a high hCG
      associated high thyroid function, women with low hCG and high thyroid function
      during pregnancy are at a higher risk of developing preeclampsia. The additional
      measurement of hCG may therefore help to distinguish a more pathological form of
      high thyroid function and women at a high risk of preeclampsia.

PMID- 27648964
TI  - Relationships Between Urinary Phthalate Metabolite and Bisphenol A Concentrations
      and Vitamin D Levels in U.S. Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey (NHANES), 2005-2010.
AB  - CONTEXT: Recent research suggests that environmental exposure to endocrine
      disrupting chemicals may alter circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels
      in humans. To date, no studies have assessed the associations between phthalates
      and bisphenol A (BPA) and total 25(OH)D in the U.S. general population.
      OBJECTIVE: To explore relationships between urinary concentrations of 11
      phthalate metabolites and BPA and serum total 25(OH)D in a representative sample
      of U.S. adults. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: U.S. National Health
      and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2010. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: U.S.
      general adult population (aged >=20 years). INTERVENTIONS: None Main Outcome
      Measures: Serum total 25(OH)D measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry. RESULTS: Metabolites of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were
      consistently inversely associated with total 25(OH)D in the overall study
      population and in gender-stratified models. In the overall population, we
      detected a significant inverse relationship for the molar sum of DEHP metabolites
      (SigmaDEHP), where an interquartile range increase in SigmaDEHP was associated
      with a 1.90% decrease (95% confidence interval [CI], -3.64, -0.17) in total
      25(OH)D. A positive association was detected for monoethyl phthalate. For BPA, we
      found a statistically significant inverse relationship in women, but not in men.
      In women, an interquartile range increase in urinary BPA was associated with a
      3.71% decrease (95% CI, -6.41, -1.02) in total 25(OH)D. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our
      results provide suggestive evidence that environmental exposure to phthalates and
      BPA may alter circulating levels of total 25(OH)D in adults. Future human and
      animal studies are required to resolve the direction, temporality, and impact of
      these relationships.

PMID- 27648967
TI  - Intraoperative Real-Time Localization of Normal Parathyroid Glands With
      Autofluorescence Imaging.
AB  - CONTEXT: This biomedical investigation is valuable for identification and
      localization of parathyroid glands during thyroidectomy, which can provide an
      intraoperative real-time visual guidance. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study
      was to investigate the feasibility of real-time autofluorescence imaging of the
      parathyroid glands without exogenous contrast dye for their localization and
      demonstration of relation to the background tissues. SETTING: This research was
      undertaken at Kosin University Gospel Hospital. METHODS: Sixteen normal
      parathyroid glands from eight patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were
      enrolled. Photo images of the surgical field including the parathyroid and
      background tissues were taken with a digital camera, 780 nm light-emitting diode
      to excite the parathyroid, and infrared illuminator to visualize the entire neck.
      The area-averaged autofluorescence intensity of parathyroid over the area
      averaged fluorescence intensity of background tissues was measured. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: The location of the parathyroid gland was verified with a single image.
      RESULTS: The area-averaged autofluorescence intensity of parathyroid over the
      area-averaged fluorescence intensity of background tissues for all parathyroid
      glands was higher than 1, with a minimum of 1.95 and a maximum of 5.20 (average
      2.76, SD 0.79). By our technique, all 16 parathyroid glands were detected
      (positive predictive value of 100%), and the entire surgical field including the
      parathyroid and background tissues was visualized as well. The parathyroid glands
      that were exposed or even covered by connective tissues or blood vessels could be
      detected with strong emission. CONCLUSIONS: This method showed the precise
      localization of the parathyroid glands and demonstrated their relation to
      background tissue. We believe that this simple, nonexogenous dye technique of
      anatomical guidance can aid surgeons to preserve parathyroid glands during
      thyroidectomy.

PMID- 27648970
TI  - Editorial overview: Synthetic biology - From understanding to engineering biology
      and back.

PMID- 27648971
TI  - Foramen ovale (FO) - The underestimated sibling of ductus arteriosus (DA):
      Relevance during neonatal transition.

PMID- 27648968
TI  - Cord Blood Adipokines and Lipids and Adolescent Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - CONTEXT: Maternal adiposity in pregnancy is associated with offspring adiposity
      and metabolic dysfunction postnatally, including greater risk of nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recent genetic analyses suggest a causal effect of
      greater maternal body mass index on offspring birth weight and ponderal index,
      but the relative roles of the environment in utero or later in life remains
      unclear. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether markers of infant adiposity
      (birth weight, umbilical cord blood leptin, adiponectin, and lipids) were
      associated with markers of NAFLD in adolescence. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: This was a UK prospective birth cohort with 17 years of follow-up
      with liver function tests (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase,
      gamma-glutamyltransferase) (n = 1037 participants), and ultrasound scan assessed
      liver fat, volume, and sheer velocity at age 17 (n = 541 participants). Missing
      covariate data were imputed. MAIN OUTCOMES: Ultrasound and biochemical measures
      of NAFLD were measured. RESULTS: Birth weight, cord blood leptin, and adiponectin
      were not associated with a diagnosis of NAFLD. In adjusted analyses, 2 of 42
      associations attained conventional 5% levels of significance. Birth weight was
      positively associated with liver volume (1.0% greater per 100 g [95% confidence
      interval 0.5%-2.0%]). Cord high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was positively
      associated with alanine aminotransferase (11.6% higher per 1 mmol/L [95%
      confidence interval 0.3, 23.4]); however, this association was primarily mediated
      via offspring adiposity. CONCLUSIONS: In this extensive analysis, we found little
      evidence measurements of infant fat mass and birth size were related to
      adolescent markers of NAFLD. The association between birth weight and adolescent
      liver volume may indicate the contribution of greater organ size to birth weight
      and tracking of organ size.

PMID- 27648969
TI  - Treatment With Recombinant Human Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Improves Growth in
      Patients With PAPP-A2 Deficiency.
AB  - CONTEXT: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) is a metalloproteinase
      that specifically cleaves IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-5. Mutations in the PAPP-A2 gene have
      recently been shown to cause postnatal growth failure in humans, with specific
      skeletal features, due to the resulting decrease in IGF-1 bioavailability.
      However, a pharmacological treatment of this entity is yet to be established.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: A 10.5-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, siblings from a
      Spanish family, with short stature due to a homozygous loss-of-function mutation
      in the PAPP-A2 gene (p.D643fs25*) and undetectable PAPP-A2 activity, were treated
      with progressive doses (40, 80, 100, and 120 MUg/kg) of recombinant human IGF-1
      (rhIGF-1) twice daily for 1 year. There was a clear increase in growth velocity
      and height in both siblings. Bioactive IGF-1 was increased, and spontaneous GH
      secretion was diminished after acute administration of rhIGF-1, whereas serum
      total IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels remained elevated. No episodes of hypoglycemia or
      any other secondary effects were observed during treatment. CONCLUSION: Short
      term treatment with rhIGF-1 improves growth in patients with PAPP-A2 deficiency.

PMID- 27648972
TI  - Growth rate controls mRNA turnover in steady and non-steady states.
AB  - Gene expression has been investigated in relation with growth rate in the yeast
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae, following different experimental strategies. The
      expression of some specific gene functional categories increases or decreases
      with growth rate. Our recently published results have unveiled that these changes
      in mRNA concentration with growth depend on the relative alteration of mRNA
      synthesis and decay, and that, in addition to this gene-specific transcriptomic
      signature of growth, global mRNA turnover increases with growth rate. We discuss
      here these results in relation with other previous and concurrent publications,
      and we add new evidence which indicates that growth rate controls mRNA turnover
      even under non-steady-state conditions.

PMID- 27648973
TI  - Is treatment "intensity" associated with healthier lifestyle choices? An
      application of the dose response function.
AB  - Healthy lifestyle choices and doctor consultations can be substitutes or
      complements in the health production function. In this paper we consider the
      relation between the number of doctor consultations and the frequency of patient
      physical activity. We use a novel application of the Dose-Response Function model
      proposed by Hirano and Imbens (2004) to deal with treatment endogeneity under the
      no unmeasured confounding assumption. Our application takes account of unobserved
      heterogeneity and uses dynamic non-linear models for the treatment and outcome
      variables of interest. Using seven waves of the British Household Panel Survey,
      we find that higher treatment intensity and frequency of physical activity are
      inversely related. We show that accounting for both treatment selection and
      unobserved heterogeneity halves the size of this relationship. An additional
      doctor consultation is associated with a 0.5 percentage point reduction in the
      probability of undertaking vigorous physical activity. Our results hold for a sub
      sample visiting the doctor for health check-ups, and are shown to be robust using
      instrumental variables.

PMID- 27648974
TI  - Dichotic listening as an index of lateralization of speech perception in familial
      risk children with and without dyslexia.
AB  - Atypical language lateralization has been marked as one of the factors that may
      contribute to the development of dyslexia. Indeed, atypical lateralization of
      linguistic functions such as speech processing in dyslexia has been demonstrated
      using neuroimaging studies, but also using the behavioral dichotic listening (DL)
      method. However, so far, DL results have been mixed. The current study assesses
      lateralization of speech processing by using DL in a sample of children at
      familial risk (FR) for dyslexia. In order to determine whether atypical
      lateralization of speech processing relates to reading ability, or is a correlate
      of being at familial risk, the current study compares the laterality index of FR
      children who did and did not become dyslexic, and a control group of readers
      without dyslexia. DL was tested in 3rd grade and in 5/6th grade. Results indicate
      that at both time points, all three groups have a right ear advantage, indicative
      of more pronounced left-hemispheric processing. However, the FR-dyslexic children
      are less good at reporting from the left ear than controls and FR-nondyslexic
      children. This impediment relates to reading fluency.

PMID- 27648976
TI  - Determinants of cerebral hemodynamics during the Trail Making Test in
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Patients with schizophrenia show deficits in cognitive functioning, and studies
      on cerebral hemodynamics have revealed aberrant patterns of mean cerebral blood
      flow velocity (MFV), an equivalent of cerebral blood flow (CBF). Therefore, we
      carried out a controlled study that assessed MFV in schizophrenia during a well
      known neuropsychological task, the Trail Making Test (TMT). We measured MFV in
      the middle cerebral arteries using functional transcranial Doppler sonography in
      15 schizophrenia patients and 15 healthy subjects. In comparison to healthy
      subjects, patients performed poorer on the TMT-A and the TMT-B, and there was
      increased cerebral blood flow velocity during the TMT-B. A comparison of
      subgroups of patients and controls matched in performance on the TMT-B revealed
      that these patients still showed significantly increased cerebral blood flow
      velocity. Increased MFV in schizophrenia suggests specific alterations of
      cerebral hemodynamics during the Trail Making Test, Part B, which are not
      detectable during visuomotor activity, and which are independent of performance.
      These findings emphasize the pathophysiological importance of cognitive
      functioning in schizophrenia, but cast doubts whether performance in this
      particular test plays a relevant role for CBF abnormalities in schizophrenia.

PMID- 27648977
TI  - Prevention of re-hospitalization by home-based intervention and adaptive servo
      ventilation therapy in a patient who experienced repeated hospitalization for
      decompensated heart failure.

PMID- 27648975
TI  - Coupling of online control and inhibitory systems in children with atypical motor
      development: A growth curve modelling study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previous research indicates that children with Developmental
      Coordination Disorder (DCD) show deficits performing online corrections, an issue
      exacerbated by adding inhibitory constraints; however, cross-sectional data
      suggests that these deficits may reduce with age. Using a longitudinal design,
      the aim of the study presented here was to model the coupling that occurs between
      inhibitory systems and (predictive) online control in typically developing
      children (TDC) and in those with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) over
      an extended period of time, using a framework of interactive specialization. We
      predicted that TDC would show a non-linear growth pattern, consistent with re
      organisation in the coupling during the middle childhood period, while DCD would
      display a developmental lag. METHOD: A group of 196 children (111 girls and 85
      boys) aged between 6 and 12years participated in the study. Children were
      classified as DCD according to research criteria. Using a cohort sequential
      design, both TDC and DCD groups were divided into age cohorts. Predictive
      (online) control was defined operationally by performance on a Double-Jump
      Reaching Task (DJRT), which was assessed at 6-month intervals over two years (5
      time points in total). Inhibitory control was examined using an anti-jump
      condition of the DJRT paradigm whereby children were instructed to touch a target
      location in the hemispace opposite a cued location. RESULTS: For the TDC group,
      model comparison using growth curve analysis revealed that a quadratic trend was
      the most appropriate fit with evidence of rapid improvement in anti-reach
      performance up until middle childhood (around 8-9years of age), followed by a
      more gradual rate of improvement into late childhood and early adolescence. This
      pattern was evident on both chronometric and kinematic measures. In contrast, for
      children with DCD, a linear function provided the best to fit on the key metrics,
      with a slower rate of improvement than controls. CONCLUSION: We conclude that
      children with DCD require a more extended period of development to effectively
      couple online motor control and executive systems when completing anti-reach
      movements, whereas TDC show rapid improvement in early and middle childhood.
      These group differences in growth curves are likely to reflect a maturational lag
      in the development of motor-cognitive networks in children with DCD.

PMID- 27648978
TI  - Impact of systolic blood pressure on hemorrhagic stroke in patients with coronary
      artery disease during anti-platelet therapy: The Japanese Coronary Artery Disease
      (JCAD) study.

PMID- 27648980
TI  - Explaining heterogeneity in the predictive value of Type D personality for
      cardiac events and mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type D personality has been associated with adverse outcomes in
      patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, large heterogeneity exists
      between Type D studies, including some studies reporting null-findings.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine i) choice of endpoint and ii)
      age as two study characteristics that may partly explain this large heterogeneity
      in the Type D associated prognostic effect. METHODS: We used four existing data
      cohorts of 1503 CAD patients (89% male, mean age=57.2+/-9.1) with baseline
      measures of Type D and endpoints >5years follow-up: major adverse cardiac events
      (MACE), cardiac death/MI, and non-cardiac death. Patients were classified in 4
      age categories: <50y, 50-59y, 60-69y and >=70y. Multiple logistic regression
      models included age, sex, and clinical covariates. RESULTS: At follow-up, there
      were 295 events, including 116 cardiac death/MI, and 37 non-cardiac deaths. Both
      continuous and categorical measures of Type D predicted adverse events. Type D
      was independently associated with MACE (OR=1.82; 95%CI 1.33-2.50) and cardiac
      death/MI (OR=2.49; 95%CI 1.55-3.99). However, Type D was not associated with non
      cardiac death (OR=1.23; 95%CI 0.57-2.69). Regarding age, Type D consistently
      predicted MACE in the lower age groups (all ORs>=2.20, all ps<=.004), but not in
      patients aged >=70y (OR=1.43, p=.57). CONCLUSIONS: Choice of endpoint and age
      modulated the risk conferred by Type D personality. Type D was associated with an
      increased risk of cardiac events, but not with non-cardiac death, or with events
      in patients aged >=70y. Research on psychosocial risk in CAD should account for
      different sources of heterogeneity in study characteristics.

PMID- 27648979
TI  - Predictors of in-hospital mortality among cardiogenic shock patients. Prognostic
      and therapeutic implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiogenic shock (CS) has a poor prognosis. The heterogeneity in the
      mortality through different subgroups suggests that some factors can be useful to
      perform risk stratification and guide management. We aimed to find predictors of
      in-hospital mortality in these patients. METHODS: We analyzed all cases of
      cardiogenic shock due to medical conditions admitted in our intensive acute
      cardiovascular care unity from November 2010 till November 2015. Clinical,
      biochemical and hemodynamic variables were registered, as was the Interagency
      Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) profile at 24h
      of CS diagnosis. From a total of 281 patients, 28 died within the first 24h and
      were not included in the analysis. RESULTS: A total of 253 patients survived the
      first 24h, mean age was 68.8+/-14.4years, and 174 (68.8%) were men. Etiologies:
      acute coronary syndrome 146 (57.7%), acute heart failure 60 (23.7%), arrhythmias
      35 (13.8%), and others 12 (4.8%). A total of 91 patients (36.0%) died during
      hospitalization. We found the following independent predictors of in-hospital
      mortality: age (odds ratio [OR] 1.032, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.003-1.062),
      blood glucose (OR 1.004, 95% CI 1.001-1.008), heart rate (OR 1.014, 95% CI 1.001
      1.028), and INTERMACS profile (OR 0.168, 95% CI 0.107-0.266). CONCLUSIONS: In
      patients with CS the INTERMACS profile at 24h of diagnosis was associated with
      higher in-hospital mortality. This and other prognostic variables (age, blood
      glucose, and heart rate) may be useful for risk stratification and to select
      appropriate medical or invasive interventions.

PMID- 27648981
TI  - The frailty syndrome and mortality among very old patients with symptomatic
      severe aortic stenosis under different treatments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of frailty as a prognostic factor in non-selected patients
      with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (SAS) is still uncertain. This study aims
      to examine the association between the frailty syndrome and mortality among very
      old patients with symptomatic SAS, and to assess whether the association varies
      with the type of SAS treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Prospective study of 606
      patients aged >=75years with symptomatic SAS, recruited from February 2010 to
      January 2015, who were followed up through June 2015. At baseline, frailty was
      defined as having at least three of the following five criteria: muscle weakness,
      slow gait speed, low physical activity, exhaustion, and unintentional weight
      loss. Statistical analyses were performed with multivariate Cox regression. At
      baseline, 49.3% patients were frail. During a mean follow-up of 98weeks, 35.3% of
      patients died. The hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of mortality among
      frail versus non-frail patients was 1.83 (1.33-2.51). The corresponding results
      were 1.58 (1.09-2.28) among patients under medical treatment, 3.06 (1.25-7.50) in
      those with transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and 1.97 (0.83-4.67) in those
      with surgical aortic valve replacement, p for interaction=0.21. When the frailty
      criteria were considered separately, mortality was also higher among patients
      with slow gait speed [1.52 (1.05-2.19)] or low physical activity [1.35 (1.00
      1.85)]. CONCLUSIONS: Frailty is associated with increased mortality among
      patients with symptomatic SAS, and this association does not vary with the type
      of SAS treatment. Future studies evaluating the benefits of different treatments
      in SAS patients should account for baseline frailty.

PMID- 27648982
TI  - The healthcare costs of heart failure during the last five years of life: A
      retrospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence on the economic impact of heart failure (HF) is vital in
      order to predict the cost-effectiveness of novel interventions. We estimate the
      health system costs of HF during the last five years of life. METHODS: We used
      linked primary care and mortality data accessed through the Clinical Practice
      Research Datalink (CPRD) to identify 1555 adults in England who died with HF in
      2012/13. We used CPRD and linked Hospital Episode Statistics to estimate the cost
      of medications, primary and hospital healthcare. Using GLS regression we
      estimated the relationship between costs, HF diagnosis, proximity to death and
      patient characteristics. RESULTS: In the last 3months of life, healthcare costs
      were L8827 (95% CI L8357 to L9296) per patient, more than 90% of which were for
      inpatient or critical care. In the last 3months, patients spent on average 17.8
      (95% CI 16.8 to 18.8) days in hospital and had 8.8 (95% CI 8.4 to 9.1) primary
      care consultations. Most (931/1555; 59.9%) patients were in hospital on the day
      of death. Mean quarterly healthcare costs in quarters after HF diagnosis were
      higher (L1439; [95% CI L1260 to L1619]) than in quarters preceding diagnosis.
      Older patients and patients with lower comorbidity scores had lower costs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare costs increase sharply at the end of life and are
      dominated by hospital care. There is potential to save money by implementation
      and evaluation of interventions that are known to reduce hospitalisations for HF,
      particularly at the end of life.

PMID- 27648983
TI  - Blood coagulation abnormalities and the usefulness of D-dimer level for detecting
      intracardiac thrombosis in adult Fontan patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coagulation abnormality is associated with a high incidence of
      intracardiac thrombus (ICT) and systemic thromboembolism in Fontan patients. The
      biomarker for detecting ICT is currently unknown. METHODS: We retrospectively
      investigated the underlying coagulation abnormality and useful biomarkers to
      screen for ICT in adult Fontan patients. We measured various biomarkers of blood
      coagulation, fibrinolysis, and platelet activity in 122 Fontan patients (Fontan
      group: median age [P25-P75]: 27 [20-34] years) and compared them to those in 50
      patients with atrial septal defect (ASD group: 31 [24-40] years). RESULTS:
      Regardless of whether the patient had ICT, the Fontan group showed significantly
      lower levels of antithrombin III, thrombomodulin, and alpha2-antiplasmin; lower
      protein C and protein S activities; and significantly higher levels of thrombin
      antithrombin complex and alpha2-plasmin inhibitor complex than the ASD group.
      Among various biomarkers, D-dimer level measured by using latex immunoassay was
      significantly higher in the patients with ICT (thrombus group: n=21) than in the
      patients without ICT (non-thrombus group: n=101). Fifteen (26%) of 57 patients on
      warfarin achieved prothrombin time international normalized ratios (PT-INRs) of
      >2. The proportion of patients with PT-INRs of >2 tended to be lower in the
      thrombus group than in the non-thrombus group (13% vs 31%). Persistent atrial
      arrhythmia and D-dimer level were significant risk factors associated with ICT
      formation in the multivariate analysis (persistent atrial arrhythmia: hazard
      ratio [HR], 6.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.44-34.5; D-dimer: HR, 0.29; 95%
      CI, 0.13-0.50). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that
      the appropriate cutoff D-dimer level for screening for ICT was 1.8MUg/mL (area
      under the curve, 0.94), with a negative predictive value of 95%. CONCLUSIONS: In
      the adult Fontan patients, blood coagulation abnormalities existed regardless of
      the absence of ICT. D-dimer level may be a useful biomarker for screening for ICT
      in adult Fontan patients.

PMID- 27648984
TI  - Maximal expected benefits from lowering cholesterol in primary prevention for a
      high-risk population.
AB  - AIMS: The objective of this study was to estimate the maximal clinical benefit
      that could be reasonably expected from a cholesterol-lowering intervention.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a hypothetical population at high risk of
      cardiovascular disease events from three risk assessment models including the
      Framingham risk function, the Score Canada and the Pooled Cohort Risk Assessment
      Equations. Our source population were all 55-year-old smoking men with diabetes,
      hypertension and low HDL. From this population, we identified two different
      subpopulations named "high" and "low", referring to their cholesterol levels
      which were set at 8.60 and 4.14 mmol/L respectively. Both subpopulations were
      identified for each risk assessment model in order to estimate the maximal impact
      of lowering cholesterol on cardiovascular disease events. RESULTS: Our
      extrapolations estimated that the maximal theoretical efficacy of a cholesterol
      lowering intervention corresponds to a risk ratio ranging between 0.46 and 0.66
      over a 10-year period. The number of events prevented during this period were
      between 21 and 29 per 100 patients which corresponds to a number needed to treat
      varying from 3.47 to 4.76. CONCLUSIONS: Our estimation showed the maximal
      clinical benefit that could be reasonably expected by an intervention that would
      lower total cholesterol in high-risk patients.

PMID- 27648985
TI  - Characterization of system-related geometric distortions in MR images employed in
      Gamma Knife radiosurgery applications.
AB  - This work provides characterization of system-related geometric distortions
      present in MRIs used in Gamma Knife (GK) stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)
      treatment planning. A custom-made phantom, compatible with the Leksell
      stereotactic frame model G and encompassing 947 control points (CPs), was
      utilized. MR images were obtained with and without the frame, thus allowing
      discrimination of frame-induced distortions. In the absence of the frame and
      following compensation for field inhomogeneities, measured average CP disposition
      owing to gradient nonlinearities was 0.53 mm. In presence of the frame,
      contrarily, detected distortion was greatly increased (up to about 5 mm) in the
      vicinity of the frame base due to eddy currents induced in the closed loop of its
      aluminum material. Frame-related distortion was obliterated at approximately 90
      mm from the frame base. Although the region with the maximum observed distortion
      may not lie within the GK treatable volume, the presence of the frame results in
      distortion of the order of 1.5 mm at a 7 cm distance from the center of the
      Leksell space. Additionally, severe distortions observed outside the treatable
      volume could possibly impinge on the delivery accuracy mainly by adversely
      affecting the registration process (e.g. the position of the lower part of the N
      shaped fiducials used to define the stereotactic space may be miss-registered).
      Images acquired with a modified version of the frame developed by replacing its
      front side with an acrylic bar, thus interrupting the closed aluminum loop and
      reducing the induced eddy currents, were shown to benefit from relatively reduced
      distortion. System-related distortion was also identified in patient MR images.
      Using corresponding CT angiography images as a reference, an offset of 1.1 mm was
      detected for two vessels lying in close proximity to the frame base, while
      excellent spatial agreement was observed for a vessel far apart from the frame
      base.

PMID- 27648986
TI  - Interactions With Robots: The Truths We Reveal About Ourselves.
AB  - In movies, robots are often extremely humanlike. Although these robots are not
      yet reality, robots are currently being used in healthcare, education, and
      business. Robots provide benefits such as relieving loneliness and enabling
      communication. Engineers are trying to build robots that look and behave like
      humans and thus need comprehensive knowledge not only of technology but also of
      human cognition, emotion, and behavior. This need is driving engineers to study
      human behavior toward other humans and toward robots, leading to greater
      understanding of how humans think, feel, and behave in these contexts, including
      our tendencies for mindless social behaviors, anthropomorphism, uncanny feelings
      toward robots, and the formation of emotional attachments. However, in
      considering the increased use of robots, many people have concerns about
      deception, privacy, job loss, safety, and the loss of human relationships. Human
      robot interaction is a fascinating field and one in which psychologists have much
      to contribute, both to the development of robots and to the study of human
      behavior.

PMID- 27648988
TI  - Learning from Errors.
AB  - Although error avoidance during learning appears to be the rule in American
      classrooms, laboratory studies suggest that it may be a counterproductive
      strategy, at least for neurologically typical students. Experimental
      investigations indicate that errorful learning followed by corrective feedback is
      beneficial to learning. Interestingly, the beneficial effects are particularly
      salient when individuals strongly believe that their error is correct: Errors
      committed with high confidence are corrected more readily than low-confidence
      errors. Corrective feedback, including analysis of the reasoning leading up to
      the mistake, is crucial. Aside from the direct benefit to learners, teachers gain
      valuable information from errors, and error tolerance encourages students'
      active, exploratory, generative engagement. If the goal is optimal performance in
      high-stakes situations, it may be worthwhile to allow and even encourage students
      to commit and correct errors while they are in low-stakes learning situations
      rather than to assiduously avoid errors at all costs.

PMID- 27648987
TI  - Moving Beyond Correlations in Assessing the Consequences of Poverty.
AB  - In the United States, does growing up in a poor household cause negative
      developmental outcomes for children? Hundreds of studies have documented
      statistical associations between family income in childhood and a host of
      outcomes in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Many of these studies have
      used correlational evidence to draw policy conclusions regarding the benefits of
      added family income for children, in particular children in families with incomes
      below the poverty line. Are these conclusions warranted? After a review of
      possible mechanisms linking poverty to negative childhood outcomes, we summarize
      the evidence for income's effects on children, paying particular attention to the
      strength of the evidence and the timing of economic deprivation. We demonstrate
      that, in contrast to the nearly universal associations between poverty and
      children's outcomes in the correlational literature, impacts estimated from
      social experiments and quasi-experiments are more selective. In particular, these
      stronger studies have linked increases in family income to increased school
      achievement in middle childhood and to greater educational attainment in
      adolescence and early adulthood. There is no experimental or quasi-experimental
      evidence in the United States that links child outcomes to economic deprivation
      in the first several years of life. Understanding the nature of socioeconomic
      influences, as well as their potential use in evidence-based policy
      recommendations, requires greater attention to identifying causal effects.

PMID- 27648990
TI  - "The Freak of Nature": On Erich Fromm's Vindication of Binomial Sexuality and the
      Potentials of the "Homosexual Deviation".
AB  - As a Freudian revisionist and neo-Marxist, Erich Fromm (1900-1980) lessened the
      import of sexuality in the individual psyche but stressed the role played by the
      sex differential in the distribution of power throughout history and in the post
      patriarchal form of matriarchy he envisioned. Seeking to reinforce the
      male/female divide and heteronormativity, Fromm outlined a "New Science of Man"
      that readily ignored not only the challenges posed to binary sexuality by post
      Darwinian critical sexologies, but also the same-sex complexities evinced by key
      figures of his own cultural pantheon. Regardless of his declared pursuits,
      however, Fromm at times expressed insights suitable to undermine the cogency of
      his most cherished sexual convictions. As a tool for uncovering "indubitable
      commonsensical axioms" as sources of alienation, Fromm's conception of "idology"
      challenges his own sanction of sexual binarity and heterosexuality, thus
      facilitating an understanding of the individual's sexual difference as a unique
      modulation of male/female intermediariness.

PMID- 27648989
TI  - Incidence of prediabetes and risk of developing cardiovascular disease in women
      with polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - Our aim was to determine the incidence of prediabetes and risk of developing
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This
      prospective, observational study included 148 women with PCOS, without Type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and CVD present at baseline. In the fasting blood
      samples, we measured lipids, glucose, and insulin levels during oral glucose
      tolerance test, levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), steroids, 25-hydroxyvitamin D
      (25-OHD), prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and parathyroid hormone. The
      follow-up period was 3 years. At baseline, prevalent prediabetes was present in
      18 (12%) of PCOS cases and it progressed to T2DM in 5 (3%) of the cases. Incident
      prediabetes during the follow-up was noted in 47 (32%) women or 4.7 per 1000
      persons/year. Prediabetes was associated with elevated body mass index (BMI)
      (odds ratio [OR] = 1.089, confidence interval [CI]: 1.010; 1.174, p = 0.026),
      high baseline levels of CRP (OR = 3.286, CI: 1.299; 8.312, p = 0.012),
      homeostatic model assessment - insulin resistance (IR) (OR = 2.628, CI: 1.535;
      4.498, p < 0.001), and high lipid accumulation product (LAP) (OR = 1.009, CI:
      1.003; 1.016, p = 0.005). Furthermore, prediabetes was associated with low 25-OHD
      (OR = 0.795, CI: 0.724; 0.880, p <= 0.05). In addition, cardiovascular risk in
      PCOS women with prediabetes was high (hazard ratio = 1.092, CI: 1.036; 1.128, p <
      0.001). We showed association of prediabetes with high BMI, IR, markers of
      inflammation, LAP, and low serum 25-OHD concentration. IR appears to be more
      relevant than the other predictors of prediabetes risk in this study. PCOS women
      are considered as a high-risk population for prediabetes.

PMID- 27648991
TI  - Flu vaccination in elite athletes: A survey among Serie A soccer teams.
AB  - Scant data is available on immunization policies and practices among professional
      athletes. Following up on a recent review on the topic, we conducted a survey
      among Italian Serie A soccer teams during the influenza season 2015-16, to
      explore vaccination practices and attitudes as well as influenza vaccine uptake.
      The survey covered a sample of over 600 professional athletes from 20 teams and
      was carried out in collaboration with the Italian Association of Physicians of
      Professional Football Teams (L.A.M.I.CA.). For each team, the head of the medical
      staff was interviewed (structured telephone interviews, 100% response rate).
      Seasonal influenza vaccine was actively offered in 75% of Serie A teams with a
      median coverage rate of 40% (range 0%-100%). Vaccines are often administered
      after matches or training sessions. We report vaccine hesitancy associated with
      fear of adverse events, poor communication and other selected determinants.
      Vaccination in elite athletes, if correctly managed, represents a powerful, cost
      effective and long lasting preventive tool. In times where vaccines are losing
      public confidence, our findings are a useful basis to inform the planning,
      implementation and evaluation of interventions to promote prevention in sports
      medicine.

PMID- 27648993
TI  - The association with Down's syndrome can affect phenotypic expression of
      Hashimoto's thyroiditis in childhood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is not well known whether the association with Down's syndrome
      (DS) may be able to affect the phenotypic expression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis
      (HT). OBJECTIVES: To review the most recent literature data about the specific
      peculiarities of HT in DS children. DESIGN: The main epidemiological features of
      DS-related HT were compared with those generally reported in HT children without
      DS. The prevalence rates of the different thyroid function patterns detected at
      the time of HT diagnosis and five years later were summarized in Tables 1 and 2.
      CONCLUSIONS: 1) the association with DS can condition a peculiar phenotypic
      expression of HT in pediatric age, as confirmed by the analysis of both
      epidemiological and biochemical features; 2) in DS children thyroid function
      status may be severely impaired both at HT presentation and some years later.

PMID- 27648992
TI  - Pros and cons for the medical age assessments in unaccompanied minors: a mini
      review.
AB  - Unaccompanied minors refer to immigrants who are under the age of 18 and are not
      under the care of a parent or legal guardian. Age assessment is used in Europe
      mainly to establish whether or not an individual is under 18 years of age and
      therefore eligible for protection under the United Nations' Convention on the
      Rights of the Child (UN - CRC). EU Member States use a combination of techniques
      to determine the age of a minor and to certify minor status, including interviews
      and documentation, physical examinations (anthropometric assessment; sexual
      maturity assessment; dental observation); psychological and sociological
      assessment; radiological tests (carpal, dental or collarbone x-rays). All such
      techniques are criticized as they are often arbitrary, do not take into account
      ethnic variations, and are based on reference materials that are outdated,
      invasive and may procure harm to the individuals whose age is assessed. They also
      generate a margin of error that makes them inaccurate to use. There is a debate
      about the risks and ethics associated with the use of X-rays for non-medical
      purposes versus the benefits of more accurate age assessments in the interest of
      justice. It appears that in European countries many individuals carrying out age
      assessment do not have sufficient training or are not sufficiently independent
      enough to be carrying out such assessments. Moreover, there is a lack of
      standardized approach between countries or even within the same country. Only
      some countries clearly indicate a margin of error in the results of age
      assessment examinations but there is no consensus - within and among countries -
      about the width of such margins in relation to each exams applied. It has been
      advised that the expert report should give the degree of age probability to allow
      Magistrate to interpret the age assessment results on the 'balance of
      probabilities' and give the detainee the right to the rule of the 'benefit of the
      doubt'. It also addresses concerns rested in the convention of the Rights of the
      Child.

PMID- 27648994
TI  - Phenotypic expression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis is absolutely atypical in girls
      with Turner syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether phenotypic expression of Hashimoto's
      thyroiditis (HT) might be conditioned by the association with Turner syndrome
      (TS). OBJECTIVES: To focus on the most recent pediatric studies concerning
      epidemiology and biochemical course of HT in TS girls. DESIGN: The
      epidemiological peculiarities of TS-related HT in pediatric age were compared
      with those usually observed in non-TS girls with HT and results are summarized in
      Tables 1 and 2. CONCLUSIONS: 1) phenotypical expression of HT in TS girls is
      significantly different from that observed in girls without TS; 2) such
      differences concern the epidemiological picture, the biochemical presentation
      modes and also the natural history from HT diagnosis onwards; 3) these
      peculiarities of TS-related HT are not necessarily linked with a specific
      karyotype.

PMID- 27648995
TI  - Presence and site-matching of ischemia at stress-scintigraphy or contrast stress
      echo in individuals developing myocardial infarction within 3 months: does
      stenosis severity matter?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Individuals with ischemia during cardiac stress-test (cST)
      have a high risk of developing myocardial infarction (MI), but the
      pathophysiologic mechanism has never been clarified. It is thought that non flow
      limiting coronary plaques (FLP) cause more often MI than FLP, but this is in
      contradiction with the predictive value of cST. We investigated the
      correspondence between reversible ischemia and location of subsequent MI, since
      functional assessment shortly before MI could clarify whether the culprit plaque
      is a FLP or not. METHODS: From 4505 MI and 4959 cST -2017 contrast perfusion
      stress-echo (cDipSE) and 2942 scintigraphy (SPECT)- performed from 2007 to 2011-
      25 patients fulfilling criteria (<3 months between cST and subsequent MI,
      angiography within 72 hours of symptoms onset and no revascularization between
      cST and MI) were extracted and data matched. Reversible perfusion defects were
      considered the endpoint to define a positive cST. RESULTS: Reversible perfusion
      defects on cST were found in 84% of patients (21/25) and 80% (20/25) had matched
      defects; 95% (20/21) of patients demonstrating a reversible defect had a
      subsequent MI in the same territory. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that when cST
      MI time is shortened, and plaque progression bias consequently minimized, most MI
      (80%) develop in the coronary territory where reversible perfusion defects were
      detected shortly before. These data encourage reconsidering FLP as main
      determinant of MI.

PMID- 27648996
TI  - Total elbow arthroplasty following complex fractures of the distal humerus:
      results in patients over 65 years of age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of complex distal humerus fractures is challenging and
      is often associated with unsatisfactory results. Anatomic reduction and stable
      internal fixation is difficult to obtain, especially in elderly osteoporotic
      patients. For these reasons, total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) has recently evolved
      as a valid procedure in selected cases following these injuries. The aim of this
      study was to analyze outcomes of TEA for the treatment of complex distal humerus
      fractures in 20 low-demanding patients over 65 years of age. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: All patients, at a mean follow-up of 60 months, were evaluated
      clinically using the Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS) and radiographically in
      order to assess the positioning of the prosthetic components and signs of
      loosening. Statistical analyses investigated the presence of clinical and
      radiographic variables as predictive factors of poor functional outcomes.
      RESULTS: Similar MEPSs were observed in the affected and unaffected arm. Results
      were good or excellent in 90% of the patients, even if a high rate of
      complications (35%) was encountered. The development of postoperative
      complications and concomitant cognitive impairment and rheumatoid arthritis were
      predictive factors of unsatisfactory outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: According to the
      results observed, TEA can be considered as a valid treatment for complex
      fractures of the distal humerus in low-demanding patients older than 65 years of
      age, in which a stable fixation is difficult to obtain. Several variables may
      influence the final outcomes.

PMID- 27648997
TI  - Successful breastfeeding: a global intervention for a physiological process.
AB  - In our perinatal unit we applied the ten steps of WHO/UNICEF for Baby Friendly
      Hospital Initiative and evaluated the percentage of exclusive (EBF) or
      complementary breastfeeding (CBF), and of formula fed (FF) healthy full-term
      infants (HFI) at hospital discharge (HD). HFI performing EBF at HD were 85.3%, a
      quite high value. At the age of 3 mths EBF percentage ranged between 59-62.4%,
      and at 6 mths it decreased to 51.7-37.7%. Customer satisfaction questionnaire at
      HD ranked "good" to "very good" in 92.8%. Causes of breastfeeding reduction with
      time and comparison with previous and actual situation in Italy and civilized
      countries are discussed.

PMID- 27648998
TI  - Paternal or maternal history of hypertension is more important in increasing the
      risk of hypertension inoffspring?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Along with tripartiteclose relationship of socioeconomic level,
      smoking, and prevalence of hypertension, the present study aimed to assess the
      relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and hypertension based on
      habitual smoking in Iranian population. METHODS: The present study analyzed the
      individuals subsample consisted of 9623 subjects, out of all people resident in
      Isfahan province in Iran of the wave of the Isfahan Heart Health Project (IHHP)
      in three cities in Iran: Isfahan, Najafabad and Arak. Systolic and diastolic
      blood pressures were measured in supine position using an automated blood
      pressure monitor. Smokers were defined as persons who were smoked prior to the
      survey and never smokers were defined as a person who had never smoked. RESULTS:
      Those individuals who experienced cigarette smoking, SES class was significantly
      lower in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive subject so 7.8% of
      hypertensive patients and 92.2% of normotensive ones classified in SES class IV
      (p<0.001). Univariate analysis showed hypertension was related to lower SES class
      when compared with normotension status in both smoker and nonsmoker groups
      (p<0.001). In stepwise logistic regression models adjusting sex, age, global
      dietary index and leisure time physical activity, hypertension could be predicted
      by lower SES in nonsmoker group, while this predictive role for SES could not be
      reveal in smoker group. CONCLUSION: The significant SES-smoking association may
      determinate in the increasing blood pressure even adjusted for other covariates
      such as demographics as well as dietary behaviors and leisure time physical
      activity.

PMID- 27648999
TI  - Effect of iterative reconstruction on image quality of low-dose chest computed
      tomography.
AB  - AIM: To assess quality and radiologists' preference of low-dose computed
      tomography (LDCT) reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) or Iterative
      Reconstruction. METHODS: Thin-section LDCTs (1-mm thick contiguous images; 120
      kVp; 30 mAs) of 38 consecutive unselected patients, evaluated for various
      clinical indications, were reconstructed by four different reconstruction
      algorithms: FBP and Sinogram-AFfirmed Iterative Reconstruction (SAFIRE) with
      three different strengths, from 2 to 4 (i.e. S2, S3, S4). The image noise was
      recorded. Two thoracic radiologists visually compared both anatomic structures
      (interlobular septa, lung fissures, centrilobular artery, bronchial wall, and
      small vessels) and lung abnormalities (intralobular reticular opacities, nodules,
      emphysema, cystic lung disease, decreased-attenuation areas related to
      constrictive obliterans bronchiolitis, patchy ground-glass opacity,
      consolidation, and bronchiectasis) using a qualitative four-point scale grading
      system of the image quality. RESULTS: A lower amount of noise was recorded for
      LDCTs reformatted with any SAFIRE algorithm, as compared to FBP (P < 0.0001). The
      noise levels decreased as the SAFIRE strength increased from S2 to S4. The visual
      score of the subsegmental/segmental bronchial wall was greater for the FBP
      datasets compared to any SAFIRE dataset (P < 0.0001 for reviewer 1; P < 0.02 for
      reviewer 2). The decreased lung attenuation pattern score was lower on the S4
      images for one reviewer, as compared to the other LDCT datasets (P = 0.003). No
      other differences in terms of radiologists' preference were recorded among FBP,
      S2, S3, and S4. Interobserver agreement was moderate only for fissures and
      bronchial wall, and good to excellent for the remainders. CONCLUSION: Iterative
      reconstructions showed lower image noise but did not provide any real improvement
      for the radiologists' evaluation of thin-section LDCT of the lung.

PMID- 27649000
TI  - Cross-sectional observational study of nipple and areola changes during pubertal
      development and after menarche in 313 Italian girls.
AB  - Obiective: To describe the characteristics of nipple development during puberty
      in Italian females. In addition this is compared with Tanner criteria for breast
      and pubic hair development at different stages and correlated with body mass
      index (BMI) and the menstrual age. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study.
      SETTING: Italian children and adolescents consecutively assessed at the Endocrine
      and Adolescent Outpatient Clinic of Private Accredited Quisisana Hospital of
      Ferrara. Partecipants: Healthy females 2-20 years, belonging to Italian middle
      socio-economic class. Study duration: This study was conducted for a total period
      of 39 months from September 2012 to December 2015. METHODS: Demographic
      characteristics, age at menarche and menstrual duration, anthropometry (weight,
      height, BMI) and pubertal status (breast and pubic hair) were evaluated. The
      greatest diameters of the erect nipple and areola sizes were measured in all
      subjects in supine position using a plastic template with graduated circular cut
      outs or a transparent graduated ruler. RESULTS: Significant increments in nipple
      diameter were noted between Tanner's stages B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 but the
      differences between stages B1 vs B2, B3 vs B4, B4 were more significant (p<0.001)
      than the difference between B4 vs B5 (p<0.004).The same statistical pattern was
      documented between Tanner's stage PH1 and PH2, PH2 and PH3 and PH4 and PH5. The
      nipple diameter increased significantly in relation to BMI in all Tanner's stage
      groups (p: 0.021 for B1 vs B2; and p<0.001 for B3 vs B4 and B4 vs B5) but one (B2
      vs B3=p: 0.518).A significant correlation was observed between duration of
      menses, nipple and areola sizes (r: 0.490; p=<0.001 and r: 0.252; p=0.012,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The assessment of sexual maturation is important in
      population studies as well as for daily clinical encounter. In our subjects the
      mean age of onset of secondary sexual characteristics was 10.3+/-1.4 years and
      mean age at menarche was 12.02+/-1.5 years. The study provides the normative data
      for nipple and areola sizes in Italian girls. Change in nipple and areola sizes
      may represent an early marker for transition to puberty.

PMID- 27649001
TI  - Posterior shoulder fracture-dislocation: double approach treatment. Our
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: About 4% of glenohumeral dislocations are posterior and only 1% is
      associated with fracture of the humeral head. Most frequent causes are high
      energy traumas, seizures and electrocution. The fracture and the posterior
      dislocation, associated with the trauma and capsular lesion can cause an
      important vascular damage of the humeral head. METHODS: We describe 5 cases of
      posterior fracture-dislocation of the shoulder that required open reduction and
      internal fixation treated using double approach: posterior approach for reduction
      humeral head and eventually bone and capsular posterior repair and anterior
      approach for osteosynthesis. A Clinical examination was performed at one year and
      follow-up was at two years. CONCLUSIONS: This combined approach is less invasive,
      easier for dislocation reduction of the humeral head, with minimal biological
      damage that may occur during the reduction maneuvers. Our thought is that the
      posterior approach reduce vascular and bone damages during humeral head reduction
      and permit to suture and retention posterior capsula that is often damaged by the
      trauma.

PMID- 27649002
TI  - Atypical And Severe Enlargement Of Right Atrium.
AB  - A 76 year-old woman was admitted to the Emergency Department for recent-onset
      dyspnea and cough. The electrocardiogram was considered inconclusive. A thoracic
      X-ray showed global cardiac profile enlargement. Computed tomography, acutely
      performed in the clinical suspicion of atypical pneumonia/myocarditis or
      pericardial effusion, showed cardiac enlargement especially of the right
      chambers. In order to investigate Ebstein's anomaly, pericardial cysts, tumors or
      other conditions of the right heart a simple trans-thoracic echocardiogram was
      performed. Four chambers view showed a giant right atrium aneurysm with moderate
      tricuspid regurgitation without stenosis or typical Ebstein's echocardiographic
      pattern.

PMID- 27649003
TI  - Subarachnoid hemorrhage and extrapyramidal symptoms: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Parkinsonism may occur after brain lesions such as subarachnoid
      hemorrhage (1), hydrocephalus (2,3), slit ventricle (4), or shunt revision
      (5).Until now, pathogenesis remains unclear. METHOD: Case Report. RESULTS: We
      described the case of a 53 years Caucasian male with subarachnoid hemorrhage
      after anterior communicating artery aneurysm rupture, with subsequent
      complications and early development of bilateral extrapiramidal symptoms. A
      DatSCAN showed an impairment of the nigro-sytriatal dopaminergic way. Levodopa
      therapy induced complete symptoms remission. CONCLUSIONS: Patient developed
      Parkinson Disease responding to Levodopa. Subarachnoid hemorrhage itself, shunt
      placement and revision, hydrocephalus, slit ventricle: all of these complications
      occurred and could be possible causes of shear, torsion, and ischemia of the
      nigrostriatal projection fibres.

PMID- 27649004
TI  - Study of intestinal function in anorectal malformations: the role of Bowel
      management in quality of life.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aimed at investigating bowel function in children and adolescents
      with anorectal malformations (ARMs) and assess their quality of life (QoL), in
      order to define a personal program of bowel management improving both clinical
      condition and self-confidence. METHODS: A total of 55 patients treated for ARM by
      Posterior Sagittal Ano-Recto-Plasty (PSARP) from 2000 to 2014 were included into
      the study. The parents of 41 patients answered two telephone questionnaires about
      the parents' self-efficacy and about QoL (GIQLI). A modified Pena score system
      was used to evaluate intestinal function. Twenty patients underwent anorectal
      manometry. After clinical assessment, all patients underwent an individual bowel
      management program. A median follow-up of 91.3 months was performed. RESULTS: A
      significant inverse correlation was found between Pena score and GIQLI (r:-0.93,
      p<0.0001). Anorectal manometry paralleled the Pena score, showing an association
      between megarectum and constipation and soiling subdomains, especially in
      patients with higher ARM. Patients who carefully followed the bowel management
      program had significant improvements in both continence (0.93+/-1.1 vs 0.45+/
      0.9, p=0.0005) and Pena score (4.6+/-3 vs 3.4+/-2.5, p<0.0001), which positively
      affected their self-confidence (100+/-26.6 vs 110+/-23, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:
      The synergy of different scores and the evaluation of anorectal physiology proved
      useful to define the bowel management program, which seems to significantly
      impact both bowel function and QoL, with specific regard to soiling. Moreover,
      the Pena score might be also quantitatively used, as it parallels with both
      anorectal manometry and GIQLI, and the latter seems to be suitable for children.
      Further studies are required to confirm our findings.

PMID- 27649005
TI  - Prognostic assessment of gastric cancer: retrospective analysis of two decades.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer mortality rates have remained relatively unchanged
      over the past decades, in spite of progressive decrease in incidence. Nodal
      status represents a key factor for prognostic assessment, allowing a tailored
      made adjuvant therapy for the patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the
      prognostic influence of different nodal involvement indicators on the overall
      survival in a large series of patients submitted to gastrectomy at our
      Institution. METHODS: we retrospectively collected data from 634 newly diagnosed
      patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy, with D1/D2
      lymphadenectomy during the last 20 years. Prognostic values of age, histologic
      type, pN, nodal ratio (LNR) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) of were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The median overall survival was 40.2 +/-31 months.
      Multivariate analysis identified age at diagnosis, diffuse-type tumor, pN and
      LODDS as independent predictors of worse prognosis. Scatter plots of
      relationships between LODDS and LNR showed that LODDS seems to better assesses
      prognosis for patients at LNR stage 0 or 1. CONCLUSIONS: Nodal involvement
      confirmed to be a strong indicator of prognosis. LODDS demonstrated a theoretical
      advantage over pN and LNR system allowing more accurate patients stratification,
      but our results have to be confirmed by further trials.

PMID- 27649006
TI  - Vaginal cuff dehiscence resulting in small-bowel evisceration. A case report.
AB  - Vaginal cuff dehiscence is a rare complication of hysterectomies which seems to
      be more frequent after surgery with laparoscopic suture of the cuff. We present a
      clinical case of evisceration of the small bowel emerging from vaginal cuff
      dehiscence, successfully repaired by positioning a low profile polypropylene
      ePTFE mesh*.

PMID- 27649007
TI  - Cyst of the gastric wall arising from heterotopic pancreas: report of a case.
AB  - Heterotopia of pancreatic tissue is a common developmental anomaly, affecting
      predominantly the gastrointestinal tract. The case of a symptomatic cyst arising
      from the posterior gastric wall in a 40-year-old man is presented, undergoing
      laparoscopic gastric wedge resection. Pathology report described a cyst of the
      gastric wall lined by ductal pancreatic epithelium.

PMID- 27649008
TI  - Minimally invasive esophagectomy for caustic ingestion after 73 years and over
      200 endoscopic dilations: is it just a matter of time?
AB  - Refractory esophageal strictures are a common sequela of caustic ingestion. If
      endoscopic dilation becomes ineffective, esophagectomy represents the only
      therapeutic option. The minimally invasive approach, specifically the
      thoracoscopic access in prone position, may allow postoperative morbidity to be
      reduced. We present the first case described in the Literature of minimally
      invasive esophagectomy in prone position for a long-term failure of endoscopic
      dilation after caustic ingestion.

PMID- 27649009
TI  - Cabozantinib in renal cell carcinoma: only a METEOR or a rising star?
AB  - N/A (Letter to the Editor).

PMID- 27649010
TI  - Lessons from London: The BMJ Editorial Process.

PMID- 27649011
TI  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Cirrhotic
      Patients: Where Are We Now?

PMID- 27649012
TI  - [Analysis of the Cochrane Review: Pedicle Screw Fixation for Traumatic Fractures
      of the Thoracic and Lumbar Spine. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;05:CD009073].
AB  - Traumatic fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine are common causes of spine
      surgery. Pedicle screw fixation is usually chosen, using monosegmentar, short or
      long segment instrumentations, with or without bone graft. This review aims to
      evaluate the effect of transpedicular fixation in traumatic fractures of the
      thoracic and lumbar spine. A systematic search on controlled, randomized or quasi
      randomized trials comparing different methods of surgical treatment of this
      fractures was performed, followed by a process of article selection, data
      extraction and bias assessment by 3 independent authors. Eight articles were
      included in a total of 5 comparisons, between different transpedicular fixation
      techniques. No significant differences on function or quality of life, neurologic
      status or limitation of motion were found. Only instrumentation with fracture
      level screw incorporation showed significant decrease of pain when compared with
      instrumentation alone. Several techniques resulted in significant improvements of
      different radiological parameters. Significantly, surgeries with smaller duration
      were associated with lesser blood loss. Bone graft use caused a significant raise
      in post-operative complications, namely donor site pain. So, this paper showed
      that significative improvements in radiological parameters do not associate with
      correspondent clinical benefits, and only instrumentation with level screw
      incorporation is associated with a clear benefit on pain. Moreover, the need for
      bone graft is questioned, since it leads to no clinic-radiological improvement
      with a raise of complications. However, a small number of controlled studies is
      available on this topic. 

PMID- 27649013
TI  - [Study on Portuguese Medical Schools' Learning Conditions: A National Analysis on
      Student Satisfaction, Student-Tutor Ratios and Number of Admissions].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Experiences of clinical and nonclinical learning environments, as
      well as assessment and study environments influence student satisfaction with
      their medical schools. Student-tutor ratios may impact on their perception of
      clinical learning environments. The aim of this study was to analyze medical
      students' satisfaction and student-tutor ratios in relation to medical schools'
      number of admissions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was created,
      regarding learning, assessment and study environments in eight medical schools.
      2037 students participated in this cross-sectional study. Cronbach' alpha
      (internal consistency) was calculated and principal component analysis was
      conducted. Pearson correlations and multiple comparisons were analyzed. RESULTS:
      Assessment environments showed the highest satisfaction scores and clinical
      learning environments the lowest scores. The national student-tutor ratio in
      clinical rotations is 7.53; there are significant differences among schools.
      Institutions with higher number of admissions showed the lowest scores of overall
      student satisfaction (r = -0.756; p < 0.05), which decreased with progression in
      the medical course. High student-tutor ratios are strongly correlated with low
      levels of satisfaction regarding clinical learning environments (r = -0.826; p <
      0.05). DISCUSSION: Clinical learning environments show the lowest satisfaction
      scores, which may expose the effect of high ratios in clinical rotations.
      Depending on the number of admissions, significant differences between medical
      schools were found. Quality of teaching-learning strategies and articulation with
      hospitals might also be important variables. CONCLUSION: Medical schools with
      more admissions might be more susceptible to lower scores of student
      satisfaction. High student-tutor ratios in clinical rotations may reduce the
      quality of learning experiences and inhibit the acquisition of competences.

PMID- 27649014
TI  - Endovascular Treatment of Aortic Aneurysms and Blood Transfusion. What do We
      Need?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Comparatively to open repair, endovascular aneurysm repair has
      reduced transfusion rates but thereas no recommendation about number of red blood
      cells units to be crossmatched preoperatively. Our aim is contribute to the
      analysis of red blood cells units needs in endovascular and hybrid aortic
      aneurysm repair and developing a protocol for maximum surgical blood orders
      schedule. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed our prospective
      database of elective endovascular aneurysm repair from 2001 to 2012. We analyzed
      patients' age, gender, ASA classification, maximum surgical blood orders
      schedule, red blood cells units transfused and timings, types of endoprosthesis,
      red blood cells units consumption/endoprosthesis' type ratio, crossmatch to
      transfusion ratio, conversion to open repair, hemoglobin concentrations before
      surgery and discharge. RESULTS: We selected 187 patients, 90% men, mean age 73.1,
      ASA mode III. The endoprosthesis were aorto-bi-iliac in 71%, aorto-uni-iliac in
      23% and thoracic in 6%. Of these, 72,6% of the patients did not require blood
      transfusion. We transfused 171 red blood cells units. Crossmatch to transfusion
      ratio was 10.1 until 2010 and 7.3 after. The ratio of red blood cells units
      consumption/endoprosthesis in the first 24 hours was 0.21 red blood cells
      units/aorto-bi-iliac, 0.46 red blood cells units/aorto-uni-iliac, 0.8 red blood
      cells units/thoracic, 1.3 red blood cells units/hybrid-thoracic and 2 red blood
      cells units/hybrid-aorto-bi-iliac. A statistical correlation was observed between
      red blood cells units transfused postoperatively and type of endoprosthesis (p <
      0.001) and between ASA classification and red blood cells units transfused after
      24 hours (p < 0.01). DISCUSSION: Guidelines from the British Society of
      Haematology are based on a crossmatch to transfusion ratio of 2:1. Our crossmatch
      to transfusion ratio was 10.1 until 2010 and 7.3 from 2011 to 2012. CONCLUSION:
      These results changed our policy of maximum surgical blood orders schedule for
      endovascular aneurysm repair. We now type and screen aorto-bi-iliac and aorto-uni
      iliac. We crossmatch two red blood cells units for thoracic, three red blood
      cells units for hybrid thoracic and four red blood cells units for hybrid
      abdominal procedures. This may lead to financial savings, improved efficiency and
      reduce workload in hematology department.

PMID- 27649015
TI  - [Hospital Mortality in Parkinson's Disease: Retrospective Analysis in a
      Portuguese Tertiary Centre].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Parkinson's disease is associated with high hospital mortality.
      Male gender, late age at onset, higher disability and the coexistence of
      cognitive impairment or depression have been suggested to be risk factors of
      death. Pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death.
      OBJECTIVE: To characterize the mortality (causes of hospital admission and death)
      of Parkinson's disease patients in a tertiary hospital, as well as demographic
      and clinical characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Identification of hospital
      admissions of Parkinson's disease patients that resulted in inpatient death
      between 2008 and 2014. Retrospective review of medical files and inclusion of
      patients with disease clinically confirmed by a neurologist. Assessment of causes
      of death and demographic and clinical characteristics of patients. RESULTS: 1525
      hospital admissions of Parkinson's disease patients were identified, of which 150
      resulted in death. Of these, 52 patients met the inclusion criteria. Mean age at
      onset of Parkinson's disease symptoms was 66.8 years (+/- 8.7) and mean duration
      of disease was 12.5 years (+/- 7.9). Sixty-five percent of patients were in
      stages 4-5 of the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Thirty-three patients (63%) had dementia
      and eleven (21%) had depression. Infections were the leading cause of death
      (respiratory in 63% of cases). DISCUSSION: Similarly to literature, pneumonia was
      the leading cause of hospital death and most patients presented advanced disease
      stage and dementia. Contrarily to other studies, life expectancy was not reduced
      and cardiovascular diseases and trauma were not causes of death in our
      population. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Portuguese mortality study in
      Parkinson's disease. Pneumonia is the leading cause of death. Advanced disease
      stage and dementia were common features in these patients.

PMID- 27649016
TI  - [Surgical Treated Spondylodiscitis Epidemiological Study].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The term spondylodiscitis aims to describe any spinal infection.
      Medical treatment is the gold standard; nevertheless, surgical treatment can be
      indicated. The aim of this work was to study the epidemiological profile in a
      group of patients with spondylodiscitis surgically treated in the same medical
      institution between 1997 and 2013. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty five patients
      with spondylodiscitis were surgically treated in this period. The authors
      analysed clinical data and image studies for each patient. RESULTS: We treated 51
      male and 34 female patients with an average age of 48 years old (min: 6 - max:
      80). The lumbar spine was more often affected and Mycobacterium tuberculosis the
      most frequent pathogen. The number of cases through the years has been grossly
      stable, with a slight increase of dyscitis due to Staphylococcus aureus and
      decrease of the dyscitis without pathogen identification. Paravertebral abscess
      was identified in 39 patients and 17 had also neurological impairment, mostly
      located in the thoracic spine and with tuberculous aetheology. Immunosuppression
      was documented in 10 patients. DISCUSSION: In this epidemiologic study we found a
      tuberculous infection, male gender and young age predominance. Despite a relative
      constant number of patients operated over the years, pyogenic infections due to
      Staphylococcus aureus seems to be uprising. Paravertebral abscess and
      neurological impairment are important dyscitis complications, especially in
      tuberculous cases. CONCLUSION: Spinal infections requiring surgical treatment are
      still an important clinical condition. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and
      Staphylococcus aureus represent the main pathogens with a growing incidence for
      the latest.

PMID- 27649017
TI  - [Epidemiology of Vertigo on Hospital Emergency].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vertigo is one of the most frequent motives in seeking specialized
      medical care in an emergency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relevance
      of balance disorders in the Otorhinolaryngology urgency, the epidemiological
      characteristics and the possible seasonality. It was used a sample of patients
      who were assisted in a health care emergency department of this specialty, of a
      universitary hospital and during a period of four years. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The project was conceived as a descriptive epidemiological study of population
      type, retrospective, during the period from 2010 to 2013. A total population of
      40.173 attendances of patients during this period used the emergency eepartment
      of Otolaryngology. The parameters studied included age, gender, annual number of
      cases (total and percentage), date of crisis of vertigo, seasonal distribution by
      seasons and annual proportion of hospitalized cases. RESULTS: A total of 4.347
      patients (10.8%) sought medical attention due to dizziness/balance disorders over
      the four years of the study. There has been an annual increase in the number of
      cases between 7.6% (in 2010) and 17% (in 2013). Women were more often affected
      (68.3%) and crises occurred more often in individuals between 60 and 79 years of
      age (40%). The cases were distributed heterogeneous between the seasons, having
      more episodes of dizziness in summer and autumn and with an increasing trend
      between 2010 and 2013. The number of hospitalizations has increased annually over
      this period. DISCUSSION: The epidemiology of vertigo and vestibular disorders is
      still a specific field to study, because it may be useful for clinical decision
      making and health care planning. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that cases of
      vertigo in urgency increased annually and are more frequent in women, in elderly
      population and in Summer and Autumn.

PMID- 27649018
TI  - Attachment Strategies and Neuroendocrine Biomarkers in Obese Children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Quality of the parent-infant relationship influences the mechanisms
      of development of the child's physiological stress regulation. This study
      explored associations between attachment strategies and both cortisol and thyroid
      stimulating hormone, hypothesized to be respectively a potential mediator and a
      potential intervening variable of the mother-child relationship in obese
      children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A sample of 83 obese children (46 boys), aged
      10.9 (1.8) years was recruited from a child obesity clinic. Obesity was defined
      by body mass index percentile adjusted for age and sex. Metabolic biomarkers were
      measured by routine methods. Attachment strategies were assessed with self and
      parent-report questionnaires. Family functioning was assessed with parent
      reported questionnaires (FACES-III). Multivariate linear regression analyses were
      performed. RESULTS: Type A, avoidant attachment strategies, had significant
      positive association with thyroid stimulating hormone levels and negative
      association with cortisol levels (R2 = 0.352). Type B, secure attachment
      strategies, had significant positive associations with both hypothyroidism and
      body mass index percentile (R2 = 0.541). 'Insecure attachment' (types A and C
      combined) strategies showed some evidence of positive association with thyroid
      stimulating hormone (R2 = 0.250). DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that there
      may be commonalities in the regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and
      hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axes. Processes involved in development of the
      type A attachment strategy appear to be associated with effects on the regulatory
      mechanisms of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. CONCLUSIONS: In obese
      children, different attachment strategies are associated with diverse metabolic
      profiles. How this may contribute to developing differentiated treatment
      approaches remains to be explored.

PMID- 27649019
TI  - Foreign Body Aspiration in the Elderly.
AB  - Foreign body aspiration is common in children and in the elderly, who may present
      with subtle symptoms. Clinical suspicion is crucial and bronchoscopy is the main
      diagnostic and therapeutic procedure available. This is the case of a man, 78
      years old, with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who presented
      with respiratory distress following oral intake of tablets. History taking and
      physical examination raised suspicion. The diagnosis was confirmed with flexible
      bronchoscopy and rigid bronchoscopy was carried out for treatment. The patient's
      condition is stable and he is under investigations for dysphagia. 

PMID- 27649020
TI  - [Oxygen Leukocyte Larceny].
AB  - The authors present a case of a 60-year-old male patient, previously diagnosed
      with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, who was admitted to the Emergency Room
      with dyspnea. The initial evaluation revealed severe anemia (Hgb = 5.0 g/dL) with
      hyperleukocytosis (800.000/uL), nearly all of the cells being mature lymphocytes,
      a normal chest X-ray and a low arterial oxygen saturation (89%; pulse oximetry).
      After red blood cell transfusion, Hgb values rose (9.0 g/dL) and there was a
      complete reversion of the dyspnea. Yet, subsequent arterial blood gas analysis,
      without the administration of supplemental oxygen, systematically revealed very
      low oxygen saturation values (~ 46%), which was inconsistent with the patientas
      clinical state and his pulse oximetry values (~ 87%), and these values were not
      corrected by the administration of oxygen via non-rebreather mask. The
      investigation performed allowed to establish the diagnosis of oxygen leukocyte
      larceny, a phenomenon which conceals the true oxygen saturation due to peripheral
      consumption by leukocytes. 

PMID- 27649021
TI  - Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

PMID- 27649022
TI  - Massive Vena Cava Thrombus Associated With a Renal Tumor.

PMID- 27649023
TI  - [Letter to the Editor regarding the article: 'Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting in
      Orofacial Cleft: A Survey of a Portuguese Tertiary Hospital' by Ana Isabel Costa,
      Helder Morgado, Carlos Mariz, Jose Manuel Estevao-Costa. Acta Med Port
      2016;29:210-6].

PMID- 27649024
TI  - Reply to the Letters to the Editor Concerning the Article: Ana Isabel Costa,
      Helder Morgado, Carlos Mariz, Jose Manuel Estevao-Costa. Secondary Alveolar
      Grafting and Cleft Lip and Palate. Acta Med Port 2016;29:210-6.

PMID- 27649026
TI  - Progress in neuro-imaging of brain tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is routinely employed in the
      diagnosis and clinical management of brain tumors. This review provides an
      overview of the advancements in the field of MRI, with a particular focus on the
      quantitative assessment by advanced physiological magnetic resonance techniques
      in light of the new molecular classification of brain tumor. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Understanding how molecular phenotypes of brain tumors are reflected in
      noninvasive imaging is the goal of radiogenomics, which aims at determining the
      association between imaging features and molecular markers in neuro-oncology.
      Advanced MRI techniques such as diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and
      perfusion-weighted imaging add important structural, hemodynamic, and
      physiological information for tumor diagnosis and classification, as well as to
      stratify tumor response. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy is able to depict with
      unprecedented accuracy metabolic biomarkers, which are relevant for molecular
      subtyping. Ultra-high-field imaging enhances anatomical detail and enables to
      explore new horizon in tumor imaging. SUMMARY: The noninvasive MRI-based
      assessment of tumor malignancy and molecular status may offer the opportunity to
      predict prognosis and to select patients who may be candidates for individualized
      targeted therapies, providing more sensitive tools for their follow-up.

PMID- 27649025
TI  - Cognitive world: Neuropsychology of individual differences.
AB  - It is proposed that depending upon the specific pattern of cognitive abilities,
      each individual lives in an idiosyncratic "cognitive world." Brain pathology can
      be associated with some disturbed abilities, and frequently experiential changes
      (i.e., how the world is understood) are observed. Because these patients often
      are aware of their intellectual changes, they may represent excellent models to
      illustrate the diversity of cognitive interpretations an individual can have
      about the surrounding environmental conditions. Four neuropsychology cases are
      presented to illustrate this point: (a) prosopagnosia associated with spatial
      agnosia; (b) Gerstmann's syndrome; (c) dysexecutive syndrome due to a head
      injury; and, (d) patient with Capgras' syndrome associated with a left temporal
      cyst. It is further emphasized that non-brain damaged people present an enormous
      but usually overlooked-dispersion in different cognitive domains, resulting in
      specific and idiosyncratic patterns of cognitive abilities. It is concluded that
      the concept of "cognitive world" in neuropsychology can parallel the concept of
      "perceptual world" introduced by von Uexkull in biology, which assumes that
      different animal species live in idiosyncratic perceptual worlds, available and
      knowable by the differences in their sensory system abilities. That is, different
      individuals live in idiosyncratic cognitive worlds, owing to their differences in
      cognitive abilities.

PMID- 27649027
TI  - Biomarkers for the identification of recurrence in human epidermal growth factor
      receptor 2-positive breast cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review discusses the mechanisms of anti-human epidermal
      growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) resistance in breast cancer patients, detailing
      possible predictive biomarkers of therapy benefit that could implement novel
      therapeutic strategies. RECENT FINDINGS: Despite a remarkable improvement in
      survival over the past two decades, up to 30% of early-stage HER2+ breast cancer
      patients exhibit de-novo or acquired resistance to targeted therapy, underlying
      the need of developing predictive biomarkers. SUMMARY: The role of HER family
      receptor redundancy, p95HER2 expression, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein
      kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin downstream pathway activation in
      counteracting the inhibitory effects of anti-HER2 targeted therapy has been
      addressed. We also discuss the possible inconsistencies in the definition of HER2
      positivity according to American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American
      Pathologists guidelines or molecular intrinsic subtypes, and address the role
      played by tumor heterogeneity and evolutionary clonal selection on therapy
      selective pressure. Finally, the interplay between adaptive immunity and anti
      HER2 targeted therapy is extensively discussed, focusing on its putative
      predictive and prognostic role.

PMID- 27649028
TI  - Effect of precipitation on the background levels of the atmospheric beta- and
      gamma-radiation.
AB  - Results of experimental and theoretical studies of the responses of the beta- and
      gamma-radiation fields in the surface atmosphere to precipitation are presented.
      Most of the bursts of the beta-radiation flux density and gamma-radiation dose
      rate were found to coincide with periods of precipitation. However, the magnitude
      of bursts does not always correlate with the intensity of the precipitation. The
      following aspects were analyzed: the total duration of recorded bursts, the
      durations of the rises and recessions of the bursts, the form of the bursts and
      the dependence of the magnitude of the bursts on the altitude of the detector
      position. Results of a simulation of the impact of rainfall on the volume
      activity of the radon decay products and on the background levels of the
      atmospheric beta- and gamma-radiation were found to be in good agreement with the
      experimental data.

PMID- 27649029
TI  - Effect of Geography on the Analysis of Coccidioidomycosis-Associated Deaths,
      United States.
AB  - Because coccidioidomycosis death rates vary by region, we reanalyzed
      coccidioidomycosis-associated mortality in the United States by race/ethnicity,
      then limited analysis to Arizona and California. Coccidioidomycosis-associated
      deaths were shown to increase among African-Americans but decrease among Native
      Americans and Hispanics. Separately, in a Native American cohort, diabetes co
      varied with coccidioidomycosis-associated death.

PMID- 27649030
TI  - Early mortality and morbidity after total hip arthroplasty in patients with
      femoral neck fracture.
AB  - Background and purpose - Early postoperative mortality is relatively high after
      total hip arthroplasty (THA) that has been performed due to femoral neck
      fracture. However, this has rarely been investigated after adjustment for medical
      comorbidity and comparison with the mortality in an age-matched population. We
      therefore assessed early mortality in hip fracture patients treated with a THA,
      in the setting of a nationwide matched cohort study. Patients and methods -
      24,699 patients who underwent THA due to a femoral neck fracture between 1992 and
      2012 were matched with 118,518 controls. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used
      to calculate cumulative unadjusted survival, and Cox regression models were
      fitted to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), with
      adjustment for age, sex, comorbidity, and socioeconomic background. Results - 90
      day survival was 96.3% (95% CI: 96.0-96.5) for THA cases and 98.7% (95% CI: 98.6
      98.8) for control individuals, giving an adjusted HR of 2.2 (95% CI: 2.0-2.4) for
      THA cases compared to control individuals. Comorbidity burden increased in THA
      cases over time, but the adjusted risk of death within 90 days did not differ
      statistically significantly between the time periods investigated (1992-1998,
      1999-2005, and 2006-2012). A Charlson comorbidity index of 3 or more, an American
      Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade of 3 and above, male sex, an age of 80
      years and above, an income below the first quartile, and a lower level of
      education were all associated with an increased risk of 90-day mortality.
      Interpretation - The adjusted early mortality in femoral neck fracture patients
      who underwent THA was about double that in a matched control population. Patients
      with femoral neck fracture but with no substantial comorbidity and an age of less
      than 80 years appear to have a low risk of early death. Patients older than 80
      years and those with a Charlson comorbidity index of more than 2 have a high risk
      of early death, and such patients would perhaps benefit from treatment strategies
      other than THA, but this should be investigated further.

PMID- 27649031
TI  - Estimating the brain pathological age of Alzheimer's disease patients from MR
      image data based on the separability distance criterion.
AB  - Traditional age estimation methods are based on the same idea that uses the real
      age as the training label. However, these methods ignore that there is a
      deviation between the real age and the brain age due to accelerated brain aging.
      This paper considers this deviation and searches for it by maximizing the
      separability distance value rather than by minimizing the difference between the
      estimated brain age and the real age. Firstly, set the search range of the
      deviation as the deviation candidates according to prior knowledge. Secondly, use
      the support vector regression (SVR) as the age estimation model to minimize the
      difference between the estimated age and the real age plus deviation rather than
      the real age itself. Thirdly, design the fitness function based on the
      separability distance criterion. Fourthly, conduct age estimation on the
      validation dataset using the trained age estimation model, put the estimated age
      into the fitness function, and obtain the fitness value of the deviation
      candidate. Fifthly, repeat the iteration until all the deviation candidates are
      involved and get the optimal deviation with maximum fitness values. The real age
      plus the optimal deviation is taken as the brain pathological age. The
      experimental results showed that the separability was apparently improved. For
      normal control-Alzheimer's disease (NC-AD), normal control-mild cognition
      impairment (NC-MCI), and MCI-AD, the average improvements were 0.178 (35.11%),
      0.033 (14.47%), and 0.017 (39.53%), respectively. For NC-MCI-AD, the average
      improvement was 0.2287 (64.22%). The estimated brain pathological age could be
      not only more helpful to the classification of AD but also more precisely reflect
      accelerated brain aging. In conclusion, this paper offers a new method for brain
      age estimation that can distinguish different states of AD and can better reflect
      the extent of accelerated aging.

PMID- 27649039
TI  - Estimated HIV Incidence in the United States, 2003-2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate HIV incidence in the United States using a newly developed
      method. METHODS: The analysis period (2002-2011) was broken down into 3-year
      periods with overlaps, and HIV incidence was estimated based on the relationship
      between number of new diagnoses and HIV incidence in each of these 3-year
      periods, by assuming that all HIV infections would eventually be diagnosed and
      within each 3-year period HIV incidence and case finding were stable. RESULTS:
      The estimated HIV incidence in the United States decreased from 52,721 (range:
      47,449-57,993) in 2003 to 39,651 (range: 35,686-43,617) in 2010, among males from
      38,164 (range: 35,051-42,840) to 33,035 (range: 29,088-35,553), and among females
      from 13,557 (range: 12,133-14,830) to 6616 (range: 5825 to 7120). CONCLUSIONS:
      Using a simple and novel method based on the number of new HIV diagnoses, we were
      able to estimate HIV incidence and report a declining trend in HIV incidence in
      the United States since 2003.

PMID- 27649032
TI  - Carbapenem Resistance in Clonally Distinct Clinical Strains of Vibrio fluvialis
      Isolated from Diarrheal Samples.
AB  - Carbapenems have been used for many years to treat severe nosocomial
      Enterobacteriaceae infections. The spread of resistance to these drugs among
      other bacterial families is an emerging problem worldwide, mostly caused by New
      Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1). We screened for the prevalence of NDM-1
      expressing enteric pathogens from hospitalized patients with acute diarrhea in
      Kolkata, India, and identified 27 Vibrio fluvialis-harboring blaNDM-1 (NDM-VF)
      strains. These isolates were also resistant to all the tested antimicrobial drugs
      except doxycycline. The large plasmid of V. fluvialis harboring blaNDM-1 could be
      easily transferred to other enteric pathogens. Genes flanking the blaNDM-1 were
      found to be identical to the reported sequence from an Escherichia coli isolate.
      Analyses showed that the V. fluvialis possessing the NDM-VF region belonged to
      different clones. The pathogenicity of V. fluvialis to humans and its ubiquitous
      presence in the environment call for constant monitoring of this species for
      emerging antimicrobial drug resistance.

PMID- 27649040
TI  - Toxicological Emergencies in the Resuscitation Area of a Pediatric Emergency
      Department: A 12-Month Review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Few studies of children with toxicological emergencies describe those
      undergoing acute resuscitation, and most describe exposures to single agents. We
      describe a 12-month sample of patients evaluated in the resuscitation area of a
      pediatric emergency department (ED) for a toxicological emergency. METHODS: We
      conducted a retrospective chart review of patients in a high-volume, academic
      pediatric ED. We identified patients evaluated in the ED resuscitation area for
      toxicological exposure and conducted structured chart reviews to collect relevant
      data. For all variables of interest, we calculated standard descriptive
      statistics. RESULTS: Of 2999 patients evaluated in the resuscitation area through
      12 months (March 2009 to April 2010), we identified 80 (2.7%) whose primary ED
      diagnosis was toxicological. The mean age was 11.4 years. Eighty-six percent of
      patients were triaged to the resuscitation area for significantly altered mental
      status. The most frequent single exposures were ethanol (25%), clonidine (10%),
      and acetaminophen (5%). At least 1 laboratory test was performed for almost all
      patients (97%). Interventions performed in the resuscitation area included
      intravenous access placement (97%), activated charcoal (20%), naloxone (19%), and
      endotracheal intubation (12%). Eighty-two percent of patients were admitted to
      the hospital; 37% to the intensive care unit. No patients studied in this sample
      died and most received only supportive care. CONCLUSIONS: In a high-volume
      pediatric ED, toxicological emergencies requiring acute resuscitation were rare.
      Ethanol and clonidine were the most frequent single exposures. Most patients
      received diagnostic testing and were admitted. Further studies are needed to
      describe regional differences in pediatric toxicological emergencies.

PMID- 27649041
TI  - Implementation of a Clinical Pathway for Chest Pain in a Pediatric Emergency
      Department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a pediatric emergency department (ED) chest
      pain clinical pathway on resource utilization. METHODS: Motivated by perceived
      overuse of cardiology consultation for non-cardiac chest pain in the ED,
      clinicians from the Divisions of Cardiology and Emergency Medicine
      collaboratively developed a chest pain clinical pathway, educated staff, and
      implemented the pathway on March 1, 2014. We reviewed records of children aged 3
      to 18 years without prior diagnoses of heart disease who presented to the ED with
      chest pain between March 1, 2013, and April 22, 2015. We compared diagnostic
      testing rates, ED length of stay, and cardiology consults before and after
      implementation of the pathway. RESULTS: A total of 1687 patients were pathway
      eligible (675 patients preimplementation and 1012 postimplementation). Resource
      utilization was lower than expected before pathway implementation and remained
      low after implementation. There was a statistically significant reduction in
      rates of chest x-ray ordering after pathway implementation and ED length of stay
      but no change in other diagnostic testing or cardiology consultation. Follow-up
      in our health care system for pediatric chest pain increased from 15% to 29% with
      implementation, but none of these visits resulted in the diagnosis of a new
      cardiac condition. There were no instances identified where use of the pathway
      resulted in missed cardiac disease. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a clinical
      pathway for pediatric chest pain did lead to a reduction in chest x-ray ordering
      in the ED and was associated with a higher rate of outpatient follow up for non
      pathologic chest pain. Preimplementation utilization was lower than the
      prepathway perceptions of overuse suggested.

PMID- 27649042
TI  - Combined glutamate and glutamine levels in pain-processing brain regions are
      associated with individual pain sensitivity.
AB  - The relationship between glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in
      the living human brain and pain sensitivity is unknown. Combined
      glutamine/glutamate (Glx), as well as GABA levels can be measured in vivo with
      single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In this cross-sectional
      study, we aimed at determining whether Glx and/or GABA levels in pain-related
      brain regions are associated with individual differences in pain sensitivity.
      Experimental heat, cold, and mechanical pain thresholds were obtained from 39
      healthy, drug-free individuals (25 men) according to the quantitative sensory
      testing protocol and summarized into 1 composite measure of pain sensitivity. The
      Glx levels were measured using point-resolved spectroscopy at 3 T, within a
      network of pain-associated brain regions comprising the insula, the anterior
      cingulate cortex, the mid-cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,
      and the thalamus. GABA levels were measured using GABA-edited spectroscopy
      (Mescher-Garwood point-resolved spectroscopy) within the insula, the anterior
      cingulate cortex, and the mid-cingulate cortex. Glx and/or GABA levels correlated
      positively across all brain regions. Gender, weekly alcohol consumption, and
      depressive symptoms were significantly associated with Glx and/or GABA levels. A
      linear regression analysis including all these factors indicated that Glx levels
      pooled across pain-related brain regions were positively associated with pain
      sensitivity, whereas no appreciable relationship with GABA was found. In sum, we
      show that the levels of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and its
      precursor glutamine across pain-related brain regions are positively correlated
      with individual pain sensitivity. Future studies will have to determine whether
      our findings also apply to clinical populations.

PMID- 27649044
TI  - Advanced Architecture for Colloidal PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells Exploiting a CdSe
      Quantum Dot Buffer Layer.
AB  - Advanced architectures are required to further improve the performance of
      colloidal PbS heterojunction quantum dot solar cells. Here, we introduce a CdI2
      treated CdSe quantum dot buffer layer at the junction between ZnO nanoparticles
      and PbS quantum dots in the solar cells. We exploit the surface- and size-tunable
      electronic properties of the CdSe quantum dots to optimize its carrier
      concentration and energy band alignment in the heterojunction. We combine
      optical, electrical, and analytical measurements to show that the CdSe quantum
      dot buffer layer suppresses interface recombination and contributes additional
      photogenerated carriers, increasing the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit
      current of PbS quantum dot solar cells, leading to a 25% increase in solar power
      conversion efficiency.

PMID- 27649043
TI  - Electrostatic Control of Excitonic Energies and Dynamics in a CdS Quantum Dot
      through Reversible Protonation of Its Ligands.
AB  - This paper describes the pH dependence of the excitonic energies and dynamics of
      CdS quantum dots (QDs) capped with phosphonopropionate (PPA) in water. QDs capped
      with PPA carry a negative charge on their surfaces upon deprotonation of PPA
      above pH ~ 8.5; the resultant electric field induces large changes in the QD's
      optical properties. Between pH 5.6 and 12.0, an increase in pH is accompanied by
      a 47-meV bathochromic shift in the bandgap of the QDs and a decrease in the
      Stokes shift by ~4.3 meV/pH unit. An increase in the radiative recombination rate
      by a factor of 20.9 occurs on increasing the pH from 5.6 to 9.4. These
      observations are attributed to a shifting of the energy levels within the first
      exciton manifold, and are simulated using time-dependent density functional
      theory calculations on model Cd29S29 clusters surrounded by point charges.

PMID- 27649045
TI  - A retrospective comparative outcome analysis following systemic therapy in
      Mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome.
AB  - Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), with few exceptions, remain incurable and
      treatment is largely palliative. We performed a retrospective analysis of
      systemic treatment outcomes of patients diagnosed with MF/SS. We identified 223
      patients with MF/SS evaluated at a single institution from 1997 to 2013. Disease
      stage at diagnosis, time of treatment, and treatments received were
      retrospectively analyzed using our CTCL database. The primary endpoint was time
      to next treatment (TTNT). Treatment outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier
      method and comparisons among groups were made using log-rank analysis. A superior
      TTNT was associated with retinoid or interferon therapies when compared with HDAC
      inhibitors or systemic chemotherapy. Retinoids and interferon were associated
      with superior TTNT in both limited-stage and advanced stage disease.
      Extracorporeal photophoresis (ECP) had a superior TTNT in Sezary Syndrome. HDAC
      inhibitors and chemotherapy were associated with inferior TTNT in both limited
      stage disease and advanced stage disease. With the exception of interferon,
      retinoids, or ECP, durable responses are rarely achieved with systemic therapies
      in MF/SS patients, particularly those with advanced-stage disease. Therefore,
      clinical trial participation with novel agents should be encouraged. Am. J.
      Hematol. 91:E491-E495, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649047
TI  - Current management and future directions in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
AB  - Of the anticipated 50,000 individuals expected to be diagnosed with pancreatic
      cancer in 2016, the majority will have metastatic disease. Given the noncurative
      nature of advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, treatment is aimed at inducing
      disease regression, controlling symptom, and extending life. The last 5 years
      have been marked by advances in the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer,
      specifically the approval by the US Food and Drug Administration of 2 combination
      chemotherapy regimens and the widespread use of a third, which have reproducibly
      been shown to improve survival. Ongoing studies are building on these regimens
      along with targeted and immunotherapeutic agents. This article will review the
      current treatment standards and emerging targets for metastatic pancreatic
      cancer. Cancer 2016;122:3765-3775. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27649052
TI  - Stapled peptides: How to be quick on the uptake.

PMID- 27649046
TI  - MnTBAP Inhibits Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by Regulating VEGF and Wnt
      Signaling.
AB  - Cellular oxidative stress is implicated not only in lung injury but also in
      contributing to the development of pulmonary fibrosis. We demonstrate that a cell
      permeable superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic and peroxynitrite scavenger,
      manganese (III) tetrakis (4-benzoic acid) porphyrin chloride (MnTBAP)
      significantly inhibited bleomycin-induced fibrogenic effects both in vitro and in
      vivo. Further investigation into the underlying mechanisms revealed that MnTBAP
      targets canonical Wnt and non-canonical Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathways, both of
      which were upregulated by bleomycin treatment. The effect of MnTBAP on canonical
      Wnt signaling was significant in vivo but inconclusive in vitro and the non
      canonical Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathway was observed to be the predominant pathway
      regulated by MnTBAP in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Furthermore, we show
      that the inhibitory effects of MnTBAP involve regulation of VEGF which is
      upstream of the Wnt signaling pathway. Overall, the data show that the superoxide
      scavenger MnTBAP attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by targeting
      VEGF and Wnt signaling pathways. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 506-516, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649053
TI  - Transcriptional kinases: Caught by a sticky drug.

PMID- 27649054
TI  - Single-molecule biophysics: TALEs spin along, but not around.

PMID- 27649055
TI  - Post-translational modifications: Bonds that bind.

PMID- 27649056
TI  - Corrigendum: Structural biology: HDAC6 finally crystal clear.

PMID- 27649058
TI  - Factors associated with oncology patients' involvement in shared decision making
      during chemotherapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Oncology patients are increasingly encouraged to play an active role
      in treatment decision making. While previous studies have evaluated relationships
      between demographic characteristics and decision-making roles, less is known
      about the association of symptoms and psychological adjustment characteristics
      (eg, coping styles and personality traits) and decision-making roles. METHODS: As
      part of a larger study of symptom clusters, patients (n = 765) receiving
      chemotherapy for breast, gastrointestinal, gynecological, or lung cancer provided
      information on demographic, clinical, symptom, and psychological adjustment
      characteristics. Patient-reported treatment decision-making roles (ie, preferred
      role and role actually played) were assessed using the Control Preferences Scale.
      Differences among patients, who were classified as passive, collaborative, or
      active, were evaluated using chi2 analyses and analyses of variance. RESULTS:
      Over half (56.3%) of the patients reported that they both preferred and actually
      played a collaborative role. Among those patients with concordant roles, those
      who were older, those with less education and lower income, and those who were
      less resilient were more likely to prefer a passive role. Several psychological
      adjustment characteristics were associated with decision-making role, including
      coping style, personality, and fatalism. CONCLUSIONS: Oncology patients'
      preferences for involvement in treatment decision making are associated with
      demographic characteristics as well as with symptoms and psychological adjustment
      characteristics, such as coping style and personality. These results reaffirm the
      complexities of predicting patients' preferences for involvement in decision
      making. Further study is needed to determine if role or coping style may be
      influenced by interventions designed to teach adaptive coping skills.

PMID- 27649060
TI  - Re-Evaluation of the UK's HFC-134a Emissions Inventory Based on Atmospheric
      Observations.
AB  - Independent verification of national greenhouse gas inventories is a vital
      measure for cross-checking the accuracy of emissions data submitted to the United
      Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We infer annual UK
      emissions of HFC-134a from 1995 to 2012 using atmospheric observations and an
      inverse modeling technique, and compare with the UK's annual UNFCCC submission.
      By 2010, the inventory is almost twice as large as our estimates, with an
      "emissions gap" equating to 3.90 (3.20-4.30) Tg CO2e. We evaluate the RAC
      (Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning) model, a bottom up model used to quantify UK
      emissions from refrigeration and air-conditioning sectors. Within mobile air
      conditioning (MAC), the largest RAC sector and most significant UK source (59%),
      we find a number of assumptions that may be considered oversimplistic and
      conservative; most notably the unit refill rate. Finally, a Bayesian approach is
      used to estimate probable inventory inputs required for minimization of the
      emissions discrepancy. Our top-down estimates provide only a weak constraint on
      inventory model parameters and consequently, we are unable to suggest discrete
      values. However, a significant revision of the MAC servicing rate, coupled with a
      reassessment of non-RAC aerosol emissions, are required if the discrepancy
      between methods is to be reduced.

PMID- 27649059
TI  - Health-related quality of life in children with Robin sequence.
AB  - This patient-reported outcome (PRO) study reports on 102 children with Robin
      sequence (RS) and their parents. There has been differentiated between those with
      isolated RS and those with RS as part of a syndrome, and take various treatments
      into account. All RS families from an earlier described cohort were invited to
      participate. Parents and RS children completed online questionnaires regarding
      health-related quality of life (HRQoL), satisfaction with appearance, parental
      distress, and RS specific topics. Results were compared with the Dutch norm
      population if available. There was no major difference in HRQoL in RS children
      and the Dutch norm population, nor between children with isolated RS and those
      with RS as part of a syndrome. The latter is likely due to the large percentage
      of children with Stickler syndrome, and small number of RS children with
      intellectual disability. Parental distress was higher in RS children with
      syndromes compared to parents of isolated RS children. When comparing various
      treatments, the subgroup treated by mandibular distraction showed a tendency of
      lower HRQoL scores, less satisfaction with appearance, and more parental
      distress. Also in the NPA group parents showed a tendency of more parental
      distress. Subgroups for each treatment were very small, however, and firm
      conclusions cannot be drawn. In this study, HRQoL in RS children is demonstrated
      comparable to the norm population, despite variations in treatment, possibly with
      less favorable outcome for children who received mandibular distraction. Markedly
      larger studies are needed to allow more reliable comparison of PROs in various
      treatments, and to incorporate PROs in management guidelines to obtain optimal
      patient care. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649061
TI  - Data Independent Analysis of IgG Glycoforms in Samples of Unfractionated Human
      Plasma.
AB  - Glycosylation regulates functional responses mediated by the interaction of IgG
      with their receptors. Multiple analytical methods have been designed for the
      determination of the IgG N-glycan microheterogeneity, including MS methods for
      the analysis of site specific glycoforms of IgG. However, measurement of low
      abundant glycoforms remains challenging in complex samples like serum without
      enrichment of the IgG. We present a workflow for quantitative analysis of site
      specific glycoforms of IgG based on data independent acquisition (DIA) of Y-ions
      generated under "minimal" fragmentation conditions. The adjusted collision
      induced dissociation (CID) conditions generate specific Y-ions in the yield of up
      to 60% precursor ion intensity. These selective fragments, measured in high
      resolution, improve specificity of detection compared to the typically quantified
      B-ions which have higher overall intensity but lower signal-to-noise ratios.
      Under optimized conditions, we achieve label-free quantification of the majority
      of previously reported glycoforms of IgG (26 glycoforms of IgG1, 22 glycoforms of
      IgG 2/3, and 19 glycoforms of IgG4) directly in unfractionated samples of human
      plasma and we detect traces of previously unreported glycoforms of IgG1,
      including doubly fucosylated glycoforms. The SWATH data independent
      quantification of IgG glycoforms in pooled plasma samples of patients with liver
      cirrhosis detects reliably the expected changes in the quantity of major
      glycoforms compared to healthy controls. Our results show that optimized CID
      fragmentation enables DIA of IgG glycoforms and suggest that such workflow may
      enable quantitative analyses of the glycoproteome in complex matrixes.

PMID- 27649062
TI  - Role of Gas Molecule Complexity in Environmental Electron Microscopy and
      Photoelectron Yield Spectroscopy.
AB  - Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and environmental photoelectron
      yield spectroscopy (EPYS) enable electron imaging and spectroscopy of surfaces
      and interfaces in low-vacuum gaseous environments. The techniques are both
      appealing and limited by the range of gases that can be used to amplify electrons
      emitted from a sample and used to form images/spectra. However, to date only H2O
      and NH3 gases have been identified as highly favorable electron amplification
      media. Here we demonstrate that ethanol vapor (CH3CH2OH) is superior to both of
      these and attribute its performance to its molecular complexity and valence
      orbital structure. Our findings improve the present understanding of what
      constitutes a favorable electron amplification gas and will help expand the
      applicability and usefulness of the ESEM and EPYS techniques.

PMID- 27649063
TI  - Subcutaneous versus intravenous immunoglobulin for chronic autoimmune
      neuropathies: A meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is an evidence-based
      treatment for multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and chronic inflammatory
      demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Recently, subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SC
      Ig) has received increasing attention. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of
      reports of efficacy and safety of SC-Ig versus IVIg for inflammatory
      demyelinating polyneuropathies. RESULTS: A total of 8 studies comprising 138
      patients (50 with MMN and 88 with chronic CIDP) were included in the meta
      analysis. There were no significant differences in muscle strength outcomes in
      MMN and CIDP with Sc-Ig (MMN: effect size [ES] = 0.65, 95% confidence interval
      [CI] = -0.31-1.61; CIDP: ES = 0.84, 95% CI = -0.01-1.69). Additionally SC-Ig had
      a 28% reduction in relative risk (RR) of moderate and/or systemic adverse effects
      (95% CI = 0.11-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of SC-Ig is similar to IVIg for
      CIDP and MMN and has a significant safety profile. Muscle Nerve 55: 802-809,
      2017.

PMID- 27649064
TI  - Osteopromoting Reservoir of Stem Cells: Bioactive Mesoporous Nanocarrier/Collagen
      Gel through Slow-Releasing FGF18 and the Activated BMP Signaling.
AB  - Providing an osteogenic stimulatory environment is a key strategy to construct
      stem cell-based bone-equivalent tissues. Here we design a stem cell delivering
      gel matrix made of collagen (Col) with bioactive glass nanocarriers (BGn) that
      incorporate osteogenic signaling molecule, fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF18), a
      reservoir considered to cultivate and promote osteogenesis of mesenchymal stem
      cells (MSCs). The presence of BGn in the gel was shown to enhance the osteogenic
      differentiation of MSCs, possibly due to the therapeutic role of ions released.
      The mesoporous nature of BGn was effective in loading FGF18 at large quantity,
      and the FGF18 release from the BGn-Col gel matrix was highly sustainable with
      almost a zero-order kinetics, over 4 weeks as confirmed by the green fluorescence
      protein signal change. The released FGF18 was effective in accelerating
      osteogenesis (alkaline phosphatase activity and bone related gene expressions)
      and bone matrix formation (osteopontin, bone sialoprotein, and osteocalcin
      production) of MSCs. This was attributed to the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)
      signaling pathway, where the FGF18 release stimulated the endogenous secretion of
      BMP2 and the downstream signal Smad1/5/8. Taken together, the FGF18-BGn/Col gel
      is considered an excellent osteopromoting depot to support and signal MSCs for
      bone tissue engineering.

PMID- 27649065
TI  - Tunable Morphology of Spiropyran Assemblies: From Nanospheres to Nanorods.
AB  - Spiropyran (SP), which can respond to acid, ultraviolet irradiation, and
      mechanical force, has received great attention as a classic molecule for the
      construction of stimuli-responsive materials. However, the self-assembly behavior
      of SP with a tunable morphology has rarely been investigated. In the present
      work, a SP derivative bearing two carboxyl groups and one hydroxyl group was
      prepared and used as a model to investigate the optical properties, molecular
      self-assembly, and morphology of SP. This pH-responsive derivative could undergo
      a large morphology variation from a sphere- to a rodlike structure by adjusting
      the acidity. The indoline and pyridopyran fragments contributed to pi-pi
      stacking, whereas the carboxyl groups contributed to hydrogen bonding. Both pi-pi
      stacking and hydrogen bonding contributed to the pH-responsive self-assembly. The
      morphologies of spiropyran aggregates formed under different conditions were
      characterized by SEM, TEM, and FTIR spectroscopy. Control of the morphology of
      the spiropyran nanostructure was achieved.

PMID- 27649067
TI  - Reverse Monte Carlo reconstruction algorithm for discrete electron tomography
      based on HAADF-STEM atom counting.
AB  - In this paper, we propose an algorithm to obtain a three-dimensional
      reconstruction of a single nanoparticle based on the method of atom counting. The
      location of atoms in three dimensions has been successfully performed using
      simulations of high-angle-annular-dark-field images from only three zone-axis
      projections, [110], [310] and [211], for a face-centred cubic particle. These
      three orientations are typically accessible by low-tilt holders often used in
      high-performance scanning transmission electron microscopes.

PMID- 27649066
TI  - Calpain-activated mTORC2/Akt pathway mediates airway smooth muscle remodelling in
      asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic asthma is characterized by inflammation and airway
      remodelling. Airway remodelling with excessive deposition of extracellular matrix
      (ECM) and larger smooth muscle mass are correlated with increased airway
      responsiveness and asthma severity. Calpain is a family of calcium-dependent
      endopeptidases, which plays an important role in ECM remodelling. However, the
      role of calpain in airway smooth muscle remodelling remains unknown. OBJECTIVE:
      To investigate the role of calpain in asthmatic airway remodelling as well as the
      underlying mechanism. METHODS: The mouse asthma model was made by ovalbumin
      sensitization and challenge. Calpain conditional knockout mice were studied in
      the model. Airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) were isolated from smooth muscle
      bundles in airway of rats. Cytokines IL-4, IL-5, TNF-alpha, and TGF-beta1, and
      serum from patients with asthma were selected to treated ASMCs. Collagen-I
      synthesis, cell proliferation, and phosphorylation of Akt in ASMCs were analysed.
      RESULTS: Inhibition of calpain using calpain knockout mice attenuated airway
      smooth muscle remodelling in mouse asthma models. Cytokines IL-4, IL-5, TNF
      alpha, and TGF-beta1, and serum from patients with asthma increased collagen-I
      synthesis, cell proliferation, and phosphorylation of Akt in ASMCs, which were
      blocked by the calpain inhibitor MDL28170. Moreover, MDL28170 reduced cytokine
      induced increases in Rictor protein, which is the most important component of
      mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2). Blockage of the mTORC2 signal
      pathway prevented cytokine-induced phosphorylation of Akt, collagen-I synthesis,
      and cell proliferation of ASMCs and attenuated airway smooth muscle remodelling
      in mouse asthma models. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our results indicate
      that calpain mediates cytokine-induced collagen-I synthesis and proliferation of
      ASMCs via the mTORC2/Akt signalling pathway, thereby regulating airway smooth
      muscle remodelling in asthma.

PMID- 27649070
TI  - Synthesis of Tertiary Enamides by Ag2CO3-Promoted Pd-Catalyzed Alkenylation of
      Acyclic Secondary Amides.
AB  - A Pd-catalyzed methodology for the preparation of tertiary enamides from acyclic
      secondary amides and bromo acrylates under mild reaction conditions has been
      developed using [Pd2(dba)3], XantPhos, and Ag2CO3 as a base. The reaction occurs
      through a stereospecific metal-mediated oxidative-insertion mechanism.

PMID- 27649068
TI  - Characterization of HSP90 isoforms in transformed bovine leukocytes infected with
      Theileria annulata.
AB  - HSP90 chaperones are essential regulators of cellular function, as they ensure
      the appropriate conformation of multiple key client proteins. Four HSP90 isoforms
      were identified in the protozoan parasite Theileria annulata. Partial
      characterization was undertaken for three and localization confirmed for
      cytoplasmic (TA12105), endoplasmic reticulum (TA06470), and apicoplast (TA10720)
      forms. ATPase activity and binding to the HSP90 inhibitor geldanamycin were
      demonstrated for recombinant TA12105, and all three native forms could be
      isolated to varying extents by binding to geldanamycin beads. Because it is
      essential, HSP90 is considered a potential therapeutic drug target. Resistance to
      the only specific Theileriacidal drug is increasing, and one challenge for design
      of drugs that target the parasite is to limit the effect on the host. An in vitro
      cell culture system that allows comparison between uninfected bovine cells and
      the T. annulata-infected counterpart was utilized to test the effects of
      geldanamycin and the derivative 17-AAG. T. annulata-infected cells had greater
      tolerance to geldanamycin than uninfected cells yet exhibited significantly more
      sensitivity to 17-AAG. These findings suggest that parasite HSP90 isoform(s) can
      alter the drug sensitivity of infected host cells and that members of the
      Theileria HSP90 family are potential targets worthy of further investigation.

PMID- 27649069
TI  - A new functional IDH2 genetic variant is associated with the risk of lung cancer.
AB  - Recently, mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1/2 (IDH1/2) were discovered in
      70% of low-grade glioma and secondary glioblastoma multiforme. The discovery of
      an oncogenic function and the identification of onco-metabolites of IDH1/2
      support new roles for metabolism in cancer. For example, some evidence indicates
      that IDH2 might also exhibit oncogenic functions by promoting cellular metabolism
      and cancer cell growth. We examined the association between IDH2 rs11540478 and
      lung cancer risk in 262 lung cancer patient cases and 602 healthy control
      subjects and also investigated the biological function of rs11540478 in vivo. We
      found that a higher risk was observed in lung cancer patient carriers of
      rs11540478 TT and CT compared with CC carriers (OR = 1.44; 95%CI = 1.04-2.00; P =
      0.03). The frequency of IDH2 rs11540478 TT and CT carriers was decreased in
      healthy individuals between the ages of 50-77 compared to those aged 30-49 (OR =
      0.67; 95%CI = 0.47-0.96; P = 0.03). Functional analysis showed the effect of
      rs11540478 on IDH2 expression and lung cancer cell viability, with higher IDH2
      expression and cell viability among T allele compared with C allele. IDH2 mRNA
      was higher in peripheral blood lymphocytes from lung cancer patients compared to
      healthy subjects. Herein, for the first time we identified IDH2 rs11540478 as a
      new susceptibility locus for lung cancer. The effect of rs11540478 on mRNA
      expression of IDH2 and lung cancer cell viability might provide new insight for
      the genetic basis of lung cancer. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649071
TI  - Classification of High Intensity Zones of the Lumbar Spine and Their Association
      with Other Spinal MRI Phenotypes: The Wakayama Spine Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: High intensity zones (HIZ) of the lumbar spine are a phenotype of
      the intervertebral disc noted on MRI whose clinical relevance has been debated.
      Traditionally, T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been
      utilized to identify HIZ of lumbar discs. However, controversy exists with
      regards to HIZ morphology, topography, and association with other MRI spinal
      phenotypes. Moreover, classification of HIZ has not been thoroughly defined in
      the past and the use of additional imaging parameters (e.g. T1W MRI) to assist in
      defining this phenotype has not been addressed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross
      sectional study of 814 (69.8% females) subjects with mean age of 63.6 years from
      a homogenous Japanese population was performed. T2W and T1W sagittal 1.5T MRI was
      obtained on all subjects to assess HIZ from L1-S1. We created a morphological and
      topographical HIZ classification based on disc level, shape type (round, fissure,
      vertical, rim, and enlarged), location within the disc (posterior, anterior), and
      signal type on T1W MRI (low, high and iso intensity) in comparison to the typical
      high intensity on T2W MRI. RESULTS: HIZ was noted in 38.0% of subjects. Of these,
      the prevalence of posterior, anterior, and both posterior/anterior HIZ in the
      overall lumbar spine were 47.3%, 42.4%, and 10.4%, respectively. Posterior HIZ
      was most common, occurring at L4/5 (32.5%) and L5/S1 (47.0%), whereas anterior
      HIZ was most common at L3/4 (41.8%). T1W iso-intensity type of HIZ was most
      prevalent (71.8%), followed by T1W high-intensity (21.4%) and T1W low-intensity
      (6.8%). Of all discs, round types were most prevalent (anterior: 3.6%, posterior:
      3.7%) followed by vertical type (posterior: 1.6%). At all affected levels, there
      was a significant association between HIZ and disc degeneration, disc
      bulge/protrusion and Modic type II (p<0.01). Posterior HIZ and T1W high-intensity
      type of HIZ were significantly associated with disc bulge/protrusion and disc
      degeneration (p<0.01). In addition, posterior HIZ was significantly associated
      with Modic type II and III. T1W low-intensity type of HIZ was significantly
      associated with Modic type II. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large-scale study
      reporting a novel classification scheme of HIZ of the lumbar spine. This study is
      the first that has utilized T2W and T1W MRIs in differentiating HIZ sub
      phenotypes. Specific HIZ sub-phenotypes were found to be more associated with
      specific MRI degenerative changes. With a more detailed description of the HIZ
      phenotype, this scheme can be standardized for future clinical and research
      initiatives.

PMID- 27649072
TI  - Quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment, Systemic Inflammatory Response
      Syndrome, and Early Warning Scores for Detecting Clinical Deterioration in
      Infected Patients outside the Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - RATIONALE: The 2016 definitions of sepsis included the quick Sepsis-related Organ
      Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score to identify high-risk patients outside the
      intensive care unit (ICU). OBJECTIVES: We sought to compare qSOFA with other
      commonly used early warning scores. METHODS: All admitted patients who first met
      the criteria for suspicion of infection in the emergency department (ED) or
      hospital wards from November 2008 until January 2016 were included. The qSOFA,
      Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), Modified Early Warning Score
      (MEWS), and the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) were compared for predicting
      death and ICU transfer. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 30,677 included
      patients, 1,649 (5.4%) died and 7,385 (24%) experienced the composite outcome
      (death or ICU transfer). Sixty percent (n = 18,523) first met the suspicion
      criteria in the ED. Discrimination for in-hospital mortality was highest for NEWS
      (area under the curve [AUC], 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.79),
      followed by MEWS (AUC, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.71-0.74), qSOFA (AUC, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.67
      0.70), and SIRS (AUC, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.63-0.66) (P < 0.01 for all pairwise
      comparisons). Using the highest non-ICU score of patients, >=2 SIRS had a
      sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 13% for the composite outcome compared with
      54% and 67% for qSOFA >=2, 59% and 70% for MEWS >=5, and 67% and 66% for NEWS
      >=8, respectively. Most patients met >=2 SIRS criteria 17 hours before the
      combined outcome compared with 5 hours for >=2 and 17 hours for >=1 qSOFA
      criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Commonly used early warning scores are more accurate than
      the qSOFA score for predicting death and ICU transfer in non-ICU patients. These
      results suggest that the qSOFA score should not replace general early warning
      scores when risk-stratifying patients with suspected infection.

PMID- 27649073
TI  - Deletion of mTORC1 Activity in CD4+ T Cells Is Associated with Lung Fibrosis and
      Increased gammadelta T Cells.
AB  - Pulmonary fibrosis is a devastating, incurable disease in which chronic
      inflammation and dysregulated, excessive wound healing lead to progressive
      fibrosis, lung dysfunction, and ultimately death. Prior studies have implicated
      the cytokine IL-17A and Th17 cells in promoting the development of fibrosis. We
      hypothesized that loss of Th17 cells via CD4-specific deletion of mTORC1 activity
      would abrogate the development of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. However,
      in actuality loss of Th17 cells led to increased mortality and fibrosis in
      response to bleomycin. We found that in the absence of Th17 cells, there was
      continued production of IL-17A by gammadelta T cells. These IL-17A+ gammadelta T
      cells were associated with increased lung neutrophils and M2 macrophages,
      accelerated development of fibrosis, and increased mortality. These data
      elucidate the critical role of IL-17A+ gammadelta T cells in promoting chronic
      inflammation and fibrosis, and reveal a novel therapeutic target for treatment of
      pulmonary fibrosis. 

PMID- 27649074
TI  - Unpaid Informal Caregivers in South Australia: Population Characteristics,
      Prevalence and Age-Period-Cohort Effects 1994-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ongoing need for an availability of informal carers is taking on
      greater relevance as the global burden of disease transitions from acute fatal
      diseases to long term morbidity. Growing evidence suggests that extra burden on
      family carers may further impact on their health and ability to provide care.
      Important as it is to monitor the prevalence of those conditions which influence
      the burden of disease, it is also important to monitor the prevalence and health
      profiles of those who provide the informal care. The aim of this study was to
      demonstrate the prevalence and demographics of adult carers aged 15 and over in
      the state of South Australia over 20 years between 1994 and 2014. METHODS: Data
      from nine representative, cross-sectional population surveys, conducted in South
      Australia, Australia were used, (total N = 26,788 and n = 1,504 carers). The
      adjusted prevalence estimate of carers and their demographic characteristics were
      determined. So as to examine whether there were any generational effects on the
      prevalence of carers, an Age-Period Cohort (APC) analysis was undertaken.
      RESULTS: The prevalence estimates of carers increased during the two decades from
      3.7% in 1994 to 6.7% by 2014. Large increases in the proportion of retired
      carers, those aged 70 years and over, those carers employed, and those with
      higher educational qualifications were observed. There were also larger
      proportions of respondents with a country of birth other than Australia, UK,
      Ireland and European counties. The APC analysis illustrated an increasing
      prevalence rate over each decade for carers aged 20-80 years, especially for
      those over the age of 60 years. CONCLUSIONS: The results illustrate changing
      carer characteristics and carer prevalence estimates in South Australia as new
      generations of carers take on the caring role. There is a need to include
      questions regarding informal carers within ongoing mainstream population surveys,
      particularly at state levels, so as to plan for their future health care and home
      support.

PMID- 27649077
TI  - Proficiency Testing of Feed Constituents: A Comparative Evaluation of European
      and Developing Country Laboratories and Its Implications for Animal Production.
AB  - Proficiency tests, with two feed samples each year, for various constituents
      (proximate, macro- and microminerals, feed additives, and amino acids) were
      conducted in 2014 and 2015. A total of 40 and 50 European and 73 and 63
      developing country feed analysis laboratories participated in the study in 2014
      and 2015, respectively. The data obtained from these two sets of laboratories in
      each year enabled a comparison of the performance of the European and developing
      country laboratories. Higher standard deviation and several-fold higher
      coefficients of variation were obtained for the developing country laboratories.
      The coefficients of variation for chemical composition parameters, macrominerals,
      microminerals, and amino acids were higher by up to 9-fold, 14-fold, 10-fold, and
      14-fold, respectively, for the developing country laboratories compared with the
      European laboratories in 2014, while the corresponding values for 2015 were 4.6
      fold, 4.4-fold, 9-fold, and 14-fold higher for developing county laboratories.
      Also, higher numbers of outliers were observed for developing countries (2014,
      7.6-8.7% vs 2.9-3.0%; 2015, 7.7-9.5% vs 4.2-7.0%). The results suggest higher
      need for developing country feed analysis laboratories to improve the quality of
      data being generated. The likely impact of higher variability of the data
      generated in developing countries toward safe and quality preparation of animal
      diets, their impact on animal productivity, and possible ways to improve the
      quality of data from developing countries are discussed.

PMID- 27649076
TI  - De Novo Design of an Allosteric Metalloprotein Assembly with Strained Disulfide
      Bonds.
AB  - A major goal in metalloprotein design is to build protein scaffolds from scratch
      that allow precise control over metal coordination. A particular challenge in
      this regard is the construction of allosteric systems in which metal coordination
      equilibria are coupled to other chemical events that take place elsewhere in the
      protein scaffold. We previously developed a metal-templated self-assembly
      strategy (MeTIR) to build supramolecular protein complexes with tailorable
      interfaces from monomeric building blocks. Here, using this strategy, we have
      incorporated multiple disulfide bonds into the interfaces of a Zn-templated
      cytochrome cb562 assembly in order to create mechanical strain on the quaternary
      structural level. Structural and biophysical analyses indicate that this strain
      leads to an allosteric system in which Zn2+ binding and dissociation are remotely
      coupled to the formation and breakage of a disulfide bond over a distance of >14
      A. The breakage of this strained bond upon Zn2+ dissociation occurs in the
      absence of any reductants, apparently through a hydrolytic mechanism that
      generates a sulfenic acid/thiol pair.

PMID- 27649075
TI  - Analysis of BCLI, N363S and ER22/23EK Polymorphisms of the Glucocorticoid
      Receptor Gene in Adrenal Incidentalomas.
AB  - CONTEXT: Patients with adrenal incidentalomas (AI) may experience detrimental
      consequences due to a minimal cortisol excess sustained by adrenal adenoma. SNPs
      of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) modulate individual sensitivity to
      glucocorticoids and may interfere with the clinical presentation. OBJECTIVE: To
      compare the frequency of N363S, ER22/23EK and BclI SNPs in patients with AI with
      the general population and to evaluate whether these SNPs are linked to
      consequences of cortisol excess. SETTING: Multicentric, retrospective analysis of
      patients referred from 2010 to 2014 to 4 centers (Orbassano, Milano, Messina
      [Italy] and Zagreb [Croatia]). PATIENTS: 411 patients with AI; 153 males and 258
      females and 186 from blood donors. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: All patients and
      controls were genotyped for BclI, N363S and ER22/23EK and SNPs frequency was
      associated with clinical and hormonal features. RESULTS: SNP frequency was: SNP
      frequency was: N363S 5.4% (MAF 0.027), BclI 54.7% (MAF 0.328), ER22/23EK 4.4%
      (MAF 0.022), without any significant difference between patients and controls.
      N363S was more frequent in hypertensive patients (p = 0.03) and was associated
      with hypertension (p = 0.015) in patients with suppressed cortisol after the 1-mg
      DST. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that SNPs of the glucocorticoid
      receptor gene do not play a pathogenetic role for AI. The impact of any single
      SNP on the phenotypic expression of minimal cortisol excess is limited and their
      analysis does not provide additional data that may be exploited for patient
      management.

PMID- 27649078
TI  - DHA Production in Escherichia coli by Expressing Reconstituted Key Genes of
      Polyketide Synthase Pathway from Marine Bacteria.
AB  - The gene encoding phosphopantetheinyl transferase (PPTase), pfaE, a component of
      the polyketide synthase (PKS) pathway, is crucial for the production of
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6omega3), along with the other pfa cluster members
      pfaA, pfaB, pfaC and pfaD. DHA was produced in Escherichia coli by co-expressing
      pfaABCD from DHA-producing Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H with one of four pfaE
      genes from bacteria producing arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4omega6),
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5omega3) or DHA, respectively. Substitution of the
      pfaE gene from different strain source in E. coli did not influence the function
      of the PKS pathway producing DHA, although they led to different DHA yields and
      fatty acid profiles. This result suggested that the pfaE gene could be switchable
      between these strains for the production of DHA. The DHA production by expressing
      the reconstituted PKS pathway was also investigated in different E. coli strains,
      at different temperatures, or with the treatment of cerulenin. The highest DHA
      production, 2.2 mg of DHA per gram of dry cell weight or 4.1% of total fatty
      acids, was obtained by co-expressing pfaE(EPA) from the EPA-producing strain
      Shewanella baltica with pfaABCD in DH5alpha. Incubation at low temperature (10-15
      degrees C) resulted in higher accumulation of DHA compared to higher
      temperatures. The addition of cerulenin to the medium increased the proportion of
      DHA and saturated fatty acids, including C12:0, C14:0 and C16:0, at the expense
      of monounsaturated fatty acids, including C16:1 and C18:1. Supplementation with 1
      mg/L cerulenin resulted in the highest DHA yield of 2.4 mg/L upon co-expression
      of pfaE(DHA) from C. psychrerythraea. 

PMID- 27649079
TI  - Identification and Characterization of 293T Cell-Derived Exosomes by Profiling
      the Protein, mRNA and MicroRNA Components.
AB  - Cell-derived exosomes are leading candidates for in vivo drug delivery carriers.
      In particular, exosomes derived from 293T cells are used most frequently,
      although exosome dosing has varied greatly among studies. Considering their
      biological origin, it is crucial to characterize the molecular composition of
      exosomes if large doses are to be administered in clinical settings. In this
      study, we present the first comprehensive analysis of the protein, messenger RNA
      and microRNA profiles of 293T cell-derived exosomes; then, we characterized these
      data using Gene Ontology annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia for Genes and Genomes
      pathway analysis. Our study will provide the basis for the selection of 293T cell
      derived exosome drug delivery systems. Profiling the exosomal signatures of 293T
      cells will lead to a better understanding of 293T exosome biology and will aid in
      the identification of any harmful factors in exosomes that could cause adverse
      clinical effects. 

PMID- 27649080
TI  - What Explains Cambodia's Success in Reducing Child Stunting-2000-2014?
AB  - In many developing countries, high levels of child undernutrition persist
      alongside rapid economic growth. There is considerable interest in the study of
      countries that have made rapid progress in child nutrition to uncover the driving
      forces behind these improvements. Cambodia is often cited as a success case
      having reduced the incidence of child stunting from 51% to 34% over the period
      2000 to 2014. To what extent is this success driven by improvements in the
      underlying determinants of nutrition, such as wealth and education, ("covariate
      effects") and to what extent by changes in the strengths of association between
      these determinants and nutrition outcomes ("coefficient effects")? Using
      determinants derived from the widely-applied UNICEF framework for the analysis of
      child nutrition and data from four Demographic and Health Surveys datasets, we
      apply quantile regression based decomposition methods to quantify the covariate
      and coefficient effect contributions to this improvement in child nutrition. The
      method used in the study allows the covariate and coefficient effects to vary
      across the entire distribution of child nutrition outcomes. There are important
      differences in the drivers of improvements in child nutrition between severely
      stunted and moderately stunted children and between rural and urban areas. The
      translation of improvements in household endowments, characteristics and
      practices into improvements in child nutrition (the coefficient effects) may be
      influenced by macroeconomic shocks or other events such as natural calamities or
      civil disturbance and may vary substantially over different time periods. Our
      analysis also highlights the need to explicitly examine the contribution of
      targeted child health and nutrition interventions to improvements in child
      nutrition in developing countries. 

PMID- 27649081
TI  - Resolution of a Chikungunya Outbreak in a Prospective Cohort, Cebu, Philippines,
      2012-2014.

PMID- 27649082
TI  - The Bioavailability of Soluble Cigarette Smoke Extract Is Reduced through
      Interactions with Cells and Affects the Cellular Response to CSE Exposure.
AB  - Cellular exposure to cigarette smoke leads to an array of complex responses
      including apoptosis, cellular senescence, telomere dysfunction, cellular aging,
      and neoplastic transformation. To study the cellular response to cigarette smoke,
      a common in vitro model exposes cultured cells to a nominal concentration (i.e.
      initial concentration) of soluble cigarette smoke extract (CSE). However, we
      report that use of the nominal concentration of CSE as the only measure of
      cellular exposure is inadequate. Instead, we demonstrate that cellular response
      to CSE exposure is dependent not only on the nominal concentration of CSE, but
      also on specific experimental variables, including the total cell number, and the
      volume of CSE solution used. As found in other similar xenobiotic assays, our
      work suggests that the effective dose of CSE is more accurately related to the
      amount of bioavailable chemicals per cell. In particular, interactions of CSE
      components both with cells and other physical factors limit CSE bioavailability,
      as demonstrated by a quantifiably reduced cellular response to CSE that is first
      modified by such interactions. This has broad implications for the nature of
      cellular response to CSE exposure, and for the design of in vitro assays using
      CSE. 

PMID- 27649083
TI  - Hydrogen Bonding and Dielectric Spectra of Ethylene Glycol-Water Mixtures from
      Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
AB  - Mixtures of ethylene glycol with water are a prominent example of media with
      variable viscosity. Classical molecular dynamics simulations at room temperature
      were performed for mixtures of ethylene glycol (EG) and water with EG mole
      fractions of xE = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.9, 1.0. The calculated dielectric
      loss spectra were in qualitative agreement with experiment. We found a slightly
      overestimated slowdown of the dynamics with increasing EG concentration compared
      to experimental data. Statistics of the hydrogen bond network and hydrogen bond
      lifetimes were derived from suitable time correlation functions and also show a
      slowdown in the dynamics with increasing xE. A similar picture is predicted for
      the time scales of EG conformer changes and for molecular reorientation. A slight
      blue shift was obtained for the power spectra of the molecular center of mass
      motion. The results were used to give a qualitative interpretation of the origin
      of three different relaxation times that appear in experimental complex
      dielectric spectra and of their change with xE.

PMID- 27649084
TI  - Prognostic Significance of Concurrent Hypovascular and Hypervascular Nodules in
      Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypovascular nodules often occur together with hypervascular
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it remains controversial whether
      hypovascular nodules associated with hypervascular HCC have any prognostic value.
      This study evaluated the prognostic impact of hypovascular nodules co-existing
      with hypervascular HCC as diagnosed by computed tomography during arterial
      portography (CTAP) and computed tomography during hepatic arteriography (CTHA),
      which can sensitively capture the dynamic changes in blood flow through the
      portal vein and hepatic artery in patients with early stage HCC. METHODS: A total
      of 152 patients with hypervascular HCC (<= 30 mm, <= 3 nodules), who underwent
      initial local ablation, were analyzed retrospectively. All patients received CTAP
      and CTHA prior to treatment. Overall survival (OS) was compared among group A
      (hypervascular HCC only, 107 patients) and group B (hypovascular nodules and
      hypervascular HCC, 45 patients). RESULTS: Among all hypovascular nodules, 81% (46
      of 57) developed hypervascularization within the follow-up period. The 1- and 2
      year hypervascularization rates were 17% and 51%, respectively. OS was
      significantly longer for group A than for group B (P < 0.001). A Cox proportional
      hazards model identified the presence of hypovascular nodules concurrent with
      hypervascular HCC as an independent poor prognostic factor. CONCLUSION: The
      prognosis of hypervascular HCC patients with hypovascular nodules detected during
      CTAP and CTHA is poor. Clinical HCC categories seem to be dissimilar between
      patients with and without hypovascular nodules.

PMID- 27649085
TI  - White Matter Lesions: Prevalence and Clinical Phenotype in Asymptomatic
      Individuals Aged >=50 Years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the prevalence of early confluent/confluent white matter
      lesions (ec/cWMLs) in asymptomatic individuals aged >=50 years and to identify
      associated clinical phenotypes. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of 141
      asymptomatic individuals aged >=50 years assessed at an outpatient department in
      France. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was rated using the Fazekas scale. Age
      adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using
      logistic models to investigate factors associated with ec/cWMLs; independent risk
      factors were identified by multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Median age was 63
      years; 53.9% were women, 32.6% had hypertension, and 76.6% had >=1 cardiovascular
      risk factors. The prevalence of ec/cWMLs was 26.2%. Apart from age, independent
      risk factors were family history of cardiovascular event (OR = 5.55; 1.13-27.32)
      and hypertension (2.47; 1.05-5.81). Patients with ec/cWMLs had lower cognitive
      dual-task walking speed (1.15; 0.98-1.40), MMSE (1.41; 1.06-1.89), and FAB scores
      (5.21; 1.49-19.84). The Scheltens score was independently associated with the WML
      severity score. CONCLUSION: ec/cWMLs are common in asymptomatic community
      dwelling individuals aged >=50 years. They are associated with cardiovascular
      risk factors, impairments in global and executive cognitive function, and
      Scheltens score elevation.

PMID- 27649086
TI  - The Number of Stenotic Intracranial Arteries Is Independently Associated with
      Ischemic Stroke Severity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The severity of ischemic stroke symptoms varies among patients and is
      a critical determinant of patient outcome. To date, the association between the
      number of stenotic intracranial arteries and stroke severity remains unclear.
      AIMS: We aimed to investigate the association between the number of stenotic
      major intracranial arteries (NSMIA) and ischemic stroke severity, as well as the
      degree of stenosis and common stroke risk factors. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective analysis of patients with digital subtraction angiography (DSA)
      confirmed ischemic stroke. Clinical stroke severity was measured using the
      National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The number of stenotic
      vessels was counted from the internal carotid arteries and vertebral arteries,
      bilaterally. RESULTS: Eighty three patients were recruited from a single center
      and included in the study. NSMIA was significantly correlated with stroke
      severity (Pearson Correlation Coefficient = 0.485, P < 0.001), but not with the
      degree of stenosis (Pearson Correlation Coefficient = 0.01, P = 0.90).
      Multivariate regression analysis revealed that NSMIA was significantly associated
      with the NIHSS score after adjusting for stroke risk factors. The adjusted odds
      ratio (per lateral) was 2.092 (95% CI, 0.865 to 3.308, P = 0.001). The degree of
      stenosis was also significantly associated with the NIHSS score after adjusting
      for common risk factors. The odds ratio (per 10%) was 0.712 (95% CI, 0.202 to
      1.223, P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The number of stenotic intracranial major
      arteries is associated with the severity of ischemic stroke independent of the
      degree of stenosis and other stroke risk factors. To the best of our knowledge,
      this has not been previosuly studied in great detail using DSA. Our data
      highlight the importance of examining all major arteries in stroke patients.

PMID- 27649087
TI  - Structured Ordinary Least Squares: A Sufficient Dimension Reduction approach for
      regressions with partitioned predictors and heterogeneous units.
AB  - In many scientific and engineering fields, advanced experimental and computing
      technologies are producing data that are not just high dimensional, but also
      internally structured. For instance, statistical units may have heterogeneous
      origins from distinct studies or subpopulations, and features may be naturally
      partitioned based on experimental platforms generating them, or on information
      available about their roles in a given phenomenon. In a regression analysis,
      exploiting this known structure in the predictor dimension reduction stage that
      precedes modeling can be an effective way to integrate diverse data. To pursue
      this, we propose a novel Sufficient Dimension Reduction (SDR) approach that we
      call structured Ordinary Least Squares (sOLS). This combines ideas from existing
      SDR literature to merge reductions performed within groups of samples and/or
      predictors. In particular, it leads to a version of OLS for grouped predictors
      that requires far less computation than recently proposed groupwise SDR
      procedures, and provides an informal yet effective variable selection tool in
      these settings. We demonstrate the performance of sOLS by simulation and present
      a first application to genomic data. The R package "sSDR," publicly available on
      CRAN, includes all procedures necessary to implement the sOLS approach.

PMID- 27649088
TI  - Correction: Neural Processing of Emotional Musical and Nonmusical Stimuli in
      Depression.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156859.].

PMID- 27649089
TI  - Metabolism and Energy Expenditure, But Not Feeding or Glucose Tolerance, Are
      Impaired in Young Kiss1r KO Female Mice.
AB  - Kisspeptin regulates reproduction via signaling through the receptor, Kiss1r, in
      GnRH neurons. However, both kisspeptin and Kiss1r are produced in several
      peripheral tissues, and recent studies have highlighted a role for kisspeptin
      signaling in metabolism and glucose homeostasis. We recently reported that Kiss1r
      knockout (KO) mice display a sexually dimorphic metabolic phenotype, with KO
      females displaying obesity, impaired metabolism, and glucose intolerance at 4-5
      months of age. However, it remains unclear when this metabolic phenotype first
      emerges in development, or which aspects of the pleiotropic phenotype underlie
      the metabolic defects and which are secondary to the obesity. Here, we studied
      Kiss1r KO females at different ages, including several weeks before the emergence
      of body weight (BW) differences and later when obesity is present. We determined
      that at young adult ages (6 wk old), KO females already exhibit altered
      adiposity, leptin levels, metabolism, and energy expenditure, despite having
      normal BWs at this time. In contrast, food intake, water intake, and glucose
      tolerance are normal at young ages and only show impairments at older adult ages,
      suggesting that these impairments may be secondary to earlier alterations in
      metabolism and adiposity. We also demonstrate that, in addition to BW, all other
      facets of the adult metabolic phenotype persist even when gonadal sex steroids
      are similar between genotypes. Collectively, these data highlight the
      developmental emergence of a metabolic phenotype induced by disrupted kisspeptin
      signaling and reveal that multiple, but not all, aspects of this phenotype are
      already disrupted before detectable changes in BW.

PMID- 27649090
TI  - Elevated Hypothalamic Glucocorticoid Levels Are Associated With Obesity and
      Hyperphagia in Male Mice.
AB  - Glucocorticoid (Gc) excess, from endogenous overproduction in disorders of the
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis or exogenous medical therapy, is recognized
      to cause adverse metabolic side effects. The Gc receptor (GR) is widely expressed
      throughout the body, including brain regions such as the hypothalamus. However,
      the extent to which chronic Gcs affect Gc concentrations in the hypothalamus and
      impact on GR and target genes is unknown. To investigate this, we used a murine
      model of corticosterone (Cort)-induced obesity and analyzed Cort levels in the
      hypothalamus and expression of genes relevant to Gc action. Mice were
      administered Cort (75 MUg/mL) or ethanol (1%, vehicle) in drinking water for 4
      weeks. Cort-treated mice had increased body weight, food intake, and adiposity.
      As expected, Cort increased plasma Cort levels at both zeitgeber time 1 and
      zeitgeber time 13, ablating the diurnal rhythm. Liquid chromatography dual tandem
      mass spectrometry revealed a 4-fold increase in hypothalamic Cort, which
      correlated with circulating levels and concentrations of Cort in other brain
      regions. This occurred despite decreased 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase
      (Hsd11b1) expression, the gene encoding the enzyme that regenerates active Gcs,
      whereas efflux transporter Abcb1 mRNA was unaltered. In addition, although Cort
      decreased hypothalamic GR (Nr3c1) expression 2-fold, the Gc-induced leucine
      zipper (Tsc22d3) mRNA increased, which indicated elevated GR activation. In
      keeping with the development of hyperphagia and obesity, Cort increased Agrp, but
      there were no changes in Pomc, Npy, or Cart mRNA in the hypothalamus. In summary,
      chronic Cort treatment causes chronic increases in hypothalamic Cort levels and a
      persistent elevation in Agrp, a mediator in the development of metabolic
      disturbances.

PMID- 27649091
TI  - European Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Respiratory Distress Syndrome 
      2016 Update.
AB  - Advances in the management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) ensure that
      clinicians must continue to revise current practice. We report the third update
      of the European Guidelines for the Management of RDS by a European panel of
      expert neonatologists including input from an expert perinatal obstetrician based
      on available literature up to the beginning of 2016. Optimizing the outcome for
      babies with RDS includes consideration of when to use antenatal steroids, and
      good obstetric practice includes methods of predicting the risk of preterm
      delivery and also consideration of whether transfer to a perinatal centre is
      necessary and safe. Methods for optimal delivery room management have become more
      evidence based, and protocols for lung protection, including initiation of
      continuous positive airway pressure and titration of oxygen, should be
      implemented from soon after birth. Surfactant replacement therapy is a crucial
      part of the management of RDS, and newer protocols for surfactant administration
      are aimed at avoiding exposure to mechanical ventilation, and there is more
      evidence of differences among various surfactants in clinical use. Newer methods
      of maintaining babies on non-invasive respiratory support have been developed and
      offer potential for greater comfort and less chronic lung disease. As technology
      for delivering mechanical ventilation improves, the risk of causing lung injury
      should decrease although minimizing the time spent on mechanical ventilation
      using caffeine and if necessary postnatal steroids are also important
      considerations. Protocols for optimizing the general care of infants with RDS are
      also essential with good temperature control, careful fluid and nutritional
      management, maintenance of perfusion and judicious use of antibiotics all being
      important determinants of best outcome.

PMID- 27649092
TI  - Development of high-porosity resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels with enhanced
      mechanical properties through improved particle necking under CO2 supercritical
      conditions.
AB  - A new high porosity resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) aerogel with improved particle
      necking is presented in this work. This RF aerogel was developed under CO2
      supercritical drying conditions without any structural shrinkage. The water
      content and the catalyst percentage were varied to modify the particles'
      nucleation and growth mechanisms and to control particle-particle connections.
      The nucleation mechanism solely dependent on the initial catalyst percentage; the
      number of nuclei increased with the catalyst percentage. However, the growth and
      connection of the particles dependent on both the water content and the catalyst
      percentage through their effect on the pH value. As the water content increased
      to have a larger void fraction, the pH value decreased. Consequently, the
      spherical growth of the particles became dominant and, thereby, the connection of
      the particles became more difficult. But as the catalyst percentage increased,
      the pH value increased, and the connection of the particles became facilitated
      with the formation of necks around the particles. As a result, the semi-fibril
      like structure was developed with a high void fraction. A 30% increase in the
      structural elasticity and a very low thermal conductivity of 0.0249W/mK were
      obtained.

PMID- 27649093
TI  - Chitosan as a reusable solid base catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation reaction.
AB  - In the present work, the commercially available chitosan is reported as a
      heterogeneous solid base catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation reaction of
      carbonyl compounds with malononitrile under mild reaction conditions. Chitosan is
      characterized by powder XRD, IR and elemental analysis. The catalytic activity of
      chitosan is evaluated in Knoevenagel condensation reaction of benzaldehyde and
      malononitrile as model substrates and the optimized reaction conditions are
      further used to expand its activity with various substrates. In addition, the
      catalyst stability is also examined by performing reusability, leaching
      experiments and it is observed that the catalyst can be reused for four times
      with no significant drop in its activity.

PMID- 27649094
TI  - The influence of intention, outcome and question-wording on children's and
      adults' moral judgments.
AB  - The influence of intention and outcome information on moral judgments was
      investigated by telling children aged 4-8yearsandadults (N=169) stories involving
      accidental harms (positive intention, negative outcome) or attempted harms
      (negative intention, positive outcome) from two studies (Helwig, Zelazo, &
      Wilson, 2001; Zelazo, Helwig, & Lau, 1996). When the original acceptability
      (wrongness) question was asked, the original findings were closely replicated:
      children's and adults' acceptability judgments were based almost exclusively on
      outcome, and children's punishment judgments were also primarily outcome-based.
      However, when this question was rephrased, 4-5-year-olds' judgments were
      approximately equally influenced by intention and outcome, and from 5-6years they
      were based considerably more on intention than outcome. These findings indicate
      that, for methodological reasons, children's (and adults') ability to make
      intention-based judgment has often been substantially underestimated.

PMID- 27649095
TI  - Statistical evaluation of drug efficacy for bridging study in companion
      diagnostic test trials.
AB  - Personalized medicine is an area of growing attention in medical research and
      practice. A market-ready companion diagnostic test (CDx) is used in personalized
      medicine for identifying the best treatment for an individual patient.
      Unfortunately, development of CDx may lag behind the development of the drug, and
      consequently we use a clinical trial assay (CTA) to enroll patients into the drug
      pivotal clinical trial instead. Thus, when CDx becomes available, a bridging
      study will be required to assess the drug efficacy in the CDx intended use (CDx
      IU) population. Due to missingness of the CDx results that could be associated
      with randomization, one challenge we face in a bridging study is covariate
      imbalance between treatment arms for the subpopulation with both positive CDx and
      CTA. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of two methods in bridging
      studies under a causal inference framework. Particularly, we aim to use the
      propensity score method with doubly robust estimation and optimal matching to
      address the challenge. We extend under a current framework on drug efficacy
      estimation in the CDx IU population, using data from both the bridging study and
      the CTA drug pivotal clinical trial. Both approaches are discussed in the context
      of a randomized bridging study, and a targeted design clinical trial with
      simulations, followed by analyzing simulated data that mimic a real ongoing
      clinic trial.

PMID- 27649096
TI  - Psychosocial stress inhibits additional stress-induced hyperexpression of NO
      synthases and IL-1beta in brain structures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the expression of interleukin
      1beta (IL-1beta), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and inducible nitric
      oxide synthase (iNOS) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus (HIP) and
      hypothalamus (HT) during chronic crowding (CS) (psychosocial) and restraint (RS)
      (physico-psychological) stress. Adaptational changes of these stress mediators to
      a subsequent acute RS, in two models of chronic stress were investigated.
      METHODS: Rats were crowded (24 in one cage) or restrained in metal tubes for
      10min twice a day for 3, 7, and 14 consecutive days and decapitated. For
      determination of adaptational changes the chronically crowded and restrained rats
      24h after the last stress session were subjected to a single 10min RS. The IL
      1beta, nNOS and iNOS protein levels in brain structures samples were analyzed by
      Western blot procedure. RESULTS: Chronic CS for 3days did not markedly change the
      subsequent acute stress induced expression of nNOS, iNOS and IL-1beta protein
      level in PFC and iNOS protein level in HT. CS markedly decreased the expression
      of nNOS, iNOS and IL-1beta in HIP. By contrast, parallel chronic RS,
      significantly increased the subsequent acute stress-induced expression of iNOS
      and IL-1beta in PFC and considerably increased iNOS level in HT. CONCLUSION:
      Chronic psychosocial stress, may protect against possible harmful action of
      hyperproduction of iNOS and iNOS derived nitric oxide (NO) mainly in PFC and HIP.
      By contrast, chronic physico-psychosocial stress may strongly potentiate
      additional stress-induced harmful effects of NOS and IL-1beta hyperproduction.

PMID- 27649097
TI  - Combined effects of temperature and metal exposure on the fatty acid composition
      of cell membranes, antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in yellow
      perch (Perca flavescens).
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of temperature and
      metal contamination (cadmium and nickel) on phospholipid fatty acid composition,
      antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in fish. Yellow perch were
      acclimated to two different temperatures (9 degrees C and 28 degrees C) and
      exposed either to Cd or Ni (respectively 4MUg/L and 600MUg/L) for seven weeks.
      Superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase
      activities and glutathione concentration were measured as indicators of
      antioxidant capacities, while malondialdehyde concentration was used as an
      indicator of lipid peroxidation. Poikilotherms including fish counteract the
      effects of temperature on phospholipid fatty acid ordering by remodelling their
      composition to maintain optimal fluidity. Accordingly, in our study, the fatty
      acid composition of yellow perch muscle at 9 degrees C was enhanced in
      monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) compared to fish
      maintained at 28 degrees C, in agreement with the theory of homeoviscous
      adaptation. Using ratios of various fatty acids as surrogates for desaturase and
      elongase activities, our data suggests that modification of the activity of these
      enzymes is responsible for the thermal acclimation of phospholipid fatty acid
      profiles. However, this response was altered under Ni and Cd exposure: PUFA
      decreased (specifically n-6 PUFA) while the proportion of saturated fatty acids
      increased at 9 degrees C, whereas at 28 degrees C, PUFA increased to proportions
      exceeding those observed at 9 degrees C. Lipid peroxidation could be observed
      under all experimental conditions. Both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant
      defense systems acted cooperatively to cope with oxidative stress leading to
      lipid peroxidation, which was not affected by temperature acclimation as
      indicated by malondialdehyde concentration, in spite of a higher polyinsaturation
      in cold-acclimated fish which would be predicted to increase their vulnerability
      to peroxidation. However, in warm-acclimated, Ni-exposed fish, in which the
      highest proportion of PUFA was observed, lower concentrations of malondialdehyde
      were measured, suggesting an overcompensation of antioxidant mechanisms in these
      fish which could represent a substantial metabolic cost and explain their lower
      condition.

PMID- 27649098
TI  - Elastic and inelastic mean free paths of 200keV electrons in metallic glasses.
AB  - The elastic and inelastic mean free paths of three metallic glass alloys,
      Ni60Nb40, Pd82Si18 and Ni80P20, have been measured from focused ion beam prepared
      thin samples with measured thickness gradients. The elastic/inelastic mean free
      paths of the three alloys are 35+/-0.5/97+/-3, 26+/-0.5/148+/-3 and 40+/
      0.5/129+/-2.5nm, respectively. Elastic mean free paths predicted from atomic
      scattering cross sections consistently underestimate the experimental data. A
      model based on the Wentzel atomic model was developed and the fit to available
      data is in much better agreement with experiments, with a maximum deviation of
      ~4nm. The parametrized model is thus capable of predicting the elastic mean free
      path for other amorphous materials. Existing models for the inelastic mean free
      path are not in good agreement with the experimental data.

PMID- 27649099
TI  - Application of multi-resolution 3D techniques in crime scene documentation with
      bloodstain pattern analysis.
AB  - In forensic documentation with bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) it is highly
      desirable to obtain non-invasively overall documentation of a crime scene, but
      also register in high resolution single evidence objects, like bloodstains. In
      this study, we propose a hierarchical 3D scanning platform designed according to
      the top-down approach known from the traditional forensic photography. The
      overall 3D model of a scene is obtained via integration of laser scans registered
      from different positions. Some parts of a scene being particularly interesting
      are documented using midrange scanner, and the smallest details are added in the
      highest resolution as close-up scans. The scanning devices are controlled using
      developed software equipped with advanced algorithms for point cloud processing.
      To verify the feasibility and effectiveness of multi-resolution 3D scanning in
      crime scene documentation, our platform was applied to document a murder scene
      simulated by the BPA experts from the Central Forensic Laboratory of the Police
      R&D, Warsaw, Poland. Applying the 3D scanning platform proved beneficial in the
      documentation of a crime scene combined with BPA. The multi-resolution 3D model
      enables virtual exploration of a scene in a three-dimensional environment,
      distance measurement, and gives a more realistic preservation of the evidences
      together with their surroundings. Moreover, high-resolution close-up scans
      aligned in a 3D model can be used to analyze bloodstains revealed at the crime
      scene. The result of BPA such as trajectories, and the area of origin are
      visualized and analyzed in an accurate model of a scene. At this stage, a
      simplified approach considering the trajectory of blood drop as a straight line
      is applied. Although the 3D scanning platform offers a new quality of crime scene
      documentation with BPA, some of the limitations of the technique are also
      mentioned.

PMID- 27649100
TI  - A 4D biomechanical lung phantom for joint segmentation/registration evaluation.
AB  - At present, there exists few openly available methods for evaluation of
      simultaneous segmentation and registration algorithms. These methods allow for a
      combination of both techniques to track the tumor in complex settings such as
      adaptive radiotherapy. We have produced a quality assurance platform for
      evaluating this specific subset of algorithms using a preserved porcine lung in
      such that it is multi-modality compatible: positron emission tomography (PET),
      computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A computer
      controlled respirator was constructed to pneumatically manipulate the lungs in
      order to replicate human breathing traces. A registration ground truth was
      provided using an in-house bifurcation tracking pipeline. Segmentation ground
      truth was provided by synthetic multi-compartment lesions to simulate
      biologically active tumor, background tissue and a necrotic core. The bifurcation
      tracking pipeline results were compared to digital deformations and used to
      evaluate three registration algorithms, Diffeomorphic demons, fast-symmetric
      forces demons and MiMVista's deformable registration tool. Three segmentation
      algorithms the Chan Vese level sets method, a Hybrid technique and the multi
      valued level sets algorithm. The respirator was able to replicate three seperate
      breathing traces with a mean accuracy of 2-2.2%. Bifurcation tracking error was
      found to be sub-voxel when using human CT data for displacements up to 6.5 cm and
      approximately 1.5 voxel widths for displacements up to 3.5 cm for the porcine
      lungs. For the fast-symmetric, diffeomorphic and MiMvista registration
      algorithms, mean geometric errors were found to be [Formula: see text], [Formula:
      see text] and [Formula: see text] voxels widths respectively using the vector
      field differences and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see
      text] voxel widths using the bifurcation tracking pipeline. The proposed phantom
      was found sufficient for accurate evaluation of registration and segmentation
      algorithms. The use of automatically generated anatomical landmarks proposed can
      eliminate the time and potential innacuracy of manual landmark selection using
      expert observers.

PMID- 27649101
TI  - Delayed Gadolinium-enhanced MR Imaging of Cartilage: A Comparative Analysis of
      Different Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents in an ex Vivo Porcine Model.
AB  - Purpose To compare the delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR)
      imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC) indexes acquired with different gadolinium-based
      contrast agents (GBCAs), with emphasis on the difference in electrical charge,
      and to evaluate the feasibility of the use of GBCAs other than gadopentetate
      dimeglumine with a double negative charge (Gd-DTPA2-) as alternatives at dGEMRIC.
      Materials and Methods Intact porcine patellae (n = 44) were divided into four
      groups according to GBCA used: Gd-DTPA2-, double negative gadobenate dimeglumine
      (Gd-BOPTA2-), single negative gadoterate meglumine (Gd-DOTA-), and nonionic
      gadobutrol (Gd-DT-DO3A). Patellae in each group were further assigned to control
      (n = 3) or trypsin-treated (n = 8) groups and were immersed in GBCA solutions
      prepared at a concentration of 2.5 mmol/L. T1 maps were acquired at 10-minute
      intervals at 0-120 minutes. The difference between postcontrast R1 and
      precontrast R1 (DeltaR) and the time DeltaR curves were plotted. Patellae were
      stained with safranin-O to evaluate the proteoglycan content of the cartilage. A
      linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the time DeltaR curves, and
      Student t tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare dGEMRIC indexes
      between groups. Results The difference in the estimated slopes of the time DeltaR
      curves between control and trypsin-treated groups were greatest with Gd-BOPTA2-,
      followed by Gd-DTPA2-, Gd-DOTA-, and Gd-DT-DO3A, with differences in the
      estimated slopes of 0.037, 0.022, 0.018, and 0.011, respectively. The slope
      difference between control and trypsin-treated groups was significantly greater
      with Gd-BOPTA2- (P < .001) and significantly smaller with Gd-DT-DO3A (P = .004)
      in comparison with that with Gd-DTPA2-. Only the GBCAs with double negative
      charges showed significant differences in both the T1 measured after
      equilibration of cartilage with GBCA solution and the DeltaR at 90 and 120
      minutes between the control and trypsin-treated groups. Conclusion Double
      negative GBCAs produced better contrast between normal and degenerated cartilage
      than did those with a single negative charge and nonionic GBCAs at the same
      concentration for dGEMRIC. Because Gd-BOPTA2-, a high-relaxivity GBCA, showed
      higher contrast than did Gd-DTPA2-, Gd-BOPTA2-may be useful as an alternative
      GBCA for dGEMRIC. (c) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for
      this article.

PMID- 27649102
TI  - Aging experiences of older immigrant women in Quebec (Canada): From deskilling to
      liberation.
AB  - This article examines experiences of aging of older immigrant women. The data are
      based on qualitative research that was conducted in Quebec, Canada with 83
      elderly women from different ethnocultural backgrounds (Arab, African, Haitian,
      Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.). The results on how such immigrant
      women deal with material conditions of existence such as deskilling, aging alone,
      being more economically independent, and the combined effects of liberation from
      social and family norms associated with age and gender in the light of the
      migration route, will be presented. For the majority, migration opened up
      possibilities for personal development and self-affirmation. The findings
      demonstrated the relevance of the intersectional approach in understanding the
      complexity and social conditionings of women's experiences of aging.

PMID- 27649104
TI  - Intraparenchymal hematoma as a late complication of retrograde intrarenal
      surgery.
AB  - A 34 year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with left flank pain. A non
      contrast enhanced computerized tomography (NCCT) revealed a 1.5x2cm left proximal
      ureter stone. Patient was scheduled for ureterorenoscopy (URS) and stone removal.
      She was submitted to retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS). At the postoperative
      1st day, the patient began to suffer from left flank pain. A NCCT was taken,
      which revealed a subcapsular hematoma and perirenal fluid. The patient was
      managed conservatively with intravenous fluid, antibiotic and non-steroidal anti
      inflammatory drug therapy and was discharged at the postoperative 6th day. Two
      weeks after the discharge the patient was admitted to emergency department with
      severe left flank pain, palpitation and malaise. KUB (kidney-ureter-bladder)
      radiography showed double-J stent (DJS) to be repositioned to the proximal
      ureter. Patient was evaluated with contrast enhanced CT which revealed an 8cm
      intraparenchymal hematoma/abscess in the middle part of the kidney. A
      percutaneous drainage catheter was inserted into the collection. The percutaneous
      drainage catheter and the DJS were removed at the 10th day of second
      hospitalization. RIRS surgery is an effective and feasible choice for renal
      stones with high success and acceptable complication rates. However, clinician
      should be alert to possible complications.

PMID- 27649105
TI  - Unusual intravesical foreign body in young female migrated from vagina due to
      autoerotism.

PMID- 27649106
TI  - Can a graft be placed over a flap in complex hypospadias surgery? An experimental
      study in rabbits.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a rabbit experimental study to test the hypothesis that
      surgical repair of hypospadias with severe ventral curvatures might be completed
      in one stage, if a graft, such as buccal mucosa, could be placed over the tunica
      vaginalis flap used in corporoplasty for ventral lengthening, with the addition
      of an onlay preputial island. flap to complete the urethroplasty. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The experimental procedure with rabbits included a tunica vaginalis flap
      for reconstruction of the corpora after corporotomy, simulating a ventral
      lengthening operation. A buccal mucosa graft was placed directly on top of the
      flap, and the urethroplasty was completed with an onlay preputial island flap.
      Eight rabbits were divided into 4 groups, sacrificed at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks
      postoperatively, and submitted to histological evaluation. RESULTS: We observed a
      large number of complications, such as fistula (75%), urinary retention (50%) and
      stenosis (50%). There were two deaths related to the procedure. Histological
      evaluation demonstrated a severe and persistent inflammatory reaction. No viable
      tunica vaginalis or buccal mucosa was identified. CONCLUSIONS: In this animal
      model, the association of a buccal mucosa graft over the tunica vaginalis flap
      was not successful, and resulted in complete loss of both tissues.

PMID- 27649109
TI  - Oncological outcomes following radical prostatectomy for patients with pT4
      prostate cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Radical prostatectomy (RP) for locally advanced prostate cancer may
      reduce the risk of metastasis and cancer-specific death. Herein, we evaluated the
      outcomes for patients with pT4 disease treated with RP. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Among 19,800 men treated with RP at Mayo Clinic from 1987 to 2010, 87 were found
      to have pT4 tumors. Biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free survival, systemic
      progression (SP) free survival and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the
      Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards
      regression models were used to assess the association of clinic-pathological
      features with outcome. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 9.8 years (IQR 3.6, 13.4).
      Of the 87 patients, 50 (57.5%) were diagnosed with BCR, 30 (34.5%) developed SP,
      and 38 (43.7%) died, with 11 (12.6%) dying of prostate cancer. Adjuvant androgen
      deprivation therapy was administered to 77 men, while 32 received adjuvant
      external beam radiation therapy. Tenyear BCR-free survival, SP-free survival, and
      OS was 37%, 64%, and 70% respectively. On multivariate analysis, the presence of
      positive lymph nodes was marginally significantly associated with patients' risk
      of BCR (HR: 1.94; p=0.05), while both positive lymph nodes (HR 2.96; p=0.02) and
      high pathologic Gleason score (HR 1.95; p=0.03) were associated with SP.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with pT4 disease may experience long-term survival
      following RP, and as such, when technically feasible, surgical resection should
      be considered in the multimodal treatment approach to these men.

PMID- 27649111
TI  - A wet dressing for male genital surgery: A phase II clinical trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was to confirm the safety and efficacy of BC dressing when
      used in surgical male wound healing at the urogenital area. METHODS: Open, non
      controlled clinical study of phase II. A total of 141 patients, among those
      children, adolescents and adults with hypospadias (112), epispadias (04),
      phymosis (13) and Peyronie's disease (12) that had a BC dressing applied over the
      operated area after surgery. A written informed consent was obtained from all
      participants. Study exclusion criteria were patients with other alternative
      treatment indications due to the severity, extent of the injury or the underlying
      disease. The outcomes evaluated were efficacy, safe and complete healing. The
      costs were discussed. RESULTS: In 68% patients, the BC dressing fell off
      spontaneously. The BC was removed without complications in 13% of patients at the
      outpatient clinic during the follow-up visit and 17% not reported the time of
      removal. In 3% of the cases, the dressing fell off early. Complete healing was
      observed between 8th and 10th days after surgery. The BC dressings have shown a
      good tolerance by all the patients and there were no reports of serious adverse
      events. CONCLUSION: The bacterial cellulose dressings have shown efficacy, safety
      and that can be considered as a satisfactory alternative for postoperative wound
      healing in urogenital area and with low cost.

PMID- 27649110
TI  - Diagnostic relevance of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the head and neck: An
      evaluation of 22 cases in 671 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a malignant tumor that metastasizes early,
      and patients often present with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. The
      aim of our evaluation was to assess the diagnostic and differential diagnostic
      relevance of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with particular emphasis on
      head and neck manifestations in a large patient series. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively evaluated 671 consecutive patients with RCC who were treated in
      our urology practice between 2000 and 2013. RESULTS: Twenty-four months after
      diagnosis, 200/671 (30%) of RCC had metastasized. Distant metastases were found
      in 172 cases, with 22 metastases (3.3%) in the head and neck. Cervical and
      cranial metastases were located in the lymph nodes (n=13) and in the parotid and
      the thyroid gland, tongue, the forehead skin, skull, and paranasal sinuses (n=9).
      All head and neck metastases were treated by surgical excision, with 14 patients
      receiving adjuvant radiotherapy and 9 patients receiving chemotherapy or targeted
      therapy at some point during the course of the disease. Five patients (23%)
      survived. The mean time of survival from diagnosis of a head and neck metastasis
      was 38 months, the shortest period of observation being 12 months and the longest
      83 months. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our findings show that while RCC metastases
      are rarely found in the neck, their proportion among distantly metastasized RCC
      amounts to 13%. Therefore, the neck should be included in staging investigations
      for RCC with distant metastases, and surgical management of neck disease
      considered in case of resectable metastatic disease. Similarly, in patients
      presenting with a neck mass with no corresponding tumor of the head and neck, a
      primary tumor below the clavicle should be considered and the appropriate staging
      investigations initiated.

PMID- 27649112
TI  - Nutcracker Syndrome: laparoscopic external stenting of the renal vein ("the
      shield technique").
AB  - Nutcracker syndrome refers to the complex of clinical symptoms caused by the
      compression of the left renal vein (LRV) between the abdominal aorta and the
      superior mesenteric artery, leading to stenosis of the aortomesenteric portion of
      the LRV and dilatation of the distal portion. Hematuria, proteinuria, flank pain,
      varicocele and pelvic congestion may occur, occurring more frequently in young
      adults. Conservative management, might be the option whenever it is possible.
      When surgical treatment is required, classically open surgery have been
      performed, with major surgeries as LRV transposition or bypass techniques. The
      main caveats regards the fact that these are large and risky surgeries.
      Endovascular surgery with venous stent placement has gained some space as it is
      minimally invasive alternative. However, venous stents are associated with a high
      number of trombotic complications and in many cases requirement of life-long
      anticoagulants. External stenting of the LRV with this "shield technique" is a
      minimally invasive alternative, with good medium term results. We herein
      demonstrate our second experience with the technique of this surgery in a patient
      with 12 months of follow up and excellent results.

PMID- 27649114
TI  - Laparoscopic resection of prescral and obturator fossa schwannoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pelvic Schwannoma is an extremely rare event. Laparoscopic approach
      for radical resection on pelvic region already has been described in the
      literature. However, with better image quality provided by optic in the
      laparoscopy we can assure an improvement in this kind of approach for tumor
      resection. OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to describe and evaluate the results of one
      laparoscopic resection of presacral and obturator fossa tumor. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We present a case of a 60-year-old man with progressive congestion in
      the right inferior member and CT scan revealing a mass with miscellaneous content
      located behind of the right iliac vessels and right obturator nerve. Exploratory
      transperitoneal laparoscopy was indicated. During laparoscopy it was possible to
      see the mass between the spermatic cord and external iliac artery. We made the
      identification and preservation of iliac vessels and obturator nerve. Resection
      of the tumor was performed carefully, allowing the safe removal of the specimen
      with complete preservation of the iliac vessels and obturator nerve. RESULTS:
      Mean operative time of 150 minutes. No perioperative complications occurred. Two
      days of hospital stay. Posterior histopathological exam confirmed that the mass
      was a Schwannoma. CONCLUSION: The maximization of the image in the laparoscopic
      surgery offers dexterity and capacity of dissection required for complex mass
      dissection on pelvic region.

PMID- 27649113
TI  - The burden of chronic ureteral stenting in cervical cancer survivors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Ureteral obstruction in cervical cancer occurs in up to 11% of patients,
      many of whom undergo ureteral stenting. Our aim was to describe the patient
      burden of chronic ureteral stenting in a population-based cohort by detailing two
      objectives: (1) the frequency of repeat procedures for ureteral obstruction; and,
      (2) the frequency of urinary adverse effects (UAEs) (e.g., lower urinary tract
      symptoms, flank pain). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From SEER-Medicare, we identified
      202 women who underwent ureteral stent placement prior to or following cervical
      cancer treatment. The frequency of repeat procedures and rate ratios were
      compared between treatment modalities. The rates and rate ratios of UAEs were
      compared between our primary cohort (stent + cervical cancer) and the following
      groups: no stent + cervical cancer, stent + no cancer, and no stent + no cancer.
      The "no cancer" group was drawn from the 5% Medicare sample. RESULTS: 117/202
      women (58%) underwent >1 stent procedure. The frequency of additional procedures
      was significantly higher in patients who received radiation as part of their
      treatment. UAEs were very common in women with stent + cancer. The rate of UTI
      was 190 (per 100 person-years), 67 for LUTS, 42 for stones, and 6 for flank pain.
      These rates were 3-10 fold higher than in the no stent + no cancer control group;
      rates were also higher than in the no stent + cancer and the stent + no cancer
      women. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of disease associated with ureteral stents is
      higher than expected and urologists should be actively involved in stent
      management, screening for associated symptoms and offering definitive
      reconstruction when appropriate.

PMID- 27649115
TI  - Retzus-sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: a step-by
      step technique description of this first brazilian experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Retzus-sparing robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy(RARP) is a
      newly approach that preserve the Retzus structures and provide better recovery of
      continence and erectile function. In Brazil, this approach has not yet been
      pre!viously reported. OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to describe Step-by-Step the Retzus
      sparing RARP surgical technique and report our first Brazilian experience.
      METHODS: We present a case of a 60-year-old white man with low risk prostate
      cancer. Surgical materials were four arms Da Vinci robotic platform system, six
      transperitoneal portals, two prolene wires and Polymer Clips. This surgical
      tech!nique was step-by-step described according to Galfano et al. One additional
      step was added as a modification of Galfano et al. Primary technique description:
      The closure of the Denovellier fascia. RESULTS: We have operated one patient with
      this technique. The operative time was 180minutes, console time was135 min, the
      blood loss was 150ml, none perioperative or postoperative complications was
      found, hospital stay of 01 day. The anatomopathological classification revealed a
      pT2aN0M0 specimen with free surgical margins. The patient achieved continence
      immediately after bladder stent retrieval. Full erection reported after 30 days
      of surgery. CONCLUSION: Retzus-sparing RARP approach is feasible and
      reproducible. However, further comparative studies are neces!sary to demonstrate
      potential benefits in continence and sexual outcomes over the standard
      approaches.

PMID- 27649116
TI  - Alkyl-Substituted delta-Lactones Derived from Dihydrojasmone and Their
      Stereoselective Fungi-Mediated Conversion: Production of New Antifeedant Agents.
AB  - A chemoenzymatic method was applied to obtain optically pure alkyl-substituted
      delta-lactones. First, chemical Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of dihydrojasmone (1)
      was carried out, affording two new alkyl-substituted delta-lactones: 3,4-dihydro
      5-methyl-6-pentyl-2H-pyran-2-one (2) and 5-methyl-6-pentyl-1,13
      dioxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-2-one (3). In the next step, fungal strains were
      investigated as biocatalysts to enantioselective conversion of delta-lactones (2)
      and (3). The fungal cultures: Fusarium culmorum AM10, Fusarium equiseti AM15 and
      Beauveria bassiana AM278 catalyzed the stereoselective hydration of the double
      bond of lactone (2) (ee = 20%-99%) while Didymosphaeria igniaria KCh6670 proved
      to be the best biocatalyst for the reduction of carbonyl group in the
      epoxylactone (3) (ee = 99%). In both cases, chiral oxyderivatives were obtained
      in low to high yields (7%-91%). The synthetic lactones (2), (3) and its
      derivatives (4), (5) were tested for their antifeedant activity towards larvae
      and adults of lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus Panzer) and peach potato
      aphid (Myzus persicae [Sulzer]) and some of them were active towards studied
      insects. 

PMID- 27649117
TI  - Detection of 191 Taxifolin Metabolites and Their Distribution in Rats Using HPLC
      ESI-IT-TOF-MS(n).
AB  - Taxifolin is a ubiquitous bioactive constituent of foods and herbs. To thoroughly
      explore its metabolism in vivo, an HPLC-ESI-IT-TOF-MS(n) method combined with
      specific metabolite detection strategy was used to detect and identify the
      metabolites of taxifolin in rats. Of the 191 metabolites tentatively identified,
      154 were new metabolites, 69 were new compounds and 32 were dimers. This is the
      first report of the in vivo biotransformation of a single compound into more than
      100 metabolites. Furthermore, acetylamination and pyroglutamic acid conjugation
      were identified as new metabolic reactions. Seventeen metabolites were found to
      have various taxifolin-related bioactivities. The potential targets of taxifolin
      and 63 metabolites were predicted using PharmMapper, with results showing that
      more than 60 metabolites have the same five targets. Metabolites with the same
      fragment pattern may have the same pharmacophore. Thus these metabolites may
      exert the same pharmacological effects as taxifolin through an additive effect on
      the same drug targets. This observation indicates that taxifolin is bioactive not
      only in the parent form, but also through its metabolites. These findings enhance
      understanding of the metabolism and effective forms of taxifolin and may provide
      further insight of the beneficial effects of taxifolin and its derivatives. 

PMID- 27649118
TI  - Biphenyl Phytoalexin in Sorbus pohuashanensis Suspension Cell Induced by Yeast
      Extract.
AB  - Biphenyls are unique phytoalexins de novo synthesized in plants in response to
      pathogen attack. These compounds are found in Maloideae, a subfamily of the
      Rosaceae. The anti-microbial activities of biphenyls have been reported in a
      number of studies and they appear to represent an important defense strategy
      against pathogens common in the Maloideae, such as species in Malus, Pyrus,
      Sorbus, and Chaenomeles. Here, cell suspension cultures of Sorbus pohuashanensis
      were established to study biphenyl phytoalexins formation after yeast extract
      (YE) treatment. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) method coupled
      with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS) LC-MS/MS was applied
      to determine the time course of these biphenyl biomarkers accumulation in YE
      treated S. pohuashanensis suspension cells. The results of quantitative analyses
      show the content of Noraucuparin, 2'-Hydroxyaucuparin, and their glycosides
      initially increased, then decreased over time. The Noraucuparin content reached
      its highest (225.76 MUg.g(-1)) at 18 h after treatment, 6 hours earlier than that
      of Noraucuparin 5-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside. The content of 2'-Hydroxyaucuparin
      reached its highest (422.75 MUg.g(-1)) at 30 h after treatment, also earlier than
      that of its glycoside. The understanding of phytoalexin metabolism in this study
      may provide a basis for improving Maloideae resistance to pathogens. 

PMID- 27649119
TI  - HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS Analysis of Flavonoids from Leaves of Different Cultivars of
      Sweet Osmanthus.
AB  - Osmanthus fragrans Lour. has traditionally been a popular ornamental plant in
      China. In this study, ethanol extracts of the leaves of four cultivar groups of
      O. fragrans were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with
      diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and high-performance liquid chromatography with
      electrospray ionization and mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). The results suggest
      that variation in flavonoids among O. fragrans cultivars is quantitative, rather
      than qualitative. Fifteen components were detected and separated, among which,
      the structures of 11 flavonoids and two coumarins were identified or tentatively
      identified. According to principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical
      cluster analysis (HCA) based on the abundance of these components (expressed as
      rutin equivalents), 22 selected cultivars were classified into four clusters. The
      seven cultivars from Cluster III ('Xiaoye Sugui', 'Boye Jingui', 'Wuyi Dangui',
      'Yingye Dangui', 'Danzhuang', 'Foding Zhu', and 'Tianxiang Taige'), which are
      enriched in rutin and total flavonoids, and 'Sijigui' from Cluster II which
      contained the highest amounts of kaempferol glycosides and apigenin 7-O
      glucoside, could be selected as potential pharmaceutical resources. However, the
      chemotaxonomy in this paper does not correlate with the distribution of the
      existing cultivar groups, demonstrating that the distribution of flavonoids in O.
      fragrans leaves does not provide an effective means of classification for O.
      fragrans cultivars based on flower color. 

PMID- 27649121
TI  - Special Issue "Biomaterials and Bioprinting".
AB  - The emergence of bioprinting in recent years represents a marvellous advancement
      in 3D printing technology. It expands the range of 3D printable materials from
      the world of non-living materials into the world of living materials.
      Biomaterials play an important role in this paradigm shift. This Special Issue
      focuses on biomaterials and bioprinting and contains eight articles covering a
      number of recent topics in this emerging area. 

PMID- 27649120
TI  - Combinatorial Cytotoxic Effects of Damnacanthal and Doxorubicin against Human
      Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cells in Vitro.
AB  - Despite progressive research being done on drug therapy to treat breast cancer,
      the number of patients succumbing to the disease is still a major issue.
      Combinatorial treatment using different drugs and herbs to treat cancer patients
      is of major interest in scientists nowadays. Doxorubicin is one of the most used
      drugs to treat breast cancer patients. The combination of doxorubicin to other
      drugs such as tamoxifen has been reported. Nevertheless, the combination of
      doxorubicin with a natural product-derived agent has not been studied yet.
      Morinda citrifolia has always been sought out for its remarkable remedies.
      Damnacanthal, an anthraquinone that can be extracted from the roots of Morinda
      citrifolia is a promising compound that possesses a variety of biological
      properties. This study aimed to study the therapeutic effects of damnacanthal in
      combination with doxorubicin in breast cancer cells. Collectively, the
      combination of both these molecules enhanced the efficacy of induced cell death
      in MCF-7 as evidenced by the MTT assay, cell cycle, annexin V and expression of
      apoptosis-related genes and proteins. The effectiveness of doxorubicin as an anti
      cancer drug was increased upon addition of damnacanthal. These results could
      provide a promising approach to treat breast cancer patients. 

PMID- 27649123
TI  - Identification and Characterization of Two New Degradation Products of
      Saikosaponin A under Acid Hydrolytic Conditions.
AB  - Saikosaponin (SS) A is a compound with various pharmacological properties and is
      easily degraded into SS-B1 and SS-G under acid conditions. In the present work,
      two new degradation products of SS-A, formed under acid hydrolytic conditions,
      were detected and isolated using analytical and semi-preparative liquid
      chromatography technology; furthermore, their structures were characterized as
      hydroxy-saikosaponin A and SS-B2 by spectral analysis, which is not only
      essential in stability-indicating method development and validation, but also
      could be used as a worst case scenario to assess the analytical method
      performance of SS-A. Moreover, their structural transformation pathways are also
      proposed. 

PMID- 27649122
TI  - Structural Elucidation of a Novel Polysaccharide from Pseudostellaria
      heterophylla and Stimulating Glucose Uptake in Cells and Distributing in Rats by
      Oral.
AB  - The semi-refined polysaccharide of Pseudostellaria heterophylla is a complex
      polysaccharide that exhibits significantly hypoglycemic activities. A novel
      homogeneous polysaccharide, named as H-1-2, was isolated from the semi-refined
      polysaccharide. The mean molecular weight of H-1-2 was 1.4 * 104 Da and it was
      only composed of d-glucose monosaccharide. Structure elucidation indicated that H
      1-2 contains pyranride, and has the characteristics of the alpha-iso-head
      configuration, a non-reducing end (T-), 4-, 1,6-, and 1,4,6-connection, in all
      four ways to connect glucose. H-1-2 was a type of glucan, where chemical
      combination exists in the main chain between 1->4 linked glucose, and contains a
      small amount of 1,6-linked glucose, which was in the branched chain. In vitro
      HepG2, 3T3-L1, and L6 cells were used to assess cellular glucose consumption and
      cellular glucose uptake by glucose oxidase, and the transport of 2-NBDG
      fluorescence probe results showed that H-1-2 could clearly increase glucose
      uptake and utilization in muscle and adipose cells, which is beneficial to screen
      for in the discovery of anti-diabetes lead compounds. H-1-2 was labeled with
      radioisotopes ((99m)Tc-pertechnetate). (99m)Tc-labeled-H-1-2 was performed by
      SPECT/CT analysis images after oral administration in rats. At 4 h post
      ingestion, about 50% of the radioactivity was observed in the intestine. No
      significant radioactivity was found in the heart, liver, and kidney, conjecturing
      that absorption of (99m)Tc-labeled H-1-2 might, via intestinal mucosa, be
      absorbed into systemic circulation. This problem, as to whether the
      polysaccharide is absorbed orally, will need further examination. 

PMID- 27649124
TI  - Molecular-Based Fluorescent Nanoparticles Built from Dedicated Dipolar
      Thienothiophene Dyes as Ultra-Bright Green to NIR Nanoemitters.
AB  - Fluorescent Organic Nanoparticles (FONs), prepared by self-aggregation of
      dedicated dyes in water, represent a promising green alternative to the toxic
      quantum dots (QDs) for bioimaging purposes. In the present paper, we describe the
      synthesis and photophysical properties of new dipolar push-pull derivatives built
      from thieno[3,2-b]thiophene as a pi-conjugated bridge that connects a
      triphenylamine moiety bearing various bulky substituents as electron-releasing
      moiety to acceptor end-groups of increasing strength (i.e., aldehyde,
      dicyanovinyl and diethylthiobarbiturate). All dyes display fluorescence
      properties in chloroform, which shifts from the green to the NIR range depending
      on the molecular polarization (i.e., strength of the end-groups) as well as a
      large two-photon absorption (TPA) band response in the biological spectral window
      (700-1000 nm). The TPA bands show a bathochromic shift and hyperchromic effect
      with increasing polarization of the dyes with maximum TPA cross-section reaching
      2000 GM for small size chromophore. All dyes are found to form stable and deeply
      colored nanoparticles (20-45 nm in diameter) upon nanoprecipitation in water.
      Although their fluorescence is strongly reduced upon aggregation, all
      nanoparticles show large one-photon (up to 108 M(-1).cm(-1) in the visible
      region) and two-photon (up to 106 GM in the NIR) brightness. Interestingly, both
      linear and non-linear optical properties are significantly affected by
      interchromophoric interactions, which are promoted by the molecular confinement
      and modulated by both the dipolar strength and the presence of the bulky groups.
      Finally, we exploited the photophysical properties of the FONs to design
      optimized core-shell nanoparticles built from a pair of complementary dipolar
      dyes that promotes an efficient core-to-shell FRET process. The resulting
      molecular-based core-shell nanoparticles combine large two-photon absorption and
      enhanced emission both located in the NIR spectral region, thanks to a major
      amplification (by a factor of 20) of the core fluorescence quantum yield. These
      novel nanoparticles, which combine huge one-and two-photon brightness, hold major
      promise for in vivo optical bioimaging. 

PMID- 27649125
TI  - HSCCC Separation of the Two Iridoid Glycosides and Three Phenolic Compounds from
      Veronica ciliata and Their in Vitro Antioxidant and Anti-Hepatocarcinoma
      Activities.
AB  - Five main compounds, including two iridoid glycosides (catalposide, verproside)
      and three phenolic compounds (luteolin, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid, 3,4-dihydroxy
      benzoic acid), were separated and prepared from the crude extract of Veronica
      ciliata by high-speed countercurrent chromatography. n-Hexane/n-butanol/water
      (1.5:5:5, v/v/v) was used for the separation of catalposide and verproside. n
      Hexane/n-butanol/water (3:2:5, v/v/v) was used for the separation of luteolin, 4
      hydroxy benzoic acid and 3,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid. The head-to-tail elution
      mode was used with a flow rate of 5.0 mL/min and a rotary speed of 800 rpm.
      Finally, a total of 1.28 mg luteolin, 6 mg 4-hydroxy benzoic acid, 2 mg 3,4
      dihydroxy benzoic acid, 2 mg verproside and 10 mg catalposide with purities of
      98%, 99.1%, 99.5%, 99.8% and 99%, respectively, were obtained from 200 mg of
      crude extract. In addition, their structure was identified using MS, 1H-NMR and
      (13)C-NMR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the
      separation and purification of iridoid glycosides and phenolic compounds from V.
      ciliata by high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC). Among these
      compounds, luteolin, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid and 3,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid were
      separated from V. ciliata Fisch. for the first time. The results of the
      antioxidant activity show that protocatechuic acid and luteolin have strong
      antioxidant activity compared to 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) and
      vitamin C (Vc). Five compounds also exhibited strong anti-hepatocarcinoma
      activities. 

PMID- 27649126
TI  - ent-Pimarane and ent-Kaurane Diterpenes from Aldama discolor (Asteraceae) and
      Their Antiprotozoal Activity.
AB  - Aldama discolor (syn.Viguiera discolor) is an endemic Asteraceae from the
      Brazilian "Cerrado", which has not previously been investigated for its chemical
      constituents and biological activity. Diterpenes are common secondary metabolites
      found in Aldama species, some of which have been reported to present potential
      antiprotozoal and antimicrobial activities. In this study, the known ent-3-alpha
      hydroxy-kaur-16-en-18-ol (1), as well as three new diterpenes, namely, ent-7-oxo
      pimara-8,15-diene-18-ol (2), ent-2S,4S-2-19-epoxy-pimara-8(3),15-diene-7beta-ol
      (3) and ent-7-oxo-pimara-8,15-diene-3beta-ol (4), were isolated from the
      dichloromethane extract of A. discolor leaves and identified by means of MS and
      NMR. The compounds were assayed in vitro against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense,
      T. cruzi and Leishmania donovani, Plasmodium falciparum and also tested for
      cytotoxicity against mammalian cells (L6 cell line). The ent-kaurane 1 showed
      significant in vitro activity against both P. falciparum (IC 50 = 3.5 MU M) and
      L. donovani (IC 50 = 2.5 MU M) and ent-pimarane 2 against P. falciparum (IC 50 =
      3.8 MU M). Both compounds returned high selectivity indices (SI >10) in
      comparison with L6 cells, which makes them interesting candidates for in vivo
      tests. In addition to the diterpenes, the sesquiterpene lactone budlein A (5),
      which has been reported to possess a strong anti-T. b. rhodesiense activity, was
      identified as major compound in the A. discolor extract and explains its high
      activity against this parasite (100% growth inhibition at 2 MU g/mL). 

PMID- 27649127
TI  - Osimertinib (AZD9291), a Mutant-Selective EGFR Inhibitor, Reverses ABCB1-Mediated
      Drug Resistance in Cancer Cells.
AB  - In recent years, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been shown capable of
      inhibiting the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter-mediated multidrug
      resistance (MDR). In this study, we determine whether osimertinib, a novel
      selective, irreversible EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) TKI, could
      reverse ABC transporter-mediated MDR. The results showed that, at non-toxic
      concentrations, osimertinib significantly sensitized both ABCB1-transfected and
      drug-selected cell lines to substrate anticancer drugs colchicine, paclitaxel,
      and vincristine. Osimertinib significantly increased the accumulation of [3H]
      paclitaxel in ABCB1 overexpressing cells by blocking the efflux function of ABCB1
      transporter. In contrast, no significant alteration in the expression levels and
      localization pattern of ABCB1 was observed when ABCB1 overexpressing cells were
      exposed to 0.3 uM osimertinib for 72 h. In addition, ATPase assay showed
      osimertinib stimulated ABCB1 ATPase activity. Molecular docking and molecular
      dynamic simulations showed osimertinib has strong and stable interactions at the
      transmembrane domain of human homology ABCB1. Taken together, our findings
      suggest that osimertinib, a clinically-approved third-generation EGFR TKI, can
      reverse ABCB1-mediated MDR, which supports the combination therapy with
      osimertinib and ABCB1 substrates may potentially be a novel therapeutic stategy
      in ABCB1-positive drug resistant cancers. 

PMID- 27649128
TI  - Chemical Composition, Antibacterial and Phytotoxic Activities of Peganum harmala
      Seed Essential Oils from Five Different Localities in Northern Africa.
AB  - Peganum harmala L., also known as Syrian rue or Pegano, is a herbaceous plant
      belonging to the Zygohpyllaceae family, and is widely used in traditional
      medicine. The chemical composition of essential oils of P. harmala seeds from
      five different regions of Northern Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and
      Tunisia) was studied by GC and GC-MS analyses. A total of 105 compounds were
      identified, the main components being oxygenated monoterpenes and oxygenated
      sesquiterpenes. Eugenol is the main component in all oils. The antimicrobial
      activity of the essential oils was assayed against some bacterial strains:
      Staphylococcus aureus (DSM 25693), Bacillus cereus (DSM 4313), Bacillus cereus
      (DSM4384), Escherichia coli (DMS 857) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 50071).
      All the oils showed different inhibitory activity. In the twentieth century this
      is an important result; we need possible new botanical drugs because the problem
      of resistance to antimicrobial drugs has become apparent. Moreover, the essential
      oils were evaluated for their possible in vitro phytotoxic activity against
      germination and initial radicle growth of Raphanus sativus L., Lepidium sativum
      L., and Ruta graveolens L. The results showed that both germination and radical
      elongation were sensitive to the oils. 

PMID- 27649129
TI  - Chemical and Sensory Evaluation of Silicone and Polylactic Acid-Based Remedial
      Treatments for Elevated Methoxypyrazine Levels in Wine.
AB  - Alkylmethoxypyrazines (MPs) are a class of compounds that can elicit undesirable
      aroma and flavor characteristics in wine, and resist remediation using
      traditional wine making approaches. MPs are grape-derived constituents as well as
      contaminants from Coccinellidae beetles present during wine processing; the
      latter eliciting an off-flavor referred to as 'ladybug taint'. In this study we
      investigated the capacity of two plastic polymers-one silicone-based, the other
      polylactic acid-based-applied with varying surface areas to reduce concentrations
      of isopropylmethoxypyrazine (IPMP), sec-butylmethoxypyrazine (SBMP) and
      isobutylmethoxypyrazine (IBMP) in a Merlot wine using multi-dimensional gas
      chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and headspace solid phase
      microextraction (SPME-MDGCMS). The impact of treatments on the sensory
      characteristics of the wine (descriptive analysis) and volatile aroma compounds
      (VOCs) (SPME-MDGCMS) was also investigated. Results showed substantial reductions
      for all of the target odorants: up to 38%, 44% and 39% for IPMP, SBMP and IBMP,
      respectively, for the silicone polymer, and up to 75%, 78% and 77% for IPMP, SBMP
      and IBMP, respectively, for the polylactic acid polymer. These polymers had no or
      minimal effect on VOCs at applications of 200 cm2/L for silicone or for all
      polylactic acid treatments. Sensory impacts were less clear, but generally showed
      minimal effect from the treatments. Taken overall, the data confirm the utility
      of both polylactic acid and silicone polymers in reducing elevated levels of
      grape-derived MPs, as well as potentially improving wine contaminated by ladybug
      taint. 

PMID- 27649130
TI  - A Prenylated Xanthone, Cudratricusxanthone A, Isolated from Cudrania tricuspidata
      Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Neuroinflammation through Inhibition of NF
      kappaB and p38 MAPK Pathways in BV2 Microglia.
AB  - Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau (Moraceae) is an important source of traditional
      Korean and Chinese medicines used to treat neuritis and inflammation.
      Cudratricusxanthone A (1), a prenylated xanthone, isolated from C. tricuspidata,
      has a variety of biological and therapeutic activities. The goal of this study
      was to examine the effects of compound 1 on neuroinflammation and characterize
      its mechanism of action in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 microglia.
      Cudratricusxanthone A (1) suppressed the expression of inducible nitric oxide
      synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 enzymes and decreased the production
      of iNOS-derived nitric oxide and COX-2-derived prostaglandin E2 in LPS-stimulated
      mouse BV2 microglia. The compound also decreased tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, and IL-12 production; inhibited the phosphorylation and
      degradation of IkappaB-alpha; and blocked the nuclear translocation of p50 and
      p65 in mouse BV2 microglia induced by LPS. Cudratricusxanthone A (1) had
      inhibitory effects on nuclear factor kappa B DNA-binding activity. Additionally,
      it inhibited the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. Our data
      suggests that cudratricusxanthone A (1) may be a useful therapeutic agent in the
      treatment of neurodegenerative diseases caused by neuroinflammation. 

PMID- 27649132
TI  - Xanthium strumarium as an Inhibitor of alpha-Glucosidase, Protein Tyrosine
      Phosphatase 1beta, Protein Glycation and ABTS+ for Diabetic and Its Complication.
AB  - Phytochemical investigation of the natural products from Xanthium strumarium led
      to the isolation of fourteen compounds including seven caffeoylquinic acid (CQA)
      derivatives. The individual compounds were screened for inhibition of alpha
      glucosidase, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1beta (PTP1beta), advanced glycation
      end products (AGEs), and ABTS+ radical scavenging activity using in vitro assays.
      Among the isolated compounds, methyl-3,5-di-caffeoyquinic acid exhibited
      significant inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase (18.42 MUM), PTP1beta
      (1.88 MUM), AGEs (82.79 MUM), and ABTS+ (6.03 MUM). This effect was marked
      compared to that of the positive controls (acarbose 584.79 MUM, sumarin 5.51 MUM,
      aminoguanidine 1410.00 MUM, and trolox 29.72 MUM respectively). In addition, 3,5
      di-O-CQA (88.14 MUM) and protocatechuic acid (32.93 MUM) had a considerable
      inhibitory effect against alpha-glucosidase and ABTS+. Based on these findings,
      methyl-3,5-di-caffeoyquinic acid was assumed to be potentially responsible for
      the anti-diabetic actions of X. strumarium. 

PMID- 27649131
TI  - Combinatorial Synthesis of Structurally Diverse Triazole-Bridged Flavonoid Dimers
      and Trimers.
AB  - Flavonoids are a large family of compounds associated with a broad range of
      biologically useful properties. In recent years, synthetic compounds that contain
      two flavonoid units linked together have attracted attention in drug discovery
      and development projects. Numerous flavonoid dimer systems, incorporating a range
      of monomers attached via different linkers, have been reported to exhibit
      interesting bioactivities. From a medicinal chemistry perspective, the 1,2,3
      triazole ring system has been identified as a particularly attractive linker
      moiety in dimeric derivatives (owing to several favourable attributes including
      proven biological relevance and metabolic stability) and triazole-bridged
      flavonoid dimers possessing anticancer and antimalarial activities have recently
      been reported. However, there are relatively few examples of libraries of
      triazole-bridged flavonoid dimers and the diversity of flavonoid subunits present
      within these is typically limited. Thus, this compound type arguably remains
      underexplored within drug discovery. Herein, we report a modular strategy for the
      synthesis of novel and biologically interesting triazole-bridged flavonoid
      heterodimers and also very rare heterotrimers from readily available starting
      materials. Application of this strategy has enabled step-efficient and systematic
      access to a library of structurally diverse compounds of this sort, with a
      variety of monomer units belonging to six different structural subclasses of
      flavonoid successfully incorporated. 

PMID- 27649133
TI  - Long-Term Sodium Ferulate Supplementation Scavenges Oxygen Radicals and Reverses
      Liver Damage Induced by Iron Overloading.
AB  - Ferulic acid is a polyphenolic compound contained in various types of fruits and
      wheat bran. As a salt of the active ingredient, sodium ferulate (SF) has potent
      free radical scavenging activity and can effectively scavenge ROS. In this study,
      we examined the effect of SF on iron-overloaded mice in comparison to a standard
      antioxidant, taurine (TAU). We determined the protective role of SF against liver
      injury by examining liver-to-body ratio (%), transaminase and hepatocyte
      apoptosis in rats supplied with 10% dextrose intraperitoneal injection. In
      addition, antioxidative enzymes activities, ROS formation, mitochondrial
      swelling, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were all evaluated to
      clarify the mechanism of protective effect of SF associated with oxidative
      stress. After 15 weeks of SF treatment, we found a significant reduction in liver
      to-body weight radio and elevation in both transaminase and hepatocyte apoptosis
      associated with iron-injected to levels comparable to those achieved with TAU.
      Both SF and TAU significantly attenuated the impaired liver function associated
      with iron-overloaded in mice, whereas neither showed any significant effect on
      the iron uptake. Furthermore, treatment with either SF or TAU in iron-overloaded
      mice attenuated oxidative stress, associated with elevated oxidant enzymes
      activities, decreased ROS production, prevented mitochondrial swelling and
      dissipation of MMP and then inhibited hepatic apoptosis. Taken together, the
      current study shows that, SF alleviated oxidative stress and liver damage
      associated with iron-overload conditions compared to the standard ROS scavenger
      (TAU), and potentially could encourage higher consumption and utilization as
      healthy and sustainable ingredients by the food and drink. 

PMID- 27649134
TI  - Chemical Constituents from Flueggea virosa and the Structural Revision of
      Dehydrochebulic Acid Trimethyl Ester.
AB  - In an attempt to study the chemical constituents from the twigs and leaves of
      Flueggea virosa, a new terpenoid, 9(10->20)-abeo-ent-podocarpane, 3beta,10alpha
      dihydroxy-12-methoxy-13- methyl-9(10->20)-abeo-ent-podocarpa-6,8,11,13-tetraene
      (1), as well as five known compounds were characterized. Their structures were
      elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. In addition, the structure of
      dehydrochebulic acid trimethyl ester was revised as (2S,3R)-4E-dehydrochebulic
      acid trimethyl ester based on a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. The in
      vitro anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) activity and cytotoxicity against Huh7.5
      cells for the isolated compounds were evaluated. 

PMID- 27649135
TI  - Curcumin and Resveratrol in the Management of Cognitive Disorders: What is the
      Clinical Evidence?
AB  - A growing body of in vitro and in vivo evidences shows a possible role of
      polyphenols in counteracting neurodegeneration: curcumin and resveratrol are
      attractive substances in this regard. In fact, epidemiological studies highlight
      a neuroprotective effect of turmeric (rhizome of Curcuma longa L.), the main
      source of curcumin. Moreover, the consumption of red wine, the main source of
      resveratrol, has been related to a lower risk of developing dementia. In this
      review, we analyzed the published clinical trials investigating curcumin and
      resveratrol in the prevention or treatment of cognitive disorders. The ongoing
      studies were also described, in order to give an overview of the current search
      on this topic. The results of published trials (five for curcumin, six for
      resveratrol) are disappointing and do not allow to draw conclusions about the
      therapeutic or neuroprotective potential of curcumin and resveratrol. These
      compounds, being capable of interfering with several processes implicated in the
      early stages of dementia, could be useful in preventing or in slowing down the
      pathology. To this aim, an early diagnosis using peripheral biomarkers becomes
      necessary. Furthermore, the potential preventive activity of curcumin and
      resveratrol should be evaluated in long-term exposure clinical trials, using
      preparations with high bioavailability and that are well standardized. 

PMID- 27649136
TI  - Screening of Potential Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors in Gnaphalium hypoleucum DC.
      by Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography and Ultrafiltration-Ultra
      Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.
AB  - In this study, a new method based on immobilized metal affinity chromatography
      (IMAC) combined with ultrafiltration-ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (UF-UPLC-MS) was developed for discovering ligands for xanthine
      oxidase (XO) in Gnaphalium hypoleucum DC., a folk medicine used in China for the
      treatment of gout. By IMAC, the high flavonoid content of G. hypoleucum could be
      determined rapidly and efficiently. UF-UPLC-MS was used to select the bound
      xanthine oxidase ligands in the mixture and identify them. Finally, two
      flavonoids, luteolin-4'-O-glucoside and luteolin, were successfully screened and
      identified as the candidate XO inhibitors of G. hypoleucum. They were evaluated
      in vitro for XO inhibitory activity and their interaction mechanism was studied
      coupled with molecular simulations. The results were in favor of the hypothesis
      that the flavonoids of G. hypoleucum might be the active content for gout
      treatment by inhibiting XO. 

PMID- 27649137
TI  - Does a Graphical Abstract Bring More Visibility to Your Paper?
AB  - A graphical abstract (GA) represents a piece of artwork that is intended to
      summarize the main findings of an article for readers at a single glance. Many
      publishers currently encourage authors to supplement their articles with GAs, in
      the hope that such a convenient visual summary will facilitate readers with a
      clearer outline of papers that are of interest and will result in improved
      overall visibility of the respective publication. To test this assumption, we
      statistically compared publications with or without GA published in Molecules
      between March 2014 and March 2015 with regard to several output parameters
      reflecting visibility. Contrary to our expectations, manuscripts published
      without GA performed significantly better in terms of PDF downloads, abstract
      views, and total citations than manuscripts with GA. To the best of our
      knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the effectiveness of GA for
      attracting attention to scientific publications. 

PMID- 27649138
TI  - Chemical Composition and in Vitro Antimicrobial, Cytotoxic, and Central Nervous
      System Activities of the Essential Oils of Citrus medica L. cv. 'Liscia' and C.
      medica cv. 'Rugosa' Cultivated in Southern Italy.
AB  - Citrus medica cv. 'liscia' and C. medica cv. 'rugosa' are two taxa of citron,
      belonging to the biodiversity of South Italy, in particular of Amalfi Coast, in
      the Campania region. The chemical composition of the essential oils (EOs) from
      fruit peels of both C. medica cultivars was studied by gas chromatography (GC)
      and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. In all, 100 compounds
      were identified, 82 for C. medica cv. 'liscia', accounting for 91.4% of the total
      oil, and 88 for C. medica cv. 'rugosa', accounting for 92.0% of the total oil.
      Monoterpene hydrocarbons are the main constituents in both oils of C. medica cv.
      'liscia' (79.1%) and C. medica cv. 'rugosa' (80.2%). In both oils, limonene
      (67.2%-62.8%) and camphene (8.5%-10.9%) are the main constituents. The
      antimicrobial activity of the EOs was assayed against some bacterial strains:
      Bacillus cereus (DSM 4313), Bacillus cereus (DSM 4384), Staphylococcus aureus
      (DSM 25693), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 50071), and Escherichia coli (DSM
      8579). Low concentrations of C. medica cv. 'rugosa' EO showed an inhibitory
      effect on P. aeruginosa and higher concentrations inhibited more B. cereus (4384)
      and E. coli than S. aureus. The cytotoxicity of the EO was evaluated against SH
      SY5Y cell line. The influence of the EO on the expression of adenylate cyclase 1
      (ADCY1) was also studied. The antimicrobial activity registered confirm their
      traditional uses as food preserving agents and led us to hypothesize the possible
      use of these oils as antimicrobials. The alterations in ADCY1 expression
      suggested a role for limonene in effects on the central nervous system. 

PMID- 27649139
TI  - Comprehensive Proteomic Analysis of Spider Dragline Silk from Black Widows: A
      Recipe to Build Synthetic Silk Fibers.
AB  - The outstanding material properties of spider dragline silk fibers have been
      attributed to two spidroins, major ampullate spidroins 1 and 2 (MaSp1 and MaSp2).
      Although dragline silk fibers have been treated with different chemical solvents
      to elucidate the relationship between protein structure and fiber mechanics,
      there has not been a comprehensive proteomic analysis of the major ampullate (MA)
      gland, its spinning dope, and dragline silk using a wide range of chaotropic
      agents, inorganic salts, and fluorinated alcohols to elucidate their complete
      molecular constituents. In these studies, we perform in-solution tryptic
      digestions of solubilized MA glands, spinning dope and dragline silk fibers using
      five different solvents, followed by nano liquid chromatography coupled to tandem
      mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis with an Orbitrap FusionTM TribridTM. To
      improve protein identification, we employed three different tryptic peptide
      fragmentation modes, which included collision-induced dissociation (CID),
      electron transfer dissociation (ETD), and high energy collision dissociation
      (HCD) to discover proteins involved in the silk assembly pathway and silk fiber.
      In addition to MaSp1 and MaSp2, we confirmed the presence of a third spidroin,
      aciniform spidroin 1 (AcSp1), widely recognized as the major constituent of
      wrapping silk, as a product of dragline silk. Our findings also reveal that MA
      glands, spinning dope, and dragline silk contain at least seven common proteins:
      three members of the Cysteine-Rich Protein Family (CRP1, CRP2 and CRP4), cysteine
      rich secretory protein 3 (CRISP3), fasciclin and two uncharacterized proteins. In
      summary, this study provides a proteomic blueprint to construct synthetic silk
      fibers that most closely mimic natural fibers. 

PMID- 27649140
TI  - Renal Protective Effects of Low Molecular Weight of Inonotus obliquus
      Polysaccharide (LIOP) on HFD/STZ-Induced Nephropathy in Mice.
AB  - Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in
      diabetes mellitus. Oxidative stress, insulin resistance and pro-inflammatory
      cytokines have been shown to play an important role in pathogeneses of renal
      damage on type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Inonotus obliquus (IO) is a white rot
      fungus that belongs to the family Hymenochaetaceae; it has been used as an edible
      mushroom and exhibits many biological activities including anti-tumor, anti
      oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperglycemic properties. Especially the
      water-soluble Inonotus obliquus polysaccharides (IOPs) have been previously
      reported to significantly inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory cytokines in mice and
      protect from streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. In order to identify the
      nephroprotective effects of low molecular weight of IOP fraction (LIOP), from the
      fruiting bodies of Inonotus obliquus, high-fat diet (HFD) plus STZ-induced type 2
      like diabetic nephropathy C57BL/6 mice were investigated in this study. Our data
      showed that eight weeks of administration of 10-100 kDa, LIOP (300 mg/kg) had
      progressively increased their sensitivity to glucose (less insulin tolerance),
      reduced triglyceride levels, elevated the HDL/LDL ratio and decreased urinary
      albumin/creatinine ratio(ACR) compared to the control group. By pathological and
      immunohistochemical examinations, it was indicated that LIOP can restore the
      integrity of the glomerular capsules and increase the numbers of glomerular
      mesangial cells, associated with decreased expression of TGF-beta on renal cortex
      in mice. Consistently, three days of LIOP (100 MUg/mL) incubation also provided
      protection against STZ + AGEs-induced glucotoxicity in renal tubular cells (LLC
      PK1), while the levels of NF-kappaB and TGF-beta expression significantly
      decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings demonstrate that LIOP
      treatment could ameliorate glucolipotoxicity-induced renal fibrosis, possibly
      partly via the inhibition of NF-kappaB/TGF-beta1 signaling pathway in diabetic
      nephropathy mice. 

PMID- 27649141
TI  - Extraordinary Adaptive Plasticity of Colorado Potato Beetle: "Ten-Striped
      Spearman" in the Era of Biotechnological Warfare.
AB  - Expanding from remote areas of Mexico to a worldwide scale, the ten-striped
      insect, the Colorado potato beetle (CPB, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say), has
      risen from being an innocuous beetle to a prominent global pest. A diverse life
      cycle, phenotypic plasticity, adaptation to adverse conditions, and capability to
      detoxify or tolerate toxins make this insect appear to be virtually
      "indestructible". With increasing advances in molecular biology, tools of
      biotechnological warfare were deployed to combat CPB. In the last three decades,
      genetically modified potato has created a new challenge for the beetle. After
      reviewing hundreds of scientific papers dealing with CPB control, it became clear
      that even biotechnological means of control, if used alone, would not defeat the
      Colorado potato beetle. This control measure once again appears to be provoking
      the potato beetle to exhibit its remarkable adaptability. Nonetheless, the
      potential for adaptation to these techniques has increased our knowledge of this
      pest and thus opened possibilities for devising more sustainable CPB management
      programs. 

PMID- 27649142
TI  - Targeted Therapies for Brain Metastases from Breast Cancer.
AB  - The discovery of various driver pathways and targeted small molecule
      agents/antibodies have revolutionized the management of metastatic breast cancer.
      Currently, the major targets of clinical utility in breast cancer include the
      human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, mechanistic
      target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, and the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK-4/6)
      pathway. Brain metastasis, however, remains a thorn in the flesh, leading to
      morbidity, neuro-cognitive decline, and interruptions in the management of
      systemic disease. Approximately 20%-30% of patients with metastatic breast cancer
      develop brain metastases. Surgery, whole brain radiation therapy, and
      stereotactic radiosurgery are the traditional treatment options for patients with
      brain metastases. The therapeutic paradigm is changing due to better
      understanding of the blood brain barrier and the advent of tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies. Several of these agents are in clinical
      practice and several others are in early stage clinical trials. In this article,
      we will review the common targetable pathways in the management of breast cancer
      patients with brain metastases, and the current state of the clinical development
      of drugs against these pathways. 

PMID- 27649144
TI  - Characterization of Post-Translational Modifications to Calsequestrins of Cardiac
      and Skeletal Muscle.
AB  - Calsequestrin is glycosylated and phosphorylated during its transit to its final
      destination in the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum. To determine the
      significance and universal profile of these post-translational modifications to
      mammalian calsequestrin, we characterized, via mass spectrometry, the
      glycosylation and phosphorylation of skeletal muscle calsequestrin from cattle
      (B. taurus), lab mice (M. musculus) and lab rats (R. norvegicus) and cardiac
      muscle calsequestrin from cattle, lab rats and humans. On average, glycosylation
      of skeletal calsequestrin consisted of two N-acetylglucosamines and one mannose
      (GlcNAc2Man1), while cardiac calsequestrin had five additional mannoses
      (GlcNAc2Man6). Skeletal calsequestrin was not phosphorylated, while the C
      terminal tails of cardiac calsequestrin contained between zero to two
      phosphoryls, indicating that phosphorylation of cardiac calsequestrin may be
      heterogeneous in vivo. Static light scattering experiments showed that the Ca(2+)
      dependent polymerization capabilities of native bovine skeletal calsequestrin are
      enhanced, relative to the non-glycosylated, recombinant isoform, which our
      crystallographic studies suggest may be due to glycosylation providing a dynamic
      "guiderail"-like scaffold for calsequestrin polymerization. Glycosylation likely
      increases a polymerization/depolymerization response to changing Ca(2+)
      concentrations, and proper glycosylation, in turn, guarantees both effective
      Ca(2+) storage/buffering of the sarcoplasmic reticulum and localization of
      calsequestrin (Casq) at its target site. 

PMID- 27649145
TI  - Biodiversity, Phylogeny, and Antifungal Functions of Endophytic Fungi Associated
      with Zanthoxylum bungeanum.
AB  - This study investigated the biodiversity, phylogeny, and antifungal activity of
      endophytic fungi isolated from Zanthoxylum bungeanum. A total of 940 isolates
      obtained were grouped into 93 morphotypes, 43 species, and 23 genera, which were
      authenticated by molecular identification based on rDNA internal transcribed
      spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. A high diversity of endophytic fungi from Z.
      bungeanum are observed with high species richness S (43), Margalef index D'
      (6.1351), Shannon-Wiener index H' (3.2743), Simpson diversity index Ds (0.9476),
      PIE index (0.9486), and evenness Pielou index J (0.8705) but a low dominant index
      lambda (0.0524). Significant tissue specificity of the endophytic fungi was
      observed in Z. bungeanum, and the highest species richness and diversity indexes
      were obtained in the stem. Phylogenetic analyses of the 93 endophytic isolates
      were carried out by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method to demonstrate their
      evolutionary processes. Antifungal activities of endophytic fungi were assayed
      and eight endophytic isolates showed strong and long-lasting inhibition against
      host pathogenic fungi Fusarium sambucinum and Pseudocercospora zanthoxyli. Here,
      for the first time, we systematically demonstrate the biodiversity, phylogeny,
      and antifungal activity of endophytic fungi associated with Z. bungeanum and
      reveal the value of sampling different tissues of a given plant to obtain the
      greatest endophyte species diversity, which might offer a framework for further
      investigation and utilization of endophytic fungi as aunique source of
      interesting and useful bioactive compounds. 

PMID- 27649143
TI  - Convergent Effects of Resveratrol and PYK2 on Prostate Cells.
AB  - Resveratrol, a dietary polyphenol, is under consideration as chemopreventive and
      chemotherapeutic agent for several diseases, including cancer. However, its
      mechanisms of action and its effects on non-tumor cells, fundamental to
      understand its real efficacy as chemopreventive agent, remain largely unknown.
      Proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2), a non-receptor tyrosine kinase acting as
      signaling mediator of different stimuli, behaves as tumor-suppressor in prostate.
      Since, PYK2 and RSV share several fields of interaction, including oxidative
      stress, we have investigated their functional relationship in human non
      transformed prostate EPN cells and in their tumor-prone counterpart EPN-PKM,
      expressing a PYK2 dead-kinase mutant. We show that RSV has a strong biological
      activity in both cell lines, decreasing ROS production, inducing morphological
      changes and reversible growth arrest, and activating autophagy but not apoptosis.
      Interestingly, the PYK2 mutant increases basal ROS and autophagy levels, and
      modulates the intensity of RSV effects. In particular, the anti-oxidant effect of
      RSV is more potent in EPN than in EPN-PKM, whereas its anti-proliferative and pro
      autophagic effects are more significant in EPN-PKM. Consistently, PYK2 depletion
      by RNAi replicates the effects of the PKM mutant. Taken together, our results
      reveal that PYK2 and RSV act on common cellular pathways and suggest that RSV
      effects on prostate cells may depend on mutational-state or expression levels of
      PYK2 that emerges as a possible mediator of RSV mechanisms of action. Moreover,
      the observation that resveratrol effects are reversible and not associated to
      apoptosis in tumor-prone EPN-PKM cells suggests caution for its use in humans. 

PMID- 27649146
TI  - Preparation and Evaluation of Enteric-Coated Chitosan Derivative-Based
      Microparticles Loaded with Salmon Calcitonin as an Oral Delivery System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The production of protein drugs has recently increased due to
      advances in biotechnology, but their clinical use is generally limited to
      parenteral administration due to low absorption in non-parenteral administration.
      Therefore, non-parenteral delivery systems allowing sufficient absorption draw
      much attention. METHODS: Microparticles (MP) were prepared using chitosan-4-thio
      butylamidine conjugate (Ch-TBA), trimethyl-chitosan (TMC), and chitosan (Ch).
      Using salmon calcitonin (sCT) as a model protein drug, Ch-TBA-, Ch-TBA/TMC (4/1)
      , and Ch-based MP were produced, and their Eudragit L100 (Eud)-coated MP, named
      Ch-TBA-MP/Eud, Ch-TBA/TMC-MP/Eud, and Ch-MP/Eud, respectively, were prepared as
      oral delivery systems. These enteric-coated microparticles were examined in vitro
      and in vivo. RESULTS: All microparticles before and after enteric coating had a
      submicron size (600-800 nm) and micrometer size (1300-1500 nm), respectively. In
      vitro release patterns were similar among all microparticles; release occurred
      gradually, and the release rate was slower at pH 1.2 than at pH 6.8. In oral
      ingestion, Ch-TBA-MP/Eud suppressed plasma Ca levels most effectively among the
      microparticles tested. The relative effectiveness of Ch-TBA-MP/Eud to the
      intramuscular injection was 8.6%, while the sCT solution showed no effectiveness.
      CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Eud-coated Ch-TBA-based microparticles
      should have potential as an oral delivery system of protein drugs.

PMID- 27649148
TI  - Molecular and Biochemical Analysis of Two Rice Flavonoid 3'-Hydroxylase to
      Evaluate Their Roles in Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Rice Grain.
AB  - Anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, the major flavonoids in black and red rice
      grains, respectively, are mainly derived from 3',4'-dihydroxylated leucocyanidin.
      3'-Hydroxylation of flavonoids in rice is catalyzed by flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase
      (F3'H: EC 1.14.13.21). We isolated cDNA clones of the two rice F3'H genes
      (CYP75B3 and CYP75B4) from Korean varieties of white, black, and red rice.
      Sequence analysis revealed allelic variants of each gene containing one or two
      amino acid substitutions. Heterologous expression in yeast demonstrated that
      CYP75B3 preferred kaempferol to other substrates, and had a low preference for
      dihydrokaempferol. CYP75B4 exhibited a higher preference for apigenin than for
      other substrates. CYP75B3 from black rice showed an approximately two-fold
      increase in catalytic efficiencies for naringenin and dihydrokaempferol compared
      to CYP75B3s from white and red rice. The F3'H activity of CYP75B3 was much higher
      than that of CYP75B4. Gene expression analysis showed that CYP75B3, CYP75B4, and
      most other flavonoid pathway genes were predominantly expressed in the developing
      seeds of black rice, but not in those of white and red rice, which is consistent
      with the pigmentation patterns of the seeds. The expression levels of CYP75B4
      were relatively higher than those of CYP75B3 in the developing seeds, leaves, and
      roots of white rice. 

PMID- 27649149
TI  - Dose and Radioadaptive Response Analysis of Micronucleus Induction in Mouse Bone
      Marrow.
AB  - Enhanced cellular DNA repair efficiency and suppression of genomic instability
      have been proposed as mechanisms underlying radio-adaptive responses following
      low-dose radiation exposures. We previously showed that low-dose gamma
      irradiation does not generate radio-adaptation by lowering radiation-induced
      cytogenetic damage in mouse spleen. Since radiation may exert tissue-specific
      effects, we extended these results here by examining the effects of gamma
      radiation on cytogenetic damage and proliferative index in bone marrow
      erythrocytes of C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. In C57BL/6 mice, the induction of
      micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes (MN-PCE) was observed at radiation
      doses of 100 mGy and greater, and suppression of erythroblast maturation occurred
      at doses of >500 mGy. A linear dose-response relationship for MN-PCE frequencies
      in C57BL/6 mice was established for radiation doses between 100 mGy and 1 Gy,
      with departure from linearity at doses of >1 Gy. BALB/c mice exhibited increased
      MN-PCE frequencies above baseline following a 20 mGy radiation exposure but did
      not exhibit radio-sensitivity relative to C57BL/6 mice following 2 Gy exposure.
      Radio-adaptation of bone marrow erythrocytes was not observed in either strain of
      mice exposed to low-dose priming gamma irradiation (single doses of 20 mGy or 100
      mGy or multiple 20 mGy doses) administered at various times prior to acute 2 Gy
      irradiation, confirming the lack of radio-adaptive response for induction of
      cytogenetic damage or suppression or erythrocyte proliferation/maturation in bone
      marrow of these mouse strains. 

PMID- 27649147
TI  - Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, Properties, Applications, and
      Therapeutic Approaches.
AB  - Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology radically changed the way we
      diagnose, treat, and prevent various diseases in all aspects of human life.
      Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most vital and fascinating
      nanomaterials among several metallic nanoparticles that are involved in
      biomedical applications. AgNPs play an important role in nanoscience and
      nanotechnology, particularly in nanomedicine. Although several noble metals have
      been used for various purposes, AgNPs have been focused on potential applications
      in cancer diagnosis and therapy. In this review, we discuss the synthesis of
      AgNPs using physical, chemical, and biological methods. We also discuss the
      properties of AgNPs and methods for their characterization. More importantly, we
      extensively discuss the multifunctional bio-applications of AgNPs; for example,
      as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and
      anti-cancer agents, and the mechanism of the anti-cancer activity of AgNPs. In
      addition, we discuss therapeutic approaches and challenges for cancer therapy
      using AgNPs. Finally, we conclude by discussing the future perspective of AgNPs. 

PMID- 27649150
TI  - Review on Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4: Functionality and Nutraceutical
      Applications as a Probiotic Microorganism.
AB  - Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4 is a probiotic strain that has been used as a major
      ingredient to produce nutraceutical products and as a dairy starter since 2000.
      The various bio-functional effects and potential for industrial application of B.
      bifidum BGN4 has been characterized and proven by in vitro (i.e., phytochemical
      bio-catalysis, cell adhesion and anti-carcinogenic effects on cell lines, and
      immunomodulatory effects on immune cells), in vivo (i.e., suppressed allergic
      responses in mouse model and anti-inflammatory bowel disease), and clinical
      studies (eczema in infants and adults with irritable bowel syndrome). Recently,
      the investigation of the genome sequencing was finished and this data potentially
      clarifies the biochemical characteristics of B. bifidum BGN4 that possibly
      illustrate its nutraceutical functionality. However, further systematic research
      should be continued to gain insight for academic and industrial applications so
      that the use of B. bifidum BGN4 could be expanded to result in greater benefit.
      This review deals with multiple studies on B. bifidum BGN4 to offer a greater
      understanding as a probiotic microorganism available in functional food
      ingredients. In particular, this work considers the potential for commercial
      application, physiological characterization and exploitation of B. bifidum BGN4
      as a whole. 

PMID- 27649152
TI  - Correlations of Hepatic Hemodynamics, Liver Function, and Fibrosis Markers in
      Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Comparison with Chronic Hepatitis Related to
      Hepatitis C Virus.
AB  - The progression of chronic liver disease differs by etiology. The aim of this
      study was to elucidate the difference in disease progression between chronic
      hepatitis C (CHC) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by means of
      fibrosis markers, liver function, and hepatic tissue blood flow (TBF). Xenon
      computed tomography (Xe-CT) was performed in 139 patients with NAFLD and 152
      patients with CHC (including liver cirrhosis (LC)). The cutoff values for
      fibrosis markers were compared between NAFLD and CHC, and correlations between
      hepatic TBF and liver function tests were examined at each fibrosis stage. The
      cutoff values for detection of the advanced fibrosis stage were lower in NAFLD
      than in CHC. Although portal venous TBF (PVTBF) correlated with liver function
      tests, PVTBF in initial LC caused by nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH-LC) was
      significantly lower than that in hepatitis C virus (C-LC) (p = 0.014).
      Conversely, the liver function tests in NASH-LC were higher than those in C-LC (p
      < 0.05). It is important to recognize the difference between NAFLD and CHC. We
      concluded that changes in hepatic blood flow occurred during the earliest stage
      of hepatic fibrosis in patients with NAFLD; therefore, patients with NAFLD need
      to be followed carefully. 

PMID- 27649151
TI  - Omics-Based Strategies in Precision Medicine: Toward a Paradigm Shift in Inborn
      Errors of Metabolism Investigations.
AB  - The rise of technologies that simultaneously measure thousands of data points
      represents the heart of systems biology. These technologies have had a huge
      impact on the discovery of next-generation diagnostics, biomarkers, and drugs in
      the precision medicine era. Systems biology aims to achieve systemic exploration
      of complex interactions in biological systems. Driven by high-throughput omics
      technologies and the computational surge, it enables multi-scale and insightful
      overviews of cells, organisms, and populations. Precision medicine capitalizes on
      these conceptual and technological advancements and stands on two main pillars:
      data generation and data modeling. High-throughput omics technologies allow the
      retrieval of comprehensive and holistic biological information, whereas
      computational capabilities enable high-dimensional data modeling and, therefore,
      accessible and user-friendly visualization. Furthermore, bioinformatics has
      enabled comprehensive multi-omics and clinical data integration for insightful
      interpretation. Despite their promise, the translation of these technologies into
      clinically actionable tools has been slow. In this review, we present state-of
      the-art multi-omics data analysis strategies in a clinical context. The
      challenges of omics-based biomarker translation are discussed. Perspectives
      regarding the use of multi-omics approaches for inborn errors of metabolism (IEM)
      are presented by introducing a new paradigm shift in addressing IEM
      investigations in the post-genomic era. 

PMID- 27649153
TI  - Astroglial Activation by an Enriched Environment after Transplantation of
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells Enhances Angiogenesis after Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury.
AB  - Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has paracrine effects; however,
      the effects are known to be largely limited. Here we investigated the combination
      effects of cell transplantation and enriched environment (EE) in a model of
      hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Brain damage was induced in seven-day-old mice by
      unilateral carotid artery ligation and exposure to hypoxia (8% O2 for 90 min). At
      six weeks of age, the mice were randomly assigned to four groups: phosphate
      buffered saline (PBS)-control (CON), PBS-EE, MSC-CON, and MSC-EE. Rotarod and
      grip strength tests were performed to evaluate neurobehavioral functions.
      Histologic evaluations were also performed to confirm the extent of astrocyte
      activation and endogenous angiogenesis. An array-based multiplex ELISA and
      Western blot were used to identify growth factors in vivo and in vitro. Two weeks
      after treatment, levels of astrocyte density and angiogenic factors were
      increased in MSC-EE mice, but glial scarring was not increased. Eight weeks after
      treatment, angiogenesis was increased, and behavioral outcomes were
      synergistically improved in the MSC-EE group. Astrocytes co-cultured with MSCs
      expressed higher levels of angiogenic factors than astrocytes cultured alone. The
      mechanisms of this synergistic effect included enhanced repair processes, such as
      increased endogenous angiogenesis and upregulation of angiogenic factors released
      from activated astrocytes. 

PMID- 27649154
TI  - Expression of Transglutaminase in Foreskin of Children with Balanitis Xerotica
      Obliterans.
AB  - Balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder of
      unclear etiology. The etiology and the exact molecular mechanisms underlying the
      disease are still unknown. The human transglutaminase (TG) family consists of
      several proteins with catalytic activity essential for biological processes. In
      the present research we investigated the transcript levels of three TGs in
      patients operated on for congenital phimosis without or with histologically
      confirmed BXO; Thirty children with acquired phimosis were enrolled. The removed
      foreskins were sent both for histological diagnosis and for quantitative real
      time PCR to evaluate the transcript levels of keratinocyte (TG1), tissue (TG2),
      and epidermal (TG3) transglutaminase; We observed a decrease in TG1 and TG3
      transcripts by about 70% (p < 0.001) in foreskins from patients with BXO (n = 15)
      in comparison with patients without BXO (n = 15) and an increase in TG2 mRNA
      levels by 2.9 folds (p < 0.001); Reduced expression of both TG1 and TG3 was
      associated with the altered structure of the foreskin in BXO and can be a
      consequence of damage to keratinocytes. Increased expression of TG2 can be the
      result of chronic inflammation. TG2 overexpression can play a pivotal role in
      triggering and maintaining the inflammatory response in BXO patients. 

PMID- 27649155
TI  - Analysis of Small RNAs in Streptococcus mutans under Acid Stress-A New Insight
      for Caries Research.
AB  - Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is the major clinical pathogen responsible for
      dental caries. Its acid tolerance has been identified as a significant virulence
      factor for its survival and cariogenicity in acidic conditions. Small RNAs
      (sRNAs) are recognized as key regulators of virulence and stress adaptation.
      Here, we constructed three libraries of sRNAs with small size exposed to acidic
      conditions for the first time, followed by verification using qRT-PCR. The levels
      of two sRNAs and target genes predicted to be bioinformatically related to acid
      tolerance were further evaluated under different acid stress conditions (pH 7.5,
      6.5, 5.5, and 4.5) at three time points (0.5, 1, and 2 h). Meanwhile, bacterial
      growth characteristics and vitality were assessed. We obtained 1879 sRNAs with
      read counts of at least 100. One hundred and ten sRNAs were perfectly mapped to
      reported msRNAs in S. mutans. Ten out of 18 sRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. The
      survival of bacteria declined as the acid was increased from pH 7.5 to 4.5 at
      each time point. The bacteria can proliferate under each pH except pH 4.5 with
      time. The levels of sRNAs gradually decreased from pH 7.5 to 5.5, and slightly
      increased in pH 4.5; however, the expression levels of target mRNAs were up
      regulated in acidic conditions than in pH 7.5. These results indicate that some
      sRNAs are specially induced at acid stress conditions, involving acid adaptation,
      and provide a new insight into exploring the complex acid tolerance for S.
      mutans. 

PMID- 27649159
TI  - Adhesion, Proliferation and Migration of NIH/3T3 Cells on Modified Polyaniline
      Surfaces.
AB  - Polyaniline shows great potential and promises wide application in the biomedical
      field thanks to its intrinsic conductivity and material properties, which closely
      resemble natural tissues. Surface properties are crucial, as these predetermine
      any interaction with biological fluids, proteins and cells. An advantage of
      polyaniline is the simple modification of its surface, e.g., by using various
      dopant acids. An investigation was made into the adhesion, proliferation and
      migration of mouse embryonic fibroblasts on pristine polyaniline films and films
      doped with sulfamic and phosphotungstic acids. In addition, polyaniline films
      supplemented with poly (2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic) acid at various
      ratios were tested. Results showed that the NIH/3T3 cell line was able to adhere,
      proliferate and migrate on the pristine polyaniline films as well as those films
      doped with sulfamic and phosphotungstic acids; thus, utilization of said forms in
      biomedicine appears promising. Nevertheless, incorporating poly (2-acrylamido-2
      methyl-1-propanesulfonic) acid altered the surface properties of the polyaniline
      films and significantly affected cell behavior. In order to reveal the crucial
      factor influencing the surface/cell interaction, cell behavior is discussed in
      the context of the surface energy of individual samples. It was clearly
      demonstrated that the lesser the difference between the surface energy of the
      sample and cell, the more cyto-compatible the surface is. 

PMID- 27649158
TI  - Identification of Reference Genes for RT-qPCR Data Normalization in Cannabis
      sativa Stem Tissues.
AB  - Gene expression profiling via quantitative real-time PCR is a robust technique
      widely used in the life sciences to compare gene expression patterns in, e.g.,
      different tissues, growth conditions, or after specific treatments. In the field
      of plant science, real-time PCR is the gold standard to study the dynamics of
      gene expression and is used to validate the results generated with high
      throughput techniques, e.g., RNA-Seq. An accurate relative quantification of gene
      expression relies on the identification of appropriate reference genes, that need
      to be determined for each experimental set-up used and plant tissue studied.
      Here, we identify suitable reference genes for expression profiling in stems of
      textile hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), whose tissues (isolated bast fibres and core)
      are characterized by remarkable differences in cell wall composition. We
      additionally validate the reference genes by analysing the expression of putative
      candidates involved in the non-oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway
      and in the first step of the shikimate pathway. The goal is to describe the
      possible regulation pattern of some genes involved in the provision of the
      precursors needed for lignin biosynthesis in the different hemp stem tissues. The
      results here shown are useful to design future studies focused on gene expression
      analyses in hemp. 

PMID- 27649156
TI  - Targeted Cancer Therapy: Vital Oncogenes and a New Molecular Genetic Paradigm for
      Cancer Initiation Progression and Treatment.
AB  - It has been declared repeatedly that cancer is a result of molecular genetic
      abnormalities. However, there has been no working model describing the specific
      functional consequences of the deranged genomic processes that result in the
      initiation and propagation of the cancer process during carcinogenesis. We no
      longer need to question whether or not cancer arises as a result of a molecular
      genetic defect within the cancer cell. The legitimate questions are: how and why?
      This article reviews the preeminent data on cancer molecular genetics and
      subsequently proposes that the sentinel event in cancer initiation is the
      aberrant production of fused transcription activators with new molecular
      properties within normal tissue stem cells. This results in the production of
      vital oncogenes with dysfunctional gene activation transcription properties,
      which leads to dysfunctional gene regulation, the aberrant activation of
      transduction pathways, chromosomal breakage, activation of driver oncogenes,
      reactivation of stem cell transduction pathways and the activation of genes that
      result in the hallmarks of cancer. Furthermore, a novel holistic molecular
      genetic model of cancer initiation and progression is presented along with a new
      paradigm for the approach to personalized targeted cancer therapy, clinical
      monitoring and cancer diagnosis. 

PMID- 27649157
TI  - The Flexibility of Ectopic Lipids.
AB  - In addition to the subcutaneous and the visceral fat tissue, lipids can also be
      stored in non-adipose tissue such as in hepatocytes (intrahepatocellular lipids;
      IHCL), skeletal (intramyocellular lipids; IMCL) or cardiac muscle cells
      (intracardiomyocellular lipids; ICCL). Ectopic lipids are flexible fuel stores
      that can be depleted by physical exercise and repleted by diet. They are related
      to obesity and insulin resistance. Quantification of IMCL was initially performed
      invasively, using muscle biopsies with biochemical and/or histological analysis.
      1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is now a validated method that allows
      for not only quantifying IMCL non-invasively and repeatedly, but also assessing
      IHCL and ICCL. This review summarizes the current available knowledge on the
      flexibility of ectopic lipids. The available evidence suggests a complex
      interplay between quantitative and qualitative diet, fat availability (fat mass),
      insulin action, and physical exercise, all important factors that influence the
      flexibility of ectopic lipids. Furthermore, the time frame of the intervention on
      these parameters (short-term vs. long-term) appears to be critical. Consequently,
      standardization of physical activity and diet are critical when assessing ectopic
      lipids in predefined clinical situations. 

PMID- 27649162
TI  - Acquisition of Flavescence Doree Phytoplasma by Scaphoideus titanus Ball from
      Different Grapevine Varieties.
AB  - Flavescence doree (FD) is a threat for wine production in the vineyard landscape
      of Piemonte, Langhe-Roero and Monferrato, Italy. Spread of the disease is
      dependent on complex interactions between insect, plant and phytoplasma. In the
      Piemonte region, wine production is based on local cultivars. The role of six
      local grapevine varieties as a source of inoculum for the vector Scaphoideus
      titanus was investigated. FD phytoplasma (FDP) load was compared among red and
      white varieties with different susceptibility to FD. Laboratory-reared healthy S.
      titanus nymphs were caged for acquisition on infected plants to measure
      phytoplasma acquisition efficiency following feeding on different cultivars. FDP
      load for Arneis was significantly lower than for other varieties. Acquisition
      efficiency depended on grapevine variety and on FDP load in the source plants,
      and there was a positive interaction for acquisition between variety and
      phytoplasma load. S. titanus acquired FDP with high efficiency from the most
      susceptible varieties, suggesting that disease diffusion correlates more with
      vector acquisition efficiency than with FDP load in source grapevines. In
      conclusion, although acquisition efficiency depends on grapevine variety and on
      FDP load in the plant, even varieties supporting low FDP multiplication can be
      highly susceptible and good sources for vector infection, while poorly
      susceptible varieties may host high phytoplasma loads. 

PMID- 27649163
TI  - Molecular Characterization and Growth Association of Two Apolipoprotein A-Ib
      Genes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio).
AB  - Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) is functionally involved in the transportation and
      metabolism of lipids in vertebrates. In this study, two isoforms of apoA-Ib in
      common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were characterized. Sequence comparison and
      phylogenetic analysis showed that C. carpio ApoA-Ib is relatively conserved
      within cyprinid fishes. During embryonic development, C. carpio apoA-Ib was first
      expressed at the stage of multi-cells, and the highest mRNA level was observed at
      the stage of optic vesicle. A ubiquitous expression pattern was detected in
      various tissues with extreme predominance in the liver. Significantly different
      expression levels were observed between light and heavy body weight groups and
      also in the compensatory growth test. Seventeen and eight single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in matured mRNA of the C. carpio apoA-Ib.1
      and apoA-Ib.2, respectively. Two of these SNPs (apoA-Ib.2-g.183A>T and apoA-Ib.2
      g.1753C>T) were significantly associated with body weight and body length in two
      populations of common carp. These results indicate that apoA-Ib may play an
      important role in the modulation of growth and development in common carp. 

PMID- 27649160
TI  - ER Stress-Mediated Signaling: Action Potential and Ca(2+) as Key Players.
AB  - The proper functioning of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is crucial for multiple
      cellular activities and survival. Disturbances in the normal ER functions lead to
      the accumulation and aggregation of unfolded proteins, which initiates an
      adaptive response, the unfolded protein response (UPR), in order to regain normal
      ER functions. Failure to activate the adaptive response initiates the process of
      programmed cell death or apoptosis. Apoptosis plays an important role in cell
      elimination, which is essential for embryogenesis, development, and tissue
      homeostasis. Impaired apoptosis can lead to the development of various
      pathological conditions, such as neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases,
      cancer, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Calcium (Ca(2+)) is one of
      the key regulators of cell survival and it can induce ER stress-mediated
      apoptosis in response to various conditions. Ca(2+) regulates cell death both at
      the early and late stages of apoptosis. Severe Ca(2+) dysregulation can promote
      cell death through apoptosis. Action potential, an electrical signal transmitted
      along the neurons and muscle fibers, is important for conveying information to,
      from, and within the brain. Upon the initiation of the action potential,
      increased levels of cytosolic Ca(2+) (depolarization) lead to the activation of
      the ER stress response involved in the initiation of apoptosis. In this review,
      we discuss the involvement of Ca(2+) and action potential in ER stress-mediated
      apoptosis. 

PMID- 27649164
TI  - Advanced Glycation End-Products Induce Apoptosis of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells:
      A Mechanism for Vascular Calcification.
AB  - Vascular calcification, especially medial artery calcification, is associated
      with cardiovascular death in patients with diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney
      disease (CKD). To determine the underlying mechanism of vascular calcification,
      we have demonstrated in our previous report that advanced glycation end-products
      (AGEs) stimulated calcium deposition in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs)
      through excessive oxidative stress and phenotypic transition into osteoblastic
      cells. Since AGEs can induce apoptosis, in this study we investigated its role on
      VSMC apoptosis, focusing mainly on the underlying mechanisms. A rat VSMC line
      (A7r5) was cultured, and treated with glycolaldehyde-derived AGE-bovine serum
      albumin (AGE3-BSA). Apoptotic cells were identified by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl
      transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. To quantify apoptosis, an
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for histone-complexed DNA fragments was
      employed. Real-time PCR was performed to determine the mRNA levels. Treatment of
      A7r5 cells with AGE3-BSA from 100 ug/mL concentration markedly increased
      apoptosis, which was suppressed by Nox inhibitors. AGE3-BSA significantly
      increased the mRNA expression of NAD(P)H oxidase components including Nox4 and
      p22(phox), and these findings were confirmed by protein levels using
      immunofluorescence. Dihydroethidisum assay showed that compared with cBSA, AGE3
      BSA increased reactive oxygen species level in A7r5 cells. Furthermore, AGE3
      induced apoptosis was significantly inhibited by siRNA-mediated knockdown of Nox4
      or p22(phox). Double knockdown of Nox4 and p22(phox) showed a similar inhibitory
      effect on apoptosis as single gene silencing. Thus, our results demonstrated that
      NAD(P)H oxidase-derived oxidative stress are involved in AGEs-induced apoptosis
      of VSMCs. These findings might be important to understand the pathogenesis of
      vascular calcification in diabetes and CKD. 

PMID- 27649161
TI  - Rosacea: Molecular Mechanisms and Management of a Chronic Cutaneous Inflammatory
      Condition.
AB  - Rosacea is a chronic cutaneous inflammatory disease that affects the facial skin.
      Clinically, rosacea can be categorized into papulopustular,
      erythematotelangiectatic, ocular, and phymatous rosacea. However, the phenotypic
      presentations of rosacea are more heterogeneous. Although the pathophysiology of
      rosacea remains to be elucidated, immunologic alterations and neurovascular
      dysregulation are thought to have important roles in initiating and strengthening
      the clinical manifestations of rosacea. In this article, we present the possible
      molecular mechanisms of rosacea based on recent laboratory and clinical studies.
      We describe the genetic predisposition for rosacea along with its associated
      diseases, triggering factors, and suggested management options in detail based on
      the underlying molecular biology. Understanding the molecular pathomechanisms of
      rosacea will likely aid toward better comprehending its complex pathogenesis. 

PMID- 27649165
TI  - Plant-to-Plant Variability in Root Metabolite Profiles of 19 Arabidopsis thaliana
      Accessions Is Substance-Class-Dependent.
AB  - Natural variation of secondary metabolism between different accessions of
      Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) has been studied extensively. In this study,
      we extended the natural variation approach by including biological variability
      (plant-to-plant variability) and analysed root metabolic patterns as well as
      their variability between plants and naturally occurring accessions. To screen 19
      accessions of A. thaliana, comprehensive non-targeted metabolite profiling of
      single plant root extracts was performed using ultra performance liquid
      chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS) and gas chromatography/electron ionization
      quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/EI-QMS). Linear mixed models were applied to
      dissect the total observed variance. All metabolic profiles pointed towards a
      larger plant-to-plant variability than natural variation between accessions and
      variance of experimental batches. Ratios of plant-to-plant to total variability
      were high and distinct for certain secondary metabolites. None of the
      investigated accessions displayed a specifically high or low biological
      variability for these substance classes. This study provides recommendations for
      future natural variation analyses of glucosinolates, flavonoids, and
      phenylpropanoids and also reference data for additional substance classes. 

PMID- 27649166
TI  - Biology, Pest Status, Microbiome and Control of Kudzu Bug (Hemiptera:
      Heteroptera: Plataspidae): A New Invasive Pest in the U.S.
AB  - Soybean is an important food crop, and insect integrated pest management (IPM) is
      critical to the sustainability of this production system. In recent years, the
      introduction into the United States of the kudzu bug currently identified as
      Megacopta cribraria (F.), poses a threat to soybean production. The kudzu bug was
      first discovered in the state of Georgia, U.S. in 2009 and since then has spread
      to most of the southeastern states. Because it was not found in the North
      American subcontinent before this time, much of our knowledge of this insect
      comes from research done in its native habitat. However, since the U.S.
      introduction, studies have been undertaken to improve our understanding of the
      kudzu bug basic biology, microbiome, migration patterns, host selection and
      management in its expanding new range. Researchers are not only looking at
      developing IPM strategies for the kudzu bug in soybean, but also at its unique
      relationship with symbiotic bacteria. Adult females deposit bacterial packets
      with their eggs, and the neonates feed on these packets to acquire the bacteria,
      Candidatus Ishikawaella capsulata. The kudzu bug should be an informative model
      to study the co-evolution of insect function and behavior with that of a single
      bacteria species. We review kudzu bug trapping and survey methods, the
      development of bioassays for insecticide susceptibility, insecticide efficacy,
      host preferences, impact of the pest on urban environments, population expansion,
      and the occurrence of natural enemies. The identity of the kudzu bug in the U.S.
      is not clear. We propose that the kudzu bug currently accepted as M. cribraria in
      the U.S. is actually Megacopta punctatissima, with more work needed to confirm
      this hypothesis. 

PMID- 27649168
TI  - Immunoglobulin Tau Heavy Chain (IgT) in Flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus:
      Molecular Cloning, Characterization, and Expression Analyses.
AB  - Immunoglobulin tau (IgT) is a new teleost immunoglobulin isotype, and its
      potential function in adaptive immunity is not very clear. In the present study,
      the membrane-bound and secreted IgT (mIgT and sIgT) heavy chain genes were cloned
      for the first time and characterized in flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), and
      found the nucleic acid sequence were exactly same in the Ctau1-Ctau4 constant
      domains of mIgT and sIgT, but different in variable regions and the C-terminus.
      The amino acid sequence of mIgT shared higher similarity with Bovichtus
      diacanthus (51.2%) and Dicentrarchus labrax (45.0%). Amino acid of flounder IgT,
      IgM, and IgD heavy chain was compared and the highest similarity was found
      between IgT Ctau1 and IgM CMU1 (38%). In healthy flounder, the transcript levels
      of IgT mRNA were the highest in gill, spleen, and liver, and higher in peripheral
      blood leucocytes, skin, and hindgut. After infection and vaccination with
      Edwardsiella tarda via intraperitoneal injection and immersion, the qRT-PCR
      analysis demonstrated that the IgT mRNA level was significantly upregulated in
      all tested tissues, with similar dynamic tendency that increased firstly and then
      decreased, and higher in gill, skin, hindgut, liver, and stomach in immersion
      than in the injection group, but no significant difference existed in spleen and
      head kidney between immersion and injection groups. These results revealed that
      IgT responses could be simultaneously induced in both mucosal and systemic
      tissues after infection/vaccination via injection and immersion route, but IgT
      might play a more important role in mucosal immunity than in systemic immunity. 

PMID- 27649170
TI  - Cooperative Game-Based Energy Efficiency Management over Ultra-Dense Wireless
      Cellular Networks.
AB  - Ultra-dense wireless cellular networks have been envisioned as a promising
      technique for handling the explosive increase of wireless traffic volume. With
      the extensive deployment of small cells in wireless cellular networks, the
      network spectral efficiency (SE) is improved with the use of limited frequency.
      However, the mutual inter-tier and intra-tier interference between or among small
      cells and macro cells becomes serious. On the other hand, more chances for
      potential cooperation among different cells are introduced. Energy efficiency
      (EE) has become one of the most important problems for future wireless networks.
      This paper proposes a cooperative bargaining game-based method for comprehensive
      EE management in an ultra-dense wireless cellular network, which highlights the
      complicated interference influence on energy-saving challenges and the power
      coordination process among small cells and macro cells. Especially, a unified EE
      utility with the consideration of the interference mitigation is proposed to
      jointly address the SE, the deployment efficiency (DE), and the EE. In
      particular, closed-form power-coordination solutions for the optimal EE are
      derived to show the convergence property of the algorithm. Moreover, a simplified
      algorithm is presented to reduce the complexity of the signaling overhead, which
      is significant for ultra-dense small cells. Finally, numerical simulations are
      provided to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed cooperative bargaining game
      based and simplified schemes. 

PMID- 27649167
TI  - The Role of Galectin-1 in Cancer Progression, and Synthetic Multivalent Systems
      for the Study of Galectin-1.
AB  - This review discusses the role of galectin-1 in the tumor microenvironment.
      First, the structure and function of galectin-1 are discussed. Galectin-1, a
      member of the galectin family of lectins, is a functionally dimeric galactoside
      binding protein. Although galectin-1 has both intracellular and extracellular
      functions, the defining carbohydrate-binding role occurs extracellularly. In this
      review, the extracellular roles of galectin-1 in cancer processes are discussed.
      In particular, the importance of multivalent interactions in galectin-1 mediated
      cellular processes is reviewed. Multivalent interactions involving galectin-1 in
      cellular adhesion, mobility and invasion, tumor-induced angiogenesis, and
      apoptosis are presented. Although the mechanisms of action of galectin-1 in these
      processes are still not well understood, the overexpression of galectin-1 in
      cancer progression indicates that the role of galectin-1 is significant. To
      conclude this review, synthetic frameworks that have been used to modulate
      galectin-1 processes are reviewed. Small molecule oligomers of carbohydrates,
      carbohydrate-functionalized pseudopolyrotaxanes, cyclodextrins, calixarenes, and
      glycodendrimers are presented. These synthetic multivalent systems serve as
      important tools for studying galectin-1 mediated cancer cellular functions. 

PMID- 27649172
TI  - Automated As-Built Model Generation of Subway Tunnels from Mobile LiDAR Data.
AB  - This study proposes fully-automated methods for as-built model generation of
      subway tunnels employing mobile Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. The
      employed dataset is acquired by a Velodyne HDL 32E and covers 155 m of a subway
      tunnel containing six million points. First, the tunnel's main axis and cross
      sections are extracted. Next, a preliminary model is created by fitting an
      ellipse to each extracted cross section. The model is refined by employing
      residual analysis and Baarda's data snooping method to eliminate outliers. The
      final model is then generated by applying least squares adjustment to outlier
      free data. The obtained results indicate that the tunnel's main axis and 1551
      cross sections at 0.1 m intervals are successfully extracted. Cross sections have
      an average semi-major axis of 7.8508 m with a standard deviation of 0.2 mm and
      semi-minor axis of 7.7509 m with a standard deviation of 0.1 mm. The average
      normal distance of points from the constructed model (average absolute error) is
      also 0.012 m. The developed algorithm is applicable to tunnels with any
      horizontal orientation and degree of curvature since it makes no assumptions, nor
      does it use any a priori knowledge regarding the tunnel's curvature and
      horizontal orientation. 

PMID- 27649171
TI  - Weak Fault Feature Extraction of Rolling Bearings Based on an Improved Kurtogram.
AB  - Kurtograms have been verified to be an efficient tool in bearing fault detection
      and diagnosis because of their superiority in extracting transient features.
      However, the short-time Fourier Transform is insufficient in time-frequency
      analysis and kurtosis is deficient in detecting cyclic transients. Those factors
      weaken the performance of the original kurtogram in extracting weak fault
      features. Correlated Kurtosis (CK) is then designed, as a more effective
      solution, in detecting cyclic transients. Redundant Second Generation Wavelet
      Packet Transform (RSGWPT) is deemed to be effective in capturing more detailed
      local time-frequency description of the signal, and restricting the frequency
      aliasing components of the analysis results. The authors in this manuscript,
      combining the CK with the RSGWPT, propose an improved kurtogram to extract weak
      fault features from bearing vibration signals. The analysis of simulation signals
      and real application cases demonstrate that the proposed method is relatively
      more accurate and effective in extracting weak fault features. 

PMID- 27649169
TI  - Spider Silk-CBD-Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites: Mechanism of Assembly.
AB  - The fabrication of cellulose-spider silk bio-nanocomposites comprised of
      cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and recombinant spider silk protein fused to a
      cellulose binding domain (CBD) is described. Silk-CBD successfully binds
      cellulose, and unlike recombinant silk alone, silk-CBD self-assembles into
      microfibrils even in the absence of CNCs. Silk-CBD-CNC composite sponges and
      films show changes in internal structure and CNC alignment related to the
      addition of silk-CBD. The silk-CBD sponges exhibit improved thermal and
      structural characteristics in comparison to control recombinant spider silk
      sponges. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the silk-CBD sponge was higher
      than the control silk sponge and similar to native dragline spider silk fibers.
      Gel filtration analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle X-ray
      scattering (SAXS) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that
      silk-CBD, but not the recombinant silk control, formed a nematic liquid
      crystalline phase similar to that observed in native spider silk during the silk
      spinning process. Silk-CBD microfibrils spontaneously formed in solution upon
      ultrasonication. We suggest a model for silk-CBD assembly that implicates CBD in
      the central role of driving the dimerization of spider silk monomers, a process
      essential to the molecular assembly of spider-silk nanofibers and silk-CNC
      composites. 

PMID- 27649173
TI  - A Precise Visual Method for Narrow Butt Detection in Specular Reflection
      Workpiece Welding.
AB  - During the complex path workpiece welding, it is important to keep the welding
      torch aligned with the groove center using a visual seam detection method, so
      that the deviation between the torch and the groove can be corrected
      automatically. However, when detecting the narrow butt of a specular reflection
      workpiece, the existing methods may fail because of the extremely small groove
      width and the poor imaging quality. This paper proposes a novel detection method
      to solve these issues. We design a uniform surface light source to get high
      signal-to-noise ratio images against the specular reflection effect, and a double
      line laser light source is used to obtain the workpiece surface equation relative
      to the torch. Two light sources are switched on alternately and the camera is
      synchronized to capture images when each light is on; then the position and pose
      between the torch and the groove can be obtained nearly at the same time.
      Experimental results show that our method can detect the groove effectively and
      efficiently during the welding process. The image resolution is 12.5 MUm and the
      processing time is less than 10 ms per frame. This indicates our method can be
      applied to real-time narrow butt detection during high-speed welding process. 

PMID- 27649174
TI  - Modeling and Analysis of a 2-DOF Spherical Parallel Manipulator.
AB  - The kinematics of a two rotational degrees-of-freedom (DOF) spherical parallel
      manipulator (SPM) is developed based on the coordinate transformation approach
      and the cosine rule of a trihedral angle. The angular displacement, angular
      velocity, and angular acceleration between the actuators and end-effector are
      thus determined. Moreover, the dynamic model of the 2-DOF SPM is established by
      using the virtual work principle and the first-order influence coefficient matrix
      of the manipulator. Eventually, a typical motion plan and simulations are carried
      out, and the actuating torque needed for these motions are worked out by
      employing the derived inverse dynamic equations. In addition, an analysis of the
      mechanical characteristics of the parallel manipulator is made. This study lays a
      solid base for the control of the 2-DOF SPM, and also provides the possibility of
      using this kind of spherical manipulator as a 2-DOF orientation, angular
      velocity, or even torque sensor. 

PMID- 27649175
TI  - A Microchip for Integrated Single-Cell Gene Expression Profiling and Genotoxicity
      Detection.
AB  - Microfluidics-based single-cell study is an emerging approach in personalized
      treatment or precision medicine studies. Single-cell gene expression holds a
      potential to provide treatment selections with maximized efficacy to help cancer
      patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease. This work presents a
      multi-layer microchip for single-cell multiplexed gene expression profiling and
      genotoxicity detection. Treated by three drug reagents (i.e., methyl
      methanesulfonate, docetaxel and colchicine) with varied concentrations and time
      lengths, individual human cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) are lysed on-chip, and the
      released mRNA templates are captured and reversely transcribed into single strand
      DNA. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), cyclin-dependent kinase
      inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A), and aurora kinase A (AURKA) genes from single cells are
      amplified and real-time quantified through multiplex polymerase chain reaction.
      The microchip is capable of integrating all steps of single-cell multiplexed gene
      expression profiling, and providing precision detection of drug induced genotoxic
      stress. Throughput has been set to be 18, and can be further increased following
      the same approach. Numerical simulation of on-chip single cell trapping and heat
      transfer has been employed to evaluate the chip design and operation. 

PMID- 27649176
TI  - Ambient Sound-Based Collaborative Localization of Indeterministic Devices.
AB  - Localization is essential in wireless sensor networks. To our knowledge, no prior
      work has utilized low-cost devices for collaborative localization based on only
      ambient sound, without the support of local infrastructure. The reason may be the
      fact that most low-cost devices are indeterministic and suffer from uncertain
      input latencies. This uncertainty makes accurate localization challenging.
      Therefore, we present a collaborative localization algorithm (Cooperative
      Localization on Android with ambient Sound Sources (CLASS)) that simultaneously
      localizes the position of indeterministic devices and ambient sound sources
      without local infrastructure. The CLASS algorithm deals with the uncertainty by
      splitting the devices into subsets so that outliers can be removed from the time
      difference of arrival values and localization results. Since Android is
      indeterministic, we select Android devices to evaluate our approach. The
      algorithm is evaluated with an outdoor experiment and achieves a mean Root Mean
      Square Error (RMSE) of 2.18 m with a standard deviation of 0.22 m. Estimated
      directions towards the sound sources have a mean RMSE of 17.5  degrees  and a
      standard deviation of 2.3  degrees . These results show that it is feasible to
      simultaneously achieve a relative positioning of both devices and sound sources
      with sufficient accuracy, even when using non-deterministic devices and
      platforms, such as Android. 

PMID- 27649178
TI  - Pose Self-Calibration of Stereo Vision Systems for Autonomous Vehicle
      Applications.
AB  - Nowadays, intelligent systems applied to vehicles have grown very rapidly; their
      goal is not only the improvement of safety, but also making autonomous driving
      possible. Many of these intelligent systems are based on making use of computer
      vision in order to know the environment and act accordingly. It is of great
      importance to be able to estimate the pose of the vision system because the
      measurement matching between the perception system (pixels) and the vehicle
      environment (meters) depends on the relative position between the perception
      system and the environment. A new method of camera pose estimation for stereo
      systems is presented in this paper, whose main contribution regarding the state
      of the art on the subject is the estimation of the pitch angle without being
      affected by the roll angle. The validation of the self-calibration method is
      accomplished by comparing it with relevant methods of camera pose estimation,
      where a synthetic sequence is used in order to measure the continuous error with
      a ground truth. This validation is enriched by the experimental results of the
      method in real traffic environments. 

PMID- 27649179
TI  - Long-Term Continuous Double Station Observation of Faint Meteor Showers.
AB  - Meteor detection and analysis is an essential topic in the field of astronomy. In
      this paper, a high-sensitivity and high-time-resolution imaging device for the
      detection of faint meteoric events is presented. The instrument is based on a
      fast CCD camera and an image intensifier. Two such instruments form a double
      station observation network. The MAIA (Meteor Automatic Imager and Analyzer)
      system has been in continuous operation since 2013 and has successfully captured
      hundreds of meteors belonging to different meteor showers, as well as sporadic
      meteors. A data processing pipeline for the efficient processing and evaluation
      of the massive amount of video sequences is also introduced in this paper. 

PMID- 27649180
TI  - Mechatronic Development and Vision Feedback Control of a Nanorobotics
      Manipulation System inside SEM for Nanodevice Assembly.
AB  - Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been developed in recent decades for nanodevices such
      as nanoradios, nanogenerators, carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs)
      and so on, indicating that the application of CNTs for nanoscale electronics may
      play a key role in the development of nanotechnology. Nanorobotics manipulation
      systems are a promising method for nanodevice construction and assembly. For the
      purpose of constructing three-dimensional CNTFETs, a nanorobotics manipulation
      system with 16 DOFs was developed for nanomanipulation of nanometer-scale objects
      inside the specimen chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nanorobotics
      manipulators are assembled into four units with four DOFs (X-Y-Z-theta)
      individually. The rotational one is actuated by a picomotor. That means a
      manipulator has four DOFs including three linear motions in the X, Y, Z
      directions and a 360-degree rotational one (X-Y-Z-theta stage, theta is along the
      direction rotating with X or Y axis). Manipulators are actuated by picomotors
      with better than 30 nm linear resolution and <1 micro-rad rotary resolution. Four
      vertically installed AFM cantilevers (the axis of the cantilever tip is vertical
      to the axis of electronic beam of SEM) served as the end-effectors to facilitate
      the real-time observation of the operations. A series of kinematic derivations of
      these four manipulators based on the Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) notation were
      established. The common working space of the end-effectors is 2.78 mm by 4.39 mm
      by 6 mm. The manipulation strategy and vision feedback control for multi
      manipulators operating inside the SEM chamber were been discussed. Finally,
      application of the designed nanorobotics manipulation system by successfully
      testing of the pickup-and-place manipulation of an individual CNT onto four
      probes was described. The experimental results have shown that carbon nanotubes
      can be successfully picked up with this nanorobotics manipulation system. 

PMID- 27649181
TI  - Design and Experimental Validation of a USBL Underwater Acoustic Positioning
      System.
AB  - This paper presents the steps for developing a low-cost POrtableNavigation Tool
      for Underwater Scenarios (PONTUS) to be used as a localization device for subsea
      targets. PONTUS consists of an integrated ultra-short baseline acoustic
      positioning system aided by an inertial navigation system. Built on a practical
      design, it can be mounted on an underwater robotic vehicle or be operated by a
      scuba diver. It also features a graphical user interface that provides
      information on the tracking of the designated target, in addition to some details
      on the physical properties inside PONTUS. A full disclosure of the architecture
      of the tool is first presented, followed by thorough technical descriptions of
      the hardware components ensemble and the software development process. A series
      of experiments was carried out to validate the developed prototype, and the
      results are presented herein, which allow assessing its overall performance. 

PMID- 27649177
TI  - A Guide to Fluorescent Protein FRET Pairs.
AB  - Forster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology and
      genetically encoded FRET biosensors provide a powerful tool for visualizing
      signaling molecules in live cells with high spatiotemporal resolution.
      Fluorescent proteins (FPs) are most commonly used as both donor and acceptor
      fluorophores in FRET biosensors, especially since FPs are genetically encodable
      and live-cell compatible. In this review, we will provide an overview of methods
      to measure FRET changes in biological contexts, discuss the palette of FP FRET
      pairs developed and their relative strengths and weaknesses, and note important
      factors to consider when using FPs for FRET studies. 

PMID- 27649182
TI  - Fast and Robust Real-Time Estimation of Respiratory Rate from
      Photoplethysmography.
AB  - Respiratory rate (RR) is a useful vital sign that can not only provide auxiliary
      information on physiological changes within the human body, but also indicate
      early symptoms of various diseases. Recently, methods for the estimation of RR
      from photoplethysmography (PPG) have attracted increased interest, because PPG
      can be readily recorded using wearable sensors such as smart watches and smart
      bands. In the present study, we propose a new method for the fast and robust real
      time estimation of RR using an adaptive infinite impulse response (IIR) notch
      filter, which has not yet been applied to the PPG-based estimation of RR. In our
      offline simulation study, the performance of the proposed method was compared to
      that of recently developed RR estimation methods called an adaptive lattice-type
      RR estimator and a Smart Fusion. The results of the simulation study show that
      the proposed method could not only estimate RR more quickly and more accurately
      than the conventional methods, but also is most suitable for online RR monitoring
      systems, as it does not use any overlapping moving windows that require increased
      computational costs. In order to demonstrate the practical applicability of the
      proposed method, an online RR estimation system was implemented. 

PMID- 27649183
TI  - Surface Subsidence Analysis by Multi-Temporal InSAR and GRACE: A Case Study in
      Beijing.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between surface
      subsidence and groundwater changes. To investigate this relationship, we first
      analyzed surface subsidence. This paper presents the results of a case study of
      surface subsidence in Beijing from 1 August 2007 to 29 September 2010. The Multi
      temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (multi-temporal InSAR)
      technique, which can simultaneously detect point-like stable reflectors (PSs) and
      distributed scatterers (DSs), was used to retrieve the subsidence magnitude and
      distribution in Beijing using 18 ENVISAT ASAR images. The multi-temporal InSAR
      derived subsidence was verified by leveling at an accuracy better than 5 mm/year.
      Based on the verified multi-temporal InSAR results, a prominent uneven subsidence
      was identified in Beijing. Specifically, most of the subsidence velocities in the
      downtown area were within 10 mm/year, and the largest subsidence was detected in
      Tongzhou, with velocities exceeding 140 mm/year. Furthermore, Gravity Recovery
      and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data were used to derive the groundwater change
      series and trend. By comparison with the multi-temporal InSAR-derived subsidence
      results, the long-term decreasing trend between groundwater changes and surface
      subsidence showed a relatively high consistency, and a significant impact of
      groundwater changes on the surface subsidence was identified. Additionally, the
      spatial distribution of the subsidence funnel was partially consistent with that
      of groundwater depression, i.e., the former possessed a wider range than the
      latter. Finally, the relationship between surface subsidence and groundwater
      changes was determined. 

PMID- 27649184
TI  - Fabrication of a Miniaturized ZnO Nanowire Accelerometer and Its Performance
      Tests.
AB  - This paper reports a miniaturized piezoelectric accelerometer suitable for a
      small haptic actuator array. The accelerometer is made with zinc oxide (ZnO)
      nanowire (NW) grown on a copper wafer by a hydrothermal process. The size of the
      accelerometer is 1.5 * 1.5 mm2, thus fitting the 1.8 * 1.8 mm2 haptic actuator
      array cell. The detailed fabrication process of the miniaturized accelerometer is
      illustrated. Performance evaluation of the fabricated accelerometer is conducted
      by comparing it with a commercial piezoelectric accelerometer. The output current
      of the fabricated accelerometer increases linearly with the acceleration. The
      miniaturized ZnO NW accelerometer is feasible for acceleration measurement of
      small and lightweight devices. 

PMID- 27649185
TI  - Semantic Framework of Internet of Things for Smart Cities: Case Studies.
AB  - In recent years, the advancement of sensor technology has led to the generation
      of heterogeneous Internet-of-Things (IoT) data by smart cities. Thus, the
      development and deployment of various aspects of IoT-based applications are
      necessary to mine the potential value of data to the benefit of people and their
      lives. However, the variety, volume, heterogeneity, and real-time nature of data
      obtained from smart cities pose considerable challenges. In this paper, we
      propose a semantic framework that integrates the IoT with machine learning for
      smart cities. The proposed framework retrieves and models urban data for certain
      kinds of IoT applications based on semantic and machine-learning technologies.
      Moreover, we propose two case studies: pollution detection from vehicles and
      traffic pattern detection. The experimental results show that our system is
      scalable and capable of accommodating a large number of urban regions with
      different types of IoT applications. 

PMID- 27649186
TI  - A Movement-Assisted Deployment of Collaborating Autonomous Sensors for Indoor and
      Outdoor Environment Monitoring.
AB  - Using mobile robots or unmanned vehicles to assist optimal wireless sensors
      deployment in a working space can significantly enhance the capability to
      investigate unknown environments. This paper addresses the issues of the
      application of numerical optimization and computer simulation techniques to on
      line calculation of a wireless sensor network topology for monitoring and
      tracking purposes. We focus on the design of a self-organizing and collaborative
      mobile network that enables a continuous data transmission to the data sink (base
      station) and automatically adapts its behavior to changes in the environment to
      achieve a common goal. The pre-defined and self-configuring approaches to the
      mobile-based deployment of sensors are compared and discussed. A family of novel
      algorithms for the optimal placement of mobile wireless devices for permanent
      monitoring of indoor and outdoor dynamic environments is described. They employ a
      network connectivity-maintaining mobility model utilizing the concept of the
      virtual potential function for calculating the motion trajectories of platforms
      carrying sensors. Their quality and utility have been justified through
      simulation experiments and are discussed in the final part of the paper. 

PMID- 27649187
TI  - Multimodal Learning and Intelligent Prediction of Symptom Development in
      Individual Parkinson's Patients.
AB  - We still do not know how the brain and its computations are affected by nerve
      cell deaths and their compensatory learning processes, as these develop in
      neurodegenerative diseases (ND). Compensatory learning processes are ND symptoms
      usually observed at a point when the disease has already affected large parts of
      the brain. We can register symptoms of ND such as motor and/or mental disorders
      (dementias) and even provide symptomatic relief, though the structural effects of
      these are in most cases not yet understood. It is very important to obtain early
      diagnosis, which can provide several years in which we can monitor and partly
      compensate for the disease's symptoms, with the help of various therapies. In the
      case of Parkinson's disease (PD), in addition to classical neurological tests,
      measurements of eye movements are diagnostic. We have performed measurements of
      latency, amplitude, and duration in reflexive saccades (RS) of PD patients. We
      have compared the results of our measurement-based diagnoses with standard
      neurological ones. The purpose of our work was to classify how condition
      attributes predict the neurologist's diagnosis. For n = 10 patients, the patient
      age and parameters based on RS gave a global accuracy in predictions of
      neurological symptoms in individual patients of about 80%. Further, by adding
      three attributes partly related to patient 'well-being' scores, our prediction
      accuracies increased to 90%. Our predictive algorithms use rough set theory,
      which we have compared with other classifiers such as Naive Bayes, Decision
      Trees/Tables, and Random Forests (implemented in KNIME/WEKA). We have
      demonstrated that RS are powerful biomarkers for assessment of symptom
      progression in PD. 

PMID- 27649188
TI  - A Self-Powered Insole for Human Motion Recognition.
AB  - Biomechanical energy harvesting is a feasible solution for powering wearable
      sensors by directly driving electronics or acting as wearable self-powered
      sensors. A wearable insole that not only can harvest energy from foot pressure
      during walking but also can serve as a self-powered human motion recognition
      sensor is reported. The insole is designed as a sandwich structure consisting of
      two wavy silica gel film separated by a flexible piezoelectric foil stave, which
      has higher performance compared with conventional piezoelectric harvesters with
      cantilever structure. The energy harvesting insole is capable of driving some
      common electronics by scavenging energy from human walking. Moreover, it can be
      used to recognize human motion as the waveforms it generates change when people
      are in different locomotion modes. It is demonstrated that different types of
      human motion such as walking and running are clearly classified by the insole
      without any external power source. This work not only expands the applications of
      piezoelectric energy harvesters for wearable power supplies and self-powered
      sensors, but also provides possible approaches for wearable self-powered human
      motion monitoring that is of great importance in many fields such as
      rehabilitation and sports science. 

PMID- 27649189
TI  - Mathematical Model and Calibration Procedure of a PSD Sensor Used in Local
      Positioning Systems.
AB  - Here, we propose a mathematical model and a calibration procedure for a PSD
      (position sensitive device) sensor equipped with an optical system, to enable
      accurate measurement of the angle of arrival of one or more beams of light
      emitted by infrared (IR) transmitters located at distances of between 4 and 6 m.
      To achieve this objective, it was necessary to characterize the intrinsic
      parameters that model the system and obtain their values. This first approach was
      based on a pin-hole model, to which system nonlinearities were added, and this
      was used to model the points obtained with the nA currents provided by the PSD.
      In addition, we analyzed the main sources of error, including PSD sensor signal
      noise, gain factor imbalances and PSD sensor distortion. The results indicated
      that the proposed model and method provided satisfactory calibration and yielded
      precise parameter values, enabling accurate measurement of the angle of arrival
      with a low degree of error, as evidenced by the experimental results. 

PMID- 27649190
TI  - Spiking Cortical Model Based Multimodal Medical Image Fusion by Combining Entropy
      Information with Weber Local Descriptor.
AB  - Multimodal medical image fusion (MIF) plays an important role in clinical
      diagnosis and therapy. Existing MIF methods tend to introduce artifacts, lead to
      loss of image details or produce low-contrast fused images. To address these
      problems, a novel spiking cortical model (SCM) based MIF method has been proposed
      in this paper. The proposed method can generate high-quality fused images using
      the weighting fusion strategy based on the firing times of the SCM. In the
      weighting fusion scheme, the weight is determined by combining the entropy
      information of pulse outputs of the SCM with the Weber local descriptor operating
      on the firing mapping images produced from the pulse outputs. The extensive
      experiments on multimodal medical images show that compared with the numerous
      state-of-the-art MIF methods, the proposed method can preserve image details very
      well and avoid the introduction of artifacts effectively, and thus it
      significantly improves the quality of fused images in terms of human vision and
      objective evaluation criteria such as mutual information, edge preservation
      index, structural similarity based metric, fusion quality index, fusion
      similarity metric and standard deviation. 

PMID- 27649191
TI  - A Novel 2-D Coherent DOA Estimation Method Based on Dimension Reduction Sparse
      Reconstruction for Orthogonal Arrays.
AB  - Based on sparse representations, the problem of two-dimensional (2-D) direction
      of arrival (DOA) estimation is addressed in this paper. A novel sparse 2-D DOA
      estimation method, called Dimension Reduction Sparse Reconstruction (DRSR), is
      proposed with pairing by Spatial Spectrum Reconstruction of Sub-Dictionary
      (SSRSD). By utilizing the angle decoupling method, which transforms a 2-D
      estimation into two independent one-dimensional (1-D) estimations, the high
      computational complexity induced by a large 2-D redundant dictionary is greatly
      reduced. Furthermore, a new angle matching scheme, SSRSD, which is less sensitive
      to the sparse reconstruction error with higher pair-matching probability, is
      introduced. The proposed method can be applied to any type of orthogonal array
      without requirement of a large number of snapshots and a priori knowledge of the
      number of signals. The theoretical analyses and simulation results show that the
      DRSR-SSRSD method performs well for coherent signals, which performance
      approaches Cramer-Rao bound (CRB), even under a single snapshot and low signal-to
      noise ratio (SNR) condition. 

PMID- 27649192
TI  - Using Crowdsourced Trajectories for Automated OSM Data Entry Approach.
AB  - The concept of crowdsourcing is nowadays extensively used to refer to the
      collection of data and the generation of information by large groups of
      users/contributors. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a very successful example of a crowd
      sourced geospatial data project. Unfortunately, it is often the case that OSM
      contributor inputs (including geometry and attribute data inserts, deletions and
      updates) have been found to be inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent or vague.
      This is due to several reasons which include: (1) many contributors with little
      experience or training in mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS); (2)
      not enough contributors familiar with the areas being mapped; (3) contributors
      having different interpretations of the attributes (tags) for specific features;
      (4) different levels of enthusiasm between mappers resulting in different number
      of tags for similar features and (5) the user-friendliness of the online user
      interface where the underlying map can be viewed and edited. This paper suggests
      an automatic mechanism, which uses raw spatial data (trajectories of movements
      contributed by contributors to OSM) to minimise the uncertainty and impact of the
      above-mentioned issues. This approach takes the raw trajectory datasets as input
      and analyses them using data mining techniques. In addition, we extract some
      patterns and rules about the geometry and attributes of the recognised features
      for the purpose of insertion or editing of features in the OSM database. The
      underlying idea is that certain characteristics of user trajectories are directly
      linked to the geometry and the attributes of geographic features. Using these
      rules successfully results in the generation of new features with higher spatial
      quality which are subsequently automatically inserted into the OSM database. 

PMID- 27649193
TI  - Sensor Data Fusion with Z-Numbers and Its Application in Fault Diagnosis.
AB  - Sensor data fusion technology is widely employed in fault diagnosis. The
      information in a sensor data fusion system is characterized by not only
      fuzziness, but also partial reliability. Uncertain information of sensors,
      including randomness, fuzziness, etc., has been extensively studied recently.
      However, the reliability of a sensor is often overlooked or cannot be analyzed
      adequately. A Z-number, Z = (A, B), can represent the fuzziness and the
      reliability of information simultaneously, where the first component A represents
      a fuzzy restriction on the values of uncertain variables and the second component
      B is a measure of the reliability of A. In order to model and process the
      uncertainties in a sensor data fusion system reasonably, in this paper, a novel
      method combining the Z-number and Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence theory is
      proposed, where the Z-number is used to model the fuzziness and reliability of
      the sensor data and the D-S evidence theory is used to fuse the uncertain
      information of Z-numbers. The main advantages of the proposed method are that it
      provides a more robust measure of reliability to the sensor data, and the
      complementary information of multi-sensors reduces the uncertainty of the fault
      recognition, thus enhancing the reliability of fault detection. 

PMID- 27649194
TI  - Decoupling Principle Analysis and Development of a Parallel Three-Dimensional
      Force Sensor.
AB  - In the development of the multi-dimensional force sensor, dimension coupling is
      the ubiquitous factor restricting the improvement of the measurement accuracy. To
      effectively reduce the influence of dimension coupling on the parallel multi
      dimensional force sensor, a novel parallel three-dimensional force sensor is
      proposed using a mechanical decoupling principle, and the influence of the
      friction on dimension coupling is effectively reduced by making the friction
      rolling instead of sliding friction. In this paper, the mathematical model is
      established by combining with the structure model of the parallel three
      dimensional force sensor, and the modeling and analysis of mechanical decoupling
      are carried out. The coupling degree (epsilon) of the designed sensor is defined
      and calculated, and the calculation results show that the mechanical decoupling
      parallel structure of the sensor possesses good decoupling performance. A
      prototype of the parallel three-dimensional force sensor was developed, and FEM
      analysis was carried out. The load calibration and data acquisition experiment
      system are built, and then calibration experiments were done. According to the
      calibration experiments, the measurement accuracy is less than 2.86% and the
      coupling accuracy is less than 3.02%. The experimental results show that the
      sensor system possesses high measuring accuracy, which provides a basis for the
      applied research of the parallel multi-dimensional force sensor. 

PMID- 27649195
TI  - D-Shaped Polarization Maintaining Fiber Sensor for Strain and Temperature
      Monitoring.
AB  - A D-shaped polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) as fiber optic sensor for the
      simultaneous monitoring of strain and the surrounding temperature is presented. A
      mechanical end and edge polishing system with aluminum oxide polishing film is
      utilized to perform sequential polishing on one side (lengthwise) of the PMF in
      order to fabricate a D-shaped cross-section. Experimental results show that the
      proposed sensor has high sensitivity of 46 pm/uepsilon and 130 pm/ degrees C for
      strain and temperature, respectively, which is significantly higher than other
      recently reported work (mainly from 2013) related to fiber optic sensors. The
      easy fabrication method, high sensitivity, and good linearity make this sensing
      device applicable in various applications such as health monitoring and spatial
      analysis of engineering structures. 

PMID- 27649196
TI  - The Effect of Assistive Anchor-Like Grousers on Wheeled Rover Performance over
      Unconsolidated Sandy Dune Inclines.
AB  - Typical rovers with wheels equipped with conventional grousers are prone to
      getting stuck in unconsolidated sandy dune inclines as the wheels tend to sink
      into the sand. This phenomenon is caused by the motion of the grouser through the
      sand during the latter half of the rotation, in which the grouser pushes the sand
      from underneath the wheel upwards and towards the backside of the wheel. This
      creates a space that the wheel can sink into. To minimize sand movement and
      subsequent sinkage, we propose the concept of using an "assistive grouser", which
      is attached to the side of a conventional rover wheel. The assistive grouser is
      designed to be able to autonomously maintain a uniform angle relative to the
      rover body independent of the rotation of the wheels. Rotating the wheel causes
      the assistive grousers to automatically penetrate into the sand slope surface at
      a constant angle of attack, thereby acting as an anchor and providing traction
      for the wheel. Maintaining a uniform grouser angle as opposed to a rotating
      motion also assists in extracting the grouser out of the sand without moving the
      sand towards the back of the wheel. Moreover, the angle of the assistive grousers
      is held constantly by a single dedicated motor, meaning that the angle of the
      assistive grousers can be optimized to provide the least amount of sinkage for
      each slope angle. The experimental results showed that for slope angles of 0-30
      degrees, the rover equipped with the proposed assistive grousers experienced
      significantly less sinkage and consumed less current compared to the rover
      equipped with conventional grousers. 

PMID- 27649197
TI  - Finite Element Modelling of a Field-Sensed Magnetic Suspended System for Accurate
      Proximity Measurement Based on a Sensor Fusion Algorithm with Unscented Kalman
      Filter.
AB  - The presented paper describes accurate distance measurement for a field-sensed
      magnetic suspension system. The proximity measurement is based on a Hall effect
      sensor. The proximity sensor is installed directly on the lower surface of the
      electro-magnet, which means that it is very sensitive to external magnetic
      influences and disturbances. External disturbances interfere with the information
      signal and reduce the usability and reliability of the proximity measurements
      and, consequently, the whole application operation. A sensor fusion algorithm is
      deployed for the aforementioned reasons. The sensor fusion algorithm is based on
      the Unscented Kalman Filter, where a nonlinear dynamic model was derived with the
      Finite Element Modelling approach. The advantage of such modelling is a more
      accurate dynamic model parameter estimation, especially in the case when the real
      structure, materials and dimensions of the real-time application are known. The
      novelty of the paper is the design of a compact electro-magnetic actuator with a
      built-in low cost proximity sensor for accurate proximity measurement of the
      magnetic object. The paper successively presents a modelling procedure with the
      finite element method, design and parameter settings of a sensor fusion algorithm
      with Unscented Kalman Filter and, finally, the implementation procedure and
      results of real-time operation. 

PMID- 27649198
TI  - Real-Time Measurement of Width and Height of Weld Beads in GMAW Processes.
AB  - Associated to the weld quality, the weld bead geometry is one of the most
      important parameters in welding processes. It is a significant requirement in a
      welding project, especially in automatic welding systems where a specific width,
      height, or penetration of weld bead is needed. This paper presents a novel
      technique for real-time measuring of the width and height of weld beads in gas
      metal arc welding (GMAW) using a single high-speed camera and a long-pass optical
      filter in a passive vision system. The measuring method is based on digital image
      processing techniques and the image calibration process is based on projective
      transformations. The measurement process takes less than 3 milliseconds per
      image, which allows a transfer rate of more than 300 frames per second. The
      proposed methodology can be used in any metal transfer mode of a gas metal arc
      welding process and does not have occlusion problems. The responses of the
      measurement system, presented here, are in a good agreement with off-line data
      collected by a common laser-based 3D scanner. Each measurement is compare using a
      statistical Welch's t-test of the null hypothesis, which, in any case, does not
      exceed the threshold of significance level alpha = 0.01, validating the results
      and the performance of the proposed vision system. 

PMID- 27649199
TI  - A Differential Reflective Intensity Optical Fiber Angular Displacement Sensor.
AB  - In this paper, a novel differential reflective intensity optical fiber angular
      displacement sensor was proposed. This sensor can directly measure the angular
      and axial linear displacement of a flat surface. The structure of the sensor
      probe is simple and its basic principle was first analyzed according to the
      intensity modulation mechanisms. Secondly, in order to trim the dark output
      voltage to zero, the photoelectric conversion circuit was developed to adjust the
      signals. Then, the sensor model including the photoelectric conversion circuit
      has been established, and the influence of design parameters on the sensor output
      characteristic has been simulated. Finally, the design parameters of the sensor
      structure were obtained based on the simulation results; and an experimental test
      system was built for the sensor calibration. Experimental results show that the
      linear angular range and the sensitivity of the sensor were 74.4 and 0.051 V/
      degrees , respectively. Its change rules confirm the operating principle of the
      sensor well. 

PMID- 27649200
TI  - Stripe-PZT Sensor-Based Baseline-Free Crack Diagnosis in a Structure with a
      Welded Stiffener.
AB  - This paper proposes a stripe-PZT sensor-based baseline-free crack diagnosis
      technique in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of a structure with a welded stiffener.
      The proposed technique enables one to identify and localize a crack in the HAZ
      using only current data measured using a stripe-PZT sensor. The use of the stripe
      PZT sensor makes it possible to significantly improve the applicability to real
      structures and minimize man-made errors associated with the installation process
      by embedding multiple piezoelectric sensors onto a printed circuit board.
      Moreover, a new frequency-wavenumber analysis-based baseline-free crack diagnosis
      algorithm minimizes false alarms caused by environmental variations by avoiding
      simple comparison with the baseline data accumulated from the pristine condition
      of a target structure. The proposed technique is numerically as well as
      experimentally validated using a plate-like structure with a welded stiffener,
      reveling that it successfully identifies and localizes a crack in HAZ. 

PMID- 27649202
TI  - Optimization and Validation of Rotating Current Excitation with GMR Array Sensors
      for Riveted Structures Inspection.
AB  - In eddy current non-destructive testing of a multi-layered riveted structure,
      rotating current excitation, generated by orthogonal coils, is advantageous in
      providing sensitivity to defects of all orientations. However, when used with
      linear array sensors, the exciting magnetic flux density ( B x ) of the
      orthogonal coils is not uniform over the sensor region, resulting in an output
      signal magnitude that depends on the relative location of the defect to the
      sensor array. In this paper, the rotating excitation coil is optimized to achieve
      a uniform B x field in the sensor array area and minimize the probe size. The
      current density distribution of the coil is optimized using the polynomial
      approximation method. A non-uniform coil design is derived from the optimized
      current density distribution. Simulation results, using both an optimized coil
      and a conventional coil, are generated using the finite element method (FEM)
      model. The signal magnitude for an optimized coil is seen to be more robust with
      respect to offset of defects from the coil center. A novel multilayer coil
      structure, fabricated on a multi-layer printed circuit board, is used to build
      the optimized coil. A prototype probe with the optimized coil and 32 giant
      magnetoresistive (GMR) sensors is built and tested on a two-layer riveted
      aluminum sample. Experimental results show that the optimized probe has better
      defect detection capability compared with a conventional non-optimized coil. 

PMID- 27649203
TI  - Navigation Aiding by a Hybrid Laser-Camera Motion Estimator for Micro Aerial
      Vehicles.
AB  - Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) equipped with various sensors are able to carry out
      autonomous flights. However, the self-localization of autonomous agents is mostly
      dependent on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). In order to provide an
      accurate navigation solution in absence of GNSS signals, this article presents a
      hybrid sensor. The hybrid sensor is a deep integration of a monocular camera and
      a 2D laser rangefinder so that the motion of the MAV is estimated. This
      realization is expected to be more flexible in terms of environments compared to
      laser-scan-matching approaches. The estimated ego-motion is then integrated in
      the MAV's navigation system. However, first, the knowledge about the pose between
      both sensors is obtained by proposing an improved calibration method. For both
      calibration and ego-motion estimation, 3D-to-2D correspondences are used and the
      Perspective-3-Point (P3P) problem is solved. Moreover, the covariance estimation
      of the relative motion is presented. The experiments show very accurate
      calibration and navigation results. 

PMID- 27649205
TI  - Flexible Touch Sensors Made of Two Layers of Printed Conductive Flexible
      Adhesives.
AB  - Touch sensors are crucial in controlling robotic manipulation when a robot
      interacts with environmental objects. In this study, multilayer flexible touch
      sensors in the form of an array were developed. The sensors use ink-type
      conductive flexible adhesives as electrodes which were printed on polyethylene
      terephthalate (PET) films in a parallel equidistance stripe pattern. Between the
      two printed layers, a double-sided adhesive film was used to combine each layer
      and was perforated at the junctions of the top and bottom electrodes with
      different-sized circles. These holes represent switching mechanisms between the
      top and bottom electrodes, and their sizes make the sensor respond to different
      levels of external pressure. We showed the durability of the fabricated sensor
      with 1 mm diameter holes by repeated experiments of exerting normal pressure
      ranging from 0 to 159.15 kPa for 1000 cycles. In case of 1 mm diameter holes, the
      state of each sensor node was reliably determined by the threshold pressures of
      127.3 kPa for increasing pressure and 111.4 kPa for decreasing pressure. On the
      other hand, decreasing the hole size from 3 to 0.5 mm caused an increase in the
      threshold pressure from 1.41 to 214 kPa. The relation between the hole size and
      the threshold pressure was analyzed by a mechanical model. The sensor performance
      was also verified on curved surfaces up to 60 mm radius of curvatures.
      Additionally, we fabricated a sensor with three levels of sensitivity with a
      conventional method which was a thermal evaporation to show the extendibility of
      the idea. 

PMID- 27649204
TI  - Probe and Sensors Development for Level Measurement of Fats, Oils and Grease in
      Grease Boxes.
AB  - The wide spread of food outlets has become an environmental and sanitation
      infrastructure problem, due to Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG). A grease box is used
      at the industrials facilities to collect the FOG, in a specific time window,
      while its quality is good for recycling (e.g., biodiesel) and it is economically
      valuable. After this period, it will be disposed at a cost. For the proper
      management of the grease boxes, it is necessary to know the quantity of FOG
      inside the boxes, which is a major problem, as the boxes are sealed and
      permanently filled with water. The lack of homogeneity of the FOG renders it not
      detectable by current probes for level detection in liquids. In this article, the
      design, development and testing of a set of probes for FOG level measurement,
      based on the principles used in sensors for the detection of liquids inside
      containers, is described. The most suitable probe, based on the capacitance
      principle, together with the necessary hardware and software modules for data
      acquisition and transmission, was developed and tested. After the development
      phase, the probe was integrated on a metropolitan system for FOG collection and
      grease box management in partnership with a grease box management company. 

PMID- 27649206
TI  - Research on the Conductivity-Based Detection Principles of Bubbles in Two-Phase
      Flows and the Design of a Bubble Sensor for CBM Wells.
AB  - The parameters of gas-liquid two-phase flow bubbles in field coalbed methane
      (CBM) wells are of great significance for analyzing coalbed methane output,
      judging faults in CBM wells, and developing gas drainage and extraction
      processes, which stimulates an urgent need for detecting bubble parameters for
      CBM wells in the field. However, existing bubble detectors cannot meet the
      requirements of the working environments of CBM wells. Therefore, this paper
      reports findings on the principles of measuring the flow pattern, velocity, and
      volume of two-phase flow bubbles based on conductivity, from which a new bubble
      sensor was designed. The structural parameters and other parameters of the sensor
      were then computed, the "water film phenomenon" produced by the sensor was
      analyzed, and the appropriate materials for making the sensor were tested and
      selected. After the sensor was successfully devised, laboratory tests and field
      tests were performed, and the test results indicated that the sensor was highly
      reliable and could detect the flow patterns of two-phase flows, as well as the
      quantities, velocities, and volumes of bubbles. With a velocity measurement error
      of +/-5% and a volume measurement error of +/-7%, the sensor can meet the
      requirements of field use. Finally, the characteristics and deficiencies of the
      bubble sensor are summarized based on an analysis of the measurement errors and a
      comparison of existing bubble-measuring devices and the designed sensor. 

PMID- 27649201
TI  - Combined Dielectrophoresis and Impedance Systems for Bacteria Analysis in
      Microfluidic On-Chip Platforms.
AB  - Bacteria concentration and detection is time-consuming in regular microbiology
      procedures aimed to facilitate the detection and analysis of these cells at very
      low concentrations. Traditional methods are effective but often require several
      days to complete. This scenario results in low bioanalytical and diagnostic
      methodologies with associated increased costs and complexity. In recent years,
      the exploitation of the intrinsic electrical properties of cells has emerged as
      an appealing alternative approach for concentrating and detecting bacteria. The
      combination of dielectrophoresis (DEP) and impedance analysis (IA) in
      microfluidic on-chip platforms could be key to develop rapid, accurate, portable,
      simple-to-use and cost-effective microfluidic devices with a promising impact in
      medicine, public health, agricultural, food control and environmental areas. The
      present document reviews recent DEP and IA combined approaches and the latest
      relevant improvements focusing on bacteria concentration and detection, including
      selectivity, sensitivity, detection time, and conductivity variation
      enhancements. Furthermore, this review analyses future trends and challenges
      which need to be addressed in order to successfully commercialize these platforms
      resulting in an adequate social return of public-funded investments. 

PMID- 27649207
TI  - An Improved InSAR Image Co-Registration Method for Pairs with Relatively Big
      Distortions or Large Incoherent Areas.
AB  - Co-registration is one of the most important steps in interferometric synthetic
      aperture radar (InSAR) data processing. The standard offset-measurement method
      based on cross-correlating uniformly distributed patches takes no account of
      specific geometric transformation between images or characteristics of ground
      scatterers. Hence, it is inefficient and difficult to obtain satisfying co
      registration results for image pairs with relatively big distortion or large
      incoherent areas. Given this, an improved co-registration strategy is proposed in
      this paper which takes both the geometric features and image content into
      consideration. Firstly, some geometric transformations including scale, flip,
      rotation, and shear between images were eliminated based on the geometrical
      information, and the initial co-registration polynomial was obtained. Then the
      registration points were automatically detected by integrating the signal-to
      clutter-ratio (SCR) thresholds and the amplitude information, and a further co
      registration process was performed to refine the polynomial. Several comparison
      experiments were carried out using 2 TerraSAR-X data from the Hong Kong airport
      and 21 PALSAR data from the Donghai Bridge. Experiment results demonstrate that
      the proposed method brings accuracy and efficiency improvements for co
      registration and processing abilities in the cases of big distortion between
      images or large incoherent areas in the images. For most co-registrations, the
      proposed method can enhance the reliability and applicability of co-registration
      and thus promote the automation to a higher level. 

PMID- 27649208
TI  - Forward-Looking Infrared Cameras for Micrometeorological Applications within
      Vineyards.
AB  - We apply the principles of atmospheric surface layer dynamics within a vineyard
      canopy to demonstrate the use of forward-looking infrared cameras measuring
      surface brightness temperature (spectrum bandwidth of 7.5 to 14 MUm) at a
      relatively high temporal rate of 10 s. The temporal surface brightness signal
      over a few hours of the stable nighttime boundary layer, intermittently
      interrupted by periods of turbulent heat flux surges, was shown to be related to
      the observed meteorological measurements by an in situ eddy-covariance system,
      and reflected the above-canopy wind variability. The infrared raster images were
      collected and the resultant self-organized spatial cluster provided the
      meteorological context when compared to in situ data. The spatial brightness
      temperature pattern was explained in terms of the presence or absence of
      nighttime cloud cover and down-welling of long-wave radiation and the canopy
      turbulent heat flux. Time sequential thermography as demonstrated in this
      research provides positive evidence behind the application of thermal infrared
      cameras in the domain of micrometeorology, and to enhance our spatial
      understanding of turbulent eddy interactions with the surface. 

PMID- 27649209
TI  - Friendly-Sharing: Improving the Performance of City Sensoring through Contact
      Based Messaging Applications.
AB  - Regular citizens equipped with smart devices are being increasingly used as
      "sensors" by Smart Cities applications. Using contacts among users, data in the
      form of messages is obtained and shared. Contact-based messaging applications are
      based on establishing a short-range communication directly between mobile
      devices, and on storing the messages in these devices for subsequent delivery to
      cloud-based services. An effective way to increase the number of messages that
      can be shared is to increase the contact duration. We thus introduce the Friendly
      Sharing diffusion approach, where, during a contact, the users are aware of the
      time needed to interchange the messages stored in their buffers, and they can
      thus decide to wait more time in order to increase the message sharing
      probability. The performance of this approach is anyway closely related to the
      size of the buffer in the device. We therefore compare various policies either
      for the message selection at forwarding times and for message dropping when the
      buffer is full. We evaluate our proposal with a modified version of the
      Opportunistic Networking Environment (ONE) simulator and using real human
      mobility traces. 

PMID- 27649210
TI  - Mechanical Enhancement of Sensitivity in Natural Rubber Using Electrolytic
      Polymerization Aided by a Magnetic Field and MCF for Application in Haptic
      Sensors.
AB  - Sensors are essential to the fulfillment of every condition of haptic technology,
      and they need simultaneously to sense shear stress as well as normal force, and
      temperature. They also must have a strong and simple structure, softness, and
      large extension. To achieve these conditions simultaneously, we enhanced the
      sensitivity of sensors utilizing natural rubber (NR)-latex through the
      application of electrolytic polymerization focused on the isoprene C=C bonds in
      natural rubbers such as NR-latex, and then applied a magnetic field and magnetic
      compound fluid (MCF) as magnetically responsive fluid. When an electric field
      alone was used in the rubber, the effect of electrolytic polymerization was very
      small compared to the effect in well-known conductive polymer solution such as
      plastic. The MCF developed by Shimada in 2001 involved magnetite and metal
      particles, and acts as a filler in NR-latex. By utilizing the magnetic, electric
      fields and the MCF, we aligned the electrolytically polymerized C=C along the
      magnetic field line with the magnetic clusters formed by the aggregation of
      magnetite and metal particles so as to enhance the effect of electrolytic
      polymerization. We then demonstrated the effectiveness of the new method of
      rubber vulcanization on the sensitivity of the rubber by experimentally
      investigating its electric and dynamic characteristics. 

PMID- 27649211
TI  - Dioxinodehydroeckol Enhances the Differentiation of Osteoblasts by Regulating the
      Expression of Phospho-Smad1/5/8.
AB  - Lack of bone formation-related health problems are a major problem for the aging
      population in the modern world. As a part of the ongoing trend of developing
      natural substances that attenuate osteoporotic bone loss conditions,
      dioxinodehydroeckol (DHE) from edible brown alga Ecklonia cava was tested for its
      effects on osteoblastogenic differentiation in MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts. DHE was
      observed to successfully enhance osteoblast differentiation, as indicated by
      elevated cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, intracellular cell
      mineralization, along with raised levels of osteoblastogenesis indicators at the
      concentration of 20 MUM. Results suggested a possible intervening of DHE on the
      bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway, according to elevated protein
      levels of BMP-2, collagen-I, and Smads. In addition, the presence of DHE was also
      able to raise the phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and
      c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) levels which are also activated by the BMP
      signaling pathway. In conclusion, DHE is suggested to be a potential bioactive
      compound against bone loss that could enhance osteoblastogenesis with a suggested
      BMP pathway interaction. 

PMID- 27649212
TI  - Siblings' Perceptions of Their ADHD-Diagnosed Sibling's Impact on the Family
      System.
AB  - This qualitative study explored siblings' perceptions of the impact a sibling
      diagnosed with ADHD has within the family system. Specific focus was placed on
      the different ways these different sibling cohorts were parented. Participants
      constituted eight adult females with a mean age of 20 years from different
      cultural and socio-economic backgrounds in the province of Gauteng, South Africa.
      Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and was analysed
      thematically. The four themes that emerged from the interviews include
      differential parental treatment, rejection, discrepancy with discipline, and the
      parentified child. Specifically, the results of this study revealed feelings of
      differential parental treatment and discipline that took place in the home and
      rejection experienced by the non-ADHD sibling. There was also a common theme of a
      parentified child, who had to carry a burden of caring for their sibling with
      ADHD. The non-diagnosed siblings perceive themselves to be particularly
      negatively impacted. The results are discussed in light of the previous empirical
      studies, and recommendations are made.

PMID- 27649214
TI  - The Exposure Uncertainty Analysis: The Association between Birth Weight and
      Trimester Specific Exposure to Particulate Matter (PM2.5 vs. PM10).
AB  - Often spatiotemporal resolution/scale of environmental and health data do not
      align. Therefore, researchers compute exposure by interpolation or by aggregating
      data to coarse spatiotemporal scales. The latter is often preferred because of
      sparse geographic coverage of environmental monitoring, as interpolation method
      cannot reliably compute exposure using the small sample of sparse data points.
      This paper presents a methodology of diagnosing the levels of uncertainty in
      exposure at a given distance and time interval, and examines the effects of
      particulate matter (PM) <=2.5 um and <=10 um in diameter (PM2.5 and PM10,
      respectively) on birth weight (BW) and low birth weight (LBW), i.e., birth weight
      <2500 g in Chicago (IL, USA), accounting for exposure uncertainty. Two important
      findings emerge from this paper. First, uncertainty in PM exposure increases
      significantly with the increase in distance from the monitoring stations, e.g.,
      50.6% and 38.5% uncertainty in PM10 and PM2.5 exposure respectively for 0.058
      degrees  (~6.4 km) distance from the monitoring stations. Second, BW was
      inversely associated with PM2.5 exposure, and PM2.5 exposure during the first
      trimester and entire gestation period showed a stronger association with BW than
      the exposure during the second and third trimesters. But PM10 did not show any
      significant association with BW and LBW. These findings suggest that distance and
      time intervals need to be chosen with care to compute exposure, and account for
      the uncertainty to reliably assess the adverse health risks of exposure.

PMID- 27649213
TI  - Prevalence and Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Determinants of Anemia during
      Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study of Pregnant Women in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the differences regarding anemia among
      pregnant women with diverse characteristics and lifestyle factors. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional study of pregnant women was conducted between June and August
      2015 in 16 hospitals in five provinces of Mainland China. Self-reported doctor
      diagnosed anemia was used in the study. RESULTS: We included 2345 pregnant women.
      Of the participants, 1755 (74.8%) were pregnant women of first pregnancy (PWFP)
      and 590 (25.2%) were second pregnancy (PWSP). The mean age of the participants
      was 28.1 years (SD 4.1). Overall, the prevalence of anemia was 12.7% (13.4% and
      10.7% among PWFP and PWSP, respectively). The prevalence for not eating breakfast
      was 11.0%. Compared with PWFP, PWSP was inversely associated with the risk of
      anemia (odds ratio (OR) 0.66, 95% CI 0.48-0.91). Compared with those being
      registered in a low ranking hospital, pregnant women who were admitted to a high
      (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.28-0.57) or a medium ranking hospital (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37
      0.92) were inversely associated with the risk of anemia. Compared with women of
      low income (<Y4,500), those with high income were less likely to have anemia (OR
      0.68, 95% CI 0.50-0.94). Compared with women with non-manual jobs, women with
      manual jobs (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.17-2.45) and unemployed women (OR 1.42, 95% CI
      1.04-1.93) were associated with a greater likelihood of suffering from anemia.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant women not eating breakfast are of concern. Anemia is highly
      prevalent among pregnant women in China. Lower socio-economic status, manual
      jobs, PWFP, and those who attend a lower quality hospital have a greater
      likelihood of suffering from anemia. Tailored interventions are needed to address
      these issues.

PMID- 27649216
TI  - Work Environment Characteristics and Teacher Well-Being: The Mediation of Emotion
      Regulation Strategies.
AB  - Based on an adjusted Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model that considers the
      mediation of personal resources, this study examined the relationships between
      two characteristics of teachers' work environment (i.e., emotional job demands
      and trust in colleagues) and two indicators of teachers' well-being (i.e.,
      teaching satisfaction and emotional exhaustion). In particular, the study focused
      on how emotion regulation strategies (i.e., reappraisal and suppression) mediate
      these relationships. Data collected from a questionnaire survey of 1115 primary
      school teachers in Hong Kong was analyzed to test the hypothesized relationships.
      The results of structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) the emotional job
      demands of teaching were detrimental to teacher well-being, whereas trust in
      colleagues was beneficial; (2) both emotion regulation strategies mediated the
      relationships between both emotional job demands and trust in colleagues and
      teacher well-being; and (3) teachers who tend to use more reappraisal may be
      psychologically healthier than those tend to adopt more suppression. These
      findings support the applicability of the JD-R model to school settings and
      highlight the role of teachers' emotion regulation in teachers' well-being.
      Implications for the improvement of school environments and teachers' well-being
      are identified.

PMID- 27649217
TI  - An Age-Friendly Living Environment as Seen by Chinese Older Adults: A
      "Photovoice" Study.
AB  - "Ageing in place" is a policy initiative strongly advocated by the World Health
      Organization to face the challenge of an ageing population. This pilot study used
      a "photovoice" approach, aiming to explore aspects of the housing environment
      considered by older people as important in facilitating ageing in place. It
      enabled participants to express their ideas through photographs. Each participant
      was asked to take photos that illustrated age-friendly features they considered
      crucial for supporting their lives in the community. A total of 44 older people
      participated in the pilot study, and 300 photos were collected. Participants were
      invited to describe the reasons for taking these photos by filling in a journal
      sheet. A semi-structured interview was then conducted with individual
      participants, who were asked to elaborate on the meaning of their photos. The
      analysis revealed three themes: (1) age-friendly housing design; (2) supportive
      neighborhood; and (3) connection to family and the community. These three themes
      are pillars of an age-friendly city, which are important to seniors to facilitate
      ageing in place.

PMID- 27649215
TI  - Mediation of the Physical Activity and Healthy Nutrition Behaviors of Preschool
      Children by Maternal Cognition in China.
AB  - (1) OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the role of social cognitive theory (SCT) of
      mothers in the physical activity and healthy nutrition behaviors of preschool
      children; (2) METHODS: We used a self-administered five-point Likert common
      physical activity and nutrition behaviors scale in Chinese based on a social
      cognitive theory scale in English with established validity and reliability in
      the USA. The current study adopted the proportional sampling method to survey
      mothers of preschool children in four areas-namely, Chongqing, Chengdu, Taiyuan,
      and Shijiazhuang-of China; (3) RESULTS: We included 1208 mothers (80.0% mothers
      of normal weight children, age 31.87 +/- 4.19 years). Positive correlations were
      found between maternal social cognition and preschool children's physical
      activity (PA) behavior (p < 0.0001). However, an insignificant correlation is
      observed between preschool children's fruits and vegetables (FV) behavior, screen
      time (ST) behavior, and maternal social cognition; (4) CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides some implications for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption,
      increasing physical activity time, and reducing screen time in preschool children
      using SCT in China. Maternal social cognition is associated with preschool
      children's PA behavior, and the results suggest that maternal social cognition
      may not affect children FV and ST behaviors. Further research is necessary to
      test the mediation of maternal social cognition on preschool children's ST
      behavior and the correlations between maternal social cognition and children's ST
      behavior.

PMID- 27649218
TI  - Economic Evaluation of Obesity Prevention in Early Childhood: Methods,
      Limitations and Recommendations.
AB  - Despite methodological advances in the field of economic evaluations of
      interventions, economic evaluations of obesity prevention programmes in early
      childhood are seldom conducted. The aim of the present study was to explore
      existing methods and applications of economic evaluations, examining their
      limitations and making recommendations for future cost-effectiveness assessments.
      A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Library, the
      British National Health Service Economic Evaluation Databases and EconLit.
      Eligible studies included trial-based or simulation-based cost-effectiveness
      analyses of obesity prevention programmes targeting preschool children and/or
      their parents. The quality of included studies was assessed. Of the six studies
      included, five were intervention studies and one was based on a simulation
      approach conducted on secondary data. We identified three main conceptual and
      methodological limitations of their economic evaluations: Insufficient conceptual
      approach considering the complexity of childhood obesity, inadequate measurement
      of effects of interventions, and lack of valid instruments to measure child
      related quality of life and costs. Despite the need for economic evaluations of
      obesity prevention programmes in early childhood, only a few studies of varying
      quality have been conducted. Moreover, due to methodological and conceptual
      weaknesses, they offer only limited information for policy makers and
      intervention providers. We elaborate reasons for the limitations of these studies
      and offer guidance for designing better economic evaluations of early obesity
      prevention.

PMID- 27649220
TI  - Utilizing Chinese Admission Records for MACE Prediction of Acute Coronary
      Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) prediction of
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is important for a number of applications including
      physician decision support, quality of care assessment, and efficient healthcare
      service delivery on ACS patients. Admission records, as typical media to contain
      clinical information of patients at the early stage of their hospitalizations,
      provide significant potential to be explored for MACE prediction in a proactive
      manner. METHODS: We propose a hybrid approach for MACE prediction by utilizing a
      large volume of admission records. Firstly, both a rule-based medical language
      processing method and a machine learning method (i.e., Conditional Random Fields
      (CRFs)) are developed to extract essential patient features from unstructured
      admission records. After that, state-of-the-art supervised machine learning
      algorithms are applied to construct MACE prediction models from data. RESULTS: We
      comparatively evaluate the performance of the proposed approach on a real
      clinical dataset consisting of 2930 ACS patient samples collected from a Chinese
      hospital. Our best model achieved 72% AUC in MACE prediction. In comparison of
      the performance between our models and two well-known ACS risk score tools, i.e.,
      GRACE and TIMI, our learned models obtain better performances with a significant
      margin. CONCLUSIONS: Experimental results reveal that our approach can obtain
      competitive performance in MACE prediction. The comparison of classifiers
      indicates the proposed approach has a competitive generality with datasets
      extracted by different feature extraction methods. Furthermore, our MACE
      prediction model obtained a significant improvement by comparison with both GRACE
      and TIMI. It indicates that using admission records can effectively provide MACE
      prediction service for ACS patients at the early stage of their hospitalizations.

PMID- 27649219
TI  - Do They Need Goals or Support? A Report from a Goal-Setting Intervention Using
      Physical Activity Monitors in Youth.
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the association between physical
      activity (PA) and different goal setting and strategies in youth. The study took
      into consideration different sources of support as well as gender variations.
      Classmate and Teacher Support scales were used to evaluate support in physical
      education (PE) classes, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was
      reported. Garmin Vivofit((r)) activity trackers were used during an 8 week-long
      intervention to count daily steps. Data was collected from 65 adolescents (mean
      age 17.2 +/- 0.2), 74 young adolescents (mean age 15.3 +/- 0.2) and 57 children
      (mean age 11.5 +/- 0.4). An experimental design was employed, with "goal" and "do
      your best" groups given different step goal strategies. The results show that
      both groups achieved a comparable number of steps. Two-way ANOVA showed
      interactional effects between gender and teacher support. There were no such
      effects for MVPA and number of steps. Although classmate support in PE was
      reported to be reasonably high, the findings show that it does not play a
      significant role in increasing MVPA behaviors in youths. However, the problem of
      significantly lower support given to adolescent girls by PE teachers should be
      embedded into the teaching context of PE students and counteracted in school
      setting realities.

PMID- 27649222
TI  - Exploring the Housing and Household Energy Pathways to Stress: A Mixed Methods
      Study.
AB  - Chronic stress, known to contribute to negative physical and mental health
      outcomes, is closely associated with broader issues of material hardship, poor
      neighborhood conditions, residential instability, and inadequate housing
      conditions. However, few studies have comprehensively explored pathways to stress
      in a low-income housing environment. A mixed-methods pilot study investigated the
      concept of energy insecurity by looking at the impacts of weatherization and
      energy efficiency interventions on low-income households in the South Bronx
      neighborhood of New York City. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 low
      income heads of household; participants also completed health, housing and budget
      assessments. Physical deficiencies, economic hardship, and health issues all
      interacted to directly and indirectly produce living conditions that contribute
      to chronic stress. Households with higher stress reported more health problems.
      Poor quality housing led to coping responses that increased expenses, which in
      turn increased stress around housing and energy affordability. This study
      provides further support for the connections between both health and the built
      environment and between low socio-economic status populations and net negative
      health outcomes. Energy insecurity is an important contributor to chronic stress
      in low-income households, and isolating pathways to stress where there is
      potential for interventions is important for future policy and housing-based
      strategies.

PMID- 27649221
TI  - Analysis of Pollution Hazard Intensity: A Spatial Epidemiology Case Study of Soil
      Pb Contamination.
AB  - Heavy industrialization has resulted in the contamination of soil by metals from
      anthropogenic sources in Anniston, Alabama. This situation calls for increased
      public awareness of the soil contamination issue and better knowledge of the main
      factors contributing to the potential sources contaminating residential soil. The
      purpose of this spatial epidemiology research is to describe the effects of
      physical factors on the concentration of lead (Pb) in soil in Anniston AL, and to
      determine the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of those residing in
      areas with higher soil contamination. Spatial regression models are used to
      account for spatial dependencies using these explanatory variables. After
      accounting for covariates and multicollinearity, results of the analysis indicate
      that lead concentration in soils varies markedly in the vicinity of a specific
      foundry (Foundry A), and that proximity to railroads explained a significant
      amount of spatial variation in soil lead concentration. Moreover, elevated soil
      lead levels were identified as a concern in industrial sites, neighborhoods with
      a high density of old housing, a high percentage of African American population,
      and a low percent of occupied housing units. The use of spatial modelling allows
      for better identification of significant factors that are correlated with soil
      lead concentrations.

PMID- 27649223
TI  - Using Fenton Oxidation to Simultaneously Remove Different Estrogens from Cow
      Manure.
AB  - The presence of estrogens in livestock excrement has raised concerns about their
      potential negative influence on animals and the overall food cycle. This is the
      first investigation to simultaneously remove estrogens, including estriol (E3),
      bisphenol A (BPA), diethylstilbestrol (DES), estradiol (E2), and ethinyl
      estradiol (EE2), from cow manure using a Fenton oxidation technique. Based on the
      residual concentrations and removal efficiency of estrogens, the Fenton oxidation
      reaction conditions were optimized as follows: a H2O2 dosage of 2.56 mmol/g, a
      Fe(II) to H2O2 molar ratio of 0.125 M/M, a solid to water mass ratio of 2 g/mL,
      an initial pH of 3, and a reaction time of 24 h. Under these conditions, the
      simultaneous removal efficiencies of E3, BPA, DES, E2, and EE2, with initial
      concentrations in cow manure of 97.40, 96.54, 100.22, 95.01, and 72.49 mg/kg,
      were 84.9%, 99.5%, 99.1%, 97.8%, and 84.5%, respectively. We clarified the
      possible Fenton oxidation reaction mechanisms that governed the degradation of
      estrogens. We concluded that Fenton oxidation technique could be effective for
      efficient removal of estrogens in livestock excrement. Results are of great
      importance for cow manure reuse in agricultural management, and can be used to
      reduce the threat of environmental estrogens to human health and ecological
      safety.

PMID- 27649224
TI  - Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria Involved in Urinary Infections in Brazil: A
      Cross-Sectional and Retrospective Study.
AB  - Empirical and prolonged antimicrobial treatment of urinary tract infections
      caused by Escherichia coli is associated with the emergence of bacterial
      resistance, and not all countries have strict policies against the indiscriminate
      use of drugs in order to prevent resistance. This cross-sectional and
      retrospective study (2010-2015) aimed to evaluate the sensitivity and resistance
      of patient-derived E. coli to different drugs broadly used to treat urinary
      infections in Brazil: ampicillin + sulbactam, cephalothin, ciprofloxacin,
      norfloxacin, and nitrofurantoin. We obtained 1654 E. coli samples from ambulatory
      patients with disease symptoms of the urinary tract from a Brazilian public
      hospital. While all antibiotics were effective in killing E. coli to a large
      degree, nitrofurantoin was the most effective, with fewer samples exhibiting
      antibiotic resistance. We assessed the costs of generic and brand name versions
      of each antibiotic. Nitrofurantoin, the most effective antibiotic, was the
      cheapest, followed by the fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin),
      ampicillin + sulbactam and, lastly, cephalothin. Finally, assessment of
      antibiotic resistance to fluoroquinolones over the study period and extrapolation
      of the data led to the conclusion that these antibiotics could no longer be
      effective against E. coli-based urinary infections in approximately 20 years if
      their indiscriminate use in empirical treatment continues.

PMID- 27649225
TI  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Swimming Pool Water: Evidences and Perspectives for a
      New Control Strategy.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is frequently isolated in swimming pool settings. Nine
      recreational and rehabilitative swimming pools were monitored according to the
      local legislation. The presence of P. aeruginosa was correlated to chlorine
      concentration. The ability of the isolates to form a biofilm on plastic materials
      was also investigated. In 59.5% of the samples, microbial contamination exceeded
      the threshold values. P. aeruginosa was isolated in 50.8% of these samples. The
      presence of P. aeruginosa was not correlated with free or total chlorine amount
      (R2 < 0.1). All the isolates were moderate- to strong-forming biofilm (Optical
      Density O.D.570 range 0.7-1.2). To control biofilm formation and P. aeruginosa
      colonization, Quantum FreeBioEnergy(c) (QFBE, FreeBioEnergy, Brisighella, Italy),
      has been applied with encouraging preliminary results. It is a new, promising
      control strategy based on the change of an electromagnetic field which is
      responsible for the proliferation of some microorganisms involved in biofilm
      formation, such as P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 27649227
TI  - Spatial and Temporal Variations of PM2.5 and Its Relation to Meteorological
      Factors in the Urban Area of Nanjing, China.
AB  - The serious air pollution problem has aroused widespread public concerns in
      China. Nanjing city, as one of the famous cities of China, is faced with the same
      situation. This research aims to investigate spatial and temporal distribution
      characteristics of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the influence of weather
      factors on PM2.5 in Nanjing using Spearman-Rank analysis and the Complete
      Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN) method.
      Hourly PM2.5 observation data and daily meteorological data were collected from 1
      April 2013 to 31 December 2015. The spatial distribution result shows that the
      Maigaoqiao site suffered the most serious pollution. Daily PM2.5 concentrations
      in Nanjing varied from 7.3 MUg/m3 to 336.4 MUg/m3. The highest concentration was
      found in winter and the lowest in summer. The diurnal variation of PM2.5
      increased greatly from 6 to 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., while the concentration
      exhibited few variations in summer. In addition, the concentration was slightly
      higher on weekends compared to weekdays. PM2.5 was found to exhibit a reversed
      relation with wind speed, relative humidity, and precipitation. Although
      temperature had a positive association with PM2.5 in most months, a negative
      correlation was observed during the whole period. Additionally, a high
      concentration was mainly brought with the wind with a southwest direction and
      several relevant factors are discussed to explain the difference of the impacts
      of diverse wind directions.

PMID- 27649226
TI  - DengueME: A Tool for the Modeling and Simulation of Dengue Spatiotemporal
      Dynamics.
AB  - The prevention and control of dengue are great public health challenges for many
      countries, particularly since 2015, as other arboviruses have been observed to
      interact significantly with dengue virus. Different approaches and methodologies
      have been proposed and discussed by the research community. An important tool
      widely used is modeling and simulation, which help us to understand epidemic
      dynamics and create scenarios to support planning and decision making processes.
      With this aim, we proposed and developed DengueME, a collaborative open source
      platform to simulate dengue disease and its vector's dynamics. It supports
      compartmental and individual-based models, implemented over a GIS database, that
      represent Aedes aegypti population dynamics, human demography, human mobility,
      urban landscape and dengue transmission mediated by human and mosquito
      encounters. A user-friendly graphical interface was developed to facilitate model
      configuration and data input, and a library of models was developed to support
      teaching-learning activities. DengueME was applied in study cases and evaluated
      by specialists. Other improvements will be made in future work, to enhance its
      extensibility and usability.

PMID- 27649228
TI  - Correction: Dong, F.; et al. Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence, Awareness,
      Treatment and Control between Bouyei and Han: Results from a Bi-Ethnic Health
      Survey in Developing Regions from South China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public
      Health 2016 13, 233.

PMID- 27649229
TI  - Binding of RNA by the Nucleoproteins of Influenza Viruses A and B.
AB  - This paper describes a biochemical study for making complexes between the
      nucleoprotein of influenza viruses A and B (A/NP and B/NP) and small RNAs (polyUC
      RNAs from 5 to 24 nucleotides (nt)), starting from monomeric proteins. We used
      negative stain electron microscopy, size exclusion chromatography-multi-angle
      laser light scattering (SEC-MALLS) analysis, and fluorescence anisotropy
      measurements to show how the NP-RNA complexes evolve. Both proteins make small
      oligomers with 24-nt RNAs, trimers for A/NP, and dimers, tetramers, and larger
      complexes for B/NP. With shorter RNAs, the affinities of NP are all in the same
      range at 50 mM NaCl, showing that the RNAs bind on the same site. The affinity of
      B/NP for a 24-nt RNA does not change with salt. However, the affinity of A/NP for
      a 24-nt RNA is lower at 150 and 300 mM NaCl, suggesting that the RNA binds to
      another site, either on the same protomer or on a neighbour protomer. For our
      fluorescence anisotropy experiments, we used 6-fluorescein amidite (FAM)-labelled
      RNAs. By using a (UC)6-FAM(3') RNA with 150 mM NaCl, we observed an interesting
      phenomenon that gives macromolecular complexes similar to the ribonucleoprotein
      particles purified from the viruses.

PMID- 27649231
TI  - Rapid Quantification and Validation of Lipid Concentrations within Liposomes.
AB  - Quantification of the lipid content in liposomal adjuvants for subunit vaccine
      formulation is of extreme importance, since this concentration impacts both
      efficacy and stability. In this paper, we outline a high performance liquid
      chromatography-evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD) method that
      allows for the rapid and simultaneous quantification of lipid concentrations
      within liposomal systems prepared by three liposomal manufacturing techniques
      (lipid film hydration, high shear mixing, and microfluidics). The ELSD system was
      used to quantify four lipids: 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC),
      cholesterol, dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) bromide, and ?-(+)-trehalose 6,6'
      dibehenate (TDB). The developed method offers rapidity, high sensitivity, direct
      linearity, and a good consistency on the responses (R2 > 0.993 for the four
      lipids tested). The corresponding limit of detection (LOD) and limit of
      quantification (LOQ) were 0.11 and 0.36 mg/mL (DMPC), 0.02 and 0.80 mg/mL
      (cholesterol), 0.06 and 0.20 mg/mL (DDA), and 0.05 and 0.16 mg/mL (TDB),
      respectively. HPLC-ELSD was shown to be a rapid and effective method for the
      quantification of lipids within liposome formulations without the need for lipid
      extraction processes. 

PMID- 27649230
TI  - Quantification of Lyssavirus-Neutralizing Antibodies Using Vesicular Stomatitis
      Virus Pseudotype Particles.
AB  - Rabies is a highly fatal zoonotic disease which is primarily caused by rabies
      virus (RABV) although other members of the genus Lyssavirus can cause rabies as
      well. As yet, 14 serologically and genetically diverse lyssaviruses have been
      identified, mostly in bats. To assess the quality of rabies vaccines and
      immunoglobulin preparations, virus neutralization tests with live RABV are
      performed in accordance with enhanced biosafety standards. In the present work, a
      novel neutralization test is presented which takes advantage of a modified
      vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) from which the glycoprotein G gene has been
      deleted and replaced by reporter genes. This single-cycle virus was trans
      complemented with RABV envelope glycoprotein. Neutralization of this pseudotype
      virus with RABV reference serum or immune sera from vaccinated mice showed a
      strong correlation with the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT).
      Importantly, pseudotype viruses containing the envelope glycoproteins of other
      lyssaviruses were neutralized by reference serum to a significantly lesser extent
      or were not neutralized at all. Taken together, a pseudotype virus system has
      been successfully developed which allows the safe, fast, and sensitive detection
      of neutralizing antibodies directed against different lyssaviruses.

PMID- 27649232
TI  - Sustaining Effect of Intensive Nutritional Intervention Combined with Health
      Education on Dietary Behavior and Plasma Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
      Patients.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is very common in elderly Chinese individuals. Although
      nutritional intervention can provide a balanced diet, the sustaining effect on at
      home dietary behavior and long-term plasma glucose control is not clear.
      Consequently, we conducted a long-term survey following one month of experiential
      nutritional intervention combined with health education. Based on the Dietary
      Guidelines for a Chinese Resident, we found that the food items met the
      recommended values, the percentages of energy provided from fat, protein, and
      carbohydrate were more reasonable after one year. The newly formed dietary
      patterns were "Healthy", "Monotonous", "Vegetarian", "Japanese", "Low energy",
      and "Traditional" diets. The 2h-PG of female participants as well as those
      favoring the "Japanese diet" decreased above 12 mmol/L. Participants who selected
      "Japanese" and "Healthy" diets showed an obvious reduction in FPG while the FPG
      of participants from Group A declined slightly. "Japanese" and "Healthy" diets
      also obtained the highest DDP scores, and thus can be considered suitable for
      T2DM treatment in China. The results of the newly formed dietary patterns,
      "Japanese" and "Healthy" diets, confirmed the profound efficacy of nutritional
      intervention combined with health education for improving dietary behavior and
      glycemic control although health education played a more important role. The
      present study is encouraging with regard to further exploration of comprehensive
      diabetes care. 

PMID- 27649233
TI  - Reaching Low-Income Mothers to Improve Family Fruit and Vegetable Intake: Food
      Hero Social Marketing Campaign-Research Steps, Development and Testing.
AB  - The objective of this study was to create/test a social marketing campaign to
      increase fruit/vegetable (FV) intake within Oregon Supplemental Nutrition
      Assistance Program (SNAP) eligible families. Focus groups (n = 2) and pre/post
      campaign phone surveys (n = 2082) were conducted in intervention counties (IC)
      and one control county. Participants were female (86%-100%) with 1-2 children at
      home. Mean FV intake/without juice was 3.1 servings/day; >50% preferred the
      Internet for delivery of healthy eating information. Participants reported
      time/financial burdens, low household FV variety and desirability of
      frozen/canned FV, and acceptance of positive messages. A Food Hero (FH) campaign
      was created/delivered daily August-October 2009 to mothers through multiple
      channels (e.g., grocery stores, online, educators). Results showed that the IC
      had better FH name recall (12%) and interpretation of intended messages (60%) vs.
      control (3%, 23%, respectively). Compared to controls, the IC were less likely to
      report healthy food preparation as time consuming or a FV rich diet expensive,
      and it was easier to get their family to eat fruit. Results did not vary based on
      county/household characteristics. The FH campaign increased FH awareness and
      positive FV beliefs. A longer campaign with FV assessments will increase
      understanding of the target audience, and allow for campaign refinement. 

PMID- 27649235
TI  - Relationship between Vitamin D Status and Autonomic Nervous System Activity.
AB  - Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased arterial stiffness. However,
      the mechanisms underlying this association have not been clarified. The aim was
      to investigate whether changes in autonomic nervous system activity could
      underlie an association between 25 hydroxy vitamin D and arterial stiffness. A
      total of 49 subjects (age = 60 +/- 8 years, body mass index = 26.7 +/- 4.6 kg/m2,
      25 hydroxy vitamin D = 69 +/- 22 nmol/L) underwent measurements of pulse wave
      velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx), spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity,
      plasma metanephrines and 25 hydroxy vitamin D. Subjects with 25 hydroxy vitamin D
      <= 50 nmol/L were restudied after 200,000 International Units 25 hydroxy vitamin
      D. Plasma metanephrine was positively associated with AIx (p = 0.02) independent
      of age, sex, smoking and cholesterol and negatively associated with 25 hydroxy
      vitamin D (p = 0.002) independent of age, sex and season. In contrast, there was
      no association between baroreflex sensitivity and 25 hydroxy vitamin D (p =
      0.54). Treatment with vitamin D increased 25 hydroxy vitamin D from 43 +/- 5 to
      96 +/- 24 nmol/L (p < 0.0001) but there was no significant change in plasma
      metanephrine (115 +/- 25 vs. 99 +/- 39 pmol/L, p = 0.12). We conclude that as
      plasma metanephrine was negatively associated with 25 hydroxy vitamin D and
      positively with AIx, it could mediate an association between these two variables.
      This hypothesis should be tested in larger interventional studies. 

PMID- 27649234
TI  - The Anticancer Properties of Herba Epimedii and Its Main Bioactive
      Componentsicariin and Icariside II.
AB  - Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide. Compounds derived from
      traditional Chinese medicines have been an important source of anticancer drugs
      and adjuvant agents to potentiate the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs and
      improve the side effects of chemotherapy. Herba Epimedii is one of most popular
      herbs used in China traditionally for the treatment of multiple diseases,
      including osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction, hypertension and common inflammatory
      diseases. Studies show Herba Epimedii also possesses anticancer activity.
      Flavonol glycosides icariin and icariside II are the main bioactive components of
      Herba Epimedii. They have been found to possess anticancer activities against
      various human cancer cell lines in vitro and mouse tumor models in vivo via their
      effects on multiple biological pathways, including cell cycle regulation,
      apoptosis, angiogenesis, and metastasis, and a variety of signaling pathways
      including JAK2-STAT3, MAPK-ERK, and PI3k-Akt-mTOR. The review is aimed to provide
      an overview of the current research results supporting their therapeutic effects
      and to highlight the molecular targets and action mechanisms. 

PMID- 27649236
TI  - Beverage Consumption Patterns among Norwegian Adults.
AB  - Beverages may be important contributors for energy intake and dietary quality.
      The purpose of the study was to investigate how beverage consumption varies
      between different meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper/evening meal, snacks)
      and between weekdays and weekend-days in Norwegian adults. A cross-sectional
      dietary survey was conducted among Norwegian adults (n = 1787) in 2010-2011. Two
      telephone-administered 24 h recalls were used for dietary data collection.
      Breakfast was the most important meal for milk and juice consumption, dinner for
      sugar-sweetened beverages and wine, and snacks for water, coffee, artificially
      sweetened beverages, and beer. Consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially
      sweetened beverages did not differ between weekdays and weekend-days among
      consumers. The average intake of wine and beer (men only) was higher on weekend
      days. Higher age was positively associated with wine consumption and negatively
      associated with consumption of water, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened
      beverages. Higher education was associated with consumption of water, beer, and
      wine, whereas lower education was associated with sugar-sweetened beverage
      consumption. Beverage consumption patterns among Norwegian adults vary between
      different meal types and in subgroups of the population. Alcohol consumption was
      higher on weekend-days. Knowledge regarding beverage consumption patterns in the
      population should be considered when revising dietary guidelines in the future. 

PMID- 27649237
TI  - Association of Parental Overweight and Cardiometabolic Diseases and Pediatric
      Adiposity and Lifestyle Factors with Cardiovascular Risk Factor Clustering in
      Adolescents.
AB  - Cardiometabolic risk factors or their precursors are observed in childhood and
      may continue into adulthood. We investigated the effects of parental overweight
      and cardiometabolic diseases and pediatric lifestyle factors on the clustering of
      cardiovascular risk factors among adolescents, and examined the mediating and
      modifying effects of pediatric adiposity on these associations. Representative
      adolescents (n = 2727; age, 12-16 years) were randomly recruited through
      multistage stratified sampling from 36 schools in Southern Taiwan. Adolescent and
      parent surveys were conducted in schools and participant homes, respectively.
      Their demographic factors, diet patterns, and physical, anthropometric, and
      clinical parameters were collected and analyzed. Adolescents with 1-2 and >=3
      risk components for pediatric metabolic syndrome (MetS) were defined as potential
      MetS (pot-MetS) and MetS, respectively. Adolescents whose parents were
      overweight/obese, or with diabetes and hypertension had a higher prevalence ratio
      of pot-MetS and MetS (1.5-1.6 and 1.9-4.2-fold, respectively). Low physical
      activity (<952.4 MET.min/week), long screen time (>=3 h/day) and high sugar
      sweetened beverage intake (>500 mL/day) were associated with a 3.3- (95%
      confidence intervals (CI) = 1.5-7.3), 2.2- (95% CI = 1.1-4.4), and 26.9-fold (95%
      CI = 3.2-229.0) odds ratio (OR) of MetS, respectively. Pediatric body mass index
      (BMI) accounted for 18.8%-95.6% and 16.9%-60.3% increased prevalence ratios of
      these parental and pediatric risk factors for MetS. The OR of pot-MetS + MetS for
      sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was multiplicatively enhanced among
      adolescents with overweight/obesity (combined OR, 8.6-fold (95% CI = 4.3-17.3); p
      for multiplicative interaction, 0.009). The results suggest that parental
      overweight and cardiometabolic diseases and pediatric sedentary and high sugar
      intake lifestyles correlate with the development of adolescent MetS, and an
      elevated child BMI explains a part of these associations. Pediatric adiposity
      might be multiplicatively associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption
      for enhancing the MetS prevalence ratio among adolescents. 

PMID- 27649239
TI  - Food Matrix Effects of Polyphenol Bioaccessibility from Almond Skin during
      Simulated Human Digestion.
AB  - The goal of the present study was to quantify the rate and extent of polyphenols
      released in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) from natural (NS) and blanched (BS)
      almond skins. A dynamic gastric model of digestion which provides a realistic
      simulation of the human stomach was used. In order to establish the effect of a
      food matrix on polyphenols bioaccessibility, NS and BS were either digested in
      water (WT) or incorporated into home-made biscuits (HB), crisp-bread (CB) and
      full-fat milk (FM). Phenolic acids were the most bioaccessible class (68.5%
      release from NS and 64.7% from BS). WT increased the release of flavan-3-ols (p <
      0.05) and flavonols (p < 0.05) from NS after gastric plus duodenal digestion,
      whereas CB and HB were better vehicles for BS. FM lowered the % recovery of
      polyphenols, the free total phenols and the antioxidant status in the digestion
      medium, indicating that phenolic compounds could bind protein present in the food
      matrix. The release of bioactives from almond skins could explain the beneficial
      effects associated with almond consumption. 

PMID- 27649238
TI  - Ginsenoside Rg5 Ameliorates Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Mice through
      Inhibition of Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Apoptosis.
AB  - Although cisplatin is an effective anti-cancer agent that is widely used for
      treating various types of malignant solid tumors, the nephrotoxicity induced by
      cisplatin severely limits its clinical application. The present study was
      designed to explore the potential protective effect of ginsenoside Rg5, a rare
      ginsenoside generated during steaming ginseng, on cisplatin-induced
      nephrotoxicity in a mouse experimental model. The possible mechanisms underlying
      this nephroprotective effect were also investigated for the first time. Rg5 was
      given at doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days. On Day 7, a single
      nephrotoxic dose of cisplatin (25 mg/kg) was injected to mice. Cisplatin
      administration resulted in renal dysfunction as evidenced by increase in serum
      creatinine (CRE) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels. In addition, cisplatin
      increased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), the
      makers of lipid peroxidation, and depleted glutathione (GSH) content and
      superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in renal tissues. These effects were
      associated with the significantly increased levels of cytochrome P450 E1
      (CYP2E1), 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) p65, and
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in renal tissues. However, pretreatment with ginsenoside
      Rg5 significantly attenuated the renal dysfunction, oxidative stress and
      inflammation response induced by cisplatin. Furthermore, ginsenoside Rg5
      supplementation inhibited activation of apoptotic pathways through increasing Bcl
      2 and decreasing Bax expression levels. Histopathological examination further
      confirmed the nephroprotective effect of Rg5. Collectively, these results clearly
      suggest that Rg5-mediated alleviation of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity may be
      related to its anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects. 

PMID- 27649240
TI  - Current Hypothesis for the Relationship between Dietary Rice Bran Intake, the
      Intestinal Microbiota and Colorectal Cancer Prevention.
AB  - Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common form of cancer. The
      development of effective chemopreventive strategies to reduce CRC incidence is
      therefore of paramount importance. Over the past decade, research has indicated
      the potential of rice bran, a byproduct of rice milling, in CRC chemoprevention.
      This was recently suggested to be partly attributable to modification in the
      composition of intestinal microbiota when rice bran was ingested. Indeed,
      previous studies have reported changes in the population size of certain
      bacterial species, or microbial dysbiosis, in the intestines of CRC patients and
      animal models. Rice bran intake was shown to reverse such changes through the
      manipulation of the population of health-promoting bacteria in the intestine. The
      present review first provides an overview of evidence on the link between
      microbial dysbiosis and CRC carcinogenesis and describes the molecular events
      associated with that link. Thereafter, there is a summary of current data on the
      effect of rice bran intake on the composition of intestinal microbiota in human
      and animal models. The article also highlights the need for further studies on
      the inter-relationship between rice bran intake, the composition of intestinal
      microbiota and CRC prevention. 

PMID- 27649241
TI  - Calorie Restricted High Protein Diets Downregulate Lipogenesis and Lower
      Intrahepatic Triglyceride Concentrations in Male Rats.
AB  - The purpose of this investigation was to assess the influence of calorie
      restriction (CR) alone, higher-protein/lower-carbohydrate intake alone, and
      combined CR higher-protein/lower-carbohydrate intake on glucose homeostasis,
      hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL), and intrahepatic triglycerides. Twelve-week
      old male Sprague Dawley rats consumed ad libitum (AL) or CR (40% restriction),
      adequate (10%), or high (32%) protein (PRO) milk-based diets for 16 weeks.
      Metabolic profiles were assessed in serum, and intrahepatic triglyceride
      concentrations and molecular markers of de novo lipogenesis were determined in
      liver. Independent of calorie intake, 32% PRO tended to result in lower
      homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) values compared to
      10% PRO, while insulin and homeostatic model assessment of beta-cell function
      (HOMA-beta) values were lower in CR than AL, regardless of protein intake.
      Intrahepatic triglyceride concentrations were 27.4 +/- 4.5 and 11.7 +/- 4.5
      umol.g(-1) lower (p < 0.05) in CR and 32% PRO compared to AL and 10% PRO,
      respectively. Gene expression of fatty acid synthase (FASN), stearoyl-CoA
      destaurase-1 (SCD1) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, isozyme 4 (PDK4) were 45%
      +/- 1%, 23% +/- 1%, and 57% +/- 1% lower (p < 0.05), respectively, in CR than AL,
      regardless of protein intake. Total protein of FASN and SCD were 50% +/- 1% and
      26% +/- 1% lower (p < 0.05) in 32% PRO compared to 10% PRO, independent of
      calorie intake. Results from this investigation provide evidence that the
      metabolic health benefits associated with CR-specifically reduction in
      intrahepatic triglyceride content-may be enhanced by consuming a higher
      protein/lower-carbohydrate diet. 

PMID- 27649242
TI  - A Systematic Review of Athletes' and Coaches' Nutrition Knowledge and Reflections
      on the Quality of Current Nutrition Knowledge Measures.
AB  - CONTEXT: Nutrition knowledge can influence dietary choices and impact on athletic
      performance. Valid and reliable measures are needed to assess the nutrition
      knowledge of athletes and coaches. OBJECTIVES: (1) To systematically review the
      published literature on nutrition knowledge of adult athletes and coaches and (2)
      to assess the quality of measures used to assess nutrition knowledge. DATA
      SOURCES: MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscuss, Web of Science, and SCOPUS. STUDY
      SELECTION: 36 studies that provided a quantitative measure of nutrition knowledge
      and described the measurement tool that was used were included. DATA EXTRACTION:
      Participant description, questionnaire description, results (mean correct and
      responses to individual items), study quality, and questionnaire quality. DATA
      SYNTHESIS: All studies were of neutral quality. Tools used to measure knowledge
      did not consider health literacy, were outdated with regards to consensus
      recommendations, and lacked appropriate and adequate validation. The current
      status of nutrition knowledge in athletes and coaches is difficult to ascertain.
      Gaps in knowledge also remain unclear, but it is likely that energy density, the
      need for supplementation, and the role of protein are frequently misunderstood.
      CONCLUSIONS: Previous reports of nutrition knowledge need to be interpreted with
      caution. A new, universal, up-to-date, validated measure of general and sports
      nutrition knowledge is required to allow for assessment of nutrition knowledge.

PMID- 27649243
TI  - Antioxidant-Rich Extract from Plantaginis Semen Ameliorates Diabetic Retinal
      Injury in a Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rat Model.
AB  - Plantaginis semen, the dried ripe seed of Plantago asiatica L. or Plantago
      depressa Willd. (Plantaginaceae), has been traditionally used to treat blurred
      vision in Asia. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of plantaginis
      semen ethanol extract (PSEE) on the amelioration of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in
      streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. PSEE has abundant polyphenols with strong
      antioxidant activity. PSEE (100, 200 or 300 mg/kg) was oral administrated to the
      diabetic rats once daily consecutively for 8 weeks. Oral administration of PSEE
      resulted in significant reduction of hyperglycemia, the diameter of the retinal
      vessels, and retinal vascular permeability and leukostasis in diabetic rats. In
      addition, PSEE administration increased the activities of superoxidase dismutase
      (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH) level in diabetic
      retinae. PSEE treatment inhibited the expression of vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and the
      phosphorylation of Akt without altering the Akt protein expression in diabetic
      retinae. PSEE not only down-regulated the gene expression of hypoxia-inducible
      factor-1alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), but also reduced ICAM
      1 and VCAM-1 expression in diabetic retinae. Moreover, PSEE reduced the nuclear
      factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation and corrected imbalance between histone
      deacetylases (HDAC) and histone acetyltransferases (HAT) activities in diabetic
      retinae. In conclusion, phenolic antioxidants extract from plantaginis semen has
      potential benefits in the prevention and/or progression of DR. 

PMID- 27649244
TI  - Organization and ELISA-Based Results of the First Proficiency Testing to Evaluate
      the Ability of European Union Laboratories to Detect Staphylococcal Enterotoxin
      Type B (SEB) in Buffer and Milk.
AB  - The aim of this work was to organize the first proficiency test (PT) dedicated to
      staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) detection in milk and buffer solutions. This
      paper describes the organization of the PT trial according to EN ISO 17043
      requirements. Characterization of the SEB stock solution was performed using SDS
      PAGE and SE-specific ELISA, and amino acid analysis was used to assign its
      protein concentration. The solution was then used to prepare six PT materials
      (four milk and two buffer batches) at a ng/g toxin level, which included one
      blank and one SEA-containing milk as specificity control. Suitable material
      homogeneity and stability were assessed using screening and quantitative ELISAs.
      Among the methods used by the participants, ELISA-based methods demonstrated
      their efficiency for the detection of SEB in both simple and complex matrices.
      The results serve as a basis for further improving the detection capabilities in
      expert laboratories and can therefore be considered as a contribution to
      biopreparedness.

PMID- 27649245
TI  - Reappearance from Obscurity: Mammalian Rad52 in Homologous Recombination.
AB  - Homologous recombination (HR) plays an important role in maintaining genomic
      integrity. It is responsible for repair of the most harmful DNA lesions, DNA
      double-strand breaks and inter-strand DNA cross-links. HR function is also
      essential for proper segregation of homologous chromosomes in meiosis,
      maintenance of telomeres, and resolving stalled replication forks. Defects in HR
      often lead to genetic diseases and cancer. Rad52 is one of the key HR proteins,
      which is evolutionarily conserved from yeast to humans. In yeast, Rad52 is
      important for most HR events; Rad52 mutations disrupt repair of DNA double-strand
      breaks and targeted DNA integration. Surprisingly, in mammals, Rad52 knockouts
      showed no significant DNA repair or recombination phenotype. However, recent work
      demonstrated that mutations in human RAD52 are synthetically lethal with
      mutations in several other HR proteins including BRCA1 and BRCA2. These new
      findings indicate an important backup role for Rad52, which complements the main
      HR mechanism in mammals. In this review, we focus on the Rad52 activities and
      functions in HR and the possibility of using human RAD52 as therapeutic target in
      BRCA1 and BRCA2-deficient familial breast cancer and ovarian cancer. 

PMID- 27649247
TI  - Impact of an Invasive Insect and Plant Defense on a Native Forest Defoliator.
AB  - Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis [L.] Carriere) in the United States is
      threatened by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand). The
      native hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria Guenee) also appears to have played a
      role in previous population declines of this conifer. Although these two insects
      co-occur in much of the adelgid's invaded range, their interactions remain
      unstudied. We assessed looper performance and preference on both uninfested and
      adelgid-infested foliage from adelgid-susceptible hemlocks, as well as on
      uninfested foliage from an eastern hemlock that is naturally adelgid-resistant.
      Larvae reared on uninfested foliage from adelgid-susceptible hemlocks experienced
      60% mortality within the first two weeks of the experiment, and pupated at a
      lower weight than larvae fed adelgid-infested foliage. Despite differences in
      foliage source, this first look and strong pattern suggests that the hemlock
      looper performs better (pupates earlier, weighs more) on adelgid-infested
      foliage. In addition, trends suggested that larvae reared on foliage from the
      adelgid-resistant tree survived better, pupated earlier, and weighed more than in
      the other treatments. Larvae preferred adelgid-resistant over adelgid-susceptible
      foliage. Our results suggest that looper perform slightly better on adelgid
      infested foliage and that plant resistance to xylem-feeding adelgid may increase
      susceptibility to foliar-feeding looper larvae. 

PMID- 27649249
TI  - The Rescue and Rehabilitation of Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in Southeast
      Queensland.
AB  - Koala populations in southeast Queensland are under threat from many factors,
      particularly habitat loss, dog attack, vehicle trauma and disease. Animals not
      killed from these impacts are often rescued and taken into care for
      rehabilitation, and eventual release back to the wild if deemed to be healthy.
      This study investigated current rescue, rehabilitation and release data for
      koalas admitted to the four major wildlife hospitals in southeast Queensland
      (Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital (AZWH), Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Hospital
      (CWH), Moggill Koala Hospital (MKH) and the Royal Society for the Prevention
      Against Cruelty to Animals Wildlife Hospital at Wacol (RSPCA)), and suggests
      aspects of the practice that may be changed to improve its contribution to the
      preservation of the species. It concluded that: (a) the main threats to koalas
      across southeast Queensland were related to urbanization (vehicle collisions,
      domestic animal attacks and the disease chlamydiosis); (b) case outcomes varied
      amongst hospitals, including time spent in care, euthanasia and release rates;
      and (c) the majority (66.5%) of rescued koalas were either euthanized or died in
      care with only 27% released back to the wild. The results from this study have
      important implications for further research into koala rescue and rehabilitation
      to gain a better understanding of its effectiveness as a conservation strategy. 

PMID- 27649250
TI  - Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Phalaenopsis Orchid Hybrids.
AB  - Phalaenopsis spp. is the most commercially and economically important orchid, but
      their plant parts are often left unused, which has caused environmental problems.
      To date, reports on phytochemical analyses were most available on endangered and
      medicinal orchids. The present study was conducted to determine the total
      phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity of ethanol extracts
      prepared from leaves and roots of six commercial hybrid Phalaenopsis spp. Leaf
      extracts of "Chian Xen Queen" contained the highest total phenolics with a value
      of 11.52 +/- 0.43 mg gallic acid equivalent per g dry weight and the highest
      total flavonoids (4.98 +/- 0.27 mg rutin equivalent per g dry weight). The
      antioxidant activity of root extracts evaluated by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1
      picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay and beta-carotene bleaching method
      was higher than those of the leaf extracts. Eleven phenolic compounds were
      identified, namely, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid,
      caffeic acid, syringic acid, vanillin, ferulic acid, sinapic acid, p-coumaric
      acid, benzoic acid, and ellagic acid. Ferulic, p-coumaric and sinapic acids were
      concentrated largely in the roots. The results suggested that the root extracts
      from hybrid Phalaenopsis spp. could be a potential source of natural
      antioxidants. This study also helps to reduce the amount of this orchid waste in
      industrial production, as its roots can be exploited for pharmaceutical purposes.

PMID- 27649248
TI  - Parasitic Nematode Immunomodulatory Strategies: Recent Advances and Perspectives.
AB  - More than half of the described species of the phylum Nematoda are considered
      parasitic, making them one of the most successful groups of parasites. Nematodes
      are capable of inhabiting a wide variety of niches. A vast array of vertebrate
      animals, insects, and plants are all identified as potential hosts for nematode
      parasitization. To invade these hosts successfully, parasitic nematodes must be
      able to protect themselves from the efficiency and potency of the host immune
      system. Innate immunity comprises the first wave of the host immune response, and
      in vertebrate animals it leads to the induction of the adaptive immune response.
      Nematodes have evolved elegant strategies that allow them to evade, suppress, or
      modulate host immune responses in order to persist and spread in the host.
      Nematode immunomodulation involves the secretion of molecules that are capable of
      suppressing various aspects of the host immune response in order to promote
      nematode invasion. Immunomodulatory mechanisms can be identified in parasitic
      nematodes infecting insects, plants, and mammals and vary greatly in the specific
      tactics by which the parasites modify the host immune response. Nematode-derived
      immunomodulatory effects have also been shown to affect, negatively or
      positively, the outcome of some concurrent diseases suffered by the host.
      Understanding nematode immunomodulatory actions will potentially reveal novel
      targets that will in turn lead to the development of effective means for the
      control of destructive nematode parasites. 

PMID- 27649252
TI  - Synthesis and Characterization of Nanodiamond Reinforced Chitosan for Bone Tissue
      Engineering.
AB  - Multifunctional tissue scaffold material nanodiamond (ND)/chitosan (CS)
      composites with different diamond concentrations from 1 wt % to 5 wt % were
      synthesized through a solution casting method. The microstructure and mechanical
      properties of the composites were characterized using scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy (FTIR), and nanoindentation. Compared with pristine CS, the addition
      of ND resulted in a significant improvement of mechanical properties, including a
      239%, 276%, 321%, 333%, and 343% increase in Young's modulus and a 68%, 96%,
      114%, 118%, and 127% increase in hardness when the ND amount was 1 wt %, 2 wt %,
      3 wt %, 4 wt %, and 5 wt %, respectively. The strong interaction between ND
      surface groups and the chitosan matrix plays an important role in improving
      mechanical properties. 

PMID- 27649251
TI  - Processing Techniques and Applications of Silk Hydrogels in Bioengineering.
AB  - Hydrogels are an attractive class of tunable material platforms that, combined
      with their structural and functional likeness to biological environments, have a
      diversity of applications in bioengineering. Several polymers, natural and
      synthetic, can be used, the material selection being based on the required
      functional characteristics of the prepared hydrogels. Silk fibroin (SF) is an
      attractive natural polymer for its excellent processability, biocompatibility,
      controlled degradation, mechanical properties and tunable formats and a good
      candidate for the fabrication of hydrogels. Tremendous effort has been made to
      control the structural and functional characteristic of silk hydrogels,
      integrating novel biological features with advanced processing techniques, to
      develop the next generation of functional SF hydrogels. Here, we review the
      several processing methods developed to prepare advanced SF hydrogel formats,
      emphasizing a bottom-up approach beginning with critical structural
      characteristics of silk proteins and their behavior under specific gelation
      environments. Additionally, the preparation of SF hydrogel blends and other
      advanced formats will also be discussed. We conclude with a brief description of
      the attractive utility of SF hydrogels in relevant bioengineering applications. 

PMID- 27649253
TI  - Reconsultation and Antimicrobial Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection in Male and
      Female Patients in General Practice.
AB  - Current antimicrobial prescribing guidelines indicate that male and female
      patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) should be treated with same
      antimicrobials but for different durations. The aim of this study was to explore
      the differences in reconsultations and antimicrobial prescribing for UTI for both
      males and females. A total of 2557 adult suspected UTI patients participating in
      the Supporting the Improvement and Management of Prescribing for urinary tract
      infection (SIMPle) study from 30 general practices were analyzed. An
      antimicrobial was prescribed significantly more often to females (77%) than males
      (63%). Nitrofurantoin was prescribed more often for females and less often for
      males (58% vs. 41%), while fluoroquinolones were more often prescribed for males
      (11% vs. 3%). Overall, reconsultation was 1.4 times higher in females, and if the
      antimicrobial prescribed was not the recommended first-line (nitrofurantoin),
      reconsultation after empirical prescribing was significantly higher. However, the
      reconsultation was similar for males and females if the antimicrobial prescribed
      was first-line. When a urine culture was obtained, a positive culture was the
      most important predictor of reconsultation (Odds ratio 1.8 (95% CI 1.3-2.5)).
      This suggests, when prescribing empirically, that male and female UTI patients
      should initially be treated with first-line antimicrobials (nitrofurantoin) with
      different durations (50-100 mg four times daily for three days in females and
      seven days for males). However, the consideration of a culture test before
      prescribing antimicrobials may improve outcomes. 

PMID- 27649246
TI  - Telomerase Regulation from Beginning to the End.
AB  - The vast body of literature regarding human telomere maintenance is a true
      testament to the importance of understanding telomere regulation in both normal
      and diseased states. In this review, our goal was simple: tell the telomerase
      story from the biogenesis of its parts to its maturity as a complex and function
      at its site of action, emphasizing new developments and how they contribute to
      the foundational knowledge of telomerase and telomere biology. 

PMID- 27649254
TI  - Serum Resistin Level and Progression of Atherosclerosis during Glucocorticoid
      Therapy for Systemic Autoimmune Diseases.
AB  - Adipokines are important regulators of several processes, including inflammation
      and atherosclerosis. In patients with systemic autoimmune diseases,
      atherosclerosis is accelerated with higher cardiovascular morbidity and
      mortality. We prospectively investigated the association of adipokines and
      glucocorticoid therapy with progression of premature atherosclerosis in 38
      patients starting glucocorticoid therapy for systemic autoimmune diseases. To
      detect premature atherosclerosis, carotid ultrasonography was performed at
      initiation of glucocorticoid therapy and after a mean three-year follow-up
      period. The ankle-brachial pressure index and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI)
      were measured. Serum adipokine levels were determined with enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay kits. Twenty-three patients (60.5%) had carotid artery plaque
      at baseline. The carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) increased
      significantly during follow-up. Glucocorticoids reduced the serum resistin level,
      while increasing serum leptin and high molecular weight-adiponectin. There was
      slower progression of atherosclerosis (carotid IMT and CAVI) at follow-up in
      patients with greater reduction of serum resistin and with higher cumulative
      prednisolone dose. In conclusion, progression of premature atherosclerosis
      occurred at an early stage of systemic autoimmune diseases before initiation of
      glucocorticoid therapy. Since resistin, an inflammation and atherosclerosis
      related adipokine, is reduced by glucocorticoids, glucocortidoid therapy may not
      accelerate atherosclerosis in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases. 

PMID- 27649257
TI  - Case-Fatality Rates and Sequelae Resulting from Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup
      C Epidemic, Niger, 2015.
AB  - We describe clinical symptoms, case-fatality rates, and prevalence of sequelae
      during an outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C infection in a rural
      district of Niger. During home visits, we established that household contacts of
      reported case-patients were at higher risk for developing meningitis than the
      general population.

PMID- 27649255
TI  - Effect of Flavonoids on Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Adults at Risk of
      Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review.
AB  - Oxidative stress (OS) and inflammatory processes initiate the first stage of
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). Flavonoid consumption has been related to
      significantly improved flow-mediated dilation and blood pressure. Antioxidant and
      anti-inflammatory mechanisms are thought to be involved. The effect of flavonoids
      on markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, in at risk individuals is yet to
      be reviewed. Systematic literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Cochrane
      Library, CINAHL and SCOPUS databases. Randomised controlled trials in a Western
      country providing a food-based flavonoid intervention to participants with one or
      two modifiable risk factors for CVD measuring a marker of OS and/or inflammation,
      were included. Reference lists were hand-searched. The Cochrane Collaboration
      Risk of Bias Tool was used to assess study quality. The search strategy retrieved
      1248 articles. Nineteen articles meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed.
      Eight studies were considered at low risk of bias. Cocoa flavonoids provided to
      Type 2 diabetics and olive oil flavonoids to mildly-hypertensive women reduced OS
      and inflammation. Other food sources had weaker effects. No consistent effect on
      OS and inflammation across patients with varied CVD risk factors was observed.
      Study heterogeneity posed a challenge for inter-study comparisons. Rigorously
      designed studies will assist in determining the effectiveness of flavonoid
      interventions for reducing OS and inflammation in patients at risk of CVD. 

PMID- 27649259
TI  - Fused analytical and iterative reconstruction (AIR) via modified proximal forward
      backward splitting: a FDK-based iterative image reconstruction example for CBCT.
AB  - This work is to develop a general framework, namely analytical iterative
      reconstruction (AIR) method, to incorporate analytical reconstruction (AR) method
      into iterative reconstruction (IR) method, for enhanced CT image quality and
      reconstruction efficiency. Specifically, AIR is established based on the modified
      proximal forward-backward splitting (PFBS) algorithm, and its connection to the
      filtered data fidelity with sparsity regularization is discussed. As a result,
      AIR decouples data fidelity and image regularization with a two-step iterative
      scheme, during which an AR-projection step updates the filtered data fidelity
      term, while a denoising solver updates the sparsity regularization term. During
      the AR-projection step, the image is projected to the data domain to form the
      data residual, and then reconstructed by certain AR to a residual image which is
      then weighted together with previous image iterate to form next image iterate.
      Intuitively since the eigenvalues of AR-projection operator are close to the
      unity, PFBS based AIR has a fast convergence. Such an advantage is rigorously
      established through convergence analysis and numerical computation of convergence
      rate. The proposed AIR method is validated in the setting of circular cone-beam
      CT with AR being FDK and total-variation sparsity regularization, and has
      improved image quality from both AR and IR. For example, AIR has improved visual
      assessment and quantitative measurement in terms of both contrast and resolution,
      and reduced axial and half-fan artifacts.

PMID- 27649260
TI  - Standards in Studies of Psychotherapy and Pharmacotherapy Interventions for HSDD.

PMID- 27649258
TI  - Monoblock versus modular polyethylene insert in uncemented total knee
      arthroplasty.
AB  - Background and purpose - Backside wear of the polyethylene insert in total knee
      arthroplasty (TKA) can produce clinically significant levels of polyethylene
      debris, which can lead to loosening of the tibial component. Loosening due to
      polyethylene debris could theoretically be reduced in tibial components of
      monoblock polyethylene design, as there is no backside wear. We investigated the
      effect of 2 different tibial component designs, monoblock and modular
      polyethylene, on migration of the tibial component in uncemented TKA. Patients
      and methods - In this randomized study, 53 patients (mean age 61 years), 32 in
      the monoblock group and 33 in the modular group, were followed for 2 years.
      Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) was done postoperatively after weight bearing
      and after 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. The primary endpoint of the study was
      comparison of the tibial component migration (expressed as maximum total point
      motion (MTPM)) of the 2 different implant designs. Results - We did not find any
      statistically significant difference in MTPM between the groups at 3 months (p =
      0.2) or at 6 months (p = 0.1), but at 12 and 24 months of follow-up there was a
      significant difference in MTPM of 0.36 mm (p = 0.02) and 0.42 mm (p = 0.02)
      between groups, with the highest amount of migration (1.0 mm) in the modular
      group. The difference in continuous migration (MTPM from 12 and 24 months)
      between the groups was 0.096 mm (p = 0.5), and when comparing MTPM from 3-24
      months, the difference between the groups was 0.23 mm (p = 0.07). Interpretation 
      In both study groups, we found the early migration pattern expected, with a
      relatively high initial amount of migration from operation to 3 months of follow
      up, followed by stabilization of the implant with little migration thereafter.
      However, the modular implants had a statistically significantly higher degree of
      migration compared to the monoblock. We believe that the greater stiffness of the
      modular implants was the main reason for the difference in migration, but an
      initial creep in the polyethylene metal-back locking mechanism of the modular
      group could also be a possible explanation for the observed difference in
      migration between the 2 study groups.

PMID- 27649261
TI  - MiR-pharmacogenetics of methotrexate in childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Methotrexate (MTX), the key drug in childhood B-cell acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) therapy, often causes toxicity. An association
      between genetic variants in MTX transport genes and toxicity has been found. It
      is known that these transporters are regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs), and miRNA
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) interfere with miRNA levels or function.
      With regard to B-cell ALL, we have previously found rs56103835 in miR-323b that
      targets ABCC4 associated with MTX plasma levels. Despite these evidences and that
      nowadays a large amount of new miRNAs have been annotated, studies of miRNA
      polymorphisms and MTX toxicity are almost absent. Therefore, the aim of this
      study was to determine whether there are other variants in miRNAs associated with
      MTX levels. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Blood samples of 167 Spanish patients with
      pediatric B-cell ALL treated with the LAL-SHOP protocol were analyzed. We
      selected all the SNPs described in pre-miRNAs with a minor allele frequency more
      than 1% (213 SNPs in 206 miRNAs) that could regulate MTX transporters because the
      miRNAs that target MTX transporter genes are not completely defined. Genotyping
      was performed with VeraCode GoldenGate platform. RESULTS: Among the most
      significant results, we found rs56292801 in miR-5189, rs4909237 in miR-595, and
      rs78790512 in miR-6083 to be associated with MTX plasma levels. These miRNAs were
      predicted, in silico, to regulate genes involved in MTX uptake: SLC46A1, SLC19A1,
      and SLCO1A2. CONCLUSION: In this study, we detected three SNPs in miR-5189, miR
      595, and miR-6083 that might affect SLC46A1, SLC19A1, and SLCO1A2 MTX transport
      gene regulation and could affect MTX levels in patients with pediatric B-cell
      ALL.

PMID- 27649263
TI  - Definitive LC-MS/MS Drug Monitoring Impacts Substance-use Treatment Planning and
      Patient Outcomes: A Brief Report.
AB  - Clinical drug monitoring has an increasingly important role in the treatment of
      substance use disorders. Through semistructured interviews, we asked substance
      use counselors about the clinical impact of drug tests on patients' treatment
      planning and outcomes. This study was conducted around the time of a facility
      wide switch to a laboratory utilizing definitive liquid chromatography with
      tandem mass spectrometry from a laboratory that had utilized the less-sensitive,
      presumptive immunoassay-based drug-testing methodology. Twelve counselors
      volunteered to be interviewed, and each counselor chose 2 patients to discuss.
      Counselors reported that the facility-wide switch to definitive drug testing
      revealed some patients with newly identified relapses and substance use. They
      also reported that, as a result of the new information provided by definitive
      liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry monitoring, 75% of the
      patients they discussed had a change made to their treatment plan, 79% were
      provided enhanced education, and 63% had an increase in their treatment
      intensity. Counselors also reported that 58% of these patients reduced their
      illicit drug and nonmedical prescription medication use as a result of treatment
      changes associated with the newly implemented definitive testing. Improvements in
      therapeutic relationships and honesty were also reported. These preliminary data
      are consistent with previous data and guidelines, suggesting that the results of
      definitive drug monitoring inform clinical decision-making and can help
      clinicians enhance treatment outcomes.

PMID- 27649262
TI  - Whole-Genome Characterization of Epidemic Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup C and
      Resurgence of Serogroup W, Niger, 2015.
AB  - In 2015, Niger reported the largest epidemic of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup
      C (NmC) meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa. The NmC epidemic coincided with
      serogroup W (NmW) cases during the epidemic season, resulting in a total of 9,367
      meningococcal cases through June 2015. To clarify the phylogenetic association,
      genetic evolution, and antibiotic determinants of the meningococcal strains in
      Niger, we sequenced the genomes of 102 isolates from this epidemic, comprising 81
      NmC and 21 NmW isolates. The genomes of 82 isolates were completed, and all 102
      were included in the analysis. All NmC isolates had sequence type 10217, which
      caused the outbreaks in Nigeria during 2013-2014 and for which a clonal complex
      has not yet been defined. The NmC isolates from Niger were substantially
      different from other NmC isolates collected globally. All NmW isolates belonged
      to clonal complex 11 and were closely related to the isolates causing recent
      outbreaks in Africa.

PMID- 27649264
TI  - Medication Adherence in Patients Undergoing Methadone Maintenance Treatment in
      Xi'an, China.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify medication adherence and its influencing factors among
      patients of 14 methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinics in Xi'an, China.
      METHODS: Data were obtained from the National AIDS Information System-Community
      Methadone Maintenance Treatment. All patients registered in the system were not
      permitted to take methadone at home without professionals' supervision.
      Medication adherence was assessed using categorical (ie, dropout or retained) and
      continuous (ie, treatment time, methadone use time, and percentage of methadone
      use days) variables. Percentages of methadone use days of >90%, 50% to 90%, or
      <50% indicated good, moderate, and poor adherence, respectively. Multivariate Cox
      stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the influencing factors.
      RESULTS: Of the 10,398 patients, 52.2% had dropped out of MMT by December 31,
      2013, whereas only 11.8% regularly visited the clinic for daily methadone (ie,
      >90% methadone use days) during a certain period. Protective factors were older
      age (>30 years); female sex; having no contact with peer drug users over the past
      month; no needle-sharing experience; a negative initial morphine urine test; and
      a higher average daily methadone dose (>20 mg) (P < 0.05). Risk factors were
      answering "others" for marital status; being employed; having a lack of stable
      income; not living with family; answering "others" for drug use type; frequently
      engaging in unauthorized drug use during MMT; no readmission; long travel times
      to the MMT clinic (>30 minutes); having no convenient MMT service time; and being
      dissatisfied with MMT service (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings,
      multimodal intervention and management programs can be developed to improve poor
      medication adherence among the MMT patient population.

PMID- 27649266
TI  - N-palmitoylethanolamide in the anterior cingulate cortex attenuates inflammatory
      pain behaviour indirectly via a CB1 receptor-mediated mechanism.
AB  - The neural substrates and mechanisms mediating the antinociceptive effects of the
      endogenous bioactive lipid, N-palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), require further
      investigation. We investigated the effects of exogenous PEA administration into
      the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), an important brain region linked with
      cognitive and affective modulation of pain, on formalin-evoked nociceptive
      behaviour in rats. Potential involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor isoforms (PPAR) alpha and gamma or endocannabinoid-mediated entourage
      effects at cannabinoid1 (CB1) receptors or transient receptor potential subfamily
      V member 1 (TRPV1) in mediating the effects of PEA was also investigated. Intra
      ACC administration of PEA significantly attenuated the first and early second
      phases of formalin-evoked nociceptive behaviour. This effect was attenuated by
      the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251, but not by the PPARalpha antagonist GW6471,
      the PPARgamma antagonist GW9662, or the TRPV1 antagonist 5'-iodo resiniferatoxin.
      All antagonists, administered alone, significantly reduced formalin-evoked
      nociceptive behaviour, suggesting facilitatory/permissive roles for these
      receptors in the ACC in inflammatory pain. Post-mortem tissue analysis revealed a
      strong trend for increased levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide in the ACC of
      rats that received intra-ACC PEA. Expression of c-Fos, a marker of neuronal
      activity, was significantly reduced in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala,
      but not in the central nucleus of the amygdala, the rostral ventromedial medulla
      or the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. In conclusion, these data indicate that
      PEA in the ACC can reduce inflammatory pain-related behaviour, possibly via AEA
      induced activation of CB1 receptors and associated modulation of neuronal
      activity in the basolateral amygdala.

PMID- 27649265
TI  - Sex Differences in Methamphetamine Use and Dependence in a Thai Treatment Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Males and females who use methamphetamine (MA) differ
      in sociodemographics, MA diagnoses, comorbidities, and brain activity. The
      objective of this study was to investigate sex differences in the characteristics
      of MA use and dependence in patients at a Thai substance treatment center.
      METHODS: Demographic, MA use, and diagnostic data for 782 MA users were obtained
      by using the Semi-Structured Assessment for Drug Dependence and Alcoholism-Thai
      version. Categorical comparisons of males (n = 413, 53%) and females (n = 369,
      47%) were made by chi-square test. Factors significantly differentiating men and
      women with respect to MA-dependence were identified by logistic regression
      analysis controlling for demographic, diagnostic, and MA use variables. RESULTS:
      Males admitted to residential drug treatment for MA use had an earlier age of
      onset for both MA use (17.7 +/- 4.1 vs 19.7 +/- 6.2 years; t = -5.3, P < 0.001)
      and dependence (20.4 +/- 5.2 vs 22.2 +/- 6.4 years; t = -3.6, P < 0.001). Females
      were more likely than males to be MA-dependent (79% vs 60%; chi1 = 33.7, P <
      0.001), and to experience MA withdrawal (65.3% vs 48.9%; chi1 = 21.4, P < 0.001),
      withdrawal-related hypersomnia (77.2% vs 64.8%; chi1 = 14.5, P < 0.001), fatigue
      (77.5% vs 70.3%; chi1 = 5.2, P = 0.02), and psychomotor retardation (64.5% vs
      57.0%; chi1 = 4.5, P = 0.03). Similarly, females had heavier (eg, largest daily
      amount [chi1 = 12.4, P < 0.001), more frequent (chi1 = 5.1, P = 0.02]) and
      greater lifetime episodes of MA use (chi1 = 24.1, P < 0.001) than males. After
      controlling for such variables by logistic regression, being female remained a
      significant factor influencing the occurrence of MA-dependence (odds ratio [OR]
      2.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8-4.1, P < 0.001). Shared associated factors
      (or comorbidities) for MA-dependence in both sexes included nicotine dependence
      (in males: OR 4.1, 95% CI 2.4-7.0, P < 0.001; and in females: OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3
      4.4, P = 0.007), greater lifetime episodes of MA use (in males: OR 3.5, 95% CI
      1.9-6.4, P < 0.001; and in females: OR 5.9, 95% CI 3.1-11.4, P < 0.001), and more
      frequent use (in males: OR 5.1, 95% CI 2.8-9.1, P < 0.001; and in females: OR
      3.6, 95% CI 1.9-6.9, P < 0.001). Comorbid antisocial personality disorder
      predicted MA-dependence in males only (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.6-8.6, P = 0.002).
      CONCLUSIONS: The current study highlights both common (eg, nicotine dependence
      and severity of MA use) and sex-specific differences (eg, MA use/dependence
      characteristics and comorbidities), including sex itself, with respect to MA
      dependence in a Thai treatment cohort.

PMID- 27649267
TI  - Ethnicity-dependent influence of innate immune genetic markers on morphine PCA
      requirements and adverse effects in postoperative pain.
AB  - Although several genetic factors have been associated with postsurgical morphine
      requirements, those involving the innate immune system and cytokines have not
      been well investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution
      of genetic variability in innate immune signalling pathways to variability in
      morphine dosage after elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia in 133
      Indian, 230 Malay, and 598 Han Chinese women previously studied. Twenty single
      nucleotide polymorphisms in 14 genes involved in glial activation (TLR2, TLR4,
      MYD88, MD2), inflammatory signalling (IL2, IL6, IL10, IL1B, IL6R, TNFA, TGFB1,
      CRP, CASP1), and neuronal regulation (BDNF) were newly investigated, in addition
      to OPRM1, COMT, and ABCB1 genetic variability identified previously. Postsurgical
      patient-controlled analgesia morphine use (mg/24 hours) was binned into 6
      normally distributed groups and scored 0 to 5 to facilitate step-down multiple
      linear regression analysis of genetic predictors, controlling for ethnicity and
      nongenetic variables. Ethnicity, OPRM1 rs1799971 (increased), TLR2 rs3804100
      (decreased), and an interaction between ethnicity and IL1B rs1143634 (increased),
      predicted 9.8% of variability in morphine use scores in the entire cohort. In the
      Indian cohort, 14.5% of the variance in morphine use score was explained by IL1B
      rs1143634 (increased) and TGFB1 rs1800469 (decreased). In Chinese patients, the
      incidence of postsurgical pain was significantly higher in variant COMT rs4680
      genotypes (P = 0.0007) but not in the Malay or Indian cohorts. Innate immune
      genetics may contribute to variability in postsurgical opioid requirements in an
      ethnicity-dependent manner.

PMID- 27649268
TI  - Retrieving the Rate of Reverse Intersystem Crossing from Ultrafast Spectroscopy.
AB  - Among various nonradiative photophysical processes related to energy migration in
      singlet-triplet coupled molecular systems, unlike such processes as internal
      conversion, intersystem crossing (ISC), and intramolecular vibrational relaxation
      that have been extensively addressed, the reverse ISC (rISC) is a unique one that
      apparently lacks sufficient interrogation probably owing to its intrinsically
      elusive nature. In particular, it still remains a nontrivial task to
      quantitatively describe the rISC pathway. Here we introduce a new, simple route
      to this end, just through explicit modeling and simulations on routinely
      available, experimental data from ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. We
      demonstrate on a proof-of-concept, rare-earth chelate molecular system that our
      approach, featuring spectral profile analysis together with wavelength-dependent
      global kinetics fitting, enables facile retrieval of the rISC rate from
      experimental data.

PMID- 27649269
TI  - Facile Synthesis of Silver Nanocubes with Sharp Corners and Edges in an Aqueous
      Solution.
AB  - It remains a challenge to synthesize Ag nanocubes in an aqueous system, although
      the polyol process was successfully adopted more than one decade ago. Here, we
      report an aqueous method for the synthesis of Ag nanocubes with an average edge
      length of 35-95 nm. It involves the formation of AgCl octahedra by mixing
      CF3COOAg with cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, followed by the nucleation and
      growth of Ag nanocrystals in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) and FeCl3. The
      Fe3+/Fe2+ redox pair is responsible for the removal of multiply twinned seeds
      through oxidative etching. The Cl- ions play two critical roles in the nucleation
      and growth of Ag nanocubes with a single-crystal structure. First, the Cl- ions
      react with Ag+ ions to generate nanometer-sized AgCl octahedra in the initial
      stage of a synthesis. In the presence of room light and a proper reducing agent
      such as AA, the AgCl can be reduced to generate Agn nuclei followed by their
      evolution into single-crystal seeds and then Ag nanocrystals. Second, the Cl-
      ions can act as a specific capping agent toward the Ag(100) surface, enabling the
      formation of Ag nanocubes with sharp corners and edges. Based on the results from
      a set of time-lapse studies and control experiments, we formulate a plausible
      mechanism to account for the formation of Ag nanocubes that resembles the
      formation and development of latent image centers in silver halide grains in the
      photographic process.

PMID- 27649270
TI  - Physiology of freezing of gait.
AB  - Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common and debilitating, but largely mysterious,
      symptom of Parkinson disease. In this review, we will discuss the cerebral
      substrate of FOG focusing on brain physiology and animal models. Walking is a
      combination of automatic movement processes, afferent information processing, and
      intentional adjustments. Thus, normal gait requires a delicate balance between
      various interacting neuronal systems. To further understand gait control and
      specifically FOG, we will discuss the basic physiology of gait, animal models of
      gait disturbance including FOG, alternative etiologies of FOG, and functional
      magnetic resonance studies investigating FOG. The outcomes of these studies point
      to a dynamic network of cortical areas such as the supplementary motor area, as
      well as subcortical areas such as the striatum and the mesencephalic locomotor
      region including the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN). Additionally, we will review
      PPN (area) stimulation as a possible treatment for FOG, and ponder whether PPN
      stimulation truly is the right step forward. Ann Neurol 2016;80:644-659.

PMID- 27649271
TI  - Transmembrane Substrate Determinants for gamma-Secretase Processing of APP
      CTFbeta.
AB  - The amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is generated by
      proteolysis within the transmembrane domain (TMD) of a C-terminal fragment of the
      amyloid beta protein-precursor (APP CTFbeta) by the gamma-secretase complex. This
      processing produces Abeta ranging from 38 to 49 residues in length. Evidence
      suggests that this spectrum of Abeta peptides is the result of successive gamma
      secretase cleavages, with endoproteolysis first occurring at the epsilon sites to
      generate Abeta48 or Abeta49, followed by C-terminal trimming mostly every three
      residues along two product lines to generate shorter, secreted forms of Abeta:
      the primary Abeta49-46-43-40 line and a minor Abeta48-45-42-38 line. The major
      secreted Abeta species are Abeta40 and Abeta42, and an increased proportion of
      the longer, aggregation-prone Abeta42 compared to Abeta40 is widely thought to be
      important in AD pathogenesis. We examined TMD substrate determinants of the
      specificity and efficiency of epsilon site endoproteolysis and carboxypeptidase
      trimming of CTFbeta by gamma-secretase. We determined that the C-terminal
      negative charge of the intermediate Abeta49 does not play a role in its trimming
      by gamma-secretase. Peptidomimetic probes suggest that gamma-secretase has S1',
      S2', and S3' pockets, through which trimming by tripeptides may be determined.
      However, deletion of residues around the epsilon sites demonstrates that a depth
      of three residues within the TMD is not a determinant of the location of
      endoproteolytic epsilon cleavage of CTFbeta. We also show that instability of the
      CTFbeta TMD helix near the epsilon site significantly increases endoproteolysis,
      and that helical instability near the carboxypeptidase cleavage sites facilitates
      C-terminal trimming by gamma-secretase. In addition, we found that CTFbeta dimers
      are not endoproteolyzed by gamma-secretase. These results support a model in
      which initial interaction of the array of residues along the undimerized single
      helical TMD of substrates dictates the site of initial epsilon cleavage and that
      helix unwinding is essential for both endoproteolysis and carboxypeptidase
      trimming.

PMID- 27649273
TI  - Antiangiogenic agents in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Tired of going
      solo.

PMID- 27649272
TI  - Heat Stress Modulates Both Anabolic and Catabolic Signaling Pathways Preventing
      Dexamethasone-Induced Muscle Atrophy In Vitro.
AB  - It is generally recognized that synthetic glucocorticoids induce skeletal muscle
      weakness, and endogenous glucocorticoid levels increase in patients with muscle
      atrophy. It is reported that heat stress attenuates glucocorticoid-induced muscle
      atrophy; however, the mechanisms involved are unknown. Therefore, we examined the
      mechanisms underlying the effects of heat stress against glucocorticoid-induced
      muscle atrophy using C2C12 myotubes in vitro, focusing on expression of key
      molecules and signaling pathways involved in regulating protein synthesis and
      degradation. The synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone decreased myotube
      diameter and protein content, and heat stress prevented the morphological and
      biochemical glucocorticoid effects. Heat stress also attenuated increases in
      mRNAs of regulated in development and DNA damage responses 1 (REDD1) and Kruppel
      like factor 15 (KLF15). Heat stress recovered the dexamethasone-induced
      inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling. These data suggest that changes in anabolic and
      catabolic signals are involved in heat stress-induced protection against
      glucocorticoid-induced muscle atrophy. These results have a potentially broad
      clinical impact because elevated glucocorticoid levels are implicated in a wide
      range of diseases associated with muscle wasting. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 650-664,
      2017. (c) 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Physiology published by Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649276
TI  - DNA-Programmed Quantum Dot Polymerization for Ultrasensitive Molecular Imaging of
      Cancer Cells.
AB  - Inorganic nanocrystals, such as quantum dots (QDs), hold great promise as
      molecular imaging contrast agents because of their superior optical properties.
      However, the molecular imaging sensitivity of these probes is far from optimized
      due to the lack of efficient and general method for molecular engineering of
      nanocrystal into effective bioprobes for signal-amplified imaging. Herein, we
      develop a strategy to boost the molecular imaging sensitivity of QDs over the
      limit by copolymerizing QDs and cell-binding aptamers into linear QD-aptamer
      polymers (QAPs) through DNA-programmed hybridization chain reaction. We show that
      the cancer cells treated with QAPs exhibit much stronger photoluminescence (PL)
      signal than those treated with QD-aptamer monomers (QAMs) because of multivalent
      binding and multi-QD-based signal amplification. The enhanced cell binding and
      imaging capacity of QAPs significantly improves imaging-based discrimination
      between different cancer cell types. This approach adds a new dimension for
      engineering inorganic nanoparticles into effective bioprobes for biomedical
      applications.

PMID- 27649274
TI  - Extremotolerant tardigrade genome and improved radiotolerance of human cultured
      cells by tardigrade-unique protein.
AB  - Tardigrades, also known as water bears, are small aquatic animals. Some
      tardigrade species tolerate almost complete dehydration and exhibit extraordinary
      tolerance to various physical extremes in the dehydrated state. Here we determine
      a high-quality genome sequence of Ramazzottius varieornatus, one of the most
      stress-tolerant tardigrade species. Precise gene repertoire analyses reveal the
      presence of a small proportion (1.2% or less) of putative foreign genes, loss of
      gene pathways that promote stress damage, expansion of gene families related to
      ameliorating damage, and evolution and high expression of novel tardigrade-unique
      proteins. Minor changes in the gene expression profiles during dehydration and
      rehydration suggest constitutive expression of tolerance-related genes. Using
      human cultured cells, we demonstrate that a tardigrade-unique DNA-associating
      protein suppresses X-ray-induced DNA damage by ~40% and improves radiotolerance.
      These findings indicate the relevance of tardigrade-unique proteins to
      tolerability and tardigrades could be a bountiful source of new protection genes
      and mechanisms.

PMID- 27649277
TI  - Familial deletion of the HOXA gene cluster associated with Hand-Foot-Genital
      syndrome and phenotypic variability.
AB  - Hand-Foot-Genital syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant condition characterized
      by distal limb anomalies and urogenital malformations. This disorder is
      associated with loss-of-function mutations in the HOXA13 gene. HOXA13 plays an
      important role in the development of distal limbs and lower genitourinary tract
      of the fetus. We report a novel familial 589 kb deletion in the 7p15.2 region
      identified in a male toddler and his mother. The proband had severe penoscrotal
      hypospadias, mild skeletal anomalies of the hands and feet, cardiac, renal, and
      gastrointestinal anomalies. His mother had a bicornuate uterus, cervical
      incompetence, and minor anomalies of her hands and feet. This family was found to
      have the smallest reported deletion of 7p15.2 to date, and presented with
      features typical of Hand-Foot-Genital syndrome in the mother, but much more
      severe phenotype in her son. This deletion included the entire HOXA cluster in
      addition to the SKAP2 and EVX1 genes. An RT-PCR analysis was performed to
      determine the expression of the HOXA genes in the proband and to explore a parent
      of-origin effect. Our expression studies did not support the hypothesis of an
      imprinted status of the HOXA2, HOXA3, HOXA5, and HOXA11 genes in peripheral
      blood. To our knowledge, this is the first familial 7p15.2 deletion. This family
      raises possibility for sexual dimorphism as a mechanism for phenotypic
      variability in patients with the HOXA gene cluster deletions. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649278
TI  - Painful Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type 2E/1F due to a novel NEFL mutation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy (CMT) 2E/1F is caused by mutations
      in the neurofilament light-chain polypeptide (NEFL) gene. Giant axons are a
      histological hallmark frequently seen in nerves of patients with CMT2E. METHODS:
      We describe the case of a 43-year-old patient with a painful, predominantly
      sensory neuropathy. RESULTS: The patient's sural nerve biopsy showed multiple
      giant axons. Genetic sequencing of the NEFL gene revealed that the patient was
      heterozygous for an altered sequence of the gene, c.816C>G, p.Asn272Lys, which
      has not yet been described in CMT2E/1F. CONCLUSION: In contrast to other cases of
      CMT2E/1F, where motor symptoms are predominant, pain was the most disabling
      symptom in this patient. Muscle Nerve 55: 752-755, 2017.

PMID- 27649279
TI  - Norovirus Dynamics in Wastewater Discharges and in the Recipient Drinking Water
      Source: Long-Term Monitoring and Hydrodynamic Modeling.
AB  - Norovirus (NoV) that enters drinking water sources with wastewater discharges is
      a common cause of waterborne outbreaks. The impact of wastewater treatment plants
      (WWTPs) on the river Gota alv (Sweden) was studied using monitoring and
      hydrodynamic modeling. The concentrations of NoV genogroups (GG) I and II in
      samples collected at WWTPs and drinking water intakes (source water) during one
      year were quantified using duplex real-time reverse-transcription polymerase
      chain reaction. The mean (standard deviation) NoV GGI and GGII genome
      concentrations were 6.2 (1.4) and 6.8 (1.8) in incoming wastewater and 5.3 (1.4)
      and 5.9 (1.4) log10 genome equivalents (g.e.) L-1 in treated wastewater,
      respectively. The reduction at the WWTPs varied between 0.4 and 1.1 log10 units.
      In source water, the concentration ranged from below the detection limit to 3.8
      log10 g.e. L-1. NoV GGII was detected in both wastewater and source water more
      frequently during the cold than the warm period of the year. The spread of NoV in
      the river was simulated using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The
      modeling results indicated that the NoV GGI and GGII genome concentrations in
      source water may occasionally be up to 2.8 and 1.9 log10 units higher,
      respectively, than the concentrations measured during the monitoring project.

PMID- 27649281
TI  - Effect of Sr Content and Strain on Sr Surface Segregation of La1-xSrxCo0.2Fe0.8O3
      delta as Cathode Material for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.
AB  - Strontium-doped lanthanum cobalt ferrite (LSCF) is a widely used cathode material
      due to its high electronic and ionic conductivity, and reasonable oxygen surface
      exchange coefficient. However, LSCF can have long-term stability issues such as
      surface segregation of Sr during solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) operation, which
      can adversely affect the electrochemical performance. Thus, understanding the
      nature of the Sr surface segregation phenomenon and how it is affected by the
      composition of LSCF and strain are critical. In this research, heteroepitaxial
      thin films of La1-x SrxCo0.2Fe0.8O3-delta with varying Sr content (x = 0.4, 0.3,
      0.2) were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on single-crystal NdGaO3,
      SrTiO3, and GdScO3 substrates, leading to different levels of strain in the
      films. The extent of Sr segregation at the film surface was quantified using
      synchrotron-based total-reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) and atomic force
      microscopy (AFM). The electronic structure of the Sr-rich phases formed on the
      surface was investigated by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES). The
      extent of Sr segregation was found to be a function of the Sr content in bulk.
      Lowering the Sr content from 40% to 30% reduced the surface segregation, but
      further lowering the Sr content to 20% increased the segregation. The strain of
      LSCF thin films on various substrates was measured using high-resolution X-ray
      diffraction (HRXRD), and the Sr surface segregation was found to be reduced with
      compressive strain and enhanced with tensile strain present within the thin
      films. A model was developed correlating the Sr surface segregation with Sr
      content and strain effects to explain the experimental results.

PMID- 27649282
TI  - The chemokines secretion and the oxidative stress are targets of low-level laser
      therapy in allergic lung inflammation.
AB  - Recent studies show that low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has an important anti
      inflammatory action in acute lung inflammation. The present work explored if
      laser therapy is able to antagonize eosinophils and allergic inflammation induced
      by oxidative stress in Balb/c mice. Forty-eight hours after challenge, the
      leukocyte counting, ROS and nitrite/nitrate level, RANTES, CCL3, CCL8 as well as
      eotaxins were measured in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of laser
      treated mice or not. Into the lung, some chemokines receptors, the iNOS activity
      and mRNA expression, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase,
      gluthatione, NADPH oxidase activities and thiobarbituric acid reactive species (T
      Bars) were measured. Laser-treated allergic mice presented reduction of both the
      ICAM-1 and eosinophil in the lungs. RANTES, CCL8, CCL3 and eotaxins were reduced
      in BALF of laser-treated allergic mice. In allergic mice lung LLLT decreased the
      CCR1 and CCR3 and restored the oxidative stress balance as well. Laser decreased
      the lipidic peroxidation in allergic mice lung as much as increased SOD, GPx and
      GR. It shows that LLLT on allergic lung inflammation involves leukocyte
      attractant chemokines and endogenous antioxidant. Based on results, LLLT may
      ultimately become a non- invasive option in allergic lung disease treatment. The
      top figure illustrates the laser decreasing the eosinophils migration into BALF
      and the bottom figure shows the laser upregulating the expression of heme
      oxygenase (anti-oxidant enzyme) in lung tissue anti-oxidant.

PMID- 27649283
TI  - Catalytic Intervention of MoO3 toward Ethanol Oxidation on PtPd Nanoparticles
      Decorated MoO3-Polypyrrole Composite Support.
AB  - Ethanol oxidation reaction has been studied in acidic environment over PtPd
      nanoparticles (NPs) grown on the molybdenum oxide-polypyrrole composite (MOPC)
      support. The attempt was focused on using reduced Pt loading on non-carbon
      support for direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) operated with proton exchange
      membrane (PEM). As revealed in SEM study, a molybdenum oxide network exists in
      polypyrrole caging and the presence of metal NPs over the composite matrix is
      confirmed by TEM analysis. Further physicochemical characterizations such as XRD,
      EDAX, and XPS are followed in order to understand the surface morphology and
      composition of the hybrid structure. Electrochemical techniques such as
      voltammetry, choroamperometry, and impedance spectroscopy along with performance
      testing of an in-house-fabricated fuel cell are carried out to evaluate the
      catalytic activity of the materials for DEFC. The reaction products are estimated
      by ion chromatographic analysis. Considering the results obtained from the above
      characterization procedures, the best catalytic performance is exhibited by the
      Pt-Pd (1:1) on MOPC support. A clear intervention of the molybdenum oxide network
      is strongly advocated in the EOR sequence which increases the propensity of the
      reaction by making the metallites more energy efficient in terms of harnessing
      sufficient numbers of electrons than with the carbon support.

PMID- 27649284
TI  - Bayesian model for detection and classification of meningioma nuclei in
      microscopic images.
AB  - Image segmentation aims to determine structures of interest inside a digital
      picture in biomedical sciences. State-of-the art automatic methods however still
      fail to provide the segmentation quality achievable by humans who employ expert
      knowledge and use software to mark target structures on an image. Manual
      segmentation is time-consuming, tedious and suffers from interoperator
      variability, thus not serving the requirements of daily use well. Therefore, the
      approach presented here abandons the goal of full-fledged segmentation and
      settles for the localization of circular objects in photographs (10 training
      images and 20 testing images with several hundreds of nuclei each). A fully
      trainable softcore interaction point process model was hence fit to the most
      likely locations of nuclei of meningioma cells. The Broad Bioimage Benchmark
      Collection/SIMCEP data set of virtual cells served as controls. A 'colour
      deconvolution' algorithm was integrated to determine (based on anti-Ki67
      immunohistochemistry) which real cells might have the potential to proliferate.
      In addition, a density parameter of the underlying Bayesian model was estimated.
      Immunohistochemistry results were 'simulated'for the virtual cells. The system
      yielded true positive (TP) rates in the detection and classification of real
      nuclei and their virtual counterparts. These hits outnumbered those obtained from
      the public domain image processing software ImageJ by 10%. The method introduced
      here can be trained to function not only in medicine and morphology-based systems
      biology but in other application domains as well. The algorithm lends itself to
      an automated approach that constitutes a valuable tool which is easy to use and
      generates acceptable results quickly.

PMID- 27649280
TI  - Head regeneration in hemichordates is not a strict recapitulation of development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Head or anterior body part regeneration is commonly associated with
      protostome, but not deuterostome invertebrates. However, it has been shown that
      the solitary hemichordate Ptychodera flava possesses the remarkable capacity to
      regenerate their entire nervous system, including their dorsal neural tube and
      their anterior head-like structure, or proboscis. Hemichordates, also known as
      acorn worms, are marine invertebrate deuterostomes that have retained chordate
      traits that were likely present in the deuterostome ancestor, placing these
      animals in a vital position to study regeneration and chordate evolution. All
      acorn worms have a tripartite body plan, with an anterior proboscis, middle
      collar region, and a posterior trunk. The collar houses a hollow, dorsal neural
      tube in ptychoderid hemichordates and numerous chordate genes involved in brain
      and spinal cord development are expressed in a similar anterior-posterior spatial
      arrangement along the body axis. RESULTS: We have examined anterior regeneration
      in the hemichordate Ptychodera flava and report the spatial and temporal
      morphological changes that occur. Additionally, we have sequenced, assembled, and
      analyzed the transcriptome for eight stages of regenerating P. flava, revealing
      significant differential gene expression between regenerating and control
      animals. CONCLUSIONS: Importantly, we have uncovered developmental steps that are
      regeneration-specific and do not strictly follow the embryonic program.
      Developmental Dynamics 245:1159-1175, 2016. (c) 2016 The Authors. Developmental
      Dynamics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association
      of Anatomists.

PMID- 27649285
TI  - Correction: Neuronal Hyperactivity Disturbs ATP Microgradients, Impairs
      Microglial Motility, and Reduces Phagocytic Receptor Expression Triggering
      Apoptosis/Microglial Phagocytosis Uncoupling.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002466.].

PMID- 27649286
TI  - Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions that cause weight loss and
      reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overweight/obesity is associated with significant morbidity,
      mortality and costs. Weight loss has been shown to reverse some of these effects,
      reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). AIM:
      To determine the potential monies available, from an English National Health
      Service perspective, for weight loss interventions to be cost-effective in the
      prevention of CVD. METHODS: A Markov model was developed, populated with
      overweight/obese individuals from the Health Survey for England, aged 30-74
      years, free of pre-existing CVD and with available risk factor information to
      calculate CVD risk. All individuals were free of CVD at baseline and, with each
      annual cycle, could transition to other health states of primary CVD, secondary
      CVD or death according to transition probabilities for a maximum period of 10
      years, or until death. Utilities, costs and the effects of weight loss on CVD
      risk factors were applied. The potential monies available for CVD prevention
      strategies, provided the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio met UK arbitrary
      limits of between L20 000 and L30 000, was determined. RESULTS: Applying the
      effects of weight loss on CVD risk factors prevented 4 CVD events and saved 17
      quality-adjusted life-years over 10 years per 1000 individuals. L34 to L51 was
      available per person per year for up to 10 years when meeting the UK arbitrary
      limits. CONCLUSIONS: Individual annual financial allowances for weight loss
      interventions to be considered cost-effective is relatively low; however, as a
      large proportion of the population is affected, wide cheap societal interventions
      are important.

PMID- 27649288
TI  - Analyses of EMI functions on meiotic maturation of porcine oocytes.
AB  - Cyclin B (CCNB) accumulation is essential for regulating maturation/M-phase
      promoting factor activity during vertebrate oocyte maturation. Anaphase-promoting
      complex/cyclosome (APC/C) degrades CCNB, allowing the cell cycle to progress;
      this complex is inhibited by Early mitotic inhibitors 1 and 2 (EMI1 and EMI2).
      The involvement of both EMI proteins in meiotic maturation has been reported in
      Xenopus and mouse oocytes, although a recent study described a marked difference
      in their respective function during meiotic resumption. Mouse is currently the
      only mammal in which the contribution of EMI to the oocyte maturation has been
      analyzed, so we used RNA injection methods to overexpress and knock down EMI1 and
      EMI2 to investigate their roles during porcine oocyte maturation. Up-regulation
      of either porcine EMI promoted precocious germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) with
      early CCNB1 accumulation in oocytes-which is consistent with their activities in
      mouse but not Xenopus oocytes. Knockdown of EMI1, but not EMI2, delayed GVBD and
      meiotic progression of oocytes from GVBD to meiotic metaphase I (MI). In
      contrast, knockdown of EMI2, but not EMI1, released oocytes from meiotic
      metaphase II (MII) arrest to produce a pronucleus. When injected oocytes were
      parthenogenetically activated, the up-regulation of EMI2, but not EMI1, prevented
      pronucleus formation. These results point to the similarities and differences of
      porcine EMI function with those of mouse versus Xenopus EMI, and generally
      contribute to our understanding of EMI function during mammalian oocyte
      maturation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 83: 983-992, 2016 (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649289
TI  - Acid-Catalyzed Activation of Peroxyketals: Tunable Radical Initiation at Ambient
      Temperature and Below.
AB  - This study details how peroxyketals, commercially available thermal initiators,
      and structurally related peroxides are activated in the presence of an acid
      catalyst to generate radicals at room temperature and below. This simple
      combination of two substrates was shown to efficiently initiate a variety of
      radical processes. This phenomenon is rationalized by the acid-catalyzed in situ
      formation of highly unstable alkenyl peroxides which readily decompose into
      initiating radical species.

PMID- 27649287
TI  - Ephrin-B2 overexpression predicts for poor prognosis and response to therapy in
      solid tumors.
AB  - Ephrin B2 is variably expressed on tumor cells and its blockade has been shown to
      inhibit angiogenesis in animal models of pancreatic, colorectal, lung and head,
      and neck squamous cell carcinomas. However, the implications of ephrinB2
      expression in cancer patients have remained elusive. In this study, we analyzed
      the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) for ephrinB2 expression. We report significant
      correlations between EFNB2 expression, overall survival and disease-free survival
      in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC, n = 519), pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma (n = 186), and bladder urothelial carcinoma (n = 410). In HNSCC
      patients, high-EFNB2 mRNA expression was associated with tumor HPV negativity,
      oral cavity location, alcohol intake, higher TP53 mutation, and EGFR
      amplification. EphrinB2 overexpression also correlated with worse response to
      chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The therapeutic potential of blocking ephrinB2 was
      validated in HNSCC patient-derived tumor xenografts and showed significant
      improvement in survival and tumor growth delay. Our data shows that ephrinB2
      overexpression can serve as a critical biomarker for patient prognosis and
      response to therapy. These results should guide design of future clinical trials
      exploring EphrinB2 inhibition in cancer patients. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27649292
TI  - Placental Pathology in Relation to Uterine Artery Doppler Findings in Pregnancies
      with Severe Intrauterine Growth Restriction and Abnormal Umbilical Artery Doppler
      Changes.
AB  - Objectives Current guidelines for diagnosis and management of early-onset
      intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) rely on umbilical artery Doppler (UAD),
      without including uterine artery Doppler (UtAD). We hypothesized that IUGR cases
      with abnormal UAD but normal UtAD has a different spectrum of placental pathology
      compared with those with abnormal UtAD. Study Design Retrospective review of
      pregnancies with sonographic evidence of IUGR and abnormal UAD prior to delivery.
      Cases with >= 1 UtAD record(s) after 18+0 weeks' gestation and placental
      pathology were included. Cases were stratified according to initial UtAD
      pulsatility index (PI) values (n = 196): normal (n = 19; PI < 95th centile for
      gestational age/no notching), intermediate (n = 69; PI >= 95th
      centile/no/unilateral notching) and abnormal (n = 108; PI >= 95th
      centile/bilateral notching). Pregnancy outcomes and placental pathology were
      compared between groups. Results Women in the normal group delivered later than
      those in the abnormal group (30.1 +/- 3.5 vs. 28.0 +/- 3.5 weeks; mean +/-
      standard deviation; p = 0.03). Their placentas exhibited higher rates of chronic
      intervillositis (15.8 vs. 0.9%; p = 0.01), chorangiosis (15.8 vs. 0.9%; p <
      0.0001), and massive perivillous fibrin deposition (21.1 vs. 7.4%; p = 0.05), but
      had lower rates of uteroplacental vascular insufficiency (26.3 vs. 79.6%; p <
      0.0001). Conclusion Approximately 10% of pregnancies with early-onset IUGR and
      abnormal UAD exhibited normal UtAD waveforms. They delivered later, and their
      placentas exhibited unusual placental pathologies.

PMID- 27649291
TI  - Effectiveness of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor in Hospitalized Infants
      with Neutropenia.
AB  - Objective The objective of this study was to determine the time to hematologic
      recovery and the incidence of secondary sepsis and mortality among neutropenic
      infants treated or not treated with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G
      CSF). Study Design We identified all neutropenic infants discharged from 348
      neonatal intensive care units from 1997 to 2012. Neutropenia was defined as an
      absolute neutrophil count <= 1,500/uL for >= 1 day during the first 120 days of
      life. Incidence of secondary sepsis and mortality and number of days required to
      reach an absolute neutrophil count > 1,500/uL for infants exposed to G-CSF were
      compared with those of unexposed infants. Results We identified 30,705
      neutropenic infants, including 2,142 infants (7%) treated with G-CSF. Treated
      infants had a shorter adjusted time to hematologic recovery (hazard ratio: 1.36,
      95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.30-1.44) and higher adjusted odds of secondary
      sepsis (odds ratio [OR]: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.20-1.87), death (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.05
      1.68), and the combined outcome of sepsis or death (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.19-1.67)
      at day 14 compared with untreated infants. These differences persisted at day 28.
      Conclusion G-CSF treatment decreased the time to hematologic recovery but was
      associated with increased odds of secondary sepsis and mortality in neutropenic
      infants. G-CSF should not routinely be used for infants with neutropenia.

PMID- 27649290
TI  - Translating Research into Improved Patient Care in Pulmonary Arterial
      Hypertension.

PMID- 27649293
TI  - Trends and Outcomes of Patent Ductus Arteriosus Treatment in Very Preterm Infants
      in Canada.
AB  - Objective To assess trends in patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) management and
      examine concurrent changes in neonatal mortality and morbidities. Methods This
      retrospective observational study examined infants born at 23 to 32 weeks'
      gestational age with PDA and admitted to a neonatal unit during 2006 to 2012.
      Multivariable logistic regression assessed trends in yearly PDA treatment rates
      and compared a composite outcome of mortality or any severe morbidity
      (bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular
      leukomalacia, retinopathy of prematurity, or necrotizing enterocolitis) between
      and within time periods and PDA treatments. Results Study subjects included 5,824
      preterm neonates with clinical/echocardiographic PDA diagnosis. During 2006 to
      2012, conservative management increased (14-38%), whereas pharmacotherapy-only
      (58-49%), surgical ligation-only (7.1-2.5%), and both pharmacotherapy and
      surgical ligation (21-10%) decreased (p-values <0.01). From 2006 to 2008 and 2009
      to 2012, the composite outcome decreased for infants managed conservatively (AOR
      = 0.70, 95% CI 0.52-0.92), with no changes detected for pharmacotherapy and/or
      ligation. Lower composite outcome after conservative management versus
      pharmacotherapy-only during 2009 to 2012 (AOR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.51-0.74), but not
      during 2006 to 2008 reflect significant effect modification by time period.
      Conclusion In Canada, during 2006 to 2012, conservative PDA management increased
      while pharmacotherapy and/or surgical ligation decreased. Lower composite outcome
      was detected during later years after increases in conservative management;
      however, bias due to unmeasured confounders remains possible.

PMID- 27649295
TI  - Discovery and Characterization of the Highly Active Fungal Immunomodulatory
      Protein Fip-vvo82.
AB  - Volvaria volvacea (Bull. ex Fr.) Sing, an important edible and medicinal macro
      fungus, has been used to remedy various diseases for hundreds of years in East
      Asia. To identify key proteins with the unique therapeutic activity in V.
      volvacea, we conducted a genomewide comparison of V. volvacea protein families
      and those of other edible fungi that lack therapeutic functions and identified
      seven fungal immunomodulatory proteins (FIPs) in V. volvacea. On the basis of the
      predicted physiological and biochemical characteristics of the seven FIPs, the
      novel Fip-vvo82 was inferred to have high immunomodulatory activity; this was
      confirmed by molecular and immunological experiments and further characterized by
      modeling the three-dimensional structure and protein-protein docking. This is the
      first study to show that V. volvacea has more than one FIP.

PMID- 27649297
TI  - Synthesis of Spirocyclic Oxindole Dihydrothiophenes by DBU-Catalyzed [3 + 2]
      Annulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman Carbonates with Isothiocyanates.
AB  - A highly regioselective DBU-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman
      carbonates with isothiocyanates was developed. This method allows rapid and
      efficient synthesis of spirocyclic oxindole dihydrothiophene products in moderate
      to high yields with excellent regioselectivities under simple conditions. A
      plausible reaction mechanism is also proposed.

PMID- 27649296
TI  - Performance of Older Persons in a Simulated Shopping Task Is Influenced by
      Priming with Age Stereotypes.
AB  - Previous research suggests that older persons show cognitive deficits in
      standardized laboratory tests, but not in more natural tests such as the Multiple
      Errands Task (MET). The absence of deficits in the latter tests has been
      attributed to the compensation of deficits by strategies based on life-long
      experience. To scrutinize this view, we primed older participants with positive
      or negative stereotypes about old age before administering MET. We found that
      compared to unprimed controls, priming with positive age stereotypes reduced the
      number of errors without changing response times, while priming with negative
      stereotypes changed neither errors not response times. We interpret our findings
      as evidence that positive age priming improved participants' cognitive functions
      while leaving intact their experience-based compensation, and that negative age
      priming degraded participants' cognitive functions which, however, was balanced
      by an even stronger experience-based compensation. 

PMID- 27649298
TI  - S-Propargyl-Cysteine, a Novel Hydrogen Sulfide Donor, Inhibits Inflammatory
      Hepcidin and Relieves Anemia of Inflammation by Inhibiting IL-6/STAT3 Pathway.
AB  - Anemia of inflammation (AI) is clinically prevalent and greatly threatens public
      health. Traditional remedies have raised controversy during clinical practice,
      calling for alternative therapies. We have recently found that hydrogen sulfide
      (H2S) inhibits inflammatory hepcidin, the critical mediator of AI. However, due
      to the chemical property of H2S, there remains an urgent need for a stable H2S
      donor in AI treatment. Here we reported that S-propargyl-cysteine (SPRC), a novel
      water-soluble H2S donor, suppressed hepatic hepcidin and corrected hypoferremia
      induced by lipopolysaccharide. The effects of SPRC were reversed by inhibition of
      cystathionine gamma-lyase, one of the major endogenous H2S synthases. Moreover,
      SPRC reduced serum hepcidin, improved transferrin saturation, and maintained
      erythrocyte membrane integrity in a chronic mouse AI model. Consistently,
      splenomegaly was ameliorated and splenic iron accumulation relieved. Mechanism
      study indicated that serum IL-6 content and hepatic Il-6 mRNA were decreased by
      SPRC, in parallel with reduced hepatic JAK2/STAT3 activation. On the whole, our
      data reveal the inhibition of inflammatory hepcidin by SPRC, and suggest SPRC as
      a potential remedy against AI. 

PMID- 27649299
TI  - Children's Vantage Point of Recalling Traumatic Events.
AB  - This study investigated the recollections of child survivors of the 2004 Asian
      tsunami in terms of their vantage point and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
      responses. Five years after the tsunami, 110 children (aged 7-13 years) living in
      Aceh, Indonesia were assessed for source of memories of the tsunami (personal
      memory or second-hand source), vantage point of the memory, and were administered
      the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale-13. Fifty-three children (48%) met
      criteria for PTSD. Two-thirds of children reported direct memories of the tsunami
      and one-third reported having memories based on reports from other people. More
      children (97%) who reported an indirect memory of the tsunami recalled the event
      from an onlooker's perspective to some extent than those who recalled the event
      directly (63%). Boys were more likely to rely on stories from others to
      reconstruct their memory of the tsunami, and to adopt an observer perspective.
      Boys who adopted an observer's perspective had less severe PTSD than those who
      adopted a field perspective. These findings suggest that, at least in the case of
      boys, an observer perspectives of trauma can be associated with levels of PTSD. 

PMID- 27649300
TI  - Comparing 2 Adhesive Methods on Skin Integrity in the High-Risk Neonate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nurses have a primary role in promoting neonatal skin integrity and
      skin care management of the critically ill neonate. Adhesive products are
      essential to secure needed medical devices but can be a significant factor
      contributing to skin breakdown. Current literature does not offer a definitive
      answer regarding which products most safely and effectively work to secure needed
      devices in the high-risk neonatal population. PURPOSE: To determine which
      adhesive method is best practice to safely and effectively secure lines/tubes in
      the high-risk neonate population. FINDINGS/RESULTS: The only main effect that was
      significant was age group with mean skin scores. Subjects in the younger group
      (24-28 weeks) had higher skin scores than in the older group (28-34 weeks),
      validating that younger gestations are at higher risk of breakdown with the use
      of adhesives. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The findings did not clearly identify
      which product was superior to secure tubes and lines, or was the least injurious
      to skin of the high-risk neonate. Neither a transparent dressing only or
      transparent dressing over hydrocolloid method clearly demonstrated an advantage
      in the high-risk, preterm neonate. Anecdotal comments suggested staff preferred
      the transparent dressing over hydrocolloid method as providing better adhesive
      while protecting skin integrity. The findings validated that younger gestations
      are at higher risk of breakdown with the use of adhesives and therefore require
      close vigilance to maintain skin integrity.

PMID- 27649301
TI  - Safe Sleep Infant Care Practices Reported by Mothers of Twins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of prematurity and low birth-weight places twin
      infants at increased risk for sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and/or sudden
      infant death syndrome (SIDS). Risk for these SUID and SIDS is affected by a
      combination of nonmodifiable intrinsic risk factors and modifiable extrinsic
      stressors including infant care practices related to sleep. Although adherence to
      the full scope of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2011 recommendations is
      intended to decrease risk, these recommendations are aimed at singleton infants
      and may require tailoring for families with multiple infants. PURPOSE: The study
      describes infant care practices reported by mothers of twins in the first 6
      months postpartum. METHODS: Mothers caring for twin infants (N = 35) were
      surveyed online both longitudinally (at 2, 8, 16, and 24 weeks after infant
      hospital discharge) and cross-sectionally. AAP recommendations (2011) guided
      survey content. RESULTS: The degree of adherence to AAP recommendations varied
      over time. For example, mothers of twins reported 100% adherence to placing twins
      supine for sleep initially, but many reported putting babies on their stomachs
      for naps as twins became older. Sharing a parent's bedroom decreased over time as
      did frequency of crib sharing. Fewer than half of mothers offered a pacifier most
      or all of the time for sleep. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Opportunities exist for
      development of an educational program geared specifically for postpartum parents
      of twins. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Barriers affecting adherence to AAP
      recommendations and effectiveness of educational programs addressing needs of
      this unique population need further exploration.

PMID- 27649302
TI  - The Relationship Between Behavioral States and Oral Feeding Efficiency in Preterm
      Infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between behavioral states (alert, sleep, drowsy, and
      crying) and oral feeding efficiency in preterm infants is not well understood.
      PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between behavioral states and feeding
      efficiency in preterm infants. METHODS: This correlational study was conducted as
      a secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial. Medically stable preterm
      infants born between 29 and 34 weeks' gestational age participated. Baseline data
      from the randomized controlled trial (week 0), 1 minute prior to feeding, were
      used. Behavioral states were coded by 2 blinded coders. Oral feeding efficiency
      (mL/min) was calculated as the amount of intake over the first 10 minutes of
      feeding. RESULTS: Data from 147 infants were included. The proportion of time
      spent in alert states (beta = .76, F = 11.29, P <= .05), sleep states (beta = 
      1.08, F = 25.26, P <= .05), and crying (beta = 1.50, F = 12.51, P <= .05)
      uniquely predicted oral feeding efficiency. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:
      Comprehensive assessment of behavioral states and infant characteristics for oral
      feeding readiness is crucial. Alert states are optimal for oral feeding. Forced
      oral feeding when infants are sleeping should be avoided. Infants in crying or
      drowsy states prior to feeding should be closely evaluated. Sleeping or drowsy
      infants may benefit from interventions (eg, oral sensory stimulation,
      nonnutritive sucking, or multisensory intervention) to support transition to
      alert states prior to feeding. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future research should
      evaluate behavioral states prior to and during feeding and their relationship to
      oral feeding efficiency.

PMID- 27649304
TI  - Auxetic Black Phosphorus: A 2D Material with Negative Poisson's Ratio.
AB  - The Poisson's ratio of a material characterizes its response to uniaxial strain.
      Materials normally possess a positive Poisson's ratio - they contract laterally
      when stretched, and expand laterally when compressed. A negative Poisson's ratio
      is theoretically permissible but has not, with few exceptions of man-made bulk
      structures, been experimentally observed in any natural materials. Here, we show
      that the negative Poisson's ratio exists in the low-dimensional natural material
      black phosphorus and that our experimental observations are consistent with first
      principles simulations. Through applying uniaxial strain along armchair
      direction, we have succeeded in demonstrating a cross-plane interlayer negative
      Poisson's ratio on black phosphorus for the first time. Meanwhile, our results
      support the existence of a cross-plane intralayer negative Poisson's ratio in the
      constituent phosphorene layers under uniaxial deformation along the zigzag axis,
      which is in line with a previous theoretical prediction. The phenomenon
      originates from the puckered structure of its in-plane lattice, together with
      coupled hinge-like bonding configurations.

PMID- 27649305
TI  - In-Hospital Economic Burden of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma in France in the
      Era of Targeted Therapies: Analysis of the French National Hospital Database from
      2008 to 2013.
AB  - BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the economic burden
      of hospitalisations for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), to describe the
      patterns of prescribing expensive drugs and to explore the impact of geographic
      and socio-demographic factors on the use of these drugs. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective analysis from the French national hospitals database. Hospital
      stays for mRCC between 2008 and 2013 were identified by combining the 10th
      revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes for renal
      cell carcinoma (C64) and codes for metastases (C77 to C79). Incident cases were
      identified out of all hospital stays and followed till December 2013. Descriptive
      analyses were performed with a focus on hospital stays and patient
      characteristics. Costs were assessed from the perspective of the French National
      Health Insurance and were obtained from official diagnosis-related group tariffs
      for public and private hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 15,752 adult patients were
      hospitalised for mRCC, corresponding to 102,613 hospital stays. Of those
      patients, 68% were men and the median age at first hospitalisation was 69 years
      [Min-Max: 18-102]. Over the study period, the hospital mortality rate reached
      37%. The annual cost of managing mRCC at hospital varied between 28M? in 2008 and
      42M? in 2012 and was mainly driven by inpatient costs. The mean annual per capita
      cost of hospital management of mRCC varied across the study period from 8,993?
      (SD: ?8,906) in 2008 to 10,216? (SD: ?10,527) in 2012. Analysis of the
      determinants of prescribing expensive drugs at hospital did not show social or
      territorial differences in the use of these drugs. CONCLUSION: This study is the
      first to investigate the in-hospital economic burden of mRCC in France. Results
      showed that in-hospital costs of managing mRCC are mainly driven by expensive
      drugs and inpatient costs.

PMID- 27649307
TI  - Solubility of CO2 and N2O in an Imidazolium-Based Lipidic Ionic Liquid.
AB  - Imidazolium-based ionic liquids have been extensively studied for their ability
      to dissolve a wide variety of gases and for their potential to be used as
      separation agents in industrial processes. For many short chain 1-alkyl-3
      methylimidazolium bistriflimde salts, CO2 and N2O solublities are very similar.
      In this work, the solubility of CO2 and N2O has been measured in the lipidic
      ionic liquid 1-methyl-3-(Z-octadec-9-enyl)imidazolium bistriflimide ([oleyl
      mim][NTf2]) at 298 K, 310 and 323 K up to ~2 MPa. N2O was found to have higher
      solubility than CO2 under the same conditions, similar to the behavior observed
      when olive oil, a natural lipid, was the liquid solvent. However, the solubility
      of each gas on a mole fraction basis is lower in the ionic liquid than in olive
      oil. Comparison of the gas solubilities on a mass fraction basis demonstrates
      that CO2 solubility is nearly identical in both liquids; N2O solubility is higher
      than CO2 for both liquids, but more so in the olive oil. The difference is
      attributed to the high mass fraction of the olive oil that is lipid-like in
      character. The differential solubility of N2O/CO2 in this ionic liquid, in
      contrast to that of shorter chain 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bistriflimide
      salts, gives physical insight into the solvent properties of this class of ionic
      liquids and provides further support for their lipid-like character.

PMID- 27649303
TI  - Computational Evaluation of the Strict Master and Random Template Models of
      Endogenous Retrovirus Evolution.
AB  - Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that are able to replicate and move
      within and between host genomes. Their mechanism of replication is also shared
      with endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), which are also a type of TE that represent
      an ancient retroviral infection within animal genomes. Two models have been
      proposed to explain TE proliferation in host genomes: the strict master model
      (SMM), and the random template (or transposon) model (TM). In SMM only a single
      copy of a given TE lineage is able to replicate, and all other genomic copies of
      TEs are derived from that master copy. In TM, any element of a given family is
      able to replicate in the host genome. In this paper, we simulated ERV
      phylogenetic trees under variations of SMM and TM. To test whether current
      phylogenetic programs can recover the simulated ERV phylogenies, DNA sequence
      alignments were simulated and maximum likelihood trees were reconstructed and
      compared to the simulated phylogenies. Results indicate that visual inspection of
      phylogenetic trees alone can be misleading. However, if a set of statistical
      summaries is calculated, we are able to distinguish between models with high
      accuracy by using a data mining algorithm that we introduce here. We also
      demonstrate the use of our data mining algorithm with empirical data for the
      porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV), an ERV that is able to replicate in human
      and pig cells in vitro. 

PMID- 27649306
TI  - Global Capacity for Emerging Infectious Disease Detection, 1996-2014.
AB  - The speed with which disease outbreaks are recognized is critical for
      establishing effective control efforts. We evaluate global improvements in the
      timeliness of outbreak discovery and communication during 2010-2014 as a follow
      up to a 2010 report. For all outbreaks reported by the World Health
      Organization's Disease Outbreak News, we estimate the number of days from first
      symptoms until outbreak discovery and until first public communication. We report
      median discovery and communication delays overall, by region, and by Human
      Development Index (HDI) quartile. We use Cox proportional hazards regression to
      assess changes in these 2 outcomes over time, along with Loess curves for
      visualization. Improvement since 1996 was greatest in the Eastern Mediterranean
      and Western Pacific regions and in countries in the middle HDI quartiles.
      However, little progress has occurred since 2010. Further improvements in
      surveillance will likely require additional international collaboration with a
      focus on regions of low or unstable HDI.

PMID- 27649308
TI  - Protection of Location Privacy Based on Distributed Collaborative
      Recommendations.
AB  - In the existing centralized location services system structure, the server is
      easily attracted and be the communication bottleneck. It caused the disclosure of
      users' location. For this, we presented a new distributed collaborative
      recommendation strategy that is based on the distributed system. In this
      strategy, each node establishes profiles of their own location information. When
      requests for location services appear, the user can obtain the corresponding
      location services according to the recommendation of the neighboring users'
      location information profiles. If no suitable recommended location service
      results are obtained, then the user can send a service request to the server
      according to the construction of a k-anonymous data set with a centroid position
      of the neighbors. In this strategy, we designed a new model of distributed
      collaborative recommendation location service based on the users' location
      information profiles and used generalization and encryption to ensure the safety
      of the user's location information privacy. Finally, we used the real location
      data set to make theoretical and experimental analysis. And the results show that
      the strategy proposed in this paper is capable of reducing the frequency of
      access to the location server, providing better location services and protecting
      better the user's location privacy. 

PMID- 27649309
TI  - Correction: Capsaicin Treatment Attenuates Cholangiocarcinoma Carcinogenesis.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095605.].

PMID- 27649310
TI  - A fence that eats the weed: Alginate lyase immobilization on ultrafiltration
      membrane for fouling mitigation and flux recovery.
AB  - Polysaccharide fouling poses a significant challenge in the widespread
      application of membrane filtration for water purification. In order to mitigate
      the problem, a polysaccharide-degrading enzyme alginate lyase (Alg L; EC 4.2.2.3)
      was successfully immobilized on cellulose acetate ultrafiltration membrane using
      a dead-end filtration unit. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform
      infrared microscopy confirmed covalent linkage of the Alg L to the membrane. HPLC
      and Alg L activity studies confirmed that Alg L in immobilized form was
      enzymatically active. Even after 21 d, Alg L in immobilized form retained 80% of
      its original activity, compared to its free counterpart, which retained only 20%
      of its original activity. In fouling experiments using tap water containing 50 mg
      L-1 alginate, a simple backwash could remove the fouling on Alg L immobilized
      membrane, but not that on the control membrane. Atomic force microscopic analysis
      and bright field microscopic images of the fouled test membrane after backwash
      showed significant removal of fouling, while fouling on the control membrane
      remained largely intact. The immobilized Alg L remained active even after 10 runs
      of fouling-backwash cycle. The present antifouling technology using immobilized
      enzyme is suitable for keeping ultrafiltration membranes clean without the use of
      toxic chemical biocides.

PMID- 27649311
TI  - Detoxification of hydroxylated polychlorobiphenyls by Sphingomonas sp. strain N-9
      isolated from forest soil.
AB  - To examine the biodegradation of hydroxylated polychlorobiphenyls (OH-PCBs), we
      isolated Sphingomonas sp. strain N-9 from forest soil using mineral salt medium
      containing 4-hydroxy-3-chlorobiphenyl (4OH-3CB) at the concentration of 10 mg/L.
      Following incubation with strain N-9, the concentration of 4OH-3CB decreased in
      inverse proportion to strain N-9 proliferation, and it was converted to 3-chloro
      4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4OH-3CBA) after 1 day. We observed that strain N-9
      efficiently degraded lowly chlorinated OH-PCBs (1-4 Cl), while highly chlorinated
      OH-PCBs (5-6 Cl) were less efficiently transformed. Additionally, strain N-9
      degraded PCBs and OH-PCBs with similar efficiencies, and the efficiency of OH-PCB
      degradation was dependent upon the positional relationships between OH-PCB
      hydroxyl groups and chlorinated rings. OH-PCB biodegradation may result in highly
      toxic products, therefore, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of two OH-PCBs [4OH-3CB
      and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dichlorobiphenyl (4OH-3,5CB)] and their metabolites [4OH-3CBA
      and 3,5-chloro-4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4OH-3,5CBA)] using PC12 rat
      pheochromocytoma cells. Our results revealed that both OH-PCBs induced cell
      membrane damage and caused neuron-like elongations in a dose-dependent manner,
      while similar results were not observed for their metabolites. These results
      indicated that strain N-9 can convert OH-PCBs into chloro-hydroxybenzoic acids
      having lower toxicity.

PMID- 27649314
TI  - Evaluation of the ROSATM Spine robot for minimally invasive surgical procedures.
AB  - The ROSA(r) robot (Medtech, Montpellier, France) is a new medical device designed
      to assist the surgeon during minimally invasive spine procedures. The device
      comprises a patient-side cart (bearing the robotic arm and a workstation) and an
      optical navigation camera. The ROSA(r) Spine robot enables accurate pedicle screw
      placement. Thanks to its robotic arm and navigation abilities, the robot monitors
      movements of the spine throughout the entire surgical procedure and thus enables
      accurate, safe arthrodesis for the treatment of degenerative lumbar disc
      diseases, exactly as planned by the surgeon. Development perspectives include (i)
      assistance at all levels of the spine, (ii) improved planning abilities
      (virtualization of the entire surgical procedure) and (iii) use for almost any
      percutaneous spinal procedures not limited in screw positioning such as
      percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy, intracorporeal implant positioning,
      over te top laminectomy or radiofrequency ablation.

PMID- 27649312
TI  - Immunotherapy for prostate cancer: False promises or true hope?
AB  - Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, and the second leading
      cause of cancer-related death for men in the United States. Despite the approval
      of several new agents for advanced disease, each of these has prolonged survival
      by only a few months. Consequently, new therapies are sorely needed. For other
      cancer types, immunotherapy has demonstrated dramatic and durable treatment
      responses, causing many to hope that immunotherapies might provide an ideal
      treatment approach for patients with advanced prostate cancer. However, apart
      from sipuleucel-T, prostate cancer has been conspicuously absent from the list of
      malignancies for which immunotherapies have received recent approval from the US
      Food and Drug Administration. This has left some wondering whether immunotherapy
      will "work" for this disease. In this review, the authors describe current
      developments in immunotherapy, including approaches to engage tumor-targeting T
      cells, disrupt immune regulation, and alter the immunosuppressive tumor
      microenvironment. The authors then describe the recent application of these
      approaches to the treatment of prostate cancer. Given the Food and Drug
      Administration approval of 1 agent, and the finding that several others are in
      advanced stages of clinical testing, the authors believe that immunotherapies
      offer real hope to improve patient outcomes for men with prostate cancer,
      especially as investigators begin to explore rational combinations of
      immunotherapies and combine these therapies with other conventional therapies.
      Cancer 2016;122:3598-607. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27649313
TI  - Purifying Selection, Density Blocking and Unnoticed Mitochondrial DNA Diversity
      in the Red Deer, Cervus elaphus.
AB  - The trajectories of postglacial range expansions, the occurrence of lineage
      patches and the formation and maintenance of secondary contact between lineages
      may mostly reflect neutral demographic processes, including density blocking,
      that may leave long-lasting genetic signatures. However, a few studies have
      recently shown that climate may also play a role. We used red deer, a large,
      mobile herbivore that is assumed to be sensitive to climate change, to test
      hypotheses of possible selection on the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene
      (mtDNA cytb) and competitive and/or density-blocking (using mtDNA control
      region). We searched for a possible link between the phylogeographic structure
      and abiotic climatic variables. Finally, we tested for isolation by distance and
      isolation by environment and assessed the impact of human-mediated translocations
      on the genetic structure of red deer. Our analysis of 30 red deer populations in
      Poland using the mtDNA control region (N = 357) and cytochrome b (N = 50) markers
      not only confirmed the presence of the Western and South-Eastern lineages of the
      species but also indicated the presence of a previously unnoticed, rare relic
      haplotype that grouped together C. e. italicus from Italy (the Mesola deer). No
      significant signs of positive selection were detected for the mtDNA cytb gene in
      the studied red deer. However, a significant signal for purifying selection was
      found in our study that may explain the narrowness of the contact zone because
      gene flow between the Western and South-Eastern lineages should drive relatively
      strong mito-nuclear incompatibilities. MtDNA control region differentiation among
      red deer populations in Poland correlated with different abiotic climatic
      variables. Strikingly, the southernmost ice sheet limits during the Elsterian was
      the most important factor, and it explained the largest amount of variation.
      However, neither isolation by distance (IBD) nor isolation by environment (IBE)
      were recorded, and a very limited impact of human translocations was evident. The
      above-mentioned results suggest that in contemporary red deer populations in
      Poland, the phylogeographic pattern is well preserved, and long-term processes
      (density and/or competitive blocking) still play a major role. 

PMID- 27649315
TI  - Penetration and Effectiveness of Micronized Copper in Refractory Wood Species.
AB  - The North American wood decking market mostly relies on easily treatable Southern
      yellow pine (SYP), which is being impregnated with micronized copper (MC) wood
      preservatives since 2006. These formulations are composed of copper (Cu)
      carbonate particles (CuCO3.Cu(OH)2), with sizes ranging from 1 nm to 250 MUm,
      according to manufacturers. MC-treated SYP wood is protected against decay by
      solubilized Cu2+ ions and unreacted CuCO3.Cu(OH)2 particles that successively
      release Cu2+ ions (reservoir effect). The wood species used for the European wood
      decking market differ from the North American SYP. One of the most common species
      is Norway spruce wood, which is poorly treatable i.e. refractory due to the
      anatomical properties, like pore size and structure, and chemical composition,
      like pit membrane components or presence of wood extractives. Therefore, MC
      formulations may not suitable for refractory wood species common in the European
      market, despite their good performance in SYP. We evaluated the penetration
      effectiveness of MC azole (MCA) in easily treatable Scots pine and in refractory
      Norway spruce wood. We assessed the effectiveness against the Cu-tolerant wood
      destroying fungus Rhodonia placenta. Our findings show that MCA cannot easily
      penetrate refractory wood species and could not confirm the presence of a
      reservoir effect. 

PMID- 27649317
TI  - Behavioral Sabotage of Plant Defenses by Insect Folivores.
AB  - Plant susceptibility to herbivore attack is determined not just by the suite of
      defenses present in different tissues of the plant, but also by the capabilities
      of the herbivore for tolerating, circumventing, or disarming the defenses. This
      article reviews the elaborate behaviors exhibited by leaf-chewing insects that
      appear to function specifically to deactivate hostplant defenses. Shortcomings in
      our understanding and promising areas for future research are highlighted.
      Behaviors covered include vein cutting, trenching, girdling, leaf clipping, and
      application of fluids from exocrine glands. Many of these behaviors have a
      widespread distribution, having evolved independently in multiple insect
      lineages. Insects utilizing the behaviors include significant agricultural,
      horticultural, and forestry pests, as well as numerous species important in
      natural ecosystems. Behavioral, ecological, and phylogenetic studies have
      documented the importance of the behaviors and their ancient history, but the
      molecular analysis of how the behaviors affect plant physiology has scarcely
      begun.

PMID- 27649316
TI  - Cognitive Function, APOE Gene Polymorphisms, and Thyroid Status Associations in
      Postmenopausal Women in Poland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to analyze a potential association
      between cognitive functions and thyroid status in postmenopausal women with
      different polymorphisms of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE). METHODS: The
      examined population included 402 postmenopausal women from south-eastern Poland.
      The evaluation of cognitive functions was made with the use of the diagnostic
      Central Nervous System-Vital Signs equipment (Polish version). Multiplex
      polymerase chain reactions were performed to assess APOE polymorphisms. The
      thyroid hormone tests were assessed by an accredited laboratory. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSION: Lower results of cognitive functions were associated with the
      presence of the epsilon4 APOE allele in postmenopausal women. The epsilon4 APOE
      polymorphism was associated with a higher concentration of thyroid-stimulating
      hormone and lower concentrations of free triiodothyronine and total
      triiodothyronine.

PMID- 27649318
TI  - Lamivudine/Adefovir Treatment Increases the Rate of Spontaneous Mutation of
      Hepatitis B Virus in Patients.
AB  - The high levels of genetic diversity shown by hepatitis B virus (HBV) are
      commonly attributed to the low fidelity of its polymerase. However, the rate of
      spontaneous mutation of human HBV in vivo is currently unknown. Here, based on
      the evolutionary principle that the population frequency of lethal mutations
      equals the rate at which they are produced, we have estimated the mutation rate
      of HBV in vivo by scoring premature stop codons in 621 publicly available, full
      length, molecular clone sequences derived from patients. This yielded an estimate
      of 8.7 * 10-5 spontaneous mutations per nucleotide per cell infection in
      untreated patients, which should be taken as an upper limit estimate because PCR
      errors and/or lack of effective lethality may inflate observed mutation
      frequencies. We found that, in patients undergoing lamivudine/adefovir treatment,
      the HBV mutation rate was elevated by more than sixfold, revealing a mutagenic
      effect of this treatment. Genome-wide analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      indicated that lamivudine/adefovir treatment increases the fraction of A/T-to-G/C
      base substitutions, consistent with recent work showing similar effects of
      lamivudine in cellular DNA. Based on these data, the rate at which HBV produces
      new genetic variants in treated patients is similar to or even higher than in RNA
      viruses. 

PMID- 27649321
TI  - 2016 Golden Helix Summer School - Cancer Genomics and Individualized Therapy. 22
      26 September 2016, Syros Island, Greece: Abstracts.

PMID- 27649319
TI  - Recent advancements in combination subunit vaccine development.
AB  - Viral structural proteins share a common nature of homotypic interactions that
      drive viral capsid formation. This natural process has been mimicked in vitro
      through recombinant technology to generate various virus-like particles (VLPs)
      and small subviral particles that exhibit similar structural and antigenic
      properties of their authentic viruses. Therefore, such self-assembled,
      polyvalent, and highly immunogenic VLPs and small subviral particles are
      excellent subunit vaccines against individual viruses, such as the VLP vaccines
      against the hepatitis B virus, human papilloma virus, and hepatitis E virus,
      which have already been in the markets. In addition, various antigens and
      epitopes can be fused with VLPs, small subviral particles, or protein polymers,
      forming chimeric mono-, bi-, or trivalent vaccines. Owing to their easy
      production, un-infectiousness, and polyvalence, the recombinant, chimeric
      vaccines offer a new approach for development of safe, low-cost, and high
      efficient subunit vaccines against a single or more pathogens or diseases. While
      the first VLP-based combination vaccine against malaria has been approved for
      human use, many others are under development with promising future, which are
      summarized in this commentary.

PMID- 27649320
TI  - Correction: Quantitative Amyloid Imaging in Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's
      Disease: Results from the DIAN Study Group.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152082.].

PMID- 27649323
TI  - Nanoparticles and the immune system: challenges and opportunities.

PMID- 27649322
TI  - Borderline personality disorder in youth: The prospective impact of child abuse
      on non-suicidal self-injury and suicidality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by greater
      engagement in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality. The aim of the
      study is to test whether the occurrence of child abuse contributes to these high
      risk behaviors in BPD youth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BPD female youth aged 13
      21years with (n=29) and without (n=29) a history of child abuse were administered
      clinical interviews assessing diagnostic history, child abuse, NSSI and
      suicidality (i.e., ideation, plans, and attempts). NSSI and suicidality were
      subsequently reevaluated at the 1- and 2-month follow-up assessments. RESULTS:
      Several findings emerged. First, relative to BPD youth without abuse, the abuse
      group reported greater past NSSI; however, no significant differences emerged in
      the follow-up period. Second, the occurrence of child abuse was associated with a
      5-fold increase in the rate of lifetime suicide attempts relative to the no abuse
      group and additionally, prospectively predicted suicide ideation (but not
      attempts). Last, exploratory analyses indicated that the co-occurrence of
      physical and sexual abuse was associated with greater past NSSI and suicidality
      as compared to the no abuse and sexual abuse only participants. CONCLUSION: As a
      whole, child abuse - particularly co-occurring physical and sexual abuse -
      increases risk for NSSI and suicidality among BPD youth, which may have important
      treatment implications in this high-risk population.

PMID- 27649324
TI  - Abiotic stress and phytohormones affect enzymic activity of 1-O-(indole-3-acetyl)
      beta-d-glucose: myo-inositol indoleacetyl transferase from rice (Oryza sativa).
AB  - Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) conjugation is a part of mechanism regulating free
      auxin concentration. 1-O-(indole-3-acetyl)-beta-d-glucose: myo-inositol
      indoleacetyl transferase (IAInos synthase) is an enzyme involved in IAA-ester
      conjugates biosynthesis. Biotic and abiotic stress conditions can modulate auxin
      conjugates formation in plants. In this study, we investigated effect of plant
      hormones (IAA, ABA, SA and 2,4-D) and abiotic stress (drought and salt stress:
      150mM NaCl and 300mM NaCl) on expression level and catalytic activity of rice
      IAInos synthase. Enzymic activity assay indicated that all tested phytohormones
      affected activity of IAInos synthase, but only ABA had inhibiting effect, while
      IAA, SA and 2,4-D activated the enzyme. Drought and salt stress induced with
      lower NaCl concentration resulted in decreased activity of IAInos synthase, but
      300mM NaCl had no effect on the enzyme. Despite observed differences in enzymic
      activities, no changes of expression level, tested by semiquantitative RT-PCR and
      Western blot, were detected. Based on our results it has been supposed that plant
      hormones and stress conditions affect IAInos synthase activity on
      posttranslational level.

PMID- 27649325
TI  - Mapping of unmethylated sites in rDNA repeats in barley NOR deletion line.
AB  - Extensive cytosine methylation is characteristic of plant rDNA. Evidence exists,
      however, that the active rRNA genes are less methylated. In this work we report
      on the mapping of unmethylated CCGG sites in Hordeum vulgare rDNA repeats by
      digestion with methylation sensitive restriction enzyme HpaII and indirect end
      labeling of the generated fragments. For mapping we used genomic DNA from barley
      deletion line with a single NOR on chromosome 5H. This NOR is more active in
      order to compensate for the missing NOR 6H. The enhanced NOR 5H activity in the
      deletion mutant is not due to higher multiplicity of the rRNA genes or, as
      sequencing showed, to changes in the subunit structure of the intergenic spacer.
      The HpaII sites in barley rDNA are heavily methylated. Nevertheless, a fraction
      of the rDNA repeats is hypomethylated with unmethylated CCGG sites at various
      positions. One unmethylated CCGG sequence is close to the transcription start
      site, downstream of the 135bp subrepeats. Unmethylated sites are also present in
      the external transcribed spacer and in the genes coding mature rRNAs. The
      patterns of unmethylated sites in the barley deletion line and in lines with two
      NORs were compared. It is hypothesized that the occurrence of unmethylated sites
      on a fixed subset of rDNA repeats correlates with their transcriptional activity.

PMID- 27649326
TI  - Clarification on Tartari et al.: Economic sustainability of anti-PD-1 agents
      nivolumab and pembrolizumab in cancer patients.

PMID- 27649327
TI  - Fungal disease detection in plants: Traditional assays, novel diagnostic
      techniques and biosensors.
AB  - Fungal diseases in commercially important plants results in a significant
      reduction in both quality and yield, often leading to the loss of an entire
      plant. In order to minimize the losses, it is essential to detect and identify
      the pathogens at an early stage. Early detection and accurate identification of
      pathogens can control the spread of infection. The present article provides a
      comprehensive overview of conventional methods, current trends and advances in
      fungal pathogen detection with an emphasis on biosensors. Traditional techniques
      are the "gold standard" in fungal detection which relies on symptoms, culture
      based, morphological observation and biochemical identifications. In recent
      times, with the advancement of biotechnology, molecular and immunological
      approaches have revolutionized fungal disease detection. But the drawback lies in
      the fact that these methods require specific and expensive equipments. Thus,
      there is an urgent need for rapid, reliable, sensitive, cost effective and easy
      to use diagnostic methods for fungal pathogen detection. Biosensors would become
      a promising and attractive alternative, but they still have to be subjected to
      some modifications, improvements and proper validation for on-field use.

PMID- 27649328
TI  - Designing an ultra-sensitive aptasensor based on an AgNPs/thiol-GQD nanocomposite
      for TNT detection at femtomolar levels using the electrochemical oxidation of
      Rutin as a redox probe.
AB  - In this paper, for the first time a highly sensitive and low-cost electrochemical
      aptasensor was fabricated based on a silver nanoparticles/thiol functionalized
      graphene quantum dot (AgNPs/thiol-GQD) nanocomposite for the measurement of 2,4,6
      Trinitrotoluen (TNT) as a nitroaromatic explosive. For the first time Rutin (RU)
      as a biological molecule with inherent properties was used as the redox probe in
      the development of the TNT aptasensor was used. The system was based on a TNT
      binding aptamer which is covalently attached onto the surface of a glassy carbon
      electrode (GCE) modified with the nanocomposite for the formation of a sensing
      layer and improving the performance of the aptasensor. Using the proposed
      nanocomposite provides a specific platform with increased surface area which is
      capable of loading more Aptamer (Ap) molecules as a receptor element of TNT on
      the electrode surface. So, TNT molecules is in an upward position to be measured
      and the obtained results indicate that the aptasensor exhibits two wide linear
      ranges and an unprecedented LOD compared with previously reported analytical
      methods for TNT detection. Applicability of the developed aptasensor to easily
      detect TNT in real samples was evaluated. It seems that the proposed strategy can
      be expanded to other nanoparticles and is expected to have promising implications
      in the design of electrochemical sensors or biosensors for the detection of
      various targets.

PMID- 27649329
TI  - Insights into the recognition of dimethomorph by disulfide bridged beta
      cyclodextrin and its high selective fluorescence sensing based on indicator
      displacement assay.
AB  - In this work, the molecular recognition of dimethomorph by disulfide bridged beta
      cyclodextrin (SS-beta-CD) was studied by UV spectroscopy, 2D NMR, and molecular
      modeling. The results indicated that the SS-beta-CD/dimethomorph was more stable
      than beta-CD/dimethomorph, which is ascribed to the fact that the disulfide chain
      plays an important role in stabilizing the appropriate dual-CD conformation and
      also promoting the inclusion of the host and guest. In addition, a robust
      fluorescence method for dimethomorph sensing has been developed based on
      competitive host-guest interaction by selecting safranine T (ST) as optical
      indicator and SS-beta-CD functionalized reduced graphene oxide (SS-beta-CD-RGO)
      as the receptor. Upon the presence of dimethomorph to the pre-formed SS-beta-CD
      RGO.ST complex, the ST molecule is displaced by dimethomorph, leading to a
      "switch-on" fluorescence response. That is due to the fact that the binding
      constant of the dimethomorph/SS-beta-CD complex was more than 5 times greater
      than that of ST/SS-beta-CD. The fluorescence intensity of SS-beta-CD-RGO.ST
      complex increased linearly with increasing concentration of dimethomorph ranging
      from 0.50 to 20.0MUM. The proposed method showed a detection limit of 0.11MUM for
      dimethomorph, and was successfully applied for the determination of dimethomorph
      residues in vegetables (cabbage, spinach) and environmental samples (water, soil)
      with good precision and recoveries from 96.5% to 104%.

PMID- 27649330
TI  - Facile synthesis of cuprous oxide nanowires decorated graphene oxide nanosheets
      nanocomposites and its application in label-free electrochemical immunosensor.
AB  - In this work, the assembly between one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials and two
      dimensional (2D) nanomaterials was achieved by a simple method. Cuprous oxide
      nanowires decorated graphene oxide nanosheets (Cu2O@GO) nanocomposites were
      synthesized for the first time by a simple electrostatic self-assembly process.
      The nanostructure was well confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and
      transmission electron microscope (TEM) images. Taking advantages of good
      electrocatalytic activity and high specific surface area of Cu2O@GO
      nanocomposites, a label-free electrochemical immunosensor was developed by
      employing Cu2O@GO as signal amplification platform for the quantitative detection
      of alpha fetoprotein (AFP). In addition, toluidine blue (TB) was used as the
      electron transfer mediator to provide the electrochemical signal, which was
      adsorbed on graphene oxide nanosheets (GO NSs) by electrostatic attraction. The
      detection mechanism was based on the monitoring of the electrochemical current
      response change of TB by the square wave voltammetry (SWV) when immunoreaction
      occurred on the surface of electrode. Under optimal conditions, the proposed
      immunosensor displayed a high sensitivity and a low detection limit. This
      designed method may provide an effective method in the clinical diagnosis of AFP
      and other tumor markers.

PMID- 27649331
TI  - An ultrasensitive sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor based on the signal
      amplification strategy of mesoporous core-shell Pd@Pt nanoparticles/amino group
      functionalized graphene nanocomposite.
AB  - Herein, a novel and sensitive sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor was
      fabricated for quantitative monitoring of prostate specific antigen (PSA). The
      sulfo group functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-SO3H) were used
      as substrate material to increase the specific surface area and enhance the
      conductivity of the glassy carbon electrode. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were
      introduced to enhance the load capacity of the substrate material for primary
      antibodies (Ab1) and accelerate the electron transfer on the electrode interface.
      The mesoporous core-shell Pd@Pt nanoparticle loaded by amino group functionalized
      graphene (M-Pd@Pt/NH2-GS) with high specific surface area, high indexed facets,
      and good biocompatibility was not only as the carriers of secondary antibodies
      (Ab2) but also catalyzed the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which
      effectually amplified the current signal in detection of PSA. The as-proposed
      immunosensor exhibited high sensitivity and stability on the detection of PSA. A
      linear relationship between current signals and the concentrations of PSA was
      obtained in the range from 10fg/mL to 50ng/mL and the detection limit of PSA was
      3.3fg/mL (signal-to-noise ratio of 3). Furthermore, the as-proposed immunosensor
      showed excellent performance in detection of human serum samples. The results
      suggest that the proposed immunosensor will be promising in the diagnostics
      application for accurately quantitative detection of PSA.

PMID- 27649332
TI  - A nuclease-assisted label-free aptasensor for fluorescence turn-on detection of
      ATP based on the in situ formation of copper nanoparticles.
AB  - Owing to their promising advantages in biochemical analysis, aptamer-based
      sensing systems for the fluorescence detection of important biomolecules are
      being extensively investigated. Herein, we propose a turn-on fluorescent
      aptasensor for label-free detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by utilizing
      the in situ formation of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) and the specific digestion
      capability of exonuclease I (Exo I). In this assay, the addition of ATP can
      effectively hinder the digestion of aptamer-derived oligonucleotides due to the G
      quadruplex structure. Accordingly, the remaining poly thymine at 5'-terminus of
      substrate DNA can serve as an efficient template for red-emitting fluorescent
      CuNPs with a Mega-Stokes shifting in buffered solution, which can be used to
      evaluate the concentration of ATP. This method is cost-effective and facile,
      because it avoids the use of traditional dye-labeled DNA strands and complex
      operation steps. Under optimized conditions, this method achieves a selective
      response for ATP with a detection limit of 93nM, and exhibits a good detection
      performance in biological samples.

PMID- 27649333
TI  - Electroactive and biocompatible functionalization of graphene for the development
      of biosensing platforms.
AB  - Design and synthesis of low-cost, highly stable, electroactive and biocompatible
      material is one of the key steps for the advancement of electrochemical
      biosensing systems. To this end, we have explored a facile way for the successful
      synthesis of redox active and bioengineering of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for
      the development of versatile biosensing platform. A highly branched polymer (PEI)
      is used for reduction and simultaneous derivation of graphene oxide (GO) to form
      a biocompatible polymeric matrix on RGO nanosheet. Ferrocene redox moieties are
      then wired onto RGO nanosheets through the polymer matrix. The as-prepared
      functional composite is electrochemically active and enables to accommodate
      enzymes stably. For proof-of-concept studies, two crucial redox enzymes for
      biosensors (i.e. cholesterol oxidase and glucose oxidase) are targeted. The
      enzyme integrated and RGO supported biosensing hybrid systems show high
      stability, excellent selectivity, good reproducibility and fast sensing response.
      As measured, the detection limit of the biosensors for glucose and cholesterol is
      5uM and 0.5uM (S/N=3), respectively. The linear response range of the biosensor
      is from 0.1 to 15.5mM for glucose and from 2.5 to 25uM for cholesterol.
      Furthermore, this biosensing platform shows good anti-interference ability and
      reasonable stability. The nanohybrid biosensing materials can be combined with
      screen-printed electrodes, which are successfully used for measuring the glucose
      and cholesterol level of real human serum samples.

PMID- 27649334
TI  - A colorimetric and fluorometric dual-signal sensor for arginine detection by
      inhibiting the growth of gold nanoparticles/carbon quantum dots composite.
AB  - A bidimensional optical sensing platform which combines the advantages of
      fluorescence and colorimetry has been designed for arginine (Arg) detection. The
      system was established by monitoring the influence of Arg on the growth of gold
      nanoparticles/carbon quantum dots (Au/CQDs) composite, and the CQDs synthesized
      by ethylene glycol were used as the reducing and stabilizing agent in this paper.
      Considering that Arg is the only amino acid with guanidine group and has the
      highest isoelectric point (pI) value at 10.76, Arg would carry positive charges
      at pH 7.4. Consequently, the positively charged guanidine group of Arg could
      attract AuCl4- and CQDs through electrostatic interaction, which inhibited the
      growth of Au/CQDs composite. Thereby, the color of the system almost did not
      change and the fluorescence quenching of CQDs was prevented in the presence of
      Arg. Based on the color change a low detection limit for Arg was 37nM, and a
      detection limit of 450nM was obtained by fluorescence spectroscopy. Moreover,
      this dual-signal sensor also revealed excellent selectivity toward Arg over other
      amino acids. Besides, Arg can be detected in urine samples with satisfactory
      results, which demonstrate the potential applications for real analysis.

PMID- 27649335
TI  - An ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence immunosensor for NT-proBNP based on
      self-catalyzed luminescence emitter coupled with PdCu@carbon nanohorn hybrid.
AB  - A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signal amplified strategy based on self
      catalyzed luminol derivative and carbon nanohorn-based hybrid for luminol/H2O2
      system was firstly proposed, and applied to fabricate an ultrasensitive ECL
      immunosensor for the detection of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptides (NT
      proBNP). Initially, PdCu nanocubes supported single-walled carbon nanohorns
      (PdCu@SWCNHs) hybrid was successfully synthesized through a facile one-pot
      strategy. For signal tag fabrication, 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid
      (PTCA) conjugated luminol (PTC-Lu) as a novel self-catalyzed luminescence emitter
      was prepared and then effectively immobilized on the PdCu@SWCNHs to form PTC
      Lu/PdCu@SWCNHs nanocomposite via pi-pi stacking. Herein, PTCA was selected and
      introduced into the luminol/H2O2 ECL system for the first time, which could not
      only increase the luminescence signal but also remarkably improve the stability
      and hydrophilicity of pristine SWCNHs. More notably, PdCu@SWCNHs nanohybrid
      showed superior catalytic activity toward H2O2 that could further amplify the ECL
      signal of luminol/H2O2 system. Meanwhile, good biocompatibility and high specific
      surface area of PdCu nanocubes make the composite possess excellent property for
      immobilization of detection antibody. Based upon above, the proposed "signal on"
      immunosensor exhibited a wide linear detection range of 0.1pgmL-1 to 25ngmL-1
      with a relatively low detection limit of 0.05pgmL-1, and successfully achieved
      the detection in clinical human serum samples with desirable results.

PMID- 27649336
TI  - Non-conductive and miniature fiber-optic imaging system for real-time detection
      of neuronal activity in time-varying electromagnetic fields.
AB  - Establishing an appropriate threshold value for neuronal modulation by time
      varying electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure is important for developing
      international guidelines to protect against the potential health effects, and to
      design a variety of medical devices. However, it is technically difficult to
      achieve real-time detection of neuronal activity under repetitive and long-term
      exposure to EMF. For this purpose, we developed a non-conductive, miniature, and
      flexible fiber-optic imaging system that does not affect the electromagnetic
      noise, induction heating, or vibration in a high-intensity and repetitive time
      varying EMF exposure. Using the proposed system, we succeeded at real-time
      detection of spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in single neuronal and glial cells, as
      well as synchronized bursting activities of multiple neuronal networks at a
      micrometer-scale and millisecond-order spatiotemporal resolution during long-term
      EMF exposure (sinusoidal wave, 20kHz, 8.6mT, >30min). The results indicated that
      short-term (<5min) exposure-related neuronal modulation was not detectable;
      however, long-term (15-30min) exposure was observed to depress neuronal
      activities. In addition, the simultaneous and real-time recording of neuronal
      activity and the environmental temperature revealed that the neuronal modulation
      was accompanied by a 0.5-1 degrees C rise in the temperature of the culture
      medium induced by the heat generation of exposure coils. These findings suggest
      that our real-time imaging system can be used for precise evaluation of the
      threshold values and clarification of the mechanisms of neuronal modulation
      induced by time-varying EMF exposure.

PMID- 27649337
TI  - Lithotripter shock wave interaction with a bubble near various biomaterials.
AB  - Following previous work on the dynamics of an oscillating bubble near a bio
      material (Ohl et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 6313-36) and the interaction of a
      bubble with a shockwave (Klaseboer et al 2007 J. Fluid Mech. 593 33-56), the
      present work concerns the interaction of a gas bubble with a traveling shock wave
      (such as from a lithotripter) in the vicinity of bio-materials such as fat, skin,
      muscle, cornea, cartilage, and bone. The bubble is situated in water (to
      represent a water-like biofluid). The bubble collapses are not spherically
      symmetric, but tend to feature a high speed jet. A few simulations are performed
      and compared with available experimental observations from Sankin and Zhong (2006
      Phys. Rev. E 74 046304). The collapses of cavitation bubbles (created by laser in
      the experiment) near an elastic membrane when hit by a lithotripter shock wave
      are correctly captured by the simulation. This is followed by a more systematic
      study of the effects involved concerning shockwave bubble biomaterial
      interactions. If a subsequent rarefaction wave hits the collapsed bubble, it will
      re-expand to a very large size straining the bio-materials nearby before
      collapsing once again. It is noted that, for hard bio-material like bone,
      reflection of the shock wave at the bone-water interface can affect the bubble
      dynamics. Also the initial size of the bubble has a significant effect. Large
      bubbles (~1 mm) will split into smaller bubbles, while small bubbles collapse
      with a high speed jet in the travel direction of the shock wave. The numerical
      model offers a computationally efficient way of understanding the complex
      phenomena involving the interplay of a bubble, a shock wave, and a nearby bio
      material.

PMID- 27649338
TI  - Opportunities for social work under the Affordable Care Act: A call for action.
AB  - The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has profoundly restructured American health care.
      Numerous social work authors have commented on the importance of the ACA's
      reforms to social work practice, education, and research. This article summarizes
      the literature, adds relevant information, and makes recommendations for future
      actions. The policy, opinion, and peer-reviewed literatures were systematically
      reviewed. Sixty-three publications appeared between 2010 and 2015 are included.
      Five themes emerged, as follows: 1) the crucial provisions of the ACA, 2) the
      natural affinity of social work and the ACA reforms, 3) curricular adaptations
      needed to address changing workforce needs, 4) areas for continued social work
      advocacy, and 5) opportunities for high-impact social work research. This article
      provides a comprehensive introduction to the ACA, its reforms, and opportunities
      for social work to assume a high visibility leadership role in implementing the
      reforms, with particular emphasis on needed curricular changes and opportunities
      for research.

PMID- 27649339
TI  - The overall computer/mobile devices usage time is related to newly diagnosed non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease: a population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The computer/mobile devices usage time (CMD-UT) is closely related to
      a sedentary lifestyle, which is an important risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD). But their direct relationship remains unclear. AIMS: We
      aimed to examine the relationship between CMD-UT and newly diagnosed non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Chinese adults. METHODS: This cross
      sectional study was conducted on 7516 adults in Tianjin, China. The CMD-UT was
      collected via a questionnaire included five categories. NAFLD [with normal or
      elevated alanine transaminase (ALT) levels] was diagnosed by at least twice liver
      ultrasonography examinations and serum ALT concentrations (>41 U/L in males and
      >33 U/L in females). RESULTS: The prevalence of overall NAFLD, NAFLD with normal
      or elevated ALT levels was 18.2, 14.2, and 4.0%, respectively. After adjustments
      for potential confounding factors, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of
      having overall NAFLD by increasing CMD-UT levels were 1.00 for <1 h/d, 1.58 (1.22
      2.05) for 1-3 h/d, 1.58 (1.18-2.11) for 3-5 h/d, 1.65 (1.21-2.27) for 5-10 h/d,
      and 1.99 (1.29-3.05) for >=10h/d (P-trend for CMD-UT levels = 0.02),
      respectively. Similar relations were observed with the use of NAFLD with normal
      or elevated ALT levels. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first to find that
      CMD-UT levels are independently associated with NAFLD. Key Messages The
      computer/mobile devices usage time levels are independently associated with the
      prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

PMID- 27649342
TI  - Drugs for irritable bowel syndrome.

PMID- 27649341
TI  - Social cognition in people with schizophrenia: a cluster-analytic approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study aimed to subtype patients with schizophrenia on the basis
      of social cognition (SC), and to identify cut-offs that best discriminate among
      subtypes in 809 out-patients recruited in the context of the Italian Network for
      Research on Psychoses. METHOD: A two-step cluster analysis of The Awareness of
      Social Inference Test (TASIT), the Facial Emotion Identification Test and Mayer
      Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test scores was performed. Classification
      and regression tree analysis was used to identify the cut-offs of variables that
      best discriminated among clusters. RESULTS: We identified three clusters,
      characterized by unimpaired (42%), impaired (50.4%) and very impaired (7.5%) SC.
      Three theory-of-mind domains were more important for the cluster definition as
      compared with emotion perception and emotional intelligence. Patients more able
      to understand simple sarcasm (?14 for TASIT-SS) were very likely to belong to the
      unimpaired SC cluster. Compared with patients in the impaired SC cluster, those
      in the very impaired SC cluster performed significantly worse in lie scenes
      (TASIT-LI <10), but not in simple sarcasm. Moreover, functioning, neurocognition,
      disorganization and SC had a linear relationship across the three clusters, while
      positive symptoms were significantly lower in patients with unimpaired SC as
      compared with patients with impaired and very impaired SC. On the other hand,
      negative symptoms were highest in patients with impaired levels of SC.
      CONCLUSIONS: If replicated, the identification of such subtypes in clinical
      practice may help in tailoring rehabilitation efforts to the person's strengths
      to gain more benefit to the person.

PMID- 27649343
TI  - In brief: An over-the-counter retinoid for acne.

PMID- 27649340
TI  - Does Internet-based guided-self-help for depression cause harm? An individual
      participant data meta-analysis on deterioration rates and its moderators in
      randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Almost nothing is known about the potential negative effects of
      Internet-based psychological treatments for depression. This study aims at
      investigating deterioration and its moderators within randomized trials on
      Internet-based guided self-help for adult depression, using an individual patient
      data meta-analyses (IPDMA) approach. METHOD: Studies were identified through
      systematic searches (PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Library). Deterioration
      in participants was defined as a significant symptom increase according to the
      reliable change index (i.e. 7.68 points in the CES-D; 7.63 points in the BDI).
      Two-step IPDMA procedures, with a random-effects model were used to pool data.
      RESULTS: A total of 18 studies (21 comparisons, 2079 participants) contributed
      data to the analysis. The risk for a reliable deterioration from baseline to post
      treatment was significantly lower in the intervention v. control conditions (3.36
      v. 7.60; relative risk 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.29-0.75). Education
      moderated effects on deterioration, with patients with low education displaying a
      higher risk for deterioration than patients with higher education. Deterioration
      rates for patients with low education did not differ statistically significantly
      between intervention and control groups. The benefit-risk ratio for patients with
      low education indicated that 9.38 patients achieve a treatment response for each
      patient experiencing a symptom deterioration. CONCLUSIONS: Internet-based guided
      self-help is associated with a mean reduced risk for a symptom deterioration
      compared to controls. Treatment and symptom progress of patients with low
      education should be closely monitored, as some patients might face an increased
      risk for symptom deterioration. Future studies should examine predictors of
      deterioration in patients with low education.

PMID- 27649344
TI  - Sebelipase alfa (Kanuma) for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency.

PMID- 27649345
TI  - Reemergence of Mycobacterium chimaera in Heater-Cooler Units despite Intensified
      Cleaning and Disinfection Protocol.
AB  - Invasive Mycobacterium chimaera infections after open-heart surgery have been
      reported internationally. These devastating infections result from aerosols
      generated by contaminated heater-cooler units used with extracorporeal
      circulation during surgery. Despite intensified cleaning and disinfection,
      surveillance samples from factory-new units acquired during 2014 grew
      nontuberculous mycobacteria after a median of 174 days.

PMID- 27649347
TI  - Patch Testing for Evaluation of Hypersensitivity to Implanted Metal Devices: A
      Perspective From the American Contact Dermatitis Society.
AB  - The American Contact Dermatitis Society recognizes the interest in the evaluation
      and management of metal hypersensitivity reactions. Given the paucity of robust
      evidence with which to guide our practices, we provide reasonable evidence and
      expert opinion-based guidelines for clinicians with regard to metal
      hypersensitivity reaction testing and patient management. Routine preoperative
      evaluation in individuals with no history of adverse cutaneous reactions to
      metals or history of previous implant-related adverse events is not necessary.
      Patients with a clear self-reported history of metal reactions should be
      evaluated by patch testing before device implant. Patch testing is only 1 element
      in the assessment of causation in those with postimplantation morbidity. Metal
      exposure from the implanted device can cause sensitization, but a positive metal
      test does not prove symptom causality. The decision to replace an implanted
      device must include an assessment of all clinical factors and a thorough risk
      benefit analysis by the treating physician(s) and patient. 

PMID- 27649348
TI  - Compounded Topical Analgesics for Chronic Pain.
AB  - Analgesic medications compounded for topical use are gaining popularity for the
      management of chronic pain. The advantages of topical pain medications include
      reduction of systemic adverse effects, improved patient acceptance, few drug
      interactions, ease of dose determination, avoidance of first-pass metabolism, and
      direct access to the target site. Compounded topical medications typically use a
      mixture of 3 or more single medications to achieve multiple complementary effects
      at lower doses of each individual medication. Herein, we review the mechanisms,
      adverse effects, and evidence for some of the most commonly used medications in
      topical compounds for pain management. Because more topical medications are used
      for chronic pain, dermatologists can expect an increase in irritant and allergic
      contact dermatitis related to these medications. 

PMID- 27649349
TI  - Standardizing the Delivery of 20 MUL of Hapten During Patch Testing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current method for patch test tray assembly requires hand
      dispensing a small volume of hapten onto chambers. Because of human error, this
      technique produces inaccurate and inconsistent results. The recommended volume of
      hapten for patch testing using Finn Chambers is 20 MUL. OBJECTIVE: The aims of
      this study were to create a device that standardizes the delivery of 20 MUL and
      to compare it with the current hand dispensing technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      A device, named the Revolution, was created using the SolidWorks program. Five
      nurses in our Contact Dermatitis Clinic were asked to load 10 Finn Chambers using
      the current technique and also using the Revolution. Assembly time, volume of
      petrolatum, and accuracy of placement were measured. After the 3 trials, the
      nurses completed a survey on the 2 methods. RESULTS: The amount of petrolatum
      dispensed using the current technique ranged from 16 to 85 MUL, with an average
      amount of 41.39 MUL. The Revolution design dispensed an average of 19.78 MUL.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current hand dispensing technique does not allow for accurate
      and consistent dispensing of 20 MUL for patch testing. In contrast, the
      Revolution is an accurate and consistent device that can help standardize the
      patch testing method.

PMID- 27649350
TI  - Contact Sensitization to Emulsifying Agents: An Underrated Issue?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The evidence on the safety of topical preparations containing
      emulsifiers is limited. OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to assess (1) the
      prevalence of sensitization to some emulsifiers commonly found in topical
      products, (2) the sensitization to emulsifiers in relation to sex, age, and
      predisposing factors, and (3) the frequency of concomitant sensitization to other
      common allergens. METHODS: All consecutive patients presenting to the Allergy
      Unit of our Dermatological Department for allergological investigation were
      enrolled. All patients were patch tested with the Italian Societa Italiana di
      Dermatologia Allergologica Professionale ed Ambientale baseline series and an
      additional emulsifiers series. Doubtful patch test reactions were not considered.
      RESULTS: Of 310 patients, 50 (16%) were sensitized to emulsifiers with 72
      positive reactions. Lauryl polyethylene glycol/polypropylene glycol-18/18
      methicone gave 26 positive reactions, glyceryl oleate 19, myristyl alcohol, and
      Amerchol L101 11. Concomitant sensitization to emulsifiers was found in 16
      patients. Patients allergic to emulsifiers showed concomitant allergic reactions
      to allergens commonly found in cosmetics. No significant differences by sex, age,
      atopic diathesis, and clinical pattern at presentation were noticed. CONCLUSIONS:
      Contact allergy to emulsifiers is more frequent than reported. Patients allergic
      to emulsifiers show frequent positive patch tests to other constituents of
      cosmetics and topical products.

PMID- 27649351
TI  - Contact Urticaria to Nickel: A Series of 11 Patients Who Were Prick Test Positive
      and Patch Test Negative to Nickel Sulfate 2.5% and 5.0.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nickel is the most common allergen found by patch testing; however,
      not all cases of nickel allergy are type 4 (delayed) allergies. Contact urticaria
      (CU) to nickel (immediate reaction) has been reported; however, few seem to
      evaluate it as per a recent published survey of American Contact Dermatitis
      Society members. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to present a series of
      patients who had clinical histories suggestive of nickel allergy and yet were
      patch test negative but prick test positive to nickel, thus demonstrating CU.
      METHODS: We reviewed the charts of 11 patients who were patch test negative but
      prick test positive. RESULTS: All 11 patients demonstrated evidence of CU by
      prick testing (or closed chamber test in 1). None were patch test positive to
      nickel 2.5% or 5.0%. Four patients' histories mentioned reactions to various
      jewelry/earrings within minutes, whereas 2 histories mentioned reacting within a
      few hours. These histories are consistent with CU. Others (except 1 patient)
      recalled reacting to jewelry/earrings but did not recall a time frame.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our series suggests that CU to nickel may be far more common than
      anticipated and should be evaluated with prick testing when patients' history
      suggests nickel allergy and yet they are patch test negative.

PMID- 27649352
TI  - The Association of Race/Ethnicity and Patch Test Results: North American Contact
      Dermatitis Group, 1998-2006.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The North American Contact Dermatitis Group patch tests patients with
      suspected allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to a broad series of screening
      allergens and publishes periodic reports. We have previously reported on the
      association of race and ethnicity with the rates of positive responses to
      standard patch test allergens. This report extends those observations. OBJECTIVE:
      The aim of the study was to report the North American Contact Dermatitis Group
      patch testing results from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2006, comparing the
      frequency of positive reactions between white and black subjects. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Standardized patch testing with 45 allergens was used at 13 centers in
      North America. chi analysis of results in black subjects as compared with whites
      was examined. RESULTS: A total of 19,457 patients were tested; 92.9% (17,803)
      were white and 7.1% (1,360) were black. The final diagnoses of ACD (whites,
      45.9%; blacks, 43.6%) and irritant contact dermatitis (13.0%/13.3%) were similar
      in the 2 groups. The diagnosis of atopic dermatitis was less common in the white
      patients (8.9%) as compared with the black patients (13.3%). Positive patch test
      reactions rates were similar for most allergens. However, statistically, blacks
      reacted more frequently to p-phenylenediamine (7.0% vs 4.4%, P < 0.001),
      bacitracin (11.6% vs 8.3%, P = 0.0004), as well as specific rubber accelerators
      mercaptobenzothiazole (2.7% vs 1.8%), thiuram (6.2% vs 4.3%), and mercapto mix
      (1.9% vs 0.8%, P < 0.001). Whites had an increase in positive reactions to
      fragrances (12.12% vs 6.77%, P < 0.0001), formaldehyde (9.25% vs 5.45%, P <
      0.0001), and some formaldehyde releaser preservatives used in personal care
      products and textile resins (9.80% vs 6.18%, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There were
      statistically different rates of positive patch test reactions to specific
      allergens between black and white patients suspected of having ACD. The etiology
      of these differences is unclear but probably relates to culturally determined
      exposure patterns rather than genetic differences.

PMID- 27649354
TI  - Cobalt-Induced Contact Urticaria Presenting as Chronic Urticaria Due to
      Intramuscular Vitamin B12 Injections.

PMID- 27649353
TI  - Pediatric Contact Dermatitis Registry Inaugural Case Data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the epidemiology of allergic contact dermatitis
      (ACD) in US children. More widespread diagnostic confirmation through
      epicutaneous patch testing is needed. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to quantify patch
      test results from providers evaluating US children. METHODS: The study is a
      retrospective analysis of deidentified patch test results of children aged 18
      years or younger, entered by participating providers in the Pediatric Contact
      Dermatitis Registry, during the first year of data collection (2015-2016).
      RESULTS: One thousand one hundred forty-two cases from 34 US states, entered by
      84 providers, were analyzed. Sixty-five percent of cases had one or more positive
      patch test (PPT), with 48% of cases having 1 or more relevant positive patch test
      (RPPT). The most common PPT allergens were nickel (22%), fragrance mix I (11%),
      cobalt (9.1%), balsam of Peru (8.4%), neomycin (7.2%), propylene glycol (6.8%),
      cocamidopropyl betaine (6.4%), bacitracin (6.2%), formaldehyde (5.7%), and gold
      (5.7%). CONCLUSIONS: This US database provides multidisciplinary information on
      pediatric ACD, rates of PPT, and relevant RPPT reactions, validating the high
      rates of pediatric ACD previously reported in the literature. The registry
      database is the largest comprehensive collection of US-only pediatric patch test
      cases on which future research can be built. Continued collaboration between
      patients, health care providers, manufacturers, and policy makers is needed to
      decrease the most common allergens in pediatric consumer products.

PMID- 27649355
TI  - Proposed helmet PET geometries with add-on detectors for high sensitivity brain
      imaging.
AB  - For dedicated brain PET, we can significantly improve sensitivity for the
      cerebrum region by arranging detectors in a compact hemisphere. The geometrical
      sensitivity for the top region of the hemisphere is increased compared with
      conventional cylindrical PET consisting of the same number of detectors. However,
      the geometrical sensitivity at the center region of the hemisphere is still low
      because the bottom edge of the field-of-view is open, the same as for the
      cylindrical PET. In this paper, we proposed a helmet PET with add-on detectors
      for high sensitivity brain PET imaging for both center and top regions. The key
      point is the add-on detectors covering some portion of the spherical surface in
      addition to the hemisphere. As the location of the add-on detectors, we proposed
      three choices: a chin detector, ear detectors, and a neck detector. For example,
      the geometrical sensitivity for the region-of-interest at the center was
      increased by 200% by adding the chin detector which increased the size by 12% of
      the size of the hemisphere detector. The other add-on detectors gave almost the
      same increased sensitivity effect as the chin detector did. Compared with
      standard whole-body-cylindrical PET, the proposed geometries can achieve 2.6
      times higher sensitivity for brain region even with less than 1/4 detectors. In
      addition, we conducted imaging simulations for geometries with a diameter of 250
      mm and with high resolution depth-of-interaction detectors. The simulation
      results showed that the proposed geometries increased image quality, and all of
      the add-on detectors were equivalently effective. In conclusion, the proposed
      geometries have high potential for widespread applications in high-sensitivity,
      high-resolution, and low-cost brain PET imaging.

PMID- 27649356
TI  - Psychological growth after childbirth: an exploratory prospective study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is important to elucidate the psychologically positive aspects
      of childbirth for mothers, and not only the negative aspects such as perinatal
      depression. This study aimed to examine psychological growth after childbirth and
      its related variables by focussing on five factors of posttraumatic growth:
      relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change and
      appreciation of life. METHODS: Pregnant women during mid-pregnancy were
      consecutively recruited at a women's hospital in Japan and followed up 1 month
      after childbirth. Psychological growth was assessed by the Posttraumatic Growth
      Inventory. RESULTS: Among 177 participants, 117 (66.1%) completed follow-up
      assessments 1 month after childbirth. Multivariable regression analysis revealed
      that primipara, higher resilience and less fear at childbirth were associated
      with posttraumatic growth factors of relating to others and new possibilities.
      High resilience and less fear at childbirth were also associated with personal
      strength. On the other hand, being primiparous and high depressive symptoms were
      associated with greater appreciation of life. No variables were associated with
      spiritual change. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that giving birth for the
      first time could be a highly challenging life event as well as an opportunity
      which leads to PTG, and that giving birth with low fear might lead to mothers'
      psychological growth. On the other hand, appreciation of life might need
      attention as it might signify some sorts of coping response. These findings
      contribute to our understanding of the psychological changes experienced by
      mothers.

PMID- 27649357
TI  - Dynamic Selective Exposure during Decision-Making.
AB  - To understand dynamic changes in the likelihood that people would access and
      selectively expose themselves to information online, the present study examined
      the checking of account balances during simulated gambling. Sixteen participants
      played 120 hands of computer Blackjack for points, at higher or lower levels of
      risk (different point multipliers), and after each win or loss the computer
      recorded if participants checked their account balances. There were individual
      differences in checking rates. Participants who were more likely to check
      balances exhibited a selectivity of exposure to decision consonant information
      after a win at low risk. Although it was expected that people would seek to
      maintain positive mood, data were better explained in terms of Cognitive
      Dissonance. The effects of Cognitive Dissonance are liable to extend beyond
      single static decisions into dynamic online environments. 

PMID- 27649358
TI  - Exploring the Relationship between Psychopathy and Helping Behaviors in
      Naturalistic Settings: Preliminary Findings.
AB  - This study examined the helping behavior of participants with high (High-P; 15
      males, 13 females) and low (Low-P; 14 males, 16 females) psychopathic traits
      without their awareness. In the first of three tests, we found Low-P participants
      offered more help to an apparently lost female confederate than High-P
      participants. In the second test, High-P compared to Low-P males offered more
      help to an "injured" female experimenter, the reverse was true for females. In
      the third test, High-P compared to Low-P females offered more help to a female
      confederate who had apparently dropped papers they were carrying; whereas the
      reverse was true for males. Our preliminary findings indicate that context,
      gender and psychopathic traits interact and impact helping behavior. 

PMID- 27649359
TI  - Asymmetric Reinstatement Effects in Recognition.
AB  - Our experiment examined two questions: (1) Does reinstating a studied context
      affect recognition of an associated word, and (2) Does reinstating a studied word
      affect recognition of an associated context? After encoding 75 words, each of
      which was shown superimposed over a different 5-sec video of an environment
      (e.g., a playground, a traffic scene, or a grocery store), participants were
      asked to recognize 50 of the words and 50 of the video scenes. On the test, half
      of the studied words were shown superimposed over the same video contexts that
      had been present at encoding, and half were shown over new scenes. Similarly,
      videos were presented with either old or new words. Context reinstatement
      increased hits and reduced false alarms for words, but word reinstatement did not
      affect recognition of video contexts. The results suggest that the associations
      that bind word events with their contexts may not be bidirectional. 

PMID- 27649360
TI  - Adrenaline Instead of Amphetamine-Replacing Psychoactive Substances with
      Parachute Jumps.
AB  - The "Adrenaline Instead of Amphetamine" program was launched by Gdansk's MONAR
      association-a center for drug treatment. The purpose of the program was to show
      some alternatives to using psychoactive substances and to propose replacing these
      anti-medical behaviors with parachuting. The treatment effectiveness in this
      center is about 30%, and the program's effectiveness was 80%. 

PMID- 27649361
TI  - Individual Differences Associated with Emotional and Behavioral Responses to
      Ambiguous Social Situations in which Rejection Might be Inferred.
AB  - This study sought to examine the extent to which undergraduates' experiences with
      and attitudes relevant to rejection may be associated with their emotional and
      behavioral responses to ambiguous social situations in which rejection might be
      inferred. Undergraduate students completed questionnaires that assessed their
      experiences with and attitudes relevant to being rejected. Next, each participant
      read six hypothetical scenarios that described various situations that could be
      interpreted as interpersonal rejection. Following each scenario, participants
      completed questionnaires that assessed their emotional and behavioral responses
      to the hypothetical situation. Analyses revealed that the participants'
      experiences with rejection (and, to a lesser extent, their rejection-relevant
      attitudes) were associated with a negative emotional response and some negative
      behavioral responses. In sum, when another individual's interpersonal behavior
      has an uncertain intent, undergraduates' prior experiences with rejection may be
      especially important in determining the extent to which they feel and act as if
      they have been rejected. 

PMID- 27649362
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27649364
TI  - Integrating a Rapid Diagnostic Test and Antimicrobial Stewardship: Optimizing
      Discharge Antibiotics in Skin and Soft Tissue Infections.
AB  - A rapid test to detect methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus through
      the penicillin-binding protein 2a antigen was introduced for pediatric patients
      hospitalized for purulent skin and soft tissue infections. Integration of this
      test with physician education and stewardship guidance improved targeted
      antibiotic use for infections caused by methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (44%
      80%, P < 0.001), including when final culture results were not available.

PMID- 27649365
TI  - Outcomes of Infants Receiving Palivizumab Prophylaxis for Respiratory Syncytial
      Virus in Canada and Italy: An International, Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection frequently results in RSV
      related hospitalization (RSVH) in young infants. We examined the outcomes of
      palivizumab recipients within the Canadian Registry (CARESS) and the Torino
      Verona Italian Registry over the 2002-2014 RSV seasons. METHODS: RSVHs were
      captured during the study seasons. Premature infants who received palivizumab
      (<=35 completed weeks' gestational age; group1) were compared with infants given
      palivizumab for underlying disorders regardless of gestational age (group 2).
      Variables and between-group incidences were analyzed. Risk factors associated
      with RSVH were assessed by logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 14,468
      palivizumab-exposed infants were enrolled (group 1, n = 9093; group 2, n = 4856;
      miscellaneous, n = 519). RSVH was significantly more frequent in group 2
      (211/4856, 4.34%) versus group 1 infants (216/9093, 2.37% [relative risk 1.93;
      95% confidence interval (CI): 1.60-2.33; P < 0.0001]). Infants with neuromuscular
      disorders (7.88%), airway anomalies (5.95%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (4.75%)
      and hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (4.10%) had the highest
      RSVH incidences. After multivariable logistic regression, only neuromuscular
      disease [odds ratio [OR] 4.29; 95% CI: 2.30-8.00; P < 0.01], airway anomalies (OR
      3.23; 95% CI: 1.92-5.43; P < 0.01), Down syndrome (OR 2.25; 95% CI: 1.31-3.89; P
      < 0.01), hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (OR 2.24; 95% CI:
      1.52-3.31; P < 0.001), prematurity <=28 completed weeks' gestational age (OR
      1.82; 95% CI: 1.29-2.58; P < 0.001) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (OR 1.81; 95%
      CI: 1.31-2.50; P < 0.001) significantly predicted RSVH. No significant
      association was detected with the number of doses administered or the time
      elapsed after the previous dose. CONCLUSIONS: RSVH rates are higher in infants
      given palivizumab for reasons other than prematurity. It is uncertain whether
      these findings relate to inadequate current palivizumab dosing protocols or to a
      specific increased RSVH risk inherent in infants with severe underlying
      comorbidities.

PMID- 27649366
TI  - Prevalence of Pneumococcal Nasopharyngeal Carriage Among Children 2-18 Months of
      Age: Baseline Study Pre Introduction of Pneumococcal Vaccination in Cuba.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A new vaccine candidate against pneumococcus is being developed in
      Cuba, and it is a priority of the national health system. There is limited
      information on nasopharyngeal colonization burden, though it is essential for
      monitoring the impact of the vaccine. The study aims to estimate the prevalence
      of nasopharyngeal colonization in children 2-18 months of age and identify
      circulating serotypes, antimicrobial resistance and its association with selected
      risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between October and
      December 2013 in Cienfuegos municipality. Inclusion criteria were evaluated, and
      informed consent was obtained from the parents. Clinical and epidemiologic data
      were collected through a semistructured questionnaire. Nasopharyngeal swabs
      according to established protocols were taken. Data analysis included frequency
      distributions and comparison of proportions. The association between colonization
      and selected risk factors was assessed by multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total
      of 984 children (87.2% living in urban areas) were included. The overall
      prevalence of colonization was 21.6%. The most frequent serotypes isolated were
      6A (23.1%), 23F (10.8%), 6B (10.3%), 19F (8.5%) and 14 (3.3%). We found no
      resistance to beta-lactamases in circulating serotypes. Living with sibling
      younger than 5 years, previous respiratory infections, previous hospitalization
      and day-care attendance were determinants of nasopharyngeal carriage.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the burden of pneumococcal disease and
      colonization in Cuba could be significantly affected after vaccine introduction.

PMID- 27649368
TI  - The Ponseti technique and improved ankle dorsiflexion in children with relapsed
      clubfoot: a retrospective data analysis.
AB  - This study quantifies the change in passive ankle range of motion following
      modified Ponseti casting in children with relapsed idiopathic clubfoot. Fifty
      three cases (feet) were retrospectively reviewed, with 6-month follow-up data
      available for 72% of participants. The median improvement in dorsiflexion was 15
      degrees  (95% confidence interval: 12.5 degrees -17.5 degrees , P<=0.05), with
      85% achieving dorsiflexion>=10 degrees . At the 6-month follow-up, dorsiflexion
      remained significantly improved and 12 feet (32%) presented with subsequent
      relapse. Nine were referred for further casting and three were recommended for
      extra-articular surgery. Repeat modified Ponseti management clinically and
      statistically improves passive ankle dorsiflexion in relapsed idiopathic
      clubfoot.

PMID- 27649369
TI  - Simultaneous bilateral avulsion fracture of the anterior-superior iliac spine in
      a teenager: a case report with a literature review.
AB  - An anterior-superior iliac spine avulsion fracture is an uncommon injury in
      adolescent athletes and simultaneous bilateral avulsion fracture is fairly rare.
      The authors report cases of traumatic avulsion fractures of anterior-superior
      iliac spine after sports activity in teenagers. Open reduction and cannulate
      screws fixation resulted in an excellent functional outcome for this relatively
      uncommon fracture. The authors also stress the importance of careful clinical
      examination and recommend open reduction and internal fixation for patients
      requiring rapid rehabilitation.

PMID- 27649367
TI  - Ebola Virus Disease in Children, Sierra Leone, 2014-2015.
AB  - Little is known about potentially modifiable factors in Ebola virus disease in
      children. We undertook a retrospective cohort study of children <13 years old
      admitted to 11 Ebola holding units in the Western Area, Sierra Leone, during 2014
      2015 to identify factors affecting outcome. Primary outcome was death or
      discharge after transfer to Ebola treatment centers. All 309 Ebola virus-positive
      children 2 days-12 years old were included; outcomes were available for 282
      (91%). Case-fatality was 57%, and 55% of deaths occurred in Ebola holding units.
      Blood test results showed hypoglycemia and hepatic/renal dysfunction. Death
      occurred swiftly (median 3 days after admission) and was associated with younger
      age and diarrhea. Despite triangulation of information from multiple sources,
      data availability was limited, and we identified no modifiable factors
      substantially affecting death. In future Ebola virus disease epidemics, robust,
      rapid data collection is vital to determine effectiveness of interventions for
      children.

PMID- 27649370
TI  - Quantitative Single-Molecule Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering by Optothermal
      Tuning of DNA Origami-Assembled Plasmonic Nanoantennas.
AB  - DNA origami is a powerful approach for assembling plasmonic nanoparticle dimers
      and Raman dyes with high yields and excellent positioning control. Here we show
      how optothermal-induced shrinking of a DNA origami template can be employed to
      control the gap sizes between two 40 nm gold nanoparticles in a range from 1 to 2
      nm. The high field confinement achieved with this optothermal approach was
      demonstrated by detection of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) signals
      from single molecules that are precisely placed within the DNA origami template
      that spans the nanoparticle gap. By comparing the SERS intensity with respect to
      the field enhancement in the plasmonic hot-spot region, we found good agreement
      between measurement and theory. Our straightforward approach for the fabrication
      of addressable plasmonic nanosensors by DNA origami demonstrates a path toward
      future sensing applications with single-molecule resolution.

PMID- 27649371
TI  - An homozygous mutation in KCNK3 is associated with an aggressive form of
      hereditary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare devastating disease characterized
      by a high genetic heterogeneity with several related genes recently described,
      including BMPR2,TBX4 and KCNK3. The association between KCNK3 and PAH has been
      recently identified, but the prognosis and phenotype associated with these
      mutations have been poorly described. We studied a series of 136 idiopathic and
      hereditary PAH Spanish patients for BMPR2, TBX4 and KCNK3 mutations. We report
      the results of KCNK3 in which we were able to describe two new mutations
      (p.Gly106Arg and p.Leu214Arg) in three patients. The first one was found in a
      patient belonging to a consanguineous Romani family, who carried a homozygous
      mutation in KCNK3 and developed a severe and early form of the disease. To the
      best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a homozygous mutation in KCNK3
      is reported in a PAH patient. The second one was found in a patient who presented
      at the young adult age a severe form of the disease. The present report supports
      the contribution of KCNK3 mutations to the genetic etiology of PAH and strongly
      suggests that mutations in KCNK3 follow incomplete dominance with worsening of
      the clinical features in homozygous patients.

PMID- 27649372
TI  - The Improvement of Respiratory Performance After Phototherapy-Induced EPC
      Mobilization in Preterm Infants With RDS.
AB  - Many infants who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are born with serious
      respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), which is associated with impaired vascular
      and alveolar growth. RDS is a breathing disorder that mostly affects preterm
      infants and occurs in infants whose lungs have not yet been fully developed. The
      use of surfactant in RDS treatment does not necessarily prevent BPD. Endothelial
      progenitor cells (EPCs) may contribute to lung angiogenesis for the prevention
      and treatment of BPD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic
      efficacy of phototherapy for EPC release in preterm infants born with RDS.
      Seventy-five RDS preterm infants were divided into two groups: RDS with
      phototherapy and RDS without phototherapy. Respiratory indices were recorded for
      each patient. Circulating EPCs were isolated before and after phototherapy and
      colony forming efficiency, chemotactic, tubulogenic, proliferative, and
      functional properties of these cells were analyzed. Our results showed that
      phototherapy increased the release of EPCs into the circulation in RDS preterm
      infants, with augmentation of cell proliferation, tubulogenic, chemotactic, and
      proliferative properties of EPCs. Phototherapy-induced EPC release was associated
      with improved lung function as was recorded by significantly decrease in
      continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) days, CPAP plus ventilator days, and
      PCO2 along with a significant increase in PO2 and PaO2 /FiO2 , resulting in
      markedly decreased rate of BPD occurrence in preterm infants with RDS. Overall,
      phototherapy is touted as a promising modality for the amelioration of
      respiratory performance and prohibition of BPD occurrence in RDS preterm infants.
      J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 594-604, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649373
TI  - Widespread Perturbation of Function, Structure, and Dynamics by a Conservative
      Single-Atom Substitution in Thymidylate Synthase.
AB  - Thymidylate synthase (TSase) is responsible for synthesizing the sole de novo
      source of dTMP in all organisms. TSase is a drug target, and as such, it has been
      well studied in terms of both structure and reaction mechanism. Cysteine 146 in
      Escherichia coli TSase is universally conserved because it serves as the
      nucleophile in the enzyme mechanism. Here we use the C146S mutation to probe the
      role of the sulfur atom in early events in the catalytic cycle beyond serving as
      the nucleophile. Surprisingly, the single-atom substitution severely decreases
      substrate binding affinity, and the unfavorable DeltaDeltaG degrees bind is
      comprised of roughly equal enthalpic and entropic components at 25  degrees C.
      Chemical shifts in the free and dUMP-bound states show the mutation causes
      perturbations throughout TSase, including regions important for complex
      stability, in agreement with a less favorable enthalpy change. We measured the
      nuclear magnetic resonance methyl symmetry axis order parameter (S2axis), a proxy
      for conformational entropy, for TSase at all vertices of the dUMP binding/C146S
      mutation thermodynamic cycle and found that the calculated TDeltaDeltaS degrees
      conf is similar in sign and magnitude to the calorimetric TDeltaDeltaS degrees .
      Further, we ascribed minor resonances in wild-type-dUMP spectra to a state with a
      covalent bond between Sgamma of C146 and C6 of dUMP and find S2axis values are
      unaffected by covalent bond formation, indicating this reaction step is neutral
      with respect to DeltaS degrees conf. Lastly, the C146S mutation allowed us to
      measure cofactor analog binding by isothermal titration calorimetry without the
      confounding heat signature of covalent bond formation. Raltitrexed binds free and
      singly bound TSase with similar affinities, yet the two binding events have
      different enthalpy changes, providing further evidence of communication between
      the two active sites.

PMID- 27649374
TI  - A dendritic disinhibitory circuit mechanism for pathway-specific gating.
AB  - While reading a book in a noisy cafe, how does your brain 'gate in' visual
      information while filtering out auditory stimuli? Here we propose a mechanism for
      such flexible routing of information flow in a complex brain network (pathway
      specific gating), tested using a network model of pyramidal neurons and three
      classes of interneurons with connection probabilities constrained by data. We
      find that if inputs from different pathways cluster on a pyramidal neuron
      dendrite, a pathway can be gated-on by a disinhibitory circuit motif. The branch
      specific disinhibition can be achieved despite dense interneuronal connectivity,
      even with random connections. Moreover, clustering of input pathways on dendrites
      can naturally emerge through synaptic plasticity regulated by dendritic
      inhibition. This gating mechanism in a neural circuit is further demonstrated by
      performing a context-dependent decision-making task. The model suggests that
      cognitive flexibility engages top-down signalling of behavioural rule or context
      that targets specific classes of inhibitory neurons.

PMID- 27649377
TI  - Importance of a specialty clinic for individuals with fragile X syndrome.
AB  - Advances in human genetics have identified a significant number of genetic
      disorders associated with intellectual disability. As a result, appropriate
      clinical management of these affected individuals and their family members have
      become critical in addressing medical needs to improve quality of life. We
      examine the importance of a Fragile X Clinic for individuals with fragile X
      syndrome (FXS) and their family members by conducting a retrospective chart
      review of 123 new patients with FXS evaluated at the Fragile X Clinic at Emory
      University. After the initial diagnosis of a proband with FXS with cascade
      testing, there were 345 family members identified with a mutation (70% with
      premutations; 30% with full mutations). In terms of the impact of the clinic
      visit, males had a substantial number of new diagnoses in all behavioral
      disorders (P < 0.001), with anxiety (62%) being the most common. For female
      probands, the most frequent diagnosis was also anxiety (87%). Prior to the clinic
      visit, very few patients were prescribed psychotropic medications. After the
      clinic visit, the most frequently prescribed psychotropic medications for males
      were stimulants (41%; P < 0.001) and SSRIs (40%; P < 0.001). For females, only
      stimulants (33%; P = 0.03) and SSRIs (44%; P = 0.008) were statistically
      significantly prescribed. Our results revealed that there is a gap in care to
      address the co-morbid behavioral issues, psychopharmacologic medication
      management, and genetic counseling needs regarding FXS. A multidisciplinary
      setting and approach, such as that offered by a Fragile X Clinic, is one method
      of treating the complex needs of patients with FXS. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27649378
TI  - Patient-centered benefit-risk assessment in duchenne muscular dystrophy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study quantified caregiver and patient preferences for a
      therapeutic agent with demonstrated pulmonary benefits for Duchenne muscular
      dystrophy (DMD). Caregiver and patient differences were also explored. METHODS: A
      best-worst scaling survey (BWS) was administered to caregivers and patients.
      Across 9 profiles, respondents selected the best and worst attributes. Utility
      scores were estimated using mixed logistic regression. RESULTS: Respondents
      indicated greatest preference for therapies that maintain their current level of
      cough strength for 10 years or for 2 years. Preference scores for risks were low:
      50% chance of diarrhea and 4 additional blood draws per year. CONCLUSION: There
      is a strong preference for pulmonary benefit and willingness to trade off risks
      and burden to achieve these benefits. In exchange for maintaining cough strength
      for 10 years, respondents were willing to tolerate high probabilities of diarrhea
      and additional blood draws. Muscle Nerve 55: 626-634, 2017.

PMID- 27649375
TI  - Differential Tandem Mass Spectrometry-Based Cross-Linker: A New Approach for High
      Confidence in Identifying Protein Cross-Linking.
AB  - Chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry are now widely used to analyze large
      scale protein-protein interactions. The major challenge in cross-linking
      approaches is the complexity of the mass spectrometric data. New approaches are
      required that can identify cross-linked peptides with high-confidence and
      establish a user-friendly analysis protocol for the biomedical scientific
      community. Here, we introduce a novel cross-linker that can be selectively
      cleaved in the gas phase using two differential tandem mass-spectrometric
      fragmentation methods, such as collision-induced or electron transfer
      dissociation (CID and ETD). This technique produces two signature mass spectra of
      the same cross-linked peptide, thereby producing high confidence in identifying
      the sites of interaction. Further tandem mass spectrometry can also give
      additional confidence on the peptide sequences. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept
      for this method using standard peptides and proteins. Peptides and proteins were
      cross-linked and their fragmentation characteristics were analyzed using CID and
      ETD tandem mass spectrometry. Two sequential cleavages unambiguously identified
      cross-linked peptides. In addition, the labeling efficiency of the new cross
      linker was evaluated in macrophage immune cells after stimulation with the
      microbial ligand lipopolysaccharide and subsequent pulldown experiments with
      biotin-avidin affinity chromatography. We believe this strategy will help advance
      insights into the structural biology and systems biology of cell signaling.

PMID- 27649379
TI  - Is Mercury in a Remote Forested Watershed of the Adirondack Mountains Responding
      to Recent Decreases in Emissions?
AB  - Although there has been a decline in U.S. mercury emissions, the effects of this
      change on remote ecosystems are not well understood. We examine decadal (2004
      2015) responses of atmospheric mercury deposition, along with total mercury (THg)
      and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations and fluxes, to decrease in mercury
      emissions at Arbutus Lake-watershed in the remote forested Adirondack region of
      New York, a biological mercury hotspot. Although wet mercury deposition remains
      constant, THg deposition has decreased through decreases in litter mercury inputs
      (17.9 to 10.8 MUg/m2-yr) apparently driven by decreases in atmospheric
      concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (Hgo). While the lake is a net sink
      for THg and MeHg, concentrations and fluxes of THg and MeHg have decreased in the
      inlet stream and lake water apparently in response to decreases in Hgo
      deposition. Decreases in surface water mercury have occurred despite decadal
      increases in concentrations of dissolved organic carbon. Moreover, the fraction
      of THg as MeHg at the inlet has not changed despite decadal decreases in
      atmospheric sulfate deposition and surface water concentrations of sulfate. Our
      results indicate that recent decreases in U.S. mercury emissions have resulted in
      decreases in litter mercury deposition, and stream and lake THg and MeHg
      concentrations and fluxes, suggesting the first steps toward ecosystem recovery.

PMID- 27649380
TI  - Typology of Internet gaming disorder and its clinical implications.
AB  - Various perspectives exist regarding Internet gaming disorder. While the concept
      of behavioral addiction is gaining recognition, some view the phenomenon as
      merely excessive indulgence in online pastimes. Still, in recent years,
      complaints from patients or their family members about problems related to
      Internet use, particularly Internet gaming, have become more common. However, the
      clinical picture of Internet gaming disorder could be obscured by its
      heterogeneous manifestations with other intertwined factors, such as psychiatric
      comorbidities, neurodevelopmental factors, sociocultural factors, and game
      related factors, which may influence the pathogenesis as well as the clinical
      course. To mitigate such problems, clinicians should be able to consider diverse
      aspects related to Internet gaming disorder. Classifying such a heterogeneous
      problem into subtypes that share a similar etiology or phenomenology may provide
      additional clues in the diagnostic process and allow us to designate available
      clinical resources for particularly vulnerable factors. In this review paper, we
      suggest a typology of 'impulsive/aggressive,' 'emotionally vulnerable,' 'socially
      conditioned,' and 'not otherwise specified' as subtypes of the heterogeneous
      phenomena of pathological Internet gaming. The implications of these subtypes for
      assessment and treatment planning will also be highlighted.

PMID- 27649381
TI  - Internal and External Flow over Laser-Textured Superhydrophobic
      Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
AB  - In this work, internal and external flows over superhydrophobic (SH)
      polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were studied. The SH surface was fabricated by a
      one-step femtosecond laser micromachining process. The drag reduction ability of
      the textured surface was studied experimentally both in microscale and macroscale
      internal flows. The slip length, which indicates drag reduction in fluid flow,
      was determined in microscale fluid flow with a cone-and-plate rheometer, whereas
      a pressure channel setup was used for macroscale flow experiments. The textured
      PTFE surface reduced drag in both experiments yielding comparable slip lengths.
      Moreover, the experimentally obtained slip lengths correspond well to the result
      obtained applying a semianalytical model, which considers the solid fraction of
      the textured surface. In addition to the internal flow studies, we fabricated SH
      PTFE spheres to test their drag reduction abilities in an external flow
      experiment, where the terminal velocities of the falling spheres were measured.
      These experiments were conducted at three different Reynolds numbers in both
      viscous and inertial flow regimes with pure glycerol, a 30% glycerol solution,
      and water. Surprisingly, the drag on the SH spheres was higher than the measured
      drag on the non-SH spheres. We hypothesize that the increase in form drag
      outweighs the decrease in friction drag on the SH sphere. Thus, the overall drag
      increased. These experiments demonstrate that a superhydrophobic surface that
      reduces drag in internal flow might not reduce drag in external flow.

PMID- 27649382
TI  - Automatic thresholding from the gradients of region boundaries.
AB  - We present an approach for automatic threshold segmentation of greyscale images.
      The procedure is inspired by a reinterpretation of the strategy observed in human
      operators when adjusting thresholds manually and interactively by means of
      'slider' controls. The approach translates into two methods. The first one is
      suitable for single or multiple global thresholds to be applied globally to
      images and consists of searching for a threshold value that generates a phase
      whose boundary coincides with the largest gradients in the original image. The
      second method is a variation, implemented to operate on the discrete connected
      components of the thresholded phase (i.e. the binary regions) independently.
      Consequently, this becomes an adaptive local threshold procedure, which operates
      relative to regions, rather than to local image subsets as is the case in most
      local thresholding methods previously published. Adding constraints for
      specifying certain classes of expected objects in the images can improve the
      output of the method over the traditional 'segmenting first, then classify'
      approach.

PMID- 27649383
TI  - Testing for the erythropoiesis-stimulating agent Sotatercept/ACE-011 (ActRIIA-Fc)
      in serum by means of Western blotting and LC-HRMS.
AB  - Sotatercept (formerly ACE-011) is a glycosylated, dimeric fusion protein composed
      of the extracellular domain of the human activin receptor type IIA (ActRIIA) and
      the Fc region of human IgG1. The protein-based drug candidate acts as a ligand
      trap which competitively binds to activin A and other members of the transforming
      growth factor beta superfamily, thus blocking signalling through ActRIIA. Since
      the inhibition of activin A was found to significantly increase bone formation
      and quality, Sotatercept was originally developed for the treatment of diseases
      involving bone loss. But as the protein therapeutic also stimulates
      erythropoiesis by a mechanism independent of the EPO receptor, it has been
      evaluated for the treatment of anaemia in rare blood diseases such as beta
      thalassemia. Due to its positive effects on erythropoiesis and bone formation,
      Sotatercept may also be misused as performance-enhancing agent in sports. Within
      this study, two complementary detection assays for Sotatercept and related
      ActRIIA-Fc fusion proteins in serum samples were developed. While the first assay
      combines affinity purification and Western blotting to generically detect ActRIIA
      Fc fusion proteins irrespective of their amino acid sequence, the liquid
      chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) method is highly
      specific for proteolytic peptides originating from the receptor and Fc domain of
      Sotatercept. Both approaches can readily be modified to include other
      pharmaceutical proteins such as therapeutic antibodies, and serve as proof-of
      concept for the capability of the approach to detect TGF-beta inhibitors and Fc
      fusion proteins in doping control serum samples. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27649384
TI  - Anthocyanidins inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition through a TGFbeta/Smad2
      signaling pathway in glioblastoma cells.
AB  - Epidemiological studies have convincingly demonstrated that diets rich in fruits
      and vegetables play an important role in preventing cancer due to their
      polyphenol content. Among polyphenols, the anthocyanidins are known to possess
      anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, anti-angiogenic, and anti-carcinogenic
      properties. Despite the well-known role of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF
      beta) in high grade gliomas, the impact of anthocyanidins on TGF-beta-induced
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process that allows benign tumor cells
      to infiltrate surrounding tissues, remains poorly understood. The objective of
      this study is to investigate the impact of anthocyanidins such as cyanidin (Cy),
      delphinidin (Dp), malvidin (Mv), pelargonidin (Pg), and petunidin (Pt) on TGF
      beta-induced EMT and to determine the mechanism(s) underlying such action. Human
      U-87 glioblastoma (U-87 MG) cells were treated with anthocyanidins prior to,
      along with or following the addition of TGF-beta. We found that anthocyanidins
      differently affected TGF-beta-induced EMT, depending on the treatment conditions.
      Dp was the most potent EMT inhibitor through its inhibitory effect on the TGF
      beta Smad and non-Smad signaling pathways. These effects altered expression of
      the EMT mesenchymal markers fibronectin and Snail, as well as markedly reducing U
      87 MG cell migration. Our study highlights a new action of anthocyanidins against
      EMT that supports their beneficial health and chemopreventive effects in dietary
      based strategies against cancer. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649385
TI  - Embryonic stem-like cells from rabbit blastocysts cultured with melatonin could
      differentiate into three germ layers in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - The rabbit is considered an important model animal from which to obtain embryonic
      stem cells because of the utility of this animal in physiology and reproductive
      research. Here, we derived rabbit ES-like (rES-like) cells from blastocysts of
      superovulated Japanese white rabbits using culture medium containing 10-7  M
      melatonin, 10 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor, and 1,000 IU/mL human
      leukemia inhibitory factor. This concentration of melatonin had the most
      significant positive effects on the proliferation inner cell mass-derived cells
      (improving rates from 19.97% to 34.57%) and the longevity of passaging rES-like
      cells. Melatonin also enhanced the expression of pluripotent genes-including
      alkaline phosphatase, Pou5f1, Sox2, Klf4, c-Myc, Nanog, Line28a, and surface
      marker proteins-in fifth-passage rES-like cells. In vitro, these rES-like cells
      could spontaneously differentiate into some somatic cells, such as beating
      cardiomyocytes; formed embryoid bodies; expressed markers of the three germ
      layers after differentiation; and formed teratomas after injection into non-obese
      diabetic-severe combined immune deficient (NOD-SCID) mice. Thus, melatonin helped
      coax ES-like cells from rabbit blastocysts, which raises intriguing questions
      about the relationship between pluripotency and proliferation in rabbit embryonic
      stem cells. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 83: 1003-1014, 2016 (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27649387
TI  - Biologically Inspired Model for Inference of 3D Shape from Texture.
AB  - A biologically inspired model architecture for inferring 3D shape from texture is
      proposed. The model is hierarchically organized into modules roughly
      corresponding to visual cortical areas in the ventral stream. Initial orientation
      selective filtering decomposes the input into low-level orientation and spatial
      frequency representations. Grouping of spatially anisotropic orientation
      responses builds sketch-like representations of surface shape. Gradients in
      orientation fields and subsequent integration infers local surface geometry and
      globally consistent 3D depth. From the distributions in orientation responses
      summed in frequency, an estimate of the tilt and slant of the local surface can
      be obtained. The model suggests how 3D shape can be inferred from texture
      patterns and their image appearance in a hierarchically organized processing
      cascade along the cortical ventral stream. The proposed model integrates oriented
      texture gradient information that is encoded in distributed maps of orientation
      frequency representations. The texture energy gradient information is defined by
      changes in the grouped summed normalized orientation-frequency response activity
      extracted from the textured object image. This activity is integrated by directed
      fields to generate a 3D shape representation of a complex object with depth
      ordering proportional to the fields output, with higher activity denoting larger
      distance in relative depth away from the viewer. 

PMID- 27649388
TI  - Diastereoselective Cobalt-Mediated Cross-Couplings of Cycloalkyl Iodides with
      Alkynyl or (Hetero)Aryl Grignard Reagents.
AB  - A highly diastereoselective cross-coupling of variously substituted cycloalkyl
      iodides with alkynyl and (hetero)aryl Grignard reagents using cobalt(II) chloride
      has been successfully developed. With the THF-soluble CoCl2.LiCl and the
      inexpensive ortho-phenanthroline derivative, neocuproine, as a ligand,
      diastereomeric ratios of up to 99:1 were achieved. A range of functional groups
      are tolerated in the Grignard reagent (e.g., CF3, Piv, CN, OPiv, NMe2, CO2NEt2,
      SF5, OTBS).

PMID- 27649386
TI  - The Policy Dystopia Model: An Interpretive Analysis of Tobacco Industry Political
      Activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tobacco industry interference has been identified as the greatest
      obstacle to the implementation of evidence-based measures to reduce tobacco use.
      Understanding and addressing industry interference in public health policy-making
      is therefore crucial. Existing conceptualisations of corporate political activity
      (CPA) are embedded in a business perspective and do not attend to CPA's social
      and public health costs; most have not drawn on the unique resource represented
      by internal tobacco industry documents. Building on this literature, including
      systematic reviews, we develop a critically informed conceptual model of tobacco
      industry political activity. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We thematically analysed
      published papers included in two systematic reviews examining tobacco industry
      influence on taxation and marketing of tobacco; we included 45 of 46 papers in
      the former category and 20 of 48 papers in the latter (n = 65). We used a
      grounded theory approach to build taxonomies of "discursive" (argument-based) and
      "instrumental" (action-based) industry strategies and from these devised the
      Policy Dystopia Model, which shows that the industry, working through different
      constituencies, constructs a metanarrative to argue that proposed policies will
      lead to a dysfunctional future of policy failure and widely dispersed adverse
      social and economic consequences. Simultaneously, it uses diverse, interlocking
      insider and outsider instrumental strategies to disseminate this narrative and
      enhance its persuasiveness in order to secure its preferred policy outcomes.
      Limitations are that many papers were historical (some dating back to the 1970s)
      and focused on high-income regions. CONCLUSIONS: The model provides an evidence
      based, accessible way of understanding diverse corporate political strategies. It
      should enable public health actors and officials to preempt these strategies and
      develop realistic assessments of the industry's claims.

PMID- 27649389
TI  - Does Body Image Affect Quality of Life?: A Population Based Study.
AB  - Body image (BI) can be described as the assessment of both positive and negative
      emotion for one's own body parts and their characteristics by himself or herself.
      Current research has concentrated mostly on the status of negative BI as a risk
      factor for mental health problems rather than as a public health problem, thereby
      little is known about the effects of BI on quality of life. Thus, the purpose of
      this study was to assess the BI and Quality of Life (QoL) of individuals and to
      investigate the relationship between the two. Individuals over 15 living in
      Isparta city center constitute the universe of this cross-sectional analytical
      study, carried out in 2014. The BI of individuals was measured by the Body Image
      Scale and The QoL of individuals was measured using the World Health Organization
      (WHO) Quality of Life Scale Short Form. The mean age of the participants was 31.9
      +/- 13.0 and 56.0% were female, 36.8% were married and 81.7% had education above
      high school. 25.7% had at least one chronic disease and 17.7% received medication
      regularly. Having good-very good health perception, having higher income than
      expenses, making regular exercises were predictors in enhancing the quality of
      life in certain aspects, however having a good body image came out as a predictor
      enhancing the quality of life in all sub-domains. BI was found closely related
      with QoL in all sub-domains. Our findings suggest that greater attention should
      be to be given to BI as a strong predictor of QoL. 

PMID- 27649390
TI  - Immunopathological characterization of cryptoglandular anal fistula: a pilot
      study investigating its pathogenesis.
AB  - AIM: The pathogenesis of cryptoglandular anal fistula (AF) is still under debate.
      Tissue inflammation could play a primary role. The pathological process of
      epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) might be involved but has never been
      investigated. METHOD: In a prospective pilot study, 12 patients with an AF had a
      fistulectomy. The excised track was divided into proximal (intrasphincteric) and
      distal (extrasphincteric) parts which were subjected to standard
      histopathological examination. The cytokines IL-8 and IL-1beta were analysed as
      markers of inflammation, while EMT was evaluated by expression of TGF-beta,
      Vimentin, Zeb-1, Snail and E-cadherin. The mRNA and protein expression of these
      molecules was investigated by real-time PCR (RT-PCR), Western blot analysis and
      immunohistochemistry and was compared with that of the normal adjacent tissue.
      RESULTS: Chronic inflammation and granulation tissue and a stratified epithelium
      were evident on standard histopathological examination. The cytokine IL-8 was
      more expressed in the proximal than the distal part of the track (fold increase
      4.34 vs 3.60), while the reverse was found for IL-1beta (fold increase 1.33 vs
      2.01); both were more intensely expressed compared with the normal anal mucosa.
      EMT was demonstrated, in both proximal and distal parts of the track, with an
      increase of TGF-beta, Vimentin, Zeb-1 and Snail and a mean decrease of E
      cadherin. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry confirmed the protein
      expression. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that chronic inflammation is present
      in cryptoglandular fistulas. The inflammatory pattern might be different in the
      proximal than in the distal part of the fistula track. The cytokines IL-1beta and
      IL-8 could play a possible role in fistula formation. The study demonstrates for
      the first time the potential importance of EMT in the pathogenesis of
      cryptoglandular AF.

PMID- 27649391
TI  - On the Structural and Dynamical Properties of DOPC Reverse Micelles.
AB  - The structure and dynamics of phospholipid reverse micelles are studied by
      molecular dynamics. We report all-atom unconstrained simulations of 1,2-dioleoyl
      sn-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) reverse micelles in benzene of increasing sizes,
      with water-to-surfactant number ratios ranging from W0 = 1 to 16. The aggregation
      number, i.e., the number of DOPC molecules per reverse micelle, is determined to
      fit experimental light-scattering measurements of the reverse micelle diameter.
      The simulated reverse micelles are found to be approximately spherical. Larger
      reverse micelles (W0 > 4) exhibit a layered structure with a water core and the
      hydration structure of DOPC phosphate head groups is similar to that found in
      phospholipid membranes. In contrast, the structure of smaller reverse micelles
      (W0 <= 4) cannot be described as a series of concentric layers successively
      containing water, surfactant head groups, and surfactant tails, and the head
      groups are only partly hydrated and frequently present in the core. The dynamics
      of water molecules within the phospholipid reverse micelles slow down as the
      reverse micelle size decreases, in agreement with prior studies on AOT and Igepal
      reverse micelles. However, the average water reorientation dynamics in DOPC
      reverse micelles is found to be much slower than in AOT and Igepal reverse
      micelles with the same W0 ratio. This is explained by the smaller water pool and
      by the stronger interactions between water and the charged head groups, as
      confirmed by the red-shift of the computed infrared line shape with decreasing
      W0.

PMID- 27649392
TI  - Erratum: Procedure-Related Complications and Survival Following Fetoscopic
      Endotracheal Occlusion (FETO) for Severe Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia:
      Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in the FETO Era.

PMID- 27649393
TI  - What Animal Models of Testicular Descent and Germ Cell Maturation Tell Us about
      the Mechanism in Humans.
AB  - Testicular descent occurs in most mammals in two main steps that have different
      hormonal control and anatomical processes. The evolution of testicular descent
      reveals the same basic processes in humans and animals, with minor differences in
      timing and anatomy, especially the location of the scrotum and the processus
      vaginalis. Animal models are useful as they reveal some embryological processes
      that cannot be studies easily in humans, such as the potential role of the
      mammary line and the role of the genitofemoral nerve. Postnatal germ cell
      development is very similar in animal models and humans, except for the timing of
      arrival of the testis into the scrotum, which is before birth in humans versus
      around puberty in rodents. Once all the minor differences between animal models
      and humans are taken into account, animal experimentation has provided amazing
      insights into the mechanisms of testicular descent, and recently, how the
      postnatal germ cell develops in normally descended and undescended testes.

PMID- 27649394
TI  - Reactivity of the Excited States of the H-Cluster of FeFe Hydrogenases.
AB  - FeFe hydrogenases catalyze H2 oxidation and formation at an inorganic active site
      (the "H-cluster"), which consists of a [Fe2(CO)3(CN)2(dithiomethylamine)]
      subcluster covalently attached to a Fe4S4 subcluster. This active site is
      photosensitive: visible light has been shown to induce the release of exogenous
      CO (a reversible inhibitor of the enzyme), shuffle the intrinsic CO ligands, and
      even destroy the H-cluster. These reactions must be understood because they may
      negatively impact the use of hydrogenase for the photoproduction of H2. Here, we
      explore in great detail the reactivity of the excited states of the H-cluster
      under catalytic conditions by examining, both experimentally and using TDDFT
      calculations, the simplest photochemical reaction: the binding and release of
      exogenous CO. A simple dyad model can be used to predict which excitations are
      active. This strategy could be used for probing other aspects of the
      photoreactivity of the H-cluster.

PMID- 27649395
TI  - A Comprehensive Study of Cyanobacterial Morphological and Ecological Evolutionary
      Dynamics through Deep Geologic Time.
AB  - Cyanobacteria have exerted a profound influence on the progressive oxygenation of
      Earth. As a complementary approach to examining the geologic record-phylogenomic
      and trait evolutionary analyses of extant species can lead to new insights. We
      constructed new phylogenomic trees and analyzed phenotypic trait data using novel
      phylogenetic comparative methods. We elucidated the dynamics of trait evolution
      in Cyanobacteria over billion-year timescales, and provide evidence that major
      geologic events in early Earth's history have shaped-and been shaped by-evolution
      in Cyanobacteria. We identify a robust core cyanobacterial phylogeny and a
      smaller set of taxa that exhibit long-branch attraction artifacts. We estimated
      the age of nodes and reconstruct the ancestral character states of 43 phenotypic
      characters. We find high levels of phylogenetic signal for nearly all traits,
      indicating the phylogeny carries substantial predictive power. The earliest
      cyanobacterial lineages likely lived in freshwater habitats, had small cell
      diameters, were benthic or sessile, and possibly epilithic/endolithic with a
      sheath. We jointly analyzed a subset of 25 binary traits to determine whether
      rates of trait evolution have shifted over time in conjunction with major
      geologic events. Phylogenetic comparative analysis reveal an overriding signal of
      decreasing rates of trait evolution through time. Furthermore, the data suggest
      two major rate shifts in trait evolution associated with bursts of evolutionary
      innovation. The first rate shift occurs in the aftermath of the Great Oxidation
      Event and "Snowball Earth" glaciations and is associated with decrease in the
      evolutionary rates around 1.8-1.6 Ga. This rate shift seems to indicate the end
      of a major diversification of cyanobacterial phenotypes-particularly related to
      traits associated with filamentous morphology, heterocysts and motility in
      freshwater ecosystems. Another burst appears around the time of the
      Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event in the Neoproterozoic, and is associated with the
      acquisition of traits involved in planktonic growth in marine habitats. Our
      results demonstrate how uniting genomic and phenotypic datasets in extant
      bacterial species can shed light on billion-year old events in Earth's history. 

PMID- 27649409
TI  - Correlations Between Bone Mechanical Properties and Bone Composition Parameters
      in Mouse Models of Dominant and Recessive Osteogenesis Imperfecta and the
      Response to Anti-TGF-beta Treatment.
AB  - Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a group of genetic disorders characterized by
      brittle bones that are prone to fracture. Although previous studies in animal
      models investigated the mechanical properties and material composition of OI
      bone, little work has been conducted to statistically correlate these parameters
      to identify key compositional contributors to the impaired bone mechanical
      behaviors in OI. Further, although increased TGF-beta signaling has been
      demonstrated as a contributing mechanism to the bone pathology in OI models, the
      relationship between mechanical properties and bone composition after anti-TGF
      beta treatment in OI has not been studied. Here, we performed follow-up analyses
      of femurs collected in an earlier study from OI mice with and without anti-TGF
      beta treatment from both recessive (Crtap-/- ) and dominant (Col1a2+/P.G610C ) OI
      mouse models and WT mice. Mechanical properties were determined using three-point
      bending tests and evaluated for statistical correlation with molecular
      composition in bone tissue assessed by Raman spectroscopy. Statistical regression
      analysis was conducted to determine significant compositional determinants of
      mechanical integrity. Interestingly, we found differences in the relationships
      between bone composition and mechanical properties and in the response to anti
      TGF-beta treatment. Femurs of both OI models exhibited increased brittleness,
      which was associated with reduced collagen content and carbonate substitution. In
      the Col1a2+/P.G610C femurs, reduced hydroxyapatite crystallinity was also found
      to be associated with increased brittleness, and increased mineral-to-collagen
      ratio was correlated with increased ultimate strength, elastic modulus, and bone
      brittleness. In both models of OI, regression analysis demonstrated that collagen
      content was an important predictor of the increased brittleness. In summary, this
      work provides new insights into the relationships between bone composition and
      material properties in models of OI, identifies key bone compositional parameters
      that correlate with the impaired mechanical integrity of OI bone, and explores
      the effects of anti-TGF-beta treatment on bone-quality parameters in these
      models. (c) 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 27649410
TI  - Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitors, Type 2 Diabetes and Fibrosis Progression: An
      Observational Study in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical determinants of fibrosis progression in nonalcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are still under definition. AIM: To assess the
      clinical determinants of fibrosis progression rate (FPR) in NAFLD patients with
      baseline and follow-up histological evaluation, with a special focus on the
      impact of pharmacological therapy. METHODS: In an observational cohort of 118
      Italian patients from tertiary referral centers, liver histology was evaluated
      according to Kleiner. Independent predictors of FPR were selected by a stepwise
      regression approach. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 36 months (IQR 24-77). Twenty
      five patients (18%) showed some amelioration, 63 (53%) had stability, 30 (25%)
      had progression of fibrosis. Patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
      had similar demographic and anthropometric features, but a higher prevalence of
      type 2 diabetes (T2D; p = 0.010), and use of renin-angiotensin axis system (RAS)
      inhibitors (p = 0.005). Fibrosis progression was dependent of the length of
      follow-up, and was associated with, but did not require, the presence of NASH
      (p<0.05). Both fibrosis progression and faster FPR were independently associated
      with higher APRI score at follow-up, absence of treatment with RAS inhibitors,
      and T2D diagnosis at baseline (p<0.05). There was a significant interaction
      between use of RAS inhibitors and T2D on FPR (p = 0.002). RAS inhibitors were
      associated with slower FPR in patients with (p = 0.011), but not in those without
      (p = NS) T2D. CONCLUSIONS: NASH is not required for fibrosis progression in
      NAFLD, whereas T2D seems to drive fibrogenesis independently of hepatic
      inflammation. Use of RAS inhibitors may contrast fibrosis progression especially
      in high-risk patients affected by T2D.

PMID- 27649412
TI  - Spatial-Temporal Congestion Identification Based on Time Series Similarity
      Considering Missing Data.
AB  - Traffic congestion varies spatially and temporally. The observation of the
      formation, propagation and dispersion of network traffic congestion can lead to
      insights about the network performance, the bottleneck dynamics etc. While many
      researchers use the traffic flow data to reconstruct the congestion profile, the
      data missing problem is bypassed. Current methods either omit the missing data or
      supplement the missing part by average etc. Great error may be introduced during
      these processes. Rather than simply discarding the missing data, this research
      regards the data missing event as a result of either the severe congestion which
      prevent the floating vehicle from entering the congested area, or a type of
      feature of the resulting traffic flow time series. Hence a new traffic flow
      operational index time series similarity measurement is expected to be
      established as a basis of identifying the dynamic network bottleneck. The method
      first measures the traffic flow operational similarity between pairs of
      neighboring links, and then the similarity results are used to cluster the
      spatial-temporal congestion. In order to get the similarity under missing data
      condition, the measurement is implemented in a two-stage manner: firstly the so
      called first order similarity is calculated given that the traffic flow variables
      are bounded both upside and downside; then the first order similarity is
      aggregated to generate the second order similarity as the output. We implement
      the method on part of the real-world road network; the results generated are not
      only consistent with empirical observation, but also provide useful insights. 

PMID- 27649411
TI  - Chinese Americans' Views and Use of Family Health History: A Qualitative Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Family health history (FHH) plays a significant role in early disease
      detection and prevention. Although Asian Americans are the fastest growing U.S.
      immigrant group, no data exists regarding Chinese Americans' (the largest Asian
      subgroup) views and use of FHH. This study examines this important issue.
      METHODS: Forty-nine adults from southern U.S. Chinese American communities
      participated in this qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interview study.
      Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with a content analysis
      approach. RESULTS: Although the majority of participants perceived the importance
      of collecting FHH, most lacked FHH knowledge and failed to collect FHH
      information. Barriers affecting FHH collection and discussion among family
      members included long-distance separation from family members, self-defined
      "healthy family," and Chinese cultural beliefs. Lack of doctors' inquiries,
      never/rarely visiting physicians, self-defined "healthy family," perceived
      insignificance of discussing FHH with doctors, and Chinese cultural beliefs were
      the obstacles in communicating FHH with physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese
      Americans had limited usage of their FHH and faced cultural, distance, knowledge
      , and healthcare system-related barriers that influenced their FHH use.
      Developing FHH education programs for Chinese Americans is highly recommended.

PMID- 27649413
TI  - Shifting Perceptual Weights in L2 Vowel Identification after Training.
AB  - Difficulties with second-language vowel perception may be related to the
      significant challenges in using acoustic-phonetic cues. This study investigated
      the effects of perception training with duration-equalized vowels on native
      Chinese listeners' English vowel perception and their use of acoustic-phonetic
      cues. Seventeen native Chinese listeners were perceptually trained with duration
      equalized English vowels, and another 17 native Chinese listeners watched English
      videos as a control group. Both groups were tested with English vowel
      identification and vowel formant discrimination before training, immediately
      after training, and three months later. The results showed that the training
      effect was greater for the vowel training group than for the control group, while
      both groups improved their English vowel identification and vowel formant
      discrimination after training. Moreover, duration-equalized vowel perception
      training significantly reduced listeners' reliance on duration cues and improved
      their use of spectral cues in identifying English vowels, but video-watching did
      not help. The results suggest that duration-equalized English vowel perception
      training may improve non-native listeners' English vowel perception by changing
      their perceptual weights of acoustic-phonetic cues. 

PMID- 27649414
TI  - Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma May Develop Ischemic Heart Disease More
      Often than Those without Glaucoma: An 11-Year Population-Based Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether patients with primary open angle glaucoma
      (POAG) have a higher proportion of ischemic heart disease (IHD) development.
      DESIGN: A population-based retrospective cohort study, using the National Health
      Insurance Database (NHID) from 1st January, 2001, to 31st December, 2011, in
      Taiwan. METHODS: 3510 subjects with POAG were enrolled into the POAG group and
      14040 subjects without glaucoma into the comparison group. The comparison group
      consisted of randomly selected individuals, matched with the POAG group based on
      age, gender, and index date (date of enrollment) at a ratio of 1:4. The
      participants of both groups should have no IHD before the index date, and they
      were followed until the end of 2011 to see whether they had new-onset IHD or not.
      Kaplan-Meier curves were used to compare the cumulative incidence of IHD between
      the two groups. Frailty model, a specialized form of Cox regression analysis, was
      used to estimate the crude and adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of IHD. Analyses were
      adjusted by age, gender, and systemic comorbidities (i.e. diabetes, hypertension,
      hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure). RESULTS: The
      mean age of the cohort was 57.6+/-11.0 years. There were slightly more males than
      females (51.6% vs. 48.4%). A log-rank test comparing Kaplan-Meier curves of the
      two groups revealed a significantly higher cumulative incidence of IHD in the
      POAG group (p-value<0.001). In the univariate analysis by Frailty model, POAG
      patients had a significantly higher hazard of IHD (unadjusted HR = 2.32; 95%
      confidence interval 1.93 to 2.79). After adjustment, results remained significant
      (adjusted HR = 1.41; 95% confidence interval 1.16 to 1.72). CONCLUSION: People
      with POAG may suffer from IHD more often than those without glaucoma.

PMID- 27649415
TI  - MicroRNA Stability in FFPE Tissue Samples: Dependence on GC Content.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs responsible for fine-tuning of gene
      expression at post-transcriptional level. The alterations in miRNA expression
      levels profoundly affect human health and often lead to the development of severe
      diseases. Currently, high throughput analyses, such as microarray and deep
      sequencing, are performed in order to identify miRNA biomarkers, using archival
      patient tissue samples. MiRNAs are more robust than longer RNAs, and resistant to
      extreme temperatures, pH, and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedding (FFPE) process.
      Here, we have compared the stability of miRNAs in FFPE cardiac tissues using next
      generation sequencing. The mode read length in FFPE samples was 11 nucleotides
      (nt), while that in the matched frozen samples was 22 nt. Although the read
      counts were increased 1.7-fold in FFPE samples, compared with those in the frozen
      samples, the average miRNA mapping rate decreased from 32.0% to 9.4%. These
      results indicate that, in addition to the fragmentation of longer RNAs, miRNAs
      are to some extent degraded in FFPE tissues as well. The expression profiles of
      total miRNAs in two groups were highly correlated (0.88 <r < 0.92). However, the
      relative read count of each miRNA was different depending on the GC content
      (p<0.0001). The unequal degradation of each miRNA affected the abundance ranking
      in the library, and miR-133a was shown to be the most abundant in FFPE cardiac
      tissues instead of miR-1, which was predominant before fixation. Subsequent
      quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses revealed that miRNAs with GC content of less
      than 40% are more degraded than GC-rich miRNAs (p<0.0001). We showed that deep
      sequencing data obtained using FFPE samples cannot be directly compared with that
      of fresh frozen samples. The combination of miRNA deep sequencing and other
      quantitative analyses, such as qPCR, may improve the utility of archival FFPE
      tissue samples. 

PMID- 27649416
TI  - Li2O-Reinforced Cu Nanoclusters as Porous Structure for Dendrite-Free and Long
      Lifespan Lithium Metal Anode.
AB  - A nanostructured protective structure, pillared by the copper nanoclusters and in
      situ filled with lithium oxide in the interspace, is constructed to efficiently
      improve the cyclic stability and lifetime of lithium metal electrodes. The porous
      structure of copper nanoclusters enables high specific surface area, locally
      reduced current density, and dendrite suppressing, while the filled lithium oxide
      leads to the structural stability and largely extends the electrode lifespan. As
      a result of the synergetic protection of the proposed structure, lithium metal
      could be fully discharged with efficiency ~97% for more than 150 cycles in
      corrosive alkyl carbonate electrolytes, without dendrite formation. This approach
      opens a novel route to improve the cycling stability of lithium metal electrodes
      with the appropriate protective structure.

PMID- 27649417
TI  - High Prevalence of Back Pain and Axial Spondyloarthropathy in Patients with
      Hidradenitis Suppurativa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease,
      causing fistulating sinuses in the intertriginous skin of axillary, genitofemoral
      and perianal sites. OBJECTIVE: As other chronic inflammatory diseases, e.g.
      psoriasis, are frequently associated with spondyloarthropathies (SpA), the goal
      of this study was to quantify the prevalence of back pain and SpA in HS patients.
      METHODS: A prospective questionnaire survey in 100 HS patients and a
      retrospective evaluation of pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in 46
      HS patients were conducted. RESULTS: 71% of HS patients were suffering from back
      pain. There was no difference between age at onset of HS, disease duration, body
      mass index (BMI), or disease severity between HS patients with and without back
      pain. Evaluating pelvic MRI scans, 32.6% of HS patients showed signs of chronic
      SpA and 39.1% signs of active SpA. Again, no significant differences between
      patients with/without SpA were found regarding age at time of MRI, age at onset
      of HS, disease duration, smoking habits, and BMI. Furthermore, there was no
      correlation between these parameters and the degree of SpA. LIMITATIONS: Only
      patients with moderate/severe HS (Hurley stage II and III) in
      genitofemoral/perianal sites were analysed via MRI scans. CONCLUSION: Back pain
      and SpA are very common among patients with moderate/severe HS. Neither medical
      history nor clinical parameters provide hints for the presence of SpA.

PMID- 27649419
TI  - Influence of Benthic Macrofauna as a Spatial Structuring Agent for Juvenile
      Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) on the Eastern Scotian Shelf, Atlantic Canada.
AB  - We examined the habitat of juvenile haddock on the eastern Scotian Shelf (off
      Nova Scotia, Canada) in relation to grab-sampled benthic macrofaunal invertebrate
      species assemblages in order to determine whether there were significant
      differences in benthic macrofauna between areas of historically persistent high
      and low juvenile haddock abundance. Our analyses were conducted over two spatial
      scales in each of two years: among banks (Emerald, Western and Sable Island),
      approximately 60 km distant from each other, and between areas of high and low
      juvenile haddock abundance at distances of 10 to 30 km-all in an area that had
      not experienced groundfishing in the decade prior to sampling. We also examined
      fine-scale (10s of metres) within-site variability in the macrofauna and used
      surficial sediment characteristics, along with hydrographic variables, to
      identify environmental correlates. PERMANOVA identified statistically significant
      differences in biomass, density and composition of the benthos associated with
      juvenile haddock abundance; however it was difficult to determine whether the
      results had biological relevance. Post hoc tests showed that these differences
      occurred only on Sable Island Bank where both fish and benthos may have been
      independently responding to sediment type which was most different there (100%
      sand in the area of low haddock abundance vs. 22% gravel in the area of high
      haddock abundance). In total, 383 benthic taxa representing 13 phyla were
      identified. Annelida was the most specious phylum (36.29% of taxa, representing
      33 families), followed by Arthropoda (with Crustaceans, mostly Amphipoda,
      accounting for 25.07% of the total number of taxa). The strongest pattern in the
      macrofauna was expressed at the largest scale, between banks, accounting for
      approximately 25% of the variation in the data. Emerald Bank, deeper, warmer and
      saltier than the Western and Sable Island Banks, had a distinctive fauna. 

PMID- 27649418
TI  - Peretinoin as an adjuvant therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The current curative treatment modalities for hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) are unfortunately fraught with high rates of HCC recurrence.
      Hence there is a need to prevent or reduce HCC recurrence after initial curative
      therapy. Peretinoin is a synthetic oral retinoid showing significant reduction in
      the incidence of recurrent or new HCC in patients who had received curative HCC
      therapy. Areas covered: Peretinoin is analysed against the background of
      molecular pathogenesis of the different causes of HCC. Publications related to
      peretinoin since 1996 are reviewed, covering clinical characteristics, safety and
      tolerance profile as well as the current status of clinical development. Expert
      commentary: Early phase studies are promising but we need to await the results of
      the ongoing phase III study of peretinoin in hepatitis C related HCC. Long term
      impact of peretinoin may be diminished by the foreseeable near eradication of
      hepatitis C by the direct acting antivirals.

PMID- 27649420
TI  - One-Pot Approach to N-Quinolyl 3'/4'-Biaryl Carboxamides by Microwave-Assisted
      Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling and N-Boc Deprotection.
AB  - N-Quinolyl biaryl carboxamides have received tremendous attention for their
      notable biological properties. Here we have described a general protocol for the
      preparation of N-quinolyl 3'/4'-biaryl carboxamides by microwave-assisted Suzuki
      Miyaura cross-coupling reaction and N-Boc deprotection in one pot. This method,
      which did not require acids, was used to produce a series of N-quinolyl 3'/4'
      biaryl carboxamides with excellent functional group tolerance and high yields
      (70% to 95%).

PMID- 27649421
TI  - National patterns of care and predictors of neoadjuvant and concurrent
      chemotherapy use with definitive radiotherapy in the treatment of patients with
      oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, the patterns of care for the radiotherapy
      based treatment of patients with stage III to IVB oropharyngeal squamous cell
      carcinoma (OPSCC) are poorly defined. The objective of the current study was to
      characterize the use and predictors of chemotherapy with radiotherapy for this
      population using the National Cancer Database. METHODS: Patients in the National
      Cancer Database with AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) stage III to IV
      OPSCC who were treated with radiotherapy between 2003 and 2012 were eligible for
      analysis. Treatment was defined as radiotherapy alone, concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy, or induction chemotherapy (IC). Multivariable regression with
      multilevel modeling was used to determine predictors of any chemotherapy use and,
      among patients receiving chemotherapy, the predictors of IC. RESULTS: The
      majority (90%) of the 30,875 eligible patients received chemotherapy, the
      majority of whom (71% of the total) were treated with definitive
      chemoradiotherapy; a sizeable percentage of patients received IC (19% of total).
      On multivariable regression, younger age, favorable comorbidity status, and more
      advanced tumor and lymph node disease were found to be independent predictors of
      any chemotherapy and IC use. Nonwhite patients (odds ratio [OR], 0.71; P<.0001),
      women (OR, 0.74; P<.0001), and individuals without private insurance were found
      to be significantly less likely to receive chemotherapy. Patients treated at
      higher-volume institutions were significantly less likely to receive IC (OR,
      0.69; P = .0006). Human papillomavirus status did not appear to independently
      influence treatment choice. CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of patients with stage
      III to IVB OPSCC who were treated with definitive radiotherapy received
      chemotherapy, which is consistent with high-level data and national
      recommendations. However, disparities with regard to race, sex, and insurance
      status emerged thereby requiring additional investigation. The frequent use of IC
      despite limited supportive evidence warrants research on physician and patient
      decision making and presents an opportunity to improve evidence-based treatment
      delivery. Cancer 2017;123:273-282. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.

PMID- 27649428
TI  - Images in Anesthesiology: Bronchopleural Fistula Caused by the Incorrect
      Placement of the Enteral Feeding Tube.

PMID- 27649429
TI  - Can Sonography of the Inferior Vena Cava Predict More than Just Intraoperative
      Hypotension?

PMID- 27649430
TI  - I Was There! I Did It!

PMID- 27649431
TI  - Blood Transfusion in Resource-limited Settings.

PMID- 27649432
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27649433
TI  - Prediction Model for In-hospital Mortality Should Accurately Predict the Risks of
      Patients Who Are Truly at Risk.

PMID- 27649434
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27649435
TI  - In Cerebral Oximetry, Do We Trust?

PMID- 27649436
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27649437
TI  - Underestimated and Modifiable? From Intraoperative Drug Application to
      Postoperative Infections.

PMID- 27649438
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27649439
TI  - Relevance of Clinical Relevance.

PMID- 27649440
TI  - In Reply.

PMID- 27649447
TI  - Structural Basis of Fullerene Derivatives as Novel Potent Inhibitors of Protein
      Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B: Insight into the Inhibitory Mechanism through Molecular
      Modeling Studies.
AB  - Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) has become an outstanding target for the
      treatment of diabetes and obesity. Recent research has demonstrated that some
      fullerene derivatives serve as a new nanoscale-class of potent inhibitors of
      PTP1B, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. Several molecular modeling
      methods (molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and molecular
      mechanics/generalized Born surface area calculations) were integrated to provide
      insight into the binding mode and inhibitory mechanism of the new class of
      fullerene inhibitors. The results reveal that PTP1B with an open WPD loop is more
      susceptible to the combination with the fullerene inhibitor because of their
      comparable shapes and sizes. When the WPD loop fluctuates to the open
      conformation, the inhibitor falls into the active pocket and induces
      conformational rotation of the WPD loop. This rotation is closely related to the
      reduction of the catalytic activity of PTP1B. In addition, it is suggested that
      compound 1, like compound 2, is a competitive inhibitor since it blocks the
      active site to prevent the binding of the substrate. The high binding affinity of
      fullerene-based compounds and the transition of the WPD loop, caused by the
      specific structural property of the hydrophobic fullerene core and the appended
      polar groups, make these fullerene derivatives efficient competitive inhibitors.
      The theoretical results provide useful clues for further investigation of the
      noval inhibitors of PTP1B at the nanoscale.

PMID- 27649449
TI  - Dynamic control of lateral root positioning.
AB  - In dicot root systems, lateral roots are in general regularly spaced along the
      longitudinal axis of the primary root to facilitate water and nutrient uptake.
      Recently, recurrent programmed cell death in the root cap of the growing root has
      been implicated in lateral root spacing. The root cap contains an auxin source
      that modulates lateral root patterning. Periodic release of auxin by dying root
      cap cells seems to trigger lateral root specification at regular intervals.
      However, it is currently unclear through which molecular mechanisms auxin
      restricts lateral root specification to specific cells along the longitudinal and
      radial axes of the root, or how environmental signals impact this process.

PMID- 27649448
TI  - Airborne Fine Particles and Risk of Hospital Admissions for Understudied
      Populations: Effects by Urbanicity and Short-Term Cumulative Exposures in 708
      U.S. Counties.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence of health risks associated with ambient airborne fine
      particles in nonurban populations is extremely limited. OBJECTIVE: We estimated
      the risk of hospitalization associated with short-term exposures to particulate
      matter with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 MUm (PM2.5) in urban and nonurban
      counties with population >= 50,000. METHODS: We utilized a database of daily
      cardiovascular- and respiratory-related hospitalization rates constructed from
      Medicare National Claims History files (2002-2006), including 28 million Medicare
      beneficiaries in 708 counties. Daily PM2.5 exposures were estimated using the
      Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) downscaler. We used time-series analysis
      of hospitalization rates and PM2.5 to evaluate associations between PM2.5 levels
      and hospitalization risk in single-pollutant models. RESULTS: We observed an
      association between cardiovascular hospitalizations and same-day PM2.5 with
      higher risk in urban counties: 0.35% [95% posterior interval (PI): -0.71%, 1.41%]
      and 0.98% (95% PI: 0.73%, 1.23%) increases in hospitalization risk per 10-MUg/m3
      increment in PM2.5 were observed in the least-urban and most-urban counties,
      respectively. The largest association for respiratory hospitalizations, a 2.57%
      (95% PI: 0.87%, 4.30%) increase per 10-MUg/m3 increase in PM2.5, was observed in
      the least-urban counties; in the most-urban counties, a 1.13% (0.73%, 1.54%)
      increase was observed. Effect estimates for cardiovascular hospitalizations were
      highest for smaller lag times, whereas effect estimates for respiratory
      hospitalizations increased as more days of exposure were included. CONCLUSION: In
      nonurban counties with population >= 50,000, exposure to PM2.5 is associated with
      increased risk for respiratory hospitalizations; in urban counties, exposure is
      associated with increased risk of cardiovascular hospitalizations. Effect
      estimates based on a single day of exposure may underestimate true effects for
      respiratory hospitalizations.

PMID- 27649451
TI  - Theoretical Investigation of the Mechanisms of ERK2 Enzymatic Catalysis.
AB  - ERK2 are protein kinases that during the enzymatic catalysis, in contrast to
      traditional enzymes, utilize additional interactions with substrates outside of
      the active sites. It is widely believed that these docking interactions outside
      of the enzymatic pockets enhance the specificity of these proteins. However, the
      molecular mechanisms of how the docking interactions affect the catalysis remain
      not well understood. Here, we develop a simple theoretical approach to analyze
      the enzymatic catalysis in ERK2 proteins. Our method is based on first-passage
      process analysis, and it provides explicit expressions for all dynamic properties
      of the system. It is found that there are specific binding energies for
      substrates in docking and catalytic domains that lead to maximal enzymatic
      reaction rates. Thus, we propose that the role of the docking interactions is not
      only to increase the enzymatic specificity but also to optimize the dynamics of
      the catalytic process. Our theoretical results are utilized to describe
      experimental observations on ERK2 enzymatic activities.

PMID- 27649450
TI  - Interaction of the Human Papillomavirus E6 Oncoprotein with Sorting Nexin 27
      Modulates Endocytic Cargo Transport Pathways.
AB  - A subset of high-risk Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the causative agents of a
      large number of human cancers, of which cervical is the most common. Two viral
      oncoproteins, E6 and E7, contribute directly towards the development and
      maintenance of malignancy. A characteristic feature of the E6 oncoproteins from
      cancer-causing HPV types is the presence of a PDZ binding motif (PBM) at its C
      terminus, which confers interaction with cellular proteins harbouring PDZ
      domains. Here we show that this motif allows E6 interaction with Sorting Nexin 27
      (SNX27), an essential component of endosomal recycling pathways. This interaction
      is highly conserved across E6 proteins from multiple high-risk HPV types and is
      mediated by a classical PBM-PDZ interaction but unlike many E6 targets, SNX27 is
      not targeted for degradation by E6. Rather, in HPV-18 positive cell lines the
      association of SNX27 with components of the retromer complex and the endocytic
      transport machinery is altered in an E6 PBM-dependent manner. Analysis of a SNX27
      cargo, the glucose transporter GLUT1, reveals an E6-dependent maintenance of
      GLUT1 expression and alteration in its association with components of the
      endocytic transport machinery. Furthermore, knockdown of E6 in HPV-18 positive
      cervical cancer cells phenocopies the loss of SNX27, both in terms of GLUT1
      expression levels and its vesicular localization, with a concomitant marked
      reduction in glucose uptake, whilst loss of SNX27 results in slower cell
      proliferation in low nutrient conditions. These results demonstrate that E6
      interaction with SNX27 can alter the recycling of cargo molecules, one
      consequence of which is modulation of nutrient availability in HPV transformed
      tumour cells.

PMID- 27649452
TI  - Synthesis biological screening and molecular docking studies of some tin (IV)
      Schiff base adducts.
AB  - The search for an alternative to platinum anticancer agents is a major motivation
      for continuing investigations concerning the antitumor properties of other
      transition metal-based compounds. Keeping this in view, synthesis, antitumor and
      antimicrobial activity of diorganotin (IV) complexes was studied. A novel series
      of diorganotin (IV) complexes of the Schiff base ligand derived from 7-methoxy-2
      hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde, 1,2-phenylenediamine, Salicylaldehyde were synthesized.
      Physical and spectral examination was done through various techniques using
      elemental analyses, IR, 1H, 13C, 119Sn NMR, and 119mSn Mossbauer techniques
      respectively. The results obtained are in good agreement with 1:1:1 stoichiometry
      of Schiff base and 2:1 stoichiometry of the complexes. Octahedral geometry was
      assigned to all the synthesized complexes within six (6) coordination number
      around the tin. Antitumor activity was screened against human oral epidermoid
      carcinoma (KB) cell line. The diethyltin (IV) complex 2 showed the most promising
      cytotoxic results (IC50=0.35MUM) against the cell line which is comparable with
      cisplatin (IC50=0.37MUM). Docking studies revealed that these complexes can bind
      favorably within cisplatin binding site and the binding energy of complex 2 is
      more than that of cisplatin. Furthermore, binding of these complexes on human
      topoisomerase IIalpha enzyme and revealed that these complexes intercalating
      within the inter-strand of DNA showing interactions with DNA as well as protein
      that may results in DNA damage and cell death.

PMID- 27649453
TI  - Purple-bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers and quantum-dot hybrid
      assemblies in lecithin liposomes and thin films.
AB  - Quantum dots (QDs) absorb ultraviolet and long-wavelength visible light energy
      much more efficiently than natural bacterial light-harvesting proteins and can
      transfer the excitation energy to photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs).
      Inclusion of RCs combined with QDs as antennae into liposomes opens new
      opportunities for using such hybrid systems as a basis for artificial energy
      transforming devices that potentially can operate with greater efficiency and
      stability than devices based only on biological components or inorganic
      components alone. RCs from Rhodobacter sphaeroides and QDs (CdSe/ZnS with
      hydrophilic covering) were embedded in lecithin liposomes by extrusion of a
      solution of multilayer lipid vesicles through a polycarbonate membrane or by
      dialysis of lipids and proteins dispersed with excess detergent. The efficiency
      of RC and QD interaction within the liposomes was estimated using fluorescence
      excitation spectra of the photoactive bacteriochlorophyll of the RCs and by
      measuring the fluorescence decay kinetics of the QDs. The functional activity of
      the RCs in hybrid complexes was fully maintained, and their stability was even
      increased. The efficiency of energy transfer between QDs and RCs and conditions
      of long-term stability of function of such hybrid complexes in film preparations
      were investigated as well. It was found that dry films containing RCs and QDs,
      maintained at atmospheric humidity, are capable of maintaining their functional
      activity for at least some months as judged by measurements of their spectral
      characteristics, efficiency of energy transfer from QDs to RCs and RC electron
      transport activity. Addition of trehalose to the films increases the stability
      further, especially for films maintained at low humidity. These stable hybrid
      film structures are promising for further studies towards developing new
      phototransformation devices for biotechnological applications.

PMID- 27649454
TI  - Electron Excess Doping and Effective Schottky Barrier Reduction on the MoS2/h-BN
      Heterostructure.
AB  - Layered hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin film is a dielectric that surpasses
      carrier mobility by reducing charge scattering with silicon oxide in diverse
      electronics formed with graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. However,
      the h-BN effect on electron doping concentration and Schottky barrier is little
      known. Here, we report that use of h-BN thin film as a substrate for monolayer
      MoS2 can induce ~6.5 * 1011 cm-2 electron doping at room temperature which was
      determined using theoretical flat band model and interface trap density. The
      saturated excess electron concentration of MoS2 on h-BN was found to be ~5 * 1013
      cm-2 at high temperature and was significantly reduced at low temperature.
      Further, the inserted h-BN enables us to reduce the Coulombic charge scattering
      in MoS2/h-BN and lower the effective Schottky barrier height by a factor of 3,
      which gives rise to four times enhanced the field-effect carrier mobility and an
      emergence of metal-insulator transition at a much lower charge density of ~1.0 *
      1012 cm-2 (T = 25 K). The reduced effective Schottky barrier height in MoS2/h-BN
      is attributed to the decreased effective work function of MoS2 arisen from h-BN
      induced n-doping and the reduced effective metal work function due to dipole
      moments originated from fixed charges in SiO2.

PMID- 27649456
TI  - Clinical Evaluation of Genotoxicity of In-office Bleaching.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxicity of in-office
      bleaching with 35% hydrogen peroxide in epithelial cells from the gingival and
      lip tissues. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Thirty volunteers with central incisors shade
      A1 or darker were selected for this study. The gingival tissue of the teeth to be
      bleached was isolated with a light-polymerized resin dam, and the 35% hydrogen
      peroxide gel was administered during three 15-minute applications over the course
      of the 45-minute application period. Two bleaching sessions with a one-week
      interval in between were performed. Exfoliated oral mucosa gingival epithelial
      cells and upper lip lining were collected at baseline and one month after the in
      office dental bleaching. The scraped cells were placed on clean glass slides and
      smears were prepared. After staining with Giemsa solution, two blinded examiners
      performed cell and micronuclei counts under a 100* optical microscope. Tooth
      sensitivity was evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Shade evaluation
      was recorded before and one month after the bleaching treatment with the value
      oriented shade guide Vita Bleachedguide 3D-MASTER and the spectrophotometer Vita
      Easyshade. Data from the shade guide units and the micronuclei (MN) frequency
      were subjected to a Mann-Whitney test (alpha=0.05). The overall difference
      between before and one month after the bleaching treatment (DeltaE and DeltaSGU),
      absolute risk, and intensity of tooth sensitivity (TS) were calculated, as was
      the 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The frequency of MN was not increased
      after bleaching with 35% hydrogen peroxide in both study groups (p>0.05). The
      absolute risk of TS of the participants was 93% (95% CI, 79%-98%), with a mean
      VAS intensity of 5.7 +/- 2.9 (95% CI, 4.6-6.8). Meaningful whitening was observed
      after bleaching. The change in shade guide units in the Bleachedguide 3D-MASTER
      was 2.3 +/- 1.4. In terms of DeltaE, the change in color was 7.7 +/- 3.5.
      CONCLUSIONS: The in-office bleaching did not induce DNA damage to the gingival
      and lip tissue during the bleaching period. Although effective whitening was
      observed, most of the participants experienced TS.

PMID- 27649457
TI  - An In Situ Study of the Influence of Staining Beverages on Color Alteration of
      Bleached Teeth.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate overall color change in bovine tooth
      fragments submitted to dental bleaching treatment performed simultaneously with
      the ingestion of beverages containing dyes. For this purpose, tooth fragments
      assembled into intraoral devices were submitted to at-home dental bleaching using
      10% carbamide peroxide (CP) for 14 days and to immersion in staining beverages
      for 10 minutes daily. The specimens were divided into the following study groups
      according to bleaching treatment and staining substance (n=12): G I (negative
      control): no bleaching + distilled water; G II (positive control): bleaching +
      distilled water; G III: bleaching + coffee; and G IV: bleaching + grape juice.
      Twelve volunteers used the device continually, except during meals, oral hygiene,
      dental bleaching, and pigment challenge. Color readings were performed using a
      spectrophotometer both before the bleaching treatment and after each treatment
      week. The results were submitted to the normality test. The data obtained were
      submitted to analysis of variance and the Tukey or Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests
      (alpha=0.05). All bleached groups showed similar DeltaE results at the end of
      treatment. Staining beverages generated negative DeltaL mean values, and the
      lowest result was obtained in the treatment with coffee after 14 days. The Deltaa
      values in the groups that received treatment with staining beverages were higher
      when compared to the control groups. Dental bleaching associated with the
      consumption of staining substances may not affect overall tooth color change by
      the end of the treatment, although the consumption of staining substances did
      influence the different color dimensions.

PMID- 27649455
TI  - Natural infection as a blueprint for rational HIV vaccine design.
AB  - So far, the development of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine has been
      unsuccessful. However, recent progress in the field of broadly neutralizing
      antibodies (bNAbs) has reinvigorated the search for an HIV vaccine. bNAbs develop
      in a minority of HIV infected individuals and passive transfer of these bNAbs to
      non-human primates provides protection from HIV infection. Studies in a number of
      HIV infected individuals on bNAb maturation alongside viral evolution and escape
      have shed light on the features important for bNAb elicitation. Here we review
      the observations from these studies, and how they influence the rational design
      of HIV vaccines.

PMID- 27649458
TI  - Synovial sarcoma of the hypopharynx in a pediatric patient: Case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Synovial sarcoma (SS) is uncommon high grade soft tissue sarcoma,
      accounting for less than 10% of all head and neck sarcomas. Also, about 10% of SS
      occur within the Head & Neck. In the pediatric population, SS is an extremely
      rare head & neck malignancy. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present a case of sixteen
      years old boy diagnosed with SS situated of the hypopharynx treated by surgical
      excision and post operative radio-chemotherapy. DISCUSSION: This anatomical
      location brings additional functional challenges (swallowing, phonation,
      respiration), especially in the pediatric population. Pre-operative and even post
      operative histopathological diagnosis of SS remains difficult. Optimal treatment
      of Head & Neck SS has to balance functional and oncologic aspects. CONCLUSION: SS
      is an extremely rare head & neck malignancy in pediatric population. It has
      multifaceted challenges including pre and post-operative histopathological
      diagnosis and optimal modality of treatment. Clinical judgment, especially in the
      pediatric population, needs to balance tumor free margins and organ preservation
      in head and neck region.

PMID- 27649459
TI  - Antenatal montelukast treatment reduces uterine activity associated with
      inflammation in a pregnant rat model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The potency of acute montelukast treatment, a leukotriene receptor
      antagonist, has been demonstrated as tocolytic on in vitro myometrial
      contractility. This study assessed the ability of a 48h montelukast treatment to
      modify in vitro contractions under inflammatory conditions in a pregnant rat
      model. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally
      (gestational days 20-22) with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) 200MUg/kg (4 treatments
      at 12h intervals) alone or combined with montelukast 10mg/kg/day or a saline
      solution for a 48h period. Uterine rings (n=72) were obtained by median
      laparotomy at day 22. Spontaneous contractile activities were compared using
      pharmacological compounds (oxytocin, nifedipine) along with assessment of
      contractile parameters. Myometrial subcellular fractions were also analyzed by
      Western blot to quantify oxytocin, cysteinyl leukotriene receptors and
      inflammation markers. RESULTS: In in vitro experiments, the area under the curve,
      the amplitude and the duration of phasic contractions were significantly reduced
      following 48h of LPS+montelukast treatment comparatively to the LPS group.
      Moreover, in this same group, oxytocin (10-9-10-7M) largely decreased uterine
      sensitivity (p=0.04). Following LPS and montelukast treatment, the tocolytic
      effectiveness of nifedipine (10-9-10-7M) was increased (p<0.01). Western blot
      analysis confirmed the presence of type 1 CysLT receptors in all treated groups.
      Hence, montelukast treatment restored TNF-alpha and COX-2 basal levels.
      CONCLUSION: Our results strongly suggest that montelukast treatment could
      facilitate a relative uterine quiescence by decreasing its sensitivity to
      uterotonic agent or by increasing tocolytic efficiency under proinflammatory
      conditions.

PMID- 27649460
TI  - Current realities and future vision: Developing an interprofessional, integrated
      health care workforce.
AB  - This article shares findings from an interprofessional symposium that took place
      in Boston in the spring of 2015. Educators and practitioners from various
      disciplines shared challenges, successes, and ideas on best interprofessional
      collaboration (IPC) and curricula development. The findings include the
      importance of patient-and-family-centered care, which includes the patient and
      his/her family in the decision-making process; increased education regarding IPC
      in universities and major hospitals; and educational opportunities within health
      care systems.

PMID- 27649461
TI  - Female sexual dysfunction post radical cystectomy and urinary diversion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of radical cystectomy and urinary diversion on
      female sexual function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A Medline search was conducted
      according to the PRISMA statement for all English full-text articles published
      between 1980 and 2016 and assessing female sexual function post radical
      cystectomy and urinary diversion. Eligible studies were subjected to critical
      analysis and revision. The primary outcomes were the reporting methods for female
      sexual dysfunction (FSD), manifestations of FSD, and factors associated with FSD,
      postoperative recoverability of FSD, and awareness level regarding FSD. RESULTS:
      From the resulting 117 articles, 11 studies were finally included in our
      systematic review, with a total of 361 women. Loss of sexual desire and orgasm
      disorders were the most frequently reported (49% and 39%). Dyspareunia and
      vaginal lubrication disorders were reported in 25% and 9.5%, respectively. The
      incidence of sexual dysfunction was 10% in 30 patients receiving genital- or
      nerve-sparing cystectomy vs. 59% receiving conventional cystectomy. CONCLUSION:
      Although female sexual function is an important predictor of health-related
      quality of life post radical cystectomy and urinary diversion, the available
      literature is not enough to provide proper information for surgeons and patients.

PMID- 27649462
TI  - Developing an evidence-based transition program for graduate nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The catalyst to revise the graduate nurse program at an inner city
      hospital was a major service reconfiguration, which reduced services, staffing
      and graduate nurse positions. Parameters for the new program were that it was
      evidence-based and could function within the reduced resources. OBJECTIVE: Review
      current literature and design an evidence-based transition program. METHODS:
      Eight databases were searched for primary and secondary research and unpublished
      theses (2004-2014), which were then hand searched. Eighty-three articles were
      reviewed and 50 retained as they informed development of a program designed to
      actively promote the graduates' transition from undergraduate to independent
      health professional. RESULTS: Three key concepts emerged from the literature: the
      graduates' need for support, socialisation and facilitated learning
      opportunities. This article reviews the literature and outlines a program
      designed to maximise these concepts in an evidence-based transition program.
      Proposed evaluation tools are identified for use throughout the program.

PMID- 27649463
TI  - Improved Temporomandibular Joint Position After 3-Dimensional Planned Mandibular
      Reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: Virtual surgical planning (VSP) using computer-aided design and
      manufacturing (CAD-CAM) has been reported to aid in craniofacial reconstruction.
      The reported improvements have been related mainly to operative performance, with
      limited evaluations of the position and function of the temporomandibular joint
      (TMJ). This study analyzed the radiographic detail of postoperative outcomes
      related to the TMJ. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent mandibular
      reconstruction with and without VSP were analyzed. All patients underwent
      preoperative computed tomography (CT) of their mandible. In the VSP group, CAD
      CAM planning was performed preoperatively using CT Digital Imaging and
      Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data. Postoperative CT images from the 2
      groups were quantitatively compared to evaluate the TMJ. CT images were digitized
      for 2- and 3-dimensional analysis using surgical planning software (Materialise,
      Leuven, Belgium). Anatomic landmarks and cephalometric relations were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Sixteen patients who underwent traditional planning or VSP for
      mandibular reconstruction were compared. Two groups (n = 8 each) were compared
      for positioning of the mandibular condyle in the glenoid fossa. Measurements of
      superior, anterior, and lateral movements were comparable in the pre- and
      postoperative groups for the traditional and VSP groups (P < .001 by analysis of
      variance). Subgroup analysis evaluating ipsilateral changes in the mandibular
      condyle position for traditional planning versus VSP noted decreased percentages
      of change in superior (22 vs 10%; P < .05), anterior (32 vs 15%; P < .05), and
      lateral (7 vs 1%, P < .01) shifts of the condyle for left mandibular
      reconstructions (n = 8). Ipsilateral right mandibular reconstructions (n = 6)
      showed changes in superior (62 vs 15%; P < .05) and anterior (5 vs 9%; not
      significant) shifts. CONCLUSION: These data showed comparable pre- and
      postoperative positions of the TMJ for traditional and VSP mandibular
      reconstructions. Evaluation of condyle movements showed differences in the
      ipsilateral position in the pre- and postoperative groups. VSP resulted in
      decreased superior and lateral shifts of the ipsilateral condyle and decreased
      changes in the condylar and condylar neck angles. This work shows that VSP can
      lead to increased precision in reconstruction leading to preserved normative
      anatomic relations.

PMID- 27649465
TI  - To feed or not to feed: circuits involved in the control of feeding in insects.
AB  - To feed or not to feed is a dilemma faced by every animal. The sense of taste is
      fundamental to the control of food intake. It permits recognition of nutrients,
      the rejection of toxins, and provides feedback for the coordination of feeding.
      The suboesophageal zone of the insect brain uses taste information to orchestrate
      the motor programs responsible for mouthparts coordination during feeding.
      Discovering the structure of the relevant neural circuits is a work in progress.

PMID- 27649464
TI  - Osteomyelitis of the Mandibular Condyle: A Report of 2 Cases With Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - In the maxillofacial area, osteomyelitis generally involves the mandible more
      commonly than the maxilla. Osteomyelitis of the mandible more often than not is
      odontogenic in origin and the dentate part is usually affected. In this context,
      involvement of the condyle and coronoid processes is very rare. This report
      describes 2 unique cases of condylar involvement with osteomyelitis. In these
      cases, the etiologies were unknown and were successfully managed by condylectomy
      and antibiotics. A comprehensive review of the English-language literature showed
      only 18 cases of osteomyelitis of the condyle. Odontogenic, otologic, and
      tubercular causes were the most common causes of osteomyelitis of the condyle.
      Radiologically, the condyle usually appeared osteolytic and eroded in
      osteomyelitis and radionucleotide scans were helpful in localizing the
      inflammation site. In most cases, condylectomy with appropriate antibiotics was
      required to eliminate the disease.

PMID- 27649466
TI  - Functional contributions of electrical synapses in sensory and motor networks.
AB  - Intercellular interactions in the nervous system are mediated by two types of
      dedicated structural arrangements: electrical and chemical synapses. Several
      characteristics distinguish these two mechanisms of communication, such as speed,
      reliability and the fact that electrical synapses are, potentially,
      bidirectional. Given these properties, electrical synapses can subserve, in
      addition to synchrony, three main interrelated network functions: signal
      amplification, noise reduction and/or coincidence detection. Specific network
      motifs in sensory and motor systems of invertebrates and vertebrates illustrate
      how signal transmission through electrical junctions contributes to a complex
      processing of information.

PMID- 27649467
TI  - Colour in the eye of the beholder: receptor sensitivities and neural circuits
      underlying colour opponency and colour perception.
AB  - Colour vision-the ability to discriminate spectral differences irrespective of
      variations in intensity-has two basic requirements: (1) photoreceptors with
      different spectral sensitivities, and (2) neural comparison of signals from these
      photoreceptors. Major progress has been made understanding the evolution of the
      basic stages of colour vision-opsin pigments, screening pigments, and the first
      neurons coding chromatic opponency, and similarities between mammals and insects
      point to general mechanisms. However, much work is still needed to unravel full
      colour pathways in various animals. While primates may have brain regions
      entirely dedicated to colour coding, animals with small brains, such as insects,
      likely combine colour information directly in parallel multisensory pathways
      controlling various behaviours.

PMID- 27649468
TI  - The assessment of productivity in biomedical research.

PMID- 27649469
TI  - Young women's genital self-image and effects of exposure to pictures of natural
      vulvas.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Many women have doubts about the normality of the physical
      appearance of their vulvas. This study measured genital self-image in a
      convenience sample of college-educated women, and assessed whether exposure to
      pictures of natural vulvas influenced their genital self-image. METHOD: Forty
      three women were either shown pictures of natural vulvas (N = 29) or pictures of
      neutral objects (N = 14). Genital self-image was measured before and after
      exposure to the pictures and two weeks later. Sexual function, sexual distress,
      self-esteem and trait anxiety were measured to investigate whether these factors
      influenced genital self-image scores after vulva picture exposure. RESULTS: A
      majority of the participants felt generally positively about their genitals.
      Having been exposed to pictures of natural vulvas resulted in an even more
      positive genital self-image, irrespective of levels of sexual function, sexual
      distress, self-esteem and trait anxiety. In the women who had seen the vulva
      pictures, the positive effect on genital self-image was still present after two
      weeks. DISCUSSION: The results of this study seem to indicate that even in young
      women with a relatively positive genital self-image, exposure to pictures of a
      large variety of natural vulvas positively affects genital self-image. This
      finding may suggest that exposure to pictures of natural vulvas may also lead to
      a more positive genital self-image in women who consider labiaplasty.

PMID- 27649470
TI  - Determinants of the Rigor of State Protection Policies for Persons With Dementia
      in Assisted Living.
AB  - Continued growth in the number of individuals with dementia residing in assisted
      living (AL) facilities raises concerns about their safety and protection.
      However, unlike federally regulated nursing facilities, AL facilities are state
      regulated and there is a high degree of variation among policies designed to
      protect persons with dementia. Despite the important role these protection
      policies have in shaping the quality of life of persons with dementia residing in
      AL facilities, little is known about their formation. In this research, we
      examined the adoption of AL protection policies pertaining to staffing, the
      physical environment, and the use of chemical restraints. For each protection
      policy type, we modeled policy rigor using an innovative point-in-time approach,
      incorporating variables associated with state contextual, institutional,
      political, and external factors. We found that the rate of state AL protection
      policy adoptions remained steady over the study period, with staffing policies
      becoming less rigorous over time. Variables reflecting institutional policy
      making, including legislative professionalism and bureaucratic oversight, were
      associated with the rigor of state AL dementia protection policies. As we
      continue to evaluate the mechanisms contributing to the rigor of AL protection
      policies, it seems that organized advocacy efforts might expand their role in
      educating state policy makers about the importance of protecting persons with
      dementia residing in AL facilities and moving to advance appropriate policies.

PMID- 27649472
TI  - Diclofenac and its transformation products: Environmental occurrence and toxicity
      - A review.
AB  - Diclofenac (DCF) is a prevalent anti-inflammatory drug used throughout the world.
      Intensive researches carried out in the past few decades have confirmed the
      global ubiquity of DCF in various environmental compartments. Its frequent
      occurrence in freshwater environments and its potential toxicity towards several
      organisms such as fish and mussels makes DCF an emerging environmental
      contaminant. At typical detected environmental concentrations, the drug does not
      exhibit toxic effects towards living organisms, albeit chronic exposure may lead
      to severe effects. For DCF, about 30-70% removal has been obtained through the
      conventional treatment system in wastewater treatment plant being the major
      primary sink. Thus, the untreated DCF will pass to surface water. DCF can
      interact with other inorganic contaminants in the environment particularly in
      wastewater treatment plant, such as metals, organic contaminants and even with
      DCF metabolites. This process may lead to the creation of another possible
      emerging contaminant. In the present context, environmental fate of DCF in
      different compartments such as soil and water has been addressed with an overview
      of current treatment methods. In addition, the toxicity concerns regarding DCF in
      aquatic as well as terrestrial environment along with an introduction to the
      metabolites of DCF through consumption as well as abiotic degradation routes are
      also discussed. Further studies are required to better assess the fate and
      toxicological effects of DCF and its metabolites and must consider the possible
      interaction of DCF with other contaminants to develop an effective treatment
      method for DCF and its traces.

PMID- 27649471
TI  - Pregnancy urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and gestational diabetes
      risk factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies suggest phthalate metabolite concentrations are
      associated with type 2 diabetes. GDM is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
      Little is known about phthalates and GDM risk factors (i.e. 1st trimester body
      mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), and 2nd trimester glucose
      levels). METHODS: A total of 350 women participating in Lifecodes pregnancy
      cohort (Boston, MA), delivered at term and had pregnancy urinary phthalate
      metabolite concentrations. Nine specific gravity-adjusted urinary phthalate
      metabolites were evaluated. General linear regression was used to assess
      associations between quartiles of phthalate metabolites and continuous 1st
      trimester BMI and late 2nd trimester blood glucose. Linear mixed models were used
      for total GWG. Multivariable logistic regression was used for phthalate
      concentrations and categorized GWG and impaired glucose tolerance defined as
      glucose>=140mg/dL based on a 50-gram glucose load test. Models were adjusted for
      potential confounders. RESULTS: There were no associations between 1st trimester
      urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and 1st trimester BMI. Mono-ethyl
      phthalate concentrations averaged across pregnancy were associated with a 2.17
      increased odds of excessive GWG (95% CI: 0.98, 4.79). Second trimester mono-ethyl
      phthalate was associated with increased odds of impaired glucose tolerance (adj.
      OR: 7.18; 95% CI: 1.97, 26.15). A summary measure of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate
      metabolite concentrations were inversely associated with impaired glucose
      tolerance (adj. OR: 0.25; adj. 95% CI: 0.08, 0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Higher exposure
      to mono-ethyl phthalate, a metabolite of the parent compound of di-ethyl
      phthalate, may be associated with excessive GWG and impaired glucose tolerance;
      higher di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate was associated with reduced odds of impaired
      glucose tolerance.

PMID- 27649473
TI  - Arsenic accumulation in rice: Consequences of rice genotypes and management
      practices to reduce human health risk.
AB  - Rice is an essential staple food and feeds over half of the world's population.
      Consumption of rice has increased from limited intake in Western countries some
      50years ago to major dietary intake now. Rice consumption represents a major
      route for inorganic arsenic (As) exposure in many countries, especially for
      people with a large proportion of rice in their daily diet as much as 60%. Rice
      plants are more efficient in assimilating As into its grains than other cereal
      crops and the accumulation may also adversely affect the quality of rice and
      their nutrition. Rice is generally grown as a lowland crop in flooded soils under
      reducing conditions. Under these conditions the bioavailability of As is greatly
      enhanced leading to excessive As bioaccumulation compared to that under oxidizing
      upland conditions. Inorganic As species are carcinogenic to humans and even at
      low levels in the diet pose a considerable risk to humans. There is a substantial
      genetic variation among the rice genotypes in grain-As accumulation as well as
      speciation. Identifying the extent of genetic variation in grain-As concentration
      and speciation of As compounds are crucial to determining the rice varieties
      which accumulate low inorganic As. Varietal selection, irrigation water
      management, use of fertilizer and soil amendments, cooking practices etc. play a
      vital role in reducing As exposure from rice grains. In the meantime assessing
      the bioavailability of As from rice is crucial to understanding human health
      exposure and reducing the risk.

PMID- 27649474
TI  - The NCS code of practice for the quality assurance and control for volumetric
      modulated arc therapy.
AB  - In 2010, the NCS (Netherlands Commission on Radiation Dosimetry) installed a
      subcommittee to develop guidelines for quality assurance and control for
      volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatments. The report (published in
      2015) has been written by Dutch medical physicists and has therefore, inevitably,
      a Dutch focus. This paper is a condensed version of these guidelines, the full
      report in English is freely available from the NCS website
      www.radiationdosimetry.org. After describing the transition from IMRT to VMAT,
      the paper addresses machine quality assurance (QA) and treatment planning system
      (TPS) commissioning for VMAT. The final section discusses patient specific QA
      issues such as the use of class solutions, measurement devices and dose
      evaluation methods.

PMID- 27649475
TI  - Epispadias and the associated embryopathies: genetic and developmental basis.
AB  - The abnormalities in the urogenital organs are frequently observed as human
      developmental diseases. Among such diseases, the defects in the upper part of
      external genitalia are rather rare named epispadias. The cleft in the dorsal part
      of external genitalia often reaches to the urethra. In general, the urogenital
      abnormalities accompany defects in the adjacent tissues and organs. The ventral
      body wall and bladder can also be affected in the patients with dorsal defects of
      the external genitalia. Therefore, such multiple malformations are often
      classified as bladder exstrophy and epispadias complex (BEEC). Because of the
      lower frequency of such birth defects and their early embryonic development,
      animal models are required to analyze the pathogenic mechanisms and the functions
      of responsible genes. Mutant mouse analyses on various signal cascades for
      external genitalia and body wall development are increasingly performed. The
      genetic interactions between growth factors such as bone morphogenetic proteins
      (Bmp) and transcription factors such as Msx1/2 and Isl1 have been suggested to
      play roles for such organogenesis. The significance of epithelial-mesenchymal
      interaction (EMI) is suggested during development. In this review, we describe on
      such local interactions and developmental regulators. We also introduce some
      mutant mouse models displaying external genitalia-body wall abnormalities.

PMID- 27649476
TI  - Beer Clarification by Novel Ceramic Hollow-Fiber Membranes: Effect of Pore Size
      on Product Quality.
AB  - In this work, the crossflow microfiltration performance of rough beer samples was
      assessed using ceramic hollow-fiber (HF) membrane modules with a nominal pore
      size ranging from 0.2 to 1.4 MUm. Under constant operating conditions (that is,
      transmembrane pressure difference, TMP = 2.35 bar; feed superficial velocity, vS
      = 2.5 m/s; temperature, T = 10  degrees C), quite small steady-state permeation
      fluxes (J* ) of 32 or 37 L/m2 /h were achieved using the 0.2- or 0.5-MUm
      symmetric membrane modules. Both permeates exhibited turbidity <1 EBC unit, but a
      significant reduction in density, viscosity, color, extract, and foam half-life
      with respect to their corresponding retentates. The 0.8-MUm asymmetric membrane
      module might be selected, its corresponding permeate having quite a good
      turbidity and medium reduction in the aforementioned beer quality parameters.
      Moreover, it exhibited J* values of the same order of magnitude of those claimed
      for the polyethersulfone HF membrane modules currently commercialized. The 1.4
      MUm asymmetric membrane module yielded quite a high steady-state permeation flux
      (196 +/- 38 L/m2 /h), and a minimum decline in permeate quality parameters,
      except for the high levels of turbidity at room temperature and chill haze. In
      the circumstances, such a membrane module might be regarded as a real valid
      alternative to conventional powder filters on condition that the resulting
      permeate were submitted to a final finishing step using 0.45- or 0.65-MUm
      microbially rated membrane cartridges prior to aseptic bottling. A novel combined
      beer clarification process was thus outlined.

PMID- 27649477
TI  - A physical zero-knowledge object-comparison system for nuclear warhead
      verification.
AB  - Zero-knowledge proofs are mathematical cryptographic methods to demonstrate the
      validity of a claim while providing no further information beyond the claim
      itself. The possibility of using such proofs to process classified and other
      sensitive physical data has attracted attention, especially in the field of
      nuclear arms control. Here we demonstrate a non-electronic fast neutron
      differential radiography technique using superheated emulsion detectors that can
      confirm that two objects are identical without revealing their geometry or
      composition. Such a technique could form the basis of a verification system that
      could confirm the authenticity of nuclear weapons without sharing any secret
      design information. More broadly, by demonstrating a physical zero-knowledge
      proof that can compare physical properties of objects, this experiment opens the
      door to developing other such secure proof-systems for other applications.

PMID- 27649478
TI  - BMP Signaling Mediated by BMPR1A in Osteoclasts Negatively Regulates Osteoblast
      Mineralization Through Suppression of Cx43.
AB  - Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are well orchestrated through different mechanisms of
      communication during bone remodeling. Previously, we found that osteoclast
      specific disruption of one of the BMP receptors, Bmpr1a, results in increased
      osteoblastic bone formation in mice. We hypothesized that BMPR1A signaling in
      osteoclasts regulates production of either membrane bound proteins or secreted
      molecules that regulated osteoblast differentiation. In our current study, we co
      cultured wild-type osteoblasts with either control osteoclasts or osteoclasts
      lacking BMPR1A signaling activity. We found that loss of Bmpr1a in osteoclasts
      promoted osteoblast mineralization in vitro. Further, we found that the
      expression of Cx43/Gja1 in the mutant osteoclasts was increased, which encoded
      for one of the gap junction proteins connexin 43/gap junction alpha 1. Knockdown
      of Gja1 in the mutant osteoclasts for Bmpr1a reduced osteoblastic mineralization
      when co-cultured. Our findings suggest that GJA1 may be one of the downstream
      targets of BMPR1A signaling in osteoclasts that mediates osteoclast-osteoblast
      communication during bone remodeling. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 605-614, 2017. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649479
TI  - Newly synthesized and recycling pools of the apical protein gp135 do not occupy
      the same compartments.
AB  - Polarized epithelial cells sort newly synthesized and recycling plasma membrane
      proteins into distinct trafficking pathways directed to either the apical or
      basolateral membrane domains. While the trans-Golgi network is a well-established
      site of protein sorting, increasing evidence indicates a key role for endosomes
      in the initial trafficking of newly synthesized proteins. Both basolateral and
      apical proteins have been shown to traverse endosomes en route to the plasma
      membrane. In particular, apical proteins traffic through either subapical early
      or recycling endosomes. Here we use the SNAP tag system to analyze the
      trafficking of the apical protein gp135, also known as podocalyxin. We show that
      newly synthesized gp135 traverses the apical recycling endosome, but not the
      apical early endosomes (AEEs). In contrast, post-endocytic gp135 is delivered to
      the AEE before recycling back to the apical membrane. The pathways pursued by the
      newly synthesized and recycling gp135 populations do not detectably intersect,
      demonstrating that the biosynthetic and post-endocytic pools of this protein are
      subjected to distinct sorting processes.

PMID- 27649480
TI  - Late-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia in a child with TMEM70
      deficiency.

PMID- 27649482
TI  - Navigating communication with families during withdrawal of life-sustaining
      treatment in intensive care: a qualitative descriptive study in Australia and New
      Zealand.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore how nurses navigate communication with families
      during withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in intensive care. BACKGROUND:
      Death in the intensive care unit is seldom unexpected and often happens following
      the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. A family-centred approach to care
      relies on the development of a therapeutic relationship and understanding of what
      is happening to the patient. Whilst previous research has focused on the
      transition from cure to palliation and the nurse's role in supporting families,
      less is known about how nurses navigate communication with families during
      treatment withdrawal. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Semi
      structured focus groups were conducted with adult critical care nurses from four
      intensive care units, two in Australia and two in New Zealand. RESULTS: Twenty
      one nurses participated in the study. Inductive content analysis revealed five
      key themes relating to how nurses navigate family communication: (1) establishing
      the WHO; (2) working out HOW; (3) judging WHEN; (4) assessing the WHAT; and (5)
      WHERE these skills were learnt. CONCLUSIONS: Navigating an approach to family
      communication during treatment withdrawal is a complex and multifaceted nursing
      activity that is known to contribute to family satisfaction with care. There is
      need for support and ongoing education opportunities that develop the art of
      communication in this frequently encountered aspect of end-of-life care.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: How nurses navigate communication with families
      during treatment withdrawal is just as important as what is communicated. Nurses
      need access to supports and education opportunities in order to be able to
      perform this vital role.

PMID- 27649481
TI  - Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of the prostate: An intraindividual assessment of
      the effect of temporal resolution on qualitative detection and quantitative
      analysis of histopathologically proven prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the effects of temporal resolution (RT ) in dynamic contrast
      enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) on qualitative tumor detection and
      quantitative pharmacokinetic parameters in prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This retrospective Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study
      included 58 men (64 +/- 7 years). They underwent 3T prostate MRI showing dominant
      peripheral zone (PZ) tumors (24 with Gleason >= 4 + 3), prior to prostatectomy.
      Continuously acquired DCE utilizing GRASP (Golden-angle RAdial Sparse Parallel)
      was retrospectively reconstructed at RT of 1.4 sec, 3.7 sec, 6.0 sec, 9.7 sec,
      and 14.9 sec. A reader placed volumes-of-interest on dominant tumors and benign
      PZ, generating quantitative pharmacokinetic parameters (ktrans , ve ) at each RT
      . Two blinded readers assessed each RT for lesion presence, location,
      conspicuity, and reader confidence on a 5-point scale. Data were assessed by
      mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA), generalized estimating equation (GEE),
      and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. RESULTS: RT did not affect
      sensitivity (R1all : 69.0%-72.4%, all Padj  = 1.000; R1GS>=4 + 3 : 83.3-91.7%,
      all Padj  = 1.000; R2all : 60.3-69.0%, all Padj  = 1.000; R2GS>=4 + 3 : 58.3%
      79.2%, all Padj  = 1.000). R1 reported greater conspicuity of GS >= 4 + 3 tumors
      at RT of 1.4 sec vs. 14.9 sec (4.29 +/- 1.23 vs. 3.46 +/- 1.44; Padj  = 0.029).
      No other tumor conspicuity pairwise comparison reached significance (R1all : 2.98
      3.43, all Padj >= 0.205; R2all : 2.57-3.19, all Padj >= 0.059; R1GS>=4 + 3 : 3.46
      4.29, all other Padj >= 0.156; R2GS>=4 + 3 : 2.92-3.71, all Padj >= 0.439). There
      was no effect of RT on reader confidence (R1all : 3.17-3.34, all Padj  = 1.000;
      R2all : 2.83-3.19, all Padj >= 0.801; R1GS>=4 + 3 : 3.79-4.21, all Padj  = 1.000;
      R2GS>=4 + 3 : 3.13-3.79, all Padj  = 1.000). ktrans and ve of tumor and benign
      tissue did not differ across RT (all adjusted P values [Padj ] = 1.000). RT did
      not significantly affect area under the curve (AUC) of Ktrans or ve for
      differentiating tumor from benign (all Padj  = 1.000). CONCLUSION: Current PI
      RADS recommendations for RT of 10 seconds may be sufficient, with further
      reduction to the stated PI-RADS preference of RT <= 7 seconds offering no benefit
      in tumor detection or quantitative analysis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 J. MAGN. RESON.
      IMAGING 2017;45:1464-1475.

PMID- 27649483
TI  - Selectivity of conventional electrodes for recording motor evoked potentials: An
      investigation with high-density surface electromyography.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to determine whether motor evoked
      potentials (MEPs) elicited with transcranial magnetic stimulation and measured
      with conventional bipolar electromyography (EMG) are influenced by crosstalk from
      non-target muscles. METHODS: MEPs were recorded in healthy participants using
      conventional EMG electrodes placed over the extensor carpi radialis muscle (ECR)
      and high-density surface EMG (HDsEMG). Fifty MEPs at 120% resting and active
      motor threshold were recorded. To determine the contribution of ECR to the MEPs,
      the amplitude distribution across HDsEMG channels was correlated with EMG
      activity recorded during a wrist extension task. RESULTS: Whereas the
      conventional EMG identified MEPs from ECR in >90% of the stimulations, HDsEMG
      revealed that spatial amplitude distribution representative of ECR activation was
      observed less frequently at rest than while holding a contraction (P < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: MEPs recorded with conventional EMG may contain crosstalk from non
      target muscles, especially when the stimulation is applied at rest. Muscle Nerve
      55: 828-834, 2017.

PMID- 27649484
TI  - Extraction-spectrophotometric determination of tris(2-chloroethyl)amine using
      phthaleins.
AB  - Procedures for the extraction-spectrophotometric determination of tris(2
      chloroethyl)amine, an alkylating agent known as a drug as well as a chemical
      warfare agent (nitrogen mustard HN-3), with 7 acid-base indicators of a
      triphenylmethane lactone type, phthaleins, were developed. Representatives of
      phthaleins without an oxygen bridge (thymolphthalein, o-cresolphthalein,
      naphtholphthalein) and with an oxygen bridge (fluorescein, 2',7'
      dichlorofluorescein, eosin B and eosin Y) were used. The methods were based on
      the formation of ion pair complexes. Chloroform was used as a non-polar solvent
      for an extraction. The conditions to determine were optimized for the optimal pH
      of the buffer and the concentration of a phthalein as a reagent. The dependence
      on the reaction time in a water phase and the stoichiometry of extraction
      products were studied. The detection limits and the limits of the determination
      of separate procedures and conditional extraction constants were determined.
      Comparison with the spectrophotometric method of the group determination of alkyl
      halides and acyl halides using alkaline ethanol-water solution of
      thymolphthalein, the so-called T-135 agent, was conducted. While studying the
      selectivity, the possible interference of bis(2-chloroethyl)sulphide and 3
      nitrogen mustards in the proposed procedures were verified. Copyright (c) 2016
      John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27649485
TI  - Minimally invasive cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal
      chemotherapy - a video vignette.

PMID- 27649486
TI  - Comparison of reduced sugar high quality chocolates sweetened with stevioside and
      crude stevia 'green' extract.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The demand for zero and reduced-sugar food products containing cocoa
      is expanding continuously. The present study was designed to evaluate the
      feasibility of producing high-quality chocolate sweetened with a crude extract of
      Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) prepared by a green microwave-assisted water-steam
      extraction procedure. Seven approximately isosweet chocolate formulations were
      developed, mixing cocoa paste, sucrose, commercial stevioside, crude green
      extract and maltitol in different proportions. All samples were analyzed for the
      determination of polyphenol and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, and
      sensory acceptability. RESULTS: The use of a crude stevia extract allowed low
      sugar, high-quality chocolates to be obtained that were also acceptable by
      consumers and had a significant increased antioxidant activity. Moreover,
      consumers' segmentation revealed a cluster of consumers showing the same overall
      liking for the sample with 50% sucrose replaced by the stevia crude extract as
      that obtained with the commercial stevioside and the control sample (without
      sucrose replacement). CONCLUSION: The results provide information that can
      contribute to promoting the development of sweet food products, with advantages
      in terms of an improved nutritional value (reduced sugar content and increased
      antioxidant activity) and a reduced impact of the production process on the
      environment. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

PMID- 27649487
TI  - "The Policy Dystopia Model": Implications for Health Advocates and Democratic
      Governance.
AB  - In this Perspective on the research article by Ulucanlar and colleagues,
      Elizabeth Smith and Patricia McDaniel discuss how industry opposition to
      regulation can undermine the public's overall confidence in government and
      science.

PMID- 27649488
TI  - Streptococcus pneumoniae TIGR4 Flavodoxin: Structural and Biophysical
      Characterization of a Novel Drug Target.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) strain TIGR4 is a virulent, encapsulated serotype
      that causes bacteremia, otitis media, meningitis and pneumonia. Increased
      bacterial resistance and limited efficacy of the available vaccine to some
      serotypes complicate the treatment of diseases associated to this microorganism.
      Flavodoxins are bacterial proteins involved in several important metabolic
      pathways. The Sp flavodoxin (Spfld) gene was recently reported to be essential
      for the establishment of meningitis in a rat model, which makes SpFld a potential
      drug target. To facilitate future pharmacological studies, we have cloned and
      expressed SpFld in E. coli and we have performed an extensive structural and
      biochemical characterization of both the apo form and its active complex with the
      FMN cofactor. SpFld is a short-chain flavodoxin containing 146 residues. Unlike
      the well-characterized long-chain apoflavodoxins, the Sp apoprotein displays a
      simple two-state thermal unfolding equilibrium and binds FMN with moderate
      affinity. The X-ray structures of the apo and holo forms of SpFld differ at the
      FMN binding site, where substantial rearrangement of residues at the 91-100 loop
      occurs to permit cofactor binding. This work will set up the basis for future
      studies aiming at discovering new potential drugs to treat S. pneumoniae diseases
      through the inhibition of SpFld. 

PMID- 27649490
TI  - Long-Term Oxygen Therapy 24 vs 15 h/day and Mortality in Chronic Obstructive
      Pulmonary Disease.
AB  - Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) >= 15 h/day improves survival in hypoxemic
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). LTOT 24 h/day is often recommended
      but may pose an unnecessary burden with no clear survival benefit compared with
      LTOT 15 h/day. The aim was to test the hypothesis that LTOT 24 h/day decreases
      all-cause, respiratory, and cardiovascular mortality compared to LTOT 15 h/day in
      hypoxemic COPD. This was a prospective, observational, population-based study of
      COPD patients starting LTOT between October 1, 2005 and June 30, 2009 in Sweden.
      Overall and cause-specific mortality was analyzed using Cox and Fine-Gray
      regression, controlling for age, sex, prescribed oxygen dose, PaO2 (air), PaCO2
      (air), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), WHO performance status,
      body mass index, comorbidity, and oral glucocorticoids. A total of 2,249 included
      patients were included with a median follow-up of 1.1 years (interquartile range,
      0.6-2.1). 1,129 (50%) patients died and no patient was lost to follow-up. Higher
      LTOT duration analyzed as a continuous variable was not associated with any
      change in mortality rate (hazard ratio [HR] 1.00; (95% confidence interval [CI],
      0.98 to 1.02) per 1 h/day increase above 15 h/day. LTOT exactly 24 h/day was
      prescribed in 539 (24%) patients and LTOT 15-16 h/day in 1,231 (55%) patients.
      Mortality was similar between the groups for all-cause, respiratory and
      cardiovascular mortality. In hypoxemic COPD, LTOT 24 h/day was not associated
      with a survival benefit compared with treatment 15-16 h/day. A design for a
      registry-based randomized trial (R-RCT) is proposed. 

PMID- 27649489
TI  - Outbreaks of Human Salmonella Infections Associated with Live Poultry, United
      States, 1990-2014.
AB  - Backyard poultry flocks have increased in popularity concurrent with an increase
      in live poultry-associated salmonellosis (LPAS) outbreaks. Better understanding
      of practices that contribute to this emerging public health issue is needed. We
      reviewed outbreak reports to describe the epidemiology of LPAS outbreaks in the
      United States, examine changes in trends, and inform prevention campaigns. LPAS
      outbreaks were defined as >=2 culture-confirmed human Salmonella infections
      linked to live poultry contact. Outbreak data were obtained through multiple
      databases and a literature review. During 1990-2014, a total of 53 LPAS outbreaks
      were documented, involving 2,630 illnesses, 387 hospitalizations, and 5 deaths.
      Median patient age was 9 years (range <1 to 92 years). Chick and duckling
      exposure were reported by 85% and 38% of case-patients, respectively. High-risk
      practices included keeping poultry inside households (46% of case-patients) and
      kissing birds (13%). Comprehensive One Health strategies are needed to prevent
      illnesses associated with live poultry.

PMID- 27649491
TI  - Prediction of Bone Mineral Density and Fragility Fracture by Genetic Profiling.
AB  - Although the susceptibility to fracture is partly determined by genetic factors,
      the contribution of newly discovered genetic variants to fracture prediction is
      still unclear. This study sought to define the predictive value of a genetic
      profiling for fracture prediction. Sixty-two bone mineral density (BMD)
      associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 557 men and
      902 women who had participated in the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study. The
      incidence of fragility fracture was ascertained from X-ray reports between 1990
      and 2015. Femoral neck BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. A
      weighted polygenic risk score (genetic risk score [GRS]) was created as a
      function of the number of risk alleles and their BMD-associated regression
      coefficients for each SNP. The association between GRS and fracture risk was
      assessed by the Cox proportional hazards model. Individuals with greater GRS had
      lower femoral neck BMD (p < 0.01), but the variation in GRS accounted for less
      than 2% of total variance in BMD. Each unit increase in GRS was associated with a
      hazard ratio of 1.20 (95% CI, 1.04 to 1.38) for fracture, and this association
      was independent of age, prior fracture, fall, and in a subset of 33 SNPs,
      independent of femoral neck BMD. The significant association between GRS and
      fracture was observed for the vertebral and wrist fractures, but not for hip
      fracture. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC)
      for the model with GRS and clinical risk factors was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.68 to 0.74).
      With GRS, the correct reclassification of fracture versus nonfracture ranged from
      12% for hip fracture to 23% for wrist fracture. A genetic profiling of BMD-
      associated genetic variants could improve the accuracy of fracture prediction
      over and above that of clinical risk factors alone, and help stratify individuals
      by fracture status. (c) 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 27649492
TI  - Upper Limb Evaluation in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Fat-Water Quantification by
      MRI, Muscle Force and Function Define Endpoints for Clinical Trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A number of promising experimental therapies for Duchenne muscular
      dystrophy (DMD) are emerging. Clinical trials currently rely on invasive biopsies
      or motivation-dependent functional tests to assess outcome. Quantitative muscle
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could offer a valuable alternative and permit
      inclusion of non-ambulant DMD subjects. The aims of our study were to explore the
      responsiveness of upper-limb MRI muscle-fat measurement as a non-invasive
      objective endpoint for clinical trials in non-ambulant DMD, and to investigate
      the relationship of these MRI measures to those of muscle force and function.
      METHODS: 15 non-ambulant DMD boys (mean age 13.3 y) and 10 age-gender matched
      healthy controls (mean age 14.6 y) were recruited. 3-Tesla MRI fat-water
      quantification was used to measure forearm muscle fat transformation in non
      ambulant DMD boys compared with healthy controls. DMD boys were assessed at 4
      time-points over 12 months, using 3-point Dixon MRI to measure muscle fat
      fraction (f.f.). Images from ten forearm muscles were segmented and mean f.f. and
      cross-sectional area recorded. DMD subjects also underwent comprehensive upper
      limb function and force evaluation. RESULTS: Overall mean baseline forearm f.f.
      was higher in DMD than in healthy controls (p<0.001). A progressive f.f. increase
      was observed in DMD over 12 months, reaching significance from 6 months (p<0.001,
      n = 7), accompanied by a significant loss in pinch strength at 6 months (p<0.001,
      n = 9) and a loss of upper limb function and grip force observed over 12 months
      (p<0.001, n = 8). CONCLUSIONS: These results support the use of MRI muscle f.f.
      as a biomarker to monitor disease progression in the upper limb in non-ambulant
      DMD, with sensitivity adequate to detect group-level change over time intervals
      practical for use in clinical trials. Clinical validity is supported by the
      association of the progressive fat transformation of muscle with loss of muscle
      force and function.

PMID- 27649494
TI  - New evidence of gene inactivation by aberrant DNA-Methylation in T-cell leukemia,
      with treatment implications.

PMID- 27649493
TI  - Regional Reproducibility of BOLD Calibration Parameter M, OEF and Resting-State
      CMRO2 Measurements with QUO2 MRI.
AB  - The current generation of calibrated MRI methods goes beyond simple localization
      of task-related responses to allow the mapping of resting-state cerebral
      metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) in micromolar units and estimation of oxygen
      extraction fraction (OEF). Prior to the adoption of such techniques in
      neuroscience research applications, knowledge about the precision and accuracy of
      absolute estimates of CMRO2 and OEF is crucial and remains unexplored to this
      day. In this study, we addressed the question of methodological precision by
      assessing the regional inter-subject variance and intra-subject reproducibility
      of the BOLD calibration parameter M, OEF, O2 delivery and absolute CMRO2
      estimates derived from a state-of-the-art calibrated BOLD technique, the
      QUantitative O2 (QUO2) approach. We acquired simultaneous measurements of CBF and
      R2* at rest and during periods of hypercapnia (HC) and hyperoxia (HO) on two
      separate scan sessions within 24 hours using a clinical 3 T MRI scanner. Maps of
      M, OEF, oxygen delivery and CMRO2, were estimated from the measured end-tidal O2,
      CBF0, CBFHC/HO and R2*HC/HO. Variability was assessed by computing the between
      subject coefficients of variation (bwCV) and within-subject CV (wsCV) in seven
      ROIs. All tests GM-averaged values of CBF0, M, OEF, O2 delivery and CMRO2 were:
      49.5 +/- 6.4 mL/100 g/min, 4.69 +/- 0.91%, 0.37 +/- 0.06, 377 +/- 51 MUmol/100
      g/min and 143 +/- 34 MUmol/100 g/min respectively. The variability of parameter
      estimates was found to be the lowest when averaged throughout all GM, with
      general trends toward higher CVs when averaged over smaller regions. Among the
      MRI measurements, the most reproducible across scans was R2*0 (wsCVGM = 0.33%)
      along with CBF0 (wsCVGM = 3.88%) and R2*HC (wsCVGM = 6.7%). CBFHC and R2*HO were
      found to have a higher intra-subject variability (wsCVGM = 22.4% and wsCVGM = 16%
      respectively), which is likely due to propagation of random measurement errors,
      especially for CBFHC due to the low contrast-to-noise ratio intrinsic to ASL.
      Reproducibility of the QUO2 derived estimates were computed, yielding a GM intra
      subject reproducibility of 3.87% for O2 delivery, 16.8% for the M value, 13.6%
      for OEF and 15.2% for CMRO2. Although these results focus on the precision of the
      QUO2 method, rather than the accuracy, the information will be useful for
      calculation of statistical power in future validation studies and ultimately for
      research applications of the method. The higher test-retest variability for the
      more extensively modeled parameters (M, OEF, and CMRO2) highlights the need for
      further improvement of acquisition methods to reduce noise levels. 

PMID- 27649496
TI  - Automated Segmentation of Nuclei in Breast Cancer Histopathology Images.
AB  - The process of Nuclei detection in high-grade breast cancer images is quite
      challenging in the case of image processing techniques due to certain
      heterogeneous characteristics of cancer nuclei such as enlarged and irregularly
      shaped nuclei, highly coarse chromatin marginalized to the nuclei periphery and
      visible nucleoli. Recent reviews state that existing techniques show appreciable
      segmentation accuracy on breast histopathology images whose nuclei are dispersed
      and regular in texture and shape; however, typical cancer nuclei are often
      clustered and have irregular texture and shape properties. This paper proposes a
      novel segmentation algorithm for detecting individual nuclei from Hematoxylin and
      Eosin (H&E) stained breast histopathology images. This detection framework
      estimates a nuclei saliency map using tensor voting followed by boundary
      extraction of the nuclei on the saliency map using a Loopy Back Propagation (LBP)
      algorithm on a Markov Random Field (MRF). The method was tested on both whole
      slide images and frames of breast cancer histopathology images. Experimental
      results demonstrate high segmentation performance with efficient precision,
      recall and dice-coefficient rates, upon testing high-grade breast cancer images
      containing several thousand nuclei. In addition to the optimal performance on the
      highly complex images presented in this paper, this method also gave appreciable
      results in comparison with two recently published methods-Wienert et al. (2012)
      and Veta et al. (2013), which were tested using their own datasets. 

PMID- 27649497
TI  - Tri-Variate Relationships among Vegetation, Soil, and Topography along Gradients
      of Fluvial Biogeomorphic Succession.
AB  - This research investigated how the strength of vegetation-soil-topography
      couplings varied along a gradient of biogeomorphic succession in two distinct
      fluvial systems: a forested river floodplain and a coastal salt marsh creek. The
      strength of couplings was quantified as tri-variance, which was calculated by
      correlating three singular axes, one each extracted using three-block partial
      least squares from vegetation, soil, and topography data blocks. Within each
      system, tri-variance was examined at low-, mid-, and high-elevation sites, which
      represented early-, intermediate-, and late-successional phases, respectively,
      and corresponded to differences in ongoing disturbance frequency and intensity.
      Both systems exhibited clearly increasing tri-variance from the early- to late
      successional stages. The lowest-lying sites underwent frequent and intense
      hydrogeomorphic forcings that dynamically reworked soil substrates, restructured
      surface landforms, and controlled the colonization of plant species. Such
      conditions led vegetation, soil, and topography to show discrete, stochastic, and
      individualistic behaviors over space and time, resulting in a loose coupling
      among the three ecosystem components. In the highest-elevation sites, in
      contrast, disturbances that might disrupt the existing biotic-abiotic
      relationships were less common. Hence, ecological succession, soil-forming
      processes, and landform evolution occurred in tight conjunction with one another
      over a prolonged period, thereby strengthening couplings among them; namely, the
      three behaved in unity over space and time. We propose that the recurrence
      interval of physical disturbance is important to-and potentially serves as an
      indicator of-the intensity and mechanisms of vegetation-soil-topography feedbacks
      in fluvial biogeomorphic systems. 

PMID- 27649495
TI  - Renoprotective Effects of Atorvastatin in Diabetic Mice: Downregulation of RhoA
      and Upregulation of Akt/GSK3.
AB  - Potential benefits of statins in the treatment of chronic kidney disease beyond
      lipid-lowering effects have been described. However, molecular mechanisms
      involved in renoprotective actions of statins have not been fully elucidated. We
      questioned whether statins influence development of diabetic nephropathy through
      reactive oxygen species, RhoA and Akt/GSK3 pathway, known to be important in
      renal pathology. Diabetic mice (db/db) and their control counterparts (db/+) were
      treated with atorvastatin (10 mg/Kg/day, p.o., for 2 weeks). Diabetes-associated
      renal injury was characterized by albuminuria (albumin:creatinine ratio, db/+:
      3.2 +/- 0.6 vs. db/db: 12.5 +/- 3.1*; *P<0.05), increased glomerular/mesangial
      surface area, and kidney hypertrophy. Renal injury was attenuated in atorvastatin
      treated db/db mice. Increased ROS generation in the renal cortex of db/db mice
      was also inhibited by atorvastatin. ERK1/2 phosphorylation was increased in the
      renal cortex of db/db mice. Increased renal expression of Nox4 and proliferating
      cell nuclear antigen, observed in db/db mice, were abrogated by statin treatment.
      Atorvastatin also upregulated Akt/GSK3beta phosphorylation in the renal cortex of
      db/db mice. Our findings suggest that atorvastatin attenuates diabetes-associated
      renal injury by reducing ROS generation, RhoA activity and normalizing
      Akt/GSK3beta signaling pathways. The present study provides some new insights
      into molecular mechanisms whereby statins may protect against renal injury in
      diabetes. 

PMID- 27649499
TI  - Validity of Questionnaire and Representativeness of Objective Methods for
      Measurements of Mechanical Exposures in Construction and Health Care Work.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the criterion validity of a questionnaire on physical
      exposures compared to objective measurements at construction and health care
      sites and to examine exposure variation over several working days. METHODS: Five
      hundred ninety-four construction and health care workers answered a baseline
      questionnaire. The daily activities (standing, moving, sitting, number of steps),
      postures (inclination of the arm and the trunk), and relative heart rate of 125
      participants were recorded continuously over 3-4 working days. At the end of the
      first measurement day, the participants answered a second questionnaire (workday
      questionnaire). RESULTS: All objective activity measurements had significant
      correlations to their respective questions. Among health care workers, there were
      no correlations between postures and relative heart rate and the baseline
      questionnaire. The questionnaires overestimated the exposure durations. The
      highest explained variance in the adjusted models with self-reported variables
      were found for objectively measured sitting (R2 = 0.559) and arm inclination > 60
      degrees  (R2 = 0.420). Objective measurements over several days showed a higher
      reliability compared to single day measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Questionnaires
      cannot provide an accurate description of mechanical exposures. Objective
      measurements over several days are recommended in occupations with varying tasks.

PMID- 27649500
TI  - Meconium Peritonitis: Correlation of Antenatal Diagnosis and Postnatal Outcome -
      An Institutional Experience over 10 Years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the fetal and neonatal imaging characteristics of meconium
      peritonitis (MP) and their clinical outcome. We also studied the role of prenatal
      ultrasound (US) in antenatal diagnosis and its use in predicting the need for
      surgical intervention postnatally. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective analysis of a cohort of 18 infants with MP from April 2004 to March
      2014. RESULTS: Prenatal US detected MP-related abnormalities in 15/18 (83.3%)
      fetuses. The median gestational age at initial diagnosis of MP was 24 weeks
      (range 19-31). Fetal ascites (93.3%) was the most common prenatal US finding. Of
      the 18 infants, 12 (66.7%) required surgical intervention. The overall survival
      rate was 94.4%. All infants with a prenatal US scan showing meconium pseudocyst
      or bowel dilatation required surgical intervention postnatally. DISCUSSION: A
      combination of ascites, intraperitoneal calcification, and echogenic bowel on
      fetal US raises a high suspicion of MP. Surgical intervention is indicated in the
      presence of meconium pseudocyst on fetal or postnatal US scan. Antenatal US has
      high specificity (100%) but low sensitivity (22.2%) in detecting meconium
      pseudocyst. A favorable outcome can be expected with early antenatal diagnosis
      and timely surgical intervention in a tertiary hospital.

PMID- 27649498
TI  - High Throughput Random Mutagenesis and Single Molecule Real Time Sequencing of
      the Muscle Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.
AB  - High throughput random mutagenesis is a powerful tool to identify which residues
      are important for the function of a protein, and gain insight into its structure
      function relation. The human muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor was used to
      test whether this technique previously used for monomeric receptors can be
      applied to a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel. A mutant library for the alpha1
      subunit of the channel was generated by error-prone PCR, and full length
      sequences of all 2816 mutants were retrieved using single molecule real time
      sequencing. Each alpha1 mutant was co-transfected with wildtype beta1, delta, and
      epsilon subunits, and the channel function characterized by an ion flux assay. To
      test whether the strategy could map the structure-function relation of this
      receptor, we attempted to identify mutations that conferred resistance to
      competitive antagonists. Mutant hits were defined as receptors that responded to
      the nicotinic agonist epibatidine, but were not inhibited by either alpha
      bungarotoxin or tubocurarine. Eight alpha1 subunit mutant hits were identified,
      six of which contained mutations at position Y233 or V275 in the transmembrane
      domain. Three single point mutations (Y233N, Y233H, and V275M) were studied
      further, and found to enhance the potencies of five channel agonists tested. This
      suggests that the mutations made the channel resistant to the antagonists, not by
      impairing antagonist binding, but rather by producing a gain-of-function
      phenotype, e.g. increased agonist sensitivity. Our data show that random high
      throughput mutagenesis is applicable to multimeric proteins to discover novel
      functional mutants, and outlines the benefits of using single molecule real time
      sequencing with regards to quality control of the mutant library as well as
      downstream mutant data interpretation. 

PMID- 27649501
TI  - Determination of thyroid hormones in mouse tissues by isotope-dilution microflow
      liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method.
AB  - Thyroid hormones (THs) play a critical role in the regulation of many biological
      processes such as growth, metabolism and development both in humans and wildlife.
      In general, TH levels are measured by immunoassay (IA) methods but the
      specificity of the antibodies used in these assays limits selectivity. In the
      last decade, several analytical methods using liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) have been developed
      to measure THs. These new techniques proved to be more accurate than the IA
      analysis and they were widely used for the determination of TH level in different
      human and animal tissues. A large part of LC-MS/MS methods described in
      literature employed between 200 and 500mg of sample, however this quantity can be
      considered too high especially when preclinical studies are conducted using mice
      as test subjects. Thus an analytical method that reduces the amount of tissue is
      essential. In this study, we developed a procedure for the analysis of six THs; L
      thyroxine (T4), 3,3',5-triiodo-l-thyronine (T3), 3,3',5'-triiodo-l-thyronine
      (rT3), 3,5-diiodo-l-thyronine (rT2), 3,3'-diiodo-l-thyronine (T2), 3-iodo-l
      thyronine (T1) using isotope ((13)C6-T4, (13)C6-T3, (13)C6-rT3, (13)C6-T2)
      dilution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major difference with
      previously described methods lies in the utilization of a nano-UPLC (Ultra
      Performance Liquid Chromatography) system in micro configuration. This approach
      leads to a reduction compared to the published methods, of column internal
      diameter, flow rate, and injected volume. The result of all these improvements is
      a decrease in the amount of sample necessary for the analysis. The method was
      tested on six different mouse tissues: liver, heart, kidney, muscle, lung and
      brown adipose tissue (BAT). The nano-UPLC system was interfaced with a quadrupole
      time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF2-MS) using the positive ion mode
      electrospray ionization. In our analytical method the instrumental calibration
      curves were constructed from 0 to 100pgMUL(-1) and all of them showed good
      linearity (r(2)>0.99). The limit of quantification was from 2.5 to 5pg injected
      into the column. The method recoveries calculated using spiked mouse liver and
      spiked mouse muscle were between 83% and 118% (except T1 and rT2 at high
      concentration) with a coefficient of variation (CV) of <10% for all derivatives.
      The new methodology allows us to measure T4 and T3 concentrations in a range from
      21 to about 100mg and give a more extensive insight on thyroid hormone
      concentration in different mouse tissue. 

PMID- 27649502
TI  - High-speed counter-current chromatography in separation of betacyanins from
      flowers of red Gomphrena globosa L. cultivars.
AB  - Antioxidant and possible chemopreventive properties of betacyanins, natural plant
      pigments, contribute to a growing interest in their chemistry and separation.
      Mixtures of betacyanins from fresh red Gomphrena globosa L. cultivar flowers were
      separated in three highly polar solvent systems by high-speed counter-current
      chromatography (HSCCC) for a direct comparison of their separation effectiveness.
      Three samples of crude extract (600mg) were run on semi-preparative scale in
      solvent system (NH4)2SO4soln - EtOH (2.0:1.0, v/v) (system I) and the modified
      systems: EtOH - ACN - 1-PrOH - (NH4)2SO4satd.soln - H2O (0.5:0.5:0.5:1.2:1.0,
      v/v/v/v/v) (system II) and EtOH - ACN - (NH4)2SO4satd.soln - H2O
      (1.0:0.5:1.2:1.0, v/v/v/v) (system III). The systems were used in the head-to
      tail (system I) or tail-to-head (systems II and III) mode. The flow rate of the
      mobile phase was 2.0ml/min and the column rotation speed was 860rpm. The
      retention of the stationary phase was 52.0% (system I), 80.2% (systems II) and
      82.0% (system III). The betacyanins in the crude extract as well as HSCCC
      fractions were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. System I was applied for the first time in
      HSCCC for the separation of betacyanins and was quite effective in separation of
      amaranthine and 17-decarboxy-amaranthine (alphaI=1.19) and very effective for 17
      decarboxy-amaranthine and betanin (alphaI=2.20). Modification of system I with
      acetonitrile (system III) as well as acetonitrile and propanol (system II)
      increased their separation effectiveness. Systems II-III enable complete
      separation of 17-decarboxy-amaranthine (KD(II)=2.94,KD(III)=2.42) and betanin
      (KD(II)=2.46,KD(III)=1.10) as well as betanin and gomphrenin I (KD(II)=1.62,
      KD(III)=0.74). In addition, separation of amaranthine and 17-decarboxy
      amaranthine is the most effective in system II, therefore, this system proved to
      be the most suitable for the separation of all polar betacyanins. 

PMID- 27649503
TI  - Plasma metabolic profiling analysis of cyclophosphamide-induced cardiotoxicity
      using metabolomics coupled with UPLC/Q-TOF-MS and ROC curve.
AB  - Cyclophosphamide (CY) is a commonly-used nitrogen mustard alkylating agent, but
      its clinical application is severely limited by its cardiotoxicity. Since the
      development of metabolomics, the change of metabolite profiles caused by
      cyclophosphamide has been studied by metabolomics and has gained much attention.
      In this study, we analyzed rat plasma samples collected one, three and five days
      after cyclophosphamide administration using ultra-performance liquid
      chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS).
      Multiple statistical analyses, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and
      partial least squares - discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), were used to examine
      metabolite profile changes in plasma samples in order to screen for potential
      cardiotoxicity biomarkers and metabolic pathways. Levels of a dozen of
      metabolites changed significantly in plasma from the CY-treated group after one,
      three, and five days compared with the control group treated with normal saline
      (NS). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that the
      total 16 metabolites play important roles in different times of CY-induced
      cardiotoxicity respectively. Our results suggest that these metabolites in
      linoleic acid metabolism and glycerol phospholipid metabolism may be related to
      CY-induced cardiotoxicity. These metabolites could act as sensitive biomarkers
      for CY-induced cardiotoxicity and be useful for investigating toxic mechanisms.
      They may also lay a foundation for clinical use of cyclophosphamide. 

PMID- 27649505
TI  - New Setting of Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist during Noninvasive
      Ventilation through a Helmet.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared to pneumatically controlled pressure support (PSP), neurally
      adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) was proved to improve patient-ventilator
      interactions, while not affecting comfort, diaphragm electrical activity (EAdi),
      and arterial blood gases (ABGs). This study compares neurally controlled pressure
      support (PSN) with PSP and NAVA, delivered through two different helmets, in
      hypoxemic patients receiving noninvasive ventilation for prevention of extubation
      failure. METHODS: Fifteen patients underwent three (PSP, NAVA, and PSN) 30-min
      trials in random order with both helmets. Positive end-expiratory pressure was
      always set at 10 cm H2O. In PSP, the inspiratory support was set at 10 cm H2O
      above positive end-expiratory pressure. NAVA was adjusted to match peak EAdi
      (EAdipeak) during PSP. In PSN, the NAVA level was set at maximum matching the
      pressure delivered during PSP by limiting the upper pressure. The authors
      assessed patient comfort, EAdipeak, rates of pressurization (i.e., airway
      pressure-time product [PTP] of the first 300 and 500 ms after the initiation of
      patient effort, indexed to the ideal pressure-time products), and measured ABGs.
      RESULTS: PSN significantly increased comfort to (median [25 to 75% interquartile
      range]) 8 [7 to 8] and 9 [8 to 9] with standard and new helmets, respectively, as
      opposed to both PSP (5 [5 to 6] and 7 [6 to 7]) and NAVA (6 [5 to 7] and 7 [6 to
      8]; P < 0.01 for all comparisons). Regardless of the interface, PSN also
      decreased EAdipeak (P < 0.01), while increasing PTP of the first 300 ms from the
      onset of patient effort, indexed to the ideal PTP (P < 0.01) and PTP of the first
      500 ms from the onset of patient effort, indexed to the ideal PTP (P < 0.001).
      ABGs were not different among trials. CONCLUSIONS: When delivering noninvasive
      ventilation by helmet, compared to PSP and NAVA, PSN improves comfort and patient
      ventilator interactions, while not ABGs. (Anesthesiology 2016; 125:1181-9).

PMID- 27649506
TI  - Identification of Claudin 1 Transcript Variants in Human Invasive Breast Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The claudin 1 tight junction protein, solely responsible for the
      barrier function of epithelial cells, is frequently down regulated in invasive
      human breast cancer. The underlying mechanism is largely unknown, and no obvious
      mutations in the claudin 1 gene (CLDN1) have been identified to date in breast
      cancer. Since many genes have been shown to undergo deregulation through splicing
      and mis-splicing events in cancer, the current study was undertaken to
      investigate the occurrence of transcript variants for CLDN1 in human invasive
      breast cancer. METHODS: RT-PCR analysis of CLDN1 transcripts was conducted on RNA
      isolated from 12 human invasive breast tumors. The PCR products from each tumor
      were resolved by agarose gel electrophoresis, cloned and sequenced. Genomic DNA
      was also isolated from each of the 12 tumors and amplified using PCR CLDN1
      specific primers. Sanger sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
      analyses were conducted. RESULTS: A number of CLDN1 transcript variants were
      identified in these breast tumors. All variants were shorter than the classical
      CLDN1 transcript. Sequence analysis of the PCR products revealed several splice
      variants, primarily in exon 1 of CLDN1; resulting in truncated proteins. One
      variant, V1, resulted in a premature stop codon and thus likely led to nonsense
      mediated decay. Interestingly, another transcript variant, V2, was not detected
      in normal breast tissue samples. Further, sequence analysis of the tumor genomic
      DNA revealed SNPs in 3 of the 4 coding exons, including a rare missense SNP
      (rs140846629) in exon 2 which represents an Ala124Thr substitution. To our
      knowledge this is the first report of CLDN1 transcript variants in human invasive
      breast cancer. These studies suggest that alternate splicing may also be a
      mechanism by which claudin 1 is down regulated at both the mRNA and protein
      levels in invasive breast cancer and may provide novel insights into how CLDN1 is
      reduced or silenced in human breast cancer.

PMID- 27649507
TI  - Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis amastigotes induces the expression of TNFalpha
      and IL-10 by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro in a TLR4
      dependent manner.
AB  - While the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) has been investigated in murine
      models of tegumentary leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis,
      the interaction between TLRs and Leishmania sp. has not been investigated in
      human cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the involvement of TLR4 in
      cytokine production of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) induced
      by L. braziliensis, and whether the parasite alters the expression of TLR4 on
      monocytes/macrophages. Amastigote forms were obtained from mice lesions and PBMCs
      were isolated from healthy donors. PBMCs were cultured in absence or presence of
      IFNgamma, TLR4 neutralizing antibodies, natural antagonist of TLR4 (Bartonella
      LPS), TLR4 agonist (E. coli LPS), and amastigote forms. The concentrations of
      tumor necrosis factor (TNFalpha) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) were assayed by ELISA
      and TLR4 expression by flow cytometry. Amastigotes forms of L. braziliensis
      induced TNFalpha and IL-10 production only in IFNgamma-primed PBMCs. The TNFalpha
      and IL-10 production was inhibited by TLR4 neutralization, both with anti-TLR4
      antibodies and Bartonella LPS. Interestingly, addition of E. coli LPS further
      increased TNFalpha but not IL-10 production induced by L. braziliensis
      amastigotes. Amastigotes of L. braziliensis strongly reduced membrane TLR4
      expression on monocytes/macrophages, apparently by internalization after the
      infection. The present study reveals that TLR4 drives the production of TNFalpha
      and IL-10 induced by L. braziliensis amastigotes and that the parasites decrease
      TLR4 expression on monocyte surface.

PMID- 27649508
TI  - SCF Ubiquitin Ligase F-box Protein Fbx15 Controls Nuclear Co-repressor
      Localization, Stress Response and Virulence of the Human Pathogen Aspergillus
      fumigatus.
AB  - F-box proteins share the F-box domain to connect substrates of E3 SCF ubiquitin
      RING ligases through the adaptor Skp1/A to Cul1/A scaffolds. F-box protein Fbx15
      is part of the general stress response of the human pathogenic mold Aspergillus
      fumigatus. Oxidative stress induces a transient peak of fbx15 expression,
      resulting in 3x elevated Fbx15 protein levels. During non-stress conditions Fbx15
      is phosphorylated and F-box mediated interaction with SkpA preferentially happens
      in smaller subpopulations in the cytoplasm. The F-box of Fbx15 is required for an
      appropriate oxidative stress response, which results in rapid dephosphorylation
      of Fbx15 and a shift of the cellular interaction with SkpA to the nucleus. Fbx15
      binds SsnF/Ssn6 as part of the RcoA/Tup1-SsnF/Ssn6 co-repressor and is required
      for its correct nuclear localization. Dephosphorylated Fbx15 prevents SsnF/Ssn6
      nuclear localization and results in the derepression of gliotoxin gene
      expression. fbx15 deletion mutants are unable to infect immunocompromised mice in
      a model for invasive aspergillosis. Fbx15 has a novel dual molecular function by
      controlling transcriptional repression and being part of SCF E3 ubiquitin
      ligases, which is essential for stress response, gliotoxin production and
      virulence in the opportunistic human pathogen A. fumigatus.

PMID- 27649509
TI  - Analysis of low active-pharmaceutical-ingredient signal drugs based on thin layer
      chromatography and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - Active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) embedded in the excipients of the formula
      can usually be unravelled by normal Raman spectroscopy (NRS). However, more and
      more drugs with low API content and/or low Raman scattering coefficient were
      insensitive to NRS analysis, which was for the first time defined as Low API
      Signal Drugs (LASIDs) in this paper. The NRS spectra of these LASIDs were similar
      to their dominant excipients' profiles, such as lactose, starch, microcrystalline
      cellulose (MCC), etc., and were classified into three types as such. 21 out of
      100 kinds of drugs were screened as LASIDs and characterized further by Raman
      microscopic mapping. Accordingly, we proposed a tailored solution to the
      qualitation and quantitation problem of these LASIDs, using surface-enhanced
      Raman spectroscopic (SERS) detection on the thin layer chromatographic (TLC)
      plate both in situ and after-separation. Experimental conditions and parameters
      including TLC support matrix, SERS substrate, detection mode, similarity
      threshold, internal standard, etc., were optimized. All LASIDs were
      satisfactorily identified and the quantitation results agreed well with those of
      high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). For some structural analogues of
      LASIDs, although they presented highly similar SERS spectra and were tough to
      distinguish even with Raman microscopic mapping, they could be successfully
      discriminated from each other by coupling SERS (with portable Raman spectrometer)
      with TLC. These results demonstrated that the proposed solution could be employed
      to detect the LASIDs with high accuracy and cost-effectiveness.

PMID- 27649511
TI  - The effects of acute experimental hip muscle pain on dynamic single-limb balance
      performance in healthy middle-aged adults.
AB  - Middle-aged adults with painful hip conditions show balance impairments that are
      consistent with an increased risk of falls. Pathological changes at the hip,
      accompanied by pain, may accelerate pre-existing age-related balance deficits
      present in midlife. To consider the influence of pain alone, we investigated the
      effects of acute experimental hip muscle pain on dynamic single-limb balance in
      middle-aged adults. Thirty-four healthy adults aged 40-60 years formed two groups
      (Group-1: n=16; Group-2: n=18). Participants performed four tasks: Reactive
      Sideways Stepping (ReactSide); Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT); Step Test;
      Single-Limb Squat; before and after an injection of hypertonic saline into the
      right gluteus medius muscle (Group-1) or ~5min rest (Group-2). Balance measures
      included the range and standard deviation of centre of pressure (CoP) movement in
      mediolateral and anterior-posterior directions, and CoP total path velocity
      (ReactSide, Squat); reach distance (SEBT); and number of completed steps (Step
      Test). Data were assessed using three-way analysis of variance. Motor outcomes
      were altered during the second repetition of tasks irrespective of exposure to
      experimental hip muscle pain or rest, with reduced SEBT anterior reach (-1.2+/
      4.1cm, P=0.027); greater step number during Step Test (1.5+/-1.7 steps, P<0.001);
      and slower CoP velocity during Single-Limb Squat (-4.9+/-9.4mms-1, P=0.024).
      Factors other than the presence of pain may play a greater role in balance
      impairments in middle-aged adults with hip pathologies.

PMID- 27649512
TI  - Effects of load carriage and footwear on lower extremity kinetics and kinematics
      during overground walking.
AB  - Kinetic and kinematic responses during walking vary by footwear condition. Load
      carriage also influences gait patterns, but it is unclear how an external load
      influences barefoot walking. Twelve healthy adults (5 women, 7 men) with no known
      gait abnormalities participated in this study (age=23+/-3years, height=1.73+/
      0.11m, and mass=70.90+/-12.67kg). Ground reaction forces and 3D motion were
      simultaneously collected during overground walking at 1.5ms-1 in four conditions:
      Barefoot Unloaded, Shod Unloaded, Barefoot Loaded, and Shod Loaded. Barefoot
      walking reduced knee and hip joint ranges of motion, as well as stride length,
      stance time, swing time, and double support time. Load carriage increased stance
      and double support times. The 15% body weight load increased GRFs ~15%. Walking
      barefoot reduced peak anteroposterior GRFs but not peak vertical GRFs. Load
      carriage increased hip, knee, and ankle joint moments and powers, while walking
      barefoot increased knee and hip moments and powers. Thus, spatiotemporal and
      kinematic adjustments to walking barefoot decrease GRFs but increase knee and hip
      kinetic measures during overground walking. The ankle seems to be less affected
      by these footwear conditions. Regardless of footwear, loading requires larger
      GRFs, joint loads, and joint powers.

PMID- 27649510
TI  - The Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction Amplification for the Detection of Viruses
      and Bacteria in Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pathogens are often not identified in severe community-acquired
      pneumonia (CAP), and the few studies using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      techniques for virus detection are from temperate countries. OBJECTIVE: This
      study assesses if PCR amplification improves virus and bacteria detection, and if
      viral infection contributes to mortality in severe CAP in a tropical setting,
      where respiratory pathogens have less well-defined seasonality. METHODS: In this
      cohort study of patients with severe CAP in an intensive care unit, endotracheal
      aspirates for intubated patients and nasopharyngeal swabs for non-intubated
      patients were sent for PCR amplification for respiratory viruses. Blood,
      endotracheal aspirates for intubated patients, and sputum for non-intubated
      patients were analysed using a multiplex PCR system for bacteria. RESULTS: Out of
      100 patients, using predominantly cultures, bacteria were identified in 42
      patients; PCR amplification increased this number to 55 patients. PCR
      amplification identified viruses in 32 patients. In total, only bacteria, only
      viruses, and both bacteria and viruses were found in 37, 14, and 18 patients,
      respectively. The commonest viruses were influenza A H1N1/2009 and rhinovirus;
      the commonest bacterium was Streptococcus pneumoniae. Hospital mortality rates
      for patients with no pathogens, bacterial infection, viral infection, and
      bacterial-viral co-infection were 16.1, 24.3, 0, and 5.6%, respectively (p =
      0.10). On multivariable analysis, virus detection was associated with lower
      mortality (adjusted odds ratio 0.12, 95% confidence interval 0.2-0.99; p =
      0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Viruses and bacteria were detected in 7 of 10 patients with
      severe CAP with the aid of PCR amplification. Viral infection appears to be
      independently associated with lower mortality.

PMID- 27649513
TI  - Prevalence of sarcopenia and associated factors in the healthy older adults of
      the Peruvian Andes.
AB  - AIM: To assess the prevalence of sarcopenia and associated factors in a
      population of older people living in a rural area of the Peruvian Andes.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study concerned 222 people aged >=65 years. Sarcopenia
      was diagnosed on the basis of skeletal muscle mass, measured using bioimpedance
      analysis, and gait speed, measured with the 4-m walking test, as recommended by
      the International Working Group on sarcopenia. Self-reported physical activity,
      the Short Physical Performance Battery, and the Six-Minute Walking Test also
      contributed information on participants' physical performance status.
      Disabilities were investigated by assessing participants' self-reported
      difficulties in performing one or more basic or instrumental activities of daily
      living. RESULTS: The prevalence of sarcopenia was 17.6%. Compared with
      participants without sarcopenia, individuals who were found sarcopenic were
      significantly older, female and were less frequently farmers, had fewer children,
      had a worse nutritional status, a significantly lower physical performance, and
      higher levels of disability in the instrumental activities of daily living. After
      adjusting for potential confounders, age, female sex, a low body mass index, a
      self-reported low physical activity level, a worse Six-Minute Walking Test
      scores, and a low number of children were significantly associated with
      sarcopenia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of sarcopenia seems to be quite high among
      community-dwelling older subjects in the Peruvian Andes. Age, female sex, a low
      body mass index, little physical activity, a poor Six-Minute Walking Test scores,
      and a low number of children could be associated with this condition.

PMID- 27649514
TI  - Inappropriate prescribing in older persons: A systematic review of medications
      available in different criteria.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to systematically review all potentially
      inappropriate medications for older persons included in prescribing criteria
      published in the last decade. METHODS: A systematic review of published studies
      was performed. Articles describing the development of criteria for PIM Use in
      Older Adults published in the last decade and which provided a list of
      medications that should be considered inappropriate were included. The searches
      were conducted on Pubmed/Medline for articles published from 1st of January 2006
      to 31st of December 2015. We analyzed the medications/classes reported in all
      criteria, most common classes and how many indications each medication made.
      RESULTS: From 778 articles, 14 articles were included in our analysis (containing
      14 different criteria). Europe was responsible for 8 criteria (57.2% of total)
      followed by Asia (3 criteria) and USA (2 criteria). More than 85% used a Delphi
      method. There were 729 different medications/classes reported in all criteria.
      Diazepam was included in all 14 criteria followed by amitriptyline (13 criteria)
      and doxepin (12 criteria). We found benzodiazepines, NSAIDs, antihistamines and
      antipsychotics were the most common drugs reported as potentially inappropriate
      for older persons. CONCLUSION: The present study systematically compiled all
      medications included in 14 different criteria published last decade.
      Benzodiazepines, NSAIDs, antihistamines and antipsychotics were the most common
      drugs reported as potentially inappropriate for older persons. These results
      could help health professionals and panel experts to plan future criteria.

PMID- 27649515
TI  - Clopidogrel pharmacogenetics: Beyond candidate genes and genome-wide association
      studies.
AB  - While it is well established that genetic variation is a significant contributor
      to interindividual variability in clopidogrel efficacy, candidate gene and genome
      wide approaches have failed to reproducibly identify genetic determinants of
      antiplatelet response, apart from variants in CYP2C19, prompting the need for
      more innovative study designs. Herein, we highlight the potential benefit of
      exome sequencing of patients at the extremes of clopidogrel responsivity through
      examination of data reported in this issue of Clinical Pharmacology &
      Therapeutics.

PMID- 27649516
TI  - Windblown Pliocene diatoms and East Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat.
AB  - Marine diatoms in tillites along the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) have been
      used to suggest a diminished East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) during Pliocene warm
      periods. Updated ice-sheet modelling shows significant Pliocene EAIS retreat,
      creating marine embayments into the Wilkes and Aurora basins that were conducive
      to high diatom productivity and rapid accumulation of diatomaceous sediments.
      Here we show that subsequent isostatic uplift exposed accumulated unconsolidated
      marine deposits to wind erosion. We report new atmospheric modelling utilizing
      Pliocene climate and derived Antarctic landscapes indicating that prevailing mid
      altitude winds transported diatoms towards the TAMs, dominantly from extensive
      emerged coastal deposits of the Aurora Basin. This result unifies leading ideas
      from competing sides of a contentious debate about the origin of the diatoms in
      the TAMs and their link to EAIS history, supporting the view that parts of the
      EAIS are vulnerable to relatively modest warming, with possible implications for
      future sea-level rise.

PMID- 27649517
TI  - Deodorization of Garlic Breath by Foods, and the Role of Polyphenol Oxidase and
      Phenolic Compounds.
AB  - Garlic causes a strong garlic breath that may persist for almost a day.
      Therefore, it is important to study deodorization techniques for garlic breath.
      The volatiles responsible for garlic breath include diallyl disulfide, allyl
      mercaptan, allyl methyl disulfide, and allyl methyl sulfide. After eating garlic,
      water (control), raw, juiced or heated apple, raw or heated lettuce, raw or
      juiced mint leaves, or green tea were consumed immediately. The levels of the
      garlic volatiles on the breath were analyzed from 1 to 60 min by selected ion
      flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Garlic was also blended with water
      (control), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), rosemarinic acid, quercetin or catechin, and
      the volatiles in the headspace analyzed from 3 to 40 min by SIFT-MS. Raw apple,
      raw lettuce, and mint leaves significantly decreased all of the garlic breath
      volatiles in vivo. The proposed mechanism is enzymatic deodorization where
      volatiles react with phenolic compounds. Apple juice and mint juice also had a
      deodorizing effect on most of the garlic volatiles but were generally not as
      effective as the raw food, probably because the juice had enzymatic activity but
      the phenolic compounds had already polymerized. Both heated apple and heated
      lettuce produced a significant reduction of diallyl disulfide and allyl
      mercaptan. The presence of phenolic compounds that react with the volatile
      compounds even in the absence of enzymes is the most likely mechanism. Green tea
      had no deodorizing effect on the garlic volatile compounds. Rosmarinic acid,
      catechin, quercetin, and PPO significantly decreased all garlic breath volatiles
      in vitro. Rosmarinic acid was the most effective at deodorization.

PMID- 27649519
TI  - Computational Study of the Interactions between Benzene and Crystalline Ice Ih :
      Ground and Excited States.
AB  - Ground-state geometries of benzene on crystalline ice cluster model surfaces (Ih
      ) are investigated. It is found that the binding energies of benzene-bound ice
      complexes are sensitive to the dangling features of the binding sites. We used
      time-dependent DFT to study the UV spectroscopy of benzene, ice clusters, and
      benzene-ice complexes, by employing the M06-2X functional. It is observed that
      the size of the ice cluster and the dangling features have minor effects on the
      UV spectral characteristics. Benzene-mediated electronic excitations of water
      towards longer wavelengths (above 170 nm) are noted in benzene-bound ice
      clusters, where the cross-section of photon absorption by water is negligible, in
      good agreement with recent experimental results (Thrower et al., J. Vac. Sci.
      Technol. A, 2008, 26, 919-924). The intensities of peaks associated with water
      excitations in benzene-ice complexes are found to be higher than in isolated ice
      clusters. The pi->pi* electronic transition of benzene in benzene-ice complexes
      undergoes a small redshift compared with the isolated benzene molecule, and this
      holds for all benzene-bound ice complexes.

PMID- 27649518
TI  - Inhibition of the PI3K/AKT Pathway Sensitizes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells
      to Anthracycline-Based Chemotherapy In Vitro.
AB  - Anthracycline-based chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin (Dox), while effective
      against many solid tumors, is not widely used for head and neck cancers. In this
      study, we evaluated the efficacy of Dox, and its derivative AD198 in human,
      canine, and feline oral squamous cell carcinomas cells (OSCC) in vitro. Dox and
      AD198 had significant an anti-proliferative effect on human, canine, and feline
      OSCC cells in dose-dependent manner. AD198 inhibited cell proliferation more
      effectively than Dox in tested OSCC cells. In the human oral squamous cell
      carcinoma SCC25 cells, Dox and AD198 increased the production of reactive oxygen
      species and subsequently increased apoptosis through activation of caspase
      signaling pathway. Dox and AD198 increased activation of AKT, ERK1/2, and p38
      MAPK signaling pathways in tested OSCC cells by dose-dependent manner. The
      efficacy of Dox and AD198 treatments in inhibition of cell proliferation was
      increased in tested OSCC when combined with PI3K/AKT inhibitor, LY294002
      treatment. Inhibition of PI3K/AKT reduced Dox- and AD198-induced activation of
      ERK1/2 and further increased Dox- and AD198-induced phosphorylation of p38 MAPK
      in OSCC. Our results suggest that the anthracycline therapies, such as Dox or
      AD198, can be more effective for treatment of OSCC when combined with inhibitors
      of the PI3K/AKT pathway. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 2615-2624, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649520
TI  - Predictive value of exhaled nitric oxide and aerobic capacity for sepsis
      complications after liver transplantation.
AB  - Our objective was to investigate the predictive value of fractional nitric oxide
      (NO) concentration in exhaled breath (FeNO) and aerobic capacity (peak VO2 ) for
      postoperative sepsis in liver transplantation candidates. Patients were
      identified and charts of all consecutive patients were prospectively reviewed.
      Bacterial sepsis represented the commonest postoperative complications (30%),
      which was attributed to peritonitis, pneumonia, and catheter-related infections.
      Preoperative FeNO and peak VO2 values were lower in patients with postoperative
      sepsis. Patients with sepsis required higher needs for mechanical ventilation and
      ICU length of stay. Inverse correlation was found between logarithmically FeNO
      transformed data and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (r = -0.348; P = 0.018).
      Multivariate analyses using bootstrap sampling method indicated that odds of
      sepsis were associated with lower values of peak exercise VO2 [OR = 0.790 (0.592;
      0.925)] and reduced log(FeNo) [OR = 0.027 (0.001; 0.451)], but not with higher
      MELD scores [OR = 1.141 (0.970; 1.486)]. By evaluating the cutoff for the ROC
      curves in each bootstrap resampling, median and 95% confidence interval were
      calculated for peak VO2 : 17 [16.2; 22] ml/kg/min and FeNO: 17.2 [13.0; 33.9]
      ppb. We conclude that low peak exercise VO2 and reduced FeNO may help identify
      patients who are at risk to develop perioperative sepsis.

PMID- 27649521
TI  - Lymphoma and inflammation in the orbit: Diagnostic performance with diffusion
      weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted imaging
      (DWI), dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the
      combination of both in the differential diagnosis of lymphoma and inflammation in
      the orbit. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by the
      Institutional Review Board and the informed consent requirement was waived. A
      total of 53 patients underwent preoperative 3T MRI. Parameters of DWI and DCE MRI
      were evaluated in these 30 patients with orbital lymphoma and 23 patients with
      orbital inflammation. The diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver
      operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: Apparent diffusion coefficient
      (ADC) values and parameters derived from DCE MRI of orbital lymphoma and orbital
      inflammation differed significantly (ADC, Tmax , contrast index [CI], enhancement
      ratio [ER], and washout ratio [WR]: P < 0.001, P = 0.008, P < 0.001, P < 0.001,
      and P = 0.005 for reviewer 1, respectively; P < 0.001, P = 0.004, P < 0.001, P <
      0.001, and P < 0.001 for reviewer 2, respectively). Sensitivity, specificity, and
      accuracy values of DWI were 76.67%, 100%, and 86.79% for reviewer 1; 70%, 95.65%,
      and 81.13% for reviewer 2, respectively. The combination of both were 90%,
      86.96%, and 88.68% for reviewer 1; 93.33%, 78.26%, and 86.79% for reviewer 2,
      respectively. The combination of both was significantly superior to DWI for
      differentiation of orbital lymphoma from orbital inflammation (P = 0.016 for
      reviewer 1; P = 0.001 for reviewer 2). CONCLUSION: The combination of DWI and DCE
      MRI can improve diagnostic performance in differentiating lymphoma from
      inflammation in the orbit compared with DWI alone. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 J. MAGN.
      RESON. IMAGING 2017;45:1438-1445.

PMID- 27649522
TI  - Translating research findings to clinical nursing practice.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the importance of, and methods for, successfully
      conducting and translating research into clinical practice. BACKGROUND: There is
      universal acknowledgement that the clinical care provided to individuals should
      be informed on the best available evidence. Knowledge and evidence derived from
      robust scholarly methods should drive our clinical practice, decisions and change
      to improve the way we deliver care. Translating research evidence to clinical
      practice is essential to safe, transparent, effective and efficient healthcare
      provision and meeting the expectations of patients, families and society. Despite
      its importance, translating research into clinical practice is challenging. There
      are more nurses in the frontline of health care than any other healthcare
      profession. As such, nurse-led research is increasingly recognised as a critical
      pathway to practical and effective ways of improving patient outcomes. However,
      there are well-established barriers to the conduct and translation of research
      evidence into practice. DESIGN: This clinical practice discussion paper
      interprets the knowledge translation literature for clinicians interested in
      translating research into practice. METHODS: This paper is informed by the
      scientific literature around knowledge translation, implementation science and
      clinician behaviour change, and presented from the nurse clinician perspective.
      We provide practical, evidence-informed suggestions to overcome the barriers and
      facilitate enablers of knowledge translation. Examples of nurse-led research
      incorporating the principles of knowledge translation in their study design that
      have resulted in improvements in patient outcomes are presented in conjunction
      with supporting evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Translation should be considered in
      research design, including the end users and an evaluation of the research
      implementation. The success of research implementation in health care is
      dependent on clinician/consumer behaviour change and it is critical that
      implementation strategy includes this. RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE: Translating best
      research evidence can make for a more transparent and sustainable healthcare
      service, to which nurses are central.

PMID- 27649523
TI  - Late-onset pompe disease in Iran: A clinical and genetic report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pompe disease is characterized by absence or deficiency of acid
      alpha-glucosidase, and several causative mutations are known. In this study we
      report clinical and laboratory data in Iranian patients with late-onset Pompe
      disease (LOPD), focusing on population-specific mutations. METHODS: Clinical and
      laboratory data of 14 patients from 10 families with the diagnosis of LOPD were
      recorded. All had reduced enzyme activity on dried blood spot (DBS) analysis.
      Genetic investigation was performed to identify the underlying mutations.
      RESULTS: The age of onset ranged from <2 to 38 years. The clinical presentations
      were heterogeneous. Two siblings presented with foot drop. The most common
      mutation was c.(-32-13T>G). There were 4 novel mutations: c.(2040 + 2dup);
      c.(1650delG); c.(1837T>G); and c.(2596delG). CONCLUSION: This is a comprehensive
      report of LOPD in Iranian patients. Distinct phenotypic and genotypic features in
      this population are highlighted. Muscle Nerve 55: 835-840, 2017.

PMID- 27649524
TI  - Genotype-dependent metabolism of exogenous testosterone - new biomarkers result
      in prolonged detectability.
AB  - Testosterone (T) misuse still represents a major problem in sports drug testing.
      Many strategies have been developed and applied to routine doping controls in
      recent years to enable both to identify suspicious samples in initial testing
      procedures and to confirm the exogenous origin of urinary T by means of carbon
      isotope ratio (CIR) determinations. Depending on the tested individual's genotype
      of UGT2B17, significantly different amounts of T are glucuronidated and excreted,
      which results in unaffected T/epitestosterone ratios after T misuse in those
      subjects with the deletion/deletion polymorphism (del/del). The aim of this study
      was to investigate differences in metabolic pathways of orally administered T
      between persons of del/del and insertion/insertion (ins/ins) genetic
      polymorphism. Therefore, a recently established method using hydrogen isotope
      ratios together with high-resolution and high-accuracy mass spectrometry was
      applied after administration of deuterated T to n = 4 subjects including both
      genotypes. Participants collected urine specimens directly before and for up to 8
      days after the application. Urine aliquots were prepared to yield unconjugated,
      glucuronidated, and sulphoconjugated fractions of urinary steroids. Besides the
      significant difference in the excretion of T-glucuronide, all measured
      metabolites varied rather on an individual basis than due to a genotype
      difference. New T metabolites (both methylated and de-methylated) were detected
      and investigated regarding their potential to enhance the screening for T misuse.
      Sulphoconjugated epiandrosterone was further identified as the biomarker allowing
      for a prolonged retrospective detection of T misuse by means of CIR
      determinations for up to 5 days compared to 1 day if currently applied sports
      drug testing procedures were used. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27649526
TI  - Outcome of Long-Term Bisphosphonate Therapy in McCune-Albright Syndrome and
      Polyostotic Fibrous Dysplasia.
AB  - McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is a rare bone disorder characterized by fibrous
      dysplasia (FD), endocrinopathies, and cafe-au-lait patches. FD patients have been
      shown to respond favorably to treatment with bisphosphonates, but data are scarce
      in the more severe polyostotic form (PFD), including MAS, and factors determining
      treatment outcome are not known, particularly in the long-term. We evaluated the
      biochemical (bone turnover markers [BTMs]) and clinical (pain reduction) outcome
      of bisphosphonate therapy in 11 patients with MAS and 30 patients with PFD:
      median duration of treatment 6 years (range, 2 to 25 years). Prognostic factors
      for treatment outcome were identified in both groups. Patients with MAS were
      younger at diagnosis (p = 0.001), all had precocious puberty, and four (36%) had
      additional growth hormone (GH) excess associated with severe craniofacial FD.
      Extent of skeletal disease was more severe in MAS compared to PFD. MAS patients
      had higher serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentrations (p = 0.005), higher
      skeletal burden scores (p < 0.001), and more fractures (p = 0.021). MAS patients
      had also higher levels of FGF-23 (p = 0.008) and higher prevalence of
      hypophosphatemia (p = 0.013). Twenty-four of 30 PFD patients (80%) demonstrated a
      complete clinical and biochemical response within a year of starting treatment (p
      = 0.015), compared to only four of 11 MAS patients (36%). There were no
      nonresponders. In the whole group, FGF-23, total ALP, P1NP, and CTX positively
      correlated with skeletal burden scores (all p <= 0.001), which was the only
      significant risk factor for an incomplete response to bisphosphonate therapy (p <
      0.01). Our data suggest a beneficial and safe outcome of long-term bisphosphonate
      therapy in the majority of patients with PFD, although response to therapy was
      limited by the higher skeletal disease burden in MAS patients. In the PFD/MAS
      population studied, the only identified prognostic factor that influenced the
      outcome of bisphosphonate therapy was a high skeletal burden score. (c) 2016
      American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

PMID- 27649527
TI  - The dynamics of attachment insecurity and paranoid thoughts: An experience
      sampling study.
AB  - It has been proposed that insecure attachment can have adverse effects on the
      course of psychosis once symptoms have emerged. There is longitudinal evidence
      that increased insecure attachment is associated with increased severity of
      psychotic symptoms. The present study examined whether in the flow of daily life
      attachment insecurity fluctuates, whether elevated stress precedes the occurrence
      of attachment insecurity, and whether elevated attachment insecurity precedes the
      occurrence of paranoia. Twenty clinical participants with a psychosis-spectrum
      diagnosis and twenty controls were studied over six consecutive days using the
      experience sampling method (ESM). The findings revealed that fluctuations in
      attachment insecurity were significantly higher in the clinical group, that
      elevated stress predicted a subsequent increase in attachment insecurity, and
      that elevated attachment insecurity predicted a subsequent increase in paranoia;
      this effect was not observed in auditory hallucinations once co-occurring
      symptoms were controlled for. Finally, although previous ESM studies have shown
      that low self-esteem precedes the occurrence of paranoia, attachment insecurity
      continued to predict paranoia even when self-esteem was controlled for. The
      findings suggest that attachment security may be associated with a lower risk of
      paranoia, and that psychological interventions should address attachment beliefs
      and work towards establishing a sense of attachment security.

PMID- 27649528
TI  - Reporting of Adverse Events in Published and Unpublished Studies of Health Care
      Interventions: A Systematic Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We performed a systematic review to assess whether we can quantify
      the underreporting of adverse events (AEs) in the published medical literature
      documenting the results of clinical trials as compared with other nonpublished
      sources, and whether we can measure the impact this underreporting has on
      systematic reviews of adverse events. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Studies were
      identified from 15 databases (including MEDLINE and Embase) and by handsearching,
      reference checking, internet searches, and contacting experts. The last database
      searches were conducted in July 2016. There were 28 methodological evaluations
      that met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 9 studies compared the proportion of
      trials reporting adverse events by publication status. The median percentage of
      published documents with adverse events information was 46% compared to 95% in
      the corresponding unpublished documents. There was a similar pattern with
      unmatched studies, for which 43% of published studies contained adverse events
      information compared to 83% of unpublished studies. A total of 11 studies
      compared the numbers of adverse events in matched published and unpublished
      documents. The percentage of adverse events that would have been missed had each
      analysis relied only on the published versions varied between 43% and 100%, with
      a median of 64%. Within these 11 studies, 24 comparisons of named adverse events
      such as death, suicide, or respiratory adverse events were undertaken. In 18 of
      the 24 comparisons, the number of named adverse events was higher in unpublished
      than published documents. Additionally, 2 other studies demonstrated that there
      are substantially more types of adverse events reported in matched unpublished
      than published documents. There were 20 meta-analyses that reported the odds
      ratios (ORs) and/or risk ratios (RRs) for adverse events with and without
      unpublished data. Inclusion of unpublished data increased the precision of the
      pooled estimates (narrower 95% confidence intervals) in 15 of the 20 pooled
      analyses, but did not markedly change the direction or statistical significance
      of the risk in most cases. The main limitations of this review are that the
      included case examples represent only a small number amongst thousands of meta
      analyses of harms and that the included studies may suffer from publication bias,
      whereby substantial differences between published and unpublished data are more
      likely to be published. CONCLUSIONS: There is strong evidence that much of the
      information on adverse events remains unpublished and that the number and range
      of adverse events is higher in unpublished than in published versions of the same
      study. The inclusion of unpublished data can also reduce the imprecision of
      pooled effect estimates during meta-analysis of adverse events.

PMID- 27649529
TI  - HLA-F and MHC-I Open Conformers Bind Natural Killer Cell Ig-Like Receptor
      KIR3DS1.
AB  - Based on previous findings supporting HLA-F as a ligand for KIR3DL2 and KIR2DS4,
      we investigated the potential for MHC-I open conformers (OCs) as ligands for
      KIR3DS1 and KIR3DL1 through interactions measured by surface plasmon resonance.
      These measurements showed physical binding of KIR3DS1 but not KIR3DL1 with HLA-F
      and other MHC-I OC while also confirming the allotype specific binding of KIR3DL1
      with MHC-I peptide complex. Concordant results were obtained with biochemical
      pull-down from cell lines and biochemical heterodimerization experiments with
      recombinant proteins. In addition, surface binding of HLA-F and KIR3DS1 to native
      and activated NK and T cells was coincident with specific expression of the
      putative ligand or receptor. A functional response of KIR3DS1 was indicated by
      increased granule exocytosis in activated cells incubated with HLA-F bound to
      surfaces. The data extend a model for interaction between MHC-I open conformers
      and activating KIR receptors expressed during an inflammatory response,
      potentially contributing to communication between the innate and adaptive immune
      response. 

PMID- 27649530
TI  - Inferring Atmospheric Particulate Matter Concentrations from Chinese Social Media
      Data.
AB  - Although studies have increasingly linked air pollution to specific health
      outcomes, less well understood is how public perceptions of air quality respond
      to changing pollutant levels. The growing availability of air pollution
      measurements and the proliferation of social media provide an opportunity to
      gauge public discussion of air quality conditions. In this paper, we consider
      particulate matter (PM) measurements from four Chinese megacities (Beijing,
      Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu) together with 112 million posts on Weibo (a
      popular Chinese microblogging system) from corresponding days in 2011-2013 to
      identify terms whose frequency was most correlated with PM levels. These
      correlations are used to construct an Air Discussion Index (ADI) for estimating
      daily PM based on the content of Weibo posts. In Beijing, the Chinese city with
      the most PM as measured by U.S. Embassy monitor stations, we found a strong
      correlation (R = 0.88) between the ADI and measured PM. In other Chinese cities
      with lower pollution levels, the correlation was weaker. Nonetheless, our results
      show that social media may be a useful proxy measurement for pollution,
      particularly when traditional measurement stations are unavailable, censored or
      misreported. 

PMID- 27649525
TI  - Extraskeletal actions of vitamin D.
AB  - The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is found in nearly all, if not all, cells in the
      body. The enzyme that produces the active metabolite of vitamin D and ligand for
      VDR, namely CYP27B1, likewise is widely expressed in many cells of the body.
      These observations indicate that the role of vitamin D is not limited to
      regulation of bone and mineral homeostasis, as important as that is. Rather, the
      study of its extraskeletal actions has become the major driving force behind the
      significant increase in research articles on vitamin D published over the past
      several decades. A great deal of information has accumulated from cell culture
      studies, in vivo animal studies, and clinical association studies that confirms
      that extraskeletal effects of vitamin D are truly widespread and substantial.
      However, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, when done, have by and
      large not produced the benefits anticipated by the in vitro cell culture and in
      vivo animal studies. In this review, I will examine the role of vitamin D
      signaling in a number of extraskeletal tissues and assess the success of
      translating these findings into treatments of human diseases affecting those
      extracellular tissues.

PMID- 27649532
TI  - A systems biology approach to identify niche determinants of cellular phenotypes.
AB  - Recent reports indicate a dominant role for cellular microenvironment or niche
      for stably maintaining cellular phenotypic states. Identification of key niche
      mediated signaling that maintains stem cells in specific phenotypic states
      remains a challenge, mainly due to the complex and dynamic nature of stem cell
      niche interactions. In order to overcome this, we consider that stem cells
      maintain their phenotypic state by experiencing a constant effect created by the
      niche by integrating its signals via signaling pathways. Such a constant niche
      effect should induce sustained activation/inhibition of specific stem cell
      signaling pathways that controls the gene regulatory program defining the
      cellular phenotypic state. Based on this view, we propose a computational
      approach to identify the most likely receptor mediated signaling responsible for
      transmitting niche signals to the transcriptional regulatory network that
      maintain cell-specific gene expression patterns, termed as niche determinants. We
      demonstrate the utility of our method in different stem cell systems by
      identifying several known and novel niche determinants. Given the key role of
      niche in several degenerative diseases, identification of niche determinants can
      aid in developing strategies for potential applications in regenerative medicine.

PMID- 27649531
TI  - Mechanistic Insights into the Antilithiatic Proteins from Terminalia arjuna: A
      Proteomic Approach in Urolithiasis.
AB  - Kidney stone formation during hyperoxaluric condition is inherently dependent on
      the interaction between renal epithelial cells and calcium oxalate (CaOx)
      crystals. Although modern medicine has progressed in terms of removal of these
      stones, recurrence and persistent side effects restricts their use. Strategies
      involving plant based agents which could be used as adjunct therapy is an area
      which needs to be explored. Plant proteins having antilithiatic activity is a
      hitherto unexplored area and therefore, we conducted a detailed identification
      and characterization of antilithiatic proteins from Terminalia arjuna (T.
      arjuna). Proteins were isolated from the dried bark of T. arjuna and those having
      molecular weights > 3 kDa were subjected to anion exchange chromatography
      followed by gel filtration chromatography. Four proteins were identified
      exhibiting inhibitory activity against CaOx crystallization and crystal growth
      kinetics The cytoprotective and anti-apoptotic efficacy of these purified
      proteins was further investigated on oxalate injured renal epithelial cells (MDCK
      and NRK-52E) wherein, injury due to oxalate was significantly attenuated and led
      to a dose dependent increase in viability of these cells. These proteins also
      prevented the interaction of the CaOx crystals to the cell surface and reduced
      the number of apoptotic cells. Identification of these 4 anionic proteins from
      the bark of T. arjuna was carried out by Matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization-time of flight Mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). This was
      followed by database search with the MASCOT server and sequence similarity was
      found with Nuclear pore anchor, DEAD Box ATP-dependent RNA helicase 45, Lon
      protease homolog 1 and Heat shock protein 90-3. These novel proteins isolated
      from T. arjuna have the potential to inhibit CaOx crystallization and promote
      cell survival and therefore, offer novel avenues which need to be explored
      further for the medical management of urolithiasis. 

PMID- 27649533
TI  - Trans-oral Vestibular Endocrine Surgery: A New Technique in the United States.

PMID- 27649535
TI  - The Effects of Boundary Conditions and Friction on the Helical Buckling of Coiled
      Tubing in an Inclined Wellbore.
AB  - Analytical buckling models are important for down-hole operations to ensure the
      structural integrity of the drill string. A literature survey shows that most
      published analytical buckling models do not address the effects of inclination
      angle, boundary conditions or friction. The objective of this paper is to study
      the effects of boundary conditions, friction and angular inclination on the
      helical buckling of coiled tubing in an inclined wellbore. In this paper, a new
      theoretical model is established to describe the buckling behavior of coiled
      tubing. The buckling equations are derived by applying the principles of virtual
      work and minimum potential energy. The proper solution for the post-buckling
      configuration is determined based on geometric and natural boundary conditions.
      The effects of angular inclination and boundary conditions on the helical
      buckling of coiled tubing are considered. Many significant conclusions are
      obtained from this study. When the dimensionless length of the coiled tubing is
      greater than 40, the effects of the boundary conditions can be ignored. The
      critical load required for helical buckling increases as the angle of inclination
      and the friction coefficient increase. The post-buckling behavior of coiled
      tubing in different configurations and for different axial loads is determined
      using the proposed analytical method. Practical examples are provided that
      illustrate the influence of the angular inclination on the axial force. The rate
      of change of the axial force decreases with increasing angular inclination.
      Moreover, the total axial friction also decreases with an increasing inclination
      angle. These results will help researchers to better understand helical buckling
      in coiled tubing. Using this knowledge, measures can be taken to prevent buckling
      in coiled tubing during down-hole operations. 

PMID- 27649534
TI  - Alleviation of Drought Stress by Hydrogen Sulfide Is Partially Related to the
      Abscisic Acid Signaling Pathway in Wheat.
AB  - Little information is available describing the effects of exogenous H2S on the
      ABA pathway in the acquisition of drought tolerance in wheat. In this study, we
      investigated the physiological parameters, the transcription levels of several
      genes involved in the abscisic acid (ABA) metabolism pathway, and the ABA and H2S
      contents in wheat leaves and roots under drought stress in response to exogenous
      NaHS treatment. The results showed that pretreatment with NaHS significantly
      increased plant height and the leaf relative water content of seedlings under
      drought stress. Compared with drought stress treatment alone, H2S application
      increased antioxidant enzyme activities and reduced MDA and H2O2 contents in both
      leaves and roots. NaHS pretreatment increased the expression levels of ABA
      biosynthesis and ABA reactivation genes in leaves; whereas the expression levels
      of ABA biosynthesis and ABA catabolism genes were up-regulated in roots. These
      results indicated that ABA participates in drought tolerance induced by exogenous
      H2S, and that the responses in leaves and roots are different. The transcription
      levels of genes encoding ABA receptors were up-regulated in response to NaHS
      pretreatment under drought conditions in both leaves and roots. Correspondingly,
      the H2S contents in leaves and roots were increased by NaHS pretreatment, while
      the ABA contents of leaves and roots decreased. This implied that there is
      complex crosstalk between these two signal molecules, and that the alleviation of
      drought stress by H2S, at least in part, involves the ABA signaling pathway. 

PMID- 27649536
TI  - Influence of the Perspectives on the Movement of One-Leg Lifting in an
      Interactive-Visual Virtual Environment: A Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have confirmed the feasibility of active video games
      for clinical rehabilitation. To maximize training effectiveness, a personal
      program is necessary; however, little evidence is available to guide
      individualized game design for rehabilitation. This study assessed the
      perspectives and kinematic and temporal parameters of a participant's postural
      control in an interactive-visual virtual environment. METHODS: Twenty-four
      healthy participants performed one-leg standing by leg lifting when a posture
      frame appeared either in a first- or third-person perspective of a virtual
      environment. A foot force plate was used to detect the displacement of the center
      of pressure. A three-way mixed factor design was applied, where the perspective
      was the between-participant factor, and the leg-lifting times (0.7 and 2.7
      seconds) and leg-lifting angles (30 degrees and 90 degrees ) were the within
      participant factors. The reaction time, accuracy of the movement, and ability to
      shift weight were the dependent variables. RESULTS: Regarding the reaction time
      and accuracy of the movement, there were no significant main effects of the
      perspective, leg-lifting time, or angle. For the ability to shift weight,
      however, both the perspective and time exerted significant main effects, F(1,22)
      = 6.429 and F(1,22) = 13.978, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Participants could shift
      their weight more effectively in the third-person perspective of the virtual
      environment. The results can serve as a reference for future designs of
      interactive-visual virtual environment as applied to rehabilitation.

PMID- 27649537
TI  - Building a 3D Virtual Liver: Methods for Simulating Blood Flow and Hepatic
      Clearance on 3D Structures.
AB  - In this paper, we develop a spatio-temporal modeling approach to describe blood
      and drug flow, as well as drug uptake and elimination, on an approximation of the
      liver. Extending on previously developed computational approaches, we generate an
      approximation of a liver, which consists of a portal and hepatic vein vasculature
      structure, embedded in the surrounding liver tissue. The vasculature is generated
      via constrained constructive optimization, and then converted to a spatial grid
      of a selected grid size. Estimates for surrounding upscaled lobule tissue
      properties are then presented appropriate to the same grid size. Simulation of
      fluid flow and drug metabolism (hepatic clearance) are completed using
      discretized forms of the relevant convective-diffusive-reactive partial
      differential equations for these processes. This results in a single stage,
      uniformly consistent method to simulate equations for blood and drug flow, as
      well as drug metabolism, on a 3D structure representative of a liver. 

PMID- 27649538
TI  - Early Gnathostome Phylogeny Revisited: Multiple Method Consensus.
AB  - A series of recent studies recovered consistent phylogenetic scenarios of jawed
      vertebrates, such as the paraphyly of placoderms with respect to crown
      gnathostomes, and antiarchs as the sister group of all other jawed vertebrates.
      However, some of the phylogenetic relationships within the group have remained
      controversial, such as the positions of Entelognathus, ptyctodontids, and the
      Guiyu-lineage that comprises Guiyu, Psarolepis and Achoania. The revision of the
      dataset in a recent study reveals a modified phylogenetic hypothesis, which shows
      that some of these phylogenetic conflicts were sourced from a few inadvertent
      miscodings. The interrelationships of early gnathostomes are addressed based on a
      combined new dataset with 103 taxa and 335 characters, which is the most
      comprehensive morphological dataset constructed to date. This dataset is
      investigated in a phylogenetic context using maximum parsimony (MP), Bayesian
      inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) approaches in an attempt to explore
      the consensus and incongruence between the hypotheses of early gnathostome
      interrelationships recovered from different methods. Our findings consistently
      corroborate the paraphyly of placoderms, all 'acanthodians' as a paraphyletic
      stem group of chondrichthyans, Entelognathus as a stem gnathostome, and the Guiyu
      lineage as stem sarcopterygians. The incongruence using different methods is less
      significant than the consensus, and mainly relates to the positions of the
      placoderm Wuttagoonaspis, the stem chondrichthyan Ramirosuarezia, and the stem
      osteichthyan Lophosteus-the taxa that are either poorly known or highly
      specialized in character complement. Given that the different performances of
      each phylogenetic approach, our study provides an empirical case that the
      multiple phylogenetic analyses of morphological data are mutually complementary
      rather than redundant. 

PMID- 27649539
TI  - Association between CYP3A5 polymorphisms and the risk of adverse events in
      patients undergoing clopidogrel therapy: Meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We wished to explore the relationship between CYP3A5 polymorphisms
      and adverse events in patients undergoing clopidogrel therapy. METHODS: A Boolean
      search of the PubMed, EMbase, OVID and Cochrane Library databases was conducted
      in April 2016. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events
      (MACE). The secondary outcome was bleeding events and resistance to the effects
      of clopidogrel. The CYP3A5 polymorphism was classified into three types: wild
      type (AA), heterozygote (AG) and homozygous mutant (GG). We estimated pooled odds
      ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) using the Mantel-Haenszel
      model. RESULTS: Twelve studies involving 8284 patients were eligible for our meta
      analysis. CYP3A5 polymorphisms had no obvious influence on MACE (AA+AG vs. GG:
      OR=1.032, 95% CI=0.583-1.824, p=0.915; AA vs. AG+GG: 1.415, 0.393-5.094, 0.595).
      There was no significant relationship between CYP3A5 polymorphisms and bleeding
      (GG vs. AA+AG: OR=0.798, 95% CI=0.370-1.721, p=0.565) or clopidogrel resistance
      (AA+AG vs. GG: 1.009, 0.685-1.488, 0.963; AA vs. AG+GG, 0.618, 0.368-1.039,
      0.069). CONCLUSION: No significant correlation was found between CYP3A5
      polymorphisms and adverse events due to clopidogrel therapy.

PMID- 27649540
TI  - Inflammatory Adipokines Decrease Expression of Two High Molecular Weight Isoforms
      of Tropomyosin Similar to the Change in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease and cancer are increased in Type 2 diabetes. TPM1 and TPM4
      genes encode proteins associated with cardiovascular and neoplastic disease. High
      (HMW) and low (LMW) molecular weight isoforms from TPM1 and TPM4 are altered in
      several cancer cells and the 3'UTR of TPM1 mRNA is tumour suppressive. Leukocytes
      influence cardiovascular and neoplastic disease by immunosurveillance for cancer
      and by chronic inflammation in Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The
      aim was to determine changes in expression of isoforms from TPM1 and TPM4 genes
      in leukocytes from Type 2 diabetic patients and to use the leukocyte cell line
      THP1 to identify possible mediators of changes in the patients. Gene expression
      was determined by RT-qPCR. In diabetes, expression of HMW isoforms from TPM1 were
      markedly decreased (0.55 v 1.00; p = 0.019) but HMW isoforms from TPM4 were not
      significantly different (0.76 v 1.00; p = 0.205). Within individual variance in
      expression of HMW isoforms was very high. The change in expression in HMW
      isoforms from TPM1 and TPM4 was replicated in THP1 cells treated with 1 ng/ml
      TNFalpha (0.10 and 0.12 v 1.00 respectively) or 10 ng/ml IL-1alpha (0.17 and 0.14
      v 1.00 respectively). Increased insulin or glucose concentrations had no
      substantial effects on TPM1 or TPM4 expression. Decreased TPM1 mRNA resulted in
      decreases in HMW protein levels. Expression of HMW isoforms from TPM1 is
      decreased in Type 2 diabetes. This is probably due to increased levels of
      inflammatory cytokines TNFalpha and IL-1alpha in Type 2 diabetes. Lower levels of
      TPM1 mRNA reduce tumour suppression and could contribute to increased cancer risk
      in Type 2 diabetes. Decreased HMW tropomyosin isoforms are associated with
      cancer. Decreased HMW isoforms give rise to cells that are more plastic, motile,
      invasive and prone to dedifferentiation resulting in leukocytes that are more
      invasive but less functionally effective. 

PMID- 27649541
TI  - Growth Hormone Stimulation Tests in Children with Kabuki Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Kabuki syndrome is a multiple congenital malformation syndrome
      with a variety of clinical features including short stature. The cause of this
      postnatal short stature remains unknown. METHODS: Eighteen children with
      genetically proven Kabuki syndrome (8 boys and 10 girls; ages 3.3-9.9 years, with
      a mean of 6.7 years) who underwent growth hormone (GH) stimulation tests were
      evaluated in a prospective study. Two GH stimulation tests were conducted,
      including insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP
      3) serum levels. GH stimulation peaks in relation to age, sex, height, body mass
      index (BMI), IGF-I, and IGFBP-3 SD scores (SDS) were analyzed. RESULTS: Five of
      the 18 children (27.8%) were biochemically GH deficient. This was not correlated
      with BMI SDS. Of all patients, only 1 had an IGF-I below -2 SD and did not
      fulfill the GH deficiency criteria. The mean IGF-I level was below normal (-0.8
      SD). All subjects had normal IGFBP-3 levels. CONCLUSIONS: The utility of
      performing GH stimulation tests on Kabuki syndrome children as an indication of
      GH status in short stature is questionable. IGF-I levels did correlate neither
      with the GH stimulation peak nor consequently with the diagnosis of GH
      deficiency.

PMID- 27649547
TI  - Municipalities' Preparedness for Weather Hazards and Response to Weather
      Warnings.
AB  - The study of the management of weather-related disaster risks by municipalities
      has attracted little attention even though these organizations play a key role in
      protecting the population from extreme meteorological conditions. This article
      contributes to filling this gap with new evidence on the level and determinants
      of Quebec municipalities' preparedness for weather hazards and response to
      related weather warnings. Using survey data from municipal emergency management
      coordinators and secondary data on the financial and demographic characteristics
      of municipalities, the study shows that most Quebec municipalities are
      sufficiently prepared for weather hazards and undertake measures to protect the
      population when informed of imminent extreme weather events. Significant
      differences between municipalities were noted though. Specifically, the level of
      preparedness was positively correlated with the municipalities' capacity and
      population support for weather-related disaster management policies. In addition,
      the risk of weather-related disasters increases the preparedness level through
      its effect on population support. We also found that the response to weather
      warnings depended on the risk of weather-related disasters, the preparedness
      level and the quality of weather warnings. These results highlight areas for
      improvement in the context of increasing frequency and/or severity of such events
      with current climate change. 

PMID- 27649548
TI  - A DFT-based QSAR study on inhibition of human dihydrofolate reductase.
AB  - Diaminopyrimidine derivatives are frequently used as inhibitors of human
      dihydrofolate reductase, for example in treatment of patients whose immune system
      are affected by human immunodeficiency virus. Forty-seven dicyclic and tricyclic
      potential inhibitors of human dihydrofolate reductase were analyzed using the
      quantitative structure-activity analysis supported by DFT-based and DRAGON-based
      descriptors. The developed model yielded an RMSE deviation of 1.1 a correlation
      coefficient of 0.81. The prediction set was characterized by R2=0.60 and
      RMSE=3.59. Factors responsible for inhibition process were identified and
      discussed. The resulting model was validated via cross validation and Y
      scrambling procedure. From the best model, we found several mass-related
      descriptors and Sanderson electronegativity-related descriptors that have the
      best correlations with the investigated inhibitory concentration. These
      descriptors reflect results from QSAR studies based on characteristics of human
      dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors.

PMID- 27649549
TI  - Structural and dynamic insights into the C-terminal extension of cysteine
      proteinase B from Leishmania amazonensis.
AB  - Cysteine proteinase B (CPB) is a significant virulence factor for Leishmania
      infections. Upon processing from its zymogen form, it happens a release of the
      immunomodulatory CPB C-terminal extension (cyspep) into the cytoplasm of the
      macrophage. Epitopes derived from this fragment were shown to influence the
      proportion of lymphocytes CD8+ upon infection, favoring the parasite escaping
      from the hosts immune system. At present, there is no available structural data
      of cyspep, which impairs a proper understanding of its biological functions.
      Here, we attempted to build molecular models for this fragment and subsequently
      evaluate their stabilities in aqueous solution from molecular dynamics
      simulations analysis. Characterization of our models obtained with distinct
      techniques (comparative modeling, threading, and ab initio) indicates a
      prevalence of beta-sheets in agreement with consensus secondary structure
      predictions. Simulation data supported this finding since the formation of new
      strands, along with a rapid disruption of helical content, were observed.
      Overall, this study provides a rationalization of epitope mapping data and an
      improved understanding of cyspep antigenicity.

PMID- 27649550
TI  - Molecular design and validation of halogen bonding orthogonal to hydrogen bonding
      in breast cancer MDM2-peptide complex.
AB  - Peptide therapeutics has been raised as an attractive approach for the treatment
      of breast cancer by targeting the oncogenic protein MDM2 that inactivates p53
      tumor suppressor. Here, we performed molecular design of halogen bonding
      orthogonal to hydrogen bonding at the complex interface of MDM2 protein with its
      cognate peptide ligand to improve the peptide binding affinity and specificity.
      Crystal structure analysis, high-level quantum chemistry (QC) calculations and
      combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) modeling revealed that
      halogen substitution at position 3 of the benzene moiety of peptide Phe3 residue
      can constitute a putative halogen bonding, which is shown to be geometrically
      perpendicular to and energetically independent of a native hydrogen bonding that
      share a common carbonyl oxygen acceptor. The designed halogen bonding was then
      validated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays, that is, substitution with
      bromine at position 3 can considerably improve peptide affinity by ~4-fold, but
      the peptide binding does not change substantially upon the bromine substitution
      at other positions of the Phe3 benzene moiety (the negative controls that are
      theoretically unable to form the halogen bonding), indicating that the orthogonal
      molecular interaction (OMI) system between the designed halogen bonding and
      native hydrogen bonding can co-work well at the complex interface of MDM2 protein
      with its halogenated peptide ligands.

PMID- 27649552
TI  - A Stepwise Integrated Approach to Personalized Risk Predictions in Stage III
      Colorectal Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: Apoptosis is essential for chemotherapy responses. In this discovery and
      validation study, we evaluated the suitability of a mathematical model of
      apoptosis execution (APOPTO-CELL) as a stand-alone signature and as a constituent
      of further refined prognostic stratification tools.Experimental Design: Apoptosis
      competency of primary tumor samples from patients with stage III colorectal
      cancer (n = 120) was calculated by APOPTO-CELL from measured protein
      concentrations of Procaspase-3, Procaspase-9, SMAC, and XIAP. An enriched APOPTO
      CELL signature (APOPTO-CELL-PC3) was synthesized to capture apoptosome
      independent effects of Caspase-3. Furthermore, a machine learning Random Forest
      approach was applied to APOPTO-CELL-PC3 and available molecular and
      clinicopathologic data to identify a further enhanced signature. Association of
      the signature with prognosis was evaluated in an independent colon adenocarcinoma
      cohort (TCGA COAD, n = 136).Results: We identified 3 prognostic biomarkers (P =
      0.04, P = 0.006, and P = 0.0004 for APOPTO-CELL, APOPTO-CELL-PC3, and Random
      Forest signatures, respectively) with increasing stratification accuracy for
      patients with stage III colorectal cancer.The APOPTO-CELL-PC3 signature ranked
      highest among all features. The prognostic value of the signatures was
      independently validated in stage III TCGA COAD patients (P = 0.01, P = 0.04, and
      P = 0.02 for APOPTO-CELL, APOPTO-CELL-PC3, and Random Forest signatures,
      respectively). The signatures provided further stratification for patients with
      CMS1-3 molecular subtype.Conclusions: The integration of a systems-biology-based
      biomarker for apoptosis competency with machine learning approaches is an
      appealing and innovative strategy toward refined patient stratification. The
      prognostic value of apoptosis competency is independent of other available
      clinicopathologic and molecular factors, with tangible potential of being
      introduced in the clinical management of patients with stage III colorectal
      cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 23(5); 1200-12. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27649551
TI  - Ipilimumab with Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy: Phase I Results and
      Immunologic Correlates from Peripheral T Cells.
AB  - Purpose: Little prospective data are available on clinical outcomes and immune
      correlates from combination radiation and immunotherapy. We conducted a phase I
      trial (NCT02239900) testing stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) with
      ipilimumab.Experimental Design: SABR was given either concurrently (1 day after
      the first dose) or sequentially (1 week after the second dose) with ipilimumab (3
      mg/kg every 3 weeks for 4 doses) to five treatment groups: concurrent 50 Gy (in 4
      fractions) to liver; sequential 50 Gy (in 4 fractions) to liver; concurrent 50 Gy
      (in 4 fractions) to lung; sequential 50 Gy (in 4 fractions) to lung; and
      sequential 60 Gy (in 10 fractions) to lung or liver. MTD was determined with a 3
      + 3 dose de-escalation design. Immune marker expression was assessed by flow
      cytometry.Results: Among 35 patients who initiated ipilimumab, 2 experienced dose
      limiting toxicity and 12 (34%) grade 3 toxicity. Response outside the radiation
      field was assessable in 31 patients. Three patients (10%) exhibited partial
      response and 7 (23%) experienced clinical benefit (defined as partial response or
      stable disease lasting >=6 months). Clinical benefit was associated with
      increases in peripheral CD8+ T cells, CD8+/CD4+ T-cell ratio, and proportion of
      CD8+ T cells expressing 4-1BB and PD1. Liver (vs. lung) irradiation produced
      greater T-cell activation, reflected as increases in the proportions of
      peripheral T cells expressing ICOS, GITR, and 4-1BB.Conclusions: Combining SABR
      and ipilimumab was safe with signs of efficacy, peripheral T-cell markers may
      predict clinical benefit, and systemic immune activation was greater after liver
      irradiation. Clin Cancer Res; 23(6); 1388-96. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27649553
TI  - Inhibition of the Nuclear Export Receptor XPO1 as a Therapeutic Target for
      Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - Purpose: The high fatality-to-case ratio of ovarian cancer is directly related to
      platinum resistance. Exportin-1 (XPO1) is a nuclear exporter that mediates
      nuclear export of multiple tumor suppressors. We investigated possible
      clinicopathologic correlations of XPO1 expression levels and evaluated the
      efficacy of XPO1 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy in platinum-sensitive and 
      resistant ovarian cancer.Experimental Design: XPO1 expression levels were
      analyzed to define clinicopathologic correlates using both TCGA/GEO datasets and
      tissue microarrays (TMA). The effect of XPO1 inhibition, using the small-molecule
      inhibitors KPT-185 and KPT-330 (selinexor) alone or in combination with a
      platinum agent on cell viability, apoptosis, and the transcriptome was tested in
      immortalized and patient-derived ovarian cancer cell lines (PDCL) and platinum
      resistant mice (PDX). Seven patients with late-stage, recurrent, and heavily
      pretreated ovarian cancer were treated with an oral XPO1 inhibitor.Results: XPO1
      RNA overexpression and protein nuclear localization were correlated with
      decreased survival and platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. Targeted XPO1
      inhibition decreased cell viability and synergistically restored platinum
      sensitivity in both immortalized ovarian cancer cells and PDCL. The XPO1
      inhibitor-mediated apoptosis occurred through both p53-dependent and p53
      independent signaling pathways. Selinexor treatment, alone and in combination
      with platinum, markedly decreased tumor growth and prolonged survival in platinum
      resistant PDX and mice. In selinexor-treated patients, tumor growth was halted in
      3 of 5 patients, including one with a partial response, and was safely tolerated
      by all.Conclusions: Taken together, these results provide evidence that XPO1
      inhibition represents a new therapeutic strategy for overcoming platinum
      resistance in women with ovarian cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 23(6); 1552-63. (c)2016
      AACR.

PMID- 27649554
TI  - The T-cell Receptor Repertoire Influences the Tumor Microenvironment and Is
      Associated with Survival in Aggressive B-cell Lymphoma.
AB  - Purpose: To investigate the relationship between the intra-tumoral T-cell
      receptor (TCR) repertoire and the tumor microenvironment (TME) in de novo diffuse
      large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the impact of TCR on survival.Experimental
      Design: We performed high-throughput unbiased TCRbeta sequencing on a population
      based cohort of 92 patients with DLBCL treated with conventional (i.e., non
      checkpoint blockade) frontline "R-CHOP" therapy. Key immune checkpoint genes
      within the TME were digitally quantified by nanoString. The primary endpoints
      were 4-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).Results:
      The TCR repertoire within DLBCL nodes was abnormally narrow relative to non
      diseased nodal tissues (P < 0.0001). In DLBCL, a highly dominant single T-cell
      clone was associated with inferior 4-year OS rate of 60.0% [95% confidence
      interval (CI), 31.7%-79.6%], compared with 79.8% in patients with a low dominant
      clone (95% CI, 66.7%-88.5%; P = 0.005). A highly dominant clone also predicted
      inferior 4-year PFS rate of 46.6% (95% CI, 22.5%-76.6%) versus 72.6% (95% CI,
      58.8%-82.4%, P = 0.008) for a low dominant clone. In keeping, clonal expansions
      were most pronounced in the EBV+ DLBCL subtype that is known to express
      immunogenic viral antigens and is associated with particularly poor outcome.
      Increased T-cell diversity was associated with significantly elevated PD-1, PD
      L1, and PD-L2 immune checkpoint molecules.Conclusions: Put together, these
      findings suggest that the TCR repertoire is a key determinant of the TME. Highly
      dominant T-cell clonal expansions within the TME are associated with poor outcome
      in DLBCL treated with conventional frontline therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 23(7);
      1820-8. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27649556
TI  - Involvement of FOXL2 and RSPO1 in Ovarian Determination, Development, and
      Maintenance in Mammals.
AB  - In mammals, sex determination is a process through which the gonad is committed
      to differentiate into a testis or an ovary. This process relies on a delicate
      balance between genetic pathways that promote one fate and inhibit the other.
      Once the gonad is committed to the female pathway, ovarian differentiation begins
      and, depending on the species, is completed during gestation or shortly after
      birth. During this step, granulosa cell precursors, steroidogenic cells, and
      primordial germ cells start to express female-specific markers in a sex-dimorphic
      manner. The germ cells then arrest at prophase I of meiosis and, together with
      somatic cells, assemble into functional structures. This organization gives the
      ovary its definitive morphology and functionality during folliculogenesis. Until
      now, 2 main genetic cascades have been shown to be involved in female sex
      differentiation. The first is driven by FOXL2, a transcription factor that also
      plays a crucial role in folliculogenesis and ovarian fate maintenance in adults.
      The other operates through the WNT/CTNNB1 canonical pathway and is regulated
      primarily by R-spondin1. Here, we discuss the roles of FOXL2 and RSPO1/WNT/
      CTNNB1 during ovarian development and homeostasis in different models, such as
      humans, goats, and rodents.

PMID- 27649557
TI  - Using an accelerometer and the step-up-and-over test to evaluate the knee
      function of patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluating the dynamic knee function of patients after anterior
      cruciate ligament reconstruction is a challenge. A variety of objective tests
      have been developed but for various reasons few are regularly used in the clinic.
      It may be practical to perform the step-up-and-over test with an accelerometer.
      METHODS: A control group (N=26) and an experimental group with a reconstructed
      anterior cruciate ligament (N=25) completed questionnaires quantifying subjective
      knee function and fear of re-injury and then completed the step-up-and-over test.
      FINDINGS: Results showed that the experimental group performed differently than
      the control group for the step-up-and-over test's Lift Symmetry and Impact
      Symmetry (P<0.05) and performance on these measures was related to the
      participant's subjective knee function (rho=-0.46, P<0.01; rho=-0.33, P<0.05,
      respectively). Supplemental results for individual leg performance and the
      patient's fear of re-injury are also reported and discussed. INTERPRETATION:
      Performance on the step-up-and-over test is different for participants with
      anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction than for those with intact anterior
      cruciate ligaments, and that performance is related to one's opinion of their
      knee's function.

PMID- 27649555
TI  - UNC2025, a MERTK Small-Molecule Inhibitor, Is Therapeutically Effective Alone and
      in Combination with Methotrexate in Leukemia Models.
AB  - Purpose: MERTK tyrosine kinase is ectopically expressed in 30% to 50% of acute
      lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) and more than 80% of acute myeloid leukemias (AML)
      and is a potential therapeutic target. Here, we evaluated the utility of UNC2025,
      a MERTK tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for treatment of acute leukemia.Experimental
      Design: Preclinical in vitro and in vivo assays using cell lines and primary
      leukemia patient samples were used to evaluate antileukemic effects of
      UNC2025.Results: UNC2025 potently inhibited prosurvival signaling, induced
      apoptosis, and reduced proliferation and colony formation in MERTK-expressing ALL
      and AML cell lines and patient samples. Approximately 30% of primary leukemia
      patient samples (78 of 261 total) were sensitive to UNC2025. Sensitive samples
      were most prevalent in the AML, T-ALL, and minimally differentiated (M0) AML
      subsets. UNC2025 inhibited MERTK in bone marrow leukemia cells and had
      significant therapeutic effects in xenograft models, with dose-dependent
      decreases in tumor burden and consistent two-fold increases in median survival,
      irrespective of starting disease burden. In a patient-derived AML xenograft
      model, treatment with UNC2025 induced disease regression. In addition, UNC2025
      increased sensitivity to methotrexate in vivo, suggesting that addition of MERTK
      targeted therapy to current cytotoxic regimens may be particularly effective
      and/or allow for chemotherapy dose reduction.Conclusions: The broad-spectrum
      activity mediated by UNC2025 in leukemia patient samples and xenograft models,
      alone or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, supports continued
      development of MERTK inhibitors for treatment of leukemia. Clin Cancer Res;
      23(6); 1481-92. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27649558
TI  - [Differences in Health Literacy of Adolescents with Lower Educational Attainment,
      Older People and Migrants].
AB  - Not everyone seems to have adequate health literacy to take care of their own
      health. Especially older people, people with migration background, and
      adolescents with lower educational attainment face challenges when dealing with
      the healthcare system. Our cross-sectional study focuses on these vulnerable
      groups. We found that vulnerable populations showed high prevalence of limited
      health literacy, and there were considerable differences between these groups.
      Older people were more likely to have limited health literacy compared to younger
      people. Older people with migration background had the lowest health literacy.

PMID- 27649559
TI  - Exclusion of a coronary artery aneurysm using the STENTYS Xposition S balloon
      delivery system with optical coherence tomography guidance: precise positioning
      without trouble.

PMID- 27649560
TI  - Hormone Receptor Expression Analyses in Neoplastic and Non-Neoplastic Canine
      Mammary Tissue by a Bead Based Multiplex Branched DNA Assay: A Gene Expression
      Study in Fresh Frozen and Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Samples.
AB  - Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is currently considered the method of choice for
      steroid hormone receptor status evaluation in human breast cancer and, therefore,
      it is commonly utilized for assessing canine mammary tumors. In case of low
      hormone receptor expression, IHC is limited and thus is complemented by molecular
      analyses. In the present study, a multiplex bDNA assay was evaluated as a method
      for hormone receptor gene expression detection in canine mammary tissues.
      Estrogen receptor (ESR1), progesterone receptor (PGR), prolactin receptor (PRLR)
      and growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene expressions were evaluated in neoplastic
      and non-neoplastic canine mammary tissues. A set of 119 fresh frozen and 180
      formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) was comparatively analyzed and used for
      assay evaluation. Furthermore, a possible association between the hormone
      receptor expression in different histological subtypes of canine malignant
      mammary tumors and the castration status, breed and invasive growth of the tumor
      were analyzed. The multiplex bDNA assay proved to be more sensitive for fresh
      frozen specimens. Hormone receptor expression found was significantly decreased
      in malignant mammary tumors in comparison to non-neoplastic tissue and benign
      mammary tumors. Among the histological subtypes the lowest gene expression levels
      of ESR1, PGR and PRLR were found in solid, anaplastic and ductal carcinomas. In
      summary, the evaluation showed that the measurement of hormone receptors with the
      multiplex bDNA assay represents a practicable method for obtaining detailed
      quantitative information about gene expression in canine mammary tissue for
      future studies. Still, comparison with IHC or quantitative real-time PCR is
      needed for further validation of the present method. 

PMID- 27649561
TI  - Artemether-Lumefantrine versus Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine for Treatment of
      Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in Children Aged Less than 15 Years
      in Guinea-Bissau - An Open-Label Non-Inferiority Randomised Clinical Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Artemether-lumefantrine (AL) was introduced for treatment of
      uncomplicated malaria in Guinea-Bissau in 2008. Malaria then resurged and
      recurrent malaria after treatment with AL and stock-outs of AL were common. This
      study therefore aimed to assess the efficacy of AL and identify an alternative
      second line antimalarial. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) was chosen as it
      has been shown to be safe and efficacious and to reduce the incidence of
      recurrent malaria. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In a multicentre randomised open-label
      non-inferiority clinical trial, AL or DP were given over 3 days to children aged
      6 months-15 years with uncomplicated P. falciparum mono-infection. Intake was
      observed and AL was given with milk. Children were seen on days 0, 1, 2 and 3 and
      then weekly days 7-42. Recurring P. falciparum were classified as recrudescence
      or new infections by genotyping. Between November 2012 and July 2015, 312
      children were randomised to AL (n = 155) or DP (n = 157). The day 42 PCR adjusted
      per protocol adequate clinical and parasitological responses were 95% and 100% in
      the AL and DP groups respectively, Mantel-Haenszel weighted odds ratio (OR) 0.22
      (95% CI 0-0.68), p = 0.022. In a modified intention to treat analysis in which
      treatment failures day 0 and reinfections were also considered as treatment
      failures adequate clinical and parasitological responses were 94% and 97% (OR
      0.42 [95% CI, 0.13-1.38], p = 0.15). Parasite clearance and symptom resolution
      were similar with both treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Both treatments achieved the WHO
      recommended efficacy for antimalarials about to be adopted as policy. DP was not
      inferior to AL for treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in Guinea
      Bissau. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NTC01704508.

PMID- 27649562
TI  - Preparation of Two Types of Polymeric Micelles Based on Poly(beta-L-Malic Acid)
      for Antitumor Drug Delivery.
AB  - Polymeric micelles represent an effective delivery system for poorly water
      soluble anticancer drugs. In this work, two types of CPT-conjugated polymers were
      synthesized based on poly(beta-L-malic acid) (PMLA) derivatives. Folic acid (FA)
      was introduced into the polymers as tumor targeting group. The micellization
      behaviors of these polymers and antitumor activity of different self-assembled
      micelles were investigated. Results indicate that poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(beta
      L-malic acid)-campotothecin-I (PEG-PMLA-CPT-I, P1) is a grafted copolymer, and
      could form star micelles in aqueous solution with a diameter of about 97 nm, also
      that PEG-PMLA-CPT-II (P2) is an amphiphilic block copolymer, and could form crew
      cut micelles with a diameter of about 76 nm. Both P1 and P2 micelles could
      improve the cellular uptake of CPT, especially the FA-modified micelles, while P2
      micelles showed higher stability, higher drug loading efficiency, smaller size,
      and slower drug release rate than that of P1 micelles. These results suggested
      that the P2 (crew cut) micelles possess better stability than that of the P1
      (star) micelles and might be a potential drug delivery system for cancer therapy.

PMID- 27649563
TI  - Signaling Modification by GPCR Heteromer and Its Implication on X-Linked
      Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus.
AB  - The involvement of secretin (SCT) and secretin receptor (SCTR) in regulating body
      water homeostasis is well established. Identified as one of the vasopressin (Vp)
      independent mechanisms in fluid balance, SCT regulates aquaporin 2 (AQP2) in the
      kidney distal collecting duct cells through activating intracellular cAMP
      production. This ability to bypass Vp-mediated water reabsorption in kidney
      implicates SCT's potential to treat nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI).
      Research on NDI in the past has largely been focused on the searching for
      mutations in vasopressin receptor 2 (AVPR2), while the functional relationship
      between SCTR, AVPR2 and NDI remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate the interaction
      between SCTR and AVPR2 to modulate cellular signaling in vitro. Interestingly, we
      show in this report that upon heteromer formation with SCTR, R137H, a NDI-causing
      AVPR2 mutant that is defective in trafficking to cell surface, can functionally
      be rescued. Our data may provide an explanation for this clinically mild case of
      NDI, and insights into the pathological development of NDI in the future. 

PMID- 27649564
TI  - Post-Fire Recovery in Coastal Sage Scrub: Seed Rain and Community Trajectory.
AB  - Disturbance is a primary mechanism structuring ecological communities. However,
      human activity has the potential to alter the frequency and intensity of natural
      disturbance regimes, with subsequent effects on ecosystem processes. In Southern
      California, human development has led to increased fire frequency close to urban
      areas that can form a positive feedback with invasive plant spread. Understanding
      how abiotic and biotic factors structure post-fire plant communities is a
      critical component of post-fire management and restoration. In this study we
      considered a variety of mechanisms affecting post-fire vegetation recovery in
      Riversidean sage scrub. Comparing recently burned plots to unburned plots, we
      found that burning significantly reduced species richness and percent cover of
      exotic vegetation the first two years following a 100-hectare wildfire. Seed rain
      was higher in burned plots, with more native forb seeds, while unburned plots had
      more exotic grass seeds. Moreover, there were significant correlations between
      seed rain composition and plant cover composition the year prior and the year
      after. Collectively, this case study suggests that fire can alter community
      composition, but there was not compelling evidence of a vegetation-type
      conversion. Instead, the changes in the community composition were temporary and
      convergence in community composition was apparent within two years post-fire. 

PMID- 27649570
TI  - Heterogenous Distribution of MTHFR Gene Variants among Mestizos and Diverse
      Amerindian Groups from Mexico.
AB  - Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme in folate metabolism.
      Folate deficiency has been related to several conditions, including neural tube
      defects (NTDs) and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, MTHFR genetic variants have
      been studied worldwide, particularly the C677T and A1298C. We genotyped the C677T
      and A1298C MTHFR polymorphisms in Mexican Amerindians (MAs), from the largest
      sample included in a genetic study (n = 2026, from 62 ethnic groups), and in a
      geographically-matched Mexican Mestizo population (MEZ, n = 638). The 677T allele
      was most frequent in Mexican individuals, particularly in MAs. The frequency of
      this allele in both MAs and MEZs was clearly enriched in the South region of the
      country, followed by the Central East and South East regions. In contrast, the
      frequency of the 1298C risk allele in Mexicans was one of the lowest in the
      world. Both in MAs and MEZs the variants 677T and 1298C displayed opposite allele
      frequency gradients from southern to northern Mexico. Our findings suggest that
      in Mestizos the 677T allele was derived from Amerindians while the 1298C allele
      was a European contribution. Some subgroups showed an allele frequency
      distribution that highlighted their genetic diversity. Notably, the distribution
      of the frequency of the 677T allele was consistent with that of the high
      incidence of NTDs reported in MEZ. 

PMID- 27649571
TI  - The Spectrum of Renal Allograft Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Causes of "true" late kidney allograft failure remain unclear as
      study selection bias and limited follow-up risk incomplete representation of the
      spectrum. METHODS: We evaluated all unselected graft failures from 2008-2014 (n =
      171; 0-36 years post-transplantation) by contemporary classification of
      indication biopsies "proximate" to failure, DSA assessment, clinical and
      biochemical data. RESULTS: The spectrum of graft failure changed markedly
      depending on the timing of allograft failure. Failures within the first year were
      most commonly attributed to technical failure, acute rejection (with T-cell
      mediated rejection [TCMR] dominating antibody-mediated rejection [ABMR]).
      Failures beyond a year were increasingly dominated by ABMR and 'interstitial
      fibrosis with tubular atrophy' without rejection, infection or recurrent disease
      ("IFTA"). Cases of IFTA associated with inflammation in non-scarred areas
      (compared with no inflammation or inflammation solely within scarred regions)
      were more commonly associated with episodes of prior rejection, late rejection
      and nonadherence, pointing to an alloimmune aetiology. Nonadherence and late
      rejection were common in ABMR and TCMR, particularly Acute Active ABMR. Acute
      Active ABMR and nonadherence were associated with younger age, faster functional
      decline, and less hyalinosis on biopsy. Chronic and Chronic Active ABMR were more
      commonly associated with Class II DSA. C1q-binding DSA, detected in 33% of ABMR
      episodes, were associated with shorter time to graft failure. Most non-biopsied
      patients were DSA-negative (16/21; 76.1%). Finally, twelve losses to recurrent
      disease were seen (16%). CONCLUSION: This data from an unselected population
      identifies IFTA alongside ABMR as a very important cause of true late graft
      failure, with nonadherence-associated TCMR as a phenomenon in some patients. It
      highlights clinical and immunological characteristics of ABMR subgroups, and
      should inform clinical practice and individualised patient care.

PMID- 27649572
TI  - Temporal Evolutionary Dynamics of Norovirus GII.4 Variants in China between 2004
      and 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Noroviruses are one of the major causes of acute human nonbacterial
      gastroenteritis, and genotype II.4 (GII.4) has accounted for the majority of
      adult outbreaks. In addition, novel epidemic strain emerges every 2 to 3 years
      and spreads globally in months. There are little data reporting the evolutionary
      dynamics of GII.4 variants along a specific period in China. METHODS: All
      norovirus GII.4 sequences in China were downloaded from GenBank Database.
      Phylogenetic tree was constructed by MEGA and Bayesian evolutionary inference
      techniques were applied by BEAST software to study the genetic relationships,
      evolution rate, evolutionary time scale and the demographic history of GII.4
      variants. Homology models were predicted by SWISS-MODEL to analyze the spatial
      structure changes. RESULTS: During the 12-year period, 624 GII.4 sequences were
      subtyped into six GII.4 variants (clusters). A rate of 4.74*10-3, 6.99*10-3 and
      7.68*10-3 nucleotide substitutions/site/year for the strict, uncorrelated log
      normal and uncorrelated exponential derivation clocks were estimated,
      respectively. Three amino acid mutations (G255S, S393G and H414P) in both Den
      Haag_2006b sub-clusters and six mutations (I244T, N309S, A377T, T244I, T377A and
      S393G) in three Sydney_2012 sub-clusters were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The temporal
      distribution pattern of noroviruses GII.4 lineages in China was similar to the
      worldwide observation. The evolutionary rate of GII.4 was consistent with the
      global studies. Amino acid changes in the vicinity of norovirus epitope may have
      profound influences on carbohydrate binding affinity between different sub
      clusters of norovirus variants. Hence understanding the evolutionary dynamics of
      norovirus is of great value for developing effective prevention and control
      strategies.

PMID- 27649574
TI  - A Case of MECP2 Duplication Syndrome with Gonadotropin-Dependent Precocious
      Puberty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MECP2 duplication syndrome, which is caused by duplication of part of
      the Xq28 region containing the MECP2 gene, causes intellectual disability and
      mild dysmorphic features in males. To date, precocious puberty has not been
      reported as a clinical feature of MECP2 duplication syndrome. METHODS: A 6-year
      old male with severe intellectual disability was referred because of growth
      acceleration and precocious puberty. We checked his hormonal profile and
      conducted imaging studies and an array comparative genomic hybridization
      analysis. RESULTS: His bone age (9 years and 6 months) was accelerated, and the
      basal level of testosterone was 8.99 ng/ml. In a luteinizing hormone (LH)
      releasing hormone (LHRH) stimulation test, LH increased from 3.69 to 9.32 IU/l,
      and follicle-stimulating hormone increased from 0.65 to 0.90 IU/l. Chest and
      abdominal CTs and a brain MRI did not reveal any abnormalities. Treatment with an
      LHRH analogue effectively suppressed the level of testosterone to <0.03 ng/ml,
      consistent with the diagnosis of gonadotropin-dependent precocious puberty
      (GDPP). We identified a duplication of the Xq28 locus including MECP2 in the
      patient. CONCLUSION: Precocious puberty is often a benign central process in
      girls, but it is rarely idiopathic in boys. The present case raises the
      possibility that GDPP is a novel clinical feature of MECP2 duplication syndrome.

PMID- 27649573
TI  - Nitric Oxide Induces Cardiac Protection by Preventing Extracellular Matrix
      Degradation through the Complex Caveolin-3/EMMPRIN in Cardiac Myocytes.
AB  - Inhibition of Extracellular Matrix degradation by nitric oxide (NO) induces
      cardiac protection against coronary ischemia/reperfusion (IR). Glycosylation of
      Extracellular Matrix Metalloproteinase Inducer (EMMPRIN) stimulates enzymatic
      activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the heart, although the
      mechanisms leading to EMMPRIN glycosylation are poorly understood. We sought to
      determine if NO may induce cardiac protection by preventing glycosylation of
      EMMPRIN in a mouse model of IR. Here we found that Caveolin-3 binds to low
      glycosylated EMMPRIN (LG-EMMPRIN) in cardiac cells and in the hearts of healthy
      mice, whereas IR disrupted the complex in nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) knockout
      (KO) mice. By contrast, the binding was partially restored when mice were fed
      with an NO donor (DEA-NO) in the drinking water, showing a significant reduction
      on infarct size (NOS2KO: 34.6+/-5 vs NOS2KO+DEA-NO: 20.7+/-9), in expression of
      matrix metalloproteinases, and cardiac performance was improved (left ventricular
      ejection fraction (LVEF). NOS2KO: 31+/-4 vs NOS2KO+DEA-NO: 46+/-6). The role of
      Caveolin-3/EMMPRIN in NO-mediated cardiac protection was further assayed in
      Caveolin-3 KO mice, showing no significant improvement on infarct size (Caveolin
      3 KO: 34.8+/-3 vs Caveolin-3 KO+DEA-NO:33.7+/-5), or in the expression of MMPs,
      suggesting that stabilization of the complex Caveolin-3/LG-EMMPRIN may play a
      significant role in the cardioprotective effect of NO against IR. 

PMID- 27649576
TI  - The Distribution and Cellular Lineages of XX and XY Cells in Gonads Associated
      with Ovotesticular Disorder of Sexual Development.
AB  - Individuals with a 46,XX/46,XY karyotype are categorized as ovotesticular
      disorder of sexual development (ODSD) and have gonads with either an ovary on one
      side and a testis on the other side or a mixed ovotestis. To examine the
      distribution of 46,XX and 46,XY cells in gonads of 3 patients with ODSD, FISH for
      X and Y chromosomes and immunohistochemistry for SOX9 and FOXL2 were carried out.
      FISH analysis showed that XX signals were present in Sertoli cells in the
      seminiferous tubules, while cells containing Y signals were seen in epithelia of
      ovarian follicles. The immunolabeling of SOX9 and FOXL2 in the seminiferous
      tubules and ovarian follicles was mutually exclusive, irrespective of the
      presence of reversed sex chromosomes. We therefore suggest that the fate of
      individual gonadal epithelial cells is determined not only by the sex chromosomes
      but also by local environmental factors.

PMID- 27649577
TI  - Percutaneous microwave ablation of 5-6 cm unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma:
      local efficacy and long-term outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the local efficacy and long-term outcomes
      of microwave ablation (MWA) for treating large unresectable hepatocellular
      carcinomas (HCCs). METHODS: A total of 82 patients with 5-6 cm unresectable HCCs,
      who underwent a single MWA procedure during the period of January 2007 to July
      2011, were retrospectively enrolled into this study. Percentages of technical
      success and complications of MWA and HCC local recurrence (LR) after MWA were
      determined. In addition, prognostic factors were screened and overall survival
      (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were estimated. RESULTS: One-,
      three- and five-year OS rates in this MWA-treated cohort were 92.7, 63.4 and
      41.1%, respectively; and the corresponding RFS rates were 65.9, 31.7 and 23.0%,
      respectively. Primary technical efficacy was 89.0% after the first round of
      ablation, three (3.7%) patients developed major complications, and LR rate was
      20.7%. Child-Pugh classification (p < .001), tumour location (p = .049) and LR (p
      = .002) were independent factors associated with OS, as determined by
      multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: MWA is safe and effective for the treatment
      of selected large HCCs, and provides an alternative treatment option for patients
      with unresectable HCCs. Furthermore, the favourable local efficacy of MWA could
      potentially improve long-term survival.

PMID- 27649575
TI  - JMJD1C Exhibits Multiple Functions in Epigenetic Regulation during
      Spermatogenesis.
AB  - Jmjd1C is one of the Jmjd1 family genes that encode putative demethylases against
      histone H3K9 and non-histone proteins and has been proven to play an
      indispensable role in mouse spermatogenesis. Here, we analyzed a newly-bred
      transgenic mouse strain carrying a Jmjd1C loss-of-function allele in which a beta
      geo cassette was integrated into the intron of the Jmjd1C locus. Jmjd1C gene-trap
      homozygous testes exhibited malformations in postmeiotic processes and a
      deficiency in the long-term maintenance of undifferentiated spermatogonia. Some
      groups of spermatids in the homozygous testis showed abnormal organization and
      incomplete elongation from the first wave of spermatogenesis onwards. Moreover,
      histone H4K16 acetylation, which is required for the onset of chromatin
      remodeling, appeared to be remarkably decreased. These effects may not have been
      a result of the drastic decrease in gene expression related to the events but
      instead may have been due to the lack of interaction between JMJD1C and its
      partner proteins, such as MDC1 and HSP90. Additionally, significant decreases in
      Oct4 expression and NANOG- and OCT4-expressing spermatogonia were found in the
      Jmjd1C homozygous mature testis, suggesting that JMJD1C may participate in the
      maintenance of spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal by up-regulating Oct4
      expression. These results indicate that JMJD1C has multiple functions during
      spermatogenesis through interactions with different partners during the
      spermatogenic stages. 

PMID- 27649578
TI  - Aspiration of immature oocytes during cesarean section for fertility
      preservation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In vitro maturation (IVM) of immature oocytes is an important
      technology for selected clinical indications. We previously described a pregnant
      woman with a history of renal transplantation who underwent oocyte aspiration
      during cesarean section (CS) for fertility preservation and future surrogacy.
      CASE: A 27-year-old pregnant woman was diagnosed with neck rhabdomyosarcoma at 37
      weeks' gestation. CS was performed with direct aspiration of small follicles from
      one ovary and oophorectomy of the other. Twenty-one identified oocyte-cumulus
      complexes were cultured, and 12 mature oocytes and 14 ovarian cortex strips were
      cryopreserved. CONCLUSION: Aspirating competent oocytes during CS may serve as an
      additional means of fertility preservation in pregnant women. The procedure may
      also be offered to patients with an IVF pregnancy who are scheduled for elective
      CS.

PMID- 27649579
TI  - Reliability of laser Doppler, near-infrared spectroscopy and Doppler ultrasound
      for peripheral blood flow measurements during and after exercise in the heat.
AB  - This study examined the test-retest reliability of near-infrared spectroscopy
      (NIRS), laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and Doppler ultrasound to assess exercise
      induced haemodynamics. Nine men completed two identical trials consisting of 25
      min submaximal cycling at first ventilatory threshold followed by repeated 30-s
      bouts of high-intensity (90% of peak power) cycling in 32.8 +/- 0.4 degrees C and
      32 +/- 5% relative humidity (RH). NIRS (tissue oxygenation index [TOI] and total
      haemoglobin [tHb]) and LDF (perfusion units [PU]) signals were monitored
      continuously during exercise, and leg blood flow was assessed by Doppler
      ultrasound at baseline and after exercise. Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC;
      PU/mean arterial pressure (MAP)) was expressed as the percentage change from
      baseline (%CVCBL). Coefficients of variation (CVs) as indicators of absolute
      reliability were 18.7-28.4%, 20.2-33.1%, 42.5-59.8%, 7.8-12.4% and 22.2-30.3% for
      PU, CVC, %CVCBL, TOI and tHb, respectively. CVs for these variables improved as
      exercise continued beyond 10 min. CVs for baseline and post-exercise leg blood
      flow were 17.8% and 10.5%, respectively. CVs for PU, tHb (r2 = 0.062) and TOI (r2
      = 0.002) were not correlated (P > 0.05). Most variables demonstrated CVs lower
      than the expected changes (35%) induced by training or heat stress; however,
      minimum of 10 min exercise is recommended for more reliable measurements.

PMID- 27649580
TI  - Two new C-glucosyl flavonoids from Ziziphus jujube and their anti-inflammatory
      activity.
AB  - Two new C-glucosyl flavonoids 6''-O-feruloylspinosin and 6''-O-feruloyl-6'''-p
      hydroxybenzoylspinosin, together with five known compounds, were isolated from
      the seeds of Ziziphus jujube (Rhamnaceae family). Their structures were
      elucidated on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidences. Compounds 1-7
      showed moderate inhibitory effects against COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes.

PMID- 27649581
TI  - Mechanical properties of protective spectacles fitted with corrective lenses.
AB  - The majority of commercially available corrective spectacles used by workers do
      not provide effective eye protection against mechanical hazards in the workplace.
      One of the risks commonly occurring during work is hitting the head on some
      protruding elements, such as components of machines, buildings or tree branches
      in a forest. Because of the considerable weight of the human head and the speed
      of movement during impact, this type of accident may be very serious. This
      article presents a method of testing the mechanical strength of corrective
      lenses, simulating the results of an impact of the head on elements of
      workplaces. The results of tests of commercially available materials used for the
      construction of corrective and protective spectacles are also presented and
      discussed.

PMID- 27649582
TI  - [Hyponatraemia is a risk factor for osteoporosis and bone fracture].
AB  - There is increasing evidence that mild hyponatraemia is associated with
      fractures. This association seems to be partially mediated by a reduced bone mass
      and an in-creased risk of falling. Large population studies have shown that other
      factors such as bone quality may be important. Hyponatraemia should not be
      considered a benign and asymptomatic condition, and an increased awareness,
      especially in the elderly patients with chronic hypona-traemia, is warranted.
      Sodium status should be evaluated in patients who experience falls, fractures or
      are at increased risk of having osteoporosis. 

PMID- 27649584
TI  - [Epigenetic influence on embryonic development].
AB  - The epigenome is sensitive to environmental changes and can sustainably alter
      gene expression, notably during embryonic development. New research indicates
      that epigenetic factors are heritable, which is why paternal lifestyle may affect
      fetal development and risk of disease. Children conceived by assisted
      reproduction technology (ART) have an increased risk of peri- and postnatal
      complications, and as specific ART protocols associate with specific risk
      profiles, the procedures themselves may cause epigenetic changes contributing to
      the altered outcomes of the 5,000 Danish children annually conceived by ART. 

PMID- 27649583
TI  - [Positron emission tomography/computed tomography in follow-up programmes for
      patients with colorectal cancer].
AB  - The current follow-up programmes for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) after
      curative surgery do not include 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission
      tomography (PET). Several small studies on selected patient populations indicate
      a high sensitivity of PET/computed tomography (CT) on visualizing relapse in
      patients with CRC after curative surgery. Therefore, PET/CT could probably be
      valuable in patients with unexplained increase in carcinoembryonic antigen level
      or a clinical suspicion of relapse, but PET/CT is not recommended as a standard
      in follow-up after CRC. 

PMID- 27649585
TI  - [Blodning per rectum hos en patient med Schistosoma haematobium-infektion].

PMID- 27649586
TI  - New insights on prostate cancer progression.

PMID- 27649587
TI  - How Best to Obtain Valid, Verifiable Data Online From Male Couples? Lessons
      Learned From an eHealth HIV Prevention Intervention for HIV-Negative Male
      Couples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As interest increases in the development of eHealth human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-preventive interventions for gay male couples, Web
      based methods must also be developed to help increase the likelihood that couples
      enrolled and data collected from them represent true unique dyads. Methods to
      recruit and collect reliable and valid data from both members of a couple are
      lacking, yet are crucial for uptake of novel sexual health and HIV-prevention
      eHealth interventions. Methods to describe best practices to recruit male couples
      using targeted advertisements on Facebook are also lacking in the literature, yet
      could also help in this uptake. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to
      describe challenges and lessons learned from experiences from two phases
      (developmental phase and online randomized controlled trial [RCT]) of an eHealth
      HIV-prevention intervention for concordant HIV-negative male couples in terms of
      (1) recruiting male couples using targeted advertisements on Facebook, (2)
      validating that data came from two partners of the couple, and (3) verifying that
      the two partners of the couple are in a relationship with each other. METHODS:
      The developmental phase refined the intervention via in-person focus groups,
      whereas the pilot-testing phase included an online RCT. For both phases, couples
      were recruited via targeted Facebook advertisements. Advertisements directed men
      to a study webpage and screener; once eligible, participants provided consent
      electronically. A partner referral system was embedded in the consenting process
      to recruit the relationship partner of the participant. Both men of the couple
      had to meet all eligibility criteria-individually and as a couple-before they
      could enroll in the study. Verification of couples' relationships was assessed
      via the concurrence of predetermined screener items from both partners, done
      manually in the developmental phase and electronically in the pilot-testing
      phase. A system of decision rules was developed to assess the validity that data
      came from two unique partners of a couple. RESULTS: Several important lessons
      were learned from these experiences, resulting in recommendations for future
      eHealth studies involving male couples. Use of certain "interests" and types of
      images (eg, shirtless) in targeted Facebook advertisements should be avoided or
      used sparingly because these interests and types of images may generate adverse
      reactions from a broader audience. Development of a systematic approach with
      predetermined criteria and parameters to verify male couples' relationships is
      strongly recommended. Further, researchers are encouraged to develop a system of
      decision rules to detect and handle suspicious data (eg, suspicious email
      addresses/names, multiple entries, same IP address used in multiple entries) to
      help validate the legitimacy of male couples' relationships online. CONCLUSIONS:
      These lessons learned combined with recommendations for future studies aim to
      help enhance recruitment efforts and the validity and reliability of collecting
      dyadic data from male couples for novel eHealth HIV-preventive interventions.

PMID- 27649589
TI  - Practicing What We Know.

PMID- 27649588
TI  - Renovascular hypertension: Effects of mesenchymal stem cells in the contralateral
      hypertensive kidney in rats.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) induced neovascularization and improved renal
      morphology of the stenotic kidney in 2 kidneys-1 clip (2K-1C) model of
      renovascular hypertension. The present study evaluated the effects of MSC in the
      contralateral hypertensive kidney. Three weeks after left renal artery occlusion,
      MSC were injected into the tail vein of the 2K-1C rats. Renal function and
      morphology were analyzed in both kidneys. Labeled MSC were found in stenotic and
      contralateral kidneys. Hypertensive 2K-1C animals presented increased circulating
      levels of Angiotensin II (Ang II) and renin. MSC prevented the progressive
      increase of blood pressure and reduced circulating Ang II and renin levels.
      Stenotic kidney showed reduced renal plasma flow (RPF) and glomerular filtration
      rate (GFR), whereas the contralateral kidney had a tendency (p > 0.5) of
      reduction in GFR in spite of unchanged RPF. MSC treatment caused an improvement
      in GFR with no effect of on RPF in the stenotic kidney. Contralateral kidney
      showed increased diuresis and natriuresis that were even higher in MSC-treated
      animals, indicating that cell treatment improved the capacity of the
      contralateral kidney to excrete sodium. Contralateral kidney expressed higher
      levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-alpha) and signs of fibrosis, which
      were attenuated by MSC treatment. MSC treatment improved the stenotic kidney
      function, and it was also beneficial to the contralateral hypertensive kidney
      because it improved the morphology and preserved its capacity to excrete sodium.

PMID- 27649590
TI  - CARES: AACN's New Competencies and Recommendations for Educating Undergraduate
      Nursing Students to Improve Palliative Care.
AB  - Nurses spend the most time of any health care professional caring for patients
      and families dealing with the challenges of serious illness. The demand for
      nursing expertise in palliative care is growing as more people are living with
      chronic, life-limiting illnesses. Nursing faculty must prepare future nurses to
      meet this demand. The new American Association of Colleges of Nursing Palliative
      Competencies And Recommendations for Educating undergraduate nursing Students
      document, released February 2016, identifies the 17 competencies that all
      undergraduate nursing students should achieve by the time of graduation. This
      historic document is a revision of the 1998 American Association of Colleges of
      Nursing Peaceful Death document and is now the guiding framework for
      undergraduate nursing education. In an effort to support nursing faculty and
      prepare nursing students to deliver quality palliative care, an innovative,
      interactive on-line undergraduate End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium
      (ELNEC) curriculum is under development and will be released in January 2017.
      This new curriculum will meet the competencies and recommendations for achieving
      those competencies outlined in the Competencies And Recommendations for Educating
      undergraduate nursing Students document. 

PMID- 27649591
TI  - Streamlining Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Procedures to Promote Early
      Career Faculty Success.
AB  - A critical component of the progression of a successful academic career is being
      promoted in rank. Early-career faculty are required to have an understanding of
      appointment, promotion, and tenure (APT) guidelines, but many factors often
      impede this understanding, thwarting a smooth and planned promotion pathway for
      professional advancement. This article outlines the steps taken by an APT
      committee to improve the promotion process from instructor to assistant
      professor. Six sigma's DMAIC improvement model was selected as the guiding
      operational framework to remove variation in the promotion process. After faculty
      handbook revisions were made, several checklists developed, and a process review
      rubric was implemented; recently promoted faculty were surveyed on satisfaction
      with the process. Faculty opinions captured in the survey suggest increased
      transparency in the process and perceived support offered by the APT committee.
      Positive outcomes include a strengthened faculty support framework, streamlined
      promotion processes, and improved faculty satisfaction. Changes to the APT
      processes resulted in an unambiguous and standardized pathway for successful
      promotion. 

PMID- 27649592
TI  - Overcoming the Tension: Building Effective DNP-PhD Faculty Teams.
AB  - A shift in terminal degrees held by nursing faculty is occurring as the number of
      doctor of nursing practice graduates continues to rise. This change has resulted
      in some uncertainty and tension. At the same time, there is a pressing need for
      collaboration among doctoral-prepared nurse leaders to improve care and outcomes
      for the population. An intellectual community that nurtures learning for all
      members serves as a blueprint for moving toward a professoriate that engages both
      doctor of nursing practice- and doctor of philosophy-prepared faculty and
      enhances scholarly activities, research, and teaching productivity. Although this
      may seem like an intangible concept, strategic steps can be instituted to promote
      positive relationships and transform the academic culture into an environment
      that fosters a vibrant intellectual life for all faculty members. Therefore, the
      purpose of this article is to propose that doctoral faculty embrace a
      transformational change to promote a community of scholars who serve as stewards
      of the discipline. Specific strategies for transforming the culture and building
      an intellectual community are described. 

PMID- 27649593
TI  - Evaluating Simulation Methodologies to Determine Best Strategies to Maximize
      Student Learning.
AB  - Limited evidence exists as to the most effective ways to provide simulation
      experiences to maximize student learning. This quasi-experimental study
      investigated 2 different strategies repeated versus 1 exposure and participation
      versus observation on student outcomes following exposure to a high-fidelity
      acute asthma exacerbation of asthma scenario. Immediate repeated exposure
      resulted in significantly higher scores on knowledge, student satisfaction and
      self-confidence, and clinical performance measures than a single exposure.
      Significant intergroup differences were found on participants' satisfaction and
      self-confidence as compared with observers. Implications for nurse educators
      include expanding the observer role when designing repeated exposure to
      simulations and integrating technical, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes as a
      way for faculty to evaluate students' clinical performance. 

PMID- 27649594
TI  - The Keys to Success in Doctoral Studies: A Preimmersion Course.
AB  - This article will review an innovative on-line preimmersion course for a hybrid
      doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program and a traditional face-to-face doctor of
      philosophy nursing program. The doctoral candidates include both
      postbaccalaureate and postmaster's students. The authors of the preimmersion
      course developed and initiated the course in order to address various issues that
      have surfaced in discussions between students and faculty. Examples of common
      themes identified include writing skills, statistics, life-work-school balance,
      and navigating instructional technology. Doctoral studies may pose challenges to
      students studying nursing, in regard to academic rigor and experiencing on-line
      education for the first time, especially for students who have been out of school
      for an extended amount of time or are not accustomed to a nontraditional
      classroom; thus, having a preimmersion course established may facilitate a smooth
      transition to rigorous academic studies in a hybrid program. The course, which
      was developed and delivered through Blackboard, a learning management system,
      includes the following 9 preimmersion modules: academic strategies (learning
      styles, creating an effective PowerPoint presentation), library support
      (introduction to the university library, literature review tutorial, and citation
      styles), mindfulness, wellness, statistics essentials, writing express, DNP
      capstone, netiquette, and DNP/doctor of philosophy mentorship. Each module
      consists of various tools that may promote student success in specific courses
      and the programs in general. The purpose of designing the preimmersion course is
      to decrease attrition rates and increase success of the students. While the
      majority of students have succeeded in their coursework and been graduated from
      the program, the authors of this article found that many students struggled with
      the work, life, and school balance. Future work will include the evaluation of
      results from graduate students enrolled in the program. 

PMID- 27649596
TI  - Social Determinants and Educational Barriers to Successful Admission to Nursing
      Programs for Minority and Rural Students.
AB  - In 2010, the Institute of Medicine made a recommendation in The Future of Nursing
      Report to diversify the student population of the health care professions in
      order to provide increasing minority providers to meet the culturally competent
      needs of the growing multicultural populations of the United States (Institute of
      Medicine, 2010). The Nursing Network and Careers and Technology Nurse Mentoring
      Program provides a nursing mentor to underrepresented ethnic minority and
      educationally disadvantaged students and a significant scholarship and stipend
      for tuition and monthly living expenses. Ethnically diverse and rural students
      have lifelong familial and geographical educational barriers that prevent them
      from succeeding. There are a plethora of major environmental and familial factors
      that need to be addressed by society for these students to be successful. These
      factors include improvement of county schools by financial support, improving the
      home environment through social supportive services, and implementing improved
      parent-child bonding with nurse family partnerships. Nursing faculty must embrace
      new approaches for increasing the number of ethnically diverse nursing providers
      through novel admission criteria and collaborative cohort peer-mentoring
      programs. 

PMID- 27649595
TI  - Evaluating the Impact of Wikis on Student Learning Outcomes: An Integrative
      Review.
AB  - Although wikis appear to have been reported as effective tools for educators,
      uncertainty exists as to their effectiveness in achieving student learning
      outcomes. The aim of this integrative review was to examine the current evidence
      on the impact of wikis on student learning in courses requiring collaborative or
      co-developed assignments or activities. The authors searched several electronic
      databases for relevant articles and used R. Whittemore and K. Knafl's (2005)
      integrative review method to analyze and synthesize the evidence. Twenty-five
      articles met the selection criteria for this review, and four major themes for
      wiki use were identified: (a) writing skills, (b) collaboration, (c) knowledge
      acquisition, and (d) centralized repository. Although wikis have been found
      useful in improving student learning outcomes and hold great potential as an
      instructional strategy to aid students in learning various skills and gaining new
      knowledge, more research is needed on their effectiveness, especially in the area
      of nursing education. 

PMID- 27649597
TI  - Factors Associated With Stress Among Second Year Student Nurses During Clinical
      Training in Jamaica.
AB  - The aim of this study is to determine the levels of stress among students in the
      Jamaican clinical setting and describe the perceived contributing factors to this
      stress. This cross-sectional study of 106secondyear students enrolled at 2
      schools of nursing in Jamaica used a 30-item self-administered questionnaire to
      gather data on levels of stress and contributing factors. Participants were asked
      to rate the levels of stress experienced (scale: 0-5, where 5 was highest). Data
      were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(r) Version 19 for
      Windows(r). The response rate was 98% (106/108), and 97.2% were females. The
      average age of respondents was 23.16 +/- 9.01years. The majority of participants
      were single (78.3%) and resident in Kingston and St. Andrew (61.3%). The level of
      stress experienced in the clinical setting was rated 3.48 +/- 1.3/5; financial
      difficulties (3.17 +/- 1.6/5) and interactions with unit staff (3.15 +/- 1.4/5)
      were rated the greatest contributors to stress. Students experienced fear of
      harming the patient (50%), and only 24% expressed consistent confidence. Except
      for the interactions with preceptors (P < .05), there were no differences in
      levels of stress between schools. Students enrolled at 2 nursing schools
      experienced moderately high levels of stress in the clinical environment.
      Financial concerns and interaction with ward staff were significant sources of
      stress. Collaborative strategies to address stress in the clinical areas are
      imperative. 

PMID- 27649598
TI  - The expression and function of hsp30-like small heat shock protein genes in
      amphibians, birds, fish, and reptiles.
AB  - Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are a superfamily of molecular chaperones with
      important roles in protein homeostasis and other cellular functions. Amphibians,
      reptiles, fish and birds have a shsp gene called hsp30, which was also referred
      to as hspb11 or hsp25 in some fish and bird species. Hsp30 genes, which are not
      found in mammals, are transcribed in response to heat shock or other stresses by
      means of the heat shock factor that is activated in response to an accumulation
      of unfolded protein. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that representative
      HSP30s from different classes of non-mammalian vertebrates were distinct from
      other sHSPs including HSPB1/HSP27. Studies with amphibian and fish recombinant
      HSP30 determined that they were molecular chaperones since they inhibited heat-
      or chemically-induced aggregation of unfolded protein. During non-mammalian
      vertebrate development, hsp30 genes were differentially expressed in selected
      tissues. Also, heat shock-induced stage-specific expression of hsp30 genes in
      frog embryos was regulated at the level of chromatin structure. In adults and/or
      tissue culture cells, hsp30 gene expression was induced by heat shock, arsenite,
      cadmium or proteasomal inhibitors, all of which enhanced the production of
      unfolded/damaged protein. Finally, immunocytochemical analysis of frog and
      chicken tissue culture cells revealed that proteotoxic stress-induced HSP30
      accumulation co-localized with aggresome-like inclusion bodies. The congregation
      of damaged protein in aggresomes minimizes the toxic effect of aggregated protein
      dispersed throughout the cell. The current availability of probes to detect the
      presence of hsp30 mRNA or encoded protein has resulted in the increased use of
      hsp30 gene expression as a marker of proteotoxic stress in non-mammalian
      vertebrates.

PMID- 27649599
TI  - Antiviral Effect of Agaricomycetes Mushrooms (Review).
AB  - This review presents data on the studied antiviral activities of Agaricomycetes
      mushrooms against the herpes, West Nile, influenza, human immunodeficiency, and
      hepatitis viruses, as well as orthopoxviruses, including the variola virus.
      Polysaccharides and other compounds (e.g., proteins, glycoproteins, terpenoids,
      melanins, nucleosides) exhibit antiviral activity against many viruses that are
      pathogenic in humans. Effective strains isolated from wild mushrooms in culture
      represent promising objects for the development of biotechnological drugs,
      including ones possessing antiviral activity. The data on antitumor and antiviral
      activities of compounds from the same mushroom species indicate the correlation
      of these properties. With regard to this connection, preparations of
      Basidiomycetes may have prophylactic value in preventing cancers with a viral
      etiology. 

PMID- 27649600
TI  - Diversity of Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms Used in the Noun Division of the West
      Region of Cameroon.
AB  - This article presents discussions of mushrooms as a source of food, income, as
      well as medicine among the Bamoun people of the highlands of West Cameroon, where
      the vegetation is mainly savannah mixed with forest galleries. Like most tribes
      in tropical Africa, the Bamoun people use a wide range of natural products as
      mushrooms. This study attempts to identify the various mushrooms exploited by the
      Bamoun. Ethnomycological surveys and field trips were conducted over 4 years in
      several villages in the Noun Division. Samples of wild mushrooms were collected
      from both the savannah and the forest galleries. These were described, preserved,
      and identified. The study shows that the Bamoun people use at least 40 species of
      mushrooms for either food or medicine. These species belong to 8 genera:
      Auricularia, Cantharellus, Ganoderma, Pleurotus, Lactarius, Lactifluus, Russula,
      and Termitomyces. Species of genera Lactarius, Lactifluus, Russula, and
      Termitomyces are most often used for food, whereas Ganoderma spp. and Pleurotus
      tuber-regium are mainly exploited for medicinal purposes. This survey provides an
      overview of the diversity of mushrooms and their importance to the local people
      of this area. Since some of the species mentioned by the local population were
      not fruiting at the time of our field trips, additional investigations are needed
      to further clarify the diversity and the usage of mushrooms in this region. 

PMID- 27649601
TI  - Species of Genus Ganoderma (Agaricomycetes) Fermentation Broth: A Novel
      Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Agent.
AB  - The bioactivity of Ganoderma lucidum basidiocarps has been well documented, but
      there are no data on the medicinal properties of its submerged cultivation broth
      nor on the other species of the genus Ganoderma. Thus the aim of this study was
      to test the potential antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of fermentation
      broth obtained after submerged cultivation of G. applanatum, G. carnosum, and G.
      lucidum. DPPH. scavenging ability, total phenols, and flavonoid contents were
      measured to determine the antioxidative potential of Ganoderma spp. fermentation
      filtrates, whereas their antimicrobial potential was studied using the
      microdilution method. DPPH. scavenging activity of G. lucidum fermentation
      filtrates was significantly higher than that of G. applanatum and G. carnosum,
      with the maximum (39.67%) obtained from strain BEOFB 432. This filtrate also
      contained the highest concentrations of phenols (134.89 MUg gallic acid
      equivalents/mL) and flavonoids (42.20 MUg quercetin equivalent/mL). High
      correlations between the activity and phenol content in the extracts showed that
      these compounds were active components of the antioxidative activity. G. lucidum
      strain BEOFB 432 was the most effective antibacterial agent, whereas strain BEOFB
      434 has proven to be the most effective antifungal agent. The study showed that
      Ganoderma spp. fermentation filtrates are novel potent antioxidative and
      antimicrobial agents that could be obtained more quickly and cheaper than
      basidiocarps. 

PMID- 27649602
TI  - Pharmacokinetic Studies of Ganoderic Acids from the Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal
      Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (Agaricomycetes), by LC-MS/MS.
AB  - Ganoderma lucidum is a famous medicinal mushroom that has been widely used in
      clinical practice and as a dietary supplementa. The triterpenoid ganoderic acids
      are the main constituents of G. lucidum. To determine the pharmacokinetic
      characteristics of ganoderic acids, we developed and validated a sensitive and
      selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to determine
      simultaneously the concentration of 4 representative ganoderic acids in rat
      plasma after oral administration of the extract from G. lucidum. Because of the
      similarity of their chemical structures, the 4 components exhibited similar
      pharmacokinetic behaviors in some aspects. However, some of the pharmacokinetic
      parameters and the reabsorption peaks in the plasma concentration-time curves of
      ganoderic acids B and E after oral administration of the extract were different
      from those of ganoderic acids D and A because of the metabolic transformation
      among the ganoderic acids. These results increase our knowledge about the use of
      G. lucidum. 

PMID- 27649603
TI  - Quantification of Water-Soluble Metabolites in Medicinal Mushrooms Using Proton
      NMR Spectroscopy.
AB  - The water-soluble metabolites in 5 mushrooms were identified and quantified using
      proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and software for targeted
      metabolite detection and quantification. In total, 35 compounds were found in
      Agaricus brasiliensis, 25 in Taiwanofungus camphoratus, 23 in Ganoderma lucidum
      (Taiwan) and Lentinus edodes, and 16 in G. lucidum (China). Total amounts of all
      identified metabolites in A. brasiliensis, T. camphoratus, G. lucidum, G. lucidum
      (China), and L. edodes were 149,950.51, 12,834.18, 9,549.09, 2,788.41, and
      111,726.51 mg/kg dry weight, respectively. These metabolites were categorized
      into 4 groups: free amino acids and derivatives, carbohydrates, carboxylic acids,
      and nucleosides. Carbohydrates were the most abundant metabolites among all 4
      groups, with mannitol having the highest concentration among all analyzed
      metabolites (848-94,104 mg/kg dry weight). Principal components analysis (PCA)
      showed obvious distinction among the metabolites of the 5 different kinds of
      mushrooms analyzed in this study. Thus PCA could provide an optional analytical
      way of identifying and recognizing the compositions of flavor products.
      Furthermore, the results of this study demonstrate that NMRbased metabolomics is
      a powerful tool for differentiating between various medicinal mushrooms. 

PMID- 27649604
TI  - Black Hoof Medicinal Mushroom Phellinus linteus (Agaricomycetes) Extracts Protect
      Against Radiation-Induced Hematopoietic Abnormality in Mice.
AB  - We investigated the effects of Phellinus linteus extracts (PLEs) against
      radiation damage in mice. First, BALB/c mice were irradiated once with gamma-rays
      at 4, 5, 6, or 8 Gy and allowed to recover for 20 days. Results reveal that 8-Gy
      radiation caused death in 100% of mice on day 13, and 6-Gy radiation caused death
      in 86.7% of mice (13/15) at the end of the experiment, whereas 4- and 5-Gy
      radiation did not result in any death. We then used 5-Gy gamma-ray radiation to
      examine the protective effects of PLEs. Mice were orally administered a PLE (500,
      1000, and 1500 mg/kg) daily for 2 weeks before radiation and for 6 weeks after
      radiation. gamma-Ray radiation significantly decreased body weight starting from
      week 2 after radiation. Supplementation with a median and high dose of PLE
      significantly restored body weights starting at weeks 5 and 3, respectively. The
      radiation-protective agent WR2721 (200 mg/kg intraperitoneally) restored body
      weights starting at week 4. White blood cells, platelets, red blood cells, and
      hemoglobin were significantly decreased by radiation, and PLEs (primarily at high
      doses) and WR2721 significantly prevented hematologic abnormality. These results
      suggest that PLE has potential as a radioprotective agent. 

PMID- 27649605
TI  - Determination and Multivariate Analysis of Mineral Elements in the Medicinal
      Hoelen Mushroom, Wolfiporia extensa (Agaricomycetes), from China.
AB  - Concentrations of 11 elements (As, Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr, and Zn)
      from the medicinal and edible mushroom Wolfiporia extensa were determined using
      atomic fluorescence spectrometry (for As and Se) and inductively coupled plasma
      atomic emission spectrometry (for Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn). All
      the samples were collected from 6 regions of Yuxi in Yunnan Province in the
      southwest of China and were digested with concentrated nitric acid and hydrogen
      peroxide in a microwave system. The recovery rates of standard addition ranged
      from 98.24% to 111.8%; the correlation coefficients were all above 0.999. The
      amounts of As (0.009-0.41 MUg . g-1 dry weight [dw]), Cd (0-0.266 MUg . g-1 dw),
      and Pb (0-2.6 MUg . g-1 dw) were below the permissible limits in food that are
      promulgated by the World Health Organization. All the element concentrations
      determined in this study were proved at the common level. The result of principal
      component analysis indicated that 5 principal components were extracted from 11
      elements, which revealed 74.7% of all variable information. The results of
      cluster analysis mainly showed the presence of 3 metal groups. 

PMID- 27649606
TI  - Cloning and Characterization of a Squalene Synthase Gene from the Chaga Medicinal
      Mushroom, Inonotus obliquus (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - Squalene synthase catalyzes the condensation of 2 molecules of farnesyl
      diphosphate to produce squalene, the first committed precursor for sterol,
      brassinosteroid, and triterpene biosynthesis. A squalene synthase gene,
      designated IoSQS, was isolated from Inonotus obliquus, a medicinal mushroom that
      produces a plethora of bioactive triterpenes. IoSQS complementary DNA was found
      to contain an open reading frame of 1476 bp, encoding a protein of 491 amino
      acids with a calculated molecular mass of 55.85 kDa. The IoSQS genomic DNA
      sequence consisted of 1813 bp and contained 4 exons and 3 introns. The
      restriction fragment polymorphisms revealed by Southern blot analysis suggested
      that IoSQS was a single-copy gene. Promoter analysis indicated that the 5'
      upstream region of IoSQS possessed various potential elements associated with
      physiological and environmental factors. The expression pattern of IoSQS in
      different stages and under methyl jasmonate treatment correlated with the
      accumulation of total triterpenoids and was consistent with the predicted results
      of the IoSQS promoter region. The N-terminal 466 residues of the hydrophilic
      sequence were expressed as a His-tagged protein in Escherichia coli, and the
      resultant bacterial crude extract was incubated with farnesyl diphosphate and
      NADPH. Squalene was detected in vitro in reaction mixture by high-performance
      liquid chromatography analysis. These results suggest that the IoSQS enzyme is
      involved in squalene production in I. obliquus. 

PMID- 27649607
TI  - Chemical Composition of Ethanolic Extracts of Some Wild Mushrooms from Tanzania
      and Their Medicinal Potentials.
AB  - The ethanolic extracts of 5 edible and inedible wild mushrooms collected from the
      Southern Highlands of Tanzania were characterized by gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry. A total of 75 chemical compounds were obtained, mainly fatty acids,
      carotenoids, alkaloids, phenols, terpernes, steroids, pyranoside, saccharides,
      and amino acids. Chemical compounds were identified from the ethanolic extract of
      Russula cellulata, R. kivuensis, Lactarius densifolius, L. gymnocarpoides, and
      Lactarius sp. In addition, mass spectra of 4 major groups of compounds were also
      determined. This study confirms the presence of some important bioactive
      compounds, such as essential fatty acids (oleic and linoleic), amino acids, and
      carotenoids. The reported chemical profiles give an insight into the use of wild
      mushrooms as a potential source of bioactive compounds for nutraceuticals and
      pharmaceuticals. 

PMID- 27649610
TI  - Prevention and treatment of white spot lesions during and after fixed orthodontic
      treatment: A systematic literature review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of fluoride and
      casein topical preparations in the prevention of white spot lesions during and
      after fixed orthodontic treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Information search for
      controlled studies on humans published in the English language between 2008 and
      2013 was conducted in Medline via PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Oxford University
      Press: Oxford journals and The Cochrane Library, as well as the Web search Google
      Scholar. 177 articles were reviewed; eleven clinical studies fulfilled all
      inclusion criteria. RESULTS: In the clinical studies it was concluded that high
      concentration fluoride supplements are effective in reducing white spot lesions.
      Results of the studies showed the same usefulness of fluoride varnish, MI Paste,
      and usual oral hygiene using 1100 ppm of fluoride toothpaste. Effect on the
      prevention and treatment of white spot lesions of oral hygiene with toothpaste
      containing 1450 ppm of fluoride in orthodontic patients was evaluated. The
      positive effect of casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate in white
      spot lesions treatment was found. Otherwise in some clinical studies use of
      casein derivates during fixed orthodontics for white spot lesions treatment was
      not effective. CONCLUSIONS: More clinical studies conducted during last five
      years yielded significantly positive results about the effectiveness of fluoride
      and caseine supplements in ameliorating white spot lesions during and after fixed
      orthodontic treatment. For a higher-risk patient group, additional supplements
      such as high-concentrated fluoride varnish, chewing sticks, or casein derivates,
      are required. A good oral hygiene regimen using high-fluoride toothpaste is as
      effective as fluoride or casein derivates in the prevention of new white spot
      lesions formation.

PMID- 27649608
TI  - Assessing the effectiveness of sustainable land management policies for combating
      desertification: A data mining approach.
AB  - This study investigates the relationship between fine resolution, local-scale
      biophysical and socioeconomic contexts within which land degradation occurs, and
      the human responses to it. The research draws on experimental data collected
      under different territorial and socioeconomic conditions at 586 field sites in
      five Mediterranean countries (Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco). We
      assess the level of desertification risk under various land management practices
      (terracing, grazing control, prevention of wildland fires, soil erosion control
      measures, soil water conservation measures, sustainable farming practices, land
      protection measures and financial subsidies) taken as possible responses to land
      degradation. A data mining approach, incorporating principal component analysis,
      non-parametric correlations, multiple regression and canonical analysis, was
      developed to identify the spatial relationship between land management
      conditions, the socioeconomic and environmental context (described using 40
      biophysical and socioeconomic indicators) and desertification risk. Our analysis
      identified a number of distinct relationships between the level of
      desertification experienced and the underlying socioeconomic context, suggesting
      that the effectiveness of responses to land degradation is strictly dependent on
      the local biophysical and socioeconomic context. Assessing the latent
      relationship between land management practices and the biophysical/socioeconomic
      attributes characterizing areas exposed to different levels of desertification
      risk proved to be an indirect measure of the effectiveness of field actions
      contrasting land degradation.

PMID- 27649609
TI  - Comparison between silver- and copper-modified zeolite-rich tuffs as microbicide
      agents for Escherichia coli and Candida albicans.
AB  - Zeolite-rich tuff from the State of Chihuahua was modified with silver or copper
      ions (ZChAg and ZChCu) to evaluate its microbicidal effect against Escherichia
      coli (E. coli) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) suspended in an aqueous
      solution in order to compare the microbial disinfection kinetics between bacteria
      and yeast. The zeolite-rich tuff was treated with AgNO3 or CuCl2 solutions. The
      materials obtained were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM),
      energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the
      textural properties were also determined by BET-analyses. The concentration of Ag
      and Cu was verified in the zeolitic materials using neutron activation analysis.
      The experimental data were adjusted to both Chick and Chik-Watson models to
      describe the kinetic behavior of the process. It was found that when the mass of
      ZChAg increased, the survival microorganisms notably decreased. The E. coli and
      C. albicans showed higher resistance in contact with ZChCu even when the mass of
      such material was 10-20 times higher than the mass of ZChAg. Chick and Chik
      Watson constants showed that the kinetics of the disinfection process depended on
      the desorption of the exchange ion that modified the structure of the zeolitic
      material, its concentration in aqueous medium, its oligodynamic properties, and
      each microorganism's characteristics (Gram-negative bacteria and yeast). The
      kinetic desorption of Ag and Cu from the corresponding modified-zeolite-rich
      tuffs was also considered in this work. In this case, the Higuchi and Korsmeyer
      Peppas models were applied.

PMID- 27649611
TI  - Hypericum perforatum L. treatment restored bone mass changes in swimming stressed
      rats.
AB  - Stress, via corticosteroids release, influences bone mass density. Hypericum
      perforatum (Hp) a traditional remedy possess antidepressive activity (serotonin
      reuptake inhibitor) and wound healing properties. Hp preparation contains mainly
      hypericin, hyperforin, hyperoside and flavonoids exerting oestrogen-mimetic
      effect. Cold swimming represents an experimental model of stress associating
      mental strain and corporal exhaustion. OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the Hp
      effect on femur and mandible bone mass changes in rats under cold forced swimming
      procedure. METHODS: 30 male Wistar rats were randomized into three groups. Group
      A was treated with Methanolic extract of Hp (Jarsin(r)) via gastroesophageal
      catheter, and was submitted to cold swimming stress for 10 min/daily. Group B was
      submitted to cold stress, since group C served as control. Experiment duration
      was 10 days. Haematocrite and serum free fatty acids (FFA) were estimated.
      Furthermore volume and specific weight of each bone as well as bone mass density
      via dual energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DEXA) were measured. Statistic analysis by
      t-test. RESULTS: Hp treatment restores the stress injuries. Adrenals and bone
      mass density regain their normal values. CONCLUSIONS: Injuries occurring by
      forced swimming stress in the rats are significantly improved by Hp treatment.
      Estrogen-like effects of Hp flavonoids eventually may act favorable in bone
      remodeling.

PMID- 27649612
TI  - Factors influencing the caries experience of 6 and 12 year old children in Riga,
      Latvia.
AB  - AIM: Authors assessed the influence of drinking tea with sugar, level of
      cariogenic microflora and use of fluoride toothpaste and tablets on caries
      experience of 6 and 12 year old children in Riga, Latvia. METHODS: 141 six and
      164 twelve year old children were examined clinically and with bitewing
      radiographs to determine their dmft/DMFT and dmfs/DMFS. Children or their parents
      responded to questionnaire on number teaspoons of sugar (TS) used per cup of tea,
      number of cups of tea consumed daily, using fluoride or non-fluoride toothpaste
      (TP), frequency of toothbrushing, using fluoride tablets or not (ft). Salivary
      mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli (LB) levels were measured in children
      with dmft/DMFT>4.0 for age of 6 (73% (n=103)), and for age of 12 (54% (n=88)).
      Impact of variables in caries status was determined using frequency tables and
      ANOVA, while proportion differences were tested using chi-square test. RESULTS:
      In 6 year olds, statistically significant associations were observed between the
      salivary microflora (MS, LB) and dt/DT (p=0.032; dt=3.71, DT=0.42), use of F
      toothpaste (p=0.020), and TS (p<0.001). In 12 year olds, statistically
      significant (p<0.01) associations were observed between salivary microflora and
      dt/DT, ds/DS and dmft/DMFT. In both age groups, significant (p<0.001) association
      was demonstrated between dmfs/DMFS and salivary microflora, F-toothpaste and TS.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicated that the caries development in Latvian
      children was associated with consumption of sugary tea and use of non-fluoride
      toothpaste.

PMID- 27649613
TI  - Vertical and sagittal morphology of the facial skeleton and the pharyngeal
      airway.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between sagittal and
      vertical facial skeletal morphology, and the morphology of the upper and lower
      pharyngeal airway. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Pharyngeal airway structures were
      studied in 101 healthy children (36 boys and 65 girls) aged 7-17 years who were
      referred for orthodontic treatment. The sample was divided into two groups:
      according size of the ANB angle group Class I: angle till 4o was considered as
      skeletal Angle Class I; group Class II: ANB angle more than 4o, considered as
      skeletal Angle Class II. The vertical pattern was classified using the SN-MP
      angle, with angle less than 34 taken as normal, and more than 34 - as high
      vertical growth patterns. The linear measurements and angles were calculated
      using special purpose software (Dolphin v. 11.0). Pharyngeal width was measured
      at different point levels using Arnett/Gunson airway analysis. RESULTS: A
      statistically significant difference between the two groups, and airway width on
      all levels was statistically significantly narrower in Angle Class II. Pearson's
      correlation coefficient showed a negative statistically significant dependence
      between nasopharyngeal airway, oropharyngeal airway space, and SN-MP angle.
      CONCLUSION: Statistically significantly narrower airways were found in patients
      with ANB more than 4 degrees . In groups divided by SN-MP angle statistically
      significant difference have not found. Nasopharyngeal airway and oropharyngeal
      airway spaces statistically significantly negatively correlated with the SN-MP
      angle: the bigger the SN-MP angle, the smaller were nasopharyngeal and
      oropharyngeal airway spaces.

PMID- 27649614
TI  - Prevention of occlusal caries using a ozone, sealant and fluoride varnish in
      children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare ozone with fissure sealants and fluoride varnish in the
      prevention of occlusal caries in permanent premolars of children in 12 months
      period. METHODS: A clinical trial was conducted on four groups of 10 years old
      schoolchildren: a group 1 - control group (n=50); a group 2 (n=21) in which
      fluoride varnish was applied and re-applied up to 12 months; a group 3 (n=17) in
      which sealant was applied and reapplied up to 12 months; and a group 4 (n=19) in
      which ozone was applied and re-applied up to 12 months. Percent caries reduction
      was studied in these initially healthy molars with complete occlusal eruption:
      173 (control), 103 (varnish), 78 (sealants) and 103 (ozone) premolars met
      inclusion criteria. All patients were examined using DMFT index and Greene -
      Vermillion index at a baseline and in 6 months with a follow up period of 12
      months. Each tooth was considered as the unit of the analysis. Data were analyzed
      using t-test and the chi-square tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of caries was: in
      group 1 - 3.5% (n=6), in group 2 and group 3 - 0% (n=0), in group 4 - 2.9%,
      (n=3). The changes in occlusal caries incidence between all groups were not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The placement of fissure sealant,
      application of fluoride varnish, and application of ozone - are recommended to
      use in prevention of occlusal pit and fissure caries in permanent premolars in
      children. Furthermore, they are not significantly different from one another in
      their effectiveness.

PMID- 27649615
TI  - Direct composite resin crown fabrication on a custom formed root canal post -
      EverStick(r)POST.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: EverStick glass fibre posts have been advocated for a new method of a
      direct post and core fabrication. The EverStick posts have adhesive surface and
      are flexible before curing therefore can be shaped individually. The purpose of
      this article is to describe a new technique of direct composite resin crown
      fabrication on a custom made EverStick root canal post. METHODS: At first a
      rubber dam isolation was achieved and the EverStick post was fabricated following
      manufacturer's instructions. The crown fabrication started from the palatal layer
      of composite resin (Gaenial JE, GC) which was applied by means of a silicon index
      and light cured for 20 seconds (G-Light, GC).A dual cure self-adhesive resin
      cement (G-CEM Link Ace A2, GC) was used to cement the post and light cured for 40
      seconds. Two further layers of Gaenial in AO2, A2 shades were placed to obtain
      the dentin shape and shade of the crown. For the enamel layer of the restoration
      Gaenial BW shade was used. Each layer was light cured separately for 20 seconds.
      The restoration was polished with diamonds (NTI-KAHLA GmbH, Germany) under water
      cooling. The final gloss was achieved by means of Soft-Lex discs (3M ESPE, USA)
      and a polishing paste (Gradia diapolisher, GC). RESULTS: The results achieved
      after 3 days and 12 months showed satisfactory aesthetics and marginal integrity
      of the restoration. CONCLUSION: Direct composite resin crown fabrication on a
      custom formed root canal post could be used as an economical and conservative
      treatment option.

PMID- 27649616
TI  - What explains rare and conspicuous colours in a snail? A test of time-series data
      against models of drift, migration or selection.
AB  - It is intriguing that conspicuous colour morphs of a prey species may be
      maintained at low frequencies alongside cryptic morphs. Negative frequency
      dependent selection by predators using search images ('apostatic selection') is
      often suggested without rejecting alternative explanations. Using a maximum
      likelihood approach we fitted predictions from models of genetic drift,
      migration, constant selection, heterozygote advantage or negative frequency
      dependent selection to time-series data of colour frequencies in isolated
      populations of a marine snail (Littorina saxatilis), re-established with
      perturbed colour morph frequencies and followed for >20 generations. Snails of
      conspicuous colours (white, red, banded) are naturally rare in the study area
      (usually <10%) but frequencies were manipulated to levels of ~50% (one colour per
      population) in 8 populations at the start of the experiment in 1992. In 2013,
      frequencies had declined to ~15-45%. Drift alone could not explain these changes.
      Migration could not be rejected in any population, but required rates much higher
      than those recorded. Directional selection was rejected in three populations in
      favour of balancing selection. Heterozygote advantage and negative frequency
      dependent selection could not be distinguished statistically, although overall
      the results favoured the latter. Populations varied idiosyncratically as mild or
      variable colour selection (3-11%) interacted with demographic stochasticity, and
      the overall conclusion was that multiple mechanisms may contribute to maintaining
      the polymorphisms.

PMID- 27649617
TI  - The 'heritability' of domestication and its functional partitioning in the pig.
AB  - We propose to estimate the proportion of variance explained by regression on
      genome-wide markers (or genomic heritability) when wild/domestic status is
      considered the phenotype of interest. This approach differs from the standard Fst
      in that it can accommodate genetic similarity between individuals in a general
      form. We apply this strategy to complete genome data from 47 wild and domestic
      pigs from Asia and Europe. When we partitioned the total genomic variance into
      components associated to subsets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      defined in terms of their annotation, we found that potentially deleterious non
      synonymous mutations (9566 SNPs) explained as much genetic variance as the whole
      set of 25 million SNPs. This suggests that domestication may have affected
      protein sequence to a larger extent than regulatory or other kinds of mutations.
      A pathway-guided analysis revealed ovarian steroidogenesis and leptin signaling
      as highly relevant in domestication. The genomic regression approach proposed in
      this study revealed molecular processes not apparent through typical
      differentiation statistics. We propose that at least some of these processes are
      likely new discoveries because domestication is a dynamic process of genetic
      selection, which may not be completely characterized by a static metric like Fst.
      Nevertheless, and despite some particularly influential mutation types or
      pathways, our analyses tend to rule out a simplistic genetic basis for the
      domestication process: neither a single pathway nor a unique set of SNPs can
      explain the process as a whole.

PMID- 27649618
TI  - Predicting rice hybrid performance using univariate and multivariate GBLUP models
      based on North Carolina mating design II.
AB  - Genomic selection (GS) is more efficient than traditional phenotype-based methods
      in hybrid breeding. The present study investigated the predictive ability of
      genomic best linear unbiased prediction models for rice hybrids based on the
      North Carolina mating design II, in which a total of 115 inbred rice lines were
      crossed with 5 male sterile lines. Using 8 traits of the 575 (115 * 5) hybrids
      from two environments, both univariate (UV) and multivariate (MV) prediction
      analyses, including additive and dominance effects, were performed. Using UV
      models, the prediction results of cross-validation indicated that including
      dominance effects could improve the predictive ability for some traits in rice
      hybrids. Additionally, we could take advantage of GS even for a low-heritability
      trait, such as grain yield per plant (GY), because a modest increase in the
      number of top selection could generate a higher, more stable mean phenotypic
      value for rice hybrids. Thus this strategy was used to select superior potential
      crosses between the 115 inbred lines and those between the 5 male sterile lines
      and other genotyped varieties. In our MV research, an MV model (MV-ADV) was
      developed utilizing a MV relationship matrix constructed with auxiliary variates.
      Based on joint analysis with multi-trait (MT) or with multi-environment, the
      prediction results confirmed the superiority of MV-ADV over an UV model,
      particularly in the MT scenario for a low-heritability target trait (such as GY),
      with highly correlated auxiliary traits. For a high-heritability trait (such as
      thousand-grain weight), MT prediction is unnecessary, and UV prediction is
      sufficient.

PMID- 27649619
TI  - Importance of incomplete lineage sorting and introgression in the origin of
      shared genetic variation between two closely related pines with overlapping
      distributions.
AB  - Genetic variation shared between closely related species may be due to retention
      of ancestral polymorphisms because of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) and/or
      introgression following secondary contact. It is challenging to distinguish ILS
      and introgression because they generate similar patterns of shared genetic
      diversity, but this is nonetheless essential for inferring accurately the history
      of species with overlapping distributions. To address this issue, we sequenced 33
      independent intron loci across the genome of two closely related pine species
      (Pinus massoniana Lamb. and Pinus hwangshanensis Hisa) from Southeast China.
      Population structure analyses revealed that the species showed slightly more
      admixture in parapatric populations than in allopatric populations. Levels of
      interspecific differentiation were lower in parapatry than in allopatry.
      Approximate Bayesian computation suggested that the most likely speciation
      scenario explaining this pattern was a long period of isolation followed by a
      secondary contact. Ecological niche modeling suggested that a gradual range
      expansion of P. hwangshanensis during the Pleistocene climatic oscillations could
      have been the cause of the overlap. Our study therefore suggests that secondary
      introgression, rather than ILS, explains most of the shared nuclear genomic
      variation between these two species and demonstrates the complementarity of
      population genetics and ecological niche modeling in understanding gene flow
      history. Finally, we discuss the importance of contrasting results from markers
      with different dynamics of migration, namely nuclear, chloroplast and
      mitochondrial DNA.

PMID- 27649620
TI  - Like a pig out of water: seaborne spread of domestic pigs in Southern Italy and
      Sardinia during the Bronze and Iron Ages.
AB  - Southern Italy has a long history of human occupation and passage of different
      cultures since the Early Holocene. Repeated, ancient introductions of pigs in
      several geographic areas in Europe make it difficult to understand pig
      translocation and domestication in Italy. The archeozoological record may provide
      fundamental information on this, hence shedding light on peopling and on trading
      among different ancient cultures in the Mediterranean. Yet, because of the scanty
      nature of the fossil record, ancient remains from human-associated animals are
      somewhat rare. Fortunately, ancient DNA analysis as applied to domestic species
      proved to be a powerful tool in revealing human migrations. Herein, we analyzed
      80-bp fragment of mitochondrial DNA control region from 27 Sus scrofa ancient
      samples retrieved from Southern Italian and Sardinian archeological sites,
      spanning in age from the Mesolithic to the Roman period. Our results surprisingly
      indicate the presence of the Near Eastern haplotype Y1 on both Italy's major
      islands (Sardinia and Sicily) during the Bronze Age, suggesting the seaborne
      transportation of domestic pigs by humans at least during 1600-1300 BC. The
      presence of the Italian E2 clade in domestic contexts shows that the indigenous
      wild boar was effectively domesticated or incorporated into domestic stocks in
      Southern Italy during the Bronze Age, although the E2 haplotype has never been
      found in modern domestic breeds. Pigs belonging to the endemic E2 clade were thus
      traded between the Peninsula and Sardinia by the end of the second millennium BC
      and this genetic signature is still detected in Sardinian feral pigs.

PMID- 27649622
TI  - Construction of 3-Fold-Interpenetrated Three-Dimensional Metal-Organic Frameworks
      of Nickel(II) for Highly Efficient Capture and Conversion of Carbon Dioxide.
AB  - A series of three new isostructural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) of
      nickel(II), [{Ni(muco)(bpa)(2H2O)}.2H2O] (1), [{Ni(muco)(bpe)(2H2O)}.2.5H2O] (2),
      and [{Ni(muco)(azopy)(2H2O)}.2H2O] (3) [where muco = trans,trans-muconate
      dianion, bpa = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane, bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene, and
      azopy = 4,4'-bis(azobipyridine)], have been synthesized and characterized by
      single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and other physicochemical methods.
      Compounds 1-3 exhibit an interesting 3-fold-interpenetrated three-dimensional
      pillar-layered framework structure constituted of 4-coordinating (4-c) NiII nodes
      with {66}-neb net topology. Remarkably, in spite of 3-fold interpenetration, the
      structures possess one-dimensional channels with dimensions of ~8.05 * 5.25 A2.
      Gas (N2, Ar, H2, and CO2) adsorption studies of compounds 2 and 3 revealed
      selective adsorption properties for CO2 over other gases. In all three
      structures, the 4-c NiII node has two coordinated H2O molecules that can be
      reversibly removed by high-temperature treatment to generate a dehydrated
      framework composed of highly unsaturated, Lewis acidic NiII ions. Further, the
      activated compounds of 1-3 act as efficient recyclable catalysts for
      heterogeneous cycloaddition of CO2 with styrene oxide, resulting in cyclic
      carbonate with high conversion and selectivity. Interestingly, the cycloaddition
      reactions of CO2 with bulky epoxides show a decrease in the activity with an
      increase in the alkyl chain length of the substrate due to confinement of the
      pore size of the MOF. The high catalytic efficiency and size-dependent
      selectivity for smaller epoxides show the potential utility of 1 as a promising
      heterogeneous catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2. Furthermore, the catalyst
      can be easily separated and reused for several cycles without significant
      reduction in the catalytic activity as well as structural rigidity. Compounds 1-3
      represent rare examples of interpenetrated MOFs exhibiting selective storage and
      conversion of CO2 at mild conditions.

PMID- 27649623
TI  - Risk of Remote Seizures After Perinatal Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - Investigators from the University of California San Francisco and Kaiser
      Permanente Medical Centers in Oakland report outcome of perinatal arterial
      ischemic stroke (PAIS) in a population-based cohort, with particular attention to
      the incidence of seizures. 

PMID- 27649621
TI  - On the importance of skewed offspring distributions and background selection in
      virus population genetics.
AB  - Many features of virus populations make them excellent candidates for population
      genetic study, including a very high rate of mutation, high levels of nucleotide
      diversity, exceptionally large census population sizes, and frequent positive
      selection. However, these attributes also mean that special care must be taken in
      population genetic inference. For example, highly skewed offspring distributions,
      frequent and severe population bottleneck events associated with infection and
      compartmentalization, and strong purifying selection all affect the distribution
      of genetic variation but are often not taken into account. Here, we draw
      particular attention to multiple-merger coalescent events and background
      selection, discuss potential misinference associated with these processes, and
      highlight potential avenues for better incorporating them into future population
      genetic analyses.

PMID- 27649624
TI  - Dioscin attenuates gastric ischemia/reperfusion injury through the down
      regulation of PKC/ERK1/2 signaling via PKCalpha and PKCbeta2 inhibition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously reported the promising effects of dioscin against
      cerebral and renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, its role against
      gastric I/R injury has not yet been reported. Thus, the aim of the present work
      was to investigate the protective effect and possible mechanisms of dioscin
      against gastric I/R. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) model
      in GES-1 cells and the celiac artery occlusion model in rats were carried out in
      the study. RESULTS: Dioscin markedly attenuated H/R insult in GES-1 cells and
      gastric I/R injury in rats. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that dioscin-induced
      gastric protection was accompanied by inhibiting the levels of PKCalpha, PKCbeta2
      and phosphorylation via decreasing Raf-1 level. Blockade of PKC/ERK1/2 signaling
      pathway by dioscin decreased MEK1/2 level, ERK1/2 phosphorylation and the nuclear
      translocation, NF-kappaB and AP-1 transcriptional activities, pro-inflammatory
      cytokine responses, and up-regulated PPAR-gamma level. Moreover, the results of
      small interfering RNA (siRNA) and overexpression of PKCalpha and PKCbeta2
      confirmed that dioscin attenuated gastric I/R injury through inhibiting
      PKC/ERK1/2 signaling by down-regulating PKCalpha and PKCbeta2. CONCLUSION: These
      data confirmed the protective effect of dioscin against gastric I/R injury, which
      should be developed as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of acute gastric
      mucosal lesions in the future.

PMID- 27649625
TI  - Eating disorders: from bench to bedside and back.
AB  - The central nervous system and viscera constitute a functional ensemble, the gut
      brain axis, that allows bidirectional information flow that contributes to the
      control of feeding behavior based not only on the homeostatic, but also on the
      hedonic aspects of food intake. The prevalence of eating disorders, such as
      anorexia nervosa, binge eating and obesity, poses an enormous clinical burden,
      and involves an ever-growing percentage of the population worldwide. Clinical and
      preclinical research is constantly adding new information to the field and
      orienting further studies with the aim of providing a foundation for developing
      more specific and effective treatment approaches to pathological conditions. A
      recent symposium at the XVI Congress of the Societa Italiana di Neuroscienze
      (SINS, 2015) 'Eating disorders: from bench to bedside and back' brought together
      basic scientists and clinicians with the objective of presenting novel
      perspectives in the neurobiology of eating disorders. Clinical studies presented
      by V. Ricca illustrated some genetic aspects of the psychopathology of anorexia
      nervosa. Preclinical studies addressed different issues ranging from the
      description of animal models that mimic human pathologies such as anorexia
      nervosa, diet-induced obesity, and binge eating disorders (T. Lutz), to novel
      interactions between peripheral signals and central circuits that govern food
      intake, mood and stress (A. Romano and G. Provensi). The gut-brain axis has
      received increasing attention in the recent years as preclinical studies are
      demonstrating that the brain and visceral organs such as the liver and guts, but
      also the microbiota are constantly engaged in processes of reciprocal
      communication, with unexpected physiological and pathological implications.
      Eating is controlled by a plethora of factors; genetic predisposition, early life
      adverse conditions, peripheral gastrointestinal hormones that act directly or
      indirectly on the central nervous system, all are receiving attention as they
      presumably contribute to the development of eating disorders.

PMID- 27649627
TI  - Allergic sensitisation in early childhood: Patterns and related factors in PARIS
      birth cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic sensitisation is poorly documented in infants. This study
      aims to provide new insights into allergic sensitisation patterns and related
      factors in infancy. METHODS: This study concerns 1860 infants involved in the
      Pollution and Asthma Risk: an Infant Study (PARIS) population-based birth cohort
      who had a standardised health examination when 18 months old, from 2004 to 2008.
      Sensitisation was assessed by measurements of serum specific IgE to 12 food and 4
      inhalant allergens and defined by IgE>=0.35kUA/L. Information regarding lifestyle
      and environment were obtained from questionnaires prospectively administered.
      RESULTS: Prevalence of allergic sensitisation to any allergen, to food allergens,
      and to aeroallergens was 13.8%, 12.3%, and 2.3%, respectively. Multiple
      sensitisation (to at least two allergens) concerned 6.2% of toddlers. Intrinsic
      factors such as male gender, family history of allergy, and high birth weight
      increased the risk of food allergen sensitisation and multiple sensitisation.
      Caesarean section was also positively associated with multiple sensitisation. Day
      care attendance was negatively related to food allergen, aeroallergen, and
      multiple sensitisation. A cat entering the baby's room in early life was strongly
      associated with aeroallergen sensitisation (ORa 3.21, 95%CI: 1.29-8.01). An
      introduction of meat in infant's diet after 6 months of age was negatively
      related to food allergen sensitisation (ORa 0.46, 95%CI: 0.24-0.91). CONCLUSION:
      Our results suggest that intrinsic factors and indicators of exposure to
      microorganisms such as caesarean section and day-care attendance may be
      associated with inhalant as well as food allergen sensitisation in infancy. For
      example, male gender, family history of allergy, high birth weight, and caesarean
      section could be positively related whereas day-care attendance could be
      negatively related to both aeroallergen and food allergen sensitisation.
      Conversely, early life exposure to inhalant allergens or food allergens may be
      specifically linked to either aeroallergen sensitisation or food allergen
      sensitisation, respectively.

PMID- 27649626
TI  - Wild chimpanzees modify modality of gestures according to the strength of social
      bonds and personal network size.
AB  - Primates form strong and enduring social bonds with others and these bonds have
      important fitness consequences. However, how different types of communication are
      associated with different types of social bonds is poorly understood. Wild
      chimpanzees have a large repertoire of gestures, from visual gestures to tactile
      and auditory gestures. We used social network analysis to examine the association
      between proximity bonds (time spent in close proximity) and rates of gestural
      communication in pairs of chimpanzees when the intended recipient was within 10 m
      of the signaller. Pairs of chimpanzees with strong proximity bonds had higher
      rates of visual gestures, but lower rates of auditory long-range and tactile
      gestures. However, individual chimpanzees that had a larger number of proximity
      bonds had higher rates of auditory and tactile gestures and lower rates of visual
      gestures. These results suggest that visual gestures may be an efficient way to
      communicate with a small number of regular interaction partners, but that tactile
      and auditory gestures may be more effective at communicating with larger numbers
      of weaker bonds. Increasing flexibility of communication may have played an
      important role in managing differentiated social relationships in groups of
      increasing size and complexity in both primate and human evolution.

PMID- 27649630
TI  - [Giant coronary aneurysms in infants with Kawasaki disease].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute vasculitis of unknown origin and
      predominant in males. The long-term effects of the disease depend on whether
      there are coronary lesions, particularly aneurysms. The prognosis of patients
      with giant aneurysms is very poor due to their natural progression to coronary
      thrombosis or severe obstructive lesions. OBJECTIVES: A series of 8 cases is
      presented where the epidemiology and diagnostic methods are described. The
      treatment of the acute and long-term cardiovascular sequelae is also reviewed.
      METHODS: A descriptive analysis was conducted on patients admitted to the
      Paediatric Cardiology Unit of La Fe University Hospital (Valencia) with KD and a
      coronary lesion. RESULTS: More than one artery was involved in all patients.
      Although early diagnosis was established in only two cases, none of the patients
      had severe impairment of ventricular function during the acute phase. Treatment
      included intravenous gammaglobulin and acetylsalicylic acid at anti-inflammatory
      doses during the acute phase. A combination of dual antiplatelet therapy and
      corticosteroids was given in cases of coronary thrombosis. The silent aneurysms
      continue to persist. CONCLUSIONS: KD is the most common cause of acquired heart
      disease in children. The delay in diagnosis is associated with a greater
      likelihood of coronary lesions that could increase the risk of cardiovascular
      events in adulthood. Thus, this subgroup requires close clinical monitoring for a
      better control of cardiovascular risk factors over time.

PMID- 27649629
TI  - Allometry Is a Reasonable Choice in Pediatric Drug Development.
AB  - Pharmacokinetics (PK) plays a key role in bridging drug efficacy and safety from
      adults to pediatric patients. The principal purpose of projecting dosing in
      pediatrics is to guide trial design, not to waive the study per se. This research
      was designed to evaluate whether the allometric scaling (AS) approach is a
      satisfactory method to design PK studies in pediatric patients aged 2 years and
      older. We systematically evaluated drugs that had pediatric label information
      updated from 1998 to 2015. Only intravenous (IV) or oral administration drugs
      with available PK information in both children and adults from FDA-approved
      labels were included. The allometric scaling approach was used to extrapolate
      adult clearance to pediatric clearance. The relative difference between the
      observed and the allometric scaling approach-predicted clearance was summarized
      and used to evaluate the predictive power of the allometric scaling approach. A
      total of 36 drugs eliminated by a metabolic pathway and 10 drugs by the renal
      pathway after intravenous (IV) or oral administration were included. Regardless
      of the administration route, elimination pathway, and age group, the allometric
      scaling approach can predict clearance in pediatric patients within a 2-fold
      difference; 18 of the included drugs were predicted within a 25% difference, and
      31 drugs within a 50% difference. The allometric scaling approach can adequately
      design PK studies in pediatric subjects 2 years and older.

PMID- 27649631
TI  - Oxidation State Dependent Coordination Modes: Accessing an Amidate-Supported
      Nickel(I) delta-bis(C-H) Agostic Complex.
AB  - Amidate-supported two- and three-coordinate NiI complexes were synthesized by
      reduction of the corresponding NiII precursors. A dramatic change in binding mode
      is observed upon reduction from NiII to NiI . The NiI derivatives include an
      unprecedented NiI bis(C-H) agostic complex and a two-coordinate NiI complex.

PMID- 27649628
TI  - Neprilysin is a Mediator of Alternative Renin-Angiotensin-System Activation in
      the Murine and Human Kidney.
AB  - Cardiovascular and renal pathologies are frequently associated with an activated
      renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) and increased levels of its main effector and
      vasoconstrictor hormone angiotensin II (Ang II). Angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2
      (ACE2) has been described as a crucial enzymatic player in shifting the RAS
      towards its so-called alternative vasodilative and reno-protective axis by
      enzymatically converting Ang II to angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)). Yet, the
      relative contribution of ACE2 to Ang-(1-7) formation in vivo has not been
      elucidated. Mass spectrometry based quantification of angiotensin metabolites in
      the kidney and plasma of ACE2 KO mice surprisingly revealed an increase in Ang-(1
      7), suggesting additional pathways to be responsible for alternative RAS
      activation in vivo. Following assessment of angiotensin metabolism in kidney
      homogenates, we identified neprilysin (NEP) to be a major source of renal Ang-(1
      7) in mice and humans. These findings were supported by MALDI imaging, showing
      NEP mediated Ang-(1-7) formation in whole kidney cryo-sections in mice. Finally,
      pharmacologic inhibition of NEP resulted in strongly decreased Ang-(1-7) levels
      in murine kidneys. This unexpected new role of NEP may have implications for the
      combination therapy with NEP-inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor-blockade, which
      has been shown being a promising therapeutic approach for heart failure therapy.

PMID- 27649633
TI  - Congenital malleus bar without congenital aural stenosis or atresia.

PMID- 27649632
TI  - Hearing handicap in patients with chronic kidney disease: a study of the
      different classifications of the degree of hearing loss.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The association between hearing loss and chronic kidney disease and
      hemodialysis has been well documented. However, the classification used for the
      degree of loss may underestimate the actual diagnosis due to specific
      characteristics related to the most affected auditory frequencies. Furthermore,
      correlations of hearing loss and hemodialysis time with hearing handicap remain
      unknown in this population. OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of Lloyd's and
      Kaplan's and The Bureau Internacional d'Audiophonologie classifications in
      chronic kidney disease patients, and to correlate the averages calculated by
      their formulas with hemodialysis time and the hearing handicap. METHODS: This is
      an analytical, observational and cross-sectional study with 80 patients on
      hemodialysis. Tympanometry, speech audiometry, pure tone audiometry and interview
      of patients with hearing loss through Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults.
      Cases were classified according to the degree of loss. The correlations of tone
      averages with hemodialysis time and the total scores of Hearing Handicap
      Inventory for Adults and its domains were verified. RESULTS: 86 ears (53.75%) had
      hearing loss in at least one of the tonal averages in 48 patients who responded
      to Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults. The Bureau Internacional
      d'Audiophonologie classification identified a greater number of cases (n=52) with
      some degree of disability compared to Lloyd and Kaplan (n=16). In the group with
      hemodialysis time of at least 2 years, there was weak but statistically
      significant correlation of The Bureau Internacional d'Audiophonologie
      classification average with hemodialysis time (r=0.363). There were moderate
      correlations of average The Bureau Internacional d'Audiophonologie classification
      (r=0.510) and tritone 2 (r=0.470) with the total scores of Hearing Handicap
      Inventory for Adults and with its social domain. CONCLUSION: The Bureau
      Internacional d'Audiophonologie classification seems to be more appropriate than
      Lloyd's and Kaplan's for use in this population; its average showed correlations
      with hearing loss in patients with hemodialysis time>=2 years and it exhibited
      moderate levels of correlation with the total score of Hearing Handicap Inventory
      for Adults and its social domain (r=0.557 and r=0.512).

PMID- 27649634
TI  - Can yoga therapy stimulate stem cell trafficking from bone marrow?
AB  - It has been established that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from bone marrow
      enter the peripheral circulation intermittently for possible tissue regeneration,
      repair and to take care of daily wear and tear. This is evident from the
      detection of MSCs from peripheral blood. The factors governing this migration
      remain elusive. These MSCs carry out the work of policing and are supposed to
      repair the injured tissues. Thus, these cells help in maintaining the tissue and
      organ homeostasis. Yoga and pranayama originated in India and is now being
      practiced all over the world for positive health. So far, the chemical
      stimulation of bone marrow has been widely used employing injection of colony
      stimulating factor. However, the role of physical factors such as mechanical
      stimulation and stretching has not been substantiated. It is claimed that
      practicing yoga delays senescence, improves the physiological functions of heart
      and lung and yoga postures make the body elastic. It remains to be seen whether
      the yoga therapy promotes trafficking of the stem cells from bone marrow for
      possible repair and regeneration of worn out and degenerating tissues. We cover
      in this short review, mainly the role of physical factors especially the yoga
      therapy on stem cells trafficking from bone marrow.

PMID- 27649636
TI  - An international survey: the role of specialist nurses in adult respiratory
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The last decade has seen an increase in the number of centres able to
      provide venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) internationally
      across different health care systems. To support this growth, a variety of
      staffing arrangements have been adopted depending on local need and availability
      of resources, both in terms of manpower and finances to safely meet the complex
      needs of the patient and circuit management. AIM: The aim of the survey was to
      describe current staffing arrangements of care provision for adult patients on VV
      ECMO, with a focus on understanding the professional roles and responsibilities
      of staff managing the circuit in order to inform further discussion around
      different approaches to staffing. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional
      international survey using an electronic questionnaire emailed to 177 worldwide
      ECMO centres treating adult patients with acute respiratory failure. The survey
      questions were generated through an internal and external iterative process and
      assessed for clarity, content and face validity. RESULTS: The response rate was
      82%. Respondents managed extracorporeal oxygenation for adult respiratory alone
      (75%) or in combination with adult cardiac (67%), paediatric respiratory (62%)
      and paediatric cardiac (58%). The specialist nurse to patient ratio was 1:1 in
      59% of centres, with 24-h/day presence in 74%. Overall, the specialist nurse
      provided the 24-h/day management of the circuit, including interventions.
      Perfusionists were responsible for the technical aspects of circuit management.
      CONCLUSIONS: A specialist nurse with perfusion backup is the staffing arrangement
      implemented by most centres and likely reflects the most efficient use of the
      professional competences available. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Staffing for
      adult respiratory extracorporeal support has important implications for the
      planning of workforce, training and education, quality of service and the number
      of ECMO beds available.

PMID- 27649635
TI  - Recent advances on the anti-cancer properties of Nigella sativa, a widely used
      food additive.
AB  - The use of naturally-occurring agents to regulate tumorigenesis is on the rise.
      Several herbal extracts, pure plant-derived active constituents, and food
      additives have been reported to possess potent anti-cancer properties and cancer
      ameliorating effects. The wide-range anti-cancer effects of Nigella sativa, also
      known as black seed or black cumin, have been extensively studied using different
      in vitro and in vivo models. Here, we provide a comprehensive, analytical review
      of the reported anti-cancer properties of N. sativa seed extracts. This review
      focuses on analyzing experimental findings related to the ability of N. sativa to
      exert anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, anti-oxidant, cytotoxic, anti-mutagenic,
      anti-metastatic, and NK cytotoxic activity enhancing effects against various
      primary cancer cells and cancer cell lines. Moreover, we underline the molecular
      mechanisms of action and the signal transduction pathways implicated in the
      suppression of tumorigenesis by N. sativa. The major signaling pathway utilized
      by N. sativa to manifest its anti-cancer activity is the iNOS signaling pathway.
      This review underscores the recent developments that highlight an effective
      therapeutic potential of N. sativa to suppress tumor development, reduce tumor
      incidence, and ameliorate carcinogenesis. In sum, experimental findings reported
      in the last two decades strongly suggest that N. sativa fractions could serve,
      alone or in combination with known chemotherapeutic drugs, as effective agents to
      control tumor initiation, growth, and metastasis, and hence, treatment of a wide
      range of cancers.

PMID- 27649638
TI  - Increased BOLD Signals Elicited by High Gamma Auditory Stimulation of the Left
      Auditory Cortex in Acute State Schizophrenia.
AB  - Recent MRI studies have shown that schizophrenia is characterized by reductions
      in brain gray matter, which progress in the acute state of the disease. Cortical
      circuitry abnormalities in gamma oscillations, such as deficits in the auditory
      steady state response (ASSR) to gamma frequency (>30-Hz) stimulation, have also
      been reported in schizophrenia patients. In the current study, we investigated
      neural responses during click stimulation by BOLD signals. We acquired BOLD
      responses elicited by click trains of 20, 30, 40 and 80-Hz frequencies from 15
      patients with acute episode schizophrenia (AESZ), 14 symptom-severity-matched
      patients with non-acute episode schizophrenia (NASZ), and 24 healthy controls
      (HC), assessed via a standard general linear-model-based analysis. The AESZ group
      showed significantly increased ASSR-BOLD signals to 80-Hz stimuli in the left
      auditory cortex compared with the HC and NASZ groups. In addition, enhanced 80-Hz
      ASSR-BOLD signals were associated with more severe auditory hallucination
      experiences in AESZ participants. The present results indicate that neural over
      activation occurs during 80-Hz auditory stimulation of the left auditory cortex
      in individuals with acute state schizophrenia. Given the possible association
      between abnormal gamma activity and increased glutamate levels, our data may
      reflect glutamate toxicity in the auditory cortex in the acute state of
      schizophrenia, which might lead to progressive changes in the left transverse
      temporal gyrus.

PMID- 27649637
TI  - Psychedelics Recruit Multiple Cellular Types and Produce Complex Transcriptional
      Responses Within the Brain.
AB  - There has recently been a resurgence of interest in psychedelics, substances that
      profoundly alter perception and cognition and have recently demonstrated
      therapeutic efficacy to treat anxiety, depression, and addiction in the clinic.
      The receptor mechanisms that drive their molecular and behavioral effects involve
      activation of cortical serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, but the responses of specific
      cellular populations remain unknown. Here, we provide evidence that a small
      subset of 5-HT2A-expressing excitatory neurons is directly activated by
      psychedelics and subsequently recruits other select cell types including
      subpopulations of inhibitory somatostatin and parvalbumin GABAergic interneurons,
      as well as astrocytes, to produce distinct and regional responses. To gather data
      regarding the response of specific neuronal populations, we developed methodology
      for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to segregate and enrich specific
      cellular subtypes in the brain. These methods allow for robust neuronal sorting
      based on cytoplasmic epitopes followed by downstream nucleic acid analysis,
      expanding the utility of FACS in neuroscience research.

PMID- 27649639
TI  - The Effects of l-Carnitine Against Cyclophosphamide-Induced Injuries in Mouse
      Testis.
AB  - In order to explore the possibility of l-carnitine (LC) as a protector of male
      fertility in chemotherapy, we observed the damage of cyclophosphamide (CTX) to
      Sertoli cells and the protective effect of LC on the testis Sertoli cells from
      such damage in this study. Healthy adult male mice were divided into three
      groups: chemotherapy group were injected intraperitoneally with the CTX;
      protective agent group were injected both LC and CTX; control group mice were
      injected only with isochoric physiological saline; all once a day for 5 days.
      After 5 days, the mice were, respectively, killed at 24 hr after the last
      injection. The testis and epididymis were removed. Epididymis was for sperm
      analysis immediately, and immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot for the
      assessments of occludin, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and TGF
      beta3 mRNA and protein expression. The sperm analysis of epididymis showed that
      CTX can significantly decrease sperm count and motility; and administration of LC
      resulted in significant recovery of the sperm count and sperm motility. Compared
      with control group, the expressions of occludin and GDNF decreased and the
      expression of TGF-beta3 increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the CTX group. In
      the LC + CTX group, the expressions of occludin and GDNF were higher than those
      of the CTX group and similar to those of the control group; the TGF-beta3
      expression was lower (p < 0.05) than that of the CTX group and similar to that of
      the control group. The results of this study showed that CTX could damage the
      spermatogenesis and reduce the expression of occludin and GDNF, and increase the
      expression of TGF-beta3 in testis of mouse, which indicates CTX's damage or
      efficacy to testis Sertoli cells. LC could protect the Sertoli cells of testis
      from these damages caused by CTX, and promote or protect the spermatogenesis. In
      conclusion, this study provides meaningful information about the possible damage
      to male fertility by chemotherapeutics and potential of LC in the protection of
      male fertility during chemotherapy.

PMID- 27649640
TI  - Prior Exposure to Alcohol Has No Effect on Cocaine Self-Administration and
      Relapse in Rats: Evidence from a Rat Model that Does Not Support the Gateway
      Hypothesis.
AB  - The gateway hypothesis posits that initial exposure to legal drugs promotes
      subsequent addiction to illicit drugs. However, epidemiological studies are
      correlational and cannot rule out the alternative hypothesis of shared addiction
      vulnerability to legal and illegal drugs. We tested the gateway hypothesis using
      established rat alcohol exposure procedures and cocaine self-administration and
      reinstatement (relapse) procedures. We gave Wistar or alcohol-preferring (P) rats
      intermittent access to water or 20% alcohol in their homecage for 7 weeks (three
      24-h sessions/week). We also exposed Wistar rats to air or intoxicating alcohol
      levels in vapor chambers for 14-h/day for 7 weeks. We then tested the groups of
      rats for acquisition of cocaine self-administration using ascending cocaine doses
      (0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg/infusion) followed by a dose-response curve after
      acquisition of cocaine self-administration. We then extinguished lever pressing
      and tested the rats for reinstatement of drug seeking induced by cocaine-paired
      cues and cocaine priming (0, 2.5, 5, 10 mg/kg, i.p.). Wistar rats consumed
      moderate amounts of alcohol (4.6 g/kg/24 h), P rats consumed higher amounts of
      alcohol (7.6 g/kg/24 h), and Wistar rats exposed to alcohol vapor had a mean
      blood alcohol concentration of 176.2 mg/dl during the last week of alcohol
      exposure. Alcohol pre-exposure had no effect on cocaine self-administration,
      extinction responding, and reinstatement of drug seeking. Pre-exposure to
      moderate, high, or intoxicating levels of alcohol had no effect on cocaine self
      administration and relapse to cocaine seeking. Our data do not support the notion
      that alcohol is a gateway drug to cocaine.

PMID- 27649642
TI  - A green alternative method for analysis of ivermectin and moxidectin in
      environmental water samples using automatized preconcentration previous MEEKC.
AB  - Antiparasitic drugs derived from macrocyclic lactones (MLs) are widely used in
      livestock activities around the world. An increasing concern for local
      authorities is the environmental pollution as a consequence of veterinary drugs
      widely used in rural areas. The purpose of environmental analysis is to monitor
      low levels of pollutant analytes in a large number of samples. Also, due to the
      lipophilic characteristic of these lactones, long-chain solvents are usually
      required for performing sample treatment before and during the analysis.
      Therefore, sensitive, specific, robust, and environmentally friendly analytical
      methods are still required. In this paper, a new automatized preconcentration
      methodology followed by microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography analysis was
      developed for the simultaneous separation and determination of the most used MLs,
      ivermectin (IVM) and moxidectin (MXD) in environmental water. XAD-4 resin was
      employed as an adsorbent for the preconcentration process and ethanol was used as
      the eluent. In contrast to traditional analysis for IVM and MXD, in this
      methodology nonpolluting solvents were involved during the whole process and
      therefore, it could be considered as a contribution to green analytical
      chemistry. Under optimal experimental conditions, LOD obtained for IVM and MXD
      were of 3 * 10-3 and 3.6 * 10-3 MUg/L, respectively.

PMID- 27649643
TI  - Disseminated peritoneal leiomyomatosis postmorcellated resection of uterine
      leiomyomatous tissue.
AB  - In a retrospective review, we identified six cases of disseminated peritoneal
      leiomyomatosis (DPL) that occurred after resection for uterine leiomyoma(ta)
      using a morcellation procedure between 2010 and 2016. DPL occurred in less than
      1% of all patients who underwent a prior hysterectomy with morcellation, and DPL
      never occurred without having underwent such a resection. The median age of women
      at the time of their original resection of uterine tissue was 38.6 years; the
      median time interval until resection of DPL after the primary morcellation
      procedure was 73 months and the median age was 48 years. At the time of DPL
      resection, a median of 6.5 individual lesions was present per patient, with each
      lesion having a median size of 1.2 cm in the greatest dimension. The most common
      peritoneal sites of involvement included the sigmoid colon serosa, right
      pelvis/pelvic side wall, and anterior abdominal parietal peritoneum. The same
      parameters are described for previously reported cases of DPL in the literature
      developing after a morcellated resection of uterine leiomyoma(ta). The use of
      morcellating hysterectomy specimens with leiomyomata may lead to the development
      of DPL by seeding, may involve numerous peritoneal sites, and often presents 2
      years after the original resection.

PMID- 27649641
TI  - Pharmacologically Induced Sex Hormone Fluctuation Effects on Resting-State
      Functional Connectivity in a Risk Model for Depression: A Randomized Trial.
AB  - Women are at relatively greater lifetime risk for depression than men. This
      elevated risk in women is partly due to heightened risk during time periods
      characterized by marked fluctuations in sex hormones, including postpartum and
      perimenopausal periods. How sex hormone fluctuations contribute to heightened
      risk is not fully understood but may involve intrinsic functional connectivity.
      We induced a biphasic ovarian sex hormone fluctuation using the gonadotropin
      releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) goserelin to determine, with a randomized
      placebo-controlled design, intervention effects on or GnRHa-provoked depressive
      symptoms associations with change in resting-state functional connectivity (rs
      FC) in 58 healthy women for six seeds (amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate
      cortex, dorsal raphe, median raphe, and posterior cingulate cortex). GnRHa
      intervention did not significantly affect rs-FC in any seeds. Considering the
      GnRHa group only, the emergence of depressive symptoms following intervention was
      positively associated with amygdala-right temporal cortex and negatively
      associated with hippocampus-cingulate rs-FC. A test for mediation suggested that
      rs-FC changes in these networks marginally mediated the association between
      decrease in estradiol and increase in depressive symptoms in the GnRHa group
      (p=0.07). Our findings provide novel evidence-linking changes in rs-FC networks,
      the emergence of depressive symptoms and sex hormone fluctuations. Notably, we
      observed evidence that changes in rs-FC may represent a key neurobiological
      intermediary between molecular changes induced by hormone fluctuations and the
      emergence of depressive symptoms. Taken together, our findings indicate that sex
      hormone fluctuations may contribute to heightened risk for developing depressive
      symptoms by affecting intrinsic functional connectivity of key limbic brain
      structures.

PMID- 27649644
TI  - Reversed cellular polarity in primary cutaneous mucinous carcinoma: A study on
      tight junction protein expression in sweat gland tumors.
AB  - Primary cutaneous mucinous carcinoma (PCMC) is a rare sweat gland tumor
      characterized by the presence of abundant mucin around the tumor islands, but the
      molecular mechanisms for this structure are not well elucidated. Because mucin is
      epithelial in nature, it is likely to be produced by epithelial tumor cells, not
      by surrounding stromal cells. We hypothesized that the abundant mucin is a result
      of reversed cellular polarity of the tumor. To test this hypothesis, we conducted
      an immunohistological study to investigate expression of tight junction (TJ)
      proteins occludin and ZO-1 in PCMC, as well as in normal sweat glands and other
      sweat gland tumors. Dot-like or linear expression of TJ proteins was observed at
      ductal structures of sweat glands, and ductal or cystic structures of related
      tumors. In PCMC, however, TJ protein expression was clearly visible at the edges
      of tumor cell islands. This study provides evidence to show that the
      characteristic histological structure of PCMC is caused by inverse polarization
      of the tumor cells, and that TJ proteins are useful markers of ductal
      differentiation in sweat gland tumors.

PMID- 27649645
TI  - Decision-making ability in current and past users of opiates: A meta-analysis.
AB  - Opiate use is associated with deficits in decision-making. However, the impact of
      abstinence and co-morbid factors, like head injury and poly-substance abuse, on
      this ability, is currently unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to assess 1) the
      magnitude of decision-making deficits in opiate users; 2) whether co-morbid
      factors moderate the severity of these deficits; 3) whether ex-opiate users
      demonstrate smaller decision-making deficits than current users; and 4) whether
      the length of abstinence is related to the magnitude of decision-making deficits.
      We analysed 22 studies that compared the performance of current and ex-opiate
      users to healthy controls on decision-making measures such as the Iowa Gambling
      Task. Current users demonstrated a moderately strong impairment in decision
      making relative to controls, which was not significantly moderated by co-morbid
      factors. The magnitude of the impairment did not significantly differ between
      studies assessing current or ex-users, and this impairment was not related to
      length of abstinence. Thus, it appears that opiate users have relatively severe
      decision-making deficits that persist at least 1.5 years after cessation of use.

PMID- 27649646
TI  - Intermediate filament Nestin and the cell motility in cancer - a review.
AB  - "Intermediate filament Nestin and the cell motility in cancer - a review" by A.
      M. Shi, Z.-Q. Tao, X. Wang, Y.-Q. Wang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci
      2016; 20 (12): 2598-2602 has been withdrawn.

PMID- 27649647
TI  - Partial transmural gastroesophageal migration of polypropylene mesh after surgery
      for a recurrent hiatal hernia.

PMID- 27649648
TI  - A new concept against the priority of vasoactive agents in the management of
      severe hypotension associated with aluminum phosphide poisoning.

PMID- 27649649
TI  - The treatment outcomes of crescent-shaped conjunctiva resection combined with
      conjunctiva sclera fixation for severe conjunctivochalasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the treatment outcomes of a crescent-shaped conjunctiva
      resection combined with conjunctiva sclera fixation for severe
      conjunctivochalasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven (22 eyes) patients with severe
      conjunctivochalasis were enrolled in this study. They consented to undergo
      crescent-shaped conjunctiva resection and conjunctiva sclera fixation, to
      evaluate their symptoms and inspect the lacrimal fluid system. This included the
      breakup time of the tear film, height and integrity of the lacrimal river, bulbus
      oculi fluorescein staining pre-operation and 6 m-post-operation. RESULTS: Within
      the 22 eyes, the symptoms disappeared or improved in 20 eyes (90.9%). Compared
      with before the surgery, the tear inspections improved after the surgery. The
      difference was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Crescent-shaped
      conjunctiva resection combined with conjunctiva sclera fixation is safe and
      effective for severe conjunctivochalasis.

PMID- 27649650
TI  - Pleomorphic adenoma rehabilitative treatment in growing up patient: a 20-years
      follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although tumors of minor salivary glands are rare, the pleomorphic
      adenoma is the most common pathology among the benign neoplasm and can be found
      with high prevalence in the junction between hard palate and soft palate. Most of
      the maxillary tumors are surgically treated through either a total or partial
      maxillectomy. However, surgical defects lead to both clinical and psychologic
      disorders for the patient. A postoperative obturator prosthesis is a good option
      in patients who underwent maxillectomy. It allows to restore both masticatory and
      speaking functions, as well as aesthetic appearance. When reconstruction of the
      surgical site is possible, an implant-supported prosthesis can be considered to
      guarantee a better function and aesthetic's rehabilitation. CASE REPORT: This
      clinical report presents the prosthetic rehabilitation of a patient who underwent
      maxillectomy because of a pleomorphic adenoma of hard palate minor salivary
      glands. The patient was treated with a palatal obturator prosthesis first and
      with an implant-supported prosthesis after surgical site's reconstruction and
      complete healing. CONCLUSIONS: The rehabilitation of the patient after
      maxillectomy through both these devices was an excellent option and provided
      clinical benefits, improving the patient's quality of life, allowing the
      patient's reinsertion into society.

PMID- 27649652
TI  - Experimental study on co-culturing adipose-derived stem cells with osteoblasts
      under different conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe whether adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCS), co-cultured
      with osteoblasts, can differentiate into osteoblasts and, if so, to study the
      best-induced conditions, with an ultimate goal of repairing bone defects.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adipose-derived stem cells and osteoblasts were isolated
      from New Zealand white rabbits, and co-cultured in media with either 5% or 10%
      fetal bovine serum, for up to 4 weeks. The morphology of collected cells was
      examined under a microscope, and histological staining with alkaline phosphatase
      and alizarin red was carried out after induction for 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks.
      Osteogenesis identification, including mRNA expression of type I collagen and
      osteocalcin, and alkaline phosphatase, was also performed using RT-PCR. RESULTS:
      After 7 days of co-culture, some adipose-derived stem cells became round in both
      groups. After 14 days of co-culture, adipose-derived stem cells were found highly
      differentiated, and stained positively with alkaline phosphatase and alizarin
      red, similar to mature osteoblasts. The mRNA expression of type I collagen and
      osteocalcin increased in both groups, especially in the 10% fetal bovine serum
      group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that adipose-derived stem cells co
      cultured with osteoblasts can differentiate into osteoblasts when induced by a
      high concentration of serum culture.

PMID- 27649651
TI  - Human papilloma virus infection and cervical cytomorphological changing among
      intrauterine contraception users.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The increased use of the intrauterine contraception (IUC) in female
      population and its probable relationship with cervical squamous intraepithelial
      lesions and cervical cancer make necessary clarify the possible interaction
      between the device and the pre-neoplastic lesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seven
      hundred and eighty-nine patients users of IUC and 1491 patients ever users of IUC
      were followed every 6 months for 3 years. Each clinical control included
      Papanicolau test, colposcopy, HPV-DNA test and HPV-mRNA test. Also, in patients
      IUC users we analyzed the type of device, years of use and average age. RESULTS:
      Cytological sampling, histological examination, HPV-DNA test and HPV-mRNA test
      showed that there are not significantly differences between patients with or
      without IUC. CONCLUSIONS: None difference arose regarding persistence and
      progression between patients IUC users and IUC no users, for this reason,
      intrauterine contraception does not seem to be a co-causal factor in the possible
      development of cervical cancer.

PMID- 27649653
TI  - Study on the use of focus harmonic scalpel in thyroidectomies: is it useful also
      in preserving voice function?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this randomized study is to evaluate the real benefits of
      the FOCUS Harmonic Scalpel in total thyroidectomies compared with conventional
      ligation, regarding operative time, postoperative blood loss, length of stay and
      complications. Furthermore, as never seen in other studies, we studied the
      effects of using the FOCUS during thyroidectomy analyzing the vocal production of
      patients before and after surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 361 patients
      who underwent total thyroidectomy from 2008 to 2014. It was a randomized clinical
      trial in which all the surgical procedures were performed by the same surgeon.
      Patients were randomized into two groups according to the haemostatic technique:
      187 patients were included in a "conventional" group (C) in whom dissection and
      haemostasis were performed using conventional materials (Vicryl, stitches, V
      titanium hemostatic clips and monopolar or bipolar electrocautery); 174 patients
      were included in a group in which the FOCUS was used (F group). RESULTS: Our data
      show that the FOCUS allows a one-third time-saving vs. classic haemostasis.
      Moreover, the use of the FOCUS would allow reduced traction and reduced
      manipulation of the thyroid during surgery. Our data demonstrate that the rate of
      complications in the Focus group might not be significantly reduced. In our
      series, we noticed that the quantitative acoustic assessment of voice quality
      show important alterations in several parameters (Shim, Jitt, sPPQ, sAPQ studied
      with the Multi Dimensional Voice Program evaluation) between the C group and F
      group. CONCLUSIONS: The FOCUS Harmonic Scalpel reduces the operative time, post
      operative blood loss and length of hospital stay in thyroidectomy. Besides,
      important vocal alterations after thyroidectomy seem more severe using the
      conventional technique instead of FOCUS.

PMID- 27649654
TI  - Targeting miR-29 induces apoptosis of osteosarcoma MG-63 cells via regulation of
      TGF-beta1/PUMA signal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have shown that high miR-29 expression was associated
      with poor prognosis in patients with osteosarcoma (OS). However, the exact role
      and mechanisms of miR-29 in human OS remains speculative. Here, we identify a
      connection between miR-29 and TGF-beta1/PUMA signaling in this context. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: MG-63 cells were treated with anti-miR-29 for 48 h. Cell growth and
      apoptosis in vitro were detected by MTT, colony formation and flow cytometry
      assay. The effect of the miR-29 inhibitor on the growth of MG-63 cells was also
      evaluated in a MG-63 mouse model. Human recombinant TGF-beta1 (rh TGF-beta1) and
      PUMA siRNA transfection were used to assess the signal pathway. miR-29, TGF
      beta1, PUMA, and caspase-3 protein expression were detected by Western blotting
      assay and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)
      assays. RESULTS: Knockdown of miR-29 resulted in 80% decrease of miR-29 compared
      to the negative control. Knockdown of miR-29 significantly downregulated TGF
      beta1 and upregulated PUMA expression, and decreased MG-63 cell growth by 70%,
      impaired colony formation by approximately 80%, and increased MG-63 cell
      apoptosis by 40%. Knockdown of PUMA reversed miR-29 silencing-induced
      proliferation and apoptosis of MG-63 cells. Restoration of TGF-beta1 decreased
      PUMA expression. In murine engraftment models of MG-63, we showed that knockdown
      of miR-29 was able to reduce tumor growth. This was accompanied by decreased
      levels of TGF-beta1 and increased levels of PUMA in these tumors. CONCLUSIONS:
      Targeting miR-29 exhibits significant in vivo and in vitro anti-tumor activities
      in OS through a novel mechanism resulting in inhibition of TGF-beta1 expression
      and inducing PUMA expression.

PMID- 27649655
TI  - Long non-coding RNA MALAT1 is an independent prognostic factor of osteosarcoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Accumulating evidence revealed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)
      were emerging regulators in cancer biology, and could be used as potential
      biomarkers for cancer prognosis. In this study, we focused on MALAT1 and
      investigated its expression pattern, clinical significance in osteosarcoma.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression of lncRNA MALAT1 was analyzed in 162
      osteosarcoma tissues by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Then, we explored
      the potential relationship between MALAT1 expression levels in tumor tissues and
      clinicopathological features of osteosarcoma, and clinical outcome. RESULTS: We
      found that which was significantly up-regulated in osteosarcoma tissues compared
      with paired non-tumor tissues (p < 0.01). The expression of MALAT1 was remarkably
      associated with advanced clinical stage and distant metastasis of osteosarcoma
      patients (p < 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that osteosarcoma
      patients with higher levels of MALAT1 had a shorter survival time. The
      multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that MALAT1 expression level
      was an independent prognostic factor for the overall survival rate of
      osteosarcoma patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated the clinical
      prognostic significance and roles of MALAT1 in osteosarcoma, and suggested that
      MALAT1 may be considered as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for
      osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27649656
TI  - The SUMO-specific protease SENP5 controls DNA damage response and promotes
      tumorigenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: SUMOylation plays critical roles in a variety of physiological and
      pathological processes including tumorigenesis. SUMOylation is a reversible
      process which is mediated by the SENP (Sentrin/SUMO-specific protease) family to
      remove SUMO from conjugated substrates. SENP5 has been reported to play critical
      roles in the control of several cancers including breast cancer, osteosarcoma and
      oral squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, we uncovered a role of SENP5 in
      promoting tumorigenesis process in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via regulating
      DNA damage response. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The mRNA and protein levels of SENP5
      in 10 pairs of HCC samples were determined by Realtime PCR and Western blot,
      respectively. SiRNAs were used to silence the expression of SENP5 in HepG2 cells.
      Male BALB/c nude mice were used to determine the roles of SENP5 on tumorigenesis.
      In vivo SUMOylation assay was used to detect the SUMOylation of ATRIP.
      Immunoprecipitation (IP) was used to detect the interaction between SENP5 and
      ATRIP. RESULTS: We found that SENP5 was over-expressed in HCC samples and
      required for HCC cells proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. SENP5-depleted
      HepG2 cells exhibited hypersensitivity to IR and etoposide treatment with
      defective checkpoint activation including decreased activation of ATR and
      phosphorylation of ATR targets. At the molecular level, we found that SENP5
      interacted with ATRIP and promoted ATRIP deSUMOylation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our
      data suggest that SENP5 is required for HCC cell growth and might be a promising
      drug target for HCC.

PMID- 27649657
TI  - miRNA-21 sensitizes gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) cells to Imatinib via
      targeting B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: miRNA-21 (miRNA-21) has recently been recognized to tumor suppressive
      in various types of cancers. However, the role of miRNA-21 in gastrointestinal
      stromal tumors (GISTs) is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the
      regulation by miRNA-21 on the sensitivity of gastrointestinal stromal tumors
      (GISTs) cells to Imatinib. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined the expression of
      miRNA-21 and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) in GIST specimens by the real-time
      quantitative PCR assay (RT-qPCR). Then we explored the regulation by miRNA-21 on
      the Bcl-2 expression by the RT-qPCR assay, Western blotting assay and the
      luciferase assay in GIST-T1 cells. In addition, we examined the influence of
      miRNA-21 on the sensitivity to Imatinib of GIST-T1 cells with colony forming
      assay and apoptotic assay. RESULTS: Results indicated that miRNA-21 expression
      was suppressed in GIST tissues. And we identified putative miRNA-21 binding sites
      within the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the human Bcl-2 gene. Transient
      transfection of miRNA-21 mimics into human GIST GIST-T1 cell line significantly
      downregulated the Bcl-2 expression in both mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, the
      miRNA-21 mimics transfection markedly aggravated the Imatinib-mediated growth
      inhibition and apoptosis induction in GIST-T1 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      demonstrated that miRNA-21 suppressed Bcl-2 expression in GIST cells and could
      function as a potent tumor suppressor in GIST. And the miRNA-21 promotion could
      sensitize GIST cells to Imatinib. It implies a potential role in the GIST
      treatment.

PMID- 27649658
TI  - Thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor affects metastasis and prognosis in
      papillary thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although endocrine therapy of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) by
      inhibiting thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) has been used for many years, its
      mechanism of action is not clear. This study aimed to explore the expression and
      role of TSH receptor (TSHR) in PTC, to provide a theoretical basis for
      optimization of endocrine treatment options in PTC. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Expression of TSHR was tested by immunohistochemistry of tissues from 150 cases
      of PTC and 21 normal thyroid tissues. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan
      Meier and log-rank analyses, and multivariate analysis was done using a Cox
      model. The regulatory effects of the TSH-TSHR signal transduction pathway on
      differentiated thyroid carcinoma cells were explored in vitro. RESULTS: The
      positive expression rate of TSHR in PTC was 68% (102/150). TSHR expression was an
      independent factor affecting the prognosis of PTC patients aged > 45 years (p =
      0.006), and TSHR might have a role in decreasing distant metastasis (p = 0.024).
      In vitro experiments showed that up-regulation of TSHR promoted apoptosis of
      thyroid cancer cells and inhibited metastasis significantly. There was no
      significant regulatory effect of the TSH-TSHR signal transduction pathway on the
      proliferation of thyroid carcinoma cells. CONCLUSIONS: TSHR expression is an
      independent factor that affects the prognosis of PTC patients, and might decrease
      distant metastasis in patient aged > 45 years. Up-regulation of TSHR could
      inhibit metastasis and promote apoptosis in PTC cells.

PMID- 27649660
TI  - Circulating microRNA-137 is a potential biomarker for human glioblastoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated whether circulating microRNA-137 (miR
      137) could be a potential biomarker for patients with glioblastoma (GBM).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Serum samples were collected from 64 GBM patients and 64
      healthy controls. The expression level of circulating miR-137 was compared by
      quantitative RT-PCR. Among GBM patients, circulating miR-137 was compared between
      patients at early stages and those at advanced stages. Also, the correlations of
      serum miR-137 expression with clinicopathological features and overall survival
      of GBM patients were statistically examined. Furthermore, whether circulating miR
      137 could serve as an independent predicting biomarker GBM patients' survival was
      assessed. RESULTS: Serum miR-137 was downregulated in GBM patients than in
      healthy controls. It was further downregulated in GBM patients at advanced stages
      than in patients at early stages. Statistical analysis demonstrated that low
      serum miR-137 level was strongly correlated with patients' clinical grades (p =
      0.003) and KFS (p = 0.002). Low serum miR-137 was also found to be significantly
      correlated with, and may predict poor survival in GBM patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Downregulated serum miR-137 may be a potential non-invasive prognostic biomarker
      for poor prognosis in GBM patients.

PMID- 27649659
TI  - USF1 prompt melanoma through upregulating TGF-beta signaling pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The activation of TGF-beta signaling contributes to abnormal EMT
      process and upstream stimulatory family1 (USF1) was recently found to activate
      the expression of TGF-beta. However, the specific role of USF1 in melanoma has
      never been explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of USF1 was analyzed
      using real-time PCR and Western blot. The changes of cell morphology were
      observed under a microscope. Cell migration was determined using in vitro scratch
      test. A specific siRNA was applied to knockdown of USF1. RESULTS: The mRNA and
      protein levels of USF1 were significantly enhanced in melanoma cell lines, 1205
      Lu, DO4, WM3211, and WM278, compared with normal human melanocytes PIG1.
      Overexpression of USF1 induced demonstrated an elongated and spindle-shaped
      morphology in the 1205-Lu cells. Meanwhile, USF1 induced the expression of alpha
      SMA, Vimentin and Fibronectin, while the epithelial marker, E-cadherin (E-cad),
      was significantly decreased. Furthermore, in vitro scratch test demonstrated that
      overexpression of USF1 markedly enhanced 1205-Lu cell migration capacity at 24 h
      and 48 h. More importantly, knockdown of USF1 could partially reverse TGF-beta1
      treatment-induced changes of EMT markers as well as cell morphological changes.
      CONCLUSIONS: We first demonstrate that overexpression of USF1 prompts the EMT
      process through the accumulation of TGF-beta1 production in melanoma cells.

PMID- 27649661
TI  - Study on correlation between liver ultrasonic appearance of patients with chronic
      hepatitis B and cirrhosis and hydrothorax.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze the correlation between liver
      ultrasonic quantitative detection indexes of patients with chronic hepatitis B
      and cirrhosis and hepatic hydrothorax. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We selected 56 cases
      of patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis combined with hepatic
      hydrothorax in our hospital from March 2013 to March 2015. Also, we selected 63
      cases of patients with cirrhosis without hepatic hydrothorax at the same time.
      The comparison of liver ultrasonic quantitative detection indexes and positions,
      quantities and proportions of hepatic hydrothorax of patients in these two groups
      was conducted. RESULTS: In compare to the index of liver size and the level of
      ALP in two groups, there were not significant differences (p>0.05). In the
      observation group, the diameter of portal vein, the blood flow velocity of portal
      vein and the level of serum albumin significantly decreased in comparison to the
      control group (p<0.05). For patients with hydrothorax in both sides of the
      observation group, the diameter of portal vein, blood flow velocity of portal
      vein and level of serum albumin significantly decreased while comparing to the
      patients with hydrothorax in right (p<0.05). The volume of hydrothorax was
      negatively related to the diameter of portal vein, blood flow velocity of portal
      vein and the level of serum albumin, while the proportion of hydrothorax was not
      related to the diameter of portal vein, the blood flow velocity of portal vein
      and the level of serum albumin. CONCLUSIONS: The liver ultrasonic quantitative
      detection indexes of patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis, diameter of
      portal vein, blood flow velocity of portal vein and level of serum albumin might
      be related to the volume of hepatic hydrothorax.

PMID- 27649662
TI  - A retrospective analysis of 1.011 percutaneous liver biopsies performed in
      patients with liver transplantation or liver disease: ultrasonography can reduce
      complications?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the last decades, liver biopsy was the reference procedure for the
      diagnosis and follow-up of liver disease. Aim of present retrospective analysis
      was to assess the prevalence of complications and risk factors after Percutaneous
      Liver Biopsy (PLB) performed for diagnosis and staging in patients with chronic
      liver disease and for monitoring the graft in liver transplanted patients
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected from a total of 1.011 PLB performed
      with the Menghini technique between January 2004 and December 2014 at the
      Hepatology and Transplant Units of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. The
      indications for biopsy were: follow-up of liver transplantation, chronic
      Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) or Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), with or without Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and alcohol-related liver disease. Our patients were
      divided into two groups according to the biopsy indication: follow-up of liver
      transplantation (Group A) and chronic liver disease (Group B). All the procedures
      were performed in Day Hospital regimen. After the biopsy, patients remained in
      bed for about 4-6 hours. In the absence of complications, they were then
      discharged on the same day. RESULTS: The most frequent complication after biopsy
      was pain (Group A n. 57, 8.8%; Group B n. 105, 29.0%), hypotension as a result of
      a vasovagal reaction resolved spontaneously (Group A n. 7, 1.1%; Group B n. 6,
      1.7%), and intrahepatic bleeding resolved with conservative therapy (Group A n.
      1, 0.2%; Group B n. 6, 1.7%). Two cases of pneumothorax in the Group A (0.3%)
      were treated with a chest tube. Other complications did not have a significant
      impact. Also, we did not observe statistically significant differences in
      patients who underwent PLB without and with ultrasound guidance. CONCLUSIONS:
      Liver biopsy is not a replaceable tool in diagnosis and follow-up of several
      chronic liver diseases. The Menghini technique with the percutaneous trans costal
      approach, might be preferred because less traumatic and related with a low
      occurrence of minor and major complications. According to our case load and
      comparing our findings with the previous published data, we speculate that
      ultrasound guidance is not crucial in the prevention of major complications.

PMID- 27649663
TI  - The involvement of IgH enhancer HS1.2 in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease: how
      the immune system can influence a multifactorial disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the 3' immunoglobulin heavy-chain regulatory region (3'RR)
      enhancer complex, active in class switching recombination and in B-cells, in
      Crohn's disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 167 patients [79 females
      (47.3%) and 88 males (52.7%)] affected by Crohn's disease were enrolled in the
      study. As a control, we included 64 healthy subjects, age and sex matched, from
      the same geographical area. Blood tests were performed on all subjects to
      determine their antibody levels and to detect the presence of any possible
      infections. We conducted a selective PCR, which amplified the hs1.2-A region. The
      nested second PCR to amplify the polymorphic core of the enhancer was performed.
      RESULTS: No differences between cases and controls were observed with respect to
      sex distribution (43.8% females among controls and 49.5% among cases), age, tTG
      IgA, RF, serum or secretory IgA, IgG1, IgG2 and IgG3. No correlation was found
      between both seric and secretory immunoglobulins levels, with except of
      statistically significant differences between cases and controls with respect to
      IgA and IgG ASCA positivity (p<0.001), serum IgG4 (p<0.001) and IgD (p=0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that in Crohn's disease, the HS1,2
      immunoglobulins enhancer is not implicated in the disease pathogenesis. Moreover,
      we have found that IgG4 levels are lower in Crohn's disease patients than in
      controls; these data may be related to an impairment of number and function of
      Tregs, further linked to the presence of tissue inflammation. Crohn's disease is
      a complex multifactorial disease. The pathogenesis of Crohn's disease is
      incompletely understood although it is clear that the disease involves multiple
      interacting agents.

PMID- 27649664
TI  - Pruritus in selected dermatoses.
AB  - Pruritus is a natural defence mechanism of the body and creates the scratch
      reflex as a defensive reaction to potentially dangerous environmental factors.
      Together with pain, pruritus is a type of superficial sensory experience.
      Pruritus is a symptom often experienced both in healthy subjects and in those who
      have symptoms of a disease. In dermatology, pruritus is a frequent symptom
      associated with a number of dermatoses and is sometimes an auxiliary factor in
      the diagnostic process. Apart from histamine, the most popular pruritus mediators
      include tryptase, endothelins, substance P, bradykinin, prostaglandins and
      acetylcholine. The group of atopic diseases is characterized by the presence of
      very persistent pruritus. It is found in almost all patients with atopic
      dermatitis or urticaria. Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is another group of pruritic
      diseases where the symptom of pruritus develops at an early stage and becomes
      intensified as the disease progresses. Other dermatoses include psoriasis,
      parasitic diseases and also systemic diseases in which pruritus is often the
      first and the only symptom suggesting an internal health problem. Cases of
      pruritus in healthy subjects, possibly associated with skin dryness or pregnancy
      in women, have also been reported. This paper presents mechanisms responsible for
      pruritus and the most important dermatoses in which this symptom is found.
      Treatment of pruritic dermatoses is difficult and always requires an
      interdisciplinary approach. Not all dermatoses can be successfully treated with
      antihistamine drugs, particularly if patients suffer from cutaneous T-cell
      lymphoma, liver or kidney diseases. For this reason, the problem of pruritus is
      the focus of attention of many scientists, and the subject of interdisciplinary
      studies.

PMID- 27649665
TI  - The correlation of leptin/leptin receptor gene polymorphism and insulin-like
      growth factor-1 and their impact on childhood growth hormone deficiency.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is the most common cause for childhood
      dwarfism. Currently, the significance of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in
      diagnosis of GHD is still debatable. Due to the possible correlation between
      leptin (LEP) and GHD pathogenesis, this study investigated the gene polymorphism
      of LEP and its receptor (LEPR) genes, along with serum IGF-1 and LEP levels in
      GHD patients. This study attempted to illustrate the correlation between gene
      polymorphism and GHD pathogenesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case-control study was
      performed using 180 GHD children in addition to 160 healthy controls. PCR-DNA
      sequencing method was employed for genotyping various polymorphism loci of LEP
      and LEPR genes in both GHD and healthy individuals. Serum IGF-1 and LEP levels
      were also determined. RESULTS: Results revealed a statistically significant
      difference between the levels of IGF-1 and LEP in the serum samples collected
      from patients in the GHD and the control groups. Both IGF-1 and LEP levels were
      found to be correlated with polymorphism at rs7799039 loci of LEP gene, in which
      GG and GA genotypes carriers had higher serum IGF-1 levels when compared to AA
      genotype carriers. CONCLUSIONS: GHD pathogenesis is well correlated with the LEP
      and IGF-1 levels in the both of which were mediated by the gene polymorphism at
      rs7799039 loci of LEP gene.

PMID- 27649666
TI  - The assessment of the cardiac compensatory function of elderly people with
      coronary artery disease by quantitive dobutamine stress echocardiography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to investigate the cardiac compensatory
      function change in senior people with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) by Quantitive
      Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography (DSE) and Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: All of the 98 senior people (age >60) who were suspected to
      have CAD received the examination of DSE and TDI. The mean systolic peak velocity
      (Sa), early diastolic peak velocity (Ea) and late diastolic peak velocity (Aa) of
      mitral annulus were measured in a different dose of dobutamine stress. Besides,
      the coronary angiography (CAG) was done within 2 weeks for the 98 senior people.
      RESULTS: In the basic status, the mean Sa, Ea and Aa were not significantly
      different between the patients from the normal group and CAD group. However,
      under a 20 MUg/kg.min dose of dobutamine stress, significant differences of mean
      Sa and Ea between two groups were observed. For the mean Aa, a significant
      difference could be observed with the dose of 40 MUg/kg.min. CONCLUSIONS: Both
      the cardiac systolic and diastolic compensatory function were lower in the CAD
      group than the normal group, which is detectable in the 20 MUg/kg.min dose of
      dobutamine stress status. In other words, Quantitive Dobutamine Stress
      Echocardiography is a safe, efficient, non-invasive diagnostic method. It can
      reflect the compensatory cardiac function of the patients with CAD.

PMID- 27649667
TI  - LncRNA MIAT enhances cardiac hypertrophy partly through sponging miR-150.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this work, we aimed to study whether myocardial infarction
      associated transcript (MIAT) exerts a regulative effect on cardiac hypertrophy
      via acting as a miR-150 sponge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cardiac hypertrophy was
      induced using Angiotensin II (Ang II). MIAT and miR-150 expression were
      quantified using qRT-PCR. Rat heart-derived H9c2 cells were used as the in vitro
      model. Cardiac hypertrophic features were assessed by quantifying cardiac
      hypertrophic genes and measurement of cell surface, protein synthesis and total
      protein content. RESULTS: MIAT is significantly increased in Ang II induced
      cardiac hypertrophy in a mouse model and in H9c2 cells. MIAT siRNA substantially
      alleviated the Ang II induced upregulation of ANP, BNP and beta-MHC in H9c2 cells
      and markedly attenuated the Ang II induced increase of the cell surface area and
      the protein synthesis. MIAT overexpression in H9c2 cells significantly reduced
      the miR-150 expression. MIAT inhibition also partly restored the miR-150 levels
      under Ang II treatment. MiR-150 overexpression could attenuate the Ang II induced
      upregulation of hypertrophic marker genes and suppress the Ang II induced
      hypertrophic phenotypes of the cells. CONCLUSIONS: MIAT is significantly
      increased in Ang II induced cardiac hypertrophy and contributes to the
      pathological development. MIAT can suppress miR-150 expression in cardiomyocytes
      and miR-150 is a downstream effector of MIAT in the development of cardiac
      hypertrophy.

PMID- 27649668
TI  - Genetic association study of ABCB1 gene polymorphisms with hypertension in Han
      Chinese population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hypertension is a common disorder related to cardiovascular diseases
      and stroke. Identification of genetic variations related to hypertension may
      advance our knowledge of the molecular mechanism underlying blood pressure
      regulation. Here, we aimed to investigate the associations between ABCB1 gene
      polymorphisms and hypertension-related traits in 1154 Han Chinese subjects.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 13 SNPs in ABCB1 were genotyped. RESULTS: Three
      SNPs were significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), including
      rs17327624 (p = 6.167 * 10-4, beta = 5.650), rs3789243 (p = 4.331 * 10-3, beta =
      2.800), and rs4148734 (p = 3.514 * 10-3, beta = 3.692). Rs17327624 (p = 2.818 *
      10-4, beta = 2.753) and rs3789243 (p = 6.345 * 10-3, beta = 1.497) were
      significantly associated with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and rs17327624 was
      significantly associated with hypertension (p = 1.746 * 10-4, OR = 1.605). These
      three SNPs (rs17327624, rs3789243 and rs4148734) were also associated with
      hypertension in female subjects but no significant signal was detected in males.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that ABCB1 polymorphisms may contribute to the
      blood pressure variation in Han Chinese population and the effect may be specific
      in females. Further studies performed in other populations are needed to confirm
      our findings and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism.

PMID- 27649669
TI  - Novel information on the genetic factors involved in the development of diseases.
AB  - Nowadays full-genome sequencing allows achieving revolutionary progress in the
      modern medicine. As the result of a huge work on the study of the human genome
      and based on the results obtained, one can conclude that the single nucleotide
      polymorphisms are the reasons of the vast majority of non-communicable diseases
      as well as the diseases other than injuries and poisoning, i.e. the diseases
      where the cause is not obvious. To clarify the role of single nucleotide
      polymorphism in the occurrence of atrophic gastritis, it is required to perform
      full-genome sequencing and human genome scanning with a simultaneous mass
      serological screening of atrophic gastritis. As a result, it will be possible to
      establish which single nucleotide polymorphism is responsible for mild, moderate,
      and severe mucosal atrophy in the antrum and the body of the stomach. Serological
      screening of mild, moderate, and severe mucosal atrophy in the antrum and the
      body of the stomach can be made using GastroPanel.

PMID- 27649670
TI  - Size of bone flap and bone window area may impact the outcome of decompressive
      craniectomy using standard bone flap.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To verify if the size of the bone flap and the bone window area may
      have an impact on the outcome of decompressive craniectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      From February 2012 to February 2014, 42 patients with acute intracranial
      hypertension were enrolled in this study. We conducted standard craniotomy and
      decompressive hemicraniectomy on all patients. The intracranial pressure was
      measured before the hemicraniectomy operation, at the time of bone flap removal,
      at the time of the incision of the dura mater and 24 hours after the operation.
      RESULTS: Intracranial pressure readings at the time of bone flap removal,
      incising dura mater and 24 hours postoperation were significantly lower than the
      pressure measured before the operation. The highest pressure was recorded at the
      time of the dura mater incision followed by pressure recorded at 24 hours post
      operation and at the time of bone flap removal. The lowest pressure was recorded
      during the preoperative period. Postoperative GOSE and GCS scores were
      significantly higher than those scores recorded before the operation. A positive
      correlation between the diameter of the bone disc and the amount of drop in
      pressure at 24 h post-operation was detected. Also, the bone window area showed a
      positive correlation with the amount of drop in pressure at 24 h post-operation.
      CONCLUSIONS: The bone flap decompressive craniectomy is safe and effective, and
      the depressurizing range has a positive correlation with the diameter of the bone
      disc and the area of the bone window.

PMID- 27649671
TI  - Dystroglycan induced muscular dystrophies - a review.
AB  - Dystroglycanopathies are muscular dystrophies caused by mutations in genes
      involved the in O-linked glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan. Severe forms of
      these conditions result in abnormalities in exhibit brain and ocular
      developmental too, in addition to muscular dystrophy. The full spectrum of
      developmental pathology is caused mainly by loss of dystroglycan from Bergmann
      glia. Moreover, cognitive deficits are constant features of severe forms of
      dystroglycanopathies. However, the precise molecular mechanism leading to
      neuronal dysfunction in these diseases is not fully known yet. The present review
      article will discuss the importance of dystroglycan in cerebellar development and
      associated pathological states.

PMID- 27649672
TI  - Toxic dermatitis secondary to treatment with collagenase clostridium histolyticum
      for Dupuytren's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Secondary effects and drug reactions relative to collagenase
      Clostridium histolyticum treatment for Dupuytren's contracture are frequent. In
      only a few cases these secondary effects are considered serious. The mechanism
      that produces these effects of production is not well understood. CLINICAL
      REPORT: We present the case report of a woman with fifth finger interphalangeal
      joint treatment with generalized skin rash as a complication of collagenase
      Clostridium histolyticum treatment. DISCUSSION: We discuss treatment, causes and
      mechanisms of this rare complication from this treatment and review the
      bibliography about mechanisms for the different types of immunological reactions
      that may occur after treatment with collagenase Clostridium histolyticum and the
      possibility of crossed reactions with Clostridiopeptidase A used to treat skin
      lacerations.

PMID- 27649673
TI  - Denosumab: non-surgical treatment option for selective arterial embolization
      resistant aneurysmal bone cyst of the spine and sacrum. Case report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aneurysmal Bone Cyst (ABC) is a cystic lesion of bone, occurring in
      70% of cases as a primary lesion. Even if the metaphyseal region of long bones is
      more frequently involved, vertebral localization is not rare: ABC represents 15%
      of all primary spine and sacral tumours. Selective arterial embolization (SAE)
      represents the first treatment option for vertebral ABC. However, in few cases,
      multiple SAEs are not possible. The aim of this work is to report two cases of
      vertebral ABC unresponsive to SAE positively treated with Denosumab. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Two patients affected by ABC of the lumbar spine were treated by SAE
      without any response. Thus, the patients were submitted to an off-label treatment
      with Denosumab, following the same protocol already used in case of Giant Cell
      Tumour (GCT): 120 mg once a week for 4 weeks consecutively, then once every 40
      days. RESULTS: In both cases, patients resulted to be pain-free after 11-13
      Denosumab administrations and CT scan showed almost complete ossification of the
      lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The two cases reported here are not conclusive but they may
      support the project of a prospective study to confirm the effectiveness of
      Denosumab in ABC treatment as an alternative to SAE.

PMID- 27649674
TI  - Disseminated bacille Calmette-Guerin disease in Saudi children: clinical profile,
      microbiology, immunology evaluation and outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine is administered worldwide to
      prevent tuberculosis. Although, Post BCG vaccination complications like
      disseminated BCG infections are rare and immunocompromised children are at high
      risk of developing BCG-related complications including BCG-lymphadenitis and
      other disseminated diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study
      of children who developed disseminated BCG after vaccination who were admitted in
      three tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the year 2015. The
      clinical presentation, microbiological/immunological evaluation and outcome will
      be discussed. RESULTS: 12 cases (7 males and 5 females) of disseminated BCG
      infections after vaccination were documented with age ranges 3 and 32 months.
      Eight (66%) patients had interleukin IL-12 deficiency and 3 (25%) had severe
      combined immune deficiency (SCID) and 1 (8%) had Interferon gamma receptor II
      deficiency. 9 (75%) patients presented with generalized lymphadenopathy.
      Hepatosplenomegaly was present in 6 (50%) patients. 2 (16%) patients presented
      with a recurrent skin infection and persistent oral candidiasis in one patient
      and pneumonia in the other. Five (41%) families were from 1st degree
      consanguineous marriage. Tuberculosis (TB) culture and sensitivity were positive
      for Mycobacterium bovis from gastric aspirate (GA) in 4 patients and the lymph
      node in 9 patients and 1 patient had culture positive from both skin lesion and
      lymph nodes. Mycobacterium bovis PCR was positive in 4 patients. All patients
      received anti-tuberculosis therapy; all patients survived except one who died due
      to multi-organ failure. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the prevalence
      of disseminated BCG vaccine in immunocompromised Saudi children is significantly
      high. Since in our region we have a high consanguinity rate and a high number of
      primary immune deficiency disorder (PID), we believe that BCG vaccination should
      be postponed till a child reaches one-year-old and appropriate tests exclude the
      diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency diseases.

PMID- 27649675
TI  - Flavoxate in the symptomatic treatment of overactive bladder: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Overactive bladder is a syndrome of urinary frequency and urgency,
      with or without urge incontinence, in the absence of local pathological factors.
      Since multiple causes are responsible for OAB, it requires proper diagnosis and
      comprehensive management. For decades, flavoxate is a globally used and accepted
      molecule by the urologists and the general physicians for the symptomatic
      treatment of OAB. In spite of its extensive use in OAB, a meta-analysis of the
      available publications for efficacy, safety and tolerability of flavoxate has not
      been conducted. This paper evaluates the strength of evidence of clinical
      effectiveness of safety and tolerability of flavoxate in the symptomatic
      treatment of OAB. METHODS: Review articles, original studies and case reports on
      MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Scirus, internal repository, etc.
      were searched using the keyword "flavoxate". For the primary outcome, the
      comparative data of flavoxate versus comparator was extracted for following
      parameters - overall efficacy and its side effect profile. Similarly as for
      secondary outcome, data were extracted for flavoxate per se for overall efficacy,
      frequency, urinary incontinence, mixed incontinence, nocturia, unpleasant
      urination, stranguria and its side effect profile and were analyzed using
      Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software version 2.0. RESULTS: In the current
      meta-analysis, 43 relevant published studies were considered which clearly
      demonstrated that flavoxate had improved clinical efficacy than placebo,
      emepronium, propantheline, and phenazopyridine. CONCLUSIONS: Amongst all the
      interventions studied, flavoxate was effective and well-tolerated, with almost
      negligible side effects, making it worthy of consideration for the treatment of
      OAB.

PMID- 27649676
TI  - Risk factors for neonatal nosocomial enteric infection and the effect of
      intervention with BIFICO.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the risk factors for neonatal
      nosocomial enteric infection (NNEI) and the effect of intervention with BIFICO.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between May 2013 and June 2015, 215 neonates admitted to
      our institution were randomly divided into the study group and the control group,
      47 for each group. Patients in the study group were treated for primary diseases
      combined with the oral admission of BIFICO, whereas patients in the control group
      were treated for primary disease alone. Statistical analysis was performed to
      obtain the occurrence of enteric infection and univariate, as well as
      multivariate analysis of clinical data, were performed to investigate the
      underlying risk factors. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analysis of
      variance showed that gestational age, birth weight, length of hospital stay,
      invasive procedures and underlying diseases were risk factors affecting NNEI. The
      occurrence of NNEI in the study group was significantly lower than that in the
      control group [17.02% (8/47) vs. 29.79% (14/47), X2 = 19.394, p = 0.004].
      CONCLUSIONS: Preterm infant, low-birth-weight infant, length of hospital stay,
      invasive procedures and comorbidity are independent risk factors for NNEI.
      Prophylactic therapy with BIFICO can effectively decrease the occurrence of
      infections and can be widely used in clinical practice.

PMID- 27649677
TI  - Efficacy, safety and feasibility of intravenous iloprost in the domiciliary
      treatment of patients with ischemic disease of the lower limbs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Intravenous iloprost is an important option in the treatment of
      ischemic disease of the lower limbs; however, the administration of therapy is
      frequently compromised because of the need for long cycles of infusion in a
      hospital setting. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety,
      feasibility, and the economic impact of infusion therapy in the outpatient
      setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-four consecutive patients were treated with
      iloprost at their homes where they were administered a slow rate of infusion for
      24 hours a day, during 9.9 +/- 2.3 days, with a portable syringe pump
      (Infonde(r)). RESULTS: The clinical condition of patients evaluated with the
      modified SVS/ISCVS scale significantly improved after treatment (+1.29 +/- 1.04
      points vs. baseline, p<0.001). The drug was well tolerated; neither significant
      adverse events associated with medication nor problems related to venous access
      were recorded at home. Ninety-six percent of patients successfully completed the
      entire treatment cycle, and the evaluation questionnaire showed a high acceptance
      of the therapy. From the perspective of the hospital authority, lower direct
      medical costs were estimated for the domiciliary infusion process compared with
      the inpatient infusion setting. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with iloprost in the
      outpatient setting is effective, safe, feasible, and more acceptable to patients
      than infusion at the hospital. In addition, it has a favorable economic and
      organizational impact on the medical ward.

PMID- 27649678
TI  - Realizing Tao-Thouless-like state in fractional quantum spin Hall effect.
AB  - The quest for exotic quantum states of matter has become one of the most
      challenging tasks in modern condensed matter communications. Interplay between
      topology and strong electron-electron interactions leads to lots of fascinating
      effects since the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Here, we
      theoretically study the Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling effect on a fractional
      quantum spin Hall system by means of finite size exact diagonalization. Numerical
      evidences from the ground degeneracies, states evolutions, entanglement spectra,
      and static structure factor calculations demonstrate that non-trivial fractional
      topological Tao-Thouless-like quantum state can be realized in the fractional
      quantum spin Hall effect in a thin torus geometric structure by tuning the
      strength of spin-orbit coupling. Furthermore, the experimental realization of the
      Tao-Thouless-like state as well as its evolution in optical lattices are also
      proposed. The importance of this prediction provides significant insight into the
      realization of exotic topological quantum states in optical lattice, and also
      opens a route for exploring the exotic quantum states in condensed matters in
      future.

PMID- 27649679
TI  - Antidiabetic effects of Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. in streptozotocin induced diabetic
      rats.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. (Convolvulaceae) is
      traditionally used to treat diabetes mellitus by tribal people of north-east
      India and Bangladesh. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the anti-diabetic effects of
      methanol and aqueous extracts of the aerial parts of Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. in
      normal, glucose loaded and Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The methanol (MECR) and aqueous (AECR) extracts (200 and 400mg/kg
      body weight) were administered orally to normal and diabetic rats with Metformin
      and solvent control as comparison groups. Long term effects like FBG, OGTT, lipid
      profile, HbA1c, body weight, histopathology of major organs, etc. were
      investigated. RESULTS: MECR and AECR did not have hypoglycemic effects in normal
      rats. Both AECR and MECR (400mg/kg) treatments showed significant reduction in
      blood glucose during OGTT in diabetic rats at 3h. Single oral administration of
      methanol and aqueous extracts (400mg/kg) to diabetic rats significantly reduced
      (p<0.05) blood glucose level to 61.90% and 55.39% respectively as compared to the
      Metformin group i.e. 68.32% at the end of 8h. MECR (400mg/kg body weight for 30
      days to diabetic rats) showed a significant decrease (p<0.01) of blood glucose
      level to 60.00% as compared to other groups. The treatment also resulted an
      improvement in body weights, decreased HbA1c and restored lipid profile.
      Histopathological injury was not observed, rather repair of beta cells was seen
      in extract treated diabetic rats. CONCLUSION: Methanolic extract of C. reflexa
      has significant antidiabetic effects and improves metabolic alterations thereby
      justifying its traditional folkloric claims.

PMID- 27649680
TI  - Ginkgo biloba exocarp extracts inhibits angiogenesis and its effects on Wnt/beta
      catenin-VEGF signaling pathway in Lewis lung cancer.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: A fruit of Ginkgo biloba L. also known as Ginkgo
      biloba, can be used for the treatment of cancer in Chinese traditional medicine.
      The scientific name of succulent skin, which is the episperm of Ginkgo nuts, is
      exocarp. Experiment shows that Ginkgo biloba exocarp extracts (GBEE) has the
      effects of immune promotion, cancer inhibition and etc. AIM OF STUDY: Study on
      the activity of GBEE against Lewis lung cancer (LLC) angiogenesis and its partial
      molecular mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effect of GBEE on proliferation
      of LLC cells was detected by MTT method in vitro. The metastasis model of LLC was
      set up. The C57BL/6J mice were randomly separated into normal control, model
      control, positive control and GBEE (50, 100, 200mg/kg) treatment groups, n=10.
      The mice in normal group and model group were both intragastric gavage (i.g.)
      normal saline (NS) in a volume of 0.1mL/10g (b.w.), positive group were
      intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection cyclophosphamide (CPA) at a dose of 20mg/kg
      (b.w.) , the GBEE treatment groups were respectively i.g. GBEE 50, 100, and
      200mg/kg (b.w.), once a day for 20d. After treatment, we calculated the tumor
      inhibition rate and anti-metastasis rate. The microvessel density (MVD) was
      measured by immunohistochemistry method in transplanted tumor. The expression
      levels of vascular en-dothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGFR2 mRNA or Wnt3a,
      beta-catenin, VEGF, VEGFR2 and p-Akt/Akt protein expression were respectively
      tested by Quantitative Reverse transcription Polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)
      or western blot in vitro and vivo. RESULTS: GBEE suppressed the growth of LLC
      cells in a dose-dependent way at the dose of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160ug/mL in
      vitro. It can suppressed Wnt3a and beta-catenin protein expression and the
      content of mRNA of VEGF and VEGFR2 in LLC cells significantly. In vivo, we
      discovered GBEE can retard the growth of LLC transplanted tumor in a dose
      dependent way at the dose of 50, 100, 200mg/kg, suppressing tumor lung
      metastasis. The expression of CD34 was reduced, which means MVD was inhibited and
      so do beta-catenin, VEGF, VEGFR2 and p-AKT/AKT protein expression and VEGF and
      VEGFR2 mRNA expression levels in LLC transplanted tumor of C57BL/6 mice.
      CONCLUSIONS: GBEE played the effects of anti-tumor and anti-metastatic depending
      upon the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis, which may be closely relevant to its
      effect in blockage of Wnt /beta-catenin-VEGF signaling pathway in LLC.

PMID- 27649683
TI  - First reported use of drug-coated balloon for bioresorbable in-scaffold
      restenosis.
AB  - This is the first documented case of a drug-coated balloon strategy for the
      treatment of bioresorbable in-scaffold restenosis caused by diffuse neointimal
      proliferation. This case can provide an alternative treatment option in this
      setting, avoiding potential problems related to further bulky metallic stents in
      a patient where a different strategy was initially planned. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649681
TI  - Selected ethno-medicinal plants from Kenya with in vitro activity against major
      African livestock pathogens belonging to the "Mycoplasma mycoides cluster".
AB  - ETHNOPHARMOCOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Members of 'Mycoplasma mycoides cluster' are
      important ruminant pathogens in Africa. Diseases caused by these Mycoplasma
      negatively affect the agricultural sector especially in developing countries
      through losses in livestock productivity, mortality and international trade
      restrictions. There is therefore urgent need to develop antimicrobials from
      alternative sources such as medicinal plants to curb these diseases. In Kenya,
      smallholder farmers belonging to the Maasai, Kuria and Luo rely on traditional
      Kenyan herbals to treat respiratory symptoms in ruminants. In the current study
      extracts from some of these plants were tested against the growth of members of
      Mycoplasma mycoides cluster. AIM: This study aimed at identifying plants that
      exhibit antimycoplasmal activities using an ethnobotanical approach. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Kenyan farmers of Maasai, Luo and Kuria ethnic groups were
      interviewed for plant remedies given to livestock with respiratory syndromes. The
      plant materials were thereafter collected and crude extracts prepared using a
      mixture of 50% of methanol (MeOH) in dichloromethane (CH2Cl2), neat methanol
      (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH) and water to yield four crude extracts per plant part. The
      extracts were tested in vitro against five strains of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp.
      capri, five strains of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides and one strain of
      Mycoplasma capricolum subsp capricolum using broth micro-dilution assays with an
      initial concentration of 1mg/ml. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the
      most active extracts were determined by serial dilution. RESULTS: Extracts from
      five plants namely: Solanum aculeastrum, Albizia coriaria, Ekebergia capensis,
      Piliostigma thonningii and Euclea divinorum exhibited the highest activities
      against the Mycoplasma strains tested. Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides were
      more susceptible to these extracts than Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri and
      Mycoplasma capricolum susp. capricolum. The activities of the crude extracts
      varied with the solvent used for extraction. The MICs mean values of the active
      extracts varied from 0.02 to 0.6mg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that
      these plants could potentially contain antimicrobial compounds that might be
      useful for the treatment of respiratory diseases in ruminants. Future work should
      focus on the isolation and identification of the active compounds from the plant
      extracts that showed interesting activities and evaluation of their antimicrobial
      and cytotoxic potential.

PMID- 27649682
TI  - Natural products from Zanthoxylum heitzii with potent activity against the
      malaria parasite.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zanthoxylum heitzii (Rutaceae) (olon) is used in traditional medicine
      in Central and West Africa to treat malaria. To identify novel compounds with
      anti-parasitic activity and validate medicinal usage, extracts and compounds
      isolated from this tree were tested against the erythrocytic stages of the human
      malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and for inhibition of transmission in
      rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. RESULTS: Hexane bark extract showed
      activity against P. falciparum (IC50 0.050 MUg/ml), while leaf and seed extracts
      were inactive. Fractionation of the hexane bark extract led to the identification
      of three active constituents; dihydronitidine, pellitorine and heitziquinone.
      Dihydronitidine was the most active compound with an IC50 value of 0.0089 ug/ml
      (25 nM). This compound was slow acting, requiring 50 % longer exposure time than
      standard anti-malarials to reach full efficacy. Heitziquinone and pellitorine
      were less potent, with IC50 values of 3.55 MUg/ml and 1.96 ug/ml, but were fast
      acting. Plasmodium berghei ookinete conversion was also inhibited by the hexane
      extract (IC50 1.75 ug/ml), dihydronitidine (0.59 ug/ml) and heitziquinone (6.2
      ug/ml). Water extracts of Z. heitzii bark contain only low levels of
      dihydronitidine and show modest anti-parasitic activity. CONCLUSIONS: Three
      compounds with anti-parasitic activity were identified in Z. heitzii bark
      extract. The alkaloid dihydronitidine is the most effective of these, accounting
      for the bulk of activity in both erythrocytic and transmission-blocking assays.
      These compounds may present good leads for development of novel anti-malarials
      and add to the understanding of the chemical basis of the anti-parasitic activity
      in these classes of natural product.

PMID- 27649684
TI  - Peroral endoscopic myotomy versus pneumatic dilation for achalasia in patients
      aged >= 65 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Both peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) and pneumatic dilation
      (PD) has proved to be effective for treating achalasia in patients aged >= 65
      years. However little is known about the comparison between POEM and PD. The aim
      of the study was to compare the safety and efficacy of POEM and PD for the
      treatment of achalasia in these patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed
      the medical records of patients aged 65 years-old or more who received POEM or PD
      for the treatment of achalasia at our hospital from January 2010 to December
      2015, they were divided into the POEM group and the PD group. Demographics and
      data about safety and efficacy were collected retrospectively and compared
      between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 31 patients were enrolled, and 21 of
      them received POEM, while the other 10 received PD. The treatment success
      (Eckardt score <= 3) rate of POEM and PD at 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after the
      treatment were comparable (p > 0.05). Treatment failure was noticed in 3 cases, 1
      of them was in the POEM group and the other 2 in the PD group, there was no
      significant difference (p > 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that sigmoid-type
      achalasia was a predictive factor of treatment failure. No severe complications
      were observed during operation and periodical follow-up. CONCLUSION: Short-term
      and intermediate efficacy of POEM and PD for treating achalasia in patients aged
      >= 65 years was comparable. A large scale, randomized study with long-term follow
      up is necessary in order to make a definitive conclusion.

PMID- 27649686
TI  - Eliciting the Level of Health Inequality Aversion in England.
AB  - Health inequality aversion parameters can be used to represent alternative value
      judgements about policy concern for reducing health inequality versus improving
      total health. In this study, we use data from an online survey of the general
      public in England (n = 244) to elicit health inequality aversion parameters for
      both Atkinson and Kolm social welfare functions. We find median inequality
      aversion parameters of 10.95 for Atkinson and 0.15 for Kolm. These values suggest
      substantial concern for health inequality among the English general public which,
      at current levels of quality adjusted life expectancy, implies weighting health
      gains to the poorest fifth of people in society six to seven times as highly as
      health gains to the richest fifth. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27649685
TI  - Elevated systemic glutamic acid level in the non-obese diabetic mouse is Idd
      linked and induces beta cell apoptosis.
AB  - Although type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a T-cell-mediated disease in the effector
      stage, the mechanism behind the initial beta cell assault is less understood.
      Metabolomic differences, including elevated levels of glutamic acid, have been
      observed in patients with T1D before disease onset, as well as in pre-diabetic
      non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. Increased levels of glutamic acid damage both
      neurons and beta cells, implying that this could contribute to the initial events
      of T1D pathogenesis. We investigated the underlying genetic factors and
      consequences of the increased levels of glutamic acid in NOD mice. Serum glutamic
      acid levels from a (NOD*B6)F2 cohort (n = 182) were measured. By genome-wide and
      Idd region targeted microsatellite mapping, genetic association was detected for
      six regions including Idd2, Idd4 and Idd22. In silico analysis of potential
      enzymes and transporters located in and around the mapped regions that are
      involved in glutamic acid metabolism consisted of alanine aminotransferase,
      glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, aldehyde dehydrogenase 18 family, alutamyl
      prolyl-tRNA synthetase, glutamic acid transporters GLAST and EAAC1. Increased
      EAAC1 protein expression was observed in lysates from livers of NOD mice compared
      with B6 mice. Functional consequence of the elevated glutamic acid level in NOD
      mice was tested by culturing NOD. Rag2-/- Langerhans' islets with glutamic acid.
      Induction of apoptosis of the islets was detected upon glutamic acid challenge
      using TUNEL assay. Our results support the notion that a dysregulated metabolome
      could contribute to the initiation of T1D. We suggest that targeting of the
      increased glutamic acid in pre-diabetic patients could be used as a potential
      therapy.

PMID- 27649688
TI  - Increased glucose-stimulated FGF21 response to oral glucose in obese nondiabetic
      subjects after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The positive metabolic outcome of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB)
      surgery may involve fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), in both the fasting
      state and postprandially. We measured the fasting levels of FGF21 before and
      after bariatric surgery as well as the postprandial FGF21 responses after a
      glucose load and after a mixed meal. DESIGN: Observational intervention trial.
      PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Eight obese, nondiabetic patients underwent RYGB.
      Plasma FGF21 was measured both before and after surgery on three different days
      during oral glucose loads (25 g or 50 g glucose) or a mixed meal. Blood samples
      were taken right before the meal and at 15-min intervals until 90 min and at 150
      min and 210 min relative to the start of the meal. RESULTS: Overall, fasting
      plasma FGF21 did not change significantly before and after surgery (262 +/- 71 vs
      411 +/- 119 pg/ml), but for three subjects, fasting plasma FGF21 increased
      significantly after surgery. Furthermore, FGF21 levels increased significantly at
      t = 90 and t = 150 min in response to 50 g glucose, but not after a mixed meal.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the observed increase in postprandial plasma FGF21 in
      response to glucose and the lack of FGF21 response to a mixed meal may have
      important implications for the physiologic role of FGF21. The increase in
      postprandial FGF21 in response to glucose in the early postoperative period may
      contribute to the metabolic improvements observed after gastric bypass.

PMID- 27649687
TI  - Vascular cambium regeneration and vessel formation in wounded inflorescence stems
      of Arabidopsis.
AB  - Synchronized tissue polarization during regeneration or de novo vascular tissue
      formation is a plant-specific example of intercellular communication and
      coordinated development. According to the canalization hypothesis, the plant
      hormone auxin serves as polarizing signal that mediates directional channel
      formation underlying the spatio-temporal vasculature patterning. A necessary part
      of canalization is a positive feedback between auxin signaling and polarity of
      the intercellular auxin flow. The cellular and molecular mechanisms of this
      process are still poorly understood, not the least, because of a lack of a
      suitable model system. We show that the main genetic model plant, Arabidopsis
      (Arabidopsis thaliana) can be used to study the canalization during vascular
      cambium regeneration and new vasculature formation. We monitored localized auxin
      responses, directional auxin-transport channels formation, and establishment of
      new vascular cambium polarity during regenerative processes after stem wounding.
      The increased auxin response above and around the wound preceded the formation of
      PIN1 auxin transporter-marked channels from the primarily homogenous tissue and
      the transient, gradual changes in PIN1 localization preceded the polarity of
      newly formed vascular tissue. Thus, Arabidopsis is a useful model for studies of
      coordinated tissue polarization and vasculature formation after wounding allowing
      for genetic and mechanistic dissection of the canalization hypothesis.

PMID- 27649689
TI  - Quality of life results from a phase 3 study of brentuximab vedotin consolidation
      following autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant for persons with Hodgkin
      lymphoma.
AB  - Brentuximab vedotin (BV) significantly improved progression-free survival in a
      phase 3 study in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (RR-HL)
      post-autologous-haematopoietic stem cell transplant (auto-HSCT); we report the
      impact of BV on quality of life (QOL) from this trial. The European Quality of
      Life five dimensions questionnaire was administered at the beginning of each
      cycle, end of treatment, and every 3 months during follow-up; index value scores
      were calculated using the time trade-off (TTO) method for UK-weighted value sets.
      Questionnaire adherence during the trial was 87.5% (N = 329). In an intent-to
      treat analysis, compared with placebo, TTO scores in the BV arm did not exceed
      the minimally important difference (MID) of 0.08 except at month 15 (-0.084; 95%
      confidence interval, -0.143 to -0.025). On-treatment index scores were similar
      between arms and did not reach the MID at any time point; mixed-effect modelling
      showed that BV treatment effect was not significant (P = 0.2127). BV-associated
      peripheral neuropathy did not meaningfully impact QOL. Utility scores for
      patients who progressed declined compared with those who did not; TTO scores
      between these patients exceeded the MID beginning at month 15. In conclusion, QOL
      decreased modestly with BV consolidation treatment in patients with RR-HL at high
      risk of relapse after auto-HSCT.

PMID- 27649690
TI  - Predictors of long-term compensatory response of pulmonary function following
      major lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Long-term pulmonary function which might include
      compensatory response (CR) significantly influences quality of life of long-term
      survivor after major lung resection. We investigated long-term pulmonary function
      after major lung resection. METHODS: A total of 137 patients who had undergone
      lobar resection for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from May 2013 to June 2014
      had spirometry at 10-14 months after surgery. Actual post-operative forced
      expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 ) (FEV1apo )/predicted post-operative FEV1
      (FEV1ppo ), actual post-operative forced vital capacity (FVC) (FVCapo )/predicted
      post-operative FVC (FVCppo ), its relationship with clinicopathological factors
      and immunohistochemistry for pro-surfactant protein C (pro-SPC), thyroid
      transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2
      (VEGFR2) were investigated. RESULTS: FEV1apo /FEV1ppo showed strong correlation
      with FVCapo /FVCppo (r = 0.628; P < 0.001). We defined greater CR as both FEV1apo
      /FEV1ppo and FVCapo /FVCppo were >120%. Greater CR was significantly associated
      with decreased smoking index (P < 0.001) and greater resected subsegments (P =
      0.037). The never-smoker group revealed significantly greater CR compared with
      the smoker group in both FEV1apo /FEV1ppo (119.9 +/- 12.5% vs 107.5 +/- 14.2%; P
      = 0.030) and FVCapo /FVCppo (117.9 +/- 9.98% vs 107.2 +/- 13.1%; P = 0.046) in
      case-matched comparison. The expression of pro-SPC, TTF-1 and VEGFR2 in the
      normal lung parenchyma of greater CR group was significantly higher than those of
      lesser CR group (P < 0.001 for each). In addition, pro-SPC, TTF-1 and VEGFR2
      expressions showed a significant correlation to the degree of CR especially in
      the smoker group (r = 0.631, 0.705 and 0.732, respectively; P < 0.001 for each).
      CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that smokers may develop lesser long-term CR after
      major lung resection. Decreased expression of pro-SPC, TTF-1 and VEGFR2 may
      indicate decreased capacity of CR, especially in patients who smoke.

PMID- 27649691
TI  - The Copper(II)-Catalyzed Oxidation of Glutathione.
AB  - The kinetics and mechanisms of the copper(II)-catalyzed GSH (glutathione)
      oxidation are examined in the light of its biological importance and in the use
      of blood and/or saliva samples for GSH monitoring. The rates of the free thiol
      consumption were measured spectrophotometrically by reaction with DTNB (5,5'
      dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)), showing that GSH is not auto-oxidized by oxygen
      in the absence of a catalyst. In the presence of Cu2+ , reactions with two
      timescales were observed. The first step (short timescale) involves the fast
      formation of a copper-glutathione complex by the cysteine thiol. The second step
      (longer timescale) is the overall oxidation of GSH to GSSG (glutathione
      disulfide) catalyzed by copper(II). When the initial concentrations of GSH are at
      least threefold in excess of Cu2+ , the rate law is deduced to be 
      d[thiol]/dt=k[copper-glutathione complex][O2 ]0.5 [H2 O2 ]-0.5 . The 0.5th
      reaction order with respect to O2 reveals a pre-equilibrium prior to the rate
      determining step of the GSSG formation. In contrast to [Cu2+ ] and [O2 ], the
      rate of the reactions decreases with increasing concentrations of GSH. This
      inverse relationship is proposed to be a result of the competing formation of an
      inactive form of the copper-glutathione complex (binding to glutamic and/or
      glycine moieties).

PMID- 27649692
TI  - Improved osteogenesis and upregulated immunogenicity in human placenta-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells primed with osteogenic induction medium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in cell-based therapy
      owing to their multilineage potential and low immunogenicity. However, low
      differentiation efficiency and unpredictable immunogenicity of allogeneic MSCs in
      vivo limit their success in therapeutic treatment. Herein, we evaluated the
      differentiation potential and immunogenicity of human placenta-derived MSCs
      manipulated with osteogenic priming and dedifferentiation process. METHODS: MSCs
      from human placentas were subjected to osteogenic induction and then cultivated
      in osteogenic factor-free media; the obtained cell population was termed
      dedifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells (De-MSCs). De-MSCs were induced into
      osteo-, chondro- and adipo-differentiation in vitro. Cell proliferation was
      quantified by a Cell-Counting Kit-8 or tritiated thymidine ([(3)H]-TdR)
      incorporation. Meanwhile, the osteogenesis of De-MSCs in vivo was assayed by real
      time PCR and histological staining. The expressions of stem cell markers and co
      stimulatory molecules on De-MSCs and lymphocytes from primed BALB/c mouse with De
      MSCs were determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS: De-MSCs exhibited some
      properties similar to MSCs including multiple differentiation potential and
      hypoimmunogenicity. Upon re-osteogenic induction, De-MSCs exhibited higher
      differentiation capability than MSCs both in vitro and in vivo. Of note, De-MSCs
      had upregulated immunogenicity in association with their osteogenesis, reflected
      by the alternated expressions of co-stimulatory molecules on the surface and
      decreased suppression on T cell activation. Functionally, De-MSC-derived
      osteoblasts could prime lymphocytes of peripheral blood and spleen in BALB/c mice
      in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These data are of great significance for the potential
      application of De-MSCs as an alternative resource for regenerative medicine and
      tissue engineering. In order to avoid being rejected by the host during
      allogeneic De-MSC therapy, we suggest that immune intervention should be
      considered to boost the immune acceptance and integration because of the
      upregulated immunogenicity of De-MSCs with redifferentiation in clinical
      applications.

PMID- 27649694
TI  - Gender Issues and Related Social Stigma Affecting Patients with a Disorder of Sex
      Development in India.
AB  - Children with disorders of sex development (DSD) manifest at birth with malformed
      genitalia or later with atypical pubertal development. Those born with malformed
      genitalia are often diagnosed at birth. However, in resource-poor countries like
      India, where not all births are supervised by healthcare workers, some of these
      children remain undiagnosed until puberty or even later. The aim of this study
      was to assess the gender issues and psychosocial problems of children with DSD.
      Participants included 205 children with DSD (103 with 46,XX DSD and 102 with
      46,XY DSD). Both the children with DSD and their parents underwent semistructured
      interviews by a clinical psychologist. The birth of a child with DSD was
      perceived as a major medical and social problem by parents from all socioeconomic
      strata. Mothers were distressed as many believed the DSD condition was
      transmitted through the mother. Children who were not diagnosed and treated
      during infancy or early childhood experienced considerable social discrimination
      not only from relatives and friends but also from medical and paramedical staff
      in hospitals. Several patients had been operated during infancy without an
      etiological diagnosis and without provision of adequate information to the
      parents. Some children had problems related to complications of surgery. Most
      teenage patients with 5alpha-reductase-2 deficiency reared as females presented
      with gender dysphoria, while children with androgen insensitivity (except for
      one) or with gonadal dysgenesis developed a gender identity concordant with their
      gender of rearing. Parents of children with DSD preferred a male gender
      assignment for their children (if that was possible) because of the social
      advantages of growing up male in a patriarchal society.

PMID- 27649693
TI  - Vegan-vegetarian low-protein supplemented diets in pregnant CKD patients: fifteen
      years of experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnancy in women with advanced CKD becoming increasingly common.
      However, experience with low-protein diets in CKD patients in pregnancy is still
      limited. Aim of this study is to review the results obtained over the last 15
      years with moderately restricted low-protein diets in pregnant CKD women
      (combining: CKD stages 3-5, proteinuria: nephrotic at any time, or > =1 g/24 at
      start or referral; nephrotic in previous pregnancy). CKD patients on unrestricted
      diets were employed for comparison. METHODS:  STUDY PERIOD: January, 2000 to
      September, 2015: 36 on-diet pregnancies (31 singleton deliveries, 3 twin
      deliveries, 1 pregnancy termination, 1 miscarriage); 47 controls (42 singleton
      deliveries, 5 miscarriages). The diet is basically vegan; since occasional milk
      and yoghurt are allowed, we defined it vegan-vegetarian; protein intake (0.6-0.8
      g/Kg/day), keto-acid supplementation, protein-unrestricted meals (1-3/week) are
      prescribed according to CKD stage and nutritional status. Statistical analysis
      was performed as implemented on SPSS. RESULTS: Patients and controls were similar
      (p: ns) at baseline with regard to age (33 vs 33.5), referral week (7 vs 9),
      kidney function (CKD 3-5: 48.4 % vs 64.3 %); prevalence of hypertension (51.6 %
      vs 40.5 %) and proteinuria >3 g/24 h (16.1 % vs 12.2 %). There were more diabetic
      nephropathies in on-diet patients (on diet: 31.0 % vs controls 5.3 %; p 0.007
      (Fisher)) while lupus nephropathies were non-significantly higher in controls (on
      diet: 10.3 % vs controls 23.7 %; p 0.28 (Fisher)). The incidence of preterm
      delivery was similar (<37 weeks: on-diet singletons 77.4 %; controls: 71.4 %).
      The incidence of other adverse pregnancy related outcomes was non-significantly
      lower in on-diet patients (early preterm delivery: on diet: 32.3 % vs controls
      35.7 %; birth-weight = <1.500 g: on diet: 9.7 % vs controls 23.8 %). None of the
      singletons in the on-diet series died, while two perinatal deaths occurred among
      the controls (p = 0.505). The incidence of small for gestational age (SGA <10th
      centile) and/or extremely preterm babies (<28th week) was significantly lower in
      singletons from on-diet mothers than in controls (on diet: 12.9 % vs controls:
      33.3 %; p: 0.04 (Fisher)). CONCLUSION: Moderate protein restriction in the
      context of a vegan-vegetarian supplemented diet is confirmed as a safe option in
      the management of pregnant CKD patients.

PMID- 27649696
TI  - Clinical Management of Gender in Egypt: Intersexuality and Transsexualism.
AB  - This article reviews the literature on intersexuality (disorders of sex
      development [DSD]) and transsexuality in Egypt. Egypt's resources for the
      diagnosis and treatment of rare conditions, such as DSD and transsexualism, are
      quite limited. The birth of a child with a DSD is likely to be stressful,
      especially in regard to decisions on gender assignment, and genital abnormalities
      are associated with stigma and shame. Gender assignment may be biased toward the
      male gender, because female infertility precludes marriage and female gender
      adversely affects employment prospects and inheritance. Later gender change in
      either direction may also carry stigma. Gender reassignment surgery for
      transsexuals without somatic intersexuality was legalized in Egypt in 2005, but
      requires permission by a national Sex Identification and Determination Committee.

PMID- 27649697
TI  - Why Sexual Plasticity in Women Is Unlikely to be an Adaptation to Reduce Conflict
      in Polygynous Marriages.

PMID- 27649695
TI  - Satisfaction and Condomless Anal Sex at Sexual Debut and Sexual Risk Among Young
      Black Same-Sex Attracted Men.
AB  - First sex may be a sentinel event crucial to understanding sexual health
      trajectories of young Black same-sex attracted men (YBSSAM). We sought to
      understand whether satisfaction, condomless anal sex, and contextual factors
      during first sex were associated with sexual risk and recent condom use in
      YBSSAM. A total of 201 YBSSAM aged 15-24 years completed an Internet survey
      exploring first sex, current condom use, and sexual risk. High risk was defined
      as >=3 of the following: new/concurrent sex partners, STI history, and
      no/inconsistent condom use. Multivariate logistic regression assessed the
      association between predictor (satisfaction and first condomless anal sex) and
      outcome (sexual risk and condomless sex in the past 3 months) variables. Mean age
      at first sex was 15.2 (SD = 2.9) years, and emotional satisfaction (51.7 %),
      physical satisfaction (63.7 %), and condomless first anal sex (55.2 %) were
      common. YBSSAM describing high levels of satisfaction were no more likely to be
      at high risk or engage in recent condomless sex. Condomless first sex (AOR =
      4.57, p = .001), younger age (AOR = 3.43, p = .02), and having a partner >5 years
      older (AOR = 2.78, p = .03) at first sex were significantly associated with
      increased risk. Only condomless first sex (AOR = 4.28, p < .001) was associated
      with condomless recent sex. Satisfaction at first sex may not influence later
      sexual risk in YBSSAM. However, context of first sex, including condom use at
      first sex, may play an important role in subsequent risk. Prevention strategies
      on condom negotiation prior to first sex may help to mitigate HIV burden in
      YBSSAM.

PMID- 27649698
TI  - The application of sonication in diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection.
AB  - Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a catastrophic complication after total
      joint arthroplasty. It has always been difficult to diagnose PJI, which is
      characterised by existence of biofilm around the implants. The application of
      sonication has proven advantageous for pathogen detection. This meta-analysis of
      clinical trials was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of sonication and
      to compare it with traditional bacterial culture. We assessed 16 studies that
      evaluated sonication fluid cultures (SFC) for the diagnosis of PJI. It was shown
      that sonication may be of great value in PJI diagnosis, with a pooled sensitivity
      of 0.79 (95 % confidence interval [CI] = 0.76-0.81), specificity of 0.95 (CI =
      0.94-0.96), DOR of 71.20 (CI = 31.08-163.10), PLR of 15.25 (CI = 6.44-36.15), and
      NLR of 0.23 (CI = 0.18-0.30). The AUC value of the SROC was 0.90. The results of
      this meta-analysis showed that culture of fluid after sonication was of great
      value for PJI diagnosis. Sonication was more sensitive than traditional tissue
      culture with lower specificity, especially for patients previously taking
      antibiotics.

PMID- 27649699
TI  - Association between source control and mortality in 258 patients with intra
      abdominal candidiasis: a retrospective multi-centric analysis comparing intensive
      care versus surgical wards in Spain.
AB  - Early empiric therapy and adequate resuscitation have been identified as main
      predictors of outcome in patients with candidemia or bacteremia. Moreover, source
      control is a major determinant in infectious sites when feasible, as a main
      technique to reduce microbiological burden. A retrospective, multicenter, cohort
      study was performed at surgical wards and intensive care units (ICU) of three
      University Hospitals in Spain between 2010 and 2014, with the aim of improving
      understanding of the interaction between source control, early antifungal
      therapy, and use of vasoactives in patients with intra-abdominal candidiasis
      (IAC). Source control was defined as all physical actions taken to control a
      focus of infection and reduce the favorable conditions that promote microorganism
      growth or that maintain the impairment of host defenses. Two hundred and fifty
      eight patients with IAC were identified. Sixty-one patients were at ICU for
      diagnosis. Mortality was higher in the ICU group compared to what was documented
      for the non-ICU group (35 % vs 19.5 %, p = 0011). Adequate source control within
      48 h of diagnosis was achieved in 60 % of the cohort. In multivariate analysis,
      inadequate source control was identified as the only common risk factor for 30
      day mortality in both groups (ICU group OR: 13.78 (95% CI: 2.60-72.9, p = 0.002)
      and non-ICU group OR: 6.53 (95% CI: 2.56-16.61, p = <0.001). The population
      receiving both adequate source control and adequate antifungal treatment was the
      one associated with a higher survival rate, in both the ICU and surgical groups.
      Source control remains a key element in IAC, inside and outside the intensive
      care unit. Early antifungal treatment among ICU patients was associated with
      lower mortality.

PMID- 27649700
TI  - hERG1 potassium channel in cancer cells: a tool to reprogram immortality.
AB  - It has been well established that changes in ion fluxes across cellular membranes
      as a function of time is fundamental in maintaining cellular homeostasis of every
      living cell. Consequently, dysregulation of ion channels activity is a critical
      event in pathological conditions of several tissues, including cancer.
      Nevertheless, the role of ion channels in cancer biology is still not well
      understood and very little is known about the possible therapeutic opportunities
      offered by the use of the vast collection of drugs that target ion channels. In
      this review, we focus on the recent advances in understanding the role of the
      voltage-gated hERG1 potassium channel in cancer and on the effects of
      pharmacologic manipulation of the hERG1 in cancer cells aiming to provide
      insights into the biochemical signaling and cellular processes that are altered
      by using these drugs.

PMID- 27649701
TI  - Identification of a Novel Deletion Mutation (c.1780delG) and a Novel Splice-Site
      Mutation (c.1412-1G>A) in the CCM1/KRIT1 Gene Associated with Familial Cerebral
      Cavernous Malformation in the Chinese Population.
AB  - Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is a congenital vascular anomaly
      predominantly located within the central nervous system. Its familial forms
      (familial cerebral cavernous malformation (FCCM)), inherited in an autosomal
      dominant manner with incomplete penetrance, are attributed to mutations in
      CCM1/KRIT1, CCM2/MGC4607, and CCM3/PDCD10 genes. To date, little is known about
      the genetic alterations leading to FCCM in the Chinese population. We aimed to
      investigate the genetic defect of FCCM by DNA sequencing in Chinese families.
      This study enrolled five Chinese families with FCCM. All index cases underwent
      surgical treatment and were diagnosed with CCM by pathology; their relatives were
      diagnosed based on radiological and/or pathological evidence. Genomic DNA was
      extracted from peripheral blood and amplified using polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR) for DNA sequencing. The five families comprised a total of 21 affected
      individuals: 12 of these were symptomatic, and 9 were asymptomatic. Sequence
      analyses in the index patients disclosed three heterozygous loss-of-function
      mutations in the CCM1/KRIT1 gene in three families, respectively: a novel
      deletion mutation (c.1780delG; p.Ala594HisfsX67) in exon 16, a novel splice-site
      mutation (c.1412-1G>A) in the splice acceptor site in intron 13, and a previously
      described 4-bp deletion (c.1197_1200delCAAA; p.Gln401ThrfsX10) in exon 12. All of
      these mutations are predicted to cause a premature termination codon to generate
      a truncated Krev interaction trapped 1 (Krit1) protein. These mutations
      segregated in affected relatives. Our findings provided new CCM1 gene mutation
      profiles, which help to elucidate the pathogenesis of FCCM and will be of great
      significance in genetic counseling.

PMID- 27649702
TI  - Colorectal cancer screening patient education materials-how effective is online
      health information?
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients screened for colorectal cancer (CRC) frequently turn to the
      Internet to improve their understanding of tests used for detection, including
      colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, fecal occult blood test (FOBT), and CT
      colonography. It was of interest to determine the quality and readability levels
      of online health information. METHODS: The screening tools were googled, and the
      top 20 results of each test were analyzed for readability, accessibility,
      usability, and reliability. The 80 articles excluded scientific literature and
      blogs. We used ten validated readability scales to measure grade levels, and one
      way ANOVA and Tukey's honestly statistical different (HSD) post hoc analyses to
      determine any statistically significant differences among the four diagnostic
      tests. The LIDA tool assessed overall quality by measuring accessibility,
      usability, and reliability. RESULTS: The 80 articles were written at an 11.7
      grade level, with CT colonography articles written at significantly higher levels
      than FOBT articles, F(3, 75) = 3.07, p = 0.033. LIDA showed moderate percentages
      in accessibility (83.9 %), usability (73.0 %), and reliability (75.9 %).
      CONCLUSIONS: Online health information about CRC screening tools are written at
      higher levels than the National Institute of Health (NIH) and American Medical
      Association (AMA) recommended third to seventh grade levels. More patients could
      benefit from this modality of information if it were written at a level and
      quality that would better facilitate understanding.

PMID- 27649703
TI  - Colour assortative pairing in a colour polymorphic lizard is independent of
      population morph diversity.
AB  - Previous work with a colour polymorphic population of Podarcis muralis
      (Lacertidae) revealed that lizards pair by ventral colour, favouring the same
      colour (i.e. homomorphic) pairs. Such assortative pairing, which probably results
      in colour assortative mating, can have consequences for the genetic structure of
      the population and potentially promote speciation. The population previously
      studied, located in the Pyrenees, encompasses white, yellow and orange animals,
      as well as intermediate white-orange and yellow-orange morphs. However, other
      Pyrenean populations of P. muralis have less ventral colour morphs. Our aim in
      this study is to test the generality of the assortative colour pairing system,
      extending our previous analyses to populations with different morph compositions
      and frequencies. The results show that the assortative pattern of pairing is
      similar in all the populations analysed and, hence, independent of morph
      composition and not restricted to pentamorphic populations. This suggests that
      assortative pairing by colour is a general phenomenon for colour polymorphic
      populations of P. muralis. 

PMID- 27649705
TI  - Extending the Limits of Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases: Bilateral
      Disease.

PMID- 27649704
TI  - The Sooner, the Better? The Importance of Optimal Timing of Cholecystectomy in
      Acute Cholecystitis: Data from the National Swedish Registry for Gallstone
      Surgery, GallRiks.
AB  - Up-front cholecystectomy is the recommended therapy for acute cholecystitis (AC).
      However, the scientific basis for the definition of the optimal timing for
      surgery is scarce. The aim of this study was to analyze how the timing of
      surgery, after the admission to hospital for AC, affects the intra- and
      postoperative outcomes. Within the national Swedish Registry for Gallstone
      Surgery and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (GallRiks), all
      patients undergoing cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis between January 2006
      and December 2014 were identified. Data regarding patient characteristics, intra-
      and postoperative adverse events (AEs), bile duct injuries, and 30- and 90-day
      mortality risk were captured, and the correlation between the surgical timing and
      these parameters was analyzed. In total, data on 87,108 cholecystectomies were
      analyzed of which 15,760 (18.1 %) were performed due to AC. Bile duct injury, 30-
      and 90-day mortality risk, and intra- and postoperative AEs were significantly
      higher if the time from admission to surgery exceeded 4 days. The time course
      between surgery and complication risks seemed to be optimal if surgery was done
      within 2 days after hospital admission. Although AC patients operated on the day
      of hospital admission had a slightly increased AE rate as well as 30- and 90-day
      mortality rates than those operated during the interval of 1-2 days after
      admission, the bile duct injury and conversion rates were, in fact, significantly
      lower. The optimal timing of cholecystectomy for patients with AC seems to be
      within 2 days after admission. However, the somewhat higher frequency of AE on
      admission day may emphasize the importance of optimizing the patient before
      surgery as well as ensuring that adequate surgical resources are available.

PMID- 27649706
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27649707
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27649708
TI  - [Dirofilaria repens hos en dansk kvinde efter rejse til Kreta].

PMID- 27649709
TI  - [Intervertebral discitis in children].
AB  - Intervertebral discitis is a rare disorder which is easily missed. It presents
      with non-specific symptoms such as irritability, abdominal pain, decreased
      appetite and limping. The infection parameters can be normal, and blood cultures
      are often negative. The pathogenesis is not established but infectious, and
      inflammatory aetiologies have been suggested. Diagnostic golden standard is
      magnetic resonance imaging. The treatment is immobilization, anti-inflammatory
      drugs and often antibiotics. Early treatment is important to reduce the risk of
      complications such as nerve damage and spine fusion. 

PMID- 27649710
TI  - [Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for treatment of acute respiratory failure
      in adults].
AB  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can support gas exchange independently
      of mechanical ventilation in patients with severe acute respiratory failure. Veno
      venous ECMO is a temporary technique for providing life support by pulmonary
      dysfunction. ECMO should be considered for patients with respiratory failure when
      they cannot survive with conventional therapy. ECMO may be used either as a
      rescue therapy or to prevent ventilator-associated lung injury. Exact criteria
      for ECMO are not available. Transportation while using ECMO is safe when a team
      from the management centre provides it. 

PMID- 27649711
TI  - [Treatment and management of congenital melanocytic naevi].
AB  - Congenital melanocytic naevi (CMN) appear in approximately 2.6% of Caucasians.
      There is a major demand for treatment but no vital indication. Laser therapy,
      curettage and excision are available treatment modalities, but there is no ideal
      treatment with documented long-term effect and without side effects, and the
      level of evidence for the treatment options is generally low. The risk of
      malignancy has probably been overestimated, and furthermore new research shows
      that untreated CMN often show spontaneous lightening. We review the literature
      for pros and cons of different treatments. 

PMID- 27649712
TI  - [Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors for patients with Type 2
      diabetes].
AB  - The sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT-2i)-class is efficacious as
      monotherapy and as add-on therapy with an expected lowering of the glycated
      haemoglobin (HbA1c) concentration of approximately 7 mmol/mol. Side effects
      relate to the mode of action, genital infections are the main problem. Extremely
      rare cases of ketoacidosis are reported, mostly in patients with Type 1 diabetes.
      One SGLT-2i, empagliflozin, has been shown to reduce cardiovascular mortality and
      progression of kidney disease in patients with Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular
      disease. Outcome trials for other SGLT-2i are pending. SGLT-2i are now in
      guidelines as a possible second-line therapy or in case of metformin intolerance.

PMID- 27649713
TI  - One-pot synthesis of gamma -spiroiminolactones and gamma -dispiroiminolactones
      using N,N'-disubstituted parabanic acid and thioparabanic acid derivatives.
AB  - A direct entry and simple process for the synthesis of [Formula: see text]
      spiroiminolactones present in a large number of natural products has been
      developed. In the first step, the synthesis of parabanic acid derivatives was
      commenced from the reaction of [Formula: see text]-disubstituted urea and
      thiourea with oxalyl chloride, then a three-component reaction was carried out
      with isocyanides, acetylenic esters, and [Formula: see text]-disubstituted
      parabanic acid derivatives. The method allows the construction of a variety of
      [Formula: see text]-spiroiminolactone structures in good to high yields starting
      from readily available precursors. It was found that in the case of [Formula: see
      text]-diphenyl thioparabanic acid, additional products of [Formula: see text]
      dispiroiminolactones have been formed due to the higher electrophilicity of
      [Formula: see text]-dicarbonyl groups. The structures were fully established
      using spectroscopic analysis NMR, IR, and Mass spectrometry. The crystal
      structure of [Formula: see text]-dispiroiminolactone was confirmed from single
      crystal X-ray diffraction study.

PMID- 27649714
TI  - Psychometric Properties of the Modified Personal Diabetes Questionnaire Among
      Chinese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.
AB  - This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the
      Personal Diabetes Questionnaire (C-PDQ). The PDQ was translated into Chinese
      using a forward and backward translation approach. After being reviewed by an
      expert panel, the C-PDQ was administered to a convenience sample of 346 adults
      with Type 2 diabetes. The Chinese version of the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care
      Activities (C-SDSCA) was also administered. The results of the exploratory factor
      analysis revealed a one-factor structure for the Diet Knowledge, Decision-Making,
      and Eating Problems subscales and a two-factor structure for the barriers-related
      subscales. The criterion and convergent validity were supported by significant
      correlations of the subscales of the C-PDQ with the glycated hemoglobin values
      and the parallel subscales in the C-SDSCA, respectively. The C-PDQ subscales also
      showed acceptable internal consistency (alpha = .61-.89) and excellent test
      retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients: .73-.96). The results
      provide preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the C-PDQ. This
      comprehensive, patient-centered instrument could be useful to identify the needs,
      concerns, and priorities of Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27649715
TI  - Statistical methods for down-selection of treatment regimens based on multiple
      endpoints, with application to HIV vaccine trials.
AB  - Biomarker endpoints measuring vaccine-induced immune responses are essential to
      HIV vaccine development because of their potential to predict the effect of a
      vaccine in preventing HIV infection. A vaccine's immune response profile observed
      in phase I immunogenicity studies is a key factor in determining whether it is
      advanced for further study in phase II and III efficacy trials. The multiplicity
      of immune variables and scientific uncertainty in their relative importance,
      however, pose great challenges to the development of formal algorithms for
      selecting vaccines to study further. Motivated by the practical need to identify
      a set of promising vaccines from a pool of candidate regimens for inclusion in an
      upcoming HIV vaccine efficacy trial, we propose a new statistical framework for
      the selection of vaccine regimens based on their immune response profile. In
      particular, we propose superiority and non-redundancy criteria to be achieved in
      down-selection, and develop novel statistical algorithms that integrate
      hypothesis testing and ranking for selecting vaccine regimens satisfying these
      criteria. Performance of the proposed selection algorithms are evaluated through
      extensive numerical studies. We demonstrate the application of the proposed
      methods through the comparison of immune responses between several HIV vaccine
      regimens. The methods are applicable to general down-selection applications in
      clinical trials.

PMID- 27649717
TI  - Margaret McCartney: The NHS can't afford more litigation.

PMID- 27649718
TI  - Early Endocarditis and Delayed Left Ventricular Pseudoaneurysm Complicating a
      Transapical Transcatheter Mitral Valve-in-Valve Implantation: Percutaneous
      Closure Under Local Anesthesia and Echocardiographic Guidance.

PMID- 27649716
TI  - Get Checked... Where? The Development of a Comprehensive, Integrated Internet
      Based Testing Program for Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections in
      British Columbia, Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI)
      is an effective public health strategy that can promote personal control of one's
      health and prevent the spread of these infections. Multiple barriers deter access
      to testing including fear of stigmatization, inaccurate health care provider
      perceptions of risk, and reduced availability of clinic services and
      infrastructure. Concurrent increases in sexually transmitted infection (STI)
      rates and demands on existing clinical services make this an even more pressing
      concern. Web-based testing offers several advantages that may alleviate existing
      clinical pressures and facilitate appropriate testing access. OBJECTIVE: This
      paper describes the planning, development, and usability testing of a novel Web
      based testing service, GetCheckedOnline (GCO), as a complementary testing option
      integrated within existing sexual health services within British Columbia (BC).
      METHODS: From 2009 to 2014, we engaged a multidisciplinary team in the design and
      development of GCO. We conducted 3 initial research studies to ascertain the
      opinions of youth, men who have sex with men (MSM), and STI clinic clients
      regarding Web-based testing and elicited perspectives of sexual health care
      providers through focus groups. We developed an informed consent process, risk
      assessment questions, and test recommendations based on provincial and national
      guidelines and evaluated these through consultations with clinical and community
      stakeholders. We also conducted a preliminary health equity impact assessment
      whose findings also informed the GCO program mode. Finally, from April 2011 to
      December 2012 we gathered qualitative data from 25 participants on the
      functionality and usability of a GCO prototype and incorporated their
      recommendations into a final model. RESULTS: GCO launched in the fall of 2014
      across 6 pilot sites in Vancouver, BC. The service involves 3 main steps: (1)
      create an account, complete an assessment, and print a laboratory requisition,
      (2) provide blood and urine specimens at participating laboratory locations, and
      (3) receive test results on the Internet or by phone. During this pilot phase, we
      promoted GCO to existing STI clinic clients and MSM in the Greater Vancouver
      region. A rigorous mixed-method evaluation of GCO's uptake, acceptability, and
      health system impacts is currently underway. CONCLUSIONS: GCO is the first
      comprehensive Web-based STBBI testing program in Canada that is integrated with
      existing sexual health services, with the potential to reduce pressures on
      existing clinical services and reach populations facing the greatest barriers to
      testing. Our experience highlights the facilitators and challenges of developing
      and implementing novel complex eHealth interventions within the health care
      system, and underscores the importance of considering broader implementation
      contexts.

PMID- 27649719
TI  - Management of maxillofacial fractures within three years of empirical findings.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate which treatment of maxillofacial fractures is more
      effective and what type of complications is the most common after observed
      treatment. The second aim is to explore relationship between treated facial bone
      fractures and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pathology. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Cases with TMJ pathology in Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS) in
      the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery (MS) during 2012-2014 were analysed to
      research the occurrence of TMJ disorders after facial bone fracture treatment.
      Moreover, the clinical data of patients that were treated in LUHS in the
      Department of MS during 2012-2014 was collected and analysed. RESULTS: Male
      patients had higher fracture ratio (zygomatic and maxillary - 84%, mandibular -
      89.72%). Complications occurred in 6% of the patients in a zygomatic and
      maxillary fractures group, mainly as an infraorbital nerve injury. Closed
      reduction and indirect fixation were performed for mandibular patients 49.7%. The
      ratio of complications for mandibular fractures was 6.1%. There were
      complications in group with the open reduction and direct fixation (24.2%, mostly
      osteomyelitis), when in the closed reduction and indirect fixation group (42.4%,
      mostly bone healing complications). There were no patients with TMJ pathology as
      a complication after facial bone fracture treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Fractures
      treatment technique differs in all cases because of individual characteristics
      and treatment variations. In the open reduction and direct fixation group
      complications occurred in fewer cases than in the closed reduction and indirect
      fixation group. Well-timed facial bone fracture treatment leads to non-occurrence
      of TMJ complications.

PMID- 27649720
TI  - Radiologic features of temporomandibular joint osseous structures in children
      with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Cone beam computed tomography study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have a high risk
      of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement. Lesions in the TMJ appear early in
      the course of this disease. Evaluating the structure of the TMJ in JIA patients
      using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) provides an understanding of the
      typical radiologic features of morphological change in TMJs of JIA patients. This
      study aims to report these features as seen in CBCT and thus comparing them with
      the features observed in a control group within the same age group and in females
      and males. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study whereby
      CBCTs of 65 (130 joints) patients with a confirmed JIA diagnosis and 30 (60
      joints) control group - patients without JIA upto the age of 17. Structural
      radiologic features of the joint's hard tissues were assessed according to the
      research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders as developed by
      Ahmad et al. RESULTS: The radiologic features of the osseous structures of the
      TMJ occurred asymmetrically between the right and left sides when compared in the
      JIA and control groups. The most prevalent feature in the JIA group is condyle
      surface flattening for both sides. Condyle surface erosion and osteophyte were
      also frequent and occurred with high statistical significance in both males and
      females. CONCLUSIONS: TMJ destruction features observed in CBCT images were
      prevalent in the JIA group and occurred infrequently in the control group.

PMID- 27649721
TI  - Age and gender influence on oral hygiene among adolescents with fixed orthodontic
      appliances.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many factors can influence oral health including oral hygiene
      measures, eating habits, attention from parents, education and the social
      situation. It is even harder to keep good oral health when orthodontic treatments
      are applied, because orthodontic treatments are usually undergone by children and
      adolescents who have fewer skills and pay less attention to their oral health;
      this may lead to bleeding on probing (BOP), a higher plaque index (PI), a higher
      gingival index (GI), and an increase in probing pocket depth (PPD). The aim of
      this study was to compare the features of oral hygiene among different age groups
      and gender in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The study consisted of 107 patients from the Department of Orthodontics of
      Lithuanian University of Health Sciences aged 12 to 18 years with fixed
      orthodontic appliances. The patients were given a questionnaire with 17 questions
      about their oral hygiene and how it changed after they started their treatment
      with fixed orthodontic appliances. A statistical analysis was performed using the
      IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0. RESULTS: Among the 107 participants, 69 (64.5%) were
      females and 38 (35.5%) were males. 57 (53.3%) participants were 12 to 15 years
      old and 50 (46.7%) 16 to 18 years old. There was a statistically significant
      result when comparing the differences between females and males: females brushed
      their teeth more regularly than males (p<0.005). Statistically significant
      results could also be observed when comparing the different age groups: 16 to 18
      year old patients reported more often brushing their teeth three or more times a
      day (p<0.005), reported more intensive changes in their oral hygiene after
      starting orthodontic treatments (p<0.005), and received more recommendations from
      their orthodontist about oral hygiene measures (p<0.005). CONCLUSION: In patients
      with fixed orthodontic appliances, the oral hygiene of 16 to 18 year old
      adolescents is better than the oral hygiene of 12 to 15 year old adolescents.
      Females brush their teeth more regularly than males. More studies should be done
      to evaluate any differences.

PMID- 27649722
TI  - In vitro color and roughness stability of different temporary restorative
      materials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of staining
      solutions on the color stability and roughness of different provisional resin
      material. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three different materials were tested (two
      polymethylmethacrylate and one bis-acryl composite resins) in cola and coffee and
      for 1 and 4 weeks. 240 specimens were used - half of them polished and other half
      not. Color measurements were made before and after immersions using CIE L*a*b*.
      Surface roughness was measured using profilometer. Data was analyzed by ANOVA and
      Tukey HSD multiple comparison tests. RESULTS: The highest DeltaE values were
      observed in the coffee. Unpolished and polished bis-acryl resin showed the
      highest DeltaE values (p<0.00) in both intervals. The i-TEMP had the lowest or
      one of the least color changes. The time factor had influence on the color
      stability of provisional materials (p<0.01). The highest Ra values of polished
      specimens were observed in the cola; i-TEMP exposed the best result (p<0.00). The
      Pearson Correlation test showed a strong correlation between DeltaE and Ra in
      provisional restorative materials in coffee and weak-moderate correlation in
      cola. CONCLUSIONS: The higher color stability of polished and unpolished
      specimens was shown by polymethylmethacrylate than bis-acryl resins. All polished
      specimens shown better color stability properties than unpolished except for the
      hot polymerization provisional materials (i-CAB). Polished polymethylmethacrylate
      showed better results of average roughness in comparison with bis-acryl resin.
      Cold-polymerization polymethylmethacrylate had better results of color and
      roughness stability than hot-polymerization polymethylmethacrylate.

PMID- 27649723
TI  - WOMEN IN CANCER THEMATIC REVIEW: Systemic therapies in neuroendocrine tumors and
      novel approaches toward personalized medicine.
AB  - Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a group of heterogenous neoplasms. Evidence
      based treatment options for antiproliferative therapy include somatostatin
      analogues, the mTOR inhibitor everolimus, the multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      sunitinib and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with 177-Lu-octreotate. In
      the absence of definite predictive markers, therapeutic decision making follows
      clinical and pathological criteria. As objective response rates with targeted
      drugs are rather low, and response duration is limited in most patients, numerous
      combination therapies targeting multiple pathways have been explored in the
      field. Upfront combination of drugs, however, is associated with increasing
      toxicity and has shown little benefit. Major advancements in the molecular
      understanding of NET based on genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic analysis
      have been achieved with prognostic and therapeutic impact. New insight into
      molecular alterations has paved the way to biomarker-driven clinical trials and
      may facilitate treatment stratification toward personalized medicine in the near
      future. However, an improved understanding of the complexity of pathway
      interactions is required for successful treatment. A systems biology approach is
      one of the tools that may help to achieve this endeavor.

PMID- 27649725
TI  - Mushroom Extracts Decrease Bone Resorption and Improve Bone Formation.
AB  - Mushroom extracts have shown promising effects in the treatment of cancer and
      various chronic diseases. Osteoporosis is considered one of the most widespread
      chronic diseases, for which currently available therapies show mixed results. In
      this research we investigated the in vitro effects of water extracts of the
      culinary-medicinal mushrooms Trametes versicolor, Grifola frondosa, Lentinus
      edodes, and Pleurotus ostreatus on a MC3T3-E1 mouse osteoblast-like cell line,
      primary rat osteoblasts, and primary rat osteoclasts. In an animal osteoporosis
      model, rats were ovariectomized and then fed 2 mushroom blends of G. frondosa and
      L. edodes for 42 days. Bone loss was monitored using densitometry (dual-energy X
      ray absorptiometry) and micro computed tomography. In the concentration test,
      mushroom extracts showed no toxic effect on MC3T3-E1 cells; a dose of 24 ug/mL
      showed the most proliferative effect. Mushroom extracts of T. versicolor, G.
      frondosa, and L. edodes inhibited osteoclast activity, whereas the extract of L.
      edodes increased osteoblast mineralization and the production of osteocalcin, a
      specific osteoblastic marker. In animals, mushroom extracts did not prevent
      trabecular bone loss in the long bones. However, we show for the first time that
      the treatment with a combination of extracts from L. edodes and G. frondosa
      significantly reduced trabecular bone loss at the lumbar spine. Inhibitory
      properties of extracts from L. edodes on osteoclasts and the promotion of
      osteoblasts in vitro, together with the potential to decrease lumbar spine bone
      loss in an animal osteoporosis model, indicate that medicinal mushroom extracts
      can be considered as a preventive treatment and/or a supplement to
      pharmacotherapy to enhance its effectiveness and ameliorate its harmful side
      effects. 

PMID- 27649727
TI  - Is Widely Cultivated "Pleurotus sajor-caju", Especially in Asia, Indeed an
      Independent Species?
AB  - In modern mycology, the name "Pleurotus sajor-caju" has 2 meanings: a strict
      taxonomical meaning refers to its nomenclatural synonym Lentinus sajor-caju, and
      a more widely distributed biotechnological meaning refers to a strain determined
      as "Pleurotus sajor-caju" but that belongs to true Pleurotus. The main purpose of
      this article is to highlight the taxonomic status and to give the correct name
      for this problematic member of Pleurotus. Both microscopic analysis and BLAST
      search results (internal transcribed spacer homology varies between 97% and 100%)
      provide the position of the fungus in question into the range of infraspecific
      radiation of P. pulmonarius. It was shown that the fungus represents a tropical
      ecotype of P. pulmonarius, and a new variety (P. pulmonarius var. stechangii) was
      described for its taxonomic representation. This variety was named in honor of
      Professor S.-T. Chang, a great mycologist who introduced this taxon to the
      mushroom industry. A formal change in the anamorphic name of the fungus in
      question is provided, too, and a new name is presented: Antromycopsis stechangii.

PMID- 27649724
TI  - T2-weighted MRI signal predicts hormone and tumor responses to somatostatin
      analogs in acromegaly.
AB  - GH-secreting pituitary adenomas can be hypo-, iso- or hyper-intense on T2
      weighted MRI sequences. We conducted the current multicenter study in a large
      population of patients with acromegaly to analyze the relationship between T2
      weighted signal intensity on diagnostic MRI and hormonal and tumoral responses to
      somatostatin analogs (SSA) as primary monotherapy. Acromegaly patients receiving
      primary SSA for at least 3 months were included in the study. Hormonal, clinical
      and general MRI assessments were performed and assessed centrally. We included
      120 patients with acromegaly. At diagnosis, 84, 17 and 19 tumors were T2-hypo-,
      iso- and hyper-intense, respectively. SSA treatment duration, cumulative and mean
      monthly doses were similar in the three groups. Patients with T2-hypo-intense
      adenomas had median SSA-induced decreases in GH and IGF-1 of 88% and 59%
      respectively, which were significantly greater than the decreases observed in the
      T2-iso- and hyper-intense groups (P < 0.001). Tumor shrinkage on SSA was also
      significantly greater in the T2-hypo-intense group (38%) compared with the T2-iso
      and hyper-intense groups (8% and 3%, respectively; P < 0.0001). The response to
      SSA correlated with the calculated T2 intensity: the lower the T2-weighted
      intensity, the greater the decrease in random GH (P < 0.0001, r = 0.22), IGF-1 (P
      < 0.0001, r = 0.14) and adenoma volume (P < 0.0001, r = 0.33). The T2-weighted
      signal intensity of GH-secreting adenomas at diagnosis correlates with hormone
      reduction and tumor shrinkage in response to primary SSA treatment in acromegaly.
      This study supports its use as a generally available predictive tool at diagnosis
      that could help to guide subsequent treatment choices in acromegaly.

PMID- 27649726
TI  - Optimization of the Production of Extracellular Polysaccharide from the Shiitake
      Medicinal Mushroom Lentinus edodes (Agaricomycetes) Using Mutation and a Genetic
      Algorithm-Coupled Artificial Neural Network (GA-ANN).
AB  - Exopolysaccharide (EPS) production by a strain of Lentinus edodes was studied via
      the effects of treatments with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and acridine orange.
      Furthermore, optimization of EPS production was studied using a genetic algorithm
      coupled with an artificial neural network in submerged fermentation. Exposure to
      irradiation and acridine orange resulted in improved EPS production (2.783 and
      5.548 g/L, respectively) when compared with the wild strain (1.044 g/L), whereas
      optimization led to improved productivity (23.21 g/L). The EPS produced by
      various strains also demonstrated good DPPH scavenging activities of 45.40
      88.90%, and also inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella
      pneumoniae. This study shows that multistep optimization schemes involving
      physical-chemical mutation and media optimization can be an attractive strategy
      for improving the yield of bioactives from medicinal mushrooms. To the best of
      our knowledge, this report presents the first reference of a multistep approach
      to optimizing EPS production in L. edodes. 

PMID- 27649728
TI  - Effects of Illumination Pattern during Cultivation of Fruiting Body and Bioactive
      Compound Production by the Caterpillar Medicinal Mushroom, Cordyceps militaris
      (Ascomycetes).
AB  - We investigated the effects of light intensity in the 3 cultivation stages
      separately-the mycelium colonization stage, the primordial initiation stage, and
      the fruiting stage (in order)-on fruiting body and bioactive compound production
      by Cordyceps militaris. In the mycelium colonization stage, rice substrates were
      incubated in a spawn running room at 23 degrees C. During the primordial
      initiation stage, C. militaris was grown at 18 degrees C and illuminated 12
      hours/day. In the fruiting stage the temperature was 23 degrees C, with
      illumination provided 12 hours/day. The highest fruiting body yield and
      biological efficiency were 4.06 g dry weight/bottle and 86.83%, respectively,
      under 1750 +/- 250 lux during the second and third stages. The cordycepin content
      was highest during the second and third stages under 1250 +/- 250 lux. The
      mannitol and polysaccharide contents were highest under 1250 +/- 250 and 1750 +/-
      250 lux during the primordial initiation stage and the fruiting stage,
      respectively. Thus, with controlled lighting, C. militaris can be cultivated in
      rice-water medium to increase fruiting body yield and bioactive compound
      production. 

PMID- 27649730
TI  - High-Level Production of Exopolysaccharides by a Cosmic Radiation-Induced Mutant
      M270 of the Maitake Medicinal Mushroom, Grifola frondosa (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - A new Grifola frondosa mutant, M270, was successfully isolated for high
      production of exopolysaccharides (EPSs) using cosmic radiation-induced
      mutagenesis. We found that the mutant M270 had a clearer and thicker EPS layer
      (~10 um) adhering to mycelia than those of its parent strain 265 after Congo red
      staining. In the 20-L batch fermentation for M270, 10.3 g/L of EPS and 17.9 g/L
      of dry mycelia biomass were obtained after 204 hours of fermentation.
      Furthermore, a main water-soluble fraction (EP1) in the EPS was purified from
      M270 and then confirmed to be heteroglycan-protein complex with 91% (w/w) total
      carbohydrates and 9% (w/w) total proteins. Four kinds of monosaccharide-D
      mannose, D-glucosamine, D-glucose, and D-xylose-were detected in EP1 with a molar
      ratio of 17.6:1.8:100:2.5. The molecular mass of the main component in EP1 was
      8.9 kDa. The EPS from M270 significantly inhibited the growth of sarcoma 180
      solid tumors in mice. This G. frondosa M270 mutant could serve as a better
      candidate strain for polysaccharide production. 

PMID- 27649729
TI  - Comparison of the Chemical Profiles and Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Activities
      of Extracts from Two Ganoderma Species (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - The objective of this study was to compare the mycochemical profiles, antioxidant
      activities, and antidiabetic effects of 2 species of genus Ganoderma, the red
      lingzhi (G. lucidum) and purple lingzhi (G. sinense) mushrooms. In Chinese
      medicinal practice, hot water and ethanol are used as solvents to extract
      samples. In this study, a total of 4 extracts (ethanol and hot water extracts
      from G. lucidum and G. sinense) were prepared for further assays. Hot water
      extracts presented much higher values for total phenolic content and ferric
      reducing antioxidant power than the ethanol extracts. Ethanol (70%) extract of G.
      lucidum had the strongest alpha-glycosidase inhibitory capacity, but the lingzhi
      polysaccharides showed no inhibitory effect. It also had the largest amount of
      total ganoderic acids. The results indicated that ethanol extracts from both G.
      lucidum and G. sinense showed better antidiabetic effects than the hot water
      extracts. Ganoderic acids, rather than polysaccharides, may contribute the
      antidiabetic effects of both the Ganoderma species. 

PMID- 27649731
TI  - Antioxidant Potential and DNA Damage Protection by the Slate Grey Saddle
      Mushroom, Helvella lacunosa (Ascomycetes), from Kashmir Himalaya (India).
AB  - This study pertains to the radical scavenging potential of and DNA protection by
      Helvella lacunosa, an edible mushroom from Kashmir Himalaya (India). Different
      solvents, on the basis of their polarities, were used to extract all solvent
      soluble bioactive compounds. Seven different antioxidant methods were also used
      to determine extensive radical scavenging activity. The mushroom ethanol extract
      and butanol extract showed effective scavenging activity of radicals at 95% and
      89%, respectively. At 800 ug/mg, the ethanol extract was potent enough to protect
      DNA from degradation by hydroxyl radicals. It is evident from these findings that
      the presence of antioxidant substances signifies the use of H. lacunosa as food
      in the mountainous valleys of the Himalayan region. 

PMID- 27649732
TI  - Effect of Tree Species on Enzyme Secretion by the Shiitake Medicinal Mushroom,
      Lentinus edodes (Agaricomycetes).
AB  - We compared cold and hot wood extracts of 3 endemic Siberian trees-namely, Prunus
      padus (bird cherry), Populus tremula (aspen), and Betula sp. (birch)-on biomass
      production and laccase and peroxidase secretion in submerged cultures by the
      medicinal mushroom Lentinus edodes. Of the conditions tested, only hot Prunus
      extracts stimulated biomass production, whereas all extracts stimulated laccase
      and peroxidase secretion, albeit to different extents. A large, differential
      stimulation of manganese peroxidase was observed by hot Prunus extracts. The
      results highlight important differences between tree species in the stimulation
      of biomass and enzyme production by L. edodes and point to potentially
      interesting stimulatory factors present in hot Prunus extracts. These findings
      are of relevance in the use of L. edodes for medicinal or biotechnological
      applications. 

PMID- 27649735
TI  - Physiological Roles of Plant Post-Golgi Transport Pathways in Membrane
      Trafficking.
AB  - Membrane trafficking is the fundamental system through which proteins are sorted
      to their correct destinations in eukaryotic cells. Key regulators of this system
      include RAB GTPases and soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment
      protein receptors (SNAREs). Interestingly, the numbers of RAB GTPases and SNAREs
      involved in post-Golgi transport pathways in plant cells are larger than those in
      animal and yeast cells, suggesting that plants have evolved unique and complex
      post-Golgi transport pathways. The trans-Golgi network (TGN) is an important
      organelle that acts as a sorting station in the post-Golgi transport pathways of
      plant cells. The TGN also functions as the early endosome, which is the first
      compartment to receive endocytosed proteins. Several endocytosed proteins on the
      plasma membrane (PM) are initially targeted to the TGN/EE, then recycled back to
      the PM or transported to the vacuole for degradation. The recycling and
      degradation of the PM localized proteins is essential for the development and
      environmental responses in plant. The present review describes the post-Golgi
      transport pathways that show unique physiological functions in plants.

PMID- 27649734
TI  - NbCZF1, a Novel C2H2-Type Zinc Finger Protein, as a New Regulator of SsCut
      Induced Plant Immunity in Nicotiana benthamiana.
AB  - SsCut, which functions as an elicitor, can induce plant immunity. In this study,
      we utilized Nicotiana benthamiana and virus-induced gene silencing to decrease
      the expression of > 2,500 genes individually. Using this forward genetics
      approach, several genes were identified that, when silenced, compromised SsCut
      triggered cell death based on a cell death assay. A C2H2-type zinc finger gene
      was isolated from N. benthamiana Sequence analysis indicated that the gene
      encodes a 27 kDa protein with 253 amino acids containing two typical C2H2-type
      zinc finger domains; this gene was named NbCZF1 We found that SsCut-induced cell
      death could be inhibited by virus-induced gene silencing of NbCZF1 in N.
      benthamiana In addition, SsCut induces stomatal closure, accompanied by reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) production by NADPH oxidases and nitric oxide (NO)
      production. NbCZF1-silenced plants showed impaired SsCut-induced stomatal
      closure, decreased SsCut-induced production of ROS and NO in guard cells and
      reduced SsCut-induced resistance against Phytophthora nicotianae Taken together,
      these results demonstrate that the NbCZF1-ROS-NO pathway mediates multiple SsCut
      triggered responses, including stomatal closure, hypersensitive responses and
      defense-related gene expression. This is the first report describing the function
      of a C2H2-type zinc finger protein in N. benthamiana.

PMID- 27649736
TI  - Incidence, predictors, and etiology of subsequent ischemic stroke within one year
      after transient ischemic attack.
AB  - Background Incidence and predictors of ischemic stroke in patients with transient
      ischemic attack (TIA) have not been fully clarified outside Europe and North
      America. Aims We undertook the present prospective, multicenter study to clarify
      the incidence, predictors, and etiology of ischemic stroke within one year of TIA
      onset in Japan. Methods The study subjects were patients within seven days of TIA
      onset who were enrolled in a prospective register from 57 hospitals between June
      2011 and December 2013. The primary endpoint was occurrence of ischemic stroke.
      Results Of 1365 consecutive patients, 1245 were followed for one year after TIA
      onset; 101 (8.1%) experienced ischemic stroke during follow-up. The leading
      subtype of ischemic stroke was small-vessel occlusion (SVO) followed by large
      artery atherosclerosis (LAA) attributable to intracranial artery diseases. When
      dividing ischemic stroke events between those occurring within the first 90 days
      after TIA onset and those occurring after the first 90 days, the leading subtype
      of ischemic stroke within the first 90 days after TIA onset was SVO, followed by
      LAA attributable to intracranial artery diseases. In comparison, the subtypes
      most commonly seen beyond the first 90 days after TIA onset were cardioembolic
      and LAA attributable to intracranial artery disease. The one-year risk of
      ischemic stroke increased significantly as ABCD2 score increased, at 6.2% for 0-3
      points, 7.2% for 4-5 points, and 11.6% for 6-7 points. Conclusions The one-year
      ischemic stroke risk after TIA was about 8% and was associated with the ABCD2
      score. The most common subtype of subsequent ischemic stroke was SVO.

PMID- 27649738
TI  - Unveiling the molecular details of plant signaling.
AB  - This Editorial Guide describes emerging areas of signaling research for plants.
      Advances in this area are key to preserving nature and maintaining the planet's
      health while feeding a growing human population.

PMID- 27649737
TI  - Hyperlipidemia is associated with lower risk of poststroke mortality independent
      of statin use: A population-based study.
AB  - Background Although statin therapy is associated with reduced stroke and
      mortality risk, some studies report that higher lipid levels are associated with
      improved outcomes following ischemic stroke. Aims We examined the association of
      hyperlipidemia (HLD) combined with statin therapy on all-cause mortality in
      stroke patients. Methods All stroke patients in the Greater Cincinnati Northern
      Kentucky region of ~1.3 million were identified using ICD-9 discharge codes in
      2005 and 2010. Stroke patients with and without HLD were categorized based on
      their reported statin use at baseline or discharge into three groups: no-HLD/no
      statins, HLD/no-statins, and HLD/on-statins. Cox proportional hazards model was
      used to estimate the risk of mortality at 30 days, 1 year, and 3 years
      poststroke. Results Overall, 77% (2953) of the 3813 ischemic stroke patients were
      diagnosed with HLD and 72% ( n = 2123) of those patients were on statin
      medications. The mean age was 70.0 +/- 14.6 years, 56% were women, and 21% were
      black. In adjusted analyses, the HLD/no-statins group showed 35% (adjusted hazard
      ratio (aHR) = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.46-0.92), 27% (aHR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.59-0.90), and
      17% (aHR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.70-0.97) reduced risk of mortality at 30 days, 1 year,
      and 3 years, respectively, poststroke, compared with no-HLD/no-statins group. The
      HLD/on-statins group showed an additional 17% significant survival benefit at 3
      years poststroke compared with HLD/no-statins group. Conclusions A diagnosis of
      HLD in ischemic stroke patients is associated with reduced short- and long-term
      mortality, irrespective of statin use. Statin therapy is associated with
      significant, additional long-term survival benefit.

PMID- 27649739
TI  - The apo-structure of the leucine sensor Sestrin2 is still elusive.
AB  - Sestrin2 is a GATOR2-interacting protein that directly binds leucine and is
      required for the inhibition of mTORC1 under leucine deprivation, indicating that
      it is a leucine sensor for the mTORC1 pathway. We recently reported the structure
      of Sestrin2 in complex with leucine [Protein Data Bank (PDB) ID, 5DJ4] and
      demonstrated that mutations in the leucine-binding pocket that alter the affinity
      of Sestrin2 for leucine result in a corresponding change in the leucine
      sensitivity of mTORC1 in cells. A lower resolution structure of human Sestrin2
      (PDB ID, 5CUF), which was crystallized in the absence of exogenous leucine,
      showed Sestrin2 to be in a nearly identical conformation as the leucine-bound
      structure. On the basis of this observation, it has been argued that leucine
      binding does not affect the conformation of Sestrin2 and that Sestrin2 may not be
      a sensor for leucine. We show that simple analysis of the reported "apo"-Sestrin2
      structure reveals the clear presence of prominent, unmodeled electron density in
      the leucine-binding pocket that exactly accommodates the leucine observed in the
      higher resolution structure. Refining the reported apo-structure with leucine
      eliminated the large Fobs-Fcalc difference density at this position and improved
      the working and free R factors of the model. Consistent with this result, our own
      structure of Sestrin2 crystallized in the absence of exogenous leucine also
      contained electron density that is best explained by leucine. Thus, the structure
      of apo-Sestrin2 remains elusive.

PMID- 27649740
TI  - Saltational evolution of the heterotrimeric G protein signaling mechanisms in the
      plant kingdom.
AB  - Signaling proteins evolved diverse interactions to provide specificity for
      distinct stimuli. Signaling complexity in the G protein (heterotrimeric guanosine
      triphosphate-binding protein) network was achieved in animals through subunit
      duplication and incremental evolution. By combining comprehensive and
      quantitative phenotypic profiles of Arabidopsis thaliana with protein evolution
      informatics, we found that plant heterotrimeric G protein machinery evolved by a
      saltational (jumping) process. Sequence similarity scores mapped onto tertiary
      structures, and biochemical validation showed that the extra-large Galpha (XLG)
      subunit evolved extensively in the charophycean algae (an aquatic green plant) by
      gene duplication and gene fusion. In terrestrial plants, further evolution
      uncoupled XLG from its negative regulator, regulator of G protein signaling, but
      preserved an alpha-helix region that enables interaction with its partner
      Gbetagamma. The ancestral gene evolved slowly due to the molecular constraints
      imposed by the need for the protein to maintain interactions with various
      partners, whereas the genes encoding XLG proteins evolved rapidly to produce
      three highly divergent members. Analysis of A. thaliana mutants indicated that
      these Galpha and XLG proteins all function with Gbetagamma and evolved to operate
      both independently and cooperatively. The XLG-Gbetagamma machinery specialized in
      environmental stress responses, whereas the canonical Galpha-Gbetagamma retained
      developmental roles. Some developmental processes, such as shoot development,
      involve both Galpha and XLG acting cooperatively or antagonistically. These
      extensive and rapid evolutionary changes in XLG structure compared to those of
      the canonical Galpha subunit contrast with the accepted notion of how pathway
      diversification occurs through gene duplication with subsequent incremental
      coevolution of residues among interacting proteins.

PMID- 27649741
TI  - Re: Kucharz EJ, Kovalenko V, Szanto S, et al. A review of glucosamine for knee
      osteoarthritis: why patented crystalline glucosamine sulfate should be
      differentiated from other glucosamines to maximize clinical outcomes. Curr Med
      Res Opin 2016;32:997-1004.

PMID- 27649742
TI  - The homeless pregnant woman.
AB  - Women who are pregnant and homeless constitute a unique group at significant risk
      of adverse foetal and maternal outcomes. Despite this heightened risk profile,
      social housing support to this group of women is less than satisfactory.
      Concerted effort and more collaborative working is needed by all who provide
      social, and healthcare services to homeless pregnant women, to improve the lot of
      these women. Clear definitions and legislative provisions in respect of the
      homeless will go a long way in reducing ambiguity and close loopholes which
      currently act to deny the homeless pregnant woman social housing support at a
      time when it is most needed.

PMID- 27649743
TI  - Applying the three R's: Reduce, reuse, and recycle in the chemical industry.
AB  - : Pollution prevention (P2) assessment was conducted by applying the three R's,
      reduce, reuse, and recycle, in a chemical industry for the purpose of reducing
      the amount of wastewater generated, reusing paint wastewater in the manufacture
      of cement bricks, recycling cooling water, and improving water usage efficiency.
      The results of this study showed that the annual wastewater flow generated from
      the paint manufacturing can be reduced from 1,100 m3 to 488.4 m3 (44.4%
      reduction) when a high-pressure hose is used. Two mixtures were prepared. The
      first mixture (A) contains cement, coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, Addicrete
      BVF, and clean water. The second mixture (B) contains the same components used in
      the first mixture, except that paint wastewater was used instead of the clean
      water. The prepared samples were tested for water absorption, toxicity,
      reactivity, compressive strength, ignitability, and corrosion. The tests results
      indicated that using paint wastewater in the manufacture of the cement bricks
      improved the mechanical properties of the bricks. The toxicity test results
      showed that the metals concentration in the bricks did not exceed the U.S. EPA
      limits. This company achieved the goal of zero liquid discharge (ZLD), especially
      after recycling 2,800 m3 of cooling water. The total annual saving could reach
      $42,570 with a payback period of 41 days. IMPLICATIONS: This research focused on
      improving the water usage efficiency, reducing the quantity of wastewater
      generated, and potentially reusing wastewater in the manufacture of cement
      bricks. Reusing paint wastewater in the manufacture of the bricks prevents the
      hazardous pollutants in the wastewater (calcium carbonate, styrene acrylic
      resins, colored pigments, and titanium dioxide) from entering and polluting the
      surface water and the environment. We think that this paper will help to find the
      most efficient and cost-effective way to manage paint wastewater and conserve
      fresh water resources. We also believe that this paper provides a rich agenda for
      future research in water conservation and industrial wastewater reuse subjects.

PMID- 27649744
TI  - Extracellular Vesicles Released from Human Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal
      Stromal Cells Prevent Life-Threatening Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease in a Mouse
      Model of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are attractive agents for the prophylaxis of
      acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (allo-HSCT). However, safety concerns remain about their clinical
      application. In this study, we explored whether extracellular vesicles released
      from human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hUC-MSC-EVs) could prevent aGVHD in a
      mouse model of allo-HSCT. hUC-MSC-EVs were intravenously administered to
      recipient mice on days 0 and 7 after allo-HSCT, and the prophylactic effects of
      hUC-MSC-EVs were assessed by observing the in vivo manifestations of aGVHD,
      histologic changes in target organs, and recipient mouse survival. We evaluated
      the effects of hUC-MSC-EVs on immune cells and inflammatory cytokines by flow
      cytometry and ProcartaPlexTM Multiplex Immunoassays, respectively. The in vitro
      effects of hUC-MSC-EVs were determined by mitogen-induced proliferation assays.
      hUC-MSC-EVs alleviated the in vivo manifestations of aGVHD and the associated
      histologic changes and significantly reduced the mortality of the recipient mice.
      Recipients treated with hUC-MSC-EVs had significantly lower frequencies and
      absolute numbers of CD3+CD8+ T cells; reduced serum levels of IL-2, TNF-alpha,
      and IFN-gamma; a higher ratio of CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells; and higher serum
      levels of IL-10. An in vitro experiment demonstrated that hUC-MSC-EVs inhibited
      the mitogen-induced proliferation of splenocytes in a dose-dependent manner, and
      the cytokine changes were similar to those observed in vivo. This study indicated
      that hUC-MSC-EVs can prevent life-threatening aGVHD by modulating immune
      responses. These data provide the first evidence that hUC-MSC-EVs represent an
      ideal alternative in the prophylaxis of aGVHD after allo-HSCT.

PMID- 27649745
TI  - Antioxidant and cytotoxic lignans from the roots of Bupleurum chinense.
AB  - In the search for biologically active compounds from the roots of Bupleurum
      chinense D C., phytochemical investigation of its ethanol extract led to the
      isolation and identification of a new 8-O-4' neolignan glucoside,
      saikolignanoside A (1), along with eight known lignans (2-9). Their structures
      were determined on the basis of IR, UV, HRESIMS, and NMR spectroscopic analyses.
      The antioxidant and cytotoxic effects of isolated compounds were evaluated in
      vitro. The isolated compounds (IC50 > 200 MUM) did not display 2, 2-diphenyl-1
      picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Whereas compounds 1-2, 5, 7,
      and 9 exhibited potent 2, 2'-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)
      (ABTS) free radical scavenging properties with IC50 values ranging from 8.34 to
      15.24 MUM, while compounds 3-4, 6, 8 showed moderate properties. In addition, all
      compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicities against A549, HepG2, U251, Bcap-37,
      and MCF-7 cell lines. Compounds 5 and 9 (IC50 < 51.62 MUM) possessed stronger
      cytotoxic activities against all the tested tumor cell lines, compared with the
      positive control 5-Fluorouracil.

PMID- 27649747
TI  - Survey of Emergency Department staff on disaster preparedness and training for
      Ebola virus disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In the domestic response to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease
      from 2013 to 2015, many US hospitals developed and implemented specialized
      training programs to care for patients with Ebola. This research reports on the
      effects of targeted training on Emergency Department (ED) staff's Ebola-related
      perceptions and attitudes. METHODS: One hundred fifty-nine members of the UNC
      Health Care System ED staff participated in a voluntary cross-sectional,
      anonymous Web survey administered using a one-time "post then pre" design.
      Participants responded to questions about risk, roles, willingness to provide
      care, preparedness, and the contributions of media, training, or time to opinion
      change using a Likert agree-disagree scale. The authors conducted t test
      comparisons of Likert responses to pretraining and post-training attitudes about
      Ebola preparedness. The authors conducted multinomial logistic regression
      analyses of index scores of change and positivity of responses, controlling for
      the effects of independent variables. RESULTS: ED staff's opinions supported
      training; 73 percent felt all workers should receive Ebola education, 60 percent
      agreed all hospitals should prepare for Ebola, 66 percent felt UNC was better
      prepared, and 66 percent felt it had done enough to be ready for an Ebola case.
      Most staff (79 percent) said they had gotten more training for Ebola than for
      other disease outbreaks; 58 percent had experienced prior epidemics. After
      training, workers' attitudes were more positive about Ebola preparation including
      perceived risk of transmission, readiness and ability to manage a patient case,
      understanding team roles, and trust in both personal protective equipment and the
      hospital system's preparations (13 measures, p < 0.0001 to p < 0.001). Overall,
      total opinion indices also changed significantly over the training period (Mean
      Difference [MD] = 17.45, SD = 9.89) and in the intended positive direction (MD =
      15.80, SD = 0.91, p < 0.0001). Positive change and overall change from pre to
      post were significantly associated with more hours of training (p = 0.003).
      Despite different occupations, mean scores were similar. Staff rated training
      most important and media least important, as the sources of change in their
      attitudes (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that diseasespecific
      training for novel pathogens such as Ebola may result in positive staff
      perceptions of self-efficacy and occupational efficacy to treat potentially
      infected patients in the ED setting. Training, in this case, outweighed media
      content in changing staff perceptions of Ebola management.

PMID- 27649746
TI  - A new layer of degradation mechanism for PR-Set7/Set8 during cell cycle.
AB  - Set8 is critically involved in transcription regulation, cell cycle progression
      and genomic stability. Emerging evidence has revealed that E3 ubiquitin ligases
      such as CRL4cdt2 and SCFSkp2 regulate Set8 protein abundance. However, it is
      unclear whether other E3 ligase(s) could govern Set8 level for proper cell cycle
      progression in response to genotoxic stress such as UV irradiation. Recently, we
      report that the SCFbeta-TRCP complex regulates Set8 protein stability by
      targeting it for ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. Notably, Set8
      interacts with the SCFbeta-TRCP E3 ligase complex. We further revealed a critical
      role of CKI in SCFbeta-TRCP-mediated degradation of Set8. Mechanistically, CKI
      mediated phosphorylation of Set8 at the S253 site promotes its destruction by
      SCFbeta-TRCP. Importantly, SCFbeta-TRCP-dependent Set8 destruction also
      contributes to the tight control of cell proliferation and cell cycle
      progression, in response to UV irradiation. Here, we summarize our new findings
      regarding the crucial role of beta-TRCP in CKI-mediated Set8 degradation, which
      could provide new evidence to support that dysregulation of a tight regulatory
      network of Set8 could lead to aberrant cell cycle process.

PMID- 27649748
TI  - Impact of Hurricane Sandy on community pharmacies in severely affected areas of
      New York City: A qualitative assessment.
AB  - Hurricane Sandy was one of the most severe natural disasters to hit the Mid
      Atlantic States in recent history. Community pharmacies were among the businesses
      affected, with flooding and power outages significantly reducing services offered
      by many pharmacies. The objectives of our study were to assess the impact of
      Hurricane Sandy on community pharmacies, both independently owned and chain, in
      the severely affected areas of New York City (NYC), including Coney Island,
      Staten Island, and the Rockaways, using qualitative methods, and propose
      strategies to mitigate the impact of future storms and disasters. Of the total 52
      solicited pharmacies, 35 (67 percent) responded and were included in our
      analysis. Only 10 (29 percent) of the pharmacies surveyed reported having a
      generator during Hurricane Sandy; 37 percent reported being equipped with a
      generator at the time of the survey approximately 1 year later. Our findings
      suggest that issues other than power outages contributed more toward a pharmacy
      remaining operational after the storm. Of those surveyed, 26 (74 percent)
      suffered from structural damage (most commonly in Coney Island). Most pharmacies
      (71 percent) were able to reopen within 1 month. Despite staffing challenges,
      most pharmacies (88 percent) had enough pharmacists/staff to resume normal
      operations. Overall, 91 percent were aware of law changes for emergency
      medication access, and 81 percent found the information easy to obtain. This
      survey helped inform our work toward improved community resiliency. Our findings
      have helped us recognize community pharmacists as important stakeholders and
      refocus our energy toward developing sustained partnerships with them in NYC as
      part of our ongoing preparedness strategy.

PMID- 27649749
TI  - A comparison of command center activations versus disaster drills at three
      institutions from 2013 to 2015.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Disaster exercises often simulate rare, worst-case scenario events
      that range from mass casualty incidents to severe weather events. In actuality,
      situations such as information system downtimes and physical plant failures may
      affect hospital continuity of operations far more significantly. The objective of
      this study is to evaluate disaster drills at two academic and one community
      hospital to compare the frequency of planned drills versus real-world events that
      led to emergency management command center activation. DESIGN: Emergency
      management exercise and command center activation data from January 1, 2013 to
      October 1, 2015 were collected from a database. The activations and drills were
      categorized according to the nature of the event. Frequency of each type of event
      was compared to determine if the drills were representative of actual
      activations. RESULTS: From 2013 to 2015, there were a total of 136 command center
      activations and 126 drills at the three hospital sites. The most common reasons
      for command center activations included severe weather (25 percent, n = 34),
      maintenance failure (19.9 percent, n = 27), and planned mass gathering events
      (16.9 percent, n = 23). The most frequent drills were process tests (32.5
      percent, n = 41), hazardous material-related events (22.2 percent, n = 28), and
      in-house fires (15.10 percent, n = 19). CONCLUSION: Further study of the reasons
      behind why hospitals activate emergency management plans may inform better
      preparedness drills. There is no clear methodology used among all hospitals to
      create drills and their descriptions are often vague. There is an opportunity to
      better design drills to address specific purposes and events.

PMID- 27649750
TI  - Women's oral and dental health aspects in humanitarian missions and disasters:
      Jordanian experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to review oral and dental health aspects in female
      patients presented to Jordanian Royal Medical Services (RMS) international
      humanitarian missions over a 3-year period. DESIGN AND METHOD: Analysis of
      humanitarian missions of RMS data and records over a 3-year period (2011-2013) in
      regard to women's oral and dental health issues was done. The data were analyzed
      in regard to the number of women seen, the presenting conditions, and the
      prevalence of oral and dental diseases and procedures in these cases. RESULTS:
      During the 3-year period, 72 missions were deployed in four locations (Gaza, Ram
      Allah-West Bank, Jeneen-West Bank, and Iraq). The total number of females seen in
      this period was 86,436 women, accounting for 56 percent of adult patients seen by
      RMS humanitarian missions. Dental Clinics were deployed to only two missions
      (Iraq and Gaza), during which they received 13,629 visits; of these, 41 percent
      were females (5,588 patients), 29 percent were males, and 30 percent were in the
      pediatric age group. Trauma accounts for only 7 percent of the cases, while
      nonacute dental problems (caries and gingivitis) were responsible for the
      majority of cases (31.6 and 28.7 percent, respectively). CONCLUSION: RMS dental
      services during humanitarian mission deployment are a vital part of comprehensive
      healthcare. Women usually seek more dental care than men, with the majority of
      treatments for nonacute conditions. RMS experiences demonstrate the tremendous
      need for a well-defined preparedness plan for deployment of humanitarian missions
      that considers the contributions of all types of health professionals, the
      appropriate mobile technology to respond to emergent health risks, and a
      competent workforce ready and able to respond. Such preparation will require our
      dental education programs to develop disaster preparedness competencies to
      achieve the desired level of understanding.

PMID- 27649752
TI  - Hajj stampede disaster, 2015: Reflections from the frontlines.
AB  - The Hajj is an annual religious mass gathering that takes place in Makkah, Saudi
      Arabia. The complexity of its system is multidimensional, with religious,
      political, cultural, security, economic, communication, operational, and logistic
      unique challenges. This year, yet another stampede tragedy that caused around a
      1,000 deaths and severe injuries, capturing worldwide media attention and
      exacerbating existing political tensions across the Gulf coasts was faced.
      Planning is important but the planning process is more important, requiring
      systematic analysis based on accurate collected and targeting root cause factors.
      Every year, the Hajj provides us with important knowledge and experience that
      will help preventing such events. This will only be possible if the initiative to
      extract all possible lessons learned are taken. The medical and public health
      community in Saudi Arabia must learn from other scientific fields where much more
      quantitative data-driven approach to identify problems and recommending
      solutions.

PMID- 27649753
TI  - Social support for terror-related victims: The Israeli system.
AB  - Since its foundation, the State of Israel has been affected by terror violence
      toward its civilian population. For more than 45 years, the Israeli legislation
      has built a legal insurance allowing citizens casualties of such violence to
      benefit from specific coverage and support. The objective of this article is to
      describe the history, legal framework, and organization of social support for
      terror victims in Israel.

PMID- 27649751
TI  - Injury-related fatalities in selected governorates of Iraq from 2010 to 2013:
      Prospective surveillance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: After several years of relative stability in Iraq, the emergence of
      the Islamic State militant group has spurred a resurgence of violence. This study
      explores the impact of the conflict on the overall injury profile to estimate the
      proportion of injury fatalities related to conflict and better understand how
      violence has affected nonconflict-related injuries. DESIGN: Routine prospective
      injury surveillance operated by the Iraqi Ministry of Health. SETTING:
      Surveillance data were collected from coroner offices in eight pilot
      governorates: Al-Anbar, Baghdad, Basrah, Erbil, Kerbala, Maysan, Ninevah, and Al
      Sulaimaniya. PARTICIPANTS: We analyzed all fatalities from external injury causes
      recorded between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013. Analysis included 32,664
      fatal injuries. RESULTS: Of all injury fatalities reported, 27.1 percent were
      conflict-related fatalities, approximately the same proportion as road traffic
      related fatalities (24.4 percent) and other unintentional injuries (27.5
      percent). The proportion of fatalities from conflict was approximately three
      times higher among males than females (33.0 percent and 10.3 percent,
      respectively) and four times higher among adults than children (29.8 percent and
      7.3 percent, respectively). The total number of injury fatalities remained stable
      between 2010 and 2012; an increase in injury fatalities in 2013 was driven
      primarily by increases in fatalities from both interpersonal violence and
      conflict. CONCLUSIONS: From 2010 to 2013, nearly one in four injury fatalities in
      Iraq was attributable to conflict, a notably higher proportion than other
      conflict-affected countries in the region. The overall profile of nonconflict
      injuries in Iraq is also distinct from other countries of similar socioeconomic
      level that have not experienced violence.

PMID- 27649754
TI  - Community emergency department utilization following a natural disaster (the
      Goderich Tornado).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: On 21 August 2011 an F3 tornado hit the Canadian town of Goderich,
      Ontario, leaving 40 people injured and one dead. Specific medium-term changes in
      utilization of health care following a disaster have not been analyzed in medical
      literature. Documenting the emergency department utilization through this
      subacute period would be helpful to enable institutions and healthcare
      practitioners to be better prepared for future events. METHODS: A medical chart
      review was conducted at the<b> </b>Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in
      Goderich. All emergency department visits made during the 30 days after the
      Tornado in 2011 (intervention group), 30 days prior to the tornado in 2011
      (primary control group), and during the similar calendar period of 30 days after
      the tornado in 2010 (seasonal control group) were reviewed. Medical diagnoses of
      all patients who presented at the emergency department were collected and
      compared. RESULTS: Fewer people presented to the emergency department following
      the tornado than during the control periods, and those who did were significantly
      older than those who presented in the control periods (<i>p</i><0.001). A
      significantly greater number of patients presented with undiagnosed medical
      problems, many came to refill their medications, and significantly fewer people
      left the emergency department without being seen (<i>p</i><0.001). CONCLUSIONS:
      This study identifies the medical conditions that are most likely to be seen in
      an emergency department following a tornado in a rural Ontario community. This
      information serves to inform the medical community and other hospitals how to
      increase their level of preparedness should a comparable disaster occur again in
      the future.

PMID- 27649755
TI  - Comparison of methods to estimate water access: a pilot study of a GPS-based
      approach in low resource settings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most water access studies involve self-reported measures such as time
      spent or simple spatial measures such as Euclidean distance from home to source.
      GPS-based measures of access are often considered actual access and have shown
      little correlation with self-reported measures. One main obstacle to widespread
      use of GPS-based measurement of access to water has been technological
      limitations (e.g., battery life). As such, GPS-based measures have been limited
      by time and in sample size. METHODS: The aim of this pilot study was to develop
      and test a novel GPS unit, (<=4-week battery life, waterproof) to measure access
      to water. The GPS-based method was pilot-tested to estimate number of trips per
      day, time spent and distance traveled to source for all water collected over a 3
      day period in five households in south-western Uganda. This method was then
      compared to self-reported measures and commonly used spatial measures of access
      for the same households. RESULTS: Time spent collecting water was significantly
      overestimated using a self-reported measure, compared to GPS-based (p < 0.05). In
      contrast, both the GIS Euclidean distances to nearest and actual primary source
      significantly underestimated distances traveled, compared to the GPS-based
      measurement of actual travel paths to water source (p < 0.05). Households did not
      consistently collect water from the source nearest their home. Comparisons
      between the GPS-based measure and self-reported meters traveled were not made, as
      respondents did not feel that they could accurately estimate distance. However,
      there was complete agreement between self-reported primary source and GPS-based.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reliance on cross-sectional self-reported or simple GIS measures
      leads to misclassification in water access measurement. This new method offers
      reductions in such errors and may aid in understanding dynamic measures of access
      to water for health studies.

PMID- 27649756
TI  - Recent advances in animal and human pluripotent stem cell modeling of cardiac
      laminopathy.
AB  - Laminopathy is a disease closely related to deficiency of the nuclear matrix
      protein lamin A/C or failure in prelamin A processing, and leads to accumulation
      of the misfold protein causing progeria. The resultant disrupted lamin function
      is highly associated with abnormal nuclear architecture, cell senescence,
      apoptosis, and unstable genome integrity. To date, the effects of loss in nuclear
      integrity on the susceptible organ, striated muscle, have been commonly
      associated with muscular dystrophy, dilated cardiac myopathy (DCM), and
      conduction defeats, but have not been studied intensively. In this review, we aim
      to summarize recent breakthroughs in an in vivo laminopathy model and in vitro
      study using patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that
      reproduce the pathophysiological phenotype for further drug screening. We
      describe several in-vivo transgenic mouse models to elucidate the effects of Lmna
      H222P, N195K mutations, and LMNA knockout on cardiac function, in terms of
      hemodynamic and electrical signal propagation; certain strategies targeted on
      stress-related MAPK are mentioned. We will also discuss human iPSC cardiomyocytes
      serving as a platform to reveal the underlying mechanisms, such as the altered
      mechanical sensation in electrical coupling of the heart conduction system and
      ion channel alternation in relation to altered nuclear architecture, and
      furthermore to enable screening of drugs that can attenuate this cardiac
      premature aging phenotype by inhibition of prelamin misfolding and oxidative
      stress, and also enhancement of autophagy protein clearance and cardiac
      protective microRNA.

PMID- 27649758
TI  - Use of social media for sexual health promotion: a scoping review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the World
      Health Organization recommends educating people on sexual health. With more than
      2 billion active users worldwide, online social media potentially represent
      powerful channels for health promotion, including sexual health. OBJECTIVE: To
      review the scientific literature on the use of online social media for sexual
      health promotion. DESIGN: A search was conducted of scientific and medical
      databases, and grey literature was also included. The selected publications were
      classified according to their study designs, sexual health promotion main
      subject, target audience age, and social media use. RESULTS: Fifty-one
      publications were included; 4 publications presenting randomized intervention
      studies, 39 non-randomized intervention studies, and 8 observational studies. In
      29 publications (56.9%), the main subject of the sexual health promotion was
      'general' or to increase STI testing. Thirty publications (58.8%) specifically
      focused on youth or young people (aged 11-29 years). Fourteen publications that
      used social media either as unique channels for sexual health promotion
      interventions or as a tool supporting the sexual health promotion reported an
      effect on behavior (27%), and two of those studies found a reduction in the
      number of positive chlamydia and gonorrhea cases linked to social media
      intervention. Forty-four publications (86.3%) involved Facebook in some way.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although billions of people worldwide actively use social media, we
      identified only 51 publications on the use of social media for promoting sexual
      health. About a quarter of the publications have identified promising results,
      and the evidence for positive effects of social media interventions for promoting
      sexual health is increasing. There is a need for more studies that explicitly
      discuss their theoretical framework, and that have strong research designs, in
      order to further increase the evidence base of the field.

PMID- 27649759
TI  - Spinal Surgery Complications and Failures in Patients with Parkinsons Disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system
      affecting the substantia nigra in the midbrain. It accounts for 1.5% of the
      population in Europe over 60 years of age. Recent advances in the medical
      treatment of Parkinson's disease have improved the quality of life and life
      expectancy of the patients. However, it remains a debilitating disease. Spinal
      disorders are frequent in these patients, and as the population ages, more
      patients with Parkinson's disease are expected to require spinal surgery. Spinal
      surgery in patients with Parkinson's disease has been associated with an
      exceptionally high rate of complications; failures and reoperations are common,
      and patient outcomes are dismal.

PMID- 27649757
TI  - Relationship of clusterin with renal inflammation and fibrosis after the recovery
      phase of ischemia-reperfusion injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term outcomes after acute kidney injury (AKI) include
      incremental loss of function and progression towards chronic kidney disease
      (CKD); however, the pathogenesis of AKI to CKD remains largely unknown. Clusterin
      (CLU) is a chaperone-like protein that reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI)
      and enhances tissue repair after IRI in the kidney. This study investigated the
      role of CLU in the transition of IRI to renal fibrosis. METHODS: IRI was induced
      in the left kidneys of wild type (WT) C57BL/6J (B6) versus CLU knockout (KO) B6
      mice by clamping the renal pedicles for 28 min at the body temperature of 32 
      degrees C. Tissue damage was examined by histology, infiltrate phenotypes by flow
      cytometry analysis, and fibrosis-related gene expression by PCR array. RESULTS:
      Reduction of kidney weight was induced by IRI, but was not affected by CLU KO.
      Both WT and KO kidneys had similar function with minimal cellular infiltration
      and fibrosis at day 14 of reperfusion. After 30 days, KO kidneys had greater loss
      in function than WT, indicated by the higher levels of both serum creatinine and
      BUN in KO mice, and exhibited more cellular infiltration (CD8 cells and
      macrophages), more tubular damage and more severe tissue fibrosis
      (glomerulopathy, interstitial fibrosis and vascular fibrosis). PCR array showed
      the association of CLU deficiency with up-regulation of CCL12, Col3a1, MMP9 and
      TIMP1 and down-regulation of EGF in these kidneys. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest
      that CLU deficiency worsens renal inflammation and tissue fibrosis after IRI in
      the kidney, which may be mediated through multiple pathways.

PMID- 27649760
TI  - Conservative Management of a Femoral Neck Stress Fracture in a Female Athlete. A
      Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Femoral-neck stress fractures are relatively rare and may present as sports
      related injuries. The presentation is variable, and prompt diagnosis facilitates
      the earliest return to pre-morbid functional activity levels. Delayed detection
      may precipitate femoral non-union or avascular necrosis, resulting in long-term
      functional deficit. AIMS: We describe the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic
      approach of a femoral-neck stress fracture that occurred in a 28-year-old female
      recreational runner. The pathophysiology and practical management issues related
      to this unusual injury pattern are discussed. CONCLUSION: The growing interest in
      amateur athletic activities should raise the index of suspicion for stress
      fractures of the femoral neck in healthy adults with atypical hip pain. In
      creased levels of patient education and physician awareness can reduce the
      incidence of long-term morbidity in cases of this unusual sports-related injury.
      Moreover, measures to avoid stress fractures of the femoral neck should include
      proper nutrition, suitable training techniques, training intensity and
      appropriate foot wear. Close follow-up of athletes with a history of deep groin
      pain during exercise might, together with swift examination by magnetic resonance
      imaging or radionuclide scanning, be essential in preventing displacement of
      fractures and possible avascular necrosis of the femoral head as a consequence.

PMID- 27649761
TI  - The ROVT Elan Valved Biplex Conduits for the Reconstruction of the Right
      Ventricular Outflow Tract.
AB  - The reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) system
      represents a considerable challenge for both manufacturers and surgeons because
      the patients requiring this type of devices have a very diverse set of anatomical
      challenges that can lead to complications and subsequent early device failures.
      We conducted an indepth investigation of a porcine-valve conduit explanted from a
      patient following an adverse event. A control device was analyzed as a reference.
      The rapid aging of the porcine valve in the right side of the heart together with
      major thrombus formation raises several questions. The difficulties encountered
      with materials used and also the design features of the conduits are once again
      highlighted. This group of patients continues to increase in number due to
      success in the surgical outcomes in early childhood. Therefore, there is a
      greater demand for an appropriate device. However, much work is still needed to
      achieve this goal, and the best approach to achieving success remains unanswered.

PMID- 27649762
TI  - Healing of Deep Wound Infection without Removal of Non-Absorbable Dura Mater
      (Neuro-Patch(r)): A Case Report.
AB  - We report on a female patient who received microvascular decompression due to
      hemifacial spasm. Neuro-Patch(r) was used during the operation to repair and
      replace damaged dura mater. Six days after the operation, the incision wound was
      found to be infected. Abscesses were present deep in the incision. However,
      because the artificial dura mater was attached so tightly to the original dura
      mater, the infection was not able to spread inside the skull. After 3 months of
      meticulous wound cleaning and drug treatment to promote the growth of granulation
      tissue, we were able to gradually achieve healing of the infection without having
      to remove the non-absorbable artificial dura mater. By describing this case and
      the results of a review of the pertinent literature, we discuss the possibility
      of recovery of an infection without removal of artificial dura mater.

PMID- 27649763
TI  - The Triplex BioValsalva Prostheses To Reconstruct the Aortic Valve and the Aortic
      Root.
AB  - The Bentall procedure introduced in 1968 represents an undisputed cure to treat
      multiple pathologies involving the aortic valve and the ascending thoracic aorta.
      Over the years, multiple modifications have been introduced as well as a
      standardized approach to the operation with the goal to prevent long-term adverse
      events. The BioValsalva prosthesis provides a novel manner to more efficiently
      reconstruct the aortic valve together with the anatomy of the aortic root with
      the implantation of a valved conduit. This prosthesis comprises three sections:
      the collar supporting the valve; the skirt mimicking the Valsalva, which is
      suitable for the anastomoses with the coronary arteries; and the main body of the
      graft, which is designed to replace the ascending aorta. The BioValsalva
      prosthesis allows the Bentall operation to be used in patients whose aortic valve
      cannot be spared.

PMID- 27649764
TI  - Osteoarticular Allograft Reconstruction for an Angiosarcoma of the Distal Radius.
AB  - Angiosarcoma of bone is a rare high-grade malignant vascular tumor accounting for
      <1% of malignant bone tumors. Tumor location in the distal radius is very rare.
      Complete surgical resection with limb salvage surgery or amputation is essential
      for the outcome of the patient. However, the literature is vague regarding the
      best surgical approach for resection of the distal radius and the optimal
      reconstruction option after a bone tumor resection. Several reconstruction
      techniques have been described, varying from arthrodesis to arthroplasties. In
      this article, we present a report of a patient with angiosarcoma of the distal
      radius treated with complete resection and reconstruction with a distal radius
      osteoarticular allograft. We discuss the advantages and the limitations of this
      surgical technique for the distal radius.

PMID- 27649766
TI  - Re: Kucharz EJ, Kovalenko V, Szanto S, et al. A review of glucosamine for knee
      osteoarthritis: why patented crystalline glucosamine sulfate should be
      differentiated from other glucosamines to maximize clinical outcomes. Curr Med
      Res Opin 2016;32:997-1004.

PMID- 27649765
TI  - Effect of Modularity on the Fatigue Performance of Tibial Tray Designs in TKA
      Prostheses.
AB  - Fatigue performance of tibial tray in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is of
      critical importance in terms of longevity of the prosthesis. Standards have been
      proposed by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and International
      Organization for Standardization (ISO) to ensure its long-term structural
      integrity. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effect of modularity
      in the tibial tray following the testing standards, using finite element
      analysis. Goodman and Sines criteria were used to compare the fatigue safety
      factor (FSF) of four modular designs versus the two conventional designs.
      Cruciate-retaining (CR) type modular tibial tray designs were better than
      posterior-stabilized (PS) type tibial tray designs. More cutouts in the tray and
      absence of keel were reasons for poor fatigue performance.

PMID- 27649767
TI  - What we talk about when we talk about recovery: a systematic review and best-fit
      framework synthesis of qualitative literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recovery approach is increasingly popular among mental-health
      services, but there is a lack of consensus about its applicability and it has
      been criticised for imposing professionalised ideas onto what was originally a
      service-user concept. AIMS: To carry out a review and synthesis of qualitative
      research to answer the question: "What do we know about how service users with
      severe and enduring mental illness experience the process of recovery?" It was
      hoped that this would improve clarity and increase understanding. METHOD: A
      systematic review identified 15 peer-reviewed articles examining experiences of
      recovery. Twelve of these were analysed using best-fit framework synthesis, with
      the CHIME model of recovery providing the exploratory framework. RESULTS: The
      optimistic themes of CHIME accounted for the majority of people's experiences,
      but more than 30% of data were not felt to be encapsulated. An expanded
      conceptualisation of recovery is proposed, in which difficulties are more
      prominently considered. CONCLUSIONS: An overly optimistic, professionally imposed
      view of recovery might homogenise or even blame individuals rather than empower
      them. Further understanding is needed of different experiences of recovery, and
      of people's struggles to recover.

PMID- 27649769
TI  - Effects of Reverse Micellar Structure on the Particle Charging Capabilities of
      the Span Surfactant Series.
AB  - This paper investigates the effects of reverse micellar core size on the particle
      charging behavior of a series of acidic surfactants in apolar media. A series of
      Span surfactants was dissolved in deuterated decane at concentrations above the
      critical micelle concentration. The structures of the reverse micelles were
      measured using small-angle neutron scattering. It was determined that as the tail
      length of the surfactant increased, the size of the polar reverse micellar core
      decreased. Tritailed surfactants formed reverse micelles with the smallest polar
      cores, with radii of ~4 A. The sizes of the polar cores were correlated with the
      particle charging behavior of the Span surfactant series, as measured in a
      previous study. It was found that reverse micelles with intermediate core sizes
      imparted the largest electrophoretic mobilities to the particles. Reverse
      micelles with very small cores did not offer a large enough polar environment to
      favor charge stabilization, while very large polar cores favored
      disproportionation reactions in the bulk, resulting in increased electrostatic
      screening.

PMID- 27649768
TI  - Comparison of titania nanotubes and titanium dioxide as supports of low
      temperature selective catalytic reduction catalysts under sulfur dioxide
      poisoning.
AB  - A series of iron-manganese oxide catalysts supported on TiO2 and titanium
      nanotubes (TNTs) were studied for low temperature selective catalytic reduction
      (SCR) of NO with NH3 in the presence of SO2. The results showed that the specific
      surface area and the amount of Bronsted acid sites were highly correlated. The
      results also demonstrated that higher Mn4+/Mn3+ ratios and larger specific
      surface areas might be the main reasons for the excellent performance of MnFe
      TNTs catalyst after SO2 poisoning. The SO2 poisoning effect could be minimized by
      reducing the GHSV, increasing the reaction temperature, or increasing the
      [NH3]/[NO] molar ratio. The results also indicated that the formation of ammonium
      sulfate had a stronger effect on the NO conversion efficiency as compared to the
      formation of metal sulfate. Thus operating the low temperature SCR at above 230
      oC to avoid the formation of ammonium sulfate would be the priority choice when
      SO2 poisoning is a concerned issue. Implications: Low-temperature selective
      catalytic reduction (SCR) has attracted increasing attention due to that it can
      reduce the energy consumption for the SCR process employed in industries such as
      steel plants and glass manufacturing plants. However, it also suffers from the
      sulfur dioxide (SO2) poisoning problem. This study investigates the possibility
      of using titania nanotubes (TNTs) as the support of Mn/Fe bimetal oxide catalysts
      for low-temperature SCR to reduce the SO2 poisoning. The results indicated that
      the MnFe-TNT catalyst can tolerate SO2 for a longer time as compared with the
      MnFe-TiO2 catalyst.

PMID- 27649770
TI  - The emerging role of non-coding circulating RNA as a biomarker in renal cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bodily fluids like serum and plasma contain significant amounts of
      tumor-derived circulating cell-free RNA, which holds the potential to serve as
      diagnostic biomarker. Consequently, liquid biopsies comprising circulating cell
      free RNA might help to facilitate personalized treatment strategies for patients
      with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Areas covered: The present review provides a
      summary of the literature obtained by a PubMed search and covers the current
      knowledge on circulating non-coding cell-free RNA in patients with RCC. Expert
      commentary: Altered circulating microRNA and long non-coding RNAs signatures
      allow for the discrimination of patients with RCC and healthy individuals. On the
      other hand, little is known about non-coding RNA expression in benign tumors.
      Cell-free microRNA expression levels may help to identify patients at risk for
      disease recurrence. However, accurate determination of cell-free RNAs is
      methodologically challenging and currently no biomarker candidate has reached a
      sufficient level of clinical validation. Thus, short-term implementation of cell
      free circulating microRNA into clinical routine seems unlikely.

PMID- 27649771
TI  - Human Hair Reconstruction: Close, But Yet So Far.
AB  - Billions of dollars are annually invested in pharmaceutical industry and cosmetic
      sector with intent to develop new drugs and treatment strategies for alopecia.
      Because the hair looks an important characteristic of humans-an effective
      appendage in perception, expression of beauty, and preservation of self-esteem
      the global market for hair loss treatment products is exponentially increasing.
      However, current methods to treat hair loss endure yet multiple challenges, such
      as unfavorable outcomes, nonpermanent and patient-dependent results, as well as
      unpredictable impacts, which limit their application. Over recent years,
      remarkable advances in the fields of regenerative medicine and hair tissue
      engineering have raised new hopes for introducing novel cell-based approaches to
      treat hair loss. Through cell-based approaches, it is possible to produce hair
      like structures in the laboratory setting or manipulate cells in their native
      niche (in vivo lineage reprogramming) to reconstruct the hair follicle. However,
      challenging issues still exist with the functionality of cultured human hair
      cells, the proper selection of nonhair cell sources in cases of shortage of donor
      hair, and the development of defined culture conditions. Moreover, in the case of
      in vivo lineage reprogramming, selecting appropriate induction factors and their
      efficient delivery to guide resident cells into a hair fate-with the aim of
      reconstructing functional hair-still needs further explorations. In this study,
      we highlight recent advances and current challenges in hair loss treatment using
      cell-based approaches and provide novel insights for crucial steps, which must be
      taken into account to develop reproducible, safe, and efficient cell-based
      treatment.

PMID- 27649772
TI  - Prenylated isoflavones from Cudrania tricuspidata inhibit NO production in RAW
      264.7 macrophages and suppress HL-60 cells proliferation.
AB  - Inhibitory effects of NO production in RAW 264.7 macrophages guided the isolation
      of nine prenylated isoflavones, including a new cudraisoflavone L (1) and eight
      known metabolites furowanin B (2), erysubin A (3), wighteone (4), lupalbigenin
      (5), laburnetin (6), isolupalbigenin (7), 6,8-diprenylorobol (8), millewanin H
      (9) from the leaves of Cudrania tricuspidata. At the concentration of 10 MUM,
      compounds 1, 2, and 4 significantly inhibited NO production with the inhibitory
      values of 72.5 +/- 2.4, 66.9 +/- 1.8, and 55.4 +/- 2.7%, respectively. In
      addition, all of isolated compounds 1-9 showed promising cytotoxic effects toward
      HL-60 cells (IC50 4.3 +/- 0.7 to 18.0 +/- 1.7 MUM).

PMID- 27649774
TI  - A case-control field study on the relationships among type 2 diabetes, sleepiness
      and habitual caffeine intake.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the possible links between
      type 2 diabetes, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality and caffeine consumption.
      METHODS: In this case-control field study, comparing type 2 diabetic ( n=134) and
      non-type 2 diabetic ( n=230) participants, subjects completed detailed and
      validated questionnaires to assess demographic status, health, daytime
      sleepiness, sleep quality and timing, diurnal preference, mistimed circadian
      rhythms and habitual caffeine intake. All participants gave saliva under
      standardised conditions for CYP1A2 genotyping and quantification of caffeine
      concentration. Hierarchical linear regression analyses examined whether type 2
      diabetes status was associated with caffeine consumption. RESULTS: Type 2
      diabetic participants reported greater daytime sleepiness ( p=0.001), a higher
      prevalence of sleep apnoea ( p=0.005) and napping ( p=0.008), and greater
      habitual caffeine intake ( p<0.001), derived from the consumption of an extra cup
      of coffee each day. This finding was confirmed by higher saliva caffeine
      concentration at bedtime ( p=0.01). Multiple regression analyses revealed that
      type 2 diabetes status was associated with higher self-reported caffeine
      consumption ( p<0.02) and higher salivary caffeine ( p<0.02). Next to male sex,
      type 2 diabetes status was the strongest predictor of caffeine intake. Subjective
      sleep and circadian estimates were similar between case and control groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Type 2 diabetic patients may self-medicate with caffeine to
      alleviate daytime sleepiness. High caffeine intake reflects a lifestyle factor
      that may be considered when promoting type 2 diabetes management.

PMID- 27649773
TI  - Subanesthetic ketamine decreases the incentive-motivational value of reward
      related cues.
AB  - The attribution of incentive-motivational value to reward-related cues
      contributes to cue-induced craving and relapse in addicted patients. Recently, it
      was demonstrated that subanesthetic ketamine increases motivation to quit and
      decreases cue-induced craving in cocaine-dependent individuals. Although the
      underlying mechanism of this effect is currently unknown, one possibility is that
      subanesthetic ketamine decreases the incentive-motivational value of reward
      related cues. In the present study, we used a Pavlovian conditioned approach
      procedure to identify sign-trackers, rats that attribute incentive-motivational
      value to reward-related cues, and goal-trackers, rats that assign only predictive
      value to reward-related cues. This model is of interest because sign-trackers are
      more vulnerable to cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior and will
      persist in this drug-seeking behavior despite adverse consequences. We tested the
      effect of subanesthetic ketamine on the expression of Pavlovian conditioned
      approach behavior and the conditioned reinforcing properties of a reward-related
      cue in sign- and goal-trackers. We found that subanesthetic ketamine decreased
      sign-tracking and increased goal-tracking behavior in sign-trackers, though it
      had no effect on conditioned reinforcement. These results suggest that
      subanesthetic ketamine may be a promising pharmacotherapy for addiction that acts
      by decreasing the incentive-motivational value of reward-related cues.

PMID- 27649776
TI  - Pharmacological interactions between brivaracetam and ethanol in healthy males.
AB  - This double-blind, randomized, three-way crossover study explored the potential
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions between ethanol and brivaracetam
      in 18 healthy males, as required for the development of CNS-active drugs.
      Subjects received (A) ethanol+brivaracetam, (B) ethanol placebo+brivaracetam and
      (C) ethanol+brivaracetam placebo. Ethanol was infused as a 5.5-hour intravenous
      clamp with the first 0.5-hour as loading phase to a target level of 0.6 g/L, and
      brivaracetam was orally administered as a single 200 mg dose. No relevant
      pharmacokinetic interactions were observed. Co-administration of brivaracetam and
      ethanol resulted in decreased saccadic peak velocity, smooth pursuit, adaptive
      tracking and VAS alertness, and increased body sway, saccadic reaction time and
      VAS score for ethanol effect compared with brivaracetam alone or ethanol alone.
      Additionally, the immediate word recall scores were generally lower when
      brivaracetam was co-administered with ethanol, whereas the delayed word test did
      not show clear additional effects. A post-hoc exploratory analysis for supra
      additivity suggested that most pharmacodynamic effects were likely to be additive
      in nature, except for adaptive tracking, which appeared to be slightly supra
      additive. In conclusion, brivaracetam increased ethanol effects on psychomotor
      function, attention and memory in healthy males. Intake of brivaracetam with
      alcohol is not recommended.

PMID- 27649777
TI  - Modafinil alters decision making based on feedback history - a randomized placebo
      controlled double blind study in humans.
AB  - Modafinil is becoming increasingly popular as a cognitive enhancer. Research on
      the effects of modafinil on cognitive function have yielded mixed results, with
      negative findings for simple memory and attention tasks and enhancing effects for
      more complex tasks. In the present study we examined whether modafinil, due to
      its known effect on the dopamine level in the striatum, alters feedback-related
      choice behaviour. We applied a task that separately tests the choice of
      previously rewarded behaviours (approach) and avoidance of previously punished
      behaviours. 18 participants received a single dose of 200 mg modafinil. Their
      performance was compared to a group of 22 participants who received placebo in a
      double-blind design. Modafinil but not placebo induced a significant bias towards
      approach behaviour as compared to the frequency of avoidance behaviour. General
      attention, overall feedback-based acquisition of choice behaviour and reaction
      times in high vs low conflict choices were not significantly affected by
      modafinil. This finding suggests that modafinil has a specific effect on dopamine
      mediated choice behaviour based on the history of feedback, while a contribution
      of noradrenaline is also conceivable. The described change in decision making
      cannot be considered as cognitive enhancement, but might rather have detrimental
      effects on decisions in everyday life.

PMID- 27649778
TI  - Effects of a single, oral 60 mg caffeine dose on attention in healthy adult
      subjects.
AB  - Caffeine induces positive effects on sustained attention, although studies
      assessing the acute effects of low caffeine dose (<75 mg) on sustained attention
      are limited and use short-term tests. Therefore, we investigated the acute
      effects of a 60 mg dose of caffeine on sustained attention in tests lasting up to
      45 minutes using 82 low or non-caffeine-consuming healthy male ( n=41) and female
      ( n=41) adults aged between 40 and 60 years. Vigilance was measured using
      Mackworth Clock test, Rapid Visual Information Processing Test, adaptive tracking
      test, saccadic eye movement and attention switch test. Effects on mood and
      fatigue were analysed using Bond and Lader and Caffeine Research visual analogue
      scales, and Samn-Perelli questionnaire. Saliva sampling was performed for both
      compliance and caffeine pharmacokinetic analysis. Administration of a 60 mg
      caffeine dose resulted in a significant improvement in sustained attention
      compared with the placebo. Also a significantly improved peak saccadic velocity
      and reaction time performance was found, and decreased error rate. Significantly
      increased feelings of alertness, contentment and overall mood after caffeine
      treatment compared with placebo were observed. This study demonstrated that in
      healthy adult subjects oral administration of a single 60 mg caffeine dose
      elicited a clear enhancement of sustained attention and alertness, measured both
      in multiple objective performances and in subjective scales.

PMID- 27649775
TI  - Altered reward expectancy in individuals with recent methamphetamine dependence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic methamphetamine use may lead to changes in reward-related
      function of the ventral striatum and caudate nucleus. Whether methamphetamine
      dependent individuals show heightened reactivity to positively valenced stimuli
      (i.e. positive reinforcement mechanisms), or an exaggerated response to
      negatively valenced stimuli (i.e. driven by negative reinforcement mechanisms)
      remains unclear. This study investigated neural functioning of expectancy and
      receipt for gains and losses in adults with (METH+) and without (METH-) histories
      of methamphetamine dependence. METHODS: Participants (17 METH+; 23 METH-)
      performed a probabilistic feedback expectancy task during blood-oxygen level
      dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants were
      given visual cues probabilistically associated with monetary gain, loss, or
      neutral outcomes. General linear models examined the BOLD response to: (1)
      anticipation of gains and losses, and (2) gain and loss monetary outcomes.
      RESULTS: METH+ had less BOLD response to loss anticipation than METH- in the
      ventral striatum and posterior caudate. METH+ also showed more BOLD response to
      loss outcomes than to gain outcomes in the anterior and posterior caudate,
      whereas METH- did not show differential responses to the valence of outcomes.
      DISCUSSION: METH+ individuals showed attenuated neural response to anticipated
      gains and losses, but their response to loss outcomes was greater than to gain
      outcomes. A decreased response to loss anticipation, along with a greater
      response to loss outcomes, suggests an altered ability to evaluate future risks
      and benefits based upon prior experience, which may underlie suboptimal decision
      making in METH+ individuals that increases the likelihood of risky behavior.

PMID- 27649779
TI  - Beyond associations: Do implicit beliefs play a role in smoking addiction?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Influential dual-system models of addiction suggest
      that an automatic system that is associative and habitual promotes drug use,
      whereas a controlled system that is propositional and rational inhibits drug use.
      It is assumed that effects on the Implicit Association Test (IAT) reflect the
      automatic processes that guide drug seeking. However, results have been
      inconsistent, challenging: (1) the validity of addiction IATs; and (2) the
      assumption that the automatic system contains only simple associative
      information. We aimed to further test the validity of IATs that are used within
      this field of research using an experimental design. Second, we introduced a new
      procedure aimed at examining the automatic activation of complex propositional
      knowledge, the Relational Responding Task (RRT) and examine the validity of RRT
      effects in the context of smoking. METHODS: In two experiments, smokers performed
      two different tasks: an approach/avoid IAT and a liking IAT in Experiment 1, and
      a smoking urges RRT and a valence IAT in Experiment 2. Smokers were tested once
      immediately after smoking and once after 10 hours of nicotine-deprivation.
      RESULTS: None of the IAT scores were affected by the deprivation manipulation.
      RRT scores revealed a stronger implicit desire for smoking in the deprivation
      condition compared to the satiation condition. CONCLUSIONS: IATs that are
      currently used to assess automatic processes in addiction have serious drawbacks.
      Furthermore, the automatic system may contain not only associations but complex
      drug-related beliefs as well. The RRT may be a useful and valid tool to examine
      these beliefs.

PMID- 27649780
TI  - Th17 cells are not required for maintenance of IL-17A-producing gammadelta T
      cells in vivo.
AB  - gammadelta T cells producing interleukin-17A (gammadeltaT17) are thought to
      develop spontaneously in the thymus and to be maintained in the periphery.
      Previous studies suggested a role for T-helper 17 (Th17) cells in the maintenance
      of gammadeltaT17 via the expression of transforming growth factor-beta1
      (TGFbeta1). However, we have previously found that Th17 cells were not required
      for expansion of gammadeltaT17 cells after lung transplant in a mouse model.
      Using mice deficient in signal transducer and activator of transcription 3
      (STAT3) in CD4+ T cells, which are unable to develop Th17 cells, we investigated
      the requirement for Th17 cells and TGFbeta1 to maintain gammadeltaT17 cells in
      the lung and lymphoid tissues. At steady state, we found no defect in
      gammadeltaT17 cells in the thymus or periphery of these mice. Further, STAT3
      deficient CD4+ T cells produced significantly higher levels of TGFbeta1 than wild
      type CD4+ T cells under Th17 differentiation conditions in vitro. To determine
      whether STAT3-deficient CD4+ T cells could expand gammadeltaT17 cells in vivo, we
      used TCRbeta-/- mice, which are known to have a defect in gammadeltaT17 cells
      that can be rescued by Th17 cells. However, adoptive transfer of wild-type Th17
      cells or bulk CD4+ T cells did not expand gammadeltaT17 cells in TCRbeta-/- mice.
      In contrast, interferon-gamma+ gammadelta T cells preferentially expanded,
      particularly in the lungs. Interestingly, we found in vivo and in vitro that
      TGFbeta1 may negatively regulate the pool of gammadeltaT17 cells. Our data
      suggest that Th17 cells and TGFbeta1 are not required for the maintenance of
      gammadeltaT17 cells.

PMID- 27649782
TI  - Segmentation of the Himalayas as revealed by arc-parallel gravity anomalies.
AB  - Lateral variations along the Himalayan arc are suggested by an increasing number
      of studies and carry important information about the orogen's segmentation. Here
      we compile the hitherto most complete land gravity dataset in the region which
      enables the currently highest resolution plausible analysis. To study lateral
      variations in collisional structure we compute arc-parallel gravity anomalies
      (APaGA) by subtracting the average arc-perpendicular profile from our dataset; we
      compute likewise for topography (APaTA). We find no direct correlation between
      APaGA, APaTA and background seismicity, as suggested in oceanic subduction
      context. In the Himalayas APaTA mainly reflect relief and erosional effects,
      whereas APaGA reflect the deep structure of the orogen with clear lateral
      boundaries. Four segments are outlined and have disparate flexural geometry: NE
      India, Bhutan, Nepal &India until Dehradun, and NW India. The segment boundaries
      in the India plate are related to inherited structures, and the boundaries of the
      Shillong block are highlighted by seismic activity. We find that large
      earthquakes of the past millennium do not propagate across the segment boundaries
      defined by APaGA, therefore these seem to set limits for potential rupture of
      megathrust earthquakes.

PMID- 27649781
TI  - Differential requirements for the canonical NF-kappaB transcription factors c-REL
      and RELA during the generation and activation of mature B cells.
AB  - Signaling through the canonical nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathway is
      critical for the generation and maintenance of mature B cells and for antigen
      dependent B-cell activation. c-REL (rel) and RELA (rela) are the downstream
      transcriptional activators of the canonical NF-kappaB pathway. Studies of B cells
      derived from constitutional rel knockout mice and chimeric mice repopulated with
      rela-/- fetal liver cells provided evidence that the subunits can have distinct
      roles during B-cell development. However, the B cell-intrinsic functions of c-REL
      and RELA during B-cell generation and antigen-dependent B-cell activation have
      not been determined in vivo. To clarify this issue, we crossed mice with
      conditional rel and rela alleles individually or in combination to mice that
      express Cre-recombinase in B cells. We here report that, whereas single deletion
      of rel or rela did not impair mature B-cell generation and maintenance, their
      simultaneous deletion led to a dramatic reduction of follicular and marginal zone
      B cells. Upon T cell-dependent immunization, B cell-specific deletion of the c
      REL subunit alone abrogated the formation of germinal centers (GCs), whereas rela
      deletion did not affect GC formation. T-independent responses were strongly
      impaired in mice with B cell-specific deletion of rel, and only modestly in mice
      with RELA-deficient B cells. Our findings identify differential requirements for
      the canonical NF-kappaB subunits c-REL and RELA at distinct stages of mature B
      cell development. The subunits are jointly required for the generation of mature
      B cells. During antigen-dependent B-cell activation, c-REL is the critical
      subunit required for the initiation of the GC reaction and for optimal T
      independent antibody responses, with RELA being largely dispensable at this
      stage.

PMID- 27649783
TI  - The PRKD1 promoter is a target of the KRas-NF-kappaB pathway in pancreatic
      cancer.
AB  - Increased expression of PRKD1 and its gene product protein kinase D1 (PKD1) are
      linked to oncogenic signaling in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, but a direct
      functional relationship to oncogenic KRas has not been established so far. We
      here describe the PRKD1 gene promoter as a target for oncogenic KRas signaling.
      We demonstrate that KRas-induced activation of the canonical NF-kappaB pathway is
      one mechanism of how PRKD1 expression is increased and identify the binding sites
      for NF-kappaB in the PRKD1 promoter. Altogether, these results describe a novel
      mechanism governing PRKD1 gene expression in PDA and provide a functional link
      between oncogenic KRas, NF-kappaB and expression of PRKD1.

PMID- 27649784
TI  - All-inkjet-printed thin-film transistors: manufacturing process reliability by
      root cause analysis.
AB  - We report on the detailed electrical investigation of all-inkjet-printed thin
      film transistor (TFT) arrays focusing on TFT failures and their origins. The TFT
      arrays were manufactured on flexible polymer substrates in ambient condition
      without the need for cleanroom environment or inert atmosphere and at a maximum
      temperature of 150  degrees C. Alternative manufacturing processes for electronic
      devices such as inkjet printing suffer from lower accuracy compared to
      traditional microelectronic manufacturing methods. Furthermore, usually printing
      methods do not allow the manufacturing of electronic devices with high yield
      (high number of functional devices). In general, the manufacturing yield is much
      lower compared to the established conventional manufacturing methods based on
      lithography. Thus, the focus of this contribution is set on a comprehensive
      analysis of defective TFTs printed by inkjet technology. Based on root cause
      analysis, we present the defects by developing failure categories and discuss the
      reasons for the defects. This procedure identifies failure origins and allows the
      optimization of the manufacturing resulting finally to a yield improvement.

PMID- 27649786
TI  - Nutrition: Searching for the immunological basis of wheat sensitivity.

PMID- 27649788
TI  - Helicobacter pylori: DARPP-32: a link between infection and gastric cancer.

PMID- 27649787
TI  - Therapy: Gastrointestinal safety of incretin therapies: are we there yet?

PMID- 27649785
TI  - IL-18BP is decreased in osteoporotic women: Prevents Inflammasome mediated IL-18
      activation and reduces Th17 differentiation.
AB  - IL-18BP is a natural antagonist of pro-inflammatory IL-18 cytokine linked to
      autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis. However, its role in post
      menopausal osteoporosis is still unknown. In this study, we investigated the role
      of IL-18BP on murine osteoblasts, its effect on osteoblasts-CD4+ T cells and
      osteoblasts-CD11b+ macrophage co-culture. mIL-18BPd enhances osteoblast
      differentiation and inhibits the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and caspase-1
      which process IL-18 to its active form. Using estrogen deficient mice, we also
      determined the effect of mIL-18BP on various immune and skeletal parameters.
      Ovariectomized mice treated with mIL-18BPd exhibited decrease in Th17/Treg ratio
      and pro-inflammatory cytokines. mIL-18BPd treatment restored trabecular
      microarchitecture, preserved cortical bone parameters likely attributed to an
      increased number of bone lining cells and reduced osteoclastogenesis.
      Importantly, these results were corroborated in female osteoporotic subjects
      where decreased serum IL-18BP levels and enhanced serum IL-18 levels were
      observed. Our study forms a strong basis for using humanized IL-18BP towards the
      treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

PMID- 27649789
TI  - How to make ovarian cancer cells "sick-too".

PMID- 27649791
TI  - Screening for functional kinases in metastatic prostate cancer: a glimmer of hope
      for kinase inhibition.

PMID- 27649792
TI  - Catalyst-Free Cycloaddition Reaction for the Synthesis of Glyconanoparticles.
AB  - A new conjugation method for the immobilization of carbohydrates on nanomaterials
      was demonstrated simply by mixing perfluorophenyl azide-functionalized silica
      nanoparticles (SNPs), an amine-derivatized carbohydrate, and phenylacetaldehyde
      under ambient conditions without any catalyst. The density of carbohydrates on
      the glyconanoparticles was determined using the quantitative 19F NMR (19F qNMR)
      technique; for example, the density of d-mannose (Man) on Man-SNPs was 2.5 +/-
      0.2 * 10-16 nmol/nm2. The glyconanoparticles retained their binding affinity and
      selectivity toward cognate lectins. The apparent dissociation constant of the
      glyconanoparticles was measured by a fluorescence competition assay, where the
      binding affinity of Man-SNPs was almost 4 orders of magnitude higher than that of
      Man with concanavalin A. Moreover, even with a ligand density of 2.6 times lower
      than Man-SNPs synthesized by the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition, the
      binding affinity of Man-SNPs prepared by the current method was more than 4 times
      higher.

PMID- 27649790
TI  - Short Communication: Accumulation of Neutral Lipids in Liver and Aorta of Nef
      Transgenic Mice.
AB  - HIV-infected individuals are at high risk of developing atherosclerosis and
      cardiovascular disease, in part, due to HIV-induced impairment of cholesterol
      metabolism. In vitro studies demonstrated that HIV-1 protein Nef inhibits
      activity of ABCA1, the main cellular cholesterol transporter, leading to
      cholesterol accumulation in macrophages and conversion of these cells into foam
      cells, characteristic for atherosclerosis. However, the mechanisms of Nef
      mediated effects on cholesterol metabolism in vivo are not well characterized. In
      this study, we generated Nef-transgenic mice and evaluated the accumulation of
      neutral lipids in liver and aorta of these animals. Nef expression was low in all
      transgenic mice, with some mice carrying the Nef transgene, but not expressing
      the Nef RNA. Using Oil Red O staining, we demonstrated increased levels of
      neutral lipids in liver and aorta of mice expressing Nef relative to transgenic
      animals, with no detectable Nef expression or control wild-type mice. These
      results provide direct evidence that Nef promotes cholesterol deposition in
      tissues.

PMID- 27649793
TI  - Modulatory Effects of Egg White Ovotransferrin-Derived Tripeptide IRW (Ile-Arg
      Trp) on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells against Angiotensin II Stimulation.
AB  - The renin angiotensin system (RAS) is a key mediator of blood pressure
      regulation. Angiotensin II (Ang II), the active component of RAS, is a potent
      vasoconstrictor that also causes abnormal proliferation, oxidative stress, and
      inflammation in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) that contribute to
      atherosclerotic changes. Egg white ovotransferrin-derived tripeptide IRW (Ile-Arg
      Trp) was previously shown to exert antihypertensive effect by reducing Ang II
      synthesis as well as endothelial cell inflammation and endothelial dysfunction.
      However, the effects of IRW on VSMCs are still unclear. In the present study, we
      evaluated the antiproliferative, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects of
      IRW on VSMCs in the presence of Ang II stimulation. It was found that IRW
      treatment could attenuate Ang II-stimulated proliferation, superoxide production,
      and inflammation in VSMCs. These beneficial effects appeared to involve
      modulation of the NF-kappaB pathway. These findings could further our
      understanding on the antihypertensive mechanism of IRW beyond vascular
      endothelium.

PMID- 27649794
TI  - Controlling healthcare professionals: how human resource management influences
      job attitudes and operational efficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assess how human resource management (HRM) is implemented in
      Australian hospitals. Drawing on role theory, we consider the influence HRM has
      on job attitudes of healthcare staff and hospital operational efficiency.
      METHODS: We adopt a qualitative research design across professional groups
      (physicians, nurses, and allied health staff) at multiple levels (executive,
      healthcare managers, and employee). A total of 34 interviews were carried out and
      analyzed using NVivo. RESULTS: Findings revealed a predominance of a control
      based approach to people management. Using Snell's control framework (AMJ 35:292
      327, 1992), we found that behavioral control was the principal form of control
      used to manage nurses, allied health workers, and junior doctors. We found a mix
      between behavior, output, and input controls as well as elements of commitment
      based HRM to manage senior physicians. We observed low levels of investment in
      people and a concentration on transactional human resource (HR) activities which
      led to negative job attitudes such as low morale and frustration among healthcare
      professionals. While hospitals used rules to promote conformity with established
      procedures, the overuse and at times inappropriate use of behavior controls
      restricted healthcare managers' ability to motivate and engage their staff.
      CONCLUSIONS: Excessive use of behavior control helped to realize short-term cost
      cutting goals; however, this often led to operational inefficiencies. We suggest
      that hospitals reduce the profusion of behavior control and increase levels of
      input and output controls in the management of people. Poor perceptions of HR
      specialists and HR activities have resulted in HR being overlooked as a vehicle
      to address the strategic challenges required of health reform and to build an
      engaged workforce.

PMID- 27649795
TI  - Predicting stillbirth in a low resource setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stillbirth is a major contributor to perinatal mortality and it is
      particularly common in low- and middle-income countries, where annually about
      three million stillbirths occur in the third trimester. This study aims to
      develop a prediction model for early detection of pregnancies at high risk of
      stillbirth. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study examined 6,573 pregnant
      women who delivered at Federal Medical Centre Bida, a tertiary level of
      healthcare in Nigeria from January 2010 to December 2013. Descriptive statistics
      were performed and missing data imputed. Multivariable logistic regression was
      applied to examine the associations between selected candidate predictors and
      stillbirth. Discrimination and calibration were used to assess the model's
      performance. The prediction model was validated internally and over-optimism was
      corrected. RESULTS: We developed a prediction model for stillbirth that comprised
      maternal comorbidity, place of residence, maternal occupation, parity, bleeding
      in pregnancy, and fetal presentation. As a secondary analysis, we extended the
      model by including fetal growth rate as a predictor, to examine how beneficial
      ultrasound parameters would be for the predictive performance of the model. After
      internal validation, both calibration and discriminative performance of both the
      basic and extended model were excellent (i.e. C-statistic basic model = 0.80 (95
      % CI 0.78-0.83) and extended model = 0.82 (95 % CI 0.80-0.83)). CONCLUSION: We
      developed a simple but informative prediction model for early detection of
      pregnancies with a high risk of stillbirth for early intervention in a low
      resource setting. Future research should focus on external validation of the
      performance of this promising model.

PMID- 27649796
TI  - Clinical research data sharing: what an open science world means for researchers
      involved in evidence synthesis.
AB  - The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recently announced
      a bold step forward to require data generated by interventional clinical trials
      that are published in its member journals to be responsibly shared with external
      investigators. The movement toward a clinical research culture that supports data
      sharing has important implications for the design, conduct, and reporting of
      systematic reviews and meta-analyses. While data sharing is likely to enhance the
      science of evidence synthesis, facilitating the identification and inclusion of
      all relevant research, it will also pose key challenges, such as requiring
      broader search strategies and more thorough scrutiny of identified research.
      Furthermore, the adoption of data sharing initiatives by the clinical research
      community should challenge the community of researchers involved in evidence
      synthesis to follow suit, including the widespread adoption of systematic review
      registration, results reporting, and data sharing, to promote transparency and
      enhance the integrity of the research process.

PMID- 27649797
TI  - Pilosebaceous targeting by isotretenoin-loaded invasomal gel for the treatment of
      eosinophilic pustular folliculitis: optimization, efficacy and cellular analysis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Eosinophilic pustular folliculitis is a secondary symptom associated
      with HIV infection appears as levels of CD4 lymphocyte cells and T4 lymphocyte
      cell. Isotretinoin, an analog of vitamin A (retinoid) alters the DNA
      transcription mechanism and interferes in the process of DNA formation. It also
      inhibits the eosinophilic chemotactic factors present in sebaceous lipids and in
      the stratum corneum of patients suffering from this ailment. OBJECTIVE: The
      present research was aimed to formulate isotretenoin-loaded invasomal gel to
      deliver and target the drug to pilosebaceous follicular unit. METHODS: Nine
      invasomal formulations (F1-F9) were prepared applying 32 factorial designs and
      characterized. RESULTS: Formulation F9 was selected as optimized formulation due
      to optimum results and highest %CDP of 85.94 +/- 1.86% in 8 h. Transmission
      electron microscopy (TEM) suggested uniformity in vesicles shape and size in F9
      and developed as invasomal gel (IG). LIMITATIONS: Clinical phase-I, phase-II, and
      phase-III studies will be required before using on human patients. CONCLUSION:
      Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) validates that IG successfully reaches
      the pilosebaceous follicular unit and further studied on cell line (SZ-95)
      exhibited IC50 of <=8 (25 MUM of isotretenoin). Cell cycle analysis confirmed IG
      arrested the cell growth up to 82% with insignificant difference to pure
      isotretenion.

PMID- 27649798
TI  - Increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in gulls sampled in
      Southcentral Alaska is associated with urban environments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose challenges to healthcare delivery
      systems globally; however, limited information is available regarding the
      prevalence and spread of such bacteria in the environment. The aim of this study
      was to compare the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in large-bodied
      gulls (Larus spp.) at urban and remote locations in Southcentral Alaska to gain
      inference into the association between antibiotic resistance in wildlife and
      anthropogenically influenced habitats. METHODS: Escherichia coli was cultured
      (n=115 isolates) from fecal samples of gulls (n=160) collected from a remote
      location, Middleton Island, and a more urban setting on the Kenai Peninsula.
      RESULTS: Screening of E. coli from fecal samples collected from glaucous-winged
      gulls (Larus glaucescens) at Middleton Island revealed 8% of isolates were
      resistant to one or more antibiotics and 2% of the isolates were resistant to
      three or more antibiotics. In contrast, 55% of E. coli isolates derived from
      fecal samples collected from large-bodied gulls (i.e. glaucous, herring [Larus
      argentatus], and potentially hybrid gulls) on the Kenai Peninsula were resistant
      to one or more antibiotics and 22% were resistant to three or more antibiotics.
      In addition, total of 16% of the gull samples from locations on the Kenai
      Peninsula harbored extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant E. coli isolates
      (extended-spectrum beta-lactamases [ESBL] and plasmid-encoded AmpC [pAmpC]), in
      contrast to Middleton Island where no ESBL- or pAmpC-producing isolates were
      detected. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that increased prevalence of
      antibiotic resistance is associated with urban environments in Southcentral
      Alaska and presumably influenced by anthropogenic impacts. Further investigation
      is warranted to assess how migratory birds may maintain and spread antimicrobial
      resistant bacteria of relevance to human and animal health.

PMID- 27649799
TI  - Why internal weights should be avoided (not only) in MR-Egger regression.

PMID- 27649800
TI  - Cohort Profile: The Swedish National March Cohort.

PMID- 27649802
TI  - Response to Hartwig and Davies.

PMID- 27649801
TI  - Infant body mass index peak and early childhood cardio-metabolic risk markers in
      a multi-ethnic Asian birth cohort.
AB  - Background: : Infant body mass index (BMI) peak has received much interest
      recently as a potential predictor of future obesity and metabolic risk. No
      studies, however, have examined infant BMI peak in Asian populations, in whom the
      risk of metabolic disease is higher. Methods: : We utilized data among 1020
      infants from a mother-offspring cohort, who were Singapore citizens or permanent
      residents of Chinese, Malay or Indian ethnicity with homogeneous parental ethnic
      backgrounds, and did not receive chemotherapy, psychotropic drugs or have
      diabetes mellitus. Ethnicity was self-reported at recruitment and later confirmed
      using genotype analysis. Subject-specific BMI curves were fitted to infant BMI
      data using natural cubic splines with random coefficients to account for repeated
      measures in each child. We estimated characteristics of the child's BMI peak [age
      and magnitude at peak, average pre-peak velocity (aPPV)]. Systolic (SBP) and
      diastolic blood pressure (DBP), BMI, sum of skinfolds (SSF) and fat-mass index
      (FMI) were measured during a follow-up visit at age 48 months. Weighted
      multivariable linear regression was used to assess the predictors (maternal BMI,
      gestational weight gain, ethnicity, infant sex, gestational age, birthweight-for
      gestational age and breastfeeding duration) of infant BMI peak and its
      associations with outcomes at 48 months. Comparisons between ethnicities were
      tested using Bonferroni post-hoc correction. Results: : Of 1020 infants, 80.5%
      were followed up at the 48-month visit. Mean (SD) BMI, SSF and FMI at 48 months
      were 15.6 (1.8) kg/m 2 , 16.5 (5.3) mm and 3.8 (1.3) kg/m 2 , respectively. Mean
      (SD) age at peak BMI was 6.0 (1.6) months, with a magnitude of 17.2 (1.4) kg/m 2
      and pre-peak velocity of 0.7 (0.3) kg/m 2 /month. Compared with Chinese infants,
      the peak occurred later in Malay {B [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64 mo (0.36,
      0.92)]} and Indian infants [1.11 mo (0.76, 1.46)] and was lower in magnitude in
      Indian infants [-0.45 kg/m 2 (-0.69, -0.20)]. Adjusting for maternal education,
      BMI, gestational weight gain, ethnicity, infant sex, gestational age, birthweight
      for-gestational-age and breastfeeding duration, higher peak and aPPV were
      associated with greater BMI, SSF and FMI at 48 months. Age at peak was positively
      associated with BMI at 48 months [0.15 units (0.09, 0.22)], whereas peak
      magnitude was associated with SBP [0.17 units (0.05, 0.30)] and DBP at 48 months
      [0.10 units (0.01, 0.22)]. Older age and higher magnitude at peak were associated
      with increased risk of overweight at 48 months [Relative Risk (95% CI): 1.35
      (1.12-1.62) for age; 1.89 (1.60-2.24) for magnitude]. The associations of BMI
      peak with BMI and SSF at 48 months were stronger in Malay and Indian children
      than in Chinese children. Conclusions: : Ethnic-specific differences in BMI peak
      characteristics, and associations of BMI peak with early childhood cardio
      metabolic markers, suggest an important impact of early BMI development on later
      metabolic outcomes in Asian populations.

PMID- 27649803
TI  - Association between month of birth and melanoma risk: fact or fiction?
AB  - Background: Evidence on the effect of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure in
      infancy on melanoma risk in later life is scarce. Three recent studies suggest
      that people born in spring carry a higher melanoma risk. Our study aimed at
      verifying whether such a seasonal pattern of melanoma risk actually exists.
      Methods: Data from the population-based Cancer Registry Bavaria (CRB) on the
      birth months of 28 374 incident melanoma cases between 2002 and 2012 were
      analysed and compared with data from the Bavarian State Office for Statistics and
      Data Processing on the birth month distribution in the Bavarian population. Crude
      and adjusted analyses using negative binomial regression models were performed in
      the total study group and supplemented by several subgroup analyses. Results: In
      the crude analysis, the birth months March-May were over-represented among
      melanoma cases. Negative binomial regression models adjusted only for sex and
      birth year revealed a seasonal association between melanoma risk and birth month
      with 13-21% higher relative incidence rates for March, April and May compared
      with the reference December. However, after additionally adjusting for the birth
      month distribution of the Bavarian population, these risk estimates decreased
      markedly and no association with the birth month was observed any more. Similar
      results emerged in all subgroup analyses. Conclusions: Our large registry-based
      study provides no evidence that people born in spring carry a higher risk for
      developing melanoma in later life and thus lends no support to the hypothesis of
      higher UVR susceptibility during the first months of life.

PMID- 27649804
TI  - Authors' response to Hartwig and Davies.

PMID- 27649805
TI  - Cohort Profile: The Longitudinal Indian Family hEalth (LIFE) Pilot Study,
      Telangana State, India.

PMID- 27649807
TI  - A pilot study of the trauma recovery group for veterans with post traumatic
      stress disorder and co-occurring serious mental illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many Veterans may not benefit from gold-standard evidence-based
      treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because they suffer from co
      occurring serious mental illness (SMI). AIMS: This pilot study is the first to
      evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the Trauma Recovery
      Group in a sample of Veterans with PTSD and SMI. METHODS: Fourteen Veterans with
      PTSD and SMI were enrolled in a 21-session group-based cognitive behavioral
      therapy program targeting PTSD. The PTSD Checklist was the primary outcome
      measure; secondary outcomes included the Participant Health Questionnaire, the
      Post Traumatic Cognitions Inventory, and the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale.
      RESULTS: Seventy-one percent of participants completed the trial. The
      intervention was associated with a significant reduction of PTSD symptoms and a
      trend-level reduction of maladaptive post-traumatic cognitions. There was a
      significant positive correlation between change in PTSD symptoms and change in
      post-traumatic cognitions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the feasibility and
      preliminary effectiveness of the Trauma Recovery Group for Veterans with co
      occurring PTSD and SMI, and suggest that controlled research on the program is
      warranted.

PMID- 27649806
TI  - Parenthood and the risk of cardiovascular diseases among 0.5 million men and
      women: findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank.
AB  - Background: Women's parity has been associated with risk of cardiovascular
      disease (CVD). It is unclear, however, whether it reflects biological effects of
      childbearing or uncontrolled socio-economic and lifestyle factors associated with
      childrearing. We assessed the association between number of children and incident
      CVD outcomes separately in women and men. Methods: In 2004-08, the nationwide
      China Kadoorie Biobank recruited 0.5 million individuals aged 30-79 years from 10
      diverse regions. During 7 years of follow-up, 24 432 incident cases of coronary
      heart disease (CHD) and 35 736 of stroke were recorded among 489 762 individuals
      without prior CVD. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate sex
      specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CHD and
      stroke associated with number of children. Results: Overall, 98% of all
      participants had children and the mean number of children declined progressively
      from four in older participants to one or two in younger participants. Compared
      with childless women, women with children had an increased risk of CHD, but not
      of stroke [HR (95% CI): 1.14 (1.00; 1.30) and 1.03 (0.92; 1.16)]. Corresponding
      results for men were 1.20 (1.06; 1.35) and 1.13 (1.03; 1.24), respectively. In
      individuals with children, there was a log-linear association between number of
      children and CVD outcomes; in women, each additional child was associated with
      adjusted HRs of 1.02 (1.01; 1.04) for CHD and 1.02 (1.01; 1.03) for stroke,
      similar in magnitude to that in men [1.03 (1.01; 1.04) for CHD and 1.02 (1.01;
      1.03) for stroke]. Conclusion: In Chinese adults, the association between the
      number of children and risk of CHD and stroke was similar between men and women,
      suggesting that factors associated with parenthood and childrearing are more
      likely to affect the risk of CVD outcomes than factors associated with
      childbearing.

PMID- 27649808
TI  - Nitrogen oxides emissions from the MILD combustion with the conditions of
      recirculation gas.
AB  - : The nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction technology by combustion modification which
      has economic benefits as a method of controlling NOx emitted in the combustion
      process, has recently been receiving a lot of attention. Especially, the moderate
      or intense low oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion which applied high temperature
      flue gas recirculation has been confirmed for its effectiveness with regard to
      solid fuel as well. MILD combustion is affected by the flue gas recirculation
      ratio and the composition of recirculation gas, so its NOx reduction efficiency
      is determined by them. In order to investigate the influence of factors which
      determine the reduction efficiency of NOx in MILD coal combustion, this study
      changed the flow rate and concentration of nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2)
      and steam (H2O) which simulate the recirculation gas during the MILD coal
      combustion using our lab-scale drop tube furnace and performed the combustion
      experiment. As a result, its influence by the composition of recirculation gas
      was insignificant and it was shown that flue gas recirculation ratio influences
      the change of NOx concentration greatly. IMPLICATIONS: We investigated the
      influence of factors determining the nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction efficiency
      in MILD coal combustion, which applied high-temperature flue gas recirculation.
      Using a lab-scale drop tube furnace and simulated recirculation gas, we conducted
      combustion testing changing the recirculation gas conditions. We found that the
      flue gas recirculation ratio influences the reduction of NOx emissions the most.

PMID- 27649809
TI  - Faster kinetics of quantal catecholamine release in mouse chromaffin cells
      stimulated with acetylcholine, compared with other secretagogues.
AB  - Adrenal chromaffin cells (CCs) have been used extensively in studies aimed at
      revealing the intricacies of the Ca2+ -dependent early and late steps of
      regulated exocytosis. They have also served as invaluable models to study the
      kinetics of single-vesicle exocytotic events to infer the characteristics of
      opening and closing of the exocytotic fusion pore. We have here tested the
      hypothesis that stimulation at room temperature of CCs from mice C57BL/6 with
      physiological acetylcholine (ACh) and with other secretagogues
      (dimethylphenylpiperazinium, high K+ , muscarine, histamine, caffeine), alone or
      in combination, could trigger amperometric spike events with different kinetics.
      We found that mean secretory spike events in CCs stimulated with ACh had a fast
      rise rate of 25 pA/ms and a rapid decay time of 6.2 ms, with a small quantal size
      (0.31 pC). Surprisingly, these parameters considerably differed from those found
      in CCs stimulated with all other secretagogues that triggered secretory responses
      with spike events having smaller rise rates, longer decay times and higher
      quantal sizes. ACh spikes were unaltered by atropine but mitochondrial
      protonophore carbonyl cyanide-4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone markedly slowed
      down the rate rise and decay time, and augmented the quantal size of mean
      secretory events. We conclude that the physiological neurotransmitter ACh
      triggers a fast and efficient exocytotic response that cannot be mimicked by
      other secretagogues; such response is regulated by the mitochondrial circulation
      of calcium ions.

PMID- 27649811
TI  - Updated perspectives on the cytosolic sulfotransferases (SULTs) and SULT-mediated
      sulfation.
AB  - The cytosolic sulfotransferases (SULTs) are Phase II detoxifying enzymes that
      mediate the sulfate conjugation of numerous xenobiotic molecules. While the
      research on the SULTs has lagged behind the research on Phase I cytochrome P-450
      enzymes and other Phase II conjugating enzymes, it has gained more momentum in
      recent years. This review aims to summarize information obtained in several
      fronts of the research on the SULTs, including the range of the SULTs in
      different life forms, concerted actions of the SULTs and other Phase II enzymes,
      insights into the structure-function relationships of the SULTs, regulation of
      SULT expression and activity, developmental expression of SULTs, as well as the
      use of a zebrafish model for studying the developmental pharmacology/toxicology.

PMID- 27649812
TI  - Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy
      of Sciences.
AB  - Diamond Jubilee: This special issue is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the
      Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS). It contains four
      focus reviews and 28 original research articles from ICCAS researchers and
      collaborators. These articles showcase the broad range of high-quality
      fundamental research in chemistry carried out at ICCAS.

PMID- 27649810
TI  - Differential expressed analysis of Tripterygium wilfordii unigenes involved in
      terpenoid backbone biosynthesis.
AB  - Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. is the traditional medicinal plants in China.
      Triptolide, wilforgine, and wilforine are the bioactive compounds in T.
      wilfordii. In this study, the contents of three metabolites and transcription
      levels of 21 genes involved in three metabolites biosynthesis in T. wilfordii
      were examined using high-performance liquid chromatography and reverse
      transcription PCR after application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on hairy roots in
      time course experiment (3-24 h). The results indicated that application of MeJA
      inhibited triptolide accumulation and promoted wilforgine and wilforine
      metabolites biosynthesis. In hairy roots, wilforgine content reached 693.36 MUg/g
      at 6 h after adding MeJA, which was 2.23-fold higher than control. The
      accumulation of triptolide and wilforine in hairy roots increased the maximum at
      9 h, which was 1.3- and 1.6-folds more than the control. Most of the triptolide
      secretes into the medium, but wilforgine and wilforine cannot secrete into the
      medium. The expression levels of unigenes which involved terpenoid backbone
      biosynthesis exist the correlation with marker metabolites (triptolide,
      wilforgine and wilforine) after induction by MeJA, and can be then used to infer
      flux bottlenecks in T. wilfordii secondary metabolites accumulation. These
      results showed that these genes may have potential applications in the metabolic
      engineering of T. wilfordii metabolites production.

PMID- 27649813
TI  - Homoleptic Phosphaalkyne Complexes of Silver(I).
AB  - By employing silver salts with a weakly coordinating anion Ag[A] ([A]=[FAl{OC12
      F15 }3 ], [Al{OC(CF3 )3 }4 ]), two phosphaalkynes could be coordinated side-on to
      a bare silver(I) center to form the unprecedented homoleptic complexes [Ag(eta2 
      P=CtBu)2 ][FAl{OC12 F15 }3 ] (1) and [Ag(eta2 -P=CtBu)2 ][Al{OC(CF3 )3 }4 ] (2).
      DFT calculations show that the perpendicular arrangement in 1 is the minimum
      energy structure of the coordination of the two phosphaalkynes to a silver atom,
      whereas for 2 a unique square-planar coordination mode of the phosphaalkynes at
      Ag+ was found. Reactions with donor molecules yield the trigonally planar
      coordinated silver salts [((CH3 )2 CO)Ag(eta2 -P=CtBu)2 ][FAl{OC12 F15 }3 ] (3)
      and [(C7 H8 )2 Ag(eta2 -P=CtBu)][FAl{OC12 F15 }3 ] (4). All of the compounds were
      comprehensively characterized in solution and in the solid state.

PMID- 27649814
TI  - Observation of Surface Coverage-Dependent Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering and
      the Kinetic Behavior of Methylene Blue Adsorbed on Silver Oxide Nanocrystals.
AB  - We report the study of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and
      photocatalytic reactions of methylene blue (MB) adsorbed on cubic silver oxide (c
      Ag2O) nanocrystals. The SERS activities of MB observed on c-Ag2O are surface
      coverage-dependent. According to the SERS selection rules, the strong intensities
      of the C-S-C and C-N-C bending modes imply that the MB molecules are adsorbed on
      the c-Ag2O surface with a near-perpendicular position. On the other hand, if
      these modes are weak, MB assumes a near-parallel position to the c-Ag2O surface.
      Under the "perpendicular" condition, the photocatalytic reaction rate of MB
      observed on c-Ag2O surfaces is first order at a high surface coverage, whereas
      under the "parallel" condition, the observed rate is zero order at a low surface
      coverage. The SERS intensity trends and the kinetic behavior of MB on c-Ag2O are
      correlated.

PMID- 27649816
TI  - Visual attention and academic performance in children with developmental
      disabilities and behavioural attention deficits.
AB  - Despite well-documented attention deficits in children with intellectual and
      developmental disabilities (IDD), distinctions across types of attention problems
      and their association with academic attainment has not been fully explored. This
      study examines visual attention capacities and inattentive/hyperactive behaviours
      in 77 children aged 4 to 11 years with IDD and elevated behavioural attention
      difficulties. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 23), Down syndrome
      (DS; n = 22), and non-specific intellectual disability (NSID; n = 32) completed
      computerized visual search and vigilance paradigms. In addition, parents and
      teachers completed rating scales of inattention and hyperactivity. Concurrent
      associations between attention abilities and early literacy and numeracy skills
      were also examined. Children completed measures of receptive vocabulary,
      phonological abilities and cardinality skills. As expected, the results indicated
      that all groups had relatively comparable levels of inattentive/hyperactive
      behaviours as rated by parents and teachers. However, the extent of visual
      attention deficits varied as a result of group; namely children with DS had
      poorer visual search and vigilance abilities than children with ASD and NSID.
      Further, significant associations between visual attention difficulties and
      poorer literacy and numeracy skills were observed, regardless of group.
      Collectively the findings demonstrate that in children with IDD who present with
      homogenous behavioural attention difficulties, at the cognitive level, subtle
      profiles of attentional problems can be delineated.

PMID- 27649815
TI  - The impact of chronic conditions on the economic burden of cancer survivorship: a
      systematic review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This systematic review examines the excess cost of chronic
      conditions on the economic burden of cancer survivorship among adults in the US.
      Areas covered: Twelve published studies were identified. Although studies varied
      substantially in populations, comorbidities examined, methods, and types of cost
      reported, costs for cancer survivors with comorbidities generally increased with
      greater numbers of comorbidities or an increase in comorbidity index score.
      Survivors with comorbidities incurred significantly more in total medical costs,
      out-of-pocket costs, and costs by service type compared to cancer survivors
      without additional comorbidities. Expert commentary: Cancer survivors with
      comorbidities bear significant excess out-of-pocket costs and their care is also
      more expensive to the healthcare system. On-going evaluation of different payment
      models, care coordination, and disease management programs for cancer survivors
      with comorbidities will be important in monitoring impact on healthcare costs.

PMID- 27649818
TI  - Where Shall We Go?
AB  - This issue of the Hastings Center Report coincides with the annual conference of
      the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, whose theme this year is
      "Where do we stand?" The issue addresses that theme with the article by Debra
      Mathews and colleagues and the set of brief response essays that follow it.
      Mathews et al., drawing on work carried out by the Association of Bioethics
      Program Directors, pose questions about how to understand and evaluate the worth
      of bioethics research. Those questions require them to think very broadly about
      what bioethics is, in the first place, and how it is related to medicine, health
      policy, science, and society generally. In short, they are thinking at the
      highest level about the question, where do we stand?

PMID- 27649817
TI  - Feasibility and kinetics of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cell mobilization in
      response to a single administration of docetaxel chemotherapy and pegfilgrastim
      in a contemporary cohort of patients with metastatic breast cancer.
AB  - AIM: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) remains an
      experimental therapy for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and there is no
      established protocol for cluster of differentiation 34+ (CD34+ ) hematopoietic
      progenitor cell (HPC) mobilization with historic studies using growth factors
      with or without chemotherapy. This study describes the feasibility and kinetics
      of CD34+ HPC mobilization following a single administration of docetaxel and the
      pegylated form of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
      analogue filgrastim (pegfilgrastim). METHODS: The study design was serial
      measurement of peripheral blood CD34+ HPC in patients with MBC following a single
      administration of intravenous (IV) docetaxel 100 mg/m2 on day 1 and subcutaneous
      (SC) pegfilgrastim 6 mg on day 2. RESULTS: Eight patients with MBC were enrolled.
      The median age was 56 years (range 51-75 years). All patients had human epidermal
      growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative disease and either hormone refractory or
      negative disease. Three patients had bone only disease, four had visceral organ
      disease with or without bone involvement and one had locally unresectable disease
      only. All patients had prior therapy for early-advanced stage disease and prior
      therapy for MBC included seven patients receiving at least one line of hormone
      therapy and three having palliative chemotherapy. Six patients recorded a rise in
      the CD34+ count greater than 20 cells/MUL. The median peak level was 40.2
      cells/MUL (standard deviation = 28.7) occurring on day 9 and with an average
      duration of 4 days. Overall, treatment was well tolerated with manageable side
      effects. CONCLUSION: The single administration of docetaxel and pegfilgrastim was
      effective in mobilization of CD34+ HPC and peak levels followed a predictable
      course. This approach needs validation in prospective studies by preparation of
      auto-HSCT by leukapheresis and quantification of total CD34+ HPC yields.

PMID- 27649819
TI  - On Being Fired: When Patients or Their Parents Fire Their Physician.
AB  - Wait, what? I've been fired?" I repeated, in the middle of morning rounds in the
      neonatal intensive care unit. Finally, the nurse who was taking care of our
      patient, Angela, responded, "Her parents fired you last night. They've already
      called Patient Relations. They want a new doctor." My heart sank. Only days into
      my block of service time as the attending physician in the NICU and I was fired,
      axed, canned, rejected by a family. How could this have happened? On my first day
      of service, I had introduced myself to Angela's parents, and I had then met with
      them daily to review results and the plan and to answer their questions. I
      thought we had connected well. I thought I had done everything right. I thought
      they trusted me to care for their daughter.

PMID- 27649820
TI  - The ACA's Provision on Nondiscrimination Takes Shape.
AB  - The Department of Health and Human Services has issued far-reaching regulations
      to implement the nondiscrimination requirement of the Affordable Care Act. Now
      commonly called "Section 1557," this ACA provision prohibits discrimination by
      "any health program or activity, any part of which is receiving Federal financial
      assistance," on grounds prohibited under previously enacted federal
      antidiscrimination statutes. The DHHS Office of Civil Rights enforces Section
      1557. These new regulations and accompanying commentary give warning of the
      standards the agency will use in its enforcement efforts. Courts will also give
      some deference to the DHHS regulations in interpreting the statute in lawsuits by
      individuals claiming damages against covered health care providers for illegal
      discrimination under Section 1557. Three central issues are the nature of the
      rights created in Section 1557 and their relation to the listed federal
      antidiscrimination statutes, the sorts of health care programs and activities
      that are covered by Section 1557, and the definition of the personal
      characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity, against which
      discrimination is prohibited.

PMID- 27649822
TI  - Doctor Knows Best? Tubal Ligation in Young, Childless Women.
AB  - When a gynecologist asks a twenty-one-year-old patient about her use of
      contraception, he is surprised that she would like to have a tubal ligation. The
      patient says that she would "never want to bring a child into this screwed up
      world." She has discussed tubal ligation with her boyfriend of one year, and he
      has told her that he accepts her decision. She asks her doctor if she can
      schedule the procedure as soon as possible. Her gynecologist mentions that he is
      concerned that she is very young and may eventually change her mind about having
      children. She insists that she has thought about it carefully and is certain that
      she wants the procedure. Her doctor feels very uncomfortable about this request.
      He consults the hospital ethics committee. Should he do as the patient asks or
      suggest that she wait at least six months and reconsider?

PMID- 27649821
TI  - Unmet Needs, Unwanted Persons: A Call for Expansion of Safe Haven Laws.
AB  - Legislative strategies for reducing infant abandonment and neonaticide developed
      in response to a series of sensational cases that occurred in Texas in 1999. The
      media coverage of these cases implied that the incidence of the crime was
      increasing, and Texas legislators responded with a law permitting parents to
      anonymously surrender their newborn at designated locations such as hospitals.
      This was the first "safe haven" law. Interest peaked nationwide, and by 2008 all
      states had a similar version of the law. These laws can trigger rapid cessation
      of parental rights and a fast-tracked adoption to a preapproved family,
      reflecting the legislators' assumption that it is better to permit struggling
      mothers to leave their children with well-intentioned strangers than to abandon
      the children or end their lives. These laws, however, suffer from several
      inadequacies.

PMID- 27649823
TI  - (Mis)understanding Science: The Problem with Scientific Breakthroughs.
AB  - On Saturday morning, February 28, 1953, the mystery of heredity appeared secure.
      Humans hadn't the faintest idea of how genetic information was transmitted-how
      the uncanny resemblance between mother and daughter, grandfather and grandson was
      conveyed across generations. Yet, by that Saturday afternoon, two individuals,
      James Watson and Francis Crick, had glimpsed the solution to these mysteries. The
      story of Watson and Crick's great triumph has been told and retold and has
      rightly entered the pantheon of scientific legend. But Watson and Crick's
      breakthrough was just that: a rupture and dramatic discontinuity in human
      knowledge that solved a deep mystery, the likes of which occurs, perhaps, a
      couple of times each century. And that's the problem. The story is just so good
      and so irresistible that it has misled generations of scientists about what to
      expect regarding a life in science. And more damaging, the resulting breakthrough
      mentality misleads the public, the media, and society's decision-makers about how
      science really works, all to the detriment of scientific progress and our
      society's well-being.

PMID- 27649824
TI  - Ethics Hype?
AB  - There has been growing concern about the phenomenon of science hype, the tendency
      to exaggerate the value or near-future application of research results. Although
      this is a problem that touches every area of biomedicine, the topic of genetics
      seems to be particularly prone to enthusiastic predictions. The world has been
      told for over two decades-by the media, researchers, politicians, and the biotech
      industry-that a genome-driven health care revolution is just around the corner.
      And while the revolution never seems to arrive, the hopeful rhetoric continues.
      It has been suggested that this unrelenting "genohype" is having a range of
      adverse social consequences, including misleading the public and hurting the long
      term legitimacy of the field. While we need more good data on the nature and
      magnitude of these possible harms, few would argue with the proposition that
      sustained science hype is a bad thing. We all benefit from robust science and
      accurate public representations of biomedical research. But, to date, there has
      been very little consideration of the degree to which the scholarship on the
      related ethical, legal, and social issues has been hyped. Are the conclusions
      from ELSI scholarship also exaggerated?

PMID- 27649825
TI  - Leveling the Playing Field: Closing the Gap in Public Awareness of Genetics
      between the Well Served and Underserved.
AB  - The impact of genetic technologies is being felt in many aspects of society,
      including medicine and the legal system, as well as the personal lives of
      individuals. How do we make sure that all segments of the population are equally
      aware of these technologies and have ample opportunity to voice opinions and
      shape the future? One ongoing effort, which began ten years ago and in which we
      are directly involved, is the Personal Genetics Education Project, a nonprofit
      initiative housed within and largely supported by the Department of Genetics at
      Harvard Medical School. The goal of pgEd is to raise public awareness and promote
      conversations about the benefits and implications of the genetics revolution in
      ways that are inclusive of all voices regardless of socioeconomic, educational,
      ethnic, cultural, or religious background. This essay describes our approach and
      experience in hopes that they will be of help to others engaged in similar
      efforts.

PMID- 27649827
TI  - A Conceptual Model for the Translation of Bioethics Research and Scholarship.
AB  - While the bioethics literature demonstrates that the field has spent substantial
      time and thought over the last four decades on the goals, methods, and desired
      outcomes for service and training in bioethics, there has been less progress
      defining the nature and goals of bioethics research and scholarship. This gap
      makes it difficult both to describe the breadth and depth of these areas of
      bioethics and, importantly, to gauge their success. However, the gap also
      presents us with an opportunity to define this scope of work for ourselves and to
      help shape the broader conversation about the impact of academic research.
      Because of growing constraints on academic funding, researchers and scholars in
      many fields are being asked to demonstrate and also forecast the value and impact
      of their work. To do that, and also to satisfy ourselves that our work has
      meaningful effect, we must understand how our work can motivate change and how
      that change can be meaningfully measured. In a field as diverse as bioethics, the
      pathways to and metrics of change will likewise be diverse. It is therefore
      critical that any assessment of the impact of bioethics research and scholarship
      be informed by an understanding of the nature of the work, its goals, and how
      those goals can and ought to be furthered. In this paper, we propose a conceptual
      model that connects individual bioethics projects to the broader goals of
      scholarship, describing the translation of research and scholarly output into
      changes in thinking, practice, and policy. One of the key implications of the
      model is that impact in bioethics is generally the result of a collection of
      projects rather than of any single piece of research or scholarship. Our goal is
      to lay the groundwork for a thoroughgoing conversation about bioethics research
      and scholarship that will advance and shape the important conversation about
      their impact.

PMID- 27649826
TI  - From "Personalized" to "Precision" Medicine: The Ethical and Social Implications
      of Rhetorical Reform in Genomic Medicine.
AB  - Since the late 1980s, the human genetics and genomics research community has been
      promising to usher in a "new paradigm for health care"-one that uses molecular
      profiling to identify human genetic variants implicated in multifactorial health
      risks. After the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, a wide range of
      stakeholders became committed to this "paradigm shift," creating a confluence of
      investment, advocacy, and enthusiasm that bears all the marks of a
      "scientific/intellectual social movement" within biomedicine. Proponents of this
      movement usually offer four ways in which their approach to medical diagnosis and
      health care improves upon current practices, arguing that it is more
      "personalized," "predictive," "preventive," and "participatory" than the medical
      status quo. Initially, it was personalization that seemed to best sum up the
      movement's appeal. By 2012, however, powerful opinion leaders were abandoning
      "personalized medicine" in favor of a new label: "precision medicine." The new
      label received a decisive seal of approval when, in January 2015, President Obama
      unveiled plans for a national "precision medicine initiative" to promote the
      development and use of genomic tools in health care.

PMID- 27649828
TI  - Do We Count?
AB  - In the article "A Conceptual Model for the Translation of Bioethics Research and
      Scholarship," Debra Mathews and her colleagues want to apply to bioethics various
      translational concepts developed for biomedical research. According to experts in
      translational science, this would mean evaluating not only the extent to which
      research produces the "changes in thinking, practice, and policy" that interest
      Mathews et al. but also the appropriateness of bioethics training and the level
      of competency of people working in the field. Their proposal thus raises two sets
      of questions. The first, which the authors recognize must be the starting point
      for their argument, is, what precisely is the field in question? The second is
      whether the tools of translational science provide the right means of measuring
      the achievements of bioethics.

PMID- 27649829
TI  - Telos versus Praxis in Bioethics.
AB  - The authors of "A Conceptual Model for the Translation of Bioethics Research and
      Scholarship" argue that bioethics must respond to institutional pressures by
      demonstrating that it is having an impact in the world. Any impact, the authors
      observe, must be "informed" by the goals of the discipline of bioethics. The
      concept of bioethics as a discipline is central to their argument. They begin by
      citing an essay that Daniel Callahan wrote in the first issue of Hastings Center
      Studies. Callahan argued in this 1973 piece that bioethics had yet to attain the
      status of a discipline, and he lauded the freedom of being able to define a new
      discipline. Callahan's essay shares with Mathews and colleague's a peculiarity:
      neither ever defines what it means to refer to something as a "discipline." To
      define a discipline does mean attending to the intended end product of scholarly
      activity, so I concur with Mathews et al.'s focus on outcomes. But I am concerned
      that in their argument they confusingly entangle their understanding of an
      academic discipline's internal goals, its telos, with its potential to have an
      impact on the external world, its praxis. The confusion that this can bring
      exposes what I believe is a profound problem within bioethics, the discipline's
      peculiar and at times intellectually hazardous relationship with its
      institutional hosts.

PMID- 27649830
TI  - The Challenge of Defining Success in Bioethics' Humanist Wing.
AB  - In "Reason and the Republic of Opinion," Leon Wieseltier bemoaned an age that
      reduces reason to utilitarian calculation and requires almost ritual genuflection
      before the altar of numbers. The spirit of this age is at work in the field of
      bioethics where, as Debra Mathews and colleagues point out in "A Conceptual Model
      for the Translation of Bioethics Research and Scholarship," researchers and
      scholars are increasingly "being asked to demonstrate and also forecast the value
      and impact of their work." Despite the reductionism that typically accompanies
      the movements imbued with this spirit, the concern for accountability that stands
      behind the call for measuring success is legitimate. The bioethics community is
      thus fortunate to have such a distinguished group of scholars wrestling with
      these matters. Indeed, the effort of Mathews et al. to articulate a framework for
      determining success in bioethics research and scholarship is especially admirable
      precisely because they resist the temptation to reduce success to quantitative
      measures alone. That said, it is also important to say that it is nearly
      impossible to engage with the task these scholars have set for themselves and not
      succumb to a kind of data fetishism. It is well and good to talk about the
      complexity of bioethics as a field, but the language of "metrics," "outputs,"
      "feedback loops," "stakeholders," and the like is not the language of the
      disciplines of history, literature, philosophy, or religious studies-all fields
      that Mathews et al. rightly credit with making important contributions to
      bioethics research and scholarship.

PMID- 27649831
TI  - What Is Bioethics Worth?
AB  - What is bioethics to do when it strives to assess the quality of its research and
      scholarship and when it needs to justify its work to prospective funders,
      especially a funder like the National Institutes of Health that privileges
      empirical discovery? In "A Conceptual Model for the Translation of Bioethics
      Research and Scholarship," Debra Mathews and colleagues take an important first
      step at advancing an answer. The authors describe what they call a translational
      process, whereby bioethics "outputs" are translated into changes of three types:
      in thinking, practice, and policy. It goes nearly without saying that bioethics
      research and scholarship must be held accountable for changes in thinking. What
      raison d'etre do we have if not to deepen thinking, question assumptions, and
      encourage ourselves and others to examine hard issues from novel approaches?
      Assuredly it is hard to assess quality, and even harder to assess specific
      changes in thinking for which high-quality scholarship may be responsible, but it
      is a necessary goal and one for which we should strive without reservation.
      Bioethics should also affect policy and practice. We should document how it does
      and the extent to which it does as often and as prominently as possible. However,
      let us be wary of pinning too much on practice and policy changes as the primary
      way of establishing bioethics' worth.

PMID- 27649832
TI  - Methodology and Myopia? Some Praise, a Problem, and a Plea.
AB  - In "A Conceptual Model for the Translation of Bioethics Research and
      Scholarship," Debra Mathews et al. aim to "begin an important discussion" about
      how to measure success in bioethics, and in doing so they set out a typology of
      bioethics research and scholarship with the arguably correct assumption that we
      cannot evaluate success in bioethics without first understanding what its goals
      are. I think the authors are correct in their claim that, in the current academic
      climate, having work in bioethics deemed a success is likely to hinge, in some
      way, on its being translated into practice and having impact. I want, however, to
      add a critical voice in the form of three considerations that I feel ought to be
      attended to before the work progresses further, the first being that the typology
      Mathews et al. propose is highly problematic. Although there is a burgeoning
      literature on "empirical bioethics" methodologies that blend empirical and
      conceptual work, the typology appears to ignore this.

PMID- 27649834
TI  - Disciplinary Crossings.
AB  - Eighteen months ago, I left a permanent professorship in a generously
      interdisciplinary department of sociology and took an impermanent, lower-paying
      job at a university where I had to apply to something called the "Committee on
      Distinction" to retain the title of "Professor." Some people say, "That's what
      happens when Oxford calls." But it wasn't just that. It was the opportunity to
      engage in a groundbreaking experiment: to embed and integrate ethics within the
      Oxford Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. It's a dream job, for which I
      was willing to cross the disciplinary line into the medical sciences. In the
      United Kingdom, many bioethicists still work in departments outside science and
      medicine; similarly, those of us who work on neuroethics and psychiatric ethics
      tend to inhabit departments of philosophy, law, or sociology. I can report
      already that interdisciplinarity from this side feels and looks different.

PMID- 27649835
TI  - Innovation Promises and Evidence Realities.
AB  - Over the past year media outlets and scientific and bioethics journals have
      reported about several medical and scientific innovations touted as having the
      potential to fundamentally change not only how diseases and disorders are
      diagnosed and treated but even how to alter the genomes of future generations.
      The purported "miracle" blood-testing technology of Theranos and the potential
      use of the genome editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to modify human and nonhuman
      organisms reflect dramatic advances in scientific understanding about the
      biological mechanisms of humans and other living organisms. Yet evidence about
      whether these and other innovative biomedical technologies are safe and effective
      and lead to improved health outcomes for patients young and old is often in
      dispute. How to assess the safety and effectiveness of innovative biomedical
      technologies, who should be involved in that effort, and how to define risks and
      benefits of those technologies are questions at the intersection of values,
      interests, and politics.

PMID- 27649838
TI  - Case of acute anterior uveitis and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome-like eruptions
      induced by nivolumab in a melanoma patient.

PMID- 27649836
TI  - Cell response to sterilized electrospun poly(E-caprolactone) scaffolds to aid
      tendon regeneration in vivo.
AB  - The functional replacement of tendon represents an unmet clinical need in
      situations of tendon rupture, tendon grafting, and complex tendon reconstruction,
      as usually there is a finite source of healthy tendon to use as donors. The
      microfibrous architecture of tendon is critical to the function of tendon. This
      study investigates the use of electrospun poly(E-caprolactone) scaffolds as
      potential biomaterial substitutes for tendon grafts. We assessed the performance
      of two electrospinning manufacturers (small- and large-scale) and the effect of
      two sterilization techniques-gamma irradiation and ethanol submersion-on cell
      response to these electrospun scaffolds after their implantation into a murine
      tendon model. Cell infiltration and proliferation analyses were undertaken to
      determine the effect on cell response within the implant over a 6-week period.
      Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to characterize inflammatory response
      and healing characteristics (proliferation, collagen deposition, myofibroblast
      activity, and apoptosis). Neither the sterilization techniques nor the
      manufacturer was observed to significantly affect the cell response to the
      scaffold. At each time point, cell response was similar to the autograft control.
      This suggests that ethanol submersion can be used for research purposes and that
      the scaffold can be easily reproduced by a large-scale manufacturer. These
      results further imply that this electrospun scaffold may provide an alternative
      to autograft, thus eliminating the need for sourcing healthy tendon tissue from a
      secondary site. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A:
      389-397, 2017.

PMID- 27649837
TI  - Enantioseparation of hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids by hydroxypropyl-gamma
      cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography.
AB  - Complete resolution of hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE) enantiomers was
      achieved using hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HP-gamma-CD)-modified MEKC. The
      optimum running conditions were determined to be utilizing a 30 mM phosphate-15
      mM borate buffer (pH 9.0) containing 30 mM HP-gamma-CD and 75 mM SDS as the BGE,
      application of +30 kV as the effective voltage, and carrying out the experiment
      at 15 degrees C. The eluents were detected at 235 nm. The method was used
      successfully for the simultaneous separations of (S)- and (R)-enantiomers of
      regioisomeric 8-, 11-, 12-, and 15-HETEs. Subsequently, the optimized method was
      applied to evaluate the stereochemistry of 8- and 12-HETEs from the marine red
      algae, Gracilaria vermiculophylla and Gracilaria arcuata, respectively. The 8
      HETE was found to be a mixture of 98% (R)-enantiomer and 2% (S)-enantiomer, while
      the 12-HETE was a mixture of 98% (S)-enantiomer and 2% (R)-enantiomer. The
      present study demonstrates that the HP-gamma-CD-modified MEKC method is simple
      and sensitive and provides unambiguous information on the configuration of
      natural and synthetic HETEs.

PMID- 27649839
TI  - Commentary on genitourinary cancer survivorship: physical activity and prostate
      cancer survivorship.

PMID- 27649840
TI  - CIP2A is a poor prognostic factor and can be a diagnostic marker in papillary
      thyroid carcinoma.
AB  - Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid carcinoma.
      CIP2A has recently been described as a prognostic marker in many cancers. In this
      study, we assessed the value of this novel prognostic marker in PTC. A total of
      178 surgical specimens of both benign and malignant thyroid tumors were
      collected. Immunohistochemical staining for CIP2A, HBME-1, galectin-3, and CK19
      was performed. Western blotting for CIP2A was also performed. CIP2A was expressed
      in 85.3% of malignant tumors and 12.1% of benign tumors. ROC analysis showed that
      the AUC for CIP2A was higher than those for other tumor markers. Western blotting
      showed that CIP2A expression was higher in PTC than in other tumors. Poor
      progression-free survival was observed in the high-CIP2A expression group. High
      CIP2A expression is a poor prognostic factor and can be a diagnostic marker in
      PTC. The presence of any two of the three indicated makers (CIP2A, galectin-3,
      and HBME-1) is strongly correlated with the diagnosis of PTC.

PMID- 27649841
TI  - Energy restriction at young age, genetic variants in the insulin-like growth
      factor pathway and colorectal cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study.
AB  - The energy restriction (ER)-colorectal cancer (CRC) association is inconsistent
      in literature. To strengthen the biological plausibility of the ER-CRC
      association, we investigated whether genetic variation in the insulin-like growth
      factor (IGF) pathway, a putative underlying mechanism, modulated this association
      in the Netherlands Cohort Study. Participants completed a questionnaire (n =
      120,852) and provided toenail clippings for DNA (~75%) at baseline. Individuals
      living in a Western city during the Hunger Winter (1944-45) or Western rural
      versus non-Western area were exposed to (severe) ER at young age. Genotyping was
      performed for 3,768 subcohort members and 2,580 CRC cases (case-cohort with 16.3
      years follow-up). Cox hazard ratios for CRC were estimated across combined
      categories of ER and a genetic sum score of unfavorable alleles based on 18
      single nucleotide polymorphisms in IGF-related genes and ER and an IGF1 19-CA
      repeat polymorphism. The reference included ER exposed individuals, so that
      increased hazard ratios were expected in higher combined categories for
      calculating relative excess risks due to interaction (additive interactions).
      Wald tests for multiplicative interactions were also performed. Multiplicative
      and additive interactions were nonsignificant. Combined ER-genetic sum score
      categories showed increasing CRC risks in men, but confidence intervals were
      wide. Women carrying two variant IGF1 19-CA repeat alleles versus those carrying
      two wild type IGF1 19-CA repeat alleles were at an ~50% decreased CRC risk,
      irrespective of ER exposure. In conclusion, data indicate that the IGF pathway
      might be involved in the ER-CRC association in men, but not women, although
      interactions were nonsignificant, hampering definite conclusions.

PMID- 27649844
TI  - Total daily fluoride intake and fractional urinary fluoride excretion in 4- to 6
      year-old children living in a fluoridated area: weekly variation?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Risk of development of dental fluorosis may increase with even a
      short-term increase in fluoride (F) intake during tooth formation. Considering
      the wide variations in F concentrations of different food and drinks, it is
      important to assess short-term differences in F intake and consequently
      fractional urinary F excretion (FUFE) in children, which provide an indication of
      F body burden. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate weekly
      variation in total daily F intake (TDFI) and its sources and fractional urinary F
      excretion (FUFE) in 4- to 6-year-olds living in a fluoridated area in the UK.
      METHODS: Sixty-one children were surveyed twice with a 1-week gap between
      surveys. Dietary F intake was assessed by 'food-diary' and 'duplicate-plate
      collection'. Toothbrushing expectorate (saliva/toothpaste) was collected to
      estimate F intake from toothpaste ingestion. TDFI was calculated from dietary F
      intake and toothpaste ingestion. Daily urinary F excretion (DUFE) was estimated
      by collecting 24-h urine samples and FUFE was calculated from DUFE and TDFI [FUFE
      = (DUFE/TDFI) * 100]. RESULTS: The overall mean TDFI, DUFE and FUFE for all
      children were 0.056 (SD 0.036) mg/kgbw/day, 0.018 (SD 0.007) mg/kgbw/day and 39
      (SD 20)%, respectively. The mean (95% CI) difference between the 2 weeks studied
      was 0.004 (-0.004, 0.011) mg/kgbw/day for TDFI, 0.002 (-0.001, 0.004) mg/kgbw/day
      for DUFE and 1 (-6, 8)% for FUFE. CONCLUSIONS: Mean TDFI and FUFE did not vary
      statistically significantly with week and therefore one set of data collection
      from a group of children living in a temperate climate could be sufficient to
      monitor F exposure and F body burden in community prevention programmes for oral
      health.

PMID- 27649842
TI  - A novel approach for measuring residential socioeconomic factors associated with
      cardiovascular and metabolic health.
AB  - Individual-level characteristics, including socioeconomic status, have been
      associated with poor metabolic and cardiovascular health; however, residential
      area-level characteristics may also independently contribute to health status. In
      the current study, we used hierarchical clustering to aggregate 444 US Census
      block groups in Durham, Orange, and Wake Counties, NC, USA into six homogeneous
      clusters of similar characteristics based on 12 demographic factors. We assigned
      2254 cardiac catheterization patients to these clusters based on residence at
      first catheterization. After controlling for individual age, sex, smoking status,
      and race, there were elevated odds of patients being obese (odds ratio (OR)=1.92,
      95% confidence intervals (CI)=1.39, 2.67), and having diabetes (OR=2.19, 95%
      CI=1.57, 3.04), congestive heart failure (OR=1.99, 95% CI=1.39, 2.83), and
      hypertension (OR=2.05, 95% CI=1.38, 3.11) in a cluster that was urban,
      impoverished, and unemployed, compared with a cluster that was urban with a low
      percentage of people that were impoverished or unemployed. Our findings
      demonstrate the feasibility of applying hierarchical clustering to an assessment
      of area-level characteristics and that living in impoverished, urban residential
      clusters may have an adverse impact on health.

PMID- 27649843
TI  - Fine particulate air pollution and premature atrial contractions: The REasons for
      Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke study.
AB  - Several reports have suggested that particulate matter (PM) exposure increases
      the risk for atrial arrhythmias. However, data from large-scale epidemiologic
      studies supporting this hypothesis are lacking. We examined the association of PM
      <2.5 MUm in diameter (PM2.5) concentration with premature atrial contractions
      (PACs) in 26,609 (mean age=65+/-9.4 years; 55% female; 41% black) participants
      from the REGARDS (REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke) study.
      Estimates of short- (2 weeks) and long-term (1 year) PM2.5 exposure were computed
      before each participant's baseline visit using geographic information system data
      on the individual level at the coordinates of study participants' residences.
      PACs were identified from baseline electrocardiograms. A total of 2140 (8.2%)
      participants had evidence of PACs on the baseline electrocardiogram. Short-term
      PM2.5 (per 10 MUg/m3) exposure was not associated with PACs (OR=1.09, 95%
      CI=0.98, 1.23). Increases in long-term PM2.5 (per 10 MUg/m3) were associated with
      PACs (OR=1.40, 95% CI=1.10, 1.78). Interactions were not detected for short- and
      long-term PM2.5 exposure by age, sex, or race. Long- but not short-term PM2.5
      exposure is associated with PACs. This suggests a role for long-term PM2.5
      exposure in initiating supraventricular arrhythmias that are triggered by PACs.

PMID- 27649845
TI  - On bias in alcohol epidemiology and the search for the perfect study.

PMID- 27649847
TI  - Erratum: Inhibition of DNA Methyltransferases Blocks Mutant Huntingtin-Induced
      Neurotoxicity.

PMID- 27649846
TI  - Critical behavior of the quasi-two-dimensional semiconducting ferromagnet
      CrSiTe3.
AB  - The semiconducting ferromagnet CrSiTe3 is a promising candidate for two
      dimensional magnet simply by exfoliating down to single layers. To understand the
      magnetic behavior in thin-film samples and the possible applications, it is
      necessary to establish the nature of the magnetism in the bulk. In this work, the
      critical behavior at the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition in single
      crystalline CrSiTe3 is investigated by bulk magnetization measurements. We have
      obtained the critical exponents (beta = 0.170 +/- 0.008, gamma = 1.532 +/- 0.001,
      and delta = 9.917 +/- 0.008) and the critical temperature TC = 31.0 K using
      various techniques such as modified Arrott plot, Kouvel-Fisher plot, and critical
      isotherm analysis. Our analysis suggests that the determined exponents match well
      with those calculated from the results of renormalization group approach for a
      two-dimensional Ising model coupled with long-range interaction.

PMID- 27649848
TI  - Intracardiac versus transesophageal echocardiography for left atrial appendage
      occlusion with watchman.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) is mostly performed by
      transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance. Intracardiac echocardiography
      (ICE) may be an alternative imaging modality for LAAO that precludes the need for
      general anesthesia or sedation. METHODS AND RESULTS: All consecutive single
      center, single operator LAAO candidates were analyzed. Baseline clinical and
      procedural characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared between
      patients in whom a Watchman was implanted with ICE vs. TEE guidance. In 76
      consecutive patients the Watchman device was deployed under ICE in 32 patients
      (42%) and under TEE guidance in 44 patients (58%). Baseline characteristics were
      comparable between groups, except that patients in the TEE group were older (81
      [75-85] years vs. 75 [68-80] years, P = 0.007). Total injected contrast media as
      well as fluoroscopy time were comparable between groups (90 ml [54-140] vs. 85 ml
      [80-110], P = 0.86 and 7.9 min [6.4-15.5] vs. 9.8 min [7.0-13.2], P = 0.51, for
      TEE vs. ICE, respectively). However, time from femoral venous puncture to
      transseptal puncture and to closure was longer in the ICE group (14 min [7.3-20]
      vs. 6 min [3.3-11], P = 0.007 and 48 min [40-60] vs. 34.5 min [27-44], P = 0.003,
      respectively). In the TEE group one patient suffered esophageal erosion with
      bleeding, which was managed conservatively and one non-LAAO related in-hospital
      mortality occurred in an 88-year-old patient. Device implantation success rate
      was 100% in both groups. No device embolization, no significant peri-device leak,
      no tamponade, no stroke, and no access site bleeding occurred in any patient.
      Total hospital stay for stand-alone LAAO was comparable between groups (2 days [2
      2] vs. 2 days [2-3.3], P = 0.17, in ICE vs. TEE, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: ICE
      guidance for LAAO with the Watchman device is feasible and comparable to TEE and
      may become the preferred imaging modality for LAAO. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27649850
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27649849
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of the Microtubule Interaction of Rabies Virus P3 Protein:
      Roles in Immune Evasion and Pathogenesis.
AB  - Although microtubules (MTs) are known to have important roles in intracellular
      transport of many viruses, a number of reports suggest that specific viral MT
      associated proteins (MAPs) target MTs to subvert distinct MT-dependent cellular
      processes. The precise functional importance of these interactions and their
      roles in pathogenesis, however, remain largely unresolved. To assess the
      association with disease of the rabies virus (RABV) MAP, P3, we quantitatively
      compared the phenotypes of P3 from a pathogenic RABV strain, Nishigahara (Ni) and
      a non-pathogenic Ni-derivative strain, Ni-CE. Using confocal/live-cell imaging
      and dSTORM super-resolution microscopy to quantify protein interactions with the
      MT network and with individual MT filaments, we found that the interaction by Ni
      CE-P3 is significantly impaired compared with Ni-P3. This correlated with an
      impaired capacity to effect association of the transcription factor STAT1 with
      MTs and to antagonize interferon (IFN)/STAT1-dependent antiviral signaling.
      Importantly, we identified a single mutation in Ni-CE-P3 that is sufficient to
      inhibit MT-association and IFN-antagonist function of Ni-P3, and showed that this
      mutation alone attenuates the pathogenicity of RABV. These data provide evidence
      that the viral protein-MT interface has important roles in pathogenesis,
      suggesting that this interface could provide targets for vaccine/antiviral drug
      development.

PMID- 27649851
TI  - Clinical characteristics of eosinophilic asthma exacerbations.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Airway eosinophilia is associated with an increased
      risk of asthma exacerbations; however, the impact on the severity of
      exacerbations is largely unknown. We describe the sputum inflammatory phenotype
      during asthma exacerbation and correlate it with severity and treatment response.
      METHODS: Patients presenting to hospital with an asthma exacerbation were
      recruited during a 12-month period and followed up after 4 weeks. Induced sputum
      was collected at both visits. Patients underwent spirometry, arterial blood gas
      analysis, fractional exhaled nitric oxide analysis, white blood cell counts and a
      screening for common respiratory viruses and bacteria. An eosinophilic
      exacerbation (EE) was defined as having sputum eosinophils >= 3% and a non
      eosinophilic exacerbation as < 3% (NEE). RESULTS: A total of 47 patients were
      enrolled; 37 (79%) had successful sputum induction at baseline, of whom 43% had
      sputum eosinophils >=3% (EE). Patients with EE had a significantly lower forced
      expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 ) % predicted (70.8%, P = 0.03) than patients with
      NEE (83.6%). Furthermore, EE patients were more likely to require supplemental
      oxygen during admission (63% vs 14%, P = 0.002). The prevalence of respiratory
      viruses was the same in EE and NEE patients (44% vs 52%, P = 0.60), as was
      bacterial infection (6% vs 14%, P = 0.44). Fractional expiratory nitric oxide
      (FeNO) correlated with sputum %-eosinophils (rho = 0.57, P < 0.001), and
      predicted airway eosinophilia with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 70%.
      CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that eosinophilic asthma exacerbations may be
      clinically more severe than NEEs, supporting the identification of these higher
      risk patients for specific interventions.

PMID- 27649853
TI  - A rare case of worsening of Parkes-Weber syndrome with development of POEMS
      syndrome.

PMID- 27649852
TI  - Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) and HPV52 E6-specific immunity in HIV-infected
      adults on combination antiretroviral therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers disproportionately
      affect those infected with HIV despite effective combination antiretroviral
      therapy (cART). The primary aim of this study was to quantify HPV16 and HPV52 E6
      specific interferon (IFN)-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) T-cell
      responses, a correlate of protective immunity, in the first year following cART
      initiation and subsequently in those patients with suboptimal (sIR) and optimal
      (oIR) immune reconstitution. METHODS: Ninety-four HIV-infected patients were
      recruited to the study; a longitudinal cohort of patients recruited just prior to
      commencing cART and followed up for 48 weeks (n = 27), and a cross-sectional
      cohort (n = 67) consisting of patients with sIR (CD4 T-cell count < 350
      cells/MUL) and oIR (CD4 T-cell count > 500 cells/MUL) after a minimum of 2 years
      on cART. Controls (n = 29) consisted of HIV-negative individuals. IFN-gamma
      ELISPOT responses against HPV16 and HPV52 E6 were correlated to clinical
      characteristics, anal and oral HPV carriage, T-cell maturational subsets, markers
      of activation, senescence and T-regulatory cells. RESULTS: HPV16 and HPV52 E6
      specific T-cell responses were detected in only one of 27 patients (3.7%) during
      the initial phase of immune recovery. After at least 2 years of cART, those who
      achieved oIR had significantly higher E6-specific responses (9 of 34; 26.5%)
      compared with those with sIR (2 of 32; 6.3%) (P = 0.029). Apart from higher CD4 T
      cell counts and lower CD4 T-cell activation, no other immunological correlates
      were associated with the detection of HPV16 and HPV52 E6-specific responses.
      CONCLUSIONS: HPV16 and HPV52 E6-specific IFN-gamma T-cell responses, a correlate
      of protective immunity, were detected more frequently among HIV-infected patients
      who achieved optimal immune recovery on cART (26.5%) compared with those with
      suboptimal recovery (6.3%).

PMID- 27649854
TI  - The association of circulating microRNA-30c with atherogenic lipoprotein
      subfractions and composition.
AB  - Circulating miR-30c has been linked to various aspects of cholesterol
      homeostasis. The aim of this study was to determine the association of
      circulating miR-30c with the atherogenic lipoprotein subfractions. Samples from
      subjects who were given placebo (n=22) in a randomised, double-blind crossover
      study were used. Subjects were divided into non-atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype
      (Non-ALP; n=12; triglycerides <2.0mmol/L) and atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype
      (ALP; n=10; triglycerides >=2.0mmol/L) groups. All lipid and lipoprotein
      measurements, RNA extraction and reverse transcription-quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction were undertaken using standard procedures. Subjects
      with ALP weighed significantly more than their non-ALP counterparts (p=0.023). In
      the non-ALP group there was significant correlation between miR-30c and
      components within VLDL1, namely triglyceride which showed a negative association
      (p=0.035) whereas phospholipids and cholesterol-ester were both positively
      correlated (p=0.025 and 0.014, respectively). In contrast, in the ALP group there
      was a significant correlation between the expression of miR-30c and components
      within VLDL2, namely triglyceride, which was positively associated (p=0.013).
      This study reveals specificity with regards to the effect of miR-30c on VLDL
      subfractions based on the individual's lipoprotein phenotype and implicates roles
      for microsomal-triglyceride transfer-protein and cholesteryl-ester-transfer
      protein in LDL and VLDL metabolism, respectively.

PMID- 27649855
TI  - Leveraging the real value of laboratory medicine with the value proposition.
AB  - Improving quality and patient safety, containing costs and delivering value-for
      money are the key drivers of change in the delivery of healthcare and have
      stimulated a shift from an activity-based service to a service based on patient
      outcomes. The delivery of an outcomes-based healthcare agenda requires that the
      real value of laboratory medicine to all stakeholders be understood, effectively
      defined and communicated. The value proposition of any product or service is the
      link between the provider and the needs of the customer describing the utility of
      the product or service in terms of benefit to the customer. The framework of a
      value proposition for laboratory medicine provides the core business case that
      drives key activities in the evolution and maintenance of high quality healthcare
      from research through to adoption and quality improvement in an established
      service. The framework of a value proposition for laboratory medicine is
      described. The content is endorsed by IFCC and WASPaLM.

PMID- 27649857
TI  - Dual-Functional WO3 Nanocolumns with Broadband Antireflective and High
      Performance Flexible Electrochromic Properties.
AB  - The three-dimensional, high-porous, and oriented WO3 nanocolumn film with
      broadband antireflective and high-performance flexible electrochromic dual
      functionalities is achieved by utilizing a simple, one-step, room-temperature
      glancing angle deposition without any catalysts and templates. It is found that
      the WO3 nanocolumn film is effective in increasing the optical transparency in
      the visible range, enhancing the color-switching response time as well as
      improving the mechanical flexibility and electrochemical cycling stability in
      comparison to dense WO3 film. The further optical, morphological, and electrode
      reaction kinetics analyses reveal that these improvements can be attributed to
      its unique porous nanocolumn arrays, which reduce the refractive index,
      facilitate the interfacial charge-transfer and ion-penetration, and alleviate the
      internal stress of the film under the bending treatment. These results would
      provide a simple and effective guidance to design and construct low-cost, robust,
      flexible, stable, and transparent electrochromic smart windows.

PMID- 27649856
TI  - Uncontrolled SFK-mediated protein trafficking in prion and Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Prions and Amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides induce synaptic damage via complex
      mechanisms that include the pathological alteration of intracellular signaling
      cascades. The host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrPC) acts as a high-affinity
      cell surface receptor for both toxic species and it can modulate the endocytic
      trafficking of the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and E-cadherin adhesive
      complexes via Src family kinases (SFKs). Interestingly, SFK-mediated control of
      endocytosis is a widespread mechanism used to regulate the activity of important
      transmembrane proteins, including neuroreceptors for major excitatory and
      inhibitory neurotransmitters. Here we discuss our recent work in zebrafish and
      accumulating evidence suggesting that subversion of this pleiotropic regulatory
      mechanism by Abeta oligomers and prions explains diverse neurotransmission
      deficits observed in human patients and mouse models of prion and Alzheimer's
      neurodegeneration. While Abeta, PrPC and SFKs constitute potential therapeutic
      targets on their own, drug discovery efforts might benefit significantly from
      aiming at protein-protein interactions that modulate the endocytosis of specific
      SFK targets.

PMID- 27649858
TI  - Functional screening for G protein-coupled receptor targets of 14,15
      epoxyeicosatrienoic acid.
AB  - Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) are potent vasodilators that play important
      roles in cardiovascular physiology and disease, yet the molecular mechanisms
      underlying the biological actions of EETs are not fully understood. Multiple
      lines of evidence suggest that the actions of EETs are in part mediated via G
      protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, but the identity of such a receptor
      has remained elusive. We sought to identify 14,15-EET-responsive GPCRs. A set of
      105 clones were expressed in Xenopus oocyte and screened for their ability to
      activate cAMP-dependent chloride current. Several receptors responded to
      micromolar concentrations of 14,15-EET, with the top five being prostaglandin
      receptor subtypes (PTGER2, PTGER4, PTGFR, PTGDR, PTGER3IV). Overall, our results
      indicate that multiple low-affinity 14,15-EET GPCRs are capable of increasing
      cAMP levels following 14,15-EET stimulation, highlighting the potential for cross
      talk between prostanoid and other ecosanoid GPCRs. Our data also indicate that
      none of the 105 GPCRs screened met our criteria for a high-affinity receptor for
      14,15-EET.

PMID- 27649859
TI  - Exercise prescription to reverse frailty.
AB  - Frailty is a clinical geriatric syndrome caused by physiological deficits across
      multiple systems. These deficits make it challenging to sustain homeostasis
      required for the demands of everyday life. Exercise is likely the best therapy to
      reverse frailty status. Literature to date suggests that pre-frail older adults,
      those with 1-2 deficits on the Cardiovascular Health Study-Frailty Phenotype (CHS
      frailty phenotype), should exercise 2-3 times a week, for 45-60 min. Aerobic,
      resistance, flexibility, and balance training components should be incorporated
      but resistance and balance activities should be emphasized. On the other hand,
      frail (CHS-frailty phenotype >= 3 physical deficits) older adults should exercise
      3 times per week, for 30-45 min for each session with an emphasis on aerobic
      training. During aerobic, balance, and flexibility training, both frail and pre
      frail older adults should work at an intensity equivalent to a rating of
      perceived exertion of 3-4 ("somewhat hard") on the Borg CR10 scale. Resistance
      training intensity should be based on a percentage of 1-repetition estimated
      maximum (1RM). Program onset should occur at 55% of 1RM (endurance) and progress
      to higher intensities of 80% of 1RM (strength) to maximize functional gains.
      Exercise is the medicine to reverse or mitigate frailty, preserve quality of
      life, and restore independent functioning in older adults at risk of frailty.

PMID- 27649860
TI  - Carbon wrapped hierarchical Li3V2(PO4)3 microspheres for high performance lithium
      ion batteries.
AB  - Nanomaterials are extensively studied in electrochemical energy storage and
      conversion systems because of their structural advantages. However, their
      volumetric energy density still needs improvement due to the high surface area,
      especially the carbon based nanocomposites. Constructing hierarchical micro
      scaled materials from closely stacked subunits is proposed as an effective way to
      solve the problem. In this work, Li3V2(PO4)3@carbon hierarchical microspheres are
      prepared by a solvothermal reaction and subsequent annealing. Hierarchical
      Li3V2(PO4)3 structures with different subunits are obtained with the aid of
      polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). Moreover, excessive PVP interconnect and form PVP
      based hydrogels, which later convert into conductive carbon layer on the surface
      of Li3V2(PO4)3 microspheres during the annealing process. As a cathode material
      for lithium ion batteries, the 3D carbon wrapped Li3V2(PO4)3 hierarchical
      microspheres exhibit high rate capability and excellent cycling stability. The
      electrode has the capacity retention of 80% after 5000 cycles even at 50C.

PMID- 27649861
TI  - Effects of pretransplant sarcopenia and sequential changes in sarcopenic
      parameters after living donor liver transplantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Sarcopenia is characterized by muscle mass depletion and decrease in
      muscle power or physical activity. We previously reported that low skeletal
      muscle mass (SMM) is closely involved with posttransplant mortality in patients
      undergoing living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The aim of this study was
      to prospectively investigate the effects of pretransplant sarcopenia on survival
      and examine sequential changes in sarcopenic parameters after LDLT. METHODS:
      Sarcopenia was defined by measuring SMM using a multifrequency body composition
      analyzer and assessing grip strength (GS) in 72 adults who underwent LDLT at
      Kyoto University Hospital between January 2013 and October 2015. The effects of
      pretransplant sarcopenia on short-term survival and sequential changes in SMM and
      GS were prospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Of 72 patients, 10 (14%) were defined as
      having pretransplant sarcopenia. Overall survival rates were significantly lower
      in patients with sarcopenia (n = 10) than those without sarcopenia (n = 62; P <
      0.001). SMM worsened after LDLT and did not return to preoperative levels until 1
      y after LDLT. In contrast, GS returned to preoperative levels at 6 mo after LDLT,
      following sharp decrease at 1 mo after LDLT. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective study
      confirmed that pretransplant sarcopenia is closely associated with short-term
      survival after LDLT and that GS recovers before SMM.

PMID- 27649862
TI  - New polyglycolic acid fabric for the prevention of postoperative pancreatic
      fistulas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) after distal
      pancreatectomy is approximately 30%. The most serious complications of pancreatic
      resection, such as mortality and prolonged hospitalization, are unresolved
      despite the proposal of various surgical procedures. We developed a new
      polyglycolic acid (PGA) fabric composed of fine diameter fibers to prevent POPF,
      and macroscopically and microscopically evaluated the effects of applying it to
      the pancreatic remnant. METHODS: The ventral pancreatic surface was cauterized to
      create the experimental model of POPF in 33 female Wistar/ST rats. The injured
      sites were wrapped with nonwoven PGA fabrics of different fiber diameters and
      porosities in the treated rats; one group of rats remained untreated. Survival,
      incidence of generalized peritonitis, and microscopic findings around the
      pancreas were investigated. RESULTS: The PGA fabrics acted as a scaffold for
      tissue repair and resulted in superior survival. Generalized peritonitis was
      milder in the PGA treated groups. With the new PGA fabric, abundant fibroblast
      infiltration and a uniformly-developed, self-organized barrier wall prevented
      both pancreatic leak and spread of inflammation. CONCLUSION: Application of the
      newly developed PGA fabric to the pancreatic remnant prevented POPF, and the
      essential factor for preventing pancreatic leak was the early formation of a self
      organized barrier.

PMID- 27649863
TI  - Current perspectives in drug discovery against tuberculosis from natural
      products.
AB  - Currently, one third of the world's population is latently infected with
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), while 8.9-9.9 million new and relapse cases of
      tuberculosis (TB) are reported yearly. The renewed research interests in natural
      products in the hope of discovering new and novel antitubercular leads have been
      driven partly by the increased incidence of multidrug-resistant strains of MTB
      and the adverse effects associated with the first- and second-line antitubercular
      drugs. Natural products have been, and will continue to be a rich source of new
      drugs against many diseases. The depth and breadth of therapeutic agents that
      have their origins in the secondary metabolites produced by living organisms
      cannot be compared with any other source of therapeutic agents. Discovery of new
      chemical molecules against active and latent TB from natural products requires an
      interdisciplinary approach, which is a major challenge facing scientists in this
      field. In order to overcome this challenge, cutting edge techniques in
      mycobacteriology and innovative natural product chemistry tools need to be
      developed and used in tandem. The present review provides a cross-linkage to the
      most recent literature in both fields and their potential to impact the early
      phase of drug discovery against TB if seamlessly combined.

PMID- 27649864
TI  - Maximizing microscopy as a diagnostic tool in peripheral health centres of BU
      endemic areas in Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Buruli ulcer (BU) disease, a skin condition caused by Mycobacterium
      ulcerans (M. ulcerans) is endemic in remote rural areas. Disease diagnosis on
      clinical basis alone can be misleading, requiring definitive diagnosis based on
      laboratory tests. Resource constraints in BU endemic areas make microscopy for
      the detection of acid fast bacilli (AFB) an important and useful method. It is
      rapid, user-friendly, convenient and cheap. Despite its usefulness, its
      performance is relatively low. This study investigated modifications of the
      current method aimed at improving its performance. Forty (IS) 2404 polymerase
      chain reactions (PCR) positive BU samples were processed by eight physical
      (centrifugation and overnight sedimentation) and chemical (phenol ammonium
      sulphate and sodium hypochlorite) modifications of the current direct method.
      Assessments were based on standard AFB evaluation coupled with in house criteria;
      positivity (P), clarity and contrast (C) release of bacilli from specimen (R).
      Overall AFB positivity rate was 64% (409/640). Each protocol had 80 smears. The
      percentage positivity (P) for the conventional method was 58% (46/80) smears. The
      highest positivity rate of 57/80 (%) was by protocol 7 (5% phenol in 4% ammonium
      sulphate (PhAS) and concentrated by overnight gravitational sedimentation). The
      least positivity rate at 35% (28/80) was by protocol 1 (smears from direct
      application of swab tips). The differences in performance between the two
      chemical tested; 5% phenol in 4% ammonium sulphate (PhAS) and 3.5% NaHOCl was
      significant (p<0.05). The differences between the two physical methods were
      however not significant (p>0.05). This study concluded that BU samples treated
      with a solution of 5% phenol in 4% ammonium sulphate and concentrated by either
      centrifugation or overnight sedimentation is useful for maximizing AFB detection
      by bright field microscopy. This can be useful in rural health facilities with
      resource constraints.

PMID- 27649865
TI  - Prevalence of Latin-American-Mediterranean genetic family in population structure
      of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Bulgaria.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) control remains an important public health priority for
      Bulgaria. The population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is clonal and
      certain genetic families of this species (e.g., Latin-American-Mediterranean
      [LAM]) have attracted more attention due to their global dissemination and/or
      particular pathogenic properties, e.g., association with multidrug resistance
      (MDR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of the M.
      tuberculosis LAM family in Bulgaria based on the use of different molecular
      markers. A total of 101 previously spoligotyped M. tuberculosis strains were
      studied by LAM-specific PCR assay to detect an insertion of IS6110 in the
      specific genome region. On the whole, clear-cut results were obtained for most
      strains; spoligotype-based family was reassigned in some of them. At the same
      time, double bands were amplified in some cases and warrant further validation
      studies of this method. The higher MDR rate among LAM versus other genotype
      isolates was observed (P=0.04). In conclusion, these results suggest a low (<4%)
      prevalence rate of LAM in Bulgaria (that is similar to its Balkan neighbors) and
      highlight the importance of using robust markers for correct detection of the LAM
      family.

PMID- 27649866
TI  - Tuberculosis lymphadenitis in a southeastern region in Tunisia: Epidemiology,
      clinical features, diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate patients' profiles, demographics, clinical and therapeutic
      approaches and strategies in patients with tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBG).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of all TBG-confirmed cases admitted
      in a tuberculosis-specific health care facility between 1 January 2009 and 16
      June 2013. RESULTS: A total of 181 clinical files were examined. Mean age was
      32years old; the female/male ratio was 1.78 to 1. Raw milk consumption was noted
      in 1/3 of patients. Most cases involved the head and neck region (83.4%), nodes
      involvement, including axillary (12 cases), and mediastinal (9 cases). Clinical
      symptoms were present in only 55.2%. Tuberculin skin test (TST) was conducted
      with 82.6% positive responses. Diagnostics confirmation was done with anatomical
      pathology in most of the patients; only 56 of them had any microbiology analysis
      done. Demonstration of acid-fast bacilli in microscopy from either fine-needle
      aspirates or biopsies was done in 17.5% of cases, and cultures yielded positive
      results in 27%. Treatment duration was varied. Paradoxical reactions were noted
      in 12% and persistent lymphadenopathy after treatment completion was noted in 10%
      of cases. CONCLUSIONS: TBG remains a disease of interest. Today, its diagnosis
      and management is still a problem despite its increasing worldwide incidence, and
      especially in this study area. Disease control should be strengthened in this
      country.

PMID- 27649867
TI  - Drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by a nitrate reductase
      assay applied directly on microscopy-positive sputum samples.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Current methods for drug susceptibility testing (DST) of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) are either costly or slow. As the prevalence of
      multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains increases, the need for fast, reliable, and
      inexpensive methods is obvious. This study evaluated a rapid colorimetric nitrate
      reductase assay (NRA) for direct DST of MTB directly from clinical sputum
      samples. METHODS: A total of 111 sputa with positive microscopy results for acid
      fast bacilli (AFB) with more than 10 AFB per high-power field were used in the
      study. The samples were decontaminated using the modified Petroff method. The NRA
      results were compared with the reference indirect proportion method. RESULTS: The
      sensitivity and the specificity of the direct NRA were 90% and 97.3%, 92.6% and
      98.2%, 52.9% and 100%, and 28.6% and 100% for rifampin, isoniazid, streptomycin,
      and ethambutol, respectively. The results were in most cases available in 28days
      (84.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The direct NRA could be used as a rapid, inexpensive, and
      accurate method to determine rifampin and isoniazid susceptibility directly from
      sputum. The technique might become a valid alternative to traditional methods,
      especially in low-income countries.

PMID- 27649868
TI  - The draft genome of Mycobacterium aurum, a potential model organism for
      investigating drugs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae.
AB  - Mycobacterium aurum (M. aurum) is an environmental mycobacteria that has
      previously been used in studies of anti-mycobacterial drugs due to its fast
      growth rate and low pathogenicity. The M. aurum genome has been sequenced and
      assembled into 46 contigs, with a total length of 6.02Mb containing 5684
      annotated protein-coding genes. A phylogenetic analysis using whole genome
      alignments positioned M. aurum close to Mycobacterium vaccae and Mycobacterium
      vanbaalenii, within a clade related to fast-growing mycobacteria. Large-scale
      genomic rearrangements were identified by comparing the M. aurum genome to those
      of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. M. aurum orthologous
      genes implicated in resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs in M. tuberculosis were
      observed. The sequence identity at the DNA level varied from 68.6% for pncA
      (pyrazinamide drug-related) to 96.2% for rrs (streptomycin, capreomycin). We
      observed two homologous genes encoding the catalase-peroxidase enzyme (katG) that
      is associated with resistance to isoniazid. Similarly, two embB homologues were
      identified in the M. aurum genome. In addition to describing for the first time
      the genome of M. aurum, this work provides a resource to aid the use of M. aurum
      in studies to develop improved drugs for the pathogenic mycobacteria M.
      tuberculosis and M. leprae.

PMID- 27649869
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis polyclonal infections and microevolution identified by
      MIRU-VNTRs in an epidemiological study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The advent of molecular typing using MIRU-VNTR mini-satellites has
      largely facilitated tuberculosis (TB) molecular epidemiological studies. Apart
      from detecting the chains of transmission and risk factors, these markers have
      also allowed to study the phenomena of mixed strain infections versus
      microevolutionary events. METHODS: An initial set of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      strains (n=161) genotyped using spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTRs in Guyana and
      Suriname was evaluated for indications mixed strain infections (characterized by
      the detection of double alleles in 2 or more MIRU loci) versus "in-patient"
      microevolutionary events (characterized by the detection of double alleles in a
      single locus). RESULTS: The present study hereby reports evidence of
      microevolution in 3.7% (n=6/161) of the studied population, vs. 0.6% (n=1/161)
      for mixed infection. The strains belonged to three different spoligotyping-based
      lineages, namely the T (SITs 44, 53, and 1081), Haarlem (SIT47), and EAI (SITs 72
      and 349) lineages, while 1 isolate (SIT237) could not be assigned to any lineage.
      DISCUSSION: By comparing these results on microevolutionary cases (n=6) to
      112,000 strains present in the SITVIT2 database, evidence is presented that in
      2/6 cases (each case corresponding to 2 patterns due to MIRU double bands), one
      of the patterns corresponded to a shared type found exclusively in Suriname or
      Guyana. Phylogenetic analysis showed that no spoligotyping lineage in particular
      was more prone to microevolutionary events in this study's sample. Overall, the
      observations fortify the awareness regarding the existence of microevolution and
      polyclonal TB infections which has important implications for patient care.

PMID- 27649870
TI  - Pyrosequencing for rapid detection of tuberculosis resistance to Rifampicin and
      Isoniazid in Syrian and Lebanese clinical isolates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rapid and accurate techniques are always welcomed for the detection
      of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis MTB. OBJECTIVES: The objective
      of this study is to evaluate the pyrosequencing technology for the detection of
      MTB resistance to Rifampicin (RIF) and Isoniazid (INH) in Syrian and Lebanese
      clinical strains; 66 strains resistant to INH, among them 56 resistant also to
      RIF, were tested. METHODS: Four pyrosequencing assays were optimized and applied
      to the following loci: rpoBrpoB RIF resistance-determining region, katG, the
      promoter regions of inhA and ahpC-oxyR intergenic region. RESULTS: The prevalence
      of mutations on codon 315 of the katG gene, inhA and ahpc-oxyR were 42.4%, 21.2%
      and 9.0%, respectively, which make an overall sensitivity of 72.6% for INH
      resistance. All RIF-resistant strains contained at least one non-synonymous codon
      change in the sequenced rpoB region (507-533) relative to the ATCC reference
      strain. The RIF drug resistance region (RRDR) sequencing identified 96 modified
      codons representing 34 different mutations. CONCLUSIONS: The high sensitivity and
      the short turnaround time combined with multilocus sequencing of several isolates
      in parallel make pyrosequencing an attractive method for drug resistance
      screening for MTB.

PMID- 27649871
TI  - Radiologic manifestations of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients of intensive care
      units.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a serpent disease with various pulmonary
      manifestations, and timely diagnosis of the disease is paramount, since delayed
      treatment is associated with severe morbidity, particularly in intensive care
      units (ICU). Therefore, it is imperative that intensivists understand the typical
      distribution, patterns, and imaging manifestations of TB. AIM: To describe
      different manifestations of pulmonary TB in patients in the ICU. METHODS: In a
      retrospective study, all patients with a clinical and a laboratory-confirmed
      diagnosis of TB who were admitted to the ICU were entered in the study. All
      patients had a confirmatory laboratory diagnosis of TB including positive smears.
      The patterns of parenchymal lesions, involved segments and presence of cavity,
      bronchiectasis and bronchogenic spread of the lesions with computed tomography
      (CT) and chest/X-ray (CXR) were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: Data of 146
      patients with TB were entered in the study. The most common finding in CT was
      acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)-like radiologic manifestations
      (17.1%), followed by parenchymal nodular infiltration (13.6%) and cavitation
      (10.9%), consolidation (10.2%), interstitial involvement (9.5%), calcified
      parenchymal mass (8.3%), ground-glass opacities (7.5%), and pleural effusion or
      thickening (6.9%). Radiologic evidence of lymphadenopathy was seen in up to 43%
      of adults. Miliary TB was observed in 2.3% of patients, mostly in those older
      than 60years of age. ARDS-like (64.5%) manifestations on CT and miliary TB
      (85.5%) had the highest mortality rates among other pulmonary manifestations.
      CONCLUSION: ARDS, interstitial involvement, and Parenchymal nodular infiltration
      are the most common manifestations of pulmonary TB. Various features of TB in ICU
      patients could be misleading for intensivists.

PMID- 27649872
TI  - Trend of childhood TB case notification in Lagos, Nigeria, 2011-2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood tuberculosis (TB) has been neglected by national TB
      programs in sub-Saharan Africa because of the emphasis on adult smear-positive TB
      cases. About 80,000 HIV children die from TB, and over 550,000 childhood TB cases
      occur annually, representing 6% of the global TB burden, making TB an important
      cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Thus, this study assessed the trend
      of childhood TB cases notified in Lagos, Nigeria from 2011 to 2014. METHODS:
      Retrospective data review of childhood TB cases notified to the Lagos State TB
      and Leprosy Control Programme (LSTBLCP) between January 1, 2011 and December 31,
      2014. RESULTS: A total of 2396 children were treated for all forms of TB
      representing 6.8% of the total 35,305 TB cases notified during the study period.
      This constituted 1102 (46%) males and 1294 (54%) females. There was a progressive
      increase in the proportion of children treated for TB from 495 (5.9%) in 2011,
      539 (6.4%) in 2012, 682 (7.2%) in 2013 and 680 (7.6%) in 2014. Of the total
      childhood TB cases notified, 16.3-20% were new sputum pulmonary smear positive;
      68.2-74.6% were new sputum pulmonary smear negative; while extra-pulmonary TB
      accounted for 6.7-10.6%. The case notification rate (CNR) of childhood TB per
      100,000 increased from 13.4 in 2011, 14.3 in 2012, 17.7 in 2013 and 17.2 in 2014.
      CONCLUSION: There was an increase in the case notification rate of TB among
      children between 2011 and 2014. Efforts should be made to sustain this increasing
      trend.

PMID- 27649873
TI  - Factors contribute to efficiency of specimen concentration of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis by centrifugation and magnetic beads.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A concentration of specimen is recommended for the effective recovery
      of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), but the bacteriological efficiency is not
      well evaluated. The present study evaluated the factors contributing to
      concentration efficiency of centrifugation and bead-based technique (TB-Beads;
      Microsens, UK) to recover MTB by using simple in vitro specimens. METHODS: Four
      specimens were prepared (6.5*10(3); 8.1*10(4); 7.9*10(5); and 6.4*10(6)cfu/mL) of
      different concentrations with or without 5*10(4) of THP-1 cells (RIKEN BRC,
      Japan). Specimens were subjected to centrifugation at 2000, 3000, and 4000g for
      15min, and to TB-Beads. The concentration and recovery rate were calculated to
      evaluate the efficiency of each method. RESULTS: The specimens containing a
      higher number of bacteria and THP-1 cells had a tendency to yield a higher
      concentration and recovery rate (p=0.001-0.083). MTB was recovered more
      efficiently with THP-1 cells from the 6.5*10(3)cfu/mL specimen by centrifugation
      (p?0.001) than without them; 24.7-54.4% of MTB were recovered with THP-1 cells by
      centrifugation at 3000g for 15min, while the recovery using TB-Beads was a
      maximum of 12.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The efficiency of centrifugation depends on the
      bacterial density and the co-existence of THP-1 cells. The efficiency of TB-Beads
      was not as high as centrifugation.

PMID- 27649874
TI  - Osteoarticular tuberculosis dactylitis: Four cases.
AB  - Tuberculosis dactylitis is exceptional. We report 4 cases of osteoarticular
      tuberculous dactylitis in 3 women and 1 man. The diagnosis was suspected on
      chronic and insidious clinical presentation, and confirmed by histology. Patients
      were treated by anti-tubercular drugs with good functional and radiological
      outcome in all cases. Clinical and therapeutic issues are discussed by the
      authors in the context of an endemic country.

PMID- 27649875
TI  - Cutaneous tuberculosis revealing multifocal tuberculosis in immunocompetent
      patients.
AB  - Multifocal tuberculosis (TB) is rare. It occurs especially in immunocompromised
      patients. Association with skin involvement is rarer, and few cases are reported
      in the literature. The present study reports 7 cases of multifocal TB with
      cutaneous localization in immunocompetent patients. Cutaneous forms of TB
      included in this series are: gummas, scrofuloderma, vasculitis TB and lupus TB.
      The patients had at least two extra skin locations, namely: osteoarticular, lung,
      pleural, scrotal, muscular, digestive, laryngeal, nodal and splenic locations.
      These patients had no context of immunosuppression which is uncommon, but should
      be kept in mind, especially in endemic countries.

PMID- 27649876
TI  - Fluoroquinolones resistance in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Pakistan and
      suitability of guidelines recommended standardized regimen.

PMID- 27649877
TI  - Total Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients with Cardioembolic Stroke: Is It Clinically
      Meaningful?
AB  - Chronic hypoperfusion may hinder the washout of emboli coming from the heart and
      facilitate the formation of intra-cavitary thrombi. We investigated whether a
      decreased total cerebral blood flow (tCBF) resulted in recurrence of stroke and
      other vascular events in consecutive patients with cardioembolic stroke. We
      excluded patients with extra-cranial carotid or vertebral stenosis. The recorded
      tCBF was the sum of blood flow in both the carotid and vertebral extra-cranial
      arteries as measured with ultrasonography. Patients were followed up to assess
      stroke recurrence, vascular events and mortality. We also recorded demographic
      data, vascular risk factors, treatment data, echocardiographic variables and the
      C congestive heart failure history H Hypertension history A Age D Diabetes S Sex
      S2 Stroke/TIA/Thromboembolism history Vasc Vascular Disease history (CHA2DS2
      VASc) score. We studied 79 patients (age 77.9 +/- 8.4 y). Mean tCBF was 65.5 +/-
      15.7 mL/100 g/min. Cox regression analysis found that CHA2 DS2-VASc score and
      ejection fraction were associated with tCBF. After a mean follow-up of 22 +/- 8.5
      mo, 7.6% of patients experienced a recurrent stroke, 12.7% experienced a vascular
      event and 21.5% of patients died. Clinical outcomes were not predicted by tCBF.

PMID- 27649878
TI  - Mechanisms for Induction of Pulmonary Capillary Hemorrhage by Diagnostic
      Ultrasound: Review and Consideration of Acoustical Radiation Surface Pressure.
AB  - Diagnostic ultrasound can induce pulmonary capillary hemorrhage (PCH) in rats and
      other mammals. This phenomenon represents the only clearly demonstrated
      biological effect of (non-contrast enhanced) diagnostic ultrasound and thus
      presents a uniquely important safety issue. However, the physical mechanism
      responsible for PCH remains uncertain more than 25 y after its discovery.
      Experimental research has indicated that neither heating nor acoustic cavitation,
      the predominant mechanisms for bioeffects of ultrasound, is responsible for PCH.
      Furthermore, proposed theoretical mechanisms based on gas-body activation, on
      alveolar resonance and on impulsive generation of liquid droplets all appear
      unlikely to be responsible for PCH, owing to unrealistic model assumptions. Here,
      a simple model based on the acoustical radiation surface pressure (ARSP) at a
      tissue-air interface is hypothesized as the mechanism for PCH. The ARSP model
      seems to explain some features of PCH, including the approximate frequency
      independence of PCH thresholds and the dependence of thresholds on biological
      factors. However, ARSP evaluated for experimental threshold conditions appear to
      be too weak to fully account for stress failure of pulmonary capillaries, gauging
      by known stresses for injurious physiologic conditions. Furthermore,
      consideration of bulk properties of lung tissue suggests substantial transmission
      of ultrasound through the pleura, with reduced ARSP and potential involvement of
      additional mechanisms within the pulmonary interior. Although these recent
      findings advance our knowledge, only a full understanding of PCH mechanisms will
      allow development of science-based safety assurance for pulmonary ultrasound.

PMID- 27649879
TI  - Usefulness of Atrial Fibrillation as a Marker for Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes
      in Both Primary and Secondary Prevention in Patients With Implantable
      Cardioverter-Defibrillators.
AB  - Whether the risk factors for cardiovascular (CV) outcomes are different in
      primary versus secondary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)
      patients is unclear. We sought to identify predictors of CV outcomes in ICD
      recipients for primary (G1) versus secondary prevention (G2). Consecutive
      patients who had ICD implanted during August 2005 to December 2009 were included.
      The primary outcome was a composite of appropriate shock, acute coronary
      syndrome, ischemic stroke, coronary revascularization, heart failure
      exacerbation, CV hospitalization, or all-cause death. We used Cox proportional
      hazards model and a stepwise selection method to fit the most parsimonious model
      to predict the primary outcome in all patients and separately for G1 and G2
      patients. We followed 223 (184 G1 and 39 G2, mean age 61 years) patients through
      December 31, 2012; 141 (63.2%) developed the primary outcome. In all patients,
      atrial fibrillation (AF; hazard ratio 6.72, 95% CI 4.20 to 10.75; p <0.001), use
      of antiarrhythmic drug (1.55, 1.02 to 2.36; p = 0.04), and lower estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (0.99, 0.98 to 0.997; p = 0.01) were associated with
      increased risk of the primary outcome; the attributable risks were 21.6%, 16.0%,
      and 15.9%, respectively. In G1, AF, hypertension, and lower estimated glomerular
      filtration rate were associated with increased risk, whereas in G2, AF, use of
      antiarrhythmic drug, and nonischemic cardiomyopathy were associated with
      increased risk. In conclusion, although risk factors are different for primary
      and secondary prevention patients, AF is a strong and consistent risk factor for
      adverse outcomes in both populations.

PMID- 27649881
TI  - Cytoskeleton: Patching up microtubule growth.

PMID- 27649882
TI  - Barriers and challenges in adopting Saudi telemedicine network: The perceptions
      of decision makers of healthcare facilities in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Despite emerging evidence about the benefits of telemedicine, there are still
      many barriers and challenges to its adoption. Its adoption is often cited as a
      failed project because 75% of them are abandoned or 'failed outright' and this
      percentage increases to 90% in developing countries. The literature has clarified
      that there is neither one-size-fit-all framework nor best-practice solution for
      all ICT innovations or for all countries. Barriers and challenges in adopting and
      implementing one ICT innovation in a given country/organisation may not be
      similar - not for the same ICT innovation in another country/organisation nor for
      another ICT innovation in the same country/organisation. To the best of our
      knowledge, no comprehensive scientific study has investigated these challenges
      and barriers in all Healthcare Facilities (HCFs) across the Kingdom of Saudi
      Arabia (KSA). This research, which is undertaken based on the Saudi Telemedicine
      Network roadmap and in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH), is
      aimed at identifying the principle predictive challenges and barriers in the
      context of the KSA, and understanding the perspective of the decision makers of
      each HCF type, sector, and location. Three theories are used to underpin this
      research: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the
      Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) theoretical framework, and the
      Evaluating Telemedicine Systems Success Model (ETSSM). This study applies a three
      sequential-phase approach by using three mixed methods (i.e., literature review,
      interviews, and questionnaires) in order to utilise the source triangulation and
      the data comparison analysis technique. The findings of this study show that the
      top three influential barriers to adopt and implement telemedicine by the HCF
      decision makers are: (i) the availability of adequate sustainable financial
      support to implement, operate, and maintain the telemedicine system, (ii)
      ensuring conformity of telemedicine services with core mission, vision, needs and
      constraints of the HCF, and (iii) the reimbursement for telemedicine services.

PMID- 27649883
TI  - l-Theanine attenuates cadmium-induced neurotoxicity through the inhibition of
      oxidative damage and tau hyperphosphorylation.
AB  - Cadmium (Cd) has long been known to induce neurological degenerative disorders.
      We studied effects of l-theanine, one of the major amino acid components in green
      tea, on Cd-induced brain injury in mice. Male ICR mice were intraperitoneally
      injected with l-theanine (100 or 200mg/kg/day) or saline and after one hour these
      mice were orally administrated with CdCl2 (3.75-6mg/kg). The treatment was
      conducted for 8 weeks. l-Theanine significantly reduced Cd level in the mouse
      brain and plasma. Cd-induced neuronal cell death in the mouse cortex and
      hippocampus were apparently inhibited by l-theanine treatment. l-Theanine also
      decreased the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and ROS, and obviously elevated the
      levels of glutathione (GSH) and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the mouse brain.
      Hyperphosphorylation of tau protein is proposed to be an early event for the
      evolution of tau pathology, and may play an important role in Cd-induced
      neurodegeneration. Our results showed that l-theanine significantly suppressed Cd
      induced tau protein hyperphosphorylation at Ser199, Ser202, and Ser396. Mechanism
      study showed that l-theanine inhibited the activation of glycogen synthase kinase
      3beta (GSK-3beta) which contributed to the hyperphosphorylation of tau and Cd
      induced cytotoxicity. Furthermore, l-theanine reduced Cd-induced cytotoxicity
      possibly by interfering with the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. In conclusion, our
      study indicated that l-theanine protected mice against Cd-induced neurotoxicity
      through reducing brain Cd level and relieved oxidative damage and tau
      hyperphosphorylation. Our foundings provide a novel insight into the potential
      use of l-theanine as prophylactic and therapeutic agents for Cd-induced
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27649884
TI  - Iodide Mumps Complicating Coronary and Carotid Angiography.
AB  - We report a case of asceptic sialadenitis that occurred in a patient with end
      stage renal failure following administration of iodinated contrast for coronary
      and carotid angiography. This is a rare but important complication of iodinated
      contrast. Early diagnosis of iodide mumps following angiography avoids
      unnecessary investigations and treatment. In this case the patient underwent
      haemodialysis with subsequent complete resolution of the sialadenitis, a
      treatment that has previously not been reported for this condition.

PMID- 27649886
TI  - Mechanism and Kinetics of Punch Sticking of Pharmaceuticals.
AB  - Adherence of powder onto tablet tooling, known as punch sticking, is one of the
      tablet manufacturing problems that need to be resolved. An important step toward
      the resolution of this problem is to quantify sticking propensity of different
      active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and understand physicochemical factors
      that influence sticking propensity. In this study, mass of adhered material onto
      a removable upper punch tip as a function of number of compression is used to
      monitor sticking kinetics of 24 chemically diverse compounds. We have identified
      a mathematical model suitable for describing punch sticking kinetics of a wide
      range of compounds. Chemical analyses have revealed significant enrichment of API
      content in the adhered mass. Based on this large set of data, we have
      successfully developed a new punch sticking model based on a consideration of the
      interplay of interaction strength among API, excipient, and punch surface. The
      model correctly describes the general shape of sticking profile, that is, initial
      rise in accumulated mass followed by gradual increase to a plateau. It also
      explains why sometimes sticking is arrested after monolayer coverage of punch
      surface by API (punch filming), while in other cases, API buildup is observed
      beyond monolayer coverage.

PMID- 27649880
TI  - Roles of eukaryotic topoisomerases in transcription, replication and genomic
      stability.
AB  - Topoisomerases introduce transient DNA breaks to relax supercoiled DNA, remove
      catenanes and enable chromosome segregation. Human cells encode six
      topoisomerases (TOP1, TOP1mt, TOP2alpha, TOP2beta, TOP3alpha and TOP3beta), which
      act on a broad range of DNA and RNA substrates at the nuclear and mitochondrial
      genomes. Their catalytic intermediates, the topoisomerase cleavage complexes
      (TOPcc), are therapeutic targets of various anticancer drugs. TOPcc can also form
      on damaged DNA during replication and transcription, and engage specific repair
      pathways, such as those mediated by tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1) and
      TDP2 and by endonucleases (MRE11, XPF-ERCC1 and MUS81). Here, we review the roles
      of topoisomerases in mediating chromatin dynamics, transcription, replication,
      DNA damage repair and genomic stability, and discuss how deregulation of
      topoisomerases can cause neurodegenerative diseases, immune disorders and cancer.

PMID- 27649887
TI  - Role of Phosphatidylserine-Derived Negative Surface Charges in the Recognition
      and Uptake of Intravenously Injected B16BL6-Derived Exosomes by Macrophages.
AB  - Exosomes are cell-derived extracellular vesicles that function as intercellular
      delivery carriers. Our previous study demonstrated that macrophages in the liver
      contributed to the rapid clearance of intravenously administered B16BL6-derived
      exosomes from the systemic circulation in mice. Phosphatidylserine (PS) may be
      responsible for this clearance because it is exposed on the surface of exosomes
      and is recognized by macrophages. In this study, the role of PS exposed on the
      membranes of exosomes in the uptake of B16BL6-derived exosomes by macrophages was
      investigated. Negatively charged PS- or phosphatidylglycerol-loaded liposomes
      suppressed the cellular uptake of PKH67-labeled exosomes by macrophages, whereas
      phosphatidylcholine-containing liposome did not affect uptake. Subsequently, for
      the in vivo analysis, exosomes were labeled with Gaussia luciferase, a reporter
      protein, or (3-125I-iodobenzoyl)norbiotinamide using exosome-tropic fusion
      proteins comprising the exosome-tropic protein lactadherin. The blood clearance
      of Gaussia luciferase-labeled exosomes after intravenous injection into mice was
      significantly delayed by the preinjection of PS- or phosphatidylglycerol
      containing liposomes. Moreover, the accumulation of (3-125I
      iodobenzoyl)norbiotinamide-labeled exosomes in the liver was decreased by the
      preinjection of PS-containing liposomes. These results indicate that the negative
      charge of PS in exosomal membranes is involved in the recognition and clearance
      of intravenously injected exosomes by macrophages.

PMID- 27649885
TI  - The Density Code for the Development of a Vaccine?
AB  - The development of prophylactic vaccines remains largely empirical in nature and
      rarely have general rules been applied in the strategic decision and the
      formulation of a viral vaccine. Currently, there are a total of 15 virus agents
      from 12 unique virus families with vaccines licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug
      Administration. Extensive structural information on these viral particles and
      potential mechanisms of protection are available for the majority of these virus
      pathogens and their respective vaccines. Here I review the quantitative features
      of these viral surface antigens in relation to the molecular mechanisms of B-cell
      activation and point out a potential correlation between the density of
      immunogenic proteins displayed on the surface of the vaccine antigen carrier and
      the success of a vaccine. These features help us understand the humoral immunity
      induced by viral vaccines on a quantitative ground and re-emphasize the
      importance of antigen density on the activation of the immune system. Although
      the detailed mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain to be explored, it implies
      that both the size of antigen carriers and the density of immunogenic proteins
      displayed on these carriers are important parameters that may need to be
      optimized for the formulation of a vaccine.

PMID- 27649888
TI  - Role of a plausible nuisance contributor in the declining obesity-mortality risks
      over time.
AB  - CONTEXT: Recent analyses of epidemiological data including the National Health
      and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) have suggested that the harmful effects
      of obesity may have decreased over calendar time. The shifting BMI distribution
      over time coupled with the application of fixed broad BMI categories in these
      analyses could be a plausible "nuisance contributor" to this observed change in
      the obesity-associated mortality over calendar time. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      extent to which observed temporal changes in the obesity-mortality association
      may be due to a shifting population distribution for body mass index (BMI),
      coupled with analyses based on static, broad BMI categories. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: Simulations were conducted using data from NHANES I and III linked
      with mortality data. Data from NHANES I were used to fit a "true" model treating
      BMI as a continuous variable. Coefficients estimated from this model were used to
      simulate mortality for participants in NHANES III. Hence, the population-level
      association between BMI and mortality in NHANES III was fixed to be identical to
      the association estimated in NHANES I. Hazard ratios (HRs) for obesity categories
      based on BMI for NHANES III with simulated mortality data were compared to the
      corresponding estimated HRs from NHANES I. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in
      hazard ratios for simulated data in NHANES III compared to observed estimates
      from NHANES I. RESULTS: On average, hazard ratios for NHANES III based on
      simulated mortality data were 29.3% lower than the estimates from NHANES I using
      observed mortality follow-up. This reduction accounted for roughly three-fourths
      of the apparent decrease in the obesity-mortality association observed in a
      previous analysis of these data. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the apparent diminution of
      the association between obesity and mortality may be an artifact of treating BMI
      as a categorical variable.

PMID- 27649889
TI  - A microdialysis and enzymatic reactor sensing procedure for the simultaneous
      registration of online glutamate measurements at high temporal resolution during
      epileptiform activity.
AB  - Glutamate measurement in microdialysis samples has primarily been determined
      using HPLC methods, and several attempts have been made to establish a
      relationship between this neurotransmitter and EEG activity during altered brain
      function, such as epilepsy. However, classic microdialysis methods lack high
      temporal resolution. In this study, a new alternative is proposed to improve the
      time resolution and thus obtain a better understanding of the dynamics of Glu and
      its relationship with epileptiform activity. A new setup was designed to measure
      Glu online in microdialysates using enzymatic reactors and fluorescence
      detection. In this study, we performed EEG recordings and Glu measurements
      simultaneously in the hippocampus to establish their relationship with the
      epileptiform events that are induced by pentylenetetrazole in intact and
      epileptic rats. Basal Glu levels in intact and animals with spontaneous seizures
      were not significantly different. However, a significant increase in Glu levels
      was detected during the first pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure in both groups.
      EEG analysis showed that the amplitude of epileptiform activity was higher in
      rats with spontaneous seizures and that the frequency of this activity did not
      change. The results showed that this method can be used to determine Glu changes
      at high temporal resolution and that these changes can be related to seizure
      activity. In addition, this method can also be used to measure other
      neurotransmitters that generate fluorescent derivatives. Moreover, this new
      technique has the following advantages compared with classical neurochemical
      methods: easy setup, low training requirements, no need for separation, rapidity,
      and the experimental data can be obtained and analysis performed in a single
      session.

PMID- 27649890
TI  - Ricin-B-lectin enhances microsporidia Nosema bombycis infection in BmN cells from
      silkworm Bombyx mori.
AB  - Nosema bombycis is an obligate intracellular parasitic fungus that utilizes a
      distinctive mechanism to infect Bombyx mori Spore germination can be used for
      host cell invasion; however, the detailed mechanism remains to be elucidated. The
      ricin-B-lectin (RBL) gene is significantly differentially regulated after N.
      bombycis spore germination, and NbRBL might play roles in spore germination and
      infection. In this study, the biological function of NbRBL was examined. Protein
      sequence analysis showed that NbRBL is a secreted protein that attaches to
      carbohydrates. The relative expression level of the NbRBL gene was low during the
      first 30 h post-infection (hpi) in BmN cells, and high expression was detected
      from 42 hpi. Gene cloning, prokaryotic expression, and antibody preparation for
      NbRBL were performed. NbRBL was detected in total and secreted proteins using
      western blot analysis. Subcellular localization analysis showed that NbRBL is an
      intracellular protein. Spore adherence and infection assays showed that NbRBL
      could enhance spore adhesion to BmN cells; the proliferative activities of BmN
      cells incubated with anti-NbRBL were higher than those in negative control groups
      after N. bombycis infection; and the treatment groups showed less damage from
      spore invasion. We therefore, propose that NbRBL is released during spore
      germination, enhances spore adhesion to BmN cells, and contributes to spore
      invasion.

PMID- 27649891
TI  - Low levels of PRSS37 protein in sperm are associated with many cases of
      unexplained male infertility.
AB  - PRSS37, a putative trypsin-like serine protease, is highly conserved during
      mammalian evolution as revealed by multiple sequence alignment. Mice deficient
      for Prss37 gene exhibit male infertility, but their mating behavior,
      spermatogenesis, sperm morphology, and motility remain unaffected, similar to a
      situation called unexplained male infertility (UMI) in men (human being). Here,
      we demonstrated that PRSS37 is restrictively expressed in human testis, where it
      is mainly located in the elongating and elongated spermatids during
      spermiogenesis as shown by immunohistochemical analysis of normal human
      testicular sections. In mature sperm, PRSS37 appears in the acrosome region and
      diminishes during acrosome reaction. Further examination reveals that PRSS37
      contents in sperm from patients with UMI are dramatically lower than those in
      sperm from men with proven fertility or from sperm donors. Sperm with low PRSS37
      contents exhibit abnormal activation of the proacrosin/acrosin system and
      premature proteolysis of ADAM2, which may impair the functional competence of
      human sperm in vivo However, the in vitro fertilization outcomes of sperm with
      low PRSS37 contents are not affected. Together, these data implicate an important
      role of PRSS37 for male fertility. PRSS37 can be used as a potential molecular
      biomarker for evaluating sperm fertilization capability in vivo but not in vitro.

PMID- 27649893
TI  - Distinct effects of mutations on biophysical properties of human prion protein
      monomers and oligomers.
AB  - Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative illnesses, resulting from
      the conformational conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) into a
      misfolded form (PrPSc). The formation of neurotoxic soluble prion protein
      oligomer (PrPO) is regarded as a key step in the development of prion diseases.
      About 10%-15% of human prion diseases are caused by mutations in the prion
      protein gene; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In the
      present work, we compared the biophysical properties of wild-type (WT) human
      prion protein 91-231 (WT HuPrP91-231) and its disease-associated variants (P105L,
      D178N, V203I, and Q212P) using several biophysical techniques. In comparison with
      WT HuPrPC, the Q212P and D178N variants possessed greatly increased conversion
      propensities of PrPC into PrPO, while the V203I variant had dramatically
      decreased conversion propensity. The P105L variant displayed a similar conversion
      propensity to WT HuPrPC Guanidine hydrochloride-induced unfolding experiments
      ranked the thermodynamic stabilities of these proteins as Q212P < D178N < WT ~
      P105L < V203I. It was thus suggested that the conversion propensities of the
      prion proteins are closely associated with their thermodynamic stabilities.
      Furthermore, structural comparison illustrated that Q212P, D178N, and V203I
      variants underwent larger structural changes compared with WT HuPrPC, while the
      P105L variant adopted a similar structure to the WT HuPrPC The mutation-induced
      structural perturbations might change the thermodynamic stabilities of the HuPrPC
      variants, and correspondingly alter the conversion propensities for these prion
      proteins. Our results extend the mechanistic understanding of prion pathogenesis,
      and lay the basis for the prevention and treatment of prion diseases.

PMID- 27649892
TI  - Energy sources identify metabolic phenotypes in pancreatic cancer.
AB  - Metabolic reprogramming is one of the emerging hallmarks of cancers. As a highly
      malignant tumor, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is not only a metabolic
      disease but also a heterogeneous disease. Heterogeneity induces PDA dependence on
      distinct nutritive substrates, thereby inducing different metabolic phenotypes.
      We stratified PDA into four phenotypes with distinct types of energy metabolism,
      including a Warburg phenotype, a reverse Warburg phenotype, a glutaminolysis
      phenotype, and a lipid-dependent phenotype. The four phenotypes possess distinct
      metabolic features and reprogram their metabolic pathways to adapt to stress. The
      metabolic type present in PDA should prompt differential imaging and serologic
      metabolite detection for diagnosis and prognosis. The targeting of an individual
      metabolic phenotype with corresponding metabolic inhibitors is considered a
      promising therapeutic approach and, in combination with chemotherapy, is expected
      to be a novel strategy for PDA treatment.

PMID- 27649894
TI  - Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for adults and adolescents with asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with asthma have a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression
      than the general population. This is associated with poorer asthma control,
      medication adherence, and health outcomes. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
      may be a way to improve the quality of life of people with asthma by addressing
      associated psychological issues, which may lead to a lower risk of exacerbations
      and better asthma control. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of CBT for asthma
      compared with usual care. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Airways Group
      Specialised Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the World Health Organization
      International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP). We also searched
      reference lists of all primary studies and review articles and contacted authors
      for unpublished data. The most recent searches were conducted in August 2016.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We included parallel randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      comparing any cognitive behavioural intervention to usual care or no
      intervention. We included studies of adults or adolescents with asthma, with or
      without comorbid anxiety or depression. We included studies reported as full
      text, those published as abstract only, and unpublished data. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Two or more review authors independently screened the search results,
      extracted data, and assessed included studies for risk of bias. We analysed
      dichotomous data as odds ratios (ORs) and continuous data as mean differences
      (MDs) or standardised mean differences (SMD) where scales varied across studies,
      all using a random-effects model. The primary outcomes were asthma-related
      quality of life and exacerbations requiring at least a course of oral steroids.
      We rated all outcomes using GRADE and presented our confidence in the results in
      a 'Summary of findings' table. MAIN RESULTS: We included nine RCTs involving 407
      adults with asthma in this review; no studies included adolescents under 18.
      Study size ranged from 10 to 94 (median 40), and mean age ranged from 39 to 53.
      Study populations generally had persistent asthma, but severity and diagnostic
      measures varied. Three studies recruited participants with psychological
      symptomatology, although with different criteria. Interventions ranged from 4 to
      15 sessions, and primary measurements were taken at a mean of 3 months (range 1.2
      to 12 months).Participants given CBT had improved scores on the Asthma Quality of
      Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) (MD 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.17 to 0.93;
      participants = 214; studies = 6; I2 = 53%) and on measures of asthma control (SMD
      -0.98, 95% CI -1.76 to -0.20; participants = 95; studies = 3; I2 = 68%) compared
      to people getting usual care. The AQLQ effect appeared to be sustained up to a
      year after treatment, but due to its low quality this evidence must be
      interpreted with caution. As asthma exacerbations requiring at least a course of
      oral steroids were not consistently reported, we could not perform a meta
      analysis.Anxiety scores were difficult to pool but showed a benefit of CBT
      compared with usual care (SMD -0.38, 95% CI -0.73 to -0.03), although this
      depended on the analysis used. The confidence intervals for the effect on
      depression scales included no difference between CBT and usual care when measured
      as change from baseline (SMD -0.33, 95% CI -0.70 to 0.05) or endpoint scores (SMD
      -0.41, 95% CI -0.87 to 0.05); the same was true for medication adherence (MD 
      1.40, 95% CI -2.94 to 0.14; participants = 23; studies = 1; I2 = 0%).Subgroup
      analyses conducted on the AQLQ outcome did not suggest a clear difference between
      individual and group CBT, baseline psychological status, or CBT model. The small
      number of studies and the variation between their designs, populations, and other
      intervention characteristics limited the conclusions that could be drawn about
      these possibly moderating factors.The inability to blind participants and
      investigators to group allocation introduced significant potential bias, and
      overall we had low confidence in the evidence. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: For adults
      with persistent asthma, CBT may improve quality of life, asthma control, and
      anxiety levels compared with usual care. Risks of bias, imprecision of effects,
      and inconsistency between results reduced our confidence in the results to low,
      and evidence was lacking regarding the effect of CBT on asthma exacerbations,
      unscheduled contacts, depression, and medication adherence. There was much
      variation between studies in how CBT was delivered and what constituted usual
      care, meaning the most optimal method of CBT delivery, format, and target
      population requires further investigation. There is currently no evidence for the
      use of CBT in adolescents with asthma.

PMID- 27649896
TI  - Correction to: Evidence of a M1- muscarinic GPCR homolog in unicellular
      eukaryotes: featuring Acanthamoeba spp bioinformatics 3D-modelling and
      experimentations.

PMID- 27649895
TI  - A novel calibration approach using satellite and visibility observations to
      estimate fine particulate matter exposures in Southwest Asia and Afghanistan.
AB  - : In order to study effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) it was previously
      necessary to have access to a comprehensive air monitoring network. However,
      there are locations in the world where PM levels are above generally accepted
      exposure standards but lack a monitoring infrastructure. This is true in Iraq and
      other locations in Southwest Asia and Afghanistan where U.S. and other coalition
      troops were deployed beginning in 2001. Since aerosol optical depth (AOD),
      determined by satellite, and visibility are both highly related to atmospheric
      PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <=2.5 MUm) concentrations,
      we employed a novel approach that took advantage of historic airport visibility
      measurements to calibrate the AOD-visibility relationship and determine
      visibility spatially and temporally (2006-2007) over an approximately 17,000 km2
      region of Iraq. We obtained daily visibility predictions that were highly
      associated with satellite-based 1x1 km AOD daily observations (R2=0.87). Based on
      a previously derived calibration between PM2.5 and visibility, we were able to
      predict spatially and temporally resolved PM2.5 concentrations. Variability of
      PM2.5 among sites was high, with daily concentrations differing by as much as ~30
      MUg/m3. This study demonstrates the feasibility of characterizing historic PM2.5
      exposures in Iraq and other locations in Southwest Asia and Afghanistan with
      similar climate characteristics. This is of utility for epidemiologists seeking
      to assess the potential health effects related to PM2.5 exposures among
      previously deployed military personnel and of the population of the region.
      IMPLICATIONS: This study demonstrates the ability to utilize aerosol optical
      depth to successfully estimate visibility spatially and temporally in Southwest
      Asia and Afghanistan. This enables for the estimation of spatially resolved PM2.5
      concentrations in the region. The ability to caracterize PM2.5 concentrations in
      Southwest Asia and Afghanistan is highly important for epidemiologists
      investigating the relationship between chronic exposure to PM2.5 and respiratory
      diseases among military personnel deployed to the region. This information will
      better position policy makers to draft meaningful legislation relating to
      military health.

PMID- 27649898
TI  - Continued importance in translation from research to health policy in China.
AB  - Precision Medicine may be considered as another strategic effort of "from-bench
      to-beside" translation. In order to have a maximal impact on population health,
      the translation must go further. A new translational medicine paradigm is
      proposed to improve the clarity of conceptual pathways and facilitate translation
      from research to health policy. The latter is particularly important in low- and
      middle-income countries where the need to improve population health is immediate
      and immense.

PMID- 27649897
TI  - Institutional delivery in public and private sectors in South Asia: a comparative
      analysis of prospective data from four demographic surveillance sites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Maternity care in South Asia is available in both public and private
      sectors. Using data from demographic surveillance sites in Bangladesh, Nepal and
      rural and urban India, we aimed to compare institutional delivery rates and
      public-private share. METHODS: We used records of maternity care collected in
      socio-economically disadvantaged communities between 2005 and 2011. Institutional
      delivery was summarized by four potential determinants: household asset index,
      maternal schooling, maternal age, and parity. We developed logistic regression
      models for private sector institutional delivery with these as independent
      covariates. RESULTS: The data described 52 750 deliveries. Institutional delivery
      proportion varied and there were differences in public-private split. In
      Bangladesh and urban India, the proportion of deliveries in the private sector
      increased with wealth, maternal education, and age. The opposite was observed in
      rural India and Nepal. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of institutional delivery
      increased with economic status and education. The choice of sector is more
      complex and provision and perceived quality of public sector services is likely
      to play a role. Choices for safe maternity are influenced by accessibility,
      quantity and perceived quality of care. Along with data linkage between private
      and public sectors, increased regulation should be part of the development of the
      pluralistic healthcare systems that characterize south Asia.

PMID- 27649899
TI  - Current statins show calcium channel blocking activity through voltage gated
      channels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statins are used for treatment of hypercholestremia. Common adverse
      reports associated with use of statins are generalized bodyache, rhabdomyolysis,
      muscles weakness and gastrointestinal disorders. The current work is an attempt
      to explain how smooth muscles of gastrointestinal tissues are affected by the
      current statins (Simvastatin, atorvastatin, fluvastatin and rosuvastatin).
      METHODS: Effects of the current statins were studied on spontaneous activity of
      isolated rabbits' jejunal preparations. Different molar concentrations (10(-12)
      10(-2)M) of the statins were applied on spontaneously contracting rabbits'
      jejunal preparations. As statins relaxed spontaneous activity, so we tested the
      statins on KCl (80 mM) induced contractions in similar test concentrations.
      Positive relaxant statins were tested again through construction of Calcium
      Concentration Response Curves (CCRCs) in the absence and presence of the statins
      using verapamil, a standard calcium channel blocker. CCRCs of statins were
      compared with CCRCs of verapamil. RESULTS: Simvastatin, atorvastatin, fluvastatin
      and rosuvastatin relaxed the spontaneous and KCl-induced contractions. IC50 for
      simvastatin on spontaneous rabbit's jejunal preparations is -5.08 +/- 0.1 Log 10
      M. Similarly, IC50 for KCl-induced contractions is -4.25 +/- 0.01 Log 10 M. Mean
      IC50 (Log 10 M) for atorvastatin on spontaneous rabbit's jejunal preparations and
      KCl-induced contractions are -5.19 +/- 0.07 and -4.37 +/- 0.09, respectively.
      Fluvastatin relaxed spontaneous activity of rabbits' jejunal preparations with an
      IC50 (Log 10 M) -4.5 +/- 0.03. Rosuvastatin relaxed spontaneous as well as KCl
      (80 mM) induced contractions with respective IC50 (Log 10 M) -3.62 +/- 0.04 and 
      4.57 +/- 0.06. In case of CCRCs, tissues pre-treated with 4.6 MUg/ml of
      simvastatin, have IC50 = -1.84 +/- 0.03 [log (Ca(++)) M] vs control IC50 = -2.54
      +/- 0.04 [log (Ca(++)) M]. Similarly, atorvastatin, fluvastatin and rosuvastatin
      produced significant right shift in IC50 for CCRCs (P <= 0.05). In case of
      verapamil, IC50 for control curves is -2.45 +/- 0.06 [log (Ca (++)) M], while
      IC50 in presence of verapamil (0.1 MUM) is -1.69 +/- 0.05 [log (Ca (++)) M].
      Statins produced right shift in the IC50 of CCRCs. The effects of statins are
      like that of effects of verapamil, a standard calcium channel blocker.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that current statins have calcium antagonistic
      effects that act on voltage gated calcium channels that may provide a rationale
      for cause muscle weakness and gastrointestinal disorders.

PMID- 27649900
TI  - The student experience of applied equivalence-based instruction for neuroanatomy
      teaching.
AB  - PURPOSE: Esoteric jargon and technical language are potential barriers to the
      teaching of science and medicine. Effective teaching strategies which address
      these barriers are desirable. Here, we created and evaluated the effectiveness of
      stand-alone 'equivalence-based instruction' (EBI) learning resources wherein the
      teaching of a small number of direct relationships between stimuli (e.g.,
      anatomical regions, their function, and pathology) results in the learning of
      higher numbers of untaught relationships. METHODS: We used a pre and post test
      design to assess students' learning of the relations. Resources were evaluated by
      students for perceived usefulness and confidence in the topic. Three versions of
      the resources were designed, to explore learning parameters such as the number of
      stimulus classes and the number of relationships within these classes. RESULTS:
      We show that use of EBI resulted in demonstrable learning of material that had
      not been directly taught. The resources were well received by students, even when
      the quantity of material to be learned was high. There was a strong desire for
      more EBI-based teaching. The findings are discussed in the context of an ongoing
      debate surrounding 'rote' vs. 'deep' learning, and the need to balance this
      debate with considerations of cognitive load and esoteric jargon routinely
      encountered during the study of medicine. CONCLUSION: These standalone EBI
      resources were an effective, efficient and well-received method for teaching
      neuroanatomy to medical students. The approach may be of benefit to other
      subjects with abundant technical jargon, science and other areas of medicine.

PMID- 27649901
TI  - Medical laboratory science and nursing students' perception of academic learning
      environment in a Philippine university using Dundee Ready Educational Environment
      Measure (DREEM).
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare the perception of the academic learning
      environment between medical laboratory science students and nursing students at
      Saint Louis University, Baguio City, Philippines. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      survey research design was used to measure the perceptions of the participants. A
      total of 341 students from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, School
      of Natural Sciences, and the School of Nursing answered the Dundee Ready
      Education Environment Measure (DREEM) instrument from April to May 2016.
      Responses were compared according to course of study, gender, and year level.
      RESULTS: The total mean DREEM scores of the medical laboratory science students
      and nursing students did not differ significantly when grouped according to
      course of study, gender, or year level. Medical laboratory science students had
      significantly lower mean scores in the sub-domains 'perception of learning' and
      'perception of teaching.' Male medical laboratory science students had
      significantly lower mean scores in the sub-domain 'perception of learning' among
      second year students. Medical laboratory science students had significantly lower
      mean scores in the sub-domain 'perception of learning.' Nursing students
      identified 7 problem areas, most of which were related to their instructors.
      CONCLUSION: Medical laboratory science and nursing students viewed their academic
      learning environment as 'more positive than negative.' However, the relationship
      of the nursing instructors to their students needs improvement.

PMID- 27649902
TI  - Educational strategies for teaching evidence-based practice to undergraduate
      health students: systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this systematic review was to find best teaching strategies
      for teaching evidence-based practice (EBP) to undergraduate health students that
      have been adopted over the last years in healthcare institutions worldwide.
      METHODS: The authors carried out a systematic, comprehensive bibliographic search
      using Medline database for the years 2005 to March 2015 (updated in March 2016).
      Search terms used were chosen from the USNLM Institutes of Health list of MeSH
      (Medical Subject Headings) and free text key terms were used as well. Selected
      articles were measured based on the inclusion criteria of this study and
      initially compared in terms of titles or abstracts. Finally, articles relevant to
      the subject of this review were retrieved in full text. Critical appraisal was
      done to determine the effects of strategy of teaching evidence-based medicine
      (EBM). RESULTS: Twenty articles were included in the review. The majority of the
      studies sampled medical students (n=13) and only few conducted among nursing
      (n=2), pharmacy (n=2), physiotherapy/therapy (n=1), dentistry (n=1), or mixed
      disciplines (n=1) students. Studies evaluated a variety of educational
      interventions of varying duration, frequency and format (lectures, tutorials,
      workshops, conferences, journal clubs, and online sessions), or combination of
      these to teach EBP. We categorized interventions into single interventions
      covering a workshop, conference, lecture, journal club, or e-learning and
      multifaceted interventions where a combination of strategies had been assessed.
      Seven studies reported an overall increase to all EBP domains indicating a higher
      EBP competence and two studies focused on the searching databases skill.
      CONCLUSION: Followings were deduced from above analysis: multifaceted approach
      may be best suited when teaching EBM to health students; the use of technology to
      promote EBP through mobile devices, simulation, and the web is on the rise; and
      the duration of the interventions varying form some hours to even months was not
      related to the students' EBP competence.

PMID- 27649903
TI  - Self-focused attention and safety behaviors across group therapies for social
      anxiety disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-focused attention (SFA) and safety behaviors are two variables
      implicated in the maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). DESIGN: The
      present study examined SFA and safety behaviors across two therapies for SAD,
      cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) and mindfulness and acceptance-based
      group therapy (MAGT). METHOD: Participants with symptoms meeting criteria for SAD
      (N = 137) were randomly assigned to the 12-week-treatment groups (n = 53 for each
      condition) or a waitlist control (n = 31). Variables were assessed at baseline,
      midtreatment, posttreatment, and a 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Both treatment
      conditions reported significantly lower SFA and safety behaviors compared to
      control, but did not differ from one another at posttreatment. Mediation analyses
      supported the following models: (1) safety behaviors mediating the relationship
      between SFA and social anxiety, and (2) SFA mediating the relationship between
      safety behaviors and social anxiety. These models were supported for both
      treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both treatments may have the potential to reduce
      the SFA and safety behaviors that serve to maintain SAD.

PMID- 27649904
TI  - Marginal zone dural lymphoma: the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and
      University of Miami experiences.
AB  - Dural lymphoma (DL) is a rare type of primary CNS lymphoma arising from the dura
      mater. The optimal treatment is uncertain. A retrospective review was performed
      on 26 DL patients. Seventeen patients underwent resection and nine had a biopsy.
      Twenty three patients could be assessed for a response to treatment after
      surgery. Thirteen received focal radiotherapy (RT), six whole brain RT (WBRT),
      three chemotherapy alone and one chemotherapy followed by WBRT. Twenty two
      achieved complete response (CR) and one a partial response (PR). Four patients
      relapsed (two local and two systemic). Median follow up was 64 months, with
      median progression free survival (PFS) and OS not reached. Three year PFS was 89%
      (95% CI 0.64-0.97). All patients are alive at last follow-up, demonstrating that
      DL is an indolent tumor with long survival. CR is achievable with focal therapy
      in the majority of cases, but there is a risk for relapses and long-term follow
      up is recommended.

PMID- 27649905
TI  - Design and evaluation of acrylate polymeric carriers for fabrication of pH
      sensitive microparticles.
AB  - Colon-targeted microparticles loaded with a model anti-inflammatory drug were
      fabricated using especially designed acrylic acid-butyl methacrylate copolymers.
      Microparticles were prepared by oil-in-oil solvent evaporation method using Span
      80 as emulsifier. Microparticles were found to be spherical in shape,
      hemocompatible and anionic with zeta potential of -27.4 and -29.0 mV. Entrapment
      of drug in the microparticles was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
      spectroscopy. However, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning
      calorimetry (DSC) revealed amorphous nature of microparticles due to the dilution
      effect of amorphous polymer. The microparticles released less than 5% drug at pH
      1.2, while more than 90% of the drug load was released at pH 7.4. This suggested
      the colon targeting nature of the formulations. In experimentally developed
      colitis in Wistar rats, the microparticle formulation showed significant
      reduction (p < .05) in the disease activity score (disease symptoms), the colon
      to-body weight ratio (tissue edema) and the myeloperoxidase, tumor necrosis
      factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta activities.

PMID- 27649906
TI  - Response to selection while maximizing genetic variance in small populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rare breeds represent a valuable resource for future market demands.
      These populations are usually well-adapted, but their low census compromises the
      genetic diversity and future of these breeds. Since improvement of a breed for
      commercial traits may also confer higher probabilities of survival for the breed,
      it is important to achieve good responses to artificial selection. Therefore,
      efficient genetic management of these populations is essential to ensure that
      they respond adequately to genetic selection in possible future artificial
      selection scenarios. Scenarios that maximize the maximum genetic variance in a
      unique population could be a valuable option. The aim of this work was to study
      the effect of the maximization of genetic variance to increase selection response
      and improve the capacity of a population to adapt to a new environment/production
      system. RESULTS: We simulated a random scenario (A), a full-sib scenario (B), a
      scenario applying the maximum variance total (MVT) method (C), a MVT scenario
      with a restriction on increases in average inbreeding (D), a MVT scenario with a
      restriction on average individual increases in inbreeding (E), and a minimum
      coancestry scenario (F). Twenty replicates of each scenario were simulated for
      100 generations, followed by 10 generations of selection. Effective population
      size was used to monitor the outcomes of these scenarios. Although the best
      response to selection was achieved in scenarios B and C, they were discarded
      because they are unpractical. Scenario A was also discarded because of its low
      response to selection. Scenario D yielded less response to selection and a
      smaller effective population size than scenario E, for which response to
      selection was higher during early generations because of the moderately
      structured population. In scenario F, response to selection was slightly higher
      than in Scenario E in the last generations. CONCLUSIONS: Application of MVT with
      a restriction on individual increases in inbreeding resulted in the largest
      response to selection during early generations, but if inbreeding depression is a
      concern, a minimum coancestry scenario is then a valuable alternative, in
      particular for a long-term response to selection.

PMID- 27649907
TI  - A Conformationally Stable Contorted Hexabenzoovalene.
AB  - Contorted two-dimensional aromatic molecules are fascinating synthetic targets
      because they are molecular "cutouts" of nonplanar graphene structures,
      fullerenes, or carbon nanotubes. In most cases, the curvature is introduced by
      the implementation of either five-, seven-, or eight-membered rings into the
      fused aromatic plane. Curvature can also be generated for two-dimensional systems
      consisting of six-membered rings exclusively, by the introduction of cove or
      fjord regions. The synthesis of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) that
      contains two peripheral triptycene units and six tert-butyl substituents is
      described. As a result of steric repulsion, the structure is highly contorted
      with two phenylene blades of the peripheral triptycene units oriented almost
      coplanar with respect to each other at a distance of 16 A, as has been verified
      by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The conformation is stable in solution even
      at a temperature of 150  degrees C. Additionally, internal tert-butyl groups
      could be selectively removed, allowing a UV/Vis-spectroscopic comparison of two
      structures with the same pi-system, but different degrees of contortion.

PMID- 27649909
TI  - Highly Hydrophilic Segments Attached to Hydrophobic Peptides Translocate Rapidly
      across Membranes.
AB  - Hydrophilic segments attached to transmembrane helices often cross membranes. In
      an increasing number of cases, it has become apparent that this occurs in a
      biologically relevant post-translational event. In this study, we investigate
      whether juxta-membrane (JM) hydrophilic sequences attached to hydrophobic helices
      are able to rapidly cross lipid bilayers via their ability or inability to block
      hydrophobic helix interconversion between a transmembrane (TM) and non-TM
      membrane-associated state. Interconversion was triggered by changing the
      protonation state of an Asp residue in the hydrophobic core of the peptides, and
      peptide configuration was monitored by the fluorescence of a Trp residue at the
      center of the hydrophobic sequence. In POPC vesicles, conversion of the TM to non
      TM state at high pH and the non-TM to TM state at low pH was rapid (seconds or
      less) for KK, KKNN, and the KKNNNNNN flanking sequences on both N- and C-termini
      and the KLFAGHQ sequence that flanks the spontaneously TM-inserting 3A protein of
      polio virus. In vesicles composed of 6:4 (mol/mol) POPC/cholesterol,
      interconversion was still rapid, with the exception of the peptide flanked by
      KKNNNNNN sequences, for which the half time of interconversion slowed to minutes.
      This behavior suggests that, at least in membranes with low levels of
      cholesterol, movement of hydrophilic JM segments (and analogous hydrophobic loops
      in multipass TM proteins) across membranes may be more facile than previously
      thought. This may have important biological implications.

PMID- 27649911
TI  - Sponsorship and Publication Information.

PMID- 27649912
TI  - Educating Nurses for Ethical Practice in Contemporary Health Care Environments.
AB  - Because health care professions exist to provide a good for society, ethical
      questions are inherently part of them. Such professions and their members can be
      assessed based on how effective they are in developing knowledge and enacting
      practices that further the health and well-being of individuals and society. The
      complexity of contemporary health care environments makes it important to prepare
      clinicians who can anticipate, recognize, and address problems that arise in
      practice or that prevent a profession from fulfilling its service goals and
      obligations. Different health care professions have evolved distinct perspectives
      about appropriate goals for, and the purposes of, their clinicians, even when the
      goal of improving health and well-being for society is shared across professions.
      While medicine and nursing goals are shared in principle, they differ in the
      particulars. Given the centrality to nursing of ethical questions, the profession
      has a collective responsibility to help clinicians at all levels of practice
      become ethically savvy and to reinforce their moral agency as needed. Both
      knowledge of nursing ethics and knowledge of the interdisciplinary field of
      bioethics are critical to nursing work.

PMID- 27649913
TI  - Fostering Nurses' Moral Agency and Moral Identity: The Importance of Moral
      Community.
AB  - It may be the case that the most challenging moral problem of the twenty-first
      century will be the relationship between the individual moral agent and the
      practices and institutions in which the moral agent is embedded. In this paper,
      we continue the efforts that one of us, Joan Liaschenko, first called for in
      1993, that of using feminist ethics as a lens for viewing the relationship
      between individual nurses as moral agents and the highly complex institutions in
      which they do the work of nursing. Feminist ethics, with its emphasis on the
      inextricable relationship between ethics and politics, provides a useful lens to
      understand the work of nurses in context. Using Margaret Urban Walker's and Hilde
      Lindemann's concepts of identity, relationships, values, and moral agency, we
      argue that health care institutions can be moral communities and profoundly
      affect the work and identity and, therefore, the moral agency of all who work
      within those structures, including nurses. Nurses are not only shaped by these
      organizations but also have the power to shape them. Because moral agency is
      intimately connected to one's identity, moral identity work is essential for
      nurses to exercise their moral agency and to foster moral community in health
      care organizations. We first provide a brief history of nursing's morally
      problematic relationship with institutions and examine the impact institutional
      master narratives and corporatism exert today on nurses' moral identities and
      agency. We close by emphasizing the significance of ongoing dialogue in creating
      and sustaining moral communities, repairing moral identities, and strengthening
      moral agency.

PMID- 27649914
TI  - Nurses at the Table.
AB  - Few bioethicists are educated with a view into nursing. Thus, much of the
      conceptual and empirical research on ethical issues in nursing practice has been
      conducted by nurse ethicists themselves and, to a lesser degree, by individuals
      with a strong interest in nursing ethics. Although this work has internally
      shaped nursing practice, education, and policy, the broader field of bioethics
      has seldom examined and acknowledged the everyday ethical concerns of practicing
      nurses and their important contributions to bioethics discourse. In this special
      report of the Hastings Center Report -the first to focus on nursing-Christine
      Grady, Ann Hamric, and I, along with consulting editor Nancy Berlinger, strive to
      give voice to the contributions of nurses in addressing some of our obstinate
      everyday ethics and health policy challenges.

PMID- 27649908
TI  - Systematic review and meta-analysis of hepatitis C virus infection and HIV viral
      load: new insights into epidemiologic synergy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV infection frequently co-occur due
      to shared transmission routes. Co-infection is associated with higher HCV viral
      load (VL), but less is known about the effect of HCV infection on HIV VL and risk
      of onward transmission. METHODS: We undertook a systematic review comparing 1)
      HIV VL among ART-naive, HCV co-infected individuals versus HIV mono-infected
      individuals and 2) HIV VL among treated versus untreated HCV co-infected
      individuals. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis and quantified
      heterogeneity using the I(2) statistic. We followed Cochrane Collaboration
      guidelines in conducting our review and PRISMA guidelines in reporting results.
      RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We screened 3925 articles and identified 17 relevant
      publications. A meta-analysis found no evidence of increased HIV VL associated
      with HCV co-infection or between HIV VL and HCV treatment with pegylated
      interferon-alpha-2a/b and ribavirin. CONCLUSIONS: This finding is in contrast to
      the substantial increases in HIV VL observed with several other systemic
      infections. It presents opportunities to elucidate the biological pathways that
      underpin epidemiological synergy in HIV co-infections and may enable prediction
      of which co-infections are most important to epidemic control.

PMID- 27649915
TI  - Institutional Ethics Resources: Creating Moral Spaces.
AB  - Since 1992, institutions accredited by The Joint Commission have been required to
      have a process in place that allows staff members, patients, and families to
      address ethical issues or issues prone to conflict. While the commission's
      expectations clearly have made ethics committees more common, simply having a
      committee in no way demonstrates its effectiveness in terms of the availability
      of the service to key constituents, the quality of the processes used, or the
      outcomes achieved. Beyond meeting baseline accreditation standards, effective
      ethics resources are requisite for quality care for another reason. The provision
      of care to the sick is a practice with profound moral dimensions. Clinicians need
      what Margaret Urban Walker has called "moral spaces," reflective spaces within
      institutions in which to explore and communicate values and ethical obligations
      as they undergird goals of care. Walker proposed that ethicists needed to be
      concerned with the design and maintenance of these moral spaces. Clearly, that
      concern needs to extend beyond ethicists to institutional leaders. This essay
      uses Walker's idea of moral space to describe individuals and groups who are
      actual and potential ethics resources in health care institutions. We focus on
      four requisite characteristics of effective resources and the challenges to
      achieving them, and we identify strategies to build them. In our view, such moral
      spaces are particularly important for nurses and their colleagues on
      interprofessional teams and need to be expanded and strengthened in most
      settings.

PMID- 27649916
TI  - Creating a Culture of Ethical Practice in Health Care Delivery Systems.
AB  - Undisputedly, the United States' health care system is in the midst of
      unprecedented complexity and transformation. In 2014 alone there were well over
      thirty-five million admissions to hospitals in the nation, indicating that there
      was an extraordinary number of very sick and frail people requiring highly
      skilled clinicians to manage and coordinate their complex care across multiple
      care settings. Medical advances give us the ability to send patients home more
      efficiently than ever before and simultaneously create ethical questions about
      the balance of benefits and burdens associated with these advances. Every day on
      every shift, nurses at the bedside feel an intense array of ethical issues. At
      the same time, administrators, policy-makers, and regulators struggle to balance
      commitments to patients, families, staff members, and governing boards. Ethical
      responsibilities and the fiduciary, regulatory, and community service goals of
      health care institutions are not mutually exclusive; they must go hand in hand.
      If they do not, our health care system will continue to lose valued professionals
      to moral distress, risk breaking the public's trust, and potentially undermine
      patient care. At this critical juncture in health care, we must look to new
      models, tools, and skills to confront contemporary ethical issues that impact
      clinical practice. The antidote to the current reality is to create a new health
      care paradigm grounded in compassion and sustained by a culture of ethical
      practice.

PMID- 27649917
TI  - From the Team to the Table: Nursing Societies and Health Care Organizational
      Ethics.
AB  - Health care work is interprofessional work. Nurses and physicians, members of the
      professions whose close collaboration is foundational to health care delivery,
      continue to be educated separately in most academic institutions. Their work also
      is organized in ways that challenge interprofessional collaboration.
      Understanding workplace realities faced by nurses and physicians, separately and
      jointly, is a starting place for exploring how to support ethically sound
      interprofessional work. In this essay, we look most closely at the work of nurses
      and physicians who care for seriously ill hospitalized patients, a patient
      population closely associated with ethical challenges.

PMID- 27649918
TI  - Emergency Nursing, Ebola, and Public Policy: The Contributions of Nursing to the
      Public Policy Conversation.
AB  - Excellent patient care within the emergency department requires interdisciplinary
      training, teamwork, and communication to manage the chaos of the environment.
      Specifically, invasive procedures required to manage airway, breathing, and
      circulation via intubation, chest compressions, and establishing intravenous
      access can provide a direct benefit to save lives but also have the potential to
      harm both patients and health care clinicians alike; emergency health care
      clinicians can be exposed to significant amounts of blood and body fluids as well
      as other threats of physical and psychological harm. The ethical components of
      care in this environment are often under-recognized due to the need for rapid
      patient assessment and immediate action. Moreover, challenges to practice that
      can include lack of qualified personnel, equipment, and other resources to
      provide safe care to a large volume of patients can lead to moral distress in ED
      staff. Because the ED is a high-uncertainty, high-acuity environment, continuing
      interprofessional communication, collaboration, and planning is critical.
      Opportunities for multidisciplinary policy dialogue and the development of
      professional guidelines can make the ED a safer environment for both patients and
      providers.

PMID- 27649919
TI  - Transitional Care: A Priority for Health Care Organizational Ethics.
AB  - Numerous studies have revealed that health care transitions for chronically ill
      older adults are frequently poorly managed, often with devastating human and
      economic consequences. And poorly managed transitions and their consequences also
      occur among younger, relatively healthy individuals who have adequate resources
      and are prepared to advocate on their own behalf. Despite the rich base of
      research confirming that evidence-based transitional care enhances patients'
      experiences, improves health and quality of life, and reduces costs,
      organizational, regulatory, financial, and cultural barriers have, until
      recently, prevented widespread adoption of these proven approaches. Provisions of
      the Affordable Care Act, such as reductions in Medicare payments to hospitals
      with very high thirty-day rehospitalization rates, have reduced barriers, but
      uptake of evidence-based transitional care beyond demonstration projects
      continues to be sporadic and far too slow. With a rich understanding about how to
      better anticipate and respond to the compelling problems experienced by patients,
      family caregivers, and health care professionals throughout episodes of acute
      illness, the time has come to frame transitional care as a system's ethical
      responsibility in an aging society. Embedding transitional care within the
      ethical obligations of a health care system requires the perspectives and
      involvement of nurses and nursing because of this profession's integral role in
      every aspect of care transitions.

PMID- 27649920
TI  - The Nurse as the Patient's Advocate: A Contrarian View.
AB  - An important role for all health care professionals is to be an advocate for
      their patients, and there is no question that many patients need advocacy to
      reach their health care goals. The role of advocate takes many forms, but one is
      to speak up when one is concerned for the safety or well-being of a patient. A
      nurse is often the member of a health care team most likely to notice changes
      that might signal problems or poor responses to treatment. The duty of the nurse
      is to speak up in a timely and urgent manner when the nurse believes-or fears
      that the patient's safety may be at risk. Yet the role of nurses as advocates for
      their patients has assumed near-mythic status. Rather than seeing advocate as one
      among many equally important and interrelated professional roles, the nurse, when
      asked, "Who are you?" is likely to give the heartfelt and passionate answer, "The
      patient's advocate!" This essay examines and critically analyzes the advocacy
      role adopted by the nursing profession and outlines the challenges it has created
      to nursing's contributions to collaborative practice, ethics, and policy in
      health care.

PMID- 27649921
TI  - Promoting the Health of Families and Communities: A Moral Imperative.
AB  - The Hill Burton Act, which was signed into law in 1946 and ended in 1997, was one
      of the most significant forces that shaped the health care system we have today.
      Providing grants and loans for the construction and expansion of hospitals across
      the country, it required beneficiary hospitals to give some amount of
      uncompensated care to the poor and uninsured in return. The act not only led to
      our health care system's current emphasis on the acute-care hospital as the
      primary site of health care delivery, but it also had a profound effect on
      nursing, fully involving the profession in an acute-care world. The act created
      jobs for nurses at an unprecedented level. There are over 3.4 million nurses in
      the United States, and in 2013, 63 percent of all nurses worked for hospitals.
      Nursing education continues to emphasize acute care, despite the calls for
      shifting the curriculum to more community-based content and experiences that
      focus on health promotion and wellness for individuals, families, and
      communities. It is my premise that the nursing profession and all who profess to
      be committed to promoting health have a moral obligation to help the nation adopt
      a Hill-Burton Act of the twenty-first century that will focus on building healthy
      communities, supporting families in ways that promote health, and helping
      individuals to live healthier lives. This would require a shift in resources from
      a costly health care system to investing in community development, whether job
      creation, building safe places to play and exercise, providing access to
      affordable and nutritious foods, advancing the quality of education, or other
      approaches to addressing and improving the social determinants of health. Making
      this kind of investment would speak to the principles of beneficence, least harm,
      and justice, particularly for socioeconomically stressed communities.

PMID- 27649922
TI  - Cultivating Synergy in Nursing, Bioethics, and Policy.
AB  - Nursing and bioethics have a lot in common because they share concerns about life
      and death, illness and health, the rights of individuals and communities, ethical
      patient care, health care delivery, and public health. Nurses and bioethicists
      contribute to ethical practice, ethics scholarship, and health policy-making in a
      variety of ways. Some nurses have bioethics education or experience, some
      bioethicists study or collaborate closely with nurses, and some of us proudly
      identify as both bioethicists and as nurses. Despite certain shared and
      interwoven aims, bioethicists and nurses often accomplish their goals in
      dissimilar ways, have diverse educational and training trajectories as well as
      distinct roles and responsibilities, and are viewed differently within health
      care organizations. Yet the work of bioethics and nursing can be, and in my view
      should more often be, synergistic. That synergism may be especially critical in
      the arena of health policy and ethics. Nurses can bring extraordinary insights
      and real-world experiences to the policy table but are not always considered
      essential contributors.

PMID- 27649923
TI  - Nursing's Code of Ethics, Social Ethics, and Social Policy.
AB  - Modern American nursing arose during the Civil War and subsequently adopted the
      Nightingale educational model in the 1870s. By 1889, the journal Trained Nurse
      and Hospital Review had been established. It published a six-part series on
      ethics in nursing. With the establishment of the American Nurses Association in
      1893, the articles of incorporation gave the organization its first charge: "to
      establish and maintain a code of ethics." While the rich and enduring tradition
      of nursing's ethics has been concerned about individual patients and their
      relational nexus, nursing ethics has from the beginning been a social ethics,
      intimately concerned both for the shape of society and for social change. This
      concern has been for health, conceived broadly and not focused specifically on
      disease and its treatment, but including the social causes of disease.
      Nightingale herself was an ardent social reformer, instituting a wide range of
      types of army sanitation reform, sanitation reform in India, and hospital and
      nursing reform. Despite her gender, her wealth and privilege granted her access
      to men in power who furthered her policy and reform agenda. From the start, then,
      modern nursing was imbued with a social reformist bias.

PMID- 27649925
TI  - Case of nodular melanoma on the upper eyelid dermoscopically mimicking pigmented
      basal cell carcinoma.

PMID- 27649924
TI  - Greater Growth of Proximal Metatarsals in Bird Embryos and the Evolution of
      Hallux Position in the Grasping Foot.
AB  - In early theropod dinosaurs-the ancestors of birds-the hallux (digit 1) had an
      elevated position within the foot and had lost the proximal portion of its
      metatarsal. It no longer articulated with the ankle, but was attached at about
      mid-length of metatarsal 2 (mt2). In adult birds, the hallux is articulated
      closer to the distal end of mt2 at ground level with the other digits. However,
      on chick embryonic day 7, its position is as in early theropods at half-length of
      mt2. The adult distal location is acquired during embryonic days 8-10. To assess
      how the adult phenotype is acquired, we produced fate maps of the metatarsals of
      day 6 chicken embryos injecting the lipophilic tracer DiI. The fates of these
      marks indicate a larger expansion of the metatarsals at their proximal end, which
      creates the illusory effect that d1 moves distally. This larger proximal
      expansion occurs concomitantly with growth and early differentiation of
      cartilage. Histological analysis of metatarsals shows that the domains of
      flattened and prehypertrophic chondrocytes are larger toward the proximal end.
      The results suggest that the distal position of the hallux in the avian foot
      evolved as a consequence of an embryological period of expansion of the
      metatarsus toward the proximal end. It also brings attention to the developmental
      mechanisms leading to differential growth between epiphyses and their
      evolutionary consequences.

PMID- 27649926
TI  - FEREBUS: Highly parallelized engine for kriging training.
AB  - FFLUX is a novel force field based on quantum topological atoms, combining
      multipolar electrostatics with IQA intraatomic and interatomic energy terms. The
      program FEREBUS calculates the hyperparameters of models produced by the machine
      learning method kriging. Calculation of kriging hyperparameters (theta and p)
      requires the optimization of the concentrated log-likelihood L(theta,p). FEREBUS
      uses Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) algorithms
      to find the maximum of L(theta,p). PSO and DE are two heuristic algorithms that
      each use a set of particles or vectors to explore the space in which L(theta,p)
      is defined, searching for the maximum. The log-likelihood is a computationally
      expensive function, which needs to be calculated several times during each
      optimization iteration. The cost scales quickly with the problem dimension and
      speed becomes critical in model generation. We present the strategy used to
      parallelize FEREBUS, and the optimization of L(theta,p) through PSO and DE. The
      code is parallelized in two ways. MPI parallelization distributes the particles
      or vectors among the different processes, whereas the OpenMP implementation takes
      care of the calculation of L(theta,p), which involves the calculation and
      inversion of a particular matrix, whose size increases quickly with the dimension
      of the problem. The run time shows a speed-up of 61 times going from single core
      to 90 cores with a saving, in one case, of ~98% of the single core time. In fact,
      the parallelization scheme presented reduces computational time from 2871 s for a
      single core calculation, to 41 s for 90 cores calculation. (c) 2016 The Authors.
      Journal of Computational Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649927
TI  - A phase I/Ib trial targeting the Pi3k/Akt pathway using perifosine: Long-term
      progression-free survival of patients with resistant neuroblastoma.
AB  - AKT plays a pivotal role in driving the malignant phenotype of many cancers,
      including high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB). AKT signaling, however, is active in
      normal tissues, raising concern about excessive toxicity from its suppression.
      The oral AKT inhibitor perifosine showed tolerable toxicity in adults and in our
      phase I trial in children with solid tumors (clinicaltrials.gov NCT00776867). We
      now report on the HR-NB experience. HR-NB patients received perifosine 50-75 mg m
      2  day-1 after a loading dose of 100-200 mg m-2 on day 1, and continued on study
      until progressive disease. The 27 HR-NB patients included three treated for
      primary refractory disease and 24 with disease resistant to salvage therapy after
      1-5 (median 2) relapses; only one had MYCN-amplified HR-NB. Pharmacokinetic
      studies showed MUM concentrations consistent with cytotoxic levels in preclinical
      models. Nine patients (all MYCN-non-amplified) remained progression-free through
      43+ to 74+ (median 54+) months from study entry, including the sole patient to
      show a complete response and eight patients who had persistence of abnormal 123 I
      metaiodobenzylguanidine skeletal uptake but never developed progressive disease.
      Toxicity was negligible in all 27 patients, even with the prolonged treatment (11
      62 months, median 38) in the nine long-term progression-free survivors. The
      clinical findings (i) confirm the safety of therapeutic serum levels of an AKT
      inhibitor in children; (ii) support perifosine for MYCN-non-amplified HR-NB as
      monotherapy after completion of standard treatment or combined with other agents
      (based on preclinical studies) to maximize antitumor effects; and (iii) highlight
      the welcome possibility that refractory or relapsed MYCN-non-amplified HR-NB is
      potentially curable.

PMID- 27649928
TI  - TLR3 preconditioning enhances the therapeutic efficacy of umbilical cord
      mesenchymal stem cells in TNBS-induced colitis via the TLR3-Jagged-1-Notch-1
      pathway.
AB  - Toll-like receptor-3 (TLR3) priming may enhance mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)
      immunosuppressive activity, but this mechanism has not been investigated in the
      context of inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, we assessed the immunosuppressive
      properties of TLR3-primed MSCs using a trinitrobenzene sulfonate (TNBS)-induced
      mouse model of colitis. Intraperitoneally injected polyribocytidylic acid (poly
      (I:C)- (a ligand of TLR3) primed human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hUC-MSCs)
      migrated to the inflamed colon and effectively improved clinical and pathological
      manifestations in colitic mice compared with mice treated with unstimulated hUC
      MSCs (UCMs). Poly (I:C)-MSCs decreased a wide range of inflammatory cytokines and
      increased systemic interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in colonic tissues. Poly (I:C)
      MSCs also impaired T-helper type 1/17 (Th1/17) cell expansion and enhanced the
      suppressive effects of regulatory T cells (Treg) in vitro and in vivo. Poly (I:C)
      MSCs suppressed the proliferation of activated mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells
      via the overproduction of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and upregulation of Jagged-1.
      PGE2 produced by hUC-MSCs in response to poly (I:C) increased the production of
      IL-10 and promoted the differentiation of Treg, which could be reversed by
      inhibition of Notch-1. Collectively, preconditioning MSCs with poly (I:C)
      enhanced the therapeutic effects of hUC-MSCs in TNBS-induced colitis, and TLR3
      activated Notch-1 signaling regulated the immune suppression of hUC-MSCs through
      the production of PGE2.

PMID- 27649930
TI  - The impact of smoking on marginal bone loss in a 10-year prospective longitudinal
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this epidemiologic study was to determine the impact of
      smoking on marginal bone loss in a subsample derived from an original randomly
      selected adult sample, after adjusting for oral and general factors. METHODS: The
      number of participants at baseline in this 10-year longitudinal study was 616
      (mean age: 42 years, range 21-63 years). The participants underwent a full-mouth
      radiographic survey. After recall in 2003, 473 (77%) of the participants accepted
      and completed an identical survey. In 2008, the survey was repeated, and 301
      (48.9%) individuals were included in this study. The marginal bone level of each
      tooth was measured in mm. Age, gender, smoking habits, number of teeth, apical
      periodontitis, crowns and initial marginal bone level were also recorded for each
      individual. Only individuals who did not report a change in smoking habits during
      the 10-year period were included in the study. Multiple regression analyses were
      used to evaluate crude and adjusted associations between smoking and marginal
      bone loss. RESULTS: At the first, radiographic survey smokers had a statistically
      significantly more reduced marginal bone level (in average 0.9 mm) than
      nonsmokers. After 10 years, a progression of a mean marginal bone loss of > 2 mm
      was statistically significantly more common in smokers than in nonsmokers (7.1%
      and 0%, respectively). Furthermore, a marginal bone loss of 1-2 mm was observed
      in 29% of the smokers and 19% of the nonsmokers, and <= 1 mm marginal bone loss
      was found in 69% of smokers and 81% of nonsmokers. Even after adjusting for
      initial marginal bone level, gender, age, and also presence of apical
      periodontitis and crowns, the difference in progression of marginal bone loss was
      still statistically higher in smokers (on average 0.36 mm). CONCLUSIONS: The
      smokers started out with a more reduced marginal bone level than nonsmokers.
      However, even after adjusting for the initial marginal bone level, the
      progression of marginal bone loss in smokers was more pronounced than in
      nonsmokers. This shows that smoking is a factor with significant impact on the
      marginal bone level and can be assumed to be a true risk factor for marginal bone
      loss.

PMID- 27649931
TI  - Commentary on Farsalinos et al. (2016): Electronic cigarette use in the European
      Union: analysis of a representative sample of 27 460 Europeans from 28 countries.

PMID- 27649932
TI  - Spectral Interferometry with Electron Microscopes.
AB  - Interference patterns are not only a defining characteristic of waves, but also
      have several applications; characterization of coherent processes and holography.
      Spatial holography with electron waves, has paved the way towards space-resolved
      characterization of magnetic domains and electrostatic potentials with angstrom
      spatial resolution. Another impetus in electron microscopy has been introduced by
      ultrafast electron microscopy which uses pulses of sub-picosecond durations for
      probing a laser induced excitation of the sample. However, attosecond temporal
      resolution has not yet been reported, merely due to the statistical distribution
      of arrival times of electrons at the sample, with respect to the laser time
      reference. This is however, the very time resolution which will be needed for
      performing time-frequency analysis. These difficulties are addressed here by
      proposing a new methodology to improve the synchronization between electron and
      optical excitations through introducing an efficient electron-driven photon
      source. We use focused transition radiation of the electron as a pump for the
      sample. Due to the nature of transition radiation, the process is coherent. This
      technique allows us to perform spectral interferometry with electron microscopes,
      with applications in retrieving the phase of electron-induced polarizations and
      reconstructing dynamics of the induced vector potential.

PMID- 27649933
TI  - Erratum: Phosphorus Doping in Si Nanocrystals/SiO2 Multilayers and Light Emission
      with Wavelength Compatible for Optical Telecommunication.

PMID- 27649929
TI  - Neonatal mucosal immunology.
AB  - Although largely deprived from exogenous stimuli in utero, the mucosal barriers
      of the neonate after birth are bombarded by environmental, nutritional, and
      microbial exposures. The microbiome is established concurrently with the
      developing immune system. The nature and timing of discrete interactions between
      these two factors underpins the long-term immune characteristics of these organs,
      and can set an individual on a trajectory towards or away from disease. Microbial
      exposures in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts are some of the key
      determinants of the overall immune tone at these mucosal barriers and represent a
      leading target for future intervention strategies. In this review, we discuss
      immune maturation in the gut and lung and how microbes have a central role in
      this process.

PMID- 27649934
TI  - Influence of experience on procedure steps, safety, and functional results in
      edge to edge mitral valve repair-a single center study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the effects of experience on the Mitraclip(r)
      procedure steps as well as procedure safety and functional results. BACKGROUND:
      MR has proven deleterious in heart failure. Mitraclip(r) therapy evolved an
      important option in patients with severely reduced left ventricular function
      (LVEF). METHODS: Between 2011 and 2016, 126 consecutive patients were grouped in
      three groups and investigated in a prospective observational study. We evaluated
      the duration of procedural steps, safety endpoints, and functional results.
      RESULTS: The median logistic EuroScore was 32% (7-40%). Ninety-five percent of
      patients were in NYHA-stage >=III and 51% had a LVEF <30%. Groups were
      homogeneous as to their baseline NYHA status and right heart catheterization
      data. Echocardiography data are comparable, albeit with a decreasing effective
      regurgitant orifice area (0.44 +/- 0.21 group I vs. 0.34 +/- 0.22 group III, P =
      0.02). Frailty was less frequent and baseline 6 min walking test results improved
      from group I to group III. Duration of a first clip placement decreased from 106
      +/- 50 to 50 +/- 21 min (P < 0.001). Total procedure time decreased from 221 +/-
      70 to 144 +/- 68 (P < 0.001). The number of clips implanted increased from 66 to
      79 (P = 0.02). MitraClip(r) implantation was effective in either group but the
      combined safety endpoint was reached less frequent in group III (P = 0.01). There
      was no difference in MACCE rate, 30 day- or intrahospital-mortality between
      groups. CONCLUSION: Safety and duration of procedure steps improved substantially
      with experience. MR reduction was sustained from the beginning without further
      improvement. Patient selection is a key factor for success. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27649936
TI  - Clinical value of pulmonary hyperinflation as a treatment outcome in cystic
      fibrosis.

PMID- 27649935
TI  - Investigation of SP94 Peptide as a Specific Probe for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
      Imaging and Therapy.
AB  - SP94 (SFSIIHTPILPL), a novel peptide, has shown specific binding to
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. We aimed to investigate the capability of
      SP94 as a targeting probe for HCC imaging and therapy following labeling with
      technetium-99m ((99m)Tc) and rhenium-188 ((188)Re). HYNIC-SP94 was prepared by
      solid phase synthesis and then labeled with (99m)Tc. Cell competitive binding,
      internalization assay, in vitro and in vivo stability, biodistribution and micro
      single photon emission computed tomography /computed tomography (SPECT/CT)
      imaging studies were performed to investigate the capability of (99m)Tc tricine
      EDDA/HYNIC-SP94 as a specific HCC imaging probe. Initial promising targeting
      results inspired evaluation of its therapeutic effect when labeled by (188)Re.
      HYNIC-SP94 was then labeled again with (188)Re to perform cell apoptosis,
      microSPECT/CT imaging evaluation and immunohistochemistry. Huh-7 cells exhibited
      typical apoptotic changes after (188)Re irradiation. According to (99m)Tc tricine
      EDDA/HYNIC-SP94 microSPECT/CT imaging, tumor uptake was significantly decreased
      compared with that of pre-treatment with (188)Re-HYNIC-SP94. The
      immunohistochemistry also displayed obvious necrosis and apoptosis as well as
      inhibition of proliferation in the (188)Re-HYNIC-SP94 treatment group. The
      results supported that (99m)Tc tricine-EDDA/HYNIC-SP94 is able to target HCC
      cells and (188)Re-HYNIC- SP94 holds potential as a therapeutic agent for HCC,
      making (99m)Tc/(188)Re-HYNIC-SP94 a promising targeting probe for HCC imaging and
      therapy.

PMID- 27649937
TI  - Transgenic animal model for studying the mechanism of obesity-associated stress
      urinary incontinence.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study and compare the function and structure of the urethral
      sphincter in female Zucker lean (ZL) and Zucker fatty (ZF) rats and to assess the
      viability of ZF fats as a model for female obesity-associated stress urinary
      incontinence (SUI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two study arms were created: a ZL arm
      including 16-week-old female ZL rats (ZUC-Leprfa 186; n = 12) and a ZF arm
      including 16-week-old female ZF rats (ZUC-Leprfa 185; n = 12). I.p. insulin
      tolerance testing was carried out before functional study. Metabolic cages,
      conscious cystometry and leak point pressure (LPP) assessments were conducted.
      Urethral tissues were harvested for immunofluorescence staining to check
      intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) and sphincter muscle (smooth muscle and striated
      muscle) composition. RESULTS: The ZF rats had insulin resistance, a greater
      voiding frequency and lower LPP compared with ZL rats (P < 0.05), with more IMCL
      deposition localized in the urethral striated muscle fibres of the ZF rats (P <
      0.05). The thickness of the striated muscle layer and the ratio of striated
      muscle to smooth muscle were lower in ZF than in ZL rats. CONCLUSION: Obesity
      impairs urethral sphincter function via IMCL deposition and leads to atrophy and
      distortion of urethral striated muscle. The ZF rats could be a consistent and
      reliable animal model in which to study obesity-associated SUI.

PMID- 27649938
TI  - Progressive multi-focal leucoencephalopathy among ibrutinib-treated persons with
      chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

PMID- 27649939
TI  - Direct comparison of Cryotop(r) vitrification and Bicell(r) freezing on recovery
      of functional rat pancreatic islets.
AB  - Two protocols, Bicell(r) freeze-thawing and Cryotop(r) vitrification-warming,
      were compared for suitability in cryopreserving rat pancreatic islets (101-150
      MUm in mean diameter). Immediate survival rates of post-thaw and post-warm islets
      (50 and 57%, respectively), assessed by FDA/PI double staining, were lower than
      that of fresh control islets (90%). Most of the PI-positive dead cells were
      detected in peripheral area of post-warm islets, and were removed after
      subsequent 24 h culture (survival rate; 85% vs 59% in post-thaw islets).
      Quantitative PCR analysis showed that Bicell(r) freeze-thawing compromised
      expression of genes relating to beta-cell function (Pdx1 and Glut2), but not to
      one of apoptotic pathways (Bax/Bcl2 ratio). Expression of these genes was
      maintained in islets before and after the Cryotop(r) vitrification-warming.
      Values of stimulus index (SI) for 20 mM/3 mM glucose-stimulated insulin secretion
      were 6.7, 1.9 and 3.9 in fresh control, post-thaw and post-warm islets,
      respectively. The SI values after 24 h culture were 4.1, 1.9 and 3.1,
      respectively. Larger islets (>150 MUm in diameter) had comparable survival rates,
      but lower SI values after Cryotop(r) vitrification-warming when compared to
      smaller counterparts. These results suggest that rat pancreatic islets can be
      cryopreserved by Cryotop(r) vitrification-warming rather than Bicell(r) freeze
      thawing, without considerable loss of in vitro beta-cell function.

PMID- 27649941
TI  - CAR T-cell therapies: formulation-product-proposition framework for
      commercialisation.

PMID- 27649940
TI  - Can Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease unravel the mysteries of Alzheimer?
AB  - Recent studies on iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) raised concerns that
      one of the hallmark lesions of Alzheimer disease (AD), amyloid-beta (Abeta), may
      be transmitted from human-to-human. The neuropathology of AD-related lesions is
      complex. Therefore, many aspects need to be considered in deciding on this issue.
      Observations of recent studies can be summarized as follows: 1) The frequency of
      iatrogenic CJD cases with parencyhmal and vascular Abeta deposits is
      statistically higher than expected; 2) The morphology and distribution of Abeta
      deposition may show distinct features; 3) The pituitary and the dura mater
      themselves may serve as potential sources of Abeta seeds; 4) Cadaveric dura mater
      from 2 examined cases shows Abeta deposition; and 5) There is a lack of evidence
      that the clinical phenotype of AD appears following the application of cadaveric
      pituitary hormone or dura mater transplantation. These studies support the notion
      that neurodegenerative diseases have common features regarding propagation of
      disease-associated proteins as seeds. However, until further evidence emerges,
      prions of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are the only
      neurodegenerative disease-related proteins proven to propagate
      clinicopathological phenotypes.

PMID- 27649942
TI  - New prodrugs against tuberculosis.
AB  - The term 'prodrug' was first introduced by Albert in 1958. Generally, prodrugs
      can be utilized for improving active drug solubility and bioavailability,
      increasing drug permeability and absorption, modifying the distribution profile,
      preventing fast metabolism and excretion, and reducing toxicity. Previously, the
      prodrug approach was a final resort during the drug discovery process only after
      all other approaches had been exhausted. However, this strategy is now considered
      during the early stages of the drug development process. Most antitubercular
      agents are defined as 'prodrugs', including isoniazid and ethionamide. Thus, the
      prodrug approach could provide novel targets for the rational design of more
      effective treatments for tuberculosis (TB).

PMID- 27649943
TI  - Identification and validation of novel drug targets in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) is a global epidemic associated increasingly with resistance to
      first- and second-line antitubercular drugs. The magnitude of this global health
      threat underscores the urgent need to discover new antimycobacterial agents that
      have novel mechanisms of action (MOA). In this review, we highlight some of the
      key advances that have enabled the strengths of target-led and phenotypic
      approaches to TB drug discovery to be harnessed both independently and in
      combination. Critically, these promise to fuel the front-end of the TB drug
      pipeline with new, pharmacologically validated drug targets together with lead
      compounds that act on these targets.

PMID- 27649944
TI  - The role of mast cells in histologically "normal" appendices following emergency
      appendectomy in pediatric patients.
AB  - Fifteen percent to 25% of appendices resected for a preoperative diagnosis of
      acute appendicitis have no neutrophilic infiltration, thus histologically
      "normal." The discrepancy between clinical presentation and the lack of definite
      morphologic changes is confounding. It has been indicated that mast cells may
      play a role in the pathogenesis of the appendicitis-like pain in patients with
      histologically negative appendices (HNAs). To investigate whether mast cell
      density (MCD) is increased in pediatric HNAs, we retrieved 50 appendectomy cases
      (30 HNA and 20 control, ages 2 days-18 years) in our institute in the last 10
      years. All cases were stained with mast cell tryptase by immunohistochemistry,
      and MCD (count/high-power field) was measured in mucosa, submucosa, muscularis,
      and serosa. Mast cells had the greatest density in the mucosa, followed by the
      submucosa, in all appendices. MCDs in all 4 layers were significantly higher in
      HNAs than in the normal controls (mucosa: 46+/-9 vs 26+/-11, P<.01; submucosa:
      18+/-5 vs 11+/-5, P<.01; muscularis: 6+/-3 vs 4+/-2, P<.01; serosa: 6+/-2 vs 4+/
      2, P<.01). This result suggests that mast cells play an important role in
      pathogenesis of HNA cases. In clinical practice, pathologists may order
      immunohistochemical stains for mast cells in cases with no classic histologic
      findings of acute appendicitis following emergency appendectomy. If increased MCD
      is noted, the case may be reported as "appendicitis with increased mast cells."
      This assures surgeons that the appendectomy is the correct treatment and it is
      not necessary to look for other causes of acute abdomen. This is especially
      important in children. 

PMID- 27649945
TI  - Surgical follow-up results for apocrine adenosis and atypical apocrine adenosis
      diagnosed on breast core biopsy.
AB  - Apocrine adenosis (AA) and atypical apocrine adenosis (AAA) are uncommon findings
      in breast biopsies that may be misinterpreted as carcinoma. The clinical
      significance and risk implications of AAA diagnosed on core biopsy are not well
      established. This study aimed to determine the frequency of carcinoma on follow
      up excision in patients with a diagnosis of AA or AAA on core biopsy. Forty-one
      breast core biopsies of AA (n=29) and AAA (n=12) were identified during a study
      period of 12 years. Of the 41 core biopsies with AA or AAA, 10 biopsies showed
      coexisting/concurrent atypical hyperplasia or carcinoma. In the absence of
      coexisting/concurrent atypical hyperplasia or carcinoma in core biopsy, none of
      the follow-up excision specimens after a diagnosis of AA or AAA showed ductal
      carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma. In conclusion, AA or AAA by itself is an
      uncommon core biopsy diagnosis that may not require surgical excision. 

PMID- 27649946
TI  - Comparative study of TERT gene mutation analysis on voided liquid-based urine
      cytology and paraffin-embedded tumorous tissue.

PMID- 27649948
TI  - Re: Mammary analog secretory carcinoma of salivary glands: a clinicopathologic
      study of 11 cases.

PMID- 27649947
TI  - Frozen section evaluation of margins in radical prostatectomy specimens: a
      contemporary study and literature review.
AB  - The utility of routine frozen section (FS) analysis for margin evaluation during
      radical prostatectomy (RP) remains controversial. A retrospective search was
      conducted to identify RPs evaluated by FS over a 5-year period. The potential of
      FS to discriminate between benign and malignant tissue and to predict final
      margins was evaluated. During the study period, 71 (12.3%) of 575 cases underwent
      FS evaluation of margins, generating 192 individual FSs. There were 8 FSs
      diagnosed as atypical/indeterminate because of significant freezing, crushing,
      and/or thermal artifacts; 11 as positive for carcinoma; and 173 as benign. Two
      FSs classified as benign were diagnosed as positive for carcinoma on subsequent
      permanent section. Frozen sections' sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive
      value, negative predictive value, and accuracy for diagnosis of prostatic
      adenocarcinoma were 85%, 100%, 100%, 99%, and 99%, respectively. Overall RP final
      margin predictive accuracy was 81%. Positive FS was significantly associated with
      perineural invasion on biopsy and extraprostatic extension and higher stage
      disease on RP, but not with the overall final margin status. The high FS accuracy
      supports its use to guide the extent of surgery. However, FS cannot be used to
      predict the overall final margin status. Recognition of the histological
      artifacts inherent to the FS procedure is important to ensure appropriate
      utilization. 

PMID- 27649949
TI  - Trends in extramural consultation: comparison between subspecialized and general
      surgical pathology service models.
AB  - Academic and community hospital pathology groups are increasingly adopting
      subspecialized service models for surgical pathology (SP) practice. Reasons cited
      include improvements in sign-out efficiency, quality and accuracy, enhancement of
      clinician-pathologist communications, and augmentation of resident training
      quality. However, there is a paucity of published quantitative data regarding the
      outcomes of transitioning from general to subspecialized SP service coverage.
      Retrospective assessment of the frequencies and outcomes of SP extramural
      consultations requested by faculty at our institution was performed, encompassing
      2 consecutive years each of subspecialized and general SP service models. The
      frequencies of extramural consultations between the 2 practice models were not
      significantly different (0.25% vs 0.21%, P = .142). Although more pathology cases
      were sent out in gastrointestinal (0.29% vs 0.14%, P = .007), gynecologic (0.16%
      vs 0.02%, P = .009), and pulmonary (1.73% vs 0.28%, P = .008) services during the
      "subspecialization" era, fewer pediatric cases were sent out (0.48% vs 1.69%, P =
      .008). Importantly, the transition to the subspecialized model was associated
      with a marked reduction in the frequency of major disagreements between the
      original diagnosis and the consultant's diagnosis (1.8% vs 9.3%, P = .018). Our
      study supports the value of the subspecialized SP sign-out model for increasing
      diagnostic accuracy and enhancing the quality of patient care. 

PMID- 27649950
TI  - Immunoexpression of p53 in cutaneous and subcutaneous leiomyosarcomas.
AB  - The diagnosis of malignancy in cutaneous and subcutaneous smooth muscle tumors is
      based on subtle criteria. Therefore, any ancillary technique useful in this
      differential diagnosis is always welcome. In this report, we study the
      immunoexpression of p53 in 19 malignant smooth muscle tumors of the skin (15
      cutaneous leiomyosarcomas, 2 subcutaneous leiomyosarcomas, and 2 cutaneous
      metastases of leiomyosarcoma), as well as in 1 leiomyoma with cellular atypia,
      therefore complementing a previous study on p53 immunoexpression in leiomyomas of
      the skin. The p53 staining was positive in 12 (63.16%) of 19 leiomyosarcomas.
      Percentages of immunostaining in the positive cases varied from 2% to 95%. Ten
      (66.66%) of 15 cutaneous leiomyosarcomas were positive for p53, and in 4 of these
      cases, immunoexpression was demonstrated by more than 50% of the cells. Five
      (33.33%) cutaneous leiomyosarcomas did not show any expression of p53. Of the 2
      subcutaneous leiomyosarcomas, one was negative for p53 and the other expressed
      the marker in 70% of the cells. The only atypical leiomyoma included in the study
      did not express p53. Of the 2 cutaneous metastases of leiomyosarcoma, one was
      negative and the other expressed p53 in 20% of the cells. The current study
      supports our previous conclusions that p53 immunoexpression in more than 1% of
      the cells in a cutaneous smooth muscle tumor is indicative of malignancy.
      However, we believe that additional studies on atypical leiomyoma are needed. 

PMID- 27649951
TI  - Spinal osteoblastic meningioma with hematopoiesis: radiologic-pathologic
      correlation and review of the literature.
AB  - Spinal meningiomas associated with bone formation and hematopoiesis are rare
      tumors with only 3 prior case reports in the literature. We describe a case
      report of a woman who presented with back pain and an isolated event of urinary
      incontinence. A calcified spinal canal mass at T8 was identified on computed
      tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging. A gross total resection of the tumor
      was performed and pathologic examination showed a meningioma, World Health
      Organization grade 1, containing bone and bone marrow elements. A review of
      previously reported cases and a discussion of possible mechanisms of bone and
      hematopoiesis development in meningioma are presented. 

PMID- 27649952
TI  - Skin aging in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
AB  - To evaluate the histomorphometric skin changes over aging patients with autopsied
      acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In 29 skin fragments of autopsied
      elderly (older than 50 years) and nonelderly patients with AIDS, epidermal
      thickness, the number of layers, the diameter of cells, the percentage of
      collagen and elastic fibers in the dermis, and the number and morphology of
      Langerhans cells were assessed. Statistical analysis was performed by SigmaStat
      2.03 program. The thickness of the epidermis (92.55 * 158.94 MUm), the number of
      layers (7 * 9 layers), and the diameter of the cells (13.27 * 17.6 MUm) were
      statistically lower among the elderly. The quantity of collagen fibers (9.68 *
      14.11%) and elastic fibers (11.89 * 15.31%) was also significantly lower in the
      elderly. There was a decrease in total (10.61 * 12.38 cel/mm(2)) and an increase
      in immature Langerhans cells (6.31 * 4.98 cel/mm(2)) in elderly patients with
      AIDS. The aging of the skin of patients with AIDS is amended in different
      histomorphometric aspects, the epidermis constituents suffer less pronounced
      changes in normal aging, and the dermis has more intense changes in elastic
      fibers and collagen. 

PMID- 27649953
TI  - Primary cardiac diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in immunocompetent patients:
      clinical, histologic, immunophenotypic, and genotypic features of 3 cases.
AB  - Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is a rare extranodal lymphoma that involves only
      the heart and/or pericardium. Primary cardiac lymphoma is much less common in
      immunocompetent patients compared with those who are immunosuppressed. Patients
      with PCL have variable clinical manifestations that may lead to misdiagnosis and
      delay in treatment. Modern radiologic imaging now allows for earlier detection of
      these tumors. This study describes the clinical, histologic/cytologic,
      immunophenotypic, and molecular genetic findings for 3 immunocompetent patients
      with primary cardiac diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. All 3 patients had different
      initial clinical presentations. The neoplastic cells in all 3 cases were large in
      size, morphologically resembling diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Neoplastic cells
      in 2 cases had non-germinal center (GC)-like (non-GC-like) and 1 case had GC-like
      immunophenotype. Neoplastic cells in all 3 cases showed C-MYC and BCL2
      immunohistochemical protein coexpression. Neoplastic cells in 1 case showed
      double-hit MYC and BCL2 gene rearrangements, whereas another 1 case showed MYC
      gene rearrangement without BCL2 gene rearrangement. Epstein-Barr virus-encoded
      RNA was negative in the neoplastic cells in all 3 cases. All 3 patients received
      rituximab-based chemotherapy. Two patients subsequently had disease relapse at
      other extranodal sites at 10 and 24 months, respectively, whereas 1 patient was
      alive without disease at 9 months after diagnosis. If there is sufficient
      diagnostic tissue in these rare tumors, molecular studies should ideally be
      performed for prognostication and further patient management. 

PMID- 27649954
TI  - Expression analysis of BRUCE protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Apoptosis is a form of cell death in response to diverse stressful physiological
      or pathological stimuli. One of the most important gene families involved in
      apoptosis is inhibitors of apoptosis. As a member of inhibitors of apoptosis,
      BRUCE can suppress apoptosis and promote cell division. Because esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells, as well as other cancer cells, are
      immortal, our aim in this study was to analyze BRUCE protein expression in ESCC
      and evaluate its correlation with tumoral clinicopathologic features. Fifty ESCC
      specimens were examined for BRUCE protein expression using immunohistochemistry.
      A defined scoring method was applied. BRUCE protein was detected in 82% of
      tumors. Tumor progression stage and invasion depth correlated significantly with
      BRUCE protein expression (P=.019 and .005, respectively). Furthermore,
      association of BRUCE expression with tumor location was near significant
      (P=.058). The correlation of BRUCE overexpression in ESCC and disease
      aggressiveness may confirm the importance of BRUCE in ESCC progression and
      invasiveness. Therefore, BRUCE protein may be a molecular marker for aggressive
      ESCC and, thus, a potential therapeutic target to inhibit tumor cell progression
      and invasion. 

PMID- 27649956
TI  - Inflammation and focal atrophy in prostate needle biopsy cores and association to
      prostatic adenocarcinoma.
AB  - The possible origin of proliferative inflammatory atrophy in the regenerative
      proliferation of prostate epithelial cells in response to injury caused by
      inflammation, and their relation to prostate adenocarcinoma have not been
      defined. Inflammation and focal atrophy are common pathological findings in
      prostate biopsies, currently not routinely included in surgical pathology
      reports. The objective of the study was to determine the correlation between
      inflammation and focal atrophy with prostate adenocarcinoma. Prostate needle
      biopsies from 203 patients with clinical parameters suspicious for malignancy
      were evaluated for the presence and extent of chronic inflammation, type and
      grade of focal atrophy, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and adenocarcinoma.
      Relations among them and with age were also analyzed. chi(2) tests and binary
      logistic regression were used to estimate associations. Chronic inflammation was
      observed in 77.3% of the biopsies, significantly associated to adenocarcinoma (P
      = .031). Moderate/severe inflammation in at least 1 biopsy core increased the
      risk of prostate adenocarcinoma (odds ratio, 2.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.27
      6.8), whereas glandular localization of inflammation decreased the risk. Focal
      atrophy was present in 72.9% of the biopsies, proliferative inflammatory atrophy
      was the most common type, and its grade was significantly associated to
      inflammation (P < .0001) and inflammation intensity (P = .003). An association
      between prostate adenocarcinoma and inflammation was found, with higher odds in
      presence of moderate/severe inflammation in at least 1 biopsy core. Increasing
      grades of proliferative inflammatory atrophy were associated to high levels of
      inflammation, supporting its previously proposed inflammatory nature. 

PMID- 27649955
TI  - Key gaps in pathologic reporting for appendiceal mucinous neoplasms: time for
      universal synoptic reporting?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The prognosis of appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (AMN) is directly
      related to their histopathology. Existing classification schemes encompass tumors
      with widely divergent clinical behaviors within a single diagnosis, making it
      difficult for clinicians to interpret pathology reports to counsel patients on
      optimal management. We sought to examine pathology reports generated for AMN for
      inclusion of essential histologic features. METHODS: Pathology reports of
      appendectomy specimens with a diagnosis of AMN (2002-2015) at our center
      ("internal") and from referring institutions ("external") were retrospectively
      reviewed for inclusion of the following 5 essential items: layer of invasion,
      mucin dissection (low grade neoplasms only), perforation, margins, and serosal
      implants. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients were included, 54 with external reports
      available. Benign/low grade tumors comprised 29.0% and 27.8% of internal and
      external reports, respectively. Thirty-seven internal reports (53.6%) were signed
      out by specialist gastrointestinal pathologists. External reports were 66.7%
      complete for layer of invasion, 26.7% for mucin dissection, 64.8% for
      perforation, 68.5% for margins, 53.7% for serosal implants, and 18.5% for all
      items. Internal reports were 75.4% complete for layer of invasion, 40.0% for
      mucin dissection, 40.6% for perforation, 82.6% for margins, 69.6% for serosal
      implants, and 17.4% for all items. Eight external (14.8%) and 24 internal (34.8%)
      reports were synoptic. Synoptic reports were more likely to be complete for all
      key items both external and internal. CONCLUSION: Most pathology reports are
      incomplete for essential features needed for management and discussion of AMN
      with patients. Synoptic reports improve completeness of reporting for these
      tumors.

PMID- 27649957
TI  - Differential expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule in salivary gland
      neoplasms.
AB  - Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is the epithelial-specific molecule
      expressed on various epithelial cell types. The function of EpCAM involves
      cellular adhesion, proliferation, and signaling in both normal tissues and
      cancers. The purposes of this study were to investigate the EpCAM expression in
      salivary gland neoplasms and examine its relationship with pathologic
      characteristics. Forty-two cases of salivary gland neoplasms, including 20
      mucoepidermoid carcinomas (MECs), 11 adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACCs), 9
      pleomorphic adenomas (PAs), and 2 polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas (PLGAs)
      were enrolled. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule expression was analyzed
      immunohistochemically using MOC-31 and BerEP4 antibodies. Results showed that the
      majority of MECs and all PLGAs showed EpCAM expression in more than 50% of
      neoplastic cells, whereas most PAs and ACCs did not express this protein. In
      MECs, most EpCAM-positive neoplastic cells were clear cells, glandular epithelial
      cells, and intermediate cells, whereas squamous cells and mucous cells were
      largely negative. The expression was limited to ductal epithelium in EpCAM
      positive PAs and ACCs. The decreased EpCAM expression in MECs was significantly
      associated with microscopically diminished cystic components, the presence of
      small nest invasion at invasive front, cellular anaplasia, vascular invasion, and
      high pathologic grade. These data suggested that EpCAM showed different
      expression pattern among salivary gland neoplasms and in different grades of
      MECs. 

PMID- 27649958
TI  - Improved Cell Adhesion and Osteogenesis of op-HA/PLGA Composite by Poly(dopamine)
      Assisted Immobilization of Collagen Mimetic Peptide and Osteogenic Growth
      Peptide.
AB  - A nanocomposite of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and hydroxyapatite (HA) with
      a different grafting ratio of l-lactic acid oligomer (op-HA) showed better
      interface compatibility, mineralization, and osteogenetic abilities. However,
      surface modification of the composite is crucial to improve the osteointegration
      for bone regeneration. In this study, a biomimetic process via poly(dopamine)
      coating was utilized to prepare functional substrate surfaces with immobilized
      bioactive peptides that efficiently regulate the osteogenic differentiation of
      preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1). Our study demonstrated that incorporation of collagen
      mimetic peptide significantly enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation. The
      immobilization of osteogenic growth peptide induced the osteodifferentiation of
      cells, as indicated by the alkaline phosphate activity test, quantitative real
      time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and immunofluorescence staining. The
      mineralization on the peptide-modified substrates was also enhanced greatly.
      Findings from this study revealed that this biofunctionalized layer on op-HA/PLGA
      substrate improved mineralization and osteogenic differentiation. In conclusion,
      the surface modification strategy with bioactive peptides shows potential to
      enhance the osteointegration of bone implants.

PMID- 27649959
TI  - [Periprosthetic infections in patients with rheumatism : A challenge].
AB  - The increasing number of implantations will lead to more periprosthetic
      infections. Periprosthetic infections in patients with rheumatism, who are often
      undergoing immunosuppressive treatment, represent a challenge for the treating
      physicians. The optimal care and treatment therefore necessitate an
      interdisciplinary agreement between orthopedic surgeons, specialists for
      infections and rheumatologists.

PMID- 27649960
TI  - Effect of low-level laser therapy on angiogenesis and matrix metalloproteinase-2
      immunoexpression in wound repair.
AB  - Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) induces anti-inflammatory and angiogenic
      activities in wound healing. However, the mechanism of action and optimal
      parameters require further clarification. In this study, we investigated the
      effects of LLLT on wound healing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2
      immunoexpression and angiogenic processes. Twenty female Wistar rats were
      randomly divided into four groups (n = 5) according to the treatments as follows.
      CG7 and CG14 were control groups at days 7 and 14, respectively, which received
      physiological saline (0.9 % NaCl daily). LG7 and LG14 were laser therapy groups
      at days 7 and 14, respectively, which received two (LG7) or four (LG14) LLLT
      applications (40 mW; 660 nm; 4 J/cm2). A dorsal skin sample in the wound area
      (measuring 2 cm2) was removed after the experimental period, and then the animals
      were euthanized. The specimens were processed for qualitative and quantitative
      histological analyses and measurement of MMP-2 expression in the dermis and
      epidermis. A persistent crust and moderate number of inflammatory cells were
      found in CG7 and CG14 groups. In the LG14 group, wounds demonstrated complete re
      epithelization at the remodeling phase. Angiogenesis and MMP-2 expression were
      higher in LLLT-treated groups, particularly the LG14 group, which correlated
      according to the Spearman correlation test. LLLT improves wound healing by
      enhancing neocollagenesis, increasing the amount of new vessels formed in the
      tissue (neoangiogenesis), and modulating MMP-2 expression. Epidermal
      overexpression of MMP-2 was correlated to angiogenic processes.

PMID- 27649961
TI  - Low-intensity laser (660 nm) on sternotomy healing in patients who underwent
      coronary artery bypass graft: a randomized, double-blind study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyze the healing effects of low-level laser
      therapy (LLLT) on the longitudinal sternotomy incisions of patients who underwent
      coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The volunteers were randomized into three
      groups of equal size (n = 30): control, placebo, and laser (lambda = 660 nm and
      spatial average energy fluency [SAEF] = 1.06 J/cm2). The patients in the laser
      group underwent irradiation on postoperative days 2, 4, 6, and 8, and their
      sternotomy incisions were photographed immediately after the surgery and 8 days
      later for analysis. Three researchers who were blinded to the patient treatment
      groups analyzed the incision photographs to assess hyperemia and wound closure on
      the day of hospital discharge (eighth postoperative day). The sternotomy
      incisions in the LLLT group demonstrated less hyperemia, incisional bleeding, and
      dehiscence (p <= 0.005).

PMID- 27649963
TI  - Surface display on lactic acid bacteria without genetic modification: strategies
      and applications.
AB  - Microbial cell surface display has attracted greater attention than ever and has
      numerous potential applications in biotechnology. With the safety and probiotic
      properties, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been used widely in food and
      industrial applications. In order to circumvent using genetically modified
      microorganisms which face low public acceptance and severe regulatory scrutiny,
      surface-engineered LAB without genetical modification are more preferred.
      According to the way used to obtain the fusion protein containing the passenger
      molecule and anchoring domain, the genetic or chemical approaches can be used to
      construct these surface-engineered LAB. In addition to the viable wide-type LAB,
      non-living bacterial-like particles (BLP) can be attached by these fusion
      proteins added from outside. Compared to the living LAB, BLP have a higher
      binding capacity and less anticarrier response. Mucosal vaccines are the
      predominant application of these surface-engineered LAB with no genetical
      modification.

PMID- 27649962
TI  - Analysis of photobiomodulation associated or not with platelet-rich plasma on
      repair of muscle tissue by Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - Treatment of muscle injuries usually results in the interruption of sports
      practice; thus, studies aimed at accelerating the return to activity, with proper
      tissue repair, are important. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects
      of photobiomodulation (PBM), associated or not with platelet-rich plasma (PRP),
      on the treatment of muscle injury. Thirty-five animals were used and divided into
      five groups (n = 7): control (C), control lesion (CL), lesion treated with low
      level laser therapy (LLLT) (LLt), lesion treated with PRP (LP), and lesion
      treated with both techniques, LLLT and PRP (LLtP). Muscle injury was induced by
      stretching the gastrocnemius muscle, and the animals in the LLtP and LP groups
      received the application of PRP immediately following the injury. The LLLT was
      applied daily for 7 days. The animals were euthanized 7 days after the injury.
      Analysis of the NADH/NAD ratio and collagen was performed by Raman spectroscopy;
      in addition to which, histological analysis of the gastrocnemius muscle was
      performed. The LLtP group demonstrated a reduction in the area of injury,
      regenerating cells and a healthy appearance of muscle fibers. The Raman analyses
      showed a reduction in the NADH/NAD ratio in the CL group, demonstrating oxidative
      stress, and the collagen presented a reduction in the CL and LLt groups, when
      compared with the C group. It is concluded that either PBM or PRP, and the
      association of both, was able to reduce the oxidative stress promoted by injury
      and modulate collagen production at the site of the injury. Furthermore, although
      both treatments individually were effective for repairing the damage caused by
      muscle injury, the association of both demonstrated a better histological aspect.

PMID- 27649964
TI  - Lipids rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from microalgae.
AB  - Despite microalgae recently receiving enormous attention as a potential source of
      biodiesel, their use is still not feasible as an alternative to fossil fuels.
      Recently, interest in microalgae has focused on the production of bioactive
      compounds such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which provide microalgae a
      high added value. Several considerations need to be assessed for optimizing PUFA
      production from microalgae. Firstly, a microalgae species that produces high PUFA
      concentrations should be selected, such as Nannochloropsis gaditana, Isochrysis
      galbana, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Crypthecodinium cohnii, with marine
      species gaining more attention than do freshwater species. Closed cultivation
      processes, e.g., photobioreactors, are the most appropriate since temperature,
      pH, and nutrients can be controlled. An airlift column with LEDs or optical
      fibers to distribute photons into the culture media can be used at small scale to
      produce inoculum, while tubular and flat panels are used at commercial scale.
      Depending on the microalgae, a temperature range from 15 to 28  degrees C and a
      pH from 7 to 8 can be employed. Relevant conditions for PUFA production are
      medium light irradiances (50-300 MUmol photons m(-2) s(-1)), air enriched with (0
      1 % (v/v) CO2, as well as nitrogen and phosphorous limitation. For research
      purposes, the most appropriate medium for PUFA production is Bold's Basal,
      whereas mixotrophic cultivation using sucrose or glucose as the carbon source has
      been reported for industrial processes. For cell harvesting, the use of
      tangential flow membrane filtration or disk stack centrifugation is advisable at
      commercial scale. Current researches on PUFA extraction have focused on the use
      of organic solvents assisted with ultrasound or microwaves, supercritical fluids,
      and electroporation or are enzyme assisted. Commercial-scale extraction involves
      mainly physical methods such as bead mills and expeller presses. All these
      factors should be taken into account when choosing a PUFA production system, as
      discussed in this review. 

PMID- 27649965
TI  - After oxidation, zinc nanoparticles lose their ability to enhance responses to
      odorants.
AB  - Electrical responses of olfactory sensory neurons to odorants were examined in
      the presence of zinc nanoparticles of various sizes and degrees of oxidation. The
      zinc nanoparticles were prepared by the underwater electrical discharge method
      and analyzed by atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
      Small (1.2 +/- 0.3 nm) zinc nanoparticles significantly enhanced electrical
      responses of olfactory neurons to odorants. After oxidation, however, these small
      zinc nanoparticles were no longer capable of enhancing olfactory responses.
      Larger zinc oxide nanoparticles (15 nm and 70 nm) also did not modulate responses
      to odorants. Neither zinc nor zinc oxide nanoparticles produced olfactory
      responses when added without odorants. The enhancement of odorant responses by
      small zinc nanoparticles was explained by the creation of olfactory receptor
      dimers initiated by small zinc nanoparticles. The results of this work will
      clarify the mechanisms for the initial events in olfaction, as well as to provide
      new ways to alleviate anosmia related to the loss of olfactory receptors.

PMID- 27649966
TI  - Double Negativity in 3D Space Coiling Metamaterials.
AB  - Metamaterials displaying negative refractive index has remarkable potential to
      facilitate the manipulation of incident waves for wide variety of applications
      such as cloaking, superlensing and the like. Space-coiling approach is a recently
      explored technique to achieve extreme properties. The space coiling phenomena
      cause less energy absorption as compared to local resonating phenomena for
      obtaining extreme parameters. Here we show extreme properties in doubly negative
      3D space coiling acoustic metamaterials. Frequency dispersive spectrum of extreme
      constitutive parameters has been calculated for 2D maze and 3D space coiling
      labyrinthine structure. This is in good agreement to the calculated acoustic band
      dispersion.

PMID- 27649968
TI  - Treatments for intrusive luxation in permanent teeth: a systematic review and
      meta-analysis.
AB  - Intrusive luxation is a severe form of dental trauma and there is no consensus
      regarding its management for permanent teeth. A systematic review and meta
      analysis was performed to identify the appropriate treatment for teeth with
      intrusive luxation. The PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, US Clinical Trials, and ISRCTN
      Registry electronic databases were used to search for articles in English and
      unpublished studies without a date limit. Eligible studies evaluated periodontal
      results (root resorption as the primary outcome; marginal bone defects and/or
      pulpal changes as secondary outcomes) after spontaneous re-eruption (SRE),
      orthodontic repositioning (ORP), or surgical repositioning (SRP) for patients
      with one or more traumatically intruded permanent teeth. Risk ratios with 95%
      confidence intervals were used to compare treatments. The meta-analysis revealed
      no significant difference (P>0.05) between SRP and SRE for root resorption. For
      secondary outcomes, SRE was significantly better than SRP and ORP (P<0.05).
      Subgroup analyses showed no significant differences among treatments in teeth
      with completely formed roots (P>0.05) and a better prognosis when SRE was
      performed in teeth with incompletely formed roots (P<0.05). The available
      evidence does not allow us to conclude on the best treatment for traumatically
      intruded teeth. More reliable evidence is needed.

PMID- 27649967
TI  - Autoimmune liver diseases in the Asia-Pacific region: Proceedings of APASL
      symposium on AIH and PBC 2016.
AB  - During the 25th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Association for the Study of
      the Liver (APASL 2016) in Tokyo, we organized and moderated an inaugural
      satellite symposium on the autoimmune liver diseases, autoimmune hepatitis (AIH)
      and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Following the keynote lecture by John M.
      Vierling (USA), speakers from the Asia-Pacific region provided an up-to-date
      perspective on the epidemiology, clinical practice and research in AIH and PBC in
      the Asia-Pacific region. Although epidemiology and clinical features of AIH seem
      to be similar in East Asia compared to those in western countries, the majority
      of patients with AIH are detected at an advanced stage and have higher mortality
      rates in South Asia, indicating an unmet need for earlier diagnosis and the
      initiation of appropriate immunosuppressive treatment. PBC is more commonly seen
      in Australia and East Asia. As of 2016, clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for
      PBC have been published in Japan and China. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is
      recommended as a first-line therapy by both CPG. Nevertheless, one of the unmet
      therapeutic needs in PBC is the treatment of patients refractory to or intolerant
      of UDCA. It is of interest that the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in
      PBC patients was low in Taiwan and mainland China where the prevalence of CHB is
      very high. In this review, we overview this exciting and epoch-making symposium.

PMID- 27649969
TI  - Epac2-Rap1 Signaling Regulates Reactive Oxygen Species Production and
      Susceptibility to Cardiac Arrhythmias.
AB  - AIMS: In the heart, beta1-adrenergic signaling involves cyclic adenosine
      monophosphate (cAMP) acting via both protein kinase-A (PKA) and exchange protein
      directly activated by cAMP (Epac): a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the
      small GTPase Rap1. Inhibition of Epac-Rap1 signaling has been proposed as a
      therapeutic strategy for both cancer and cardiovascular disease. However,
      previous work suggests that impaired Rap1 signaling may have detrimental effects
      on cardiac function. The aim of the present study was to investigate the
      influence of Epac2-Rap1 signaling on the heart using both in vivo and in vitro
      approaches. RESULTS: Inhibition of Epac2 signaling induced early
      afterdepolarization arrhythmias in ventricular myocytes. The underlying mechanism
      involved an increase in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      activation of the late sodium current (INalate). Arrhythmias were blocked by
      inhibition of INalate or the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant, mitoTEMPO. In
      vivo, inhibition of Epac2 caused ventricular tachycardia, torsades de pointes,
      and sudden death. The in vitro and in vivo effects of Epac2 inhibition were
      mimicked by inhibition of geranylgeranyltransferase-1, which blocks interaction
      of Rap1 with downstream targets. INNOVATION: Our findings show for the first time
      that Rap1 acts as a negative regulator of mitochondrial ROS production in the
      heart and that impaired Epac2-Rap1 signaling causes arrhythmias due to ROS
      dependent activation of INalate. This has implications for the use of
      chemotherapeutics that target Epac2-Rap1 signaling. However, selective inhibition
      of INalate provides a promising strategy to prevent arrhythmias caused by
      impaired Epac2-Rap1 signaling. CONCLUSION: Epac2-Rap1 signaling attenuates
      mitochondrial ROS production and reduces myocardial arrhythmia susceptibility.
      Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 117-132.

PMID- 27649970
TI  - Prognostic Factors and Treatment Results After Bleomycin, Etoposide, and
      Cisplatin in Germ Cell Cancer: A Population-based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: First-line treatment for patients with disseminated germ cell cancer
      (GCC) is bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP). A prognostic classification
      of patients receiving chemotherapy was published by the International Germ Cell
      Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) in 1997, but only a small proportion of the
      patients received BEP. OBJECTIVE: To estimate survival probabilities after BEP,
      evaluate the IGCCCG prognostic classification, and propose new prognostic factors
      for outcome. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Of a Danish population-based
      cohort of GCC patients (1984-2007), 1889 received first-line BEP, with median
      follow-up of 15 yr. Covariates evaluated as prognostic factors were age, year of
      treatment, primary site, non-pulmonary visceral metastases, pulmonary metastases,
      and tumor markers. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Outcomes
      measured were 5-yr progression-free survival (PFS), 5-yr disease-specific
      survival (DSS), and 5-yr overall survival (OS) as calculated using the Kaplan
      Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The
      5-yr PFS, DSS, and OS were 87%, 95%, and 93%, respectively, for patients with
      seminomatous GCC (SGCC) and good prognosis. For nonseminomatous GCC (NSGCC) with
      good, intermediate, and poor prognosis, the 5-yr probabilities were 90%, 76%, and
      55% for PFS; 97%, 87%, and 66% for DSS; and 95%, 85%, and 64% for OS,
      respectively. For SGCC patients, new adverse prognostic factors not included in
      the IGCCCG classification were higher age and lactate dehydrogenase >=1.5 times
      the upper limit of normal. For NSGCC patients, higher age and pulmonary
      metastases were additional adverse prognostic factors. Treatment in earlier years
      was associated with higher mortality. Limitations include the small number of
      patients in the prognostic groups, and the inability to adjust for performance
      status and comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study reveals improved survival for
      disseminated GCC throughout the study period. We propose new prognostic factors
      for outcome for validation in larger cohorts of patients. PATIENT SUMMARY: In
      this study of testicular cancer patients, we evaluated prognostic factors for
      outcome and calculated survival after standard chemotherapy. We find that
      survival has improved over the years and we propose new prognostic factors for
      outcome for validation in larger patient cohorts.

PMID- 27649971
TI  - Cognitive and neural consequences of memory suppression in major depressive
      disorder.
AB  - Negative biases in cognition have been documented consistently in major
      depressive disorder (MDD), including difficulties in the ability to control the
      processing of negative material. Although negative information-processing biases
      have been studied using both behavioral and neuroimaging paradigms, relatively
      little research has been conducted examining the difficulties of depressed
      persons with inhibiting the retrieval of negative information from long-term
      memory. In this study, we used the think/no-think paradigm and functional
      magnetic resonance imaging to assess the cognitive and neural consequences of
      memory suppression in individuals diagnosed with depression and in healthy
      controls. The participants showed typical behavioral forgetting effects, but
      contrary to our hypotheses, there were no differences between the depressed and
      nondepressed participants or between neutral and negative memories. Relative to
      controls, depressed individuals exhibited greater activity in right middle
      frontal gyrus during memory suppression, regardless of the valence of the
      suppressed stimuli, and differential activity in the amygdala and hippocampus
      during memory suppression involving negatively valenced stimuli. These findings
      indicate that depressed individuals are characterized by neural anomalies during
      the suppression of long-term memories, increasing our understanding of the brain
      bases of negative cognitive biases in MDD.

PMID- 27649973
TI  - Determining the Cost-Savings Threshold and Alignment Accuracy of Patient-Specific
      Instrumentation in Total Ankle Replacements.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional intraoperative referencing for total ankle replacements
      (TARs) involves multiple steps and fluoroscopic guidance to determine mechanical
      alignment. Recent adoption of patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) allows for
      referencing to be determined preoperatively, resulting in less steps and
      potentially decreased operative time. We hypothesized that usage of PSI would
      result in decreased operating room time that would offset the additional cost of
      PSI compared with standard referencing (SR). In addition, we aimed to compare
      postoperative radiographic alignment between PSI and SR. METHODS: Between August
      2014 and September 2015, 87 patients undergoing TAR were enrolled in a
      prospectively collected TAR database. Patients were divided into cohorts based on
      PSI vs SR, and operative times were reviewed. Radiographic alignment parameters
      were retrospectively measured at 6 weeks postoperatively. Time-driven activity
      based costing (TDABC) was used to derive direct costs. Cost vs operative time
      savings were examined via 2-way sensitivity analysis to determine cost-saving
      thresholds for PSI applicable to a range of institution types. Cost-saving
      thresholds defined the price of PSI below which PSI would be cost-saving. A total
      of 35 PSI and 52 SR cases were evaluated with no significant differences
      identified in patient characteristics. RESULTS: Operative time from incision to
      completion of casting in cases without adjunct procedures was 127 minutes with
      PSI and 161 minutes with SR ( P < .05). PSI demonstrated similar postoperative
      accuracy to SR in coronal tibial-plafond alignment (1.1 vs 0.3 degrees varus, P =
      .06), tibial-plafond alignment (0.3 +/- 2.1 vs 1.1 +/- 2.1 degrees varus, P =
      .06), and tibial component sagittal alignment (0.7 vs 0.9 degrees plantarflexion,
      P = .14). The TDABC method estimated a PSI cost-savings threshold range at our
      institution of $863 below which PSI pricing would provide net cost-savings. Two
      way sensitivity analysis generated a globally applicable cost-savings threshold
      model based on institution-specific costs and surgeon-specific time-savings.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated equivalent postoperative TAR alignment with
      PSI and SR referencing systems but with a significant decrease in operative time
      with PSI. Based on TDABC and associated sensitivity analysis, a cost-savings
      threshold of $863 was identified for PSI pricing at our institution below which
      PSI was less costly than SR. Similar internal cost accounting may benefit health
      care systems for identifying cost drivers and obtaining leverage during price
      negotiations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study.

PMID- 27649972
TI  - Transcranial direct current stimulation of the right temporoparietal junction
      impairs third-person perspective taking.
AB  - Given the current debates about the precise functional role of the right
      temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) in egocentric and exocentric perspective taking,
      in the present study we manipulated activity in the rTPJ to investigate the
      effects on a spatial perspective-taking task. Participants engaged in a mental
      body transformation task, requiring them to mentally rotate their own body to the
      position of an avatar, while undergoing anodal, cathodal, or sham transcranial
      direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the rTPJ. As a control task, participants
      judged the laterality of a stimulus feature with respect to a fixation cross on
      the screen. For the first half of the experiment (only during online tDCS), a
      task-selective effect of tDCS was observed, reflected in slower reaction times
      following anodal than following cathodal and sham tDCS for the mental body
      transformation task, but not for the control task. The effects of tDCS were most
      pronounced for stimuli implying a more difficult mental body transformation. No
      effects of tDCS were observed during the second half of the experiment. The
      effects of tDCS were most pronounced for participants scoring low on aberrant
      perceptual beliefs and spiritual transcendence, suggesting a relation between
      third-person perspective taking and bodily and perceptual experiences. The
      finding that anodal stimulation of the rTPJ impairs third-person perspective
      taking indicates a key role of this region in exocentric spatial processing.

PMID- 27649975
TI  - Laparoscopic simulation for surgical residents in Ethiopia: course development
      and results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to develop and implement a laparoscopic skills curriculum in
      an Ethiopian surgical residency program. We hypothesized that residents would
      improve with practice. METHODS: We developed a laparoscopic curriculum by
      adapting existing training models. Six courses were conducted during 2012 and
      2013 in a teaching hospital in Ethiopia. Eighty-eight surgical residents
      participated. Main outcome measures were laboratory task completion times and
      student survey responses. RESULTS: Students showed improvement in time needed to
      complete skills tasks with practice. Mean times improved for all 5 tasks (P <=
      .01). Students uniformly reported that the course was valuable. The curriculum is
      now taught and sustained by local faculty. CONCLUSIONS: The development and
      implementation of a collaborative and sustainable laparoscopic curriculum is
      possible in a low-resource environment. Such a curriculum can result in improved
      laparoscopic expertise, surgical trainee satisfaction, and may increase
      utilization of laparoscopy.

PMID- 27649974
TI  - Risk reduction and survival benefit of prophylactic surgery in BRCA mutation
      carriers, a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes results in an elevated risk for
      developing both breast and ovarian cancers over the lifetime of affected
      carriers. General surgeons may be faced with questions about surgical risk
      reduction and survival benefit of prophylactic surgery. METHODS: A systematic
      literature review was performed using the electronic databases PubMed, OVID
      MEDLINE, and Scopus comparing prophylactic surgery vs observation with respect to
      breast and ovarian cancer risk reduction and mortality in BRCA mutation carriers.
      RESULTS: Bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy provides a 90% to 95% risk reduction
      in BRCA mutation carriers, although the data do not demonstrate improved
      mortality. The reduction in ovarian and breast cancer risks using risk-reducing
      bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy has translated to improvement in survival.
      CONCLUSIONS: Clinical management of patients at increased risk for breast cancer
      requires consideration of risk, patient preference, and quality of life.

PMID- 27649977
TI  - Can a virtual reality assessment of fine motor skill predict successful central
      line insertion?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the increased use of peripherally inserted central catheter
      lines, central lines are not performed as frequently. The aim of this study is to
      evaluate whether a virtual reality (VR)-based assessment of fine motor skills can
      be used as a valid and objective assessment of central line skills. METHODS:
      Surgical residents (N = 43) from 7 general surgery programs performed a
      subclavian central line in a simulated setting. Then, they participated in a
      force discrimination task in a VR environment. Hand movements from the subclavian
      central line simulation were tracked by electromagnetic sensors. Gross movements
      as monitored by the electromagnetic sensors were compared with the fine motor
      metrics calculated from the force discrimination tasks in the VR environment.
      RESULTS: Long periods of inactivity (idle time) during needle insertion and lack
      of smooth movements, as detected by the electromagnetic sensors, showed a
      significant correlation with poor force discrimination in the VR environment.
      Also, long periods of needle insertion time correlated to the poor performance in
      force discrimination in the VR environment. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that
      force discrimination in a defined VR environment correlates to needle insertion
      time, idle time, and hand smoothness when performing subclavian central line
      placement. Fine motor force discrimination may serve as a valid and objective
      assessment of the skills required for successful needle insertion when placing
      central lines.

PMID- 27649976
TI  - The climb to break the glass ceiling in surgery: trends in women progressing from
      medical school to surgical training and academic leadership from 1994 to 2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There have been many efforts to increase the number of women
      surgeons. We provide an update of women surgeon representation along the pathway
      to surgical academia. METHODS: Data was extracted from Association of American
      Medical Colleges FACTS and Faculty Administrative Management Online User System
      as well as GME annual reports starting in 1994 until the last year available for
      each. RESULTS: The proportion of graduating women medical students has increased
      on average .5% per year from 1994 to 2014. Women general surgery trainees have
      more than doubled in number over the same period but represented 38.3% of all
      general surgery trainees in 2014. Women Full Professors increased on average .3%
      from 1994 to 2015 but still make up less than 10% of all Full Professors.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite improvements over the past 20 years, there are still large
      gender gaps in surgery for trainees and academic leadership. At the current rate
      of increase, women Full Professors will not achieve gender parity until in 2136.

PMID- 27649978
TI  - A potential inhibitory function of draxin in regulating mouse trunk neural crest
      migration.
AB  - Draxin is a repulsive axon guidance protein that plays important roles in the
      formation of three commissures in the central nervous system and dorsal
      interneuron 3 (dI3) in the chick spinal cord. In the present study, we report the
      expression pattern of mouse draxin in the embryonic mouse trunk spinal cord. In
      the presence of draxin, the longest net migration length of a migrating mouse
      trunk neural crest cell was significantly reduced. In addition, the relative
      number of apolar neural crest cells increased as the draxin treatment time
      increased. Draxin caused actin cytoskeleton rearrangement in the migrating trunk
      neural crest cells. Our data suggest that draxin may regulate mouse trunk neural
      crest cell migration by the rearrangement of cell actin cytoskeleton and by
      reducing the polarization activity of these cells subsequently.

PMID- 27649982
TI  - Ocular hypotensive effect of the novel EP3/FP agonist ONO-9054 versus Xalatan:
      results of a 28-day, double-masked, randomised study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: ONO-9054 is being developed for the reduction of intraocular
      pressure (IOP) in patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) and open-angle glaucoma
      (OAG). This study compared the novel dual EP3/FP agonist ONO-9054 with the FP
      agonist Xalatan. METHODS: Adults (n=123) with bilateral mild/moderate OAG or OHT,
      with unmedicated IOP of >=24 mm Hg at 8:00 hours, >=21 mm Hg at 10:00 hours and
      <=36 mm Hg, were randomised 1:1 to receive ONO-9054 (0.003%, 30 MUg/mL) or
      Xalatan (0.005%, 50 MUg/mL) once daily for 28 days. RESULTS: Day 29 mean diurnal
      IOP was -7.2 mm Hg for ONO-9054 vs -6.6 mm Hg for Xalatan. At 08:00 hours, the
      IOPs were comparable, and at all later time points the decrease in IOP was
      greater for ONO-9054. On day 29, the odds of a mean IOP reduction of <=-25%, <=
      30% and <=-35% for ONO-9054 were 2.39, 2.37 and 4.85 times more, respectively,
      than the odds for Xalatan (p<0.05, post hoc analyses). The percentage of subjects
      achieving target IOPs on day 29 (<=17, <=16 and <=15 mm Hg) was greater for ONO
      9054 than for Xalatan; the odds of achieving an IOP <=15 mm Hg for ONO-9054 were
      2.4 times more than the odds for Xalatan (p<0.01, post hoc analysis).
      CONCLUSIONS: Subjects randomised to receive ONO-9054 were more likely to achieve
      a greater per cent reduction in IOP and were more likely to achieve target IOPs
      than those receiving Xalatan. The effects of ONO-9054 in reducing IOP appear to
      persist longer than those of Xalatan. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02083289,
      Results.

PMID- 27649983
TI  - [Psychotherapeutic treatment of traumatized refugees in Germany].
AB  - Traumatic experiences resulting from war and violence can lead to a broad
      spectrum of psychological and somatic stress responses. The psychological strain
      of traumatized refugees is frequently aggravated by specific post-migration
      stressors. The current healthcare provision in Germany is characterized by many
      restrictions. The different residence permits are associated with a limited
      access to medical and psychotherapeutic services. In addition, there are several
      barriers limiting access of this group of patients to the healthcare system (e.
      g. low level of training of mental healthcare staff, language barriers and lack
      of financing for interpreters). Empirical studies have shown that traumatized
      refugees profit from existing trauma-focused and evidence-based interventions.
      Treatment is associated with particular challenges and issues (e. g. use of
      interpreters, migration and culture-specific as well as legal aspects).
      Specialized treatment centers for traumatized refugees use a multidisciplinary
      treatment approach, which includes psychotherapeutic, medical and social work
      interventions as well as assistance with the residential status and integration
      programs.

PMID- 27649984
TI  - [Aphasia: evidence-based therapy approaches].
AB  - Speech and language therapy is essential in the rehabilitation of aphasic
      disorders following a stroke. Due to the predicted increase of aphasia and
      limited resources within the healthcare system, the development of efficient and
      sustainable treatment methods is of exceptional importance. The effectiveness of
      both traditional and innovative approaches needs to be evaluated against the
      standards of evidence-based medicine. Class I evidence has been established for
      high-intensity speech and language therapy in subacute and chronic stages of
      aphasia. Innovative training-based approaches have so far only been evaluated in
      small studies but promising results have been shown for computer-based naming,
      video-based exercises for verbalization of complex contents and approaches
      modeled according to "forced-use" principles with standardized contents. Adjuvant
      training therapies are being developed to increase and prolong the impact of
      training alone, most notably non-invasive brain stimulation and pharmacological
      modulation. Transcranial direct current stimulation has been shown to effectively
      enhance training in several small randomized controlled trials but several
      questions still remain to be answered, including the location of electrode
      placement as well as the length and intensity of stimulation. Mixed evidence has
      been collected for the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy on speech learning and
      further randomized controlled trials are also needed to allow more firmly based
      recommendations.

PMID- 27649985
TI  - [DGPPN compass of participation for vocational integration of persons with mental
      illnesses].
AB  - Working and living for persons with mental illnesses are a major concern of
      rehabilitative psychiatry. In Germany the definition of rehabilitation for
      persons with mental illnesses is closely linked to different sectors of social
      welfare and to the strongly organized supply chain of prevention, acute
      treatment, rehabilitation and care. In successfully supporting people with mental
      health problems in terms of vocational integration, professionals face various
      obstacles. Besides finding the correct content, structural and organizational
      difficulties can also arise. The welfare system with its specific institutions
      and settings is complicated which often leads to delays in the onset of
      rehabilitation. Some essential reasons are insufficient knowledge about
      established options of rehabilitative treatment and about responsibilities
      related to participation in specialized training and further education for
      professional caregivers. Also information and (positive) experiences from pilot
      projects working in an inclusive, cross-sectional way and across different
      settings are practically unavailable in Germany. The presented compass of
      participation from the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and
      Psychosomatics (DGPPN) for vocational integration of persons with mental
      illnesses starts at this point: it provides guidelines for psychiatric and
      psychotherapeutic practitioners, general practitioners as well as for physicians
      working in residential or day care institutions with a psychiatric and
      psychotherapeutic background. Both the paper and planned online versions should
      help professionals to help people, particularly those with severe mental
      illnesses to navigate the system of services for vocational integration in
      Germany.

PMID- 27649986
TI  - [Cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics in multiple sclerosis].
AB  - As a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS), multiple
      sclerosis (MS) is associated with characteristic abnormalities in cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF). Thus, in addition to magnetic resonance imaging, CSF examination is
      a central diagnostic procedure in patients with MS, which can corroborate a
      diagnosis of MS and may also help to discern differential diagnoses. The most
      important CSF finding in MS is the detection of persistent polyspecific
      intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis. This review summarizes CSF findings of
      patients with MS and addresses issues of relevance for clinical practice,
      potential diagnostic pitfalls as well as new developments in CSF diagnostics of
      MS.

PMID- 27649988
TI  - [Cytology of cerebrospinal fluid : Standards, importance and modern methods].
AB  - Cytology is an integral part of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. It is
      relevant for the diagnostics and differential diagnosis of inflammatory,
      hemorrhagic and neoplastic central nervous system (CNS) processes. This article
      summarizes the recommended procedures and typical clinical patterns. In addition,
      modern immunocytochemical and flow cytometry methods for CSF cytology are
      presented. In particular, the diagnostic contribution and clinical relevance in
      several CNS conditions are discussed.

PMID- 27649987
TI  - [Internet-based interventions in the treatment of mental disorders : Overview,
      quality criteria, perspectives].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental disorders are frequently not or only insufficiently treated.
      Internet-based interventions offer the potential of closing the existing gaps in
      the treatment of mental disorders; however, it is very difficult for patients and
      providers to choose from the numerous interventions available. OBJECTIVE: The aim
      of this study was to develop a set of quality criteria that can help patients and
      care providers to identify recommendable internet-based interventions. METHODS: A
      selective literature search was carried out and the existing evidence on internet
      based interventions in the treatment of mental disorders was collated. A panel of
      experts then developed quality criteria based on existing models for the
      systematic assessment of telemedicine applications. RESULTS: Internet-based
      interventions are effective in the treatment of a broad range of mental
      disorders. The best evidence is available for depression and anxiety disorders. A
      set of criteria is proposed for the evaluation of available internet-based
      interventions using a checklist. These criteria have to be developed further with
      input from other stakeholders. DISCUSSION: When taking these quality criteria
      into account, evidence-based interventions available on the internet can make an
      important contribution to improvement of the care of patients with mental
      disorders.

PMID- 27649989
TI  - Targeting flavivirus RNA dependent RNA polymerase through a pyridobenzothiazole
      inhibitor.
AB  - RNA dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) are essential enzymes for flavivirus
      replication. Starting from an in silico docking analysis we identified a
      pyridobenzothiazole compound, HeE1-2Tyr, able to inhibit West Nile and Dengue
      RdRps activity in vitro, which proved effective against different flaviviruses in
      cell culture. Crystallographic data show that HeE1-2Tyr binds between the fingers
      domain and the priming loop of Dengue virus RdRp (Site 1). Conversely, enzyme
      kinetics, binding studies and mutational analyses suggest that, during the
      catalytic cycle and assembly of the RdRp-RNA complex, HeE1-2Tyr might be hosted
      in a distinct binding site (Site 2). RdRp mutational studies, driven by in silico
      docking analysis, allowed us to locate the inhibition Site 2 in the thumb domain.
      Taken together, our results provide innovative concepts for optimization of a new
      class of anti-flavivirus compounds.

PMID- 27649990
TI  - Characterization of 4 TaGAST genes during spike development and seed germination
      and their response to exogenous phytohormones in common wheat.
AB  - Gibberellic acid (GA) is involved in the regulation of plant growth and
      development. We defined GA-stimulated transcript (GAST) gene family and
      characterized its four members (TaGAST1, 2, 3, and 4) in wheat spikes. Triticum
      aestivum whole spikes were collected at ten developmental stages and dehulled
      spikelets were obtained at various days after flowering. Expression of TaGAST1,
      2, 3, and 4 was analyzed using RT-PCR at inflorescence development stages, in
      different tissues, and after phytohormones application. To identify proteins
      interacting with TaGAST1, yeast two-hybridization was performed and BiFC analysis
      was used for verification. TaGAST1 was expressed at the inflorescence stage and
      only expressed in seedlings under abscisic acid (ABA) treatment after
      phytohormone treatment. TaGAST2 and TaGAST3 showed moderate expression in the
      spike, vigorous transcript accumulation in the seedling, and up-regulation by
      exogenous GA in early germination stages. TaGAST4 was predominantly expressed in
      the seedling. Wheat cyclophilin A-1 (TaCypA1), identified as a TaGAST1
      interacting protein, showed opposite expression pattern in the developing spike
      to TaGAST1. TaCypA1 transcript was slightly up-regulated by GA, slightly down
      regulated by paclobutrazol, and was maintained after ABA treatment. The
      interaction of TaGAST1 with TaCypA1 is targeted to the plasma membrane. TaGAST1
      was specifically expressed in the wheat spike and was stimulated by exogenous GA
      treatment. TaGAST2 and TaGAST3 expression in germinating seeds and seedlings was
      higher than that in the spike stage. TaGAST4 was not expressed in all
      developmental stages. TaGAST1 and TaCypA1 might be expressed antagonistically
      during wheat spike development.

PMID- 27649992
TI  - From the Anticipatory Corpse to the Participatory Body.
AB  - Jeffrey Bishop's The Anticipatory Corpse demonstrates how death is present in and
      cloaked by contemporary practices of end-of-life care. A key to Bishop's argument
      is that for modern medicine the cadaver has become epistemologically normative
      and that a metaphysics shorn of formal and final causes now shapes contemporary
      healthcare practices. The essays of this symposium laud and interrogate Bishop's
      argument in three ways. First, they raise critical methodological challenges from
      the perspectives of human rights, Charles Taylor's concept of social imaginaries,
      and economics. Second, they demonstrate the analytical power of his argument by
      detailing how it might be extended to additional issues beyond simply end-of-life
      care and how it might be brought into conversation with sociology. Third, they
      engage the constructive turn Bishop takes at the end of the book. Bishop himself
      also updates readers on the reception of The Anticipatory Corpse, as well as the
      way his thinking has evolved over the past 5 years since its publication. He also
      engages the questions, challenges, and openings provided by our authors.

PMID- 27649994
TI  - Katherine Ralston: Attitude, Resilience, and Cell-Nibbling Parasites.

PMID- 27649991
TI  - RNA sequencing reveals differential thermal regulation mechanisms between sexes
      of Glanville fritillary butterfly in the Tianshan Mountains, China.
AB  - The Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia; Nymphalidae) has been
      extensively studied as a model species in metapopulation ecology. We investigated
      in the earlier studies that female butterflies exhibit higher thermal tolerance
      than males in the Tianshan Mountains of China. We aim to understand the molecular
      mechanism of differences of thermal responses between sexes. We used RNA-seq
      approach and performed de novo assembly of transcriptome to compare the gene
      expression patterns between two sexes after heat stress. All the reads were
      assembled into 84,376 transcripts and 72,701 unigenes. The number of differential
      expressed genes (DEGs) between control and heat shock samples was 175 and 268 for
      males and females, respectively. Heat shock proteins genes (hsps) were up
      regulated in response to heat stress in both males and females. Most of the up
      regulated hsps showed higher fold changes in males than in females. Females
      expressed more ribosomal subunit protein genes, transcriptional elongation factor
      genes, and methionine-rich storage protein genes, participating in protein
      synthesis. It indicated that protein synthesis is needed for females to replace
      the damaged proteins due to heat shock. In addition, aspartate decarboxylase
      might contribute to thermal tolerance in females. These differences in gene
      expression may at least partly explain the response to high temperature stress,
      and the fact that females exhibit higher thermal tolerance.

PMID- 27649995
TI  - Use of donor milk in the neonatal intensive care unit.
AB  - Own mother's milk is the first choice in feeding preterm infants and provides
      multiple short- and long-term benefits. When it is unavailable, donor human milk
      is recommended as the first alternative. Donor milk undergoes processing (i.e.
      pasteurization) to reduce bacteriological and viral contaminants but influences
      its bioactive properties with potentially fewer benefits than raw milk. However,
      there is no clinical evidence of health benefit of raw compared to pasteurized
      human milk, and donor milk maintains documented advantages compared to formula.
      Nutrient content of donor and own mother's milk fails to meet the requirements of
      preterm infants. Adequate fortification is necessary to provide optimal growth.
      There are significant challenges in providing donor milk for premature infants;
      therefore, specific clinical guidelines for human milk banks and donor milk use
      in the neonatal intensive care unit should be applied and research should focus
      on innovative solutions to process human milk while preserving its immunological
      and nutritional components. In addition, milk banks are not the only instrument
      to collect, process and store donor milk but represent an excellent tool for
      breastfeeding promotion.

PMID- 27649996
TI  - The future is now: An endovascular option for type A aortic dissection.

PMID- 27649997
TI  - Vasoactive-ventilation-renal score reliably predicts hospital length of stay
      after surgery for congenital heart disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to further validate the vasoactive-ventilation-renal score
      as a predictor of outcome in patients recovering from surgery for congenital
      heart disease. We also sought to determine the optimal time point within the
      early recovery period at which the vasoactive-ventilation-renal score should be
      measured. METHODS: We prospectively reviewed consecutive patients recovering from
      cardiac surgery within our intensive care unit between January 2015 and June
      2015. The vasoactive-ventilation-renal score was calculated at 6, 12, 24, and 48
      hours postoperatively as follows: vasoactive-ventilation-renal score =
      ventilation index + vasoactive-inotrope score + Delta creatinine [change in serum
      creatinine from baseline*10]. Primary outcome of interest was prolonged hospital
      length of stay, defined as length of stay in the upper 25%. Receiver operating
      characteristic curves were generated, and areas under the curve with 95%
      confidence intervals were calculated for all time points. Multivariable logistic
      regression modeling also was performed. RESULTS: We reviewed 164 patients with a
      median age of 9.25 months (interquartile range, 2.6-58 months). Median length of
      stay was 8 days (interquartile range, 5-17.5 days). The area under the curve
      value for the vasoactive-ventilation-renal score as a predictor of prolonged
      length of stay (>17.5 days) was greatest at 12 hours postoperatively (area under
      the curve = 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.89-0.97). On multivariable
      regression analysis, after adjustment for potential confounders, the 12-hour
      vasoactive-ventilation-renal score remained a strong predictor of prolonged
      hospital length of stay (odds ratio, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.20).
      CONCLUSIONS: In a heterogeneous population of patients undergoing surgery for
      congenital heart disease, the novel vasoactive-ventilation-renal score calculated
      in the early postoperative recovery period can be a strong predictor of prolonged
      hospital length of stay.

PMID- 27649999
TI  - Utility of antiapoptotic strategies in spinal cord injury: If you can dream it,
      you can do it!

PMID- 27649998
TI  - Extended neochord weaving technique for degenerative mitral valve disease.

PMID- 27650000
TI  - Scan, plan, print, practice, perform: Development and use of a patient-specific 3
      dimensional printed model in adult cardiac surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Static 3-dimensional printing is used for operative planning in cases
      that involve difficult anatomy. An interactive 3D print allowing deliberate
      surgical practice would represent an advance. METHODS: Two patients with
      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had 3-dimensional prints constructed preoperatively.
      Stereolithography files were generated by segmentation of chest computed
      tomographic scans. Prints were made with hydrogel material, yielding tissue-like
      models that can be surgically manipulated. Septal myectomy of the print was
      performed preoperatively in the simulation laboratory. Volumetric measures of
      print and patient resected specimens were compared. An assessment tool was
      developed and used to rate the utility of this process. Clinical and
      echocardiographic data were reviewed. RESULTS: There was congruence between
      volumes of print and patient resection specimens (patient 1, 3.5 cm3 and 3.0 cm3,
      respectively; patient 2, 4.0 cm3 and 4.0 cm3, respectively). The prints were
      rated useful (3.5 and 3.6 on a 5-point Likert scale) for preoperative
      visualization, planning, and practice. Intraoperative echocardiographic
      assessment showed adequate relief of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction
      (patient 1, 80 mm Hg to 18 mm Hg; patient 2, 96 mm Hg to 9 mm Hg). Both patients
      reported symptomatic improvement (New York Heart Association functional class III
      to class I). CONCLUSIONS: Three-dimensional printing of interactive hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy heart models allows for patient-specific preoperative simulation.
      Resection volume relationships were congruous on both specimens and suggest
      evidence of construct validity. This model also holds educational promise for
      simulation of a low-volume, high-risk operation that is traditionally difficult
      to teach.

PMID- 27650001
TI  - Cath lab to the rescue. Now with room to grow!

PMID- 27650002
TI  - Video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy with an anomalous pulmonary vein.

PMID- 27650004
TI  - Quick but effective surgery for functional mitral regurgitation secondary to
      aortic valve disease.

PMID- 27650003
TI  - The cervicosternolaparotomy approach for the treatment of graft dysfunction after
      retrosternal esophageal reconstruction for caustic injuries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study purpose was to report the indications, technical aspects,
      and outcomes of cervicosternolaparotomy during revision surgery after esophageal
      reconstruction for caustic injuries. METHODS: Patients who underwent
      cervicosternolaparotomy during revision surgery for graft dysfunction between
      1999 and 2015 were included. Cervicosternolaparotomy was performed to mobilize
      and pull up the primary conduit during surgery for strictures (rescue
      cervicosternolaparotomy) or to allow retrosternal access for management of other
      graft-related complications (exposure cervicosternolaparotomy). Statistical tests
      were performed to identify factors associated with primary conduit preservation
      during rescue cervicosternolaparotomy. RESULTS: Fifty-five patients were included
      (28 men; median age, 43 years). Median delay between primary reconstruction and
      cervicosternolaparotomy was 15 months. Exposure cervicosternolaparotomy was
      performed in 12 patients (22%) for redundancy (n = 8), spontaneous perforation (n
      = 2), and caustic reingestion (n = 2). Rescue cervicosternolaparotomy was
      performed in 43 patients (78%) to treat supra-anastomotic (n = 11), anastomotic
      (n = 23), and diffuse (n = 9) stenosis. During rescue cervicosternolaparotomy,
      the primary conduit was preserved in 32 patients; median length gain obtained by
      transplant release was 8 cm. Failure to preserve the primary conduit was
      associated with previous surgical repair attempts (P = .003) and lack of initial
      concomitant pharyngeal reconstruction (P = .039). Two patients died (4%), and 35
      patients (64%) experienced operative complications. Operative outcomes were
      similar after rescue and exposure cervicosternolaparotomy. With a median follow
      up of 4.4 years, the functional success rate was 85%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Cervicosternolaparotomy during revision surgery for graft dysfunction is
      reliable, is associated with low morbidity and mortality, and has good results.

PMID- 27650005
TI  - Competition: Perspiration to inspiration "Aut inveniam viam aut faciam".

PMID- 27650006
TI  - Pushing back the cliff (but there probably still is a cliff): Arrhythmia, late
      outcome, and uncertainty in Fontan patients.

PMID- 27650007
TI  - Surgeon's comments about Asian colleagues were rude but not racist, tribunal
      says.

PMID- 27650008
TI  - Palliative Care Consultations in Nursing Homes and End-of-Life Hospitalizations.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although specialty palliative care in hospital and outpatient settings
      is associated with lower acute care use, its impact in U.S. nursing homes (NHs)
      is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To understand how NH use of palliative care consults is
      associated with end-of-life hospitalizations. METHODS: Seven consult providers in
      four states and 24 counties shared data on the number of consult visits and
      residents served (per NH) in study years 2000-2010. All NHs in the 24 counties
      were studied (n = 286). An NH-level longitudinal file included consult data,
      aggregated Medicare resident assessment and claims data, and NH characteristics.
      Consult introduction was "yes" when 1% of residents received consults. Volume was
      the number of consult visits per 100 residents, annually. Panel multivariate
      regression with NH fixed effects examined whether rates of hospital deaths and
      hospitalizations in the last 30 days of life differentially changed for NHs
      introducing consults, or increasing consult volume. RESULTS: One hundred seventy
      (59%) of the 286 NHs introduced consults by 2010. NHs with consults, compared to
      others, had residents with higher acuity and functional impairment, and lower
      nurse but higher nursing assistant staffing. Controlling for covariate
      differences and compared to NHs without consults, NHs introducing consults had a
      1% (95% CI -0.021, 0.002) greater reduction in hospital death rates and a 1.6%
      (95% CI -0.031, -0.002) greater reduction in hospitalizations in the last 30 days
      of life. No statistically significant associations between volume and study
      outcomes were observed. CONCLUSION: The introduction of specialty palliative care
      consults in NHs is associated with overall reductions in end-of-life
      hospitalizations.

PMID- 27650009
TI  - Dignity Through Integrated Symptom Management: Lessons From the Breathlessness
      Support Service.
AB  - CONTEXT: Dignity is poorly conceptualized and little empirically explored in end
      of-life care. A qualitative evaluation of a service offering integrated
      palliative and respiratory care for patients with advanced disease and refractory
      breathlessness uncovered an unexpected outcome, it enhanced patients' dignity.
      OBJECTIVES: To analyze what constitutes dignity for people suffering from
      refractory breathlessness with advanced disease, and its implications for the
      concept of dignity. METHODS: Qualitative study of cross-sectional interviews with
      20 patients as part of a Phase III evaluation of a randomized controlled fast
      track trial. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, imported into NVivo, and
      analyzed through constant comparison. The findings were compared with Chochinov
      et al.'s dignity model. The model was adapted with the themes and subthemes
      specific to patients suffering from breathlessness. RESULTS: The findings of this
      study underscore the applicability of the conceptual model of dignity for
      patients with breathlessness. There were many similarities in themes and
      subthemes. Differences specifically relevant for patients suffering from severe
      breathlessness were as follows: 1) physical distress and psychological mechanisms
      are interlinked with the disability and dependence breathlessness causes, in the
      illness-related concerns, 2) stigma is an important component of the social
      dignity inventory, 3) conditions and perspectives need to be present to practice
      self-care in the dignity-conserving repertoire. CONCLUSION: Dignity is an
      integrated concept and can be affected by influences from other areas such as
      illness-related concerns. The intervention shows that targeting the symptom
      holistically and equipping patients with the means for self-care realized the
      outcome of dignity.

PMID- 27650010
TI  - Exploring the Topics Discussed During a Conversation Card Game About Death and
      Dying: A Content Analysis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Substantive discussions between loved ones are necessary for effective
      advance care planning. Although multiple tools are currently in use for promoting
      conversations, the content and clinical relevance of the conversations they
      stimulate is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe the content and clinical relevance
      of conversations that occur during a nonfacilitated end-of-life conversation
      game. METHODS: Using convenience sampling, we scheduled adult volunteers to
      participate in an end-of-life conversation game (2-6 individuals per game; n =
      68). Participants discussed 20 questions about death, dying, or end-of-life
      issues. Games lasted up to two hours and were audio-recorded, transcribed, and
      analyzed using a conventional qualitative content analysis approach to identify
      emerging themes. RESULTS: Participants (n = 68) were primarily Caucasian (94%),
      females (68%), with mean age of 51.3 years (SD 0.7). Seventeen games were
      analyzed. Four primary themes emerged during game conversations: 1) the
      importance of people, relationships, and the roles played during end-of-life
      decision making, 2) values, beliefs, and preferences related to end-of-life care
      and the dying period, 3) considerations about preparing for the aftermath of
      one's death, and 4) the relevance of stories or experiences for informing one's
      own end-of-life preferences. CONCLUSIONS: Topics discussed during a
      nonfacilitated end-of-life conversation game are substantive and address
      important issues for advance care planning.

PMID- 27650011
TI  - Cognitive Impairment in a Subset of Breast Cancer Patients After Systemic Therapy
      Results From a Longitudinal Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Studies indicate adverse effects of breast cancer (BC) and cancer
      treatment on cognitive function. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of
      systemic treatment on cognitive performance in BC patients. METHODS: Participants
      were BC patients scheduled to receive systemic treatment (BC + SYST; n = 31), or
      no systemic treatment (BC; n = 24) and no-cancer (NC) controls (n = 33).
      Neuropsychological examinations were used to study cognitive performance on 18
      tests grouped into eight cognitive domains, before adjuvant treatment (T1) and
      six months after chemotherapy (T2), or at similar intervals. We also assessed
      health-related quality of life, anxiety and depression, mood, stress, and
      cognitive problems. Analysis of variance was used to assess group differences of
      cognitive performance and multivariate normative comparison to classify
      impairment, comparing scores of each participant against the distribution of the
      scores of NC controls. RESULTS: Of BC + SYST, 16% were cognitively impaired at
      T2, compared to 4% in BC and 6% in NC. Although not significant, we observed
      moderate effect sizes for worse performance in the BC + SYST group compared to NC
      (Flanker congruent [effect size {ES} = 0.44] and stimulus incongruent [ES =
      0.44]) and compared to BC (Controlled Oral Word Association Test [ES = 0.47],
      digit span [ES = 0.41], and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test immediate [ES = 0.71]
      and delayed recall [ES = 0.65]). Cognitively impaired patients had a
      significantly lower estimated premorbid intelligence, worse physical and social
      functioning, and more distress at T2 compared to unimpaired patients. CONCLUSION:
      Our findings indicate that cognitive impairment after systemic treatment occurs
      in a subset of BC patients. The predictive value of demographic and psychosocial
      factors in cognitive impairment should be further investigated in a larger sample
      of impaired patients.

PMID- 27650012
TI  - The impact of Value Incentive Program (VIP) on the quality of hospital care for
      acute stroke in Korea.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to analyze the impact of Value Incentive Program
      (VIP) on the quality improvement of acute stroke care, and to determine the
      difference of effect by the size of hospitals. INTERVENTIONS: Adopting the VIP on
      the fifth acute stroke quality assessment. DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Using
      paired t-test and student t-test, we compared the quality assessment results of
      the third assessment, which was publicly reported without the VIP implementation
      and the fifth assessment, on which the VIP was applied. The subjects of the third
      assessment were acute stroke admissions in 201 hospitals (44 tertiary and 157
      general hospitals) from January to March 2010. The fifth assessment included 201
      hospitals (42 tertiary and 159 general hospitals) from March to May 2013. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Seven process indicators of acute stroke quality assessment and
      in-hospital mortality rate. RESULT: In comparison to the third assessment, five
      of the seven process indicators showed statistically significant improvement in
      the fifth assessment. Also, there were significant decreases in the interquartile
      ranges of five process indicators. This phenomenon was more notable in general
      hospitals. The in-hospital mortality rate of hemorrhagic stroke in general
      hospitals showed a statistically significant decrease from 20.8% in the third
      assessment to 11.6% (P < 0.05) in the fifth assessment. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrated that the VIP was effective in improving quality of acute stroke
      care. The improvement was more prominent in general hospitals, and led to reduced
      quality gaps among hospitals.

PMID- 27650013
TI  - The first patient treatment of electromagnetic-guided real time adaptive
      radiotherapy using MLC tracking for lung SABR.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Real time adaptive radiotherapy that enables smaller
      irradiated volumes may reduce pulmonary toxicity. We report on the first patient
      treatment of electromagnetic-guided real time adaptive radiotherapy delivered
      with MLC tracking for lung stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A clinical trial was developed to investigate the safety and feasibility
      of MLC tracking in lung. The first patient was an 80-year old man with a single
      left lower lobe lung metastasis to be treated with SABR to 48Gy in 4 fractions.
      In-house software was integrated with a standard linear accelerator to adapt the
      treatment beam shape and position based on electromagnetic transponders implanted
      in the lung. MLC tracking plans were compared against standard ITV-based
      treatment planning. MLC tracking plan delivery was reconstructed in the patient
      to confirm safe delivery. RESULTS: Real time adaptive radiotherapy delivered with
      MLC tracking compared to standard ITV-based planning reduced the PTV by 41% (18.7
      11cm3) and the mean lung dose by 30% (202-140cGy), V20 by 35% (2.6-1.5%) and V5
      by 9% (8.9-8%). CONCLUSION: An emerging technology, MLC tracking, has been
      translated into the clinic and used to treat lung SABR patients for the first
      time. This milestone represents an important first step for clinical real-time
      adaptive radiotherapy that could reduce pulmonary toxicity in lung radiotherapy.

PMID- 27650014
TI  - Concept of sustainable waste management in the city of Zagreb: Towards the
      implementation of circular economy approach.
AB  - : Improvement of the current waste management is one of the main challenges for
      most municipalities in Croatia, mainly due to legal obligations set in different
      European Union (EU) directives regarding waste management, such as reduction of
      waste generation and landfilling, or increase of separately collected waste and
      recycling rates. This paper highlights the current waste management in the city
      of Zagreb by analyzing the waste generation, collection, and disposal scenario
      along with the regulatory and institutional framework. Since the present waste
      management system mainly depends upon landfilling, with the rate of separate
      waste collection and recycling far from being adequate, it is necessary to
      introduce a new system that will take into account the current situation in the
      city as well as the obligations imposed by the EU. Namely, in the coming years,
      the Waste Framework and Landfill Directives of the European Union will be a
      significant driver of change in waste management practices and governance of the
      city of Zagreb. At present, the yearly separate waste collection makes somewhat
      less than 5 kg per capita of various waste fractions, i.e., far below the average
      value for the (28) capital cities of the EU, which is 108 kg per capita. This is
      possible to achieve only by better and sustainable planning of future activities
      and facilities, taking into account of environmental, economic, and social
      aspects of waste management. This means that the city of Zagreb not only will
      have to invest in new infrastructure to meet the targets, but also will have to
      enhance public awareness in diverting this waste at the household level. The
      solution for the new waste management proposed in this paper will certainly be a
      way of implementing circular economy approach to current waste management
      practice in the city of Zagreb. IMPLICATIONS: Municipal waste management in the
      developing countries in the EU (new eastern EU members) is often characterized by
      its limited utilization of recycling activities, inadequate management of
      nonindustrial hazardous waste, and inadequate landfill disposal. Many cities in
      Eastern Europe and Zagreb as well are facing serious problems in managing
      municipal wastes due to the existing solid waste management system that is found
      to be highly inefficient. The proposed scenario for city of Zagreb in the paper
      is an innovative upgrading of municipal waste management based on the waste
      management hierarchy and circular economy approach.

PMID- 27650015
TI  - [Paget's disease of bone: diagnosis and treatment].
AB  - Paget's disease of bone is a focal disorder of bone remodelling that leads to
      changes in the shape and size of affected bones, and is associated with articular
      and vascular complications. The disorder is characterised by a localised increase
      in osteoclast number and activity in one or more affected sites while the rest of
      the skeleton remains unaffected. The excessive bone resorption leads to
      recruitment of osteoblasts to the remodelling sites, resulting in increased bone
      formation. This accelerated bone turnover causes deposition of bone with
      disorganised architecture and structural weakness. The precise aetiology is
      unknown. It is thought that the disease is caused by interactions between
      environmental and genetic factors; the nature of this interaction still has to be
      determined. The disease is progressive, but can be treated with a single infusion
      of zoledronic acid. In this manuscript three cases are described, along with a
      review of the current diagnostic tools and treatment.

PMID- 27650016
TI  - [AbstractA woman with knee pain after a fall in childhood].
AB  - A 32-year-old woman presented with pain in her left knee ever since she had
      fallen down the stairs as a child and had landed on this knee. On the X-ray we
      saw two large patella fragments. We made the diagnosis of dislocated and
      subluxated fracture of the patella without consolidation. The previously missed
      fracture was treated conservatively.

PMID- 27650017
TI  - [Measuring thrombin formation].
AB  - Measurement of thrombin formation makes it possible to estimate the risk of
      haemorrhage or thrombosis much more accurately than by using clotting time. This
      new technique allows better monitoring of the effect of prophylactic and
      therapeutic anticoagulant therapy. Thrombin formation is, however, not yet
      routinely measured.

PMID- 27650018
TI  - [Hearing voices does not always constitute a psychosis].
AB  - Hearing voices (i.e. auditory verbal hallucinations) is mainly known as part of
      schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. However, hearing voices is a symptom
      that can occur in many psychiatric, neurological and general medical conditions.
      We present three cases of non-psychotic patients with auditory verbal
      hallucinations caused by different disorders. The first patient is a 74-year-old
      male with voices due to hearing loss, the second is a 20-year-old woman with
      voices due to traumatisation. The third patient is a 27-year-old woman with
      voices caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Hearing voices is a phenomenon that
      occurs in a variety of disorders. Therefore, identification of the underlying
      disorder is essential to indicate treatment. Improvement of coping with the
      voices can reduce their impact on a patient. Antipsychotic drugs are especially
      effective when hearing voices is accompanied by delusions or disorganization.
      When this is not the case, the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs will probably not
      outweigh the side-effects.

PMID- 27650019
TI  - [Murphy's Law].
AB  - Non-surgical treatment of acute phlegmonous appendicitis has been receiving
      increasing attention in recent years, representing a reversal of policy. The
      appendectomy came into vogue at the beginning of the 20th century. It is true
      that prompt surgical intervention in all patients with appendicitis or an
      indication thereof almost guarantees success, but it gradually came to be
      forgotten that this intervention was not always necessary. In this article we
      will document the historical development of this disease and its treatment, and
      return to the original reports made by pathologist Reginald Fitz and the
      internist William Osler to show that their opinion was not black and white. Many
      surgeons in the Netherlands were also initially more restrained. In the course of
      time recognition of the natural progression of the disease vanished, until new
      developments placed this more sharply in the limelight.

PMID- 27650020
TI  - [Diagnostics and treatment of hepatocellular adenomas].
AB  - - Hepatocellular adenomas are essentially benign tumours of the liver that occur
      mostly in women of reproductive age. - The four different subtypes described,
      which can be distinguished both radiologically and histopathologically, are:
      steatotic, inflammatory, beta-catenin mutated and unclassified adenomas. These
      subtypes differ in the risk of complications.- Contrast-enhanced liver MRI is the
      best method for diagnostics and characterization of hepatocellular adenomas. -
      Possible complications include bleeding, rupture, and malignant degeneration of
      the hepatocellular adenoma. These complications are rare in adenomas < 5 cm. -
      Men with hepatocellular adenomas are at higher risk for malignant degeneration. -
      In women, lifestyle changes (cessation of oral contraceptive and weight
      reduction) can cause regression of the adenoma, which can prevent the necessity
      for liver surgery. - In pregnant women there is a risk of growth of
      hepatocellular adenoma. It is, therefore, it is recommended to check the tumour
      in pregnant women every 6-12 weeks using ultrasound.

PMID- 27650021
TI  - [Impact of ethnicity and social background on examination results of medical
      students].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate underperformance across ethnic minority groups and by
      first-generation university students in different types of examinations during
      pre-clinical training. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study METHODS: Participants
      included Erasmus MC students from the 2008-2013 cohorts (n=2432). Outcome
      measures were pass/fail on three types of written examinations: 1) theoretical
      knowledge: clinical problem solving tests (CPSTs) (Year 1-3) and end-of-block
      tests (Year 1c2-c3), 2) language skills test (Year 1) and 3) writing skills tests
      (Year 1-3), and OSCEs (Year 2-3). Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were
      estimated by logistic regression analysis for ethnic subgroups
      (Surinamese/Antillean, Turkish/Moroccan/African, Asian, Western) compared with
      Dutch students, adjusted for age, gender, pre-university Grade Point Average (pu
      GPA), additional socio-demographic variables (first-generation immigrant, urban
      background, first-generation university student, first language, medical doctor
      as parent). Similar analyses were conducted for first-generation university
      students. RESULTS: Compared with Dutch students, the three non-Western ethnic
      minority groups underperformed in the CPSTs, the language test and the OSCEs.
      Findings on the end-of-block and writing skills tests, and results for Western
      minority students were less consistent. Age, gender, pu-GPA and additional socio
      demographic variables could explain the ethnicity-related differences in
      theoretical examinations, but not in language, clinical and writing skills
      examinations. First-generation university students only underperformed in the
      language test. CONCLUSION: Ethnic minority students underperform in pre-clinical
      training, but there are differences both across ethnic subgroups and between
      different types of examinations. In designing assessment programs care should be
      taken to avoid unintended effects of certain types of examinations for certain
      groups of students.

PMID- 27650022
TI  - [A woman with a sclerotic plaque and a bulla].
AB  - A 63-year-old woman had a sclerotic plaque with a bulla under her left breast.
      Histopathological examination of a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of bullous
      morphea. Bullae are rarely seen in morphea. The patient was successfully treated
      with mometasone ointment 0.1%. To our knowledge, the pathogenesis of bullous
      morphea is still under debate.

PMID- 27650023
TI  - [The humble physician].
AB  - A good physician is a humble physician. Humility can be defined as the middle
      ground between meekness and vanity, or the insight that what we know and what we
      are capable of is incomplete. This insight is needed to develop a realistic self
      image and to prevent unprofessional behaviour among doctors.

PMID- 27650024
TI  - [Inhalational or intravenous anesthesia?].
AB  - The debate continues whether there is a difference in patient outcome following
      inhalational versus intravenous anesthesia. A recent meta-analysis showed
      improved outcome following inhalational anesthesia in patients undergoing cardiac
      surgery but not in patients undergoing non-cardiac procedures. In this article we
      discuss the meta-analysis and its caveats, taking into account additional
      comparative studies. Our overall conclusion is that it is too early to
      definitively claim that one anesthesia technique results in a better outcome than
      the other.

PMID- 27650025
TI  - [A woman with a painful ankle after a sprain].
AB  - A 70-year-old woman presented with symptoms resembling an Achilles tendon
      rupture. Careful examination revealed a large avulsion fracture of the calcaneal
      tuberosity. Successful screw osteosynthesis of this tongue-type fracture was
      performed. Such careful examination is paramount to prevent one from missing this
      fracture.

PMID- 27650026
TI  - [Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction for COPD: not a real solution after all].
AB  - Hyperinflation is an important element in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD), contributing significantly to dyspnoea and exercise intolerance.
      Bronchodilators have some, albeit slight, effect on hyperinflation. Lung volume
      reduction surgery has been advocated in a highly select group of patients with
      heterogeneous, predominantly upper lobe, emphysema but morbidity and mortality
      associated with this intervention have hampered its widespread use in respiratory
      medicine. Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction has recently been introduced.
      Several studies have shown promising results, again in a highly select group of
      patients, with clinically relevant effects on symptoms, lung function and quality
      of life. However, for most COPD patients, prevention and slowing down of disease
      progression are much more important. Smoking cessation is the single most
      important intervention to achieve these goals. Furthermore, effective new anti
      inflammatory drugs are needed since inhaled steroids, although widely used in
      COPD, are largely ineffective.

PMID- 27650027
TI  - [Diversity and quality in medical training].
AB  - Ethnocultural diversity among medical students is important in order to guarantee
      a true reflection of society in the medical profession. It is known that students
      from ethnic minority groups perform less well in assessments during medical
      training. This is partly due to language problems but also to differences in
      culture. In order to keep these students in medical training, assessments should
      ideally be free of ethnocultural prejudice. Furthermore, it is important to
      ensure that there is no discrimination. To get a valid impression of these
      students it is important that multiple assessments be performed by several
      assessors. Then the real problems can be exposed and students from ethnic
      minority groups can get the support they need to become good physicians.

PMID- 27650028
TI  - [Prevention of severe infections in asplenic patients].
AB  - The lifetime risk of dying from sepsis is approximately 2-3% in persons with
      (functional) asplenia. Both patients and their physicians are not always fully
      aware of these risks and the implementation of preventive measures is
      insufficient. Physicians should inform both patients and colleagues on the
      consequences of lost splenic function. Primary care physicians should screen
      their lists for patients with (functional) asplenia and offer these patient
      adequate preventive measures when needed.

PMID- 27650029
TI  - [The threat of antibiotic resistance to nursing homes].
AB  - Antibiotic resistance is considered a major threat to healthcare. The Dutch
      government recently announced additional measures to contain this threat, one of
      these being the creation of regional care networks dedicated to control
      antibiotic resistance. Among the anticipated activities of these networks is
      quantifying the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in nursing homes, through
      regular point-prevalence surveillance studies. There is a broadly felt belief
      that nursing homes might be a 'mer a boire' of antibiotic resistance. Although
      scientific data do not support that claim, it is nevertheless likely that the
      planned investigations will identify yet unknown clusters of ESBL-carriers,
      necessitating infection control measures. Given the absence of an acute problem
      and the consequences for nursing home management, staff and clients of point
      prevalence surveillance studies, a staged approach for investigating antibiotic
      resistance in nursing homes should be considered.

PMID- 27650030
TI  - The anti-leukemic and lipid lowering effects of imatinib are not hindered by
      statins in CML: a retrospective clinical study and in vitro assessment of lipid
      genes transcription.
AB  - Imatinib, which has revolutionized chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment, was
      suggested to improve lipid profile. Statins, a dyslipidemia drug, were reported
      to potentiate imatinib's antileukemic effect. However, analysis of imatinib
      combined with statins is lacking. We have retrospectively analyzed the
      normalization period of bcr-abl, blood counts, and lipids in 40 CML patients, 19
      of which co-treated with statins, during short (<12 months) and prolonged (>12
      months) imatinib treatment. Prior statins treatment did not hinder nor sensitized
      imatinib's anti-leukemic and lipid-lowering effects. CML cells (K562) treated
      with 1MUM imatinib (24-96 h) were further assessed for the expression of central
      lipid-related genes by real-time PCR. HMGCoAR, LDL-R, and apobec1 expressions
      were significantly increased while CETP declined after 48-96 h. To conclude,
      imatinib produces an independent favorable lipid profile, which is not hindered
      by statins and is partly mediated via transcription regulation of genes involved
      in the clearance of plasma lipids.

PMID- 27650031
TI  - Review: Weak radiofrequency radiation exposure from mobile phone radiation on
      plants.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this article was to explore the hypothesis that non-thermal,
      weak, radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) have an effect on living
      plants. SUBJECT AND METHODS: In this study, we performed an analysis of the data
      extracted from the 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications (1996-2016)
      describing 169 experimental observations to detect the physiological and
      morphological changes in plants due to the non-thermal RF-EMF effects from mobile
      phone radiation. Twenty-nine different species of plants were considered in this
      work. RESULTS: Our analysis demonstrates that the data from a substantial amount
      of the studies on RF-EMFs from mobile phones show physiological and/or
      morphological effects (89.9%, p < 0.001). Additionally, our analysis of the
      results from these reported studies demonstrates that the maize, roselle, pea,
      fenugreek, duckweeds, tomato, onions and mungbean plants seem to be very
      sensitive to RF-EMFs. Our findings also suggest that plants seem to be more
      responsive to certain frequencies, especially the frequencies between (i) 800 and
      1500 MHz (p < 0.0001), (ii) 1500 and 2400 MHz (p < 0.0001) and (iii) 3500 and
      8000 MHz (p = 0.0161). CONCLUSION: The available literature on the effect of RF
      EMFs on plants to date observed the significant trend of radiofrequency radiation
      influence on plants. Hence, this study provides new evidence supporting our
      hypothesis. Nonetheless, this endorses the need for more experiments to observe
      the effects of RF-EMFs, especially for the longer exposure durations, using the
      whole organisms. The above observation agrees with our earlier study, in that it
      supported that it is not a well-grounded method to characterize biological
      effects without considering the exposure duration. Nevertheless, none of these
      findings can be directly associated with human; however, on the other hand, this
      cannot be excluded, as it can impact the human welfare and health, either
      directly or indirectly, due to their complexity and varied effects (calcium
      metabolism, stress proteins, etc.). This study should be useful as a reference
      for researchers conducting epidemiological studies and the long-term experiments,
      using whole organisms, to observe the effects of RF-EMFs.

PMID- 27650032
TI  - Inter- and intra-rater agreement in the assessment of the vascularity of spinal
      metastases using digital subtraction angiography tumor blush.
AB  - Background Preoperative embolization is based on the preoperative digital
      subtraction angiography (DSA) tumor blush, and as such is considered the "gold
      standard" for determining tumor vascularity. However, to our knowledge
      reliability studies evaluating vascularity ratings of DSA tumor blush in spinal
      metastases have not been published previously. Purpose To evaluate inter- and
      intra-rater agreement in the assessment of the vascularity of spinal metastases
      using DSA tumor blush. Material and Methods This reliability study included 46
      patients with symptomatic metastatic spinal cord compression requiring surgery.
      DSA data stored in the hospital picture archiving and communication system (PACS)
      from the participants of a randomized controlled trial were used. Inter- and
      intra-rater agreement on vascularity assessment using DSA tumor blush according
      to a three-step ordinal scale was evaluated: no hypervascularity; moderate
      hypervascularity; and pronounced hypervascularity. The statistical analysis was
      based on the linear weighted kappa's for multiple raters that extend Cohen's
      kappa. Three raters and kappa = 0.2 in the null hypothesis implied that the power
      of the study was 0.96. Results Inter- and intra-rater agreements were moderate in
      rating the vascularity of spinal metastases and the agreements were significantly
      higher than the kappa = 0.20 in the null hypothesis ( P = 0.0002 and P = 0.0001).
      The kappa value for inter-rater agreement was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI],
      0.41-0.72) and for intra-rater agreement 0.55 (95% CI, 0.38-0.71). Conclusion
      There is moderate inter-rater and intra-rater agreement in classifying the
      vascularity of spinal metastases on a three-step ordinal scale for DSA tumor
      blush.

PMID- 27650033
TI  - In vivo coronary artery plaque assessment with computed tomography angiography:
      is there an impact of iterative reconstruction on plaque volume and attenuation
      metrics?
AB  - Background Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) allows the evaluation
      of coronary plaque volume and low attenuation (lipid-rich) component, for plaque
      vulnerability assessment. Purpose To determine the effect of iterative
      reconstruction (IR) on coronary plaque volume and composition. Material and
      Methods Consecutive patients without coronary artery disease were prospectively
      enrolled for 256-slice CT. Images were reconstructed with both filtered back
      projection (FBP) and a hybrid IR algorithm (iDose4, Philips) levels 1, 3, 5, and
      7. Coronary plaques were assessed according to predefined Hounsfield unit (HU)
      attenuation intervals, for total plaque and HU-interval volumes. Results Fifty
      three patients (mean age, 53.6 years) were included. Noise was significantly
      decreased and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) / contrast-to-noise (CNR) were both
      significantly improved at all IR levels in comparison to FBP. Plaque
      characterization was performed in 41 patients for a total of 125 plaques. Total
      plaque volume ranged from 104.4 +/- 120.7 to 107.4 +/- 128.9 mm3 and low
      attenuation plaque component from 40.5 +/- 54.7 to 43.5 +/- 58.9 mm3, with no
      statistically significant differences between all IR levels and FBP ( P = 0.786
      and P >= 0.078, respectively). Conclusion IR improved image quality. Total and
      low attenuation plaque volumes were similar using either IR or FBP.

PMID- 27650035
TI  - Burnout in Female Faculty Members.
AB  - Despite approximately equal numbers of male and female medical school graduates,
      women are entering academic medicine at a lower rate than their male colleagues.
      Of those who do assume a faculty position, female faculty members report higher
      levels of burnout, often attributable to gender-specific difficulties in clinical
      expectations and maintenance of work-life balance. Many of these struggles are
      attributable to issues that are amenable to supportive policies, but these
      policies are inconsistent in their availability and practice. This commentary
      presents evidence for inconsistencies in the day-to-day experience of female
      faculty members, and proposes solutions for the mitigation of the challenges
      experienced more often by female faculty members with the goal of diversifying
      and strengthening academic medicine.

PMID- 27650034
TI  - Low health literacy and psychological symptoms potentially increase the risks of
      non-suicidal self-injury in Chinese middle school students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low health literacy (HL) has been known to be involved in various
      risk behaviors and mental disorder among adolescent. The purpose of this study
      was to examine the independent and interactive association between HL and self
      reported mental health with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in Chinese middle
      school students. METHODS: Twenty five thousand three hundred seventy-eight junior
      and high school students in China were enrolled in this study. The outcomes were
      self-reported HL, psychological symptoms and NSSI. Logistic regression models
      were conducted to examine relations between them. RESULTS: The prevalence of NSSI
      was 27.5 %. Low HL was significantly associated with NSSI (OR = 2.538, 95 % CI:
      2.335-2.758). Psychological symptoms were significantly positively correlated
      with NSSI (OR = 3.872, 95 % CI: 3.637-4.123). Low HL and psychological symptoms
      were independently and interactively associated with increased risks of NSSI.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that Chinese middle school students with low
      HL and psychological symptoms are intending to exhibit NSSI. The intervention
      programs of mental health and behavior problems should enhance HL levels and
      attenuate the severity of psychological symptoms.

PMID- 27650036
TI  - Electronic Cigarette Toxicity.
AB  - Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are often advertised as a healthier product
      when compared with traditional cigarettes. Currently, there are limited data to
      support this and only a threat of federal regulation from the US Food and Drug
      Administration. Calls to poison control centers about e-cigarette toxicity,
      especially in children, and case reports of toxic exposures have increased over
      the past 3 years. This research letter reports the frequency of hazardous
      exposures to e-cigarettes and characterizes the reported adverse health effects
      associated with e-cigarette toxicity.

PMID- 27650037
TI  - Critical Role of pH Evolution of Electrolyte in the Reaction Mechanism for
      Rechargeable Zinc Batteries.
AB  - The reaction mechanism of alpha-MnO2 having 2*2 tunnel structure with zinc ions
      in a zinc rechargeable battery, employing an aqueous zinc sulfate electrolyte,
      was investigated by in situ monitoring structural changes and water chemistry
      alterations during the reaction. Contrary to the conventional belief that zinc
      ions intercalate into the tunnels of alpha-MnO2 , we reveal that they actually
      precipitate in the form of layered zinc hydroxide sulfate (Zn4 (OH)6 (SO4 )?5 H2
      O) on the alpha-MnO2 surface. This precipitation occurs because unstable
      trivalent manganese disproportionates and is dissolved in the electrolyte during
      the discharge process, resulting in a gradual increase in the pH value of the
      electrolyte. This causes zinc hydroxide sulfate to crystallize from the
      electrolyte on the electrode surface. During the charge process, the pH value of
      the electrolyte decreases due to recombination of manganese on the cathode,
      leading to dissolution of zinc hydroxide sulfate back into the electrolyte. An
      analogous phenomenon is also observed in todorokite, a manganese dioxide
      polymorph with 3*3 tunnel structure that is an indication for the critical role
      of pH changes of the electrolyte in the reaction mechanism of this battery
      system.

PMID- 27650039
TI  - Propping up pharma's (natural) neoliberal phallic man: pharmaceutical
      representations of the ideal sexuopharmaceutical user.
AB  - Contemporary social theorists emphasise the cultural quest for authenticity under
      conditions of increasing artificiality. Within this context, the body is commonly
      treated as an 'unfinished' surface requiring ongoing transformation to fulfil
      identity obligations. In this paper, we examine one such identity authentication
      project in the form of marketing of men's sexuopharmaceuticals. We use online
      pharmaceutical advertising for four approved sexuopharmaceuticals (Viagra,
      Cialis, STAXYN and Stendra) to describe the ideal neoliberal consumer. These
      campaigns underscore the robust role of pharmaceuticals in sexual authentication
      projects undergirded by neoliberal consumerist and aspirationalist ideals. Penile
      dependability as a luxury consumerist project reinvigorates traditional sexual
      (masculine) authentication as yoked to phallic control, by repackaging sexual
      enhancement medication use as a neoliberal beacon of aspirational achievements.
      The ideal targeted user is increasingly younger, and consumption of
      sexuopharmaceuticals is represented as achieving elite status and exclusive
      pleasures; masculine authenticity and choice; progressive relationships and a
      contemporary urban, fast-paced life; and a prepared yet spontaneous romantic
      sexuality. Women are also increasingly used in promotional materials directed at
      men; their responsibility centres on coaching and coaxing potential users.

PMID- 27650038
TI  - Immunoscore and Immunoprofiling in cancer: an update from the melanoma and
      immunotherapy bridge 2015.
AB  - The fifth "Melanoma Bridge Meeting" took place in Naples, December 1-5th, 2015.
      The main topics discussed at this meeting were: Molecular and Immuno advances,
      Immunotherapies and Combination Therapies, Tumor Microenvironment and Biomarkers
      and Immunoscore. The natural history of cancer involves interactions between the
      tumor and the immune system of the host. The immune infiltration at the tumor
      site may be indicative of host response. Significant correlations were shown
      between the levels of immune cell infiltration in tumors and patient's clinical
      outcome. Moreover, incredible progress comes from the discovery of mutation
      encoded tumor neoantigens. In fact, as tumors grow, they acquire mutations that
      are able to influence the response of patients to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
      It has been demonstrated that sensitivity to PD-1 and CTLA-4 blockade in patients
      with advanced NSCLC and melanoma was enhanced in tumors enriched for clonal
      neoantigens. The road ahead is still very long, but the knowledge of the
      mechanisms of immune escape, the study of tumor neo-antigens as well as of tumor
      microenvironment and the development of new immunotherapy strategies, will make
      cancer a more and more treatable disease.

PMID- 27650041
TI  - Enthalpy-Driven Stabilization of Dispersions of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticles in
      High-Molecular-Weight Polymer Melts.
AB  - Phase stability of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) composed of polymer-grafted SiO2
      nanoparticles (NPs) blended with high-molar-mass host polymer chains is
      investigated. We focus on blends in which the particle-grafted polymer,
      polyethylene glycol (PEG), and the host-atactic poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA)
      or PMMA/oligo-PEG blends-exhibit favorable enthalpic interactions. Small-angle X
      ray scattering measurements are used to evaluate the phase stability of the
      blends and to report on the structure of the materials at intermediate and long
      length scales. By exploring SiO2-PEG/PMMA and SiO2-PEG/PMMA-PEG systems covering
      a wide range of molecular weights (Mw) of PMMA (1.1 kDa <= Mw,PMMA <= 1.1 * 103
      kDa) and tethered PEG (0.5 kDa <= Mw, PEG <= 2 kDa), we are able to develop a
      comprehensive stability map for PNCs based on hairy NPs. At low Mw,PEG, the phase
      behavior is dominated by entropic effects and the negative Flory-Huggins chi
      parameter between PEG and PMMA plays no role in phase stability. For higher
      Mw,PEO and intermediate Mw,PMMA, a crossover from entropy- to enthalpy-dominated
      behavior is observed, which leads to the phase stability in PNCs well beyond the
      conventional limits reported for SiO2-PEG/PEG mixtures. This enhanced mixing
      ceases above a critical Mw,PMMA, where it is found that PMMA chains wet a
      sufficiently large number of SiO2-PEG particles to bridge and thereby destabilize
      the composites.

PMID- 27650040
TI  - Synthesis of 1,3-Cycloalkadienes from Cycloalkenes: Unprecedented Reactivity of
      Oxoammonium Salts.
AB  - Few methods allow for the direct conversion of cycloalkenes into cycloalkadienes
      with high chemo- and regioselectivity. Herein, we report a convenient one-pot
      process for this transformation that involves the unprecedented N-preferential
      group transfer of N-oxoammonium salts to cycloalkenes, followed by Cope
      elimination, to afford cycloalkadienes at room temperature and pressure.

PMID- 27650042
TI  - Deciphering bioactive peptides and their action mechanisms through proteomics.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bioactive peptides such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs),
      ribosomally synthesized and post translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) and
      the non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs) have emerged with promising applications in
      medicine, agriculture and industry. However, their development has been limited
      by several difficulties making it necessary to search for novel discovery
      methods. In this context, proteomics has been considered a reliable tool. Areas
      covered: This review highlights recent developments in proteomic tools that
      facilitate the discovery of AMPs, RiPPs and NRPs as well as the elucidation of
      action mechanisms of AMPs and resistance mechanisms of pathogens to them. Expert
      commentary: Proteomic approaches have emerged as useful tools for the study of
      bioactive peptides, especially mass spectrometry-based peptidomics profiling, a
      promising strategy for AMP discovery. Furthermore, the rapidly expanding fields
      of genome mining and genome sequencing techniques, as well as mass spectrometry,
      have revolutionized the discovery of novel RiPPs and NRPs from complex biological
      samples.

PMID- 27650044
TI  - A fast Newton-Raphson based iterative algorithm for large scale optimal
      contribution selection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The management of genetic variation in a breeding scheme relies very
      much on the control of the average relationship between selected parents. Optimum
      contribution selection is a method that seeks the optimum way to select for
      genetic improvement while controlling the rate of inbreeding. METHODS: A novel
      iterative algorithm, Gencont2, for calculating optimum genetic contributions was
      developed. It was validated by comparing it with a previous program, Gencont, on
      three datasets that were obtained from practical breeding programs in three
      species (cattle, pig and sheep). The number of selection candidates was 2929,
      3907 and 6875 for the pig, cattle and sheep datasets, respectively. RESULTS: In
      most cases, both algorithms selected the same candidates and led to very similar
      results with respect to genetic gain for the cattle and pig datasets. In cases,
      where the number of animals to select varied, the contributions of the additional
      selected candidates ranged from 0.006 to 0.08 %. The correlations between
      assigned contributions were very close to 1 in all cases; however, the iterative
      algorithm decreased the computation time considerably by 90 to 93 % (13 to 22
      times faster) compared to Gencont. For the sheep dataset, only results from the
      iterative algorithm are reported because Gencont could not handle a large number
      of selection candidates. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the new iterative algorithm provides
      an interesting alternative for the practical implementation of optimal
      contribution selection on a large scale in order to manage inbreeding and
      increase the sustainability of animal breeding programs.

PMID- 27650043
TI  - VEGFR-2 reduces while combined VEGFR-2 and -3 signaling increases inflammation in
      apical periodontitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In apical periodontitis, oral pathogens provoke an inflammatory
      response in the apical area that induces bone resorptive lesions. In
      inflammation, angio- and lymphangiogenesis take place. Vascular endothelial
      growth factors (VEGFs) and their receptors (VEGFRs) are key players in these
      processes and are expressed in immune cells and endothelial cells in the lesions.
      OBJECTIVE: We aimed at testing the role of VEGFR-2 and -3 in periapical lesion
      development and investigated their role in lymphangiogenesis in the draining
      lymph nodes. DESIGN: We induced lesions by pulp exposure in the lower first
      molars of C57BL/6 mice. The mice received IgG injections or blocking antibodies
      against VEGFR-2 (anti-R2), VEGFR-3 (anti-R3), or combined VEGFR-2 and -3,
      starting on day 0 until day 10 or 21 post-exposure. RESULTS: Lesions developed
      faster in the anti-R2 and anti-R3 group than in the control and anti-R2/R3
      groups. In the anti-R2 group, a strong inflammatory response was found expressed
      as increased number of neutrophils and osteoclasts. A decreased level of pro
      inflammatory cytokines was found in the anti-R2/R3 group. Lymphangiogenesis in
      the draining lymph nodes was inhibited after blocking of VEGFR-2 and/or -3, while
      the largest lymph node size was seen after anti-R2 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We
      demonstrate an anti-inflammatory effect of VEGFR-2 signaling in periapical
      lesions which seems to involve neutrophil regulation and is independent of
      angiogenesis. Combined signaling of VEGFR-2 and -3 has a pro-inflammatory effect.
      Lymph node lymphangiogenesis is promoted through activation of VEGFR-2 and/or
      VEGFR-3.

PMID- 27650045
TI  - 99m Tc-anti-epidermal growth factor receptor nanobody for tumor imaging.
AB  - Nanobodies are important biomolecules for tumor targeting. In this study, we
      synthesized and labeled anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) nanobody OA
      cb6 with 99m Tc(CO)3+ and evaluated its characteristics for targeting the EGFR in
      the A431 human epidermal carcinoma cell line. Nanobody radiolabeling was achieved
      with high yield and radiochemical purity, and the radioconjugate was stable.
      Biodistribution results in nude mice exhibited a favorable tumor-to-muscle ratio
      at 4-hr postinjection, and tumor location was visualized at 4 hr after injection
      of radiolabeled nanobody. Our result showed that the OA-cb6-99m Tc-tricarbonyl
      radiolabeled nanobody is a promising radiolabeled biomolecule for tumor imaging
      in cancers with high EGFR overexpression.

PMID- 27650047
TI  - MiR-24-3p enhances cell growth in hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting
      metallothionein 1M.
AB  - Dysregulation of microRNAs has been demonstrated to contribute to malignant
      progression of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MiR-24-3p was
      previously reported to be significantly upregulated in HCC. However, the
      potential role and mechanism of action of miR-24-3p in the initiation and
      progression of HCC remain largely unknown. Quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that miR-24-3p was significantly
      upregulated in HCC tumor tissues compared with nontumor tissues. The cell
      viability, colony formation assay, and tumorigenicity assays in nude mice showed
      that miR-24-3p could enhance HCC cell growth in vitro and in vivo.
      Metallothionein 1M was verified as an miR-24-3p target gene by using dual
      luciferase reporter assays, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction, and Western blotting, which was involved in miR-24-3p regulated HCC
      cell growth. These results indicated that miR-24-3p plays an important role in
      the initiation and progression of HCC by targeting metallothionein 1M, and the
      miR-24-3p/metallothionein 1M pathway may contribute to the development of novel
      therapeutic strategies for HCC in the future.

PMID- 27650046
TI  - Telocytes in pancreas of the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus).
AB  - Telocytes (TCs), novel interstitial cells, have been identified in various organs
      of many mammals. However, information about TCs of lower animals remains rare.
      Herein, pancreatic TCs of the Chinese giant salamanders (Andrias davidianus) were
      identified by CD34 immunohistochemistry (IHC) and transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM). The IHC micrographs revealed CD34+ TCs with long telopodes
      (Tps) that were located in the interstitium of the pancreas. CD34+ TCs/Tps were
      frequently observed between exocrine acinar cells and were close to blood
      vessels. The TEM micrographs also showed the existence of TCs in the interstitium
      of the pancreas. TCs had distinctive ultrastructural features, such as one to
      three very long and thin Tps with podoms and podomers, caveolae, dichotomous
      branching, neighbouring exosomes and vesicles. The Tps and exosomes were found in
      close proximity to exocrine acinar cells and alpha cells. It is suggested that
      TCs may play a role in the regeneration of acinar cells and alpha cells. In
      conclusion, our results demonstrated the presence of TCs in the pancreas of the
      Chinese giant salamander. This finding will assist us in a better understanding
      of TCs functions in the amphibian pancreas.

PMID- 27650048
TI  - Onychocytic matricoma as an underrecognized benign mimicker of subungual
      malignant melanoma and Bowen's disease.

PMID- 27650049
TI  - Early EEG Grade and Outcome at 5 Years After Mild Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic
      Encephalopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: More than half of all infants with neonatal hypoxic ischemic
      encephalopathy (HIE) are graded as mild and do not meet current criteria for
      therapeutic hypothermia. These infants are often not enrolled in follow-up, and
      hence our knowledge of their long-term outcome is sparse. We wished to compare 5
      year outcomes in a group of infants with mild, moderate, and severe HIE, graded
      with both early EEG and clinical assessment, none of whom were treated with
      therapeutic hypothermia. METHODS: Term infants with HIE and a healthy comparison
      group were recruited at birth. Both groups had early continuous EEG recordings.
      Cognitive and motor outcome was assessed at 5 years. RESULTS: Outcome was
      available in 53 infants with HIE and 30 infants in the comparison group at 5
      years. Infants with mild HIE at birth (n = 22) had significantly lower full-scale
      IQ, verbal IQ, and performance IQ than comparison infants (n = 30) at 5 years (P
      = .001, .001, and 0.004, respectively). No difference in cognitive measures was
      seen between infants with mild and moderate grades HIE. Intact survival at 5
      years varied across EEG grade HIE at 6 hours after birth; 75% in mild, 46% in
      moderate, 43% in major abnormalities, and 0% with inactive EEGs, compared with
      97% in the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: Survivors of mild HIE, graded
      clinically or by early EEG, have higher rates of disability than their peers and
      have cognitive outcomes similar to that of children with moderate encephalopathy
      in an uncooled HIE cohort.

PMID- 27650050
TI  - Polyarticular Arthritis and Spinal Muscular Atrophy in Acid Ceramidase
      Deficiency.
AB  - Survival of motor neuron 1-------negative spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is
      heterogeneous and remains a diagnostic challenge. The clinical spectrum continues
      to expand and ~33 genes have been identified to date. The present report
      describes a 9-year-old girl with novel clinical phenotype of a patient with
      polyarticular arthritis followed by symptoms of SMA due to acid ceramidase
      deficiency. Whole exome sequencing identified compound heterozygous pathogenic
      mutation in the N-acylsphingosine amidohydrolase 1 gene. Functional assay with
      leukocyte acid ceramidase activity showed a decreased level in the proband
      confirming pathogenicity of the mutations. Mutations of N-acylsphingosine
      amidohydrolase 1 are known to separately cause Farber disease (arthritis,
      subcutaneous nodules, and dysphonia) or SMA with progressive myoclonic epilepsy.
      The present combined phenotype is novel, bringing together SMA with progressive
      myoclonic epilepsy and Farber disease and establishing a phenotypic spectrum.
      Acid ceramidase deficiency is an important consideration in patients presenting
      with polyarticular arthritis and motor neuron disease.

PMID- 27650052
TI  - Interpersonal choice: The advantage on the left or on the right?
AB  - This study explored whether body specificity unconsciously influenced preferences
      for certain people. Participants were presented pictures of the heads of 2
      persons who were described as having the similar personality, profession and
      family background. They were instructed to choose 1 in each pair as the preferred
      date, preferred friend, more charismatic boss or as the better national leader.
      The results showed body specificity had an influence on the selection preference
      on first impression. Participants tended to choose the character on their
      dominant-hand side. This study not only provided the first social psychological
      evidence for the body-specificity hypothesis, but also first demonstrated a role
      for body specificity in impression formation and selection preference.

PMID- 27650051
TI  - Mid-Childhood Outcomes of Repeat Antenatal Corticosteroids: A Randomized
      Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess if exposure to repeat dose(s) of antenatal corticosteroids
      has beneficial effects on neurodevelopment and general health in mid-childhood,
      at 6 to 8 years' corrected age. METHODS: Women at risk for very preterm birth,
      who had received a course of corticosteroids >=7 days previously, were randomized
      to intramuscular betamethasone (11.4 mg Celestone Chronodose) or saline placebo,
      repeated weekly if risk of very preterm birth remained. Mid-childhood assessments
      included neurocognitive function, behavior, growth, lung function, blood
      pressure, health-related quality of life, and health service utilization. The
      primary outcome was survival free of neurosensory disability. RESULTS: Of the
      1059 eligible long-term survivors, 963 (91%) were included in the primary
      outcome; 479 (91%) in the repeat corticosteroid group and 484 (91%) in the
      placebo group. The rate of survival free of neurosensory disability was similar
      in both groups (78.3% repeat versus 77.3% placebo; risk ratio 1.00, 95%
      confidence interval, 0.94-1.08). Neurodevelopment, including cognitive function,
      and behavior, body size, blood pressure, spirometry, and health-related quality
      of life were similar in both groups, as was the use of health services.
      CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with repeat dose(s) of antenatal corticosteroids was
      associated with neither benefit nor harm in mid-childhood. Our finding of long
      term safety supports the use of repeat dose(s) of antenatal corticosteroids, in
      view of the related neonatal benefits. For women at risk for preterm birth before
      32 weeks' gestation, >=7 days after an initial course of antenatal
      corticosteroids, clinicians could consider using a single injection of
      betamethasone, repeated weekly if risk remains.

PMID- 27650053
TI  - Weyl magnons in breathing pyrochlore antiferromagnets.
AB  - Frustrated quantum magnets not only provide exotic ground states and unusual
      magnetic structures, but also support unconventional excitations in many cases.
      Using a physically relevant spin model for a breathing pyrochlore lattice, we
      discuss the presence of topological linear band crossings of magnons in
      antiferromagnets. These are the analogues of Weyl fermions in electronic systems,
      which we dub Weyl magnons. The bulk Weyl magnon implies the presence of chiral
      magnon surface states forming arcs at finite energy. We argue that such
      antiferromagnets present a unique example, in which Weyl points can be
      manipulated in situ in the laboratory by applied fields. We discuss their
      appearance specifically in the breathing pyrochlore lattice, and give some
      general discussion of conditions to find Weyl magnons, and how they may be probed
      experimentally. Our work may inspire a re-examination of the magnetic excitations
      in many magnetically ordered systems.

PMID- 27650054
TI  - Lee Robins' studies of heroin use among US Vietnam veterans.
AB  - The work of Robins and her colleagues on heroin addiction among Vietnam veterans
      sets out in microcosm many of the key factors that play out in the development
      and maintenance of substance addiction beyond the pharmacology of the drug:
      price, availability, the process of delivery of the addictive substance,
      availability of other substances, social norms, education and life circumstances.
      Robins' studies found high rates of heroin use (34%) and symptoms of heroin
      dependence (20%) among US soldiers while serving in Vietnam. In the first year
      after returning to the United States only 1% became re-addicted to heroin,
      although 10% tried the drug after their return. Like other seminal studies, this
      work needs to be read in the original, because relying upon secondary
      interpretations risks being given a selectively edited version of their findings
      in service of varied policy and theoretical agendas.

PMID- 27650056
TI  - Erratum: The anti-inflammatory properties of Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad
      essential oil attenuate the effects of traumatic brain injuries in rats.

PMID- 27650055
TI  - Disrupted brain metabolic connectivity in a 6-OHDA-induced mouse model of
      Parkinson's disease examined using persistent homology-based analysis.
AB  - Movement impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) are caused by the degeneration
      of dopaminergic neurons and the consequent disruption of connectivity in the
      cortico-striatal-thalamic loop. This study evaluated brain metabolic connectivity
      in a 6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced mouse model of PD using (18)F-fluorodeoxy
      glucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). Fourteen PD-model mice and ten
      control mice were used for the analysis. Voxel-wise t-tests on FDG PET results
      yielded no significant regional metabolic differences between the PD and control
      groups. However, the PD group showed lower correlations between the right
      caudoputamen and the left caudoputamen and right visual cortex. Further network
      analyses based on the threshold-free persistent homology framework revealed that
      brain networks were globally disrupted in the PD group, especially between the
      right auditory cortex and bilateral cortical structures and the left
      caudoputamen. In conclusion, regional glucose metabolism of PD was preserved, but
      the metabolic connectivity of the cortico-striatal-thalamic loop was globally
      impaired in PD.

PMID- 27650057
TI  - Carbamodithioate-based fluorescent chemosensor for Hg(II): a staged response
      approach and investigation into the sensing mechanism.
AB  - Carbamodithioate-based compound C1 was designed and synthesized as a new
      fluorescent probe for Hg2+ ions. Upon the addition of Hg2+ ions, it displayed a
      rare staged response: the emission spectra of C1 first showed an apparent red
      shift, followed by a dramatic decrease. To investigate the sensing mechanism,
      control compounds C2 with the same phenanthroimidazole unit and C3 with the same
      carbamodithioate functionality were synthesized. On comparison, the first step
      sensing process was ascribed to decreasing photoinduced electron transfer on the
      coordination of Hg2+ with the lone pair electrons of the nitrogen atom on the
      phenanthroimidazole ring. The affinity of Hg2+ and the carbamodithioate unit with
      four sulfur atoms then induced changes in intramolecular charge transfer
      efficiency and the second step fluorescent response.

PMID- 27650058
TI  - An Application of NGS for Molecular Investigations in Perrault Syndrome: Study of
      14 Families and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Perrault syndrome (PS) is a rare autosomal recessive condition characterized by
      deafness and gonadic dysgenesis. Recently, mutations in five genes have been
      identified: C10orf2, CLPP, HARS2, HSD17B4, and LARS2. Probands included are
      presented with sensorineural deafness associated with gonadic dysgenesis. DNA was
      sequenced using next-generation sequencing (NGS) with a panel of 35 deafness
      genes including the five Perrault genes. Exonic variations known as pathogenic
      mutations or detected with <1% frequency in public databases were extracted and
      subjected to segregation analysis within each family. Both mutations and low
      coverage regions were analyzed by Sanger sequencing. Fourteen female index
      patients were included. The screening in four cases has been extended to four
      family members presenting with PS phenotype. For four unrelated patients (28.6%),
      causative mutations were identified: three homozygous mutations in C10orf2, CLPP,
      and HARS2, and one compound heterozygous mutation in LARS2. Three additional
      heterozygous mutations in LARS2 and HSD17B4 were found in three independent
      familial cases. All these missense mutations were verified by Sanger sequencing.
      Familial segregation analyses confirmed the molecular diagnosis in all cases
      carrying biallelic mutations. Because of NGS, molecular analysis confirmed the
      clinical diagnosis of PS in 28.6% of our cohort and four novel mutations were
      found in four Perrault genes. For the unsolved cases, exome sequencing should be
      performed to search for a sixth unknown PS gene.

PMID- 27650060
TI  - Clinical course of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy-type amniotic fluid
      embolism: A report of three cases.
AB  - Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a rare complication of pregnancy and its
      mortality rate is high. There have been few reports of AFE with presence of
      severe coagulopathy and incoagulable bleeding, and absence of cardiopulmonary
      symptoms or limited cardiopulmonary symptoms, followed by massive blood loss
      during delivery. Such cases have been referred to as disseminated intravascular
      coagulopathy-type AFE, and the characteristics of this condition have been
      presented previously. Here we report three cases that fulfilled the diagnostic
      characteristics of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy-type AFE.

PMID- 27650059
TI  - Fibrils of Truncated Pyroglutamyl-Modified Abeta Peptide Exhibit a Similar
      Structure as Wildtype Mature Abeta Fibrils.
AB  - Fibrillation of differently modified amyloid beta peptides and deposition as
      senile plaques are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. N-terminally truncated
      variants, where the glutamate residue 3 is converted into cyclic pyroglutamate
      (pGlu), form particularly toxic aggregates. We compare the molecular structure
      and dynamics of fibrils grown from wildtype Abeta(1-40) and pGlu3-Abeta(3-40) on
      the single amino acid level. Thioflavin T fluorescence, electron microscopy, and
      X-ray diffraction reveal the general morphology of the amyloid fibrils. We found
      good agreement between the (13)C and (15)N NMR chemical shifts indicative for a
      similar secondary structure of both fibrils. A well-known interresidual contact
      between the two beta-strands of the Abeta fibrils could be confirmed by the
      detection of interresidual cross peaks in a (13)C-(13)C NMR correlation spectrum
      between the side chains of Phe 19 and Leu 34. Small differences in the molecular
      dynamics of residues in the proximity to the pyroglutamyl-modified N-terminus
      were observed as measured by DIPSHIFT order parameter experiments.

PMID- 27650061
TI  - Norepinephrine inhibits mesenchymal stem cell chemotaxis migration by increasing
      stromal cell-derived factor-1 secretion by vascular endothelial cells via
      NE/abrd3/JNK pathway.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are physiologically maintained in vascular
      endothelial cell (VEC)-based niches, play a critical role in tissue regeneration.
      Our previous studies demonstrated that sympathetic denervation could promote MSC
      mobilization, thereby enhancing bone formation in distraction osteogenesis (DO),
      a self-tissue engineering for craniofacial and orthopeadic surgeries. However,
      the mechanisms on how sympathetic neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) regulates
      MSC migration are not well understood. Here we showed that deprivation of NE by
      transection of cervical sympathetic trunk (TCST) inhibited stromal cell-derived
      factor-1 (SDF-1) expression in the perivascular regions in rat mandibular DO. In
      vitro studies showed that NE treatment markedly upregulated p-JNK and therefore
      stimulated higher SDF-1 expression in VECs than control groups, and siRNA
      knockdown of the abrd3 gene abolished the NE-induced p-JNK activation. On the
      other hand, osteoblasts differentiated from MSCs showed an increase in SDF-1
      secretion with lack of NE. Importantly, NE-treated VECs inhibited the MSC
      chemotaxis migration along the SDF-1 concentration gradient as demonstrated in a
      novel 3-chamber Transwell assay. Collectively, our study suggested that NE may
      increase the SDF-1 secretion by VECs via NE/abrd3/JNK pathway, thereby inhibiting
      the MSC chemotaxis migration from perivascular regions toward bone trabecular
      frontlines along the SDF-1 concentration gradient in bone regeneration.

PMID- 27650062
TI  - Granulocyte whole exome sequencing and endothelial JAK2V617F in patients with
      JAK2V617F positive Budd-Chiari Syndrome without myeloproliferative neoplasm.

PMID- 27650063
TI  - A Novel Model of Traumatic Brain Injury in Adult Zebrafish Demonstrates Response
      to Injury and Treatment Comparable with Mammalian Models.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and morbidity in
      industrialized countries with considerable associated health care costs. The cost
      and time associated with pre-clinical development of TBI therapeutics is lengthy
      and expensive with a poor track record of successful translation to the clinic.
      The zebrafish is an emerging model organism in research with unique technical and
      genomic strengths in the study of disease and development. Its high degree of
      genetic homology and cell signaling pathways relative to mammalian species and
      amenability to high and medium throughput assays has potential to accelerate the
      rate of therapeutic drug identification. Accordingly, we developed a novel closed
      head model of TBI in adult zebrafish using a targeted, pulsed, high-intensity
      focused ultrasound (pHIFU) to induce mechanical injury of the brain. Western blot
      results indicated altered microtubule and neurofilament expression as well as
      increased expression of cleaved caspase-3 and beta APP (beta-APP; p < 0.05). We
      used automated behavioral tracking software to evaluate locomotor deficits 24 and
      48 h post-injury. Significant behavioral impairment included decreased swim
      distance and velocity (p < 0.05), as well as heightened anxiety and altered group
      social dynamics. Responses to injury were pHIFU dose-dependent and modifiable
      with MK-801, MDL-28170, or temperature modulation. Together, results indicate
      that the zebrafish exhibits responses to injury and intervention similar to
      mammalian TBI pathophysiology and suggest the potential for use to rapidly
      evaluate therapeutic compounds with high efficiency.

PMID- 27650064
TI  - Cell biology, physiology and enzymology of phosphatidylserine decarboxylase.
AB  - Phosphatidylethanolamine is one of the most abundant phospholipids whose major
      amounts are formed by phosphatidylserine decarboxylases (PSD). Here we provide a
      comprehensive description of different types of PSDs in the different kingdoms of
      life. In eukaryotes, type I PSDs are mitochondrial enzymes, whereas other PSDs
      are localized to other cellular compartments. We describe the role of
      mitochondrial Psd1 proteins, their function, enzymology, biogenesis, assembly
      into mitochondria and their contribution to phospholipid homeostasis in much
      detail. We also discuss briefly the cellular physiology and the enzymology of
      Psd2. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Lipids of Mitochondria
      edited by Guenther Daum.

PMID- 27650065
TI  - Apelin/APJ system as a therapeutic target in diabetes and its complications.
AB  - The G-protein-coupled receptor APJ and its endogenous ligand apelin are widely
      expressed in many peripheral tissues and central nervous system, including
      adipose tissue, skeletal muscles and hypothalamus. Apelin/APJ system, involved in
      numerous physiological functions like angiogenesis, fluid homeostasis and energy
      metabolism regulation, is notably implicated in the development of different
      pathologies such as diabetes and its complications. Increasing evidence suggests
      that apelin regulates insulin sensitivity, stimulates glucose utilization and
      enhances brown adipogenesis in different tissues associated with diabetes.
      Moreover, apelin is also involved in the regulation of diabetic complications via
      binding to APJ receptor. Apelin improves diabetes-induced kidney hypertrophia,
      normalizes obesity-associated cardiac hypertrophy and negatively promotes retinal
      angiogenesis in diabetic retinopathy. In this review, we provide a comprehensive
      overview about the role of apelin/APJ system in different tissues related with
      diabetes. Furthermore, we describe the pathogenesis of diabetic complications
      associated with apelin/APJ system. Finally, agonists and antagonists targeted to
      APJ receptor are described in the literature. Thus, we highlight apelin/APJ
      system as a novel therapeutic target for pharmacological intervention in treating
      diabetes and its complications.

PMID- 27650067
TI  - Response by Chen et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging
      of Plaque Morphology, Burden, and Distribution in Patients With Symptomatic
      Middle Cerebral Artery Stenosis".

PMID- 27650068
TI  - Letter by Du et al Regarding Article, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Plaque
      Morphology, Burden, and Distribution in Patients With Symptomatic Middle Cerebral
      Artery Stenosis".

PMID- 27650066
TI  - Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 in aplastic anemia, Fanconi anemia and hematopoietic
      stem cells.
AB  - Maintenance of the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment depends on the
      ability to metabolize exogenously and endogenously generated toxins, and to
      repair cellular damage caused by such toxins. Reactive aldehydes have been
      demonstrated to cause specific genotoxic injury, namely DNA interstrand cross
      links. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is a member of a 19 isoenzyme ALDH family
      with different substrate specificities, subcellular localization, and patterns of
      expression. ALDH2 is localized in mitochondria and is essential for the
      metabolism of acetaldehyde, thereby placing it directly downstream of ethanol
      metabolism. Deficiency in ALDH2 expression and function are caused by a single
      nucleotide substitution and resulting amino acid change, called ALDH2*2. This
      genetic polymorphism affects 35-45% of East Asians (about ~560 million people),
      and causes the well-known Asian flushing syndrome, which results in disulfiram
      like reactions after ethanol consumption. Recently, the ALDH2*2 genotype has been
      found to be associated with marrow failure, with both an increased risk of
      sporadic aplastic anemia and more rapid progression of Fanconi anemia. This
      review discusses the unexpected interrelationship between aldehydes, ALDH2 and
      hematopoietic stem cell biology, and in particular its relationship to Fanconi
      anemia.

PMID- 27650069
TI  - Vulnerable Brain and Ventricular Assist Devices.

PMID- 27650071
TI  - The interplay between neuronal activity and actin dynamics mimic the setting of
      an LTD synaptic tag.
AB  - Persistent forms of plasticity, such as long-term depression (LTD), are dependent
      on the interplay between activity-dependent synaptic tags and the capture of
      plasticity-related proteins. We propose that the synaptic tag represents a
      structural alteration that turns synapses permissive to change. We found that
      modulation of actin dynamics has different roles in the induction and maintenance
      of LTD. Inhibition of either actin depolymerisation or polymerization blocks LTD
      induction whereas only the inhibition of actin depolymerisation blocks LTD
      maintenance. Interestingly, we found that actin depolymerisation and CaMKII
      activation are involved in LTD synaptic-tagging and capture. Moreover, inhibition
      of actin polymerisation mimics the setting of a synaptic tag, in an activity
      dependent manner, allowing the expression of LTD in non-stimulated synapses.
      Suspending synaptic activation also restricts the time window of synaptic
      capture, which can be restored by inhibiting actin polymerization. Our results
      support our hypothesis that modulation of the actin cytoskeleton provides an
      input-specific signal for synaptic protein capture.

PMID- 27650070
TI  - Stroke Risk and Mortality in Patients With Ventricular Assist Devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ventricular assist devices (VADs) have advanced the
      management of end-stage heart failure. However, these devices are associated with
      hemorrhagic and thrombotic complications, including stroke. We assessed the
      incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke after
      VAD placement. METHODS: Using administrative claims data from acute care
      hospitals in California, Florida, and New York from 2005 to 2013, we identified
      patients who underwent VAD placement, defined by the International Classification
      of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 37.66. Ischemic and
      hemorrhagic strokes were identified by previously validated coding algorithms. We
      used survival statistics to determine the incidence rates and Cox proportional
      hazard analyses to examine the associations. RESULTS: Among 1813 patients, we
      identified 201 ischemic strokes and 116 hemorrhagic strokes during 3.4 (+/-2.0)
      years of follow-up after implantation of a VAD. The incidence of stroke was 8.7%
      per year (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.7-9.7). The annual incidence of
      ischemic stroke (5.5%; 95% CI, 4.8-6.4) was nearly double that of hemorrhagic
      stroke (3.1%; 95% CI, 2.6-3.8). Women faced a higher hazard of stroke than men
      (hazard ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2-2.1), particularly hemorrhagic stroke (hazard
      ratio, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4-3.4). Stroke was strongly associated with subsequent in
      hospital mortality (hazard ratio, 6.1; 95% CI, 4.6-7.9). CONCLUSIONS: The
      incidence of stroke after VAD implantation was 8.7% per year, and incident stroke
      was strongly associated with subsequent in-hospital mortality. Notably, ischemic
      stroke occurred at nearly twice the rate of hemorrhagic stroke. Women seemed to
      face a higher risk for hemorrhagic stroke than men.

PMID- 27650072
TI  - A Single Injection of Hypertrophied Androgenic Gland Cells Produces All-Female
      Aquaculture.
AB  - Monosex culture, common in animal husbandry, enables gender-specific management.
      Here, production of all-female prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) was achieved by
      a novel biotechnology comprising three steps: (a) A single injection of suspended
      hypertrophied androgenic gland cells caused fully functional sex reversal of
      females into "neo-males" bearing the WZ genotype; (b) crossing neo-males with
      normal females (WZ) yielded genomically validated WW females; and (c) WW females
      crossed with normal males (ZZ) yielded all-female progeny. This is the first
      sustainable biotechnology for large-scale all-female crustacean aquaculture. The
      approach is particularly suited to species in which females are superior to males
      and offers seedstock protection, thereby ensuring a quality seed supply. Our
      technology will thus revolutionize not only the structure of the crustacean
      aquaculture industry but can also be applied to other sectors. Finally, the
      production of viable and reproducible females lacking the Z chromosome questions
      its role, with respect to sexuality.

PMID- 27650073
TI  - Pediatric cervical spine in emergency: radiographic features of normal anatomy,
      variants and pitfalls.
AB  - Injuries of the cervical spine are uncommon in children. The distribution of
      injuries, when they do occur, differs according to age. Young children aged less
      than 8 years usually have upper cervical injuries because of the anatomic and
      biomechanical properties of their immature spine, whereas older children, whose
      biomechanics more closely resemble those of adults, are prone to lower cervical
      injuries. In all cases, the pediatric cervical spine has distinct radiographic
      features, making the emergency radiological analysis of it difficult. Such
      features as hypermobility between C2 and C3, pseudospread of the atlas on the
      axis, pseudosubluxation, the absence of lordosis, anterior wedging of vertebral
      bodies, pseudowidening of prevertebral soft tissue and incomplete ossification of
      synchondrosis can be mistaken for traumatic injuries. The interpretation of a
      plain radiograph of the pediatric cervical spine following trauma must take into
      account the age of the child, the location of the injury and the mechanism of
      trauma. Comprehensive knowledge of the specific anatomy and biomechanics of the
      childhood spine is essential for the diagnosis of suspected cervical spine
      injury. With it, the physician can, on one hand, differentiate normal physes or
      synchondroses from pathological fractures or ligamentous disruptions and, on the
      other, identify any possible congenital anomalies that may also be mistaken for
      injury. Thus, in the present work, we discuss normal radiological features of the
      pediatric cervical spine, variants that may be encountered and pitfalls that must
      be avoided when interpreting plain radiographs taken in an emergency setting
      following trauma.

PMID- 27650074
TI  - delta-Aminolevulinate Dehydratase Activity is Stimulated in a MPTP Mouse Model of
      Parkinson's Disease: Correlation with Myeloperoxidase Activity.
AB  - Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is an inducible heme peroxidase responsive to some stress
      situations. It is already known that its activity is stimulated in
      neurodegenerative disorders and in the animal model of parkinson's disease (PD)
      induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). By contrast, the
      role of delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase (delta-ALA-D), an essential enzyme for
      heme synthesis, has not been investigated in the MPTP model. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the involvement of striatal delta-ALA-D activity in an
      acute model of PD, induced by MPTP, in C57Bl/6 mice and its correlation with MPO
      activity. Animals received four MPTP injections (20 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline
      (vehicle) to induce a PD model. 7 days after MPTP administration, the motor
      function was evaluated through rotarod and challenging beam tests in mice.
      Afterward, mice were killed, and the striata were removed for biochemical
      analyses. MPTP-treated mice showed impairment in motor skills, such as balance
      and motor coordination. Furthermore, there was a reduction of tyrosine
      hydroxylase levels in these animals, which characterizes the dopaminergic lesion.
      Striatal delta-ALA-D activity was stimulated by MPTP, as well as the MPO
      activity, and a significant positive correlation between delta-ALA-D and MPO
      activities was also demonstrated. These data suggest that delta-ALA-D activity
      could be stimulated due to the requirement of heme groups by peroxidases.
      Therefore, this study demonstrated for the first time the involvement of striatal
      delta-ALA-D activity in the MPTP model and its correlation with the MPO activity.

PMID- 27650075
TI  - IGFBP6 Regulates Cell Apoptosis and Migration in Glioma.
AB  - The insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 (IGFBP6), as an inhibitor of IGF
      II actions, plays an important role in inhibiting survival and migration of tumor
      cells. In our study, we intended to demonstrate the biological function of IGFBP6
      in the development of glioma and its clinical significance. Firstly, Western blot
      and immunohistochemistry revealed that the expression of IGFBP6 inversely
      correlated with glioma grade. Secondly, multivariate analysis with the Cox
      proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that IGFBP6 could
      be an independent prognostic factor for the survival of glioma patients. In
      addition, overexpression of IGFBP6 induced glioma cell apoptosis, and depletion
      of IGFBP6 had the opposite action. Finally, overexpression of IGFBP6 inhibited
      migration of glioma cells, and depletion of IGFBP6 had the opposite action.
      Together our findings suggest that IGFBP6 might be an important regulator and
      prognostic factor for glioma.

PMID- 27650076
TI  - On the Theorem of Correspondence.
AB  - In a recent paper, Mammen (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 50,
      196-233, 2016a) brought novel arguments into the discussion concerning the
      importance of being able to single out and track objects through space and time.
      Mammen offered a formal account of two basic, yet distinct, ways in which we as
      human beings encounter objects in the real world, that is, sense and choice
      categories. In this paper I discuss aspects of his theory and in particular the
      Theorem of Correspondence. I shall attempt to argue that Mammen's formal account
      is indeed a novel and powerful analytical generic tool allowing us to see the
      important relevance in different domains of being able to establish choice
      categories. Meanwhile, I will attempt to show that evidence from the so-called
      multiple object tracking studies -- even though these use highly artificial
      stimuli -- provide compelling evidence in support of Mammen's formal account.

PMID- 27650077
TI  - Balancing the benefits and risks of choice.

PMID- 27650078
TI  - Launching a plan for the Cancer Moonshot.

PMID- 27650079
TI  - Migrant and refugee children need our actions now.

PMID- 27650080
TI  - The Paralympics-superhumans and mere mortals.

PMID- 27650081
TI  - Replenishment of the Global Fund: global solidarity needed.

PMID- 27650082
TI  - UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health.

PMID- 27650083
TI  - Offline: Data sharing-why editors may have got it wrong.

PMID- 27650084
TI  - Challenges for maternal health efforts.

PMID- 27650085
TI  - Ellen Wiebe: pro-choice doctor providing peaceful deaths.

PMID- 27650086
TI  - Fair choices in universal health coverage in Thailand.

PMID- 27650087
TI  - Improving public defibrillator use in China.

PMID- 27650088
TI  - Low-dose hydrocortisone in extremely preterm infants.

PMID- 27650089
TI  - Low-dose hydrocortisone in extremely preterm infants.

PMID- 27650090
TI  - Low-dose hydrocortisone in extremely preterm infants - Authors' reply.

PMID- 27650091
TI  - Vaginal progesterone prophylaxis for preterm birth.

PMID- 27650092
TI  - Vaginal progesterone prophylaxis for preterm birth.

PMID- 27650093
TI  - Vaginal progesterone prophylaxis for preterm birth - Author's reply.

PMID- 27650094
TI  - A Multi-center, Randomized, Controlled and Open Clinical Trial of Heyan Kuntai
      Capsule () and Hormone Therapy in Perimenopausal Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Heyan Kuntai Capsule (, HYKT)
      and hormone therapy (HT) on perimenopausal syndromes (PMSs). METHODS: From 2005
      to 2008, 390 women with PMSs were recruited from 4 clinic centers. The inclusion
      criteria included ages 40 to 60 years, estradiol (E2) below 30 ng/L, and follicle
      stimulating hormone (FSH) above 40 IU/L, etc. The patients were randomly assigned
      to HYKT group or HT group by random number table method, administrated HYKT or
      conjugated estrogen with/without medroxyprogesterone acetate tablets for 12
      months. During treatment, the patients were interviewed quarterly, Kupperman
      Menopausal Index (KMI) scores, hot flush scores, insomnia scores, Menopause
      Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) scores and adverse effects were used for
      evaluating drug efficacy and safety respectively. The last interview was made at
      the end of 12-month treatment RESULTS: After treatment, KMI scores of HYKT group
      and HT group were both significantly decreased compared with baseline (P <0.01)
      and there was no significant difference between groups (P >0.05), except that KMI
      of HYKT group was higher after 3-month treatment (P <0.05). After treatment, hot
      flush and insomnia scores were both improved significantly in two groups (P
      <0.01); and HT had a better performance than HYKT in improving hot flush (P
      <0.05). MENQOL were significantly improved in both groups after treatment (P
      <0.01); but there was no significant difference between two groups (P >0.05). The
      incidence of adverse event in the HYKT group was much lower than that in the HT
      group (P <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: HYKT could effectively relieve PMSs and improve
      patients quality of life without severe adverse reactions. Although HYKT exerted
      curative effects more slowly than hormone, it possessed better safety profile
      than hormone.

PMID- 27650095
TI  - Mast cell-derived exosomes at the stimulated acupoints activating the neuro
      immune regulation.
AB  - Exosomes are cell-derived vesicles that take part in intercellular signaling.
      Research has shown that acupuncture is closely related to affecting the functions
      of the mast cells in the local region of the acupoint, and stimulating the
      afferent nerve. Mast cells have a connection with the conduction within the
      meridians, and play an important role in immuno-regulation. The 'synapse-like'
      connection between the mast cells and nerve endings is the basis for the exchange
      of information between these two tissues. Exosome mediates mast exchange of
      information between mast cells and the nerves, starting the process of neuro
      immuno regulation. Therefore, we propose that mast cell-derived exosomes mediate
      the neuro-immuno regulation at the local site of acupuncture, and this is one of
      the key factors resulting in the effectiveness of acupuncture.

PMID- 27650097
TI  - Clinical outcome of 2nd generation cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation in
      patients over 75 years of age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary vein isolation is an established therapy for symptomatic
      atrial fibrillation. Despite the fact that incidence and prevalence of atrial
      fibrillation increases with age, patients over 75 years of age have been excluded
      in all major atrial fibrillation ablation trials. Pulmonary vein isolation with
      the cryoballoon has been shown to be equally effective compared to irrigated
      radiofrequency catheter ablation, but patients over 75 years have also been
      excluded. The 2nd generation cryoballoon has shown superior efficacy compared to
      the 1st generation cryoballoon. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy
      of pulmonary vein isolation with the 2nd generation cryoballoon for symptomatic
      atrial fibrillation in elderly patients over 75 years. METHODS: Patients over 75
      years of age presenting with symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent atrial
      fibrillation refractory or intolerant to at least one class I or class III
      antiarrhythmic drug who underwent pulmonary vein isolation with the 2nd
      generation cryoballoon were included in this single-center observational study.
      RESULTS: A total of 40 patients with a mean age of 78.3+/-2.7 years with
      paroxysmal (n=31; 77.5%) or persistent (n=9; 22.5%) atrial fibrillation were
      identified. All patients had a successful pulmonary vein isolation procedure with
      100% of veins isolated. After a 3-month blanking period during a mean follow-up
      of 15.1+/-8.2 months there were 9 (22.5%) arrhythmia recurrences, while 31
      patients (77.5%) maintained stable sinus rhythm. Freedom from arrhythmia
      recurrence was 86.4% at 12 months and 80.2% at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary
      vein isolation with the 2nd generation cryoballoon appears to be an effective
      treatment for symptomatic atrial fibrillation also in patients over 75 years of
      age.

PMID- 27650098
TI  - [Comparison of self-administered survey questionnaire responses collected using
      mobile apps versus other methods].

PMID- 27650100
TI  - The impact of a junk-food diet during development on 'wanting' and 'liking'.
AB  - The global increase in obesity rates has been tied to the rise in junk-food
      availability and consumption. Increasingly, children are exposed to a junk-food
      diet during gestation and early development. Excessive consumption of junk-food
      during this period may negatively impact the development of brain motivation and
      reward pathways. In this study we investigated the effects of a chronic junk-food
      diet throughout development on cue-motivated behavior ('wanting'), hedonic
      'liking' for sweet tastes, as well as anxiety and weight gain in male and female
      Long-Evans (LE) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Here we found that chronic exposure
      to a junk-food diet resulted in large individual differences in weight gain
      (gainers and non-gainers) despite resulting in stunted growth as compared to chow
      fed controls. Behaviorally, junk-food exposure attenuated conditioned approach
      (autoshaping) in females, particularly in non-gainers. In contrast, junk-food
      exposed rats that gained the most weight were willing to work harder for access
      to a food cue (conditioned reinforcement), and were more attracted to a junk-food
      context (conditioned place preference) than non-gainers. Hedonic 'liking'
      reactions (taste reactivity) were severely blunted in LE, but not SD rats, and
      'liking' for sucrose negatively correlated with greater weight gain. Finally,
      junk-food exposure reduced anxiety-like behavior (elevated plus maze) in males
      but not females. These results suggest that junk-food exposure during development
      may give rise to dissociable differences in 'liking' and 'wanting' neural systems
      that do not depend on weight gain and may not be detected through Body Mass Index
      monitoring alone.

PMID- 27650099
TI  - Invasive Fungal Sinusitis by Lasiodiplodia theobromae in an Patient with Aplastic
      Anemia: An Extremely Rare Case Report and Literature Review.
AB  - Human Lasiodiplodia theobromae infection has not been reported frequently. We
      report the first case of invasive L. theobromae nasal and neck infection. A 66
      year-old male visited our hospital with anemia and general weakness. He showed
      pancytopenia, and his bone marrow examination revealed markedly decreased
      hematopoietic cells. The patient was presumed to have iatrogenic aplastic anemia
      due to mushroom toxicity. He began treatment for multiple organ infections with
      broad-spectrum antibiotics and antifungal agents. During hospitalization, he
      complained of nasal obstruction and left neck lymph node enlargement. A mass-like
      lesion was observed, and a nasal mass biopsy was performed. The mass was
      identified as a fungal ball. He underwent surgical excision for the nasal mass
      and the neck lymph node. The pathologic examination indicated an invasive fungal
      infection, and the lymph node revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation with
      fungal infection. 18s rRNA sequencing revealed that the sequence shared 99 %
      identity with L. theobromae. The nasal mass fungus was identified by internal
      transcribed spacer region sequencing from pathologic paraffin sections. The
      obtained sequence corresponded to Lasiodiplodia or Macrophoma. The sequence
      corresponded to the neck discharge sequence results. Hence, the patient was
      diagnosed with invasive fungal sinusitis with neck lymph node involvement caused
      by L. theobromae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of L. theobromae
      infection in Korea and the first report of invasive L. theobromae fungal
      sinusitis in the literature. We should include more precise evaluations of
      additional novel fungal species as possible candidates.

PMID- 27650096
TI  - HbE/beta-Thalassemia and Oxidative Stress: The Key to Pathophysiological
      Mechanisms and Novel Therapeutics.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Oxidative stress and generation of free radicals are fundamental in
      initiating pathophysiological mechanisms leading to an inflammatory cascade
      resulting in high rates of morbidity and death from many inherited point mutation
      derived hemoglobinopathies. Hemoglobin (Hb)E is the most common point mutation
      worldwide. The betaE-globin gene is found in greatest frequency in Southeast
      Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. With
      the wave of worldwide migration, it is entering the gene pool of diverse
      populations with greater consequences than expected. CRITICAL ISSUES: While HbE
      by itself presents as a mild anemia and a single gene for beta-thalassemia is not
      serious, it remains unexplained why HbE/beta-thalassemia (HbE/beta-thal) is a
      grave disease with high morbidity and mortality. Patients often exhibit defective
      physical development, severe chronic anemia, and often die of cardiovascular
      disease and severe infections. Recent Advances: This article presents an overview
      of HbE/beta-thal disease with an emphasis on new findings pointing to
      pathophysiological mechanisms derived from and initiated by the dysfunctional
      property of HbE as a reduced nitrite reductase concomitant with excess alpha
      chains exacerbating unstable HbE, leading to a combination of nitric oxide
      imbalance, oxidative stress, and proinflammatory events. FUTURE DIRECTIONS:
      Additionally, we present new therapeutic strategies that are based on the
      emerging molecular-level understanding of the pathophysiology of this and other
      hemoglobinopathies. These strategies are designed to short-circuit the
      inflammatory cascade leading to devastating chronic morbidity and fatal
      consequences. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 794-813.

PMID- 27650101
TI  - MUSIC-Expected maximization gaussian mixture methodology for clustering and
      detection of task-related neuronal firing rates.
AB  - Researchers often rely on simple methods to identify involvement of neurons in a
      particular motor task. The historical approach has been to inspect large groups
      of neurons and subjectively separate neurons into groups based on the expertise
      of the investigator. In cases where neuron populations are small it is reasonable
      to inspect these neuronal recordings and their firing rates carefully to avoid
      data omissions. In this paper, a new methodology is presented for automatic
      objective classification of neurons recorded in association with behavioral tasks
      into groups. By identifying characteristics of neurons in a particular group, the
      investigator can then identify functional classes of neurons based on their
      relationship to the task. The methodology is based on integration of a multiple
      signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm to extract relevant features from the
      firing rate and an expectation-maximization Gaussian mixture algorithm (EM-GMM)
      to cluster the extracted features. The methodology is capable of identifying and
      clustering similar firing rate profiles automatically based on specific signal
      features. An empirical wavelet transform (EWT) was used to validate the features
      found in the MUSIC pseudospectrum and the resulting signal features captured by
      the methodology. Additionally, this methodology was used to inspect behavioral
      elements of neurons to physiologically validate the model. This methodology was
      tested using a set of data collected from awake behaving non-human primates.

PMID- 27650102
TI  - Implicit association to infant faces: Genetics, early care experiences, and
      cultural factors influence caregiving propensities.
AB  - Genetics, early experience, and culture shape caregiving, but it is still not
      clear how genetics, early experiences, and cultural factors might interact to
      influence specific caregiving propensities, such as adult responsiveness to
      infant cues. To address this gap, 80 Italian adults (50% M; 18-25 years) were (1)
      genotyped for two oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs2254298)
      and the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), which are implicated
      in parenting behaviour, (2) completed the Adult Parental Acceptance/Rejection
      Questionnaire to evaluate their recollections of parental behaviours toward them
      in childhood, and (3) were administered a Single Category Implicit Association
      Test to evaluate their implicit responses to faces of Italian infants, Japanese
      infants, and Italian adults. Analysis of implicit associations revealed that
      Italian infant faces were evaluated as most positive; participants in the rs53576
      GG group had the most positive implicit associations to Italian infant faces; the
      serotonin polymorphism moderated the effect of early care experiences on adults'
      implicit association to both Italian infant and adult female faces. Finally, 5
      HTTLPR S carriers showed less positive implicit responses to Japanese infant
      faces. We conclude that adult in-group preference extends to in-group infant
      faces and that implicit responses to social cues are influenced by interactions
      of genetics, early care experiences, and cultural factors. These findings have
      implications for understanding processes that regulate adult caregiving.

PMID- 27650103
TI  - Cell adhesion molecules are altered during irinotecan-induced mucositis: a
      qualitative histopathological study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Chemotherapy-induced mucositis is characterised by damage to mucous
      membranes throughout the alimentary tract. This study aims to investigate the
      expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) following treatment with irinotecan.
      METHODS: Dark agouti rats received a single dose of 175 mg/kg irinotecan and
      sacrificed at various time points after treatment. Picro-sirius red staining
      indicated an increase in collagen around crypts from 24 h in both small and large
      intestinal regions and this diminished at the later time points. CAMs E-cadherin,
      P-selectin, E-selectin and integrin-alpha1 were examined using
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: E-cadherin was significantly elevated in jejunal
      crypts at the time of maximal tissue damage (48 h), while it decreased at the
      healing phase (96 h) in both jejunum and colon. P-selectin expression decreased
      significantly in the jejunum following irinotecan. Crypt expression of E-selectin
      was significantly elevated in the healing phase of mucositis (96 h). Integrin
      alpha1 expression was significantly altered during the time course in the villus
      (p = 0.0032) and lamina propria (p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: Irinotecan induced a
      significant alteration in CAM expression in the jejunum and colon. Changes in
      adhesion molecule expression may have a direct impact on the loss of mucosal
      layer integrity seen in mucositis.

PMID- 27650105
TI  - Erratum: Interaction of single and multi wall carbon nanotubes with the
      biological systems: tau protein and PC12 cells as targets.

PMID- 27650104
TI  - Prognostic Differences in Subgroups of Patients With Surgically Resected T3 Non
      Small Cell Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study determined the characteristics and prognosis of each
      descriptor of T3 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: A total of 3,241
      patients underwent an operation for NSCLC between 2001 and 2013, and this study
      included 461 patients who received complete anatomic resection of T3 NSCLC. The
      T3 descriptors were coded as follows: tumor invading main bronchus within 2 cm of
      the carina (T3-cent), tumor invading beyond visceral pleura (T3-inv), tumor
      larger than 7 cm (T3-size), separate tumor nodules (T3-sep), or tumor with
      combined T3 descriptors (T3-comb). RESULTS: The T3 distribution was as follows:
      T3-cent, 75 patients (16.3%); T3-inv, 157 patients (34.1%); T3-size, 132 patients
      (28.6%); T3-sep, 34 patients (7.4%); and T3-comb, 63 patients (13.7%). Subgroup
      analyses revealed a significant survival benefit in the T3-cent group compared
      with the other groups (all p < 0.05). The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS)
      values were 55.4%, 36.7%, 40.9%, 30.3%, and 32.0% in the T3-cent, T3-inv, T3
      size, T3-sep, and T3-comb subgroups, respectively. Multivariable analyses
      revealed that age (p = 0.019), N status (p = 0.001), adjuvant chemotherapy (p <
      0.001), and T3 descriptors (T3-cent versus others, p < 0.001) were the most
      important independent prognostic factors for DFS. Additional analyses were
      performed to evaluate prognostic factors for DFS in the T3-cent group.
      Multivariable analysis revealed that bronchoplastic procedures (p = 0.004) was an
      independent prognostic factor for DFS. CONCLUSIONS: Survival for centrally
      located T3 NSCLC is better than other types of T3 NSCLC. Lung-preserving
      operations such as bronchoplastic procedures might result in improved survival of
      these patients.

PMID- 27650106
TI  - Non-metal clasp dentures: More evidence is needed for optimal clinical
      application.

PMID- 27650107
TI  - Decreasing pelvic incidence is associated with greater risk of cam morphology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The spinopelvic relationship (including pelvic incidence) has been
      shown to influence pelvic orientation, but its potential association with
      femoroacetabular impingement has not been thoroughly explored. The purpose of
      this study was to prove the hypothesis that decreasing pelvic incidence is
      associated with increased risk of cam morphology. METHODS: Two matching cohorts
      were created from a collection of cadaveric specimens with known pelvic
      incidences: 50 subjects with the highest pelvic incidence (all subjects > 60
      degrees ) and 50 subjects with the lowest pelvic incidence (all subjects < 35
      degrees ). Femoral version, acetabular version, and alpha angles were directly
      measured from each specimen bilaterally. Cam morphology was defined as alpha
      angle > 55 degrees . Differences between the two cohorts were analysed with a
      Student's t-test and the difference in incidence of cam morphology was assessed
      using a chi-squared test. The significance level for all tests was set at p <
      0.05. RESULTS: Cam morphology was identified in 47/100 (47%) femurs in the cohort
      with pelvic incidence < 35 degrees  and in only 25/100 (25%) femurs in the cohort
      with pelvic incidence > 60 degrees  (p = 0.002). The mean alpha angle was also
      greater in the cohort with pelvic incidence < 35 degrees  (mean 53.7 degrees , sd
      10.7 degrees  versus mean 49.7 degrees , sd 10.6 degrees ; p = 0.008).
      CONCLUSIONS: Decreased pelvic incidence is associated with development of cam
      morphology. We propose a novel theory wherein subjects with decreased pelvic
      incidence compensate during gait (to maintain optimal sagittal balance) through
      anterior pelvic tilt, creating artificial anterior acetabular overcoverage and
      recurrent impingement that increases risk for cam morphology.Cite this article:
      W. Z. Morris, C. A. Fowers, R. T. Yuh, J. J. Gebhart, M. J. Salata, R. W. Liu.
      Decreasing pelvic incidence is associated with greater risk of cam morphology.
      Bone Joint Res 2016;5:387-392. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.59.BJR-2016-0028.R1.

PMID- 27650108
TI  - The 3-Step Pyramid Insole Treatment Concept for Idiopathic Toe Walking.
AB  - : The idiopathic toe walking (ITW) gait pattern is characterized in children for
      walking since the beginning on their first steps on the forefoot; however, these
      children are able to support their whole foot on the ground. ITW can only be
      diagnosed in the absence of any orthopaedic or neurological condition known to
      cause tiptoe walking. The aim of this article is to review other references and
      provide an outline of the different treatment options, including the 3-step
      pyramid insole treatment concept for children with ITW. METHODS: Fifty-four
      articles in English, German, and Spanish were reviewed. There were comparative,
      retrospective or case studies, classifications or literature reviews and they
      were divided according with these categories. All the literature reviewed was
      published between 2000 and 2015. RESULTS: There are some studies that proved the
      3-step pyramid insole treatment concept as an effective option compared with
      other therapeutic modalities such as physical therapy, casting, botolinum toxin
      type A (BTX), and surgery. CONCLUSION: There is a wide spectrum regarding the
      therapeutic options for children with ITW, from physical therapy to surgery
      options. However, any of these treatment modalities have been reported to be
      fully successful for the whole toe walking population. Some procedures seem to
      have achieved faster results or seem to have longer lasting effects. Therefore,
      further research on the causes of ITW is recommended. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE:
      Therapeutic, Level II: Systematic review, prospective, comparative.

PMID- 27650110
TI  - Commentary on "Evaluation of ureteral jet dynamics in pediatric kidney stone
      formers: A cross-sectional study".

PMID- 27650109
TI  - Freiberg's Infarction Treated With Metatarsal Shortening Osteotomy, Marrow
      Stimulation, and Micronized Allograft Cartilage Matrix: A Case Report.
AB  - : Freiberg's infarction is a well-known condition that most commonly effects the
      second metatarsophalangeal joint. The etiology of Freiberg's infarction is not
      entirely clear and there is no consensus on treatment. The case report presents a
      patient successfully treated with a metatarsal shortening osteotomy, marrow
      stimulation, and micronized allograft cartilage matrix. This is to my knowledge
      the first reported case using the described technique for Freiberg's infarction.
      LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, Level V: Expert opinion.

PMID- 27650111
TI  - Is ulcerative colitis a reversible disease?: Commentary on "Fatty acid amide
      hydrolase (FAAH) blockade ameliorates experimental colitis by altering microRNA
      expression and suppressing inflammation" BBI-D-16-00318R1.

PMID- 27650114
TI  - Self reported wellbeing: the role of neuroscience research.

PMID- 27650113
TI  - Maternal viral infection during pregnancy elicits anti-social behavior in
      neonatal piglet offspring independent of postnatal microglial cell activation.
AB  - Maternal infection during pregnancy increases risk for neurodevelopmental
      disorders and reduced stress resilience in offspring, but the mechanisms are not
      fully understood. We hypothesized that piglets born from gilts infected with a
      respiratory virus during late gestation would exhibit aberrant microglia
      activity, cognitive deficits and reduced sociability. Pregnant gilts were
      inoculated with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV; 5*105
      TCID50 of live PRRSV) or saline at gestational day 76. Gilts infected with PRRSV
      exhibited fever (p<0.01) and reduced appetite (p<0.001) for 2weekspost
      inoculation and were PRRSV-positive at parturition. Piglets born from infected
      and control gilts were weaned at postnatal day (PD) 1 and assigned to two groups.
      Group 1 was challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 5MUg/kg body weight i.p.) or
      saline on PD 14 and tissues were collected. Group 2 was tested in a T-maze task
      to assess spatial learning and in a 3-chamber arena with unfamiliar conspecifics
      to assess social behavior from PD 14-27. Microglia (CD11b+ CD45low) isolated from
      Group 2 piglets at PD 28 were challenged ex vivo with LPS; a subset of cells was
      analyzed for MHCII expression. Maternal infection did not affect offspring
      circulating TNFalpha, IL-10, or cortisol levels basally or 4h post-LPS challenge.
      While performance in the T-maze task was not affected by maternal infection, both
      sociability and preference for social novelty were decreased in piglets from
      infected gilts. There was no effect of maternal infection on microglial MHCII
      expression or LPS-induced cytokine production. Taken together, these results
      suggest the reduced social behavior elicited by maternal infection is not due to
      aberrant microglia activity postnatally.

PMID- 27650115
TI  - BRCA2: a grown-up cancer susceptibility gene.

PMID- 27650112
TI  - Induced neural stem cells modulate microglia activation states via CXCL12/CXCR4
      signaling.
AB  - We previously reported that induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) directly
      reprogrammed from mouse embryonic fibroblasts can expand and differentiate into
      neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Whether iNSCs have immunoregulatory
      properties in addition to facilitating cell replacement remains uncertain. In
      this study, we aimed to characterize the immunomodulatory effects of iNSCs on the
      activation states of microglia and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these
      effects. Using a mouse model of closed head injury (CHI), we observed that iNSC
      grafts decreased the levels of ED1+/Iba1+ and TNF-alpha+/Iba1+ microglia but
      increased the levels of IGF1+/Iba1+ microglia in the injured cortex.
      Subsequently, using a Transwell co-culture system, we discovered that iNSCs could
      modulate LPS-pretreated microglia phenotypes in vitro via CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling,
      which we demonstrated through the administration of the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100
      and CXCR4-specific siRNA treatment. An in vivo loss-of-function study also
      revealed that iNSC grafts regulated the behavior of resident microglia via
      CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling, influencing their activation state such that they
      promoted neurological functional recovery and neuron survival. Furthermore, the
      beneficial effects of iNSC transplantation were significantly diminished by CXCR4
      knockdown. In short, iNSCs have the potential to influence microglia activation
      and the acquisition of neuroprotective phenotypes via CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling.

PMID- 27650116
TI  - Development of a unified oil droplet size distribution model with application to
      surface breaking waves and subsea blowout releases considering dispersant
      effects.
AB  - An oil droplet size model was developed for a variety of turbulent conditions
      based on non-dimensional analysis of disruptive and restorative forces, which is
      applicable to oil droplet formation under both surface breaking-wave and
      subsurface-blowout conditions, with or without dispersant application. This new
      model was calibrated and successfully validated with droplet size data obtained
      from controlled laboratory studies of dispersant-treated and non-treated oil in
      subsea dispersant tank tests and field surveys, including the Deep Spill
      experimental release and the Deepwater Horizon blowout oil spill. This model is
      an advancement over prior models, as it explicitly addresses the effects of the
      dispersed phase viscosity, resulting from dispersant application and constrains
      the maximum stable droplet size based on Rayleigh-Taylor instability that is
      invoked for a release from a large aperture.

PMID- 27650117
TI  - One-century decline of mollusk diversity as consequence of accumulative
      anthropogenic disturbance in a tropical estuary (Cuban Archipelago).
AB  - In order to infer changes in sediments and mollusk assemblages for the last
      century, we used biogeochemical data from two 210Pb dated cores collected in
      Sagua La Grande estuary, Cuban Archipelago. We found evidences of cumulative
      anthropogenic disturbance during the last century, causing considerable depletion
      of mollusk assemblage diversity and enhancement of the dominance of deposit
      feeding species. The sequence of impacts assessed was i) eutrophication due to
      nutrient releases from urban settlements, ii) habitat alteration due to water
      channeling and damming, and iii) mercury pollution. These successive impacts
      caused a steady diversity depletion from ca. 70 mollusk species in 1900 to less
      than five in 2010. Only two species persisted in the estuary: Nuculana acuta and
      Finella dubia. Hurricanes did not impact the molluscan fauna in the long term.
      The effects of the anthropogenic impacts suggest that the resilience of this
      estuarine system is compromised.

PMID- 27650118
TI  - The learning rate in three dimensional high definition video assisted
      microvascular anastomosis in a rat model.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) high definition (HD) video systems are changing
      microsurgical practice by providing stereoscopic imaging not only for the surgeon
      and first assistant using the binocular microscope, but also for others involved
      in the surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential to
      replace the binocular microscope for microarterial anastomoses and assess the
      rate of learning based on surgeons' experience. Two experienced and two novice
      microsurgeons performed a total of 88 rat femoral arterial anastomoses: 44 using
      a 3D HD video device ('Trenion', Carl Zeiss Meditech) and 44, a binocular
      microscope. We evaluated anastomosis time and modified OSATS scores as well as
      the subjects' preference for comfort, image adequacy and technical ease.
      Experienced microsurgeons showed a steep learning curve for anastomosis times
      with equivalent OSATS scores for both systems. However, prolonged anastomosis
      times were required when using the novel 3D-HD system rather than direct
      binocular vision. Comparable learning rates for anastomosis time were
      demonstrated for novice microsurgeons and modified OSATS scores did not differ
      between the different viewing technologies. All microsurgeons reported improved
      comfort for the 3D HD video system but found the image quality of the
      conventional microscope superior, facilitating technical ease. The present study
      demonstrates the potential of 3D HD video systems to replace current binocular
      microscopes, offering qualitatively-equivalent microvascular anastomosis with
      improved comfort for experienced microsurgeons. However, image quality was rated
      inferior with the 3D HD system resulting in prolonged anastomosis times.
      Microsurgical skill acquisition in novice microsurgeons was not influenced by the
      viewing system used.

PMID- 27650119
TI  - Clinical coding and external causes of injury: The importance of documentation.

PMID- 27650120
TI  - Underlying reasons and timing associated with readmission following plastic
      surgery: Analysis of a national surgical database.

PMID- 27650121
TI  - Comparison of preoperative quality of life in breast reconstruction, breast
      aesthetic and non-breast plastic surgery patients: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - A breast cancer diagnosis imposes significant emotional and psychological duress.
      The purpose of this study is to assess the baseline quality of life (QOL) of
      immediate, delayed, and secondary breast reconstruction patients, comparing these
      results with QOL in women seeking plastic surgery for cosmetic breast, and non
      breast procedures. From 2012 through 2013, immediate (group 1), delayed (group
      2), and secondary (Group 3) reconstruction patients, aesthetic breast (group 4)
      and non-breast plastic surgery patients (group 5) answered Breast-Q
      questionnaires. Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 answered 141, 12, 23, 72 and 160
      preoperative questionnaires respectively. There was no difference (p = NS) in
      breast satisfaction, psychosocial well-being, physical well-being-chest, and
      sexual well-being between groups 1 and 5. Group 1 had higher satisfaction with
      breast (p < 0.01), psychosocial (p < 0.01) and sexual well-being (p < 0.01) when
      compared to groups 2 and 4. Group 1 had higher satisfaction with breasts (p <
      0.01) compared to group 3. Group 4 did not differ in satisfaction with breasts,
      psychosocial, and sexual well-being, compared to groups 2 and 3. Group 4 had
      lower scores in all domains, compared to groups 1 and 5 (p < 0.01). No
      significant difference in QOL was found between groups 2 and 3. Preoperatively,
      immediate reconstruction patients had similar satisfaction with breasts,
      psychosocial well-being, and chest physical well-being, compared to non-breast
      plastic surgery patients. Aesthetic breast surgery patients demonstrate similar
      low scores in satisfaction with breasts, psychosocial well-being, and sexual well
      being to those of patients prior to delayed breast reconstruction, or secondary
      salvage procedures.

PMID- 27650122
TI  - Exercise for women receiving adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A huge clinical research database on adjuvant cancer treatment has
      verified improvements in breast cancer outcomes such as recurrence and mortality
      rates. On the other hand, adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy with chemotherapy and
      radiotherapy impacts on quality of life due to substantial short- and long-term
      side effects. A number of studies have evaluated the effect of exercise
      interventions on those side effects. This is an updated version of the original
      Cochrane review published in 2006. The original review identified some benefits
      of physical activity on physical fitness and the resulting capacity for
      performing activities of daily life. It also identified a lack of evidence for
      other outcomes, providing clear justification for an updated review. OBJECTIVES:
      To assess the effect of aerobic or resistance exercise interventions during
      adjuvant treatment for breast cancer on treatment-related side effects such as
      physical deterioration, fatigue, diminished quality of life, depression, and
      cognitive dysfunction. SEARCH METHODS: We carried out an updated search in the
      Cochrane Breast Cancer Group Specialised Register (30 March 2015), the Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (Issue 2, 2015), MEDLINE (1966 to
      30 March 2015), and EMBASE (1966 to 30 March 2015). We did not update the
      original searches in CINAHL (1982 to 2004), SPORTDiscus (1975 to 2004), PsycINFO
      (1872 to 2003), SIGLE (1880 to 2004), and ProQuest Digital Dissertations (1861 to
      2004). We searched the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials
      Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov for ongoing trials on 30
      March 2015. We screened references in relevant reviews and published clinical
      trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials that
      examined aerobic or resistance exercise or both in women undergoing adjuvant
      treatment for breast cancer. Published and unpublished trials were eligible. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently performed data
      extraction, assessed trials, and graded the methodological quality using
      Cochrane's 'Risk of bias' tool. Any disagreements were resolved through
      discussion or by consulting the third review author. We entered data into Review
      Manager for analysis. For outcomes assessed with a variety of instruments, we
      used the standardised mean difference (SMD) as a summary statistic for meta
      analysis; for those assessed with the same instrument, we used the mean
      difference (MD). MAIN RESULTS: For this 2015 update we included a total of 32
      studies with 2626 randomised women, 8 studies from the original search and 24
      studies from the updated search. We found evidence that physical exercise during
      adjuvant treatment for breast cancer probably improves physical fitness (SMD
      0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25 to 0.59; 15 studies; 1310 women; moderate
      quality evidence) and slightly reduces fatigue (SMD -0.28, 95% CI -0.41 to -0.16;
      19 studies; 1698 women; moderate-quality evidence). Exercise may lead to little
      or no improvement in health-related quality of life (MD 1.10, 95% CI -5.28 to
      7.48; 1 study; 68 women; low-quality evidence), a slight improvement in cancer
      site-specific quality of life (MD 4.24, 95% CI -1.81 to 10.29; 4 studies; 262
      women; low-quality evidence), and an improvement in cognitive function (MD 
      11.55, 95% CI -22.06 to -1.05; 2 studies; 213 women; low-quality evidence).
      Exercise probably leads to little or no difference in cancer-specific quality of
      life (SMD 0.12, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.25; 12 studies; 1012 women; moderate-quality
      evidence) and little or no difference in depression (SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.30 to
      0.01; 5 studies; 674 women; moderate-quality evidence). Evidence for other
      outcomes ranged from low to moderate quality. Seven trials reported a very small
      number of adverse events. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Exercise during adjuvant
      treatment for breast cancer can be regarded as a supportive self care
      intervention that probably results in less fatigue, improved physical fitness,
      and little or no difference in cancer-specific quality of life and depression.
      Exercise may also slightly improve cancer site-specific quality of life and
      cognitive function, while it may result in little or no difference in health
      related quality of life. This review is based on trials with a considerable
      degree of clinical heterogeneity regarding adjuvant cancer treatments and
      exercise interventions. Due to the difficulty of blinding exercise trials, all
      included trials were at high risk for performance bias. Furthermore, the majority
      of trials were at high risk for detection bias, largely due to most outcomes
      being self reported.The findings of the updated review have enabled us to make a
      more precise conclusion that both aerobic and resistance exercise can be regarded
      as beneficial for individuals with adjuvant therapy-related side effects. Further
      research is required to determine the optimal type, intensity, and timing of an
      exercise intervention. Furthermore, long-term evaluation is required due to
      possible long-term side effects of adjuvant treatment.

PMID- 27650123
TI  - Nucleosomes Find Their Place in Life.
AB  - To carry epigenetic information, the chromatin structure must be accurately
      rebuilt after its deconstruction during genomic replication. Using an elegant,
      novel approach, Vasseur et al.[1] reveal that transcription plays a key role in
      sculpting the chromatin after DNA replication.

PMID- 27650126
TI  - Does Nursing Facility Use of Habilitation Therapy Improve Performance on Quality
      Measures?
AB  - The purpose of the project, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
      Innovation study, was to evaluate the impact on 12 quality measures including 10
      Minimum Data Set (MDS) publicly reported measures and 2 nursing home process
      measures using habilitation therapy techniques and a behavior team to manage
      dementia-related behaviors. A prospective design was used to assess the changes
      in the measures. A total of 30 Massachusetts nursing homes participated in the
      project over a 12-month period. Project participation required the creation of an
      interdisciplinary behavior team, habilitation therapy training, facility visit by
      the program coordinator, attendance at bimonthly support and sharing calls, and
      monthly collection of process measure data. Participating facilities showed
      improvement in 9 of the 12 reported measures. Findings indicate potential quality
      improvement in having nursing homes learn habilitation therapy techniques and
      know how to use the interdisciplinary team to manage problem behaviors.

PMID- 27650125
TI  - Treatment options for relapse after autograft in multiple myeloma - report from
      an EBMT educational meeting.
AB  - Major improvements have been made in the treatment of myeloma. However, all
      patients, perhaps with some exceptions, eventually relapse, even after autologous
      stem cell transplantation (ASCT). In that setting, the combinations of new drugs,
      namely the IMiDs and the proteasome inhibitors along with steroids, give
      encouraging results in relapsed patients. The median progression-free survival
      (PFS) is 20 months with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone plus ixazomib and 26
      months with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone plus carfilzomib. Monoclonal
      antibodies have emerged as an additional new treatment option. The antibody anti
      SLAMF7, elotuzumab, in combination with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone gives a
      median PFS of 20 months. The antibody daratumumab, targeting CD38, alone has an
      outstanding activity in previously heavily treated patients. Its use in
      combination is ongoing. Transplantation remains a major treatment option. For
      patients who relapse at least 18 months from the initial ASCT, a second ASCT can
      be performed with an expected time to progression of 19 months from the time of
      transplantation. For patients relapsing earlier and/or with high-risk
      characteristics and who are still chemosensitive, with a suitable donor, an
      allogeneic transplantation can be considered. The optimal treatment combination
      and sequence remain to be determined.

PMID- 27650124
TI  - Differential expression of the inflammation marker IL12p40 in the at-risk mental
      state for psychosis: a predictor of transition to psychotic disorder?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The identification of biomarkers of transition from the at-risk
      mental state (ARMS) to psychotic disorder is important because early treatment of
      psychosis is associated with improved outcome. Increasing evidence points to an
      inflammatory contribution to psychosis. We questioned whether raised levels of
      plasma inflammatory markers predict transition from ARMS to psychotic disorder
      and whether any such predictors could be reduced by omega-3 (omega-3)
      polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). METHODS: We measured the levels of 40
      neuroinflammation biomarkers using a commercially available immunoassay kit.
      Firstly, we compared inflammatory markers in subjects in the ARMS who
      transitioned to psychotic disorder (n = 11) compared to subjects who did not (n =
      28). Then we compared inflammatory markers in all subjects before and after omega
      3 PUFA treatment (n = 40). RESULTS: Our data provides preliminary evidence that
      elevations in the baseline plasma levels of the inflammatory marker IL12/IL23p40
      are associated with transition from ARMS to psychotic disorder. IL12/IL23p40
      levels did not change following 12 weeks administration of omega-3 PUFAs. These
      findings provide evidence that elevated plasma IL12/IL23p40 is a potential
      biomarker of increased risk for transition to psychotic disorder. CONCLUSION:
      Further studies are required to confirm and extend this finding. Our results do
      not provide support for the possibility that administration of omega-3 PUFAs act
      to reduced transition to psychotic disorder by reducing blood levels of
      IL12/IL23p40. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S.
      National Institutes of Health, Identifier: NCT00396643 , last updated December
      20, 2007. Retrospectively registered.

PMID- 27650127
TI  - Cortical plasticity in patients with median nerve lesions studied with MEG.
AB  - We have previously shown age- and time-dependent effects on brain activity in the
      primary somatosensory cortex (SI), in a functional magnetic resonance imaging
      (fMRI) study of patients with median nerve injury. Whereas fMRI measures the
      hemodynamic changes in response to increased neural activity,
      magnetoencephalography (MEG) offers a more concise way of examining the evoked
      response, with superior temporal resolution. We therefore wanted to combine these
      imaging techniques to gain additional knowledge of the plasticity processes in
      response to median nerve injury. Nine patients with median nerve trauma at the
      wrist were examined with MEG. The N1 and P1 responses at stimulation of the
      injured median nerve at the wrist were lower in amplitude compared to the healthy
      side (p < .04). Ulnar nerve stimulation of the injured hand resulted in larger N1
      amplitude (p < .04). The amplitude and latency of the response did not correlate
      with the sensory discrimination ability. There was no correlation between N1
      amplitude and size of cortical activation in fMRI. There was no significant
      difference in N1 latency between the injured and healthy median nerve. N1 latency
      correlated positively with age in both the median and ulnar nerve, and in both
      the injured and the healthy hand (p < .02 or p < .001). It is concluded that
      conduction failure in the injured segment of the median nerve decreases the
      amplitude of the MEG response. Disinhibition of neighboring cortical areas may
      explain the increased MEG response amplitude to ulnar nerve stimulation. This can
      be interpreted as a sign of brain plasticity.

PMID- 27650129
TI  - Iridoid glycosides from Callicarpa nudiflora Hook.
AB  - Four new iridoid glycoside derivatives (1-4), along with ten known iridoid
      glycosides (5-14), were isolated from Callicarpa nudiflora Hook et Arn. The
      structure of the new iridoid glycosides was elucidated as 5"-methoxy-ampicoside
      (1), 6"-O-trans-caffeoylcatalpol (2), 6"-O-trans-feruloylcatalpol (3) and 3"
      methoxy-agnucastoside C (4) on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. Compounds 1
      11 were reported from this plant for the first time. The cytotoxic activity of
      the isolated compounds against human cervical carcinoma Hela cells and ovarian
      carcinoma HeyA8 cells was evaluated using the microculture tetrazolium assay.
      Compounds 4, 5, 8, 12 and 13 showed cytotoxic activity against the Hela cell line
      with IC50 values of 25.3, 48.1, 17.3, 38.3 and 28.2 MUM, respectively. While only
      compound 8 showed cytotoxicity against the HeyA8 cell line, with an IC50 of 35.5
      MUM.

PMID- 27650128
TI  - The human microbiome and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
AB  - Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease in
      childhood. The pathogenesis of JIA is thought to be the result of a combination
      of host genetic and environmental triggers. However, the precise factors that
      determine one's susceptibility to JIA remain to be unravelled. The microbiome has
      received increasing attention as a potential contributing factor to the
      development of a wide array of immune-mediated diseases, including inflammatory
      bowel disease, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Also in JIA, there is
      accumulating evidence that the composition of the microbiome is different from
      healthy individuals. A growing body of evidence indeed suggests that, among
      others, the microbiome may influence the development of the immune system, the
      integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier, and the differentiation of T cell
      subsets. In turn, this might lead to dysregulation of the immune system, thereby
      possibly playing a role in the development of JIA. The potential to manipulate
      the microbiome, for example by faecal microbial transplantation, might then offer
      perspectives for future therapeutic interventions. Before we can think of such
      interventions, we need to first obtain a deeper understanding of the cause and
      effect relationship between JIA and the microbiome. In this review, we discuss
      the existing evidence for the involvement of the microbiome in JIA pathogenesis
      and explore the potential mechanisms through which the microbiome may influence
      the development of autoimmunity in general and JIA specifically. 

PMID- 27650130
TI  - Effect of turning frequency on co-composting pig manure and fungus residue.
AB  - : Composting of agricultural wastes not only can reduce environmental pollution
      caused by improper disposal, but also can recycle agricultural wastes and
      transform them into highly valuable products, such as fertilizers or soil
      conditioners, for agricultural applications. However, the composting process and
      final product are easily affected by the limited oxygen supply that results from
      insufficient aeration, especially in the center of a large-scale windrow. Hence,
      a pilot-scale experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of the turning
      frequency on the composting efficiency and compost quality of used pig manure and
      fungus residue. Physical and chemical characteristics were measured over the
      course of 63 days of composting. The data indicate that higher temperatures and
      more rapid moisture removal generally result from a turning treatment of once
      every 2-4 days than in fewer, or no, turning treatments. The total nitrogen,
      total phosphorus, and total potassium contents increased in all windrows as the
      organic matter content decreased, but both the increases and decrease were
      greater in windrows that were turned more frequently. The reduction of the
      organic matter mass by 53.7-66.0% for a turning of once every 2-8 days is
      significantly higher than that for the static windrow (39.1%). Although there is
      an increase in nitrogen mass loss with an increased turning frequency, lower
      nitrogen mass losses (12.7-25.7%) in all treatments were noted compared with
      previous studies. A final compost product with less moisture, less weight, higher
      nutrient content (N, P, and K), and greater stability was obtained in windrows
      with turning frequencies of once every 2-4 days, which is recommended when
      composting pig manure and fungus residue. IMPLICATIONS: Composting of
      agricultural wastes not only can reduce environmental pollution caused by
      improper disposal, but recycling of agricultural wastes transforms them into
      highly valuable products, such as fertilizers or soil conditioners, for
      agricultural applications. However, the composting process and final product are
      easily affected by the limited oxygen supply that results from insufficient
      aeration, especially in the center of a large-scale windrow. Hence, a pilot-scale
      experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of the turning frequency on
      the composting efficiency and compost quality of used pig manure and fungus
      residue, so as to capture an operational technique suitable for the effective co
      composting pig manure and edible fungi residue for a large-scale composting
      plant.

PMID- 27650131
TI  - The Influence of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor and Bone Morphogenetic Protein
      Presentation on Tubule Organization by Human Umbilical Vascular Endothelial Cells
      and Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Coculture.
AB  - A three-dimensional in vitro Matrigel plug was used as a model to explore
      delivery patterns of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and bone morphogenetic
      protein-2 (BMP-2) to a coculture of human mesenchymal and endothelial cells.
      While BMP-2 is well recognized for its role in promoting fracture healing through
      proliferation and differentiation of osteoclast precursors, it is not a growth
      factor known to promote the process of angiogenesis, which is also critical for
      complete bone tissue repair. PDGF, in contrast, is a known regulator of
      angiogenesis, and also a powerful chemoattractant for osteoblast precursor cells.
      It has been suggested that presentation of PDGF followed by BMP may better
      promote vascularized bone tissue formation. Yet, it is unclear as to how cells
      would respond to various durations of delivery of each growth factor as well as
      to various amounts of overlap in presentation in terms of angiogenesis. Using a
      three-dimensional in vitro Matrigel plug model, we observed how various
      presentation schedules of PDGF and BMP-2 influenced tubule formation by human
      mesenchymal stem cells and human umbilical vascular endothelial cells. We
      observed that sequential presentation of PDGF to BMP-2 led to increased tubule
      formation over simultaneous delivery of these growth factors. Importantly, a 2-4
      day overlap in the sequential presentation of PDGF and BMP-2 increased tubule
      formation as compared with groups with zero or complete growth factor overlap,
      suggesting that a moderate amount of angiogenic and osteogenic growth factor
      overlap may be beneficial for processes associated with angiogenesis.

PMID- 27650132
TI  - Immunotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer: report from an international experts
      panel meeting of the Italian association of thoracic oncology.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The potential long term survival gain, related to immune
      adaptability and memory, the potential activity across multiple tumour types
      through targeting the immune system, and the opportunity for combinations offered
      by the unique mechanism of actions and safety profile of these new agents, all
      support the role of immunotherapy in the cancer treatment pathway or paradigm.
      Areas covered: The authors discuss the recent advances in the understanding of
      immunology and antitumor immune responses that have led to the development of new
      immunotherapies, including monoclonal antibodies that inhibit immune checkpoint
      pathways, such as Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) and Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte-Associated
      Antigen 4 (CTLA-4). Currently, two PD-1 inhibitors are available in clinical
      practice for treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): nivolumab
      and pembrolizumab. Expert opinion: Ongoing research will dictate future
      strategies, including the potential incorporation of immunotherapy in stage
      dependent treatment settings (early stage locally advanced disease and first line
      therapy for metastatic disease). Immunotherapy combinations are promising
      avenues, and careful selection of patients, doses of each agent and information
      supporting strategies (i.e. concomitant or sequential) is still needed.

PMID- 27650134
TI  - Design of Surface Doping for Mitigating Transition Metal Dissolution in LiNi0.5
      Mn1.5 O4 Nanoparticles.
AB  - In lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) comprising spinel cathode materials, the
      dissolution of transition metals (TMs) in the cathodes causes severe cyclic
      degradation. We investigate the origin and mechanism of surface TM dissolution in
      high-voltage spinel oxide (LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 ) nanoparticles to find a practical
      method for its mitigation. Atomic structures of the LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 surfaces are
      developed, and the electronic structures are investigated by first-principles
      calculations. The results indicate that titanium is a promising dopant for
      forming a more stable surface structure by reinforcing metal-oxygen bonds in
      LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 . Experimentally synthesized LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 with titanium
      surface doping exhibits improved electrochemical performance by suppressing
      undesirable TM dissolution during cycles. The theoretical prediction and
      experimental validation presented here suggest a viable method to suppress TM
      dissolution in LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 .

PMID- 27650133
TI  - Flavonoid intake from vegetables and fruits is inversely associated with
      colorectal cancer risk: a case-control study in China.
AB  - Flavonoids may play an important role in the protective effects of vegetables,
      fruits and tea against colorectal cancer. However, associations between
      flavonoids and colorectal cancer risk are inconsistent, and a few studies have
      evaluated the effect of flavonoids from different dietary sources separately.
      This study aimed to evaluate associations of flavonoids intake from different
      dietary sources with colorectal cancer risk in a Chinese population. From July
      2010 to December 2015, 1632 eligible colorectal cancer cases and 1632 frequency
      matched controls (age and sex) completed in-person interviews. A validated FFQ
      was used to estimate dietary flavonoids intake. Multivariate logistical
      regression models were used to calculate the OR and 95 % CI of colorectal cancer
      risk after adjusting for various confounders. No significant association was
      found between total flavonoids and colorectal cancer risk, with an adjusted OR of
      1.06 (95 % CI 0.85, 1.32) comparing the highest with the lowest quartile.
      Anthocyanidins, flavanones and flavones intakes from total diet were found to be
      inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk. Compared with the lowest
      quartile, the adjusted OR for the highest quartile were 0.80 (95 % CI 0.64, 1.00)
      for anthocyanidins, 0.28 (95 % CI 0.22, 0.36) for flavanones and 0.54 (95 % CI
      0.43, 0.67) for flavones. All subclasses of flavonoids from vegetables and fruits
      were inversely associated with colorectal cancer. However, no significant
      association was found between tea flavonoids and colorectal cancer risk. These
      data indicate that specific flavonoids, specifically flavonoids from vegetables
      and fruits, may be linked with the reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

PMID- 27650136
TI  - Thermal Methane Activation by [Si2 O5 ].+ and [Si2 O5 H2 ].+ : Reactivity
      Enhancement by Hydrogenation.
AB  - The thermal reactions of methane with the oxygen-rich cluster cations [Si2 O5 ]?+
      and [Si2 O5 H2 ]?+ have been examined using Fourier transform-ion cyclotron
      resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry in conjunction with state-of-the-art quantum
      chemical calculations. In contrast to the inertness of [Si2 O5 ].+ towards
      methane, the hydrogenated cluster [Si2 O5 H2 ].+ brings about hydrogen-atom
      transfer (HAT) from methane with an efficiency of 28 % relative to the collision
      rate. The mechanisms of this process have been investigated in detail and the
      reasons for the striking reactivity difference of the two cluster ions have been
      revealed.

PMID- 27650135
TI  - Comparison of the pharmacokinetics of two formulations of hydroxyethyl starch in
      healthy horses.
AB  - A lower molecular weight and molar substitution formulation (130/0.4) of
      hydroxyethyl starch solution has been shown to have a more sustained effect on
      COP and similar hemodynamic effects as a higher molecular weight and molar
      substitution formulation (600/0.75) in healthy horses. In humans, these
      pharmacodynamic characteristics are coupled with more rapid clearance and
      decreased adverse coagulation effects and accumulation. The objective of this
      study was to determine and compare the pharmacokinetics of these two formulations
      in horses. Eight healthy horses were given a 10 mL/kg bolus of each formulation
      (600/0.75 and 130/0.4) of hydroxyethyl starch solution in a randomized crossover
      design. Blood was collected, and plasma was harvested for plasma levels over 24
      h. Pharmacokinetic parameters for each horse were estimated from a
      noncompartmental analysis. Treatment with 600/0.75 resulted in a higher initial
      plasma concentration (C0 ), systemic half-life (t1/2 ), and overall drug exposure
      (AUC0-inf ) in addition to decreased elimination rate (beta), volume of
      distribution (Vd), and clearance (CL), compared to treatment with 130/0.4 (P <
      0.001). The pharmacokinetic findings combined with previous pharmacodynamics
      findings suggest that 130/0.4 can provide similar benefits to 600/0.75 with a
      lower risk of accumulation in the circulation.

PMID- 27650138
TI  - Transport Phenomena of Water in Molecular Fluidic Channels.
AB  - In molecular-level fluidic transport, where the discrete characteristics of a
      molecular system are not negligible (in contrast to a continuum description), the
      response of the molecular water system might still be similar to the continuum
      description if the time and ensemble averages satisfy the ergodic hypothesis and
      the scale of the average is enough to recover the classical thermodynamic
      properties. However, even in such cases, the continuum description breaks down on
      the material interfaces. In short, molecular-level liquid flows exhibit
      substantially different physics from classical fluid transport theories because
      of (i) the interface/surface force field, (ii) thermal/velocity slip, (iii) the
      discreteness of fluid molecules at the interface and (iv) local viscosity.
      Therefore, in this study, we present the result of our investigations using
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with continuum-based energy equations and
      check the validity and limitations of the continuum hypothesis. Our study shows
      that when the continuum description is subjected to the proper treatment of the
      interface effects via modified boundary conditions, the so-called continuum-based
      modified-analytical solutions, they can adequately predict nanoscale fluid
      transport phenomena. The findings in this work have broad effects in overcoming
      current limitations in modeling/predicting the fluid behaviors of molecular
      fluidic devices.

PMID- 27650139
TI  - Multidirectional lip-closing force in adult females after short-term lip
      training.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the multidirectional lip-closing
      force in adult females before and after short-term lip training. Sixty-six
      Japanese females participated in this study. The subjects performed lip training
      that involved maintaining 200 or 400 g of bottled water in the oral vestibule.
      The signals of directional lip-closing force were investigated in eight
      directions before training and 5 and 7 days after the lip training. The
      differences in the closing force between pre- and post-training were then
      analysed statistically. The lip-closing force increased in the following order:
      pre-training, 5 days post-training and 7 days post-training in every direction (P
      < 0.05). The patterns of the increase in the lip-closing force in the upper,
      lower, right and left directions as a result of the repetitions were similar. No
      significant differences were noted between the training effects with loads of 200
      and 400 g. Our findings demonstrated that the lip-closing force was influenced by
      the short-term lip training.

PMID- 27650140
TI  - Corrigendum: Purification of High Salinity Brine by Multi-Stage Ion Concentration
      Polarization Desalination.

PMID- 27650141
TI  - Power of visual images.

PMID- 27650137
TI  - The effects of concomitant gradients on chemical shift encoded MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this work was to characterize the effects of concomitant
      gradients (CGs) on chemical shift encoded (CSE)-based estimation of B0 field map,
      proton density fat fraction (PDFF), and R2*. THEORY: A theoretical framework was
      used to determine the effects of CG-induced phase errors on CSE-MRI data.
      METHODS: Simulations, phantom experiments, and in vivo experiments were conducted
      at 3 Tesla to assess the effects of CGs on quantitative CSE-MRI techniques.
      Correction of phase errors attributable to CGs was also investigated to determine
      whether these effects could be removed. RESULTS: Phase errors attributed to CGs
      introduce errors in the estimation of B0 field map, PDFF, and R2*. Phantom and in
      vivo experiments demonstrated that CGs can introduce estimation errors greater
      than 30 Hz in the B0 field map, 10% in PDFF, and 16 s-1 in R2*, 16 cm off
      isocenter. However, CG phase correction before parameter estimation was able to
      reduce estimation errors to less than 10 Hz in the B0 field map, 1% in PDFF, and
      2 s-1 in R2*. CONCLUSION: CG effects can impact CSE-MRI, leading to inaccurate
      estimation of B0 field map, PDFF, and R2*. However, correction for phase errors
      caused by CGs improve the accuracy of quantitative parameters estimated from CSE
      MRI acquisitions. Magn Reson Med 78:730-738, 2017. (c) 2016 International Society
      for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

PMID- 27650143
TI  - Periodic fevers and autoinflammatory syndromes in childhood.
AB  - Recurrent fever is a common presentation in paediatric practice and can be caused
      by a wide variety of diseases including autoinflammatory conditions. The innate
      immune system plays an essential role in the 'first line' response to infection
      through mediation of inflammatory responses. Inflammasomes are part of the
      regulatory process for this system and result in the production of the powerful
      pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1B. Dysregulation of inflammasomes, and
      Interleukin 1 production, contributes to the pathogenesis of autoinflammatory
      diseases. This review focuses on described periodic fever syndromes (PFS) which
      are now collectively referred to as autoinflammatory syndromes. Conditions
      discussed include periodic fever aphthous stomatitis pharyngitis and cervical
      adenopathy, familial Mediterranean fever, tumour necrosis factor receptor
      associated periodic syndromes, hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D and the cryopyrin
      associated periodic syndromes. Presenting features, complications, diagnostic and
      treatment approaches for these conditions are discussed. Nonetheless, as most of
      these conditions are rare and may have significant long-term complications, it is
      recommended that they be managed in consultations with a physician experienced in
      managing PFS. 

PMID- 27650142
TI  - Fifty years of paediatric neurology in Australasia.

PMID- 27650144
TI  - Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome in Australian children and adults:
      Epidemiological, clinical and treatment characteristics.
AB  - AIM: Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) encapsulate three auto
      inflammatory conditions, ranging in severity from mild (familial cold auto
      inflammatory syndrome: FCAS), moderate (Muckle-Wells syndrome: MWS) and severe
      (neonatal onset multi-inflammatory disorder: NOMID). We aimed to describe the
      epidemiology, clinical features and outcomes of Australian children and adults
      with CAPS. METHODS: Patients were identified and clinical data collected through
      a questionnaire sent during 2012-2013 to clinicians reporting to the Australian
      Paediatric Surveillance Unit and subscribing to the Australasian Societies for
      Allergy/Immunology, Rheumatology and Dermatology. RESULTS: Eighteen cases of CAPS
      were identified (8 NOMID; 8 MWS, 2 FCAS); 12 in children <18 years of age. The
      estimated population prevalence of CAPS was 1 per million persons. Diagnostic
      delay was frequent, particularly in those with milder phenotypes (median
      diagnostic delay in MWS/FCAS 20.6 years compared with NOMID 2.1 years; P = 0.04).
      Common presenting features included urticaria (100%), periodic fever (78%),
      arthralgia (72%) and sensorineural hearing loss (61%). Almost all (90%) MWS
      patients had a family member similarly affected compared with none in the NOMID
      group (P = 0.004). A significant proportion of patients on anti-interleukin (IL)
      1 therapy (n = 13) no longer had systemic inflammation. Only 50% with
      sensorineural hearing loss had hearing restored on anti-IL-1 therapy.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although CAPS are rare, patients often endured prolonged periods of
      systemic inflammation. This is despite almost all MWS patients having family
      members with similar symptoms and children with NOMID presenting with chronic
      infantile urticaria associated with multi-system inflammation. Hearing loss in
      NOMID/MWS was frequent, and reversible in only 50% of cases.

PMID- 27650145
TI  - Evaluation of an E-learning resource on approach to the first unprovoked seizure.
AB  - AIM: To develop and evaluate an online educational package instructing
      paediatricians and trainees in the diagnosis and management of a first unprovoked
      seizure in children. METHODS: The E-learning content was created following a
      comprehensive literature review that referenced current international guidelines.
      Rigorous consultation with local paediatric neurologists, paediatricians and
      epilepsy nurses was undertaken. A series of learning modules was created and
      sequenced to reflect steps needed to achieve optimal diagnosis and management in
      a real-life situation of a child presenting with a paroxysmal event. Paediatric
      registrars and advanced trainees from the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
      were assessed before and after using the E-learning Resource. Measures included
      general epilepsy knowledge, case-based scenario knowledge; self-rated measures of
      satisfaction with instruction and confidence regarding clinical approach to the
      child with first unprovoked seizure; and open ended questions evaluating the
      usefulness of the E-learning resource. RESULTS: Performance on measures of
      general epilepsy knowledge and on the seizure-related case scenarios improved
      significantly following completion of the E-learning as did self-rated
      satisfaction with instruction and confidence across all aspects of managing first
      seizure. CONCLUSIONS: The E-learning resource has been validated as a useful
      educational resource regarding the first afebrile unprovoked seizure for
      paediatricians.

PMID- 27650146
TI  - Infant with end stage liver disease. Management of bleeding risk and use of blood
      products: Time for review.

PMID- 27650147
TI  - The hospital world according to Aaron.

PMID- 27650148
TI  - Seasonal paediatric calendar.

PMID- 27650149
TI  - Identify the syndrome?

PMID- 27650150
TI  - Faltering growth with an 'unexpected' abdominal ultrasound finding.

PMID- 27650151
TI  - Identify the syndrome?

PMID- 27650152
TI  - Faltering growth with an 'unexpected' abdominal ultrasound finding.

PMID- 27650153
TI  - Lyme disease.

PMID- 27650154
TI  - Bocavirus respiratory infections.

PMID- 27650155
TI  - Rhinovirus infections and cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 27650156
TI  - Qualitative research.

PMID- 27650157
TI  - The impact of detention on children and adolescents.

PMID- 27650158
TI  - Vaginal bleeding after splenic trauma in a child: Occam's Razor in action.

PMID- 27650159
TI  - Antibiotic prophylaxis and neonatal surgical site infection.

PMID- 27650160
TI  - Structure and diversity of retinal ganglion cells in steller's sculpin
      Myoxocephalus stelleri tilesius, 1811.
AB  - We studied the morphology and diversity of retinal ganglion cells in Steller's
      sculpin Myoxocephalus stelleri. The cells were retrogradely labeled with
      horseradish peroxidase and examined in retinal wholemounts. A sample of 123 cells
      were camera lucida-drawn and digitized. A total of 18 structural parameters were
      estimated for each cell. The cells were classified using 10 clustering
      algorithms. The optimum solution was determined using silhouette analysis. It
      contained eight clusters and was based on three variables: dendritic field area,
      vitread stratification boundary, and stratification range. Kruskal-Wallis
      analysis of variance (ANOVA)-on-Ranks with post-hoc Mann-Whitney U-tests showed
      significant pairwise between-cluster differences in two or more of the original
      variables. The present classification is compared with those proposed for other
      teleosts. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:1122-1138, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650161
TI  - Perception of facial profiles: influence of female sex hormones and personality
      traits.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The observational study investigated whether women's perception of
      the facial profile is related to changes in sex hormones during the menstrual
      cycle and under the influence of personality traits. SETTING AND SAMPLE
      POPULATION: Participants were heterosexual Caucasian normally menstruating women
      not using oral contraceptives (N = 30, aged 20-44 years). MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      The profile attractiveness was assessed by grading of thirteen men's and women's
      Caucasian profile distortions by a visual analogue scale (0 = least to 100 = most
      attractive) in the non-ovulating phase and ovulating phase of the menstrual
      cycle. Male profiles were graded twice-in social and emotional contexts.
      Personality traits were assessed by Big Five Inventory. RESULTS: The most
      attractive male profiles in both phases and contexts were a straight profile or
      mild lip retrusion. According to cluster analysis, non-ovulating females
      distinguish skeletal from dentoalveolar alterations; however, maxillary
      retrognathism was considered to be closer to an attractive profile, which were
      resulting from dentoalveolar manipulations only. Ovulating females, when
      considering emotional relationship, exhibit lowest preference for males with
      convex profiles and extreme concave profile, while they consider males with
      slightly prominent chins due to maxillary retrognathism, mandibular prognathism
      or pronounced lip retrusion closer to the most attractive males. No clear
      patterns of influence of personality traits were detected. Moderate lip
      protrusion was the most attractive female profile in ovulating and straight
      profile in non-ovulating phase. CONCLUSION: The favorable profiles, on average,
      are the same regardless of the female hormonal status and personality traits.

PMID- 27650162
TI  - Asynchronous interpretation of manual and automated audiometry: Agreement and
      reliability.
AB  - Introduction Remote interpretation of automated audiometry offers the potential
      to enable asynchronous tele-audiology assessment and diagnosis in areas where
      synchronous tele-audiometry may not be possible or practical. The aim of this
      study was to compare remote interpretation of manual and automated audiometry.
      Methods Five audiologists each interpreted manual and automated audiograms
      obtained from 42 patients. The main outcome variable was the audiologist's
      recommendation for patient management (which included treatment recommendations,
      referral or discharge) between the manual and automated audiometry test. Cohen's
      Kappa and Krippendorff's Alpha were used to calculate and quantify the intra- and
      inter-observer agreement, respectively, and McNemar's test was used to assess the
      audiologist-rated accuracy of audiograms. Audiograms were randomised and
      audiologists were blinded as to whether they were interpreting a manual or
      automated audiogram. Results Intra-observer agreement was substantial for
      management outcomes when comparing interpretations for manual and automated
      audiograms. Inter-observer agreement was moderate between clinicians for
      determining management decisions when interpreting both manual and automated
      audiograms. Audiologists were 2.8 times more likely to question the accuracy of
      an automated audiogram compared to a manual audiogram. Discussion There is a lack
      of agreement between audiologists when interpreting audiograms, whether recorded
      with automated or manual audiometry. The main variability in remote audiogram
      interpretation is likely to be individual clinician variation, rather than
      automation.

PMID- 27650163
TI  - Determining the cost of implementing and operating a remote patient monitoring
      programme for the elderly with chronic conditions: A systematic review of
      economic evaluations.
AB  - Introduction Remote patient monitoring (RPM) in conjunction with home nursing
      visits is becoming increasingly popular for the follow-up of patients with
      chronic conditions and evidence exists that it improves patients' health
      outcomes. Current cost data is reported inconsistently and often gathered from
      studies of poor methodological quality, making it difficult for decision-makers
      who consider implementing this service in their organizations. This study
      reviewed the cost of RPM programmes targeting elderly patients with chronic
      conditions. Methods After evaluation against the inclusion and exclusion criteria
      and appraisal against two criteria which are important for economic evaluations,
      data from selected studies were extracted and grouped into meaningful cost
      categories, then adjusted to reflect November 2015 US dollars. Results In the 13
      selected studies, the newly-created cost category 'Combined intervention cost'
      (reflecting equipment purchasing, servicing and monitoring cost) for the various
      RPM programmes ranged from US$275-US$7963 per patient per year. The three main
      findings are: (a) RPM programme costs have decreased since 2004 due to cheaper
      technology; (b) monitoring a single vital sign is likely to be less costly than
      monitoring multiple vital signs; and (c) programmes targeting hypertension or
      congestive heart failure are less costly than those targeting respiratory
      diseases or multiple conditions. Conclusions This review recommends that future
      studies present their cost data with more granularity, that grouping of costs
      should be minimized and that any assumptions, such as amortization, should be
      made explicit. In addition, studies should compare programmes with similar
      characteristics in terms of type of conditions, number of vital signs monitored,
      etc. for more generalizable results.

PMID- 27650165
TI  - B-RAF mutation in non-small cell lung cancer: the sleeping beauty is waking up.

PMID- 27650166
TI  - Intra- and extracellular plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 regulate effect of
      vitronectin against radiation-induced endothelial cell death.
AB  - Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is induced by radiation resulting in
      endothelial cell impairment, potentially leading to multiple organ failure.
      Vitronectin (VN) is a 75-kDa glycoprotein (VN75) cleaved into two forms (VN75 or
      VN65/10) by furin, which is regulated by intracellular PAI-1. VN protects against
      radiation-induced endothelial cell death, but the mechanisms involved in VN
      processing and its interactions with intra- and extracellular PAI-1 remain
      unclear. We examined these processes in cells in vitro using recombinant proteins
      or overexpression of VN and PAI-1 genes, including furin-susceptible (T381) and
      furin-resistant VN (A381). VN processing was analyzed using a mutant PAI-1 with
      relatively weaker binding to VN. VN function was evaluated by survival of
      radiation-damaged endothelial cells. Wild-type, but not mutant PAI-1 inhibited
      furin-dependent VN processing. Gene transfer revealed that furin-susceptible VN
      was processed more than the furin-resistant form, but processing of both was
      inhibited by PAI-1 overexpression. Intracellular PAI-1 formed a complex with VN75
      (T381) in cells and media, and the VN75 form was secreted preferentially. Only
      VN75 protected against radiation-induced endothelial cell death, in which its
      effect was abolished by wild-type but not mutant PAI-1. These findings indicate
      that intracellular PAI-1 inhibits VN processing and protects against radiation
      induced endothelial cell death.

PMID- 27650167
TI  - Palaeogeographic regulation of glacial events during the Cretaceous
      supergreenhouse.
AB  - The historical view of a uniformly warm Cretaceous is being increasingly
      challenged by the accumulation of new data hinting at the possibility of glacial
      events, even during the Cenomanian-Turonian (~95 Myr ago), the warmest interval
      of the Cretaceous. Here we show that the palaeogeography typifying the Cenomanian
      Turonian renders the Earth System resilient to glaciation with no perennial ice
      accumulation occurring under prescribed CO2 levels as low as 420 p.p.m.
      Conversely, late Aptian (~115 Myr ago) and Maastrichtian (~70 Myr ago)
      continental configurations set the stage for cooler climatic conditions,
      favouring possible inception of Antarctic ice sheets under CO2 concentrations,
      respectively, about 400 and 300 p.p.m. higher than for the Cenomanian-Turonian.
      Our simulations notably emphasize that palaeogeography can crucially impact
      global climate by modulating the CO2 threshold for ice sheet inception and make
      the possibility of glacial events during the Cenomanian-Turonian unlikely.

PMID- 27650164
TI  - Increased Population Risk of AIP-Related Acromegaly and Gigantism in Ireland.
AB  - The aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) founder mutation R304*
      (or p.R304* ; NM_003977.3:c.910C>T, p.Arg304Ter) identified in Northern Ireland
      (NI) predisposes to acromegaly/gigantism; its population health impact remains
      unexplored. We measured R304* carrier frequency in 936 Mid Ulster, 1,000 Greater
      Belfast (both in NI) and 2,094 Republic of Ireland (ROI) volunteers and in 116 NI
      or ROI acromegaly/gigantism patients. Carrier frequencies were 0.0064 in Mid
      Ulster (95%CI = 0.0027-0.013; P = 0.0005 vs. ROI), 0.001 in Greater Belfast
      (0.00011-0.0047) and zero in ROI (0-0.0014). R304* prevalence was elevated in
      acromegaly/gigantism patients in NI (11/87, 12.6%, P < 0.05), but not in ROI
      (2/29, 6.8%) versus non-Irish patients (0-2.41%). Haploblock conservation
      supported a common ancestor for all the 18 identified Irish pedigrees (81
      carriers, 30 affected). Time to most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) was 2550
      (1,275-5,000) years. tMRCA-based simulations predicted 432 (90-5,175) current
      carriers, including 86 affected (18-1,035) for 20% penetrance. In conclusion,
      R304* is frequent in Mid Ulster, resulting in numerous acromegaly/gigantism
      cases. tMRCA is consistent with historical/folklore accounts of Irish giants.
      Forward simulations predict many undetected carriers; geographically targeted
      population screening improves asymptomatic carrier identification, complementing
      clinical testing of patients/relatives. We generated disease awareness locally,
      necessary for early diagnosis and improved outcomes of AIP-related disease.

PMID- 27650168
TI  - Comprehensive Modeling and Discovery of Mebendazole as a Novel TRAF2- and NCK
      interacting Kinase Inhibitor.
AB  - TRAF2- and NCK-interacting kinase (TNIK) represents one of the crucial targets
      for Wnt-activated colorectal cancer. In this study, we curated two datasets and
      conducted a comprehensive modeling study to explore novel TNIK inhibitors with
      desirable biopharmaceutical properties. With Dataset I, we derived Comparative
      Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis (CoMSIA) and variable-selection k-nearest
      neighbor models, from which 3D-molecular fields and 2D-descriptors critical for
      the TNIK inhibitor activity were revealed. Based on Dataset II, predictive CoMSIA
      SIMCA (Soft Independent Modelling by Class Analogy) models were obtained and
      employed to screen 1,448 FDA-approved small molecule drugs. Upon experimental
      evaluations, we discovered that mebendazole, an approved anthelmintic drug, could
      selectively inhibit TNIK kinase activity with a dissociation constant Kd = ~1
      MUM. The subsequent CoMSIA and kNN analyses indicated that mebendazole bears the
      favorable molecular features that are needed to bind and inhibit TNIK.

PMID- 27650170
TI  - General, Simple, and Chemoselective Catalysts for the Isomerization of Allylic
      Alcohols: The Importance of the Halide Ligand.
AB  - Remarkably simple IrIII catalysts enable the isomerization of primary and sec
      allylic alcohols under very mild reaction conditions. X-ray absorption
      spectroscopy (XAS) and mass spectrometry (MS) studies indicate that the
      catalysts, with the general formula [Cp*IrIII ], require a halide ligand for
      catalytic activity, but no additives or additional ligands are needed.

PMID- 27650171
TI  - We can cure hepatitis C virus after transplant, but what is the best regimen?

PMID- 27650169
TI  - Spinal Cord Injury Suppresses Cutaneous Inflammation: Implications for Peripheral
      Wound Healing.
AB  - People who suffer a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) are at increased risk for
      developing dermatological complications. These conditions increase cost of care,
      incidence of rehospitalization, and the risk for developing other infections. The
      consequences of dermatological complications after SCI are likely exacerbated
      further by post-injury deficits in neural-immune signaling. Indeed, a functional
      immune system is essential for optimal host defense and tissue repair. Here, we
      tested the hypothesis that SCI at high spinal levels, which causes systemic
      immune suppression, would suppress cutaneous inflammation below the level of
      injury. C57BL/6 mice received an SCI (T3 spinal level) or sham injury; then one
      day later complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) was injected subcutaneously below the
      injury level. Inflammation was quantified by injecting mice with V-Sense, a
      perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracer that selectively labels macrophages, followed by in
      vivo imaging. The total radiant efficiency, which is proportional to the number
      of macrophages, was measured over a 4-day period at the site of CFA injection.
      Fluorescent in vivo imaging revealed that throughout the analysis period, the
      macrophage reaction in SCI mice was reduced ~50% compared with sham-injured mice.
      Radiant efficiency data were confirmed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
      and together the data indicate that SCI significantly impairs subcutaneous
      inflammation. Future studies should determine whether enhancing local
      inflammation or boosting systemic immune function can improve the rate or
      efficiency of cutaneous wound healing in individuals with SCI. Doing so also
      could limit wound infections or secondary complications of impaired healing after
      SCI.

PMID- 27650173
TI  - Think outside the box: Acanthamoeba encephalitis following autologous
      haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

PMID- 27650172
TI  - Comparison of through-the-scope stent insertion with standard stent insertion for
      the management of malignant colorectal obstruction: a prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to compare the feasibility, safety
      and efficacy of the through-the-scope (TTS) stent technique to that of the
      standard metallic stent technique for the management of malignant colorectal
      obstruction. METHODS: Fifty-two patients scheduled to receive stent insertion for
      the management of acute obstructive colorectal cancer were enrolled in our study
      and divided into a TTS stent group (n = 24) and a standard stent group (n = 28).
      The stent insertion procedure was performed under endoscopic and fluoroscopic
      guidance in all patients. The success rate, complications, fluoroscopic time, and
      clinical remission rate were recorded and compared. RESULTS: The technique
      success rate was 100 % (24/24) in the TTS stent group and 78.6 % (22/28) in the
      standard stent group (p = 0.03). In five patients in the standard stent group,
      the stent failed to pass through occlusive lesions because of the stiffness of
      the stent system. Serious bleeding occurred in one patient in the standard stent
      group. The fluoroscopy time in the TTS stent group was significantly reduced
      (12.9 +/- 6.6 min) compared with that of the standard stent group (24.8 +/- 9.8
      min; p < 0.01). Silent perforation occurred in 17.9 % (5/28) of the cases in the
      standard stent group compared with none in the TTS (p = 0.03). Clinical remission
      was achieved in 97.1 % (23/24) and 78.6 % (22/28) of patients in the TTS and
      standard stent groups, respectively (p = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS: The TTS stent is
      safer and more feasible for the management of malignant colorectal obstructions
      than the standard stent, and the TTS technique provides a higher success rate, a
      similar clinical remission rate, and a markedly reduced fluoroscopic time.

PMID- 27650174
TI  - Effectiveness of Pelvic Physiotherapy in Children With Functional Constipation
      Compared With Standard Medical Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Functional constipation (FC) is a common childhood problem
      often related to pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. We compared the effectiveness
      of pelvic physiotherapy (PPT) vs standard medical care (SMC) in children with FC.
      METHODS: We performed a multicenter randomized controlled trial of 53 children
      (age, 5-16 y) with FC according to the Rome III criteria, at hospitals in The
      Netherlands from December 2009 to May 2014. Group allocation was concealed using
      a central computer system. SMC consisted of education, toilet training, and
      laxatives (n = 26), whereas PPT included SMC plus specific physiotherapeutic
      interventions (n = 27). Results were obtained from written reports from the
      subjects' pediatricians and parents. The primary outcome was absence of FC,
      according to Rome III criteria, after a 6-month follow-up period. Secondary
      outcomes were global perceived effect (range, 1-9; success was defined as a score
      >= 8), numeric rating scales assessing quality of life (parent and child; scale,
      1-10), and the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ). RESULTS: Treatment
      was effective for 92.3% of the children receiving PPT and for 63.0% of the
      children receiving SMC (adjusted odds ratio for success of PPT, 11.7; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.8-78.3) (P = .011). Significantly more children undergoing
      PPT stopped using laxatives (adjusted odds ratio, 6.5; 95% confidence interval,
      1.6-26.4) (P = .009). Treatment success (based on global perceived effect) was
      achieved for 88.5% of subjects receiving PPT vs 33.3% of subjects receiving SMC)
      (P < .001). PPT also produced larger adjusted mean differences, before vs after
      treatment, in numeric rating scales to assess quality of life: an increase of 1.8
      points for parents (P = .047) and 2.0 points for children (P = .028). Results
      from the SDQ did not differ significantly between groups (P = .78). CONCLUSIONS:
      In a randomized controlled trial of children with FC, PPT was more effective than
      SMC on all outcomes measured, with the exception of findings from the SDQ. PPT
      should be considered as a treatment option for FC in children 5-16 years old.
      Dutch Clinical Trial Registration no: NL30551.068.09.

PMID- 27650177
TI  - Call for Papers for the "Classics in Chemical Neuroscience" Series.

PMID- 27650175
TI  - Evaluating the Impact of Genomic Data and Priors on Bayesian Estimates of the
      Angiosperm Evolutionary Timescale.
AB  - The evolutionary timescale of angiosperms has long been a key question in
      biology. Molecular estimates of this timescale have shown considerable variation,
      being influenced by differences in taxon sampling, gene sampling, fossil
      calibrations, evolutionary models, and choices of priors. Here, we analyze a data
      set comprising 76 protein-coding genes from the chloroplast genomes of 195 taxa
      spanning 86 families, including novel genome sequences for 11 taxa, to evaluate
      the impact of models, priors, and gene sampling on Bayesian estimates of the
      angiosperm evolutionary timescale. Using a Bayesian relaxed molecular-clock
      method, with a core set of 35 minimum and two maximum fossil constraints, we
      estimated that crown angiosperms arose 221 (251-192) Ma during the Triassic.
      Based on a range of additional sensitivity and subsampling analyses, we found
      that our date estimates were generally robust to large changes in the parameters
      of the birth-death tree prior and of the model of rate variation across branches.
      We found an exception to this when we implemented fossil calibrations in the form
      of highly informative gamma priors rather than as uniform priors on node ages.
      Under all other calibration schemes, including trials of seven maximum age
      constraints, we consistently found that the earliest divergences of angiosperm
      clades substantially predate the oldest fossils that can be assigned
      unequivocally to their crown group. Overall, our results and experiments with
      genome-scale data suggest that reliable estimates of the angiosperm crown age
      will require increased taxon sampling, significant methodological changes, and
      new information from the fossil record. [Angiospermae, chloroplast, genome,
      molecular dating, Triassic.].

PMID- 27650176
TI  - Frequent alternative lengthening of telomeres and ATRX loss in adult NF1
      associated diffuse and high-grade astrocytomas.

PMID- 27650178
TI  - Novel Drug Approvals in 2015 and Thus Far in 2016.

PMID- 27650181
TI  - EANM'16.

PMID- 27650180
TI  - Quinone derivatives isolated from the endolichenic fungus Phialocephala fortinii
      are Mdr1 modulators that combat azole resistance in Candida albicans.
AB  - One of the main azole-resistance mechanisms in Candida pathogens is the
      upregulation of drug efflux pumps, which compromises the efficacy of azoles and
      results in treatment failure. The combination of azole-antifungal agents with
      efflux pump inhibitors represents a promising strategy to combat fungal
      infection. High-throughput screening of 150 extracts obtained from endolichenic
      fungal cultures led to the discovery that the extract of Phialocephala fortinii
      exhibits potent activity for the reversal of azole resistance. From P. fortinii
      cultures, a total of 15 quinone derivatives, comprising 11 new derivatives and 4
      known compounds, were obtained. Among these compounds, palmarumycin P3 (3) and
      phialocephalarin B (8) specifically modulate the expression of MDR1 to inhibit
      the activity of drug efflux pumps and therefore reverse azole resistance. The
      present study revealed Mdr1 targeting as an alternative mechanism for the
      discovery of new agents to fight antifungal drug resistance.

PMID- 27650182
TI  - Viral IL-10 down-regulates the "MHC-I antigen processing operon" through the NF
      kappaB signaling pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.
AB  - The HLA-I antigen processing machinery (APM) plays a crucial role in the
      anticancer immune response. The loss of surface expression of HLA-I molecules is
      particularly important as this enables tumor cells to evade recognition and lysis
      by cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. Transcriptional control of the APM genes is regulated
      by the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). BCRFl is an Epstein-Barr virus
      homologue of human IL-10 (hIL-10) and is known as viral IL-10 (vIL-10). vIL-10
      shares many immunosuppressive effects with hIL-10 but lacks the immunostimulatory
      effect of hIL-10. The aim of this study was to assess whether vIL-10 inhibits APM
      components (TAP-1, TAP-2, LMP-2, LMP-7 and HLA-I) through the NF-kappaB signaling
      pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This work demonstrated that vIL-10 inhibited
      NF-kappaB activation by blocking IKK phosphorylation and promoting the expression
      of IKB. TNF-alpha treatment led to a strong translocation of NF-kappaB p65,
      whereas pretreatment with vIL-10 before TNF-alpha treatment blocked NF-kappaB p65
      translocation. vIL-10 also inhibited TNF-alpha-induced DNA-binding of NF-kappaB
      p65 in the nucleus. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis
      demonstrated that NF-kappaB p65 could bind to the TAP-1, TAP-2, LMP-2, LMP-7 and
      HLA-I gene promoters, and after TNF-alpha stimulation, the down-regulation of TAP
      1, TAP-2, LMP-2, LMP-7 and HLA-I transcription by vIL-10 correlated with the
      suppression of NF-kappaB in CNE-2 cells. Surprisingly, vIL-10 inhibits only TAP-1
      and LMP-7 transcription in CNE-1 cells. Taken together, these results suggest
      that the inhibition of NF-kappaB activity may be an important mechanism for vIL
      10 suppression of APM (TAP-1, TAP-2, LMP-2, LMP-7 and HLA-I) gene transcription
      in CNE-2 cells.

PMID- 27650183
TI  - Developmental competence and expression profile of genes in buffalo (Bubalus
      bubalis) oocytes and embryos collected under different environmental stress.
AB  - The study examined the effects of different environmental stress on developmental
      competence and the relative abundance (RA) of various gene transcripts in oocytes
      and embryos of buffalo. Oocytes collected during cold period (CP) and hot period
      (HP) were matured, fertilized and cultured in vitro to blastocyst hatching stage.
      The mRNA expression patterns of genes implicated in developmental competence (OCT
      4, IGF-2R and GDF-9), heat shock (HSP-70.1), oxidative stress (MnSOD), metabolism
      (GLUT-1), pro-apoptosis (BAX) and anti-apoptosis (BCL-2) were evaluated in
      immature and matured oocytes as well as in pre-implantation stage embryos.
      Oocytes reaching MII stage, cleavage rates, blastocyst yield and hatching rates
      increased (P < 0.05) during the CP. In MII oocytes and 2-cell embryos, the RA of
      OCT-4, IGF-2R, GDF-9, MnSOD and GLUT-1 decreased (P < 0.05) during the HP. In 4
      cell embryos, the RA of OCT-4, IGF-2R and BCL-2 decreased (P < 0.05) in the HP,
      whereas GDF-9 increased (P < 0.05). In 8-to 16-cell embryos, the RA of OCT-4 and
      BCL-2 decreased (P < 0. 05) in the HP, whereas HSP-70.1 and BAX expression
      increased (P < 0.05). In morula and blastocyst, the RA of OCT-4, IGF-2R and MnSOD
      decreased (P < 0.05) during the HP, whereas HSP-70.1 was increased (P < 0.05). In
      conclusion, deleterious seasonal effects induced at the GV-stage carry-over to
      subsequent embryonic developmental stages and compromise oocyte developmental
      competence and quality of developed blastocysts.

PMID- 27650184
TI  - Impact of bacterial load on pharmacodynamics and susceptibility breakpoints for
      tigecycline and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In the absence of other therapeutic options, tigecycline is used to
      treat bloodstream infections and pneumonia caused by carbapenemase-producing
      Klebsiella pneumoniae (CP-Kp). In this study, the standard and high tigecycline
      dosing regimens were simulated and tested against different inocula of CP-Kp
      isolates in an in vitro pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) model. METHODS:
      Four susceptible isolates (EUCAST MICs of 0.125-1 mg/L) and two intermediately
      susceptible CP-Kp clinical isolates (MICs of 2 mg/L) were tested at three
      different inocula (107, 105 and 103 cfu/mL), simulating tigecycline serum and
      lung fCmax concentrations of 0.15 and 1.5 mg/L, respectively, of 50 mg
      tigecycline every 12 h for 48 h. The exposure-effect relationships were described
      and the probability of target attainment was calculated for each inoculum in
      order to determine PK/PD susceptibility breakpoints. RESULTS: No cfu reduction
      was observed at serum concentrations. At lung concentrations and low inocula, a
      bacteriostatic and killing effect was found for isolates with MICs of 0.25 and
      0.125 mg/L, respectively. The fAUC0-24/MIC (tAUC0-24/MIC) associated with half
      maximal activity was 16 (150) with 103 cfu/mL, 28 (239) with 105 cfu/mL and 79
      (590) with 107 cfu/mL. A PK/PD susceptibility breakpoint of <=0.06 and <=0.125
      mg/L for bacteraemia with <=101 cfu/mL and <=0.25 and <=0.5 mg/L for pneumonia
      with <=103 cfu/g was determined for the standard tigecycline dose of 50 mg and
      the higher dose of 100 mg, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Tigecycline monotherapy
      with either 50 or 100 mg would not be sufficient for most patients with
      bacteraemia, though the higher dose of 100 mg could be effective for patients
      with pneumonia with low bacterial load.

PMID- 27650185
TI  - Fosfomycin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii is mediated by efflux through a
      major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter-AbaF.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To decipher the function of A1S_1331, named AbaF (Acinetobacter
      baumannii Fosfomycin efflux), one of the primary targets of AbsR25, a small RNA
      of A. baumannii. METHODS: abaF was cloned in a multicopy plasmid and expressed
      from its native promoter in an efflux-deficient strain-Escherichia coli KAM32.
      Drug susceptibility, accumulation and efflux of ethidium bromide (EtBr) were
      determined in this strain. abaF was disrupted in A. baumannii using homologous
      recombination and its effect on drug susceptibility, biofilm formation and
      virulence was studied. Expression of abaF was followed by quantitative PCR in
      fosfomycin-challenged A. baumannii and fosfomycin-resistant mutants of A.
      baumannii. Expression of abaF in clinical strains of A. baumannii was determined
      by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Expression of abaF in E. coli KAM32 resulted in increased
      resistance to fosfomycin. Lower accumulation and higher efflux of EtBr from this
      strain confirmed the role of AbaF as an efflux pump. Disruption of abaF in A.
      baumannii caused an increase in fosfomycin susceptibility and a decrease in
      biofilm formation and virulence. The expression of abaF was higher in A.
      baumannii cells exposed to fosfomycin and in cells resistant to higher
      concentrations of fosfomycin. The clinically relevant strains of A. baumannii
      also tested positive for the expression of abaF. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this
      study suggest that efflux is an important mechanism of fosfomycin resistance and
      AbaF is involved in fosfomycin resistance in A. baumannii. AbaF also seems to
      play a role in biofilm formation and virulence of A. baumannii.

PMID- 27650186
TI  - Antimicrobial peptide exposure selects for Staphylococcus aureus resistance to
      human defence peptides.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical development of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is
      currently under evaluation to combat the rapid increase in MDR bacterial
      pathogens. However, many AMPs closely resemble components of the human innate
      immune system and the ramifications of prolonged bacterial exposure to AMPs are
      not fully understood. OBJECTIVES: We show that in vitro serial passage of a
      clinical USA300 MRSA strain in a host-mimicking environment containing host
      derived AMPs results in the selection of stable AMP resistance. METHODS: Serial
      passage experiments were conducted using steadily increasing concentrations of LL
      37, PR-39 or wheat germ histones. WGS and proteomic analysis by MS were used to
      identify the molecular mechanism associated with increased tolerance of AMPs. AMP
      resistant mutants were characterized by measuring in vitro fitness, AMP and
      antibiotic susceptibility, and virulence in a mouse model of sepsis. RESULTS: AMP
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus mutants often displayed little to no fitness cost
      and caused invasive disease in mice. Further, this phenotype coincided with
      diminished susceptibility to both clinically prescribed antibiotics and human
      defence peptides. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that therapeutic use of
      AMPs could select for virulent mutants with cross-resistance to human innate
      immunity as well as antibiotic therapy. Thus, therapeutic use of AMPs and the
      implications of cross-resistance need to be carefully monitored and evaluated.

PMID- 27650189
TI  - Introduction and application of the multiscale coefficient of variation analysis.
AB  - Quantifying how patterns of behavior relate across multiple levels of measurement
      typically requires long time series for reliable parameter estimation. We
      describe a novel analysis that estimates patterns of variability across multiple
      scales of analysis suitable for time series of short duration. The multiscale
      coefficient of variation (MSCV) measures the distance between local coefficient
      of variation estimates within particular time windows and the overall coefficient
      of variation across all time samples. We first describe the MSCV analysis and
      provide an example analytical protocol with corresponding MATLAB implementation
      and code. Next, we present a simulation study testing the new analysis using time
      series generated by ARFIMA models that span white noise, short-term and long-term
      correlations. The MSCV analysis was observed to be sensitive to specific
      parameters of ARFIMA models varying in the type of temporal structure and time
      series length. We then apply the MSCV analysis to short time series of speech
      phrases and musical themes to show commonalities in multiscale structure. The
      simulation and application studies provide evidence that the MSCV analysis can
      discriminate between time series varying in multiscale structure and length.

PMID- 27650187
TI  - Report of mecC-carrying MRSA in domestic swine.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We unexpectedly identified MRSA isolates carrying mecC (mecC-MRSA)
      from a Danish swine farm located in eastern Zealand. The objective of the present
      study was to investigate the origin of these isolates and their genetic
      relatedness to other mecC-MRSA isolates from Zealand. METHODS: WGS was used to
      infer the phylogenetic relationship between 19 identified mecC-MRSA isolates from
      the swine farm and 34 additional epidemiologically unrelated human isolates from
      the same geographical region of Denmark. Variations in the accessory genome were
      investigated by bioinformatics tools, and antibiotic susceptibility profiles were
      assessed by MIC determination. RESULTS: mecC-MRSA was isolated from a domestic
      swine farm, but not from cattle reared at the same farm. Phylogenetic analysis
      revealed that all mecC-MRSA isolates from both farm animals and workers formed a
      separate cluster, whereas human isolates from the same municipality belonged to a
      closely related cluster. Analysis of the accessory genome supported this
      relationship. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report
      of mecC-MRSA isolated from domestic swine. The investigation strongly indicates
      that transmission of mecC-MRSA has taken place on the swine farm between the
      farmers and swine. The close clustering of farm isolates and isolates from the
      same municipality suggests a local transmission of mecC-MRSA.

PMID- 27650188
TI  - Importance of initial management and surgical treatment after hydrofluoric acid
      burn of the finger.
AB  - Occupational injuries to digits due to hydrofluoric acid (HFA) are frequently
      encountered. They have distinctive features, including intense pain, progressive
      tissue necrosis, and possible bone erosion. To minimize tissue damage, it is of
      great importance to execute prudent preoperative assessment and determine the
      correct surgical modality to reconstruct and maintain the function of the hand.
      However, proper protocols for fingers have not been presented in previous
      studies. Eight cases with HFA burn to digits were presented to the emergency
      room. Wounds were immediately irrigated with saline, calcium gluconate was
      applied topically to block destructive effects of fluoride ions. Blisters that
      could lead to progressive tissue destruction were debrided. A fish-mouth
      fasciotomy was performed and prostaglandin was administered intravenously to
      maintain maximal distal circulation. Wounds were evaluated daily for apparent
      demarcation for 6 or 7 days. Digits were reconstructed with free sensate second
      toe pulp-free flap to provide sufficient padding for the fingertip. All patients
      showed excellent recovery with stable flaps with acceptable external contour,
      durable soft tissue padding, and full range of motion of affected joints. In
      conclusion, when a patient is admitted due to HFA exposure to the finger, early
      treatment including irrigation, topical neutralizers, and fasciotomy are of great
      importance to minimize tissue damage. In addition, a physician should wait at
      least 7days until the degree of damage to the tissue can be classified so that
      the physician can decide whether aggressive debridement should be proceeded. In
      case of deep layer injuries of weight bearing portions such as finger pulp,
      reconstruction techniques utilizing durable tissues such as partial second toe
      pulp free flap should be employed.

PMID- 27650190
TI  - Scientific and Regulatory Considerations in Solid Oral Modified Release Drug
      Product Development.
AB  - This review presents scientific and regulatory considerations for the development
      of solid oral modified release (MR) drug products. It includes a rationale for
      patient-focused development based on Quality-by-Design (QbD) principles. Product
      and process understanding of MR products includes identification and risk-based
      evaluation of critical material attributes (CMAs), critical process parameters
      (CPPs), and their impact on critical quality attributes (CQAs) that affect the
      clinical performance. The use of various biopharmaceutics tools that link the
      CQAs to a predictable and reproducible clinical performance for patient benefit
      is emphasized. Product and process understanding lead to a more comprehensive
      control strategy that can maintain product quality through the shelf life and the
      lifecycle of the drug product. The overall goal is to develop MR products that
      consistently meet the clinical objectives while mitigating the risks to patients
      by reducing the probability and increasing the detectability of CQA failures.

PMID- 27650191
TI  - The seed dormancy allele TaSdr-A1a associated with pre-harvest sprouting
      tolerance is mainly present in Chinese wheat landraces.
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: We cloned TaSdr - A1 gene, and developed a gene-specific marker for
      TaSdr - A1 . A QTL for germination index at the TaSdr - A1 locus was identified
      in the Yangxiaomai/Zhongyou 9507 RIL population. Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS)
      affects yield and end-use quality in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In the
      present study we found an association between the TaSdr-A1 gene and PHS tolerance
      in bread wheat. TaSdr-A1 on chromosome 2A was cloned using a homologous cloning
      approach. Sequence analysis of TaSdr-A1 revealed an SNP at position 643, with the
      G allele being present in genotypes with lower germination index (GI) values and
      A in those with higher GI. These alleles were designated as TaSdr-A1a and TaSdr
      A1b, respectively. A cleaved amplified polymorphism sequence (CAPS) marker Sdr2A
      based on the SNP was developed, and linkage mapping and QTL analysis were
      conducted to confirm the association between TaSdr-A1 and seed dormancy. Sdr2A
      was located in a 2.9 cM interval between SSR markers Xgwm95 and Xgwm372. A QTL
      for GI at the TaSdr-A1 locus explained 6.6, 7.3, and 8.2 % of the phenotypic
      variances in a Yangxiaomai/Zhongyou 9507 RIL population grown at Beijing,
      Shijiazhuang, and the averaged data from the two environments, respectively. Two
      sets of Chinese wheat cultivars used for validating the TaSdr-A1 polymorphism and
      the corresponding gene-specific marker Sdr2A showed that TaSdr-A1 was
      significantly associated with GI. Among 29 accessions with TaSdr-A1a, 24 (82.8 %)
      were landraces, indicating the importance of Chinese wheat landraces as sources
      of PHS tolerance. This study identified a novel PHS resistance allele TaSdr-A1a
      mainly presented in Chinese landraces and it is likely to be the causal gene for
      QPhs.ccsu-2A.3, providing new information for an understanding of seed dormancy.

PMID- 27650192
TI  - Rapid identification of QTLs underlying resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus in
      pepper (Capsicum frutescens).
AB  - KEY MESSAGE: Next-generation sequencing enabled a fast discovery of QTLs
      controlling CMV resistant in pepper. The gene CA02g19570 as a possible candidate
      gene of qCmr2.1 was identified for resistance to CMV in pepper. Cucumber mosaic
      virus (CMV) is one of the most important viruses infecting pepper, but the
      genetic basis of CMV resistance in pepper is elusive. In this study, we
      identified a candidate gene for CMV resistance QTL, qCmr2.1 through SLAF-seq.
      Segregation analysis in F2, BC1 and F2:3 populations derived from a cross between
      two inbred lines 'PBC688' (CMV-resistant) and 'G29' (CMV-susceptible) suggested
      quantitative inheritance of resistance to CMV in pepper. Genome-wide comparison
      of SNP profiles between the CMV-resistant and CMV-susceptible bulks constructed
      from an F2 population identified two QTLs, designated as qCmr2.1 on chromosome 2
      and qCmr11.1 on chromosome 11 for resistance to CMV in PBC688, which were
      confirmed by InDel marker-based classical QTL mapping in the F2 population. As a
      major QTL, joint SLAF-seq and traditional QTL analysis delimited qCmr2.1 to a 330
      kb genomic region. Two pepper genes, CA02g19570 and CA02g19600, were identified
      in this region, which are homologous with the genes LOC104113703, LOC104248995,
      LOC102603934 and LOC101248357, which were predicted to encode N-like protein
      associated with TMV-resistant in Solanum crops. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed
      higher expression levels of CA02g19570 in CMV resistance genotypes. The
      CA02g19600 did not exhibit obvious regularity in expression patterns. Higher
      relative expression levels of CA02g19570 in PBC688 and F1 were compared with
      those in G29 during days after inoculation. These results provide support for
      CA02g19570 as a possible candidate gene of qCmr2.1 for resistance to CMV in
      pepper.

PMID- 27650193
TI  - Microsurgical resection of vestibular schwannomas: complication avoidance.
AB  - Vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery requires appropriate patient selection,
      meticulous microsurgical technique and optimal post-operative care. Focused
      radiation is an effective alternative for the treatment of smaller VSs. For VS
      surgery to remain a reasonable option, surgery must be performed with a limited
      number of complications. Complication rates for VS surgery have increased over
      the last decade. This is likely due to (1) decreased surgical volume and as a
      result decreased microsurgical experience, (2) larger tumors undergoing surgery
      while smaller tumors are reserved for radiation, and (3) surgery for previously
      radiated tumors resulting in more difficult anatomic dissection. Appropriate
      management of complications is paramount. Herein, we discuss complications
      related to VS microsurgery and methods of avoidance. Specifically, we discuss the
      most frequently encountered complications, intraoperative monitoring and finally,
      methods of addressing these complications. With meticulous microsurgical
      technique, careful intraoperative monitoring and vigilant perioperative care one
      will ensure optimal patient outcomes.

PMID- 27650195
TI  - Response to antipsychotic drugs in treatment-resistant schizophrenia: Conclusions
      based on systematic review.

PMID- 27650194
TI  - Abnormalities in chemokine levels in schizophrenia and their clinical correlates.
AB  - Chemokines are promising biomarkers of immune activation and inflammation, but
      evidence for chemokine abnormalities in schizophrenia and their relationship to
      clinical factors remains inconclusive. We aimed to understand chemokine-related
      diagnostic differences and clinical correlates using a comprehensive panel and
      studying a large, well-characterized sample of adults with and without
      schizophrenia. We studied 134 outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective
      disorder and 112 healthy comparison (HC) individuals, 26 to 65years of age.
      Clinical measures were obtained, and plasma levels of 11 chemokines were assessed
      using multiplex immunoassay. Schizophrenia vs. HC differences were tested for
      each chemokine, adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, and current smoking
      status. We also examined whether age and gender relationships differed between
      diagnostic groups. Using logistic regression, we created a Chemokine Index (CI)
      and explored its clinical correlates. Levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein
      1 (MCP-1/CCL2), macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta (MIP-1beta/CCL4), Eotaxin-1
      (CCL11), thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC/CCL17), and macrophage
      derived chemokine (MDC/CCL22) were significantly higher in persons with
      schizophrenia than HCs. Group differences in TARC were reduced after adjusting
      for covariates. The CI, a linear combination of Eotaxin-1 and MDC levels, was
      positively associated with age, duration of schizophrenia, and severity of
      negative symptoms. Levels of chemokines with neuroimmune regulatory effects were
      higher in individuals with schizophrenia, particularly in older and chronic
      patients. Treatments aimed at normalizing chemokine levels might improve mental
      and physical health among schizophrenia patients as they age.

PMID- 27650196
TI  - The spatial self in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Schizophrenia (SZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been both described as
      disorders of the self. However, the manner in which the sense of self is impacted
      in these disorders is strikingly different. In the current review, we propose
      that SZ and ASD lay at opposite extremes of a particular component of the
      representation of self; namely, self-location and the construct of peripersonal
      space. We evaluate emerging literature suggesting that while SZ individuals
      possess an extremely weak or variable bodily boundary between self and other, ASD
      patients possess a sharper self-other boundary. Furthermore, based on recent
      behavioral and neural network modeling findings, we propose that multisensory
      training focused on either sharpening (for SZ) or making shallower (for ASD) the
      self-other boundary may hold promise as an interventional tool in the treatment
      of these disorders.

PMID- 27650198
TI  - A simplified mycobacterial growth inhibition assay (MGIA) using direct infection
      of mouse splenocytes and the MGIT system.
AB  - We describe a simplified Mycobacterial Growth Inhibition Assay (MGIA) for pre
      clinical assessment of vaccine-mediated protection in mice. The assay is
      accomplished by directly infecting splenocytes from vaccinated mice with
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis and quantifying mycobacteria using Mycobacterial
      Growth Indicator Tubes (MGIT). Vaccine-mediated immunogenicity detected by this
      assay correlated with protection.

PMID- 27650197
TI  - Pro-Apoptotic Effects of JDA-202, a Novel Natural Diterpenoid, on Esophageal
      Cancer Through Targeting Peroxiredoxin I.
AB  - AIMS: Esophageal cancer (EC) is an aggressive malignancy and the most common
      solid tumor of gastrointestinal tract all over the world, with high incidence in
      Asia. The current study was designed to investigate the anticancer efficacy and
      mechanism that is involved in the action of a natural ent-kaurene diterpenoid,
      JDA-202, targeting EC. RESULTS: We found that an antioxidant protein
      peroxiredoxin I (Prx I) was upregulated in human EC tissues as well as in EC cell
      lines. JDA-202, a novel natural compound isolated from Isodon rubescens
      (Labiatae), was proved to possess strong anti-proliferative activities on those
      cell lines. Importantly, JDA-202 does not only bind to Prx I directly and
      markedly inhibit the activity of Prx I in vitro, but it also significantly
      induces hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-related cell death. Furthermore, overexpression
      of Prx I significantly reversed EC109 cell apoptosis caused by JDA-202, whereas
      short interfering RNA (siRNA)-induced Prx I knockdown resulted in marked cell
      death even without JDA-202 pretreatment. On the other hand, the increased
      phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) proteins (c-Jun N
      terminal kinase [JNK], p38, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK]) by
      JDA-202 was suppressed by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or catalase, a known reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) or H2O2 scavenger. JDA-202 also significantly inhibited the
      growth of EC109 tumor xenograft, without significant body weight loss and multi
      organ toxicities. Innovation and Conclusion: Our findings, for the first time,
      demonstrated that JDA-202 may serve as a lead compound, targeting the
      overexpressed Prx I in EC cell lines and ROS accumulation as well as inhibiting
      the activation of their downstream targets in MAPKs. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27,
      73-92.

PMID- 27650201
TI  - End-of-Life Care for Hispanic Children: A Study of California Medicaid
      Beneficiaries.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: More than 8,000 Hispanic children die annually in the United
      States; yet little is known about the end-of-life care utilized. The purpose of
      this study was to examine the children and family characteristics associated with
      end-of-life care for Hispanic children. METHOD: A sample of 370 Hispanic children
      was created, using the 2009-2010 California Medicaid data. The relationship
      between child and family characteristics and end-of-life care utilization (i.e.,
      hospice enrollment, emergency room utilization, hospital admissions) was analyzed
      using multivariate regression. RESULTS: Pediatric hospice accessibility (p <
      .05), palliative care policy (p < .01), congenital anomalies (p < .01), and
      cardiovascular conditions (p < .01) were related to hospice enrollment. Usual
      source of care (p < .001), functional status (p < .001), palliative care policy
      (p < .01), and private insurance (p < .01) were associated with emergency room
      utilization, while usual source of care (p < .001), cancer (p < .001), and
      disability status (p < .01) corresponded with hospital admissions. CONCLUSION:
      Nursing practices aimed at engaging Hispanic families in their community are
      critical to end-of-life care utilization for Hispanic children.

PMID- 27650199
TI  - Influence of previous abdominal surgery on surgical outcomes between laparoscopic
      and open surgery in elderly patients with colorectal cancer: subanalysis of a
      large multicenter study in Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to examine the technical and
      oncological feasibility of laparoscopic surgery (LAP) in elderly patients with a
      history of abdominal surgery. METHODS: We conducted a propensity score-matched
      case-control study of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients aged >=80 years that were
      treated at 41 hospitals between 2003 and 2007. We included 601 patients who had a
      history of abdominal surgery and underwent curative and elective surgery for
      stage 0 to III CRC. After the matching procedure, 153 patients were included in
      each cohort. The surgical outcomes of LAP and open surgery (OS) were compared. P
      values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: LAP resulted
      in a significantly longer surgical time (220 vs. 170 min, p < 0.001), but
      significantly less intraoperative blood loss (39 vs. 100 ml, p < 0.001). A number
      of postoperative recovery-related parameters, including the length of the
      hospitalization period (12 vs. 14 days, p = 0.002), and the days to the
      resumption of fluid (2 vs. 3 days, p < 0.001) and solid food intake (4 vs. 5
      days, p < 0.001), were significantly better in the LAP group. Moreover, the
      overall morbidity rate (43 vs. 66 %, p = 0.009) and the frequency of
      postoperative ileus (7 vs. 19 %, p = 0.023) were significantly lower in the LAP
      group, while the frequencies of other morbidities did not differ significantly
      between the groups. In the survival analyses, overall survival and disease-free
      survival did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this population,
      LAP can be performed safely in elderly CRC patients with a history of abdominal
      surgery, and LAP resulted in a lower postoperative morbidity rate than OS.

PMID- 27650202
TI  - Ultra-low thermal conductivities in large-area Si-Ge nanomeshes for
      thermoelectric applications.
AB  - In this work, we measure the thermal and thermoelectric properties of large-area
      Si0.8Ge0.2 nano-meshed films fabricated by DC sputtering of Si0.8Ge0.2 on highly
      ordered porous alumina matrices. The Si0.8Ge0.2 film replicated the porous
      alumina structure resulting in nano-meshed films. Very good control of the
      nanomesh geometrical features (pore diameter, pitch, neck) was achieved through
      the alumina template, with pore diameters ranging from 294 +/- 5nm down to 31 +/-
      4 nm. The method we developed is able to provide large areas of nano-meshes in a
      simple and reproducible way, being easily scalable for industrial applications.
      Most importantly, the thermal conductivity of the films was reduced as the
      diameter of the porous became smaller to values that varied from kappa = 1.54 +/-
      0.27 W K(-1)m(-1), down to the ultra-low kappa = 0.55 +/- 0.10 W K(-1)m(-1)
      value. The latter is well below the amorphous limit, while the Seebeck
      coefficient and electrical conductivity of the material were retained. These
      properties, together with our large area fabrication approach, can provide an
      important route towards achieving high conversion efficiency, large area, and
      high scalable thermoelectric materials.

PMID- 27650200
TI  - Serum metabolomics analysis for early detection of colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common causes of
      cancer mortality, early-stage detection improves survival rates dramatically.
      Because cancer impacts important metabolic pathways, the alteration of metabolite
      levels as a potential biomarker of early-stage cancer has been the focus of many
      studies. Here, we used CE-TOFMS, a novel and promising method with small
      injection volume and high resolution, to separate and detect ionic compounds
      based on the different migration rates of charged metabolites in order to detect
      metabolic biomarkers in patients with CRC. METHODS: A total of 56 patients with
      CRC (n = 14 each of Stages I-IV), 60 healthy controls, and 59 patients with
      colonic adenoma were included in this study. Metabolome analysis was conducted by
      CE-TOFMS on serum samples of patients and controls using the Advanced Scan
      package (Human Metabolome Technologies). RESULTS: We obtained 334 metabolites in
      the serum, of which 139 were identified as known substances. Among these 139
      known metabolites, 16 were correlated with CRC stage by upregulation and 44 by
      downregulation, with benzoic acid (r = -0.649, t = 11.653, p = 6.07599E-24),
      octanoic acid (r = 0.557, t = 9.183, p = 7.9557E-17), decanoic acid (r = 0.539, t
      = 8.749, p = 1.24352E-15), and histidine (r = -0.513, t = 8.194, p = 3.90224E-14)
      exhibiting significant correlation. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge,
      this is the first report to determine the correlation between serum metabolites
      and CRC stage using CE-TOFMS. Our results show that benzoic acid exhibited
      excellent diagnostic power and could potentially serve as a novel disease
      biomarker for CRC diagnosis.

PMID- 27650203
TI  - Enhancing shared decision-making in contraceptive consultations.

PMID- 27650205
TI  - Directors of public health are pivotal in tackling health inequalities.

PMID- 27650204
TI  - Influence of socioeconomic position and gender on current cigarette smoking among
      people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: disentangling context from
      composition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smoking is still gaining ground in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially
      among socially disadvantaged groups. People living with HIV represent a subgroup
      with a significantly elevated prevalence of cigarette smoking. The objective of
      the study was to examine the influence of individual-, neighbourhood- and country
      level socioeconomic position on current cigarette smoking among people living
      with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: We applied multivariable multilevel
      logistic regression analysis on Demographic and Health Survey data collected
      between 2003 and 2012 in sub-Saharan Africa. We identified 31,270 individual
      living with HIV (Level 1) nested within 7,054 neighbourhoods (Level 2) from 19
      countries (Level 3). RESULTS: After adjustment for individual-, neighbourhood-
      and country-level factors, respondents, the following significant independent
      risk factors for increasing odds of being a current cigarette smokers among
      people living with HIV: male gender (odds ratio [OR] = 62.49; 95 % credible
      interval [CrI] 45.93 to 78.28), from the poorer households (OR = 1.62, 95 % CrI
      1.38 to 1.90); living in urban areas (OR = 1.24, 95 % CrI 1.09 to 1.41), from
      neighbourhoods with low poverty rate (OR = 1.25, 95 % CrI 1.09 to 1.43),
      illiteracy rate (OR = 1.28, 95 % CrI 1.14 to 1.42), low unemployment rate (OR =
      1.11, 95 % crI 1.01 to 1.43); and from countries with low socio-economic
      deprivation (OR = 1.53, 95 CrI 1.08 to 1.96). About 3.4 % and 39.4 % variation in
      cigarette smoking behaviour among people living with HIV is conditioned by
      differences between neighbourhoods and countries. CONCLUSIONS: Gender, education
      and socioeconomic context are independently associated with current cigarette
      smoking among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

PMID- 27650206
TI  - Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactivity and its relations with gonadotropin
      releasing hormone and neuropeptide Y in the preoptic area of the guinea pig.
AB  - The present study examines the distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)
      immunoreactivity and its morphological relationships with neuropeptide Y (NPY)-
      and gonadoliberin (GnRH)-immunoreactive (IR) structures in the preoptic area
      (POA) of the male guinea pig. Tyrosine hydroxylase was expressed in relatively
      small population of perikarya and they were mostly observed in the
      periventricular preoptic nucleus and medial preoptic area. The tyrosine
      hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-IR) fibers were dispersed troughout the whole POA.
      The highest density of these fibers was observed in the median preoptic nucleus,
      however, in the periventricular preoptic nucleus and medial preoptic area they
      were only slightly less numerous. In the lateral preoptic area, the density of TH
      IR fibers was moderate. Two morphological types of TH-IR fibers were
      distinguished: smooth and varicose. Double immunofluorescence staining showed
      that TH and GnRH overlapped in the guinea pig POA but they never coexisted in the
      same structures. TH-IR fibers often intersected with GnRH-IR structures and many
      of them touched the GnRH-IR perikarya or dendrites. NPY wchich was abundantly
      present in the POA only in fibers showed topographical proximity with TH-IR
      structures. Althoug TH-IR perikarya and fibers were often touched by NPY-IR
      fibers, colocalization of TH and NPY in the same structures was very rare. There
      was only a small population of fibers which contained both NPY and TH. In
      conclusion, the morphological evidence of contacts between TH- and GnRH-IR nerve
      structures may be the basis of catecholaminergic control of GnRH release in the
      preoptic area of the male guinea pig. Moreover, TH-IR neurons were conatcted by
      NPY-IR fibers and TH and NPY colocalized in some fibers, thus NPY may regulate
      catecholaminergic neurons in the POA.

PMID- 27650207
TI  - Adverse effects in lumbar spinal cord morphology and tissue biochemistry in
      Sprague Dawley male rats following exposure to a continuous 1-h a day 900-MHz
      electromagnetic field throughout adolescence.
AB  - Cell phones, an indispensable element of daily life, are today used at almost
      addictive levels by adolescents. Adolescents are therefore becoming increasingly
      exposed to the effect of the electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted by cell phones.
      The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of exposure to a 900-MHz
      EMF throughout adolescence on the lumbar spinal cord using histopathological,
      immunohistochemical and biochemical techniques. Twenty-four Sprague Dawley (28.3
      43.9g) aged 21days were included in the study. These were divided equally into
      three groups - control (CG), sham (SG) and electromagnetic (ELMAG). No procedure
      was performed on the CG rats until the end of the study. SG and ELMAG rats were
      kept inside an EMF cage (EMFC) for 1h a day every day at the same time between
      postnatal days 22 and 60. During this time, ELMAG rats were exposed to the effect
      of a 900-MHz EMF, while the SG rats were kept in the EMFC without being exposed
      to EMF. At the end of the study, the lumbar regions of the spinal cords of all
      rats in all groups were extracted. Half of each extracted tissue was stored at 
      80 degrees C for biochemical analysis, while the other half was used for
      histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. In terms of histopathology, a
      lumbar spinal cord with normal morphology was observed in the other groups, while
      morphological irregularity in gray matter, increased vacuolization and
      infiltration of white matter into gray matter were pronounced in the ELMAG rats.
      The cytoplasm of some neurons in the gray matter was shrunken and stained dark,
      and vacuoles were observed in the cytoplasms. The apoptotic index of glia cells
      and neurons were significantly higher in ELMAG compared to the other groups.
      Biochemical analysis revealed a significantly increased MDA value in ELMAG
      compared to CG, while SOD and GSH levels decreased significantly. In conclusion,
      our study results suggest that continuous exposure to a 900-MHz EMF for 1h a day
      through all stages of adolescence can result in impairments at both morphological
      and biochemical levels in the lumbar region spinal cords of Sprague Dawley rats.

PMID- 27650208
TI  - Management of Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia With Eltrombopag in a Patient With
      Recent Acute Coronary Syndrome.

PMID- 27650209
TI  - A patient with suppurative nodules on the nasal dorsum.

PMID- 27650210
TI  - [Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration associated with anti-Ma2 antibodies].

PMID- 27650211
TI  - Scalp necrosis.

PMID- 27650212
TI  - Enhancing SARC-F: Improving Sarcopenia Screening in the Clinical Practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To validate the (Brazilian) Portuguese-translated version of the SARC
      F questionnaire and to verify its performance in the separate sarcopenia
      screening and muscle function evaluation contexts. In addition, by associating
      SARC-F to an anthropometric measurement (as an estimate of muscle mass), to test
      for improvements in its sarcopenia screening efficacy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      study. SETTING: Urban population of Pelotas, a middle-sized city in Southern
      Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: Subsample of 179 community-dwelling elderly aged 60 years
      or older derived from a population-based study (COMO VAI?). MEASUREMENTS:
      Sarcopenia was evaluated using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older
      People's diagnostic criteria: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, handgrip
      strength, and walking speed test. Participants also completed SARC-F and their
      calf circumference (CC) was measured. SARC-F and CC were combined into an
      original score. The questionnaires' performances were evaluated through receiver
      operating characteristic curves, sensitivity/specificity analyses, and Pearson
      chi2. RESULTS: Sarcopenia was identified in 15 (8.4%) participants by the
      European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People's criteria. Areas under the
      receiver operating characteristic curves of SARC-F were 0.592 (95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.445, 0.739) screening for sarcopenia and 0.779 (95% CI 0.710,
      0.846) evaluating muscle function (P < .001). The SARC-F+CC association
      significantly improved SARC-F's sarcopenia screening performance [area under the
      curve: 0.736 (95% CI 0.575, 0.897); comparing with SARC-F alone: P = .027]. A
      substantial improvement in sensitivity was achieved without compromising the
      remaining parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the satisfactory performance
      evaluating muscle function, SARC-F alone has not achieved adequate results as a
      sarcopenia screening tool. However, the SARC-F+CC association significantly
      improved SARC-F's sarcopenia screening performance, enabling its use in the
      clinical practice.

PMID- 27650213
TI  - Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors Transduce Mature Human Adipocytes in Three
      Dimensional Slice Cultures.
AB  - Adipose tissue plays a pivotal role, both in the regulation of energy homeostasis
      and as an endocrine organ. Consequently, adipose tissue dysfunction is closely
      related to insulin resistance, morbid obesity, and metabolic syndrome. To study
      molecular mechanisms and to develop novel therapeutic strategies, techniques are
      required to genetically modify mature adipocytes. Here, we report on adeno
      associated viral (AAV) vectors as a versatile tool to transduce human mature
      adipocytes in organotypic three-dimensional tissue cultures.

PMID- 27650214
TI  - Causes of hospitalization and prognosis in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
      Secular trends in the years 2006-2014 according to the SILesian CARDiovascular
      (SILCARD) database.
AB  - INTRODUCTION Despite the progress in cardiology in recent years, cardiovascular
      (CV) diseases remain the main cause of death in European countries. The knowledge
      concerning the structure of hospital admissions for CV diseases and clinical
      outcomes is fragmentary. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to analyze the
      characteristics and outcome of patients with CV disease, hospitalized between
      2006 and 2014 and included in the Silesian Cardiovascular Database (SILCARD)
      covering a population of 4.6 million patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS SILCARD is
      based on the data from the Regional Department of the National Health Fund in
      Poland. The enrollment criteria were any hospitalization at a department of
      cardiology, cardiac surgery, diabetology or vascular surgery and hospitalization
      with a cardiovascular diagnosis at a department of internal medicine or intensive
      care. The data come from 310 hospital departments and 1863 outpatient clinics,
      and contain information on 487 518 patients and 956 634 hospitalizations. RESULTS
      Heart failure (20%) and stable coronary artery disease (18.5%) were the most
      frequent primary causes of hospitalization. The number of hospitalizations due to
      heart failure, aortic stenosis, and pulmonary embolism significantly increased.
      The highest 12-month mortality was reported in patients with heart failure and
      pulmonary embolism (>30%). A decrease in 12-month mortality in patients with
      heart failure, stable coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and atrial
      fibrillation was noted, although for some disease entities, it remained
      relatively high. CONCLUSIONS Between the years 2006 and 2014, in-hospital and 12
      month mortality showed a trend for decline in many disease entities, with
      considerable space for prognostic improvement.

PMID- 27650215
TI  - Effect of the preparation method on activity of Cu-ZSM-5 nanocatalyst for the
      selective reduction of NO by NH3.
AB  - The selective catalytic reduction of NO with ammonia (NH3-SCR) was studied over
      Cu-ZSM-5 nanocatalysts which were prepared by several methods, including
      conventional ion-exchange (IE), conventional impregnation (IM), ultrasound
      enhanced impregnation (UIM), and conventional deposition-precipitation (DP) using
      NaOH and homogeneous deposition-precipitation (HDP) using urea. The nanocatalysts
      were subsequently characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,
      temperature-programmed reduction with hydrogen (H2-TPR), ammonia temperature
      programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray
      diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller. The
      catalytic activity of the Cu-ZSM-5 nanocatalysts for NO removal decreased in the
      following order: Cu-ZSM-5 (HDP) > Cu-ZSM-5 (UIM) > Cu-ZSM-5 (IM) > Cu-ZSM-5 (IE)
      > Cu-ZSM-5 (DP). The effect of various preparation methods for Cu-ZSM-5 on the
      activity of NO conversion was compared and catalytic experiments revealed a
      strong correlation between the acid sites' strength and easily reducible isolated
      Cu2+ with NO conversion. Catalyst (HDP) (which showed excellent deNO activity)
      mainly contains easy reducibility of isolated Cu2+ ions, more strong acid sites,
      and higher specific surface area when compared with other catalysts.

PMID- 27650218
TI  - Setting standards in knowledge assessments: Comparing Ebel and Cohen via Rasch.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is known that test-centered methods for setting standards in
      knowledge tests (e.g. Angoff or Ebel) are problematic, with expert judges not
      able to consistently predict the difficulty of individual items. A different
      approach is the Cohen method, which benchmarks the difficulty of the test based
      on the performance of the top candidates. METHODS: This paper investigates the
      extent to which Ebel (and also Cohen) produces a consistent standard in a
      knowledge test when comparing between adjacent cohorts. The two tests are linked
      using common anchor items and Rasch analysis to put all items and all candidates
      on the same scale. RESULTS: The two tests are of a similar standard, but the two
      cohorts are different in their average abilities. The Ebel method is entirely
      consistent across the two years, but the Cohen method looks less so, whilst the
      Rasch equating itself has complications - for example, with evidence of overall
      misfit to the Rasch model and change in difficulty for some anchor items.
      CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, we advocate a pluralistic and pragmatic
      approach to standard setting in such contexts, and recommend the use of multiple
      sources of information to inform the decision about the correct standard.

PMID- 27650216
TI  - Comparing test-retest reliability and magnitude of conditioned pain modulation
      using different combinations of test and conditioning stimuli.
AB  - This study aimed to compare the reliability and magnitude of conditioned pain
      modulation (CPM) by applying different test stimuli (TS) and conditioning stimuli
      (CS). Twenty-six healthy male participants were recruited in the study of two
      identical sessions. In each session, four TS (electrical, heat, handheld, and
      cuff pressure algometry) were applied before and during CS (cold pressor test
      (CPT) or cuff algometry). The same procedure was repeated with 45-min intervals,
      but with the other CS. Five thresholds were measured including four pain
      detection thresholds from four TS and pain tolerance threshold from cuff TS (cuff
      PTT). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC (3,1)) and coefficient of variation
      (CV) were calculated as measures of reliability. The reliability of TS before and
      during CS was good for all combinations (ICC: 0.60-0.96, CV: 2.2-22.9%), but the
      reliability of the CPM effect varied (ICC: 0.04-0.53, CV: 63.6-503.9%). The most
      reliable combinations were considered to be the handheld pressure pain threshold
      with CPT (ICC: 0.49, CV: 63.6%) and the cuff pressure pain threshold with CPT
      (ICC: 0.44, CV: 107.6%). Significant CPM effects were found for all combinations,
      except the combinations of electrical and heat pain thresholds with cuff CS,
      which indicates the novel classification of the CPM mechanism. The combinations
      of handheld pressure and heat pain threshold with CPT would provide the minimum
      sample size to detect the significant CPM changes in further studies. It is
      beneficial to provide and compare both ICC and CV to design further clinical
      trials.

PMID- 27650217
TI  - Simulation of gaseous pollutant dispersion around an isolated building using the
      k-omega SST (shear stress transport) turbulence model.
AB  - : The dispersion of gaseous pollutant around buildings is complex due to complex
      turbulence features such as flow detachment and zones of high shear.
      Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are one of the most promising tools to
      describe the pollutant distribution in the near field of buildings. Reynolds
      averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models are the most commonly used CFD techniques to
      address turbulence transport of the pollutant. This research work studies the use
      of [Formula: see text] closure model for the gas dispersion around a building by
      fully resolving the viscous sublayer for the first time. The performance of
      standard [Formula: see text] model is also included for comparison, along with
      results of an extensively validated Gaussian dispersion model, the U.S.
      Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AERMOD (American Meteorological
      Society/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model). This study's CFD
      models apply the standard [Formula: see text] and the [Formula: see text]
      turbulence models to obtain wind flow field. A passive concentration transport
      equation is then calculated based on the resolved flow field to simulate the
      distribution of pollutant concentrations. The resultant simulation of both wind
      flow and concentration fields are validated rigorously by extensive data using
      multiple validation metrics. The wind flow field can be acceptably modeled by the
      [Formula: see text] model. However, the [Formula: see text] model fails to
      simulate the gas dispersion. The [Formula: see text] model outperforms [Formula:
      see text] in both flow and dispersion simulations, with higher hit rates for
      dimensionless velocity components and higher "factor of 2" of observations (FAC2)
      for normalized concentration. All these validation metrics of [Formula: see text]
      model pass the quality assurance criteria recommended by The Association of
      German Engineers (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, VDI) guideline. Furthermore, these
      metrics are better than or the same as those in the literature. Comparison
      between the performances of [Formula: see text] and AERMOD shows that the CFD
      simulation is superior to Gaussian-type model for pollutant dispersion in the
      near wake of obstacles. AERMOD can perform as a screening tool for near-field gas
      dispersion due to its expeditious calculation and the ability to handle
      complicated cases. The utilization of [Formula: see text] to simulate gaseous
      pollutant dispersion around an isolated building is appropriate and is expected
      to be suitable for complex urban environment. IMPLICATIONS: Multiple validation
      metrics of [Formula: see text] turbulence model in CFD quantitatively indicated
      that this turbulence model was appropriate for the simulation of gas dispersion
      around buildings. CFD is, therefore, an attractive alternative to wind tunnel for
      modeling gas dispersion in urban environment due to its excellent performance,
      and lower cost.

PMID- 27650219
TI  - Tough Conversations: Development of a Curriculum for Medical Students to Lead
      Family Meetings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few educational interventions have been developed to teach Family
      Meeting (FM) communication skills at the undergraduate level. We developed an
      innovative curriculum to address this gap. METHODS: Fourth year medical students
      during 2011-2013 (n = 674) completed training for conducting a FM. To assess the
      effectiveness of this training, students completed a FM Objective Structured
      Clinical Exam (OSCE) that included 15 domains rated on a 1-5 point Likert scale.
      Tasks included discussing prognosis, establishing goals of care and demonstrating
      conflict resolution skills. Students received one-to-one feedback from
      standardized family members and faculty observers. Group debriefings with faculty
      were held after the OSCE. RESULTS: Analysis of faculty feedback narratives
      revealed four themes in which students required improvement: 1) Discussing
      prognosis, 2) Explaining palliative care/hospice, 3) Avoiding medical jargon, and
      4) Discussing cultural/religious preferences. Evaluation total mean score was
      28.2 (Min 15, Max 63; SD 7.57), and identified student's need to; 1) Ask more
      about the degree of knowledge family members want, 2) Ask religious beliefs, and
      3) Assess family members' level of education ( p < 0.001). Qualitative analysis
      of group debriefings suggested that student perception of the OSCE experience was
      positive overall. Students found the case to be realistic and immediate feedback
      to be helpful. CONCLUSIONS: Conducting a FM is an advanced skill. This study
      shows that it is possible to train fourth year students to lead FMs and identify
      their strengths, needs using a FM OSCE.

PMID- 27650220
TI  - Right ventricular dysfunction in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction:
      a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - AIMS: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension (PH) are
      increasingly recognized in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
      (HFpEF). The prevalence and prognostic value of RV dysfunction in HFpEF have been
      widely but variably reported. We therefore conducted a systematic review and meta
      analysis according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta
      Analyses. METHODS AND RESULTS: English literature until May 2016 was evaluated
      for prevalence of RV dysfunction [i.e. tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion
      (TAPSE) <16 mm, fractional area change (FAC) <35%, or tricuspid annular systolic
      velocity (RV S') <9.5 cm/s)] and PH [i.e. mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP)
      >=25 mmHg or pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) >=35 mmHg]. Combined
      hazard ratios (HRs) for outcomes were calculated. A total of 38 studies was
      included. In studies with stringent HFpEF criteria, prevalence of RV dysfunction
      was 28% for TAPSE, 18% for FAC, and 21% for RV S'. Prevalence of PH was 68% for
      both increased MPAP and PASP. TAPSE (HR 1.26/5 mm decrease; P < 0.0001), FAC (HR
      1.15/5% decrease; P < 0.0001), MPAP (HR 1.26/5 mmHg increase; P < 0.0001), and
      PASP (1.16/5 mmHg increase; P < 0.0001) were all univariably associated with
      mortality. HRs for RV S' were not reported. CONCLUSION: RV dysfunction and PH are
      highly prevalent and are both associated with poor outcome in patients with
      HFpEF.

PMID- 27650222
TI  - RNA-DNA Chimeras in the Context of an RNA World Transition to an RNA/DNA World.
AB  - The RNA world hypothesis posits that DNA and proteins were later inventions of
      early life, or the chemistry that gave rise to life. Most scenarios put forth for
      the emergence of DNA assume a clean separation of RNA and DNA polymer, and a
      smooth transition between RNA and DNA. However, based on the reality of "clutter"
      and lack of sophisticated separation/discrimination mechanisms in a
      protobiological (and/or prebiological) world, heterogeneous RNA-DNA backbone
      containing chimeric sequences could have been common-and have not been fully
      considered in models transitioning from an RNA world to an RNA-DNA world. Herein
      we show that there is a significant decrease in Watson-Crick duplex stability of
      the heterogeneous backbone chimeric duplexes that would impede base-pair mediated
      interactions (and functions). These results point to the difficulties for the
      transition from one homogeneous system (RNA) to another (RNA/DNA) in an RNA world
      with a heterogeneous mixture of ribo- and deoxyribonucleotides and sequences,
      while suggesting an alternative scenario of prebiological accumulation and co
      evolution of homogeneous systems (RNA and DNA).

PMID- 27650221
TI  - Metal Triflates for the Production of Aromatics from Lignin.
AB  - The depolymerization of lignin into valuable aromatic chemicals is one of the key
      goals towards establishing economically viable biorefineries. In this
      contribution we present a simple approach for converting lignin to aromatic
      monomers in high yields under mild reaction conditions. The methodology relies on
      the use of catalytic amounts of easy-to-handle metal triflates (M(OTf)x ).
      Initially, we evaluated the reactivity of a broad range of metal triflates using
      simple lignin model compounds. More advanced lignin model compounds were also
      used to study the reactivity of different lignin linkages. The product aromatic
      monomers were either phenolic C2-acetals obtained by stabilization of the
      aldehyde cleavage products by reaction with ethylene glycol or methyl aromatics
      obtained by catalytic decarbonylation. Notably, when the method was ultimately
      tested on lignin, especially Fe(OTf)3 proved very effective and the phenolic C2
      acetal products were obtained in an excellent, 19.3+/-3.2 wt % yield.

PMID- 27650224
TI  - Usefulness of bubble study in echocardiographic diagnosis of contained rupture of
      hydatid cyst in the right ventricular outflow tract.
AB  - We describe an adult female presenting with dyspnea in whom both transthoracic
      and transesophageal echocardiography detected a mobile sac-like structure in the
      right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) containing a heterogenous echogenic mass.
      This sac-like structure markedly changed its shape and size during the cardiac
      cycle. These findings and the fact that the patient lived in a rural area raised
      the possibility that this was a hydatid cyst. A bubble study using normal saline
      was useful in detecting a contained rupture of the cyst. Bubble echoes were noted
      within the sac-like structure but did not penetrate the inner wall of the cyst
      which contained echogenic material, indicating that the rupture was confined only
      to the outer layers. At surgery, a 0.5 cm communication was noted between the
      cyst and the RVOT and pathology confirmed the diagnosis of hydatid cyst. 

PMID- 27650223
TI  - systemPipeR: NGS workflow and report generation environment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized how research is
      carried out in many areas of biology and medicine. However, the analysis of NGS
      data remains a major obstacle to the efficient utilization of the technology, as
      it requires complex multi-step processing of big data demanding considerable
      computational expertise from users. While substantial effort has been invested on
      the development of software dedicated to the individual analysis steps of NGS
      experiments, insufficient resources are currently available for integrating the
      individual software components within the widely used R/Bioconductor environment
      into automated workflows capable of running the analysis of most types of NGS
      applications from start-to-finish in a time-efficient and reproducible manner.
      RESULTS: To address this need, we have developed the R/Bioconductor package
      systemPipeR. It is an extensible environment for both building and running end-to
      end analysis workflows with automated report generation for a wide range of NGS
      applications. Its unique features include a uniform workflow interface across
      different NGS applications, automated report generation, and support for running
      both R and command-line software on local computers and computer clusters. A
      flexible sample annotation infrastructure efficiently handles complex sample sets
      and experimental designs. To simplify the analysis of widely used NGS
      applications, the package provides pre-configured workflows and reporting
      templates for RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, VAR-Seq and Ribo-Seq. Additional workflow
      templates will be provided in the future. CONCLUSIONS: systemPipeR accelerates
      the extraction of reproducible analysis results from NGS experiments. By
      combining the capabilities of many R/Bioconductor and command-line tools, it
      makes efficient use of existing software resources without limiting the user to a
      set of predefined methods or environments. systemPipeR is freely available for
      all common operating systems from Bioconductor (
      http://bioconductor.org/packages/devel/systemPipeR ).

PMID- 27650225
TI  - Lubiprostone Accelerates Intestinal Transit and Alleviates Small Intestinal
      Bacterial Overgrowth in Patients With Chronic Constipation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lubiprostone is an effective treatment for chronic constipation (CC).
      The mechanism of action of lubiprostone is through increasing fluid secretion and
      lubrication of the intestinal lumen. The effects of lubiprostone on
      gastrointestinal transit and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) have
      not been adequately explored. The current study was designed to investigate
      whether lubiprostone (1) alters gastrointestinal transit and (2) affects SIBO in
      patients with constipation. METHODS: A total of 29 female patients (mean age = 39
      years; range: 19-64) with CC received 2 weeks of lubiprostone (24mcg b.i.d.,
      P.O.). Stool consistency based on Bristol stool scale and the frequency of bowel
      movements (BMs) were recorded. Gastric emptying time, small bowel transit time,
      colon transit time (CTT), combined small and large bowel transit time (SLBTT) and
      whole gut transit time were measured using wireless motility capsule. The SIBO
      status was assessed by the lactulose breath test. Data were analyzed using
      Wilcoxon rank, Mann-Whitney U, Spearman's rank correlation and Chi-square tests.
      RESULTS: Lubiprostone significantly softened the stool and increased the
      frequency of BM from median of 2 to 4times per week. The CTT and SLBTT were
      significantly shorter in responders to lubiprostone (i.e., those with >= 2 times
      increase in the number of their weekly BM) compared with nonresponders. The
      higher frequency of BM after treatment was significantly correlated with the
      acceleration of CTT, SLBTT and whole gut transit time. In all, 17 out of 25 (68%)
      patients, who were tested for SIBO at baseline, were positive. In addition, 7 out
      of 17 (41%) SIBO-positive patients became SIBO-negative after lubiprostone
      treatment (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In CC, lubiprostone improves the frequency of
      BMs, softens the stool, accelerates intestinal transit and decreases accompanying
      SIBO. The improvement of SIBO could be explained by the cleansing effect of
      increased intestinal fluid and mucus combined with enhanced intestinal motility
      with lubiprostone.

PMID- 27650226
TI  - CD4 Count Recovery After Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy in Patients
      Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prognosis for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) correlates with levels of CD4+ T cells. Initiation of antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) interrupts multiple points in the virus life cycle, causing an
      increase in CD4 cells. The rate at which the CD4 count recovers is highly
      variable and subject to influence by many factors. METHODS: We performed a
      deidentified data review to determine factors influencing the rate of CD4 count
      recovery after ART initiation. The associations between the changes in CD4 count
      from baseline at 5 time points, and factors including age, race, weight, baseline
      CD4 count, baseline viral load, specific ART medications and various
      comorbidities, were evaluated with univariate and multivariate analyses, using t
      test, analysis of variance and multiple regressions. RESULTS: CD4 count continued
      to rise even up to 10 years after ART initiation, with the steepest increase in
      the first 3 months. High baseline viral load and low baseline CD4 count had the
      most consistent positive influence on CD4 count recovery rate across the 5
      measured time points. Other factors that were significantly positively associated
      with CD4 recovery rate included younger baseline age, higher baseline weight and
      female gender. CONCLUSIONS: CD4 counts in HIV positive patients who consistently
      take ART continue to increase out to at least 10 years. Patients with a more
      advanced HIV infection at baseline, as indicated by high viral loads or low CD4
      counts, have a greater rate of CD4 count recovery after starting ART, possibly
      because their CD4 counts have more room for improvement.

PMID- 27650227
TI  - Simultaneous Transcatheter Closure of Multiple Atrial Septal Defects Using Dual
      Amplatzer Septal Occluder Devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcatheter closure has been a recognised treatment strategy for
      multiple atrial septal defects (mASDs). This study aimed to examine the
      feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of transcatheter closure of mASDs using
      dual Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) devices. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed 34 patients who underwent transcatheter closure of mASDs using dual ASO
      devices from April 2005 to December 2014. RESULTS: Eight men and 26 women who
      successfully underwent transcatheter closure of mASDs were included. Ten (29.4%)
      patients had 3 defects or more. The mean diameters of the larger and smaller
      defects were 14.0+/-3.9 mm (8-20 mm) and 9.1+/-2.6 mm (4-15 mm), respectively.
      The mean diameters of the larger and smaller devices were 22.2+/-4.8 mm (13-30
      mm) and 17.3+/-4.1 mm (10-26 mm), respectively. Devices were deployed by the
      "sandwiches" technique or an interleaved pattern. Immediately after the
      procedure, 23 (67.6%) patients had complete closure and 11 patients had a
      residual shunt (6 trivial, 3 small, 1 moderate, 1 large). During the 6 months of
      follow-up, 30 (88.2%) patients had complete closure of the shunt and 4 patients
      had a residual shunt (1 large, 3 small). Complications included 2 cases of
      pericardial effusion, which disappeared at 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous
      device implantation in transcatheter closure of mASDs is feasible and effective.
      The incidence rate of residual shunts is slightly high in the short term, but
      tends to decrease during mid-term follow-up.

PMID- 27650228
TI  - Vitamin D Supplementation: Not So Simple in Sarcoidosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Americans are increasingly receiving vitamin D supplementation,
      often based on low-measured 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH-vit D). In sarcoidosis,
      there is often increased metabolism of 25-OH-vit D to 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D
      (1,25-OH-vit D), so 25-OH-vit D may remain low, despite high levels of 1,25-OH
      vit D. In such cases, vitamin D supplementation may lead to hypercalcemia.
      METHODS: We randomly selected 196 patients with sarcoidosis who received at least
      1 prescription of vitamin D between 2005 and 2011 and 196 control patients.
      Primary outcome was the incidence of hypercalcemia during the 2 years following
      the vitamin D prescription. A secondary outcome was the proportion of patients
      who had received vitamin D prescriptions and who had adequate blood work
      performed before the prescription. RESULTS: The 25-OH-vit D and 1,25-OH-vit D
      levels were measured in only 70% and 23%, respectively, of those receiving
      supplementation. Hypercalcemia was noted more frequently in the group that
      received vitamin D (42.3%) as compared with the nonsupplemented group (18.3%), P
      < 0.0001. Patients who received a vitamin D prescription developed moderate and
      severe hypercalcemia more frequently (12.8%) as compared to the group that did
      not receive vitamin D (3.6%), P = 0.001. In multivariate analysis, having a
      prescription for vitamin D increased the risk of developing hypercalcemia to
      approximately 2-fold. The risk of developing hypercalcemia (odds ratio = 4.1) was
      increased with renal failure. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that a
      substantial proportion of patients with sarcoidosis who receive vitamin D are not
      getting appropriate pretesting. This increases their risk for developing
      hypercalcemia.

PMID- 27650229
TI  - Human T-lymphotropic Virus Co-infections in Adults Infected With Human
      Immunodeficiency Virus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 or 2 (HTLV-1/2) co-infection in
      patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can lead to
      increased morbidity. Because HTLV-1/2 shares a similar transmission route with
      HIV, HTLV-1/2 infection may be more prevalent in HIV-infected individuals.
      However, rates of HTLV-1/2 co-infection among HIV-infected individuals have not
      been studied recently in the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a
      cross-sectional study using serum from 292 HIV-infected subjects from one clinic
      in Virginia. Serum samples were tested for co-infection with HTLV-1/2 by
      commercial ELISA; positive results were then confirmed via western blot, which
      also differentiated between HTLV-1 and -2. RESULTS: Seven (2.4%) of the subjects
      were co-infected with HTLV-2. One subject (among the seven co-infected with HTLV
      2) was co-infected with HTLV-1 (0.3%). The only demographic factor significantly
      associated with HTLV-2 infection was history of intravenous drug abuse (p=0.002).
      CONCLUSIONS: While our results are limited to a single city, our low rates of co
      infection do not support routine screening for HTLV-1/2 co-infection among HIV
      infected individuals in the United States.

PMID- 27650230
TI  - Increased Platelet-leukocyte Aggregates Are Associated With Myocardial No-reflow
      in Patients With ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the association between platelet-leukocyte
      aggregates (PLA) levels on admission and the risk of myocardial no-reflow in
      patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent primary
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of 83 patients with
      STEMI undergoing primary PCI were included in the current study. Platelet
      leukocyte conjugates (PLA), including platelet-monocyte aggregates (PMA),
      platelet-neutrophil aggregates (PNA) and platelet-lymphocyte aggregates were
      studied by flow cytometry in peripheral venous blood. No-reflow was defined as
      coronary blood flow grade thrombolysis in myocardial infarction <=2 or
      thrombolysis in myocardial infarction 3 and myocardial blush grade <=2. RESULTS:
      No-reflow was observed in 19 patients (22.9%). Compared with the reflow group,
      the level of PNA (76.5 +/- 13.3) and PMA (90.3 +/- 5.2) before PCI no-reflow
      group was significantly higher than that in normal reflow (P < 0.001). Using
      multiple logistic regression analysis, PNA (odds ratio [OR] = 1.179; 95% CI:
      1.035-1.342; P = 0.013) and PMA (OR = 1.248; 95% CI: 1.040-1.498; P = 0.017) were
      found to be a significant predictor of no-reflow together with pain to balloon
      time (OR = 1.022; 95% CI: 1.002-1.041; P = 0.028), estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (OR = 1.311; 95% CI: 1.009-1.856; P = 0.047) and higher thrombus
      burden (OR = 0.061; 95% CI: 0.006-0.658; P = 0.021). Receiver operating
      characteristic curve analysis revealed that PNA (area under the curve = 0.881;
      95% CI: 0.809-0.952; P < 0.001), PMA (area under the curve = 0.794; 95% CI: 0.699
      0.889; P < 0.001) have important predictive value for the myocardial no-reflow.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that preprocedural increased PLA levels display
      a significantly independent association with no-reflow phenomenon after PCI.
      Increased PLA levels may predict the development of no-reflow phenomenon in
      patients with STEMI who underwent PCI.

PMID- 27650231
TI  - Effect of Bacteremia in Elderly Patients With Urinary Tract Infection.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The clinical effect of bacteremia on outcomes in urinary tract
      infection (UTI) is still debated. This study aims to examine the clinical effect
      of bacteremia in elderly patients with UTI requiring hospital admission. METHODS:
      This retrospective observational study recorded the clinical features,
      microbiology and outcomes in a Spanish cohort of patients aged >=65 years
      hospitalized for UTI in whom blood cultures were performed in the emergency
      department. The primary outcome of the study was in-hospital mortality. RESULTS:
      Of 333 patients, with a mean age of 81.6 years, 137 (41.1%) had positive blood
      cultures. Escherichia coli, with 223 (66.9%) cases, was the most common
      microorganism isolated. Independent risk factors of bacteremia were temperature
      >38 degrees C, heart rate >90bpm and inversely both Enterococcus faecalis and
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Bacteremia was not associated with the length of stay in
      hospital (6.96 +/- 3.50 days versus 7.33 +/- 5.54 days, P = 0.456). Mortality
      rate was 9.3% with no significant difference between bacteremic and nonbacteremic
      cases (8.8% and 9.7%, respectively, P = 0.773). In-hospital mortality analyzed by
      logistic regression was associated with McCabe index >2 (20.5% survival versus
      66.7% death, adjusted odds ratio = 6.31, 95% CI: 2.71-14.67; P < 0.001) but not
      with bacteremia (41.4% survival versus 38.7% death, adjusted odds ratio = 0.99,
      95% CI: 0.43-2.29; P = 0.992). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the presence
      or absence of bacteremia in elderly people with UTI requiring hospitalization
      does not have an influence on outcomes such as in-hospital mortality or length of
      stay.

PMID- 27650232
TI  - The Reduction Rate of Serum Sodium and Mortality in Patients Undergoing
      Continuous Venovenous Hemofiltration for Acute Severe Hypernatremia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The excessive correction of acute hypernatremia is not known to be
      harmful. This study aimed to evaluate whether a reduction rate of serum sodium
      (RRSeNa) > 1mEq/L/hour in acute severe hypernatremia is an independent risk
      factor for mortality in critically ill patients undergoing continuous venovenous
      hemofiltration (CVVH) treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this retrospective
      study, we reviewed records of 75 critically ill patients undergoing CVVH
      treatment for acute severe hypernatremia between March 2011 and March 2015.
      RESULTS: The 28-day mortality rate of all patients was 61.3%. In multivariate Cox
      regression analyses, a reduction rate of serum sodium (RRSeNa) > 1mEq/L/hour
      (hazard ratio = 1.89; 95% CI: 1.03-3.47; P = 0.04), Acute Physiology and Chronic
      Health Evaluation II score and vasopressor dependency (yes or no) had a
      statistically significantly effect on mortality. Once we excluded patients with
      an RRSeNa <= 0.5mEq/L/hour, only RRSeNa > 1mEq/L/hour (hazard ratio = 2.611; 95%
      CI: 1.228-5.550; P = 0.013) and vasopressor dependency had a statistically
      significant influence on mortality in multivariate regression. CONCLUSIONS: In
      addition to the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score and
      vasopressor dependency, the excessive correction of acute severe hypernatremia
      was possibly associated with mortality in critically ill patients undergoing CVVH
      treatment. The optimal reduction rate of acute hypernatremia should be
      extensively studied in critically ill patients.

PMID- 27650233
TI  - Barraquer-Simons Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Barraquer-Simons syndrome (BSS) is a rare acquired lipodystrophy
      characterized by gradually symmetric subcutaneous fat loss in a craniocaudal
      distribution, associated with hypocomplementemia, diabetes and
      hypertriglyceridemia. Few investigators have studied body fat distribution with
      cross-sectional imaging techniques. METHODS: We present 2 cases of BSS with
      emphasis on phenotypic analysis through cross-sectional imaging. RESULTS: For the
      first time, we demonstrate bone marrow involvement and deep cervical and axillary
      fat sparing of Barraquer-Simons using magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSION:
      Phenotypic analysis in lipodystrophies such as Barraquer-Simons is an essential
      guide for future experiments. Therefore, careful analysis of cross-sectional
      imaging should be conducted in future studies as areas of involvement or fat
      sparing may be overlooked. The major contributions of our work are that this is
      the first time that deep cervical or nuchal and axillary fat sparing and bone
      marrow involvement has been documented in BSS.

PMID- 27650234
TI  - Prevalence, Risk Factors and In-hospital Outcomes of QTc Interval Prolongation in
      Liver Cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: QTc interval prolongation is an electrocardiographic abnormality in
      liver cirrhosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, risk
      factors and in-hospital outcomes of QTc interval prolongation in Chinese patients
      with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of a total of
      1,268 patients with liver cirrhosis who were consecutively admitted to our
      hospital between January 2011 and June 2014. QTc interval data were collected
      from the medical records. QTc interval prolongation was defined as QTc interval >
      440 milliseconds. RESULTS: The prevalence of QTc interval prolongation was 38.2%
      (485 of 1268). In the entire cohort, the risk factors for QTc interval
      prolongation included an older age, a higher proportion of alcohol abuse and
      ascites, higher bilirubin, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, prothrombin time,
      international normalized ratio, Child-Pugh score and model for end-stage liver
      diseases score, and lower red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), albumin (ALB),
      alanine aminotransferase and calcium. The in-hospital mortality was not
      significantly different between patients with and without QTc interval
      prolongation (2.1% versus 1.3%, P = 0.276). In the subgroup analyses of patients
      with hepatitis B virus or alcohol alone-related liver cirrhosis, the risk factors
      included higher bilirubin, creatinine, prothrombin time, international normalized
      ratio, Child-Pugh score and model for end-stage liver diseases score, and lower
      RBC, Hb and ALB. In the subgroups analyses of patients with acute upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding or ascites, the risk factors included lower RBC, Hb and
      ALB. CONCLUSIONS: QTc interval prolongation was frequent in liver cirrhosis.
      Although QTc interval prolongation was positively associated with alcohol-related
      liver cirrhosis and more severe liver dysfunction, it did not significantly
      influence the in-hospital mortality.

PMID- 27650236
TI  - Hyperparathyroidism-jaw Tumor Syndrome: An Overlooked Cause of Severe
      Hypercalcemia.
AB  - Ossifying fibromas of the maxillofacial bones are an uncommon form of benign
      neoplasm usually treated by surgical excision. Up to 30% of patients with
      hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome, a rare form of multiple endocrine
      neoplasia resulting from autosomal dominant inactivating mutation of the Hrpt2
      tumor suppressor gene, initially present with ossifying fibromas. Coincident
      hypercalcemia because of the presence of parathyroid adenoma is common in these
      patients, of whom 15% may have or may develop parathyroid carcinoma. The authors
      present a case of severe postsurgical hypercalcemia after removal of a large
      maxillary ossifying fibroma in a patient with previously unrecognized
      hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor AU3 syndrome. 

PMID- 27650237
TI  - Incidence of Renal Failure Requiring Hemodialysis Following Transcatheter Aortic
      Valve Replacement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Studies have shown that iodinated radiocontrast use is associated with
      acute renal failure especially in the presence of chronic kidney disease and
      multiple factors modulate this risk. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to
      compare the incidence of renal failure requiring hemodialysis between
      transfemoral (TF) and transapical (TA) transcatheter aortic valve replacement
      using the Edwards valve. METHODS: The PubMed database was searched from January
      2000 through December 2014. A total of 10 studies (n = 2,459) comparing TF (n =
      1,268) and TA (n = 1,191) TAVR procedures using the Edwards valve were included.
      Variables of interest were baseline logistic EuroSCORE, prevalence of diabetes
      mellitus, hypertension, peripheral arterial disease, chronic kidney disease and
      amount of contrast used. The primary endpoint was incidence of renal failure
      requiring hemodialysis. The odds ratio and 95% CI were computed and P < 0.05 was
      considered as the level of significance. RESULTS: The logistic EuroSCORE was
      significantly higher in TA compared to TF (P = 0.001) TAVR. The amount of
      contrast (mL) used was significantly higher in the TF group compared to the TA
      group (mean difference: 36.9, CI: 25.7-48.1, P < 0.001). The incidence of
      hemodialysis following the procedure was significantly higher in the TA group
      compared to TF group (odds ratio = 4.3, CI: 2.4-7.8, P < 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS:
      This meta-analysis suggests that despite the lower amount of contrast used in TA
      TAVR, the incidence of renal failure requiring hemodialysis was higher with the
      Edwards valve. This suggests that the incidence of renal failure requiring
      hemodialysis after TAVR is associated with baseline comorbidities in the TA-TAVR
      group rather than the volume of contrast used.

PMID- 27650238
TI  - An Underestimated Co-infection: Swine Influenza and Pneumonia Due to Legionella
      pneumophila.

PMID- 27650235
TI  - Urea Transporter B and MicroRNA-200c Differ in Kidney Outer Versus Inner Medulla
      Following Dehydration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urea transporters (UTs) are important in urine concentration and in
      urea recycling, and UT-B has been implicated in both. In kidney, UT-B was
      originally localized to outer medullary descending vasa recta, and more recently
      detected in inner medullary descending vasa recta. Endogenously produced
      microRNAs (miRs) bind to the 3'UTR of genes and generally inhibit their
      translation, thus playing a pivotal role gene regulation. METHODS: Mice were
      dehydrated for 24 hours then sacrificed. Inner and outer medullas were analyzed
      by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR for miRNA expression and
      analyzed by western blotting for protein abundance. RESULTS: MiRNA sequencing
      analysis of mouse inner medullas showed a 40% increase in miRNA-200c in
      dehydrated mice compared with controls. An in silico analysis of the targets for
      miR-200c revealed that miRNA-200c could directly target the gene for UT-B. PCR
      confirmed that miR-200c is up-regulated in the inner medullas of dehydrated mice
      while western blot showed that UT-B protein abundance was down-regulated in the
      same portion of the kidney. However, in the outer medulla, miR-200c was reduced
      and UT-B protein was increased in dehydrated mice. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first
      indication that UT-B protein and miR-200c may each be differentially regulated by
      dehydration within the kidney outer and inner medulla. The inverse correlation
      between the direction of change in miR-200c and UT-B protein abundance in both
      the inner and outer medulla suggests that miR-200c may be associated with the
      change in UT-B protein in these 2 portions of the kidney medulla.

PMID- 27650239
TI  - Hypophosphatemia-induced Cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Relatively few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of
      hypophosphatemia on cardiac function. The goal of this review was to determine
      whether there is an association between hypophosphatemia and cardiac function and
      to increase awareness of hypophosphatemia-induced cardiomyopathy as a new
      clinical entity and a reversible cause of heart failure. We searched MEDLINE and
      PubMed from 1971 until March 2015 for primary studies, which reported the
      relationship between hypophosphatemia and cardiac function. A total of 837
      articles were initially obtained. Of these articles, 826 publications were
      excluded according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In all, 11 articles
      were included in this review. These articles included 7 case series or case
      reports, 1 case-control study, 1 pretest versus posttest in a single group and 2
      animal studies. In conclusion, the mechanisms of hypophosphatemia in
      cardiomyopathy have been reported to be a depletion of adenosine triphosphate in
      myocardial cells and decreased 2,3-diphosphoglycerate in erythrocytes. After
      correction of hypophosphatemia, left ventricular performance seems to improve in
      patients with severe hypophosphatemia, but not in those with mild-to-moderate
      hypophosphatemia. However, analyses of the relationship between cardiac function
      and hypophosphatemia using clinical end points have not been conducted.

PMID- 27650240
TI  - An Unusual Number of Self-ingested Foreign Bodies.

PMID- 27650241
TI  - Allergy Medications During Pregnancy.
AB  - Allergic diseases are common in women of childbearing age. Both asthma and atopic
      conditions may worsen, improve or remain the same during pregnancy. Primary care
      physicians commonly encounter women receiving multiple medications for pre
      existing atopic conditions, who then become pregnant and require medication
      changes to avoid potential fetal injury or congenital malformations. Each
      medication should be evaluated; intranasal and inhaled steroids are relatively
      safe to continue during pregnancy (budesonide is the drug of choice), second
      generation antihistamines of choice are cetirizine and loratadine, leukotriene
      receptor antagonists are safe, sparing use of oral decongestants during the first
      trimester and omalizumab may be used for both uncontrolled asthma and for
      antihistamine-resistant urticaria. Medications to avoid during pregnancy include
      intranasal antihistamines, first-generation antihistamines, mycophenolate
      mofetil, methotrexate, cyclosporine, azathioprine and zilueton. Common allergic
      diseases may develop de novo during pregnancy, such as anaphylaxis.

PMID- 27650243
TI  - Embolic Stroke Due to Sinus of Valsalva Aneurysm Thrombus.

PMID- 27650242
TI  - Successful Endoscopic Management of Pancreatic Foreign Body.

PMID- 27650244
TI  - Consequences of Public Intoxication: Once Was Enough!

PMID- 27650245
TI  - The Computed Tomography Quadrate Lobe "Hot Spot" Sign.

PMID- 27650247
TI  - Neurocognitive and executive functioning in adult survivors of congenital heart
      disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Congenital heart disease (CHD) can affect the developing central
      nervous system, resulting in neurocognitive and behavioral deficits. Preoperative
      neurological abnormalities as well as sequelae of the open heart operations
      required to correct structural abnormalities of the heart contribute to these
      deficits. There are few studies examining the neurocognitive functioning of
      adults with CHD. This study sought to investigate multiple domains of
      neurocognitive functioning in adult survivors of CHD who had childhood cardiac
      surgery with either moderate or severe disease complexity. DESIGN: A total of 48
      adults (18-49 years of age) who had undergone cardiac surgery for CHD prior to
      five years of age participated in the study. CHD severity was classified as
      moderate or severe according to the 32nd Bethesda Guidelines. A computerized
      battery of standardized neurocognitive tests (CNS-Vital Signs), a validated
      rating scale of executive functioning, and demographic questionnaires were
      administered. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the moderate
      CHD group and normative data on any cognitive measure. In contrast, the severe
      CHD group differed from norms in multiple domains: psychomotor speed, processing
      speed, complex attention, reaction time, and on the overall neurocognitive index.
      Number of surgeries was strongly related to worse executive functioning. There
      was no association between age at first surgery or time since last surgery and
      neuropsychological functioning. Number of surgeries was also unrelated to
      neurocognitive test performance. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with severe CHD performed
      significantly worse on measures of processing speed, attention, and executive
      functioning. These findings may be useful in the long-term care of adults with
      congenital heart disease.

PMID- 27650246
TI  - Somatically expressed germ-granule components, PGL-1 and PGL-3, repress
      programmed cell death in C. elegans.
AB  - We previously reported that germline apoptosis in C. elegans increased by loss of
      PGL-1 and PGL-3, members of a family of constitutive germ-granule components,
      from germ cells in adult hermaphrodite gonads. In this study, we found that
      somatic apoptosis was reduced in synthetic multivulva class B (synMuv B) mutants
      due to ectopic expression of PGL-1 and PGL-3 in the soma. In synMuv B-mutant
      somatic cells, CED-4 expression level was reduced due to ectopic expression of
      PGL-1. Furthermore, in contrast to wild type, somatic apoptosis in synMuv B
      mutants increased following DNA damage in a SIR-2.1-dependent manner.
      Intriguingly, somatic apoptosis was repressed not only in synMuv B mutants but
      also by ectopically expressing pgl-1 and/or pgl-3 transgenes in wild-type somatic
      cells. Our study demonstrates that germ-granule components, PGL-1 and PGL-3, can
      serve as negative regulators of apoptosis not only in the germline but also in
      the soma in C. elegans.

PMID- 27650248
TI  - Microstructural characterization of myocardial infarction with optical coherence
      tractography and two-photon microscopy.
AB  - Myocardial infarction leads to complex changes in the fiber architecture of the
      heart. Here, we present a novel optical approach to characterize these changes in
      intact hearts in three dimensions. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to
      derive a depth-resolved field of orientation on which tractography was performed.
      Tractography of healthy myocardium revealed a smooth linear transition in fiber
      inclination or helix angle from the epicardium to endocardium. Conversely, in
      infarcted hearts, no coherent microstructure could be identified in the infarct
      with OCT Additional characterization of the infarct was performed by the
      measurement of light attenuation and with two-photon microscopy. Myofibers were
      imaged using autofluorescence and collagen fibers using second harmonic
      generation. This revealed the presence of two distinct microstructural patterns
      in areas of the infarct with high light attenuation. In the presence of residual
      myofibers, the surrounding collagen fibers were aligned in a coherent manner
      parallel to the myofibers. In the absence of residual myofibers, the collagen
      fibers were randomly oriented and lacked any microstructural coherence. The
      presence of residual myofibers thus exerts a profound effect on the
      microstructural properties of the infarct scar and consequently the risk of
      aneurysm formation and arrhythmias. Catheter-based approaches to segment and
      image myocardial microstructure in humans are feasible and could play a valuable
      role in guiding the development of strategies to improve infarct healing.

PMID- 27650249
TI  - Understanding the link between somatosensory temporal discrimination and movement
      execution in healthy subjects.
AB  - The somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) is the shortest
      interval at which an individual recognizes paired stimuli as separate in time. We
      investigated whether and how voluntary movement modulates STDT in healthy
      subjects. In 17 healthy participants, we tested STDT during voluntary index
      finger abductions at several time-points after movement onset and during motor
      preparation. We then tested whether voluntary movement-induced STDT changes were
      specific for the body segment moved, depended on movement kinematics, on the type
      of movement or on the intensity for delivering paired electrical stimuli for STDT
      To understand the mechanisms underlying STDT modulation, we also tested STDT
      during motor imagery and after delivering repetitive transcranial magnetic
      stimulation to elicit excitability changes in the primary somatosensory cortex
      (S1). When tested on the moving hand at movement onset and up to 200 msec
      thereafter, STDT values increased from baseline, but during motor preparation
      remained unchanged. STDT values changed significantly during fast and slow index
      finger movements and also, though less, during passive index-finger abductions,
      whereas during tonic index-finger abductions they remained unchanged. STDT also
      remained unchanged when tested in body parts other than those engaged in movement
      and during imagined movement. Nor did testing STDT at increased intensity
      influence movement-induced STDT changes. The cTBS-induced S1 cortical changes
      left movement-induced STDT changes unaffected. Our findings suggest that movement
      execution in healthy subjects may alter STDT processing.

PMID- 27650250
TI  - Effects of high EPA and high DHA fish oils on changes in signaling associated
      with protein metabolism induced by hindlimb suspension in rats.
AB  - The effects of either eicosapentaenoic (EPA)- or docosahexaenoic (DHA)-rich fish
      oils on hindlimb suspension (HS)-induced muscle disuse atrophy were compared.
      Daily oral supplementations (0.3 mL/100 g b.w.) with mineral oil (MO) or high EPA
      or high DHA fish oils were performed in adult rats. After 2 weeks, the animals
      were subjected to HS for further 2 weeks. The treatments were maintained
      alongside HS At the end of 4 weeks, we evaluated: body weight gain, muscle mass
      and fat depots, composition of fatty acids, cross-sectional areas (CSA) of the
      soleus muscle and soleus muscle fibers, activities of cathepsin L and 26S
      proteasome, and content of carbonylated proteins in the soleus muscle. Signaling
      pathway activities associated with protein synthesis (Akt, p70S6K, S6, 4EBP1, and
      GSK3-beta) and protein degradation (atrogin-1/MAFbx, and MuRF1) were evaluated.
      HS decreased muscle mass, CSA of soleus muscle and soleus muscle fibers, and
      altered signaling associated with protein synthesis (decreased) and protein
      degradation (increased). The treatment with either fish oil decreased the ratio
      of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids and changed protein synthesis-associated
      signaling. EPA-rich fish oil attenuated the changes induced by HS on 26S
      proteasome activity, CSA of soleus muscle fibers, and levels of p-Akt, total
      p70S6K, p-p70S6K/total p70S6K, p-4EBP1, p-GSK3-beta, p-ERK2, and total ERK 1/2
      proteins. DHA-rich fish oil attenuated the changes induced by HS on p-4EBP1 and
      total ERK1 levels. The effects of EPA-rich fish oil on protein synthesis
      signaling were more pronounced. Both EPA- and DHA-rich fish oils did not impact
      skeletal muscle mass loss induced by non-inflammatory HS.

PMID- 27650251
TI  - Cycle training modulates satellite cell and transcriptional responses to a bout
      of resistance exercise.
AB  - This investigation evaluated whether moderate-intensity cycle ergometer training
      affects satellite cell and molecular responses to acute maximal
      concentric/eccentric resistance exercise in middle-aged women. Baseline and 72 h
      postresistance exercise vastus lateralis biopsies were obtained from seven
      healthy middle-aged women (56 +/- 5 years, BMI 26 +/- 1, VO2max 27 +/- 4) before
      and after 12 weeks of cycle training. Myosin heavy chain (MyHC) I- and II
      associated satellite cell density and cross-sectional area was determined via
      immunohistochemistry. Expression of 93 genes representative of the muscle
      remodeling environment was also measured via NanoString. Overall fiber size
      increased ~20% with cycle training (P = 0.052). MyHC I satellite cell density
      increased 29% in response to acute resistance exercise before endurance training
      and 50% with endurance training (P < 0.05). Following endurance training, MyHC I
      satellite cell density decreased by 13% in response to acute resistance exercise
      (acute resistance * training interaction, P < 0.05). Genes with an interaction
      effect tracked with satellite cell behavior, increasing in the untrained state
      and decreasing in the endurance trained state in response to resistance exercise.
      Similar satellite cell and gene expression response patterns indicate coordinated
      regulation of the muscle environment to promote adaptation. Moderate-intensity
      endurance cycle training modulates the response to acute resistance exercise,
      potentially conditioning the muscle for more intense concentric/eccentric
      activity. These results suggest that cycle training is an effective endurance
      exercise modality for promoting growth in middle-aged women, who are susceptible
      to muscle mass loss with progressing age.

PMID- 27650252
TI  - Exposure of C57BL/6J mice to long photoperiod during early life stages increases
      body weight and alters plasma metabolomic profiles in adulthood.
AB  - Perinatal photoperiod is an important regulator of physiological phenotype in
      adulthood. In this study, we demonstrated that postnatal (0-4 weeks old) exposure
      of C57BL/6J mice to long photoperiod induced persistent increase in body weight
      until adulthood, compared with the mice maintained under short photoperiod. The
      expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, a gene involved
      in fatty acid metabolism, was decreased in 10-week-old mice exposed to long
      photoperiod during 0-4 or 4-8 weeks of age. Plasma metabolomic profiles of adult
      mice exposed to a long photoperiod during the postnatal period (0-4 LD) were
      compared to those in the mice exposed to short photoperiod during the same
      period. Cluster analysis revealed that both carbon metabolic pathway and nucleic
      acid pathway were altered by the postnatal photoperiod. Levels of metabolites
      involved in glycolysis were significantly upregulated in 0-4 LD, suggesting that
      the mice in 0-4 LD use the glycolytic pathway for energy expenditure rather than
      the fatty acid oxidation pathway. In addition, the mice in 0-4 LD exhibited high
      levels of purine metabolites, which have a role in neuroprotection. In
      conclusion, postnatal exposure of C57BL/6J mice to long photoperiod induces
      increase in body weight and various changes in plasma metabolic profiles during
      adulthood.

PMID- 27650253
TI  - The evolution of mating-type switching for reproductive assurance.
AB  - Alternative ways to ensure mate compatibility, such as hermaphroditism and the
      breakdown of self-incompatibility, evolved repeatedly when finding a mating
      partner is difficult. In a variety of microorganisms where compatibility is
      determined by mating-types, a highly regulated form of universal compatibility
      system called mating-type switching has evolved several times. This sophisticated
      system allows for the genetic adjustment of the mating type during asexual
      growth, and it most likely evolved for reproductive assurance of immotile species
      under low densities. In this review, we compare the switching strategy to other
      universal compatibility systems such as "unisexual mating" and homothallism. We
      identify the costs of switching, including genome instability, and mechanistic
      costs, as well as the benefits, mainly the maintenance of important mating-type
      functions. Given the potential benefits of mating-type switching, we speculate
      that switching is likely to have evolved many times independently, and may be
      more common in groups where genetic mating types regulate mate compatibility than
      assumed so far.

PMID- 27650254
TI  - A novel method based on selective laser sintering for preparing high-performance
      carbon fibres/polyamide12/epoxy ternary composites.
AB  - A novel method based on selective laser sintering (SLS) process is proposed for
      the first time to prepare complex and high-performance carbon
      fibres/polyamide12/epoxy (CF/PA12/EP) ternary composites. The procedures are
      briefly described as follows: prepare polyamide12 (PA12) coated carbon fibre (CF)
      composite powder; build porous green parts by SLS; infiltrate the green parts
      with high-performance thermosetting epoxy (EP) resin; and finally cure the resin
      at high temperature. The obtained composites are a ternary composite system
      consisting of the matrix of novolac EP resin, the reinforcement of CFs and the
      transition thin layer of PA12 with a thickness of 595 nm. The SEM images and
      micro-CT analysis prove that the ternary system is a three-dimensional co
      continuous structure and the reinforcement of CFs are well dispersed in the
      matrix of EP with the volume fraction of 31%. Mechanical tests show that the
      composites fabricated by this method yield an ultimate tensile strength of 101.03
      MPa and a flexural strength of 153.43 MPa, which are higher than those of most of
      the previously reported SLS materials. Therefore, the process proposed in this
      paper shows great potential for manufacturing complex, lightweight and high
      performance CF reinforced composite components in aerospace, automotive
      industries and other areas.

PMID- 27650255
TI  - Better way to determine the acute:chronic workload ratio?

PMID- 27650256
TI  - International variability in 20 m shuttle run performance in children and youth:
      who are the fittest from a 50-country comparison? A systematic literature review
      with pooling of aggregate results.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe and compare 20 m shuttle run test (20mSRT) performance
      among children and youth across 50 countries; to explore broad socioeconomic
      indicators that correlate with 20mSRT performance in children and youth across
      countries and to evaluate the utility of the 20mSRT as an international
      population health indicator for children and youth. METHODS: A systematic review
      was undertaken to identify papers that explicitly reported descriptive 20mSRT
      (with 1-min stages) data on apparently healthy 9-17 year-olds. Descriptive data
      were standardised to running speed (km/h) at the last completed stage. Country
      specific 20mSRT performance indices were calculated as population-weighted mean z
      scores relative to all children of the same age and sex from all countries.
      Countries were categorised into developed and developing groups based on the
      Human Development Index, and a correlational analysis was performed to describe
      the association between country-specific performance indices and broad
      socioeconomic indicators using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS:
      Performance indices were calculated for 50 countries using collated data on 1 142
      026 children and youth aged 9-17 years. The best performing countries were from
      Africa and Central-Northern Europe. Countries from South America were
      consistently among the worst performing countries. Country-specific income
      inequality (Gini index) was a strong negative correlate of the performance index
      across all 50 countries. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of variability in the
      performance index broadly supports the theory of a physical activity transition
      and income inequality as the strongest structural determinant of health in
      children and youth. This simple and cost-effective assessment would be a powerful
      tool for international population health surveillance.

PMID- 27650257
TI  - What is in a name? Quite possibly public safety.

PMID- 27650258
TI  - A multianalytical approach to evaluate the association of 55 SNPs in 28 genes
      with obesity risk in North Indian adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate the association of 55 SNPs in
      28 genes with obesity risk in a North Indian population using a multianalytical
      approach. METHODS: Overall, 480 subjects from the North Indian population were
      studied using strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. SNP Genotyping was carried out
      by Sequenom Mass ARRAY platform (Sequenom, San Diego, CA) and validated Taqman(r)
      allelic discrimination (Applied Biosystems(r) ). Statistical analyses were
      performed using SPSS software version 19.0, SNPStats, GMDR software (version 6)
      and GENEMANIA. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis of 55 SNPs revealed
      significant associations (P < .05) of 49 SNPs with BMI linked obesity risk
      whereas the remaining 6 SNPs revealed no association (P > .05). The pathway-wise
      G-score revealed the significant role (P = .0001) of food intake-energy
      expenditure pathway genes. In CART analysis, the combined genotypes of FTO
      rs9939609 and TCF7L2 rs7903146 revealed the highest risk for BMI linked obesity.
      The analysis of the FTO-IRX3 locus revealed high LD and high order gene-gene
      interactions for BMI linked obesity. The interaction network of all of the
      associated genes in the present study generated by GENEMANIA revealed direct and
      indirect connections. In addition, the analysis with centralized obesity revealed
      that none of the SNPs except for FTO rs17818902 were significantly associated (P
      < .05). CONCLUSIONS: In this multi-analytical approach, FTO rs9939609 and IRX3
      rs3751723, along with TCF7L2 rs7903146 and TMEM18 rs6548238, emerged as the major
      SNPs contributing to BMI linked obesity risk in the North Indian population.

PMID- 27650259
TI  - Expression of Cys-loop receptor subunits and acetylcholine binding protein in the
      mechanosensory neurons, glial cells, and muscle tissue of the spider Cupiennius
      salei.
AB  - The central and peripheral nervous system transcriptomes of the spider Cupiennius
      salei have 15 Cys-loop receptor subunits and an acetylcholine-binding protein
      (AChBP). Twelve subunits are predicted to form anion channels gated by gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, histamine, or changes in pH, and three are
      putative ACh-gated cation channels. Spiders have a variety of mechanosensilla and
      proprioceptive organs that are innervated by efferents in their peripherally
      located parts, and efferents also innervate muscle fibers. We investigated Cys
      loop gene expression in muscle tissue by qPCR and localized this expression in
      mechanosensilla via in situ hybridization. The cuticular mechanosensory neurons
      had only CsGABArdl and CspHCl2 subunits, whereas the muscle tissue expressed a
      wider variety of subunits, especially CsGABAgrd, CsGABAA beta, CsGluCl1 and
      CspHCl, but very low levels of the CsGABArdl or CsnACh subunits. An nACh non
      alpha subunit was expressed in a group of unidentified cells in the hypodermis
      and at low level in the muscle tissue, but the physiological function of this
      subunit is unknown. The CsnAChalpha subunit was not expressed in sensory neurons
      and was expressed at extremely low level in the muscle tissue. None of the probes
      gave signals in proprioceptive joint receptors, suggesting that efferent
      innervation to this sense organ employs other receptor types. CsAChBP and a glia
      specific homeodomain CsREPO were both expressed in glial cells that surround
      sensory neurons and also in muscle tissue, probably around the nerve endings of
      the neuromuscular junction. These locations have large numbers of synapses,
      suggesting that AChBP may have a function in modulating synaptic transmission. J.
      Comp. Neurol. 525:1139-1154, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650260
TI  - Cumulus cell expansion and first polar body extrusion during in vitro oocyte
      maturation in relation to morphological and morphometric characteristics of the
      dromedary camel ovary.
AB  - The morphological and morphometric characteristics of the ovary are fundamental
      properties for in vitro oocyte maturation. Nuclear maturation, including first
      polar body (1PB) extrusion, cytoplasmic maturation and cumulus cell (CC)
      expansion are the criteria for in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocyte. This study
      was designed to determine the effect of morphological and morphometric features
      of the ovary on CC expansion and 1PB extrusion during IVM of oocyte in the adult
      female dromedary camel. The weight, volume and three dimensions of ovaries from
      slaughtered dromedary camels and oocytes inside zona diameter and zona pellucida
      thickness were measured. The follicles were classified in regard to the size and
      oocytes according to their ooplasm appearance and CC compactness. Aspirated
      cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were incubated for 48 hr (with a 6-hr interval)
      in Hams-F10, and CC expansion and 1PB extrusion were assessed. Significant
      differences were seen in the shape, weight, volume and three dimensions of the
      ovaries between <=4-year-old and >4-year-old dromedary camel (p < .5).
      Approximately, 95.82% of follicles were 2-4 mm in diameter. The mean (+/-SD) of
      inside zona diameter of the oocyte and zona pellucida thickness was 132.22 +/-
      13.8 and 14.64 +/- 2.24 MUm, respectively, in >4-year-old dromedary camel. The CC
      expansion and 1PB extrusion were seen in 86% and 21.88% of COCs, respectively.
      Age and sexual conditions of dromedary camel influence the morphological and
      morphometric characteristics of the ovary. Most COCs retrieved from 2-6 mm
      follicles are cultivable. The most slaughterhouse-derived COCs retrieved from 2-6
      mm follicles of non-pregnant dromedary camels are excellent and good and yielding
      a most favourable diameter to achieve the developmental competence for IVM in an
      optimal time of 24-30 hr; the optimal time for CC expansion is 24-30 hr in this
      species. However, the CC expansion is a prerequisite process, but not sufficient
      for IVM.

PMID- 27650261
TI  - Expression of dermcidin in human sinonasal secretions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) produced by the epithelium are
      important for innate immune defense. In 2001, a novel AMP dermcidin (DCD) was
      described with no homology to other AMPs and an expression pattern restricted to
      eccrine sweat glands. In contrast to other AMPs, DCD expression has not been
      shown to be induced under inflammatory conditions in the skin. After identifying
      DCD by mass spectrometry in a protein sample isolated from human nasal
      secretions, we sought to determine the role of DCD in innate defense of the
      sinonasal airway. METHODS: After institutional review board approval, sinonasal
      mucosal tissue specimens were acquired from residual clinical material obtained
      during sinonasal surgery and used to grow cultures in an air-liquid interface
      environment. After stimulation of the cultures with various bitter compounds and
      phosphate-buffered saline, airway surface liquid was collected, and a DCD
      specific enzyme-linked immunoassay was used to quantify DCD in each sample. To
      localize DCD expression, ALI cultures were fixed and immunofluorescence performed
      against DCD, beta-tubulin IV, and Muc-5A. RESULTS: Enzyme-linked immunoassay
      showed DCD in air-surface liquid and in clinical nasal secretion samples at
      concentrations comparable to eccrine sweat. There was no evidence of inducible
      expression with any of the tested stimulants. Confocal microscopy revealed DCD
      expression in sinonasal mucosal goblet cells. CONCLUSION: This is the first
      report of the presence of DCD in nasal mucosa and demonstration of DCD in
      clinical samples of human nasal secretions at clinically relevant concentrations,
      which may represent a novel arm of sinonasal airway innate defense.

PMID- 27650262
TI  - How to compare cardiovascular disease and risk factors in elderly patients with
      haemophilia with the general population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Studies on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk
      factors in patients with haemophilia (PWH) in comparison to the general
      population have generated inconsistent results. The ADVANCE Working Group
      collected data on CV comorbidities in PWH aged >=40 years (H(3) Study). AIM:
      Identification of German epidemiological data on CVD for the general population,
      evaluation for appropriateness, and execution of comparisons with PWH. METHODS:
      Identification of data sources by structured literature (EMBASE, MEDLINE)
      searches. INCLUSION CRITERIA: German general population, CVD and risk factors,
      gender/age stratification, sample size >500 male persons, age groups >=40 years,
      current data collection, language English/German. Comparison of data on CVD and
      risk factors in PWH (H(3)  Study) with published German general population data.
      RESULTS: Criteria for data source appropriateness were defined. Of five national
      and three international epidemiological studies, the DEGS1 Study (German Health
      Interview and Examination Survey for Adults) was identified as the most suitable
      comparator. Compared with men from DEGS1, hypertension was significantly more
      prevalent in PWH aged 50-59 years (41.7% [95% CI: 37.3-46.2] vs. 52.0% [95% CI:
      43.7-60.1], P = 0.03). Coronary artery/heart disease (CHD) was significantly less
      prevalent in PWH aged >=60 years (60-69 years: 19.5% [95% CI: 15.9-23.7] vs. 8.1%
      [95% CI: 3.3-16.1], P = 0.02; 70-79 years: 30.5% [95% CI: 25.9-35.5] vs. 11.8%
      [95% CI: 5.2-21.9], P = 0.002). No statistically significant difference for
      ischaemic cerebrovascular disease/stroke was detected. CONCLUSION: Increased
      prevalence of hypertension in PWH should trigger regular screening. CHD does
      occur in PWH aged >=60 years though apparently with lower prevalence. Given the
      growing population of elderly PWH, guidelines for prevention and treatment of CVD
      should be developed.

PMID- 27650264
TI  - Male-killing symbiont damages host's dosage-compensated sex chromosome to induce
      embryonic apoptosis.
AB  - Some symbiotic bacteria are capable of interfering with host reproduction in
      selfish ways. How such bacteria can manipulate host's sex-related mechanisms is
      of fundamental interest encompassing cell, developmental and evolutionary
      biology. Here, we uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying
      Spiroplasma-induced embryonic male lethality in Drosophila melanogaster.
      Transcriptomic analysis reveals that many genes related to DNA damage and
      apoptosis are up-regulated specifically in infected male embryos. Detailed
      genetic and cytological analyses demonstrate that male-killing Spiroplasma causes
      DNA damage on the male X chromosome interacting with the male-specific lethal
      (MSL) complex. The damaged male X chromosome exhibits a chromatin bridge during
      mitosis, and bridge breakage triggers sex-specific abnormal apoptosis via p53
      dependent pathways. Notably, the MSL complex is not only necessary but also
      sufficient for this cytotoxic process. These results highlight symbiont's
      sophisticated strategy to target host's sex chromosome and recruit host's
      molecular cascades toward massive apoptosis in a sex-specific manner.

PMID- 27650266
TI  - Persistent Behavioral Deficits in Rats after Parasagittal Fluid Percussion
      Injury.
AB  - Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) is now considered a chronic disease, few
      studies have investigated the long-term behavioral deficits elicited by a well
      established rodent model of injury. Here we evaluate behavioral measures,
      commonly used in TBI research, to determine which tests are useful for studying
      long-term effects of brain injury in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were handled
      and pre-trained to neurological, balance, and motor coordination tests prior to
      receiving parasagittal fluid-percussion injury (FPI), sham injury, or maintenance
      as naive cohorts. Rats underwent neuroscore, beam-balance, and beam-walk tests
      for 3 days after injury. Subsequently, in separate groups at 3, 6, or 12 months,
      they were re-tested on the same tasks followed by a working memory version of the
      Morris water maze. On post-injury days (PIDs) 1-3, significant effects of injury
      on neuroscore, beam-balance, and beam-walk were observed. Differences in the beam
      walk task were not detectable at any of the later time-points. However, deficits
      persisted in beam-balance out to 3 months and neuroscore out to 6 months. Working
      memory deficits persisted out to 12 months, at which time a reference memory
      deficit was also evident. These data suggest that balance and motor coordination
      recovered more quickly than neurological deficits. Furthermore, while deficits in
      working memory remained stable over the 12-month period, the late onset of the
      reference memory deficit points to the progressive nature of the injury, or an
      age/TBI interaction. In conclusion, standard behavioral tests are useful measures
      of persistent behavioral deficits after parasagittal FPI and provide evidence
      that TBI is a chronic condition that can change over time and worsen with age.

PMID- 27650265
TI  - Polyamines release the let-7b-mediated suppression of initiation codon
      recognition during the protein synthesis of EXT2.
AB  - Proteoglycans (PGs), a family of glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-protein glycoconjugates,
      contribute to animal physiology through interactions between their glycan chains
      and growth factors, chemokines and adhesion molecules. However, it remains
      unclear how GAG structures are changed during the aging process. Here, we found
      that polyamine levels are correlated with the expression level of heparan sulfate
      (HS) in human skin. In cultured cell lines, the EXT1 and EXT2 enzymes, initiating
      HS biosynthesis, were stimulated at the translational level by polyamines.
      Interestingly, the initiation codon recognition by 43S preinitiation complex
      during EXT2 translation is suppressed by let-7b, a member of the let-7 microRNA
      family, through binding at the N-terminal amino acid coding sequence in EXT2
      mRNA. Let-7b-mediated suppression of initiation codon depends on the length of 5'
      UTR of EXT2 mRNA and its suppression is inhibited in the presence of polyamines.
      These findings provide new insights into the HS biosynthesis related to miRNA and
      polyamines.

PMID- 27650267
TI  - Choice of 17 O correction affects clumped isotope (Delta47 ) values of CO2
      measured with mass spectrometry.
AB  - RATIONALE: The clumped isotope composition of CO2 (Delta47 ) derived from
      carbonate is widely used as a paleotemperature proxy with broad applications in
      geoscience. Its accuracy is, however, limited by inter-laboratory discrepancies
      of reference materials and disagreement among carbonate geothermometer
      calibrations. Here we show how the correction for the abundance of 17 O
      influences these discrepancies. METHODS: We used CO2 -H2 O equilibration at known
      temperatures and phosphoric acid digested carbonates to generate CO2 samples with
      a wide range in 13 C and 18 O compositions. All samples were purified using an
      offline vacuum line. We used a Thermo MAT 253 isotope ratio mass spectrometer
      with a Faraday collector array for m/z 44-49, to measure delta13 C, delta18 O,
      delta47 , and Delta47 values. Data were compiled using a traditional correction
      ('Santrock') for the 17 O interference in m/z 45 as well as a more recently
      proposed correction ('Brand') for 17 O interference. Two reference frames using
      CO2 with distinct 13 C compositions were constructed to simulate an inter
      laboratory comparison. RESULTS: The traditional Santrock 17 O correction leads to
      a simulated Delta47 inter-laboratory comparison offset of 0.06 0/00, and a 0.1
      0/00 Delta47 range in CO2 -H2 O 23 degrees C equilibrations that is dependent on
      the 13 C composition. The more recent Brand 17 O correction removes these
      discrepancies. The traditional 17 O correction yields distinct temperature
      Delta47 calibration curves for synthetic carbonates precipitated using different
      methods to degas CO2 , while the more recent 17 O correction collapses all
      calibration data onto a single curve. CONCLUSIONS: The 17 O correction strategy
      employed by CO2 and carbonate clumped-isotope researchers can have a large effect
      on the accuracy of Delta47 values. Use of the traditional 17 O correction may
      have caused errors in published studies as large as 0.1 0/00 and may account for
      Delta47 differences among laboratories and disagreement among previously
      published carbonate clumped isotope thermometry calibrations. Copyright (c) 2016
      John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27650263
TI  - Current and Upcoming Therapies for Ocular Surface Chemical Injuries.
AB  - Chemical injuries frequently result in vision loss, disfigurement, and
      challenging ocular surface complications. Acute interventions are directed at
      decreasing the extent of the injury, suppressing inflammation, and promoting
      ocular surface re-epithelialization. Chronically, management involves controlling
      inflammation along with rehabilitation and reconstruction of the ocular surface.
      Future therapies aimed at inhibiting neovascularization and promoting ocular
      surface regeneration should provide more effective treatment options for the
      management of ocular chemical injuries.

PMID- 27650268
TI  - Biliary atresia: Indications and timing of liver transplantation and optimization
      of pretransplant care.
AB  - Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive, fibro-obliterative disorder of the
      intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts in infancy. The majority of affected
      children will eventually develop end-stage liver disease and require liver
      transplantation (LT). Indications for LT in BA include failed Kasai
      portoenterostomy, significant and recalcitrant malnutrition, recurrent
      cholangitis, and the progressive manifestations of portal hypertension.
      Extrahepatic complications of this disease, such as hepatopulmonary syndrome and
      portopulmonary hypertension, are also indications for LT. Optimal pretransplant
      management of these potentially life-threatening complications and maximizing
      nutrition and growth require the expertise of a multidisciplinary team with
      experience caring for BA. The timing of transplant for BA requires careful
      consideration of the potential risk of transplant versus the survival benefit at
      any given stage of disease. Children with BA often experience long wait times for
      transplant unless exception points are granted to reflect severity of disease.
      Family preparedness for this arduous process is therefore critical. Liver
      Transplantation 23:96-109 2017 AASLD.

PMID- 27650269
TI  - Rates and risk factors of hypertension in adolescents and adults with sickle cell
      anaemia in Tanzania: 10 years' experience.
AB  - Data on the magnitude and risk factors for hypertension in sickle cell anaemia
      (SCA) are limited. A retrospective analysis of individuals with SCA aged >=15
      years enrolled from 2004-2014 at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania was
      conducted to determine the prevalence, incidence and risk factors for
      hypertension. A total of 1013 individuals with SCA were analysed, of whom
      571(56%) were females. The median age [interquartile range] was 17 [15-22] years.
      Four hundred and forty-one (44%) of the patients had relative hypertension
      [systolic blood pressure (SBP) 120-139 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 70
      89 mmHg], and 79 (8%) had hypertension (SBP >= 140 mmHg or DBP >= 90 mmHg). The
      incidence of hypertension was 64/1000 person years of observation and the 5-year
      survival rate was 0.71 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.67-0.75]. In multivariate
      analysis, age>18 years, Hazard ratio (HR) 1.50 (95% CI: 1.03-2.18); pulse
      pressure, HR 0.64 (95% CI: 0.42 to 0.98); pulse rate, 1.02 (95% CI: 1.01-1.03);
      body mass index (BMI), HR 1.08 (95% CI: 1.03-1.13); blood transfusion, HR 2.50
      (95% CI: 1.01-6.21) and haemoglobin, HR 1.12 (95% CI: 1.05-1.33) were
      independently associated with hypertension. In conclusion, despite the younger
      age, hypertension in this population was higher than that reported in others
      studies. Age, BMI, pulse pressure and haemoglobin were independently associated
      with hypertension in SCA.

PMID- 27650270
TI  - Long-term outcomes of a newly developed hybrid metal stent for EUS-guided biliary
      drainage (with videos).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although fully covered self-expandable metal stents
      (FCSEMSs) have been commonly used for EUS-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD),
      FCSEMS migration is a main limitation of this procedure. In the present study we
      evaluated the technical and clinical success rates, adverse events, and long-term
      outcomes of a newly developed hybrid stent that has been customized for EUS-BD.
      METHODS: From September 2011 to May 2015, 54 consecutive patients with biliary
      obstruction were enrolled in this prospective, observational study. These
      patients were candidates for alternative BD techniques because of failed ERCP.
      The hybrid metal stent used for EUS-BD in this study was partially covered, had
      anchoring flaps, and is commercially available in Korea. RESULTS: EUS-guided
      hepaticogastrostomy (EUS-HGS) was performed in 21 patients and EUS-guided
      choledochoduodenostomy (EUS-CDS) in 33 patients. The technical and clinical
      success rates of EUS-BD were 100% (54/54) and 94.4% (51/54), respectively.
      Immediate adverse events developed after EUS-BD in 9 patients (16.6%; cholangitis
      in 3, bleeding in 2, self-limited pneumoperitoneum in 3, and abdominal pain in
      1). Proximal or distal stent migration was not observed during the follow-up
      period (median, 148.5 days; IQR, 79.7-244), and the mean stent patency duration
      was 166.3 days and 329.1 days in the EUS-HGS and EUS-CDS groups, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: EUS-BD with the hybrid metal stent is technically feasible and can
      effectively treat biliary obstruction after failed ERCP. EUS-BD with the hybrid
      metal stent can reduce stent-related adverse events, especially stent migration.

PMID- 27650271
TI  - Sonographic and cyst fluid cytologic changes after EUS-guided pancreatic cyst
      ablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The effect of EUS-guided pancreatic cyst ablation (PCA) on
      sonographic morphology and cyst fluid cytology is unknown. The aim of this study
      was to evaluate morphologic, cytologic, and change in cyst fluid DNA after PCA.
      METHODS: In a prospective single-center study, consecutive patients with
      suspected benign 10- to 50-mm pancreatic cysts underwent baseline EUS-FNA and EUS
      PCA followed 2 to 3 months later by repeat EUS, cyst fluid analysis, and possible
      repeat PCA. Surveillance imaging after ablation was performed at least annually
      and classified as complete response (CR), partial response, or persistent, with
      <5%, 5% to 25%, and 25% of the original cyst volume, respectively. RESULTS:
      Thirty-six patients underwent EUS-PCA with ethanol alone (n = 8) or ethanol and
      paclitaxel (n = 28), and CR occurred in 19 patients (56%). After EUS-PCA, EUS
      showed an increase in wall diameter in 68%, decreased number of septations in
      24%, increased debris in 24%, loss of mural nodule or novel calcification in 21%,
      and alteration of fluid viscosity in 48%. Follow-up cytology showed increased
      epithelial cellularity in 27%, loss or decreased cellular atypia in 15%,
      increased or appearance of macrophages in 24%, and inflammatory cells in 15%.
      Postablation DNA amount increased and quality decreased in 71% each. Between the
      CR and non-CR patients, there was no significant difference in frequency of
      sonographic or cytologic features. In the CR group, mean DNA quantity was
      significantly increased after ablation (P = .023) without a change in quality (P
      = .136). CONCLUSIONS: EUS-PCA induces morphologic and cytologic changes of
      pancreatic cysts, none of which appears to predict overall imaging-defined
      response to ablation. (Clinical trial registration numbers: NCT00233038 and
      NCT01643460.).

PMID- 27650272
TI  - Erratum to: Expression of messenger molecules and receptors in rat and human
      sphenopalatine ganglion indicating therapeutic targets.

PMID- 27650273
TI  - Driving forces of soil bacterial community structure, diversity, and function in
      temperate grasslands and forests.
AB  - Soil bacteria provide a large range of ecosystem services such as nutrient
      cycling. Despite their important role in soil systems, compositional and
      functional responses of bacterial communities to different land use and
      management regimes are not fully understood. Here, we assessed soil bacterial
      communities in 150 forest and 150 grassland soils derived from three German
      regions by pyrotag sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Land use type (forest and
      grassland) and soil edaphic properties strongly affected bacterial community
      structure and function, whereas management regime had a minor effect. In
      addition, a separation of soil bacterial communities by sampling region was
      encountered. Soil pH was the best predictor for bacterial community structure,
      diversity and function. The application of multinomial log-linear models revealed
      distinct responses of abundant bacterial groups towards pH. Predicted functional
      profiles revealed that differences in land use not only select for distinct
      bacterial populations but also for specific functional traits. The combination of
      16S rRNA data and corresponding functional profiles provided comprehensive
      insights into compositional and functional adaptations to changing environmental
      conditions associated with differences in land use and management.

PMID- 27650274
TI  - IL-4 and human skin mast cells revisited: reinforcement of a pro-allergic
      phenotype upon prolonged exposure.
AB  - Mast cells (MCs), unique cellular elements of the body, are commonly associated
      with IgE-mediated reactions and manifestations of Th2-type immunity. A key
      characteristic of the lineage is its heterogeneity, with subsets displaying
      significant variation depending on maturation stage, species, tissue,
      microenvironment and other. Heterogeneity also affects MC responses to
      extracellular cues. Indeed, IL-4, the signature cytokine of Th2-immunity, can
      affect MCs in opposing ways ranging from the induction of apoptosis to positive
      regulation of lineage characteristics. It is unknown, however, whether IL-4
      alters the phenotype of terminally differentiated human cutaneous MCs. Using our
      well-established technique for homogeneous purification of human skin MCs, we now
      report that prolonged contact with IL-4 not only increases MC expansion, but also
      phenotypically and functionally re-shapes the cells. FcepsilonRI cell surface
      expression, FcepsilonRIalpha-specific mRNA and FcepsilonRI-mediated histamine
      release are all augmented by IL-4, while histamine release elicited by the non
      immunological stimulus, substance P, remains unaffected. IL-4's potential to mold
      MCs is broad and similarly detectable across donors. Intriguingly, IL-4 impacts
      granule-associated mediators, especially histamine whose synthesis is boosted in
      the presence of IL-4. To our knowledge, an increase in histamine production by IL
      4 has not been described yet for any type of MCs, but may well contribute to its
      pro-allergic effect given the significance of this biogenic amine to allergic
      symptoms. Collectively, IL-4 alters human skin MCs after long-term exposure
      mimicking chronic disorders by strengthening MC numbers and intensifying
      processes associated with allergic inflammation.

PMID- 27650275
TI  - ARDS, up close and personal.

PMID- 27650276
TI  - Retention of the well-fixed implant in the single-stage exchange for chronic
      infected total hip arthroplasty: an average of five years of follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: Removal of an infected prosthesis was considered the gold standard for
      eradication of infection. However, removal of well-fixed components can result in
      structural bone damage and compromised reconstruction. In these situations we
      questioned whether the infection after the total hip arthroplasty could be
      treated effectively and retain the well-fixed implant in a single-stage exchange.
      METHODS: A retrospective analysis which included 31 patients with chronic
      infected THA who underwent major partial single-stage revision, including
      routinely exchanged femoral head and liner components, aggressive soft tissue
      debridement, removal of the femoral stem or acetabular cup and retention of the
      well-fixed component, thorough exposed component brushing, and adequate surgical
      soaking. Powdered Vancomycin was poured into the surgical area and the infection
      control rate and clinical outcomes were evaluated. The failure to treat the
      infection was defined as a recurrence of infection in the same hip. The average
      follow-up was five years (2-15 years). RESULT: There were four (12.9 %) failures
      during the study period at an average of 15 months (9-21 months) after partial
      single-stage revision. Of the 31 patients, 27 (87.1 %) patients had a
      satisfactory outcome and required no additional surgical or medical treatment for
      recurrence of infection. Acetabular cups were revised in 22 patients and femoral
      stems in nine patients. The mean post-operative Harris hip score at the most
      recent assessment was 74.6 (68-82). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of chronic infected
      THA with retention of the well-fixed implant in a single-stage exchange can be
      fairly effective in the treatment of infection and achieving acceptable
      functional outcomes, which indicated that this may be an attractive alternative
      in highly selected patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study.

PMID- 27650278
TI  - The effect of winter length on survival and duration of dormancy of four
      sympatric species of Rhagoletis exploiting plants with different fruiting
      phenology.
AB  - Dormancy has been thoroughly studied for several species of economic importance
      in the genus Rhagoletis in temperate areas of North America and Europe. Much less
      is known on life history regulation for species inhabiting high-elevation areas
      in the subtropics at the southern extreme of their geographical range. Host plant
      phenology has been found to play a key role in generating allochronic isolation
      among sibling species and host races of Rhagoletis in the course of sympatric
      speciation, and has important implications for pest management. We compare the
      effect of winter length on survival to adult eclosion and dormancy duration among
      four species of Rhagoletis (three of them sympatric) exploiting hosts with
      different fruiting phenology in subtropical isolated highlands. Survival and
      duration of dormancy was found to be different among the four species. At 24
      degrees C, a very small proportion (<1%) of R. pomonella, R. turpiniae and R.
      zoqui completed development without becoming dormant, while in the case of R.
      solanophaga the majority of the population emerged after development within 40
      days of pupation. Also, a large proportion of braconid parasitoids infesting
      Rhagoletis eggs and larvae emerged as adults without becoming dormant. Greatest
      survival after artificial winter was obtained for R. pomonella (50-60%) and R.
      zoqui (30%) after only four weeks at 5 degrees C (a third of the time reported
      for studies on northern R. pomonella), while R. turpiniae, under identical
      environmental conditions experienced low adult emergence, and highest survival
      (11%) was recorded for flies exposed to 5 degrees C during 10 and 12 weeks. For
      R. pomonella, there was a strong positive relationship between winter length and
      time to post-winter adult eclosion that was not observed for R. zoqui. In sum,
      for R. pomonella, mild winters in highland subtropical areas appear to select for
      flies better able to withstand longer periods of warm temperature before winter
      than flies exploiting late fruiting hosts and inhabiting northern latitudes. In
      the case of R. turpiniae and R. zoqui environmental cues such as fluctuations in
      humidity and/or different temperature thresholds (5 degrees C) may play a more
      important role than winter length in life history regulation. Continuous host
      availability for R. solanophaga appears to have selected for non-diapausing
      flies. From an applied perspective our results are useful for handling flies in
      the laboratory to conduct research and suggest that non-diapausing strains of
      flies and parasitoids may be selected for SIT and innundative biological control
      programs.

PMID- 27650277
TI  - A phase I dose-escalation study of TAK-733, an investigational oral MEK
      inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors.
AB  - Purpose TAK-733, an investigational, selective, allosteric MEK1/2 inhibitor, has
      demonstrated antitumor effects against multiple cancer cell lines and xenograft
      models. This first-in-human study investigated TAK-733 in patients with solid
      tumors. Methods Patients received oral TAK-733 once daily on days 1-21 in 28-day
      treatment cycles. Adverse events (AEs) were graded using the Common Terminology
      Criteria for AEs version 3.0. Response was assessed using RECIST v1.1. Blood
      samples for TAK-733 pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (inhibition of ERK
      phosphorylation) were collected during cycle 1. Results Fifty-one patients
      received TAK-733 0.2-22 mg. Primary diagnoses included uveal melanoma (24 %),
      colon cancer (22 %), and cutaneous melanoma (10 %). Four patients had dose
      limiting toxicities of dermatitis acneiform, plus fatigue and pustular rash in
      one patient, and stomatitis in one patient. The maximum tolerated dose was 16 mg.
      Common drug-related AEs included dermatitis acneiform (51 %), diarrhea (29 %),
      and increased blood creatine phosphokinase (20 %); grade >= 3 AEs were reported
      in 27 (53 %) patients. Median Tmax was 3 h; systemic exposure increased less than
      dose-proportionally over the dose range 0.2-22 mg. On day 21 maximum inhibition
      of ERK phosphorylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 46-97 % was seen
      in patients receiving TAK-733 >= 8.4 mg. Among 41 response-evaluable patients, 2
      (5 %) patients with cutaneous melanoma (one with BRAF L597R mutant melanoma) had
      partial responses. Conclusions TAK-733 had a generally manageable toxicity
      profile up to the maximum tolerated dose, and showed the anticipated
      pharmacodynamic effect of sustained inhibition of ERK phosphorylation. Limited
      antitumor activity was demonstrated. Further investigation is not currently
      planned.

PMID- 27650279
TI  - Haptoglobin.
AB  - SIGNIFICANCE: Haptoglobin (Hp) is an abundant human plasma protein that tightly
      captures hemoglobin (Hb) during hemolysis. The Hb-Hp complex formation reduces
      the oxidative properties of heme/Hb and promotes recognition by the macrophage
      scavenger receptor CD163. This leads to Hb-Hp breakdown and heme catabolism by
      heme oxygenase and biliverdin reductase. Gene duplications of a part of or the
      entire Hp gene in the primate evolution have led to variant Hp gene products that
      collectively may be designated "the haptoglobins (Hps)" as they all bind Hb.
      These variant products include the human-specific multimeric Hp phenotypes in
      individuals, which are hetero- or homozygous for an Hp2 gene allele. The Hp
      related protein (Hpr) is another Hp duplication product in humans and other
      primates. Alternative functions of the variant Hps are indicated by numerous
      reports on association between Hp phenotypes and disease as well as the
      elucidation of a specific role of Hpr in the innate immune defense. Recent
      Advances: Recent functional and structural information on Hp and receptor systems
      for Hb removal now provides insight on how Hp carries out essential functions
      such as the Hb detoxification/removal, and how Hpr, by acting as an Hp-lookalike,
      can sneak a lethal toxin into trypanosome parasites that cause mammalian sleeping
      sickness. Critical Issues and Future Directions: The new structural insight may
      facilitate ongoing attempts of developing Hp derivatives for prevention of Hb
      toxicity in hemolytic diseases such as sickle cell disease and other
      hemoglobinopathies. Furthermore, the new structural knowledge may help
      identifying yet unknown functions based on other disease-relevant biological
      interactions involving Hps. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 814-831.

PMID- 27650280
TI  - Quantification of myocardial blood flow with (82)Rb: Validation with (15)O-water
      using time-of-flight and point-spread-function modeling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We quantified myocardial blood flow with (82)Rb PET using parameters
      of the generalized Renkin-Crone model estimated from (82)Rb and (15)O-water
      images reconstructed with time-of-flight and point spread function modeling.
      Previous estimates of rubidium extraction have used older-generation scanners
      without time-of-flight or point spread function modeling. We validated image
      derived input functions with continuously collected arterial samples. METHODS:
      Nine healthy subjects were scanned at rest and under pharmacological stress on
      the Siemens Biograph mCT with (82)Rb and (15)O-water PET, undergoing arterial
      blood sampling with each scan. Image-derived input functions were estimated from
      the left ventricle cavity and corrected with tracer-specific population-based
      scale factors determined from arterial data. Kinetic parametric images were
      generated from the dynamic PET images by fitting the one-tissue compartment model
      to each voxel's time activity curve. Mean myocardial blood flow was determined
      from each subject's (15)O-water k 2 images. The parameters of the generalized
      Renkin-Crone model were estimated from these water-based flows and mean
      myocardial (82)Rb K 1 estimates. RESULTS: Image-derived input functions showed
      improved agreement with arterial measurements after a scale correction. The
      Renkin-Crone model fit (a = 0.77, b = 0.39) was similar to those previously
      published, though b was lower. CONCLUSIONS: We have presented parameter estimates
      for the generalized Renkin-Crone model of extraction for (82)Rb PET using human
      (82)Rb and (15)O-water PET from high-resolution images using a state-of-the-art
      time-of-flight-capable scanner. These results provide a state-of-the-art
      methodology for myocardial blood flow measurement with (82)Rb PET.

PMID- 27650281
TI  - (82)Rb PET imaging of myocardial blood flow-have we achieved the 4 "R"s to
      support routine use?

PMID- 27650282
TI  - Formulation and Evaluation of Fast-Disintegrating Sublingual Tablets of Atropine
      Sulfate: the Effect of Tablet Dimensions and Drug Load on Tablet Characteristics.
AB  - In this study, we formulated and evaluated the effects of tablet dimensions and
      drug load on the characteristics of atropine sulfate (AS) fast-disintegrating
      sublingual tablets (FDSTs). We aim to develop AS FDSTs as an alternative non
      invasive and portable dosage form for the emergency treatment of organophosphate
      (OP) toxicity. AS autoinjector, AtroPen(r), is the only self-administered dosage
      form available as an antidote for-out-of-hospital emergency use, but it is
      associated with several limitations and drawbacks. Seven FDST formulations of two
      tablet sizes, 150 mg (A) and 50 mg (B), and of several AS loads, 0 mg (A1, B1), 2
      mg (A2, B2), 4 mg (B3), and 8 mg (B4a, B4b), were formulated and manufactured by
      direct compression. AS FDST characteristics were evaluated using USP and non-USP
      tests. Results were statistically compared at p < 0.05. All FDSTs passed the USP
      content uniformity and friability tests, disintegrated and released AS in <=30
      and 60 s. B1 and B2 were significantly harder than A1 and A2. Water uptake of A1
      was significantly the highest. However, B1 and B2 had shorter disintegration and
      wetting times and higher amounts of AS dissolved than did A1 and A2 (p < 0.05).
      Increasing AS negatively affected FDST tensile strength (p < 0.05 for B4a) and
      water uptake (p < 0.05 for B3, B4a and B4b), however, without affecting AS
      dissolution. Formulation of AS up to 16% into smaller FDSTs was successful.
      Smaller FDSTs were harder and disintegrated more quickly. These AS FDSTS have the
      potential for further in vivo testing to evaluate their OP antidote potential.

PMID- 27650283
TI  - Effects of amino acid substitutions in hepatitis B virus surface protein on
      virion secretion, antigenicity, HBsAg and viral DNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: As important virological markers, serum hepatitis B surface
      antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels show large fluctuations
      among chronic hepatitis B patients. The aim of this study was to reveal the
      potential impact and mechanisms of amino acid substitutions in small hepatitis B
      surface proteins (SHBs) on serum HBsAg and HBV DNA levels. METHODS: Serum samples
      from 230 untreated chronic hepatitis B patients with genotype C HBV were analyzed
      in terms of HBV DNA levels, serological markers of HBV infection and SHBs
      sequences. In vitro functional analysis of the identified SHBs mutants was
      performed. RESULTS: Among 230 SHBs sequences, there were 39 (16.96%) sequences
      with no mutation detected (wild-type) and 191 (83.04%) with single or multiple
      mutations. SHBs consist of 226 amino acids, of which 104 (46.02%) had mutations
      in our study. Some mutations (e.g., sE2G, sL21S, sR24K, sT47A/K, sC69stop
      (sC69*), sL95W, sL98V, and sG145R) negatively correlated with serum HBsAg levels.
      HBsAg and HBV DNA levels from this group of patients had a positive correlation
      (r=0.61, p<0.001). In vitro analysis showed that these mutations reduced
      extracellular HBsAg and HBV DNA levels by restricting virion secretion and
      antibody binding capacity. Virion secretion could be rescued for sE2G, sC69*, and
      sG145R by co-expression of wild-type HBsAg. CONCLUSION: The serum HBsAg levels
      were lower in untreated CHB patients with novel SHBs mutations outside the major
      antigenic region than those without mutations. Underlying mechanisms include
      impairment of virion secretion and lower binding affinity to antibodies used for
      HBsAg measurements. LAY SUMMARY: The hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is a
      major viral protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) secreted into patient blood
      serum and its quantification value serves as an important marker for the
      evaluation of chronic HBV infection and antiviral response. We found a few new
      amino acid substitutions in HBsAg associated with lower serum HBsAg and HBV DNA
      levels. These different substitutions might impair virion secretion, change the
      ability of HBsAg to bind to antibodies, or impact HBV replication. These could
      all result in decreased detectable levels of serum HBsAg. The factors affecting
      circulating HBsAg level and HBsAg detection are varied and caution is needed when
      interpreting clinical significance of serum HBsAg levels. Clinical trial number:
      NCT01088009.

PMID- 27650284
TI  - Real-time US-CT/MR fusion imaging for percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Although ultrasonography (US) guided radiofrequency ablation
      (RFA) is a commonly used treatment option for early hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC), inconspicuous tumors on US limits its feasibility. Thus, we prospectively
      determined whether real-time US-CT/MR fusion imaging can improve the technical
      feasibility of RFA compared with B-mode US, and help predict local tumor
      progression after RFA in patients with HCC. METHODS: A total of 216 patients with
      243 HCCs ?5cm referred for RFA were prospectively enrolled. Prior to RFA, the
      operators scored the visibility of tumors, and technical feasibility on a 4-point
      scale at both B-mode US and fusion imaging. RFA was performed with a switching
      monopolar system using a separable cluster electrode under fusion imaging
      guidance. Technique effectiveness, local tumor progression and intrahepatic
      remote recurrences were evaluated. RESULTS: Tumor visibility and technical
      feasibility were significantly improved with fusion imaging compared with B-mode
      US (p<0.001). Under fusion imaging guidance, the technique effectiveness of RFA
      for invisible tumors on B-mode US was similar to those for visible tumors (96.1%
      vs. 97.6%, p=0.295). Estimated cumulative incidence of local tumor progression at
      24months was 4.7%, and previous treatment for other hepatic tumors (p=0.01),
      higher expected number of electrode insertions needed and lower technical
      feasibility scores (p<0.01) on fusion imaging were significant negative
      predictive factors for local tumor progression. CONCLUSION: Real-time fusion
      imaging guidance significantly improved the tumor visibility and technical
      feasibility of RFA in patients with HCCs compared with B-mode US, and low
      feasibility scores on fusion imaging was a significant negative predictive factor
      for local tumor progression. LAY SUMMARY: US/CT-MR fusion imaging guidance
      improved the tumor visibility and technical feasibility of RFA in patients with
      HCCs. In addition, fusion imaging guided RFA using multiple electrodes
      demonstrated a high technique effectiveness rate and a low local tumor
      progression rate during mid-term follow-up. Clinical trial number:
      ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02687113.

PMID- 27650285
TI  - HCV reinfection incidence and spontaneous clearance rates in HIV-positive men who
      have sex with men in Western Europe.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Moderate cure rates of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      infections with pegylated interferon and ribavirin have been described in the
      last decade in men who have sex with men (MSM), who are also coinfected with the
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, a subsequent high incidence of HCV
      reinfections has been reported regionally in men who both clear the infection
      spontaneously or who respond to treatment. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of
      reinfections in HIV infected MSM in eight centers from Austria, France, Germany,
      and the UK within the NEAT network between May 2002 and June 2014. RESULTS: Of
      606 individuals who cleared HCV spontaneously or were successfully treated, 149
      (24.6%) presented with a subsequent HCV reinfection. Thirty out of 70 (43%) who
      cleared again or were successfully treated, presented with a second reinfection,
      5 with a third, and one with a fourth reinfection. The reinfection incidence was
      7.3/100 person-years (95% CI 6.2-8.6). We found a trend for lower incidence among
      individuals who had spontaneously cleared their incident infection than among
      individuals who were treated (Hazard ratio 0.62, 95% CI 0.38-1.02, p=0.06).
      Spontaneous clearance of reinfection was associated with ALT levels >1000IU/ml
      and spontaneous clearance of a prior infection. CONCLUSIONS: HCV reinfection is
      an issue of major concern in HIV-positive MSM. Prevention strategies are needed
      for high risk groups to reduce morbidity and treatment costs. HIV-positive MSM
      with a prior HCV infection should be tested every 3 to 6months for reinfection.
      Those who had achieved a reinfection should be tested every 3months. LAY SUMMARY:
      We evaluated the occurrence of HCV reinfection in HIV-positive men who have sex
      with men. We found an alarming incidence of 7.3/100 person-years. Prevention
      measures need to address this specific subgroup of patients at high risk for HCV.

PMID- 27650286
TI  - Epigenetic markers to further understand insulin resistance.
AB  - Epigenetic variation in human adipose tissue has been linked to type 2 diabetes
      and its related risk factors including age and obesity. Insulin resistance, a key
      risk factor for type 2 diabetes, may also be associated with altered DNA
      methylation in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Furthermore, linking
      epigenetic variation in target tissues to similar changes in blood cells may
      identify new blood-based biomarkers. In this issue of Diabetologia, Arner et al
      studied the transcriptome and methylome in subcutaneous and visceral adipose
      tissue of 80 obese women who were either insulin-sensitive or -resistant (DOI
      10.1007/s00125-016-4074-5 ). While they found differences in gene expression
      between the two groups, no alterations in DNA methylation were found after
      correction for multiple testing. Nevertheless, based on nominal p values, their
      methylation data overlapped with methylation differences identified in adipose
      tissue of individuals with type 2 diabetes compared with healthy individuals.
      Differential methylation of these overlapping CpG sites may predispose to
      diabetes by occurring already in the insulin-resistant state. Furthermore, some
      methylation changes may contribute to an inflammatory process in adipose tissue
      since the identified CpG sites were annotated to genes encoding proteins involved
      in inflammation. Finally, the methylation pattern in circulating leucocytes did
      not mirror the adipose tissue methylome of these 80 women. Together, identifying
      novel molecular mechanisms contributing to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
      may help advance the search for new therapeutic alternatives.

PMID- 27650289
TI  - 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality of Life Research.

PMID- 27650288
TI  - Reporting and dealing with missing quality of life data in RCTs: has the picture
      changed in the last decade?
AB  - PURPOSE: Missing data are a major problem in the analysis of data from randomised
      trials affecting power and potentially producing biased treatment effects.
      Specifically focussing on quality of life outcomes, we aimed to report the amount
      of missing data, whether imputation was used and what methods and was the missing
      mechanism discussed from four leading medical journals and compare the picture to
      our previous review nearly a decade ago. METHODS: A random selection (50 %) of
      all RCTS published during 2013-2014 in BMJ, JAMA, Lancet and NEJM was obtained.
      RCTs reported in research letters, cluster RCTs, non-randomised designs, review
      articles and meta-analysis were excluded. RESULTS: We included 87 RCTs in the
      review of which 35 % the amount of missing primary QoL data was unclear, 31 (36
      %) used imputation. Only 23 % discussed the missing data mechanism. Nearly half
      used complete case analysis. Reporting was more unclear for secondary QoL
      outcomes. Compared to the previous review, multiple imputation was used more
      prominently but mainly in sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate reporting
      and handling of missing QoL data in RCTs are still an issue. There is a large gap
      between statistical methods research relating to missing data and the use of the
      methods in applications. A sensitivity analysis should be undertaken to explore
      the sensitivity of the main results to different missing data assumptions.
      Medical journals can help to improve the situation by requiring higher standards
      of reporting and analytical methods to deal with missing data, and by issuing
      guidance to authors on expected standard.

PMID- 27650287
TI  - Reduction in liver fat by dietary MUFA in type 2 diabetes is helped by enhanced
      hepatic fat oxidation.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this work was to investigate hepatic lipid metabolic
      processes possibly involved in the reduction of liver fat content (LF) observed
      in patients with type 2 diabetes after an isoenergetic diet enriched in
      monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). METHODS: This is an ancillary analysis of a
      published study. In a parallel-group design, 30 men and eight women, aged 35-70
      years, with type 2 diabetes and whose blood glucose was controlled satisfactorily
      (HbA1c < 7.5% [58 mmol/mol]) by diet or diet plus metformin, were randomised by
      MINIM software to follow either a high-carbohydrate/high-fibre/low-glycaemic
      index diet (CHO/fibre diet, n = 20) or a high-MUFA diet (MUFA diet, n = 18) for 8
      weeks. The assigned diets were known for the participants and blinded for people
      doing measurements. Before and after intervention, LF was measured by 1H-MRS
      (primary outcome) and indirect indices of de novo lipogenesis (DNL) (serum
      triacylglycerol palmitic:linoleic acid ratio), stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity
      (SCD-1) (serum triacylglycerol palmitoleic:palmitic acid ratio) and hepatic beta
      oxidation of fatty acids (beta-hydroxybutyrate plasma concentrations) were
      measured. RESULTS: LF was reduced by 30% after the MUFA diet, as already
      reported. Postprandial beta-hydroxybutyrate incremental AUC (iAUC) was
      significantly less suppressed after the MUFA diet (n = 16) (-2504 +/- 4488
      MUmol/l * 360 min vs baseline -9021 +/- 6489 MUmol/l * 360 min) while it was
      unchanged after the CHO/fibre diet (n = 17) (-8168 +/- 9827 MUmol/l * 360 min vs
      baseline -7206 +/- 10,005 MUmol/l * 360 min, p = 0.962) (mean +/- SD, p = 0.043).
      In the participants assigned to the MUFA diet, the change in postprandial beta
      hydroxybutyrate iAUC was inversely associated with the change in LF (r = -0.642,
      p = 0.010). DNL and SCD-1 indirect indices did not change significantly after
      either of the dietary interventions. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Postprandial
      hepatic oxidation of fatty acids is a metabolic process possibly involved in the
      reduction of LF by a MUFA-rich diet in patients with type 2 diabetes. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01025856 FUNDING : The study was funded by
      Ministero Istruzione Universita e Ricerca and Italian Minister of Health.

PMID- 27650290
TI  - Improved Bond Strength of Cyanoacrylate Adhesives Through Nanostructured Chromium
      Adhesion Layers.
AB  - The performance of many consumer products suffers due to weak and inconsistent
      bonds formed to low surface energy polymer materials, such as polyolefin-based
      high-density polyethylene (HDPE), with adhesives, such as cyanoacrylate. In this
      letter, we present an industrially relevant means of increasing bond shear
      strength and consistency through vacuum metallization of chromium thin films and
      nanorods, using HDPE as a prototype material and cyanoacrylate as a prototype
      adhesive. For the as received HDPE surfaces, unmodified bond shear strength is
      shown to be only 0.20 MPa with a standard deviation of 14 %. When Cr
      metallization layers are added onto the HDPE at thicknesses of 50 nm or less,
      nanorod-structured coatings outperform continuous films and have a maximum bond
      shear strength of 0.96 MPa with a standard deviation of 7 %. When the
      metallization layer is greater than 50 nm thick, continuous films demonstrate
      greater performance than nanorod coatings and have a maximum shear strength of
      1.03 MPa with a standard deviation of 6 %. Further, when the combination of
      surface roughening with P400 grit sandpaper and metallization is used, 100-nm
      thick nanorod coatings show a tenfold increase in shear strength over the
      baseline, reaching a maximum of 2.03 MPa with a standard deviation of only 3 %.
      The substantial increase in shear strength through metallization, and the
      combination of roughening with metallization, may have wide-reaching implications
      in consumer products which utilize low surface energy plastics. 

PMID- 27650291
TI  - Enhancement of Peroxidase Stability Against Oxidative Self-Inactivation by Co
      immobilization with a Redox-Active Protein in Mesoporous Silicon and Silica
      Microparticles.
AB  - The study of the stability enhancement of a peroxidase immobilized onto
      mesoporous silicon/silica microparticles is presented. Peroxidases tend to get
      inactivated in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, their essential co-substrate,
      following an auto-inactivation mechanism. In order to minimize this inactivation,
      a second protein was co-immobilized to act as an electron acceptor and thus
      increase the stability against self-oxidation of peroxidase. Two heme proteins
      were immobilized into the microparticles: a fungal commercial peroxidase and
      cytochrome c from equine heart. Two types of biocatalysts were prepared: one with
      only covalently immobilized peroxidase (one-protein system) and another based on
      covalent co-immobilization of peroxidase and cytochrome c (two-protein system),
      both immobilized by using carbodiimide chemistry. The amount of immobilized
      protein was estimated spectrophotometrically, and the characterization of the
      biocatalyst support matrix was performed using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET),
      scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX),
      and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses. Stability studies show that co
      immobilization with the two-protein system enhances the oxidative stability of
      peroxidase almost four times with respect to the one-protein system. Thermal
      stability analysis shows that the immobilization of peroxidase in derivatized
      porous silicon microparticles does not protect the protein from thermal
      denaturation, whereas biogenic silica microparticles confer significant thermal
      stabilization. 

PMID- 27650292
TI  - Photoluminescence Quenching and Enhanced Optical Conductivity of P3HT-Derived
      Ho(3+)-Doped ZnO Nanostructures.
AB  - In this article, we demonstrate the surface effect and optoelectronic properties
      of holmium (Ho(3+))-doped ZnO in P3HT polymer nanocomposite. We incorporated
      ZnO:Ho(3+) (0.5 mol% Ho) nanostructures in the pristine P3HT-conjugated polymer
      and systematically studied the effect of the nanostructures on the optical
      characteristics. Detailed UV-Vis spectroscopy analysis revealed enhanced
      absorption coefficient and optical conductivity in the P3HT-ZnO:Ho(3+) film as
      compared to the pristine P3HT. Moreover, the obtained photoluminescence (PL)
      results established the improvement of exciton dissociation as a result of
      ZnO:Ho(3+) nanostructures inclusion. The occurrence of PL quenching is the result
      of enhanced charge transfer due to ZnO:Ho(3+) nanostructures in the polymer,
      whereas energy transfer from ZnO:Ho(3+) to P3HT was verified. Overall, the
      current investigation revealed a systematic tailoring of the optoelectronic
      properties of pristine P3HT after inclusion of ZnO:Ho(3+) nanostructures, thus
      opening brilliant perspectives for applications in various optoelectronic
      devices. 

PMID- 27650293
TI  - Hearing loss in congenital Zika virus.

PMID- 27650294
TI  - Clinical usefulness of pectoral nerve block for the management of zoster
      associated pain: case reports and technical description.
AB  - The recently introduced pectoral nerve (Pecs) block is a simple alterative to the
      conventional thoracic paravertebral block or epidural block for breast surgery.
      It produces excellent analgesia and can be used to provide balanced anesthesia
      and as a rescue block in cases where performing a neuraxial blockade is not
      possible. In the thoracic region, a neuraxial blockade is often used to manage
      zoster-associated pain. However, this can be challenging for physicians due to
      the increased risk of hemodynamic instability in the upper thoracic level, and
      comorbid and contraindicated medical conditions such as coagulopathy. Here, we
      introduce an ultrasound-guided Pecs block for the management of herpes zoster
      associated pain, which could be an effective alternative to other interventional
      options in the thoracic region.

PMID- 27650295
TI  - A randomized, double-blind trial evaluating the efficacy of palonosetron with
      total intravenous anesthesia using propofol and remifentanil for the prevention
      of postoperative nausea and vomiting after gynecologic surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Palonosetron has potent and long-acting antiemetic effects for
      postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). The aim of this study was to
      prospectively evaluate the efficacy of palonosetron when used with total
      intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) using propofol and remifentanil for the prevention
      of PONV in patients undergoing laparoscopic gynecologic surgery. METHODS: This
      prospective double-blind study comprised 100 female American Society of
      Anesthesiologist physical status I and II patients who were undergoing
      laparoscopic gynecologic surgery under TIVA. The patients were randomly assigned
      to two groups-the palonosetron plus TIVA group (palonosetron 0.075 mg i.v., n =
      50) and the TIVA group (normal saline 1.5 ml i.v., n = 50). The treatments were
      given before the induction of anesthesia. The incidence of PONV, severity, number
      of rescue antiemetics, adverse effects, and patient satisfaction during the first
      24 h after surgery were evaluated. RESULTS: The demographic profiles of the
      patients in the two groups were comparable. The overall incidence of PONV (0-24
      h) was significantly lower in the TIVA plus palonosetron group than in the TIVA
      group (34 vs 58 %, p = 0.027). In particular, during the 6-24 h after surgery,
      the incidence of PONV (14 vs 30 %, p = 0.03) and the incidence of moderate to
      severe nausea (6 vs 22 %, p = 0.041) were significantly lower in the TIVA plus
      palonosetron group than in the TIVA group. There were no significant differences
      in adverse effects, use of rescue antiemetics or patient satisfaction.
      CONCLUSION: Combining palonosetron with TIVA can be considered as a good method
      to prevent PONV, not only during the short postoperative period but also
      especially during the 6-24-h period after anesthesia.

PMID- 27650296
TI  - Numerosity perception after size adaptation.
AB  - While some researchers propose the existence of a special numerosity sense,
      others challenge this view and argue that numerosity is derived from low-level
      features as density information. Here, we used size adaptation to manipulate the
      apparent area size of an object set without changing its physical density. After
      size adaptation, two probe patches were shown, each of which contained a specific
      numerosity of dots. Subjects were required to report, which probe patch contained
      more dots. Numerosity perception was compared between conditions where probe
      patches were adapted to appear smaller or larger. Size adaptation affected
      numerosity perception in a logarithmic fashion, increasing with the numerosity in
      the probe patch. No changes in density perception were found after size
      adaptation. Data suggest that size and density information play only a minor role
      in the estimation of low numerosities. In stark contrast, high numerosities
      strongly depend on size and density information. The data reinforce recent claims
      of separate mechanism for the perception of low and high numerosities.

PMID- 27650297
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) is involved in
      toxicity of cell wall stress to Candida albicans.
AB  - The cell wall is an important cell structure in both fungi and bacteria, and
      hence becomes a common antimicrobial target. The cell wall-perturbing agents
      disrupt synthesis and function of cell wall components, leading to cell wall
      stress and consequent cell death. However, little is known about the detailed
      mechanisms by which cell wall stress renders fungal cell death. In this study, we
      found that ROS scavengers drastically attenuated the antifungal effect of cell
      wall-perturbing agents to the model fungal pathogen Candida albicans, and these
      agents caused remarkable ROS accumulation and activation of oxidative stress
      response (OSR) in this fungus. Interestingly, cell wall stress did not cause
      mitochondrial dysfunction and elevation of mitochondrial superoxide levels.
      Furthermore, the iron chelator 2,2'-bipyridyl (BIP) and the hydroxyl radical
      scavengers could not attenuate cell wall stress-caused growth inhibition and ROS
      accumulation. However, cell wall stress up-regulated expression of unfold protein
      response (UPR) genes, enhanced protein secretion and promoted protein folding
      related oxidation of Ero1, an important source of ROS production. These results
      indicated that oxidation of Ero1 in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), rather than
      mitochondrial electron transport and Fenton reaction, contributed to cell wall
      stress-related ROS accumulation and consequent growth inhibition. Our findings
      uncover a novel link between cell wall integrity (CWI), ER function and ROS
      production in fungal cells, and shed novel light on development of strategies
      promoting the antifungal efficacy of cell wall-perturbing agents against fungal
      infections.

PMID- 27650298
TI  - Musculoskeletal services in primary care in the Republic of Ireland: an insight
      into the perspective of physiotherapists.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: With a shift in musculoskeletal physiotherapy from secondary to
      primary care in Ireland, this study aimed to explore physiotherapists'
      experiences of providing musculoskeletal physiotherapy in primary care to gain an
      insight into their changing roles, challenges in service delivery and continuing
      professional development (CPD) needs. DESIGN: Qualitative design using focus
      group interviews. SETTING: Primary care physiotherapy services in the Republic of
      Ireland. PARTICIPANTS: Four focus groups with four junior and 15 senior
      physiotherapists working in a musculoskeletal public primary care setting took
      place nationally, representing an urban and rural case mix. RESULTS:
      Physiotherapists identified significant differences in the provision of
      musculoskeletal physiotherapy services across primary care sites. A number of
      environmental barriers were identified that impacted on service delivery,
      including physical infrastructure, equipment, interaction with acute sites,
      administration support and engagement in CPD. The role of the physiotherapist in
      the context of the broader multidisciplinary team also emerged as a theme, as
      well as the balance between the generalist versus specialist role of the
      physiotherapist in the primary care setting. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable variation
      exists in the provision of physiotherapy, and CPD opportunities and support
      across primary care sites. Future research should focus on pragmatic methods to
      optimise service delivery and patient care in this setting.

PMID- 27650299
TI  - Pathways to Desistance Among Men Convicted of Sexual Offenses: Linking Post Hoc
      Accounts of Offending Behavior and Outcomes.
AB  - Within many sexual offender-specific treatment programs, clients and their
      therapists devote considerable time to understanding "cycles" or "pathways" to
      sexual offending, and clients often need to fit their stories into existing
      offending paradigms. Although this post hoc processing of offending behaviors may
      assist clients in understanding their individual pathway toward crime, we know
      little about how they situate this information within their lives moving forward.
      Relying on in-depth interview data, the current study examined accounts of the
      sexually related crimes that brought 28 men to prison. Analyses suggest varied
      perspectives among the men regarding pathways to and from their sexual offenses;
      some aligning with existing models, but others merging around different
      theoretical frameworks. Implications are discussed as they relate to treatment
      models and the desistance process for men convicted of sexual offenses.

PMID- 27650300
TI  - E-cigarette puffing patterns associated with high and low nicotine e-liquid
      strength: effects on toxicant and carcinogen exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contrary to intuition, use of lower strength nicotine e-liquids might
      not offer reduced health risk if compensatory puffing behaviour occurs.
      Compensatory puffing (e.g. more frequent, longer puffs) or user behaviour
      (increasing the wattage) can lead to higher temperatures at which glycerine and
      propylene glycol (solvents used in e-liquids) undergo decomposition to carbonyl
      compounds, including the carcinogens formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. This study
      aims to document puffing patterns and user behaviour associated with using high
      and low strength nicotine e-liquid and associated toxicant/carcinogen exposure in
      experienced e-cigarette users (known as vapers herein). METHODS/DESIGN: A
      counterbalanced repeated measures design. PARTICIPANTS: Non-tobacco smoking
      vapers; have used an e-cigarette for >=3 months; currently using nicotine
      strength e-liquid >=12mg/mL and a second or third generation device.
      INTERVENTION: This study will measure puffing patterns in vapers whilst they use
      high and low strength nicotine e-liquid under fixed and user-defined settings,
      each for a week. The 4 counterbalanced conditions are: i) low strength (6mg/mL),
      fixed settings; ii) low strength user-defined settings; iii) high strength
      (18mg/mL) fixed settings; iv) high strength user-defined settings. Biomarkers of
      exposure to toxicants and carcinogens will be measured in urine. In the second
      phase of this study, toxicant yields will be measured in aerosol generated using
      a smoking machine operated to replicate the puffing behaviours of each
      participant. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: i) Puffing patterns (mean puff number, puff
      duration, inter-puff interval and mL of liquid consumed) and user behaviour
      (changes to device settings: voltage and air-flow) associated with using high and
      low strength nicotine e-liquid. ii) Toxicant/carcinogen exposure associated with
      the puffing patterns/device settings used by our participants. SECONDARY
      OUTCOMES: i) Subjective effects. ii) comparisons with toxicant exposure from
      tobacco smoke (using documented evidence) and with recommended safety limits.
      SAMPLE SIZE: Twenty participants. DISCUSSION: The findings will have important
      implications for public health messaging regarding the relative risks and
      subjective effects associated with using high and low strength nicotine e-liquid,
      and for policy makers regarding regulations on nicotine concentrations in e
      liquids.

PMID- 27650301
TI  - Forensic age estimation based on magnetic resonance imaging of third molars:
      converting 2D staging into 3D staging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Established methods to stage development of third molars for forensic
      age estimation are based on the evaluation of radiographs, which show a 2D
      projection. It has not been investigated whether these methods require any
      adjustments in order to apply them to stage third molars on magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI), which shows 3D information. AIM: To prospectively study root stage
      assessment of third molars in age estimation using 3 Tesla MRI and to compare
      this with panoramic radiographs, in order to provide considerations for
      converting 2D staging into 3D staging and to determine the decisive root.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All third molars were evaluated in 52 healthy participants
      aged 14-26 years using MRI in three planes. Three staging methods were
      investigated by two observers. In sixteen of the participants, MRI findings were
      compared with findings on panoramic radiographs. RESULTS: Decisive roots were
      palatal in upper third molars and distal in lower third molars. Fifty-seven per
      cent of upper third molars were not assessable on the radiograph, while 96.9%
      were on MRI. Upper third molars were more difficult to evaluate on radiographs
      than on MRI (p < .001). Lower third molars were equally assessable on both
      imaging techniques (93.8% MRI, 98.4% radiograph), with no difference in level of
      difficulty (p = .375). Inter- and intra-observer agreement for evaluation was
      higher in MRI than in radiographs. In both imaging techniques lower third molars
      showed greater inter- and intra-observer agreement compared to upper third
      molars. MR images in the sagittal plane proved to be essential for staging.
      CONCLUSION: In age estimation, 3T MRI of third molars could be valuable. Some
      considerations are, however, necessary to transfer known staging methods to this
      3D technique.

PMID- 27650302
TI  - Medical literature has seen a positive evolution of transparency.

PMID- 27650303
TI  - The impact of high-density lipoprotein on oxidant-antioxidant balance in healthy
      elderly people.
AB  - INTRODUCTION    There is an inverse relationship between high-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and the risk of atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVES    The aim
      of the present study was to assess the oxidant-antioxidant balance in elderly
      people with different concentrations of HDL-C. PATIENTS AND METHODS    A total of
      541 people aged 60 years or older were examined, of whom 90 individuals with no
      acute or severe chronic disorders had their waist circumference, body mass index,
      percentage of body fat, and blood pressure measured. Fasting and 120-minute
      glycemia was determined in an oral glucose tolerance test, following which 15
      patients with type 2 diabetes were excluded. Fasting plasma levels of lipids,
      total antioxidant status, and thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances (TBARS), as
      well ast the activity of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD-1) were
      assessed. Based on HDL-C levels, participants were divided into the high HDL-C
      group (>=40.0 mg/dl and >=50.0 mg/dl for men and women, respectively; n = 50) and
      the low HDL-C group (<40.0 mg/dl and <50.0 mg/dl for men and women, respectively;
      n = 25). RESULTS    The groups did not differ in terms of age, blood pressure,
      body mass index, percentage of body fat, and glucose concentration. The high HDL
      C group had lower waist circumference (P <0.02) and lower triglyceride
      concentrations (P <0.00001). Increased TBARS levels (P <0.0005) was observed in
      the low HDL-C group. There were no differences in SOD-1 activity and total
      antioxidant status between the groups. CONCLUSIONS    HDL-C levels, which are
      known to reflect the antiatherogenic activity of HDL, including antioxidant
      properties, may indicate increasing oxidative stress in healthy elderly
      individuals.

PMID- 27650304
TI  - Expected ozone benefits of reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from coal
      fired electricity generating units in the eastern United States.
AB  - : On hot summer days in the eastern United States, electricity demand rises,
      mainly because of increased use of air conditioning. Power plants must provide
      this additional energy, emitting additional pollutants when meteorological
      conditions are primed for poor air quality. To evaluate the impact of summertime
      NOx emissions from coal-fired electricity generating units (EGUs) on surface
      ozone formation, we performed a series of sensitivity modeling forecast scenarios
      utilizing EPA 2018 version 6.0 emissions (2011 base year) and CMAQ v5.0.2. Coal
      fired EGU NOx emissions were adjusted to match the lowest NOx rates observed
      during the ozone seasons (April 1-October 31) of 2005-2012 (Scenario A), where
      ozone decreased by 3-4 ppb in affected areas. When compared to the highest
      emissions rates during the same time period (Scenario B), ozone increased ~4-7
      ppb. NOx emission rates adjusted to match the observed rates from 2011 (Scenario
      C) increased ozone by ~4-5 ppb. Finally in Scenario D, the impact of additional
      NOx reductions was determined by assuming installation of selective catalytic
      reduction (SCR) controls on all units lacking postcombustion controls; this
      decreased ozone by an additional 2-4 ppb relative to Scenario A. Following the
      announcement of a stricter 8-hour ozone standard, this analysis outlines a
      strategy that would help bring coastal areas in the mid-Atlantic region closer to
      attainment, and would also provide profound benefits for upwind states where most
      of the regional EGU NOx originates, even if additional capital investments are
      not made (Scenario A). IMPLICATIONS: With the 8-hr maximum ozone National Ambient
      Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) decreasing from 75 to 70 ppb, modeling results
      indicate that use of postcombustion controls on coal-fired power plants in 2018
      could help keep regions in attainment. By operating already existing nitrogen
      oxide (NOx) removal devices to their full potential, ozone could be significantly
      curtailed, achieving ozone reductions by up to 5 ppb in areas around the source
      of emission and immediately downwind. Ozone improvements are also significant (1
      2 ppb) for areas affected by cross-state transport, especially Mid-Atlantic coast
      regions that had struggled to meet the 75 ppb standard.

PMID- 27650305
TI  - Recent developments in drug-eluting dressings for the treatment of chronic
      wounds.

PMID- 27650306
TI  - Near-Atomic Three-Dimensional Mapping for Site-Specific Chemistry of 'Superbugs'.
AB  - Emergence of multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria has caused a global
      health crisis and last-line class of antibiotics such as polymyxins are
      increasingly used. The chemical composition at the cell surface plays a key role
      in antibiotic resistance. Unlike imaging the cellular ultrastructure with well
      developed electron microscopy, the acquisition of a high-resolution chemical map
      of the bacterial surface still remains a technological challenge. In this study,
      we developed an atom probe tomography (APT) analysis approach to acquire mass
      spectra in the pulsed-voltage mode and reconstructed the 3D chemical distribution
      of atoms and molecules in the subcellular domain at the near-atomic scale. Using
      focused ion beam (FIB) milling together with micromanipulation, site-specific
      samples were retrieved from a single cell of Acinetobacter baumannii prepared as
      needle-shaped tips with end radii less than 60 nm, followed by a nanoscale
      coating of silver in the order of 10 nm. The significantly elevated conductivity
      provided by the metallic coating enabled successful and routine field evaporation
      of the biological material, with all the benefits of pulsed-voltage APT. In
      parallel with conventional cryo-TEM imaging, our novel approach was applied to
      investigate polymyxin-susceptible and -resistant strains of A. baumannii after
      treatment of polymyxin B. Acquired atom probe mass spectra from the cell envelope
      revealed characteristic fragments of phosphocholine from the polymyxin
      susceptible strain, but limited signals from this molecule were detected in the
      polymyxin-resistant strain. This study promises unprecedented capacity for 3D
      nanoscale imaging and chemical mapping of bacterial cells at the ultimate 3D
      spatial resolution using APT.

PMID- 27650307
TI  - Delivery of cardio-metabolic preventive services to Hungarian Roma of different
      socio-economic strata.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because the cardiovascular mortality in Hungary is high, particularly
      among the socio-economically deprived and the Roma, it is implied that primary
      health care (PHC) has a limited ability to exploit the opportunities of evidence
      based preventions, and it may contribute to social health inequalities.
      OBJECTIVES: Our study investigated the underuse of PHC preventive services.
      METHODS: Random samples of adults aged 21-64 years free of hypertension and
      diabetes mellitus were surveyed with participation rate of 97.7% in a cross
      sectional study. Data from 2199 adults were collected on socio-demographic
      status, ethnicity, lifestyle and history of cardio-metabolic preventive service
      use. Delivery rates were calculated for those aged 21-44 years and those aged 45
      64 years, and the influence of socio-demographic variables was determined using
      multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Delivery rates varied between 12.79%
      and 99.06%, and the majority was far from 100%. Although most preventive service
      use was independent of education, younger participants with vocational educations
      underutilized problematic drinking (P = 0.011) and smoking (P = 0.027)
      assessments, and primary or less educated underutilized blood glucose (P = 0.001)
      and serum cholesterol (P = 0.005) checks. Health care measures of each lifestyle
      assessment (P nutrition = 0.032; P smoking = 0.021; P alcohol = 0.029) and waist
      circumference measurement (P = 0.047) were much less frequently used among older
      Roma. The blood glucose check (P = 0.001) and family history assessment (P =
      0.043) were less utilized among Roma. CONCLUSIONS: The Hungarian PHC
      underutilizes the cardio-metabolic prevention contributing to the avoidable
      mortality, not generating considerably health inequalities by level of education,
      but contributing to the bad health status among the Roma.

PMID- 27650308
TI  - A systematic review of women's and health professional's attitudes and experience
      of preconception care service delivery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The value and importance of preconception care (PCC) have been
      acknowledged by leading health organizations as a vital element within preventive
      medicine and health promotion for the wider population. The translation of PCC
      from position statement to relevant service and programme delivery is essential
      for the benefits of PCC to be realized and relies on insights from health
      services research. This article aims to review contemporary health services
      research literature examining women's and health professionals' perceptions and
      experiences of PCC services. METHODS: A systematic review of original research
      published between 2003 and 2015 was conducted in November 2015. Multiple
      databases (PubMed, CINAHL, AMED and Maternity and Infant Care) were searched
      through two distinct searches to capture research literature reporting the
      perspective of health professionals and women towards PCC service delivery.
      RESULTS: The search identified 13 papers (4 reported the perceptions of women, 11
      described the views of health professionals [2 papers reported findings from both
      groups]). The analyses of the contemporary literature revealed five broad areas
      of focus: women's service needs regarding PCC, PCC training and education
      requirements, role delineation around PCC, priority and value of PCC and barriers
      and obstacles to PCC. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the mounting evidence supporting the
      value and importance of PCC, there is insufficient research attention given to
      the clinical reality of PCC service and programme delivery. The transfer of PCC
      guidelines from broad policy to grass roots practice requires a more detailed
      consideration of the practicalities of implementing PCC within contemporary
      women's health care.

PMID- 27650309
TI  - Reply to "A Novel 'Dilute-and-Shoot' Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass
      Spectrometry Method for the Screening of Antihypertensive Drugs in Urine".

PMID- 27650311
TI  - Response to Kinnell letter.

PMID- 27650310
TI  - An Acute Ocfentanil Fatality: A Case Report with Postmortem Concentrations.
AB  - A 24-year-old man known to consume illegal drugs was found dead in his apartment.
      A reclosable plastic zipper bag containing several hundred milligrams of a brown
      powder was found close to the dead body and the first assumption of the
      investigators was death due to heroin intoxication. Therefore, a legal autopsy
      was ordered. The following toxicological analysis revealed ocfentanil in urine
      and in the brown powder. Four different approaches for the determination of the
      ocfentanil concentrations in peripheral whole blood are described. Enrichment of
      ocfentanil from the powder was realized. With this reference, it was possible to
      determine the ocfentanil concentration in the seized powder to be 0.91%.
      Concentrations of ocfentanil were also determined in the sampled body fluids
      using the standard addition procedure. In peripheral blood 9.1 ug/L, in heart
      blood 27.9 ug/L and in urine 480 ug/L were measured. In addition, the
      antidepressant citalopram, the neuroleptic quetiapine and cannabinoids were found
      in urine and subsequently quantified in peripheral blood.

PMID- 27650312
TI  - Highly Productive and Enantioselective Enzyme Catalysis under Continuous
      Supported Liquid-Liquid Conditions Using a Hybrid Monolithic Bioreactor.
AB  - Enzyme-containing ionic liquids (ILs) were immobilized in cellulose-2.5-acetate
      microbeads particles embedded in a porous monolithic polyurethane matrix. This
      bioreactor was used under continuous liquid-liquid conditions by dissolving the
      substrates in a nonpolar organic phase immiscible with the ILs, thereby creating
      a biphasic system. Lipases (candida antarctica lipase B, CALB, candida rugosa
      lipase, CRL) were used to catalyze the enantioselective transesterification of
      racemic (R,S)-1-phenylethanol with vinyl butyrate and vinyl acetate, the
      esterification of (+/-)-2-isopropyl-5-methylcyclohexanol with propionic anhydride
      and the amidation of (R,S)-1-phenylethylamine with ethyl methoxyacetate. With
      this unique setup, very high productivities, that is, turnover numbers (TONs) up
      to 5.1*106 and space-time yields (STYs) up to 28 g product L-1  h-1 , exceeding
      the corresponding values for batch-type reactions by a factor of 3100 and 40,
      respectively, were achieved while maintaining or even enhancing
      enantioselectivity compared to batch reactions via kinetic resolution. To our
      best knowledge, this is the first continuously operated bioreactor using
      supported liquid-liquid conditions that shows these features in the synthesis of
      chiral esters and amides.

PMID- 27650314
TI  - Nuclear actin modulates cell motility via transcriptional regulation of adhesive
      and cytoskeletal genes.
AB  - The actin cytoskeleton is a classic biomechanical mediator of cell migration.
      While it is known that actin also shuttles in and out of the nucleus, its
      functions within this compartment remain poorly understood. In this study, we
      investigated how nuclear actin regulates keratinocyte gene expression and cell
      behavior. Gene expression profiling of normal HaCaT keratinocytes compared to
      HaCaTs over-expressing wild-type beta-actin or beta-actin tagged with a nuclear
      localization sequence (NLS-actin), identified multiple adhesive and cytoskeletal
      genes, such as MYL9, ITGB1, and VCL, which were significantly down-regulated in
      keratinocytes with high levels of nuclear actin. In addition, genes associated
      with transcriptional regulation and apoptosis were up-regulated in cells over
      expressing NLS-actin. Functionally, accumulation of actin in the nucleus altered
      cytoskeletal and focal adhesion organization and inhibited cell motility.
      Exclusion of endogenous actin from the nucleus by knocking down Importin 9
      reversed this phenotype and enhanced cell migration. Based on these findings, we
      conclude that the level of actin in the nucleus is a transcriptional regulator
      for tuning keratinocyte migration.

PMID- 27650315
TI  - Electrocardiographic early repolarization characteristics and clinical
      presentations in the young: a benign finding or worrisome marker for arrhythmias.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The early ECG repolarization QRS pattern (ERp), with J-point
      elevation of 0.1 mV in two contiguous inferior and/or lateral leads, can be
      associated with ventricular arrhythmias among adults. The significance of an ERp
      in the young is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the
      prevalence of ERp among young patients (pts), describe and correlate the
      characteristics with clinical presentations and any arrhythmias. METHODS: This
      was a 1 y retrospective review of ECGs obtained from patients referred
      specifically for documented arrhythmias, possible arrhythmia-related symptoms or
      sports clearance. ECGs were analyzed for ERp (J-point, ascending/horizontal
      patterns, location) and correlated with presenting complaints. RESULTS: Of 301
      patient ECGs, an ERp was found in 177 (59%), (pts age 11.7 +/- 4.3 y); 54% male;
      23% Caucasian. Of these, 6 pts had a family history of sudden cardiac death.
      Arrhythmias (72% atrial) occurred in 22 pts. Only 3 pts had ventricular
      arrhythmias (1 successfully ablated). The ascending ST segment and elevated J
      point occurred in 77% and 51% of pts with and without arrhythmias respectively.
      In 73% of all pts, the ERp location was in inferior/lateral leads. Neither
      gender, ethnicity, large J-point, lead location, nor the combination of a
      horizontal ST segment with large J-point correlated with any arrhythmias.
      CONCLUSIONS: ERp, especially the diffuse ascending pattern, is common among the
      young, in those of European ethnicity, found equally in both genders, and with no
      apparent correlation with atrial nor ventricular arrhythmias.

PMID- 27650316
TI  - DBSecSys 2.0: a database of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei
      secretion systems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei are the causative agents of
      glanders and melioidosis, respectively, diseases with high morbidity and
      mortality rates. B. mallei and B. pseudomallei are closely related genetically;
      B. mallei evolved from an ancestral strain of B. pseudomallei by genome reduction
      and adaptation to an obligate intracellular lifestyle. Although these two
      bacteria cause different diseases, they share multiple virulence factors,
      including bacterial secretion systems, which represent key components of
      bacterial pathogenicity. Despite recent progress, the secretion system proteins
      for B. mallei and B. pseudomallei, their pathogenic mechanisms of action, and
      host factors are not well characterized. RESULTS: We previously developed a
      manually curated database, DBSecSys, of bacterial secretion system proteins for
      B. mallei. Here, we report an expansion of the database with corresponding
      information about B. pseudomallei. DBSecSys 2.0 contains comprehensive literature
      based and computationally derived information about B. mallei ATCC 23344 and
      literature-based and computationally derived information about B. pseudomallei
      K96243. The database contains updated information for 163 B. mallei proteins from
      the previous database and 61 additional B. mallei proteins, and new information
      for 281 B. pseudomallei proteins associated with 5 secretion systems, their 1,633
      human- and murine-interacting targets, and 2,400 host-B. mallei interactions and
      2,286 host-B. pseudomallei interactions. The database also includes information
      about 13 pathogenic mechanisms of action for B. mallei and B. pseudomallei
      secretion system proteins inferred from the available literature or
      computationally. Additionally, DBSecSys 2.0 provides details about 82 virulence
      attenuation experiments for 52 B. mallei secretion system proteins and 98
      virulence attenuation experiments for 61 B. pseudomallei secretion system
      proteins. We updated the Web interface and data access layer to speed-up users'
      search of detailed information for orthologous proteins related to secretion
      systems of the two pathogens. CONCLUSIONS: The updates of DBSecSys 2.0 provide
      unique capabilities to access comprehensive information about secretion systems
      of B. mallei and B. pseudomallei. They enable studies and comparisons of
      corresponding proteins of these two closely related pathogens and their host
      interacting partners. The database is available at http://dbsecsys.bhsai.org .

PMID- 27650313
TI  - The NLRP3 inflammasome in pathogenic particle and fibre-associated lung
      inflammation and diseases.
AB  - The concept of the inflammasome, a macromolecular complex sensing cell stress or
      danger signals and initiating inflammation, was first introduced approximately a
      decade ago. Priming and activation of these intracellular protein platforms
      trigger the maturation of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, most
      notably, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-18, to promulgate innate immune
      defenses. Although classically studied in models of gout, Type II diabetes,
      Alzheimer's disease, and multiple sclerosis, the importance and mechanisms of
      action of inflammasome priming and activation have recently been elucidated in
      cells of the respiratory tract where they modulate the responses to a number of
      inhaled pathogenic particles and fibres. Most notably, inflammasome activation
      appears to regulate the balance between tissue repair and inflammation after
      inhalation of pathogenic pollutants such as asbestos, crystalline silica (CS),
      and airborne particulate matter (PM). Different types of fibres and particles may
      have distinct mechanisms of inflammasome interaction and outcome. This review
      summarizes the structure and function of inflammasomes, the interplay between
      various chemokines and cytokines and cell types of the lung and pleura after
      inflammasome activation, and the events leading to the development of non
      malignant (allergic airway disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD), asbestosis, silicosis) and malignant (mesothelioma, lung cancer) diseases
      by pathogenic particulates. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of
      communication between cells of the immune system, target cells of these diseases,
      and components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in regulation of inflammasome
      mediated events.

PMID- 27650317
TI  - Identification of molecular markers for oocyte competence in bovine cumulus
      cells.
AB  - Cumulus cells (CCs) have an important role during oocyte growth, competence
      acquisition, maturation, ovulation and fertilization. In an attempt to isolate
      potential biomarkers for bovine in vitro fertilization, we identified genes
      differentially expressed in bovine CCs from oocytes with different competence
      statuses, through microarray analysis. The model of follicle size, in which
      competent cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were recovered from bigger follicles
      (>=8.0 mm in diameter) and less competent ones from smaller follicles (1-3 mm),
      was used. We identified 4178 genes that were differentially expressed (P < 0.05)
      in the two categories of CCs. The list was further enriched, through the use of a
      2.5-fold change in gene expression as a cutoff value, to include 143 up-regulated
      and 80 down-regulated genes in CCs of competent COCs compared to incompetent
      COCs. These genes were screened according to their cellular roles, most of which
      were related to cell cycle, DNA repair, energy metabolism, metabolism of amino
      acids, cell signaling, meiosis, ovulation and inflammation. Three candidate genes
      up-regulated (FGF11, IGFBP4, SPRY1) and three down-regulated (ARHGAP22, COL18A1
      and GPC4) in CCs from COCs of big follicles (>=8.1 mm) were selected for qPCR
      analysis. The selected genes showed the same expression patterns by qPCR and
      microarray analysis. These genes may be potential genetic markers that predict
      oocyte competence in in vitro fertilization routines.

PMID- 27650319
TI  - HOXA5 localization in postnatal and adult mouse brain is suggestive of regulatory
      roles in postmitotic neurons.
AB  - Hoxa5 is a member of the Hox gene family, which plays critical roles in
      successive steps of the central nervous system formation during embryonic and
      fetal development. Hoxa5 expression in the adult mouse brain has been reported,
      suggesting that this gene may be functionally required in the brain after birth.
      To provide further insight into the Hoxa5 expression pattern and potential
      functions in the brain, we have characterized its neuroanatomical profile from
      embryonic stages to adulthood. While most Hox mapping studies have been based
      solely on transcript analysis, we extended our analysis to HOXA5 protein
      localization in adulthood using specific antibodies. Our results show that Hoxa5
      expression appears in the most caudal part of the hindbrain at fetal stages,
      where it is maintained until adulthood. In the medulla oblongata and pons, we
      detected Hoxa5 expression in many precerebellar neurons and in several nuclei
      implicated in the control of autonomic functions. In these territories, the HOXA5
      protein is present solely in neurons, specifically in gamma-aminobutyric acid
      (GABA)ergic, glutamatergic, and catecholaminergic neurons. Finally, we also
      detected Hoxa5 transcripts, but not the HOXA5 protein, in the thalamus and the
      cortex, from postnatal stages to adult stages, and in the cerebellum at
      adulthood. We provide evidence that some larger variants of Hoxa5 transcripts are
      present in these territories. Our mapping analysis allowed us to build hypotheses
      regarding HOXA5 functions in the nervous system after birth, such as a potential
      role in the establishment and refinement/plasticity of precerebellar circuits
      during postnatal and adult life. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:1155-1175, 2017. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650318
TI  - Helitron-like transposons contributed to the mating system transition from out
      crossing to self-fertilizing in polyploid Brassica napus L.
AB  - The mating system transition in polyploid Brassica napus (AACC) from out-crossing
      to selfing is a typical trait to differentiate it from their diploid progenitors.
      Elucidating the mechanism of mating system transition has profound consequences
      for understanding the speciation and evolution in B. napus. Functional
      complementation experiment has shown that the insertion of 3.6 kb into the
      promoter of self-incompatibility male determining gene, BnSP11-1 leads to its
      loss of function in B. napus. The inserted fragment was found to be a non
      autonomous Helitron transposon. Further analysis showed that the inserted 3.6 kb
      non-autonomous Helitron transposon was widely distributed in B. napus accessions
      which contain the S haplotype BnS-1. Through promoter deletion analysis, an
      enhancer and a putative cis-regulatory element (TTCTA) that were required for
      spatio-temporal specific expression of BnSP11-1 were identified, and both might
      be disrupted by the insertion of Helitron transposon. We suggested that the
      insertion of Helitron transposons in the promoter of BnSP11-1 gene had altered
      the mating system and might facilitated the speciation of B. napus. Our findings
      have profound consequences for understanding the self-compatibility in B. napus
      as well as for the trait variations during evolutionary process of plant
      polyploidization.

PMID- 27650320
TI  - Effectiveness of the 'Home-but not Alone' mobile health application educational
      programme on parental outcomes: a randomized controlled trial, study protocol.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to describe a study protocol that evaluates the
      effectiveness of the 'Home-but not Alone' educational programme delivered via a
      mobile health application in improving parenting outcomes. BACKGROUND: The
      development in mobile-based technology gives us the opportunity to develop an
      accessible educational programme that can be potentially beneficial to new
      parents. However, there is a scarcity of theory-based educational programmes that
      have incorporated technology such as a mobile health application in the early
      postpartum period. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial with a two-group pre
      test and post-test design. METHODS: The data will be collected from 118 couples.
      Eligible parents will be randomly allocated to either a control group (receiving
      routine care) or an intervention group (routine care plus access to the 'Home-but
      not Alone' mobile health application. Outcome measures comprise of parenting self
      efficacy, social support, parenting satisfaction and postnatal depression. Data
      will be collected at the baseline (on the day of discharge) and at four weeks
      postpartum. DISCUSSION: This will be an empirical study that evaluates a theory
      based educational programme delivered via an innovative mobile health application
      on parental outcomes. Results from this study will enhance parenting self
      efficacy, social support and parenting satisfaction, which may then reduce
      parental risks of postnatal depression.

PMID- 27650321
TI  - Composition of seminal plasma and ovarian fluid in Ide Leuciscus idus and
      Northern pike Esox lucius.
AB  - Seminal plasma (SP) and ovarian fluid (OF) plays an important role as storage
      media to prevent the activation of gametes both in vivo and under artificial
      conditions. The objectives of this study were to quantify gamete biochemistry and
      explore correlations among quantitative characteristics of SP, OF and sperm
      performance traits of Ide Leuciscus idus and Northern pike Esox lucius.
      Generally, Na+ , K+ and Cl- were found to be the most dominating ions, although
      concentrations of K+ were higher in SP, while Na+ and Cl- concentrations were
      higher in OF for both species. Several significant correlations among the
      biochemical properties such as total protein, glucose, osmolality, cholesterol,
      K+ , Ca2+ , Cl- and Mg2+ were observed for SP and OF. Total protein content of
      Ide SP was positively correlated with sperm activity traits (r >= .89, p <= .05),
      while K+ concentration was negatively correlated with sperm traits (r >= -.89, p
      <= .05). Moreover, Ca2+ concentration in Northern pike SP was positively
      correlated with the percentage of sperm motility (r = . 98, p < .01). In
      conclusion, these results can be used to better understand the biochemistry of SP
      and OF, improve methods for short- and long-term storage of gametes and
      standardize fertilization protocols.

PMID- 27650322
TI  - The turbinal flap: an additional option for anterior skull base reconstruction.
      Cadaveric feasibility study and case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, the treatment of complex intradural and
      extradural pathologies via expanded endonasal approaches has been made possible
      by progresses and refinements in skull base reconstruction techniques. The aim of
      this anatomic study is to describe a novel endonasal flap, the turbinal flap
      (TF), based on the middle and superior turbinate mucosa and pedicled on the
      ethmoidal arteries system. METHODS: Three fresh-frozen (6 sides) cadaver heads
      previously injected with colored silicone were dissected. A step-by-step
      description of the surgical technique is provided. Vascularization of the TF and
      its range of possibilities to cover anterior skull base defects were studied.
      Flap dimensions and area were measured. A case report where the TF was
      successfully used is also described. RESULTS: The TF was adequate to repair
      defects along the entire ethmoid roof. Its pedicle along the skull base was 3.0
      cm in length and sagittally oriented. Mean measures of the TF were 3.4 cm
      (anterior height), 5.5 cm (posterior height), and 4.8 cm (inferior length). Its
      mean area was 8.6 cm2 . The flap was supplied by rich network of vessels. A
      demonstrative case of anterior skull base repair after the endoscopic resection
      of meningocephalocele of the ethmoid roof is reported. CONCLUSION: The main
      indication for the TF is the repair of anterior skull base defects involving the
      ethmoid roof. Its advantages include the double pedicle, rich vascularization,
      autonomy from the maxillary artery system, and preservation of the olfactory
      mucosa.

PMID- 27650325
TI  - Ushering in an Era Where No Group Who Wants to Be Treated Should Be Excluded.

PMID- 27650324
TI  - Comparison of Tissue Elastography With Magnetic Resonance Imaging T2* and Serum
      Ferritin Quantification in Detecting Liver Iron Overload in Patients With
      Thalassemia Major.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: We investigated whether tissue elastography (TE) can be used
      as an alternative to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2* analysis to determine
      the degree of iron overload in patients with thalassemia major. METHODS: We
      conducted a prospective study of 154 patients (99 male; mean age, 12 +/- 3.6
      years) with thalassemia major requiring chronic blood transfusion and on iron
      chelator therapy. The study was performed at a tertiary hospital in India from
      January 2015 through June 2015. We performed routine blood sample analyses,
      measurements of serum levels of ferritin, and TE within 1 month of MRI T2*
      analysis of the liver. The Spearman correlation test and linear regression
      analysis were used to evaluate the correlation between TE liver stiffness
      measurements and R2* MRI results or serum ferritin levels. RESULTS: The subjects'
      mean total serum levels of bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate
      aminotransferase, and albumin were 1.4 +/- 0.6 mg/dL, 65.0 +/- 51.8 IU/L, 62.9 +/
      44 IU/L, and 4.2 +/- 0.2 g/d, respectively. Mean liver stiffness measurement,
      MRI T2* (3 T), corresponding MRI R2* (3 T), and ferritin values were 8.2 +/- 4.4
      kPa, 3.18 +/- 2.6 milliseconds, 617.3 +/- 549 Hz, and 4712 +/- 3301 ng/mL,
      respectively. On the basis of MRI analysis, 67 patients (43.5%) had mild iron
      overload, 49 patients (31.8%) had moderate iron overload, and 22 patients (14.3%)
      had severe iron overload. Fibroscan liver stiffness measurements correlated with
      MRI R2* values (r = 0.85; P < .001). TE results identified the patients with
      severe, moderate, and mild iron overload with area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve values of 94.8%, 84.5%, and 84.7%, respectively. Liver
      stiffness measurements greater than 13.5, 7.8, and 5.5 kPa identified patients
      with severe, moderate, and mild iron overload, respectively; the sensitivity and
      specificity values were 92% and 93% for severe overload, 82% and 82% for moderate
      overload, and 73% and 75% for mild overload. No correlation was found between TE
      results and serum level of ferritin (r = 0.19; P = .11). CONCLUSIONS: Results of
      TE correlate with those from MRI T2* analysis. TE is cheaper and more available
      than MRI and might be used to estimate hepatic iron overload, especially moderate
      to severe overload in patients with thalassemia major who require chronic
      transfusion.

PMID- 27650323
TI  - Development and application of a novel recombinant Aleuria aurantia lectin with
      enhanced core fucose binding for identification of glycoprotein biomarkers of
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL) derived from orange peel fungus contains five
      fucose-binding sites that recognizes fucose bound in alpha-1,2, alpha-1,3, alpha
      1,4, and alpha-1,6 linkages to N-acetylglucosamine and galactose. Recently, we
      have created several recombinant AAL (rAAL) proteins that had altered binding
      affinity to fucose linkages. In this report, we further characterize the binding
      specificity of one of the mutated lectins, N224Q lectin. This lectin was
      characterized by lectin Western blotting, surface plasmon resonance, and glycan
      microarray and shown to have increased binding to fucosylated glycan.
      Subsequently, we used this lectin to identify secreted fucosylated glycoproteins
      from a fetal hepatic cell line. Proteomic analysis revealed several glycoproteins
      secreted by the fetal cell line that were bound by N224Q lectin. These findings
      were confirmed by subsequent proteomic analysis of human serum from control
      patients or patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. These represent candidate
      oncofetal markers for liver cancer.

PMID- 27650326
TI  - Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents for Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1
      Infection Are Cost-Saving.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are effective in treatment of
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, but their cost and value have been
      debated. We performed a systematic review of published cost-effectiveness
      analyses of DAAs, synthesized their results with updated drug prices, and
      calculated the maximum price at which DAA therapy for HCV genotype 1 infection is
      cost-effective (increased quality-adjusted life-years [QALYs] and increased cost
      that the society is willing to pay) and cost-saving (increased QALYs and
      decreased costs). METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the PubMed,
      Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library, EconLit, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of
      Effects, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, Health Technology
      Assessment, and Tufts University databases for cost-effectiveness analyses
      published from 2011 through 2015. Our analysis included cost effectiveness of
      DAAs versus previous standard-of-care regimens (peginterferon and ribavirin,
      boceprevir and telaprevir), or no treatment, performed for patients with HCV
      genotype 1 infection. We excluded studies that were not written in English or
      those that did not report QALYs. Reported incremental cost-effectiveness ratios
      (ICERs) and treatment costs for each comparison were extracted; the threshold
      price was estimated for each analysis in which regimens were found to be cost
      effective (ICER <=$100,000/QALY) or cost-saving (ICER <$0), those that decreased
      costs and increased QALYs. RESULTS: We identified 24 cost-effectiveness studies
      that reported 170 ICERs for combinations of 11 drugs, from 11 countries. Of
      those, 81 ICERs were determined for first-generation DAAs (boceprevir and
      telaprevir) and 89 ICERs were determined for second-generation DAAs (drugs
      approved after the first-generation DAAs) as a primary intervention. The median
      threshold prices at which first-generation and second-generation DAAs became cost
      effective were estimated as $120,100 (interquartile range, $90,700-$176,800) and
      $227,200 (interquartile range, $142,800-$355,800), respectively. At the
      discounted price of $60,000, a total of 71% of the analyses found second
      generation DAAs to be cost-saving and 22% to be cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS: In a
      systematic review, we found treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection with second
      generation DAAs to be cost-effective when they cost less than and $227,200; these
      drugs produced cost savings at current discounts.

PMID- 27650327
TI  - Reply.

PMID- 27650329
TI  - Enhanced in utero allogeneic engraftment in mice after mobilizing fetal HSCs by
      alpha4beta1/7 inhibition.
AB  - In utero hematopoietic cell transplantation (IUHCT) is a novel nonmyeloablative
      approach that results in donor-specific tolerance and mixed allogeneic chimerism.
      Clinical application is limited by low levels of donor cell engraftment.
      Competition from endogenous hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for limited "space"
      in fetal hematopoietic organs remains a significant barrier to successful IUHCT.
      AMD3100, a CXCR4 inhibitor, and firategrast, an alpha4beta1 and alpha4beta7
      integrin inhibitor (alpha4beta1/7), have been shown to disrupt HSC retention in
      the postnatal hematopoietic niche. We hypothesized that maternal administration
      of AMD3100 and/or firategrast prior to IUHCT would mobilize endogenous HSCs from
      the fetal liver (FL) and result in preferential FL homing of donor HSCs and
      enhanced long-term engraftment following IUHCT in an allogeneic mouse model. We
      demonstrate that (1) both agents cross the placenta with rapidly detectable fetal
      serum concentrations following maternal administration; (2) firategrast treatment
      alone or with AMD3100 mobilizes endogenous HSCs from the FL and results in
      increased FL homing of donor HSCs following IUHCT; and (3) enhanced donor HSC
      homing following firategrast treatment translates into increased long-term
      multilineage donor cell engraftment. This approach highlights the potential of
      mobilization strategies to overcome barriers to successful engraftment and
      increase the clinical promise of IUHCT.

PMID- 27650328
TI  - Montelukast Does not Maintain Symptom Remission After Topical Steroid Therapy for
      Eosinophilic Esophagitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene type-1 receptor blocker,
      has been shown in small retrospective studies to reduce symptoms in patients with
      eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled,
      double-blind trial to determine whether montelukast maintains symptomatic
      remission induced by topical steroid therapy in patients with EoE. METHODS: We
      performed a prospective study of adult patients with EoE (solid-food dysphagia
      and a peak esophageal eosinophil count of >20 cells/high-powered field) enrolled
      at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, from April 2008 through February
      2015. All patients had been treated previously for at least 6 weeks with a
      topical steroid until their symptoms were in remission. Steroids were
      discontinued and patients then were assigned randomly to groups given montelukast
      (20 mg/day, n = 20) or placebo (n = 21) for 26 weeks (groups were matched for
      age, sex, history of allergic disease, reflux symptoms, and endoscopic findings
      of EoE). Study participants were assessed via a structured telephone interview at
      weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24. Remission was defined as the absence of solid
      food dysphagia. RESULTS: Based on an intention-to-treat analysis, after 26 weeks,
      40.0% of subjects in the montelukast group and 23.8% in the placebo group were in
      remission. The odds ratio for remission in the montelukast group was 0.48 (95%
      confidence interval, 0.10-2.16) (P = .33). No side effects were reported from
      either group. CONCLUSIONS: In a randomized controlled trial of the ability of
      montelukast to maintain remission in patients in remission from EoE after steroid
      therapy, we found montelukast to be well tolerated; 40% of patients remained in
      remission, but this proportion did not differ significantly from that of the
      placebo group. ClinicalTrials.gov no: NCT00511316.

PMID- 27650331
TI  - Safety of splenectomy during pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to evaluate the risk of morbidity and
      mortality of splenectomy in pregnant women compared with non-pregnant women.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective population-based matched
      cohort study using the Health Care Cost and Utilization Project, Nationwide
      Inpatient Sample database from 2003 to 2011. Pregnant women with splenectomy were
      age-matched to non-pregnant women with splenectomy. We compared risks of
      morbidity and mortality between pregnant and non-pregnant women using conditional
      logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The non-pregnant group had an excess of
      white patients and a greater proportion of Medicaid and private insurance users.
      There was a tendency for greater frequency of laparotomies in pregnant patients.
      Risk of VTE, portal vein thrombosis, renal failure and sepsis were comparable
      between the groups. Risk for transfusion was higher amongst pregnant women (OR
      2.2, 95% CI (1.7-2.8)), as was the risk for a longer hospital stay (OR 1.7, 95%
      CI (1.4-2.1)). CONCLUSION: Caution should be taken when performing splenectomy
      during pregnancy as risk for complications and mortality may be increased.
      Additional measures should be undertaken to have blood units on reserve for this
      population.

PMID- 27650330
TI  - Dual regulation of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial acetyl-CoA utilization for
      improved isoprene production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Microbial production of isoprene from renewable feedstock is a promising
      alternative to traditional petroleum-based processes. Currently, efforts to
      improve isoprenoid production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mainly focus on
      cytoplasmic engineering, whereas comprehensive engineering of multiple
      subcellular compartments is rarely reported. Here, we propose dual metabolic
      engineering of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial acetyl-CoA utilization to boost
      isoprene synthesis in S. cerevisiae. This strategy increases isoprene production
      by 2.1-fold and 1.6-fold relative to the recombinant strains with solely
      mitochondrial or cytoplasmic engineering, respectively. By combining a modified
      reiterative recombination system for rapid pathway assembly, a two-phase culture
      process for dynamic metabolic regulation, and aerobic fed-batch fermentation for
      sufficient supply of acetyl-coA and carbon, we achieve 2527, mg l(-1) of
      isoprene, which is the highest ever reported in engineered eukaryotes. We propose
      this strategy as an efficient approach to enhancing isoprene production in yeast,
      which might open new possibilities for bioproduction of other value-added
      chemicals.

PMID- 27650332
TI  - Dampening Spontaneous Activity Improves the Light Sensitivity and Spatial Acuity
      of Optogenetic Retinal Prosthetic Responses.
AB  - Retinitis pigmentosa is a progressive retinal dystrophy that causes irreversible
      visual impairment and blindness. Retinal prostheses currently represent the only
      clinically available vision-restoring treatment, but the quality of vision
      returned remains poor. Recently, it has been suggested that the pathological
      spontaneous hyperactivity present in dystrophic retinas may contribute to the
      poor quality of vision returned by retinal prosthetics by reducing the signal-to
      noise ratio of prosthetic responses. Here, we investigated to what extent
      blocking this hyperactivity can improve optogenetic retinal prosthetic responses.
      We recorded activity from channelrhodopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells in
      retinal wholemounts in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. Sophisticated
      stimuli, inspired by those used in clinical visual assessment, were used to
      assess light sensitivity, contrast sensitivity and spatial acuity of optogenetic
      responses; in all cases these were improved after blocking spontaneous
      hyperactivity using meclofenamic acid, a gap junction blocker. Our results
      suggest that this approach significantly improves the quality of vision returned
      by retinal prosthetics, paving the way to novel clinical applications. Moreover,
      the improvements in sensitivity achieved by blocking spontaneous hyperactivity
      may extend the dynamic range of optogenetic retinal prostheses, allowing them to
      be used at lower light intensities such as those encountered in everyday life.

PMID- 27650336
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 27650335
TI  - Acute Cortical Transhemispheric Diaschisis after Unilateral Traumatic Brain
      Injury.
AB  - Focal neocortical brain injuries lead to functional alterations, which can spread
      beyond lesion-neighboring brain areas. The undamaged hemisphere and its
      associated disturbances after a unilateral lesion, so-called transhemispheric
      diaschisis, have been progressively disclosed over the last decades; they are
      strongly involved in the pathophysiology and, potentially, recovery of brain
      injuries. Understanding the temporal dynamics of these transhemispheric
      functional changes is crucial to decipher the role of the undamaged cortex in the
      processes of functional reorganization at different stages post-lesion. In this
      regard, little is known about the acute-subacute processes after 24-48 h in the
      brain hemisphere contralateral to injury. In the present study, we performed a
      controlled cortical impact to produce a unilateral traumatic brain injury (TBI)
      in the motor and somatosensory cortex of mice. In vitro extracellular multi-unit
      recordings from large neuronal populations, together with single-cell patch-clamp
      recordings in the cortical network contralateral to the lesion, revealed a
      strong, but transient, neuronal hyperactivity as early as 24-48 h post-TBI. This
      abnormal excitable state in the intact hemisphere was not accompanied by
      alterations in neuronal intrinsic properties, but it was associated with an
      impairment of the phasic gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic transmission and an
      increased expression of GABAA receptor subunits related to tonic inhibition
      exclusively in the contralateral hemisphere. These data unravel a series of early
      transhemispheric functional alterations after diffuse unilateral cortical injury,
      which may compensate and stabilize the disrupted brain functions. Therefore, our
      findings support the hypothesis that the undamaged hemisphere could play a
      significant role in early functional reorganization processes after a TBI.

PMID- 27650337
TI  - Anesthesia management during aortic surgery: Preoperative patient assessment.
AB  - Patients with aortic diseases have a high rate of cardiac, cerebrovascular, or
      pulmonary comorbidities. Open surgery or endovascular interventions of the aorta
      are associated with high perioperative cardiac risk. Simple scoring systems for
      preoperative risk stratification can be used to identify high-risk patients. In
      these patients, further diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are required to
      reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality. In contrast, low-risk patients can
      be identified, who may proceed to intervention without additional cardiopulmonary
      diagnostic testing. According to evidence-based recommendations in patients at
      risk, statin therapy should be initiated and beta blockers should be uptitrated
      preoperatively. Smoking cessation preoperatively reduces perioperative
      complications and should be encouraged in all patients. 

PMID- 27650338
TI  - The pathophysiology of aortic cross-clamping.
AB  - During open aortic surgery, interrupting the blood flow through the aorta by
      applying a cross-clamp is often a key step to allow for surgical repair. As a
      consequence, ischemia is induced in parts of the body distal to the clamp site.
      This significant alteration in the blood flow is almost always associated with
      hemodynamic changes. Upon release of the cross-clamp, the blood flow is restored,
      triggering an ischemia-reperfusion response, leading to many pathophysiological
      processes such as inflammation, humoral changes, and metabolite circulation that
      could lead to injury in many organ systems and may significantly influence the
      postoperative outcome. It is therefore important to understand these processes
      and how they can be treated in order to allow for safe surgical aortic repairs
      while ensuring the best possible outcomes. 

PMID- 27650334
TI  - Transcriptional Regulation of Arabidopsis Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
      Coordinates Cell-Type Proliferation and Differentiation.
AB  - Spatiotemporal regulation of transcription is fine-tuned at multiple levels,
      including chromatin compaction. Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) catalyzes
      the trimethylation of Histone 3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3), which is the hallmark of
      a repressive chromatin state. Multiple PRC2 complexes have been reported in
      Arabidopsis thaliana to control the expression of genes involved in developmental
      transitions and maintenance of organ identity. Here, we show that PRC2 member
      genes display complex spatiotemporal gene expression patterns and function in
      root meristem and vascular cell proliferation and specification. Furthermore,
      PRC2 gene expression patterns correspond with vascular and nonvascular tissue
      specific H3K27me3-marked genes. This tissue-specific repression via H3K27me3
      regulates the balance between cell proliferation and differentiation. Using
      enhanced yeast one-hybrid analysis, upstream regulators of the PRC2 member genes
      are identified, and genetic analysis demonstrates that transcriptional regulation
      of some PRC2 genes plays an important role in determining PRC2 spatiotemporal
      activity within a developing organ.

PMID- 27650339
TI  - Acute aortic syndrome: A systems approach to a time-critical disease.
AB  - Acute aortic syndrome represents a group of potentially lethal aortic diseases,
      including classic acute aortic dissection, intramural hematoma, and penetrating
      atherosclerotic aortic ulcer. Among these conditions, type A aortic dissection is
      the most common acute presentation. Only surgical interventions are recommended
      in guidelines as lifesaving procedures for type A dissection. Despite new
      diagnostic imaging methods, advanced surgical strategy, and improved
      postoperative management in the over 250-year history of aortic dissection, in
      hospital mortality and morbidity rates still remain high. Recently, several new
      system-based approaches, such as implementation of multidisciplinary experienced
      high-volume centers and establishment of regional systematic management flow have
      been reported to improve the outcome. Here, we will describe the pathophysiology,
      diagnosis, and treatment as well as the new systematic approach to treat acute
      aortic syndrome. 

PMID- 27650340
TI  - Neuroprotection during aortic surgery.
AB  - Neurological injury is a major limitation of aortic surgery, whether it involves
      spinal cord injury following intervention to the thoracoabdominal aorta, or
      stroke following surgery on the arch and ascending aorta. Despite an extensive
      body of literature and various proposals, a completely effective strategy to
      prevent or treat neurological injury remains elusive. In this article, we
      summarise the evidence for established and emerging strategies, and review
      current concepts in pathophysiology and risk assessment as they relate to
      neurological injury. 

PMID- 27650333
TI  - Molecular Diversity of Terpene Synthases in the Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha.
AB  - Marchantia polymorpha is a basal terrestrial land plant, which like most
      liverworts accumulates structurally diverse terpenes believed to serve in
      deterring disease and herbivory. Previous studies have suggested that the
      mevalonate and methylerythritol phosphate pathways, present in evolutionarily
      diverged plants, are also operative in liverworts. However, the genes and enzymes
      responsible for the chemical diversity of terpenes have yet to be described. In
      this study, we resorted to a HMMER search tool to identify 17 putative terpene
      synthase genes from M. polymorpha transcriptomes. Functional characterization
      identified four diterpene synthase genes phylogenetically related to those found
      in diverged plants and nine rather unusual monoterpene and sesquiterpene synthase
      like genes. The presence of separate monofunctional diterpene synthases for ent
      copalyl diphosphate and ent-kaurene biosynthesis is similar to orthologs found in
      vascular plants, pushing the date of the underlying gene duplication and
      neofunctionalization of the ancestral diterpene synthase gene family to >400
      million years ago. By contrast, the mono- and sesquiterpene synthases represent a
      distinct class of enzymes, not related to previously described plant terpene
      synthases and only distantly so to microbial-type terpene synthases. The absence
      of a Mg2+ binding, aspartate-rich, DDXXD motif places these enzymes in a
      noncanonical family of terpene synthases.

PMID- 27650341
TI  - Organ protection during aortic cross-clamping.
AB  - Open surgical repair of an aortic aneurysm requires aortic cross-clamping,
      resulting in temporary ischemia of all organs and tissues supplied by the aorta
      distal to the clamp. Major complications of open aneurysm repair due to aortic
      cross-clamping include renal ischemia-reperfusion injury and postoperative
      colonic ischemia in case of supra- and infrarenal aortic aneurysm repair.
      Ischemia-reperfusion injury results in excessive production of reactive oxygen
      species and in oxidative stress, which can lead to multiple organ failure.
      Several perioperative protective strategies have been suggested to preserve renal
      function during aortic cross-clamping, such as pharmacotherapy and therapeutic
      hypothermia of the kidneys. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss the
      pathophysiology of ischemia-reperfusion injury and the preventative measures that
      can be taken to avoid abdominal organ injury. Finally, techniques to minimize the
      risk of complications during and after open aneurysm repair will be presented. 

PMID- 27650342
TI  - The role of transesophageal echocardiography in aortic surgery.
AB  - Aortic disease, when left untreated, is still associated with major morbidity and
      mortality. Aortic dissection and aortic aneurysm are the main reasons for
      performing aortic surgery procedures in the adult. Imaging techniques such as
      computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging play a key role in the
      preoperative evaluation. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has become a safe
      and invaluable perioperative imaging tool for aortic disease over the past decade
      with high sensitivity and specificity. TEE can increase patient safety and
      improve overall patient outcome in aortic surgery. Especially during endovascular
      aortic repair, TEE is more sensitive than other imaging modalities in diagnosing
      complications such as graft endoleaks. Newer echocardiographic techniques such as
      three-dimensional (3D) TEE and contrast-enhanced TEE are emerging and seem to
      have a valuable role especially in aortic dissection repair and endovascular
      aortic stent procedures. In the absence of contraindications, TEE should
      generally be performed during aortic surgery and endovascular aortic procedures. 

PMID- 27650343
TI  - Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
AB  - Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms is an important technique in
      the vascular surgeon's armamentarium, which has created a seismic shift in the
      management of aortic pathology over the past two decades. In comparison to
      traditional open repair, the endovascular approach is associated with
      significantly improved perioperative morbidity and mortality. The early survival
      benefit of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is sustained up to 3
      years postoperatively, but longer-term life expectancy remains poor regardless of
      operative modality. Nonetheless, most abdominal aortic aneurysms are now repaired
      using endovascular stent grafts. The technology is not perfect as several
      postoperative complications, namely endoleak, stent-graft migration, and graft
      limb thrombosis, can develop and therefore lifelong imaging surveillance is
      required. In addition, a postoperative inflammatory response has been documented
      after endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms; the clinical significance of this
      finding has yet to be determined. Subsequently, the safety and applicability of
      endovascular stent grafts are likely to improve and expand with the introduction
      of newer-generation devices and with the simplification of fenestrated systems. 

PMID- 27650344
TI  - Temporary extracorporeal bypass modalities during aortic surgery.
AB  - The key to aortic surgery is protection of the brain, heart, spinal cord, and
      viscera. For operations involving the aortic arch, the focus is on cerebral
      protection, while for pathology involving the descending thoracic aorta, the
      focus is on spinal protection. Optimal cerebral and spinal protection requires an
      extensive knowledge of the operative steps and an understanding of the
      cardiopulmonary bypass modalities that are possible. A bloodless field is
      required when operating on the aorta. As a result, periods of ischemia to the
      central nervous system and end-organ viscera are often unavoidable. The main
      techniques to mitigate ischemia include hypothermia and selective perfusion of
      the ischemic organ in question. This chapter will first briefly review bypass
      modalities and then describe how they can be used for various aortic scenarios. 

PMID- 27650345
TI  - Anticoagulation management during cross-clamping and bypass.
AB  - Anticoagulation is required for successful implementation of cardiopulmonary
      bypass (CPB), as well as for surgeries requiring temporary aortic occlusion. It
      is well established that both coagulation and fibrinolysis are activated during
      CPB (Teufelsbauer et al., 1992) [1]. Appropriate dosing, monitoring, and
      maintenance of anticoagulation are essential to prevent devastating thrombosis of
      the CPB circuit or the occluded aorta and to minimize the activation of the
      hemostatic system. Although numerous novel anticoagulants have been developed
      over the past decade, unfractionated heparin remains the primary anticoagulant
      utilized during these types of procedures, with monitoring systems primarily
      based upon the activated clotting time and/or heparin concentration. This article
      will review the current state of anticoagulation management during cross-clamp
      and CPB. 

PMID- 27650346
TI  - Blood transfusion and coagulation management.
AB  - Despite impressive progress in surgical technique, aortic surgery is still
      associated with relatively high morbidity and mortality. One of the most
      important contributors to this phenomenon is the triad of bleeding, anemia, and
      transfusion. All three factors are known to influence the outcome of aortic
      surgery to a great extent. However, over the last few years a multidisciplinary,
      multimodal concept has been established, which enables the physician to avoid
      bleeding, anemia, and transfusion as much as possible. The concept of "patient
      blood management" combines several established measures with the potential to
      improve perioperative outcome. This chapter describes these measures with regard
      to aortic surgery and assesses their respective efficacy. 

PMID- 27650347
TI  - Postoperative management.
AB  - Most patients undergoing major aortic surgery have multiple comorbidities and are
      at high risk of postoperative complications that affect multiple organ systems.
      Different aortic pathologies and surgical repair techniques have specific impact
      on the postoperative course. Ischemia-reperfusion injury is the common
      denominator in aortic surgery and influences the integrity of end-organ function.
      Common postoperative problems include hemodynamic instability due to the
      immediate inflammatory response, renal impairment, spinal cord ischemia,
      respiratory failure with prolonged mechanical ventilation, and gastrointestinal
      symptoms such as ileus or mesenteric ischemia. Focused care bundles to establish
      homeostasis and a team working toward an early functional recovery determine the
      success of effective rehabilitation and outcomes after aortic surgery. 

PMID- 27650349
TI  - Blood Viscosity Is a Fingerprint or a Modifiable Identity Card in Younger
      Patients With Myocardial Infarction.

PMID- 27650348
TI  - Metabolic Syndrome.

PMID- 27650350
TI  - Prevention of Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis: What is the Evidence?
AB  - Carotid artery atherosclerosis (CAA) represents a significant form of
      atherosclerosis with stroke as a major consequence. Whether it is a unique form
      of atherosclerosis is not established. However, this is not of major clinical
      relevance as no specific preventive measures over and above the established ones
      for cardiovascular risk are well established. Major risk factors for CAA are
      elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), diabetes mellitus, tobacco
      use, hypertension, and increased inflammation. Identification of CAA prior to a
      clinical event centers on imaging studies. Studies with magnetic resonance
      imaging result in the best definition of CAA plaque morphology. Medical measures
      that result in prevention are especially centered on statins (marked reduction of
      the LDL-C) and hypertension control. Nonprocedural therapeutic measures to avoid
      and delay complications involve antiplatelet medications. Benefits from other
      measures such as increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increased
      exercise appear desirable but require more clinical evidence. In conclusion,
      there are enough evidence-based medicine results to demand intensive medical
      preventive measures and not just relegate the patient with asymptomatic or
      symptomatic CAA to decision-making only involving the surgeon and
      interventionalist.

PMID- 27650351
TI  - Clinical Commentary on "My Life With Fibromuscular Dysplasia: A Sword of
      Damocles".

PMID- 27650352
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27650353
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 27650355
TI  - Endocrinology, energetics, and human life history: A synthetic model.
AB  - Human life histories are shaped by the allocation of metabolic energy to
      competing physiological domains. A model framework of the pathways of energy
      allocation is described and hormonal regulators of allocation along the pathways
      of the framework are discussed in the light of evidence from field studies of the
      endocrinology of human energetics. The framework is then used to generate simple
      models of two important life history transitions in humans, puberty and the
      postpartum return to full fecundity in females. The results of the models
      correspond very closely to observations made in the field.

PMID- 27650354
TI  - Dual Signal Amplification Electrochemical Biosensor for Monitoring the Activity
      and Inhibition of the Alzheimer's Related Protease beta-Secretase.
AB  - The protease BACE1 (the beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1)
      catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of beta-amyloids (Abeta), peptides that
      accumulate in the brain in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Measurement of BACE1
      activity is important for the development of BACE1 inhibitors to slow or stop AD.
      To measure BACE1 cleavage of the electrode-immobilized substrate peptide, we
      developed a redox-generating hydroxyapatite (HAP) probe which generates
      electrochemical current by reaction of the nanoparticle with molybdate (MoO42-).
      The probe combines alkaline phosphatase (ALP) for dual signal amplification and
      Abeta antibody to bind the probe to the immobilized peptide substrate on the
      surface of the electrode. We measured the activity of BACE1 at concentrations
      ranging from 0.25 to 100 U/mL. The use of the dual-signal HAP-ALP probe increased
      the signal by an order of magnitude compared to HAP-only probe, enabling
      detection limits as low as 0.1 U/mL. To measure the inhibition of BACE1 activity,
      the BACE1 inhibitor OM99-2 was added to 25 U/mL of BACE1 in concentrations
      ranging from 5 to 150 nM. The observed detection limit of inhibition is 10 nM of
      OM99-2. These results demonstrate the capabilities of this novel biosensor to
      measure BACE1 activity and inhibitors of BACE1 activity. To the best of our
      knowledge this is the first report that reaction of HAP nanoparticles with
      molybdate can generate electrochemical current. This dual signal amplification
      strategy can be extended to other electrochemical assays and adapted for wide
      applications.

PMID- 27650357
TI  - Supersonic Jet Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory Study of Isomeric
      Diazines: 1,4- and 1,8-Diazatriphenylene. Why Do They Differ So Deeply?
AB  - We report on laser-induced fluorescence excitation and dispersed fluorescence
      spectra of two isomeric compounds: 1,4- and 1,8-diazatriphenylene (1,4- and 1,8
      DAT) isolated in supersonic molecular jets, and their 1:1 complexes with protic
      solvents. We found that the ground and excited state vibronic patterns of bare
      1,4-DAT differ significantly from those of 1,8-DAT, and those of the complexes of
      both isomers. A marked activity of several out-of-plane vibrations in 1,4-DAT and
      the symptoms of the distortion of the S1 excited molecule were diagnosed from the
      vibronic spectra, whereas planar structures were predicted for 1,8-DAT in S0 and
      S1 states. An anharmonic double-minimum potential along an out-of-plane
      coordinate has been derived and used to predict higher overtones of the S1 state
      vibration at 113 cm-1. Large enhancement of fluorescence was observed upon
      formation of 1:1 complexes of 1,4-DAT with water or methanol, which is explained
      in terms of an increased separation of interacting (n,pi*) and (pi,pi*)
      electronic states in the H-bonded complexes, and/or a suppression of the
      intersystem crossing process.

PMID- 27650356
TI  - Long-term auditory complications after childhood cancer: A report from the Swiss
      Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Auditory complications are an adverse event of childhood cancer
      treatment, especially common in children treated with platinum chemotherapy or
      cranial radiation. Variation between diagnostic childhood cancer groups has
      rarely been studied, and we do not know if the burden of auditory complications
      has changed over the last decades. PROCEDURE: Within the Swiss Childhood Cancer
      Survivor Study, we sent a questionnaire to all survivors who were diagnosed at
      age 16 years or less between 1976 and 2005. We compared prevalence of self
      reported hearing loss and tinnitus between all diagnostic childhood cancer groups
      and siblings, used multivariable logistic regression to analyze the effect of
      treatment-related factors on hearing loss, and compared the cumulative incidence
      of hearing loss between different periods of cancer diagnosis. RESULTS:
      Prevalence of self-reported hearing loss was higher in survivors (10%) than in
      siblings (3%, P < 0.001), and highest in survivors of central nervous system
      tumors (25%). Significant risk factors were treatment with platinum compounds
      (carboplatin: odds ratio [OR] 2.4; cisplatin: OR 9.4), cranial radiation (>29 Gy:
      OR >1.7), or brain surgery (OR 2.2). Children diagnosed in 1986-1995, when
      platinum compounds came into widespread use, had a significantly higher
      cumulative incidence of hearing loss than those diagnosed in 1976-1985. In the
      most recent period, 1996-2005, the risk decreased again, both for patients
      treated with platinum compounds and with cranial radiation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      show that the burden of hearing loss has stabilized in recently treated
      survivors, suggesting that survivors have benefited from new treatment regimens
      that use less ototoxic radiation and more carefully dosed platinum compounds.

PMID- 27650358
TI  - China's medical savings accounts: an analysis of the price elasticity of demand
      for health care.
AB  - Although medical savings accounts (MSAs) have drawn intensive attention across
      the world for their potential in cost control, there is limited evidence of their
      impact on the demand for health care. This paper is intended to fill that gap.
      First, we built up a dynamic model of a consumer's problem of utility
      maximization in the presence of a nonlinear price schedule embedded in an MSA.
      Second, the model was implemented using data from a 2-year MSA pilot program in
      China. The estimated price elasticity under MSAs was between -0.42 and -0.58,
      i.e., higher than that reported in the literature. The relatively high price
      elasticity suggests that MSAs as an insurance feature may help control costs.
      However, the long-term effect of MSAs on health costs is subject to further
      analysis.

PMID- 27650360
TI  - Multiplexed azido-group isotopic capture (MAGIC) beads: Selective analysis of
      azido compounds using a propargyl-based cleavable linker, a proof of concept.
AB  - RATIONALE: A cleavable linker is designed and synthesized for the selective
      capture of azide-containing compounds. This article presents a proof of concept
      methodology involving the use of peptide-functionalized aminopropyl silica, on
      which the peptide is constructed by solid-phase peptide synthesis. METHODS: The
      peptide linker has L-propargylglycine (Pra) at one terminal end to allow the
      conjugation of azide-containing molecules by copper assisted azide alkyne
      cycloaddition, also known as click reaction. L-Arginine (Arg) is placed just
      before Pra to permit the release of the captured product by tryptic cleavage.
      Three glycine (Gly) residues, as part of the linker, are appended to the silica
      bead to present a spacer section that allows efficient tryptic cleavage devoid of
      steric hindrance imposed by the bulky bead. The bead composition is Si-O-propyl
      NH-Gly-Gly-Gly-Arg-Pra. RESULTS: This solid-phase material can be used to capture
      and release azide-functionalized compounds. The beads are first tested on three
      azido compounds, 2-azido-2-deoxyglucose (ADG), BOC-p-azido-Phe-OH (BAzPhe), where
      BOC = tert-butoxycarbonyl, and tetraacetylated-N-azidomannosamine (Ac4 ManNAz).
      Copper-mediated click reaction conditions are used and released products are
      characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and tandem MS (MS/MS). CONCLUSIONS: This method
      allows easy identification of captured compounds based on mass and fragmentation
      analysis. Moreover, it is useful for the analysis of small azide-containing
      compounds by MALDI-TOF-MS which may not be possible otherwise due to matrix
      interferences. The insertion of isotopically labeled Arg residues provides the
      possibility of multiplex analysis, from which the beads have been called MAGIC
      (for Multiplexed Azido-Group Isotopic Capture). Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27650359
TI  - Cost-effectiveness analysis of new generation coronary CT scanners for difficult
      to-image patients.
AB  - AIMS: New generation dual-source coronary CT (NGCCT) scanners with more than 64
      slices were evaluated for patients with (known) or suspected of coronary artery
      disease (CAD) who are difficult to image: obese, coronary calcium score > 400,
      arrhythmias, previous revascularization, heart rate > 65 beats per minute, and
      intolerance of betablocker. A cost-effectiveness analysis of NGCCT compared with
      invasive coronary angiography (ICA) was performed for these difficult-to-image
      patients for England and Wales. METHODS AND RESULTS: Five models (diagnostic
      decision model, four Markov models for CAD progression, stroke, radiation and
      general population) were integrated to estimate the cost-effectiveness of NGCCT
      for both suspected and known CAD populations. The lifetime costs and effects from
      the National Health Service perspective were estimated for three strategies: (1)
      patients diagnosed using ICA, (2) using NGCCT, and (3) patients diagnosed using a
      combination of NGCCT and, if positive, followed by ICA. In the suspected
      population, the strategy where patients only undergo a NGCCT is a cost-effective
      option at accepted cost-effectiveness thresholds. The strategy of using NGCCT in
      combination with ICA is the most favourable strategy for patients with known CAD.
      The most influential factors behind these results are the percentage of patients
      being misclassified (a function of both diagnostic accuracy and the prior
      likelihood), the complication rates of the procedures, and the cost price of a
      NGCCT scan. CONCLUSION: The use of NGCCT might be considered cost-effective in
      both populations since it is cost-saving compared to ICA and generates similar
      effects.

PMID- 27650361
TI  - Epithetic nasal reconstruction for nasal carcinoma: retrospective analysis on 22
      patients.
AB  - Advanced nasal cancers usually demand partial or total rhinectomy followed by
      radiotherapy. Reconstruction of the resulting defects can be achieved by means of
      reconstructive plastic surgery and/or epithetic surgery. The data of 22 patients
      who had been treated after nasal ablation by means of custom-made silicone nasal
      epithesis fixed by bone-anchored magnets between 2003 and 2014 were evaluated
      retrospectively. There were 15 male (68.2 %) and 7 (31.8 %) female patients. The
      most common etiology that led to epithetic rehabilitation was a squamous cell
      carcinoma in 16 patients. An operative revision was necessary in two patients due
      to screw loss. Twenty patients were still alive with no evidence of disease after
      minimum follow-up of 2 years (90.9 %). Epithetic rehabilitation after nasal
      ablation to treat nasal malignancies is an interesting alternative to plastic and
      reconstructive surgery. Bone-anchored fixation using magnets can achieve a stable
      epithetic fixation after nasal ablation necessitating, in numerous cases,
      additional adjuvant therapy like radiation.

PMID- 27650362
TI  - A phase II study of vascular endothelial growth factor trap (Aflibercept, NSC
      724770) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome: a California Cancer Consortium
      Study.

PMID- 27650363
TI  - Afatinib in lung cancer harboring EGFR mutation in the LUX-Lung trials: six plus
      three is greater than seven?

PMID- 27650364
TI  - Comparison of histopathological effects of perineural administration of
      bupivacaine and bupivacaine-dexmedetomidine in rat sciatic nerve.
AB  - Injection of a variety of drugs such as local anesthetics (LAs) for peripheral
      nerve block has been shown to cause damage to peripheral nerves. Bupivacaine is a
      local anesthetic widely used in surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the neurotoxicity of LAs including Bupivacaine and dexmedetomidine (DEX)
      Bupivacaine on sciatic nerve tissue at histopathological level. In addition, we
      investigated whether perineural administration of DEX can attenuate Bupivacaine
      induced neurotoxicity. Twenty adult Sprague Dawley rats received unilateral
      sciatic nerve blocks with either 0.2ml of 0.5% bupivacaine (n=8) or 0.5%
      bupivacaine plus 0.005% DEX (n=8) or normal saline (0.9%, as control group) (n=4)
      in the left hind extremity. Sciatic nerves were harvested at 14days post
      injection and analyzed for nerve damage using ultrastructure and histopathologic
      analysis. Histopathology of sciatic nerve at day 14 post-injection showed a
      variable degree of neuronal injury associated with perineural inflammation in
      each treatment group and was classified as none or mild, intermediate or severe.
      Administration of both LAs resulted in a significant decrease in the total number
      of myelinated fibers per nerve (95% CI for group difference: Bupivacaine,
      P=0.001, DEX-Bupivacaine, P=0.036) compared to the saline control group. Animals
      that received these perineural local anesthetics (LAs) injections showed
      increased severity of injury compared to the control group. Animals in the DEX
      Bupivacaine group had higher perineural inflammation and nerve damage than those
      of the saline control group and less than those of the Bupivacaine group at day
      14 post-injection. Quantitatively, average total nerve fiber per nerve and
      average myelinated nerve fiber density in the injured region of the Bupivacaine
      treated group was less than that of the DEX-Bupivacaine-treated group. LAs
      injection into the nerve causes peripheral nerve damage and remains an important
      clinical danger. Bupivacaine is associated with considerable histopathological
      changes, including edema of the perineurium and myelin degeneration with
      Wallerian degeneration, when injected perineurally. Perineural DEX added to a
      clinical concentration of bupivacaine attenuates the Bupivacaine-induced
      injuries.

PMID- 27650365
TI  - Cholesterol Alters the Dynamics of Release in Protein Independent Cell Models for
      Exocytosis.
AB  - Neurons communicate via an essential process called exocytosis. Cholesterol, an
      abundant lipid in both secretory vesicles and cell plasma membrane can affect
      this process. In this study, amperometric recordings of vesicular dopamine
      release from two different artificial cell models created from a giant
      unilamellar liposome and a bleb cell plasma membrane, show that with higher
      membrane cholesterol the kinetics for vesicular release are decelerated in a
      concentration dependent manner. This reduction in exocytotic speed was consistent
      for two observed modes of exocytosis, full and partial release. Partial release
      events, which only occurred in the bleb cell model due to the higher tension in
      the system, exhibited amperometric spikes with three distinct shapes. In addition
      to the classic transient, some spikes displayed a current ramp or plateau
      following the maximum peak current. These post spike features represent
      neurotransmitter release from a dilated pore before constriction and show that
      enhancing membrane rigidity via cholesterol adds resistance to a dilated pore to
      re-close. This implies that the cholesterol dependent biophysical properties of
      the membrane directly affect the exocytosis kinetics and that membrane tension
      along with membrane rigidity can influence the fusion pore dynamics and
      stabilization which is central to regulation of neurochemical release.

PMID- 27650366
TI  - Safety margins in robotic bone milling: from registration uncertainty to
      statistically safe surgeries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When robots mill bone near critical structures, safety margins are
      used to reduce the risk of accidental damage due to inaccurate registration.
      These margins are typically set heuristically with uniform thickness, which does
      not reflect the anisotropy and spatial variance of registration error. METHODS: A
      method is described to generate spatially varying safety margins around vital
      anatomy using statistical models of registration uncertainty. Numerical
      simulations are used to determine the margin geometry that matches a safety
      threshold specified by the surgeon. RESULTS: The algorithm was applied to CT
      scans of five temporal bones in the context of mastoidectomy, a common bone
      milling procedure in ear surgery that must approach vital nerves. Safety margins
      were generated that satisfied the specified safety levels in every case.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patient safety in image-guided surgery can be increased by
      incorporating statistical models of registration uncertainty in the generation of
      safety margins around vital anatomy.

PMID- 27650367
TI  - Suicide risk linked with clinical consultation frequency, psychiatric diagnoses
      and psychotropic medication prescribing in a national study of primary-care
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the precursors of suicide risk among primary
      care patients. This study aimed to examine suicide risk in relation to patterns
      of clinical consultation, psychotropic drug prescribing, and psychiatric
      diagnoses. METHOD: Nested case-control study in the Clinical Practice Research
      Datalink (CPRD), England. Patients aged ?16 years who died by suicide during 2002
      2011 (N = 2384) were matched on gender, age and practice with up to 20 living
      control patients (N = 46 899). RESULTS: Risk was raised among non-consulting
      patients, and increased sharply with rising number of consultations in the
      preceding year [?12 consultations v. 1: unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 6.0, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 4.9-7.3]. Markedly elevated risk was also associated
      with the prescribing of multiple psychotropic medication types (?5 types v. 0: OR
      62.6, CI 44.3-88.4) and with having several psychiatric diagnoses (?4 diagnoses
      v. 0: OR 31.1, CI 19.3-50.1). Risk was also raised among patients living in more
      socially deprived localities. The confounding effect of multiple psychotropic
      drug types largely accounted for the rising risk gradient observed with
      increasing consultation frequency. CONCLUSIONS: A greater proportion of patients
      with several psychiatric diagnoses, those prescribed multiple psychotropic
      medication types, and those who consult at very high frequency might be
      considered for referral to mental health services by their general practitioners.
      Non-consulters are also at increased risk, which suggests that conventional
      models of primary care may not be effective in meeting the needs of all people in
      the community experiencing major psychosocial difficulties.

PMID- 27650368
TI  - A Critical Review of Properties and Analytical Methods for the Determination of
      Oxytetracyline in Biological and Pharmaceutical Matrices.
AB  - Antibiotics have an unquestionable importance in the treatment of many
      infections. Oxytetracycline is an antibiotic belonging to the class of
      tetracyclines, available for use in human and veterinary medicine. Development of
      analytical methods that prove the quality and efficacy of these drugs is
      fundamentally important to the pharmaceutical industry. In this context, the
      research presents an overview of the analytical profile of oxytetracycline,
      describing its chemical and pharmacological properties, and analytical methods
      for quantification of this drug in biological samples and pharmaceutical
      products. Oxytetracycline can be analyzed in these matrices by many types of
      methodologies. However, high-performance liquid chromatography is the most widely
      used, being recommended by official compendia. This kind of study can be useful
      to support the development of new efficient and sustainable analytical methods
      that may be utilized in the quality control routine of oxytetracycline in
      pharmaceutical products and pharmacokinetic monitoring in biological samples.

PMID- 27650369
TI  - Large-scale monitoring of effects of clothianidin-dressed oilseed rape seeds on
      pollinating insects in northern Germany: residues of clothianidin in pollen,
      nectar and honey.
AB  - This study was part of a large-scale monitoring project to assess the possible
      effects of Elado(r) (10 g clothianidin & 2 g beta-cyfluthrin/kg seed)-dressed
      oilseed rape seeds on different pollinators in Northern Germany. Firstly,
      residues of clothianidin and its active metabolites thiazolylnitroguanidine and
      thiazolylmethylurea were measured in nectar and pollen from Elado(r)-dressed
      (test site, T) and undressed (reference site, R) oilseed rape collected by honey
      bees confined within tunnel tents. Clothianidin and its metabolites could not be
      detected or quantified in samples from R fields. Clothianidin concentrations in
      samples from T fields were 1.3 +/- 0.9 MUg/kg and 1.7 +/- 0.9 MUg/kg in nectar
      and pollen, respectively. Secondly, pollen and nectar for residue analyses were
      sampled from free flying honey bees, bumble bees and mason bees, placed at six
      study locations each in the R and T sites at the start of oilseed rape flowering.
      Honey samples were analysed from all honey bee colonies at the end of oilseed
      rape flowering. Neither clothianidin nor its metabolites were detectable or
      quantifiable in R site samples. Clothianidin concentrations in samples from the T
      site were below the limit of quantification (LOQ, 1.0 ug/kg) in most pollen and
      nectar samples collected by bees and 1.4 +/- 0.5 ug/kg in honey taken from honey
      bee colonies. In summary, the study provides reliable semi-field and field data
      of clothianidin residues in nectar and pollen collected by different bee species
      in oilseed rape fields under common agricultural conditions.

PMID- 27650370
TI  - Genotoxicity assessment of acute exposure of 2, 4-dinitroanisole, its metabolites
      and 2, 4, 6-trinitrotoluene to Daphnia carinata.
AB  - The insensitive munition ingredient, 2, 4-dinitroanisole has emerged as an
      alternative ingredient to 2, 4, 6-trinitro toluene in melt pourable high
      explosive formulations mainly due to its improved insensitiveness properties. As
      a result, production of 2, 4-dinitroanisole has increased and as a consequence 2,
      4-dinitroanisole has emerged as a potential ingredient to enter the environment
      and possibly persist in water and soil ecosystems. The present study showed that
      2, 4-dinitroanisole, its metabolites (2-amino 4-nitroanisole and 2,4
      dinitroanisole) and 2, 4, 6-trinitro toluene were found to induce DNA damages in
      a freshwater crustacean Daphnia carinata exposed for 48 h and which was
      investigated by the alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay)
      method. The value of LC50-48 h of 2, 4-dinitroanisole was determined as 14.87 +/-
      1.70 (mg L-1) and its metabolites exhibited the similar toxic range although the
      toxicity of 2, 4, 6-trinitro toluene was seven-fold more toxic (2.32 +/- 0.29 mg
      L-1) than 2, 4-dinitroanisole and its metabolites. Exposure to sub-acute toxicity
      concentration ranges of 2, 4-dinitroanisole and its metabolites and 2, 4, 6
      trinitro toluene showed significant (P < 0.01) DNA damage. The higher
      concentration of each test chemical exhibited higher tail DNA per cent and
      increased olive tail moment. The results from this study can be used to identify
      genotoxic biomarkers for the risk assessment of insensitive munitions exposure in
      aquatic invertebrates.

PMID- 27650371
TI  - Combined effects of water flow and copper concentration on the feeding behavior,
      growth rate, and accumulation of copper in tissue of the infaunal polychaete
      Polydora cornuta.
AB  - We performed an experiment in a laboratory flume to test the effects of water
      flow speed and the concentration of aqueaous copper on the feeding behavior,
      growth rate, and accumulation of copper in the tissues of juvenile polychaetes
      Polydora cornuta. The experiment included two flow speeds (6 or 15 cm/s) and two
      concentrations of added copper (0 or 85 MUg/L). Worms grew significantly faster
      in the faster flow and in the lower copper concentration. In the slower flow, the
      total time worms spent feeding decreased significantly as copper concentration
      increased, but copper did not significantly affect the time worms spent feeding
      in the faster flow. Across all treatments, there was a significant, positive
      relationship between the time individuals spent feeding and their relative growth
      rate. Worms were observed suspension feeding significantly more often in the
      faster flow and deposit feeding significantly more often in the slower flow, but
      copper concentration did not affect the proportion of time spent in either
      feeding mode. The addition of 85 MUg/L copper significantly increased copper
      accumulation in P. cornuta tissue, but the accumulation did not differ
      significantly due to flow speed. There was a significant interaction between
      copper and flow; the magnitude of the difference in copper accumulation between
      the 0 and 85 MUg/L treatments was greater in the faster flow than in the slower
      flow. In slow flows that favor deposit feeding, worms grow slowly and accumulate
      less copper in their tissue than in faster flows that favor suspension feeding
      and faster growth.

PMID- 27650373
TI  - Factors influencing students' receptivity to formative feedback emerging from
      different assessment cultures.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Feedback after assessment is essential to support the development
      of optimal performance, but often fails to reach its potential. Although
      different assessment cultures have been proposed, the impact of these cultures on
      students' receptivity to feedback is unclear. This study aimed to explore factors
      which aid or hinder receptivity to feedback. METHODS: Using a constructivist
      grounded theory approach, the authors conducted six focus groups in three medical
      schools, in three separate countries, with different institutional approaches to
      assessment, ranging from a traditional summative assessment structure to a fully
      implemented programmatic assessment system. The authors analyzed data
      iteratively, then identified and clarified key themes. RESULTS: Helpful and
      counterproductive elements were identified within each school's assessment
      system. Four principal themes emerged. Receptivity to feedback was enhanced by
      assessment cultures which promoted students' agency, by the provision of
      authentic and relevant assessment, and by appropriate scaffolding to aid the
      interpretation of feedback. Provision of grades and comparative ranking provided
      a helpful external reference but appeared to hinder the promotion of excellence.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study has identified important factors emerging from different
      assessment cultures which, if addressed by programme designers, could enhance the
      learning potential of feedback following assessments. Students should be enabled
      to have greater control over assessment and feedback processes, which should be
      as authentic as possible. Effective long-term mentoring facilitates this process.
      The trend of curriculum change towards constructivism should now be mirrored in
      the assessment processes in order to enhance receptivity to feedback.

PMID- 27650372
TI  - Phage-display screening identifies LMP1-binding peptides targeting the C-terminus
      region of the EBV oncoprotein.
AB  - Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1), a major oncoprotein of Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)
      is responsible for transforming B lymphocytes in vitro. LMP1 is overexpressed in
      several EBV-associated malignancies, and different approaches have been developed
      to reduce its level and accordingly its oncogenic function in tumor tissues. This
      study aimed to use phage display peptide library to obtain peptides which could
      specifically bind to the cytoplasmic region of LMP1 to prevent its interaction
      with signaling proteins. The LMP1 C-terminus region was produced in bacterial E.
      coli and used as target for the phage library panning. After 3 rounds, 20 phage
      clones were randomly selected and 8 showed high binding affinity to the
      recombinant C-terminus LMP1 protein. The most interesting candidates are the FO5
      "QPTKDSSPPLRV" and NO4 "STTSPPAVPHNN" peptides since both bind the C-terminus
      LMP1 as showed by molecular docking. Furthermore, sequence alignment revealed
      that the FO5 peptide shared sequence similarity with the Death Receptor 4 which
      belongs to the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing receptor which
      plays key role in anti-tumor immunity.

PMID- 27650374
TI  - Rate of avascular necrosis and time to surgery in proximal humerus fractures.
AB  - PURPOSE: Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the humeral head is a devastating
      complication of proximal humeral fracture (PHF) that often results in long-term
      morbidity for the patient. Rates of AVN depend on the number of fracture
      fragments and are highly variable. The literature suggests that timely stable and
      anatomic reduction may decrease the rate at which AVN develops after PHF. To our
      knowledge, there is no literature published investigating a temporal relationship
      between the timing of PHF fixation and rates of AVN. METHODS: Operative records
      of one orthopedic trauma surgeon were used to identify patients that underwent
      open reduction internal fixation for PHF at our institution between 2007 and
      2012. Radiographs at presentation were reviewed and used to classify the
      fractures into two, three or four parts. Date and time of the initial radiograph
      were recorded as were the date and time of available intra-operative fluoroscopic
      images. The time from presentation radiograph to operative fixation was
      calculated (hours). Available follow-up plain films were then reviewed and
      evaluated for the presence or absence of humeral head AVN. RESULTS: Time to
      surgery (less than or greater than 72 h) and patient age did not correlate with
      development of AVN after PHF (p > 0.26). Notably, the number of fracture
      fragments did influence the rate of AVN identified in patients with PHF (p =
      0.002). CONCLUSION: Early operative intervention does not appear to decrease the
      rate of development of avascular necrosis after PHF.

PMID- 27650376
TI  - Economic and financial viability of small-scale dairy systems in central Mexico:
      economic scenario 2010-2018.
AB  - A simulation Monte Carlo model was used to assess the economic and financial
      viability of 130 small-scale dairy farms in central Mexico, through a
      Representative Small-Scale Dairy Farm. Net yields were calculated for a 9-year
      planning horizon by means of simulated values for the distribution of input and
      product prices taking 2010 as base year and considering four scenarios which were
      compared against the scenario of actual production. The other scenarios were (1)
      total hiring in of needed labour; (2) external purchase of 100 % of inputs and
      (3) withdrawal of subsidies to production. A stochastic modelling approach was
      followed to determine the scenario with the highest economic and financial
      viability. Results show a viable economic and financial situation for the real
      production scenario, as well as the scenarios for total hiring of labour and of
      withdrawal of subsidies, but the scenario when 100 % of feed inputs for the herd
      are bought-in was not viable.

PMID- 27650375
TI  - Uptake and Distribution of Trace Elements in Dominant Mangrove Plants of the
      Indian Sundarban Wetland.
AB  - Absorption, accumulation and translocation of 12 trace elements in nine dominant
      mangrove plants in the Indian Sundarban Wetland revealed both organ-specific and
      site-specific characteristics. An overall enrichment of elements was recorded in
      rhizosediment, exceeding the prescribed effects range-low (ER-L) of consensus
      based sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) for Cu and Pb. Avicennia officinalis, A.
      alba, Ceriops decandra and Excoecaria agallocha exhibited unique potential for
      accumulating Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn and Zn and could be considered efficient
      accumulators. Maximum element accumulation in trunk bark (As 6.16, Cr 49.9, Co
      2.67, Cu 91.00 and Zn 85.5 mg kg-1) and root/pneumatophore (Al 1000 and Fe 2430
      mg kg-1) was recorded. Maximum bioconcentration factor (6.23) in A. officinalis
      and translocation factor (17.5 for Mn) in C. decandra distinguished their
      phytoremediation capacity. These halophytes could be used for trace element
      phytoremediation in stressed sites of Sundarban.

PMID- 27650377
TI  - Marine genomics: News and views.
AB  - Marine ecosystems occupy 71% of the surface of our planet, yet we know little
      about their diversity. Although the inventory of species is continually
      increasing, as registered by the Census of Marine Life program, only about 10% of
      the estimated two million marine species are known. This lag between observed and
      estimated diversity is in part due to the elusiveness of most aquatic species and
      the technical difficulties of exploring extreme environments, as for instance the
      abyssal plains and polar waters. In the last decade, the rapid development of
      affordable and flexible high-throughput sequencing approaches have been helping
      to improve our knowledge of marine biodiversity, from the rich microbial biota
      that forms the base of the tree of life to a wealth of plant and animal species.
      In this review, we present an overview of the applications of genomics to the
      study of marine life, from evolutionary biology of non-model organisms to species
      of commercial relevance for fishing, aquaculture and biomedicine. Instead of
      providing an exhaustive list of available genomic data, we rather set to present
      contextualized examples that best represent the current status of the field of
      marine genomics.

PMID- 27650378
TI  - Choice of molecular barcode will affect species prevalence but not bacterial
      community composition.
AB  - The rapid advancement of next generation sequencing protocols in recent years has
      led to the diversification in the methods used to study microbial communities;
      however, how comparable the data generated from these different methods are,
      remains unclear. In this study we compared the taxonomic composition and seasonal
      dynamics of the bacterial community determined by two distinct 16s amplicon
      sequencing protocols: sequencing of the V6 region of the 16s rRNA gene using 454
      pyrosequencing vs the V4 region of the 16s rRNA gene using the Illumina Hiseq
      2500 platform. Significant differences between relative abundances at all
      taxonomic levels were observed; however, their seasonal dynamics between phyla
      were largely consistent between methods. This study highlights that care must be
      taken when comparing datasets generated from different methods.

PMID- 27650379
TI  - During acute experimental infection with the reticulotropic Trypanosoma cruzi
      strain Tulahuen IL-22 is induced IL-23-dependently but is dispensable for
      protection.
AB  - Protective immunity against Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas
      disease, depends on the activation of macrophages by IFN-gamma and IL-17A. In
      contrast, IL-10 prevents immunopathology. IL-22 belongs to the IL-10 cytokine
      family and has pleiotropic effects during host defense and immunopathology,
      however its role in protection and pathology during T. cruzi infection has not
      been analyzed yet. Therefore, we examined the role of IL-22 in experimental
      Chagas disease using the reticulotropic Tulahuen strain of T. cruzi. During
      infection, IL-22 is secreted by CD4-positive cells in an IL-23-dependent fashion.
      Infected IL-22(-/-) mice exhibited an increased production of IFN-gamma and TNF
      and displayed enhanced numbers of activated IFN-gamma-producing T cells in their
      spleens. Additionally, the production of IL-10 was increased in IL-22(-/-) mice
      upon infection. Macrophage activation and by association the parasitemia was not
      affected in the absence of IL-22. Apart from a transient increase in the body
      weight loss, infected IL-22(-/-) mice did not show any signs for an altered
      immunopathology during the first fourteen days of infection. Taken together,
      although IL-22 is expressed, it seems to play a minor role in protection and
      pathology during the acute systemic infection with the reticulotropic Tulahuen
      strain of T. cruzi.

PMID- 27650380
TI  - Immunogenicity and protective immunity against otitis media caused by
      pneumococcus in mice of Hib conjugate vaccine with PsaA protein carrier.
AB  - This study evaluated the immunogenicity and protective immunity of a Hemophilus
      influenzae b (Hib) polysaccharide conjugate vaccine with the pneumococcal surface
      adhesin A (PsaA) protein carrier in young mice. The Hib polysaccharide was
      conjugated with the rPsaA protein carrier, which was produced using recombinant
      DNA technology. A total of 15 young mice aged 3 weeks to 5 weeks were immunized
      with the conjugate vaccine, and another 15 young mice of the same age were
      immunized with the licensed Hib-tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccine. Furthermore, the
      third group of 15 young mice was inoculated with phosphate buffer saline as
      control. The immunized mice were inoculated with pneumococcus in the middle ear.
      Results showed that IgG antibody responses against both the PsaA protein and Hib
      polysaccharide were observed in the Hib-PsaA group. However, no statistical
      difference was observed in the titer of IgG against the Hib polysaccharide
      between Hib-PsaA and Hib-TT groups. The elimination rate of pneumococcus and the
      inflammation of the middle ear showed the effectiveness of protective immunity
      against otitis media caused by pneumococcus. Our results suggest that the Hib
      polysaccharide can be successfully conjugated with rPsaA via amide condensation.
      This new Hib-PsaA conjugate vaccine can induce both anti-PsaA and anti-Hib immune
      responses in young mice and elicit effective protection against acute otitis
      media caused by pneumococcus.

PMID- 27650382
TI  - Accounting for reporting fatigue is required to accurately estimate incidence in
      voluntary reporting health schemes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Accurate estimation of the true incidence of ill-health is a goal of
      many surveillance systems. In surveillance schemes including zero reporting to
      remove ambiguity with nonresponse, reporter fatigue might increase the likelihood
      of a false zero case report in turn underestimating the true incidence rate and
      creating a biased downward trend over time. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Multilevel
      zero-inflated negative binomial models were fitted to incidence case reports of
      three surveillance schemes running between 1996 and 2012 in the United Kingdom.
      Estimates of the true annual incidence rates were produced by weighting the
      reported number of cases by the predicted excess zero rate in addition to the
      within-scheme standard adjustment for response rate and the participation rate.
      RESULTS: Time since joining the scheme was associated with the odds of excess
      zero case reports for most schemes, resulting in weaker calendar trends.
      Estimated incidence rates (95% confidence interval) per 100,000 person years,
      were approximately doubled to 30 (21-39), 137 (116-157), 33 (27-39), when excess
      zero-rate adjustment was applied. CONCLUSION: If we accept that excess zeros are
      in reality nonresponse by busy reporters, then usual estimates of incidence are
      likely to be significantly underestimated and previously thought strong downward
      trends overestimated.

PMID- 27650381
TI  - Serum YKL-40, a prognostic marker in patients with large-artery atherosclerotic
      stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Inflammation comprises important aspects of large-artery
      atherosclerosis (LAA) stroke pathophysiology. YKL-40 is a new and emerging
      biomarker that is associated with both acute and chronic inflammations. Elevated
      serum concentrations of YKL-40 have been reported in patients with
      atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. This study investigates
      whether serum YKL-40 concentrations on admission can predict 3-month clinical
      outcomes after LAA stroke. METHODS: We recruited control patients (n=85) and
      those with LAA stroke (n=141) according to the TOAST classification system. The
      modified Rankin scale at 3 months after stroke was used to evaluate the
      prognosis. The prognostic accuracy was assessed by the receiver operating
      characteristic curve. RESULTS: Serum YKL-40 level was significantly higher for
      LAA patients than for controls (P<.001). Patients with poor outcomes (n=36) had
      significantly increased serum YKL-40 concentrations on admission (P=.01). High
      YKL-40 levels predicted poor functional outcome (OR=6.47, P=.02). Moreover, the
      combination of YKL-40 level and the NIHSS score could improve the prognostic
      accuracy of the NIHSS in predicting functional outcome (combined areas under the
      curve, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.80-0.94; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The level of serum YKL-40
      is a significant and independent biomarker to predict the clinical outcome of LAA
      stroke.

PMID- 27650383
TI  - Reducing sample size by combining superiority and non-inferiority for two primary
      endpoints in the Social Fitness study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In randomized controlled trials, two endpoints may be necessary to
      capture the multidimensional concept of the intervention and the objectives of
      the study adequately. We show how to calculate sample size when defining success
      of a trial by combinations of superiority and/or non-inferiority aims for the
      endpoints. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: The randomized controlled trial design of
      the Social Fitness study uses two primary endpoints, which can be combined into
      five different scenarios for defining success of the trial. We show how to
      calculate power and sample size for each scenario and compare these for different
      settings of power of each endpoint and correlation between them. RESULTS:
      Compared to a single primary endpoint, using two primary endpoints often gives
      more power when success is defined as: improvement in one of the two endpoints
      and no deterioration in the other. This also gives better power than when success
      is defined as: improvement in one prespecified endpoint and no deterioration in
      the remaining endpoint. CONCLUSION: When two primary endpoints are equally
      important, but a positive effect in both simultaneously is not per se required,
      the objective of having one superior and the other (at least) non-inferior could
      make sense and reduce sample size.

PMID- 27650384
TI  - Yes, nicotine replacement therapy's effectiveness is much lower than often
      reported.

PMID- 27650386
TI  - Announcements for issue 10, 2016.

PMID- 27650385
TI  - [Ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization - "Syringe-Free" approach].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Central venous catheterization of the internal jugular
      vein is a commonly performed invasive procedure associated with a significant
      morbidity and even mortality. Ultrasound-guided methods have shown to improve
      significantly the success of the technique and are recommended by various
      scientific societies, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The
      aim of this report is to describe an innovative ultrasound-guided central line
      placement of the internal jugular vein. TECHNIQUE: The authors describe an
      innovative ultrasound-guided central line placement of the internal jugular vein
      based on an oblique approach - the "Syringe-Free" approach. This technique allows
      immediate progression of the guide wire in the venous lumen, while maintaining a
      real-time continuous ultrasound image. CONCLUSIONS: The described method adds to
      the traditional oblique technique the possibility of achieving a continuous real
      time ultrasound-guided venipuncture and a guide wire insertion that does not need
      removing the probe from the puncture field, while having a single operator
      performing the whole procedure.

PMID- 27650387
TI  - Adjacent segment degeneration following ProDisc-C total disc replacement (TDR)
      and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF): does surgeon bias effect
      radiographic interpretation?
AB  - PURPOSE: Many investigators have reported the financial conflicts of interest
      (COI), which could result in potential bias in the reporting of outcomes for
      patients undergoing total disc replacement (TDR) rather than anterior cervical
      discectomy and fusion (ACDF). This bias may be subconsciously introduced by the
      investigator in a non-blinded radiographic review. The purpose of this study was
      to determine if bias was present when a group of spine specialists rated adjacent
      segment degeneration (ASD) following cervical TDR or ACDF. METHODS: Potential
      bias in the assessment of ASD was evaluated through the reviews of cervical
      radiographs (pre- and 6 years post-operative) from patients participating in the
      ProDisc-C FDA trial (ProDisc-C IDE #G030059). The index level was blinded on all
      radiographs during the first review, but unblinded in the second. Five reviewers
      (a radiologist, two non-TDR surgeons, and two TDR surgeons), two of whom had a
      COI with the ProDisc-C trial sponsor, assessed ASD on a three point scale: yes,
      no, or unable to assess. Intra- and inter-rater reliabilities between all raters
      were assessed by the Kappa statistic. RESULTS: The intra-rater reliability
      between reviews was substantial, indicating little to no bias in assessing ASD
      development/progression. The Kappa statistics were 0.580 and 0.644 for the TDR
      surgeons (p < 0.0001), 0.718 and 0.572 for the non-TDR surgeons (p < 0.0001), and
      0.642 for the radiologist (p < 0.0001). Inter-rater reliability for the blinded
      review ranged from 0.316 to 0.607 (p < 0.0001) and from 0.221 to 0.644 (p <
      0.0001) for the unblinded review. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of the surgical
      procedure performed did not bias the assessment of ASD.

PMID- 27650388
TI  - Preoperative Sentinel Node Mapping in Sentinel Node Biopsy in Early Breast
      Cancers - Is It Cost-Effective?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is currently the gold standard of
      treatment in early breast cancers. Identification of SLNs by preoperative
      scintigraphy has been carried out to improve the detection of SLNs
      intraoperatively, but the evidence of its cost-effectiveness is lacking. Here, we
      analyze the cost-effectiveness of the utilization of scintigraphy in detection of
      SLNs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical and operative details were retrieved from a
      prospectively maintained database. The resources and cost data from each patient
      who had undergone SLN biopsy with preoperative scintigraphy were retrieved.
      RESULTS: From January 2008 to December 2012, 400 patients underwent SLN biopsy
      for breast cancer. A total of 329 had preoperative SLN mapping with scintigraphy,
      Baseline patient demographic data for both arms were comparable. The relapse and
      recurrence rate of both arms were not statistically different. The detection rate
      of SLNs of both arms was the same (100%), and there were no grade 2 or above
      lymphedema in both groups of patients. However, the cost of each patient
      undergoing SLN mapping was USD $345.8. CONCLUSION: Preoperative SLN mapping does
      not improve the SLN detection rate. In addition, it does not affect the surgical
      outcomes in terms of complication, local relapse, and recurrence. The use of
      preoperative SLN mapping is no longer cost-effective.

PMID- 27650391
TI  - Treatment of glomus tympanicum tumors by preoperative embolization and total
      surgical resection.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness on function
      preservation and tumor control of the treatment of glomus tympanicum tumors with
      pre-operative embolization followed by total surgical resection. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: We describe a series of 6 patients with a glomus tympanicum tumor who
      were treated in our hospital using the same technique: the day before surgery
      selective tumor embolization due to denaturation with 96% ethanol. Following
      parameters were considered: tumor classification, tumor control, clinical and
      audiological outcome, effectiveness of embolization, percentage of tumor necrosis
      and treatment complications. RESULTS: There were no severe complications due to
      embolization or surgery. Tumor blush disappeared completely in 5 patients on DSA
      post embolization and histologic evaluation of the resected tissue showed a
      median of 69.2% of tumor necrosis. Pulsatile tinnitus disappeared in all patients
      and 3 patients had no symptoms at all. Hearing ameliorated in 4 patients, 1
      patient without hearing loss pre- treatment still had normal hearing after
      treatment and 1 patient's hearing was worse after treatment. Average follow-up
      was 21.3months. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of glomus tympanicum tumors by pre
      operative embolization with ethanol and surgical resection has not been described
      before. Our results show that it is a safe procedure with a good long term tumor
      control, good clinical and audiological outcome.

PMID- 27650392
TI  - Semantic congruency of auditory warnings.
AB  - The aim of this study was to explore operator experience and performance for
      semantically congruent and incongruent auditory icons and abstract alarm sounds.
      It was expected that performance advantages for congruent sounds would be present
      initially but would reduce over time for both alarm types. Twenty-four
      participants (12M/12F) were placed into auditory icon or abstract alarm
      groupings. For each group both congruent and incongruent alarms were used to
      represent different driving task scenarios. Once sounded, participants were
      required to respond to each alarm by selecting a corresponding driving scenario.
      User performance for all sound types improved over time, however even with
      experience a decrement in speed of response remained for the incongruent iconic
      sounds and in accuracy of performance for the abstract warning sounds when
      compared to the congruent auditory icons. Semantic congruency was found to be of
      more importance for auditory icons than for abstract sounds. Practitioner
      Summary: Alarms are used in many operating systems as emergency, alerting, or
      continuous monitoring signals for instance. This study found that the type and
      representativeness of an auditory warning will influence operator performance
      over time. Semantically congruent iconic sounds produced performance advantages
      over both incongruent iconic sounds and abstract warnings.

PMID- 27650393
TI  - Addison's forum helps to support and engage patients.

PMID- 27650394
TI  - Mothers' Attributions for Positive and Negative Child Behavior: Associations With
      Mothers' ADHD Symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous research has shown that parent attributions for child
      behavior have important implications on the parent-child relationship. The
      current study investigates whether mothers' level of ADHD symptoms is associated
      with their child-responsibility attributions for positive and negative child
      behavior. METHOD: Seventy-nine mothers of 6- to 11-year-old boys participated in
      this online study. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their attributions,
      their ADHD symptoms, and their child's behavior. RESULTS: All mothers offered
      more child-responsibility attributions for positive behaviors than for negative
      behaviors. However, mothers with greater levels of ADHD symptoms did this to a
      lesser extent, blaming their child relatively more for negative behavior and
      giving their child relatively less credit for positive behavior. CONCLUSION: This
      is the first study demonstrating the association between mothers' ADHD symptoms
      and child-responsibility attributions. It is possible that these relatively more
      negative attributions could be underlying some of the parenting difficulties
      reported by parents with ADHD.

PMID- 27650390
TI  - Detecting and staging podoconiosis cases in North West Cameroon: positive
      predictive value of clinical screening of patients by community health workers
      and researchers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The suitability of using clinical assessment to identify patients
      with podoconiosis in endemic communities has previously been demonstrated. In
      this study, we explored the feasibility and accuracy of using Community Health
      Implementers (CHIs) for the large scale clinical screening of the population for
      podoconiosis in North-west Cameroon. METHODS: Before a regional podoconiosis
      mapping, 193 CHIs and 50 health personnel selected from 6 health districts were
      trained in the clinical diagnosis of the disease. After training, CHIs undertook
      community screening for podoconiosis patients under health personnel supervision.
      Identified cases were later re-examined by a research team with experience in the
      clinical identification of podoconiosis. RESULTS: Cases were identified by CHIs
      with an overall positive predictive value (PPV) of 48.5% [34.1-70%]. They were
      more accurate in detecting advanced stages of the disease compared to early
      stages; OR 2.07, 95% CI = 1.15-3.73, p = 0.015 for all advanced stages). Accuracy
      of detecting cases showed statistically significant differences among health
      districts (chi2 = 25.30, p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Podoconiosis being a
      stigmatized disease, the use of CHIs who are familiar to the community appears
      appropriate for identifying cases through clinical diagnosis. However, to improve
      their effectiveness and accuracy, more training, supervision and support are
      required. More emphasis must be given in identifying early clinical stages and in
      health districts with relatively lower PPVs.

PMID- 27650389
TI  - Potential mechanisms and implications for the formation of tau oligomeric
      strains.
AB  - The culmination of many years of increasing research into the toxicity of tau
      aggregation in neurodegenerative disease has led to the consensus that soluble,
      oligomeric forms of tau are likely the most toxic entities in disease. While
      tauopathies overlap in the presence of tau pathology, each disease has a unique
      combination of symptoms and pathological features; however, most study into tau
      has grouped tau oligomers and studied them as a homogenous population.
      Established evidence from the prion field combined with the most recent tau and
      amyloidogenic protein research suggests that tau is a prion-like protein, capable
      of seeding the spread of pathology throughout the brain. Thus, it is likely that
      tau may also form prion-like strains or diverse conformational structures that
      may differ by disease and underlie some of the differences in symptoms and
      pathology in neurodegenerative tauopathies. The development of techniques and new
      technology for the detection of tau oligomeric strains may, therefore, lead to
      more efficacious diagnostic and treatment strategies for neurodegenerative
      disease. [Formula: see text].

PMID- 27650395
TI  - The Features of Comorbidity of Childhood ADHD in Patients With Obsessive
      Compulsive Disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to investigate the impact of childhood ADHD comorbidity on
      the clinical features of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD: Ninety-five
      adult outpatients with a diagnosis of OCD were assessed by using the Schedule for
      Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and
      Lifetime Version, ADHD module, and the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.
      Patients with or without childhood ADHD were compared in terms of the
      sociodemographic and clinical features, psychiatric comorbidities, and rating
      scales. RESULTS: The rate of episodic course of OCD (p < .001), religious and
      sexual obsessions (p = .009, p = .020, respectively), lifetime comorbidity of
      bipolar disorder (BD), social anxiety disorder (SAD; p = .001, p = .009,
      respectively), and tic disorder (TD) comorbidity (p < .001) were higher in the
      OCD + ADHD group than in the OCD without ADHD group. CONCLUSION: Childhood ADHD
      may be associated with higher rates of BD, SAD, and TD comorbidity and episodic
      course of OCD as well as higher frequency of certain types of obsessions.

PMID- 27650396
TI  - Aberrant Expression of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Schizophrenia Patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND Dysfunction of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been demonstrated to
      be involved in psychiatric diseases. However, the expression patterns and
      functions of the regulatory lncRNAs in schizophrenia (SZ) patients have rarely
      been systematically reported. MATERIAL AND METHODS The lncRNAs in peripheral
      blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were screened and compared between the SZ
      patients and demographically-matched healthy controls using microarray analysis,
      and then were validated by quantitative real-time reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method. Three verified significantly
      dysregulated lncRNAs of PBMCs were selected and then measured in SZ patients
      before and after the antipsychotic treatment. SZ symptomatology improvement was
      measured by Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores. RESULTS One
      hundred and twenty-five lncRNAs were significantly differentially expressed in SZ
      patients compared with healthy controls, of which 62 were up-regulated and 63
      were down-regulated. Concurrent with the significant decrease of the PANSS scores
      of patients after the treatment, the PBMC levels of lncRNA NONHSAT089447 and
      NONHSAT041499 were strikingly decreased (P<0.05). Down-regulation of PBMC
      expression of NONHSAT041499 was significantly correlated to the improvement of
      positive and activity symptoms of patients (r=-0.444 and -0.423, respectively,
      P<0.05, accounting for 16.9% and 15.1%, respectively), and was also significantly
      associated with better outcomes (odds ratio 2.325 for positive symptom and 12.340
      for activity symptom). CONCLUSIONS LncRNA NONHSAT089447 and NONHSAT041499 might
      be involved in the pathogenesis and development of SZ, and the PBMC level of
      NONHSAT041499 is significantly associated with the treatment outcomes of SZ. 

PMID- 27650398
TI  - High-intensity interval training prevents oxidant-mediated diaphragm muscle
      weakness in hypertensive mice.
AB  - Hypertension is a key risk factor for heart failure, with the latter
      characterized by diaphragm muscle weakness that is mediated in part by increased
      oxidative stress. In the present study, we used a deoxycorticosterone acetate
      (DOCA)-salt mouse model to determine whether hypertension could independently
      induce diaphragm dysfunction and further investigated the effects of high
      intensity interval training (HIIT). Sham-treated (n = 11), DOCA-salt-treated (n =
      11), and DOCA-salt+HIIT-treated (n = 15) mice were studied over 4 wk. Diaphragm
      contractile function, protein expression, enzyme activity, and fiber cross
      sectional area and type were subsequently determined. Elevated blood pressure
      confirmed hypertension in DOCA-salt mice independent of HIIT (P < 0.05).
      Diaphragm forces were impaired by ~15-20% in DOCA-salt vs. sham-treated mice (P <
      0.05), but this effect was prevented after HIIT. Myosin heavy chain (MyHC)
      protein expression tended to decrease (~30%; P = 0.06) in DOCA-salt vs. sham- and
      DOCA-salt+HIIT mice, whereas oxidative stress increased (P < 0.05). Enzyme
      activity of NADPH oxidase was higher, but superoxide dismutase was lower, with
      MyHC oxidation elevated by ~50%. HIIT further prevented direct oxidant-mediated
      diaphragm contractile dysfunction (P < 0.05) after a 30 min exposure to H2O-2 (1
      mM). Our data suggest that hypertension induces diaphragm contractile dysfunction
      via an oxidant-mediated mechanism that is prevented by HIIT.-Bowen, T. S.,
      Eisenkolb, S., Drobner, J., Fischer, T., Werner, S., Linke, A., Mangner, N.,
      Schuler, G., Adams, V. High-intensity interval training prevents oxidant-mediated
      diaphragm muscle weakness in hypertensive mice.

PMID- 27650400
TI  - Binary logistic regression-Instrument for assessing museum indoor air impact on
      exhibits.
AB  - : This paper presents a new way to assess the environmental impact on historical
      artifacts using binary logistic regression. The prediction of the impact on the
      exhibits during certain pollution scenarios (environmental impact) was calculated
      by a mathematical model based on the binary logistic regression; it allows the
      identification of those environmental parameters from a multitude of possible
      parameters with a significant impact on exhibitions and ranks them according to
      their severity effect. Air quality (NO2, SO2, O3 and PM2.5) and microclimate
      parameters (temperature, humidity) monitoring data from a case study conducted
      within exhibition and storage spaces of the Romanian National Aviation Museum
      Bucharest have been used for developing and validating the binary logistic
      regression method and the mathematical model. The logistic regression analysis
      was used on 794 data combinations (715 to develop of the model and 79 to validate
      it) by a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0). The results from
      the binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that from six parameters
      taken into consideration, four of them present a significant effect upon exhibits
      in the following order: O3>PM2.5>NO2>humidity followed at a significant distance
      by the effects of SO2 and temperature. The mathematical model, developed in this
      study, correctly predicted 95.1 % of the cumulated effect of the environmental
      parameters upon the exhibits. Moreover, this model could also be used in the
      decisional process regarding the preventive preservation measures that should be
      implemented within the exhibition space. IMPLICATIONS: The paper presents a new
      way to assess the environmental impact on historical artifacts using binary
      logistic regression. The mathematical model developed on the environmental
      parameters analyzed by the binary logistic regression method could be useful in a
      decision-making process establishing the best measures for pollution reduction
      and preventive preservation of exhibits.

PMID- 27650399
TI  - The effects of cigarette smoking behavior and psychosis history on general and
      social cognition in bipolar disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Several studies have documented the prevalence and effects of
      cigarette smoking on cognition in psychotic disorders; fewer have focused on
      bipolar disorder (BD). Cognitive and social dysfunction are common in BD, and the
      severity of these deficits may be related both to illness features (e.g., current
      symptoms, psychosis history) and health-related behaviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol
      use). The current study assessed the influence of cigarette smoking on general
      and social cognition in a BD cohort, accounting for illness features with a focus
      on psychosis history. METHODS: We assessed smoking status in 105 euthymic
      patients with BD, who completed a comprehensive battery including social (facial
      affect recognition, emotional problem-solving, and theory of mind) and general
      (the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and executive functioning) cognitive
      measures. We compared smokers vs nonsmokers on cognitive performance and tested
      for the effects of psychosis history, premorbid intellectual functioning,
      substance use, and current affective symptoms. RESULTS: Within the nonpsychotic
      subgroup with BD (n=45), smokers generally outperformed nonsmokers; by contrast,
      for subjects with BD with a history of psychosis (n=41), nonsmokers outperformed
      smokers. This pattern was noted more globally using a general composite cognitive
      score and on social/affective measures assessing patients' ability to identify
      emotions of facial stimuli and solve emotional problems. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette
      smoking differentially affects performance on both general and social cognition
      in patients with BD as a function of psychosis history. These results suggest
      that there may be at least partially divergent underlying neurobiological causes
      for cognitive dysfunction in patients with BD with and without psychosis.

PMID- 27650401
TI  - 'Manage and mitigate punitive regulatory measures, enhance the corporate image,
      influence public policy': industry efforts to shape understanding of tobacco
      attributable deforestation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deforestation due to tobacco farming began to raise concerns in the
      mid 1970s. Over the next 40 years, tobacco growing increased significantly and
      shifted markedly to low- and middle-income countries. The percentage of
      deforestation caused by tobacco farming reached 4 % globally by the early 2000s,
      although substantially higher in countries such as China (18 %), Zimbabwe (20 %),
      Malawi (26 %) and Bangladesh (>30 %). Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have
      argued that tobacco-attributable deforestation is not a serious problem, and that
      the industry has addressed the issue through corporate social responsibility
      (CSR) initiatives. METHODS: After reviewing the existing scholarly literature on
      tobacco and deforestation, we analysed industry sources of public information to
      understand how the industry framed deforestation, its key causes, and policy
      responses. To analyse industry strategies between the 1970s and early 2000s to
      shape understanding of deforestation caused by tobacco farming and curing, the
      Truth Tobacco Documents Library was systematically searched. The above sources
      were compiled and triangulated, thematically and chronologically, to derive a
      narrative of how the industry has framed the problem of, and solutions to,
      tobacco-attributable deforestation. RESULTS: The industry sought to undermine
      responses to tobacco-attributable deforestation by emphasising the economic
      benefits of production in LMICs, blaming alternative causes, and claiming
      successful forestation efforts. To support these tactics, the industry lobbied at
      the national and international levels, commissioned research, and colluded
      through front groups. There was a lack of effective action to address tobacco
      attributable deforestation, and indeed an escalation of the problem, during this
      period. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the need for independent data on the
      varied environmental impacts of the tobacco industry, awareness of how the
      industry seeks to work with environmental researchers and groups to further its
      interests, and increased scrutiny of tobacco industry efforts to influence
      environmental policy.

PMID- 27650402
TI  - A corpus for plant-chemical relationships in the biomedical domain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plants are natural products that humans consume in various ways
      including food and medicine. They have a long empirical history of treating
      diseases with relatively few side effects. Based on these strengths, many studies
      have been performed to verify the effectiveness of plants in treating diseases.
      It is crucial to understand the chemicals contained in plants because these
      chemicals can regulate activities of proteins that are key factors in causing
      diseases. With the accumulation of a large volume of biomedical literature in
      various databases such as PubMed, it is possible to automatically extract
      relationships between plants and chemicals in a large-scale way if we apply a
      text mining approach. A cornerstone of achieving this task is a corpus of
      relationships between plants and chemicals. RESULTS: In this study, we first
      constructed a corpus for plant and chemical entities and for the relationships
      between them. The corpus contains 267 plant entities, 475 chemical entities, and
      1,007 plant-chemical relationships (550 and 457 positive and negative
      relationships, respectively), which are drawn from 377 sentences in 245 PubMed
      abstracts. Inter-annotator agreement scores for the corpus among three annotators
      were measured. The simple percent agreement scores for entities and trigger words
      for the relationships were 99.6 and 94.8 %, respectively, and the overall kappa
      score for the classification of positive and negative relationships was 79.8 %.
      We also developed a rule-based model to automatically extract such plant-chemical
      relationships. When we evaluated the rule-based model using the corpus and
      randomly selected biomedical articles, overall F-scores of 68.0 and 61.8 % were
      achieved, respectively. CONCLUSION: We expect that the corpus for plant-chemical
      relationships will be a useful resource for enhancing plant research. The corpus
      is available at http://combio.gist.ac.kr/plantchemicalcorpus .

PMID- 27650404
TI  - Access to a Structurally Complex Compound Collection via Ring Distortion of the
      Alkaloid Sinomenine.
AB  - Many compound collections used in high-throughput screening are composed of
      members whose structural complexity is considerably lower than that of natural
      products. We previously reported a strategy for the synthesis of complex and
      diverse small molecules from natural products using ring-distortion reactions,
      called complexity-to-diversity (CtD), and herein, CtD is applied in the synthesis
      of 16 diverse scaffolds and 65 total compounds from the alkaloid natural product
      sinomenine. Chemoinformatic analysis shows that these compounds possess complex
      ring systems and marked three-dimensionality.

PMID- 27650405
TI  - Systematic review of blood transcriptome profiling in neuropsychiatric disorders:
      guidelines for biomarker discovery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The utility of blood for genome-wide gene expression profiling and
      biomarker discovery has received much attention in patients diagnosed with major
      neuropsychiatric disorders. While numerous studies have been conducted,
      statistical rigor and clarity in terms of blood-based biomarker discovery,
      validation, and testing are needed. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of
      the literature to investigate methodological approaches and to assess the value
      of blood transcriptome profiling in research on mental disorders. We were
      particularly interested in statistical considerations related to machine
      learning, gene network analyses, and convergence across different disorders.
      RESULTS: A total of 108 peripheral blood transcriptome studies across 15
      disorders were surveyed: 25 studies used a variety of machine learning techniques
      to assess putative clinical viability of the candidate biomarkers; 11 leveraged a
      higher-order systems-level perspective to identify gene module-based biomarkers;
      and nine performed analyses across two or more neuropsychiatric phenotypes.
      Notably, ~50% of the surveyed studies included fewer than 50 samples (cases and
      controls), while ~75% included less than 100. CONCLUSIONS: Detailed consideration
      of statistical analysis in the early stages of experimental planning is critical
      to ensure blood-based biomarker discovery and validation. Statistical guidelines
      are presented to enhance implementation and reproducibility of machine learning
      and gene network analyses across independent studies. Future studies capitalizing
      on larger sample sizes and emerging next-generation technologies set the stage
      for moving the field forwards. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27650406
TI  - Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate in binge eating disorder: a placebo controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) in the treatment of
      binge eating disorder (BED). METHOD: Fifty participants with BED received LDX (20
      70 mg/day) (n = 25) or placebo (n = 25) for up to 12 weeks in a single-center,
      randomized, double-blind, and flexible-dose trial. The primary outcome measure
      was binge eating (BE) days/week. RESULTS: In the primary longitudinal analysis,
      compared with placebo, LDX was not associated with a significantly greater rate
      of reduction in BE days/week, as well as BE episodes/week, and scores on the
      Clinical Global Impression-Severity or Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale
      modified for binge eating scales. It was, however, associated with significantly
      decreased weight, body mass index, and fasting triglyceride level. In the
      secondary last observation carried forward analyses, LDX was associated with
      statistically significant reductions in BE days/week, BE episodes/week, weight,
      and BMI, as well as a statistically significant greater level of categorical
      response and global improvement. The mean (standard deviation) LDX daily dose at
      endpoint evaluation was 59.6 (14.9) mg. One participant discontinued LDX for a
      serious adverse cardiovascular event, which resolved fully. CONCLUSION:
      Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate may have clinical utility for BED but further studies
      of its efficacy, tolerability, and safety in this population are needed.
      Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27650407
TI  - Electrochemical Dealloying of PdCu3 Nanoparticles to Achieve Pt-like Activity for
      the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.
AB  - Manipulating the d-band center of the metal surface and hence optimizing the free
      energy of hydrogen adsorption (DeltaGH ) close to the optimal adsorption energy
      (DeltaGH =0) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), is an efficient strategy to
      enhance the activity for HER. Herein, we report a oleylamine-mediated (acting as
      the solvent, stabilizer, and reducing agent) strategy to synthesize intermetallic
      PdCu3 nanoparticles (NPs) without using any external reducing agent. Upon
      electrochemical cycling, PdCu3 transforms into Pd-rich PdCu (DeltaGH =0.05 eV),
      exhibiting remarkably enhanced activity (with a current density of 25 mA cm-2 at
      ~69 mV overpotential) as an alternative to Pt for HER. The first-principle
      calculation suggests that formation of low coordination number Pd active sites
      alters the d-band center and hence optimal adsorption of hydrogen, leading to
      enhanced activity. This finding may provide guidelines towards the design and
      development of Pt-free highly active and robust electrocatalysts.

PMID- 27650409
TI  - Molecular expression of caprine estrogen receptor gene 1 in reproductive and non
      reproductive tissues.
AB  - During the last decades, physiological effects of oestrogens have been
      increasingly explored by scientists and biotechnologists. Estrogens exert a wide
      range of effects on a large variety of cell types. Oestrogen and its receptors
      are essential for sexual development and reproduction. Estrogen receptor alpha is
      a nuclear receptor activated by the hormone oestrogen. In male, ERalpha is
      encoded by the gene estrogen receptor gene 1 (ESR1), responsible for better
      fertility. The ESR1 is involved in the reabsorption of luminal fluid during the
      transit of spermatozoa from the testis to the head of the epididymis which is
      important for their survival and maturation during epididymal storage. The
      absence of ESR1 leads to reduced epididymal sperm content, reduced sperm motility
      and fertilizing ability. Therefore, this is a good startby to study the
      expression pattern of estrogen receptor 1 gene in high-fertile (G1) and low
      fertile (G2) bucks of Jamunapari and Barbari breeds identified on the basis of
      seminal quality traits and fertility trials. RNA was extracted from the tissues
      by TRIzol method. The identification and expression pattern of caprine ESR1 gene
      was analysed by real-time PCR (Roche LC-480). Our work shows that the relative
      quantification by RT-PCR indicates more fold in head of epididymis as compared to
      spleen of caprine ESR1 gene. Furthermore, the RT-PCR indicated that fertile bucks
      of Jamunapari breed have more fold value as compared to Barbari breed in respect
      of reproductive organ.

PMID- 27650408
TI  - Decreased sleep quality in high myopia children.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evaluate sleep quality in myopic children and
      adults. This cross sectional study surveyed 486 participants aged from 10 to 59
      years with refractive errors using a questionnaire containing the Pittsburgh
      Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
      Children (< 20 years) in the high myopia group exhibited the poorest PSQI scores
      (P < 0.01), while the adults showed no such correlations. Subscales of PSQI and
      HADS in children disclosed that the high myopia groups had the shortest sleep
      duration (P < 0.01), worst subjective sleep scores (P < 0.001), and latest
      bedtime (P < 0.05). Regression analyses in children significantly correlated
      myopic errors with PSQI (P < 0.05), sleep duration (P < 0.01), and bedtime (P <
      0.01). Sleep efficacy (P < 0.05) and daytime dysfunction (P < 0.05) were
      significantly better in contact-lens users compared to the respective non-user
      groups across all participants. In conclusion, sleep quality in children was
      significantly correlated with myopic error, with the high myopia group worst
      affected.

PMID- 27650410
TI  - Development of immobilized Sn4+ affinity chromatography material for highly
      selective enrichment of phosphopeptides.
AB  - In this work, we first immobilized tin(IV) ion on polydopamine-coated magnetic
      graphene (magG@PDA) to synthesize Sn4+ -immobilized magG@PDA (magG@PDA-Sn4+ ) and
      successfully applied the material to highly selective enrichment of
      phosphopeptides. The material gathered the advantages of large surface area of
      graphene, superparamagnetism of Fe3 O4 , good hydrophilicity and biocompatibility
      of polydopamine, and strong interaction between Sn4+ and phosphopeptides. The
      enrichment performance of magG@PDA-Sn4+ toward phosphopeptides from digested beta
      casein at different concentrations, with and without added digested BSA was
      investigated and compared with magG@PDA-Ti4+ . The results showed high
      selectivity and sensitivity of the Sn4+ -IMAC material toward phosphopeptides, as
      good as the Ti4+ -IMAC material. Finally, magG@PDA-Sn4+ was applied to the
      analysis of endogenous phosphopeptides from a real sample, human saliva, with
      both MALDI-TOF MS and nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS. The results indicated that the as
      synthesized Sn4+ -IMAC material not only has good enrichment performance, but
      also could serve as a supplement to the Ti4+ -IMAC material and expand the
      phosphopeptide coverage enriched by the single Ti4+ -IMAC material, demonstrating
      the broad application prospects of magG@PDA-Sn4+ in phosphoproteome research.

PMID- 27650412
TI  - Mixed methods systematic review exploring mentorship outcomes in nursing
      academia.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to report on a mixed methods systematic review
      that critically examines the evidence for mentorship in nursing academia.
      BACKGROUND: Nursing education institutions globally have issued calls for
      mentorship. There is emerging evidence to support the value of mentorship in
      other disciplines, but the extant state of the evidence in nursing academia is
      not known. A comprehensive review of the evidence is required. DESIGN: A mixed
      methods systematic review. DATA SOURCES: Five databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE,
      ERIC, PsycINFO) were searched using an a priori search strategy from inception to
      2 November 2015 to identify quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies.
      Grey literature searches were also conducted in electronic databases (ProQuest
      Dissertations and Theses, Index to Theses) and mentorship conference proceedings
      and by hand searching the reference lists of eligible studies. REVIEW METHODS:
      Study quality was assessed prior to inclusion using standardized critical
      appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. A convergent qualitative
      synthesis design was used where results from qualitative, quantitative and mixed
      methods studies were transformed into qualitative findings. Mentorship outcomes
      were mapped to a theory-informed framework. RESULTS: Thirty-four studies were
      included in this review, from the 3001 records initially retrieved. In general,
      mentorship had a positive impact on behavioural, career, attitudinal, relational
      and motivational outcomes; however, the methodological quality of studies was
      weak. CONCLUSION: This review can inform the objectives of mentorship
      interventions and contribute to a more rigorous approach to studies that assess
      mentorship outcomes.

PMID- 27650411
TI  - Aberrant ICOS+ -T cell differentiation in women with spontaneous preterm labor.
AB  - PROBLEM: Recent studies revealed appropriate differentiation of recent thymic
      emigrant (RTE)-regulatory T cells (Tregs) to be crucial for maintaining healthy
      pregnancy. Currently, the role of responder T cells (Tresps) is not known. METHOD
      OF STUDY: Six-color flow cytometric analysis was used to detect differences in
      the differentiation of highly proliferative inducible co-stimulatory (ICOS)+ -RTE
      Tregs/Tresps and apoptosis-sensitive ICOS- -RTE-Tregs/Tresps into mature naive
      (MN)-, CD31+ -memory and CD31- -memory Tregs/Tresps in women with spontaneous
      preterm labor (sPL) compared to healthy pregnancy. RESULTS: Healthy pregnancy was
      characterized by an increased differentiation of ICOS+ - and ICOS- -RTE-Tregs, as
      well as ICOS+ -RTE-Tresps via CD31+ -memory Tregs/Tresps into CD31- -memory
      Tregs/Tresps. Women with sPL showed an early interruption of RTE-Treg/Tresp
      differentiation. Instead, ICOS+ -MN-Tresps and partly ICOS- -MN-Tregs
      differentiated into CD31- -memory Tregs/Tresps, causing a significant reduction
      of both ICOS+ -Tregs and ICOS+ -Tresps, but an increase of ICOS- -Tresps within
      total CD4+ -T-helper cells. CONCLUSION: Aberrant differentiation of ICOS+ -T
      cells is associated with sPL.

PMID- 27650413
TI  - A conserved influenza A virus nucleoprotein code controls specific viral genome
      packaging.
AB  - Packaging of the eight genomic RNA segments of influenza A viruses (IAV) into
      viral particles is coordinated by segment-specific packaging sequences. How the
      packaging signals regulate the specific incorporation of each RNA segment into
      virions and whether other viral or host factors are involved in this process is
      unknown. Here, we show that distinct amino acids of the viral nucleoprotein (NP)
      are required for packaging of specific RNA segments. This was determined by
      studying the NP of a bat influenza A-like virus, HL17NL10, in the context of a
      conventional IAV (SC35M). Replacement of conserved SC35M NP residues by those of
      HL17NL10 NP resulted in RNA packaging defective IAV. Surprisingly, substitution
      of these conserved SC35M amino acids with HL17NL10 NP residues led to IAV with
      altered packaging efficiencies for specific subsets of RNA segments. This
      suggests that NP harbours an amino acid code that dictates genome packaging into
      infectious virions.

PMID- 27650415
TI  - How do the strength and type of ENSO affect SST predictability in coupled models.
AB  - The effects of amplitude and type of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on
      sea surface temperature (SST) predictability on a global scale were investigated,
      by examining historical climate forecasts for the period 1982-2006 from air-sea
      coupled seasonal prediction systems. Unlike in previous studies, SST
      predictability was evaluated in different phases of ENSO and for episodes with
      various strengths. Our results reveal that the seasonal mean Nino 3.4 index is
      well predicted in a multi-model ensemble (MME), even for four-month lead
      predictions. However, coupled models have particularly low skill in predicting
      the global SST pattern during weak ENSO events. During weak El Nino events, which
      are also El Nino Modoki in this period, a number of models fail to reproduce the
      associated tri-pole SST pattern over the tropical Pacific. During weak La Nina
      periods, SST signals in the MME tend to be less persistent than observations.
      Therefore, a good ENSO forecast does not guarantee a good SST prediction from a
      global perspective. The strength and type of ENSO need to be considered when
      inferring global SST and other climate impacts from model-predicted ENSO
      information.

PMID- 27650416
TI  - Bayesian analysis of parent-specific transmission ratio distortion in seven
      Spanish beef cattle breeds.
AB  - Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) is the departure from the expected Mendelian
      ratio in offspring, a poorly investigated biological phenomenon in livestock
      species. Given the current availability of specific parametric methods for the
      analysis of segregation data, this study focused on the screening of TRD in 602
      402 single nucleotide polymorphisms covering all autosomal chromosomes in seven
      Spanish beef cattle breeds. On average, 0.13% (n = 786) and 0.01% (n = 29) of
      genetic markers evidenced sire- or dam-specific TRD respectively. There were no
      single nucleotide polymorphisms accounting for both sire- and dam-specific TRD at
      the same time, and only one marker (rs43147474) accounted for (sire-specific) TRD
      in all seven breeds. It must be noted that rs43147474 is located in the fourth
      intronic region of the GTP-binding protein 10 gene, and this locus has been
      previously linked to the maintenance of mitochondria and nucleolar architectures.
      Alternatively, other candidate genes surround this hot-spot for sire-specific TRD
      in the cattle genome, and they are related to embryonic and postnatal lethality
      as well as prostate cancer, among others. This research characterized the
      distribution of TRD in the bovine genome, highlighting heterogeneous results when
      comparing across breeds.

PMID- 27650418
TI  - Acute Lymphocytic Myocarditis With Anti-PD-1 Antibody Nivolumab.

PMID- 27650414
TI  - Clinical implication of Keap1 and phosphorylated Nrf2 expression in
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - In this paper, variation tendency of phosphorylated Nrf2, as the activated form
      of native Nrf2, was studied in 107 primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      specimens treated by curative hepatectomy. Moreover, the coexpression of
      oxidative stress markers Keap1 and pNrf2, and their association with pathological
      features were also evaluated based on those specimens. The results showed that
      preserved cytoplasmic Keap1 expression of cancer cells was observed in 59 HCCs,
      while reduced Keap1 expression was determined in remaining 48 ones. With
      regarding to nuclear pNrf2 expression, 75 HCCs were defined as high and the other
      32 ones as low. There was a significant association between Keap1 and pNrf2
      expression in HCCs. Higher pNrf2 expression was observed, at a more substantial
      proportion, in those specimens with reduced Keap1 expression, compared to those
      with preserved Keap1 expression. The subset with higher pNrf2 and reduced Keap1
      expression was defined as pNrf2+ Keap1- . According to the analysis of prognosis,
      this subset was significantly associated with poor 5-year overall survival and
      worse disease-free survival in HCCs, indicating that pNrf2 and Keap1 were two
      functional biomolecules, not only the oxidative stress markers but also
      biomarkers for prognosis of HCCs.

PMID- 27650419
TI  - Involving stakeholders in radiological protection decision making: recovery
      history and lessons from the people of Fukushima.
AB  - Between September 2011 and August 2015, the International Commission on
      Radiological Protection (ICRP) organised a series of 12 stakeholder dialogue
      workshops with residents of Fukushima Prefecture. Discussions focused on
      recovery, addressing topics such as protection of children, management of
      contaminated food, monitoring, and self-help measures. The OECD Nuclear Energy
      Agency (NEA) supported, and the Committee on Radiation Protection and Public
      Health (CRPPH) Secretariat attended, all 12 meetings to listen directly to the
      concerns of affected individuals and draw lessons for CRPPH. To summarise the
      dialogue results, ICRP organised a final meeting in Date, Japan with the support
      of NEA and other organisations. The lessons from and utility of the dialogue
      meetings were praised by dialogue participants and sponsors, and ICRP agreed that
      some form of dialogue would continue, although with ICRP participation and
      support rather than leadership. This paper summarises the internationally
      relevant lessons learned by CRPPH from this important process.

PMID- 27650420
TI  - Corrigendum.

PMID- 27650421
TI  - Did Massachusetts Health Reform Affect Veterans Affairs Primary Care Use?
AB  - Massachusetts Health Reform (MHR), implemented in 2006, introduced new health
      insurance options that may have prompted some veterans already enrolled in the
      Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VA) to reduce their reliance on VA health
      services. This study examined whether MHR was associated with changes in VA
      primary care (PC) use. Using VA administrative data, we identified 147,836
      veterans residing in Massachusetts and neighboring New England (NE) states from
      October 2004 to September 2008. We applied difference-in-difference methods to
      compare pre-post changes in PC use among Massachusetts and other NE veterans.
      Among veterans not enrolled in Medicare, VA PC use was not significantly
      different following MHR for Massachusetts veterans relative to other NE veterans.
      Among VA-Medicare dual enrollees, MHR was associated with an increase of 24.5 PC
      visits per 1,000 veterans per quarter ( p = .048). Despite new non-VA health
      options through MHR, VA enrollees continued to rely on VA PC.

PMID- 27650423
TI  - Switching Correlation and Noise Level in Pr(3+):YSO Crystal via Dressing
      Nonlinear Phase.
AB  - We propose and experimentally demonstrate that the intensity noise correlation
      and the noise level of intensity-difference and intensity-sum in Stokes and anti
      Stokes channel can be well controlled by the relative nonlinear phase in
      spontaneous parametric four-wave mixing process. By modulating the relative
      nonlinear phase, including self-phase modulation and cross-phase modulation,
      switching the correlation into anti-correlation and the relative intensity noise
      level between the intensity-difference and intensity-sum are realized. We also
      show that the variation tendencies of the relative intensity noise level and the
      corresponding intensity fluctuations correlation are in accordance with each
      other.

PMID- 27650422
TI  - Central neural alterations predominate in an insect model of nociceptive
      sensitization.
AB  - Many organisms respond to noxious stimuli with defensive maneuvers. This is noted
      in the hornworm, Manduca sexta, as a defensive strike response. After tissue
      damage, organisms typically display sensitized responses to both noxious or
      normally innocuous stimuli. To further understand this phenomenon, we used novel
      in situ and in vitro preparations based on paired extracellular nerve recordings
      and videography to identify central and peripheral nerves responsible for
      nociception and sensitization of the defensive behavior in M. sexta. In addition,
      we used the in vivo defensive strike response threshold assayed with von Frey
      filaments to examine the roles that N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and
      hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels play in this
      nociceptive sensitization using the inhibitors MK-801 and AP5 (NMDAR), and
      ivabradine and ZD7288 (HCN). Using our new preparations, we found that afferent
      activity evoked by noxious pinch in these preparations was conveyed to central
      ganglia by axons in the anterior- and lateral-dorsal nerve branches, and that
      sensitization induced by tissue damage was mediated centrally. Furthermore,
      sensitization was blocked by all inhibitors tested except the inactive isomer L
      AP5, and reversed by ivabradine both in vivo and in vitro. Our findings suggest
      that M. sexta's sensitization occurs through central signal amplification. Due to
      the relatively natural sensitization method and conserved molecular actions, we
      suggest that M. sexta may be a valuable model for studying the
      electrophysiological properties of nociceptive sensitization and potentially
      related conditions such as allodynia and hyperalgesia in a comparative setting
      that offers unique experimental advantages. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:1176-1191, 2017.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650424
TI  - Antiarrhythmic effects of dantrolene in human diseased cardiomyocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac type 2 ryanodine receptors (RyR2s) play a pivotal role in
      cellular electrophysiology and contractility. Increased RyR2-mediated diastolic
      sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release is linked to heart failure (HF) and
      arrhythmias. Dantrolene, a drug used for the treatment of malignant hyperthermia,
      is known to stabilize RyRs in skeletal muscle. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the effects of dantrolene on arrhythmogenic triggers and
      contractile function in human atrial fibrillation (AF) and HF cardiomyocytes
      (CM). METHODS: Human CM were isolated from either patients with HF (ventricular)
      or patients with AF (atrial), and Ca2+ imaging, patch-clamp, or muscle strip
      experiments were performed. RESULTS: After exposure to dantrolene, human atrial
      AF and left ventricular HF CM showed significant reductions in proarrhythmic SR
      Ca2+ spark frequency and diastolic SR Ca2+ leak. Moreover, dantrolene decreased
      the frequency of Ca2+ waves and spontaneous Ca2+ transients in HF CM. Patch-clamp
      experiments revealed that dantrolene significantly suppressed delayed
      afterdepolarizations in HF and AF CM. Importantly, dantrolene had no effect on
      action potential duration in AF or in HF CM. In addition, dantrolene had neutral
      effects on contractile force of human isometrically twitching ventricular HF
      trabeculae. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that dantrolene beneficially influenced
      disrupted SR Ca2+ homeostasis in human HF and AF CM. Cellular arrhythmogenic
      triggers were potently suppressed by dantrolene, whereas action potential
      duration and contractility were not affected. As a clinically approved drug for
      the treatment of malignant hyperthermia, dantrolene may be a potential
      antiarrhythmic drug for patients with rhythm disorders and merits further
      clinical investigation.

PMID- 27650425
TI  - Female gender as independent risk factor of torsades de pointes during acquired
      atrioventricular block.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Female gender increases the risk of torsades de pointes (TdP) in the
      long QT syndrome, and this increased risk is assumed to be due to their longer QT
      interval. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to study the interplay between
      gender, duration of the QT interval, and risk of TdP during AV block. METHODS: We
      studied 250 patients (48% women) with AV block. QT interval was measured at the
      time of most severe bradycardia. We then constructed different receiver operating
      characteristic curves for the QTc of males and females for predicting TdP.
      RESULTS: As expected, patients with TdP had longer QTc intervals than did
      patients with uncomplicated AV block (564 +/- 81 ms vs 422 +/- 62 ms, P < .001).
      This correlation between longer QTc and higher risk of TdP was true for both
      genders. However, the QT of females with TdP was shorter than the respective
      value for males with TdP. Despite similar severity of bradycardia, the QT was
      shorter for females (QT 672 +/- 88 ms vs 727 +/- 57 ms for females with TdP vs
      males with TdP, P = .022). The QTc/TdP risk curve for females was shifted to the
      left in comparison to the pertinent graph for males. Female gender was an
      independent predictor of TdP. CONCLUSION: Women are at increased risk for
      developing TdP during AV block, but this increased risk is independent of their
      longer QT interval. Females develop TdP with QT intervals that are not
      necessarily arrhythmogenic for males.

PMID- 27650426
TI  - Automated, Multiplexed Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy Platform for Continuous
      Monitoring of Microtissue Spheroids.
AB  - Microtissue spheroids in microfluidic devices are increasingly used to establish
      novel in vitro organ models of the human body. As the spheroids are comparably
      sizable, it is difficult to monitor larger numbers of them by optical means.
      Therefore, electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) emerges as a viable
      alternative to probing spheroid properties. Current spheroid EIS systems are,
      however, not suitable for investigating multiple spheroids in parallel over
      extended time in an automated fashion. Here we address this issue by presenting
      an automated, multiplexed EIS (AMEIS) platform for impedance analysis in a
      microfluidic setting. The system was used to continuously monitor the effect of
      the anticancer drug fluorouracil (5-FU) on HCT116 cancer spheroids. Simultaneous
      EIS monitoring of up to 15 spheroids was performed in parallel over 4 days at a
      temporal resolution of 2 min without any need for pumps. The measurements were
      continuous in nature, and the setup was kept in a standard incubator under
      controlled conditions during the measurements. A baseline normalization method to
      improve robustness and to reduce the influence of slow changes in the medium
      conductivity on the spheroid EIS readings has been developed and validated by
      experiments and means of a finite-element model. The same method and platform was
      then used for online monitoring of cardiac spheroids. The beating frequency of
      each cardiac spheroid could be read out in a completely automated fashion. The
      developed system constitutes a promising method for simultaneously evaluating
      drug impact and/or toxic effects on multiple microtissue spheroids.

PMID- 27650427
TI  - A chemiluminescent sandwich ELISA enhancement method using a chromium (III)
      coordination complex.
AB  - Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are employed for the detection and
      quantification of antigens from biological sources such as serum and cell culture
      media. A sandwich ELISA is dependent on the immobilization of a capture antibody,
      or antibody fragment, and the effective presentation of its antigen binding
      sites. Immobilization to common microtitre plates relies on non-specific
      interactions of the capture protein with a surface that may result in
      unfavourable orientation and conformation, compromising ELISA signal strength and
      performance. We have developed a wet chemical surface activation method that
      utilizes a chromium (III) solution to immobilize native, non-tagged, capture
      antibodies on commercially available microtitre plates. Antibodies captured by
      this method had increased antigen binding, particularly from dilute antibody
      solutions, relative to antibodies adsorbed directly to the plate surface. A
      variety of monoclonal antibodies with complementary antigen systems were used to
      demonstrate improvements in ELISA signal and reproducibility. The simplicity and
      versatility of this method should enable ELISA enhancement in assays where
      chemiluminescence is used as the detection method.

PMID- 27650428
TI  - Inferior outcomes for black children with high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      and the impact of socioeconomic variables.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While significant improvements have been made for children with acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the United States over the past 20 years, black
      patients continue to have inferior outcomes. The full impact of socioeconomic
      variables on outcomes in this minority population is not entirely understood.
      PROCEDURE: Disease characteristics, demographic, and socioeconomic status (SES)
      variables were collected on black (n = 44) and white (n = 178) patients diagnosed
      at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Cox proportional hazard regression
      was used to evaluate the influence of SES and insurance status on survival.
      RESULTS: As a cohort, 5-year overall survival (OS) was 87% (82-91%), with a
      median follow-up of 99 months. In univariable analysis, black race was not
      significantly associated with a higher risk of death or relapse and death. White
      and black patients with standard-risk leukemia had excellent outcomes, with 97%
      (91-99%) and 96% (75-99%) 5-year OS, respectively. In contrast, for high-risk
      disease, white patients had a statistically significant improved 5-year OS rates
      compared with black patients (79% [68-87%] vs. 52% [28-72%]). Black children were
      more likely to have public insurance, and, in multivariable analysis, this was
      associated with a trend toward an improved outcome. Black patients also had
      poorer census tract-level SES parameters, but these variables were not associated
      with survival. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates significantly inferior outcomes
      for black children with high-risk leukemia. These outcome disparities were not
      related to SES variables, including poverty or private insurance coverage,
      suggesting the involvement of other factors and highlighting the need for a
      prospective investigative analysis.

PMID- 27650429
TI  - CXCL4 in undifferentiated connective tissue disease at risk for systemic
      sclerosis (SSc) (previously referred to as very early SSc).
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate CXCL4 levels in undifferentiated connective
      tissue disease at risk for SSc (UCTD-SSc-risk) and confirm its increase and
      investigate its prognostic value. Serum CXCL4 levels were measured in 45 patients
      and 24 controls. CXCL4 was significantly higher in UCTD-SSc-risk patients than in
      controls. It resulted higher in patients with a shorter disease duration and in
      those lacking capillaroscopic alterations. We confirm that CXCL4 levels are
      increased in UCTD-risk-SSc patients. Further studies are needed to investigate
      the role of CXCL4 assessment in UCTD-risk-SSc.

PMID- 27650430
TI  - Self-Replication of Localized Vegetation Patches in Scarce Environments.
AB  - Desertification due to climate change and increasing drought periods is a
      worldwide problem for both ecology and economy. Our ability to understand how
      vegetation manages to survive and propagate through arid and semiarid ecosystems
      may be useful in the development of future strategies to prevent desertification,
      preserve flora-and fauna within-or even make use of scarce resources soils. In
      this paper, we study a robust phenomena observed in semi-arid ecosystems, by
      which localized vegetation patches split in a process called self-replication.
      Localized patches of vegetation are visible in nature at various spatial scales.
      Even though they have been described in literature, their growth mechanisms
      remain largely unexplored. Here, we develop an innovative statistical analysis
      based on real field observations to show that patches may exhibit deformation and
      splitting. This growth mechanism is opposite to the desertification since it
      allows to repopulate territories devoid of vegetation. We investigate these
      aspects by characterizing quantitatively, with a simple mathematical model, a new
      class of instabilities that lead to the self-replication phenomenon observed.

PMID- 27650431
TI  - Alternatives to allogeneic platelet transfusion.
AB  - Allogeneic platelet transfusions are widely used for the prevention and treatment
      of bleeding in thrombocytopenia. Recent evidence suggests platelet transfusions
      have limited efficacy and are associated with uncertain immunomodulatory risks
      and concerns about viral or bacterial transmission. Alternatives to transfusion
      are a well-recognised tenet of Patient Blood Management, but there has been less
      focus on different strategies to reduce bleeding risk by comparison to platelet
      transfusion. Direct alternatives to platelet transfusion include agents to
      stimulate endogenous platelet production (thrombopoietin mimetics), optimising
      platelet adhesion to endothelium by treating anaemia or increasing von Willebrand
      factor levels (desmopressin), increasing formation of cross-linked fibrinogen
      (activated recombinant factor VII, fibrinogen concentrate or recombinant factor
      XIII), decreasing fibrinolysis (tranexamic acid or epsilon aminocaproic acid) or
      using artificial or modified platelets (cryopreserved platelets, lyophilised
      platelets, haemostatic particles, liposomes, engineered nanoparticles or
      infusible platelet membranes). The evidence base to support the use of these
      alternatives is variable, but an area of active research. Much of the current
      randomised controlled trial focus is on evaluation of the use of thrombopoietin
      mimetics and anti-fibrinolytics. It is also recognised that one alternative
      strategy to platelet transfusion is choosing not to transfuse at all.

PMID- 27650432
TI  - Cognitive-behaviour therapy for post-traumatic stress in schizophrenia. A
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence for effective interventions in the
      treatment of post-traumatic stress symptoms within individuals diagnosed with
      schizophrenia. Clinicians have concerns about using exposure treatments with this
      patient group. The current trial was designed to evaluate a 16-session cognitive
      restructuring programme, without direct exposure, for the treatment of post
      traumatic stress symptoms specifically within individuals diagnosed with
      schizophrenia. METHOD: A multicentre randomized controlled single-blinded trial
      with assessments at 0 months, 6 months (post-treatment) and 12 months (follow-up)
      was conducted. A total of 61 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia and
      exhibiting post-traumatic stress symptoms were recruited. Those randomized to
      treatment were offered up to 16 sessions of cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT,
      including psychoeducation, breathing training and cognitive restructuring) over a
      6-month period, with the control group offered routine clinical services. The
      main outcome was blind rating of post-traumatic stress symptoms using the
      Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Schizophrenia. Secondary outcomes were
      psychotic symptoms as measured by the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale and the
      Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale. RESULTS: Both the treatment and control groups
      experienced a significant decrease in post-traumatic stress symptoms over time
      but there was no effect of the addition of CBT on either the primary or secondary
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The current trial did not demonstrate any effect in favour
      of CBT. Cognitive restructuring programmes may require further adaptation to
      promote emotional processing of traumatic memories within people diagnosed with a
      psychotic disorder.

PMID- 27650434
TI  - The progress and challenges in metabolic research in China.
AB  - Metabolism refers to a chain of chemical reactions converting food/fuel into
      energy to conduct cellular processes, including the synthesis of the building
      blocks of the body, such as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates,
      and the elimination of nitrogenous wastes. Metabolic chain reactions are
      catalyzed by various enzymes that are orchestrated in specific pathways.
      Metabolic pathways are important for organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain
      their structures, and respond to their environments. The coordinated regulation
      of metabolic pathways is important for maintaining metabolic homeostasis. The key
      steps and crucial enzymes in these pathways have been well investigated. However,
      the crucial regulatory factors and feedback (or feedforward) mechanisms of
      nutrients and intermediate metabolites of these biochemical processes remain to
      be fully elucidated. In addition, the roles of these enzymes and regulatory
      factors in controlling metabolism under physiological and pathological conditions
      are largely unknown. In particular, metabolic dysregulation is closely linked to
      the development of many diseases, including obesity, fatty liver, diabetes,
      cancer, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases.
      Therefore, metabolism, an old area of biochemistry, has attracted much attention
      in the last decade. With substantially increased government funding, the
      involvement of talented researchers, an improved infrastructure and scientific
      environment over the last ten years, the basic research in the field of
      metabolism in China has dramatically advanced. Here, we have summarized the major
      discoveries of scientists in China in the last decade in the area of metabolism.
      Due to the vast amount of information, we focused this review on specific aspects
      of metabolism, particularly metabolic regulation and lipid metabolism in
      vertebrates. (c) 2016 IUBMB Life, 68(11):847-853, 2016.

PMID- 27650435
TI  - Decreased levels of NMDA but not AMPA receptors in the lipid-raft fraction of
      3xTg-AD model of Alzheimer's disease: Relation to Arc/Arg3.1 protein expression.
AB  - It was recently suggested that alteration in lipid raft composition in
      Alzheimer's disease may lead to perturbations in neurons signalosome, which may
      help explain the deficits observed in synaptic plasticity mechanisms and long
      term memory impairments in AD models. As a first effort to address this issue, we
      evaluated lipid-raft contents of distinct NMDA and AMPA receptor subunits in the
      hippocampus of the 3xTg-AD model of Alzheimer's disease. Our results show that
      compared to controls, 10 months-old 3xTg-AD mice have diminished levels of NMDA
      receptors in rafts but not in post-synaptic density or total fractions.
      Additionally, the levels of GluR1 were unaltered in all the analyzed fractions.
      Finally, we went on to show that the diminished levels of NMDA receptors in rafts
      correlated with diminished global levels of Arc/Arg3.1, a synaptic protein with a
      central role in long-term memory formation. This study adds to our current
      understanding of the signaling pathways disruptions observed in current
      Alzheimer's disease models.

PMID- 27650433
TI  - IGF-1 in retinopathy of prematurity, a CNS neurovascular disease.
AB  - The retina is part of the central nervous system and both the retina as well as
      the brain can suffer from severe damage after very preterm birth. Retinopathy of
      prematurity is one of the major causes of blindness in these children and brain
      neuronal impairments including cognitive defects, cerebral palsy and
      intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are also complications of very preterm birth.
      Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) acts to promote proliferation, maturation,
      growth and survival of neural cells. Low levels of circulating IGF-1 are
      associated with ROP and defects in the IGF-1 gene are associated with CNS
      disorders including learning deficits and brain growth restriction. Treatment of
      preterm infants with recombinant IGF-1 may potentially prevent ROP and CNS
      disorders. This review compares the role of IGF-1 in ROP and CNS disorders. A
      recent phase 2 study showed a positive effect of IGF-1 on the severity of IVH but
      no effect on ROP. A phase 3 trial is planned.

PMID- 27650436
TI  - Histopathological effects following short-term coexposure of Cyprinus carpio to
      nanoparticles of TiO2 and CuO.
AB  - The aim of this research was to investigate the coexposure of nanoparticles of
      titanium dioxide (TiO2) and copper oxide (CuO) on the alterations of the gill,
      intestine, kidney, and liver tissues of carps (Cyprinus carpio). In this study,
      carps (length 23 +/- 1.5 cm; weight 13 +/- 1.3 g) were divided into six groups of
      15 each and exposed to 2.5 and 5.0 mg L(-1) of CuO nanoparticles (NPs), 10.0 mg
      L(-1) of TiO2 NPs, and 2.5 and 5.0 mg L(-1) of CuO NPs + 10.0 mg L(-1) of TiO2 NP
      mixture. Fish were sampled for histopathological studies after hematoxylin-eosin
      staining. Results indicated that the more kinds of histopathology anomalies
      observed with CuO NP and TiO2 NP mixture were broadly of the same type as CuO NPs
      and TiO2 NPs alone, but the severity or incidence of injuries of gill, intestine,
      liver, and kidney of carps in the mixture of CuO NPs + TiO2 NPs was higher than
      that of each NP alone. Moreover, behavioral changes in carps exposed to CuO NP
      and TiO2 NP mixture such as hyperactivity, loss of balance, and convulsions were
      higher than those to CuO NPs and TiO2 NPs alone. In conclusion, the presence of
      TiO2 NPs enhanced the effects of NPs of copper oxide in terms of
      histopathological changes in carps. 

PMID- 27650438
TI  - Macroinvertebrate communities and the relationships with biotic factors in river
      connected lakes in the lower reaches of Yangtze River, China.
AB  - The relationships of macroinvertebrate communities with abiotic factors in lake
      and river system were well documented, but their relationships with biotic
      factors were few explored. The macroinvertebrate communities in two river
      disconnected lakes (Poyang Lake and Shijiu Lake) and the rivers connected to
      Shijiu Lake were investigated to reveal the differences in communities and
      explore the relationships with biotic factors. A total of 34 species were
      recorded in the three water bodies. Combined with the previous study results, the
      dominant species in Poyang Lake is almost unchanged since 1997. Mollusks were
      dominated in abundance in Poyang Lake and the rivers connected to Shijiu Lake,
      while oligochaetes dominated the communities in Shijiu Lake. The alpha diversity
      indices of macroinvertebrates in Poyang Lake and the rivers connected to Shijiu
      Lake were distinctly higher than that of Shijiu Lake, and the beta diversity
      index of Shijiu Lake was the highest, supporting the rules that alpha diversity
      of macroinvertebrates achieves a maximum at a moderate level of connectivity and
      beta diversity seems to be higher when the connectivity is weaker. The
      differences in communities were significant between the Poyang Lake and Shijiu
      Lake, while the differences in the Poyang Lake and the rivers connected to Shijiu
      Lake were not significant. According to the results of canonical correspondence
      analysis (CCA), protozoon densities and phytoplankton biomass affected the
      distribution of macroinvertebrates in Shijiu Lake. Species number of planktonic
      crustaceans influenced the distribution of macroinvertebrates in rivers connected
      to Shijiu Lake, while species number of rotifer and densities of phytoplankton
      distinctly impacted on the distribution of macroinvertebrates in Poyang Lake. 

PMID- 27650437
TI  - Determination of the volatile fraction of phosphorus flame retardants in
      cushioning foam of upholstered furniture: towards respiratory exposure
      assessment.
AB  - The purpose of this paper was to highlight potential exposure in indoor air to
      phosphorus flame retardants (PFRs) due to their use in upholstered furniture. For
      that, an analytical method of PFRs by headspace coupled to solid-phase micro
      extraction (HS-SPME) was developed on cushioning foams in order to determine the
      PFRs' volatile fraction in the material. Tests on model foams proved the
      feasibility of the method. The average repeatability (RSD) is 6.3 % and the
      limits of detection range from 0.33 to 1.29 MUg g(-1) of foam, depending on the
      PFRs. Results showed that some PFRs can actually be emitted in air, leading to a
      potential risk of exposure by inhalation. The volatile fraction can be high (up
      to 98 % of the total PFRs amount) and depends on the physicochemical properties
      of flame retardants, on the textural characteristics of the materials and on the
      temperature. The methodology developed for cushioning foams could be further
      applied to other types of materials and can be used to rate them according to
      their potential releases of phosphorus flame retardants. 

PMID- 27650439
TI  - Climate perceptions of local communities validated through scientific signals in
      Sikkim Himalaya, India.
AB  - Sikkim, a tiny Himalayan state situated in the north-eastern region of India,
      records limited research on the climate change. Understanding the changes in
      climate based on the perceptions of local communities can provide important
      insights for the preparedness against the unprecedented consequences of climate
      change. A total of 228 households in 12 different villages of Sikkim, India, were
      interviewed using eight climate change indicators. The results from the public
      opinions showed a significant increase in temperature compared to a decade
      earlier, winters are getting warmer, water springs are drying up, change in
      concept of spring-water recharge (locally known as Mul Phutnu), changes in spring
      season, low crop yields, incidences of mosquitoes during winter, and decrease in
      rainfall in last 10 years. In addition, study also showed significant positive
      correlations of increase in temperature with other climate change indicators viz.
      spring-water recharge concept (R (2) = 0.893), warmer winter (R (2) = 0.839),
      drying up of water springs (R (2) = 0.76), changes in spring season (R (2) =
      0.68), low crop yields (R (2) = 0.68), decrease in rainfall (R (2) = 0.63), and
      incidences of mosquitoes in winter (R (2) = 0.50). The air temperature for two
      meteorological stations of Sikkim indicated statistically significant increasing
      trend in mean minimum temperature and mean minimum winter temperature (DJF). The
      observed climate change is consistent with the people perceptions. This
      information can help in planning specific adaptation strategies to cope with the
      impacts of climate change by framing village-level action plan. 

PMID- 27650440
TI  - Disentangling Puzzles of Spatial Scales and Participation in Environmental
      Governance-The Case of Governance Re-scaling Through the European Water Framework
      Directive.
AB  - This article attempts to shed new light on prevailing puzzles of spatial scales
      in multi-level, participatory governance as regards the democratic legitimacy and
      environmental effectiveness of governance systems. We focus on the governance re
      scaling by the European Water Framework Directive, which introduced new
      governance scales (mandated river basin management) and demands consultation of
      citizens and encourages 'active involvement' of stakeholders. This allows to
      examine whether and how re-scaling through deliberate governance interventions
      impacts on democratic legitimacy and effective environmental policy delivery. To
      guide the enquiry, this article organizes existing-partly contradictory-claims on
      the relation of scale, democratic legitimacy, and environmental effectiveness
      into three clusters of mechanisms, integrating insights from multi-level
      governance, social-ecological systems, and public participation. We empirically
      examine Water Framework Directive implementation in a comparative case study of
      multi-level systems in the light of the suggested mechanisms. We compare two
      planning areas in Germany: North Rhine Westphalia and Lower Saxony. Findings
      suggest that the Water Framework Directive did have some impact on
      institutionalizing hydrological scales and participation. Local participation
      appears generally both more effective and legitimate than on higher levels,
      pointing to the need for yet more tailored multi-level governance approaches,
      depending on whether environmental knowledge or advocacy is sought. We find mixed
      results regarding the potential of participation to bridge spatial 'misfits'
      between ecological and administrative scales of governance, depending on the
      historical institutionalization of governance on ecological scales.
      Polycentricity, finally, appeared somewhat favorable in effectiveness terms with
      some distinct differences regarding polycentricity in planning vs. polycentricity
      in implementation.

PMID- 27650441
TI  - The Cold Pressor Test as a Predictor of Prolonged Postoperative Pain, a
      Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Presently, it is difficult to predict which patients are at
      increased risk of ongoing pain problems postoperatively. This study followed a
      group of patients from the week before their operation until 3 months after it,
      to identify potential risk variables. METHODS: Fifty-four patients undergoing
      moderate-major gynaecological surgery at Christchurch Women's Hospital were
      recruited and assessed preoperatively over an 11-week period. At this initial
      assessment, participants were subjected to a cold pressor test (CPT). Telephonic
      follow-up was conducted at 6 weeks and 3 months postoperatively, to determine
      pain status. Information regarding the type of operation and surgical approach
      was collected from hospital records. RESULTS: Pain threshold (time taken to
      report the onset of pain), as measured by the CPT, was significantly predictive
      of prolonged pain outcomes (area under the curve = 0.80, 95 % CI 0.66, 0.95).
      Pain tolerance (total time taken to end the CPT voluntarily) was similarly
      predictive but non-significant (area under the curve = 0.69, 95 % CI 0.47, 0.90).
      CONCLUSION: The preoperative cold pressor test shows some promise for predicting
      ongoing postoperative pain. However, more research is needed to determine the
      clinical significance of these findings in larger samples and how they could be
      incorporated into clinical practice.

PMID- 27650442
TI  - Erratum to: Standardization of 99mTechnetium pyrophosphate imaging methodology to
      diagnose TTR cardiac amyloidosis.

PMID- 27650443
TI  - Challenges and opportunities of noninvasive cardiac imaging in obesity.

PMID- 27650444
TI  - Potential for adrenergic imaging to serve as a unique tool for guidance of
      patient management during and after an acute ischemic event.

PMID- 27650445
TI  - Inflammatory involvement in a patient with Leriche syndrome evaluated by 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose PET/MRI.

PMID- 27650446
TI  - [Free vascularised medial femoral trochlea flap : Indication and technique].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Avascularity of fragments is a common problem in treatment of
      scaphoid nonunion. Therefore, vascularised bone grafts have gained increasing
      importance. Especially the free vascularised femoral trochlea flap has become the
      subject of special interest because of its particular characteristics in the last
      few years. OBJECTIVES: Indications for and the technique of free vascularised
      corticocancellous as well as osteocartilagineous femoral trochlea flap are
      reported according to the author's practice combined with an evaluation of these
      methods considering current literature. RESULTS: Indications for the free
      vasscularised corticocancellous femoral trochlea flap include scaphoid nonunion
      with avascular proximal fragment combined with humpback deformity, previous
      operations, extensive bone defect, and long standing nonunion. The free
      vascularised osteocartilagineous medial trochlea flap may replace a destroyed
      proximal scaphoid pole. The literature reports only a few patients with healing
      rates between 80 and 100 %. CONCLUSIONS: Both corticocancellous and
      osteocartilagineous free vascularised medial trochlea flap improve therapeutic
      options in treatment of difficult scaphoid nonunion. Until now only the results
      of a few patients have been published. Therefore, a final evaluation will be
      possible when long-term results in a reasonable number of patients are available.

PMID- 27650447
TI  - Urine-based molecular diagnosis of Zika virus.

PMID- 27650448
TI  - An Oxalyl-CoA Synthetase Is Involved in Oxalate Degradation and Aluminum
      Tolerance.
AB  - Acyl Activating Enzyme3 (AAE3) was identified to be involved in the catabolism of
      oxalate, which is critical for seed development and defense against fungal
      pathogens. However, the role of AAE3 protein in abiotic stress responses is
      unknown. Here, we investigated the role of rice bean (Vigna umbellata) VuAAE3 in
      Al tolerance. Recombinant VuAAE3 protein has specific activity against oxalate,
      with Km = 121 +/- 8.2 um and Vmax of 7.7 +/- 0.88 umol min-1 mg-1 protein,
      indicating it functions as an oxalyl-CoA synthetase. VuAAE3-GFP localization
      suggested that this enzyme is a soluble protein with no specific subcellular
      localization. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and VuAAE3 promoter-GUS
      reporter analysis showed that the expression induction of VuAAE3 is mainly
      confined to rice bean root tips. Accumulation of oxalate was induced rapidly by
      Al stress in rice bean root tips, and exogenous application of oxalate resulted
      in the inhibition of root elongation and VuAAE3 expression induction, suggesting
      that oxalate accumulation is involved in Al-induced root growth inhibition.
      Furthermore, overexpression of VuAAE3 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) resulted in
      the increase of Al tolerance, which was associated with the decrease of oxalate
      accumulation. In addition, NtMATE and NtALS3 expression showed no difference
      between transgenic lines and wild-type plants. Taken together, our results
      suggest that VuAAE3-dependent turnover of oxalate plays a critical role in Al
      tolerance mechanisms.

PMID- 27650449
TI  - Natural Variation in Brachypodium Links Vernalization and Flowering Time Loci as
      Major Flowering Determinants.
AB  - The domestication of plants is underscored by the selection of agriculturally
      favorable developmental traits, including flowering time, which resulted in the
      creation of varieties with altered growth habits. Research into the pathways
      underlying these growth habits in cereals has highlighted the role of three main
      flowering regulators: VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1), VRN2, and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT).
      Previous reverse genetic studies suggested that the roles of VRN1 and FT are
      conserved in Brachypodium distachyon yet identified considerable ambiguity
      surrounding the role of VRN2 To investigate the natural diversity governing
      flowering time pathways in a nondomesticated grass, the reference B. distachyon
      accession Bd21 was crossed with the vernalization-dependent accession ABR6.
      Resequencing of ABR6 allowed the creation of a single-nucleotide polymorphism
      based genetic map at the F4 stage of the mapping population. Flowering time was
      evaluated in F4:5 families in five environmental conditions, and three major loci
      were found to govern flowering time. Interestingly, two of these loci colocalize
      with the B. distachyon homologs of the major flowering pathway genes VRN2 and FT,
      whereas no linkage was observed at VRN1 Characterization of these candidates
      identified sequence and expression variation between the two parental genotypes,
      which may explain the contrasting growth habits. However, the identification of
      additional quantitative trait loci suggests that greater complexity underlies
      flowering time in this nondomesticated system. Studying the interaction of these
      regulators in B. distachyon provides insights into the evolutionary context of
      flowering time regulation in the Poaceae as well as elucidates the way humans
      have utilized the natural variation present in grasses to create modern temperate
      cereals.

PMID- 27650451
TI  - Laparoscopic Treatment of a Large Gastric Pouch Following Gastric Band Slippage.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gastric band slippage with formation of a gastric pouch is a
      frequent complication after gastric banding. There is no consensus on the
      treatment of this condition, which differs within and between centers. Here, we
      describe our treatment of a large gastric pouch after gastric band slippage.
      Despite removal of the band, the pouch caused oral feeding intolerance. METHODS:
      The video shows our treatment of large gastric pouch following gastric banding
      and surgical revision. A 45-year-old woman with history of gastric banding was
      referred to our center for persistent oral feeding intolerance following gastric
      band removal. RESULTS: We found that a large gastric pouch was responsible for
      extrinsic compression and thus required revisional surgery after optimization of
      the patient's nutritional status. Video endoscopy revealed a large gastric pouch,
      which was responsible for oral feeding intolerance. Intra-operative exploration
      then revealed major adhesions, which had probably caused the pouch to form.
      During surgery that was somewhat analogous to sleeve gastrectomy, we removed the
      adhesions and resected the gastric pouch. The operating time was 70 min. An
      uneventful postoperative course enabled rapid discharge (on postoperative day 2).
      CONCLUSION: The formation of a large gastric pouch is a rare complication of
      chronic gastric band slippage. Following nutritional optimization, surgery is
      required.

PMID- 27650450
TI  - Genetic Interactions between PEROXIN12 and Other Peroxisome-Associated
      Ubiquitination Components.
AB  - Most eukaryotic cells require peroxisomes, organelles housing fatty acid beta
      oxidation and other critical metabolic reactions. Peroxisomal matrix proteins
      carry peroxisome-targeting signals that are recognized by one of two receptors,
      PEX5 or PEX7, in the cytosol. After delivering the matrix proteins to the
      organelle, these receptors are removed from the peroxisomal membrane or matrix.
      Receptor retrotranslocation not only facilitates further rounds of matrix protein
      import but also prevents deleterious PEX5 retention in the membrane. Three
      peroxisome-associated ubiquitin-protein ligases in the Really Interesting New
      Gene (RING) family, PEX2, PEX10, and PEX12, facilitate PEX5 retrotranslocation.
      However, the detailed mechanism of receptor retrotranslocation remains unclear in
      plants. We identified an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) pex12 Glu-to-Lys
      missense allele that conferred severe peroxisomal defects, including impaired
      beta-oxidation, inefficient matrix protein import, and decreased growth. We
      compared this pex12-1 mutant to other peroxisome-associated ubiquitination
      related mutants and found that RING peroxin mutants displayed elevated PEX5 and
      PEX7 levels, supporting the involvement of RING peroxins in receptor
      ubiquitination in Arabidopsis. Also, we observed that disruption of any
      Arabidopsis RING peroxin led to decreased PEX10 levels, as seen in yeast and
      mammals. Peroxisomal defects were exacerbated in RING peroxin double mutants,
      suggesting distinct roles of individual RING peroxins. Finally, reducing function
      of the peroxisome-associated ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme PEX4 restored PEX10
      levels and partially ameliorated the other molecular and physiological defects of
      the pex12-1 mutant. Future biochemical analyses will be needed to determine
      whether destabilization of the RING peroxin complex observed in pex12-1 stems
      from PEX4-dependent ubiquitination on the pex12-1 ectopic Lys residue.

PMID- 27650453
TI  - A Simple Tool to Predict Development of Delirium After Elective Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify a quick clinical tool to assess the risk of delirium
      after elective surgery. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING:
      Preoperative assessment clinic at the Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care
      System. PARTICIPANTS: Community-living veterans aged 65 and older scheduled for
      elective surgery requiring general or major anesthesia. MEASUREMENTS: Confusion
      Assessment Method (CAM) or Family Confusion Assessment Method (FAM-CAM). Data on
      education, medications, substance use, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9),
      Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Frailty, Mini-Cog, and Charlson-Deyo score were
      collected preoperatively. RESULTS: Of 114 veterans who agreed to participate, 76
      completed the final delirium assessment. Ten of the 76 (13%) developed delirium
      in the 72 hours after surgery as assessed using the CAM or FAM-CAM. In bivariate
      analysis, factors that increased the odds of delirium at least three times were
      low education; poor PHQ-9, clock draw, word recall, Mini-Cog, and poor
      preoperative orientation scores; alcohol use; and higher comorbidities as
      measured using Charlson-Deyo index. Scoring the Mini-Cog from 0 to 5 had a higher
      predictive power (area under the receiving operating characteristic curve = 0.77)
      than other approaches to scoring the Mini-Cog. Other models did not significantly
      improve prediction of postoperative delirium risk and would be complicated to use
      in a clinical setting. CONCLUSION: In this sample of veterans who had elective
      surgery with major anesthesia, Mini-Cog score predicted likelihood of
      postoperative delirium.

PMID- 27650452
TI  - Treatment for long bone metastases based on a systematic literature review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To provide treatment guidelines for patients with long bone metastatic
      disease based on a systematic review of the literature and to propose an
      algorithm to guide orthopedic surgeons in decision-making for these patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a computerized literature search in MEDLINE,
      EMBASE and Scopus for studies on patients with long bone metastases. We used the
      key words "long bones", "metastasis" and "treatment" for published studies that
      evaluated any treatment for long bone metastases. The articles found were then
      studied to determine the accuracy of surgical treatments for long bone metastases
      in every anatomic location, regardless of cancer type, stage and grade of the
      oncologic disease. Guidelines inferred from this literature review were
      collected, and an algorithm was proposed. RESULTS: There was no clear evidence to
      support excision of a long bone metastatic lesion at the same surgical setting
      with internal fixation or prosthetic reconstruction. However, en bloc resection
      of an isolated bone metastasis may have a beneficial effect on survival. The life
      expectancy of the patients should be considered for any surgical treatment.
      Internal fixation preferably with reconstruction nails is indicated for meta
      diaphyseal lesions; their rate of mechanical failure and complications ranges
      from 2 to 22 %. Prosthetic reconstruction is indicated for extensive lytic
      lesions or pathologic fractures in a meta-epiphyseal locations; their rate of
      mechanical failure and complications ranges from 3.7 to 35 %. Most of the
      internal fixation-related complications occur more than 1 year after treatment,
      in contrast to prosthetic reconstruction-related complications that may occur
      earlier. CONCLUSIONS: Intramedullary nail fixation or prosthetic reconstruction
      should be chosen on the basis of the location of the lesion, the extent of bone
      destruction and the stability of the construct to outlast the expected life of
      the patient. Implant-related complication is similar but may occur earlier with
      prosthetic reconstructions.

PMID- 27650454
TI  - Resilience of bacterial quorum sensing against fluid flow.
AB  - Quorum sensing (QS) is a population-density dependent chemical process that
      enables bacteria to communicate based on the production, secretion and sensing of
      small inducer molecules. While recombinant constructs have been widely used to
      decipher the molecular details of QS, how those findings translate to natural QS
      systems has remained an open question. Here, we compare the activation of natural
      and synthetic Pseudomonas aeruginosa LasI/R QS systems in bacteria exposed to
      quiescent conditions and controlled flows. Quantification of QS-dependent GFP
      expression in suspended cultures and in surface-attached microcolonies revealed
      that QS onset in both systems was similar under quiescent conditions but markedly
      differed under flow. Moderate flow (Pe > 25) was sufficient to suppress LasI/R QS
      recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, whereas only high flow (Pe > 102)
      suppressed QS in wild-type P. aeruginosa. We suggest that this difference stems
      from the differential production of extracellular matrix and that the matrix
      confers resilience against moderate flow to QS in wild-type organisms. These
      results suggest that the expression of a biofilm matrix extends the environmental
      conditions under which QS-based cell-cell communication is effective and that
      findings from synthetic QS circuits cannot be directly translated to natural
      systems.

PMID- 27650457
TI  - Can silicosis explain it all?

PMID- 27650456
TI  - Prognostic value of preoperative inflammatory response biomarkers in patients
      with esophageal cancer who undergo a curative thoracoscopic esophagectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several inflammatory response biomarkers, including lymphocyte-to
      monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to
      lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been reported to predict survival in various cancers.
      The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical value of these biomarkers in
      patients undergoing curative resection for esophageal cancer. METHODS: The LMR,
      NLR and PLR were calculated in 147 consecutive patients who underwent
      esophagectomy between January 2006 and February 2015. We examined the prognostic
      significance of the LMR, NLR, and PLR in both elderly and non-elderly patients.
      We evaluated the cancer-specific survival (CSS), with the cause of death
      determined from the case notes or computerized records. RESULTS: Univariate
      analyses demonstrated that TNM pStage (p < 0.0001), tumor size (p = 0.0014),
      operation time (p = 0.0209), low LMR (p = 0.0008), and high PLR (p = 0.0232) were
      significant risk factors for poor prognosis. Meanwhile, TNM pStage (p < 0.0001)
      and low LMR (p = 0.0129) were found to be independently associated with poor
      prognosis via multivariate analysis. In non-elderly patients, univariate analyses
      demonstrated that TNM pStage (p < 0.0001), tumor size (p = 0.0001), operation
      time (p = 0.0374), LMR (p < 0.0001), and PLR (p = 0.0189) were significantly
      associated with a poorer prognosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that TNM
      pStage (p = 0.001) and LMR (p = 0.0007) were independent risk factors for a
      poorer prognosis. In elderly patients, univariate analysis demonstrated that that
      TNM pStage (p = 0.0023) was the only significant risk factor for a poor
      prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: LMR was associated with cancer-specific survival (CSS) of
      esophageal cancer patients after curative esophagectomy. In particular, a low LMR
      was a significant and independent predictor of poor survival in non-elderly
      patients. The LMR was convenient, cost effective, and readily available, and
      could thus act as markers of survival in esophageal cancer.

PMID- 27650458
TI  - Interrelation of the dissolution behavior and solid-state features of
      acetazolamide cocrystals.
AB  - The thermal behavior, phase stability, indicative stability and intrinsic
      dissolution rates of a series of cocrystals and cocrystal hydrates derived from
      the pharmaceutically active ingredient acetazolamide (ACZ) and 2-aminobenzamide
      (2ABAM), 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (23DHBA), 2-hydroxybenzamide (2HBAM), 4
      hydroxybenzoic acid (4HBA), nicotinamide (NAM) and picolinamide (PAM) as
      cocrystal formers have been evaluated. Upon heating in an inert atmosphere most
      of the cocrystals tested demonstrated first the elimination of the crystal
      former, followed by ACZ degradation. Only in cocrystals with NAM was melting
      observed. Under controlled temperature and relative humidity conditions all
      cocrystals tested were stable. However, phase stability tests in a medium
      simulating physiological conditions (HCl 0.01N, pH2.0) indicated that cocrystals
      ACZ-NAM-H2O and ACZ-PAM gradually transform into ACZ. All cocrystals examined
      gave enhanced intrinsic dissolution rates when compared to pure ACZ and the
      largest dissolution rate constants were measured for the cocrystals that
      transformed in the phase stability test (approximate two-fold increase of the
      dissolution rate constants). The series of cocrystals examined herein exhibits an
      inverse correlation between the intrinsic dissolution rates and the
      melting/decomposition temperatures as well as the dimension of the hydrogen
      bonded ACZ aggregates found in the corresponding crystal structure, indicating
      that solid-state stability is the major influence on dissolution performance.

PMID- 27650459
TI  - Impact of intra-aortic balloon pump on short-term clinical outcomes in ST
      elevation myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock: A "real life"
      single center experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the use and impact of the intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP)
      upon the 30-day mortality rate and short-term clinical outcome of non-selected
      patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (acute STEMI) complicated
      by cardiogenic shock (CS). DESIGN: A single-center retrospective case-control
      study was carried out. SETTING: Coronary Care Unit. PATIENTS: Data were collected
      from 825 consecutive patients with acute STEMI admitted to a Coronary Care Unit
      from January 2009 to August 2015. Seventy-three patients with CS upon admission
      subjected to emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were finally
      included in the analysis and were stratified according to IABP use (44 patients
      receiving IABP). VARIABLES: Cardiovascular history, hemodynamic situation upon
      admission, angiographic and procedural characteristics, and variables derived
      from admission to the Coronary Care Unit. RESULTS: Cumulative 30-day mortality
      was similar in the patients subjected to IABP and in those who received
      conventional medical therapy only (29.5% and 27.6%, respectively; HR with IABP
      1.10, 95% CI 0.38-3.11; p=0.85). Similarly, no significant differences were found
      in terms of the short-term clinical outcome between the groups: time on
      mechanical ventilation, days to hemodynamic stabilization, vasoactive drug
      requirements and stay in the Coronary Care Unit. Poorer renal function (HR 3.9,
      95% CI 1.4-10.6; p=0.008), known peripheral artery disease (HR 3.3, 95% CI 1.2
      9.1; p=0.019) and a history of diabetes mellitus (HR 3.2, 95% CI 1.2-8.1;
      p=0.018) were the only variables independently associated to increased 30-day
      mortality. CONCLUSION: In our "real life" experience, IABP does not modify 30-day
      mortality or the short-term clinical outcome in patients presenting STEMI
      complicated with CS and subjected to emergency percutaneous coronary
      revascularization.

PMID- 27650460
TI  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support for Takotsubo syndrome and long QT
      after cardiac surgery.

PMID- 27650461
TI  - The SCN Clock Governs Circadian Transcription Rhythms in Murine Epididymal White
      Adipose Tissue.
AB  - The circadian master pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) orchestrates
      peripheral clocks in various organs and synchronizes them with external time,
      including those in adipose tissue, which displays circadian oscillations in
      various metabolic and endocrine outputs. Because our knowledge about the
      instructive role of the SCN clock on peripheral tissue function is based mainly
      on SCN lesion studies, we here used an alternative strategy employing the Cre/
      loxP system to functionally delete the SCN clock in mice. We performed whole
      genome microarray hybridizations of murine epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT)
      RNA preparations to characterize the role of the SCN clock in eWAT circadian
      transcriptome regulation. Most of the rhythmic transcripts in control animals
      were not rhythmic in SCN mutants, but a significant number of transcripts were
      rhythmic only in mutant eWAT. Core clock genes were rhythmic in both groups, but
      as was reported before for other tissues, rhythms were dampened and phase
      advanced in mutant animals. In SCN-mutant mice, eWAT lost the rhythm of metabolic
      pathway-related transcripts, while transcripts gaining rhythms in SCN-mutant mice
      were associated with various immune functions. These data reveal a complex
      interaction of SCN-derived and local circadian signals in the regulation of
      adipose transcriptome programs.

PMID- 27650462
TI  - Minimally invasive treatment of difficult bleeding lesions of the small bowel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bleeding lesions of the small bowel are often difficult to identify
      due to the obscure symptomatology. Localizing these lesions requires specific
      techniques. The Double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) could be used to precisely
      localize and mark lesions, so that a minimally invasive surgical treatment could
      be performed. METHODS: Twenty robot-assisted small bowel procedures are presented
      using a combination of DBE for localization and robotic resection. RESULTS: There
      were 10 jejunal resections and 10 ileal resections. Mean age was 58.7 years. Mean
      operative time was 153.4 minutes, mean blood loss of 46 mL. No conversion-to-open
      and there were 4 post-operative complications. The 90-day mortality was nil and
      the median length of stay was 4.1 days. Final pathology was consistent with
      malignancy in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of double-balloon
      enteroscopy and robotic technology allows accurate identification and selective
      treatment of lesions that could be otherwise difficult to treat in a minimally
      invasive fashion.

PMID- 27650463
TI  - Never underestimate a dermal lesion: reflections on a rare tumor.

PMID- 27650455
TI  - Diverse mechanisms evolved by DNA viruses to inhibit early host defenses.
AB  - In mammalian cells, early defenses against infection by pathogens are mounted
      through a complex network of signaling pathways shepherded by immune-modulatory
      pattern-recognition receptors. As obligate parasites, the survival of viruses is
      dependent on the evolutionary acquisition of mechanisms that tactfully dismantle
      and subvert the cellular intrinsic and innate immune responses. Here, we review
      the diverse mechanisms by which viruses that accommodate DNA genomes are able to
      circumvent activation of cellular immunity. We start by discussing viral
      manipulation of host defense protein levels by either transcriptional regulation
      or protein degradation. We next review viral strategies used to repurpose or
      inhibit these cellular immune factors by molecular hijacking or by regulating
      their post-translational modification status. Additionally, we explore the
      infection-induced temporal modulation of apoptosis to facilitate viral
      replication and spread. Lastly, the co-evolution of viruses with their hosts is
      highlighted by the acquisition of elegant mechanisms for suppressing host
      defenses via viral mimicry of host factors. In closing, we present a perspective
      on how characterizing these viral evasion tactics both broadens the understanding
      of virus-host interactions and reveals essential functions of the immune system
      at the molecular level. This knowledge is critical in understanding the sources
      of viral pathogenesis, as well as for the design of antiviral therapeutics and
      autoimmunity treatments.

PMID- 27650464
TI  - Use of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio for predicting histopathological grade of
      canine mast cell tumours.
AB  - Canine mast cell tumours (MCTs) are variable in their biological behaviour and
      treatment decisions depend heavily on the histopathological grade. Biomarkers
      such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and albumin to globulin ratio are
      used to predict the biological behaviour of human neoplasms, but have not been
      widely studied in dogs. A retrospective analysis identified 62 cases of gross MCT
      (14 high-grade, 48 low-grade tumours). Median NLR was significantly different
      between high- and low-grade MCT and tumours at different locations. A
      multivariable model identified increasing NLR (OR 2.0) and age (OR 1.7) to be
      associated with an increased risk of high-grade MCT. Receiver operating
      characteristic curve analysis identified an NLR threshold value of 5.67
      (sensitivity 85.7 per cent; specificity 54.2 per cent) for predicting a high
      grade MCT. An NLR threshold of 5.67 could be useful alongside existing tools
      (appearance, location, etc.) to help to predict the grade of MCT. With further
      validation, this biomarker could be used to guide clinical decisions before
      obtaining a histopathological diagnosis.

PMID- 27650465
TI  - Preliminary evaluation of a dual antigen ELISA to distinguish vaccinated from
      Leptospira infected horses.
AB  - Immunogenic proteins of Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona type kennewicki
      (Lk) including Sph1, LigA, Hsp15 and LipL45 (Qlp42) are up-regulated in infected
      horses but are undetectable or expressed in trace amounts on cultured organisms.
      In contrast, LipL32 is abundant on cultured Lk and elicits infection antibody
      responses. The aim of this study was to develop an ELISA based on LipL32 or Lk
      sonicate and host-induced proteins to differentiate vaccine from infection serum
      antibody. IgG specific for recombinant Sph1, LigA, Lk90 (LigA; 379-1225 a.a),
      Hsp15, LipL45 and LipL32 of Lk were assayed in sera of horses infected naturally
      with Lk and before and after immunisation with serovar Pomona bacterin. Infection
      but not vaccine sera reacted strongly with Sph1, LigA and Lk90. LipL45 and Hsp15
      reacted moderately with infection sera and weakly with vaccine sera. Lk sonicate
      and LipL32 reacted strongly with both infection and vaccine sera. As expected,
      culture-based vaccine failed to stimulate antibody to host-induced proteins.
      Therefore a dual antigen ELISA based on Lk sonicate or LipL32 combined with host
      induced Sph1 and Lk90 will be valuable in differentiating infection from vaccine
      responses.

PMID- 27650466
TI  - Plants from disturbed savannah vegetation and their usage by Bakongo tribes in
      Uige, Northern Angola.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study represents the first in-depth ethnobotanical study in the
      province of Uige in northern Angola and documents the traditional knowledge of
      the Bakongo people living in the area. Due to deforestation and frequent fires,
      degraded savannahs dominate the landscape in the study region. Here we provide a
      list of useful plants from these savannahs including quantitative data about
      cultural importance of the respective species, aiming on the one hand to conserve
      the local knowledge and on the other hand to create a reliable basis for research
      projects in the region. METHODS: Field work was conducted in April and May 2014
      in 5 municipalities of Uige province. The study is based on 32 semi-structured
      and free-listing interviews, group discussions of varying scope and 14 field
      trips, involving a total of 82 informants. Throughout the course of the study
      herbarium specimens of the useful species were collected for later
      identification. Cultural importance index was applied to analyse the data sets
      recorded and to determine the best-known useful species in the region. All data
      sets were compared to the literature available for the region. RESULTS: The study
      documents a total of 498 citations for the use of 122 plants from 48 families,
      34.0 % of which were unknown according to the literature used for comparison. The
      high amount (71 %) of medical use-reports indicates that plants still play a
      crucial role in rural health care. We identified 14 plant species of special
      interest for pharmacological analysis. Species of highest cultural importance are
      Annona senegalensis Pers. and Sarcocephalus latifolius (Sm.) E.A., both of which
      are frequently found in disturbed savannahs. CONCLUSIONS: The study points out
      the importance of savannahs even if degraded in terms of useful plants and
      provides a valuable addition to current knowledge of plant use in Northern
      Angola. This is not only essential for further studies, i.e. regarding
      pharmaceutical agents, but also for the design of a planned botanical garden of
      the University Kimpa Vita in Uige, which aims at communicating the findings to
      the local people.

PMID- 27650467
TI  - Could gonadal and adrenal androgen deficiencies contribute to the depressive
      symptoms in men with systolic heart failure?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Testosterone (TT) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) are
      neurosteroids and their deficiencies constitute the hormone risk factors
      promoting the development of depression in elderly otherwise healthy men. We
      investigated the link between hypogonadism and depression in accordance with age
      and concomitant diseases in men with systolic HF using the novel scale previously
      dedicated for elderly population. METHODS: We analysed the prevalence of
      depression and severity of depressive symptoms in population of 226 men with
      systolic HF (40-80 years) compared to 379 healthy peers. The severity of
      depression was assessed using the Polish long version of Geriatric Depression
      Scale (GDS). RESULTS: In men aged 40-59 years the severity of depressive symptoms
      was greater in NYHA classes III-IV compared to NYHA classes I-II and reference
      group. In men aged 60-80 years depressive symptoms were more severe in NYHA class
      III-IV compared to controls (all p <= 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression
      model in men aged 40-59 years advanced NYHA class was associated with higher
      prevalence of mild depression (OR = 2.14, 95%CI: 1.07-4.29) and chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with higher prevalence of severe depression
      (OR = 69.1, 95%CI: 2.11-2264.3). In men aged 60-80 years advanced NYHA class and
      TT deficiency were related to higher prevalence of mild depression (respectively:
      OR = 2.9, 95%CI: 1.3-6.4; OR = 3.6, 95%CI: 1.2-10.63). CONCLUSION: TT deficiency,
      COPD and advanced NYHA class were associated with higher prevalence of depression
      in men with systolic HF.

PMID- 27650468
TI  - A population-based study of the comparative effectiveness of second-generation
      antipsychotics vs older antimanic agents in bipolar disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Numerous antimanic treatments have been introduced over the past two
      decades, particularly second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). However, it is not
      clear whether such newer agents provide any advantage over older treatments.
      METHODS: A historical cohort design investigated the nationwide population of
      outpatients with bipolar disorder treated in the Department of Veterans Affairs
      who were newly initiated on an antimanic agent between 2003 and 2010 (N=27 727).
      The primary outcome was likelihood of all-cause hospitalization during the year
      after initiation, controlling for numerous demographic, clinical, and treatment
      characteristics. Potential correlates of effect were explored by investigating
      time to initiation of a second antimanic agent or antidepressant. RESULTS: After
      control for covariates, those initiated on lithium or valproate monotherapy,
      compared to those beginning SGA monotherapy, were significantly less likely to be
      hospitalized, had a longer time to hospitalization, and had fewer
      hospitalizations in the subsequent year. Those on combination treatment had a
      significantly higher likelihood of hospitalization, although they also had a
      longer time to addition of an additional antimanic agent or antidepressant.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present analysis of a large and unselected nationwide population
      provides important complementary data to that from controlled trials. Although
      various mechanisms may be responsible for the results, the data support the
      utilization of lithium or valproate, rather than SGAs, as the initial antimanic
      treatment in bipolar disorder. A large-scale, prospective, randomized, pragmatic
      clinical trial comparing the initiation of SGA monotherapy to that of lithium or
      valproate monotherapy is a logical next step.

PMID- 27650469
TI  - Adaptive signal coloration maintained in the face of gene flow in a Hispaniolan
      Anolis Lizard.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of geographic variation can provide insight into the
      evolutionary processes involved in the early stages of biological
      diversification. In particular, multiple, replicated cases of geographic trait
      divergence present a powerful approach to study how patterns of introgression and
      adaptive divergence can vary with geographic space and time. In this study, we
      conduct replicated, fine-scaled molecular genetic analyses of striking geographic
      dewlap color variation of a Hispaniolan Anolis lizard, Anolis distichus, to
      investigate whether adaptive trait divergence is consistently associated with
      speciation, whereby genetic divergence is observed with neutral markers, or
      whether locally adapted traits are maintained in the face of continued gene flow.
      RESULTS: We find instances where shifts in adaptive dewlap coloration across
      short geographic distances are associated with reproductive isolation as well as
      maintained in the face of gene flow, suggesting the importance of both processes
      in maintaining geographic dewlap variation. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that
      adaptive dewlap color differences are maintained under strong divergent natural
      selection, but this divergence does not necessarily lead to anole speciation.

PMID- 27650470
TI  - Repeated courses of intratympanic dexamethasone injection are effective for
      intractable Meniere's disease.
AB  - CONCLUSION: Intra-tympanic dexamethasone injection (ITD) could serve as a first
      line intra-tympanic (IT) treatment for Meniere's disease (MD), regardless of
      hearing level. Even if the response to initial ITD course was unsatisfactory, a
      repeated course may be beneficial with some patients. OBJECTIVES: This study
      examined the effect of repeated courses of ITD administered on demand and
      investigated the possibility of ITD as an initial IT treatment for medically
      intractable MD patients. METHOD: Fifty-one patients who had been diagnosed with
      definite MD and given course(s) of ITD treatment were included. Vertigo control,
      pure tone average and functional disability scores were evaluated against the
      American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery guidelines for MD.
      RESULTS: Vertigo disappeared or was substantially controlled in 58.8% and 23.5%
      of the patients, respectively, after the first ITD course. A repeated course
      further raised the complete vertigo control rate by 15.7% and intra-tympanic
      gentamycin injection could be postponed or avoided in 78.6% of the patients who
      required repeated IT treatment. Hearing was unchanged after the first course of
      ITD (p > .05). No significant differences were detected in the clinical profiles
      or laboratory findings between patients receiving single course of ITD and those
      on multiple courses (p > .05).

PMID- 27650471
TI  - Distension of the toga of Thermotoga maritima involves continued growth of the
      outer envelope as cells enter the stationary phase.
AB  - Thermotoga maritima cells are distinguished by a sheath-like structure called the
      toga that loosely encloses single or multiple cells. During growth, and
      particularly at late phases of population growth, the toga distends from the
      poles of many cells. Little is known about this phenomenon so this study presents
      basic information about this process. We first provide quantitative data
      demonstrating that cells showing toga distensions increase in number during
      growth and that the phenomenon is not due to acidification of their growth
      medium. Comparisons of the area enclosed by these distended togas to the area of
      the cytoplasm show that the toga continues to grow as the growth of the cytoplasm
      ceases. Measuring the expression of many genes involved in toga composition and
      biosynthesis showed a 5.2-, 7.9- and 3-fold increase in the expression of toga
      structural protein genes ompB (porin), ompA1 and ompA2 (alpha helical,
      transperiplasm anchors), respectively. Additionally, expression of the putative
      pyruvyl transferase gene (csaB) was upregulated 4.4-fold in stationary phase,
      while the beta barrel assembly factor gene (bamA) showed only a 1.2-fold increase
      in expression. These findings demonstrate that toga distension is an active
      process and one that needs further investigation so we can understand the
      selective forces that operate in high-temperature environments.

PMID- 27650473
TI  - PM(10) episodes in Greece: Local sources versus long-range transport-observations
      and model simulations.
AB  - : Periods of abnormally high concentrations of atmospheric pollutants, defined as
      air pollution episodes, can cause adverse health effects. Southern European
      countries experience high particulate matter (PM) levels originating from local
      and distant sources. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and nature of
      extreme PM10 (PM with an aerodynamic diameter <=10 MUm) pollution episodes in
      Greece. We examined PM10 concentration data from 18 monitoring stations located
      at five sites across the country: (1) an industrial area in northwestern Greece
      (Western Macedonia Lignite Area, WMLA), which includes sources such as lignite
      mining operations and lignite power plants that generate a high percentage of the
      energy in Greece; (2) the greater Athens area, the most populated area of the
      country; and (3) Thessaloniki, (4) Patra, and (5) Volos, three large cities in
      Greece. We defined extreme PM10 pollution episodes (EEs) as days during which
      PM10 concentrations at all five sites exceeded the European Union (EU) 24-hr PM10
      standards. For each EE, we identified the corresponding prevailing synoptic and
      local meteorological conditions, including wind surface data, for the period from
      January 2009 through December 2011. We also analyzed data from remote sensing and
      model simulations. We recorded 14 EEs that occurred over 49 days and could be
      grouped into two categories: (1) Local Source Impact (LSI; 26 days, 53%) and (2)
      African Dust Impact (ADI; 23 days, 47%). Our analysis suggested that the
      contribution of local sources to ADI EEs was relatively small. LSI EEs were
      observed only in the cold season, whereas ADI EEs occurred throughout the year,
      with a higher frequency during the cold season. The EEs with the highest
      intensity were recorded during African dust intrusions. ADI episodes were found
      to contribute more than local sources in Greece, with ADI and LSI fraction
      contribution ranging from 1.1 to 3.10. The EE contribution during ADI fluctuated
      from 41 to 83 MUg/m3, whereas during LSI it varied from 14 to 67 MUg/m3.
      IMPLICATIONS: This paper examines the occurrence and nature of extreme PM10
      pollution episodes (EEs) in Greece during a 3-yr period (2009-2011). Fourteen EEs
      were found of 49 days total duration, classified into two main categories: Local
      Source Impact (53%) and African Dust Impact (47%). All the above extreme PM10 air
      pollution episodes were the result of specific synoptic prevailing conditions.
      Specific information on the linkages between the synoptic weather patterns and
      PM10 concentrations could be used in the development of weather/health-warning
      system to alert the public that a synoptic episode is imminent.

PMID- 27650472
TI  - Combination drug versus monotherapy for the treatment of autosomal dominant
      polycystic kidney disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Despite progress in the understanding of pathogenetic mechanisms of
      organ cyst formation in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, current
      treatment methods are insufficient. Experimental studies and clinical trials
      target at inhibition of cysts development and to slowing CKD progression. AREAS
      COVERED: The purpose of this analysis is to overview available literature
      regarding treatment of ADPKD. The most important recent events concerning ADPKD
      treatment are: the results of TEMPO 3/4 study and the registration of tolvaptan
      in the treatment of patients with CKD stage I-III and rapidly progressive ADPKD
      by EMA. ERA-EDTA recommendations for use of tolvaptan in ADPKD of 2016 will be
      useful for the identification of patients with rapid progression of disease who
      will benefit most from treatment. Clinical trials concerning inhibitors of mTOR
      and SSAs have not delivered convincing evidence of their effectiveness.
      Usefulness of statins in ADPKD require confirmation in adults. The HALT-PKD study
      confirmed that inhibition of RAA system slows progression of ADPKD. EXPERT
      OPINION: Current treatment of ADPKD involves: the optimization of life style and
      combined pharmacological treatment with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor
      blockers, statins (patients with lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease) and
      tolvaptan (patients with stage I-III CKD and rapidly progressive ADPKD).

PMID- 27650474
TI  - Simple and robust methods for remote sensing of canopy chlorophyll content: a
      comparative analysis of hyperspectral data for different types of vegetation.
AB  - Canopy chlorophyll content (CCC) is an essential ecophysiological variable for
      photosynthetic functioning. Remote sensing of CCC is vital for a wide range of
      ecological and agricultural applications. The objectives of this study were to
      explore simple and robust algorithms for spectral assessment of CCC.
      Hyperspectral datasets for six vegetation types (rice, wheat, corn, soybean,
      sugar beet and natural grass) acquired in four locations (Japan, France, Italy
      and USA) were analysed. To explore the best predictive model, spectral index
      approaches using the entire wavebands and multivariable regression approaches
      were employed. The comprehensive analysis elucidated the accuracy, linearity,
      sensitivity and applicability of various spectral models. Multivariable
      regression models using many wavebands proved inferior in applicability to
      different datasets. A simple model using the ratio spectral index (RSI; R815,
      R704) with the reflectance at 815 and 704 nm showed the highest accuracy and
      applicability. Simulation analysis using a physically based reflectance model
      suggested the biophysical soundness of the results. The model would work as a
      robust algorithm for canopy-chlorophyll-metre and/or remote sensing of CCC in
      ecosystem and regional scales. The predictive-ability maps using hyperspectral
      data allow not only evaluation of the relative significance of wavebands in
      various sensors but also selection of the optimal wavelengths and effective
      bandwidths.

PMID- 27650476
TI  - Disclosing the High Activity of Ceramic Metallics in the Oxygen Evolution
      Reaction: Nickel Materials as a Case Study.
AB  - Here, we elucidate the activity origin of ceramic nickel electrocatalysts in the
      oxygen evolution reaction (OER), ranging from nitrides, sulfides, and phosphides,
      as a case study that may be projected on almost any ceramic metallic. Our results
      show that regardless of the starting material, the formation of an active
      (oxy)hydroxide layer, acting as the real electrocatalyst during the OER, is
      unavoidable. Nevertheless, the in situ transformation into highly active
      (oxy)hydroxides leads to the formation of active catalysts for various
      applications.

PMID- 27650475
TI  - Disability in prison activities of daily living and likelihood of depression and
      suicidal ideation in older prisoners.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to determine if disability in activities of
      daily living specific to prison, prison activities of daily living (PADLs), is
      associated with depression and severity of suicidal ideation (SI) in older
      prisoners, a rapidly growing population at high risk of suicide. METHODS: Cross
      sectional design using data from a study of prisoners age >=50 years (N = 167).
      Depression was operationalized as a score of >=15 on the 9-item Physician Health
      Questionnaire (PHQ-9). SI severity was assessed using the Geriatric Suicide
      Ideation Scale (GSIS). Participants were considered to have PADL disability if
      they reported any of the following as "very difficult" or "cannot do:" dropping
      to the floor for alarms, climbing on/off the top bunk, hearing orders, walking
      while wearing handcuffs, standing in line for medications, and walking to chow.
      Associations were examined with bivariate tests and with multivariable logistic
      and linear regression models, and the interaction term gender * PADL disability
      was tested. RESULTS: PADL disability was associated with depression and SI
      severity. There was no main effect of gender on either depression or SI, yet the
      association between PADL disability and depression was considerably stronger in
      male than in female older prisoners. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying older prisoners who
      have difficulty performing PADLs may help distinguish prisoners who may also be
      likely to be depressed or experience more severe SI. Furthermore, the association
      between PADL disability and depression may be particularly salient in older male
      prisoners. Longitudinal studies are needed as causal inferences are limited by
      the cross-sectional design. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27650477
TI  - Catalytic Multisite-Selective Acetoxylation Reactions at sp2 vs sp3 C-H Bonds in
      Cyclic Olefins.
AB  - The first Pd-catalyzed multisite-selective acetoxylation reactions are disclosed
      at an unactivated alkene sp2 C-H bond versus secondary allylic sp3 C-H bond in
      cyclic olefins via the modulation of directing groups. The different directing
      groups overcome the key challenge in differentiating C-H bonds and provide a new
      controlling approach for site-specific C-H activation. A wide variety of
      substrates are readily acetoxylated under operationally simple conditions.
      Mechanistic studies suggest that different Pd (IV) intermediates were involved in
      the multisite-selective acetoxylation reactions.

PMID- 27650478
TI  - Canadian Arctic sea ice reconstructed from bromine in the Greenland NEEM ice
      core.
AB  - Reconstructing the past variability of Arctic sea ice provides an essential
      context for recent multi-year sea ice decline, although few quantitative
      reconstructions cover the Holocene period prior to the earliest historical
      records 1,200 years ago. Photochemical recycling of bromine is observed over
      first-year, or seasonal, sea ice in so-called "bromine explosions" and we employ
      a 1-D chemistry transport model to quantify processes of bromine enrichment over
      first-year sea ice and depositional transport over multi-year sea ice and land
      ice. We report bromine enrichment in the Northwest Greenland Eemian NEEM ice core
      since the end of the Eemian interglacial 120,000 years ago, finding the maximum
      extension of first-year sea ice occurred approximately 9,000 years ago during the
      Holocene climate optimum, when Greenland temperatures were 2 to 3  degrees C
      above present values. First-year sea ice extent was lowest during the glacial
      stadials suggesting complete coverage of the Arctic Ocean by multi-year sea ice.
      These findings demonstrate a clear relationship between temperature and first
      year sea ice extent in the Arctic and suggest multi-year sea ice will continue to
      decline as polar amplification drives Arctic temperatures beyond the 2  degrees C
      global average warming target of the recent COP21 Paris climate agreement.

PMID- 27650479
TI  - Semen characteristics of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) following diets
      containing different vegetable fatty acid levels.
AB  - Brood fish nutrition is an important factor susceptible to affect not only
      fecundity and gametogenesis but also gamete quality. In this study, we
      investigated the effects of altering dietary vegetable fatty acid content on
      semen quality (i.e. motility, density and seminal plasma composition),
      fertilizing ability and also blood testosterone (T) concentration in rainbow
      trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Fish were fed a commercial diet and ten formulated
      diets with similar proximate compositions but different levels of vegetable fatty
      acids (highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA): monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA);
      HUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA); and HUFA: saturated fatty acids (SFA)
      ratios). Fish fed with HUFA: MUFA = 0.0 and HUFA: SFA = 0.25 ratios had the
      highest semen motility percentage and duration. However, the highest semen
      concentration and semenatocrit were observed in HUFA: SFA = 0.0 and HUFA: PUFA =
      0.37 ratios. There was a significant difference in terms of K+ ion among diets
      supplemented with HUFA: PUFA = 0.0, HUFA: PUFA = 0.37 and HUFA: MUFA = 0.16
      ratios (p < .05). Furthermore, Na+ ion showed significant difference between
      control group and diet supplemented with HUFA: PUFA = 0.0 (p < .05). Among the
      biochemical parameters, total protein showed a significant difference between
      HUFA: MUFA = 0.16 and HUFA: PUFA = 0.37 ratios (p < .05). No significant
      differences in fertilization ability and blood T concentration were found among
      dietary treatments (p > .05). In addition, the present data suggest that dietary
      fatty acid levels could affect semen quality but not fertilization ability in O.
      mykiss.

PMID- 27650480
TI  - Population trends influence species ability to track climate change.
AB  - Shifts of distributions have been attributed to species tracking their
      fundamental climate niches through space. However, several studies have now
      demonstrated that niche tracking is imperfect, that species' climate niches may
      vary with population trends, and that geographic distributions may lag behind
      rapid climate change. These reports of imperfect niche tracking imply shifts in
      species' realized climate niches. We argue that quantifying climate niche shifts
      and analyzing them for a suite of species reveal general patterns of niche shifts
      and the factors affecting species' ability to track climate change. We analyzed
      changes in realized climate niche between 1984 and 2012 for 46 species of North
      American birds in relation to population trends in an effort to determine whether
      species differ in the ability to track climate change and whether differences in
      niche tracking are related to population trends. We found that increasingly
      abundant species tended to show greater levels of niche expansion (climate space
      occupied in 2012 but not in 1980) compared to declining species. Declining
      species had significantly greater niche unfilling (climate space occupied in 1980
      but not in 2012) compared to increasing species due to an inability to colonize
      new sites beyond their range peripheries after climate had changed at sites of
      occurrence. Increasing species, conversely, were better able to colonize new
      sites and therefore showed very little niche unfilling. Our results indicate that
      species with increasing trends are better able to geographically track climate
      change compared to declining species, which exhibited lags relative to changes in
      climate. These findings have important implications for understanding past
      changes in distribution, as well as modeling dynamic species distributions in the
      face of climate change.

PMID- 27650481
TI  - Theta burst stimulation-induced LTP: Differences and similarities between the
      dorsal and ventral CA1 hippocampal synapses.
AB  - The hippocampal synapses display a conspicuous ability for long-term plasticity,
      which is thought to contribute to learning and memory. Previous research has
      shown that long-term potentiation (LTP) greatly differs between the dorsal (DH)
      and ventral (VH) CA1 hippocampal synapses when induced by high-frequency
      stimulation. In this study, using rat hippocampal slices and more physiologically
      relevant activity patterns based on the frequency of the theta rhythm (i.e.,
      theta-burst stimulation, TBS) we found that the DH compared with the VH displayed
      a higher ability for induction and stability of NMDA receptor-dependent LTP of
      the field excitatory postsynaptic potential. Nevertheless, the maximal magnitude
      of LTP was similar in the two hippocampal segments. Blockade of GABAB receptors
      prevented the LTP induction by the minimal effective TBS and reduced the
      magnitude of LTP induced by longer TBS. TBS produced a three-fold higher
      facilitation of the synaptic burst responses in the DH compared with the VH,
      accompanied by a strong enhancement in the postsynaptic excitation in the DH but
      mostly depression in the VH. The DH displayed NMDA receptor-dependent and NMDA
      receptor-independent facilitation, but the facilitation in the VH was only NMDA
      receptor-dependent. Also, the TBS-associated activity of GABAB receptors was
      higher in the DH than in the VH. The different response profiles during TBS could
      underlie the differences in LTP between the two hippocampal segments. L-type
      voltage-dependent calcium channels (L-VDCC) and the metabotropic glutamate
      receptor-5 (mGluR5) equally contributed in DH and VH to compound LTP induced by
      relatively long TBS. We propose that these dorsoventral differences in synaptic
      plasticity reflect specializations of the intrinsic circuitry of the hippocampus,
      that are involved in the distinct information processing performed by the two
      hippocampal segments and could effectively support the contribution of the dorsal
      and the ventral hippocampal segment to single event memory and to emotional
      memory respectively. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650482
TI  - Epidemiology of influenza B in Australia: 2001-2014 influenza seasons.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Influenza B is characterised by two antigenic lineages: B/Victoria
      and B/Yamagata. These lineages circulate together with influenza A during
      influenza seasons, with varying incidence from year to year and by geographic
      region. OBJECTIVE: To determine the epidemiology of influenza B relative to
      influenza A in Australia. METHODS: Laboratory-confirmed influenza notifications
      between 2001 and 2014 in Australia were obtained from the Australian National
      Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. RESULTS: A total of 278 485 laboratory
      confirmed influenza cases were notified during the study period, comprising
      influenza A (82.2%), B (17.1%) and 'other and untyped' (0.7%). The proportion of
      notifications that were influenza B was highest in five- to nine-year-olds
      (27.5%) and lowest in persons aged 85 years and over (11.5%). Of all B
      notifications with lineage determined, 77.1% were B/Victoria and 22.9% were
      B/Yamagata infections. Mismatches between the dominant B lineage in a season and
      the trivalent vaccine B lineage occurred in over one-third of seasons during the
      study years. In general, influenza B notifications peaked later than influenza A
      notifications. CONCLUSION: The proportion of circulating influenza B in Australia
      during 2001-2014 was slightly lower than the global average and was dominated by
      B/Victoria. Compared with influenza A, influenza B infection was more common
      among older children and young adults and less common in the very elderly.
      Influenza B lineage mismatch with the trivalent vaccine occurred about one-third
      of the time.

PMID- 27650484
TI  - Frequent callers in primary health care - a qualitative study with a nursing
      perspective.
AB  - AIM: To: (a) describe how telephone nurses define a frequent caller; and (b)
      describe their experiences with calls from frequent callers to primary healthcare
      centres. BACKGROUND: Telephone nursing has been noted to be a cost-effective
      method to enhance access to and use of health care. Some patients use these
      services extensively and are called 'frequent callers'. Little is known about
      this group of callers, the reasons behind these calls and telephone nurses'
      experiences and strategies to manage the calls. DESIGN: Descriptive design with a
      qualitative inductive approach. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with ten
      telephone nurses in Sweden in 2015. Qualitative content analysis was conducted.
      RESULTS: A main theme was established, called 'Balancing between the experienced
      and assessed needs', which described the telephone nurses' experiences with calls
      made by frequent callers to primary healthcare centres and was further described
      in five categories with 15 subcategories. The categories described telephone
      nurses' definitions of frequent callers, telephone nurses' views of the
      underlying reasons for the calls, challenges related to frequent callers,
      experiences with an increased work load and strategies used to manage and help
      frequent callers. CONCLUSION: Frequent callers were commonly encountered by
      telephone nurses' in this study. Their calls were experienced as complex and
      demanding to manage. The findings point to needs for guidelines and routines to
      improve the care of frequent callers. In addition, support and training in
      communication skills to encounter this group of callers in an optimal and safe
      way may be required.

PMID- 27650483
TI  - African Ancestry-Specific Alleles and Kidney Disease Risk in Hispanics/Latinos.
AB  - African ancestry alleles may contribute to CKD among Hispanics/Latinos, but
      whether associations differ by Hispanic/Latino background remains unknown. We
      examined the association of CKD measures with African ancestry-specific APOL1
      alleles that were directly genotyped and sickle cell trait (hemoglobin subunit
      beta gene [HBB] variant) on the basis of imputation in 12,226 adult
      Hispanics/Latinos grouped according to Caribbean or Mainland background. We also
      performed an unbiased genome-wide association scan of urine albumin-to-creatinine
      ratios. Overall, 41.4% of participants were male, 44.6% of participants had a
      Caribbean background, and the mean age of all participants was 46.1 years. The
      Caribbean background group, compared with the Mainland background group, had a
      higher frequency of two APOL1 alleles (1.0% versus 0.1%) and the HBB variant
      (2.0% versus 0.7%). In the Caribbean background group, presence of APOL1 alleles
      (2 versus 0/1 copies) or the HBB variant (1 versus 0 copies) were significantly
      associated with albuminuria (odds ratio [OR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [95%
      CI], 1.7 to 6.1; and OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.8 to 3.8, respectively) and albuminuria
      and/or eGFR<60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.5 to 5.4; and OR, 2.4; 95%
      CI, 1.7 to 3.5, respectively). The urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio genome-wide
      association scan identified associations with the HBB variant among all
      participants, with the strongest association in the Caribbean background group
      (P=3.1*10-10 versus P=9.3*10-3 for the Mainland background group). In conclusion,
      African-specific alleles associate with CKD in Hispanics/Latinos, but allele
      frequency varies by Hispanic/Latino background/ancestry.

PMID- 27650485
TI  - Engineering surface atomic structure of single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide nanorods
      for superior electrocatalysis.
AB  - Engineering the surface structure at the atomic level can be used to precisely
      and effectively manipulate the reactivity and durability of catalysts. Here we
      report tuning of the atomic structure of one-dimensional single-crystal cobalt
      (II) oxide (CoO) nanorods by creating oxygen vacancies on pyramidal nanofacets.
      These CoO nanorods exhibit superior catalytic activity and durability towards
      oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. The combined experimental studies,
      microscopic and spectroscopic characterization, and density functional theory
      calculations reveal that the origins of the electrochemical activity of single
      crystal CoO nanorods are in the oxygen vacancies that can be readily created on
      the oxygen-terminated {111} nanofacets, which favourably affect the electronic
      structure of CoO, assuring a rapid charge transfer and optimal adsorption
      energies for intermediates of oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. These results
      show that the surface atomic structure engineering is important for the
      fabrication of efficient and durable electrocatalysts.

PMID- 27650486
TI  - ZNF703 Overexpression may act as an oncogene in non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Despite therapeutic advances, lung cancer remains one of the most common causes
      of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The ZNF703 gene has been identified as the
      driver of the 8p11-12 region and its amplification or overexpression has been
      associated with several types of cancers. It has also been shown that ZNF703
      overexpression can activate the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. The aim of our study
      was to investigate the role of the ZNF703 gene in association with Akt/mTOR
      activation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Expression levels in tumors and
      matched noncancerous tissue samples from 47 patients were analyzed by qRT-PCR and
      the Akt phosphorylation levels were investigated by Western blotting. Our results
      show that ZNF703 is up-regulated in 63.4% of NSCLC tumor samples. Althogh the
      correlation did not reach a statistically significant level Akt phosphorylation
      was increased in tumor tissues expressing high levels of ZNF703. The role of the
      ZNF703 gene has not been investigated in NSCLC. Our data show that ZNF703 may
      contribute to tumor development in NSCLC by activating the Akt/mTOR pathway.

PMID- 27650488
TI  - Systematic review: second-generation vs. conventional corticosteroids for
      induction of remission in ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral corticosteroids are the mainstay treatment for induction of
      ulcerative colitis remission in patients failing or intolerant to aminosalicylate
      therapy, but the poor tolerability profile of these drugs limits their
      usefulness. Second-generation, gut-selective corticosteroids may offer a safe
      alternative to systemic agents. AIM: To review the efficacy and safety of
      systemic and second-generation oral corticosteroids for the induction of
      remission in ulcerative colitis. METHODS: The PubMed database was searched for
      randomised, controlled, and open-label trials of orally administered
      corticosteroids published between January 1950 and September 2015. Additional
      trials were identified from review of citation lists. Trials that compared oral
      corticosteroids with non-oral agents or in combination with agents other than
      aminosalicylates were excluded. RESULTS: Of the 240 studies identified, 21 were
      eligible for inclusion. Few trials directly compared oral systemic and second
      generation corticosteroids (n = 4). Some second-generation corticosteroids had
      questionable efficacy vs. placebo or mesalazine (mesalamine), but beclomethasone
      dipropionate and budesonide MMX demonstrated a comparative benefit. Only
      beclomethasone dipropionate was similar to conventional corticosteroids for
      induction of remission and other clinical endpoints. Direct comparative trials
      for budesonide MMX were unavailable. Second-generation corticosteroids had an
      overall favourable safety profile, with minimal adverse effects on cardiovascular
      and metabolic parameters and a low incidence of adverse events. CONCLUSIONS:
      Beclomethasone dipropionate and budesonide MMX provide greater induction of
      remission in ulcerative colitis than placebo or mesalazine but additional active
      comparator trials are needed to firmly establish the efficacy profile vs.
      systemic corticosteroids. Second-generation corticosteroids have a more
      favourable safety and tolerability profile than systemic corticosteroids.

PMID- 27650487
TI  - Molecular imaging of brain localization of liposomes in mice using MALDI mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - Phospholipids have excellent biocompatibility and are therefore often used as
      main components of liposomal drug carriers. In traditional bioanalytics, the in
      vivo distribution of liposomal drug carriers is assessed using radiolabeled
      liposomal constituents. This study presents matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI) as an alternative,
      label-free method for ex-vivo molecular imaging of liposomal drug carriers in
      mouse tissue. To this end, indocyanine green as cargo and two liposomal markers,
      1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DPPG) and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero
      3-phosphoethanolamine conjugated with monodisperse polyethylene glycol (PEG36
      DSPE) were incorporated into liposomal carriers and administered to mice. We used
      MALDI MSI of the two lipid markers in both positive and negative ion mode for
      visualization of liposome integrity and distribution in mouse organs. Additional
      MSI of hemoglobin in the same tissue slice and pixel-by-pixel computational
      analysis of co-occurrence of lipid markers and hemoglobin served as indicator of
      liposome localization either in parenchyma or in blood vessels. Our proof-of
      concept study suggests that liposomal components and indocyanine green
      distributed into all investigated organs.

PMID- 27650489
TI  - The safety and efficacy of vandetanib in the treatment of progressive medullary
      thyroid cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Traditional therapies for advanced or metastatic progressive
      medullary thyroid cancer (pMTC) are poor effective. Several TKIs have been tested
      in clinical trials in pMTC patients. Areas covered: This paper reviews efficacy
      and safety of vandetanib in the treatment of pMTC. Expert commentary: Vandetanib
      (trade name CAPRELSA(r) [Vandetanib]) has been shown to improve progression-free
      survival (30.5 vs 19.3 months in controls) in pMTC patients. Vandetanib is
      approved by FDA and EMA for metastatic MTC in adults; in adolescents and children
      with metastatic or locally advanced MTC, vandetanib seems to be effective. The
      most common adverse events in vandetanib-treated patients are: diarrhea, rash,
      folliculitis, nausea, QTc prolongation, hypertension and fatigue. In patients
      with aggressive differentiated thyroid cancer, vandetanib has shown promising
      results. Further research is needed to determine the ideal targeted therapy,
      based on tumor molecular characterization and host factors, to obtain the best
      response in terms of survival and quality of life.

PMID- 27650490
TI  - What G6PD-deficient individuals should really avoid.

PMID- 27650491
TI  - Neuropsychology in South Africa: confronting the challenges of specialist
      practice in a culturally diverse developing country.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This was an invited paper on the history and current status of
      neuropsychology in South Africa. METHOD: Information was gathered from literature
      searches, personal communication, and the authors' experiences while occupying
      relevant professional and academic positions for over 30 years. RESULTS: Since
      its origins in the 1950s, the development of neuropsychology in South Africa has
      faced numerous challenges, against a background of extreme sociocultural and
      socioeconomic disparity in the country that is on-going. The creation of the
      South African Clinical Neuropsychological Society in the 1980s, a credentialing
      and training body, gave impetus to the discipline. In the absence of a
      neuropsychology category within the South African professional framework,
      university instruction has been ad hoc with vastly different levels of competency
      depending on the institution involved. The small number of practitioners and/or
      academics involved in neuropsychology includes mainly masters, and some doctoral
      level psychologists registered in clinical, counseling or educational categories.
      A prime emphasis of neuropsychological research has been local norming of
      psychometric tests to facilitate valid assessment practices in the country. South
      Africa is on the cusp of achieving a hard-won neuropsychology professional
      register. It is anticipated that this development will provide impetus to the
      discipline by promoting training programs, the creation of neuropsychology posts,
      wider service delivery, and increased research funding. CONCLUSIONS: Despite
      significant challenges in a culturally diverse, developing country,
      neuropsychology has evolved sufficiently to warrant the creation of a separate
      category in the professional framework. This development will facilitate
      training, research, and services in the country.

PMID- 27650492
TI  - Motoneuron glutamatergic receptor expression following recovery from cervical
      spinal hemisection.
AB  - Cervical spinal hemisection at C2 (SH) removes premotor drive to phrenic
      motoneurons located in segments C3-C5 in rats. Spontaneous recovery of
      ipsilateral diaphragm muscle activity is associated with increased phrenic
      motoneuron expression of glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and
      decreased expression of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-proprionic acid
      (AMPA) receptors. Glutamatergic receptor expression is regulated by tropomyosin
      related kinase receptor subtype B (TrkB) signaling in various neuronal systems,
      and increased TrkB receptor expression in phrenic motoneurons enhances recovery
      post-SH. Accordingly, we hypothesize that recovery of ipsilateral diaphragm
      muscle activity post-SH, whether spontaneous or enhanced by adenoassociated virus
      (AAV)-mediated upregulation of TrkB receptor expression, is associated with
      increased expression of glutamatergic NMDA receptors in phrenic motoneurons.
      Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent diaphragm electromyography electrode
      implantation and SH surgery. Rats were injected intrapleurally with AAV
      expressing TrkB or GFP 3 weeks before SH. At 14 days post-SH, the proportion of
      animals displaying recovery of ipsilateral diaphragm activity increased in AAV
      TrkB-treated (9/9) compared with untreated (3/5) or AAV-GFP-treated (4/10; P <
      0.027) animals. Phrenic motoneuron NMDA NR1 subunit mRNA expression was
      approximately fourfold greater in AAV-TrkB- vs. AAV-GFP-treated SH animals (P <
      0.004) and in animals displaying recovery vs. those not recovering (P < 0.005).
      Phrenic motoneuron AMPA glutamate receptor 2 (GluR2) subunit mRNA expression
      decreased after SH, and, albeit increased in animals displaying recovery vs.
      those not recovering, levels remained lower than control. We conclude that
      increased phrenic motoneuron expression of glutamatergic NMDA receptors is
      associated with spontaneous recovery after SH and enhanced recovery after AAV
      TrkB treatment. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:1192-1205, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals,
      Inc.

PMID- 27650493
TI  - CXCL13, CXCL10 and CXCL8 as Potential Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of
      Neurosyphilis Patients.
AB  - At present, diagnosis for neurosyphilis remains a major clinical challenge.
      Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) titer of the cerebrospinal fluid
      (CSF) is suboptimally sensitive to diagnose neurosyphilis, which can be negative
      in neurosyphilis patients, especially in asymptomatic neurosyphilis patients. In
      the search for biomarkers of neurosyphilis, we investigated the chemokine profile
      in CSF of neurosyphilis patients and found that the concentrations of CXCL13,
      CXCL10 and CXCL8 were selectively elevated in neurosyphilis patients and
      correlated with CSF protein concentration and CSF-VDRL titer. After antibiotic
      treatment, the concentration of these chemokines was dramatically reduced. The
      area under the ROC curve (AUC) of CSF CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 and the CSF/serum
      ratio of CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis were 0.940,
      0.899, 0.915, 0.963, 0.846 and 0.926, respectively. The corresponding
      sensitivities/specificities of CSF CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 and the CSF/serum ratio
      of CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 in diagnosis of neurosyphilis were 85.4%/89.1%, 79%/90.1%
      and 79.6%/91.1%, 86.6%/99%, 79%/73.3% and 86%/92.1%, respectively. Our results
      suggest that the elevated concentrations of CXCL13, CXCL8, and CXCL10 or their
      increasing CSF/serum ratios may be potential biomarkers of neurosyphilis,
      particularly for asymptomatic neurosyphilis. Reduced concentration of these
      chemokines may indicate the prognosis of antibiotic therapy.

PMID- 27650494
TI  - A Novel Fusion of ALT-803 (Interleukin (IL)-15 Superagonist) with an Antibody
      Demonstrates Antigen-specific Antitumor Responses.
AB  - IL-15 and its receptor alpha (IL-15Ralpha) are co-expressed on antigen-presenting
      cells, allowing transpresentation of IL-15 to immune cells bearing IL
      2RbetagammaC and stimulation of effector immune responses. We reported previously
      that the high-affinity interactions between an IL-15 superagonist (IL-15N72D) and
      the extracellular IL-15Ralpha sushi domain (IL-15RalphaSu) could be exploited to
      create a functional scaffold for the design of multivalent disease-targeted
      complexes. The IL-15N72D.IL-15RalphaSuFc complex, also known as ALT-803, is a
      multimeric complex constructed by fusing IL-15N72D.IL-15RalphaSu to the Fc domain
      of IgG1. ALT-803 is an IL-15 superagonist complex that has been developed as a
      potent antitumor immunotherapeutic agent and is in clinical trials. Here we
      describe the creation of a novel fusion molecule, 2B8T2M, using the ALT-803
      scaffold fused to four single chains of the tumor-targeting monoclonal antibody
      rituximab. This molecule displays trispecific binding activity through its
      recognition of the CD20 molecule on tumor cells, stimulation via IL-2RbetagammaC
      displayed on immune effector cells, and binding to Fcgamma receptors on natural
      killer cells and macrophages. 2B8T2M activates natural killer cells to enhance
      antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, mediates complement-dependent
      cytotoxicity, and induces apoptosis of B-lymphoma cells. Compared with rituximab,
      2B8T2M exhibits significantly stronger antitumor activity in a xenograft SCID
      mouse model and depletes B cells in cynomolgus monkeys more efficiently. Thus,
      ALT-803 can be modified as a functional scaffold for creating multispecific,
      targeted IL-15-based immunotherapeutic agents and may serve as a novel platform
      to improve the antitumor activity and clinical efficacy of therapeutic
      antibodies.

PMID- 27650495
TI  - Mineralocorticoid Receptor (MR) trans-Activation of Inflammatory AP-1 Signaling:
      DEPENDENCE ON DNA SEQUENCE, MR CONFORMATION, AND AP-1 FAMILY MEMBER EXPRESSION.
AB  - Glucocorticoids are commonly used to treat inflammatory disorders. The
      glucocorticoid receptor (GR) can tether to inflammatory transcription factor
      complexes, such as NFkappaB and AP-1, and trans-repress the transcription of
      cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules. In contrast, aldosterone and the
      mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) primarily promote cardiovascular inflammation by
      incompletely understood mechanisms. Although MR has been shown to weakly repress
      NFkappaB, its role in modulating AP-1 has not been established. Here, the effects
      of GR and MR on NFkappaB and AP-1 signaling were directly compared using a
      variety of ligands, two different AP-1 consensus sequences, GR and MR DNA-binding
      domain mutants, and siRNA knockdown or overexpression of core AP-1 family
      members. Both GR and MR repressed an NFkappaB reporter without influencing p65 or
      p50 binding to DNA. Likewise, neither GR nor MR affected AP-1 binding, but
      repression or activation of AP-1 reporters occurred in a ligand-, AP-1 consensus
      sequence-, and AP-1 family member-specific manner. Notably, aldosterone
      interactions with both GR and MR demonstrated a potential to activate AP-1. DNA
      binding domain mutations that eliminated the ability of GR and MR to cis-activate
      a hormone response element-driven reporter variably affected the strength and
      polarity of these responses. Importantly, MR modulation of NFkappaB and AP-1
      signaling was consistent with a trans-mechanism, and AP-1 effects were confirmed
      for specific gene targets in primary human cells. Steroid nuclear receptor trans
      effects on inflammatory signaling are context-dependent and influenced by nuclear
      receptor conformation, DNA sequence, and the expression of heterologous binding
      partners. Aldosterone activation of AP-1 may contribute to its proinflammatory
      effects in the vasculature.

PMID- 27650496
TI  - The NADPH Oxidases DUOX1 and NOX2 Play Distinct Roles in Redox Regulation of
      Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Signaling.
AB  - The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a critical role in regulating
      airway epithelial homeostasis and responses to injury. Activation of EGFR is
      regulated by redox-dependent processes involving reversible cysteine oxidation by
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and involves both ligand-dependent and -independent
      mechanisms, but the precise source(s) of ROS and the molecular mechanisms that
      control tyrosine kinase activity are incompletely understood. Here, we
      demonstrate that stimulation of EGFR activation by ATP in airway epithelial cells
      is closely associated with dynamic reversible oxidation of cysteine residues via
      sequential sulfenylation and S-glutathionylation within EGFR and the non-receptor
      tyrosine kinase Src. Moreover, the intrinsic kinase activity of recombinant Src
      or EGFR was in both cases enhanced by H2O2 but not by GSSG, indicating that the
      intermediate sulfenylation is the activating modification. H2O2-induced increase
      in EGFR tyrosine kinase activity was not observed with the C797S variant,
      confirming Cys-797 as the redox-sensitive cysteine residue that regulates kinase
      activity. Redox-dependent regulation of EGFR activation in airway epithelial
      cells was found to strongly depend on activation of either the NADPH oxidase
      DUOX1 or the homolog NOX2, depending on the activation mechanism. Whereas DUOX1
      and Src play a primary role in EGFR transactivation by wound-derived signals such
      as ATP, direct ligand-dependent EGFR activation primarily involves NOX2 with a
      secondary role for DUOX1 and Src. Collectively, our findings establish that redox
      dependent EGFR kinase activation involves a dynamic and reversible cysteine
      oxidation mechanism and that this activation mechanism variably involves DUOX1
      and NOX2.

PMID- 27650497
TI  - Endothelial Cell Activation Is Regulated by Epidermal Growth Factor-like Domain 7
      (Egfl7) during Inflammation.
AB  - Activation of the blood vessel endothelium is a critical step during
      inflammation. Endothelial cells stimulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines play an
      essential part in the adhesion and extravasation of circulating leukocytes into
      inflamed tissues. The endothelial egfl7 gene (VE-statin) represses endothelial
      cell activation in tumors, and prior observations suggested that it could also
      participate in the regulation of endothelial cell activation during inflammation.
      We show here that Egfl7 expression is strongly repressed in mouse lung
      endothelial cells during LPS- and TNFalpha-induced inflammation in vivo LPS have
      a limited effect on Egfl7 expression by endothelial cells in vitro, whereas the
      pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFalpha strongly represses Egfl7 expression in
      endothelial cells. TNFalpha regulates the egfl7 gene promoter through regions
      located between -7585 and -5550 bp ahead of the main transcription start site and
      via an NF-kappaB-dependent mechanism. Conversely, Egfl7 regulates the response of
      endothelial cells to TNFalpha by restraining the induced expression of
      intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1
      (VCAM-1), and E-selectin, resulting in a decreased adhesion of leukocytes onto
      endothelial cells stimulated by TNFalpha. Egfl7 regulates the expression of these
      adhesion molecules through the NF-kappaB and MEK/Erk pathways, in particular by
      preventing the proteasome-mediated degradation of IkBalpha both in non-activated
      endothelial cells and during activation. Egfl7 is thus an endogenous and
      constitutive repressor of blood vessel endothelial cell activation in normal and
      inflammatory conditions and participates in a loop of regulation of activation of
      these cells by pro-inflammatory cytokines.

PMID- 27650498
TI  - Bromodomain and Extraterminal Protein Inhibition Blocks Growth of Triple-negative
      Breast Cancers through the Suppression of Aurora Kinases.
AB  - Bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins are epigenetic "readers" that
      recognize acetylated histones and mark areas of the genome for transcription.
      BRD4, a BET family member protein, has been implicated in a number of types of
      cancer, and BET protein inhibitors (BETi) are efficacious in many preclinical
      cancer models. However, the drivers of response to BETi vary depending on tumor
      type, and little is known regarding the target genes conveying BETi activity in
      triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Here, we show that BETi repress growth of
      multiple in vitro and in vivo models of TNBC by inducing two terminal responses:
      apoptosis and senescence. Unlike in other cancers, response to BETi in TNBC is
      not dependent upon suppression of MYC Instead, both end points are preceded by
      the appearance of polyploid cells caused by the suppression of Aurora kinases A
      and B (AURKA/B), which are critical mediators of mitosis. In addition, AURKA/B
      inhibitors phenocopy the effects of BETi. These results indicate that Aurora
      kinases play an important role in the growth suppressive activity of BETi in
      TNBC. Elucidating the mechanism of response to BETi in TNBC should 1) facilitate
      the prediction of how distinct TNBC tumors will respond to BETi and 2) inform the
      rational design of drug combination therapies.

PMID- 27650499
TI  - A Carboxyl Ester Lipase (CEL) Mutant Causes Chronic Pancreatitis by Forming
      Intracellular Aggregates That Activate Apoptosis.
AB  - Patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) frequently have genetic risk factors for
      disease. Many of the identified genes have been connected to trypsinogen
      activation or trypsin inactivation. The description of CP in patients with
      mutations in the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) domain of carboxyl ester
      lipase (CEL) presents an opportunity to study the pathogenesis of CP
      independently of trypsin pathways. We tested the hypothesis that a deletion and
      frameshift mutation (C563fsX673) in the CEL VNTR causes CP through proteotoxic
      gain-of-function activation of maladaptive cell signaling pathways including cell
      death pathways. HEK293 or AR42J cells were transfected with constructs expressing
      CEL with 14 repeats in the VNTR (CEL14R) or C563fsX673 CEL (CEL maturity onset
      diabetes of youth with a deletion mutation in the VNTR (MODY)). In both cell
      types, CEL MODY formed intracellular aggregates. Secretion of CEL MODY was
      decreased compared with that of CEL14R. Expression of CEL MODY increased
      endoplasmic reticulum stress, activated the unfolded protein response, and caused
      cell death by apoptosis. Our results demonstrate that disorders of protein
      homeostasis can lead to CP and suggest that novel therapies to decrease the
      intracellular accumulation of misfolded protein may be successful in some
      patients with CP.

PMID- 27650500
TI  - A Histidine Cluster in the Cytoplasmic Domain of the Na-H Exchanger NHE1 Confers
      pH-sensitive Phospholipid Binding and Regulates Transporter Activity.
AB  - The Na-H exchanger NHE1 contributes to intracellular pH (pHi) homeostasis in
      normal cells and the constitutively increased pHi in cancer. NHE1 activity is
      allosterically regulated by intracellular protons, with greater activity at lower
      pHi However, the molecular mechanism for pH-dependent NHE1 activity remains
      incompletely resolved. We report that an evolutionarily conserved cluster of
      histidine residues located in the C-terminal cytoplasmic domain between two
      phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate binding sites (PI(4,5)P2) of NHE1 confers
      pH-dependent PI(4,5)P2 binding and regulates NHE1 activity. A GST fusion of the
      wild type C-terminal cytoplasmic domain of NHE1 showed increased maximum
      PI(4,5)P2 binding at pH 7.0 compared with pH 7.5. However, pH-sensitive binding
      is abolished by substitutions of the His-rich cluster to arginine (RXXR3) or
      alanine (AXXA3), mimicking protonated and neutral histidine residues,
      respectively, and the RXXR3 mutant had significantly greater PI(4,5)P2 binding
      than AXXA3. When expressed in cells, NHE1 activity and pHi were significantly
      increased with NHE1-RXXR3 and decreased with NHE1-AXXA3 compared with wild type
      NHE1. Additionally, fibroblasts expressing NHE1-RXXR3 had significantly more
      contractile actin filaments and focal adhesions compared with fibroblasts
      expressing wild type NHE1, consistent with increased pHi enabling cytoskeletal
      remodeling. These data identify a molecular mechanism for pH-sensitive PI(4,5)P2
      binding regulating NHE1 activity and suggest that the evolutionarily conserved
      cluster of four histidines in the proximal cytoplasmic domain of NHE1 may
      constitute a proton modifier site. Moreover, a constitutively activated NHE1
      RXXR3 mutant is a new tool that will be useful for studying how increased pHi
      contributes to cell behaviors, most notably the biology of cancer cells.

PMID- 27650502
TI  - Alterations of mitochondrial biogenesis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells
      with loss of p53.
AB  - Deletion of chromosome 17p with a loss of p53 is an unfavorable cytogenetic
      change in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with poor clinical outcome. Since
      p53 affects mitochondrial function and integrity, we examined possible
      mitochondrial changes in CLL mice with TCL1-Tg/p53-/- and TCL1-Tg/p53+/+
      genotypes and in primary leukemia cells from CLL patients with or without 17p
      deletion. Although the expression of mitochondrial COX1, ND2, and ND6 decreased
      in p53-/-CLL cells, there was an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis as
      evidenced by higher mitochondrial mass and mtDNA copy number associated with an
      elevated expression of TFAM and PGC-1alpha. Surprisingly, the overall
      mitochondrial respiratory activity and maximum reserved capacity increased in p53
      /- CLL cells. Our study suggests that leukemia cells lacking p53 seem able to
      maintain respiratory function by compensatory increase in mitochondrial
      biogenesis.

PMID- 27650501
TI  - Polarization of Macrophages toward M2 Phenotype Is Favored by Reduction in
      iPLA2beta (Group VIA Phospholipase A2).
AB  - Macrophages are important in innate and adaptive immunity. Macrophage
      participation in inflammation or tissue repair is directed by various
      extracellular signals and mediated by multiple intracellular pathways. Activation
      of group VIA phospholipase A2 (iPLA2beta) causes accumulation of arachidonic
      acid, lysophospholipids, and eicosanoids that can promote inflammation and
      pathologic states. We examined the role of iPLA2beta in peritoneal macrophage
      immune function by comparing wild type (WT) and iPLA2beta-/- mouse macrophages.
      Compared with WT, iPLA2beta-/- macrophages exhibited reduced proinflammatory M1
      markers when classically activated. In contrast, anti-inflammatory M2 markers
      were elevated under naive conditions and induced to higher levels by alternative
      activation in iPLA2beta-/- macrophages compared with WT. Induction of eicosanoid
      (12-lipoxygenase (12-LO) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2))- and reactive oxygen
      species (NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4))-generating enzymes by classical activation
      pathways was also blunted in iPLA2beta-/- macrophages compared with WT. The
      effects of inhibitors of iPLA2beta, COX2, or 12-LO to reduce M1 polarization were
      greater than those to enhance M2 polarization. Certain lipids
      (lysophosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidic acid, and prostaglandin E2)
      recapitulated M1 phenotype in iPLA2beta-/- macrophages, but none tested promoted
      M2 phenotype. These findings suggest that (a) lipids generated by iPLA2beta and
      subsequently oxidized by cyclooxygenase and 12-LO favor macrophage inflammatory
      M1 polarization, and (b) the absence of iPLA2beta promotes macrophage M2
      polarization. Reducing macrophage iPLA2beta activity and thereby attenuating
      macrophage M1 polarization might cause a shift from an inflammatory to a
      recovery/repair milieu.

PMID- 27650504
TI  - Resource allocation and compensation during development in holometabolous
      insects.
AB  - We provide an extensive review on current knowledge and future research paths on
      the topic of resource allocation and compensation during development in
      holometabolous insects, emphasizing the role of resource management during
      development, and how compensatory mechanisms may be acting to remediate
      nutritional deficiencies carried over from earlier stages of development. We
      first review resource allocation in "open" and "closed" developmental stages and
      then move on to the topic of modelling resource allocation and its trade-offs. In
      doing so, we review novel methodological developments such as response-surface
      methods and mixture experiments as well as nutritional geometry. We also dwell on
      the fascinating topic of compensatory physiology and behavior. We finish by
      discussing future research paths, among them the emerging field of nutrigenomics
      and gut microbiome, which will shed light into the yet poorly understood role of
      the symbiotic microbiota in nutrient compensation or assimilation.

PMID- 27650503
TI  - FTO genotype and weight loss: systematic review and meta-analysis of 9563
      individual participant data from eight randomised controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:  To assess the effect of the FTO genotype on weight loss after
      dietary, physical activity, or drug based interventions in randomised controlled
      trials. DESIGN:  Systematic review and random effects meta-analysis of individual
      participant data from randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES:  Ovid Medline,
      Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane from inception to November 2015. ELIGIBILITY
      CRITERIA FOR STUDY SELECTION:  Randomised controlled trials in overweight or
      obese adults reporting reduction in body mass index, body weight, or waist
      circumference by FTO genotype (rs9939609 or a proxy) after dietary, physical
      activity, or drug based interventions. Gene by treatment interaction models were
      fitted to individual participant data from all studies included in this review,
      using allele dose coding for genetic effects and a common set of covariates.
      Study level interactions were combined using random effect models. Metaregression
      and subgroup analysis were used to assess sources of study heterogeneity.
      RESULTS:  We identified eight eligible randomised controlled trials for the
      systematic review and meta-analysis (n=9563). Overall, differential changes in
      body mass index, body weight, and waist circumference in response to weight loss
      intervention were not significantly different between FTO genotypes. Sensitivity
      analyses indicated that differential changes in body mass index, body weight, and
      waist circumference by FTO genotype did not differ by intervention type,
      intervention length, ethnicity, sample size, sex, and baseline body mass index
      and age category. CONCLUSIONS:  We have observed that carriage of the FTO minor
      allele was not associated with differential change in adiposity after weight loss
      interventions. These findings show that individuals carrying the minor allele
      respond equally well to dietary, physical activity, or drug based weight loss
      interventions and thus genetic predisposition to obesity associated with the FTO
      minor allele can be at least partly counteracted through such interventions.
      SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:  PROSPERO CRD42015015969.

PMID- 27650506
TI  - Critically ill patients at risk of invasive candidiasis: The "dilemma" of the
      best antifungal treatment strategy.

PMID- 27650507
TI  - Comparison of the Wells score with the revised Geneva score for assessing pretest
      probability of pulmonary embolism in hospitalized elderly patients.

PMID- 27650505
TI  - Novel deletion in 11p15.5 imprinting center region 1 in a patient with Beckwith
      Wiedemann syndrome provides insight into distal enhancer regulation and
      tumorigenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is an early-onset overgrowth
      disorder with a high risk for embryonal tumors. It is mainly caused by
      dysregulation of imprinted genes on chromosome 11p15.5; however, the driving
      forces in the development of tumors are not fully understood. PROCEDURE: We
      report on a female patient presenting with macrosomia, macroglossia, organomegaly
      and extensive bilateral nephroblastomatosis. Adjuvant chemotherapy was initiated;
      however, the patient developed hepatoblastoma and Wilms tumor at 5 and 12 months
      of age, respectively. Subsequent radiofrequency ablation of the liver tumor and
      partial nephrectomy followed by consolidation therapy achieved complete
      remission. RESULTS: Molecular genetic analysis revealed a maternally derived
      large deletion of the complete H19-differentially methylated region (H19-DMR;
      imprinting control region-1 [ICR1]), the whole H19 gene itself as well as large
      parts of the distal enhancer region within the imprinting cluster-1 (IC1).
      Extended analysis showed highly elevated insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2)
      expression, possibly explaining at least in part the distinct BWS features and
      tumor manifestations. CONCLUSIONS: This study of a large maternal deletion
      encompassing the H19 gene and complete ICR1 is the first to demonstrate
      transcriptional consequences on IGF2 in addition to methylation effects resulting
      in severe overgrowth and occurrence of multiple tumors in a BWS patient. Studying
      this deletion helps to clarify the complex molecular processes involved in BWS
      and provides further insight into tumorigenesis.

PMID- 27650509
TI  - Selection of Patients in Ongoing Clinical Trials on Lung Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly: half of all
      newly diagnosed patients are over 70 years old. Older patients and those with
      comorbidities are underrepresented in clinical trials; scientific communities
      have addressed this issue since the end of the 20th century. We set out to
      determine the characteristics of the selection of patients in lung cancer trials
      that are currently recruiting. METHODS: We searched The United States National
      Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trial registry ( www.clinicaltrials.gov ) on
      April 23, 2015 for currently recruiting phase I, II, or III clinical trials in
      lung cancer. Trial characteristics and study objectives were extracted from the
      registry website. RESULTS: Of the 419 trails selected in this overview, 88 %
      explicitly or implicitly excluded elderly patients. Patients were excluded based
      on stringent organ selection in 76 % of the trials, based on performance status
      (57 %) and based on age (13 %). The median number of placed restrictions per
      trial was seven. In the 2 % of the trials that were exclusively designed for
      elderly patients only fit patients were included. CONCLUSION: In this overview of
      current lung cancer trials registered in the NIH clinical trial registry, we
      found that elderly patients and those with comorbidities are often excluded from
      participation in clinical trials. Therefore, it is difficult for physicians and
      their frail patients to properly evaluate the efficacy and safety of current
      treatment options. More research that includes the elderly and those with
      comorbidities is urgently needed.

PMID- 27650508
TI  - Photobiomodulation (blue and green light) encourages osteoblastic-differentiation
      of human adipose-derived stem cells: role of intracellular calcium and light
      gated ion channels.
AB  - Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) have the potential to differentiate into
      several different cell types including osteoblasts. Photobiomodulation (PBM) or
      low level laser therapy (LLLT) using red or near-infrared wavelengths has been
      reported to have effects on both proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of
      stem cells. We examined the effects of delivering four different wavelengths (420
      nm, 540 nm, 660 nm, 810 nm) at the same dose (3 J/cm(2)) five times (every two
      days) on hASCs cultured in osteogenic medium over three weeks. We measured
      expression of the following transcription factors by RT-PCR: RUNX2, osterix, and
      the osteoblast protein, osteocalcin. The 420 nm and 540 nm wavelengths were more
      effective in stimulating osteoblast differentiation compared to 660 nm and 810
      nm. Intracellular calcium was higher after 420 nm and 540 nm, and could be
      inhibited by capsazepine and SKF96365, which also inhibited osteogenic
      differentiation. We hypothesize that activation of light-gated calcium ion
      channels by blue and green light could explain our results.

PMID- 27650511
TI  - Monitoring of post-transplant CBFB-MYH11 as minimal residual disease, rather than
      KIT mutations, can predict relapse after allogeneic haematopoietic cell
      transplantation in adults with inv(16) acute myeloid leukaemia.

PMID- 27650510
TI  - Changes in Red Cell Distribution Width During Hospitalization for Community
      Acquired Pneumonia: Clinical Characteristics and Prognostic Significance.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated outcomes of patients hospitalized with community
      acquired pneumonia (CAP) according to the changes in red cell distribution width
      (RDW). METHODS: For 980 adults, clinical characteristics, outcomes during
      hospitalization for CAP (transfer to the intensive care unit, treatment with
      mechanical ventilation, prolonged hospital stay, and death), and all-cause
      mortality following discharge were compared: according to RDW changes versus
      stable RDW during hospitalization, and according to normal (<=14.7 %) versus high
      (>14.7 %) RDW values on admission/discharge. RESULTS: RDW changes (n = 386)
      during hospitalization were associated with more severe clinical and laboratory
      characteristics than stable RDW (n = 594). Changes in RDW strongly predicted poor
      in-hospital outcomes (p < 0.001). The respective 30, 90-day, and total (median
      follow-up 54 months) mortality rates were significantly higher (9.8, 16.0 and
      43.5 %) among patients with RDW changes, compared to 4.0, 7.6 and 30.5 % among
      those with stable RDW (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). RDW changes, as well as
      high RDW (each 1 % increment) on admission and discharge, were powerful
      predictors of mortality (the respective relative risks 1.41, 1.13, and 1.15, and
      95 % confidence intervals 1.13-1.74, 1.08-1.19, and 1.10-1.21). CONCLUSIONS: RDW
      changes during hospitalization for CAP are common and associated with a severe
      clinical profile. Time-dependent RDW changes strongly predict poor in-hospital
      outcomes and increased short- and long-term mortality. Repeated RDW
      determinations during hospitalization for CAP may provide useful prognostic
      information.

PMID- 27650513
TI  - Unraveling the genomic complexity of small cell lung cancer.

PMID- 27650512
TI  - Expression of a putative dioxygenase gene adjacent to an insertion mutation is
      involved in the short internodes of columnar apples (Malus * domestica).
AB  - Determining the molecular mechanism of fruit tree architecture is important for
      tree management and fruit production. An apple mutant 'McIntosh Wijcik', which
      was discovered as a bud mutation from 'McIntosh', exhibits a columnar growth
      phenotype that is controlled by a single dominant gene, Co. In this study, the
      mutation and the Co gene were analyzed. Fine mapping narrowed the Co region to a
      101 kb region. Sequence analysis of the Co region and the original wild-type co
      region identified an insertion mutation of an 8202 bp long terminal repeat (LTR)
      retroposon in the Co region. Segregation analysis using a DNA marker based on the
      insertion polymorphism showed that the LTR retroposon was closely associated with
      the columnar growth phenotype. RNA-seq and RT-PCR analysis identified a promising
      Co candidate gene (91071-gene) within the Co region that is specifically
      expressed in 'McIntosh Wijcik' but not in 'McIntosh'. The 91071-gene was located
      approximately 16 kb downstream of the insertion mutation and is predicted to
      encode a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase involved in an unknown reaction.
      Overexpression of the 91071-gene in transgenic tobaccos and apples resulted in
      phenotypes with short internodes, like columnar apples. These data suggested that
      the 8202 bp retroposon insertion in 'McIntosh Wijcik' is associated with the
      short internodes of the columnar growth phenotype via upregulated expression of
      the adjacent 91071-gene. Furthermore, the DNA marker based on the insertion
      polymorphism could be useful for the marker-assisted selection of columnar
      apples.

PMID- 27650514
TI  - Bystander fatigue and CPR quality by older bystanders: a randomized crossover
      trial comparing continuous chest compressions and 30:2 compressions to
      ventilations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study sought to measure bystander fatigue and cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation (CPR) quality after five minutes of CPR using the continuous chest
      compression (CCC) versus the 30:2 chest compression to ventilation method in
      older lay persons, a population most likely to perform CPR on cardiac arrest
      victims. METHODS: This randomized crossover trial took place at three tertiary
      care hospitals and a seniors' center. Participants were aged >=55 years without
      significant physical limitations (frailty score <=3/7). They completed two 5
      minute CPR sessions (using 30:2 and CCC) on manikins; sessions were separated by
      a rest period. We used concealed block randomization to determine CPR method
      order. Metronome feedback maintained a compression rate of 100/minute. We
      measured heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and Borg Exertion Scale.
      CPR quality measures included total number of compressions and number of adequate
      compressions (depth >=5 cm). RESULTS: Sixty-three participants were enrolled:
      mean age 70.8 years, female 66.7%, past CPR training 60.3%. Bystander fatigue was
      similar between CPR methods: mean difference in HR -0.59 (95% CI -3.51-2.33), MAP
      1.64 (95% CI -0.23-3.50), and Borg 0.46 (95% CI 0.07-0.84). Compared to 30:2,
      participants using CCC performed more chest compressions (480.0 v. 376.3, mean
      difference 107.7; p<0.0001) and more adequate chest compressions (381.5 v. 324.9,
      mean difference. 62.0; p=0.0001), although good compressions/minute declined
      significantly faster with the CCC method (p=0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: CPR quality
      decreased significantly faster when performing CCC compared to 30:2. However,
      performing CCC produced more adequate compressions overall with a similar level
      of fatigue compared to the 30:2 method.

PMID- 27650515
TI  - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates with SCCmec type V and spa
      types t437 or t1081 associated to discordant susceptibility results between
      oxacillin and cefoxitin, Central Taiwan.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus isolates with discordant susceptibility results between
      oxacillin and cefoxitin obtained using automated microbiology systems are
      infrequently observed. From April 2013 to December 2014, 1956 methicillin
      resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 1761 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus isolates
      were obtained from different patients. Forty isolates (1.1% and 2% in case of S.
      aureus and MRSA, respectively) with discordant susceptibility results (oxacillin
      susceptible and cefoxitin resistant) and carrying mecA gene were obtained. Except
      2 SCCmec type IV isolates, 38 MRSA isolates were all SCCmec type V (VT or non
      VT), which were further divided into VT (n=22) and non-VT (n=16). The most common
      spa type in VT and non-VT isolates were t437 (n=19) and t1081 (n=13),
      respectively. Only 55% of patients received effective antimicrobial agents; 2
      mortalities were not attributable to MRSA infection. Using standard agar
      dilution, 17 MRSA isolates (0.46% and 0.87% in case of S. aureus and MRSA,
      respectively) had oxacillin MIC in the susceptible ranges (oxacillin-susceptible
      MRSA [OS-MRSA]); all carried SCCmec type V (VT, n=8; non-VT, n=9). The most
      common spa-MLST types of OS-MRSA in VT and non-VT were t437-ST59 (n=4) and t1081
      ST45 (n=7), respectively. Concomitant testing by both cefoxitin- and oxacillin
      based methods is a practical strategy for OS-MRSA detection in the clinical
      laboratories. Continuous monitoring of OS-MRSA isolates is necessary to elucidate
      their impact in clinical infectious diseases.

PMID- 27650516
TI  - High-resolution HLA A~B~DRB1 haplotype frequencies from the Ezer Mizion Bone
      Marrow Donor Registry in Israel.
AB  - We have investigated HLA population alleles and haplotype frequencies for the
      ethnicities that comprise the contemporary population of Israel, using a large
      data set from the Ezer Mizion Bone Barrow Donor Registry. We genotyped 275,699
      individuals at the HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 loci using HLA genotyping methods. HLA
      A~B~DRB1 haplotype frequencies were estimated from 19 sub-ethnic Jewish
      populations and other non-Jewish minorities using the maximum likelihood model,
      which accommodates typing ambiguities. We present overall and sub-ethnicity
      specific HLA diversity results of the registry, which will help guide a data
      driven strategy for future registry expansion.

PMID- 27650517
TI  - Sick leave and disability pension before and after diagnosis of multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with considerable morbidity and
      serious disability, but little is known of the long-term impact of the disease on
      work ability. OBJECTIVES: To assess sick leave (short-term absence) and
      disability pension (long-term absence) before and after diagnosis of MS. METHODS:
      Patients with MS in Sweden were identified in a nationwide disease-specific
      register and matched with general population controls. Sick leave and disability
      pension were measured before and after index (i.e. the MS diagnosis date).
      RESULTS: The final sample comprised 6092 patients and 60,345 controls (mean age
      39 years; 70% female). The mean annual prevalence of sick leave ranged from 12%
      the first year after index to 23% after 11 years among patients and from 13% to
      13% among controls. Corresponding estimates for disability pension were 12% and
      55% for patients and 7% and 9% for controls. Significant differences in sick
      leave were observed up to 15 years before index and 3 years for disability
      pension. CONCLUSION: Patients with MS in Sweden have elevated levels of sick
      leave and disability pension up to 15 years before disease diagnosis. Our results
      highlight the burden of disease on affected patients and society and underscore
      the substantial unmet medical need.

PMID- 27650518
TI  - Re: Declines in the diagnosis of primary progressive MS-A critical change in
      phenotype or critical measurement error?

PMID- 27650520
TI  - Managing Scalp Psoriasis: An Evidence-Based Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scalp psoriasis is commonly the initial presentation of psoriasis,
      and almost 80 % of patients with psoriasis will eventually experience it.
      OBJECTIVE: Although several systematic reviews and guidelines exist, an up-to
      date evidence-based review including more recent progress on the use of biologics
      and new oral small molecules was timely. METHODS: Of the 475 studies initially
      retrieved from PubMed and the 845 from Embase (up to May 2016), this review
      includes 27 clinical trials, four papers reporting pooled analyses of other
      clinical trials, ten open-label trials, one case series, and two case reports
      after excluding non-English literature. RESULTS: To our knowledge, few randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) are conducted specifically in scalp psoriasis. Topical
      corticosteroids provide good effects and are usually recommended as first-line
      treatment. Calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate is well tolerated and more
      effective than either of its individual components. Localized phototherapy is
      better than generalized phototherapy on hair-bearing areas. Methotrexate,
      cyclosporine, fumaric acid esters, and acitretin are well-recognized agents in
      the treatment of psoriasis, but we found no published RCTs evaluating these
      agents specifically in scalp psoriasis. Biologics and new small-molecule agents
      show excellent effects on scalp psoriasis, but the high cost of these treatments
      mean they may be limited to use in extensive scalp psoriasis. CONCLUSIONS: More
      controlled studies are needed for an evidence-based approach to scalp psoriasis.

PMID- 27650521
TI  - Interventional Stroke Treatment in Germany is a Joint Effort Between Neuro- and
      General Interventional Radiologists.

PMID- 27650519
TI  - N-cadherin regulates beta-catenin signal and its misexpression perturbs
      commissural axon projection in the developing chicken spinal cord.
AB  - N-cadherin is a calcium-sensitive cell adhesion molecule that plays an important
      role in the formation of the neural circuit and the development of the nervous
      system. In the present study, we investigated the function of N-cadherin in cell
      cell connection in vitro with HEK293T cells, and in commissural axon projections
      in the developing chicken spinal cord using in ovo electroporation. Cell-cell
      connections increased with N-cadherin overexpression in HEK293T cells, while cell
      contacts disappeared after co-transfection with an N-cadherin-shRNA plasmid. The
      knockdown of N-cadherin caused the accumulation of beta-catenin in the nucleus,
      supporting the notion that N-cadherin regulates beta-catenin signaling in vitro.
      Furthermore, N-cadherin misexpression perturbed commissural axon projections in
      the spinal cord. The overexpression of N-cadherin reduced the number of axons
      that projected alongside the contralateral margin of the floor plate, and formed
      intermediate longitudinal commissural axons. In contrast, the knockdown of N
      cadherin perturbed commissural axon projections significantly, affecting the
      projections alongside the contralateral margin of the floor plate, but did not
      affect intermediate longitudinal commissural axons. Taken together, these
      findings suggest that N-cadherin regulates commissural axon projections in the
      developing chicken spinal cord.

PMID- 27650522
TI  - Hepatic Arterial Therapy for First-Line Treatment of Unresectable Colorectal
      Liver Metastases: What We Know in the Wake of Two Recent Randomized Control
      Trials.

PMID- 27650523
TI  - Trichobezoar and Rapunzel syndrome.

PMID- 27650524
TI  - Bronchiolitis in young infants: is it a risk factor for recurrent wheezing in
      childhood?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute bronchiolitis in infancy is considered a risk factor for
      recurrent wheezing episodes in childhood. The present study assessed prevalence,
      clinical manifestations and risk factors for recurrent wheezing events during the
      first 3 years of life and persistent wheezing events beyond this age in children
      hospitalized as young infants with acute bronchiolitis. METHODS: Two groups of
      children aged 6 years were included. The study group comprised 150 children with
      a history of hospitalization for bronchiolitis, with the first event at <6 months
      of age. The control group comprised 66 age- and sex-matched children with no
      history of bronchiolitis before 6 months of age. Children in both groups had been
      followed until 6 years of age by their pediatricians; data were obtained
      retrospectively by reviewing ambulatory records during children's visits in
      pediatricians' clinics. The data included epidemiological parameters, prevalence,
      age at onset, number of and treatments given for episodes of wheezing events
      prior to 6 years of age, pathogens detected, and severity of acute bronchiolitis
      in the study group. RESULTS: Overall, 58% and 27% of children in the study and
      control groups, respectively (P=0.001) had recurrent wheezing episodes prior to
      the age of 3 years. Children in the study group had earlier onset of recurrent
      wheezing, had more episodes of wheezing, and required more bronchodilator and
      systemic steroids treatments compared to the control group. CONCLUSION:
      Hospitalization within the first six months of life for acute bronchiolitis is an
      independent risk factor for recurrent wheezing episodes during the first 3 years
      of life.

PMID- 27650525
TI  - Drug-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in children:
      20 years study in a tertiary care hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN)
      are severe lifethreatening skin conditions. The most common cause of these
      manifestations is medications. Beside discontinued of the culprit drug, systemic
      corticosteroids were used as a primary treatment option among pediatric
      population. This study aimed to explore causative drugs (drug group/ latent
      period), treaments, complications, and treatment outcome (morbidity, mortality,
      length of hospital stay) of SJS and TEN in children. METHODS: A retrospective
      chart was reviewed during the period of 1992 to 2012 at Srinagarind Hospital,
      Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. SJS and TEN were clinically
      diagnosed and confirmed by pediatric dermatologists. Other possible causes other
      than druginduced SJS and TEN were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients was
      recorded, including 24 (80%) SJS patients and 6 (20%) TEN patients. The mean age
      was 6.9 years (SD 4.4). Male to female ratio was 1.5:1. Antiepileptic drug group
      was the most common causative drug (n=18, 60%), followed by antibiotic drug group
      (n=8, 26.6%), and others (n=4, 13.3%) which included nonsteroidal antiinflammtory
      drugs (NSAIDs) and chemotherapy drugs. Systemic corticosteroids were used in 29
      patients (96.6%). Intravenous immunoglobulin was used in one TEN patient (3.3%).
      There was a medium correlation between time to treatment (systemic
      corticosteroids) and the length of hospital stay (Spearman correlation
      coefficient=0.63, P=0.005). Two TEN patients (6.6%) died. CONCLUSIONS:
      Carbamazepine was the most common causative drug of SJS and TEN in our study. The
      severity of skin detachment is not correlated to severity of ocular findings.
      However, the persistent of ocular complications up to one year is suggested for
      promptly appropriate ocular treatment in all SJS and TEN patients. Our data
      suggested that early administration of systemic corticosteroid may reduce the
      length of hospital stay and should be considered for the treatment of pediatric
      druginduced SJS and TEN.

PMID- 27650528
TI  - Erratum to: Knee contact forces and lower extremity support moments during
      running in young individuals post-partial meniscectomy.

PMID- 27650526
TI  - Analysis of the characteristics and management of critical values in a newborn
      tertiary center in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Critical value reporting has been widely adopted by hospitals
      throughout the world, but there were few reports about neonatal critical values.
      This study aimed to analyze characteristics of the neonatal critical values
      considered at our center and to provide information on improving neonatal
      intensive care. METHODS: A retrospective study of critical values at a newborn
      tertiary center in China was conducted to assess neonatal critical values
      according to test, distribution, reporting time, patient outcome and the impact
      to the therapy. RESULTS: In total, 926 critical values were recorded. Overall,
      66.52% (616/926) of the items were reported within 24 hours of admission, 50.28%
      (465/926) during duty times and 54.75% (507/926) in the neonatal intensive care
      unit (NICU). The routine coagulation test was the most frequent source of
      critical values. Electrocardiography, blood gas analysis and therapeutic drug
      monitoring of drug levels were associated with the highest rates of treatment
      intervention (100%); routine coagulation tests were the lowest (23.14%). Sample
      quality was the main cause of false-positive critical values. CONCLUSIONS: The
      incidence of neonatal critical values peaked during the first 24 hours post
      admission and during duty periods. Each newborn center needs to enact rapid
      treatment guidelines to address common critical values in order to facilitate
      clinical interventions. Periodically reviewing critical values could help to
      optimize clinical practices.

PMID- 27650527
TI  - Quadriceps strength impairment in the mid- to long-term follow-up period after
      total knee arthroplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: Quadriceps strength impairment after total knee arthroplasty (TKA)
      continues to be a concern. However, most studies of quadriceps strength have
      short-term follow-up periods. Whether quadriceps strength impairment occurs in
      the long-term follow-up period after TKA remains unclear. The purpose of this
      study was to compare the quadriceps strength between posterior cruciate ligament
      retaining (CR) and substituting (PS) design mobile-bearing TKA (1) in the same
      patients after an average of 10 years and (2) between TKA patients and age
      matched controls. METHODS: A prospective, quasi-randomized design was used.
      Thirty-four patients (68 knees) who underwent bilateral TKA (CR on one side and
      PS on the other) were followed for a minimum of 5 years, and 35 age-matched
      controls (70 knees) were evaluated. A handheld dynamometer was used to measure
      quadriceps isometric strength. For each patient, the maximum value of three
      trials was used. The ratio of muscle strength to body weight (MS/BW ratio; N/kg)
      was used to evaluate outcomes. RESULTS: The median MS/BW ratio was 3.3 (range 1.4
      10.5) for CR 3.4 (range 0.9-9.3) for PS, and 4.6 (range 0.4-8.8) for controls.
      The MS/BW ratio did not differ between prosthesis designs, but was significantly
      smaller in both CR (p = 0.020) and PS (p = 0.024) than in controls. CONCLUSIONS:
      Posterior cruciate ligament-retaining TKA does not confer a substantial advantage
      an average of 10 years postoperatively. In addition, quadriceps strength, as
      measured using a hand-held dynamometer, was significantly lower in both TKA
      patient groups than in age-matched controls. Clinically, the results of this
      study indicate that quadriceps-strengthening exercises should be continued in the
      long term after TKA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

PMID- 27650529
TI  - Recovery of lower extremity muscle strength and functional performance in middle
      aged patients undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate lower extremity muscle strength and functional
      performance before and after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy in middle-aged
      patients with degenerative meniscal tears. We hypothesized that patients would
      experience deficiencies in the affected leg at 3 months post-surgery, and that
      this deficiency would be normalized at 12 months following surgery. METHODS:
      Twenty-three patients (46 +/- 6.5 years) meniscectomized in 2012 and 2013 were
      examined for knee extension, knee flexion, and hip abduction maximal isometric
      muscle strength (iMVC), rate of force development (RFD200), and knee function
      (single-leg hop for distance and single-leg knee bends in 30 s.) before surgery,
      3 and 12 months after surgery. RESULTS: Functional performance, knee extension
      iMVC and RFD200 were impaired in the affected leg compared to the contralateral
      leg (p < 0.05) prior to surgery. A significant (Knee extension RFD200, p = 0.033)
      or borderline significant improvement was observed in the affected leg compared
      to the contralateral leg from before to 12 months after surgery in most variables
      (leg * time interaction, n.s.). CONCLUSION: Middle-aged patients undergoing
      surgery for degenerative medial meniscal tears show significant reductions in
      muscle strength, rapid force production, and functional performance in the leg
      undergoing surgery compared to the contralateral leg prior to surgery. These
      deficits in muscle strength and knee function were still present at 3 months post
      surgery but were no longer observed at 12 months following surgery. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27650531
TI  - Whole-body strength training with Huber Motion Lab and traditional strength
      training in cardiac rehabilitation: A randomized controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Isometric strengthening has been rarely studied in patients with
      coronary heart disease (CHD), mainly because of possible potential side effects
      and lack of appropriate and reliable devices. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare 2
      different modes of resistance training, an isometric mode with the Huber Motion
      Lab (HML) and traditional strength training (TST), in CHD patients undergoing a
      cardiac rehabilitation program. DESIGN: We randomly assigned 50 patients to HML
      or TST. Patients underwent complete blinded evaluation before and after the
      rehabilitation program, including testing for cardiopulmonary exercise, maximal
      isometric voluntary contraction, endothelial function and body composition.
      RESULTS: After 4 weeks of training (16 sessions), the groups did not differ in
      body composition, anthropometric characteristics, or endothelial function. With
      HML, peak power output (P=0.035), maximal heart rate (P<0.01) and gain of force
      measured in the chest press position (P<0.02) were greater after versus before
      training. CONCLUSION: Both protocols appeared to be well tolerated, safe and
      feasible for these CHD patients. A training protocol involving 6s phases of
      isometric contractions with 10s of passive recovery on an HML device could be
      safely implemented in rehabilitation programs for patients with CHD and improve
      functional outcomes.

PMID- 27650530
TI  - Adenosine A2A receptor and ecto-5'-nucleotidase/CD73 are upregulated in
      hippocampal astrocytes of human patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
      (MTLE).
AB  - Refractoriness to existing medications of up to 80 % of the patients with mesial
      temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) prompts for finding new antiepileptic drug targets.
      The adenosine A2A receptor emerges as an interesting pharmacological target since
      its excitatory nature partially counteracts the dominant antiepileptic role of
      endogenous adenosine acting via inhibitory A1 receptors. Gain of function of the
      excitatory A2A receptor has been implicated in a significant number of brain
      pathologies commonly characterized by neuronal excitotoxicity. Here, we
      investigated changes in the expression and cellular localization of the A2A
      receptor and of the adenosine-generating enzyme, ecto-5'-nucleotidase/CD73, in
      the hippocampus of control individuals and MTLE human patients. Western blot
      analysis indicates that the A2A receptor is more abundant in the hippocampus of
      MTLE patients compared to control individuals. Immunoreactivity against the A2A
      receptor predominates in astrocytes staining positively for the glial fibrillary
      acidic protein (GFAP). No co-localization was observed between the A2A receptor
      and neuronal cell markers, like synaptotagmin 1/2 (nerve terminals) and
      neurofilament 200 (axon fibers). Hippocampal astrogliosis observed in MTLE
      patients was accompanied by a proportionate increase in A2A receptor and ecto-5'
      nucleotidase/CD73 immunoreactivities. Given our data, we hypothesize that
      selective blockade of excessive activation of astrocytic A2A receptors and/or
      inhibition of surplus adenosine formation by membrane-bound ecto-5'
      nucleotidase/CD73 may reduce neuronal excitability, thus providing a novel
      therapeutic target for drug-refractory seizures in MTLE patients.

PMID- 27650534
TI  - "Great Job Cleaning Your Plate Today!" Determinants of Child-Care Providers' Use
      of Controlling Feeding Practices: An Exploratory Examination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: National early childhood obesity prevention policies recommend that
      child-care providers avoid controlling feeding practices (CFP) (eg, pressure-to
      eat, food as reward, and praising children for cleaning their plates) with
      children to prevent unhealthy child eating behaviors and childhood obesity.
      However, evidence suggests that providers frequently use CFP during mealtimes.
      OBJECTIVE: Using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2011) benchmarks for
      nutrition in child care as a framework, researchers assessed child-care
      providers' perspectives regarding their use of mealtime CFP with young children
      (aged 2 to 5 years). DESIGN: Using a qualitative design, individual, face-to
      face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with providers until saturation
      was reached. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Providers were selected using maximum
      variation purposive sampling from varying child-care contexts (Head Start, Child
      and Adult Care Food Program [CACFP]-funded centers, non-CACFP programs). All
      providers were employed full-time in Head Start or state-licensed center-based
      child-care programs, cared for children (aged 2 to 5 years), and were directly
      responsible for serving meals and snacks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Child-care
      providers' perspectives regarding CFP. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Thematic
      analysis using NVivo (version 9, 2010, QSR International Pty Ltd) to derive
      themes. RESULTS: Providers' perspectives showed barriers, motivators, and
      facilitators regarding their use of mealtime CFP. Providers reported barriers to
      avoiding CFP such as CFP were effective for encouraging desired behaviors,
      misconceptions that providers were encouraging but not controlling children's
      eating, and fear of parents' negative reaction if their child did not eat.
      Providers who did not practice CFP were motivated to avoid CFP because they were
      unnecessary for encouraging children to eat, and they resulted in negative child
      outcomes and obesity. Facilitators as an alternative to CFP included practicing
      healthful feeding practices such as role modeling, peer modeling, and sensory
      exploration of foods. CONCLUSIONS: Training providers about negative child
      outcomes associated with CFP, children's ability to self-regulate energy intake,
      and differentiating between controlling and healthful feeding strategies may help
      providers to avoid CFP.

PMID- 27650532
TI  - Efficient Dual-Site Carbon Monoxide Electro-Catalysts via Interfacial Nano
      Engineering.
AB  - Durable, highly efficient, and economic sound electrocatalysts for CO
      electrooxidation (COE) are the emerging key for wide variety of energy solutions,
      especially fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Herein, we report the
      novel system of nickel-aluminum double layered hydroxide (NiAl-LDH) nanoplates on
      carbon nanotubes (CNTs) network. The formulation of such complexes system was to
      be induced through the assistance of gold nanoparticles in order to form dual
      metal active sites so as to create a extended Au/NiO two phase zone. Bis
      (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (NTf2) anion of ionic liquid electrolyte was
      selected to enhance the CO/O2 adsorption and to facilitate electro-catalyzed
      oxidation of Ni (OH)2 to NiOOH by increasing the electrophilicity of catalytic
      interface. The resulting neutral catalytic system exhibited ultra-high
      electrocatalytic activity and stability for CO electrooxidation than commercial
      and other reported precious metal catalysts. The turnover frequency (TOF) of the
      LDH-Au/CNTs COE catalyst was much higher than the previous reported other similar
      electrocatalysts, even close to the activity of solid-gas chemical catalysts at
      high temperature. Moreover, in the long-term durability testing, the negligible
      variation of current density remains exsisting after 1000 electrochemistry
      cycles.

PMID- 27650533
TI  - Kidney Function and Disability-Free Survival in Older Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the prospective association between kidney function and
      three outcomes: survival to age 85 with functional independence, survival to age
      85 with disability, and death before age 85. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING:
      Women's Health Initiative, conducted at 40 U.S. clinical centers. PARTICIPANTS:
      Postmenopausal women enrolled between 1993 and 1998 with baseline biomarker
      assessments who had the potential to reach age 85 before September 2013 (N =
      7,178). MEASUREMENTS: Kidney function was measured according to estimated
      glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated from serum creatinine collected at
      baseline. Outcomes were survival to age 85 with functional independence, survival
      with disability, or death before age 85. Disability was defined as mobility or
      activity of daily living limitations measured by questionnaire. RESULTS: eGFR was
      greater than 90 mL/min per 1.73 m2 in 22.7% of women, 60 to 89 mL/min per 1.73 m2
      in 66.5%, 45 to 59 mL/min per 1.73 m2 in 8.7%, and less than 45 mL/min per 1.73
      m2 in 2.0%. Median follow-up was 15 years. Of 4,953 survivors, 3,155 reported no
      physical disability at age 85. Two thousand two hundred twenty-five participants
      died before age 85. Women with an eGFR of 90 mL/min per 1.73 m2 or greater had
      2.71 times greater odds of survival to age 85 with functional independence than
      of dying before 85 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.62-4.51) than those with an
      eGFR less than 45 mL/min per 1.73 m2 , women with an eGFR of 60 to 89 mL/min per
      1.73 m2 had 3.04 times (95% CI = 1.85-5.00) greater odds, and women with an eGFR
      of 45 to 59 mL/min per 1.73 m2 had 2.22 times (95% CI = 1.31-3.76) greater odds.
      Similar, but slightly weaker odds were seen for survival to age 85 with
      disability. Better kidney function was not significantly associated with greater
      likelihood of survival to age 85 with independent function than of surviving with
      disability. CONCLUSION: Better kidney function was associated with greater
      likelihood of survival to age 85 with and without disability.

PMID- 27650535
TI  - Demographic and regional disparities in insulin pump utilization in a setting of
      universal funding: a New Zealand nationwide study.
AB  - AIMS: Insulin pumps have been publically funded in New Zealand since 2012 for
      patients who meet certain clinical criteria; however, the patterns of utilization
      have not been described. We undertook a nationwide study to estimate the annual
      proportions of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who used a pump between
      2012 and 2014, overall, and according to sex, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic
      position, and region. METHODS: We used data from the New Zealand Virtual Diabetes
      Register and routinely collected national demographic, health, and pharmaceutical
      dispensing data from the Ministry of Health to identify patients with type 1
      diabetes and to calculate the overall, and subgroup, proportions using pumps.
      RESULTS: Between 2012 and 2014, funded pump use among patients with type 1
      diabetes (n = 13,727) increased from 1.8 to 9.3 % overall; however, there were
      differences in uptake according to demographic characteristics and region. In
      2014, proportionate pump use was significantly higher in females versus males
      (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.0 [95 % confidence interval 1.8-2.3]), in those aged
      <20 years, and in some regions. Maori (indigenous people), Pacific, and Asian
      patients were significantly less likely to use pumps than New Zealand Europeans
      (ORs 0.30 [0.23-0.41], 0.26 [0.14-0.46], 0.22 [0.14-0.35], respectively), as were
      those in the most versus the least deprived socioeconomic decile (OR 0.36 [0.25
      0.52]). CONCLUSIONS: It is essential to explore the factors driving differential
      insulin pump uptake, in both New Zealand and elsewhere, if all patients are to
      have equal opportunity to benefit from intensive diabetes management.

PMID- 27650537
TI  - Vertigo: Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde? A video tutorial for assessment of nystagmus in
      the emergency room.

PMID- 27650536
TI  - Acetagastrodin effects on retinal oscillatory potentials in patients during the
      early stages of diabetes.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the protective effect of acetagastrodin on visual
      electrophysiology in patients with early-stage diabetes. METHODS: A prospective,
      randomized, controlled, double-blind trial was conducted. Subjects who were
      randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the control group were orally
      administered acetagastrodin or placebo, respectively, for 6 months. The quantity,
      mean amplitude and mean latency of oscillatory potentials (OPs) wavelets at
      baseline and 6 months were measured on electroretinogram (ERG), in all subjects.
      RESULTS: A total of 92 right eyes in 92 patients with type 2 diabetes, who were
      diagnosed for the first time, were enrolled. Each group consisted of 46 cases (46
      eyes). There was no significant difference in baseline characteristic between
      treatment and control groups at baseline, but quantity in treatment group was
      more than that in control group at 6 months (P = 0.001). The mean amplitude of
      OPs was reduced in the control group 6 months later compared with treatment group
      (P = 0.001). As to mean latency of OPs, statistical difference was also
      detectable between the treatment group and control group 6 months later (P <
      0.001). No statistical differences were found in hemoglobin between both groups
      at 6 months (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Electrophysiological changes would go on
      worsening even hemoglobin was under control during the initial stage of diabetes.
      Acetagastrodin treatment may be an effective treatment to protect retinal neurons
      against such functional impairment during the early stages of diabetes.

PMID- 27650538
TI  - Acute myocardial infarction associated with bilateral subacute cardioembolic
      stroke in the anterior cerebral artery territory: The hidden face of a new-onset
      atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 27650540
TI  - Bone morphogenetic protein-9 is a potent growth inhibitor of hepatocellular
      carcinoma and reduces the liver cancer stem cells population.
AB  - The biological role of BMP-9 signaling in liver cancer remains dubious. To
      explore the potential use of BMP-9 signaling for anti-cancer therapy, we used
      recombinant human BMP-9, which we referred to as MB109, to study the effect on
      growth of fifteen hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines. MB109 effectively
      inhibits the proliferation of nine HCC cells in vitro. The anti-proliferative
      effect was found to be induced by turning on p21 signaling, which caused survivin
      suppression and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. ID3 was identified to be the mediator of
      the MB109-induced p21 expression. Blocking the activity of p38 MAPK diminished
      ID3 and p21 expression, indicating that MB109 signals through a p38 MAPK/ID3/p21
      pathway to arrest cell cycle progression. Moreover, prolonged MB109 treatment
      suppressed the expression of five prominent liver cancer stem cell (LCSC)
      markers, including CD44, CD90, AFP, GPC3 and ANPEP. Xenograft model confirmed the
      anti-tumor and LCSC-suppression capability of MB109 in vivo. Contrary to ongoing
      efforts of suppressing BMP-9 signaling to inhibit angiogenesis of cancer tissue,
      these results demonstrate an unexpected therapeutic potential of MB109 to
      stimulate BMP-9 signaling for anti-cancer therapies.

PMID- 27650539
TI  - The other face of miR-17-92a cluster, exhibiting tumor suppressor effects in
      prostate cancer.
AB  - miR-17-92a cluster miRNAs are transcribed from a polycistronic transcription unit
      C13orf25 that generates six mature miRNAs, miR-17, miR-18a, miR-19a, miR-19b, miR
      20a and miR-92a that are overexpressed in lung and colon cancers. Here we show
      that the expression of miR-17-92a miRNAs are reduced in cancerous prostate
      tissues compared to uninvolved areas and also in aggressive prostate cancer
      cells. Restoration of expression of all members of miR-17-92a cluster showed,
      decreased expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins cyclin D1 and SSH1; and
      LIMK1 and FGD4 of RhoGTPase signaling pathway. Expression of miR-17-92a miRNAs
      caused decreased cell proliferation, reduced activation of AKT and MAP kinases,
      delayed tumorigenicity and reduced tumor growth in animals. Expression of miR-17
      92a miRNAs inhibited EMT via reduced cell migration and expression of mesenchymal
      markers while elevating expression and surface localization of the epithelial
      marker E-Cadherin. Expression of miR-17-92a miRNAs improved sensitivity of
      androgen dependent LNCaP 104-S prostate cancer cells to anti-androgen drug
      Casodex, AKT inhibitor MK-2206 2HCl, and docetaxel. The androgen refractory PC-3
      cells also showed increased sensitivity to docetaxel, MK-2206 2HCl and Aurora
      kinase inhibitor VX680 upon ectopic expression of miR-17-92a cluster miRNAs. Our
      data demonstrate a tumor suppressor effect of miR-17-92a cluster miRNAs in
      prostate cancer cells and restoration of expression of these miRNAs has a
      therapeutic benefit for both androgen-dependent and -independent prostate cancer
      cells.

PMID- 27650542
TI  - Epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 and 2 paralogues correlate with splice
      signatures and favorable outcome in human colorectal cancer.
AB  - ESRPs are master splice regulators implicated in alternative mRNA splicing
      programs important for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor
      progression. ESRP1 was identified in some tumors as good or worse predictor of
      outcome, but in colorectal cancer (CRC) the prognostic value of ESRPs and
      relation with mesenchymal splice variants is not clear. Here, we studied 68 CRC
      cases, compared tissue expression of ESRPs with clinical data and with EMT gene
      splice patterns of conditional CRC cells with deficient ESRP1 expression.Around
      72% of patients showed global decreased transcript expression of both ESRPs in
      tumor as compared to matched non-neoplastic colorectal epithelium. Reduction of
      ESRP1 in tumor cells was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, associated with
      microsatellite stability and switch to mesenchymal splice signatures of FGFRs,
      CD44, ENAH and CTNND1(p120-catenin). Expression of ESRPs was significantly
      associated with favorable overall survival (log-rank test, P=0.0186 and 0.0408),
      better than prognostic stratification by tumor staging; and for ESRP1 confirmed
      with second TCGA cohort (log-rank test, P=0.0435). Prognostic value is
      independent of the pathological stage and microsatellite instability (ESRP1:
      HR=0.36, 95%CI 0.15-0.91, P=0.032; ESRP2: HR=0.23, 95%CI 0.08-0.65, P=0.006).Our
      study supports the role of ESRP1 as tumor suppressor and strongly suggests that
      ESRPs are candidate markers for early detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of CRC.

PMID- 27650541
TI  - Unique long non-coding RNA expression signature in ETV6/RUNX1-driven B-cell
      precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - Overwhelming evidence indicates that long non-coding RNAs have essential roles in
      tumorigenesis. Nevertheless, their role in the molecular pathogenesis of
      pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia has not been extensively
      explored. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the long non-coding RNA
      transcriptome in ETV6/RUNX1-positive BCP-ALL, one of the most frequent subtypes
      of pediatric leukemia. First, we used primary leukemia patient samples to
      identify an ETV6/RUNX1 specific expression signature consisting of 596 lncRNA
      transcripts. Next, integration of this lncRNA signature with RNA sequencing of
      BCP-ALL cell lines and lncRNA profiling of an in vitro model system of ETV6/RUNX1
      knockdown, revealed that lnc-NKX2-3-1, lnc-TIMM21-5, lnc-ASTN1-1 and lnc-RTN4R-1
      are truly regulated by the oncogenic fusion protein. Moreover, sustained
      inactivation of lnc-RTN4R-1 and lnc-NKX2-3-1 in ETV6/RUNX1 positive cells caused
      profound changes in gene expression. All together, our study defined a unique
      lncRNA expression signature associated with ETV6/RUNX1-positive BCP-ALL and
      identified lnc-RTN4R-1 and lnc-NKX2-3-1 as lncRNAs that might be functionally
      implicated in the biology of this prevalent subtype of human leukemia.

PMID- 27650543
TI  - Identification of small molecule inhibitors of ERCC1-XPF that inhibit DNA repair
      and potentiate cisplatin efficacy in cancer cells.
AB  - ERCC1-XPF heterodimer is a 5'-3' structure-specific endonuclease which is
      essential in multiple DNA repair pathways in mammalian cells. ERCC1-XPF (ERCC1
      ERCC4) repairs cisplatin-DNA intrastrand adducts and interstrand crosslinks and
      its specific inhibition has been shown to enhance cisplatin cytotoxicity in
      cancer cells. In this study, we describe a high throughput screen (HTS) used to
      identify small molecules that inhibit the endonuclease activity of ERCC1-XPF.
      Primary screens identified two compounds that inhibit ERCC1-XPF activity in the
      nanomolar range. These compounds were validated in secondary screens against two
      other non-related endonucleases to ensure specificity. Results from these screens
      were validated using an in vitro gel-based nuclease assay. Electrophoretic
      mobility shift assays (EMSAs) further show that these compounds do not inhibit
      the binding of purified ERCC1-XPF to DNA. Next, in lung cancer cells these
      compounds potentiated cisplatin cytotoxicity and inhibited DNA repair. Structure
      activity relationship (SAR) studies identified related compounds for one of the
      original Hits, which also potentiated cisplatin cytotoxicity in cancer cells.
      Excitingly, dosing with NSC16168 compound potentiated cisplatin antitumor
      activity in a lung cancer xenograft model. Further development of ERCC1-XPF DNA
      repair inhibitors is expected to sensitize cancer cells to DNA damage-based
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 27650544
TI  - Tetraspecific scFv construct provides NK cell mediated ADCC and self-sustaining
      stimuli via insertion of IL-15 as a cross-linker.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The design of a highly effective anti-cancer immune-engager would
      include targeting of highly drug refractory cancer stem cells (CSC). The design
      would promote effective antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and
      simultaneously promote costimulation to expand and self-sustain the effector NK
      cell population. Based on our bispecific NK cell engager platform we constructed
      a tetraspecific killer engager (TetraKE) comprising single-chain variable
      fragments (scFvs) binding FcgammaRIII (CD16) on NK cells, EpCAM on carcinoma
      cells and CD133 on cancer stem cells in order to promote ADCC. Furthermore, an
      Interleukin (IL)-15-crosslinker enhanced NK cell related proliferation resulting
      in a highly active drug termed 1615EpCAM133. RESULTS: Proliferation assays showed
      TetraKE promoted proliferation and enhanced NK cell survival. Drug-target
      binding, NK cell related degranulation, and IFN-gamma production was specific for
      both tumor related antigens in EpCAM and CD133 bearing cancer cell lines. The
      TetraKE showed higher killing activity and superior dose dependent degranulation.
      Cytokine profiling showed a moderately enhanced IFN-gamma production, enhanced GM
      CSF production, but no evidence of induction of excessive cytokine release.
      METHODS: Assembly and synthesis of hybrid genes encoding the TetraKE were
      performed using DNA shuffling and ligation. The TetraKE was tested for efficacy,
      specificity, proliferation, survival, and cytokine production using carcinoma
      cell lines and functional assays measuring NK cell activity. CONCLUSION:
      1615EpCAM133 combines improved induction of ADCC with enhanced proliferation,
      limited cytokine response, and prolonged survival and proliferation of NK cells.
      By linking scFv-related targeting of carcinoma and CSCs with a sustaining IL-15
      signal, our new construct shows great promise to target cancer and CSCs.

PMID- 27650545
TI  - SHP2 phosphatase as a novel therapeutic target for melanoma treatment.
AB  - Melanoma ranks among the most aggressive and deadly human cancers. Although a
      number of targeted therapies are available, they are effective only in a subset
      of patients and the emergence of drug resistance often reduces durable responses.
      Thus there is an urgent need to identify new therapeutic targets and develop more
      potent pharmacological agents for melanoma treatment. Herein we report that SHP2
      levels are frequently elevated in melanoma, and high SHP2 expression is
      significantly associated with more metastatic phenotype and poorer prognosis. We
      show that SHP2 promotes melanoma cell viability, motility, and anchorage
      independent growth, through activation of both ERK1/2 and AKT signaling pathways.
      We demonstrate that SHP2 inhibitor 11a-1 effectively blocks SHP2-mediated ERK1/2
      and AKT activation and attenuates melanoma cell viability, migration and colony
      formation. Most importantly, SHP2 inhibitor 11a-1 suppresses xenografted melanoma
      tumor growth, as a result of reduced tumor cell proliferation and enhanced tumor
      cell apoptosis. Taken together, our data reveal SHP2 as a novel target for
      melanoma and suggest SHP2 inhibitors as potential novel therapeutic agents for
      melanoma treatment.

PMID- 27650546
TI  - CoGAPS matrix factorization algorithm identifies transcriptional changes in AP
      2alpha target genes in feedback from therapeutic inhibition of the EGFR network.
AB  - Patients with oncogene driven tumors are treated with targeted therapeutics
      including EGFR inhibitors. Genomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)
      demonstrates molecular alterations to EGFR, MAPK, and PI3K pathways in previously
      untreated tumors. Therefore, this study uses bioinformatics algorithms to
      delineate interactions resulting from EGFR inhibitor use in cancer cells with
      these genetic alterations. We modify the HaCaT keratinocyte cell line model to
      simulate cancer cells with constitutive activation of EGFR, HRAS, and PI3K in a
      controlled genetic background. We then measure gene expression after treating
      modified HaCaT cells with gefitinib, afatinib, and cetuximab. The CoGAPS
      algorithm distinguishes a gene expression signature associated with the
      anticipated silencing of the EGFR network. It also infers a feedback signature
      with EGFR gene expression itself increasing in cells that are responsive to EGFR
      inhibitors. This feedback signature has increased expression of several growth
      factor receptors regulated by the AP-2 family of transcription factors. The gene
      expression signatures for AP-2alpha are further correlated with sensitivity to
      cetuximab treatment in HNSCC cell lines and changes in EGFR expression in HNSCC
      tumors with low CDKN2A gene expression. In addition, the AP-2alpha gene
      expression signatures are also associated with inhibition of MEK, PI3K, and mTOR
      pathways in the Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS)
      data. These results suggest that AP-2 transcription factors are activated as
      feedback from EGFR network inhibition and may mediate EGFR inhibitor resistance.

PMID- 27650547
TI  - CD103+ intraepithelial T cells in high-grade serous ovarian cancer are
      phenotypically diverse TCRalphabeta+ CD8alphabeta+ T cells that can be targeted
      for cancer immunotherapy.
AB  - CD103+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) have been linked to specific
      epithelial infiltration and a prolonged survival in high-grade serous epithelial
      ovarian cancer (HGSC). However, whether these cells are induced as part of an
      ongoing anti-HGSC immune response or represent non-specifically expanded resident
      or mucosal lymphocytes remains largely unknown. In this study, we first confirmed
      that CD103+ TIL from HGSC were predominantly localized in the cancer epithelium
      and were strongly correlated with an improved prognosis. We further demonstrate
      that CD103+ TIL were almost exclusively CD3+ TCRalphabeta+ CD8alphabeta+ CD4- T
      cells, but heterogeneously expressed T cell memory and differentiation markers.
      Activation of peripheral T cells in the presence of HGSC was sufficient to
      trigger induction of CD103 in over 90% of all CD8+ cells in a T cell receptor
      (TCR)- and TGFbetaR1-dependent manner. Finally, CD103+ TIL isolated from primary
      HGSC showed signs of recent activation and dominantly co-expressed key
      immunotherapeutic targets PD-1 and CD27. Taken together, our data indicate CD103+
      TIL in HGSC are formed as the result of an adaptive anti-tumor immune response
      that might be reactivated by (dual) checkpoint inhibition.

PMID- 27650548
TI  - Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 induced resistance to radiation therapy in
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - In colorectal cancer (CRC), fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) is
      upregulated and acts as an oncogene. This study investigated the impact of this
      receptor on the response to neoadjuvant radiotherapy by analyzing its levels in
      rectal tumors of patients with different responses to the therapy. Cellular
      mechanisms of FGFR4-induced radioresistance were analyzed by silencing or over
      expressing FGFR4 in CRC cell line models. Our findings showed that the FGFR4
      staining score was significantly higher in pre-treatment biopsies of non
      responsive than responsive patients. Similarly, high expression of FGFR4
      inhibited radiation response in cell line models. Silencing or inhibition of
      FGFR4 resulted in a reduction of RAD51 levels and decreased survival in
      radioresistant HT29 cells. Increased RAD51 expression rescued cells in the
      siFGFR4-group. In radiosensitive SW480 and DLD1 cells, enforced expression of
      FGFR4 stabilized RAD51 protein levels resulting in enhanced clearance of gamma
      H2AX foci and increased cell survival in the mismatch repair (MMR)-proficient
      SW480 cells. MMR-deficient DLD1 cells are defective in homologous recombination
      repair and no FGFR4-induced radioresistance was observed. Based on our results,
      FGFR4 may serve as a predictive marker to select CRC patients with MMR-proficient
      tumors who may benefit from pre-operative radiotherapy.

PMID- 27650549
TI  - Host plant range of a fruit fly community (Diptera: Tephritidae): does fruit
      composition influence larval performance?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phytophagous insects differ in their degree of specialisation on host
      plants, and range from strictly monophagous species that can develop on only one
      host plant to extremely polyphagous species that can develop on hundreds of plant
      species in many families. Nutritional compounds in host fruits affect several
      larval traits that may be related to adult fitness. In this study, we determined
      the relationship between fruit nutrient composition and the degree of host
      specialisation of seven of the eight tephritid species present in La Reunion;
      these species are known to have very different host ranges in natura. In the
      laboratory, larval survival, larval developmental time, and pupal weight were
      assessed on 22 fruit species occurring in La Reunion. In addition, data on fruit
      nutritional composition were obtained from existing databases. RESULTS: For each
      tephritid, the three larval traits were significantly affected by fruit species
      and the effects of fruits on larval traits differed among tephritids. As
      expected, the polyphagous species Bactrocera zonata, Ceratitis catoirii, C. rosa,
      and C. capitata were able to survive on a larger range of fruits than the
      oligophagous species Zeugodacus cucurbitae, Dacus demmerezi, and Neoceratitis
      cyanescens. Pupal weight was positively correlated with larval survival and was
      negatively correlated with developmental time for polyphagous species. Canonical
      correspondence analysis of the relationship between fruit nutrient composition
      and tephritid survival showed that polyphagous species survived better than
      oligophagous ones in fruits containing higher concentrations of carbohydrate,
      fibre, and lipid. CONCLUSION: Nutrient composition of host fruit at least partly
      explains the suitability of host fruits for larvae. Completed with female
      preferences experiments these results will increase our understanding of factors
      affecting tephritid host range.

PMID- 27650550
TI  - Low glomerular filtration rate as an associated risk factor for sarcopenic muscle
      strength: is creatinine or cystatin C-based estimation more relevant?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We aimed to evaluate the association of a decreased glomerular
      filtration-rate (GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2), estimated using Modification of Diet in
      Renal Disease (MDRD), creatinine- and cystatin C-based (CKDEPI-CR and CKDEPI-CC)
      Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equations with handgrip
      strength (HGS). METHODS: Community-dwelling males aged >=60 years admitted to
      outpatient clinic were included. We used MDRD, CKDEPI-CR, and CKDEPI-CC formulas
      for GFR estimation and corrected these for body surface area. Muscle strength was
      assessed by HGS. RESULTS: 209 men (mean age 67.8 +/- 6.4) were enrolled. Sixty
      two patients (29.7%) had sarcopenic HGS. Subjects with sarcopenic HGS were older,
      had higher rate of a GFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2, had lower mid-upper arm
      circumference; tended to have lower creatine kinase, albumin, CKDEPI-CC-GFR
      levels; and higher BUN/creatinine ratio and cystatin C. Multivariate logistic
      regression analysis revealed a CKDEPI-CC lower than 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 as the only
      independent factor underlying sarcopenic HGS. Higher age tended to have an
      independent association. Only higher age was independently associated with low
      HGS when other estimations were used (p = 0.013 and p = 0.021 when MDRD and
      CKDEPI-CR were used, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong association of
      a GFR level of <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 with sarcopenic HGS, when CKDEPI-CC formula is
      used.

PMID- 27650552
TI  - The Basic Rules of Facially Generated Treatment Planning.

PMID- 27650551
TI  - The anti-inflammatory activity of licorice, a widely used Chinese herb.
AB  - CONTEXT: Increasing incidence and impact of inflammatory diseases have encouraged
      the search of new pharmacological strategies to face them. Licorice has been used
      to treat inflammatory diseases since ancient times in China. OBJECTIVE: To
      summarize the current knowledge on anti-inflammatory properties and mechanisms of
      compounds isolated from licorice, to introduce the traditional use, modern
      clinical trials and officially approved drugs, to evaluate the safety and to
      obtain new insights for further research of licorice. METHODS: PubMed, Web of
      Science, Science Direct and ResearchGate were information sources for the search
      terms 'licorice', 'licorice metabolites', 'anti-inflammatory', 'triterpenoids',
      'flavonoids' and their combinations, mainly from year 2010 to 2016 without
      language restriction. Studies were selected from Science Citation Index journals,
      in vitro studies with Jadad score less than 2 points and in vivo and clinical
      studies with experimental flaws were excluded. RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety
      five papers were searched and 93 papers were reviewed. Licorice extract, 3
      triterpenes and 13 flavonoids exhibit evident anti-inflammatory properties mainly
      by decreasing TNF, MMPs, PGE2 and free radicals, which also explained its
      traditional applications in stimulating digestive system functions, eliminating
      phlegm, relieving coughing, nourishing qi and alleviating pain in TCM. Five
      hundred and fifty-four drugs containing licorice have been approved by CFDA. The
      side effect may due to the cortical hormone like action. CONCLUSION: Licorice and
      its natural compounds have demonstrated anti-inflammatory activities. More
      pharmacokinetic studies using different models with different dosages should be
      carried out, and the maximum tolerated dose is also critical for clinical use of
      licorice extract and purified compounds.

PMID- 27650553
TI  - WNT4 mediates estrogen receptor signaling and endocrine resistance in invasive
      lobular carcinoma cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast typically presents
      with clinical biomarkers consistent with a favorable response to endocrine
      therapies, and over 90 % of ILC cases express the estrogen receptor (ER).
      However, a subset of ILC cases may be resistant to endocrine therapies,
      suggesting that ER biology is unique in ILC. Using ILC cell lines, we previously
      demonstrated that ER regulates a distinct gene expression program in ILC cells,
      and we hypothesized that these ER-driven pathways modulate the endocrine response
      in ILC. One potential novel pathway is via the Wnt ligand WNT4, a critical
      signaling molecule in mammary gland development regulated by the progesterone
      receptor. METHODS: The ILC cell lines MDA-MB-134-VI, SUM44PE, and BCK4 were used
      to assess WNT4 gene expression and regulation, as well as the role of WNT4 in
      estrogen-regulated proliferation. To assess these mechanisms in the context of
      endocrine resistance, we developed novel ILC endocrine-resistant long-term
      estrogen-deprived (ILC-LTED) models. ILC and ILC-LTED cell lines were used to
      identify upstream regulators and downstream signaling effectors of WNT4
      signaling. RESULTS: ILC cells co-opted WNT4 signaling by placing it under direct
      ER control. We observed that ER regulation of WNT4 correlated with use of an ER
      binding site at the WNT4 locus, specifically in ILC cells. Further, WNT4 was
      required for endocrine response in ILC cells, as WNT4 knockdown blocked estrogen
      induced proliferation. ILC-LTED cells remained dependent on WNT4 for
      proliferation, by either maintaining ER function and WNT4 regulation or
      uncoupling WNT4 from ER and upregulating WNT4 expression. In the latter case,
      WNT4 expression was driven by activated nuclear factor kappa-B signaling in ILC
      LTED cells. In ILC and ILC-LTED cells, WNT4 led to suppression of CDKN1A/p21,
      which is critical for ILC cell proliferation. CDKN1A knockdown partially reversed
      the effects of WNT4 knockdown. CONCLUSIONS: WNT4 drives a novel signaling pathway
      in ILC cells, with a critical role in estrogen-induced growth that may also
      mediate endocrine resistance. WNT4 signaling may represent a novel target to
      modulate endocrine response specifically for patients with ILC.

PMID- 27650554
TI  - Interactive Effects of Ethanol and HIV-1 Proteins on Novelty-Seeking Behaviors
      and Addiction-Related Gene Expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Novelty-seeking behavior is related to the reward system in the brain
      and can predict the potential for addiction. Alcohol use is prevalent in HIV-1
      infected patients and adversely affects antiretroviral medication. The difference
      in vulnerability to alcohol addiction between HIV-1-infected and noninfected
      populations has not been fully investigated. This study was designed to determine
      whether HIV-1 proteins alter the effects of ethanol (EtOH) on novelty-seeking
      behavior using the HIV-1 transgenic (HIV-1Tg) rat as the study model and to
      examine the molecular mechanisms responsible for this behavior. METHODS: Both HIV
      1Tg and F344 control rats were tested for baseline novelty-seeking behavior, then
      received either EtOH (1 g/kg) at a concentration of 20% v/v or saline treatment
      for 13 days, and then were retested for novelty seeking. Quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction was conducted to examine the differences in expression
      of 65 genes implicated in novelty seeking and alcohol addiction between strains
      and treatment groups. RESULTS: The HIV-1 proteins significantly enhanced baseline
      novelty-seeking behaviors in both the hole-board and open-field tests. Chronic
      EtOH treatment significantly increased baseline novelty-seeking behavior in both
      strains, but the effects of EtOH appeared to be more robust and prominent in HIV
      1Tg rats. Strain-specific patterns of altered gene expression were observed for
      dopaminergic, cholinergic, and glutamatergic signaling in the nucleus accumbens,
      suggesting the effects of HIV-1 proteins on the brain's reward system. Chronic
      EtOH treatment was shown to greatly modulate the effects of HIV-1 proteins in
      these neurotransmitter systems. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our findings
      indicate that HIV-1 proteins could modify novelty-seeking behavior at the gene
      expression level, and EtOH treatment may enhance this behavior in both strains
      but to a greater extent in HIV-1Tg rats.

PMID- 27650555
TI  - Phosphorylation of CHOP (C/EBP Homologous Protein) by the AMP-Activated Protein
      Kinase Alpha 1 in Macrophages Promotes CHOP Degradation and Reduces Injury
      Induced Neointimal Disruption In Vivo.
AB  - RATIONALE: Elevated levels of CHOP (C/EBP homologous protein), a member of the
      C/EBP transcription factor family, in advanced atherosclerotic plaques is
      reported to be associated with atherosclerotic plaque rupture in humans. However,
      the molecular mechanism by which CHOP accumulation occurs is poorly defined.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate if (1) macrophage AMPK (AMP
      activated protein kinase) regulates cellular CHOP accumulation and (2) whole-body
      Ampk deletion leads to neointimal disruption. METHODS AND RESULTS: In isolated or
      cultured macrophages, Ampkalpha1 deletion markedly increased apoptosis and CHOP,
      whereas pharmacological activation of AMPK dramatically reduced CHOP protein
      level via promoting CHOP degradation by proteasome. In addition, cotransfection
      of Chop-specific siRNA, but not control siRNA, markedly reduced apoptosis in
      macrophages transfected with Ampkalpha1-specific siRNA. Mechanistically,
      AMPKalpha1 was found to coimmunoprecipitate with CHOP and phosphorylate CHOP at
      serine 30. Furthermore, serine 30 phosphorylation of CHOP triggered its
      ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. In a mouse model of plaque stability,
      deletion of Ampkalpha1 but not Ampkalpha2 promoted injury-induced neointimal
      disruption. This was paralleled by increased CHOP expression and apoptosis in
      vivo. Finally, transfection of Chop-specific siRNA but not control siRNA reduced
      both CHOP level and injury-induced neointimal disruption in vivo. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results indicate that AMPKalpha1 mediates CHOP ubiquitination and proteasomal
      degradation in macrophages by promoting the phosphorylation of CHOP at serine 30.
      We conclude that AMPKalpha1 might be a valid therapeutic target in preventing
      atherosclerotic vulnerable plaque formation.

PMID- 27650557
TI  - Titin-Based Cardiac Myocyte Stiffening Contributes to Early Adaptive Ventricular
      Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction.
AB  - RATIONALE: Myocardial infarction (MI) increases the wall stress in the viable
      myocardium and initiates early adaptive remodeling in the left ventricle to
      maintain cardiac output. Later remodeling processes include fibrotic
      reorganization that eventually leads to cardiac failure. Understanding the
      mechanisms that support cardiac function in the early phase post MI and
      identifying the processes that initiate transition to maladaptive remodeling are
      of major clinical interest. OBJECTIVE: To characterize MI-induced changes in
      titin-based cardiac myocyte stiffness and to elucidate the role of titin in
      ventricular remodeling of remote myocardium in the early phase after MI. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Titin properties were analyzed in Langendorff-perfused mouse hearts
      after 20-minute ischemia/60-minute reperfusion (I/R), and mouse hearts that
      underwent ligature of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 3 or 10
      days. Cardiac myocyte passive tension was significantly increased 1 hour after
      ischemia/reperfusion and 3 and 10 days after left anterior descending coronary
      artery ligature. The increased passive tension was caused by hypophosphorylation
      of the titin N2-B unique sequence and hyperphosphorylation of the PEVK (titin
      domain rich in proline, glutamate, valine, and lysine) region of titin. Blocking
      of interleukine-6 before left anterior descending coronary artery ligature
      restored titin-based myocyte tension after MI, suggesting that MI-induced titin
      stiffening is mediated by elevated levels of the cytokine interleukine-6. We
      further demonstrate that the early remodeling processes 3 days after MI involve
      accelerated titin turnover by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. CONCLUSIONS: We
      conclude that titin-based cardiac myocyte stiffening acutely after MI is partly
      mediated by interleukine-6 and is an important mechanism of remote myocardium to
      adapt to the increased mechanical demands after myocardial injury.

PMID- 27650556
TI  - AXL-Mediated Productive Infection of Human Endothelial Cells by Zika Virus.
AB  - RATIONALE: The mosquito-borne Zika virus (ZIKV) is now recognized as a blood
      borne pathogen, raising an important question about how the virus gets into human
      bloodstream. The imminent threat of the ZIKV epidemic to the global blood supply
      also demands novel therapeutics to stop virus transmission though transfusion.
      OBJECTIVE: We intend to characterize ZIKV tropism for human endothelial cells
      (ECs) and provide potential targets for intervention. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      conducted immunostaining, plaque assay, and quantitative reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction of ZIKV RNA to evaluate the possible infection of ECs
      by ZIKV. Both the African and the South American ZIKV strains readily infect
      human umbilical vein endothelial cells and human ECs derived from aortic and
      coronary artery, as well as the saphenous vein. Infected ECs released infectious
      progeny virus. Compared with the African strains, South American ZIKV isolates
      replicate faster in ECs and are partially cytopathic, suggesting enhanced
      virulence of these isolates. Flow cytometric analyses showed that the
      susceptibility of ECs positively correlated with the cell surface levels of
      tyrosine-protein kinase receptor UFO (AXL) receptor tyrosine kinase. Gain- and
      loss-of-function studies further revealed that AXL is required for ZIKV entry at
      a postbinding step. Finally, small-molecule inhibitors of the AXL kinase
      significantly reduced ZIKA infection of ECs. CONCLUSIONS: We identified EC as a
      key cell type for ZIKV infection. These data support the view of hematogenous
      dissemination of ZIKV and implicate AXL as a new target for antiviral therapy.

PMID- 27650558
TI  - Age-Associated Sirtuin 1 Reduction in Vascular Smooth Muscle Links Vascular
      Senescence and Inflammation to Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.
AB  - RATIONALE: Uncontrolled growth of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) is a life
      threatening vascular disease without an effective pharmaceutical treatment. AAA
      incidence dramatically increases with advancing age in men. However, the
      molecular mechanisms by which aging predisposes individuals to AAAs remain
      unknown. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the role of SIRT1 (Sirtuin 1),
      a class III histone deacetylase, in AAA formation and the underlying mechanisms
      linking vascular senescence and inflammation. METHODS AND RESULTS: The expression
      and activity of SIRT1 were significantly decreased in human AAA samples. SIRT1 in
      vascular smooth muscle cells was remarkably downregulated in the suprarenal
      aortas of aged mice, in which AAAs induced by angiotensin II infusion were
      significantly elevated. Moreover, vascular smooth muscle cell-specific knockout
      of SIRT1 accelerated angiotensin II-induced formation and rupture of AAAs and AAA
      related pathological changes, whereas vascular smooth muscle cell-specific
      overexpression of SIRT1 suppressed angiotensin II-induced AAA formation and
      progression in Apoe-/- mice. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of SIRT1 on AAA
      formation was also proved in a calcium chloride (CaCl2)-induced AAA model.
      Mechanistically, the reduction of SIRT1 was shown to increase vascular cell
      senescence and upregulate p21 expression, as well as enhance vascular
      inflammation. Notably, inhibition of p21-dependent vascular cell senescence by
      SIRT1 blocked angiotensin II-induced nuclear factor-kappaB binding on the
      promoter of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and inhibited its expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence that SIRT1 reduction links vascular
      senescence and inflammation to AAAs and that SIRT1 in vascular smooth muscle
      cells provides a therapeutic target for the prevention of AAA formation.

PMID- 27650561
TI  - [Surgical approaches to pineal region - review article].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The pineal region is a deep-seated part of the brain surrounded by
      highly eloquent structures. Differential diagnosis of space-occupying lesions in
      this region encompasses pineal gland cysts, pineal gland tumours, metastases,
      germ cell tumours, meningiomas, gliomas, hemangioblastomas and neuroectodermal
      tumours. A treatment strategy is based mainly on tumour anatomical
      characteristics and histological type. Except germinatous tumours, a surgical
      excision is the treatment of choice. METHODS: Microsurgical approaches: The
      microsurgical supracerebellar-infratentorial approach is an essential approach to
      the pineal region. Despite certain risks, it allows a straightforward and
      completely extracerebral approach with a minimal cerebellar retraction. The other
      basic approach is the microsurgical occipital-transtentorial approach that is
      advantageous in patients with a supratentorial tumour extension or a steep
      tentorium. The interhemispheric-transcallosal approach and the transcortical
      transventricular approach are possible options in selected cases.Endoscopic
      approaches: The neuroendoscopy provides a minimally invasive method to perform a
      tumour biopsy and to treat hydrocephalus in one session. Stereotactic biopsy: The
      stereotactic needle biopsy represents an alternative to the endoscopic biopsy in
      patients without hydrocephalus and in patients with dorsally located lesions
      inaccessible from the third ventricle. CONCLUSION: Modern neurosurgery offers a
      rich variety of surgical approaches to the pineal region. The complexity of space
      occupying lesions in this region requires an individualised treatment, a prudent
      preoperative planning and a meticulous surgical technique.

PMID- 27650559
TI  - Matrix-based Molecular Descriptors for Prospective Virtual Compound Screening.
AB  - Molecular descriptors capture diverse structural information of molecules and are
      a prerequisite for ligand-based similarity searching. In this study, we introduce
      topological matrix-based descriptors to virtual screening for hit discovery. We
      evaluated the usefulness of matrix-based descriptors in a retrospective setting
      and compared them with topological pharmacophore descriptors. Special attention
      was given to the influence of data pre-processing and the applied similarity
      metric on the virtual screening performance. Overall, the MB descriptors showed a
      competitive and complementary performance to other descriptors. A prospective
      screen of a commercial compound library led to the discovery of a novel natural
      product-derived cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor predicted to interact differently with
      the target protein compared to the query compound ibuprofen. The results of our
      study motivate the use of matrix-based descriptors for molecular similarity-based
      virtual screening and scaffold hopping.

PMID- 27650562
TI  - Deceased donor uterus retrieval - The first Czech experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Uterus transplantation is the youngest solid organ transplantation
      described in the literature. This procedure is the only treatment method for
      congenital or acquired Absolute Uterine Factor Infertility. METHOD: The method is
      not recognised as standard clinical care yet, there were only some 13 cases
      performed worldwide so far. There is only one clinical trial worldwide, which has
      proven both feasibility and also healthy child delivery. RESULTS: Czech Republic
      Ministry of Health permitted the uterus transplant clinical trial in 2015. The
      first phase of the surgical part includes performance and description of the
      uterus retrieval from a deceased donor. CONCLUSIONS: The first uterus retrieval
      from a deceased donor as a part of multi-organ retrieval was performed in the
      Czech Republic on January 13th, 2016; the case is described in the paper. KEY
      WORDS: uterus - transplantation - deceased - donor - retrieval.

PMID- 27650563
TI  - [Treatment of acute appendicitis: Retrospective analysis].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of intra-abdominal
      emergency surgery worldwide. The approach to its treatment keeps changing. The
      number of acute appendectomies has been decreasing. Many patients are treated
      conservatively with success. Our study compares conservative and surgical
      treatment of acute appendicitis, including its complications in our department.
      METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the group of 117 patients hospitalized with
      the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis. We distinguished patients with
      complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis, and patients operated and treated
      conservatively. We evaluated complication rates and recurrences of the disease,
      respectively, in 1-year follow-up. The Student t test and Fishers exact test were
      used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: In 2012 we hospitalized 117 patients
      with acute appendicitis: 83 patients (71%) for uncomplicated and 34 (29%) for
      complicated appendicitis. 41% of patients with complicated and 13% with
      uncomplicated appendicitis (p=0.02) were treated conservatively. Conservative
      treatment or laparoscopic surgery, respectively, were used more often in women (
      p0.001). There was no failure of conservative treatment. Perioperative morbidity
      was 13%. No patient died. 6 patients (24%) of the conservatively treated group
      were hospitalized in the subsequent year for recurrent problems. 4 (16%) were
      reoperated. The rate of negative appendectomy (negative pathological findings)
      was 11%. The hospitalization time was shorter in patients treated conservatively
      or using laparoscopy, respectively, compared to the group of patients undergoing
      appendectomy. CONCLUSION: In the modern era of available complementary
      examinations and a broad spectrum of antibiotics the conservative approach is
      favoured as a treatment of complicated appendicitis. Conservative treatment of
      uncomplicated appendicitis is an option, but not the method of choice. Routine
      elective appendectomy after successful conservative treatment is groundless.
      Laparoscopic appendectomy is associated with lower morbidity than open
      appendectomy. Despite the available tests and scoring systems the negative
      appendectomy rate remains high. KEY WORDS: appendicitis - appendectomy -
      laparoscopy - antibiotic treatment.

PMID- 27650560
TI  - Community-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Rural Population: Who Returns
      Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) Kits?
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the return rate of community-delivered fecal immunochemical
      test (FIT) kits in a rural population and to identify significant predictors of
      returning kits. METHODS: Residents were recruited in 8 rural Kentucky counties to
      enroll in the study and receive an FIT kit. Of 345 recruited, 82.0% returned an
      FIT kit from the point of distribution. These participants were compared to the
      remainder relative to age, sex, marital status, having an annual income below
      $15,000, not graduating from high school, not having a regular health care
      provider, not having health care coverage, being a current smoker, indicating
      current overweight or obese status, and a scale measure of fatalism pertaining to
      colorectal cancer. Predictors achieving significance at the bivariate level were
      entered into a stepwise logistic regression model to calculate adjusted OR and
      95% CI. FINDINGS: The return rate was 82.0%. In adjusted analyses, those
      indicating an annual income of less than $15,000 were 2.85 times more likely to
      return their kits (95% CI: 1.56-5.24; P < .001). Also, those not perceiving
      themselves to be overweight/obese were 1.95 times more likely to return their
      kits (95% CI: 1.07-3.55; P = .029). CONCLUSIONS: An outreach-based colorectal
      cancer screening program in a rural population may yield high return rates.
      People with annual incomes below $15,000 and those not having perceptions of
      being overweight/obese may be particularly likely to return FIT kits.

PMID- 27650564
TI  - [Supravesical hernia as a rare cause of inguinal herniation and its laparoscopic
      treatment with TAPP approach].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Supravesical hernia is a rare cause of hernias in the groin; the
      authors describe its surgical treatment using a laparoscopic technique - TAPP.
      METHOD: From 2003 to 2015, laparoscopic hernioplasty of inguinal hernia using
      TAPP was performed at our clinic in 1227 patients; this patient group included 12
      patients with the diagnosis of supravesical hernia. Clipped polypropylene mesh
      was used to cover the defect in all patients. RESULTS: All patients were operated
      on with this technique. Mean duration of hospitalization was 2.7 days and mean
      age of the patients was 52 years. One patient experienced a relapse due to
      failure of fixation of the mesh. CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment of supravesical
      hernias using laparoscopic (TAPP) technique appears safe and reliable. KEY WORDS:
      supravesical hernia - TAPP.

PMID- 27650565
TI  - [Free-floating thrombus in the internal carotid artery treated by anticoagulation
      and delayed carotid endarterectomy].
AB  - Free-floating thrombus in the internal carotid artery is a rare clinical finding.
      Only case reports and small cohorts of patients are described in the literature.
      The authors present a case report of a patient with ischemic stroke due to
      arterio-arterial embolisation from ulcerated internal carotid artery stenosis
      with a free-floating thrombus. Initially, the patient was treated with
      anticoagulants, resulting in total dissolution of the free-floating thrombus
      based on ultrasound documentation, without any further symptomatic embolisation.
      Endarterectomy was performed in the second step for the critical stenosis of the
      internal carotid artery. After this combined treatment, the patient showed no
      neurological deficit. Currently, the opinion on optimal therapy of the free
      floating thrombus in the internal carotid artery still remains unclear. KEY
      WORDS: free-floating thrombus - anticoagulation internal carotid artery.

PMID- 27650566
TI  - [The role of rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) in the perioperative period in
      a warfarinized patient (case report)].
AB  - Warfarin overdose with unmeasurable values of the prothrombin time (PT-INR) is a
      significant problem in the preoperative preparation of the patient for acute
      invasive surgery. In contrast to conventional blood clotting assays, rotational
      thromboelastometry (ROTEM) evaluates the coagulation profile of the whole blood
      and provides a more complex view of the coagulation status of the patient.
      Thromboelastometry results are available within about 10 minutes and help us to
      provide targeted "bedside" therapy of coagulopathy in a bleeding patient. In our
      case report we describe a case of a patient with warfarin overdose and
      unmeasurable PT-INR values. The patient was indicated for urgent gastroscopy
      because of haematemesis and abdominal surgery because of ileus. Haematemesis was
      stopped by ROTEM targeted treatment of coagulopathy and the operation was
      performed without bleeding complications with normal ROTEM despite the
      prolongation of PT-INR to 1.8. Finally, we would like to say that ROTEM method
      can be used for rapid management of warfarin-induced coagulopathy and that
      surgery may be performed safely without any correction of PT-INR in case of
      normal ROTEM. KEY WORDS: prothrombin time - bleeding - surgery thromboelastometry
      (ROTEM) warfarin.

PMID- 27650567
TI  - [Perforation of the right ventricle of the heart as a complication of CT guided
      percutaneous drainage of a subphrenic abscess - a case report].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: CT guided percutaneous drainage is currently the gold standard in
      the treatment of abdominal fluid collections, having substituted open surgical
      drainage in many cases. It burdens the patient less than surgical drainage. Its
      efficiency is comparable to standard surgical drainage when properly indicated.
      It is readily available even in smaller hospitals. However, this method can also
      have many complications, which originate most often from an improperly targeted
      drainage catheter. CASE REPORT: The authors describe a case report of a 55 years
      old man with a right-sided subphrenic abscess. The right ventricle of the heart
      was perforated during a CT guided percutaneous drainage. The bleeding was
      minimal, but the patient suffered a profound septic shock as a result of massive
      bacteremia during direct communication of the contents of the abscess cavity with
      blood circulation. He was operated immediately. The right ventricle was sutured,
      and the subphrenic abscess was drained. There were no complications after the
      operation, and the patient was discharged on day 17 after the surgery.
      CONCLUSION: The CT guided drainage of an abdominal abscess or a fluid collection
      in a risk area should be preferably done in hospitals whose therapeutic portfolio
      also includes the handling of serious complications. KEY WORDS: heart injury
      drainage.

PMID- 27650568
TI  - Genome-wide survey and phylogeny of S-Ribosylhomocysteinase (LuxS) enzyme in
      bacterial genomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study of survival and communication of pathogenic bacteria is
      important to combat diseases caused by such micro-organisms. Bacterial cells
      communicate with each other using a density-dependent cell-cell communication
      process called Quorum Sensing (QS). LuxS protein is an important member of
      interspecies quorum-sensing system, involved in the biosynthesis of Autoinducer-2
      (AI-2), and has been identified as a drug target. Despite the above mentioned
      significance, their evolution has not been fully studied, particularly from a
      structural perspective. RESULTS: Search for LuxS in the non-redundant database of
      protein sequences yielded 3106 sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of these
      sequences revealed grouping of sequences into five distinct clusters belonging to
      different phyla and according to their habitat. A majority of the neighbouring
      genes of LuxS have been found to be hypothetical proteins. However, gene synteny
      analyses in different bacterial genomes reveal the presence of few interesting
      gene neighbours. Moreover, LuxS gene was found to be a component of an operon in
      only six out of 36 genomes. Analysis of conserved motifs in representative LuxS
      sequences of different clusters revealed the presence of conserved motifs common
      to sequences of all the clusters as well as motifs unique to each cluster.
      Homology modelling of LuxS protein sequences of each cluster revealed few
      structural features unique to protein of each cluster. Analyses of surface
      electrostatic potentials of the homology models of each cluster showed the
      interactions that are common to all the clusters, as well as cluster-specific
      potentials and therefore interacting partners, which may be unique to each
      cluster. CONCLUSIONS: LuxS protein evolved early during the course of bacterial
      evolution, but has diverged into five subtypes. Analysis of sequence motifs and
      homology models of representative members reveal cluster-specific structural
      properties of LuxS. Further, it is also shown that LuxS protein may be involved
      in various protein-protein or protein-RNA interactions, which may regulate the
      activity of LuxS proteins in bacteria.

PMID- 27650570
TI  - An improved culturing method for opiine fruit fly parasitoids and its application
      to parasitoid monitoring in the field.
AB  - Good culturing methods play an important role in the study of insect behavior and
      its application to pest management. Here, we describe and validate a new method
      for rearing the parasitoid wasp, Diachasmimorpha kraussii, which attacks some of
      the world's worst fruit fly pests and is an internationally used biological
      control agent. Our method differs from standard culturing approaches by
      presenting adult wasps with host-infested artificial media within a "culturing
      bag," which mimics a natural (fruit) oviposition substrate. In laboratory trials
      using wild collected D. kraussii, the culturing bag method was compared to the
      use of host-infested nectarines, and a commonly used laboratory method of
      presenting host-infested artificial media within Petri dishes. The culturing bag
      method proved to be a significant improvement on both methods, combining the
      advantages of high host survival in artificial media with parasitism levels that
      were the equivalent to those recorded using host-infested fruits. In our field
      study, culturing bags infested with the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni,
      and hung in a mixed peach and nectarine orchard proved to be effective
      "artificial fruits" attracting wild D. kraussii for oviposition. Significantly
      more adult wasps were reared from the culturing bags compared to field collected
      fruits. This was shown to be due to higher fruit fly larval density in the bags,
      as similar percentage parasitism rates were found between the culturing bags and
      ripe fruits. We discuss how this cheap, time-efficient method could be applied to
      collecting and monitoring wild D. kraussii populations in orchards, and assist in
      maintaining genetic variability in parasitoid laboratory cultures.

PMID- 27650569
TI  - Prevalence and Subtypes of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease.
AB  - The current study examined the prevalence and subtypes of Mild Cognitive
      Impairment (MCI) in an Australian sample of people with Parkinson's Disease (PD).
      Seventy participants with PD completed neuropsychological assessments of their
      cognitive performance, using MDS Task Force Level II diagnostic criteria for PD
      MCI. A cut-off score of less than one standard deviation (SD) below normative
      data determined impaired performance on a neuropsychological test. Of 70
      participants, 45 (64%) met Level II diagnostic criteria for PD-MCI. Among those
      with PD-MCI, 42 (93%) were identified as having multiple domain impairment (28 as
      amnestic multiple domain and 14 as nonamnestic multiple domain). Single domain
      impairment was less frequent (2 amnestic/1 nonamnestic). Significant differences
      were found between the PD-MCI and Normal Cognition groups, across all cognitive
      domains. Multiple domain cognitive impairment was more frequent than single
      domain impairment in an Australian sample of people with PD. However, PD-MCI is
      heterogeneous and current prevalence and subtyping statistics may be an artifact
      of variable application methods of the criteria (e.g., cut off scores and number
      of tests). Future longitudinal studies refining the criteria will assist with
      subtyping the progression of PD-MCI, while identifying individuals who may
      benefit from pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions.

PMID- 27650571
TI  - Reduction in the mRNA expression of sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2 is associated with the
      selection of dominant follicle in cows.
AB  - The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is essential for follicular
      development by promoting follicular angiogenesis, as well as for the
      proliferation and survival of granulosa cells. The biological effects of VEGF are
      regulated by two membrane receptors, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2, and two soluble
      receptors, sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2, which play an antagonistic role. Thus, the
      objective of this study was to identify the mRNA expression pattern of total
      VEGF, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2 in bovine preselected follicles (PRF)
      and post-selected follicles (POF). The mRNA expression of these five genes in
      both granulosa cells (GC) and theca cells (TC) was compared between follicles
      classified as PRF and POF based on their diameter and on their ratio of
      estradiol/progesterone (E2/P4). Results showed a lower expression of mRNA of
      sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2 in POF than in PRF (p < .05). Regarding the mRNA expression
      of total VEGF, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2, there was no difference between POF and PRF
      follicles (p > .05). Our results showed that the mRNA expression of VEGFR2 and
      sVEGFR1 was more abundant than the expression of VEGFR1 and sVEGFR2, while GC was
      the main source of mRNA for total VEGF. On the other hand, TC was the follicular
      compartment where the receptors were most expressed. Our results suggest that non
      dominant follicles maintain a greater concentration of the mRNA expression of
      both membrane and soluble VEGF receptors. On the other hand, follicular dominance
      is related to a reduction in the mRNA expression of sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2, which
      may favour VEGF binding with VEGFR2 and, hence, improve the follicular health and
      development.

PMID- 27650573
TI  - Characterization of the gluconate utilization system of Vibrio cholerae with
      special reference to virulence modulation.
AB  - Orthologs search identified that the Vibrio cholerae gluconate (Gnt) utilization
      system minimally consisted of the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway (edd and eda) and
      three other genes, namely gntU, gntK and gntR This system appeared unique by
      genomic organization of component genes into two operons transcribed in opposite
      directions. In silico analysis indicated GntU as an inner-membrane protein
      functioning for transport and GntK as a kinase with cytosolic localization that
      generates Gnt6P, which is then metabolized through the ED pathway. Enzyme 6
      phosphogluconate dehydratase encoded by edd converts Gnt6P to 2-keto-3-deoxy-6
      phosphogluconate (KDPG), which is metabolized by the action of KDPG-aldolase
      encoded by eda Transcriptional upregulation of the Gnt utilization genes in the
      gntR mutant matched well to a predicted repressor role of GntR. GntR displayed
      DNA binding to a region in the promoters of two bi-directionally transcribed
      operons. Growth defect of mutants in Gnt-supplemented media confirmed obligate
      involvement of these genes in Gnt utilization and such defect was restored upon
      complementation. Defective Gnt utilization resulted in attenuation of
      colonization potential and reduction of cholera toxin secretion in V. cholerae
      The ED pathway mutants showed the highest level of virulence attenuation.
      Overall, this study established a minimal requirement of the V. cholerae Gnt
      utilization system, which played a critical role in pathogenesis.

PMID- 27650574
TI  - Norharmane Matrix Enhances Detection of Endotoxin by MALDI-MS for Simultaneous
      Profiling of Pathogen, Host, and Vector Systems.
AB  - The discovery of novel pathogenic mechanisms engaged during bacterial infections
      requires the evolution of advanced techniques. Here, we evaluate the dual
      polarity matrix norharmane (NRM) to improve detection of bacterial lipid A
      (endotoxin), from host and vector tissues infected with Francisella novicida
      (Fn). We evaluated NRM for improved detection and characterization of a wide
      range of lipids in both positive and negative polarities, including lipid A and
      phospholipids across a range of matrix assisted laser desorption-ionization
      (MALDI)-coupled applications. NRM matrix improved the limit of detection (LOD)
      for monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) down to picogram-level representing a ten-fold
      improvement of LOD versus 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) and 100-fold
      improvement of LOD versus 9-aminoacridine (9-AA). Improved LOD for lipid A
      subsequently facilitated detection of the Fn lipid A major ion (m/z 1665) from
      extracts of infected mouse spleen and the temperature-modified Fn lipid A at m/z
      1637 from infected D. variabilis ticks. Finally, we simultaneously mapped
      bacterial phospholipid signatures within an Fn infected spleen along with
      exclusively host-derived inositol-based phospholipid (m/z 933) demonstrating co
      profiling for the host-pathogen interaction. Expanded use of NRM matrix in other
      infection models and endotoxin-targeting imaging experiments will improve our
      understanding of the lipid interactions at the host-pathogen interface.

PMID- 27650572
TI  - Slow stabilization of concurrently acquired hippocampal context representations.
AB  - Hippocampal neurons exhibit spatially localized firing patterns that, at the
      population level, represent a particular environment or context. Many studies
      have examined how hippocampal neurons switch from an existing representation to a
      new one when the environment is changed, a process referred to as remapping. New
      representations were commonly thought to emerge rapidly, within a few minutes and
      then remain remarkably stable thereafter. However, a number of recent studies
      suggest that hippocampal representations may be more fluid than previously
      thought and most of the previous studies only required that subjects switch from
      a familiar environment to a novel one. In the present study, we examined the
      concurrent development of two distinct hippocampal representations by exposing
      rats to two distinct environmental contexts in an ABAB pattern and we recorded
      neuronal activity for eight daily training sessions. Hippocampal neurons
      exhibited normal place fields with typical firing properties during the initial
      exposure to each context on the first day. However, when the rats were returned
      to the original context after having spent 15 min in the second context, many of
      the neurons fired in new locations (i.e., they remapped) as if the rat had
      encountered a new environment. By the third day, the representations had
      stabilized and were highly consistent across visits to the same context. These
      results suggest that when subjects concurrently encode multiple contexts,
      hippocampal representations may require repeated experiences to fully stabilize.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650576
TI  - G-quadruplex aptamer targeting Protein A and its capability to detect
      Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated by ELONA.
AB  - Aptamers for whole cell detection are selected mostly by the Cell-SELEX
      procedure. Alternatively, the use of specific cell surface epitopes as target
      during aptamer selections allows the development of aptamers with ability to bind
      whole cells. In this study, we integrated a formerly selected Protein A-binding
      aptamer PA#2/8 in an assay format called ELONA (Enzyme-Linked OligoNucleotide
      Assay) and evaluated the ability of the aptamer to recognise and bind to
      Staphylococcus aureus presenting Protein A on the cell surface. The full-length
      aptamer and one of its truncated variants could be demonstrated to specifically
      bind to Protein A-expressing intact cells of S. aureus, and thus have the
      potential to expand the portfolio of aptamers that can act as an analytical agent
      for the specific recognition and rapid detection of the bacterial pathogen. The
      functionality of the aptamer was found to be based on a very complex, but also
      highly variable structure. Two structural key elements were identified. The
      aptamer sequence contains several G-clusters allowing folding into a G-quadruplex
      structure with the potential of dimeric and multimeric assembly. An inverted
      repeat able to form an imperfect stem-loop at the 5'-end also contributes
      essentially to the aptameric function.

PMID- 27650575
TI  - Selective targeting of IL-2 to NKG2D bearing cells for improved immunotherapy.
AB  - Despite over 20 years of clinical use, IL-2 has not fulfilled expectations as a
      safe and effective form of tumour immunotherapy. Expression of the high affinity
      IL-2Ralpha chain on regulatory T cells mitigates the anti-tumour immune response
      and its expression on vascular endothelium is responsible for life threatening
      complications such as diffuse capillary leak and pulmonary oedema. Here we
      describe the development of a recombinant fusion protein comprised of a cowpox
      virus encoded NKG2D binding protein (OMCP) and a mutated form of IL-2 with poor
      affinity for IL-2Ralpha. This fusion protein (OMCP-mutIL-2) potently and
      selectively activates IL-2 signalling only on NKG2D-bearing cells, such as
      natural killer (NK) cells, without broadly activating IL-2Ralpha-bearing cells.
      OMCP-mutIL-2 provides superior tumour control in several mouse models of
      malignancy and is not limited by mouse strain-specific variability of NK
      function. In addition, OMCP-mutIL-2 lacks the toxicity and vascular complications
      associated with parental wild-type IL-2.

PMID- 27650577
TI  - Dietary ecology of fossil Theropithecus: Inferences from dental microwear
      textures of extant geladas from ecologically diverse sites.
AB  - As the only extant graminivorous primate, gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada)
      offer unique insights into how hominins and other extinct primates with strong C4
      isotopic signatures may have subsisted on graminoid-rich diets. Fossil
      Theropithecus species sharing a strong C4 signal (i.e., Theropithecus brumpti,
      Theropithecus darti, and Theropithecus oswaldi) have been reconstructed as
      predominantly graminivorous and potentially in ecological competition with
      contemporaneous hominins. However, inferring the breadth and variation of diet in
      these species (and therefore hominins) has proven problematic. Understanding how
      ecological variation within extant geladas impacts microwear and isotopic
      signatures may contribute to reconstructions of diet in fossil Theropithecus.
      Here, we build on a recent study at an ecologically intact tall grass ecosystem
      (Guassa, Ethiopia) that expanded the known diversity of gelada diets by
      demonstrating lower reliance on graminoids, greater consumption of forbs, and
      greater dietary species richness than previously described at disturbed sites. We
      used dental microwear texture analysis to explore how dietary variation among
      extant geladas may inform our understanding of the diets of fossil Theropithecus.
      First, we compared the dental microwear textures of geladas at Guassa to those of
      geladas from other sites. The microwear textures of geladas at Guassa exhibited
      more complexity, less anisotropy, and more variance in anisotropy and
      heterogeneity, reflecting the greater dietary diversity of Guassa geladas.
      Comparing microwear texture variables among this expanded gelada sample to those
      for T. brumpti, T. oswaldi, and T. darti yielded no significant differences.
      These results raise the intriguing possibility that data on how ecological
      variation and diet impact dental microwear and (possibly) isotopic signatures in
      extant geladas can be used to reconstruct the diets of extinct theropiths and,
      more broadly, hominins with strong C4 isotopic signatures. We conclude that
      extant gelada populations offer a powerful analog for inferring dietary variation
      among predominantly graminivorous fossil primates.

PMID- 27650578
TI  - Virtual reconstruction of the Australopithecus africanus pelvis Sts 65 with
      implications for obstetrics and locomotion.
AB  - Characterizing australopith pelvic morphology has been difficult in part because
      of limited fossilized pelvic material. Here, we reassess the morphology of an
      under-studied adult right ilium and pubis (Sts 65) from Member 4 of Sterkfontein,
      South Africa, and provide a hypothetical digital reconstruction of its overall
      pelvic morphology. The small size of the pelvis, presence of a preauricular
      sulcus, and shape of the sciatic notch allow us to agree with past
      interpretations that Sts 65 likely belonged to a female. The morphology of the
      iliac pillar, while not as substantial as in Homo, is more robust than in A.L.
      288-1 and Sts 14. We created a reconstruction of the pelvis by digitally
      articulating the Sts 65 right ilium and a mirrored copy of the left ilium with
      the Sts 14 sacrum in Autodesk Maya. Points along the arcuate line were used to
      orient the ilia to the sacrum. This reconstruction of the Sts 65 pelvis looks
      much like a "classic" australopith pelvis, with laterally flared ilia and an
      inferiorly deflected pubis. An analysis of the obstetric dimensions from our
      reconstruction shows similarity to other australopiths, a likely transverse or
      oblique entrance of the neonatal cranium into the pelvic inlet, and a
      cephalopelvic ratio similar to that found in humans today.

PMID- 27650579
TI  - New euprimate postcrania from the early Eocene of Gujarat, India, and the
      strepsirrhine-haplorhine divergence.
AB  - The oldest primates of modern aspect (euprimates) appear abruptly on the
      Holarctic continents during a brief episode of global warming known as the
      Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, at the beginning of the Eocene (~56 Ma). When
      they first appear in the fossil record, they are already divided into two
      distinct clades, Adapoidea (basal members of Strepsirrhini, which includes extant
      lemurs, lorises, and bushbabies) and Omomyidae (basal Haplorhini, which comprises
      living tarsiers, monkeys, and apes). Both groups have recently been discovered in
      the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation of Vastan lignite mine, Gujarat, India,
      where they are known mainly from teeth and jaws. The Vastan fossils are dated at
      ~54.5 Myr based on associated dinoflagellates and isotope stratigraphy. Here, we
      describe new, exquisitely preserved limb bones of these Indian primates that
      reveal more primitive postcranial characteristics than have been previously
      documented for either clade, and differences between them are so minor that in
      many cases we cannot be certain to which group they belong. Nevertheless, the
      small distinctions observed in some elements foreshadow postcranial traits that
      distinguish the groups by the middle Eocene, suggesting that the Vastan primates
      though slightly younger than the oldest known euprimates-may represent the most
      primitive known remnants of the divergence between the two great primate clades.

PMID- 27650581
TI  - Molar shape variability in platyrrhine primates.
AB  - Recent phylogenetic analyses suggest that platyrrhines constitute a monophyletic
      group represented by three families: Cebidae, Atelidae, and Pitheciidae.
      Morphological variability between and within these three families, however, is
      widely discussed and debated. The aim of this study was to assess molar shape
      variability in platyrrhines, to explore patterns of interspecific variation among
      extant species, and to evaluate how molar shape can be used as a taxonomic
      indicator. The analyses were conducted using standard multivariate analyses of
      geometric morphometric data from 802 platyrrhine lower molars. The results
      indicated that the interspecific variation exhibited a highly homoplastic pattern
      related to functional adaptation of some taxa. However, phylogeny was also an
      important factor in shaping molar morphological traits, given that some
      phenotypic similarities were consistent with current phylogenetic positions. Our
      results show that the phylogenetic and functional signals of lower molar shape
      vary depending on the taxa and the tooth considered. Based on molar shape, Aotus
      showed closer similarities to Callicebus, as well as to some Cebidae and Ateles
      Lagothrix, due to convergent evolutionary trends caused by similar dietary
      habits, or due to fast-evolving branches in the Aotus lineage, somewhat similar
      to the shape of Callicebus and Cebidae.

PMID- 27650580
TI  - First virtual endocasts of adapiform primates.
AB  - Well-preserved crania of notharctine adapiforms from the Eocene of North America
      provide the best direct evidence available for inferring neuroanatomy and
      encephalization in early euprimates (crown primates). Virtual endocasts of the
      notharctines Notharctus tenebrosus (n = 3) and Smilodectes gracilis (n = 4) from
      the middle Eocene Bridger formation of Wyoming, and the late Eocene European
      adapid adapiform Adapis parisiensis (n = 1), were reconstructed from high
      resolution X-ray computed tomography (CT) data. While the three species share
      many neuroanatomical similarities differentiating them from plesiadapiforms (stem
      primates) and extant euprimates, our sample of N. tenebrosus displays more
      variation than that of S. gracilis, possibly related to differences in the
      patterns of cranial sexual dimorphism or within-lineage evolution. Body masses
      predicted from associated teeth suggest that N. tenebrosus was larger and had a
      lower encephalization quotient (EQ) than S. gracilis, despite their close
      relationship and similar inferred ecologies. Meanwhile, body masses predicted
      from cranial length of the same specimens suggest that the two species were more
      similar, with overlapping body mass and EQ, although S. gracilis exhibits a range
      of EQs shifted upwards relative to that of N. tenebrosus. While associated data
      from other parts of the skeleton are mostly lacking for specimens included in
      this study, measurements for unassociated postcrania attributed to these species
      yield body mass and EQ estimates that are also more similar to each other than
      those based on teeth. Regardless of the body mass prediction method used, results
      suggest that the average EQ of adapiforms was similar to that of plesiadapiforms,
      only overlapped the lower quadrant for the range of extant strepsirrhines, and
      did not overlap with the range of extant haplorhines. However, structural changes
      evident in these endocasts suggest that early euprimates relied more on vision
      than olfaction relative to plesiadapiforms, despite having relatively small
      endocranial volumes compared to extant taxa.

PMID- 27650582
TI  - Dietary flexibility of Australopithecus afarensis in the face of paleoecological
      change during the middle Pliocene: Faunal evidence from Hadar, Ethiopia.
AB  - One approach to understanding the context of changes in hominin paleodiets is to
      examine the paleodiets and paleohabitats of contemporaneous mammalian taxa.
      Recent carbon isotopic studies suggest that the middle Pliocene was marked by a
      major shift in hominin diets, characterized by a significant increase in C4 foods
      in Australopithecus-grade species, including Australopithecus afarensis. To
      contextualize previous isotopic studies of A. afarensis, we employed stable
      isotopes to examine paleodiets of the mammalian fauna contemporaneous with A.
      afarensis at Hadar, Ethiopia. We used these data to inform our understanding of
      paleoenvironmental change through the deposition of the Hadar Formation. While
      the majority of the taxa in the Hadar fauna were C4 grazers, most show little
      change in the intensity of C4 food consumption over the 0.5 million-year interval
      sampled. Two taxa (equids and bovins) do show increases in C4 consumption through
      the Hadar Formation and into the younger, overlying Busidima Formation. Changes
      in the distributions of C4-feeders, C3-feeders and mixed-C3/C4-feeders in the
      sampled intervals are consistent with evidence of dietary reconstructions based
      on ecomorphology, and with habitats reconstructed using community structure
      analyses. Meanwhile, A. afarensis is one of many mammalian taxa whose C4
      consumption does not show directional change over the intervals sampled. In
      combination with a wide range of carbon and oxygen isotopic composition for A.
      afarensis as compared to the other large mammal taxa, these results suggest that
      the C3/C4 dietary flexibility of A. afarensis was relatively unusual among most
      of its mammalian cohort.

PMID- 27650583
TI  - Direct evidence for human exploitation of birds in the Middle Stone Age of South
      Africa: The example of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal.
AB  - Here, we present direct taphonomic evidence for the exploitation of birds by
      hunter-gatherers in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa as far as ~77 ka. The
      bird assemblage from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, was analysed for bone surface
      modifications. Cut-marks associated with skinning, defleshing, and
      disarticulation, perforations on distal humeri produced during disarticulation of
      the forewing, peeling, and human tooth marks were observed on bird bones (i.e.,
      mostly pigeons, doves, Galliformes, waders, and raptors) recovered from pre-Still
      Bay, Still Bay, Howiesons Poort, and post-Howiesons Poort techno-complexes. We
      conducted experiments to butcher, disarticulate, cook, and consume pigeon and
      dove carcasses, in order to create a comparative collection of bone surface
      modifications associated with human consumption of these birds. Human/bird
      interactions can now be demonstrated outside of Europe and prior to 50 ka. The
      evidence sheds new light on Middle Stone Age subsistence strategies in South
      Africa and introduces a fresh argument to the debate regarding the early
      emergence of behaviours usually associated with Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers.

PMID- 27650584
TI  - Cyclic Polymers by Ring-Closure Strategies.
AB  - The preparation of cyclic macromolecules has always represented a challenging
      task for polymer science, mainly because of difficulties in connecting chain
      extremities together. Initiated by the pioneering studies of Jacobson and
      Stockmayer, preparative pathways to cyclic polymers have been considerably
      improved within the last two decades thanks to the advent of both controlled
      polymerizations and efficient coupling reactions in organic chemistry. This
      Review aims to provide a critical up-to-date overview and illustrate the
      considerable efforts that have been made in the past few years to improve the
      availability of macrocycles for industrial and academic investigations through
      the use of the ring-closure approach. Particular attention is paid to methods for
      the preparation of monocycles over more complex architectures, since the latter
      are usually derived from the former.

PMID- 27650586
TI  - Williamsius Nomen Novum for Lyrodiscus Rogers, 1967, Preoccupied by Lyrodiscus
      Pilsbury, 1893.

PMID- 27650585
TI  - Recombinant canstatin inhibits VEGF-A-induced lymphangiogenesis and metastasis in
      an oral squamous cell carcinoma SCC-VII animal model.
AB  - We describe the inhibitory effects of recombinant canstatin on tumor growth and
      lymphangiogenesis induced by an oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) using an
      orthotropic oral SCC animal model. Recombinant canstatin treatment decreased
      final tumor volumes and weights, as well as densities of blood and lymphatic
      vessels. Lung metastasis of oral SCC was significantly reduced in recombinant
      canstatin-treated animals. Recombinant canstatin reduced vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF)-A expression in SCC-VII cells treated with the hypoxia
      mimetic agent, CoCl2 . VEGF-A induced in vivo lymphatic vessel formation in a
      Matrigel plug, but this was remarkably reduced in a recombinant canstatin-treated
      Matrigel. Recombinant canstatin suppressed the expression of vascular endothelial
      growth factor receptors (VEGFR)-1 and -2 stimulated by VEGF-A. Based on
      immunohistochemical analysis, recombinant canstatin significantly reduced the
      expression of VEGF-A, VEGFR-1, and -2 in SCC-VII-induced tumors. Recombinant
      canstatin did not affect the expression of VEGF-C or VEGFR-3. In addition,
      recombinant canstatin suppressed the VEGF-A-induced phosphorylation of VEGFR-1
      and -2. Our results indicate that recombinant canstatin exhibits antitumoral and
      antilymphangiogenic activities against oral SCC cells. Antilymphangiogenic
      signaling by recombinant canstatin is probably mediated by the suppression of the
      integrin alphavbeta3/VEGFR-1 and/or -2 signaling induced by VEGF-A. Our results
      also suggest that recombinant canstatin has a high potential to inhibit oral SCC
      induced tumors and lymphatic metastasis.

PMID- 27650587
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of a zwitterionic hydrogel blend with low
      coefficient of friction.
AB  - : Hydrogels display a great deal of potential for a wide variety of biomedical
      applications. Often times the performance of these biomimetic materials is
      limited due to inferior friction and wear properties. This manuscript presents a
      method inspired by the tribological phenomena observed in nature for enhancing
      the lubricious properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels. This was
      achieved by blending PVA with various amounts of zwitterionic polymer, poly([2
      (methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide) (pMEDSAH).
      Our results indicate that pMEDSAH acts as an effective boundary lubricant,
      allowing for reduction in coefficient of friction by more than 80%. This
      reduction in friction coefficient was achieved while maintaining comparable
      mechanical and physical properties to that of the neat material. Also, these
      zwitterionic blends were found to be cytocompatible. Analysis of the structure to
      property relationships within this system indicate that the zwitterionic polymer
      served as a boundary lubricant and promoted a reduction in friction through
      hydration lubrication. This novel approach provides a promising platform for
      further investigations enhancing the tribological properties of hydrogels for
      biomedical applications. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The novelty of this work
      stems from showing that zwitterionic polymers can be used as an extremely
      effective hydrogel boundary lubricant. This work will have significant scientific
      impact because to date, design of hydrogels has emphasized replication of
      mechanical properties, but in order for these types of materials to be fully
      utilized as biomaterials it is imperative that they possess improved tribological
      and lubrication properties, because ignoring the surface and boundary lubrication
      mechanism, make these potential load-bearing substitutes incompatible with other
      natural articulating surfaces, leading the constructs to wear, fail, and damage
      healthy tissue. Our work also provides unique insight to the structure-property
      function relationships of these biomaterials which will be of great interest to
      the readership of the journal.

PMID- 27650588
TI  - Induction of gonadal maturation at different temperatures in burbot Lota lota.
AB  - A rearing experiment was conducted to test whether temperature protocols that
      differed from a simulation of natural conditions might induce maturation after
      isothermal grow-out in burbot Lota lota. Lota lota were acclimated to two
      different temperature regimes: low temperature (LT), close to natural temperature
      at 4.0 degrees  C and elevated, high temperature (HT) at 8.5 degrees  C over 40
      and 27 days respectively, with all fish then wintered for 47 days. Every second
      fish was treated with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue. Maturational
      competence of oocytes was assessed with a germinal vesicle breakdown assay using
      a novel staining strategy. In both treatments, puberty and maturational progress
      occurred, characterised by an elevated gonado-somatic index and advanced gonadal
      stages (histological analysis). Progress of gonadal maturation was reflected by
      elevated plasma concentrations of testosterone and 11-ketosterone in males and
      17beta-oestradiol in females. Ovulation was not observed. Sperm could be
      activated equally across treatments. In general, LT was more effective than HT
      treatment, indicated by advanced gonadal stages, higher numbers of oocytes
      undergoing germinal vesicle breakdown in vitro and elevated sex steroid levels.
      Hormone treatment could improve effectiveness at HT. In conclusion, less drastic
      temperature regimes as previously reported in combination with hormone treatments
      seem sufficient to induce maturation in L. lota after isothermal grow-out.

PMID- 27650589
TI  - Spatially resolved spectroscopic differentiation of hydrophilic and hydrophobic
      domains on individual insulin amyloid fibrils.
AB  - The formation of insoluble beta-sheet-rich protein structures known as amyloid
      fibrils is associated with numerous neurodegenerative diseases, such as
      Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. A detailed understanding of the molecular
      structure of the fibril surface is of interest as the first contact with the
      physiological environment in vivo and plays a decisive role in biological
      activity and associated toxicity. Recent studies reveal that the inherent
      sensitivity and specificity of tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) renders this
      technique a compelling method for fibril surface analysis at the single-particle
      level. Here, the reproducibility of TERS is demonstrated, indicating its
      relevance for detecting molecular variations. Consequently, individual fibrils
      are systematically investigated at nanometer spatial resolution. Spectral
      parameters were obtained by band-fitting, particularly focusing on the
      identification of the secondary structure via the amide III band and the
      differentiation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains on the surface. In
      addition multivariate data analysis, specifically the N-FINDR procedure, was
      employed to generate structure-specific maps. The ability of TERS to localize
      specific structural domains on fibril surfaces shows promise to the development
      of new fibril dissection strategies and can be generally applied to any
      (bio)chemical surface when structural variations at the nanometer level are of
      interest.

PMID- 27650592
TI  - Morphostructure of Immune System Organs in Cattle of Different Age.
AB  - This article provides comprehensive consideration of the age-dependent
      morphofunctional state of organs and tissues of the immune system (thymus,
      spleen, superficial and deep lymph nodes) in cattle. The morphofunctional
      maturity of organs and tissues of the immune system in cattle will be taken into
      account in various experimental studies, preventive and therapeutic measures.
      Performed analysis provides description of the spleen formation as well as the
      thymus and lymph nodes in post-natal ontogenesis and the macro- and microscopic
      structure of lymphoid cells and macrophages. The obtained results can be used to
      study immune responses of the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes in the pathological
      immunogenesis and may serve as a basis for development of recommendations related
      to diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the cattle immune system. The
      morphofunctional state of organs and tissues of the immune system in cattle was
      first studied with regard to the age dynamics. Based on the immunohistological
      studies, this article described the distribution and topography of
      immunocompetent cells (T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes and macrophages) and
      proliferative activity of lymphoid cells in the lymphoid organs and tissues in
      cattle.

PMID- 27650590
TI  - Sparing healthy lung by focusing the radiation beam flow onto the emphysematous
      regions in the treatment of lung cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Currently, routine radiotherapy (RT) planning for locally advanced
      lung cancer (LC) does not take into consideration the functional state of the
      lung. The goal of this study was to determine if it is technically feasible to
      integrate the sites of pulmonary emphysema (PE) into the RT planning process.
      METHODS: Ten patients with LC and PE treated with helical Tomotherapy(c) were
      retrospectively included. After extraction by Myrian(c) software based on
      diagnostic CT (DCT), the PE data were transferred to the treatment planning
      system (TPS). PE-optimized plans were performed for patients with significant PE,
      where the dose was focused onto the PE. We compared the PE-optimized RT plans to
      the initial RT plans. RESULTS: The median dose to the planning target volume
      (PTV) was 52 Gy (range, 36-66) in fractions of 2-3 Gy. The median PE volume was
      220 cm3 (range: 12-1394), and six patients were eligible for a PE-optimized RT
      plan. Considering the lung without PE, the V20 and V30 variations were not
      significant (P > 0.05), the V5 decreased from 50% to 44% after re-planning (P <
      0.05). The mean PTV D98 was 50 Gy versus 48 Gy (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Focusing
      the RT beam flow on the PE structure rather than the healthy lung appears
      feasible, and may be a promising technique to help preserve pulmonary function
      and minimize RT-related pulmonary toxicity.

PMID- 27650591
TI  - Simultaneous determination of epalrestat and puerarin in rat plasma by UHPLC
      MS/MS: Application to their pharmacokinetic interaction study.
AB  - In the present study, a simple, rapid and reliable ultrahigh-performance liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and
      validated to determine simultaneously epalrestat (EPA) and puerarin (PUE) in rat
      plasma for evaluation of the pharmacokinetic interaction of these two drugs. Both
      the analytes and glipizide (internal standard, IS) were extracted using a protein
      precipitation method. The separation was performed on a C18 reversed phase column
      using acetonitrile and 5 mmol/L ammonium acetate in water as the mobile phase
      with a gradient elution program. The analytes, including IS, were quantified with
      multiple reaction monitoring under negative ionization mode. The optimized mass
      transition ion pairs (m/z) were 318.1 -> 274.0 for EPA, 415.1 -> 266.9 for PUE
      and 444.2 -> 166.9 for IS. The linear calibration curves for EPA and PUE were
      obtained in the concentration ranges of 10-4167 and 20-8333 ng/mL, respectively
      (r > 0.99). The current method was successfully applied for the pharmacokinetic
      interaction study in rats following administration of EPA and PUE alone or co
      administration (EPA 15 mg/kg, oral; PUE 30 mg/kg, intravenous). The results
      showed that the combination of EPA and PUE could increase t1/2 of EPA and reduce
      Tmax of EPA. These changes indicated that EPA and PUE might cause drug-drug
      interactions when co-administrated.

PMID- 27650593
TI  - Echocardiographic Evaluation of Tricuspid Prosthetic Valves: An Update.
AB  - This review focuses on the diagnostic value of novel echocardiographic techniques
      and the clinical application of recently described algorithms to assess tricuspid
      prosthetic valve function.

PMID- 27650595
TI  - Training and education in cytology.

PMID- 27650596
TI  - How should 'new age' cytologists be trained?

PMID- 27650597
TI  - The 'Morph'ology of cytotechnology education.
AB  - 'Morph' means to change gradually and completely from one thing into another
      usually in a way that is surprising or seems magical. How can cytotechnology
      education be morphed into an expanded curriculum to teach new skills for advanced
      practice? The challenges cytotechnology programmes are facing today are many. The
      biggest of these challenges is the decreasing volume of Pap tests. Pap tests have
      been our 'bread and butter' throughout history; however, advances in health care
      and technology are inevitable, thus requiring changes in our educational
      practices. While these challenges seem insurmountable, we have the ability to
      expand the field of cytotechnology by taking advantage of existing opportunities.
      One example of these opportunities is performing rapid on site evaluation (ROSE)
      for specimen adequacy and perhaps taking it one step further by giving a
      preliminary diagnosis as a billable procedure. Now is the time to take gradual
      steps towards change in the current practice of cytotechnology. Let's join
      together and make the journey surprising and magical. 

PMID- 27650598
TI  - Training for cytotechnologists and cytopathologists in the developing world.
AB  - Currently there is a major challenge to train sufficient cytopathologists and
      cytotechnicians in developing countries that have poor medical and pathology
      infrastructure. Cytology requires well trained pathologists and laboratory staff
      but it needs only minimal laboratory resources. Cytology can provide the material
      for rapid, accurate and inexpensive diagnoses of infections such as tuberculosis
      and of benign and malignant palpable and impalpable lesions. Cytology can achieve
      this in the developing world by utilizing fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology,
      general fluids cytology and cervical cytology, in the same manner as is currently
      done in the developed world where cytology specimens are used to make
      cytomorphological diagnoses and increasingly to provide material for the full
      range of ancillary testing including molecular pathology. There are a number of
      ways to develop sustainable training in cytology in developing countries,
      especially in fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology, and these are presented and
      discussed. 

PMID- 27650599
TI  - Education and training in cytology in Europe.
AB  - Education and training in cytology in Europe is hampered by the fact that there
      is no homogenous programme across Europe. This can be observed for
      (Cyto)Pathologists and Cytotechnologists. However, lack of workforce and lack of
      a pan-European Cytology diploma are decreasing motivation among junior staff to
      dedicate their professional interests to cytology. Cytology and histology are
      complementary approaches for the diagnosis or exclusion of disease in patients
      and there are many individual efforts of National Societies to maintain
      competencies in cytology by workshops, seminars, tutorials and congresses.
      Furthermore, professional organizations such as the European Federation of
      Cytology Societies (EFCS), the European Society of Pathology (ESP) and Union of
      European Medical Specialists (UEMS) - Section Pathology are working together in
      order to develop a pan-European Cytology diploma. The EFCS is part supported by
      EU funding in this endeavour. Activities are ongoing in the fields of training
      (Eurocytology) and examination (QUATE Aptitude Test - Quality Assurance, Training
      and Examination) or both (Cy-Test). Modern techniques such as Webatlas with
      teaching modules in cytology and Tele(cyto)pathology are more and more integrated
      in daily teaching activities resulting in standardization of cytology in Europe. 

PMID- 27650600
TI  - Cytology training in the UK: a training centre prospective.
AB  - Training in both cervical and non-gynaecological cytology in the UK has never
      faced a more challenging environment. A national reconfiguration of cervical
      cytology services has focussed resources on large centres and damaged the
      traditional links and overlapping roles within non-gynaecological cytology. The
      UK is now at significant risk of falling behind most European countries in the
      use of non-gynaecological cytology. The UK currently has five training centres
      which are approved by the NHS Screening programme for training in cervical
      cytology; the planned introduction of HPV primary screening and the subsequent
      dramatic reduction in cervical cytology workload will increase pressure on the
      remaining training schools. Funding is variable across the country as is the
      degree of diversification that training schools have undertaken to try to ensure
      a viable future. It is vital for the future of cytology in the UK that the strong
      network of training schools remain to ensure the quality of the laboratory
      service as the UK moves towards HrHPV primary screening. There is no doubt that
      the training school roles will change and new technology embraced to deliver
      training fit for the changing role of cytology in healthcare but this will
      require funding and recognition of the vital role the training centres play in
      the delivery of high quality training in both cervical and non-gynaecological
      cytology. 

PMID- 27650601
TI  - Digital pathology and its role in cytology education.
AB  - Digital methods have the potential to greatly expand content availability,
      accessibility, and quality for pathology education. Use of this technology allows
      for anywhere/anytime interactions and delivery in a variety of methods to
      accommodate any learning style. This review introduces basic digital technology,
      its uses for education, and prospects for the future. 

PMID- 27650602
TI  - Guidance on liquid-based cytology system conversion training: a secondary
      publication.
AB  - National cervical screening programmes are considering a move to HPV primary
      screening. HPV testing requires the cervical sample to be placed in liquid based
      cytology (LBC) media and the triage cytology test will be carried out using LBC
      preparations. The resources required for conversion training from conventional
      smears to LBC should not be underestimated as errors can be made without the use
      of a structured training plan and monitoring of performance. In the UK, many labs
      have converted between the two main LBC technologies, Thinprep and Surepath. The
      same logic apples: all staff including primary screeners and cytopathologists
      must undergo a structured conversion course with clear and measurable outcomes to
      ensure the competence of all staff before going "live" with the new technology.
      It is expected that conversion training will take approximately 39 hrs and a
      minimum of 95% high grade sensitivity and 70% specificity must be achieved. 

PMID- 27650603
TI  - The Y54(L)W mutation of anti-leukotriene C4 single-chain antibody increases
      affinity to leukotriene E4.
AB  - The X-ray crystal structure of an anti-leukotriene (LT) C4 monoclonal antibody
      (mAbLTC) in complex with LTC4 was determined, however, crystallographic studies
      alone are not enough to fully understand the structures of the antigen-binding
      site. To elucidate the individual contribution of Tyr-54 and Asn-58 in the light
      chain of mAbLTC, both of which formed a hydrogen bond with glutamic acid of LTC4,
      we examined whether substitution of the residues affects the antigen binding
      affinity and specificity using an anti-LTC4 single chain variable fragment
      (scFvLTC). Among the Tyr-54(L) mutants, Y54(L)W showed a dramatic increase in the
      affinity to LTE4 which was comparable to that to LTD4 Essentially the same
      results were obtained using the Y54(L)W mutant expressed in Escherichia coli and
      Pichia pastoris. The structural modeling suggested the formation of a novel
      hydrogen bond between the substituted tryptophan in the antibody and the cysteine
      residue in LTE4 The affinity of Y54(L)R, Y54(L)E and Y54(L)L to LTC4 was markedly
      reduced, whereas other tested Tyr-54(L) mutants as well as Asn-58(L) mutants did
      not show significant change in LT binding. The results may provide an insight
      into the molecular basis of specific LT recognition by the antibody.

PMID- 27650604
TI  - Obesity treatment-are personalised approaches missing the point?

PMID- 27650605
TI  - Effect of protein quality on recovery after intense resistance training.
AB  - PURPOSE: The present study investigated the effects of high- versus low-quality
      protein supplementation on the regain of exercise performance during recovery
      from a period of high-intensity resistance training. METHODS: In a diet
      controlled crossover study, 12 resistance-trained participants performed two
      identical training periods, with each training period including four sessions of
      high-intensity resistance exercise during 5 days, while receiving either high- or
      low-quality protein. Prior to and at 3, 24 and 48 h after the training periods,
      performance was evaluated in knee extensor and flexor isometric maximal voluntary
      contraction (MVC), counter-movement jumping height (CMJ), and peak and mean
      anaerobic power. In addition, prior to and at 48 h after the training periods,
      performance in time-to-exhaustion at 70 % of VO2max (TTE) was evaluated. RESULTS:
      After the intense training periods, decrements in the order of 4-24 % were
      observed for MVCext, CMJ, mean anaerobic power, and TTE. In particular for TTE,
      this decrement in exercise performance did not attain full recovery at 48 h post
      exercise. The regain of exercise performance was not dictated by type of protein
      supplement. CONCLUSION: The regain of muscle strength as well as anaerobic or
      aerobic performances were not markedly influenced by the type of protein
      supplement.

PMID- 27650608
TI  - Importance of Water Content of the Stratum Corneum in Mouse Models for Contact
      Hypersensitivity.
AB  - Although a marked rise in the prevalence of allergic diseases over the past few
      decades may be related to environmental factors in industrialized countries,
      evidence for the protective effect of humidity on the barrier function of the
      skin is still awaited. We asked whether an increase in the water content of
      stratum corneum at the site of hapten application had a strong impact on the
      magnitude of contact hypersensitivity (CHS). The magnitude of CHS, induced by
      either lipid-soluble or water-soluble hapten, was inversely correlated with the
      water content of stratum corneum at the hapten application site in the
      elicitation phase. An increase in the water content induced by exposure to high
      humidity for 6 hours was sufficient to ameliorate the magnitude of CHS even in
      mice with the genetic defect in attenuating the CHS responses, such as flaky tail
      mice. The reduced CHS was associated with downregulation of IL-1alpha, IL-4, and
      IFN-gamma mRNA expression. Epicutaneously applied hapten can penetrate more
      readily through the stratum corneum with lower water content than that with
      higher water content, even after tape-stripping. These findings indicate that
      increased levels of water in the stratum corneum serve to ameliorate the CHS
      beyond the genetic effects.

PMID- 27650606
TI  - Increased Levels of the Bullous Pemphigoid BP180 Autoantibody Are Associated with
      More Severe Dementia in Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a subepidermal blistering skin disease, which has
      shown a strong association with neurological diseases in epidemiological studies.
      The BP autoantigens BP180 and BP230 are expressed in the cutaneous basement
      membrane and the central nervous system. Using BP180 and BP230 ELISA assays and
      immunoblotting against BP180, we analyzed the IgG reactivity in the sera of 115
      patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 40 neurologically healthy controls.
      BP180 autoantibodies were found in 18% of patients with AD, whereas only 3% of
      controls had positive results (P = 0.019). BP230 values were higher and more
      often elevated in patients with AD than controls, but not significantly. None of
      the positive AD sera that recognized the full-length human BP180 in
      immunoblotting reacted with the cutaneous basement membrane in indirect
      immunofluorescence analysis. Moreover, a retrospective evaluation of the hospital
      records of the patients with AD revealed neither BP diagnosis nor BP-like
      symptoms. Interestingly, increased BP180-NC16A autoantibody values correlated
      with cognitive decline measured by mini-mental state examination scores, but not
      with the concentration of AD biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid. Our findings
      further the understanding of the role of BP180 as a shared autoantigen in
      neurodermatological interactions and the association between BP and
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27650609
TI  - Downregulated Smad4 Affects Extracellular Matrix Remodeling in Ventilator-induced
      Lung Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Smad4 on the extracellular matrix remodeling
      in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). METHODS: We randomized 24 C57BL/6 mice
      to 4 groups for treatment (n=6/group): control, ventilation, non-targeted
      (scramble) lentivirus transfection plus ventilation, and Smad4 small interfering
      RNA (siRNA) lentivirus transfection plus ventilation. Lentivirus was delivered by
      intranasal instillation. Four weeks later, the 3 ventilated groups underwent high
      tidal volume (VT 40mL/kg) ventilation to induce lung injury. After 72 hours,
      lungs were collected from the anesthetized live mice. Histological changes in
      lungs were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's staining. The
      expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) was determined by
      immunohistochemistry, and the mRNA and protein levels of Smad4, alpha-SMA, and
      collagen I and III were detected by quantitative real-time PCR and western
      blotting analysis. RESULTS: Smad4 siRNAs significantly knocked down Smad4
      expression (P<.05), which was increased with ventilation, thereby alleviating
      inflammatory cell infiltration. It also inhibited accumulation of alpha-SMA
      positive myofibroblasts and pulmonary fibrosis, as seen by reduced collagen I and
      III expression (P<.05), induced by ventilation. Scramble siRNA treatment had no
      effect (P>.05). CONCLUSION: Smad4 gene silencing may be a therapeutic target for
      treating ventilator-induced lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis.

PMID- 27650607
TI  - The BRAF Inhibitor Vemurafenib Enhances UV-Induced Skin Carcinogenesis in Beta
      HPV38 E6 and E7 Transgenic Mice.

PMID- 27650610
TI  - Matrine Suppresses Proliferation and Invasion of SGC7901 Cells through
      Inactivation of PI3K/Akt/uPA Pathway.
AB  - This study was to examine the inhibitory effect of matrine on the proliferation
      and metastasis of gastric cancer cells, and to explore the possible mechanisms
      involved in these processes. MTT was used to evaluate the proliferation ability
      of SGC7901 cells. A two and three-dimensional cell migration assay were performed
      to determine the effect of matrine on the migration of SGC7901 cells. Then, the
      changes of the uPA protein and other possible signal molecules were detected by
      western blot. We found that the proliferation ability of SGC 7901 cells was
      suppressed by matrine (p<0.05), and the average cell migration velocity was also
      significantly inhibited by matrine when compared to the control in a two
      dimensional cell migration assay. In addition, SGC7901cells treated with matrine
      (50MUg/ml) migrated less than the control cells in a three-dimensional cell
      migration assay. At the meantime, the decreased uPA protein expression in SGC7901
      cells treated with matrine was observed, and the PI3K/Akt pathway was inhibited.
      These results suggested that matrine can inhibit the proliferation and metastasis
      of gastric cancer cells through the PI3K/Akt/uPA pathway, indicating that matrine
      might be a potential molecular target for treatment of gastric carcinoma. 

PMID- 27650611
TI  - IgE Receptor-Mediated Histamine Release in Human Lung Mast Cells: Modulation by
      Purinergic Receptor Ligands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mast cells derived from human lungs (HLMCs) express multiple G
      protein coupled purinergic receptors (P2YR) and the so-called alpha-ketoglutarate
      receptor GPR99, which is homologous to P2YR. The role of the P2YR of HLMC is not
      clear. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine the effects of
      purinergic and purine-related compounds on allergic histamine release (HR) in
      HLMCs. METHODS: FcepsilonRI-mediated HR was quantified in primary culture of HLMC
      (cHLMC). The effects of the FcepsilonRI-mediated allergic stimulation on the
      expression of GPR99 were also determined. RESULTS: Adenosine produced a dual
      effect on HR: enhancement and marked inhibition at low and high concentrations,
      respectively. Adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) did not affect FcepsilonRI
      mediated HR. However, the non-hydrolysable AMP analog, adenosine-5'-O
      thiomonophosphate (AMP-S), concentration dependently inhibited the FcepsilonRI
      mediated HR without any enhancement. At high concentrations, alpha-ketoglutarate
      moderately inhibited FcepsilonRI-mediated HR. However, inhibitions by AMP-S and
      alpha-ketoglutarate of HR were dissimilar in the inhibitory manner (IC50 and Hill
      slope) on histamine release by allergic stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: cHLMC express
      functional GPR99 receptor that is up-regulated following allergic stimulation.
      Responsiveness to AMP-S is the first indication that cHLMC express P2YR, the
      activation of which can inhibit FcepsilonRI-mediated HR.

PMID- 27650612
TI  - Association of Interleukin-23 Receptor Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with
      Ankylosing Spondylitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: It has been shown previously that the IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) variants
      are associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). It is unknown whether IL-23R is
      associated with AS in the Chinese population. The present study was performed to
      examine the association of IL-23R gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to AS in
      the Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 157 Chinese Han patients with AS and
      150 ethnically matched healthy controls were enrolled. All patients were
      diagnosed with AS according to the modified New York criteria. 8 single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the IL-23R gene cluster were genotyped.
      RESULTS: None of the 8 IL-23R SNPs were found to be associated with AS in the
      Chinese population. CONCLUSION: The association of IL-23R and AS that is seen in
      Caucasian patients with AS is not present in Chinese patients with AS.

PMID- 27650613
TI  - Diagnostic Utility of Interleukin-6 Expression by Immunohistochemistry in
      Differentiating Castleman Disease Subtypes and Reactive Lymphadenopathies.
AB  - The objective of the study was to evaluate the expression pattern of interleukin
      6 (IL-6) to determine its utility in differentiating Castleman Disease subtypes
      and reactive lymphadenopathies. Paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 20 cases
      referred for assessment of Castleman Disease (CD) and 4 cases of reactive
      hyperplasia were selected for immunohistochemical staining with an IL-6 antibody.
      Six pathologists evaluated the hematoxylin and eosin stained tissue sections and
      IL-6 expression pattern. Of 20 CD referral cases, the pathologic diagnosis was CD
      in 14 cases and included 6 hyaline-vascular (HV-CD), 6 plasma cell (PC-CD) and 2
      "mixed type"-CD cases. The remaining 6 referral cases showed morphologic features
      consistent with reactive lymphadenopathy. Patients with non-CD, reactive
      lymphadenopathies had clinical and/or laboratory features of systemic lupus
      erythematosus, Hashimoto's disease, viral infection or chronic cellulitis. The
      pattern of IL-6 expression differed between CD subtypes and non-CD cases. In PC
      CD, IL-6 expression was detected in plasma cells and vascular endothelial cells;
      whereas IL-6 immunoreactivity was detected primarily in vascular endothelial
      cells in HV-CD. Interfollicular plasma cells were prominent in PC-CD and reactive
      lymphadenopathies; however, IL-6 expression was significantly increased in PC-CD
      compared to reactive lymph nodes. Together with morphologic features, the
      expression pattern of IL-6 detected by immunohistochemistry is helpful to
      distinguish CD subtypes and reactive mimics. 

PMID- 27650614
TI  - The Influence of Age and Gender on the Pro/Antioxidant Status in Young Healthy
      People.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of age and gender on
      the pro/antioxidant balance in young healthy subject aged 20-40 years. The
      individuals were divided into women: aged 20-25 years (group A), aged 32-39 years
      (group B), and men aged 20-25 years (group C). In blood, the metals, markers of
      oxidative stress and antioxidants were estimated. The Cu level and Cu/Zn ratio in
      group B was higher than in group A. There were no differences in metals
      concentrations between groups A and C. The similar levels of malondialdehyde
      concentrations and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activities were observed in all
      groups. The decrease in glutathione reduced and glutathione peroxidase was in
      group B than in group A. The higher glutathione reduced, lower glutathione
      oxidized concentrations and glutathione-dependent enzymes (glutathione reductase
      and glutathione peroxidase) were observed in group C when compared to group A.
      The superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were higher in groups B and C
      than in group A.The age and gender have an influence on the pro/antioxidant
      status in healthy people aged 20-40 years. The main antioxidants responsible for
      the removal of free radicals in men aged 20-25 years and women aged 32-39 years
      are superoxide dismutase and catalase, while the glutathione peroxidase activity
      declines. The detoxification being mediated through glutathione is weakened in
      women aged 32-39 years. 

PMID- 27650615
TI  - The Diagnostic Utility of the Point-of-Care CYP2C19 Genotyping Assay in Patients
      with Acute Coronary Syndrome Dosing Clopidogrel: Comparison with Platelet
      Function Test and SNP Genotyping.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clopidogrel is a widely used antiplatelet agent for dual antiplatelet
      therapy and metabolized by CYP2C19. The polymorphism of CYP2C19 is associated
      with the therapeutic effect of clopidogrel. METHODS: A total of 119 patients
      diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and underwent percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents was enrolled. Polymorphisms of
      CYP2C19 *2,*3,*17 were determined by the Spartan RX CYP2C19 and confirmed by SNP
      genotyping assay. Genotype was grouped as ultra-rapid metabolizer, extensive
      metabolizer, intermediate metabolizer, and poor metabolizer. The degree of
      platelet inhibition was assessed by the VerifyNow P2Y12 system (Accumetrics,
      USA). RESULTS: The CYP2C19 genotypes were distributed as 4 (3.3%) for UM, 39
      (32.8%) for EM, 54 (45.4%) for IM, 22 (18.5%) for PM by evaluation with Spartan
      RX CYP2C19. The numbers of patients with the *1/*17, *1/*1, *1/*2, *1/*3, *3/*17,
      *2/*2, *2/*3, and *3/*3 genotype were 4 (3.3%), 39 (32.8%), 40 (33.6%), 13
      (10.9%), 1 (0.9%), 11 (9.2%), 10 (8.4%), 1 (0.9%), respectively. The genotyping
      results between Spartan RX CYP2C19 and SNP genotyping assay showed discrepancy in
      2 patients. The discrepancy appeared in *17 allele analysis in both patients as
      false-positive result. CONCLUSIONS: The false-positive *17 allele couldn't affect
      IM or PM group associated with thrombotic events, but it could affect UM group
      associated with bleeding events, which is relatively less investigated. Although
      the supplement of *17 allele detection should be accomplished, this novel point
      of-care CYP2C19 genotyping instrument could determine the response to the
      clopidogrel and support the appropriate treatment of ACS patients.

PMID- 27650616
TI  - The Effects of Creatine Monohydrate on Permeability of Coronary Artery
      Endothelium and Level of Blood Lipoprotein in Diabetic Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Creatine monohydrate has beneficial effects on serum glucose. This
      study aimed to investigate the effects of creatine on serum biochemical markers
      and permeability of coronary arteries among diabetic rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      32 Wistar rats, which weighed 150-200 grams were randomly divided into 4 groups
      including: group I, control; group II, creatine monohydrate; group III, diabetic
      rats; and group IV, diabetic rats + creatine. Creatine monohydrate was applied by
      400 mg/kg/daily for 5 months. Animals' weights and blood samples were taken
      before and after the study. Endothelial permeability rate was measured by Evans
      Blue method. Data were analysed by SPSS 16. RESULTS: At the end of fifth month,
      rats' weights in diabetic group under treatment with creatine, compared to those
      without, increased significantly (p<0.0001). Also, the serum levels of
      triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, glucose and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-
      cholesterol decreased significantly among those under treatment with creatine
      (p<0.05), but high density lipoprotein (HDL)- cholesterol increased significantly
      (p<0.002). Permeability rate of coronary arteries was reduced significantly in
      the diabetic group treated by creatine compared to untreated groups, closed to
      the intact group (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Results of this study showed that
      creatine monohydrate caused an improvement of serum biochemical markers
      associated with diabetes and reduced the permeability rate of coronary arteries
      among diabetic rats.

PMID- 27650618
TI  - SDF-1 Expression is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Osteosarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) expression has been reported to
      be a predictor of poor clinical symptoms in certain types of cancer. Vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a well-known factor that mediates the micro
      angiogenesis of solid tumors, and SDF-1 mediated expression of VEGF may promote
      tumor growth and metastasis, resulting in poor clinical outcome. Therefore, we
      explored the expression levels of SDF-1 and VEGF in patients with osteosarcoma in
      order to determine the association between their expression levels and
      unfavorable outcomes. METHODS: A total of 54 patients with osteosarcoma were
      included in the current study. The protein expression levels of SDF-1 and VEGF
      were evaluated on immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining. The
      correlation between the expression levels of SDF-1 and VEGF and their association
      with clinical parameters were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test and the
      Spearman-rho test. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used
      to identify potential prognostic factors. The Kaplan-Meier method was employed to
      analyze overall survival. RESULT: Low SDF-1 and VEGF expression levels were
      detected in 20.4% (11 of 54) and 22.2% (12 of 54) of the patients with
      osteosarcoma, respectively; moderate expression was detected in 35.2% (19 of 54)
      and 37.0% (20 of 54) of the patients, respectively; and high expression was
      detected in 44.4% (24 of 54) and 40.7% (22 of 54) of the patients, respectively.
      Protein levels of both SDF-1 and VEGF were significantly associated with the
      histologic grade (p=0.004 and p=0.042 respectively), the presence of metastasis
      (p=0.009 and p=0.028 respectively), and Enneking staging (p<0.001 and p=0.003
      respectively). The association between expression levels of SDF-1and VEGF had a
      significantly positive correlation (p<0.001and r=0.618). The expression levels of
      both SDF-1 and VEGF were significantly associated with shorter overall survival
      on univariate analysis; however, the association was significant for SDF-1
      expression alone in the multivariate analysis (p=0.26, hazard ratio =2.640 [1.124
      6.200]). CONCLUSION: SDF-1 and VEGF expression levels were both significantly
      associated with osteosarcoma, and SDF-1 expression is a potential independent
      prognostic indicator in patients with osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27650617
TI  - Mastermind-like Transcriptional Coactivator 1 Overexpression Predicts Poor
      Prognosis in Human with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mastermind-like transcriptional coactivator 1(MAML1) is a
      transcriptional coregulator of activators in various signaling pathways. High
      MAML1 was associated with tumorigenesis, progression, and aggressiveness in
      various tumors. The role of MAML in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), however, has
      not been directly addressed. The present study was to determine its association
      with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of HCC patients. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: MAML1 expression at protein level in human HCC and normal liver
      tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry analysis, which was further
      validated by high-throughput sequencing data TCGA dataset at mRNA level. Then,
      the association of MAML1 expression with clinicopathological features of HCC
      patients was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry analysis found
      that MAML1 expression was significantly increased in HCC tissues compared with
      those in normal tissues (P=0.005). High MAML1 was dramatically associated with
      advanced clinical stage (P=0.019) and enhanced tumor invasion (P=0.019). The TCGA
      mRNA expression data showed that MAML1 was upregulated in HCC with young age
      (P=0.005). Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that HCC patients with high
      MAML1 levels had shorter survival (P=0.040). Furthermore, high MAML1 expression
      was an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients (HR 1.841, 95% CI 1.045
      3.243; P=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that MAML1 may play an important
      role in tumor progression of HCC. The increased expression of MAML1 may
      efficiently predict poor overall survival in HCC patients, and it may be a
      potential prognostic marker of this malignancy.

PMID- 27650619
TI  - The Role of Annexin A4 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Progression and Its
      Clinical Application.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The expression of annexin A4 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
      remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the expression of annexin
      A4 in TNBC tissues, as well as its relationship with clinicopathological and
      prognostic indicators, with an aim to assess its application value. METHODS: We
      adopted immunohistochemical and western blot to detect annexin A4 expression in
      TNBC and para-carcinoma tissues, and to explore the relationship between abnormal
      expression of annexin A4 and clinicopathological features of TNBC patients.
      RESULTS: The annexin A4 expression was significantly higher in TNBC tissues than
      in adjacent tissues. We analyzed the relationship between annexin A4 expression
      level and clinicopathological characteristics of TNBC patients. The results
      suggested that annexin A4 expression level was closely related to TNM stage,
      vascular involvement, lymphovascular invasion, and lymph node status of TNBC
      patients. The results survival analysis suggested upregulated expression of
      annexin A4 in TNBC patients with a shorter survival time. The results of a
      multifactor analysis showed that high annexin A4 expression rate was an
      independent predictive factor of the prognosis of the TNBC patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      The high annexin A4 expression indicates the poor prognosis of TNBC patients;
      thus, annexin A4 can be regarded as an important molecular marker in TNBC
      prognosis.

PMID- 27650620
TI  - Comparison of Abbott RealTime High-Risk HPV and Hybrid Capture 2 Assays for
      Detection of HPV Infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various assays for detecting high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV)
      have been introduced recently, including the Abbott RealTime High-Risk HPV assay.
      We sought to compare the performance of Abbott PCR to Hybrid Capture 2 for the
      detection of HR HPV. METHODS: A total of 941 cervical swab specimens were
      obtained. We submitted all specimens for HR HPV detection with HC2 and Abbott
      PCR, and then additionally analyzed discordant and concordant positive results
      using restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP) genotyping analysis. RESULTS:
      HC2 detected one of 13 HR HPV types in 12.3% (116/941) of cases, while Abbott PCR
      detected one of 14 detectable HR HPV types in 12.9% (121/941) of cases. The
      overall agreement rate was 97.3% with a kappa coefficient of 0.879. Discordant
      results between these two assays were observed in 25 cases. HC2 showed a
      sensitivity of 90.0% and specificity of 95.9%, while Abbott PCR showed a
      sensitivity of 98.0% and specificity of 96.8% when using RFMP results as the gold
      standard. For HPV 16/18 detection, Abbott PCR showed 95.8%/88.9% sensitivity and
      99.2%/99.8% specificity, respectively. The overall coinfection rate between HPV
      16, 18 and non-16/18 was 9.9% (12/121) in Abbott PCR analysis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Considering its high agreement rate with HC2, higher sensitivity/specificity
      compared to HC2, and ability to differentiate HPV 16/18 from other HPV types,
      Abbott PCR could be a reliable laboratory testing method for the screening of HPV
      infections.

PMID- 27650621
TI  - Evaluation of Isothermal Target and Probe Amplification (iTPA) for the Detection
      of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study compared the diagnostic power of isothermal target and
      probe amplification (iTPA) with the existing real-time PCR for the detection of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). METHOD: The two molecular methods were
      performed using DNA extracted directly from lower respiratory tract samples, not
      from the culture broth. A total of 174 non-consecutive patients with suspected
      pulmonary tuberculosis were enrolled in this study. Acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain
      and liquid culture with the BACTEC MGIT 960 system (Becton Dickinson Diagnostic,
      USA) were performed. Real-time PCR and iTPA methods were performed with the
      AdvanSure TB/NTM TaqMan assay (LG Lifescience, Korea) and the RapiDx(r) MTB test
      (RapleGene, Korea). RESULTS: Among 174 patients, 49 of 52 isolates were
      identified as MTB and 3 of 52 isolates were identified as non-tuberculous
      mycobacteria NTM. Based on the culture results, the sensitivity, specificity,
      positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were 95.9%,
      90.1%, 81.3%, and 98.2% for iTPA, and 95.7%, 91.0%, 80.4%, and 98.2% for real
      time PCR, respectively. The agreement of iTPA was 83.0% with the AFB stain, 92.4%
      with the MGIT culture, and 94.2% with real-time PCR. Disagreement between the two
      molecular methods occurred in 10 patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first
      to report the evaluation of iTPA conducted from direct specimens. Both iTPA and
      real-time PCR proved to be rapid, sensitive, and specific tools for the detection
      of MTB in clinical samples. The iTPA method for the MTB detection revealed a high
      concordance rate with real-time PCR.

PMID- 27650622
TI  - Morphoproteomics Identifies Etiopathogenetic Correlates of HHV-8-Associated
      Kaposi's Sarcoma and Provides Pathways with Therapeutic Options: A Case Study.
AB  - A morphoproteomic analysis was performed to identify the proteins and
      corresponding molecular pathways activated for a case of non-HIV Kaposi's
      sarcoma. This analysis provides insight into the biology of the tumor and
      identifies etiopathogenetic correlates of HHV-8-Associated Kaposi's sarcoma that
      are useful in formulating therapeutic alternatives. 

PMID- 27650623
TI  - First Korean Patients with Craniofrontonasal Syndrome Confirmed by EFNB1
      Analysis.
AB  - Craniofrontonasal syndrome (CFNS) is a very rare genetic disorder with variable
      clinical phenotypes, including brachycephaly, hypertelorism, and a bifid nasal
      tip. Moreover, longitudinal splittings of the nails and skeletal abnormalities
      may accompany this condition. CFNS is inherited in an X-linked dominant manner;
      however, affected heterozygous females exhibit additional and more severe
      manifestations compared with affected hemizygous males, paradoxically. Here, we
      report for the first time in Korea two girls with molecularly confirmed CFNS.
      They commonly showed the typical craniofacial manifestations of CFNS, whereas the
      severity and the type of associated anomalies differed between them, suggesting
      phenotypic diversity for this disease. One patient showed unilateral coronal
      synostosis, cleft palate, and septate uterus together with intellectual
      disability. The other patient exhibited bilateral coronal synostosis and normal
      developmental milestones, without anomalies in other organs. A Sanger sequencing
      analysis of these patients revealed one novel (IVS2+3G>T) and one previously
      reported mutation (p.Gly151Ser) in EFNB1 Both patients were de novo cases without
      a family history of CFNS. 

PMID- 27650624
TI  - Rapid Diagnosis of Mycobacterium genavense Disseminated Infection by the Microseq
      500: A Case Report in A Two Year Old HIV-Negative Child.
AB  - This paper evaluates the capability of MicroSeq 500 instrument to improve the
      diagnosis of Mycobacterium genavense The strain was isolated from a two year old
      child admitted to our hospital for hepatosplenomegaly and massive abdominal
      lymphadenopathies. DNA was extracted from a lymph node and examined by amplifying
      500 bp at the 5' end of 16S rRNA gene using MicroSeq 500 16S rDNA Bacterial
      Identification PCR kit. Sequencing reactions were performed with MicroSeq 500 16S
      rDNA Bacterial Identification Sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems, USA).
      Afterwards, sequences were analyzed by GenBank database and identified as
      Mycobacterium genavense, a slow-growing nontuberculous mycobacterium. The use of
      16S rRNA gene sequencing for the identification of bacteria allows the
      recognition of new clinically relevant agents, eliminating the culture result
      waiting times. 

PMID- 27650625
TI  - Anaplastic Transformation in Mandibular Metastases of Follicular Variant of
      Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Anaplastic transformation of well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas at distant
      metastatic sites is a rare condition. Most cases described in the literature have
      occurred in the thyroid or regional lymph nodes. We report a case of anaplastic
      transformation of the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma in
      mandibular metastases. A 76-year-old female presented with a painful and
      enlarging mandibular mass. She had been treated in the past for the follicular
      variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. A palliative hemi-mandibulectomy was
      performed. Histology revealed a metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma,
      follicular variant, with an unusual finding of solid pleomorphic epithelioid and
      spindle cell areas, consistent with anaplastic transformation. 

PMID- 27650626
TI  - Creatine Deficiency Syndrome could be Missed Easily: A Case Report of
      Guanidinoacetate Methyltransferase Deficiency Presented with Neurodevelopmental
      Delay, Seizures, and Behavioral Changes, but Normal Structural MRI.
AB  - A case with GAMT deficiency (homozygous c.64dupG mutation) presented with
      neurodevelopmental delay, rare seizures, behavioral disturbances, and mild
      hypotonia, posing diagnostic challenges. Metabolic investigations showed low
      creatinine in plasma and urine (guanidinoacetate couldn't be investigated) and
      slightly elevated lactate. MRI was normal. Correct diagnosis was possible only
      after MR spectroscopy was performed at age 51/2 years. A homozygous c.64dupG
      mutation of the GAMT gene was identified in the proband. In conclusion, every
      case with neurodevelopmental delay or arrest, especially when accompanied by
      seizures, behavioral impairment, muscle hypotonia or extrapyramidal symptoms
      should undergo MRI with MR spectroscopy. Normal structural MRI doesn't exclude a
      creatine deficiency syndrome. Biochemical investigations of guanidinoacetate,
      creatine, and creatinine in body fluid should be done to diagnose cerebral
      creatine deficiency syndromes and to specify the deficient enzyme. Thus, a
      treatable disease will not be missed. 

PMID- 27650627
TI  - A Novel FLCN c.1489_1490delTG Mutation that Escapes the Nonsense-Mediated Decay
      System.
AB  - A novel FLCN c.1489_1490delTG (p.Val497Glyfs*22) mutation at the genomic DNA and
      mRNA levels was identified in a 43-year-old woman with complaining of recurrent
      primary spontaneous pneumothorax. The aberrant FLCN mRNA escaped the nonsense
      mediated decay system (NMD) because of a premature termination code located in an
      NMD-incompetent region. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case
      report of an FLCN mutation escaping the NMD. 

PMID- 27650628
TI  - Pregnancy outcome after false diagnosis of fetal growth restriction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate pregnancy outcome following false diagnosis of fetal
      growth restriction (FGR). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of all singleton term
      deliveries of appropriately grown fetuses (10-90th weight percentiles) in a
      single medical center (2007-2014). Elective cesarean-section, diabetes, and
      hypertension were excluded. Cohort was stratified based on third trimester
      sonographic estimated-fetal-weight (>=32 weeks). Women with false diagnosis FGR
      (<10th percentile) were compared with the rest (control). Induction of labor,
      cesarean deliveries, and short-term perinatal outcome were compared. Logistic
      regression analysis was performed to adjust outcome for birth weight and
      gestational age at delivery. RESULTS: Of 34,474 pregnancies, 415 were falsely
      diagnosed as FGR (1.2%). Women in study group delivered earlier (38.6 +/- 1.1
      versus. 39.0 +/- 0.9) with lower birth weights (2856 +/- 270 versus 3271 +/- 307
      grams) and increased rate of labor inductions (19.8% versus 6.4%) and cesarean
      deliveries (10.8% versus 5.7%). Despite appropriate birth weight, study group
      neonates had higher rates of NICU admissions (10.6% versus 6.8%), mechanical
      ventilation (1.7% versus 0.5%), transient tachypnea of the newborn (1.7% versus
      0.5%), hypoglycemia (1.7% versus 0.5%), and jaundice (11.3% versus 7.0%). p <
      0.01 for all. All remained significant after adjustment to confounders.
      CONCLUSIONS: False diagnosis of FGR is associated with higher rates of induction
      of labor, cesarean deliveries, and short-term adverse neonatal outcome.

PMID- 27650629
TI  - Applied catastrophic phase inversion: a continuous non-centrifugal phase
      separation step in biphasic whole-cell biocatalysis.
AB  - Biphasic whole-cell biotransformations are known to be efficient alternatives to
      common chemical synthesis routes, especially for the production of, e.g. apolar
      enantiopure organic compounds. They provide high stereoselectivity combined with
      high product concentrations owing to the presence of an organic phase serving as
      substrate reservoir and product sink. Industrial implementation suffers from the
      formation of stable Pickering emulsions caused by the presence of cells. State-of
      the-art downstream processing includes inefficient strategies such as excessive
      centrifugation, use of de-emulsifiers or thermal stress. In contrast, using the
      catastrophic phase inversion (CPI) phenomenon (sudden switch of emulsion type
      caused by addition of dispersed phase), Pickering-type emulsions can be
      destabilized efficiently. Within this work a model system using bis(2-ethylhexyl)
      phthalate (BEHP) as organic phase in combination with E. coli, JM101 was
      successfully separated using a continuous mixer settler setup. Compared to the
      state-of-the-art centrifugal separations, this process allows complete phase
      separation with no detectable water content or cells in the organic phase with no
      utilities/additives required. Furthermore, the concentration of the product is
      not affected by the separation. It is therefore a simple applicable method that
      can be used for separation of stable Pickering-type emulsions based on the
      knowledge of the point of inversion.

PMID- 27650630
TI  - Combining woody biomass for combustion with green waste composting: Effect of
      removal of woody biomass on compost quality.
AB  - The question was tackled on how the green waste compost industry can optimally
      apply the available biomass resources for producing both bioenergy by combustion
      of the woody fraction, and high quality soil improvers as renewable sources of
      carbon and nutrients. Compost trials with removal of woody biomass before or
      after composting were run at 9 compost facilities during 3 seasons to include
      seasonal variability of feedstock. The project focused on the changes in
      feedstock and the effect on the end product characteristics (both compost and
      recovered woody biomass) of this woody biomass removal. The season of collection
      during the year clearly affected the biochemical and chemical characteristics of
      feedstock, woody biomass and compost. On one hand the effect of removal of the
      woody fraction before composting did not significantly affect compost quality
      when compared to the scenario where the woody biomass was sieved from the compost
      at the end of the composting process. On the other hand, quality of the woody
      biomass was not strongly affected by extraction before or after composting. The
      holocellulose:lignin ratio was used in this study as an indicator for (a) the
      decomposition potential of the feedstock mixture and (b) to assess the stability
      of the composts at the end of the process. Higher microbial activity in green
      waste composts (indicated by higher oxygen consumption) and thus a lower compost
      stability resulted in higher N immobilization in the compost. Removal of woody
      biomass from the green waste before composting did not negatively affect the
      compost quality when more intensive composting was applied. The effect of removal
      of the woody fraction on the characteristics of the green waste feedstock and the
      extracted woody biomass is depending on the season of collection.

PMID- 27650631
TI  - Catalytic dry reforming of waste plastics from different waste treatment plants
      for production of synthesis gases.
AB  - Catalytic dry reforming of mixed waste plastics, from a range of different
      municipal, commercial and industrial sources, were processed in a two-stage fixed
      bed reactor. Pyrolysis of the plastics took place in the first stage and dry
      (CO2) reforming of the evolved pyrolysis gases took place in the second stage in
      the presence of Ni/Al2O3 and Ni-Co/Al2O3 catalysts in order to improve the
      production of syngas from the dry reforming process. The results showed that the
      highest amount of syngas yield was obtained from the dry reforming of plastic
      waste from the agricultural industry with the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, producing
      153.67mmolsyngasg-1waste. The addition of cobalt metal as a promoter to the
      Ni/Al2O3 catalyst did not have a major influence on syngas yield. Overall, the
      catalytic-dry reforming of waste plastics from various waste treatment plants
      showed great potential towards the production of synthesis gases.

PMID- 27650633
TI  - Two-phase anaerobic digestion of vegetable market waste fraction of municipal
      solid waste and development of improved technology for phase separation in two
      phase reactor.
AB  - Biogas production from vegetable market waste (VMW) fraction of municipal solid
      waste (MSW) by two-phase anaerobic digestion system should be preferred over the
      single-stage reactors. This is because VMW undergoes rapid acidification leading
      to accumulation of volatile fatty acids and consequent low pH resulting in
      frequent failure of digesters. The weakest part in the two-phase anaerobic
      reactors was the techniques applied for solid-liquid phase separation of
      digestate in the first reactor where solubilization, hydrolysis and acidogenesis
      of solid organic waste occur. In this study, a two-phase reactor which consisted
      of a solid-phase reactor and a methane reactor was designed, built and operated
      with VMW fraction of Indian MSW. A robust type filter, which is unique in its
      implementation method, was developed and incorporated in the solid-phase reactor
      to separate the process liquid produced in the first reactor. Experiments were
      carried out to assess the long term performance of the two-phase reactor with
      respect to biogas production, volatile solids reduction, pH and number of
      occurrence of clogging in the filtering system or choking in the process liquid
      transfer line. The system performed well and was operated successfully without
      the occurrence of clogging or any other disruptions throughout. Biogas production
      of 0.86-0.889m3kg-1VS, at OLR of 1.11-1.585kgm-3d-1, were obtained from vegetable
      market waste, which were higher than the results reported for similar substrates
      digested in two-phase reactors. The VS reduction was 82-86%. The two-phase
      anaerobic digestion system was demonstrated to be stable and suitable for the
      treatment of VMW fraction of MSW for energy generation.

PMID- 27650632
TI  - Thermal co-treatment of combustible hazardous waste and waste incineration fly
      ash in a rotary kiln.
AB  - As current disposal practices for municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly
      ash are either associated with significant costs or negative environmental
      impacts, an alternative treatment was investigated in a field scale experiment.
      Thereto, two rotary kilns were fed with hazardous waste, and moistened MSWI fly
      ash (water content of 23%) was added to the fuel of one kiln with a ratio of
      169kg/Mg hazardous waste for 54h and 300kg/Mg hazardous waste for 48h while the
      other kiln was used as a reference. It was shown that the vast majority (>90%) of
      the inserted MSWI fly ash was transferred to the bottom ash of the rotary kiln.
      This bottom ash complied with the legal limits for non-hazardous waste landfills,
      thereby demonstrating the potential of the investigated method to transfer
      hazardous waste (MSWI fly ash) into non-hazardous waste (bottom ash). The results
      of a simple mixing test (MSWI fly ash and rotary kiln bottom ash have been mixed
      accordingly without thermal treatment) revealed that the observed transformation
      of hazardous MSWI fly ash into non-hazardous bottom ash during thermal co
      treatment cannot be referred to dilution, as the mixture did not comply with
      legal limits for non-hazardous waste landfills. For the newly generated fly ash
      of the kiln, an increase in the concentration of Cd, K and Pb by 54%, 57% and
      22%, respectively, was observed. In general, the operation of the rotary kiln was
      not impaired by the MSWI fly ash addition.

PMID- 27650634
TI  - Tolerance and effectiveness of nivolumab after pediatric T-cell replete,
      haploidentical, bone marrow transplantation: A case report.
AB  - To date, there has been a lack of pediatric experience regarding the efficacy and
      tolerability of immune checkpoint inhibitors after haploidentical hematopoietic
      stem cell transplant (HSCT). We present the case of a 22-year-old female with
      multiple-relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who presented with a new relapse after
      haploidentical (post-haplo) HSCT. Anti-PD-1 therapy with nivolumab resulted in
      significant objective disease response and clinical improvement without notable
      side effects, including the absence of a graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This
      case report suggests that immune checkpoint inhibition may be safely tolerated
      even in the setting of haploidentical HSCT, without triggering overt GVHD.

PMID- 27650635
TI  - Carboxylic Acid-Functionalized Conducting-Polymer Nanotubes as Highly Sensitive
      Nerve-Agent Chemiresistors.
AB  - Organophosphates are powerful inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, which is
      critical to nerve function. Despite continuous research for detecting the highly
      toxic organophosphates, a new and improved methodology is still needed. Herein we
      demonstrate simple-to-fabricate chemiresistive gas sensors using conducting
      polymer polypyrrole (PPy) nanotube transducers, which are chemically specific and
      capable of recognizing sub-ppb concentrations (ca. 0.5 ppb) of dimethyl
      methylphosphonate (DMMP), a simulant of nerve agent sarin. Interestingly, the
      introduction of carboxylic groups on the surface of PPy nanotube transistors
      resulted in enhanced sensitivity to DMMP via intermolecular hydrogen bonding.
      Furthermore, it was found that the sensitivity of the nanotube transducer
      depended on the degree of the carboxylic group introduced. Finally, a sensor
      array composed of 5 different transducers including the carboxylated nanotubes
      exhibited excellent selectivity to DMMP in 16 vapor species.

PMID- 27650636
TI  - Comparison of angioplasty and bypass surgery for critical limb ischaemia in
      patients with infrapopliteal peripheral artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both infrapopliteal (IP) bypass surgery and percutaneous transluminal
      angioplasty have been shown to be effective in patients with critical limb
      ischaemia (CLI). The most appropriate method of revascularization has yet to be
      established, as no randomized trials have been reported. The aim of this study
      was to compare the outcomes of patients with similar characteristics treated
      using either revascularization method. METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing
      IP bypass and IP angioplasty for CLI (Rutherford 4-6) at a single institution
      were compared following propensity score matching. The study endpoints were
      primary, assisted primary and secondary patency, and amputation-free survival at
      12 months, calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: Some 279 limbs in 243
      patients were included in the study. The two groups differed significantly with
      respect to the incidence of diabetes (P = 0.024), estimated glomerular filtration
      rate (P = 0.006), total lesion length (P < 0.001) and Rutherford classification
      (P = 0.008). These factors were used to construct the propensity score model,
      which yielded a matched cohort of 125 legs in each group. Primary patency (54.4
      versus 51.4 per cent; P = 0.014), assisted primary patency (77.5 versus 62.7 per
      cent; P = 0.003), secondary patency (84.4 versus 65.8 per cent; P < 0.001) and
      amputation-free survival (78.7 versus 74.1 per cent; P = 0.043) were
      significantly better after bypass than angioplasty. However, limb salvage was
      similar (90.4 versus 94.2 per cent; P = 0.161), and overall complications (36.0
      versus 21.6 per cent; P = 0.041) as well as length of hospital stay (18(4-134)
      versus 5(0-110); P = 0.001) were worse in the surgical bypass group. CONCLUSION:
      There was no difference in limb salvage rates, but patency and amputation-free
      survival rates were better 1 year after bypass surgery.

PMID- 27650637
TI  - Videolaryngoscopy or direct laryngoscopy for child tracheal intubation during
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

PMID- 27650639
TI  - How Voting and Consensus Created the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders (DSM-III).
AB  - This paper examines how Task Force votes were central to the development of
      Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III and DSM-III-R).
      Data were obtained through a literature review, investigation of DSM archival
      material housed at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and interviews
      with key Task Force members of DSM-III and DSM-III-R. Such data indicate that
      Task Force votes played a central role in the making of DSM-III, from
      establishing diagnostic criteria and diagnostic definitions to settling questions
      about the inclusion or removal of diagnostic categories. The paper concludes that
      while the APA represented DSM-III, and the return to descriptive psychiatry it
      inaugurated, as a triumph of empirically based decision-making, the evidence
      presented here fails to support that view. Since the DSM is a cumulative project,
      and as DSM-III lives on through subsequent editions, this paper calls for a more
      socio-historically informed understanding of DSM's construction to be deployed in
      how the DSM is taught and implemented in training and clinical settings.

PMID- 27650638
TI  - Impact of proton pump inhibitors and dual antiplatelet therapy cessation on
      outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention: Results From the PARIS
      Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) may decrease the availability of
      clopidogrel by competitive antagonism, leading to a potential increase in
      ischemic events. METHODS: We evaluated patients from the all-comer PARIS registry
      treated with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and clopidogrel
      following coronary stenting for outcomes stratified by PPI use. Two-year major
      adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), composite of cardiac death, myocardial
      infarction, definite or probable stent thrombosis or target lesion
      revascularization (TLR), and net adverse cardiac events (NACE), composite of MACE
      or Bleeding Academic Research consortium (BARC) type 3 or 5 bleeding were
      assessed. We also explored associations between PPI use and patterns of 2-year
      DAPT cessation. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 4635 patients (23% PPI users) with
      mean age 64.4 +/-11.4 years. Two year adjusted risk of MACE (HR: 1.27, 95% CI:
      1.04-1.55), NACE (HR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.01-1.44) and TLR (HR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.04
      1.71) were significantly higher in PPI users vs. non-users, without a difference
      in bleeding. Although the incidence of 2-year DAPT discontinuation and
      interruption was similar, DAPT disruption was significantly lower among PPI users
      vs. non-users (10.0% vs. 14.7%, P <0.0001). Compared to non-PPI users on
      continued DAPT, disruption was associated with higher MACE in both PPI users (HR:
      2.34, 95% CI: 1.38-3.97) and non-users (HR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.02-1.94) but greater
      BARC 3,5 bleeding only in non-PPI users (HR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.21-3.51).
      CONCLUSIONS: In clopidogrel treated PCI patients, the 2-year adjusted risk of
      MACE and NACE was significantly higher in PPI users driven by higher TLR compared
      to non-PPI users, without a difference in bleeding. PPI use was associated with
      lower incidence of DAPT disruption without an increase in disruption related
      bleeding compared to non-PPI users on DAPT. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650640
TI  - Toothpastes and enamel erosion/abrasion - Impact of active ingredients and the
      particulate fraction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate in vitro a range of differently characterised
      toothpastes with respect to their efficacy in an erosion/abrasion setting with
      special emphasis on the role of the particulate ingredients. METHODS: Human
      enamel samples were erosively demineralised with citric acid (2min, 6*/day; 0.5%,
      pH 2.5; 10 days) and immersed in slurries (2min, 2*/day) either without or with
      brushing (15s, load 200g). The toothpastes were eight NaF-toothpastes, three
      hydroxyapatite-toothpastes (one without and two with NaF), one fluoride-free
      chitosan-toothpaste and three Sn-toothpastes. Negative control was erosion only,
      positive control was SnF2 gel. Tissue loss was quantified profilometrically.
      RESULTS: The SnF2 gel was most effective (reduction of tissue loss of 79%). Most
      of the products reduced tissue loss significantly when applied as slurries
      (between 28 and 66%). Brushing increased tissue loss in almost all toothpastes,
      only 5 formulations (all Sn-toothpastes and 2 NaF-toothpastes) reduced tissue
      loss significantly when compared to negative control (between 33 and 59%). There
      was a non-linear association between abrasiveness and amount of particles in a
      formulation, the particle size had no impact. CONCLUSIONS: Toothpastes had a
      protecting effect when applied as slurries but to a much lesser degree when
      applied with brushing. The particulate fraction may be a determinant for
      toothpaste efficacy in erosion/abrasion settings. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
      Toothpastes are important carriers of active agents against erosion, but physical
      impacts through brushing modifies efficacy distinctly. Understanding the role of
      the particulate fraction in toothpastes may offer perspectives for designing
      effective formulations for patients with erosive lesions.

PMID- 27650641
TI  - Analysis of the human population bitten by Ixodes scapularis ticks in Quebec,
      Canada: Increasing risk of Lyme disease.
AB  - Ixodes scapularis, the main vector of Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochetal agent
      of Lyme disease, is expanding its range in southern Canada and bringing risk to
      the public from Lyme disease. The aims of this study were to (i) describe how
      risk of Lyme disease in Quebec, Canada, has changed from 2008 to 2014 by analysis
      of the number of tick submissions, the geographic scope of ticks submitted and
      the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in ticks removed from people and submitted
      through the Quebec passive tick surveillance program and (ii) explore whether
      exposure to ticks is influenced by age and sex. Ticks were collected from 2008 to
      2014 in a passive surveillance program conducted by the Laboratoire de sante
      publique du Quebec (LSPQ), and tested by PCR for B. burgdorferi at the National
      Microbiology Laboratory. The number of ticks submitted each year more than
      quadrupled during the study period (from 174 in 2008 to 962 in 2014), increases
      in the geographic range and geographic uniformity of submissions amongst
      municipalities were observed, and infection prevalence in the ticks (mostly adult
      females) submitted rose from 5.9% in 2008 to 18.1% in 2014. These data are
      consistent with outcomes from active surveillance for blacklegged ticks. More men
      (54.4%) than women (45.6%) were bitten by I. scapularis ticks and the frequency
      of tick submission was highest in children under 15 years of age and in the
      adults 50-70 years old. These findings demonstrate the utility of conducting
      passive tick surveillance using humans and provides information on risk groups
      (i.e., males, children under 15, adults older than 50, and those living in the
      more southern parts of the province) to which information on personal protection
      and tick-bite prevention should be most strongly targeted.

PMID- 27650642
TI  - Significant improvement of bone mineral density and bone turnover markers by
      denosumab therapy in bisphosphonate-unresponsive patients.
AB  - : Bone mineral density (BMD) sometimes cannot be improved by long-term
      bisphosphonate (BP) therapy in osteoporosis (OP). This study showed that lumbar
      as well as hip BMD significantly increased after denosumab treatment in patients
      not responsive to BPs. Thus, denosumab may be a strong OP treatment option for BP
      unresponsive patients. INTRODUCTION: BMD sometimes cannot be improved by long
      term BP therapy. METHODS: We administered denosumab to osteoporotic patients with
      a poor response to BPs who had been taking them for 2 years or longer. Ninety
      eight women with BP-poor responsive OP were enrolled in this study. Mean
      (standard deviation [SD]) age was 71.2 (6.9) years and mean (SD) duration of BP
      treatment was 59.9 (34.3) months. We distinguished BP responders from non
      responders based on changes in BMD values at denosumab commencement (baseline)
      from 2 years beforehand. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age,
      duration of BP use, bone turnover markers, or BMD at baseline between the groups.
      Prior to denosumab, BMD had increased significantly in responders and decreased
      significantly in non-responders. Bone turnover markers had decreased
      significantly at 4 months of denosumab treatment (P < 0.001) and lumbar and hip
      BMD were significantly increased at 1 year of therapy in both groups (P < 0.001).
      Simple correlation coefficients were -0.337 for lumbar and -0.339 for hip BMD
      changes (both P = 0.001) before and after denosumab treatment. Both at the lumbar
      spine and hips, decreased BMD before denosumab therapy was significantly
      associated with an increase in BMD at 1 year of treatment (spine, t value = 
      3.502, P = 0.001, R = 0.113; hip, t value = -3.526, P = 0.001, R = 0.115).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that denosumab may be a strong OP treatment
      option for BP-unresponsive patients.

PMID- 27650644
TI  - Investigation of topographical anatomy of Broca's area: an anatomic cadaveric
      study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The sulci constituting the structure of the pars triangularis and
      opercularis, considered as 'Broca's area', present wide anatomical and
      morphological variations between different hemispheres. The boundaries are
      described differently from one another in various studies. The aim of this study
      was to explore the topographical anatomy, confirm the morphological asymmetry and
      highlight anatomical variations in Broca's area. METHODS: This study was
      performed with 100 hemispheres to investigate the presence, continuity, patterns
      and connections of the sulcal structures that constitute the morphological
      asymmetry of Broca's area. RESULTS: Considerable individual anatomical and
      morphological variations between the inferior frontal gyrus and related sulcal
      structures were detected. Rare bilateralism findings supported the morphological
      asymmetry. The inferior frontal sulcus was identified as a single segment in 54 %
      of the right and two separate segments in 52 % of the left hemispheres, which was
      the most common pattern. The diagonal sulcus was present in 48 % of the right and
      54 % of the left hemispheres. It was most frequently connected to the ascending
      ramus on both sides. A 'V' shape was observed in 42.5 % of the right hemispheres
      and a 'Y' shape in 38.3 % of the left hemispheres, which was the most common
      shape of the pars triangularis. Moreover, the full results are specified in
      detail. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the anatomical variations in this region is
      indispensable for understanding the functional structure and performing safe
      surgery. However, most previously published studies have aimed to determine the
      anatomical asymmetry of the motor speech area without illuminating the
      topographical anatomy encountered during surgery.

PMID- 27650643
TI  - The FRAX-based Lebanese osteoporosis treatment guidelines: rationale for a hybrid
      model.
AB  - : We describe our approach to develop FRAX-based osteoporosis treatment
      guidelines in Lebanon, a country with low-moderate fracture rates. A hybrid
      assessment algorithm that combines a fixed 10 % intervention threshold until age
      70 years, and an age-dependent threshold thereafter, was deemed most suitable.
      INTRODUCTION: The FRAX risk calculator is used to guide intervention thresholds
      in several national osteoporosis guidelines. This study aimed to describe the
      approach in developing FRAX-based osteoporosis treatment guidelines in Lebanon, a
      country with relatively low fracture rates. METHODS: We reassessed previous
      national guidelines combined with an evaluation of age-dependent and fixed FRAX
      based intervention threshold models used in the UK, the USA, and Canada. We took
      into consideration the risk for major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) and the
      proportions of subjects considered for therapy using such thresholds, before
      finalizing a model for Lebanon. RESULTS: The new Lebanese guidelines retained the
      recommendation to treat individuals with fragility fracture at the hip or spine.
      A femoral neck T-score <=-2.5 in subjects without fractures was dropped, since it
      would imply consideration of therapy for individuals with a 10-year risk for MOF
      of <10 %, up to age 75 years in women. After considering the impact of both age
      dependent and fixed intervention thresholds, we chose a new hybrid algorithm,
      combining a fixed 10 % treatment threshold until age 70 years and an age
      dependent threshold thereafter. CONCLUSION: The Lebanese FRAX-based hybrid model
      takes into consideration the risk for MOF and the proportions of subjects
      considered for treatment. This model avoids consideration of drug therapy in a
      large proportion of younger subjects at low risk for fracture and targets high
      risk elderly individuals. It was deemed most suitable for Lebanon and may be an
      option for other countries with relatively low fracture rates.

PMID- 27650645
TI  - Eustachian tube communicating with sphenoid sinus: report of a novel anatomical
      variant.
AB  - Reports of congenital anomalies of the Eustachian Tube (ET) are scarce, and often
      associated with chromosomal abnormalities. We report a unique case of a
      completely bony left Eustachian tube which communicated with the sphenoid sinus.
      This report details these findings and discusses the potential embryological
      basis and implications of such an unusual anatomy, in the context of a
      comprehensive literature review.

PMID- 27650646
TI  - Development of a Nonparametric Predictive Model for Readmission Risk in Elderly
      Adults After Colon and Rectal Cancer Surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Primary objective: to use advanced nonparametric techniques to
      determine risk factors for readmission after colorectal cancer surgery in elderly
      adults. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: to compare this methodology with traditional
      parametric methods. DESIGN: Using data from the American College of Surgeons
      National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), nonparametric techniques
      were used to evaluate the risk of readmission in elderly adults undergoing
      surgery for colorectal cancer in 2011 and 2012. SETTING: More than 200 hospitals
      participating in the NSQIP database. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 65 and older
      who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer in 2011 and 2012 (N = 2,117).
      MEASUREMENTS: Age-stratified robust nonparametric predictive model
      (classification and regression tree (CART) analysis) of 30-day readmission for
      elderly adults undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. RESULTS: Recent
      chemotherapy was the most important predictor of readmission in participants aged
      65 to 74, with 20% of those with recent chemotherapy and 11% of with no recent
      chemotherapy being readmitted. Participants aged 75 to 84 who had recently
      undergone chemotherapy had a readmission rate of 23%, whereas those with no
      chemotherapy had a readmission rate of 9%. Being underweight was the greatest
      predictor of readmission (30%) in participants aged 85 and older. These methods
      were found to be more robust than traditional logistic regression. CONCLUSION:
      Specific age-related preoperative factors help predict readmission in elderly
      adults undergoing colorectal cancer surgery. Results of the nonparametric CART
      analysis are better than traditional regression analysis and help physicians to
      clinically stratify based on age. This model may help identify individuals in
      whom intervention may be helpful in reducing readmission after surgery.

PMID- 27650647
TI  - The precipitation of indium at elevated pH in a stream influenced by acid mine
      drainage.
AB  - Indium is an increasingly important metal in semiconductors and electronics and
      has uses in important energy technologies such as photovoltaic cells and light
      emitting diodes (LEDs). One significant flux of indium to the environment is from
      lead, zinc, copper, and tin mining and smelting, but little is known about its
      aqueous behavior after it is mobilized. In this study, we use Mineral Creek, a
      headwater stream in southwestern Colorado severely affected by heavy metal
      contamination as a result of acid mine drainage, as a natural laboratory to study
      the aqueous behavior of indium. At the existing pH of ~3, indium concentrations
      are 6-29MUg/L (10,000* those found in natural rivers), and are completely
      filterable through a 0.45MUm filter. During a pH modification experiment, the pH
      of the system was raised to >8, and >99% of the indium became associated with the
      suspended solid phase (i.e. does not pass through a 0.45MUm filter). To determine
      the mechanism of removal of indium from the filterable and likely primarily
      dissolved phase, we conducted laboratory experiments to determine an upper bound
      for a sorption constant to iron oxides, and used this, along with other published
      thermodynamic constants, to model the partitioning of indium in Mineral Creek.
      Modeling results suggest that the removal of indium from the filterable phase is
      consistent with precipitation of indium hydroxide from a dissolved phase. This
      work demonstrates that nonferrous mining processes can be a significant source of
      indium to the environment, and provides critical information about the aqueous
      behavior of indium.

PMID- 27650648
TI  - Professionalism in anesthesia.
AB  - PURPOSE: Is professionalism in medicine just another bureaucratic imposition on
      our practice or a fundamental concept for physicians at all stages in their
      career? In this review, the historical perspectives of professionalism are
      explored as well as the what, why, and how questions concerning this topic.
      SOURCE: The key words "professionalism" and "anesthesia" were used to conduct a
      search of the PubMed database, the policies and publications of relevant Canadian
      and international physician regulatory bodies and organizations, historical
      documents, and other internet publications. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Professionalism
      in anesthesia has a long history. While there are many definitions for
      professionalism, some very dated, all are based on virtues, behaviour, or
      professional identity. Professionalism plays a central role in the balance
      between physician autonomy and social contract, and it has a significant impact
      on patient safety and medicolegal litigation. CONCLUSION: Considerable evidence
      exists to suggest that professionalism must be treated seriously, particularly in
      these times of social accountability and budgetary pressures.

PMID- 27650649
TI  - Defining morphology of periodic leg movements in sleep: an evidence-based
      definition of a minimum window of sustained activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Current standard guidelines for scoring periodic leg movements (PLM)
      define the start and end of a movement but fail to explicitly specify the
      movement morphology necessary to classify an EMG event as a PLM, rather than some
      other muscle event. This is currently left to the expert visual scorer to
      determine. This study aimed to define this morphology to provide a consistent
      standard for visual scoring and to improve automatic periodic leg movements in
      sleep scoring. METHODS: A review of expert PLM scoring produced a hypothesized
      morphology criterion: a window of high EMG activity within the movement lasting
      at least 0.5 s. Two diverse expert visual scorers were independently presented
      with images of EMG tracings from candidate leg movements (CLM) that either passed
      or failed this requirement (aka "full" or "empty" movements, respectively), and
      indicated whether each should be scored as CLM. The 0.5-s window was compared
      with alternatives of 0.25 and 0.75 windows. RESULTS: Expert scorers on average
      identified 94 % of "full" movements as CLM in contrast to only 8.5 % of "empty"
      movements. The proposed minimum window of 0.5 s also resulted in the highest
      agreement between visual scorers and between scorers and an automatic program.
      CONCLUSION: An added criterion requiring 0.5 s of high EMG activity within a
      valid CLM improves the accuracy of automatic scoring algorithms in relation to
      the gold standard of expert visual scorers. Our results suggest that this rule is
      an accurate representation of the morphology feature used by experts. This new
      rule has the potential to improve consistency and accuracy of visual and
      automatic scoring of PLM.

PMID- 27650650
TI  - Infliximab Biosimilar (CT-P13; Infliximab-dyyb): A Review in Autoimmune
      Inflammatory Diseases.
AB  - Infliximab biosimilar (CT-P13/infliximab-dyyb; Remsima(r), Inflectra(r)) is
      approved in several countries for use in all indications for which reference
      infliximab (Remicade(r)) is approved, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA),
      ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and
      ulcerative colitis. Clinical data contributing to the EU approval of infliximab
      biosimilar were obtained from two pivotal double-blind clinical trials in
      patients with AS (PLANETAS) or RA (PLANETRA). Infliximab biosimilar demonstrated
      equivalence to reference infliximab in terms of its pharmacokinetic profile in
      patients with AS, patients with RA, and in healthy volunteers, and in terms of
      its efficacy in patients with RA. Clinical response rates in patients with RA or
      AS were maintained over the longer term (up to 102 weeks). In addition, the
      efficacy of infliximab biosimilar in patients with RA or Crohn's disease and
      ulcerative colitis [i.e. inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)] has been demonstrated
      in the real-world setting. Infliximab biosimilar was generally well tolerated,
      with a tolerability profile similar to that of reference infliximab. Switching
      from reference infliximab to infliximab biosimilar had no detrimental effect on
      efficacy, safety, or immunogenicity compared with continuous infliximab
      biosimilar therapy, according to the extensions of PLANETAS and PLANETRA, and
      real-world data in IBD. Current evidence therefore suggests that infliximab
      biosimilar is a useful alternative to reference infliximab in patients with
      autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 27650652
TI  - Design and construction of a spin-wave lens.
AB  - In this work, we present the focusing of a Damon-Eshbach wave in a Ni80Fe20 film
      by a shaped, discrete transition of the film thickness. We devised an algorithm
      to determine the required shape of a spin-wave lens. Due to the anisotropy three
      geometries qualify as plano-convex lenses. One lens geometry has been realized
      experimentally and the emitted spin-wave pattern is investigated by time-resolved
      scanning Kerr microscopy.

PMID- 27650651
TI  - Age-Related Changes in DNA Methylation Associated with Shifting Th1/Th2 Balance.
AB  - This study was conducted in order to explore age-related changes in the
      production of Th1 and Th2 cytokines and determine the corresponding status of DNA
      methylation. The plasma IL-4 and IFN-gamma levels and expression of Th-related
      cytokines and transcription factors in CD4+ splenocytes were observed in mice at
      different weeks of age. The DNA methylation levels of IL-4 and IFN-gamma
      promoters and the related regulatory regions in CD4+ splenocytes of mice at
      different weeks of age were analyzed. The DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) levels in
      CD4+ splenocytes of mice were analyzed. Changes in plasma IL-4 and IFN-gamma
      levels after 5-AZA injection were evaluated. Plasma IL-4 and IL-4 expression in
      CD4+ splenocytes declined with increasing age, while the IFN-gamma expression
      levels increased. Th-related transcription factors showed no differences in mice
      at different weeks of age. The DNMT1 and DNMT3b mRNA expression did not show
      significant changes in CD4+ splenocytes, whereas the DNMT3a mRNA expression
      increased with age. DNA methylation in the IL-4 promoter was increased, while DNA
      methylation in the IFN-gamma promoter was decreased. The methylation of RSH7, CNS
      1, and HSV increased significantly with age. Age-related changes in DNA
      methylation may be associated with the shift in Th1/Th2 balance.

PMID- 27650653
TI  - Head and neck inflammatory pseudotumor: Case series and review of the literature.
AB  - Inflammatory pseudotumor (IP) is an uncommon idiopathic lesion that often
      imitates malignancy clinically and radiologically. Inflammatory pseudotumors have
      been found to occur in various sites but rarely in the head and neck. The
      histopathology, imaging, and treatment of three unique cases of head and neck
      inflammatory pseudotumors are described in this case series. Patients in Cases 1
      and 2 presented with right level II neck mass and left parotid tail mass,
      respectively. The patient in Case 3 presented with otalgia, jaw pain and trismus,
      and a left parapharyngeal space mass. The tumors in Cases 1 and 3 significantly
      decreased in size with tapered courses of oral corticosteroids. The tumor in Case
      2 was surgically excised without disease recurrence. Malignancy must be ruled out
      with incisional or excisional biopsy. Treatment includes surgical excision, oral
      corticosteroids, or both. The literature shows that radiotherapy and small
      molecule inhibitors may be promising alternatives.

PMID- 27650655
TI  - What is the predictor of surgical mortality in adult colorectal perforation? The
      clinical characteristics and results of a multivariate logistic regression
      analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Colorectal perforations are a serious condition associated with a high
      mortality. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and
      identify predictors for the surgical mortality in adult patients with colorectal
      perforation, thereby achieving better outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective study of
      adult patients diagnosed with colorectal perforation operated was performed. The
      clinical variables that might influence the surgical mortality were first
      analyzed, and the significant variables were then analyzed using a logistic
      regression model. RESULTS: A total of 423 patients were identified, and the
      surgical mortality rate was 36.9 %. The most common etiology was diverticulitis
      (38.2 %). The highest etiology-specific mortality was for colorectal cancer (61.5
      %) and ischemic proctocolitis (59.8 %). In a logistic analysis, the significant
      predictors for the surgical mortality were >=3 comorbidities (p = 0.034),
      preoperation American Society of Anesthesiologists score >=4 (p = 0.025),
      preoperative sepsis or septic shock (p < 0.001), colorectal cancer or ischemic
      proctocolitis (p = 0.035), reoperation (p = 0.041), and Hinchey classification
      grade IV (p = 0.024). CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that >=3 comorbidities, a
      preoperation American Society of Anesthesiologists score >=4, preoperative sepsis
      or septic shock, colorectal cancer or ischemic proctocolitis, reoperation, and
      Hinchey classification grade IV are predictors for the surgical mortality in the
      adult cases of colorectal perforation. These predictors should be taken into
      consideration to prevent surgical mortality and to reduce potentially unnecessary
      medical expenses.

PMID- 27650654
TI  - Structural analysis and biological activities of BXL0124, a gemini analog of
      vitamin D.
AB  - Gemini analogs of calcitriol, characterized by the extension of the C21-methyl
      group of calcitriol with a second chain, act as agonists of the vitamin D
      receptor (VDR). This second side chain of gemini is accommodated in a new cavity
      inside the VDR created by the structural rearrangement of the protein core. The
      resulting conformational change preserves the active state of the receptor and
      bestows gemini compounds with biological activities that exceed those of
      calcitriol. Of particular interest are gemini's anti-cancer properties, and in
      this study we demonstrate anti-proliferative and tumor-reducing abilities of
      BXL0124 and BXL0097, differing only by the presence or absence, respectively, of
      the methylene group on the A ring. BXL0124 acts as a more potent VDR agonist than
      its 19-nor counterpart by activating VDR-mediated transcription at lower
      concentrations. In a similar manner, BXL0124 is more active than BXL0097 in
      growth inhibition of breast cancer cells and reduction of tumor volume.
      Structural comparisons of BXL0097 and BXL0124, as their VDR complexes, explain
      the elevated activity of the latter.

PMID- 27650656
TI  - Countdown to 2030 for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent
      health and nutrition.

PMID- 27650657
TI  - The genetics of the bitter taste receptor T2R38 in upper airway innate immunity
      and implications for chronic rhinosinusitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) refractory to therapeutic intervention
      may involve a particularly resistant infection known as a bacterial biofilm.
      Critical to biofilm formation is the microbial process of quorum sensing whereby
      microbes secrete factors that regulate the expression of microbial genes involved
      in biofilm formation, persistence, and virulence. Here, we review recent work
      demonstrating that the bitter taste receptor T2R38, expressed on the apical
      surface of the sinonasal epithelium, serves a sentinel role in eavesdropping on
      microbial quorum-sensing communications and regulates localized innate biocidal
      defenses. Furthermore, studies investigating whether cilia are necessary for
      T2R38 expression and function in the upper airway are presented. METHODS: Primary
      human sinonasal air-liquid interface cultures were used to elucidate cellular
      pathways responsive to quorum-sensing molecules, whereas clinical studies
      investigated the contribution of T2R38 polymorphisms to recalcitrant chronic
      rhinosinusitis. RESULTS: T2R38 is stimulated by acyl-homoserine lactones, gram
      negative quorum-sensing molecules, and subsequently activates nitric oxide
      dependent innate immune responses. The formation of mature cilia is necessary for
      T2R38 expression and function, and polymorphisms that underlie T2R38
      functionality appear to be involved in susceptibility to upper respiratory
      infection and recalcitrant CRS. CONCLUSION: Taste receptors are emerging as
      critical components of early-phase respiratory innate immunity, detecting
      molecules used by microbes to communicate and stimulating localized host
      defenses. Genetic polymorphisms are very common within the taste receptors, and
      recent linkage studies have demonstrated associations of taste receptor genetics
      with CRS. Lastly, ciliogenesis, which is often impacted in CRS, is critical for
      the functional expression of T2R38. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A. Laryngoscope, 127:44
      51, 2017.

PMID- 27650658
TI  - [Usefulness of copeptin in the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome in the
      emergency department of a tertiary hospital].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the usefulness of
      copeptin (a stable fragment of the precursor of arginine vasopressin) in the
      differential diagnosis of acute chest pain of probable coronary origin. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: The study includes 82 patients who were initially evaluated
      according to the protocol of a patient with suspected acute coronary syndrome
      (ACS) in our Emergency Department, including the determination of troponin and
      copeptin with specimens taken on admission (time 0) and at 6h. RESULTS:
      Statistically significant differences were observed in copeptin concentrations at
      time 0 among patients diagnosed with non-ST-segment elevation (NTEACS): 42.1+/
      38.7pmol/L and non-NSTEACS patients: 15.6+/-21.2pmol/L (P<. 01). However, the
      differences did not reach statistical significance at 6h (P=.093). The analysis
      of the area under the ROC curve for Copeptin in NSTEACS patients at time 0 was
      0.713, with a confidence interval of 95% from 0.592 to 0.834 and a significance
      level of P=.001. CONCLUSIONS: The concentration of copeptin represents an
      additional value in the differentiation between NSTEACS patients and non-NSTEACS
      patients, as well as between ACS patients and patients with stable angina. The
      cut-off point of 10pmol/L provides the best values for sensitivity, negative
      predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (LR+), and negative likelihood
      ratio (LR-) in the diagnosis of NSTEACS patients.

PMID- 27650661
TI  - [Cooking Skills and Consumption of Ready Meal in University Students of
      Barcelona, Spain].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Confidence in cooking skills is relevant in health. The objective was
      to study the status of cooking skills and consumption of ready meal among
      university students in the city of Barcelona, assessing their association with
      sociodemographic variables and confidence in some culinary skills and knowing how
      to cook. METHODS: Cross-sectional study, carried out during the 2014-2015
      academic year, 525 students (81.3% women, median age 21 years) using an on-line
      questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed; odds ratios
      and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. RESULTS: Between 53% and 89% of the
      students reported feeling very confident in 10 of the 18 cooking skills. No
      statistically significant differences were observed by sex, and between 62% and
      86% of those over 21 years expressed great confidence in 9 competitions. The
      consumption of ready meal was prevalent (49.4%) and associated with age (OR=0.95
      95% CI: 0.91-0.99), gender (male, OR=1.98 95% CI: 1.23-3.18) and not knowing how
      to cook (OR=2.25 95% CI: 1.10-4.60). In students who knew how to cook, eating
      ready meal was associated with gender (male, OR =1.67 95% CI: 1.00 to 2.77) and
      no longer feel confident in preparing more than one food at one time (OR = 1.73
      95% CI: 1.58 to 2.60). CONCLUSIONS: Students at a university in Barcelona have a
      level in cooking skills which could be improved, and consume ready meals usually.

PMID- 27650660
TI  - Attributable harm of severe bleeding after cardiac surgery in hemodynamically
      stable patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to quantify the effect of severe postoperative bleeding in
      hemodynamically stable patients following cardiac surgery. METHODS: We reviewed
      the charts of all cardiac surgery patients operated on at our institution between
      2010 and 2014. After excluding patients with tamponade or MAP <60, we propensity
      matched patients having chest tube output >300 mL in the first postoperative
      hour, >200 mL in the second, and >100 mL in the third ("bleeding" group) with
      patients having <50 mL/h of chest tube output ("dry" group). The primary outcome
      was a composite of morbidity or mortality (excluding reexploration). RESULTS:
      5016 patients were operated on between 2010 and 2014; of these, we included the
      records of 84 bleeding and 498 dry patients. Propensity matching resulted in 68
      pairs of patients well-matched on baseline and operative variables. As compared
      to matched dry patients, bleeding patients were more likely to experience the
      primary outcome of any morbidity/mortality (36.8 vs. 13.2 %, p = 0.002), as well
      as ventilation >24 h (33.8 vs. 7.4 %, p < 0.001) and 30-day mortality (11.8 vs.
      1.5 %, p = 0.02). Of the 84 bleeding patients, 46 underwent reexploration for
      bleeding within 24 h of surgery. A subgroup analysis propensity matching bleeding
      patients who were or were not reexplored <24 h demonstrated similarly poor
      outcomes in each group (primary outcome, 44.7 % reexplored vs. 50.0 % non
      reexplored, p = 0.65), though reexplored patients were far less likely to require
      hematoma evacuation/washout >24 h after surgery (0 vs. 18.4 %, p = 0.005).
      CONCLUSIONS: Even among hemodynamically stable patients, severe bleeding is
      associated with markedly worse outcomes following cardiac surgery.

PMID- 27650659
TI  - The cannulation strategy in surgery for acute type A dissection.
AB  - The rates of mortality and morbidity remain high in surgery for acute type A
      dissection. There is controversy regarding the best cannulation strategy for
      achieving good clinical results. Each cannulation technique has different
      anatomical characteristics and a different flow pattern inside the aorta during
      cardiopulmonary bypass. Some adverse, clinically important outcomes may be
      related to events at this time. Femoral artery cannulation, axillary artery
      cannulation, and central aortic cannulation are the three major cannulation
      strategies that are adopted in many centers in the world. Accumulating results
      from comparative studies between right axillary artery cannulation and femoral
      artery cannulation show that right axillary artery cannulation is associated with
      better clinical outcomes. However, all of the studies have been retrospective,
      and few studies have compared the results of other combinations of cannulation
      strategies. Observational studies using newer monitoring techniques clearly show
      that no perfusion strategy is perfect or free from complications. In summary, the
      evidence is insufficient to make a strong recommendation regarding cannulation
      strategies. Based on the fairly consistent results of retrospective studies, more
      surgeons are tending to switch from a retrograde perfusion strategy to adopt an
      antegrade perfusion strategy. Regardless of the routine cannulation strategy that
      is adopted, careful monitoring and a swift response to adverse events are
      necessary. The further accumulation of evidence is warranted.

PMID- 27650664
TI  - Evaluation of World Population-Weighted Effective Dose due to Cosmic Ray
      Exposure.
AB  - After the release of the Report of the United Nations Scientific Committee of the
      Effects of Atomic Radiation in 2000 (UNSCEAR2000), it became commonly accepted
      that the world population-weighted effective dose due to cosmic-ray exposure is
      0.38 mSv, with a range from 0.3 to 2 mSv. However, these values were derived from
      approximate projections of altitude and geographic dependences of the cosmic-ray
      dose rates as well as the world population. This study hence re-evaluated the
      population-weighted annual effective doses and their probability densities for
      the entire world as well as for 230 individual nations, using a sophisticated
      cosmic-ray flux calculation model in tandem with detailed grid population and
      elevation databases. The resulting world population-weighted annual effective
      dose was determined to be 0.32 mSv, which is smaller than the UNSCEAR's
      evaluation by 16%, with a range from 0.23 to 0.70 mSv covering 99% of the world
      population. These values were noted to vary with the solar modulation condition
      within a range of approximately 15%. All assessed population-weighted annual
      effective doses as well as their statistical information for each nation are
      provided in the supplementary files annexed to this report. These data improve
      our understanding of cosmic-ray radiation exposures to populations globally.

PMID- 27650663
TI  - Next generation testing strategy for assessment of genomic damage: A conceptual
      framework and considerations.
AB  - For several decades, regulatory testing schemes for genetic damage have been
      standardized where the tests being utilized examined mutations and structural and
      numerical chromosomal damage. This has served the genetic toxicity community well
      when most of the substances being tested were amenable to such assays. The
      outcome from this testing is usually a dichotomous (yes/no) evaluation of test
      results, and in many instances, the information is only used to determine whether
      a substance has carcinogenic potential or not. Over the same time period,
      mechanisms and modes of action (MOAs) that elucidate a wider range of genomic
      damage involved in many adverse health outcomes have been recognized. In
      addition, a paradigm shift in applied genetic toxicology is moving the field
      toward a more quantitative dose-response analysis and point-of-departure (PoD)
      determination with a focus on risks to exposed humans. This is directing emphasis
      on genomic damage that is likely to induce changes associated with a variety of
      adverse health outcomes. This paradigm shift is moving the testing emphasis for
      genetic damage from a hazard identification only evaluation to a more
      comprehensive risk assessment approach that provides more insightful information
      for decision makers regarding the potential risk of genetic damage to exposed
      humans. To enable this broader context for examining genetic damage, a next
      generation testing strategy needs to take into account a broader, more flexible
      approach to testing, and ultimately modeling, of genomic damage as it relates to
      human exposure. This is consistent with the larger risk assessment context being
      used in regulatory decision making. As presented here, this flexible approach for
      examining genomic damage focuses on testing for relevant genomic effects that can
      be, as best as possible, associated with an adverse health effect. The most
      desired linkage for risk to humans would be changes in loci associated with human
      diseases, whether in somatic or germ cells. The outline of a flexible approach
      and associated considerations are presented in a series of nine steps, some of
      which can occur in parallel, which was developed through a collaborative effort
      by leading genetic toxicologists from academia, government, and industry through
      the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Health and Environmental
      Sciences Institute (HESI) Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee (GTTC). The
      ultimate goal is to provide quantitative data to model the potential risk levels
      of substances, which induce genomic damage contributing to human adverse health
      outcomes. Any good risk assessment begins with asking the appropriate risk
      management questions in a planning and scoping effort. This step sets up the
      problem to be addressed (e.g., broadly, does genomic damage need to be addressed,
      and if so, how to proceed). The next two steps assemble what is known about the
      problem by building a knowledge base about the substance of concern and
      developing a rational biological argument for why testing for genomic damage is
      needed or not. By focusing on the risk management problem and potential genomic
      damage of concern, the next step of assay(s) selection takes place. The work-up
      of the problem during the earlier steps provides the insight to which assays
      would most likely produce the most meaningful data. This discussion does not
      detail the wide range of genomic damage tests available, but points to types of
      testing systems that can be very useful. Once the assays are performed and
      analyzed, the relevant data sets are selected for modeling potential risk. From
      this point on, the data are evaluated and modeled as they are for any other
      toxicology endpoint. Any observed genomic damage/effects (or genetic event(s))
      can be modeled via a dose-response analysis and determination of an estimated
      PoD. When a quantitative risk analysis is needed for decision making, a parallel
      exposure assessment effort is performed (exposure assessment is not detailed here
      as this is not the focus of this discussion; guidelines for this assessment exist
      elsewhere). Then the PoD for genomic damage is used with the exposure information
      to develop risk estimations (e.g., using reference dose (RfD), margin of exposure
      (MOE) approaches) in a risk characterization and presented to risk managers for
      informing decision making. This approach is applicable now for incorporating
      genomic damage results into the decision-making process for assessing potential
      adverse outcomes in chemically exposed humans and is consistent with the ILSI
      HESI Risk Assessment in the 21st Century (RISK21) roadmap. This applies to any
      substance to which humans are exposed, including pharmaceuticals, agricultural
      products, food additives, and other chemicals. It is time for regulatory bodies
      to incorporate the broader knowledge and insights provided by genomic damage
      results into the assessments of risk to more fully understand the potential of
      adverse outcomes in chemically exposed humans, thus improving the assessment of
      risk due to genomic damage. The historical use of genomic damage data as a yes/no
      gateway for possible cancer risk has been too narrowly focused in risk
      assessment. The recent advances in assaying for and understanding genomic damage,
      including eventually epigenetic alterations, obviously add a greater wealth of
      information for determining potential risk to humans. Regulatory bodies need to
      embrace this paradigm shift from hazard identification to quantitative analysis
      and to incorporate the wider range of genomic damage in their assessments of risk
      to humans. The quantitative analyses and methodologies discussed here can be
      readily applied to genomic damage testing results now. Indeed, with the passage
      of the recent update to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the US, the
      new generation testing strategy for genomic damage described here provides a
      regulatory agency (here the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but
      suitable for others) a golden opportunity to reexamine the way it addresses risk
      based genomic damage testing (including hazard identification and exposure).
      Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 58:264-283, 2017. (c) 2016 The Authors. Environmental and
      Molecular Mutagenesis Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650662
TI  - Global peak alignment for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography mass
      spectrometry using point matching algorithms.
AB  - Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry
      (GC[Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]GC-MS) has been used
      to analyze multiple samples in a metabolomics study. However, due to some
      uncontrollable experimental conditions, such as the differences in temperature or
      pressure, matrix effects on samples and stationary phase degradation, there is
      always a shift of retention times in the two GC columns between samples. In order
      to correct the retention time shifts in GC[Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text][Formula: see text]GC-MS, the peak alignment is a crucial data analysis step
      to recognize the peaks generated by the same metabolite in different samples. Two
      approaches have been developed for GC[Formula: see text][Formula: see
      text][Formula: see text]GC-MS data alignment: profile alignment and peak matching
      alignment. However, these existing alignment methods are all based on a local
      alignment, resulting that a peak may not be correctly aligned in a dense
      chromatographic region where many peaks are present in a small region. False
      alignment will result in false discovery in the downstream statistical analysis.
      We, therefore, develop a global comparison-based peak alignment method using
      point matching algorithm (PMA-PA) for both homogeneous and heterogeneous data.
      The developed algorithm PMA-PA first extracts feature points (peaks) in the
      chromatography and then searches globally the matching peaks in the consecutive
      chromatography by adopting the projection of rigid and nonrigid transformation.
      PMA-PA is further applied to two real experimental data sets, showing that PMA-PA
      is a promising peak alignment algorithm for both homogenous and heterogeneous
      data in terms of [Formula: see text]1 score, although it uses only peak location
      information.

PMID- 27650666
TI  - In silico identification of promiscuous scaffolds as potential inhibitors of 1
      deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase for treatment of Falciparum
      malaria.
AB  - CONTEXT: Malaria remains one of the prevalent infectious diseases worldwide.
      Plasmodium falciparum 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PfDXR)
      plays a role in isoprenoid biosynthesis in the malaria parasite, making this
      parasite enzyme an attractive target for antimalarial drug design. Fosmidomycin
      is a promising DXR inhibitor, which showed safety as well as efficacy against
      Plasmodium falciparum malaria in clinical trials. However, due to its poor oral
      bioavailability and non-drug-like properties, the focus of medicinal chemists is
      to develop inhibitors with improved pharmacological properties. OBJECTIVE: This
      study described the computational design of new and potent inhibitors for
      deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase and the prediction of their
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A complex
      based pharmacophore model was generated from the complex X-ray crystallographic
      structure of PfDXR using MOE (Molecular Operating Environment). Furthermore, MOE
      Dock was used as docking software to predict the binding modes of hits and target
      enzyme. RESULTS: Finally, 14 compounds were selected as new and potent inhibitors
      of PfDXR on the basis of pharmacophore mapping, docking score, binding energy and
      binding interactions with the active site residues of the target protein. The
      predicted pharmacokinetic properties showed improved permeability by efficiently
      crossing blood-brain barrier. While, in silico promiscuity binding data revealed
      that these hits also have the ability to bind with other P. falciparum drug
      targets. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In conclusion, innovative scaffolds with
      novel modes of action, improved efficacy and acceptable
      physiochemical/pharmacokinetic properties were computationally identified.

PMID- 27650665
TI  - Assays of Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase and Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin
      Combination from Maternal Serum Improve the Detection of Prenatal Alcohol
      Exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol use during pregnancy leads to detrimental effects on fetal
      development. As self-reports by mothers are known to be unreliable for assessing
      prenatal alcohol exposure, there is a need for sensitive and specific biomarkers
      for identifying those at risk for alcohol-affected offspring. METHODS: We
      measured serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), carbohydrate-deficient
      transferrin (CDT), a mathematically formulated combination of GGT and CDT (GGT
      CDT), and ethylglucuronide (EtG) concentrations from 1,936 mothers with a
      positive (n = 480) or negative (n = 1,456) history of alcohol use at the time of
      pregnancy. The material included 385 alcohol-abusing mothers who subsequently
      gave birth to children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and 1,551 mothers
      without FAS children including 95 women who reported a median of 1.0 standard
      drinks of alcohol per day during pregnancy and 1,456 nondrinking controls. Among
      those without FAS outcome, there were 405 mothers with gestational diabetes
      mellitus (GDM) and 745 mothers representing lifelong abstainers. RESULTS: Mothers
      of FAS children had higher mean GGT, CDT, GGT-CDT, and EtG levels than abstainers
      (p < 0.001 for all comparisons) or mothers reporting some alcohol consumption but
      whose children were not diagnosed with FAS (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). In
      receiver operating characteristic analyses using cutoffs based on abstainers, the
      area under the curves (AUCs) for GGT-CDT (0.873) were higher than those of GGT
      (0.824), CDT (0.776), or EtG (0.584) for differentiating the mothers of FAS
      children and abstainers. Unlike CDT, this combination marker also differed
      significantly between drinking mothers without FAS outcome and abstainers (AUC =
      0.730, p < 0.001). In comparisons adjusted for GDM and body mass index, the group
      of mothers who had reported a median of 1.0 standard drinks of alcohol per day
      during pregnancy also differed from the group reporting no current alcohol intake
      in GGT (p < 0.02) and GGT-CDT (p < 0.01) levels. CONCLUSIONS: Combination of GGT
      and CDT improves the identification of prenatal alcohol exposure and associated
      high-risk pregnancies. A more systematic use of biomarkers may help intervention
      efforts to prevent alcohol-induced adverse effects on fetal development.

PMID- 27650667
TI  - The Effects of Feeding on Cardiac Control of the Broad-Nosed Caiman (Caiman
      latirostris): The Role of the Autonomic Nervous System and NANC Factors.
AB  - The metabolic increment that occurs after feeding demands cardiovascular
      adjustments to be maintained, as increased heart rate (fH ) and cardiac output.
      In mammals, postprandial tachycardia seems to be triggered by an increase in
      adrenergic activity and by nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) factors, while in
      ectothermic vertebrates, this adjustment seems to be linked to a withdrawal of
      vagal drive as well as to NANC factors. Because the factors behind postprandial
      tachycardia have not yet been investigated in crocodilians, the present study
      sought to evaluate the postprandial tachycardia mediators in the broad-nosed
      caiman. To this end, fasting and digesting animals were instrumented with
      intraperitoneal cannula and subcutaneous electrocardiogram electrodes (for the
      measurement of fH , cardiac autonomic tones, and total fH variability, as well as
      for a power spectral analysis of fH ). Data were then collected with the animals
      in an untreated state, as well as after muscarinic cholinergic blockade with
      atropine (2.5 mg kg-1 ) and after double autonomic blockade with atropine and
      propranolol (5.0 mg kg-1 ). Fasting animals' fH was ~18 bpm, a value which
      increased to ~30 bpm during digestion. After the double autonomic blockade,
      fasting animals exhibited an fH of ~15 bpm, while digesting animals' fH was ~23
      bpm. This result is evidence of the presence of NANC factors with positive
      chronotropic effects acting during digestion. The calculated autonomic tones
      showed that, after feeding, the adrenergic tone increased while the cholinergic
      tone remained unchanged. Finally, fH variability analyses revealed that this
      adrenergic increase is primarily derived from circulating catecholamines.

PMID- 27650670
TI  - Psychotropic Drug Prescription and the Risk of Falls in Nursing Home Residents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Falling is a common and serious problem in the elderly. Previous
      studies suggest that the use of psychotropic drugs increases the risk of falling.
      However, the contribution of these drugs on fall risk has not been quantified on
      a daily basis among the general population of nursing homes until now. OBJECTIVE:
      To assess the association between fall incidence and the prescription of
      psychotropic drugs and different categories of psychotropic drugs
      (antipsychotics, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines) among a general nursing
      home population. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study, data collection per
      person-day. SETTING: 9 nursing homes in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS:
      2368 nursing home residents, resulting in 538,575 person-days. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: Association between the prescription of psychotropic drugs and falls.
      RESULTS: A total of 2368 nursing home residents were included, which resulted in
      a data set of 538,575 person-days. Prescription of at least 1 psychotropic drug
      per day occurred during a total of 318,128 person-days (59.1%). Scheduled
      prescriptions with or without an as-needed prescription were involved in a total
      of 270,781 person-days (50.3%). The prescription of psychotropic drugs on a
      scheduled basis was found to be associated with almost a 3-fold increase in fall
      incidence (OR 2.88; 95% CI 1.52-5.44). An increase in fall incidence was found
      following the prescription of antipsychotics (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.51-2.59) and
      antidepressants (OR 2.26; 95% CI 1.73-2.95). This increased fall risk was found
      for prescriptions on a scheduled basis as well as for prescriptions on an as
      needed basis. CONCLUSION: The prescription of psychotropic drugs is associated
      with a strongly increased risk of falling among nursing home residents. To our
      knowledge, this is the first study among the general nursing home population in
      which the association between daily falls and daily prescriptions of psychotropic
      drugs and groups of psychotropic drugs was specified.

PMID- 27650669
TI  - Implementing Assessment of Cognitive Function and Frailty Into Primary Care: Data
      From Frailty and Alzheimer disease prevention into Primary care (FAP) Study
      Pilot.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aging can be affected by frailty and chronic diseases causing
      physical, cognitive, sensory, and functional decline evolving gradually to
      disability. The assessment of older patients is carried out in some geriatric day
      hospitals (GDHFs). However, it seems difficult to assess all patients in these
      GDHFs. In this context, a care model, which uses a specialist nurse trained in
      primary care and geriatric assessment, has been developed. In this article, we
      describe the organization, details of the evaluation, and provide the main
      characteristics of the first 200 patients assessed over a 6-month period.
      METHODS: Persons aged 70 years and older were invited to undergo an evaluation at
      the general practitioner's (GP) office by a nurse if the GP thought that the
      patient was frail or if the patient had cognitive complaint or for both reasons.
      RESULTS: A total of 200 patients from 14 GP offices were assessed. Overall, the
      mean age was 81.3 (+/-5.92) years. More than one-half were female (66%), and 32%
      of participants lived alone. The average Mini-Mental State Examination score was
      25.2 (+/-4.23); 16.7% had dementia; 12% of mild cognitive impairment were
      identified; 78% of patients were followed by their GP; and 2.5% were referred to
      a GDHF, 12% to specialized memory center, and 7.5% to geriatric consultation.
      CONCLUSIONS: This work foreshadows any other ambulatory options for older persons
      in his/her living area representing an alternative to the GDHF. It seems to meet
      the needs for this population and demonstrates the feasibility to implement in
      primary care a nurse trained to assess older patients in a GP office.

PMID- 27650668
TI  - The Diagnosis of Delirium Superimposed on Dementia: An Emerging Challenge.
AB  - Delirium occurring in patients with dementia is referred to as delirium
      superimposed on dementia (DSD). People who are older with dementia and who are
      institutionalized are at increased risk of developing delirium when hospitalized.
      In addition, their prior cognitive impairment makes detecting their delirium a
      challenge. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
      Edition and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related
      Health Problems, 10th Revision are considered the standard reference for the
      diagnosis of delirium and include criteria of impairments in cognitive processes
      such as attention, additional cognitive disturbances, or altered level of
      arousal. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
      and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health
      Problems, 10th Revision does not provide guidance regarding specific tests for
      assessment of the cognitive process impaired in delirium. Importantly, the
      assessment or inclusion of preexisting cognitive impairment is also not addressed
      by these standards. The challenge of DSD gets more complex as types of dementia,
      particularly dementia with Lewy bodies, which has features of both delirium and
      dementia, are considered. The objective of this article is to critically review
      key elements for the diagnosis of DSD, including the challenge of
      neuropsychological assessment in patients with dementia and the influence of
      particular tests used to diagnose DSD. To address the challenges of DSD
      diagnosis, we present a framework for guiding the focus of future research
      efforts to develop a reliable reference standard to diagnose DSD. A key feature
      of a reliable reference standard will improve the ability to clinically diagnose
      DSD in facility-based patients and research studies.

PMID- 27650671
TI  - A comparison of heart function and arrhythmia in clinically asymptomatic patients
      with beta thalassemia intermedia and beta thalassemia major.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to compare heart function and arrhythmia
      in clinically asymptomatic patients with beta thalassemia intermedia and beta
      thalassemia major. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 60 patients with beta
      thalassemia major and 60 patients with beta thalassemia intermedia who had
      clinically no symptoms of arrhythmia and clinically normal heart function were
      evaluated using 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring and
      echocardiography. For data analysis SPSS ver.20 software was used. A P-value of
      less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean age of
      the beta thalassemia intermedia patients was 24.18 +/- 7.9 years and the mean age
      in beta thalassemia major was 24.38 +/- 7.7 years (P>0.05). Premature atrial
      contractions (PACs) were observed in 14 (23.3%) patients with beta thalassemia
      intermedia and in 22 (36.6%) beta thalassemia major patients. Premature
      ventricular contractions (PVCs) were detected in 8 (13.3%) patients in the beta
      thalassemia intermediate group and 16 (26.6) patients in the beta thalassemia
      major group, respectively. The left ventricular diastolic dimension, end
      diastolic volume, and stroke volume were significantly higher in beta thalassemia
      intermedia group (P<0.05). Pulmonary acceleration time as an indicator of
      pulmonary pressure was lower in beta thalassemia intermedia group. CONCLUSION:
      Both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias were more common in the beta thalassemia
      major group. Higher end-diastolic volume and stroke volume were detected in the
      beta thalassemia intermedia group. Pulmonary acceleration time was lower in the
      beta thalassemia intermedia group, which can be an indicator of higher pulmonary
      pressure.

PMID- 27650672
TI  - Beta-mercaptoethanol supplementation of in vitro maturation medium does not
      influence nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of equine oocytes.
AB  - In vitro embryo production in the horse is still not as efficient as in other
      species. Oxidative stress negatively affects oocyte and embryo culture. To
      attenuate/minimize the oxidative stress, antioxidants such as low-molecular thiol
      compounds can be added to culture media. Beta-mercaptoethanol (BME) has been
      shown to improve maturation and embryo development in different species. The aim
      of this study was to investigate whether the addition to maturation medium of BME
      at common (0.1 mM) and high (0.7 mM) concentration could improve oocyte
      maturation also in the horse. Equine oocytes recovered from slaughterhouse
      ovaries were used. Meiotic configuration after in vitro maturation (IVM) and
      early embryo production after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were
      considered as criteria for assessing nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation,
      respectively. A total of 1,076 oocytes were analysed over two experiments: 848
      (control n = 293, BME 0.1 n = 270, BME 0.7 n = 285) were stained with Hoechst
      33342 and examined for nuclear stage after 26 hr of IVM, and 228 MII oocytes were
      fertilized by ICSI (control n = 83, BME 0.1 n = 65, BME 0.7 n = 80). Cleavage
      rates were determined after 60 hr of culture. Unlike results obtained in other
      species, the addition of BME did not influence maturation rates (51.9% control vs
      55.6% BME 0.1 mM and 55.1% BME 0.7 mM), nor cleavage rates after ICSI (38.6% vs
      38.5% and 41.3%, respectively). In conclusion, the addition of BME at 0.1 and 0.7
      mM to the maturation medium, in our culture conditions, has no effect on nuclear
      and cytoplasmic maturation of equine oocytes.

PMID- 27650673
TI  - Monarchs in decline: a collateral landscape-level effect of modern agriculture.
AB  - We review the postulated threatening processes that may have affected the decline
      in the eastern population of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus L.
      (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), in North America. Although there are likely multiple
      contributing factors, such as climate and resource-related effects on breeding,
      migrating, and overwintering populations, the key landscape-level change appears
      to be associated with the widespread use of genetically modified herbicide
      resistant crops that have rapidly come to dominate the extensive core summer
      breeding range. We dismiss misinterpretations of the apparent lack of population
      change in summer adult count data as logically flawed. Glyphosate-tolerant
      soybean and maize have enabled the extensive use of this herbicide, generating
      widespread losses of milkweed (Asclepias spp.), the only host plants for monarch
      larvae. Modeling studies that simulate lifetime realized fecundity at a landscape
      scale, direct counts of milkweeds, and extensive citizen science data across the
      breeding range suggest that a herbicide-induced, landscape-level reduction in
      milkweed has precipitated the decline in monarchs. A recovery will likely require
      a monumental effort for the re-establishment of milkweed resources at a
      commensurate landscape scale.

PMID- 27650674
TI  - 3-Hz subthreshold oscillations of CA2 neurons In vivo.
AB  - The CA2 region is unique in the hippocampus; it receives direct synaptic
      innervations from several hypothalamic nuclei and expresses various receptors of
      neuromodulators, including adenosine, vasopressin, and oxytocin. Furthermore, the
      CA2 region may have distinct brain functions, such as the control of instinctive
      and social behaviors; however, little is known about the dynamics of the
      subthreshold membrane potentials of CA2 neurons in vivo. We conducted whole-cell
      current-clamp recordings from CA2 pyramidal cells in urethane-anesthetized mice
      and monitored the intrinsic fluctuations in their membrane potentials. The CA2
      pyramidal cells emitted spontaneous action potentials at mean firing rates of
      ~0.8 Hz. In approximately half of the neurons, the subthreshold membrane
      potential oscillated at ~3 Hz. In two neurons, we obtained simultaneous
      recordings of local field potentials from the CA1 stratum radiatum and
      demonstrated that the 3-Hz oscillations of CA2 neurons were not correlated with
      CA1 field potentials. In tetrodotoxin-perfused acute hippocampal slices, the
      membrane potentials of CA2 pyramidal cells were not preferentially entrained to 3
      Hz sinusoidal current inputs, which suggest that intracellular 3-Hz oscillations
      reflect the neuronal dynamics of the surrounding networks. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650675
TI  - Treating rheumatoid arthritis to target: physician and patient adherence issues
      in contemporary rheumatoid arthritis therapy.
AB  - Development of the treat-to-target (T2T) strategy, the process whereby drug
      therapy is adjusted until the therapeutic goal is achieved, has revolutionized
      how rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are treated. With the advent of T2T, the
      management of RA is more effective than ever, with the possibility of remission
      and other favorable clinical and patient-reported outcomes. Effective
      implementation of a T2T strategy in routine clinical practice mainly depends on
      the long-term commitment of physician and patient to T2T treatment
      recommendations. However, as T2T is a complex process involving aggressive early
      management with several steps of therapy modifications requiring frequent close
      monitoring of disease activity and drug toxicities, it may be more liable to
      suboptimal adherence in real-life clinical practice. The aim of the review is to
      present key issues related to patient medication adherence and physician
      adherence to the current RA treatment recommendations and their importance in
      optimizing the outcome of treatment in RA treated according to T2T strategy.

PMID- 27650677
TI  - Management of refractory esophageal stenosis in the pediatric age.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Refractory esophageal stenosis (RES) is a major health problem in
      the pediatric population. Several techniques such as stent placement or C
      mitomycin (CM) have been described as alternative treatments. We present our
      experience with both techniques, in our case with biodegradable stents (BS) and
      sometimes the association with stents and CM. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six patients
      have been included: 2 post-operative fistulas in patients with type I esophageal
      atresia; 1 operated atresia without fistula; and 3 caustic strictures. 5 BS were
      placed in 4 children: 3 of them in cases of atresia (2 prosthesis in one case)
      and the other one in a case of stricture. CM was used in 5 cases: in 2 of them
      from the beginning, and in the other 3 cases after failure of the stent. RESULTS:
      When placed in fistulas, BS were fully covered. One of them successfully treated
      the fistula, but the other one was not effective. One stenosis was successfully
      treated with SB (in the case of persistent fistula), but recurrence was observed
      in the other 2 cases. One of these was solved with CM, and the other one needed a
      second stent. In the remaining 2 cases (one atresia and one caustic stricture) CM
      was effective after 1 and 2 sessions respectively. Overall, 5 out of 6 stenosis
      have been successfully treated (83.3%), and 1 out of 2 fistulas (50%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Association of BS and CM has been effective in the management of RES
      in children.

PMID- 27650676
TI  - Investigating the associations between adiposity, life course overweight
      trajectories, and telomere length.
AB  - Obesity may accelerate ageing through chronic inflammation. To further examine
      this association, we assessed current adiposity, adiposity at early adulthood and
      life course overweight trajectories in relation to leukocyte telomere length
      (LTL). We included a total of 7,008 nationally representative U.S. residents and
      collected information on objectively measured body mass index (BMI), waist
      circumference and percent body fat. BMI at age 25 and overweight trajectories
      were assessed using self-reported history. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL)
      relative to a standard DNA reference (T/S ratio) was quantified by polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR). Linear regression models were used to examine the
      difference in LTL across adiposity measures at examination, BMI at age 25, and
      overweight trajectories. A 0.2% decrease in telomere length (95% CI: -0.3 to 
      0.07%) was observed for every kg/m2 increase in BMI, whereas a unit increase in
      waist circumference (cm) and percent body fat contributed to a 0.09% and 0.01%
      decrease in LTL, respectively. Higher BMI and being obese at age 25 contributed
      to lower LTL at older ages. Associations between weight loss through life course
      and LTL were observed, which further marked the importance of life course
      adiposity dynamics as a determinant of ageing.

PMID- 27650678
TI  - Outcomes of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in relation to familial
      history: a decision analysis (BRCR-D-16-00033).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Family history of breast cancer is associated with an increased risk
      of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) even in the absence of mutations in the
      breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1/2. We compared quality-adjusted survival
      after contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) with surveillance only (no CPM)
      among women with breast cancer incorporating the degree of family history.
      METHODS: We created a microsimulation model for women with first-degree, second
      degree, and no family history treated for a stage I, II, or III estrogen receptor
      (ER)-positive or ER-negative breast cancer at the ages of 40, 50, 60, and 70. The
      model incorporated a 10-year posttreatment period for risk of developing CBC
      and/or dying of the primary cancer or CBC. For each patient profile, we used
      100,000 microsimulation trials to estimate quality-adjusted life expectancy for
      the clinical strategies CPM and no CPM. RESULTS: CPM showed minimal improvement
      on quality-adjusted life expectancy among women age 50-60 with no or a unilateral
      first-degree or second-degree family history (decreasing from 0.31 to -0.06
      quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs)) and was unfavorable for most subgroups of
      women age 70 with stage III breast cancer regardless of degree of family history
      (range -0.08 to -0.02 QALYs). Sensitivity analysis showed that the highest
      predicted benefit of CPM assuming 95 % risk reduction in CBC was 0.57 QALYs for a
      40-year-old woman with stage I breast cancer who had a first-degree relative with
      bilateral breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Women age 40 with stage I breast cancer and
      a first-degree relative with bilateral breast cancer have a QALY benefit from CPM
      similar to that reported for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. For most subgroups of
      women, CPM has a minimal to no effect on quality-adjusted life expectancy,
      irrespective of family history of breast cancer.

PMID- 27650679
TI  - Dephosphorylated parafibromin is a transcriptional coactivator of the
      Wnt/Hedgehog/Notch pathways.
AB  - Evolutionally conserved Wnt, Hedgehog (Hh) and Notch morphogen pathways play
      essential roles in the development, homeostasis and pathogenesis of multicellular
      organisms. Nevertheless, mechanisms that intracellularly coordinate these signal
      inputs remain poorly understood. Here we found that parafibromin, a component of
      the PAF complex, competitively interacts with beta-catenin and Gli1, thereby
      potentiating transactivation of Wnt- and Hh-target genes in a mutually exclusive
      manner. Parafibromin also binds to the Notch intracellular domain (NICD),
      enabling concerted activation of Wnt- and Notch-target genes. The transcriptional
      platform function of parafibromin is potentiated by tyrosine dephosphorylation,
      mediated by SHP2 phosphatase, while it is attenuated by tyrosine phosphorylation,
      mediated by PTK6 kinase. Consequently, acute loss of parafibromin in mice
      disorganizes the normal epithelial architecture of the intestine, which requires
      coordinated activation/inactivation of Wnt, Hh and/or Notch signalling.
      Parafibromin integrates and converts signals conveyed by these morphogen pathways
      into appropriate transcriptional outputs in a tyrosine
      phosphorylation/dephosphorylation-regulated manner.

PMID- 27650680
TI  - Discovery, screening and evaluation of a plasma biomarker panel for subjects with
      psychological suboptimal health state using (1)H-NMR-based metabolomics profiles.
AB  - Individuals in the state of psychological suboptimal health keep increasing, only
      scales and questionnaires were used to diagnose in clinic under current
      conditions, and symptoms of high reliability and accuracy are destitute.
      Therefore, the noninvasive and precise laboratory diagnostic methods are needed.
      This study aimed to develop an objective method through screen potential
      biomarkers or a biomarker panel to facilitate the diagnosis in clinic using
      plasma metabolomics. Profiles were based on H-nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H
      NMR) metabolomics techniques combing with multivariate statistical analysis.
      Furthermore, methods of correlation analysis with Metaboanalyst 3.0 for selecting
      a biomarker panel, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) drug intervention for
      validating the close relations between the biomarker panel and the state and the
      receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC curves) analysis for evaluation of
      clinical diagnosis ability were carried out. 9 endogenous metabolites containing
      trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), glutamine, N-acetyl-glycoproteins, citrate,
      tyrosine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, valine and glucose were identified and
      considered as potential biomarkers. Then a biomarker panel consisting of
      phenylalanine, glutamine, tyrosine, citrate, N-acetyl-glycoproteins and TMAO was
      selected, which exhibited the highest area under the curve (AUC = 0.971). This
      study provided critical insight into the pathological mechanism of psychological
      suboptimal health and would supply a novel and valuable diagnostic method.

PMID- 27650681
TI  - Population pharmacokinetics of exenatide.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present analysis was to develop a core population
      pharmacokinetic model for the pharmacokinetic properties of immediate-release
      (IR) exenatide, which can be used in subsequent analyses of novel sustained
      release formulations. METHODS: Data from eight clinical trials, evaluating a wide
      range of doses and different administration routes, were available for analysis.
      All modelling and simulations were conducted using the nonlinear mixed-effect
      modelling program NONMEM. External model validation was performed using data from
      the phase III clinical trials programme through standard visual predictive
      checks. RESULTS: The pharmacokinetics of IR exenatide was described by a two
      compartment model, and the absorption of subcutaneous exenatide was described
      with a sequential zero-order rate constant followed by a saturable nonlinear
      absorption process. Drug elimination was characterized by two parallel routes
      (linear and nonlinear), with significant relationships between renal function and
      the linear elimination route, and between body weight and volume of distribution.
      For a subject with normal renal function, the linear clearance was estimated to
      be 5.06 l hr-1 . The nonlinear elimination was quantified with a Michaelis-Menten
      constant (Km ) of 567 pg ml-1 and a maximum rate of metabolism (Vmax ) of 1.6 MUg
      h-1 . For subcutaneous administration, 37% of the subcutaneous dose is absorbed
      via the zero-order process, and the remaining 63% via the nonlinear pathway.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present analysis provides a comprehensive population
      pharmacokinetic model for exenatide, expanding the elimination process to include
      both linear and nonlinear components, providing a suitable platform for a broad
      range of concentrations and patient conditions that can be leveraged in future
      modelling efforts of sustained-release exenatide formulations.

PMID- 27650682
TI  - Metformin and the Gut Microbiome in Diabetes.

PMID- 27650683
TI  - Intensity modulated radiation therapy for women with gynecologic cancers: this
      horse is also already out of the barn.

PMID- 27650685
TI  - Guidelines and other things.

PMID- 27650686
TI  - The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical guidelines
      for mood disorders: Kudos and quarrels.

PMID- 27650687
TI  - Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice
      guideline for the management of deliberate self-harm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide guidance for the organisation and delivery of clinical
      services and the clinical management of patients who deliberately self-harm,
      based on scientific evidence supplemented by expert clinical consensus and
      expressed as recommendations. METHOD: Articles and information were sourced from
      search engines including PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO for several
      systematic reviews, which were supplemented by literature known to the deliberate
      self-harm working group, and from published systematic reviews and guidelines for
      deliberate self-harm. Information was reviewed by members of the deliberate self
      harm working group, and findings were then formulated into consensus-based
      recommendations and clinical guidance. The guidelines were subjected to
      successive consultation and external review involving expert and clinical
      advisors, the public, key stakeholders, professional bodies and specialist groups
      with interest and expertise in deliberate self-harm. RESULTS: The Royal
      Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines
      for deliberate self-harm provide up-to-date guidance and advice regarding the
      management of deliberate self-harm patients, which is informed by evidence and
      clinical experience. The clinical practice guidelines for deliberate self-harm is
      intended for clinical use and service development by psychiatrists,
      psychologists, physicians and others with an interest in mental health care.
      CONCLUSION: The clinical practice guidelines for deliberate self-harm address
      self-harm within specific population sub-groups and provide up-to-date
      recommendations and guidance within an evidence-based framework, supplemented by
      expert clinical consensus.

PMID- 27650688
TI  - The RANZCP mood disorders guidelines: An easy step-by-step toolbox for daily
      practice.

PMID- 27650684
TI  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for newly diagnosed, advanced ovarian cancer: Society of
      Gynecologic Oncology and American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice
      Guideline.
AB  - PURPOSE: To provide guidance to clinicians regarding the use of neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy and interval cytoreduction among women with stage IIIC or IV
      epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: The Society of Gynecologic Oncology and the
      American Society of Clinical Oncology convened an Expert Panel and conducted a
      systematic review of the literature. RESULTS: Four phase III clinical trials form
      the primary evidence base for the recommendations. The published studies suggest
      that for selected women with stage IIIC or IV epithelial ovarian cancer,
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval cytoreduction are non-inferior to primary
      cytoreduction and adjuvant chemotherapy with respect to overall and progression
      free survival and are associated with less perioperative morbidity and mortality.
      RECOMMENDATIONS: All women with suspected stage IIIC or IV invasive epithelial
      ovarian cancer should be evaluated by a gynecologic oncologist prior to
      initiation of therapy. The primary clinical evaluation should include a CT of the
      abdomen and pelvis, and chest imaging (CT preferred). Women with a high
      perioperative risk profile or a low likelihood of achieving cytoreduction to <1cm
      of residual disease (ideally to no visible disease) should receive neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy. Women who are fit for primary cytoreductive surgery, and with
      potentially resectable disease, may receive either neoadjuvant chemotherapy or
      primary cytoreductive surgery. However, primary cytoreductive surgery is
      preferred if there is a high likelihood of achieving cytoreduction to <1cm
      (ideally to no visible disease) with acceptable morbidity. Before neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy is delivered, all patients should have confirmation of an invasive
      ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer. Additional information is
      available at www.asco.org/NACT-ovarian-guideline and www.asco.org/guidelineswiki.

PMID- 27650689
TI  - Are the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical
      practice guidelines for mood disorders meeting the needs of clinicians?

PMID- 27650690
TI  - ICD-11 features of a mixed mood state: Bold or simply old?

PMID- 27650691
TI  - An Erudite Encounter with: Sam Gershon.

PMID- 27650692
TI  - Two Novel Microsporidia in Skeletal Muscle of Pike-Perch Sander lucioperca and
      Burbot Lota lota in Finland.
AB  - Two new species of Microsporidia were recognized in skeletal muscle of freshwater
      fishes from Finland. Myosporidium spraguei n. sp. from pike-perch Sander
      lucioperca occurred as mature spores within sporophorous vesicles (SPVs) within a
      xenoma. The ovoid spores were 3.8 MUm long and 2.4 MUm wide, based on
      transmission electron micrographs (TEM). The exospore and endospore were equally
      thick, the nucleus was monokaryotic and the polar filament was isofilar with 12
      coils in a single rank, entirely adjacent to the prominent posterior vacuole.
      Small subunit (SSU) rDNA sequence confirmed the presence of M. spraguei n. sp. in
      burbot Lota lota . The second species, Microsporidium luciopercae n. sp., also
      from pike-perch, occurred within SPVs that occupied only a fraction of the volume
      of the otherwise intact myocyte; no xenoma was produced. Myocyte degeneration and
      necrosis occurred as mature spores dispersed into direct contact with the
      sarcoplasm. The ovoid spores were 4.6 MUm long and 2.8 MUm wide (based on TEM);
      they were monokaryotic and the polar filament was isofilar with 25 coils in a
      single rank in the posterior of the spore. The exospore was relatively thin with
      an irregular profile. Neither infection elicited an inflammatory response,
      although degenerate spores were observed within host cells, suggesting
      phagocytosis. Phylogenetic analysis of SSU sequences placed both organisms on
      distinct clades within the Marinosporidia.

PMID- 27650693
TI  - Asymmetric Organocatalysis: The Emerging Utility of alpha,beta-Unsaturated
      Acylammonium Salts.
AB  - Although acylammonium salts are well-studied, chiral alpha,beta-unsaturated
      acylammonium salts have received much less attention. While these intermediates
      are convenient synthons, which are readily available from several commodity
      unsaturated acids and acid chlorides, and possess three reactive sites, their
      application in organic synthesis has been limited because of the lack of
      appropriate chiral Lewis bases for their generation. In recent years, the utility
      of chiral, unsaturated acylammonium salts has expanded considerably, thus
      demonstrating the unique reactivity of this intermediate leading to the
      development of a diverse array of catalytic, asymmetric transformations including
      organocascade processes. This Minireview highlights the recent and growing
      interest in these intermediates which might spark further research into their
      untapped potential for asymmetric organocascade catalysis. A cursory comparison
      is made to related unsaturated iminium and acylazolium intermediates.

PMID- 27650694
TI  - Survival benefit of gastrectomy for gastric cancer with peritoneal
      carcinomatosis: a propensity score-matched analysis.
AB  - Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is the most frequent pattern of metastasis in
      stage IV gastric cancer (GC). The study aims to investigate the efficacy of
      gastrectomy in GC with PC. Clinicopathological data of 518 stage IV GC patients
      were retrospectively collected in Nanfang Hospital. Among all cases, 312 GC
      patients with PC (without other site of metastasis) were eligible. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were performed to identify the independent prognostic
      factors. Propensity score matching analysis was performed to balance the
      characteristics and treatment-related factors. There was a significantly improved
      overall survival in gastrectomy group (148 patients) compared with nonresection
      group (164 patients) (P < 0.001). The 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 49.8%
      and 21.5% in gastrectomy group, whereas 28.8% and 9.7% in nonresection group,
      respectively. Further analysis showed that gastrectomy had also improved survival
      in P1 (P = 0.017) and P2 stage patients (P < 0.001), but not P3 stage (P =
      0.495). The modality of gastrectomy plus chemotherapy plus hyperthermic
      intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) showed an optimum survival. In addition, P3
      disease, nongastrectomy, nonchemotherapy, non-HIPEC, and age >= 60 years were
      independently associated with poor survival. The gastrectomy plus chemotherapy
      plus HIPEC modality showed a significant survival benefit for gastric
      adenocarcinoma patients, particularly in those with P1 and P2 diseases.

PMID- 27650695
TI  - Proteomics and antivenomics of Papuan black snake (Pseudechis papuanus) venom
      with analysis of its toxicological profile and the preclinical efficacy of
      Australian antivenoms.
AB  - : The Papuan black snake (Pseudechis papuanus Serpentes: Elapidae) is endemic to
      Papua New Guinea, Indonesian Papua and Australia's Torres Strait Islands. We have
      investigated the biological activity and proteomic composition of its venom. The
      P. papuanus venom proteome is dominated by a variety (n>=18) of PLA2s, which
      together account for ~90% of the venom proteins, and a set of low relative
      abundance proteins, including a short-neurotoxic 3FTx (3.1%), 3-4 PIII-SVMPs
      (2.8%), 3 cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISP; 2.3%) 1-3 l-amino acid oxidase
      (LAAO) molecules (1.6%). Probing of a P. papuanus cDNA library with specific
      primers resulted in the elucidation of the full-length nucleotide sequences of
      six new toxins, including vespryn and NGF not found in the venom proteome, and a
      calglandulin protein involved in toxin expression with the venom glands.
      Intravenous injection of P. papuanus venom in mice induced lethality,
      intravascular haemolysis, pulmonary congestion and oedema, and anticoagulation
      after intravenous injection, and these effects are mainly due to the action of
      PLA2s. This study also evaluated the in vivo preclinical efficacy of Australian
      black snake and polyvalent Seqirus antivenoms. These antivenoms were effective in
      neutralising the lethal, PLA2 and anticoagulant activities of P. papuanus venom
      in mice. On the other hand, all of the Seqirus antivenoms tested using an
      antivenomic approach exhibited strong immunorecognition of all the venom
      components. These preclinical results suggest that Australian Seqirus1 antivenoms
      may provide paraspecific protection against P. papuanus venom in humans.
      SIGNIFICANCE PARAGRAPH: The toxicological profile and proteomic composition of
      the venom of the Papuan black snake, Pseudechis papuanus, a large diurnal snake
      endemic to the southern coast of New Guinea and a handful of close offshore
      islands, were investigated. Intravenous injection of P. papuanus venom in mice
      induced intravascular hemolysis, pulmonary congestion and edema, anticoagulation,
      and death. These activities could be assigned to the set of PLA2 molecules, which
      dominate the P. papuanus venom proteome. This study also showed that Australian
      Seqirus black snake or polyvalent antivenoms were effective in neutralising the
      lethal, PLA2 and anticoagulant activities of the venom. These preclinical results
      support the continued recommendation of these Seqirus antivenoms in the clinical
      management of P. papuanus envenoming in Australia, Papua New Guinea or Indonesian
      Papua Province.

PMID- 27650696
TI  - Comparison of 3D Multi-inversion Time Arterial Spin Labeling and Digital
      Subtraction Angiography in the Evaluation of Cerebral Collateral Circulation.

PMID- 27650697
TI  - A Facile Electrochemical Preparation of Reduced Graphene Oxide@Polydopamine
      Composite: A Novel Electrochemical Sensing Platform for Amperometric Detection of
      Chlorpromazine.
AB  - We report a novel and sensitive amperometric sensor for chlorpromazine (CPZ)
      based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and polydopamine (PDA) composite modified
      glassy carbon electrode. The RGO@PDA composite was prepared by electrochemical
      reduction of graphene oxide (GO) with PDA. The RGO@PDA composite modified
      electrode shows an excellent electro-oxidation behavior to CPZ when compared with
      other modified electrodes such as GO, RGO and GO@PDA. Amperometric i-t method was
      used for the determination of CPZ. Amperometry result shows that the RGO@PDA
      composite detects CPZ in a linear range from 0.03 to 967.6 MUM. The sensor
      exhibits a low detection limit of 0.0018 MUM with the analytical sensitivity of
      3.63 +/- 0.3 MUAMUM(-1 )cm(-2). The RGO@PDA composite shows its high selectivity
      towards CPZ in the presence of potentially interfering drugs such as
      metronidazole, phenobarbital, chlorpheniramine maleate, pyridoxine and
      riboflavin. In addition, the fabricated RGO@PDA modified electrode showed an
      appropriate recovery towards CPZ in the pharmaceutical tablets.

PMID- 27650699
TI  - Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in nonobese patients: Not so different after all.

PMID- 27650700
TI  - Challenges in Radiofrequency Pasteurization of Shell Eggs: Coagulation Rings.
AB  - A total of 50 different configurations of simple radiofrequency (RF) heating at
      27.12 MHz of a shell egg were simulated using a finite element model with the
      purpose of pasteurizing the egg. Temperature-dependent thermal and dielectric
      properties of the yolk, albumen, and shell were measured, fitted, and introduced
      into the model. A regression equation that relates the top electrode voltage to
      the gap between the electrodes and vertical position of the egg was developed.
      Simulation and experimental results had good agreement in terms of temperature
      deviation (root mean squared error ranged from 0.35  degrees C to 0.48  degrees
      C) and both results demonstrated the development of a "coagulation ring" around
      the air cell. The focused heating near the air cell of the egg prevented
      pasteurization of the egg due to its impact on quality (coagulation). Analysis of
      the electric field patterns offered a perspective on how nonuniform RF heating
      could occur in heterogeneous food products. The results can be used to guide
      development of RF heating for heterogeneous food products and further development
      of RF pasteurization of eggs.

PMID- 27650698
TI  - [Feasibility and results of the short Diet Quality Screener in Primary Care: EMAP
      study].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility and results of the self-reported short diet
      quality screener (sDQS) in Primary Care. The variables associated with difficulty
      and inadequate diet are also determined. METHOD: Cross-sectional descriptive
      study conducted with 196 participants aged >18 years with diabetes mellitus,
      hypertension, or hypercholesterolaemia, consecutively included from 4 Primary
      Health Care Centres in Barcelona. The main variables collected were, age, sex,
      educational level, cardiovascular risk factors, body mass index, time to complete
      the sDQS, degree of difficulty, and diet score: inadequate diet <=18, adequate in
      some aspects 19-27, adequate >27. RESULTS: The mean age was 48.8 years (52%
      males). The analysis of the variables showed that the prevalence of having higher
      than a primary education level, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and
      obesity was 50%, 54.6%, 23.5%, 56.6%, and 27.5%, respectively. The mean time to
      complete the questionnaire was 2.3min. More than 80% considered it easy or very
      easy. An inadequate diet was reported by 21.4%, adequate in some aspects by
      76.5%, and an adequate diet only by 2%. To be older than 49 years and a low diet
      quality increased the risk of needing >=2min to complete the sDQS (OR 2.0, 95%
      CI; 1.0-4.3, and OR 2.3, 95% CI; 1.1-5.1, respectively). Not following a low
      cholesterol diet and age less than 49 years increased the risk of a low diet
      quality (OR 2.2; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5, and OR 2.9; 95% CI: 1.2-6.8, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: The completion of the sDQS is easy and was not a significant time
      burden in Primary Care. A significant proportion of participants with
      cardiovascular risk reported a low diet quality.

PMID- 27650701
TI  - Isthmic-vaginal cytological findings after a trachelectomy for early-stage
      cervical cancer.

PMID- 27650702
TI  - Cutaneous B-cell lymphomas: 2016 update on diagnosis, risk-stratification, and
      management.
AB  - DISEASE OVERVIEW: Approximately one-fourth of cutaneous lymphomas are B-cell
      derived and are generally classified into three distinct subgroups: primary
      cutaneous follicle center lymphoma (PCFCL), primary cutaneous marginal zone
      lymphoma (PCMZL), and primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type
      (PCDLBCL, LT). DIAGNOSIS: Diagnosis and disease classification is based on
      histologic review and immunohistochemical staining of an appropriate skin biopsy.
      Pathologic review and an appropriate staging evaluation are necessary to
      distinguish primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas from systemic B-cell lymphomas
      with secondary skin involvement. RISK-STRATIFICATION: Disease histology remains
      the most important prognostic determinant. Both PCFCL and PCMZL are indolent
      lymphomas that infrequently disseminate to extracutaneous sites and are
      associated with 5-year survival rates that exceed 95%. In contrast, PCDLBCL, LT
      is an aggressive lymphoma with an inferior prognosis. RISK-ADAPTED THERAPY: PCFCL
      and PCMZL patients with solitary or relatively few skin lesions may be
      affectively managed with local radiation therapy. While single-agent rituximab
      may be employed for patients with more widespread skin involvement, multiagent
      chemotherapy is rarely appropriate. In contrast, management of patients with
      PCDLBCL, LT is comparable to the management of patients with systemic DLBCL. Am.
      J. Hematol. 91:1052-1055, 2016. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650703
TI  - Correction to Concurrent Cooperativity and Substrate Inhibition in the
      Epoxidation of Carbamazepine by Cytochrome P450 3A4 Active Site Mutants Inspired
      by Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

PMID- 27650704
TI  - Rethinking cell growth models.
AB  - The minimal description of a growing cell consists of self-replicating ribosomes
      translating the cellular proteome. While neglecting all other cellular
      components, this model provides key insights into the control and limitations of
      growth rate. It shows, for example, that growth rate is maximized when ribosomes
      work at full capacity, explains the linear relation between growth rate and the
      ribosome fraction of the proteome and defines the maximal possible growth rate.
      This ribosome-centered model also highlights the challenge of coordinating cell
      growth with related processes such as cell division or nutrient production.
      Coordination is promoted when ribosomes don't translate at maximal capacity, as
      it allows escaping strict exponential growth. Recent data support the notion that
      multiple cellular processes limit growth. In particular, increasing
      transcriptional demand may be as deleterious as increasing translational demand,
      depending on growth conditions. Consistent with the idea of trade-off, cells may
      forgo maximal growth to enable more efficient interprocess coordination and
      faster adaptation to changing conditions.

PMID- 27650705
TI  - Candida glabrata encodes a longer variant of the mating type (MAT) alpha2 gene in
      the mating type-like MTL3 locus, which can form homodimers.
AB  - The fungal pathogen Candida glabrata is a haploid asexual yeast. Candida glabrata
      contains orthologs of the genes that control mating and cell-type identity in
      other fungi, which encode putative transcription factors localized in the MAT
      locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae or MTL in other fungi. Candida glabrata
      contains three copies of the CgMTL locus but only CgMTL1 correctly expresses the
      information encoded in it. CgMTL1 can encode the Cg A1: gene ( A: information),
      or the Cgalpha1 and Cgalpha2 genes (alpha information). CgMTL2 contains an
      identical copy of the Cg A1: gene. CgMTL3 contains an identical copy of the
      Cgalpha1 gene but a longer variant of the Cgalpha2 gene that we termed Cgalpha3.
      In S. cerevisiae diploid cells, that express Sc A: and Scalpha information, Sc
      A1: and Scalpha2 proteins form a heterodimer, which represses genes expressed
      only in haploid cells and some genes involved in stress response. We constructed
      C. glabrata strains that simultaneously express Cg A1: and Cgalpha2 or Cg A1: and
      Cgalpha3 genes. We did not find any phenotype in these strains when grown under a
      large variety of stress and nutritional conditions. However, we detected an
      interaction between Cg A1: and Cgalpha2 but not between Cg A1: and Cgalpha3 by
      Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation and co-immunoprecipitation assays.

PMID- 27650706
TI  - Modelling weekly vector control against Dengue in the Guangdong Province of
      China.
AB  - We develop a mathematical model to closely mimic the integrated program of
      impulsive vector control (every Friday afternoon since the initiation of the
      program) and continuous patient treatment and isolation implemented in the
      Guangdong Province of China during its 2014 dengue outbreak. We fitted the data
      of accumulated infections and used the parameterized model to carry out a
      retrospective analysis to estimate the basic reproduction number 1.7425 (95% CI
      1.4443-2.0408), the control reproduction number 0.1709, and the mosquito-killing
      ratios 0.1978, 0.2987, 0.6158 and 0.5571 on October 3, 10, 17 and 24,
      respectively. This suggests that integrated intervention is highly effective in
      controlling the dengue outbreak. We also simulated outbreak outcomes under
      different variations of the implemented interventions. We showed that skipping
      one Friday for vector control would not result in raising the control
      reproduction number to the threshold value 1 but would lead to significant
      increase in the accumulated infections at the end of the outbreak. The findings
      indicate that quick and persistent impulsive implementation of vector control
      result in an effective reduction in the control reproduction number and hence
      lead to significant decline of new infections.

PMID- 27650707
TI  - Preoperative oral antibiotics reduce infections after colorectal cancer surgery.
AB  - AIM: The objectives were to recognize the risk factors for surgical site
      infections (SSIs) after surgery due to colorectal cancer and to assess the impact
      of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) and oral antibiotic prophylaxis (ABX) on
      SSIs. METHODS: Records from two colorectal centers were used. Risk factors of
      SSIs were categorized into patient-, disease-, and treatment-dependent. RESULTS:
      A group of 2240 patients was included. SSIs were noted in 364 patients (16.3 %).
      MBP+/ABX+ was connected with a lower incidence of anastomotic leak (AL) and organ
      space SSIs: 2.4 vs. 6.3 %; p = 0.008 and 3.6 vs. 7.2 %; p = 0.017, respectively.
      Patient-dependent factors: obesity increased the risk of skin superficial SSIs,
      adjusted OR 1.53 (1.47-1.59 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI)), and deep
      incisional SSIs 1.42 (1.39-1.45 95 % CI). Disease-dependent factors: rectal
      cancer was associated with a higher risk of skin superficial and deep incisional
      SSIs, adjusted OR 1.28 (1.22-1.34 95 % CI) and 1.13 (1.09-1.15 95 % CI).
      Treatment-dependent factors: MBP+/ABX+ was associated with a lower risk of organ
      space SSIs, adjusted OR 0.53 (0.44-0.59 95 % CI). Radiotherapy increased the risk
      of organ-space SSIs, adjusted OR 1.78 (1.75-1.80 95 % CI). The risk of organ
      space SSIs was the highest after low anterior resection, adjusted OR 1.62 (1.60
      1.64 95 % CI). CONCLUSIONS: If possible, MBP and ABX should always be
      administered to decrease the risk of AL and organ-space SSIs. Factors strictly
      related to the treatment mostly increased the risk of organ-space SSIs.

PMID- 27650710
TI  - Denaturation strategies for detection of double stranded PCR products on GMR
      magnetic biosensor array.
AB  - Microarrays and other surface-based nucleic acid detection schemes rely on the
      hybridization of the target to surface-bound detection probes. We present the
      first comparison of two strategies to detect DNA using a giant magnetoresistive
      (GMR) biosensor platform starting from an initially double-stranded DNA target.
      The target strand of interest is biotinylated and detected by the GMR sensor by
      linking streptavidin magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to the sensor surface. The
      sensor platform has a dynamic detection range from 40pM to 40nM with highly
      reproducible results and is used to monitor real-time binding signals. The first
      strategy, using off-chip heat denaturation followed by sequential on-chip
      incubation of the nucleic acids and MNPs, produces a signal that stabilizes
      quickly but the signal magnitude is reduced due to competitive rehybridization of
      the target in solution. The second strategy, using magnetic capture of the double
      stranded product followed by denaturing, produces a higher signal but the signal
      increase is limited by diffusion of the MNPs. Our results show that both
      strategies give highly reproducible results but that the signal obtained using
      magnetic capture is higher and insensitive to rehybridization.

PMID- 27650711
TI  - NICE issues guidance on inappropriate sexual behaviour in children.

PMID- 27650709
TI  - Efficient streptavidin-functionalized nitrogen-doped graphene for the development
      of highly sensitive electrochemical immunosensor.
AB  - In this work, an efficient and universal streptavidin-functionalized nitrogen
      doped graphene (NG) was for the first time proposed and used to develop a highly
      sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of tumor markers.
      Transmission electron microscopy, electrochemical impedance spectrum, static
      water contact measurement, and cyclic voltammetry were used to characterize the
      streptavidin-functionalized NG platform and immunosensor. The biofunctionalized
      NG showed excellent hydrophilicity, larger specific surface area, and high
      electrochemical activity. These properties of the platform enhanced the loading
      capacity of proteins, and retained the bioactivity of the immobilized proteins,
      and thus remarkably improved the sensitivity of the immunosensor. Using
      carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) as model analyte, the proposed immunosensor
      demonstrated a wide linear range of 0.02-12ngmL-1 with a low detection limit of
      0.01ngmL-1. The CEA immunosensor could be applied to detect human serum samples
      with satisfactory results. The streptavidin-functionalized NG material provided
      an universal and promising platform for the electrochemical immunosensing
      applications.

PMID- 27650708
TI  - Eliciting the child's voice in adverse event reporting in oncology trials:
      Cognitive interview findings from the Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes version
      of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events initiative.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adverse event (AE) reporting in oncology trials is required, but
      current practice does not directly integrate the child's voice. The Pediatric
      Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse
      Events (PRO-CTCAE) is being developed to assess symptomatic AEs via
      child/adolescent self-report or proxy-report. This qualitative study evaluates
      the child's/adolescent's understanding and ability to provide valid responses to
      the PRO-CTCAE to inform questionnaire refinements and confirm content validity.
      PROCEDURE: From seven pediatric research hospitals, children/adolescents ages 7
      15 years who were diagnosed with cancer and receiving treatment were eligible,
      along with their parent-proxies. The Pediatric PRO-CTCAE includes 130 questions
      that assess 62 symptomatic AEs capturing symptom frequency, severity,
      interference, or presence. Cognitive interviews with retrospective probing were
      completed with children in the age groups of 7-8, 9-12, and 13-15 years. The
      children/adolescents and proxies were interviewed independently. RESULTS: Two
      rounds of interviews involved 81 children and adolescents and 74 parent-proxies.
      Fifteen of the 62 AE terms were revised after Round 1, including refinements to
      the questions assessing symptom severity. Most participants rated the PRO-CTCAE
      AE items as "very easy" or "somewhat easy" and were able to read, understand, and
      provide valid responses to questions. A few AE items assessing rare events were
      challenging to understand. CONCLUSIONS: The Pediatric and Proxy PRO-CTCAE
      performed well among children and adolescents and their proxies, supporting its
      content validity. Data from PRO-CTCAE may improve symptomatic AE reporting in
      clinical trials and enhance the quality of care that children receive.

PMID- 27650713
TI  - The Clinical Utility of the Conners' Continuous Performance Test-II in Traumatic
      Brain Injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Conners' Continuous Performance Test Second Edition (CPT-II) is a
      measure commonly used in persons with suspected attentional deficits. Our study
      examined the utility of the CPT-II as a measure of attention in adults with
      traumatic brain injury (TBI) of varying severity. METHOD: As part of a larger
      investigation, several measures of cognitive functioning, including the CPT-II,
      were administered to 30 healthy control participants (HCP), 30 mild TBI
      participants (M-TBI), and 30 moderate to severe TBI participants (MS-TBI).
      Multivariate and correlational analyses compared group performances and examined
      convergent and divergent relationships between the CPT-II and various measures,
      including other tests of attention and neuropsychological function. RESULTS:
      Group differences were found for four of six CPT-II variables, with the MS-TBI
      group exhibiting greater impairment, relative to M-TBI and HCP. In addition, the
      CPT-II commission and detectability variables were found to correlate
      significantly with TBI severity. The CPT-II variables also demonstrated
      correlations of varying magnitude between commonly used neuropsychological
      measures. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the utility of the CPT-II for
      assessing attentional abilities in persons with TBI of varying severity,
      particularly those with moderate to severe status. Moreover, the current study
      also demonstrates relationships that are consistent with convergent validity but
      inconsistent findings with regard to divergent validity. As a result, the CPT-II
      measures components of attention that is unique to other commonly used
      neuropsychological measures of attentive functioning. Further research examining
      CPT-II performance in TBI populations is recommended.

PMID- 27650712
TI  - MBD3 expression and DNA binding patterns are altered in a rat model of temporal
      lobe epilepsy.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to examine involvement of MBD3 (methyl-CpG
      binding domain protein 3), a protein involved in reading DNA methylation
      patterns, in epileptogenesis and epilepsy. We used a well-characterized rat model
      of temporal lobe epilepsy that is triggered by status epilepticus, evoked by
      electrical stimulation of the amygdala. Stimulated and sham-operated animals were
      sacrificed 14 days after stimulation. We found that MBD3 transcript was present
      in neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes in both control and epileptic
      animals. We detected the nuclear localization of MBD3 protein in neurons, mature
      oligodendrocytes, and a subpopulation of astrocytes but not in microglia.
      Amygdala stimulation significantly increased the level of MBD3
      immunofluorescence. Immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry and Western
      blot revealed that MBD3 in the adult brain assembles the NuRD complex, which also
      contains MTA2, HDAC2, and GATAD2B. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation combined
      with deep sequencing, we observed differences in the occupancy of DNA regions by
      MBD3 protein between control and stimulated animals. This was not followed by
      subsequent changes in the mRNA expression levels of selected MBD3 targets. Our
      data demonstrate for the first time alterations in the MBD3 expression and DNA
      occupancy in the experimental model of epilepsy.

PMID- 27650714
TI  - Oceania.

PMID- 27650715
TI  - Global Principles, Regional Action: Guiding Ecohealth Practice in Oceania.
AB  - In Oceania, a region challenged by rapid urbanisation and climate change,
      integrative frameworks are required to enable effective actions on health and
      sustainability. The Ecohealth approach provides a framework for practice that
      acknowledges human health is intrinsically linked to ecosystem health. This
      research communication reports on a study involving interviews with twenty-seven
      leading health and sustainability thinkers from Oceania and across the globe. In
      examining their ideas for action, the report presents the study findings in
      relation to the guiding principles of Ecohealth: systems thinking,
      transdisciplinarity, participation, sustainability, equity and knowledge-to
      action. Implications for Ecohealth practitioners working in Oceania are
      considered.

PMID- 27650717
TI  - Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever in Southwest Colorado: A Case Report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is a zoonosis caused by spirochetes
      of the genus Borrelia. The zoonosis is endemic in higher-elevation coniferous
      forests of the western United States. CASE REPORT: We discuss the case of a 44
      year-old male residing in the San Juan Mountains of Western Colorado who
      presented with fever, myalgia, vomiting, and "violent chills" to an emergency
      department. Laboratory studies were notable for bandemia and thrombocytopenia
      with mild hyperbilirubinemia. Peripheral smear demonstrated multiple Borrelia
      spirochetes. The patient was treated with parenteral ceftriaxone and discharged
      with oral doxycycline therapy and recovered uneventfully. We discuss the clinical
      and epidemiological features of TBRF and the salient points for clinical
      diagnosis and management of this rare but important disease entity. WHY SHOULD AN
      EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: TBRF is a rare and potentially life
      threatening infectious process, which presents with nonspecific findings and
      often poses a diagnostic challenge. TBRF should be considered in the differential
      diagnosis for patients residing or vacationing in high-altitude forested areas in
      the western United States.

PMID- 27650716
TI  - "Threshold-crossing": A Useful Way to Establish the Counterfactual in Clinical
      Trials?
AB  - A central question in the assessment of benefit/harm of new treatments is: how
      does the average outcome on the new treatment (the factual) compare to the
      average outcome had patients received no treatment or a different treatment known
      to be effective (the counterfactual)? Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the
      standard for comparing the factual with the counterfactual. Recent developments
      necessitate and enable a new way of determining the counterfactual for some new
      medicines. For select situations, we propose a new framework for evidence
      generation, which we call "threshold-crossing." This framework leverages the
      wealth of information that is becoming available from completed RCTs and from
      real world data sources. Relying on formalized procedures, information gleaned
      from these data is used to estimate the counterfactual, enabling efficacy
      assessment of new drugs. We propose future (research) activities to enable
      "threshold-crossing" for carefully selected products and indications in which
      RCTs are not feasible.

PMID- 27650718
TI  - Threatening Fecal Impaction.

PMID- 27650719
TI  - Tracheal Malplacement of the King LT Airway May Be an Important Cause of
      Prehospital Device Failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The King LT airway (King Systems, Noblesville, IN) is a popular
      extraglottic device that is widely used in the prehospital setting. We report a
      case of tracheal malplacement of the King airway with a severe kink in the distal
      tube. CASE REPORT: A 51-year-old unhelmeted motorcyclist collided with a freeway
      median and was obtunded when paramedics arrived. After bag mask ventilation, a
      King airway was placed uneventfully and the patient was transported to the
      emergency department. Because of the concern for an unstable cervical spine
      injury, a lateral cervical spine radiograph was obtained on arrival. No cervical
      injury was seen, but the King airway was noted to be malplaced; the King airway
      passed through the laryngeal inlet and became lodged on the anterior trachea,
      creating an acute kink between the two balloons. After reviewing the radiograph,
      ventilations were reassessed and remained adequate. Both balloons were deflated,
      and the King airway was removed; the patient was orotracheally intubated without
      complication. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: The King
      airway is a valuable prehospital airway that can be placed quickly and blindly
      with high success rates by inexperienced providers; the King airway, however, is
      not without complication. Ventilation was not impaired in this patient, but
      tracheal malplacement may be an important cause of prehospital device failure. If
      a first placement attempt of a King airway device fails, it is reasonable to
      reattempt King airway placement with a new, unkinked device before abandoning
      King airway placement.

PMID- 27650720
TI  - Emergency Department Pain Management in Adult Patients With Traumatic Injuries
      Before and After Implementation of a Nurse-Initiated Pain Treatment Protocol
      Utilizing Fentanyl for Severe Pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pain management in the emergency department (ED) remains suboptimal.
      Nursing staff protocols could improve this, but studies show divergent results.
      OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate a nurse-initiated pain-management protocol in
      adult patients with traumatic injuries in the short and in the long term,
      utilizing fentanyl for severe pain. METHODS: In this pre-post implementation
      study, ED patients were included during three periods. The protocol allowed
      nurses to administer acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or
      fentanyl autonomously, based on Numeric Rating Scale pain scores. Primary outcome
      was frequency of analgesic administration at 6 and 18 months after
      implementation. Secondary outcomes were pain awareness, occurrence of adverse
      events, and pain treatment after discharge. RESULTS: Five hundred and twelve
      patients before implementation were compared with 507 and 468 patients at 6 and
      18 months after implementation, respectively. Analgesic administration increased
      significantly at 18 months (from 29% to 36%; p = 0.016), not at 6 months (33%; p
      = 0.19) after implementation. Pain awareness increased from 30% to 51% (p = 0.00)
      at 6 months and to 56% (p = 0.00) at 18 months, due to a significant increase in
      pain assessment: 3% to 30% (p = 0.00) and 32% (p = 0.00), respectively. Post
      discharge pain treatment increased significantly at 18 months compared to
      baseline (from 25% to 33%; p = 0.016) and to 6 months (from 24% to 33%; p =
      0.004). No adverse events were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a nurse
      initiated pain-management protocol only increases analgesic administration in
      adult patients with traumatic injuries in the long term. Auditing might have
      promoted adherence. Pain awareness increases significantly in the short and the
      long term.

PMID- 27650721
TI  - Paradoxical Coronary Embolism as a Potential Cause of ST Segment Elevation in
      Pulmonary Embolism.

PMID- 27650722
TI  - Response.

PMID- 27650723
TI  - Long-term outcomes and re-interventions following balloon aortic valvuloplasty in
      pediatric patients with congenital aortic stenosis: A single-center study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe long-term risk of mortality, aortic insufficiency (AI),
      and re-intervention following balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) in pediatric
      patients and to identify risk factors for re-intervention. BACKGROUND: Few
      studies report long-term outcomes following BAV in infants and children. METHODS:
      Kaplan-Meier estimates and proportional hazards regression were used in a
      retrospective study of 154 patients undergoing BAV from 1993 to 2013. RESULTS:
      Seventy-six (49%) patients were neonates. Aortic stenosis (AS) gradients were
      reduced by 38 +/- 19 mm Hg. Moderate or severe AI developed acutely in 19 (12%)
      patients. Estimates of fifteen-year transplant-free survival were 85% (95%CI: 73
      92%) in neonates, 94% (95%CI: 80-96%) in infants, and 100% in older patients.
      Neonates had an elevated long-term risk of AI (P < 0.001) and left heart re
      interventions (P = 0.02). At 15 years, an estimated 32% (95%CI: 15-50%) of
      neonates and 44% (95%CI: 20-65%) of non-neonates remained free from re
      intervention; an estimated 45% (95% CI: 26-63%) of neonates and 62% (95% CI: 40
      77%) of non-neonates remained free of aortic valve replacement (AVR). Neonatal
      age, additional left heart lesions, higher pre- and post-dilation gradients, and
      acute AI were associated with LVOT re-interventions. Post-dilation gradient >=30
      mm Hg and acute AI were associated with AVR. Patients with moderate or severe
      acute AI but a residual AS gradient <30 mm Hg had a greater risk of AVR compared
      to patients with a residual AS gradient >=30 mm Hg but mild or less AI (HR: 2.98
      [95% CI: 1.01-8.77]). CONCLUSIONS: While post-BAV survival is excellent, long
      term risks of AI and re-intervention are significant. Acute AI is a more strongly
      associated with AVR than residual AS. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650725
TI  - Smoking, depression, & stress: predictors of fibromyalgia health status.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of smoking, stress,
      and depression on fibromyalgia health status. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a
      chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that negatively affects health status.
      Health status is not only affected by the constellation of physical symptoms, but
      also by mood symptoms, stress levels, and patient behaviors (e.g. smoking).
      Participants were 491 individuals with a physician's diagnosis of FMS. They
      completed self-report measures of their current levels of depression, stress, the
      number of cigarettes smoked per day, and health status. A linear regression
      analysis was conducted to determine whether these measures predicted FMS health
      status. All three measures predicted worse health status, predicting 51.5% of the
      variance in health status. However, it is important to evaluate and treat more
      than just the physical symptoms of FMS. Attention should also be paid to mental
      health status and to engagement in unhealthy behaviors in order to reduce their
      effects on FMS health status. Future researchers should design and evaluate
      interventions that target these modifiable risk factors to determine the extent
      to which they could improve health outcomes.

PMID- 27650724
TI  - Tumor lymphocytic infiltration in non-small cell lung cancer: the ultimate
      prognostic marker?

PMID- 27650726
TI  - Strain imaging - from Scandinavian research to global deployment.
AB  - Knowledge about myocardial function is important for diagnosis, treatment and
      prediction of the majority of all cardiac diseases. Ejection fraction (EF) by
      echocardiography has been the preferred diagnostic tool for these purposes, but
      do have some important limitations. Strain imaging has emerged as a relatively
      new and important echocardiographic method that will give cardiologists
      incremental and additional information to EF in several important diseases
      affecting the myocardium. This paper will give the readers a brief overview on
      how and when the clinicians can use strain imaging by echocardiography in their
      daily practice.

PMID- 27650727
TI  - Biochemical characterization of dihydroorotase of Leishmania donovani:
      Understanding pyrimidine metabolism through its inhibition.
AB  - De novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway is well developed and functional in
      protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. The dihydroorotase (LdDHOase) is third
      enzyme of the pathway. The enzyme was cloned, expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3),
      purified to homogeneity and biochemically characterized. The estimated kcat for
      the forward reaction and reverse reactions were 2.1 +/- 0.1 s-1 and 1.1 +/- 0.15
      s-1, respectively. Homology modeling and docking studies were done to find out
      potential inhibitors for LdDHOase. Biotin sulfone and Kaempferol were found to be
      potential inhibitors of LdDHOase based on docking studies. These inhibitors were
      verified using recombinant LdDHOase and their anti-leishmanial effect was
      evaluated. Moreover, alterations in expressions of de novo as well as salvage
      pathways enzymes, after treatment of L. donovani with dihydroorotase inhibitor(s)
      were evaluated and discussed as survival mechanism of the pathogen. Further,
      effect of inhibition of cytidine deaminase, a key enzyme of salvage pathway of
      pyrimidine biosynthesis, was also evaluated on parasitic survival and alteration
      in gene expression of enzymes of both pathways. Further, effect of both pathways
      inhibition was also evaluated. The data suggests that the inhibition of single
      pathway can be overcome by increased expression of enzyme(s) of alternate pathway
      and both pathways seem to be equally important in the pathogen. When both
      pathways are simultaneously inhibited, parasite shows significant DNA damage and
      parasitic death.

PMID- 27650728
TI  - Easy-to-use strategy for reference gene selection in quantitative real-time PCR
      experiments.
AB  - Real-time PCR is an indispensable technique for mRNA expression analysis but
      conclusions depend on appropriate reference gene selection. However, while
      reference gene selection has been a topic of publications, this issue is often
      disregarded when measuring target mRNA expression. Therefore, we (1) evaluated
      the frequency of appropriate reference gene selection, (2) suggest an easy-to-use
      tool for least variability reference gene selection, (3) demonstrate application
      of this tool, and (4) show effects on target gene expression profiles. All 2015
      published articles in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology were
      screened for the use of quantitative real-time PCR analysis and selection of
      reference genes. Target gene expression (Vegfa, Grk2, Sirt4, and Timp3) in H9c2
      cells was analyzed following various interventions (hypoxia, hyperglycemia,
      and/or isoflurane exposure with and without subsequent hypoxia) in relation to
      putative reference genes (Actb, Gapdh, B2m, Sdha, and Rplp1) using the least
      variability method vs. an arbitrarily selected but established reference gene. In
      the vast majority (18 of 21) of papers, no information was provided regarding
      selection of an appropriate reference gene. In only 1 of 21 papers, a method of
      appropriate reference gene selection was described and in 2 papers reference gene
      selection remains unclear. The method of reference gene selection had major
      impact on interpretation of target gene expression. With hypoxia, for instance,
      the least variability gene was Rplp1 and target gene expression (Vefga) heavily
      showed a 2-fold up-regulation (p = 0.022) but no change (p = 0.3) when
      arbitrarily using Gapdh. Frequency of appropriate reference gene selection in
      this journal is low, and we propose our strategy for reference gene selection as
      an easy tool for proper target gene expression.

PMID- 27650730
TI  - Collapsing glomerulopathy is common in the setting of thrombotic microangiopathy
      of the native kidney.
AB  - Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a poorly recognized cause of collapsing
      glomerulopathy. The frequency and significance of collapsing glomerulopathy
      associated with renal TMA have not been specifically studied in native kidney
      biopsy specimens. Here we retrospectively documented clinicopathologic features
      of 53 patients with histologically proven TMA in the native kidney, with special
      emphasis on changes due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).
      Histological TMA was related to hypertensive nephropathy in 21 patients, genetic
      complement abnormalities in 9, drugs in 7, and to other causes in 16 patients.
      Almost half (26 patients) presented with arteriolar, 6 with glomerular, and 21
      with mixed TMA. Using the Columbia classification system for the 53 patients with
      histological TMA, 33 had concurrent FSGS lesions with collapsing glomerulopathy
      the dominant variant in 19 patients (58% of the FSGS cases), not otherwise
      specified in 9 patients, cellular in 3, and perihilar or tip lesions in 1 patient
      each. The presence of FSGS was associated with a poor renal prognosis, with no
      prognostic difference between collapsing glomerulopathy and other FSGS variants.
      Thus, collapsing glomerulopathy is frequently found in native kidney biopsies
      with TMA, suggesting that endothelial injury may play an important role in the
      pathophysiology of FSGS.

PMID- 27650729
TI  - Neurochemical binding profiles of novel indole and benzofuran MDMA analogues.
AB  - 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) has been shown to be effective in
      the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in numerous clinical
      trials. In the present study, we have characterized the neurochemical binding
      profiles of three MDMA-benzofuran analogues (1-(benzofuran-5-yl)-propan-2-amine,
      5-APB; 1-(benzofuran-6-yl)-N-methylpropan-2-amine, 6-MAPB; 1-(benzofuran-5-yl)-N
      methylpropan-2-amine, 5-MAPB) and one MDMA-indole analogue (1-(1H-indol-5-yl)-2
      methylamino-propan-1-ol, 5-IT). These compounds were screened as potential second
      generation anti-PTSD drugs, against a battery of human and non-human receptors,
      transporters, and enzymes, and their potencies as 5-HT2 receptor agonist and
      monoamine uptake inhibitors determined. All MDMA analogues displayed high binding
      affinities for 5-HT2a,b,c and NEalpha2 receptors, as well as significant 5-HT,
      DA, and NE uptake inhibition. 5-APB revealed significant agonist activity at the
      5-HT2a,b,c receptors, while 6-MAPB, 5-MAPB, and 5-IT exhibited significant
      agonist activity at the 5-HT2c receptor. There was a lack of correlation between
      the results of functional uptake and the monoamine transporter binding assay.
      MDMA analogues emerged as potent and selective monoamine oxidase A inhibitors.
      Based on 6-MAPB favorable pharmacological profile, it was further subjected to
      IC50 determination for monoamine transporters. Overall, all MDMA analogues
      displayed higher monoamine receptor/transporter binding affinities and agonist
      activity at the 5-HT2a,c receptors as compared to MDMA.

PMID- 27650731
TI  - Transfer of microRNA-486-5p from human endothelial colony forming cell-derived
      exosomes reduces ischemic kidney injury.
AB  - Administration of human cord blood endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) or
      their exosomes protects mice against kidney ischemia/reperfusion injury. Here we
      studied the microRNA (miRNA) content of ECFC exosomes and the role of miRNA
      transfer in kidney and endothelial cell protection. ECFC exosomes were enriched
      in miR-486-5p, which targets the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and the
      Akt pathway. In cultured endothelial cells exposed to hypoxia, incubation with
      ECFC exosomes increased miR-486-5p, decreased PTEN, and stimulated Akt
      phosphorylation. Exposure of hypoxic endothelial cells to conditioned medium from
      ECFCs pretreated with anti-miR-486-5p blocked increases in miR-486-5p and
      phosphorylated Akt, restored expression of PTEN, and enhanced apoptosis.
      Coculture of endothelial cells with ECFCs enhanced endothelial miR-486-5p levels.
      Targeting of PTEN by miR-486-5p was observed in endothelial cells, and PTEN
      knockdown blocked apoptosis. In mice with ischemic kidney injury, infusion of
      ECFC exosomes induced potent functional and histologic protection, associated
      with increased kidney miR-486-5p levels, decreased PTEN, and activation of Akt.
      Infusion of exosomes from ECFCs transfected with anti-miR-486-5p had no
      protective effect. Thus, delivery of ECFC exosomes reduces ischemic kidney injury
      via transfer of miR-486-5p targeting PTEN. Exosomes enriched in miR-486-5p could
      represent a therapeutic tool in acute kidney injury.

PMID- 27650732
TI  - Vadadustat, a novel oral HIF stabilizer, provides effective anemia treatment in
      nondialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Current treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) with erythropoiesis
      stimulating agents can lead to substantial hemoglobin oscillations above target
      range and high levels of circulating erythropoietin. Vadadustat (AKB-6548), a
      novel, titratable, oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor
      induces endogenous erythropoietin synthesis and enhances iron mobilization. In
      this 20-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2b study, we
      evaluated the efficacy and safety of once-daily vadadustat in patients with
      stages 3a to 5 non-dialysis-dependent CKD. The primary endpoint was the
      percentage of patients who, during the last 2 weeks of treatment, achieved or
      maintained either a mean hemoglobin level of 11.0 g/dl or more or a mean increase
      in hemoglobin of 1.2 g/dl or more over the predose average. Significantly, the
      primary endpoint was met in 54.9% of patients on vadadustat and 10.3% of patients
      on placebo. Significant increases in both reticulocytes and total iron-binding
      capacity and significant decreases in both serum hepcidin and ferritin levels
      were observed in patients on vadadustat compared with placebo. The overall
      incidence of adverse events was comparable between the 2 groups. Serious adverse
      events occurred in 23.9% and 15.3% of the vadadustat- and placebo-treated
      patients, respectively. Three deaths occurred in the vadadustat arm. Thus, this
      phase 2b study demonstrated that vadadustat raised and maintained hemoglobin
      levels in a predictable and controlled manner while enhancing iron mobilization
      in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD.

PMID- 27650734
TI  - Corrigendum: Metabolic rates of giant pandas inform conservation strategies.

PMID- 27650733
TI  - Repression of CMIP transcription by WT1 is relevant to podocyte health.
AB  - The WT1 (Wilm's tumor suppressor) gene is expressed throughout life in podocytes
      and is essential for the functional integrity of the glomerular filtration
      barrier. We have previously shown that CMIP (C-Maf inducing protein) is
      overproduced in podocyte diseases and alters intracellular signaling. Here we
      isolated the proximal region of the human CMIP promoter and showed by chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assays and electrophoretic-mobility shift that Wilm's tumor
      protein (WT1) bound to 2 WT1 response elements, located at positions -290/-274
      and -57/-41 relative to transcription start site. Unlike the human CMIP gene,
      only one Wt1 response element was identified in the mouse Cmip proximal promoter
      located at position -217/-206. Luciferase reporter assays indicated that WT1 dose
      dependently inhibited the transcriptional induction of the CMIP promoter.
      Transfection of decoy oligonucleotides mimicking the WT1 response elements
      prevented the inhibition of WT1 on CMIP promoter activity. Furthermore, WT1
      silencing promoted Cmip expression. In line with these findings, the abundance of
      Cmip was early and significantly increased at the transcript and protein level in
      podocytes displaying a primary defect in Wt1, including Denys-Drash syndrome and
      Frasier syndrome. Thus, WT1 is a major repressor of the CMIP gene in
      physiological situations, while conditional deletion of CMIP in the developing
      kidney did not affect the development of mature glomeruli.

PMID- 27650736
TI  - Juvenile dermatomyositis: new clinical trial evidence to underpin therapeutic
      shared decision making.

PMID- 27650737
TI  - Eczema symptoms scores: are we getting closer to HOME?

PMID- 27650738
TI  - The lesion, or the field, that is the question.

PMID- 27650739
TI  - Filaggrin deficiency and T-helper 17 development.

PMID- 27650740
TI  - Neonatal skin barrier.

PMID- 27650741
TI  - Female pattern hair loss, biological ageing and the Leiden Longevity study.

PMID- 27650742
TI  - Condylomata acuminata of HIV-positive men may harbour focal areas of dysplasia:
      relevant implications for the management of human papillomavirus-induced disease
      in high-risk patients.

PMID- 27650743
TI  - Dermatoscopy in general practice.

PMID- 27650744
TI  - Dermoscopy for basal cell carcinoma subtype prediction.

PMID- 27650745
TI  - Frontal fibrosing alopecia and sunscreens: cause or consequence?

PMID- 27650746
TI  - Pemphigoid: diversity in evolution.

PMID- 27650747
TI  - Cover Image: Life-threatening complications of jellyfish Chrysaora pacifica
      stings in a 5-year-old child.

PMID- 27650749
TI  - Image Gallery: Complete remission of aggressive desmoid-type fibromatosis after
      low-dose methotrexate for 2 weeks in a child with psoriasis.

PMID- 27650750
TI  - Image Gallery: Segmental cutaneous leiomyomas in a patient with Reed syndrome.

PMID- 27650753
TI  - H2S dependent and independent anti-inflammatory activity of zofenoprilat in cells
      of the vascular wall.
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases as atherosclerosis are associated to an inflammatory
      state of the vessel wall which is accompanied by endothelial dysfunction, and
      adherence and activation of circulating inflammatory cells. Hydrogen sulfide, a
      novel cardiovascular protective gaseous mediator, has been reported to exert anti
      inflammatory activity. We have recently demonstrated that the SH containing ACE
      inhibitor zofenoprilat, the active metabolite of zofenopril, controls the
      angiogenic features of vascular endothelium through H2S enzymatic production by
      cystathionine gamma lyase (CSE). Based on H2S donor/generator property of
      zofenoprilat, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether zofenoprilat
      exerts anti-inflammatory activity in vascular cells through its ability to
      increase H2S availability. Here we found that zofenoprilat, in a CSE/H2S-mediated
      manner, abolished all the inflammatory features induced by interlukin-1beta (IL
      1beta) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), especially the NF
      kappaB/cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostanoid biochemical pathway. The pre
      incubation with zofenoprilat/CSE dependent H2S prevented IL-1beta induced
      paracellular hyperpermeability through the control of expression and localization
      of cell-cell junctional markers ZO-1 and VE-cadherin. Moreover, zofenoprilat/CSE
      dependent H2S reduced the expression of the endothelial markers CD40 and CD31,
      involved in the recruitment of circulating mononuclear cells and platelets.
      Interestingly, this anti-inflammatory activity was also confirmed in vascular
      smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts as zofenoprilat reduced, in both cell lines,
      proliferation, migration and COX-2 expression induced by IL-1beta, but
      independently from the SH moiety and H2S availability. These in vitro data
      document the anti-inflammatory activity of zofenoprilat on vascular cells,
      reinforcing the cardiovascular protective effect of this multitasking drug.

PMID- 27650754
TI  - Chitosan oligosaccharide suppresses synovial inflammation via AMPK activation: An
      in vitro and in vivo study.
AB  - Synovial inflammation plays an important role in the early pathogenesis of
      osteoarthritis (OA). Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) has been shown to activate
      AMPK and suppress inflammatory responses in intestinal epithelial cells. This
      study aimed to investigate the effect of COS on AMPK activation and synovial
      inflammation using both primary cultures of synoviocytes and a rabbit model of
      anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) transection-induced OA. COS induced AMPK
      activation in both rabbit and human synoviocytes. The mechanism of COS-induced
      AMPK activation involves an increase in the ADP/ATP ratio but not
      calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase beta (CaMKKbeta).
      Interestingly, COS suppressed the TNFalpha-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression via
      an AMPK-dependent mechanism in both rabbit and human synoviocytes. Importantly,
      oral administration of COS (10mg/kg/day) induced AMPK activation and alleviated
      signs of inflammation including COX-2 expression in the synovium of a rabbit ACL
      transection model. Taken together, our results indicate that COS suppresses
      synovial inflammation in vitro and in vivo via AMPK activation. COS may be useful
      in the prevention of OA.

PMID- 27650755
TI  - Natural products from aquatic eukaryotic microorganisms for cancer therapy:
      Perspectives on anti-tumour properties of ciliate bioactive molecules.
AB  - Several modern drugs, including those for cancer therapy, have been isolated from
      natural sources, are based on natural products and its derivatives, or mime
      natural products. Some of them are in clinical use, others in clinical trials.
      The success of natural products in drug discovery is related to their biochemical
      characteristics and to the technologic methods used to study their feature.
      Natural compounds may acts as chemo-preventive agents and as factors that
      increase therapeutic efficacy of existing drugs, thus overcoming cancer cell drug
      resistance that is the main factor determining the failure in conventional
      chemotherapy. Water environment, because of its physical and chemical conditions,
      shows an extraordinary collection of natural biological substances with an
      extensive structural and functional diversity. The isolation of bioactive
      molecules has been reported from a great variety of aquatic organisms; however,
      the therapeutic application of molecules from eukaryotic microorganisms remains
      inadequately investigated and underexploited on a systematic basis. Herein we
      describe the biological activities in mammalian cells of selected substances
      isolated from ciliates, free-living protozoa common almost everywhere there is
      water, focusing on their anti-tumour actions and their possible therapeutic
      activity. In particular, we unveil the cellular and molecular machine mediating
      the effects of cell type-specific signalling protein pheromone Er-1 and secondary
      metabolites, i.e. euplotin C and climacostol, in cancer cells. To support the
      feasibility of climacostol-based approaches, we also present novel findings and
      report additional mechanisms of action using both in vitro and in vivo models of
      mouse melanomas, with the scope of highlighting new frontiers that can be
      explored also in a therapeutic perspective. The high skeletal chemical difference
      of ciliate compounds, their sustainability and availability, also through the use
      of new organic synthesis/modifications processes, and the results obtained so far
      in biological studies provide a rationale to consider some of them a potential
      resource for the design of new anti-cancer drugs.

PMID- 27650756
TI  - Antipsychotic prescribing in care homes before and after launch of a national
      dementia strategy: an observational study in English institutions over a 4-year
      period.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess associations between the launch of the National Dementia
      Strategy (NDS) and antipsychotic prescribing in long-term residential care (LTC)
      in England. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective analysis of prescribing
      patterns in 616 LTC institutions (31 619 residents) following launch of the NDS,
      using information from electronic medicines management system. PRIMARY AND
      SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Antipsychotic prescribing point prevalence (PP) for
      all residents in a cross section of LTC settings over a 4-year period following
      NDS launch. Secondary outcomes included dosages, length of treatment and use of
      recommended second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) versus first-generation
      antipsychotics (FGAs). Associations between facility-level PP values and
      institutional characteristics, resident demographics were explored. Variations
      across geographical areas examined. Prescription net ingredient costs calculated.
      RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was observed in overall
      prescribing rates over the 4-year period (Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test p=0.60),
      and there was no significant shift towards newer SGAs (KS test p=0.32). Dosages
      were above the maximum indicated in only 1.3% of cases, but duration of
      prescribing was excessive in 69.7% of cases. Care homes in the highest
      prescribing quintile were more likely to be located in a deprived area (rate
      ratio (Q5/Q1) RR=5.89, 95% CI 4.35 to 7.99), registered for dementia (RR=3.38,
      95% CI 3.06 to 3.73) and those in the lowest quintile were more likely to be
      served by a single general practitioner (GP) practice (RR=0.48; 95% CI 0.37 to
      0.63); p<0.001 all. A sixfold variation in PP levels was observed between
      geographical areas. The average annual expenditure on antipsychotics was L65.6
      per person resident (2012 prices). CONCLUSIONS: The NDS in England was not
      associated with reduced PP levels or the types of antipsychotic prescribing in
      care homes. Further research is needed to explore why. Clear standards specifying
      recommended agents, dosages and length of treatment, together with routine
      monitoring and greater accountability for antipsychotic prescribing, may be
      required.

PMID- 27650757
TI  - Decision analytic model of the diagnostic pathways for patients with suspected
      non-alcoholic fatty liver disease using non-invasive transient elastography and
      multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The mortality associated with liver disease continues to increase,
      despite the improvements implemented in the UK healthcare as does the prevalence
      of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), given the escalating prevalence of
      obesity. The currently available methods to assess and monitor the stage of liver
      disease present several limitations. Recently, multiparametric MRI has been
      developed to address these limitations. The aim of this study is to develop a
      decision analytic model for patients with suspected NAFLD, to investigate the
      effect of adding multiparametric MRI to the diagnostic pathway. PERSPECTIVE: The
      model takes the perspective of the UK National Health Service (NHS) as the
      service provider. METHODS: A simple decision-tree model was developed to compare
      the costs associated with 3 diagnostic pathways for NAFLD that use non-invasive
      techniques. First, using transient elastography alone; second, using
      multiparametric MRI as an adjunct to transient elastography and third,
      multiparametric MRI alone. The model was built to capture these clinical
      pathways, and used to compare the expected diagnostic outcomes and costs
      associated with each. RESULTS: The use of multiparametric MRI as an adjunct to
      transient elastography, while increasing screening costs, is predicted to reduce
      the number of liver biopsies required by about 66%. Used as the sole diagnostic
      scan, there remains an expected 16% reduction in the number of biopsies required.
      There is a small drop in the overall diagnostic accuracy, as in the current
      model, liver biopsy is presumed to give a definitive diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The
      inclusion of multiparametric MRI, either as an adjunct to or replacement of
      transient elastography, in the diagnostic pathway of NAFLD may lead to cost
      savings for the NHS if the model presumptions hold. Further high-quality clinical
      evidence and cost data are required to test the model's predictions.

PMID- 27650758
TI  - Patient safety during radiological examinations: a nationwide survey of residency
      training hospitals in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Variations in radiological examination procedures and patient load
      lead to variations in standards of care related to patient safety and healthcare
      quality. To understand the status of safety measures to protect patients
      undergoing radiological examinations at residency training hospitals in Taiwan, a
      follow-up survey evaluating the full spectrum of diagnostic radiology procedures
      was conducted. DESIGN: Questionnaires covering 12 patient safety-related themes
      throughout the examination procedures were mailed to the departments of
      diagnostic radiology with residency training programmes in 19 medical centres
      (with >500 beds) and 17 smaller local institutions in Taiwan. After receiving the
      responses, all themes in 2014 were compared between medical centres and local
      institutions by using chi(2) or 2-sample t-tests. PARTICIPANTS: Radiology
      Directors or Technology Chiefs of medical centres and local institutions in
      Taiwan participated in this survey by completing and returning the
      questionnaires. RESULTS: The response rates of medical centres and local
      institutions were 95% and 100%, respectively. As indicated, large medical centres
      carried out more frequent clinically ordered, radiologist-guided patient
      education to prepare patients for specific examinations (CT, 28% vs 6%; special
      procedures, 78% vs 44%) and incident review and analysis (89% vs 47%); however,
      they required significantly longer access time for MRI examinations (7.00+/-29.50
      vs 3.50+/-3.50 days), had more yearly incidents of large-volume contrast-medium
      extravasation (2.75+/-1.00 vs 1.00+/-0.75 cases) and blank radiographs (41% vs
      8%), lower monthly rates of suboptimal (but interpretable) radiographs (0.00+/
      0.01% vs 0.64+/-1.84%) and high-risk reminder reporting (0.01+/-0.16% vs 1.00+/
      1.75%) than local institutions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study elucidates the status of
      patient safety in diagnostic radiology in Taiwan, thereby providing helpful
      information to improve patient safety guidelines needed for medical imaging in
      the future.

PMID- 27650759
TI  - Nutrition interventions for children aged less than 5 years following natural
      disasters: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper was to review various nutritional
      interventions targeted at under-five children in countries that had suffered from
      natural disasters and to analyse their effect on nutrition-related outcomes.
      DESIGN: Systematic review. SETTING: Countries that had suffered from natural
      disasters. PARTICIPANTS: Children aged <5 years who were given any nutritional
      intervention to improve overall nutritional status after a natural disaster.
      PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary nutrition-related outcomes were
      stunting, wasting and underweight. The secondary nutrition-related outcome was
      anaemia. RESULTS: Of the 1218 studies that the reviewers agreed on, five matched
      the inclusion criteria and were included in this narrative synthesis. Four
      studies were longitudinal and one was cross-sectional in design. Food
      supplementation was an integral part of nutritional interventions in all the
      included studies. The most consistent nutritional outcome in all five included
      studies was reduced prevalence of wasting, followed by reduced prevalence of
      underweight in four, stunting in three and anaemia in one of the five included
      studies. The largest reduction in the prevalence of wasting and underweight was
      reported by the study in Sri Lanka. Overall, the quality of evidence ranged from
      moderate to weak. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated nutrition interventions using locally
      available health resources yielded the best results. However, sound evidence on
      the most effective interventions is still lacking. Intervention studies with
      comparison groups are necessary to obtain more robust evidence on the
      effectiveness of nutrition interventions.

PMID- 27650760
TI  - The highly neglected burden of resistant hypertension in Africa: a systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The hypertension epidemic in Africa collectively with very low rates
      of blood pressure control may predict an incremented prevalence of resistant
      hypertension (RH) across the continent. The aim of this study was to determine
      the prevalence of RH and associated risk factors in Africa. DATA SOURCES: We
      conducted a comprehensive search of electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Africa
      Wide Information and Africa Index Medicus) completed by manual search of
      articles, regardless of language or publication date. METHODS: We included
      studies which have reported the prevalence and/or risk factors for RH in Africa
      from inception to 19 May 2016. Forest plots were drawn to visualise the combined
      prevalence of RH and extent of statistical heterogeneity between studies.
      RESULTS: Out of 259 retrieved studies, only 5 from Cameroon, Nigeria, Burkina
      Faso, Lesotho and Algeria with a total population of 4 068 patients were finally
      included in this review. There was no study from the Eastern part of Africa.
      Though the definition of RH was not similar across studies, its prevalence was
      respectively 11.7%, 4.9%, 14.6%, 14.3% and 19.0%, with an overall pooled
      prevalence of 12.1% (95% CI 8.0% to 17.7%). Potential risk factors were: non
      compliance to treatment, ageing, male sex, dyslipidaemia, metabolic syndrome,
      previous cardiovascular events, physical inactivity and stress, but not excessive
      salt intake, alcohol and coffee ingestions. Moreover, diabetes, smoking, obesity
      and renal insufficiency yielded discrepant results. CONCLUSIONS: There is a huge
      dearth of research on the epidemiology of RH in Africa. Thereby, an extensive
      study of RH prevalence and risk factors is still largely warranted to curtail the
      high and continuously increasing burden of hypertension across Africa.

PMID- 27650761
TI  - Uptake and efficacy of a systematic intensive smoking cessation intervention
      using motivational interviewing for smokers hospitalised for an acute coronary
      syndrome: a multicentre before-after study with parallel group comparisons.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of a proactive approach with a reactive
      approach to offer intensive smoking cessation intervention using motivational
      interviewing (MI). DESIGN: Before-after comparison in 2 academic hospitals with
      parallel comparisons in 2 control hospitals. SETTING: Academic hospitals in
      Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Smokers hospitalised for an acute coronary syndrome
      (ACS). INTERVENTION: In the intervention hospitals during the intervention phase,
      a resident physician trained in MI systematically offered counselling to all
      smokers admitted for ACS, followed by 4 telephone counselling sessions over 2
      months by a nurse trained in MI. In the observation phase, the in-hospital
      intervention was offered only to patients whose clinicians requested a smoking
      cessation intervention. In the control hospitals, no intensive smoking cessation
      intervention was offered. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was
      1 week smoking abstinence (point prevalence) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes
      were the number of smokers who received the in-hospital smoking cessation
      intervention and the duration of the intervention. RESULTS: In the intervention
      centres during the intervention phase, 87% of smokers (N=193/225) received a
      smoking cessation intervention compared to 22% in the observational phase
      (p<0.001). Median duration of counselling was 50 min. During the intervention
      phase, 78% received a phone follow-up for a median total duration of 42 min in 4
      sessions. Prescription of nicotine replacement therapy at discharge increased
      from 18% to 58% in the intervention phase (risk ratio (RR): 3.3 (95% CI 2.4 to
      4.3; p<=0.001). Smoking cessation at 12-month increased from 43% to 51% comparing
      the observation and intervention phases (RR=1.20, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.46; p=0.08;
      97% with outcome assessment). In the control hospitals, the RR for quitting was
      1.02 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.25; p=0.8, 92% with outcome assessment). CONCLUSIONS: A
      proactive strategy offering intensive smoking cessation intervention based on MI
      to all smokers hospitalised for ACS significantly increases the uptake of smoking
      cessation counselling and might increase smoking abstinence at 12 months.

PMID- 27650762
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of investing in sidewalks as a means of increasing physical
      activity: a RESIDE modelling study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies consistently find that supportive neighbourhood built
      environments increase physical activity by encouraging walking and cycling.
      However, evidence on the cost-effectiveness of investing in built environment
      interventions as a means of promoting physical activity is lacking. In this
      study, we assess the cost-effectiveness of increasing sidewalk availability as
      one means of encouraging walking. METHODS: Using data from the RESIDE study in
      Perth, Australia, we modelled the cost impact and change in health-adjusted life
      years (HALYs) of installing additional sidewalks in established neighbourhoods.
      Estimates of the relationship between sidewalk availability and walking were
      taken from a previous study. Multistate life table models were used to estimate
      HALYs associated with changes in walking frequency and duration. Sensitivity
      analyses were used to explore the impact of variations in population density,
      discount rates, sidewalk costs and the inclusion of unrelated healthcare costs in
      added life years. RESULTS: Installing and maintaining an additional 10 km of
      sidewalk in an average neighbourhood with 19 000 adult residents was estimated to
      cost A$4.2 million over 30 years and gain 24 HALYs over the lifetime of an
      average neighbourhood adult resident population. The incremental cost
      effectiveness ratio was A$176 000/HALY. However, sensitivity results indicated
      that increasing population densities improves cost-effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: In
      low-density cities such as in Australia, installing sidewalks in established
      neighbourhoods as a single intervention is unlikely to cost-effectively improve
      health. Sidewalks must be considered alongside other complementary elements of
      walkability, such as density, land use mix and street connectivity. Population
      density is particularly important because at higher densities, more residents are
      exposed and this improves the cost-effectiveness. Health gain is one of many
      benefits of enhancing neighbourhood walkability and future studies might consider
      a more comprehensive assessment of its social value (eg, social cohesion, safety
      and air quality).

PMID- 27650763
TI  - Evaluation of the first pharmacist-administered vaccinations in Western
      Australia: a mixed-methods study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the uptake of Western Australian (WA) pharmacist
      vaccination services, the profiles of consumers being vaccinated and the
      facilitators and challenges experienced by pharmacy staff in the preparation,
      implementation and delivery of services. DESIGN: Mixed-methods methodology with
      both quantitative and qualitative data through surveys, pharmacy computer records
      and immuniser pharmacist interviews. SETTING: Community pharmacies in WA that
      provided pharmacist vaccination services between March and October 2015.
      PARTICIPANTS: Immuniser pharmacists from 86 pharmacies completed baseline surveys
      and 78 completed exit surveys; computer records from 57 pharmacies; 25 immuniser
      pharmacists were interviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pharmacy and immuniser
      pharmacist profiles; pharmacist vaccination services provided and consumer
      profiles who accessed services. RESULTS: 15 621 influenza vaccinations were
      administered by immuniser pharmacists at 76 WA community pharmacies between March
      and October 2015. There were no major adverse events, and <1% of consumers
      experienced minor events which were appropriately managed. Between 12% and 17% of
      consumers were eligible to receive free influenza vaccinations under the National
      Immunisation Program but chose to have it at a pharmacy. A high percentage of
      vaccinations was delivered in rural and regional areas indicating that provision
      of pharmacist vaccination services facilitated access for rural and remote
      consumers. Immuniser pharmacists reported feeling confident in providing
      vaccination services and were of the opinion that services should be expanded to
      other vaccinations. Pharmacists also reported significant professional
      satisfaction in providing the service. All participating pharmacies intended to
      continue providing influenza vaccinations in 2016. CONCLUSIONS: This initial
      evaluation of WA pharmacist vaccination services showed that vaccine delivery was
      safe. Convenience and accessibility were important aspects in usage of services.
      There is scope to expand pharmacist vaccination services to other vaccines and
      younger children; however, government funding to pharmacists needs to be
      considered.

PMID- 27650764
TI  - Motor vehicle crashes during pregnancy and cerebral palsy during infancy: a
      longitudinal cohort analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the incidence of cerebral palsy among children born to
      mothers who had their pregnancy complicated by a motor vehicle crash. DESIGN:
      Retrospective longitudinal cohort analysis of children born from 1 April 2002 to
      31 March 2012 in Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Cases defined as pregnancies
      complicated by a motor vehicle crash and controls as remaining pregnancies with
      no crash. MAIN OUTCOME: Subsequent diagnosis of cerebral palsy by age 3 years.
      RESULTS: A total of 1 325 660 newborns were analysed, of whom 7933 were involved
      in a motor vehicle crash during pregnancy. A total of 2328 were subsequently
      diagnosed with cerebral palsy, equal to an absolute risk of 1.8 per 1000
      newborns. For the entire cohort, motor vehicle crashes correlated with a 29%
      increased risk of subsequent cerebral palsy that was not statistically
      significant (95% CI -16 to +110, p=0.274). The increased risk was only
      significant for those with preterm birth who showed an 89% increased risk of
      subsequent cerebral palsy associated with a motor vehicle crash (95% CI +7 to
      +266, p=0.037). No significant increase was apparent for those with a term
      delivery (95% CI -62 to +79, p=0.510). A propensity score-matched analysis of
      preterm births (n=4384) yielded a 138% increased relative risk of cerebral palsy
      associated with a motor vehicle crash (95% CI +27 to +349, p=0.007), equal to an
      absolute increase of about 10.9 additional cases per 1000 newborns (18.2 vs 7.3,
      p=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: Motor vehicle crashes during pregnancy may be associated
      with an increased risk of cerebral palsy among the subgroup of cases with preterm
      birth. The increase highlights a specific role for traffic safety advice in
      prenatal care.

PMID- 27650765
TI  - Using serum urate as a validated surrogate end point for flares in patients with
      gout: protocol for a systematic review and meta-regression analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis in men over 40 years
      of age. Long-term urate-lowering therapy is considered a key strategy for
      effective gout management. The primary outcome measure for efficacy in clinical
      trials of urate-lowering therapy is serum urate levels, effectively acting as a
      surrogate for patient-centred outcomes such as frequency of gout attacks or pain.
      Yet it is not clearly demonstrated that the strength of the relationship between
      serum urate and clinically relevant outcomes is sufficiently strong for serum
      urate to be considered an adequate surrogate. Our objective is to investigate the
      strength of the relationship between changes in serum urate in randomised
      controlled trials and changes in clinically relevant outcomes according to the
      'Biomarker-Surrogacy Evaluation Schema version 3' (BSES3), documenting the
      validity of selected instruments by applying the 'OMERACT Filter 2.0'. METHODS
      AND ANALYSIS: A systematic review described in terms of the Preferred Reporting
      Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting guidelines will
      identify all relevant studies. Standardised data elements will be extracted from
      each study by 2 independent reviewers and disagreements are resolved by
      discussion. The data will be analysed by meta-regression of the between-arm
      differences in the change in serum urate level (independent variable) from
      baseline to 3 months (or 6 and 12 months if 3-month values are not available)
      against flare rate, tophus size and number and pain at the final study visit
      (dependent variables). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study will not require
      specific ethics approval since it is based on analysis of published (aggregated)
      data. The intended audience will include healthcare researchers, policymakers and
      clinicians. Results of the study will be disseminated by peer-reviewed
      publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016026991.

PMID- 27650766
TI  - Association of tobacco use and other determinants with pregnancy outcomes: a
      multicentre hospital-based case-control study in Karachi, Pakistan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to identify the effects of maternal tobacco
      consumption during pregnancy and other factors on birth outcomes and obstetric
      complications in Karachi, Pakistan. DESIGN: A multicentre hospital-based case
      control study. SETTING: Four leading maternity hospitals of Karachi.
      PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of 1275 women coming to the gynaecology and
      obstetric department of selected hospitals for delivery was interviewed within 48
      hours of delivery from wards. Cases were women with adverse birth outcomes and
      obstetric complications, while controls were women who had normal uncomplicated
      delivery. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Adverse birth outcomes (preterm
      delivery, low birth weight, stillbirth, low Apgar score) and obstetric
      complications (antepartum haemorrhage, caesarean section, etc). RESULTS: Final
      multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that with every 1 year increase in
      age the odds of being a case was 1.03 times as compared with being a control.
      Tobacco use (adjusted OR (aOR): 2.24; 95% CI 1.56 to 3.23), having no slits in
      the kitchen (proxy indicator for indoor air pollution) (aOR=1.90; 95% CI 1.05 to
      3.43), gravidity (aOR=0.83; 95% CI 0.73 to 0.93), non-booked hospital cases
      (aOR=1.87; 95% CI 1.38 to 2.74), history of stillbirth (aOR=4.06; 95% CI 2.36 to
      6.97), miscarriages (aOR=1.91; 95% CI 1.27 to 2.85) and preterm delivery
      (aOR=6.04; 95% CI 2.52 to 14.48) were significantly associated with being a case
      as compared with control. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that women who had
      adverse pregnancy outcomes were more likely to have exposure to tobacco, previous
      history of adverse birth outcomes and were non-booked cases. Engagement of
      stakeholders in tobacco control for providing health education, incorporating
      tobacco use in women in the tobacco control policy and designing interventions
      for tobacco use cessation is warranted. Prenatal care and health education might
      help in preventing such adverse events.

PMID- 27650767
TI  - Smoking cessation care among patients with head and neck cancer: a systematic
      review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions in
      improving cessation rates and smoking related behaviour in patients with head and
      neck cancer (HNC). DESIGN: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised
      controlled trials. METHODS: We searched the following data sources: CENTRAL in
      the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL up to February 2016. A
      search of reference lists of included studies and Google Scholar (first 200
      citations published online between 2000 and February 2016) was also undertaken.
      The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Effective
      Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool (EPHPP). 2 study authors
      independently screened and extracted data with disagreements resolved via
      consensus. RESULTS: Of the 5167 studies identified, 3 were eligible and included
      in the review. Trial designs of included studies were 2 randomised controlled
      trials and 1 non-randomised controlled trial. 2 studies received a weak
      methodological rating and 1 received a moderate methodological rating. The trials
      examine the impact of the following interventions: (1) nurse delivered cognitive
      behaviour therapy (CBT) via telephone and accompanied by a workbook, combined
      with pharmacotherapy; (2) nurse and physician brief advice to quit and
      information booklets combined with pharmacotherapy; and (3) surgeon delivered
      enhanced advice to quit smoking augmented by booster sessions. Only the trial of
      the nurse delivered CBT and pharmacotherapy reported significant increases in
      smoking cessation rates. 1 study measured quit attempts and the other assessed
      consumption of cigarettes per day and readiness to change. There was no
      significant improvement in quit attempts or cigarettes smoked per day among
      patients in the intervention groups, relative to control. CONCLUSIONS: There are
      very few studies evaluating the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions
      that report results specific to the HNC population. The 3 trials identified
      reported equivocal findings. Extended CBT counselling coupled with
      pharmacotherapy may be effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016016421.

PMID- 27650768
TI  - Sing Your Lungs Out: a qualitative study of a community singing group for people
      with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the ways in which participation in a community singing
      group contributed to the health and well-being of patients with chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). DESIGN: Qualitative description, based on
      transcripts from individual interviews and a focus group meeting with people with
      COPD participating in the singing group, regarding their experience. SETTING:
      Urban community, Wellington, New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: 23 people (13 women and
      10 men), 51-91 years with COPD (21) or interstitial lung disease (2). RESULTS:
      The weekly singing group was a well-attended activity, with self-reported
      benefits to health and well-being. 4 key themes were identified: being in the
      'right space', connection, purpose and growth, and participation in a meaningful
      physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: This study helps us to better understand how
      participation in a community singing group can benefit the health and well-being
      of patients with COPD. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12615000736549; Results.

PMID- 27650769
TI  - Proposing evidence-based strategies to strengthen implementation of healthcare
      reform in resource-limited settings: a summative analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Many resource-limited countries have adopted and implemented
      healthcare reform to improve the quality of healthcare, but few have had much
      impact and strategies in support of these efforts remain limited. We aimed to
      explore and propose evidence-based strategies to strengthen implementation of
      healthcare reform in resource-limited settings. DESIGN: Descriptive and
      exploratory designs in two phases. Phase I involved assessing the effectiveness
      of the healthcare reform implemented in Ethiopia in the form of business process
      reengineering, with evidence compiled from healthcare professionals through a
      self-administered questionnaire; and phase II involved proposing strategies and
      seeking consensus from experts using Delphi method. SETTING: Public hospitals in
      central Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: 406 healthcare professionals and 10 senior health
      policy experts. FINDINGS: The healthcare reform that we evaluated was able to
      restructure hospital departments into case teams, with the goal of adopting a
      'one-stop shopping' approach. However, shortages of critical infrastructure,
      furniture and supplies and job dissatisfaction continued to hamper the system.
      The most important predictors that influenced implementation of the reform were
      financial resources, top management commitment and support, collaborative working
      environment and information technology (IT). Five strategies with 14 operational
      objectives and 67 potential interventions that could strengthen the reform are
      proposed based on their strategic priority, which are as follows: reinforce
      patient-centred quality of care services; foster a healthy and respectful
      workforce environment; efficient and accountable leadership and governance;
      efficient use of hospital financing and maximise innovations and the use of
      health technologies. CONCLUSIONS: Effective implementation of healthcare reform
      remained a challenge for governments in resource-limited settings. Resilient
      operational, clinical and governance functions of health systems, as well as a
      motivated and committed health workforce, are important to move healthcare reform
      processes forward. Political commitments at this juncture might be critical
      though there need to be a clear demarcation between political and technical
      engagements.

PMID- 27650770
TI  - Comparison of count-based multimorbidity measures in predicting emergency
      admission and functional decline in older community-dwelling adults: a
      prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Multimorbidity, defined as the presence of 2 or more chronic medical
      conditions in an individual, is associated with poorer health outcomes. Several
      multimorbidity measures exist, and the challenge is to decide which to use
      preferentially in predicting health outcomes. The study objective was to compare
      the performance of 5 count-based multimorbidity measures in predicting emergency
      hospital admission and functional decline in older community-dwelling adults
      attending primary care. SETTING: 15 general practices (GPs) in Ireland.
      PARTICIPANTS: n=862, >=70 years, community-dwellers followed-up for 2 years (2010
      2012). Exposure at baseline: Five multimorbidity measures (disease counts,
      selected conditions counts, Charlson comorbidity index, RxRisk-V, medication
      counts) calculated using GP medical record and linked national pharmacy claims
      data. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: (1) Emergency admission and ambulatory care sensitive
      (ACS) admission (GP medical record) and (2) functional decline (postal
      questionnaire). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics and measure
      discrimination (c-statistic, 95% CIs), adjusted for confounders. RESULTS: Median
      age was 77 years and 53% were women. Prevalent rates ranged from 37% to 91%
      depending on which measure was used to define multimorbidity. All measures
      demonstrated poor discrimination for the outcome of emergency admission (c
      statistic range: 0.62, 0.65), ACS admission (c-statistic range: 0.63, 0.68) and
      functional decline (c-statistic range: 0.55, 0.61). Medication-based measures
      were equivalent to diagnosis-based measures. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of measure
      may have a significant impact on prevalent rates. Five multimorbidity measures
      demonstrated poor discrimination in predicting emergency admission and functional
      decline, with medication-based measures equivalent to diagnosis-based measures.
      Consideration of multimorbidity in isolation is insufficient for predicting these
      outcomes in community settings.

PMID- 27650771
TI  - Manitoba mothers and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders study (MBMomsFASD):
      protocol for a population-based cohort study using linked administrative data.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a significant public
      health concern. To prevent FASD, factors that place women at risk for giving
      birth to children with FASD must be investigated; however, there are little data
      in this area. This paper describes the development of the Manitoba mothers and
      FASD study, a retrospective cohort of mothers whose children were diagnosed with
      FASD, generated to investigate: (1) risk factors associated with giving birth to
      children with FASD; (2) maternal physical and health outcomes, as well as the
      usage of health and social services. METHODS: The study population will be
      identified by linking children diagnosed with FASD from a provincially
      centralised FASD assessment clinic (from 31 March 1999 to 31 March 2012) to their
      birth mothers using de-identified administrative health data housed at the
      Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Preliminary analysis has identified over 700
      mothers, which is the largest sample size in this field to date. A comparison
      cohort of women with children who did not have an FASD diagnosis matched on the
      region of residence, date of birth of child with FASD and socioeconomic status
      will be generated to compare exposures and outcomes. Potential demographic,
      socioeconomic, family history, and physical and mental health risk factors will
      be investigated by linking a range of health and social databases, furthering
      insight into the root causes of drinking during pregnancy. The longitudinal data
      will allow us to document the usage patterns of healthcare and social services
      throughout significant periods in these women's lives to identify opportunities
      for prevention. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained by
      the University of Manitoba's Health Research Ethics Board and the Manitoba Health
      Information Privacy Committee. Dissemination of study results will include
      engagement of stakeholders and policymakers through presentations and reports for
      policymakers, in parallel with scientific papers.

PMID- 27650772
TI  - Maternal depression and mental health in early childhood: an examination of
      underlying mechanisms in low-income and middle-income countries.
AB  - Studies examining mechanisms underlying associations between maternal depression
      and adverse child outcomes (including behaviour, socioemotional adjustment, and
      emotion regulation) indicate that during pregnancy, maternal depression could
      affect child outcomes through altered placental function, epigenetic changes in
      the child, and stress reactivity. Infection and dietary deficiencies in the
      mother and the child, together with the child's genetic vulnerability, might also
      affect outcome. Postnatally, associations between maternal depression and child
      outcome are influenced by altered mother-child interactions, sociodemographic or
      environmental influences, and social support. Knowledge is scarce on mechanisms
      in low-income and middle-income countries where maternal depression is highly
      prevalent, and stressful factors that influence the development of perinatal
      maternal depression and adverse child outcome (eg, food insecurity, perinatal
      infections, crowded or rural living conditions, and interpersonal violence) are
      both more intense and more common than in high-income countries. We reviewed
      evidence and use the biopsychosocial model to illustrate risk factors, mediators
      and moderators underlying associations between maternal depression and child
      outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries.

PMID- 27650774
TI  - Enhanced Procoagulant Activity on Blood Cells after Acute Ischemic Stroke.
AB  - The role of phosphatidylserine (PS)-mediated procoagulant activity (PCA) in
      stroke remains unclear. To ascertain this role, early dynamic evolution of PS
      exposure on blood cells and released microparticles (MPs) and the corresponding
      PCA were evaluated in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Flow cytometry
      analyses revealed that initial levels of PS exposure on erythrocyte, platelet,
      and leukocyte were 2.40-, 1.36-, and 1.38-fold higher, respectively, in AIS than
      the risk factor-matched (RF) controls. Concomitantly, total PS+ MPs were
      increased in AIS (1949 +/- 483/MUl) compared with the RF group (1674 +/- 387/MUl;
      P = 0.019) and healthy controls (1052 +/- 179/MUl; P < 0.001). Specifically, PS+
      erythrocytes gradually increased within 1 week. PS+ platelets and MPs peaked at
      24 h and declined at 7 days, while PS+ leukocytes were markedly elevated at 24 h.
      Further, PS exposure on blood cells and MPs in stroke resulted in shortened
      clotting time with an accompanying increase in FXa and thrombin formation
      significantly. Treatment with lactadherin, a PS antagonist, delayed the
      coagulation time by approximately 20 % and blocked the generation of FXa and
      thrombin by about 50 %. Furthermore, initial counts of PS+ platelets and platelet
      MPs significantly correlated with stroke severity. Thrombin generation promoted
      by platelets and MPs at 12 h was significantly higher in patients with
      cardioembolism than in patients without. The thrombophilic susceptibility of AIS
      patients can be partly ascribed to PS exposure on blood cells and the release of
      MPs. Our studies identify PS exposure as a potentially novel therapeutic target
      in the treatment of AIS.

PMID- 27650775
TI  - As Good as GOLD: Gram-Schmidt Orthogonalization by Another Name.
AB  - Generalized orthogonal linear derivative (GOLD) estimates were proposed to
      correct a problem of correlated estimation errors in generalized local linear
      approximation (GLLA). This paper shows that GOLD estimates are related to GLLA
      estimates by the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process. Analytical work suggests
      that GLLA estimates are derivatives of an approximating polynomial and GOLD
      estimates are linear combinations of these derivatives. A series of simulation
      studies then further investigates and tests the analytical properties derived.
      The first study shows that when approximating or smoothing noisy data, GLLA
      outperforms GOLD, but when interpolating noisy data GOLD outperforms GLLA. The
      second study shows that when data are not noisy, GLLA always outperforms GOLD in
      terms of derivative estimation. Thus, when data can be smoothed or are not noisy,
      GLLA is preferred whereas when they cannot then GOLD is preferred. The last
      studies show situations where GOLD can produce biased estimates. In spite of
      these possible shortcomings of GOLD to produce accurate and unbiased estimates,
      GOLD may still provide adequate or improved model estimation because of its
      orthogonal error structure. However, GOLD should not be used purely for
      derivative estimation because the error covariance structure is irrelevant in
      this case. Future research should attempt to find orthogonal polynomial
      derivative estimators that produce accurate and unbiased derivatives with an
      orthogonal error structure.

PMID- 27650776
TI  - Determination of plasticisers and BPA in Sicilian and Calabrian nectar honeys by
      selected ion monitoring GC/MS.
AB  - Twenty-six plasticisers and bisphenol A (BPA) in 39 Sicilian and Calabrian nectar
      honeys of different botanical south Italian origin were determined by GC-MS. Di
      (2-ethylhexyl)phthalate was the most abundant plasticiser in all samples,
      reaching up 202.7 +/- 153.1 ug kg-1, followed by di-butylphthalate with a
      concentration of 40.3 +/- 9.3 ug kg-1, whereas the concentration of the other
      phthalates varied from not detectable to 68.2 ug kg-1. Trace levels of adipate,
      sebacate and BPA were not detected in any samples. Among the different floral
      origin honeys, di-ethylphthalate levels were above the limit of quantification
      (LOQ) in orange blossom, wildflower and chestnut honey samples. Among the honeys
      of different geographical origin, di-methylphthalate, di-butylphthalate and di-(2
      ethylhexyl)phthalate concentrations were similar. Calabrian honeys showed levels
      of di-ethylphthalate always lower than the LOQ, moreover di-(2
      methylpropyl)phthalate levels were lower than the Sicilian ones. On the contrary,
      in Sicilian honeys di-(2-methylpropyl)phthalate levels were higher and di
      ethylphthalate was present in 37% of samples.

PMID- 27650773
TI  - Epidemiology of maternal depression, risk factors, and child outcomes in low
      income and middle-income countries.
AB  - Maternal depression, a non-psychotic depressive episode of mild to major
      severity, is one of the major contributors of pregnancy-related morbidity and
      mortality. Maternal depression (antepartum or post partum) has been linked to
      negative health-related behaviours and adverse outcomes, including psychological
      and developmental disturbances in infants, children, and adolescents. Despite its
      enormous burden, maternal depression in low-income and middle-income countries
      remains under-recognised and undertreated. In this Series paper, we
      systematically review studies that focus on the epidemiology of perinatal
      depression (ie, during antepartum and post-partum periods) among women residing
      in low-income and middle-income countries. We also summarise evidence for the
      association of perinatal depression with infant and childhood outcomes. This
      review is intended to summarise findings from the existing literature, identify
      important knowledge gaps, and set the research agenda for creating new
      generalisable knowledge pertinent to increasing our understanding of the
      prevalence, determinants, and infant and childhood health outcomes associated
      with perinatal depression. This review is also intended to set the stage for
      subsequent work aimed at reinforcing and accelerating investments toward
      providing services to manage maternal depression in low-income and middle-income
      countries.

PMID- 27650779
TI  - Editorial re: WhatsAPP in neurosurgery: the best practice is in our hands.

PMID- 27650778
TI  - Prevalence of malnutrition and sarcopenia in a post-acute care geriatric unit:
      Applying the new ESPEN definition and EWGSOP criteria.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS & AIMS: The European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism
      (ESPEN) consensus definition of malnutrition has been applied in hospitalized
      older diabetics and middle-aged patients, geriatric outpatients, and healthy
      elderly and young individuals. In a post-acute care setting, our aim was to
      assess malnutrition (ESPEN definition) and determine its relationship with
      sarcopenia in older in-patients deconditioned due to an acute process. METHODS:
      Eighty-eight in-patients aged >=70 years with body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m2
      were included (84.1 years old; 62% women) and screened for malnutrition risk
      using biochemical markers and Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF).
      The ESPEN definition was applied: 1) BMI <18.5 kg/m2 or 2) unintentional weight
      loss plus a) low BMI or b) low fat-free mass index (FFMI). European Working Group
      on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) criteria were also applied. RESULTS:
      Unintentional weight loss occurred in 27 (30.7%) of 88 in-patients considered "at
      risk" by MNA-SF. Malnutrition prevalence was 4.5%, 7.9%, and 17% using ESPEN
      definitions 1, 2a, and 2b, respectively; 19.3% were malnourished. Prevalence of
      sarcopenia was 37.5%, of which 90.9% fulfilled ESPEN malnutrition criteria, a
      significant association (p = 0.02). No differences in biochemical markers were
      observed between patients with or without malnutrition or sarcopenia.
      CONCLUSIONS: ESPEN criteria constitute an appropriate tool to establish a
      malnutrition diagnosis in post-acute care. Sarcopenia, as defined by EWGSOP, was
      present in 37.5% of patients, of which 90.9% fulfilled ESPEN criteria; therefore,
      malnutrition was significantly related to sarcopenia. Additional work is needed
      to determine further implications of the ESPEN consensus definition.

PMID- 27650777
TI  - Computer-aided drug design at Boehringer Ingelheim.
AB  - Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) is an integral part of the drug discovery
      endeavor at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI). CADD contributes to the evaluation of new
      therapeutic concepts, identifies small molecule starting points for drug
      discovery, and develops strategies for optimizing hit and lead compounds. The
      CADD scientists at BI benefit from the global use and development of both
      software platforms and computational services. A number of computational
      techniques developed in-house have significantly changed the way early drug
      discovery is carried out at BI. In particular, virtual screening in vast chemical
      spaces, which can be accessed by combinatorial chemistry, has added a new option
      for the identification of hits in many projects. Recently, a new framework has
      been implemented allowing fast, interactive predictions of relevant on and off
      target endpoints and other optimization parameters. In addition to the
      introduction of this new framework at BI, CADD has been focusing on the
      enablement of medicinal chemists to independently perform an increasing amount of
      molecular modeling and design work. This is made possible through the deployment
      of MOE as a global modeling platform, allowing computational and medicinal
      chemists to freely share ideas and modeling results. Furthermore, a central
      communication layer called the computational chemistry framework provides broad
      access to predictive models and other computational services.

PMID- 27650780
TI  - Mesenchymal stem cell: a new horizon in cancer gene therapy.
AB  - Cancer is one of the main problems in public health worldwide. Despite rapid
      advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the efficacy of current
      treatment strategies is still limited. There are promising new results in animal
      models whereby mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be used as vehicles for targeted
      therapies. The use of MSCs as therapeutic biological vehicles in cell therapy has
      several advantages, including immune-silence, tumor tropism, easy and rapid
      isolation, ex vivo expansion, multilineage differentiation and the capacity to
      deliver a number of therapeutic agents. Some studies have shown that the
      microenvironment of the tumor provides a preferential niche for homing and
      survival of MSCs. Here, we have highlighted various applications of MSCs in
      cancer gene therapy.

PMID- 27650781
TI  - Circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 is Associated with Diastolic Dysfunction
      in Heart Failure Patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a polypeptide ligand promoted glucose
      homeostasis and lipids metabolism, was recently reported to attenuate cardiac
      hypertrophy. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of FGF21 in
      diastolic heart failure. Subjects admitted for coronary angiogram were screened
      for heart failure, and those with left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction < 45%
      were excluded. Diastolic dysfunction was defined as functional abnormalities that
      exist during LV relaxation and filling by echocardiographic criteria. Plasma
      levels of FGF21 and N-terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-pro-BNP) were
      determined. All patients were followed up for 1 year, or till the occurrence of
      heart failure readmission or death. Totally 95 patients with diastolic
      dysfunction and 143 controls were enrolled. Circulating FGF21 level was
      correlated with echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function and LV end
      diastolic pressure (LVEDP). In multivariate logistic analysis, FGF21 was
      significantly associated with diastolic dysfunction, either identified by
      echocardiographic criteria (odds ratio: 2.97, p = 0.012) or confirmed with LVEDP
      level (odds ratio: 3.73, p = 0.030). Both plasma FGF21 (log rank p < 0.0001) and
      NT-pro-BNP levels (log rank p = 0.0057) showed good predictive power to the 1
      year adverse cardiac events. This finding suggested FGF21 could be involved in
      the pathophysiology of diastolic heart failure.

PMID- 27650782
TI  - Access Options for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients with
      Unfavorable Aortoiliofemoral Anatomy.
AB  - In the current era, 10-15 % of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
      eligible high and prohibitive risk patients with severe symptomatic aortic
      stenosis are not candidates for transfemoral arterial access. Knowledge of the
      various alternative access options can enable TAVR teams to provide improved
      quality of life and potentially life-saving treatment for a group of patients who
      otherwise have no viable options. In this article, we review approach to patients
      with unfavorable femoral arterial anatomy and provide an in-depth discussion on
      the various alternative routes for TAVR.

PMID- 27650784
TI  - Impaired neurogenesis of the dentate gyrus is associated with pattern separation
      deficits: A computational study.
AB  - The separation of input patterns received from the entorhinal cortex (EC) by the
      dentate gyrus (DG) is a well-known critical step of information processing in the
      hippocampus. Although the role of interneurons in separation pattern efficiency
      of the DG has been theoretically known, the balance of neurogenesis of excitatory
      neurons and interneurons as well as its potential role in information processing
      in the DG is not fully understood. In this work, we study separation efficiency
      of the DG for different rates of neurogenesis of interneurons and excitatory
      neurons using a novel computational model in which we assume an increase in the
      synaptic efficacy between excitatory neurons and interneurons and then its decay
      over time. Information processing in the EC and DG was simulated as information
      flow in a two layer feed-forward neural network. The neurogenesis rate was
      modeled as the percentage of new born neurons added to the neuronal population in
      each time bin. The results show an important role of an optimal neurogenesis rate
      of interneurons and excitatory neurons in the DG in efficient separation of
      inputs from the EC in pattern separation tasks. The model predicts that any
      deviation of the optimal values of neurogenesis rates leads to different
      decreased levels of the separation deficits of the DG which influences its
      function to encode memory.

PMID- 27650785
TI  - Impact of the Innate Immune Response in the Actions of Ethanol on the Central
      Nervous System.
AB  - The innate immune response in the central nervous system (CNS) participates in
      both synaptic plasticity and neural damage. Emerging evidence from human and
      animal studies supports the role of the neuroimmune system response in many
      actions of ethanol (EtOH) on the CNS. Research studies have shown that alcohol
      stimulates brain immune cells, microglia, and astrocytes, by activating innate
      immune receptors Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NOD-like receptors (inflammasome
      NLRs) triggering signaling pathways, which culminate in the production of pro
      inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that lead to neuroinflammation. This review
      focuses on evidence that indicates the participation of TLRs and the inflammasome
      NLRs signaling response in many effects of EtOH on the CNS, such as
      neuroinflammation associated with brain damage, cognitive and behavioral
      dysfunction, and adolescent brain development alterations. It also reviews
      findings that indicate the role of TLR4-dependent signaling immune molecules in
      alcohol consumption, reward, and addiction. The research data suggest that
      overactivation of TLR4 or NLRs increases pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators
      to cause neural damage in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, while modest TLR4
      activation, along with the generation of certain cytokines and chemokines in
      specific brain areas (e.g., amygdala, ventral tegmental area), modulate
      neurotransmission, alcohol drinking, and alcohol rewards. Elimination of TLR4 and
      NLRP3 abolishes many neuroimmune effects of EtOH. Despite much progress being
      made in this area, there are some research gaps and unanswered questions that
      this review discusses. Finally, potential therapies that target neuroimmune
      pathways to treat neuropathological and behavioral consequences of alcohol abuse
      are also evaluated.

PMID- 27650783
TI  - Progressing Insights into the Role of Dietary Fats in the Prevention of
      Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - Dietary fats have important effects on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
      Abundant evidence shows that partial replacement of saturated fatty acids (SAFA)
      with unsaturated fatty acids improves the blood lipid and lipoprotein profile and
      reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Low-fat diets high in refined
      carbohydrates and sugar are not effective. Very long-chain polyunsaturated n-3 or
      omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 VLCPUFA) present in fish have multiple beneficial
      metabolic effects, and regular intake of fatty fish is associated with lower
      risks of fatal CHD and stroke. Food-based guidelines on dietary fats recommend
      limiting the consumption of animal fats high in SAFA, using vegetable oils high
      in monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and eating
      fatty fish. These recommendations are part of a healthy eating pattern that also
      includes ample intake of plant-based foods rich in fiber and limited sugar and
      salt.

PMID- 27650786
TI  - Chemical composition and biological activities of extracts and essential oil of
      Boswellia dalzielii leaves.
AB  - CONTEXT: Boswellia dalzielii Hutch. (Burseraceae) is an aromatic plant. The
      leaves are used for beverage flavouring. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the
      chemical composition and biological activities of various extracts. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The essential oil was prepared via hydrodistillation. Identification and
      quantification were realized via GC-MS and GC-FID. Consecutive extractions
      (cyclohexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol) were carried out and
      various chemical groups (phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, antocyanins and sugar)
      were quantified. The volatile compounds of organic extracts were identified
      before and after derivatization. Antioxidant, antihyperuricemia, anti-Alzheimer,
      anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities were evaluated. RESULTS: In the
      essential oil, 50 compounds were identified, including 3-carene (27.72%) and
      alpha-pinene (15.18%). 2,5-Dihydroxy acetophenone and beta-d-xylopyranose were
      identified in the methanol extract. Higher phenolic (315.97 g GAE/kg dry mass)
      and flavonoid (37.19 g QE/kg dry mass) contents were observed in the methanol
      extract. The methanol extract has presented remarkable IC50 = 6.10 mg/L for
      antiDPPH, 35.10 mg/L for antixanthine oxidase and 28.01 mg/L for anti-5
      lipoxygenase. For acetylcholinesterase inhibition, the best IC50 (76.20 and 67.10
      mg/L) were observed, respectively, with an ethyl acetate extract and the
      essential oil. At 50 mg/L, the dichloromethane extract inhibited OVCAR-3 cell
      lines by 65.10%, while cyclohexane extract inhibited IGROV-1 cell lines by
      92.60%. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Biological activities were fully correlated
      with the chemical groups of the extracts. The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts
      could be considered as potential alternatives for use in dietary supplements for
      the prevention or treatment of diseases because of these extracts natural
      antioxidant, antihyperuricemic and anti-inflammatory activities.

PMID- 27650787
TI  - Fibrin-alginate hydrogel supports steroidogenesis, in vitro maturation of oocytes
      and parthenotes production from caprine preantral follicles cultured in group.
AB  - This study aimed to establish a culture system that improves the in vitro
      development of caprine preantral follicles. In a first experiment, follicles were
      encapsulated as a single unit per bead and cultured singly or in groups or with
      five follicles in the same alginate (ALG) bead for 18 days. In a subsequent
      experiment, the "five follicles per bead" design was chosen to culture in ALG,
      fibrin-alginate (FA) or hyaluronate (HA) for 18 days. In a third experiment, we
      chose the five follicles per bead in FA to culture for 30 days. The culture set
      up of five follicles per ALG bead increased antrum formation and follicle
      diameter compared to the other culture designs (p < .05). Moreover, under this
      condition, 44.44% of the oocytes from in vitro cultured preantral follicles
      reached meiotic resumption. A significant increase of follicle diameter occurred
      in attachment system and FA (p < .05), but the ALG condition reached the highest
      among all groups on day 18 (p < .05). Follicles encapsulated in matrix produced
      more estradiol and progesterone than attachment system (p < .05). The expression
      of MMP-9 mRNA was higher in FA than in other groups (p < .05) and similar to
      antral follicles from in vivo control (p > .05). Only FA group resulted in
      oocytes matured. After 30 days, oocytes from preantral follicles in vitro grown
      in FA developed to eight-cell parthenotes. In conclusion, a culture system using
      FA supported the development of caprine preantral follicles cultured in group and
      included in the same bead of hydrogel, improving the oocyte maturation and
      producing parthenotes.

PMID- 27650790
TI  - SLAS Europe High-Content Screening Conference in Dresden: A Glimpse of the
      Future?

PMID- 27650788
TI  - Comprehension of confidence intervals - development and piloting of patient
      information materials for people with multiple sclerosis: qualitative study and
      pilot randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presentation of confidence intervals alongside information about
      treatment effects can support informed treatment choices in people with multiple
      sclerosis. We aimed to develop and pilot-test different written patient
      information materials explaining confidence intervals in people with relapsing
      remitting multiple sclerosis. Further, a questionnaire on comprehension of
      confidence intervals was developed and piloted. METHODS: We developed different
      patient information versions aiming to explain confidence intervals. We used an
      illustrative example to test three different approaches: (1) short version, (2)
      "average weight" version and (3) "worm prophylaxis" version. Interviews were
      conducted using think-aloud and teach-back approaches to test feasibility and
      analysed using qualitative content analysis. To assess comprehension of
      confidence intervals, a six-item multiple choice questionnaire was developed and
      tested in a pilot randomised controlled trial using the online survey software
      UNIPARK. Here, the average weight version (intervention group) was tested against
      a standard patient information version on confidence intervals (control group).
      People with multiple sclerosis were invited to take part using existing mailing
      lists of people with multiple sclerosis in Germany and were randomised using the
      UNIPARK algorithm. Participants were blinded towards group allocation. Primary
      endpoint was comprehension of confidence intervals, assessed with the six-item
      multiple choice questionnaire with six points representing perfect knowledge.
      RESULTS: Feasibility of the patient information versions was tested with 16
      people with multiple sclerosis. For the pilot randomised controlled trial, 64
      people with multiple sclerosis were randomised (intervention group: n = 36;
      control group: n = 28). More questions were answered correctly in the
      intervention group compared to the control group (mean 4.8 vs 3.8, mean
      difference 1.1 (95 % CI 0.42-1.69), p = 0.002). The questionnaire's internal
      consistency was moderate (Cronbach's alpha = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS: The pilot-phase
      shows promising results concerning acceptability and feasibility. Pilot
      randomised controlled trial results indicate that the patient information is well
      understood and that knowledge gain on confidence intervals can be assessed with a
      set of six questions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register:
      DRKS00008561 . Registered 8th of June 2015.

PMID- 27650789
TI  - Early cognitive decline in older adults better predicts object than scene
      recognition performance.
AB  - There is an ongoing debate regarding the nature of memory deficits that occur in
      the early stages of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI has been associated with
      atrophy to regions that process objects, namely perirhinal and lateral entorhinal
      cortices. However, it is currently unclear whether older adults with early MCI
      will show memory deficits that are specific to objects, or whether they will also
      show memory deficits for other stimulus classes, such as scenes. We tested 75
      older adults using an object and scene recognition task with stimulus-specific
      interference (i.e., exposure to irrelevant object or scene stimuli). We found an
      interaction (P = 0.05) whereby scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a
      neuropsychological test with high sensitivity to MCI, shared a stronger
      relationship with object recognition than with scene recognition performance.
      Interestingly, this relationship was not modulated by the stimulus category of
      interfering items. To further explore these findings, we also tested an amnesic
      patient (DA) with known medial temporal lobe damage. Like older adults with early
      signs of MCI, DA showed poorer object recognition than scene recognition
      performance. Additionally, his performance was not modulated by the stimulus
      category of interfering material. By demonstrating that object memory is more
      predictive of cognitive decline than scene memory, these findings support the
      notion of perirhinal and lateral entorhinal cortex dysfunction in the early
      stages of MCI. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650791
TI  - High-Throughput Platform for Identifying Molecular Factors Involved in Phenotypic
      Stabilization of Primary Human Hepatocytes In Vitro.
AB  - Liver disease is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide and treatment options are
      limited, with organ transplantation being the only form of definitive management.
      Cell-based therapies have long held promise as alternatives to whole-organ
      transplantation but have been hindered by the rapid loss of liver-specific
      functions over a period of days in cultured hepatocytes. Hypothesis-driven
      studies have identified a handful of factors that modulate hepatocyte functions
      in vitro, but our understanding of the mechanisms involved remains incomplete. We
      thus report here the development of a high-throughput platform to enable
      systematic interrogation of liver biology in vitro. The platform is currently
      configured to enable genetic knockdown screens and includes an enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay-based functional assay to quantify albumin output as a
      surrogate marker for hepatocyte synthetic functions as well as an image-based
      viability assay that counts hepatocyte nuclei. Using this platform, we identified
      12 gene products that may be important for hepatocyte viability and/or liver
      identity in vitro. These results represent important first steps in the
      elucidation of mechanisms instrumental to the phenotypic maintenance of
      hepatocytes in vitro, and we hope that the tools reported here will empower
      additional studies in various fields of liver research. 

PMID- 27650792
TI  - Impact of changing positively worded items to negatively worded items in the
      Swedish web-version of the Quality of Recovery (SwQoR) questionnaire.
AB  - RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: The Swedish web-version of the Quality of
      Recovery questionnaire is used to evaluate a person's postoperative recovery
      after anesthesia and surgery. An earlier study found an increased risk of
      answering incorrectly when the questionnaire included both positive and negative
      items. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of changing positively
      worded items to negatively worded items. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional
      study including 90 second-year nursing students. Seven pairs of positively and
      negatively worded items were evaluated for differences in response as well as
      agreement between the items. RESULTS: Two pairs of items showed higher mean
      values if the item was negatively worded. Between-item agreement for positively
      worded item scores and their corresponding reverse-coded negatively worded item
      scores was poor-to-moderate (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.35-0.76). A
      moderate agreement was found when testing all positively worded items against the
      recoded negatively worded items (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.65).
      Internal consistency was 0.86 for the positively worded items and 0.76 for the
      negatively worded items. CONCLUSIONS: Changing from positive to negative wording
      produced some differences in Swedish web-version of the Quality of Recovery item
      scores. Internal consistency was acceptable, but 2 items (not having a general
      feeling of well-being and not speaking normally) need further refinement.

PMID- 27650793
TI  - Author's reply: About human taeniasis and Taenia saginata diagnosis by endoscopy.
AB  - Dear editor. We have published an article about the role of the endoscopy in the
      Taeniosis. I will try to clarify some doubts and misinformation about it, as well
      Galan-Puchades MT suggests.

PMID- 27650794
TI  - "Generally the young mom suffers much:" Socio-cultural influences of maternal
      capabilities and nutrition care in Uganda.
AB  - : We conducted 40 in-depth interviews and eight focus groups among mothers and
      fathers (n = 91) of diverse ages in western Uganda to define the relevant domains
      of maternal capabilities and their relationship to infant and young child feeding
      practices. This study was directed by a developing theory of maternal
      capabilities that posits that the impact of health-directed interventions may be
      limited by unmeasured and poorly understood maternal characteristics. Ugandan
      caregivers defined three major life events that constrain women's capabilities
      for childcare: early pregnancy, close child spacing, and polygamous marriage.
      Women describe major constraints in their decision-making capabilities generally
      and specifically to procuring food for young children. Future nutrition programs
      may improve their impact through activities that model household decision-making
      scenarios, and that strengthen women's social support networks. Findings suggest
      that efforts to transform gender norms may be one additional way to improve
      nutrition outcomes in communities with a generally low status of women relative
      to men. The willingness of younger fathers to challenge traditional gender norms
      suggests an opportunity in this context for continued work to strengthen
      resources for children's nutritional care. SIGNIFICANCE: Maternal factors such as
      autonomy are associated with child feeding practices and nutritional status, with
      varying degrees depending on the definition of maternal-level constructs and
      context. This study describes the events and processes that constrain maternal
      capabilities-intrapersonal factors that shape mother's abilities to leverage
      resources to provide care to children-as they relate to nutrition and hygiene
      practices. We report community beliefs and understandings about which
      capabilities have meaning for child nutrition and hygiene, and develop a
      conceptual framework to describe how these capabilities are formed and describe
      implications for future nutrition programs in East Africa and similar settings.

PMID- 27650795
TI  - The status of dermatoglyphics as a biomarker of Tel Hashomer camptodactyly
      syndrome: a review of the literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tel Hashomer camptodactyly syndrome is a rare disease and only a
      few cases have been reported. Dermatoglyphics potentially provide relevant
      phenotypic biomarkers that were initially noted as a vital clinical feature of
      this disease. Dermatoglyphics possibly can indicate growth disturbances that took
      place during early fetal development at the time when epidermal ridges were being
      formed into discernable patterns. Consequently, these intrauterine effects might
      well have occurred in association with the expression of the Tel Hashomer
      camptodactyly syndrome. Therefore, this review was undertaken to provide, as far
      as we know, the first attempt to broadly assess dermatoglyphic features that are
      connected with the Tel Hashomer camptodactyly syndrome. If a developmental
      association between dermatoglyphics and Tel Hashomer camptodactyly can be firmly
      established, this would probably document that Tel Hashomer camptodactyly disease
      has its origins during the early fetal period. METHODS: A systematic literature
      search was conducted using articles from PubMed (Medline), POPLINE, Trip
      Database, Cochrane Library, and gray literature up to 31 March 2015. The review
      was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews
      and Meta-Analyses statement. RESULTS: Fourteen relevant publications were
      included in the review. There were 23 cases of patients with Tel Hashomer
      camptodactyly syndrome that were described in these published articles. We
      reviewed the dermatoglyphics of 21 available cases out of all of the published
      and electronically available cases of Tel Hashomer camptodactyly. Eight cases
      reported whorls to be the most common digital pattern with an expected rise of
      ridge count. Two cases show significantly high frequencies of arch patterns.
      Further, there were increased numbers of palmar creases, along with abnormal
      flexion creases or other palmar dermatoglyphic abnormalities reported in all
      cases. CONCLUSION: This review highlighted the desirability of thoroughly
      observing and recording dermatoglyphic features when reporting on future patients
      with Tel Hashomer camptodactyly syndrome, in conjunction with carrying out modern
      molecular methods.

PMID- 27650796
TI  - Spin-orbit coupled molecular quantum magnetism realized in inorganic solid.
AB  - Molecular quantum magnetism involving an isolated spin state is of particular
      interest due to the characteristic quantum phenomena underlying spin qubits or
      molecular spintronics for quantum information devices, as demonstrated in
      magnetic metal-organic molecular systems, the so-called molecular magnets. Here
      we report the molecular quantum magnetism realized in an inorganic solid
      Ba3Yb2Zn5O11 with spin-orbit coupled pseudospin-1/2 Yb(3+) ions. The
      magnetization represents the magnetic quantum values of an isolated Yb4
      tetrahedron with a total (pseudo)spin 0, 1 and 2. Inelastic neutron scattering
      results reveal that a large Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction originating from
      strong spin-orbit coupling of Yb 4f is a key ingredient to explain magnetic
      excitations of the molecular magnet states. The Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction
      allows a non-adiabatic quantum transition between avoided crossing energy levels,
      and also results in unexpected magnetic behaviours in conventional molecular
      magnets.

PMID- 27650797
TI  - A miRNA-based signature predicts development of disease recurrence in HER2
      positive breast cancer after adjuvant trastuzumab-based treatment.
AB  - Approximately 20% of HER2 positive breast cancer develops disease recurrence
      after adjuvant trastuzumab treatment. This study aimed to develop a molecular
      prognostic model that can reliably stratify patients by risk of developing
      disease recurrence. Using miRNA microarrays, nine miRNAs that differentially
      expressed between the recurrent and non-recurrent patients were identified. Then,
      we validated the expression of these miRNAs using qRT-PCR in training set (n =
      101), and generated a 2-miRNA (miR-4734 and miR-150-5p) based prognostic
      signature. The prognostic accuracy of this classifier was further confirmed in an
      internal testing set (n = 57), and an external independent testing set (n = 53).
      Besides, by comparing the ROC curves, we found the incorporation of this miRNA
      based classifier into TNM stage could improve the prognostic performance of TNM
      system. The results indicated the 2-miRNA based signature was a reliable
      prognostic biomarker for patients with HER2 positive breast cancer.

PMID- 27650798
TI  - Chemoselective Reduction of Tertiary Amides to Amines Catalyzed by
      Triphenylborane.
AB  - Triphenylborane (BPh3 ) was found to catalyze the reduction of tertiary amides
      with hydrosilanes to give amines under mild condition with high chemoselectivity
      in the presence of ketones, esters, and imines. N,N-Dimethylacrylamide was
      reduced to provide the alpha-silyl amide. Preliminary studies indicate that the
      hydrosilylation catalyzed by BPh3 may be mechanistically different from that
      catalyzed by the more electrophilic B(C6 F5 )3 .

PMID- 27650799
TI  - Genetic diversity of Arcobacter isolated from bivalves of Adriatic and their
      interactions with Mytilus galloprovincialis hemocytes.
AB  - The human food-borne pathogens Arcobacter butzleri and A. cryaerophilus have been
      frequently isolated from the intestinal tracts and fecal samples of different
      farm animals and, after excretion, these microorganisms can contaminate the
      environment, including the aquatic one. In this regard, A. butzleri and A.
      cryaerophilus have been detected in seawater and bivalves of coastal areas which
      are affected by fecal contamination. The capability of bivalve hemocytes to
      interact with bacteria has been proposed as the main factor inversely
      conditioning their persistence in the bivalve. In this study, 12 strains of
      Arcobacter spp. were isolated between January and May 2013 from bivalves of
      Central Adriatic Sea of Italy in order to examine their genetic diversity as well
      as in vitro interactions with bivalve components of the immune response, such as
      hemocytes. Of these, seven isolates were A. butzleri and five A. cryaerophilus,
      and were genetically different. All strains showed ability to induce spreading
      and respiratory burst of Mytilus galloprovincialis hemocytes. Overall, our data
      demonstrate the high genetic diversity of these microorganisms circulating in the
      marine study area. Moreover, the Arcobacter-bivalve interaction suggests that
      they do not have a potential to persist in the tissues of M. galloprovincialis.

PMID- 27650801
TI  - Long-term incorporation of manure with chemical fertilizers reduced total
      nitrogen loss in rain-fed cropping systems.
AB  - Improving soil fertility/productivity and reducing environmental impact of
      nitrogen (N) fertilization are essential for sustainable agriculture. Quantifying
      the contribution of various fertilization regimes to soil N storage and loss has
      been lacking in a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. Based on data collected
      from field experiments at three typical agricultural zones in China, soil N
      dynamics and N changes in soil profile (0-100 cm) were examined during 1990-2009
      under chemical fertilization, manure incorporation with fertilizer, and
      fertilizer with straw return treatments. We employed a mass balance approach to
      estimate the N loss to the environment after taking into account soil N change.
      Results showed a significant increase in soil N storage under manure
      incorporation treatments, accompanied with the lowest N loss (ave.20-24% of total
      N input) compared to all other treatments (ave.35-63%). Both soil N distribution
      and mass balance data suggested higher leaching risk from chemical fertilization
      in acidic soil of southern China with higher precipitation than the other two
      sites. This research concludes that manure incorporation with chemical fertilizer
      not only can achieve high N use efficiency and improve soil fertility, but also
      leads to the lowest total N loss or damage to the environment.

PMID- 27650800
TI  - The effect of renal dysfunction and haemodialysis on circulating liver specific
      miR-122.
AB  - AIMS: microRNA-122 (miR-122) is a hepatotoxicity biomarker with utility in the
      management of paracetamol overdose and in drug development. Renal dysfunction and
      haemodialysis have been associated with a reduction in circulating microRNA. The
      objective of this study was to determine their effect on miR-122. METHODS: Blood
      samples were collected from 17 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on
      haemodialysis, 22 healthy controls, 30 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      and 15 patients post-kidney transplantation. All had normal standard liver
      function tests. Samples from ESRD patients were collected immediately pre- and
      post-haemodialysis. Serum alanine transaminase activity (ALT), miR-122 and miR
      885 (liver enriched) were compared. RESULTS: Circulating miR-122 was
      substantially reduced in ESRD patients pre-haemodialysis compared with the other
      groups (19.0-fold lower than healthy controls; 21.7-fold lower than CKD).
      Haemodialysis increased miR-122 from a median value of 6.7 * 103 (2.3 * 103 -1.4
      * 104 ) to 1.6 * 104 (5.4 * 103 -3.2 * 104 ) copies ml-1 . The increase in miR
      122 did not correlate with dialysis adequacy. miR-122 was reduced in the
      argonaute 2 bound fraction pre-haemodialysis; this fraction was increased post
      dialysis. There was no change in miR-122 associated with extracellular vesicles.
      miR-885 was also reduced in ESRD patients (4-fold compared to healthy subjects)
      and increased by haemodialysis. CONCLUSION: miR-122 is substantially lower in
      ESRD compared to healthy controls, patients with CKD and transplanted patients.
      Haemodialysis increases the concentration of miR-122. These data need to be
      considered when interpreting liver injury using miR-122 in patients with ESRD on
      dialysis, and specific reference ranges that define normal in this setting may
      need to be developed.

PMID- 27650803
TI  - Women's Pharmacotherapy Matters.

PMID- 27650802
TI  - Caulobacter spp: A Rare Pathogen Responsible for Paucisintomatic Persisitant
      Meningitis in a Glioblastoma Patient.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caulobacter spp. are Gram-negative bacteria that have rarely been
      found to be pathogenic in humans. CASE DESCRIPTION: This report describes the
      first case, to our knowledge, of meningitis in an adult patient caused by
      Caulobacter spp. A 75-year-old man was operated for a glioblastoma with no
      evident signs of primary infection in the wound site. Eight days after surgery,
      the patient developed signs and symptoms of meningitis. Caulobacter was then
      isolated on 3 separate occasions in the patient's cerebrospinal fluid.
      Thereafter, specific antibiotic therapy began. After 2 weeks of therapy, the
      patient was discharged with complete resolution of any related symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Caulobacter spp. can cause adult meningitis even where there is no
      evidence of surgical site infection.

PMID- 27650804
TI  - Optimizing Positioning for In-Office Otology Procedures.
AB  - Objective Surgeons often report musculoskeletal discomfort in relation to their
      practice, but few understand optimal ergonomic positioning. This study aims to
      determine which patient position-sitting versus supine-is ergonomically optimal
      for performing otologic procedures. Study Design Observational study. Setting
      Outpatient otolaryngology clinic setting in a tertiary care facility. Subjects
      and Methods We observed 3 neurotologists performing a standardized simulated
      cerumen debridement procedure on volunteers in 2 positions: sitting and supine.
      The Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA)-a validated tool that calculates stress
      placed on the upper limb during a task-was used to evaluate ergonomic
      positioning. Scores on this instrument range from 1 to 7, with a score of 1 to 2
      indicating negligible risk of developing posture-related injury. The risk of
      musculoskeletal disorders increases as the RULA score increases. Results In
      nearly every trial, RULA scores were lower when the simulated patient was placed
      in the supine position. When examined as a group, the median RULA scores were 5
      with the patient sitting and 3 with the patient in the supine position ( P <
      .0001). When the RULA scores of the 3 neurotologists were examined individually,
      each had a statistically significant decrease in score with the patient in the
      supine position. Conclusion This study indicates that patient position may
      contribute to ergonomic stress placed on the otolaryngologist's upper limb during
      in-office otologic procedures. Otolaryngologists should consider performing
      otologic procedures with the patient in the supine position to decrease their own
      risk of developing upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders.

PMID- 27650805
TI  - Expansion Pharyngoplasty by New Simple Suspension Sutures without Tonsillectomy.
AB  - The aim of this study was to introduce and assess a new minimally invasive
      expansion pharyngoplasty for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) using bilateral new
      advancement sutures without tonsillectomy. Among 24 patients who had OSA with
      Friedman stage II or III and type I Fujita, bilateral sutures were performed to
      advance and stabilize palatopharyngeus and palatoglossus muscles anterolaterally.
      Mean apnea hypopnea index decreased significantly from 28.6 +/- 4.2
      preoperatively to 8.9 +/- 4.9 postoperatively. The lowest oxygen saturation
      increased significantly from 79.25 +/- 4.12 to 89.29 +/- 4.12. Moreover, the
      visual analog score showed statistically significant reduction in the snoring
      intensity from a preoperative mean of 8.2 +/- 1.4 to 2.1 +/- 1.4 at 6 months
      postoperatively. Significant improvements were also documented in the Epworth
      Sleepiness Scale, as its mean decreased from 11.7 +/- 2.9 preoperatively to 5.1
      +/- 2.2 postoperatively. In conclusion, the described new sutures could
      significantly correct OSA in patients with retropalatal obstruction and lateral
      pharyngeal walls collapse with easy applicability and no reported complication.

PMID- 27650806
TI  - Provincial Variation of Cochlear Implantation Surgical Volumes and Cost in
      Canada.
AB  - Objectives To investigate provincial cochlear implantation (CI) annual volume and
      cost trends. Study Design Database analysis. Setting National surgical volume and
      cost database. Subjects and Methods Aggregate-level provincial CI volumes and
      cost data for adult and pediatric CI surgery from 2005 to 2014 were obtained from
      the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Population-level aging forecast
      estimates were obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Finance and Statistics
      Canada. Linear fit, analysis of variance, and Tukey's analyses were utilized to
      compare variances and means. Results The national volume of annual CI procedures
      is forecasted to increase by <30 per year ( R2 = 0.88). Ontario has the highest
      mean annual CI volume (282; 95% confidence interval, 258-308), followed by
      Alberta (92.0; 95% confidence interval, 66.3-118), which are significantly higher
      than all other provinces ( P < .05 for each). Ontario's annual CI procedure
      volume is forecasted to increase by <11 per year ( R2 = 0.62). Newfoundland and
      Nova Scotia have the highest CI procedures per 100,000 residents as compared with
      all other provinces ( P < .05). Alberta, Newfoundland, and Manitoba have the
      highest estimated implantation cost of all provinces ( P < .05). Conclusions
      Historical trends of CI forecast modest national volume growth. Potential
      bottlenecks include provincial funding and access to surgical expertise. The
      proportion of older adult patients who may benefit from a CI will rise, and there
      may be insufficient capacity to meet this need. Delayed access to CI for
      pediatric patients is also a concern, given recent reports of long wait times for
      CI surgery.

PMID- 27650807
TI  - Sono-sulfated zirconia nanocatalyst supported on MCM-41 for biodiesel production
      from sunflower oil: Influence of ultrasound irradiation power on catalytic
      properties and performance.
AB  - Sono-sulfated zirconia nanocatalyst supported on MCM-41 was prepared by an
      ultrasound-assisted impregnation/hydrothermal hybrid method. The effect of
      irradiation power was studied by changing power of the sonication (30, 60 and
      90W) during the synthesis which led to different physiochemical properties of the
      nanocatalyst. XRD, FESEM, EDX, FTIR and BET analyses exhibited smaller particles
      with higher surface area and less population of particle aggregates at highly
      irradiated nanocatalysts. The nanocatalyst irradiated at 90W for 30min showed a
      very narrow particle size distribution. About 59% of nanocatalyst particles were
      in the range of 1-30nm. The performance of investigated nanocatalysts in
      biodiesel production from sunflower oil showed ultrasound-assisted synthesized
      nanocatalysts had higher conversion in comparison to non-sonicated catalyst.
      Biodiesel conversion in catalyst with 90W and 30min ultrasonic irradiation
      exceeded 96.9% under constant condition at 60 degrees C reaction temperature,
      methanol/oil molar ratio of 9:1 and 5% catalyst concentration. After five cycles,
      biodiesel conversion of non-sonicated catalyst was well maintained in a high
      extend (71.4%) while biodiesel conversion of non-sonicated catalyst barely
      reached to 43.5%. Among sonicated nanocatalysts, with increasing power of
      irradiation, the nanocatalyst represented higher conversion and reusability.

PMID- 27650808
TI  - A novel approach for continuous synthesis of calcium carbonate using sequential
      operation of two sonochemical reactors.
AB  - A novel continuous process for the synthesis of calcium carbonate based on
      precipitation reaction has been developed involving the sequential operation of
      two sonochemical reactors for the first time. The reactors were also operated as
      control (conventional approach without ultrasound) to clearly establish the
      process intensification benefits due to the use of ultrasound. The effect of
      different operating parameters such as Ca(OH)2 concentration, CO2 flow rate and
      Ca(OH)2 slurry flow rate on the particle size has been investigated. The obtained
      calcite particles were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR),
      wide angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size distribution (PSD) analysis.
      The morphology of the obtained particles was also analyzed using scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was
      established that the average particle size obtained in the presence of ultrasound
      was smaller with much narrow size distribution as compared to the conventional
      approach. Further, the average particle size was established to decrease with an
      increase in the Ca(OH)2 slurry concentration and CO2 flow rate with the optimum
      conditions giving a particle size of 164nm. The particle size was also influenced
      by the Ca(OH)2 slurry flow rate and under optimum condition of Ca(OH)2 slurry
      flow rate as 24mL/min, particle size of 135nm was obtained. Only calcite phase of
      CaCO3 was observed to be formed as established based on the XRD analysis during
      both the synthesis approaches confirming the stability of the obtained particles.
      It was also observed that the shape of the crystals varied with the method of
      synthesis. Rhombohedral calcite particles were formed in the presence of
      ultrasound whereas the conventional stirring method resulted in spindle shaped
      particles. Overall, the utility of the ultrasound assisted approach has been
      clearly established with novel results based on the use of sonochemical reactors
      in series.

PMID- 27650809
TI  - Ultrasound-assisted sol-gel synthesis of ZrO2.
AB  - Synthesis of tetragonal ZrO2 by both conventional sol-gel and ultrasound-assisted
      sol-gel methods and using a non-ionic surfactant Tween-20, was performed. A
      porous microstructure composed of nanometric particles was observed. Tetragonal
      ZrO2 was obtained using a low heat treatment temperature of powders, 500 degrees
      C by both methods. A higher crystallinity and a shorter reaction time were
      observed when ultrasound was used in the sol-gel method due to the cavitation
      phenomenon.

PMID- 27650810
TI  - Wettability of a surface subjected to high frequency mechanical vibrations.
AB  - Ultrasonic radiation can modify some physical properties in liquid/solid
      interactions, such as wettability. The dependence of solid surface wettability on
      its vibrational state was studied. Experiments with an interface formed by
      distilled water deposited on a titanium alloy and surrounded by air were carried
      out. It is shown that it is possible to control the apparent wettability of a
      given liquid/solid/gas system by applying sonic-ultrasonic vibrations of
      controlled amplitude at the interface. The system studied is composed of a drop
      of distilled water deposited on a flat titanium surface in air. The contact angle
      was used as an indicator of apparent wettability. It is shown that the apparent
      wettability of a surface is linearly dependent on the peak vibration velocity and
      independent of the vibration frequency. Higher vibration speed lowers the contact
      angle and therefore causes greater surface wettability.

PMID- 27650811
TI  - Pea and Broad Bean Pods as a Natural Source of Dietary Fiber: The Impact on
      Texture and Sensory Properties of Cake.
AB  - Attention has focused on bakery products such as cake which is one of the most
      common bakery products consumed by people in the world. Legume by-products, pea
      pods (PPs) (Pisum sativum L.) and broad bean pods (BBPs) (Vicia faba L.)
      mediterranean (Tunisian), has been studied for its high dietary fiber content
      (PP: 43.87 g/100 g; BBP: 53.01 g/100 g). Protein content was also a considerable
      component for both by-products. We investigated the effect of substituted of 5%,
      10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% of PP and BBP flours on the sensory and technological
      properties in cake. Cakes hardness increased whereas L* and a* color values
      decreased. The overall acceptability rate showed that a maximum of 15% of PP and
      BBP flours can be added to prepare acceptable quality cakes.

PMID- 27650813
TI  - Call for Nominations, 2017 Jellinek Memorial Award.

PMID- 27650812
TI  - Legal cannabis industry adopting strategies of the tobacco industry.

PMID- 27650814
TI  - Silicification of the medial tooth in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.
AB  - Observations of cuticular structures mineralized with silica within the Crustacea
      have been limited to the opal teeth of copepods, mandibles of amphipods, and
      recently the teeth of the gastric mill in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.
      Copepod teeth are deposited during premolt, with sequential elaboration of
      organic materials followed by secretion of silica into the tooth mold. The timing
      of mineralization is in stark contrast to that of the general integument of
      crustaceans in which calcification is completely restricted to the postmolt
      period. To determine the timing of molt-related deposition and silicification of
      the teeth of the gastric mill, the medial tooth of the blue crab C. sapidus was
      examined histologically and ultrastructurally across the molt cycle. Histological
      data revealed deposition of the organic matrix of the epicuticle and exocuticle
      during premolt. No evidence of postmolt changes in the thickness of the
      epicuticle and exocuticle, or any deposition of endocuticle, was observed.
      Scanning electron microscopy revealed degradation of the outer surface of the old
      tooth during premolt. During premolt, epithelial structures resembling papilla
      appeared to secrete a fibrous web that coalesces to become the matrix of the new
      tooth. Semi-quantitative elemental analyses indicated simultaneous deposition of
      silica and organic matrix, and demonstrated a homogeneous distribution of silicon
      throughout the epicuticle of the tooth at all stages. However, there is evidence
      of deposition (presumably silicification) during postmolt as spaces between the
      papillae become filled in. Thus, the pattern and timing of deposition and
      silicification of the tooth are different from both teeth of copepods and the
      general exoskeleton of decapods, and may facilitate rapid resumption of feeding
      and consumption of the exuvia in early postmolt. J. Morphol. 277:1648-1660, 2016.
      (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650815
TI  - Effect of Bioconjugation on the Reduction Potential of Heme Proteins.
AB  - The modification of protein surfaces employing cationic and anionic species
      enables the assembly of these biomaterials into highly sophisticated hierarchical
      structures. Such modifications can allow bioconjugates to retain or amplify their
      functionalities under conditions in which their native structure would be
      severely compromised. In this work, we assess the effect of this type of
      bioconjugation on the redox properties of two model heme proteins, that is,
      cytochrome c (CytC) and myoglobin (Mb). In particular, the work focuses on the
      sequential modification by 3-dimethylamino propylamine (DMAPA) and 4-nonylphenyl
      3-sulfopropyl ether (S1) anionic surfactant. Bioconjugation with DMAPA and S1 are
      the initial steps in the generation of pure liquid proteins, which remain active
      in the absence of water and up to temperatures above 150  degrees C. Thin-layer
      spectroelectrochemistry reveals that DMAPA cationization leads to a distribution
      of bioconjugate structures featuring reduction potentials shifted up to 380 mV
      more negative than the native proteins. Analysis based on circular dichroism,
      MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and zeta potential measurements suggest that the
      shift in the reduction potentials are not linked to protein denaturation, but to
      changes in the spin state of the heme. These alterations of the spin states
      originate from subtle structural changes induced by DMAPA attachment.
      Interestingly, electrostatic coupling of anionic surfactant S1 shifts the
      reduction potential closer to that of the native protein, demonstrating that the
      modifications of the heme electronic configuration are linked to surface charges.

PMID- 27650816
TI  - Charting the effects of TMS with fMRI: Modulation of cortical recruitment within
      the distributed network supporting semantic control.
AB  - Semantic memory comprises our knowledge of the meanings of words and objects but
      only some of this knowledge is relevant at any given time. Thus, semantic control
      processes are needed to focus retrieval on relevant information. Research on the
      neural basis of semantic control has strongly implicated left inferior frontal
      gyrus (LIFG) but recent work suggests that a wider network supports semantic
      control, including left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), right inferior
      frontal gyrus (RIFG) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). In the current
      study, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (1Hz offline TMS)
      over LIFG, immediately followed by fMRI, to examine modulation of the semantic
      network. We compared the effect of stimulation on judgements about strongly
      associated words (dog-bone) and weaker associations (dog-beach), since previous
      studies have found that dominant links can be recovered largely automatically
      with little engagement of LIFG, while more distant connections require greater
      control. Even though behavioural performance was maintained in response to TMS,
      LIFG stimulation increased the effect of semantic control demands in pMTG and pre
      SMA, relative to stimulation of a control site (occipital pole). These changes
      were accompanied by reduced recruitment of both the stimulated region (LIFG) and
      its right hemisphere homologue (RIFG), particularly for strong associations with
      low control requirements. Thus repetitive TMS to LIFG modulated the contribution
      of distributed regions to semantic judgements in two distinct ways.

PMID- 27650817
TI  - Initial testing (stage 1) of the curaxin CBL0137 by the pediatric preclinical
      testing program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CBL0137 is a novel drug that modulates FAcilitates Chromatin
      Transcription (FACT), resulting in simultaneous nuclear factor-kappaB
      suppression, heat shock factor 1 suppression and p53 activation. CBL0137 has
      demonstrated antitumor effects in animal models of several adult cancers and
      neuroblastoma. PROCEDURES: CBL0137 was tested against the Pediatric Preclinical
      Testing Program (PPTP) in vitro cell line panel at concentrations ranging from
      1.0 nM to 10.0 MUM and against the PPTP in vivo solid tumor xenograft and acute
      lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) panels at 50 mg/kg administered intravenously weekly
      for 4 weeks. RESULTS: The median relative IC50 (rIC50 ) value for the PPTP cell
      lines was 0.28 MUM (range: 0.13-0.80 MUM). There were no significant differences
      in rIC50 values by histotype. CBL0137 induced significant differences in event
      free survival (EFS) distribution compared to control in 10 of 31 (32%) evaluable
      solid tumor xenografts and in eight of eight (100%) evaluable ALL xenografts.
      Significance differences in EFS distribution were observed in four of six
      osteosarcoma lines, three of three rhabdoid tumor lines and two of six
      rhabdomyosarcoma lines. No objective responses were observed among the solid
      tumor xenografts. For the ALL panel, one xenograft achieved complete response and
      four achieved partial response. CONCLUSIONS: The most consistent in vivo activity
      for CBL0137 was observed against ALL xenografts, with some solid tumor xenograft
      lines showing tumor growth delay. It will be important to relate the drug levels
      in mice at 50 mg/kg to those in humans at the recommended phase 2 dose.

PMID- 27650818
TI  - Genome-wide In Silico Analysis, Characterization and Identification of
      Microsatellites in Spodoptera littoralis Multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus
      (SpliMNPV).
AB  - In this study, we undertook a survey to analyze the distribution and frequency of
      microsatellites or Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) in Spodoptera littoralis
      multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpliMNPV) genome (isolate AN-1956). Out of the 55
      microsatellite motifs, identified in the SpliMNPV-AN1956 genome using in silico
      analysis (inclusive of mono-, di-, tri- and hexa-nucleotide repeats), 39 were
      found to be distributed within coding regions (cSSRs), whereas 16 were observed
      to lie within intergenic or noncoding regions. Among the 39 motifs located in
      coding regions, 21 were located in annotated functional genes whilst 18 were
      identified in unknown functional genes (hypothetical proteins). Among the
      identified motifs, trinucleotide (80%) repeats were found to be the most abundant
      followed by dinucleotide (13%), mononucleotide (5%) and hexanucleotide (2%)
      repeats. The 39 motifs located within coding regions were further validated in
      vitro by using PCR analysis, while the 21 motifs located within known functional
      genes (15 genes) were characterized using nucleotide sequencing. A comparison of
      the sequence analysis data of the 21 sequenced cSSRs with the published sequences
      is presented. Finally, the developed SSR markers of the 39 motifs were further
      mapped/localized onto the SpliMNPV-AN1956 genome. In conclusion, the SSR markers
      specific to SpliMNPV, developed in this study, could be a useful tool for the
      identification of isolates and analysis of genetic diversity and viral
      evolutionary status.

PMID- 27650819
TI  - Appropriateness of Acid Suppression Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The inappropriate startup of long-term acid suppressive therapy (AST)
      can have clinical and pharmacoeconomic impacts on ambulatory care. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess the proportion of patients with appropriate initiation of long-term AST in
      non-critically ill patients. To describe possible risk factors for nonappropriate
      AST. To calculate the potential savings when eliminating the nonappropriate
      startup of AST. METHOD: This observational, retrospective study evaluated the
      appropriateness of startup of long-term AST in medical records using a broad
      variety of international criteria and guidelines and using a validated screening
      instrument. RESULTS: A sample of 597 patients was included in the analysis. In
      57% of them, AST was appropriately initiated. No specific risk profile could be
      defined. There was some indication that the availability of a clinical pharmacist
      and the use of standing orders were correlated to the outcome. Extrapolation to
      the total population (ie, 2836 patients) led to a total cost of ?8880 during
      hospital stay plus an extra ?40 391 per month after discharge. Avoiding
      inappropriate initiation of AST could lead to a saving of ?3805 plus ?17 441 per
      month. CONCLUSION: In all, 43% of initiation of long-term AST in the hospital was
      inappropriate. The potential savings from avoiding this could be substantial from
      a health care payer perspective. No patient characteristics that could predict
      for inappropriate initiation of AST were identified. A correlation between
      inappropriate initiation and medical disciplines using standing orders that
      include AST was seen.

PMID- 27650821
TI  - Histologic Evaluation of Biopsy Specimens Obtained After Rotator Cuff Repair
      Augmented With a Highly Porous Collagen Implant.
AB  - PURPOSE: To histologically evaluate biopsy specimens from patients who previously
      underwent rotator cuff repair augmented with a highly porous collagen implant.
      METHODS: Biopsies of collagen implant/host-tissue constructs were obtained from 7
      patients undergoing a second arthroscopic procedure at various time periods (5
      weeks to 6 months) after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair augmented with a
      collagen implant overlay. The biopsy specimens were examined histologically for
      host-tissue ingrowth, host-tissue maturation, and host-implant biocompatibility.
      RESULTS: At the earliest time period (5 weeks), the biopsy revealed the presence
      of host cells (fibroblasts) within the interstices of the porous collagen
      implant. Cells were aligned along the linear orientation of the collagen implant
      structure, and there was evidence of early collagen formation. The 3-month
      biopsies showed increased collagen formation, maturation, and organization over
      the surface of the implant and evidence of the collagen implant. At 6 months, the
      newly generated tissue had the histologic appearance of a tendon, suggesting
      functional loading of the new generated host tissue. There was no evidence of any
      remnants of the collagen implant in the 6-month biopsy. There was no evidence of
      any inflammatory or foreign body reaction within any of the tissue samples.
      CONCLUSIONS: Biopsies of collagen implants retrieved from human rotator cuff
      repair subjects revealed cellular incorporation, tissue formation and maturation,
      implant resorption, and biocompatibility. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The histologic
      observations from these clinical biopsies support the biocompatibility of this
      implant and its ability to promote new connective tissue with the histological
      appearance of tendon over the surface of the native cuff tendon.

PMID- 27650820
TI  - Mobilizing cognition for speeded action: try-harder instructions promote
      motivated readiness in the constant-foreperiod paradigm.
AB  - We examined the effect of motivational readiness on cognitive performance. An
      important but still not sufficiently elaborated question is whether individuals
      can voluntarily increase cognitive efficiency for an impending target event,
      given sufficient preparation time. Within the framework of the constant
      foreperiod design (comparing reaction time performance in blocks of short and
      long foreperiod intervals, FPs), we examined the effect of an instruction to try
      harder (instructional cue: standard vs. effort) in a choice-reaction task on
      performance speed and variability. Proceeding from previous theoretical
      considerations, we expected the instruction to speed-up processing irrespective
      of FP length, while error rate should be increased in the short-FP but decreased
      in the long-FP condition. Overall, the results confirmed this prediction.
      Importantly, the distributional (ex-Gaussian and delta plot) analysis revealed
      that the instruction to try harder decreased distributional skewness (i.e.,
      longer percentiles were more affected), indicating that mobilization ensured
      temporal performance stability (persistence).

PMID- 27650824
TI  - Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery Article Series Disclosure Index.

PMID- 27650822
TI  - beta blockers and mortality after myocardial infarction in patients without heart
      failure: multicentre prospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between early and prolonged beta blocker
      treatment and mortality after acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN: Multicentre
      prospective cohort study. SETTING: Nationwide French registry of Acute ST- and
      non-ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction (FAST-MI) (at 223 centres) at the end of
      2005. PARTICIPANTS: 2679 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction
      and without heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Mortality was assessed at 30 days in relation to early use of beta blockers (<=48
      hours of admission), at one year in relation to discharge prescription, and at
      five years in relation to one year use. RESULTS: beta blockers were used early in
      77% (2050/2679) of patients, were prescribed at discharge in 80% (1783/2217), and
      were still being used in 89% (1230/1383) of those alive at one year. Thirty day
      mortality was lower in patients taking early beta blockers (adjusted hazard ratio
      0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.26 to 0.82), whereas the hazard ratio for one
      year mortality associated with beta blockers at discharge was 0.77 (0.46 to
      1.30). Persistence of beta blockers at one year was not associated with lower
      five year mortality (hazard ratio 1.19, 0.65 to 2.18). In contrast, five year
      mortality was lower in patients continuing statins at one year (hazard ratio
      0.42, 0.25 to 0.72) compared with those discontinuing statins. Propensity score
      and sensitivity analyses showed consistent results. CONCLUSIONS: Early beta
      blocker use was associated with reduced 30 day mortality in patients with acute
      myocardial infarction, and discontinuation of beta blockers at one year was not
      associated with higher five year mortality. These findings question the utility
      of prolonged beta blocker treatment after acute myocardial infarction in patients
      without heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction.Trial registration Clinical
      trials NCT00673036.

PMID- 27650823
TI  - Origin of the Zika virus revealed: a historical journey across the world.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus within the Flaviviridae family, the
      recent spread of which has promoted public concern. METHODS: This study outlines
      the clinical features, potential for teratogenicity, diagnosis, and treatment of
      ZIKV infection. RESULTS: Zika virus is transmitted through the bite of an
      infected Stegomyia (= Aedes) mosquito, blood transfusion, sexual intercourse, and
      perinatal routes. Infection has been characterized as mildly symptomatic.
      Symptoms include mild fever, headache, arthralgia, myalgia, non-purulent
      conjunctivitis, and a pruritic maculopapular rash. It is rarely life-threatening,
      but both Guillain-Barre syndrome and fetal microcephaly have been reported. ZIKV
      belongs to the same family as bovine viral diarrhea virus, which causes
      hydrocephalus and microcephaly in newborn calves, and hepatitis C virus, which
      can be vertically transmitted in human pregnancies, and hence there remains
      concern for potential similarities. Diagnostic methods include polymerase chain
      reaction performed in blood samples during infection, and in urine and saliva.
      Pregnant women undergo antibody testing for immunoglobulin M. Treatment involves
      supportive care, and acetaminophen and antihistamines to control symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although there was no evidence of the circulation of ZIKV in the
      Western hemisphere prior to 2014, the global spread of Stegomyia aegypti and
      increases in urban populations and international travel have fostered its
      evolution. Adherence to current guidelines for the prevention of ZIKV
      transmission is especially relevant in regions experiencing ongoing outbreaks.
      Concern for microcephaly in newborns warrants further investigation into the
      potential long-term effects of ZIKV infection, especially in relation to
      reproductive health and mother-fetus transmission.

PMID- 27650826
TI  - Breast Cancer in Male Adolescents and Young Adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in female adolescent
      and young adults (AYA; age 15-39 years). However, few data exist detailing either
      in situ or invasive breast cancer in male AYAs. METHODS: All male AYA breast
      cancer cases were identified in the National Cancer Data Base (1998-2010).
      Demographics, tumor, and treatment predictors of overall survival (OS) were
      determined for both patients with in situ and invasive tumors. RESULTS: Of 677
      male AYAs, 122 patients (18 %) had in situ breast cancer, while 555 patients (82
      %) were found to have invasive breast cancer. Compared to in situ breast cancer,
      invasive breast cancer in male AYAs was less likely to occur in patients with
      private or managed care insurance (p = 0.003) or <20 years of age (p = 0.028). In
      patients with invasive breast cancer, lower OS was associated with age <=25 years
      (p = 0.006), black race (p = 0.018), not having
      Medicaid/Medicare/government/military insurance (p < 0.001), the lowest
      socioeconomic status (p = 0.001), higher overall stage (p < 0.001), T stage (p <
      0.001), nodal stage (p < 0.001), and M stage (p < 0.001), as well as not having
      any surgery (p < 0.001) or nodal evaluation at surgery (p < 0.001). After
      controlling for competing factors, only age <=25 years (hazard ratio 3.064, 95 %
      confidence interval 1.216-7.720) and not having nodal evaluation (hazard ratio
      3.070, 95 % confidence interval 1.423-6.626) predicted decreased OS. CONCLUSIONS:
      Younger age and not having nodal evaluation at the time of surgery are associated
      with decreased OS in AYA male patients with invasive cancer. This highlights the
      need to perform axillary node sampling through sentinel node biopsy at the time
      of mastectomy in these young male patients.

PMID- 27650825
TI  - Prognostic Value of the CRP/Alb Ratio, a Novel Inflammation-Based Score in
      Pancreatic Cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The C-reactive protein/albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio is associated with
      outcome in septic patients. However, as an inflammation-based score, its
      prognostic value for cancer has scarcely been investigated. METHODS: Between
      February 2010 and January 2015, we enrolled 386 patients with pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis between the groups
      were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristics curves were generated and
      areas under the curve (AUC) were compared to evaluate the discriminatory ability
      of the inflammation-based prognostic scoring systems, including CRP/Alb ratio,
      neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and modified
      Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS). RESULTS: The optimal cutoff level of the CRP/Alb
      ratio was defined as 0.180. The prognosis of patients with CRP/Alb ratio >=0.180
      was significantly worse than CRP/Alb ratio <0.180 in univariate analysis (p <
      0.001). In multivariate analysis, the CRP/Alb ratio was still associated with
      overall survival (p < 0.001). In addition, the CRP/Alb ratio had significantly
      higher AUC values compared with PLR (6, 12, and 24 months: p < 0.001, 0.017,
      0.012) and mGPS (6, 12, and 24 months: p = 0.002, 0.020, 0.046) and had similar
      AUC values to NLR (6, 12, and 24 months: p = 0.052, 0.139, 0.041). CONCLUSIONS:
      The current study demonstrated the CRP/Alb ratio may serve as a significant and
      promising inflammatory prognostic score in pancreatic cancer. An elevated CRP/Alb
      ratio is an independent factor for poor prognosis with the cutoff value of 0.180.

PMID- 27650827
TI  - Late subannular aortic root rupture following transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation presenting as ST elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has transformed the treatment of
      severe aortic stenosis. Here, we present a case of late aortic root rupture
      presenting as ST-elevation myocardial infarction five weeks following successful
      TAVI. Aortic root rupture is a rare complication of TAVI, which occurs in ~1% of
      procedures and usually arises during or soon after the procedure and is
      associated with high mortality (~50%). Early recognition of late-presenting
      complications related to TAVI, including aortic root rupture, is essential for
      specialists and nonspecialists. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650828
TI  - Erratum to: The melanin-concentrating hormone-1 receptor modulates alcohol
      induced reward and DARPP-32 phosphorylation.

PMID- 27650829
TI  - Prognostic pre-transplant factors in myelodysplastic syndromes primarily treated
      by high dose allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a retrospective
      study of the MDS subcommittee of the CMWP of the EBMT.
AB  - Many pre-transplant factors are known to influence the outcome of allogeneic stem
      cell transplantation (SCT) treatment in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However,
      patient cohorts are often heterogeneous by disease stage and treatment
      modalities, which complicates interpretation of the results. This study aimed to
      obtain a homogeneous patient cohort by including only de novo MDS patients who
      received upfront allogeneic SCT after standard high dose myelo-ablative
      conditioning. The effect of pre-transplant factors such as age, disease stage,
      transfusions, iron parameters and comorbidity on overall survival (OS), non
      relapse mortality (NRM), and relapse incidence (RI) was evaluated in 201
      patients. In this cohort, characterized by low comorbidity and a short interval
      between diagnosis and transplantation, NRM was the most determinant factor for
      survival after SCT (47 % after 2-year follow-up). WHO classification and
      transfusion burden were the only modalities with a significant impact on overall
      survival after SCT. Estimated hazard ratios (HR) showed a strongly increased risk
      of death, NRM and RI, in patients with a high transfusion-burden (HR 1.99; P =
      0.006, HR of 1.89; P = 0.03 and HR 2.67; P = 0.03). The HR's for ferritin level
      and comorbidity were not significantly increased.

PMID- 27650830
TI  - Emerging resistant bacteria strains in bloodstream infections of acute leukaemia
      patients: results of a prospective study by the Rete Ematologica Lombarda (Rel).
AB  - Multiresistant bacterial infections are a potentially life-threatening condition
      in acute leukaemia (AL) patients. We aimed to better define the very recent
      epidemiology and outcome of bloodstream infections (BSIs) in a real-life setting.
      We prospectively collected all consecutive febrile/infectious episodes occurring
      in AL patients admitted to 9 haematology units. In 293 AL patients, 433 BSIs were
      diagnosed. Gram-positive (GP) bacteria were isolated in 44.8 % BSI and Gram
      negative (GN) in 38.3 %, while polymicrobial aetiology- or fungi-related events
      were identified in 15.7 and 1.1 % of the cases, respectively. GP was observed
      more frequently in patients not in complete remission (p = 0.04), while GN during
      consolidation cycles (p = 0.003). Extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing
      strains accounted for 23.2 % of enterobacteria. They were associated with
      previous antibiotic exposure, including fluoroquinolones prophylaxis (p = 0.01).
      Carbapenem-resistant (CR) strains occurred in 9 % of enterobacteria. Among
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, 21.6 % were multiresistant. Overall 30-day
      mortality was 8.5 %. CR GN and multiresistant P. aeruginosa BSIs were independent
      predictors of death (p = 0.002), as well as relapsed/resistant AL (18.3 %; p =
      0.0002) and the presence of pulmonary infiltrates (26.6 %; p < 0.001). Although
      GP still predominate over GN BSI, the percentage of antibiotic resistant GN
      strains is considerable in AL patients and it is associated with poor prognosis.

PMID- 27650831
TI  - The Tromso study 1974-2016: 40 years of cardiovascular research.
AB  - The rapid increase of coronary heart disease mortality in Northern Norway during
      1951-1970 was why the newly established University of Tromso decided to start a
      study to identify major operating cardiovascular risk factors. The first Tromso
      survey in 1974 suggested that the relatively high cardiovascular mortality was
      associated with elevated cholesterol levels and high prevalence of smoking, while
      high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) was identified as a preventive
      factor. After 1974, six more surveys including both genders (aged 20-89 years)
      were undertaken. The second survey (1979) revealed the cholesterol increasing
      effect of coffee. Echocardiographic examinations, ECG, and ultrasound of carotid
      arteries were introduced in later surveys, and intervention studies were
      established. Repeated carotid measurements showed that inflammation was involved
      in novel plaque formation, while HDL-C was protective. Moderate physical activity
      protected against atrial fibrillation but hard exercise increased the risk.
      Obesity, hypertension and smoking increased the risk of aortic stenosis, and
      diastolic dysfunction predicted development of atrial fibrillation. Dilated left
      atria predicted stroke, especially for individuals without known atrial
      fibrillation. Total cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking declined after 1974,
      corresponding to the subsequent decline in coronary heart disease mortality.
      Reduced incidence accounted for 40% of the mortality decline, while a substantial
      reduction in case fatality explained the remaining 60%.

PMID- 27650832
TI  - Postmastectomy Radiotherapy: An American Society of Clinical Oncology, American
      Society for Radiation Oncology, and Society of Surgical Oncology Focused
      Guideline Update Summary.
AB  - The American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline for the use of postmastectomy
      radiotherapy (PMRT) was published in 2001. This update of that guideline,
      completed in collaboration with the American Society for Radiation Oncology and
      the Society of Surgical Oncology, focuses on key areas of ongoing controversy,
      including the use of PMRT for patients with one to three positive lymph nodes,
      use of PMRT for patients undergoing neoadjuvant systemic therapy, and selected
      technical aspects of PMRT, particularly the extent of regional nodal irradiation.
      The question of whether PMRT is indicated in women with T1-2 tumors and a
      positive sentinel node biopsy who do not undergo completion axillary lymph node
      dissection is also discussed.

PMID- 27650834
TI  - Improving the Transition From Oncology to Primary Care Teams: A Case for Shared
      Leadership.
AB  - This article discusses the case of a 47-year-old woman who underwent primary
      therapy with curative intent for breast cancer. The case illustrates a number of
      failure events in transferring information and responsibility from oncology to
      primary care teams. The article emphasizes the importance of shared leadership,
      as multiple team members, dispersed in time and space, pursue their own
      objectives while achieving the common goal of coordinating care for survivors of
      cancer transitioning across settings. Shared leadership is defined as a team
      property comprising shared responsibility and mutual influence between the
      patient and the patient's family, primary care providers, and oncology teams,
      whereby they lead each other toward quality and safety of care. Teams, including
      the patient-family, should achieve leadership when their contribution is relevant
      in managing task interdependence during transition. Shared leadership fosters
      coordinated actions to enable functioning as an integrated team-of-teams. This
      article illustrates how shared leadership can make a difference to coordinate
      interfaces and pathways, from therapy with curative intent to the follow-up and
      management of survivors of breast cancer. The detailed case is elaborated as a
      clinical vignette. It can be used by care providers and researchers to consider
      the need for new models of care for survivors of cancer by addressing the
      following questions. Who accepts shared leadership, how, with whom, and under
      what conditions? What is the evidence that supports the answers to these
      questions? The detailed case is also valuable for medical and allied health
      professional education.

PMID- 27650833
TI  - Regional Multiteam Systems in Cancer Care Delivery.
AB  - Teamwork is essential for addressing many of the challenges that arise in the
      coordination and delivery of cancer care, especially for the problems that are
      presented by patients who cross geographic boundaries and enter and exit multiple
      health care systems at various times during their cancer care journeys. The
      problem of coordinating the care of patients with cancer is further complicated
      by the growing number of treatment options and modalities, incompatibilities
      among the vast variety of technology platforms that have recently been adopted by
      the health care industry, and competing and misaligned incentives for providers
      and systems. Here we examine the issue of regional care coordination in cancer
      through the prism of a real patient journey. This article will synthesize and
      elaborate on existing knowledge about coordination approaches for complex
      systems, in particular, in general and cancer care multidisciplinary teams;
      define elements of coordination derived from organizational psychology and human
      factors research that are applicable to team-based cancer care delivery; and
      suggest approaches for improving multidisciplinary team coordination in regional
      cancer care delivery and avenues for future research. The phenomenon of the
      mobile, multisystem patient represents a growing challenge in cancer care.
      Paradoxically, development of high-quality, high-volume centers of excellence and
      the ease of virtual communication and data sharing by using electronic medical
      records have introduced significant barriers to effective team-based cancer care.
      These challenges urgently require solutions.

PMID- 27650835
TI  - Quality in the Age of Precision Medicine: The Clinician Perspective.

PMID- 27650836
TI  - Assessing Patient-Centered Communication in Cancer Care: Measures for
      Surveillance of Communication Outcomes.

PMID- 27650837
TI  - Electronic Intervention to Improve Structured Cancer Stage Data Capture.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cancer staging is critical for prognostication, treatment planning, and
      determining clinical trial eligibility. Electronic health records (EHRs) have
      structured staging modules, but physician use is inconsistent. Typically, stage
      is entered as unstructured free text in clinical notes and cannot easily be used
      for reporting. METHODS: We created an Epic Best Practice Advisory (BPA) decision
      support tool that requires physicians to enter cancer stage in a structured
      module. If certain conditions are met, the BPA is triggered as a hard stop, and
      the physician cannot chart until staging is complete or a reason for not staging
      is selected. We used Plan, Do, Study, Act methodology to inform the intervention
      and compared preexisting staging rates to rates at 4, 8, and 12 months
      postintervention. RESULTS: For 12 months before BPA implementation, 1,480 of
      5,222 (28%) patients had cancer stage structured within the Epic problem list.
      From 1 to 4 months after the BPA 2,057 of 1,788 (115%) cases were staged in Epic.
      In the 5- to 8-month period after the BPA, 1,057 of 1,893 (56%) cases were
      staged, and 9 to 12 months after the BPA 1,082 of 1,817 (60%) were staged.
      CONCLUSION: Electronic decision support improves the rate of structured cancer
      staging at our institution. The staging rates between 56% and 60% for the 5- to 8
      month and 9- to 12-month periods likely reflect accurate postintervention staging
      rates, whereas the initial 115% rate for 1 to 4 months is inflated by providers
      staging cancers diagnosed before the BPA.

PMID- 27650838
TI  - Accessibility and Barriers to Oncology Appointments at 40 National Cancer
      Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers: Results of a Mystery Shopper
      Project.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients turn to National Cancer Institute (NCI) -designated
      comprehensive cancer centers because of perceived better quality and more timely
      access to care. However, recent studies have found that patients at various
      institutions may struggle to gain access to an appointment or obtain consistent
      information from attendants. Our study employs a mystery shopper format to
      identify and quantify barriers faced by patients seeking to make a first
      consultation appointment across a homogenous sample of 40 NCI-designated
      comprehensive cancer centers. METHODS: Five mystery shoppers used a standardized
      call script to inquire about first available appointment times and service
      offerings. RESULTS: When inquiring about a date for a first available
      appointment, 29% of callers were unable to secure an estimated date without
      registering into the center's database, 51% were able to secure an estimated
      date, and 20% were provided with an actual date. Of estimated or actual dates for
      a first available appointment, 74% were greater than 1 week away. There was no
      statistically significant variation between appointment availability across
      insurance type or US region. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the difficulty of
      accessing information about appointment availability. Although not statistically
      significant, inquiries regarding first available appointments for Medicaid
      patients resulted in longer estimated or actual wait times than those for
      patients with private insurance, and Medicaid shoppers noted qualitative
      differences. Although our study was limited by small sample size and imperfect
      analytic methods, our results suggest the need for more efficient and accessible
      care for patients at our nation's top cancer centers.

PMID- 27650839
TI  - Team Cognition As a Means to Improve Care Delivery in Critically Ill Patients
      With Cancer After Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.
AB  - Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an important and complex treatment
      modality for a variety of hematologic malignancies and some solid tumors.
      Although outcomes of patients who have undergone HCT and require care in
      intensive care units (ICUs) have improved over time, mortality rates remain high
      and there are significant associated costs. Lack of a team-based approach to
      care, especially during critical illness, is detrimental to patient autonomy and
      satisfaction, and to team morale, ultimately leading to poor quality of care. In
      this manuscript, we describe the case of a patient who had undergone HCT and was
      in the ICU setting, where inconsistent team interaction among the various
      stakeholders delivering care resulted in a lack of shared goals and poor
      outcomes. Team cognition is cognitive processing at the team level through
      interactions among team members and is reflected in dynamic communication and
      coordination behaviors. Although the patient received multidisciplinary care as
      needed in a medically complicated case, a lack of team cognition and,
      particularly, inconsistent communication among the dynamic teams caring for the
      patient, led to mixed messages being delivered with high-cost implications for
      the health-care system and the family. This article highlights concepts and
      recommendations that begin a necessary in-depth assessment of implications for
      clinical care and initiate a research agenda that examines the effects of team
      cognition on HCT teams, and, more generally, critical care of the patient with
      cancer.

PMID- 27650841
TI  - Payer View: How Do We Assess Quality in the Age of Precision Medicine?

PMID- 27650840
TI  - Supporting Patients With Incurable Cancer: Backup Behavior in Multidisciplinary
      Cross-Functional Teams.
AB  - Caring for patients with incurable cancer presents unique challenges. Managing
      symptoms that evolve with changing clinical status and, at the same time,
      ensuring alignment with patient goals demands specific attention from clinicians.
      With care needs that often transcend traditional service provision boundaries,
      patients who seek palliation commonly interface with a team of providers that
      represents multiple disciplines across multiple settings. In this case study, we
      explore some of the dynamics of a cross-disciplinary approach to symptom
      management in an integrated outpatient radiotherapy service model. Providers who
      care for patients with incurable cancer must rely on one another to secure
      delivery of the right services at the right time by the right person. In a model
      of shared responsibilities, flexibility in who does what and when can enhance
      overall team performance. Adapting requires within-team and between-team
      monitoring of task and function execution for any given patient. This can be
      facilitated by a common understanding of the purpose of the clinical team and an
      awareness of the particular circumstances surrounding care provision. Backup
      behavior, in which one team member steps in to help another meet an expectation
      that would otherwise not be fulfilled, is a supportive team practice that may
      follow naturally in high-functioning teams. Such team processes as these have a
      place in the care of patients with incurable cancer and help to ensure that
      individual provider efforts more effectively translate into improved palliation
      for patients with unmet needs.

PMID- 27650843
TI  - Paradox of Prescribing Late Chemotherapy: Oncologists Explain.
AB  - PURPOSE: The value of chemotherapy for patients with cancer in the last weeks of
      life warrants examination. Late chemotherapy may not improve survival or quality
      of life but typically precludes hospice enrollment and may result in additional
      symptoms, increased use of other aggressive treatments, and worsening quality of
      life. Few studies have explored oncologists' rationales for administering
      chemotherapy near death. This study examines the self-reported factors that
      influence oncologists' decisions about late chemotherapy. METHODS: In-depth
      individual interviews were conducted with 17 oncologists through a semistructured
      interview guide. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim.
      Transcripts were coded and analyzed using conventional content analysis, a
      qualitative method that allows the detection and analysis of patterns in the
      data. RESULTS: Clinical factors take priority in determining late chemotherapy
      decisions when clear treatment choices exist. When clinical factors are
      ambiguous, emotion becomes a highly salient influence. Oncologists view late
      chemotherapy to be patient driven and use it to palliate emotional distress and
      maintain patient hope even when physical benefit is unexpected. Oncologists
      experience unique and difficult challenges when caring for dying patients,
      including emotionally draining communication, overwhelming responsibility for
      life/death, limitations of oncology to heal, and prognostic uncertainty. These
      challenges are also eased by offering late chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The findings
      reveal a nuanced understanding of why oncologists find it difficult to refuse
      chemotherapy treatment for patients near death. Optimal end-of-life treatment
      decisions require supportive interventions and system change, both of which must
      take into account the challenges oncologists face.

PMID- 27650842
TI  - Novel Methodology for Comparing Standard-of-Care Interventions in Patients With
      Cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The current clinical trials development and conduct process is
      cumbersome and expensive, with the majority of studies focusing on either the
      development of new agents or new indications for established agents.
      Unfortunately, research comparing standard-of-care interventions is rarely
      performed, leaving many important and practical patient-centered questions
      unanswered. Novel clinical trial methodologies and approaches are needed.
      METHODS: We have identified simple key components that, when combined, enhance
      the ability to both perform and increase accrual for studies that compare
      standard-of-care interventions. These include selection of clinically relevant
      and practical questions, demonstration of clinical equipoise through surveys of
      knowledge users and completion of systematic reviews, appropriate study design
      and simply defined study end points, use of an integrated consent model
      incorporating oral consent, efficient research ethics board approval, Web-based
      randomization in the clinic, real-time electronic data capture and management,
      and regular formal team feedback. RESULTS: We have demonstrated the feasibility
      of this model in a pragmatic trial comparing two standard-of-care interventions
      (growth factor support or ciprofloxacin) for the primary prophylaxis of febrile
      neutropenia in patients with breast cancer receiving adjuvant docetaxel with
      cyclophosphamide chemotherapy. Research ethics board approval took 3 months, and
      110 (72%) of 153 potentially eligible patients have agreed to participate in the
      study. When surveyed, 81 (85%) of 95 patients were completely satisfied with the
      integrated consent model process. CONCLUSION: Our proposed model contains
      elements that, when used alone or in combination, may allow efficient and cost
      effective comparison of standard-of-care interventions.

PMID- 27650844
TI  - Deploying Team Science Principles to Optimize Interdisciplinary Lung Cancer Care
      Delivery: Avoiding the Long and Winding Road to Optimal Care.
AB  - The complexity of lung cancer care mandates interaction between clinicians with
      different skill sets and practice cultures in the routine delivery of care. Using
      team science principles and a case-based approach, we exemplify the need for the
      development of real care teams for patients with lung cancer to foster
      coordination among the multiple specialists and staff engaged in routine care
      delivery. Achieving coordinated lung cancer care is a high-priority public health
      challenge because of the volume of patients, lethality of disease, and well
      described disparities in quality and outcomes of care. Coordinating mechanisms
      need to be cultivated among different types of specialist physicians and care
      teams, with differing technical expertise and practice cultures, who have
      traditionally functioned more as coactively working groups than as real teams.
      Coordinating mechanisms, including shared mental models, high-quality
      communication, mutual trust, and mutual performance monitoring, highlight the
      challenge of achieving well-coordinated care and illustrate how team science
      principles can be used to improve quality and outcomes of lung cancer care. To
      develop the evidence base to support coordinated lung cancer care, research
      comparing the effectiveness of a diverse range of multidisciplinary care team
      approaches and interorganizational coordinating mechanisms should be promoted.

PMID- 27650845
TI  - How to Avoid Late Chemotherapy.

PMID- 27650846
TI  - Reconstructed cell fate-regulatory programs in stem cells reveal hierarchies and
      key factors of neurogenesis.
AB  - Cell lineages, which shape the body architecture and specify cell functions,
      derive from the integration of a plethora of cell intrinsic and extrinsic
      signals. These signals trigger a multiplicity of decisions at several levels to
      modulate the activity of dynamic gene regulatory networks (GRNs), which ensure
      both general and cell-specific functions within a given lineage, thereby
      establishing cell fates. Significant knowledge about these events and the
      involved key drivers comes from homogeneous cell differentiation models. Even a
      single chemical trigger, such as the morphogen all-trans retinoic acid (RA), can
      induce the complex network of gene-regulatory decisions that matures a
      stem/precursor cell to a particular step within a given lineage. Here we have
      dissected the GRNs involved in the RA-induced neuronal or endodermal cell fate
      specification by integrating dynamic RXRA binding, chromatin accessibility,
      epigenetic promoter epigenetic status, and the transcriptional activity inferred
      from RNA polymerase II mapping and transcription profiling. Our data reveal how
      RA induces a network of transcription factors (TFs), which direct the temporal
      organization of cognate GRNs, thereby driving neuronal/endodermal cell fate
      specification. Modeling signal transduction propagation using the reconstructed
      GRNs indicated critical TFs for neuronal cell fate specification, which were
      confirmed by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing. Overall, this study
      demonstrates that a systems view of cell fate specification combined with
      computational signal transduction models provides the necessary insight in
      cellular plasticity for cell fate engineering. The present integrated approach
      can be used to monitor the in vitro capacity of (engineered) cells/tissues to
      establish cell lineages for regenerative medicine.

PMID- 27650847
TI  - Transcription-associated mutation of lasR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen which infects cystic fibrosis
      and cancer patients with compromised immune systems. LasR is a master regulator
      which controls the virulence of P. aeruginosa in response to bacterial cell
      density and host signals. During infection, lasR is frequently mutated,
      conferring P. aeruginosa a growth advantage in hosts and enhances resistance to
      widely used antibiotics. However, the mechanistic basis of lasR mutation is not
      well understood. We have tested here the hypothesis that transcription strength
      is a contributory determinant of lasR mutagenesis. P. aeruginosa strains with
      different lasR transcription strengths were therefore engineered and the lasR
      mutations were monitored unbiasedly using next-generation sequencing technology.
      Our results suggest that the strength of transcription could be one of the
      deterministic factors that drive the mutagenesis of lasR in P. aeruginosa,
      shedding new insights into bacterial infection and antibiotic resistance.

PMID- 27650849
TI  - Theoretical and experimental study of the mechanisms of phosphate removal in the
      system containing Fe(III)-ions.
AB  - A process-oriented investigation of phosphate removal by ferric salt was carried
      out in this study. The kinetics of amorphous ferric phosphate (FePO4(s))
      formation has been investigated over the pH range of 6.0-8.0 using sulfosalicylic
      acid as a competitive ligand. The FePO4(s) formation rate constants varied in a
      narrow range over the pH range examined in this study. And the maximum of (0.90
      +/- 0.11) * 104 L mol-1 s-1 was obtained at pH 7.5 and the minimum value of (0.05
      +/- 0.01) * 104 L mol-1 s-1 was obtained at pH 6.0. These values are two orders
      of magnitude lower than the rate constants for Fe(III) hydrolysis-precipitation,
      and hence, the extent of FePO4(s) formation when ferric ions are added to aqueous
      solution is extremely low. Subsequently, the characteristics of the amorphous
      ferric oxide (AFO) with different ages were investigated, and it was found that
      the BET surface area, the average pore width, and the charge capacitance were
      various for different AFO with various ages. Phosphate adsorption by AFO was
      significantly affected by AFO aging and the manner of adding Fe(III), which was
      successfully described by a diffuse layer model. By using surface sites
      concentration obtained, the kinetics constant of AFO aging could be calculated by
      a functional equation at a certain pH and time. Graphic abstract Description of
      the precipitation and aging processes for the phosphate removal by Fe(III)-ions.

PMID- 27650848
TI  - A modified biotrickling filter for nitrification-denitrification in the treatment
      of an ammonia-contaminated air stream.
AB  - A conventional biotrickling filter for airborne ammonia nitrification has been
      modified, by converting the liquid sump into a biological denitrifying reactor.
      The biotrickling filter achieves an average ammonia removal efficiency of 92.4 %,
      with an empty bed retention time (EBRT) equal to 36 s and an average ammonia
      concentration of 54.7 mg Nm-3 in the raw air stream. The denitrification reactor
      converts ammonia into inert gas N2, in addition to other important advantages
      connected to the alkaline character of the biochemical pathway of the
      denitrifying bacteria. Firstly, the trickling water crossing the denitrification
      reactor underwent a notable pH increase from 7.3 to 8.0 which prevented the
      acidic inhibition of the nitrifying bacteria due to the buildup of nitric and
      nitrous acids. Secondly, the pH increase created the ideal conditions for the
      autotrophic nitrifying bacteria. The tests proved that an ammonia removal
      efficiency of above 90 % can be achieved with an EBRT greater than 30 s and a
      volumetric load lower than 200 g NH3 m-3 day-1. The results of the biofilm
      observation by using a scanning confocal laser microscope are reported together
      with the identification of degrading bacteria genera in the biotrickling filter.
      The efficiency of the plant and its excellent operational stability highlight the
      effectiveness of the synergistic action between the denitrification reactor and
      the biotrickling filter in removing airborne ammonia.

PMID- 27650850
TI  - The association between bisphenol A exposure and type-2 diabetes: a world
      systematic review.
AB  - The present study was conducted to systematically review, analyze, and interpret
      all the relevant evidence in the literature on the possible link between exposure
      to bisphenol A (BPA) and the risk of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We
      developed a comprehensive search strategy and used it to search Web of Science,
      Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar up to March 31, 2016, producing 3108 hits, of
      which 13 original papers were included. Findings of these studies were quite
      controversial; few studies indicated a significant positive association between
      BPA exposure and T2DM, while some other failed to detect such a relationship.
      Overall, it can be suggested that chance is unlikely the plausible explanation
      for the observed association between BPA exposure and T2DM. This was mainly
      because even in the negative studies some clues could be found in favor of a
      statistically significant relationship between BPA and T2DM. Additionally, some
      of the studies had shortcomings in defining the exposure and outcome measures,
      which, if present, might have led to underestimating the relationship between BPA
      exposure and T2DM. The theoretical plausibility of such a relationship found
      earlier in animal studies also supports this point. However, more definitive
      answer requires the conduct of future longitudinal studies, in which the possible
      association between BPA exposure and T2DM is assessed over much longer periods of
      time with more temporally robust BPA measurements. In addition, it would be quite
      beneficial if future studies be conducted in areas where data is still lacking
      (e.g., South America, Australia/Oceania, and Europe). Graphical abstract ?.

PMID- 27650851
TI  - Sublethal concentrations of silver nanoparticles affect the mechanical stability
      of biofilms.
AB  - Bacterial biofilms are most likely confronted with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs)
      as a pollutant stressor in aquatic systems. In this study, biofilms of
      Aquabacterium citratiphilum were exposed for 20 h to 30 and 70 nm citrate
      stabilized Ag NPs in low-dose concentrations ranging from 600 to 2400 MUg l-1,
      and the Ag NP-mediated effects on descriptive, structural, and functional biofilm
      characteristics, including viability, protein content, architecture, and
      mechanical stability, were investigated. Viability, based on the bacterial cell
      membrane integrity of A. citratiphilum, as determined by epifluorescence
      microscopy, remained unaffected after Ag NP exposure. Moreover, in contrast to
      information in the current literature, protein contents of cells and
      extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and biofilm architecture, including dry
      mass, thickness, and density, were not significantly impacted by exposure to Ag
      NPs. However, the biofilms themselves served as effective sinks for Ag NPs,
      exhibiting enrichment factors from 5 to 8. Biofilms showed a greater capacity to
      accumulate 30 nm sized Ag NPs than 70 nm Ag NPs. Furthermore, Ag NPs
      significantly threatened the mechanical stability of biofilms, as determined by a
      newly developed assay. For 30 nm Ag NPs, the mechanical stability of biofilms
      decreased as the Ag NP concentrations applied to them increased. In contrast, 70
      nm Ag NPs produced a similar decrease in mechanical stability for each applied
      concentration. Overall, this finding demonstrates that exposure to Ag NPs
      triggers remarkable changes in biofilm adhesion and/or cohesiveness. Because of
      biofilm-mediated ecological services, this response raises environmental concerns
      regarding Ag NP release into freshwater systems, even in sublethal
      concentrations.

PMID- 27650853
TI  - What to expect from an evolutionary hypothesis for a human disease: The case of
      type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Evolutionary medicine has a promise to bring in a conceptual revolution in
      medicine. However, as yet the field does not have the same theoretical rigour as
      that of many other fields in evolutionary studies. We discuss here with reference
      to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) what role an evolutionary hypothesis should
      play in the development of thinking in medicine. Starting with the thrifty gene
      hypothesis, evolutionary thinking in T2DM has undergone several transitions,
      modifications and refinements of the thrift family of hypotheses. In addition
      alternative hypotheses independent of thrift are also suggested. However, most
      hypotheses look at partial pictures; make selective use of supportive data
      ignoring inconvenient truths. Most hypotheses look at a superficial picture and
      avoid getting into the intricacies of underlying molecular, neuronal and
      physiological processes. Very few hypotheses have suggested clinical implications
      and none of them have been tested with randomized clinical trials. In the
      meanwhile the concepts in the pathophysiology of T2DM are undergoing radical
      changes and evolutionary hypotheses need to take them into account. We suggest an
      approach and a set of criteria to evaluate the relative merits of the alternative
      hypotheses. A number of hypotheses are likely to fail when critically evaluated
      against these criteria. It is possible that more than one selective process are
      at work in the evolution of propensity to T2DM, but the intercompatibility of the
      alternative selective forces and their relative contribution needs to be
      examined. The approach we describe could potentially lead to a sound evolutionary
      theory that is clinically useful and testable by randomized controlled clinical
      trials.

PMID- 27650852
TI  - Effect of single and combination of three triazine metabolites at environmental
      concentrations on early life stages of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).
AB  - The sensitivity of early life stages of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) to
      chronic exposure to single and combined environmental concentrations of the
      triazine metabolites terbuthylazine 2-hydroxy, terbuthylazine-desethyl and
      atrazine 2-hydroxy was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Their effects were
      assessed on lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes (total superoxide dismutase,
      glutathione reductase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, reduced glutathione),
      mortality, growth, development and histology. Single metabolites (terbuthylazine
      2-hydroxy-0.73 MUg/L; terbuthylazine-desethyl-1.80 MUg/L; atrazine 2-hydroxy-0.66
      MUg/L) and combinations were not associated with negative effects on hatching,
      behaviour, embryo viability, growth or early ontogeny. Carp exposed to
      terbuthylazine-desethyl at 1.80 MUg/L showed significantly lower total superoxide
      dismutase and glutathione reductase activity compared with the control group.
      Liver histology revealed diffused steatosis associated with the presence of lipid
      inclusions in hepatic cells in groups exposed to terbuthylazine-desethyl,
      atrazine 2-hydroxy and the tested combination of metabolites.

PMID- 27650855
TI  - Biopatterned CTLA4/Fc Matrices Facilitate Local Immunomodulation, Engraftment,
      and Glucose Homeostasis After Pancreatic Islet Transplantation.
AB  - Pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT) represents a potential therapy to
      circumvent the need for exogenous insulin in type 1 diabetes. However, PIT
      remains limited by lack of donor islets and the need for long-term multidrug
      immunosuppression to prevent alloimmune islet rejection. Our goal was to evaluate
      a local immunoregulatory strategy that sustains islet allograft survival and
      restores glucose homeostasis in the absence of systemic immunosuppression.
      Nanogram quantities of murine CTLA4/Fc fusion protein were controllably delivered
      within human acellular dermal matrix scaffolds using an inkjet-based
      biopatterning technology and cotransplanted with allogeneic islets under the
      renal capsule to create an immunoregulatory microenvironment around the islet
      allograft. We achieved long-term engraftment of small loads of allogeneic islet
      cells with 40% of MHC-mismatched mouse recipients maintaining sustained
      normoglycemia following pancreatic beta-cell ablation by streptozotocin.
      Biopatterned CTLA4/Fc local therapy was associated with expansion of Foxp3+
      regulatory T cells and shifts in cytokine production and gene expression from
      proinflammatory to regulatory profiles, thus substantially benefiting islet
      allografts survival and function. This study is a new paradigm for targeted
      therapies in PIT that demonstrates the favorable effects of immune alterations in
      the transplant milieu and suggests a unique strategy for minimizing systemic
      immunosuppression and promoting islet allograft survival.

PMID- 27650856
TI  - Ionizing Radiation Potentiates High-Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance and
      Reprograms Skeletal Muscle and Adipose Progenitor Cells.
AB  - Exposure to ionizing radiation increases the risk of chronic metabolic disorders
      such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes later in life. We hypothesized
      that irradiation reprograms the epigenome of metabolic progenitor cells, which
      could account for impaired metabolism after cancer treatment. C57Bl/6 mice were
      treated with a single dose of irradiation and subjected to high-fat diet (HFD).
      RNA sequencing and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing were used to
      create transcriptomic and epigenomic profiles of preadipocytes and skeletal
      muscle satellite cells collected from irradiated mice. Mice subjected to total
      body irradiation showed alterations in glucose metabolism and, when challenged
      with HFD, marked hyperinsulinemia. Insulin signaling was chronically disrupted in
      skeletal muscle and adipose progenitor cells collected from irradiated mice and
      differentiated in culture. Epigenomic profiling of skeletal muscle and adipose
      progenitor cells from irradiated animals revealed substantial DNA methylation
      changes, notably for genes regulating the cell cycle, glucose/lipid metabolism,
      and expression of epigenetic modifiers. Our results show that total body
      irradiation alters intracellular signaling and epigenetic pathways regulating
      cell proliferation and differentiation of skeletal muscle and adipose progenitor
      cells and provide a possible mechanism by which irradiation used in cancer
      treatment increases the risk for metabolic disease later in life.

PMID- 27650854
TI  - Adipocyte Glucocorticoid Receptor Deficiency Attenuates Aging- and HFD-Induced
      Obesity and Impairs the Feeding-Fasting Transition.
AB  - Glucocorticoids (GCs) are important regulators of systemic energy metabolism, and
      aberrant GC action is linked to metabolic dysfunctions. Yet, the extent to which
      normal and pathophysiological energy metabolism depend on the GC receptor (GR) in
      adipocytes remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that adipocyte GR deficiency in
      mice significantly impacts systemic metabolism in different energetic states.
      Plasma metabolomics and biochemical analyses revealed a marked global effect of
      GR deficiency on systemic metabolite abundance and, thus, substrate partitioning
      in fed and fasted states. This correlated with a decreased lipolytic capacity of
      GR-deficient adipocytes under postabsorptive and fasting conditions, resulting
      from impaired signal transduction from beta-adrenergic receptors to adenylate
      cyclase. Upon prolonged fasting, the impaired lipolytic response resulted in
      abnormal substrate utilization and lean mass wasting. Conversely, GR deficiency
      attenuated aging-/diet-associated obesity, adipocyte hypertrophy, and liver
      steatosis. Systemic glucose tolerance was improved in obese GR-deficient mice,
      which was associated with increased insulin signaling in muscle and adipose
      tissue. We conclude that the GR in adipocytes exerts central but diverging roles
      in the regulation of metabolic homeostasis depending on the energetic state. The
      adipocyte GR is indispensable for the feeding-fasting transition but also
      promotes adiposity and associated metabolic disorders in fat-fed and aged mice.

PMID- 27650857
TI  - Toll-Like Receptor 4 Activation Contributes to Diabetic Bladder Dysfunction in a
      Murine Model of Type 1 Diabetes.
AB  - Diabetic bladder dysfunction (DBD) is a common urological complication of
      diabetes. Innate immune system activation via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) leads
      to inflammation and oxidative stress and was implicated in diabetes
      pathophysiology. We hypothesized that bladder hypertrophy and hypercontractility
      in DBD is mediated by TLR4 activation. Wild-type (WT) and TLR4 knockout (TLR4KO)
      mice were made diabetic by streptozotocin (STZ) treatment, and bladder
      contractile function and TLR4 pathway expression were evaluated.
      Immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of TLR4 in human and mouse bladder.
      Recombinant high-mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) increased bladder TLR4 and
      MyD88 expression and enhanced contractile response to electrical field
      stimulation. Bladder expression of TLR4 and MyD88 and serum expression of HMGB1
      were increased in STZ compared with control mice. Carbachol (CCh)-mediated
      contraction was increased in bladders from STZ mice, and TLR4 inhibitor CLI-095
      attenuated this increase. Induction of diabetes by STZ in WT mice increased
      bladder weight and contractile responses to CCh and to electrical field
      stimulation. TLR4KO mice were not protected from STZ-induced diabetes; however,
      despite levels of hyperglycemia similar to those of WT STZ mice, TLR4KO STZ mice
      were protected from diabetes-induced bladder hypertrophy and hypercontractility.
      These data suggest that TLR4 activation during diabetes mediates DBD-associated
      bladder hypertrophy and hypercontractility.

PMID- 27650859
TI  - Challenges in Oral Lipid-lowering Therapy: Position Document of the Spanish
      Society of Cardiology.
AB  - Lipid-lowering therapy is one of the cornerstones of cardiovascular prevention
      and is one of the most effective strategies in the secondary prevention of
      ischemic heart disease. Nevertheless, the current treatment of lipid disorders,
      together with lifestyle changes, fails to achieve the targets recommended in
      clinical guidelines in a substantial proportion of patients. PCSK9 inhibitors
      have demonstrated safety and efficacy in the treatment of dyslipidemia. Due to
      their ability to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, these drugs
      have recently been approved for clinical use by Spanish regulatory agencies, with
      the aim of reducing cardiovascular risk in selected patient groups.

PMID- 27650858
TI  - Testing the DSM-5 severity indicator for bulimia nervosa in a treatment-seeking
      sample.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study tested the new DSM-5 severity criterion for bulimia nervosa
      (BN) based on the frequency of inappropriate weight compensatory behaviors in a
      treatment-seeking sample. METHODS: Participants were 345 adults with DSM-5 BN
      presenting for treatment. They were sub-grouped based on DSM-5 severity levels
      and compared on a range of variables of clinical interest and demographics.
      RESULTS: Based on DSM-5 severity definitions, 27.2 % of the sample was
      categorized with mild, 26.1 % with moderate, 24.9 % with severe, and 21.8 % with
      extreme severity of BN. Analyses revealed that the four (mild, moderate, severe,
      and extreme) severity groups of BN significantly differed from each other in
      eating disordered and body-related attitudes and behaviors, factors involved in
      the maintenance process of the disorder, comorbid psychiatric disorders,
      psychological distress, and psychosocial impairment (medium-to-large effect
      sizes). No significant between-group differences were observed in demographics,
      body mass index, or at the age when BN first occurred, lending some credence to
      recent suggestions that age-at-onset of BN may be more a disorder- than a
      severity-dependent variable. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our findings provide
      support for the severity indicator for BN introduced in the DSM-5 as a means of
      addressing heterogeneity and variability in the severity of the disorder.

PMID- 27650860
TI  - Pregnancy and Cardiac Disease.

PMID- 27650861
TI  - Cancer Fatalism and Preferred Sources of Cancer Information: an Assessment Using
      2012 HINTS Data.
AB  - Cancer fatalism is associated with lower participation in cancer screening,
      nonadherence to cancer screening guidelines, and avoidance of medical care. Few
      studies, however, have examined the relationship between cancer fatalism and
      health information seeking. The purpose of this study was to examine the
      relationship between endorsement of fatalistic beliefs regarding cancer and
      preferred sources of cancer information. We analyzed data from the Health
      Information National Trends Survey 4 Cycle 2, which were collected in late 2012
      and early 2013 (N = 3630). When weighted, the data are representative of the non
      institutionalized US population aged 18 or older. In bivariate and multivariate
      analyses, we assessed three cancer fatalism beliefs as predictors of preferred
      use of healthcare provider versus preferred use of the Internet for cancer
      information. Results indicate the majority of US adults endorse one or more
      fatalistic beliefs about cancer. Unadjusted results indicate endorsing the
      fatalistic belief that "there's not much you can do to lower your chances of
      getting cancer" was significantly associated with lower odds of preferring the
      Internet (versus healthcare providers) as the source of cancer information (OR:
      0.70; CI: 0.50, 0.98). In the adjusted model, however, none of the three cancer
      fatalism measures were significantly associated with preferred source of cancer
      information. In conclusion, fatalistic beliefs about cancer are common, and
      further research is warranted to understand cancer fatalism and whether and how
      it may impact health information-seeking behaviors.

PMID- 27650862
TI  - Long-term survival benefit from treatment at a specialty center after cardiac
      arrest.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The Institute of Medicine and American Heart Association have
      called for tiered accreditation standards and regionalization of post-cardiac
      arrest care, but there is little data to support that regionalization has a
      durable effect on patient outcomes. We tested the effect of treatment at a high
      volume center on long-term outcome after sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). METHODS: We
      included patients hospitalized at one of 7 medical centers in Southwestern
      Pennsylvania after SCA from 2005 to 2013. Centers were one regional referral
      center with an organized systems for post-SCA care, two moderate volume tertiary
      care centers and 4 low-volume centers. We abstracted clinical characteristics and
      outcomes at hospital discharge, and for survivors to discharge we queried the
      National Death Index for long-term survival data. We used Cox regression to
      determine the unadjusted associations of baseline predictors and survival, and
      built an adjusted model controlling for baseline predictors. RESULTS: Overall,
      987 patients survived to discharge. During 2196 person-years of follow-up, median
      survival was 5.3 years and there were 396 deaths. In unadjusted analysis,
      treating center, age, arrest location, Charlson Comorbidity Index, initial
      rhythm, cardiac catheterization, defibrillator placement, discharge disposition,
      and neurological status at discharge were associated with long-term outcome. In
      adjusted analysis, treatment at the high-volume cardiac arrest center was
      associated with improved survival compared to treatment at other centers (hazards
      ratio 1.49, 95% confidence interval 1.19-1.86). CONCLUSION: Treatment at a high
      volume cardiac arrest center with organized systems for post-arrest care is
      associated with a substantial long-term survival benefit after hospital
      discharge.

PMID- 27650863
TI  - Inter-rater reliability of post-arrest cerebral performance category (CPC)
      scores.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) scores are often an outcome measure
      for post-arrest neurologic function, collected worldwide to compare performance,
      evaluate therapies, and formulate recommendations. At most institutions, no
      formal training is offered in their determination, potentially leading to
      misclassification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified 171 patients at 2
      hospitals between 5/10/2005 and 8/31/2012 with two CPC scores at hospital
      discharge recorded independently - in an in-house quality improvement database
      and as part of a national registry. Scores were abstracted retrospectively from
      the same electronic medical record by two separate non-clinical researchers.
      These scores were compared to assess inter-rater reliability and stratified based
      on whether the score was concordant or discordant among reviewers to determine
      factors related to discordance. RESULTS: Thirty-nine CPC scores (22.8%) were
      discordant (kappa: 0.66), indicating substantial agreement. When dichotomized
      into "favorable" neurologic outcome (CPC 1-2)/"unfavorable" neurologic outcome
      (CPC 3-5), 20 (11.7%) scores were discordant (kappa: 0.70), also indicating
      substantial agreement. Patients discharged home (as opposed to nursing/other care
      facility) and patients with suspected cardiac etiology of arrest were
      statistically more likely to have concordant scores. For the quality improvement
      database, patients with discordant scores had a statistically higher median CPC
      score than those with concordant scores. The registry had statistically lower
      median CPC score (CPC 1) than the quality improvement database (CPC 2); p<0.01
      for statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: CPC scores have substantial inter
      rater reliability, which is reduced in patients who have worse outcomes, have a
      non-cardiac etiology of arrest, and are discharged to a location other than home.

PMID- 27650864
TI  - Pre-hospital Assessment of the Role of Adrenaline: Measuring the Effectiveness of
      Drug administration In Cardiac arrest (PARAMEDIC-2): Trial protocol.
AB  - Despite its use since the 1960s, the safety or effectiveness of adrenaline as a
      treatment for cardiac arrest has never been comprehensively evaluated in a
      clinical trial. Although most studies have found that adrenaline increases the
      chance of return of spontaneous circulation for short periods, many studies found
      harmful effects on the brain and raise concern that adrenaline may reduce overall
      survival and/or good neurological outcome. The PARAMEDIC-2 trial seeks to
      determine if adrenaline is safe and effective in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
      This is a pragmatic, individually randomised, double blind, controlled trial with
      a parallel economic evaluation. Participants will be eligible if they are in
      cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital environment and advanced life support is
      initiated. Exclusions are cardiac arrest as a result of anaphylaxis or life
      threatening asthma, and patient known or appearing to be under 16 or pregnant.
      8000 participants treated by 5 UK ambulance services will be randomised between
      December 2014 and August 2017 to adrenaline (intervention) or placebo (control)
      through opening pre-randomised drug packs. Clinical outcomes are survival to 30
      days (primary outcome), hospital discharge, 3, 6 and 12 months, health related
      quality of life, and neurological and cognitive outcomes (secondary outcomes).
      Trial registration (ISRCTN73485024).

PMID- 27650866
TI  - Fluorescent protein-scorpion toxin chimera is a convenient molecular tool for
      studies of potassium channels.
AB  - Ion channels play a central role in a host of physiological and pathological
      processes and are the second largest target for existing drugs. There is an
      increasing need for reliable tools to detect and visualize particular ion
      channels, but existing solutions suffer from a number of limitations such as high
      price, poor specificity, and complicated protocols. As an alternative, we
      produced recombinant chimeric constructs (FP-Tx) consisting of fluorescent
      proteins (FP) fused with potassium channel toxins from scorpion venom (Tx). In
      particular, we used two FP, eGFP and TagRFP, and two Tx, OSK1 and AgTx2, to
      create eGFP-OSK1 and RFP-AgTx2. We show that these chimeras largely retain the
      high affinity of natural toxins and display selectivity to particular ion channel
      subtypes. FP-Tx are displaced by other potassium channel blockers and can be used
      as an imaging tool in ion channel ligand screening setups. We believe FP-Tx
      chimeras represent a new efficient molecular tool for neurobiology.

PMID- 27650865
TI  - Linking dynamics of the inhibitory network to the input structure.
AB  - Networks of inhibitory interneurons are found in many distinct classes of
      biological systems. Inhibitory interneurons govern the dynamics of principal
      cells and are likely to be critically involved in the coding of information. In
      this theoretical study, we describe the dynamics of a generic inhibitory network
      in terms of low-dimensional, simplified rate models. We study the relationship
      between the structure of external input applied to the network and the patterns
      of activity arising in response to that stimulation. We found that even a minimal
      inhibitory network can generate a great diversity of spatio-temporal patterning
      including complex bursting regimes with non-trivial ratios of burst firing.
      Despite the complexity of these dynamics, the network's response patterns can be
      predicted from the rankings of the magnitudes of external inputs to the
      inhibitory neurons. This type of invariant dynamics is robust to noise and stable
      in densely connected networks with strong inhibitory coupling. Our study predicts
      that the response dynamics generated by an inhibitory network may provide
      critical insights about the temporal structure of the sensory input it receives.

PMID- 27650867
TI  - MicroRNA-137 Inhibits EFNB2 Expression Affected by a Genetic Variant and Is
      Expressed Aberrantly in Peripheral Blood of Schizophrenia Patients.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous and non-coding single-stranded RNAs
      of approximately 22 nucleotides, many of which are evolutionarily conserved.
      Genome-wide association studies have identified a robust statistical association
      between the MIR137 gene and schizophrenia in Europeans, which was replicated in
      the Han Chinese population in a case-control study. In the previous study, we
      provided evidence for a significant association between the EFNB2 gene and
      schizophrenia in Han Chinese subjects. In the current study, we utilized
      computational analysis, vector construction of point mutations, luciferase
      reporter assays and gene expression assays including RT-qPCR and western blotting
      methods to investigate miR-137 directly targeting EFNB2 gene and explore the
      reversal effect of a genetic variant of SNP rs550067317 in the putative seed-pair
      region of EFNB2 3'-UTR. We also found that miR-137 could be detected in the
      peripheral blood of a cohort of first-onset schizophrenia patients and healthy
      controls, and the area under curve was 0.795 (95% confidence interval 0.700
      0.890), which is a middle diagnostic value for disease, suggesting that it might
      be valuable for diagnosing schizophrenia. In summary, this study would improve
      our understanding of the role of miR-137 in schizophrenia-associated signaling
      pathways and identify the genetic basis of rs550067317 for schizophrenia.
      Furthermore, we provided new evidence for the involvement of miR-137 in the
      etiology and diagnosis of schizophrenia, which might contribute to the discovery
      of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the disease.

PMID- 27650869
TI  - Expression of Concern: "Prevention of Nausea and Vomiting After Middle Ear
      Surgery: Granisetron Versus Ramosetron," "Prevention of Vomiting After
      Tonsillectomy in Children: Granisetron Versus Ramosetron," and "Granisetron,
      Droperidol, and Metoclopramide for Preventing Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
      After Thyroidectomy" by Dr Yoshitaka Fujii.

PMID- 27650870
TI  - The garlic NF-YC gene, AsNF-YC8, positively regulates non-ionic hyperosmotic
      stress tolerance in tobacco.
AB  - To investigate the relationship between nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) and stress
      tolerance in garlic, we cloned a NF-Y family gene AsNF-YC8 from garlic, which was
      largely upregulated at dehydrate stage. Expression pattern analyses in garlic
      revealed that AsNF-YC8 is induced through abscisic acid (ABA) and abiotic
      stresses, such as NaCl and PEG. Compared with wild-type plants, the
      overexpressing-AsNF-YC8 transgenic tobacco plants showed higher seed germination
      rates, longer root length and better plant growth under salt and drought
      stresses. Under drought stress, the transgenic plants maintained higher relative
      water content (RWC), net photosynthesis, lower levels of malondialdehyde (MDA),
      and less ion leakage (IL) than wild-type control plants. These results indicate
      the high tolerance of the transgenic plants to drought stress compared to the WT.
      The transgenic tobacco lines accumulated less reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      exhibited higher antioxidative enzyme activities compared with wild-type (WT)
      plants under drought stress, which suggested that the overexpression of AsNF-YC8
      improves the antioxidant defense system by regulating the activities of these
      antioxidant enzymes, which in turn protect transgenic lines against drought
      stress. These results suggest that AsNF-YC8 plays an important role in tolerance
      to drought and salt stresses.

PMID- 27650871
TI  - Production of recombinant dengue non-structural 1 (NS1) proteins from clinical
      virus isolates.
AB  - Dengue is a febrile disease caused by infection of dengue virus (DENV). Early
      diagnosis of dengue infection is important for better management of the disease.
      The DENV Non-Structural Protein 1 (NS1) antigen has been routinely used for the
      early dengue detection. In dengue epidemic countries such as Indonesia,
      clinicians are increasingly relying on the NS1 detection for confirmation of
      dengue infection. Various NS1 diagnostic tests are commercially available,
      however different sensitivities and specificities were observed in various
      settings. This study was aimed to generate dengue NS1 recombinant protein for the
      development of dengue diagnostic tests. Four Indonesian DENV isolates were used
      as the source of the NS1 gene cloning, expression, and purification in bacterial
      expression system. Recombinant NS1 proteins were successfully purified and their
      antigenicities were assessed. Immunization of mice with recombinant proteins
      observed the immunogenicity of the NS1 protein. The generated recombinant
      proteins can be potentially used in the development of NS1 diagnostic test. With
      minimal modifications, this method can be used for producing NS1 recombinant
      proteins from isolates obtained from other geographical regions.

PMID- 27650868
TI  - Mechanisms, safety and efficacy of a B cell epitope-based vaccine for
      immunotherapy of grass pollen allergy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have developed a recombinant B cell epitope-based vaccine (BM32)
      for allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) of grass pollen allergy. The vaccine
      contains recombinant fusion proteins consisting of allergen-derived peptides and
      the hepatitis B surface protein domain preS as immunological carrier. METHODS: We
      conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled AIT study to determine
      safety, clinical efficacy and immunological mechanism of three subcutaneous
      injections of three BM32 doses adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide versus aluminum
      hydroxide (placebo) applied monthly to grass pollen allergic patients (n=70).
      Primary efficacy endpoint was the difference in total nasal symptom score (TNSS)
      through grass pollen chamber exposure before treatment and 4weeks after the last
      injection. Secondary clinical endpoints were total ocular symptom score (TOSS)
      and allergen-specific skin response evaluated by titrated skin prick testing
      (SPT) at the same time points. Treatment-related side effects were evaluated as
      safety endpoints. Changes in allergen-specific antibody, cellular and cytokine
      responses were measured in patients before and after treatment. RESULTS: Sixty
      eight patients completed the trial. TNSS significantly decreased with mean
      changes of -1.41 (BM32/20MUg) (P=0.03) and -1.34 (BM32/40MUg) (P=0.003) whereas
      mean changes in the BM32/10MUg and placebo group were not significant. TOSS and
      SPT reactions showed a dose-dependent decrease. No systemic immediate type side
      effects were observed. Only few grade 1 systemic late phase reactions occurred in
      BM32 treated patients. The number of local injection site reactions was similar
      in actively and placebo-treated patients. BM32 induced highly significant
      allergen-specific IgG responses (P<0.0001) but no allergen-specific IgE. Allergen
      induced basophil activation was reduced in BM32 treated patients and addition of
      therapy-induced IgG significantly suppressed T cell activation (P=0.0063).
      CONCLUSION: The B cell epitope-based recombinant grass pollen allergy vaccine
      BM32 is well tolerated and few doses are sufficient to suppress immediate
      allergic reactions as well as allergen-specific T cell responses via a selective
      induction of allergen-specific IgG antibodies. (ClinicalTrials.gov number,
      NCT01445002.).

PMID- 27650872
TI  - Infectivity of attenuated poxvirus vaccine vectors and immunogenicity of a
      raccoonpox vectored rabies vaccine in the Brazilian Free-tailed bat (Tadarida
      brasiliensis).
AB  - Bats (Order Chiroptera) are an abundant group of mammals with tremendous
      ecological value as insectivores and plant dispersers, but their role as
      reservoirs of zoonotic diseases has received more attention in the last decade.
      With the goal of managing disease in free-ranging bats, we tested modified
      vaccinia Ankara (MVA) and raccoon poxvirus (RCN) as potential vaccine vectors in
      the Brazilian Free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), using biophotonic in vivo
      imaging and immunogenicity studies. Animals were administered recombinant
      poxviral vectors expressing the luciferase gene (MVA-luc, RCN-luc) through
      oronasal (ON) or intramuscular (IM) routes and subsequently monitored for
      bioluminescent signal indicative of viral infection. No clinical illness was
      noted after exposure to any of the vectors, and limited luciferase expression was
      observed. Higher and longer levels of expression were observed with the RCN-luc
      construct. When given IM, luciferase expression was limited to the site of
      injection, while ON exposure led to initial expression in the oral cavity, often
      followed by secondary replication at another location, likely the gastric mucosa
      or gastric associated lymphatic tissue. Viral DNA was detected in oral swabs up
      to 7 and 9 days post infection (dpi) for MVA and RCN, respectively. While no live
      virus was detected in oral swabs from MVA-infected bats, titers up to 3.88 x 104
      PFU/ml were recovered from oral swabs of RCN-infected bats. Viral DNA was also
      detected in fecal samples from two bats inoculated IM with RCN, but no live virus
      was recovered. Finally, we examined the immunogenicity of a RCN based rabies
      vaccine (RCN-G) following ON administration. Significant rabies neutralizing
      antibody titers were detected in the serum of immunized bats using the rapid
      fluorescence focus inhibition test (RFFIT). These studies highlight the safety
      and immunogenicity of attenuated poxviruses and their potential use as vaccine
      vectors in bats.

PMID- 27650873
TI  - Blood fatty acid composition in relation to allergy in children aged 2-9 years:
      results from the European IDEFICS study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Blood polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are involved in
      allergy development, but the etiological role of n-6 and n-3 PUFA is still
      controversial. A European multicenter study of children (IDEFICS) provided the
      opportunity to explore the cross-sectional association between fatty acids (FA)
      and allergy. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Blood FA levels were measured in 2600 children
      aged 2-9 years and were recorded as the percentage of weight of all FA detected.
      Logistic regression of allergy status on FA components was adjusted for age, sex,
      country, body mass index, family history of allergic disease, breast-feeding, and
      number of siblings. The results were given as odds ratios (OR) for current vs no
      allergy ever and an increase in FA by 1 s.d. RESULTS: Overall, higher proportions
      of n-6 PUFA were associated with higher odds of allergy (OR=1.21 (1.05, 1.40)).
      Monounsaturated FA (MUFA) were associated with reduced risk for allergy (OR=0.75
      (0.65, 0.87)), whereas saturated FA did not differ by allergy status. The
      strongest associations were observed in children <4 years old, with ORs of
      allergy given as 1.62 (1.15, 2.29) for n-3 PUFA and 0.63 (0.42, 0.95) for MUFA.
      With regard to individual FA, these associations were independently observed for
      docosapentaenoic acid (22:5 n-3) and oleic acid (18:1 n-9). CONCLUSIONS: Both
      PUFA subtypes were positively associated with allergy in an age-dependent manner,
      whereas MUFA was associated with less allergy. The observation of high
      proportions of n-3 PUFA in allergic children younger than 4 years might help to
      understand the nature of early onset of atopic disease.

PMID- 27650874
TI  - The association among chronotype, timing of food intake and food preferences
      depends on body mass status.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that individuals with
      circadian preferences for the evening (wake up later and reach maximum activity
      in the afternoon) have distorted dietary habits and misregulated body weight.
      Therefore, the present study was conducted to analyse the possible relationships
      between 'morningness' or 'eveningness' (chronotype), dietary habits and the level
      of obesity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Among 400 participants, 171 subjects finished the
      follow-up period and were evaluated. Anthropometric, clinical and dietary
      parameters were analysed; the Horne-Ostberg test was used to determine
      chronotype. A hypocaloric-behavioural intervention was performed in the
      overweight/obese subjects. RESULTS: In normal-weight subjects, the morningness
      group ingested most of their energy and nutrients at breakfast and lunch, whereas
      the eveningness group showed a higher intake at dinner, corresponding with their
      chronotypes. A significant interaction was revealed between chronotype and body
      mass index regarding the energy and nutrients consumed at dinner (P<0.05 in all
      cases), as in the normal-weight subjects the evening food intake was higher in
      the eveningness group, but in the overweight subjects the situation was inverse.
      In addition, the food preferences were related to the chronotype, as the
      morningness subjects showed a higher intake of fruit (P<0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The
      timing of food intake corresponded to the chronotype in the normal-weight
      subjects; however, the overweight/obese subjects showed intake patterns removed
      from their physiological rhythms. These findings may indicate a need to design
      specific diets based not only on the total energy expenditure but also on the
      chronotype, as an indicator of the biological rhythms.

PMID- 27650875
TI  - Sarcopenia and osteoporosis in Portuguese centenarians.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia and osteoporosis
      in centenarians and its association with body composition and past physical
      activity (PPA). SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted an observational cross-sectional
      study in a representative nationwide population of 253 Portuguese centenarians. A
      clinically oriented questionnaire and anthropometric and body composition
      analysis by bioimpedance were executed. Sarcopenia was determined using a muscle
      mass (MM) index cutoff ?16.7 kg/m2. Osteoporosis was defined through estimated
      bone mass (BM), according to gender and body weight. Inadequate physical
      performance was considered when the timed-up-and-go test was >12 s. RESULTS: BM
      and MM were gender dependent, even after adjusting for multiple variables. We
      found a protective effect of intense PPA on sarcopenia risk (OR=0.41, 95% CI=0.20
      0.82, P=0.013). Those with worse physical function status presented a
      significantly higher risk for osteoporosis (OR=8.9, 95% CI=1.94-40.08, P=0.005).
      Multivariate models showed that low MM, BM and fat mass (FM) were predictors of
      underweight in centenarians. Underweight, male gender, worst physical function,
      hypohydration and sarcopenia were associated with increased osteoporosis risk.
      The risk for sarcopenia was higher in women (P=0.002), in those underweight
      (P=0.005) and in osteoporotic individuals (P<0.0001). Conversely, increased MM
      was protective against osteoporosis (P<0.0001), whereas higher BM decreased the
      risk for sarcopenia (P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Gender was revealed to be a relevant
      factor influencing BM and MM in centenarians. MM and BM were better predictors of
      underweight than was dehydration. Healthy BM and MM were positively related with
      PPA intensity and determined physical performance, having a positive impact on
      the centenarian's independence. During aging, improving physical function might
      add to sarcopenia and osteoporosis prevention, besides prevention of femur neck
      fractures and cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 27650876
TI  - Effects of two diet techniques and delivery mode on weight loss, metabolic
      profile and food intake of obese adolescents: a fixed diet plan and a calorie
      counting diet.
AB  - The aim of this study is to compare the weight loss of obese adolescents on two
      different low-calorie diets: fixed diet plan and calorie-counting diet. This is a
      randomized clinical study with 66 obese adolescents (body mass index Z score
      (ZBMI)>+3, 13.7+/-0.7 years, 60.6% male) with anthropometric, food intake,
      physical activity, laboratory, body composition and stage of pubertal development
      data evaluated. There was a reduction in the ZBMI in both groups (P<0.0001),
      without significant difference between them (P=0.87). There was a significant
      reduction in insulin, and homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA
      IR), with no difference between groups. A reduction in total energy intake of the
      groups was found, with an increase in the proportion of protein and reduction in
      carbohydrates. In this cohort of severely obese adolescents, fixed diet plan and
      calorie-counting diet led to a similar reduction of ZBMI, metabolic markers and
      total energy intake.

PMID- 27650877
TI  - Asymptomatic Extracranial Artery Stenosis and the Risk of Cardiovascular and
      Cerebrovascular Diseases.
AB  - Asymptomatic extracranial artery stenosis (ECAS) is a well-known risk factor for
      stroke events, but it remains unclear whether it has the same role in predicting
      cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, especially in China. We investigated
      the potential associations between ECAS, carotid plaque and carotid intima-media
      thickness and the new occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
      in the study. Out of 5440 study participants, 364 showed an asymptomatic ECAS at
      baseline, and 185 had come up to the final vascular events (brain infarction,
      intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, coronary heart disease and
      death due to the vascular diseases). During the follow- up. ECAS, carotid plaque
      and its instability and increased CIMT have associated with vascular events
      significantly (P < 0.05). After adjusting relevant vascular risk factors, ECAS
      still has a strong relationship with the new occurrence of vascular events,
      especially the brain infarction (HR: 2.101; 95% CI: 1.027-4.298; P = 0.042). We
      observed a clear relationship between ECAS and the new occurrence of
      cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, especially the brain infarction
      event. Carotid plaque and its instability and increased CIMT have all relevant
      with the occurrence of vascular events. Our findings provide direct evidence for
      the importance of ECAS in vascular events occurrence.

PMID- 27650879
TI  - Optimisation of asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation for the characterisation
      of nanoparticles in coated polydisperse TiO2 with applications in food and feed.
AB  - Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has various applications in consumer products and is also
      used as an additive in food and feeding stuffs. For the characterisation of this
      product, including the determination of nanoparticles, there is a strong need for
      the availability of corresponding methods of analysis. This paper presents an
      optimisation process for the characterisation of polydisperse-coated TiO2
      nanoparticles. As a first step, probe ultrasonication was optimised using a
      central composite design in which the amplitude and time were the selected
      variables to disperse, i.e., to break up agglomerates and/or aggregates of the
      material. The results showed that high amplitudes (60%) favoured a better
      dispersion and time was fixed in mid-values (5 min). In a next step, key factors
      of asymmetric flow field-flow fraction (AF4), namely cross-flow (CF), detector
      flow (DF), exponential decay of the cross-flow (CFexp) and focus time (Ft), were
      studied through experimental design. Firstly, a full-factorial design was
      employed to establish the statistically significant factors (p < 0.05). Then, the
      information obtained from the full-factorial design was utilised by applying a
      central composite design to obtain the following optimum conditions of the
      system: CF, 1.6 ml min-1; DF, 0.4 ml min-1; Ft, 5 min; and CFexp, 0.6. Once the
      optimum conditions were obtained, the stability of the dispersed sample was
      measured for 24 h by analysing 10 replicates with AF4 in order to assess the
      performance of the optimised dispersion protocol. Finally, the recovery of the
      optimised method, particle shape and particle size distribution were estimated.

PMID- 27650878
TI  - Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein (OxLDL)-Treated Dendritic Cells Promote
      Activation of T Cells in Human Atherosclerotic Plaque and Blood, Which Is
      Repressed by Statins: microRNA let-7c Is Integral to the Effect.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Activated T cells and dendritic cells (DCs) are colocalized in
      atherosclerotic plaques in association with plaque rupture. Oxidized low-density
      lipoprotein (oxLDL) promotes immune activation and inflammation. We studied the
      effects of statins (atorvastatin and simvastatin) on human DC maturation and T
      cell activation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Human peripheral blood monocytes were
      differentiated to DCs and stimulated with oxLDL. T cells were isolated from
      carotid endarterectomy specimens from patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy
      or from healthy individuals. Naive T cells were cocultured with pretreated DCs.
      The effects of statin were studied. OxLDL induced DC maturation and T-cell
      activation. OxLDL induced atherogenic heat shock proteins (HSP) 60 and 90 and
      decreased potentially atheroprotective heat shock protein 27, effects restored by
      atorvastatin. T cells exposed to oxLDL-treated DCs produced interferon-gamma and
      interleukin (IL)-17. Atorvastatin and simvastatin suppressed the DC maturation
      showing lower expression of CD80, CD83, and CD86, and limited their production of
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6, and increased transforming growth
      factor-beta and IL-10 secretion. Statin-treated DCs inhibited Th1 and/or Th17
      polarization by downregulation of transcriptional factors T-bet and RORgammat
      expression, and induced T regulatory cells with IL-10 production. OxLDL-induced
      miRNA let7c and phosphorylation of Akt and ERK were repressed by statins. Let-7c
      had a pivotal role in mediating effect of oxLDL. Experiments on T cells derived
      from carotid atherosclerotic plaques or healthy individuals showed similar
      results. CONCLUSIONS: Statins repress human DC maturation induced by oxLDL, limit
      T-cell activation, and repress an atherogenic heat shock protein profile and
      promote induction of T regulatory cells. MicroRNA let-7c is integral to the
      effects.

PMID- 27650881
TI  - Victimization and its associations with peer rejection and fear of victimization:
      Moderating effects of individual-level and classroom-level characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Past research has shown that peer victimization by bullying is
      associated with peer rejection and fear of victimization, but little is known
      about the interplay between victimization and other characteristics in the
      prediction of these experiences. We assume that the associations between
      victimization and peer rejection/fear of victimization are moderated by multiple
      characteristics, including aspects of peer ecology. AIMS: The study tested
      whether the links between victimization and peer rejection/fear of victimization
      are moderated by gender, peer support, and two features of classroom peer
      ecology: classroom victimization rate and classroom hierarchy (the variability of
      popularity among students). SAMPLE: The sample included 512 early adolescents
      attending sixth grade retrieved from 25 elementary school classrooms. METHODS:
      Participants completed a set of self-report and peer nomination instruments in
      classroom settings. RESULTS: Multilevel linear modelling showed that higher
      levels of peer rejection were associated with higher victimization, male gender,
      and lower peer support. The association between victimization and peer rejection
      was attenuated for females and when the classroom victimization rate was higher.
      A higher fear of victimization was related to higher victimization, female
      gender, lower peer support, and a higher classroom victimization rate. The link
      between victimization and fear of victimization was strengthened by female gender
      and higher levels of classroom hierarchy. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate the
      relevance of the interplay between victimization and gender and between
      victimization and classroom peer ecology in understanding peer rejection and fear
      of victimization.

PMID- 27650882
TI  - Novel trypanocide from an extract of Pleurotus sajor-caju against Trypanosoma
      congolense.
AB  - CONTEXT: Control of African trypanosomiasis relies on chemotherapy, but the
      development of resistance and the problem of drug residues require research for
      alternatives. Triterpenes and phenolics, the major constituents of Pleurotus
      sajor-caju (Fr.) Singer (Pleurotaceae), are reported to be effective against
      trypanosomiasis. OBJECTIVE: Trypanocidal effect of whole Pleurotus sajor-caju
      aqueous extract was investigated in vivo against Trypanosoma congolense.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mice (25-32 g) were divided into seven groups of six
      animals. Mice in groups A-F received 2.5 * 104 trypanosomes, while group G was
      uninfected. Extracts (100-250 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally for 5
      days to groups A-D while diminazine aceturate (group E) and normal saline (group
      F) served as positive and negative controls, respectively. Parasitemia, survival
      time, body weight and haematological parameters were monitored for 60 days post
      treatment. RESULTS: Parasitemia decreased significantly (p < 0.01) post-treatment
      with 200 and 250 mg/kg of the extract and became undetectable by day 16 and 12
      post-infection, respectively; the ED50 was 221.5 mg/kg. The packed cell volume
      (PCV) and the weight of mice treated with 250 mg/kg extract were 46.20 +/- 2.6%
      and 32.05 +/- 3.63 g, respectively, which is higher than the group treated with
      diminazine aceturate. The mean survival time of animals in groups D and E was >60
      days, while that of group F was <4 days. Differential leucocyte count on day 68
      post-infection in groups C, D and E were not significantly different. CONCLUSION:
      Pleurotus sajor-caju therefore could be a potential source of new trypanocidal
      drugs.

PMID- 27650880
TI  - Cardiac Orienting Responses Differentiate the Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
      in Ukrainian Toddlers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been found to impact
      neurophysiological encoding of environmental events negatively in the first year
      of life but has not been evaluated in older infants or toddlers. Cardiac
      orienting responses (ORs) collected during a habituation/dishabituation learning
      paradigm were obtained from 12- to 18-month-olds to assess the impact of PAE
      beyond the first year of life. METHODS: Participants included women and their
      toddlers who differed in PAE histories and enrolled in a randomized clinical
      trial of multivitamin/mineral usage during pregnancy. Those who were randomly
      assigned to the no intervention group were used for this analysis. The
      habituation/dishabituation paradigm consisted of 10 habituation and 5
      dishabituation trials. Baseline heart rate (HR) was collected for 30 seconds
      prior to stimulus onset, and responses to the stimuli were assessed by sampling
      HR for 12 seconds poststimulus onset. RESULTS: The speed of the OR in response to
      auditory stimuli in the dishabituation condition was found to be altered as a
      function of maternal alcohol use around conception. For visual stimuli, positive
      histories of PAE were predictive of the magnitude but not the speed of the
      response on habituation and dishabituation trials. A history of binge drinking
      was associated with reduced magnitude of the OR response on visual encoding
      trials, and level of alcohol exposure at the time of conception was predictive of
      the magnitude of the response on visual dishabituation trials. CONCLUSIONS:
      Cardiac ORs collected in the toddler period were sensitive to the effects of PAE.
      The magnitude of the OR was more sensitive to the impact of PAE than in previous
      research with younger infants, and this may be a function of brain maturation.
      Additional research assessing the predictive utility of using ORs in making
      decisions about individual risk was recommended.

PMID- 27650885
TI  - Influence of Ester versus Amide Linkers on the Supramolecular Polymerization
      Mechanisms of Planar BODIPY Dyes.
AB  - We report the H-type supramolecular polymerization of two new hydrophobic BODIPY
      derivatives equipped with ester and amide linkages. Whereas the ester-containing
      BODIPY derivative undergoes an isodesmic supramolecular polymerization in which
      the monomers are parallel-oriented, the replacement of the ester by amide groups
      leads to a highly cooperative self-assembly process into H-type aggregates with a
      rotational displacement of the dye molecules within the stack. The dye
      organization imposed by simultaneous pi-pi and hydrogen bonding interactions is
      the driving force for the cooperative supramolecular polymerization, whereas the
      absence of additional hydrogen bonds for the ester-containing moiety does not
      suffice to induce cooperative phenomena.

PMID- 27650884
TI  - Intestinal carriage of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria in preterm
      infants during hospitalization in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
AB  - The prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of intestinal carriage of Gram
      negative bacteria among preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care
      unit (NICU) in a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia were determined. A total
      of 34 stool specimens were obtained from preterm infants upon admission and once
      weekly up to two weeks during hospitalization. The presumptive colonies of
      Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were selected for identification,
      antibiotic susceptibility testing, and subtyping by using pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis (PFGE). Out of 76 Gram-negative isolates, highest resistance was
      detected for amoxicillin/clavulanate (30.8%, n = 16), ceftriaxone (42.3%, n =
      22), ceftazidime (28.8%, n = 15), cefoxitin (28.8%, n = 15), aztreonam (36.5%, n
      = 19), and polymyxin B (23.1%, n = 12). Three colistin resistant K. pneumoniae
      have also been detected based on E-test analysis. Thirty-nine isolates of K.
      pneumoniae and 20 isolates of E. coli were resistant to more than three
      antimicrobial classes and were categorized as multidrug resistant (MDR). PFGE
      analysis revealed a higher diversity in pulsotypes for K. pneumoniae (18
      pulsotypes) in comparison to E. coli (four pulsotypes). In addition, a total of
      fifteen pulsotypes was observed from 39 MDR K. pneumoniae. The risk factors for
      antibiotic resistance were assessed using random forest analysis. Gender was
      found to be the most important predictor for colistin resistant while length,
      OFC, and delivery mode were showing greater predictive power in the polymyxin B
      resistance. This study revealed worrying prevalence rates of intestinal carriage
      of multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae and E. coli of hospitalized preterm infants
      in Malaysia, particularly high resistance to polymyxins.

PMID- 27650886
TI  - Early restenose in a polymer-free Biolimus A9-coated stent (BioFreedom): A case
      report based on optical coherence tomography.
AB  - An 81-year-old male patient with a severe de novo coronary artery stenosis in the
      proximal left anterior descending artery was treated with a BioFreedom stent
      (3.5*11mm), three months later, the patient was re-admitted with chest pain and
      slightly increased troponin. The angiogram showed a significant in-stent
      restenosis in the recently treated lesion. Optical coherence tomography revealed
      a fully expanded stent without areas of incomplete stent apposition. Severe
      immature neointimal hyperplasia without formation of thrombosis was visualized,
      causing a severe in-stent restenosis. An underlying plaque rupture within the mid
      proximal part of the in-stent restenosis was evident.

PMID- 27650887
TI  - Spatial coding and physiological properties of hippocampal neurons in the Cornu
      Ammonis subregions.
AB  - It is well-established that the feed-forward connected main hippocampal areas,
      CA3, CA2, and CA1 work cooperatively during spatial navigation and memory. These
      areas are similar in terms of the prevalent types of neurons; however, they
      display different spatial coding and oscillatory dynamics. Understanding the
      temporal dynamics of these operations requires simultaneous recordings from these
      regions. However, simultaneous recordings from multiple regions and subregions in
      behaving animals have become possible only recently. We performed large-scale
      silicon probe recordings simultaneously spanning across all layers of CA1, CA2,
      and CA3 regions in rats during spatial navigation and sleep and compared their
      behavior-dependent spiking, oscillatory dynamics and functional connectivity. The
      accuracy of place cell spatial coding increased progressively from distal to
      proximal CA1, suddenly dropped in CA2, and increased again from CA3a toward CA3c.
      These variations can be attributed in part to the different entorhinal inputs to
      each subregions, and the differences in theta modulation of CA1, CA2, and CA3
      neurons. We also found that neurons in the subregions showed differences in theta
      modulation, phase precession, state-dependent changes in firing rates and
      functional connectivity among neurons of these regions. Our results indicate that
      a combination of intrinsic properties together with distinct intra- and extra
      hippocampal inputs may account for the subregion-specific modulation of spiking
      dynamics and spatial tuning of neurons during behavior. (c) 2016 Wiley
      Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650888
TI  - Managing serious clinical deterioration in a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong: from
      indicators development to multiple measures in reducing the rates.
AB  - RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Timely detection and management of acutely
      deteriorating patients can save lives. Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH), a 1800-bed acute
      tertiary hospital serving more than 1.06 million populations in Hong Kong, is
      exploring to quantitatively monitor serious clinical deterioration (SCD) and uses
      it to guide patient care improvement initiatives. METHODS: Literature review on
      definition and measurement of SCD was conducted. Monthly SCD rates of TMH were
      first calculated according to the published methodology and benchmarked against
      those of international centres. A refined composite clinical indicator good for
      local use was compiled. In the second phase, p-control charts of SCD have been
      plotted based on cumulative data. RESULTS: TMH's performance was comparable with
      that of international centres. SCD on p-control charts has been plotting since
      January 2013. There were peaks in all 4 SCD rates during the winter surge period
      in 2013-2014. In the third phase, multiple measures have been taking to reduce
      the SCD rates including targeting the 3 main factors of winter surge situation.
      We are delighted to observe that the pattern did not repeat in the rate of
      cardiac arrest without do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) and
      rate of death without DNACPR in the same period in 2014-2015. CONCLUSIONS: SCD
      becomes a clinical governance tool to monitor the performance of clinical teams
      in treating acutely deteriorating patients in TMH. Any abnormal patterns or
      indications of special cause variations in the control charts would alert leaders
      to look for root causes of special cause variations and manage accordingly. We
      hope that this project will extend to corporate level and become a sustainable
      clinical indicator to guide audits, quality improvement initiatives and strategic
      planning.

PMID- 27650889
TI  - Determinants of perceived insufficient milk among new mothers in Leon, Nicaragua.
AB  - Breastfeeding has been shown to improve maternal and child health. In Nicaragua,
      the primary risk of death and disability-adjusted life years among children under
      5 years of age is suboptimal breastfeeding. Although the Nicaraguan Ministry of
      Health promotes exclusive breastfeeding from within the first half hour through
      the first 6 months of life, less than a third of children in the country under 6
      months of age are exclusively breastfed. As part of a larger, mixed-methods
      study, 21 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with new mothers
      recruited from three primary health centers between June and August 2015 in order
      to identify the social, cultural, and structural factors that contribute to
      infant feeding practices and the discrepancy between recommendations and
      practices among mothers who delivered at an urban public hospital in Leon,
      Nicaragua. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim, and interview transcripts
      were coded and analyzed by a three-member team using a grounded theory approach.
      Findings highlight a widespread perception of insufficient milk among mothers
      that influenced early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding and other infant
      feeding practices. This perception stemmed from anxiety about meeting infant
      nutritional needs and infant satiety, anxiety about maternal nutrition, advice
      from and role modeling of family members about mixed feeding, and perceived
      infant feeding norms. Results suggest that support modeled after the 10 steps of
      the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative as well as strengthened policy-level
      support are needed. Community interventions that address cultural and structural
      barriers to improve breastfeeding practices may also help to increase
      breastfeeding rates.

PMID- 27650890
TI  - The link between improved mental health outcomes for Indigenous Australians and
      relationships: what is the role of mental health nurses?

PMID- 27650892
TI  - Engineering new balancer chromosomes in C. elegans via CRISPR/Cas9.
AB  - Balancer chromosomes are convenient tools used to maintain lethal mutations in
      heterozygotes. We established a method for engineering new balancers in C.
      elegans by using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in a non-homologous end-joining mutant.
      Our studies will make it easier for researchers to maintain lethal mutations and
      should provide a path for the development of a system that generates
      rearrangements at specific sites of interest to model and analyse the mechanisms
      of action of genes.

PMID- 27650893
TI  - Pancreatic pseudocyst drainage performed with a new prototype forward-viewing
      linear echoendoscope.
AB  - Interventional endoscopy is a field that continues to grow rapidly. A novel
      prototype forward-viewing echoendoscope (FV-EUS) has been recently developed in
      an attempt to overcome some of the limitations of conventional curved linear
      array echoendoscopes (OV-EUS). We present a case of a successful endoscopic
      ultrasound-guided drainage of a pancreatic pseudocyst using a forward-viewing
      echoendoscope. Although the utilization use of this newly developed echoendoscope
      has not yet become widespread, its unique characteristics can help to easily
      perform routine therapeutic procedures and contribute to the expansion of
      interventional endoscopic utrasoundultrasound.

PMID- 27650891
TI  - The DNA cytosine deaminase APOBEC3H haplotype I likely contributes to breast and
      lung cancer mutagenesis.
AB  - Cytosine mutations within TCA/T motifs are common in cancer. A likely cause is
      the DNA cytosine deaminase APOBEC3B (A3B). However, A3B-null breast tumours still
      have this mutational bias. Here we show that APOBEC3H haplotype I (A3H-I)
      provides a likely solution to this paradox. A3B-null tumours with this mutational
      bias have at least one copy of A3H-I despite little genetic linkage between these
      genes. Although deemed inactive previously, A3H-I has robust activity in
      biochemical and cellular assays, similar to A3H-II after compensation for lower
      protein expression levels. Gly105 in A3H-I (versus Arg105 in A3H-II) results in
      lower protein expression levels and increased nuclear localization, providing a
      mechanism for accessing genomic DNA. A3H-I also associates with clonal TCA/T
      biased mutations in lung adenocarcinoma suggesting this enzyme makes broader
      contributions to cancer mutagenesis. These studies combine to suggest that A3B
      and A3H-I, together, explain the bulk of 'APOBEC signature' mutations in cancer.

PMID- 27650894
TI  - Functional Sulfur-Doped Buckybowls and Their Concave-Convex Supramolecular
      Assembly with Fullerenes.
AB  - Buckybowls are fascinating components of supramolecular assemblies owing to their
      unique bowl-shaped pi-surfaces. Herein we present a protocol for the
      functionalization of a sulfur-doped buckybowl, trithiasumanene, via a brominated
      intermediate, from which thiolated trithiasumanenes were derived. The curved
      surface and electron-donating properties of thiolated trithiasumanenes promote
      their ready assembly with fullerenes to form concave-convex complexes. The
      supramolecular assembly behavior in solution was investigated by NMR analysis.
      The structures of supramolecular complexes were unambiguously characterized by
      crystallography. The crystals of the concave-convex complexes showed high thermal
      stability and photoconductivity.

PMID- 27650895
TI  - Exosomes/tricalcium phosphate combination scaffolds can enhance bone regeneration
      by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, accumulating evidence has shown that exosomes, the
      naturally secreted nanocarriers of cells, can exert therapeutic effects in
      various disease models in the absence of parent cells. However, application of
      exosomes in bone defect repair and regeneration has been rarely reported, and
      little is known regarding their underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Exosomes derived
      from human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hiPS-MSC
      Exos) were combined with tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) to repair critical-sized
      calvarial bone defects, and the efficacy was assessed by histological
      examination. We evaluated the in vitro effects of hiPSC-MSC-Exos on the
      proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow
      derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) by cell-counting, scratch assays, and qRT
      PCR, respectively. Gene expression profiling and bioinformatics analyses were
      also used to identify the underlying mechanisms in the repair. RESULTS: We found
      that the exosome/beta-TCP combination scaffolds could enhance osteogenesis as
      compared to pure beta-TCP scaffolds. In vitro assays showed that the exosomes
      could release from beta-TCP and could be internalized by hBMSCs. In addition, the
      internalization of exosomes into hBMSCs could profoundly enhance the
      proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Furthermore,
      gene expression profiling and bioinformatics analyses demonstrated that
      exosome/beta-TCP combination scaffolds significantly altered the expression of a
      network of genes involved in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Functional studies
      further confirmed that the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was the critical mediator
      during the exosome-induced osteogenic responses of hBMSCs. CONCLUSIONS: We
      propose that the exosomes can enhance the osteoinductivity of beta-TCP through
      activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway of hBMSCs, which means that the
      exosome/beta-TCP combination scaffolds possess better osteogenesis activity than
      pure beta-TCP scaffolds. These results indicate that naturally secreted
      nanocarriers-exosomes can be used as a bioactive material to improve the
      bioactivity of the biomaterials, and that hiPS-MSC-Exos combined with beta-TCP
      scaffolds can be potentially used for repairing bone defects.

PMID- 27650897
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650896
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650898
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650899
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650900
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650901
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650902
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650903
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650904
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650905
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650906
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650908
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650907
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27650909
TI  - The Difficulty of Selecting the NANDA-I Nursing Diagnosis (2015-2017) of "Death
      Anxiety" in Japan.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to clarify any difficulties or problems
      that exist in Japanese healthcare sites regarding the selection of death anxiety
      as a nursing diagnosis. METHODS: This study was a qualitative, inductive research
      design. The semistructured interviews were conducted on the participants who were
      nurses and had 3 or more years of clinical experience in Japan. RESULTS: Results
      showed four categories: "The Japanese have a culture of avoiding death," "It is
      extremely difficult to match diagnostic indicators and related factors with
      specific patient cases," "Other diagnoses exist that are effective and enable
      proactive intervention," and "The definition of death anxiety and the meaning of
      its diagnostic indicators are unintelligible." DISCUSSION: It is thought that
      nursing diagnoses that reflect specific cultural backgrounds require definitions
      appropriate to each country and appropriate revisions to diagnostic indicators.

PMID- 27650910
TI  - Inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase by BIA 10-2474 in rat brain.
AB  - In a recent clinical trial, the drug BIA 10-2474, a putative fatty acid amide
      hydrolase(FAAH) inhibitor, was responsible for severe adverse events (SAEs),
      including one death. To date, there has been little reliable information divulged
      about the potency of BIA 10-2474 at FAAH in the central nervous system. We
      synthesised BIA 10-2474 and determined its ability to inhibit FAAH ex vivo in rat
      brain using a FAAH selective radiotracer. BIA 10-2474 proved to be a potent FAAH
      inhibitor with IC50s of 50-70 ug/kg (i.p.) in various brain regions. This
      information may be useful for determining the cause of the SAEs.

PMID- 27650912
TI  - Erratum to: Aspiration thrombectomy prior to percutaneous coronary intervention
      in ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PMID- 27650913
TI  - Long bone robustness during growth: A cross-sectional pQCT examination of
      children and young adults aged 5-29years.
AB  - Skeletal robustness (cross-section size relative to length) is associated with
      stress fractures in adults, and appears to explain the high incidence of distal
      radius fractures in adolescents. However, little is known about the ontogeny of
      long bone robustness during the first three decades of life. Therefore, we
      explored the ontogeny of tibial, fibular, ulnar and radial robustness in a cross
      sectional sample of 5 to 29year-old volunteers of both sexes. Peripheral
      quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) was used to evaluate cross-sections of
      the leg (4%, 14%, 38% and 66%), and forearm (4%, and 66%) in N=432 individuals.
      Robustness was evaluated as the total bone area divided by bone length.
      Differences between age-groups, sexes, and age-group*sex interactions were
      evaluated with ANOVA with Tukey's post hocs where appropriate. Most bone sites
      exhibited more robust bones in men than women (P<0.001 to 0.02), and in older age
      groups than younger (P<0.001). Sex*age-group interaction was observed at the 66%
      and 38% tibia sites with robustness increasing more with age in men than in women
      (P=0.006 to 0.042). Post-hoc analyses indicated no sex differences prior to
      13years-of-age, and notable exceptions to increasing robustness with age at the
      4% radial and 66% tibial sites, which exhibited reduced robustness in age groups
      close to peak height velocity. In conclusion, the present results suggest that
      very little sexual dimorphism in long bone robustness exists prior to puberty,
      and that divergence occurs primarily after cessation of longitudinal growth. A
      period of relative diaphyseal slenderness was identified at age-groups coinciding
      with the adolescent growth spurt, which may be related to the relatively high
      incidence of frank and stress fracture in adolescents.

PMID- 27650911
TI  - Terrestrial mountain islands and Pleistocene climate fluctuations as motors for
      speciation: A case study on the genus Pseudovelia (Hemiptera: Veliidae).
AB  - This study investigated the influences of geographic isolation and climate
      fluctuation on the genetic diversity, speciation, and biogeography of the genus
      Pseudovelia (Hemiptera: Veliidae) in subtropical China and tropic Indo-China
      Peninsula. Species nucleotide and haplotype diversities decreased with reduction
      in species distribution limits. The gene tree was congruent with the taxonomy of
      monophyly, except for four species, P. contorta, P. extensa, P. tibialis
      tibialis, and P. vittiformis. The conflicts between the genes and species tree
      could be due to long-term isolation and incomplete lineage sorting.
      Diversification analysis showed that the diversification rate (0.08 sp/My shifted
      to 0.5 sp/My) changed at 2.1 Ma, which occurred in the early Pleistocene period.
      Ancestral area reconstruction suggested that subtropical species possibly evolved
      from the tropics region (i.e., Indo-China Peninsula). Results implied that narrow
      endemics harbored relatively low genetic diversity because of small effective
      population and genetic drift. Radiation of subtropical Pseudovelia species was
      rapidly promoted by Pleistocene climate fluctuations and geographic isolation.
      The acute rising of the Hengduan Mountain with the entire uplift of the Qinghai
      Tibet Plateau induced the initial differentiation of Pseudovelia species. These
      results highlighted the importance of geographical isolation and climate changes
      in promoting speciation in mountain habitat islands.

PMID- 27650915
TI  - Bidirectional Approach of Video-Assisted Neck Surgery (BAVANS): Endoscopic
      complete central node dissection with craniocaudal view for treatment of thyroid
      cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Endoscopic thyroidectomy is a well-established surgical technique
      that is mainly performed for benign thyroid disease. We considered that
      endoscopic surgery could also be widely indicated for the treatment of thyroid
      cancer. We herein describe our new bidirectional approach of video-assisted neck
      surgery (BAVANS) for complete central node dissection in endoscopic thyroid
      cancer surgery. METHODS: BAVANS involves two different directional pathways to
      the cervical lesion. Before lymph node dissection, we perform endoscopic
      thyroidectomy via a conventional gasless precordial or axillary approach. After
      thyroidectomy, the surgeon repositions by the head of the patient and inserts
      three ports in front of the upper neck lesion in the submandibular area to
      approach the paratracheal lesion from an overhead-to-caudal direction. RESULTS:
      BAVANS allows for an excellent craniocaudal view and easy access to the
      peritracheal lymph nodes. Sixteen patients with papillary thyroid cancer
      underwent BAVANS and progressed satisfactorily after surgery. Of those patients,
      eight underwent total or near total thyroidectomy, and five patients underwent
      bilateral central node dissection. The average number of retrieved lymph nodes
      with unilateral central node dissection was nine, which was higher than that
      achieved with conventional open surgery. All patients began oral intake within 5
      h after surgery. Postoperative Horner syndrome occurred in one patient. No other
      complications were noted. CONCLUSIONS: BAVANS is a very effective surgical
      procedure that many endoscopic surgeons can perform safely and easily. It has
      both a cosmetic advantage and excellent curability in endoscopic thyroid cancer
      surgery.

PMID- 27650914
TI  - A mathematical model of osteoclast acidification during bone resorption.
AB  - Bone resorption by osteoclasts occurs through the creation of a sealed
      extracellular compartment (ECC), or pit, adjacent to the bone that is
      subsequently acidified through a complex biological process. The low pH of the
      pit dissolves the bone mineral and activates acid proteases that further break
      down the bone matrix. There are many ion channels, transporters, and soluble
      proteins involved in osteoclast mediated resorption, and in the past few years,
      there has been an increased understanding of the identity and properties of some
      key proteins such as the ClC-7 Cl-/H+ antiporter and the HV1 proton channel. Here
      we present a detailed mathematical model of osteoclast acidification that
      includes the influence of many of the key regulatory proteins. The primary enzyme
      responsible for acidification is the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase), which pumps
      protons from the cytoplasm into the pit. Unlike the acidification of small
      lysosomes, the pit is so large that protons become depleted from the cytoplasm.
      Hence, proton buffering and production in the cytoplasm by carbonic anhydrase II
      (CAII) is potentially important for proper acidification. We employ an ordinary
      differential equations (ODE)-based model that accounts for the changes in ionic
      species in the cytoplasm and the resorptive pit. Additionally, our model tracks
      ionic flow between the cytoplasm and the extracellular solution surrounding the
      cell. Whenever possible, the properties of individual channels and transporters
      are calibrated based on electrophysiological measurements, and physical
      properties of the cell, such as buffering capacity, surface areas, and volumes,
      are estimated based on available data. Our model reproduces many of the
      experimental findings regarding the role of key proteins in the acidification
      process, and it allows us to estimate, among other things, number of active
      pumps, protons moved, and the influence of particular mutations implicated in
      disease.

PMID- 27650917
TI  - Development and Validation of a Technique for Casting Anatomical Features and
      Toolmarks.
AB  - Time may elapse between examination of marks inflicted on the body and comparison
      with a potential weapon. Two-dimensional photographs may be inadequate for
      effective comparison of a three-dimensional mark with a putative instrument.
      Taking a cast and producing a positive image results in a lasting three
      dimensional record. This project aimed to develop and demonstrate the accuracy of
      an easy technique for production of long-lasting positive images (using plaster
      of Paris and dental alginate). Casts of facial features of embalmed cadavers were
      used to produce a positive image of the face (death mask). Measurements of
      distances between facial anatomical landmarks were compared with measurements of
      distances between the same landmarks on the death masks to assess accuracy of
      reproduction. There were no significant differences between cadaver and death
      mask in 6 of 9 measurements, indicating this technique has high accuracy with
      less mobile facial features, but produces deformation of pliable features.

PMID- 27650918
TI  - A Comparison of Histamine Receptor Antagonists Versus Proton Pump Inhibitor
      Gastrointestinal Ulcer Prophylaxis in Kidney Transplant Recipients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There are several different agents that can be used for
      gastrointestinal (GI) ulcer prophylaxis in posttransplant recipients, such as
      histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).
      RESEARCH QUESTION: This study was conducted to compare the incidence of adverse
      kidney events in transplant recipients who received prophylaxis with H2RAs or
      PPIs. DESIGN: This retrospective study included all kidney transplant recipients
      from 3 transplant centers who were transplanted in 2009 through 2011. The primary
      objective was to compare the incidence of adverse events posttransplant, defined
      as the incidence of pneumonia, Clostridium difficile, hip fractures, GI bleeding,
      cytomegalovirus, organ rejection, and bacteremia. RESULTS: A total of 211
      patients were included in the study; of which 35 were included in the PPI group
      and 176 were included in the H2RA group. There were no significant differences
      between groups in regard to incidence of GI bleeding events or other adverse
      events. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest there is a low incidence of GI ulcers
      and upper GI bleeding events after kidney transplantation with the use of H2RAs
      or PPIs. Additionally, there are similar rates of adverse events when comparing
      H2RAs versus PPIs for GI ulcer prophylaxis.

PMID- 27650916
TI  - Low to moderate lifetime alcohol consumption is associated with less advanced
      stages of fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with a lower
      risk of disease severity in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is
      unclear if this reflects current or lifetime drinking, or can be attributed to
      confounders such as diet and exercise. We evaluated the impact of lifetime
      alcohol consumption on fibrosis severity in NAFLD. METHODS: We prospectively
      enrolled 120 subjects with biopsy-proven NAFLD and through detailed
      questionnaires examined lifetime alcohol consumption, diet and physical activity.
      Main outcome measures were odds ratios (OR) for fibrosis stage, calculated
      through ordinal regression after adjustment for body mass index, diabetes
      mellitus type 2, smoking and age at biopsy. A biomarker for recent alcohol
      consumption, phosphatidyl ethanol (PEth) was sampled. RESULTS: An increase in
      median weekly alcohol consumption to a maximum of 13 drinks per week was
      associated with lower fibrosis stage (adjusted OR for each incremental unit,
      0.86; 95% CI, 0.76-0.97; p = .017). The lowest risk for fibrosis was found with
      the lowes't odds seen in the top quartile of alcohol consumption (aOR 0.23; 95%
      CI 0.08-0.66; p = .006). Adding soft drink and coffee consumptions, and physical
      activity to the model did not change the estimates. Subjects with PEth >=0.3
      MUmol/L had higher ORs for a higher fibrosis stage (aOR 2.77; 95% CI 1.01-7.59; p
      = .047). CONCLUSION: Lifetime alcohol consumption with up to 13 units per week is
      associated with lower fibrosis stage in NAFLD. Elevated PEth is associated with
      higher stages of fibrosis.

PMID- 27650919
TI  - Factors affecting cognitive performance in children with special reference to
      sleep and sedentary behavior.

PMID- 27650921
TI  - Toxic epidermal necrolysis in Japan in the past 10 years based on data from the
      relief system of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency.

PMID- 27650920
TI  - The physiological consequences of ingesting a toxic plant (Diplotaxis tenuifolia)
      influence subsequent foraging decisions by sheep (Ovis aries).
AB  - Toxins and nutrients interact and define herbivores' experiences with toxic
      plants. However, there are still open questions about the mechanisms by which
      nutrient-toxin interactions affect experience and as a consequence foraging
      decisions by consumers. This study provides a deeper insight into such mechanisms
      by using supplemental nutrients, a toxic plant typically avoided by herbivores
      (wild rocket; Diplotaxis tenuifolia), and a small ruminant (sheep; Ovis aries) as
      models. Thirty-six sheep were randomly assigned to four treatments (n=9) where
      animals consumed: wild rocket ("DT"), wild rocket followed by a protein
      supplement ("DT+P"), wild rocket followed by a protein supplement+a mineral
      supplement containing iodine and copper ("DT+P+M"), or alfalfa pellets in amounts
      that paired the ingestion of wild rocket by DT ("CTRL"). Towards the end of the
      phase of exposure (day 35), DT showed the lowest intake of wild rocket, as well
      as reduced levels of plasma thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), alanine
      aminotransferase, and a trend towards reduced hemoglobin relative to DT+P and
      DT+P+M. Total concentration of serum proteins and albumins were greater in sheep
      fed the protein supplements, which have probably elicited a protective effect on
      toxin ingestion. Foraging behavior was then evaluated in an experimental arena
      where animals could select among randomly distributed buckets containing a fixed
      amount of wild rocket or variable amounts of barley grain (a preferred food).
      Regardless of barley grain availability, DT showed lower intake and lower times
      spent eating wild rocket than DT+P and DT+P+M. Unexpectedly, CTRL (without
      previous experience with wild rocket) ingested amounts of wild rocket comparable
      to those observed by DT+P and DT+P+M. A negative feeding experience with wild
      rocket is needed for animals to display the typical pattern of aversion commonly
      observed in grazing conditions.

PMID- 27650922
TI  - Increased prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in CRPS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although specific psychological disorders in complex regional pain
      syndrome (CRPS) have not been identified, studies suggest that CRPS patients may
      have increased rates of traumatic life events. Because these events do not always
      lead to apparent psychological symptoms, we systematically screened CRPS patients
      for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to determine if PTSD could be a risk
      factor for CRPS. METHODS: Consecutive CRPS patients referred to two university
      hospital centres (University of Erlangen, UMC Mainz) between December 2011 and
      April 2013 were prospectively examined using a diagnostic PTSD instrument (Post
      traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS). We also tested maladaptive coping
      strategies (brief-COPE inventory) and the PDS severity score as predictors for
      CRPS. Patients with non-CRPS extremity pain and healthy individuals were used as
      control groups. RESULTS: We collected data from 152 patients with CRPS, 55
      control patients and 55 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. Fifty-eight
      CRPS patients (38%), six non-CRPS pain patients (10%) and two healthy individuals
      (4%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Initial PTSD symptom onset was prior to
      CRPS in 50 CRPS patients (86%) and during the course of CRPS in eight patients.
      Results of a logistic regression revealed that the PTSD severity score was
      associated with CRPS (p < 0.0001). Maladaptive coping strategies (p < 0.0001)
      were related to PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more
      frequent in patients with CRPS than it is in the general population.
      SIGNIFICANCE: Research has not yet provided support for specific psychological
      predictors for CRPS.

PMID- 27650923
TI  - Evaluation of outcomes associated with trial of labor after cesarean delivery
      after a change in clinical practice guidelines in an academic hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate maternal-neonatal morbidity for women undergoing trial of
      labor after cesarean (TOLAC) following clinical practice changes based upon
      ACOG's 2010 VBAC guideline. STUDY DESIGN: Four-year retrospective cohort analysis
      around implementation of a hospital guideline in women undergoing TOLAC with a
      live, cephalic, singleton without lethal anomaly >=24 weeks and >=1 prior
      cesarean. Maternal-neonatal outcomes pre- and post-guideline implementation were
      compared. Primary outcome was composite maternal morbidity (uterine rupture or
      dehiscence, hysterectomy, transfusion, thromboembolism, operative/delivery
      injury, chorioamnionitis/endometritis, shoulder dystocia, death). Secondary
      outcomes included neonatal morbidity. RESULTS: Four hundred and fifty women
      underwent TOLAC before and 781 after guideline implementation. Post-guideline,
      there was a significant increase in age, body mass index, labor length, women
      with >1 cesarean, comorbid condition and induced labor. Composite maternal
      morbidity was significantly higher after the guideline (13.78% versus 18.82%, p =
      0.02), possibly due to an increased rate of chorioamnionitis/endometritis, which
      was no longer significant after control for potential confounders in
      multivariable analysis. There were no differences in neonatal outcomes. Vaginal
      birth after cesarean (VBAC) success rates were unchanged (78.9% before versus
      78.1% after, p = 0.75), however hospital VBAC rates increased after the guideline
      (26% versus 33%, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Adoption of ACOG's TOLAC practice
      changes can increase VBAC rates without increasing maternal-neonatal morbidity
      from TOLAC.

PMID- 27650924
TI  - Neuronal networks provide rapid neuroprotection against spreading toxicity.
AB  - Acute secondary neuronal cell death, as seen in neurodegenerative disease,
      cerebral ischemia (stroke) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), drives spreading
      neurotoxicity into surrounding, undamaged, brain areas. This spreading toxicity
      occurs via two mechanisms, synaptic toxicity through hyperactivity, and
      excitotoxicity following the accumulation of extracellular glutamate. To date,
      there are no fast-acting therapeutic tools capable of terminating secondary
      spreading toxicity within a time frame relevant to the emergency treatment of
      stroke or TBI patients. Here, using hippocampal neurons (DIV 15-20) cultured in
      microfluidic devices in order to deliver a localized excitotoxic insult, we
      replicate secondary spreading toxicity and demonstrate that this process is
      driven by GluN2B receptors. In addition to the modeling of spreading toxicity,
      this approach has uncovered a previously unknown, fast acting, GluN2A-dependent
      neuroprotective signaling mechanism. This mechanism utilizes the innate capacity
      of surrounding neuronal networks to provide protection against both forms of
      spreading neuronal toxicity, synaptic hyperactivity and direct glutamate
      excitotoxicity. Importantly, network neuroprotection against spreading toxicity
      can be effectively stimulated after an excitotoxic insult has been delivered, and
      may identify a new therapeutic window to limit brain damage.

PMID- 27650925
TI  - Synthesis of a selective HDAC6 inhibitor active in neuroblasts.
AB  - In recent years, the role of HDAC6 in neurodegeneration has been partially
      elucidated, which led some authors to propose HDAC6 inhibitors as a therapeutic
      strategy to treat neurodegenerative diseases. In an effort to develop a selective
      HDAC6 inhibitor which can cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), a modified
      hydroxamate derivative (compound 3) was designed and synthetized. This compound
      was predicted to have potential for BBB penetration based on in silico and in
      vitro evaluation of passive permeability. When tested for its HDAC inhibitory
      activity, the IC50 value of compound 3 towards HDAC6 was in the nM range in both
      enzymatic and cell-based assays. Compound 3 showed a cell-based selectivity
      profile close to that of tubastatin A in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, and a
      good BBB permeability profile.

PMID- 27650926
TI  - Melodinine V, an antitumor bisindole alkaloid with selective cytotoxicity from
      Melodinus henryi.
AB  - Melodinine V (1) with a vincanol-eburenine skeleton, was isolated from Melodinus
      henryi. The structure was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods and
      further confirmed by the single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Melodinine V
      showed selective cytotoxic activities against human colon cancer cell line HT-29
      and inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. It induced
      cell cycle arrest at G1 phase and cellular apoptosis by increasing histone
      associated DNA fragmentation in the treated HT-29 cells.

PMID- 27650927
TI  - PUMA-dependent apoptosis in NSCLC cancer cells by a dimeric beta-carboline.
AB  - Dimeric beta-carbolines are cytotoxic against multiple NSCLC cell lines, and we
      report herein our preliminary studies on the mechanism of action of these dimeric
      structures. Dimeric beta-carboline 1, which is more potent than the corresponding
      monomer in NSCLC cell lines, is a lysosomotropic agent that inhibits autophagy
      and mediates cell death by apoptosis, upregulating the pro-apoptotic BH3-only
      protein PUMA (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis) in a dose dependent manner.

PMID- 27650928
TI  - Impact of Early Postnatal Nutrition on the NMR Urinary Metabolic Profile of
      Infant.
AB  - NMR-based metabolomics was used to compare the metabolic urinary profiles of
      exclusively breast-fed term infants (n = 11) with those of a double-blinded
      controlled trial with 49 formula-fed term newborns randomized to receive either
      an infant formula enriched by functional ingredients (n = 24) or a standard
      formula (n = 25). Anthropometric measurements and urine samples were taken at
      enrollment (within the first month of life), at around 60 days of life, and at
      the end of study period (average age of 130 days). The metabolic profiles were
      examined in relation to time and diet strategy. A common age-dependent
      modification of the urine metabolome was observed for the three types of
      nutrition, mainly characterized by similar temporal trends of choline, betaine,
      myoinositol, taurine, and citrate. Contrariwise, differences in the metabolic
      profiles were identified according to the type of diet (human versus formula
      milk), while no significant difference was observed between the two formulas.
      These modifications are discussed mainly in terms of the different milk
      compositions. Despite the low number of enrolled infants (n = 60), these findings
      pointed out the potential of the metabolomics approach for neonatal nutritional
      science, in particular to provide important contributions to the optimization of
      formula milk.

PMID- 27650929
TI  - The Cardioprotective Role of N-Acetyl Cysteine Amide in the Prevention of
      Doxorubicin and Trastuzumab-Mediated Cardiac Dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the breast cancer setting, anticancer therapies including
      doxorubicin (DOX) and trastuzumab (TRZ) are associated with a significantly
      increased risk of cardiotoxicity. Despite the increasing support for the role of
      oxidative stress (OS) in its pathophysiology, we still do not have an optimal
      antioxidant for the prevention of DOX + TRZ-mediated cardiac dysfunction. The
      objective of this study was to investigate whether the novel antioxidant N
      acetylcysteine amide (NACA) can attenuate DOX + TRZ-induced heart failure in a
      murine model. METHODS: A total of 100 C57Bl/6 female mice received 1 of the
      following drug regimens: (1) saline, (2) NACA, (3) DOX, (4) TRZ, (5) DOX + TRZ,
      (6) NACA + DOX, (7) NACA + TRZ, and (8) NACA + DOX + TRZ. Serial echocardiography
      was performed over a 10-day study period, after which the mice were killed for
      histologic and biochemical analyses. RESULTS: In mice receiving DOX, the left
      ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decreased from 73% +/- 4% to 43% +/- 2% on
      day 10. In mice receiving DOX + TRZ, the LVEF decreased from 72% +/- 3% to 32% +/
      2% on day 10. Prophylactic administration of NACA to mice receiving DOX or DOX +
      TRZ was cardioprotective, with an LVEF of 62% +/- 3% and 55% +/- 3% on day 10,
      respectively. Histologic and biochemical analyses demonstrated a loss of cellular
      integrity, increased OS, and increased cardiac apoptosis in mice treated with DOX
      + TRZ, which was attenuated by the prophylactic administration of NACA.
      CONCLUSIONS: NACA attenuated the cardiotoxic side effects of DOX + TRZ in a
      murine model of chemotherapy-induced cardiac dysfunction by decreasing OS and
      apoptosis.

PMID- 27650930
TI  - Impact of a Genetic Risk Score on Myocardial Infarction Risk Across Different
      Ethnic Populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) risk varies by ethnicity, although the
      influence of genetic factors remains unclear. Using a genetic risk score (GRS),
      we examined the association between 25 coronary artery disease (CAD)-related
      single nucleotide polymorphisms and MI across 6 ethnic groups. METHODS: We
      studied 8556 participants in the INTERHEART case-control study from 6 ethnic
      groups: Europeans, South Asians, Southeast Asians, Arabs, Latin Americans, and
      Africans. Associations between the GRS and MI were tested in each group by
      logistic regression and overall by meta-analysis. RESULTS: Overall, the GRS
      increased the odds of MI by 1.07 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.09) per
      risk allele in the unadjusted model, with little change (odds ratio, 1.06; 95%
      CI, 1.04-1.09) after adjusting for demographic and modifiable factors. In
      Europeans, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and Arabs, the GRS was significantly
      associated with MI, with minimal heterogeneity observed. In these groups, a score
      > 23 risk alleles (highest 4 quintiles) was associated with only a 5% difference
      in population attributable risk (PAR) (36% to 41%) for MI. The GRS was not
      significant in Latin Americans or Africans. In the overall cohort, modest
      changes, beyond clinical factors, in PAR (88% to 91%), concordance statistic
      (0.73 to 0.74), and continuous net reclassification improvement (12%) were
      observed with the GRS. CONCLUSIONS: A CAD GRS is associated with MI across a
      multiethnic cohort, with significant and consistent effects across 4 distinct
      ethnicities. However, it only modestly improves MI risk prediction beyond
      clinical factors.

PMID- 27650931
TI  - Subungual fibro-osseous pseudotumour of the digit: a rare occurrence.

PMID- 27650932
TI  - Robotic gastrectomy versus open gastrectomy in the treatment of gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Robotic gastrectomy (RG) has been developed to improve surgical
      quality and to overcome the limitations of conventional open gastrectomy (OG) for
      gastric cancer. The aim of this meta-analysis is to comprehensively compare the
      safety and efficacy between robotic surgery and open surgery for treating gastric
      cancer. METHODS: Major databases were searched for retrospective case-matched
      studies comparing RG and OG for treating gastric cancer. A list of these studies,
      published in English from 1990 to 2016, was obtained independently by two
      reviewers from databases such as PubMed, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, the China
      National Knowledge Infrastructure and Web of Science. Intraoperative data,
      oncological outcomes and postoperative complications were compared using Review
      Manager 5.3. RESULTS: Seven studies involving 5970 patients with 606 cases of RG
      and 5364 cases of OG were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to OG, RG has
      a significantly longer operation time [weighted mean differences (WMD) = 63.72,
      95 % confidence interval (CI) 33.83-93.61, P < 0.0001], lower blood loss (WMD: 
      129.74, 95 % CI -178.31 to -81.16, P < 0.00001) and shorter hospital stay (WMD = 
      2.39, 95 % CI -2.92 to -1.87; P < 0.00001). No statistical difference was noted
      based on the rate of overall postoperative complication, wound infection,
      bleeding, ileus and obstruction, abdominal collections and abscesses, and the
      rate of anastomotic leak in the RG versus OG. Postoperative oncological outcomes
      showed that there were also no statistical differences among the number of
      retrieved lymph nodes, proximal resection margin, distal resection margin except
      for tumor size (WMD = -1.60; 95 % CI -2.96 to -0.25; P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The
      results of this meta-analysis suggest that RG will be more accessible than
      conventional OG for gastric cancer. However, more prospective, well-designed,
      multicenter, randomized controlled trials are necessary to further evaluate the
      safety and efficacy as well as the long-term outcome of this technology.

PMID- 27650933
TI  - Management of prostate cancer patients with locally adverse pathologic features
      after radical prostatectomy: feasibility of active surveillance for cases with
      Gleason grade 3 + 4 = 7.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the ability of the new Gleason grade groups (GGGs) to
      stratify risk in prostate cancer patients with locally adverse pathologic
      features after radical prostatectomy (RP) thereby allowing more accurate
      assessment for planning eventual adjuvant therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data on
      172 patients with locally adverse pathologic features (including seminal vesicle
      invasion, extracapsular extension, or positive surgical margins) who had been
      treated with wait and see policy after RP were retrospectively analyzed for
      biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free survival. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and
      Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to test the association
      between the GGGs and BCR. Finally, concordance indices of different grading
      classifications were calculated to evaluate the predictive accuracy for
      biochemical failure after RP. RESULTS: The five-year BCR-free survival rates were
      71.2, 66.9, 25.7, 17.4, and 8.3 % for GGG 1-5 assessed on surgical specimens (p <
      0.001, log-rank test). In the two-way log-rank test, men with prostatectomy GGG 2
      had a lower progression risk relative to GGG 3 (p = 0.001), though similar risk
      as GGG 1 (p = 0.105). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, specimen GGG >=3
      and early postoperative PSA >=0.1 ng/ml were independent risk factors for
      biochemical failure (p < 0.001). In addition, GGGs had higher predictive accuracy
      compared with the alternate classification system (improvement in concordance
      index by 0.036-0.141). CONCLUSIONS: For the appropriate patient, depending on
      age, physical condition, early postoperative PSA, patient desire, etc., could be
      a candidate for wait and see policy with specimen GGG 2 disease, so to
      distinguish this from GGG 3 may facilitate discussions at the point of treatment
      decision making.

PMID- 27650934
TI  - Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma:
      clinical outcomes and prognostic factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of
      ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (US-guided PMWA) for the
      treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with the analysis of prognostic
      factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The treatment and survival parameters of 433
      patients with HCC (<=10 cm), who met the inclusion criteria and had received US
      guided PMWA in Renji Hospital from July 2010 to November 2014, were
      retrospectively analyzed. Imaging examination (contrast-enhanced CT or MR) and
      tumor markers (AFP and CA199) 1 month after MWA were used to evaluate the
      efficacy of US-guided PMWA. SPSS software was used to perform all statistical
      analyses. RESULTS: The initial complete ablation (CA) rate was 94.9 % (411/433).
      Twenty-two patients with incomplete ablation received repeat PMWA, and the total
      CA rate was up to 98.6 % (427/433). Multiple tumor number, tumor >5 cm in
      diameter, and higher serum AFP level (>20 ng/ml) were significant unfavorable
      prognosticators of progression-free survival (PFS). The cumulative 1-, 2-, and 3
      year overall survival (OS) rates were 83.5, 66.1, and 58.7 %, respectively
      (median: 43 months). Tumor >5 cm in diameter and serum AFP >400 ng/ml were
      significant unfavorable prognosticators of OS. CONCLUSIONS: PMWA is well
      tolerated in HCC patients and capable of offering high CA rate. Tumor number,
      tumor size, and AFP level were significant prognosticators of patients' PFS,
      whereas tumor size and AFP level were significant prognosticators of OS.

PMID- 27650935
TI  - Prevalence, indications and management of balloon uncrossable chronic total
      occlusions: Insights from a contemporary multicenter US registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Balloon uncrossable lesions can be challenging to treat, requiring
      specialized techniques and equipment. METHODS: We examined the prevalence,
      clinical and angiographic characteristics, management and procedural outcomes of
      balloon uncrossable lesions in a multicenter chronic total occlusion (CTO)
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) registry. RESULTS: Between 2012 and
      2016, 718 CTO PCIs (in which the occlusion was successfully crossed with a
      guidewire) were performed in 701 patients at 11 US centers. Mean age was 65.6 +/-
      10 years and 84% of the patients were men. Balloon uncrossable lesions
      represented 9% of all CTOs. Balloon uncrossable CTOs had more moderate/severe
      calcification (82% vs. 52%, P < 0.0001), moderate/severe tortuosity (61% vs. 35%
      P < 0.0001) and higher J-CTO score (2.95 +/- 1.32 vs. 2.43 +/- 1.23, P = 0.005)
      as compared with the remaining lesions. Technical and procedural success was
      significantly lower for balloon uncrossable lesions (90.5% vs. 98.3%, P < 0.0001
      and 88.9% vs. 96.6% P = 0.004), respectively, but the incidence of major adverse
      events was similar (1.6% vs. 2.2%, P = 0.751). Balloon uncrossable lesions
      required longer procedure (208 [interquartile range: 135, 258] vs. 135 [94, 194]
      min, P < 0.0001) and fluoroscopy (77 [52, 100] vs. 45 min [27, 75], P < 0.0001)
      time. Techniques used to treat balloon uncrossable lesions included balloon
      assisted microdissection (23%), excimer laser atherectomy (18%), and rotational
      atherectomy (16%). Excimer laser atherectomy and balloon-assisted microdissection
      were associated with the highest technical and procedural success rates.
      CONCLUSIONS: Balloon uncrossable CTOs are common, are associated with high rates
      of technical failure, and require specialized techniques for successful
      treatment. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27650936
TI  - Electrical neurostimulation with imbalanced waveform mitigates dissolution of
      platinum electrodes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:  Electrical neurostimulation has traditionally been limited to the use
      of charge-balanced waveforms. Charge-imbalanced and monophasic waveforms are not
      used to deliver clinical therapy, because it is believed that these stimulation
      paradigms may generate noxious electrochemical species that cause tissue damage.
      APPROACH:  In this study, we investigated the dissolution of platinum as one of
      such irreversible reactions over a range of charge densities up to 160 MUC cm-2
      with current-controlled first phase, capacitive discharge second phase waveforms
      of both cathodic-first and anodic-first polarity. We monitored the concentration
      of platinum in solution under different stimulation delivery conditions including
      charge-balanced, charge-imbalanced, and monophasic pulses. MAIN RESULTS:  We
      observed that platinum dissolution decreased during charge-imbalanced and
      monophasic stimulation when compared to charge-balanced waveforms. SIGNIFICANCE: 
      This observation provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the charge-balanced
      waveform as the primary option for sustainable neural stimulation.

PMID- 27650937
TI  - Repeat Robotic Partial Nephrectomy: Characteristics, Complications, and Renal
      Functional Outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Multifocal and hereditary kidney cancers often require repeated
      ipsilateral nephron sparing procedures with higher blood loss and complication
      rates compared to first time renal surgery. Consequently, many surgeons avoid
      minimally invasive techniques in the setting. We present the characteristics,
      complications, and short-term renal functional outcomes of patients who underwent
      a repeat robotic partial nephrectomy (rRPNx). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A database
      was retrospectively reviewed to identify patients who underwent robotic partial
      nephrectomies between January 2007 and December 2013. Selection criteria for the
      rRPNx cohort included patients who had undergone at least two ipsilateral renal
      surgeries, with the second procedure being an rRPNx. All other patients comprised
      the initial robotic partial nephrectomy (iRPNx) group. RESULTS: One hundred
      twenty-four patients who underwent robotic partial nephrectomy during the study
      period were identified. rRPNx constituted 26 (21%) of the total cases. Age of the
      rRPNx cohort was similar (p = 0.56), but number of tumors resected was two-fold
      greater in the rRPNx group (p = 0.44). Neither surgery time nor renal clamp time
      was significantly longer in either group (p = 0.18 and p = 0.65, respectively).
      Importantly, estimated blood loss (EBL) was significantly larger than in the
      iRPNx group (p = 0.01). Both groups had similar intravenous pain medication
      administration durations (p = 0.32), but postsurgical length of stay was greater
      for the rRPNx patients (p = 0.011). There were no significant differences in
      clavian complication rates (p = 0.17-0.39), with the exception of urine leak
      which occurred more frequently in the rRPNx group (p = 0.01). There was no
      difference in percent change in serum creatinine or estimated glomerular
      filtration rate (p = 0.89 and p = 0.67, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: rRPNx is safe
      and feasible in select patients. EBL, postoperative lengths of stay, and urine
      leak were the only factors significantly associated with rRPNx compared to iRPNx.
      Patient 3-month follow-up revealed excellent and comparable outcomes between the
      two groups.

PMID- 27650938
TI  - Quantitative Assessment of Radionuclide Uptake and Positron Emission Tomography
      computed Tomography Image Contrast.
AB  - Radionuclide uptake and contrast for positron emission tomography-computed
      tomography (PET-CT) images have been assessed in this study using NEMA image
      quality phantom filled with background activity concentration of 5.3 kBq/mL
      fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG). Spheres in the phantom were filled in turns with
      water to mimic cold lesions and FDG of higher activity concentrations to mimic
      tumor sites. Transaxial image slices were acquired on the PET-CT system and used
      for the evaluation of mean standard uptake value (SUVmean) and contrasts for
      varying sphere sizes at different activity concentrations of 10.6 kBq/mL, 21.2
      kBq/mL, and 42.4 kBq/mL. For spheres of same sizes, SUVmean increased with
      increase in activity concentration. SUVmean was increased by 80.6%, 83.5%, 63.2%,
      87.4%, and 63.2% when activity concentrations of spheres with a diameter of 1.3
      cm, 1.7 cm, 2.2 cm, 2.8 cm, and 3.7 cm, respectively, were increased from 10.6
      kBq/mL to 42.4 kBq/mL. Average percentage contrast between cold spheres (cold
      lesions) and background activity concentration was estimated to be 89.96% for the
      spheres. Average contrast for the spheres containing 10.6 kBq/mL, 21.2 kBq/mL,
      and 42.4 kBq/mL were found to be 110.92%, 134.48%, and 150.52%, respectively. The
      average background contrast variability was estimated to be 2.97% at 95%
      confidence interval (P < 0.05). 

PMID- 27650940
TI  - Mental health issues need private space for discussion.

PMID- 27650939
TI  - Preventive Effects of Poloxamer 188 on Muscle Cell Damage Mechanics Under
      Oxidative Stress.
AB  - High oxidative stress can occur during ischemic reperfusion and chronic
      inflammation. It has been hypothesized that such oxidative challenges could
      contribute to clinical risks such as deep tissue pressure ulcers. Skeletal
      muscles can be challenged by inflammation-induced or reperfusion-induced
      oxidative stress. Oxidative stress reportedly can lower the compressive damage
      threshold of skeletal muscles cells, causing actin filament depolymerization, and
      reduce membrane sealing ability. Skeletal muscles thus become easier to be
      damaged by mechanical loading under prolonged oxidative exposure. In this study,
      we investigated the preventive effect of poloxamer 188 (P188) on skeletal muscle
      cells against extrinsic oxidative challenges (H2O2). It was found that with 1 mM
      P188 pre-treatment for 1 h, skeletal muscle cells could maintain their
      compressive damage threshold. The actin polymerization dynamics largely remained
      stable in term of the expression of cofilin, thymosin beta 4 and profilin. Laser
      photoporation demonstrated that membrane sealing ability was preserved even as
      the cells were challenged by H2O2. These findings suggest that P188 pre-treatment
      can help skeletal muscle cells retain their normal mechanical integrity in
      oxidative environments, adding a potential clinical use of P188 against the
      combined challenge of mechanical-oxidative stresses. Such effect may help to
      prevent deep tissue ulcer development.

PMID- 27650941
TI  - Protection of endothelial cells against Ang II-induced impairment: Involvement of
      both PPARalpha and PPARgamma via PI3K/Akt pathway.
AB  - The aim of our study is to explore the involvement of PPARalpha and PPARgamma in
      Ang II-induced endothelial injury. We found that Ang II significantly elevated
      the oxidative stress in HUVECs, causing apoptosis and cellular impairment in a
      time-dependent pattern. Activation of either PPARalpha by docosahexaenoic acid
      (DHA) or PPARgamma by rosiglitazone protected the endothelial cells.
      Interestingly, a more significant effect was observed when DHA and rosiglitazone
      were administrated together. Moreover, we found that this protection was mediated
      through the PI3K/Akt pathway. Our study may help to understand the mechanism of
      endothelial dysfunction, contributing to the treatment of hypertension and other
      endothelial-related diseases.

PMID- 27650942
TI  - One-step extraction of polar drugs from plasma by parallel artificial liquid
      membrane extraction.
AB  - The new microextraction technique named parallel artificial liquid membrane
      extraction (PALME) was introduced as an alternative approach to liquid-liquid
      extraction of charged analytes from aqueous samples. The concept is based on
      extraction of analytes across a supported liquid membrane sustained in the pores
      of a thin polymeric membrane, a well-known extraction principle also used in
      hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME). However, the new PALME
      technique offers a more user-friendly setup in which the supported liquid
      membrane is incorporated in a 96 well plate system. Thus, high-throughput is
      achievable, in addition to the green chemistry offered by using PALME. The
      consumption of organic solvent is minimized to 3-5MUL per sample. With a sample
      volume of 250MUL and acceptor solution volume of 50MUL, a maximal enrichment
      factor of five is achievable. Based on these parameters, a new method for
      extraction of polar basic drugs was developed in the present work. The basic
      drugs hydralazine, ephedrine, metaraminol, salbutamol, and cimetidine were used
      as model analytes, and were extracted from alkalized human plasma into an aqueous
      solution via the supported liquid membrane. The extraction was promoted by a
      carrier dissolved in the membrane, creating a temporary ion-pair complex between
      the hydrophilic drug and the carrier. As the model analytes were extracted
      directly into an aqueous solution, there was no need for evaporation of the
      extract before injection into LC-MS. Hence, the sample preparation is performed
      in one step. With optimized conditions, the extraction recoveries were in the
      range 50-89% from human plasma after 45min extraction. The data from the method
      evaluation were satisfactory and in line with current guidelines, and revealed an
      extraction method with substantial potential for high throughput bioanalysis of
      polar basic drugs.

PMID- 27650944
TI  - Oocytes from small and large follicles exhibit similar development competence
      following goat cloning despite their differences in meiotic and cytoplasmic
      maturation.
AB  - Reduced developmental competence after IVF has been reported using oocyte derived
      from small follicles in several species including cattle, sheep, and goats. No
      information is currently available about the effect of follicle size of the
      cytoplast donor on in vivo development after somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)
      in goats. Oocytes collected from large (>=3 mm) and small follicles (<3 mm) were
      examined for maturation and in vivo developmental competence after SCNT.
      Significantly greater maturation rate was observed in oocytes derived from large
      follicles compared with that of small follicles (51.6% and 33.7%, P < 0.05).
      Greater percent of large follicle oocytes exhibited a low glucose-6-phosphate
      dehydrogenase activity at germinal vesicle stage compared with small follicle
      oocytes (54.9% and 38.7%, P < 0.05). Relative mRNA expression analysis of 48
      genes associated with embryonic and fetal development revealed that three genes
      (MATER, IGF2R, and GRB10) had higher level of expression in metaphase II oocytes
      from large follicles compared with oocytes from small follicles. Nevertheless, no
      difference was observed in pregnancy rates (33.3% vs. 47.1%) and birth rates
      (22.2% vs. 16.7%) after SCNT between the large and small follicle groups). These
      results indicate that metaphase II cytoplasts from small and large follicles have
      similar developmental competence when used in goat SCNT.

PMID- 27650945
TI  - [Trend of lipid profile in general population from Caceres Health Area].
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Dyslipidaemias are a modifiable cardiovascular risk
      factor. The aim of our study was to analyse lipid profile in general population,
      prevalence, and trend in five years. METHODS: From January 2010 to December 2014,
      all biochemical controls from Primary Care in 18 years-old adults were analysed.
      We used as reference for lipid levels those stablished for the European Society
      Cardiology and Hypertension. When several controls from same patient were found,
      the best and worst levels were used for prevalence. RESULTS: 304.523 controls
      were included from 97.470 patients (mean age 53.4+/-19.4 years, 57.2% were
      women). Mean levels of total cholesterol, LDL-c, HDL-c and triglycerides were
      193.2+/-38.7mg/dL, 114.9+/-33.6mg/dL, 56.9+/-15.4mg/dL and 113.2+/-78.1mg/dL,
      respectively. Prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, high LDL-c, low HDL-c and
      hypertriglyceridemia, in the best and worst levels, were 33.9% vs. 63.4%, 31.7%
      vs. 59.1%, 11.2% vs 23.9% and 9.9% vs. 27.5%. Between 2010 and 2014, mean levels
      of total cholesterol and LDL-c decreased in 12.2% and 14%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Prevalence of dyslipidaemia is high, although a decreased in mean levels of total
      cholesterol and LDL-c has been achieved.

PMID- 27650946
TI  - [Physician knowledge and attitudes on the clinical evaluation and treatment of
      resistant hypertension: The RESIST study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resistant hypertension (RH) is associated with a high risk of
      cardiovascular and renal complications. The purpose of this study was to assess
      the knowledge and attitudes of Primary Care physicians, general medicine doctors,
      and clinical cardiologists on the management of this condition. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A multicentre, descriptive, observational study based on an ad hoc
      questionnaire distributed to Primary Care physicians (n=1017) and general
      medicine physicians/clinical cardiologists (n=457). RESULTS: To establish the
      diagnosis of resistant hypertension, 69.1% of physicians confirm that
      systolic/diastolic blood pressure is above 140/90 mmHg, despite treatment.
      Furthermore, 64.9% only consider this diagnosis if the patient is treated with at
      least 3 medications, and 50.3% also requires that one of them is a thiazide
      diuretic (56.7% among specialists, P=.0004). To establish a definite diagnosis of
      true RH, 89.6% perform 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (93.3% of
      specialists, P=.0017), looking specifically for "white-coat" effect in 70.2% of
      cases. In addition, 79.3% verify that adherence to treatment is adequate. Between
      87 and 95% of physicians indicate examinations to exclude causes of secondary
      hypertension. Up to 54.3% of physicians (71.3% specialists, P<.0001) consider
      adding a fourth drug and insisting on lifestyle interventions as a priority
      therapeutic measure. CONCLUSION: These data show that physician knowledge
      regarding the management of patients with RH is good. Interestingly, this
      knowledge is somewhat higher among specialists than among Primary Care
      physicians.

PMID- 27650943
TI  - Physician staffed helicopter emergency medical systems can provide advanced
      trauma life support in mountainous and remote areas.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In remote and mountainous areas, helicopter emergency medical
      systems (HEMS) are used to expedite evacuation and provide pre-hospital advanced
      trauma life support (ATLS) in major trauma victims. Aim of the study was to
      investigate feasibility of ATLS in HEMS mountain rescue missions and its
      influence on patient condition at hospital admission. PATIENTS: 58 major trauma
      victims (Injury Severity Score >=16), evacuated by physician staffed HEMS from
      remote and mountainous areas in the State of Tyrol, Austria between 1.1.2011 and
      31.12.2013. RESULTS: Pre-hospital time exceeded 90min in 24 (44%) cases. 31 (53%)
      patients suffered critical impairment of at least one vital function (systolic
      blood pressure <90mmHg, GCS <10, or respiratory rate <10 or >30). 4 (6.9%) of 58
      patients died prior to hospital admission. Volume resuscitation was restrictive:
      18 (72%) of 25 hypotensive patients received <=500ml fluids and blood pressure
      was increased >90mmHg at hospital admission in only 9 (36%) of these 25 patients.
      8 (50%) of 16 brain trauma patients with a blood pressure <90mmHg remained
      hypotensive at hospital admission. Endotracheal intubation was accomplished
      without major complications in 15 (79%) of 19 patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale
      score <10. Rope operations were necessary in 40 (69%) of 58 cases and ATLS was
      started before hoist evacuation in 30 (75%) of them. CONCLUSIONS: The frequent
      combination of prolonged pre-hospital times, with critical impairment of vital
      functions, supports the need for early ATLS in HEMS mountain rescue missions. Pre
      hospital endotracheal intubation is possible with a high success and low
      complication rate also in a mountain rescue scenario. Pre-hospital volume
      resuscitation is restrictive and hypotension is reversed at hospital admission in
      only one third of patients. Prolonged pre-hospital hypotension remains an
      unresolved problem in half of all brain trauma patients and indicates the
      difficulties to increase blood pressure to a desired level in a mountain rescue
      scenario. Despite technical considerations, on-site ATLS is feasible for an
      experienced emergency physician in the majority of rope rescue operations.

PMID- 27650947
TI  - Construction of Novel Plasmid Vectors for Gene Knockout in Helicobacter pylori.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori infection plays an important role in the etiology of various
      gastroduodenal diseases. However, pathogenic mechanism of H. pylori is not clear.
      More potential pathogenic factors need to be further discovered and studied. In
      this study, two vectors for generating double-crossover recombination gene
      knockout plasmids in H. pylori were designed based on the backbone of plasmid
      pLYL03. Genes on plasmid pLYL03 were rearranged, and the redundant sequences were
      reduced. Erythromycin-resistant gene on pLYL03 was replaced by aphA or catGC to
      generate the kanamycin-resistant plasmid pSJHK or the chloramphenicol-resistant
      plasmid pSJHC. The sizes of pSJHK and pSJHC are 4371 and 3949 bp, respectively.
      Based on plasmids pSJHK and pSJHC, double-crossover recombination gene knockout
      plasmids targeting hp0169 and hp0788 were constructed, and deletion mutants were
      achieved by electroporation of the gene-targeting plasmids. The results indicated
      that plasmids pSJHK and pSJHC are efficient for gene deletion in H. pylori, and
      the transformation efficiency of pSJHC is slightly higher than pSJHK. These
      plasmids provide convenient genetic tools for further research of novel
      pathogenic factors in H. pylori. Derivative plasmids developed by changing
      antibiotic-resistant genes would also provide valuable tools for the study of
      functional genes in other bacteria.

PMID- 27650948
TI  - Identifying and annotating human bifunctional RNAs reveals their versatile
      functions.
AB  - Bifunctional RNAs that possess both protein-coding and noncoding functional
      properties were less explored and poorly understood. Here we systematically
      explored the characteristics and functions of such human bifunctional RNAs by
      integrating tandem mass spectrometry and RNA-seq data. We first constructed a
      pipeline to identify and annotate bifunctional RNAs, leading to the
      characterization of 132 high-confidence bifunctional RNAs. Our analyses indicate
      that bifunctional RNAs may be involved in human embryonic development and can be
      functional in diverse tissues. Moreover, bifunctional RNAs could interact with
      multiple miRNAs and RNA-binding proteins to exert their corresponding roles.
      Bifunctional RNAs may also function as competing endogenous RNAs to regulate the
      expression of many genes by competing for common targeting miRNAs. Finally,
      somatic mutations of diverse carcinomas may generate harmful effect on
      corresponding bifunctional RNAs. Collectively, our study not only provides the
      pipeline for identifying and annotating bifunctional RNAs but also reveals their
      important gene-regulatory functions.

PMID- 27650949
TI  - Fencing for conservation? -The impacts of fencing on grasslands and the
      endangered Przewalski's gazelle on the Tibetan Plateau.

PMID- 27650950
TI  - Osteoimmunology: memorandum for rheumatologists.
AB  - Rapid progress has been made in exploring the connections between the skeletal
      system and the immune system over the past decade. Bone tissue forms
      developmental niches for hematopoietic stem cells, and activated immune cells are
      involved in bone metabolism regulation and are potent mediators of osteoporosis
      and bone erosion under pathological conditions. The interdisciplinary field of
      osteoimmunology has emerged to pool the knowledge of the interdependence of these
      two systems, including the shared ligands and receptors, their crosstalk and
      interaction, and common intracellular signaling pathways with bidirectional
      influence. The receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B (RANK)/RANK ligand
      (RANKL)/osteoprotegerin (OPG) triad is the key vinculum, with multifaceted
      potency, being not only essential for osteoclastogenesis but also critical for
      lymph node organogenesis and lymphopoiesis as well as for immune regulation. In
      this review, we summarize the progress in this area, focusing on those aspects of
      interest concerning rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 27650951
TI  - Long-Range Chromatin Interactions Drive Mutant TERT Promoter Activation.
AB  - : Cancer-specific TERT promoter mutations (-146C>T and -124C>T) have been linked
      to reactivation of the epigenetically silenced telomerase reverse transcriptase
      gene (TERT). Understanding how these single-nucleotide alterations drive TERT
      reactivation is a fundamental unanswered question and is key for making
      successful therapeutics. We show that unlike wild-type promoters, recruitment of
      the transcription factor GABPA specifically to mutant TERT promoters mediates
      long-range chromatin interaction and enrichment of active histone marks, and
      hence drives TERT transcription. CRISPR-mediated reversal of mutant TERT
      promoters, or deletion of its long-range interacting chromatin, abrogates GABPA
      binding and long-range interactions, leading to depletion of active histone
      marks, loss of POL2 recruitment, and suppression of TERT transcription. In
      contrast, de novo introduction of a TERT promoter mutation enables GABPA binding
      and upregulation of TERT via long-range interactions, acquisition of active
      histone marks, and subsequent POL2 recruitment. This study provides a unifying
      mechanistic insight into activation of mutant TERT promoters across various human
      cancers. SIGNIFICANCE: This study identifies a key mechanism by which cancer
      specific mutant TERT promoters cause reactivation of TERT Because the mechanism
      uncovered here is not utilized by promoters that drive TERT in normal cells, this
      mechanism could be exploited to make inhibitors which have the potential to block
      telomerase function and hence the progression of up to 90% of human cancers.
      Cancer Discov; 6(11); 1276-91. (c)2016 AACR.See related commentary by Min and
      Shay, p. 1212This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1197.

PMID- 27650952
TI  - The PilZ domain of MrkH represents a novel DNA binding motif.

PMID- 27650953
TI  - In vitro assembly of Ebola virus nucleocapsid-like complex expressed in E. coli.
AB  - Ebola virus (EBOV) harbors an RNA genome encapsidated by nucleoprotein (NP) along
      with other viral proteins to form a nucleocapsid complex. Previous Cryo-eletron
      tomography and biochemical studies have shown the helical structure of EBOV
      nucleocapsid at nanometer resolution and the first 450 amino-acid of NP
      (NPDelta451-739) alone is capable of forming a helical nucleocapsid-like complex
      (NLC). However, the structural basis for NP-NP interaction and the dynamic
      procedure of the nucleocapsid assembly is yet poorly understood. In this work,
      we, by using an E. coli expression system, captured a series of images of
      NPDelta451-739 conformers at different stages of NLC assembly by negative-stain
      electron microscopy, which allowed us to picture the dynamic procedure of EBOV
      nucleocapsid assembly. Along with further biochemical studies, we showed the
      assembly of NLC is salt-sensitive, and also established an indispensible role of
      RNA in this process. We propose the diverse modes of NLC elongation might be the
      key determinants shaping the plasticity of EBOV virions. Our findings provide a
      new model for characterizing the self-oligomerization of viral nucleoproteins and
      studying the dynamic assembly process of viral nucleocapsid in vitro.

PMID- 27650954
TI  - Effects of Lorcaserin on Cocaine and Methamphetamine Self-Administration and
      Reinstatement of Responding Previously Maintained by Cocaine in Rhesus Monkeys.
AB  - Stimulant abuse is a serious public health issue for which there is no effective
      pharmacotherapy. The serotonin2C [5-hydroxytryptamine2C (5-HT2C)] receptor
      agonist lorcaserin decreases some abuse-related effects of cocaine in monkeys and
      might be useful for treating stimulant abuse. The current study investigated the
      effectiveness of lorcaserin to reduce self-administration of either cocaine or
      methamphetamine and cocaine-induced reinstatement of extinguished responding.
      Four rhesus monkeys responded under a progressive-ratio (PR) schedule in which
      the response requirement increased after each cocaine infusion (32-320
      MUg/kg/infusion). A separate group of four monkeys responded under a fixed-ratio
      (FR) schedule for cocaine (32 MUg/kg/infusion) and reinstatement of extinguished
      responding was examined following administration of noncontingent infusions of
      cocaine (0.1-1 mg/kg) that were combined with response-contingent presentations
      of the drug-associated stimuli. Finally, three monkeys responded under a FR
      schedule for methamphetamine (0.32-100 MUg/kg/infusion). Lorcaserin (3.2 mg/kg)
      significantly decreased the final ratio completed (i.e., decreased break point)
      in monkeys responding under the PR schedule and reduced the reinstatement of
      responding for drug-associated stimuli following a noncontingent infusion of
      cocaine; these effects did not appear to change when lorcaserin was administered
      daily. The same dose of lorcaserin decreased responding for methamphetamine in
      two of the three monkeys, and the effect was maintained during daily lorcaserin
      administration; larger doses given acutely (10-17.8 mg/kg) significantly
      decreased responding for methamphetamine, although that effect was not sustained
      during daily lorcaserin administration. Together, these results indicate that
      lorcaserin might be effective in reducing cocaine and methamphetamine abuse and
      cocaine relapse at least in some individuals.

PMID- 27650956
TI  - Mechanochemical route to the synthesis of nanostructured Aluminium nitride.
AB  - Hexagonal Aluminium nitride (h-AlN) is an important wide-bandgap semiconductor
      material which is conventionally fabricated by high temperature carbothermal
      reduction of alumina under toxic ammonia atmosphere. Here we report a simple, low
      cost and potentially scalable mechanochemical procedure for the green synthesis
      of nanostructured h-AlN from a powder mixture of Aluminium and melamine
      precursors. A combination of experimental and theoretical techniques has been
      employed to provide comprehensive mechanistic insights on the reactivity of
      melamine, solid state metal-organic interactions and the structural
      transformation of Al to h-AlN under non-equilibrium ball milling conditions. The
      results reveal that melamine is adsorbed through the amine groups on the
      Aluminium surface due to the long-range van der Waals forces. The high energy
      provided by milling leads to the deammoniation of melamine at the initial stages
      followed by the polymerization and formation of a carbon nitride network, by the
      decomposition of the amine groups and, finally, by the subsequent diffusion of
      nitrogen into the Aluminium structure to form h-AlN.

PMID- 27650957
TI  - Improving resolution in multidimensional NMR using random quadrature detection
      with compressed sensing reconstruction.
AB  - NMR spectroscopy is central to atomic resolution studies in biology and
      chemistry. Key to this approach are multidimensional experiments. Obtaining such
      experiments with sufficient resolution, however, is a slow process, in part since
      each time increment in every indirect dimension needs to be recorded twice, in
      quadrature. We introduce a modified compressed sensing (CS) algorithm enabling
      reconstruction of data acquired with random acquisition of quadrature components
      in gradient-selection NMR. We name this approach random quadrature detection
      (RQD). Gradient-selection experiments are essential to the success of modern NMR
      and with RQD, a 50 % reduction in the number of data points per indirect
      dimension is possible, by only acquiring one quadrature component per time point.
      Using our algorithm (CSRQD), high quality reconstructions are achieved. RQD is
      modular and combined with non-uniform sampling we show that this provides
      increased flexibility in designing sampling schedules leading to improved
      resolution with increasing benefits as dimensionality of experiments increases,
      with particular advantages for 4- and higher dimensional experiments.

PMID- 27650955
TI  - Regulation of pituitary stem cells by epithelial to mesenchymal transition events
      and signaling pathways.
AB  - The anterior pituitary gland is comprised of specialized cell-types that produce
      and secrete polypeptide hormones in response to hypothalamic input and feedback
      from target organs. These specialized cells arise from stem cells that express
      SOX2 and the pituitary transcription factor PROP1, which is necessary to
      establish the stem cell pool and promote an epithelial to mesenchymal-like
      transition, releasing progenitors from the niche. The adult anterior pituitary
      responds to physiological challenge by mobilizing the SOX2-expressing progenitor
      pool and producing additional hormone-producing cells. Knowledge of the role of
      signaling pathways and extracellular matrix components in these processes may
      lead to improvements in the efficiency of differentiation of embryonic stem cells
      or induced pluripotent stem cells into hormone producing cells in vitro. Advances
      in our basic understanding of pituitary stem cell regulation and differentiation
      may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment for patients with hypopituitarism.

PMID- 27650958
TI  - A conserved two-step binding for the UAF1 regulator to the USP12 deubiquitinating
      enzyme.
AB  - Regulation of deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) activity is an essential step for
      proper function of cellular ubiquitin signals. UAF1 is a WD40 repeat protein,
      which binds and activates three important DUBs, USP1, USP12 and USP46. Here, we
      report the crystal structure of the USP12-Ub/UAF1 complex at a resolution of 2.8A
      and of UAF1 at 2.3A. In the complex we find two potential sites for UAF1 binding,
      analogous to what was seen in a USP46/UAF1 complex. In line with these observed
      dual binding states, we show here that USP12/UAF1 complex has 1:2 stoichiometry
      in solution, with a two-step binding at 4nM and 325nM respectively. Mutagenesis
      studies show that the fingers sub-domain of USP12 interacts with UAF1 to form the
      high affinity interface. Our activation studies confirm that the high affinity
      binding is important for activation while the second UAF1 binding does not affect
      activation. Nevertheless, we show that this two step binding is conserved in the
      well-studied USP12 paralog, USP1. Our results highlight the interfaces essential
      for regulation of USP12 activity and show a conserved second binding of UAF1
      which could be important for regulatory functions independent of USP12 activity.

PMID- 27650959
TI  - Larval habitats of Anopheles species in a rural settlement on the malaria
      frontier of southwest Amazon, Brazil.
AB  - Rural settlements are social arrangements expanding in the Amazon region, which
      generate disturbances in the natural environment, thus affecting the ecology of
      the species of Anopheles and thus the malaria transmission. Larval habitats are
      important sources for maintenance of mosquito vector populations, and holding
      back a natural watercourse is a usual process in the establishment of rural
      settlements, since the formation of micro-dams represents a water resource for
      the new settlers. Identifying characteristics of the larval habitats that may be
      associated with both the presence and abundance of Anopheles vectors species in
      an environment under ecological transition is background for planning vector
      control strategies in rural areas in the Amazon. Anopheles larvae collections
      were performed in two major types of habitats: natural and flow-limited water
      collections that were constructed by holding back the original watercourse. A
      total of 3123 Anopheles spp. larvae were captured in three field-sampling
      collections. The majority of the larvae identified were taken from flow-limited
      water collections belonged to species of the Nyssorhynchus subgenus (92%),
      whereas in the natural larval habitats a fewer number of individuals belonged to
      the Stethomyia (5%) and Anopheles (3%) subgenera. The total of Nyssorhynchus
      identified (1818), 501 specimens belonged to An. darlingi, 750 to An.
      triannulatus and 567 for others remaining species. In addition, 1152 could not be
      identified to subgenus/species level, because they were either in the first
      instar or damaged. The primary vector in areas of the Amazon river basin, An.
      darlingi, was found exclusively in man-made habitats. Statistical analysis
      display An. triannulatus with specialist behavior for characteristics of man-made
      habitats. Modifications in the natural environment facilitate the rise of larval
      habitats for species with epidemiological importance for malaria in the region.
      This study showed that man-made habitats flow-limited water collections from dry
      lands could be a factor associated with the increase of An. darlingi and An.
      triannulatus populations, and other Nyssorhynchus species as well in endemic
      areas of the Amazon Region.

PMID- 27650960
TI  - In vitro and in vivo efficacy of carvacrol against Echinococcus granulosus.
AB  - Currently, benzimidazoles are used as chemotherapeutic agents and as a complement
      to surgery and PAIR in the treatment of cystic echinococcosis (CE). They are
      generally applied at high doses causing side effects and, 50% of cases do not
      respond favorably to such chemotherapy. The use of essential oils obtained by
      distillation from aromatic plants would be an effective alternative or
      complementary to the synthetic compounds, because would not bring the appearance
      of side effects. Carvacrol and his isomer thymol are the main phenolic components
      from essential oils of Origanum vulgare (oregano) and Thymus vulgaris (thyme).
      The aim of the present work was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of
      carvacrol against Echinococcus granulosus metacestodes. For the in vitro assay,
      protoscoleces and cysts of E. granulosus were incubated with carvacrol at the
      following final concentrations: 10, 5 and 1MUg/ml of carvacrol. The maximum
      protoscolicidal effect was found with 10MUg/ml of carvacrol. Results of viability
      tests were consistent with the structural and ultrastructural damage observed in
      protoscoleces. Ultrastructural studies revealed that the germinal layer of cysts
      treated with carvacrol lost the multicellular structure feature. In the clinical
      efficacy study, a reduction in cyst weight was observed after the administration
      of 40mg/kg of carvacrol during 20days in mice with cysts developed during 4
      months, compared to that of those collected from control mice. Given that the in
      vivo effect of carvacrol was comparable with the treatment of reference with ABZ
      and the fact that is a safe compound, we postulated that carvacrol may be an
      alternative option for treatment of human CE.

PMID- 27650962
TI  - Quantitative gene-gene and gene-environment mapping for leaf shape variation
      using tree-based models.
AB  - Leaf shape traits have long been a focus of many disciplines, but the complex
      genetic and environmental interactive mechanisms regulating leaf shape variation
      have not yet been investigated in detail. The question of the respective roles of
      genes and environment and how they interact to modulate leaf shape is a thorny
      evolutionary problem, and sophisticated methodology is needed to address it. In
      this study, we investigated a framework-level approach that inputs shape image
      photographs and genetic and environmental data, and then outputs the relative
      importance ranks of all variables after integrating shape feature extraction,
      dimension reduction, and tree-based statistical models. The power of the proposed
      framework was confirmed by simulation and a Populus szechuanica var. tibetica
      data set. This new methodology resulted in the detection of novel shape
      characteristics, and also confirmed some previous findings. The quantitative
      modeling of a combination of polygenetic, plastic, epistatic, and gene
      environment interactive effects, as investigated in this study, will improve the
      discernment of quantitative leaf shape characteristics, and the methods are ready
      to be applied to other leaf morphology data sets. Unlike the majority of
      approaches in the quantitative leaf shape literature, this framework-level
      approach is data-driven, without assuming any pre-known shape attributes,
      landmarks, or model structures.

PMID- 27650961
TI  - Coronin 1B supports RhoA signaling at cell-cell junctions through Myosin II.
AB  - Non-muscle myosin II (NMII) motor proteins are responsible for generating
      contractile forces inside eukaryotic cells. There is also a growing interest in
      the capacity for these motor proteins to influence cell signaling through
      scaffolding, especially in the context of RhoA GTPase signaling. We previously
      showed that NMIIA accumulation and stability within specific regions of the cell
      cortex, such as the zonula adherens (ZA), allows the formation of a stable RhoA
      signaling zone. Now we demonstrate a key role for Coronin 1B in maintaining this
      junctional pool of NMIIA, as depletion of Coronin 1B significantly compromised
      myosin accumulation and stability at junctions. The loss of junctional NMIIA,
      upon Coronin 1B knockdown, perturbed RhoA signaling due to enhanced junctional
      recruitment of the RhoA antagonist, p190B Rho GAP. This effect was blocked by the
      expression of phosphomimetic MRLC-DD, thus reinforcing the central role of NMII
      in regulating RhoA signaling.

PMID- 27650963
TI  - Differential bioavailability of polychlorinated biphenyls associated with
      environmental particles: Microplastic in comparison to wood, coal and biochar.
AB  - Microplastic particles are increasingly being discovered in diverse habitats and
      a host of species are found to ingest them. Since plastics are known to sorb
      hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) there is a question of what risk of
      chemical exposure is posed to aquatic biota from microplastic-associated
      contaminants. We investigate bioavailability of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
      from polypropylene microplastic by measuring solid-water distribution
      coefficients, gut fluid solubilization, and bioaccumulation using sediment
      invertebrate worms as a test system. Microplastic-associated PCBs are placed in a
      differential bioavailability framework by comparing the results to several other
      natural and anthrogenic particles, including wood, coal, and biochar. PCB
      distribution coefficients for polypropylene were higher than natural organic
      materials like wood, but in the range of lipids and sediment organic carbon, and
      smaller than black carbons like coal and biochars. Gut fluid solubilization
      potential increased in the order: coal < polypropylene < biochar < wood.
      Interestingly, lower gut fluid solubilization for polypropylene than biochar
      infers that gut fluid micelles may have solubilized part of the biochar matrix
      while bioaccessibility from plastic can be limited by the solubilizing potential
      of gut fluids dependent on the solid to liquid ratio or renewal of fluids in the
      gut. Biouptake in worms was lower by 76% when PCBs were associated with
      polypropylene compared to sediment. The presence of microplastics in sediments
      had an overall impact of reducing bioavailability and transfer of HOCs to
      sediment-ingesting organisms. Since the vast majority of sediment and suspended
      particles in the environment are natural organic and inorganic materials,
      pollutant transfer through particle ingestion will be dominated by these
      particles and not microplastics. Therefore, these results support the conclusion
      that in most cases the transfer of organic pollutants to aquatic organisms from
      microplastic in the diet is likely a small contribution compared to other natural
      pathways of exposure.

PMID- 27650964
TI  - Mortality benefits of vigorous air quality improvement interventions during the
      periods of APEC Blue and Parade Blue in Beijing, China.
AB  - Vigorous air pollution control measures were implemented during the 2014 Asia
      Pacific Economic Cooperation and a large-scale military parade (described here as
      "APEC Blue" and "Parade Blue" periods) in Beijing, China. A natural experiment
      was conducted in a health impact assessment framework to estimate the number of
      deaths attributable to PM2.5, using concentration-response functions derived from
      previous studies conducted in Beijing, combined with the differences in PM2.5
      concentrations between intervention and reference periods. Substantial reductions
      in daily PM2.5 concentrations were observed during both intervention periods.
      Using the same dates from the prior year as a reference, daily PM2.5
      concentration decreased from 98.57 MUg/m3 to 47.53 MUg/m3 during "APEC Blue", and
      from 59.15 MUg/m3 to 17.07 MUg/m3 during the "Parade Blue". We estimated that 39
      63 all-cause deaths (21-51 cardiovascular, 6-13 respiratory deaths) have been
      prevented during the APEC period; and 41-65 deaths (22-52 cardiovascular, 6-13
      respiratory deaths) have been prevented during the Parade period. This study
      shows that substantial mortality reductions could be achieved by implementing
      stringent air pollution mitigation measures.

PMID- 27650965
TI  - Genetic investigation of 100 heart genes in sudden unexplained death victims in a
      forensic setting.
AB  - In forensic medicine, one-third of the sudden deaths remain unexplained after
      medico-legal autopsy. A major proportion of these sudden unexplained deaths (SUD)
      are considered to be caused by inherited cardiac diseases. Sudden cardiac death
      (SCD) may be the first manifestation of these diseases. The purpose of this study
      was to explore the yield of next-generation sequencing of genes associated with
      SCD in a cohort of SUD victims. We investigated 100 genes associated with cardiac
      diseases in 61 young (1-50 years) SUD cases. DNA was captured with the Haloplex
      target enrichment system and sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq. The identified
      genetic variants were evaluated and classified as likely, unknown or unlikely to
      have a functional effect. The criteria for this classification were based on the
      literature, databases, conservation and prediction of the effect of the variant.
      We found that 21 (34%) individuals carried variants with a likely functional
      effect. Ten (40%) of these variants were located in genes associated with
      cardiomyopathies and 15 (60%) of the variants in genes associated with cardiac
      channelopathies. Nineteen individuals carried variants with unknown functional
      effect. Our findings indicate that broad genetic investigation of SUD victims
      increases the diagnostic outcome, and the investigation should comprise genes
      involved in both cardiomyopathies and cardiac channelopathies.

PMID- 27650966
TI  - The association between WNT10A variants and dental development in patients with
      isolated oligodontia.
AB  - In this study we aimed to determine the effect of WNT10A variants on dental
      development in patients with oligodontia. Forty-three (25 boys and 18 girls)
      individuals were eligible for this study. Stage of development for each present
      tooth was assessed using the Demirjian method. In case no corresponding tooth was
      present, regression equations were applied for dental age to be calculated. The
      ratio between length of root and length of crown was ascertained for each present
      tooth in all quadrants. All patients were physically examined by a clinical
      geneticist and DNA analysis of the WNT10A gene was performed. Linear regression
      models were applied to analyze the association between WNT10A variants and dental
      age. The same analysis was applied to study the association between WNT10A
      variants and root elongation for each present tooth. One ordinal regression model
      was applied to analyze the association between WNT10A variants and development of
      present maxillary and mandibular teeth. Thirty-six (84%) patients were detected
      with WNT10A variants of which six patients displayed evident ectodermal features.
      Dental age was 1.50 (95% confidence interval (CI): -2.59, -0.42) to 1.96 (95% CI:
      -3.76, -0.17) years lower in patients with WNT10A variants compared with patients
      without variants. The development of maxillary canine, maxillary second molar and
      mandibular second molar was statistically significantly delayed in patients with
      WNT10A variants compared with patients without variants. The impact of WNT10A
      variants on dental development increases with presence of the nonsense c.(321C>A
      p.(C107*)) variant and the number of missing teeth.

PMID- 27650967
TI  - Novel compound heterozygous variants in PLK4 identified in a patient with
      autosomal recessive microcephaly and chorioretinopathy.
AB  - It has been well documented that variants in genes encoding centrosomal proteins
      cause primary autosomal recessive microcephaly, although the association between
      centrosomal defects and the etiology of microcephaly syndromes is not fully
      understood. Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4) is one of the centrosomal proteins required
      for centriole duplication. We here describe a patient with microcephaly and
      chorioretinopathy that harbors compound heterozygous missense variants,
      c.[442A>G]; [2336G>A], in the PLK4 gene. One of these variants, c.442A>G
      (p.(M148V)), resides in the kinase domain, and the other, c.2336G>A (p.(C779Y)),
      in the polo-box domain. Aberrant spindle formation was observed in a LCL derived
      from this patient. Overexpression experiments of the variant PLK4 proteins
      demonstrated that the p.(C779Y) but not the p.(M148V) had lost centriole
      overduplication ability. The altered mobility pattern of both variant proteins on
      a western blot further suggested alterations in post-translation modification.
      Our data lend support to the hypothesis that impaired centriole duplication
      caused by PLK4 variants may be involved in the etiology of microcephaly disorder.

PMID- 27650968
TI  - SORL1 variants across Alzheimer's disease European American cohorts.
AB  - The accumulation of the toxic Abeta peptide in Alzheimer's disease (AD) largely
      relies upon an efficient recycling of amyloid precursor protein (APP). Recent
      genetic association studies have described rare variants in SORL1 with putative
      pathogenic consequences in the recycling of APP. In this work, we examine the
      presence of rare coding variants in SORL1 in three different European American
      cohorts: early-onset, late-onset AD (LOAD) and familial LOAD.

PMID- 27650971
TI  - Ancestry-based stratified analysis of Immunochip data identifies novel
      associations with celiac disease.
AB  - To identify candidate genes in celiac disease (CD), we reanalyzed the whole
      Immunochip CD cohort using a different approach that clusters individuals based
      on immunoancestry prior to disease association analysis, rather than by
      geographical origin. We detected 636 new associated SNPs (P<7.02 * 10-07) and
      identified 5 novel genomic regions, extended 8 others previously identified and
      also detected 18 isolated signals defined by one or very few significant SNPs. To
      test whether we could identify putative candidate genes, we performed expression
      analyses of several genes from the top novel region (chr2:134533564-136169524),
      from a previously identified locus that is now extended, and a gene marked by an
      isolated SNP, in duodenum biopsies of active and treated CD patients, and non
      celiac controls. In the largest novel region, CCNT2 and R3HDM1 were
      constitutively underexpressed in disease, even after gluten removal. Moreover,
      several genes within this region were coexpressed in patients, but not in
      controls. Other novel genes like KIF21B, REL and SORD also showed altered
      expression in active disease. Apart from the identification of novel CD loci,
      these results suggest that ancestry-based stratified analysis is an efficient
      strategy for association studies in complex diseases.

PMID- 27650969
TI  - Chromosomal microarray testing in adults with intellectual disability presenting
      with comorbid psychiatric disorders.
AB  - Chromosomal copy-number variations (CNVs) are a class of genetic variants highly
      implicated in the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, including
      intellectual disabilities (ID), schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders
      (ASD). Yet the majority of adults with idiopathic ID presenting to psychiatric
      services have not been tested for CNVs. We undertook genome-wide chromosomal
      microarray analysis (CMA) of 202 adults with idiopathic ID recruited from
      community and in-patient ID psychiatry services across England. CNV pathogenicity
      was assessed using standard clinical diagnostic methods and participants
      underwent comprehensive medical and psychiatric phenotyping. We found an 11%
      yield of likely pathogenic CNVs (22/202). CNVs at recurrent loci, including the
      15q11-q13 and 16p11.2-p13.11 regions were most frequently observed. We observed
      an increased frequency of 16p11.2 duplications compared with those reported in
      single-disorder cohorts. CNVs were also identified in genes known to effect
      neurodevelopment, namely NRXN1 and GRIN2B. Furthermore deletions at 2q13, 12q21.2
      21.31 and 19q13.32, and duplications at 4p16.3, 13q32.3-33.3 and Xq24-25 were
      observed. Routine CMA in ID psychiatry could uncover ~11% new genetic diagnoses
      with potential implications for patient management. We advocate greater
      consideration of CMA in the assessment of adults with idiopathic ID presenting to
      psychiatry services.

PMID- 27650972
TI  - Phage display biopanning and isolation of target-unrelated peptides: in search of
      nonspecific binders hidden in a combinatorial library.
AB  - Phage display is known as a powerful methodology for the identification of
      targeting ligands that specifically bind to a variety of targets. The high
      throughput screening of phage display combinatorial peptide libraries is
      performed through the affinity selection method of biopanning. Although phage
      display selection has proven very successful in the discovery of numerous high
      affinity target-binding peptides with potential application in drug discovery and
      delivery, the enrichment of false-positive target-unrelated peptides (TUPs)
      without any actual affinity towards the target remains a major problem of library
      screening. Selection-related TUPs may emerge because of binding to the components
      of the screening system rather than the target. Propagation-related TUPs may
      arise as a result of faster growth rate of some phage clones enabling them to
      outcompete slow-propagating clones. Amplification of the library between rounds
      of biopanning makes a significant contribution to the selection of phage clones
      with propagation advantage. Distinguishing nonspecific TUPs from true target
      binders is of particular importance for the translation of biopanning findings
      from basic research to clinical applications. Different experimental and in
      silico approaches are applied to assess the specificity of phage display-derived
      peptides towards the target. Bioinformatic tools are playing a rapidly growing
      role in the analysis of biopanning data and identification of target-irrelevant
      TUPs. Recent progress in the introduction of efficient strategies for TUP
      detection holds enormous promise for the discovery of clinically relevant cell-
      and tissue-homing peptides and paves the way for the development of novel
      targeted diagnostic and therapeutic platforms in pharmaceutical areas.

PMID- 27650974
TI  - Thyronamines and Derivatives: Physiological Relevance, Pharmacological Actions,
      and Future Research Directions.
AB  - Thyronamines (3-T1AM, T0AM) are endogenous compounds probably derived from L
      thyroxine or its intermediate metabolites. Combined activities of intestinal
      deiodinases and ornithine decarboxylase generate 3-T1AM in vitro. Alternatively,
      3-T1AM might be formed by the thyroid gland and secreted into the blood. 3-T1AM
      and T0AM concentrations have been determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry analysis (LC-MS/MS) in tissues, serum, and cell lines. However,
      large variations of 3-T1AM concentrations in human serum were reported by LC
      MS/MS compared with a monoclonal antibody-based immunoassay. These differences
      might be caused by strong binding of the highly hydrophobic 3-T1AM to
      apolipoprotein B100. Pharmacological administration of 3-T1AM results in dose
      dependent reversible effects on body temperature, cardiac function, energy
      metabolism, and neurological functions. The physiological relevance of these
      actions is unclear, but may occur at tissue concentrations close to the estimated
      endogenous concentrations of 3-T1AM or its metabolites T0AM or thyroacetic acid
      (TA1). A number of putative receptors, binding sites, and cellular target
      molecules mediating actions of the multi-target ligand 3-T1AM have been proposed.
      Among those are members of the trace amine associated receptor family, the
      adrenergic receptor ADRalpha2a, and the thermosensitive transient receptor
      potential melastatin 8 channel. Preclinical studies employing various animal
      experimental models are in progress, and more stable receptor-selective agonistic
      and antagonistic analogues of 3-T1AM are now available for testing. The potent
      endogenous thyroid hormone-derived biogenic amine 3-T1AM exerts marked cryogenic,
      metabolic, cardiac and central actions and represents a valuable lead compound
      linking endocrine, metabolic, and neuroscience research to advance development of
      new drugs.

PMID- 27650973
TI  - Mechanistic insight into the norepinephrine-induced fibrosis in systemic
      sclerosis.
AB  - Raynaud's phenomenon is frequently observed in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients,
      and cold- or stress-induced norepinephrine (NE) has been speculated to be
      associated with vasoconstriction. Objective was to elucidate the role of NE in
      fibrosis in SSc. IL-6 is a potent stimulator of collagen production in
      fibroblasts. NE enhanced IL-6 production and proliferation more significantly in
      SSc fibroblasts than in normal fibroblasts. Furthermore, the production of IL-6
      and phosphorylation of p38 in SSc fibroblasts was enhanced by adrenergic receptor
      (AR)beta agonist, isoproterenol, but not ARalpha agonist, oxymetazoline. ARbeta
      blocker, propranolol, inhibited NE-induced IL-6 production and phosphorylation of
      p38 in SSc fibroblasts. NE-induced IL-6 was significantly inhibited by p38
      inhibitor, SB203580, suggesting that NE-induced phosphorylation of p38 via ARbeta
      enhances IL-6 production in SSc fibroblasts. NE-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2
      via ARalpha inhibited IL-6 production in SSc fibroblasts. Combined treatment with
      NE and endothelin-1 resulted in an additive increase in IL-6 production in SSc
      fibroblasts. NE-induced IL-6/IL-6 receptor trans-signaling increased the
      production of collagen type I in SSc fibroblasts, and both propranolol and
      SB203580 inhibited NE-induced collagen production. These results suggest that
      cold exposure and/or emotional stress-induced NE might contribute to the skin
      fibrosis via potentiation of IL-6 production from fibroblasts in SSc.

PMID- 27650975
TI  - Comparative clinical effectiveness of azacitidine versus decitabine in older
      patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.
AB  - The hypomethylating agents (HMAs) azacitidine and decitabine are both approved
      for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in the USA. In Europe,
      decitabine is not approved due to lack of survival advantage in randomized
      trials. The two drugs have not been compared in clinical trials. We identified
      patients diagnosed with MDS between 2004 and 2011 from the Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database in the USA who
      received >= 10 doses of either HMA. We estimated survival from HMA initiation
      with Kaplan-Meier methods and used multivariate Cox proportional hazards models
      to adjust for covariates. Analyses controlled for histological subtype and we
      conducted a subset analysis limited to patients with refractory anaemia with
      excess blasts (RAEB). In 2025 HMA-treated patients, median survival was 15 months
      with no difference in survival based on the HMA received in adjusted analysis
      (decitabine versus azacitidine, hazard ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval:
      0.94-1.19, P = 0.37). For RAEB patients (n = 523), median survival was 12 months,
      with no significant difference based on HMA received. No significant survival
      difference was found between azacitidine and decitabine in patients with MDS,
      including RAEB. Importantly, population-based survival of azacitidine-treated
      RAEB patients was substantially shorter than in the AZA-001 clinical trial (11
      versus 24.5 months).

PMID- 27650976
TI  - Effect of ultrasonic degradation of hyaluronic acid extracted from rooster comb
      on antioxidant and antiglycation activities.
AB  - CONTENT: Recently, low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (LMWHA) has been reported
      to have novel features, such as free radical scavenging activities, antioxidant
      activities and dietary supplements. OBJECTIVE: In this study, hyaluronic acid
      (HA) was extracted from rooster comb and LMWHA was obtained by ultrasonic
      degradation in order to assess their antioxidant and antiglycation activities.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Molecular weight (Mw) and the content of glucuronic acid
      (GlcA) were used as the index for comparison of the effect of ultrasonic
      treatment. The effects on the structure were determined by ultraviolet (UV)
      spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). The antioxidant activity
      was determined by three analytical assays (DPPH, NO and TBARS), and the
      inhibitory effect against glycated-BSA was also assessed. RESULTS: The GlcA
      content of HA and LMWHA was estimated at about 48.6% and 47.3%, respectively. The
      results demonstrate that ultrasonic irradiation decreases the Mw (1090-181 kDa)
      and intrinsic viscosity (1550-473 mL/g), which indicate the cleavage of the
      glycosidic bonds. The FTIR and UV spectra did not significantly change before and
      after degradation. The IC50 value of HA and LWMHA was 1.43, 0.76 and 0.36 mg/mL
      and 1.20, 0.89 and 0.17 mg/mL toward DPPH, NO and TBARS, respectively. Likewise
      LMWHA exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the AGEs formation than HA.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that the ultrasonic
      irradiation did not damage and change the chemical structure of HA after
      degradation; furthermore, decreasing Mw and viscosity of LMWHA after degradation
      may enhance the antioxidant and antiglycation activity.

PMID- 27650979
TI  - Anti-bacterial effect of essential oil from Xanthium strumarium against shiga
      toxin-producing Escherichia coli.
AB  - Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serotype O157:H7 is one of the most
      important human pathogenic microorganisms, which can cause life-threatening
      infections. Xanthium strumarium L. is a plant with anti-bacterial activity
      against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. This study aims to demonstrate
      in vitro efficacy of the essential oil (EO) extracted from Xanthium strumarium L.
      against E. coli O157:H7. Using the agar test diffusion, the effect of Xanthium
      strumarium L. EO (5, 10, 15, 30, 60, and 120 mg/mL) was verified at each of the
      four different growth phases of E. coli O157:H7. Cell counts of viable cells and
      colony forming unit (CFU) were determined at regular time points using Breed's
      method and colony counting method, respectively. No viable cell was detectable
      after the 1 hour-exposure to X. strumarium EO at 30, 60, and 120 mg/mL
      concentrations. No bacterial colony was formed after 1 h until the end of the
      incubation period at 24 h. At lower concentrations, the number of bacteria cells
      decreased and colonies could be observed only after incubation. At the
      exponential phase, the EO at 15 mg/mL was only bacteriostatic, while from 30
      mg/mL started to be bactericidal. X. strumarium EO antibacterial activity against
      Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 is dependent on EO concentration and
      physiological state of the microorganisms tested. The best inhibitory activity
      was achieved during the late exponential and the stationary phases. 

PMID- 27650978
TI  - Ten Years of Preserved Kidney Function After Islet Transplant Graft Failure.

PMID- 27650977
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of LixiLan, a Titratable Fixed-Ratio Combination of Insulin
      Glargine Plus Lixisenatide in Type 2 Diabetes Inadequately Controlled on Basal
      Insulin and Metformin: The LixiLan-L Randomized Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of
      LixiLan (iGlarLixi), a novel, titratable, fixed-ratio combination of insulin
      glargine (iGlar) (100 units) and lixisenatide, compared with iGlar in patients
      with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on basal insulin with or without up
      to two oral glucose-lowering agents. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: After a 6-week
      run-in when iGlar was introduced and/or further titrated, and oral antidiabetic
      drugs other than metformin were stopped, 736 basal insulin-treated patients (mean
      diabetes duration 12 years, BMI 31 kg/m2) were randomized 1:1 to open-label, once
      daily iGlarLixi or iGlar, both titrated to fasting plasma glucose <100 mg/dL
      (<5.6 mmol/L) up to a maximum dose of 60 units/day. The primary outcome was
      change in HbA1c levels at 30 weeks. RESULTS: HbA1c decreased from 8.5% (69
      mmol/mol) to 8.1% (65 mmol/mol) during the run-in period. After randomization,
      iGlarLixi showed greater reductions in HbA1c from baseline compared with iGlar (
      1.1% vs. -0.6%, P < 0.0001), reaching a mean final HbA1c of 6.9% (52 mmol/mol)
      compared with 7.5% (58 mmol/mol) for iGlar. HbA1c <7.0% (53 mmol/mol) was
      achieved in 55% of iGlarLixi patients compared with 30% on iGlar. Mean body
      weight decreased by 0.7 kg with iGlarLixi and increased by 0.7 kg with iGlar (1.4
      kg difference, P < 0.0001). Documented symptomatic hypoglycemia (<=70 mg/dL) was
      comparable between groups. Mild gastrointestinal adverse effects were very low
      but more frequent with iGlarLixi. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with iGlar, a
      substantially higher proportion of iGlarLixi-treated patients achieved glycemic
      targets with a beneficial effect on body weight, no additional risk of
      hypoglycemia, and low levels of gastrointestinal adverse effects in inadequately
      controlled, basal insulin-treated, long-standing type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 27650980
TI  - Antibacterial activities of essential oils from Iranian medicinal plants on
      extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli.
AB  - The extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) -producing Escherichia coli strains
      can lead to various infections particularly urinary tract infections. The main
      objective of this investigation was to evaluate the antibacterial activities of
      essential oils (EOs) from different Iranian medicinal plants against TEM gene
      positive ESBL-producing E. coli strains isolated from urine samples of patients
      with urinary tract infections. EOs were extracted using hydrodistillation method.
      E. coli strains were isolated by different specific Medias. ESBL-producing E.
      coli strains were isolated from urine samples of patients with urinary tract
      infections in Shiraz hospital, Iran. Then, ESBL- producing strains were
      identified using double disk synergy test, phenotypic disc confirmatory test and
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for TEM gene detection. The antibacterial
      activity of the EOs from different plants (Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch,
      Echinophora platyloba DC., Lallemantia royleana, Nepeta persica Boiss., Pulicaria
      vulgaris Gaertn., Salvia nemorosa, and Satureja intermedia C.A.Mey) and
      antibiotics against ESBL-producing strains was studied using the microdilution
      method for the evaluation of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The 103
      out of 295 E. coli strains with 97 (90.65%) TEM gene distributions were
      identified as ESBL-producing strains. All of the EOs derived from different
      plants displayed high inhibitory effects against ESBL-producing E. coli strains.
      The results of our investigations may propose a good treatment option against
      resistant infectious bacteria. 

PMID- 27650981
TI  - Irreversible Damage of Polymer Membranes During Attenuated Total Reflection
      Infrared Analysis.
AB  - Analyzing polymer membranes by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy
      (ATR-IR) can lead to irreversible damage to the material and induces systematic
      errors in the data. Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy is a common
      tool for analyzing the surface of polymer membranes. In order to provide
      sufficient contact between the membrane and the internal reflection element
      (i.e., the ATR crystal), pressure is applied via a metal stamp. This procedure,
      however, can lead to mechanical damage. In this work, we study this damage using
      the example of a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane for water filtration and we show
      how the damage can be avoided. Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy,
      laser-scanning microscopy (LSM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are employed
      to understand the mechanically-induced phenomena at the molecular and macroscopic
      scales. The data reveal that the mechanical impact does not only result in a
      compressed membrane structure with smaller pores, but it also leads to
      deformations at the molecular level. Moreover, in light of the mechanical damage,
      a detailed analysis of the PES IR spectrum indicates that several previous
      vibrational assignments of peaks may be incorrect and that many published results
      may be biased and should be revisited.

PMID- 27650982
TI  - On the Identification of Rayon/Viscose as a Major Fraction of Microplastics in
      the Marine Environment: Discrimination between Natural and Manmade Cellulosic
      Fibers Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.
AB  - This work was sparked by the reported identification of man-made cellulosic
      fibers (rayon/viscose) in the marine environment as a major fraction of plastic
      litter by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) transmission spectroscopy and
      library search. To assess the plausibility of such findings, both natural and man
      made fibers were examined using FT-IR spectroscopy. Spectra acquired by
      transmission microscopy, attenuated total reflection (ATR) microscopy, and ATR
      spectroscopy were compared. Library search was employed and results show
      significant differences in the identification rate depending on the acquisition
      method of the spectra. Careful selection of search parameters and the choice of
      spectra acquisition method were found to be essential for optimization of the
      library search results. When using transmission spectra of fibers and ATR
      libraries it was not possible to differentiate between man-made and natural
      fibers. Successful differentiation of natural and man-made cellulosic fibers has
      been achieved for FT-IR spectra acquired by ATR microscopy and ATR spectroscopy,
      and application of ATR libraries. As an alternative, chemometric methods such as
      unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and
      partial least squares-discriminant analysis were employed to facilitate
      identification based on intrinsic relationships of sample spectra and successful
      discrimination of the fiber type could be achieved. Differences in the ATR
      spectra depending on the internal reflection element (Ge versus diamond) were
      observed as expected; however, these did not impair correct classification by
      chemometric analysis. Moreover, the effects of different levels of humidity on
      the IR spectra of natural and man-made fibers were investigated, too. It has been
      found that drying and re-humidification leads to intensity changes of absorption
      bands of the carbohydrate backbone, but does not impair the identification of the
      fiber type by library search or cluster analysis.

PMID- 27650983
TI  - Investigating the Structural Change in Protein Aqueous Solution Using Temperature
      Dependent Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Continuous Wavelet Transform.
AB  - The circulatory protein, human serum albumin (HSA), is widely used as a model
      protein for the study of protein structure. In this work, the structures of human
      serum albumin in aqueous solutions are studied using temperature-dependent near
      infrared (NIR) spectroscopy with the aid of continuous wavelet transform (CWT).
      Near-infrared spectra of human serum albumin solutions with different
      concentrations were measured over a temperature range of 30-85 C. Then,
      continuous wavelet transform was performed on the spectra to enhance the
      resolution. As a result of the resolution enhancement, spectral bands around
      4361, 4521, 4600 and 4260 cm-1 were extracted from the overlapping low-resolution
      signals. The four bands can be assigned to the protein structures of alpha-helix,
      beta-sheet, an intermediate state and side chains, respectively. The variations
      in intensity of the bands around 4361 and 4521 cm-1 with temperature show that
      the increase of temperature leads to the loss of alpha-helical structure but the
      formation of beta-sheet, and the denaturation temperature of human serum albumin
      is about 55 C. The variation of the band around 4600 cm-1 indicates that the
      temperature-induced unfolding process of human serum albumin occurs through a
      stable intermediate state, and a significant change in the microenvironment of
      the side chains about 63 C is observed from the variation of the band around 4260
      cm-1. On the other hand, the transformed spectra in the region of 8000-5600 cm-1
      provide an explicit evidence for the structural changes of water during the
      process of protein denaturation, and the unfolding process of HSA can be
      reflected by these changes.

PMID- 27650984
TI  - Aerobic Exercise Modulates the Free Fatty Acids and Inflammatory Response During
      Obesity and Cancer Cachexia.
AB  - White adipose tissue (WAT) is no longer considered a tissue whose main function
      is the storage of TAG. Since the discovery of leptin in 1994, several studies
      have elucidated the important role of WAT as an endocrine organ, the source of
      the adipokines. The low-grade inflammation observed in obese and cancer cachexia
      patients is explained, at least partially, by the exacerbated release of
      proinflammatory adipokines. Despite of the recent progress in the
      characterization of the various adipokines and lipokines produced by WAT, little
      is known about the mechanisms regulating the secretion of these molecules in
      different physiological and pathological circumstances. Chronic exercise is a
      nonpharmacological therapy employed in several chronic diseases and shows an anti
      inflammatory effect through the regulation of the cytokine network. In this
      review, we address the potential mechanisms by which the aerobic physical
      exercise modulate the production and release of inflammatory adipokines, as well
      as the inflammation-lipolysis axis in WAT, with special focus in the therapeutic
      role of exercise in obesity-associated insulin resistance and cancer cachexia.

PMID- 27650985
TI  - Cyclic Peptides for Protein-Protein Interaction Targets: Applications to Human
      Disease.
AB  - Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) represent a significant portion of
      functionally relevant biological interactions, and therefore potential
      therapeutic targets. Small molecules were traditionally used to target PPIs.
      However, many PPI surfaces lack binding pockets due to their large and flat
      structures. Antibodies can also be used to modulate PPIs, but they are expensive
      and not cell permeable. Linear peptides are less expensive to produce than
      antibodies and are generally more selective than small molecules, but they are
      limited by decreased stability and poor permeability. Modified peptides
      (peptidomimetics, e.g., cyclic peptides) can overcome these obstacles. Advantages
      of using cyclic peptidomimetics to modulate PPIs derive from their conformational
      constraint, which supports target specificity, cell permeability, and metabolic
      stability. Methods for rational design coupled with high-throughput techniques
      continue to support advances in the field. Further development of cyclic
      peptidomimetics to modulate PPIs will improve treatment of human diseases, such
      as cancer, infection, neurodegeneration, and autoimmunity. Here we describe
      several cyclic peptidomimetics that are currently used as drugs and many
      potential cyclic peptides PPI inhibitors in different stages of pre-clinical and
      clinical development. Further development of cyclic peptidomimetics to modulate
      PPIs will continue to improve treatment of human diseases, such as cancer,
      infection, neurodegeneration, and autoimmunity.

PMID- 27650986
TI  - Glucose Transporter Regulation in Cancer: A Profile and the Loops.
AB  - Cancer cells are characterized by increased energy demand and glucose uptake.
      Glucose transporters (GLUTs) are regarded as one of the most important proteins
      controlling glycolytic flux. At the protein level, GLUTs are regulated both by
      expression and by translocation from intracellular compartments to the plasma
      membrane. Many oncogenic pathways, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
      (PI3K)/Akt, mTOR, hypoxia-inducible factor as well as mutations of p53 and RAS,
      are involved in the regulation of GLUT function. Meanwhile, alteration of GLUT
      leads to subsequent changes that modulate the activity of canonical oncogenic
      pathways. This review provides a profile of the reciprocal regulation between
      GLUTs and relative pathways including PI3K/Akt, mTOR, HIF, RAS, MMP, p53. In
      addition, because inhibiting GLUTs have been shown to decrease cancer cell
      growth, we also focus on in vivo studies using GLUT as therapeutic targets of
      anticancer treatment.

PMID- 27650987
TI  - Notch Signaling: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Hematologic Malignancies.
AB  - Notch signaling is a well-conserved cell-fate determining factor in embryo
      development, and the dyregulation of this signaling is frequently observed in
      many types of cancers, including hematological malignancies. In this review, we
      briefly describe the Notch signaling pathway, and we primarily focus on the
      relationship between Notch and hematological malignancies. We also discuss the
      clinical development of promising agents including gamma-secretase inhibitors
      (GSIs) and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Complete response has been observed
      among patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) when treated with
      GSIs. Furthermore, a recent study has suggested that targeting Zmiz1, a direct,
      selective cofactor of Notch1, rather than targeting Notch directly, maybe helpful
      to reduce the current target-related toxicities. Taken together, we summarize the
      role of Notch signaling in hematological malignancies and discuss the treatment
      strategies for these diseases through targeting Notch signaling.

PMID- 27650988
TI  - The Relevance of Group II Glutamate Receptors Expression to Anxiety.
AB  - The interface of receptor-mediated regulation of cellular signaling and
      neurological outputs remains an active field of investigation. The metabotropic G
      protein-coupled glutamate receptors, and in particular, the group II cyclic
      adenosine mono-phosphate (cAMP)-lowering metabotropic glutamate receptors 2 and 3
      (mGlu2/3 glutamate receptors), have gained interest as therapeutic targets in
      different forms of neurological disorders. This review explores mGlu2/3 glutamate
      receptors expression, pharmacological activation, and signaling links to anxiety,
      as assessed in animal models and in clinical trials.

PMID- 27650989
TI  - Anticancer Activities of Medicinal Plants: Modulation of p53 Expression and
      Induction of Apoptosis.
AB  - For the treatment of several types of cancers, tumors and malignancies,
      scientists are investigating natural sources to discover novel therapeutic agents
      from medicinal plants having diverse anticancer properties. Research on natural
      products is being conducted to identify unexplored phytochemical constituents
      that have been proven to have diverse pharmacological activities. Several
      medicinal plants have been reported to regulate the progression of different
      types of cancers, tumors, and malignancies. In this article, we briefly summarize
      the recent progress in exploring the anticancer properties of various medicinal
      plants reported to modulate the expression of p53 and the induction of apoptosis.
      These plants provide a rich source of chemo-protective agents that can ultimately
      be used to manage cancer progression.

PMID- 27650990
TI  - Transthyretin and Normal Human Pregnancy: Mini Review.
AB  - Since transthyretin (TTR) was discovered, it has been regarded as a serum protein
      carrier of thyroid hormones and retinol. However, many other important functions
      of TTR have been found recently, and current evidence suggests that it plays a
      role in human receptivity and normal pregnancy. TTR is abundant in the uterine
      cavity, uterine secretion, placenta, and serum of pregnant females in the peri
      implantation uterus and the first trimester of pregnancy. It may be involved in
      the delivery of maternal thyroid hormones to the fetus. In addition, it appears
      to play a key role in the preeclampsia mechanism and may be involved in spiral
      artery remodeling. This review will summarize what is currently known about TTR
      and normal pregnancy; it will focus on our findings regarding the role of TTR in
      the spiral artery remodeling process and the additional research required in the
      future.

PMID- 27650991
TI  - CORR Insights(r): What MRI Findings Predict Failure 10 Years After Surgery for
      Femoroacetabular Impingement?

PMID- 27650992
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Do Patients Taking Warfarin Experience Delays to Theatre,
      Longer Hospital Stay, and Poorer Survival After Hip Fracture?

PMID- 27650993
TI  - Iatrogenic Hip Instability Is a Devastating Complication After the Modified Dunn
      Procedure for Severe Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The modified Dunn procedure facilitates femoral capital realignment
      for slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) through a surgical hip dislocation
      approach. Iatrogenic postoperative hip instability after this procedure has not
      been studied previously; however, we were concerned when we observed several
      instances of this serious complication, and we wished to study it further.
      QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency,
      timing, and clinical presentation (including complications) associated with
      iatrogenic instability after the modified Dunn procedure for SCFE. METHODS:
      Between 2007 and 2014, eight international institutions performed the modified
      Dunn procedure through a surgical dislocation approach in 406 patients. During
      the period in question, indications varied at those sites, but the procedure was
      used only in a minority of their patients treated surgically for SCFE (31% [406
      of 1331]) with the majority treated with in situ fixation. It generally was
      performed for patients with severe deformity with a slip angle greater than 40
      degrees . Institutional databases were searched for all patients with SCFE who
      developed postoperative hip instability defined as hip subluxation or dislocation
      of the involved hip during the postoperative period. We reviewed in detail the
      clinical notes and operative records of those who presented with instability. We
      obtained demographic information, time from slip to surgery, type of fixation,
      operative details, and clinical course including the incidence of complications.
      Followup on those patients with instability was at a mean of 2 years (range, 1-5
      years) after the index procedure. Complications were graded according to the
      modified Dindo-Clavien classification. Radiographic images were reviewed to
      measure the preoperative slip angle and the presence of osteonecrosis. RESULTS: A
      total of 4% of patients treated with the modified Dunn procedure developed
      postoperative hip instability (17 of 406). Mean age of the patients was 13 years
      (range, 9-16 years). Instability presented as persistent hip pain in the
      postoperative period or was incidentally identified radiographically during the
      postoperative visit and occurred at a median of 3 weeks (range, 1 day to 2
      months) after the modified Dunn procedure. Eight patients underwent revision
      surgery to address the postoperative instability. Fourteen of 17 patients
      developed femoral head avascular necrosis and three of 17 patients underwent THA
      during this short-term followup. CONCLUSIONS: Anterolateral hip instability after
      the modified Dunn procedure for severe, chronic SCFE is an uncommon yet
      potentially devastating complication. Future studies might evaluate the
      effectiveness of maintaining anterior hip precautions for several weeks
      postoperatively in an abduction brace or broomstick cast to prevent this
      complication. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study.

PMID- 27650994
TI  - CORR Insights(r): Acetabular Wall Indices Help to Distinguish Acetabular Coverage
      in Asymptomatic Adults with Varying Morphologies.

PMID- 27650995
TI  - Renal Denervation vs. Spironolactone in Resistant Hypertension: Effects on
      Circadian Patterns and Blood Pressure Variability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sympathetic renal denervation (SRD) has been proposed as a
      therapeutic alternative for patients with resistant hypertension not controlled
      on pharmacological therapy. Two studies have suggested an effect of SRD in
      reducing short-term blood pressure variability (BPV). However, this has not been
      addressed in a randomized comparative trial. We aimed to compare the effects of
      spironolactone and SRD on circadian BP and BPV. METHODS: This is a post-hoc
      analysis of a randomized trial in 24 true resistant hypertensive patients (15
      men, 9 women; mean age 64 years) comparing 50mg of spironolactone (n = 13) vs.
      SRD (n = 11) on 24-hour BP. We report here the comparative effects on daytime (8
      am-10 pm) and nighttime (0 am-6 am) BP, night-to-day ratios and BP and heart rate
      variabilities (SD and coefficient of variation of 24-hour, day and night, as well
      as weighted SD and average real variability (ARV)). RESULTS: Spironolactone was
      more effective than SRD in reducing daytime systolic (P = 0.006), daytime
      diastolic (P = 0.006), and nighttime systolic (P = 0.050) BP. No differences were
      observed in the night-to-day ratios. In contrast, SRD-reduced diastolic BPV (24
      hours, daytime, nighttime, weighted, and ARV; all P < 0.05) with respect to
      spironolactone, without significant differences in systolic BPV. CONCLUSION:
      Spironolactone is more effective than SRD in reducing ambulatory BP. However, BPV
      is significantly more reduced with SRD. This effect could be important in terms
      of potential prevention beyond BP reduction and deserves further investigation.

PMID- 27650996
TI  - Ferroxidase Activity in Eukaryotic Ferritin is Controlled by Accessory-Iron
      Binding Sites in the Catalytic Cavity.
AB  - Ferritins are iron-storage nanocage proteins that catalyze the oxidation of Fe2+
      to Fe3+ at ferroxidase sites. By a combination of structural and spectroscopic
      techniques, Asp140, together with previously identified Glu57 and Glu136, is
      demonstrated to be an essential residue to promote the iron oxidation at the
      ferroxidase site. However, the presence of these three carboxylate moieties in
      close proximity to the catalytic centers is not essential to achieve binding of
      the Fe2+ substrate to the diferric ferroxidase sites with the same coordination
      geometries as in the wild-type cages.

PMID- 27650997
TI  - Chronic systemic inflammation originating from epithelial tissues.
AB  - Chronic systemic inflammation (CSI) has recently been identified as a major
      contributor to common diseases ranging from cancer to metabolic disorders and
      neurologic alterations. In the last decade, we and others have generated
      genetically engineered mouse models for inflammatory diseases, which enable
      studying the molecular mechanisms of CSI. Recently, organ cross-talk induced by
      CSI under homeostatic and pathological conditions has begun to be appreciated. In
      this review, we will revisit whole organism physiology in relation to CSI
      originating from epithelial tissues, such as the skin and gut. Furthermore, we
      will discuss the current knowledge regarding the mechanisms, the specific immune
      cells and molecules responsible for inducing the most common comorbidities, such
      as cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurological complications, as well as bone
      loss, in heterogeneous diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and
      inflammatory bowel disease. As it would be impossible to discuss all
      comorbidities of these diseases as well as all epithelial tissues, we present an
      overview with a special emphasis on our recent findings linking skin inflammation
      to bone loss.

PMID- 27650998
TI  - What matters in "multimorbidity"? Arguably resilience and personal health
      experience are central to quality of life and optimizing survival.
AB  - RATIONALE: Much is written about "multimorbidity" as it is a difficult problem
      for health systems, as it reflects a complex phenomenon unique to each individual
      health journey and health service context. This paper proposes the adoption of 2
      constructs or knowledge streams into mainstream "multimorbidity" care which are
      arguably most important to person-centered care-personal health perceptions and
      resilience. ANALYSIS: "Multimorbidity" is the manifestation of multiple nonlinear
      physical, psychosocial, and environmental phenomena in an individual health
      journey. Multimorbidity encompasses very stable states for the most part together
      with highly unstable phases that are difficult to manage. Averting or controlling
      the underlying loss of resilience in instability can be challenging without early
      warning signals pointing towards tipping points. Monitoring resilience and early
      warning signals for tipping points is new to health care. Yet what should we
      monitor in the complexity of multimorbidity? There are multiple and competing
      health service features and biometrics that can be measured. However, an
      expanding of literature endorses importance of simply asking a person about their
      self-rated health in order to provide predictions of their resilience and
      survival. Interoception, exemplified as self-rated health, arises from internal
      neurocognitive self-monitoring functions of different internal and external
      phenomena. Interoception is being to be recognized as predictors and barometers
      of resilience and survival. CONCLUSIONS: Two phenomena of human systems
      interoception and resilience-can guide care in the complex nature of
      multimorbidity in unstable health journeys and should be incorporated into
      clinical practice.

PMID- 27650999
TI  - Risky business: Lived experience mental health practice, nurses as potential
      allies.
AB  - Mental health policy includes a clear expectation that consumers will participate
      in all aspects of the design and delivery of mental health services. This edict
      has led to employment roles for people with lived experience of significant
      mental health challenges and service use. Despite the proliferation of these
      roles, research into factors impacting their success or otherwise is limited.
      This paper presents findings from a grounded theory study investigating the
      experiences of Lived Experience Practitioners in the context of their employment.
      In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 Lived Experience Practitioners. Risk
      was identified as a core category, and included sub-categories: vulnerability,
      'out and proud', fear to disclose, and self-care. Essentially participants
      described the unique vulnerabilities of their mental health challenges being
      known, and while there were many positives about disclosing there was also
      apprehension about personal information being so publically known. Self-care
      techniques were important mediators against these identified risks. The success
      of lived experience roles requires support and nurses can play an important role,
      given the size of the nursing workforce in mental health, the close relationships
      nurses enjoy with consumers and the contribution they have made to the
      development of lived experience roles within academia.

PMID- 27651000
TI  - Spatiotemporal dynamics of lesion-induced axonal sprouting and its relation to
      functional architecture of the cerebellum.
AB  - Neurodegenerative lesions induce sprouting of new collaterals from surviving
      axons, but the extent to which this form of axonal remodelling alters brain
      functional structure remains unclear. To understand how collateral sprouting
      proceeds in the adult brain, we imaged post-lesion sprouting of cerebellar
      climbing fibres (CFs) in mice using in vivo time-lapse microscopy. Here we show
      that newly sprouted CF collaterals innervate multiple Purkinje cells (PCs) over
      several months, with most innervations emerging at 3-4 weeks post lesion.
      Simultaneous imaging of cerebellar functional structure reveals that surviving
      CFs similarly innervate functionally relevant and non-relevant PCs, but have more
      synaptic area on PCs near the collateral origin than on distant PCs. These
      results suggest that newly sprouted axon collaterals do not preferentially
      innervate functionally relevant postsynaptic targets. Nonetheless, the spatial
      gradient of collateral innervation might help to loosely maintain functional
      synaptic circuits if functionally relevant neurons are clustered in the lesioned
      area.

PMID- 27651002
TI  - Biomimetic Nanofluidic Diode Composed of Dual Amphoteric Channels Maintains
      Rectification Direction over a Wide pH Range.
AB  - pH-gated ion channels in cell membranes play important roles in the cell's
      physiological activities. Many artificial nanochannels have been fabricated to
      mimic the natural phenomenon of pH-gated ion transport. However, these
      nanochannels show pH sensitivity only within certain pH ranges. Wide-range pH
      sensitivity has not yet been achieved. Herein, for the first time, we provide a
      versatile strategy to increase the pH-sensitive range by using dual amphoteric
      nanochannels. In particular, amphoteric polymeric nanochannels with carboxyl
      groups derived from a block copolymer (BCP) precursor and nanochannels with
      hydroxyl groups made from anodic alumina oxide (AAO) were used. Due to a
      synergistic effect, the hybrid nanochannels exhibit nanofluidic diode properties
      with single rectification direction over a wide pH range. The novel strategy
      presented here is a scalable, low-cost, and robust alternative for the
      construction of large-area membranes for nanofluidic applications, such as the
      separation of biomolecules.

PMID- 27651001
TI  - Construction of a Corneal Stromal Equivalent with SMILE-Derived Lenticules and
      Fibrin Glue.
AB  - The scarcity of corneal tissue to treat deep corneal defects and corneal
      perforations remains a challenge. Currently, small incision lenticule extraction
      (SMILE)-derived lenticules appear to be a promising alternative for the treatment
      of these conditions. However, the thickness and toughness of a single piece of
      lenticule are limited. To overcome these limitations, we constructed a corneal
      stromal equivalent with SMILE-derived lenticules and fibrin glue. In vitro cell
      culture revealed that the corneal stromal equivalent could provide a suitable
      scaffold for the survival and proliferation of corneal epithelial cells, which
      formed a continuous pluristratified epithelium with the expression of
      characteristic markers. Finally, anterior lamellar keratoplasty in rabbits
      demonstrated that the corneal stromal equivalent with decellularized lenticules
      and fibrin glue could repair the anterior region of the stroma, leading to re
      epithelialization and recovery of both transparency and ultrastructural
      organization. Corneal neovascularization, graft degradation, and corneal
      rejection were not observed within 3 months. Taken together, the corneal stromal
      equivalent with SMILE-derived lenticules and fibrin glue appears to be a safe and
      effective alternative for the repair of damage to the anterior cornea, which may
      provide new avenues in the treatment of deep corneal defects or corneal
      perforations.

PMID- 27651003
TI  - Erratum to: Diabetes self-management among Arab Americans: patient and provider
      perspectives.

PMID- 27651004
TI  - Prevalence and Related Factors of Ineffective Self-Health Management in
      Polymedicated Patients Over the Age of 65 Years.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of Ineffective Self-Health Management (ISHM)
      (00078) and its related factors in polymedicated patients over the age of 65
      years. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used. A home interview
      was conducted with each participant (N = 375) for data collection. FINDINGS: The
      prevalence of ISHM was 37.3%. The risk factors associated were social risk,
      depression, noncompliance, medication errors, and confusion with medications.
      CONCLUSIONS: Among polymedicated elderly patients, the prevalence of ISHM is
      high. The diagnosis is closely connected to the compliance and complexity of the
      treatment regimen, in addition to those relating strictly to social and emotional
      factors. IMPLICATIONS: Nursing methodology encompasses instruments that allow
      nurses in clinical practice to evaluate the issue of compliance.

PMID- 27651005
TI  - Facile preparation of nickel/carbonized wood nanocomposite for environmentally
      friendly supercapacitor electrodes.
AB  - We are reporting a facile way to prepare nickel/carbon nanocomposites from wood
      as a novel electrode material for supercapacitors. The surface morphology and the
      structure of the as-prepared electrodes were studied by using X-ray diffraction
      (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
      and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicate that after high
      temperature carbonization process, the wood is converted into graphitic carbon
      with nickel nanoparticles uniformly distributed within the three dimensional
      structure of the wood. Electrochemical characterization such as cyclic
      voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic
      charge-discharge measurements were conducted. These results showed that the
      introduction of nickel into the carbonized wood improves the specific capacitance
      and the cyclic stability of the nanocomposite electrode over that of the pure
      carbonized wood electrode. The composite electrode displayed an enhanced
      capacitive performance of 3616 F/g at 8 A/g, and showed an excellent capacitance
      retention after 6000 charge-discharge cycles. These results endow the nickel
      nanoparticles impregnated carbonized wood with a great potential for future
      application in supercapacitors.

PMID- 27651006
TI  - Treatment of Alzheimer disease: when practice and evidence-based medicine must be
      capable of dialogue.

PMID- 27651007
TI  - Position paper for management of elderly patients with pacemakers and implantable
      cardiac defibrillators Groupe de rythmologie et stimulation cardiaque de la
      Societe francaise de cardiologie et Societe francaise de geriatrie et
      gerontologie.
AB  - Despite the increasingly high rate of implantation of pacemakers (PM) and
      cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) in elderly patients, data supporting their
      clinical and cost-effectiveness in this age stratum are ambiguous and
      contradictory. We reviewed the data regarding the applicability, safety, and
      effectiveness of the conventional pacing, ICD and cardiac resynchronization
      therapy (CRT) in elderly patients. Although peri-procedural risk may be slightly
      higher in the elderly, the procedure of implantation of PMs and ICDs is still
      relatively safe in this age group. In older patients with sinus node disease, a
      general consensus is that dual chamber pacing, along with the programming of an
      algorithm to minimise ventricular pacing is preferred. In very old patients
      presenting with intermittent or suspected AV block, VVI pacing may be
      appropriate. In terms of correcting potentially life-threatening arrhythmias, the
      effectiveness of ICD therapy is comparable in older and younger individuals.
      However, the assumption of persistent ICD benefit in the elderly population is
      questionable, as any advantage of the device on arrhythmic death may be
      attenuated by a higher total non-arrhythmic mortality. While septuagenarians and
      octogenarians have higher annual all-cause mortality rates, ICD therapy may
      remain effective in selected patients at high risk of arrhythmic death and with
      minimum comorbidities despite advanced age. ICD implantation among the elderly,
      as a group, may not be cost-effective, but the procedure may reach cost
      effectiveness in those expected to live >5-7 years after implantation. The
      elderly patients usually experience a significant functional improvement after
      CRT, similar to that observed in middle-aged patients. Management of CRT non
      responders remains globally the same, while considering a less aggressive
      approach in terms of re interventions (revision of LV lead placement, addition of
      a RV or LV lead, LV endocardial pacing configuration). Overall, age,
      comorbidities and comprehensive geriatric assessment should be the decisive
      factor in making a decision on device implantation selection for survival and
      well-being benefit in elderly patients. 

PMID- 27651008
TI  - Vitamin D and cognition in older adults: international consensus guidelines.
AB  - Hypovitaminosis D, a common condition in older adults, is associated with brain
      changes and dementia. Given the fast growing contribution of literature in this
      research field, clear guidance is needed for clinicians and researchers.
      International experts met at the invitational summit on "Vitamin D and cognition
      in older adults" in Boston, MA, July 2013. Based upon literature and expert
      opinion, the task force focused on key questions on the role of vitamin D in
      Alzheimer disease and related disorders. Each question was discussed and voted
      using a Delphi-like approach. Experts reached agreement that hypovitaminosis D
      increases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults, may alter
      the clinical presentation as a consequence of related comorbidities, but should
      not be used thus far as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker of Alzheimer disease
      due to lack of specificity and insufficient evidence. Hypovitaminosis D should be
      screened in this population because of its high prevalence and supplemented, if
      necessary, but this advice was not specific to cognition. The task force agreed
      on 5 overarching principles related to vitamin D and cognition in older adults. 

PMID- 27651010
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 27651009
TI  - Symptomatic treatments in Alzheimer's disease in 2016: a study from Memory
      centers in France.
AB  - Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine are used from 15 years, in Alzheimer's
      disease. Benefits have been demonstrated according to cognition, activities of
      daily living, affective symptoms and behavior, and global impression of change.
      The aims of this paper are: 1) to describe how these treatments are used in
      France with a sample survey managed by the national federation of the french
      CMRR; 2) to study data about efficacy, safety, medicoeconomic impacts and how
      they are used in Europe. 

PMID- 27651011
TI  - Pharmacological treatments of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
      in Alzheimer's disease: role of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and memantine.
AB  - Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are frequent in
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). They are associated with disability and suffering for
      both the patients and their caregivers. Even if BPSD are now well diagnosed and
      characterized by standardized tools, their treatment remains often challenging in
      clinical setting because of the frequent and severe side effects of the
      psychotropic drugs when used in this indication. Evidence-based data confirm that
      antipsychotics and antidepressants are efficient for the treatment of BPSD but
      have a poor tolerance profile and their use is problematic. Use of cholinesterase
      inhibitors and memantine, whom French authorities have questioned the relevance
      in 2008, also have a significant efficacy on non-cognitive symptoms of AD.
      Therefore, and although their tolerance profile is considered unsatisfying, they
      keep an indication in patients with AD and BPSD. 

PMID- 27651012
TI  - Neuropsychology of humor: an introduction. Part II. Humor and the brain.
AB  - Impairment of the perception or comprehension of humor is observed in patients
      with focal brain lesions in both hemispheres, but mainly in the right frontal
      lobe. Studies by functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy subjects show
      that humor is associated with activation of two main neural systems in both
      hemispheres. The detection and resolution of incongruity, cognitive groundings of
      humor, are associated with activation of the medial prefrontal and
      temporoparietal cortex, and the humor appreciation with activation of the orbito
      frontal and insular cortex, amygdala and the brain reward system. However,
      activation of these areas is not humor-specific and can be observed in various
      cognitive or emotional processes. Event-related potential studies confirm the
      involvement of both hemispheres in humor processing, and suggest that left
      prefrontal area is associated with joke comprehension and right prefrontal area
      with the resolution stage. Humor thus appears to be a complex and dynamic
      functional process involving, on one hand, two specialized but not specific
      neural systems linked to humor apprehension and appreciation, and, on the other
      hand, multiple interconnected functional brain networks including neural patterns
      underlying the moral framework and belief system, acquired by conditioning or
      imitation during the cognitive development and social interactions of the
      individual, and more distributed systems associated with the analysis of the
      current context of humor occurrence. Disturbances of the sense of humor could
      then result from focal brain alterations localized in one or two of the
      specialized areas underlying the comprehension or appreciation of humor, or from
      perturbations of the network interconnectivity in non-focal brain disorders such
      as Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia. 

PMID- 27651013
TI  - How to facilitate the orientation of elderly subjects with psychical disabilities
      to a health alternative to hospitalization?
AB  - This paper is aimed to improve the socio-psycho-therapeutic support for older
      patients with heavy psychiatric disability. First, we review the literature to
      question the specific grounds reported by professionals regarding the orientation
      of these vulnerable subjects. Secondly, we emphasize that integration of these
      subjects within alternatives to hospitalization requires a type of support
      similar to that usually proposed, an accompaniment of psychosocial
      rehabilitation. Then, we propose to build an indicator called the psychosocial
      age, which reduces the weight of the chronological age for the orientation of
      these subjects. Ultimately, we question the health policies in psychiatry. 

PMID- 27651014
TI  - Telepsychiatry: what role in the care of the elderly?
AB  - Telemedicine has recently been developed in response to epidemiological,
      demographical and economical problems in the French Health care system.
      Telepsychiatry appears to be a suitable tool, but few studies have evaluated its
      applicability and acceptability when applied to the elderly. The use of such a
      tool is interesting because elderly people have many psychiatric disorders, but
      encounter many difficulties to access health care. Studies performed in health
      care facilities generally report patients and caregivers satisfaction with
      teleconsultations and suitability for demented patients. However, these studies
      present some limits: they often focus on only qualitative data, the samples are
      small and they don't necessarily assess their effectiveness. Nevertheless they
      show that most of the evaluation tests can be performed by teleconsultation in
      older subjects with some adaptations. Therefore it appears that
      telegerontopsychiatry could be a reliable and acceptable alternative to improve
      the psychiatric care for older subjects, although not an adequate substitute to
      traditional consultation with a psychiatrist. 

PMID- 27651015
TI  - Comparative study of false memory in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - The production of false memories (FMs) is a normal phenomenon, which can be
      affected in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Only few
      studies investigated FMs in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The
      aim of our preliminary study was to assess FMs in patients with DLB and to
      identify the underlying cognitive deficits influencing the production of FMs in
      DLB and AD. Ten AD patients and nine DLB patients performed a memory task (free
      recall and recognition) coupling two paradigms, namely the DRM (Deese-Roediger
      McDermott) paradigm, promoting the production of FMs and the "Remember/Know"
      (R/K) paradigm, allowing to investigate the phenomenological experience during
      the recollection of a memory. A standard cognitive evaluation of memory,
      executive and instrumental functions completed the assessment. No FM was found in
      the DLB group during free recall, while the number of FMs was substantially
      identical in both groups during recognition. However, FMs differed from the
      phenomenological experience, with more K responses in DLB patients and more R
      responses in AD patients. None of the tests of the standard neuropsychological
      evaluation did correlate with measures of interest of FMs. In AD patients, the R
      responses associated with FMs reflect an alteration of the source memory. In DLB
      patients, the critical item lead to a sense of familiarity, without recollection
      of the circumstances in which the item was encoded, hence the K responses. This
      indicates a preservation of their source memory. Contrary to expectations, the
      type of FMs in both groups was not correlated to their cognitive profile. Hence,
      cognitive processes underlying the FMs appear to be different in AD and the LBD,
      but FMs seem independent of memory and executive abilities in these diseases. 

PMID- 27651016
TI  - The sense of self is supported by several independent cognitive processes in
      Alzheimer's disease and self-reported age tracks cognitive impairment.
AB  - Do patients with Alzheimer's disease loose themselves? The impact of dementia on
      the sense of self has been extensively studied over the past 15 years. However,
      most studies investigate only one marker of the self - such as mirror self
      recognition or the use of the pronoun "I" - and do not track how this marker
      evolves in the course of the illness in comparison to other markers. This
      situation has resulted in fragmented findings rather than converging evidence for
      a coherent model of the self in dementia. In our two studies, we use a
      questionnaire to investigate four markers of the self simultaneously (self
      knowledge, mirror self-recognition, the bodily distinction between self and
      other, and self-reported age) in the same 60 patients spread across three stages
      of Alzheimer's disease. This method allows us to determine whether these markers
      are impaired independently over the progression of the illness. Our results
      suggest that the sense of self relies on a complex structure supported by several
      independent cognitive processes that are impacted differently by the progression
      of dementia. In particular, despite the early deterioration of self-knowledge,
      patients at advanced stages of the disease seem to maintain a sense of self,
      rooted into mirror self-recognition and the bodily self. Furthermore, self
      reported age predicts the level of cognitive impairment. We suggest that a better
      understanding of the stage at which each marker of the self breaks down can help
      clinicians support their patients better by targeting the preserved dimensions of
      their identity at any given point in the progression of their condition. 

PMID- 27651018
TI  - How is inflammatory bowel disease managed in Spanish gastroenterology
      departments? The results of the GESTIONA-EII survey.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Not all national health centers include specialized units or
      clinicians devoted to inflammatory bowel disease. The goal of the survey was to
      gain an insight into the management of this disease within Spanish
      gastroenterology departments via a survey among their members. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: An online survey was conducted in February and March 2015, among SEPD
      members (2017 clinician members), who were split into three categories: heads of
      department, general gastroenterologists, and experts in this disease. The results
      of the last two surveys are reported, including demography-related questions and
      specific questions on the strategies and resources available for the care of
      these patients. RESULTS: A total of 166 responses were received (response rate
      8.19%), excluding those from heads of department (previously published). Sixty
      gastroenterologists considered themselves experts in inflammatory bowel disease,
      and 106 non-experts in it, the latter being either general gastroenterologists or
      specialists in other areas, mainly endoscopy. Twenty-eight percent of non-expert
      gastroenterologists said their hospitals had specific units, with a monographic
      clinic in 46%. However, 26% reported that they were treating affected patients
      themselves. Experts in inflammatory bowel disease reported that their institute
      had resources to support their work, but there was a lack of surgeons with
      expertise in this condition, particularly in county hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: At
      least, within SEPD members, 2 out of 3 experts in inflammatory bowel disease seem
      to have the resources available for their work (nurses, day unit, telephone line,
      database, referrals, joint sessions). Although there is room for improvement
      (email to contact patients, devoted surgeon, absence of referral protocols), and
      2 out of 3 are concerned about pharmacy costs. Since a substantial number of
      patients remain treated by general practitioners, rapid referral programs might
      be helpful in this setting.

PMID- 27651019
TI  - The mechanosensor of mesenchymal stem cells: mechanosensitive channel or
      cytoskeleton?
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent adult stem cells. MSCs and their
      potential for use in regenerative medicine have been investigated extensively.
      Recently, the mechanisms by which MSCs detect mechanical stimuli have been
      described in detail. As in other cell types, both mechanosensitive channels, such
      as transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7), and the cytoskeleton,
      including actin and actomyosin, have been implicated in mechanosensation in MSCs.
      This review will focus on discussing the precise role of TRPM7 and the
      cytoskeleton in mechanosensation in MSCs.

PMID- 27651020
TI  - Combined assessment using optical colonoscopy and computed tomographic
      colonography improves the determination of tumor location and invasion depth.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An accurate assessment of the depth of tumor invasion in patients
      with colon cancer is an important part of the preoperative evaluation. Whether
      computed tomographic colonography (CTC) or optical colonoscopy (OC) is better to
      accurately determine tumor location and invasion depth has not been definitively
      determined. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of
      tumor localization and tumor invasion depth of colon cancer by preoperative OC
      alone or combined with CTC. METHODS: Study participants include 143 patients who
      underwent both preoperative CTC using automated CO2 insufflation and OC from July
      2012 to August 2013. RESULTS: The accuracy of tumor localization was
      significantly better with CTC than with OC (OC, 90%; CTC, 98%; P < 0.05). No
      tumor in the descending colon was localized accurately via OC alone. The accuracy
      of tumor invasion depth was better with CTC plus OC than with OC alone (OC, 55%;
      CTC, 73%; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: OC combined with CTC provides a more accurate
      preoperative determination of tumor localization and invasion depth than OC
      alone.

PMID- 27651021
TI  - Does multiple biopsies and implantation along the needle tract augment for
      increased local recurrence in head and neck neoplasms?

PMID- 27651022
TI  - Molecular Pathology of Pulmonary Edema in Forensic Autopsy Cases with Special
      Regard to Fatal Methamphetamine Intoxication.
AB  - Pulmonary edema is a common finding in fatal methamphetamine intoxication.
      However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. This study
      investigated the molecular pathology of alveolar damage involving pulmonary edema
      in forensic autopsy cases. Seven candidate reference genes (RPL13A, YWHAZ, GUSB,
      SDHA, GAPDH, B2M, and ACTB) were evaluated in the lung by the geNorm module in
      qBaseplus software. RPL13A, YWHAZ, and GUSB were identified as the most stable
      reference genes. Using these validated reference genes, intrapulmonary mRNA
      expressions of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), intercellular adhesion molecule
      1 (ICAM-1), claudin-5 (CLDN-5), and aquaporins (AQPs) were examined. Relative
      mRNA quantification using TaqMan real-time PCR assay demonstrated higher
      expressions of all markers except for AQP-5 in fatal METH intoxication cases.
      These findings suggested alveolar damage and compensatory response in fatal METH
      intoxication cases. Systematic analysis of gene expressions using real-time qPCR
      is a useful tool in forensic death investigation.

PMID- 27651023
TI  - Erratum to: Liver elasticity measurement before and after biliary drainage in
      patients with obstructive jaundice: a prospective cohort study.

PMID- 27651025
TI  - Alopecia areata, thyroiditis and vitiligo vulgaris in a Japanese patient with
      smoldering type adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

PMID- 27651024
TI  - pKa values of hyodeoxycholic and cholic acids in the binary mixed micelles sodium
      hyodeoxycholate-Tween 40 and sodium-cholate-Tween 40: Thermodynamic stability of
      the micelle and the cooperative hydrogen bond formation with the steroid
      skeleton.
AB  - Due to a relatively small size of bile acid salts, their mixed micelles with
      nonionic surfactants are analysed. Of the special interests are real binary mixed
      micelles that are thermodynamically more stable than ideal mixed micelles.
      Thermodynamic stability is expressed with an excess Gibbs energy (GE) or over an
      interaction parameter (betaij). In this paper sodium salts of cholic (C) and
      hyodeoxycholic acid (HD) in their mixed micelles with Tween 40 (T40) are analysed
      by potentiometric titration and their pKa values are determined. Examined bile
      acids in mixed micelles with T40 have higher pKa values than free bile acids. The
      increase of DeltapKa acid constant of micellary bound C and HD is in a
      correlation with absolute values of an interaction parameter. According to an
      interaction parameter and an excess Gibbs energy, mixed micelle HD-T40 are
      thermodynamically more stable than mixed micelles C-T40. DeltapKa values are
      higher for mixed micelles with Tween 40 whose second building unit is HD, related
      to the building unit C. In both micellar systems, DeltapKa increases with the
      rise of a molar fraction of Tween 40 in binary mixtures of surfactants with
      sodium salts of bile acids. This suggests that, DeltapKa can be a measure of a
      thermodynamic stabilization of analysed binary mixed micelles as well as an
      interaction parameter. DeltapKa values are confirmed by determination of a
      distribution coefficient of HD and C in systems: water phase with Tween 40 in a
      micellar concentration and 1-octanol, with a change of a pH value of a water
      phase. Conformational analyses suggests that synergistic interactions between
      building units of analysed binary micelles originates from formation of hydrogen
      bonds between steroid OH groups and polyoxyethylene groups of the T40. Relative
      similarity and spatial orientation of C3 and C6 OH group allows cooperative
      formation of hydrogen bonds between T40 and HD - excess entropy in formation of
      mixed micelle. If a water solution of analysed binary mixtures of surfactants
      contains urea in concentration of 4M significant decreases of an interaction
      parameter value happens which confirms the importance of hydrogen bonds in
      synergistic interactions (urea compete in hydrogen bonds).

PMID- 27651026
TI  - No evidence of potentiation of buprenorphine by milnacipran in healthy subjects
      using a nociceptive test battery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors inhibit the reuptake of
      serotonin and noradrenalin and are used in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
      Animal studies suggest that milnacipran co-administered with opioids may
      potentiate the analgesic effect of MU-opioid receptor agonists. This study
      hypothesized that co-administration of milnacipran and buprenorphine would have a
      synergistic effect in evoked pain models in healthy subjects. METHODS: This was a
      randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled, four-way cross-over, multiple dose
      clinical trial to investigate the analgesic effects of buprenorphine (placebo,
      0.5, 1 and 3 MUg/kg) in combination with milnacipran (placebo, 25 and 50 mg) in
      healthy subjects. RESULTS: 11 healthy men were enrolled in the study.
      Buprenorphine alone showed a dose-response relationship indicative of anti
      nociception in the pain tests. Following milnacipran administration, no changes
      were seen in the pharmacodynamic measurements for pain, psychomotor function,
      body stability or eye movements. For the electrical tests, cold pressor test and
      pressure pain test, buprenorphine alone was superior when compared with
      buprenorphine plus milnacipran. No differences in pharmacodynamic variables,
      besides an increase in pupil/iris ratio, were observed after repeated
      administration of milnacipran 50 mg. Single and multiple doses of 25 or 50 mg
      milnacipran did not further potentiate the anti-nociceptive effects of
      buprenorphine. CONCLUSIONS: Buprenorphine showed dose-dependent effects
      consistent with its pharmacological profile. Milnacipran alone did not affect any
      of the pain variables. The combination of both buprenorphine and milnacipran did
      not potentiate or show a synergistic effect on the pain models used in this
      study. SIGNIFICANCE: Buprenorphine is known to be a potent opioid agonist. Animal
      studies suggest that milnacipran co-administered with opioids may potentiate the
      analgesic effect of MU-opioid receptor agonists. Here, we found that
      buprenorphine showed a dose-dependent analgesic effect, but that no potentiation
      or synergy on a battery of evoked pain tasks could be observed after co
      administration of both milnacipran and buprenorphine.

PMID- 27651028
TI  - Waste Informatics: Establishing Characteristics of Contemporary U.S. Landfill
      Quantities and Practices.
AB  - Waste generation is expected to increase in most countries for many decades with
      landfill disposal still the dominant solid waste management method1-3. Yet,
      operational characteristics of landfills are often poorly understood with
      comparative statistics substantially lacking. Here, we call for a more formal
      waste informatics to organize and standardize waste management knowledge at
      multiple spatial scales through analysis of recently reported data from 1232 U.S.
      landfills and other high resolution data sets. We create the first known estimate
      of available U.S. municipal waste stocks (8.5 billion tonnes) and go on to
      resolve these stocks at the county level, reflecting prospective urban mining
      opportunities. Our analysis of disposal rates and landfill capacities reveals
      that more than half of U.S. states have more than 25 years of life remaining. We
      also estimate the gross energy potential of landfill gas in the U.S. (338 billion
      MJ/yr) by examining 922 operational methane collection systems and demonstrate
      that the greatest energy recovery opportunities lie at landfills with existing
      collection systems and energy conversion infrastructure. Finally, we found that
      the number of landfills reaching the federally defined 30-year postclosure care
      period will more than triple in the coming two decades, with 264 sites expected
      by the year 2044, highlighting the need to develop and standardize metrics
      carefully to define and standardize when it is appropriate to end or scale back
      long-term landfill monitoring.

PMID- 27651027
TI  - Loss of TAB3 expression by shRNA exhibits suppressive bioactivity and increased
      chemical sensitivity of ovarian cancer cell lines via the NF-kappaB pathway.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of death among gynaecologic malignancies.
      Despite many years of research, it still remains sparing in reliable diagnostic
      markers and methods for early detection and screening. Transforming growth factor
      beta-activated protein kinase 1 (TAK1)-binding protein 3 (TAB3) was initially
      characterized as an adapter protein essential for TAK1 activation in response to
      IL-1beta or TNFalpha, however, the physiological role of TAB3 in ovarian cancer
      tumorigenesis is still not fully understood. In this study, we evaluated the
      effects of TAB3 on ovarian cancer cell lines. Expressions of TAB3 and PCNA
      (proliferating cell nuclear antigen) were found to be gradually increased in EOC
      tissues and cell lines, by western blot analysis and qRT-PCR. Distribution of
      TAB3 was further analysed by immunohistochemistry. In vitro, knockdown of TAB3
      expression in HO8910 or SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells significantly inhibited
      bioactivity of ovarian cancer cells, including proliferation and cell-cycle
      distribution, and promoted chemical sensitivity to cisplatin and paclitaxel
      treatment via inhibiting NF-kappaB pathways. In conclusion, our study strongly
      suggests a novel function of TAB3 as an oncogene that could be used as a
      biomarker for ovarian cancer. It provides a new insight into the potential
      mechanism for therapeutic targeting, in chemotherapy resistance, common in
      ovarian cancer.

PMID- 27651029
TI  - Amniotic fluid cathepsin-G in pregnancies complicated by the preterm prelabor
      rupture of membranes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the amniotic fluid cathepsin-G
      concentrations in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) based
      on the presence of the microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and/or
      intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI). METHODS: A total of 154 women with singleton
      pregnancies complicated by PPROM were included in this study. Amniotic fluid
      samples were obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis. Amniotic fluid cathepsin-G
      concentrations were assessed by ELISA. MIAC was determined using a non
      cultivation approach. IAI was defined as an amniotic fluid bedside interleukin-6
      concentration >= 745 pg/mL. RESULTS: Women with MIAC had higher amniotic fluid
      cathepsin-G concentrations than women without MIAC (with MIAC: median 82.7 ng/mL,
      versus without MIAC: median 64.7 ng/mL; p = 0.0003). Women with IAI had higher
      amniotic fluid cathepsin-G concentrations than women without this complication
      (with IAI: median 103.0 ng/mL, versus without IAI: median 66.2 ng/mL; p <
      0.0001). Women with microbial-associated (with both MIAC and IAI) IAI and sterile
      (IAI without MIAC) IAI had higher amniotic fluid cathepsin-G concentrations than
      women with colonization (MIAC without IAI) and women without both MIAC and IAI (p
      < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of either microbial-associated or sterile
      IAI was associated with increased amniotic fluid cathepsin-G concentrations in
      pregnancies complicated by PPROM. Amniotic fluid cathepsin-G appears to be a
      potential marker of IAI.

PMID- 27651031
TI  - Compositional Dynamics: Defining the Fuzzy Cell.
AB  - Proteomic studies find many proteins in unexpected cellular locations. Can
      functional components of organelles be distinguished from biochemical artefacts
      or misguided cellular sorting? The clue might reside in compositional changes
      that follow biological challenges and that can be decoded by machine learning.

PMID- 27651030
TI  - Trauma-specific Grey Matter Alterations in PTSD.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that patients with posttraumatic stress
      disorder (PTSD) caused by different types of trauma may show divergence in
      epidemiology, clinical manifestation and treatment outcome. However, it is still
      unclear whether this divergence has neuroanatomic correlates in PTSD brains. To
      elucidate the general and trauma-specific cortical morphometric alterations, we
      performed a meta-analysis of grey matter (GM) changes in PTSD (N = 246) with
      different traumas and trauma-exposed controls (TECs, N = 347) using anisotropic
      effect-size signed differential mapping and its subgroup analysis. Our results
      revealed general GM reduction (GMR) foci in the prefrontal-limbic-striatal system
      of PTSD brains when compared with those of TECs. Notably, the GMR patterns were
      trauma-specific. For PTSD by single-incident traumas, GMR foci were found in
      bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC),
      insula, striatum, left hippocampus and amygdala; and for PTSD by prolonged
      traumas in the left insula, striatum, amygdala and middle temporal gyrus.
      Moreover, Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale scores were found to be negatively
      associated with the GM changes in bilateral ACC and mPFC. Our study indicates
      that the GMR patterns of PTSD are associated with specific traumas, suggesting a
      stratified diagnosis and treatment for PTSD patients.

PMID- 27651033
TI  - A 54-year-old woman with arthritis and discoloration of the hands, ears, and
      sclerae.

PMID- 27651032
TI  - Intravenous Infiltration Risk by Catheter Dwell Time Among Hospitalized Children.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was aimed to examine the cumulative risk for infiltration
      over IV catheter dwell time by general or catheterization-specific
      characteristics of pediatric patients with IV therapy. DESIGN AND METHODS: This
      secondary data analysis was done with the data of 1596 children who received
      peripheral IV therapy at least once during their hospital stay between August 1st
      and October 30th, 2011 and in June, 2013 in an academic medical center, Yangsan,
      Republic of Korea. The survival functions of infiltration were determined by
      using the Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULT: The cumulative risk for infiltration had
      rapidly increased from 1.5% after 24 hours of catheter dwell time to 17.3% after
      96 hours. The survival functions were significantly different in the medical than
      in the surgical department (p=.005), lower extremities than upper ones (p=.001),
      and use of 10% dextrose (p=.001), ampicillin/sulbactam (p<.001), vancomycin
      (p=.024), high-concentration electrolytes (p=.001), and phenytoin (p<.001).
      CONCLUSION: When catheter dwell times are similar, the cumulative risk for
      infiltration was higher in cases wherein the patient had a risk factor. The
      cumulative risk for infiltration has rapidly increased after 24 hours in patients
      who have 10% dextrose, high-concentration electrolytes, and phenytoin. PRACTICE
      IMPLICATIONS: The results suggest that nurses are required to assess the IV site
      every hour after 24 hours of catheter dwell time for the infusion of irritants
      for a safer practice of IV therapy. However, this monitoring time may be modified
      by the age of child, previous IV complications, and/or hemodynamic issues which
      may impact IV integrity.

PMID- 27651034
TI  - Spatial co-adaptation of cortical control columns in a micro-ECoG brain-computer
      interface.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:  Electrocorticography (ECoG) has been used for a range of applications
      including electrophysiological mapping, epilepsy monitoring, and more recently as
      a recording modality for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Studies that examine
      ECoG electrodes designed and implanted chronically solely for BCI applications
      remain limited. The present study explored how two key factors influence chronic,
      closed-loop ECoG BCI: (i) the effect of inter-electrode distance on BCI
      performance and (ii) the differences in neural adaptation and performance when
      fixed versus adaptive BCI decoding weights are used. APPROACH:  The amplitudes of
      epidural micro-ECoG signals between 75 and 105 Hz with 300 MUm diameter
      electrodes were used for one-dimensional and two-dimensional BCI tasks. The
      effect of inter-electrode distance on BCI control was tested between 3 and 15 mm.
      Additionally, the performance and cortical modulation differences between
      constant, fixed decoding using a small subset of channels versus adaptive
      decoding weights using the entire array were explored. MAIN RESULTS:  Successful
      BCI control was possible with two electrodes separated by 9 and 15 mm.
      Performance decreased and the signals became more correlated when the electrodes
      were only 3 mm apart. BCI performance in a 2D BCI task improved significantly
      when using adaptive decoding weights (80%-90%) compared to using constant, fixed
      weights (50%-60%). Additionally, modulation increased for channels previously
      unavailable for BCI control under the fixed decoding scheme upon switching to the
      adaptive, all-channel scheme. SIGNIFICANCE:  Our results clearly show that neural
      activity under a BCI recording electrode (which we define as a 'cortical control
      column') readily adapts to generate an appropriate control signal. These results
      show that the practical minimal spatial resolution of these control columns with
      micro-ECoG BCI is likely on the order of 3 mm. Additionally, they show that the
      combination and interaction between neural adaptation and machine learning are
      critical to optimizing ECoG BCI performance.

PMID- 27651035
TI  - Clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in patients turned down
      for surgical revascularization.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined clinical outcomes following percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) in patients turned down for surgical revascularization across
      a broad population. BACKGROUND: Prior studies suggest that surgical ineligibility
      is associated with increased mortality in patients with unprotected left main or
      multivessel coronary artery disease undergoing PCI. METHODS: This study included
      consecutive patients who underwent PCI in a multicenter registry in Michigan from
      January 2010 to December 2014. Surgical ineligibility required documentation
      indicating that a cardiac surgeon deemed the patient ineligible for surgery. In
      hospital outcomes included mortality (primary outcome), cardiogenic shock,
      cerebrovascular accident, contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), and a new
      requirement for dialysis (NRD). RESULTS: Of 99,370 patients at 33 hospitals with
      on-site surgical backup, 1,922 (1.9%) were surgically ineligible. The rate of
      ineligibility did not vary by hospital (range: 1.5-2.5%; P = 0.79). Overall,
      there were no major differences in baseline characteristics or outcomes between
      surgically ineligible patients and the rest (i.e., nonineligible patients):
      mortality (0.52% vs. 0.52%; P > 0.5), cardiogenic shock (0.68% vs. 0.73%; P >
      0.5), cerebrovascular accident (0.05% vs. 0.19%; P = 0.28), NRD (0.16% vs. 0.19%;
      P > 0.5), CIN (2.7% vs. 2.3%; P = 0.27). Among 1,074 patients who underwent
      unprotected left main PCI, 20 (1.9%) were surgically ineligible and experienced
      increased rates of mortality (20.0% vs. 5.3%; P = 0.022; adjusted OR = 7.38; P <
      0.001) and other complications as compared to the remainder. CONCLUSIONS: PCI in
      a broad population of surgically ineligible patients is generally safe. However,
      among patients who underwent unprotected left main PCI, those deemed surgically
      ineligible experienced significantly worse outcomes as compared to the rest. (c)
      2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27651036
TI  - Novel insights and therapeutic interventions for pediatric osteosarcoma.
AB  - High-grade osteosarcomas are the most common primary malignant tumors of bone.
      With complete surgical resection and multi-agent chemotherapy up to 70% of
      patients with high-grade osteosarcomas and localized extremity tumors can become
      long-term survivors. The prognosis, however, is poor for patients with
      nonresectable, primary metastatic or relapsed disease. Outcome is essentially
      unchanged for three decades. Herein, we describe selected novel insights into the
      genomics, biology and immunology of the disease and discuss selected strategies,
      which hold promise to overcome the current stagnation in the therapeutic success
      in childhood osteosarcoma.

PMID- 27651037
TI  - The Prevalence of Neck and Shoulder Symptoms and Associations with Comorbidities
      and Disability: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Neck and shoulder pain are common but underreported by older people,
      raising important questions of frequency, medical comorbidities, gender and
      racial disparities and functional impact associated with neck and shoulder
      symptoms in elders, which we examined in this analysis. METHODS: We performed a
      cross-sectional analysis in the community-based Johnston County Osteoarthritis
      Project, a cohort that is representative of the U.S. population, utilizing data
      from 1672 participants with a mean age of 68 years; 69% were white and 68% were
      women. Trained staff obtained data on participant-reported: symptoms,
      comorbidities, depression, and functional status; and performance-based
      functional assessments. Regression models of neck and shoulder symptoms and
      functional measures were adjusted for age, sex, race, and body mass index, and
      additionally for other joint symptoms and comorbidities. RESULTS: Symptoms of
      neck (8%), shoulder (13%) or both (13%) were reported by participants. Neck
      symptoms were most frequently reported by White women; shoulder symptoms were
      evenly distributed among race and gender subgroups. Neck and shoulder symptoms
      were associated with cancer, diabetes mellitus, depression, and lung,
      cardiovascular, and other musculoskeletal problems, as well as pain, aching or
      stiffness at other sites, and independently with self-reported and performance 
      based functional measures. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that primary
      health care providers should inquire about neck and shoulder symptoms and address
      potential underlying causes to improve functional status and decrease disability
      in older people.

PMID- 27651038
TI  - A Novel SUCLA2 Mutation Presenting as a Complex Childhood Movement Disorder.
AB  - SUCLA2 defects have been associated with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion and
      the triad of hypotonia, dystonia/Leigh-like syndrome, and deafness. A 9-year-old
      Brazilian boy of consanguineous parents presented with psychomotor delay,
      deafness, myopathy, ataxia, and chorea. Despite the prominent movement disorder,
      brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was normal while 1H-magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy (MRS) showed lactate peaks in the cerebral cortex and lateral
      ventricles. Decreased biochemical activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain
      enzymes containing mtDNA-encoded subunits and mtDNA depletion were observed in
      muscle and fibroblasts. A novel homozygous mutation in SUCLA2, the first one in
      the ligase coenzyme A (CoA) domain of the protein, was identified. Escalating
      doses of CoQ10 up to 2000 mg daily were associated with improvement of muscle
      weakness and stabilization of the disease course. The findings indicate the
      importance of screening for mitochondrial dysfunction in patients with complex
      movement disorders without brain MRI lesions and further investigation for
      potential secondary CoQ10 deficiency in patients with SUCLA2 mutations.

PMID- 27651039
TI  - Angiotensin II receptor blocker combined with eplerenone or hydrochlorothiazide
      for hypertensive patients with diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Experimental models recently suggested an interaction between aldosterone and
      adipose tissue, but clinical investigation has been limited. We studied the
      effects of eplerenone compared to hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) on blood pressure
      (BP), glucose, and lipid levels in 50 patients with essential hypertension (EHT)
      and type 2 diabetes mellitus whose BP failed to reach target levels with 8 mg of
      candesartan alone. BP improved similarly in both groups over the 12-month study
      period, but BMI, waist circumference, and LDL-cholesterol were decreased in the
      eplerenone group, while glycohemoglobin was elevated in the HCTZ group.

PMID- 27651041
TI  - A Microfluidics-based Pulpal Arteriole Blood Flow Phantom for Validation of
      Doppler Ultrasound Devices in Pulpal Blood Flow Velocity Measurement.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recently, Doppler ultrasound has been used for the measurement of
      pulpal blood flow in human teeth. However, the reliability of this method has not
      been verified. In this study, we developed a model to simulate arteriole blood
      flow within the dental pulp by using microfluidics. This arteriole simulator, or
      flow phantom, was used to determine the reliability of measurements obtained by
      using a Doppler ultrasound device. METHODS: A microfluidic chip was fabricated by
      using the soft lithography technique, and blood-mimicking fluid was pumped
      through the channel by a microfluidic system. A Doppler ultrasound device was
      used for the measurement of flow velocity. The peak, mean, and minimal flow
      velocities obtained from the phantom and the Doppler ultrasound device were
      compared by using linear regression analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient.
      Bland-Altman analyses were performed to evaluate the velocity differences between
      the flow generated by the phantom and the flow measurements made with the Doppler
      ultrasound device. RESULTS: The microfluidic system was able to generate the flow
      profiles as intended, and the fluid flow could be monitored and controlled by the
      software program. There were excellent linear correlations between the peak,
      mean, and minimal flow velocities of the phantom and those of the Doppler
      ultrasound device (r = 0.94-0.996, P < .001). However, the velocities were
      overestimated by the Doppler ultrasound device. CONCLUSIONS: This phantom
      provides opportunities for research and education involving the Doppler
      ultrasound technique in dentistry. Although Doppler ultrasound can be an
      effective tool for the measurement of pulpal blood flow velocity, it is essential
      to validate and calibrate the device before clinical use.

PMID- 27651040
TI  - Severe systemic type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism: 5 years of evolution.

PMID- 27651042
TI  - Efficacy of CM-Wire, M-Wire, and Nickel-Titanium Instruments for Removing Filling
      Material from Curved Root Canals: A Micro-Computed Tomography Study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this ex vivo study was to evaluate the removal of
      filling material after using CM-wire, M-wire, and nickel-titanium instruments in
      both reciprocating and rotary motions in curved canals. METHODS: Thirty maxillary
      lateral incisors were divided into 9 groups according to retreatment procedures:
      Reciproc R25 followed by Mtwo 40/.04 and ProDesign Logic 50/.01 files; ProDesign
      R 25/.06 followed by ProDesign Logic 40/.05 and ProDesign Logic 50/.01 files; and
      Gates-Glidden drills, Hedstrom files, and K-files up to apical size 30 followed
      by K-file 40 and K-file 50 up to the working length. Micro-computed tomography
      scans were performed before and after each reinstrumentation procedure to
      evaluate root canal filling removal. Statistical analysis was performed with
      Kruskal-Wallis, Friedman, and Wilcoxon tests (P < .05). RESULTS: No significant
      differences in filling material removal were found in the 3 groups of teeth. The
      use of Mtwo and ProDesign Logic 40/.05 rotary files did not enhance filling
      material removal after the use of reciprocating files. The use of ProDesign Logic
      50/.01 files significantly reduced the amount of filling material at the apical
      levels compared with the use of reciprocating files. CONCLUSIONS: Association of
      reciprocating and rotary files was capable of removing a large amount of filling
      material in the retreatment of curved canals, irrespective of the type of alloy
      of the instruments. The use of a ProDesign Logic 50/.01 file for apical
      preparation significantly reduced the amount of remnant material in the apical
      portion when compared with reciprocating instruments.

PMID- 27651044
TI  - Laser capture microdissection microscopy and genome sequencing of the avian
      malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum.
AB  - Acquiring genomic material from avian malaria parasites for genome sequencing has
      proven problematic due to the nucleation of avian erythrocytes, which produces a
      large ratio of host to parasite DNA (~1 million to 1 bp). We tested the ability
      of laser capture microdissection microscopy to isolate parasite cells from
      individual avian erythrocytes for four avian Plasmodium species, and subsequently
      applied whole genome amplification and Illumina sequencing methods to Plasmodium
      relictum (lineage pSGS1) to produce sequence reads of the P. relictum genome. We
      assembled ~335 kbp of parasite DNA from this species, but were unable to
      completely avoid contamination by host DNA and other sources. However, it is
      clear that laser capture microdissection holds promise for the isolation of
      genomic material from haemosporidian parasites in intracellular life stages. In
      particular, laser capture microdissection may prove useful for isolating
      individual parasite species from co-infected hosts. Although not explicitly
      tested in this study, laser capture microdissection may also have important
      applications for isolation of rare parasite lineages and museum specimens for
      which no fresh material exists.

PMID- 27651043
TI  - MiR-285 targets P450 (CYP6N23) to regulate pyrethroid resistance in Culex pipiens
      pallens.
AB  - MicroRNAs play critical roles in post-transcriptional regulation of gene
      expression, which participate in the modulation of almost all of the cellular
      processes. Although emerging evidence indicates that microRNAs are related with
      antineoplastic drugs resistance, whether microRNAs are responsible for
      insecticide resistance in mosquitos is poorly understood. In this paper, we found
      that miR-285 was significantly upregulated in the deltamethrin-resistant strain
      of Culex pipiens pallens, and overexpression miR-285 through microinjection
      increased mosquito survival rate against deltamethrin treatement. Using
      bioinformatic software, quantitative reverse transcription PCR, luciferase
      reporter assay and microinjection approaches, we conformed that CYP6N23 was the
      target of miR-285. Lower expression of CYP6N23 was observed in the deltamethrin
      resistant strain. While, mosquito mortality rate was decreased after
      downregulating expression of CYP6N23 by dsRNA against CYP6N23 or miR-285 mimic
      microinjection. These findings revealed that miR-285 could target CYP6N23 to
      regulate pyrethroid resistance, providing new insights into mosquito insecticide
      resistance surveillance and control.

PMID- 27651045
TI  - The contribution of work characteristics, home characteristics and gender to
      burnout in medical residents.
AB  - Burnout is highly prevalent in medical residents. In order to prevent or reduce
      burnout in medical residents, we should gain a better understanding of
      contributing and protective factors of burnout. Therefore we examined the
      associations of job demands and resources, home demands and resources, and work
      home interferences with burnout in male and female medical residents. This study
      was conducted on a nation-wide sample of medical residents. In 2005, all Dutch
      medical residents (n = 5245) received a self-report questionnaire on burnout, job
      and home demands and resources and work-home interference. Path analysis was used
      to examine the associations between job and home characteristics and work-home
      interference and burnout in both males and females. In total, 2115 (41.1 %)
      residents completed the questionnaire. In both sexes emotional demands at work
      and the interference between work and home were important contributors to
      burnout, especially when work interferes with home life. Opportunities for job
      development appeared to be an important protective factor. Other contributing and
      protective factors were different for male and female residents. In females,
      social support from family or partner seemed protective against burnout. In
      males, social support from colleagues and participation in decision-making at
      work seemed important. Effectively handling emotional demands at work, dealing
      with the interference between work and home, and having opportunities for job
      development are the most essential factors which should be addressed. However it
      is important to take gender differences into consideration when implementing
      preventive or therapeutic interventions for burnout in medical residents.

PMID- 27651046
TI  - Inter-rater variability as mutual disagreement: identifying raters' divergent
      points of view.
AB  - Whenever multiple observers provide ratings, even of the same performance, inter
      rater variation is prevalent. The resulting 'idiosyncratic rater variance' is
      considered to be unusable error of measurement in psychometric models and is a
      threat to the defensibility of our assessments. Prior studies of inter-rater
      variation in clinical assessments have used open response formats to gather
      raters' comments and justifications. This design choice allows participants to
      use idiosyncratic response styles that could result in a distorted representation
      of the underlying rater cognition and skew subsequent analyses. In this study we
      explored rater variability using the structured response format of Q methodology.
      Physician raters viewed video-recorded clinical performances and provided Mini
      Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) assessment ratings through a web-based
      system. They then shared their assessment impressions by sorting statements that
      described the most salient aspects of the clinical performance onto a forced
      quasi-normal distribution ranging from "most consistent with my impression" to
      "most contrary to my impression". Analysis of the resulting Q-sorts revealed
      distinct points of view for each performance shared by multiple physicians. The
      points of view corresponded with the ratings physicians assigned to the
      performance. Each point of view emphasized different aspects of the performance
      with either rapport-building and/or medical expertise skills being most salient.
      It was rare for the points of view to diverge based on disagreements regarding
      the interpretation of a specific aspect of the performance. As a result,
      physicians' divergent points of view on a given clinical performance cannot be
      easily reconciled into a single coherent assessment judgment that is impacted by
      measurement error. If inter-rater variability does not wholly reflect error of
      measurement, it is problematic for our current measurement models and poses
      challenges for how we are to adequately analyze performance assessment ratings.

PMID- 27651047
TI  - A plasma-assisted cataluminescence sensor for ethyne detection.
AB  - The detection of ethyne is crucial not only in environmental monitoring but also
      in process controlling and mechanism studies in industrial fields. Here, a new
      sensor based on the plasma-assisted cataluminescence (PA-CTL) has been fabricated
      for the detection of ethyne. Based on the assistance of low-temperature plasma
      (LTP) generated by air, which can enhance the catalytic ability of catalysts and
      the reactivity of the analytes, we observed significant cataluminescence (CTL)
      emissions on the surface of nanomaterials of Zn/SiO2. CTL emission has
      demonstrated to be affected by the type of discharge gases or the metal ions
      doping on the catalysts of SiO2. By the optimizations on the working temperature
      and gas flow rate of the air, a PA-CTL based sensor was constructed for the
      detection of ethyne. As demonstrated, this sensor exhibited a linearity of 11
      1160 ng/mL (10-1000 ppm) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 5 ng/mL (5 ppm), and
      also showed good selectivity as well as good stability. This sensor is simple,
      low-cost, and could give stable responses for actual applications, which will
      expand the applications of CTL and show potentials in industrial substances
      detections. Graphical Abstract A plasma-assisted cataluminescence gas sensor for
      ethyne detection.

PMID- 27651048
TI  - Protected Resident Research Time Does Not Increase the Quantity or Quality of
      Residency Program Research Publications: A Comparison of 3 Orthopedic
      Residencies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The effect of dedicated resident research time in terms of
      residency program research productivity remains largely unknown. We hypothesize
      that the quantity and quality of a residency program's peer-reviewed publications
      (PRPs) increase proportionately with the amount of dedicated research time given
      to residents. METHODS: Three residency programs (P1, P2, and P3) were examined.
      P1 has a mandatory research year for all residents between postgraduate years 3
      and 4. P2 has an elective research year for 1 resident between postgraduate years
      2 and 3. P3 has no dedicated research time for residents. All publications
      produced by residents and staff at each program from January 2007 through
      December were recorded from PUBMED. SCImago Journal Rankings were used as a proxy
      to measure research quality. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the
      number of publications produced between the institutions on a per-staff (p =
      0.27) and per-resident (p = 0.80) basis. There were no residents at P3 who
      graduated without at least 1 PRP, whereas there were 7 residents from P1 and 8
      residents from P2 who graduated without a PRP. There were no significant
      differences between programs in terms of the SCImago Journal Ranking for the
      journals containing their publications (p = 0.135). DISCUSSION: Residency
      programs with dedicated research time did not produce significantly (p > 0.05)
      more, or higher quality, PRPs than residencies without dedicated research time.
      It may be that the quantity and quality of PRPs is related more to faculty
      engagement, research interest, and mentorship at individual programs rather than
      the number of residents given dedicated time to complete research. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level 3.

PMID- 27651049
TI  - Coding and Billing in Surgical Education: A Systems-Based Practice Education
      Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Despite increased emphasis on systems-based practice through the
      Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies, few
      studies have examined what surgical residents know about coding and billing. We
      sought to create and measure the effectiveness of a multifaceted approach to
      improving resident knowledge and performance of documenting and coding outpatient
      encounters. DESIGN: We identified knowledge gaps and barriers to documentation
      and coding in the outpatient setting. We implemented a series of educational and
      workflow interventions with a group of 12 residents in a surgical clinic at a
      tertiary care center. To measure the effect of this program, we compared billing
      codes for 1 year before intervention (FY2012) to prospectively collected data
      from the postintervention period (FY2013). All related documentation and coding
      were verified by study-blinded auditors. SETTING: Interventions took place at the
      outpatient surgical clinic at Rhode Island Hospital, a tertiary-care center.
      PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of 12 plastic surgery residents ranging from postgraduate
      year 2 through postgraduate year 6 participated in the interventional sequence.
      RESULTS: A total of 1285 patient encounters in the preintervention group were
      compared with 1170 encounters in the postintervention group. Using evaluation and
      management codes (E&M) as a measure of documentation and coding, we demonstrated
      a significant and durable increase in billing with supporting clinical
      documentation after the intervention. For established patient visits, the monthly
      average E&M code level increased from 2.14 to 3.05 (p < 0.01); for new patients
      the monthly average E&M level increased from 2.61 to 3.19 (p < 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study describes a series of educational and workflow
      interventions, which improved resident coding and billing of outpatient clinic
      encounters. Using externally audited coding data, we demonstrate significantly
      increased rates of higher complexity E&M coding in a stable patient population
      based on improved documentation and billing awareness by the residents.

PMID- 27651050
TI  - Relationship of a Second Professional Degree to Research Productivity of General
      Surgery Residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Many general surgery residents interrupt clinical training for
      research pursuits or advanced degrees during dedicated research time (DRT). We
      hypothesize that time required to obtain a second degree during DRT decreases
      resident publication productivity. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: All
      consecutive categorical general surgery residents at the University of Virginia
      in Charlottesville, VA, graduating in 2007 to 2016 were evaluated. PubMed queries
      identified journal publications for residents during and after DRT, limited to 1
      year postgraduation. DRT varied between 1 and 3 years and was standardized by
      dividing publication number by DRT plus remaining clinical years and 1
      postgraduation year. Median publications were compared between residents by
      receipt of a second degree. RESULTS: Thirty-six residents were eligible for
      analysis. Of these, 8 obtained a Master's in Clinical Research, 3 received Master
      of Public Health, and 1 completed a Doctorate of Philosophy. Publications ranged
      from 2 to 76 for degree residents and 1 to 36 for nondegree residents. For the 12
      degree residents, median publication number per year was 3.8 (interquartile
      range: 2.3, 5.2) compared to 2.6 (interquartile range: 1.6, 3.5) in residents not
      pursuing a postdoctoral degree (p = 0.04). There was no significant difference in
      median number of first and second author publications by degree status.
      CONCLUSION: More publications per year were seen among residents earning a second
      degree, with a statistically significant difference between residents obtaining
      postdoctoral degrees during DRT compared with their counterparts. Our study
      demonstrates that residents pursuing a second degree are not hindered in their
      publication productivity despite the time investment required by the degree
      program. Additional research is needed to determine whether formal research
      training through a second degree corresponds to sustained scholarly productivity
      beyond residency.

PMID- 27651051
TI  - Citation Rate Predictors in the Plastic Surgery Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to determine and characterize the
      scientific and nonscientific factors that influence the rate of article citation
      in the field of plastic surgery. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: We
      reviewed all entries in Annals of Plastic Surgery and Journal of Plastic,
      Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007;
      and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008.
      All scientific articles were analyzed and several article characteristics were
      extracted. The number of citations at 5 years was collected as the outcome
      variable. A multivariable analysis was performed to determine which variables
      were associated with higher citations rates. RESULTS: A total of 2456 articles
      were identified of which only 908 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Most studies
      were publications in the fields of reconstructive (26.3%) or
      pediatric/craniofacial (17.6%) surgery. The median number of citations 5 years
      from publication was 8. In the multivariable analysis, factors associated with
      higher citations rates were subspecialty field (p = 0.0003), disclosed conflict
      of interest (p = 0.04), number of authors (p = 0.04), and journal (p = 0.02).
      CONCLUSION: We have found that higher level of evidence (or other study
      methodology factors) is not associated with higher citation rates. Instead,
      conflict of interest, subspecialty topic, journal, and number of authors are
      strong predictors of high citation rates in plastic surgery.

PMID- 27651052
TI  - Medical Students' and Interns' Interest in Orthopedic Surgery: The Gender Factor.

PMID- 27651053
TI  - Teaching Clinical Ophthalmology: Medical Student Feedback on Team Case-Based
      Versus Lecture Format.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Team-based learning with case presentations in small groups in the
      medical school education setting allows students to be actively engaged and
      interactive with their peers to work through real-world clinical scenarios. Our
      objective is to assess the effects of this curriculum on the medical student
      experience. DESIGN: This study was designed to gather feedback from medical
      students on an ophthalmology elective regarding their experience with our newly
      developed team-based learning curriculum. SETTINGS: Feedback evaluations were
      completed by medical students at the end of their elective and consisted of both
      a Likert scare rating and a free-response section. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 30
      medical students. RESULTS: Students rated the case-based sessions significantly
      better than traditional lecture format with respect to the overall learning
      experience (p = 0.004), enjoyment of learning (p < 0.001), and increasing
      retention and ability to apply knowledge (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is a
      strong preference by medical students for team-based learning within clinical
      ophthalmology.

PMID- 27651054
TI  - The Interventional Arm of the Flexibility In Duty-Hour Requirements for Surgical
      Trainees Trial: First-Year Data Show Superior Quality In-Training Initiative
      Outcomes.
AB  - PURPOSE: With the implementation of strict 80-hour work week in general surgery
      training, serious questions have been raised concerning the quality of surgical
      education and the ability of newly trained general surgeons to independently
      operate. Programs that were randomized to the interventional arm of the
      Flexibility In duty-hour Requirements for Surgical Trainees (FIRST) Trial were
      able to decrease transitions and allow for better continuity by virtue of less
      constraints on duty-hour rules. Using National Surgical Quality Improvement
      Program Quality In-Training Initiative data along with duty-hour violations
      compared with old rules, it was hypothesized that quality of care would be
      improved and outcomes would be equivalent or better than the traditional duty
      hour rules. It was also hypothesized that resident perception of compliance with
      duty hour would not change with implementation of new regulations based on FIRST
      trial. METHODS: Flexible work hours were implemented on July 1, 2014. National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program Quality In-Training Initiative information
      was reviewed from July 2014 to January 2015. Patient risk factors and outcomes
      were compared between institutional resident cases and the national cohort for
      comparison. Residents' duty-hour logs and violations during this period were
      compared to the 6-month period before the implementation of the FIRST trial. The
      annual Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education resident survey was
      used to assess the residents' perception of compliance with duty hours. RESULTS:
      With respect to the postoperative complications, the only statistically
      significant measures were higher prevalence of pneumonia (3.4% vs. 1.5%, p <
      0.05) and lower prevalence of sepsis (0% vs. 1.5%, p < 0.05) among cases covered
      by residents with flexible duty hours. All other measures of postoperative
      surgical complications showed no difference. The total number of duty-hour
      violations decreased from 54 to 16. Had the institution not been part of the
      interventional arm of the FIRST trial, this number would have increased to 238.
      The residents' perception of compliance with 80-hour work week from the
      Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education survey improved from 68% to
      91%. CONCLUSIONS: Residents with flexible work hours on the interventional arm of
      the FIRST trial at our institution took care of a significantly sicker cohort of
      patients as compared with the national dataset with equivalent outcomes. Flexible
      duty-hour policy under the FIRST trial has enabled the residents to have fewer
      work-hour violations while improving continuity of care to the patients.
      Additionally, the overall perception of resident compliance with the duty-hour
      requirements was improved.

PMID- 27651055
TI  - Superior Gain in Knowledge by Podcasts Versus Text-Based Learning in Teaching
      Orthopedics: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Digital learning (e-learning) has become a firm part of surgical
      undergraduate education. However, there is still a lack in analyzing e-learning
      tools in experimental settings without potentially biasing curricular influences.
      This study should compare students' learning outcome with podcasts versus book
      texts under laboratory conditions in the field of orthopedics. METHODS: Voluntary
      medical students were randomly assigned for learning either with a book chapter
      or a podcast about common orthopedic diseases in an isolated computer room.
      Before and after intervention, students answered multiple-choice tests and
      questionnaires about their attitudes and satisfaction. The study was conducted
      from November 2012 to February 2013. RESULTS: Totally, 130 students were included
      (55 text users and 75 podcast users, 52 males and 78 females). There was a
      significant increase in the overall knowledge for both groups (p < 0.001).
      Podcast users scored significantly better in the posttests (p < 0.021) and
      achieved a significantly higher gain of knowledge compared to text users (p <
      0.001). The evaluation also showed a significantly higher approval of podcasts
      regarding comprehensibility, teaching efficacy, or fun learning with it (p <
      0.05). Females gained significantly more knowledge by the use of texts than males
      did (p = 0.04), without any sex difference when using podcasts. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study showed a significantly higher gain of knowledge and higher satisfaction
      from learning with podcasts compared to book texts among students. Podcasts seem
      to be beneficial when teaching defined orthopedic topics to medical students. Sex
      plays an additional independent role in the impact of e-learning tools on
      students' learning outcome.

PMID- 27651057
TI  - The importance of patient involvement in implementing electronic health record
      systems.

PMID- 27651056
TI  - An Innovative, No-cost, Evidence-Based Smartphone Platform for Resident
      Evaluation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Timely performance evaluation and feedback are critical to resident
      development. However, formulating and delivering this information disrupts
      physician workflow, leading to low participation. This study was designed to
      determine if a locally developed smartphone platform would integrate regular
      evaluation into daily processes and thus increase faculty participation in timely
      resident evaluation. METHODS: Formal, documented resident operative and patient
      interaction evaluations were compiled over an 8-month study period. The study was
      divided into two 4-month phases. No changes to the existing evaluation methods
      were made during Phase 1. Phase 2 began after a washout period of 2 weeks and
      coincided with the launch of a smartphone-based platform. The platform uses a
      combination of Likert scale questions and the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition
      to describe competence levels in technical and nontechnical skills. The
      instrument inflicts minimal effect on surgeon workflow, with the aim of
      integrating resident evaluation into daily processes. The number of different
      faculty members performing evaluations, resident level (postgraduate year), type
      of interaction or procedure, and competency data were compiled. All evaluations
      were tracked by the program director as they were automatically uploaded into a
      database. Faculty members were introduced to the new platform at the beginning of
      Phase 2, and previous methods of evaluation continued to be encouraged and were
      considered valid throughout both phases of the study. Data were analyzed using
      Fisher exact test for specific PGY level, and chi-square test was used for
      overall program analysis. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS:
      Total faculty engagement, that is, number of faculty members completing
      evaluations, increased from 13% (5/38) in Phase 1 to 53% (20/38) in Phase 2.
      During Phase 1, all evaluations consisted of online forms through the
      department's established system or e-mails to the program director. Evaluations
      were completed in 0.9% (15/1599) of cases residents completed in Phase 1 versus
      12% (217/1812) of those in Phase 2. During Phase 2, evaluations were conducted
      exclusively using the new platform. This was done based on participant's choice.
      Total numbers of residents and core faculty members did not change between Phases
      1 and 2. CONCLUSIONS: A smartphone-based platform can be created with existing
      technology at no cost. It is adaptable and can be updated in real-time and can
      employ validated scales to build an evaluation portfolio for learners assessing
      technical and nontechnical skills. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, it
      can be designed to integrate into existing workflow patterns to increase faculty
      participation.

PMID- 27651058
TI  - [The clonal evolution of osteosarcomas].
AB  - Osteosarcomas are highly aggressive bone tumors that mainly occur in the
      metaphyses of long bones in children and adolescents. Genetically, they are
      characterized by complex structural and numerical aberrations with large intra-
      and interindividual variations which hamper the identification of the initiating
      and driving events. Sequencing and copy number analyses in a study of 123
      pretherapeutic osteosarcoma samples identified mutations in 14 genes as the
      potential main drivers. Although almost half of all osteosarcomas could be
      attributed to mutations in TP53 and RB1, no single driver gene could be found
      that was clearly responsible for the majority of tumors. There were also no
      unequivocal correlations between single aberrations and clinicopathological
      parameters; however, when looking at the mutation signatures, a striking
      resemblance to BRCA-deficient breast cancer was evident in the majority of
      osteosarcoma profiles. We therefore focused our interest on genes involved in
      homologous recombination repair and applied different algorithms that have been
      shown in the literature to be indicators for functional impairment in these
      signaling cascades. Indeed, >80 % of osteosarcomas showed signatures similar to
      BRCA-deficient tumors and in osteosarcoma cell lines a response to poly(ADP
      ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors could be demonstrated. Our findings thus
      imply that multiple oncogenic pathways can converge and lead to chromosomal
      instability during osteosarcoma evolution resulting in the acquisition of BRCA
      like traits, which might be of potential therapeutic relevance.

PMID- 27651059
TI  - Solitary left axillary lymph node metastasis after curative resection of
      carcinoma at the colostomy site: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) of colon
      cancer is very low, and there have been only a few reports of solitary ALNM.
      Neither the mechanism involved in solitary colon cancer ALNM nor the proper
      treatment has been elucidated. We encountered a case of solitary left ALNM after
      curative resection of carcinoma at the colostomy site. CASE PRESENTATION: A 53
      year-old man underwent a Hartmann's operation for Hirschsprung disease during his
      adolescence. He complained of a mass of the descending colon and was diagnosed
      with colon cancer at the colostomy site with pagetoid spread to the adjacent
      skin. The cancer at the stoma site was resected, and a transverse colostomy was
      performed. Nine years later, his carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 level was high
      during a health screening. On physical examination, adenopathy was palpated in
      the left axilla. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a lymph node in the left
      axillary fossa that was 33 mm in diameter, and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron
      emission tomography/CT showed high uptake in the lesion. We performed a curative
      resection of the left axillary lymph node. The lesion was pathologically
      diagnosed as left ALNM originating from the adenocarcinoma at the colostomy site.
      After lymph node resection, his serum CA19-9 level decreased compared to that
      observed at baseline. He has been receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (capecitabine
      plus oxaliplatin) without recurrence for 5 months after lymph node resection.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present case report shows that carcinoma at the colostomy site
      with pagetoid spread can metastasize to the axillary lymph nodes through
      superficial abdominal lymphatic pathways, and surgical resection followed by
      adjuvant chemotherapy may be a potent strategy to treat solitary colon cancer
      ALNM.

PMID- 27651060
TI  - A multi-command SSVEP-based BCI system based on single flickering frequency half
      field steady-state visual stimulation.
AB  - Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are widely employed in brain
      computer interface (BCI) applications, especially to control machines. However,
      the use of SSVEPs leads to eye fatigue and causes lower accuracy over the long
      term, particularly when multi-commands are required. Therefore, this paper
      proposes a half-field steady-state visual stimulation pattern and paradigm to
      increase the limited number of commands that can be achieved with existing SSVEP
      based BCI methods. Following the theory of vision perception and existing half
      field SSVEP-based BCI systems, the new stimulation pattern generates four
      commands using only one frequency flickering stimulus and has an average
      classification accuracy of approximately 75 %. According to the proposed stimulus
      pattern, using only one frequency without requiring users to stare directly at
      the flickering stimulus allows users to easily focus on the system and experience
      less visual fatigue compared to existing systems. Furthermore, new half-field
      SSVEP-based BCI systems are proposed, incorporating our proposed feature
      extraction and decision-making algorithm. Extracting the signal from the
      occipital area and using a reference electrode position at the parietal area
      yielded better results compared to the central area. In addition, we recommend
      using an LED or LCD as the visual stimulus device (at the recommended size),
      which yielded comparable results to our proposed feature extraction and decision
      making algorithm. Finally, an application of the proposed system is demonstrated
      for real-time television control.

PMID- 27651062
TI  - Hyperparathyroidism jaw tumour syndrome: a pictoral review.
AB  - : Hyperparathyroidism jaw tumour syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant inherited
      endocrine neoplasia syndrome, which predisposes carriers to develop a triad of
      multiple ossifying fibromas of the maxilla and mandible, parathyroid adenomas and
      carcinomas (with consequent hyperparathyroidism) as well as renal and uterine
      tumours. The prevalence of this condition is unknown. Patients typically present
      initially with symptoms and signs of a jaw tumour. A high index of suspicion is
      required for the underlying diagnosis to be recognised, enabling appropriate
      management of jaw lesions, treatment of hyperparathyroidism, if present, as well
      as early detection of malignant disease and screening of family members. TEACHING
      POINTS: * HPT-JT is a rare autosomal dominant inherited endocrine neoplasia
      syndrome. * HPT-JT causes facial disfigurement, morbidity secondary to
      hyperparathyroidism and malignancy. * Patients can present with ossifying
      fibromas of the jaw, hypercalcaemia or malignancy. * A high index of suspicion is
      required for the underlying diagnosis to be recognised. * Management involves
      screening of family members.

PMID- 27651063
TI  - Changes in the timing, length and heating degree days of the heating season in
      central heating zone of China.
AB  - Climate change affects the demand for energy consumption, especially for heating
      and cooling buildings. Using daily mean temperature (Tmean) data, this study
      analyzed the spatiotemporal changes of the starting date for heating (HS), ending
      date for heating (HE), length (HL) and heating degree day (HDD) of the heating
      season in central heating zone of China. Over China's central heating zone,
      regional average HS has become later by 0.97 day per decade and HE has become
      earlier by 1.49 days per decade during 1960-2011, resulting in a decline of HL (
      2.47 days/decade). Regional averaged HDD decreased significantly by 63.22 
      degrees C/decade, which implies a decreasing energy demand for heating over the
      central heating zone of China. Spatially, there are generally larger energy
      saving rate in the south, due to low average HDD during the heating season. Over
      China's central heating zone, Tmean had a greater effect on HL in warm localities
      and a greater effect on HDD in cold localities. We project that the sensitivity
      of HL (HDD) to temperature change will increase (decrease) in a warmer climate.
      These opposite sensitivities should be considered when we want to predict the
      effects of climate change on heating energy consumption in China in the future.

PMID- 27651061
TI  - ECG imaging of ventricular tachycardia: evaluation against simultaneous non
      contact mapping and CMR-derived grey zone.
AB  - ECG imaging is an emerging technology for the reconstruction of cardiac electric
      activity from non-invasively measured body surface potential maps. In this case
      report, we present the first evaluation of transmurally imaged activation times
      against endocardially reconstructed isochrones for a case of sustained
      monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT). Computer models of the thorax and whole
      heart were produced from MR images. A recently published approach was applied to
      facilitate electrode localization in the catheter laboratory, which allows for
      the acquisition of body surface potential maps while performing non-contact
      mapping for the reconstruction of local activation times. ECG imaging was then
      realized using Tikhonov regularization with spatio-temporal smoothing as proposed
      by Huiskamp and Greensite and further with the spline-based approach by Erem et
      al. Activation times were computed from transmurally reconstructed transmembrane
      voltages. The results showed good qualitative agreement between the non
      invasively and invasively reconstructed activation times. Also, low amplitudes in
      the imaged transmembrane voltages were found to correlate with volumes of scar
      and grey zone in delayed gadolinium enhancement cardiac MR. The study underlines
      the ability of ECG imaging to produce activation times of ventricular electric
      activity-and to represent effects of scar tissue in the imaged transmembrane
      voltages.

PMID- 27651064
TI  - The cortical surface correlates of clinical manifestations in the mid-stage
      sporadic Parkinson's disease.
AB  - The alteration of pathological cortical surface may lead to the corresponding
      clinical manifestations of sporadic Parkinson's disease (sPD). Therefore, we
      investigated the correlates of cortical surface and clinical manifestations in
      the mid-stage sPD. Sixty seven mid-stage sPD patients and thirty five matched
      controls were performed the corticometry of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and
      the assessment of clinical manifestations including the demographic and disease
      related characteristics, and underwent the final analysis of the correlates
      between cortical surface and clinical manifestations. The result revealed a
      significant correlation between CDT and Frontal-Sup-Orb-L, Frontal-Sup-Medial-L,
      Frontal-Mid-Orb-L and Rectus-L; SVFT and Frontal-Mid-L and Frontal-Inf-Tri-L; DF
      and Frontal-Sup-R, Frontal-Mid-R and Frontal-Sup-Medial-R; Webster and Occipital
      Mid-R, Angular-R, Temporal-Sup-R and Temporal-Mid-R respectively in the mid-stage
      sPD patients. Our data suggested that the alterations of cortical surface in the
      left Frontal-Sup-Orb, Sup-Medial, Mid-Orb, Mid, Inf-Tri and Rectus, the right
      Frontal-Sup, Mid, Sup-Medial, and Occipital-Mid, Angular, Temporal-Sup and
      Temporal-Mid were the pathological base of some clinical manifestations including
      the cognitive impairment, the space structure, memory, attention, the abstract
      thinking, design, layout, utilization, digital, calculation, the time and spatial
      orientation concept, the operation sequence recognition and the partial motor
      dysfunctions in the mid-stage sPD, and that the dysfunctions of these brain
      regions contributed by the cortical surface lesion were closely correlated with
      some clinical manifestations of mid-stage sPD.

PMID- 27651065
TI  - Localization of organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2) in monoaminergic and
      cholinergic axon terminals of the mouse brain.
AB  - Organic cation transporters (OCTs) are low-affinity, high-capacity carriers that
      mediate sodium-independent transport for biogenic cations, including
      catecholamine, serotonin, histamine, and choline/acetylcholine. Among them, OCT2
      is expressed in neurons of the central nervous system. Although previous studies
      show OCT2 expression in several populations of cholinergic and monoaminergic
      neurons, the regional distribution of OCT2 in the brain remains largely unknown.
      Here we performed immunohistochemical analyses to reveal the distribution of OCT2
      throughout the mouse forebrain. OCT2 immunoreactivity was widely distributed,
      with substantial regional specificity in cortical and subcortical structures
      including the hippocampus, striatum, and some subdivisions of the amygdala and
      extended amygdala. Interestingly, OCT2 appeared as punctate, bouton-like labeling
      in cholinergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic axon terminals that were co
      labeled with presynaptic neurochemical markers. We also co-labeled OCT2 and an
      anterograde tract-tracer injected into the locus coeruleus, demonstrating that
      OCT2 was localized to presumptive noradrenergic terminals in the forebrain.
      Together, our results demonstrated that the polyspecific cation transporter OCT2
      is distributed in cholinergic and monoaminergic terminals in various forebrain
      regions, suggesting that OCT2 could play a role in regulating presynaptic
      reuptake and recycling of choline and monoamines.

PMID- 27651066
TI  - Secretion of full-length tau or tau fragments in a cell culture model.
AB  - Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that plays an important role in the
      pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Several
      studies have suggested that tau may be secreted to extracellular medium and may
      be responsible of spreading of neurodegeneration. The overexpression of tau in
      cultured non-neuronal cells leads to the secretion of this protein. The proline
      rich region of tau may serve as a membrane-binding site during the secretion of
      the full-length tau molecule. Tau fragments lacking this proline-region are
      either not secreted or are secreted in a distinct manner to the full-length
      molecule.

PMID- 27651067
TI  - Targeted transcranial theta-burst stimulation alters fronto-insular network and
      prefrontal GABA.
AB  - Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been used worldwide to
      treat depression. However, the exact physiological effects are not well
      understood. Pathophysiology of depression involves crucial limbic structures
      (e.g. insula), and it is still not clear if these structures can be modulated
      through neurostimulation of surface regions (e.g. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,
      DLPFC), and whether rTMS-induced excitatory/inhibitory transmission alterations
      relate to fronto-limbic connectivity changes. Therefore, we sought proof-of
      concept for neuromodulation of insula via prefrontal intermittent theta-burst
      stimulation (iTBS), and how these effects relate to GABAergic and glutamatergic
      systems. In 27 healthy controls, we employed a single-blind crossover randomised
      controlled trial comparing placebo and real iTBS using resting-state functional
      MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Granger causal analysis was seeded from
      right anterior insula (rAI) to locate individualized left DLPFC rTMS targets.
      Effective connectivity coefficients within rAI and DLPFC were calculated, and
      levels of GABA/Glx, GABA/Cr and Glx/Cr in DLPFC and anterior cingulate voxels
      were also measured. ITBS significantly dampened fronto-insular connectivity and
      reduced GABA/Glx in both voxels. GABA/Glx had a significant mediating effect on
      iTBS-induced changes in DLPFC-to-rAI connectivity. We demonstrate modulation of
      the rAI using targeted iTBS through alterations of excitatory/inhibitory
      interactions, which may underlie therapeutic effects of rTMS, offering promise
      for rTMS treatment optimization.

PMID- 27651068
TI  - Variability in functional brain networks predicts expertise during action
      observation.
AB  - Observing an action performed by another individual activates, in the observer,
      similar circuits as those involved in the actual execution of that action. This
      activation is modulated by prior experience; indeed, sustained training in a
      particular motor domain leads to structural and functional changes in critical
      brain areas. Here, we capitalized on a novel graph-theory approach to
      electroencephalographic data (Fraiman et al., 2016) to test whether variability
      in functional brain networks implicated in Tango observation can discriminate
      between groups differing in their level of expertise. We found that experts and
      beginners significantly differed in the functional organization of task-relevant
      networks. Specifically, networks in expert Tango dancers exhibited less
      variability and a more robust functional architecture. Notably, these expertise
      dependent effects were captured within networks derived from electrophysiological
      brain activity recorded in a very short time window (2s). In brief, variability
      in the organization of task-related networks seems to be a highly sensitive
      indicator of long-lasting training effects. This finding opens new methodological
      and theoretical windows to explore the impact of domain-specific expertise on
      brain plasticity, while highlighting variability as a fruitful measure in
      neuroimaging research.

PMID- 27651069
TI  - Meat, Fish, Poultry, and Egg Intake at Diagnosis and Risk of Prostate Cancer
      Progression.
AB  - Little information exists on diet and prostate cancer progression. We examined
      the association between intakes of total red meat, processed and unprocessed red
      meat, poultry, fish, and eggs and prostate cancer recurrence. We conducted a
      prospective study of 971 men treated with radical prostatectomy for prostate
      cancer between 2003 and 2010. Men completed a food frequency questionnaire at
      diagnosis. We used logistic regression to study the association between diet and
      high-grade or advanced-stage disease. We used Cox models to study the risk of
      progression [N = 94 events, mainly prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence].
      Total red meat intake was marginally associated with risk of high-grade disease
      [Gleason >= 4+3; adjusted OR top vs. bottom quartile: 1.66; 95% confidence
      interval (CI), 0.93-2.97; Ptrend = 0.05], as was very high intake of eggs (OR top
      decile vs. bottom quartile: 1.98; 95% CI, 1.08-3.63, Ptrend = 0.08). Well-done
      red meat was associated with advanced disease (>=pT3; OR top vs. bottom quartile:
      1.74, 95% CI, 1.05-2.90; Ptrend = 0.01). Intakes of red meat, fish, and eggs were
      not associated with progression. Very high poultry intake was inversely
      associated with progression (HR top decile vs. bottom quartile: 0.19; 95% CI,
      0.06-0.63; Ptrend = 0.02). Substituting 30 g/d of poultry or fish for total or
      unprocessed red meat was associated with significantly lower risk of recurrence.
      Lower intakes of red meat and well-done red meat and higher intakes of poultry
      and fish are associated with lower risk of high grade and advanced prostate
      cancer and reduced recurrence risk, independent of stage and grade. Cancer Prev
      Res; 9(12); 933-41. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651071
TI  - Ethical and Safety Issues in Doing Sex Work Research: Reflections From a Field
      Based Ethnographic Study in Kolkata, India.
AB  - While much has been said about the risks and safety issues experienced by female
      sex workers in India, there is a considerable dearth of information about the
      difficulties and problems that sex work researchers, especially female
      researchers, experience when navigating the highly political, ideological, and
      stigmatized environment of the Indian sex industry. As noted by scholars, there
      are several methodological and ethical issues involved with sex work research,
      such as privacy and confidentiality of the participants, representativeness of
      the sample, and informed consent. Yet, there has been reluctance among scholars
      to comment on their research process, especially with regard to how they deal
      with the protocols for research ethics when conducting social and behavioral
      epidemiological studies among female sex workers in India and elsewhere. Drawing
      on my 7 months of field-based ethnographic research with "flying" or non-brothel
      based female sex workers in Kolkata, India, I provide in this article a reflexive
      account of the problems encountered in implementing the research process,
      particularly the ethical and safety issues involved in gaining access and
      acceptance into the sex industry and establishing contact and rapport with the
      participants. In doing so, it is my hope that future researchers can develop the
      knowledge necessary for the design of ethical and non-exploitative research
      projects with sex workers.

PMID- 27651070
TI  - Baseline Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Structural Risk Factors for
      Visual Field Progression in the Advanced Imaging for Glaucoma Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify baseline structural parameters that predict the progression
      of visual field (VF) loss in patients with open-angle glaucoma. DESIGN:
      Multicenter cohort study. METHODS: Participants from the Advanced Imaging for
      Glaucoma (AIG) study were enrolled and followed up. VF progression is defined as
      either a confirmed progression event on Humphrey Progression Analysis or a
      significant (P < .05) negative slope for VF index (VFI). Fourier-domain optical
      coherence tomography (FDOCT) was used to measure optic disc, peripapillary
      retinal nerve fiber layer (NFL), and macular ganglion cell complex (GCC)
      thickness parameters. RESULTS: A total of 277 eyes of 188 participants were
      followed up for 3.7 +/- 2.1 years. VF progression was observed in 83 eyes (30%).
      Several baseline NFL and GCC parameters, but not disc parameters, were found to
      be significant predictors of progression on univariate Cox regression analysis.
      The most accurate single predictors were the GCC focal loss volume (FLV),
      followed closely by NFL-FLV. An abnormal GCC-FLV at baseline increased risk of
      progression by a hazard ratio of 3.1. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that
      combining age and central corneal thickness with GCC-FLV in a composite index
      called "Glaucoma Composite Progression Index" (GCPI) further improved the
      accuracy of progression prediction. GCC-FLV and GCPI were both found to be
      significantly correlated with the annual rate of change in VFI. CONCLUSION: Focal
      GCC and NFL loss as measured by FDOCT are the strongest predictors for VF
      progression among the measurements considered. Older age and thinner central
      corneal thickness can enhance the predictive power using the composite risk
      model.

PMID- 27651073
TI  - Concussions and Risk Within Cultural Contexts of Play.
AB  - Concussions are a type of traumatic injury caused by a jolting of the brain that
      disrupts normal brain function, and multiple concussions can lead to serious long
      term health consequences. In this article, we examine the relationship between
      college students' understanding of concussions and their willingness to continue
      playing despite the possibility of sustaining multiple head injuries. We use a
      mixed-methods approach that includes participant observation, cultural domain
      analysis, and structured interviews. Our research finds that students hold a
      robust cognitive understanding of concussion yet discursively frame concussions
      as skeletomuscular injuries. More importantly, students affirm the importance of
      playing sports for themselves and others, so their decisions to risk multiple
      concussions must be understood within cultural and biocultural contexts of
      meaningful social play. We suggest that peoples' decision to risk multiple head
      injuries should be understood as a desire for meaningful social play rather than
      an uninformed health risk.

PMID- 27651072
TI  - Exposing the Backstage: Critical Reflections on a Longitudinal Qualitative Study
      of Residents' Care Networks in Assisted Living.
AB  - In this article, we analyze the research experiences associated with a
      longitudinal qualitative study of residents' care networks in assisted living.
      Using data from researcher meetings, field notes, and memos, we critically
      examine our design and decision making and accompanying methodological
      implications. We focus on one complete wave of data collection involving 28
      residents and 114 care network members in four diverse settings followed for 2
      years. We identify study features that make our research innovative, but that
      also represent significant challenges. They include the focus and topic; settings
      and participants; scope and design complexity; nature, modes, frequency, and
      duration of data collection; and analytic approach. Each feature has
      methodological implications, including benefits and challenges pertaining to
      recruitment, retention, data collection, quality, and management, research team
      work, researcher roles, ethics, and dissemination. Our analysis demonstrates the
      value of our approach and of reflecting on and sharing methodological processes
      for cumulative knowledge building.

PMID- 27651074
TI  - Preparation of K+-Doped Core-Shell NaYF4:Yb, Er Upconversion Nanoparticles and
      its Application for Fluorescence Immunochromatographic Assay of Human
      Procalcitonin.
AB  - In the present study, we reported a convenient route to prepare well dispersed
      and functionalized K+-doped core-shell upconversion nanoparticles (UCP) by layer
      by-layer (LbL) assembly of polyelectrolytes. UCP was firstly transferred to
      aqueous phase using cationic surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)
      via hydrophobic interaction without removing the existing oleic acid (OA). Then
      the positively charged hydrophilic UCP@CTAB was further alternately deposited
      with negatively charged [poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)] (PSS), positively
      charged [poly (allylamine hydrochloride)] (PAH) and negatively charged [poly
      (acrylic acid)] (PAA). The final carboxyl functionalized UCP@CTAB@PSS@PAH@PAA was
      then conjugated with monoclonal antibody1 (AB1) of procalcitonin (PCT), resulting
      in successful detection of PCT antigens based on the immunochromatographic assay
      (ICA). Linear response was achieved from 0 to 10 ng/mL, and the lowest limit of
      detection (LLD) was 0.18 ng/mL.

PMID- 27651075
TI  - Synthesis of Hexagonal ZnO-PQ7 Nano Disks Conjugated with Folic Acid to Image MCF
      - 7 Cancer Cells.
AB  - Surface modified ZnO nanomaterial is widely used in the field of bioimaging
      worldwide due to its optical properties, electronic characteristics and
      biocompatibility. Fluorescent enhanced, Polyquaternium-7(PQ7) capped, ZnO
      hexagonal nano disks (ZnO-PQ7) were synthesised by simple wet chemical method.
      The structural and optical properties of ZnO-PQ7 hexagonal nano disks were
      characterized using XRD, UV-Visible, Fluorescence, HRTEM, EDAX and FTIR studies.
      The size of synthesised ZnO-PQ7 were around 30-45 nm as confirmed by HRTEM
      studies. Fluorescence emission intensity increased with increase in PQ7
      concentration. ZnO-PQ7 was further conjugated with folic acid (FA) to target
      human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) via EDC/NHS coupling chemistry. Conjugation
      of folic acid with ZnO-PQ7 was confirmed by FTIR studies. The cell viability
      study using Methyl thiazolyltetrazolium(MTT) assay has demonstrated that the ZnO
      PQ7 conjugated FA composites (ZnO-PQ7-FA) exhibit low toxicity towards MCF-7 up
      to a concentration of 125 MUg/mL. Confocal laser scanning microscopic images
      confirmed the uptake of ZnO-PQ7-FA nanoparticles by MCF-7 cells. This study
      reveals ZnO-PQ7-FA nano disks as a potential imaging agent for detection of
      cancer cells. The synthesis route reported in this article is simple and easy to
      follow for the synthesis of ZnO-PQ7-FA in bulk quantities with high purity.

PMID- 27651078
TI  - Early detection of child and adolescent mental disorders: some elements of a
      necessary debate.

PMID- 27651077
TI  - SREBP1c-CRY1 axis suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis upon insulin.

PMID- 27651076
TI  - Safety and Acceptability of Community-Based Distribution of Injectable
      Contraceptives: A Pilot Project in Mozambique.
AB  - Mozambique has witnessed a climbing total fertility rate in the last 20 years.
      Nearly one-third of married women have an unmet need for family planning, but the
      supply of family planning services is not meeting the demand. This study aimed to
      explore the safety and effectiveness of training 2 cadres of community health
      workers-traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and agentes polivalentes elementares
      (APEs) (polyvalent elementary health workers)-to administer the injectable
      contraceptive depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), and to provide evidence
      to policy makers on the feasibility of expanding community-based distribution of
      DMPA in areas where TBAs and APEs are present. A total of 1,432 women enrolled in
      the study between February 2014 and April 2015. The majority (63% to 66%) of
      women in the study started using contraception for the first time during the
      study period, and most women (over 66%) did not report side effects at the 3
      month and 6-month follow-up visits. Very few (less than 0.5%) experienced
      morbidities at the injection site on the arm. Satisfaction with the performance
      of TBAs and APEs was high and improved over the study period. Overall, the
      project showed a high continuation rate (81.1%) after 3 injections, with TBA
      clients having significantly higher continuation rates than APE clients after 3
      months and after 6 months. Clients' reported willingness to pay for DMPA (64%)
      highlights the latent demand for modern contraceptives. Given Mozambique's
      largely rural population and critical health care workforce shortage, community
      based provision of family planning in general and of injectable contraceptives in
      particular, which has been shown to be safe, effective, and acceptable, is of
      crucial importance. This study demonstrates that community-based distribution of
      injectable contraceptives can provide access to family planning to a large group
      of women that previously had little or no access.

PMID- 27651079
TI  - Please Do Not Send Us Your Good Articles!

PMID- 27651080
TI  - Feasibility of Biological Effective Monitoring of Chrome Electroplaters to
      Chromium through Analysis of Serum Malondialdehyde.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Great concern about occupational exposure to chromium (Cr [VI]) has
      been reported due to escalated risk of lung cancer in exposed workers.
      Consequences of occupational exposure to Cr (VI) have been reported as oxidative
      stress and lung tissue damage. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of
      biological effect monitoring of chrome electroplaters through analysis of serum
      malondialdehyde (MDA). METHODS: 90 workers directly involved in chrome
      electroplating---categorized into three equal groups based on their job as near
      bath workers, degreaser, and washers---and 30 workers without exposure to Cr
      (VI), served as the control group, were studied. Personal samples were collected
      and analyzed according to NIOSH method 7600. Serum MDA level was measured by HPLC
      using a UV detector. RESULTS: Median Cr (VI) exposure level was 0.38 mg/m(3) in
      near bath workers, 0.20 mg/m(3) in degreasers, and 0.05 mg/m(3) in washers. The
      median serum MDA level of three exposed groups (2.76 MUmol/L) was significantly
      (p<0.001) higher than that in the control group (2.00 MUmol/L). There was a
      positive correlation between electroplaters' level of exposure to Cr (VI) and
      their serum MDA level (Spearman's rho 0.806, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Serum MDA
      level is a good biomarker for the level of occupational exposure to Cr (VI) in
      electroplaters.

PMID- 27651081
TI  - Sleep Quality of Call Handlers Employed in International Call Centers in National
      Capital Region of Delhi, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Call center sector in India is a relatively new and fast growing
      industry driving employment and growth in modern India today. Most international
      call centers in National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi operate at odd work hours
      corresponding to a time suitable fortheir international customers. The sleep
      quality of call handlers employed in these call centers is in jeopardy owing to
      their altered sleep schedule. OBJECTIVE: To assess the sleep quality and
      determine its independent predictors among call handlers employed in
      international call centers in NCR of Delhi. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      questionnaire-based study was conducted on 375 call handlers aged 18-39 years
      employed in international call centers in NCR of Delhi. Sleep quality was
      assessed using Athens Insomnia scale along with a pre-tested, structured
      questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 24.6 (SD 2.4) years. 78%
      of participants were male. 83.5% of respondents were unmarried. 44.3% of call
      handlers were cigarette smokers. Physical ailments were reported by 37% call
      handlers. 77.6% of call handlers had somesuspicion of insomnia or suspected
      insomnia; the rest had no sleep problem. Smoking, poor social support, heavy
      workload, lack of relaxation facility at office, and prolonged travel time to
      office were independent predictors of sleep quality (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Call
      handlers have to compromise upon their sleep owing to the contemporary work
      settings in call centers. Safeguarding their health becomes an occupational
      health challenge to public health specialists.

PMID- 27651082
TI  - The Adjustment Disorder--New Module 20 as a Screening Instrument: Cluster
      Analysis and Cut-off Values.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adjustment disorder (AjD) is a transient mental health condition
      emerging after stressful life events. Its diagnostic criteria have recently been
      under revision which led to the development of the Adjustment Disorder--New
      Module 20 (ADNM-20) as a self-report assessment. OBJECTIVE: To identify a
      threshold value for people at high risk for AjD. METHODS: As part of a randomized
      controlled trial evaluating a self-help manual for burglary victims, the baseline
      data of all participants (n=80) were analyzed. Besides the ADNM-20, participants
      answered self-report questionnaires regarding the external variables post
      traumatic stress disorder symptomatology, depression, anxiety, and stress levels.
      We used cluster analysis and ROC analysis to identify the most appropriate cut
      off value. RESULTS: The cluster analysis identified three different subgroups.
      They differed in their level of AjD symptomatology from low to high symptom
      severity. The same pattern of impairment was found for the external variables.
      The ROC analysis testing the ADNM-20 sum scoreagainst the theory-based diagnostic
      algorithm, revealed an optimal cut-off score at 47.5 to distinguish between
      people at high risk for AjD and people at low risk. CONCLUSION: The ADNM-20
      distinguishes between people with low, moderate, and high symptomatology. The
      recommendation for a cut-off score at 47.5 facilitates the use of the ADNM-20 in
      research and practice.

PMID- 27651083
TI  - Incidence Patterns and Occupational Risk Factors of Human Brucellosis in Greece,
      2004-2015.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is the most common bacterial zoonosis worldwide. Greece
      has the highest reported incidence among EU countries. However, occupational risk
      factors have not been well described. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence
      patterns and exposure risk factors of brucellosis in Greece. METHODS: We used
      national-level surveillance and occupational denominator data to estimate the
      incidence patterns and exposure risk factors of brucellosis in Greece, with
      particular emphasis on occupation. RESULTS: Between November 2003 and December
      2015 a total of 2159 human brucellosis cases was reported. The mean incidence
      rate was 1.62 per 100 000 population per year. A large majority of cases (77.1%)
      reported consumption of unpasteurized milk or contact with livestock animals.
      Most cases occured in farmers and livestock breeders (1079 [87.7%] of 1231 cases
      reporting their occupation), corresponding to an annual incidence of 7.1 per 100
      000. However, there were other occupations with a similar or higher risk:
      butchers and abattoir workers (12.7 per 100 000), laboratory personnel (3.1 per
      100 000), while the highest risk was for veterinarians (53.2 per 100 000).
      CONCLUSION: Brucellosis incidence in specific occupational groups was much higher
      than in the general population. These results underline the importance of
      collecting information on occupation, both during the diagnostic process and in
      the surveillance system. Besides efforts to control brucellosis in animals,
      organized prevention efforts are needed within an occupational health framework,
      especially for the most vulnerable workers.

PMID- 27651084
TI  - Micronucleus, Nucleoplasmic Bridge, and Nuclear Budding in Peripheral Blood Cells
      of Workers Exposed to Low Level Benzene.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Benzene is one of the important occupational pollutants. There are
      some reports about the leukemogenic effects related to low-level exposure to
      benzene. OBJECTIVE: To study the frequency of micronucleus (MN), nucleoplasmic
      bridge (NB), and nuclear budding (NBUD) in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of
      petrochemical workers with low level exposure to benzene. METHODS: We enrolled 50
      workers exposed to low-level benzene and 31 unexposed workers of a petrochemical
      industry. After exclusion of 3 samples, peripheral blood lymphocytes of the
      remaining 47 exposed and 31 unexposed workers were analyzed for the frequency of
      MN, NB, and NBUD by cytochalasin-blocked MN technique. RESULTS: MN was present in
      28 (60%) exposed and 18 (58%) unexposed workers. NB was observed in 6 (13%), and
      2 (7%) exposed and unexposed workers, respectively; the frequency for NBUD was 20
      (43%), and 13 (42%), respectively. No significant difference was found in the
      observed frequencies of MN, NB, and NBUD in the peripheral blood lymphocytes
      between the exposed and unexposed group workers. CONCLUSION: Occupational
      exposure to low-level benzene does not increase the frequency of MN, NB, and NBUD
      in the peripheral blood lymphocytes, biomarkers for DNA damage.

PMID- 27651086
TI  - Mercury Poisoning in Operational Settings among Gilders.

PMID- 27651085
TI  - Seroprotection against Vaccine-Preventable Diseases amongst Health Care Workers
      in a Community Hospital, Qatar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health care workers (HCW) are at high risk of contracting various
      infectious diseases and play a dual role in the transmission of infections in
      health care facilities. OBJECTIVE: To determine the seroprotection against
      hepatitis B, measles, rubella, and varicella among HCWs in a community hospital
      in Qatar. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted in a 75-bed
      community hospital in Dukhan, Qatar. From August 2012 to December 2015, 705 HCWs
      were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies for measles, rubella, and
      varicella, and also for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). They were also asked
      about previous history of hepatitis B vaccination. RESULTS: 595 (84.4%) HCWs
      received a full hepatitis B vaccination schedule; 110 (15.6%) received a single
      dose. The full schedule was reported with higher frequency by nurses (90.2%)
      compared to physicians (74.1%) or technicians (79.7%). Those aged >=30 years
      (90.4%) and <20 years of work experience had received a full vaccination schedule
      more frequently than younger and less experienced HCWs. Female HCWs (87.8%)
      received full schedule more frequently than males (78.8%). 73.4% of the staff had
      seroprotection against heaptitis B, with the lowest anti-HBsAg titers observed in
      physicians (58.8%) compared with other categories; males (64.9%) were less
      protected than females. The seropositivity was 85.6%(95% CI 82.4% to 88.4%) for
      measles, 94.7% (95% CI 92.2% to 97.3%) for rubella, and 92.2% (95% CI 89.7% to
      94.7%) for varicella. CONCLUSION: HCWs, particularly physicians, are not enough
      protected against hepatitis B. The seroprotection against measles, rubella, and
      varicella.

PMID- 27651087
TI  - Authors' reply.

PMID- 27651088
TI  - Sickness Absence and Precarious Employment.

PMID- 27651089
TI  - Immune responses of a meningococcal A + W outer membrane vesicle (OMV) vaccine
      with and without aluminium hydroxide adjuvant in two different mouse strains.
AB  - Meningococci (Neisseria meningiditis) of serogroups A and W have caused large
      epidemics of meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa for decades, and affordable and
      multivalent vaccines, effective in all age groups, are needed. A bivalent
      serogroup A and W (A + W) meningococcal vaccine candidate consisting of
      deoxycholate-extracted outer membrane vesicles (OMV) from representative African
      disease isolates was previously found to be highly immunogenic in outbred mice
      when formulated with the adjuvant aluminium hydroxide (AH). OMV has been shown to
      have inherent adjuvant properties. In order to study the importance of AH and
      genetical differences between mice strains on immune responses, we compared the
      immunogenicity of the A + W OMV vaccine when formulated with or without AH in
      inbred C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ mice (Th1 and Th2 dominant strains, respectively).
      The immunogenicity of the vaccine was found to be comparable in the two mice
      strains despite their different immune profiles. Adsorption to AH increased anti
      OMV IgG levels and serum bactericidal activity (SBA). The immune responses were
      increased by each dose for the adsorbed vaccine, but the third dose did not
      significantly improve the immunogenicity further. Thus, a vaccine formulation
      with the A and W OMV will likely benefit from including AH as adjuvant.

PMID- 27651090
TI  - Understanding regulation of leaf internal carbon and water transport using online
      stable isotope techniques.
AB  - 83 I. 83 II. 84 III. 84 IV. 85 V. 86 VI. 86 VII. 86 87 References 87 SUMMARY: The
      balance of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and water vapour exchange between leaves and the
      atmosphere is strongly controlled by stomatal conductance. However, the influence
      of transport processes within leaves has recently been gaining prominence. Stable
      isotope techniques are at the forefront of understanding transport within leaves
      and the recent development of online, real-time optical isotope analysers has
      paved the way for new questions to be asked. In this insight, I outline these new
      techniques and the questions they can potentially address, including assessing
      possible coordination between mesophyll conductance to CO2 and leaf hydraulic
      conductance.

PMID- 27651092
TI  - Zika virus-associated brain damage: animal models and open issues.

PMID- 27651093
TI  - Unraveling the organizational mechanism at the root of safety compliance in an
      Italian manufacturing firm.
AB  - Safety performance is recognized as the more proximal and effective precursor of
      safety outcomes. In particular, safety compliance significantly reduces workplace
      accidents and injuries. However, it is not entirely clear what role
      organizational factors play in determining workers' safety. The present study
      contributes to defining which organizational factors increase safety compliance
      by testing a mediational model in which supervisor support is related to safety
      climate, which in turn is related to organizational identification that finally
      is related to safety compliance. We tested our hypotheses in a sample of 186
      production workers of an Italian manufacturing firm using a cross-sectional
      design. Findings confirm our hypotheses. Management should consider these
      organizational factors in order to implement primary prevention practices against
      work accidents.

PMID- 27651091
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of human enterovirus 71 at the origin of an epidemic of
      fatal hand, foot and mouth disease cases in Cambodia.
AB  - Human enterovirus 71 (EV-A71) causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). EV-A71
      circulates in many countries and has caused large epidemics, especially in the
      Asia-Pacific region, since 1997. In April 2012, an undiagnosed fatal disease with
      neurological involvement and respiratory distress occurred in young children
      admitted to the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Most
      died within a day of hospital admission, causing public panic and international
      concern. In this study, we describe the enterovirus (EV) genotypes that were
      isolated during the outbreak in 2012 and the following year. From June 2012 to
      November 2013, 312 specimens were collected from hospitalized and ambulatory
      patients and tested by generic EV and specific EV-A71 reverse transcription PCR.
      EV-A71 was detected in 208 clinical specimens while other EVs were found in 32
      patients. The VP1 gene and/or the complete genome were generated. Our
      phylogenetic sequencing analysis demonstrated that 80 EV-A71 strains belonged to
      the C4a subgenotype and 3 EV-A71 strains belonged to the B5 genotype.
      Furthermore, some lineages of EV-A71 were found to have appeared in Cambodia
      following separate introductions from neighboring countries. Nineteen EV A (CV-A6
      and CV-A16), 9 EV B (EV-B83, CV-B3, CV-B2, CV-A9, E-31, E-2 and EV-B80) and 4 EV
      C (EV-C116, EV-C96, CV-A20 and Vaccine-related PV-3) strains were also detected.
      We found no molecular markers of disease severity. We report here that EV-A71
      genotype C4 was the main etiological agent of a large outbreak of HFMD and
      particularly of severe forms associated with central nervous system infections.
      The role played by other EVs in the epidemic could not be clearly established. 

PMID- 27651095
TI  - The Presence of Mercury in the Tissues of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos L.) from
      Wloclawek Reservoir in Poland.
AB  - The study aimed at determining the degree of mercury contamination of mallards,
      game waterbirds migrating from the regions of the unknown degree of contamination
      and establishing whether the consumption of their meat comprises a hazard to
      human health in view of the binding norms concerning the mercury content in food
      products. The investigations were carried out on 30 mallards shot during the duck
      shooting season in which mercury concentrations in the muscles, liver, and
      kidneys were determined using the cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV
      AAS) method. The mean Hg concentration in the investigated tissues in all birds
      studied amounted to 0.110, 0.154, and 0.122 mg kg-1 for the muscles, kidneys, and
      liver, respectively. The study indicated statistically significant (p <= 0.01)
      positive correlation between all of the organs examined. Animals were divided
      into two groups differing in both absolute values of Hg concentrations and those
      measured in individual tissues. In particular organs of birds representing the
      first group, the presence of highly significant correlation (p <= 0.01) was
      observed in all organs examined. In the second group, highly significant positive
      correlation between Hg concentrations in the liver and kidneys and highly
      significant negative dependence between the liver and muscles was noted. The
      examinations revealed that some birds must have come from regions of a high
      degree of mercury contamination.

PMID- 27651094
TI  - Genome sequence of Aspergillus luchuensis NBRC 4314.
AB  - Awamori is a traditional distilled beverage made from steamed Thai-Indica rice in
      Okinawa, Japan. For brewing the liquor, two microbes, local kuro (black) koji
      mold Aspergillus luchuensis and awamori yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are
      involved. In contrast, that yeasts are used for ethanol fermentation throughout
      the world, a characteristic of Japanese fermentation industries is the use of
      Aspergillus molds as a source of enzymes for the maceration and saccharification
      of raw materials. Here we report the draft genome of a kuro (black) koji mold, A.
      luchuensis NBRC 4314 (RIB 2604). The total length of nonredundant sequences was
      nearly 34.7 Mb, comprising approximately 2,300 contigs with 16 telomere-like
      sequences. In total, 11,691 genes were predicted to encode proteins. Most of the
      housekeeping genes, such as transcription factors and N-and O-glycosylation
      system, were conserved with respect to Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae
      An alternative oxidase and acid-stable alpha-amylase regarding citric acid
      production and fermentation at a low pH as well as a unique glutamic peptidase
      were also found in the genome. Furthermore, key biosynthetic gene clusters of
      ochratoxin A and fumonisin B were absent when compared with A. niger genome,
      showing the safety of A. luchuensis for food and beverage production. This genome
      information will facilitate not only comparative genomics with industrial kuro
      koji molds, but also molecular breeding of the molds in improvements of awamori
      fermentation.

PMID- 27651096
TI  - Beyond the hype and hope: Critical considerations for intranasal oxytocin
      research in autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Extensive research efforts in the last decade have been expended into
      understanding whether intranasal oxytocin may be an effective therapeutic in
      treating social communication impairments in individuals with autism spectrum
      disorder (ASD). After much hyped early findings, subsequent clinical trials of
      longer-term administration have yielded more conservative and mixed evidence.
      However, it is still unclear at this stage whether these more disappointing
      findings reflect a true null effect or are mitigated by methodological
      differences masking true effects. In this review, we comprehensively evaluate the
      rationale for oxytocin as a therapeutic, evaluating evidence from randomized
      controlled trials, case reports, and open-label studies of oxytocin
      administration in individuals with ASD. The evidence to date, including reviews
      of preregistered trials, suggests a number of critical considerations for the
      design and interpretation of research in this area. These include considering the
      choice of ASD outcome measures, dosing and nasal spray device issues, and
      participant selection. Despite these limitations in the field to date, there
      remains significant potential for oxytocin to ameliorate aspects of the
      persistent and debilitating social impairments in individuals with ASD. Given the
      considerable media hype around new treatments for ASD, as well as the needs of
      eager families, there is an urgent need for researchers to prioritise considering
      such factors when conducting well-designed and controlled studies to further
      advance this field. Autism Res 2017, 10: 25-41. (c) 2016 International Society
      for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27651097
TI  - Intensity and Learning Outcomes in the Treatment of Children With Autism Spectrum
      Disorder.
AB  - Ample research has shown that intensive applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment
      produces robust outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD);
      however, little is known about the relationship between treatment intensity and
      treatment outcomes. The current study was designed to evaluate this relationship.
      Participants included 726 children, ages 1.5 to 12 years old, receiving community
      based behavioral intervention services. Results indicated a strong relationship
      between treatment intensity and mastery of learning objectives, where higher
      treatment intensity predicted greater progress. Specifically, 35% of the variance
      in mastery of learning objectives was accounted for by treatment hours using
      standard linear regression, and 60% of variance was accounted for using
      artificial neural networks. These results add to the existing support for higher
      intensity treatment for children with ASD.

PMID- 27651098
TI  - Decreased WNT3 expression in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is a hallmark of
      disease progression and identifies patients with worse prognosis in the subgroup
      with mutated IGHV.
AB  - The canonical Wnt pathway, dependent on beta-catenin-controlled transcription, is
      the most explored Wnt pathway, known to drive the malignant transformation of
      multiple cell types. Several reports have suggested that this pathway also
      participates in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) pathogenesis. To get a better
      insight into the role of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in CLL we analysed in
      detail the expression of the most overexpressed Wnt ligand, encoded by the WNT3
      gene, in a well-defined cohort of 137 CLL patients. Our analysis demonstrated
      that (i) untreated patients with more aggressive disease (with a notable
      exception of patients with 11q deletion) express less WNT3, (ii) WNT3 declines
      with disease progression in a significant proportion of patients and (iii) low
      WNT3 was identified as a strong independent marker indicating shorter treatment
      free survival in CLL patients with IGHV mutation. Interestingly, CLL-related
      lymphoid cell lines, but not stromal cells, failed to respond to the ligand
      induced activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. This opens the possibility
      that CLL cells use Wnt-3 to communicate with the cells in the microenvironment.
      We thus propose that the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway plays a more complex role in
      CLL pathogenesis than previously anticipated.

PMID- 27651099
TI  - Conceptual overdiagnosis. A comment on Wendy Rogers and Yishai Mintzker's article
      "Getting clearer on overdiagnosis".

PMID- 27651100
TI  - Chitosan Nanoparticles Prepared by Ionotropic Gelation: An Overview of Recent
      Advances.
AB  - The objective of this review is to summarize recent advances in chitosan
      nanoparticles prepared by ionotropic gelation. Significant progress has occurred
      in this area since the method was first reported. The gelation technique has been
      improved through a number of creative methodological modifications. Ionotropic
      gelation via electrospraying and spinning disc processing produces nanoparticles
      with a more uniform size distribution. Large-scale manufacturing of the
      nanoparticles can be achieved with the latter approach. Hydrophobic and
      hydrophilic drugs can be simultaneously encapsulated with high efficiency by
      emulsification followed by ionic gelation. The turbulent mixing approach
      facilitates nanoparticle formation at a relatively high polymer concentration (5
      mg/mL). The technique can be easily tuned to achieve the desired polymer/surface
      modifications (e.g., blending, coating, and surface conjugation). Using factorial
      design-based approaches, optimal conditions for nanoparticle formation can be
      determined with a minimum number of experiments. New insights have been gained
      into the mechanism of chitosan-tripolyphosphate nanoparticle formation. Chitosan
      nanoparticles prepared by ionotropic gelation tend to aggregate/agglomerate in
      unfavorable environments. Factors influencing this phenomenon and strategies that
      can be adopted to minimize the instability are discussed. Ionically cross-linked
      nanoparticles based on native chitosan and modified chitosan have shown excellent
      efficacy for controlled and targeted drug-delivery applications. 

PMID- 27651101
TI  - PLGA Nanoparticles and Their Versatile Role in Anticancer Drug Delivery.
AB  - Nanotechnological advancement has become a key standard for the diagnosis and
      treatment of several complex disorders such as cancer by utilizing the enhanced
      permeability and retention effect and tumor-specific targeting. Synthesis and
      designing the formulation of active agents in terms of their efficient delivery
      is of prime importance for healthcare. The use of nanocarriers has resolved the
      undesirable characteristics of anticancer drugs such as low solubility and poor
      permeability in cells. Several types of nanoparticles (NPs) have been designed
      with the use of various polymers along or devoid of surface engineering for
      targeting tumor cells. All NPs include polymers in their framework and, of these,
      polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) is biodegradable and Food and Drug Administration
      approved for human use. PLGA has been used extensively in the development of NPs
      for anticancer drug delivery. The extensive use of PLGA NPs is promising for
      cancer therapy, with higher efficiency and less adverse effects. The present
      review focused on recent developments regarding PLGA NPs, the methods used for
      their preparation, their characterization, and their utility in the delivery of
      chemotherapeutic agents. 

PMID- 27651102
TI  - Niosomes as Nano-Delivery Systems in the Pharmaceutical Field.
AB  - Nanosystems used in the pharmaceutical field aim to guarantee a controlled
      release and efficacy boost with dose reduction of the drug. The same active
      ingredient could be vehiculated in different concentrations in distinct
      nanosystems. Among these nanostructures, the vesicular ones present a versatile
      delivery system that could be applied to encapsulate lipophilic, amphiphilic, and
      hydrophilic compounds. Liposomes are the most well-known vesicular nanosystems;
      however, there are others, such as niosomes, that are composed of nonionic
      surfactants that are polymeric or conventional. Niosomes could be prepared using
      the thin film hydration method, in which the active ingredient is solubilized in
      organic solvent with the surfactant or in aqueous solution depending on its
      polarity. In addition, co-surfactants could be used to improve stabilization and
      vesicle integrity because they occupy regions in the interface where the mainly
      surfactant could not reach. Vesicular nanosystems could be characterized by
      different techniques, such as microscopy, dynamic light scattering, nuclear
      magnetic resonance, and others. These nanostructures could be applied to drugs
      (administered by different routes) or to gene and cosmetic delivery systems. 

PMID- 27651104
TI  - Dynamical Bifurcation in Gas-Phase XH- + CH3 Y SN 2 Reactions: The Role of Energy
      Flow and Redistribution in Avoiding the Minimum Energy Path.
AB  - The gas-phase reactions of XH- (X=O, S) + CH3 Y (Y=F, Cl, Br) span nearly the
      whole range of SN 2 pathways, and show an intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC)
      (minimum energy path) with a deep well owing to the CH3 XH???Y- (or CH3 S- ???HF)
      hydrogen-bonded postreaction complex. MP2 quasiclassical-type direct dynamics
      starting at the [HX???CH3 ???Y]- transition-state (TS) structure reveal distinct
      mechanistic behaviors. Trajectories that yield the separated CH3 XH+Y- (or CH3 S-
      +HF) products directly are non-IRC, whereas those that sample the CH3 XH???Y- (or
      CH3 S- ???HF) complex are IRC. The IRCIRC/non-IRC ratios of 90:10, 40:60, 25:75,
      2:98, 0:100, and 0:100 are obtained for (X, Y)=(S, F), (O, F), (S, Cl), (S, Br),
      (O, Cl), and (O, Br), respectively. The properties of the energy profiles after
      the TS cannot provide a rationalization of these results. Analysis of the energy
      flow in dynamics shows that the trajectories cross a dynamical bifurcation, and
      that the inability to follow the minimum energy path arises from long vibration
      periods of the X-C???Y bending mode. The partition of the available energy to the
      products into vibrational, rotational, and translational energies reveals that if
      the vibrational contribution is more than 80 %, non-IRC behavior dominates,
      unless the relative fraction of the rotational and translational components is
      similar, in which case a richer dynamical mechanism is shown, with an IRC/non-IRC
      ratio that correlates to this relative fraction.

PMID- 27651103
TI  - Radium-223 Use in Clinical Practice and Variables Associated With Completion of
      Therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radium-223 has shown clinical efficacy in metastatic castration
      resistant prostate cancer. Despite improvement in quality of life and survival,
      practice patterns and utility of this agent outside the context of clinical
      trials have not been fully characterized. The primary objective in this study was
      to evaluate variables associated with completion of 5 to 6 radium-223 doses.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted retrospective analyses of patients who
      received radium-223 (n = 135). Patients were classified into 3 cohorts: 1 to 2, 3
      to 4, or 5 to 6 radium-223 doses. We evaluated the association of clinical and
      laboratory variables with the number of cycles administered (5-6 vs. 1-4 doses).
      RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (18.5%) received 1 to 2 radium-223 doses, 27
      (20.0%) received 3 to 4, and 83 (61.5%) received 5 to 6. The most common reasons
      for treatment discontinuation included disease progression (61.5%, n = 40),
      patient preference (15.4%, n = 10), and toxicity (10.8%, n = 7). Factors
      associated with therapy completion in univariate analysis included previous
      sipuleucel-T treatment (P = .068), no previous abiraterone or enzalutamide
      treatment (P = .007), hemoglobin >= lower limit of normal (LLN; P = .006), white
      blood cell count >= LLN (P = .045), absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= LLN (P =
      .049), lower alkaline phosphatase (P = .029), and lower lactate dehydrogenase
      levels (P = .014). Factors associated with therapy completion in multivariable
      analysis included previous sipuleucel-T treatment (P = .009), hemoglobin >= LLN
      (P = .037), and ANC >= LLN (P = .029). CONCLUSION: Several clinical parameters
      are associated with radium-223 therapy completion. In general, these parameters
      reflect earlier disease stage. These data are hypothesis-generating and
      prospective testing of the optimal number of radium-223 doses is warranted.

PMID- 27651105
TI  - The incidence of Kawasaki disease after vaccination within the UK pre-school
      National Immunisation Programme: an observational THIN database study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To provide expected incidence rates of Kawasaki disease after
      vaccination in routine clinical practice and as recommended within a pre-school
      National Immunisation Programme (NIP). METHODS: A post-immunisation risk period
      when Kawasaki disease onset might be associated with vaccination was defined as
      28 days. Immunisation records for children under 6 years were identified from The
      Health Improvement Network (THIN) database of electronic UK primary health care
      records (2008-2012) and linked to previously validated cases of Kawasaki disease
      with an assigned date of onset. Kawasaki disease incidence in the risk period
      after a complete NIP recommended set of vaccinations was estimated for five
      vaccination stages individually and in total. RESULTS: A total of 642 170
      complete pre-school immunisation stages from 275 986 children were included. Six
      cases of Kawasaki disease had onset in the risk period after any NIP stage
      providing an incidence of 12.8 per 100 000 person years (95%CI 5.7, 28.4). The
      incidence after any single immunisation stage ranged from 0 to 27.4 (95%CI 8.8,
      84.8) per 100 000 person years. CONCLUSION: There were few cases of Kawasaki
      disease in the risk period after any NIP vaccination combination. The incidence
      rates will aid in the interpretation of clinical trials and post-marketing
      surveillance of new vaccines. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27651108
TI  - Perimenopausal invasive hyadatidiform mole treated by total abdominal
      hysterectomy followed by chemotherapy.
AB  - Gestational trophoblastic neoplasias (GTNs) are rare tumors that constitute <1%
      of all gynecological malignancies. GTNs in postmenopausal women are rare and
      usually malignant. We present a rare case of an invasive mole of the uterus with
      metastasis to the right ovary and labium minus treated by total abdominal
      hysterectomy followed by chemotherapy. 

PMID- 27651107
TI  - Validity of four measures in assessing school canteen menu compliance with state
      based healthy canteen policy.
AB  - Issue addressed In order to assess the impact of healthy school canteen policies
      on food availability for students, valid methods of measuring compliance are
      needed that can be applied at scale. The aim of this study is to assess the
      validity and direct cost of four methods to assess policy compliance: 1)
      principal and 2) canteen manager self-report via a computer-assisted telephone
      interview; and 3) comprehensive and 4) quick menu audits by dietitians, compared
      with observations. Methods A cross-sectional study took place in the Hunter
      region of NSW, Australia, in a sample of 38 primary schools that had previously
      participated in a randomised controlled trial to improve healthy canteen policy
      compliance. Policy compliance was assessed using the four methods specified
      above. Percentage agreement, kappa, sensitivity and specificity compared with
      observations was calculated together with the direct time taken and costs of each
      method. Indirect costs (including set-up costs) for all measures have not been
      included. Results Agreement with observations was substantial for the quick menu
      audit (kappa=0.68), and moderate for the comprehensive menu audit (kappa=0.42).
      Principal and canteen manager self-report resulted in poor agreement and low
      specificity with the gold standard. The self-reported measures had the lowest
      cost, followed by the quick menu audit and lastly the comprehensive menu audit.
      Conclusion The quick menu audit represents a valid and potentially low-cost
      method of supporting policy implementation at scale. So what? This study
      demonstrates that a quick menu audit represents a valid measure of undertaking
      assessment of school canteen policy compliance at a population level.

PMID- 27651106
TI  - Even-odd layer-dependent magnetotransport of high-mobility Q-valley electrons in
      transition metal disulfides.
AB  - In few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), the conduction bands along
      the GammaK directions shift downward energetically in the presence of interlayer
      interactions, forming six Q valleys related by threefold rotational symmetry and
      time reversal symmetry. In even layers, the extra inversion symmetry requires all
      states to be Kramers degenerate; whereas in odd layers, the intrinsic inversion
      asymmetry dictates the Q valleys to be spin-valley coupled. Here we report the
      transport characterization of prominent Shubnikov-de Hass (SdH) oscillations and
      the observation of the onset of quantum Hall plateaus for the Q-valley electrons
      in few-layer TMDCs. Universally in the SdH oscillations, we observe a valley
      Zeeman effect in all odd-layer TMDC devices and a spin Zeeman effect in all even
      layer TMDC devices, which provide a crucial information for understanding the
      unique properties of multi-valley band structures of few-layer TMDCs.

PMID- 27651109
TI  - Multiple cerebrospinal cavernous angiomas.
AB  - Cavernous angiomas represent 5-12% of all spinal vascular lesions and 1% of all
      intramedullary lesions in pediatric patients. Intramedullary spinal cavernomas
      are relatively rare with only 24 cases reported till date to the best of our
      knowledge. A 15 -year-old boy presented to the clinic with acute onset motor
      weakness in all four limbs. He was diagnosed with multiple cerebral cavernomas
      and an acutely bleeding spinal cavernoma. Complete surgical excision of the
      spinal cavernoma was done. Postoperatively the patient's weakness gradually
      improved to a power of 4/5 in all his limbs over a period of 10 days. Only 24
      cases of pediatric spinal cavernomas have been reported in the current
      literature. Current consensus on management of these rare lesions is based on
      previously published case reports/series and surgery appears to be the only
      definitive treatment. Further studies regarding any non-surgical expectant
      management appears warranted. 

PMID- 27651110
TI  - Intracranial subdural empyema mimicking a recurrent chronic subdural hematoma.
AB  - Intracranial subdural empyema (ISDE) is a life-threatening condition. The risk
      for ISDE increases in patients that have undergone prior intracranial procedures.
      The non-specificity in its clinical presentation often makes ISDE difficult to
      diagnose. Here, we present a rare case of ISDE mimicking a recurrent chronic
      subdural hematoma, emphasizing the significance of obtaining early magnetic
      resonance images of the brain for early diagnosis and treatment to achieve the
      optimal outcome. 

PMID- 27651111
TI  - Quantifying rates of glucose production in vivo following an intraperitoneal
      tracer bolus.
AB  - Aberrant regulation of glucose production makes a critical contribution to the
      impaired glycemic control that is observed in type 2 diabetes. Although isotopic
      tracer methods have proven to be informative in quantifying the magnitude of such
      alterations, it is presumed that one must rely on venous access to administer
      glucose tracers which therein presents obstacles for the routine application of
      tracer methods in rodent models. Since intraperitoneal injections are readily
      used to deliver glucose challenges and/or dose potential therapeutics, we
      hypothesized that this route could also be used to administer a glucose tracer.
      The ability to then reliably estimate glucose flux would require attention toward
      setting a schedule for collecting samples and choosing a distribution volume. For
      example, glucose production can be calculated by multiplying the fractional
      turnover rate by the pool size. We have taken a step-wise approach to examine the
      potential of using an intraperitoneal tracer administration in rat and mouse
      models. First, we compared the kinetics of [U-13C]glucose following either an
      intravenous or an intraperitoneal injection. Second, we tested whether the
      intraperitoneal method could detect a pharmacological manipulation of glucose
      production. Finally, we contrasted a potential application of the intraperitoneal
      method against the glucose-insulin clamp. We conclude that it is possible to 1)
      quantify glucose production using an intraperitoneal injection of tracer and 2)
      derive a "glucose production index" by coupling estimates of basal glucose
      production with measurements of fasting insulin concentration; this yields a
      proxy for clamp-derived assessments of insulin sensitivity of endogenous
      production.

PMID- 27651113
TI  - Atmospheric transformation of plant volatiles disrupts host plant finding.
AB  - Plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play important roles in plant
      insect interactions. Atmospheric pollutants such as ozone (O3) can react with
      VOCs and affect the dynamics and fidelity of these interactions. However, the
      effects of atmospheric degradation of plant VOCs on plant-insect interactions
      remains understudied. We used a system comprising Brassica oleracea subsp.
      capitata (cabbage) and the specialist herbivore Plutella xylostella to test
      whether O3-triggered VOC degradation disturbs larval host orientation, and to
      investigate the underlying mechanisms. Larvae oriented towards both constitutive
      and larva-induced cabbage VOC blends, the latter being the more attractive. Such
      behaviour was, however, dramatically reduced in O3-polluted environments.
      Mechanistically, O3 rapidly degraded VOCs with the magnitude of degradation
      increasing with O3 levels. Furthermore, we used Teflon filters to collect VOCs
      and their reaction products, which were used as odour sources in behavioural
      tests. Larvae avoided filters exposed to O3-transformed VOCs and spent less time
      searching on them compared to filters exposed to original VOCs, which suggests
      that some degradation products may have repellent properties. Our study clearly
      demonstrates that oxidizing pollutants in the atmosphere can interfere with
      insect host location, and highlights the need to address their broader impacts
      when evaluating the ecological significance of VOC-mediated interactions.

PMID- 27651112
TI  - Inflammation mediates the association between visceral adiposity and obstructive
      sleep apnea in adolescents.
AB  - Only a handful of studies, primarily in clinical samples, have reported an
      association between obesity, inflammation, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in
      children and adolescents. No studies, however, have examined the pathogenetic
      link between visceral adiposity, systemic inflammation, and incident OSA in a
      large general population sample using objective measures of sleep and body fat.
      Adolescents (n = 392; mean age 17.0 +/- 2.2 yr, 54.0% male) from the Penn State
      Child Cohort (PSCC) underwent 9-h overnight polysomnography; a DXA scan to assess
      body fat distribution; and a single fasting blood draw for the assessment of
      plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-6 soluble receptor (IL-6 sR), tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNFalpha), tumor necrosis factor receptor 1A (TNFR1), C-reactive
      protein (CRP), leptin, and adiponectin levels via ELISA. Visceral fat area was
      significantly elevated in moderate OSA (AHI >= 5), especially in boys. IL-6, CRP,
      and leptin were highest in adolescents with moderate OSA, even after adjusting
      for BMI percentile. Mediation analysis revealed that 42% of the association
      between visceral fat and OSA in adolescents was mediated by IL-6 (p = 0.03),
      while 82% of the association was mediated by CRP (p = 0.01). These data are
      consistent with the model of a feed-forward, vicious cycle, in which the release
      of proinflammatory cytokines by visceral adipocytes largely explains the
      association between central obesity and OSA; in turn, inflammation is also
      elevated in OSA independent of BMI. These findings, in a large, representative,
      non-clinical sample of young people, add to our understanding of the
      developmental pathogenesis of sleep apnea.

PMID- 27651115
TI  - Urinary Incontinence and Its Association with Frailty Among Men Aged 80 Years or
      Older in Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) and its association
      with frailty among men aged 80 years and older in Taiwan. METHODS: Residents
      living in four veterans retirement communities were invited for study and 440 men
      aged 80 years and older were enrolled. Comprehensive geriatric assessment was
      performed for them, which composed of Clinical Frailty Scale, Northern Health and
      Social Care Trust (HSC)-Continence Assessment Form, Charlson's Comorbidity Index
      (CCI), Barthel Index (BI), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), Mini
      Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale-5 (GDS-5), and Mini
      Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF). RESULTS: In this study, the overall
      prevalence of UI was 19.1% (mostly urgency incontinence and functional
      incontinence). Univariate analyses were performed to evaluate the associations
      between UI and other variables. Frailty was more common among subjects with UI
      than those without (60.7% vs 32.3%, p < 0.001). Besides, subjects with UI had
      more comorbidity (CCI: 1.40 +/- 1.15 vs 0.89 +/- 0.89, p < 0.001), poorer
      physical function (BI: 65.77 +/- 33.39 vs 84.12 +/- 24.08, p < 0.001; IADL: 3.46
      +/- 2.64 vs 4.41 +/- 2.25, p = 0.003), more depressive symptoms (GDS-5: 1.83 +/-
      1.78 vs 1.18 +/- 1.36, p = 0.02), poorer cognitive function (MMSE: 16.57 +/- 7.65
      vs 19.37 +/- 6.82, p = 0.001), poorer nutritional status (MNA-SF: 10.0 +/- 03.03
      vs 11.23 +/- 2.24, p = 0.001), more polypharmacy (66.7% vs 45.2%, p < 0.001) and
      higher chance of stool incontinence (22.6% vs 1.7%, p < 0.001). Multivariate
      logistic regression showed that UI was independently associated with frailty,
      (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-3.6; p = 0.012), stool
      incontinence (OR = 14.4; 95% CI 5.2-39.7; p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (OR
      = 1.30; 95% CI 1.10-1.54; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: About one fifth of study
      subjects had UI (mostly urgency and functional incontinence type), which was
      significantly associated with frailty, stool incontinence and depressive
      symptoms. Further study is needed to evaluate the possibilities of reversing
      these geriatric syndromes by an integrated intervention program.

PMID- 27651114
TI  - Circadian dynamics in measures of cortical excitation and inhibition balance.
AB  - Several neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders have recently been
      characterized as dysfunctions arising from a 'final common pathway' of imbalanced
      excitation to inhibition within cortical networks. How the regulation of a
      cortical E/I ratio is affected by sleep and the circadian rhythm however, remains
      to be established. Here we addressed this issue through the analyses of TMS
      evoked responses recorded over a 29 h sleep deprivation protocol conducted in
      young and healthy volunteers. Spectral analyses of TMS-evoked responses in
      frontal cortex revealed non-linear changes in gamma band evoked oscillations,
      compatible with an influence of circadian timing on inhibitory interneuron
      activity. In silico inferences of cell-to-cell excitatory and inhibitory
      connectivity and GABA/Glutamate receptor time constant based on neural mass
      modeling within the Dynamic causal modeling framework, further suggested
      excitation/inhibition balance was under a strong circadian influence. These
      results indicate that circadian changes in EEG spectral properties, in measure of
      excitatory/inhibitory connectivity and in GABA/glutamate receptor function could
      support the maintenance of cognitive performance during a normal waking day, but
      also during overnight wakefulness. More generally, these findings demonstrate a
      slow daily regulation of cortical excitation/inhibition balance, which depends on
      circadian-timing and prior sleep-wake history.

PMID- 27651116
TI  - Transcriptome meta-analysis reveals a dysregulation in extra cellular matrix and
      cell junction associated gene signatures during Dengue virus infection.
AB  - Dengue Viruses (DENVs) cause one of the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral
      diseases affecting millions of people worldwide. Identification of genes involved
      in DENV pathogenesis would help in deciphering molecular mechanisms responsible
      for the disease progression. Here, we carried out a meta-analysis of publicly
      available gene expression data of dengue patients and further validated the meta
      profile using in-vitro infection in THP-1 cells. Our findings reveal that DENV
      infection modulates expression of several genes and signalling pathways including
      interferons, detoxification of ROS and viral assembly. Interestingly, we have
      identified novel gene signatures comprising of INADL/PATJ and CRTAP (Cartilage
      Associated Protein), which were significantly down-regulated across all patient
      data sets as well as in DENV infected THP-1 cells. PATJ and CRTAP genes are
      involved in maintaining cell junction integrity and collagen assembly
      (extracellular matrix component) respectively, which together play a crucial role
      in cell-cell adhesion. Our results categorically reveal that overexpression of
      CRTAP and PATJ genes restrict DENV infection, thereby suggesting a critical role
      of these genes in DENV pathogenesis. Conclusively, these findings emphasize the
      utility of meta-analysis approach in identifying novel gene signatures that might
      provide mechanistic insights into disease pathogenesis and possibly lead towards
      the development of better therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 27651117
TI  - Sterically Congested 2,6-Disubstituted Anilines from Direct C-N Bond Formation at
      an Iodine(III) Center.
AB  - 2,6-Disubstituted anilines are readily prepared from the direct reaction between
      amides and diaryliodonium salts. As demonstrated for 24 different examples, the
      reaction is of unusually broad scope with respect to the sterically congested
      arene and the nitrogen source, occurs without the requirement for any additional
      promoter, and proceeds through a direct reductive elimination at the iodine(III)
      center. The efficiency of the coupling procedure is further demonstrated within
      the short synthesis of a chemerin binding inhibitor.

PMID- 27651118
TI  - Mortality of neonatal respiratory failure from Chinese northwest NICU network.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of respiratory support and
      surfactant in incidence, management and outcome of neonatal hypoxemic respiratory
      failure (NRF) in Chinese emerging regional neonatal-perinatal care system in the
      era of universal health insurance policy. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical data of NRF were
      prospectively collected in 12 consecutive months from 2011 to 2012 in 12 neonatal
      intensive care units (NICU) in major cities of Northwest China. NRF was defined
      as hypoxemia requiring nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) or
      intratracheal ventilation combined with surfactant for at least 24 h, with
      associated risk factors, mortality rate and major co-morbidities analyzed.
      RESULTS: Among 9816 admissions, there were 1324 NRF cases with 60.2% being
      preterm. The incidence of NRF was 13.4% with a mortality of 15.5%. The major
      underlying diseases were respiratory distress syndrome (RDS, 38.9%) and
      pneumonia/sepsis (38.0%). Only 15.9% of NRF and 33.8% of RDS received surfactant,
      which contributed to >70% and >85% survival in RDS patients of birth weight (BW)
      < 1500 g and >1500 g, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis
      showed that premature rupture of membrane >= 24 h, very low BW and gestational
      age < 32 weeks, resuscitation at delivery, illness severity at admission,
      intratracheal ventilation and sepsis were the independent risk factors for the
      mortality of NRF. The length and cost of NICU stay for survivors reflected care
      burden in the era of universal health insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Surfactant
      significantly improved the survival of neonates with NRF and RDS, reflecting the
      respiratory care standard in emerging regional neonatal-perinatal care network
      with limited resources.

PMID- 27651120
TI  - Treatment of Chilaiditi syndrome using laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - Chilaiditi syndrome is defined as the interposition of the bowel between the
      liver and right diaphragm. It is a rare disease and may be difficult to diagnose
      and manage. Treatment for asymptomatic patients with Chilaiditi is usually
      conservative and does not require surgical intervention, but surgery may be
      necessary if conservative treatment fails. This report describes a rare case of
      Chilaiditi syndrome causing small bowel obstruction and corrected using
      laparoscopic surgery.

PMID- 27651121
TI  - Total thyroidectomy: a clue to understanding the metabolic changes induced by
      subclinical hyperthyroidism?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The effects of endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism (eSCH) on heart
      and bone have been well documented. There are only limited data available
      regarding the impact of eSCH on weight regulation and lipid metabolism. Our aim
      was to evaluate the changes in body weight and metabolic parameters after total
      thyroidectomy in patients with pre-operative eSCH compared with pre-operative
      patients with euthyroid (EUT). DESIGN: A retrospective study of 505 patients who
      underwent total thyroidectomy for benign multinodular goitre in an academic
      hospital in Brussels (Belgium) was performed. PATIENT'S MEASUREMENTS: Two hundred
      and 25 patients were included (eSCH group: n = 74; EUT group: n = 151). The mean
      follow-up time was 26.1 +/- 0.8 months and was similar in both groups. RESULTS:
      Absolute BMI gain was significantly greater in the eSCH group than in the EUT
      group (1.11 +/- 0.17 vs 0.33 +/- 0.13 kg/m2 ; P = 0.003). A significant increase
      in LDL cholesterol was observed in the eSCH group (16.1 +/- 3.8 mg/dl; P < 0.001)
      but not in the EUT group (0.0 +/- 3.0 mg/dl; P = 0.88). In a multivariate model,
      pre-operative TSH levels were the main factor significantly associated with
      increases in BMI or LDL cholesterol. Post-operative median TSH levels and L
      thyroxine substitution were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: After total
      thyroidectomy, increases in weight and serum cholesterol were observed in the
      eSCH group. Given that post-operative TSH levels were similar in the two groups,
      these observations are probably due to the correction of eSCH, suggesting a
      direct effect of eSCH on body weight regulation and lipid metabolism.

PMID- 27651122
TI  - The Impact of Metabolic Syndrome on 30-Day Complications Following Total Joint
      Arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The arthroplasty population increasingly presents with comorbid
      conditions linked to elevated risk of postsurgical complications. Current quality
      improvement initiatives require providers to more accurately assess and manage
      risk presurgically. In this investigation, we assess the effect of metabolic
      syndrome (MetS), as well as the effect of body mass index (BMI) within MetS, on
      the risk of complication following hip and knee arthroplasty. METHODS: We queried
      the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program
      database for total hip or knee arthroplasty cases. Thirty-day rates of Centers
      for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-reportable complications, wound
      complications, and readmissions were compared between patients with and without a
      diagnosis of MetS using multivariate logistic regression. Arthroplasty cases with
      a diagnosis of MetS were further stratified according to World Health
      Organization BMI class, and the role of BMI within the context of MetS was
      assessed. RESULTS: Of the 107,117 included patients, 11,030 (10.3%) had MetS.
      MetS was significantly associated with CMS complications (odds ratio [OR] =
      1.415; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.306-1.533; P < .001), wound complications
      (OR = 1.749; 95% CI, 1.482-2.064; P < .001), and readmission (OR = 1.451; 95% CI,
      1.314-1.602; P < .001). When MetS was assessed by individual BMI class, the MetS
      + BMI >40 group was associated with significantly higher risk of CMS
      complications, wound complications, and readmission compared to the lower MetS
      BMI groups. CONCLUSION: MetS is an independent risk factor for CMS-reportable
      complications, wound complications, and readmission following total joint
      arthroplasty. The risk attributable to MetS exists irrespective of obesity class
      and increases as BMI increases.

PMID- 27651123
TI  - RNA Regulators: Formidable Modulators of Yersinia Virulence.
AB  - A large repertoire of RNA-based regulatory mechanisms, including a plethora of
      cis- and trans-acting noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), sensory RNA elements, regulatory
      RNA-binding proteins, and RNA-degrading enzymes have been uncovered lately as key
      players in the regulation of metabolism, stress responses, and virulence of the
      genus Yersinia. Many of them are strictly controlled in response to fluctuating
      environmental conditions sensed during the course of the infection, and certain
      riboregulators have already been shown to be crucial for virulence. Some of them
      are highly conserved among the family Enterobacteriaceae, while others are genus
      , species-, or strain-specific and could contribute to the difference in Yersinia
      pathogenicity. Importantly, the analysis of Yersinia riboregulators has not only
      uncovered crucial elements and regulatory mechanisms governing host-pathogen
      interactions, it also revealed exciting new venues for the design of novel anti
      infectives.

PMID- 27651125
TI  - Identifying spinal cord compression in achondroplasia - the role of somatosensory
      evoked potentials and the need for screening.

PMID- 27651126
TI  - Successful treatment of widespread chronic gluteal hidradenitis suppurativa with
      combination of recycled skin graft and negative-pressure wound therapy.

PMID- 27651124
TI  - Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion using different technologies in the
      United Kingdom: A multicenter registry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at assessing the feasibility and long-term efficacy
      of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in a "real world" setting. BACKGROUND:
      Although LAAO has recently emerged as an alternative to oral anticoagulants in
      patients with atrial fibrillation for the prevention of thromboembolic stroke,
      "real world" data about the procedure with different devices are lacking.
      METHODS: Eight centers in the United Kingdom contributed to a retrospective
      registry for LAAO procedures undertaken between July 2009 and November 2014.
      RESULTS: A total of 371 patients (72.9 +/- 8.3 years old, 88.9% males) were
      enrolled. The overall procedure success was 92.5%, with major events in 3.5% of
      cases. The device choice was Watchman in 63% of cases, Amplatzer Cardiac Plug in
      34.7%, Lariat in 1.7%, and Coherex WaveCrest in 0.6%. A significant improvement
      in procedure success (from 89.2% to 95.7%; P = 0.018) and reduction of acute
      major complications (from 6.5% to 0.5%; P = 0.001) were observed between
      procedures in the first and the second half of the recruitment time. An annual
      90.1% relative risk reduction (RRR) for ischemic stroke, an 87.2% thromboembolic
      events RRR, and a 92.9% major bleeding RRR were observed, if compared with the
      predicted annual risks based on CHADS2, CHA2DS2-Vasc, and HAS-BLED scores,
      respectively, over a follow-up period of 24.7 +/- 16.07 months. CONCLUSIONS: LAAO
      can be performed safely in a real world setting with good implant success rates
      and procedural outcomes. The long-term benefits of the procedure are reassuring
      in terms of both ischemic events and avoidance of severe bleeding associated with
      anticoagulation in this patient group. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27651127
TI  - Remote Wiping and Secure Deletion on Mobile Devices: A Review.
AB  - Mobile devices have become ubiquitous in almost every sector of both private and
      commercial endeavors. As a result of such widespread use in everyday life, many
      users knowingly and unknowingly save significant amounts of personal and/or
      commercial data on these mobile devices. Thus, loss of mobile devices through
      accident or theft can expose users-and their businesses-to significant personal
      and corporate cost. To mitigate this data leakage issue, remote wiping features
      have been introduced to modern mobile devices. Given the destructive nature of
      such a feature, however, it may be subject to criminal exploitation (e.g., a
      criminal exploiting one or more vulnerabilities to issue a remote wiping command
      to the victim's device). To obtain a better understanding of remote wiping, we
      survey the literature, focusing on existing approaches to secure flash storage
      deletion and provide a critical analysis and comparison of a variety of published
      research in this area. In support of our analysis, we further provide prototype
      experimental results for three Android devices, thus providing both a theoretical
      and applied focus to this article as well as providing directions for further
      research.

PMID- 27651128
TI  - Cellulose/soy protein composite-based nerve guidance conduits with designed
      microstructure for peripheral nerve regeneration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:  The objective of this work was to develop nerve guidance conduits
      from natural polymers, cellulose and soy protein isolate (SPI), by evaluating the
      effects of cellulose/SPI film-based conduit (CSFC) and cellulose/SPI sponge-based
      conduit (CSSC) on regeneration of nerve defects in rats. APPROACH:  CSFC and CSSC
      with the same chemical components were fabricated from cellulose and SPI. Effects
      of CSSC and CSFC on regeneration of the defective nerve were comparatively
      investigated in rats with a 10 mm long gap in sciatic nerve. The outcomes of
      peripheral nerve repair were evaluated by a combination of electrophysiological
      assessment, Fluoro-Gold retrograde tracing, double NF200/S100 immunofluorescence
      analysis, toluidine blue staining, and electron microscopy. The probable
      molecular mechanism was investigated using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR)
      analysis. MAIN RESULTS:  Compared with CSFC, CSSC had 2.69 times higher porosity
      and 5.07 times higher water absorption, thus ensuring much higher permeability.
      The nerve defects were successfully bridged and repaired by CSSC and CSFC. Three
      months after surgery, the CSSC group had a higher compound muscle action
      potential amplitude ratio, a higher percentage of positive NF200 and S100
      staining, and a higher axon diameter and myelin sheath thickness than the CSFC
      group, showing the repair efficiency of CSSC was higher than that of CSFC. qPCR
      analysis indicated the mRNA levels of nerve growth factor, IL-10, IL-6, and
      growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) were higher in the CSSC group. This also
      indicated that there was better nerve repair with CSSC due to the higher porosity
      and permeability of CSSC providing a more favourable microenvironment for nerve
      regeneration than CSFC. SIGNIFICANCE:  A promising nerve guidance conduit was
      developed from cellulose/SPI sponge that showed potential for application in the
      repair of nerve defect. This work also suggests that nerve guidance conduits with
      better repair efficiency could be developed through structure design and
      processing optimization.

PMID- 27651129
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for relapsed malignant pleural mesothelioma.
AB  - The use of novel radiotherapy techniques is widely increasing, allowing
      clinicians to treat diseases that were previously difficult to treat with
      radiation therapy. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a clear example of this
      clinical challenge. We describe our first experience with intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy technique which was used to treat a 73-year-old patient with
      multiple relapsing malignant pleural mesothelioma. Intensity-modulated radiation
      therapy has allowed to respect the QUANTEC (quantitative analyses of normal
      tissue effects in the clinic) dose constraints, patient has experienced a 14
      months progression-free time, without relevant subacute or late lung toxicity.

PMID- 27651130
TI  - Genetic Testing Requires NGS and Sanger Methodologies.
AB  - Investigators from the EuroEPINOMICS rare epilepsy syndromes Dravet working group
      performed whole-exome sequencing on 31 trios that had been reported negative for
      SCN1A mutations by Sanger sequencing. 

PMID- 27651132
TI  - Adalimumab versus infliximab in treating post-operative recurrence of Crohn's
      disease: a national cohort study.
AB  - AIM: Perform a comparison between adalimumab (ADA) and infliximab (IFX) in
      treating post-operative recurrence of Crohn's disease (a comparative analysis of
      efficacy and safety). METHODS: From the 267 patients treated with Adalimumab or
      Infliximab between January 2005 and June 2014 in Romania, 44 received anti- TNF
      (tumor necrosis factor) therapy for prevention of post-operative recurrence. A
      comparison between patients treated with IFX and ADA was made with the Chi-
      square and t- student test, with the aid of the statistical program Mini Tab 17.
      RESULTS: Twenty-one patients received IFX and 23 ADA. This included 49% males
      (22/44), with a mean age of 41 years, mean disease duration of 6 years, and 84.1%
      had previously received azathioprine. The IFX group is comparable with the ADA
      group regarding most of the parameters, except for therapy duration. Mean
      duration of therapy was 33 months. The rate of complete response was comparable
      between the two groups: 67% in the IFX group vs. 78.3% in the ADA group, the same
      as the rate of re-resection, 19.1% vs. 4.4% and the rate of endoscopic
      recurrence, 29 vs. 33% at 12 months. Risk factors for postoperative recurrence
      (POR) (male sex, younger age, ileocolonic location, stricturing or penetrating
      behaviour) were studied, only ileocolonic location was found to be associated
      with Crohn's disease recurrence in patients treated with ADA. CONCLUSIONS:
      Overall infliximab and aalimumab are equally efficient in patients with resected
      Crohn's disease (CD) with a complete response of 72.7%, a rate of re-resection of
      11.4 % and a rate of endoscopic recurrence of 35%. Ileocolonic location might be
      a predictive factor for loss of response to adalimumab in resected Crohn's
      disease patients.

PMID- 27651131
TI  - The effect of perioperative insulin treatment on cardiodepression in mild
      adiposity in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While most studies focus on cardiovascular morbidity following
      anesthesia and surgery in excessive obesity, it is unknown whether these
      intraoperative cardiovascular alterations also occur in milder forms of adiposity
      without type 2 diabetes and if insulin is a possible treatment to improve
      intraoperative myocardial performance. In this experimental study we investigated
      whether mild adiposity without metabolic alterations is already associated with
      cardiometabolic dysfunction during anesthesia, mechanical ventilation and surgery
      and whether these myocardial alterations can be neutralized by intraoperative
      insulin treatment. METHODS: Mice were fed a western (WD) or control diet (CD) for
      4 weeks. After metabolic profiling, mice underwent general anesthesia, mechanical
      ventilation and surgery. Cardiac function was determined with echocardiography
      and left-ventricular pressure-volume analysis. Myocardial perfusion was
      determined with contrast-enhanced echocardiography. WD-fed mice were subsequently
      treated with insulin by hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamping followed by the same
      measurements of cardiac function and perfusion. RESULTS: Western-type diet
      feeding led to a 13 % increase in bodyweight, (p < 0.0001) and increased adipose
      tissue mass, without metabolic alterations. Despite this mild phenotype, WD-fed
      mice had decreased systolic and diastolic function (end-systolic elastance was
      2.0 +/- 0.5 versus 4.1 +/- 2.4 mmHg/MUL, p = 0.01 and diastolic beta was 0.07 +/-
      0.03 versus 0.04 +/- 0.01 mmHg/MUL, p = 0.02) compared to CD-fed mice. Ventriculo
      arterial coupling and myocardial perfusion were decreased by 48 % (p = 0.003) and
      43 % (p = 0.03) respectively. Insulin treatment in WD-fed mice improved echo
      derived systolic function (fractional shortening 42 +/- 5 % to 46 +/- 3, p =
      0.05), likely due to decreased afterload, but there was no effect on load
      independent measures of systolic function or myocardial perfusion. However, there
      was a trend towards improved diastolic function after insulin treatment (43 %
      improvement, p = 0.05) in WD-fed mice. CONCLUSIONS: Mild adiposity without
      metabolic alterations already affected cardiac function and perfusion during
      anesthesia, mechanical ventilation and surgery in mice. Intraoperative insulin
      may be beneficial to reduce afterload and enhance intraoperative ventricular
      relaxation, but not to improve ventricular contractility or myocardial perfusion.

PMID- 27651134
TI  - Review of the fluid flow within intervertebral discs - How could in vitro
      measurements replicate in vivo?
AB  - By maintaining a balance between external mechanical loads and internal osmotic
      pressure, fluid content of intervertebral discs constantly alters causing
      fluctuations in disc hydration, height, diameter and pressure that govern disc
      temporal response. This paper reviews and discusses the relevant findings of
      earlier studies on the disc fluid flow with the aim to understand and remedy
      discrepancies between in vivo and in vitro observations. New results of finite
      element model studies are also exploited in order to help identify the likely
      causes for such differences and underlying mechanisms observed in vitro. In vivo
      measurements of changes in spinal height and disc fluid content/pressure via
      stadiometry, magnetic resonance imaging and intradiscal pressure measurements
      have been carried out. They have demonstrated that the disc volume, fluid
      content, height and nucleus pressure alter depending to a large extent on prior
      current external load conditions. Although the diurnal loading lasts on average
      nearly twice longer than the subsequent resting (16 vs. 8h), the disc completely
      recovers its height and volume during the latter period through fluid inflow. In
      view of much longer periods required to recover disc height and pressure in vitro
      in ovine, porcine, caprine, bovine and rat discs, concerns have been raised on
      the fluid inflow through the endplates that might be hampered by clogged blood
      vessels post mortem. Analyses of discrepancies in the flow-dependent recoveries
      in vivo and in vitro highlight an excessive fluid content in the latter as a
      likely cause. To replicate in vivo conditions as closely as possible in vitro,
      preparation and preconditioning of specimens and/or pressure and osmolarity of
      the culture media in which specimens are immersed should hence be designed in a
      manner as to diminish disc hydration level and/or fluid transport.

PMID- 27651135
TI  - Follicular lymphoma of the caecum resected endoscopically.
AB  - Colorectal follicular lymphomas, primary or secondary, are rare. Magnifying
      endoscopy with narrow-band imaging is useful in the diagnosis of colorectal
      follicular lymphoma. In addition, immunohistochemistry is essential in
      differentiating follicular lymphoma cells from lymphoid follicle hyperplasia
      based on the presence of Bcl-2 expression. We herein report a rare case of
      follicular lymphoma of the caecum, presenting as a small polyp that was resected
      endoscopically.

PMID- 27651136
TI  - Highlights from Gastro Update Europe - Prague, April 29-30, 2016.

PMID- 27651133
TI  - Evaluation of amniotic mesenchymal cell derivatives on cytokine production in
      equine alveolar macrophages: an in vitro approach to lung inflammation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data obtained in both animal models and clinical trials suggest that
      cell-based therapies represent a potential therapeutic strategy for lung repair
      and remodeling. Recently, new therapeutic approaches based on the use of stem
      cell derivatives (e.g., conditioned medium (CM) and microvesicles (MVs)) to
      regenerate tissues and improve their functions were proposed. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of equine amniotic
      mesenchymal cell derivatives on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine
      production in equine alveolar macrophages, which may be beneficial in lung
      inflammatory disorders such as recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) in horses. RAO
      shares many features with human asthma, including an increased number of cells
      expressing mRNA for interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5 and a decreased expression of IFN
      gamma in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of affected horses. METHODS: The
      release of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and TGF-beta1 at different time points (1, 24, 48,
      and 72 h) was measured in equine alveolar macrophages stimulated or not with LPS
      (10 and 100 ng/mL) in the presence or absence of 10 % CM or 50 * 10(6) MVs/mL.
      Cytokines were measured using commercially available ELISA kits. For multiple
      comparisons, analysis of variance was used with Tukey post-hoc test. Differences
      were considered significant at p <= 0.05. RESULTS: Significant modulatory effects
      of CM on LPS-induced TNF-alpha release at 24 h, and of both CM and MVs on TNF
      alpha release at 48 h were observed. A trend toward a modulatory effect of both
      CM and MVs on the release of TGF-beta and possibly IL-6 was visible over time.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results support the potential use of CM and MVs in lung regenerative
      medicine, especially in situations in which TGF-beta may be detrimental, such as
      respiratory allergy. Further studies should evaluate the potential clinical
      applications of CM and MVs in equine lung diseases, such as RAO and other
      inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 27651137
TI  - The disappearing San of southeastern Africa and their genetic affinities.
AB  - Southern Africa was likely exclusively inhabited by San hunter-gatherers before
      ~2000 years ago. Around that time, East African groups assimilated with local San
      groups and gave rise to the Khoekhoe herders. Subsequently, Bantu-speaking
      farmers, arriving from the north (~1800 years ago), assimilated and displaced San
      and Khoekhoe groups, a process that intensified with the arrival of European
      colonists ~350 years ago. In contrast to the western parts of southern Africa,
      where several Khoe-San groups still live today, the eastern parts are largely
      populated by Bantu speakers and individuals of non-African descent. Only a few
      scattered groups with oral traditions of Khoe-San ancestry remain. Advances in
      genetic research open up new ways to understand the population history of
      southeastern Africa. We investigate the genomic variation of the remaining
      individuals from two South African groups with oral histories connecting them to
      eastern San groups, i.e., the San from Lake Chrissie and the Duma San of the
      uKhahlamba-Drakensberg. Using ~2.2 million genetic markers, combined with
      comparative published data sets, we show that the Lake Chrissie San have genetic
      ancestry from both Khoe-San (likely the ||Xegwi San) and Bantu speakers.
      Specifically, we found that the Lake Chrissie San are closely related to the
      current southern San groups (i.e., the Karretjie people). Duma San individuals,
      on the other hand, were genetically similar to southeastern Bantu speakers from
      South Africa. This study illustrates how genetic tools can be used to assess
      hypotheses about the ancestry of people who seemingly lost their historic roots,
      only recalling a vague oral tradition of their origin.

PMID- 27651138
TI  - Late Diagnosis Due to Missed Opportunities and Inadequate Screening Strategies in
      HIV Infected Mexican Women.
AB  - Late diagnosis of HIV remains a public health issue in Mexico. Most national
      programs target high-risk groups, not including women. More data on factors
      associated with late diagnosis and access to care in women are needed. In 2012
      2013, Mexican women recently diagnosed with HIV were interviewed. Socio-cultural
      background, household-dynamics and clinical data were collected. Of 301 women, 49
      % had <200 CD4 cells/mm3, 8 % were illiterate, 31 % had only primary school.
      Physical/sexual violence was reported by 47/30 %; 75 % acquired HIV from their
      stable partners. Prenatal HIV screening was not offered in 61 %; 40 % attended
      consultation for HIV-related symptoms without being tested for HIV. Seeking
      medical care >=3 times before diagnosis was associated with baseline CD4 <200
      cells/mm3 (adjusted OR 3.74, 95 % CI 1.88-7.45, p < 0.001). There were missed
      opportunities during prenatal screening and when symptomatic women seeked medical
      care. Primary care needs to be improved and new strategies implemented for early
      diagnosis in women.

PMID- 27651139
TI  - Body ownership and agency: task-dependent effects of the virtual hand illusion on
      proprioceptive drift.
AB  - Body ownership and agency are fundamental to self-consciousness. These bodily
      experiences have been intensively investigated using the rubber hand illusion,
      wherein participants perceive a fake hand as their own. After presentation of the
      illusion, the position of the participant's hand then shifts toward the location
      of the fake hand (proprioceptive drift). However, it remains controversial
      whether proprioceptive drift is able to provide an objective measurement of body
      ownership, and whether agency also affects drift. Using the virtual hand illusion
      (VHI), the current study examined the effects of body ownership and agency on
      proprioceptive drift, with three different visuo-motor tasks. Twenty healthy
      adults (29.6 +/- 9.2 years old) completed VH manipulations using their right hand
      under a 2 * 2 factorial design (active vs. passive manipulation, and congruent
      vs. incongruent virtual hand). Prior to and after VH manipulation, three
      different tasks were performed to assess proprioceptive drift, in which
      participants were unable to see their real hands. The effects of the VHI on
      proprioceptive drift were task-dependent. When participants were required to
      judge the position of their right hand using a ruler, or by reaching toward a
      visual target, both body ownership and agency modulated proprioceptive drift.
      Comparatively, when participants aligned both hands, drift was influenced by
      ownership but not agency. These results suggest that body ownership and agency
      might differentially modulate various body representations in the brain.

PMID- 27651140
TI  - Involvement of vascular peroxidase 1 in angiotensin II-induced hypertrophy of
      H9c2 cells.
AB  - Oxidative stress has been implicated in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.
      Vascular peroxidase 1 (VPO1), a peroxidase in the cardiovascular system, uses the
      hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) derived from co-expressed NADPH oxidases (NOX) to
      produce hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and catalyze peroxidative reactions. Our
      previous studies showed that VPO1 contributes to the vascular smooth muscle cell
      proliferation and endothelial dysfunction in spontaneous hypertensive rats
      (SHRs); however, the role of VPO1 in cardiomyocytes hypertrophy is still
      uninvestigated. The present study was therefore undertaken to examine the role of
      VPO1 in the angiotensin II-induced cardiac hypertrophy, and the underlying
      mechanism by which VPO1 regulates the redox signaling. As compared to WKY rats,
      the SHRs exhibited increased myocyte cross sectional area, enhanced Nox2 and VPO1
      expression level in cardiac tissue, and an increased Ang II level in plasma. In
      cultured H9c2 cell line, Ang II increased the hypertrophy-related gene (BNP/ANF)
      expression and the cellular surface area, which was attenuated by knocking down
      of VPO1 via VPO1 siRNA or pharmacological inhibition of NOX/VPO1 pathway.
      Moreover, the enhanced hypochlorous acid (HOCl) production and phosphorylation of
      ERK1/2 was suppressed by VPO1 knockdown. Furthermore, the protective role of VPO1
      siRNA transfection on H9c2 cardiomyocytes hypertrophy was abrogated on the HOCl
      stimulation, and the phosphorylated ERK1/2 expression level was found also
      upregulated after HOCl stimulation. In conclusion, these results suggest that the
      Nox2/VPO1/HOCl/ERK1/2 redox signaling pathway was implicated in the pathogenesis
      of Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

PMID- 27651142
TI  - Native T1 mapping and extracellular volume fraction measurement for assessment of
      right ventricular insertion point and septal fibrosis in chronic thromboembolic
      pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess septal and right ventricular
      insertion point (RVIP) fibrosis in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension (CTEPH) via native T1 mapping and extracellular volume fraction
      (ECV) determination and to analyze correlations with functional parameters.
      METHODS: Imaging was performed at 1.5 Tesla in 24 patients diagnosed with CTEPH
      and 24 controls. T1 values were measured within the septal myocardium, the upper
      and lower RVIP, and the lateral wall at basal short axis section. RESULTS: The
      mean septal native T1 values were 1012.8 ms +/- 50.5 in the CTEPH group and 956.9
      ms +/- 24.4 in controls (p < 0.001), upper RIVP 1050.8 ms +/- 64.2 vs. 965.3 ms
      +/- 37.1 (p < 0.001), and lower RVIP 1084.4 ms +/- 93.1 vs. 959.8 ms +/- 40.4 (p
      < 0.001). The corresponding mean ECV values were also significantly increased in
      the CTEPH group (p < 0.001). Native septal T1 showed a strong negative
      correlation with right ventricular ejection fraction (k = -0.92; p = 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that native T1 mapping and ECV assessment enable
      visualization and quantification of septal fibrosis in CTEPH patients. The
      results also correlate well with right ventricular ejection fraction. Therefore,
      these parameters might be useful for prognosis and as therapy-monitoring tool in
      the future. KEY POINTS: * Septal native T1 and ECV values are significantly
      higher in CTEPH patients. * Native T1 and ECV values are elevated even in absence
      of LGE. * These techniques therefore enable an improved quantification of septal
      fibrosis in CTEPH. * Native T1 values also correlate well with right ventricular
      EF and PA-pressure. * Prognosis and therapy-monitoring might be assessable in the
      future with these parameters.

PMID- 27651141
TI  - Investigating the prediction value of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging
      at 3 T in response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the predictive value of parameters derived from diffusion
      weighted imaging (DWI) and contrast-enhanced (CE)-MRI at different time-points
      during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in breast cancer. METHODS: Institutional
      review board approval and written, informed consent from 42 breast cancer
      patients were obtained. The patients were investigated before and at three
      different time-points during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) using tumour
      diameter and volume from CE-MRI and ADC values obtained from drawn 2D and
      segmented 3D regions of interest. Prediction of pathologic complete response
      (pCR) was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating
      characteristic analysis. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between
      pathologic complete response and non-pCR in baseline size measures (p > 0.39).
      Diameter change was significantly different in pCR (p < 0.02) before the mid
      therapy point. The best predictor was lesion diameter change observed before mid
      therapy (AUC = 0.93). Segmented volume was not able to differentiate between pCR
      and non-pCR at any time-point. The ADC values from 3D-ROI were not significantly
      different from 2D data (p = 0.06). The best AUC (0.79) for pCR prediction using
      DWI was median ADC measured before mid-therapy of NACT. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      of this study should be considered in NACT monitoring planning, especially in MRI
      protocol designing and time point selection. KEY POINTS: * Mid-therapy diameter
      changes are the best predictors of pCR in neoadjuvant chemotherapy. * Volumetric
      measures are not strictly superior in therapy monitoring to lesion diameter. *
      Size measures perform as a better predictor than ADC values.

PMID- 27651143
TI  - MR signal in the sacroiliac joint space in spondyloarthritis: a new sign.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic value of MR signal within the sacroiliac
      (SI) joint space in spondyloarthritis (SpA). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of
      MRIs of SI joints was performed in 363 patients, aged 16-45 years, clinically
      suspected of sacroiliitis. Intra-articular SI joint MR signals were categorized
      as normal, high T1 signal, fluid signal, ankylosis or vacuum phenomenon (VP).
      These MRI findings were correlated with the final diagnosis, according to the
      ASAS criteria. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood
      ratios (LR) and predictive values were calculated. RESULTS: Presence of intra
      articular high T1 signal, fluid signal and ankylosis had a specificity of 95.8 %,
      95.3 % and 99.5 % for SpA. High T1 signal, fluid signal and ankylosis were
      present in 38.4 %, 19.2 % and 17.9 % of SpA patients and in 4.2 %, 4.7 % and 0.5
      % of patients without SpA, resulting in LR+ of 9.0, 4.1 and 37.9, respectively.
      VP was present in 13.2 % of SpA patients and in 20.8 % of patients without SpA,
      resulting in an LR+ of 0.6. CONCLUSIONS: Presence of high T1 signal, fluid signal
      and ankylosis within the SI joint on MRI have high specificity for SpA. High T1
      signal is the most sensitive MRI feature within the SI joint for SpA. KEY POINTS:
      * MRI of the SI joints is typically obtained for diagnosis of spondyloarthritis.
      * The MR signal within the SI joint itself reflects features of
      spondyloarthritis. * Intra-articular high T1 signal, fluid signal and ankylosis
      are seen in spondyloarthritis. * The vacuum phenomenon makes spondyloarthritis
      less likely.

PMID- 27651144
TI  - Interleaving cerebral CT perfusion with neck CT angiography. Part II: clinical
      implementation and image quality.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Feasibility evaluation of the One-Step Stroke Protocol, which is an
      interleaved cerebral computed tomography perfusion (CTP) and neck volumetric
      computed tomography angiography (vCTA) scanning technique using wide-detector
      computed tomography, and to assess the image quality of vCTA. METHODS: Twenty
      patients with suspicion of acute ischaemic stroke were prospectively scanned and
      evaluated with a head and neck CTA and with the One-Step Stroke Protocol.
      Arterial enhancement and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the carotid arteries
      was assessed. Three observers scored artefacts and image quality of the cervical
      arteries. The total z-coverage was evaluated. RESULTS: Mean enhancement in the
      carotid bifurcation was rated higher in the vCTA (595 +/- 164 HU) than CTA (441
      +/- 117 HU). CNR was rated higher in vCTA. Image quality scores showed no
      significant difference in the region of the carotid bifurcation between vCTA and
      CTA. Lower neck image quality scores were slightly lower for vCTA due to
      artefacts, although not rated as diagnostically relevant. In ten patients, the
      origin of the left common carotid artery was missed by 1.6 +/- 0.8 cm. Mean
      patient height was 1.8 +/- 0.09 m. Carotid bifurcation and origin of vertebral
      arteries were covered in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The One-Step Stroke Protocol
      is feasible with good diagnostic image quality of vCTA, although full z-coverage
      is limited in tall patients. KEY POINTS: * Interleaving cerebral CTP with neck
      CTA (One-Step Stroke Protocol) is feasible * Diagnostic quality of One-Step
      Stroke Protocol neck CTA is similar to conventional CTA * One-Step Stroke
      Protocol neck CTA suffers from streak artefacts in the lower neck * A limitation
      of One-Step Stroke Protocol CTA is lack of coverage in tall patients * Precise
      planning of One-Step Stroke Protocol neck CTA is necessary in tall patients.

PMID- 27651145
TI  - Fate of small pancreatic cysts (<3 cm) after long-term follow-up: analysis of
      significant radiologic characteristics and proposal of follow-up strategies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the natural history of pancreatic cysts after long-term
      follow-up, with an emphasis on the identifying indicators of indolent lesions.
      METHODS: We retrospectively sampled 95 patients with 149 cysts <3 cm detected by
      CT from 2003 to 2004, and followed them for more than five years (mean 117.5 +/-
      18.8 months). Two radiologists reviewed the initial CT images, then recorded
      changes after the follow-up. We compared the cysts' initial characteristics
      between the surgery and non-surgery patient groups, and also between non-benign
      lesions and benign lesions. RESULTS: Twelve of the 95 patients, who among them
      had 16 cysts, underwent surgery. Of the 133 cysts in the 83 nonsurgical patients,
      57 cysts (42.9 %) enlarged, although only five cysts increased to larger than 3
      cm at the end of observation. The initial size of the cyst was significantly
      larger in the surgery group than non-surgery group. Also, according to cyst-based
      analysis, ductal communication, dilatation, and shape correlated with those of
      non-benign cysts and the non-surgical group. No cysts < 15 mm and without p-duct
      change showed a significant change within three years. CONCLUSION: Small
      pancreatic cysts, without p-duct change, and without a pleomorphic or clubbed
      shape, may be followed for a longer interval than current consensus. KEY POINTS:
      * Almost all small cysts < 3 cm were indolent in long term observation. * No
      cysts < 15 mm, without p-duct change showed significant change within 3 years. *
      Cyst size, ductal change and shape can be useful in predicting progress. * Only
      cysts with IPMN- like features and p-duct change need follow-up with cautions.

PMID- 27651146
TI  - Quasi-static stop band with flexural metamaterial having zero rotational
      stiffness.
AB  - Metamaterials realizing stop bands have attracted much attentions recently since
      they can break-through the well-known mass law. However, achieving the stop band
      at extremely low frequency has been still a big challenge in the fields of
      elastic metamaterials. In this paper, we propose a new metamaterial based on the
      idea of the zero rotational stiffness, to achieve extremely low frequency stop
      band for flexural elastic waves. Unlike the previous ways to achieve the stop
      band, we found that the zero rotational stiffness can provide a broad stop band
      at extremely low frequency, which starts from even almost zero frequency. To
      achieve the zero rotational stiffness, we propose a new elastic metamaterial
      consisting of blocks and links with the hinge connection. Analytic developments
      as well as numerical simulations evidence that this new metamaterial can exhibit
      extremely low and broad stop band, even at the quasi-static ranges. In addition,
      the metamaterial is shown to exhibit the negative group velocity at extremely low
      frequency ranges, as well as the quasi-static stop band, if it is properly
      designed.

PMID- 27651148
TI  - Striatal dopamine modulates timing of self-initiated saccades.
AB  - The ability to adjust movement timing is essential in daily life. Explorations of
      the underlying neural mechanisms have reported a gradual increase or decrease in
      neuronal activity prior to self-timed movements within the cortico-basal ganglia
      loop. Previous studies in both humans and animals have shown that endogenous
      dopamine (DA) plays a modulatory role in self-timing. However, the specific site
      of dopaminergic regulation remains elusive because the systemic application of DA
      related substances can directly alter both cortical and subcortical neuronal
      activities. To investigate the role of striatal DA in self-timing, we locally
      injected DA receptor agonists or antagonists into the striatum of two female
      monkeys (Macaca fuscata) while they performed two versions of the memory-guided
      saccade (MS) task. In the conventional, triggered MS task, animals made a saccade
      to the location of a previously flashed visual cue in response to the fixation
      point offset. In the self-timed MS task, monkeys were rewarded for making a self
      initiated saccade within a predetermined time interval following the cue.
      Infusion of a small amount of a D1 or D2 antagonist led to early saccades in the
      self-timed, but not the triggered MS tasks, while infusion of DA agonists
      produced no consistent effect. We also found that local administration of
      nicotinic but not muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonists and antagonists
      altered the timing of self-initiated saccades. Our data suggest that the timing
      of self-initiated movements may be regulated by the balance of signals in the
      direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways, as well as that between both
      hemispheres of the brain.

PMID- 27651147
TI  - Memory deficits, gait ataxia and neuronal loss in the hippocampus and cerebellum
      in mice that are heterozygous for Pur-alpha.
AB  - Pur-alpha is a highly conserved sequence-specific DNA and RNA binding protein
      with established roles in DNA replication, RNA translation, cell cycle
      regulation, and maintenance of neuronal differentiation. Prior studies have shown
      that mice lacking Pur-alpha (-/-) display decreased neurogenesis and impaired
      neuronal differentiation. We sought to examine for the first time, the behavioral
      phenotype and brain histopathology of mice that are heterozygous (+/-) for Pur
      alpha. Standardized behavioral phenotyping revealed a decreased escape response
      to touch, limb and abdominal hypotonia, and gait abnormalities in heterozygous
      Pur-alpha (+/-) mice, compared to wild-type (+/+) littermates. Footprint pattern
      analyses showed wider-based steps, increased missteps and more outwardly rotated
      hindpaws in heterozygous Pur-alpha (+/-) mice, suggestive of cerebellar
      pathology. The Barnes maze and novel object location testing revealed significant
      memory deficits in heterozygous Pur-alpha mice, suggestive of hippocampal
      pathology. Quantitative immunohistochemical assays of the vermal region of the
      cerebellum and CA1-3 regions of the hippocampus revealed reduced numbers of
      neurons in general, as well as reduced numbers of Pur-alpha+-immunopositive
      neurons and dendrites in heterozygous Pur-alpha mice, compared to wild-type
      littermates. Past studies have implicated mutations in Pur-alpha in several
      diseases of brain development and neurodegeneration. When combined with these new
      findings, the Pur-alpha heterozygous knockout mice may provide an animal model to
      study mechanisms of and treatments for Pur-alpha-related cognitive deficiencies
      and neuropathology.

PMID- 27651149
TI  - Increased susceptibility of G-protein coupled receptor 6 deficient mice to MPTP
      neurotoxicity.
AB  - The G-protein coupled receptor 6 (GPR6) is a constitutive active orphan GPCR
      which is predominantly expressed in striatopallidal neurons. GPR6 deficiency in
      mice may alter the susceptibility of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system
      relevant for Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we investigated the effect of GPR6
      deficiency in mice on neurotoxicity induced by the dopaminergic neurotoxin MPTP
      (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine). GPR6-/-- and control mice were
      treated with MPTP (4*12.5mg/kg, i.p., 2h intervals) and analyzed after seven
      days. Striatal dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and 4
      hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylacetic acid (HVA) concentrations were measured by HPLC.
      The number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the substantia nigra
      pars compacta (SNpc) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. In a separate group of
      mice, MPP+ (500MUM for 20min) was administered via an intrastriatal microdialysis
      probe to measure the MPP+-induced DA release. MPTP produced a significant
      reduction in striatal DA, DOPAC, HVA and an increase in dopamine turnover in
      control and GPR6-/--mice. The MPTP-induced DA and HVA depletion was significantly
      more pronounced in GPR6-/--mice. Consistently, the MPTP-induced reduction of TH
      positive neurons in the SPpc was significantly higher in GPR6-/--mice.
      Furthermore, the MPP+-induced dopamine release was significantly higher in GPR6-/
      -mice. In conclusion, we showed that MPTP induces an enhanced dopaminergic
      neurodegeneration in GPR6-/--mice indicated by alterations at the striatal and
      nigral level. We propose that GPR6 signaling is involved in the cascade of
      neurodegenerative events of the parkinsonian neurotoxin MPTP and suggest that
      pharmacological modulation of GPR6 might represent an entry point to further
      investigate GPR6 in PD.

PMID- 27651150
TI  - Investigating motor initiation and inhibition deficits in patients with
      Parkinson's disease and freezing of gait using a virtual reality paradigm.
AB  - Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common, disabling symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD)
      that is associated with deficits in motor initiation and inhibition.
      Understanding of underlying neurobiological mechanisms has been limited by
      difficulties in eliciting and objectively characterizing such gait phenomena in
      the clinical setting. However, recent work suggests that virtual reality (VR)
      techniques might offer the potential to study motor control. This study utilized
      a VR paradigm to explore deficits in motor initiation and stopping performance,
      including stop failure in PD patients with (Freezers, 31) and without (Non
      Freezers, 23) FOG, and healthy age-matched Controls (15). The VR task required
      subjects to respond to a series of start and stop cues while navigating a
      corridor using ankle flexion/extension movements on foot pedals. We found that
      Freezers experienced slower motor output initiation and more frequent start
      hesitations (SHs) (initiations greater than twice a subject's usual initiation
      latency) compared to Non-Freezers and Controls. Freezers also showed more marked
      inhibitory impairments, taking significantly longer to execute motor inhibition,
      and experiencing an increased frequency of failed stopping in response to stop
      cues compared to Non-Freezers and Controls. Stopping impairments were exacerbated
      by stop cues requiring additional cognitive processing. These results suggest
      that PD patients with FOG have marked impairments in motor initiation and
      inhibition that are not prominent in patients without FOG, nor healthy controls.
      Future work combining such VR paradigms with neuroimaging techniques and intra
      operative deep brain recordings may increase our understanding of these
      phenomena, promoting the development of novel technologies and therapeutic
      approaches.

PMID- 27651151
TI  - Long noncoding RNA MEG3 activation of p53 mediates ischemic neuronal death in
      stroke.
AB  - Maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) is suggested to function as a long non-coding
      RNA (lncRNA) and to play roles in various human cancers. However, the functional
      properties of MEG3 in ischemic stroke remain unknown. Here, we report that
      expression of MEG3 is upregulated following ischemia in adult mice. Moreover,
      cerebral ischemia recruits p53 into the MEG3 complex in ischemic tissues. MEG3
      directly binds with the p53 DNA binding domain (DBD) consisting of amino acids
      271-282 (p53-DBD271-282), which stimulates p53-mediated transactivation and
      mediates ischemic neuronal death. Administration of the membrane-permeable
      peptide inhibitor Tat-p53-DBD271-282 uncouples p53 from MEG3 in vivo and protects
      against cerebral ischemic insults in vitro and in vivo. Our data demonstrate that
      MEG3 functions as a cell death promoter in ischemia and physically and
      functionally interacts with p53 to mediate ischemic damage. Intervention in the
      MEG3-p53 interaction presents a new target for the therapeutic treatment of
      ischemic insults.

PMID- 27651152
TI  - Temporal processing capacity in auditory-deprived superior paraolivary neurons is
      rescued by sequential plasticity during early development.
AB  - The leading treatments for severe hearing disabilities work on the principle of
      conveying electrical pulses to the auditory brainstem that enable perception of
      speech. It is currently not known how well the brainstem neurons specialized for
      decoding such coarse sound information develop when deprived of auditory input
      activity. Here, we used congenitally deaf alpha1D-/- mice, lacking activity in
      the auditory nerve, to investigate the superior paraolivary nucleus (SPON) - a
      prominent mammalian brainstem structure that responds selectively to sound pulses
      by rebound spiking. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from SPON neurons in the
      alpha1D-/- and control mice were obtained at equivalent pre- and post-hearing
      onset ages. The results show that SPON neurons in the alpha1D-/- display less
      precise, plateau-like rebound spiking compared to control neurons. However, the
      rebound spiking mechanism undergoes strong compensation with age in the alpha1D-/
      . Voltage-activated Ca2+-currents lower the spike threshold, rescuing the
      capacity for spike initiation at pre-hearing onset ages. Gradual up-regulation of
      the inwardly rectifying h-current contributes to depolarize the membrane
      potential. Reduction of the membrane time constant and less recruitment of Ca2+
      currents thereby normalize precise rebound spiking at post-hearing onset ages. We
      found the soluble form of the neurotrophic factor neuritin to be up-regulated in
      SPON of deaf mice, which may have promoted neuronal survival and prolonged
      plasticity of the SPON circuitry. A stereotyped timeline of compensation of
      rebound spiking in deaf SPON neurons indicates robust intrinsic regulation of the
      brainstem circuitry encoding sound rhythms. This may be a prerequisite for
      successful cochlear implants.

PMID- 27651154
TI  - Designing healthcare to fit real people.

PMID- 27651153
TI  - Lysophosphatidic acid provides a missing link between osteoarthritis and joint
      neuropathic pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Emerging evidence suggests that osteoarthritis (OA) has a neuropathic
      component; however, the identity of the molecules responsible for this peripheral
      neuropathy is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of
      the bioactive lipid lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) to joint neuropathy and pain.
      DESIGN: Male Lewis rats received an intra-articular injection of 50 MUg of LPA
      into the knee and allowed to recover for up to 21 days. Saphenous nerve
      myelination was assessed by g-ratio calculation from electron micrographs and
      afferent nerve damage visualised by activation transcription factor-3 (ATF-3)
      expression. Nerve conduction velocity was measured electrophysiologically and
      joint pain was determined by hindlimb incapacitance. The effect of the LPA
      antagonist Ki-16425 was also evaluated. Experiments were repeated in the sodium
      monoiodoacetate (MIA) model of OA. RESULTS: LPA caused joint nerve demyelination
      which resulted in a drop in nerve conduction velocity. Sensory neurones were ATF
      3 positive and animals exhibited joint pain and knee joint damage. MIA-treated
      rats also showed signs of demyelination and joint neuropathy with concomitant
      pain. Nerve damage and pain could be ameliorated by Ki-16425 pre-treatment.
      CONCLUSION: Intra-articular injection of LPA caused knee joint neuropathy, joint
      damage and pain. Pharmacological blockade of LPA receptors inhibited joint nerve
      damage and hindlimb incapacitance. Thus, LPA is a candidate molecule for the
      development of OA nerve damage and the origin of joint neuropathic pain.

PMID- 27651155
TI  - A Possible Neural Representation of Mathematical Group Structures.
AB  - Every cognitive activity has a neural representation in the brain. When humans
      deal with abstract mathematical structures, for instance finite groups, certain
      patterns of activity are occurring in the brain that constitute their neural
      representation. A formal neurocognitive theory must account for all the
      activities developed by our brain and provide a possible neural representation
      for them. Associative memories are neural network models that have a good chance
      of achieving a universal representation of cognitive phenomena. In this work, we
      present a possible neural representation of mathematical group structures based
      on associative memory models that store finite groups through their Cayley
      graphs. A context-dependent associative memory stores the transitions between
      elements of the group when multiplied by each generator of a given presentation
      of the group. Under a convenient election of the vector basis mapping the
      elements of the group in the neural activity, the input of a vector corresponding
      to a generator of the group collapses the context-dependent rectangular matrix
      into a virtual square permutation matrix that is the matrix representation of the
      generator. This neural representation corresponds to the regular representation
      of the group, in which to each element is assigned a permutation matrix. This
      action of the generator on the memory matrix can also be seen as the dissection
      of the corresponding monochromatic subgraph of the Cayley graph of the group, and
      the adjacency matrix of this subgraph is the permutation matrix corresponding to
      the generator.

PMID- 27651156
TI  - Structural and Practical Identifiability Issues of Immuno-Epidemiological Vector
      Host Models with Application to Rift Valley Fever.
AB  - In this article, we discuss the structural and practical identifiability of a
      nested immuno-epidemiological model of arbovirus diseases, where host-vector
      transmission rate, host recovery, and disease-induced death rates are governed by
      the within-host immune system. We incorporate the newest ideas and the most up-to
      date features of numerical methods to fit multi-scale models to multi-scale data.
      For an immunological model, we use Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV) time-series
      data obtained from livestock under laboratory experiments, and for an
      epidemiological model we incorporate a human compartment to the nested model and
      use the number of human RVFV cases reported by the CDC during the 2006-2007 Kenya
      outbreak. We show that the immunological model is not structurally identifiable
      for the measurements of time-series viremia concentrations in the host. Thus, we
      study the non-dimensionalized and scaled versions of the immunological model and
      prove that both are structurally globally identifiable. After fixing estimated
      parameter values for the immunological model derived from the scaled model, we
      develop a numerical method to fit observable RVFV epidemiological data to the
      nested model for the remaining parameter values of the multi-scale system. For
      the given (CDC) data set, Monte Carlo simulations indicate that only three
      parameters of the epidemiological model are practically identifiable when the
      immune model parameters are fixed. Alternatively, we fit the multi-scale data to
      the multi-scale model simultaneously. Monte Carlo simulations for the
      simultaneous fitting suggest that the parameters of the immunological model and
      the parameters of the immuno-epidemiological model are practically identifiable.
      We suggest that analytic approaches for studying the structural identifiability
      of nested models are a necessity, so that identifiable parameter combinations can
      be derived to reparameterize the nested model to obtain an identifiable one. This
      is a crucial step in developing multi-scale models which explain multi-scale
      data.

PMID- 27651158
TI  - Targeting Netrin-1 in glioblastoma stem-like cells inhibits growth, invasion, and
      angiogenesis.
AB  - Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive malignant brain tumor that still lacks
      effective therapy. Glioblastoma stem cells (GBM-SCs) were identified to
      contribute to aggressive phenotypes and poor clinical outcomes for GBM. Netrin-1,
      an axon guidance molecule, has been found in several tumors in adults. However,
      the role of Netrin-1 in GBM-SCs remains largely unknown. In this study, CD133
      positive U251 GBM cells were used as a putative GBM-SC population to identify the
      functions of Netrin-1. Using lentiviral transduction, Netrin-1 miR RNAi vectors
      were transduced into CD133-positive U251 cells. We demonstrated that cell
      proliferation and survival were decreased following targeted deletion of Netrin
      1. Cell invasion was dramatically diminished in Netrin-1 knockdown GBM-SCs.
      Moreover, Netrin-1 knockdown GBM-SCs exhibited less proangiogenic activity. In
      conclusion, Netrin-1 may represent a therapeutic target in glioblastoma.

PMID- 27651160
TI  - The predictive potential and oncogenic effects of HOXC8 expression on
      osteosarcoma.
AB  - Homeobox C8 (HOXC8) has been implicated in cell growth, migration, and metastasis
      of various cancers, yet its role in osteosarcoma remains to be explored. In the
      present study, resected osteosarcoma specimens from 50 patients were enrolled to
      evaluate the expression of HOXC8 protein by immunohistochemistry (IHC). In vitro
      and in vivo assays were used to determine the effect of HOXC8 on cell growth,
      migration, and tumor growth. HOXC8 expression was observed in 31 (62.0 %) of the
      50 primary tumors and significantly associated with poorly or un-differentiated
      specimens (P = 0.031) and larger tumor size (P = 0.049). Survival analysis
      demonstrated that HOXC8 is a candidate predictive factor in predicting patients'
      outcome and chemotherapeutic effect. HOXC8 knockdown led to inhibition of tumor
      cell proliferation and migration in vitro by inhibiting MMP-9 expression and
      tumor growth in vivo. Our results strongly suggest that HOXC8 is involved in the
      tumorigenesis of osteosarcoma and might serve as a novel predictor for patients'
      outcome.

PMID- 27651159
TI  - Genotypic distribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms in oral cancer: global
      scene.
AB  - Globocan 2012 reports the global oral cancer incidence of 300,373 new oral cancer
      cases annually, contributing to 2.1 % of the world cancer burden. The major well
      established risk factors for oral cancer include tobacco, betel/areca nut,
      alcohol and high-risk oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) 16/18. However, only
      5-10 % of individuals with high-risk lifestyle develop oral cancer. Thus, genomic
      variants in individuals represented as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      influence susceptibility to oral cancer. With a view to understanding the role of
      genomic variants in oral cancer, we reviewed SNPs in case-control studies with a
      minimum of 100 cases and 100 controls. PubMed and HuGE navigator search engines
      were used to obtain data published from 1990 to 2015, which identified 67
      articles investigating the role of SNPs in oral cancer. Single publications
      reported 93 SNPs in 55 genes, with 34 SNPs associated with a risk of oral cancer.
      Meta-analysis of data in multiple studies defined nine SNPs associated with a
      risk of oral cancer. The genes were associated with critical functions
      deregulated in cancers, including cell proliferation, immune function,
      inflammation, transcription, DNA repair and xenobiotic metabolism.

PMID- 27651157
TI  - Breast cancer classification and prognostication through diverse systems along
      with recent emerging findings in this respect; the dawn of new perspectives in
      the clinical applications.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women and the second leading
      cause of mortality due to cancer worldwide. The complexity of breast cancer
      resembles an intricate ecosystem comprising various cleverly designed interaction
      levels of internal and external factors to generate a pliable context in the
      clonal evolution of breast cancer cells. Principally, the complex entity can
      become evident toward delineating a number of significant variations in the
      specific fields of breast cancer analyses, including the molecular,
      physiological, and morphological characteristics, clinical presentations, risk
      factors, the histopathological conditions, and response to systemic therapy
      regarding the maintenance of tumor as a whole. In hindsight, various
      classification systems developing based on specific inclusion criteria have
      indisputably changed both our appreciation of the biological demeanor of breast
      cancer and the main strategies for designing tailored therapy regimens through
      the proper evaluation of diagnosis and prognostication of given specimens. Here,
      we endeavor to provide a general overview of different types of breast cancer
      classification as well as the clinical acceptance of their applications along
      with the latest findings in this area. Taken together, the major significance of
      breast cancer management that can be ascertained by operational convergent points
      of its stratification areas is owing to the fact that the achievement of
      individualized and targeted therapy may denounce new horizons of surveillance and
      treatment strategies in which they may function as a rheostat of specific therapy
      regimens toward reducing the detected distances between experimental data and
      operating options in clinical practice.

PMID- 27651161
TI  - RAD51B as a potential biomarker for early detection and poor prognostic
      evaluation contributes to tumorigenesis of gastric cancer.
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) is a common and deadly disease worldwide. Outcomes of
      patients are poor largely due to chemoresistance or recurrence. Thus, identifying
      novel biomarkers to predict response to therapy and/or prognosis are urgently
      needed. RAD51B, a key player in DNA repair/recombination, has the potential to be
      a candidate oncogene and biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. However,
      its relationship with GC remains unclear. To evaluate clinicopathological and
      prognostic significance of RAD51B in GC, we examined messenger RNA (mRNA) and
      protein expression via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)
      from 69 and tissue microarray from 144 GC patients, respectively. Our results
      showed that RAD51B mRNA expression was significantly up-regulated in tumors
      compared to that of matched noncancerous tissues (P < 0.001). In parallel, RAD51B
      protein showed a mainly nucleus-staining pattern, and the positive rate in tumors
      and stomach atypical hyperplasia was significantly higher than that in matched
      noncancerous tissues (P = 0.015). Moreover, high level of RAD51B protein was
      correlated with advanced stage (P = 0.009), aggressive differentiation (P =
      0.022), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001). Further, Kaplan-Meier analysis
      indicated that patients with high level of RAD51B expression exhibited worse
      overall survival compared to patients with low level (P = 0.040). A multivariate
      Cox regression analysis suggested that RAD51B may be an independent prognostic
      factor for GC patients in Chinese population (P = 0.004). Additionally,
      functional studies indicated that over-expression of RAD51B promoted cell
      proliferation, aneuploidy, and drug resistance, while RAD51B knockdown led to G1
      arrest and sensitized cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In conclusion, RAD51B may
      act as an oncogene during GC progression, and its hyper-expression may be a
      potential biomarker for early detection and poor prognosis of GC.

PMID- 27651163
TI  - Advances and unresolved challenges in the structural characterization of isomeric
      lipids.
AB  - As the field of lipidomics grows and its application becomes wide and varied it
      is important that we don't forget its foundation, i.e. the identification and
      measurement of molecular lipids. Advances in liquid chromatography and the
      emergence of ion mobility as a useful tool in lipid analysis are allowing greater
      separation of lipid isomers than ever before. At the same time, novel ion
      activation techniques, such as ozone-induced dissociation, are pushing lipid
      structural characterization by mass spectrometry to new levels. Nevertheless, the
      quantitative capacity of these techniques is yet to be proven and further
      refinements are required to unravel the high level of lipid complexity found in
      biological samples. At present there is no one technique capable of providing
      full structural characterization of lipids from a biological sample. There are
      however, numerous techniques now available (as discussed in this review) that
      could be deployed in a targeted approach. Moving forward, the combination of
      advanced separation and ion activation techniques is likely to provide mass
      spectrometry-based lipidomics with its best opportunity to achieve complete
      molecular-level lipid characterization and measurement from complex mixtures.

PMID- 27651164
TI  - African-American Solo Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Representative
      Profile of Their Health Status.
AB  - The objective of this study is to document the health profile of 252 African
      American grandparents raising their grandchildren solo, compared with 1552
      African-American single parents. The 2012 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance
      System is used to compare the specific physical and mental health profiles of
      these two family groups. The findings suggest solo grandparents have prevalence
      of many health conditions, including arthritis (50.3 %), diabetes (20.1 %), heart
      attack (16.6 %) and coronary heart disease (16.6 %). Logistic regression analyses
      suggest that solo grandparents have much higher odds of several chronic health
      disorders in comparison with single parents, but this difference is largely
      explained by age. Although solo grandparents have good access to health care
      insurance and primary care providers, a substantial percentage (44 %) rate their
      health as fair or poor. Practice interventions to address African American solo
      grandparents' health needs are discussed.

PMID- 27651165
TI  - Smoking and Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy. An Analysis of a Hospital Based
      Cohort of Women in Romania.
AB  - Perinatal smoking is associated with a wide range of negative reproductive and
      pregnancy outcomes. The aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence
      and characteristics of women who report smoking prenatally and quit during
      pregnancy in a large sample of Romanian women. Understanding which women are more
      likely to quit will contribute to public health knowledge that will help more
      women stop smoking prior to or during pregnancy and prevent relapse postpartum.
      This cross-sectional analysis was conducted based on cross-sectional data
      collected between May 2012 and April 2015 as part of a cohort study of pregnancy
      implemented in six clinical settings in central Romania (N = 2370). Approximately
      28 % of the sample reported smoking in the 6 months prior to learning they were
      pregnant. Half of the women who reported smoking 6 months before learning of
      their pregnancy, also reported that they stopped smoking by the time of the
      interview. Overall, tobacco consumption decreased from a sample mode of 10
      cigarettes/day (range: 1-30) before pregnancy, to a sample mode of 5
      cigarettes/day (range: 1-25) at the time of the interview. Women who quit had a
      higher socioeconomic position, were more likely to live in urban areas,
      partnered, primigravid, nulliparous, and reported lower anxiety and more social
      support. The combination of a socioeconomic gradient, less anxiety, and more
      social support suggests that efforts should be increased to target lower income,
      less educated, multigravid, and multiparous women and to develop programs that
      heighten social support and alleviate anxiety.

PMID- 27651166
TI  - Alternative Locales for the Health Promotion of African American Men: A Survey of
      African American Men in Chicago Barbershops.
AB  - African American men (AA) carry unequal burdens of several conditions including
      cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and HIV. Engagement of diverse populations
      including AA men in research and health promotion practice is vital to examining
      the health disparities that continue to plague many racially and ethnically
      diverse communities. To date, there is little research on best practices that
      indicate locations, community areas and settings to engage AA men in research and
      health promotion. Traditionally, the AA church has been a key area to engage AA
      men and women. However, changing tides in attendance of AA parishioners require
      additional information to identify areas where AAs, particularly, AA men
      congregate. The AA barbershop has been identified as a place of social cohesion,
      cultural immersion and solidarity for AA men but specific sub-populations of AA
      men may be underrepresented. To further investigate additional locales where AA
      men congregate, this study engaged AA barbers and clients in several urban
      community barbershops in Chicago, Illinois. 127 AA men over age 18y/o receiving
      grooming services in 25 Chicago area barbershops across 14 predominantly AA
      communities were consented and recruited for a quantitative survey study. The
      self-administered surveys were completed in ~15 min and $10 compensation was
      provided to men. Descriptive statistics were reported for demographic variables
      and for frequency of responses for locations to find AA men of specific age
      ranges for health promotion and screening activities. Outside of the
      traditionally used churches or barbershops, the top recommended recruitment sites
      by age were: 18-29y/o- city park or a recreational center; 30-39y/o- gym, bars or
      the street; 40-49y/o- various stores, especially home improvement stores, and the
      mall; and 50y/o+- fast food restaurants in the mornings, such as McDonalds, and
      individual's homes. The study participants also reported that locations where AA
      men congregate vary by age. Findings from this study illustrate that AA barbers
      and barbershops remain a key stakeholder in health promotion among AA men. The
      findings also demonstrate the need for additional research to examine best
      practices for identifying locations where diverse groups of AA men that vary by
      age and sexual orientation may congregate in order to support increased health
      promotion among AA men.

PMID- 27651167
TI  - Clostridium difficile infection diagnostics - evaluation of the C. DIFF Quik Chek
      Complete assay, a rapid enzyme immunoassay for detection of toxigenic C.
      difficile in clinical stool samples.
AB  - Diagnostic testing for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has, in recent
      years, seen the introduction of rapid dual-EIA (enzyme immunoassay) tests
      combining species-specific glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) with toxin A/B. In a
      prospective study, we compared the C. DIFF Quik Chek Complete test to a
      combination of selective culture (SC) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification
      (LAMP) of the toxin A gene. Of 419 specimens, 68 were positive in SC including 62
      positive in LAMP (14.7%). The combined EIA yielded 82 GDH positives of which 47
      were confirmed toxin A/B positive (11%) corresponding to a sensitivity and
      specificity of 94% for GDH EIA compared to SC and for toxin A/B EIA a sensitivity
      of 71% and a specificity of 99% compared to LAMP. Twenty different PCR ribotypes
      were evenly distributed except for UK 081 where only 25% were toxin A/B positive
      compared to LAMP. We propose a primary use of a combined GDH toxin A/B EIA
      permitting a sensitive 1-h result of 379 of 419 (90%, all negatives plus GDH and
      toxin EIA positives) referred specimens. The remaining 10% being GDH positive
      should be tested for toxin A/B gene on the same day and positive results left to
      a final decision by the physician.

PMID- 27651162
TI  - Natural products against cancer angiogenesis.
AB  - The process of angiogenesis is quite well-known nowadays. Some medicines and
      extracts affecting this process are already used routinely in supporting the
      conventional treatment of many diseases that are considered angiogenic such as
      cancer. However, we must be aware that the area of currently used drugs of this
      type is much narrower than the theoretical possibilities existing in therapeutic
      angiogenesis. Plant substances are a large and diverse group of compounds that
      are found naturally in fruits, vegetables, spices, and medicinal plants. They
      also have different anticancer properties. The aim of this literature review
      article is to present the current state of knowledge concerning the molecular
      targets of tumor angiogenesis and the active substances (polyphenols, alkaloids,
      phytohormones, carbohydrates, and terpenes) derived from natural sources, whose
      activity against cancer angiogenesis has been confirmed.

PMID- 27651168
TI  - Management of relapsed and refractory childhood acute promyelocytic leukaemia:
      recommendations from an international expert panel.

PMID- 27651170
TI  - Lexical-semantic deficits in processing food and non-food items.
AB  - The study of category specific deficits in brain-damaged patients has been
      instrumental in explaining how knowledge about different types of objects is
      organized in the brain. Much of this research focused on testing putative
      semantic sensory/functional subsystems that could explain the observed
      dissociations in performance between living things (e.g., animals and
      fruits/vegetables) and non-living things (e.g., tools). As neuropsychological
      patterns that did not fit the original living/non-living distinction were
      observed, an alternative organization of semantic memory in domains constrained
      by evolutionary pressure was hypothesized. However, the category of food, that
      contains both living-natural items, such as an apple, and nonliving-manufactured
      items as in the case of a hamburger, has never been systematically investigated.
      As such, food category could turn out to be very useful to test whether the brain
      organizes the knowledge about food in sensory/functional subsystems, in a
      specific domain, or whether both approaches might need to be integrated. In the
      present study we tested the ability of patients with Alzheimer dementia (AD) and
      with Primary Progressive Aphasias (PPA) as well as healthy controls to perform a
      confrontation naming task, a categorization task, and a comprehension of edible
      (natural and manufactured food) and non edible items (tools and non-edible
      natural things) task (Tasks 1-3). The same photographs of natural and
      manufactured food were presented together with a description of food's sensory or
      functional property that could be either congruent or incongruent with that
      particular food (Task 4). Patients were overall less accurate than healthy
      individuals, and PPA patients were generally more impaired than AD patients,
      especially on the naming task. Food tended to be processed better than non-food
      in two out of three tasks (categorization and comprehension tasks). Patient
      groups showed no difference in naming food and non-food items, while controls
      were more accurate with non-food than food (controlling for the linguistic
      variables and calorie content). AD patients named manufactured food more
      accurately than natural food (with PPA and controls showing no difference).
      Recognition of food and, to some extent, of manufactured food seems to be more
      resilient to brain damage, possibly by virtue of its survival relevance.
      Furthermore, on Task 4 patients showed an advantage for the sensory-natural pairs
      over sensory-manufactured combination. Overall, findings do not fit an existing
      model of semantic memory and suggest that properties intrinsic to the food items
      (such as the level of transformation and the calorie content) or even to the
      participants like the Body Mass Index (as shown in another study reviewed here)
      should be considered.

PMID- 27651169
TI  - Gene panel sequencing improves the diagnostic work-up of patients with idiopathic
      erythrocytosis and identifies new mutations.
AB  - Erythrocytosis is a rare disorder characterized by increased red cell mass and
      elevated hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit. Several genetic variants have
      been identified as causes for erythrocytosis in genes belonging to different
      pathways including oxygen sensing, erythropoiesis and oxygen transport. However,
      despite clinical investigation and screening for these mutations, the cause of
      disease cannot be found in a considerable number of patients, who are classified
      as having idiopathic erythrocytosis. In this study, we developed a targeted next
      generation sequencing panel encompassing the exonic regions of 21 genes from
      relevant pathways (~79 Kb) and sequenced 125 patients with idiopathic
      erythrocytosis. The panel effectively screened 97% of coding regions of these
      genes, with an average coverage of 450*. It identified 51 different rare
      variants, all leading to alterations of protein sequence, with 57 out of 125
      cases (45.6%) having at least one of these variants. Ten of these were known
      erythrocytosis-causing variants, which had been missed following existing
      diagnostic algorithms. Twenty-two were novel variants in erythrocytosis
      associated genes (EGLN1, EPAS1, VHL, BPGM, JAK2, SH2B3) and in novel genes
      included in the panel (e.g. EPO, EGLN2, HIF3A, OS9), some with a high likelihood
      of functionality, for which future segregation, functional and replication
      studies will be useful to provide further evidence for causality. The rest were
      classified as polymorphisms. Overall, these results demonstrate the benefits of
      using a gene panel rather than existing methods in which focused genetic
      screening is performed depending on biochemical measurements: the gene panel
      improves diagnostic accuracy and provides the opportunity for discovery of novel
      variants.

PMID- 27651171
TI  - Disentangling signal and noise in autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Predictive coding has recently been welcomed as a fruitful framework to
      understand autism spectrum disorder. Starting from an account centered on
      deficient differential weighting of prediction errors (based in so-called
      precision estimation), we illustrate that individuals with autism have particular
      difficulties with separating signal from noise, across different tasks.
      Specifically, we discuss how deficient precision-setting is detrimental for
      learning in unstable environments, for context-dependent assignment of salience
      to inputs, and for robustness in perception, as illustrated in coherent motion
      paradigms.

PMID- 27651172
TI  - Sliding Clamp of DNA Polymerase III as a Drug Target for TB Therapy:
      Comprehensive Conformational and Binding Analysis from Molecular Dynamic
      Simulations.
AB  - Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is one of the most common
      causes of death in the world. Mycobacterium tuberculosis -sliding clamp is a
      protein essential for many important DNA transactions including replication and
      DNA repair proteins, thus, a potential drug target for tuberculosis. Further
      investigation is needed in understanding DNA polymerase sliding clamp structure,
      especially from a computational perspective. In this study, we employ a wide
      range of comparative molecular dynamic analyses on two systems: Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis - sliding clamp enzyme in its apo and bound form. The results
      reported in this study shows apo conformation to be less stable, as compared to
      bound conformation with an average radius of gyration of 25.812 and 25.459 A,
      respectively. This was further supported by root mean square fluctuation, where
      an apo enzyme showed a higher degree of flexibility. However, the presence of the
      ligand lowers radius of gyration and root mean square fluctuation and also leads
      to an existence of negative correlated motions. Principal component analysis
      further justifies the same findings, whereby the apo enzyme exhibits a higher
      fluctuation compared to the bound complex. In addition, a stable 310 helix
      located at the binding site appears to be unstable in the presence of the ligand.
      Hence, it is possible that the binding of the ligand may have caused a
      rearrangement of the structure, leading to a change in the unwinding of 310
      helix. Findings reported in this study further enhance the understanding of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis -DnaN and also give a lead to the development of
      potent tuberculosis drugs.

PMID- 27651173
TI  - Safety and Tolerability: Current Challenges to Antiretroviral Therapy for the
      Long-Term Management of HIV Infection.
AB  - Following the introduction of triple combination therapy in 1996, the paradigm of
      HIV infection has been modified by its transformation into a chronic disease and
      thereby significantly reducing its morbidity and mortality. The spectrum of drugs
      in use since then has changed dramatically with the advent of more potent
      molecules, new classes of drugs aimed at novel therapeutic targets and their
      optimization and simplification through fixed-dose combinations that are more
      convenient for patients, and which, taken together, have led to sustained
      virologic response rates in treatment-naive patients of more than 90%. However,
      the different drugs that make up antiretroviral therapy continue to pose problems
      of tolerability and toxicity (such as tenofovirassociated renal and bone
      toxicity, or neuropsychiatric toxicity that has been related to efavirenz and,
      more recently, to some integrase inhibitors), which can be detrimental to the
      patient's compliance to a given antiretroviral therapy and lead to virologic
      failure. In this context of sustained virologic response, safety has emerged as
      probably the single most important factor in treatment and should be given
      serious consideration when choosing an antiretroviral therapy regimen. Herein, we
      review the role of the adverse effects that result from the different drugs that
      are currently available, as described in data published from clinical trials and
      real life cohort studies, as well as possible therapeutic strategies for the
      management of these toxicities.

PMID- 27651174
TI  - The Protective Effect of Poloxamer-188 on Platelet Functions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poloxamer-188 (MST-188) is effective in the repair/recovery of
      damaged cell membranes. MST-188 is a promising agent for protecting blood cell
      viability. The aim of the study is to test the hypothesis that MST-188 can extend
      the duration of platelet function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were
      collected from 20 healthy volunteers. MST-188 (10 or 2 mg/mL) containing platelet
      rich plasma (PRP) was prepared with 2 procedures. First, PRP prepared from MST
      188 added whole blood (WB); second, MST-188 was added to PRP. These were referred
      to MST-188-WB preparation (WBP) and MST-188-PRP preparation (PRPP), respectively.
      For control, saline was used in the same manner. Agonist-induced aggregation
      (AIA) studies were performed at 30, 180, and 300 minutes using Platelet
      Aggregation Profiler (PAP-8) aggregometer (Bio/Data Corporation, Horsham,
      Pennsylvania) and Adenosine diphosphate (ADP), arachidonic acid, collagen, and
      epinephrine as agonists at final concentration of 20 uM, 500 ug/mL, 0.19 mg/mL,
      and 100 uM, respectively. RESULTS: There was a protective effect of MST-188 on
      ADP and collagen AIA. At 300 minutes, ADP AIA was found to be 50.2% higher than
      saline control in 2-mg WBP, 43% at 10-mg PRPP, and 10.4% at 2-mg PRPP. Protective
      effect of on collagen AIA was 65.9% in 2-mg WBP, 42.74% at 10-mg PRPP, and 11.42%
      at 2-mg PRPP. In comparison between 30 and 300 minutes, MST-188 showed
      significant protection in terms of ADP and collagen receptors and for both types
      of preparations (WBP and PRPP). CONCLUSION: The protective effects of MST-188 on
      ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation may contribute to the preservation
      of platelet functionality upon storage in blood banks.

PMID- 27651176
TI  - Community vulnerability and symptoms of acute respiratory infection among
      preschool age children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Nigeria:
      evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As a consequence of the global spread of HIV infection in sub-Saharan
      Africa, the impact of the AIDS pandemic has contributed to more than 40 million
      orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in sub-Saharan Africa. The children's
      vulnerability is hypothesised to increase the risk of acute respiratory infection
      (ARI), which remains one of the major infectious causes of child mortality and
      morbidity in this region. This study examines the linkages between children's
      vulnerability and ARI symptoms, with a focus on the individual as well as
      community levels. METHODS: Using population-based Demographic and Health Surveys
      of preschool age children (0-59 months old) from the Democratic Republic of Congo
      (n=7755), Malawi (n=17 559) and Nigeria (n=28 049), multilevel logistic models
      were conducted to establish the relationships between ARI symptoms among OVC and
      community-level vulnerability, adjusting for children's and household
      characteristics and a season variation. RESULTS: The child's OVC status and
      community vulnerability were shown to be significantly associated with an
      increased likelihood of the child suffering from ARI symptoms in three countries.
      In contrast, the relationship between ARI symptoms and some selected variables
      associated with community development was not consistent across the 3 countries.
      CONCLUSIONS: Community vulnerability demonstrates a significant influence on
      whether or not the child exhibits ARI symptoms. Being OVC contributes to
      differences in children's likelihood of ARI symptoms between communities. In
      addition to industrial pollution, specific components, such as community
      development, vary in their associations with the ARI symptoms across different
      countries. The large differences in childhood ARI symptoms across countries
      suggests that policies aimed at promoting child health need to be context
      specific.

PMID- 27651177
TI  - Hormone Modulation of Toll-Like Receptor 5 in Cultured Human Bladder Epithelial
      Cells.
AB  - AIM: The effect of hormone levels on the stimulation of Toll-like receptor 5
      (TLR5) in the bladder is unknown. We aimed to study the effect of estradiol and
      progesterone on TLR5 expression and function in human bladder epithelial cells.
      METHODS: After growing to near confluence, T24 human urinary bladder (HUB) cells
      were incubated in hormone-free (HF) media for 72 hours. Human urinary bladder
      cells were then incubated in (1) HF media, (2) estradiol media, (3) progesterone
      media, or (4) media containing estradiol and progesterone at physiologic
      concentrations. Following flagellin exposure, cells and media were collected.
      Toll-like receptor 5 expression and stimulated cytokine release were analyzed
      using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results were normalized with cellular
      protein assays. A TLR5 antagonist was used to confirm that stimulation from
      flagellin was mediated by TLR5 signaling. RESULTS: Cultured HUB cells express
      TLR5 protein. Estradiol and progesterone environments suppress TLR5 expression
      compared to HF environment. The function of TLR5 was measured by interleukin 6
      (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 production after flagellin
      exposure. Interleukin 6 production was 75% higher in the estradiol than
      progesterone environment. The progesterone environment produced IL-6 levels twice
      that observed in HF and combined estrogen-progesterone environments.
      Interestingly, higher TLR5 expression was associated with lower IL-6 production.
      CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that TLR5 expression and functional activity
      as measured by IL-6 are modulated by hormones. The increase in TLR5-associated IL
      6 may play a role in increasing the rate of symptomatic urinary tract infection.
      Likewise, low TLR5 functional activity may dampen the response of the innate
      immune system, thereby lessening the likelihood of a symptomatic bladder
      infection.

PMID- 27651178
TI  - HELLP Syndrome.
AB  - The hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome is
      frequently observed in mothers whose offspring have long-chain fatty acid
      oxidation defects. We previously found that fatty acid oxidation is compromised
      not only in these inborn errors of metabolism but also in human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs) from all pregnancies complicated by the HELLP
      syndrome. Sirtuins are oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)dependent
      deacetylases linked to the metabolic status of the cell. SIRT 4 is known to have
      regulatory functions in fatty acid oxidation. The HELLP syndrome is often
      associated with short-term hypoxia. We studied sirtuins (SIRT 1, SIRT 3, and SIRT
      4) in HUVECs from pregnancies complicated by the HELLP syndrome and uncomplicated
      pregnancies exposed to hypoxia (n = 7 controls, 7 HELLP; 0, 10, 60, or 120
      minutes of 2% O2). Protein levels of SIRT 4 were significantly higher in HUVECs
      from HELLP compared to control after 60 and 120 minutes of hypoxia. The NAD+
      levels increased in a time-dependent manner.

PMID- 27651179
TI  - Discs large homologue 1 (Dlg1) coordinates mouse oocyte polarisation during
      maturation.
AB  - Mouse oocyte meiotic division requires the establishment of asymmetries in the
      oocyte before division, indicating the presence of polarity-establishing
      molecules. During mouse oocyte maturation proper orientation and positioning of
      the meiotic spindle at the oocyte cortex, as well as polarity in the oocyte
      cytoplasm and its oolemma, are necessary for the formation of functional haploid
      oocytes. Discs large homologue 1 (Dlg1) protein is a conserved protein that
      regulates cell polarity. In the present study, we found that Dlg1 was expressed
      at different stages of oocyte development. The localisation of Dlg1 during mouse
      oocyte maturation and its relationship with the cytoskeleton were analysed. Our
      data show that at the germinal vesicle stage, Dlg1 was present in the cytoplasm,
      prominently surrounding the germinal vesicle membrane. During maturation, Dlg1
      became highly polarised by associating with the spindle and formed characteristic
      crescent-shaped accumulations under the cortex. Addition of nocodazole or
      cytochalasin B into the culture medium at different stages changed the
      localisation of Dlg1, indicating that the organisation of Dlg1 is a complex multi
      step process and is dependent on microtubules and microfilaments. More
      importantly, we found that silencing of Dlg1 compromised the G2-M transition.

PMID- 27651182
TI  - Learning management by self-employed occupational therapists in private practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: This study explored how occupational therapists in private
      practice developed the business skills needed to operate a successful private
      practice. The literature shows that many small-business owner-managers have
      poorly developed business skills, and some experience high rates of failure. This
      indicates that to be successful in private practice, occupational therapists need
      to gain mastery of management competencies in addition to their professional
      clinical competencies. METHODS: A qualitative study, using in-depth interviews,
      collected data from twenty-six self-employed occupational therapists on their
      experiences of becoming a small-business owner-manager. A narrative analysis
      built an understanding about how these therapists developed their business
      competencies. RESULTS: Analysis revealed the factors affecting the development of
      business competencies were interactions between the initial motivations for start
      up, growth aspirations and engagement with external business environments.
      Business competencies developed through a combination of formal learning prior to
      starting their businesses, and informal learning once their businesses were in
      operation. Lower level learning occurred in the routine and operational
      processes, with higher level learning through discontinuous events resulting in a
      transformation in the therapists' understanding about themselves as business
      owner-managers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings led to a proposition that occupational
      therapists make the transition to becoming successful small-business owner
      manager through management learning that includes elements of self-reflection,
      identifying environmental opportunities and risks, developing capabilities, and
      strategic planning for growth and development. It provides insights on what
      occupational therapists need to consider to become successful small-business
      owner-managers.

PMID- 27651181
TI  - Long-term outcomes of domiciliary intravenous iloprost in idiopathic and
      connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: There are few published data on the efficacy of i.v.
      iloprost in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We present long-term outcomes
      in PAH patients receiving i.v. iloprost in a large UK referral centre. METHODS:
      Eighty patients with idiopathic PAH (iPAH, n = 46) or PAH associated with
      connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH, n = 34) were identified as receiving
      domiciliary i.v. iloprost between January 1999 and April 2015. Baseline
      characteristics, doses achieved, functional class at follow-up and survival data
      were retrieved from hospital databases. RESULTS: Median maximum dose achieved was
      4.6 ng/kg/min in the iPAH group and 5.0 ng/kg/min in CTD-PAH patients. Exercise
      capacity significantly improved in the first 6 months of therapy in IPAH
      patients. Overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival was 78%, 64% and 52% in iPAH (P =
      0.002) and 64%, 26% and 21% in CTD-PAH. Independent predictors of survival were
      age and exercise capacity. CONCLUSION: We report improved survival to that
      previously reported in iPAH patients treated with domiciliary i.v. iloprost. This
      may be in part related to higher administered doses. Patients with CTD-PAH had
      poorer survival, reinforcing the need for early transplantation referral in
      suitable patients.

PMID- 27651180
TI  - Biochemical and genome sequence analyses of Megasphaera sp. strain DISK18 from
      dental plaque of a healthy individual reveals commensal lifestyle.
AB  - Much of the work in periodontal microbiology in recent years has focused on
      identifying and understanding periodontal pathogens. As the majority of oral
      microbes have not yet been isolated in pure form, it is essential to understand
      the phenotypic characteristics of microbes to decipher their role in oral
      environment. In this study, strain DISK18 was isolated from gingival sulcus and
      identified as a Megasphaera species. Although metagenomics studies revealed
      Megasphaera species as a major group within the oral habitat, they have never
      been isolated in cultivable form to date. Therefore, we have characterized the
      DISK18 strain to better understand its role in the periodontal ecosystem. Strain
      Megasphaera sp. DISK18 displayed the ability to adhere and self-aggregate, which
      are essential requisite features for inhabiting and persisting in oral cavity. It
      also coaggregated with other pioneer oral colonizers like Streptococcus and
      Lactobacillus species but not with Veillonella. This behaviour points towards its
      role in the ecologic succession of a multispecies biofilm as an early colonizer.
      The absence of virulence determining genes as observed in whole genome sequence
      analysis coupled with an inability to degrade collagen reveals that Megasphaera
      sp. strain DISK18 is likely not a pathogenic species and emphasizes its commensal
      lifestyle.

PMID- 27651183
TI  - Protein-mediated membrane remodeling.

PMID- 27651184
TI  - [Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV: clinical practice and challenge].
AB  - Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can not only turn HIV infection from a fatal disease
      into a treatable chronic disease, but also reduce HIV transmission among high
      risk people. In recent years the concept "treatment as prevention" has been
      accepted by the public. More and more studies have shown that pre-exposure
      prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV can effectively reduce the spreading of HIV in high
      risk populations. Clinical trials have also shown that PrEP is safe, and can
      effectively prevent high-risk people from HIV infection. The guidelines of
      Europe, the United States and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that
      PrEP should be considered for high-risk populations including men who have sex
      with men (MSM), heterosexually active men and women, HIV-uninfected partner in
      serodiscordant couples and injection drug users(IDUs). PrEP with daily oral
      tenofovir/emtricitabine combination is the recommended PrEP regimen, and TDF
      alone can be considered as an alternative regimen for IDUs and heterosexually
      active adults. PrEP can provide a high level of protection against HIV, and is
      even more effective when it is combined with condoms, ART and other prevention
      methods. PrEP is currently facing great challenges including ethical issues,
      drugs accessibility, adherence, and low utilization rate, and should be further
      recommended for high-risk people to reduced HIV infection. 

PMID- 27651185
TI  - [Impact of long-term highly active antiretroviral therapy on bone metabolism in
      AIDS patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of long-term highly active antiretroviral
      therapy (HAART) on bone metabolism in patients with acquired immune deficiency
      syndrome (AIDS). METHODS: A total of 82 AIDS patients who received HAART in the
      First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical School during January
      2012 and May 2016 were enrolled in the study. Patients were divided into TDF
      group (n=41) and AZT group (n=41), and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), serum
      calcium, serum phosphate and serum ALP levels in 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30-month
      during the treatment were analyzed in both groups. RESULTS: Both TDF-based and
      AZT-based therapies significantly improved CD4(+) T-cell levels of the patients,
      and no significant difference was observed between the groups. Compared with the
      baseline, GFR [(120.71+/-62.85) vs(110.08+/-39.18) mL/min] and serum phosphate
      [(1.25+/-0.19) vs(1.22+/-0.21) mmol/L] levels rose after 6-month treatment in TDF
      group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05); Serum ALP
      [99.0(79.5-124.0) U/L vs 80.0(60.5-96.0) U/L] and serum calcium [(2.32+/-0.12)
      vs(2.25+/-0.17) mmol/L] levels rose significantly (P<0.05). As treatment
      continued, the levels of GFR, serum calcium and serum phosphate declined, while
      the serum ALP number was still increasing. After 30 months of HAART, the level of
      serum calcium [(2.16+/-0.15) vs(2.25+/-0.17) mmol/L], serum phosphate [(1.06+/
      0.17) vs(1.22+/-0.21) mmol/L], GFR [(98.13+/-30.43) vs (110.08+/-39.18) mL/min]
      declined significantly (P<0.05) in TDF group, while serum ALP [110.0(98.5-120.5)
      U/L vs 80.0(60.5-96.0) U/L, P<0.05] increased. In AZT group, serum calcium and
      serum ALP levels rose and GFR level was declined (P<0.05), while serum phosphate
      level was not significantly changed during the treatment (P>0.05). Compared with
      AZT group, there were greater changes on the levels of GFR, serum calcium, serum
      phosphate and serum ALP in TDF group. CONCLUSION: HAART is effective for patients
      with AIDS, and TDF-based therapy may have significant impact on bone metabolism
      of the patients, which needs close monitoring and timely intervention or
      adjustment if necessary.

PMID- 27651186
TI  - [HIV related risky behavioral network and molecular epidemiology of HIV
      seroconcordant couples in Taizhou municipality of Zhejiang Province].
AB  - Obstract: To characterize and analyze risky sexual networks and genetic scales to
      potential HIV transmission for HIV seroconcordant couples in Taizhou municipality
      of Zhejiang Province. METHODS: HIV seroconcordant positive couples were invited
      as index cases to participate in an egocentric survey on HIV related risky
      behavior and behavioral network prior to HIV diagnosis during 2008-2011. Within
      couple HIV transmission pairs were determined by the combination of both
      behavioral and phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: Totally 27 HIV seroconcordant
      couples were enrolled in this study. Male spouses were more likely to report
      having two or more sexual partners in the past years prior to HIV diagnosis than
      female spouses (88.9% vs. 37.0%). Among 27 couples, 20 couples including 17
      couples by male but not female spouses, 3 couples by female but not male spouses
      reported having two or more sexual partners (i.e., multiple sexual partners)
      prior to HIV diagnosis; and 7 couples by both spouses reported having multiple
      sexual partners. Twenty four of 27 sexual networks were determined to be HIV
      transmission pairs (20) or potential transmission pairs (4), 3 couples were
      subtyped with discordant HIV subtypes or large genetic distance and thus had
      different sources of HIV transmissions. In addition, among 27 concordant couples,
      HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) or primary HIVDR existed in 6 ART-naive participants
      in 4 networks; among them, 2 networks were determined to be potential HIVDR
      transmission couple pairs. CONCLUSIONS: The HIV strains isolated in HIV infected
      spouses characterized with diversity and CRF01_AE was the main strain subtype.
      One of the spouses with risky behavior infected HIV was the main route of
      transmission to other spouses through unprotected sexual contacts. HIVDR was
      isolated from some HIV infected individuals, suggesting the risk for HIVDR
      transmission in married couples. The results provide enhanced evidence for urgent
      development of tailored prevention strategies, such as couple-based HIV
      counseling and testing services to reduce HIV secondary transmission.

PMID- 27651187
TI  - [Identification of Mycobacteria isolated from AIDS patients].
AB  - Obstract: To identify Mycobacteria isolated from AIDS patients and to evaluate
      the diagnostic value of MBP64 antigen Colloidal Gold Diagnostic Kit in
      distinguishing Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB) and Nontuberculous mycobacteria
      (NTM). METHODS: A total of 140 Mycobacteria isolates from AIDS patients were
      collected and identified by using 16SrDNA PCR assay as well as immune colloidal
      gold technique (MBP64 antigen Colloidal Gold Diagnostic Kit). The sensitivity and
      specificity of Colloidal Gold method was analyzed. RESULTS: With the results of
      16SrDNA PCR assay as gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of Colloidal
      Gold method in distinguishing MTB and NTM were 96.00% and 96.84%, respectively.
      Among 140 samples, 114 were identified by 16SrDNA PCR assay, among which 50
      (43.86%) were identified as MTB, and 63 (55.26%) were identified as NTM. The most
      popular NTM in AIDS patients were Mycobacterium gordonae, Mycobacterium avium and
      Mycobacterium kansasii. CONCLUSION: NTM is of high prevalence in AIDS patients,
      and MBP64 antigen Colloidal Gold Diagnostic Kit can be used as an effective
      technique in distinguishing NTM and MTB.

PMID- 27651188
TI  - [Advances of immunological pathogenesis research in HIV related neurocognitive
      disorder].
AB  - With extended life of HIV-infected patients due to highly active anti-retroviral
      therapy (HAART), the rate of HIV associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND)
      remains high and attracts much attention. The evidence is clear that cytokines
      are elevated in the blood of patients with HIV infection, which contribute to
      elevating the permeability of blood-brain barrier. Benefiting from that, cells in
      the brain are infected with HIV that has accelerated through the blood-brain
      barrier both as cell-free virus and infected immune cells including monocytes and
      T cells. Upon migration into the central nervous system, HIV-infected monocytes
      and T cells not only infect brain resident cells but also produce proinflammatory
      cytokines such as TNF and IL-1beta, which further activate microglia and
      astrocytes. These activated brain glial cells and perivascular macrophages, which
      release inflammatory mediators, are the main contributors to neuroinflammation
      resulting in neuronal dysfunction. The pathogenesis of HAND is multifaceted,
      however, mounting evidence indicates that HIV related neuroinflammation plays a
      major role, which should be the focus of therapeutic research for HAND in future.

PMID- 27651189
TI  - [Research advances in evaluation and measurement techniques of latent human
      immunodeficiency virus reservoirs].
AB  - Latent reservoir (LR) of HIV is the cells (such as CD4(+)T cell) where HIV is
      able to hide. These cellular reservoirs are located throughout the body,
      including the spleen, lymph nodes, gastrointestinal lymphoid tissues, and become
      the major obstacle to cure HIV infection. To truly cure patients, a new strategy
      "shock and kill" was put forward by scientists, which is to shock HIV-infected
      cells out of hidden reservoirs in the body and then kill them. Quantitatively
      evaluating the size of long-lived LR is essential to this strategy. This paper
      reviews assays that measure the magnitude of the latent HIV reservoir, including
      Alu-gag PCR, quantitative viral outgrowth assay (Q-VOA) and tat/rev induced
      limiting dilution assay(TILDA). Alu-gag PCR can differentiate the integrated and
      un-integrated HIV DNA, however, it cannot distinguish defective virus from
      competent virus, leading to overestimate the real size of LR. Q-VOA is based on
      cell culture, and is the golden standard for measuring the LR since it provides a
      definitive minimal estimate of reservoir size. Its disadvantages are being more
      costly, large amount of blood sample required, and underestimating the true size,
      which was resulted from particles being not released after one round of
      stimulation. TILDA measures cells with inducible msRNA as these transcripts are
      absent in latently infected cells but induced upon viral reactivation. It
      requires small blood sample size, does not need extraction of viral nucleic
      acids, can be completed in 2 d and covers a wide dynamic range of reservoir
      sizes, but has the disadvantage of overestimating the true size of LR. 

PMID- 27651190
TI  - [Influencing factors of renal function in hypertensive patients with obstructive
      sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the related factors of renal functions in hypertensive
      patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). METHODS: A total
      of 438 hypertensive patients with complain of snoring at night were enrolled in
      the study from the First teaching Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University during
      March 2011 and March 2014. The diagnosis of OSAHS was confirmed with
      polysomnography examination, and the patients were divided into 4 groups
      according to the apnea hypoventilation index (AHI): hypertensive group (AHI<10/h,
      n=102), mild OSAHS group (AHI 10-<15/h, n=97), moderate OSAHS group (AHI 15
      <30/h, n=149), and severe OSAHS group (AHI>=30/h, n=90). The blood urea,
      creatinine, eGFR, 24h-urinary total protein (24h UTP), 24h-urinary microalbumin,
      cystatin C (Cyst C) were measured and compared among groups, and the influencing
      factors of renal function were analyzed. RESULTS: There were no significant
      differences in age, gender, body mass index(BMI), 24-hour systolic blood pressure
      (24hSBP), fasting blood-glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)
      among the groups (P<0.05). 24h-UTP and 24h-urinary microalbumin in the severe
      OSAHS group were higher than those in other groups (P<0.05); and all patients
      with OSAHS had higher Cyst C levels than those without OSAHS (all P<0.05).
      Logistic regression analysis showed that BMI (OR=1.486, 95% CI 1.022-2.160) and
      severe OSAHS (OR=7.138, 95% CI 1.835-27.769) were influencing factors of 24h-UTP;
      blood pressure (OR=2.368, 95% CI 1.324-4.234) and BMI (OR=1.678, 95% CI 1.263
      2.230) were influencing factors of 24h-urinary microalbumin; age (OR=1.998, 95%
      CI 1.325-3.013), blood pressure (OR=3.202, 95% CI 1.319-7.773) and severe OSAHS
      (OR=5.462, 95% CI 1.103-27.041) were influencing factors of Cyst C. CONCLUSION:
      OSAHS is a risk factor for early renal damage in patients with hypertension. Age,
      BMI, blood pressure and severe OSAHS may be influencing factors for renal
      function in hypertensive patients with OSAHS.

PMID- 27651191
TI  - [Metabolic syndrome increases Framingham risk score of patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of metabolic syndrome(MS) on Framingham risk
      score(FRS) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: The
      anthropometric and biochemical data of 1708 patients with T2DM admitted in
      hospital from May 2008 to April 2013 were retrospectively analyzed, including 902
      males and 806 females with a mean age of 57.1+/-11.8 years (20-79 years).
      Diagnosis of MS was made according to the criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel
      III Criteria modified for Asians. RESULTS: Compared to non-MS/T2DM patients,
      MS/T2DM patients had higher waist circumference, body weight, body mass index,
      systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting C peptide, total cholesterol,
      triglyceride, and LDL-C (P<0.05), while lower HDL-C (P<0.01). Both FRS
      [13.0(10.0, 15.0) vs 11.0(9.0, 13.0) in male,15.0(12.0, 18.0) vs 12.0(6.0, 14.8)
      in female,P<0.01)] and 10-year cardiovascular risk [12.0%(6.0%, 20.0%) vs
      8.0%(5.0%,12.0%) in male,3.0%(1.0%, 6.0%) vs 1.0%(0.0%, 2.8%) in female,P<0.01]
      were higher in MS/T2DM patients than those in non-MS/T2DM patients.Both FRS and
      10-year cardiovascular risk were increased with the components of MS. CONCLUSION:
      T2DM patients with MS have more cardiovascular risk factors, higher FRS and 10
      year cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 27651175
TI  - Interactions between inflammation, sex steroids, and Alzheimer's disease risk
      factors.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder for which
      there are no effective strategies to prevent or slow its progression. Because AD
      is multifactorial, recent research has focused on understanding interactions
      among the numerous risk factors and mechanisms underlying the disease. One
      mechanism through which several risk factors may be acting is inflammation. AD is
      characterized by chronic inflammation that is observed before clinical onset of
      dementia. Several genetic and environmental risk factors for AD increase
      inflammation, including apolipoprotein E4, obesity, and air pollution.
      Additionally, sex steroid hormones appear to contribute to AD risk, with age
      related losses of estrogens in women and androgens in men associated with
      increased risk. Importantly, sex steroid hormones have anti-inflammatory actions
      and can interact with several other AD risk factors. This review examines the
      individual and interactive roles of inflammation and sex steroid hormones in AD,
      as well as their relationships with the AD risk factors apolipoprotein E4,
      obesity, and air pollution.

PMID- 27651192
TI  - [Patterns of action potential firing in cortical neurons of neonatal mice and
      their electrophysiological property].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate patterns of action potential firing in cortical heurons
      of neonatal mice and their electrophysiological properties. METHODS: The passive
      and active membrane properties of cortical neurons from 3-d neonatal mice were
      observed by whole-cell patch clamp with different voltage and current mode.
      RESULTS: Three patterns of action potential firing were identified in response to
      depolarized current injection. The effects of action potential firing patterns on
      voltage-dependent inward and outward current were found. Neurons with three
      different firing patterns had different thresholds of depolarized current. In the
      morphology analysis of action potential, the three type neurons were different in
      rise time, duration, amplitude and threshold of the first action potential evoked
      by 80 pA current injection. The passive properties were similar in three patterns
      of action potential firing. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that newborn
      cortical neurons exhibit different patterns of action potential firing with
      different action potential parameters such as shape and threshold.

PMID- 27651193
TI  - [Serum levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in children with non-systemic juvenile
      idiopathic arthritis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the serum levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in children with
      non-systemic juvenile onset idiopathic arthritis (non-SOJIA). METHODS: Clinical
      data of 41 children with non-SOJIA, including 11 cases of polyarthritis, 10 cases
      of oligoarthritis and 20 cases of enthesitis related JIA (ERA), admitted in
      Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine during November
      2012 and May 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Serum levels of Th1/Th2
      cytokines including IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma were
      measured by flow cytometry in patients with non-SOJIA, and compared with those in
      patients with SOJIA (SOJIA group, n=85) and healthy children (control group,
      n=202); their correlations with erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C reactive
      protein and CRP were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the healthy control group,
      serum levels of IL-2, IL-6 and IFN-gamma were significantly increased in patients
      with non-SOJIA (2.9 vs. 2.6 pg/mL, 9.9 vs. 6.4 pg/mL, 6.3 vs. 5.1 pg/mL,
      allP<0.05),while levels of TNF-alpha and IL-10 were significantly decreased (2.7
      vs. 3.9 pg/mL, 2.9 vs. 7.1 pg/mL, both P<0.01). Compared with the SOJIA group,
      serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were significantly decreased in patients with non
      SOJIA (9.9 vs. 33.5 pg/mL, 2.9 vs. 4.1 pg/mL, both P<0.01), while levels of IL-4
      and IL-10 were significantly increased (3.1 vs. 2.3 pg/mL, 6.3 vs. 4.4 pg/mL,
      both P<0.05). Serum levels of IL-6 in patients with polyarthritis or ERA were
      higher than that in patients with oligoarthritis (12.7 and 11.0 vs. 4.2 pg/mL,
      both P<0.05). A positive correlation of IL-6 or TNF-alpha level with C reactive
      protein was observed in patients with ERA. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that
      Th1/Th2 imbalance and Th1 predominance may exist in children with non-SOJIA; and
      IL-6 may be involved in the pathogenesis of non-SOJIA children with
      polyarthritis.

PMID- 27651194
TI  - [Effect of cerebral hemodynamic changes on white matter damage in premature
      infant with patent ductus arteriosus].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of cerebral hemodynamic changes on white
      matter damage in premature infant with patent ductus arteriosus(PDA). METHODS: A
      total of 106 premature infants were enrolled in the study, including 35 PDA
      infants with hemodynamic changes (hsPDA group), 35 PDA infants without
      hemodynamic changes (non-hsPDA group) and 36 non-PDA infants (control group).
      Serum level of neuron-specific enolase (NES) was detected and craniocerebral
      ultrasound examination was performed on d3, d7 and d14 after birth. The
      correlation between blood flow rate of PDA and gray scale value of lateral
      ventricle was analyzed. RESULTS: Gray scale values of lateral ventricle and serum
      levels of NES in hsPDA group were higher than those in control group on d3, d7
      and d14 (P<0.01), but no significant difference was observed between non-hsPDA
      group and control group (P>0.05). There was a positive correlation between the
      blood flow rate of PDA and gray scale value of lateral ventricle (r=0.876,
      P<0.01) in premature infants. CONCLUSION: Patent ductus arteriosus with
      hemodynamic changes is closely related to white matter damage in premature
      infants, and early intervention is necessary.

PMID- 27651195
TI  - [Clinical characteristics and etiology of children with hypereosinophilia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics and etiology of
      hypereosinophilia in children. METHODS: Clinical data of 88 children with
      hypereosinophilia admitted in Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School
      of Medicine during April 2009 and May 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The
      clinical manifestations, etiologies, and the correlation of disease severity with
      different etiologies were analyzed. RESULTS: The main clinical manifestations
      were fever, abdominal pain, cough and/or tachypnea, skin rash, hemafecia and
      diarrhea, which were observed in 19 (21.6%), 15 (17.0%), 14 (15.9%), 13 (14.8%),
      11 (12.5%) and 6 (6.8%) cases, respectively. For etiologies, there were 28 cases
      (31.8%) induced by infections, including 11 cases of acute bronchial pneumonia, 9
      cases of parasite infection, 4 cases of septicemia, 2 cases of urinary system
      infection, 1 case of cellulitis and 1 case of cholecystitis complicated with
      pancreatitis. The etiologies for the rest cases were allergic diseases (25 cases,
      28.4%), eosinophilic gastroenteritis (20 cases, 22.7%), immunodeficiency (3
      cases, 3.4%, all were moderate to severe eosinophilia), ABO hemolysis (2 cases,
      2.3%), hematologic neoplasms (2 cases, 2.3%), eosinophilic cystitis (1 case,
      1.1%), eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangitis (1 case, 1.1%), nephrotic
      syndrome (1 case, 1.1%), and 5 cases (5.7%) were of unknown causes. CONCLUSIONS:
      Fever, abdominal pain, cough and/or tachypnea are the most common clinical
      manifestations in children with hypereosinophilia. Infection, allergic diseases
      and eosinophilic gastroenteritis are the most common etiologies, and parasites
      are the most common pathogen identified. Differential diagnosis of primary
      immunodeficiency should be considered in children with moderate to severe
      eosinophilia.

PMID- 27651196
TI  - [A case of neurofibromatosis complicated with small bowel obstruction].
AB  - Neurofibromatosis type 1(NF-1) with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a
      rare case in clinical practice. But it is even rarer that the GIST tumor in this
      case is so large that it cause small intestinal obstruction. Here we report such
      a male case of NF-1,with positive family history of NF-1 and nodules all over the
      patient's skin and abdominal cavity. The patient came to hospital with a sudden
      upper abdominal pain and nausea and vomiting over 5 d. Abdominal computerized
      tomography (CT) showed that there were numerous nodules of different size in his
      abdominal cavity. And the largest one is about 10 cm in diameter,which oppressed
      the small bowel and caused the small bowel mesenteric volvulus and obstruction of
      the bowel. Finally,the tumor was pathologically proved to be a GIST tumor but not
      NF nodule. The patient stays healthy until now after operation. 

PMID- 27651197
TI  - [Progress on the role of Toll-like receptors in Candida albicans infections].
AB  - Toll like receptors (TLRs) are expressed mainly on innate immunocytes such as
      dendritic cells and macrophages, and may have the potential to recognize and bind
      to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) from Candida albicans, thereby
      triggering the downstream signals. The genetic polymorphism of TLRs is associated
      with susceptibility to Candida albicans. The activation of TLRs by PAMPs from
      Candida albicans can induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines that play
      key roles in the anti-infection of Candida albicans. However, in order to evade
      the immune response of host,Candida albicans can also change its bacterial phase.
      Understanding of the interaction between TLRs and Candida albicans will provide
      novel evidence to further clarify the mechanisms of anti-fungal immune response. 

PMID- 27651198
TI  - [Zinc and autophagy].
AB  - Autophagy refers to a catabolic process,in which the damaged organelles or
      biological macromolecules, such as protein aggregates, are degraded via lysosome.
      The completion of autophagy depends on a series of autophagy-related genes (Atgs)
      and many upstream regulatory molecules. Zinc is an essential trace element, and
      plays an important role in the process of autophagy as a component of enzymes and
      structural proteins like zinc transporters or zinc finger protein. The regulation
      of autophagy is closely associated with the zinc ion homeostasis. In addition,
      many studies suggest that the protective effects of zinc on cells are likely to
      be done by autophagy. This review aims to summarize the current research progress
      and discuss the reciprocal regulation mechanism between zinc and autophagy, which
      may provide insights into the intricate roles of autophagy in diseases and find
      novel strategies for treatment and prevention of human diseases. 

PMID- 27651199
TI  - [The effect of glial cells in the function and development of the nervous system
      in Caenorhabditis elegans].
AB  - There are three types of glial cells in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans for
      short): sheath glia, socket glia and glutamate receptor glia. They are mainly
      located in four sensory organs including the amphid, the cephalic organ, the
      outer labial sensilla and the inner labial sensilla. C. elegans glial cells play
      key roles in dendrite extension, neurite guidance and extension, and are
      essential for synaptogenesis and maintain the normal morphology and the function
      of sensory nerve endings as well. A recent study shown that some nematode neurons
      are derived from the glial cells. Moreover, nematodes glial cells can directly
      modulate the function of sensory neurons. Some glial cells can also respond to
      certain external stimuli, such as mechanical stimulation, and adjust the
      accompanying neuronal activities.The article summarizes the progress on effects
      of nematodes glial cells on the nervous system development and function. 

PMID- 27651200
TI  - [Influencing factors of diabetic patients applying for specific disease health
      insurance and its treatment cost].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the treatment costs on type 2 diabetes between patients
      with and without specific diseases health insurance, and to identify the
      influencing factors related to specific diseases health insurance application.
      METHODS: A structured questionnaire was used to investigate basic information,
      diabetes-related pharmacy, outpatient and inpatient treatment costs. SAS9.1
      software was used for statistical analysis. The enumeration data was analyzed by
      using Chi-square test, and variables of statistical difference were bought into
      Logistic regression model through stepwise method. Continuous variables were
      represented by median(inter-quartile range)[M(Q)], and were analyzed by using
      Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: Compared with patients without specific disease health
      insurance in outpatient group, patients with specific disease health insurance
      had higher annual per capita total cost [2160(3081) vs 1000(2100) yuan, P<0.01]
      and lower out-of-pocket expense ratio [54.04% vs 93.78%, P<0.01]. Patients with
      middle or high level income (OR=1.94 and 2.11), participated in urban employee
      basic medical insurance (OR=4.19) and duration of disease >5 years (OR=2.04) were
      more likely to succeed in specific diseases health insurance application.
      CONCLUSION: To reduce the financial burden of patients with type 2 diabetes,
      government should make huge efforts to promote specific disease health insurance
      policies, and encourage patients to apply for it. Meanwhile, medical insurance
      department and medical institutions should reinforce supervision and simplify the
      application process. To improve the availability of specific disease health
      insurance, the number and coverage of designated retail pharmacies should be
      increased. Besides, government should pay more attention to low-income patients
      and those with short duration diabetes, so as to enhance their ability to resist
      economic risks and reflect the fairness of specific disease health insurance.

PMID- 27651201
TI  - Combined outside-in and FasT-Fix sutures for the treatment of serious discoid
      meniscal tears: A midterm follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of discoid meniscus is debatable. This study aimed to
      assess the clinical efficacy of combined outside-in and FasT-Fix sutures for the
      treatment of serious discoid meniscal tears. METHODS: This study included 32
      consecutive patients who underwent arthroscopic meniscal plasty for serious
      discoid meniscal tears (full-thickness vertical, longitudinal tears >10mm)
      between October 2006 and June 2012. A combination of outside-in and FasT-Fix
      sutures was used to treat serious discoid meniscal tears. Disappearance of
      clinical symptoms (locked knee, pain, and clicking) and negative results in the
      McMurray and Apley grind tests were assessed during follow-up (26 to 47months).
      The Lysholm, IKDC, and Tegner scores were assessed for therapeutic efficacy. Some
      patients were followed up with MRI. RESULTS: Symptoms (pain, clicking, and
      locking) disappeared in all patients. The Lysholm score improved from 39.1+/-9.2
      to 89.6+/-6.7 at six months, and to 90.1+/-6.3 at the last follow-up. The same
      trends were observed for the IKDC score (from 38.0+/-9.5 to 90+/-6.3, and to
      91.1+/-6.4) and the Tegner score (from 2.8+/-0.6 to 5.2+/-0.6, and to 5.2+/-0.5).
      Among all patients, 13 were followed up with MRI. Among these patients, four had
      an unhealed stitched edge, but they did not complain of any discomfort in the
      knees. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a combination of outside-in and FasT-Fix sutures
      for meniscal plasty had good outcomes for serious discoid meniscal tears and can
      thus be regarded as a good surgical option.

PMID- 27651202
TI  - The Mechanical Strength of a Mechanical Bond: Sonochemical Polymer
      Mechanochemistry of Poly(catenane) Copolymers.
AB  - Topological molecular connections and structures, including physical
      entanglements in polymer networks, knots along polymer chains, and rotaxanes in
      sliding ring gels, have important consequences for the physical properties of
      polymeric materials. Often these topologies contribute through their ability to
      bear mechanical stress, but experimental measures of their relative mechanical
      strength are rare. Here, we use sonochemical polymer mechanochemistry to assess
      the relative mechanical strength of a multicatenane copolymer relative to
      copolymers of cyclic and linear analogs. The relative mechanical strengths are
      obtained by comparing the limiting molecular weights (Mlim ) and contour lengths
      (Llim ) of the polymers under pulsed ultrasound of their dilute solutions. The
      values of Mlim and Llim , and thus the inferred mechanical strengths of the
      polymers, are effectively identical. The mechanical bonds of the catenanes are
      therefore as strong, or stronger, mechanically as the covalent bonds along the
      polymer backbone.

PMID- 27651203
TI  - Crystal Structures and Phase Sequences of Metallocenium Salts with Fluorinated
      Anions: Effects of Molecular Size and Symmetry on Phase Transitions to Ionic
      Plastic Crystals.
AB  - Sandwich compounds often exhibit various phase transitions, including those to
      plastic phases. To elucidate the general features of the phase transitions in
      metallocenium salts, the thermal properties and crystal structures of [Fe(C5 Me5
      )2 ]X ([1]X), [Co(C5 Me5 )2 ]X ([2]X), and [Fe(C5 Me4 H)2 ]X ([3]X) have been
      investigated, where the counter anions (X) are Tf2 N (=(CF3 SO2 )2 N- ), OTf
      (=CF3 SO3- ), PF6 , and BF4 . The Tf2 N salts commonly undergo phase transitions
      from an ordered phase at low temperatures to an anion-disordered phase, followed
      by a plastic phase and finally melt at high temperatures. All these salts exhibit
      a phase transition to a plastic phase, and the transition temperature generally
      decreases with decreasing cation size and increasing anion size. The crystal
      structures of these salts comprise an alternating arrangement of cations and
      anions. About half of these salts exhibit phase transitions at low temperatures,
      which are mostly correlated with the order-disorder of the anion.

PMID- 27651206
TI  - Truth, thinking and thrombolysis.

PMID- 27651205
TI  - In this October issue.

PMID- 27651204
TI  - Polypharmacy and risk of acute pancreatitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Drug-induced pancreatitis is receiving increased medical and
      epidemiological attention. However, as no study has examined the role of
      polypharmacy per se in the development of acute pancreatitis, we examined the
      association between polypharmacy and risk of acute pancreatitis. METHODS: A
      nationwide case-control study was conducted between 2006 and 2008 of Swedish
      people aged 40-84 years. The Swedish Patient Register was used to identify 6161
      cases of first-episode acute pancreatitis. The Swedish Register of the Total
      Population was used to randomly select 61 637 controls from the general
      population using frequency-based density sampling, matched for age, sex, and
      calendar year. The Swedish Prescribed Drug Register was used to assess
      polypharmacy, defined as the number of unique drugs prescribed during the last 6
      months before the index date (i.e. the date of acute pancreatitis for cases and a
      random date for controls). Odds ratios (ORs), with 95% confidence intervals
      (CIs), of acute pancreatitis were estimated by unconditional logistic regression,
      adjusted for matching variables and potential confounding factors. RESULTS: The
      number of prescribed drugs was associated with a dose-dependent increase in the
      risk of acute pancreatitis. In the multivariable-adjusted model, compared to
      those without any prescriptions, the OR was 1.69 (95%CI: 1.55-1.86) for persons
      with 1-2 drugs, 2.40 (2.20-2.62) for 3-5 drugs, 3.17 (2.88-3.48) for 6-9 drugs,
      and 4.57 (4.12-5.06) for 10 or more drugs. CONCLUSION: This population-based case
      control study shows a dose-dependent association between increasing polypharmacy
      and risk of acute pancreatitis. These findings provide further insights into drug
      induced pancreatitis. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27651207
TI  - Best of the Web: International medical graduates in Australasia.

PMID- 27651208
TI  - Leo Marneros (22 May 1964-31 March 2016).

PMID- 27651210
TI  - Policy on end of life and palliative care in the emergency department (P455).

PMID- 27651211
TI  - Extent and application of patient diaries in Austria: process of continuing
      adaptation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diaries written for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are
      offered in many European countries. In Austria, ICU diaries have been relatively
      unknown, but since 2012, they have started to emerge. AIM: The aim of this study
      was to explore the extent and application of ICU diaries in Austria in 2015.
      METHOD: The study had a prospective multiple methods design of survey and
      interviews. All ICUs in Austria were surveyed in 2015 to identify which ICUs used
      diaries. ICUs using diaries were selected for semi-structured key-informant
      telephone interviews on the application of ICU diaries. Interviews were analysed
      by content analysis. RESULTS: Of the 178 ICUs contacted, 13 had implemented ICU
      diaries. In all ICUs, diaries were sporadically introduced by a few dedicated
      nurses. Experiences of participating nurses can be summarized in two main themes:
      (a) the process of innovation and (b) the process of practice. Sub-themes were:
      (i) inspiration, creativity and innovation and (ii) purpose, indications,
      responsibility, authorship, experience, negative reception, and post-ICU
      practice. Individual nurses at each ICU found ways to organize and format ICU
      diaries while dealing with ambivalence and legal implications. CONCLUSION: The
      implementation of a new nursing intervention is an ongoing process. Being
      innovative and responsible can be challenging, especially in hierarchical team
      structures. We recommend that nurses work towards national standards for the
      diary concept in order to enable future research into the process and outcome of
      ICU diaries. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The implementation of ICU diaries in
      routine care requires an ongoing adaptive, reflective process. Nurses may
      experience innovation, leading to the development of their own, feasible
      adaptions and structures.

PMID- 27651212
TI  - Neural substrates underlying delusions in schizophrenia.
AB  - Delusions are cardinal positive symptoms in schizophrenia; however, the neural
      substrates of delusions remain unknown. In the present study, we investigated the
      neural correlates of delusions in schizophrenia using multi-modal magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Diffusion, structural and perfusion MRIs were
      performed in 19 schizophrenia patients with severe delusions, 30 patients without
      delusions and 30 healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA), gray matter volume
      (GMV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) were voxel-wisely compared among the three
      groups. Although patients without delusions exhibited decreased FA in white
      matter regions and decreased GMV in gray matter regions relative to controls,
      patients with severe delusions demonstrated comparable FA in all of these white
      matter regions and similar GMV in most of these gray matter regions. Both patient
      subgroups had less GMV in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex than
      controls. Although two patient subgroups showed consistent CBF changes relative
      to controls, only CBF in the anterior cingulate cortex was lower in patients with
      severe delusions than in patients without delusions. These findings suggest that
      schizophrenia patients with severe delusions have relatively normal structural
      integrity. Importantly, the excessively reduced perfusion in the anterior
      cingulate cortex may be associated with the development of delusions in
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 27651214
TI  - Commercial conflict of interest and medical publication: What should the
      practising physician do about it?
AB  - I read with interest the comment by Mark Wilson, which deals with possible
      conflict of interest (CoI) affecting publications in academic medical journals.
      This comment has specifically targeted the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
      and its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Drazen on the "Vioxx scandal" which broke 15
      years ago. Wilson's comment seems to be in response to a blog by Natarajan on CoI
      in medical publications. In the blog Natarajan writes of commercial CoI biasing
      publication of clinical trials and cites, among other examples, a publication in
      the NEJM on trials of voriconazole.

PMID- 27651213
TI  - Stimulus induced bursts in severe postanoxic encephalopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report on a distinct effect of auditory and sensory stimuli on the
      EEG in comatose patients with severe postanoxic encephalopathy. METHODS: In two
      comatose patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with severe
      postanoxic encephalopathy and burst-suppression EEG, we studied the effect of
      external stimuli (sound and touch) on the occurrence of bursts. RESULTS: In
      patient A bursts could be induced by either auditory or sensory stimuli. In
      patient B bursts could only be induced by touching different facial regions
      (forehead, nose and chin). When stimuli were presented with relatively long
      intervals, bursts persistently followed the stimuli, while stimuli with short
      intervals (<1s) did not induce bursts. In both patients bursts were not
      accompanied by myoclonia. Both patients deceased. CONCLUSIONS: Bursts in patients
      with a severe postanoxic encephalopathy can be induced by external stimuli,
      resulting in stimulus-dependent burst-suppression. SIGNIFICANCE: Stimulus induced
      bursts should not be interpreted as prognostic favourable EEG reactivity.

PMID- 27651216
TI  - Case of Legionella pneumophila pneumonia (legionellosis) developed in a psoriatic
      arthritis patient receiving adalimumab.

PMID- 27651215
TI  - Milestone achievement in emerging adulthood in spina bifida: a longitudinal
      investigation of parental expectations.
AB  - AIM: To assess changes over time in parents' expectations of adult milestone
      achievement (college attendance, full-time job attainment, independent living,
      marriage, parenthood) for young people with spina bifida, to examine how
      expectancies relate to actual milestone achievement, and to compare milestone
      achievement in emerging adults with spina bifida with that of peers with typical
      development. METHOD: Sixty-eight families of children with spina bifida (mean age
      8y 4mo, 37 males, 31 females) and 68 families of children with typical
      development (mean age 8y 6mo, 37 males, 31 females) participated at Time 1. At
      all subsequent timepoints, parents of young people with spina bifida were asked
      to rate their expectations of emerging adulthood milestone achievement. At Time
      7, when participants were 22 to 23 years old, milestone achievement was assessed.
      RESULTS: Parents of young people with spina bifida lowered their expectations
      over time for most milestones; parents of children with higher cognitive ability
      reported decreases of lower magnitude. Parent expectancies were optimistic and
      unrelated to actual milestone achievement. Emerging adults with spina bifida were
      less likely than individuals with typical development to achieve all milestones.
      INTERPRETATION: Optimistic parental expectations may be adaptive for children
      with spina bifida and their families, although it is important for families to
      set realistic goals. Healthcare providers serve a key role in helping families of
      young people with spina bifida prepare for emerging adulthood.

PMID- 27651217
TI  - Population genomics of C. melanopterus using target gene capture data:
      demographic inferences and conservation perspectives.
AB  - Population genetics studies on non-model organisms typically involve sampling few
      markers from multiple individuals. Next-generation sequencing approaches open up
      the possibility of sampling many more markers from fewer individuals to address
      the same questions. Here, we applied a target gene capture method to deep
      sequence ~1000 independent autosomal regions of a non-model organism, the
      blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus). We devised a sampling scheme
      based on the predictions of theoretical studies of metapopulations to show that
      sampling few individuals, but many loci, can be extremely informative to
      reconstruct the evolutionary history of species. We collected data from a single
      deme (SID) from Northern Australia and from a scattered sampling representing
      various locations throughout the Indian Ocean (SCD). We explored the genealogical
      signature of population dynamics detected from both sampling schemes using an ABC
      algorithm. We then contrasted these results with those obtained by fitting the
      data to a non-equilibrium finite island model. Both approaches supported an Nm
      value ~40, consistent with philopatry in this species. Finally, we demonstrate
      through simulation that metapopulations exhibit greater resilience to recent
      changes in effective size compared to unstructured populations. We propose an
      empirical approach to detect recent bottlenecks based on our sampling scheme.

PMID- 27651218
TI  - Endocannabinoid receptor blockade increases vascular endothelial growth factor
      and inflammatory markers in obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - CONTEXT: Animal studies suggest that cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB-1) blockade
      reduces inflammation and neovascularization by decreasing vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF) levels associated with a reduction in inflammatory markers,
      thereby potentially reducing cardiovascular risk. OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      impact of CB1 antagonism by rimonabant on VEGF and inflammatory markers in obese
      PCOS women. DESIGN: Randomized, open-labelled parallel study. SETTING:
      Endocrinology outpatient clinic in a referral centre. SUBJECTS: Twenty patients
      with PCOS (PCOS) and biochemical hyperandrogenaemia with a body mass index of
      >=30 kg/m2 were recruited. Patients were randomized to 1.5 g daily of metformin
      or 20 mg daily of rimonabant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Post hoc review to detect
      VEGF and pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL6, IL-8,
      IL-10 and MCP-1 before and after 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: After 12 weeks
      of rimonabant treatment, there was a significant increase in VEGF (99.2 +/- 17.6
      vs 116.2 +/- 15.8 pg/ml, P < 0.01) and IL-8 (7.4 +/- 11.0 vs 18.1 +/- 13.2 pg/ml,
      P < 0.05) but not after metformin (VEGF P = 0.7; IL-8 P = 0.9). There was no
      significant difference in the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL
      1ra, IL-2, IL6, IL-8, IL-10 and MCP-1 following either treatment. CONCLUSION:
      This study suggests that rimonabant CB-I blockade paradoxically raised VEGF and
      the cytokine IL-8 in obese women with PCOS that may have offset the potential
      benefit associated with weight loss.

PMID- 27651219
TI  - Challenges Faced by Cross-sectional Imaging and Histological Endpoints in
      Clinical Trials.
AB  - In patients with inflammatory bowel disease, a dissociation can occur between
      symptoms and presence of inflammatory lesions. This dissociation has led to the
      recognition that objective measures of disease activity together with clinical
      assessment should be co-primary endpoints in clinical trials. Objective
      assessment of inflammatory lesions has classically relied on ileocolonoscopy.
      However, examination with endoscopy cannot always be complete and does not
      evaluate transmural changes. Furthermore, histological alterations may persist in
      the presence of mild or even absent endoscopy lesions. For these reasons cross
      sectional imaging, particularly magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and histology,
      are being considered as potential new tools for objective assessment of
      lesions.In patients with Crohn's disease, it has been shown that MRI has a high
      degree of accuracy for the evaluation of presence and severity of inflammation,
      and that validated indices of activity such as the Magnetic Resonance Index of
      Activity [MaRIA] are responsive to effective therapeutic interventions. In the
      context of clinical trials, MRI may help in patient selection by providing always
      a complete assessment of the small bowel and colon and detecting the presence of
      complications.A generally accepted definition of histological mucosal healing, to
      be used in clinical trials on Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, does not
      exist. Several histological scoring systems are available, most of these based on
      the evaluation the presence of neutrophils, epithelial cell damage, and an
      increase in lymphocytes and plasma cells. At present, histological remission is
      not included as primary endpoint for therapeutic trials, but better outcomes
      associated with achievement of histological healing favours the consideration of
      histology as an endpoint in the future.

PMID- 27651220
TI  - Clinical Characteristics and Long-Term Outcomes of Paediatric Crohn's Disease: A
      Single-Centre Experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although paediatric Crohn's disease [CD] has a different
      phenotype and clinical course to adult CD, its clinical features and surgical
      risks are poorly defined, especially in Asian countries. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the clinical features and long-term outcomes of paediatric CD
      in a Korean population. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 594 patients who
      were younger than 18 years of age at CD diagnosis between 1987 and 2013. Patient
      characteristics at diagnosis according to the Paris classification and clinical
      courses were analysed. RESULTS: The male-to-female ratio was 2.4:1 and the median
      age at CD diagnosis was 15 years [range, 2-17 years]. A positive first-degree
      family history of inflammatory bowel disease was present in 30 patients [5.1%].
      Sixty-seven patients [11.3%] showed growth impairment. The cumulative
      probabilities of perianal fistula at 1, 5 and 10 years after diagnosis were
      50.3%, 54.9% and 57.6%, respectively. The cumulative probabilities of anti-tumour
      necrosis factor treatment at 1, 5, 10 and 20 years after diagnosis were 10.7%,
      25.8%, 41.8% and 76.3%, respectively. The cumulative probabilities of intestinal
      resection at 1, 5, 10 and 20 years after diagnosis were 4.5%, 17.2%, 33.9% and
      62.9 %, respectively. In multivariate analysis, complicated behaviour and
      isolated colonic location [L2] at diagnosis were associated with an increased and
      decreased risk of intestinal resection, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is
      the largest Asian paediatric study which applied the Paris classification to
      patients. This study provides detailed information on disease phenotype and long
      term clinical outcomes in a large cohort of Asian children with CD.

PMID- 27651222
TI  - Silver nanowire decorated heatable textiles.
AB  - The modification of insulating fabrics with electrically conductive nanomaterials
      has opened up a novel application field. With the help of Joule heating
      mechanism, conductive fabrics can be used as mobile heaters. In this work,
      heatable textiles are fabricated using silver nanowires (Ag NWs). Cotton fabrics
      are decorated with polyol synthesized Ag NWs via a simple dip-and-dry method. The
      time-dependent thermal response of the fabrics under different applied voltages
      is investigated. It is found that the fabrics can be heated to 50  degrees C
      under an applied power density of as low as 0.05 W cm(-2). Uniform deposition of
      Ag NWs resulted in the homogeneous generation of heat. In addition, the stability
      of the fabrics with time and under different bending and washing conditions is
      examined. Moreover, a simple control circuit is fabricated and integrated in
      order to demonstrate the high potential of the fabrics for mobile applications.
      This work provides a roadmap for researchers who would like to work on heatable
      textiles with metallic NWs. 

PMID- 27651221
TI  - Deciphering how LIP2 and POX2 promoters can optimally regulate recombinant
      protein production in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, the non-conventional model yeast species Yarrowia
      lipolytica has received much attention because it is a useful cell factory for
      producing recombinant proteins. In this species, expression vectors involving
      LIP2 and POX2 promoters have been developed and used successfully for protein
      production at yields similar to or even higher than those of other cell
      factories, such as Pichia pastoris. However, production processes involving these
      promoters can be difficult to manage, especially if carried out at large scales
      in fed-batch bioreactors, because they require hydrophobic inducers, such as
      oleic acid or methyl oleate. Thus, the challenge has become to reduce loads of
      hydrophobic substrates while simultaneously promoting recombinant protein
      production. One possible solution is to replace a portion of the inducer with a
      co-substrate that can serve as an alternative energy source. However,
      implementing such an approach would require detailed knowledge of how carbon
      sources impact promoter regulation, which is surprisingly still lacking for the
      LIP2 and POX2 promoters. This study's aim was thus to better characterize
      promoter regulation and cell metabolism in Y. lipolytica cultures grown in media
      supplemented with different carbon sources. RESULTS: pPOX2 induction could be
      detected when glucose or glycerol was used as sole carbon source, which meant
      these carbon source could not prevent promoter induction. In addition, when a
      mixture of glucose and oleic acid was used in complex medium, pPOX2 induction
      level was lower that that of pLIP2. In contrast, pLIP2 induction was absent when
      glucose was present in the culture medium, which meant that cell growth could
      occur without any recombinant gene expression. When a 40/60 mixture of glucose
      and oleic acid (w/w) was used, a tenfold increase in promoter induction, as
      compared to when an oleic-acid-only medium was observed. It was also clear that
      individual cells were adapting metabolically to use both glucose and oleic acid.
      Indeed, no distinct subpopulations that specialized on glucose versus oleic acid
      were observed; such an outcome would have led to producer and non-producer
      phenotypes. In medium containing both glucose and oleic acid, cells tended to
      directly metabolize oleic acid instead of storing it in lipid bodies.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study found that pLIP2 is a promoter of choice as compared to
      pPOX2 to drive gene expression for recombinant protein production by Y.
      lipolytica used as cell factory.

PMID- 27651225
TI  - ?

PMID- 27651223
TI  - Hyaluronan induces odontoblastic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells via
      CD44.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dental pulp tissue contains many undifferentiated mesenchymal cells,
      which retain the ability to differentiate into mature cells. Induced pluripotent
      stem cells have been developed from various cell sources, including dental pulp
      derived stem cells, and evaluated for potential application to regenerative
      therapy. Dental pulp tissues overexpress CD44, a cell-adhesion factor involved in
      the induction of mineralization. In this study, we investigated the effects of
      hyaluronan-a known CD44 ligand-on dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). METHODS: DPSC
      CD44 expression was analyzed using immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry,
      and western blotting. Cell proliferation was evaluated using the 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Effects of
      hyaluronan on the cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry. Alkaline
      phosphatase activity was employed as marker of mineralization and measured by
      fluorometric quantification and western blotting. Bone morphogenetic protein
      (BMP)-2, BMP-4, dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), and dentin matrix acidic
      phosphoprotein 1 (DMP-1) levels were measured using real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. Odontoblastic differentiation and the close cell signaling examination
      of DPSC differentiation were determined using western blotting. RESULTS:
      Hyaluronan induced expression of the odontoblastic differentiation markers DMP-1
      and DSPP. Moreover, the odontoblastic differentiation induced by hyaluronan was
      mediated by CD44-but not by Akt, Smad1 or MAPK signaling. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results indicate that hyaluronan induces odontoblastic differentiation of DPSCs
      via CD44. This suggests that hyaluronan plays a crucial role in the induction of
      odontoblastic differentiation from DPSCs. Our findings may aid the development of
      new, inexpensive, and effective conservative treatments for dental pulp repair.

PMID- 27651224
TI  - Independent predictors of retrograde failure in CTO-PCI after successful
      collateral channel crossing.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate factors for predicting retrograde CTO-PCI failure after
      successful collateral channel crossing. BACKGROUND: Successful guidewire/catheter
      collateral channel crossing is important for the retrograde approach in
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO).
      METHODS: A total of 5984 CTO-PCI procedures performed in 45 centers in Japan from
      2009 to 2012 were studied. The retrograde approach was used in 1656 CTO-PCIs
      (27.7%). We investigated these retrograde procedures to evaluate factors for
      predicting retrograde CTO-PCI failure even after successful collateral channel
      crossing. RESULTS: Successful guidewire/catheter collateral crossing was achieved
      in 77.1% (n = 1,276) of 1656 retrograde CTO-PCI procedures. Retrograde procedural
      success after successful collateral crossing was achieved in 89.4% (n = 1,141).
      Univariate analysis showed that the predictors for retrograde CTO-PCI failure
      were in-stent occlusion (OR = 1.9829, 95%CI = 1.1783 - 3.3370 P = 0.0088),
      calcified lesions (OR = 1.9233, 95%CI = 1.2463 - 2.9679, P = 0.0027), and lesion
      tortuosity (OR = 1.5244, 95%CI = 1.0618 - 2.1883, P = 0.0216). On multivariate
      analysis, lesion calcification was an independent predictor of retrograde CTO-PCI
      failure after successful collateral channel crossing (OR = 1.3472, 95%CI = 1.0614
      - 1.7169, P = 0.0141). CONCLUSIONS: The success rate of retrograde CTO-PCI
      following successful guidewire/catheter collateral channel crossing was high in
      this registry. Lesion calcification was an independent predictor of retrograde
      CTO-PCI failure after successful collateral channel crossing. Devices and
      techniques to overcome complex CTO lesion morphology, such as lesion
      calcification, are required to further improve the retrograde CTO-PCI success
      rate. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27651227
TI  - Novel multitrophic interactions among an exotic, generalist herbivore, its host
      plants and resident enemies in California.
AB  - What happens when an exotic herbivore invades and encounters novel host plants
      and enemies? Here, we investigate the impacts of host plant quality and plant
      architecture on an exotic generalist herbivore, Epiphyas postvittana
      (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and its interactions with resident parasitoids in
      California. Using artificial diet and five plant species, we found significant
      effects of diet on the fitness of E. postvittana under laboratory conditions. In
      the field, based on a common garden experiment with host plants of nine species,
      we found that larval parasitism varied among plant species by a factor of 2.1
      with a higher risk of parasitism on shorter than taller plants. Parasitism of egg
      masses varied by a factor of 4.7 among plant species with a higher risk of
      parasitism on taller than shorter plants. In the laboratory, the foraging time of
      a resident egg parasitoid on excised leaves varied among plant species, but did
      not correspond to observed egg parasitism rates on these same plants in the
      field. On leaves of Plantago lanceolata, the probability of egg parasitism
      decreased with trichome density. Overall, there was a significant effect of host
      plant on the intrinsic rate of increase of E. postvittana and on the extent of
      parasitism by resident parasitoids, but no correlation existed between these two
      effects. The recent decline of E. postvittana in California may be due to the low
      quality of some host plants and to the many resident enemies that readily attack
      it, perhaps due to its phylogenetic relatedness to resident tortricids.

PMID- 27651226
TI  - Intravitreal Aflibercept for Diabetic Macular Edema: 148-Week Results from the
      VISTA and VIVID Studies.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept injection
      (IAI) with macular laser photocoagulation for diabetic macular edema (DME) over 3
      years. DESIGN: Two similarly designed phase 3 trials: VISTADME and VIVIDDME.
      PARTICIPANTS: Patients (eyes; n = 872) with central-involved DME. METHODS: Eyes
      received IAI 2 mg every 4 weeks (2q4), IAI 2 mg every 8 weeks after 5 monthly
      doses (2q8), or laser control. From week 24, if rescue treatment criteria were
      met, IAI patients received active laser, and laser control patients received IAI
      2q8. From week 100, laser control patients who had not received IAI rescue
      treatment received IAI as needed per retreatment criteria. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      The primary end point was the change from baseline in best-corrected visual
      acuity (BCVA) at week 52. We report the 148-week results. RESULTS: Mean BCVA gain
      from baseline to week 148 with IAI 2q4, IAI 2q8, and laser control was 10.4,
      10.5, and 1.4 letters (P < 0.0001) in VISTA and 10.3, 11.7, and 1.6 letters (P <
      0.0001) in VIVID, respectively. The proportion of eyes that gained >=15 letters
      from baseline at week 148 was 42.9%, 35.8%, and 13.6% (P < 0.0001) in VISTA and
      41.2%, 42.2%, and 18.9% (P < 0.0001) in VIVID, respectively. Greater proportions
      of eyes treated with IAI 2q4 and IAI 2q8 versus those treated with laser control
      had an improvement of >=2 steps in the Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale (DRSS)
      score in both VISTA (29.9% and 34.4% vs. 20.1% [P = 0.0350, IAI 2q4; P = 0.0052,
      IAI 2q8]) and VIVID (44.3% and 47.8% vs. 17.4% [P < 0.0001 for both]). In an
      integrated safety analysis, the most frequent ocular serious adverse event was
      cataract (3.1%, 2.1%, 0.3% for 2q4, 2q8, and control). CONCLUSIONS: Visual
      improvements observed with both IAI regimens (over laser control) at weeks 52 and
      100 were maintained at week 148, with similar overall efficacy in the IAI 2q4 and
      IAI 2q8 groups. Treatment with IAI also had positive effects on the DRSS score.
      Over 148 weeks, the incidence of adverse events was consistent with the known
      safety profile of IAI.

PMID- 27651228
TI  - Foraging strategies of a generalist marine predator inhabiting a dynamic
      environment.
AB  - Intraspecific variability is increasingly recognized as an important component of
      foraging behavior that can have implications for both population and community
      dynamics. We used an individual-level approach to describe the foraging behavior
      of an abundant, generalist predator that inhabits a dynamic marine ecosystem,
      focusing specifically on the different foraging strategies used by individuals in
      the same demographic group. We collected data on movements and diving behavior of
      adult female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) across multiple
      foraging trips to sea. Sea lions (n = 35) used one of three foraging strategies
      that primarily differed in their oceanic zone and dive depth: a shallow,
      epipelagic strategy, a mixed epipelagic/benthic strategy, and a deep-diving
      strategy. Individuals varied in their degree of fidelity to a given strategy,
      with 66 % of sea lions using only one strategy on all or most of their foraging
      trips across the two-month tracking period. All foraging strategies were present
      in each of the sampling years, but there were inter-annual differences in the
      population-level importance of each strategy that may reflect changes in prey
      availability. Deep-diving sea lions traveled shorter distances and spent a
      greater proportion of time at the rookery than sea lions using the other two
      strategies, which may have energetic and reproductive implications. These results
      highlight the importance of an individual-based approach in describing the
      foraging behavior of female California sea lions and understanding how they
      respond to the seasonal and annual changes in prey availability that characterize
      the California Current System.

PMID- 27651229
TI  - Investigating functional redundancy versus complementarity in Hawaiian
      herbivorous coral reef fishes.
AB  - Patterns of species resource use provide insight into the functional roles of
      species and thus their ecological significance within a community. The functional
      role of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs has been defined through a variety of
      methods, but from a grazing perspective, less is known about the species-specific
      preferences of herbivores on different groups of reef algae and the extent of
      dietary overlap across an herbivore community. Here, we quantified patterns of
      redundancy and complementarity in a highly diverse community of herbivores at a
      reef on Maui, Hawaii, USA. First, we tracked fish foraging behavior in situ to
      record bite rate and type of substrate bitten. Second, we examined gut contents
      of select herbivorous fishes to determine consumption at a finer scale. Finally,
      we placed foraging behavior in the context of resource availability to determine
      how fish selected substrate type. All species predominantly (73-100 %) foraged on
      turf algae, though there were differences among the types of macroalgae and other
      substrates bitten. Increased resolution via gut content analysis showed the
      composition of turf algae consumed by fishes differed across herbivore species.
      Consideration of foraging behavior by substrate availability revealed 50 % of
      herbivores selected for turf as opposed to other substrate types, but overall,
      there were variable foraging portfolios across all species. Through these three
      methods of investigation, we found higher complementarity among herbivorous
      fishes than would be revealed using a single metric. These results suggest
      differences across species in the herbivore "rain of bites" that graze and shape
      benthic community composition.

PMID- 27651230
TI  - Rigidity of silicone substrates controls cell spreading and stem cell
      differentiation.
AB  - The dependences of spreading and differentiation of stem cells plated on hydrogel
      and silicone gel substrates on the rigidity and porosity of the substrates have
      recently been a subject of some controversy. In experiments on human mesenchymal
      stem cells plated on soft, medium rigidity, and hard silicone gels we show that
      harder gels are more osteogenic, softer gels are more adipogenic, and cell
      spreading areas increase with the silicone gel substrate rigidity. The results of
      our study indicate that substrate rigidity induces some universal cellular
      responses independently of the porosity or topography of the substrate.

PMID- 27651232
TI  - Is strabismus the only problem? Psychological issues surrounding strabismus
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Strabismus, which has been estimated to occur in 4% of the adult
      population, can have a negative psychosocial effect on an individual's quality of
      life. While correction of strabismus may improve quality of life, this is not
      always the case, even if realignment surgery is clinically successful. Surgeons
      need to understand patients' expectations of postsurgical outcomes and the impact
      surgery has on their psychosocial well-being. METHODS: This was a prospective
      cross-sectional study of 220 adult patients undergoing strabismus surgery at
      Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Clinical assessments were performed
      before surgery and again 2 weeks and 3 months after surgery. Standardized
      psychological questionnaires were completed preoperatively and 3 and 6 months
      postoperatively. RESULTS: Of 220 patients included in the study (mean age, 45
      years), 54% were female, 81% were white, and 58.6% had a concomitant deviation.
      Prior to surgery, 24% of study participants were experiencing clinical levels of
      anxiety; 11% were suffering clinical levels of depression. Quality of life
      improved and anxiety and depression were reduced after surgery. Approximately 6%
      of the sample regretted having undergone surgery either at 3 or 6 months after
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to identify patients who are experiencing
      significant psychosocial distress and to assess their postsurgical expectations
      in order to improve the outcomes of strabismus surgery. Presurgical psychosocial
      support should be considered for these patients.

PMID- 27651231
TI  - Timely implementation of a retinopathy of prematurity telemedicine system.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the feasibility of a retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
      telemedicine evaluation system of providing timely feedback to a neonatal
      intensive care unit (NICU) with at-risk premature infants. METHODS: This was a
      prospective observational study of premature infants with birth weights of <1251
      g in five NICUs in the United States. Infants scheduled for clinically indicated
      ROP evaluations underwent indirect ophthalmoscopic examinations and digital
      imaging on the same day. Imaging was performed by nonphysician retinal imagers.
      Times required were determined from obtaining digital images of both eyes to
      submission via web-based system to a secure server for grading by trained readers
      at a central reading center to sending back grading results to the clinical
      center. RESULTS: A total of 1,642 image sets of eyes of 292 infants were
      obtained, from 823 imaging sessions. The mean turnaround time from submission of
      image sets of both eyes to return of the grading results to the clinical center
      was 10.1 +/- 11.3 hours (standard deviation), with a median of 12.0 hours (1st
      quartile, 0.9 hours; 3rd quartile, 16 hours). Overall, 95.5% of gradings (95% CI,
      93.9%-96.7%) were returned within 24 hours. Subgroup analyses found, for image
      sets submitted to the reading center before 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, median
      time to report was 1.7 hours (1st quartile, 0.7 hours; 3rd quartile, 15.5 hours)
      compared with those submitted after 2pm (median, 14.1 hours; 1st quartile, 11.2,
      hours; 3rd quartile, 16.3 hours). CONCLUSIONS: An ROP telemedicine approach can
      provide timely feedback to the NICU regarding the detection of potentially
      serious ROP and thus referral to an ophthalmologist for examination and
      consideration of treatment.

PMID- 27651233
TI  - Surgical planning and innervation in pontine gaze palsy with ipsilateral
      esotropia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To discuss surgical intervention strategies among patients with
      horizontal gaze palsy with concurrent esotropia. METHODS: Five consecutive
      patients with dorsal pontine lesions are presented. Each patient had horizontal
      gaze palsy with symptomatic diplopia as a consequence of esotropia in primary
      gaze and an anomalous head turn to attain single binocular vision. RESULTS:
      Clinical findings in the first 2 patients led us to presume there was complete
      loss of rectus muscle function from rectus muscle palsy. Based on this
      assumption, medial rectus recessions with simultaneous partial vertical muscle
      transposition (VRT) on the ipsilateral eye of the gaze palsy and recession
      resection surgery on the contralateral eye were performed, resulting in
      significant motility limitation. Sequential recession-resection surgery without
      simultaneous VRT on the 3rd patient created an unexpected motility improvement to
      the side of gaze palsy, an observation differentiating rectus muscle palsy from
      paresis. Recession combined with VRT approach in the esotropic eye was abandoned
      on subsequent patients. Simultaneous recession-resection surgery without VRT in
      the next 2 patients resulted in alleviation of head postures, resolution of
      esotropia, and also substantial motility improvements to the ipsilateral
      hemifield of gaze palsy without limitations in adduction and vertical deviations.
      CONCLUSIONS: Ocular misalignment and abnormal head posture as a result of
      conjugate gaze palsy can be successfully treated by basic recession-resection
      surgery, with the advantage of increasing versions to the ipsilateral side of the
      gaze palsy. Improved motility after surgery presumably represents paresis, not
      "paralysis," with residual innervation in rectus muscles.

PMID- 27651234
TI  - Targeted next generation sequencing of a panel of autism-related genes identifies
      an EHMT1 mutation in a Kleefstra syndrome patient with autism and normal
      intellectual performance.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with
      unknown genetic and environmental causation in most of the affected individuals.
      On the other hand, there are a growing number of ASD-associated syndromes, where
      the exact genetic origin can be revealed. Here we report a method, which included
      the targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) and filtering of 101 ASD associated
      genes, followed by database search. Next, RNA sequencing was used to study the
      region of interest at the transcriptional level. Using this workflow, we
      identified a de novo mutation in the euchromatic histone-lysine N
      methyltransferase 1 gene (EHMT1) of an autistic patient with dysmorphisms.
      Sequencing of EHMT1 transcripts showed that the premature termination codon
      (Trp1138Ter) created by a single nucleotide change elicited nonsense-mediated
      mRNA decay, which led to haploinsufficiency already at the transcriptional level.
      Database and literature search provided evidence that this mutation caused
      Kleefstra syndrome (KS), which was confirmed by the presence of the disorder
      specific phenotype in the patient. We provide a proof of principle that the
      implemented method is capable to elucidate the genetic etiology of individuals
      with syndromic autism. The novel mutation detected in the EHMT1 gene is
      responsible for KS's symptoms. In addition, further genetic factors might be
      involved in the ASD pathogenesis of the patient including a missense DPP6
      mutation (Arg322Cys), which segregated with the autistic phenotype within the
      family.

PMID- 27651235
TI  - Short Circuit in Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease Mimicking Stroke.

PMID- 27651236
TI  - Effect of Electrical Stimulation of the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract on
      Electroencephalographic Spectral Power and the Sleep-Wake Cycle in Freely Moving
      Cats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) plays a determinant role in
      the antiepileptic effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). One mechanism
      underlying the efficacy of VNS is the induction of cortical changes, detected by
      electroencephalogram (EEG), which can be mediated by the NTS through its
      projections to the cerebral nuclei responsible for modulating cortical activity.
      The effect of the electrical stimulation of the nucleus of the solitary tract
      (ENTS) on EEG activity and sleep states in freely moving animals is unknown.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the effects of ENTS on the EEG spectral
      power and sleep-wake cycle in freely moving cats. METHOD: EEG was performed on
      the left amygdala and both pre-frontal cortices for 23 hours under baseline
      conditions and with ENTS in freely moving cats. The changes induced by ENTS on
      the EEG spectral power and the architecture of the sleep-wake cycle were
      analyzed. RESULTS: ENTS increased the theta and beta band power for 12 hours.
      Furthermore, an increase in wakefulness occurred in the first six hours, followed
      by an increase in the total time of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. CONCLUSION:
      ENTS produces a long-lasting increase in the theta and beta band power, which
      favors wakefulness and REM sleep in freely moving cats.

PMID- 27651237
TI  - Lutibacter oceani sp. nov., isolated from marine sediment in South Korea.
AB  - A novel Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore forming, facultatively anaerobic and
      short-rod shaped bacterial strain, designated as 325-5T, was isolated from marine
      sediment obtained from a coastal region in South Korea. Phylogenetic analysis
      based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain 325-5T showed close similarity to
      Lutibacter crassostreae (97.8 %). The novel isolate was found to grow optimally
      at 25  degrees C and pH 7.0. The major fatty acids identified in the strain were
      iso C15:0 and iso C15:0 3OH, which supports the affiliation of strain 325-5T to
      the genus Lutibacter. Menaquinone (MK-6) was identified as the respiratory
      quinone component. The polar lipid profile was found to contain
      phosphatidylethanolamine and two unidentified lipids. The G+C molar content of
      strain 325-5T was determined to be 33.1 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization of strain 325
      5T exhibited less than 40 % relatedness to L. crassostreae KCTC 42461T. Pigment
      analysis showed the presence of carotenoid pigments. Based on this polyphasic
      analysis, we propose that strain 325-5T represents a novel species of the genus
      Lutibacter, for which the name Lutibacter oceani sp. nov. (type strain 325-5T =
      JCM 30924T = KEMB 7306-529T) is proposed.

PMID- 27651238
TI  - RKIP suppresses the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cell lines
      through up-regulation of miR-185 targeting HMGA2.
AB  - Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) is a tumor and metastasis suppressor in
      cancer cells. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been suggested to play a vital role in
      tumor initiation and progression by negatively regulating oncogenes and tumor
      suppressors. Quite recently, studies have identified some miRNAs operating to
      promote or suppress tumor invasion or metastasis via regulating metastasis
      related genes, providing potential therapeutic targets on anti-metastasis
      strategy. In this study, we found the expression of RKIP and miR-185 in breast
      cancer tissues was significantly lower than that of in normal breast tissues.
      Over-expression of RKIP up-regulated miR-185 expression, inhibited breast cancer
      cell growth and invasion, and inhibited miR-185 target gene High-mobility group
      AT-hook 2 (HMGA2). HMGA2 is encoded by HMGA2 gene, which encodes a protein that
      belongs to the non-histone chromosomal high-mobility group (HMG) protein family.
      Moreover, RKIP knockdown attenuated the inhibition of breast cancer cell invasion
      and the expression of HMGA2 by miR-185. Forced HMGA2 overexpression could partly
      restore the inhibitory effect of miR-185 on breast cancer cell growth and
      invasion. Our findings newly described RKIP/miR-185 to HMGA2 link and provided a
      potential mechanism for breast cancer cell growth and invasion. It may illustrate
      the potential therapeutic utility of signaling pathway signatures.

PMID- 27651239
TI  - Telmisartan increases systemic exposure to rosuvastatin after single and multiple
      doses, and in vitro studies show telmisartan inhibits ABCG2-mediated transport of
      rosuvastatin.
AB  - PURPOSE: The ATP-binding cassette transporter G2 (ABCG2) plays an important role
      in the disposition of rosuvastatin. Telmisartan, a selective angiotension-II type
      1 (AT1) receptor blocker, inhibits the transport capacity of ABCG2, which may
      result in drug interactions. This study investigated the pharmacokinetic
      interaction between rosuvastatin and telmisartan and the potential mechanism.
      METHODS: In this two-phase fixed-order design study, healthy subjects received
      single doses of 10 mg rosuvastatin at baseline and after telmisartan 40 mg daily
      for 14 days. Patients with hyperlipidaemia who had been taking rosuvastatin 10 mg
      daily for at least 4 weeks were given telmisartan 40 mg daily for 14 days
      together with rosuvastatin. Plasma concentrations of rosuvastatin were measured
      over 24 h before and after telmisartan administration. In vitro experiments using
      a bidirectional transport assay were performed to investigate the involvement of
      ABCG2 in the interaction. RESULTS: Co-administration of telmisartan significantly
      increased the maximum plasma concentration (C max) and the area under the plasma
      concentration-time curve (AUC) of rosuvastatin by 71 and 26 %, respectively. The
      T max values were reduced after administration of telmisartan. There was no
      significant difference in the interaction of rosuvastatin with telmisartan
      between healthy volunteers and patients receiving long-term rosuvastatin therapy
      or among subjects with the different ABCG2 421 C>A genotypes. The in vitro
      experiment demonstrated that telmisartan inhibited ABCG2-mediated efflux of
      rosuvastatin. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that telmisartan significantly
      increased the systemic exposure to rosuvastatin after single and multiple doses.

PMID- 27651240
TI  - Anti-tuberculosis drug concentrations in tuberculosis patients with and without
      diabetes mellitus.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to compare plasma concentrations of rifampicin
      (RMP), isoniazid (INH) and pyrazinamide (PZA) between tuberculosis (TB) patients
      with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: Two-hour post-dosing
      concentrations of RMP, INH and PZA were determined in adult TB patients that were
      studied with (n = 452) and without DM (n = 1460), treated with a thrice-weekly
      regimen in India. Drug concentrations were estimated by HPLC. RESULTS: The median
      (IQR) INH [6.6 (3.9-10.0) and 7.8 (4.6-11.3)] and PZA [31.0 (22.3-38.0) and 34.1
      (24.6-42.7)] microgram per milliliter concentrations were significantly lower in
      diabetic than non-diabetic TB patients (p < 0.001 for both drugs). Blood glucose
      was negatively correlated with plasma INH (r = -0.09, p < 0.001) and PZA (r = 
      0.092, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed RMP, INH and PZA
      concentrations were influenced by age and drug doses, INH and PZA by DM, RMP by
      alcohol use and PZA by gender and category of ATT. DM reduced INH and PZA
      concentrations by 0.8 and 3.0 MUg/ml, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: TB patients with
      DM had lower INH and PZA concentrations. Negative correlation between blood
      glucose and drug concentrations suggests delayed absorption/faster elimination of
      INH and PZA in the presence of elevated glucose.

PMID- 27651242
TI  - Evaluation of two assays for CXCL13 analysis in cerebrospinal fluid for
      laboratory diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis.
AB  - We evaluated the diagnostic performance of two assays, one bead-based assay and
      one enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), for the determination of CXCL13
      levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with suspected Lyme
      neuroborreliosis (LNB). Patients investigated for LNB were retrospectively
      included (n = 132): 35 with definite LNB, 8 with possible LNB with CSF
      pleocytosis but normal antibody index (AI), 6 with possible LNB with elevated AI
      but no CSF pleocytosis and 83 non-LNB patients. CSF samples had been drawn before
      antibiotic treatment and were analysed for CXCL13 by Quantikine ELISA (R&D
      Systems) and recomBead (Mikrogen). Receiver operating characteristic analyses
      based on the definite LNB and non-LNB groups revealed a best performance cut-off
      of 56 pg/mL for Quantikine and 158 pg/mL for recomBead (sensitivity and
      specificity 100% for both assays). When applying these cut-off levels on the
      study groups, the two assays performed equally well regarding sensitivity and
      specificity. In the group of patients with pleocytosis but negative AI, the
      majority of whom were children with short symptom duration, the CXCL13 analysis
      supported the LNB diagnosis in half of the cases. We consider CSF-CXCL13 analysis
      a useful diagnostic tool, in addition to Borrelia-specific AI, in laboratory
      diagnostics of LNB.

PMID- 27651241
TI  - Genome characterization of the selected long- and short-sleep mouse lines.
AB  - The Inbred Long- and Short-Sleep (ILS, ISS) mouse lines were selected for
      differences in acute ethanol sensitivity using the loss of righting response
      (LORR) as the selection trait. The lines show an over tenfold difference in LORR
      and, along with a recombinant inbred panel derived from them (the LXS), have been
      widely used to dissect the genetic underpinnings of acute ethanol sensitivity.
      Here we have sequenced the genomes of the ILS and ISS to investigate the DNA
      variants that contribute to their sensitivity difference. We identified ~2.7
      million high-confidence SNPs and small indels and ~7000 structural variants
      between the lines; variants were found to occur in 6382 annotated genes. Using a
      hidden Markov model, we were able to reconstruct the genome-wide ancestry
      patterns of the eight inbred progenitor strains from which the ILS and ISS were
      derived, and found that quantitative trait loci that have been mapped for LORR
      were slightly enriched for DNA variants. Finally, by mapping and quantifying RNA
      seq reads from the ILS and ISS to their strain-specific genomes rather than to
      the reference genome, we found a substantial improvement in a differential
      expression analysis between the lines. This work will help in identifying and
      characterizing the DNA sequence variants that contribute to the difference in
      ethanol sensitivity between the ILS and ISS and will also aid in accurate
      quantification of RNA-seq data generated from the LXS RIs.

PMID- 27651243
TI  - Radiological patterns of childhood thoracic tuberculosis in a developed country:
      a single institution's experience on 217/255 cases.
AB  - The incidence of tuberculosis is increasing in the developed world and children
      in particular represent a high-risk group for developing the disease. The aim of
      this review is to analyse the spectrum of radiological signs as reported in the
      recent literature, in light of our series over a 15-year period, to pinpoint the
      most common radiological patterns in a developed country and to determine the
      role played by the different chest imaging techniques in diagnosis improvement.
      Lung TB was present in 217 out of 255 patients (85 %): 146 patients were under 5
      years of age (76 under 2 years) and 71 over 5 years (41 over 10 years). We
      describe different patterns differentiating adolescents and young adults from
      infants and children. Adolescents and young adult tuberculosis are apical and
      cavitary. Thoracic TB in infants and children is characterized by lymph node and
      parenchymal disease. In 21 cases with lymphadenopathies without lymph-bronchial
      diffusion (age range 2 months-7 years), CT identified the Ghon focus in 16/21
      cases; chest X-ray never identified the Ghon focus. In our series, pleural TB was
      present in 8 cases out of 146 under 5 years of age, 5 cases out of 76 under 2
      years, and 18 cases out of 71 over 5 years. Radiologists should be aware of
      typical patterns of tuberculosis, to provide an early diagnosis.

PMID- 27651244
TI  - MRI of placenta percreta: differentiation from other entities of placental
      adhesive disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively review the MRI findings of placenta percreta and
      identify those helpful for differentiation from non-placenta percreta. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The MRI images of 21 patients with a preliminary diagnosis of
      placental adhesive disorder scanned between 2005 and 2014 were evaluated.
      Radiologists blinded to the final diagnosis evaluated six previously described
      MRI findings of placenta adhesive disorder. The sensitivity, specificity,
      accuracy, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) of
      MRI for the diagnosis of placenta percreta were also calculated. RESULTS: The
      study included 12 cases of placenta percreta and 9 cases of non-placenta
      percreta. Invasion of placental tissue outside the uterus was found only in
      placenta percreta (p = 0.045; sensitivity 41.7 %; specificity 100 %). All
      placenta percreta cases also had a moderate to marked degree of heterogeneous
      placental signal intensity (p = 0.063; sensitivity 100 %; specificity 33.3 %).
      The size of the dark bands on T2-weighted imaging, and the presence of
      disorganized intra-placental vessels, showed no statistically significant
      difference between placenta percreta and non-placenta percreta. The sensitivity,
      specificity, NPV, PPV, and accuracy of MRI for detection of placenta percreta
      were 91.7, 44, 80, 68, and 71.4 %, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MRI is recommended
      for the evaluation of placenta percreta, with the most specific signs including
      the invasion of placental tissue outside the uterus on B-FFE sequences, and
      consideration of the degree of placental signal heterogeneity. The size of the T2
      dark band alone, or bizarre disorganized intra-placental vessels, did not
      correlate with the severity of invasion.

PMID- 27651246
TI  - Effect of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) on Spinal Cord Injury.
AB  - Spinal cord injury (SCI) has become one of the most leading concerns in the past
      decade. Preclinical and research studies are now ongoing trying to understand the
      molecular mechanisms and develop treatment strategies for this neurodegenerative
      condition. In the last decade, researchers have deciphered few of the leading
      players that play a major role in worsening the condition. But till date none of
      these have been applied to the clinical treatment of patients with SCI. Here in
      this chapter I discuss about one of the dietary requirements that could
      ameliorate the condition of these patients.

PMID- 27651245
TI  - Epigenetic Modifications in Neurological Diseases: Natural Products as Epigenetic
      Modulators a Treatment Strategy.
AB  - Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, covalent histone
      modifications, and small noncoding RNAs, play a key role in regulating the gene
      expression. This regulatory mechanism is important in cellular differentiation
      and development. Recent advances in the field of epigenetics extended the role of
      epigenetic mechanisms in controlling key biological processes such as genome
      imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation. Aberrant epigenetic modifications are
      associated with the development of many diseases. The role of epigenetic
      modifications in various neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's
      disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington disease, epilepsy, and multiple
      sclerosis is rapidly emerging. The use of epigenetic modifying drugs to treat
      these diseases has been the interest in recent years. A number of natural
      products having diverse mechanism of action are used for drug discovery. For many
      years, natural compounds have been used to treat various neurodegenerative
      diseases, but the use of such compounds as epigenetic modulators to reverse or
      treat neurological diseases are not well studied. In this chapter, we mainly
      focus on how various epigenetic modifications play a key role in
      neurodegenerative diseases, their mechanism of action, and how it acts as a
      potential therapeutic target for epigenetic drugs to treat these diseases will be
      discussed.

PMID- 27651247
TI  - Dietary Polyphenols as Potential Remedy for Dementia.
AB  - With increasing life expectancy as a result of better quality of life and
      improved health care, the incidence of aging related diseases and disorders is
      heading toward epidemic proportions. Dementia, a spectrum of neurological
      diseases associated with aging, is an increasingly prevalent disease. No cure
      exists yet for dementia; however, there are many potential candidates for
      treatment of dementia that merit more exploration. Polyphenols, which constitute
      one such class of compounds, are dietary agents that are globally found in
      commonly consumed food. Many processes that are associated with the
      pathophysiology of dementia can be modulated by polyphenols. Polyphenolic
      compounds can alleviate oxidative stress by acting as direct scavengers of free
      radicals and clearing superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and by increasing the
      level of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase. They also chelate
      metal ions to prevent free radical formation. Polyphenols can also combat
      inflammation by affecting transcription factors such as NF-kappaB. Some
      polyphenols may have the potential to inhibit excitotoxicity by regulating
      intracellular calcium ion concentration, inhibiting glutamate receptors and
      increasing glutamate reuptake at the synapse. The cognitive decline in dementia
      due to decreased availability of acetylcholine can also be countered by
      polyphenols that inhibit acetyl-cholinesterase activity. Taken together, these
      findings suggest that increasing the consumption of polyphenol rich food may
      alleviate the effects of dementia. Moreover, their effects on controlling
      multiple mechanisms that are associated with dementia may also prevent or slow
      down the onset and progress of this devastating disease.

PMID- 27651248
TI  - Spices: Potential Therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - India has traditionally been known to all over the world for spices and medicinal
      plants. Spices exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities. In
      contemporary, Indian spices are used to rustle up delicious delicacies. However,
      the Indian spices are more than just adjuvant which adds aroma and fragrance to
      foods. A few spices are very widely used and grown commercially in many
      countries, contain many important chemical constituents in the form of essential
      oil, oleoresin, oleogum, and resins, which impart flavor, pungency, and color to
      the prepared dishes, simultaneously exerts diverse therapeutic benefits.
      Ayurveda, the traditional systems of medicine in India has many evidences for the
      utilization of spices to cure various diseases. Some of the activities have been
      scientifically proven. Among various indications central nervous system disorders
      are of prime importance and it has been evident in traditional books and
      published reports that spices in fact protect and cure neuronal ailments.
      Likewise there are many spices found in India used for culinary purpose and have
      been found to have reported specific activities against brain disorders. About
      400 B.C., Hippocrates rightly said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy
      food." This review focuses on the importance of spices in therapeutics and the
      till date scientific findings of Indian spices in CNS pharmacology and explores
      the potential of Indian spices to cure CNS disorders.

PMID- 27651249
TI  - Application of Bioactive Compounds from Scutellaria in Neurologic Disorders.
AB  - Inflammation of the brain is one of the most highly researched yet mysterious
      areas in modern day neurology. The process of inflammation is a normal mechanism
      of wound healing that can result from acute injuries such as traumas or can be
      caused by genetic/environmental factors. After the initial insult, the immune
      system defenses, specifically microglial cells, are activated in order to combat
      the infection or injury. However, prolonged or chronic inflammation is often
      deleterious due mainly to accumulation of free reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      other pro-inflammatory cytokines in the brain FADDIN EN.CITE. Plant-derived
      natural compounds have the potential to ameliorate the causes and symptoms of
      neuroinflammation, due to their various anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory
      activities, without completely muting the immune defenses. Scutellaria is a
      perennial plant in the mint family that has been used to treat diseases in Asia
      and Eastern Europe throughout history. This chapter reviews the active components
      of various Scutellaria species and their mechanisms of action to prevent chronic
      neurologic disorders involving neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.

PMID- 27651250
TI  - Alzheimer's Disease and Medicinal Plants: An Overview.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is progressive neurodegenerative disorder and identified
      as a major health concern globally. Individuals with AD and their care givers are
      affected in personal, emotional, financial, and social levels. Due to its
      significant impact and heavy burden on the individual, the patients' families,
      and society, it is highly needed to search for cost effective, long-time
      retention therapeutic targets. In recent decades, there are lots of research
      conducted the possible benefit of natural products and their active components on
      AD and other neurodegenerative disease, which are discussed here.

PMID- 27651252
TI  - Impact of Non-Enzymatic Glycation in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Role of Natural
      Products in Prevention.
AB  - Non-enzymatic protein glycosylation is the addition of free carbonyls to the free
      amino groups of proteins, amino acids, lipoproteins and nucleic acids resulting
      in the formation of early glycation products. The early glycation products are
      also known as Maillard reaction which undergoes dehydration, cyclization and
      rearrangement to form advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). By and large the
      researchers in the past have also established that glycation and the AGEs are
      responsible for most type of metabolic disorders, including diabetes mellitus,
      cancer, neurological disorders and aging. The amassing of AGEs in the tissues of
      neurodegenerative diseases shows its involvement in diseases. Therefore, it is
      likely that inhibition of glycation reaction may extend the lifespan of an
      individual. The hunt for inhibitors of glycation, mainly using in vitro models,
      has identified natural compounds able to prevent glycation, especially
      polyphenols and other natural antioxidants. Extrapolation of results of in vitro
      studies on the in vivo situation is not straightforward due to differences in the
      conditions and mechanism of glycation, and bioavailability problems.
      Nevertheless, existing data allow postulating that enrichment of diet in natural
      anti-glycating agents may attenuate glycation and, in consequence may halt the
      aging and neurological problems.

PMID- 27651251
TI  - Efficacy of Natural Compounds in Neurodegenerative Disorders.
AB  - Neurodegenerative disorders represent clusters of serious diseases that results
      in progressive deterioration of normal structure and physiology of central
      nervous system. Pathophysiology of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or other
      neurodegenerative disorders involves multifaceted permutation of genetic and
      environmental factors. Combinations of lifestyle modification linked with
      environmental factor jointly or alone represent the largest share of cases of
      these disorders. Etiology of such neuronal degeneration involves manifestation of
      toxic reaction in the form of functional anomalies leading to dysfunction of the
      ubiquitin-proteasome system, activated inflammatory cascade, compromised neuronal
      survival pathway, mitochondrial dysfunction and finally neuronal
      apoptosis/necrosis and cell death. Furthermore, evidences from various studies
      exhibited role of oxidative stress and compromised anti-oxidant defense system as
      one of the prime factors associated with activation of various signal
      transduction pathways that would ultimately lead to the formation of amyloid beta
      or alpha synuclein in the brain. Keeping in view of complex etiology and
      pathophysiology along with a miniscule of available treatment options associated
      with these neurodegenerative disorders, the role of natural agents and herbal
      extracts as therapeutic alternatives alone or in combination with synthetic drugs
      could not be ruled out. In the same context the present chapter has been aimed to
      investigate the role of selected natural plants like Withania somnifera, Bacopa
      monnieri, Curcuma longa, Centella asiatica, Ocimum sanctum, Nardostachys
      jatamansi and Emblica officinalis in various neurodegenerative disorders and
      explore their targets to ameliorate neurotoxicity in various experimental models.
      The rationale for selection of these plants was based on their strong anti
      inflammatory and anti-oxidant potential and large body of evidence that suggest
      their efficacy in preclinical as well as in clinical studies. Active constituents
      if these herbals might play an important role in preserving the integrity of
      various neurotransmitters and their receptor in the brain influencing its
      functions at the molecular level.

PMID- 27651253
TI  - Role of Plant Polyphenols in Alzheimer's Disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease,
      characterized by notable memory loss, cognitive impairment, and personality
      disorders accompanied with structural abnormalities in the brain of aged
      population. Currently approved drugs for AD offer symptomatic relief without
      preventing the progression of the disease and having limited efficacy. Many
      experiments and clinical trials have shown that the traditional herbal medicine,
      which has multiple targets, could provide effective treatment of AD. Increasing
      evidence suggests that the plant derived polyphenols plays a key role in
      improving cognitive functions and preventing/delaying the onset of certain
      neurodegenerative diseases including AD. Although several biological effects
      based on experimental studies could be scientifically explained, the way to bring
      natural polyphenols into routine clinical application against neurodegeneration
      seems to be long, because of its low average daily intake, poor availability and
      few adverse effects. So the better knowledge about intestinal absorption,
      excretion, intestinal and hepatic metabolism, plasma kinetics, the nature of
      circulating metabolites, transport, cellular uptake, intracellular metabolism,
      and accumulation in tissues including brain will facilitate current scientific
      understanding and offer great hope for the prevention of AD.

PMID- 27651254
TI  - Cannabinoids: Glutamatergic Transmission and Kynurenines.
AB  - The endocannabinoid system (ECS) comprises a complex of receptors, enzymes, and
      endogenous agonists that are widely distributed in the central nervous system of
      mammals and participates in a considerable number of neuromodulatory functions,
      including neurotransmission, immunological control, and cell signaling. In turn,
      the kynurenine pathway (KP) is the most relevant metabolic route for tryptophan
      degradation to form the metabolic precursor NAD(+). Recent studies demonstrate
      that the control exerted by the pharmacological manipulation of the ECS on the
      glutamatergic system in the brain may offer key information not only on the
      development of psychiatric disorders like psychosis and schizophrenia-like
      symptoms, but it also may constitute a solid basis for the development of
      therapeutic strategies to combat excitotoxic events occurring in neurological
      disorders like Huntington's disease (HD). Part of the evidence pointing to the
      last approach is based on experimental protocols demonstrating the efficacy of
      cannabinoids to prevent the deleterious actions of the endogenous neurotoxin and
      KP metabolite quinolinic acid (QUIN). These findings intuitively raise the
      question about what is the precise role of the ECS in tryptophan metabolism
      through KP and vice versa. In this chapter, we will review basic concepts on the
      physiology of both the ECS and the KP to finally describe those recent findings
      combining the components of these two systems and hypothesize the future course
      that the research in this emerging field will take in the next years.

PMID- 27651255
TI  - Carotenoids and Neurobiological Health.
AB  - The consumption of carotenoid phytonutrients, largely as part of plant tissue,
      has been associated with a number of health benefits. Epidemiological and other
      studies support a link between higher dietary intake and tissue concentrations of
      carotenoids and lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes,
      and some cancers. Evidence also suggests that increased levels of carotenoids can
      help maintain healthy cognitive function, especially into older age. Carotenoids
      mediate their beneficial effects via several mechanisms including cell growth
      regulation and modulation of gene expression and immune activity. However their
      primary protective mechanism is thought to be due to their potent antioxidant
      properties that effectively scavenge free radicals and reduce the risk of
      oxidative damage. This chapter discusses the impact of carotenoids on
      neurological health by first reviewing their chemical characteristics, dietary
      sources, and general mechanisms of action before examining in some detail the
      available evidence for a protective role for various carotenoids in
      neurodegenerative disease.

PMID- 27651256
TI  - Role of Quercetin Benefits in Neurodegeneration.
AB  - Neurodegenerative disorders are often life threatening and hired as an economic
      burden to the health-care system. Nutritional interventions principally involving
      polyphenols were practiced to arrest or reverse the age-related health disorders.
      Flavonoids, a class of dietary polyphenols, are rising to superstardom in
      preventing brain disorders with their potent antioxidant defense mechanism.
      Quercetin is a ubiquitous flavonoid reported to have all-natural myriad of health
      benefits. Citrus fruits, apple, onion, parsley, berries, green tea, and red wine
      comprise the major dietary supplements of quercetin apart from some herbal
      remedies like Ginkgo biloba. Appositeness of quercetin in reducing risks of
      neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, allergic disorders,
      thrombosis, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and arrhythmia, to name a few, is
      attributed to its highly pronounced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
      Neurodegeneration, characterized by progressive deterioration of the structure
      and function of neurons, is crucially accompanied by severe cognitive deficits.
      Aging is the major risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders in Alzheimer's
      disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Huntington's disease (HD) being
      coequal high hands. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are the key
      players in triggering neurodegeneration. The upsurge of neurodegenerative
      disorders is always appalling since there exists a paucity in effective treatment
      practices. Past few years' studies have underpinned the mechanisms through which
      quercetin boons the brain health in many aspects including betterment in
      cognitive output. Undoubtedly, quercetin will be escalating as an arable field,
      both in scientific research and in pharmacological and clinical applications.

PMID- 27651257
TI  - Role of Omega-3 PUFAs in Neurobiological Health.
AB  - The importance of the essential, dietary-derived, polyunsaturated fatty acids
      (PUFAs) omega-6 and omega-3 to human health was first reported over 85 years ago.
      Subsequent research has revealed many beneficial effects of the omega-3 PUFAs in
      particular. This has been linked to their involvement in multiple biochemical
      functions, including synthesis of inflammatory mediators, cell membrane fluidity,
      intracellular signalling and gene expression. Through these pathways, the omega-3
      PUFAs help modulate aspects of inflammation and immunity, cell growth and tissue
      repair. While a detailed understanding of the mechanisms involved in the role of
      omega-3 PUFAs to health in the central nervous system (CNS) is still to be
      elucidated, a role for both inflammatory modulation and a direct impact on
      neuronal membrane fluidity and receptor function is apparent. At least partially
      through these mechanisms, low omega-3 levels have been associated with CNS-linked
      disorders such as poor cognition, depression, anxiety disorders, poor anger
      control, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and accelerated
      neurodegeneration in the elderly.Following a brief introduction to the history
      and chemistry of the omega-3 family of PUFAs, this chapter will provide an
      overview of the omega-3 fatty acids and how various members of this PUFA family
      influence central nervous system function leading towards either health or
      disease.

PMID- 27651258
TI  - Neuroprotective Activities of Saffron and Crocin.
AB  - We first considered that saffron is really safety food because it has a long-use
      history. The neuroprotective activities of saffron and its major constituent,
      crocin, are separately discussed in vitro and in vivo. We reviewed the inhibitory
      activities of crocin against PC-12 cell apoptosis. The oxidative stress decreased
      the cellular levels of glutathione (GSH) which is an inhibitor of neutral
      sphingomyelinase (N-SMase). Therefore, the level of GSH was assayed by the
      addition of crocin resulted in the activation of glutathione reductase (GR). It
      became evident that crocin treatment prevents the N-SMase activation resulting in
      the decrease of ceramide release. From these evidences we summarized the role of
      crocin for neuronal cell death. We used the ethanol-blocking assay system for
      learning and memory activities. The effect of saffron and crocin on improving
      ethanol-induced impairment of learning behaviors of mice in passive avoidance
      tasks has been clear. Further, we did make clear that saffron and crocin prevent
      the inhibitory effect of ethanol on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate
      gyrus. Finally we found that 100 mg/kg of crocin gave non-rapid eye movement
      sleep (non-REM sleep) although mice were started to be active during night time.

PMID- 27651259
TI  - The Advances in Neurobiology.
AB  - Neurological disorders are diseases of the brain, the spine, and the nerves that
      connect them. There are more than 600 diseases of the nervous system, such as
      brain tumors, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and stroke as well as less familiar
      ones such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias;
      cerebrovascular diseases including stroke, migraine, and other headache
      disorders; multiple sclerosis; neuroinfections; brain tumors; traumatic disorders
      of the nervous system such as brain trauma; and neurological disorders as a
      result of malnutrition. More than a decade of research worldwide has shown that
      berries support cognitive health by protecting nerves and help brain cells
      communicate with each other and improve the flexibility of nerve structures.
      Berries help nerves tolerate stress, including the stress of toxic exposure. They
      also support the healthy function of glial cells in the brain, essential for
      optimum brain function. Polyphenols, namely, anthocyanins, found in berries may
      slow cognitive decline through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in
      experimental animals. Based on the previous reports, this review explains the
      beneficial effects of the phytochemicals present in nine varieties of berries on
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27651260
TI  - Brain Food at High Altitude.
AB  - Scenic view at high altitude is a pleasure to the eyes, but it has some
      shortcoming effects as well. High altitude can be divided into different
      categories, i.e., high altitude (3000-5000 ft), very high altitude (5000-8000
      ft), and extreme altitude (above 8000 ft). Much of the population resides at high
      altitude, and others go there for tourism. Military personnel are also posted
      there to defend boundaries. As we ascent to high altitude, partial pressure of
      oxygen reduces, whereas concentration remains the same; this reduces the
      availability of oxygen to different body parts. This pathophysiological condition
      is known as hypobaric hypoxia (HH) which leads to oxidative stress and further
      causes cognitive dysfunction in some cases. Hypoxia causes neurodegeneration in
      different brain regions; however, the hippocampus is found to be more prone in
      comparison to other brain regions. As the hippocampus is affected most,
      therefore, spatial memory is impaired most during such condition. This chapter
      will give a brief review of the damaging effect of high altitude on cognition and
      also throw light on possible herbal interventions at high altitude, which can
      improve cognitive performance as well as provide protection against the
      deteriorating effect of hypobaric hypoxia at high altitude.

PMID- 27651261
TI  - Indian Herbs for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disease.
AB  - Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine that is indigenous to India, is believed
      to be the world's oldest comprehensive health-care system and is now one of the
      most recognized and widely practiced disciplines of alternative medicine in the
      world. Medicinal herbs have been in use for treating diseases since ancient times
      in India. Ayurvedic therapies with medicinal herbs and herbomineral products
      generally provide relief without much adverse effects even after prolonged
      administration. Neurodegenerative disorders are a major cause of mortality and
      disability, and increasing life spans represent one of the key challenges of
      medical research. Ayurvedic medicine describes most neurodegenerative diseases
      and has defined a number of plants with therapeutic benefits for the treatment of
      neurodegenerative diseases having antioxidant activities. In this chapter, the
      role of four important Ayurvedic medicinal plants, viz., Withania somnifera
      (ashwagandha), Bacopa monnieri (brahmi), Centella asiatica (gotu kola), and
      Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean), on neurodegenerative diseases are discussed.

PMID- 27651262
TI  - Avocado as a Major Dietary Source of Antioxidants and Its Preventive Role in
      Neurodegenerative Diseases.
AB  - Avocados have a high content of phytochemicals especially antioxidants with
      potential neuroprotective effect. Aging is the major risk factor for
      neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. A large
      body of evidence indicates that oxidative stress is involved in the
      pathophysiology of these diseases. Oxidative stress can induce neuronal damages
      and modulate intracellular signaling, ultimately leading to neuronal death by
      apoptosis or necrosis. There is evidence for increased oxidative damage to
      macromolecules in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease,
      Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Thus, antioxidants have been used
      for their effectiveness in reducing these deleterious effects and neuronal death
      in many in vitro and in vivo studies. The critical review results indicate that
      compounds in avocado are unique antioxidants, preferentially suppressing radical
      generation, and thus may be promising as effective neuropreventive agents. The
      diverse array of bioactive nutrients present in avocado plays a pivotal role in
      the prevention and cure of various neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 27651263
TI  - Detoxification of Carbonyl Compounds by Carbonyl Reductase in Neurodegeneration.
AB  - Oxidative stress in the brain is the major cause of neurodegenerative disorders,
      including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases
      or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Under conditions of oxidative stress, the
      production of highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) overwhelms antioxidant
      defenses, resulting in the modification of macromolecules and their deposition in
      neuronal cell tissues. ROS plays an important role in neuronal cell death that
      they generate reactive aldehydes from membrane lipid peroxidation. Several
      neuronal diseases are associated with increased accumulation of abnormal protein
      adducts of reactive aldehydes, which mediate oxidative stress-linked pathological
      events, including cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induction. Combining
      findings on neurodegeneration and oxidative stress in Drosophila with studies on
      the metabolic characteristics of the human enzyme CBR1, it is clear now that CBR1
      has a potential physiological role of neuroprotection in humans. Several studies
      suggest that CBR1 represents a significant pathway for the detoxification of
      reactive aldehydes derived from lipid peroxidation and that CBR1 in humans is
      essential for neuronal cell survival and to confer protection against oxidative
      stress-induced brain degeneration. Recently, it was discovered that HIF1alpha, AP
      1, and Nrf2 could all regulate CBR1 at the transcriptional level. Nrf2 is known
      to regulate the transcription of antioxidant enzymes, and CBR1 functions as an
      antioxidant enzyme, suggesting that transcriptional regulation of CBR1 is a major
      contributor to the control of oxidative stress in neurodegeneration.

PMID- 27651264
TI  - Role of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Their Metabolites on Stem Cell
      Proliferation and Differentiation.
AB  - The nervous system is highly enriched with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
      (PUFAs). Essential fatty acids, namely, omega-6 (n - 6) and omega-3 (n - 3) PUFA,
      and their metabolites are critical components of cell structure and function and
      could therefore influence stem cell fate. The available supporting experimental
      data reveal that n - 6 and n - 3 PUFA and their metabolites can act through
      multiple mechanisms to promote the proliferation and differentiation of various
      stem cell types. PUFAs and their mediators regulate several processes within the
      brain, such as neurotransmission, cell survival and neuroinflammation, and
      thereby mood and cognition. PUFA levels and the signaling pathways that they
      regulate are altered in various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's
      disease and major depression. Therefore, elucidating the role of PUFAs and their
      metabolites in stem cell fate regulation is important for stem cell biology as
      well as stem cell therapy. PUFA-based interventions to generate a positive
      environment for stem cell proliferation or differentiation might be a promising
      and practical approach to controlling stem cell fate for clinical applications.

PMID- 27651265
TI  - Choline and the Brain: An Epigenetic Perspective.
AB  - Choline is an essential nutrient that is required for normal development of the
      brain. Via its metabolite betaine, it participates in the synthesis of S
      adenosylmethionine, a major methyl donor for histone and DNA methylation, two
      epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression and may alter brain function.
      Besides its role in methyl group metabolism, choline also has pivotal functions,
      including the maintenance of structural integrity of membranes and modulation of
      cholinergic neurotransmission, functions that are often dysregulated in some
      neurodegenerative disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that environmental
      factors, including lifestyle or diet, sometimes cause epigenetic changes in the
      expression of neuronal genes resulting in long-term changes in brain function.
      Recently, choline has been implicated as an epigenetic modifier of the genome
      that may alter gene methylation, expression, and cellular function. Abnormal
      level of choline during fetal or early postnatal life has been shown to alter
      memory functions during adulthood. It may also contribute to the etiology of
      stress-related disorders and age-related decline in memory later in life.
      Conversely, rodent studies suggested that perinatal choline supplementation
      enhances performance in memory-related tasks during adulthood. In this chapter,
      we will focus on the impact of choline-gene interaction on brain function in
      early life and during adulthood. In particular, we will emphasize the potential
      role of choline as a neuroprotectant that may mitigate some of the adverse
      effects of neurodegenerative disorders and protect mental health across the
      lifespan.

PMID- 27651266
TI  - Modulatory Effects of Dietary Amino Acids on Neurodegenerative Diseases.
AB  - Proteins are playing a vital role in maintaining the cellular integrity and
      function, as well as for brain cells. Protein intake and supplementation of
      individual amino acids can affect the brain functioning and mental health, and
      many of the neurotransmitters in the brain are made from amino acids. The amino
      acid supplementation has been found to reduce symptoms, as they are converted
      into neurotransmitters which in turn extenuate the mental disorders. The
      biosynthesis of amino acids in the brain is regulated by the concentration of
      amino acids in plasma. The brain diseases such as depression, bipolar disorder,
      schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and Alzheimer's (AD),
      Parkinson's (PD), and Huntington's diseases (HD) are the most common mental
      disorders that are currently widespread in numerous countries. The intricate
      biochemical and molecular machinery contributing to the neurological disorders is
      still unknown, and in this chapter, we revealed the involvement of dietary amino
      acids on neurological diseases.

PMID- 27651267
TI  - Plant-Derived Natural Products for Parkinson's Disease Therapy.
AB  - Plant-derived natural products have made their own niche in the treatment of
      neurological diseases since time immemorial. Parkinson's disease (PD), the second
      most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, has no cure and the treatment
      available currently is symptomatic. This chapter thoughtfully and objectively
      assesses the scientific basis that supports the increasing use of these plant
      derived natural products for the treatment of this chronic and progressive
      disorder. Proper considerations are made on the chemical nature, sources,
      preclinical tests and their validity, and mechanisms of behavioural or
      biochemical recovery observed following treatment with various plants derived
      natural products relevant to PD therapy. The scientific basis underlying the
      neuroprotective effect of 6 Ayurvedic herbs/formulations, 12 Chinese medicinal
      herbs/formulations, 33 other plants, and 5 plant-derived molecules have been
      judiciously examined emphasizing behavioral, cellular, or biochemical aspects of
      neuroprotection observed in the cellular or animal models of the disease. The
      molecular mechanisms triggered by these natural products to promote cell
      survivability and to reduce the risk of cellular degeneration have also been
      brought to light in this study. The study helped to reveal certain limitations in
      the scenario: lack of preclinical studies in all cases barring two; heavy
      dependence on in vitro test systems; singular animal or cellular model to
      establish any therapeutic potential of drugs. This strongly warrants further
      studies so as to reproduce and confirm these reported effects. However, the
      current literature offers scientific credence to traditionally used plant-derived
      natural products for the treatment of PD.

PMID- 27651268
TI  - From agricultural use of sewage sludge to nutrient extraction: A soil science
      outlook.
AB  - The composition of municipal wastewater and sewage sludge reflects the use and
      proliferation of elements and contaminants within society. In Sweden, official
      statistics show that concentrations of toxic metals in municipal sewage sludge
      have steadily decreased, by up to 90 %, since the 1970s, due to environmental
      programmes and statutory limits on metals in sludge and soil. Results from long
      term field experiments show that reduced metal pollution during repeated sewage
      sludge application has reversed negative trends in soil biology. Despite this
      Swedish success story, organic waste recycling from Swedish towns and cities to
      arable land is still limited to only about 20 % of the total amount produced.
      Resistance among industries and consumers to products grown on land treated with
      sewage sludge may not always be scientifically grounded; however, there are
      rational obstacles to application of sewage sludge to land based on its inherent
      properties rather than its content of pollutants. We argue that application of
      urban organic wastes to soil is an efficient form of recycling for small
      municipalities, but that organic waste treatment from large cities requires other
      solutions. The large volumes of sewage sludge collected in towns and cities are
      not equitably distributed back to arable land because of the following: (i) The
      high water and low nutrient content in sewage sludge make long-distance
      transportation too expensive; and (ii) the low plant availability of nutrients in
      sewage sludge results in small yield increases even after many years of repeated
      sludge addition. Therefore, nutrient extraction from urban wastes instead of
      direct organic waste recycling is a possible way forward. The trend for increased
      combustion of urban wastes will make ash a key waste type in future. Combustion
      not only concentrates the nutrients in the ash but also leads to metal
      enrichment; hence, direct application of the ash to land is most often not
      possible. However, inorganic fertiliser (e.g. mono-ammonium phosphate fertiliser,
      MAP) can be produced from metal-contaminated sewage sludge ash in a process
      whereby the metals are removed. We argue that the view on organic waste recycling
      needs to be diversified in order to improve the urban-rural nutrient cycle, since
      only recycling urban organic wastes directly is not a viable option to close the
      urban-rural nutrient cycle. Recovery and recycling of nutrients from organic
      wastes are a possible solution. When organic waste recycling is complemented by
      nutrient extraction, some nutrient loops within society can be closed, enabling
      more sustainable agricultural production in future.

PMID- 27651269
TI  - 36 patients die from unknown causes after transfer from a private mental health
      facility in South Africa.

PMID- 27651270
TI  - Beyond Race/Ethnicity: Skin Color and Cardiometabolic Health Among Blacks and
      Hispanics in the United States.
AB  - We investigated whether darker interviewer-ascribed skin color is associated with
      worse cardiometabolic health among young adult Blacks and Hispanics in the United
      States. Our sample was comprised of 2,128 non-Hispanic Blacks and 1603 Hispanics
      aged 24-32, who were in high school in the United States in 1994. We used
      logistic and OLS regression to predict obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and
      cardiometabolic risk. We tested the interaction between Hispanic immigrant
      generation and ascribed skin color. Darker ascribed skin color predicted worse
      cardiometabolic health among both young adult Blacks and Hispanics. Among
      Hispanics, the associations were strongest among third and higher generation
      respondents. Our findings suggest that among US Blacks and Hispanics how
      individuals are perceived by others via their skin color is significantly
      associated with their health and well-being. Gradients in cardiometabolic health
      in young adulthood will likely contribute to gradients in cardiovascular disease
      and all-cause mortality later in life.

PMID- 27651271
TI  - Medicaid Expansion and Healthcare Access: Lessons from Asian American and Pacific
      Islander Experiences in California.
AB  - Medicaid coverage increases access to care and improves health outcomes for
      disadvantaged populations. Yet disparities in enrollment and access to care
      persist. To understand the facilitators and barriers of Medicaid enrollment and
      accessing care under the Affordable Care Act for disadvantaged Asian Americans
      and Pacific Islanders. Focus groups and key informant interviews were conducted.
      Informational barriers to accessing care were pervasive among most new enrollees.
      Immigrants with limited English proficiency experienced disproportionate
      difficulties in enrolling and accessing care post enrollment. The simplified,
      income-based Medicaid eligibility streamlined the enrollment process, but system
      errors in determining Medicaid eligibility denied coverage for some eligible
      individuals. To improve access to care, health plans, government agencies, and
      community organizations might coordinate more closely. Federal and state laws
      that mandate language assistance by health plans might be enforced to improve
      access to care for linguistic minorities.

PMID- 27651272
TI  - Vision and Hearing Health Inequities in the Roma population: A National Cross
      Sectional Study in Spain.
AB  - We analyzed vision and hearing health status in the Spanish Roma population
      compared with the general population and its influence on mental health and
      social participation. We conducted a Cross-sectional study on Roma population (n
      = 1.167) compared to general population in Spain (n = 21.007). We analyzed the
      use of optical and hearing aids, vision and hearing limitations and associations
      with mental health, diagnosed depression and social participation; through
      prevalence, odds ratio adjusted by age (AOR), Chi square independence test and
      contrast of proportions (p < 0.05). The Roma population are more likely to
      present vision limitations-far sight AOR = 3.76 (3.13-4.55), near sight AOR =
      3.18 (2.33-4.35)-, hearing difficulties-AOR = 1.41 (1.15-1.72)-, and lower use of
      corrective aids than the general population. These findings were associated with
      poor mental health and lower social participation (p < 0.01). Vision and hearing
      limitations affect unequally in Spain. Addressing avoidable vision and hearing
      impairment among Roma population is needed to reduce health inequities.

PMID- 27651273
TI  - Phenotypic shift in Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations from cystic fibrosis lungs
      after 2-week antipseudomonal treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The influence of suppressive therapy on the different P. aeruginosa
      phenotypes harbored in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients remains
      unclear. Our aim was to investigate the phenotypic changes (mucoidy,
      hypermutability, antibiotic resistance, transcriptomic profiles and biofilm) in
      P. aeruginosa populations before and after a 2-week course of suppressive
      antimicrobial therapy in chronically infected CF patients in Denmark. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Prospective observational clinical study. Sputum samples were
      assessed before and after treatment for P. aeruginosa, with regard to: a) colony
      forming units (CFU/mL), b) frequency of mucoids and non-mucoids, c) resistance
      pattern to anti-pseudomonal drugs, d) hypermutability, e) transcriptomic
      profiles, and f) presence of biofilms. RESULTS: We collected 23 sputum samples
      (12 before antibiotic treatment and 11 after) and 77 P. aeruginosa from different
      CF patients. After treatment, the P. aeruginosa burden diminished but
      antimicrobial resistance to aztreonam, tobramycin and ceftazidime rose; non
      mucoid phenotypes presented increased resistance to colistin, tobramycin,
      meropenem, and ciprofloxacin, and hypermutable phenotypes to ciprofloxacin. In
      spite of biofilm persistence, a down-regulation of genes involved in
      denitrification was detected. CONCLUSION: A 2-week course of suppressive therapy
      reduces P. aeruginosa lung colonization and influences nitrogen metabolism genes,
      but also promotes antimicrobial resistance while P. aeruginosa persists in
      biofilms.

PMID- 27651274
TI  - Death and sorcery.

PMID- 27651275
TI  - Biochemical characterization of a novel surfactant-stable serine keratinase with
      no collagenase activity from Brevibacillus parabrevis CGMCC 10798.
AB  - Dehairing is a high pollution process in leather industry. Conventionally, the
      lime-sulfide mediated chemical process for dehairing would lead to the discharge
      of pollutants and corrosion of industrial equipment. Concerning these problems,
      keratinase has become a promising candidate for dehairing process in recent
      years. In this study, a keratinase-producing bacterium was isolated from
      sheepfold soil and identified as Brevibacillus parabrevis CGMCC 10798 based on
      the biochemical characteristics and molecular identification. The keratinase was
      purified to electrophoretic homogeneity with 17.19% of recovery, 13.18 folds of
      purification and an estimated molecular weight of 28kDa. The enzyme exhibited
      high keratinase activity and no collagenase activity. Besides, the keratinase
      showed optimal activity at 60 degrees C and pH 8.0. The enzyme activity could be
      significantly increased in the presence of Na+ and Ca2+. And it was inhibited by
      EDTA, and PMSF, which indicated that the keratinase belongs to serine-metallo
      protease. The enzyme could remain stable in the presence of surfactants.
      Especially, 5mM Tween 40 and Triton 100 could improve the activity by 11% and
      30%, respectively. Moreover, B. parabrevis keratinase could completely dehair
      goat wool within 7h, which indicated its application potential in leather
      industry.

PMID- 27651276
TI  - Role of PAMAM-OH dendrimers against the fibrillation pathway of biomolecules.
AB  - The binding behavior of nanoparticle with proteins determines its
      biocompatibility. This study reports the interaction of ten different
      biomolecules (proteins-BSA, HSA, haemoglobin, gamma globulin, transferrin and
      enzymes-hog and bacillus amylase, lysozyme from chicken and human and laccases
      from Tramates versicolor) with a surface group hydroxylated Poly AMido AMide
      dendrimer (PAMAM) of generation 5. The study has utilized various spectroscopic
      methods like UV-vis spectroscopy, Fluorescence emission, Synchronous, 3-D
      spectroscopy and Circular Dichroism to detect the binding induced structural
      changes in biomolecules that occur upon interaction with mounting concentration
      of the dendrimers. Aggregation of proteins results in the formation of amyloid
      fibrils causing several human diseases. In this study, fibrillar samples of all
      ten biomolecules formed in the absence and the presence of dendrimers were
      investigated with Congo Red absorbance and ThT Assay to detect fibril formation,
      Trp Emission and 3-D scan to evaluate the effect of fibrillation on aromatic
      environment of biomolecules, and CD spectroscopy to measure the conformational
      changes in a quantitative manner. These assays have generated useful information
      on the role of dendrimers in amyloid fibril formation of biomolecules. The
      outcomes of the study remain valuable in evaluating the biological safety of
      PAMAM-OH dendrimers for their biomedical application in vivo.

PMID- 27651277
TI  - Lectin I from Bauhinia variegata (BVL-I) expressed by Pichia pastoris inhibits
      initial adhesion of oral bacteria in vitro.
AB  - Lectins are non-immune proteins that reversibly bind to carbohydrates in a
      specific manner. Bauhinia variegata lectin I (BVL-I) is a Gal/GalNAc-specific,
      single-chain lectin isolated from Bauhinia variegata seeds that has been
      implicated in the inhibition of bacterial adhesion and the healing of damaged
      skin. Since the source of the native protein (nBVL) is limited, this study aimed
      to produce recombinant BVL-I in Pichia pastoris (rBVL-Ip). The coding sequence
      for BVL-I containing preferential codons for P. pastoris was cloned into the
      pPICZalphaB plasmid. A single expressing clone was selected and fermented,
      resulting in the secretion and glycosylation of the protein. Fed-batch
      fermentation in 7L-scale was performed, and the recombinant lectin was purified
      from culture supernatant, resulting in a yield of 1.5mg/L culture. Further, rBVL
      Ip was compared to nBVL and its recombinant version expressed in Escherichia coli
      BL21 (DE3) (rBVL-Ie). Although it was expressed as a monomer, rBVL-Ip retained
      its biological activity since it was able to impair the initial adhesion of
      Streptococcus mutans and S. sanguinis in an in vitro model of biofilm formation
      and bacterial adhesion. In summary, rBVL-Ip produced in Pichia pastoris
      represents a viable alternative to large-scale production, encouraging further
      biological application studies with this lectin.

PMID- 27651278
TI  - Probing the emitter site of Renilla luciferase using small organic molecules; an
      attempt to understand the molecular architecture of the emitter site.
AB  - Renilla luciferase is a sensitive enzyme and has wide applications in
      biotechnology such as drug screening. Previous studies have tried to show the
      catalytic residues, nevertheless, the accurate architecture and molecular
      behavior of its emitter site remains uncharacterized. In this study, the activity
      of Renilla luciferase, in the presence of two small organic molecules including
      dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and isopropanol was considered and the structure was
      studied by circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy. Moreover, the
      interaction of small organic molecules with the Renilla luciferase was studied
      using molecular dynamics simulations. Kinetics studies showed that at low
      concentration of DMSO (16.6-66mM) and isopropanol (19.3-76mM) the Km changed and
      a competitive inhibition pattern was observed. Moreover, spectroscopy studies
      reveled that the changes of activity of Renilla luciferase in the presence of low
      concentrations of small organic molecules was not associated with structural
      collapse or severe changes in the enzyme conformation. Molecular dynamics
      simulations indicated that DMSO and isopropanol, as probing molecules, were both
      able to bind to the emitter site and remained with the residues of the emitter
      site. Based on the probing data, the architecture of the emitter site in the "non
      binding" model was proposed.

PMID- 27651279
TI  - Public health expenditure and health system responsiveness for low-income
      individuals: results from 63 countries.
AB  - Improvement in overall responsiveness to people's expectations is an important
      goal for any health system; socioeconomic equity in responsiveness is equally
      important. However, it is not known if socioeconomic disparities in
      responsiveness can be reduced through greater public health expenditures. This
      article assesses the relationship of the proportion of public health expenditure
      over total health expenditure (PPHE) with responsiveness for poorest individuals
      and the difference in responsiveness between the richest and poorest individuals.
      We used data from six responsiveness dimensions (prompt attention, dignity,
      choice, clarity of information, confidentiality and quality of basic amenities)
      of outpatient services from World Health Survey data from 63 countries.
      Hierarchical Ordered Probit (HOPIT) models assessed the probability of 'very
      good' responsiveness in each domain among the poorest and richest individuals for
      each country, correcting for reporting heterogeneity through vignettes. Linear
      regression models were then used to assess the association between predicted
      probabilities from HOPIT models and PPHE, adjusting for (log) Gross Domestic
      Product per capita. The study findings showed that higher PPHE was associated
      with a higher probability of 'very good' responsiveness for each domain among the
      poorest individuals, and with smaller pro-rich disparities in responsiveness
      between the richest and poorest individuals. In conclusion, increasing PPHE may
      improve the responsiveness of health services for the poorest individuals and
      reduce disparities in responsiveness between the richest and poorest individuals.

PMID- 27651280
TI  - PyCPR - a python-based implementation of the Conjugate Peak Refinement (CPR)
      algorithm for finding transition state structures.
AB  - Conjugate peak refinement (CPR) is a powerful and robust method to search
      transition states on a molecular potential energy surface. Nevertheless, the
      method was to the best of our knowledge so far only implemented in CHARMM. In
      this paper, we present PyCPR, a new Python-based implementation of the CPR
      algorithm within the pDynamo framework. We provide a detailed description of the
      theory underlying our implementation and discuss the different parts of the
      implementation. The method is applied to two different problems. First, we
      illustrate the method by analyzing the gauche to anti-periplanar transition of
      butane using a semiempirical QM method. Second, we reanalyze the mechanism of a
      glycyl-radical enzyme, namely of 4-hydroxyphenylacetate decarboxylase (HPD) using
      QM/MM calculations. In the end, we suggest a strategy how to use our
      implementation of the CPR algorithm. The integration of PyCPR into the framework
      pDynamo allows the combination of CPR with the large variety of methods
      implemented in pDynamo. PyCPR can be used in combination with quantum mechanical
      and molecular mechanical methods (and hybrid methods) implemented directly in
      pDynamo, but also in combination with external programs such as ORCA using
      pDynamo as interface. PyCPR is distributed as free, open source software and can
      be downloaded from http://www.bisb.uni-bayreuth.de/index.php?page=downloads .
      Graphical Abstract PyCPR is a search tool for finding saddle points on the
      potential energy landscape of a molecular system. 

PMID- 27651286
TI  - Nintedanib for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An Asian perspective.

PMID- 27651282
TI  - Intracerebral Stem Cell Administration Inhibits Relapse-like Alcohol Drinking in
      Rats.
AB  - Study describes the blockade of relapse-like alcohol drinking by mesenchymal stem
      cells (MSCs). High alcohol-intake bred rats consumed alcohol for 3 months and
      were subjected to repeated alcohol deprivations for 7-14 days, followed by
      alcohol reaccess. Upon reaccess, animals consumed 2.2 g alcohol/kg in 60 minutes.
      A single intra-cerebroventricular MSC administration inhibited relapse-like
      drinking up to 80-85% for 40 days (P < 0.001). An alcohol-use-disorder was
      prevented.

PMID- 27651281
TI  - Combined early treatment in hemiplegic attacks related to CACNA1A encephalopathy
      with brain oedema: Blocking the cascade?
AB  - Introduction Variants in the CACNA1A gene on chromosome 19p13 result in a
      spectrum of neurological phenotypes ranging from familial or sporadic hemiplegic
      migraine to congenital or progressive encephalopathies. Patients with CACNA1A
      variants often show acute attacks with ataxia or hemiplegia till coma, sometimes
      related to unilateral brain oedema. No guidelines for the medical management of
      these attacks are available since treatment is empiric, and many cases do not
      respond to common antimigraine drugs. Case description We report on the emergency
      personalized treatment protocol used in an 11 year-old girl with CACNA1A-related
      encephalopathy for the management of acute attacks of headache, hemiconvulsions
      and hemiplegia with coma. Discussion Combined corticosteroid pulses and
      hypertonic solution led to a reduction in severity and duration of acute attacks
      when administered in the early stages, characterized by migraine, seizure, fever,
      vomiting and impairment of consciousness associated to hemispheric slowing on the
      EEG.

PMID- 27651288
TI  - American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology executive opinion statement
      on teleradiology.

PMID- 27651287
TI  - Pentoxifylline and tocopherol in the management of cancer patients with
      medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw: an observational retrospective study
      of initial case series.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Very few studies have evaluated the efficacy of pentoxifylline and
      tocopherol (PENT-E) in the management of medication-related osteonecrosis of the
      jaw (MRONJ), although some studies have shown the therapeutic and prophylactic
      benefit of PENT-E in the management of osteoradionecrosis. We report the outcomes
      of MRONJ managed with PENT-E in patients with metastatic bone disease or multiple
      myeloma. STUDY DESIGN: Seven patients diagnosed with established cases of
      refractory MRONJ caused by antiresorptive medications for the management of
      metastatic bone tumors or multiple myeloma were administered PENT-E for a mean
      period of 16.8 months (range 3-48 months). RESULTS: At the latest follow-up
      visit, all patients demonstrated relief of symptoms. There was radiographic
      evidence of new bone fill of prior radiolucent defect in all patients. Two
      patients had resolution of exposed bone, two patients had partial resolution, one
      patient had no change in exposed bone, and one patient with three sites of
      exposed bone before starting PENT-E had resolution in one site, partial
      resolution in another site, and no change in the third site. PENT-E was well
      tolerated in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our case series demonstrated that PENT-E
      was well tolerated and may be an effective adjunct in the management of MRONJ.

PMID- 27651290
TI  - BRAF inhibitor therapy of primary ameloblastoma.

PMID- 27651291
TI  - Enhanced salivary secretion by interferential current stimulation in patients
      with dry mouth: a pilot study-a commentary.

PMID- 27651292
TI  - Enhanced salivary secretion by interferential current stimulation in subjects
      with dry mouth: a pilot study-reply.

PMID- 27651289
TI  - Characteristics of the gubernaculum tracts in mesiodens and maxillary anterior
      teeth with delayed eruption on MDCT and CBCT.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the characteristics of the gubernaculum tracts (GTs) in
      maxillary anterior teeth with normal or delayed eruption and in mesiodens by
      using multidetector computed tomography and cone beam computed tomography. STUDY
      DESIGN: The characteristics of GTs in maxillary anterior teeth of 205 patients
      with impacted mesiodens were retrospectively analyzed by using multidetector
      computed tomography and cone beam computed tomography. The GTs of teeth with
      normal or delayed eruption and the GTs of mesiodens were examined. RESULTS: The
      detection ratio of GTs in impacted mesiodens and anterior teeth with delayed
      eruption was significantly lower than in teeth with normal eruption. A
      significant difference in the angulation was found between normal and delayed
      eruptions. Almost all detectable GTs in the inverted mesiodens were derived from
      the incisive canal, while the remaining were from the alveolar crest. The
      connecting area of major GTs to tooth in inverted mesiodens was the cervical or
      root area, but in all other anterior teeth, it was the crown area. CONCLUSIONS:
      GTs of inverted mesiodens may exhibit characteristics that are different from
      those of normal GTs when the teeth and/or the palate are developing.

PMID- 27651293
TI  - Impact of Insect Management on Population Dynamics and Insecticide Resistance of
      Tarnished Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae).
AB  - While transgenic plants targeting lepidopteran and coleopteran insects have been
      available for almost 20 yr, there are no transgenic crops that target hemipteran
      insects such as tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois),
      though at least one company lists potential products in advanced stages of
      development. A resistance management model for the U.S. Mid-South was developed
      to aid in resistance risk assessments for transgenic crops targeting L.
      lineolaris, and validated against the prior case of pyrethroid resistance in this
      insect. The model predicted that resistance to a pyrethroid would evolve in 17.6
      21.0 yr (depending on the initial resistance allele frequency), which was close
      to the 15-20 years observed in the field. Due to uncertainty in female fecundity,
      we varied fecundity from 3 eggs/female/day to 12 eggs/female/day. Sprays were
      applied based on action thresholds, and increasing fecundity therefore increased
      the number of sprays applied per year and decreased durability. We also varied
      the action threshold in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fields (the population
      levels at which sprays were applied) from 17,600/ha to as low as 1,100/ha.
      Lowering the threshold increased the number of sprays applied, but also increased
      durability of the pesticide. Removing the noncotton host refuge present at the
      same time as cotton changed the relationship so that increasing the action
      threshold increased durability. The impact of insect resistance management on
      action threshold cost estimates will vary depending on the landscape, and cannot
      be assumed to always move the economic injury level in the same direction.

PMID- 27651294
TI  - Thermodynamic properties of leukotriene A4 hydrolase inhibitors.
AB  - The leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H) is a bifunctional enzyme, containing a
      peptidase and a hydrolase activity both activities having opposing functions
      regulating inflammatory response. The hydrolase activity is responsible for the
      conversion of leukotriene A4 to pro-inflammatory leukotriene B4, and hence,
      selective inhibitors of the hydrolase activity are of high pharmacological
      interest. Here we present the thermodynamic characterization of structurally
      distinct inhibitors of the LTA4H that occupy different regions of the binding
      site using different biophysical methods. An in silico method for the
      determination of stabilized water molecules in the binding site of the apo
      structure of LTA4H is used to interpret the measured thermodynamic data and
      provided insights for design of novel LTA4H inhibitors.

PMID- 27651295
TI  - Imprinted and DNA methyltransferase gene expression in the endometrium during the
      pre- and peri-implantation period in cattle.
AB  - The endometrium plays a key role in providing an optimal environment for
      attachment of the preimplantation embryo during the early stages of pregnancy.
      Investigations over the past 2 decades have demonstrated that vital epigenetic
      processes occur in the embryo during the preimplantation stages of development.
      However, few studies have investigated the potential role of imprinted genes and
      their associated modulators, the DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), in the bovine
      endometrium during the pre- and peri-implantation period. Therefore, in the
      present study we examined the expression profiles of the DNMT genes (3A, 3A2 and
      3B) and a panel of the most comprehensively studied imprinted genes in the
      endometrium of cyclic and pregnant animals. Intercaruncular (Days 5, 7, 13, 16
      and 20) and caruncular (Days 16 and 20) regions were analysed for gene expression
      changes, with protein analysis also performed for DNMT3A, DNMT3A2 and DNMT3B on
      Days 16 and 20. An overall effect of day was observed for expression of several
      of the imprinted genes. Tissue-dependent gene expression was detected for all
      genes at Day 20. Differences in DNMT protein abundance were mostly observed in
      the intercaruncular regions of pregnant heifers at Day 16 when DNMT3A, DNMT3A2
      and DNMT3B were all lower when compared with cyclic controls. At Day 20, DNMT3A2
      expression was lower in the pregnant caruncular samples compared with cyclic
      animals. This study provides evidence that epigenetic mechanisms in the
      endometrium may be involved with implantation of the embryo during the early
      stages of pregnancy in cattle.

PMID- 27651296
TI  - Poly(iminoborane)s: An Elusive Class of Main-Group Polymers?
AB  - The significance of inorganic main-group polymers is demonstrated most clearly by
      the commercial relevance of polysiloxanes (silicones). Organoboron-based
      materials such as pi-conjugated organoborane polymers and BN-doped polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons are currently attracting considerable attention.
      Surprisingly, poly(iminoborane)s (PIBs; [BRNR']n ), that is, the parent
      unsaturated BN polymers, which are formally isoelectronic to polyacetylene, have
      not been convincingly characterized thus far. Herein, we present the synthesis
      and comprehensive characterization of a linear oligo(iminoborane), which
      comprises a chain of 12-14 BN units on average. With our synthetic approach,
      unwanted side reactions that result in borazine formation are effectively
      suppressed. Supporting DFT and TD-DFT calculations provide deeper insight into
      the microstructure and the electronic structure of the oligomer.

PMID- 27651297
TI  - Risk Factors for and Management of Postpancreatectomy Hepatic Steatosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relatively little is known about the risk factors and treatments for
      postpancreatectomy hepatic steatosis. METHODS: The records of patients who
      underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy or total pancreatectomy between 2005 and 2010
      and were followed up by periodic imaging were reviewed retrospectively. Risk
      factors and treatment for postpancreatectomy hepatic steatosis were analyzed.
      RESULTS: A total of 253 patients were included in the analysis, including 137
      males and 116 females, of median (5, 95 percentile) age 67 (47, 81) years. Of
      these 253 patients, 75 (29.6%) developed postpancreatectomy hepatic steatosis.
      Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that female gender ( p = 0.005;
      odds ratio: 2.387; 95% confidence interval: 1.293-4.386), body mass index > 22.5
      kg/m2 ( p = 0.007; odds ratio: 2.330; 95% confidence interval: 1.261-4.307),
      operative duration > 540 min ( p = 0.018; odds ratio: 2.286; 95% confidence
      interval: 1.153-4.533), and delayed gastric emptying ( p < 0.001; odds ratio:
      4.598; 95% confidence interval: 1.979-10.678) were independent risk factors
      associated with postpancreatectomy hepatic steatosis. Treatment consisted of
      maintenance- or high-dose digestive enzyme replacement therapy. Of patients
      without obvious tumor recurrence after 6 months, 12 of 15 treated with high dose
      and only 6 of 35 treated with maintenance-dose digestive enzyme replacement
      therapy showed improvements in postpancreatectomy hepatic steatosis ( p = 0.006).
      CONCLUSION: Female gender, obesity, longer operative time, and occurrence of
      delayed gastric emptying are risk factors for postpancreatectomy hepatic
      steatosis. High-dose digestive enzyme replacement therapy may improve
      postpancreatectomy hepatic steatosis.

PMID- 27651298
TI  - Selective P4 Activation by a Highly Reduced Cobaltate: Synthesis of Dicobalt
      Tetraphosphido Complexes.
AB  - Although the chemistry of transition metal polyphosphide anions has attracted
      significant attention, there are few reports of studies in which such species
      have been synthesized directly from white phosphorus. [K(OEt2 )2 {Co(BIAN)(cod)}]
      (1, BIAN=1,2-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)acenaphthene, cod=1,5
      cyclooctadiene), which is readily prepared by ligand exchange from [K(thf)x
      {Co(cod)2 }], reacts with P4 to afford [{K(thf)}2 {(BIAN)Co}2 (MU-eta4 :eta4 -P4
      )] (2 a) in 61 % yield (isolated product). [{K(OEt2 )}2 {(BIAN)Co}2 (MU-eta4
      :eta4 -P4 )] (2 b) and [K([18]crown-6)(MeCN)]2 [{(BIAN)Co}2 (MU-eta4 :eta4 -P4 )]
      (2 c) were obtained by recrystallizing 2 a from diethyl ether and acetonitrile
      (and using [18]crown-6 in case of 2 c). Oxidation of 2 a with [Cp2 Fe]BArF4 (one
      equivalent) and subsequent recrystallization of the product from different
      solvents gave [K(OEt2 ){(BIAN)Co}2 (MU-eta4 :eta4 -P4 )] (3 a) and [K(dme)4
      ][{(BIAN)Co}2 (MU-eta4 :eta4 -P4 )] (3 b; dme=1,2-dimethoxyethane). Neutral
      [{(BIAN)Co}2 (MU-eta4 :eta4 -P4 )] (4) was obtained in moderate yield by
      oxidizing 2 a with two equivalents of [Cp2 Fe]BArF4 . The new complexes were
      characterized by NMR, EPR (in the case of 3 a), and UV/Vis spectroscopy, and
      elemental analysis. The molecular structures revealed by X-ray crystallography
      display planar cyclic or open-chain P44- units sandwiched between {(BIAN)Co}
      fragments.

PMID- 27651299
TI  - What Does Attending Early Childhood Program Mean for Child Health in India?
AB  - The health impact of attending early childhood development programs in developing
      countries remains largely unknown. In this study, we focus on the health
      consequences of attending preschool programs in India. Using a unique
      longitudinal dataset, we allow for heterogeneity in the impact of preschool
      across the distribution of health outcomes while controlling for time-invariant
      unobservables. We detect unique temporal variation in the effect of preschool
      attendance - growth of preschool attendees is slower than non-attendees in
      various parts of the distributions of several anthropometric measures when
      evaluated in the early years between ages 1 and 5. This effect is likely to
      reverse in the longer term at age 8. The early years' adverse effect can be
      explained in part by over-attendance in the form of long daily hours, excessive
      attendance days, and early entry. The findings are insensitive to nutritional
      incentives like free meals provided in public schools. The growth-retarding
      effect remains robust for weight-for-age z-scores, implying that the impact of
      preschool attendance is not only heterogeneous, but differs across dimensions of
      health status. Our study highlights the need for strengthening the delivery of
      childhood programs in developing countries in order to prevent adverse health
      effects in the critical years. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27651301
TI  - Assessing changes in a patient's condition - perspectives of intensive care
      nurses.
AB  - AIM: To explore the phenomenon of assessing changes in patients' conditions in
      intensive care units from the perspectives of experienced intensive care nurses.
      BACKGROUND: Providing safe care for patients in intensive care units requires an
      awareness and perception of the signs that indicate changes in a patient's
      condition. Nurses in intensive care units play an essential role in preventing
      the deterioration of a patient's condition and in improving patient outcomes.
      DESIGN AND METHODS: This hermeneutic phenomenological study conducted close
      observations and in-depth interviews with 11 intensive care nurses. The nurses'
      experience ranged from 7 to 28 years in the intensive care unit. Data were
      collected at two intensive care units in two Norwegian university hospitals. The
      analysis was performed using the reflective methods of van Manen. FINDINGS: An
      overarching theme of 'sensitive situational attention' was identified, in which
      the nurses were sensitive in relation to a patient and understood the
      significance of a given situation. This theme was further unfolded in four
      subthemes: (1) being sensitive and emotionally present, (2) being systematic and
      concentrating, (3) being physically close to the bedside and (4) being trained
      and familiar with the routines. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses understand each patient's
      situation and foresee clinical eventualities through a sensitive and attentive
      way of thinking and working. This requires nurses to be present at the bedside
      with both their senses (sight, hearing, smell and touch) and emotions and to work
      in a concentrated and systematic manner. Knowledge about the unique patient
      exists in interplay with past experiences and medical knowledge, which are
      essential for nurses to understand the situation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Clinical practice should develop routines that enable nurses to be present at the
      bedside and to work in a concentrated and systematic manner. Furthermore,
      providing safe care requires nurses to be sensitive and attentive to each
      patient's unique situation.

PMID- 27651300
TI  - Anabolic Effect of Insulin Therapy on the Bone: Osteoprotegerin and Osteocalcin
      Up-Regulation in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats.
AB  - Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is associated with several skeletal alterations,
      particularly in conditions of poor glycaemic control. Insulin therapy is the
      major conservative treatment for T1DM; however, the effects of this hormone on
      bone markers of T1DM rats are limited, and the regulatory mechanisms remain
      elusive. Therefore, the evaluation of molecular and non-molecular parameters in a
      chronic animal model of T1DM-induced bone loss, treated with and without insulin,
      may help in elucidating the insulin mechanisms. Male Wistar rats were assigned
      into three groups: control, T1DM (T1DM rats induced with streptozotocin [STZ] at
      40 mg/kg intravenously) and T1DM plus insulin therapy (T1DMI). After 8 weeks, we
      evaluated the serum biochemical, tibia histomorphometric and biomechanical
      parameters, as well as the gene expression of the receptor activator of nuclear
      factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG) and osteocalcin (OC) of
      femur mRNA. Compared with T1DM, the T1DMI group showed less bone loss, which was
      revealed by the increased trabecular width (TbWi, p < 0.001) and trabecular bone
      area (BAr, p < 0.01), reduced trabecular separation (TbSp, p < 0.01) and
      increased Young's modulus (p < 0.05). Moreover, molecular analyses indicated that
      the expression of OPG and OC was up-regulated (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05,
      respectively). In summary, the up-regulation of OPG and OC in the T1DMI group
      supports an anabolic effect of insulin, which was demonstrated by the maintenance
      of bone architecture and flexibility. These results suggest that insulin therapy
      may prevent T1DM-induced bone loss via the effects on the bone formation.

PMID- 27651302
TI  - Primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: miRNAs and targeted therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a common cause
      of nephrotic syndrome. AIMS: The pathogenic steps leading to primary FSGS are
      still obscure, although evidence suggests that circulatory factor(s) are involved
      in the onset of disease. RESULTS: Recent technical advances allow the analysis of
      miRNA expression in tissues and body fluids, leading to reports of miRNAs
      involved in the molecular mechanisms of FSGS-aetiopathogenesis. Moreover,
      investigations have also highlighted miRNAs that might serve as biomarkers for
      primary FSGS. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: The aim of this review was to summarize
      reports showing a direct relation between miRNAs and primary FSGS. In addition,
      the impact of identified miRNAs on treatment response, prediction of the disease
      onset as well as the regulation in different disease activities is summarized.

PMID- 27651303
TI  - Clinical significance of serum soluble T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3
      levels in systemic sclerosis: Association with disease severity.
AB  - T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (TIM-3) has been thought to play a
      crucial role in the negative regulation of immune responses. Here, we examined
      the levels of serum soluble TIM-3 (sTIM-3) in patients with systemic sclerosis
      (SSc) and evaluated the results with respect to the clinical features of the
      disease. Patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) had higher levels of sTIM-3
      than those with limited cutaneous SSc and healthy individuals. Serum sTIM-3
      levels were positively correlated with the severity of skin sclerosis in early
      phase dcSSc. Moreover, serum sTIM-3 levels were increased more often in patients
      with renal crisis and cardiac involvement than in those with normal sTIM-3
      levels. These results suggest that serum sTIM-3 levels may be increased in
      patients with early phase dcSSc and associated with cardiac involvement and renal
      crisis. Measurement of serum sTIM-3 may be useful for risk stratification in the
      early stage of the disease.

PMID- 27651304
TI  - Accuracy of a Wrist-Worn Wearable Device for Monitoring Heart Rates in Hospital
      Inpatients: A Prospective Observational Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the sensing capabilities of wearable devices improve, there is
      increasing interest in their application in medical settings. Capabilities such
      as heart rate monitoring may be useful in hospitalized patients as a means of
      enhancing routine monitoring or as part of an early warning system to detect
      clinical deterioration. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of heart rate
      monitoring by a personal fitness tracker (PFT) among hospital inpatients.
      METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study of 50 stable patients in
      the intensive care unit who each completed 24 hours of heart rate monitoring
      using a wrist-worn PFT. Accuracy of heart rate recordings was compared with gold
      standard measurements derived from continuous electrocardiographic (cECG)
      monitoring. The accuracy of heart rates measured by pulse oximetry (Spo2.R) was
      also measured as a positive control. RESULTS: On a per-patient basis, PFT-derived
      heart rate values were slightly lower than those derived from cECG monitoring
      (average bias of -1.14 beats per minute [bpm], with limits of agreement of 24
      bpm). By comparison, Spo2.R recordings produced more accurate values (average
      bias of +0.15 bpm, limits of agreement of 13 bpm, P<.001 as compared with PFT).
      Personal fitness tracker device performance was significantly better in patients
      in sinus rhythm than in those who were not (average bias -0.99 bpm vs -5.02 bpm,
      P=.02). CONCLUSIONS: Personal fitness tracker-derived heart rates were slightly
      lower than those derived from cECG monitoring in real-world testing and not as
      accurate as Spo2.R-derived heart rates. Performance was worse among patients who
      were not in sinus rhythm. Further clinical evaluation is indicated to see if PFTs
      can augment early warning systems in hospitals. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02527408; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02527408
      (Archived by WebCite at  http://www.webcitation.org/6kOFez3on).

PMID- 27651305
TI  - An Eye-Blinking-Based Beamforming Control Protocol for Hearing Aid Users With
      Neurological Motor Disease or Limb Amputation.
AB  - For hearing-impaired individuals with neurological motor deficits or finger/arm
      amputation due to accident or disease, hearing aid adjustment using a
      conventional finger manipulation-based remote controller is unavailable, and a
      more dedicated, hands-free alternative is required. In this study, we propose an
      eye-blinking-based beamforming control scheme for hearing aid users. Three
      electroencephalogram signals measured around the ears were utilized to detect eye
      blinking patterns based on a three-layer artificial neural network. The
      performance of the proposed control scheme was evaluated by both subjective
      experiments and objective index comparison tests in simulated situations.
      Experimental results from the subjective test demonstrated that without the
      pretraining phase, the accuracy and latency time were 68.57 +/- 18.50% and 10.06
      +/- 0.94 s, respectively; in contrast, after the pretraining phase, both the
      accuracy and latency time were improved to 91.00 +/- 4.69% and 8.60 +/- 1.05 s,
      respectively. In index comparison tests, the proposed control scheme exhibited
      improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as well as the segmental SNR in
      all tested situations, as compared to a conventional forward-focusing beamforming
      algorithm. We believe that the proposed control scheme provides a novel, hands
      free way in which to control the operation of hearing aids for hearing-impaired
      patients with additional motor deficits or amputation.

PMID- 27651306
TI  - Is there a role of Tau in Huntington's disease?
AB  - Alterations of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composition are useful clinical
      diagnostic tools as well as a source of candidates for new biomarkers of
      neurodegenerative disorders. This Editorial highlights a study by Rodrigues and
      colleagues in which the authors try to establish Tau as a new biomarker for
      Huntington's disease (HD). The study confirmed in two independent, age-controlled
      patient populations at various disease stages, asymptomatic mutation carriers and
      healthy controls, that CSF total Tau concentrations in HD gene mutation carriers
      are increased compared with healthy controls. This is a strong evidence that CSF
      total Tau concentration is associated with phenotypic variability in HD. Read the
      highlighted article 'Cerebrospinal fluid total tau concentration predicts
      clinical phenotype in Huntington's disease' on page 22.

PMID- 27651307
TI  - Long-term results of cabergoline therapy for macroprolactinomas and analyses of
      factors associated with remission after withdrawal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Withdrawal of cabergoline is generally challenging, especially in
      patients with large or invasive macroprolactinomas. Therefore, we aimed to assess
      long-term results of cabergoline therapy for macroprolactinomas and remission
      achievement results after withdrawal in patients with macroprolactinomas. We also
      investigated clinical characteristics and factors related to remission after
      withdrawal. METHODS: This was an institutional review board-approved
      retrospective analysis. We studied 46 macroprolactinoma patients who had taken
      cabergoline during the period from 2003 through 2013. Administration of
      cabergoline was maintained for 5 years before withdrawal. RESULTS: Median follow
      up after the initiation of cabergoline therapy was 54.3 (range 5.3 to 137.2)
      months. Recurrences of hyperprolactinaemia were observed in 3 of 11 (27%)
      postwithdrawal patients at a median time of 3.0 (range; 2.9-11.2) months,
      indicating that a high percentage (73%) maintained remission for at least 12
      months after cabergoline cessation. Factors significantly associated with
      remission were analysed in 21 patients receiving long-term cabergoline
      administration. On multivariate analysis, the absence of cavernous sinus invasion
      on pretreatment MRI (>=3/4 tumour encasement of the intracavernous internal
      carotid artery) (HR; 21.94, 95% CI; 2.06-1071.0, P = 0.006), initial PRL <132.7
      ng/ml (HR; 8.28, 95% CI; 1.24-199.6, P = 0.03) and nadir PRL <1.9 ng/ml during
      cabergoline therapy (HR; 5.14, 95% CI; 1.10-39.02, P = 0.04) showed statistically
      significant correlations with remission after withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS:
      Cabergoline therapy can achieve a high percentage (73% in this series) of
      remission maintenance for at least 12 months after cessation of a 5-year course
      of therapy, even in patients with macroprolactinomas. The absence of cavernous
      sinus invasion, serum PRL level lower than 132.7 ng/ml before cabergoline therapy
      or nadir serum PRL below 1.9 ng/ml were related to more frequent remission after
      withdrawal of cabergoline in patients receiving this medication for 5 years.

PMID- 27651308
TI  - Efficacy of Cotargeting Angiopoietin-2 and the VEGF Pathway in the Adjuvant
      Postsurgical Setting for Early Breast, Colorectal, and Renal Cancers.
AB  - Antiangiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) that target VEGF receptor-2
      (VEGFR2) have not been effective as adjuvant treatments for micrometastatic
      disease in phase III clinical trials. Angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) is a proangiogenic
      and proinflammatory vascular destabilizer that cooperates with VEGF. The purpose
      of this study was to test whether CVX-060 (an Ang2-specific CovX-body) can be
      combined with VEGFR2-targeting TKIs (sunitinib or regorafenib) to successfully
      treat postsurgical metastatic disease in multiple orthotopically implanted human
      tumor xenograft and syngeneic murine tumor models. In the MDA-MB-231.LM2-4 human
      breast cancer model, adjuvant sunitinib was ineffective, whereas adjuvant CVX-060
      delayed the progression of pulmonary or distant lymphatic metastases; however,
      overall survival was only improved with the adjuvant use of a VEGF-A/Ang2
      bispecific CovX-body (CVX-241) but not when CVX-060 is combined with sunitinib.
      Adjuvant CVX-241 also showed promise in the EMT-6/CDDP murine breast cancer
      model, with or without an immune checkpoint inhibitor (anti-PD-L1). In the RENCA
      model of mouse renal cancer, however, combining CVX-060 with sunitinib in the
      adjuvant setting was superior to CVX-241 as treatment for postsurgical lung
      metastases. In the HCT116 and HT29 xenograft models of colorectal cancer, both
      CVX-060 and regorafenib inhibited liver metastases. Overall, our preclinical
      findings suggest differential strategies by which Ang2 blockers can be
      successfully combined with VEGF pathway targeting in the adjuvant setting to
      treat micrometastatic disease-particularly, in combination with VEGF-A blockers
      (but not VEGFR2 TKIs) in resected breast cancer; in combination with VEGFR2 TKIs
      in resected kidney cancer; and as single agents or with VEGFR2 TKIs in resected
      colorectal cancer. Cancer Res; 76(23); 6988-7000. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651310
TI  - Chronic Stress Facilitates Lung Tumorigenesis by Promoting Exocytosis of IGF2 in
      Lung Epithelial Cells.
AB  - Molecular insights into how chronic stress affects lung tumorigenesis may offer
      new routes to chemoprevention. In this study, we show that chronic stress in mice
      chemically or genetically initiated for lung cancer leads to the release of
      norepinephrine and other catecholamines, thereby promoting lung tumorigenesis.
      Mechanistically, norepinephrine induced phosphorylation of L-type voltage
      dependent calcium channels (VDCC) through the beta-adrenergic receptor-PKA
      pathway. VDCC triggered calcium mobilization, thereby inducing activation of IGF
      1R via exocytosis of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2). Mice expressing lung
      specific IGF-1R exhibited accelerated lung tumor development in response to
      chronic stress. Notably, clinically approved antihypertensive drugs that block L
      type VDCC prevented the effects of chronic stress or norepinephrine on the
      IGF2/IGF-1R signaling cascade, along with transformation of lung epithelial cells
      and lung tumor formation. Overall, our results identify an actionable mechanism
      to limit the effects of chronic stress on lung tumorigenesis. Cancer Res; 76(22);
      6607-19. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651311
TI  - Aberrant JMJD3 Expression Upregulates Slug to Promote Migration, Invasion, and
      Stem Cell-Like Behaviors in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
AB  - The Jumonji domain-containing chromatin remodeling factor JMJD3 has important
      roles in development and cancer. Here, we report a pivotal role for JMJD3 in
      sustaining the phenotype of aggressive hepatocellular carcinomas. Expression
      levels of JMJD3 in clinical specimens of hepatocellular carcinoma correlated
      inversely with patient survival. In hepatocellular carcinoma cells, we found that
      enforcing its overexpression induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT),
      invasive migration, stem cell-like traits, and metastatic properties. Conversely,
      silencing JMJD3 in hepatocellular carcinoma cells overexpressing it inhibited
      these aggressive phenotypes. Mechanistically, JMJD3 modulated H3K27me3 in the
      SLUG gene promoter, a histone mark associated with active SLUG transcription.
      SLUG silencing blocked JMJD3-induced EMT, stemness, and metastasis. Furthermore,
      SLUG expression in hepatocellular carcinoma clinical specimens correlated
      positively with JMJD3 expression. Our results establish JMJD3 as a critical
      driver of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cell-like and metastatic behaviors, with
      implications for prognosis and treatment. Cancer Res; 76(22); 6520-32. (c)2016
      AACR.

PMID- 27651309
TI  - BPTF Depletion Enhances T-cell-Mediated Antitumor Immunity.
AB  - Genetic studies in fruit flies have implicated the chromatin remodeling complex
      nucleosome remodeling factor (NURF) in immunity, but it has yet to be studied in
      mammals. Here we show that its targeting in mice enhances antitumor immunity in
      two syngeneic models of cancer. NURF was disabled by silencing of bromodomain PHD
      finger containing transcription factor (BPTF), the largest and essential subunit
      of NURF. We found that both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were necessary for enhanced
      antitumor activity, with elevated numbers of activated CD8+ T cells observed in
      BPTF-deficient tumors. Enhanced cytolytic activity was observed for CD8+ T cells
      cocultured with BPTF-silenced cells. Similar effects were not produced with T
      cell receptor transgenic CD8+ T cells, implicating the involvement of novel
      antigens. Accordingly, enhanced activity was observed for individual CD8+ T-cell
      clones from mice bearing BPTF-silenced tumors. Mechanistic investigations
      revealed that NURF directly regulated the expression of genes encoding
      immunoproteasome subunits Psmb8 and Psmb9 and the antigen transporter genes Tap1
      and Tap2 The PSMB8 inhibitor ONX-0914 reversed the effects of BPTF ablation,
      consistent with a critical role for the immunoproteasome in improving tumor
      immunogenicity. Thus, NURF normally suppresses tumor antigenicity and its
      depletion improves antigen processing, CD8 T-cell cytotoxicity, and antitumor
      immunity, identifying NURF as a candidate therapeutic target to enhance antitumor
      immunity. Cancer Res; 76(21); 6183-92. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651312
TI  - LncRNA HOXA11-AS Promotes Proliferation and Invasion of Gastric Cancer by
      Scaffolding the Chromatin Modification Factors PRC2, LSD1, and DNMT1.
AB  - Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) have been implicated in human cancer but their
      mechanisms of action are mainly undocumented. In this study, we investigated
      lncRNA alterations that contribute to gastric cancer through an analysis of The
      Cancer Genome Atlas RNA sequencing data and other publicly available microarray
      data. Here we report the gastric cancer-associated lncRNA HOXA11-AS as a key
      regulator of gastric cancer development and progression. Patients with high
      HOXA11-AS expression had a shorter survival and poorer prognosis. In vitro and in
      vivo assays of HOXA11-AS alterations revealed a complex integrated phenotype
      affecting cell growth, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. Strikingly, high
      throughput sequencing analysis after HOXA11-AS silencing highlighted alterations
      in cell proliferation and cell-cell adhesion pathways. Mechanistically, EZH2
      along with the histone demethylase LSD1 or DNMT1 were recruited by HOXA11-AS,
      which functioned as a scaffold. HOXA11-AS also functioned as a molecular sponge
      for miR-1297, antagonizing its ability to repress EZH2 protein translation. In
      addition, we found that E2F1 was involved in HOXA11-AS activation in gastric
      cancer cells. Taken together, our findings support a model in which the
      EZH2/HOXA11-AS/LSD1 complex and HOXA11-AS/miR-1297/EZH2 cross-talk serve as
      critical effectors in gastric cancer tumorigenesis and progression, suggesting
      new therapeutic directions in gastric cancer. Cancer Res; 76(21); 6299-310.
      (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651313
TI  - In Vivo Imaging of Tumor Metabolism and Acidosis by Combining PET and MRI-CEST pH
      Imaging.
AB  - The vast majority of cancers exhibit increased glucose uptake and glycolysis
      regardless of oxygen availability. This metabolic shift leads to an enhanced
      production of lactic acid that decreases extracellular pH (pHe), a hallmark of
      the tumor microenvironment. In this way, dysregulated tumor pHe and upregulated
      glucose metabolism are linked tightly and their relative assessment may be useful
      to gain understanding of the underlying biology. Here we investigated
      noninvasively the in vivo correlation between tumor 18F-FDG uptake and
      extracellular pH values in a murine model of HER2+ breast cancer. Tumor
      extracellular pH and perfusion were assessed by acquiring MRI-CEST (chemical
      exchange saturation transfer) images on a 3T scanner after intravenous
      administration of a pH-responsive contrast agent (iopamidol). Static PET images
      were recorded immediately after MRI acquisitions to quantify the extent of 18F
      FDG uptake. We demonstrated the occurrence of tumor pHe changes that report on
      acidification of the interstitial fluid caused by an accelerated glycolysis.
      Combined PET and MRI-CEST images reported complementary spatial information of
      the altered glucose metabolism. Notably, a significant inverse correlation was
      found between extracellular tumor pH and 18F-FDG uptake, as a high 18F-FDG uptake
      corresponds to lower extracellular pH values. These results show how merging the
      information from 18F-FDG-uptake and extracellular pH measurements can improve
      characterization of the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Res; 76(22); 6463-70.
      (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651316
TI  - Fabrication of aligned nanofibers by electric-field-controlled electrospinning:
      insulating-block method.
AB  - Aligned nanofiber arrays and mats were fabricated with an electrospinning process
      by manipulating the electric field. The electric field was modified by insulating
      blocks (IBs) that were installed between the nozzle and the substrate as guiding
      elements to control the trajectory of the electrospinning jet flow. Simulation
      results showed that the electric field was deformed near the IBs, resulting in
      confinement of the electrospinning jet between the blocks. The balance of the
      electric field in the vertical direction and the repulsive force by space charges
      in the confined electrified jet stream was attributed to the aligned motion of
      the jet. Aligned arrays of 200 nm thick polyethylene oxide nanofibers were
      obtained, exhibiting wave-shaped and cross patterns as well as rectilinear
      patterns. In addition, 40 MUm thick quasi-aligned carbon-nanofiber mats with
      anisotropic electrical property were also attained by this method. 

PMID- 27651315
TI  - BRD4 Regulates Breast Cancer Dissemination through Jagged1/Notch1 Signaling.
AB  - The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins are epigenetic "readers" of
      acetylated histones in chromatin and have been identified as promising
      therapeutic targets in diverse cancers. However, it remains unclear how
      individual family members participate in cancer progression and small molecule
      inhibitors such as JQ1 can target functionally independent BET proteins. Here, we
      report a signaling pathway involving BRD4 and the ligand/receptor pair
      Jagged1/Notch1 that sustains triple-negative breast cancer migration and
      invasion. BRD4, but not BRD2 or BRD3, regulated Jagged1 expression and Notch1
      signaling. BRD4-selective knockdown suppressed Notch1 activity and impeded breast
      cancer migration and invasion. BRD4 was required for IL6-stimulated, Notch1
      induced migration and invasion, coupling microenvironment inflammation with
      cancer propagation. Moreover, in patients, BRD4 and Jagged1 expression positively
      correlated with the presence of distant metastases. These results identify a
      BRD4/Jagged1/Notch1 signaling pathway that is critical for dissemination of
      triple-negative breast cancer. Cancer Res; 76(22); 6555-67. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651317
TI  - Comparative Case-Control analysis of a dedicated self-expanding Biolimus A9
      eluting Bifurcation stent versus provisional or mandatory side branch
      intervention strategies in the treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a number of coronary bifurcation lesions, both the main vessel and
      the side branch (SB) need stent coverage. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the procedural
      performance and the impact on radiation times (RT) and contrast medium
      consumption (CMC) of the AxxessTM stent system (Biosensors, Switzerland) treating
      de novo bifurcation lesions (DBL). METHODS: One hundred and ten consecutive
      prospectively enrolled cases (Axxess Group) and 110 age, sex, and lesion location
      matched controls undergoing mandatory (Group A, n = 56) or provisional (Group B,
      n = 54) SB intervention were analyzed. RESULTS: Although more pre-dilatation was
      performed in the Axxess Group (92.7% vs. 46.4% [Group A] vs. 24.1% [Group B]),
      and more stents were used (2.4 vs. 1.2 vs. 1.05), RT and CMC were significantly
      lower in the Axxess Group [7.9 min/129 ml vs. 14.2 min/209 ml vs. 7.8 min/152 ml;
      P < 0.001]. Final Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction three flow in both
      branches was significantly more frequent in the Axxess Group (98.2% vs. 94.6% vs.
      88.9%; P = 0.02), and post-interventional troponin T elevations were the lowest
      in the Axxess Group. Eighty one percent of the Axxess-stents could be implanted
      without technical difficulties. Difficult implantations procedures were mainly
      related to coronary anatomy. There was no safety concerns (cardiac death, stent
      thrombosis) compared to controls. Cumulative 6-months MACE rates were 11% versus
      23% versus 25%. TLR rates at 6-months were 5%, 18%, and 15%, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Axxess bifurcation stent system procedures were associated with
      significantly less RT and CMC compared to conventional DBL therapy strategies.
      Difficult coronary anatomy may hinder successful implantation and a learning
      curve has to be considered. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID- 27651314
TI  - Nutritional Stress Induced by Tryptophan-Degrading Enzymes Results in ATF4
      Dependent Reprogramming of the Amino Acid Transporter Profile in Tumor Cells.
AB  - Tryptophan degradation is an immune escape strategy shared by many tumors.
      However, cancer cells' compensatory mechanisms remain unclear. We demonstrate
      here that a shortage of tryptophan caused by expression of indoleamine 2,3
      dioxygenase (IDO) and tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) resulted in ATF4-dependent
      upregulation of several amino acid transporters, including SLC1A5 and its
      truncated isoforms, which in turn enhanced tryptophan and glutamine uptake.
      Importantly, SLC1A5 failed to be upregulated in resting human T cells kept under
      low tryptophan conditions but was enhanced upon cognate antigen T-cell receptor
      engagement. Our results highlight key differences in the ability of tumor and T
      cells to adapt to tryptophan starvation and provide important insights into the
      poor prognosis of tumors coexpressing IDO and SLC1A5. Cancer Res; 76(21); 6193
      204. (c)2016 AACR.

PMID- 27651318
TI  - Laser synthesis, structure and chemical properties of colloidal nickel-molybdenum
      nanoparticles for the substitution of noble metals in heterogeneous catalysis.
AB  - Platinum and iridium are rare and expensive noble metals that are used as
      catalysts for different sectors including in heterogeneous chemical automotive
      emission catalysis and electrochemical energy conversion. Nickel and its alloys
      are promising materials to substitute noble metals. Nickel based materials are
      cost-effective with good availability and show comparable catalytic performances.
      The nickel-molybdenum system is a very interesting alternative to platinum in
      water electrolysis. We produced ligand-free nickel-molybdenum nanoparticles by
      laser ablation in water and acetone. Our results show that segregated particles
      were formed in water due to the oxidation of the metals. X-ray diffraction shows
      a significant change in the lattice parameter due to a diffusion of molybdenum
      atoms into the nickel lattice with increasing activity in the electrochemical
      oxygen evolution reaction. Even though the solubility of molecular oxygen in
      acetone is higher than in water, there were no oxides and a more homogeneous
      metal distribution in the particles in acetone as seen by TEM-EDX. This showed
      that dissolved molecular oxygen does not control oxide formation. Overall, the
      laser ablation of pressed micro particulate mixtures in liquids offers a
      combinational synthesis approach that allows the screening of alloy nanoparticles
      for catalytic testing and can convert micro-mixtures into nano-alloys.

PMID- 27651320
TI  - Diabetes mortality in Serbia, 1991-2015 (a nationwide study): A joinpoint
      regression analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze the mortality trends of diabetes
      mellitus in Serbia (excluding the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohia).
      METHODS: A population-based cross sectional study analyzing diabetes mortality in
      Serbia in the period 1991-2015 was carried out based on official data. The age
      standardized mortality rates (per 100,000) were calculated by direct
      standardization, using the European Standard Population. Average annual
      percentage of change (AAPC) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI)
      were computed using the joinpoint regression analysis. RESULTS: More than 63,000
      (about 27,000 of men and 36,000 of women) diabetes deaths occurred in Serbia from
      1991 to 2015. Death rates from diabetes were almost equal in men and in women
      (about 24.0 per 100,000) and places Serbia among the countries with the highest
      diabetes mortality rates in Europe. Since 1991, mortality from diabetes in men
      significantly increased by +1.2% per year (95% CI 0.7-1.7), but non-significantly
      increased in women by +0.2% per year (95% CI -0.4 to 0.7). Increased trends in
      diabetes type 1 mortality rates were significant in both genders in Serbia.
      Trends in mortality for diabetes type 2 showed a significant decrease in both
      genders since 2010. CONCLUSION: Given that diabetes mortality trends showed
      different patterns during the studied period, our results imply that further
      observation of trend is needed.

PMID- 27651321
TI  - A new sensitivity-based adaptive control vector parameterization approach for
      dynamic optimization of bioprocesses.
AB  - Dynamic optimization is a very effective way to increase the profitability or
      productivity of bioprocesses. As an important method of dynamic optimization, the
      control vector parameterization (CVP) approach needs to select an optimal
      discretization level to balance the computational cost with the desired solution
      quality. A new sensitivity-based adaptive refinement method is therefore
      proposed, by which new time grid points are only inserted where necessary and
      unnecessary points are eliminated so as to obtain economic and effective
      discretization grids. Moreover, considering that traditional refinement methods
      may cost a lot to get the high-quality solutions of some bioprocess problems,
      whose performance indices are sensitive to some significant time points, an
      optimization technique is further proposed and embedded into the new sensitivity
      based CVP approach to efficiently solve these problems. The proposed methods are
      applied to two well-known bioprocess optimization problems and the results
      illustrate their effectiveness.

PMID- 27651322
TI  - Evaluating the role of leukotriene-modifying drugs in asthma management: Are
      their benefits 'losing in translation'?
AB  - Leukotrienes (LTs) initiate a cascade of reactions that cause bronchoconstriction
      and inflammation in asthma. LT-modifying drugs have been proved very effective to
      reduce inflammation and associated exacerbation however despite some illustrious
      clinical trials the usage of these drugs remains overlooked because the evidence
      to support their utility in asthma management has been mixed and varied between
      studies. Although, there are plenty of evidences which suggest that the
      leukotriene-modifying drugs provide consistent improvement even after just the
      first oral dose and reduce asthma exacerbations, the beneficial effect of these
      drugs has remained sparse and widely debated. And these beneficial effects are
      often overlooked because most of the clinical studies include a mixed population
      of asthmatics who do not respond to LT-modifiers equally. Therefore, in the
      present era of personalized medicine, it is important to properly stratify the
      patients and non-invasive measurements of biomarkers may warrant the possibility
      to characterize biological/pathological pathway to direct treatment to those who
      will benefit from it. Endotyping based on individual's leukotriene levels should
      probably ascertain a subgroup of patients that would clearly benefit from the
      treatment even though the trial fails to show overall significance. In this
      article, we have methodically evaluated contemporary literature describing the
      efficacy of LT-modifying drugs in the management of asthma and highlighted the
      importance of phenotyping the asthmatics for better treatment outcomes.

PMID- 27651323
TI  - Erdosteine reduces the exercise-induced oxidative stress in patients with severe
      COPD: Results of a placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erdosteine (ER), a multimechanism, mucoactive agent with anti-oxidant
      and anti-inflammatory properties, has been shown to improve lung function,
      decrease plasma reactive oxygen species (ROS), and 8-isoprostane levels in
      patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). AIM: To assess vs.
      placebo the effect of ER on the exercise-induced oxidative stress by measuring
      and comparing the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in severe COPD patients.
      METHODS: The double blind, placebo controlled study was carried out in 24 severe
      (GOLD Class III) COPD patients, aged >40 yr, randomized to receive either oral ER
      (600 mg/day, 8 males, mean age 70.5 yr) or placebo (9 males, mean age 70.8 yr)
      for 10 days. All patients performed a 6-min walking test (6MWT) before and after
      both treatments. RESULTS: Mean ROS plasma levels increased significantly, but
      equally, in each group following the baseline 6MWT (p = ns). At the end of both
      treatments, a significant difference in mean plasma ROS increase from baseline
      became clear between the ER (+14.6% +/- 2.7) and the placebo group (+24.4% +/-
      3.8) after the second 6MWT (p < 0.025). A similar significant trend was proved
      for the mean 8-isoprostane increase, which changed from baseline by +14.1% +/-
      2.6 in the ER, and by +26.3 +/- 2.9 in the placebo group, respectively, after the
      second 6MWT (p < 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Data from the present study are suggesting
      that ER is effective in reducing the release of inflammatory mediators due to the
      exercise-induced oxidative stress in severe COPD patients.

PMID- 27651324
TI  - Lack of efficacy of nebulized magnesium sulfate in treating adult asthma: A meta
      analysis of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nebulized magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) has been used to treat asthma,
      but the efficacy remains controversial. We aimed to comprehensively review the
      efficacy of nebulized MgSO4 in treating adult patients with asthma. METHODS:
      PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies published
      up to July 18, 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included if adult
      patients with acute or stable asthma had been treated with nebulized MgSO4
      compared with placebo or another bronchodilator. Standardized mean differences
      (SMDs), relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
      Outcomes included pulmonary function, hospital admission and adverse events.
      RESULTS: A total of 1386 patients from sixteen trials (1240 acute asthma patients
      and 146 stable asthma patients) were subjected to meta-analysis. Compared to
      placebo as normal saline, whether using in acute or stable adult asthma,
      nebulized MgSO4 did not significantly improve the respiratory function: SMD 0.39
      (95% CI -0.03-0.82, P = 0.07), and 1.48 (95% CI -0.14-3.11, P = 0.07),
      respectively. Furthermore, nebulized MgSO4 did not reduce hospital admission in
      adult patients with acute asthma (RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.52-1.00; P = 0.05),
      although it was not associated with increased adverse events (RR 1.15; 95% CI,
      0.88-1.52; P = 0.31). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence to date suggests that nebulized MgSO4
      has no role in the management of adult patients with acute or stable asthma.

PMID- 27651326
TI  - Paclitaxel loaded magnetic nanocomposites with folate modified
      chitosan/carboxymethyl surface; a vehicle for imaging and targeted drug delivery.
AB  - In this study, Paclitaxel (PTX) containing, bovine serum albumin (BSA)
      nanoparticles were fabricated via a simple approach. Folic acid (FA) was
      conjugated to chitosan (CS)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) through an
      esterification reaction to produce BSA-CS-FA or BSA-CMC-FA conjugates. NiFe2O4
      noncore (NFs) and PTX were loaded through a heat treatment and by a diffusion
      process. NFs-BSA-CS and NFs-BSA-CMC-FA with size of about 80nm, showed superior
      transversal R2 relaxation rate of 349 (mM)-1s-1 along with folate receptor
      targeted and magnetically directed functions. NFs-BSA-CS-FA or NFs-BSA-CS-FA were
      found stable and biocompatible. Application of an external magnetic field
      effectively enhanced the PTX release from PTX-NFs-BSA-CS-FA or PTX-NFs-BSA-CS-FA
      and hence tumor inhibition rate. This study validate that NFs-BSA-CS-FA or NFs
      BSA-CMC-FA and PTX-NFs-BSA-CS-FA or PTX-NFs-BSA-CS-FA are suitable systems for
      tumor diagnosis and therapy.

PMID- 27651327
TI  - Statistical analysis of industrial-scale roller compactor 'Freund TF-MINI model'.
AB  - The aim of this study is to perform a statistical analysis on a pharmaceutical
      roller compaction process using an industrial-scale roller compactor "Freund TF
      MINI model". The process was modelled using response surface methodology (RSM) to
      better understand and control the process in order to produce ribbons and
      granules with optimised quality. The significant process parameters were
      determined to be (i) the screw speed to roll speed ratio and (ii) the roll
      pressure. The roll speed was kept constant and the roll gap was uncontrolled. The
      quality attributes of interest are: ribbon density, granule size (D10, D50, D90),
      amount of fines (granule size <157MUm), and tablet hardness. Microcrystalline
      cellulose (MCC) PH 102 was used as a model material. Design-Expert V9 was
      utilised to establish the design matrix and to analyse the experimental data. The
      relationships between the process parameters and the resultant
      ribbon/granule/tablet characteristics were established. This was followed by an
      optimisation of the process parameters to obtain the target responses. The
      results confirmed the attainment of significant models with satisfactory accurate
      measures. The optimisation allowed for the determination of the process
      parameters required to produce the best quality tablets.

PMID- 27651325
TI  - Manual for maintenance of multi-host ixodid ticks in the laboratory.
AB  - Use of laboratory animals as hosts for blood-sucking arthropods remains a time
      proven and the most efficient method for establishment and propagation of slowly
      feeding ixodid ticks, despite introduction of techniques involving artificial
      feeding on either animal skins or synthetic membranes. New Zealand White rabbits
      are usually the most accessible and most suitable hosts routinely used for
      establishment and maintenance of a large variety of multi-host tick species. Here
      we describe standard procedures for maintaining colonies of multi-host ixodid
      ticks by feeding all developmental stages (larvae, nymphs, and adults) upon New
      Zealand White rabbits. When needed, the same procedures can be easily adapted to
      other species of laboratory or domestic animals from mice to dogs and goats. A
      summary of our experience in maintaining laboratory colonies of Ixodes
      scapularis, Ixodes pacificus, Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis,
      Dermacentor occidentalis, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, and Rhipicephalus
      sanguineus with descriptions of the complete laboratory life cycles and reliable
      production of uninfected ticks under standardized conditions has been published
      by Troughton and Levin (J Med Entomol 44:732-740, 2007). Here we provide step-by
      step recommendations for various procedures used in the maintenance of ixodid
      tick colonies based on over 20 years of experience.

PMID- 27651329
TI  - [Merkel cell carcinoma of the eyelid. An often unrecognized tumor entity :
      Clinical aspects and treatment strategies].
AB  - Merkel cell carcinoma of the eyelid is an aggressive, highly malignant tumor of
      the skin. Totaling approximately 0.5 % of all tumors of the eyelid, it
      constitutes a relatively small group of lid tumors. Nevertheless Merkel cell
      carcinoma is of significance to the ophthalmologist. Because of its clinical
      presentation it can be easily confused as a chalazion, a hordeolum or the lesser
      aggressive basal cell carcinoma. This often leads to delayed treatment. In this
      article we describe clinical aspects, which aim to help the ophthalmologist
      suspect Merkel cell carcinoma earlier. Additionally we outline a diagnostic and
      therapeutic workup taking into consideration the special anatomy of the eyelid.

PMID- 27651328
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of whole-brain CT perfusion in the detection of acute
      infratentorial infarctions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although the diagnostic performance of whole-brain computed
      tomographic perfusion (WB-CTP) in the detection of supratentorial infarctions is
      well established, its value in the detection of infratentorial strokes remains
      less well defined. We examined its diagnostic accuracy in the detection of
      infratentorial infarctions and compared it to nonenhanced computed tomography
      (NECT), aiming to identify factors influencing its detection rate. METHODS: Out
      of a cohort of 1380 patients who underwent WB-CTP due to suspected stroke, we
      retrospectively included all patients with MRI-confirmed infratentorial strokes
      and compared it to control patients without infratentorial strokes. Two blinded
      readers evaluated NECT and four different CTP maps independently for the presence
      and location of infratentorial ischemic perfusion deficits. RESULTS: The study
      was designed as a retrospective case-control study and included 280 patients
      (cases/controls = 1/3). WB-CTP revealed a greater diagnostic sensitivity than
      NECT (41.4 vs. 17.1 %, P = 0.003). The specificity, however, was comparable (93.3
      vs. 95.0 %). Mean transit time (MTT) and time to drain (TTD) were the most
      sensitive (41.4 and 40.0 %) and cerebral blood volume (CBV) the most specific
      (99.5 %) perfusion maps. Infarctions detected using WB-CTP were significantly
      larger than those not detected (15.0 vs. 2.2 ml; P = 0.0007); infarct location,
      however, did not influence the detection rate. CONCLUSION: The detection of
      infratentorial infarctions can be improved by assessing WB-CTP as part of the
      multimodal stroke workup. However, it remains a diagnostic challenge, especially
      small volume infarctions in the brainstem are likely to be missed.

PMID- 27651330
TI  - Automated brain tumour detection and segmentation using superpixel-based
      extremely randomized trees in FLAIR MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: We propose a fully automated method for detection and segmentation of
      the abnormal tissue associated with brain tumour (tumour core and oedema) from
      Fluid- Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
      METHODS: The method is based on superpixel technique and classification of each
      superpixel. A number of novel image features including intensity-based, Gabor
      textons, fractal analysis and curvatures are calculated from each superpixel
      within the entire brain area in FLAIR MRI to ensure a robust classification.
      Extremely randomized trees (ERT) classifier is compared with support vector
      machine (SVM) to classify each superpixel into tumour and non-tumour. RESULTS:
      The proposed method is evaluated on two datasets: (1) Our own clinical dataset:
      19 MRI FLAIR images of patients with gliomas of grade II to IV, and (2) BRATS
      2012 dataset: 30 FLAIR images with 10 low-grade and 20 high-grade gliomas. The
      experimental results demonstrate the high detection and segmentation performance
      of the proposed method using ERT classifier. For our own cohort, the average
      detection sensitivity, balanced error rate and the Dice overlap measure for the
      segmented tumour against the ground truth are 89.48 %, 6 % and 0.91,
      respectively, while, for the BRATS dataset, the corresponding evaluation results
      are 88.09 %, 6 % and 0.88, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This provides a close match
      to expert delineation across all grades of glioma, leading to a faster and more
      reproducible method of brain tumour detection and delineation to aid patient
      management.

PMID- 27651332
TI  - GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors: a couple at last?

PMID- 27651331
TI  - Exenatide once weekly plus dapagliflozin once daily versus exenatide or
      dapagliflozin alone in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with
      metformin monotherapy (DURATION-8): a 28 week, multicentre, double-blind, phase
      3, randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and sodium-glucose
      co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce glycaemia and weight, and improve
      cardiovascular risk factors via different mechanisms. We aimed to compare the
      efficacy and safety of co-initiation of the GLP-1 receptor agonist exenatide and
      the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin with exenatide or dapagliflozin alone in
      patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled by metformin. METHODS:
      DURATION-8 was a 28 week, multicentre, double-blind, randomised, active
      controlled phase 3 trial done at 109 sites in six countries. Adults (aged >=18
      years) with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycaemic control (HbA1c 8-12% [64-108
      mmol/mol]) despite stable metformin monotherapy (>=1500 mg/day) were randomly
      assigned (1:1:1), via an interactive voice and web-response system, to receive
      once-weekly exenatide 2 mg by subcutaneous injection plus once-daily
      dapagliflozin 10 mg oral tablets, exenatide with dapagliflozin-matched oral
      placebo, or dapagliflozin with exenatide-matched placebo injections.
      Randomisation was stratified by baseline HbA1c (<9.0% vs >=9.0% [<75 mmol/mol vs
      >=75 mmol/mol]). The primary endpoint was change in HbA1c from baseline to week
      28. Secondary endpoints were the change from baseline in fasting plasma glucose
      at week 2 and week 28, and 2 h postprandial glucose at week 28; the proportion of
      patients with an HbA1c less than 7.0% (<53 mmol/mol) at week 28; change in weight
      at week 28; the proportion of patients with weight loss of 5% or more at week 28;
      and change in systolic blood pressure at week 28. Analyses were by intention to
      treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02229396.
      FINDINGS: Between Sept 4, 2014, and Oct 15, 2015, we randomly assigned 695
      patients to receive exenatide plus dapagliflozin (n=231), exenatide alone (n=231;
      n=1 untreated), or dapagliflozin alone (n=233). The intention-to-treat population
      comprised 685 participants (mean HbA1c 9.3% [SD 1.1]; 78 mmol/mol [12]), of whom
      611 (88%) completed the study. After 28 weeks, the change in baseline HbA1c was 
      2.0% (95% CI -2.1 to -1.8) in the exenatide plus dapagliflozin group, -1.6% (-1.8
      to -1.4) in the exenatide group, and -1.4% (-1.6 to -1.2) in the dapagliflozin
      group. Exenatide plus dapagliflozin significantly reduced HbA1c from baseline to
      week 28 compared with exenatide alone (-0.4% [95% CI -0.6 to -0.1]; p=0.004) or
      dapagliflozin alone (-0.6% [-0.8 to -0.3]; p<0.001). Exenatide plus dapagliflozin
      was significantly superior to either drug alone for all secondary efficacy
      endpoints, with greater reductions in fasting plasma and postprandial glucose,
      more patients with an HbA1c less than 7.0% (<53 mmol/mol), greater weight loss, a
      greater proportion of patients with weight loss of 5% or more, and greater
      reductions in systolic blood pressure (all p<=0.025). Adverse events were
      recorded in 131 (57%) of 231 patients in the exenatide plus dapagliflozin group,
      124 (54%) of 230 patients in the exenatide group, and 121 (52%) of 233 patients
      in the dapagliflozin group. The most common adverse events (>=5% of patients in
      any group) were diarrhoea, injection-site nodules, nausea, and urinary tract
      infections. No episodes of major hypoglycaemia or minor hypoglycaemia were
      reported. INTERPRETATION: Co-initiation of exenatide and dapagliflozin improved
      various glycaemic measures and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type
      2 diabetes inadequately controlled by metformin monotherapy. The dual treatment
      regimen was well tolerated, with the expected safety profile for this
      combination. Additional data from an ongoing study (eg, AWARD-10; NCT02597049)
      will further inform the use of these drug classes in combination. FUNDING:
      AstraZeneca.

PMID- 27651333
TI  - Hepatic FTO expression is increased in NASH and its silencing attenuates palmitic
      acid-induced lipotoxicity.
AB  - Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is one of the most common causes of liver
      failure worldwide. It is characterized by excess fat accumulation, inflammation,
      and increased lipotoxicity in hepatocytes. Currently, there are limited treatment
      options for NASH due to lack of understanding of its molecular etiology. In the
      present study, we demonstrate that the expression of fat mass and obesity
      associated gene (FTO) is significantly increased in the livers of NASH patients
      and in a rodent model of NASH. Furthermore, using human hepatic cells, we show
      that genetic silencing of FTO protects against palmitate-induced oxidative
      stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, ER stress, and apoptosis in vitro. Taken
      together, our results show that FTO may have a deleterious role in hepatic cells
      during lipotoxic conditions, and strongly suggest that up-regulation of FTO may
      contribute to the increased liver damage in NASH.

PMID- 27651336
TI  - Totentanz.

PMID- 27651337
TI  - Burying Ground.

PMID- 27651335
TI  - Management of the splenic vein during a pancreaticoduodenectomy with venous
      resection for malignancy.
AB  - Nowadays, pancreaticoduodenectomies (PD) with an "en-bloc" resection of the
      spleno-mesenterico-portal (SMP) venous axis are safely performed at tertiary
      centers for patients presenting venous invasion. However, for tumors infiltrating
      the SMP confluence optimal management of the splenic vein (SV) remains a matter
      of debate. Simple SV ligation has been associated with the development of
      sinistral portal hypertension, gastrointestinal bleeding and hypersplenism over
      the long term. To avoid these complications, reconstructive methods such as the
      direct implantation of the SV into a SMP "neoconfluence", the inferior mesenteric
      vein-SV anastomosis and the distal spleno-renal shunt have been reported. This
      article summarizes the different technical solutions available and the current
      evidence supporting the optimal management of the SV stump during a "safe"
      radical PD for pancreatic cancer. Technical issues, advantages as well as
      drawbacks of the different techniques, are discussed.

PMID- 27651334
TI  - Recurrent laryngeal nerve management in thyroid surgery: consequences of routine
      visualization, application of intermittent, standardized and continuous nerve
      monitoring.
AB  - The objective is to compare the consequences of routine visualization (RV) and
      the application of intermitted (I-IONM), standardized (S-IONM), and continuous
      monitoring (C-IONM) of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) management. RV includes
      that 698 RLNs managed solely with visual identification. In a second period 777,
      RLNs were handled by the I-IONM. The third period 768 RLNs monitoring was
      performed according to the standards. C-IONM via VN stimulation included 626
      RLNs. The following issues were analyzed and compared per each period study: RLN
      identification rate, branching detection, assessment of NRLN, intraoperative
      recognizable nerve damage, stage thyroidectomy rate, transient or definitive
      lesions, bilateral nerve palsy, and recovery time. Significance for nerve
      identification rate was achieved (p = 0.03) when the statistical analysis was
      applied between RV vs. S-IONM and C-IONM. Extralaryngeal bifurcation was
      identified in 21, 44, 43, and 46 of RLN dissected, respectively, per period (p =
      0.005). The incidence of paralysis in identified and unidentified RLN was 3.8 %
      (107/2806) and 82 % (52/63), respectively. Rates of temporary/permanent RLNP were
      16.7/1.7, 5/1.1, 4.5/1, and 3.1/0 % per period study, respectively (p = 0.07).
      Recognizable intraoperatively nerve damage was, respectively, 15, 45, 100, and
      100 % for period study (p = 0.03). The recovery of injured nerves was
      significantly faster in C-IONM group. S-IONM and C-IONM cumulate 40-stage
      procedures. The standardized technique, guidelines adherences, and C-IONM allowed
      to (1) increase RLN identification; (2) reduce the severity of injuries in terms
      of (a) reset bilateral RLNP, (b) faster recovery time, and

PMID- 27651338
TI  - Comparative Histopathological Evaluation of Patients with Diabetes,
      Hypothyroidism and Idiopathic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
AB  - AIM: To investigate and compare the histological findings of patients with
      diabetes, hypothyroidism and idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Subsynovial connective tissue samples of 51 idiopathic CTS patients
      (Group 1), 58 diabetic CTS patients (Group 2) and 16 hypothyroid CTS patients
      (Group 3) were evaluated in this study. The histopathological examination
      parameters were; number of fibroblasts, size of collagen fibers, vascular changes
      (vascular proliferation, intimal thickening and changes of vessel structures),
      edema and inflammatory infiltration. RESULTS: In the majority of patients in all
      3 groups, non-inflammatory fibrosis was observed in subsynovial connective
      tissue. Number of fibroblasts, collagen fiber diameter and lengths were
      statistically different in diabetic CTS patients (Group 2) when compared with
      other groups. Considering the overall results, neovascularization in subsynovial
      connective tissue was observed significantly more intensely in diabetic CTS
      patients (Group 2) and severe edema was found in hypothyroid CTS patients (Group
      3). CONCLUSION: Increased pressure in the carpal tunnel may be a result of
      reduction of the space or volume increase of the tunnel contents secondary to
      fibrosis or edema. It may be helpful for the physicians to better understand the
      causes of this entrapment neuropathy, and these etiological factors should be
      taken into consideration during the preoperative evaluation of the patients.

PMID- 27651339
TI  - Acute Traumatic Quadriplegia in Adults: Predictors of Acute in-Hospital
      Mortality.
AB  - AIM: To assess the in-hospital mortality rate in adult patients suffering acute
      traumatic complete quadriplegia and determine the possible predictors of
      mortality in these patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A review of all complete
      quadriplegics treated from January 1996 through March 2004 in a regional spine
      injuries unit measuring in-hospital mortality and other factors that might
      contribute to increased mortality. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was
      performed to explore these possible predictors of mortality. RESULTS: We
      identified 126 cases of cervical spinal cord injury treated at our hospital from
      January 1996 to March 2004 and identified only 62 cases of complete quadriplegia.
      Of 62 patients, 11 (17.7%) died in the hospital. Age, gender, injury mechanism
      and medical co-morbidity showed only trends towards a higher mortality. Age and
      pre-injury medical co-morbidity were found to be significant independent
      predicting factors for mortality. Gender, mechanism of injury, neurological level
      and injury severity score were not the predictors of mortality in these patients.
      CONCLUSION: Despite the limitations of the current evidence, advanced age and pre
      existing medical co-morbidity are likely predictors of hospital mortality in the
      traumatic quadriplegia population.

PMID- 27651340
TI  - The Correlation Between 1p/19q Codeletion, IDH1 Mutation, p53 Overexpression and
      Their Prognostic Roles in 41 Turkish Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma Patients.
AB  - AIM: To observe the correlation between 1p/19q codeletion, isocytrate
      dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation and p53 protein overexpression and their
      prognostic value in Turkish anaplastic oligodendroglioma patients who were
      treated with adjuvant radiotherapy and temozolomide chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 41 patients who were diagnosed as
      anaplastic oligodendroglioma. Thirty-five patients received standard
      radiotherapy. Twenty-six patients received standard temozolomide chemoterapy
      concurrent to radiotherapy. RESULTS: Chromosome 1p/19q codeletion was observed in
      19 of 41 patients (46%) via Fluorescent In Situ Hybridisation (FISH) technique.
      Twenty-six patients (63%) showed positive immunoreaction with anti-IDH1 antibody.
      Six patients (15%) showed positive immunoreaction with anti-p53 antibody. A
      statistically significant correlation was determined between chromosome 1p/19q
      codeletion and IDH1 mutation (p < 0.0001). The patients who had tumors with
      chromosome 1p/19q codeletion and p53 overexpression were mutually exclusive. The
      mean estimated Progression Free Survival (PFS) of the patients who had tumors
      with chromosome 1p/19q codeletion and/or IDH1 mutation was determined to be
      significantly longer than that of the patients without these genetic changes,
      regardless of the treatment modality (p=0.006, p=0.004). PFS of the patients who
      received adjuvant chemotherapy and whose tumors had chromosome 1p/19q codeletion
      or IDH1 mutation was significantly longer than that of the patients without these
      genetic changes (p=0.001, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Chromosome 1p/19q codeletion
      and/or IDH1 mutation are favorable prognostic factors in anaplastic
      oligodendroglioma patients, in terms of PFS.

PMID- 27651341
TI  - Primary Intracranial Germinomas: Retrospective Analysis of Five Cases.
AB  - AIM: Primary intracranial germinomas (PIGs) are rare malignant brain tumors that
      represent approximately 0.2% to 1.7% of all primary intracranial tumors. PIGs
      have infrequent, but there is a possibility of spinal cord metastases. In this
      study, clinical outcomes of five consecutive PIGs have been presented. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed in 1,849 cases of
      intracranial tumors who underwent surgery between the years 2005 and 2015 and
      cases confirmed as germinoma histopathologically were included in this study.
      RESULTS: Five cases of PIGs were detected in two female (40%) and 3 male (60%)
      patients. The mean age was 15.2+/-5.6 (8-23) years. The mean follow-up period was
      52.3+/-56.4 (9-135) months. The most common complaint was headache (60%),
      followed by nausea+/-vomiting (40%). Four cases (80%) affected the suprasellar
      region while the fifth patient"s tumor was localized in the pineal region. The
      duration between the initial symptom and time of surgical intervention ranged
      between 15 days and 2 months. Twelve months after the first operation, one
      patient presented with drop seeding metastasis. Four-year survival (with
      exception of the case that died as a early surgical complication) was 100%. Gross
      total resection (GTR) was achieved in one patient. Surgical mortality rate was
      20%. PIGs" morbidity rate was 60%. CONCLUSION: PIG is a mostly malignant tumor
      that generally affects the pediatric age group. They are radiosensitive tumors.
      Subtotal or near-total resection using stereotactic guide or direct surgery to
      confirm the histopathological diagnosis followed by chemotherapy and whole brain
      or in some cases craniospinal radiotherapy rather than GTR is therefore the
      treatment of choice.

PMID- 27651342
TI  - Optimizing the Extent of Resection and Minimizing the Morbidity in Insular High
      Grade Glioma Surgery by High-Field Intraoperative MRI Guidance.
AB  - AIM: The result of surgical resection for insular high-grade glioma (HGG) is
      disappointing due to the complex anatomy of insula and aggressive growth of HGG.
      The use of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) was reported to
      improve the results of glioma surgery. The authors aimed to evaluate the impact
      of high-field iMRI and functional neuronavigation on the surgical resection of
      insular HGG. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between July 2010 and July 2014, 51 insular
      HGG patients underwent operations guided by combined high-field iMRI and
      functional neuronavigation. Twenty-two insular HGG patients underwent
      conventional neuronavigation operations were assessed as the control group.
      Preoperative and postoperative tumor volumetric scan analysis, Karnofsky
      performance score (KPS) and follow-up results were reviewed retrospectively.
      RESULTS: Residual tumor was detected by the iMRI in 42 patients, and residual
      tumor of 37 patients was further resected in the iMRI-assisted group. The median
      extent of resection (EOR) increased significantly from 79% (58%?100%) to [96%
      (86%? 100%), p < 0.001]. The median EOR of iMRI-assisted group [96% (86%?100%)]
      was significantly higher than that of conventional neuronavigation group [84%
      (69%?100%); p=0.031]. Mean residual tumor volume of iMRI-assisted group [0.6 (0.0
      5.2) cm3] was significantly smaller than that of conventional neuronavigation
      group [3.8 (0.0-12.1) cm3; p=0.003]. KPS within 3 days after surgery reduced and
      KPS at 3 months after surgery improved for both groups. KPS of iMRI-assisted
      group [90(70-100)] was significantly higher than that of control group [80(60
      100); p=0.021] at 3 months after surgery. The median progression-free survival
      (PFS) of iMRI-assisted group [18(9-42) months] was better than that of control
      group [15(3-32) months; p=0.010]. The median overall survival (OS) of iMRI
      assisted group [28(14-49) months] was better than that of control group [18 (7
      38) months; p=0.035]. CONCLUSION: Combined high-field iMRI and functional
      neuronavigation optimize the extent of resection and minimize the morbidity in
      insular HGG surgery. Aggressive resection of insular HGG is predictive of
      improved OS and PFS.

PMID- 27651343
TI  - Differences in Protein Expression between the U251 and U87 Cell Lines.
AB  - AIM: The U251 and U87 cell lines are commonly used as experimental models of
      glioblastoma. However, these cells exhibit significant differences in their
      proliferation, invasion, and migration. The aim of the present study was to
      compare the protein expression profiles of the U251 and U87 cell lines in order
      to provide a molecular basis for the observed phenotypic differences. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) and
      gene ontology (GO) analyses were performed to detect differentially expressed
      proteins and to predict protein functions, respectively. RESULTS: Two hundred and
      forty-four proteins were highly expressed, while 263 proteins exhibited lower
      levels of expression, in the U251 cells compared to the U87 cells. In particular,
      higher expression levels of the proteins, C10orf58, FLNC, PDLIM1, TPM4, and lower
      expression levels of MYH10, PSIP1, SYNM, SLC9A3R2, BCAM, were verified by qPCR in
      the U251 cell line versus the U87 cell line. When a GO analysis was applied to
      the iTRAQ results, the proteins that were highly expressed in the U251 cells were
      found to differ in their molecular functions, biological processes, cellular
      distribution, and cellular pathways associated with them compared with the highly
      expressed proteins detected in the U87 cells. CONCLUSION: Differentially
      expressed proteins between the U251 and U87 cell lines are associated with
      regulation of nicotinamide nucleotide metabolism, RNA splicing, glycolysis, and
      purine metabolism pathways. Further studies on these pathways may identify
      whether these various pathways account for the observed phenotype differences
      between the U87 and U251 GBM cell lines.

PMID- 27651344
TI  - High-doses of proton pump inhibitors in refractory gastro-intestinal cancer: A
      case series and the state of art.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been investigated
      at high-dose to modulate tumour microenvironment acidification thus restoring
      chemotherapeutic sensitivity. Moreover, several clinical data supports the role
      of cytotoxic drugs at low-dose continuously delivered as anticancer therapy.
      METHODS: Clinical records of three patients affected with gastrointestinal cancer
      refractory to standard treatments, who had received a combination of high-dose
      rabeprazole and metronomic chemotherapy were reviewed. RESULTS: The first case, a
      78-year-old man was treated for lung metastasis from colon adenocarcinoma. The
      second case, a 73-year-old man was treated for metastatic rectal cancer to the
      liver. The third one, a 68-year-old man, underwent the combination regimen for
      colon cancer with lung, liver and peritoneal metastases. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the
      failure of previous standard chemotherapy for metastatic disease, good clinical
      outcome was shown in these patients treated with an unconventional association of
      high-dose PPIs and metronomic chemotherapy.

PMID- 27651345
TI  - GMC relaunches language test for overseas doctors, but concerns remain over
      equivalence.

PMID- 27651346
TI  - Erratum to: Severe somatoform and dysautonomic syndromes after HPV vaccination:
      case series and review of literature.

PMID- 27651348
TI  - Validation of three Arabic health literacy assessment tools in Lebanon.
AB  - Health literacy is an important predictor of health status, health behaviours,
      and other health outcomes. However, research on health literacy in the Arab world
      is scarce and no health literacy tool has been validated to test the health
      literacy level of the Lebanese population so far. The aim of this study was to
      validate Arabic translations of three commonly used health literacy assessment
      tools, the S-TOFHLA, the REALM-R, and the Brief Health Literacy Screening items.
      The tools were linguistically and culturally adapted to the Lebanese context, and
      250 face-to-face interviews were conducted in an outpatient clinic in Beirut,
      Lebanon, between April and June 2015. The General Self-Efficacy Scale and socio
      demographic questions such as gender, age, origin, education and chronic
      condition were included to assess predictive validity. Reliability of the
      instruments was found to be low to high (Cronbach's alpha =0 .94 for the S
      TOFHLA, Cronbach's alpha = 0.46 for the REALM-R). Younger and highly educated
      participants scored higher on the S-TOFHLA. The Brief Health Literacy Screening
      items were significantly correlated with age, education, self-efficacy and the S
      TOFHLA, reinforcing the convergent and predictive validity of the two tools.
      Results indicate that the S-TOFHLA and the three screening questions are a
      valuable tool to measure health literacy in Lebanon and, allowing for minimal
      adaptations according to each country's healthcare system, in the entire Arabic
      speaking area.

PMID- 27651347
TI  - Comparison between a novel and conventional artificial pancreas for perioperative
      glycemic control using a closed-loop system.
AB  - This clinical study aimed to compare a novel and conventional artificial pancreas
      (AP) used in surgical patients for perioperative glycemic control, with respect
      to usability, blood glucose measurements, and glycemic control characteristics.
      From July in 2010 to March in 2015, 177 patients underwent perioperative glycemic
      control using a novel AP. Among them, 166 patients were eligible for inclusion in
      this study. Intensive insulin therapy (IIT) targeting a blood glucose range of 80
      110 mg/dL was implemented in 82 patients (49 %), and the remaining 84 patients
      (51 %) received a less-intensive regime of insulin therapy. Data were collected
      prospectively and were reviewed or analyzed retrospectively. A comparison study
      of 324 patients undergoing IIT for glycemic control using a novel (n = 82) or
      conventional AP (n = 242) was conducted retrospectively. All patients had no
      hypoglycemia. The comparison study revealed no significant differences in
      perioperative mean blood glucose level, achievement rates for target blood
      glucose range, and variability in blood glucose level achieved with IIT between
      the novel AP and conventional AP groups. The usability, performance with respect
      to blood glucose measurement, and glycemic control characteristics of IIT were
      comparable between novel and conventional AP systems. However, the novel AP was
      easier to manipulate than the conventional AP due to its smaller size, lower
      weight, and shorter time for preparation. In the near future, this novel AP
      system might be accepted worldwide as a safe and useful device for use in
      perioperative glycemic control.

PMID- 27651349
TI  - The Single-Stage "Butterfly" Double Transposition Pedicle Flap.

PMID- 27651352
TI  - High-rate performance of Ti(3+) self-doped TiO2 prepared by imidazole reduction
      for Li-ion batteries.
AB  - Ti(3+) self-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared via a simple imidazole
      reduction process and developed as an anode material for Li-ion batteries.
      Introducing the Ti(3+)-state on TiO2 nanoparticles resulted in superior rate
      performances that the capacity retention of 88% at 50 C. The enhanced
      electrochemical performances were attributed to the resulting lower internal
      resistance and improved electronic conductivity, based on galvanostatic
      intermittent titration technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
      analyses. 

PMID- 27651350
TI  - The rheology of a growing leaf: stress-induced changes in the mechanical
      properties of leaves.
AB  - We study in situ the mechanics and growth of a leaf. Young Nicotiana tabacum
      leaves respond to applied mechanical stress by altering both their mechanical
      properties and the characteristics of their growth. We observed two opposite
      behaviours, each with its own typical magnitude and timescale. On timescales of
      the order of minutes, the leaf deforms in response to applied tensile stress.
      During this phase we found a high correlation between the applied stress field
      and the local strain field throughout the leaf surface. For times over 12 hours
      the mechanical properties of the leaf become anisotropic, making it more
      resilient to deformation and restoring a nearly isotropic growth field despite
      the highly anisotropic load. These observations suggest that remodelling of the
      tissue allows the leaf to respond to mechanical perturbations by changing its
      properties. We discuss the relevance of the observed behaviour to the growth
      regulation that leads to proper leaf shape during growth.

PMID- 27651351
TI  - Trends in one-year cumulative incidence of death between 2005 and 2013 among
      patients initiating antiretroviral therapy in Uganda.
AB  - Recent ecological data demonstrate improving outcomes for HIV-infected people in
      sub-Saharan Africa. Recently, Uganda has experienced a resurgence in HIV
      incidence and prevalence, but trends in HIV-related deaths have not been well
      described. Data were collected through the Uganda AIDS Rural Treatment Outcomes
      (UARTO) Study, an observational longitudinal cohort of Ugandan adults initiating
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) between 2005 and 2013. We calculated cumulative
      incidence of death within one year of ART initiation, and fit Poisson models with
      robust variance estimators to estimate the effect enrollment period on one-year
      risk of death and loss to follow-up. Of 760 persons in UARTO who started ART, 30
      deaths occurred within one year of ART initiation (cumulative incidence 3.9%, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] 2.7-5.6%). Risk of death was highest for those starting
      ART in 2005 (13.0%, 95% CI 6.0-24.0%), decreased in 2006-2007 to 4% (95% CI 2.0
      6.0%), and did not change thereafter ( P = 0.61). These results were robust to
      adjustment for age, sex, CD4 cell count, viral load, asset wealth, baseline
      depression, and body mass index. Here, we demonstrate that one-year cumulative
      incidence of death was high just after free ART rollout, decreased the following
      year, and remained low thereafter. Once established, ART programs in President's
      Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief-supported countries can maintain high quality
      care.

PMID- 27651353
TI  - Prophylaxis of pancreatitis with intravenous ketoprofen in a consecutive
      population of ERCP patients: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - Background Acute pancreatitis is the most common complication after ERCP,
      occurring in about 4 % of the procedures. Only the placement of pancreatic duct
      prosthesis and the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have
      shown benefit in the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). Although the
      benefit of rectal administration of indomethacin or diclofenac is recommended by
      some studies and society guidelines especially in a selected group of high-risk
      patients, there is so far, no standardization of time or route of NSAID
      administration. The aim of the current study is to investigate the role of an
      intravenous NSAID administered before the procedure for PEP prevention. Methods
      In this randomized double-blind clinical trial, all consecutive patients who
      underwent ERCP were randomized to receive saline infusion with ketoprofen or
      saline, immediately before the procedure. Results A total of 477 patients were
      enrolled and completed follow-up. The majority of patients (72.1 %) had bile duct
      stones, and only 1.5 % had a clinical suspicion of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.
      PEP developed in 5 of 253 (2 %) patients in the placebo group and in 5 of 224
      (2.2 %) patients in the ketoprofen group (p = 1.). Conclusions Intravenous
      administration of ketoprofen immediately prior to ERCP did not result in
      reduction in PEP in a general population of ERCP patients.

PMID- 27651354
TI  - The effect of different training exercises on the performance outcome on the da
      Vinci Skills Simulator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing usage of robotic surgery presents surgeons with the
      question of how to acquire the special skills required. This study aimed to
      analyze the effect of different exercises on their performance outcomes. METHODS:
      This prospective study was conducted on the da Vinci Skills Simulator from
      December 2014 till August 2015. Sixty robotic novices were included and
      randomized to three groups of 20 participants each. Each group performed three
      different exercises with comparable difficulty levels. The exercises were
      performed three times in a row within two training sessions, with an interval of
      1 week in between. On the final training day, two new exercises were added and a
      questionnaire was completed. Technical metrics of performance (overall score,
      time to complete, economy of motion, instrument collisions, excessive instrument
      force, instruments out of view, master work space range, drops, missed targets,
      misapplied energy time, blood loss and broken vessels) were recorded by the
      simulator software for further analysis. RESULTS: Training with different
      exercises led to comparable results in performance metrics for the final
      exercises among the three groups. A significant skills gain was recorded between
      the first and last exercises, with improved performance in overall score, time to
      complete and economy of motion for all exercises in all three groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: As training with different exercises led to comparable results in
      robotic training, the type of exercise seems to play a minor role in the outcome.
      For a robotic training curriculum, it might be important to choose exercises with
      comparable difficulty levels. In addition, it seems to be advantageous to limit
      the duration of the training to maintain the concentration throughout the entire
      session.

PMID- 27651355
TI  - Assessment of colorectal polyp recognition skill: development and validation of
      an objective test.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The quality of colonoscopy is known to vary. The extent to which
      colonoscopists can recognize the presence of subtle colorectal lesions by
      visually distinguishing them from the surrounding mucosa (i.e., polyp recognition
      skill) may be one of several attributes that influence polyp detection rates. The
      aim of the present study was to develop and validate the first objective test of
      polyp recognition skill. METHODS: Validation study. Twenty-eight experienced
      colonoscopists and eighty novices took a preliminary 280-item computer-based
      polyp recognition test. Items were genuine endoscopic images which participants
      assessed for the presence of "likely polyps." Half included clinically identified
      polyps. Participants clicked on a suspected lesion or a button marked "no likely
      polyp", and the main outcome measures were accuracy and response latency. The
      best items were selected for the final 50-item test. RESULTS: In the preliminary
      test, experienced colonoscopists correctly identified more polyps than novices (P
      < .0001) and better discriminated between clinically identified polyps and non
      polyp features (as measured by d', P < .0001). For polyp items, the experienced
      group also responded faster (P < .01). Effect sizes were large for accuracy
      (Cohen's d = 3.22) and d' (Cohen's d = 3.22). The 50 final test items produced
      comparable results for accuracy, d', and response latency. For both versions of
      the test, score scale reliability was high for both polyp and non-polyp items
      (alpha = .82 to .97). CONCLUSIONS: The observed experienced-novice differences
      support the construct validity of the performance measures derived from the
      tests, indicating that polyp recognition skill can be quantified objectively. The
      final test may potentially be used to assess trainees, but test sensitivity may
      be insufficient to make fine-grained distinctions between different skill levels
      among experienced colonoscopists. More sensitive future tests may provide a
      valuable supplement to clinical detection rates, allowing objective comparisons
      between skilled colonoscopists.

PMID- 27651356
TI  - RNAs Containing Modified Nucleotides Fail To Trigger RIG-I Conformational Changes
      for Innate Immune Signaling.
AB  - Invading pathogen nucleic acids are recognized and bound by cytoplasmic (retinoic
      acid-inducible gene I [RIG-I]-like) and membrane-bound (Toll-like) pattern
      recognition receptors to activate innate immune signaling. Modified nucleotides,
      when present in RNA molecules, diminish the magnitude of these signaling
      responses. However, mechanisms explaining the blunted signaling have not been
      elucidated. In this study, we used several independent biological assays,
      including inhibition of virus replication, RIG-I:RNA binding assays, and limited
      trypsin digestion of RIG-I:RNA complexes, to begin to understand how RNAs
      containing modified nucleotides avoid or suppress innate immune signaling. The
      experiments were based on a model innate immune activating RNA molecule, the
      polyU/UC RNA domain of hepatitis C virus, which was transcribed in vitro with
      canonical nucleotides or with one of eight modified nucleotides. The approach
      revealed signature assay responses associated with individual modified
      nucleotides or classes of modified nucleotides. For example, while both N-6
      methyladenosine (m6A) and pseudouridine nucleotides correlate with diminished
      signaling, RNA containing m6A modifications bound RIG-I poorly, while RNA
      containing pseudouridine bound RIG-I with high affinity but failed to trigger the
      canonical RIG-I conformational changes associated with robust signaling. These
      data advance understanding of RNA-mediated innate immune signaling, with
      additional relevance for applying nucleotide modifications to RNA therapeutics.
      IMPORTANCE: The innate immune system provides the first response to virus
      infections and must distinguish between host and pathogen nucleic acids to mount
      a protective immune response without activating autoimmune responses. While the
      presence of nucleotide modifications in RNA is known to correlate with diminished
      innate immune signaling, the underlying mechanisms have not been explored. The
      data reported here are important for defining mechanistic details to explain
      signaling suppression by RNAs containing modified nucleotides. The results
      suggest that RNAs containing modified nucleotides interrupt signaling at early
      steps of the RIG-I-like innate immune activation pathway and also that nucleotide
      modifications with similar chemical structures can be organized into classes that
      suppress or evade innate immune signaling steps. These data contribute to
      defining the molecular basis for innate immune signaling suppression by RNAs
      containing modified nucleotides. The results have important implications for
      designing therapeutic RNAs that evade innate immune detection.

PMID- 27651357
TI  - The Effects of Signal Erosion and Core Genome Reduction on the Identification of
      Diagnostic Markers.
AB  - Whole-genome sequence (WGS) data are commonly used to design diagnostic targets
      for the identification of bacterial pathogens. To do this effectively, genomics
      databases must be comprehensive to identify the strict core genome that is
      specific to the target pathogen. As additional genomes are analyzed, the core
      genome size is reduced and there is erosion of the target-specific regions due to
      commonality with related species, potentially resulting in the identification of
      false positives and/or false negatives. IMPORTANCE: A comparative analysis of
      1,130 Burkholderia genomes identified unique markers for many named species,
      including the human pathogens B. pseudomallei and B. mallei Due to core genome
      reduction and signature erosion, only 38 targets specific to B.
      pseudomallei/mallei were identified. By using only public genomes, a larger
      number of markers were identified, due to undersampling, and this larger number
      represents the potential for false positives. This analysis has implications for
      the design of diagnostics for other species where the genomic space of the target
      and/or closely related species is not well defined.

PMID- 27651358
TI  - Adenovirus Early Proteins and Host Sumoylation.
AB  - The human adenovirus genome is transported into the nucleus, where viral gene
      transcription, viral DNA replication, and virion assembly take place.
      Posttranslational modifications by small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) are
      implicated in the regulation of diverse cellular processes, particularly nuclear
      events. It is not surprising, therefore, that adenovirus modulates and utilizes
      the host sumoylation system. Adenovirus early proteins play an important role in
      establishing optimal host environments for virus replication within infected
      cells by stimulating the cell cycle and counteracting host antiviral defenses.
      Here, we review findings on the mechanisms and functional consequences of the
      interplay between human adenovirus early proteins and the host sumoylation
      system.

PMID- 27651359
TI  - Bacteriome and Mycobiome Interactions Underscore Microbial Dysbiosis in Familial
      Crohn's Disease.
AB  - Crohn's disease (CD) results from a complex interplay between host genetic
      factors and endogenous microbial communities. In the current study, we used Ion
      Torrent sequencing to characterize the gut bacterial microbiota (bacteriome) and
      fungal community (mycobiome) in patients with CD and their nondiseased first
      degree relatives (NCDR) in 9 familial clusters living in northern France-Belgium
      and in healthy individuals from 4 families living in the same area (non-CD
      unrelated [NCDU]). Principal component, diversity, and abundance analyses were
      conducted, and CD-associated inter- and intrakingdom microbial correlations were
      determined. Significant microbial interactions were identified and validated
      using single- and mixed-species biofilms. CD and NCDR groups clustered together
      in the mycobiome but not in the bacteriome. Microbiotas of familial (CD and NCDR)
      samples were distinct from those of nonfamilial (NCDU) samples. The abundance of
      Serratia marcescens and Escherichia coli was elevated in CD patients, while that
      of beneficial bacteria was decreased. The abundance of the fungus Candida
      tropicalis was significantly higher in CD than in NCDR (P = 0.003) samples and
      positively correlated with levels of anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies
      (ASCA). The abundance of C. tropicalis was positively correlated with S.
      marcescens and E. coli, suggesting that these organisms interact in the gut. The
      mass and thickness of triple-species (C. tropicalis plus S. marcescens plus E.
      coli) biofilm were significantly greater than those of single- and double-species
      biofilms. C. tropicalis biofilms comprised blastospores, while double- and triple
      species biofilms were enriched in hyphae. S. marcescens used fimbriae to
      coaggregate or attach with C. tropicalis/E. coli, while E. coli was closely
      apposed with C. tropicalis Specific interkingdom microbial interactions may be
      key determinants in CD. IMPORTANCE: Here, we characterized the gut bacterial
      microbiota (bacteriome) and fungal community (mycobiome) in multiplex families
      with CD and healthy relatives and defined the microbial interactions leading to
      dysbiosis in CD. We identified fungal (Candida tropicalis) and bacterial
      (Serratia marcescens and Escherichia coli) species that are associated with CD
      dysbiosis. Additionally, we found that the level of anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae
      antibodies (ASCA; a known CD biomarker) was associated with the abundance of C.
      tropicalis We also identified positive interkingdom correlations between C.
      tropicalis, E. coli, and S. marcescens in CD patients and validated these
      correlations using in vitro biofilms. These results provide insight into the
      roles of bacteria and fungi in CD and may lead to the development of novel
      treatment approaches and diagnostic assays.

PMID- 27651360
TI  - Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptides with Reduced Activation of Toll-Like Receptor
      Signaling Have Potent Bactericidal Activity against Colistin-Resistant Bacteria.
AB  - The world is at the precipice of a postantibiotic era in which medical procedures
      and minor injuries can result in bacterial infections that are no longer
      effectively treated by antibiotics. Cathelicidins are peptides produced by
      animals to combat bacterial infections and to regulate innate immune responses.
      However, cathelicidins are potent activators of the inflammatory response.
      Cathelicidins with reduced proinflammatory activity and potent bactericidal
      activity in the low micromolar range against Gram-negative bacteria have been
      identified. Motifs in cathelicidins that impact bactericidal activity and
      cytotoxicity to human cells have been elucidated and used to generate peptides
      that have reduced activation of proinflammatory cytokine production and reduced
      cytotoxicity to human cells. The resultant peptides have bactericidal activities
      comparable to that of colistin and can kill colistin-resistant bacteria.
      IMPORTANCE: Cathelicidins are antimicrobial peptides that can also increase
      inflammatory responses. This combination of activities can cause complications in
      the treatment of bacterial infections despite the pressing need for new
      antimicrobials. We have identified cathelicidins with decreased activation of
      inflammatory responses. The peptides kill Gram-negative bacteria at low
      micromolar concentrations by binding to and perturbing the integrity of the
      bacterial membrane. The peptides were also engineered to further decrease lysis
      of human red blood cells. The peptides have activities comparable to those of the
      polymyxins, a class of antibiotics to which plasmid-borne resistance is rapidly
      spreading and can kill colistin-resistant bacteria. These peptides are promising
      candidates for the development of novel antibacterial agents.

PMID- 27651361
TI  - Tuberculosis Susceptibility and Vaccine Protection Are Independently Controlled
      by Host Genotype.
AB  - The outcome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and the immunological
      response to the bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine are highly variable in
      humans. Deciphering the relative importance of host genetics, environment, and
      vaccine preparation for the efficacy of BCG has proven difficult in natural
      populations. We developed a model system that captures the breadth of
      immunological responses observed in outbred individual mice, which can be used to
      understand the contribution of host genetics to vaccine efficacy. This system
      employs a panel of highly diverse inbred mouse strains, consisting of the
      founders and recombinant progeny of the "Collaborative Cross" project. Unlike
      natural populations, the structure of this panel allows the serial evaluation of
      genetically identical individuals and the quantification of genotype-specific
      effects of interventions such as vaccination. When analyzed in the aggregate, our
      panel resembled natural populations in several important respects: the animals
      displayed a broad range of susceptibility to M. tuberculosis, differed in their
      immunological responses to infection, and were not durably protected by BCG
      vaccination. However, when analyzed at the genotype level, we found that these
      phenotypic differences were heritable. M. tuberculosis susceptibility varied
      between lines, from extreme sensitivity to progressive M. tuberculosis clearance.
      Similarly, only a minority of the genotypes was protected by vaccination. The
      efficacy of BCG was genetically separable from susceptibility to M. tuberculosis,
      and the lack of efficacy in the aggregate analysis was driven by nonresponsive
      lines that mounted a qualitatively distinct response to infection. These
      observations support an important role for host genetic diversity in determining
      BCG efficacy and provide a new resource to rationally develop more broadly
      efficacious vaccines. IMPORTANCE: Tuberculosis (TB) remains an urgent global
      health crisis, and the efficacy of the currently used TB vaccine, M. bovis BCG,
      is highly variable. The design of more broadly efficacious vaccines depends on
      understanding the factors that limit the protection imparted by BCG. While these
      complex factors are difficult to disentangle in natural populations, we used a
      model population of mice to understand the role of host genetic composition in
      BCG efficacy. We found that the ability of BCG to protect mice with different
      genotypes was remarkably variable. The efficacy of BCG did not depend on the
      intrinsic susceptibility of the animal but, instead, correlated with qualitative
      differences in the immune responses to the pathogen. These studies suggest that
      host genetic polymorphism is a critical determinant of vaccine efficacy and
      provide a model system to develop interventions that will be useful in
      genetically diverse populations.

PMID- 27651362
TI  - Aspergillus fumigatus Photobiology Illuminates the Marked Heterogeneity between
      Isolates.
AB  - The given strain of Aspergillus fumigatus under study varies across laboratories,
      ranging from a few widely used "standards," e.g., Af293 or CEA10, to locally
      acquired isolates that may be unique to one investigator. Since experiments
      concerning physiology or gene function are seldom replicated by others, i.e., in
      a different A. fumigatus background, the extent to which behavioral heterogeneity
      exists within the species is poorly understood. As a proxy for assessing such
      intraspecies variability, we analyzed the light response of 15 A. fumigatus
      isolates and observed striking quantitative and qualitative heterogeneity among
      them. The majority of the isolates fell into one of two seemingly mutually
      exclusive groups: (i) "photopigmenters" that robustly accumulate hyphal melanin
      in the light and (ii) "photoconidiators" that induce sporulation in the light.
      These two distinct responses were both governed by the same upstream blue light
      receptor, LreA, indicating that a specific protein's contribution can vary in a
      strain-dependent manner. Indeed, while LreA played no apparent role in regulating
      cell wall homeostasis in strain Af293, it was essential in that regard in strain
      CEA10. The manifest heterogeneity in the photoresponses led us to compare the
      virulence levels of selected isolates in a murine model; remarkably, the
      virulence did vary greatly, although not in a manner that correlated with their
      overt light response. Taken together, these data highlight the extent to which
      isolates of A. fumigatus can vary, with respect to both broad physiological
      characteristics (e.g., virulence and photoresponse) and specific protein
      functionality (e.g., LreA-dependent phenotypes). IMPORTANCE: The current picture
      of Aspergillus fumigatus biology is akin to a collage, patched together from data
      obtained from disparate "wild-type" strains. In a systematic assessment of 15 A.
      fumigatus isolates, we show that the species is highly heterogeneous with respect
      to its light response and virulence. Whereas some isolates accumulate pigments in
      light as previously reported with strain Af293, most induce sporulation which had
      not been previously observed. Other photoresponsive behaviors are also
      nonuniform, and phenotypes of identical gene deletants vary in a background
      dependent manner. Moreover, the virulence of several selected isolates is highly
      variable in a mouse model and apparently does not track with any observed light
      response. Cumulatively, this work illuminates the fact that data obtained with a
      single A. fumigatus isolate are not necessarily predictive of the species as
      whole. Accordingly, researchers should be vigilant when making conclusions about
      their own work or when interpreting data from the literature.

PMID- 27651363
TI  - High-Risk Human Papillomavirus E7 Proteins Target PTPN14 for Degradation.
AB  - The major transformation activity of the high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV)
      is associated with the E7 oncoprotein. The interaction of HPV E7 with
      retinoblastoma family proteins is important for several E7 activities; however,
      this interaction does not fully account for the high-risk E7-specific cellular
      immortalization and transformation activities. We have determined that the
      cellular non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase PTPN14 interacts with HPV E7
      from many genus alpha and beta HPV types. We find that high-risk genus alpha HPV
      E7, but not low-risk genus alpha or beta HPV E7, is necessary and sufficient to
      reduce the steady-state level of PTPN14 in cells. High-risk E7 proteins target
      PTPN14 for proteasome-mediated degradation, which requires the ubiquitin ligase
      UBR4, and PTPN14 is degraded by the proteasome in HPV-positive cervical cancer
      cell lines. Residues in the C terminus of E7 interact with the C-terminal
      phosphatase domain of PTPN14, and interference with the E7-PTPN14 interaction
      restores PTPN14 levels in cells. Finally, PTPN14 degradation correlates with the
      retinoblastoma-independent transforming activity of high-risk HPV E7. IMPORTANCE:
      High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the cause of cervical cancer, some
      other anogenital cancers, and a growing fraction of oropharyngeal carcinomas. The
      high-risk HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins enable these viruses to cause cancer, and
      the mechanistic basis of their carcinogenic activity has been the subject of
      intense study. The high-risk E7 oncoprotein is especially important in the
      immortalization and transformation of human cells, which makes it a central
      component of HPV-associated cancer development. E7 oncoproteins interact with
      retinoblastoma family proteins, but for several decades, it has been recognized
      that high-risk HPV E7 oncoproteins have additional cancer-associated activities.
      We have determined that high-risk E7 proteins target the proteolysis of the
      cellular protein tyrosine phosphatase PTPN14 and find that this activity is
      correlated with the retinoblastoma-independent transforming activity of E7.

PMID- 27651364
TI  - Emergence of a Potent Multidrug Efflux Pump Variant That Enhances Campylobacter
      Resistance to Multiple Antibiotics.
AB  - Bacterial antibiotic efflux pumps are key players in antibiotic resistance.
      Although their role in conferring multidrug resistance is well documented, the
      emergence of "super" efflux pump variants that enhance bacterial resistance to
      multiple drugs has not been reported. Here, we describe the emergence of a
      resistance-enhancing variant (named RE-CmeABC) of the predominant efflux pump
      CmeABC in Campylobacter, a major zoonotic pathogen whose resistance to
      antibiotics is considered a serious antibiotic resistance threat in the United
      States. Compared to the previously characterized CmeABC transporters, RE-CmeABC
      is much more potent in conferring Campylobacter resistance to antibiotics, which
      was shown by increased MICs and reduced intracellular accumulation of
      antibiotics. Structural modeling suggests that sequence variations in the drug
      binding pocket of CmeB possibly contribute to the enhanced efflux function.
      Additionally, RE-CmeABC expands the mutant selection window of ciprofloxacin,
      enhances the emergence of antibiotic-resistant mutants, and confers exceedingly
      high-level resistance to fluoroquinolones, an important class of antibiotics for
      clinical therapy of campylobacteriosis. Furthermore, RE-CmeABC is horizontally
      transferable, shifts antibiotic MIC distribution among clinical isolates, and is
      increasingly prevalent in Campylobacter jejuni isolates, suggesting that it
      confers a fitness advantage under antimicrobial selection. These findings reveal
      a new mechanism for enhanced multidrug resistance and an effective strategy
      utilized by bacteria for adaptation to selection from multiple antibiotics.
      IMPORTANCE: Bacterial antibiotic efflux pumps are ubiquitously present in
      bacterial organisms and protect bacteria from the antibacterial effects of
      antimicrobials and other toxic compounds by extruding them out of cells. Thus,
      these efflux transporters represent an important mechanism for antibiotic
      resistance. In this study, we discovered the emergence and increasing prevalence
      of a unique efflux pump variant that is much more powerful in the efflux of
      antibiotics and confers multidrug resistance in Campylobacter, which is a major
      foodborne pathogen transmitted to humans via the food chain. Unlike other
      specific resistance determinants that only allow bacteria to resist a particular
      antimicrobial, the acquisition of a functionally enhanced efflux pump will
      empower bacteria with simultaneous resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics.
      These findings reveal a previously undescribed mechanism for enhanced multidrug
      resistance and open a new direction for us to understand how bacteria adapt to
      antibiotic treatment.

PMID- 27651367
TI  - Mycophenolic acid potentiates HER2-overexpressing SKBR3 breast cancer cell line
      to induce apoptosis: involvement of AKT/FOXO1 and JAK2/STAT3 pathways.
AB  - Trastuzumab has been successfully used as a first-line therapy specific for HER2
      overexressing breast cancer patients. However, despite the effectiveness of
      trastuzumab, the occurrence of inherent and acquired resistance remains as the
      main challenge of the therapy. Thus, this has motivated efforts toward finding
      new therapeutic strategies including combining trastuzumab with other drugs to
      enhance its therapeutic efficacy. In that line, we investigated the capability of
      mycophenolic acid (MPA), an inhibitor of de novo guanine nucleotide synthesis
      with potential anti-cancer activity, on improving the response to trastuzumab
      among SKBR3 cells as well as trastuzumab resistant SKBR3-TR cells. Our data
      indicated that irrespective to trastuzumab sensitivity of cells, MPA effectively
      inhibited cell growth through inducing adipocyte-like cell differentiation as
      well as blocking cell cycle progression at G1 phase along with augmentation of
      p27kip expression level. Furthermore, combined treatment with trastuzumab and MPA
      was more potent in cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis
      induction, as evident by flow cytometric analyses and caspase-3 production, in
      both trastuzumab sensitive and resistant SKBR3 cells. Besides, western blot
      analysis showed that elevated apoptosis induction in both cell groups was
      associated with attenuation in phosphorylation of some key elements of HER2
      signaling pathway including AKT, ERK, STAT3 and consequently augmentation in
      FOXO1 expression level in response to combination of trastuzumab and MPA. These
      data suggest that manipulation of intracellular GTP level by MPA and consequent
      molecular perturbation in some of the cell survival and pro-apoptotic relevant
      signaling pathways might provide an alternative clinical strategy for
      chemosensitization of resistant breast cancer cells to anti- HER2 therapy.

PMID- 27651365
TI  - A Regulatory Circuit Composed of a Transcription Factor, IscR, and a Regulatory
      RNA, RyhB, Controls Fe-S Cluster Delivery.
AB  - Fe-S clusters are cofactors conserved through all domains of life. Once assembled
      by dedicated ISC and/or SUF scaffolds, Fe-S clusters are conveyed to their apo
      targets via A-type carrier proteins (ATCs). Escherichia coli possesses four such
      ATCs. ErpA is the only ATC essential under aerobiosis. Recent studies reported a
      possible regulation of the erpA mRNA by the small RNA (sRNA) RyhB, which controls
      the expression of many genes under iron starvation. Surprisingly, erpA has not
      been identified in recent transcriptomic analysis of the iron starvation
      response, thus bringing into question the actual physiological significance of
      the putative regulation of erpA by RyhB. Using an sRNA library, we show that
      among 26 sRNAs, only RyhB represses the expression of an erpA-lacZ translational
      fusion. We further demonstrate that this repression occurs during iron
      starvation. Using mutational analysis, we show that RyhB base pairs to the erpA
      mRNA, inducing its disappearance. In addition, IscR, the master regulator of Fe-S
      homeostasis, represses expression of erpA at the transcriptional level when iron
      is abundant, but depleting iron from the medium alleviates this repression. The
      conjunction of transcriptional derepression by IscR and posttranscriptional
      repression by RyhB under Fe-limiting conditions is best described as an
      incoherent regulatory circuit. This double regulation allows full expression of
      erpA at iron concentrations for which Fe-S biogenesis switches from the ISC to
      the SUF system. We further provide evidence that this regulatory circuit
      coordinates ATC usage to iron availability. IMPORTANCE: Regulatory small RNAs
      (sRNAs) have emerged as major actors in the control of gene expression in the
      last few decades. Relatively little is known about how these regulators interact
      with classical transcription factors to coordinate genetic responses. We show
      here how an sRNA, RyhB, and a transcription factor, IscR, regulate expression of
      an essential gene, erpA, in the bacterium E. coli ErpA is involved in the
      biogenesis of Fe-S clusters, an important class of cofactors involved in a
      plethora of cellular reactions. Interestingly, we show that RyhB and IscR repress
      expression of erpA under opposite conditions in regard to iron concentration,
      forming a regulatory circuit called an "incoherent network." This incoherent
      network serves to maximize expression of erpA at iron concentrations where it is
      most needed. Altogether, our study paves the way for a better understanding of
      mixed regulatory networks composed of RNAs and transcription factors.

PMID- 27651368
TI  - Pim kinase isoforms: devils defending cancer cells from therapeutic and immune
      attacks.
AB  - Pim kinases are being implicated in oncogenic process in various human cancers.
      Pim kinases primarily deal with three broad categories of functions such as
      tumorigenesis, protecting cells from apoptotic signals and evading immune
      attacks. Here in this review, we discuss the regulation of Pim kinases and their
      expression, and how these kinases defend cancer cells from therapeutic and immune
      attacks with special emphasis on how Pim kinases maintain their own expression
      during apoptosis and cellular transformation, defend mitochondria during
      apoptosis, defend cancer cells from immune attack, defend cancer cells from
      therapeutic attack, choose localization, self-regulation, activation of oncogenic
      transcription, metabolic regulation and so on. In addition, we also discuss how
      Pim kinases contribute to tumorigenesis by regulating cellular transformation and
      glycolysis to reinforce the importance of Pim kinases in cancer and cancer stem
      cells.

PMID- 27651366
TI  - Heterogeneity among Isolates Reveals that Fitness in Low Oxygen Correlates with
      Aspergillus fumigatus Virulence.
AB  - Previous work has shown that environmental and clinical isolates of Aspergillus
      fumigatus represent a diverse population that occupies a variety of niches, has
      extensive genetic diversity, and exhibits virulence heterogeneity in a number of
      animal models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). However, mechanisms
      explaining differences in virulence among A. fumigatus isolates remain enigmatic.
      Here, we report a significant difference in virulence of two common lab strains,
      CEA10 and AF293, in the murine triamcinolone immunosuppression model of IPA, in
      which we previously identified severe low oxygen microenvironments surrounding
      fungal lesions. Therefore, we hypothesize that the ability to thrive within these
      lesions of low oxygen promotes virulence of A. fumigatus in this model. To test
      this hypothesis, we performed in vitro fitness and in vivo virulence analyses in
      the triamcinolone murine model of IPA with 14 environmental and clinical isolates
      of A. fumigatus Among these isolates, we observed a strong correlation between
      fitness in low oxygen in vitro and virulence. In further support of our
      hypothesis, experimental evolution of AF293, a strain that exhibits reduced
      fitness in low oxygen and reduced virulence in the triamcinolone model of IPA,
      results in a strain (EVOL20) that has increased hypoxia fitness and a
      corresponding increase in virulence. Thus, the ability to thrive in low oxygen
      correlates with virulence of A. fumigatus isolates in the context of steroid
      mediated murine immunosuppression. IMPORTANCE: Aspergillus fumigatus occupies
      multiple environmental niches, likely contributing to the genotypic and
      phenotypic heterogeneity among isolates. Despite reports of virulence
      heterogeneity, pathogenesis studies often utilize a single strain for the
      identification and characterization of virulence and immunity factors. Here, we
      describe significant variation between A. fumigatus isolates in hypoxia fitness
      and virulence, highlighting the advantage of including multiple strains in future
      studies. We also illustrate that hypoxia fitness correlates strongly with
      increased virulence exclusively in the nonleukopenic murine triamcinolone
      immunosuppression model of IPA. Through an experimental evolution experiment, we
      observe that chronic hypoxia exposure results in increased virulence of A.
      fumigatus We describe here the first observation of a model-specific virulence
      phenotype correlative with in vitro fitness in hypoxia and pave the way for
      identification of hypoxia-mediated mechanisms of virulence in the fungal pathogen
      A. fumigatus.

PMID- 27651369
TI  - High g-Force Rollercoaster Rides Induce Sinus Tachycardia but No Cardiac
      Arrhythmias in Healthy Children.
AB  - Theme park operators and medical professionals advise children with heart
      conditions against using rollercoaster rides, but these recommendations are not
      evidence-based. The underlying assumption is that the combination of adrenergic
      stimulation through stress and acceleration might trigger arrhythmias in
      susceptible individuals. We conducted a cross-sectional observational study to
      assess heart rate and rhythm in healthy children during commercial rollercoaster
      rides. Twenty healthy children (9 male) aged 11-15 (mean 13.3 +/- 1.4) years
      underwent continuous heart rate and rhythm monitoring (2-lead ECG) from 5 min
      before until 10 min after each of 4 high speed (>50 km h-1), high g-force (>4)
      commercial rollercoaster rides. Total recording time was 13 h 20 min. No
      arrhythmic events were detected. Resting heart rate was 81 +/- 10 b min-1 and
      increased to 158 +/- 20 b.min-1 during rides. The highest mean HR (165 +/- 23 b
      min-1) was observed on the ride with the lowest g-force (4.5 g), but one of the
      highest speeds (100 km h-1). Anticipatory tachycardia (126 +/- 15 b min-1) within
      5 min was frequently observed. A 10 min recovery HR (124 +/- 17 b min-1) was 56 %
      greater than resting HR. The speed and g-force experienced on roller coasters
      induce sinus tachycardia but do not elicit pathological arrhythmias in healthy
      children.

PMID- 27651371
TI  - Successful grafting of tissue-engineered fetal skin.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fetal repair of spina bifida results in improved outcomes and has
      therefore become a standard clinical procedure in some highly specialized
      centers. However, optimization of the procedure technique and timing is needed.
      Both might be achieved by facilitating the procedure using laboratory-grown fetal
      skin substitutes. The aim of this study was therefore to test in vivo the
      suitability of such a fetal skin substitute for an in utero application. METHODS:
      Collagen-based hydrogels containing fetal ovine fibroblasts were seeded with
      fetal ovine keratinocytes and transplanted on immuno-incompetent nu/nu rats.
      After 3 weeks, grafts were harvested and analyzed histologically and by
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Laboratory-grown fetal ovine dermo-epidermal skin
      substitutes showed successful engraftment at 3 weeks. Histologically, grafts
      revealed a neo-dermis populated by fibroblasts and with ingrowth of vessels, and
      an epidermis with an adult-like, mature appearance depicting clearly basal,
      spinous, granular, and a corneal layer. Immunostaining confirmed a
      physiologically organized epidermis. CONCLUSION: Fetal dermo-epidermal skin
      substitutes of ovine origin can successfully be grafted in vivo. In a next step,
      we will have to test whether favorable results can also be obtained when grafts
      are used in utero. If so, then human fetal spina bifida repair using laboratory
      grown autologous fetal skin for defect closure may be envisaged.

PMID- 27651370
TI  - Myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers reinnervate tissue-engineered dermo
      epidermal human skin analogs in an in vivo model.
AB  - PURPOSE: The clinical application of autologous tissue-engineered skin analogs is
      an important strategy to cover large skin defects. Investigating biological
      dynamics, such as reinnervation after transplantation, is essential to improve
      the quality of such skin analogs. Previously, we have examined that our skin
      substitutes are reinnervated by host peripheral nerve fibers as early as 8 weeks
      after transplantation. Here, we wanted to investigate the presence and possible
      differences regarding myelinated and unmyelinated host nerve fibers 15 weeks
      after the transplantation of light and dark human tissue-engineered skin analogs.
      METHODS: Human epidermal keratinocytes, melanocytes, and dermal fibroblasts were
      isolated from human light and dark skin biopsies. Keratinocytes and melanocytes
      were seeded on fibroblast-containing collagen type I hydrogels after expansion in
      culture. After additional culturing, the tissue-engineered dermo-epidermal skin
      analogs were transplanted onto full-thickness skin wounds created on the back of
      immuno-incompetent rats. Skin substitutes were excised and analyzed 15 weeks
      after transplantation. Histological sections were examined with regard to the
      ingrowth pattern of myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers into the skin
      analogs using markers, such as Substance P, NF200, and S100-Beta. RESULTS: We
      found myelinated and unmyelinated peripheral host nerve fibers 15 weeks after
      transplantation in the dermal part of our human skin substitutes. In particular,
      we identified large-diameter-myelinated Abeta- and Adelta-fibers, and small
      diameter C-fibers. Furthermore, we observed myelinated nerves in close proximity
      to CD31-positive blood capillaries. In the long run, both types of ingrown host
      fibers showed an identical pattern in both light and dark skin analogs.
      CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that myelinated and unmyelinated peripheral nerves
      reinnervate human skin substitutes in a long-term in vivo transplantation assay.
      Our tissue-engineered skin analogs attract A- and C-fibers to supply both light
      and dark skin analogs. Potentially, this process restores skin sensitivity and
      has, therefore, a significant relevance with regard to future application of
      autologous pigmented dermo-epidermal skin substitutes onto patients.

PMID- 27651372
TI  - The administration of ghrelin improved hepatocellular injury following parenteral
      feeding in a rat model of short bowel syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Long-term parenteral nutrition following massive bowel resection causes
      liver dysfunction, such as intestinal failure-associated liver disease (IFALD).
      IFALD includes two different states, cholestasis and steatosis, which represents
      a life-threatening complication. The previous reports have shown the protective
      role of ghrelin in the liver. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects
      of the administration of ghrelin in the liver in a parenterally fed rat model of
      short bowel syndrome (SBS). METHODS: Rats underwent jugular vein catheterization,
      and were divided into three groups: 90 % small bowel resection (90 % SBR) and TPN
      (SBS/TPN group), 90 % SBR and TPN plus ghrelin (SBS/TPN/ghrelin group), and sham
      operation with normal chow (sham group). Ghrelin was administered continuously at
      a dose of 10 MUg/kg/day. On day 13, all rats were euthanized. The serum chemistry
      was analyzed, the lipid content of the liver was measured, and the liver tissue
      was histologically analyzed. RESULT: The AST and LDH levels significantly
      increased, and the accumulation of lipids in the liver was observed in the
      TPN/SBS group. The accumulation of lipids in the liver of the rats in the SBS/TPN
      group was attenuated by the administration of ghrelin. CONCLUSION: The
      administration of ghrelin has a therapeutic potential for IFALD.

PMID- 27651373
TI  - Decreased Desmin expression in the developing diaphragm of the nitrofen-induced
      congenital diaphragmatic hernia rat model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is presumed to originate from
      defects in the primordial diaphragmatic mesenchyme, mainly comprising of muscle
      connective tissue (MCT). Thus, normal diaphragmatic morphogenesis depends on the
      structural integrity of the underlying MCT. Developmental mutations that inhibit
      normal formation of diaphragmatic MCT have been shown to result in CDH. Desmin
      (DES) is a major filament protein in the MCT, which is essential for the tensile
      strength of the developing diaphragm muscle. DES -/- knockout mice exhibit
      significant reductions in stiffness and elasticity of the developing
      diaphragmatic muscle tissue. Furthermore, sequence changes in the DES gene have
      recently been identified in human cases of CDH, suggesting that alterations in
      DES expression may lead to diaphragmatic defects. This study was designed to
      investigate the hypothesis that diaphragmatic DES expression is decreased in
      fetal rats with nitrofen-induced CDH. METHODS: Time-mated Sprague-Dawley rats
      were exposed to either nitrofen or vehicle on gestational day 9 (D9). Fetuses
      were harvested on selected time-points D13, D15 and D18, and dissected diaphragms
      (n = 72) were divided into control and nitrofen-exposed specimens (n = 12 per
      time-point and experimental group, respectively). Laser-capture microdissection
      was used to obtain diaphragmatic tissue elements. Diaphragmatic gene expression
      of DES was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      Immunofluorescence double staining for DES was combined with the mesenchymal
      marker GATA4 to evaluate protein expression and localization in developing fetal
      diaphragms. RESULTS: Relative mRNA expression levels of DES were significantly
      decreased in pleuroperitoneal folds on D13 (1.49 +/- 1.79 vs. 3.47 +/- 2.32; p <
      0.05), developing diaphragms on D15 (1.49 +/- 1.41 vs. 3.94 +/- 3.06; p < 0.05)
      and fully muscularized diaphragms on D18 (2.45 +/- 1.47 vs. 5.12 +/- 3.37; p <
      0.05) of nitrofen-exposed fetuses compared to controls. Confocal laser scanning
      microscopy demonstrated markedly diminished immunofluorescence of DES mainly in
      diaphragmatic MCT, which was associated with a reduction of proliferating
      mesenchymal cells in nitrofen-exposed fetuses on D13, D15 and D18 compared to
      controls. CONCLUSION: Decreased expression of DES in the fetal diaphragm may
      disturb the basic integrity of myofibrils and the cytoskeletal network during
      myogenesis, causing malformed MCT and leading to diaphragmatic defects in the
      nitrofen-induced CDH model.

PMID- 27651374
TI  - Fenofibrate reduces intestinal damage and improves intestinal recovery following
      intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat.
AB  - PURPOSE: Fenofibrate (FEN) is known as a nuclear receptor activator which
      regulates many pathophysiological processes, such as oxidative stress,
      inflammation, and leukocyte endothelium interactions. Recent studies have
      demonstrated an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-ischemic role of FEN in
      the attenuation of ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in the kidney, liver, brain,
      and heart. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of FEN on
      intestinal recovery and enterocyte turnover after intestinal IR injury in rats.
      METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four experimental groups: (1)
      sham rats underwent laparotomy, (2) sham-FEN rats underwent laparotomy and were
      treated with intraperitoneal (IP) FEN (20 mg/kg); (3) IR rats underwent occlusion
      of both the superior mesenteric artery and the portal vein for 30 min followed by
      24 h of reperfusion, and (4) IR-FEN rats underwent IR and were treated with IP
      FEN immediately before abdominal closure. Intestinal structural changes, Park's
      injury score, enterocyte proliferation, and enterocyte apoptosis were determined
      24 h following IR. The expression of Bax, Bcl-2, p-ERK, and caspase-3 in the
      intestinal mucosa was determined using real-time PCR, Western blot, and
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Treatment with FEN resulted in a significant
      decrease in Park's injury score in jejunum (32 %) and ileum (33 %) compared to IR
      animals. IR-FEN rats also demonstrated a significant increase in mucosal weight
      in jejunum (23 %) and ileum (22 %), mucosal DNA (38 %) and protein (65 %) in
      jejunum, villus height in jejunum (17 %) and ileum (21 %), and crypt depth in
      ileum (14 %) compared to IR animals. IR-FEN rats also experienced significant
      proliferation rates as well as lower apoptotic indices in jejunum and ileum which
      was accompanied with higher Bcl-2 levels compared to IR animals. CONCLUSIONS:
      Treatment with fenofibrate prevents intestinal mucosal damage and stimulates
      intestinal epithelial cell turnover following intestinal IR in a rat model.

PMID- 27651375
TI  - Does catheter shape influence the success of right adrenal venous sampling? The
      interaction of catheter shape to anatomical factors on CT.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the importance of selecting an appropriate catheter shape
      for the right adrenal vein (RAV) anatomy on CT to the success of right adrenal
      venous sampling (RAVS) by elucidating the interactions of anatomical factors with
      catheter shape. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 130 patients with enhanced CT underwent
      RAVS using two catheters: catheter 1 was planar and catheter 2 was a three
      dimensional shape. The following anatomical factors on CT were evaluated in each
      patient: presence of a right adrenal tumor, presence of a common trunk with an
      accessory right hepatic vein, diameter of the RAV, short and long diameters of
      the IVC, ratio of the long to the short diameter of IVC, and the transverse,
      modified transverse, and vertical angles of the RAV. RAVs were classified by
      direction on CT as lateral-caudal, lateral-cranial, medial-caudal, or medial
      cranial. The technical feasibility of each catheter was evaluated by intragroup
      analysis. RESULTS: 108 patients underwent technically successful RAVS with one or
      both catheters. Eight of the 22 patients in whom RAVS was not successfully
      achieved by either catheter within ten minutes required microcatheters; other
      catheters were used in the other 14. The factors that were found to be associated
      with RAVS success were the modified transverse and the vertical angles (p < 0.01)
      of RAV on CT. Catheters 1 and 2 provided stable sampling in the lateral-caudal
      and medial groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Adapting the shape of the catheter
      to the anatomy of the RAV can make RAVS more feasible. The anatomical factors
      that were found to be associated with RAVS success were the transverse angle
      modified by the IVC axis as well as the vertical angle of RAV on CT.

PMID- 27651376
TI  - Current state of knowledge of hepatic encephalopathy (part II): changes in brain
      white matter tracts integrity are associated with cognitive deficits in minimal
      hepatic encephalopathy.

PMID- 27651377
TI  - Current state of knowledge of hepatic encephalopathy (part I): newer treatment
      strategies for hyperammonemia in liver failure.
AB  - Alterations in interorgan metabolism of ammonia play an important role in the
      onset of hyperammonemia in liver failure. Glutamine synthetase (GS) in muscle is
      an important target for ammonia removal strategies in hyperammonemia. Ornithine
      Phenylacetate (OP) is hypothesized to remove ammonia by providing glutamate as a
      substrate for increased GS activity and hence glutamine production. The newly
      generated glutamine conjugates with phenylacetate forming phenylacetylglutamine
      which can be excreted in the urine, providing an excretion pathway for ammonia.
      We have also shown that OP targets glycine metabolism, providing an additional
      ammonia reducing effect.

PMID- 27651378
TI  - Reduced expression of EphA5 is associated with lymph node metastasis, advanced
      TNM stage, and poor prognosis in colorectal carcinoma.
AB  - Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the third most common cancer and a major cause of
      morbidity and mortality throughout the world. The prognosis of patients has
      improved markedly over the last 15 years because of the introduction of new
      therapy including molecular target drugs. To comprehensively understand the
      molecular process of carcinogenesis of colorectal carcinoma is essential for the
      diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. EphA5 is a member of the Eph family and plays
      a critical role in carcinogenesis of lung cancer, prostate cancer, and breast
      cancer. The expression profile and the role of EphA5 in colorectal carcinoma have
      not been well investigated till now. In this study, a set of colorectal carcinoma
      specimens was subjected to immunohistochemical assay using an EphA5 specific
      antibody. The relationship between the expression of EphA5 and
      clinicopathological parameters was statistically analyzed. EphA5 was positively
      expressed in all tested normal mucosa specimens (120/120, 100%) and partly in
      colorectal carcinoma specimens (70/120, 58.3%). The loss of EphA5 protein was
      associated with depth of wall invasion (P=0.002), poor tumor differentiation
      (P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), and advanced TNM stage (P<0.001). The
      survival analysis showed that patients with reduced expression of EphA5 had a
      poor overall survival (P=0.017). Our data indicate that EphA5 receptor may be a
      tumor suppressor in colorectal carcinoma and it may be a new therapeutic target
      for colorectal carcinoma.

PMID- 27651380
TI  - Multilevel programming in Cu/NiO y /NiO x /Pt unipolar resistive switching
      devices.
AB  - The application of a NiO y /NiO x bilayer in resistive switching (RS) devices
      with x > y was studied for its ability to achieve reliable multilevel cell (MLC)
      characteristics. A sharp change in resistance brought about by sweeping the
      voltage, along with an improved on/off ratio (>10(3)) and endurance (10(4)) were
      achieved in the bilayer structure as compared to the single NiO x layer devices.
      Moreover, it was found that nonvolatile and stable resistance levels, especially
      the multiple low-resistance states of Cu/NiO y /NiO x /Pt memory devices, could
      be controlled by varying the compliance current. All the multilevel resistance
      states of the Cu/NiO y /NiO x /Pt bilayer devices were stable for up to 500
      consecutive dc switching cycles, as compared to the Cu/NiO x /Pt single layer
      devices. The temperature-dependent variation of the high and low resistance
      states of both the bilayer and single layer devices was further investigated to
      elucidate the charge conduction mechanism. Finally, based on a detailed analysis
      of the experimental results, comparisons of the possible models for RS in bilayer
      and single layer memory devices have also been discussed. 

PMID- 27651381
TI  - Month of Conception and Learning Disabilities: A Record-Linkage Study of 801,592
      Children.
AB  - Learning disabilities have profound, long-lasting health sequelae. Affected
      children born over the course of 1 year in the United States of America generated
      an estimated lifetime cost of $51.2 billion. Results from some studies have
      suggested that autistic spectrum disorder may vary by season of birth, but there
      have been few studies in which investigators examined whether this is also true
      of other causes of learning disabilities. We undertook Scotland-wide record
      linkage of education (annual pupil census) and maternity (Scottish Morbidity
      Record 02) databases for 801,592 singleton children attending Scottish schools in
      2006-2011. We modeled monthly rates using principal sine and cosine
      transformations of the month number and demonstrated cyclicity in the percentage
      of children with special educational needs. Rates were highest among children
      conceived in the first quarter of the year (January-March) and lowest among those
      conceived in the third (July-September) (8.9% vs 7.6%; P < 0.001). Seasonal
      variations were specific to autistic spectrum disorder, intellectual
      disabilities, and learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia) and were absent for
      sensory or motor/physical impairments and mental, physical, or communication
      problems. Seasonality accounted for 11.4% (95% confidence interval: 9.0, 13.7) of
      all cases. Some biologically plausible causes of this variation, such as
      infection and maternal vitamin D levels, are potentially amendable to
      intervention.

PMID- 27651379
TI  - Functional Outcome After Poor-Grade Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Single-Center
      Study and Systematic Literature Review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (World
      Federation of Neurosurgical Societies grade 4 and 5) is associated with high
      mortality rates and unfavorable functional outcomes. We report a single-center
      cohort of poor-grade SAH patients, combined with a systematic review of studies
      reporting functional outcome in the poor-grade SAH population. METHODS: Data on a
      cohort of poor-grade SAH patients treated between 2009 and 2013 were
      retrospectively collected and combined with a systematic review (from inception
      to November 2015; PubMed, Embase). Two reviewers assessed the studies
      independently based on predefined inclusion criteria: consecutive poor-grade SAH,
      functional outcome measured at least 3 months after hemorrhage, and the report of
      patients who died before aneurysm treatment. RESULTS: The search yielded 329
      publications, and 23 met our inclusion criteria with 2713 subjects enrolled from
      1977 to 2014 in 10 countries (including 179 poor-grade patients from our cohort).
      Mortality rate was 60 % (1683 patients), of which 806 (29 %) died before and 877
      (31 %) died after aneurysm treatment, respectively. Treatment was undertaken in
      1775 patients (1775/2826-63 %): 1347 by surgical clipping (1347/1775-76 %) and
      428 (428/1775-24 %) by endovascular methods. Outcome was favorable in 794
      patients (28 %) and unfavorable in 1867 (66 %). When the studies were grouped
      into decades, favorable outcome increased from 13 % in the late 1970s to early
      1980s to 35 % in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and remained unchanged
      thereafter. CONCLUSION: Although mortality remains high in poor-grade SAH
      patients, a favorable functional outcome can be achieved in approximately one
      third of patients. The development of new diagnostic methods and implementation
      of therapeutic approaches were probably responsible for the decrease in mortality
      and improvement in the functional outcome from 1970 to the 1990s. The plateau in
      functional outcome seen thereafter might be explained by the treatment of sicker
      and older patients and by the lack of new therapeutic interventions specific for
      SAH.

PMID- 27651382
TI  - Associations of the Transforming Growth Factor beta/Smad Pathway, Body Mass
      Index, and Physical Activity With Breast Cancer Outcomes: Results From the
      Shanghai Breast Cancer Study.
AB  - The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) pathway plays an important role in
      breast cancer progression and in metabolic regulation and energy homeostasis. The
      prognostic significance of TGF-beta interaction with obesity and physical
      activity in breast cancer patients remains unclear. We evaluated the expression
      of TGF-beta type II receptor and pSmad2 immunohistochemically in breast cancer
      tissue from 1,045 patients in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study (2002-2005). We
      found that the presence of nuclear pSmad2 in breast cancer cells was inversely
      associated with overall and disease-free survival, predominantly among
      participants with lower body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)2) and a
      moderate level of physical activity. However, the test for multiplicative
      interaction produced a significant result only for BMI (for disease-free survival
      and overall survival, adjusted hazard ratios were 1.79 and 2.05, respectively).
      In 535 earlier-stage (T1-2, N0) invasive cancers, nuclear pSmad2 was associated
      with improved survival among persons with higher BMI (overall survival: adjusted
      hazard ratio = 0.27, 95% confidence interval: 0.09, 0.86). The cytoplasmic
      pattern of TGF-beta type II receptor expression in cancer cells was significantly
      associated with a lower survival rate but was not modified by BMI or physical
      activity. Our study suggests that the TGF-beta pathway in tumor cells is involved
      in breast cancer prognosis and may be modified by BMI through pSmad2.

PMID- 27651383
TI  - Linkage of a Population-Based Cohort With Primary Data Collection to Medicare
      Claims: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study.
AB  - We described the linkage of primary data with administrative claims using the
      Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study and
      Medicare. REGARDS study data were linked with Medicare claims by use of Social
      Security numbers. We compared REGARDS participants by Medicare linkage status,
      having fee-for-service (FFS) coverage or not, and with a 5% sample of Medicare
      beneficiaries who had FFS coverage in 2005, overall, by age (45-64 and >=65
      years), and by race. Among REGARDS participants who were >=65 years of age, 80%
      had data linked to Medicare on their study-visit date (64% with FFS coverage). No
      differences except race and sex were present between REGARDS participants without
      Medicare linkage and those with data linked to Medicare with and without FFS
      coverage. After the age-sex-race adjustment, comorbid conditions and health-care
      utilization were similar for those with FFS coverage in the REGARDS study and the
      5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries. Among REGARDS participants aged 45-64 years,
      11% had FFS coverage on their study-visit date. In this age group, differences
      were present between participants with and without FFS coverage and the Medicare
      5% sample with FFS coverage. In conclusion, REGARDS participants aged >=65 years
      with FFS coverage are representative of the study cohort and the US population
      aged >=65 years with FFS coverage.

PMID- 27651385
TI  - Bilateral isolated facial palsy with fast recovery in infectious mononucleosis.

PMID- 27651384
TI  - Accounting for Life-Course Exposures in Epigenetic Biomarker Association Studies:
      Early Life Socioeconomic Position, Candidate Gene DNA Methylation, and Adult
      Cardiometabolic Risk.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that epigenetic programming may mediate the relationship
      between early life environment, including parental socioeconomic position, and
      adult cardiometabolic health. However, interpreting associations between early
      environment and adult DNA methylation may be difficult because of time-dependent
      confounding by life-course exposures. Among 613 adult women (mean age = 32 years)
      of the Jerusalem Perinatal Study Family Follow-up (2007-2009), we investigated
      associations between early life socioeconomic position (paternal occupation and
      parental education) and mean adult DNA methylation at 5 frequently studied
      cardiometabolic and stress-response genes (ABCA1, INS-IGF2, LEP, HSD11B2, and
      NR3C1). We used multivariable linear regression and marginal structural models to
      estimate associations under 2 causal structures for life-course exposures and
      timing of methylation measurement. We also examined whether methylation was
      associated with adult cardiometabolic phenotype. Higher maternal education was
      consistently associated with higher HSD11B2 methylation (e.g., 0.5%-point higher
      in 9-12 years vs. <=8 years, 95% confidence interval: 0.1, 0.8). Higher HSD11B2
      methylation was also associated with lower adult weight and total and low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol. We found that associations with early life socioeconomic
      position measures were insensitive to different causal assumption; however,
      exploratory analysis did not find evidence for a mediating role of methylation in
      socioeconomic position-cardiometabolic risk associations.

PMID- 27651387
TI  - University does not have to release copies of contract with Boehringer Ingelheim
      Foundation, German court rules.

PMID- 27651388
TI  - Physics of higher orbital bands in optical lattices: a review.
AB  - The orbital degree of freedom plays a fundamental role in understanding the
      unconventional properties in solid state materials. Experimental progress in
      quantum atomic gases has demonstrated that high orbitals in optical lattices can
      be used to construct quantum emulators of exotic models beyond natural crystals,
      where novel many-body states such as complex Bose-Einstein condensates and
      topological semimetals emerge. A brief introduction of orbital degrees of freedom
      in optical lattices is given and a summary of exotic orbital models and resulting
      many-body phases is provided. Experimental consequences of the novel phases are
      also discussed.

PMID- 27651386
TI  - Treatment of chronic subdural hematoma by novel YL-1 hollow needle aspiration
      drainage system (697 cases report).
AB  - It is written to discuss the effect and syndromes of novel YL-1 hollow needle
      aspiration drainage system to treat chronic subdural hematoma. Collecting
      clinical data about 697 patients with chronic subdural hematoma in neurosurgery
      of People' Hospital in North Jiangsu from January 2004 to December 2014,
      including clinical manifestation, imaging data, operation time, postoperative
      complications and prognostic factors and so on. 593 patients got cured, 53
      patients with recurrence, 19 patients with acute subdural hematoma, 13 patients
      with poor drainage, 9 case of patients with acute epidural hematoma, puncture
      failure in 6 cases, 3 cases of pulmonary infection, one got intracranial
      hemorrhage (brain stem and basal ganglia hemorrhage). The total time of the
      operation is 15-28 min, the mean time is 18 +/- 3.6 min, the average retention
      time of novel YL-1 hollow needle aspiration drainage system was 2.6 +/- 1.3 days,
      the average use of urokinase was 30,000 +/- 2.10,000 units. It takes a short time
      for novel YL-1 hollow needle aspiration drainage system to treat chronic subdural
      hematoma without any syndromes like brain tissue injury, tension pneumocrania,
      intracranial infection and so on. The clinical cure rate is 85.08 %, recurrence
      rate is 7.6 %. Using novel YL-1 hollow needle aspiration drainage system to treat
      chronic subdural hematoma is such a minimally invasive surgical technology which
      has a higher curative rate, small damage, is also easy to operate with security
      and less severe complications.

PMID- 27651389
TI  - The search for the tipping point on when to anticoagulate patients with atrial
      fibrillation.

PMID- 27651390
TI  - Coronary bypass surgery versus stenting in multivessel disease involving the
      proximal left anterior descending coronary artery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In patients with multivessel disease and proximal left anterior
      descending artery (LAD) involvement, the best revascularisation strategy is still
      unclear. We assess outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents in a pooled
      analysis of individual patient-level data of the SYNTAX and BEST randomised
      trials. DESIGN: Proximal LAD involvement was defined by any lesion >= 50%
      diameter stenosis in the arterial segment starting from the left-main bifurcation
      up to (and including) the origin of the first major septal branch. The primary
      endpoint was the composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) or
      stroke at 5 years of follow-up. RESULTS: The present study population comprises
      1166 patients of which 577 were randomised to PCI and 589 to CABG. Baseline
      characteristics were well balanced across study arms. The primary endpoint
      occurred in 94 (16.3%) patients in the PCI arm and in 68 (11.5%) patients in the
      CABG arm (HR 1.43; 95%CI 1.05 to 1.95; p=0.026). CABG was also associated with a
      significantly lower rate of cardiac death (p=0.007), MI (p<0.001), all-cause
      revascularisation (p<0.001) and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular
      events (all-cause death, MI, stroke, revascularisation) (p<0.001). The rates of
      all-cause mortality (p=0.06) and stroke (p=0.09) were not statistically different
      between the two groups. The overall study results for the primary outcome were
      consistent across several subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with multivessel
      disease with proximal LAD involvement, CABG is associated with lower rates of the
      safety composite endpoint of death, MI or stroke as compared with PCI with drug
      eluting stents at 5 years of follow-up (number needed to treat=21). TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: PRECOMBAT clinicaltrials.gov NCT00997828; SYNTAX:
      clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00114972 NCT00114972.

PMID- 27651391
TI  - Angelfishes, Paper Tigers, and the Devilish Taxonomy of the Centropyge flavissima
      Complex.
AB  - The pygmy angelfishes (genus Centropyge) provide numerous examples of discordance
      between color morphology, taxonomy, and evolutionary genetic lineages. This
      discordance is especially evident in the Centropyge flavissima complex, which
      includes three primary color morphs, three previously recognized species (C.
      flavissima, Centropyge eibli, and Centropyge vrolikii) and three distinct
      mitochondrial (mtDNA) lineages that do not align with species designations. Our
      previous research showed that the putative C. flavissima arose independently in
      the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the three mtDNA lineages align with geography
      rather than species assignments. Here, we add 157 specimens to the previous
      dataset of 291 specimens, spread across a greater geographic range, to pinpoint
      the distribution of mtDNA lineages and color morphs. We found that the mtDNA
      lineages show remarkably strong geographic boundaries corresponding to the Indian
      Ocean, Central-West Pacific, and Central-South Pacific. We also test the validity
      of the "Black Tiger Centropyge" in the C. flavissima species complex, a taxonomic
      oddity that is restricted to shoals and atolls off the coast of northwestern
      Australia, and the newly named Centropyge cocosensis assigned to the C.
      flavissima lineage in the Indian Ocean. We conclude that the Black Tiger
      Centropyge is not a valid species but rather an intermediate between sympatric
      color morphs that correspond to the putative species C. eibli and C. vrolikii Our
      greater sampling efforts also do not support the genetic distinctiveness of C.
      cocosensis given shared mtDNA haplotypes with the sympatric C. eibli and C.
      vrolikii, but instead we find conflicting lines of evidence concerning the
      taxonomy of this group. We urge caution and taxonomic restraint until the true
      nature of this species complex can be revealed.

PMID- 27651392
TI  - Doctors could be asked to declare private income, NHS England says.

PMID- 27651394
TI  - Self-management education for rehabilitation inpatients suffering from
      inflammatory bowel disease: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Although inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects patients' psychological well
      being, previous educational programs have failed to demonstrate effects on
      psychosocial outcomes and quality of life. Therefore, we developed a group-based
      psychoeducational program that combined provision of both medical information and
      psychological self-management skills, delivered in an interactive manner, and
      evaluated it in a large, cluster-randomized trial. We assigned 540 rehabilitation
      inpatients suffering from IBD (mean age 43 years, 66% female) to either the new
      intervention or a control group comprising the same overall intensity and the
      same medical information, but only general psychosocial information. The primary
      outcome was patient-reported IBD-related concerns. Secondary outcomes included
      disease knowledge, coping, self-management skills, fear of progression, anxiety,
      depression and quality of life. Assessments took place at baseline, end of
      rehabilitation and after 3 and 12 months.The psychoeducational self-management
      program did not prove superior to the control group regarding primary and
      secondary outcomes. However, positive changes over time occurred in both groups
      regarding most outcomes. The superior effectiveness of the newly developed
      psychoeducational program could not be demonstrated. Since the intervention and
      control groups may have been too similar, this trial may have been too
      conservative to produce between-group effects.

PMID- 27651395
TI  - Cortical Bony Thickening of the Lateral Intercondylar Wall: The Functional
      Attachment of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anatomy of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has become the
      subject of much debate. There has been extensive study into attachment points of
      the native ligament, especially regarding the femoral attachment. Some of these
      studies have suggested that fibers in the ACL are of differing functional
      importance. Fibers with higher functional importance would be expected to exert
      larger mechanical stress on the bone. According to Wolff's law, cortical
      thickening would be expected in these areas. PURPOSE: To examine cortical
      thickening in the region of the ACL footprint (ie, the functional footprint of
      the ACL). STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study. METHODS: Using micro
      computed tomography with resolutions ranging from 71 to 91 MUm, the cortical
      thickness of the lateral wall of the intercondylar notch in 17 cadaveric knees
      was examined, along with surface topography. After image processing, the
      relationship between the cortical thickening and surface topology was visually
      compared. RESULTS: A pattern of cortical thickening consistent with the
      functional footprint of the ACL was found. On average, this area was 3 times
      thicker than the surrounding bone and significantly thicker than the remaining
      lateral wall ( P < .0001). This thickening was roughly elliptical in shape (with
      a mean centroid at 23.5 h:31 t on a Bernard and Hertel grid) and had areas higher
      on the wall where greater thickness was present. The relationship to previously
      reported osseous landmarks was variable, although the patterns were broadly
      consistent with those reported in previous studies describing direct and indirect
      fibers of the ACL. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study are consistent with
      those of recent studies describing fibers in the ACL of differing functional
      importance. The area in which the thickening was found has been defined and is
      likely to represent the functional footprint of the ACL. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This
      information is of value to surgeons when determining the optimal place to
      position the femoral attachment site of the reconstructed ACL.

PMID- 27651393
TI  - Evolution of Digestive Enzymes and RNASE1 Provides Insights into Dietary Switch
      of Cetaceans.
AB  - Although cetaceans (whales, porpoises, and dolphins) have multi-chambered
      stomachs, feeding habits of modern cetaceans have dramatically changed from
      herbivorous to carnivorous. However, the genetic basis underlying this dietary
      switch remains unexplored. Here, we present the first systematic investigation of
      10 digestive enzymes genes (i.e., CYP7A1, CTRC, LIPC, LIPF, PNLIP, PGC, PRSS1,
      SI, SLC5A1, and TMPRSS15) of representative cetaceans, and the evolutionary
      trajectory of RNASE1 in cetartiodactylans. Positive selections were detected with
      proteinases (i.e., CTRC, PRSS1, and TMPRSS15) and lipases (i.e., CYP7A1, LIPF,
      and PNLIP) suggesting that cetaceans have evolved an enhanced digestion capacity
      for proteins and lipids, the major nutritional components of their prey (fishes
      and invertebrates). In addition, it was found that RNASE1 gene duplicated after
      the cetartiodactylan speciation and two independent gene duplication events took
      place in Camelidae and Ruminantia. Positive selection was detected with RNASE1 of
      Camelidae and Bovidae, suggesting enhanced digestive efficiency in the ruminants.
      Remarkably, even though the ancestors of cetaceans were terrestrial artiodactyls
      that are herbivorous, modern cetaceans lost the pancreatic RNASE1 copy with
      digestive function, which is in accordance with the dietary change from
      herbivorous to carnivorous. In sum, this is the first study that provides new
      insights into the evolutionary mechanism of dietary switch in cetaceans.

PMID- 27651396
TI  - Tibial Slope Strongly Influences Knee Stability After Posterior Cruciate Ligament
      Reconstruction: A Prospective 5- to 15-Year Follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The reported failure rate after posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)
      reconstruction remains high. Previous studies have shown that the tibial slope
      (TS) influences sagittal plane laxity. Consequently, alterations of TS might have
      an effect on postoperative knee stability after PCL reconstruction. HYPOTHESIS:
      We hypothesized that flattening of TS is associated with increased posterior
      laxity after PCL reconstruction. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence 3.
      METHODS: This study consisted of 48 patients who underwent PCL reconstruction in
      a single-surgeon series. Eight patients underwent an isolated PCL reconstruction,
      27 patients underwent an additional posterolateral corner reconstruction, and 13
      patients underwent a combined reconstruction of the PCL, anterior cruciate
      ligament, and posterolateral corner. Three blinded observers measured TS and the
      side-to-side difference (SSD) of posterior tibial translation (PTT) before and
      after PCL reconstruction using standardized stress radiographs. The minimum
      follow-up was 5 years. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 103 months (range, 65
      187), the mean SSD of PTT was significantly reduced (10.9 +/- 2.9 vs 4.9 +/- 4.3
      mm; P < .0001). The mean TS was 8.0 degrees  +/- 3.7 degrees  (range, 1 degrees 
      14.3 degrees ) for the operated knee and 7.9 degrees  +/- 3.2 degrees  (range, 2
      degrees -15.3 degrees ) for the contralateral knee. There was a statistically
      significant correlation between TS and PTT ( r = -0.77 and R2 = 0.59; P < .0001).
      In addition, there was a significant correlation between TS and the postoperative
      reduction of PTT ( r = 0.74 and R2 = 0.55; P < .0001). Subgrouping according to
      the number of operated ligaments showed no significant differences regarding TS
      or the mean reduction of PTT. CONCLUSION: Flattening of TS is associated with a
      significantly higher remaining PTT as well as a lower reduction of PTT. Notably,
      these results are irrespective of sex and number of ligaments addressed. Thus,
      isolated soft tissue procedures in PCL deficiency may only incompletely address
      posterior knee instability in patients with flattening of the posterior slope.

PMID- 27651399
TI  - Response to: 'Could abatacept directly target expanded plasmablasts in IgG4
      related disease?' by Alegria et al.

PMID- 27651400
TI  - Reliability of mSASSS scoring in everyday practice in DESIR-cohort study centres:
      cross-sectional study of agreement with trained readers.

PMID- 27651398
TI  - Thigh muscle MRI in immune-mediated necrotising myopathy: extensive oedema, early
      muscle damage and role of anti-SRP autoantibodies as a marker of severity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to define the pattern of muscle
      involvement in patients with immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM) relative
      to those with other inflammatory myopathies and to compare patients with IMNM
      with different autoantibodies. METHODS: All Johns Hopkins Myositis Longitudinal
      Cohort subjects with a thigh MRI (tMRI) who fulfilled criteria for IMNM,
      dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM), inclusion body myositis (IBM) or
      clinically amyopathic DM (CADM) were included in the study. Muscles were assessed
      for intramuscular and fascial oedema, atrophy and fatty replacement. Disease
      subgroups were compared using univariate and multivariate analyses. Patients with
      IMNM with anti-signal recognition particle (SRP) autoantibodies were compared
      with those with IMNM with anti-HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR) autoantibodies. RESULTS:
      The study included 666 subjects (101 IMNM, 176 PM, 219 DM, 17 CADM and 153 IBM).
      Compared with DM or PM, IMNM was characterised by a higher proportion of thigh
      muscles with oedema, atrophy and fatty replacement (p<0.01). Patients with IMNM
      with anti-SRP had more atrophy (19%, p=0.003) and fatty replacement (18%, p=0.04)
      than those with anti-HMGCR. In IMNM, muscle abnormalities were especially common
      in the lateral rotator and gluteal groups. Fascial involvement was most
      widespread in DM. Fatty replacement of muscle tissue began early during the
      course of disease in IMNM and the other groups. An optimal combination of tMRI
      features had only a 55% positive predictive value for diagnosing IMNM.
      CONCLUSIONS: Compared with patients with DM or PM, IMNM is characterised by more
      widespread muscle involvement. Anti-SRP-positive patients have more severe muscle
      involvement than anti-HMGCR-positive patients.

PMID- 27651401
TI  - What Do Our Patients Truly Want? Conjoint Analysis of an Aesthetic Plastic
      Surgery Practice Using Internet Crowdsourcing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: What do patients want when looking for an aesthetic surgeon? When
      faced with attributes like reputation, years in practice, testimonials, photos,
      and pricing, which is more valuable? Moreover, are attributes procedure-specific?
      Currently, inadequate evidence exists on which attributes are most important to
      patients, and to our knowledge, none on procedure-specific preferences.
      OBJECTIVES: First, to determine the most important attributes to breast
      augmentation, combined breast/abdominal surgery, and facelift patients using
      conjoint analysis. Second, to test the conjoint using an internet crowdsourcing
      service (Amazon Mechanical Turk [MTurk]). METHODS: Anonymous university members
      were asked, via mass electronic survey, to pick a surgeon for facelift surgery
      based on five attributes. Attribute importance and preference was calculated.
      Once pre-tested, the facelift, breast augmentation and combined breast/abdominal
      surgery surveys were administered worldwide to MTurk. RESULTS: The university
      facelift cohort valued testimonials (33.9%) as the most important, followed by
      photos (31.6%), reputation (18.2%), pricing (14.4%), and practice years (1.9%).
      MTurk breast augmentation participants valued photos (35.3%), then testimonials
      (33.9%), reputation (15.7%), pricing (12.2%), and practice years (3%). MTurk
      combined breast/abdominal surgery and facelift participants valued testimonials
      (38.3% and 38.1%, respectively), then photos (27.9%, 29.4%), reputation (17.5%,
      15.8%), pricing (13.9%, 13.9%), practice years (2.4%, 2.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Breast
      augmentation patients placed higher importance on photos; combined
      breast/abdominal surgery and facelift patients valued testimonials. Conjoint
      analysis has had limited application in plastic surgery. To our knowledge,
      internet crowdsourcing is a novel participant recruitment method in plastic
      surgery. Its unique benefits include broad, diverse and anonymous participant
      pools, low-cost, rapid data collection, and high completion rate.

PMID- 27651403
TI  - Zygomatic haematoma in an 11-month-old helps diagnose retropharyngeal abscess,
      with concurrent tonsillitis and subsequent infant tonsillectomy.
AB  - An 11-month-old boy presented with a 2-day history of non-specific symptoms and a
      zygomatic haematoma. With aetiology uncertain after admission clerking and blood
      tests, a CT head scan was arranged for suspected traumatic injury and revealed a
      retropharyngeal abscess (RPA) with significant airway narrowing in the transverse
      plane. The patient received urgent intraoral abscess drainage and bilateral
      tonsillectomy in theatre. This case highlights the need for a high index of
      suspicion regarding RPAs. These abscesses have potentially fatal sequelae and are
      difficult to diagnose in the infant paediatric population. 

PMID- 27651404
TI  - Unexpected severe native aortic subacute endocarditis due to Bartonella quintana
      in a 40-year-old woman with good socioeconomic condition.

PMID- 27651405
TI  - Pseudoappendicitis: abdominal pain arising from thoracic spine dysfunction-a
      forgotten entity and a reminder of an important clinical lesson.
AB  - Acute or chronic abdominal pain can be mimicked by thoracic spine dysfunction.
      However, it is comparatively rare and there is frequently a delay in its
      diagnosis that may lead to unnecessary surgery, or the patient's symptoms being
      undiagnosed or labelled psychosomatic. The failure to associate thoracic spine
      dysfunction with abdominal pain persists, despite it being first recognised over
      80 years ago. 2 recent such cases are presented. The clinical presentation and
      diagnostic tests are described, with clear explanation of the treatment and
      outcome. The case for including the thoracic spine examination in the assessment
      of patients presenting with acute abdominal or postappendectomy pain that is of
      unexplained origin is made. 

PMID- 27651406
TI  - Polycythaemia: an unusual presentation of multiple myeloma.
AB  - In contrast to anaemia, polycythaemia is a distinctly uncommon finding in
      patients with multiple myeloma. We describe the presence of otherwise unexplained
      polycythaemia in a 57-year-old Caucasian man who was found to have IgG kappa
      multiple myeloma. After treatment of myeloma, the polycythaemia resolved. We
      reviewed previous reports of polycythaemia associated with multiple myeloma and
      discuss potential pathophysiological mechanisms that link these 2 conditions. 

PMID- 27651407
TI  - Apixaban-induced liver injury.
AB  - An 81-year-old woman with well-controlled hypertension presented to the emergency
      department with new-onset atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response.
      Treatment for atrial fibrillation was initiated, including rate control and
      anticoagulation with 5 mg of apixaban two times per day for primary stroke
      prophylaxis. Three days after initiation of apixaban, the patient noted new-onset
      abdominal pain, worsening shortness of breath and weakness. Laboratory results
      showed elevated liver enzymes. Workup for elevated transaminase did not reveal
      any underlying infectious or autoimmune process. Apixaban, a probable cause for
      the hepatocellular injury, was discontinued and replaced with intravenous
      unfractionated heparin to bridge anticoagulation with warfarin. The patient's
      symptoms resolved as her transaminases improved by discontinuation of apixaban.
      We illustrate this case of drug-induced hepatotoxicity secondary to treatment
      with apixaban. It is important for physicians to be aware of this rare adverse
      effect caused by a widely used novel oral anticoagulant. 

PMID- 27651409
TI  - Arterial tortuosity syndrome.

PMID- 27651408
TI  - Immune pancytopenia after chemotherapy in a patient with diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma.
AB  - During treatment for malignant lymphoma, cytopenia can develop for several
      reasons. In the treatment of cytopenia, various possibilities should be
      considered because inadequate treatment causes exacerbation of cytopenia and can
      lead to fatal conditions, such as infection and bleeding. Herein, we describe
      immune pancytopenia 3 months after the last exposure to chemotherapy in a patient
      with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). She suffered from severe pancytopenia
      after two courses of rituximab and bendamustine therapy for a second relapse of
      DLBCL. Immune pancytopenia was diagnosed with bone marrow tests and the presence
      of autoantibodies; it promptly resolved after initiation of prednisolone therapy.
      Clinicians should be aware of immune cytopenia and monitor for it carefully, even
      if patients have already finished chemotherapy treatment. 

PMID- 27651410
TI  - Rare case of bilateral traumatic internal carotid artery dissection.
AB  - A 55-year-old man was working in a trench when the wall collapsed in on him,
      pinning him to the wall. On arrival in the emergency department the patient began
      reporting of right-sided headache. Neurological examination revealed left-sided
      reduced sensation with weakness. Whole-body CT scan showed right-sided flail
      chest and bilateral haemothorax as well as loss of flow and thinning of the
      distal right internal carotid artery (ICA) and loss of grey white matter
      differentiation in keeping with traumatic ICA dissection with a right middle
      cerebral artery (MCA) infarct. He was started on aspirin 300 mg once daily. 3
      days postadmission the patient experienced worsening of vision and expressive
      dysphasia. CT angiogram showed bilateral ICA dissections extending from C2 to the
      skull base. The patient was managed conservatively in the stroke unit for
      infarction and was discharged home for follow-up in stroke clinic. 

PMID- 27651411
TI  - Rat bite ulcer in an insensate foot.

PMID- 27651413
TI  - Containment Care Units for Managing Patients With Highly Hazardous Infectious
      Diseases: A Concept Whose Time Has Come.
AB  - The concept of containment care for patients with highly hazardous infectious
      diseases originated in conjunction with the development of sophisticated
      biosafety level 4 laboratories at the US Army Medical Research Institute of
      Infectious Diseases in the late 1960s. Over time, the original containment
      facility served as a model for the development of other facilities in the United
      States at government and academic centers. The Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015
      brought the issue of containment care into the mainstream and led to the
      development of such capabilities at strategic points around the country. We
      describe the original concepts behind development of such facilities, how the
      concept and acceptance has evolved over time, and how the guidelines for managing
      patients infected with viral hemorrhagic fevers have evolved as new information
      has been learned about protecting medical care providers from highly hazardous
      infectious pathogens.

PMID- 27651412
TI  - Pathogenicity Comparison Between the Kikwit and Makona Ebola Virus Variants in
      Rhesus Macaques.
AB  - Enhanced virulence and/or transmission of West African Ebola virus (EBOV)
      variants, which are divergent from their Central African counterparts, are
      suspected to have contributed to the sizable toll of the recent Ebola virus
      disease (EVD) outbreak. This study evaluated the pathogenicity and shedding in
      rhesus macaques infected with 1 of 2 West African isolates (EBOV-C05 or EBOV-C07)
      or a Central African isolate (EBOV-K). All animals infected with EBOV-C05 or EBOV
      C07 died of EVD, whereas 2 of 3 EBOV-K-infected animals died. The viremia level
      was elevated 10-fold in EBOV-C05-infected animals, compared with EBOV-C07- or
      EBOV-K-infected animals. More-severe lung pathology was observed in 2 of 6 EBOV
      C05/C07-infected macaques. This is the first detailed analysis of the recently
      circulating EBOV-C05/C07 in direct comparison to EBOV-K with 6 animals per group,
      and it showed that EBOV-C05 but not EBOV-C07 can replicate at higher levels and
      cause more tissue damage in some animals. Increased virus shedding from
      individuals who are especially susceptible to EBOV replication is possibly one of
      the many challenges facing the community of healthcare and policy-making
      responders since the beginning of the outbreak.

PMID- 27651414
TI  - Ratio of T-Helper Type 1 (Th1) to Th17 Cytokines in Whole Blood Is Associated
      With Human beta-Defensin 3 Expression in Skin and Persistent Staphylococcus
      aureus Nasal Carriage.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Nasal colonization has gained attention as an effect modifier in
      Staphylococcus aureus vaccine trials, suggesting interference of carriage with T
      cell immunity. Likewise, T-cell signals may be involved in regulating effectors
      of epithelial innate defense. METHODS:  Whole blood from 43 persistent carriers
      and 49 noncarriers was stimulated with viable S. aureus T-helper type 1 (Th1),
      Th2, and Th17 cytokine expression was measured, compared between carrier groups,
      and linked with data on human beta-defensin 3 (hBD-3) messenger RNA (mRNA) in
      skin while adjusting for transcriptionally relevant promoter haplotypes. RESULTS:
      Compared with carriers, stimulated whole blood from noncarriers contained on
      average 60% more interferon gamma mRNA (P = .031) and 19% less interleukin 17A
      (IL-17A) mRNA (P = .11), resulting in, on average, a 90% higher IFN-gamma to IL
      17A mRNA ratio (P = .003). In a multivariable model, per duplication of the mRNA
      template, the risk of being a carrier increased by 93% for IL-17A (odds ratio
      [OR], 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-3.41; P = .023) and decreased by
      35% for IFN-gamma (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.47-0.91; P = .01). Independent of carriage
      and DEFB promotor haplotype, a 1-unit increase in the IFN-gamma to IL-17A mRNA
      ratio (mean +/- SD, 5.93 +/- 1.60) led to a 24% increase in hBD-3 transcription
      in experimentally wounded human skin (P = .003). CONCLUSIONS:  A low Th1 to Th17
      mRNA ratio increases the propensity for persistent S. aureus nasal colonization,
      with downregulated hBD-3 transcription providing a potential link.

PMID- 27651415
TI  - Protease Inhibitor Resistance Remains Even After Mutant Strains Become
      Undetectable by Deep Sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Although treatment-emergent NS3/4A protease inhibitor (PI)-resistant
      variants typically decrease in frequency after cessation of PI therapy in
      patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, HCV susceptibility to
      PIs in patients who have not responded to previous PI therapy has not been
      addressed. METHODS:  Patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection were treated
      either with simeprevir plus interferon or with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir.
      Frequencies of drug-resistant mutations among patients with treatment failure
      were analyzed by deep sequencing. Human hepatocyte chimeric mice were injected
      with serum samples obtained from either treatment-naive patients or nonresponders
      to treatment with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir and then were treated with
      simeprevir and sofosbuvir. RESULTS:  Virological response to daclatasvir plus
      asunaprevir treatment was significantly lower in patients with simeprevir
      treatment failure as compared to those without previous treatment. Deep
      sequencing analysis showed that the frequency of PI treatment-emergent NS3-D168
      mutations gradually decreased and were completely replaced by wild-type genes
      after cessation of therapy. However, mice injected with serum obtained from a
      patient with PI treatment failure rapidly developed NS3-D168 mutations at
      significantly higher frequencies following either simeprevir or sofosbuvir
      treatment. CONCLUSIONS:  The virological response to daclatasvir plus asunaprevir
      treatment was low in patients with simeprevir treatment failure. PI resistance
      remains even after disappearance of mutant strains by deep sequencing.

PMID- 27651416
TI  - NOD2-RIP2-Mediated Signaling Helps Shape Adaptive Immunity in Visceral
      Leishmaniasis.
AB  - Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin 17A (IL-17A)-producing cells are
      described to be related to the protection against Leishmania infantum infection.
      How the immune system coordinates the balance between T-helper type 1 (Th1) and
      17 (Th17) responses during visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is still unknown. Here, we
      combined transcriptional profiling, using RNA sequencing analysis of human
      samples, with an experimental model to show that Th17-related genes are
      suppressed and that Th1 signature genes are induced during human VL. The high
      amount of Th1 cells in VL was dependent on the NOD2-RIP2 signaling in dendritic
      cells, which was crucial for interleukin 12 production through the
      phosphorylation of MAPK. On the other hand, this pathway inhibits Th17 cells by
      limiting interleukin 23 production. As a consequence, Nod2-/- and Rip2-/- mice
      showed defects in Th1 responses and higher parasite loads as compared to WT mice.
      Together, the data demonstrate that the NOD2-RIP2 pathway is activated in murine
      and human VL and plays a role in shaping adaptive immunity toward a Th1 profile.

PMID- 27651417
TI  - Dynamics of Persistent Oral Cytomegalovirus Shedding During Primary Infection in
      Ugandan Infants.
AB  - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection occurs frequently in young children, who, when
      infected, are then a major source of transmission. Oral CMV shedding by 14
      infants with primary infection was comprehensively characterized using
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction weekly for >=9 months. Three phases of
      oral shedding were identified: expansion, transition, and clearance. Viral
      expansion occurred over a median of 7 weeks, with a median doubling time of 3
      days. During the transition phase, expansion slowed over a median of 6 weeks
      before peak viral load was reached. Clearance was slow (22-day median half-life),
      and shedding did not resolve during observation for any infant. Mathematical
      modeling demonstrated that prolonged oral CMV expansion is explained by a low
      within-host reproduction number (median, 1.63) and a delayed immune response that
      only decreases the infected cell half-life by 44%. Thus, the prolonged oral CMV
      shedding observed during primary infection can be explained by slow viral
      expansion and inefficient immunologic control.

PMID- 27651419
TI  - Two Types of Interleukin 17A-Producing gammadelta T Cells in Protection Against
      Pulmonary Infection With Klebsiella pneumoniae.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Klebsiella pneumoniae frequently causes life-threatening infection
      in children. Interleukin 17A (IL-17A) is known to be involved in protection
      against K. pneumoniae infection through activation of neutrophils. METHODS AND
      RESULTS:  We found that IL-17A-producing gammadelta T cells existed more
      frequently in younger mice on examination of IL-17A-producing lymphocytes in the
      lung of naive mice at various ages. We hence compared the protective role of IL
      17A-producing gammadelta T cells against pulmonary K. pneumoniae infection in
      young (3 weeks old) and adult (8-12 weeks old) mice. IL-17A-deficient mice were
      susceptible to K. pneumonia regardless of age. Cgamma-, Vgamma4/6-, or Vdelta1
      deficient mice were susceptible to K. pneumonia at young age, while interleukin
      23p19 (IL-23p19)-deficient mice were susceptible at adult age. IL-17A-producing
      Vgamma1-Vgamma4- gammadelta T cells expressing canonical Vgamma6/Vdelta1 genes
      were dominant over IL-17A-producing Vgamma4+ gammadelta T cells in the lungs of
      young mice after infection. The IL-17A-producing Vgamma1-Vgamma4- gammadelta T
      cells expressed an activation marker, CD69, and proliferated in an IL-23
      independent manner, while the IL-17A-producing Vgamma4+ gammadelta T cells
      expressing IL-23 receptor but no CD69 proliferated in IL-23-dependent manner.
      CONCLUSIONS:  These results suggest that 2 types of IL-17A-producing gammadelta T
      cells are activated for host defense against K. pneumoniae infection by IL-23
      dependent or independent mechanism.

PMID- 27651422
TI  - Tales of The Sea: Connecting people with dementia to the UK heritage through
      maritime archaeology (innovative practice).
AB  - This paper reports on a pilot study evaluating the impact of a series of
      interactive and educational maritime archaeological sessions for people with
      dementia. A typical archaeological approach was adopted including excavations,
      recovery and reconstruction of artefacts. Findings from this study demonstrate
      the importance of providing information, delivering alternative activities,
      enabling educational opportunities and offering support to and for people living
      with dementia. Our findings further illustrate that people with dementia can be
      included in maritime archaeology and that including people with dementia in
      heritage-based initiatives is possible.

PMID- 27651421
TI  - Copovidone-related Cutaneous Response in the Dog.
AB  - A cutaneous response (localized swelling and/or erythema of the skin) has been
      noted in dog toxicology studies in which multiple, unrelated compounds were
      administered orally with copovidone as a vehicle. The response has been noted in
      studies with 6 different test items that are structurally unrelated and span
      several different therapeutic indications spanning an approximate 6-year period
      (2009-2015). A factor common among the studies is the formulation-a copovidone
      amorphous solid dispersion (ASD). Cutaneous responses have not been observed in
      dogs administered non-ASD formulations of the same test items but have
      occasionally been noted in placebo (copovidone control) dogs.
      Polyvinylpyrrolidone (a polymer of one of the primary components of copovidone)
      has been reported to result in similar findings in dogs when administered by the
      intravenous route. Considerations for the role of copovidone and the potential
      role of histamine in the cutaneous changes are outlined.

PMID- 27651423
TI  - Mitochondrial DNA Variation Among Populations of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
      (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) From Pakistan.
AB  - The Red Palm Weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) is a voracious pest
      of palm species. In recent decades its range has expanded greatly, particularly
      impacting the date palm industry in the Middle East. This has led to conjecture
      regarding the origins of invasive RPW populations. For example, in parts of the
      Middle East, RPW is commonly referred to as the "Pakistani weevil" in the belief
      that it originated there. We sought evidence to support or refute this belief.
      First reports of RPW in Pakistan were from the Punjab region in 1918, but it is
      unknown whether it is native or invasive there. We estimated genetic variation
      across five populations of RPW from two provinces of Pakistan, using sequences of
      the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. Four haplotypes were
      detected; two (H1 and H5) were abundant, accounting for 88% of specimens across
      the sampled populations, and were previously known from the Middle East. The
      remaining haplotypes (H51 and H52) were newly detected (in global terms) and
      there was no geographic overlap in their distribution within Pakistan. Levels of
      haplotype diversity were much lower than those previously recorded in accepted
      parts of the native range of RPW, suggesting that the weevil may be invasive in
      Pakistan. The affinity of Pakistani haplotypes to those reported from India (and
      the geographical proximity of the two countries), make the latter a likely
      "native" source. With regards the validity of the name "Pakistani weevil", we
      found little genetic evidence to justify it. 

PMID- 27651424
TI  - Epilachnini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)-A Revision of the World Genera.
AB  - Based on the recent revised generic classification of the tribe Epilachnini
      (Szawaryn et al. 2015), all 27 genera are re-described, diagnosed, illustrated,
      and included in an identification key. The following nomenclatural changes are
      made: Epilachna (Hypsa) Mulsant 1850, Epilachna (Cleta) Mulsant 1850, Solanophila
      Weise 1898, Epilachna (Aparodentata) Wang and Cao 1993, and Epilachna
      (Uniparodentata) Wang and Cao 1993 are removed from synonymy of Epilachna
      Chervolat 1837. The subgenus Cleta of Epilachna is raised to the genus level, as
      Cleta Mulsant 1850 stat. nov.; the subgenus Uniparodentata of Epilachna is raised
      to the genus level, as Uniparodentata Wang and Cao 1993 stat. nov. Chazeauiana
      Tomaszewska and Szawaryn 2015 (type species, Epilachna sahlbergi Mulsant 1850),
      and Epilachna (Hypsa) Mulsant 1850 (type species, Epilachna nigrolimbata Thomson
      1875) are synonymized here under the name Cleta Mulsant 1850 (type species,
      Epilachna eckloni Mulsant 1850)-new synonyms; Fuerschia Tomaszewska and Szawaryn
      2015 (type species, Coccinella canina Fabricius 1781) is synonymized with
      Solanophila Weise 1898 (type species, Epilachna gibbosa Crotch 1874)-new synonym;
      Ryszardia Tomaszewska and Szawaryn 2015 (type species, Epilachna decipiens Crotch
      1874) and Epilachna (Aparodentata) Wang and Cao, 1993 (type species, Epilachna
      yongshanensis Cao and Xiao 1984) are synonymized under the name Uniparodentata
      Wang and Cao 1993 (type species, Epilachna paramagna Pang and Mao 1979)-new
      synonyms. Henosepilachna (Elateria) Fursch 1964 (type species: Coccinella
      elaterii Rossi 1794) is removed from synomyms of Henosepilachna Li 1961 [type
      species, Coccinella sparsa Herbst 1786 (=Coccinella vigintioctopunctata Fabricius
      1775)] and is synonymized here with Chnootriba Chevrolat 1837 (type species:
      Coccinella similis Thunberg 1781)-new synonym. Coccinella flavofasciata Laporte
      1840, Epilachna aequatorialis Gordon 1975, E. bizonata Crotch 1874, E. convergens
      Crotch 1874, E. cruciata Mulsant 1850, E. dubia Crotch 1874, E. monovittata
      Gordon 1975, E. orthostriata Gordon 1975, E. paracuta Gordon 1975, E. patricia
      Mulsant 1850, E. satipensis Gordon 1975, and E. univittata Crotch 1874 are
      transferred to Toxotoma Weise 1900 (comb. nov.); Afissa chapini Dieke 1947, A.
      complicata Dieke 1947, A. convexa Dieke 1947, A. magna Dieke 1947, A. militaris
      Dieke 1947, A. quadricollis Dieke 1947, A. subacuta Dieke 1947, A. szechuana
      Dieke 1947, Epilachna boymi Jadwiszczak and Wegrzynowicz 2003, E. crepida Pang
      and Slipinski 2012, E decipiens Crotch 1874, E. dorotae Bielawski 1979, E.
      hamulifera Pang and Slipinski 2012, E. malleforma Peng, Pang and Ren 2002, E.
      siphodenticulata Hoang 1983, E. angusta Li 1961, E. bifibra Li 1961, E. chingjing
      Yu and Wang 1999, E. circumdata Hoang 1978, E. circummaculata Pang and Mao 1977,
      E. clematicola Cao and Xiao 1984, E. exornata Bielawski 1965, E. folifera Pang
      and Mao 1979, E. fugongensis Cao and Xiao 1984, E. glochisifoliata Pang and Mao
      1979, E. gressiti Li 1961, E. lata Li 1961, E. madanensis Zeng 2002, E. media Li
      1961, E. mobliteratiae Li 1961, E. yongshanensis Cao and Xiao 1984, Solanophila
      acuta Weise 1900, and S. saginata Weise 1902 are transferred to Uniparodentata
      Wang and Cao 1993 (comb. nov.); Coccinella canina Fabricius 1781, Epilachna
      dregei Mulsant 1850, E. infirma Mulsant 1850, E. murrayi Crotch 1874 and E.
      paykullii Mulsant 1850 are transferred to Solanophila Weise 1898 (comb. nov.);
      Afissula antennata Bielawski 1967, A. rana Kapur 1958, A. uniformis Pang and Mao
      1979, Epilachna ampliata Pang and Mao 1979, E. flavimarginalis Hoang 1978, E. max
      Pang and Slipinski 2012, E. parvula Crotch, E. plicata Weise 1889, and E.
      sanscrita Crotch 1874 are transferred to Afissa Dieke 1947 (comb. nov.);
      Epilachna papuensis Crotch 1874 and Subafissa brittoni Bielawski 1963 are
      transferred to Henosepilachna Li 1961 (comb. nov.); Epilachna admirabilis Crotch
      1874, E. alternans Mulsant 1850, E. glochinosa Pang and Mao 1979, E. hopeiana
      Miyatake 1985, E. insignis Gorham 1892, E. macularis Mulsant 1850, E.
      parainsignis Pang and Mao 1979, and Solanophila maxima Weise 1898 are transferred
      to Diekeana Tomaszewska and Szawaryn 2015 (comb. nov.); Epilachna fulvohirta
      Weise 1895, E nigrolimbata Thomson 1875, Henosepilachna griveaudi Chazeau 1975,
      H. vadoni Chazeau 1976, Solanophila consignata Weise 1909, S. coquereli Sicard
      1907, and S. gyldenstolpei Weise 1924 are transferred to Cleta Mulsant 1850
      (comb. nov.); Afidenta janczyki Fursch 1986, Epilachna capicola Mulsant 1850, E.
      godarti Mulsant 1850, E. scitula Weise 1898, Henospeilachna acervata Chazeau
      1975, and Solanophila blaesa Weise 1905 are transferred to Afidentula Kapur 1958
      (com. nov.); Coccinella elaterii Rossi 1794, C. hirta Thunberg 1781, C. pavonia
      Olivier 1808, Epilachna annulata Kolbe 1897, E. biplagiata Kolbe 1897, E.
      cinerascens Weise 1907, E. connectens Weise 1912, E. erichi Weise, 1897, E.
      occellata Bertoloni, 1849, E pauli Weise, 1897, E. tetracycla Gerstaecker, 1871,
      E. umbratilis Weise 1909, E. vulgaris Weise 1901, Henosepilachna bigemmata Fursch
      1991, Solanophila guttifera Weise 1899, S. hova Weise 1905, and S. kaffaeensis
      Weise 1906 are transferred to Chnootriba Chevrolat 1837 (com. nov.); Coccinella
      guttatopustulata Fabricius 1775, Epilachna aruensis Crotch 1874, E. biroi Weise
      1902, E. buqueti Montrouzier 1861, E. fulvimana Weise 1903, E. immaculata
      Bielawski 1963, E. karapensis Bielawski 1963, E. orrori Bielawski 1963, E.
      samuelsoni Jadwiszczak 1991, and E. slipinskii Jadwiszczak 1987 are transferred
      to Papuaepilachna Tomaszewska and Szawaryn, 2013 (comb. nov.). The history of
      classification, the known aspects of the biology and distributional data of the
      tribe are summarized. 

PMID- 27651418
TI  - Staphylococcus aureus alpha-Toxin Response Distinguishes Respiratory Virus
      Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus Coinfection in Children.
AB  - BACKGROUND:  Development of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
      pneumonia after a respiratory viral infection is frequently fatal in children. In
      mice, S. aureus alpha-toxin directly injures pneumocytes and increases mortality,
      whereas alpha-toxin blockade mitigates disease. The role of alpha-toxin in
      pediatric staphylococcal-viral coinfection is unclear. METHODS:  We enrolled
      children across 34 North American pediatric intensive care units with acute
      respiratory failure and suspected influenza virus infection. Serial serum anti
      alpha-toxin antibody titers and functional alpha-toxin neutralization capacity
      were compared across children coinfected with MRSA or methicillin-susceptible S.
      aureus (MSSA) and control children infected with influenza virus only. MRSA
      isolates were tested for alpha-toxin production and lethality in a murine
      pneumonia model. RESULTS:  Influenza virus was identified in 22 of 25 children
      with MRSA coinfection (9 died) and 22 patients with MSSA coinfection (all
      survived). Initial alpha-toxin-specific antibody titers were similar, compared
      with those in the 13 controls. In patients with serial samples, only MRSA
      coinfected patients showed time-dependent increases in anti-alpha-toxin titer and
      functional neutralization capacity. MRSA alpha-toxin production from patient
      isolates correlated with initial serologic titers and with mortality in murine
      pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS:  These data implicate alpha-toxin as a relevant antigen
      in severe pediatric MRSA pneumonia associated with respiratory viral infection,
      supporting a potential role for toxin-neutralizing therapy.

PMID- 27651425
TI  - Long-Term Prediction of Severe Hypoglycemia in Type 1 Diabetes: Is It Really
      Possible?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prediction of risk of severe hypoglycemia (SH) in patients with type
      1 diabetes is important to prevent future episodes, but it is unknown if it is
      possible to predict the long-term risk of SH. The aim of the study is to assess
      if long-term prediction of SH is possible in type 1 diabetes. METHODS: A follow
      up study was performed with 98 patients with type 1 diabetes. At baseline and at
      follow-up, the patients filled in a questionnaire about diabetes history and
      complications, number of SH in the preceding year and state of awareness, and
      HbA1c and C-peptide levels were measured. RESULTS: During the 12 years of follow
      up, there was a decrease in HbA1c, C-peptide levels, and incidence of SH (1.1 to
      0.4 episodes per patient-year; P < .001). At baseline, the relative rate of SH
      was 3.6 (P = .001) and 10.9 (P < .0001) in patients with impaired awareness and
      unawareness of hypoglycemia, respectively, as compared to patients with normal
      awareness. At follow-up, patients with unawareness at baseline tended to have
      maintained an increased rate of SH (RR = 3.1; P = .07). Impaired awareness, HbA1c
      and C-peptide determined at baseline did not correspond with an increased rate of
      SH at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term prediction of severe hypoglycemia in type
      1 diabetes was not possible, although baseline hypoglycemia unawareness tended to
      remain a predictor for risk of SH at follow-up. Therefore, it is important
      repeatedly to assess the different risk factors of SH to determine the actual
      risk.

PMID- 27651426
TI  - Addressing Intimate Partner Violence With Latina Women: A Call for Research.
AB  - Latina women, especially those who are immigrants, have an increased
      vulnerability to intimate partner violence, yet they also have a low rate of
      using formal services (i.e. health care and legal services). Existing research
      focused on Latina women's help seeking for intimate partner violence has
      identified multiple factors, such as the presence of children, cultural values,
      and type of victimization, that influence women's formal help seeking. Immigrant
      Latina women in particular commonly report many barriers to formal services;
      however, heterogeneity and nuanced patterns of help seeking exist across Latina
      survivors. While research has focused mainly on understanding factors that are
      barriers to help seeking by Latina women, there is an overwhelming dearth of
      research about interventions and factors that facilitate effective help-seeking
      experiences for Latina IPV survivors. In an effort to improve Latina IPV
      survivors' access to services, we examine the gaps in research across dimensions
      of access to care (i.e. availability, affordability, accessibility,
      accommodation, and acceptability of services). Research within each of these
      facets of access to services for Latina survivors is lacking. This brief
      commentary illustrates the sparse data to inform evidence based interventions for
      Latina IPV survivors and is a call for research in order to determine best
      practices and to move the knowledge base from the vast descriptive base to
      evidence-based, culturally appropriate and acceptable interventions.

PMID- 27651427
TI  - Characteristic Response to Chemosensory Signals in GABAergic Cells of Medial
      Amygdala Is Not Driven by Main Olfactory Input.
AB  - Chemosensory stimuli from same species (conspecific) and different species
      (heterospecific) elicit categorically different immediate-early gene (IEG)
      response patterns in medial amygdala in male hamsters and mice. All
      heterospecific stimuli activate anterior medial amygdala (MeA) but only
      especially salient heterospecific stimuli, such as those from predators activate
      posterior medial amygdala (MeP). We previously reported that characteristic
      patterns of response in separate populations of cells in MeA and MeP distinguish
      between different conspecific stimuli. Both gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)
      immunoreactive (ir) cells and GABA-receptor-ir cells make this distinction. Here,
      using zinc sulfate lesions of the main olfactory epithelium, we show evidence
      that main olfactory input does not contribute to the characteristic patterns of
      response in GABA-ir cells of male hamster amygdala, either for conspecific or
      heterospecific stimuli. Some GABAergic cells are output neurons carrying
      information from medial amygdala to behavioral executive regions of basal
      forebrain. Thus, the differential response to different conspecific signals can
      lead to differential activation of downstream circuits based on nonolfactory
      input. Finally, we show that an intact vomeronasal organ is necessary and
      sufficient to produce the characteristic patterns of response to conspecific and
      heterospecific chemosensory stimuli in hamster medial amygdala. Although main
      olfactory input may be critical in species with less prominent vomeronasal input
      for equivalent medial amygdala responses, work presented here suggests that
      hamster medial amygdala uses primarily vomeronasal input to discriminate between
      important unlearned conspecific social signals, to distinguish them from the
      social signals of other species, and may convey that information to brain
      circuits eliciting appropriate social behavior.

PMID- 27651428
TI  - Clinical and Functional Impact of Hypogastric Artery Exclusion During EVAR.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hypogastric artery (HA) revascularization during endovascular aneurysm
      repair (EVAR) is still open to debate. Moreover, exclusion-related complication
      rates reported in literature are not negligible. The aim of this study is to
      present and analyze the outcomes in patients undergoing EVAR with exclusion of 1
      or both HAs at our academic center. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed our
      results in patients submitted to EVAR and needing HA exclusion, in terms of
      perioperative (30-day) and follow-up rates of intestinal and spinal cord
      ischemia, buttock claudication, buttock skin necrosis, and sexual dysfunction.
      RESULTS: From January 2008 to December 2014, a total of 527 patients underwent
      elective standard infrarenal EVAR; among those 104 (19.7%) had iliac involvement
      needing HA exclusion. In 73 patients with unilateral iliac involvement (70.1%,
      group UH), many single HAs were excluded. Thirty-one patients (29.9%) had
      bilateral iliac involvement (group BH), of which 16 (51.6%) had 1 HA excluded
      with revascularization of the contralateral one (group BHR); in the remaining 15
      patients (48.4%) both HAs were excluded (group BHE). No 30-day or follow-up
      aneurysm-related mortality, intestinal, or spinal cord ischemia were recorded. At
      30 days, skin necrosis was observed in 2 patients. Buttock claudication and
      sexual dysfunction rates were significantly greater in group BHE than in group
      BHR (P < .05). At a mean 18.6 months follow-up (range: 4-47), buttock
      claudication and sexual dysfunction rates in group BHE were persistently higher
      than that in groups UH and BHR (P < .05); HA coil embolization was significantly
      associated with buttock claudication and sexual dysfunction (P < .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Whenever anatomically feasible, at least 1 HA should be salvaged in
      case of bilateral involvement. In case of unilateral HA exclusion, the rate of
      complications is not negligible. Coil embolization is related to a higher
      complication rate.

PMID- 27651429
TI  - Frontline Science: Placenta-derived decidual stromal cells alter IL-2R expression
      and signaling in alloantigen-activated T cells.
AB  - This study investigated how stromal cells affect the IL-2 pathway in alloantigen
      activated T cells. We found that decidual stromal cells (DSCs) from term
      placentas promoted a high production of IL-2 in cultures with alloantigen
      activated T cells. The intensity of expression of cluster of differentiation 25
      (CD25; IL-2Ralpha) on T cells was increased by DSCs, whereas the frequency and
      intensity of expression of the signaling subunits CD122 (IL-2Rbeta) and CD132 (IL
      2Rgammac) were reduced. Consequently, uptake of IL-2 and STAT5 phosphorylation
      (pSTAT5) was abrogated. DSCs also decreased the proportion of pSTAT5+ T cells in
      response to IL-15, which also use CD122 for signaling. Addition of DSCs to the
      allogeneic cultures did not increase the expression of programmed death 1 (PD-1)
      or CD95, indicating that they did not promote T cell exhaustion. However,
      exogenous recombinant (r)IL-2 in similar concentrations in the same setting
      increased the expression of CD95 and down-regulated CD122 in T cells. The
      antiproliferative effect of sirolimus (SRL) and cyclosporine A (CsA), which
      target the IL-2 signaling pathway, was diminished by DSCs in vitro. To conclude,
      DSCs affect IL-2 production and IL-2R expression and signaling, which may
      contribute to the stromal cell-mediated immune modulation and phenotype shift
      seen in activated T cells. Altered proliferation in cultures when combining DSCs
      and SRL or CsA may be of clinical importance, as stromal cells are used in trials
      for acute inflammation and are often used in combination with conventional
      immunosuppressive therapies.

PMID- 27651430
TI  - TIP60 inhibits metastasis by ablating DNMT1-SNAIL2-driven epithelial-mesenchymal
      transition program.
AB  - HIV-Tat-interacting protein of 60 kDa (TIP60) is a lysine acetyltransferase and
      known to be downregulated in multiple cancers. Among various signalling pathways,
      TIP60 is implicated in regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Here,
      we show that TIP60 expression abrogates cell migration and metastatic potential
      of breast cancer cells using in vitro and in vivo models. Mechanistically, we
      show that this is through its ability to destabilize DNMT1 and inhibit SNAIL2
      function (SNAIL2-mediated EMT/cell migration). Depletion of TIP60 stabilizes
      DNMT1 and increases SNAIL2 levels, resulting in EMT. Recruitment of DNMT1 to the
      SNAIL2 targets in the absence of TIP60 increases DNA methylation on their
      promoter region and further represses the expression of epithelial markers. In
      pathophysiological scenario, we find TIP60 to be significantly downregulated in
      breast cancer patients with poor overall survival and disease-free survival
      prognoses. These data suggest that levels of TIP60 can be a prognostic marker of
      breast cancer progression and stabilization of TIP60 could be a promising
      strategy to treat cancers.

PMID- 27651431
TI  - Ethics in Research: Still an Issue.

PMID- 27651432
TI  - Letter to the Editor: "Directed Acyclic Graphs for Oral Disease Research".

PMID- 27651433
TI  - Response to Letter to the Editor, "Directed Acyclic Graphs for Oral Disease
      Research".

PMID- 27651435
TI  - MicroRNA 4323 induces human bladder smooth muscle cell proliferation under cyclic
      hydrodynamic pressure by activation of erk1/2 signaling pathway.
AB  - We cultivated human bladder smooth muscle cells (HBSMCs) under pressures of 0 or
      200 cm H2O pressure for 24 h, before using microarray technology to extract and
      analyze the different expressions of miRNAs and mRNAs in the two groups. We also
      predicted the target mRNA of the miDNA and performed functional forecasting.
      Changes in miRNA were identified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain
      reaction (qRT-PCR) after overexpressing miRNA by transfection. We used flow
      cytometry to examine HBSMC proliferation, and we used qRT-PCR and Western blot
      analyses to quantify the expression and activation of mRNAs and proteins. There
      were nine upregulated and four downregulated miRNAs involved in cell
      proliferation, including miR 4323, which was identified by qRT-PCR ( p = 0.027).
      In addition, miR 4323 was shown to inhibit LYN ( p = 0.031), decrease lyn kinase
      ( p = 0.037), and promotes the phosphorylation of extracellular regulated protein
      kinases 1 and 2 (Erk1/2) ( p = 0.004). Moreover, overexpression of miR 4323
      activated the proliferation pathway regulated by Erk1/2. Then, miR 4323 was shown
      to stimulate the proliferation of HBSMCs, with the proliferation index improving
      from 30.84 +/- 4.57 to 52.13 +/- 3.41 ( p = 0.001). In summary, when the miRNA
      miR 4323 was overexpressed under cyclic hydrodynamic pressure, LYN is decreased
      and the Erk1/2 signaling pathway is activated; in addition, miR 4323 is involved
      in HBSMC proliferation when under hydrodynamic pressure.

PMID- 27651438
TI  - Unoperated giant coronary arteriovenous fistula: a thirty-year follow-up.

PMID- 27651434
TI  - Differential effects of Pax3 on expression of polysialyltransferases STX and PST
      in TGF-beta-treated normal murine mammary gland cells.
AB  - Glycosylation of certain proteins at the mammalian cell surface is an essential
      event in carcinogenesis. Sialylation, one type of glycosylation, can act on
      multiple cell-behaviors, such as migration, growth, and malignant invasion. Two
      polysialyltransferases, ST8Sia II (STX) and ST8Sia IV (PST), are responsible for
      synthesis of polysialic acid on neural cell adhesion molecule. We showed
      previously that STX and PST are oppositely expressed in normal murine mammary
      gland cells undergoing transforming growth factor-beta-induced epithelial
      mesenchymal transition. The molecular basis for regulation of STX and PST
      remained unclear. In the present study, we observed that transcription factor
      Pax3 upregulates STX expression, downregulates PST expression, and modulates
      upregulated expression of PSA, which attaches primarily to neural cell adhesion
      molecule to form PSA-NCAM. Overexpression of Pax3 in normal murine mammary gland
      cells transformed the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers E
      cadherin and N-cadherin, and significantly promoted cell migration, but had no
      effect on cell proliferation.

PMID- 27651439
TI  - Lethal heart failure with anti-mitochondrial antibody: an arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular cardiomyopathy mimetic.

PMID- 27651436
TI  - Upregulation of microRNA-205 suppresses vascular endothelial growth factor
      expression-mediated PI3K/Akt signaling transduction in human keloid fibroblasts.
AB  - Keloid is one of the most frustrating problems related to wounding healing and
      presents a great challenge in clinic. MicroRNAs (miRs) have shown their potential
      as a novel therapy for the prevention and treatment of keloid. Vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a critical role in the regulation of scar
      development. In the current study, it was hypothesized that miR-205-5p was
      capable of suppressing keloid formation by inhibiting the VEGF-mediated wound
      healing cascade. The expression statuses of miR-205-5p and VEGF in clinical
      keloid tissues and keloid cell line human keloid fibroblasts (HKF) were detected.
      Then the direct action of miR-205-5p on VEGF gene was assessed using dual
      luciferase assay. Thereafter, orchestrated administrations on HKF with miR-205-5p
      mimic, specific VEGF siRNA, PI3K agonist (740 Y-P), and PI3K inhibitor (LY294002)
      were performed to reveal the roles of miR-205-5p and VEGF in keloid formation and
      further explain the mechanism through which miR-205-5p affected the VEGF-mediated
      signaling transductions. Our results showed that there was significant low
      expression of miR-205-5p in keloid tissue specimens and the cell line while the
      expression of VEGF in keloid tissues was augmented. Moreover, miR-205-5p
      overexpression dramatically impaired the cell viability, induced the cell
      apoptosis, and inhibited the cell invasion and migration ability in HKF. Based on
      the detection of dual luciferase assay and detection at protein level, miR-205-5p
      antagonized the keloids by directly targeting VEGF expression and subsequently
      inhibiting PI3K/Akt pathway. The current study is the first one demonstrating
      that miR-205-5p inhibits the pathogenesis of keloids, indicating the potential of
      miR-205-5p in the development of therapies for prevention and treatment of
      keloids.

PMID- 27651441
TI  - Very late outcomes of drug-eluting stents: the 'catch-down' phenomenon.

PMID- 27651442
TI  - Unravelling the molecular basis for cardiac iron metabolism and deficiency in
      heart failure.

PMID- 27651443
TI  - Changes in Therapeutic Intensity Level Following Airway Pressure Release
      Ventilation in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: Airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) utilizes high levels of
      airway pressure coupled with brief expiratory release to facilitate open lung
      ventilation. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of APRV-induced
      elevated airway pressure mean in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study at a 424-bed Level I
      trauma center. Linear mixed effects models were developed to assess the
      difference in therapeutic intensity level (TIL), intracranial pressure (ICP), and
      cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) over time following the application of APRV.
      RESULTS: The study included 21 epochs of APRV in 21 patients. In the 6-hour epoch
      following the application of APRV, the TIL was significantly increased ( P =
      .002) and the ICP significantly decreased ( P = .041) compared to that before 6
      hours. There was no significant change in CPP ( P = .42) over time. The baseline
      static compliance and time interaction was not significant for TIL (chi2 = 0.2 [
      df 1], P = .655), CPP (chi2 = 0 [ df 1], P = 1), or ICP (chi2 = 0.1 [ df 1], P =
      .752). CONCLUSIONS: Application of APRV in patients with severe traumatic brain
      injury was associated with significantly, but not clinically meaningful,
      increased TIL and decreased ICP. No significant change in CPP was observed. No
      difference was observed based on the baseline pulmonary static compliance.

PMID- 27651446
TI  - Common cancers share familial susceptibility: implications for cancer genetics
      and counselling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that cancer is more common in some families than
      in others, but the hypothesis lacks population level support. We use a novel
      approach by studying any cancers in large three-generation families and thus are
      able to find risks even though penetrance is low. METHODS: Individuals in the
      nation-wide Swedish Family-Cancer Database were organised in three generations
      and the relative risk (RR) of cancer was calculated to the persons in the third
      generation by the numbers of patients with cancer in generations 1, 2 and 3.
      RESULTS: The RRs for any cancer in generation 3 increased by the numbers of
      affected relatives, reaching 1.61 when at least seven relatives were diagnosed.
      The median patient had two affected relatives, and 7.0% had five or more affected
      relatives with an RR of 1.46, which translated to an absolute risk of 21.5%
      compared with 14.7% in population by age 65 years. For prostate cancer, the RR
      was 2.85 with four or more affected family members with any cancer, and it
      increased to 14.42 with four or more concordant cancers in family members. RRs
      for prostate cancer were approximately equal (2.70 vs 2.85) if a man had one
      relative with prostate cancer or four or more relatives diagnosed with any
      cancer. CONCLUSIONS: A strong family history of cancer, regardless of tumour
      type, increases cancer risk of family members and calls for mechanistic
      explanations. Our data provide tools for counselling of patients with cancer with
      both low and high familiar risks.

PMID- 27651447
TI  - Psychopathic Traits and the Cheater-Hawk Hypothesis.
AB  - The present study was a direct test of the cheater-hawk hypothesis which argues
      that psychopathy is related to two potentially adaptive interpersonal strategies:
      cheating and aggression. As expected, the measures of cheater and hawk behaviors
      comprised a single factor, according to a maximum-likelihood factor analysis. As
      hypothesized, psychopathic traits exhibited large positive correlations with
      measures of both cheater (entitlement, exploitiveness, and short-term mating
      orientation) and hawk (vengeance and aggression) behaviors. Furthermore,
      psychopathic traits were associated with the tendency of using individualistic
      and competitive tactics in an altruism game and being less likely to act in a
      prosocial manner. Finally, scores on the combined-cheater hawk variable were
      significantly correlated with psychopathic traits. As hypothesized, individuals
      scoring high on Factor 1 of psychopathy were more likely to utilize behaviors and
      strategies associated with the cheater-hawk designation, whether or not they
      scored high on Factor 2 of psychopathy. In general, the findings support the
      conceptualization that psychopathy represents a fast life-history strategy
      characterized by seeking personal gain over others, including exploitiveness
      (cheater), aggression (hawk), and risk taking. Results also indicate that cheater
      and hawk behaviors are part of a single strategy more often employed by those
      higher on psychopathic traits. Implications for treatment success are discussed.

PMID- 27651445
TI  - SCARB1 Gene Variants Are Associated With the Phenotype of Combined High High
      Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and High Lipoprotein (a).
AB  - BACKGROUND: SR-B1 (scavenger receptor class B type 1), encoded by the gene
      SCARB1, is a lipoprotein receptor that binds both high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
      and low-density lipoprotein. We reported that SR-B1 is also a receptor for
      lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), mediating cellular uptake of Lp(a) in vitro and
      promoting clearance of Lp(a) in vivo. Although genetic variants in SCARB1 are
      associated with variations in HDL level, no SCARB1 variants affecting Lp(a) have
      been reported. METHODS AND RESULTS: In an index subject with high levels of HDL
      cholesterol and Lp(a), SCARB1 was sequenced and demonstrated a missense mutation
      resulting in an S129L substitution in exon 3. To follow up, 2 cohorts (GeneSTAR,
      the family-based Genetic Study of Atherosclerosis Risk [n=543], and CCHS, the
      population-based Copenhagen City Heart Study [n=5835]) were screened for combined
      HDL cholesterol and Lp(a) elevations. Subjects with the extreme phenotype (HDL
      >80 mg/dL and Lp(a) >100 nmol/L in GeneSTAR, n=8, and >100 mg/dL in CCHS, n=9)
      underwent sequencing of SCARB1 exons; 15 of 18 from the combined population
      demonstrated genetic variants, including rare or uncommon missense or splice site
      mutations in 9 and homozygous synonymous variants in 6. Functional studies with 4
      of the SCARB1 variants (c.386C>T, c.631-14T>G, c.4G>A, and c.631-53mC>T &
      c.726+55mCG>CA) showed decreased receptor function in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Human
      SCARB1 gene variants are associated with a new lipid phenotype, characterized by
      high levels of both HDL cholesterol and Lp(a). SCARB1 exonic variants often
      result in diminished function of translated SR-B1 via reduced
      binding/intracellular transport of Lp(a).

PMID- 27651448
TI  - Intra- and Extra-Familial Victimization Experiences: Differentiating Between
      Incarcerated Serious Youth Offenders and Youth Rapists.
AB  - Although research is becoming increasingly nuanced by exploring differential risk
      factors linked with types of youth offenders, typological distinctions have
      rarely been made between youth rapists and other serious youth offenders. This
      study tests the relative effects of intra- and extra-familial victimization-while
      holding other theoretically driven variables constant-on membership in three
      mutually exclusive youth offending groups: non-serious non-sexual offenders ( n =
      4,013), serious non-sexual offenders ( n = 2,571), and rapists ( n = 489). Data
      were drawn from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP). Incarcerated
      youth ( N = 7,073) were surveyed on multiple constructs. Using appropriate
      weights in analyses, a multinomial logistic regression (referencing serious
      offenders) revealed youth who were victims of intra-familial physical abuse (22%)
      and intra-familial forced sex (42%) had a decreased risk of being in the non
      serious offender category relative to the serious offender category. Furthermore,
      intra-familial emotional abuse (75%) and intra-familial forced sex (202%)
      demonstrated an increased risk of being in the rapist category relative to
      serious offender category. Although extra-familial victimization was
      statistically significant, victimization within the family had larger effects
      when predicting rape group membership. The research and practice implications are
      discussed.

PMID- 27651444
TI  - Epigenetic Signatures of Cigarette Smoking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: DNA methylation leaves a long-term signature of smoking exposure and
      is one potential mechanism by which tobacco exposure predisposes to adverse
      health outcomes, such as cancers, osteoporosis, lung, and cardiovascular
      disorders. METHODS AND RESULTS: To comprehensively determine the association
      between cigarette smoking and DNA methylation, we conducted a meta-analysis of
      genome-wide DNA methylation assessed using the Illumina BeadChip 450K array on 15
      907 blood-derived DNA samples from participants in 16 cohorts (including 2433
      current, 6518 former, and 6956 never smokers). Comparing current versus never
      smokers, 2623 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites (CpGs), annotated to 1405 genes,
      were statistically significantly differentially methylated at Bonferroni
      threshold of P<1*10-7 (18 760 CpGs at false discovery rate <0.05). Genes
      annotated to these CpGs were enriched for associations with several smoking
      related traits in genome-wide studies including pulmonary function, cancers,
      inflammatory diseases, and heart disease. Comparing former versus never smokers,
      185 of the CpGs that differed between current and never smokers were significant
      P<1*10-7 (2623 CpGs at false discovery rate <0.05), indicating a pattern of
      persistent altered methylation, with attenuation, after smoking cessation.
      Transcriptomic integration identified effects on gene expression at many
      differentially methylated CpGs. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette smoking has a broad impact
      on genome-wide methylation that, at many loci, persists many years after smoking
      cessation. Many of the differentially methylated genes were novel genes with
      respect to biological effects of smoking and might represent therapeutic targets
      for prevention or treatment of tobacco-related diseases. Methylation at these
      sites could also serve as sensitive and stable biomarkers of lifetime exposure to
      tobacco smoke.

PMID- 27651451
TI  - MetaMLST: multi-locus strain-level bacterial typing from metagenomic samples.
AB  - Metagenomic characterization of microbial communities has the potential to become
      a tool to identify pathogens in human samples. However, software tools able to
      extract strain-level typing information from metagenomic data are needed. Low
      throughput molecular typing schema such as Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) are
      still widely used and provide a wealth of strain-level information that is
      currently not exploited by metagenomic methods. We introduce MetaMLST, a software
      tool that reconstructs the MLST loci of microorganisms present in microbial
      communities from metagenomic data. Tested on synthetic and spiked-in real
      metagenomes, the pipeline was able to reconstruct the MLST sequences with >98.5%
      accuracy at coverages as low as 1*. On real samples, the pipeline showed higher
      sensitivity than assembly-based approaches and it proved successful in
      identifying strains in epidemic outbreaks as well as in intestinal, skin and
      gastrointestinal microbiome samples.

PMID- 27651452
TI  - BRD4 localization to lineage-specific enhancers is associated with a distinct
      transcription factor repertoire.
AB  - Proper temporal epigenetic regulation of gene expression is essential for cell
      fate determination and tissue development. The Bromodomain-containing Protein-4
      (BRD4) was previously shown to control the transcription of defined subsets of
      genes in various cell systems. In this study we examined the role of BRD4 in
      promoting lineage-specific gene expression and show that BRD4 is essential for
      osteoblast differentiation. Genome-wide analyses demonstrate that BRD4 is
      recruited to the transcriptional start site of differentiation-induced genes.
      Unexpectedly, while promoter-proximal BRD4 occupancy correlated with gene
      expression, genes which displayed moderate expression and promoter-proximal BRD4
      occupancy were most highly regulated and sensitive to BRD4 inhibition. Therefore,
      we examined distal BRD4 occupancy and uncovered a specific co-localization of
      BRD4 with the transcription factors C/EBPb, TEAD1, FOSL2 and JUND at putative
      osteoblast-specific enhancers. These findings reveal the intricacies of lineage
      specification and provide new insight into the context-dependent functions of
      BRD4.

PMID- 27651454
TI  - Structural dynamics control the MicroRNA maturation pathway.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial gene expression regulators and first-order
      suspects in the development and progression of many diseases. Comparative
      analysis of cancer cell expression data highlights many deregulated miRNAs. Low
      expression of miR-125a was related to poor breast cancer prognosis.
      Interestingly, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in miR-125a was located
      within a minor allele expressed by breast cancer patients. The SNP is not
      predicted to affect the ground state structure of the primary transcript or
      precursor, but neither the precursor nor mature product is detected by RT-qPCR.
      How this SNP modulates the maturation of miR-125a is poorly understood. Here,
      building upon a model of RNA dynamics derived from nuclear magnetic resonance
      studies, we developed a quantitative model enabling the visualization and
      comparison of networks of transient structures. We observed a high correlation
      between the distances between networks of variants with that of their respective
      wild types and their relative degrees of maturation to the latter, suggesting an
      important role of transient structures in miRNA homeostasis. We classified the
      human miRNAs according to pairwise distances between their networks of transient
      structures.

PMID- 27651453
TI  - Identification of a novel distal regulatory element of the human Neuroglobin gene
      by the chromosome conformation capture approach.
AB  - Neuroglobin (NGB) is predominantly expressed in the brain and retina. Studies
      suggest that NGB exerts protective effects to neuronal cells and is implicated in
      reducing the severity of stroke and Alzheimer's disease. However, little is known
      about the mechanisms which regulate the cell type-specific expression of the
      gene. In this study, we hypothesized that distal regulatory elements (DREs) are
      involved in optimal expression of the NGB gene. By chromosome conformation
      capture we identified two novel DREs located -70 kb upstream and +100 kb
      downstream from the NGB gene. ENCODE database showed the presence of DNaseI
      hypersensitive and transcription factors binding sites in these regions. Further
      analyses using luciferase reporters and chromatin immunoprecipitation suggested
      that the -70 kb region upstream of the NGB gene contained a neuronal-specific
      enhancer and GATA transcription factor binding sites. Knockdown of GATA-2 caused
      NGB expression to drop dramatically, indicating GATA-2 as an essential
      transcription factor for the activation of NGB expression. The crucial role of
      the DRE in NGB expression activation was further confirmed by the drop in NGB
      level after CRISPR-mediated deletion of the DRE. Taken together, we show that the
      NGB gene is regulated by a cell type-specific loop formed between its promoter
      and the novel DRE.

PMID- 27651456
TI  - Evolution of Arabidopsis protection of telomeres 1 alters nucleic acid
      recognition and telomerase regulation.
AB  - Protection of telomeres (POT1) binds chromosome ends, recognizing single-strand
      telomeric DNA via two oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding folds (OB-folds).
      The Arabidopsis thaliana POT1a and POT1b paralogs are atypical: they do not
      exhibit telomeric DNA binding, and they have opposing roles in regulating
      telomerase activity. AtPOT1a stimulates repeat addition processivity of the
      canonical telomerase enzyme, while AtPOT1b interacts with a regulatory lncRNA
      that represses telomerase activity. Here, we show that OB1 of POT1a, but not
      POT1b, has an intrinsic affinity for telomeric DNA. DNA binding was dependent
      upon a highly conserved Phe residue (F65) that in human POT1 directly contacts
      telomeric DNA. F65A mutation of POT1aOB1 abolished DNA binding and diminished
      telomerase repeat addition processivity. Conversely, AtPOT1b and other POT1b
      homologs from Brassicaceae and its sister family, Cleomaceae, naturally bear a
      non-aromatic amino acid at this position. By swapping Val (V63) with Phe,
      AtPOT1bOB1 gained the capacity to bind telomeric DNA and to stimulate telomerase
      repeat addition processivity. We conclude that, in the context of DNA binding,
      variation at a single amino acid position promotes divergence of the AtPOT1b
      paralog from the ancestral POT1 protein.

PMID- 27651457
TI  - The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database: update 2017.
AB  - The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD; http://ctdbase.org/) provides
      information about interactions between chemicals and gene products, and their
      relationships to diseases. Core CTD content (chemical-gene, chemical-disease and
      gene-disease interactions manually curated from the literature) are integrated
      with each other as well as with select external datasets to generate expanded
      networks and predict novel associations. Today, core CTD includes more than 30.5
      million toxicogenomic connections relating chemicals/drugs, genes/proteins,
      diseases, taxa, Gene Ontology (GO) annotations, pathways, and gene interaction
      modules. In this update, we report a 33% increase in our core data content since
      2015, describe our new exposure module (that harmonizes exposure science
      information with core toxicogenomic data) and introduce a novel dataset of GO
      disease inferences (that identify common molecular underpinnings for seemingly
      unrelated pathologies). These advancements centralize and contextualize real
      world chemical exposures with molecular pathways to help scientists generate
      testable hypotheses in an effort to understand the etiology and mechanisms
      underlying environmentally influenced diseases.

PMID- 27651459
TI  - Global deformation facilitates flipping of damaged 8-oxo-guanine and guanine in
      DNA.
AB  - Oxidation of guanine (Gua) to form 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8oxoG) is a frequent
      mutagenic DNA lesion. DNA repair glycosylases such as the bacterial MutM can
      effciently recognize and eliminate the 8oxoG damage by base excision. The base
      excision requires a 8oxoG looping out (flipping) from an intrahelical base paired
      to an extrahelical state where the damaged base is in the enzyme active site. It
      is still unclear how the damage is identified and flipped from an energetically
      stable stacked and paired state without any external energy source. Free energy
      simulations have been employed to study the flipping process for globally
      deformed DNA conformational states. DNA deformations were generated by
      systematically untwisting the DNA to mimic its conformation in repair enzyme
      encounter complex. The simulations indicate that global DNA untwisting
      deformation toward the enzyme bound form alone (without protein) significantly
      reduces the penalty for damage flipping to about half of the penalty observed in
      regular DNA. The finding offers a mechanistic explanation how binding free energy
      that is transformed to binding induced DNA deformation facilitates flipping and
      helps to rapidly detect a damaged base. It is likely of general relevance since
      repair enzyme binding frequently results in significant deformation of the target
      DNA.

PMID- 27651460
TI  - 5-methylcytosine-sensitive variants of Thermococcus kodakaraensis DNA polymerase.
AB  - DNA methylation of cytosine in eukaryotic cells is a common epigenetic
      modification, which plays an important role in gene expression and thus affects
      various cellular processes like development and carcinogenesis. The occurrence of
      5-methyl-2'-deoxycytosine (5mC) as well as the distribution pattern of this
      epigenetic marker were shown to be crucial for gene regulation and can serve as
      important biomarkers for diagnostics. DNA polymerases distinguish little, if any,
      between incorporation opposite C and 5mC, which is not surprising since the site
      of methylation is not involved in Watson-Crick recognition. Here, we describe the
      development of a DNA polymerase variant that incorporates the canonical 2'
      deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate (dGMP) opposite C with higher efficiency compared
      to 5mC. The variant of Thermococcus kodakaraensis (KOD) exo- DNA polymerase was
      discovered by screening mutant libraries that were built by rational design. We
      discovered that an amino acid substitution at a single site that does not
      directly interact with the templating nucleobase, may alter the ability of the
      DNA polymerase in processing C in comparison to 5mC. Employing these findings in
      combination with a nucleotide, which is fluorescently labeled at the terminal
      phosphate, indicates the potential use of the mutant DNA polymerase in the
      detection of 5mC.

PMID- 27651462
TI  - A small stem-loop structure of the Ebola virus trailer is essential for
      replication and interacts with heat-shock protein A8.
AB  - Ebola virus (EBOV) is a single-stranded negative-sense RNA virus belonging to the
      Filoviridae family. The leader and trailer non-coding regions of the EBOV genome
      likely regulate its transcription, replication, and progeny genome packaging. We
      investigated the cis-acting RNA signals involved in RNA-RNA and RNA-protein
      interactions that regulate replication of eGFP-encoding EBOV minigenomic RNA and
      identified heat shock cognate protein family A (HSC70) member 8 (HSPA8) as an
      EBOV trailer-interacting host protein. Mutational analysis of the trailer HSPA8
      binding motif revealed that this interaction is essential for EBOV minigenome
      replication. Selective 2'-hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension
      analysis of the secondary structure of the EBOV minigenomic RNA indicates
      formation of a small stem-loop composed of the HSPA8 motif, a 3' stem-loop
      (nucleotides 1868-1890) that is similar to a previously identified structure in
      the replicative intermediate (RI) RNA and a panhandle domain involving a trailer
      to-leader interaction. Results of minigenome assays and an EBOV reverse genetic
      system rescue support a role for both the panhandle domain and HSPA8 motif 1 in
      virus replication.

PMID- 27651463
TI  - The dual role of LSD1 and HDAC3 in STAT5-dependent transcription is determined by
      protein interactions, binding affinities, motifs and genomic positions.
AB  - STAT5 interacts with other factors to control transcription, and the mechanism of
      regulation is of interest as constitutive active STAT5 has been reported in
      malignancies. Here, LSD1 and HDAC3 were identified as novel STAT5a interacting
      partners in pro-B cells. Characterization of STAT5a, LSD1 and HDAC3 target genes
      by ChIP-seq and RNA-seq revealed gene subsets regulated by independent or
      combined action of the factors and LSD1/HDAC3 to play dual role in their
      activation or repression. Genes bound by STAT5a alone or in combination with
      weakly associated LSD1 or HDAC3 were enriched for the canonical STAT5a GAS motif,
      and such binding induced activation or repression. Strong STAT5 binding was seen
      more frequently in intergenic regions, which might function as distal enhancer
      elements. Groups of genes bound weaker by STAT5a and stronger by LSD1/HDAC3
      showed an absence of the GAS motif, and were differentially regulated based on
      their genomic binding localization and binding affinities. These genes exhibited
      increased binding frequency in promoters, and in conjunction with the absence of
      GAS sites, the data indicate a requirement for stabilization by additional
      factors, which might recruit LSD1/HDAC3. Our study describes an interaction
      network of STAT5a/LSD1/HDAC3 and a dual function of LSD1/HDAC3 on STAT5-dependent
      transcription, defined by protein-protein interactions, genomic binding
      localization/affinity and motifs.

PMID- 27651464
TI  - LNCediting: a database for functional effects of RNA editing in lncRNAs.
AB  - RNA editing is a widespread post-transcriptional mechanism that can make a single
      base change on specific nucleotide sequence in an RNA transcript. RNA editing
      events can result in missense codon changes and modulation of alternative
      splicing in mRNA, and modification of regulatory RNAs and their binding sites in
      noncoding RNAs. Recent computational studies accurately detected more than 2
      million A-to-I RNA editing sites from next-generation sequencing (NGS). However,
      the vast majority of these RNA editing sites have unknown functions and are in
      noncoding regions of the genome. To provide a useful resource for the functional
      effects of RNA editing in long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), we systematically
      analyzed the A-to-I editing sites in lncRNAs across human, rhesus, mouse, and
      fly, and observed an appreciable number of RNA editing sites which can
      significantly impact the secondary structures of lncRNAs and lncRNA-miRNA
      interactions. All the data were compiled into LNCediting, a user-friendly
      database (http://bioinfo.life.hust.edu.cn/LNCediting/). LNCediting provides
      customized tools to predict functional effects of novel editing sites in lncRNAs.
      We hope that it will become an important resource for exploring functions of RNA
      editing sites in lncRNAs.

PMID- 27651466
TI  - Plasma-Treated Microplates with Enhanced Protein Recoveries and Minimized
      Extractables.
AB  - SiO2 Medical Products, Inc. (SiO) has developed a proprietary technology that
      greatly enhances protein recoveries and reduces extractables from commercial
      microplates used for bioanalytical assays and storage of biologics. SiO
      technology is based on plasma treatment that chemically modifies the surface of
      polypropylene with predominantly hydrogen-bond-acceptor uncharged polar groups.
      The resultant surface resists nonspecific protein adsorption over a wide range of
      protein concentrations, thereby eliminating the need to passivate (and hence
      potentially contaminate) the microplates with blocking proteins. High shelf-life
      stability and cleanliness of the plasma-treated microplates have been
      demonstrated using five different proteins for two common microplate formats. The
      protein recovery performance of plasma-treated microplates is found to be higher
      compared with commercial low-protein-binding microplates.

PMID- 27651467
TI  - The efficacy and safety of sevelamer and lanthanum versus calcium-containing and
      iron-based binders in treating hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney
      disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Background: It remains unclear which phosphate binders should be preferred for
      hyperphosphatemia management in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: We
      performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing
      sevelamer or lanthanum with other phosphate binders in CKD. Results: Fifty-one
      trials (8829 patients) were reviewed. Compared with calcium-based binders, all
      cause mortality was nonsignificantly lower with sevelamer {risk ratio [RR] 0.62
      [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35-1.08]} and lanthanum [RR 0.73 (95% CI 0.18
      3.00)], but risk of bias was concerning. Compared with calcium-based binders,
      sevelamer reduced the risk of hypercalcemia [RR 0.27 (95% CI 0.17-0.42)], as did
      lanthanum [RR 0.12 (95% CI 0.05-0.32)]. Sevelamer reduced hospitalizations [RR
      0.50 (95% CI 0.31-0.81)], but not lanthanum [RR 0.80 (95% CI 0.34-1.93)]. The
      presence/absence of other clinically relevant outcomes was infrequently reported.
      Compared with calcium-based binders, sevelamer reduced serum calcium, low-density
      lipoprotein and coronary artery calcification, but increased intact parathyroid
      hormone. The clinical relevance of these changes is unknown since corresponding
      clinical outcomes were not reported. Lanthanum had less favorable impact on
      biochemical parameters. Sevelamer hydrochloride and sevelamer carbonate were
      similar in three studies. Sevelamer was similar to lanthanum (three studies) and
      iron-based binders (three studies). Conclusion: Sevelamer was associated with a
      nonsignificant reduction in mortality and significantly lower hospitalization
      rates and hypercalcemia compared with calcium-based binders. However, differences
      in important outcomes, such as cardiac events, fractures, calciphylaxis,
      hyperchloremic acidosis and health-related quality of life remain understudied.
      Lanthanum and iron-based binders did not show superiority for any clinically
      relevant outcomes. Future studies that fail to measure clinically important
      outcomes (the reason why phosphate binders are prescribed in the first place)
      will be wasteful.

PMID- 27651469
TI  - Four seasons for reflecting: Winter. Touch.

PMID- 27651468
TI  - Albuminuria and masked uncontrolled hypertension in chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Background: Masked uncontrolled hypertension (MUCH) is associated with greater
      target organ damage such as left ventricular hypertrophy, increased arterial
      stiffness and albuminuria. Whether MUCH independently associates with greater
      cardiovascular end-organ damage or kidney damage is unclear. The objective of
      this study was to assess the strength of the relationship of MUCH (awake
      ambulatory blood pressure >=135/85 mmHg and clinic blood pressure <140/90 mmHg)
      with target organ damage. Methods: In a cross-sectional study at a veterans'
      administration medical center, clinically normotensive veterans without chronic
      kidney disease (CKD) (n = 29) and 287 patients with CKD and controlled
      hypertension (CH, n = 193), MUCH (n = 67) and uncontrolled hypertension (UCH, n =
      27) had evaluation of target organ damage. Target organ damage was measured by
      echocardiography [left ventricular mass index (LVMI)], arterial ultrasonography
      [aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV)] and 24-h urine collection [albuminuria (urine
      albumin to creatinine ratio)] in all participants. Results: Compared to that of
      controls, LVMI was higher by 21.8 g/m2 (CI, 4.0-39.7 g/m2) in CH, 27.9 (CI, 8
      47.8) in MUCH and 39.5 (CI, 15.7-63.2) in UCH (P < 0.01 for group differences, P
      < 0.01 for linear trend). Although differences persisted after adjustment for
      age, sex and race, they lost significance after adjustments for cardiovascular
      risk factors and their treatment. Compared to that of controls, PWV was different
      among CH, MUCH and UCH (P = 0.04 for group differences, P = 0.02 for linear
      trend). However, differences lost significance after adjustments for age, sex and
      race. Compared to that of controls, log2 UACR was higher by 2.40 mg/mg (CI, 1.28
      3.52) in CH, 4.94 (CI, 3.70-6.18) in MUCH and 6.01 (CI, 4.49-7.53) in UCH (P <
      0.0001 for group difference, P < 0.0001 for linear trend). Differences persisted
      after adjustment for age, sex and race, cardiovascular risk factors and their
      treatment and cardiovascular disease (P < 0.0001 for group difference, P < 0.0001
      for linear trend). Conclusions: MUCH is more strongly related to albuminuria
      compared with cardiovascular damage as assessed by left ventricular mass and PWV.
      A graded and an independent relationship of blood pressure classification status
      with albuminuria is consistent with the hypothesis that renal mechanisms may be
      more important than cardiovascular disease in mediating the pathogenesis of MUCH.

PMID- 27651465
TI  - Validating genetic markers of response to recombinant human growth hormone in
      children with growth hormone deficiency and Turner syndrome: the PREDICT
      validation study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the response to
      recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) have previously been identified in
      growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and Turner syndrome (TS) children in the PREDICT
      long-term follow-up (LTFU) study (Nbib699855). Here, we describe the PREDICT
      validation (VAL) study (Nbib1419249), which aimed to confirm these genetic
      associations. DESIGN AND METHODS: Children with GHD (n = 293) or TS (n = 132)
      were recruited retrospectively from 29 sites in nine countries. All children had
      completed 1 year of r-hGH therapy. 48 SNPs previously identified as associated
      with first year growth response to r-hGH were genotyped. Regression analysis was
      used to assess the association between genotype and growth response using
      clinical/auxological variables as covariates. Further analysis was undertaken
      using random forest classification. RESULTS: The children were younger, and the
      growth response was higher in VAL study. Direct genotype analysis did not
      replicate what was found in the LTFU study. However, using exploratory regression
      models with covariates, a consistent relationship with growth response in both
      VAL and LTFU was shown for four genes - SOS1 and INPPL1 in GHD and ESR1 and PTPN1
      in TS. The random forest analysis demonstrated that only clinical covariates were
      important in the prediction of growth response in mild GHD (>4 to <10 MUg/L on GH
      stimulation test), however, in severe GHD (<=4 MUg/L) several SNPs contributed
      (in IGF2, GRB10, FOS, IGFBP3 and GHRHR). CONCLUSIONS: The PREDICT validation
      study supports, in an independent cohort, the association of four of 48 genetic
      markers with growth response to r-hGH treatment in both pre-pubertal GHD and TS
      children after controlling for clinical/auxological covariates. However, the
      contribution of these SNPs in a prediction model of first-year response is not
      sufficient for routine clinical use.

PMID- 27651470
TI  - Percutaneous closure of an acquired Gerbode defect.

PMID- 27651471
TI  - Myocardial squamous cell carcinoma metastasis mimicking post-anterior myocardial
      infarction pseudo-aneurysm.

PMID- 27651473
TI  - Inner Workings: Can single molecules bind together entire ecosystems?

PMID- 27651475
TI  - DSA-Dynavision in pretreatment planning for coil embolization of indirect carotid
      cavernous fistula.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Indirect carotid cavernous fistulas are treated with coil
      embolization when they present with orbital/visual symptoms or if there is
      cortical venous reflux. Most of the time, the treatment is done by non
      specifically packing the whole cavernous sinus with coils. The purpose of this
      case series was to examine whether DSA-Dynavision before embolization would
      improve treatment by shortening the procedure time, requiring fewer coils, or
      reducing the complication rate. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 8 patients with 9 fistula
      sites were retrospectively identified. DSA-Dynavision and non-DSA-Dynavision
      patients were compared in a retrospective cohort study. RESULTS: Mean total coil
      length was significantly shorter for the group who had DSA-Dynavision than for
      those who had non-DSA-Dynavision (130.5 cm vs 190 cm, p=0.034) and mean
      procedural time was significantly shorter for the DSA-Dynavision group (171.1 min
      vs 280.3 min, p=0.025). A transient neurological complication was seen in only
      one patient. CONCLUSIONS: The use of DSA-Dynavision in pre-procedural planning
      facilitates selective coil embolization of the foot of the vein.

PMID- 27651472
TI  - Seizure control as a new metric in assessing efficacy of tumor treatment in low
      grade glioma trials.
AB  - Patients with low-grade glioma frequently have brain tumor-related epilepsy,
      which is more common than in patients with high-grade glioma. Treatment for tumor
      associated epilepsy usually comprises a combination of surgery, anti-epileptic
      drugs (AEDs), chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Response to tumor-directed
      treatment is measured primarily by overall survival and progression-free
      survival. However, seizure frequency has been observed to respond to tumor
      directed treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. A review of the current
      literature regarding seizure assessment for low-grade glioma patients reveals a
      heterogeneous manner in which seizure response has been reported. There is a need
      for a systematic approach to seizure assessment and its influence on health
      related quality-of-life outcomes in patients enrolled in low-grade glioma
      therapeutic trials. In view of the need to have an adjunctive metric of tumor
      response in these patients, a method of seizure assessment as a metric in brain
      tumor treatment trials is proposed.

PMID- 27651476
TI  - Contribution of whole platelet aggregometry to the endovascular management of
      unruptured aneurysms: an institutional experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stent-assisted coiling of intracranial aneurysms is an efficient
      alternative treatment to surgical clipping but requires prolonged antiplatelet
      therapy. Some patients are non-responsive to aspirin and/or clopidogrel.
      OBJECTIVE: To analyze the implications of this assessment using the 'whole blood
      aggregometry (WBA) by impedance' technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      Southwestern Tertiary Aneurysm Registry was reviewed between 2002 and 2012 for
      patients with unruptured aneurysms treated with stent-assisted coiling. The study
      population was divided into patients who were tested preoperatively for platelet
      responsiveness to aspirin and clopidogrel ('tested' patients) and those who were
      not ('non-tested'). Where necessary, tested patients received additional doses of
      antiplatelet drugs to achieve adequate platelet inhibition. Endpoints included
      the incidence of non-responsiveness, the rates of thrombotic and hemorrhagic
      complications, and the rates of permanent morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: A
      total of 266 patients fulfilled our selection criteria: 114 non-tested patients
      who underwent 121 procedures, and 152 tested patients who underwent 171
      procedures. The two groups did not vary significantly in patient age, gender, and
      aneurysms location. Aspirin non-responsiveness was detected in 3 patients (1.75%)
      and clopidogrel non-responsiveness in 21 patients (12.3%). Non-tested patients
      had an 11.6% rate of thrombotic complications with a 4.1% permanent morbidity or
      mortality rate versus 2.3% and 0.6% in tested patients (p=0.0013). The incidence
      of hemorrhagic complications was similar between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Preoperative platelet inhibition testing using WBA can be useful to assess and
      correct antiaggregant non-responsiveness, and may reduce postoperative mortality
      and permanent morbidity.

PMID- 27651478
TI  - Attenuated Positive Psychotic Symptoms in Relation to Cigarette Smoking in a
      Nonclinical Population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study explored the association between cigarette smoking and
      attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in a young adult nonclinical sample.
      METHODS: Undergraduates (N = 930), aged 18-35 years (26.3% male), completed a
      battery of self-report measures assessing subthreshold psychotic symptoms,
      cigarette smoking behavior/dependence, and drug use. RESULTS: Individuals
      endorsing a greater number of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms were more
      likely to be smokers. Exploratory analyses indicated that the odds of being a
      smoker were two times greater for those at potential higher risk for psychosis
      compared with individuals at lower risk. Results were consistent after adjusting
      for sex and other drug use. CONCLUSIONS: In line with findings from psychotic
      populations, results suggest that attenuated positive psychotic symptoms,
      particularly those endorsed as distressing in a nonclinical, undergraduate
      population, are related to cigarette smoking. IMPLICATIONS: Even in nonclinical,
      undergraduate populations, subthreshold psychotic symptoms are related to
      cigarette smoking, and cigarette smokers are twice as likely to be considered at
      potentially higher risk for psychosis compared with noncigarette smokers. In
      summary, there may be a threshold whereby psychotic symptoms confer increased
      risk for nicotine consumption, with endorsement of a greater number of
      distressing subthreshold psychotic symptoms increasing the likelihood of
      cigarette use.

PMID- 27651477
TI  - Synergistic and Non-synergistic Associations for Cigarette Smoking and Non
      tobacco Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease Incidence in the Atherosclerosis
      Risk In Communities (ARIC) Study.
AB  - Introduction: Cigarette smoking, various metabolic and lipid-related factors and
      hypertension are well-recognized cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Since
      smoking affects many of these factors, use of a single imprecise smoking metric,
      for example, ever or never smoked, may allow residual confounding and explain
      inconsistencies in current assessments of interactions. Methods: Using a
      comprehensive model in pack-years and cigarettes/day for the complex smoking
      related relative risk (RR) of CVD to reduce residual confounding, we evaluated
      interactions with non-tobacco risk factors, including additive (non-synergistic)
      and multiplicative (synergistic) forms. Data were from the prospective
      Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study from four areas of the United
      States recruited in 1987-1989 with follow-up through 2008. Analyses included 14
      127 participants, 207 693 person-years and 2857 CVD events. Results: Analyses
      revealed distinct interactions with smoking: including statistical consistency
      with additive (body mass index [BMI], waist to hip ratio [WHR], diabetes mellitus
      [DM], glucose, insulin, high density lipoproteins [HDL] and HDL(2)); and
      multiplicative (hypertension, total cholesterol [TC], low density lipoproteins
      [LDLs], apolipoprotein B [apoB], TC to HDL ratio and HDL(3)) associations, as
      well as indeterminate (apolipoprotein A-I [apoA-I] and triglycerides)
      associations. Conclusions: The forms of the interactions were revealing but
      require confirmation. Improved understanding of joint associations may help
      clarify the public health burden of smoking for CVD, links between etiologic
      factors and biological mechanisms, and the consequences of joint exposures,
      whereby synergistic associations highlight joint effects and non-synergistic
      associations suggest distinct contributions. Implications: Joint associations for
      cigarette smoking and non-tobacco risk factors were distinct, revealing
      synergistic/multiplicative (hypertension, TC, LDL, apoB, TC/HDL, HDL(3)), non
      synergistic/additive (BMI, WHR, DM, glucose, insulin, HDL, HDL(2)) and
      indeterminate (apoA-I and TRIG) associations. If confirmed, these results may
      help better define the public health burden of smoking on CVD risk and identify
      links between etiologic factors and biologic mechanisms, where synergistic
      associations highlight joint impacts and non-synergistic associations suggest
      distinct contributions from each factor.

PMID- 27651480
TI  - Primary Open Rhinoplasty.
AB  - Rhinoplasty is perhaps the most complex cosmetic surgery procedure performed
      today. It is characterized by an intricate interplay between form and function,
      with patient satisfaction being dependent not only on improvement of nasal
      appearance but also resolution of preexisting airway symptoms. The prerequisite
      for successful execution of this challenging procedure is a thorough
      understanding of nasal anatomy and physiology. Hence, a thorough preoperative
      evaluation is at least as important and the surgical skill in performing the
      operation. Establishing an accurate diagnosis through a comprehensive nasal
      analysis is obligatory. As to the surgical approach, much has been written about
      the advantages and disadvantages of closed vs open rhinoplasty. The more commonly
      chosen open approach has numerous advantages, including improved visualization
      without distortion, thus, enabling precise diagnosis and correction of
      deformities. While the surgical treatment of existing nasal deformities is
      tailored to the needs of the individual patient, the authors have noted a total
      of 10 essential components to form the foundation for successful technical
      execution of rhinoplasty. These include: (1) septoturbinotomy; (2) opening the
      nose; (3) humpectomy/spreader flaps; (4) tip-plasty; (5) supratip-plasty; (6)
      columellar strut; (7) dorsal augmentation; (8) nasal base reduction; (9)
      osteotomies; and (10) rim grafts. Postoperative, a variety of problems, such as
      edema, may be successfully addressed without surgical intervention. Diligent
      postoperative management is critical in ensuring a positive patient experience.
      Finally, a comprehensive understanding of possible postoperative complications,
      such as bleeding, ecchymosis, edema, and persistent or new iatrogenic deformity
      is mandatory prior to offering rhinoplasty to patients. 

PMID- 27651479
TI  - Cancer incidence and mortality from exposure to radon progeny among Ontario
      uranium miners.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study objectives were to extend the follow-up of the Ontario
      uranium miners cohort, one of the largest cohorts of uranium miners with low
      cumulative exposures, to examine the relationship between radon exposure and lung
      cancer mortality and, for the first time incidence, and address gaps in the
      literature, including dose-response relationship between radon exposure and other
      cancer sites, and non-cancer mortality. METHODS: The cohort of mine and mill
      workers was created using data from Canada's National Dose Registry and the
      Ontario Mining Master File. The follow-up for the cohort was recently extended
      for mortality (1954-2007) and for the first time includes cancer incidence (1969
      2005). The Poisson regression was used to estimate relative risks (RR) and excess
      relative risks (ERR) and their 95% CIs with levels of cumulative radon exposure.
      RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 28 546 male miners with a mean cumulative radon
      exposure of 21.0 working level months (WLM). An increased risk of lung cancer and
      a dose-response relationship was observed with cumulative radon exposure. Miners
      exposed to >100 WLM demonstrated a twofold increase in the risk of lung cancer
      incidence (RR=1.89, CI 1.43 to 2.50) compared with the non-exposed group, and a
      linear ERR of 0.64/100 WLM (CI 0.43 to 0.85), with similar results observed for
      mortality. No association was observed for other cancer sites (stomach,
      leukaemia, kidney and extrathoracic airways) or non-cancer sites (cardiovascular
      diseases) with increasing cumulative exposure to radon. CONCLUSIONS: These
      findings suggest no increased risk of cancer sites other than lung or non-cancer
      mortality from relatively low cumulative exposure to radon.

PMID- 27651481
TI  - AlloMap6: an R package for genetic linkage analysis in allohexaploids.
AB  - Allopolyploids are a group of polyploids with more than two sets of chromosomes
      derived from different species. Previous linkage analysis of allopolyploids is
      based on the assumption that different chromosomes pair randomly during meiosis.
      A more sophisticated model to relax this assumption has been developed for
      allotetraploids by incorporating the preferential pairing behavior of homologous
      over homoeologous chromosomes. Here, we show that the basic principle of this
      model can be extended to perform linkage analysis of higher-ploidy
      allohexaploids, where multiple preferential pairing factors are used to
      characterize chromosomal-pairing meiotic features between different constituent
      species. We implemented the extended model into an R package, called AlloMap6,
      allowing the recombination fractions and preferential pairing factors to be
      estimated simultaneously. Allomap6 has two major functionalities, computer
      simulation and real-data analysis. By analyzing a real data from a full-sib
      family of allohexaploid persimmon, we tested and validated the usefulness and
      utility of this package. AlloMap6 lays a foundation for allohexaploid genetic
      mapping and provides a new horizon to explore the chromosomal kinship of
      allohexaploids.

PMID- 27651482
TI  - PDB2CD: a web-based application for the generation of circular dichroism spectra
      from protein atomic coordinates.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is extensively utilized for
      determining the percentages of secondary structure content present in proteins.
      However, although a large contributor, secondary structure is not the only factor
      that influences the shape and magnitude of the CD spectrum produced. Other
      structural features can make contributions so an entire protein structural
      conformation can give rise to a CD spectrum. There is a need for an application
      capable of generating protein CD spectra from atomic coordinates. However, no
      empirically derived method to do this currently exists. RESULTS: PDB2CD has been
      created as an empirical-based approach to the generation of protein CD spectra
      from atomic coordinates. The method utilizes a combination of structural features
      within the conformation of a protein; not only its percentage secondary structure
      content, but also the juxtaposition of these structural components relative to
      one another, and the overall structure similarity of the query protein to
      proteins in our dataset, the SP175 dataset, the 'gold standard' set obtained from
      the Protein Circular Dichroism Data Bank (PCDDB). A significant number of the CD
      spectra associated with the 71 proteins in this dataset have been produced with
      excellent accuracy using a leave-one-out cross-validation process. The method
      also creates spectra in good agreement with those of a test set of 14 proteins
      from the PCDDB. The PDB2CD package provides a web-based, user friendly approach
      to enable researchers to produce CD spectra from protein atomic coordinates.
      AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: http://pdb2cd.cryst.bbk.ac.uk CONTACT:
      r.w.janes@qmul.ac.ukSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available
      at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27651483
TI  - Tissue-specific pathway association analysis using genome-wide association study
      summaries.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Pathway association analysis has made great achievements in
      elucidating the genetic basis of human complex diseases. However, current pathway
      association analysis approaches fail to consider tissue-specificity. RESULTS: We
      developed a tissue-specific pathway interaction enrichment analysis algorithm
      (TPIEA). TPIEA was applied to two large Caucasian and Chinese genome-wide
      association study summary datasets of bone mineral density (BMD). TPIEA
      identified several significant pathways for BMD [false discovery rate (FDR) <
      0.05], such as KEGG FOCAL ADHESION and KEGG AXON GUIDANCE, which had been
      demonstrated to be involved in the development of osteoporosis. We also compared
      the performance of TPIEA and classical pathway enrichment analysis, and TPIEA
      presented improved performance in recognizing disease relevant pathways. TPIEA
      may help to fill the gap of classic pathway association analysis approaches by
      considering tissue specificity. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The online web
      tool of TPIEA is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/tpieav1/files
      CONTACT: fzhxjtu@mail.xjtu.edu.cnSupplementary information: Supplementary data
      are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 27651484
TI  - Key role for neutrophils in radiation-induced antitumor immune responses:
      Potentiation with G-CSF.
AB  - Radiation therapy (RT), a major modality for treating localized tumors, can
      induce tumor regression outside the radiation field through an abscopal effect
      that is thought to involve the immune system. Our studies were designed to
      understand the early immunological effects of RT in the tumor microenvironment
      using several syngeneic mouse tumor models. We observed that RT induced sterile
      inflammation with a rapid and transient infiltration of CD11b+Gr-1high+
      neutrophils into the tumors. RT-recruited tumor-associated neutrophils (RT-Ns)
      exhibited an increased production of reactive oxygen species and induced
      apoptosis of tumor cells. Tumor infiltration of RT-Ns resulted in sterile
      inflammation and, eventually, the activation of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells,
      their recruitment into the tumor site, and tumor regression. Finally, the
      concurrent administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)
      enhanced RT-mediated antitumor activity by activating RT-Ns. Our results suggest
      that the combination of RT and G-CSF should be further evaluated in preclinical
      and clinical settings.

PMID- 27651487
TI  - Auxin catabolism unplugged: Role of IAA oxidation in auxin homeostasis.

PMID- 27651485
TI  - Single-cell dynamics and variability of MAPK activity in a yeast differentiation
      pathway.
AB  - In response to pheromones, yeast cells activate a MAPK pathway to direct
      processes important for mating, including gene induction, cell-cycle arrest, and
      polarized cell growth. Although a variety of assays have been able to elucidate
      signaling activities at multiple steps in the pathway, measurements of MAPK
      activity during the pheromone response have remained elusive, and our
      understanding of single-cell signaling behavior is incomplete. Using a yeast
      optimized FRET-based mammalian Erk-activity reporter to monitor Fus3 and Kss1
      activity in live yeast cells, we demonstrate that overall mating MAPK activity
      exhibits distinct temporal dynamics, rapid reversibility, and a graded dose
      dependence around the KD of the receptor, where phenotypic transitions occur. The
      complex dose response was found to be largely a consequence of two feedbacks
      involving cyclin-mediated scaffold phosphorylation and Fus3 autoregulation.
      Distinct cell cycle-dependent response patterns comprised a large portion of the
      cell-to-cell variability at each dose, constituting the major source of extrinsic
      noise in coupling activity to downstream gene-expression responses. Additionally,
      we found diverse spatial MAPK activity patterns to emerge over time in cells
      undergoing default, gradient, and true mating responses. Furthermore, ramping up
      and rapid loss of activity were closely associated with zygote formation in
      mating-cell pairs, supporting a role for elevated MAPK activity in successful
      cell fusion and morphogenic reorganization. Altogether, these findings present a
      detailed view of spatiotemporal MAPK activity during the pheromone response,
      elucidating its role in mediating complex long-term developmental fates in a
      unicellular differentiation system.

PMID- 27651486
TI  - 2-(m-Azidobenzoyl)taxol binds differentially to distinct beta-tubulin isotypes.
AB  - There are seven beta-tubulin isotypes present in distinct quantities in mammalian
      cells of different origin. Altered expression of beta-tubulin isotypes has been
      reported in cancer cell lines resistant to microtubule stabilizing agents (MSAs)
      and in human tumors resistant to Taxol. To study the relative binding affinities
      of MSAs, tubulin from different sources, with distinct beta-tubulin isotype
      content, were specifically photolabeled with a tritium-labeled Taxol analog, 2-(m
      azidobenzoyl)taxol, alone or in the presence of MSAs. The inhibitory effects
      elicited by these MSAs on photolabeling were distinct for beta-tubulin from
      different sources. To determine the exact amount of drug that binds to different
      beta-tubulin isotypes, bovine brain tubulin was photolabeled and the isotypes
      resolved by high-resolution isoelectrofocusing. All bands were analyzed by mass
      spectrometry following cyanogen bromide digestion, and the identity and relative
      quantity of each beta-tubulin isotype determined. It was found that compared with
      other beta-tubulin isotypes, betaIII-tubulin bound the least amount of 2-(m
      azidobenzoyl)taxol. Analysis of the sequences of beta-tubulin near the Taxol
      binding site indicated that, in addition to the M-loop that is known to be
      involved in drug binding, the leucine cluster region of betaIII-tubulin contains
      a unique residue, alanine, at 218, compared with other isotypes that contain
      threonine. Molecular dynamic simulations indicated that the frequency of Taxol
      accommodating conformations decreased dramatically in the T218A variant, compared
      with other beta-tubulins. Our results indicate that the difference in residue 218
      in betaIII-tubulin may be responsible for inhibition of drug binding to this
      isotype, which could influence downstream cellular events.

PMID- 27651488
TI  - Clathrin in plant defense signaling and execution.

PMID- 27651489
TI  - Convolutional networks for fast, energy-efficient neuromorphic computing.
AB  - Deep networks are now able to achieve human-level performance on a broad spectrum
      of recognition tasks. Independently, neuromorphic computing has now demonstrated
      unprecedented energy-efficiency through a new chip architecture based on spiking
      neurons, low precision synapses, and a scalable communication network. Here, we
      demonstrate that neuromorphic computing, despite its novel architectural
      primitives, can implement deep convolution networks that (i) approach state-of
      the-art classification accuracy across eight standard datasets encompassing
      vision and speech, (ii) perform inference while preserving the hardware's
      underlying energy-efficiency and high throughput, running on the aforementioned
      datasets at between 1,200 and 2,600 frames/s and using between 25 and 275 mW
      (effectively >6,000 frames/s per Watt), and (iii) can be specified and trained
      using backpropagation with the same ease-of-use as contemporary deep learning.
      This approach allows the algorithmic power of deep learning to be merged with the
      efficiency of neuromorphic processors, bringing the promise of embedded,
      intelligent, brain-inspired computing one step closer.

PMID- 27651490
TI  - Autonomous translational pausing is required for XBP1u mRNA recruitment to the ER
      via the SRP pathway.
AB  - Unconventional mRNA splicing on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane is the
      sole conserved mechanism in eukaryotes to transmit information regarding
      misfolded protein accumulation to the nucleus to activate the stress response. In
      metazoans, the unspliced form of X-box-binding protein 1 (XBP1u) mRNA is
      recruited to membranes as a ribosome nascent chain (RNC) complex for efficient
      splicing. We previously reported that both hydrophobic (HR2) and translational
      pausing regions of XBP1u are important for the recruitment of its own mRNA to
      membranes. However, its precise location and the molecular mechanism of
      translocation are unclear. We show that XBP1u-RNC is specifically recruited to
      the ER membrane in an HR2- and translational pausing-dependent manner by
      immunostaining, fluorescent recovery after photobleaching, and biochemical
      analyses. Notably, translational pausing during XBP1u synthesis is indispensable
      for the recognition of HR2 by the signal recognition particle (SRP), resulting in
      efficient ER-specific targeting of the complex, similar to secretory protein
      targeting to the ER. On the ER, the XBP1u nascent chain is transferred from the
      SRP to the translocon; however, it cannot pass through the translocon or insert
      into the membrane. Therefore, our results support a noncanonical mechanism by
      which mRNA substrates are recruited to the ER for unconventional splicing.

PMID- 27651491
TI  - Dioxygenase-encoding AtDAO1 gene controls IAA oxidation and homeostasis in
      Arabidopsis.
AB  - Auxin represents a key signal in plants, regulating almost every aspect of their
      growth and development. Major breakthroughs have been made dissecting the
      molecular basis of auxin transport, perception, and response. In contrast, how
      plants control the metabolism and homeostasis of the major form of auxin in
      plants, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), remains unclear. In this paper, we initially
      describe the function of the Arabidopsis thaliana gene DIOXYGENASE FOR AUXIN
      OXIDATION 1 (AtDAO1). Transcriptional and translational reporter lines revealed
      that AtDAO1 encodes a highly root-expressed, cytoplasmically localized IAA
      oxidase. Stable isotope-labeled IAA feeding studies of loss and gain of function
      AtDAO1 lines showed that this oxidase represents the major regulator of auxin
      degradation to 2-oxoindole-3-acetic acid (oxIAA) in Arabidopsis Surprisingly,
      AtDAO1 loss and gain of function lines exhibited relatively subtle auxin-related
      phenotypes, such as altered root hair length. Metabolite profiling of mutant
      lines revealed that disrupting AtDAO1 regulation resulted in major changes in
      steady-state levels of oxIAA and IAA conjugates but not IAA. Hence, IAA
      conjugation and catabolism seem to regulate auxin levels in Arabidopsis in a
      highly redundant manner. We observed that transcripts of AtDOA1 IAA oxidase and
      GH3 IAA-conjugating enzymes are auxin-inducible, providing a molecular basis for
      their observed functional redundancy. We conclude that the AtDAO1 gene plays a
      key role regulating auxin homeostasis in Arabidopsis, acting in concert with GH3
      genes, to maintain auxin concentration at optimal levels for plant growth and
      development.

PMID- 27651492
TI  - DAO1 catalyzes temporal and tissue-specific oxidative inactivation of auxin in
      Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Tight homeostatic regulation of the phytohormone auxin [indole-3-acetic acid
      (IAA)] is essential to plant growth. Auxin biosynthetic pathways and the
      processes that inactivate auxin by conjugation to amino acids and sugars have
      been thoroughly characterized. However, the enzyme that catalyzes oxidation of
      IAA to its primary catabolite 2-oxindole-3-acetic acid (oxIAA) remains
      uncharacterized. Here, we show that DIOXYGENASE FOR AUXIN OXIDATION 1 (DAO1)
      catalyzes formation of oxIAA in vitro and in vivo and that this mechanism
      regulates auxin homeostasis and plant growth. Null dao1-1 mutants contain 95%
      less oxIAA compared with wild type, and complementation of dao1 restores wild
      type oxIAA levels, indicating that DAO1 is the primary IAA oxidase in seedlings.
      Furthermore, dao1 loss of function plants have altered morphology, including
      larger cotyledons, increased lateral root density, delayed sepal opening,
      elongated pistils, and reduced fertility in the primary inflorescence stem. These
      phenotypes are tightly correlated with DAO1 spatiotemporal expression patterns as
      shown by DAO1pro:beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity and DAO1pro:YFP-DAO1 signals,
      and transformation with DAO1pro:YFP-DAO1 complemented the mutant phenotypes. The
      dominant dao1-2D mutant has increased oxIAA levels and decreased stature with
      shorter leaves and inflorescence stems, thus supporting DAO1 IAA oxidase function
      in vivo. A second isoform, DAO2, is very weakly expressed in seedling root
      apices. Together, these data confirm that IAA oxidation by DAO1 is the principal
      auxin catabolic process in Arabidopsis and that localized IAA oxidation plays a
      role in plant morphogenesis.

PMID- 27651493
TI  - Clathrin-dependent endocytosis is required for immunity mediated by pattern
      recognition receptor kinases.
AB  - Sensing of potential pathogenic bacteria is of critical importance for immunity.
      In plants, this involves plasma membrane-resident pattern recognition receptors,
      one of which is the FLAGELLIN SENSING 2 (FLS2) receptor kinase. Ligand-activated
      FLS2 receptors are internalized into endosomes. However, the extent to which
      these spatiotemporal dynamics are generally present among pattern recognition
      receptors (PRRs) and their regulation remain elusive. Using live-cell imaging, we
      show that at least three other receptor kinases associated with plant immunity,
      PEP RECEPTOR 1/2 (PEPR1/2) and EF-TU RECEPTOR (EFR), internalize in a ligand
      specific manner. In all cases, endocytosis requires the coreceptor BRI1
      ASSOCIATED KINASE 1 (BAK1), and thus depends on receptor activation status. We
      also show the internalization of liganded FLS2, suggesting the transport of
      signaling competent receptors. Trafficking of activated PRRs requires clathrin
      and converges onto the same endosomal vesicles that are also shared with the
      hormone receptor BRASSINOSTERIOD INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1). Importantly, clathrin
      dependent endocytosis participates in plant defense against bacterial infection
      involving FLS2-mediated stomatal closure and callose deposition, but is uncoupled
      from activation of the flagellin-induced oxidative burst and MAP kinase
      signaling. In conclusion, immunity mediated by pattern recognition receptors
      depends on clathrin, a critical component for the endocytosis of signaling
      competent receptors into a common endosomal pathway.

PMID- 27651494
TI  - Danger-associated peptide signaling in Arabidopsis requires clathrin.
AB  - The Arabidopsis thaliana endogenous elicitor peptides (AtPeps) are released into
      the apoplast after cellular damage caused by pathogens or wounding to induce
      innate immunity by direct binding to the membrane-localized leucine-rich repeat
      receptor kinases, PEP RECEPTOR1 (PEPR1) and PEPR2. Although the PEPR-mediated
      signaling components and responses have been studied extensively, the
      contributions of the subcellular localization and dynamics of the active PEPRs
      remain largely unknown. We used live-cell imaging of the fluorescently labeled
      and bioactive pep1 to visualize the intracellular behavior of the PEPRs in the
      Arabidopsis root meristem. We found that AtPep1 decorated the plasma membrane
      (PM) in a receptor-dependent manner and cointernalized with PEPRs. Trafficking of
      the AtPep1-PEPR1 complexes to the vacuole required neither the trans-Golgi
      network/early endosome (TGN/EE)-localized vacuolar H(+)-ATPase activity nor the
      function of the brefeldin A-sensitive ADP-ribosylation factor-guanine exchange
      factors (ARF-GEFs). In addition, AtPep1 and different TGN/EE markers colocalized
      only rarely, implying that the intracellular route of this receptor-ligand pair
      is largely independent of the TGN/EE. Inducible overexpression of the Arabidopsis
      clathrin coat disassembly factor, Auxilin2, which inhibits clathrin-mediated
      endocytosis (CME), impaired the AtPep1-PEPR1 internalization and compromised
      AtPep1-mediated responses. Our results show that clathrin function at the PM is
      required to induce plant defense responses, likely through CME of cell surface
      located signaling components.

PMID- 27651495
TI  - Dynamic regulation of auxin oxidase and conjugating enzymes AtDAO1 and GH3
      modulates auxin homeostasis.
AB  - The hormone auxin is a key regulator of plant growth and development, and great
      progress has been made understanding auxin transport and signaling. Here, we show
      that auxin metabolism and homeostasis are also regulated in a complex manner. The
      principal auxin degradation pathways in Arabidopsis include oxidation by
      Arabidopsis thaliana gene DIOXYGENASE FOR AUXIN OXIDATION 1/2 (AtDAO1/2) and
      conjugation by Gretchen Hagen3s (GH3s). Metabolic profiling of dao1-1 root
      tissues revealed a 50% decrease in the oxidation product 2-oxoindole-3-acetic
      acid (oxIAA) and increases in the conjugated forms indole-3-acetic acid aspartic
      acid (IAA-Asp) and indole-3-acetic acid glutamic acid (IAA-Glu) of 438- and 240
      fold, respectively, whereas auxin remains close to the WT. By fitting parameter
      values to a mathematical model of these metabolic pathways, we show that, in
      addition to reduced oxidation, both auxin biosynthesis and conjugation are
      increased in dao1-1 Transcripts of AtDAO1 and GH3 genes increase in response to
      auxin over different timescales and concentration ranges. Including this
      regulation of AtDAO1 and GH3 in an extended model reveals that auxin oxidation is
      more important for auxin homoeostasis at lower hormone concentrations, whereas
      auxin conjugation is most significant at high auxin levels. Finally, embedding
      our homeostasis model in a multicellular simulation to assess the spatial effect
      of the dao1-1 mutant shows that auxin increases in outer root tissues in
      agreement with the dao1-1 mutant root hair phenotype. We conclude that auxin
      homeostasis is dependent on AtDAO1, acting in concert with GH3, to maintain auxin
      at optimal levels for plant growth and development.

PMID- 27651496
TI  - Patients' perceptions and views of surgery and radioiodine ablation in the
      definitive management of Graves' disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients' perceptions and preferences influence the choice of
      radioiodine ablation (RIA) or surgery in the definitive management of Graves'
      disease. This study aimed to evaluate their concerns, experiences and
      satisfaction following definitive treatment. METHODS: A postal survey of patients
      who had treatment with surgery or RIA between January 2011 and June 2013 for
      Graves' disease was conducted. RESULTS: Of 214 patients, 136 (64%) responded. The
      majority of patients felt actively involved in decision making (83.8%) and were
      satisfied (84.9%) with their treatment. Compared with RIA, patients who underwent
      surgery were more satisfied with their treatment (p=0.008). Discussion with the
      doctor was the most useful aid to decision making. Feeling involved in decision
      making process was associated with improved satisfaction (p<0.001).Common reasons
      for not choosing surgery were need for general anaesthesia, scarring and voice
      change. Avoiding close contact, risk of persistent hyperthyroidism and worsening
      eye disease were common reasons for not choosing RIA. Ongoing concerns were
      hypothyroidism, scarring and eye problems after surgery and hypothyroidism and
      eye problems after RIA. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into patients'
      experiences of surgery and RIA for Graves' disease and reinforces the importance
      of patient involvement in the decision-making process.

PMID- 27651497
TI  - Alterations in the echocardiographic variables of the right ventricle in
      asymptomatic patients with breast cancer during anthracycline chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity can reach an irreversible phase;
      therefore great efforts are made to diagnose it early. As the right ventricle
      (RV) is smaller than the left, the right side of the heart is probably influenced
      by anthracycline to a greater extent and in a shorter time. The purpose of the
      present study was to investigate the early effects of chemotherapy on the right
      side of the heart. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in Isfahan
      University hospitals from August 2014 to December 2015. Subjects were 67 patients
      with breast cancer who were planned to receive anthracycline for the first time.
      Echocardiography was performed before administration of anthracycline and 6
      months later. Variables included right heart measures (RV end-diastolic
      dimensions, right atrium length and diameter), RV fractional area change (RVFAC),
      index of myocardial performance (Tei index), tricuspid annular plane systolic
      excursion (TAPSE), pulmonary artery systolic pressure, lateral tricuspid annular
      early and late diastolic velocities, and tissue Doppler diastolic and systolic
      velocities. RESULTS: Forty-nine of the subjects completed the study. RV end
      diastolic diameters and Tei index (0.31 to 0.37) were significantly increased
      (p<0.001). RVFAC (49.83% to 43.59%) and TAPSE (18.8 to 17.7 mm) were
      significantly decreased (p<0.001). There was a significant reduction in E (57.06
      to 46.59 cm/s, p<0.001), E/A ratio (1.42 to 1.18, p<0.001), E' (16.73 to 12.4
      cm/s, p<0.001), E'/A' ratio (1.21 to 0.9, p<0.001) and S' (12.59 to 10.57 cm/s,
      p<0.001). Systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (20.63 to 22.24 mm Hg, p=0.04) was
      significantly increased. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a significant decrease in
      RV systolic and diastolic function during chemotherapy for 6 months. These
      reductions are in the normal range and can probably be considered an early
      indicator of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.

PMID- 27651498
TI  - Ovarioleukodystrophy due to EIF2B5 mutations.
AB  - Ovarioleukodystrophy-the co-occurrence of leukodystrophy and premature ovarian
      failure-is a rare presentation now recognised to be part of the clinical spectrum
      of vanishing white matter disease. We describe a woman with epilepsy and
      neuroimaging changes consistent with leukoencephalopathy who presented with non
      convulsive status epilepticus after starting hormone replacement therapy in the
      context of premature ovarian failure. Genetic testing confirmed her to be a
      compound heterozygote for EIF2B5 mutations; the gene encodes a subunit of
      eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B. Mutations in EIF2B1-5 result in
      vanishing white matter disease. We highlight the importance of ovarian failure as
      a diagnostic pointer to eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B (eIF2B)
      related ovarioleukodystrophy and present a brief literature review of
      ovarioleukodystrophy.

PMID- 27651499
TI  - An infraumbilical lump in a child.

PMID- 27651500
TI  - ABCDE2...expose the eye.

PMID- 27651501
TI  - BET 1: Screening for delirium within the emergency department.
AB  - A shortcut review was carried out to see if the abbreviated mental test score was
      better than other cognitive screening tools to diagnose delirium in the ED.
      Fourteen papers were identified reporting on 10 separate ED studies. Only one
      small study used the abbreviated mental test score and did not compare the
      diagnostic performance to any other test. There is very little published research
      on the use of the abbreviated mental test score in the ED setting. 

PMID- 27651503
TI  - BET 2: Acupuncture and fibromyalgia.
AB  - A shortcut review was carried out to see if acupuncture is an effective pain
      treatment in fibromyalgia. One Cochrane review and five subsequent papers and
      conference abstracts were identified. There are no large studies addressing this
      question and acupuncture has been compared with many different treatment
      modalities. Acupuncture may be a valid treatment for pain in fibromyalgia, but
      more research is required to validate this. 

PMID- 27651505
TI  - Predictors of Responsiveness to Bisphosphonate Treatment in Patients with Complex
      Regional Pain Syndrome Type I: A Retrospective Chart Analysis.
AB  - Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the effectiveness of
      bisphosphonate infusion in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type I
      (CRPS-I) is influenced by variables related to patient and/or disease
      characteristics. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients referred
      in the last five years to our rheumatologic tertiary care center, all fulfilling
      the Budapest CRPS-I diagnostic criteria and treated with three different
      bisphosphonate schedules (clodronate, pamidronate, and neridronate). For every
      subject, demographic and clinical variables were retrieved and retrospectively
      analyzed. We identified variables that independently influenced the therapeutic
      outcome of patients by a logistic regression analysis. For exploratory purposes,
      the effectiveness of the different bisphosphonate treatments employed was
      compared. Results: Among the 194 patients included in the analysis, the overall
      therapeutic response rate was 71.6%. Logistic regression analysis showed that the
      independent predictive variables for therapeutic effectiveness were disease
      duration (odds ratio [OR] = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.72-0.96 for a
      one-month increment), fracture as a predisposing event (OR = 3.23, 95% CI = 1.29
      8.03), and "warm" disease subtype (OR = 4.88, 95% CI = 1.57-15.20). These
      variables were found to influence the odds of responsiveness when analyzed
      together with age at onset, gender, and disease localization. No significant
      difference in therapeutic effectiveness was found by comparing the three
      different bisphosphonate schedules employed. Conclusion: Early disease, fracture
      as a predisposing event, and "warm" disease subtype are predictors of
      responsiveness to bisphosphonate treatment in patients with CRPS-I.

PMID- 27651504
TI  - Opioid Overdose History, Risk Behaviors, and Knowledge in Patients Taking
      Prescribed Opioids for Chronic Pain.
AB  - Objective: More than 100 million adults in the United States experience chronic
      pain, and prescription opioids are the third most widely prescribed class of
      medications. Current opioid overdose prevention efforts almost exclusively target
      illicit opioid users, and little is known about the experience of overdose among
      patients being treated for chronic pain (CP) with a prescription opioid. Methods:
      Patients experiencing CP for three or more months and receiving a prescription
      opioid for pain management (N = 502) completed a self-report survey that asked
      questions about opioid overdose history, past 30-day risk factors, and knowledge
      of opioid overdose, overdose risk, and naloxone. Results: Approximately one in
      five CP participants reported experiencing a lifetime overdose. CP participants
      reported engaging in several behaviors associated with overdose risk and were
      unlikely to have been trained to administer naloxone. Fewer than 50% of
      participants answered any knowledge item correctly. The likelihood of having
      experienced an overdose increased as the scores on the SOAPP-R and DSM-5 opioid
      use disorder checklist increased, and a SOAPP-R score of 7 or higher or meeting
      DSM-5 mild opioid use disorder criteria were significantly associated with
      reporting a lifetime overdose (85% and 84% of participants who experienced an
      overdose, respectively). Conclusions: Opioid overdose occurs at a high rate among
      CP participants, and this group is relatively uninformed about risk factors for
      overdose. Established SOAPP-R and DSM thresholds provide an opportunity to
      identify participants at elevated risk for having experienced an opioid overdose.
      These data support development of additional concentrated efforts to prevent
      overdose among chronic pain patients.

PMID- 27651506
TI  - A Randomized, Double-Blind, Double-Dummy, Placebo-Controlled, Intranasal Drug
      Liking Study on a Novel Abuse-Deterrent Formulation of Morphine-Morphine ARER.
AB  - Objective: Misuse and abuse of prescription opioids remains a major healthcare
      concern despite considerable efforts to increase public awareness. Abuse
      deterrent formulations of prescription opioids are designed to reduce intentional
      misuse, abuse, and prescription opioid-related death. A novel extended-release
      (ER) formulation of morphine (Morphine ARER; MorphaBondTM) resists physical
      manipulation and retains the drug's ER characteristics, even if attempts are made
      to manipulate the formulation. Design: This randomized, double-blind, double
      dummy, placebo-controlled, four-way crossover study investigated the abuse
      potential and safety of crushed intranasal and intact oral Morphine ARER compared
      with commercially available crushed intranasal ER morphine sulfate (ER morphine).
      Outcome Measures: Endpoints included maximum mean drug liking (E max ) as
      measured by subjects on a bipolar 100 mm visual analog scale (primary), a
      subject's desire to take the drug again, good effects of the drug, and drug high.
      Results: Twenty-five subjects completed the treatment phase. There was a 40%
      reduction in E max for crushed intranasal Morphine ARER compared with crushed
      intranasal ER morphine ( P  < .0001). There was no significant difference when
      comparing the E max for crushed intranasal vs intact Morphine ARER. When
      comparing crushed intranasal Morphine ARER with ER morphine, subjects reported
      lower mean scores for good effects of the drug, drug high, and overall drug
      liking, as well as a lower desire to use Morphine ARER again. Other than adverse
      events associated with intranasal administration of a drug, all adverse events
      were typical of those reported for opioid-containing drugs. Conclusions: Overall,
      these data suggest that Morphine ARER has a lower abuse potential via the
      intranasal route of administration when compared with ER morphine.

PMID- 27651507
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Long-Term Administration of Tapentadol in Relieving
      Chronic Pancreatitis Pain.

PMID- 27651508
TI  - Epidurographic Findings Following Percutaneous Epidural Adhesiolysis Failed to
      Correlate with Level of Pain Reduction in Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.
AB  - Background: Spinal stenosis is characterized by narrowing of the spinal canal,
      with mechanical compression of spinal nerve roots. The latter may cause low back
      pain and/or leg pain, as well as neurogenic claudication. Epidural steroid
      injection is commonly used to treat patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS),
      but percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis has been utilized when symptoms prove
      refractory. Our goal was to assess the relationship between improvement shown on
      epidurogram and subjective patient response to adhesiolysis. Methods: For this
      prospective study, 78 patients with degenerative LSS were enrolled. Each subject
      underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine, with all therapeutic
      procedures conducted in the operating room. Two weeks later, a second
      epidurography was performed. Second epidurography was conducted to assess any
      change in epidural filling defects. Outcome measures were obtained using the
      visual analogue scale (VAS) score at two weeks, one month, and three months post
      treatment. Results: All of the 78 study participants (mean age = 60.9 years,
      range = 34-85 years) displayed epidural filling defects at baseline. After
      percutaneous adhesiolysis, epidurographic filling defects were absent in 73% of
      patients. In the presence or absence of filling defects, mean VAS scores were 5.2
      and 4.5, respectively, at two weeks' follow-up. No significant correlation
      between postprocedural VAS score and status of filling defects (yes or no) was
      evident during the three-month follow-up period. Conclusion: In patients with
      LSS, epidurographic findings following percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis failed
      to correlate with level of pain reduction achieved.

PMID- 27651509
TI  - The Influence of Type of Anesthesia, Perioperative Pain, and Preoperative Health
      Status on Chronic Pain Six Months After Thoracotomy-A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - Background: Chronic post-thoracotomy pain (CPP) has a high incidence. However,
      less is known about risk factors and the influence of different analgesia
      therapies. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, patients either received
      standardized epidural analgesia or began an oral analgesic protocol with
      controlled-release oxycodone immediately postoperatively. Patients answered a
      baseline questionnaire on the day before surgery and a follow-up questionnaire
      six months postoperatively. The questionnaire included Short-Form 12, the
      Neuropathic Pain Scale, and descriptive questions for CPP. Pain protocols of all
      patients were examined. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors
      related to CPP. Results: One hundred seventy-four patients were enrolled; data of
      131 patients were available after the six-month follow-up period. Fifty-one
      patients (39%) had CPP six months postoperatively. Of these, more than 80% had
      impaired daily activity or ability to work, or reported sleeping disturbance due
      to CPP. The strongest predictive factors for the development of CPP were:
      thoracic pain for three months preoperatively (odds ratio [OR] = 3.54, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] = 1.69-7.40, P = 0.001), thoracic pain for 12 months
      preoperatively (OR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.28-5.83, P = 0.009), and higher pain scores
      at rest in the first five postoperative days compared with patients without CPP
      (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.24-2.57, P = 0.002). Neuropathic pain was present in 4.8%
      of patients. Patients with CPP had a reduced physical (P = 0.005) and mental
      health status (P = 0.03) six months after surgery compared with patients without
      CPP. Conclusions: Preoperative thoracic pain and higher pain scores in the first
      five postoperative days seem to be the strongest risk factors for the development
      of CPP. CPP patients reported poorer mental and physical health before and six
      months after surgery.

PMID- 27651512
TI  - Usefulness of Ultrasound in Refractory Lateral Epicondylitis.

PMID- 27651510
TI  - Human Abuse Potential of an Abuse-Deterrent (AD), Extended-Release (ER) Morphine
      Product Candidate (Morphine-ADER Injection-Molded Tablets) vs Extended-Release
      Morphine Administered Intranasally in Nondependent Recreational Opioid Users.
AB  - Objective: To compare the relative human abuse potential after insufflation of
      manipulated morphine abuse-deterrent, extended-release injection-molded tablets
      (morphine-ADER-IMT) with that of marketed morphine ER tablets. Methods: A
      randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active- and placebo-controlled five-way
      crossover study was performed with adult volunteers who were experienced,
      nondependent, recreational opioid users. After intranasal (IN) administration of
      manipulated high-volume (HV) morphine-ADER-IMT (60 mg), participants were
      randomized (1:1:1:1) to receive IN manipulated low-volume (LV) morphine ER (60
      mg), IN manipulated LV morphine-ADER-IMT, intact oral morphine-ADER-IMT (60 mg),
      and placebo in crossover fashion. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic assessments
      included peak effect of drug liking (E max ; primary endpoint) using drug liking
      visual analog scale (VAS) score, E max using overall drug liking, and take drug
      again (TDA) VASs scores, and mean abuse quotient (AQ), a pharmacokinetic
      parameter associated with drug liking. Results: Forty-six participants completed
      the study. After insufflation of HV morphine-ADER-IMT and LV morphine-ADER-IMT,
      drug liking E max was significantly lower ( P  <   0.0001) compared with IN
      morphine ER. Overall drug liking and TDA E max values were significantly lower (
      P  <   0.0001) after insufflation of HV morphine-ADER-IMT and LV morphine-ADER
      IMT compared with IN morphine ER. Mean AQ was lower after insufflation of HV
      (9.2) and LV (2.3) morphine-ADER-IMT or ingestion of oral morphine-ADER-IMT (5.5)
      compared with insufflation of LV morphine ER (37.2). Conclusions: All drug
      liking, take drug again, and abuse quotient endpoints support a significantly
      lower abuse potential with insufflation of manipulated morphine-ADER-IMT compared
      with manipulated and insufflated non-AD ER morphine.

PMID- 27651513
TI  - Comparison of the Effects of Intermittent Boluses to Simple Continuous Infusion
      on Patients' Global Perceived Effect in Intrathecal Therapy for Pain: A
      Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study.
AB  - Objective: Intrathecal drug delivery (ITDD) is commonly used for intractable pain
      management. A paucity of good-quality studies in chronic noncancer patients and
      concerns over increased dosages have focused interest on different modes of
      administration. The aim of this international multicenter randomized double-blind
      crossover trial was to compare the efficacy of the same daily dose of drugs
      administered by intermittent boluses vs simple continuous infusion. Methods:
      Eligible patients implanted with a programmable ITDD device were randomized to
      receive two weeks of either intermittent boluses or a simple continuous flow in
      period 1, followed by a crossover to the alternative mode of administration. The
      primary outcome measure was the Patients' Global Impression of Change (PGIC)
      scale. Results: The mean proportion of positive responders (at least "minimally
      improved") was 38.4% in the continuous condition vs 37.3% in the bolus
      (difference in proportions = 1.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -21.8-24.0%, P 
      = 0.93). The mean PGIC in the continuous condition was 3.8 vs 3.9 in the bolus
      (mean difference = -0.1, -0.6-0.4, P  = 0.72). Exploratory analyses revealed a
      tendency for the mean proportion of positive responders to be higher at low vs
      high flow rates for both bolus and continuous administrations. Two patients were
      withdrawn from the study due to adverse events during the bolus phase, both with
      symptoms of increased pain, and one patient with additional symptoms of numbness
      and urinary retention. Conclusion: The mean PGIC and proportion of positive
      responders was not substantially different after intermittent bolus vs continuous
      administration.

PMID- 27651515
TI  - Variations in GPs' decisions to investigate suspected lung cancer: a factorial
      experiment using multimedia vignettes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer survival is low and comparatively poor in the UK.
      Patients with symptoms suggestive of lung cancer commonly consult primary care,
      but it is unclear how general practitioners (GPs) distinguish which patients
      require further investigation. This study examined how patients' clinical and
      sociodemographic characteristics influence GPs' decisions to initiate lung cancer
      investigations. METHODS: A factorial experiment was conducted among a national
      sample of 227 English GPs using vignettes presented as simulated consultations. A
      multimedia-interactive website simulated key features of consultations using
      actors ('patients'). GP participants made management decisions online for six
      'patients', whose sociodemographic characteristics systematically varied across
      three levels of cancer risk. In low-risk vignettes, investigation (ie, chest X
      ray ordered, computerised tomography scan or respiratory consultant referral) was
      not indicated; in medium-risk vignettes, investigation could be appropriate; in
      high-risk vignettes, investigation was definitely indicated. Each 'patient' had
      two lung cancer-related symptoms: one volunteered and another elicited if GPs
      asked. Variations in investigation likelihood were examined using multilevel
      logistic regression. RESULTS: GPs decided to investigate lung cancer in 74%
      (1000/1348) of vignettes. Investigation likelihood did not increase with cancer
      risk. Investigations were more likely when GPs requested information on symptoms
      that 'patients' had but did not volunteer (adjusted OR (AOR)=3.18; 95% CI 2.27 to
      4.70). However, GPs omitted to seek this information in 42% (570/1348) of cases.
      GPs were less likely to investigate older than younger 'patients' (AOR=0.52; 95%
      CI 0.39 to 0.7) and black 'patients' than white (AOR=0.68; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.95).
      CONCLUSIONS: GPs were not more likely to investigate 'patients' with high-risk
      than low-risk cancer symptoms. Furthermore, they did not investigate everyone
      with the same symptoms equally. Insufficient data gathering could be responsible
      for missed opportunities in diagnosis.

PMID- 27651514
TI  - Oral Abuse Potential, Pharmacokinetics, and Safety of Once-Daily, Single-Entity,
      Extended-Release Hydrocodone (HYD) in Recreational Opioid Users.
AB  - Objectives: A once-daily, extended-release hydrocodone bitartrate tablet with
      abuse-deterrent properties (Hysingla ER [HYD]) is available for the treatment of
      chronic pain in appropriate patients. This study evaluated the oral abuse
      potential and pharmacokinetics (PK) of HYD intact, chewed, or milled to fine
      particles in comparison with hydrocodone solution or placebo. Design: Single
      center, double-blind, randomized, five-period, five-treatment crossover study.
      Subjects: Healthy adult, nondependent, recreational opioid users. Methods: Forty
      subjects received orally administered treatments of hydrocodone 60 mg solution,
      HYD 60 mg intact, HYD 60 mg chewed, HYD 60 mg milled to fine particles, or
      placebo, separated by a five- to seven-day washout. Assessments over 36 hours
      postdose included subjective measures of drug liking and willingness to take drug
      again (assessed using visual analog scales [VAS]), pupillometry, PK, and safety
      measures. Results: Following oral administration, HYD intact, HYD chewed, and HYD
      fine particles led to significantly lower "at this moment" drug liking compared
      with hydrocodone solution. HYD intact and chewed were significantly different
      from hydrocodone solution on overall drug liking, take drug again, and good
      effects. Pupil constriction, as measured by pupillometry, occurred later with HYD
      intact and HYD chewed than with hydrocodone solution. Across treatments
      (hydrocodone solution, HYD fine particles, HYD chewed, and HYD intact,
      respectively), mean C max and rate of absorption (C max /T max ) values
      decreased, respectively, and median T max values increased, respectively. Safety
      was consistent with the known effects of opioid agonists. Conclusion: HYD
      demonstrated reduced oral abuse potential compared with hydrocodone solution in
      healthy adult, nondependent, recreational opioid users.

PMID- 27651517
TI  - Why doesn't conventional IVF work in the horse? The equine oviduct as a
      microenvironment for capacitation/fertilization.
AB  - In contrast to man and many other mammalian species, conventional in vitro
      fertilization (IVF) with horse gametes is not reliably successful. The apparent
      inability of stallion spermatozoa to penetrate the zona pellucida in vitro is
      most likely due to incomplete activation of spermatozoa (capacitation) because of
      inadequate capacitating or fertilizing media. In vivo, the oviduct and its
      secretions provide a microenvironment that does reliably support and regulate
      interaction between the gametes. This review focuses on equine sperm-oviduct
      interaction. Equine sperm-oviduct binding appears to be more complex than the
      presumed species-specific calcium-dependent lectin binding phenomenon;
      unfortunately, the nature of the interaction is not understood. Various
      capacitation-related events are induced to regulate sperm release from the
      oviduct epithelium and most data suggest that exposure to oviduct secretions
      triggers sperm capacitation in vivo However, only limited information is
      available about equine oviduct secreted factors, and few have been identified.
      Another aspect of equine oviduct physiology relevant to capacitation is acid-base
      balance. In vitro, it has been demonstrated that stallion spermatozoa show tail
      associated protein tyrosine phosphorylation after binding to oviduct epithelial
      cells containing alkaline secretory granules. In response to alkaline follicular
      fluid preparations (pH 7.9), stallion spermatozoa also show tail-associated
      protein tyrosine phosphorylation, hyperactivated motility and (limited) release
      from oviduct epithelial binding. However, these 'capacitating conditions' are not
      able to induce the acrosome reaction and fertilization. In conclusion, developing
      a defined capacitating medium to support successful equine IVF will depend on
      identifying as yet uncharacterized capacitation triggers present in the oviduct.

PMID- 27651516
TI  - The blemishes of modern society? Acne prevalence in the Dogon of Mali.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Non-communicable diseases may reflect an evolutionary
      mismatch between our human ancestry and modern environments. To explore the
      mismatch hypothesis for Acne vulgaris, we studied the prevalence and severity of
      acne in Dogon adolescents in Mali, West Africa. METHODOLOGY: We graded the
      prevalence and severity of acne in 1182 Dogon adolescents aged 11-18 years from
      nine villages using facial photos taken as part of a prospective cohort study.
      Eighty-nine (89%) of the individuals in the cohort migrated to the city during
      adolescence, enabling us to assess the effect of urban migration. Using
      multivariable logistic regression, we estimated the effect of predictor variables
      on the presence of acne. RESULTS: The prevalence of acne in the cohort was 28%,
      with 90% of cases being mild or very mild. Thus, the prevalence and severity of
      acne was much lower than for adolescents in high-income countries. Controlling
      for age, puberty, and body mass index (BMI), the odds of boys developing acne was
      85% lower in the city than in the villages (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION AND
      IMPLICATIONS: Acne is similar to the 'diseases of civilization' in being promoted
      by the pro-inflammatory properties of modern diets. The low prevalence and
      severity of acne in the Dogon supports the mismatch hypothesis and suggests that
      acne should join the list of diseases of modern lifestyles. However, we also
      observed an unexpected decrease in acne in urban boys. Future research is needed
      for a deeper mechanistic understanding of the interplay between diet,
      inflammation, immune function and other environmental exposures that differ
      between urban and rural environments.

PMID- 27651518
TI  - Sperm of patients with severe asthenozoospermia show biochemical, molecular and
      genomic alterations.
AB  - The multifactorial pathological condition, that is, severe low sperm motility is
      a frequent cause of infertility. However, mechanisms underlying the development
      of this condition are not completely understood. Single abnormalities have been
      reported in sperm of patients with asthenozoospermia. In this study, we
      characterized, in 22 normozoospermic men and in 37 patients with
      asthenozoospermia, biochemical, molecular and genomic abnormalities that
      frequently occur in sperm of patients with asthenozoospermia. We evaluated a
      panel of sperm biomarkers that may affect the motility and fertilizing ability of
      sperm of patients with severe asthenozoospermia. Since reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) production is involved in the pathogenesis of such sperm abnormalities, we
      determined the association between ROS production and sperm abnormalities. High
      percentage of patients with severe asthenozoospermia showed increased basal and
      stimulated ROS production. Moreover, these patients showed increased
      mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number but decreased mtDNA integrity and they were
      associated with elevated ROS levels. Furthermore, mitochondrial membrane
      potential was also significantly decreased and again associated with high ROS
      production in these patients. However, the rate of nuclear DNA fragmentation was
      increased only in less than one-fifth of these patients. An important cohort of
      these patients showed multiple identical biochemical, molecular and genomic
      abnormalities, which are typical manifestations of oxidative stress. The most
      frequent association was found in patients with high ROS levels, increased mtDNA
      copy number and decreased integrity, and low MMP. A smaller cohort of the
      aforementioned patients also showed nDNA fragmentation. Therefore, patients with
      asthezoospermia likely present reduced fertilizing potential because of such
      composed abnormalities.

PMID- 27651519
TI  - Morphologic and transcriptomic assessment of bovine embryos exposed to dietary
      long-chain fatty acids.
AB  - The main objectives of this study were to determine the influence of diets
      enriched in alpha-linolenic, linoleic or oleic acid on the development and
      transcriptomic profile of embryos collected from dairy cattle. Non-lactating
      Holstein cows received one of the three diets supplemented with 8% rolled
      oilseeds: flax (FLX, n = 8), sunflower (SUN, n = 7) or canola (CAN, n = 8). After
      a minimum 35-day diet adaptation, cows were superovulated, artificially
      inseminated and ova/embryos recovered non-surgically after 7.5 days. Cows fed FLX
      had less degenerated embryos and more viable embryos than those fed CAN or SUN.
      In total, 175 genes were differentially expressed in blastocysts from cows fed
      FLX than in cows fed CAN or SUN. These differentially expressed genes were mainly
      involved in cellular growth and proliferation, cellular development, and cell
      survival and viability. In conclusion, dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
      reduced early embryonic degeneration possibly through improving embryonic cell
      survival and viability.

PMID- 27651520
TI  - Characterization and transcriptional profiles of Engraulis encrasicolus' GnRH
      forms.
AB  - The European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus, a member of the Clupeiformes order,
      holds a great biological and economical importance. In the past, this species was
      mostly investigated with the aim of assessing its reproductive biology, trophic
      ecology, population dynamics and the relations existing with the physical
      environment. At present days, though, an almost complete lack of information
      afflicts its neuroendocrinology and reproductive physiology. The hypothalamic
      pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis at its highest levels was herein investigated. In
      this study, the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a neuropeptide underlying
      many reproduction-related processes, the most critical of which is the
      stimulation of gonadotropin synthesis and secretion from the pituitary gland, was
      cloned. Three forms (salmon GnRH, chicken-II GnRH and the species-specific type)
      were characterized in their full-length open-reading frames and, in accordance
      with other Clupeiformes species, the distinctive one was found to be the herring
      type GnRH. We qualitatively and semiquantitatively evaluated the localizations of
      expressions and the temporal transcription patterns of the three GnRH forms in
      male and female specimens throughout their reproductive cycle as well as
      described their phylogeny with regard to teleost GnRH lineages, and,
      specifically, to other Clupeiformes species.

PMID- 27651521
TI  - HLA-G and CD8+ regulatory T cells in the inflammatory environment of pre
      eclampsia.
AB  - During pregnancy, the maternal immune system is tolerant to foetal antigens via
      the engagement of immune regulatory mechanisms. Failure in regulating the
      maternal immunity to foetal antigens may lead to pre-eclampsia (PE). We addressed
      the role of HLA-G gene polymorphisms and protein expression as well as regulatory
      T cells and Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokines in healthy and pathological pregnancies. Blood
      samples from 26 pregnant women with PE, 25 non-PE and 7 strictly healthy pregnant
      women were assessed. PBMCs were phenotyped for early activation markers (CD25 and
      CD69), regulatory T-cell markers (CD8+CD28- and CD4+CD25highFoxp3+), ILT-2 (HLA-G
      receptor) and HLA-G. Lymphocyte proliferation was estimated and levels of IL-2,
      IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-17 were measured. HLA-G
      polymorphisms (rs66554220 and rs1063320) were genotyped by PCR. PE women
      exhibited low levels of HLA-G in PBMCs and low frequency of regulatory CD8+CD28-
      T cells. High amounts of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-17, IL-2 and TNF-alpha
      as well as IL-4 and IL-10 and an increased proliferative cell activation profile
      were observed in PE. The allelic and genotypic frequencies of the HLA-G gene
      polymorphisms and the frequency of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ T cells did not vary among
      the groups. Our data suggest that the cytokine imbalance presented in PE is
      associated with a deficient immune regulatory profile, contributing to an
      impaired immune tolerance between mother and foetus.

PMID- 27651522
TI  - Uterine focal adhesions are retained at implantation after rat ovarian
      hyperstimulation.
AB  - Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation is an essential component of IVF techniques
      to ensure proliferation and development of multiple ovarian follicles, but the
      effects of these hormones on the endometrium are largely unknown. During normal
      pregnancy in rats, there are significant changes in the basal plasma membrane of
      uterine epithelial cells (UECs) at the time of receptivity, including loss of
      focal adhesions. This enables the UECs to be removed from the implantation
      chamber surrounding the blastocyst, thus allowing invasion into the underlying
      stroma. This study investigated the influence of ovarian hyperstimulation (OH) on
      the basal plasma membrane of UECs during early pregnancy in the rat.
      Immunofluorescence results demonstrate the presence of paxillin, talin, integrin
      beta1 and phosphorylated FAK (Y397FAK) in the basal portion of UECs at the time
      of implantation in OH pregnancy. TEM analysis demonstrated a flattened basal
      lamina and the presence of focal adhesions on the basal surface at this time in
      OH pregnancy. Significantly low full-length paxillin, high paxillin delta and
      integrin beta1 were seen at the time of implantation in OH compared with those in
      normal pregnancy. The increase in paxillin delta suggests that these cells are
      less mobile, whereas the increase in integrin beta1 and Y397FAK suggests the
      retention of a stable FA complex. Taken together with the increase in
      morphological focal adhesions, this represents a cell type that is stable and
      less easily removed for blastocyst implantation. This may be one mechanism
      explaining lower implantation rates after fresh embryo transfers compared with
      frozen cycles.

PMID- 27651523
TI  - Long-term chronic stress exposure induces PCO phenotype in rat.
AB  - Thus far the effects of chronic stress on the ovary were studied for shorter
      durations. However, responses of the ovary may vary with durations of exposure to
      stress. Hence, we investigated the responses of the ovary following exposure to
      different durations of chronic stress. Exposure of rats to restraint (1 h) and
      after a gap of 4 h to forced swimming (15 min) daily for 4 or 8 weeks resulted in
      significant decreases in the activities of the ovarian antioxidant enzymes, 3beta
      hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and percentage of healthy granulosa cells with
      concomitant increases in the number of atretic follicles, the percentage of
      apoptotic granulosa cells and ovarian malondialdehyde concentration. However, the
      response of the ovary to similar stress regime for 12 weeks was paradoxical as
      there were increases in the activities of ovarian antioxidant enzymes and 3beta
      hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, the number of healthy antral follicles, and
      decreases in ovarian malondialdehyde concentration and percentage of apoptotic
      granulosa cells. These changes were accompanied by hyperglycaemia and an increase
      in the serum levels of insulin, testosterone and oestradiol. In addition the
      cystic follicles were found in the ovaries of these rats. However, the number of
      oestrous cycles and active corpora lutea showed significant decrease in all the
      durations of stress exposure. The results demonstrate a differential response of
      ovary to short- and long-term exposure to chronic stress.

PMID- 27651524
TI  - Does Whole-Body Vibration Improve the Functional Exercise Capacity of Subjects
      With COPD? A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Whole-body vibration (WBV) is considered a type of physical activity based on the
      assumption that it results in an increase in muscle strength and performance and,
      therefore, may be a promising way to exercise patients with COPD. A comprehensive
      database search (PubMed/MEDLINE, LILACS, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and
      COCHRANE Library) for randomized trials, including original articles, that
      compared WBV groups versus control groups was conducted and studies were selected
      for comparison. The effect of WBV treatment was compared for minimum clinically
      important differences. The statistical heterogeneity among the studies was
      assessed using the I2 statistic; the results are expressed as percentages.
      Inconsistencies of up to 25% were considered low, those between 50 and 75% were
      considerate moderate, and those > 75% were considered high. Risk of bias was
      classified based on the Cochrane Collaboration tool, the meta-analysis was
      conducted using RevMan 5.3 software, and the level of evidence was assessed using
      the GRADE system. The primary outcome was functional exercise capacity. Secondary
      outcomes were quality of life, performance in activities of daily living, muscle
      strength of the lower limbs, and possible adverse effects assessed clinically or
      by subject reports. We included 4 articles involving 185 subjects for analysis.
      All subjects in the groups undergoing WBV showed improvement in distance walked
      in the 6-min walk test compared with the control group (57.85 m, 95% CI 16.36
      99.33 m). Regarding the secondary end points, just one article reported improved
      quality of life and activities of daily living. The only article that assessed
      muscle strength found no difference between the groups. The quality of evidence
      for functional exercise capacity outcome was considered moderate. WBV seems to
      benefit subjects with COPD by improving their functional exercise capacity,
      without producing adverse effects. The quality of evidence is moderate, but the
      degree of recommendation is strong. (International Prospective Register of
      Systematic Reviews, http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, 2015:CRD42015027659.).

PMID- 27651525
TI  - Effects of Leak Compensation on Patient-Ventilator Synchrony During
      Premature/Neonatal Invasive and Noninvasive Ventilation: A Lung Model Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During both nasal noninvasive ventilation (NIV) and invasive
      ventilation of neonates, the presence of air leaks causes triggering and cycling
      asynchrony. METHODS: Five ICU ventilators (PB840, PB980, Servo-i, V500, and Avea)
      were compared in available invasive ventilation and NIV ventilator modes
      (pressure control continuous spontaneous ventilation [PC-CSV] and pressure
      control continuous mandatory ventilation [PC-CMV]). The V500 and Avea do not
      provide PC-CSV and PC-CMV in NIV. The Servo-i and Avea were tested with and
      without their proximal flow sensor. The ASL 5000 lung model (version 3.5) was
      used to simulate 4 neonatal scenarios (body weight 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kg). The ASL
      5000 was ventilated via endotracheal tube (invasive ventilation) or nasal cannula
      (NIV) with 4 different leaks. RESULTS: The Avea (without flow sensor) during
      invasive ventilation and Servo-i and PB840 during NIV were not triggered by
      inspiratory efforts of the ASL 5000 at the baseline leak in the 0.5 kg scenario.
      In invasive ventilation, overall (median) asynchrony index was significantly
      lower with the PB980 (1%) and V500 (3%) than with the Servo-i (with flow sensor,
      50%; without flow sensor, 50%) and Avea (with sensor, 50%; without sensor, 62%)
      (P < .05 for all comparisons). The PB840 (33%) was significantly different from
      all ventilators (P < .05). In NIV, the asynchrony index was significantly lower
      in PB980 (2%) than in the Servo-i (with sensor, 100%; without sensor, 100%) and
      PB840 (75%) (P < .05 for both). There was no difference in asynchrony index
      between PC-CSV and PC-CMV in all tested conditions and ventilators. CONCLUSIONS:
      The ability of leak compensation to prevent asynchronous breathing varied widely
      between ventilators and lung mechanics. The PB980 and V500 were the only two
      ventilators to acclimate to all leak scenarios in invasive ventilation, and PB980
      was the only ventilator to acclimate to all leak scenarios in NIV.

PMID- 27651526
TI  - The influence of obesity on response to tumour necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors
      in psoriatic arthritis: results from the DANBIO and ICEBIO registries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of obesity on response to the first TNF
      alpha inhibitor (TNFI) treatment course in patients with PsA followed in routine
      care. METHODS: We performed an observational cohort study based on the Danish and
      Icelandic biologics registries. Kaplan-Meier plots, Cox and logistic regression
      analyses were performed to study the impact of obesity (BMI ?30 kg/m2) on TNFI
      adherence and response after 6 months (according to 20/50/70% improvement in ACR
      criteria and EULAR criteria). Subanalyses studied the impact of obesity according
      to gender, TNFI type and nationality. RESULTS: Among 1943 PsA patients (193
      Icelandic/1750 Danish) identified in the registries, 1271 (65%) had available BMI
      and 408 (32%) were obese. The median follow-up-time was 1.5 years [interquartile
      range (IQR) 0.5-3.9]. Obese patients had higher baseline disease activity, for
      example, 28-joint DAS [mean 4.6 (sd 1.2) vs 4.4 (1.2)]; CRP [median 9 mg/l (IQR 5
      19) vs 7 (3-18)] and visual analogue scale-pain [66 mm (IQR 48-76) vs 60 (38
      74)], compared with non-obese patients (all P < 0.05). TNFI adherence was shorter
      in obese patients, especially among men, where the median TNFI duration was 2.5
      years (95% CI 1.7, 3.2) in obese vs 5.9 (4.1, 7.7) in non-obese patients (P <
      0.01). A EULAR good or moderate (EGOM) response was achieved by 55% of obese vs
      65% of non-obese patients after 6 months (P = 0.02). In multivariable analyses,
      obesity increased the risk of TNFI withdrawal [hazard ratio 1.6 (95% CI 1.3,
      2.0)] and reduced odds for EGOM response [odds ratio 0.47 (95% CI 0.29, 0.72)].
      The impact of obesity was significant across genders, TNFI types and nationality.
      CONCLUSION: Obesity was associated with higher disease activity and seemed to
      diminish response and adherence to TNFIs in PsA.

PMID- 27651527
TI  - Cortical bone density and thickness alterations by high-resolution peripheral
      quantitative computed tomography: association with vertebral fractures in primary
      Sjogren's syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate volumetric BMD (vBMD), microarchitecture and strength and
      vertebral fractures (VFs) in primary SS (pSS). METHODS: We evaluated 71 female
      pSS patients and 71 gender-, age-, and race-matched controls. Clinical data
      including risk factors for osteoporosis (OP) and fractures were collected through
      a standardized protocol. Areal BMD and VFs were analysed by DXA. Bone
      microarchitecture, vBMD and bone strength were assessed by high-resolution
      peripheral quantitative CT (HR-pQCT), a non-invasive method. RESULTS: pSS
      patients and controls were comparable for age, BMI, calcium intake, smoking,
      menopause, sedentary lifestyle and family history of fractures (P > 0.05). OP or
      low BMD for the patient's age (33.8 vs 5.6%; P < 0.0001) and VFs (19.7 vs 5.6%; P
      = 0.043) were more frequent in patients than controls. HR-pQCT showed
      deterioration of cortical and trabecular components and strength at the radius,
      and of cortical components and strength at the tibia (P < 0.05) in patients
      compared with controls. pSS patients and controls were also analysed by
      multivariate analysis adjusted for age, ethnicity, prednisone use, weight and
      height, which showed that the pSS group had lower values of cortical vBMD,
      cortical thickness and apparent modulus (P < 0.05) at the radius and cortical
      vBMD and apparent modulus (P < 0.05) at the tibia. Patients with VFs had more
      cortical bone deterioration (cortical vBMD/cortical thickness) at the tibia
      compared with patients without VFs (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study was the
      first to assess bone microarchitecture in pSS and demonstrated that cortical
      deterioration is the most important abnormality observed in pSS patients with
      VFs. This novel finding shows that this compartment contributes to vertebral
      fragility, suggesting that this non-invasive evaluation may be useful in the
      clinical practice.

PMID- 27651529
TI  - The role of sea ice for vascular plant dispersal in the Arctic.
AB  - Sea ice has been suggested to be an important factor for dispersal of vascular
      plants in the Arctic. To assess its role for postglacial colonization in the
      North Atlantic region, we compiled data on the first Late Glacial to Holocene
      occurrence of vascular plant species in East Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe
      Islands and Svalbard. For each record, we reconstructed likely past dispersal
      events using data on species distributions and genetics. We compared these data
      to sea-ice reconstructions to evaluate the potential role of sea ice in these
      past colonization events and finally evaluated these results using a compilation
      of driftwood records as an independent source of evidence that sea ice can
      disperse biological material. Our results show that sea ice was, in general, more
      prevalent along the most likely dispersal routes at times of assumed first
      colonization than along other possible routes. Also, driftwood is frequently
      dispersed in regions that have sea ice today. Thus, sea ice may act as an
      important dispersal agent. Melting sea ice may hamper future dispersal of Arctic
      plants and thereby cause more genetic differentiation. It may also limit the
      northwards expansion of competing boreal species, and hence favour the
      persistence of Arctic species.

PMID- 27651528
TI  - Mutually exclusive RNA secondary structures regulate translation initiation of
      DinQ in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Protein translation can be affected by changes in the secondary structure of
      mRNA. The dinQ gene in Escherichia coli encodes a primary transcript (+1) that is
      inert to translation. Ribonucleolytic removal of the 44 first nucleotides
      converts the +1 transcript into a translationally active form, but the mechanism
      behind this structural change is unknown. Here we present experimental evidence
      for a mechanism where alternative RNA secondary structures in the two dinQ mRNA
      variants affect translation initiation by mediating opening or closing of the
      ribosome binding sequence. This structural switch is determined by alternative
      interactions of four sequence elements within the dinQ mRNA and also by the agrB
      antisense RNA. Additionally, the structural conformation of +1 dinQ suggests a
      locking mechanism comprised of an RNA stem that both stabilizes and prevents
      translation initiation from the full-length dinQ transcript. BLAST search and
      multiple sequence alignments define a new family of dinQ-like genes widespread in
      Enterobacteriaceae with close RNA sequence similarities in their 5' untranslated
      regions. Thus, it appears that a whole new family of genes is regulated by the
      same mechanism of alternative secondary RNA structures.

PMID- 27651530
TI  - Sex-specific, inverted rhythms of breeding-site attendance in an Arctic seabird.
AB  - In contrast to daily rhythms that are common in the presence of the geophysical
      light-dark cycle, organisms at polar latitudes exhibit many diel activity
      patterns during natural periods of continuous solar light or darkness (polar day
      and night, respectively), from 24 h rhythms to arrhythmicity. In Arctic Greenland
      (73.7 degrees  N, 56.6 degrees  W) during polar day, we observed breeding-site
      attendance rhythms of thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia; n = 21 pairs), a
      charadriiform seabird, which provide biparental care at the colony. We found that
      U. lomvia egg-incubation and chick-brooding attendance is rhythmic and
      synchronized to the geophysical day (mean period length [rhythm duration] +/- 95%
      confidence interval = 24.13 +/- 0.52 h). Individual pair members had temporally
      segregated, sex-specific colony-attendance rhythms that were opposite (inverted)
      to each other, and these sex-specific rhythms were prominent at the population
      level. Our results provide a basis for investigating circadian systems at polar
      latitudes and sex-specific parental-care strategies.

PMID- 27651531
TI  - Loss of connectivity among island-dwelling Peary caribou following sea ice
      decline.
AB  - Global warming threatens to reduce population connectivity for terrestrial
      wildlife through significant and rapid changes to sea ice. Using genetic
      fingerprinting, we contrasted extant connectivity in island-dwelling Peary
      caribou in northern Canada with continental-migratory caribou. We next examined
      if sea-ice contractions in the last decades modulated population connectivity and
      explored the possible impact of future climate change on long-term connectivity
      among island caribou. We found a strong correlation between genetic and geodesic
      distances for both continental and Peary caribou, even after accounting for the
      possible effect of sea surface. Sea ice has thus been an effective corridor for
      Peary caribou, promoting inter-island connectivity and population mixing. Using a
      time series of remote sensing sea-ice data, we show that landscape resistance in
      the Canadian Arctic Archipelago has increased by approximately 15% since 1979 and
      may further increase by 20-77% by 2086 under a high-emission scenario (RCP8.5).
      Under the persistent increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, reduced
      connectivity may isolate island-dwelling caribou with potentially significant
      consequences for population viability.

PMID- 27651532
TI  - Timing of ice retreat alters seabird abundances and distributions in the
      southeast Bering Sea.
AB  - Timing of spring sea-ice retreat shapes the southeast Bering Sea food web. We
      compared summer seabird densities and average bathymetry depth distributions
      between years with early (typically warm) and late (typically cold) ice retreat.
      Averaged over all seabird species, densities in early-ice-retreat-years were
      10.1% (95% CI: 1.1-47.9%) of that in late-ice-retreat-years. In early-ice-retreat
      years, surface-foraging species had increased numbers over the middle shelf (50
      150 m) and reduced numbers over the shelf slope (200-500 m). Pursuit-diving
      seabirds showed a less clear trend. Euphausiids and the copepod Calanus
      marshallae/glacialis were 2.4 and 18.1 times less abundant in early-ice-retreat
      years, respectively, whereas age-0 walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus near
      surface densities were 51* higher in early-ice-retreat-years. Our results suggest
      a mechanistic understanding of how present and future changes in sea-ice-retreat
      timing may affect top predators like seabirds in the southeastern Bering Sea.

PMID- 27651533
TI  - Decreased small mammal and on-host tick abundance in association with invasive
      red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta).
AB  - Invasive species may impact pathogen transmission by altering the distributions
      and interactions among native vertebrate reservoir hosts and arthropod vectors.
      Here, we examined the direct and indirect effects of the red imported fire ant
      (Solenopsis invicta) on the native tick, small mammal and pathogen community in
      southeast Texas. Using a replicated large-scale field manipulation study, we show
      that small mammals were more abundant on treatment plots where S. invicta
      populations were experimentally reduced. Our analysis of ticks on small mammal
      hosts demonstrated a threefold increase in the ticks caught per unit effort on
      treatment relative to control plots, and elevated tick loads (a 27-fold increase)
      on one common rodent species. We detected only one known human pathogen
      (Rickettsia parkeri), present in 1.4% of larvae and 6.7% of nymph on-host
      Amblyomma maculatum samples but with no significant difference between treatment
      and control plots. Given that host and vector population dynamics are key drivers
      of pathogen transmission, the reduced small mammal and tick abundance associated
      with S. invicta may alter pathogen transmission dynamics over broader spatial
      scales.

PMID- 27651534
TI  - Strength of forelimb lateralization predicts motor errors in an insect.
AB  - Lateralized behaviours are widespread in both vertebrates and invertebrates,
      suggesting that lateralization is advantageous. Yet evidence demonstrating
      proximate or ultimate advantages remains scarce, particularly in invertebrates or
      in species with individual-level lateralization. Desert locusts (Schistocerca
      gregaria) are biased in the forelimb they use to perform targeted reaching across
      a gap. The forelimb and strength of this bias differed among individuals,
      indicative of individual-level lateralization. Here we show that strongly biased
      locusts perform better during gap-crossing, making fewer errors with their
      preferred forelimb. The number of targeting errors locusts make negatively
      correlates with the strength of forelimb lateralization. This provides evidence
      that stronger lateralization confers an advantage in terms of improved motor
      control in an invertebrate with individual-level lateralization.

PMID- 27651535
TI  - Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow
      spiders.
AB  - Copulatory cannibalism of male 'widow' spiders (genus Latrodectus) is a model
      example of the extreme effects of sexual selection, particularly in L. hasselti
      and L. geometricus where males typically facilitate cannibalism by females and
      mate only once. We show that these males can increase their reproductive success
      by copulating with final-instar, immature females after piercing the female's
      exoskeleton to access her newly developed sperm storage organs. Females retain
      sperm through their final moult and have similar fecundity to adult-mated
      females. This is an adaptive male tactic because immature mating increases
      insemination success relative to adult mating (which predicts higher paternity)
      and moreover, rarely ends in cannibalism, so males can mate again. Although
      successful only during a brief period before the female's final moult, males may
      employ this tactic when they associate with final-instar females in nature.
      Consistent with this, one-third of L. hasselti females collected as immatures in
      nature were already mated. Immature mating alters sexual selection on these
      otherwise monogynous males, and may explain male traits allowing facultative
      polygyny in Latrodectus Since male cohabitation with immature females is common
      among invertebrates, immature mating may be a widespread, previously unrecognized
      mating tactic, particularly when unmated females are of high reproductive value.

PMID- 27651537
TI  - Altered trait variability in response to size-selective mortality.
AB  - Changes in trait variability owing to size-selective harvesting have received
      little attention in comparison with changes in mean trait values, perhaps because
      of the expectation that phenotypic variability should generally be eroded by
      directional selection typical for fishing and hunting. We show, however, that
      directional selection, in particular for large body size, leads to increased body
      size variation in experimentally harvested zebrafish (Danio rerio) populations
      exposed to two alternative feeding environments: ad libitum and temporarily
      restricted food availability. Trait variation may influence population
      adaptivity, stability and resilience. Therefore, rather than exerting selection
      pressures that favour small individuals, our results stress the importance of
      protecting large ones, as they can harbour a great amount of variation within a
      population, to manage fish stocks sustainably.

PMID- 27651536
TI  - The fragmentation of Pangaea and Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.
AB  - During the Mesozoic (242-66 million years ago), terrestrial regions underwent a
      massive shift in their size, position and connectivity. At the beginning of the
      era, the land masses were joined into a single supercontinent called Pangaea.
      However, by the end of the Mesozoic, terrestrial regions had become highly
      fragmented, both owing to the drifting apart of the continental plates and the
      extremely high sea levels that flooded and divided many regions. How terrestrial
      biodiversity was affected by this fragmentation and large-scale flooding of the
      Earth's landmasses is uncertain. Based on a model using the species-area
      relationship (SAR), terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity would be expected to
      nearly double through the Mesozoic owing to continental fragmentation, despite a
      decrease of 24% in total terrestrial area. Previous studies of Mesozoic
      vertebrates have generally found increases in terrestrial diversity towards the
      end of the era, although these increases are often attributed to intrinsic or
      climatic factors. Instead, continental fragmentation over this time may largely
      explain any observed increase in terrestrial biodiversity. This study
      demonstrates the importance that non-intrinsic effects can have on the taxonomic
      success of a group, and the importance of geography to understanding past
      biodiversity.

PMID- 27651538
TI  - Sea turtle symbiosis facilitates social monogamy in oceanic crabs via refuge
      size.
AB  - The capacity for resource monopolization by individuals often dictates the size
      and composition of animal groups, and ultimately, the adoption of mating
      strategies. For refuge-dwelling animals, the ability (or inability) of
      individuals to monopolize refuges should depend on the relative size of the
      refuge. In theory, groups should be larger and more inclusive when refuges are
      large, and smaller and more exclusive when refuges are small, regardless of
      refuge type. We test this prediction by comparing the size and composition of
      groups of oceanic crabs (Planes minutus) living on plastic flotsam and loggerhead
      sea turtles. We found that (i) surface area of refuges (barnacle colonies on
      flotsam and supracaudal space on turtles) is a better predictor of crab number
      than total surface area and (ii) flotsam and turtles with similar refuge surface
      area host a similar number (1-2) and composition (adult male-female pairs) of
      crabs. These results indicate that group size and composition of refuge-dwelling
      animals are modulated by refuge size and the capacity for refuge monopolization.
      Moreover, these results suggest that sea turtle symbiosis facilitates social
      monogamy in oceanic crabs, providing insights into how symbiosis can promote
      specific mating strategies.

PMID- 27651539
TI  - Greater response variability in adolescents is associated with increased white
      matter development.
AB  - Adolescence is a period of learning, exploration, and continuous adaptation to
      fluctuating environments. Response variability during adolescence is an
      important, understudied, and developmentally appropriate behavior. The purpose of
      this study was to identify the association between performance on a dynamic risky
      decision making task and white matter microstructure in a sample of 48
      adolescents (14-16 years). Individuals with the greatest response variability on
      the task obtained the widest range of experience with potential outcomes to risky
      choice. When compared with their more behaviorally consistent peers, adolescents
      with greater response variability rated real-world examples of risk taking
      behaviors as less risky via self-report. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS)
      were used to examine fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD).
      Greater FA in long-range, late-maturing tracts was associated with higher
      response variability. Greater FA and lower MD were associated with lower
      riskiness ratings of real-world risky behaviors. Results suggest that response
      variability and lower perceived risk attitudes of real-world risk are supported
      by neural maturation in adolescents.

PMID- 27651540
TI  - Peers and parents: a comparison between neural activation when winning for
      friends and mothers in adolescence.
AB  - Rewards reliably elicit ventral striatum activity. More recently studies have
      shown that vicarious rewards elicit similar activation. Ventral striatum
      responses to rewards for self peak during adolescence. However, it is currently
      not well understood how ventral striatum responses to vicarious rewards develop.
      In this study, we test this question using behavioral and fMRI data. A total of
      233 participants aged 9-26 years old played a gambling game in the scanner in
      which they could win or lose money for themselves, their best friend and mother.
      Participants rated how close they felt to their friend and mother and how much
      they liked winning for them. These ratings were positively correlated. On the
      neural level males showed higher responses to winning for a friend, but there
      were no age differences. In contrast, there was a quadratic effect of age when
      winning for mother, showing heightened ventral striatum activity in mid
      adolescence. Furthermore, there was an interaction between age and sex; for
      females responses to winning for friends become stronger with age relative to
      winning for mothers. In conclusion, this study provided evidence for elevated
      ventral striatum responses for mothers in mid-adolescence, and a shift in ventral
      striatum responses towards peers in girls.

PMID- 27651541
TI  - Loud and angry: sound intensity modulates amygdala activation to angry voices in
      social anxiety disorder.
AB  - Angry expressions of both voices and faces represent disorder-relevant stimuli in
      social anxiety disorder (SAD). Although individuals with SAD show greater
      amygdala activation to angry faces, previous work has failed to find comparable
      effects for angry voices. Here, we investigated whether voice sound-intensity, a
      modulator of a voice's threat-relevance, affects brain responses to angry prosody
      in SAD. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore
      brain responses to voices varying in sound intensity and emotional prosody in SAD
      patients and healthy controls (HCs). Angry and neutral voices were presented
      either with normal or high sound amplitude, while participants had to decide upon
      the speaker's gender. Loud vs normal voices induced greater insula activation,
      and angry vs neutral prosody greater orbitofrontal cortex activation in SAD as
      compared with HC subjects. Importantly, an interaction of sound intensity,
      prosody and group was found in the insula and the amygdala. In particular, the
      amygdala showed greater activation to loud angry voices in SAD as compared with
      HC subjects. This finding demonstrates a modulating role of voice sound-intensity
      on amygdalar hyperresponsivity to angry prosody in SAD and suggests that abnormal
      processing of interpersonal threat signals in amygdala extends beyond facial
      expressions in SAD.

PMID- 27651546
TI  - Bee Fauna and Floral Abundance Within Lawn-Dominated Suburban Yards in
      Springfield, MA.
AB  - Private yards comprise a significant component of urban lands, with managed lawns
      representing the dominant land cover. Lawns blanket > 163,000 km2 of the United
      States, and 50% of urban and suburban areas. When not treated with herbicides,
      lawns have the capacity to support a diversity of spontaneous (e.g., not planted)
      flowers, with the potential to provide nectar and pollen resources for
      pollinators such as native bees. In order to determine the extent to which
      suburban lawns support these important species, we surveyed lawns in 17 suburban
      yards in Springfield, MA, between May and September 2013 and 2014. Householders
      participating in the study did not apply chemical pesticides or herbicides to
      lawns for the duration of the study. We collected 5,331 individual bees,
      representing 111 species, and 29% of bee species reported for the state. The
      majority of species were native to North America (94.6%), nested in soil (73%),
      and solitary (48.6%). Species richness was lower for oligolectic (specialists on
      a single plant; 9.9%) and parasitic species (12.6%). Abundance percentages for
      number of individuals were similar. We documented 63 plant species in the lawns,
      the majority of which were not intentionally planted. The most abundant lawn
      flowers were dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and clover (Trifolium sp.). Nearly
      30% of the spontaneous plant species growing in the lawns were native to North
      America. Our study suggests that the spontaneous lawn flowers could be viewed as
      supplemental floral resources and support pollinators, thereby enhancing the
      value of urban green spaces.

PMID- 27651542
TI  - Neural predictors of evaluative attitudes toward celebrities.
AB  - Our attitudes toward others influence a wide range of everyday behaviors and have
      been the most extensively studied concept in the history of social psychology.
      Yet they remain difficult to measure reliably and objectively, since both
      explicit and implicit measures are typically confounded by other psychological
      processes. We here address the feasibility of decoding incidental attitudes based
      on brain activations. Participants were presented with pictures of members of a
      Japanese idol group inside an functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner while
      performing an unrelated detection task, and subsequently (outside the scanner)
      performed an incentive-compatible choice task that revealed their attitude toward
      each celebrity. We used a real-world election scheme that exists for this idol
      group, which confirmed both strongly negative and strongly positive attitudes
      toward specific individuals. Whole-brain multivariate analyses (searchlight-based
      support vector regression) showed that activation patterns in the anterior
      striatum predicted each participant's revealed attitudes (choice behavior) using
      leave-one-out (as well as 4-fold) cross-validation across participants. In
      contrast, attitude extremity (unsigned magnitude) could be decoded from a
      distinct region in the posterior striatum. The findings demonstrate dissociable
      striatal representations of valenced attitude and attitude extremity and
      constitute a first step toward an objective and process-pure neural measure of
      attitudes.

PMID- 27651547
TI  - Another horizon and breakthrough for the Sudanese Journal of Paediatrics.

PMID- 27651548
TI  - The role of kisspeptin signalling in control of reproduction in genetically
      similar species.
AB  - Kisspeptin (previously known as metastin) is a protein encoded by the KISS-1 gene
      in humans. Kisspeptin producing neurons seem to bridge the gap between the sex
      steroid levels and feedback mechanisms that control the gonadotropin releasing
      hormone secretion. Since 2003, there are many studies on the facets of
      neuroendocrine networks that control puberty and fertility. These have explored
      the role of Kisspeptins in puberty and fertility using animal models. Kisspeptins
      are universally recognized as essential activators of the gonadotropic axis and
      they play an essential role in the metabolic regulation of fertility. Moreover,
      novel aspects of Kisspeptins/G-protein coupled receptor 54 or Kisspeptin receptor
      (KPs/GPR54) physiology have demonstrated the Kisspeptins involvement in the
      neuroendocrine control of ovulation. In this article, the authors highlight the
      outcome of the most recent work on Kisspeptin role in reproduction in human and
      animal models and give an opinion on future perspectives. 

PMID- 27651550
TI  - Prevalence and outcome of severe malnutrition in children less than five-year-old
      in Omdurman Paediatric Hospital, Sudan.
AB  - This is a retrospective observational hospital-based study aimed to determine the
      prevalence and outcome of severe acute malnutrition in children less than five
      years admitted to Omdurman Paediatric Hospital during the period January 2014 to
      December 2014. Data was collected from patient's hospital records during the
      study period. Ethical approval and permission to access patients' record were
      obtained. A total of 593 children with severe malnutrition were identified; 305
      of cases were male (51.4%) with a male: female ratio of 1:0.9. The mean age these
      children was 22.3 months. Children 36-59 months were least affected. 35.4% were
      classified as low socioeconomic class, 22.9% classified as an average class and
      there were no sufficient data to classify the remaining. The overall prevalence
      of severe malnutrition was 6.5%, and the general mortality rate was 2.4% while
      mortality rate among children with severe malnutrition was 9.3%. Among the 593
      admitted children with malnutrition, 407 (68.6%) had marasmus, 141 (23.8%) had
      kwashiorkor and 45 (7.6%) had marasmic-kwashiorkor. The highest prevalence and
      mortality rate occurred in September. The most common clinical presentations were
      gastroenteritis, malaria, urinary tract infections, giardiasis, tuberculosis and
      AIDS. Only 10.8% of the admitted children were exclusively breast fed for the
      first three months. 33% were fully vaccinated. Overall 75.7% improved and
      discharged, 15% discharged against medical advice and 9.3% died. We concluded
      that prevalence and mortality among children with acute severe malnutrition at
      Omdurman paediatrics hospital were high, and the current management strategies
      require review to identify the causes. We recommended adopting policies to manage
      malnutrition in the community and hospitals. 

PMID- 27651549
TI  - Correlation between Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and Childhood
      Autism Rating Scale (CARS) in the evaluation of autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Identification of health issues in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
      is paramount to provide appropriate care and interventions. The Autism Treatment
      Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) is the one of the few current measures that assesses
      ASD-associated health problems thus informing intervention decisions. However,
      little research has been conducted to compare ATEC with other more recognized
      measures such as the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). It is unclear whether
      these two scales can be used interchangeably or whether high scores on one scale
      are comparable to the other. The aim of the current study was to compare the
      correlation between ATEC and CARS in the evaluation of children with ASD. This
      prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Developmental and
      Behavioural Paediatrics Outpatient Clinic at King Saud University, King Khalid
      University hospital (KKUH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Forty children with a prior
      diagnosis of ASD seen during the period from October 2014 to August 2015 were
      included. Each child was assessed using ATEC and CARS independently during the
      same visit. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test was used. The
      overall mean CARS score was 34.125 +/- 5.535 (range from 22 to 42) and the mean
      ATEC score was 40.95+/- 9.1934.1 (range from 24 to 72). The Spearman's rank
      correlation coefficient (rs) was 0.015, and p-value was 0.926 (> 0.05) meaning
      that there was no correlation between CARS and ATEC scales. No correlation
      between CARS and ATEC scale was found. ATEC should not be used instead of CARS to
      delineate co-morbid health issues. Future studies are needed to assess the
      validity of ATEC and its correlation with other well established scales. 

PMID- 27651551
TI  - Attitudes of Saudi mothers towards breastfeeding.
AB  - The aim of the study was to explore the practice and attitudes of Saudi mothers
      towards breastfeeding. A cross-sectional survey done on a total of 517 Saudi
      mothers using a questionnaire inquiring about their demographic data,
      breastfeeding practice in the first 6 months after delivery and longer, different
      reasons for stopping breastfeeding. Furthermore, their impression on the relation
      between breastfeeding and breast cancer as well as prevention of infant's
      allergic and infectious diseases. Only 37.5% of the mothers practiced exclusive
      breastfeeding for 6 months. 31.9% of the mothers continued breastfeeding until 9
      12 months, and only 23% continued until 18-24 months. Insufficient breast milk
      was the commonest reason for stopping breastfeeding (25.9%). The vast majority of
      the mothers (95.2%) believe that breast milk can prevent allergy and infection to
      their infants, and 88.4% agreed that breastfeeding may decrease the risk of
      breast cancer. 30% of mothers with higher income and higher socio-economic class
      tend to have less compliance with breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding in the
      first 6 months lag far behind the WHO recommendation. There is a major problem
      with adequacy of breast milk production in the majority of mothers in this study
      which might indicate the need for proper awareness and teaching programs
      regarding breastfeeding in our community. 

PMID- 27651552
TI  - Treatment of iron deficiency anaemia with the natural hematinic Carbaodeim.
AB  - Iron deficiency anaemia is frequently seen in the paediatric age group. Modifying
      the treatment options according to the affected area resources will help
      accessibility and compliance to treatment. Response of children with Iron
      deficiency anaemia to a natural hematinic (Carboadeim) versus iron syrup plus
      folic acid treatment was compared in this study. This is a prospective,
      interventional, controlled, hospital-based study conducted among children with
      iron deficiency anaemia residing in Hussein Village, Gezira State who attended
      Giad Hospital. Patients were randomly divided into two groups; the control
      received iron supplements and folic acid, and the case received a combination of
      carrots, baobab (Adansonia digitata) and godeim (Grewia tenax) which is known as
      (Carboadeim). Blood tests were taken for investigations at start of treatment,
      after 7-10 days, 6 weeks and 3 months. Complete blood count, reticulocyte count
      and serum ferritin were taken as indicators. The mean haemoglobin level initially
      in the cases and controls was 7.38 and 7.35 gm/dL, respectively; after three
      months the mean was 11.67 and 11.384 gm/dL, respectively. The mean serum ferritin
      in the case and control groups was found to be 10.30 and 10.87 ng/ml,
      respectively at the start of treatment; and after 3 months they were reported to
      be 44.34 and 75.7 ng/ml confirming the positive response to treatment by
      Carboadeim. In conclusion Carboadeim is a naturally available and cost-effective
      hematinic blend that might be added to the food menu as a supplement as well as a
      treatment of nutritional anaemia in children. 

PMID- 27651553
TI  - Frequency of neonatal hyperglycaemia at Gaafar Ibnauf Children's Hospital:
      Clinical aspects and short term outcome.
AB  - Hyperglycaemia has become a significant risk factor for morbidity and mortality
      of the smaller fragile infants surviving the neonatal period. Its risk is
      inversely related to gestational age, birth weight and baby's clinical condition.
      The aim of this study was to determine the frequency, some clinical aspects and
      immediate outcome of hyperglycaemia in neonates admitted to the neonatal
      intensive care unit (NICU) at Gaafar Ibnauf Children's Hospital, Khartoum. The
      study was a prospective, descriptive and hospital-based, conducted during the
      period of 1st January to 31st December 2014. Eighty-five neonates out of 345 had
      neonatal hyperglycaemia with a frequency rate of (24.6%). Fifty-two (61.2%) were
      males (male: female ratio=1.6:1), 61.2% of the babies were in the age group (0-7)
      days, and 25.9% in age group (8-14) days. Forty-two (49.4%) were preterm, while
      43 (50.6%) were term babies. Four (4.7%) of the mothers had diabetes, and 6(7.1%)
      had hypertension. Neonatal sepsis was a predominant risk factor of hyperglycaemia
      occurring in 67 babies (78.8%), followed by respiratory distress syndrome in 28
      (32.9%) babies. Ten babies (11.8%) were diagnosed as acute kidney injury, four
      babies (4.7%) had hypernatraemic dehydration and seven babies (8.3%) were having
      hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Out of 85 hyperglycaemic neonates death was
      reported in 10 babies (11.8%), 75 (88.2%) survived. All cases had transient
      hyperglycaemia; therefore insulin intervention was not necessary. Currently, at
      Gaafar Ibnauf Children's Hospital, specific protocol for management of
      hyperglycaemia is lacking. Further studies are recommended to assess long term
      sequels of hyperglycaemia in neonates. 

PMID- 27651554
TI  - Joubert syndrome in a neonate: case report with literature review.
AB  - Joubert syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder. It is characterized by
      congenital ataxia, hypotonia, developmental delay and at least one of the
      following features: neonatal respiratory disturbances and abnormal eye movements;
      including nystagmus and oculomotor apraxia. Molar tooth appearance is an
      essential finding for the diagnosis of Joubert syndrome. We report a five-days
      old newborn with mild hypotonia, abnormal pattern of respiration, abnormal eye
      movements and molar tooth sign on brain CT scan. Joubert syndrome is an uncommon
      inherited condition and delayed diagnosis is usually related to its variable, non
      specific presentation. Awareness of the characteristic clinical and radiological
      findings in Joubert syndrome will help in early diagnosis, appropriate counseling
      and proper rehabilitation. 

PMID- 27651555
TI  - Idiopathic neonatal hepatitis or extrahepatic biliary atresia? The role of liver
      biopsy.
AB  - Cholestasis in early infancy represents a diagnostic dilemma and most of these
      infants suffer either from extrahepatic biliary atresia or idiopathic neonatal
      hepatitis. Differentiation between the two conditions may be extremely difficult
      both clinically and biochemically, and a diagnostic liver biopsy is usually
      required. We report on a Sudanese infant who presented at the age of 4 weeks with
      prolonged cholestatic jaundice, abdominal ultrasound was inconclusive, HIDA scan
      was suggestive of extrahepatic biliary atresia and the diagnosis of idiopathic
      neonatal hepatitis was only reached by liver biopsy. The infant made full
      recovery on supportive treatment during a one year follow up period. 

PMID- 27651556
TI  - Acute poisoning in a child following topical treatment of head lice (pediculosis
      capitis) with an organophosphate pesticide.
AB  - This is a case report of acute organophosphate poisoning in a child treated with
      topical application of Diazinon-60 (WHO Class II toxicity) for head lice
      (pediculosis capitis). The patient presented with neurological symptoms and
      signs. After emergency respiratory and circulatory resuscitation the patient
      underwent dermal decontamination and was treated with atropine, high flow oxygen
      and pralidoxime. Scanning electron micrographs of scalp hair specimens revealed
      both viable and empty head lice nits (lice eggs that attach to the hair shaft).
      The patient was hospitalized for seven days and discharged after full recovery.
      The case highlights the importance of raising the awareness of health workers and
      the community about the danger of misusing pesticides for the treatment of head
      lice. 

PMID- 27651557
TI  - A relic of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories in Khartoum (1903-34).
AB  - This article explores the origins of an old brass monocular microscope in the
      Central Laboratory in Khartoum, which used to be the Wellcome Tropical Research
      Laboratory in Khartoum (1903-1934). Examination of the microscope and review of
      published literature gave clues to the historical background of this microscope.
      Identical microscopes were first manufactured by R and J Beck in 1898, and
      continued to be advertised in 1899. The microscope was probably among the
      instruments provided by Wellcome for the initial establishment of the
      laboratories in 1902-1903. The article includes a brief review of the development
      of light microscopy. The need for preservation and proper restoration of old
      relics of the Wellcome laboratories in Khartoum is emphasized. 

PMID- 27651559
TI  - The Intimate Relationship between Vestibular Migraine and Meniere Disease: A
      Review of Pathogenesis and Presentation.
AB  - Vestibular migraine (VM) has only recently been recognized as a distinct disease
      entity. One reason is that its symptoms overlap greatly with those of other
      vestibular disorders, especially Meniere disease (MD). The pathophysiology of
      neither VM nor MD is entirely elucidated. However, there are many theories
      linking migraine to both disorders. We reviewed the current understanding of
      migraine, VM, and MD and described how VM and MD are similar or different from
      each other in terms of pathophysiology and presentation, including hypotheses
      that the two share a common etiology and/or are variants of the same disease. 

PMID- 27651561
TI  - Medical physics aspects in accreditation of radiation oncology practice.

PMID- 27651560
TI  - Effect of Blood Component Coatings of Enosseal Implants on Proliferation and
      Synthetic Activity of Human Osteoblasts and Cytokine Production of Peripheral
      Blood Mononuclear Cells.
AB  - The study monitored in vitro early response of connective tissue cells and
      immunocompetent cells to enosseal implant materials coated by different blood
      components (serum, activated plasma, and plasma/platelets) to evaluate human
      osteoblast proliferation and synthetic activity and inflammatory response
      presented as a cytokine profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
      under conditions imitating the situation upon implantation. The cells were
      cultivated on coated Ti-plasma-sprayed (Ti-PS), Ti-etched (Ti-Etch), Ti
      hydroxyapatite (Ti-HA), and ZrO2 surfaces. The plasma/platelets coating supported
      osteoblast proliferation only on osteoconductive Ti-HA and Ti-Etch whereas
      activated plasma enhanced proliferation on all surfaces. Differentiation (BAP)
      and IL-8 production remained unchanged or decreased irrespective of the coating
      and surface; only the serum and plasma/platelets-coated ZrO2 exhibited higher BAP
      and IL-8 expression. RANKL production increased on serum and activated plasma
      coatings. PBMCs produced especially cytokines playing role in inflammatory phase
      of wound healing, that is, IL-6, GRO-alpha, GRO, ENA-78, IL-8, GM-CSF, EGF, and
      MCP-1. Cytokine profiles were comparable for all tested surfaces; only ENA-78, IL
      8, GM-CSF, and MCP-1 expression depended on materials and coatings. The activated
      plasma coating led to uniformed surfaces and represented a favorable treatment
      especially for bioinert Ti-PS and ZrO2 whereas all coatings had no distinctive
      effect on bioactive Ti-HA and Ti-Etch. 

PMID- 27651562
TI  - Dosimetric and radiobiological characterizations of prostate intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy and volumetric-modulated arc therapy: A single-institution review of
      ninety cases.
AB  - This study reviewed prostate volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans with
      intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans after prostate IMRT technique was
      replaced by VMAT in an institution. Characterizations of dosimetry and
      radiobiological variation in prostate were determined based on treatment plans of
      40 prostate IMRT patients (planning target volume = 77.8-335 cm(3)) and 50 VMAT
      patients (planning target volume = 120-351 cm(3)) treated before and after 2013,
      respectively. Both IMRT and VMAT plans used the same dose-volume criteria in the
      inverse planning optimization. Dose-volume histogram, mean doses of target and
      normal tissues (rectum, bladder and femoral heads), dose-volume points (D99% of
      planning target volume; D30%, D50%, V30 Gy and V35 Gy of rectum and bladder; D5%,
      V14 Gy, V22 Gy of femoral heads), conformity index (CI), homogeneity index (HI),
      gradient index (GI), prostate tumor control probability (TCP), and rectal normal
      tissue complication probability (NTCP) based on the Lyman-Burman-Kutcher
      algorithm were calculated for each IMRT and VMAT plan. From our results, VMAT
      plan was found better due to its higher (1.05%) CI, lower (0.83%) HI and (0.75%)
      GI than IMRT. Comparing doses in normal tissues between IMRT and VMAT, it was
      found that IMRT mostly delivered higher doses of about 1.05% to the normal
      tissues than VMAT. Prostate TCP and rectal NTCP were found increased (1%) for
      VMAT than IMRT. It is seen that VMAT technique can decrease the dose-volume
      evaluation criteria for the normal tissues. Based on our dosimetric and
      radiobiological results in treatment plans, it is concluded that our VMAT
      implementation could produce comparable or slightly better target coverage and
      normal tissue sparing with a faster treatment time in prostate radiotherapy. 

PMID- 27651563
TI  - Gamma Putty dosimetric studies in electron beam.
AB  - Traditionally, lead has been used for field shaping in megavoltage electron beams
      in radiation therapy. In this study, we analyze the dosimetric parameters of a
      nontoxic, high atomic number (Z = 83), bismuth-loaded material called Gamma Putty
      that is malleable and can be easily molded to any desired shape. First, we placed
      an ionization chamber at different depths in a solid water phantom under a Gamma
      Putty shield of thickness (t = 0, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mm, respectively) and
      measured the ionizing radiation on the central axis (CAX) for electron beam
      ranging in energies from 6 to 20 MeV. Next, we investigated the relationship
      between the relative ionization (RI) measured at a fixed depth for several Gamma
      Putty shield at different cutout diameters ranging from 2 to 5 cm for various
      beam energies and derived an exponential fitting equation for clinical purposes.
      The dose profiles along the CAX show that bremsstrahlung dominates for Gamma
      Putty thickness >15 mm. For high-energy beams (12-20 MeV) and all Gamma Putty
      thicknesses up to 25 mm, RI below 5% could not be achieved due to the strong
      bremsstrahlung component. However, Gamma Putty is a very suitable material for
      reducing the transmission factor below 5% and protecting underlying normal
      tissues for low-energy electron beams (6-9 MeV). 

PMID- 27651564
TI  - Measurement of eye lens dose for Varian On-Board Imaging with different cone-beam
      computed tomography acquisition techniques.
AB  - The objective of this work was to measure patient eye lens dose for different
      cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquisition protocols of Varian's On-Board
      Imaging (OBI) system using optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter (OSLD) and
      to study the variation in eye lens dose with patient geometry and distance of
      isocenter to the eye lens. During the experimental measurements, OSLD was placed
      on the patient between the eyebrows of both eyes in line of nose during CBCT
      image acquisition to measure eye lens doses. The eye lens dose measurements were
      carried out for three different cone-beam acquisition protocols (standard dose
      head, low-dose head [LDH], and high-quality head [HQH]) of Varian OBI. Measured
      doses were correlated with patient geometry and distance between isocenter and
      eye lens. Measured eye lens doses for standard head and HQH protocols were in the
      range of 1.8-3.2 mGy and 4.5-9.9 mGy, respectively. However, the measured eye
      lens dose for the LDH protocol was in the range of 0.3-0.7 mGy. The measured data
      indicate that eye lens dose to patient depends on the selected imaging protocol.
      It was also observed that eye lens dose does not depend on patient geometry but
      strongly depends on distance between eye lens and treatment field isocenter.
      However, undoubted advantages of imaging system should not be counterbalanced by
      inappropriate selection of imaging protocol, especially for very intense imaging
      protocol. 

PMID- 27651565
TI  - Radioprotective effects of hesperidin on oxidative damages and histopathological
      changes induced by X-irradiation in rats heart tissue.
AB  - This study was carried out to evaluate radioprotective effects of hesperidin
      (HES) administration before the irradiation on the cardiac oxidative stress and
      histopathological changes in an experimental rat model. The cardiovascular
      complications of radiation exposure cause morbidity and mortality in patients who
      received radiotherapy. HES, an antioxidant flavonoid found in citrus fruits,
      suggests the protection against the tissue damage. Fifty-eight rats were divided
      into four groups: Group 1 received phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and sham
      radiation; Group 2, HES and sham radiation; Group 3, PBS and radiation; and Group
      4, HES and radiation. The rats were exposed to single dose of 18 Gy of 6 MV X
      ray. One hundred milligrams per kilogram doses of HES was administered for 7 days
      before irradiation. The estimation of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde
      (MDA), and histopathological analyses was performed at 24 h and 8 weeks after
      radiation exposure. The irradiation of chest area resulted in an elevated MDA
      level and decreased SOD activity. Moreover, long-term pathological lesions of
      radiation were inflammation, fibrosis, the increased number of mast cells and
      macrophages, and development of plaque, vascular leakage, myocardial
      degeneration, and myocyte necrosis. Although the administration of HES decreases
      inflammation, fibrosis, mast cell and macrophage numbers, and myocyte necrosis,
      it did not result in reduced thrombus, myocardium degeneration, and vascular
      leakage. In conclusion, these results suggest that HES can perform a
      radioprotection action. The protective effect of HES may be attributable to its
      immunomodulatory effects and free radical-scavenging properties. 

PMID- 27651566
TI  - Comparative study of old and new versions of treatment planning system using dose
      volume histogram indices of clinical plans.
AB  - Recently, Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) version 8.8 was upgraded to the
      latest version 13.6. It is customary that the vendor gives training on how to
      upgrade the existing software to the new version. However, the customer is
      provided less inner details about changes in the new software version. According
      to manufacturer, accuracy of point dose calculations and irregular treatment
      planning is better in the new version (13.6) compared to the old version (8.8).
      Furthermore, the new version uses voxel-based calculations while the earlier
      version used point dose calculations. Major difference in intensity-modulated
      radiation therapy (IMRT) plans was observed between the two versions after re
      optimization and re-calculations. However, minor difference was observed for IMRT
      cases after performing only re-calculations. It is recommended TPS quality
      assurance to be performed after any major upgrade of software. This can be done
      by performing dose calculation comparisons in TPS. To assess the difference
      between the versions, 25 clinical cases from the old version were compared
      keeping all the patient data intact including the monitor units and comparing the
      differences in dose calculations using dose volume histogram (DVH) analysis.
      Along with DVH analysis, uniformity index, conformity index, homogeneity index,
      and dose spillage index were also compared for both versions. The results of
      comparative study are presented in this paper. 

PMID- 27651567
TI  - Analysis of dose distribution in organs at risk in patients with prostate cancer
      treated with the intensity-modulated radiation therapy and arc technique.
AB  - This study describes a comparative analysis of treatment plans in 48 patients
      with prostate cancer treated with ionizing radiation. Each patient was subjected
      to the intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and arc technique. In each
      treatment plan, the organs at risk were assessed: the urinary bladder, rectum and
      heads of the femur, as well as the volume of normal tissue. The following
      features were compared: treatment time, conformity indices for the planning
      target volume, mean doses and standard deviation in organs at risk, and organ
      volumes for each particular dose. The treatment period in the arc technique is
      13.7% shorter than in the IMRT technique. Comparing the results of the IMRT and
      arc techniques (arc vs. IMRT), the mean values were 29.21 +/- 12.91 Gy versus
      28.36 +/- 13.79 Gy for the bladder, 20.36 +/- 3.16 Gy versus 18.17 +/- 5.11 Gy
      for the right femoral head, and 18.98 +/- 3.28 Gy versus 16.67 +/- 5.15 Gy for
      the left femoral head. For the rectum, lower values were obtained after
      application of the arc technique, not the IMRT technique: 35.84 +/- 12.28 Gy
      versus 35.90 +/- 13.05 Gy. The results indicate that the applied therapy has a
      statistically significant influence on the volume for a particular dose with
      regard to the urinary bladder. It is advisable to apply the IMRT technique to
      patients who need the femur heads and urinary bladder protected by exposing them
      to low irradiation doses. 

PMID- 27651568
TI  - Radiological risk assessment of cosmic radiation at aviation altitudes (a trip
      from Houston Intercontinental Airport to Lagos International Airport).
AB  - Radiological risk parameters associated with aircrew members traveling from
      Houston Intercontinental Airport to Lagos International Airport have been
      computed using computer software called EPCARD (version 3.2). The mean annual
      effective dose of radiation was computed to be 2.94 mSv/year. This result is
      above the standard permissible limit of 1 mSv/year set for the public and
      pregnant aircrew members but below the limit set for occupationally exposed
      workers. The Risk of cancer mortality and excess career time cancer risk computed
      ranged from 3.5 * 10(-5) to 24.5 * 10(-5) (with average of 14.7 * 10(-5)) and 7 *
      10(-4) to 49 * 10(-4) (with average of 29.4 * 10(-4)). Passengers and aircrew
      members should be aware of the extra cosmic radiation doses taken in during
      flights. All aircraft operators should monitor radiation doses incurred during
      aviation trips. 

PMID- 27651569
TI  - Examining Cesarean Delivery Rates Using the Robson's Ten-group Classification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To examine Cesarean delivery rates based on the Robson's Ten-group
      classification system (TGCS), over a 10-year period. METHODS: All Vaginal
      Deliveries and cesarean sections (CSs) performed over a 10-year period from 2004
      to 2013 were included in the analysis. The data were compiled according to
      Robson's TGCS of cesarean section for every year. Risk Ratios (crude RRs) with 95
      % confidence intervals for delivery by cesarean section were calculated for each
      Robson's group. RESULTS: The TGCS was easily applied in this large dataset of
      40,086 deliveries. The 10-year overall cesarean section rate (CSR) was 25.17 %.
      Groups 1 and 3 represented 60 % of the total obstetric population. The largest
      contributions to the total CSR are group 1 (37.62 %) and group 5 (17.06 %). Group
      3 which was the second largest group contributed 15 % to the overall CSR. Group 2
      and group 4 had high group CSRs of 47.28 and 34.74 % respectively, although the
      total group size was small (n = 1375;3.43 %). Maternal age and presentation were
      found to have an independent association with mode of delivery on logistic
      regression. CONCLUSION: The Ten-group classification helped to identify the main
      groups of subjects who contribute most to the overall CSR. It also helped to
      identify subgroups requiring closer monitoring for more in-depth analyses of the
      indications for caesarean section. It is important to focus on the first four
      TGCS groups which constitute about 75 % of all deliveries. It is in the low-risk
      groups that one is likely to find the highest and most inappropriate indications
      for cesarean sections.

PMID- 27651571
TI  - Study of Obstetric Admissions to the Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Care
      Hospital.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze obstetric admissions to intensive care unit and to identify
      the risk factors responsible for intensive care admission. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective study of all obstetric cases admitted to the intensive care unit
      over a period of 3 years. Data were collected from case records. The risk factors
      responsible for ICU admission were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 765 obstetric
      admissions to ICU accounting for 1.24 % of all deliveries. 56.20 % were in the
      age group of 20-25 years. 38.43 % were in their first pregnancy. 36.48 % of cases
      were at 37-40 weeks of gestation. Postpartum admissions were 80.91 %. Major
      conditions responsible were obstetric hemorrhage in 44.05 %, hypertensive
      disorders of pregnancy in 28.88 %, severe anemia in 14.37 %, heart disease in
      12.15 %, and sepsis in 7.97 % of ICU cases. 40.39 % cases required high
      dependency care. Maternal mortality was seen in 15.55 % of ICU cases. Commonest
      cause of mortality was hemorrhagic shock (26.89 %) and multiorgan dysfunction
      syndrome (26.05 %). CONCLUSION: Commonest risk factors for ICU admissions are
      obstetric hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Other major risk
      factors are severe anemia, heart disease, sepsis, more than one diagnosis on
      admission, and the need for cesarean delivery.

PMID- 27651570
TI  - 50 Grams Oral Glucose Challenge Test: Is It an Effective Screening Test for
      Gestational Diabetes Mellitus?
AB  - AIM: To find out whether 50 g oral glucose challenge test (OGCT) is an effective
      screening test for all pregnant women between 24 and 28 weeks gestation. METHOD:
      A 50 g OGCT test was administered to 307 unselected women at 24-28 weeks of
      gestation. When venous plasma glucose (VPG) concentration after 1 h was >7.8
      mmol/l, OGCT was positive. Women with a positive OGCT underwent 2 h 75 grams oral
      glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as a confirmatory diagnosis of GDM. When fasting
      and 2 h post 75 g OGTT values were >5.5 mmol/I and >8 mmol/l, respectively, women
      were considered diabetic. RESULTS: We screened 307 women for GDM by OGCT. Total
      number of women with positive OGCT was 83 (27.03 %). In the low-risk group, total
      number of women with GDM was 9/168 (5.35 %) while the total number of women with
      GDM in the high-risk group was 14/139 (10.07 %). There was no significant
      difference with respect to the total number of women with GDM in the groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: A 50 g OGCT seems to be an effective screening test for both groups.
      More cases of GDM can be discovered when universal rather than risk-related
      screening is applied.

PMID- 27651573
TI  - Comparison Between Sublingual and Vaginal Administration of Misoprostol in
      Management of Missed Abortion.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present study is to compare between sublingual administration
      of misoprostol and vaginal administration in the management of missed abortion.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in El-Shatby Maternity Hospital on
      160 patients diagnosed as missed abortion by ultrasonographic examination. Cases
      were divided into two groups according to the methods of misoprostol
      administration, whether sublingual or vaginal. Patients of the two groups were
      observed for the times of uterine colic starting, cervical dilation, and
      conceptus expulsion, along with recording of any side effects. RESULT: During the
      follow-up of our cases we found that sublingual route is more effective than
      vaginal route in the management of missed abortion. The difference between the
      two groups in percentage of conceptus expulsion was statistically significant.
      The most common side effects were nausea which was present in 55 % of cases in
      group I (sublingual) and in 40 % of cases in group II (vaginal) then severe pain
      in 25 % of cases in group I (sublingual) and in 20 % of cases in group II
      (vaginal) and hyperpyrexia in 15 % of cases in group I (sublingual) and in 5 % of
      cases in group II (vaginal). CONCLUSION: Sublingual administration of misoprostol
      is more effective than its vaginal administration in missed abortion management.
      Side effect of misoprostol as nausea, vomiting, fever is more common with
      sublingual administration in comparison with its vaginal administration.

PMID- 27651572
TI  - A Study of Hepatitis E in Pregnancy: Maternal and Fetal Outcome.
AB  - PURPOSE: HEV infection, a major public health concern, is known to cause large
      scale epidemic and sporadic cases of acute viral hepatitis in developing
      countries. The infection occurs primarily in young adults and is generally mild
      and self-limiting; however, the case fatality rate is reportedly higher among
      women, especially during the second or third trimesters of pregnancy. METHODS:
      This study, a prospective observational study, was conducted at the Dr. D. Y.
      Patil Medical College Hospital and Apple Saraswati Multispeciality hospital, in
      Kolhapur for over a period of 3 years (Jan 2010 to Jan 2013) to find out the
      prevalence and clinical outcome in a series of HEV-infected pregnant women.
      RESULTS: A total of fifty-five symptomatic Anti-HEV IgM-positive women were
      included, and the maternal-fetal outcome was analyzed. The maternal mortality was
      5 % including one antenatal death. Prematurity (80 %) and PROM (11 %) were the
      commonest fetal complications noted with a vertical transmission rate of 28 %.
      CONCLUSION: Variations in maternal morbidity and mortality between different
      studies indicate a need to subtype the viral genotype according to its virulence
      and morbidity.

PMID- 27651574
TI  - A Retrospective Case-Control Study Evaluating the Role of Mifepristone for
      Induction of Labor in Women with Previous Cesarean Section.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of "mifepristone" for induction of labor (IOL)
      in pregnant women with prior cesarean section (CS). METHODS: In this
      retrospective study, all pregnant women with prior CS who received oral
      mifepristone (400 mg) for IOL (as per clear obstetric indications) [group 1] were
      compared with pregnant women with prior CS who had spontaneous onset of labor
      (SOL) [group 2], with respect to incidence of vaginal delivery, CS, duration of
      labor, and various maternal and fetal outcomes. RESULTS: During the study period,
      72 women received mifepristone (group 1) for IOL and 346 had SOL (group 2). In
      group 1 after mifepristone administration, 40 (55.6 %) women had labor onset, and
      24 (33.3 %) women had cervical ripening (Bishop Score >= 8) within 48 h. There
      were no statistically significant differences with respect to duration of labor
      (p value: 0.681), mode of delivery (i.e., normal delivery or CS-p value: 0.076 or
      0.120, respectively), or maternal (blood loss or scar dehiscence/rupture uterus),
      or fetal outcomes (NICU admission) compared to women with previous CS with SOL
      (group 2). However, the need of oxytocin (p value 0.020) and dose of oxytocin
      requirement (p value 0.008) were more statistically significant in group 1.
      CONCLUSION: Mifepristone may be considered as an agent for IOL in women with
      prior CS.

PMID- 27651575
TI  - Obstetric Outcome During an Era of Active Management for Obstetrics Cholestasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence, maternal, and perinatal outcomes in
      intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy with active management. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This observational study included 48 cases diagnosed as intrahepatic
      cholestasis of pregnancy. Medical treatment and active management (fetal
      surveillance and termination of pregnancy at 37-38 weeks) were offered to all.
      Maternal and perinatal outcomes are studied. RESULTS: Incidence of ICP was 2.4 %.
      More than 86 % of patients presented with generalized pruritus mostly after 30
      weeks. Incidences of Intrapartum abnormal cardiotocography (12.5 %) and thick
      meconium (8.33 %) were high. Cesarean section rate was high (41.66 %). Most
      common indications were CDMR, fetal distress, and non-progress of labor.
      Incidence of preterm labor, IUGR, Apgar score (<7), and neonatal admission rate
      were not high. There was one stillbirth at 36 weeks of gestation. Serum
      transaminase levels tended to be higher in patients with poor perinatal outcomes,
      such as stillbirth, fetal distress, and meconium-stained amniotic fluid.
      CONCLUSION: Serum transaminase levels tended to be higher in patients with poor
      perinatal outcome. Perinatal outcome is good with active management, at the cost
      of higher LSCS rate. Further randomized controlled trial of early versus
      spontaneous delivery may be justified.

PMID- 27651577
TI  - Unscarred Uterine Rupture: A Retrospective Analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Uterine rupture is a catastrophic obstetrical emergency associated
      with a significant feto-maternal morbidity and mortality. Many risk factors for
      uterine rupture, as well as a wide range of clinical presentations, have been
      identified. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the frequency, predisposing factors, and
      maternal and fetal outcomes of uterine rupture. METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      of cases of unscarred uterine rupture was conducted at the Department of
      Obstetrics and Gynecology, RIMS, Imphal from June 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012.
      RESULTS: Our analysis comprised 13 cases. Of these, 30.8 % were booked cases.
      Most of the cases (46.2 %) were Para 2. Uterine rupture occurred at term in 10
      cases. The rupture occurred due to mismanaged labor (30.8 %), the use of oxytocin
      (23 %), instrumental delivery (15.4 %), obstructed labor (15.4 %), induction by
      prostaglandin gel (7.7 %), and placenta percreta (7.7 %). Maternal deaths and
      perinatal deaths were 30.8 and 53.8 %, respectively. Sub-total hysterectomy was
      done in 8 cases and in 1 patient laparotomy with repair was performed.
      CONCLUSION: Ruptured uterus causes a high risk in patients. An unscarred uterus
      can undergo rupture even without etiological or risk factors. The patients with
      mismanaged labor, grand multiparas, and obstructed prolonged labor must be
      managed by properly trained personnel at a tertiary care center in order to avoid
      the morbidity or mortality.

PMID- 27651578
TI  - KAP Study on HIV/AIDS Among Antenatal Women Attending Central Referral Hospital
      of North East India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to determine whether antenatal mothers in
      Sikkim have adequate knowledge about awareness, attitude, and preventive
      practices regarding HIV infection. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using
      structured questionnaire. 220 Antenatal mothers attending the outpatient
      department of Central Referral Hospital of Sikkim were taken for the study for a
      period of 1 year from April 2011 to April 2012. Questionnaire form filled by
      pregnant women during their first antenatal visit was the source of data for this
      study. Systematic sampling technique was used where every alternate pregnant
      women registering for ANC visit were voluntarily recruited into the study.
      RESULTS: 2.27 % (5) women had not heard about HIV. 84 % (38) women had the
      knowledge that HIV was related to STI, while 50 % (110) did not. Television was
      the best method of increasing the knowledge (48 %). 68 % (150) of the women were
      aware about mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV during antenatal period.
      Only 2.66 % (6) women knew that HIV can be transmitted to child through breast
      milk. 90 % (198) knew that HIV is spread by having unsafe sex, 48 % (106) women
      knew using condoms would protect against it. 69.4 % (153) women wanted partner
      testing, and 84 % (185) of women consented that all pregnant women should be
      tested for HIV. CONCLUSIONS: The current study revealed high levels of knowledge,
      positive attitude, and preventive practices regarding HIV; however, this
      population lacked knowledge about MTCT and its prevention.

PMID- 27651576
TI  - Large for Gestational Age Births Among South Indian Women: Temporal Trend and
      Risk Factors from 1996 to 2010.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Mean birth weight is a good health indicator for any
      population. In the recent past, there have been many reports in the West
      indicating that there has been an increase in the proportion of large for
      gestational age (LGA) babies. The objective is to describe the change in the
      incidence of LGA babies from 1996 to 2010 in South India and the maternal risk
      factors. METHODS: A rotational sampling scheme was used, i.e., the 12 months of
      the year were divided into 4 quarters and a month was from each quarter was
      selected rotationally. All deliveries for that month were considered. Only
      deliveries that occurred between 28 and 42 weeks of pregnancy were considered.
      The association between risk variables was studied using multivariable logistic
      regression. RESULTS: There were 35,718 deliveries that occurred during these 15
      year-study period in the gestational age 28-42 weeks were registered through the
      outpatient clinics. The incidence of LGA was 9.4 % that has mostly remained at
      the same level. The incidence of LGA in mothers with gestational diabetes was
      6.7, 3 and 17.6 % in overweight, obese and gestational l diabetes mothers.
      Overweight, obesity in pregnant women and cesarean section were significant risk
      factors. CONCLUSION: Unlike in Western countries, where the incidence of LGA
      babies has spiraled upward, has remained nearly at the same level over one and a
      half decades, in South India. The risk factors for giving birth to LGA babies in
      South India were similar to other studies.

PMID- 27651579
TI  - Brought in Dead: An Avoidable Delay in Maternal Deaths.
AB  - PURPOSE: Maternal brought in dead are the patient who dies in the need of
      adequate medical care. These deaths are often not analyzed sincerely as they are
      not institutional deaths. Our aim is to find out actual life threatening cause of
      delay leading to death. METHOD: Patients brought dead to casualty were seen by
      the doctors on duty in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,Gandhi Medical
      College, Bhopal round the clock. Cause of death was analyzed by verbal autopsy of
      attendants and referral letter from the institute. In this analytical study a
      complete evaluation of brought deaths from January 2011 to Decmeber 2014 was
      done. RESULTS: A total of 64 brought in deaths were reported in this 4 year
      duration. Most common cause of death was postpartum hemorrhage (54.68 %) followed
      by hypertension (15.62 %) and the most common cause of delay was delay in getting
      adequate treatment (56.25 %). CONCLUSION: The brought in dead are the indicator
      of the three delays in getting health care. Challenges appear to be enormous to
      be tackled. Timely management proves to be critical in preventing maternal death.
      Thus it appears that community education about pregnancy and its complications,
      EmOC training at FRU and strict adherence to referral protocol may help us to
      reduce the brought dead burden.

PMID- 27651580
TI  - Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Burka-clad Pregnant Women in a 450-Bedded
      Maternity Hospital of Delhi.
AB  - AIM: To assess the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in burka-clad pregnant
      women and to study feto-maternal outcome in these women. METHODS: 200 pregnant
      burka-clad women of 18-40-year age group irrespective of the period of gestation
      were recruited from the ANC OPD/ward of Kasturba hospital, and their vitamin D
      levels were estimated. Patients were categorized into vitamin D deficient,
      vitamin D inadequate, and vitamin D adequate according to The Endocrine Society
      Guidelines. The association of vitamin D deficiency with dietary/environmental
      factors was taken note of. Associations with preeclampsia, gestational diabetes
      mellitus (GDM), low birth weight (LBW), prematurity, APGAR score, and NICU
      admission were also studied. RESULTS: 78 patients (39.0 %) were vitamin D
      inadequate; 75 patients (37.5 %) were vitamin D deficient; and 47(23.5 %) were
      vitamin D adequate. Mean value of vitamin D level was 23.25 ng/ml +/- 18.49 (SD).
      Fifteen patients (7.5 %) developed preeclampsia, and all 15 were vitamin D
      deficient; 13 (6.5 %) developed GDM; and only 5 (2.5 %) of them were vitamin D
      deficient. 19 patients (9.5 %) delivered LBW babies; mothers of 15 (7.5 %) of
      them were vitamin D deficient. 12 patients (6.0 %) delivered premature babies,
      and mothers of 4 (2 %) were vitamin D deficient; 12 babies had APGAR score <7 at
      5 min; mothers of 4 (2.0 %) were vitamin D deficient. Babies of 12 patients (6 %)
      were admitted in NICU, and of these 12 babies, mothers of 5 (2.5 %) were vitamin
      D deficient. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was high among
      burka-clad pregnant women, and it is associated with adverse maternal and fetal
      outcomes. Routine screening of vitamin D levels is recommended in burka-clad
      women to improve the feto-maternal outcome.

PMID- 27651581
TI  - Screening for Postnatal Depression in a Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - AIM: To determine the need to screen postpartum women for postpartum depression.
      OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of an Edinburgh
      postnatal depression scale (EPDS) score of >=13 in postpartum mothers and to
      evaluate the association of different sociodemographic and obstetric factors with
      postpartum depression. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHOD: 1600 postpartum
      women who delivered a live born at St. John's Hospital were recruited into the
      study. Participants were screened for postnatal depression using the EPDS. A risk
      factor questionnaire that covered key sociodemographic and obstetric factors was
      also completed by all the subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence of a score
      of 13 or higher, on the EPDS. RESULTS: The prevalence of an EPDS score of >=13 in
      our population was 7.5 % (120/1600). Participants with a family history of
      psychiatric illness, history of domestic abuse, delayed initiation of
      breastfeeding, and those who gave birth to a female infant were at a
      significantly higher risk for an EPDS score of 13 or higher, indicating probable
      postnatal depression. The mode of delivery, NICU admission of the newborn, and
      history of antenatal complications were not significant risk factors. CONCLUSION:
      Since the prevalence of an EPDS score >=13 (which is suggestive of PPD) was found
      in a significant proportion of women, screening for PPD is indicated in all
      postpartum women to identify and promptly treat these women. Identification of a
      clear correlation between certain risk factors and PPD will lead to a more prompt
      diagnosis of PPD.

PMID- 27651582
TI  - Single-Step First Trimester Screening "Sooner the Better".
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of single-step universal screening in first
      trimester and its effectiveness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three thousand women
      attending antenatal clinic of Pt JNM Medical College, Raipur, were screened with
      75 gm OGTT in their first trimester irrespective of their last meal, and those
      who were screened negative were again subjected to OGTT at 24-28 weeks. The women
      were followed throughout pregnancy till delivery. Any maternal or perinatal
      complications were noted. RESULT: Overall incidence of GDM was 5.2 %. About 61.54
      % women screened positive in first trimester. At 24-28 weeks, 38.46 % women were
      diagnosed with GDM. Women diagnosed in first trimester showed significantly low
      incidence of cesarean section rate (20.83 %), PIH (2.08 %), and macrosomia (14.44
      %), in comparison to women diagnosed later in pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The role of
      first trimester screening was found effective in reducing adverse maternal and
      perinatal outcomes in GDM.

PMID- 27651583
TI  - Clinical Profile of Scrub Typhus in Pregnancy in Sub-Himalayan Region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scrub typhus is rare in pregnancy, but it has now become an important
      cause of febrile illness in pregnancy in sub-Himalayan region of India. Only a
      few case reports have been published so far, and they show adverse maternal and
      fetal outcomes. No consensus has been reached till now regarding treatment.
      METHODOLOGY: All the pregnant patients irrespective of period of gestation
      admitted with febrile illness with positive IgM ELISA for scrub typhus with or
      without eschar were included. The clinical profile was observed using a detailed
      history of symptoms, travel, recreation, agricultural activities, treatment
      record prior to admission, and a detailed examination, and the treatment outcome
      was noted. Fever workup including cultures, CXR, CSF analysis, serology for scrub
      was done. IgM scrub typhus was done by kit method manufactured by InBios
      Intertational, Inc. RESULTS: We observed in total 14 pregnant patients out of
      which eight were in the the second trimester and six were in the third trimester.
      The clinical features of the disease observed for pregnant females were the same
      as for nonpregnant females. There was no difference in the severity of scrub
      typhus between pregnant and nonpregnant women. No mortality was found in these
      patients. On follow-up, they had normal peripartum and postpartum periods. All
      were treated with azithromycin 500 mg once a day for 5 days. CONCLUSION: Although
      rare, scrub typhus should be considered in differential diagnosis of fever in
      pregnant patients especially in scrub season. Azithromycin should be the drug of
      choice in pregnancy as it has no adverse effect on fetus and pregnancy outcome.

PMID- 27651584
TI  - Use of Condom Tamponade to Manage Massive Obstetric Hemorrhage at a Tertiary
      Center in Rajasthan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Conventionally postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) has been defined as
      blood loss of more than 500 ml following vaginal delivery and 1000 ml following a
      cesarean section [Pritchard et al. in Am J Obstet Gynecol 84(10):1271-1282,
      (1962)]. Another definition labels PPH as any blood loss which causes a 10 % drop
      in hematocrit [Combs et al. in Obstet Gynecol 77:69-76, (1991)] or which
      threatens the hemodynamic stability of the patient and necessitates blood
      transfusion [Prendiville et al. in Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2:CD000007,
      (2000)]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of condom
      tamponade in the management of massive obstetric hemorrhage. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the efficacy of a condom as a tamponade for intrauterine pressure to
      stop massive PPH. METHODS: This prospective study was done in the Obstetrics and
      Gynecology Department of NIMS Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, between
      December 2013 and February 2015. With aseptic precautions, a sterile rubber
      catheter fitted with a condom was introduced into the uterus. The condom was
      inflated with 250-500 ml normal saline according to need. Vaginal bleeding was
      observed, and further inflation was stopped when bleeding ceased. RESULTS: In all
      but 2 (94.44 %) the cases, postpartum bleeding was stopped within 10 min of
      creation of tamponade. On an average, 350 ml of normal saline was required to
      create adequate tamponade to stop the bleeding. CONCLUSION: Use of condom
      tamponade can effectively help in reducing both maternal morbidity and mortality
      associated with PPH. Our study encourages use of condom tamponade which is
      efficient, cost-effective, easily available and requires lesser skills as
      compared to the traditional surgical procedures.

PMID- 27651585
TI  - Calcium-to-Creatinine Ratio in a Spot Sample of Urine, for Early Prediction of
      Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Prospective Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertensive disorders complicate 5-10 % of all pregnancies. Various
      methods for screening have been studied to identify pregnant women at risk of
      development of preeclampsia, but no ideal screening test has been identified so
      far. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of urinary calcium
      to-creatinine ratio, in a spot urine sample, for the prediction of preeclampsia
      in asymptomatic pregnant women between 18 and 24 weeks of gestation. METHODS:
      This study was done on 112 patients presenting to the antenatal clinic in the
      Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Bangalore Baptist Hospital. A random
      urinary calcium-to-creatinine ratio of all the patients was analyzed. The urinary
      calcium level was analyzed by Arezano method, while creatinine was estimated by
      Jaffes method. A value of <=0.04 was considered positive. RESULTS: 116 patients
      were recruited in the study. Out of the 11 subjects with urinary CCR < 0.04, 7
      developed gestational hypertension, 3 developed preeclampsia, and 1 remained
      normotensive. In 101 patients with CCR > 0.04, 1 developed gestational
      hypertension, none preeclampsia and 100 were normotensive. Four were lost to
      follow-up. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: On statistical analysis, it was found
      that when CCR alone is taken as high-risk factor for prediction of preeclampsia,
      P < 0.001 was statistically significant, sensitivity was 80 %, specificity 98.04
      %, PPV 80 %, NPV 98.04 %, and diagnostic accuracy 96.43 %. So this test was
      satisfactory as an early predictor for the development of preeclampsia.

PMID- 27651586
TI  - A Prospective Study of Placental Growth Factor Assay as a Novel Biomarker in
      Predicting Early-Onset Preeclampsia in High-Risk Patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality
      and morbidity, but signs and symptoms are non-specific and may vary. The root
      cause is imbalance of circulating angiogenic factors of placental
      (syncytiotrophoblast) origin, with consequent low levels of placental growth
      factor (PlGF) which may aid in diagnosis and prediction of disease. AIMS AND
      OBJECTIVES: To study the incidence of women at risk of developing early-onset
      preeclampsia by plasma placental growth factor biomarker assay in high-risk
      patients, to assess the maternal outcome in patients with PlGF values below
      cutoff for presenting gestational age, to calculate sensitivity, specificity,
      positive predictive value and negative predictive value of PlGF assay in
      predicting preeclampsia and to conclude whether PlGF biomarker assay can be an
      effective screening test in high-risk patients for prediction of early-onset
      preeclampsia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out in the Department
      of Obstetrics and Gynecology at a tertiary care center. It is a prospective
      study, and study period extended from April 2012 to October 2013. One hundred
      pregnant women with 20- to 34-week gestational age with possible high risk of
      developing preeclampsia attending the antenatal clinics and high-risk OPDs were
      screened in the present study after explaining the nature of the study. PLGF
      concentration was quantitated using plasma and processed in Triage kit device
      (fluorescence immunoassay device). PLGF concentration was categorized against a
      specific range for specific gestation, and values below the range or <12 pg/ml
      were considered screened positives. The cases were followed up till delivery.
      RESULTS: Twenty-two cases were screened positive, of which 20 developed
      preeclampsia with a strong positive prediction value of more than 90 %.
      CONCLUSION: PLGF is a strong predictor and a useful assay for early-onset
      preeclampsia.

PMID- 27651587
TI  - Prediction of Adverse Maternal Outcomes in Preeclampsia Using a Risk Prediction
      Model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to evaluate how the preeclampsia integrated
      estimate of risk (fullPIERS) model performs in the prediction of adverse maternal
      outcomes when the predictor variables are all obtained within 24-h of admission
      for preeclampsia. METHODS: A prospective cohort study on 323 women who fulfilled
      definite inclusion and exclusion criteria was conducted. Subjects were monitored
      for clinical symptoms of preeclampsia, biochemical parameters, and adverse
      maternal and neonatal outcomes. A risk prediction score was calculated using the
      fullPIERS calculator. Statistical analysis of rates and ratios was carried out by
      assessing chi (2) test and odds ratio. RESULTS: 18.3 % (n = 60) had adverse
      maternal outcome and 42.8 % (n = 138) had adverse fetal outcome, and 43 (13.35 %)
      had combined adverse maternal and perinatal outcome. Dyspnea, visual
      disturbances, epigastric pain, and [Formula: see text] appeared to be highly
      significant risk factors. In the biochemical variables studied, serum creatinine
      and serum uric acid were found to have a significant association. The association
      between adverse perinatal outcome and vaginal delivery was highly significant (OR
      0.35, 95 % CI 0.19, 0.63), and the P value was 0.0005. The likelihood ratio
      associated with the highest risk group (predicted probability of the outcome >=30
      %) showed excellent performance (i.e., 17.5) of fullPIERS model as a rule in
      test. CONCLUSION: The fullPIERS model performed well in the prediction of adverse
      maternal outcomes in women with preeclampsia. It is easy to use. The model is
      based on the use of few important clinical and biochemical parameters and does
      not require extensive laboratory testing. Although it might be of limited use in
      a well-equipped tertiary care facility, this model can be utilized in the setting
      of district or sub-district level hospitals to identify patients who are at risk
      of complications due to preeclampsia. Timely referral to a higher center will
      help in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with this condition.

PMID- 27651588
TI  - Correlation of Maternal Autoantibodies with Fetal Congenital Heart Block.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autoimmune fetal congenital heart block (CHB) is the most severe
      manifestation of neonatal lupus, and it is seen when maternal autoimmune
      antibodies cross the placenta and damage the AV node of the fetus. CHB is mainly
      associated with maternal SLE with anti-Ro/SSA- and anti-La/SSB-positive status,
      and incidence of CHB increases when both the antibodies are present. This study
      was conducted to know the incidence of fetal CHB in patients of SLE who had ANA,
      anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB positivity. METHODS: A prospective study was
      conducted in a tertiary-care teaching hospital of Indian Armed Forces between Jan
      2012 to Sep 2014 where 13 cases of SLE were studied. All these patients were
      tested for ANA, anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies and fetal heart
      abnormalities. Fetuses with CHB were treated with steroids. RESULTS: Incidence of
      SLE was 0.14 %, 92 % of SLE patients were positive for ANA, and 46 % had anti
      Ro/SSA- and anti-La/SSB-positive status. Two fetuses had congenital heart block,
      and one fetus required pacemaker placement 5 months after delivery. CONCLUSION:
      All the fetal congenital heart blocks are associated with maternal anti-Ro/SSA
      and anti-La/SSB and ANA antibodies. Treatment by steroids may improve the outcome
      in early stages of fetal CHB, and delivery with follow-up should be planned in a
      tertiary-care center where pacemaker placement facility is available.

PMID- 27651589
TI  - Return to the Operation Theatre: An Analysis of Repeat Surgeries in Operative
      Obstetrics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the risk factors and associated comorbidities with a
      relaparotomy after primary surgery in pregnant mothers and to identify
      preventable causes. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was done at a
      tertiary care centre from January 2009 till August 2014. All records of
      exploratory laparotomy following primary surgery in the obstetric population
      during this period were retrieved from the hospital database and analysed.
      RESULTS: The incidence of relaparotomy was 0.22 %. In 94 % cases, the primary
      surgery was caesarean section. The commonest indication for relaparotomy was due
      to haemorrhagic complications like bleeding and haematoma (66.8 %). Sepsis was
      seen in 36.1 % cases with the predominant organism isolated being E coli (54 %).
      Most common comorbidity was hypertensive disorders (58 %) followed by liver
      disorders (19 %). 33.3 % needed ventilatory support, 30.5 % needed massive blood
      transfusion, 16.6 % were on total parenteral nutrition and 2.7 % needed renal
      replacement therapy. Maternal mortality was 2.8 %. CONCLUSION: Relaparotomy
      following caesarean section is considered a near-miss mortality. Care must be
      taken in primary surgery with meticulous attention to haemostasis. Strict
      postoperative vigilance must be adhered to for timely detection of complications
      and appropriate intervention.

PMID- 27651590
TI  - Sublingual Misoprostol (PGE1) Versus Intracervical Dinoprostone (PGE2) Gel for
      Induction of Labour: A Randomized Control Trail.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostaglandins are popular agents for induction of labour, owing to
      their dual action of cervical ripening and inducing uterine contractions.
      Sublingual misoprostol offers high efficacy as it bypasses first-pass metabolism.
      Researchers have proved that intracervical PGE1 is as effective as PGE2 except
      for increased caesarean rate and hyperstimulation. Limited knowledge is available
      on the efficacy of sublingual PGE1 and intracervical PGE2. This study was
      designed to compare the effectiveness of sublingual PGE1 with intracervical PGE2.
      METHODS: A randomized control trial was conducted in Bangalore Baptist Hospital,
      Bangalore. One hundred and ninety women with singleton, term pregnancy were
      equally divided into PGE1 and PGE2 groups, and primary outcome was measured.
      RESULTS: Post-induction mean Bishop's score in PGE1 group was statistically
      significant (t = 6.57, p < 0.05). Failed induction rate (1 vs 13.6 %) and need
      for augmentation (46.3 vs 62.1 %) were lower with PGE1 than those with PGE2 (p <
      0.05). Significant (p < 0.05) maternal and foetal outcomes like higher rate of
      NVD (35.8 vs 26 %), lower LSCS rate (15.8 vs 32.6 %), lower incidence of foetal
      complications (7.3 vs 21 %) were noted with PGE1. APGAR scores at 1 and 5 min
      were not significant. Mean cost of induction with PGE1 was 12.55+/4.15 INR and
      with PGE2 470.65+/126.5. CONCLUSION: Sublingual PGE1 is a better cervical
      ripening agent, faster and more effective, with a shorter induction-to-delivery
      interval as compared to intracervical PGE2. We also noted lower incidence of
      caesarean section and foetal distress with sublingual PGE1 compared to oral or
      vaginally administered PGE1.

PMID- 27651591
TI  - Study of Abnormal Liver Function Test during Pregnancy in a Tertiary Care
      Hospital in Chhattisgarh.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) in pregnancy require proper
      interpretation in order to avoid pitfalls in the diagnosis. The underlying
      disorder can have a significant effect on the outcome of both mother and foetus.
      The present study was done with the objective to study the clinical profile,
      incidence and possible causes of derangements of liver function tests. MATERIAL
      AND METHOD: Eighty pregnant women with abnormal liver dysfunction were studied
      prospectively. Women with chronic liver disease and drug-induced abnormal liver
      function test were excluded. All available LFTs including LDH were studied along
      with some more definitive tests to aid identification of underlying cause.
      Foetomaternal outcome was noted in all. RESULT: The incidence of abnormal LFT was
      0.9 %. 13/80 (16.75 %) women had liver disorder not specific to pregnancy,
      whereas 67/80 (83.25 %) women had pregnancy-specific liver dysfunction. Of these,
      65(81.25 %) women with liver dysfunction had pre-eclampsia including 11 (13.75 %)
      with HELLP and six women with eclampsia. 48/65 (60 %) women had pre-eclampsia in
      the absence of HELLP syndrome or eclampsia. The mean value for bilirubin (mg %)
      in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy ranged from 1.64 to 3.8, between 5 and 10
      for ICP and AFLP and >10 in infective hepatitis. Transaminases were highest in
      infective hepatitis, whereas alkaline phosphate was highest in ICP. Total 27
      (33.75 %) women suffered from adverse outcome with four (5 %) maternal deaths and
      23 (28.75 %) major maternal morbidities. 33/80 (41.25 %) women had intrauterine
      death. 26.25 % babies were small for date. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy-specific
      disorders are the leading cause of abnormal liver function test during pregnant
      state particularly in the third trimester. Pre-eclampsia-related disorder is the
      commonest. Gestational age of pregnancy and relative values of various liver
      function tests in different pregnancy-specific and pregnancy nonspecific
      disorders appear to be the best guide to clinch the diagnosis.

PMID- 27651592
TI  - Meconium Amniotic Fluid is Associated with Endomyometritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine whether MSAF is associated with
      endometritis after delivery. METHODS: This cohort study was conducted from 2012
      to 2013 in Kosar Hospital of Qazvin, Iran. All women with cesarean delivery (1239
      women) beyond 37 weeks of gestational age participated in the study. Data were
      collected on rates of endomyometritis, quality of amniotic fluid and were
      analyzed with bivariate and multivariate statistics. Probability values of <.05
      were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: We found that among 1239
      women with cesarean delivery at term 2.34 % were diagnosed with endometritis.
      Compared with deliveries with clear amniotic fluid, those with MSAF had higher
      rates of endomyometritis (1.5 vs 3.2 %, P < .04). CONCLUSION: We found that the
      presence of MSAF is associated with puerperal infection even when being
      controlled for confounders.

PMID- 27651593
TI  - Maternal Serum Aneuploidy Screen and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To find out whether maternal serum screening for fetal chromosomal
      aneuploidy predicts adverse pregnancy outcomes. METHODS: A two-year retrospective
      case-control study was conducted at a tertiary hospital. Pregnant women with a
      high-risk serum screen but with chromosomally normal fetuses (n = 189) were
      compared to those with low-risk screen (controls, n = 157) for adverse pregnancy
      outcomes. RESULTS: Women with high-risk double marker or combined screen were
      found to have higher prevalence of LBW [OR 2.56; 95 % CI (1.01-6.53), p < 0.05]
      and PT [OR 2.93; 95 % CI (1.11-7.65), p < 0.05], while women with high-risk
      triple screen had higher prevalence of PIH [OR 3.72; 95 % CI (1.23-11.18); p <
      0.05], Oligo [OR 4.50; 95 % CI (1.30-15.64); p < 0.05], delivery by C-section [OR
      2.51; 95 % CI (1.41-4.47); p < 0.005] as compared to low-risk women. PAPP-A was
      found to be a significant predictor of birth weight (R (2) = 12.2 %, beta +/- SE
      = 0.224 +/- 0.069; p < 0.005) and gestational age (R (2) = 4.9 %, beta +/- SE =
      0.613 +/- 0.296; p < 0.05). Beta hCG in first and hCG in second trimester
      predicted oligohydramnios (R (2) = 9.2 %, beta +/- SE = -0.077 +/- 0.025; p <
      0.005). The areas under the ROC curves of PAPP-A for LBW and PT were 0.70(p <
      0.01) and 0.684 (p < 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSION: A "high-risk" maternal
      serum screen with abnormal PAPP-A and/or beta hCG/HCG is associated with adverse
      pregnancy outcomes and may help identifying women requiring additional fetal
      surveillance.

PMID- 27651594
TI  - Which is Superior, Doppler Velocimetry or Non-stress Test or Both in Predicting
      the Perinatal Outcome of High-Risk Pregnancies.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To analyze which is superior, Doppler velocimetry or non
      stress test or both by means of categorization into four groups and comparing the
      prediction of perinatal outcome in high-risk pregnancies like anemia,
      hypertensive disorders of pregnancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a
      prospective study conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, ISO
      KGH, Madras Medical College, Chennai, in the year 2014. Two hundred high-risk
      pregnancies like anemia, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were included in the
      study. They were examined systematically, and Doppler velocimetry and non-stress
      test were done. The main vessels studied by Doppler were umbilical artery and
      middle cerebral artery, and the indices were calculated. The results of the non
      stress test were interpreted as reactive and non-reactive. Based on the results
      of Doppler and non-stress test, the 200 cases were categorized into four groups
      and the results were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 200 cases of high-risk
      pregnancies, those with a normal Doppler study and a reactive non-stress test had
      good perinatal outcome. When both were abnormal, there was a higher percentage of
      adverse outcome as compared to that of either Doppler alone being abnormal or non
      stress test alone being non-reactive. It was also found that abnormal Doppler but
      with a reactive non-stress test had the advantage of prolonging the pregnancy and
      bringing a better outcome indicating that non-stress test is surely a good test
      of well-being. When Doppler was normal, but non-stress test was non-reactive,
      there was an increase in the rate of cesarean section. CONCLUSION: Each method of
      fetal surveillance reflects different aspect of maternal and fetal
      pathophysiology. Hence, combining these will help to bring out better perinatal
      outcome.

PMID- 27651595
TI  - Second Trimester Medical Termination of Pregnancy with Combined Intracervical and
      Intravaginal Misoprostol: Comparative Analysis with Intravaginal Misoprostol-A
      Pilot Study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Intravaginal placement of misoprostol has been used extensively to
      terminate second trimester pregnancies. Intracervical misoprostol is an
      alternative method of termination of pregnancy for women in this period of
      gestation. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of combined intracervical
      and intravaginal misoprostol in the management of mid-trimester medical
      termination of pregnancy and to compare it with intravaginal misoprostol.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this IRB approved prospective study, twenty-two women
      (mean age 25.4 +/- 3.2 years, range 23-32 years; mean BMI 22.3 +/- 3.4 kg/m(2);
      mean parity 2.1 +/- 1.4, average gestational age 17.9 +/- 2.4 weeks) underwent
      second trimester termination of pregnancy at our institution. Patient cohort was
      randomized into two treatment protocols depending on the drug used and route of
      administration. Induction-abortion interval, need for surgical evacuation,
      completeness of abortion and side effects if any were documented. RESULTS: Mean
      induction-abortion interval for intravaginal group and combination group was
      comparable (t = 7.9 +/- 1.8 and 6.5 +/- 3.5 h, respectively). Three patients
      required surgical evacuation for incomplete abortion (n = 2 after vaginal
      misoprostol and one after intracervical-intravaginal misoprostol). Number of
      patients aborting within 6 h was more in the intracervical-intravaginal group
      (36.3 %). Patients with intracervical misoprostol complained of abdominal pain
      more often than those in other groups. Excessive bleeding and uterine rupture was
      not seen in any patient. CONCLUSION: Intracervical misoprostol is an effective
      method of medical treatment of second trimester pregnancy failure. Its short
      induction to abortion interval and acceptable safety profile makes induction via
      the cervical route acceptable for second trimester abortion.

PMID- 27651596
TI  - The Human Cost of Tobacco Chewing Among Pregnant Women in India: A Systematic
      Review and Meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India, smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among pregnant women is high
      and its adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes have not been properly documented
      in. OBJECTIVES: To collate available evidence on the association between SLT use
      and three adverse pregnancy outcomes, i.e. low birth weight, preterm birth and
      stillbirth among women in India. SEARCH STRATEGY: A systematic search was
      conducted in MEDLINE, IndMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and major journals.
      Two authors independently reviewed the studies and extracted data. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Inclusion criteria were English articles published till December 2014,
      case control, case cohort or cohort, and exposure and outcome variables meeting
      predefined criteria. Exclusion criteria were case series, case reports, cross
      sectional designs, risk estimate not restricted/adjusted for smoking with or
      without adjustment for other factors and duplicate data. Qualitative synthesis
      was followed by meta-analysis. Attributable burden was estimated using the
      population attributable fraction method. MAIN RESULTS: Pooled odds ratio was
      significant for all three outcomes: low birth weight (1.88, 95 % CI 1.38, 2.54),
      preterm birth (1.39: 1.01, 1.91) and stillbirth (2.85: 1.62, 5.01). We found that
      0.87 million low birth weight babies, 0.19 million preterm births and 0.12
      million stillbirths occurring annually in India could be attributed to maternal
      SLT use. CONCLUSION: There was a suggestive evidence of SLT use associated with
      adverse pregnancy outcomes among women in India. Further studies in this field
      are required to generate more conclusive evidence.

PMID- 27651597
TI  - Homocysteine as Predictive Marker for Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension-A
      Comparative Study of Homocysteine Levels in Normal Versus Patients of PIH and Its
      Complications.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To find the correlation between serum homocysteine levels, relevant
      laboratory investigations and complications associated with PIH. METHODS: This
      was a prospective study conducted over 2 years. Two hundred and fourteen cases
      were studied. They were divided into mild preeclampsia (64), severe preeclampsia
      (50), eclampsia (32) and control groups (68). Parameters evaluated for
      statistical analysis were blood pressure, platelet counts, SGOT, SGPT and serum
      homocysteine levels. RESULTS: A definite statistical correlation was found
      between the homocysteine levels and severity of hypertension (8 mmol/l, p =
      .759). A higher level of homocysteine was also associated with many maternal
      complications like abruption, retinopathy, MODS, maternal mortality and
      eclampsia. Sixty-nine out of 87 patients with elevated homocysteine levels were
      complicated with some or the other condition, making a high percentage of 79.31
      %. Patients with normal level of homocysteine delivered healthy babies (88.1 %).
      There were 6 maternal mortalities and 20 stillbirths in the hyperhomocysteinemia
      group. CONCLUSION: Homocysteine levels have a direct statistical correlation with
      the severity of hypertension and complication with preeclampsia and eclampsia. It
      can be considered as a reliable predictive marker for PIH and its wide syndrome.

PMID- 27651598
TI  - Eclampsia in India Through the Decades.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eclampsia is still prevalent in India with high maternal and
      perinatal mortality. In India, there is no community-based survey of eclampsia.
      Sporadic reports of study on eclampsia are being published in medical journals.
      OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to find out the incidence of
      eclampsia and maternal and perinatal mortality in India. METHODS: Data on
      incidence, maternal mortality and perinatal mortality of eclampsia were collected
      from articles published in journals and from book of Abstract published during
      AICOG conferences from 1980 onwards, along with our own data from 1976 to 2014.
      Data were analyzed yearwise. RESULTS: Reports published from 1976 to 2015
      (January-February) reveal that incidence of eclampsia in India ranges from 0.179
      to 5 %, the average being 1.5 %. In the period between 1980 and 1989, the average
      incidence was 0.92 % and the corresponding figure between 2002 and 2010 was 2.15
      %, indicating that there is no reduction in incidence of eclampsia in India over
      the decades. Maternal mortality in 1982 was 14.12 %, and in 2010 it was 2.2-9 %.
      Maternal mortality has shown a receding tendency, while perinatal mortality is
      remaining still high as in 1984 it was 45 % and the corresponding figure in 2010
      was 24.5-48 %. CONCLUSION: Incidence of eclampsia in India is about 1.5 %. Detail
      analysis of data from 1980 to 2015 (January-February) shows that there is no
      reduction in incidence of eclampsia and perinatal mortality rate over the last
      few decades. Maternal mortality has shown a slight receding trend.

PMID- 27651599
TI  - Caesarean Section for Foetal Distress and Correlation with Perinatal Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main documented indication of intrapartum caesarean section is
      foetal distress (MacKenzie and Cooke in BMJ 323(7318):930, 2001). Foetal distress
      indicates foetal hypoxia and acidosis during intrauterine life. PURPOSE: To
      correlate the diagnosis of foetal distress and perinatal outcome. METHODS: This
      was a prospective observational study of women who underwent caesarean section
      for foetal distress as detected by cardiotocography and not responding to
      intrauterine resuscitation. The foetal Apgar score at 1 and 5 min was recorded
      and cord blood pH was measured in all cases. The neonatal outcome was studied
      with regard to the need for supportive ventilation and admission to NICU/nursery.
      RESULTS: In our study, 14.38 % cases diagnosed with foetal distress subsequently
      had poor outcome. Twenty-one babies had a 5-min Apgar score <7, required
      immediate resuscitation and were admitted in NICU. Twelve foetuses had a 1-min
      Apgar score <4, while there were three cases of severe birth asphyxia (Apgar
      score <4 at 5 min); of these, two babies died. The neonatal outcome was poorer in
      cases with associated complicating factors. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of foetal
      distress is imprecise and a poor predictor of foetal outcome-the result is a
      tendency for unnecessary caesarean sections. On the contrary, lack of adverse
      outcome could reflect that our unit makes decisions at a time before clinically
      significant foetal compromise occurs.

PMID- 27651600
TI  - Better Predictor of Adverse Pregnancy Outcome: Asian or WHO International Cutoff?
      A Single-Centre Prospective Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the Asian Indian body mass index (BMI) and waist
      circumference (WC) with World Health Organization (WHO) BMI and WC in the
      prediction of adverse maternal and perinatal outcome in overweight and obese
      women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective analysis of 239 women booked within 10
      weeks of pregnancy and followed till delivery at our centre was performed.
      RESULTS: The mean age of the study group was 26.08 years, of which elderly
      gravida was 1.3 %. Overall, 17.6 % were overweight, 29.7 % were obese, and 42.7 %
      had abdominal obesity as per Asian Indian BMI and WC cutoff, whereas only 8.5 %
      were obese, and 14.2 % had abdominal obesity as per WHO. In high-risk group,
      gestational diabetes was commonest complication (20 %). Compared to WHO, Asian
      Indian BMI cutoff has statistically significant predictability for gestational
      diabetes, preeclampsia and its complications, labour induction, and Caesarean
      section rate. On the other hand, Asian WC has the best predictability only for
      preeclampsia and its complications. Sensitivity, specificity, and negative
      predictive value of Asian BMI were 82, 55 and 96 % when compared with 60.7, 72.3
      and 92 % of WHO BMI. CONCLUSION: Categorising women using Asian BMI, an increase
      in the prevalence of obesity by threefold is noted. Asian BMI and WC have high
      sensitivity in predicting adverse maternal and foetal outcomes and should be
      widely implemented in obstetric practice.

PMID- 27651601
TI  - Evaluation of Echocardiographic Systolic Parameters in Pre-Eclamptics and
      Normotensives Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Early detection of changes in cardiovascular echocardiographic
      systolic parameters and their comparison with normotensives women. METHODS: This
      was a hospital-based prospective case-control study carried out in Department of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in S.M.S Medical College, Jaipur, during the period
      from February 2013 to December 2014. In total, 100 women were enrolled in the
      study after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. All women underwent two
      dimensional echocardiography at rest. Cardiac systolic parameters were recorded
      and studied. RESULTS: Mean LVEDV in the PIH group was 75.71 +/- 4.8 versus 71.08
      +/- 5.6 ml in the control group, and the difference was statistically
      significant. Mean stroke volume was higher in the PIH group as compared to the
      control group, and the difference was statistically significant (59.83 +/- 7.4
      vs. 52.48 +/- 6.4 ml/min). Mean aortic root diameter in the PIH group was 2.188
      +/- 1.04 cm as compared to the 1.866 +/- 1.06 cm in the control group which was
      statistically significant. Mean left ventricular outflow tract diameter was
      slightly higher in the PIH group as compared to the controls although the P value
      was not significant (2.37 +/- 1.06 and 1.99 +/- 1.08 cm). Mean total vascular
      resistance was found to be higher in the PIH group as compared to the controls,
      and the difference was statistically significant (1389 +/- 57.04 vs. 1286 +/-
      45.01 dynes/sec/cm(-5)). CONCLUSION: Systolic parameters get worsened in pre
      eclamptics. Early detection of change in these parameters could help to identify
      high-risk women who are prone to develop cardiovascular morbidity in later life.

PMID- 27651602
TI  - Impact of HIGH BMI on Pregnancy: Maternal and Foetal Outcome.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To review the effects of obesity (BMI > 30) on antepartum
      risk/intrapartum risk. To study neonatal outcome of pregnant women with raised
      BMI. MATERIAL METHOD: BMI of 500 pregnant women booked before 12 weeks calculated
      and categorised as normal, overweight, obese and morbidly obese at GMCH,
      Aurangabad. Pregnant women with systemic disease and previous LSCS were excluded.
      Antepartum, intrapartum and neonatal variables were studied, and statistical
      analysis was carried out. RESULTS: Antepartum variables: prolonged pregnancy
      (<0.05), severe PIH (<0.05), PPROM (<0.05), gestational DM (<0.05) and anaemia
      (<0.05) are strongly associated with raised BMI, whereas abortion (>0.05),
      oligohydramnios (>0.05), UTI (>0.05) and abruption (>0.05) are not associated
      with raised BMI. Postpartum variables: PPH (<0.05), pyrexia (<0.05), prolonged
      hospital stay (<0.05) and lactational dysfunction (<0.05) are strongly associated
      with raised BMI, whereas UTI (>0.05), thrombophlebitis (>0.05) and endometritis
      (>0.05) are not associated with raised BMI. BMI Neonatal outcome: IUGR (<0.05),
      preterm (<0.05), postterm (<0.05), LBW (<0.05) and macrosomia (>0.05) are
      strongly associated with raised BMI, whereas stillbirth (>0.05), intubation
      (>0.05), RDS (>0.05) and baby died within 24 (>0.05) are not associated with
      raised BMI. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and obesity are risk factors for AP/IP/PP
      complication.

PMID- 27651603
TI  - Falope Rings or Modified Pomeroy's Technique for Concurrent Tubal Sterilization.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sterilization at caesarean section is usually performed by the
      modified Pomeroy's technique. Application of Falope rings and Filshie clips may
      also be used for tubal sterilization at caesarean section, and these techniques
      are also used during laparoscopy or minilaparotomy. OBJECTIVES: The main
      objective of the study was to evaluate the failure rates, complications,
      technical difficulties and reversibility of the Falope ring application for tubal
      sterilization as compared to the traditional modified Pomeroy's technique used
      during caesarean sections. METHODOLOGY: Five hundred multigravid women who
      underwent caesarean section for various causes and wanted concurrent tubal
      sterilization were recruited in the study. Two hundred and fifty women underwent
      tubal sterilization by Falope ring application and the other 250 by modified
      Pomeroy's technique. Follow-up period ranged from 3 to 42 months. These patients'
      names were checked against the antenatal booking register, the operating theatre
      register in case of ectopic pregnancies and a termination of pregnancy register
      to recognize failed sterilization. RESULTS: Among the 250 women who underwent
      Falope ring application, no major complications were noted. In the other group,
      women who underwent tubal sterilization by modified Pomeroy's technique, there
      was one woman with serious complication, ectopic pregnancy. Falope ring
      application was an easy procedure to perform and also less time-consuming than
      modified Pomeroy's technique. CONCLUSION: Falope ring sterilization is simple,
      effective and safe, and the rate of subsequent pregnancy is lower than with
      conventional modified Pomeroy's technique.

PMID- 27651604
TI  - Trial of Labor After Cesarean Section Among Women with Unique Lower Segment
      Scarred Uterus and Fetal Weight >3500 g: Prognostic Factors for a Safe Vaginal
      Delivery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate outcome of trial of labor after cesarean section (TOLAC)
      with fetal weight >3500 g. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective descriptive
      study was carried out between March 1, 2012, and February 28, 2015. Medical and
      obstetrical records of women with birth weight (BW) >3500 g admitted in the labor
      ward with advanced labor or admitted in early labor but with underestimated fetal
      weight >3500 g were analyzed. Main variables analyzed included maternal parity,
      vaginal delivery prior to TOLAC, the BW and the integrity of the uterine scar.
      RESULTS: Mean BW was 3789.3 g. Out of 36 women, 75 % had a successful TOLAC.
      Women who delivered vaginally before TOLAC had a higher success rate than women
      who never delivered vaginally (94.1 vs. 63.1 %, P < 0.044). CONCLUSION:
      Successful TOLAC with birth weight >3500 g can be observed among women,
      especially among those admitted in advanced labor or with successful vaginal
      delivery prior to the current TOLAC.

PMID- 27651605
TI  - A Single-Centre Experience of Obstetric Acute Kidney Injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical syndrome characterized by a
      sudden decline in glomerular filtration rate leading to decreased excretion of
      nitrogenous waste products. It continues to be a common problem in developing
      countries. AIMS: The aim of this study was to understand AKI characteristics in
      pregnancy and identify the factors related to its unfavorable outcome. STUDY
      DESIGN: A prospective cross-sectional study. METHODS: This prospective study was
      conducted between January 2013 and May 2014. In total 570 women with AKI were
      referred to the Kidney Institute during this period, out of which 52 patients
      with obstetrics AKI were included in this study. RESULTS: Incidence of obstetric
      AKI was 9.12 %. Their age varied from 19 to 34 years, with an average of 26.2
      years. About 42(80.8 %) patients had not received antenatal care. The main causes
      of AKI were obstetric hemorrhage (38.46 %) and puerperal sepsis (15.38 %). The
      outcome was favorable with complete renal function recovery in 55.76 % patients.
      Four (7.69 %) patients became dialysis dependent. Maternal mortality was 32.69 %.
      CONCLUSION: Obstetric AKI is a critical situation in developing countries. Lack
      of antenatal care (80.8 %) is a major contributing factor for obstetric-related
      complications leading to renal failure. Obstetric hemorrhage (38.46 %) is the
      most common cause of obstetric AKI. Late referral in 18 (34.61 %), puerperal
      sepsis in six (33.33 %), obstetric hemorrhage in five (27.77 %) and combined
      sepsis and hemorrhage in five (27.77 %) are the common contributing factors
      leading to its unfavorable outcomes as maternal morbidity and mortality. Hence, a
      multidisciplinary approach is warranted to prevent such an avoidable
      complication.

PMID- 27651606
TI  - Utility of Placental Laterality and Uterine Artery Doppler Abnormalities for
      Prediction of Preeclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To find out whether placental laterality and abnormal uterine artery
      waveform and resistance index, as determined by antenatal ultrasonography and
      Doppler, can be used as a predictor for the development of preeclampsia. METHODS:
      This prospective observational cohort study was conducted from August 2013 to
      October 2014. Two hundred and one (201) normotensive, primigravida women with
      singleton pregnancies attending the antenatal clinics without any high-risk
      factor for development of hypertension were subjected to ultrasonography at 18-22
      weeks of gestation to determine the placenta location. All the subjects with
      lateral placentas were subjected to Doppler ultrasonography to look for abnormal
      Doppler waveform and resistance index. They were followed for the development of
      preeclampsia till 40 weeks of gestation or delivery. RESULT: Out of the total 201
      women, 71 (24.5 %) had laterally located placentas and of them 37 (52 %)
      developed preeclampsia, while the remaining 130 (75.5 %) had centrally located
      placentas and of them 14 (10.8 %) developed preeclampsia (p < 0.001). In subjects
      with lateral placentas alone (n = 33), 2 (6 %) developed preeclampsia while as
      those with lateral placentas with Doppler abnormality (n = 38), 35 (92 %)
      developed preeclampsia (p < 0.001). The overall risk of developing preeclampsia
      with laterally located placenta was 9.27 (odds ratio), and 95 % confidence
      interval was (4.30-19.98). CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with lateral placentas are
      at significant risk for development of preeclampsia. Lateral placentas when
      associated with uterine artery Doppler abnormality, risk for development of
      preeclampsia increases significantly as compared to lateral placentas alone.

PMID- 27651607
TI  - Maternal Near Miss: A Valuable Contribution in Maternal Care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MMR has always been recognized as an important indicator of quality
      of health services. The MMR in India has so far not reached up to the required
      MDG 2015. If we look into this matter with the eagle's eye view, then there are
      certain gray areas which need attention. For this, it is not the maternal
      mortality but the maternal near miss which has to be focused. OBJECTIVES: To
      audit the maternal near miss in our institution and to review the pathways that
      lead to severe maternal morbidity and death. METHODS: Prospective observational
      study from September 2013 to August 2015 in Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Memorial
      Hospital, Raipur. Maternal near miss cases were identified based on WHO criteria
      2009, recorded, and studied. RESULTS: There were 13,895 live births, 211 maternal
      near miss, and 102 maternal deaths. Maternal near miss to mortality ratio was
      2:1. Maternal near miss incidence ratio was 15.18/1000 live births. Mortality
      index was 32.58 %. Hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy toped the
      list of the leading causes of near miss morbidity. The near miss events were more
      common in the primipara (39 %), with age group 21-30 years and in the third
      trimester at the time of admission. CONCLUSION: Auditing maternal near miss can
      help in reducing their morbidity and mortality in our institution. Similar audit
      between other institute, state, and countries may help to hasten the slow
      progress of reducing maternal mortality.

PMID- 27651608
TI  - Understanding Audit in Obstetrics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aim of this audit is to analyse indication and proportion of babies
      delivered by elective caesarean section at less than 39(+0) weeks of gestation
      exposed to antenatal corticosteroids performed in a Premier Hospital, Hywel Dda
      Health University. The second aim was to learn how an audit can be done and used
      for improving clinical practice. METHODS: Present study involved all patients who
      underwent elective caesarean delivery before 39 weeks completed period of
      gestation in August and September 2014. Data collected from medical record
      tracking using ICD-9 codes and analysed by clinical audit department. EXCLUSION:
      Patients who underwent elective caesarean section after 39 weeks completed period
      of gestation. DISCUSSION: The audit showed 66.6 % of patients were given
      antenatal corticosteroids. The observation was discussed in consultant meetings,
      labour forum, and was send as e-mail to every one working in Department of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The goal was 100 %. Reaudit is to be performed in
      year time to know the effect of change in practice. All successful audits are
      structured programmes with realistic aims and objectives, leadership and attitude
      of senior management, nondirective, hands-on approach, support of staff, strategy
      groups and regular discussions, emphasis on team working and support, environment
      conducive to conducting audit.

PMID- 27651609
TI  - Carboprost Versus Oxytocin for Active Management of Third Stage of Labor: A
      Prospective Randomized Control Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postpartum hemorrhage is the single largest and
      leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality not only in developing
      countries but also in developed countries. The present study is an attempt to
      evaluate the scope of using prophylactic intramuscular carboprost tromethamine
      125 MUg in comparison with intramuscular oxytocin 10 units for the active
      management of third stage of labor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred pregnant
      women at term with spontaneous onset of labor were included in the study and were
      randomly divided into 2 groups of 100 women each. Group A and group B were given
      injection oxytocin 10 units and injection carboprost tromethamine 125 MUg
      intramuscularly, respectively, at the time of delivery of anterior shoulder. The
      main outcome measures with respect to third stage of labor were: duration, blood
      loss by volume, difference in hemoglobin, need for additional oxytocics and side
      effects. RESULTS: Subjects who received carboprost tromethamine 125 MUg showed a
      significant reduction in duration of third stage of labor (p < 0.05) and blood
      loss (p < 0.01) when compared to the subjects who received oxytocin 10 units.
      Likelihood of occurrence of postpartum hemorrhage was reduced without significant
      side effects except for diarrhea. Additional need for other uterotonics after
      carboprost was significantly less compared to oxytocin. CONCLUSION: Intramuscular
      carboprost 125 MUg is a better cost-effective alternative as compared to 10 units
      intramuscular oxytocin in active management of third stage of labor.

PMID- 27651610
TI  - Ligating Internal Iliac Artery: Success beyond Hesitation.
AB  - AIM: To study the outcomes, benefits and complications of internal iliac artery
      ligation in both obstetric and gynecological cases. OBJECTIVE: To study the
      outcomes, effectiveness and complications of internal iliac artery ligation
      (IIAL). METHOD: This is an analytical longitudinal study done among women who
      have undergone internal iliac artery ligation in Dr. BRAMH a tertiary referral
      center from July 2013 to June 2015. Follow-up was done through color Doppler
      analysis of pelvic arteries before discharge, after 6 weeks and after 6 months.
      RESULT: The efficacy of IIAL was 96.87 %. The mean shock index was 0.94 +/- 0.26.
      Sixty-four women underwent IIAL out of which placenta previa (21.8 %) was the
      major indication. There were four maternal deaths. There were no intraoperative
      or ischemic complications. The greater the time interval between onset of
      hemorrhage and IIAL, the graver the outcome. For all women in whom uterus could
      be salvaged, resumption of menstrual cycles was seen within 6 months of IIAL.
      There was a significant decrease in the RI and PI of uterine arteries. In the
      ovarian arteries, there was a significant increase in RI and no significant
      change in PI initially. Flow in distal part of ligated internal iliac arteries
      could be detected in 54 (90 %) women out of 60 after 6 months of ligation of
      internal iliac arteries. CONCLUSION: IIAL is an effective life-saving method to
      control obstetric and gynecological hemorrhage, and a hysterectomy can often be
      avoided. Early resort to IIAL is vital for improving the patient outcome. Uterine
      perfusion is well maintained, while there may be a decrease in ovarian perfusion.
      Resumption of menstrual cycles and presence of distal flow in internal iliac
      artery within 6 months suggest the preservation of future fertility; in order to
      better understand the impact of IIAL on ovarian functions and future fertility,
      larger studies with longer follow-up periods need to be conducted.

PMID- 27651611
TI  - Placental Blood Drainage as a Part of Active Management of Third Stage of Labour
      After Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery.
AB  - AIM: The third stage of labour commences after the delivery of the foetus and
      ends with the delivery of the placenta and its membranes. Postpartum haemorrhage
      is the most common cause of maternal mortality and accounts for about 25 % of
      maternal deaths in India. OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to evaluate
      the effectiveness of placental blood drainage after spontaneous vaginal delivery
      as part of active management of third stage of labour in decreasing the duration,
      blood loss, and complications of the third stage, against no drainage of
      placental blood. METHODOLOGY: Two hundred pregnant patients with 37 or more weeks
      of gestation, with single live foetus in cephalic presentation, who underwent a
      spontaneous vaginal delivery, were included in the study. The patients were
      prospectively randomized equally into two groups (100 each in the study and
      control groups). Placental blood was drained in all the patients in the study
      group, whereas in the control group the cord blood was not drained. Blood lost in
      the third stage of labour was measured by collecting in a disposable conical
      measuring bag, and blood from the episiotomy was mopped, and the mops were
      discarded separately. RESULTS: The baseline statistics in both the group were
      comparable. The duration of third stage of labour was 210.5 s in the study group
      and 302.5 s in the control group. The 'p' value was statistically significant (p
      <= 0.0001). The mean blood loss in study group was 227.5 ml and was 313.3 ml in
      the control group (p <= 0.0001). The incidence of postpartum haemorrhage was 1 %
      in study group and 9 % in control group. The mean drop in Hb % level was 0.6
      gm/dl in study group and 1.1 gm/dl in control group. These above differences were
      both statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Placental blood drainage as part of
      active management of third stage of labour was effective in reducing the
      duration, the blood loss, and also the incidence of PPH. Placental blood drainage
      is a simple, safe, and non-invasive method of managing the third stage of labour,
      which can be practiced in both tertiary care centres as well as rural setup in
      addition to the routine uterotonics.

PMID- 27651612
TI  - Role of Tranexamic Acid in Reducing Blood Loss in Vaginal Delivery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anti-fibrinolytic agents are used to reduce obstetric blood loss as
      the fibrinolytic system is known to get activated after placental delivery.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of parenteral tranexamic acid in reducing
      blood loss during normal labour and to compare it with the amount of blood loss
      in patients who received placebo in the third stage of labour. METHODOLOGY:
      Patients with spontaneous labour or planned for induction of labour and
      fulfilling the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study. In each patient,
      the pre-delivery pulse rate, blood pressure, Hb gm% and PCV% were noted. Labour
      was monitored carefully using a partogram. The study group received Inj. Oxytocin
      and Inj. Tranexamic acid. The control group received Inj. Oxytocin and Placebo
      injection. Immediately after delivery of the baby, when all the liquor was
      drained, the patient was placed over a blood drape-a disposable conical,
      graduated plastic collection bag. The amount of blood collected in the blood
      drape was measured. Then the patient was given pre-weighed pads, which were
      weighed 2 h post-partum. The blood loss was measured by measuring the blood
      collected in the drape and by weighing the swabs before and after delivery.
      RESULTS: The total number of patients studied was 100-equally distributed in both
      the groups. The age group of the patients and BMI were comparable. There was a
      significant increase in the pulse rate and decrease in blood pressure in the
      control group as compared with the study group. The post-delivery haemoglobin and
      haematocrit were significantly reduced in the control group as compared to the
      study group. The mean blood loss at the end of 2 h was 105 ml in the study group
      and 252 ml in the control group. There was a significant increase in the usage of
      uterotonics and also in the need for blood transfusion in the control group; 12 %
      of the patients in the control group had to stay for more than 3 days compared to
      2 % in the study group. CONCLUSION: Tranexamic acid injection, an
      antifibrinolytic agent when given prophylactically after the delivery of the
      baby, by intravenous route appears to reduce the blood loss and maternal
      morbidity during normal labour effectively.

PMID- 27651613
TI  - A Comparative Study of Misoprostol Only and Mifepristone Plus Misoprostol in
      Second Trimester Termination of Pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness, success rate and induction to abortion
      interval between administration of misoprostol only and mifepristone with
      misoprostol in second trimester abortions (14-20 weeks) . MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      The study was conducted by dividing women approaching for second trimester
      termination, into two groups each consisting of 100 women. Group-I received only
      misoprostol; 600 mcg initial vaginal insertion followed by 400 mcg sublingually
      every 3 h until termination. Women in Group-II received mifepristone 200 mg and
      after 24 h started with 600 mcg misoprostol, per vaginal followed by 400 mcg
      sublingually till abortion was completed, up to a maximum of five doses in both
      groups. RESULTS: The success rate in Group-I was 89 %, whereas in Group-II it was
      96 %. The mean induction abortion interval in Group-I was 10.67 +/- 3.96 h
      compared to Group-II which was significantly less 6.19 +/- 2.70 h (p value <
      0.01). The mean dose of misoprostol in Group-I was 1610 +/- 511.18 mcg and in
      Group-II, it was lesser 1046 +/- 392.71 mcg (p value < 0.01). There was
      significant difference in the mean blood loss also, 97.20 +/- 36.35 ml in Group-I
      and 52.55 +/- 27.96 ml in Group-II. Also among the individual groups
      multigravidae and lower gestational age (<17 weeks), women had lesser IAI as well
      as lesser misoprostol dose was required. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with
      mifepristone significantly reduces the induction abortion interval and the
      misoprostol dose along with minimal blood loss.

PMID- 27651614
TI  - Evaluation of Referral Pattern for Fetal Echocardiography at a Tertiary Care
      Center in Northern India and Its Implications.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the referral pattern for fetal echocardiography (FE) at
      our tertiary referral center for pediatric cardiac care in northern India. We
      also aimed to determine the incidence of CHD in each group and intend to
      highlight the need of identifying the various risk factors and appropriate timely
      referral of patients for detailed evaluation. METHODS: This is a prospective
      study including 201 consecutive patients referred for fetal echo to our center.
      Data collected included referral indication, gestational age, maternal age, the
      gravida, and the final diagnosis after detailed fetal echo. Various indications
      that were evaluated included maternal diabetes (pre-gestational or gestational),
      echogenic cardiac nodule, abnormal four chamber on ultrasound, other extra
      cardiac abnormalities detected on ultrasound, and twin pregnancies or IVF
      conceptions. Some women had opted for fetal echo electively and they were defined
      as self referral. RESULTS: The mean gestational age of referral was 24 +/- 5
      weeks. Out of these, 196 had specific referral indication while five were self
      referrals. The most common indication for referral was echogenic cardiac foci.
      CHD was diagnosed in 38 (19 %) patients. Indication that yielded the highest
      number of CHD cases was cardiac abnormality on USG. The mean gestational age at
      referral in those detected to have CHD was 27 +/- 4 weeks. The commonest CHD
      detected was tiny VSD, while most of the complex CHD's were diagnosed in those
      referred for cardiac abnormality on USG. CONCLUSION: CHD detection is highest in
      those referred for abnormal cardiac imaging on USG, and hence a careful
      assessment of fetal heart during routine prenatal screening would increase the
      CHD detection markedly. Nuchal translucency needs to be measured accurately and
      those with value greater that 99th centile should be referred for FE. Mothers
      with pre-gestational diabetes should have a FE prior to 20 weeks to rule out CHD.
      A FE scan in third trimester is indicated in diabetic females (gestational and
      pre-gestational) if the glycemic control is poor evidenced by HbA1c > 6 %. Timely
      referral is absolutely essential so that appropriate counseling of the parents
      can be done.

PMID- 27651615
TI  - Field Testing of Second Generation of Colour-Coded Rings for Detecting Slow
      Progress of Labour at Rural Health Centres.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An innovative appropriate technological tool of colour-coded rings
      based on cervicographic principles was developed to monitor deliveries.
      OBJECTIVES: To study efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of colour-coded
      rings for monitoring active phase of labour. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All
      consecutive deliveries occurring at selected primary health centres from Pune,
      Satara and Kolhapur Districts of Maharashtra, during 15 months period were
      included in the study and matched control groups. Training of medical officers
      and nurses from both study and control area was undertaken in routine natal and
      post-natal care. In addition, training of use of colour-coded rings was given to
      health workers from the study area. RESULTS: There were 6705 live births from
      study area and 6341 from control area. Perinatal mortality rate for study area
      was 15.9/1000 LB while that was 23.9/1000 LB for control area (p < 0.01). The
      cause-specific perinatal mortality due to birth asphyxia for the study area was
      4.2/1000 LB while that was 8.5/1000 LB for control area (p = 0.0019). CONCLUSION:
      Higher use rate of colour-coded rings associated with reduction in cause-specific
      mortality rate due to birth asphyxia in study area indicated that use of colour
      coded rings is effective, feasible and acceptable option to cervicography under
      field conditions.

PMID- 27651616
TI  - The Effect of Vitamin E and Vitamin C on the Prevention of Preeclampsia and
      Newborn Outcome: A Case-Control Study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken in order to study the combined
      effect of vitamin C and E supplements during pregnancy on the incidence of
      preeclampsia and to study its effect on neonatal outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This study was conducted in Goa Medical College, from March 2010 to June 2011.
      Cases and controls were taken randomly from antenatal patients attending our
      hospital OPD. The study group included 200 pregnant women in second trimester (13
      weeks onwards) and third trimester of pregnancy. Cases included 100 women who
      receive oral vitamin C in dose 500 mg and oral vitamin E in dose of 400 IU per
      day. Control group included 100 women who did not receive vitamin E and vitamin
      C. All women were advised not to take any other multivitamin supplements.
      CONCLUSION: The incidence of preeclampsia in this study was 7 % in cases and 13 %
      in controls. Twenty out of the total 200 antenatal patients had developed
      preeclampsia. There was a 46 % risk reduction in the incidence of preeclampsia in
      cases as compared to controls. The incidence of severe preeclampsia in cases was
      2 % and in controls was 7 %. This result showed 72 % reduced risk in the
      development of severe preeclampsia in cases as compared to controls. The study
      showed that significant number of antenatal patients developed preeclampsia in
      the age group 25-30 years, more so in controls. Primigravidas were at greater
      risk of developing preeclampsia than multigravidas in our study. The
      primigravidas in control group showed 36 % increased risk of developing
      preeclampsia as compared to cases. Out of 20 patients, 6 of them developed
      preeclampsia before 34 weeks and 14 patients developed preeclampsia after 34
      weeks. There were more preterm deliveries in non-vitamin group as compared to
      vitamin-supplemented group. There was 46 % reduced risk in occurrence of preterm
      deliveries in vitamin-supplemented group, and this result was statistically
      significant. There was 50 % reduction in risk of stillbirths and neonatal deaths
      in vitamin-supplemented group, but this result was not statistically significant.
      The incidence of neonatal admissions was 10 % in cases and 16 % in controls.
      Hence, it is seen that there was 53 % reduced risk of neonatal admissions in
      cases, and this result was statistically significant. Controls were 1.26 times
      more prone for LSCS as compared to cases. Hence, we recommend routine vitamin C
      and E intake in all pregnant women, starting from 13 weeks of pregnancy onwards
      till delivery.

PMID- 27651617
TI  - Role of l-Arginine in Oligohydramnios.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oligohydramnios is a known obstetric complication which is associated
      with operative interferences and perinatal morbidity and mortality. l-arginine is
      a precursor of nitric oxide and may play a role in local vasodilatation.
      Administration of l-arginine has been suggested to improve amniotic fluid index
      (AFI) in oligohydramnios. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of l-arginine
      in optimizing fetal outcome in cases of oligohydramnios. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      retrospective study was conducted at Dr L H Hiranandani hospital consisting of
      100 antenatal patients diagnosed with oligohydramnios [AFI < 8 cm] remote from
      term. Patients were evaluated for all antenatal risk factors and were started on
      l-arginine sachets (3 g, 3 sachets a day). The treatment was continued till an
      adequate improvement in liquor was noted. However, patients were considered for
      delivery if the liquor remained <5. Further, mean increase in AFI, intervention
      delivery interval, and neonatal outcome were studied. RESULTS: The mean
      gestational age at the time of recruitment was 32.3 weeks. The mean AFI noted was
      5.421 cm. These patients were delivered at 35 +/- 1.1 weeks, and thus, pregnancy
      could be prolonged by 2.4 +/- 1.1 weeks. The mean AFI at the end of therapeutic
      intervention was 8.753, and thus, an AFI increase of 3.332 cm could be obtained.
      There was no significant neonatal morbidity in these patients. Significant
      improvement in liquor volume was obtained in these patients after intervention
      with l-arginine sachets. CONCLUSION: l-arginine supplementation is promising in
      improving volume of amniotic fluid in cases of oligohydramnios and prolonging
      pregnancy by a mean of 2.4 weeks, allowing fetal lung maturation thus benefiting
      the neonatal outcome.

PMID- 27651618
TI  - Indications for Cesarean Sections in Rural Nepal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Globally, cesarean section (CS) rate is close to 26 %. Nepal has a
      reported CS rate of 5 %, with huge differences in rural (3.5 %) and urban (15 %)
      areas. The aim of the study was to determine the rate and indications for CS in a
      remote hospital in a rural area of Nepal. METHODS: A one-year cross-sectional
      prospective study from August 2014 to August 2015 was performed at Okhaldhunga
      Community Hospital (OCH). Semi-structured interviews of all women undergoing CS
      (91) were done, partly with the assistance of a local translator. A maternal
      waiting home is connected to the hospital. RESULTS: Out of the 864 births in the
      hospital, 91 CS were performed giving a CS rate of 9.5 %. The most frequent
      indications were: prolonged labor in 24 CS (26.4 %), abnormal fetal lie in 23 CS
      (25.3 %) and fetal distress in 18 CS (19.8 %). Three-quarters of CS were
      performed as an emergency. Almost half of the women stayed in the maternal
      waiting home prior to birth. CONCLUSION: The CS rate at OCH was relatively low,
      within WHO's recommendation, with types of indication similar to other countries.
      There were no signs of CS overuse. Maternal request was not the sole indication
      in any CS.

PMID- 27651619
TI  - Audit of Caesarean Section Births in Small Private Maternity Homes: Analysis of
      15-Year Data Applying the Modified Robson Criteria, Canada.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To audit the data of caesarean sections carried out in single-handed
      run small private hospitals on the basis of the modified Robson criteria
      (Canada), to know the changing trends of caesarean sections over a considerable
      duration of time (15 years) in private sector, and to focus on a particular group
      out of the classification of caesarean section in the efforts to reduce the
      caesarean section rate. METHODS: It is a retrospective observational study of
      7342 caesarean section cases carried out in different small private maternity
      hospitals over a period of 15 years. The data analysed by applying the modified
      Robson criteria (Canada) and the changing trends were studied in the view of
      reducing caesarean section rate. RESULTS: Statistically significant increasing
      trend was observed in groups of both primary and repeat caesarean section cases
      done before the onset of labour in the last 5 years. CONCLUSION: Auditing the
      data of caesarean sections on the basis of the modified Robson criteria (Canada)
      is a better way of classification as compared to Ten Group Classification System
      (TGCS). The change in trends is seen only in the last 5 years, which suggests
      that there is shift in attitude of the obstetricians of small private hospitals
      in performing caesarean sections before onset of labour than performing it after
      the onset of labour. Our analysis suggests the obstetricians from small private
      hospitals to target groups 2B, 4B and 5C.

PMID- 27651620
TI  - Analysis of near-miss and maternal mortality at tertiary referral centre of rural
      India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: (1) To determine the incidence of near-miss, maternal death and
      mortality index; (2) to compare near-miss cases as per WHO criteria with that of
      maternal mortality; and (3) to study the causes of near-miss and maternal deaths.
      STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Shri Vasantrao Naik Govt.
      Medical College, Yavatmal, India. STUDY POPULATION: All cases of near-miss as per
      newer WHO criteria and maternal deaths. METHODOLOGY: A cohort of emergency
      obstetric admission in the study setting during the study period was followed
      till 42 days after delivery, and cases fulfilled WHO set of severity markers for
      near-miss cases for severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM) and mortality. All
      maternal deaths during the same period were analysed and compared with near-miss
      ones. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 29,754 emergency obstetric
      admissions, 21,992 (73.91 %) total deliveries with 18,630 (84.71 %) vaginal
      deliveries and 3360 (15.28 %) caesarean deliveries. There were 161 near-miss
      cases and 66 maternal deaths occurred. The maternal near-miss incidence ratio was
      7.56/1000 live births, while maternal mortality ratio was 2.99/1000 live births.
      Mortality index was 29.07, lower index indicative of better quality of health
      care. Maternal near-miss-to-mortality ratio was 3.43:1. Amongst near-miss cases,
      haemorrhage n = 43 (26.70 %), anaemia n = 40 (24.84 %), hepatitis n = 27 (16.77
      %) and PIH n = 19 (11.80 %) were leading causes, while causes for maternal
      mortality were PIH n = 18 (27.27 %), haemorrhage n = 13 (19.79 %), sepsis n = 12
      (18.18 %), anaemia n = 11 (16.16 %) and hepatitis n = 11 (16.66 %). CONCLUSION:
      Despite improvements in health care, haemorrhage, PIH, sepsis and anaemia remain
      the leading obstetric causes of near-miss and maternal mortality. All of them are
      preventable. The identification of maternal near-miss cases using new WHO set of
      severity markers of SAMM was concurrently associated with maternal death.
      Definite protocols and standards of management of SAMM should be established,
      especially in rural Indian settings.

PMID- 27651621
TI  - Respiratory Morbidity in Late-Preterm Births: A Prospective Observational Study
      at a Tertiary Care Hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the neonatal respiratory morbidity in late-preterm neonates.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was done over a period of 6 months (November
      2014-April 2015) including 120 late-preterm births at a tertiary referral center.
      RESULTS: Among the 120 late-preterm babies, 42 (35 %) developed respiratory
      morbidity. Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) developed in 43 % of the babies
      who had not received steroid prophylaxis against 25.8 % receiving the same (p <
      0.05). Among the indicated late-preterm deliveries, 45 % of babies developed
      respiratory morbidity in comparison with 22 % of the babies born following
      spontaneous onset of labor (p < 0.05). In the neonates with respiratory
      morbidity, male babies had a higher incidence than their female counterparts (48
      vs. 24 % p < 0.05). Severity of RDS declined from 57 % for babies born at 34
      weeks of gestation to 26.3 % for those born at 36 weeks (p 0.14). With each
      advancing week of gestation a significant reduction in the need for ventilator
      support (78 % at 34 weeks to 15 % at 36 weeks of gestation p < 0.05) was
      observed. Presence of antenatal risk factors did not significantly contribute to
      the respiratory morbidity. CONCLUSION: The severity of respiratory morbidity and
      need for ventilator support declines with advancing gestational age; hence, every
      attempt must be made to prolong pregnancy till 36 weeks of gestation.

PMID- 27651622
TI  - Quantification of Peri-partum Blood Loss: Training Module and Clot Conversion
      Factor.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To design an objective and accurate method to assess the peri-partum
      blood loss and to document the benefits of using this method on estimation of
      blood loss by healthcare professionals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective
      study was conducted over 6 months at Cama Albless Hospital, Mumbai. To quantify
      the loss of liquid blood and clots, we made use of plastic drapes, measuring
      jars, gravimetric method and a training module along with novel clot conversion
      factor which was designed to validate the visual assessment of blood loss by
      healthcare professionals. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The visual assessment of blood
      loss is unreliable. Training module should be on display in labor room and
      periodic training sessions on visual assessment by and for healthcare
      professionals are recommended, as we documented that training has definitely a
      beneficial impact on visual assessment. Clot conversion factor calculated in this
      study can prove to be a useful tool for objective assessment. Routine use of
      quantitative measurement rather than visual assessment of blood loss will go a
      long way to prevent hemorrhage-related maternal deaths.

PMID- 27651623
TI  - Incidence of Maternal "Near-Miss" Events in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Central
      Gujarat, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constant decline in maternal mortality ratio has given rise to the
      need of a new indicator. This search has motivated investigation of severe
      maternal morbidity-"maternal near-miss" (MNM) event. World Health Organization
      (WHO) defines MNM as "a woman who, being close to death, survives a complication
      that occurred during pregnancy, delivery or up to 42 days after the end of her
      pregnancy". METHODOLOGY: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out
      at Sir Sayajirao General Hospital (SSGH), a tertiary care referral hospital in
      Vadodara, Central Gujarat, from May to September 2012. MNM events were identified
      according to either WHO or Mantel et al. criteria or both. RESULTS: During study
      period, 1929 live births, 18 maternal deaths and 46 "near-miss" cases were
      recorded. Among these 46 near-miss cases, 57 near-miss events were identified.
      Calculated MNM ratio was 23.85/1000 live births, MNM rate was 20.6/1000 obstetric
      admissions, the ratio of maternal death to MNM event was 1:2.6, and overall
      Mortality index was 28.1 %. Among near-miss cases, percentage of preterm delivery
      was 42 % and stillbirth rate was 35 % (16/46). Out of 46 MNM, pregnancies were
      continued in 3 while 43 pregnancies were terminated. (25 live births, 16
      stillbirths, 2 abortions). CONCLUSION: Identification of preventable factors and
      special preventive actions should be taken for management of complications in
      such near-miss cases.

PMID- 27651624
TI  - Admission Cardiotocography: A Predictor of Neonatal Outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Screening for fetal distress is a big challenge for obstetricians.
      Labor admission test by cardiotocography (CTG) can be utilized to differentiate
      between mothers, in whom continuous fetal monitoring is needed and those who can
      be managed by intermittent auscultation. Admission CTG is commonly used screening
      test which aims to identify on admission to the delivery unit the fetus at
      increased risk of intrapartum hypoxia. We conducted a study to evaluate the
      efficacy of CTG in low- and high-risk women. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal
      study was conducted on 200 low-risk and high-risk antenatal women, beyond 32-week
      gestation with live pregnancy in labor and admitted in labor ward. RESULTS:
      Correlation of labor admission test with meconium in low risk and high risk was
      found statistically significant (p = 0.0010 and p = 0.000046, respectively).
      Correlation of labor admission test with low Apgar score, NICU admission and
      mortality was found statistically insignificant in low-risk and high-risk groups.
      CONCLUSION: Admission CTG does not benefit the neonatal outcome in normal- or low
      risk women and rather results in increased obstetric intervention. Thus, it is
      not beneficial as a screening test to detect intrapartum fetal distress in normal
      or low-risk women.

PMID- 27651625
TI  - An Overview on Fertility Outcome in Renal Transplant Recipients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of patients undergoing renal transplant are increasing
      with time. Most of these patients fall in the reproductive age group, who are
      going to conceive sooner or later. But there are few recipients who either are
      infertile before transplant or became infertile due to underlying renal pathology
      responsible for transplantation. OBJECTIVE: To study fertility outcome in female
      renal transplant recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS:  STUDY DESIGN: This is a
      retrospective study conducted at tertiary health center in Ahmedabad, from 2004
      to 2014. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Renal transplant recipients in the reproductive age
      group (20-40 years of age) were followed up in gynecology outdoor patient
      department. SAMPLE SIZE: There were 211 female renal transplant recipients, out
      of which 113 (53.5 %) patients had complete family, 3 (1.41 %) patients were
      infertile, 16 (7.58 %) patients have conceived, 33 (15.63 %) patients were lost
      to follow-up and remaining 46 (21.8 %) did not try for pregnancy. EXCLUSION
      CRITERIA: Unmarried patients, divorced and widow patients were excluded. RESULTS:
      Out of 19 patients, 16 patients conceived and 3 were infertile. The main cause of
      infertility in these patients was ovarian factor in 2 patients and tubal factor
      in 1 patient. Among 16 patients, 8 patients had missed abortion, 2 patients had
      preterm deliveries and 6 patients had term deliveries. CONCLUSION: Peritransplant
      and preconceptional counseling plays an important role for renal transplant
      recipients to help them understand the effect of renal pathology and
      transplantation on their fertility. They can have good fertility and pregnancy
      outcome with optimum functioning graft.

PMID- 27651626
TI  - Effect of Breastfeeding Practices and Maternal Nutrition on Baby's Weight Gain
      During First 6 Months.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study cross-sectionally, effect of early feeding practices and
      maternal nutrition, with special reference to traditional food supplements
      (TFSs), on baby's weight gain during first 6 months. METHODS:  DESIGN: Cross
      sectional observational study design. SETTINGS: Urban tertiary healthcare centre,
      India. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and fifteen primiparous mother-infant pairs
      within 6 months of delivery. OUTCOME MEASURES: We studied the subjects for
      anthropometry, feeding practices and nutrient intakes after delivery, and their
      baby's weights were measured, and WAZ scores from WHO Anthro software and weight
      gain from birth were calculated. RESULTS: Eighty per cent women from partial
      breastfeeding (PBF) group were either overweight or obese, while 33 % of
      exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) group were normal weight. To further explore
      relationship between TFS intakes and babies' feeding status, study population
      were divided into four groups based on consumption of TFS and feeding practices.
      General linear univariate model analysis adjusted with pre-pregnancy BMI,
      gestational weight gain, infant age and birth weight showed highest weight gain
      (3.8 +/- 0.3 kg) for TFS + PBF group, than other groups such as TFS + EBF group
      (2.9 +/- 0.3 kg, p = 0.043) and NTS + EBF (2.7 +/- 0.3 kg, p = 0.017), though NTS
      + PBF group also had lower weight gain, but this difference was not significant
      (3.4 +/- 0.3 kg, p = 0.489). CONCLUSION: Higher baby's weight gain was seen among
      partially breastfed babies. Rather than TFS, type of feeding affected baby weight
      gain to a greater extent which may increase baby's risk of obesity in future.

PMID- 27651627
TI  - Role of Thromboelastography Versus Coagulation Screen as a Safety Predictor in
      Pre-eclampsia/Eclampsia Patients Undergoing Lower-Segment Caesarean Section in
      Regional Anaesthesia.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, we aimed to correlate thromboelastography (TEG) variables
      versus conventional coagulation profile in all patients presenting with pre
      eclampsia/eclampsia and to see whether TEG would be helpful for evaluating
      coagulation in parturients before regional anaesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This was a prospective study on 100 pre-eclampsia/eclampsia patients undergoing
      lower-segment caesarean section under regional anaesthesia. Two blood samples
      were collected. First sample was used for TEG measurement and second sample for
      laboratory tests. The following TEG data were obtained-reaction time, kinetic
      time, alpha angle, and maximum amplitude (MA). The following laboratory tests
      were obtained-haematology (haemoglobin, TLC, DLC, platelet count) and coagulation
      test [prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT),
      thrombin time (TT)]. RESULT: Out of 100 patients enrolled in the study, 80 (80 %)
      had a normal coagulation profile, while remaining 20 (20 %) had hypocoagulation
      profile. The results show that TEG parameters have a good correlation with
      conventional coagulation profile and also showed excellent independent predictive
      efficacy for prediction of hypocoagulation. PT, aPTT, and TT were directly
      proportional to R-time and K-time and inversely proportional to alpha angle (p <
      0.001). Platelet count showed a strong positive correlation with MA (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: By giving a global picture of haemostasis, TEG can lead to improved
      decision-making about safety of using regional anaesthesia. Its fast feedback
      time makes it ideal for monitoring in a fast moving situation such as in
      obstetric emergency.

PMID- 27651628
TI  - Role of Intravenous Tranexamic Acid on Caesarean Blood Loss: A Prospective
      Randomised Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) is a major cause of maternal mortality
      globally. Tranexamic acid, an anti-fibrinolytic agent, is a novel approach in an
      attempt to prevent this dreadful complication. This study aims to document the
      efficacy of intravenous (IV) tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss during and
      after caesarean section (CS). METHODS: In this prospective randomised placebo
      controlled open-label study, 100 mothers scheduled for elective CS were randomly
      selected and divided into two groups (study and control) of 50 each. The study
      group received 1 g IV tranexamic acid and the control group received IV placebo.
      Following delivery, all mothers received ten units of oxytocin in 500 ml of
      normal saline. RESULTS: The mean intra-operative and post-partum blood loss were
      significantly lower in the study group than the control group: 499.11 +/- 111.2
      and 59.93 +/- 12.5 ml versus 690.85 +/- 198.41 and 110.06 +/- 13.47 ml,
      respectively, (p < 0.001). Total blood loss was 30 % less in the study group (p <
      0.001). Six mothers had PPH in the control group, while none in the study group.
      The difference between the pre-operative and post-operative haemoglobin levels
      was significantly less in the study group than the control group, 0.26 +/- 0.22
      versus 0.99 +/- 0.48 g% (p < 0.001).There was no significant difference with
      respect to other haematological parameters. There was no added adverse effect or
      need for NICU admission in the study group. CONCLUSION: Pre-operative IV
      tranexamic acid significantly reduced blood loss during elective CS without any
      significant adverse effects.

PMID- 27651629
TI  - Cochrane Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology: What is the Contribution of Indian
      Studies?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cochrane reviews aim to produce evidence for health care practice
      globally including India. We wanted to assess the contribution of Indian origin
      studies in developing these systematic reviews in the field of obstetrics and
      gynecology. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the number of
      Indian origin studies in obstetrics and gynecology which provided conclusive data
      and hence contributed toward formulating Cochrane Reviews in Obstetrics and
      Gynecology. METHODS: A total of 910 Cochrane reviews were accessed from
      gynecology and pregnancy and child birth list from Cochrane health topics. The
      details of studies included for each review were accessed from references
      section. Indian origin studies were then identified from this for further
      analysis. RESULTS: Of the total 910 Cochrane reviews available on the subject of
      obstetrics and gynecology, 93 reviews had 225 studies of Indian origin. In the
      subject-wise categorisation, there were 404 and 506 systematic reviews in
      Gynecology and Obstetrics respectively. Indian studies were included in 32 and 61
      systematic reviews of Gynecology and Obstetrics respectively. Regarding the
      details of 225 Indian studies included for our analysis, 162 were related to
      Obstetrics and 63 to Gynecology. The place of study could be ascertained in 81 of
      the 225 studies despite extensive search. Studies published after 1980 are
      available in the electronic databases while the earlier studies are difficult to
      access. Studies with duplicate mentions were counted once. CONCLUSIONS: There is
      an urgent continuing need for high quality research and its publication in India
      in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. Awareness building measures amongst
      Obstetricians and Gynecologists in this regard need to be addressed. Better
      quality studies are especially required in specific areas posing a challenge to
      our country, to improve the health care practices.

PMID- 27651630
TI  - Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome in Three Generations of Indian Pedigree.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Androgen insensitivity syndrome or testicular feminization syndrome
      is a rare X-linked recessive disorder, which encompasses a wide range of
      phenotypes that are caused by numerous different mutations in the androgen
      receptor gene. Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome occurs when the body
      cannot use androgens at all. People with this form of the condition have the
      external sex characteristics of females, but do not have a uterus and therefore
      do not menstruate and are unable to conceive a child (infertile). METHODS: In
      this paper, we report three cases of familial complete androgen insensitivity
      syndrome who presented with primary amenorrhea. RESULTS: Physical examination,
      ultrasonography studies, and biochemical, karyotype, and molecular cytogenetic
      analyses were conducted. Based on the findings, they were diagnosed and confirmed
      as having complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. CONCLUSION: A
      multidisciplinary team is needed from disclosure of the diagnosis, gender
      assignment, surgical management, hormonal replacement therapy, to counseling and
      support.

PMID- 27651631
TI  - Awareness and Attitudes Toward Emergency Contraceptives Among College Students in
      South India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India every year, a large number of pregnancies are unplanned
      resulting in unsafe abortion. This has tremendous implications both on health and
      survival of women. Usage of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) could be a
      solution provided the usage is as per guidelines and social issues do not cause
      objections. AIM: This study was done to assess the awareness and attitudes
      regarding ECPs. METHODS: Data were collected using self-administered
      questionnaire from the university students. RESULTS: Out of 449 students,
      384(85.5 %) had heard about ECPs. The commonest source of information was
      television 299(77.9 %). Only 128(33.3 %) students knew that ECPs do not help in
      prevention of STDs. 209(54.4 %) participants knew the correct time frame for
      taking ECPs. 109(28.4 %) were unaware of its side effects. Only 149(33.2 %) had
      received reproductive health education (RHE) in the past. The awareness level of
      students about ECPs was moderate among 231(60.2 %) participants. Awareness was
      significantly more among males (p = 0.013), students with science background (p =
      0.001) and those who had RHE previously (p = 0.043). 219(57 %) had average level
      of perception toward ECPs. 254(66.2 %) participants favored prescription before
      procuring ECPs from drug stores. 261(68 %) participants favored information about
      ECPs to be given in educational institutions, and a majority, 186(48.4 %), said
      they would recommend ECPs to their friends. Average-to-good perception about ECPs
      was seen in significantly greater proportion of females (p = 0.034). CONCLUSION:
      RHE is must at educational institutions so as to promote awareness and to remove
      misconceptions about ECPs among youth. This would help users in preventing
      unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

PMID- 27651632
TI  - Laparoscopic Vesicovaginal Fistula Repair with Limited Cystotomy: A Rewarding
      Treatment Option.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) is the most common type of urogenital
      fistula. Gynecologic surgery is the most common cause associated with it.
      Laparoscopic approach for VVF repair gives the benefit of minimally invasive
      surgery with principles similar to open transabdominal approach. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data of 13 patients who underwent
      laparoscopic vesicovaginal repair at our department from December 2012 to
      December 2014. Transperitoneal transvesical laparoscopic vesicovaginal repair
      using 4 ports was performed in all cases. Small cystotomy was performed instead
      of classical bivalving of the bladder. In most of the cases, the sigmoid epiploic
      appendix was used for augmentation. Per urethral catheter was kept for 10 days.
      RESULTS: In all patients, the procedure was successfully completed. Repairs were
      performed between 8 and 28 weeks (mean 15.8 +/- 5.7) following the injury. All
      fistulas were at supratrigonal region. Fistula size ranged from 1 to 3.5 cm (mean
      2.2 +/- 0.9). Mean operative time was 157 +/- 29.8 min (range 110-210), and
      estimated blood loss was 73.8 +/- 18.2 ml (range 45-110). Average hospital stay
      was 4.6 days. In the postoperative period, three patients had urinary tract
      infection, which was treated with oral antibiotics. Apart from these, no major
      complications were seen. Follow-up time ranged from 4 to 27 months (mean 15.7).
      During the follow-up, no patient had recurrence or voiding symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:
      Laparoscopic transabdominal transvesical VVF repair with limited cystotomy and
      sigmoid epiploic appendix flap coverage can be performed safely with short
      operative time, good success rate, less morbidity, and quick convalescence.

PMID- 27651633
TI  - Ultrasonography and Doppler Study to Predict Uterine Receptivity in Infertile
      Patients Undergoing Embryo Transfer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To detect whether ultrasonographic parameters and Doppler analysis of
      uterine blood flow can be of value in the prediction of endometrial receptivity
      in infertile female patients undergoing embryo transfer. METHODS: In this study,
      a total of 200 women with primary infertility undergoing embryo transfer were
      analyzed. Transvaginal ultrasonography was done on the 10th day of the menstrual
      cycle. To assess the uterine receptivity, we analyzed all the ultrasonographic
      and Doppler parameters. The slightly modified version of Applebaum Uterine
      Scoring System was used. This uterine scoring system included all the following
      parameters: endometrial thickness, endometrial morphology, endometrial blood flow
      within zone 3, myometrial echogenecity, uterine artery pulsatility index (PI),
      end diastolic blood flow, and myometrial blood flow internal to the arcuate
      vessels seen on gray-scale examination. RESULTS: The pregnancy rates were higher
      in women with thick, distinct five-line endometrium and multifocal endometrial
      vascularity within zone 3. Absent endometrial flow, despite highest values for
      the other parameters, was associated with no conception. In our study, no
      pregnancy occurred with uterine PI values of more than 2.8. Absence or reversal
      of end diastolic blood flow was associated with no conception. A maximum score of
      20 was associated with the pregnancy rate of 97.4 %, whereas scores of 13 or less
      resulted in no pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Uterine scoring system will help to
      perform embryo transfers in only favorable uteri and postpone or cancel those
      cycles in which poor uterine score is demonstrated.

PMID- 27651634
TI  - The Role of p53 Gene in Cervical Carcinogenesis.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the role of p53 gene in cervical carcinogenesis. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A total 50 cases and controls were taken after setting exclusion
      criteria. Venous blood (3 ml) samples were collected in sterile EDTA sterile
      vials. Both punch biopsy of cervical growth in cases and biopsy from cervix after
      hysterectomy in controls were performed. Genomic DNA was extracted from tissue
      and blood using standard protocol of Miller et al. 1994 using chloroform-phenol
      method. Gene was amplified using specific forward and reverse primers and p53
      gene expressions were studied. The present study of p53 gene regulation analyzed
      the expression of 279-bp bands on 1.5 agarose gel. OBSERVATIONS: Out of the total
      50 samples of cases and controls, we were able to isolate DNA from 38 cases and
      28 controls in blood and in 22 cases and 22 controls in tissue. In cases of
      carcinoma cervix, p53 expression is either downregulated or absent in 71.06 % of
      cases compared to 50 % of controls in blood and 72.73 % of cases compared to
      59.09 % of controls in tissue, but these figures were not statistically
      significant (p = 0.67 and p = 0.167, respectively). p53 positivity rate was only
      in 27.78 % of squamous cell cancer and 50 % of adenocarcinoma. Three out of nine
      patients (33.3 %) with L.N. positive status have p53 gene positivity, whereas 23
      % (3 out of 13) with L.N. negative status have p53 gene positivity, which is not
      significantly associated. In our study, p53 overexpression increases with the
      various stages of cervical cancer. CONCLUSION: In our study, we found that there
      is the increased frequency of upregulation or overexpression of p53 gene in
      control in both blood (50 %) and tissue (40.9 %), but this association is
      statistically nonsignificant. In the present study, there is a lack of
      relationship between p53 overexpression and prognosis in the cervical cancer
      patients. However, our study lacked larger sample size which otherwise would have
      been able to lend support to truly significant findings through much larger
      combined and comparative datasets.

PMID- 27651635
TI  - A Prospective Randomized Comparative Study of Vaginal, Abdominal, and
      Laparoscopic Hysterectomies.
AB  - PURPOSE: The present study is a prospective, randomized comparative study of
      abdominal, vaginal and laparoscopic hysterectomies comparing various parameters
      such as indications, blood loss, post operative pain, time taken for surgery,
      intraoperative and postoperative complications and total hospital stay. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: 50 patients were selected in each group over a period of 18 months.
      The patients were selected in such a way that they could be operated by all 3
      routes. Thus patients undergoing hysterectomy for non malignant conditions,
      having no adnexal masses, having no severe endometriosis, uterine size not more
      than 12 weeks and uterine descent of not more than 1st degree were selected.
      RESULTS: The most common indication for hysterectomy was found to be DUB, the
      maximum time taken was in TLH, the minimum blood loss was found in TLH. There was
      significant difference in the pain scores using VAS among the three groups on day
      0 and day 1, where the scores were significantly lower in VH group, the hospital
      stay was maximum in TAH group while there was no difference between VH and TLH
      groups. CONCLUSION: TLH is a better alternative for TAH and with good equipment,
      expertise and excellent teamwork TLH will be the future candidate for mode of
      surgery.

PMID- 27651636
TI  - Comparative Study of Ormeloxifene and Medroxyprogesterone Acetate in Abnormal
      Uterine Bleeding.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of ormeloxifene
      with medroxyprogesterone acetate in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding.
      MATERIAL AND METHOD: 440 Patients were divided into two groups. In group A,
      ormeloxifene was given at the dosage of 60 mg twice a week for 3 months followed
      by 60 mg once a week for 1 month. In group B, medroxyprogesterone acetate was
      given at the dosage of 10 mg twice a day from day 5 to day 25 of the menstrual
      cycle. At follow-ups, patients were assessed for PBAC score, endometrial
      thickness by USG, hemoglobin level, and the side effects of drug therapy.
      RESULTS: There were 240 patients in group A and 200 in group B. Reduction in
      median PBAC score was 79.4 % in group A and 75 % in group B after 4 months of
      treatment. The mean duration of bleeding reduced to 4.8 from 9 in group A and 5
      from 8.7 in group B. Mean hemoglobin was increased from 8.6 to 9.8 g % in group A
      and from 8.7 to 9.9 g % in group B; endometrial thickness was reduced from 7.7 mm
      to 6.8 mm in group A and from 7.4 mm to 6.9 mm in group B. CONCLUSION: We
      conclude from this study that ormeloxifene should be considered the first choice
      in the management of AUB, especially in the perimenopausal age group where
      amenorrhea is acceptable.

PMID- 27651637
TI  - Gynecological Problems of Adolescent Girls Attending Outpatient Department at
      Tertiary Care Center with Evaluation of Cases of Puberty Menorrhagia Requiring
      Hospitalization.
AB  - ABSTRACT: Adolescence is a period of enormous physical and psychological change
      for young girls. Many adolescents with menstrual disturbances never present to
      their family doctor or gynecologist. Embarrassment about discussing menstruation,
      fear of disease, and ignorance about services available may lead to delayed
      presentation or consultation with doctor. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      different gynecological problems in adolescent girls attending outpatient
      department.To evaluate the prevalence of severe anemia requiring indoor admission
      in adolescent girls with puberty menorrhagia.To assess the etiologies of puberty
      menorrhagia. RESULT: There were a total of 655 adolescent girls attending the
      gynecology OPD during the study period. Menstrual complaints (84.88 %) were the
      commonest indication for OPD consultation among adolescent girls. 17 girls
      required hospitalization; all of them needed blood transfusion due to significant
      severe anemia resulting from puberty menorrhagia. 14 (82.35 %) had anovulatory
      DUB, while 2 (11.76 %) had coagulation disorders, and one (5.88 %) had
      hypothyroidism. CONCLUSION: Adolescent girls with menorrhagia need to be
      evaluated thoroughly earlier rather than later so that effective management can
      be started and severe anemia with its consequences can be avoided. Adolescent
      health education and group discussion is needed to create awareness regarding
      adolscent gynecological problems; it should be conducted regularly in schools and
      colleges.

PMID- 27651638
TI  - Effects of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (GCSF) on Persistent Thin
      Endometrium in Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) Cycles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To predict the effectiveness of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
      (GCSF) in the treatment of persistent thin endometrium resistant to other
      treatments in frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles. STUDY DESIGN: This is a
      hospital-based prospective study. PATIENTS: Thirty-five women with persistent
      thin endometrium (<7 mm) resistant to standard treatments were involved in this
      study. INTERVENTIONS: Intrauterine infusion of GCSF (300 mcg/1 ml) was done in
      patients with thin endometrium on day 14 of FET cycles, and their endometrial
      thicknesses were measured after 48 h of infusion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      primary outcome was an increase in endometrial thickness and the secondary
      outcome measures were chemical and clinical pregnancies. RESULTS: The endometrial
      thickness increased from 5.86 +/- 0.58 to 6.58 +/- 0.84 mm after GCSF infusion.
      In 19 of the 35 participants (54.28 %) endometrial thickness increased to >=7 mm
      and they subsequently underwent embryo transfer. Of these, 3 (15.78 %) patients
      had chemical pregnancy, but there was no clinical pregnancy. In 16 participants,
      embryo transfer was canceled in view of insufficient endometrial thickness (<7
      mm). CONCLUSION: GCSF caused a small increase in endometrial thickness in women
      with persistent thin endometrium, but there was no improvement in their pregnancy
      rates.

PMID- 27651640
TI  - Factors Associated with Delayed Reporting of Invasive Carcinoma Cervix in a Rural
      Tertiary Care Center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The delay in detection of premalignant and malignant lesions can have
      an adverse impact on the outcome of carcinoma cervix. In spite of relatively good
      healthcare facilities, women in Kerala continue to report in advanced stages of
      cervical malignancy. OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with delayed
      reporting and to evaluate awareness about screening and vaccination programs for
      prevention of carcinoma cervix. METHOD: A cross-sectional study design was used
      to evaluate the subjects diagnosed to have carcinoma cervix in the outpatient
      Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Government Medical College, Thrissur,
      Kerala for a period of two years. One-hundred and fifteen women diagnosed to have
      invasive carcinoma during the study were evaluated. Data analysis was done and
      expressed as means and percentages. RESULTS: One-hundred and fifteen women
      participated in the study. Only 26 (21.7 %) of the subjects were diagnosed in a
      relatively early stage, i.e., up to stage 2a. Most of them were from families
      living below poverty line (63.9 %) and were either widowed or divorced (57.3 %).
      Illiteracy was common (48.9 %) among them, and many (71.3 %) worked as manual
      laborers. None of the subjects was aware about the availability of screening and
      vaccination programs for prevention of carcinoma cervix. CONCLUSIONS: There is a
      wide gap between the awareness of availability of healthcare and its proper
      utilization by the poor. Scaling up of public awareness of preventive programs
      and the availability of healthcare facilities are essential to enable the timely
      utilization of such services to facilitate early detection of invasive carcinoma
      cervix.

PMID- 27651639
TI  - Clinicopathological Study of Uterine Leiomyomas: A Multicentric Study in Rural
      Population.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Leiomyoma of uterus forms the most common type of
      benign tumor of uterus and also the most common pelvic tumor in women. The
      symptomatology continues to be variable. Surgery has for long been the main mode
      of therapy for the myomas. For women who wish to retain the uterus for future
      pregnancies or other reasons, myomectomy is preferred. Recent trend has been
      toward nonsurgical approaches like GnRH hormone analogs/agonists, RU 486, or
      selective uterine artery embolization, laparoscopic cryoablation, radiofrequency
      thermal ablation, and MRGUs. This multicentric study was an attempt to analyze
      the clinicopathological spectrum in cases of leiomyoma of the uterus at
      Cheluvamba Hospital, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, and to know
      regarding the pattern of presentation, pathological correlation, with type of
      fibroid, and endometrial and ovarian changes. METHODS: A clinical study of 100
      cases of fibroid uterus was conducted in the Cheluvamba Hospital, attached to
      Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore, and Adichunchanagiri
      Institute of medical sciences, BG Nagara, Mandya from November 2008 to August
      2012. The cases are selected by random allocation. On admission, detailed
      history, clinical examination, and investigations were recorded. RESULTS:
      Leiomyoma is the most common benign tumor of the uterus and commonly affects the
      women of child-bearing age, most commonly in the third decade, 55 %. The most
      common mode of presentation was menstrual disturbances (76 %), among which
      menorrhagia was seen in 54 % of the cases. Primary infertility was seen in 15 %
      of the patients. Intramural fibroids were the most common variety occurring in 60
      % of the cases. Endometrial pattern was proliferative in 66.3 %. Cystic ovaries
      were seen in 8 % of the patients, adenomyosis in 16 % indicating
      hyperestrogenism. CONCLUSION: Fibromyoma (leiomyoma) is the most common benign
      tumor of the pelvis. It commonly affects the women of child-bearing age, mostly
      in the third decade and is most commonly seen in multipara. The most common mode
      of presentation is menstrual disturbances. Intramural fibroid is the most common
      variety. The proliferative and hyperplastic endometrium was commonly reported.
      The presence of proliferative endometrium, adenomyosis, and cystic ovaries all
      are indicative of hyperestrogenic state associated with development of fibroids.

PMID- 27651641
TI  - In Laparoscopic Myomectomy, Does a Caseload of 100 Patients During the Learning
      Curve Produce a Significant Improvement in Performance Measures?
AB  - PURPOSE: Laparoscopic myomectomy (LM) offers considerable advantages over open
      myomectomy; however, LM is technically complex and associated with a steep
      learning curve. Few studies have evaluated the effect of the learning curve, and
      the limitations of most of these studies were the number of women included and
      the multiplicity of surgeons undertaking the procedure. The aim of this study is
      to evaluate the effect of a caseload of 100 patients during the learning curve of
      a single experienced surgeon performing LM. METHODS: A prospective comparative
      analysis of 200 consecutive cases of LM was conducted between December 2004 and
      March 2013. Outcomes of the first 100 procedures (Group A) were compared with the
      later 100 (Group B). RESULTS: The mean age of the cohort was 39 years (24-54
      years), with a mean BMI of 27 kg/m(2) (16-46). Both the groups were very similar
      with regard to the number, size and weight of myomas removed, the duration of
      surgery, and blood loss. More women were sent home within 24 h in the second
      group (27 vs 10.2 %, p = 0.002). Group A suffered significantly higher
      complication rates compared to Group B (11 vs 7, p < 0.05). The laparotomy
      conversion rate was 1.5 % (3 in Group A, none in Group B). CONCLUSIONS: After a
      caseload of 100 patients during the learning curve, there was no difference in
      outcomes apart from increased confidence to discharge patients after 24 h and
      reduced complication rates. Thus, mere numbers do not influence the number/size
      of fibroids removed, operating time, or blood loss but do influence complication
      rates and post-operative discharge times.

PMID- 27651642
TI  - Clinical Profile of Uterine Prolapse Cases in South India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Uterine prolapse is a common problem among women in developing
      countries. It is known to cause physical and psychosocial problems affecting the
      quality of life of patients. This study was done to determine the risk factors,
      clinical features, and management practices in uterine prolapse (UP). METHODS: A
      review of 350 case records of UP cases admitted between 2009 and 2014 was done in
      tertiary care hospitals. RESULTS: Mean age at presentation of UP was 52.8 +/-
      13.2 years. Majority of cases were manual laborers [232 (78.6 %)]. Obstetric
      factors like parity >=5 times [78 (22.3 %)], age at last pregnancy between 30 and
      39 years (57.2 %), inadequate birth spacing (57.8 %), home deliveries [162 (58.3
      %)], deliveries conducted by untrained personnel (25.3 %), vaginal deliveries
      (89.7 %), prolonged duration of labor (21.6 %), and heavy work in post natal
      period (29.8 %) were observed among cases. Correlation between age of
      presentation of prolapse with age at first and last pregnancy was significant.
      Most common associated complaint among UP cases was pain abdomen [55 (15.7 %)]
      and difficulty in micturition [51 (14.6 %)]. Majority were cases of third-degree
      prolapse [269 (76.8 %)]. Most common associated organ prolapse was cystocele [261
      (74.6 %)]. The most common operative procedure done was vaginal hysterectomy, and
      conservative procedure was ring pessary application. CONCLUSION: Public awareness
      on reduction in family size, support for institutional-based delivery by trained
      personnel, and adequate rest and exercises in early post natal period is required
      to minimize the occurrence of UP.

PMID- 27651643
TI  - The Role of Completion Surgery in Ovarian Cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients referred with inadequately staged ovarian malignancies
      present a clinical dilemma. We report our experience with completion surgery in
      ovarian cancer. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the benefits and risks of
      completion surgery in women with ovarian cancer who presented after having had
      inadequate primary surgery. METHODS: A retrospective case series of 30 women with
      ovarian cancer and one with fallopian tube cancer who had inadequate primary
      surgery underwent completion surgery at gynaecologic oncology unit in a tertiary
      level hospital in Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic medical records of patients with
      ovarian cancer who underwent completion surgery between January 2011 and
      September 2014 for ovarian were reviewed. Forty-five patients with initial
      inadequate surgery were identified of whom 31 underwent completion surgery; the
      remaining 14 did not return to our hospital. RESULTS: Thirty-one women with a
      mean age of 37 years (17-53) and median parity of 2 (0-4) with inadequately
      staged ovarian malignancy underwent completion surgery. Complex ovarian mass was
      the most common indication for initial surgery (94 %). The tumours were
      epithelial in 27 (87 %), germ cell in 3 (10 %) and sex cord stromal in 1 (3 %).
      In view of extensive disease at presentation, 19 % (6/31) were referred for
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent interval debulking. With regard to
      surgical complexity, 52 % (16/31), 38 % (12/31) and 10 % (3/31) underwent simple,
      intermediate and complex surgeries, respectively. Optimal cytoreduction (R0 and
      R1) was performed in 25 patients (81 %). Twelve (39 %) had upstaging of disease.
      Six patients required no further adjuvant treatment following surgical restaging.
      Complications included bladder injury (1), iliac vessel injury (1) and surgical
      site infections (2). During the study period of 45 months, 7 patients (23 %)
      presented with disease recurrence. There were 2 recorded deaths. CONCLUSIONS: In
      inadequately staged ovarian malignancies, completion surgery should be considered
      based on the patients' performance status and disease assessment. Considering the
      low specificity of imaging and Ca 125, completion surgery provides information to
      plan adjuvant therapy, besides allowing optimal cytoreduction but delays
      initiation of adjuvant therapy.

PMID- 27651644
TI  - Reproductive Tract infections and Premalignant Lesions of Cervix: Evidence from
      Women Presenting at the Cancer Detection Centre of the Indian Cancer Society,
      Delhi, 2000-2012.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Burden of cervical cancer (CC) is highest for women in low- and
      middle-income countries (LMICs). Human papillomavirus (HPV) is implicated as the
      necessary cause of CC although a number of other factors aid the long process of
      CC development. One among them is the presence of reproductive tract infections
      (RTIs). This study investigated the associations between RTIs and CC from India.
      METHODS: This study utilized secondary data from the Cancer Detection Centre of
      the ICS, Delhi. Data were accessed from MS access database and were analyzed
      using MS Excel and SPSS 16.0. Multivariate analysis using unconditional logistic
      regression produced odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).
      RESULTS: This study used data from 11,427 women over a period of 2000-2012. Women
      with RTIs had Candida, Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) or coccoid infections with all
      having similar prevalence (~4-5 %). 9.4 % of women had premalignant lesions of
      cervix; ASCUS was most common (7.9 %) followed by LSIL (1.3 %). TV was
      significantly associated with ASCUS, LSIL and all premalignant lesions of cervix
      (P < 0.001). Regression discovered an important association of TV with
      premalignant lesions of cervix (OR 2.79; 95 % CI 2.14, 3.64). CONCLUSIONS:
      Earlier studies have depicted associations between TV and HPV with possible
      enhancement of HPV virulence due to TV. Lack of awareness and hygiene, and
      limited access to gynecologists in LMICs lead to frequent and persistent RTIs
      which aid and abet HPV infection and CC occurrence. These also need to be
      addressed to reduce CC and RTIs among women in LMICs.

PMID- 27651645
TI  - High-Dose-Rate Orthogonal Intracavitary Brachytherapy with 9 Gy/Fraction in
      Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer: Is it Feasible??
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Though high dose rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT) is
      now an integral part in the treatment of cervical cancer, the quest for optimum
      dose and fractionation schedule is still ongoing. While the American
      Brachytherapy Society recommends individual fraction size of <7.5 Gy, there are
      few studies where the authors obtained similar results with higher dose per
      fraction. OBJECTIVE: To compare and analyse two high-dose-rate intracavitary
      brachytherapy schedules-7 Gy per fraction for three fractions with 9 Gy per
      fraction for two fractions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective
      institutional study in Southern India carried on from 1 June 2012 to 31 March
      2013. In this period, 124 patients of cervical cancer satisfying our inclusion
      criteria were treated with concurrent chemo-radiation, following which patients
      were randomized to one of the treatment arms, with 62 patients in each arm. The
      ICBT dose in Control Arm A was 7 Gy per fraction in three fractions, 1 week
      apart. While in Study Arm B, the ICBT dose was 9 Gy per fraction in two
      fractions, again 1 week apart. One patient in Arm A and three patients in Arm B
      discontinued the treatment even after repeated counselling and hence were
      excluded from the study analysis. RESULTS: The median follow-up period in the
      study was 25.2 months. In the Control Arm A, the 2-year actuarial local control
      rate, disease-free survival and overall survival were 88.5, 86.9 and 92.6 %,
      respectively, while in the Study Arm B, the 2-year actuarial local control rate,
      disease-free survival and overall survival were 91.5, 88.1 and 86.4 %,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: In our experience, HDR brachytherapy with 9 Gy per
      fraction in two fractions is an effective dose fractionation when compared to 7
      Gy per fraction in three fractions.

PMID- 27651646
TI  - Evaluation of Role of GnRH Antagonist in Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) Cycles
      with Mild Ovarian Hyperstimulation (MOH): A Prospective Randomised Study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of GnRH antagonist in prevention of
      premature LH surge and increasing pregnancy rates in IUI cycle with mild ovarian
      hyperstimulation (MOH). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective parallel, randomised controlled
      study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Couples diagnosed with unexplained, male factor
      subfertility and with one or both tubes patent were randomised to receive either
      a GnRH antagonist (study group) or no intervention (control group). All women
      were treated with clomiphene citrate (D3-D7) followed by HMG. A GnRH antagonist
      was added when one or more follicles of 16 mm diameter or more were visualised in
      the study group. When at least one follicle reached a size of >=18 mm, ovulation
      was induced by hCG injection. A single IUI was performed 36 h later. The primary
      outcome was premature LH surge and pregnancy rate. The secondary outcomes were
      the amount of gonadotropins used, duration of use of GnRH antagonist and
      incidence and severity of OHSS. RESULTS: A total of seventy patients attending
      the infertility clinic in the outpatient department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
      of a tertiary care centre, were recruited in the study which was carried out from
      August 2011 to March 2013. The study group included 34 women and 36 in the
      control arm. The incidence of premature LH surge was significantly lower in the
      antagonist group as compared to the control group 2.9 vs. 13.9 %, with a p value
      of <0.001. The clinical pregnancy rates were similar in both the groups 8.8 vs.
      11.1 %, p value being 1.000. The amount of gonadotropins used in GnRH antagonist
      group was lower than in control group but not statistically significant. Duration
      of GnRH antagonist was 1.85 +/- 0.61 days in the study group. CONCLUSION: The
      delayed administration of GnRH antagonists in MOH with IUI cycles when follicle
      size is >=16 mm is beneficial in terms of preventing the occurrence of premature
      LH surge but with no improvement in pregnancy rates.

PMID- 27651647
TI  - Comparison of Serum Leptin Level in Women with Unexplained Infertility and
      Fertile Women in Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various studies have been conducted on the role of leptin in the
      different types of infertility, including endometriosis, polycystic ovaries and
      male infertility; however, only a few studies have been conducted on the effect
      of leptin on unexplained infertility. The purpose of the present study was
      therefore to compare serum leptin levels in women with unexplained infertility
      and fertile women as a contributing factor to female infertility in Iran.
      METHODS: The present case-control study was conducted on 40 women with
      unexplained infertility and 30 fertile women who met the inclusion criteria (FSH
      < 10, BMI < 30, normal AMH and AFC and age under 35). Serum leptin levels were
      analyzed on the third day of menstruation by ELISA method. RESULTS: Although the
      mean serum leptin level was higher in women with unexplained infertility (31.20
      +/- 2.83 ng/ml) than in fertile women (24.89 +/- 2.93 ng/ml), no statistically
      significant differences were observed between the two groups (P = 0.13).
      CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant relationship was found between serum
      leptin levels in the two groups. In addition, there were no significant
      relationships between leptin and other predisposing factors such as hormone
      profile and antral follicle count.

PMID- 27651648
TI  - Colposcopic Study of Lower Genital Tract Infections in HIV-Positive Women on
      Antiretroviral Therapy.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the colposcopic findings and prevalence of lower
      genital tract infections in HIV-positive women on anti-retroviral therapy. To
      find correlation between colposcopic finding, m RNA HPV and cytology of lower
      genital tract infections in HIV-positive women on anti-retroviral therapy.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present prospective observational study was conducted
      in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
      Medical College, Jabalpur, from 1 June 2013 to 31 October 2014. The data of the
      present study was recorded into computer and after proper validation, error
      checking, coding and decoding, the data was compiled and analysed using the SPSS
      Windows. Appropriate univariate and bivariate analysis were carried out using the
      Student's t test and two-tailed Fisher exact test or Chi-square test for
      categorical variables. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The present study concludes that
      the prevalence of lower genital tract infections is 25.3 % in HIV-positive women
      on anti-retroviral therapy. It revealed that 35 HIV-positive women on anti
      retroviral therapy who were screened for m HPV RNA test, one came out to be
      positive (i.e. 2.8 %); thus, it can be said that there is an increased clearance
      of oncogenic HPV types in HIV-positive women on anti-retroviral therapy.

PMID- 27651649
TI  - Hysterolaparoscopy in the Evaluation and Management of Female Infertility.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the role of hysterolaparoscopy in the evaluation and
      management of female infertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of
      the 94 case files of all the patients who underwent diagnostic hysterolaparoscopy
      for infertility between January 2014 to June 2015 in the department of Obstetrics
      and Gynecology, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli. These infertile
      women were confirmed to have normal ovulatory cycles, hormonal assays and
      seminogram report. Dye studies as well as inspection for abnormal pelvic and
      intrauterine pathology and necessary therapeutic interventions were done during
      the procedure. Abnormal pelvic and intrauterine pathology by hysterolaparoscopy
      were categorized. RESULTS: Out of 94 cases, 53.1 % patients had primary, 17.1 %
      patients had secondary infertility, and 29.8 % came for tubal recanalization. As
      a whole pelvic pathology was confirmed in 51.7 % and intrauterine pathology in
      18.1 % patients by hysterolaparoscopy. The most common laparoscopic abnormality
      detected was ovarian pathology (20.8 %), followed by pelvic inflammatory disease
      (17.5 %). Tubal block comprised 7.7 % whereas distorted uterus by fibroid in 6.6
      % and pelvic endometriosis in 5.4 %. In hysteroscopy, the incidence of uterine
      anomaly was 13 (13.8 %). Septate uterus is the most common with a mean incidence
      of approximately 7 (53.8 %). CONCLUSION: Diagnostic hysterolaparoscopy is an
      effective diagnostic and therapeutic modality for certain significant and
      correctable abnormalities in pelvis, tubes and uterus which are missed by other
      imaging modalities.

PMID- 27651650
TI  - Laparoscopic Management of Interstitial Ectopic Using Simple and Safe Technique:
      Case Series and Review of Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and sustainability of operative
      laparoscopy in surgical management of cornual and interstitial ectopic pregnancy
      using a simple and practical method. DESIGN: Case series of five consecutive
      cases. SETTING: Endoscopy unit in Alexandria University Hospital and Alexandria
      New Medical Center. PATIENTS: Between July 2013 and May 2015, five women with
      interstitial and cornual ectopic pregnancies were admitted for laparoscopic
      surgical treatment. METHODS: Full medical and surgical histories were taken. We
      explained all alternatives for both partners before informed. Patients underwent
      laparoscopy for management of the corneal ectopic. All surgeries were done by the
      same surgeon (T.S.) with different assistants. We gave different uterotonics
      drugs to devascularize the uterus. Two or more devascularization sutures were
      done on each end of the corneal ectopic. We used monopolar and bipolar
      electrocoagulation when indicated. We did linear cut of the interstitial ectopic
      with evacuation of the fetus and placental tissues. Extraction of the conceptus
      was performed through 10 mm port. Follow-up of the beta-hCG was done weekly till
      negative results were obtained. RESULTS: The devascularization sutures together
      with uterotonics make the surgical treatment of interstitial ectopic easy and
      safe. This simple technique minimizes blood loss and decreases necrosis that
      follows excessive use of diathermy. This was demonstrated successfully in
      different types of interstitial ectopic. We did not remove any part of the uterus
      during surgery. Clinical criteria of the study cases were discussed. Type, size,
      blood loss and complications, and duration of the surgery were documented.
      CONCLUSION: Operative laparoscopy using sutures and uterotonics is safe and
      sustainable approach in treatment of interstitial ectopic pregnancy.

PMID- 27651651
TI  - Unmet Needs of Family Planning Among Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Rural
      Area of Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, South India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Global contraceptive usage was 63.3 % in 2010 which was 9 % more than
      that in 1990. NFHS-III 2005-2006 revealed that the contraceptive prevalence rate
      was 56 % while in the past decade it was 48 %. In India, female sterilization is
      the most commonly preferred method of contraception accounting for 76 %, while in
      Tamil Nadu it was 90 %. Thus, this study aims at measuring the prevalence of
      unmet needs of family planning and its determinants in a rural area of
      Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried
      out as a community-based cross-sectional study in Chunambed panchayat, a rural
      area in Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, India, among 505 women of age group 15
      49 years. Cluster random sampling was done to select the households to include in
      the study. In every household, all the available and eligible women were
      explained about the study and recruited after obtaining informed consent.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Chi-square test was applied for finding the difference in
      proportion, and p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of unmet need for family planning in our study population was
      nearly 31 %; it was even more for younger age groups and for the women whose
      family size was less. 51.7 % of the participants were currently using a
      contraceptive measure and very few of their partners used contraception.
      Government health facilities were the major source of contraceptive service and
      majority of our participants were well aware about the various contraceptive
      methods. CONCLUSION: Unmet needs of family planning were high in our study
      population, and the knowledge about the contraceptive use and family planning was
      found to be fairly adequate.

PMID- 27651652
TI  - Efficacy of Use of Long-Term, Low-Dose Mifepristone for the Treatment of
      Fibroids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibroid or myoma is the commonest reported tumor of uterus, and is
      one of the important reasons for hysterectomy in our setting. Different drugs are
      available for medical management of fibroid uterus including mifepristone, a
      progesterone antagonist. Varying dosage regimen for mifepristone was studied as
      medical management of fibroid uterus. The aim of the project was to study the
      effect of mifepristone on the symptoms and size of fibroids, especially using a
      low-dose regimen for 6 months. In addition, any symptomatic improvement of
      menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea was also studied. METHODS: The study was designed as
      an observational prospective "before-after" study. Women diagnosed with uterine
      fibroids attending OPD of a tertiary care hospital were selected according to the
      inclusion criteria. A total of 36 patients were enrolled in the study. Sample
      size was calculated to study changes in various parameters after 6 months
      treatment with mifepristone 50 mg once a week. Baseline investigations were
      performed and menstrual blood loss was assessed using pictorial blood assessment
      charts. Fifty milligrams of mifepristone weekly was used, and patient assessed at
      1 and 6 month. They were also further followed up till 3 months after stopping
      the drug to observe the changes in menstrual pattern, fibroid volume, hemoglobin
      and liver function tests. Baseline endometrial biopsy and another at 6 month on
      cessation of drug therapy were done for all patients. RESULTS: Majority of the
      study population comprised of perimenopausal women, i.e., 41-45 years (44 %).
      Fifty percent of the patients were Para 2 and belonged to the perimenopausal age
      group (18 out of 36). The dominant presenting symptom was menorrhagia associated
      with dysmenorrhea and pelvic pain. After 6 months of treatment with mifepristone,
      the mean fibroid volume reduced from 204.33 to 113.16 cm(3) (n = 33); p <= 0.001,
      and the percentage mean volume reduction of the fibroid in the study population
      was 44.57 % (range 1.10-100 %). Immediate reduction in bleeding PV was observed
      in 100 %, and 88.89 % (32/36) patients attained amenorrhea. The mean hemoglobin
      increased from 9.18 to 10.82 g/dl (p = 0.001). There was a transient rise in mean
      transaminases (AST/ALT) levels at 6 months which reverted to normal at 9 months
      follow-up. CONCLUSION: To conclude, 6 months therapy with 50 mg of mifepristone
      given weekly is efficacious and acceptable for the treatment of symptomatic
      leiomyoma, especially in a select group of patients. Although its use as a
      primary medical therapy is limited due to recurrence of fibroid after stopping
      treatment, it is useful for perimenopausal women whose myoma would regress after
      menopause, and younger infertile patients with small-size deep intramural myomas
      not easily accessible to either hysteroscopic or laparoscopic surgery. It is also
      beneficial as a preoperative adjunct, in patients with preoperative severe anemia
      and large fibroids where surgery is technically difficult. Mode of surgery can be
      changed to a less-invasive vaginal hysterectomy rather than an abdominal
      procedure.

PMID- 27651653
TI  - Non-decent Vaginal Hysterectomy in Rural Setup of MP: A Poor Acceptance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: NDVH is a minimally invasive, safe, effective, and economical surgery.
      Still AH is preferred for benign gynaecological indications. Our study aims to
      promote NDVH in all technically possible cases by adequate counselling of the
      patient. METHODS: This prospective observational study enrolled 100 women seeking
      hysterectomy for benign gynaecological conditions (excluding prolapse) in a
      teaching hospital. Women were counselled on the basis of 'PREPARED' questionnaire
      to assess their awareness about NDVH and were offered NDVH as the proposed
      surgery and result is analysed. RESULTS: We observed that there was a little
      awareness about NDVH and its outcome among the subjects. Ten out of 100 patients
      refused to perform NDVH after counselling and underwent TAH. Rest of the 90
      patients opted for NDVH. Forty out of 90 patients were aware about NDVH, but they
      were sceptical about the outcome, and 50 were totally unaware. After applying
      'PREPARED' questionnaire and counselling, we could motivate them to accept NDVH.
      It was successful in all cases except one where laparotomy was done for ovarian
      artery retraction. With no significant post-operative complications, early return
      to routine activity and low cost of surgery, all patients were satisfied with
      surgical outcome and improved quality of life. CONCLUSION: We conclude that
      patients accept the surgery with open mind after proper counselling and detailing
      of the procedure. Most of the abdominal hysterectomy can be converted
      successfully to NDVH in technically feasible cases by experienced hands so
      adequate training to gynaecology residents is the need of the time. NDVH is
      economical to the patient as well as for the healthcare system.

PMID- 27651654
TI  - The Effectiveness of Levonorgestrel-Releasing Intrauterine System in the
      Treatment of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) has been shown
      to be an effective treatment for patients with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) in
      many Western studies. The purpose of study was to examine the effectiveness of
      LNG-IUS in the treatment of Indian women with AUB. METHODS: We conducted a
      retrospective observational study of 70 women diagnosed with AUB and treated with
      LNG-IUS insertion between February 2010 and 2014 at the Department of Gynecology
      of Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences. Baseline endometrial biopsies
      were done before insertion of LNG-IUS, and outpatient follow-up with symptom
      diary was undertaken at 3-month intervals after insertion of LNG-IUS. RESULTS:
      Primary outcome in the two treatment groups was significantly greater among women
      assigned to levonorgestrel-IUS than among those assigned to usual treatment (mean
      difference in scores over the course of 1 year 13.4 points; 95 % confidence
      interval [CI] 9.9-16.9; P < 0.001). All six domains of the MMAS favored the
      levonorgestrel-IUS at every time point (P < 0.001) with the use of a test for
      trend. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study showed that both the levonorgestrel
      IUS and usual medical treatments reduced the adverse effect of menorrhagia on
      women's lives over the course of 2 years, but the levonorgestrel-IUS was the more
      effective first choice, as assessed by the impact of bleeding on the women's
      quality of life.

PMID- 27651656
TI  - Endometrial and Subendometrial Vascularity by Three-Dimensional (3D) Power
      Doppler and Its Correlation with Pregnancy Outcome in Frozen Embryo Transfer
      (FET) Cycles.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: To study the role of endometrial and subendometrial blood
      flow measured by 3D power Doppler as predictors of pregnancy in frozen embryo
      transfer (FET) cycles. METHODS: A hospital-based prospective study of two hundred
      and twenty-one (221) women undergoing FET cycles with a triple-line endometrium
      >=7 mm on day 14 endometrial and subendometrial blood flow was assessed using 3D
      power Doppler, and various indices endometrial volume, subendometrial volume and
      their vascularisation index (VI), flow index (FI) and vascularisation flow index
      (VFI) were obtained and compared between the pregnant and the non-pregnant group.
      Primary outcome was clinical pregnancy. RESULTS: Out of 221 women, 97(43.89 %)
      became pregnant, while 124 (56.10 %) failed to become pregnant. The endometrial
      volume was comparable between the two groups. Endometrial VI, FI and VFI were
      significantly higher in the pregnant as compared to the non-pregnant group. There
      was a significant difference in subendometrial VI and VFI between the two groups,
      but FI was similar. CONCLUSIONS: Endometrial and subendometrial vascularity by 3D
      power Doppler can be a useful parameter in predicting pregnancy in FET cycles.

PMID- 27651655
TI  - Factors Leading to Pregnancies in Stimulated Intrauterine Insemination Cycles and
      the Use of Consecutive Ejaculations Within a Small Clinic Environment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Understanding and improving IUI pregnancy rates has enormous global
      appeal and application. This pilot study goes one step further by utilising
      consecutive ejaculates from men with oligozoospermia and comparing with
      normozoospermic male group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was
      performed on 117 IUI-stimulated treatment cycles in a small fertility clinic in
      North Middlesex University Hospitals Trust, UK, within a NHS setting. Risks of
      OHSS and multiple births are carefully controlled. RESULTS: In our cohort,
      several factors are associated with positive IUI pregnancies and these were: age
      of the woman, inseminating with >=5 total progressive motile sperm; having >=50 %
      Grade A sperm progression and having >=1 follicle achieved with a realistic hMG
      dosage, hCG trigger and IUI of 29.7 h (2.5-38.4 h), with an endometrial thickness
      of 10.7 mm (6.6-13.4 mm). Bifollicular presence in at least half the cases along
      with hMG protocols added usefully to the pregnancy outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The
      pregnancy rates per cycle were 19 and 23 % in the consecutive ejaculates and non
      consecutive ejaculate groups, respectively, P = 0.59. For the whole cohort, the
      pregnancy rate was 20.51 % per cycle and 33.8 % per women. This approach if
      validated with large RCT will have universally beneficial effects.

PMID- 27651657
TI  - Hormonal Changes After Laparoscopic Ovarian Diathermy in Patients with Polycystic
      Ovarian Syndrome.
AB  - AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY: To assess the changes in hormonal profile (serum FSH,
      LH, prolactin and total testosterone) following laparoscopic ovarian drilling
      (LOD) in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty
      patients with PCOS have been included in this study. Serum prolactin, total
      testosterone, follicular-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)
      levels have been used as biochemical markers, before and after procedures.
      RESULTS: Laparoscopic ovarian drilling was successfully employed without any
      surgical complications and on an average follow-up time of 24 weeks after the
      procedure. During the follow-up serum values for prolactin, total testosterone
      and LH have decreased significantly and FSH levels remained unchanged after the
      procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The LOD in patients with PCOS may avoid or reduce the
      risk of OHSS and the multiple pregnancy rate induced by gonadotropin therapy. The
      high pregnancy rate and the economic aspect of the procedure offer an attractive
      management for patients with PCOS. However, LOD can be considered as second-line
      treatment after clomiphene citrate treatment failure and/or resistance.

PMID- 27651658
TI  - Study to Evaluate Targeted Management and Syndromic Management in Women
      Presenting with Abnormal Vaginal Discharge.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Vaginal discharge is a commonest complaint among women in
      reproductive age group. Infective vaginal discharge can be broadly categorized
      into vaginitis or mucopurulent cervicitis. Vaginitis is predominantly caused by
      bacterial vaginosis, vaginal candidiasis, vaginal trichomoniasis, etc.
      Mucopurulent cervicitis is due to chlamydia or gonococcal infection. The targeted
      management is based on identification of causative organism and targeting the
      therapy against it, while syndromic management is based on high risk factors's
      presence. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of targeted management as
      compared to syndromic management in achieving a complete cure for abnormal
      vaginal discharge and to study the microbial flora of women presenting with
      abnormal vaginal discharge. METHOD: The study is a randomized control trial
      conducted at tertiary health care on 200 women who presented with abnormal
      vaginal discharge, distributed in two groups A and B each consisted of 100 women.
      Group A underwent laboratory investigations, and treatment was started as soon as
      reports were available. Group B was given syndromic management based on high risk
      factors's presence. Both groups were followed up after 2 weeks. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of various organisms in vaginal discharge was candidiasis 39 %,
      bacterial vaginosis 28 %, trichomoniasis 5 %, N. gonorrhoeae 5 % and chlamydia 2
      % among the 100 women in group A. Response to treatment for vaginitis was 76.3 %
      in group A, whereas it was 41 % in group B. With cervicitis, 71.4 % women
      responded to treatment in targeted group as compared to 54 % in syndromic
      management group. CONCLUSION: There is a potential disadvantage of syndromic
      management because of its total reliability on a subjective clinical assessment.

PMID- 27651659
TI  - Litigations in Obstetric and Gynecological Practice: Can it be prevented? A
      Probability to Possibility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Litigation in medical practice is becoming a global problem. So it is
      necessary to know what constitutes negligence and what is required to prove it
      and how far it is preventable. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the prevalence and reasons
      for litigations in Obstetrics and Gynaecology for medical negligence and
      deficiency in service. To analyze on what grounds negligence was proved and to
      know whether it was preventable. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a retrospective
      analysis of the judgments obtained from all the District Consumer Courts of South
      India and was specifically analyzed for reasons in filing the case, nature of
      settlement, and factors considered in deciding negligence especially in the field
      of obstetrics and gynecology. RESULTS: Totally 1317 cases were found on medical
      negligence and deficiency in service, with 347 (26.34 %) cases on Obstetrics and
      Gynecology (OBG) topping the list. Out of 347 cases on OBG 312 (89.91 %) cases
      were settled in the Courts. Negligence was proved in 98 (31.41 %) cases and 214
      (68.59 %) cases were dismissed without compensation. 77 (24.68 %) cases on
      gynecology were filed with common reasons for litigation being Post-op
      complications, intraop complications (11.68 %), extension of surgery beyond
      consent (2.6 %) and out of 235 (75.32 %) cases on Obstetrics, tubectomy failure
      (23.82 %), birth asphyxia (10.21 %), traumatic injury to new born (5.96 %) were
      the common reasons for litigations. Inadequate documentation and improper consent
      were the main factors considered in deciding negligence on part of the doctors.
      CONCLUSION: With reasonable skill and care in diagnosis and treatment, proper
      documentation and legally valid consent it is not probable but possible to
      prevent litigations.

PMID- 27651660
TI  - Impact of Structured Counseling with Trained Counselors in Choosing a Modern
      Contraceptive Method in India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to determine the impact of structured
      counseling by trained contraceptive counselors in a real-life clinical setting on
      the adoption of modern contraceptive methods in comparison with past
      contraceptive experience. METHODS: Current study was a retrospective, non
      interventional design, from the data collected in the time period of March to
      September 2013 across four clinics with predominant obstetric and gynecological
      practice. Three hundred and fifty-one women consulting for contraception were
      counseled by trained counselors using standardized counseling tools. RESULTS: Of
      the 351 women counseled, 40.74 % (n = 143) had never used a contraceptive (no
      method) and 42.74 % (n = 150) women whose partner had or were using a "male
      condom." Post-counseling by a trained counselor, there was a significant (p <
      0.001) increase in modern contraceptive use (91.74 %, n = 322) versus prior
      counseling (52.14 %, n = 183) proportion of women who had or were using a modern
      contraceptive. The change observed for each method pre-counseling (usage history)
      to post-counseling was as follows: combined oral contraceptive (COC) 1.99-5.41 %,
      progesterone-only pill (POP) 0.85-30.48 %; copper intrauterine device (Cu-IUD)
      4.27-29.4 %; injectable contraceptive 1.71-20.51 %; male condom 42.74-1.42 %; no
      method 40.74-7.41 %; traditional 7.12-0.85 %; and sterilization 0.28-1.71 %.
      CONCLUSION: This study is a first of its kind, conducted in the private sector,
      and clearly highlights the benefits of a trained counselor in contraceptive
      counseling with a significant proportion of women choosing a modern
      contraceptive. With a busy private practice, a trained counselor facilitates the
      clinician's role and helped the women to choose a suitable modern contraceptive
      method.

PMID- 27651661
TI  - Endocrine and Metabolic Profile of Different Phenotypes of Polycystic Ovarian
      Syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy
      associated with wide heterogeneity and serious clinical implications. Prevalence
      and characteristics of different phenotypes are not well defined. Therefore, this
      study was planned to determine the prevalence of four phenotypes of PCOS and to
      evaluate their endocrine and metabolic parameters including insulin resistance
      and metabolic syndrome with respect to controls. METHODS: This observational,
      case-control study was conducted in the gynecology outpatient department of a
      tertiary care center where 161 PCOS and 50 non-PCOS women were recruited and
      investigated. RESULTS: All phenotypes of PCOS had higher BMI with respect to
      controls (P < 0.000). Overweight women were maximum in phenotype H + O followed
      by phenotype H + P. Significantly higher levels of luteinizing hormone (P <
      0.01), testosterone (P < 0.0001), were observed in all phenotypes of PCOS as
      compared to controls. Serum cholesterol (P < 0.026) and triglycerides (P < 0.05)
      were significantly higher in all PCOS phenotypes compared to controls. Levels of
      fasting (P < 0.000) and post-prandial (P < 0.009) insulin were significantly
      higher in all phenotypes of PCOS with respect to controls. Mean insulin
      resistance (IR) was 24.09 % in PCOS and 2 % in controls, prevalence being highest
      in H + O phenotype followed by H + O + P. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in
      women with PCOS was 36.02 %, being highest in H + O + P followed by H + O and
      that of control was 10 %. CONCLUSION: All phenotypes of PCOS had deranged
      endocrine and metabolic profile compared to controls, but prevalence of IR and
      metabolic syndrome was maximum in hyperandrogenic phenotypes which require a
      strict surveillance for prospective metabolic disorders as compared to O + P
      phenotype.

PMID- 27651662
TI  - To Assess the Safety of Morcellation for Removing Uterine Specimen During
      Laparoscopic and Vaginal Hysterectomies for Leiomyomas.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The ability to offer less invasive surgery for leiomyomas to women
      often requires the removal of large tissue specimens through small incisions,
      which is facilitated by morcellation. Electromechanical morcellation may lead to
      dissemination of occult uterine malignancy throughout the intraperitoneal cavity
      and may worsen the prognosis. OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety of morcellation
      for removing uterine specimen during laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomies for
      leiomyoma and to find incidence of leiomyosarcoma (LMS) in morcellated specimens.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective case series done at Aarogya
      Hospital and Test Tube Baby Centre, Raipur, from January 1, 2011 to November 30,
      2015. Total 232 cases were analyzed to assess the safety of vaginal and
      laparoscopic morcellation technique. All histopathological reports were analyzed
      to find incidence of LMS in morcellated specimen. RESULTS: In the study period
      55.55 % hysterectomies were performed for fibroid uterus. All patients were
      multiparous and 82.75 % had not attained menopause. Preoperative cervical
      cytology and endometrial biopsy reports were not suggestive of malignancy in any
      case. Histopathology reports of all the morcellated specimens were consistent
      with leiomyoma. CONCLUSION: The risk of occult LMS is extremely low, especially
      in reproductive age group women. We believe that more studies and guidelines are
      required for Indian women.

PMID- 27651663
TI  - "The Jelly Belly": Diagnostic Dilemmas and Current Concepts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare and poorly understood
      clinicopathological entity characterized by gelatinous ascites with neoplastic or
      non-neoplastic mucinous implants in the peritoneum. Although its origin was
      debated, current evidence in literature favours the appendix as the origin of the
      disease, over the ovaries. The changing terminologies in the classification of
      this entity pose diagnostic and management challenges. CASE REPORTS: Herein, we
      report three cases of PMP in postmenopausal women, their clinical presentation,
      pathological staging based on the peritoneal tumor deposits and the treatment
      administered. Two patients recovered uneventfully, while one had recurrence of
      adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION: The rarity of this disease and the diagnostic
      challenges associated with it are discussed with an emphasis on the current
      concepts in its origin and management. Appropriate classification and complete
      removal of the tumor is mandated to prevent disease-related mortality.

PMID- 27651664
TI  - Lower Genitourinary Tract Trauma Caused by Cow Horn Injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Lower genitourinary tract trauma in females caused by cow horn
      injury (goring) is rarely reported and discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All (12)
      women who were managed over the past 5 years for genitourinary tract trauma
      inflicted by cow horn injury were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Variable
      patterns of lower genitourinary trauma were observed due to cow horn injury.
      CONCLUSION: Treatment should be individualized and offered after thorough
      evaluation under anesthesia.

PMID- 27651666
TI  - Estimate the contribution of incubation parameters influence egg hatchability
      using multiple linear regression analysis.
AB  - AIM: This research was conducted to determine the most affecting parameters on
      hatchability of indigenous and improved local chickens' eggs. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Five parameters were studied (fertility, early and late embryonic
      mortalities, shape index, egg weight, and egg weight loss) on four strains,
      namely Fayoumi, Alexandria, Matrouh, and Montazah. Multiple linear regression was
      performed on the studied parameters to determine the most influencing one on
      hatchability. RESULTS: The results showed significant differences in commercial
      and scientific hatchability among strains. Alexandria strain has the highest
      significant commercial hatchability (80.70%). Regarding the studied strains,
      highly significant differences in hatching chick weight among strains were
      observed. Using multiple linear regression analysis, fertility made the greatest
      percent contribution (71.31%) to hatchability, and the lowest percent
      contributions were made by shape index and egg weight loss. CONCLUSION: A
      prediction of hatchability using multiple regression analysis could be a good
      tool to improve hatchability percentage in chickens.

PMID- 27651665
TI  - Impact of pregnancy and nutrition on oxidant/antioxidant balance in sheep and
      goats reared in South Sinai, Egypt.
AB  - AIM: To monitor the effect of nutrition and pregnancy on oxidative status of
      animals under the arid condition of South Sinai. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood
      samples were taken from two groups of animals: The first group retained in farm
      and fed on concentrate (high diet) and another group grazing natural forage (low
      diet). Each group was subdivided into pregnant and non-pregnant animals. Blood
      samples were assayed for their content of malondialdehyde (MDA), total
      antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD)
      enzymes. RESULTS: MDA level significantly increased in pregnant animals fed
      either concentrate or grazing low-quality forage and accompanied by a low level
      of TAC in pregnant grazing animals fed low-quality forage. The activity of CAT
      decreased in pregnant fed either concentrate or grazing and SOD significant
      decrease in the pregnant grazing group. These data suggested that the animals
      might have experienced some degree of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation and
      indicating that redox homeostasis was impaired in those pregnant and specially
      fed on forage rations. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy constituted the most oxidative
      stress facing the grazing and concentrated diet feed sheep and goats under arid
      and saline conditions of Southern Sinai, Egypt.

PMID- 27651667
TI  - Risk factors associated with Cryptosporidia, Eimeria, and diarrhea in smallholder
      dairy farms in Mukurwe-ini Sub-County, Nyeri County, Kenya.
AB  - AIM: This study was undertaken to determine the household, calf management, and
      calf factors associated with the occurrence of Eimeria, Cryptosporidia, and
      diarrhea in pre-weaned calves reared in smallholder dairy farms in Mukurwe-ini
      Sub-County of Nyeri County, Kenya. In addition, the study also evaluated factors
      associated with average daily weight gain in the same pre-weaned calves.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 112 newborn calves (63 males and 49 females) on
      111 farms (1 set of twins) were followed for 2 months between June 2013 and
      August 2013. Two calves were lost to follow-up. A pre-tested questionnaire was
      used to collect data on household characteristics and calf management practices
      in the 111 selected farms. On the first visit to the farm (within 7 days of the
      birth of the calf), blood samples were collected from the jugular vein to assess
      the level of maternal immunity acquired by the calf, by determining the serum
      total protein and selenium concentration. At 4 and 6 weeks of age, fecal samples
      from the calves were collected to assess the presence of Cryptosporidia and
      Eimeria oocysts. Every 2 weeks for 2 months, the calves and their environments
      were examined, their 2-week consumption and health history were recorded, and
      weights were estimated with a weight tape. Each of the factors was evaluated in a
      univariable regression model and only those found to be significant (p<=0.20)
      were included in a multivariable model. Elimination of non-significant factors
      was done in the multivariable model through a backward elimination procedure so
      that only those variables which were confounders, and/or significant at (p<=0.05)
      remained in the final model. RESULTS: About 37% (41/110) of the calves
      experienced diarrhea at least once during the 2-month study period. The overall
      period prevalence of Eimeria and Cryptosporidia was 42.7% (47/110) and 13.6%
      (15/110), respectively. Low serum protein was associated with 1.8 and 2.4 times
      the odds of Eimeria and Cryptosporidia infections, respectively. Lack of
      supervision of calf birth and low serum total protein were both associated with
      1.3 times the odds of diarrhea incidence. Dirty calf pens, feeding <5 L of
      milk/day, and infection with Eimeria were associated with 0.105, 0.087, and 0.059
      kg, respectively, reduced average daily weight gain of the calves. CONCLUSION: In
      the Kenyan context, calf diarrhea risk could be reduced through better
      supervision of parturition and colostrum provision. Specifically, the risk of
      Eimeria and Cryptosporidia infections could be reduced by optimizing the passive
      transfer of immunity to the newborn calves. Average weight gains of calves could
      be improved by good colostrum provision, pen hygiene, and preventing Eimeria
      infections.

PMID- 27651668
TI  - Strangles in Arabian horses in Egypt: Clinical, epidemiological, hematological,
      and biochemical aspects.
AB  - AIM: Respiratory tract infections are considered the major problem of equine
      worldwide. Strangles is an infectious and highly contagious respiratory bacterial
      disease of equine caused by Streptococcus equi. This study is aimed to evaluate
      some clinical and epidemiological investigation associated with strangles and to
      study the hematological and biochemical changes in 20 Arabian horse naturally
      infected with S. equi during the disease and after 10 days from treatment by
      procaine penicillin with benzathine penicillin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of
      490 Arabian horses have been examined, 120 (24.5%) have been clinically diagnosed
      as strangles. Under complete aseptic conditions, nasal swabs and pus samples from
      those were collected for bacterial culture. 20 horses from the positive infected
      with S. equi have been treated by 6 mg/kg b.wt procaine penicillin with 4.5 mg/kg
      b.wt benzathine penicillin deep intramuscular injection/twice dose/4 days
      interval. RESULTS: 102 horses (20.8%) were found positive for S. equi. Horses
      with age group under 1 year were the most prone to strangles (32.25%) followed by
      horses of the age group from 1 to 2 years (20%) and finally of the age group over
      2-4 years (11.89%). Hematological parameters revealed anemia in the infected
      horses, while leucogram revealed a significant increase in the total leucocytic,
      granulocytic and monocytic counts without a significant change in the lymphocytic
      count. Biochemical parameters revealed a significant increase in serum aspartate
      aminotransferase, total proteins, globulins, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and
      potassium. In other side, hypoalbuminemia and hyponatremia have been reported,
      whereas alanine aminotransferase activity and creatinine level showed non
      significant changes. Respiratory acidosis has been exhibited in the infected
      horses. Treatment of horses by procaine penicillin with benzathine penicillin
      revealed improvement of these parameters toward the healthy horses. CONCLUSION:
      S. equi easily spreads from infected to susceptible horses through contaminated
      water and other fomites. Therefore, good biosecurity is very important if the
      welfare and economic costs of an outbreak are to be reduced. The presence of
      respiratory acidosis with increased of cTnI could indicate pneumonia secondary to
      strangles with risk of heart involvement.

PMID- 27651670
TI  - Body weight, egg production, and egg quality traits of gray, brown, and white
      varieties of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) in coastal climatic
      condition of Odisha.
AB  - AIM: The present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of gray, brown,
      and white varieties of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) with respect
      to body weight, egg production, and egg quality traits in the coastal climatic
      condition of Odisha. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 500-day-old straight run
      Japanese quail chicks of three varieties, viz., gray, brown, and white were
      randomly selected and reared in deep litter system at Central Poultry Development
      Organization, Eastern Region, Bhubaneswar. The weekly body weight of the birds
      was recorded till their egg production stage (up to 6 weeks of age). The average
      egg production was recorded every biweekly from 6(th) to 20(th) week. Exterior
      and interior quality of eggs from each variety was determined at 6 weeks of age.
      RESULTS: The initial average weekly body weight of three varieties did not differ
      (p>0.05) among the varieties. However, from 1(st) to 6(th) week significantly
      higher body weight was observed in gray than white and brown. Brown varieties had
      reached 50% egg production 1 week earlier than gray and white. Brown had higher
      peak hen day (HD) production or hen-housed egg production followed by white and
      gray. External quality such as: Egg weight, egg length, egg width, volume, shape
      index, shell weight, shell thickness depicted no significant difference among the
      varieties except circumference length and circumference width, which were
      significantly higher (p<=0.05) in gray varieties than brown varieties. Internal
      egg characteristics such as: Albumen length, albumen width, albumen height,
      albumen index, yolk length, yolk width, yolk height, yolk index, albumen weight,
      yolk weight, Haugh unit revealed no significance difference among the varieties.
      CONCLUSION: It may be summarized from the findings that gray excelled in body
      weight followed by white and brown. Egg production potential in terms of hen
      house egg production or HD egg production was higher for brown followed by white
      and gray in the coastal climatic condition of Odisha.

PMID- 27651669
TI  - Epidemiological and immunopathological studies on Porcine parvovirus infection in
      Punjab.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to get the first-hand knowledge about the
      seroprevalence of Porcine parvovirus (PPV) in Punjab and a diagnosis of PPV from
      abortion cases of swine using gross, histopathological, and
      immunohistopathological techniques to observe the tissue tropism of the virus
      strain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tissue samples from the reproductive tract of pig
      (n=32), placental tissue (n=10), and aborted fetuses (n=18) were collected from
      Postmortem Hall of the Department of Veterinary Pathology, GADVASU, field
      outbreaks and from butcher houses in and around Ludhiana. These samples were
      processed for histopathological and immunohistochemical (IHC) studies. For
      seroprevalence study, 90 serum samples of different sex and age were collected
      from 15 swine farms of Punjab and were subjected to indirect enzyme linked
      immunosorbent assay using commercial kit. RESULTS: Overall, seroprevalence of PPV
      was found to be 41.1%. Sex and age related difference in the prevalence was
      noted. In abortion cases grossly congested and emphysematous lungs, congested
      internal organs with fluid in abdominal cavity and congestion in brain, changes
      were noted in fetuses, while diffuse hemorrhages and edema was observed in
      placental tissue. Histopathologically, the most frequent fetal lesions in aborted
      fetuses were noted in lungs, liver, and brain. IHC staining revealed PPV antigens
      in sections of heart, liver, lung, spleen, brain, lymph node of fetuses,
      placenta, and uterus of sow. Gross, histopathological, and IHC examination of the
      samples confirmed 5 fetus, 2 placenta and 3 female reproductive samples positive
      for parvovirus infection. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence results may serve as a
      support either in prevention or control of the disease. IHC is the sensitive
      technique for diagnosis of PPV associated with the reproductive tract of swine
      and was found to supplement the gross and histopathological alterations,
      respectively, associated with the disease.

PMID- 27651671
TI  - Rumen-protected choline: A significance effect on dairy cattle nutrition.
AB  - Choline is a vitamin-like substance it has multi-function in animal production,
      reproduction, and health. The transition period is most crucial stage in
      lactation cycle of dairy cows due to its association with negative hormonal and
      energy balances. Unfortunately, unprotected choline easily degrades in the rumen;
      therefore, choline added to the diet in a rumen-protected form. The use of rumen
      protected choline (RPC) is a preventive measurement for the fatty liver syndrome
      and ketosis; may improve milk production as well as milk composition and
      reproduction parameters. This review summarizes the effectiveness of RPC on
      animal production, health, and reproduction. 

PMID- 27651672
TI  - Transabdominal color doppler ultrasonography: A relevant approach for assessment
      of effects of uterine torsion in buffaloes.
AB  - AIM: The present study was conducted on advanced pregnant buffaloes suffering
      from uterine torsion to assess the status of fetus and uterus by transabdominal
      ultrasonography, and the findings were compared with normal advanced pregnant
      buffaloes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 20 clinical cases of
      uterine torsion and 20 normal advanced pregnant buffaloes (control group). The
      lower ventral area just lateral to linea alba (on both sides of the udder) in
      standing animals was scanned transabdominally by the two-dimensional convex
      transducer for various ultrasonographic findings. The data collected were
      statistically analyzed by "one-way ANOVA" and "independent sample t-test" using
      computerized SPSS 16.0 software program. RESULTS: Transabdominal ultrasonography
      revealed dead fetus in 95% uterine torsion cases and proved useful in imaging
      internal structures of fetuses while no dead fetus was reported in the control
      group. Size of umbilicus was found significantly decreased (p<0.05) in uterine
      torsion group in comparison to control animals, but the decrease in placentomal
      area was marginal (p>0.05) in uterine torsion group. Average thickness of the
      uterine wall and mean pixel values of fetal fluids (echogenicity) were found
      significantly increased (p<0.05) in uterine torsion affected buffaloes in
      comparison to control group. CONCLUSION: Status of fetus (whether live or dead),
      internal status of uterus, and its contents could be determined by transabdominal
      ultrasonography in uterine torsion cases and thus determining the prognosis of
      the uterine torsion cases before going for further manipulations. This will also
      help in taking all the precautions to avoid death of the fetus.

PMID- 27651673
TI  - Toxoplasma infection in sheep from south of Iran monitored by serological and
      molecular methods; risk assessment to meat consumers.
AB  - AIM: Toxoplasma gondii has a clinical and veterinary importance as it is known to
      cause congenital disease and abortion both in humans and livestock. Since the
      contaminated lamb is one of the sources of human infection, this study was
      performed to determine the prevalence of T. gondii in sheep in south of Iran.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sera and tissue samples (diaphragm and heart) were
      collected from 370 sheep from slaughterhouse of Jahrom. The samples were taken
      from both sexes and from 6 to 60 months age. Specific immunoglobulin G antibodies
      to T. gondii were examined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and B1 gene
      nested-polymerase chain reaction detection was done to survey the tissue samples.
      RESULTS: The total prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among sheep was found to be
      35.94% and 34.32% based on serological and molecular method, respectively.
      According to serologic and molecular findings, the females were more positive
      than males for Toxoplasma; maximum frequency of positive samples was observed in
      24-36 months and the positive samples had been collected more in spring than in
      summer, but no statistical correlation was observed between prevalence rate and
      the age and sex of animals or season of sampling. CONCLUSION: T. gondii is widely
      distributed in sheep in Jahrom with a rate comparable with other parts of Iran
      and the world. It suggested a widespread exposure of sheep in this region to T.
      gondii. Thus, consumption of undercooked or raw meat presents the transmission
      risk of the parasite and this might be considered as an important public health
      problem, mainly for high-risk groups such as the pregnant and the
      immunodeficient.

PMID- 27651674
TI  - Pituitary-adrenocortical adjustments to transport stress in horses with previous
      different handling and transport conditions.
AB  - AIM: The changes of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis response to a
      long distance transportation results in increase of adrenocorticotropic hormone
      (ACTH) and cortisol levels. The purpose of the study was to quantify the level of
      short-term road transport stress on circulating ACTH and cortisol concentrations,
      related to the effect of previous handling and transport experience of horses.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed on 56 healthy horses after short
      term road transport of 30 km. The horses were divided into four groups, Groups A,
      B, C, and D, with respect to the handling quality: Good (Groups A and B), bad
      (Group D), and minimal handling (Group C) conditions. According to the previous
      transport, experience horses were divided as follows: Horses of Groups A and D
      had been experienced long-distance transportation before; horses of Groups B and
      C had been limited experience of transportation. RESULTS: One-way RM-ANOVA showed
      significant effects of transport on ACTH changes in Groups B and C and on
      cortisol changes in both Groups A and B. Groups A and B showed lower baseline
      ACTH and cortisol values than Groups C and D; Groups A and B showed lower post
      transport ACTH values than Groups C and D. Groups A, B, and C showed lower post
      transport cortisol values than Group D. Only Groups A and B horses have shown an
      adequate capacity of stress response to transportation. CONCLUSION: The previous
      transport experience and quality of handling could influence the HPA axis
      physiological responses of horses after short-term road transport.

PMID- 27651675
TI  - Evaluation of complementary diagnostic tools for bovine tuberculosis detection in
      dairy herds from India.
AB  - AIM: A cross-sectional study was undertaken to know the herd prevalence and
      evaluate the single intradermal tuberculin testing (SITT), culture isolation, and
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis
      (TB). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 541 cows of three dairy farms of Bareilly
      and Mukteshwar were screened by SITT followed by collection of pre-scapular lymph
      node (PSLN) aspirates (71), milk (54), and blood (71) samples from reactor
      animals. These clinical samples were processed for culture isolation and direct
      PCR-based identification and species differentiation. RESULTS: Out of 541 cows
      screened by SITT, 71 (13.12%) animals were found positive. Mycobacteria were
      isolated from 3 (4.22%) PSLN aspirate but not from any cultured milk and blood
      samples. 28 (39.43%) PSLN aspirate and 5 (9.25%) milk samples were positive for
      Mycobacterium TB (MTB) complex (MTC) by PCR amplification for the IS6110
      insertion sequence; however, blood samples were found negative. For species
      differentiation, multiplex-PCR using 12.7 kb primers was conducted. Out of 28
      PSLN aspirate, Mycobacterium bovis was detected in 18 (64.28%) and MTB in 8
      (28.57%), whereas 2 aspirate samples (7.14%) were positive for both the species.
      All the five milk positive samples were positive for M. bovis. CONCLUSION: Direct
      detection of bovine TB by a molecular-based method in dairy animals after
      preliminary screening was appeared to be more sensitive and specific compared to
      the conventional method (i.e., culture isolation). Its application in form of
      serial testing methodology for the routine diagnosis and thereafter, culling of
      infected stock may be suggested for the control programs in dairy herds. The PSLN
      aspirate was found to be the most suitable specimen for culture isolation and PCR
      based detection of Mycobacterium spp. among live infected animals.

PMID- 27651676
TI  - Studies on clinical signs and biochemical alteration in pregnancy toxemic goats.
AB  - AIM: This study was planned to reveal the clinical signs and biochemical
      alterations in pregnancy toxemic goats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were
      collected from 20 healthy pregnant and 45 pregnancy toxemic goats and analyzed
      biochemically. RESULTS: The most significant clinical findings were observed in
      naturally affected goats with pregnancy toxemia included anorexia, recumbency,
      lethargy, opisthotonos, dropped head, periodic convulsion, sweetish fruity odor
      from breath, apparent blindness, bloat, grinding of teeth, and frothy salivation.
      In this study, the level of serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT)
      (84.23+/-1.44 IU/L), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) (216.01+/-4.07
      IU/L), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (22.24+/-0.31 mg/dl), creatinine (2.13+/-0.09
      mg/dl), beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) (0.46+/-0.83 mmol/L), and non-esterified
      fatty acid (NEFA) (1.67+/-0.71 mmol/L) was significantly higher whereas glucose
      (30.89+/-0.38 mg/dl) and calcium (8.10+/-0.20 mg/dl) levels were significantly
      decreased in pregnancy toxemic goats as compared to healthy goats. CONCLUSION:
      The goats with pregnancy toxemia exhibited clinical signs include anorexia,
      recumbency, sweetish fruity odor from breath, apparent blindness, bloat, grinding
      of teeth, and frothy salivation. Biochemically, there were significantly
      decreased the level of glucose and calcium, and increased level of SGPT, SGOT,
      BUN, creatinine, BHBA, and NEFA in the pregnancy toxemic goats.

PMID- 27651677
TI  - Molecular characterization of virulence genes of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi
      and Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus in equines.
AB  - AIM: The aim was to determine the occurrence of streptococci in equines in Jammu
      (R. S. Pura, Katra), characterization of Streptococci equi subsp. equi and
      Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus with respect to their virulence traits
      and to determine antibiotic sensitivity pattern of virulent Streptococcus
      isolates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 96 samples were collected from both
      clinically affected animals (exhibiting signs of respiratory tract disease) and
      apparently healthy animals and were sent to laboratory. The organisms were
      isolated on Columbia nalidixic acid agar containing 5% sheep blood as well as on
      sheep blood agar and confirmed by cultural characteristics and biochemical tests.
      Molecular detection of Streptococcus was done directly from cultures using sodA
      and seM gene-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antibiogram was performed
      against five antibiotics such as amoxicillin, penicillin G, streptomycin,
      rifampicin, and methicillin. RESULTS: During this study, a total 40 streptococcal
      isolates were obtained out of which 2 isolates were of S. equi subsp. equi, 12
      isolates were from S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus. In the PCR-based detection, we
      revealed amplicons of 235 bp and 679 bp for confirmation of sodA and seM gene,
      respectively. In antibiogram, two isolates of S. equi subsp. equi were found
      resistant to penicillin G, and all other isolates were found sensitive to
      amoxicillin and streptomycin. CONCLUSION: The majority of streptococcal
      infections was due to S. equi subsp. Zooepidemicus, and thus was recognized as a
      potential pathogen of diseases of equines besides S. equi subsp. equi.

PMID- 27651678
TI  - Low-level laser therapy: Case-control study in dogs with sterile pyogranulomatous
      pododermatitis.
AB  - AIM: Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is a therapeutic photobiostimulation with
      properties in reducing swelling, inflammation, and promoting tissue healing. The
      objective of this pilot study was to evaluate LLLT in sterile pyogranulomatous
      pododermatitis in five dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In each dog, one lesion was
      designated as the control (treated with a 0.0584% hydrocortisone aceponate
      spray), and one or more other lesions were treated with a gallium aluminum
      arsenide-laser, daily for 5 days. Lesions were scored before treatment (D0), at
      the end (D4), 16 days after the last laser treatment (D20), and after 2 months
      (D65). RESULTS: Comparing the treated lesion group with the control lesion group,
      the clinical score was similar at D0, whereas there was a statistically
      significant difference at D4 and D20; in the treated group over time, there was a
      statistically significant improvement between D0, D4, and D20. Lesion recurrence
      was absent in more than 50% of the treated lesions at D65. No adverse reactions
      were reported. CONCLUSION: Given the positive results of this first clinical
      study, it would be interesting to extend the study to confirm the validity of
      this type of therapy in sterile pyogranulomatous pododermatitis in the dog.

PMID- 27651679
TI  - Prevalence and pathogenesis of some filarial nematodes infecting donkeys in
      Egypt.
AB  - AIM: The primary objective of the present study is to determine the commonness of
      filarial parasites in donkeys in Egypt, identification of the filarial species
      tainting them and the delivered pathogenic impact connected with the infestation.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 188 donkeys were examined for filarial
      infection. The blood samples and scraping of the cutaneous bleeding lesions were
      collected, stained, and inspected for microfilariae all through the period from
      March 2011 to October 2013. The adult worms were perceived in tissue samples
      acquired from skin scraping, testes, eyes, tendons, peritoneal and pleural
      cavities, and the ligamentum nuchae. RESULTS: On the basis of morphological
      identification, 163 of 188 donkeys (86.70%) were infected with Onchocerca
      cervicalis (82.98%), Setaria equina (31.11%), Parafilaria multipapillosa (5.32%),
      and Onchocerca reticulata (4.26%). There was no significant effect of the sex on
      the incidence of all the encounteredfilarial worms except for S. equina, where
      the infection rate prevailed in males versus females (40.82% vs. 35.90%). In
      addition, age group of 5-15 years old exhibited a fundamentally higher
      predominance (p< 0.05) of the recognized filarial worms versus those of < 5 years
      old and >15 years old. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results add to our
      comprehension of filarial species infecting donkeys in Egypt, their impact on
      animal execution and production. Accentuation must be taken for avoidance,
      control of filarial disease, and improvement of the management system of donkeys.

PMID- 27651680
TI  - Effect of feeding different dietary levels of energy and protein on growth
      performance and immune status of Vanaraja chicken in the tropic.
AB  - AIM: The present study was conducted to observe the effect of feeding dietary
      level of energy and protein on growth performance and immune status of Vanaraja
      chicken in the tropic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The experiment was conducted for 56
      days on 540 1-day-old chicks, which were individually weighed and distributed
      into nine groups having 60 birds in each. Each group was further subdivided into
      triplicates having 20 birds in each. Nine different experimental rations were
      formulated with three levels of protein, viz., 17%, 19%, and 21%; each with three
      levels of energy (2600, 2800, and 3000 kcal metabolizable energy [ME]/kg),
      respectively. Group T8 serves as control fed with 21% protein and 2800 kcal
      energy as per Project Directorate of Poultry, Hyderabad given requirement. Feed
      consumption, live weight gain, body weight change, and feed conversion ratio
      (FCR) were calculated based on the amount of feed consumed every week. All the
      birds were vaccinated following standard protocol. The hemagglutination
      inhibition (HI) test have been performed to assess the immunity potential of
      birds due to dietary effect, and serum samples were subjected to HI test at 7,
      14, 21, and 28 days of age. Finally, economics of broiler production was
      calculated on the cost of feed per kg live weight gain. RESULTS: This study
      revealed that the effect of feeding different levels of energy and protein on
      growth parameters such as body weight gain and FCR was found to be significantly
      higher (p<0.05) containing 19% and 21% crude protein with 3000 kcal ME/kg in
      Vanaraja birds. There was a gradual increase in antibody titer against New castle
      disease virus as the level of protein and energy increase. It is speculated that
      the better body weight gain corroborate health and antibody titer. Moreover, the
      better immune response recorded in the study might be due to better nutrient
      utilization and its extension toward the better immune response. Higher energy
      with medium protein diet positively reflects to obtain desirable performance
      economically. CONCLUSION: It was positive inclination toward ration containing
      high protein and energy which influence the immune response of Vanaraja birds to
      obtained desirable performance economically also.

PMID- 27651681
TI  - Studies on the effectiveness of oral pellet vaccine in improving egg production
      and egg quality in desi chicken.
AB  - AIM: To study the effect of Newcastle disease (ND) oral pellet vaccine in egg
      production and egg quality in desi chicken. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was
      conducted at Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tiruchirapalli,
      Tamil Nadu. A total of 48-day-old desi chicks obtained from a private hatchery in
      Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, were maintained under cage system of rearing up to 52 weeks
      of age as per standard management practices. All the 48 chicks were divided into
      six groups having eight chicks in each group were subjected to different
      treatment regimes. All the birds were challenged at 52 weeks of age with 0.5 ml
      dose of 10(4.0) egg infectious dose 50 virulent ND field virus. 10 eggs from each
      group were randomly collected during the last 3 days of 8 weeks interval period
      from 28 to 52 weeks of age and were used to measure the egg quality parameters.
      The production performance of each group was assessed at 4 weeks interval period
      from 25 to 52 weeks of age. RESULTS: In all the six treatment groups with respect
      to egg production, no significant difference (p>=0.05) was noticed from 25 to 52
      weeks of age. Similarly, in egg weight, egg shape index and specific gravity, no
      significant difference (p>=0.05) was noticed from 28 to 52 weeks of age.
      CONCLUSION: From this study, it is concluded that the administration of ND oral
      pellet vaccine to desi chicken does not affect the egg production performance,
      egg weight, egg shape index, and specific gravity of egg.

PMID- 27651682
TI  - Proteinuria reduction after treatment with miltefosine and allopurinol in dogs
      naturally infected with leishmaniasis.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in proteinuria in dogs
      naturally infected with visceral leishmaniasis, following treatment with
      miltefosine (MLF) and allopurinol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of 40
      dogs with leishmaniasis, treated with 2 mg/kg MLF every 24 h PO and 10 mg/kg
      allopurinol every 12 h for 28 days were reviewed. 20 dogs were included in the
      study, and clinical staging was performed following guidelines of the Canine
      leishmaniasis (CanL) Working Group, and dogs were categorized for proteinuria
      according to the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) staging system.
      Clinical score, indirect fluorescent antibody test titer, serum total protein,
      gamma globulin (IgG), serum creatinine and urea concentration, and urine protein
      creatinine ratio (UP/C) were recorded at the time of diagnosis before the start
      of therapy (D0) and at the end of 28 days of therapy (D28). RESULTS: Following
      the CanL Working Group staging, all 20 dogs were classified as the clinical Stage
      C (Clinical disease) before and after the cycle of treatment. Before the cycle of
      therapy, dogs were categorized according to the IRIS staging system, as: 9/20 non
      proteinuric (NP), 7/20 borderline proteinuric (BP), and 4/20 proteinuric (P).
      After treatment, 12/20 dogs were NP, 7/20 were BP, and 1/20 was P. There was a
      significant change in UP/C values before and after one cycle of treatment with
      MLF. In detail, after 28 days of therapy, 2 of 9 NP dogs became BP, 3 of the 7 BP
      dogs became NP, and 2 of the 4 P dogs became NP. CONCLUSION: This study showed a
      significant decrease in UP/C values occurred after one cycle of treatment with
      MLF and allopurinol in dogs naturally affected with CanL. This suggests that MLF
      does not increase proteinuria, and the use of MLF could be considered for the
      management of dogs with leishmaniasis, particularly in those with impaired renal
      function at the time of diagnosis.

PMID- 27651683
TI  - Hematology and serum biochemistry of Indian spectacled cobra (Naja naja) and
      Indian rat snake (Ptyas mucosa).
AB  - AIM: To study the hematology and serum biochemistry parameters of Indian
      spectacled cobra (Naja naja) and Indian rat snake (Ptyas mucosa) and to evaluate
      the differences in the same between captive and wild populations. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Animals were categorized into four groups, viz., wild Indian spectacled
      cobra (n=10), wild Indian rat snakes (n=10), captive Indian spectacled cobra
      (n=10), and captive Indian rat snake (n=10). The snakes were restrained with
      restraint tubes, and 2 ml of blood was collected from either heart or ventral
      coccygeal vein. Hematological examinations were performed manually and serum
      biochemistry assays were performed on semi-automated clinical chemistry analyzer.
      RESULTS: The values of total erythrocyte count, packed cell volume, and
      hemoglobin were slightly low in captive spectacled cobras and captive rat snakes
      compared to wild ones, whereas total leukocyte count was found to be slightly
      high in wild spectacled cobras compared to captive ones. All the recorded values
      of biochemical and electrolyte analytes were found to be well within expected
      range for snakes except for total protein and chloride levels in both the species
      which was slightly above the expected range. CONCLUSION: The hematology and serum
      biochemistry intervals of the two most common Indian snakes are presented here.
      The data will be useful in routine health evaluations and aiding in better
      medical management of the species studied. Since this study is the first to
      report complete hematologic and blood biochemical ranges for the study species,
      observations made here can also be used as referral intervals for future use.

PMID- 27651684
TI  - A study on association of virulence determinants of verotoxic Escherichia coli
      isolated from cattle calves.
AB  - AIM: The present study was conducted to find the association among virulence
      determinants of verotoxic Escherichia coli (VTEC) isolated from cattle calf
      feces. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 216 cattle calf fecal samples were
      collected aseptically and processed under required conditions for the isolation
      of E. coli. The isolates were further subjected to multiplex polymerase chain
      reaction (mPCR) for the detection of virulent genes. All the VTEC isolates were
      serotyped at the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. The VTEC
      isolates were observed for the enterohemolysin production on washed sheep blood
      agar (wSBA). RESULTS: A total of 177 presumptive E. coli were isolated from 216
      calf fecal samples revealing an overall prevalence of E. coli to be 81.94%. A
      total of 32 (14.81%) isolates were detected as VTEC through mPCR. The prevalence
      of verotoxin genes vt1, vt2, and combination of vt1+vt2 in the VTEC isolates was
      found to be 12 (37.5%), 14 (43.75%), and 6 (18.75%), respectively. Other virulent
      genes eaeA and hlyA were found in 6 and 11 VTEC strains with prevalence values of
      18.75% and 34.37%, respectively. A total of 13 different O serogroups were
      revealed in serotyping of 32 VTEC isolates. Out of 32 VTEC strains, only 26
      (81.25%) were enterohemolytic on wSBA as they produced the characteristic small,
      turbid zone of hemolysis around the streaking line. Although enterohemolysin
      production has been attributed to the presence of hlyA gene, only 11 of 26
      enterohemolysin producing VTEC were found to be harboring the hlyA gene (11/26)
      42.03%. CONCLUSION: The present study concludes that there might be an
      association between the presence of verotoxin genes and enterohemolysin
      production in VTEC group of E. coli.

PMID- 27651686
TI  - From the Desk of the Editor.

PMID- 27651685
TI  - Genotypic study of verocytotoxic Escherichia coli isolates from deer by multiplex
      polymerase chain reaction.
AB  - AIM: This study was planned to study the genotypes of verocytotoxigenic
      Escherichia coli (VTEC) in fecal samples of deer due to its public health
      significance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 160 fecal samples of deer were
      taken from Mathura district and Kanpur Zoo and screened for VTEC genes by
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: All fecal samples were positive for E.
      coli. All the E. coli isolates were screened by PCR to detect virulence genes
      stx1 , stx2 , eaeA, and hlyA. Of these, 15 isolates were found positive for VTEC
      having one or more genes in different combinations. CONCLUSION: Genes such as
      stx1 , stx2 , eaeA, and hlyA were prevalent in VTEC isolates from feces of deer.
      The presence of VTEC isolates having virulent genes may pose a threat to public
      health.

PMID- 27651687
TI  - India's Vast Potential for Clinical Outcomes Research-a Global Leader in Waiting!

PMID- 27651688
TI  - Preoperative Assessment of Cancer Patients with Peritoneal Metastases for
      Complete Cytoreduction.
AB  - The purpose of this manuscript is to critically evaluate the preoperative
      assessments of peritoneal metastases described to date. Recommendations regarding
      use of current modalities and an assessment of their reliability will be made. 

PMID- 27651689
TI  - Level IIb Neck Dissection in Oral Cavity Cancers- When Should One Address it..?
AB  - Nodal metastases is the most important prognostic marker for oral cavity cancers.
      Nodal dissection at level IIb risks damage to the spinal accessory nerve. We aim
      to study positivity of level IIb lymph nodes in oral cancers. In this non
      randomized prospective observational study, 65 patients of oral cavity cancers
      were evaluated. Appropriate surgery for primary tumour and neck dissection were
      undertaken. All patients underwent level II b dissection. Out of 67 neck
      dissections (27 elective and 40 therapeutic), 7 patients had level IIb positive
      for metastases (10.44 %) with no isolated or contralateral metastases at level
      IIb and direct correlation with level IIa nodes. There was no statistical
      association of level IIb positivity with stage or site of primary. Level IIb
      dissection can be avoided in N0 necks. For therapeutic neck dissections, Level
      IIb should be cleared if there are positive nodes at level IIa. 

PMID- 27651690
TI  - Genital Sparing Cystectomy for Female Bladder Cancer and its Functional Outcome;
      a Seven Years' Experience with 24 Cases.
AB  - The surgical treatment of bladder cancer is the curative treatment especially in
      early cases. In this study, our aim was to assess the outcome of preservation of
      internal genital organs in selected females both oncologically and functionally,
      and to assess the feasibility of technique and its complication. 24 females with
      clinically and radiologically diagnosed T2 bladder cancer underwent gynecologic
      tract sparing cystectomy (GTSC). Age ranged from 45 to 60 years. Patients with
      diffuse carcinoma-in-situ, those with tumors involving the bladder neck, those
      with poor general condition and those with preoperative incontinence were
      excluded. 1 patient, who developed local recurrence after 6 months. One patient
      lost follow up after 15 months. No recurrence developed in the retained genital
      organs. The remaining 20 patients remained free of disease. Among women who were
      eligible for functional evaluation, Daytime and nighttime continence were
      satisfactory in 21/22 (95.4 %) and in 20/22 (90.9 %) respectively. Chronic
      urinary retention, pouch-vaginal fistula was not noted. Most of patients showed
      superior Sexual Function index. Cystectomy with preservation of the internal
      genital organs is feasible in female with early, solitary or T2 bladder cancer
      with satisfactory functional and oncologic outcomes with proper case selection. 

PMID- 27651691
TI  - The Tubercle of Zuckerkandl : An Important Landmark Revisited.
AB  - To study the incidence of the tubercle of Zuckerkandl (ZT) among Indian patients
      subjected to thyroid surgery at a tertiary care cancer centre and its relevance
      in localization of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). Prospective study on 144
      patients (48 males, 96 females) undergoing thyroidectomy (35 hemithyroidectomies,
      109 total thyroidectomies) from September 1st 2010 - February 28th 2013. 144
      specimen/253 lobes (129 right, 124 left) were evaluated. Findings were recorded
      by the same team to ensure consistency. Presence, shape, grade (Pelizzo's) of ZT
      and relationship to RLN were documented. ZT was identified in 90.5 % (n = 229),
      commoner on the right (n = 120) than on left (n = 109). ZT was Grade 0 in 9.5 %,
      Grade I in 28.9 %, Grade II in 50.5 % and Grade III in 11 % of cases. In all
      patients ZT was unilobed. Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) was consistent in
      position and was posterior to ZT in all cases. There were no branches of the RLN
      above the ZT. The ZT is a useful guide in locating RLN. Surgeon should be aware
      about the incidence, shape, grade and relation to RLN which is different in the
      Indian population as compared to what has been reported globally. 

PMID- 27651692
TI  - Discordance of Estrogen & Progesterone Receptors After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
      in Breast Cancer- an Indian Study.
AB  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy forms the initial modality of treatment for primarily
      inoperable locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). Breast cancer is characterized
      by cellular heterogeneity. A change in hormone receptor status after neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy (NACT) has important therapeutic and prognostic consequences. Data
      on the influence of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on estrogen receptors (ER) and
      progesterone receptors (PR) are limited. The primary objective of this study is
      to compare hormone receptor (HR) status before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy
      (discordance) in Indian patients. The secondary objective is to study correlation
      between tumor response and hormone receptor expression. This is a descriptive
      study of 78 LABC patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy from October 2012
      to October 2014. All patients who underwent core biopsy and ER/PR assessment
      before and after NACT were included in the study. Data was collected
      prospectively from each patient in a structured proforma. Patients were
      classified as Group A (ER+, PR+), Group B (ER+, PR-), Group C (ER-, PR+), Group D
      (ER-, PR-). The HR discordance rate & response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was
      assessed. Total HR discordance rate was 21.7 %. The ER discordance was 8.7 % and
      PR discordance was 13 %. PR positive to PR negative discordance was the
      predominant one. The pathological complete remission (pCR) rate of endocrine
      responsive patients was 10.2 % and in the endocrine unresponsive group it was
      13.8 %. ER/PR status can change after chemotherapy, hence they need to be re
      evaluated after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This becomes therapeutically important
      when receptor negative becomes positive. 

PMID- 27651693
TI  - Is Interleukin 10 (IL10) Expression in Breast Cancer a Marker of Poor Prognosis?
AB  - Interleukin 10 (IL10) is a poor prognostic marker in several cancers. Its role in
      breast cancer is not well elucidated. The present study is designed to see the
      expression of IL10 in breast cancer tissue and to evaluate its correlation with
      the established markers of prognosis. Sixty female patients who underwent surgery
      for breast cancer were enrolled for the study. Immediately after surgery, 2-5 g
      of tumour tissue and similar volume of peritumoural normal breast tissue were
      collected for IL10 assay. IL10 expression was assayed by immunohistochemistry.
      IL10 expressing tumours and IL10 non expressing tumours were compared. Chi
      square/Fisher exact test and student's t test were used to compare the data. p-
      valueless than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Thirty six
      patients (60 %) of carcinoma breast showed IL 10 expression in tumour tissue as
      compared to no IL 10 expression in any peritumouralnormal breast tissue (p <
      0.01). IL10 expression had statistically significant correlation with locally
      advanced disease, tumour grade, HER2 + ve tumours and ER-ve, PR-ve, HER2 + ve
      breast cancer subtypes (p = 0.001, 0.001, 0.001 and 0.01 respectively). No
      correlation could be found with patient's age, tumour size, tumour histology and
      ER and PR status. Correlation of IL10 expressing tumours with several established
      poor prognostic markers of breast cancer may indicate the possible association of
      IL10 expression with poor prognosis. Large studies with long term follow up are
      needed to substantiate the association of IL10 with poor prognosis. 

PMID- 27651694
TI  - Totally Implantable Venous Access Devices in Children Requiring Long-Term
      Chemotherapy: Analysis of Outcome in 122 Children from a Single Institution.
AB  - Children with malignancy require venous access that is reliable, safe and
      compliant on a long-term basis. There is little data available on utilization of
      totally implantable venous access devices (TIVAD) for long term chemotherapy in
      children in an Indian setting [1]. We report our long-term follow-up results of
      utilization of totally implantable venous access devices for long-term
      chemotherapy in children. This was a retrospective analysis of 122 children
      requiring long-term chemotherapy done between January 2008 and December 2013.
      Data collected included primary disease process, type of port, site of insertion,
      intraoperative events, early and late postoperative complications, and issues
      with utilization, maintenance and removal. 127 ports were placed in 122 children.
      The follow up ranged from 16 to 50 months. Internal jugular vein was accessed in
      96.8 % of cases (123/127). Majority of children (61 %) had hematological
      malignancy. Early complications occurred in 5 children. Late complications
      occurred in 18 children which included port pocket infection in 3, port site skin
      issues in 5, catheter related issues in 3, venous thrombosis in 2 and catheter
      related bacteremia in 5 children respectively. Only 10 children have been lost to
      follow-up either due to death or discontinuation of treatment and rest are on
      follow up. Totally implantable venous access devices usage is safe and reliable
      for access needs in children for long-term chemotherapy. Their low complication
      and low cost maintenance should increase their utilization in children requiring
      long-term chemotherapy. Chemoport placement in children with hematological
      malignancy can be carried out safely without much impact on complication rates.
      Though management and compliance of children with malignancy has improved;
      critical analysis and standardization of port system care through prospective
      trials are necessary to reduce the morbidity and for cost analysis in these
      children. 

PMID- 27651695
TI  - Oncological Safety of Breast Conservation Surgery in Young Females.
AB  - Breast conservation surgery (BCS) is the standard of care in early breast cancer.
      The oncological safety of this procedure has been proven beyond doubt in several
      randomised control trials. But there are concerns regarding the safety of this
      procedure in young females. The concern is regarding increased risk of local
      recurrence. This issue has not been addressed in any major trial. In this
      prospective study we intend to look into the oncological safety of BCS in young
      patients who are less than forty years of age. 

PMID- 27651696
TI  - Conservative Surgery for Early Cervical Cancer.
AB  - There is a rising incidence of early cervical cancer in young patients as a
      result of screening and early detection. Treatment of cervical cancer by surgery
      or radiotherapy results in permanent infertility which affects the quality of
      life of cancer survivors. Now with improved survival rates among early cervical
      cancer patients, conservative surgery aiming at fertility preservation in those
      desiring future pregnancy is an accepted treatment. Conservative surgery is
      possible in early cervical cancer including micro invasive cancer and stage IB
      cancers less than 2 cm. Stage IA1 cervical cancer is treated effectively by
      cervical conisation. In stage IA2 cancers and stage IB1 cancers less than 2 cm
      the fertility preservation surgery is radical trachelectomy. Radical
      trachelectomy removes the cervix with medial parametrium and upper 2 cm vaginal
      cuff retaining the uterus and adnexa to allow future pregnancy. Radical
      trachelectomy is a safe procedure in selected patients with cancer cervix with
      acceptable oncologic risks and promising obstetric outcome. It should be avoided
      in tumours larger than 2 cm and aggressive histologic types. This article focuses
      on the current options of conservative surgery in early cervical cancer. 

PMID- 27651697
TI  - Metastatic Carcinoma to Vertebra Mimicking as Primary Malignant Vascular Tumour;
      A unusual Case Report.

PMID- 27651698
TI  - Primary Synovial Sarcoma of the Kidney with Inferior Vena Caval Thrombus.
AB  - Synovial sarcomas occurs primarily in the soft tissues, mostly in para-articular
      regions of the extremities. These tumors have been described in other unusual
      locations like the pleura, lungs, mediastinum, and kidneys. Primary synovial
      sarcoma of the kidney is a recently described entity; to date, a total of
      approximately 35 cases have been reported. Only three cases of primary synovial
      sarcoma of kidney with IVC thrombus have been reported so far. Here we present
      the case of a 44 year old gentleman, with primary synovial sarcoma of the left
      kidney with caval thrombus. 

PMID- 27651699
TI  - Cervical Cord Compression as Initial Presentation of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma:
      a Case Report.
AB  - Cervical cord compression secondary to extension of a long standing papillary
      thyroid carcinoma as well as multiple cases of distal cord compression from
      occult follicular thyroid carcinoma have been reported. But cervical cord
      compression from Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma has not been reported so far. Forty
      eight year old lady presented with progressive quadriparesis of 2 months
      duration. MRI of the cervical spine showed destructive lesion with soft tissue
      component in vertebral bodies and posterior elements of C4-C6 vertebrae with cord
      compression along with a large thyroid mass extending to retrosternal region
      likely malignant. USG guided FNAC & Biopsy of thyroid lesion was inconclusive.
      She underwent Preoperative Selective angioembolisation for vertebral metastasis
      followed by total thyroidectomy with cervical cord decompression, bone grafting
      and plating. HPE reported follicular variant of Papillary Thyroid carcinoma. Four
      weeks postoperatively she underwent radioiodine ablation by 263 mci of I 131. She
      then received palliative EBRT to cervical and dorsal spine 30 Gy/10 fractions.
      She is alive and neurologically stable at 6 months follow up. Papillary thyroid
      carcinoma has an excellent prognosis. Hence a prompt management of primary
      disease and aggressive approach to metastatic lesion may prolong survival and
      allow favorable prognosis. 

PMID- 27651700
TI  - Can the Right Kidney be Salvaged in the Surgical Management of Leiomyosarcoma of
      the Inferior Vena Cava-a Rare Case Report.
AB  - Primary leiomyosarcoma is rare malignant tumour arising from the smooth muscles
      and can appear at any site where smooth muscle is present. It is more common in
      the peripheral vessels and has predilection for the female sex. We here report a
      rare case of leiomyosarcoma involving the segment I & II of inferior vena cava
      with extension into the renal veins in a 70 year old male patient. Midline
      transperitoneal approach was taken to excise the tumour along with the vessel
      wall with anastomosis between the right renal vein and the infrarenal inferior
      vena cava with a reversed great saphenous vein graft thereby salvaging the right
      kidney. 

PMID- 27651701
TI  - Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Cancer with Breast Metastasis.

PMID- 27651703
TI  - Schwannomas from Olfactory Nerve: A Rare Type.

PMID- 27651702
TI  - Riedel's Thyroiditis Mimicking as Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: Unusual
      Presentation.
AB  - Riedel's thyroiditis is a rare inflammatory process which not only involves
      thyroid gland but also the surrounding vital structures. It may also be
      associated with various forms of systemic fibrotic disorders. The exact etiology
      is not known, but currently most favored view is that of a localized form of
      systemic fibrotic process. We report a case of Riedel's thyroiditis in a patient,
      highlighting a rare presentation mimicking anaplastic carcinoma. Clinical
      awareness of such presentation of Riedel's thyroiditis would enhance our ability
      to make this diagnosis promptly. Apart from avoiding or minimizing aggressive
      surgical intervention, awareness of such clinical entity may avoid complications
      and hence morbidity. Our case also highlights the difficulty in histological
      diagnosis which is very important to rule out malignancy and avoiding any major
      surgical intervention fraught with complications. Good response to high dose
      steroids as seen in our case is the current accepted treatment of choice. 

PMID- 27651704
TI  - 25 Gauge Endoresection for Moderate to Large Choroidal Melanoma.

PMID- 27651705
TI  - "Malignant Cutaneous Ulcer".
AB  - Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is an aggressive malignancy and the rich vascular
      supply enables it to metastasize early via haematogenous route. Skin lesions are
      a late manifestation of the disease. Clinicians should be aware of cutaneous
      presentation of RCC while evaluating a case of unknown primary with skin lesions.

PMID- 27651706
TI  - The three Rs of written assessment: The JIPMER experience.

PMID- 27651707
TI  - What failed BIA 10-2474 Phase I clinical trial? Global speculations and
      recommendations for future Phase I trials.

PMID- 27651708
TI  - Phenytoin-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis: Review and recommendations.
AB  - Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a serious, life-threatening skin reaction
      characterized by severe exfoliation and destruction of the epidermis of the skin.
      In most TEN cases, drugs are believed to be the causative agent; antipsychotics,
      antiepileptics, and other medications such as sulfonamides are among the most
      common causes of drug-induced TEN. Phenytoin, a commonly prescribed medication
      for seizure, was found to cause TEN. Evidence-based treatment guidelines are
      lacking, so the best strategy is to identify and avoid potential risk factors and
      to provide intensive supportive care. The aim of this literature review is to
      focus on phenytoin-induced TEN, to explore the risk factors, and to highlight the
      possible treatment options once phenytoin-induced TEN is confirmed. 

PMID- 27651709
TI  - Deprescription: The prescription metabolism.
AB  - Deprescribing is a structured approach to drug discontinuation. An alternative
      suggested term is "prescription metabolism." The major aim of deprescription is
      to purge the drug(s) considered unwanted in a given patient, especially in the
      elderly patients with multiple comorbidities or in those suffering from chronic
      disease. Like drug metabolism, prescription metabolism is a way of eliminating
      unwanted, troublesome, or cost-ineffective medications. The removal of such drugs
      has been found to decrease the incidence of adverse drug reactions and improves
      the rate of medication adherence, thereby reducing the economic burden on the
      patient as well as on the health care providers. Certain categories of drugs are
      to be tapered rather than abruptly stopped. Despite the availability of many
      tools to minimize drug therapy-related problems, there is little guidance for the
      process of deprescribing in general clinical practice. Various methods to reduce
      the risks of polypharmacy include patient education, physician education, and
      regulatory intervention. The suggested S and S approach (seek and screen, save
      and severe, sensitize and supervise) may be tried for deprescribing in general
      practice. More research on deprescribing is the need of the hour in almost all
      branches of clinical medicine which may pave the way for the betterment of health
      care. 

PMID- 27651710
TI  - Cold sodium chloride solution 0.9% and infrared thermography can be an
      alternative to radiopaque contrast agents in phlebography.

PMID- 27651711
TI  - Cisplatin resistance reversal by disulfiram and caffeine.

PMID- 27651712
TI  - Oxcarbazepine-induced drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome
      presenting as exfoliative dermatitis.
AB  - Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is a type of
      severe adverse cutaneous drug reaction characterized by fever, skin eruption,
      hematological abnormalities, and internal organ involvement. Although
      anticonvulsant drugs are mainly implicated in DRESS, newer anticonvulsants such
      as oxcarbazepine-induced definite cases of DRESS syndrome are rare and
      oxcarbazepine-induced DRESS syndrome presenting as exfoliative dermatitis is even
      rarer. We report a case of a 35-year-old male who developed DRESS syndrome
      presenting as exfoliative dermatitis after taking oxcarbazepine for 3 weeks. 

PMID- 27651713
TI  - Cyclophosphamide and epirubicin-induced diabetes mellitus in breast cancer: A
      rare occurrence.
AB  - Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women. Epirubicin and
      cyclophosphamide (EC) is one of the chemotherapeutic regimens used for the
      treatment of breast cancer. We describe a case treated with EC regimen and who
      presented to us with symptoms suggestive of diabetes mellitus postchemotherapy.
      Absence of family history of diabetes and normal blood sugar level,
      prechemotherapy points toward drug-induced hyperglycemia. These chemotherapeutic
      agents capable of altering immune response and might act synergistically to cause
      immunological damage to the islets of pancreas which might precipitate diabetes
      mellitus. Causality analysis on Naranjo's scale indicates a possible association
      with regimen. 

PMID- 27651714
TI  - Clofazimine-induced premaculopathy in a vitiliginous patient.
AB  - A 26-year-old male vitiliginous patient presented with decreased visual acuity
      because of a central scotoma in the left eye with no significant retinal changes
      on fundus examination. In this case report, a diagnosis of possible drug-induced
      premaculopathy was made, and the drugs were withdrawn. On the follow-up, after 3
      months, the visual acuity in the left eye gradually improved. Early suspicion of
      drug-induced maculopathy and withdrawal of the drug may prevent the progression
      of maculopathy. 

PMID- 27651715
TI  - Randomized controlled comparison of agomelatine and escitalopram: Concerns about
      study design and methods.

PMID- 27651716
TI  - Effect of losartan and atenolol on insulin sensitivity in nondiabetic
      hypertensive patients.

PMID- 27651717
TI  - The next generation IUD introduced in Turkey.

PMID- 27651718
TI  - Uterine cavities are much smaller than what most gynecologists think.

PMID- 27651719
TI  - Anesthetic practices for patients with preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome: A survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Substantial controversy exists regarding anesthetic management for
      patients with preeclampsia or hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet
      count (HELLP) syndrome. Experts, researchers, clinicians, and residents in Turkey
      were surveyed about their practices. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Questionnaires were
      distributed to attendees at a national conference, and they were filled out
      immediately. Anonymous 10-item paper surveys were administered to both residents
      and non-residents. Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis. Agreement
      among >=75% of the respondents was considered a majority opinion. Surveys with
      missing responses were used to analyze the non-response bias. The Chi-square test
      was used for comparisons. A historical cohort of obstetricians-gynecologists was
      used for comparison with anesthesiologists. RESULTS: Of 339 surveys distributed,
      288 were returned (84.9% response rate). Among the returned surveys, the
      completion rate was 96.1%. The job experience in years among clinicians and
      residents was 9+/-5 and 3+/-1, respectively. General anesthesia was still
      significantly preferred by 36.1% among patients with preeclampsia with platelet
      counts of >=100,000/MUL. Compared to obstetricians-gynecologists,
      anesthesiologists more often preferred general anesthesia. With platelet counts
      of <50,000/MUL or eclampsia, most respondents preferred general anesthesia 94.4%
      for very low platelets and 89.5% for eclampsia. CONCLUSION: A preferential trend
      toward general anesthesia for patients with preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome exists
      among anesthesiologists in Turkey, particularly for patients with severe
      thrombocytopenia and/or eclampsia. There exists a need for well-designed and well
      executed prospective clinical trials to provide evidence for the best consensus
      practice.

PMID- 27651720
TI  - Factors affecting clinical pregnancy rates after IUI for the treatment of
      unexplained infertility and mild male subfertility.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present retrospective study was to evaluate
      intrauterine insemination (IUI) clinical experiences and to define the variables
      for predicting success. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present study was an
      observational trial performed in a private IVF center on subfertile couples who
      had applied for treatment between 2002 and 2012, in which the data of 503 IUI
      cases were retrospectively reviewed. Couples who had been diagnosed with
      unexplained and mild male subfertility were included. The primary outcome measure
      was the clinical pregnancy rate in an attempt to form a predictive model for the
      odds of a clinical pregnancy. Recorded parameters were used to determine the
      prediction model. RESULTS: Utilizing univariate logistic regression analysis,
      clinical pregnancy was positively associated with the duration of infertility
      (OR=1.09, p=0.089), secondary infertility (OR=1.77, p=0.050), and +4 sperm
      motility after preparation (OR=1.03, p=0.091). Following an adjustment analysis
      involving a multivariate logistic regression, clinical pregnancy was still found
      to positively associate with secondary infertility (OR=2.51, p=0.008).
      CONCLUSION: IUI success in secondary infertile couples who were in the
      unexplained infertility and mild male subfertility groups was higher than that in
      primary infertile couples, and the chances of pregnancy increased as sperm
      numbers with +4 motility increased. It is difficult to concomitantly evaluate all
      these parameters and to determine a predictive parameter in IUI independent from
      other factors.

PMID- 27651721
TI  - The relationship between first-trimester pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A
      levels and intrapartum fetal distress development.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the development of intrapartum
      fetal distress and serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) levels
      measured during first-trimester aneuploidy screening tests. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      This retrospective study included 283 uncomplicated pregnancies that resulted in
      full-term live births via spontaneous labor or with the induction by oxytocin.
      Cases were divided into two groups based on whether their first-trimester PAPP-A
      multiple of the median (MoM) levels were <=0.5 (Group 1, n=75) or >0.5 (Group 2,
      n=208). As primary end points, the rate of cesarean section (C/S), the rate of
      C/S due to fetal distress, and the umbilical artery blood pH values in cases of
      C/S for fetal distress were compared between the two groups. Statistical analyses
      were performed using the Chi-square test and independent samples t-test. P<=0.05
      were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean gestational age at
      birth and the birth weights were significantly lower in Group 1 than in Group 2
      (p=0.002 and p=0.007, respectively). Although the rate of C/S was similar between
      the groups (p=0.823), the rate of C/S due to fetal distress was significantly
      higher in Group 1 than in Group 2 (68.4% vs. 42%, respectively; p=0.050) and the
      mean umbilical artery blood pH value for C/S deliveries indicated by fetal
      distress was lower (p=0.048) in Group 1 than in Group 2. When the mode of
      delivery was analyzed according to the application of labor induction, both the
      C/S delivery rates (31.6% in Group 1 and 31.7% in Group 2; p=0.992) and C/S
      delivery rates due to fetal distress (66.7% in Group 1 and 46.2% in Group 2;
      p=0.405) were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: Low PAPP-A levels (<=0.5 MoM)
      in the first trimester are associated with the risk of intrapartum fetal distress
      development and the likelihood of C/S for fetal distress. Nonetheless, this risk
      is not affected by labor induction.

PMID- 27651722
TI  - Predictive values of maternal serum PAPP-A level, uterine artery Doppler
      velocimetry, and fetal biometric measurements for poor pregnancy and poor
      neonatal outcomes in pregnant women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine predictive values of maternal serum PAPP-A (msPAPP-A)
      levels, uterine artery Doppler velocimetry, and fetal biometric measurements
      (FBMs) for poor pregnancy and poor neonatal outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This
      prospective cohort study was conducted on singleton pregnancies followed until
      delivery. Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes were evaluated with respect to the
      msPAPP-A level at the 11(th)-14(th) weeks, uterine artery Doppler velocimetry at
      the 15(th)-18(th) weeks, and FBMs at the 20(th)-24(th) and 28(th)-32(nd) weeks of
      pregnancy. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-eight women constituted the study group; 17
      (10.75%) of them had at least one poor pregnancy outcome. The cut-off point of
      0.72 multiple of the median (MoM) for the PAPP-A level achieved a sensitivity of
      82.4% and a specificity of 29.8% for poor pregnancy outcomes. The mean birth
      weight was significantly lower in the subgroup with a higher mean pulsatility
      index of uterine arteries (UAPImean>=1.19) (p=0.025) as well as in the subgroup
      with a higher mean resistance index of uterine arteries (UARImean>=0.62)
      (p=0.013). When the subgroup of pregnant women under the risk of early-onset IUGR
      according to FBMs was compared to the low-risk group, statistically significant
      differences were seen in terms of pregnancy outcomes (p=0.045) and birth weight
      (p=0.011). CONCLUSION: Maternal serum PAPP-A level and FBMs could be used for
      predicting pregnancy outcomes, while uterine artery Doppler velocimetry and FBMs
      could be used for predicting neonatal outcomes, specifically the birth weight.

PMID- 27651723
TI  - The effect of adenomyosis on the outcomes of laparoscopic hysterectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The presence of adenomyosis (ADS) may increase complication rates
      associated with laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) due to an increased weight of the
      uterus, increased vascularization of the uterus, impaired myometrial tissue, and
      presence of additional gynecological pathologies such as leiomyoma or
      endometriosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate perioperative and
      early postoperative parameters in patients with or without adenomyotic lesions.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included patients who underwent LH in a
      university hospital. Patient data were retrieved from the hospital records and
      reviewed retrospectively. Sixty-one patients (85.9%) without adenomyotic lesions
      comprised the control group. Ten patients with adenomyotic lesions (14.1%) were
      regarded as the study group. RESULTS: In this study, the mean age of the patients
      was 50.93+/-9.39 years. The mean uterus size was significantly higher in patients
      with ADS (p=0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in
      perioperative variables such as delta hemoglobin (Hb), insertion of pelvic
      drainage catheter, and invasive assessment of the urinary tract between both the
      groups (p=0.27, p=1.0, and p=0.67, respectively). The difference between the
      groups in terms of postoperative blood transfusion was not statistically
      significant (p=0.25). There was no statistically significant difference in the
      postoperative maximum body temperature, length of hospital stay, and duration of
      urinary catheterization between both the groups (p=0.77, p=0.36, and p=0.75,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: LH appears to be a safe alternative for patients with
      ADS. Large-scale, prospective, and randomized trials are required in order to
      suggest the routine use of LH in patients preoperatively diagnosed with ADS.

PMID- 27651724
TI  - A novel approach using a minimal number of injections during the IVF/ICSI cycle:
      Luteal half-dose depot GnRH agonist following corifollitropin alfa versus the
      corifollitropin alfa with a GnRH-antagonist cycle.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Corifollitropin alfa is a good choice for assisted reproductive
      technology (ART) cycles because fewer injections are needed than with other
      agents. In this retrospective cohort, we analyzed luteal injected half-dose depot
      gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist cycles in women who
      received corifollitropin alfa and those who underwent a conventional
      corifollitropin alfa cycle with a GnRH antagonist. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this
      retrospective cohort, we analyzed luteal injected half-dose depot GnRH agonist
      cycles in women who received corifollitropin alfa and those who underwent a
      conventional corifollitropin alfa cycle with a GnRH antagonist at the Division of
      Reproductive Endocrinology and IVF Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department,
      Baskent University School of Medicine, Adana, Turkey, from March 2014 to August
      2015. The patient's baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups.
      Forty-five patients underwent the long protocol, in which a half-dose of depot
      GnRH agonist was administered on day 21 of the preceding cycle. Forty-nine
      patients underwent the GnRH-antagonist protocol. Corifollitropin alfa was
      administered on the menstrual cycle day 3. RESULTS: The mean ages of the two
      groups were similar (32.77+/-5.55 vs. 34.2+/-4.51 years ["for the long- and
      antagonist-protocol groups, respectively"]). The total number of retrieved
      oocytes, the fertilization rate, and the number of transferred embryos were
      similar between the two groups. The only significant difference between the two
      protocols was the number of injections during the controlled ovarian stimulation
      (COH) cycle, which included the depot-agonist injection in the long-protocol
      group (4.46+/-1.64 vs. 5.71+/-2.51, p=0.006). The clinical pregnancy and
      implantation rates were similar in the two protocols (16/45 [35.6%] vs. 16/49
      [32.7%] for the intention to treat and 32.5+/-6.82% vs. 36.25+/-8.58%,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results show that ART cycles could be performed
      with fewer injections using corifollitropin alfa and a half-dose of depot GnRH
      agonist.

PMID- 27651725
TI  - Optimal cone size to predict positive surgical margins after cold knife
      conization (CKC) and the risk factors for residual disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the optimal cone size to achieve a reliable sensitivity
      and specificity for clear surgical margins after cold knife conization (CKC).
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical reports of patients who had high-grade cervical
      intraepithelial lesions, carcinoma in situ, or stage 1A1 microinvasive carcinoma
      in their CKC specimens between June 2008 and January 2015 were reviewed
      retrospectively. RESULTS: In total, 315 women fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
      The mean age of the patients was 40.7 years. The conization results were
      microinvasive carcinoma and high-grade squamous lesion (HSIL) for 8 and 307
      patients, respectively. Ninety-nine patients had positive surgical margins.
      Eighty-one patients with positive cone margins underwent the repeat excisional
      procedure and 35 of them showed residual disease. In the univariate analyses, the
      patient age, menopausal status, and mean cone height parameters showed
      statistically significant differences between the patients with positive and
      negative margins. Also, residual disease was associated with the menopausal
      status and age of the patients. CONCLUSION: There is no optimal cone depth that
      is applicable for all patients. The most important predictors for positive
      margins are the menopausal status of the patient and that more than two quadrants
      are involved. However, the menopausal status and age of the patients were still
      predictors for residual disease.

PMID- 27651726
TI  - Could S6K1 immunopositivity be used to distinguish early and advanced stages of
      endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the immunopositivity of S6K1, a crucial effector of
      the mTOR signaling pathway, varies between early-stage low-grade and advanced
      stage high-grade endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EEA) as well as to
      discuss its prognostic significance. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 22 normal
      endometrial tissue samples (Control group) and 41 EEA specimens (Study group)
      were enrolled in the study, and all the samples underwent immunohistochemical
      staining for S6 kinase alpha (S6K1). The study group was further evaluated in two
      subgroups; stage 1A, grade 1 (Group 1) and stage >=1A, grade 2 or 3 (Group 2).
      Group 2 patients were considered as a poor prognosis for EEA. The samples were
      examined by two independent pathologists. Statistical analyses were performed
      using the Student's t-test for continuous variables, the Chi-square test for
      categorical variables, and one-way analysis of variance for the comparison of
      multiple variables. RESULTS: The immunopositivity rate for all the included EEA
      patients was 56.1%, whereas none of the 22 normal endometrial tissue samples
      revealed immunoreactivity for S6K1. The immunopositivity rates were significantly
      different between Groups 1 and 2 [38.1% (8/21) and 75.0% (15/20), respectively,
      p=0.039]. When S6K1 positivity was used as a criterion of poor prognosis in EEA,
      the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive
      value were calculated to be 62%, 75%, 72%, and 65%, respectively (OR: 4.9 and 95%
      CI: 1.3-18.7). CONCLUSION: S6K1 was positive in the majority of EEAs and
      malignancies at an advanced stage. Higher grade disease had a significantly
      higher rate of S6K1 positivity. S6K1 immunopositivity appears to be a promising
      method to predict poor prognosis in EEA.

PMID- 27651728
TI  - What is your diagnosis?

PMID- 27651729
TI  - Does size matter?

PMID- 27651727
TI  - Methods for endometrial preparation in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles.
AB  - Frozen-thawed (FT) embryo transfer is a procedure used for the storage and
      transfer of excess embryos obtained during in vitro fertilization-
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles. In recent years, improvements in
      laboratory conditions and limitations on the number of embryos to be transferred
      have led to a progressive increase in FT embryo transfer cycles. However, the
      best solution for endometrial preparation in these cycles is still a matter of
      debate. In this study, we aimed to review the current methods of endometrial
      preparation in FT embryo transfer cycles. In light of the current literature, it
      is hard to determine which method is the best for endometrial preparation. It is
      therefore necessary to conduct randomized controlled studies in a prospective
      design, which will also evaluate the above-mentioned factors. 

PMID- 27651730
TI  - A taxonomic monograph of the assassin bug genus Zelus Fabricius (Hemiptera:
      Reduviidae): 71 species based on 10,000 specimens.
AB  - The New World assassin bug genus Zelus Fabricius, 1803 (Insecta: Hemiptera:
      Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae: Harpactorini) is revised based on more
      than 10,000 specimens. Seventy-one species are recognized and twenty-four
      described as new: Zelus aithaleos sp. n., Zelus amblycephalus sp. n., Zelus
      antiguensis sp. n., Zelus auralanus sp. n., Zelus bahiaensis sp. n., Zelus banksi
      sp. n., Zelus casii sp. n., Zelus championi sp. n., Zelus cordazulus sp. n.,
      Zelus fuliginatus sp. n., Zelus gilboventris sp. n., Zelus gracilipes sp. n.,
      Zelus grandoculus sp. n., Zelus kartaboides sp. n., Zelus lewisi sp. n., Zelus
      panamensis sp. n., Zelus paracephalus sp. n., Zelus rosulentus sp. n., Zelus
      russulumus sp. n., Zelus spatulosus sp. n., Zelus truxali sp. n., Zelus
      umbraculoides sp. n., Zelus umbraculus sp. n., and Zelus xouthos sp. n. Five
      species, Zelus araneiformis Haviland, 1931, Zelus gradarius Bergroth, 1905, Zelus
      modestus (Stal, 1862), Zelus subfasciatus Stal, 1860 and Zelus vittaticeps Stal,
      1866, are removed from Zelus and placed incertae sedis within Harpactorini. Nine
      new synonyms are recognized (senior synonym in parentheses): Zelus atripes
      Champion, 1898 syn. nov. (=Zelus conjungens [Stal, 1860]), Zelus dispar
      Fabricius, 1803 syn. nov. (=Zelus pedestris Fabricius, 1803), Zelus formosus
      Haviland, 1931 syn. nov. (=Zelus laticornis Herrich-Schaeffer, 1853), Zelus
      obscuridorsis (Stal, 1860) syn. nov. (=Zelus pedestris), Zelus pallidinervus
      Haviland, 1931 syn. nov. (=Zelus kartabensis Haviland, 1931), Zelus personatus
      Berg, 1879 syn. nov. (=Zelus versicolor Herrich-Schaeffer, 1848), Zelus
      trimaculatus Champion, 1898 syn. nov. (=Zelus means Fabricius, 1803), Zelus
      trimaculicollis (Stal, 1855) syn. nov. (=Zelus means), and Zelus tristis
      Haviland, 1931 syn. nov. (=Zelus laticornis). Zelus conjungens (Stal, 1860) stat.
      rev. Is resurrected from junior synonymy with zealous armillatus (Lepeletier &
      Seville, 1825). Zelus ambulans Stal, 1862 stat. rev. and Zelus cognatus (Costa,
      1862) stat. rev. are resurrected from synonymy with Zelus exsanguis Stal, 1862.
      Iquitozelus Berenger syn. nov. is synonymized with Zelus and its only species
      transferred to Zelus, hence resulting in a new combination, Zelus couturieri
      (Berenger, 2003) comb. nov. Lectotypes, paralectotypes or neotypes are designated
      for a number of species. Habitus images, illustrations of male genitalia,
      distribution maps and measurements are provided for nearly all species. The three
      previously recognized subgenera of Zelus are found to be based upon superficial
      characters and these divisions do not reflect natural groupings. Using sets of
      characters, especially those of the male genitalia, eleven species groups are
      proposed. It is also hypothesized that Zelus is closely related to three other
      New World genera: Atopozelus Elkins, Ischnoclopius Stal and an undescribed genus
      "Hartzelus" [manuscript name]. Zelus is endemic to the New World, occurring
      naturally in the Caribbean and all but one of the continental countries, with
      introductions to Pacific islands, Europe and Chile. 

PMID- 27651731
TI  - Multisystem failure and death due to extensive hemorrhaging and brain herniation
      subsequent to a bite by an unidentified snake.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Snakebites cause considerable morbidity and mortality in tropical and
      subtropical countries even though existing treatment methods can prevent most
      deaths if presentation occurs early to hospitals. Envenomation by unidentified
      snakes is common in central Sri Lanka. Management of such patients is challenging
      especially if presentation is late. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we report a case of
      a 52-year-old man from central Sri Lanka who presented late after being bitten by
      an unidentified snake. He developed 'severe coagulopathy, neurotoxicity, acute
      kidney injury, and rhabdomyolysis. Subsequently, despite of treatment, he died
      due to extensive hemorrhaging in many organs. A large intracranial hemorrhage
      lead to fatal brain herniation. CONCLUSIONS: Envenomation by some snake species
      can severely affect multiple body systems and give rise to fatal brain
      hemorrhages and brain herniation. Considering the known effects of local snake
      venom, the responsible species is likely to be Russell's viper (Daboia russelii).
      We recommend some simple measures to reduce the chances of such deaths in the
      future.

PMID- 27651733
TI  - Greetings from the New President of World Association of Radiopharmaceutical and
      Molecular Therapy.

PMID- 27651734
TI  - Evaluation of Basal Renal Function in Treatment-naive Patients with Malignancy
      and Comparison with Age Matched Healthy Control.
AB  - There is a paucity of data regarding the prevalence of renal insufficiency in
      patients with malignancy at baseline before initiation of therapy. The published
      studies based on patient with prior exposure to cytotoxic therapy have reported a
      high prevalence of renal impairment. However, these studies have utilized
      creatinine-based glomerular filtration rate (GFR) prediction equations to assess
      the level of renal function. These equations are known to have some serious
      limitations in reliably predicting GFR. The aim of the study was to accurately
      document the state of renal function in treatment-naive cancer patients and
      compare them against age-matched healthy controls using a reference "creatinine
      independent" GFR measurement technique. Age-matched comparison of GFR of 1,373
      treatment-naive cancer patients and 1,089 healthy controls were done
      retrospectively. There was no difference in GFR between cancer and healthy group
      when analyzed under various age groups, though the overall mean GFR in healthy
      controls was significantly higher compared to cancer group (80.14 +/- 17.63 mL vs
      74.43 +/- 20.84, P 0<= 0.01), whereas the mean age in control arm was
      significantly lower compared to cancer group (44.24 +/- 17.63 years vs. 50.70 +/-
      20.84 years, P <= 0.01). Treatment-naive cancer patients have identical renal
      function to their healthy age-matched peers. Malignancy per se does not directly
      lead to the decline in filtration capacity of the kidneys. 

PMID- 27651732
TI  - HIV-1 Evolutionary Patterns Associated with Metastatic Kaposi's Sarcoma during
      AIDS.
AB  - Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in HIV-infected individuals can have a wide range of
      clinical outcomes, from indolent skin tumors to a life-threatening visceral
      cancer. KS tumors contain endothelial-related cells and inflammatory cells that
      may be HIV-infected. In this study we tested if HIV evolutionary patterns
      distinguish KS tumor relatedness and progression. Multisite autopsies from
      participants who died from HIV-AIDS with KS prior to the availability of
      antiretroviral therapy were identified at the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource
      (ACSR). Two patients (KS1 and KS2) died predominantly from non-KS-associated
      disease and KS3 died due to aggressive and metastatic KS within one month of
      diagnosis. Skin and visceral tumor and nontumor autopsy tissues were obtained (n
      = 12). Single genome sequencing was used to amplify HIV RNA and DNA, which was
      present in all tumors. Independent HIV tumor clades in phylogenies differentiated
      KS1 and KS2 from KS3, whose sequences were interrelated by both phylogeny and
      selection. HIV compartmentalization was confirmed in KS1 and KS2 tumors; however,
      in KS3, no compartmentalization was observed among sampled tissues. While the
      sample size is small, the HIV evolutionary patterns observed in all patients
      suggest an interplay between tumor cells and HIV-infected cells which provides a
      selective advantage and could promote KS progression. 

PMID- 27651735
TI  - Radioactive (131)Iodine Body Burden and Blood Dose Estimates in Treatment for
      Differentiated Thyroid Cancer by External Probe Counting.
AB  - Radioactive(131) iodine (RAI) body burden is estimated in thyroid cancer patients
      by a) exposure rate meter and b) external probe counting. A calibration factor of
      301 cpm/MBq (d = 16 cm) is used for the probe for estimates of whole body
      activity. Patients sit in a rotating stool with their center corresponding to the
      field of view for estimation of whole body RAI. Radioactive counts are obtained
      for anterio posterior (AP) and postero anterior (PA) geometries. Whole body
      retention factor is expressed as a ratio against assayed activity administered to
      the patient on day 1. With exposure rate measurement, for off-thyroxin
      (hypothyriod) patients, the retention factors were 0.148 +/- 0.12 (n = 211) and
      0.07 +/- 0.08 (n = 68) at 48 h and 72 h, respectively. For recombinant TSH
      (rhTSH) (euthyroid) group, the retention factors were 0.089 +/- 0.06 (n = 24) and
      0.05 +/- 0.05 (n = 19) at 48 h and 72 h, respectively. By probe counting method,
      the obtained retention factors were 0.081 +/- 0.013 (range: 0.071-0.096) (off
      thyroxine group) and 0.039 +/- 0.03 (range: 0.008-0.089) for the rhTSH group at
      48 h. The 72 h retentions in the off thyroxine (hypothyriod) group and the rhTSH
      (euthyroid) group were 0.048 +/- 0.024 (range: 0.016-0.076) and 0.005,
      respectively. The radioactive body burdens at 48 h were in the range of 290-315
      MBq (7.8-8.5 mCi) for the off-thyroxine group and 44-286 MBq (1.2-7.7 mCi) for
      the rhTSH group. The calculated residence times in whole body were 21.97 +/- 3.8
      h (range: 17.1-27.1) for off-thyroxine group and 14.28 +/- 2.75 h (range: 9.97
      19.46) showing high statistical significance (P < 0.001). The specific blood
      doses were 0.118 +/- 0.025 mGy/MBq (range: 0.083-0.172) for the off-thyroxine
      group (females n = 23); 0.87 +/- 0.028 mGy/MBq (range: 0.057-0.130) (females n =
      13), 0.080 +/- 0.013 mGy/MBq (range: 0.069-0.098) (males n = 5) and 0.080 +/-
      0.028 (range: 0.059-0.118 for rhTSH patients (males n = 4). The mean mGy/MBq for
      blood was higher in females-about 10% for the rhTSH group compared to 40% higher
      for the off thyroxine (THW) group. The dose to blood was "inversely proportional"
      to the body weight, both in the off-thyroxine group and the rhTSH group but the
      dependence was not very strong with rhTSH administration because of less
      residence time of the radioactive iodine. There was no correlation between
      administered activity and retained body burden at 48 h or 72 h. 

PMID- 27651736
TI  - Detection of Primary Malignancy and Metastases with FDG PET/CT in Patients with
      Cholangiocarcinomas: Lesion-based Comparison with Contrast Enhanced CT.
AB  - The current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines consider the
      role of 2-deoxy-2-(18)F-fluoro-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computer
      tomography (FDG PET/CT) in the evaluation of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) as
      "uncertain," and have recommended contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT)
      but not FDG PET/CT as a routine imaging test for CCA workup. We set out to
      compare the diagnostic performance of FDG PET/CT and CECT in patients with CCA.
      The retrospective study included patients with CCA who underwent FDG PET/CT and
      CECT within 2-month interval between 2011 and 2013 in our hospital. Lesion-based
      comparison was conducted. Final diagnoses were made based on the composite
      clinical and imaging data with minimal 6-month follow-up. A total of 18 patients
      with 28-paired tests were included. There is a total of 142 true malignant
      lesions as revealed by the 6-paired pre-treatment and 22-paired post-treatment
      tests. On a lesion-based analysis, the sensitivities, specificities, positive
      predictive values (PPVs), negative predictive values (NPVs), and accuracies of
      PET/CT and CECT for detection of CCA were 96.5%, 55.5%, 97.2%, 50.0%, 94.1% and
      62.2%, 66.7%, 96.7%, 10.0%, 62.5%, respectively. FDG PET/CT detected more
      intrahepatic malignant and extrahepatic metastases; and had significant higher
      sensitivity, NPV, and accuracy than CECT, while similar in specificity and PPV.
      No true positive lesion detected on CECT that was missed on PET/CT, and none of
      the false negative lesions on PET/CT were detected on CECT. Six patients had
      paired pretreatment tests, and FDG PET/CT results changed planned management in
      three patients. Our data suggest that FDG PET/CT detect more primary and
      metastatic lesions and lead to considerable changes in treatment plan in
      comparison with CECT. 

PMID- 27651737
TI  - Gastrointestinal Side Effects of the Radioiodine Therapy for the Patients with
      Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma Two Days after Prescription.
AB  - Iodine-131 (I-131) therapy is one of the conventional approaches in the treatment
      of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). The radioiodine agents
      also accumulate in the other organs that cause pain and damage to the patients.
      Radioiodine therapy is associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities.
      In this study, GI side effects of the radioiodine therapy were investigated. GI
      toxicities of the radioiodine therapy were studied in 137 patients with
      histologically proven DTC in Jun-Nov 2014. All the patients were treated by
      radioiodine agents in the research institute of Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
      The patients were examined 48 h after prescription (before discharge) and their
      GI side effects were registered. Correlation of the age, gender, administered
      dose, administered dose per body weight as the independent factors, and GI side
      effects were analyzed using the Pearson correlation test with Statistical Package
      for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Regression coefficients and linearity
      of the variable were investigated by MATLAB software. Line fitting was performed
      using MATLAB curve-fitting toolbox. From the subjects, 38 patients had GI
      complaints (30.4%). Significant factors influencing GI side effects were dose per
      body weight and administered doses. There was no significant correlation between
      age and gender as the independent parameters and GI complaints. The most
      prevalent GI side effect was nausea that occurs in 26.4% of the patients. From
      the results, it could be concluded that the GI side effects could be prevented by
      administering a safe radioiodine dose value less than 5,550 MBq. 

PMID- 27651738
TI  - Can Ultrasound Predict Malignancy in Patient with Thyroid Cold Nodule?
AB  - Thyroid nodule is one of the most common endocrine diseases in the world; it
      occurs in 4-7% of the general population. Depending on the method of discovery, 4
      8% nodules are discovered using palpation, 10-41% with ultrasound (US), and 50%
      through autopsy where only 20% or less of cold thyroid nodules are caused by
      cancerous lesions. The aim of this study was to assess US as supporting modality
      for thyroid scintigraphy to predict malignancy in patient with thyroid cold
      nodules. In a retrospective study between 2009 and 2013, we analyzed 399 subjects
      with cold thyroid nodule, where 39 subjects (36 women and 3 men) presented with
      malignant thyroid cold nodule and 19 subjects underwent US. The US showed
      malignancy parameters in 8 (42.11%) subjects, while the rest of the 11 (57.89%)
      subject were benign. Out of all the subjects who underwent US in this study, only
      8 (42.11%) subjects shown malignancy characteristics in cold thyroid nodule with
      papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). That means US parameters of malignant thyroid
      nodule do not always show up in malignant cold thyroid nodule. 

PMID- 27651739
TI  - Is the Increased Septal Perfusion the Signal of Asymmetrical Septal Hypertrophy?
AB  - In this study, we have compared scintigraphic and echocardiographic data in order
      to investigate whether increased septal perfusion represents asymmetrical septal
      hypertrophy (ASH), which is a symptom followed in the scintigraphy of myocardial
      perfusion. The study consists of a total of 186 patients (120 females and 66
      males with an average age of 59.45 +/- 11.54 years) who had normal myocardial
      perfusion scintigraphy and echocardiography examinations. Statistical comparison
      of septal wall thickness measurements obtained from echocardiography and septal
      to-lateral wall ratios (S/L ratio) was performed scintigraphically. Left
      ventricular mass values were obtained as both scintigraphic and echocardiographic
      data and their correlations were evaluated in order to assess the presence of
      left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). In statistical analyses, the values of
      interventricular septal thickness in diastole (IVSd), left ventricle posterior
      wall thickness in diastole (LVPWd), left ventricle mass (LVM), and left ventricle
      mass index (LVMI) were found to be significantly higher in group 2 (S/L ratio >1)
      compared to group 1 (S/L ratio <1). In addition, S/L ratio is significantly
      correlated with echocardiographic IVSd, LVPWd, LVM, LVMI, and scintigraphic LVM
      (rest) values. Furthermore, echocardiographic LVM and LVMI values were
      significantly correlated with LVM and LVMI values obtained from scintigraphy. It
      should be known that increased S/L ratio that can be monitored during
      scintigraphic studies can be an indicator of septal hypertrophy and/or LVH,
      however, further examination and close follow-ups should be performed in
      necessary cases. 

PMID- 27651740
TI  - Comparison of Hemodynamic Effects and Negative Predictive Value of Normal
      Adenosine Gated Myocardial Perfusion Scan With or Without Caffeine Abstinence.
AB  - For vasodilator stress, myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with at least 12-h
      caffeine abstinence is recommended, as it attenuates cardiovascular hyperemic
      response of adenosine and dipyridamole. However, many published conflicting
      results have shown no significant effect upon perfusion abnormalities in MPI
      performed without caffeine abstinence. The aim of this study was to compare the
      hemodynamic changes and negative predictive value (NPV) of normal MPIs with
      adenosine stress performed with or without caffeine abstinence. This was a
      prospective study that accrued 50 patients from May 2013 till September 2013 and
      followed till November 2014. These patients had a normal adenosine-gated MPI
      (GMPI) with technetium-99m methoxy isobutyl isonitrile ((99m)Tc-MIBI) after 12-h
      caffeine abstinence (no-caffeine). Next day, all patients had a repeat adenosine
      stress within 60 min after ingestion of a cup of coffee (about 80 mg of caffeine)
      followed by no MPI in 30 patients due to concern about radiation dose (prior
      caffeine adenosine-no MPI; group A). Twenty patients opted for a repeat MPI
      (prior-caffeine adenosine-MPI; group B). Adenosine-induced hemodynamic response
      and NPV of the normal MPI with no-caffeine and prior-caffeine protocols were
      compared. The mean age of the study cohort was 57 +/- 9 years with a male-to
      female ratio of 76:24% and mean body mass index (BMI) of 26.915 +/- 4.121
      kg/m(2). Prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and positive family
      history were 76%, 20%, 22%, and 17%, respectively. Comparison of group A with
      group B revealed no significant difference in demographic parameters, hemodynamic
      or electrocardiography (ECG) parameters, or left ventricular (LV) function
      parameters during adenosine intervention with prior-caffeine and no-caffeine
      protocols. During the follow-up, no fatal myocardial infarction (MI) was reported
      but 6 nonfatal MIs were reported based upon the history of short hospitalization
      for chest pain but without biochemical or ECG criteria for infarction (3/30 in
      group A and 3/20 group B). Event-free survival (EFS) for fatal MI was 100% for
      both the groups while EFS for nonfatal MI was 90% for group A and 85% for group B
      (nonsignificant P values). Kaplan-Meier survival plot also depicted
      nonsignificant EFS for nonfatal MI. This study did not find any significant
      attenuation effect upon adenosine-induced hemodynamic response and similar NPV of
      a normal GMPI in patients with or without caffeine abstinence. We assume that
      better designed prospective studies are required to validate findings of our
      study and provide justification for revision of guidelines about caffeine
      abstinence. 

PMID- 27651741
TI  - Can Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio be a Predictor for Bone Metastases of Solid
      Tumors?
AB  - Cancer-associated inflammation has been receiving increased attention due to its
      role in cancer development. It is known that tumors can cause an inflammatory
      reaction and inflammatory cells play an important role in neoplastic growth. In
      this study, we aimed to investigate any relationship between bone metastases and
      the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Patients who were referred for bone
      scintigraphy to investigate bone metastasis were enrolled in the study. Patients'
      hematological parameters were obtained from the hospital database
      retrospectively. Patients with a nonmetastatic bone scan were categorized as
      Group A (N = 171), patients who had metastatic bone disease without any other
      organ metastases were categorized as group B (N = 25), and patients who had
      metastatic bone disease with the other organ metastases were categorized as Group
      C (N = 48). The median NLR of the patients in Group A was 2.55 (range: 0.38
      20.7), in Group B was 2.83 (range: 1.56-31.8), and in Group C was 4.12 (range:
      1.79-38). NLR was significantly higher in Group C patients compared to Group A
      and B patients (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the NLR is significantly associated
      with the other organ metastases but has no significant correlation with bone
      metastases. 

PMID- 27651742
TI  - Laxative Related Primary Hyperphosphatemic Tumoral Calcinosis Identified by Bone
      Scintigraphy.
AB  - We describe a case of a 40-year-old female patient presenting with tumor
      calcinosis where hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy (HPOA) was suspected
      given her extensive history of malignancy. Plain X-rays did not show reveal the
      typical periarticular calcification but did show appearances consistent with
      HPOA. Bone scintigraphy with (99m)Tc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) is a sensitive
      investigation in the detection of hypertrophic osteoarthopathy but did not show
      findings characteristics of HPOA like bilateral symmetrical increased uptake of
      the radiopharmaceutical along the cortical margins of the long bones. The final
      diagnosis of tumor calcinosis was only made after low dose computerized
      tomography chest showed a moderated sized amorphous calcified cluster in the
      apical segment of the right upper lobe consistent. In conclusion, bone
      scintigraphy continues to be a useful investigation for both common and rare
      conditions like tumor calcinosis. The unusual three phase bone scan finding of
      diffuse activity throughout both lung fields, which turned to out to be tumoral
      calcinosis is highlighted in this case. 

PMID- 27651743
TI  - Use of Marrow Scintigraphy to Confirm Compensatory Marrow Rather than Active
      Myeloma.
AB  - We present the case of a 40-year-old male with multiple myeloma for whom bone
      marrow scintigraphy was utilized to help differentiate between active bony
      myelomatous disease versus treated lesions with compensatory marrow uptake. This
      case demonstrates technetium (Tc-99m) sulfur colloid imaging as an inexpensive
      technique to quickly distinguish between active focal bone disease and reactive
      marrow. 

PMID- 27651744
TI  - Failed Radiation Synovectomy in Diseased Knee Joint with Missed Tuberculous
      Synovitis.
AB  - The authors in this case report highlight the poor outcome of radiation
      synovectomy (RSV) for repeated knee joint effusion in a patient with
      histopathologically proven nonspecific arthritis. There was partial response
      initially following RSV but later follow-up showed recurrence in joint effusion
      with limited and painful mobility of the knee joint. Subsequent surgical
      synovectomy and histopathological examination showed it to be tubercular in
      origin. Thus in a country endemic for tuberculosis, an alternative infective
      etiology should also be kept in mind before subjecting the patient to RSV. 

PMID- 27651745
TI  - An Extremely Rare Intersection: Neurolymphomatosis in a Patient with Burkitt
      Lymphoma Detected by 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed
      Tomography.
AB  - Neurolymphomatosis (NL) is a rarely seen neurologic involvement of the systematic
      lymphoma. Its diagnosis is challenging, and requires biopsy. In cases where
      biopsy is not appropriate, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) may aid in diagnosis. Here, we
      present a 54-year old male patient diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma who underwent
      FDG-PET/CT in order to evaluate the treatment response after chemotherapy and
      radiotherapy. On viewing PET/CT images of the patient who complained of pain and
      weakness in his upper extremities after therapy, linear FDG uptake was observed
      in bilateral cervical 5 (C5), left cervical 6 (C6), bilateral cervical 7 (C7),
      and right lumbar 4 (L4) nerve roots. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed
      dilation and thickening of nerve roots consisted with FDG uptake observed on
      PET/CT images. Since biopsy was not performed, histopathological diagnosis could
      not be established. However, overlapping of clinical, PET/CT, and MRI findings
      strongly suggested the presence of NL. As is the case of this patient, in cases
      with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a combined evaluation of FDG-PET/CT and MRI modalities
      aid in the establishment of the diagnosis of NL. 

PMID- 27651746
TI  - Radiation-induced Leiomyosarcoma of the Oral Cavity: A Rare Occurrence Detected
      on 18F-FDG PET/CT.
AB  - Radiation-induced sarcomas (RIS) or postirradiation sarcomas have been reported
      as a rare long-term complication of radiation therapy (RT). The survival benefit
      offered by radiotherapy has been masked by an increase in the incidence of these
      sarcomas, thus making radiotherapy a double-edged sword. RIS generally develop
      with a mean latency period of 10-15 years and encompass different histological
      types. We report a case of oral leiomyosarcoma with a rather short latency period
      of 4 years after the radiotherapy of the prior oral squamous cell carcinoma
      (OSCC) detected on fluorine-18 (18F)-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron
      emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). The rarity of occurrence of
      leiomyosarcoma in the oral cavity is also highlighted. 

PMID- 27651747
TI  - Disseminated Skeletal Muscle and Cardiac Metastasis from Squamous Cell Carcinoma
      of the Lung Detected with FDG and FLT PET/CT.
AB  - Lung cancer is one of the leading cancers all over the world. Positron emission
      tomography (PET) using 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (18F FDG) is useful for staging of
      the disease and decide the appropriate management. 3'-deoxy-3'-18 F
      fluorothymidine (18F FLT) is a tracer being extensively evaluated currently and
      is said to represent tumor proliferation. Common sites of metastases from lung
      cancer include adrenal glands, bone, and brain. Muscle metastasis and cardiac
      metastasis are uncommon findings. We report a case of squamous cell carcinoma of
      the lung with metastases to multiple skeletal muscles and myocardium detected
      with both FDG and FLT PET/computed tomography (CT). 

PMID- 27651748
TI  - A Case of Lingual Thyroid Presenting with Severe Hematemesis in Pregnancy.

PMID- 27651749
TI  - Use of Marrow Scintigraphy to Confirm Compensatory Marrow Rather than Active
      Myeloma.

PMID- 27651750
TI  - How pregnancy can affect autoimmune diseases progression?
AB  - Autoimmune disorders are characterized by tissue damage, caused by self
      reactivity of different effectors mechanisms of the immune system, namely
      antibodies and T cells. Their occurrence may be associated with genetic and/or
      environmental predisposition and to some extent, have implications for fertility
      and obstetrics. The relationship between autoimmunity and reproduction is
      bidirectional. This review only addresses the impact of pregnancy on autoimmune
      diseases and not the influence of autoimmunity on pregnancy development. Th17/Th1
      type cells are aggressive and pathogenic in many autoimmune disorders and
      inflammatory diseases. The immunology of pregnancy underlies the role of Th2-type
      cytokines to maintain the tolerance of the mother towards the fetal semi
      allograft. Non-specific factors, including hormonal changes, favor a switch to
      Th2-type cytokine profile. In pregnancy Th2, Th17/Th2 and Treg cells accumulate
      in the decidua but may also be present in the mother's circulation and can
      regulate autoimmune responses influencing the progression of autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 27651751
TI  - Intestinal adaptations to a combination of different diets with and without
      endurance exercise.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endurance athletes search for diet regimens that will improve
      performance and decrease gastrointestinal disturbances during training and
      events. Although the intestine can adapt to changes in the amount and composition
      of dietary inputs, the responses to the combination of endurance exercise and
      diet are poorly understood. METHODS: We evaluated small intestinal dimensions and
      mucosal architecture and calculated the capacities of the entire small intestine
      to digest maltose and maltodextrin and absorb glucose in response to two
      different diet types; a western human diet and the Daniel Fast, a vegan style
      diet, and with moderate intensity endurance training or a no-exercise sedentary
      lifestyle for a 13 week period (n = 7 per group). The influences of diet and
      exercise, alone and in combination, were analyzed by analysis of variation.
      RESULTS: Rats fed the western diet gained more weight (P < 0.05) due to more fat
      mass (P < 0.05), with a similar response for the sedentary compared with the
      exercised rats in each diet group (P < 0.05). The Daniel Fast rats had longer and
      heavier intestines with deeper crypts with villi that were wider (P < 0.05), but
      not taller. Despite increased energetic demands, the exercised rats had shorter
      and lighter intestines with shorter villi (P < 0.05). Yet, the percentage of
      mucosa did not differ among groups. Total small intestinal activities for maltase
      and alpha-glucoamylase, and capacities for glucose absorption were similar
      regardless of diet or exercise. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the
      structural responses of the small intestine to a vegan style diet are modified by
      exercise, but without altering the capacities of the brush border membrane to
      digest and absorb carbohydrates.

PMID- 27651753
TI  - Uncoupling protein 2 in the glial response to stress: implications for
      neuroprotection.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are free radicals thought to mediate the neurotoxic
      effects of several neurodegenerative disorders. In the central nervous system,
      ROS can also trigger a phenotypic switch in both astrocytes and microglia that
      further aggravates neurodegeneration, termed reactive gliosis. Negative
      regulators of ROS, such as mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) are
      neuroprotective factors that decrease neuron loss in models of stroke, epilepsy,
      and parkinsonism. However, it is unclear whether UCP2 acts purely to prevent ROS
      production, or also to prevent gliosis. In this review article, we discuss
      published evidence supporting the hypothesis that UCP2 is a neuroprotective
      factor both through its direct effects in decreasing mitochondrial ROS and
      through its effects in astrocytes and microglia. A major effect of UCP2
      activation in glia is a change in the spectrum of secreted cytokines towards a
      more anti-inflammatory spectrum. There are multiple mechanisms that can control
      the level or activity of UCP2, including a variety of metabolites and microRNAs.
      Understanding these mechanisms will be key to exploitingthe protective effects of
      UCP2 in therapies for multiple neurodegenerative conditions. 

PMID- 27651752
TI  - Adapting extracellular matrix proteomics for clinical studies on cardiac
      remodeling post-myocardial infarction.
AB  - Following myocardial infarction (MI), the left ventricle (LV) undergoes a series
      of cardiac wound healing responses that involve stimulation of robust
      inflammation to clear necrotic myocytes and tissue debris and induction of
      extracellular matrix (ECM) protein synthesis to generate a scar. Proteomic
      strategies provide us with a means to index the ECM proteins expressed in the LV,
      quantify amounts, determine functions, and explore interactions. This review will
      focus on the efforts taken in the proteomics research field that have expanded
      our understanding of post-MI LV remodeling, concentrating on the strengths and
      limitations of different proteomic approaches to glean information that is
      specific to ECM turnover in the post-MI setting. We will discuss how recent
      advances in sample preparation and labeling protocols increase our successes at
      detecting components of the cardiac ECM proteome. We will summarize how proteomic
      approaches, focusing on the ECM compartment, have progressed over time to current
      gel-free methods using decellularized fractions or labeling strategies that will
      be useful for clinical applications. This review will provide an overview of how
      cardiac ECM proteomics has evolved over the last decade and will provide insight
      into future directions that will drive forward our understanding of cardiac ECM
      turnover in the post-MI LV. 

PMID- 27651754
TI  - Selective neuronal PTEN deletion: can we take the brakes off of growth without
      losing control?
AB  - The limited ability for injured adult axons to regenerate is a major cause for
      limited functional recovery after injury to the nervous system, motivating
      numerous efforts to uncover mechanisms capable of enhancing regeneration
      potential. One promising strategy involves deletion or knockdown of the
      phosphatase and tensin (PTEN) gene. Conditional genetic deletion of PTEN before,
      immediately following, or several months after spinal cord injury enables neurons
      of the corticospinal tract (CST) to regenerate their axons across the lesion,
      which is accompanied by enhanced recovery of skilled voluntary motor functions
      mediated by the CST. Although conditional genetic deletion or knockdown of PTEN
      in neurons enables axon regeneration, PTEN is a well-known tumor suppressor and
      mutations of the PTEN gene disrupt brain development leading to neurological
      abnormalities including macrocephaly, seizures, and early mortality. The long
      term consequences of manipulating PTEN in the adult nervous system, as would be
      done for therapeutic intervention after injury, are only now being explored.
      Here, we summarize evidence indicating that long-term deletion of PTEN in mature
      neurons does not cause evident pathology; indeed, cortical neurons that have
      lived without PTEN for over 1 year appear robust and healthy. Studies to date
      provide only a first look at potential negative consequences of PTEN deletion or
      knockdown, but the absence of any detectable neuropathology supports guarded
      optimism that interventions to enable axon regeneration after injury are
      achievable. 

PMID- 27651755
TI  - TRPV1 may increase the effectiveness of estrogen therapy on neuroprotection and
      neuroregeneration.
AB  - Aging induces physical deterioration, loss of the blood brain barrier, neuronal
      loss-induced mental and neurodegenerative diseases. Hypotalamus-hypophysis-gonad
      axis aging precedes symptoms of menopause or andropause and is a major
      determinant of sensory and cognitive integrated function. Sexual steroids support
      important functions, exert pleiotropic effects in different sensory cells,
      promote regeneration, plasticity and health of the nervous system. Their
      diminution is associated with impaired cognitive and mental health and increased
      risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Then, restoring neuroendocrine axes during
      aging can be key to enhance brain health through neuroprotection and
      neuroregeneration, depending on the modulation of plasticity mechanisms. Estrogen
      dependent transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily V, member 1
      (TRPV1) expression induces neuroprotection, neurogenesis and regeneration on
      damaged tissues. Agonists of TRPV1 can modulate neuroprotection and repair of
      sensitive neurons, while modulators as other cognitive enhancers may improve the
      survival rate, differentiation and integration of neural stem cell progenitors in
      functional neural network. Menopause constitutes a relevant clinical model of
      steroidal production decline associated with progressive cognitive and mental
      impairment, which allows exploring the effects of hormone therapy in health
      outcomes such as dysfunction of CNS. Simulating the administration of hormone
      therapy to virtual menopausal individuals allows assessing its hypothetical
      impact and sensitivity to conditions that modify the effectiveness and
      efficiency. 

PMID- 27651756
TI  - Tamoxifen: an FDA approved drug with neuroprotective effects for spinal cord
      injury recovery.
AB  - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a condition without a cure, affecting sensory and/or
      motor functions. The physical trauma to the spinal cord initiates a cascade of
      molecular and cellular events that generates a non-permissive environment for
      cell survival and axonal regeneration. Among these complex set of events are
      damage of the blood-brain barrier, edema formation, inflammation, oxidative
      stress, demyelination, reactive gliosis and apoptosis. The multiple events
      activated after SCI require a multi-active drug that could target most of these
      events and produce a permissive environment for cell survival, regeneration,
      vascular reorganization and synaptic formation. Tamoxifen, a selective estrogen
      receptor modulator, is an FDA approved drug with several neuroprotective
      properties that should be considered for the treatment of this devastating
      condition. Various investigators using different animal models and injury
      parameters have demonstrated the beneficial effects of this drug to improve
      functional locomotor recovery after SCI. Results suggest that the mechanism of
      action of Tamoxifen administration is to modulate anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory
      and anti-gliotic responses. A gap of knowledge exists regarding the sex
      differences in response to Tamoxifen and the therapeutic window available to
      administer this treatment. In addition, the effects of Tamoxifen in axonal
      outgrowth or synapse formation needs to be investigated. This review will address
      some of the mechanisms activated by Tamoxifen after SCI and the results recently
      published by investigators in the field. 

PMID- 27651757
TI  - Automatic counting of microglial cell activation and its applications.
AB  - Glaucoma is a multifactorial optic neuropathy characterized by the damage and
      death of the retinal ganglion cells. This disease results in vision loss and
      blindness. Any vision loss resulting from the disease cannot be restored and
      nowadays there is no available cure for glaucoma; however an early detection and
      treatment, could offer neuronal protection and avoid later serious damages to the
      visual function. A full understanding of the etiology of the disease will still
      require the contribution of many scientific efforts. Glial activation has been
      observed in glaucoma, being microglial proliferation a hallmark in this
      neurodegenerative disease. A typical project studying these cellular changes
      involved in glaucoma often needs thousands of images - from several animals -
      covering different layers and regions of the retina. The gold standard to
      evaluate them is the manual count. This method requires a large amount of time
      from specialized personnel. It is a tedious process and prone to human error. We
      present here a new method to count microglial cells by using a computer
      algorithm. It counts in one hour the same number of images that a researcher
      counts in four weeks, with no loss of reliability. 

PMID- 27651758
TI  - Prospects for bone marrow cell therapy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: how far
      are we from a clinical treatment?
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that
      causes progressive muscular atrophy and death within 3-5 years after its onset.
      Despite the significant advances in knowledge of ALS pathology, no effective
      treatment is available. Therefore, it is imperative to search for new
      alternatives to treat ALS. Cell therapy, especially using bone-marrow cells, has
      showed to be very useful to protect the neural tissue in different brain disease
      or traumatic lesions. In ALS, most published results show beneficial effects of
      the use bone marrow cells, especially mesenchymal stromal cells. However, until
      now, the best outcome extends animal's lifespan by only a few weeks. It is
      essential to continue the search for a really effective therapy, testing
      different cells, routes and time-windows of administration. Studying the
      mechanisms that initiate and spread the degenerative process is also important to
      find out an effective therapy. Therefore, we discussed here some progresses that
      have been made using bone-marrow cell therapy as a therapeutic tool for ALS. 

PMID- 27651760
TI  - Guiding the migration of grafted cells to promote axon regeneration.

PMID- 27651759
TI  - Volume transmission and receptor-receptor interactions in heteroreceptor
      complexes: understanding the role of new concepts for brain communication.
AB  - The discovery of the central monoamine neurons not only demonstrated novel types
      of brain stem neurons forming global terminal networks all over the brain and the
      spinal cord, but also to a novel type of communication called volume
      transmission. It is a major mode of communication in the central nervous system
      that takes places in the extracellular fluid and the cerebral spinal fluid
      through diffusion and flow of molecules, like neurotransmitters and extracellular
      vesicles. The integration of synaptic and volume transmission takes place through
      allosteric receptor-receptor interactions in heteroreceptor complexes. These
      heterocomplexes represent major integrator centres in the plasma membrane and
      their protomers act as moonlighting proteins undergoing dynamic changes and their
      structure and function. In fact, we propose that the molecular bases of learning
      and memory can be based on the reorganization of multiples homo and
      heteroreceptor complexes into novel assembles in the post-junctional membranes of
      synapses. 

PMID- 27651761
TI  - Potassium channel blockers restore axonal conduction in CNS trauma and diseases.

PMID- 27651762
TI  - Ghrelin is the metabolic link connecting calorie restriction to neuroprotection.

PMID- 27651764
TI  - Skeletal muscle conditioning may be an effective rehabilitation intervention
      preceding functional electrical stimulation cycling.

PMID- 27651763
TI  - Cell-specific mineralocorticoid receptors: future therapeutic targets for stroke?

PMID- 27651765
TI  - Lithium: from mood stabilizer to putative cognitive enhancer.

PMID- 27651766
TI  - Treating spinal cord injury via sustained drug delivery from calcium phosphate
      coatings.

PMID- 27651767
TI  - Beyond reproduction: the role of progesterone in neuropathic pain after spinal
      cord injury.

PMID- 27651769
TI  - Melanopsin expression is an indicator of the well-being of melanopsin-expressing
      retinal ganglion cells but not of their viability.

PMID- 27651768
TI  - Differing roles for parvalbumin neurons after nerve injury.

PMID- 27651770
TI  - Calcium channel inhibition-mediated axonal stabilization improves axonal
      regeneration after optic nerve crush.

PMID- 27651771
TI  - A possible therapeutic potential of quercetin through inhibition of MU-calpain in
      hypoxia induced neuronal injury: a molecular dynamics simulation study.
AB  - The neuroprotective property of quercetin is well reported against hypoxia and
      ischemia in past studies. This property of quercetin lies in its antioxidant
      property with blood-brain barrier permeability and anti-inflammatory
      capabilities. u-Calpain, a calcium ion activated intracellular cysteine protease
      causes serious cellular insult, leading to cell death in various pathological
      conditions including hypoxia and ischemic stroke. Hence, it may be considered as
      a potential drug target for the treatment of hypoxia induced neuronal injury. As
      the inhibitory property of u-calpain is yet to be explored in details, hence, in
      the present study, we investigated the interaction of quercetin with u-calpain
      through a molecular dynamics simulation study as a tool through clarifying the
      molecular mechanism of such inhibition and determining the probable sites and
      modes of quercetin interaction with the u-calpain catalytic domain. In addition,
      we also investigated the structure-activity relationship of quercetin with MU
      calpain. Affinity binding of quercetin with u-calpain had a value of -28.73
      kJ/mol and a Ki value of 35.87 uM that may be a probable reason to lead to
      altered functioning of u-calpain. Hence, quercetin was found to be an inhibitor
      of u-calpain which might have a possible therapeutic role in hypoxic injury. 

PMID- 27651773
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in the penumbra aggravates
      secondary damage in rats with traumatic brain injury.
AB  - Neuronal apoptosis is mediated by intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways such
      as the membrane-mediated, mitochondrial, and endoplasmic reticulum stress
      pathways. Few studies have examined the endoplasmic reticulum-mediated apoptosis
      pathway in the penumbra after traumatic brain injury, and it remains unclear
      whether endoplasmic reticulum stress can activate the caspase-12-dependent
      apoptotic pathway in the traumatic penumbra. Here, we established rat models of
      fluid percussion-induced traumatic brain injury and found that protein expression
      of caspase-12, caspase-3 and the endoplasmic reticulum stress marker 78 kDa
      glucose-regulated protein increased in the traumatic penumbra 6 hours after
      injury and peaked at 24 hours. Furthermore, numbers of terminal deoxynucleotidyl
      transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling-positive cells in the traumatic
      penumbra also reached peak levels 24 hours after injury. These findings suggest
      that caspase-12-mediated endoplasmic reticulum-related apoptosis is activated in
      the traumatic penumbra, and may play an important role in the pathophysiology of
      secondary brain injury. 

PMID- 27651772
TI  - Glucose metabolism and neurogenesis in the gerbil hippocampus after transient
      forebrain ischemia.
AB  - Recent evidence exists that glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) plays an important role
      in the energy metabolism in the brain. Most previous studies have been conducted
      using focal or hypoxic ischemia models and have focused on changes in GLUT3
      expression based on protein and mRNA levels rather than tissue levels. In the
      present study, we observed change in GLUT3 immunoreactivity in the adult gerbil
      hippocampus at various time points after 5 minutes of transient forebrain
      ischemia. In the sham-operated group, GLUT3 immunoreactivity in the hippocampal
      CA1 region was weak, in the pyramidal cells of the CA1 region increased in a time
      dependent fashion 24 hours after ischemia, and in the hippocampal CA1 region
      decreased significantly between 2 and 5 days after ischemia, with high level of
      GLUT3 immunoreactivity observed in the CA1 region 10 days after ischemia. In a
      double immunofluorescence study using GLUT3 and glial-fibrillary acidic protein
      (GFAP), we observed strong GLUT3 immunoreactivity in the astrocytes. GLUT3
      immunoreactivity increased after ischemia and peaked 7 days in the dentate gyrus
      after ischemia/reperfusion. In a double immunofluorescence study using GLUT3 and
      doublecortin (DCX), we observed low level of GLUT3 immunoreactivity in the
      differentiated neuroblasts of the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus after
      ischemia. GLUT3 immunoreactivity in the sham-operated group was mainly detected
      in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. These results suggest that the
      increase in GLUT3 immunoreactivity may be a compensatory mechanism to modulate
      glucose level in the hippocampal CA1 region and to promote adult neurogenesis in
      the dentate gyrus. 

PMID- 27651774
TI  - Safety of different acupuncture manipulations for posterior circulation ischemia
      with vertigo.
AB  - Acupuncture at Fengchi (GB20) in the posterior neck improves vertigo. However,
      subarachnoid hemorrhage and spinal epidural hematoma have been reported to occur
      after acupuncture in the posterior neck. Therefore, in the present study, we
      assessed the safety of acupuncture at Fengchi. Laboratory tests and adverse event
      reports were used to evaluate the safety of different acupuncture manipulations
      for the treatment of posterior circulation ischemia with vertigo. A total of 136
      patients were randomly assigned to four groups. Verum acupuncture was conducted
      with different needle insertion directions (contralateral paropia or prominentia
      laryngea) and different needle twisting frequencies (60 or 120 times/minute) at
      Fengchi and matching acupoints (for example, Zhongwan [CV12], Qihai [CV6],
      Zusanli [ST36], and Fenglong [ST40]). The patients received 14 treatments over 3
      4 weeks. Routine blood analysis, hepatic and renal function tests, urine and
      feces tests and electrocardiography were performed before the first treatment
      session and after the final session. Adverse events were recorded after every
      session. Of the 136 patients, 120 completed the study. There were no significant
      differences between pretreatment and posttreatment test results in any of the
      groups. Only five patients suffered from minor adverse events (needling pain,
      slight hematoma and transient chest tightness). No serious adverse events were
      found. Our results indicate that a 14-session course of needling at Fengchi is
      relatively safe for treating posterior circulation ischemia with vertigo. 

PMID- 27651775
TI  - Difference in cortical activation during use of volar and dorsal hand splints: a
      functional magnetic resonance imaging study.
AB  - There have been no studies reported on the difference in cortical activation
      during use of volar and dorsal hand splints. We attempted to investigate the
      difference in cortical activation in the somatosensory cortical area during use
      of volar and dorsal hand splints by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
      We recruited eight healthy volunteers. fMRI was performed while subjects who were
      fitted with volar or dorsal hand splints performed grasp-release movements.
      Regions of interest were placed on the primary motor cortex (M1), primary
      somatosensory cortex (S1), posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and secondary
      somatosensory cortex (S2). Results of group analysis of fMRI data showed that the
      total numbers of activated voxels in all ROIs were significantly higher during
      use of volar hand splint (3,376) compared with that (1,416) during use of dorsal
      hand splint. In each ROI, use of volar hand splint induced greater activation in
      all ROIs (M1: 1,748, S1: 1,455, PPC: 23, and S2: 150) compared with use of dorsal
      hand splint (M1: 783, S1: 625, PPC: 0, and S2: 8). The peak activated value was
      also higher during use of volar hand splint (t-value: 17.29) compared with that
      during use of dorsal hand splint (t-value: 13.11). Taken together, use of volar
      hand splint induced greater cortical activation relevant to somatosensory
      function than use of dorsal hand splint. This result would be important for the
      physiatrist and therapist to apply appropriate somatosensory input in patients
      with brain injury. 

PMID- 27651776
TI  - Dynamic expression of nerve growth factor and its receptor TrkA after
      subarachnoid hemorrhage in rat brain.
AB  - Delayed ischemic neurologic deficit after subarachnoid hemorrhage results from
      loss of neural cells. Nerve growth factor and its receptor TrkA may promote
      regeneration of neural cells, but their expression after subarachnoid hemorrhage
      remains unclear. In the present study, a rat model of subarachnoid hemorrhage was
      established using two injections of autologous blood into the cistern magna.
      Immunohisto-chemical staining suggested that the expression of nerve growth
      factor and TrkA in the cerebral cortex and brainstem increased at 6 hours, peaked
      at 12 hours and decreased 1 day after induction of subarachnoid hemorrhage,
      whereas the expression in the hippocampus increased at 6 hours, peaked on day 1,
      and decreased 3 days later. Compared with those for the rats in the sham and
      saline groups, neurobehavioral scores decreased significantly 12 hours and 3 days
      after subarachnoid hemorrhage (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the
      expression of nerve growth factor and its receptor TrkA is dynamically changed in
      the rat brain and may thus participate in neuronal survival and nerve
      regeneration after subarachnoid hemorrhage. 

PMID- 27651777
TI  - Protective mechanisms of microRNA-27a against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced
      injuries in hippocampal neurons.
AB  - Hypoxic injuries during fetal distress have been shown to cause reduced
      expression of microRNA-27a (miR-27a), which regulates sensitivity of cortical
      neurons to apoptosis. We hypothesized that miR-27a overexpression attenuates
      hypoxia- and ischemia-induced neuronal apoptosis by regulating FOXO1, an
      important transcription factor for regulating the oxidative stress response. miR
      27a mimic was transfected into hippocampal neurons to overexpress miR-27a.
      Results showed increased hippocampal neuronal viability and decreased caspase-3
      expression. The luciferase reporter gene system demonstrated that miR-27a
      directly binded to FOXO1 3'UTR in hippocampal neurons and inhibited FOXO1
      expression, suggesting that FOXO1 was the target gene for miR-27a. These findings
      confirm that miR-27a protects hippocampal neurons against oxygen-glucose
      deprivation-induced injuries. The mechanism might be mediated by modulation of
      FOXO1 and apoptosis-related gene caspase-3 expression. 

PMID- 27651778
TI  - miRNA targeted signaling pathway in the early stage of denervated fast and slow
      muscle atrophy.
AB  - Denervation often results in skeletal muscle atrophy. Different mechanisms seem
      to be involved in the determination between denervated slow and fast skeletal
      muscle atrophy. At the epigenetic level, miRNAs are thought to be highly involved
      in the pathophysiological progress of denervated muscles. We used miRNA
      microarrays to determine miRNA expression profiles from a typical slow muscle
      (soleus muscle) and a typical fast muscle (tibialis anterior muscle) at an early
      denervation stage in a rat model. Results showed that miR-206, miR-195, miR-23a,
      and miR-30e might be key factors in the transformation process from slow to fast
      muscle in denervated slow muscles. Additionally, certain miRNA molecules (miR
      214, miR-221, miR-222, miR-152, miR-320, and Let-7e) could be key regulatory
      factors in the denervated atrophy process involved in fast muscle. Analysis of
      signaling pathway networks revealed the miRNA molecules that were responsible for
      regulating certain signaling pathways, which were the final targets (e.g., p38
      MAPK pathway; Pax3/Pax7 regulates Utrophin and follistatin by HDAC4;
      IGF1/PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway regulates atrogin-1 and MuRF1 expression via FoxO
      phosphorylation). Our results provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of
      denervated skeletal muscle pathophysiology. 

PMID- 27651779
TI  - Curcumin upregulates S100 expression and improves regeneration of the sciatic
      nerve following its complete amputation in mice.
AB  - The repair of peripheral nerve injury after complete amputation is difficult, and
      even with anastomosis, the rapid recovery of nerve function remains challenging.
      Curcumin, extracted from plants of the genus Curcuma, has been shown to have anti
      oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and to improve sciatic nerve crush
      injury in rats. Here, we determined whether curcumin had neuroprotective effects
      following complete peripheral nerve amputation injury. BALB/c mice underwent
      complete sciatic nerve amputation, followed by an immediate epineurium
      anastomosis. Mice were intragastrically administered curcumin at doses of 40
      (high), 20 (moderate), and 10 mg/kg/d (low) for 1 week. We found that myelin in
      the mice of the high- and moderate-dose curcumin groups appeared with regular
      shape, uniform thickness, clear boundary, and little hyperplasia surrounding the
      myelin. High and moderate doses of curcumin markedly improved both action
      potential amplitude of the sciatic nerves and the conduction velocity of the
      corresponding motor neurons, and upregulated mRNA and protein expression of S100,
      a marker for Schwann cell proliferation, in L4-6 spinal cord segments. These
      results suggest that curcumin is effective in promoting the repair of complete
      sciatic nerve amputation injury and that the underlying mechanism may be
      associated with upregulation of S100 expression. 

PMID- 27651781
TI  - Acellular allogeneic nerve grafting combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem
      cell transplantation for the repair of long-segment sciatic nerve defects:
      biomechanics and validation of mathematical models.
AB  - We hypothesized that a chemically extracted acellular allogeneic nerve graft used
      in combination with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation would be an
      effective treatment for long-segment sciatic nerve defects. To test this, we
      established rabbit models of 30 mm sciatic nerve defects, and treated them using
      either an autograft or a chemically decellularized allogeneic nerve graft with or
      without simultaneous transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. We
      compared the tensile properties, electrophysiological function and morphology of
      the damaged nerve in each group. Sciatic nerves repaired by the allogeneic nerve
      graft combined with stem cell transplantation showed better recovery than those
      repaired by the acellular allogeneic nerve graft alone, and produced similar
      results to those observed with the autograft. These findings confirm that a
      chemically extracted acellular allogeneic nerve graft combined with
      transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells is an effective method of
      repairing long-segment sciatic nerve defects. 

PMID- 27651780
TI  - Antioxidative mechanism of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides promotes repair and
      regeneration following cavernous nerve injury.
AB  - Polysaccharides extracted from Lycium barbarum exhibit antioxidant properties. We
      hypothesized that these polysaccharides resist oxidative stress-induced neuronal
      damage following cavernous nerve injury. In this study, rat models were
      intragastrically administered Lycium barbarum polysaccharides for 2 weeks at 1,
      7, and 14 days after cavernous nerve injury. Serum superoxide dismutase and
      glutathione peroxidase activities significantly increased at 1 and 2 weeks post
      injury. Serum malondialdehyde levels decreased at 2 and 4 weeks. At 12 weeks,
      peak intracavernous pressure, the number of myelinated axons and nicotinamide
      adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase-positive nerve fibers, levels of
      phospho-endothelial nitric oxide synthase protein and 3-nitrotyrosine were higher
      in rats administered at 1 day post-injury compared with rats administered at 7
      and 14 days post-injury. These findings suggest that application of Lycium
      barbarum polysaccharides following cavernous nerve crush injury effectively
      promotes nerve regeneration and erectile functional recovery. This
      neuroregenerative effect was most effective in rats orally administered Lycium
      barbarum polysaccharides at 1 day after cavernous nerve crush injury. 

PMID- 27651782
TI  - Rebuilding motor function of the spinal cord based on functional electrical
      stimulation.
AB  - Rebuilding the damaged motor function caused by spinal cord injury is one of the
      most serious challenges in clinical neuroscience. The function of the neural
      pathway under the damaged sites can be rebuilt using functional electrical
      stimulation technology. In this study, the locations of motor function sites in
      the lumbosacral spinal cord were determined with functional electrical
      stimulation technology. A three-dimensional map of the lumbosacral spinal cord
      comprising the relationship between the motor function sites and the
      corresponding muscle was drawn. Based on the individual experimental parameters
      and normalized coordinates of the motor function sites, the motor function sites
      that control a certain muscle were calculated. Phasing pulse sequences were
      delivered to the determined motor function sites in the spinal cord and hip
      extension, hip flexion, ankle plantarflexion, and ankle dorsiflexion movements
      were successfully achieved. The results show that the map of the spinal cord
      motor function sites was valid. This map can provide guidance for the selection
      of electrical stimulation sites during the rebuilding of motor function after
      spinal cord injury. 

PMID- 27651783
TI  - Association between chromosomal aberration of COX8C and tethered spinal cord
      syndrome: array-based comparative genomic hybridization analysis.
AB  - Copy number variations have been found in patients with neural tube
      abnormalities. In this study, we performed genome-wide screening using high
      resolution array-based comparative genomic hybridization in three children with
      tethered spinal cord syndrome and two healthy parents. Of eight copy number
      variations, four were non-polymorphic. These non-polymorphic copy number
      variations were associated with Angelman and Prader-Willi syndromes, and
      microcephaly. Gene function enrichment analysis revealed that COX8C, a gene
      associated with metabolic disorders of the nervous system, was located in the
      copy number variation region of Patient 1. Our results indicate that array-based
      comparative genomic hybridization can be used to diagnose tethered spinal cord
      syndrome. Our results may help determine the pathogenesis of tethered spinal cord
      syndrome and prevent occurrence of this disease. 

PMID- 27651784
TI  - No synergism between bis(propyl)-cognitin and rasagiline on protecting
      dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease mice.
AB  - Rasagiline, a monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor, and bis(propyl)-cognitin (B3C), a
      novel dimer are reported to be neuroprotective. Herein, the synergistical
      neuroprotection produced by rasagiline and B3C was investigated in 1-methyl-4
      phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mice of Parkinsonism. By using
      neurobehavioural tests, high-performance liquid chromatography and western blot
      assay, we showed that B3C at 0.3 mg/kg, rasagiline at 0.02 mg/kg, as well as co
      treatment with B3C and rasagiline prevented MPTP-induced behavioural abnormities,
      increased the concentrations of dopamine and its metabolites in the striatum, and
      up-regulated the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra.
      However, the neuroprotective effects of co-treatment were not significantly
      improved when compared with those of B3C or rasagiline alone. Collectively, we
      have demonstrated that B3C at 0.3 mg/kg and rasagline at 0.02 mg/kg could not
      produce synergistic neuroprotective effects. 

PMID- 27651785
TI  - Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu Decoction for treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a meta
      analysis of 16 randomized controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis was performed to systematically assess the efficacy
      and safety of the Chinese herbal medicine Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu Decoction (HGWWD)
      for treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy. DATA SOURCES: Six electronic
      databases, including the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE database, Chinese Biomedical
      Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Science and
      Technique Journals Database, and the Wanfang Database, were searched on the
      internet for randomized controlled trials published up until 1 December 2015. The
      search terms included "Chinese herbal medicine", "diabetic peripheral neuropathy"
      and "randomized controlled trials" in Chinese and in English. DATA SELECTION: We
      included randomized controlled trials using HGWWD/modified HGWWD for the
      treatment group, without restriction for the control group. We assessed
      literature quality in accordance with the Cochrane Review Handbook. A random or a
      fixed effects model was used to analyze outcomes using RevMan 5.2 software.
      OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were changes in symptoms and nerve
      conduction velocities. The secondary outcomes were fasting blood glucose and
      hemorheological indexes. RESULTS: Sixteen randomized controlled trials, with a
      total of 1,173 patients, were included. Meta-analysis revealed that the efficacy
      of HGWWD for diabetic peripheral neuropathy was significantly superior compared
      with the control treatment (i.e., control group) (risk ratio = 0.36, 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 0.29-0.46, Z =8.33, P < 0.00001) Compared with the
      control group, there was an increase in median motor nerve conduction velocity
      (mean difference (MD) = 3.46, 95%CI: 1.88-5.04, Z = 4.30, P < 0.01) and median
      sensory nerve conduction velocity (MD = 3.30, 95%CI: 2.04-4.56, Z = 5.14, P <
      0.01). There was also an increase in peroneal motor nerve conduction velocity (MD
      = 3.22, 95%CI: 2.45-3.98, Z = 8.21, P < 0.01) and peroneal sensory nerve
      conduction velocity (MD = 3.05, 95%CI: 2.01-4.09, Z = 5.75, P < 0.01) in the
      treatment groups. No significant difference in fasting blood glucose was found
      between the treatment groups and the control groups (MD = -0.12, 95%CI: -0.42
      0.19, Z = 0.76, P = 0.45). Plasma viscosity was significantly decreased after
      treatment (MD = -0.11, 95%CI: -0.21 to -0.02, Z = 2.30, P = 0.02). No significant
      difference in fibrinogen was detectable (MD = -0.53, 95%CI: -1.28-0.22, Z = 1.38,
      P = 0.17). Four trials reported that treatment groups experienced no adverse
      reactions. Adverse events were not mentioned in the other 12 trials. No trial
      reported the incidence of complications, quality of life outcomes, or health
      economics. CONCLUSION: HGWWD treatment improves diabetic neurologic symptoms and
      ameliorates nerve conduction velocities. Our study suggests that HGWWD may have
      significant therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of diabetic peripheral
      neuropathy. However, the methodological quality of the randomized controlled
      trials was generally low. Larger and better-designed randomized controlled trials
      are required to more reliably assess the clinical effectiveness of HGWWD.

PMID- 27651786
TI  - Secondary parkinsonism induced by hydrocephalus after subarachnoid and
      intraventricular hemorrhage.

PMID- 27651787
TI  - Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Meta
      Analysis.
AB  - A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of omega-3 fatty acid
      supplementation (n-3 PUFAs) in lowering liver fat, liver enzyme (alanine
      aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and gamma
      glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels), and blood lipids (triglyceride (TG), total
      cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low density lipoprotein
      (LDL)) in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH). Methods. MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, Science Citation Index (ISI Web of
      Science), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and Chinese National
      Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for relevant randomized controlled
      trials on the effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in patients with
      NAFLD from inception to May 2015. Ten studies were included in this meta
      analysis. Results. 577 cases of NAFLD/NASH in ten randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that benefit
      changes in liver fat favored PUFA treatment, and it was also beneficial for GGT,
      but it was not significant on ALT, AST, TC, and LDL. Conclusions. In this meta
      analysis, omega-3 PUFAs improved liver fat, GGT, TG, and HDL in patients with
      NAFLD/NASH. Therefore, n-3 PUFAs may be a new treatment option for NAFLD. 

PMID- 27651788
TI  - Influence of Rectal Decompression on Abdominal Symptoms and Anorectal Physiology
      following Colonoscopy in Healthy Adults.
AB  - Background. Postcolonoscopy abdominal discomfort and bloating are common. The aim
      of this study was to evaluate whether rectal decompression improved distension
      induced abdominal symptoms and influenced anorectal physiology. Methods. In 15
      healthy subjects, rectal distension was achieved by direct air inflation into the
      rectum by colonoscopy. Placement of rectal and sham tube was then performed in
      each subject on a separate occasion. The anorectal parameters and distension
      induced abdominal symptoms were recorded. Results. Anorectal parameters were
      similar between placements of rectal tube and sham tube except for greater rectal
      compliance with rectal tube than with sham tube (P < 0.05). Abdominal pain and
      bloating were significantly reduced by rectal tube and sham tube at 1 minute
      (both P < 0.05) and 3 minutes (both P < 0.05). After placement of rectal tube,
      abdominal pain at 3 minutes correlated positively with first sensation (r = 0.53,
      P = 0.04), and bloating at 3 minutes also correlated positively with urge
      sensation (r = 0.55, P = 0.03). Conclusions. Rectal decompression with either
      rectal or sham tube improved distension-induced abdominal symptoms. Our study
      indicates that the mechanisms that improved abdominal symptoms by rectal
      decompression might be mediated by a central pathway instead of a peripheral
      mechanism. 

PMID- 27651789
TI  - D-Dimer and Carcinoembryonic Antigen Levels: Useful Indicators for Predicting the
      Tumor Stage and Postoperative Survival.
AB  - The purpose of this prospective study is to determine the preoperative plasma D
      dimer and serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) levels of patients scheduled for
      curative surgical resection for colorectal cancer and to evaluate the
      significance of these levels on the prognosis and postoperative survival rate.
      One hundred sixty-five patients with colorectal cancer, who were scheduled to
      have elective resection between January 2008 and January 2011, were included in
      the study. A significant increase was observed in the D-dimer levels,
      particularly in poorly differentiated tumors. The distance covered by the tumor
      inside the walls of the colon and rectum (T-stage) was significant for both D
      dimer and CEA levels. As the T-stage increased, there was also a significant
      increase in the D-dimer and CEA levels. A high significance and correlation level
      was detected between the TNM staging and both D-dimer and CEA. A significant
      relationship was found between the advanced tumor stage and short postoperative
      survival rate of patients with colorectal cancer. Therefore, the analysis of
      preoperative D-dimer and CEA levels can be useful in predicting the stage and
      differentiation of the tumor and the postoperative survival rate. 

PMID- 27651790
TI  - Tea and Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection.
AB  - Background and Aims. Studies have shown effects of diet on gut microbiota. We
      aimed to identify foods associated with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection
      (CDI). Methods. In this cross-sectional survey, consecutive patients diagnosed
      with CDI were identified by electronic medical records. Colitis symptoms and
      positive Clostridium difficile assay were confirmed. Health-care onset-health
      care facility associated CDI was excluded. Food surveys were mailed to 411
      patients. Survey responses served as the primary outcome measure. Spearman's rank
      correlation identified risk factors for CDI recurrence. Results. Surveys were
      returned by 68 patients. Nineteen patients experienced CDI recurrence. Compared
      to patients without CDI recurrence, patients with CDI recurrence had more
      antibiotics prescribed preceding their infection (p = 0.003). Greater numbers of
      the latter also listed tea (p = 0.002), coffee (p = 0.013), and eggs (p = 0.013),
      on their 24-hour food recall. Logistic regression identified tea as the only food
      risk factor for CDI recurrence (adjusted OR: 5.71; 95% CI: 1.26-25.89).
      Conclusion. The present results indicate a possible association between tea and
      CDI recurrence. Additional studies are needed to characterize and confirm this
      association. 

PMID- 27651791
TI  - Prebiotic Effects of Xylooligosaccharides on the Improvement of Microbiota
      Balance in Human Subjects.
AB  - It has been indicated that probiotics can be nourished by consuming prebiotics in
      order to function more efficiently, allowing the bacteria to stay within a
      healthy balance. In this study, we investigated the effects of
      xylooligosaccharides- (XOS-) enriched rice porridge consumption on the ecosystem
      in the intestinal tract of human subjects. Twenty healthy subjects participated
      in this 6-week trial, in which 10 subjects received XOS-enriched rice porridge
      while the others received placebo rice porridge. Fecal samples were collected at
      the end of weeks 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 for microorganism examination. The results
      showed that 6-week daily ingestion of the XOS-enriched rice porridge induced
      significant increases in fecal bacterial counts of Lactobacillus spp. and
      Bifidobacterium spp., as well as decreases in Clostridium perfringens without
      changing the total anaerobic bacterial counts, compared to that of placebo rice
      porridge. However, fluctuations in the counts of coliforms were observed in both
      groups during the 6-week intervention. In conclusion, the intestinal microbiota
      balance was improved after daily consumption of 150 g of rice porridge containing
      XOS for 6 weeks, demonstrating the prebiotic potential of XOS incorporated into
      foods. This also indicates the effectiveness of XOS as a functional ingredient in
      relation to its role as a prebiotic compound. 

PMID- 27651792
TI  - Research Advance in Intestinal Mucosal Barrier and Pathogenesis of Crohn's
      Disease.
AB  - To date, the etiology and pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD) have not been
      fully elucidated. It is widely accepted that genetic, immune, and environment
      factors are closely related to the development of CD. As an important defensive
      line for human body against the environment, intestinal mucosa is able to protect
      the homeostasis of gut bacteria and alleviate the intestinal inflammatory and
      immune response. It is evident that the dysfunction of intestinal mucosa barriers
      plays a crucial role in CD initiation and development. Yet researches are
      insufficient on intestinal mucosal barrier's action in the prevention of CD
      onset. This article summarizes the research advances about the correlations
      between the disorders of intestinal mucosal barriers and CD. 

PMID- 27651793
TI  - Early Vascular Damage in Young Women with DM-1 and Its Relation to Anti-Mullerian
      Hormone: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AB  - Vascular function is suggested to be associated with ovarian reserve, but the
      relationship with microvascular function has never been studied. In this cross
      sectional pilot study, the relationship of microvascular damage markers with AMH
      was studied in premenopausal women. Twenty-two regularly cycling women with type
      1 diabetes (DM-1) and a reference group of 20 healthy regularly cycling women
      were included, from whom blood was drawn in the early follicular phase of the
      menstrual cycle. The main outcome was the correlation between circulating
      progenitor cells (CPCs), markers for early vascular damage, and AMH, a marker for
      ovarian reserve. Secondary endpoints for early vascular impairment were
      circulating angiogenic cells and additional biomarkers. Median AMH levels were
      2.2 ug/L [1.2-3.5] in the DM-1 group and 2.1 ug/L [0.85-3.8] in the reference
      group. CPCs were significantly decreased in women with DM-1; 1204 +/- 537
      CD34+/CD45dim cells were counted in the DM-1 group, compared to 2264 +/- 1124 in
      the reference group. CPCs and other markers of early vascular damage were not
      correlated with AMH levels in a multivariable analysis. These results underscore
      previous findings of early vascular damage in DM-1 and suggest that there may not
      be a relationship between vascular function and ovarian reserve. Trial
      Registration. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01665716. 

PMID- 27651795
TI  - Mesenchymal Stem Cells Loaded with p5, Derived from CDK5 Activator p35, Inhibit
      Calcium-Induced CDK5 Activation in Endothelial Cells.
AB  - The potential use of stem cells as therapeutics in disease has gained momentum
      over the last few years and recently phase-I clinical trials have shown
      favourable results in treatment of a small cohort of acute stroke patients.
      Similarly, they have been used in preclinical models drug-loaded for the
      effective treatment of solid tumours. Here we have characterized uptake and
      release of a novel p5-cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) inhibitory peptide by
      mesenchymal stem cells and showed release levels capable of blocking aberrant
      cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) signaling pathways, through phosphorylation of
      cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) and p53. These pathways represent the major
      acute mechanism stimulating apoptosis after stroke and hence its modulation could
      benefit patient recovery. This work indicates a potential use for drug-loaded
      stem cells as delivery vehicles for stroke therapeutics and in addition as
      anticancer receptacles particularly, if a targeting and/or holding mechanism can
      be defined. 

PMID- 27651794
TI  - How to Achieve High-Quality Oocytes? The Key Role of Myo-Inositol and Melatonin.
AB  - Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have experienced growing interest from
      infertile patients seeking to become pregnant. The quality of oocytes plays a
      pivotal role in determining ART outcomes. Although many authors have studied how
      supplementation therapy may affect this important parameter for both in vivo and
      in vitro models, data are not yet robust enough to support firm conclusions.
      Regarding this last point, in this review our objective has been to evaluate the
      state of the art regarding supplementation with melatonin and myo-inositol in
      order to improve oocyte quality during ART. On the one hand, the antioxidant
      effect of melatonin is well known as being useful during ovulation and oocyte
      incubation, two occasions with a high level of oxidative stress. On the other
      hand, myo-inositol is important in cellular structure and in cellular signaling
      pathways. Our analysis suggests that the use of these two molecules may
      significantly improve the quality of oocytes and the quality of embryos:
      melatonin seems to raise the fertilization rate, and myo-inositol improves the
      pregnancy rate, although all published studies do not fully agree with these
      conclusions. However, previous studies have demonstrated that cotreatment
      improves these results compared with melatonin alone or myo-inositol alone. We
      recommend that further studies be performed in order to confirm these positive
      outcomes in routine ART treatment. 

PMID- 27651796
TI  - Phenotypic, Functional, and Safety Control at Preimplantation Phase of MSC-Based
      Therapy.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) exhibit enormous heterogeneity which can modify
      their regenerative properties and therefore influence therapeutic effectiveness
      as well as safety of these cells transplantation. In addition the high phenotypic
      plasticity of MSC population makes it enormously sensitive to any changes in
      environmental properties including fluctuation in oxygen concentration. We have
      shown here that lowering oxygen level far below air atmosphere has a beneficial
      impact on various parameters characteristic for umbilical cord Wharton Jelly- (WJ
      ) MSC and adipose tissue- (AD-) derived MSC cultures. This includes their
      cellular composition, rate of proliferation, and maintenance of stemness
      properties together with commitment to cell differentiation toward mesodermal and
      neural lineages. In addition, the culture genomic stability increased
      significantly during long-term cell passaging and eventually protected cells
      against spontaneous transformation. Also by comparing of two routinely used
      methods of MSCs isolation (mechanical versus enzymatic) we have found substantial
      divergence arising between cell culture properties increasing along the time of
      cultivation in vitro. Thus, in this paper we highlight the urgent necessity to
      develop the more sensitive and selective methods for prediction and control cells
      fate and functioning during the time of growth in vitro. 

PMID- 27651797
TI  - Establishment and Characterization of a Human Small Cell Osteosarcoma Cancer Stem
      Cell Line: A New Possible In Vitro Model for Discovering Small Cell Osteosarcoma
      Biology.
AB  - Osteosarcoma (OSA) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor, usually
      arising in the long bones of children and young adults. There are different
      subtypes of OSA, among which we find the conventional OS (also called medullary
      or central osteosarcoma) which has a high grade of malignancy and an incidence of
      80%. There are different subtypes of high grade OS like chondroblastic,
      fibroblastic, osteoblastic, telangiectatic, and the small cell osteosarcoma
      (SCO). In this study, for the first time, we have isolated, established, and
      characterized a cell line of cancer stem cells (CSCs) from a human SCO. First of
      all, we have established a primary finite cell line of SCO, from which we have
      isolated the CSCs by the sphere formation assay. We have proved their in vitro
      mesenchymal and embryonic stem phenotype. Additionally, we have showed their
      neoplastic phenotype, since the original tumor bulk is a high grade osteosarcoma.
      This research demonstrates the existence of CSCs also in human primary SCO and
      highlights the establishment of this particular stabilized cancer stem cell line.
      This will represent a first step into the study of the biology of these cells to
      discover new molecular targets molecules for new incisive therapeutic strategies
      against this highly aggressive OSA. 

PMID- 27651798
TI  - FTIR Spectroscopic and Molecular Analysis during Differentiation of Pluripotent
      Stem Cells to Pancreatic Cells.
AB  - Some of the greatest challenges in stem cells (SCs) biology and regenerative
      medicine are differentiation control of SCs and ensuring the purity of
      differentiated cells. In this work, we differentiated mouse pluripotent stem
      cells (mPSCs) toward pancreatic cells characterizing this differentiation process
      by molecular and spectroscopic technics. Both mPSCs and Differentiated Pancreatic
      Cells (DPCs) were subjected to a genetic, phenotypic, and biochemical analysis by
      real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), immunocytochemistry, and Fourier Transform
      Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Cultured mPCSs expressed pluripotent genes and
      proteins (Nanog and SOX2). DPCs expressed endodermal genes (SOX17 and Pdx1) at
      day 11, an inductor gene of embryonic pancreas development (Pdx1) at day 17 and
      pancreas genes and proteins (Insulin and Glucagon) at day 21 of differentiation.
      Likewise, FTIR spectra of mPSCs and DPCs at different maturation stages (11, 17,
      and 21 days) were obtained and showed absorption bands related with different
      types of biomolecules. These FTIR spectra exhibited significant spectral changes
      agreeing with the differentiation process, particularly in proteins and nucleic
      acids bands. In conclusion, the obtained DPCs passed through the chronological
      stages of embryonic pancreas development and FTIR spectra provide a new
      biophysical parameter based on molecular markers indicating the differentiation
      process of mPSCs to specialized cells. 

PMID- 27651800
TI  - Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Relieve Hindlimb Ischemia through
      Enhancing Angiogenesis in Tree Shrews.
AB  - Hindlimb ischemia is still a clinical problem with high morbidity and mortality.
      Patients suffer from consequent rest pain, ulcers, cool limbs, and even
      amputation. Angiogenesis is a promising target for the treatment of ischemic
      limbs, providing extra blood for the ischemic region. In the present study, we
      investigated the role of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs)
      in regulating angiogenesis and relieving hindlimb ischemia. UC-MSCs were isolated
      from the umbilical cord of tree shrews. Angiography results showed that UC-MSCs
      injection significantly promoted angiogenesis in tree shrews. Moreover, the ankle
      brachial index, transcutaneous oxygen pressure, blood perfusion, and
      capillary/muscle fiber ratio were all markedly increased by the application of UC
      MSCs. In addition, the conditioned culture of human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells using medium collected from UC-MSCs showed higher expression of angiogenic
      markers and improved migration ability. In short, the isolated UC-MSCs notably
      contributed to restoring blood supply and alleviating the symptoms of limb
      ischemia through enhancing angiogenesis. 

PMID- 27651801
TI  - Pattern, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcome of Meningitis among HIV-Infected
      Adults Admitted in a Tertiary Hospital in North Western Tanzania: A Cross
      Sectional Study.
AB  - Background. Limited information exists on the etiologies, clinical
      characteristics, and outcomes of meningitis among HIV-infected patients in
      Africa. We conducted a study to determine the etiology, clinical characteristics,
      and outcomes of meningitis among HIV-infected adults. Methods. A prospective
      cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted among HIV-infected patients
      aged >=18 years admitted to the medical wards with symptoms and signs of
      meningitis. Sociodemographic and clinical information were collected using a
      standardized data collection tool. Lumbar puncture was performed to all patients;
      cerebrospinal fluid samples were sent for analysis. Results. Among 60 HIV
      infected adults clinically diagnosed to have meningitis, 55 had CSF profiles
      consistent with meningitis. Of these, 14 (25.5%) had a laboratory-confirmed
      etiology while 41 (74.5%) had no isolate identified. Cryptococcus neoformans was
      the commonest cause of meningitis occurring in 11 (18.3%) of patients followed by
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (6.7%). The in-hospital mortality was 20/55 (36.4%).
      Independent predictors of mortality were low baseline CD4 count and turbid CSF
      appearance. Conclusion. Cryptococcal meningitis is the most prevalent laboratory
      confirmed etiological agent among adult HIV-infected patients with suspected
      meningitis admitted to medical wards in Western Tanzania. Mortality rate in this
      population remains unacceptably high. Improving diagnostic capacity and early
      treatment may help to decrease the mortality rate. 

PMID- 27651799
TI  - Umbilical Cord as Prospective Source for Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Therapy.
AB  - The paper presents current evidence on the properties of human umbilical cord
      derived mesenchymal stem cells, including origin, proliferative potential,
      plasticity, stability of karyotype and phenotype, transcriptome, secretome, and
      immunomodulatory activity. A review of preclinical studies and clinical trials
      using this cell type is performed. Prospects for the use of mesenchymal stem
      cells, derived from the umbilical cord, in cell transplantation are associated
      with the need for specialized biobanking and transplant standardization criteria.

PMID- 27651802
TI  - Factors Associated with Klebsiella Bacteremia and Its Outcome in Under-Five
      Children Admitted with Diarrhea.
AB  - Although Klebsiella bacteremia in children is perceived to be associated with
      fatal consequences, data are scarce on those children presenting with diarrhea.
      We evaluated the factors associated with Klebsiella bacteremia in such children.
      In this retrospective chart analysis, data of all diarrheal children was
      retrieved from electronic medical record system (named as SHEBA) of Dhaka
      Hospital of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
      (icddr,b), from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2012, who had their blood
      culture done. This was a study having a case-control design where comparison of
      clinical and laboratory characteristics was done among children with Klebsiella
      bacteremia (cases = 30) and those without any bacteraemia (controls = 90).
      Controls were selected randomly. The cases more often had fatal outcome (p <
      0.001). In logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for potential
      confounders such as young age, severe dehydration, severe wasting, abnormal
      mentation, hypotension, and fast breathing, the cases were independently
      associated with hospital-acquired infection and positive stool growth (for all, p
      < 0.05). The study highlights the importance of obtaining blood cultures in
      hospitalized children under five years old with diarrheal illness in the presence
      of either hospital-acquired infection or positive stool culture to have better
      outcome. 

PMID- 27651804
TI  - A Survey of Knowledge, Individual Perceived Risk, General Perceived Risk, and
      Behavioral Intentions Regarding Hepatitis B among Students in the Faculty of
      Nursing, Midwifery and Health at Shahrekord Islamic Azad University in 2014.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B is the most common cause of liver disease, and medical
      students are a risk group for the disease given their future occupations.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess of predictors of hepatitis B in
      the Faculty of nursing, midwifery and health at Shahrekord Islamic Azad
      University in 2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was
      conducted with 300 students from the Faculty of nursing, midwifery and health at
      Shahrekord Islamic Azad University. The students answered questionnaires with
      items covering demographic characteristics, individual knowledge, public risk
      perception, perceived personal risk, and behavioral intentions regarding
      hepatitis B. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 18 software. RESULTS: The
      mean knowledge score of the students was 4.77 +/- 1.71, the mean public risk
      perception score was 24.22 +/- 3.44, the mean perceived personal risk score was
      6.51 +/- 1.97, and the mean behavioral intention score was 12.06 +/- 2.97. There
      were significant differences in the mean knowledge scores in terms of gender,
      level of awareness, and level of education. There were also differences in the
      mean behavioral intention scores in terms of gender and field of study, the mean
      perceived personal risk scores in terms of level of education and field of study,
      and the mean public risk perception scores in terms of field of study.
      CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study, it is necessary to implement
      educational intervention in order to allow students to identify risk factors and
      overcome barriers to understanding the implications of the disease in this
      context.

PMID- 27651803
TI  - Evaluating Bone Health in Egyptian Children with Forearm Fractures: A Case
      Control Study.
AB  - Objective. To determine the likelihood of vitamin D deficiency and low bone
      mineral density in Egyptian children with forearm fractures. Methods. A case
      control study of 46 children aged 3 to 10 years with or without forearm
      fractures. Validated questionnaires were used to assess calcium and vitamin D
      intake as well as sun exposure. Serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase,
      and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D were collected. Bone mineral density was evaluated using
      dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results. Compared to the Control group, calcium
      and vitamin D intake was lower in the Cases group (p = 0.03). Cases had higher
      Body Mass Index than Controls, p = 0.01. Children in the Cases group had lower
      mean serum calcium values 8.3 +/- 1.4 compared to 9.3 +/- 1.1 in Controls (p =
      0.01). Alkaline phosphatase was higher in Cases 265 +/- 65.8 than Controls 226 +/
      54.6 (p = 0.03). Vitamin D and bone mineral density scores were significantly
      lower in the Cases group (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Our data shows an increased rate
      of vitamin D deficiency and decreased bone mineral density in Egyptian children
      with forearm fractures. 

PMID- 27651805
TI  - Prevalence of Hepatitis C Among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
      people: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal) account for
      approximately 3% of the Australian population. They have the poorest health,
      economic and social outcomes. Higher notification rates of hepatitis C antibodies
      (anti-HCV) have been reported among Aboriginal compared with non-Aboriginal
      people. The identification of Aboriginal people in national surveillance has some
      weaknesses, with only four of the eight jurisdictions included in national
      reporting. To address some of these limitations, we aim to estimate the pooled
      prevalence of anti-HCV among Aboriginal people in Australia. EVIDENCE
      ACQUISITION: We searched the databases: Pubmed, Web of Science and Informit, and
      the New South Wales and Northern Territory Public Health Bulletins. A study was
      included if it reported the number of Aboriginal people testing positive for anti
      HCV and the number tested for anti-HCV. A meta-analysis by population-group was
      conducted if three or more studies reported a prevalence estimate. Variables
      included: author, year of publication, study design, study period, gender
      (female, male), age, population group (Aboriginal people in prison, Aboriginal
      people who inject drugs), number testing anti-HCV positive, number tested for
      anti-HCV and prevalence (%). Due to a long time period, we separated the studies
      estimating the prevalence anti-HCV among Aboriginal people in prison into two
      time periods, 1994 - 2004 and 2005 - 2012. RESULTS: Overall, 15 studies met our
      inclusion criteria. Among Aboriginal people in prison, the pooled prevalence of
      anti-HCV was 18.1% (95%CI: 6.6 - 29.7). The pooled prevalence among Aboriginal
      people in prison was 25.7% (95%CI: 4.1-47.3) in studies published between 1994 -
      2004 and 14.5% (95%CI: 1.7 - 27.3) in studies published from 2005 - 2012. The
      pooled prevalence of anti-HCV was 58.7% (95%CI: 53.9 - 63.5) among Aboriginal
      people who inject drugs and 2.9% (95%CI: 0.30 - 6.1) among Aboriginal people who
      did not inject drugs, however there was significant heterogeneity (I(2) > 90.0%,
      P < 0.01). There was significant selection bias in the studies as most included
      individuals who inject drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis shows that the overall
      prevalence of anti-HCV was significantly biased towards people who inject drugs;
      resulting in an over-estimation of anti-HCV prevalence among Aboriginal people.
      Our review highlights that unsafe injecting is the main transmission route for
      HCV infection among Aboriginal people in Australia.

PMID- 27651806
TI  - Synthesis and evaluation of LOX inhibitory activity of 2-(1,3-Dioxo-1H
      benzo[de]isoquinolin-2(3H)-yl)-N-phenylacetamide derivatives.
AB  - A family of structurally related LOX enzymes present in human cells which
      catalyse the metabolism of released arachidonic acid from phospholipids by
      inflammatory stimuli, to biologically active mediators. Mainly, expression of
      three types of LOXs occurs in cells, which catalyse the insertion of molecular
      oxygen into the molecule of arachidonic acid at carbon 5, 12, and 15. According
      to this chemical reaction, the LOXs are named 5-, 12-, and 15-LOX, amongst which,
      15-LOX with isoforms 15-LOX-1 and 15-LOX-2 have critical role in neoplastic
      diseases. 15-LOX-1 is overexpressed in some neoplastic conditions. Hence, in this
      research, we focused on the synthesis of naphthalimide analogs as potential 15
      LOX-1 inhibitors. Fortunately, the most of synthesized compounds demonstrated
      remarkable inhibitory potency towards 15-LOX-1 in nanomolar ranges. Naphthalimide
      derivatives could be suggested as potential LOX inhibitors with likely
      applications of anticancer activity. 

PMID- 27651807
TI  - Formulation and in vitro evaluation of a fast-disintegrating/sustained dual
      release bucoadhesive bilayer tablet of captopril for treatment of hypertension
      crises.
AB  - Hypertension crisis is one of the main health problems and its effective
      treatment is of high importance. For this purpose, fast-disintegrating and
      sustained release formulations of captopril, as a drug of choice, were prepared
      using conventional mucoadhesive polymers hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC),
      sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (Na-CMC), hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), Carbopol
      934 (CP934) and sodium alginate (Na-alg). The optimum sustained release
      formulations were selected based on mean dissolution time (MDT). The swellability
      and mucoadhesive properties of selected formulations were assessed and compared.
      A direct relationship between swelling and release rates/adhesiveness of
      sustained release formulations was observed. The results showed that formulations
      containing combination of CP934 and cellulose-based polymers had the highest
      swellability, sustainability and adhesion strength. These formulations prolonged
      drug release up to 8 h showing good fitness to Korsemeyer-Peppas model. Moreover,
      the adopted fast-disintegrating tablet could release up to 100% of drug within 3
      min in oral pH. Finally, a dual fast-disintegrating/sustained release
      bucoadhesive bilayer tablet consisting of optimized formulations was prepared
      releasing 30% of the drug initially within 15 min and the remaining up to 8 h
      which could be considered as an appropriate formulation for the treatment of
      hypertension crises. 

PMID- 27651808
TI  - Comparison of antispasmodic effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Dracocephalum
      kotschyi Boiss. in rat uterus and ileum.
AB  - Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss. is a traditional medicine with antispasmodic
      activities. The objective of this research was to study antispasmodic activities
      of hydroalcoholic extract of D. kotschyi on rat isolated uterus contractions for
      comparison with isolated ileum. Hydroalcoholic extract was obtained from aerial
      part of D. kotschyi using percolation method. A portion of rat ileum or uterus
      was suspended in Tyrode's solution at 37 degrees C and gassed with O2. Effect of
      D. kotschyi extract was assessed on ileum or uterus contractions induced by KCl
      (80 mM), acetylcholine (ACh, 500 nM), electrical field stimulation (EFS) or
      oxytocin (0.0005 IU/mL). The extract of D. kotschyi concentration-dependently
      inhibited ileum responses to KCl (IC50 = 65 +/- 18 MUg/mL), ACh (IC50 = 102 +/-
      18 MUg/mL) and EFS (IC50 = 117 +/- 29 MUg/mL). The extract of D. kotschyi also
      concentration-dependently inhibited uterus responses to KCl (IC50 = 453 +/-
      64MUg/mL), ACh (IC50 = 58 +/- 9 MUg/mL), EFS (IC50 = 22 +/- 3 MUg/mL) as well as
      oxytocin (IC50 = 70 +/- 11 MUg/mL). From this experiment it was concluded that D.
      kotschyi extract possesses antispasmodic activities on both smooth muscle of
      ileum and uterus. In comparison, the extract was more effective inhibitor of ACh
      and EFS responses in rat uterus than on the ileum. On the other hand, the extract
      was a more potent inhibitor of KCl response on rat ileum. However, the extract
      was found to be a potent inhibitor of oxytocin-induced contraction of rat uterus.
      These results indicate that D. kotschyi extract may contain components that might
      be useful lead compounds for prevention of uterus spasm. 

PMID- 27651809
TI  - Effects of topical and systemic administration of Eugenia caryophyllata buds
      essential oil on corneal anesthesia and analgesia.
AB  - Clinical studies suggest that essential oil of Eugenia caryophyllata (Clove) buds
      (EOEC) is efficacious in the treatment of dental pain. In the present study, we
      investigated the analgesic and local anesthetic effects of EOEC and its possible
      mechanisms of action in acute corneal pain in rats. EOEC was extracted by hydro
      distillation in a Clevenger type apparatus from clove buds. The acute corneal
      pain was induced by applying a drop (40 ul) of 5 M NaCl solution on the corneal
      surface, and the numbers of eye wipes were counted during the first 30 s. The
      mechanical sensation of the cornea was evaluated by calibrated Von Frey
      filaments. Systemic administration of EOEC (100 and 200 mg/kg, SC) and morphine
      (2.5 and 5 mg/kg, IP) produced a significant antinociceptive effect in acute
      corneal pain. Pretreatment with naloxone or atropine prevented the EOEC-induced
      analgesia. However, L-arginine and methylene blue did not change the suppressive
      effect of EOEC on corneal pain response. Topical application of EOEC, eugenol and
      lidocaine significantly decreased corneal sensitivity. Combination treatments of
      eugenol (25 ug) with lidocaine (0.5%) and EOEC (50 ug) with lidocaine (0.5%) also
      significantly suppressed corneal sensitivity. Systemic administration of EOEC
      produced analgesia in the acute corneal pain through mechanisms that involved
      both opioidergic and cholinergic systems. In addition, topical instillation of
      EOEC, eugenol, and lidocaine produced local anesthesia in the rat cornea. Sub
      anesthetic doses of EOEC or eugenol produced a significant local anesthetic
      effect when concurrently used with the sub-anesthetic dose of lidocaine. 

PMID- 27651810
TI  - The effect of adenosine A1 receptor agonist and antagonist on p53 and caspase 3,
      8, and 9 expression and apoptosis rate in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.
AB  - Adenosine receptor family especially A1 type is expressed in breast cancer cells
      in which P53 and caspase genes are wild-type. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the correlation between A1 receptor and either cell apoptosis or
      proliferation and also to recognize the relationship between this receptor and
      P53 and the expression of caspases 3, 8 and 9 in MCF-7 cell line. MCF-7 cells
      were treated intermittently with A1 receptor agonist N6-Cyclopentyladenosine
      (CPA) and A1 receptor antagonist 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX) in
      different times to measure the expression of p53, caspase 3, 8 and 9 besides
      apoptosis and survival rate. Our findings indicated that DPCPX significantly
      induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells while the cell viability was reduced specially
      72 h after the treatment and the expression of p53 gene and caspase expressions
      was dramatically up-regulated. On the other hand, CPA increased the cell
      viability and reduced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Our results indicated a
      significant down-regulation in the MCF-7 mRNA expression of p53 and caspases 3, 8
      and 9. Furthermore, DPCPX induced p53 and caspase 3, 8 and 9 expressions that
      consequently promotes the cell apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Therefore, DPCPX can be
      considered as an anti-cancer drug. 

PMID- 27651811
TI  - Chemical constituents and biological activities of two Iranian Cystoseira
      species.
AB  - The marine environment represents approximately half of the global biodiversity
      and could provide unlimited biological resources for the production of
      therapeutic drugs. Marine seaweeds comprise few thousands of species representing
      a considerable part of the littoral biomass. Extracts of the Cystoseira indica
      and Cystoseira merica were subjected to phytochemical and cytotoxicity
      evaluation. The amount of total phenol was determined with Folin-Ciocalteu
      reagent. Cytotoxicity was characterized by IC50 of human cancer cell lines
      including MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), HeLa (cervical carcinoma), and HT
      29 (human colon adenocarcinoma) using Sulforhodamin assay. Antioxidant activities
      were evaluated using 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The analysis
      revealed that tannins, saponins, sterols and triterpenes were the most abundant
      constituents in these Cystoseira species while cyanogenic and cardiac glycosides
      were the least ones. C. indica had the higher content of total phenolics and also
      showed higher antioxidant activity. Cytotoxic results showed that both species
      inhibited cell growth effectively, especially against MCF-7 cell line. The
      present findings suggest potential pharmacological applications of selected
      seaweeds but require further investigation and identification of their bioactive
      principles. 

PMID- 27651812
TI  - The effect of Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark water extract on memory performance in
      alloxan-induced diabetic mice.
AB  - Cinnamomum zeylanicum (cinnamon) has a wide range of beneficial effects including
      mild glucose lowering activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate
      whether cinnamon bark extract has the potential to improve memory performance and
      glucose profiles in diabetic mice. Memory was assessed by the novel object
      recognition task in male Balb/c mice. In this method, the difference between
      exploration time of a familiar object and a novel object was considered as an
      index of memory performance (recognition index, RI). The water extract was
      prepared by boiling cinnamon bark for 15 min. Alloxan induced diabetes in animals
      (serum glucose levels were 322 +/- 7.5 mg/dL), and also impaired memory
      performance (RI= -3.3% +/- 3.3) which differed significantly from control animals
      (RI = 32% +/- 6.5). Although treatment with cinnamon only reduced fasting blood
      glucose level moderately but it improved memory performance remarkably (RI =
      25.5% +/- 5.6). Oxidative stress following administration of cinnamon extract was
      lower in diabetic mice. It was concluded that cinnamon water extract could be a
      useful alternative medicine in diabetic patients' daily regimen which not only
      reduces blood glucose levels but also improves memory performance and lipid
      peroxidation level. 

PMID- 27651813
TI  - Antileishmanial activity of prenylated coumarins isolated from Ferulago angulata
      and Prangos asperula.
AB  - Leishmaniasis has a wide spectrum of signs and symptoms due to infection to
      numbers of Leishmania species and makes enormous mortality and morbidity. There
      are clues of antileishmanial effects of prenylated coumarins. Apiaceae family is
      one of the most important sources of coumarins. Air-dried aerial parts of
      Ferulago angulata and fruits of Prangos asperula were extracted with n-hexane,
      using a soxhlet apparatus. The solvents were evaporated under reduced pressure.
      Column chromatography and crystallization process resulted to isolation of three
      prenylated coumarins. (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance, electron ionization Mass
      and Infrared spectra were used for elucidation of isolated compounds.
      Leishmanicidal activity of isolated coumarins was assessed on Leishmania major
      strain (MRHO/IR/75/ER) for the first time. Suberosin epoxide and suberosin were
      isolated from aerial parts of F. angulata and osthol was extracted from grounded
      fruits of P. asperula. Osthol showed a significant antileishmanial effect on
      promastigotes in early hours of exposure with IC50 of 14.40 ug/mL but suberosin
      epoxide showed only a weak antileishmanial activity. IC50 of osthol and suberosin
      epoxide after 48 h were 10.79 and 54.0 ug/mL, respectively. Suberosin showed no
      remarkable effect in these concentrations. This is the first report on the
      pharmacological activity of suberosin epoxide. Substantial difference between
      efficacies of two isomers, osthol and suberosin remarks the importance of prenyl
      substituent location on C-8. 

PMID- 27651814
TI  - Synthesis and evaluation of the complex-forming ability of hydroxypyranones and
      hydroxypyridinones with Ni (II) as possible inhibitors for urease enzyme in
      Helicobacter pylori.
AB  - The complex-forming ability of 2-methyl-3-hydroxypyran-4-one (1a), 2-ethyl-3
      hydroxypyran-4-one (1b), 1,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypyridin-4-one (4a) and 1-ethyl-2
      methyl-3-hydroxypyridin-4-one (4b) with nickel(Ni(II)) were characterized by
      infrared, ultraviolet, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and melting
      point. The mole-ratio of nickel:ligands was analyzed by atomic-absorption
      spectrometry. The partition-coefficients (KOW) of the compounds were also
      determined. The binding of ligands with Ni(II) are through deprotonated hydroxyl
      group (-O(-), disapeared at 3259 cm(-1)) and ioan-pairs of carbonyl group
      (=CO(.), shifted from 1650 to 1510-1515 cm(-1)). The characterization of complex
      geometry for bis-(2-methyl-3-hydroxypyranonato)Ni(II) (5a) and bis-(2-ethyl-3
      hydroxypyranonato)Ni(II) (5b) predicted to be square-planer while for bis-(1,2
      dimethyl-3-hydroxypyridinonato)Ni(II) (5c) and bis-(1-ethyl-2-methyl-3
      hydroxypyridinonato)Ni(II) (5d) distorted to tetrahedral-geometry. Inhibitors of
      Helicobacter pylori urease are nickel chelators. The compounds 1a, 4a and 4b are
      likely suitable ligands with complex forming-ability to make complexes of 5a, 5c
      and 5d with nickel. The KOW values show the compound 5c with low partition
      coefficient is more suitable ligand with lower penetration from GI lumen. Future
      studies demand to find out the biological activity of developed compounds on H.
      pylori. 

PMID- 27651815
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. fruit extract on serum
      inflammatory biomarkers in adult hyperlipidemic patients: a randomized double
      blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition. Many pro-inflammatory
      factors including interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha),
      C-reactive protein (CRP), and adhesion molecules including intercellular adhesion
      molecule (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) are expressed in
      atherosclerotic lesions. The plants of genus Vaccinium are rich in anthocyanins
      with anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of
      Vaccinium arctostaphylos fruit extract on the serum level of TNF-alpha, IL-6,
      ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 in adult patients with mild hyperlipidemia to detect its
      possible inhibitory effects on progression of atherosclerosis. In a randomized
      double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, eligible hyperlipidemic patients
      were randomly and equally divided in to two groups of study drug or placebo
      control to receive either the Vaccinium extract or placebo capsules,
      respectively, twice daily for four consecutive weeks. Each drug capsule contained
      0.8 mg of anthocyanins. Serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 were
      measured before and after the interventions and finally were compared.A total of
      8 men and 12 women in drug group as well as 11 men and 9 women in placebo group
      completed the study (P = 0.527). The use of Vaccinium extract significantly
      reduced only the IL-6 level (P = 0.037); however, this reduction was not
      significant compared to placebo (P = 0.062). Consumption of Vaccinium
      arctostaphylos fruit extract with the dose of 500 mg twice daily did not show any
      significant effect on serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 in
      adult hyperlipidemic patients. However, considering slight decrease in the level
      of IL-6, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1, the use of higher doses with longer duration might
      have significant effects on these factors. 

PMID- 27651816
TI  - Biotransformation of acetoin to 2,3-butanediol: Assessment of plant and microbial
      biocatalysts.
AB  - 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BD) is a valuable bulk chemical owing to its extensive
      application in chemical and pharmaceutical industry with diverse applications in
      drug, cosmetics and food products. In the present study, the biotransformation of
      acetoin to 2,3-BD by five plant species (Brassica oleracea, Brassica rapa,
      Daucuscarota, Pastinaca sativa, and Raphnussativus) and five microorganisms
      (Aspergillusfoetidus, Penicillumcitrinum, Saccharomyces carlbergensis,
      Pichiafermentans, and Rhodotrulaglutinis) was investigated as a method for the
      production of 2,3-BD, which can serve as an alternative to the common pentoses
      and hexoses fermentation by microorganisms. The produced 2,3-BD stereoisomers
      were characterized and their total conversion yields were determined. The results
      showed that the examined plants can be used as a green factory for the production
      of all 2,3-BD stereoisomers, except B. rapa. In microorganisms, P. fermentans and
      S. carlbergensis produced (-)-2R,3R and mesobutanediol, while P. citrinum
      produced (+)-2S,3S and mesobutanediol. R. glutinis and A. foetidus produced all
      three isomers. In conclusion, efficient whole-cell biocatalysts from plants and
      microorganisms were determined in the bioconversion of acetoin to 2,3-BD. The
      profile of produced stereoisomers demonstrated that microorganisms produce more
      specific stereoisomers. 

PMID- 27651817
TI  - Systematic Review on Chinese Herbal Medicine Induced Liver Injury.
AB  - Background. In recent years, with the popularity of CHM, its hepatotoxicity has
      also been increasingly noticed. However, there are still veils on causative herbs
      and clinical characteristics. Aim. To systematically review data on CHM induced
      liver injury with particular focus on causative herbs and clinical
      characteristics. Methods. Using terms related to CHM and liver injury, PubMed and
      three Chinese electronic databases were searched, which was limited to the past 5
      years. Publications meeting our eligibility criteria were included and further
      analyzed. Results. In total, 4 single herbs, 21 patent drugs, and 4 decoctions
      were reported to be of hepatotoxicity, with He-Shou-Wu being the most common one
      (65/114). Dang-Gui and other 5 herbs were the most common ingredients of patent
      drugs and decoctions. All patients were assessed using the RUCAM scale, with 26
      being highly probable and 28 being probable. For these 54 cases, the latent
      period was 30 (47) days, and 81.48% were labeled as hepatocellular injuries. Most
      patients (96.3%) recovered, apart from the fact that one died and one is
      receiving liver transplantation. Conclusions. CHM should be used carefully for
      hepatotoxicity. Liver injury from CHM is similar to that from conventional
      medicines in clinical characteristics. Details about causative herbs should be
      illustrated, and more RUCAM should be used in future. 

PMID- 27651818
TI  - Gigantol Inhibits Epithelial to Mesenchymal Process in Human Lung Cancer Cells.
AB  - Lung cancer remains a leading public health problem as evidenced by its
      increasing death rate. The main cause of death in lung cancer patients is cancer
      metastasis. The metastatic behavior of lung cancer cells becomes enhanced when
      cancer cells undergo epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Gigantol, a
      bibenzyl compound extracted from the Thai orchid, Dendrobium draconis, has been
      shown to have promising therapeutic potential against cancer cells, which leads
      to the hypothesis that gigantol may be able to inhibit the fundamental EMT
      process in cancer cells. This study has demonstrated for the first time that
      gigantol possesses the ability to suppress EMT in non-small cell lung cancer H460
      cells. Western blot analysis has revealed that gigantol attenuates the activity
      of ATP-dependent tyrosine kinase (AKT), thereby inhibiting the expression of the
      major EMT transcription factor, Slug, by both decreasing its transcription and
      increasing its degradation. The inhibitory effects of gigantol on EMT result in a
      decrease in the level of migration in H460 lung cancer cells. The results of this
      study emphasize the potential of gigantol for further development against lung
      cancer metastasis. 

PMID- 27651819
TI  - Management of Sport Injuries with Korean Medicine: A Survey of Korean National
      Volleyball Team.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to report the current state of Korean medicine (KM)
      treatment on sports injury by implementing survey with volleyball team medical
      doctors participating in 2013-2014 season. Six KM doctors completed a
      questionnaire that includes injury parameters: type, location, situation, and
      pain scores. We collected 166 injury cases from 94 Korean male and female
      national volleyball players. Knee (25.9%), low back (13.3%), elbow, and ankle
      (8.4%) injuries were most common. Joint (41.6%) and muscle (30.7%) were major
      injured tissues. KM team medical doctors utilized acupuncture (40.4%), chuna
      manual therapy (16.0%), physical therapy (15.2%), taping (9.0%), and cupping
      (7.8%) to treat volleyball injuries. Any types of medications were used
      infrequently. Additional physical and exercise therapy were preferred after
      receiving acupuncture (both 46.9%). This study presented the preliminary injury
      profile of Korean elite volleyball players. Injury and treatment parameters could
      be useful to build advanced KM model in sport medicine. 

PMID- 27651821
TI  - Diagnostic relevance of cell block procedure in secondary tumors of the pancreas.

PMID- 27651822
TI  - Stromal tissue as an adjunct tool in the diagnosis of follicular thyroid lesions
      by fine-needle aspiration biopsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The stroma in fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of thyroid lesions
      has not been well investigated. DESIGN: We studied 256 consecutive cases of
      thyroid FNAB prepared with traditional smear technique. The stroma was
      categorized: Type 1a consisted of long (more than 3 mm), broad bands composed of
      mesh containing collagen fibrils thickened by entrapped blood components and
      follicular cells. Type 1b consisted of dense strands/bands. Type 2 was similar to
      Type 1a but with shorter (<2 mm) and looser stromal strands. RESULTS: Types 1a
      and b showed straight/curved/circular branching patterns suggestive of incomplete
      frameworks of nodular/papillary architectures or fragments of capsule. Type 1b
      stroma likely represented thick/collagenized fibrous septae. Incomplete or
      complete rings of small encapsulated tumor were occasionally identified. These
      frameworks of stroma were frequently associated with multinodular goiters (MNGs)
      which are often hypocellular and follicular neoplasms/papillary thyroid carcinoma
      with increased cellularity. Type 2 was associated with microfollicles in
      encapsulated neoplasms or with macrofollicles in MNG. Follicular lesions of
      unknown significance (n = 41) either negative (n = 26) or positive (n = 15) for
      carcinoma in subsequent follow-up were frequently associated with stroma
      characteristic of MNG and carcinoma, respectively. CONCLUSION: The preservation
      of the in vivo architecture of Type 1 is likely due to its elasticity.
      Recognition of the stromal architecture will likely facilitate the diagnosis.

PMID- 27651823
TI  - Gendermetrics.NET: a novel software for analyzing the gender representation in
      scientific authoring.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Imbalances in female career promotion are believed to be strong in
      the field of academic science. A primary parameter to analyze gender inequalities
      is the gender authoring in scientific publications. Since the presently available
      data on gender distribution is largely limited to underpowered studies, we here
      develop a new approach to analyze authors' genders in large bibliometric
      databases. RESULTS: A SQL-Server based multiuser software suite was developed
      that serves as an integrative tool for analyzing bibliometric data with a special
      emphasis on gender and topographical analysis. The presented system allows
      seamless integration, inspection, modification, evaluation and visualization of
      bibliometric data. By providing an adaptive and almost fully automatic
      integration and analysis process, the inter-individual variability of analysis is
      kept at a low level. Depending on the scientific question, the system enables the
      user to perform a scientometric analysis including its visualization within a
      short period of time. CONCLUSION: In summary, a new software suite for analyzing
      gender representations in scientific articles was established. The system is
      suitable for the comparative analysis of scientific structures on the level of
      continents, countries, cities, city regions, institutions, research fields and
      journals.

PMID- 27651820
TI  - Fine-needle aspiration and core biopsy in the diagnosis of breast lesions: A
      comparison and review of the literature.
AB  - In recent times, the diagnosis of breast lesions has mostly become dependent on
      core needle biopsies (CNBs) with a gradual reduction in the rate of performing
      fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Both the procedures have their pros and
      cons and outsmart each other taking into account different parameters. Both the
      methods are found to be fraught with loopholes, taking into account different
      performance indices, diagnostic accuracy and concordance, patient benefit, and
      cost-effectiveness. Unlike the popular belief of an absolute superiority of CNB
      over FNAC, the literature review does not reveal a very distinct demarcation in
      many aspects. We recommend judicious use of these diagnostic modalities in
      resource-limited settings and screening programs taking into account parameters
      such as palpability and availability of an experienced cytopathologist. 

PMID- 27651824
TI  - Improved method for measurement of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in rat lung.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previously, we have developed and reported the method of measuring
      multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) in the lung from rats exposed to MWCNT
      intratracheally. The present research was performed to improve the analytical
      method of MWCNT to measure multiple samples in a short period of time. For the
      xanalysis of MWCNTs from tissues, the existence of carbon black may interfere.
      Therefore, it was examined whether or not carbon black interfere the
      determination of MWCNT in the standard solutions. Then, MWCNTs were administered
      to rats and the MWCNTs were determined in the rats by the new method and the
      recovery rates and time for determination were calculated. The standard solutions
      for MWCNTs and carbon black were prepared, and the concentrations in the
      solutions were determined by HPLC with checking their linearity between the
      concentrations and signal intensities. The reproducibility of the determination
      was also checked. METHODS: The concentrations of MWCMTs in the standard solutions
      were determined by HPLC with a fluorescent detector. Those of carbon black were
      also determined using the same method. The MWCNTs were administered to rats
      intratracheally. The MWCNTs in the lung were determined in a newly modified
      method including digestion of lung tissues by strong alkali solution and marking
      MWCNTs by benzo[ghi]perylene. The time for the determinations was recorded and
      the recovery rate of MWVNTs was calculated. RESULTS: MWCNT showed linearity in a
      range of 0.2 to 1.0 MUg/mL. In contrast, carbon black demonstrated a very low
      slope, showing flat pattern. Regarding the reproducibility of the analysis, the
      coefficient of variation was lower than 10 %. The analysis of 20 samples were
      completed in 1.5 h. The recovery rates of MWCNT from the lung of rats receiving
      intratracheal MWCNT administration were 101 to 102 %. CONCLUSIONS: The improved
      method for measuring MWCNT allows an efficient MWCNT quantitation in a short
      period of time. Also, a small amount of MWCNTs can be measured without influence
      of carbon black.

PMID- 27651825
TI  - BiC2PAM: constraint-guided biclustering for biological data analysis with domain
      knowledge.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biclustering has been largely used in biological data analysis,
      enabling the discovery of putative functional modules from omic and network data.
      Despite the recognized importance of incorporating domain knowledge to guide
      biclustering and guarantee a focus on relevant and non-trivial biclusters, this
      possibility has not yet been comprehensively addressed. This results from the
      fact that the majority of existing algorithms are only able to deliver sub
      optimal solutions with restrictive assumptions on the structure, coherency and
      quality of biclustering solutions, thus preventing the up-front satisfaction of
      knowledge-driven constraints. Interestingly, in recent years, a clearer
      understanding of the synergies between pattern mining and biclustering gave rise
      to a new class of algorithms, termed as pattern-based biclustering algorithms.
      These algorithms, able to efficiently discover flexible biclustering solutions
      with optimality guarantees, are thus positioned as good candidates for knowledge
      incorporation. In this context, this work aims to bridge the current lack of
      solid views on the use of background knowledge to guide (pattern-based)
      biclustering tasks. METHODS: This work extends (pattern-based) biclustering
      algorithms to guarantee the satisfiability of constraints derived from background
      knowledge and to effectively explore efficiency gains from their incorporation.
      In this context, we first show the relevance of constraints with succinct, (anti
      )monotone and convertible properties for the analysis of expression data and
      biological networks. We further show how pattern-based biclustering algorithms
      can be adapted to effectively prune of the search space in the presence of such
      constraints, as well as be guided in the presence of biological annotations.
      Relying on these contributions, we propose BiClustering with Constraints using
      PAttern Mining (BiC2PAM), an extension of BicPAM and BicNET biclustering
      algorithms. RESULTS: Experimental results on biological data demonstrate the
      importance of incorporating knowledge within biclustering to foster efficiency
      and enable the discovery of non-trivial biclusters with heightened biological
      relevance. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides the first comprehensive view and sound
      algorithm for biclustering biological data with constraints derived from user
      expectations, knowledge repositories and/or literature.

PMID- 27651826
TI  - Using a constraint-based regression method for relative quantification of somatic
      mutations in pyrosequencing signals: a case for NRAS analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pyrosequencing Allele Quantification (AQ) is a cost-effective DNA
      sequencing method that can be used for detecting somatic mutations in formalin
      fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. The method displays a low turnaround time
      and a high sensitivity. Pyrosequencing suffers however from two main drawbacks
      including (i) low specificity and (ii) difficult signal interpretation when
      multiple mutations are reported in a hotspot genomic region. RESULTS: Using a
      constraint-based regression method, the new AdvISER-PYRO-SMQ algorithm was
      developed in the current study and implemented into an R package. As a proof-of
      concept, AdvISER-PYRO-SMQ was used to identify a set of 9 distinct point
      mutations affecting codon 61 of the NRAS oncogene. In parallel, a pyrosequencing
      assay using the Qiagen software and its AQ module was used to assess selectively
      the presence of a single point mutation (NRAS[Formula: see text] - Q61R-1) among
      the set of codon 61 mutations, and to analyze related pyrosequencing signals.
      AdvISER-PYRO-SMQ produced a lower limit of blank (0 %) than the AQ module of
      Qiagen software (5.1 %) and similar limit of detection were obtained for both
      software (5.6 vs 4.8 %). AdvISER-PYRO-SMQ was able to screen for the presence of
      9 distinct mutations with a single pyrosequencing reaction whereas the AQ module
      was limited to screen a single mutation per reaction. CONCLUSION: Using a
      constraint-based regression method enables to analyze pyrosequencing signal and
      to detect multiple mutations within a hotspot genomic region with an optimal
      compromise between sensitivity and specificity. The AdvISER-PYRO-SMQ R package
      provides a generic tool which can be applied on a wide range of somatic
      mutations. Its implementation in a Shiny web interactive application (available
      at https://ucl-irec-ctma.shinyapps.io/Pyrosequencing-NRAS-61/) enables its use in
      research or clinical routine applications.

PMID- 27651828
TI  - The peacebuilding potential of healthcare training programs.
AB  - Global health professionals regularly conduct healthcare trainings, such as first
      aid courses, in disadvantaged communities across the world. Many of these
      communities lack healthcare infrastructure because of war and political conflict.
      The authors draw on their experience conducting a first aid course in South Sudan
      to provide a perspective on how healthcare trainings for people with no medical
      background can be used to bridge ethnic, political, and religious differences.
      They argue that a necessary step for turning a healthcare training into a vehicle
      for peacebuilding is to bring people from different communities to the same
      physical space to learn the course material together. Importantly, simply
      encouraging contact between communities is unlikely to improve intergroup
      relations and could be detrimental if the following features are not
      incorporated. Buy-in from respected community leaders is essential to ensure that
      training participants trust that their safety during the training sessions is not
      at risk. Trainers should also create a supportive environment by conferring equal
      status and respect on all trainees. Finally, hands-on training exercises allow
      for positive interactions between trainees from different groups, which in turn
      can challenge stereotypes and facilitate cross-group friendships. These features
      map onto social psychological principles that have been shown to improve
      intergroup relations and are consistent with lessons learned from peace through
      health initiatives in public health and medicine. By adopting peacebuilding
      features, healthcare trainings can serve their primary goal of medical education
      and provide the added benefit of strengthening social relations. 

PMID- 27651827
TI  - Molecular characterization of hepatitis B virus among chronic hepatitis B
      patients from Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic Hepatitis B infection is a major health problem in Republic
      of Congo therefore molecular analysis of HBV strains is important to detect the
      patients at high risk of disease progression. METHODS: Serum samples were
      obtained from 111 chronic HBV patients in Pointe Noire. HBsAg, HBeAg and HBeAb
      were detected. A fragment of the preS1 region of HBV was amplified and sequenced
      to determine genotypes, subgenotypes and to identify mutations. RESULTS: Of the
      111 samples analyzed, 35 patients were asymptomatic carriers (ASC), 24 with a
      chronic active hepatitis (CAH), 33 with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 19 have a
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The mean age were 45 +/- 13 year, 88 (79.3 %)
      were male and 23 (20.7 %) female. The prevalence of HBeAg was 15.3 % and 73 % of
      subjects were anti-HBe positive. The mean serum level of alanine aminotransferase
      transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) was 25.1 +/- 9 IU/L and 28.6
      +/- 10 IU/L respectively. Eighty two samples out of 111 (73.9 %) were genotyped
      by the analyzing of the S region of HBV, 58 (70.7 %) cases belonged to HBV
      genotype E and 24 (29.3 %) were genotype A with three subgenotypes; A3 (66.7 %),
      A4 (20.8 %) and A6 (12.5 %). Prevalence of genotype A was relatively high in CAH
      (33.3 %) and HCC (31.6 %) patients in comparison with other groups. The most
      prevalent amino acids substitutions were R38K found in 14 (17.1 %) sequences,
      following by H44L in 11 (13.4 %), K13E in 8 (9.8 %), N29K in 8 (9.8 %), A35E in 8
      (9.8 %), V80I in 7 (8.5 %) and in 6 (7.3 %) sequences for S90T. Different
      substitutions located in the hepatocyte binding site were higher among patients
      with LC and HCC (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study have shown that HBV genotype
      E and A were the most frequent strains circulating in Republic of Congo patients.
      HBV pres1 substitutions found in this study were associated with severe clinical
      forms of liver diseases. This data have shown the importance of implementing an
      effective program to fight HBV infection.

PMID- 27651829
TI  - A boy with conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
      (ADHD), borderline intellectual disability, and 47,XXY syndrome in combination
      with a 7q11.23 duplication, 11p15.5 deletion, and 20q13.33 deletion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This is a case with multiple chromosomal aberrations which are likely
      etiological for the observed psychiatric phenotype consisting of attention
      deficit hyperactivity and conduct disorders. CASE PRESENTATION: We report on an
      11 year-old boy, admitted to the pediatric hospital for behavioral difficulties
      and a delayed neurodevelopmental trajectory. A cytogenetic analysis and high
      resolution microarray comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis was
      performed. The cytogenetic analysis revealed 47,XYY syndrome, while CGH analysis
      revealed an additional duplication and two deletions. The 7q11.23 duplication is
      associated with speech and language delay and behavioral symptoms, a 20q13.33
      deletion is associated with autism and early onset schizophrenia and the 11p15.5
      microdeletion is associated with developmental delay, autism, and epilepsy. The
      patient underwent a psychiatric history, physical examination, laboratory
      testing, and a detailed cognitive, psychiatric, and occupational therapy
      evaluation which are reported here in detail. CONCLUSIONS: In the case of
      psychiatric patients presenting with complex genetic aberrations and additional
      psychosocial problems, traditional psychiatric and psychological approaches can
      lead to significantly improved functioning. Genetic diagnostic testing can be
      highly informative in the diagnostic process and may be applied to patients in
      psychiatry in case of complex clinical presentations.

PMID- 27651830
TI  - Mental health problems in a regional population of Australian adolescents:
      association with socio-demographic characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Population level data regarding the general mental health status, and
      the socio-demographic factors associated with the mental health status of
      adolescents in Australia aged 12-16 years is limited. This study assessed
      prevalence of mental health problems in a regional population of Australian
      students in Grades 7-10, and investigated associations between mental health
      problems and socio-demographic factors. METHODS: A web-based survey was conducted
      in 21 secondary schools located in disadvantaged local government areas in one
      regional local health district of NSW Australia. Mental health problems were
      measured using the youth self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
      (SDQ) total SDQ score and three subscale scores (internalising problems,
      externalising problems and prosocial behaviour). Associations between each SDQ
      outcome and student socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, Aboriginal
      and/or Torres Strait Islander Status, remoteness of residential location and
      socio-economic disadvantage) were investigated. RESULTS: Data are reported for
      6793 students aged 12-16 years. Nineteen percent of participants scored in the
      'very high' range for the total SDQ, 18.0 % for internalising problems, 11.3 %
      for externalising problems and 8.9 % for prosocial behaviour problems. Gender and
      Aboriginal status were associated with all four SDQ outcomes, while age was
      associated with two, excluding externalising problems and prosocial behaviour.
      Aboriginal adolescents scored higher for mental health problems than non
      Aboriginal adolescents for all four SDQ outcomes. Females scored higher than
      males for total SDQ and internalising problems, with mean difference greatest at
      age 15. Males scored higher for externalising problems and lower for prosocial
      behaviour than females. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that mental health problems
      significantly varied by age, gender and Aboriginality may suggest a need for
      tailored interventions for groups of adolescents with highest levels of mental
      health problems. Trial Registration ANZCTR ACTRN12611000606987. Registered
      14/06/2011.

PMID- 27651831
TI  - The integration of dilute acid hydrolysis of xylan and fast pyrolysis of glucan
      to obtain fermentable sugars.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fermentable sugars are important intermediates in the biological
      conversion of biomass. Hemicellulose and amorphous cellulose are easily
      hydrolyzed to fermentable sugars in dilute acid, whereas crystalline cellulose is
      more difficult to be hydrolyzed. Cellulose fast pyrolysis is an alternative
      method to liberate valuable fermentable sugars from biomass. The amount of
      levoglucosan generated from lignocellulose by fast pyrolysis is usually lower
      than the theoretical yield based on the cellulose fraction. Pretreatment is a
      promising route to improve the yield of levoglucosan from lignocellulose.
      RESULTS: The integration of dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis and fast pyrolysis to
      obtain fermentable sugars was evaluated in this study. Dilute sulfuric acid
      hydrolysis could remove more than 95.1 and 93.4 % of xylan (the main component of
      hemicellulose) from sugarcane bagasse and corncob with high yield of xylose. On
      the other hand, dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis was also an effective
      pretreatment to enhance levoglucosan yield from lignocellulose. Dilute acid
      hydrolysis could accumulate glucan (the component of cellulose) and remove most
      of the alkali and alkaline earth metals which were powerful catalysts during fast
      pyrolysis. Further increase in dilute acid concentration (from 0 to 2 %) in
      pretreatment could promote the yield of levoglucosan in fast pyrolysis. The acid
      pretreated sugarcane bagasse and corncob gave levoglucosan yields of 43.8 and
      35.2 % which were obvious higher than those of raw sugarcane bagasse (12.0 %) and
      corncob (7.0 %). CONCLUSIONS: Obtaining fermentable sugars by combination dilute
      acid hydrolysis of xylan and fast pyrolysis of glucan could make full utilization
      of biomass, and get fermentable sugars economically from biomass for bio
      refinery.

PMID- 27651832
TI  - Fine-tuning of chromatin composition and Polycomb recruitment by two Mi2
      homologues during C. elegans early embryonic development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex promotes cell fate
      decisions throughout embryonic development. Its core enzymatic subunit, the SNF2
      like ATPase and Helicase Mi2, is well conserved throughout the eukaryotic kingdom
      and can be found in multiple and highly homologous copies in all vertebrates and
      some invertebrates. However, the reasons for such duplications and their
      implications for embryonic development are unknown. RESULTS: Here we studied the
      two C. elegans Mi2 homologues, LET-418 and CHD-3, which displayed redundant
      activities during early embryonic development. At the transcriptional level,
      these two Mi2 homologues redundantly repressed the expression of a large gene
      population. We found that LET-418 physically accumulated at TSS-proximal regions
      on transcriptionally active genomic targets involved in growth and development.
      Moreover, LET-418 acted redundantly with CHD-3 to block H3K4me3 deposition at
      these genes. Our study also revealed that LET-418 was partially responsible for
      recruiting Polycomb to chromatin and for promoting H3K27me3 deposition.
      Surprisingly, CHD-3 displayed opposite activities on Polycomb, as it was capable
      of moderating its LET-418-dependent recruitment and restricted the amount of
      H3K27me3 on the studied target genes. CONCLUSION: Although closely homologous,
      LET-418 and CHD-3 showed both redundant and opposite functions in modulating the
      chromatin environment at developmental target genes. We identified the interplay
      between LET-418 and CHD-3 to finely tune the levels of histone marks at
      developmental target genes. More than just repressors, Mi2-containing complexes
      appear as subtle modulators of gene expression throughout development. The study
      of such molecular variations in vertebrate Mi2 counterparts might provide crucial
      insights to our understanding of the epigenetic control of early development.

PMID- 27651833
TI  - Ultrasonographic examination of plantar fasciitis: a comparison of patient
      positions during examination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal ultrasound is a non-invasive and low-cost modality
      for real-time visualisation of the plantar fascia. Ultrasound examination for
      plantar fasciitis is generally performed with the patient in a prone position,
      although the rational for using a prone position has not been validated. The aim
      of the study was to investigate if ultrasound examination in a supine position,
      which is more comfortable than the prone position, is valid. METHODS: We
      conducted a prospective study of 30 participants with plantar fasciitis, 8 men
      (27 %) and 22 women (73 %), with a mean age of 53.9 +/- 12.6 (range, 32 to 77)
      years, and an equal distribution of left and right feet. The plantar heel was
      divided into three portions for ultrasound examination: medial, central and
      lateral. Two measurements of plantar fascia thickness were obtained for each
      portion, with participants in 2 positions (supine and prone) and for 2 ankle
      postures (neutral and 15 degrees  of plantarflexion). Mean measurements of
      plantar fascia thickness were compared between the two positions (Wilcoxon signed
      rank tests for non-normally distributed data and paired t-tests for normally
      distributed data). Participants were asked to report their preferred position for
      examination, supine or prone. RESULTS: The measured thickness was comparable for
      both supine and prone positions, for both ankle postures, neutral and 15 degrees 
      of plantarflexion (p > 0.05). A specific self-reported preferred position was not
      identified. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound examination of plantar fasciitis can be
      performed in the supine position without any significant difference in
      measurement compared to examination in the conventional prone position. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: The Catholic Medical Center Office of Human Research Protection
      Program (CMC-OHRP)/Institutional Review Board approved the current study
      (Approval No. KC12DISI0338), and all participants provided their written informed
      consent for participation and publication.

PMID- 27651834
TI  - Zonula occludens toxins and their prophages in Campylobacter species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously showed that zonula occludens toxin (Zot) encoded by
      Campylobacter concisus zot (808T) gene has the potential to initiate inflammatory
      bowel disease. This Zot protein caused prolonged intestinal epithelial barrier
      damage, induced intestinal epithelial and macrophage production of tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha and enhanced the responses of macrophages to other microbes. In
      order to understand the potential virulence of Zot proteins in other
      Campylobacter species, in this study we examined their presence, similarities,
      motifs and prophages. METHODS: The presence of Zot proteins in Campylobacter
      species was examined by searching for the Zot family domain in multiple protein
      databases. Walker A and Walker B motifs in Zot proteins were identified using
      protein sequence alignment. A phylogenetic tree based on Campylobacter zot genes
      was constructed using maximum-likelihood method. Campylobacter Zot proteins were
      compared using protein sequence alignment. The zot-containing prophages in
      Campylobacter species were identified and compared with known prophage proteins
      and other viral proteins using protein sequence alignment and protein BLAST.
      RESULTS: Twelve Zot proteins were found in nine Campylobacter species/subspecies.
      Among these Campylobacter species, three species had two Zot proteins and the
      remaining six species/subspecies had one Zot protein. Walker A and Walker B
      motifs and a transmembrane domain were found in all identified Campylobacter Zot
      proteins. The twelve Campylobacter zot genes from the nine Campylobacter
      species/subspecies formed two clusters. The ZotCampyType_1 proteins encoded by
      Cluster 1 Campylobacter zot genes showed high similarities to each other.
      However, ZotCampyType_2 proteins encoded by Cluster 2 Campylobacter zot genes
      were more diverse. Furthermore, the zot-containing Campylobacter prophages were
      identified. CONCLUSION: This study reports the identification of two types of
      Campylobacter Zot proteins. The high similarities of ZotCampyType_1 proteins
      suggest that they are likely to have similar virulence. ZotCampyType_2 proteins
      are less similar to each other and their virulent properties, if any, remain to
      be examined individually.

PMID- 27651835
TI  - XMetDB: an open access database for xenobiotic metabolism.
AB  - Xenobiotic metabolism is an active research topic but the limited amount of
      openly available high-quality biotransformation data constrains predictive
      modeling. Current database often default to commonly available information: which
      enzyme metabolizes a compound, but neither experimental conditions nor the atoms
      that undergo metabolization are captured. We present XMetDB, an open access
      database for drugs and other xenobiotics and their respective metabolites. The
      database contains chemical structures of xenobiotic biotransformations with
      substrate atoms annotated as reaction centra, the resulting product formed, and
      the catalyzing enzyme, type of experiment, and literature references. Associated
      with the database is a web interface for the submission and retrieval of
      experimental metabolite data for drugs and other xenobiotics in various formats,
      and a web API for programmatic access is also available. The database is open for
      data deposition, and a curation scheme is in place for quality control. An
      extensive guide on how to enter experimental data into is available from the
      XMetDB wiki. XMetDB formalizes how biotransformation data should be reported, and
      the openly available systematically labeled data is a big step forward towards
      better models for predictive metabolism. 

PMID- 27651836
TI  - Maternal adipokines and insulin as biomarkers of pregnancies complicated by
      overweight and obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Maternal obesity is associated with several adverse pregnancy
      outcomes. This study was conducted aiming to evaluate maternal levels of
      adipokines and insulin in pregnancies complicated by overweight and obesity and
      its correlations with maternal and fetal outcomes. METHODS: This cross-sectional
      study included 72 mother-newborn pairs. Mothers were classified as having normal
      weight (n = 23), overweight (n = 18), and obesity (n = 31). Maternal adiponectin,
      leptin, resistin and insulin levels at the end of pregnancy were compared among
      groups and correlated with maternal and perinatal outcomes. Data were analyzed by
      ANOVA and correlation tests, with a p value <0.05 being considered as
      significant. RESULTS: Obese pregnant women showed higher leptin levels (p =
      0.0021). Leptin levels were positively correlated with prepregnancy body mass
      index-BMI (r = 0.57), gestational (37 or 38 weeks of gestation) BMI (r = 0.39),
      hypertension (r = 0.27), and hyperglycemia (r = 0.30), and negatively associated
      with newborns' abdominal circumference (r = -0.25). Adiponectin concentrations
      were negatively correlated with gestational BMI (r = -0.29) and newborns'
      cephalic circumference (r = -0.27) and positively correlated with birth weight (r
      = 0.23). Insulin concentrations correlated positively with prepregnancy BMI (r =
      0.38), gestational BMI (r = 0.24) and maternal hyperglycemia (r = 0.26).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the relationship between markers of obesity and
      maternal-fetal outcomes. Maternal insulin and adipokines levels showed an
      independent relationship with mother and newborns outcomes, respectively. In this
      studied population, the results indirectly reinforce the importance of maternal
      weight control before and during pregnancy to avoid adverse outcomes to mother
      and their newborns.

PMID- 27651837
TI  - Epigenetic signature of Gleason score and prostate cancer recurrence after
      radical prostatectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identifying the subset of patients with clinically localized prostate
      cancer (PCa) at the highest risk of recurrence remains challenging, and better
      prognostic markers are needed. Gleason score is the best predictor of PCa
      aggressiveness and prognosis. In the present study, we generated an epigenetic
      signature based on high versus low Gleason score tumors and evaluated its ability
      to predict recurrence after radical prostatectomy. METHODS: Genome-wide DNA
      methylation data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA; no. of patients = 333) and
      the elastic net method were used to generate an epigenetic signature by
      contrasting patients with high (8-10) versus low (<=6) Gleason score tumors. The
      signature was then tested in a cohort of 523 patients with clinically localized
      disease who had radical prostatectomy. Samples taken from the primary tumor were
      used for DNA methylation and mRNA expression profiling. Patients were followed
      for PCa recurrence on average for 8 years after diagnosis. RESULTS: The
      epigenetic signature includes 52 differentially methylated CpG sites. In the
      testing cohort, the signature was associated with poorer recurrence-free survival
      (hazard ratio per 25 % increase = 1.78; 95 % confidence interval 1.48, 2.16). The
      signature significantly improved the area under the curve (AUC) for PCa
      recurrence compared to clinical-pathological parameters alone, particularly among
      patients diagnosed with Gleason score 7 tumors (0.64 vs. 0.76, P = 1.34E-4).
      Results were comparable for patients with Gleason 3 + 4 and those with 4 + 3
      tumors. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis showed that higher levels of the signature
      were associated with increased expression of genes related to cell cycle
      proliferation and decreased expression of androgen-responsive genes. CONCLUSIONS:
      This report shows evidence that DNA methylation patterns measured in prostate
      tumor cells are predictive of PCa aggressiveness. The epigenetic signature may
      have clinical utility to improve prognostication particularly in patients with
      intermediate Gleason score 7 tumors.

PMID- 27651840
TI  - Development, Validation and Application of RP-HPLC Method: Simultaneous
      Determination of Antihistamine and Preservatives with Paracetamol in Liquid
      Formulations and Human Serum.
AB  - In this article we describe development and validation of stability indicating,
      accurate, specific, precise and simple Ion-pairing RP-HPLC method for
      simultaneous determination of paracetamol and cetirizine HCl along with
      preservatives i.e. propylparaben, and methylparaben in pharmaceutical dosage
      forms of oral solution and in serum. Acetonitrile: Buffer: Sulfuric Acid
      (45:55:0.3 v/v/v) was the mobile phase at flow rate 1.0 mL min(-1) using a
      Hibar((r)) Lichrosorb((r)) C18 column and monitored at wavelength of 230nm. The
      averages of absolute and relative recoveries were found to be 99.3%, 99.5%, 99.8%
      and 98.7% with correlation coefficient of 0.9977, 0.9998, 0.9984, and 0.9997 for
      cetirizine HCl, paracetamol, methylparaben and Propylparaben respectively. The
      limit of quantification and limit of detection were in range of 0.3 to 2.7 ng mL(
      1) and 0.1 to 0.8 ng mL(-1) respectively. Under stress conditions of acidic,
      basic, oxidative, and thermal degradation, maximum degradation was observed in
      basic and oxidative stress where a significant impact was observed while all
      drugs were found almost stable in the other conditions. The developed method was
      validated in accordance with ICH and AOAC guidelines. The proposed method was
      successfully applied to quantify amount of paracetamol, cetirizine HCl and two
      most common microbial preservatives in bulk, dosage form and physiological fluid.

PMID- 27651839
TI  - Molecular Pap smear: HPV genotype and DNA methylation of ADCY8, CDH8, and ZNF582
      as an integrated biomarker for high-grade cervical cytology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Pap smear has remained the foundation for cervical cancer
      screening for over 70 years. With advancements in molecular diagnostics, primary
      high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) screening has recently become an accepted
      stand-alone or co-test with conventional cytology. However, both diagnostic tests
      have distinct limitations. The aim of this study was to determine the association
      between HPV genotypes and cellular epigenetic modifications in three grades of
      cervical cytology for screening biomarker discovery. METHODS: This prospective,
      cross-sectional study used residual liquid-based cytology samples for HPV
      genotyping and epigenetic analysis. Extracted DNA was subjected to parallel
      polymerase chain reactions using three primer sets (MY09/11, FAP59/64, E6-E7 F/B)
      for HPV DNA amplification. HPV+ samples were genotyped by DNA sequencing.
      Promoter methylation of four candidate tumor suppressor genes (adenylate cyclase
      8 (ADCY8), cadherin 8, type 2 (CDH8), MGMT, and zinc finger protein 582 (ZNF582))
      out of 48 genes screened was quantified by bisulfite-pyrosequencing of genomic
      DNA. Independent validation of methylation profiles was performed by analyzing
      data from cervical cancer cell lines and clinical samples from The Cancer Genome
      Atlas (TCGA). RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-seven quality cytology samples were
      analyzed. HPV was detected in 31/100 (31 %) negative for intraepithelial lesion
      or malignancy (NILM), 95/100 (95 %) low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion
      (LSIL), and 71/77 (92 %) high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL)
      samples. The proportion of IARC-defined carcinogenic HPV types in sequenced
      samples correlated with worsening grade: NILM 7/29 (24 %), LSIL 53/92 (58 %), and
      HSIL 65/70 (93 %). Promoter methylation of ADCY8, CDH8, and ZNF582 was measured
      in 170 samples: NILM (N = 33), LSIL (N = 70), and HSIL (N = 67) also correlated
      with worsening grade. Similar hypermethylation patterns were found in cancer cell
      lines and TCGA samples. The combination of four biomarkers, i.e., HPV genotype
      and three-gene promoter methylation, predicted HSIL (AUC 0.89) better than HPV
      alone (AUC 0.74) by logistic regression and probabilistic modeling. CONCLUSIONS:
      HPV genotype and DNA methylation of ADCY8, CDH8, and ZNF582 are correlated with
      cytological grade. Collectively, these biomarkers may serve as a molecular
      classifier of Pap smears.

PMID- 27651841
TI  - The Current Indication for Pacemaker in Patients with Cardioinhibitory Vasovagal
      Syncope.
AB  - The most frequent cause of syncope is vasovagal reflex. It is associated with
      worse quality of life, depression, fatigue and physical injury. Recurrence of
      vasovagal syncope is an aggravating, reaching the rate of 69%. Initial step and
      pharmacological treatment may not work, especially in patients with recurrent
      syncope without prodrome. These patients can present cardioinhibitory response
      with asystole. Studies were designed to analyses the effectiveness of pacemaker
      for prevention of syncope. In this review, nonrandomized clinical trials, open
      label randomized, double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled, and studies based
      on tilt test or Implantable Loop Recorder findings will be discussed. 

PMID- 27651842
TI  - Pulse Wave Analysis by Applanation Tonometry for the Measurement of Arterial
      Stiffness.
AB  - The aim of our study was to investigate the association between pulse wave
      velocity (PWV) and pulse wave analysis (PWA)-derived measurements for the
      evaluation of arterial stiffness. A total of 20 (7 male and 13 female) healthy,
      non-smoking individuals, with mean age 31 +/- 12years were included. PWV and PWA
      measurements were performed using a SphygmoCor apparatus (Atcor Medical Blood
      Pressure Analysis System, Sydney Australia). PWV significantly correlated with
      all central aortic haemodynamic parameters, especially with pulse pressure (PP)
      (p < 0.0001), augmentation index corrected for 75 pulses/min (AI75) (p = 0.035)
      and augmentation pressure (AP) (p = 0.005). Male subjects presented significantly
      higher PWV compared with females (p = 0.03), while there were no differences in
      PP, AP and AI75. In conclusion, PWA is strongly correlated with PWV as a method
      for the evaluation of arterial stiffness. 

PMID- 27651843
TI  - Osteopathic Manual Treatment for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Feasibility
      Pilot Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current interventions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are
      focused on supporting quality of life (QoL) and easing pain with a
      multidisciplinary approach. OBJECTIVE: Primary aim of this pilot work assessed
      feasibility, safety, tolerability and satisfaction of osteopathic manual
      treatment (OMT) in 14 ALS outpatients. METHODS: Patients were randomized
      according to an initial single-blind design (12 weeks, T0-T1), in order to
      receive OMT (weekly for 4 weeks, and fortnightly for the following 8 weeks)
      versus usual-care (n=7 each group), followed by an OMT open period (T1-T2, once a
      week for 8 weeks, n=10). Secondary aims included blind osteopathic assessment of
      somatic dysfunctions (SD) for goal attainment scale (GAS) calculation, Brief Pain
      Inventory-short form and McGill QoL-16 items. RESULTS: OMT was demonstrated
      feasible and safe and patients displayed high satisfaction (T1-VAS=8.34 +/- 0.46;
      T2-VAS=8.52 +/- 0.60). Considering secondary aims no significant differences
      emerged. Finally, at study entry (T0), a cervico-dorsal SD was found in 78% of
      ALS patients versus 28% of healthy matched controls (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: OMT was
      found feasible, safe and satisfactory in ALS. The lack of secondary aim
      differences can be due to the limited sample size. OMT could be an interesting
      option to explore in ALS.

PMID- 27651845
TI  - Polio Patients in Northern Italy, a 50 Year Follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Poliomyelitis was before the immunization an important medical
      problem. Nowadays polio prior patients (PP) suffer from polio sequelae or have
      developed post-polio-syndrome (PPS) with increasing paresis, pain and fatigue.
      OBJECTIVES: To analyze the medical situation 50 years after acute polio. The
      degree of paresis was compared between the recovery 1952-1961 and 2012.The
      prevalence of patients fulfilling the criteria for PPS was estimated. METHOD: The
      study was performed in Italy. Included were PP with rehabilitation after acute
      polio 1952-1961 and in 2012. During the years PP underwent yearly evaluation. A
      thorough neurological examination was performed in 2012. A telephone interview
      with questions concerning pain, paresis, fatigue, walking aids and concomitant
      diseases was performed in 2012. The patients were divided in two groups, if they
      fulfilled the criteria for PPS or not. RESULTS: Included were 67(94%) patients
      receiving rehabilitation after acute poliomyelitis and 2012. 78% were walkers,
      half of the PPS used wheelchair. Eight out of ten suffered from pain. Four out of
      ten fulfilled the PPS criteria. Pain was slightly more common in PPS. CONCLUSION:
      Female gender, fatigue and wheelchair dependency were significantly more common
      in PPS while pain was common in both groups.

PMID- 27651844
TI  - Are Temporal Differences in GDNF and NOS Isoform Induction Contributors to
      Neurodegeneration? A Fluorescence Microscopy-Based Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Specific factors in Parkinson's disease have become targets as to
      their protective and degenerative effects. We have demonstrated that cytokines
      and PD-CSF detrimentally affect microglia and astrocyte growth. While glial cell
      derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been recognized as a possible neuron
      rescue agent, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) has been implicated in
      neurodegenerative processes. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that glial cell
      activation, cytokine production, and NOS induction, play an intimate role in the
      loss of dopaminergic signaling, via mechanisms that are a result of inflammation
      and inflammatory stimuli. METHODS: Study animals were sacrificed following
      endotoxin treatment and tissue sections were harvested and probed for GDNF and
      NOS isomers by fluorescence deconvolution microscopy. Fluorescence was mapped and
      quantified for each probe. RESULTS: An immune cell influx into 'vulnerable' areas
      of the brain was seen, and three NOS isomers, inducible (iNOS), neuronal (nNOS)
      and endothelial (eNOS), were synthesized in the brains, a finding which suggests
      that each isomer has a role in neurodegeneration. eNOS was found associated with
      blood vessels, while iNOS was associated with glial and matrix cells and nNOS was
      located with both glia and neurons. Following endotoxin treatment, serum levels
      of nitric oxide were higher at 6-8 hours, while tissue levels of NOS were
      elevated for much longer. Thus, induction of NOS occurred earlier than the
      induction of GDNF. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the protective abilities
      of GDNF to combat neural destruction are not available rapidly enough, and do not
      remain at sufficiently high levels long enough to assert its protective effects.
      (250).

PMID- 27651846
TI  - Oxidative Stress Induces Senescence in Cultured RPE Cells.
AB  - The aim of this research is to determine whether oxidative stress induces
      cellular senescence in human retinal pigment epithelial cells. Cultured ARPE19
      cells were subjected to different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to induce
      oxidative stress. Cells were seeded into 24-well plates with hydrogen peroxide
      added to cell medium and incubated at 37 degrees C + 5% CO2 for a 90-minute
      period [at 0, 300, 400 and 800 micromolar (MCM) hydrogen peroxide]. The number of
      viable ARPE19 cells were recorded using the Trypan Blue Dye Exclusion Method and
      cell senescence was measured by positive staining for senescence-associated beta
      galactosidase (SA-beta-Gal) protein. Without hydrogen peroxide treatment, the
      number of viable ARPE19 cells increased significantly from 50,000 cells/well to
      197,000 within 72 hours. Treatment with hydrogen peroxide reduced this level of
      cell proliferation significantly (to 52,167 cells at 400 MCM; to 49,263 cells at
      800 MCM). Meanwhile, cells with a high level of positive senescence-indicator SA
      Beta-Gal-positive staining was induced by hydrogen peroxide treatment (from a
      baseline level of 12% to 80% at 400 MCM and at 800 MCM). Our data suggests that
      oxidative stress from hydrogen peroxide treatment inhibited ARPE19 cell
      proliferation and induced cellular senescence. 

PMID- 27651838
TI  - Epigenetic modulators as therapeutic targets in prostate cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer is one of the most common non-cutaneous malignancies among men
      worldwide. Epigenetic aberrations, including changes in DNA methylation patterns
      and/or histone modifications, are key drivers of prostate carcinogenesis. These
      epigenetic defects might be due to deregulated function and/or expression of the
      epigenetic machinery, affecting the expression of several important genes.
      Remarkably, epigenetic modifications are reversible and numerous compounds that
      target the epigenetic enzymes and regulatory proteins were reported to be
      effective in cancer growth control. In fact, some of these drugs are already
      being tested in clinical trials. This review discusses the most important
      epigenetic alterations in prostate cancer, highlighting the role of epigenetic
      modulating compounds in pre-clinical and clinical trials as potential therapeutic
      agents for prostate cancer management.

PMID- 27651847
TI  - The Diversity of Sulfide Oxidation and Sulfate Reduction Genes Expressed by the
      Bacterial Communities of the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela.
AB  - Qualitative expression of dissimilative sulfite reductase (dsrA), a key gene in
      sulfate reduction, and sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (sqr), a key gene in
      sulfide oxidation was investigated. Neither of the two could be amplified from
      mRNA retrieved with Niskin bottles but were amplified from mRNA retrieved by the
      Deep SID. The sqr and sqr-like genes retrieved from the Cariaco Basin were
      related to the sqr genes from a Bradyrhizobium sp., Methylomicrobium
      alcaliphilum, Sulfurovum sp. NBC37-1, Sulfurimonas autotrophica, Thiorhodospira
      sibirica and Chlorobium tepidum. The dsrA gene sequences obtained from the
      redoxcline of the Cariaco Basin belonged to chemoorganotrophic and
      chemoautotrophic sulfate and sulfur reducers belonging to the class
      Deltaproteobacteria (phylum Proteobacteria) and the order Clostridiales (phylum
      Firmicutes). 

PMID- 27651848
TI  - A Systemic Review on Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS): A Rare and
      Critical Disease of Neonates.
AB  - The symptoms of Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) include blistering of
      skin on superficial layers due to the exfoliative toxins released from
      Staphylococcus aureus. After the acute exfoliation of skin surface, erythematous
      cellulitis occurs. The SSSS may be confined to few blisters localized to the
      infection site and spread to severe exfoliation affecting complete body. The
      specific antibodies to exotoxins and increased clearence of exotoxins decrease
      the frequency of SSSS in adults. Immediate medication with parenteral anti
      staphylococcal antibiotics is mandatory. Mostly, SSSS are resistant to
      penicillin. Penicillinase resistant synthetic penicillins such as Nafcillin or
      Oxacillin are prescribed as emergency treatment medicine. If Methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is suspected), antibiotics with MRSA
      coverage (e.g., Vancomycin or Linezolid) are indicated. Clindamycin is considered
      as drug of choice to stop the production of exotoxin from bacteria ribosome. The
      use of Ringer solution to to balance the fluid loss, followed by maintainence
      therapy with an objective to maintain the fluid loss from exfoliation of skin,
      application of Cotrimoxazole on topical surface are greatlly considered to treat
      the SSSS. The drugs that reduce renal function are avoided. Through this article,
      an attempt has been made to focus the source, etiology, mechanism, outbreaks,
      mechanism, clinical manisfestation, treatment and other detail of SSSS. 

PMID- 27651849
TI  - Characteristics of Sympathetic Ophthalmia in a Single International Center.
AB  - AIM: To report the main features of sympathetic ophthalmia in a referral
      ophthalmology center. METHODS: Retrospective clinical study. We reviewed clinical
      records of patients with diagnosis of sympathetic ophthalmia attending the
      Uveitis Department from 2007 to 2013. Patients were selected by clinical
      criteria. Descriptive statistics were used to assess variables. RESULTS: Twenty
      patients were included for analysis, 13 males and 7 females. Mean follow up was 1
      year. The median age of presentation was 50 years. Fifty percent had history of
      ocular trauma and 50% had history of intraocular surgery, of which 40% underwent
      phacoemulsification. The time between injury and onset of symptoms ranged from 1
      to 456 months. Most common ocular manifestations were mutton fat keratic
      precipitates and anterior chamber inflammation. All patients received oral
      prednisone as single or combined therapy. Sixty percent of the sympathizing eyes
      improved two or more lines of vision and 20% lost two or more lines of vision.
      CONCLUSION: This report from a single center adds to the body of literature of
      sympathetic ophthalmia occurring in a specific population. Our data found a high
      proportion of patients with sympathetic ophthalmia after phacoemulsification.

PMID- 27651850
TI  - The Shift in Existential Life Situations of Adult Children to Parents with
      Dementia Relocated to Nursing Homes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous research describes spouses and adult children of people with
      dementia as a homogeneous group using one term: family caregivers. Recent
      research shows that the needs and experiences of spouses and adult children
      differ, therefore they cannot be studied as a homogeneous group. AIMS: The aim of
      the study was to describe the shift in existential life situations of adult
      children of a parent with dementia relocated to nursing homes. DESIGN: This is a
      qualitative study with an interpretive approach. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews
      were held with 11 adult children aged 48-65 years. The interviews lasted 30-60
      minutes and data were analysed using interpretive content analysis. FINDINGS: The
      adult children described how they experienced their life situation before and
      after their parents' relocation. Before relocation they described feelings of
      powerlessness, loneliness in their responsibilities, loss and guilt. After
      relocation they had feelings of freedom, ongoing responsibility, living with loss
      and having a new relationship with death. CONCLUSION: The most important finding
      in our study was that adult children developed a different relationship with
      death than before the parent became affected by dementia. It is essential that
      healthcare staff understand and address the adult children's existential life
      situations and the suffering they are experiencing. Healthcare staff need to be
      conscious about adult children's needs for support to address their existential
      life situations before and after their parents relocate to nursing homes.

PMID- 27651851
TI  - Design and Weighting Methods for a Nationally Representative Sample of HIV
      infected Adults Receiving Medical Care in the United States-Medical Monitoring
      Project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health surveys of the general US population are inadequate for
      monitoring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection because the relatively
      low prevalence of the disease (<0.5%) leads to small subpopulation sample sizes.
      OBJECTIVE: To collect a nationally and locally representative probability sample
      of HIV-infected adults receiving medical care to monitor clinical and behavioral
      outcomes, supplementing the data in the National HIV Surveillance System. This
      paper describes the sample design and weighting methods for the Medical
      Monitoring Project (MMP) and provides estimates of the size and characteristics
      of this population. METHODS: To develop a method for obtaining valid,
      representative estimates of the in-care population, we implemented a cross
      sectional, three-stage design that sampled 23 jurisdictions, then 691 facilities,
      then 9,344 HIV patients receiving medical care, using probability-proportional-to
      size methods. The data weighting process followed standard methods, accounting
      for the probabilities of selection at each stage and adjusting for nonresponse
      and multiplicity. Nonresponse adjustments accounted for differing response at
      both facility and patient levels. Multiplicity adjustments accounted for visits
      to more than one HIV care facility. RESULTS: MMP used a multistage stratified
      probability sampling design that was approximately self-weighting in each of the
      23 project areas and nationally. The probability sample represents the estimated
      421,186 HIV-infected adults receiving medical care during January through April
      2009. Methods were efficient (i.e., induced small, unequal weighting effects and
      small standard errors for a range of weighted estimates). CONCLUSION: The
      information collected through MMP allows monitoring trends in clinical and
      behavioral outcomes and informs resource allocation for treatment and prevention
      activities.

PMID- 27651852
TI  - Disproportionate Availability Between Emergency and Elective Hand Coverage: A
      National Trend?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic hand injuries represent approximately 20% of emergency
      department visits; yet, access to emergency care remains inadequate. Recent
      surveys from several states report a wider availability of hand specialists
      providing elective care than emergency care. The authors aim to examine this
      phenomenon in the state of New Jersey and whether there is a national trend
      toward disproportionate availability between emergency and elective hand
      coverage. METHODS: A survey was conducted of all New Jersey hospitals, excepting
      university hospitals, in August 2014. To assess the availability of hand surgery
      coverage, the following questions were asked: (1) Does your hospital provide
      elective hand surgery? and (2) Is there a hand specialist/surgeon on call always,
      sometimes, or never? RESULTS: A total of 58 hospitals were called, with a 67.2%
      response rate (n = 39). The majority (87.2%) of hospitals offered elective hand
      surgery, whereas only 64.1% provided immediate 24/7 hand coverage. Only 38.5% of
      hospitals located in the same county as a level I trauma center provided 24/7
      emergency hand care, whereas 76.9% of hospitals in counties without any level I
      trauma center did (P < .05). Cities with a higher poverty level were less likely
      to provide emergency coverage than cities with a lower poverty level (47.4% vs
      80.0%; P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: There is a discrepancy between emergency and
      elective hand care in New Jersey. Similar findings across the nation suggest a
      concerning trend of limited access to emergency hand health care. Alternative
      systems that can appropriately triage and treat patients are warranted.

PMID- 27651853
TI  - Munchausen Syndrome Disguised As Gossypiboma: An Interesting Case.

PMID- 27651854
TI  - Alterations in Red Blood Cell Functionality Induced by an Indole Scaffold
      Containing a Y-Iminodiketo Moiety: Potential Antiproliferative Conditions.
AB  - We have recently proposed a new erythrocyte-based model of study to predict the
      antiproliferative effects of selected heterocyclic scaffolds. Starting from the
      metabolic similarity between erythrocytes and cancer cells, we have demonstrated
      how the metabolic derangement induced by an indolone-based compound (DPIT) could
      be related to its antiproliferative effects. In order to prove the validity of
      our biochemical approach, in the present study the effects on erythrocyte
      functionality of its chemical precursor (PID), whose synthesis we reported, were
      investigated. The influence of the tested compound on band 3 protein (B3),
      oxidative state, ATP efflux, caspase 3, metabolism, intracellular pH, and Ca(2+)
      homeostasis has been evaluated. PID crosses the membrane localizing into the
      cytosol, increases anion exchange, induces direct caspase activation, shifts the
      erythrocytes towards an oxidative state, and releases less ATP than in normal
      conditions. Analysis of phosphatidylserine externalization shows that PID
      slightly induces apoptosis. Our findings indicate that, due to its unique
      features, erythrocyte responses to exogenous molecular stimuli can be fruitfully
      correlated at structurally more complex cells, such as cancer cells. Overall, our
      work indicates that erythrocyte is a powerful study tool to elucidate the
      biochemical/biological effects of selected heterocycles opening considerable
      perspectives in the field of drug discovery. 

PMID- 27651856
TI  - Vanadium Toxicological Potential versus Its Pharmacological Activity: New
      Developments and Research.

PMID- 27651858
TI  - The Mechanical Effect of Rod Contouring on Rod-Screw System Strength in Spine
      Fixation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Rod-screw fixation systems are widely used for spinal instrumentation.
      Although many biomechanical studies on rod-screw systems have been carried out,
      but the effects of rod contouring on the construct strength is still not very
      well defined in the literature. This work examines the mechanical impact of
      straight, 20 degrees  kyphotic, and 20 degrees  lordotic rod contouring on rod
      screw fixation systems, by forming a corpectomy model. METHODS: The corpectomy
      groups were prepared using ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene samples. Non
      destructive loads were applied during flexion/extension and torsion testing.
      Spine-loading conditions were simulated by load subjections of 100 N with a
      velocity of 5 mm min(-1), to ensure 8.4-Nm moment. For torsional loading, the
      corpectomy models were subjected to rotational displacement of 0.5 degrees  s(-1)
      to an end point of 5.0 degrees , in a torsion testing machine. RESULTS: Under
      both flexion and extension loading conditions the stiffness values for the
      lordotic rod-screw system were the highest. Under torsional loading conditions,
      the lordotic rod-screw system exhibited the highest torsional rigidity.
      CONCLUSION: We concluded that the lordotic rod-screw system was the most rigid
      among the systems tested and the risk of rod and screw failure is much higher in
      the kyphotic rod-screw systems. Further biomechanical studies should be attempted
      to compare between different rod kyphotic angles to minimize the kyphotic rod
      failure rate and to offer a more stable and rigid rod-screw construct models for
      surgical application in the kyphotic vertebrae.

PMID- 27651857
TI  - The complete genome sequences of sulfur-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria
      Sulfurifustis variabilis skN76(T) and Sulfuricaulis limicola HA5(T).
AB  - Sulfurifustis variabilis and Sulfuricaulis limicola are autotrophic sulfur
      oxidizing bacteria belonging to the family Acidiferrobacteraceae in the order
      Acidiferrobacterales. The type strains of these species, strain skN76(T) and
      strain HA5(T), were isolated from lakes in Japan. Here we describe the complete
      genome sequences of Sulfurifustis variabilis skN76(T) and Sulfuricaulis limicola
      HA5(T). The genome of Sulfurifustis variabilis skN76(T) consists of one circular
      chromosome with size of 4.0 Mbp including 3864 protein-coding sequences. The
      genome of Sulfuricaulis limicola HA5(T) is 2.9 Mbp chromosome with 2763 protein
      coding sequences. In both genomes, 46 transfer RNA-coding genes and one ribosomal
      RNA operon were identified. In the genomes, redundancies of the genes involved in
      sulfur oxidation and inorganic carbon fixation pathways were observed. This is
      the first report to show the complete genome sequences of bacteria belonging to
      the order Acidiferrobacterales in the class Gammaproteobacteria. 

PMID- 27651859
TI  - Chronic Paraspinal Muscle Injury Model in Rat.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to establish an animal model of chronic
      paraspinal muscle injury in rat. METHODS: Fifty four Sprague-Dawley male rats
      were divided into experimental group (n=30), sham (n=15), and normal group (n=9).
      Incision was done from T7 to L2 and paraspinal muscles were detached from spine
      and tied at each level. The paraspinal muscles were exposed and untied at 2 weeks
      after surgery. Sham operation was done by paraspinal muscles dissection at the
      same levels and wound closure was done without tying. Kyphotic index and
      thoracolumbar Cobb's angle were measured at preoperative, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks
      after the first surgery for all groups. The rats were sacrificed at 4, 8, and 12
      weeks after the first surgery, and performed histological examinations. RESULTS:
      At 4 weeks after surgery, the kyphotic index decreased, but, Cobb's angle
      increased significantly in the experimental group (p<0.05), and then that were
      maintained until the end of the experiment. However, there were no significant
      differences of the kyphotic index and Cobb's angle between sham and normal
      groups. In histological examinations, necrosis and fibrosis were observed
      definitely and persisted until 12 weeks after surgery. There were also presences
      of regenerated muscle cells which nucleus is at the center of cytoplasm,
      centronucleated myofibers. CONCLUSION: Our chronic injury model of paraspinal
      muscles in rats shows necrosis and fibrosis in the muscles for 12 weeks after
      surgery, which might be useful to study the pathophysiology of the degenerative
      thoracolumbar kyphosis or degeneration of paraspinal muscles.

PMID- 27651860
TI  - Neural Growth Factor Stimulates Proliferation of Spinal Cord Derived-Neural
      Precursor/Stem Cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recently, regenerative therapies have been used in clinical trials
      (heart, cartilage, skeletal). We don't make use of these treatments to spinal
      cord injury (SCI) patients yet, but regenerative therapies are rising interest in
      recent study about SCI. Neural precursor/stem cell (NPSC) proliferation is a
      significant event in functional recovery of the central nervous system (CNS).
      However, brain NPSCs and spinal cord NPSCs (SC-NPSCs) have many differences
      including gene expression and proliferation. The purpose of this study was to
      investigate the influence of neural growth factor (NGF) on the proliferation of
      SC-NPSCs. METHODS: NPSCs (2*10(4)) were suspended in 100 uL of neurobasal medium
      containing NGF-7S (Sigma-Aldrich) and cultured in a 96-well plate for 12 days.
      NPSC proliferation was analyzed five times for either concentration of NGF (0.02
      and 2 ng/mL). Sixteen rats after SCI were randomly allocated into two groups. In
      group 1 (SCI-vehicle group, n=8), animals received 1.0 mL of the saline vehicle
      solution. In group 2 (SCI-NGF group, n=8), the animals received single doses of
      NGF (Sigma-Aldrich). A dose of 0.02 ng/mL of NGF or normal saline as a vehicle
      control was intra-thecally injected daily at 24 hour intervals for 7 days. For
      Immunohistochemistry analysis, rats were sacrificed after one week and the spinal
      cords were obtained. RESULTS: The elevation of cell proliferation with 0.02 ng/mL
      NGF was significant (p<0.05) but was not significant for 2 ng/mL NGF. The optical
      density was increased in the NGF 0.02 ng/mL group compared to the control group
      and NGF 2 ng/mL groups. The density of nestin in the SCI-NGF group was
      significantly increased over the SCI-vehicle group (p<0.05). High power
      microscopy revealed that the density of nestin in the SCI-NGF group was
      significantly increased over the SCI-vehicle group. CONCLUSION: SC-NPSC
      proliferation is an important pathway in the functional recovery of SCI. NGF
      enhances SC-NPSC proliferation in vitro and in vivo. NGF may be a useful option
      for treatment of SCI patients pending further studies to verify the clinical
      applicability.

PMID- 27651861
TI  - Systemic Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Patients with
      Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Treated by Stereotactic Radiosurgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Increased expression of angiogenic factors, such as vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is associated with the pathogenesis of cerebral
      cavernous malformations (CCMs). The purpose of this study was to investigate
      plasma levels of VEGF in normal subjects and in patients with CCM and to evaluate
      change in these levels following stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). METHODS:
      Peripheral venous blood was collected from 6 patients with CCM before SRS using
      Gamma Knife and at the 1 week, 1 month, 3month, and 6 month follow-up visits.
      Plasma VEGF levels were measured using commercially available enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay kits. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 10 healthy
      volunteers as controls. RESULTS: Mean plasma VEGF level of 41.9 pg/mL (range,
      11.7-114.9 pg/mL) in patients with CCM at baseline was higher than that of the
      healthy controls (29.3 pg/mL, range, 9.2-64.3 pg/mL), without significant
      differences between CCM patients and controls (p=0.828). Plasma VEGF level
      following SRS dropped to 24.6 pg/mL after 1 week, and decreased to 18.5 pg/mL
      after 1 month, then increased to 24.3 pg/mL after 3 months, and 32.6 pg/mL after
      6 months. Two patients suffering from rebleeding after SRS showed a higher level
      of VEGF at 6 months after SRS than their pretreatment level. CONCLUSION: Plasma
      VEGF levels in patients with CCM were elevated over controls at baseline, and
      decreased from baseline to 1 month after SRS and increased further for up to 6
      months. Theses results indicated that anti-angiogenic effect of SRS might play a
      role in the treatment of CCMs.

PMID- 27651862
TI  - Comparison of Endovascular Treatments of Ruptured Dissecting Aneurysms of the
      Intracranial Internal Carotid Artery and Vertebral Artery with a Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) caused by rupture of an internal carotid
      artery (ICA) or vertebral artery (VA) dissecting aneuryesm is rare. Various
      treatment strategies have been used for ruptured intracranial dissections. The
      purpose of this study is to compare the clinical and angiographic characteristics
      and outcomes of endovascular treatment for ruptured dissecting aneurysms of the
      intracranial ICA and VA. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed a series
      of patients with SAH caused by ruptured intracranial ICA and VA dissecting
      aneurysms from March 2009 to April 2014. The relevant demographic and
      angiographic data were collected, categorized and analyzed with respect to the
      outcome. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were identified (6 ICAs and 9 VAs). The
      percentage of patients showing unfavorable initial clinical condition and a
      history of hypertension was higher in the VA group. The initial aneurysm
      detection rate and the percentage of fusiform aneurysms were higher in the VA
      group. In the ICA group, all patients were treated with double stent-assisted
      coiling, and showed favorable outcomes. In the VA group, 2 patients were treated
      with double stent-assisted coiling and 7 with endovascular trapping. Two patients
      died and 1 patient developed severe disability. CONCLUSION: Clinically, grave
      initial clinical condition and hypertension were more frequent in the VA group.
      Angiographically, bleb-like aneurysms were more frequent in the ICA group and
      fusiform aneurysms were more frequent in the VA group. Endovascular treatment of
      these aneurysms is feasible and the result is acceptable in most instances.

PMID- 27651863
TI  - Predicting Factors of Chronic Subdural Hematoma Following Surgical Clipping in
      Unruptured and Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze the differences in the incidence,
      predicting factors, and clinical course of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH)
      following surgical clipping between unruptured (UIA) and ruptured intracranial
      aneurysm (RIA). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 752 patients
      (UIA : 368 and RIA : 384) who underwent surgical clipping during 8 years. The
      incidence and predicting factors of CSDH development in the UIA and RIA were
      compared according to medical records and radiological data. RESULTS: The
      incidence of postoperative CSDH was higher in the UIA (10.9%) than in the RIA
      (3.1%) (p=0.000). In multivariate analysis, a high Hounsfield (HF) unit (blood
      clots) for subdural fluid collection (SFC), persistence of SFC >=5 mm and male
      sex in the UIA and A high HF unit for SFC and SFC >=5 mm without progression to
      hydrocephalus in the RIA were identified as the independent predicting factors
      for CSDH development (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: There were differences in the
      incidence and predicting factors for CSDH following surgical clipping between UIA
      and RIA. Blood clots in the subdural space and persistence of SFC >=5 mm were
      predicting factors in both UIA and RIA. However, progression to hydrocephalus may
      have in part contributed to low CSDH development in the RIA. We suggest that
      cleaning of blood clots in the subdural space and efforts to minimize SFC >=5 mm
      at the end of surgery is helpful to prevent CSDH following aneurysmal clipping.

PMID- 27651855
TI  - Targeting Nitric Oxide with Natural Derived Compounds as a Therapeutic Strategy
      in Vascular Diseases.
AB  - Within the family of endogenous gasotransmitters, nitric oxide (NO) is the
      smallest gaseous intercellular messenger involved in the modulation of several
      processes, such as blood flow and platelet aggregation control, essential to
      maintain vascular homeostasis. NO is produced by nitric oxide synthases (NOS) and
      its effects are mediated by cGMP-dependent or cGMP-independent mechanisms.
      Growing evidence suggests a crosstalk between the NO signaling and the occurrence
      of oxidative stress in the onset and progression of vascular diseases, such as
      hypertension, heart failure, ischemia, and stroke. For these reasons, NO is
      considered as an emerging molecular target for developing therapeutic strategies
      for cardio- and cerebrovascular pathologies. Several natural derived compounds,
      such as polyphenols, are now proposed as modulators of NO-mediated pathways. The
      aim of this review is to highlight the experimental evidence on the involvement
      of nitric oxide in vascular homeostasis focusing on the therapeutic potential of
      targeting NO with some natural compounds in patients with vascular diseases. 

PMID- 27651865
TI  - Compression Angle of Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament and Its
      Clinical Significance in Cervical Myelopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The correction of clinical and radiologic abnormalities in patients
      with symptomatic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) is
      the current mainstay of treatment. This study aimed to identify radiographic
      predictors of severity of myelopathy in patients with symptomatic OPLL. METHODS:
      Fifty patients with symptomatic cervical OPLL were enrolled. Based on Japanese
      Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores, patients were divided into either the mild
      myelopathy (n=31) or severe myelopathy (n=19) group. All subjects underwent
      preoperative plain cervical roentgenogram, computed tomography (CT), and MR
      imaging (MRI). Radiological parameters (C2-7 sagittal vertical axis, SVA; C2-7
      Cobb angle; C2-7 range of motion, ROM; OPLL occupying ratio; and compression
      angle) were compared. Compression angle of OPLL was defined as the angle between
      the cranial and caudal surfaces of OPLL at the maximum level of cord compression.
      RESULTS: The occupying ratio of the spinal canal, C2-7 Cobb angle, C2-7 SVA,
      types of OPLL, and C2-7 ROM of the cervical spine were not statistically
      different between the two groups. However, the OPLL compression angle was
      significantly greater (p=0.003) in the severe myelopathy group than in the mild
      myelopathy group and was inversely correlated with JOA score (r=-0.533, p<0.01).
      Furthermore, multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that the compression
      angle (B=-0.069, p<0.001) was significantly associated with JOA scores (R=0.647,
      p<0.005). CONCLUSION: Higher compression angles of OPLL have deleterious effects
      on the spinal cord and decrease preoperative JOA scores.

PMID- 27651864
TI  - Craniopharyngiomas : Radiological Differentiation of Two Types.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine imaging features that may separate adamantinomatous and
      papillary variants of craniopharyngiomas given that tumors with adamantinomatous
      signature features are associated with higher recurrence rates, morbidity, and
      mortality. We specifically reviewed calcification on CT, T1 bright signal
      intensity, and cystic change on T2 weighted images for differentiating these two
      types. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the MRI and CT studies in 38
      consecutive patients with pathologically proven craniopharyngiomas between
      January 2004 and February 2014 for the presence of calcification on CT scans,
      bright signal intensity on T1 weighted images, and cystic change on T2 weighted
      images. RESULTS: Of the 38 craniopharyngiomas, 30 were adamantinomatous type and
      8 were papillary type. On CT scans, calcification was present in 25 of 38 tumors.
      All calcified tumors were adamantinomatous type. Twenty four of 38 tumors had
      bright signal intensity on T1 weighted images. Of these 24 tumors, 22 (91.7%)
      were adamantinomatous and 2 were papillary type. Cystic change on T2 weighted
      images was noted in 37 of 38 tumors; only 1 tumor with papillary type did not
      show cystic change. CONCLUSION: T1 bright signal intensity and calcification on
      CT scans uniformly favor the adamantinomatous type over papillary type of
      craniopharyngioma in children. However, these findings are more variable in
      adults where calcification and T1 bright signal intensity occur in 70.6% and
      58.8% respectively of adult adamantinomatous types of craniopharyngiomas.

PMID- 27651866
TI  - Surgery versus Nerve Blocks for Lumbar Disc Herniation : Quantitative Analysis of
      Radiological Factors as a Predictor for Successful Outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical and radiological factors as predictors for
      successful outcomes in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) treatment. METHODS: Two
      groups of patients with single level LDH (L4-5) requiring treatment were
      retrospectively studied. The surgery group (SG) included 34 patients, and 30
      patients who initially refused the surgery were included in the nerve blocks
      group (NG). A visual analogue scale (VAS) for leg and back pain and motor deficit
      were initially evaluated before procedures, and repeated at 1, 6, and 12 months.
      Radiological factors including the disc herniation length, disc herniation area,
      canal length-occupying ratio, and canal area-occupying ratio were measured and
      compared. Predicting factors of successful outcomes were determined with
      multivariate logistic regression analysis after the optimal cut off values were
      established with a receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: There was no
      significant demographic difference between two groups. A multivariate logistic
      regression analysis with radiological and clinical (12 months follow-up) data
      revealed that the high disc herniation length with cutoff value 6.31 mm [odds
      ratio (OR) 2.35; confidence interval (CI) 1.21-3.98] was a predictor of
      successful outcomes of leg pain relief in the SG. The low disc herniation length
      with cutoff value 6.23 mm (OR 0.05; CI 0.003-0.89) and high baseline VAS leg (OR
      12.63; CI 1.64-97.45) were identified as predictors of successful outcomes of leg
      pain relief in the NG. CONCLUSION: The patients with the disc herniation length
      larger than 6.31 mm showed successful outcomes with surgery whereas the patients
      with the disc herniation length less than 6.23 mm showed successful outcomes with
      nerve block. These results could be considered as a radiological criteria in
      choosing optimal treatment options for LDH.

PMID- 27651867
TI  - Analysis of Mortality and Epidemiology in 2617 Cases of Traumatic Brain Injury :
      Korean Neuro-Trauma Data Bank System 2010-2014.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of the Korean Neuro-Trauma Data Bank System (KNTDBS) are to
      evaluate and improve treatment outcomes for brain trauma, prevent trauma, and
      provide data for research. Our purpose was to examine the mortality rates
      following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a retrospective study and to
      investigate the sociodemographic variables, characteristics, and causes of TBI
      related death based on data from the KNTDBS. METHODS: From 2010 to 2014, we
      analyzed the data of 2617 patients registered in the KNTDBS. The demographic
      characteristics of patients with TBI were investigated. We divided patients into
      2 groups, survivors and nonsurvivors, and compared variables between the groups
      to investigate variables that are related to death after TBI. We also analyzed
      variables related to the interval between TBI and death, mortality by region, and
      cause of death in the nonsurvivor group. RESULTS: The frequency of TBI in men was
      higher than that in women. With increasing age of the patients, the incidence of
      TBI also increased. Among 2617 patients, 688 patients (26.2%) underwent surgical
      treatment and 125 patients (4.7%) died. The age distributions of survivors vs.
      nonsurvivor groups and mortality rates according the severity of the brain
      injury, surgical treatment, and initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores were
      statistically significantly different. Among 125 hospitalized nonsurvivors, 70
      patients (56%) died within 7 days and direct brain damage was the most common
      cause of death (80.8%). The time interval from TBI to death differed depending on
      the diagnosis, surgical or nonsurgical treatment, severity of brain injury,
      initial GCS score, and cause of death, and this difference was statistically
      significant. CONCLUSION: Using the KNTDBS, we identified epidemiology, mortality,
      and various factors related to nonsurvival. Building on our study, we should make
      a conscious effort to increase the survival duration and provide rapid and
      adequate treatment for TBI patients.

PMID- 27651868
TI  - Which One Is Better to Reduce the Infection Rate, Early or Late Cranioplasty?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Decompressive craniectomy is an effective therapy to relieve high
      intracranial pressure after acute brain damage. However, the optimal timing for
      cranioplasty after decompression is still controversial. Many authors reported
      that early cranioplasty may contribute to improve the cerebral blood flow and
      brain metabolism. However, despite all the advantages, there always remains a
      concern that early cranioplasty may increase the chance of infection. The purpose
      of this retrospective study is to investigate whether the early cranioplasty
      increase the infection rate. We also evaluated the risk factors of infection
      following cranioplasty. METHODS: We retrospectively examined the results of 131
      patients who underwent cranioplasty in our institution between January 2008 and
      June 2015. We divided them into early (<=90 days) and late (>90 days after
      craniectomy) groups. We examined the risk factors of infection after
      cranioplasty. We analyzed the infection rate between two groups. RESULTS: There
      were more male patients (62%) than female (38%). The mean age was 49 years.
      Infection occurred in 17 patients (13%) after cranioplasty. The infection rate of
      early cranioplasty was lower than that of late cranioplasty (7% vs. 20%; p=0.02).
      Early cranioplasty, non-metal allograft materials, re-operation before
      cranioplasty and younger age were the significant factors in the infection rate
      after cranioplasty (p<0.05). Especially allograft was a significant risk factor
      of infection (odds ratio, 12.4; 95% confidence interval, 3.24-47.33; p<0.01).
      Younger age was also a significant risk factor of infection after cranioplasty by
      multivariable analysis (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.96-0.99;
      p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Early cranioplasty did not increase the infection rate in
      this study. The use of non-metal allograft materials influenced a more important
      role in infection in cranioplasty. Actually, timing itself was not a significant
      risk factor in multivariate analysis. So the early cranioplasty may bring better
      outcomes in cognitive functions or wound without raising the infection rate.

PMID- 27651869
TI  - Impact of Time Interval between Trauma Onset and Burr Hole Surgery on Recurrence
      of Late Subacute or Chronic Subdural Hematoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although subdural hematoma (SDH) is commonly treatable by burr hole
      surgery in the late subacute or chronic stage, there is no clear consensus
      regarding appropriate management and exact predictive factors for postoperative
      recurrence also remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk
      factors associated with recurrence of SDH that requires burr hole surgery in the
      late subacute or chronic stage. We also identified the appropriate timing of
      surgery for reducing the recurrence. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 274
      patients with SDH in the late subacute or chronic stage treated with burr hole
      surgery in our hospital between January 2007 and December 2014. Excluding
      patients with acute intracranial complications or unknown time of trauma onset
      left 216 patients included in the study. RESULTS: Of 216 patients with SDH in the
      late subacute or chronic stage, recurrence was observed in 36 patients (16.7%).
      The timing of the operation in patients with late subacute stage (15-28 days)
      resulted in a significant decrease in recurrence (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.17-0.65;
      p=0.001) compared to chronic stage (>28 days). Otherwise, no significant risk
      factors were associated with recurrences including comorbidities and surgical
      details. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that time from trauma onset to burr
      hole surgery may be important for decreasing the risk of recurrence. Therefore,
      unless patients can be treated conservatively without surgery, prompt surgical
      management is recommended in patients diagnosed as having late subacute or
      chronic subdural hematoma treatable by burr hole surgery, even when neurological
      deficits are unclear.

PMID- 27651870
TI  - Bioglue-Coated Teflon Sling Technique in Microvascular Decompression for
      Hemifacial Spasm Involving the Vertebral Artery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Microvascular decompression (MVD) for hemifacial spasm (HFS) involving
      the vertebral artery (VA) can be technically challenging. We investigated the
      therapeutic effects of a bioglue-coated Teflon sling technique on the VA during
      MVD in 42 cases. METHODS: A bioglue-coated Teflon sling was crafted by the
      surgeon and applied to patients in whom neurovascular compression was caused by
      the VA. The radiologic data, intra-operative findings with detailed introduction
      of the procedure, and the clinical outcomes of each patient were reviewed and
      analyzed. RESULTS: The 42 patients included in the analysis consisted of 22
      females and 20 males, with an average follow-up duration of 76 months (range 24
      132 months). Intraoperative investigation revealed that an artery other than the
      VA was responsible for the neurovascular compression in all cases : posterior
      inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) in 23 patients (54.7%) and anterior inferior
      cerebellar artery (AICA) in 11 patients (26.2%). All patients became symptom-free
      after MVD. Neither recurrence nor postoperative neurological deficit was noted
      during the 2-year follow-up, except in one patient who developed permanent
      deafness. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak occurred in three patients, and one
      required dural repair. CONCLUSION: Transposition of the VA using a bioglue-coated
      Teflon sling is a safe and effective surgical technique for HFS involving the VA.
      A future prospective study to compare clinical outcomes between groups with and
      without use of this novel technique is required.

PMID- 27651871
TI  - Surgical Outcome of Adult Idiopathic Chiari Malformation Type 1.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The pathophysiology of idiopathic Chiari malformation (CM) type 1 is
      disturbance of free cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow and restoration of normal CSF
      flow is the mainstay of treatment. Additional migration of the medulla oblongata
      in pediatric patients is referred to as CM type 1.5, but its significance in
      adult patients is unknown. This study is to compare surgical outcomes of adult
      idiopathic CM type 1.5 with that of type 1. METHODS: Thirty-eight consecutive
      adult patients (M : F=11 : 27; median, 33.5; range, 18-63) with syringomyelia due
      to idiopathic CM type 1 were reviewed. Migration of the medulla oblongata was
      noted in 13 patients. The modified McCormick scale (MMS) was used to evaluate
      functional status before and one year after surgery. All patients underwent
      foramen magnum decompression and duroplasty. Factors related to radiological
      success (>=50% decrease in the diameter of the syrinx) were investigated. The
      follow-up period was 72.7+/-55.6 months. RESULTS: Preoperative functional status
      were MMS I in 11 patients and MMS II in 14 of CM type 1 and MMS I in 8 and II in
      5 of CM type 1.5. Of patients with MMS II, 5/14 patients in group A and 3/5
      patients in group B showed improvement and there was no case of deterioration.
      Radiological success was achieved in 32 (84%) patients and restoration of the
      cisterna magna (p=0.01; OR, 46.5) was the only significant factor. CONCLUSION:
      Migration of the medulla oblongata did not make a difference in the surgical
      outcome when the cisterna magna was restored.

PMID- 27651872
TI  - Treatment of the Superior Sagittal Sinus Thrombosis with the Mechanical
      Thrombectomy Using Stent-Retriever Device.
AB  - Cerebral venous sinus thrombosisis an uncommon entity and its clinical
      presentations are highly variable. We present the case of superior sagittal sinus
      thrombosis. Although it was medical refractory, successfully treated with
      mechanical thrombectomy using the Solitaire FR device. A 27-year-old man who
      presented with venous infarction accompanied by petechial hemorrhage secondary to
      the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) thrombosis. Due to rapid deterioration despite
      of anticoagulation therapy, the patient was taken for endovascular treatment. We
      deployed the Solitaire FR device (4*20 mm) in the anterior portion of the
      thrombosed SSS, and it was left for ten minutes before the retraction. Thus, we
      removed a small amount of thrombus. But the sinus remained occluded. We therefore
      performed the thrombectomy using the same methods using the Solitaire FR (6*20
      mm). Thus, we were successful in removing larger clots. Our case highlights not
      only that the mechanical thrombectomy using the Solitaire FR is effective in
      achieving revascularization both rapidly and efficiently available, but also that
      it might be another option in patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis who
      concurrently had rapid clinical deterioration with devastating consequences. 

PMID- 27651873
TI  - Inadvertent Complication of a Pipeline Embolization Device for Treatment with
      Vertebral Artery Dissecting Aneurysm : Distal Tip Fracture of Delivery Wire.
AB  - Use of the Pipeline embolization device (PED) has increased based on studies
      about its safety and effectiveness, and new reports that describe peri- or
      postprocedural complications are now emerging. We report a rare periprocedural
      device-related complication that occurred during endovascular treatment with the
      pipeline embolization device for a dissecting aneurysm on the vertebral artery. A
      55-year old woman was admitted due to left medullary infarction, and angiography
      showed a fusiform dilatation in the left vertebral artery that was suspicious for
      dissecting aneurysm. Endovascular treatment with PED was planned. Under general
      anesthesia, the procedure was performed without significant problems and a PED
      was deployed in an appropriate position. However, in the final step of the
      procedure, the distal tip of the PED delivery wire became engaged within a small
      branch of the posterior cerebral artery and fractured. Fortunately, imaging
      studies after the procedure revealed neither hemorrhagic nor ischemic stroke, and
      the patient recovered without neurological morbidities except initial symptoms. 

PMID- 27651874
TI  - Penetration and Splitting of Optic Nerve by Tuberculum Sellae Meningioma.
AB  - Preservation of the optic nerves is an important issue in the resection of
      tuberculum sellae meningiomas. We report the case of a patient whose optic nerve
      was penetrated by a tuberculum sellae meningioma. During surgery, a bulging tumor
      was found to penetrate the right optic nerve. The tumor was gross totally
      removed, including tumors bulging through the optic nerve. Two trunks of the
      split optic nerve were preserved. The penetrated shape of the optic nerve may
      lead to misjudgment and its damage. Divided trunks of optic nerves are difficult
      to recognize and may be confused for the tumor capsule, because they may be
      thinned and seem to contain tumors. In addition, a single trunk may be confused
      for the whole nerve; thus, the other trunk may be easily damaged if not dissected
      cautiously. Treatment strategy according to the remnant visual acuity was
      suggested. 

PMID- 27651875
TI  - Treatment for Acute Stage Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type II with
      Polydeoxyribonucleotide Injection.
AB  - Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type II is a syndrome that develops after
      nerve injury. Symptoms may be severe, and vary depending on the degree of
      sympathetic nerve involvement. As yet, there is no satisfactory treatment. We
      report the case of a female patient who had an L5 left transverse process
      fracture and an S2 body fracture, who developed symptoms of CRPS type II in her
      left lower leg that were aggravated during ambulation in spite of absolute bed
      rest for one month after the trauma. Several treatments, including bed rest,
      medication, and numerous nerve blocks were attempted, but the pain persisted. We
      finally tried injection of polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) solution at the left L5
      transverse process fracture site because we knew of the anti-inflammatory effect
      of PDRN. One day after this treatment, her symptoms had almost disappeared and
      three days later, she was discharged. We will also further discuss the
      possibility of using PDRN solution for the treatment of CRPS. 

PMID- 27651876
TI  - Massive Calcified Cerebellar Pilocytic Astrocytoma with Rapid Recurrence : A Rare
      Case.
AB  - Pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are World Heath Organization Grade I tumors and are
      most common in children. PA calcification is not a common finding and has been
      reported more frequently in the optic nerve, hypothalamic/thalamus and
      superficially located cerebral tumors. We present a cerebellar PA in a 3-year-old
      male patient with cystic components and massive calcification areas. The residual
      tumor grew rapidly after the first operation, and the patient was operated on
      again. A histopathological examination revealed polar spongioblastoma-like cells.
      Massive calcification is not a common feature in PAs and can lead to difficulties
      in radiological and pathological differential diagnoses. 

PMID- 27651877
TI  - The prevalence of dental fluorosis and exposure to fluoride in drinking water: A
      systematic review.
AB  - Background. Regarding the lack of comprehensive systematic review on the efficacy
      of water fluoridation and prevalence of dental fluorosis, the aim of the current
      research was to systematically study the prevalence of dental fluorosis at
      different levels of water fluoride in the world and lay emphasis on the amount of
      fluoride in drinking water. Methods. Studies were searched in PubMed, Scopus,
      SID, and IranMedex, with regard to inclusion criteria. Study validity was
      assessed with some checklists, and analyses were performed to ascertain the
      prevalence of dental fluorosis among individuals categorized in age groups.
      Results. Investigation of the heterogeneity and analysis of the subgroups
      revealed that in the 6-18 year age group, when water fluoride level was less than
      0.7 ppm and there was exposure to water fluoride in the first 6-8 years of life,
      no significant heterogeneity was detected among the studies in this subgroup.
      Thus, the pooled estimation of dental fluorosis prevalence in this subgroup was
      12.9% (95% CI: 7.5-18.3%). Furthermore, meta-regression indicated that the
      exposure time to fluoride in drinking water, or exposure to fluoride in
      supplements, diets, air, etc as well as the quality of studies had a significant
      relation to the difference in the prevalence of dental fluorosis. Conclusion. The
      results revealed no heterogeneity in just 2 subgroups, and the results of
      subgroups could be pooled in them. Furthermore, the number of studies included in
      this review considerably decreased by considering all the detected confounding
      factors, whereas other similar systematic reviews mentioned at most 2 factors. 

PMID- 27651878
TI  - Culture-based identification of pigmented Porphyromonas and Prevotella species in
      primary endodontic infections.
AB  - Background. The most common species isolated from primary endodontic infections
      are black-pigmented bacteria. These species are implicated in apical abscess
      formation due to their proteolytic activity and are fastidious in nature.
      Therefore, the present study was carried out to evaluate the presence and
      identification of various pigmented Porphyromonas and Prevotella species in the
      infected root canal through culture-based techniques. Methods. Thirty-one
      patients with primary endodontic infections were selected. Using sterile paper
      points, samples were collected from the root canals after access opening and
      prior to obturation, which were cultured using blood and kanamycin blood agar.
      Subsequently, biochemical test was used to identify the species and the results
      were analyzed using percentage comparison analysis, McNemar and chi-squared
      tests, Wilcoxon match pair test and paired t-test. Results. Out of 31 samples 26
      were positive for black-pigmented organisms; the predominantly isolated species
      were Prevotella followed by Porphyromonas. In Porphyromonas only P. gingivalis
      was isolated. One of the interesting features was isolation of P. gingivalis
      through culture, which is otherwise very difficult to isolate through culture.
      Conclusion . The presence of Prevotella and Porphyromonas species suggests that a
      significant role is played by these organisms in the pathogenesis of endodontic
      infections. 

PMID- 27651879
TI  - Association between genetic taste sensitivity, 2D:4D ratio, dental caries
      prevalence, and salivary flow rate in 6-14-year-old children: a cross-sectional
      study.
AB  - Background. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between genetic
      taste sensitivity, dietary preferences and salivary flow rate in 6-14-year-old
      children for identification of individuals at higher risk of developing dental
      caries. Methods. A total of 500 children 6-14 years of age, of both genders, who
      reported to the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, were included.
      Propylthiouracil (PROP) sensitivity test was carried out and the subjects whose
      perception was bitter were grouped as tasters, whereas those who were unable to
      perceive any taste were grouped as non-tasters. The 2D:4D ratio was obtained by
      measuring the length ratio of index finger to ring finger with the help of a
      digital Vernier caliper. Evaluation of dietary preferences was carried out using
      a 24-hour dietary recall and accordingly they were categorized as sweet likers
      and dislikers. The salivary flow rate was estimated by collecting unstimulated
      saliva by spitting method. Data were analyzed with Student's t-test and chi
      squared test. Results. The results suggested a positive relation between low
      digit ratio (2D:4D), non-tasters, sweet likers and high caries index among the
      participants with a highly significant statistical difference (P <= 0.000).
      Tasters had high mean of USSR (0.48) than non-tasters (0.29), which was
      statistically significant. Conclusion. The present research revealed a positive
      correlation between all the parameters evaluated. Therefore an individual
      considered as non-taster by PROP was a sweet liker with low 2D:4D ratio, reduced
      salivary flow rate and high caries index. 

PMID- 27651880
TI  - Comparison of multiple rebond shear strengths of debonded brackets after
      preparation with sandblasting and CO2 laser.
AB  - Background. Failure of orthodontic bracket bonds is a common occurrence during
      orthodontic treatment. Different techniques have been suggested in the literature
      to remove resin residues from the bracket bases and enamel surfaces to prepare
      the surfaces again after debonding. This study attempted to compare multiple
      rebond shear strengths (SBS) of debonded brackets following preparation with
      sandblasting and CO2 laser. Methods. The brackets were bonded on 30 human and
      bovine maxillary central incisors using self-curing composite resin. SBS was
      measured using Hounsfield testing machine. The brackets were rebonded for two
      other times after composite resin residues on their surfaces were removed, either
      with air abrasion or CO2 laser. The debonded brackets and enamel surfaces were
      also evaluated after each debonding procedure under a stereomicroscope in order
      to determine adhesive remnant index (ARI). SBS of debonded brackets after each
      step were compared between sandblast and CO2 laser groups. Results. We observed
      significant differences in SBS values between pre-recycling and first (P = 0.04),
      second (P = 0.007) and third recycling (P = 0.007) with laser. Recycling with
      sandblasting resulted in a decrease in SBS after the first and second recycling
      procedure; however, the SBS increased after the third recycling procedure, with
      no significant differences. Conclusion. SBS of brackets after recycling with
      sandblasting and laser beams was not significantly different, and both were at a
      favorable level. However, repeating the recycling procedure with sandblasting
      resulted in more favorable SBS compared to laser. 

PMID- 27651881
TI  - The effect of ameloblastoma and keratocystic odontogenic tumor on the
      displacement pattern of inferior alveolar canal in CBCT examinations.
AB  - Background. The inferior alveolar canal should be examined as a significant
      anatomical landmark, particularly in the posterior body and ramus of the
      mandible, for dental and surgical procedures. In the present study, the effects
      of two pathological lesions, ameloblastoma and keratocystic odontogenic tumor, on
      canal displacement were investigated. Methods. This study had a single-blinded
      design. Twenty-six patients with lesions in the mandible referred to Imam Reza
      Hospital, Tabriz, Iran, were studied in two equal groups (13 patients with a
      histopathological diagnosis of ameloblastoma and 13 with a histopathological
      diagnosis of odontogenic keratocyst). After confirming the initial incisional
      biopsy and pathological report, cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) of lesions
      larger than 3 cm mesiodistaly and those involving the mandibular posterior body
      and ramus were included in the study. Two maxillofacial surgeons in association
      with an oral and maxillofacial radiologist examined three points on CBCT images
      to determine the mandibular canal position relative to the lesions from the
      lingual and buccal aspects. Results. The results of statistical analyses showed
      that in ameloblastoma, the inferior alveolar canal had been displaced more
      buccally in the ramus area (point A) (84.6%) but in the distal region (point C),
      the displacement was less buccal (41.6%). The canal was displaced buccally in
      53.8% of cases at point A and in 46.2% of cases at point C in KOT lesions.
      Finally chi-squared test did not show any statistically significant differences
      between these two lesions. Conclusion. The results of this study showed no
      relationship between these lesions and the displacement of the mandibular canal. 

PMID- 27651882
TI  - Clinical comparison of coronally-advanced flap plus amniotic membrane or
      subepithelial connective tissue in the treatment of Miller's class I and II
      gingival recessions: A split-mouth study.
AB  - Background. The aim of the present study was to compare coronally advanced flap
      (CAF) plus amniotic membrane (AM) to CAF with connective tissue graft (CTG) in
      the treatment of Miller's class I and II gingival recessions. Methods. Eleven
      healthy subjects with thirty Miller's class I and II gingival recessions >=3 mm,
      were selevted for this research and randomly assigned to two groups in a split
      mouth design. In the control group gingival recessions were treated with CAF and
      CTG; however, in the test group the lesions were treated with (AM) and CAF. The
      clinical parameters, including recession depth (RD), recession width (RW),
      keratinized tissue width (WKT), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment level
      (CAL), were measured at baseline and 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively.
      Statistical significance was set at P < 0.01. Results. Position changes of RD,
      RW, CAL, and MGJ were significant between baseline and one month after surgery (P
      < 0.01) in both the test and control groups and these values remained unchanged
      at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. There were no statistically significant differences
      in PD and WKT between baseline and 1-, 3- and 6-months intervals postoperatively.
      The mean root coverage values after 6 months were 75.5% and 63.1% for two groups,
      respectively. The mean recession depth reductions were 2.63+/-0.63 mm and 2+/-1.4
      mm in the test and control groups, respectively. Conclusion. The results of this
      research showed that application of AM instead of connective tissue decreased
      surgical operation time and patient discomfort but the amount of root coverage
      was not significantly different between the two methods. 

PMID- 27651883
TI  - Effect of non-surgical periodontal treatment on transferrin serum levels in
      patients with chronic periodontitis.
AB  - Background. Transferrin is a negative acute phase protein, which decreases during
      inflammation and infection. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate
      changes in the transferrin serum levels subsequent to non-surgical treatment of
      chronic periodontal disease. Methods. Twenty patients with chronic periodontitis
      and 20 systemically healthy subjects without periodontal disease, who had
      referred to Tabriz Faculty of Dentistry, were selected. Transferrin serum levels
      and clinical periodontal parameters (pocket depth, clinical attachment level,
      gingival index, bleeding index and plaque index) were measured at baseline and 3
      months after non-surgical periodontal treatment. Data were analyzed with
      descriptive statistical methods (means +/- standard deviations). Independent
      samples t-test was used to compare transferrin serum levels and clinical
      variables between the test and control groups. Paired samples t-test was used in
      the test group for comparisons before and after treatment. Statistical
      significance was set at P < 0.05. Results. The mean transferrin serum level in
      patients with chronic periodontitis (213.1 +/- 9.2 mg/dL) was significantly less
      than that in periodontally healthy subjects (307.8 +/- 11.7 mg/dL). Three months
      after periodontal treatment, the transferrin serum level increased significantly
      (298.3 +/- 7.6 mg/dL) and approached the levels in periodontally healthy subjects
      (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The decrease and increase in transferrin serum levels
      with periodontal disease and periodontal treatment, respectively, indicated an
      inverse relationship between transferrin serum levels and chronic periodontitis. 

PMID- 27651884
TI  - Antimicrobial effect of chlorhexidine on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans
      biofilms associated with peri-implantitis.
AB  - Background. This study aimed to assessthe antimicrobial effect of chlorhexidine
      (CHX) on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans biofilms isolated from subgingival
      plaque of peri-implantitis lesions. Methods. Thirteen patients requiring peri
      implantitis treatment were consecutively selected and their subgingival biofilm
      was collected by inserting fine sterile paper points into peri-implant pockets
      for 15 seconds. A. actinomycetemcomitans was isolated from the subgingival
      biofilm and cultured. In this study, the standard strain of A.
      actinomycetemcomitans served as the positive control group and a blank disc
      impregnated with water served as the negative control; 0.1 mL of the bacterial
      suspension was cultured on specific culture medium and blank discs (6 mm in
      diameter) impregnated with 0.2%CHX mouthrinse (Behsa Pharmaceutical Co.) and
      negative control discs were placed on two sides of the bacterial culture plate.
      The size of growth inhibition zone was measured by a blinded independent observer
      in millimetres. Results. According to the results of disc diffusion test, the
      mean diameter of growth inhibition zone of A. actinomycetemcomitans around discs
      impregnated with CHX was larger in both standard (positive control) and biofilm
      samples of A. actinomycetemcomitans compared to the negative control group (blank
      disc) (P<0.001). Conclusion . Use of0.2% CHX mouthwash had antibacterial effects
      on A. actinomycetemcomitans species isolated from peri-implantitis sites. 

PMID- 27651885
TI  - Effect of screw access hole preparation on fracture load of implant-supported
      zirconia-based crowns: an in vitro study.
AB  - Background. Fracture load of implant-supported restorations is an important
      factor in clinical success. This study evaluated the effect of two techniques for
      screw access hole preparation on the fracture load of cement-screw-retained
      implant-supported zirconia-based crowns. Methods. Thirty similar cement-screw
      retained implant-supported zirconia-based maxillary central incisor crowns were
      evaluated in three groups of 10. Group NH: with no screw access holes for the
      control; Group HBS: with screw access holes prepared with a machine before
      zirconia sintering; Group HAS: with screw access holes prepared manually after
      zirconia sintering. In group HBS, the access holes were virtually designed and
      prepared by a computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing system. In
      group HAS, the access holes were manually prepared after zirconia sintering using
      a diamond bur. The dimensions of the screw access holes were equal in both
      groups. The crowns were cemented onto same-size abutments and were then subjected
      to thermocycling. The fracture load values of the crowns were measured using a
      universal testing machine. Data were analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey test (P <
      0.05). Results. The mean fracture load value for the group NH was 888.37 +/-
      228.92 N, which was the highest among the groups, with a significant difference
      (P < 0.0001). The fracture load values were 610.48 +/- 125.02 N and 496.74 +/-
      104.10 Nin the HBS and HAS groups, respectively, with no significant differences
      (P = 0.44). Conclusion. Both techniques used for preparation of screw access
      holes in implant-supported zirconia-based crowns decreased the fracture load. 

PMID- 27651886
TI  - The sealing ability of novel Kryptonite adhesive bone cement as a retrograde
      filling material.
AB  - Background. This study evaluated the ability of Kryptonite bone cement in sealing
      retrograde cavities. Methods. The root canals of one hundred extracted human
      maxillary incisor teeth were instrumented up to master apical file #40 using Mtwo
      rotary system and obturated with gutta-percha and AHPlus sealer by cold lateral
      compaction method. The specimens were assigned to one control group and four
      experimental groups based on the retrograde filling materials (n=20). The
      specimens were immersed in 0.5% Rhodamine B solution for 48h. Then the specimens
      were divided longitudinally into two parts and the depth of dye penetration was
      assessed under *10 magnification. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and
      Bonferroni tests. Results. There were statistically significant difference
      between the experimental groups and the control group (P<0.05). There were no
      statistically significant differences between the experimental groups in dye
      penetration scores (P>0.05). Conclusion . Kryptonite cement provided optimal
      apical seal in a manner similar to MTA, amalgam and IRM when used as a retrograde
      filling cement. 

PMID- 27651887
TI  - Fissure sealant materials: Wear resistance of flowable composite resins.
AB  - Background. Wear resistance of pit and fissure sealant materials can influence
      their retention. Wear characteristics of sealant materials may determine
      scheduling of check-up visits. The aim of this study was to compare wear
      resistance of two flowable composite resins with that of posterior composite
      resin materials. Methods. Thirty-five disk-shaped specimens were prepared in 5
      groups, including two flowable composite resins (Estelite Flow Quick and Estelite
      Flow Quick High Flow), Filtek P90 and Filtek P60 and Tetric N-Ceram. The disk
      shaped samples were prepared in 25-mm diameter by packing them into a two-piece
      aluminum mold and then light-cured. All the specimens were polished for 1minute
      using 600-grit sand paper. The samples were stored in distilled water at room
      temperature for 1 week and then worn by two-body abrasion test using "pin-on
      disk" method (with distilled water under a 15-Nload at 0.05 m/s, for a distance
      of 100 meter with Steatite ceramic balls antagonists). A Profilometer was used
      for evaluating the surface wear. Data were analyzed with the one-way ANOVA.
      Results. Estelite Flow Quick exhibited 2708.9 +/- 578.1 MUm(2) and Estelite Flow
      Quick High Flow exhibited 3206 +/- 2445.1 MUm(2)of wear but there were no
      significant differences between the groups. They demonstrated similar wear
      properties. Conclusion. Estelite flowable composite resins have wear resistance
      similar to nano- and micro-filled and micro-hybrid composite resins. Therefore,
      they can be recommended as pit and fissure sealant materials in the posterior
      region with appropriate mechanical characteristics. 

PMID- 27651888
TI  - Direct reprogramming of urine-derived cells with inducible MyoD for modeling
      human muscle disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cellular models of muscle disease are taking on increasing importance
      with the large number of genes and mutations implicated in causing myopathies and
      the concomitant need to test personalized therapies. Developing cell models
      relies on having an easily obtained source of cells, and if the cells are not
      derived from muscle itself, a robust reprogramming process is needed. Fibroblasts
      are a human cell source that works well for the generation of induced pluripotent
      stem cells, which can then be differentiated into cardiomyocyte lineages, and
      with less efficiency, skeletal muscle-like lineages. Alternatively, direct
      reprogramming with the transcription factor MyoD has been used to generate
      myotubes from cultured human fibroblasts. Although useful, fibroblasts require a
      skin biopsy to obtain and this can limit their access, especially from pediatric
      populations. RESULTS: We now demonstrate that direct reprogramming of urine
      derived cells is a highly efficient and reproducible process that can be used to
      establish human myogenic cells. We show that this method can be applied to urine
      cells derived from normal individuals as well as those with muscle diseases.
      Furthermore, we show that urine-derived cells can be edited using CRISPR/Cas9
      technology. CONCLUSIONS: With progress in understanding the molecular etiology of
      human muscle diseases, having a readily available, noninvasive source of cells
      from which to generate muscle-like cells is highly useful.

PMID- 27651890
TI  - Trends in annual drug expenditure - a 16 year perspective of a public healthcare
      maintenance organization.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modern drug therapy accounts for a major share of health expenditure
      and challenges public provider resources. The objective of our study was to
      compare drug expenditure trends for ten major drug classes over 16 years at
      Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), the 2(nd) largest healthcare organization in
      Israel. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of drug expenditure per HMO beneficiary
      between the years 1998-2014. Trends in annual mean drug expenditures per MHS
      member were compared among 10 major drug classes. RESULTS: Average annual drug
      expenditure per beneficiary increased during the study period from 429.56 to
      474.32 in 2014 (10.4 %). Ten drug classes accounted for 58.0 % and 77.8 % of
      total drug cost in 1998 and 2014, respectively. The overall distribution of drug
      expenditure among drug classes differed significantly between 1998 and 2014 (p <
      0.001), mainly due to the increase in expenditure for cancer drugs, from 6.8 % of
      total drug cost to 30.3 %. In contrast, expenditures for cardiovascular drugs
      decreased during the same period from 16.0 to 2.7 %. Moreover, the median annual
      increase in net drug costs per HMO member during 1998-2014 was largest for cancer
      drugs (NIS 6.18/year; IQR, 1.70-9.92/year), about two-fold that of
      immunosuppressants, the second fastest growing drug class (NIS 2.81; IQR, 0.58
      7.43/year). CONCLUSIONS: The continuous rise in anti-cancer drug expenditure puts
      a substantial burden on the medication budgets of public health organizations.
      Coordinated measures involving policy makers, physicians, and pharmaceutical
      companies will be required for efficient cost containment.

PMID- 27651889
TI  - Current status and unanswered questions on the use of Denosumab in giant cell
      tumor of bone.
AB  - Denosumab is a monoclonal antibody to RANK ligand approved for use in giant cell
      tumour (GCT) of bone. Due to its efficacy, Denosumab is recommended as the first
      option in inoperable or metastatic GCT. Denosumab has also been used pre
      operatively to downstage tumours with large soft tissue extension to allow for
      less morbid surgery. The role of Denosumab for conventional limb GCT of bone is
      yet to be defined. Further studies are required to determine whether local
      recurrence rates will be decreased with the adjuvant use of Denosumab along with
      surgery. The long term use and toxicity of this agent is unknown as is the
      proportion of patients with primary or secondary resistance. It is advised that
      complicated cases of GCT requiring Denosumab treatment should be referred and
      followed up at expert centres. Collaborative studies involving further clinical
      trials and rigorous data collection are strongly recommended to identify the
      optimum use of this drug. 

PMID- 27651891
TI  - Complying with the framework convention for tobacco control: an application of
      the Abridged SimSmoke model to Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco
      Control (FCTC) established the MPOWER policy package to provide practical country
      level guidance on implementing effective policies to reduce smoking rates. The
      Abridged SimSmoke tobacco control policy simulation model is applied to Israel to
      estimate the effects on reducing smoking-attributable mortality resulting from
      full implementation of MPOWER policies. METHODS: Smoking prevalence from the 2014
      Israel National Health Interview Survey 3 and population data from the Israel
      Central Bureau of Statistics were used to calculate the number of current
      smokers. The status of current Israeli policy was determined using information
      from MPOWER 2015 and from local sources. Based on existing knowledge that between
      50 % and 65 % of smokers will die prematurely from smoking, the model is used to
      determine mortality reductions among current smokers from full implementation of
      MPOWER policies. RESULTS: We estimate that between 547 and 711 thousand smokers
      of the current 1.1 million Israeli smokers will prematurely die due smoking.
      Within 40 years, complete implementation of MPOWER policies is projected to
      reduce smoking prevalence among current smokers by 34% and avert between 187 and
      243 thousand deaths. Taxes, smoke-free air laws, marketing restrictions and media
      campaigns each reduce smoking by about 5 % within 5 years. Improved cessation
      treatment and health warnings each have smaller effects in the next five years,
      but their effects grow rapidly over time. CONCLUSIONS: Israel Abridged SimSmoke
      shows that complete implementation of the MPOWER strategies has the potential to
      substantially reduce smoking prevalence, and avert premature deaths due to
      smoking. Additional benefits are also expected from reduced morbidity, reduced
      initiation among nonsmokers, and reduction in exposure of nonsmokers to tobacco
      smoke.

PMID- 27651892
TI  - Insights into antimicrobial resistance among long distance migratory East
      Canadian High Arctic light-bellied Brent geese (Branta bernicla hrota).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the most significant threat to
      global public health and ascertaining the role wild birds play in the
      epidemiology of resistance is critically important. This study investigated the
      prevalence of AMR Gram-negative bacteria among long-distance migratory East
      Canadian High Arctic (ECHA) light-bellied Brent geese found wintering on the east
      coast of Ireland. FINDINGS: In this study a number of bacterial species were
      isolated from cloacal swabs taken from ECHA light-bellied Brent geese. Nucleotide
      sequence analysis identified five species of Gram-negative bacteria; the dominant
      isolated species were Pantoea spp. (n = 5) followed by Buttiauxella agrestis (n =
      2). Antimicrobial susceptibility disk diffusion results identified four of the
      Pantoea spp. strains, and one of the Buttiauxella agrestis strains resistant to
      amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge this is the first
      record of AMR bacteria isolated from long distance migratory ECHA light-bellied
      Brent geese. This indicates that this species may act as reservoirs and potential
      disseminators of resistance genes into remote natural ecosystems across their
      migratory range. This population of geese frequently forage (and defecate) on
      public amenity areas during the winter months presenting a potential human health
      risk.

PMID- 27651893
TI  - High altitude-related hypertensive crisis and acute kidney injury in an
      asymptomatic healthy individual.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-altitude exposure causes a mild to moderate rise in systolic and
      diastolic blood pressure. This case report describes the first documented case of
      a hypertensive crisis at altitude, as well as the first report of the occurrence
      of acute kidney injury in the context of altitude-related hypertension. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A healthy, previously normotensive 30-year old, embarked on a trek
      to Everest Base Camp (5300 m). During his 11-day ascent the subject developed
      increasingly worsening hypertension. In the absence of symptoms, the individual
      initially elected to remain at altitude as had previously been the plan. However,
      an increase in the severity of his hypertension to a peak of 223/119 mmHg
      resulted in a decision to descend. On descent he was found to have an acute
      kidney injury that subsequently resolved spontaneously. His blood pressure
      reverted to normal at sea level and subsequent investigations including a
      transthoracic echocardiogram, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, renal
      ultrasound, and urinary catecholamines were normal. CONCLUSION: This report
      challenges the view that transient rises in blood pressure at altitude are
      without immediate risk. We review the evidence that altitude induces hypertension
      and discuss the implications for the management of hypertension at altitude.

PMID- 27651894
TI  - Examination of the molecular control of ruminal epithelial function in response
      to dietary restriction and subsequent compensatory growth in cattle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary
      restriction and subsequent compensatory growth on the relative expression of
      genes involved in volatile fatty acid transport, metabolism and cell
      proliferation in ruminal epithelial tissue of beef cattle. Sixty Holstein
      Friesian bulls (mean liveweight 370 +/- 35 kg; mean age 479 +/- 15 d) were
      assigned to one of two groups: (i) restricted feed allowance (RES; n = 30) for
      125 d (Period 1) followed by ad libitum access to feed for 55 d (Period 2) or
      (ii) ad libitum access to feed throughout (ADLIB; n = 30). Target growth rate for
      RES was 0.6 kg/d during Period 1. At the end of each dietary period, 15 animals
      from each treatment group were slaughtered and ruminal epithelial tissue and
      liquid digesta harvested from the ventral sac of the rumen. Real-time qPCR was
      used to quantify mRNA transcripts of 26 genes associated with ruminal epithelial
      function. Volatile fatty acid analysis of rumen fluid from individual animals was
      conducted using gas chromatography. RESULTS: Diet * period interactions were
      evident for genes involved in ketogenesis (BDH2, P = 0.017), pyruvate metabolism
      (LDHa, P = 0.048; PDHA1, P = 0.015) and cellular transport and structure (DSG1, P
      = 0.019; CACT, P = 0.027). Ruminal concentrations of propionic acid (P = 0.018)
      and n-valeric acid (P = 0.029) were lower in RES animals, compared with ADLIB,
      throughout the experiment. There was also a strong tendency (P = 0.064) toward a
      diet * period interaction for n-butyric with higher concentrations in RES
      animals, compared with ADLIB, during Period 1. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest
      that following nutrient restriction, the structural integrity of the rumen wall
      is compromised and there is upregulation of genes involved in the production of
      ketone bodies and breakdown of pyruvate for cellular energy. These results
      provide an insight into the potential molecular mechanisms regulating ruminal
      epithelial absorptive metabolism and growth following nutrient restriction and
      subsequent compensatory growth.

PMID- 27651896
TI  - Erratum: Promoting the role of patients in improving hand hygiene compliance
      amongst health care workers.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjquality.u210787.w4336.]. 

PMID- 27651897
TI  - A Quality Improvement Project to Reduce the 'No Show' rate in a Paediatric
      Neurology Clinic.
AB  - This quality improvement project aimed to reduce the 'no show' rate in a
      paediatric neurology clinic in Qatar. No show, in outpatient clinics, is defined
      as patients who fail to attend their scheduled clinic appointments. It is one of
      the targets for improving quality of care. It leads to longer waiting times for
      patients to be seen in outpatient clinics, and the result is patients missing
      their important appointments. It also results in a waste of the clinic resources,
      and physician and other healthcare practitioners' time. This study was undertaken
      as part of the CCITP (clinical care improvement training programme). A project
      team was assembled with coaching support. The department chairman and the
      appointment system personnel were involved. Baseline and ongoing measures were
      collected and charted. The baseline no-show rate was identified as 49%. Following
      three intervention PDSAs, mainly addressing communication and appointment
      flexibility, the post intervention no-show rate dropped to 18% and was sustained
      below the target of 25% for two years. Better communication and appointment
      flexibility can significantly reduce the no-show rate in outpatient clinics. 

PMID- 27651895
TI  - Starving cancer from the outside and inside: separate and combined effects of
      calorie restriction and autophagy inhibition on Ras-driven tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Calorie restriction (CR) prevents obesity and exerts anticancer
      effects in many preclinical models. CR is also increasingly being used in cancer
      patients as a sensitizing strategy prior to chemotherapy regimens. While the
      beneficial effects of CR are widely accepted, the mechanisms through which CR
      affects tumor growth are incompletely understood. In many cell types, CR and
      other nutrient stressors can induce autophagy, which provides energy and
      metabolic substrates critical for cancer cell survival. We hypothesized that
      limiting extracellular and intracellular substrate availability by combining CR
      with autophagy inhibition would reduce tumor growth more effectively than either
      treatment alone. RESULTS: A 30 % CR diet, relative to control diet, in nude mice
      resulted in significant decreases in body fat, blood glucose, and serum insulin,
      insulin-like growth factor-1, and leptin levels concurrent with increased
      adiponectin levels. In a xenograft model in nude mice involving H-Ras(G12V)
      transformed immortal baby mouse kidney epithelial cells with (Atg5 (+/+) ) and
      without (Atg5 (-/-)) autophagic capacity, the CR diet (relative to control diet)
      genetically induced autophagy inhibition and their combination, each reduced
      tumor development and growth. Final tumor volume was greatest for Atg5 (+/+)
      tumors in control-fed mice, intermediate for Atg5 (+/+) tumors in CR-fed mice and
      Atg5 (-/-) tumors in control-fed mice, and lowest for Atg5 (-/-) tumors in CR
      mice. In Atg5 (+/+) tumors, autophagic flux was increased in CR-fed relative to
      control-fed mice, suggesting that the prosurvival effects of autophagy induction
      may mitigate the tumor suppressive effects of CR. Metabolomic analyses of CR-fed,
      relative to control-fed, nude mice showed significant decreases in circulating
      glucose and amino acids and significant increases in ketones, indicating CR
      induced negative energy balance. Combining glucose deprivation with autophagy
      deficiency in Atg5 (-/-) cells resulted in significantly reduced in vitro colony
      formation relative to glucose deprivation or autophagy deficiency alone.
      CONCLUSIONS: Combined restriction of extracellular (via CR in vivo or glucose
      deprivation in vitro) and intracellular (via autophagy inhibition) sources of
      energy and nutrients suppresses Ras-driven tumor growth more effectively than
      either CR or autophagy deficiency alone. Interventions targeting both systemic
      energy balance and tumor-cell intrinsic autophagy may represent a novel and
      effective anticancer strategy.

PMID- 27651898
TI  - Improving communication between phlebotomists and doctors: a quality improvement
      project.
AB  - Blood tests are a seemingly basic investigation, but are often a vital part of
      directing patient management. Despite the importance of this everyday process, we
      indentified the potential for improvement of the current phlebotomy service in
      our hospital, as both junior doctors and phlebotomists reported a lack of
      communication and standardised practice across the wards. Resulting delays in
      obtaining blood test results can impact detrimentally on patient safety and
      management. We designed a survey which highlighted inefficient handovers and
      discrepancies between wards as driving factors behind this. We therefore aimed to
      improve communication between phlebotomists and doctors, as well as the overall
      organisation of the service. This took the form of the "Phlebotomy Box," a box
      file system offering a set location for blood stickers to be situated. The box
      concept was optimised on a series of medical and surgical wards, incorporating
      multidisciplinary feedback from relevant teams. We measured how many untaken
      bloods were handed over to medical staff continuously, both pre- and post
      implementation of the phlebotomy box. Our baseline ward demonstrated poor
      handover rates of untaken bloods, ranging from 0% to 40%. This increased to a
      consistent 100% following introduction of the Phlebotomy Box and ongoing staff
      education. Once optimised, the box was trialled on a further two medical wards
      and one surgical ward, achieving 100% handover from an initial 0% to 67%.
      Quantitative improvement was also reflected qualitatively in widespread staff
      surveys, with overwhelmingly positive support and acceptance. In summary, the
      Phlebotomy Box innovation has led to 100% of untaken bloods being effectively
      handed over. We have demonstrated a significant improvement in communication and
      efficiency within the phlebotomy service, with tangible benefits to patient care,
      as minimising time lags can prevent delays in clinical decisions. The phlebotomy
      box represents a simplistic, sustainable intervention that could be easily
      replicated in other Trusts. 

PMID- 27651899
TI  - Erratum: Improving safety of sedation for transoesophageal echocardiography.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjquality.u202226.w1113.]. 

PMID- 27651900
TI  - Erratum: Improving analgesia in fractured neck of femur with a standardised
      fascia iliaca block protocol.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1136/bmjquality.u202788.w1370.]. 

PMID- 27651901
TI  - Recent trends in the probability of high out-of-pocket medical expenses in the
      United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article measures the probability that out-of-pocket expenses in
      the United States exceed a threshold share of income. It calculates this
      probability separately by individuals' health condition, income, and elderly
      status and estimates changes occurring in these probabilities between 2010 and
      2013. DATA AND METHOD: This article uses nationally representative household
      survey data on 344,000 individuals. Logistic regressions estimate the
      probabilities that out-of-pocket expenses exceed 5% and alternatively 10% of
      income in the two study years. These probabilities are calculated for individuals
      based on their income, health status, and elderly status. RESULTS: Despite
      favorable changes in both health policy and the economy, large numbers of
      Americans continue to be exposed to high out-of-pocket expenditures. For
      instance, the results indicate that in 2013 over a quarter of nonelderly low
      income citizens in poor health spent 10% or more of their income on out-of-pocket
      expenses, and over 40% of this group spent more than 5%. Moreover, for Americans
      as a whole, the probability of spending in excess of 5% of income on out-of
      pocket costs increased by 1.4 percentage points between 2010 and 2013, with the
      largest increases occurring among low-income Americans; the probability of
      Americans spending more than 10% of income grew from 9.3% to 9.6%, with the
      largest increases also occurring among the poor. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of out
      of-pocket's financial burden and the most recent upward trends in it underscore a
      need to develop good measures of the degree to which health care policy exposes
      individuals to financial risk, and to closely monitor the Affordable Care Act's
      success in reducing Americans' exposure to large medical bills.

PMID- 27651902
TI  - Gender differences in the predictive role of self-rated health on short-term risk
      of mortality among older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite the well-established association between self-rated health
      and mortality, research findings have been inconsistent regarding how men and
      women differ on this link. Using a national sample in the United States, this
      study compared American male and female older adults for the predictive role of
      baseline self-rated health on the short-term risk of mortality. METHODS: This
      longitudinal study followed 1500 older adults (573 men (38.2%) and 927 women
      (61.8%)) aged 66 years or older for 3 years from 2001 to 2004. The main predictor
      of interest was self-rated health, which was measured using a single item in
      2001. The outcome was the risk of all-cause mortality during the 3-year follow-up
      period. Demographic factors (race and age), socio-economic factors (education and
      marital status), and health behaviors (smoking and drinking) were covariates.
      Gender was the focal moderator. We ran logistic regression models in the pooled
      sample and also stratified by gender, with self-rated health treated as either
      nominal variables, poor compared to other levels (i.e. fair, good, or excellent)
      or excellent compared to other levels (i.e. good, fair, or poor), or an ordinal
      variable. RESULTS: In the pooled sample, baseline self-rated health predicted
      mortality risk, regardless of how the variable was treated. We found a
      significant interaction between gender and poor self-rated health, indicating a
      stronger effect of poor self-rated health on mortality risk for men compared to
      women. Gender did not interact with excellent self-rated health on mortality.
      CONCLUSION: Perceived poor self-rated health better reflects risk of mortality
      over a short period of time for older men compared to older women. Clinicians may
      need to take poor self-rated health of older men very seriously. Future research
      should test whether the differential predictive validity of self-rated health
      based on gender is due to a different meaning of poor self-rated health for older
      men and women and whether poor self-rated health reflects different health
      statuses based on gender.

PMID- 27651904
TI  - Erratum to: Comments to: Risk factors for late defecation and its association
      with the outcomes of critically ill patients: a retrospective observational
      study.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s40560-016-0170-3.]. 

PMID- 27651903
TI  - Hypercalcemia associated with isolated bone marrow sarcoidosis in a patient with
      underlying monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: case report and
      review of literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bone marrow sarcoidosis is extremely rare. The association between
      sarcoidosis and lymphoproliferative disorders has been previously speculated,
      although the diagnosis of sarcoidosis often precedes any hematological
      derangements. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we report for the first time, a case of a
      57-year-old Caucasian woman with a previous diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy of
      undetermined significance (MGUS) developing hypercalcemia and renal failure with
      workup notable for isolated bone marrow sarcoidosis and not multiple myeloma as
      expected. The patient was successfully managed with prednisone taper therapy with
      resolution of her hypercalcemia and repeat bone marrow biopsies demonstrating
      resolving granulomas. CONCLUSIONS: Our case illustrates the diagnostic challenges
      associated with bone marrow sarcoidosis and suggest that chronic immune
      stimulation in the bone marrow in the setting of MGUS may be associated with the
      development of localized sarcoidosis. The long term consequences of steroid
      therapy targeting sarcoidosis in this patient with underlying MGUS remain
      unknown. Greater surveillance and closer followup is planned in light of the
      increased risk of malignant transformation of MGUS into multiple myeloma in the
      setting of bone marrow sarcoidosis.

PMID- 27651905
TI  - Deep vein thrombosis resolution, recurrence and post-thrombotic syndrome: a
      prospective observational study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reasons for the variation in response of deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
      to anticoagulation treatment are not known. Some patients develop complications
      such as post-thrombotic syndrome or recurrent DVT but others make a full
      recovery. The aim of the study is to identify the level of variation in response
      to anticoagulation treatment and provide more precise and quantitative disease
      characterisation in response to treatment. METHODS: A prospective observational
      study using duplex ultrasound to examine changes in thrombus characterisation,
      evolution and resolution over a 2 year period in patients with a confirmed DVT.
      Logistic regression analysis will be used to seek associations between
      characteristics present at baseline and the outcomes of DVT resolution,
      recurrence and the development of post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). DISCUSSION:
      This research into the response to treatment of lower limb DVT and predictive
      factors for DVT resolution, recurrence and PTS could inform a more tailored
      approach to anticoagulation therapy for the future management of DVT. UKCRN ID:
      16016. Registered on 20 January 2014.

PMID- 27651906
TI  - Comparison of anxiety and depression status between office and manufacturing job
      employees in a large manufacturing company: a cross sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate whether type of work is
      associated with anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression
      Scale (HADS). Additionally, we investigated the impact of number of working hours
      on anxiety and depression. METHODS: A total of 1774 workers participated and
      completed the HADS to determine their levels of anxiety and depression. All
      subjects were employed at one of two manufacturing plants for the same company.
      Of all participants, 222 were employed in office jobs and 1552 in manufacturing
      jobs. RESULTS: Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis including
      age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, regular exercise,
      factory region, and working hours, indicated that employment in an office job was
      associated with a 2.17-fold increase in the odds of anxiety compared to a
      manufacturing job (odds ratio [OR] = 2.17; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.24
      3.80). Office jobs were also associated with a 1.94-fold increase in the odds of
      depression (OR = 1.94; 95 % CI, 1.34-2.82). In addition, number of hours worked
      was significantly associated with depression, and working hours significantly
      modified the effect of office job employment on the risk of depression.
      CONCLUSIONS: Office job workers had higher levels of anxiety and depression than
      those working in manufacturing jobs. Our findings suggest that occupational
      physicians should consider the organizational risks faced by office job
      employees, and consider the differences in psychological health between office
      and manufacturing job workers when implementing interventions.

PMID- 27651907
TI  - Step 4: stick or twist? A review of asthma therapy.
AB  - Many people with asthma do not achieve disease control, despite bronchodilators
      and inhaled corticosteroid therapy. People with uncontrolled asthma are at higher
      risk of an asthma attack and death, with mortality rates estimated at 1000
      deaths/year in England and Wales. The recent National Review of Asthma Deaths
      (NRAD) report, 'Why asthma still kills', recommended that patients at step 4 or 5
      of the British Thoracic Society/Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network
      (BTS/SIGN) guidance must be referred to a specialist asthma service. This article
      reviews the 2014 evidence base for therapy of asthma patients at BTS/SIGN step 4
      of the treatment cascade, in response to key findings of the NRAD report and lack
      of preferred treatment option at this step. 

PMID- 27651908
TI  - Pulmonary artery perfusion versus no pulmonary perfusion during cardiopulmonary
      bypass in patients with COPD: a randomised clinical trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Absence of pulmonary perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
      may be associated with reduced postoperative oxygenation. Effects of active
      pulmonary artery perfusion were explored in patients with chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS: 90 patients were
      randomised to receive pulmonary artery perfusion during CPB with either
      oxygenated blood (n=30) or histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution
      (n=29) compared with no pulmonary perfusion (n=31). The coprimary outcomes were
      the inverse oxygenation index compared at 21 hours after starting CPB and
      longitudinally in a mixed-effects model (MEM). Secondary outcomes were tracheal
      intubation time, serious adverse events, mortality, days alive outside the
      intensive care unit (ICU) and outside the hospital. RESULTS: 21 hours after
      starting CPB patients receiving pulmonary artery perfusion with normothermic
      oxygenated blood had a higher oxygenation index compared with no pulmonary
      perfusion (mean difference (MD) 0.94; 95% CI 0.05 to 1.83; p=0.04). The blood
      group had also a higher oxygenation index both longitudinally (MEM, p=0.009) and
      at 21 hours (MD 0.99; CI 0.29 to 1.69; p=0.007) compared with the HTK group. The
      latest result corresponds to a difference in the arterial partial pressure of
      oxygen of 23 mm Hg with a median fraction of inspired oxygen of 0.32. Yet the
      blood or HTK groups did not demonstrate a longitudinally higher oxygenation index
      compared with no pulmonary perfusion (MEM, p=0.57 and 0.17). Similarly, at 21
      hours there was no difference in the oxygenation index between the HTK group and
      those no pulmonary perfusion (MD 0.06; 95% CI -0.73 to 0.86; p=0.87). There were
      no statistical significant differences between the groups for the secondary
      outcomes. DISCUSSION: Pulmonary artery perfusion with normothermic oxygenated
      blood during cardiopulmonary bypass appears to improve postoperative oxygenation
      in patients with COPD undergoing cardiac surgery. Pulmonary artery perfusion with
      hypothermic HTK solution does not seem to improve postoperative oxygenation.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01614951; Pre-results.

PMID- 27651909
TI  - Effect of inhaled corticosteroids on blood eosinophil count in steroid-naive
      patients with COPD.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sputum and blood eosinophil counts have attracted attention as
      potential biomarkers in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). One
      question regarding the use of blood eosinophils as a biomarker in COPD is whether
      their levels are affected by the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), which are
      commonly prescribed for COPD. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of
      peripheral blood leucocytes from a previously completed clinical trial that
      examined effects of ICS in steroid-naive patients with COPD. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSION: The data show that the ICS-containing treatment arms (containing
      fluticasone propionate) had a small effect on peripheral blood eosinophils in
      steroid-naive patients with COPD. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00358358; Post
      results.

PMID- 27651910
TI  - Systemic inflammatory responses in patients with type 2 diabetes with chronic
      periodontitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this case-control study was to quantify the immune
      responsiveness in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) as compared with
      patients without diabetes (NT2D) diagnosed with periodontitis. RESEARCH DESIGN
      AND METHODS: Peripheral blood was collected from 20 patients with moderate-to
      severe chronic periodontitis (10 T2D, 10 NT2D). Blood samples were stimulated
      with ultrapure Porphyromonas gingivalis and Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS) for 24 hours. 14 cytokines/chemokines were quantified in culture
      supernatants using multiplex technology. RESULTS: T2D individuals demonstrated
      higher unstimulated levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-1beta, tumor necrosis
      factor alpha, interferon gamma, IL-10, IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein
      1alpha (MIP1alpha), and 1beta (MIP1beta), and higher stimulated levels of IL-6,
      IL-8, IL-10, MIP1alpha and MIP1beta, along with lower unstimulated and stimulated
      levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) when compared
      with NT2D (p<0.05). Importantly, the LPS-induced levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and
      MIP1alpha strongly correlated with severity of disease, measured by pocket depths
      (PD), within the T2D group (r(2)>=0.7, p<0.05), but not within NT2D. CONCLUSIONS:
      Among patients with chronic periodontitis, patients with T2D seem to have an
      enhanced LPS-induced immune responsiveness than individuals without diabetes,
      which correlates with periodontal disease severity, concomitant with a less
      robust GM-CSF response. This data may in part explain the higher predisposition
      to periodontitis in this population.

PMID- 27651911
TI  - Weight loss efficacy of a novel mobile Diabetes Prevention Program delivery
      platform with human coaching.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the weight loss efficacy of a novel mobile platform
      delivering the Diabetes Prevention Program. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: 43
      overweight or obese adult participants with a diagnosis of prediabetes signed-up
      to receive a 24-week virtual Diabetes Prevention Program with human coaching,
      through a mobile platform. Weight loss and engagement were the main outcomes,
      evaluated by repeated measures analysis of variance, backward regression, and
      mediation regression. RESULTS: Weight loss at 16 and 24 weeks was significant,
      with 56% of starters and 64% of completers losing over 5% body weight. Mean
      weight loss at 24 weeks was 6.58% in starters and 7.5% in completers.
      Participants were highly engaged, with 84% of the sample completing 9 lessons or
      more. In-app actions related to self-monitoring significantly predicted weight
      loss. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the effectiveness of a uniquely mobile
      prediabetes intervention, producing weight loss comparable to studies with high
      engagement, with potential for scalable population health management.

PMID- 27651912
TI  - Process quality of diabetes care under favorable access to healthcare: a 2-year
      longitudinal study using claims data in Japan.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the process quality of diabetes care provided to
      patients under universal health insurance coverage. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
      Using claim data for 570 363 beneficiaries aged 20-69 years who were covered by
      Health Insurance Societies between April 2010 and March 2012, we identified
      patients with type 2 diabetes who made follow-up visits at least every 3 months
      in the first year (subject-identification year). We assessed patient adherence to
      follow-up visits in the second year (quality-reporting year), calculated the
      proportion of patients that completed routine examinations for glycemic control
      and complications, and evaluated associations between characteristics of patients
      and quality indicators using multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS:
      We identified 12 909 patients with diabetes; in the subject-identification year,
      1415 (11.0%) had prescriptions for insulin injections, 6049 (46.9%) had
      prescriptions for oral antihyperglycemic agents, and 5445 (42.2%) had no diabetes
      related prescriptions. Among patients using medication, 474 (6.4%) dropped out in
      the quality-reporting year. The adjusted percentages of quality indicators among
      patients using oral antihyperglycemic agents were 95.8% for glycated hemoglobin,
      35.6% for eye examinations, 15.4% for urine microalbumin excretion, and 90.6% for
      serum lipids; the percentages among patients taking insulin were the same or
      higher. Annual testing for glycated hemoglobin was less frequent in patients aged
      40-49 years than in patients aged 60-69 years (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.91).
      Fewer men than women (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.64), and fewer patients aged 40
      49 years than those aged 60-69 years (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.50 to 0.63) tended to
      complete routine eye examinations. CONCLUSIONS: Screening for retinopathy and
      nephropathy was less frequent than required despite favorable conditions for
      access to healthcare in Japan. Suboptimal quality of care appeared to depend on
      provider factors as well as patient factors, such as limited access to
      retinopathy prevention among working-age men with diabetes.

PMID- 27651913
TI  - Actinomyces denticolens colonisation identified in equine tonsillar crypts.
AB  - Recently, submandibular abscesses associated with Actinomyces denticolens have
      been reported in horses. The actinomycotic clumps have been observed in the
      tonsillar crypts. The aim of this study was to demonstrate colonisation of A
      denticolens in equine tonsils. Twelve equine tonsils obtained from a
      slaughterhouse were divided into two parts for histopathological examination and
      for isolation of A denticolens. When actinomycotic clumps were found in these
      tonsillar crypts, immunohistochemistry using hyperimmune serum against A
      denticolens (DMS 20671) was performed on the serial sections. To determine
      whether Actinomyces-like bacteria isolated using immunoantigenic separation
      technique were A denticolens, the isolates were analysed for the 16S rRNA gene
      sequence. Actinomycotic clumps were found in the tonsillar crypts of 11 (91.7 per
      cent) horses. The clumps were of the saprophytic type accompanied with the
      feedstuffs, but a few clumps were surrounded by inflammatory cells. A denticolens
      antigens were immunodetected not only in the clumps of 11 (100 per cent) tonsils,
      but also in the tonsillar parenchyma. Six isolates obtained from four tonsils
      showed 99.7-99.9 per cent similarity to A denticolens in the 16S rRNA gene
      sequence. In horses, the colonisation sites of A denticolens are the tonsils,
      thus the authors suggest that the tonsils provide the intrinsic infection site
      for A denticolens. 

PMID- 27651914
TI  - Isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane use in cane toads (Rhinella marina).
AB  - Anaesthetic chamber concentrations of isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane that
      resulted in loss of righting reflex within 15 minutes in 50 per cent of toads
      (Rhinella marina) exposed (ED50-LRR<15MIN) were identified. The median and range
      ED50-LRR<15MIN was 1.4 (0.9-1.4) per cent for isoflurane, 1.75 (1.1-1.9) per cent
      for sevoflurane and 4.4 (4.3-5.5) per cent for desflurane. Subsequently, toads
      were exposed to 1.5 times the ED50-LRR<15MIN and times to loss and return of
      righting reflex were identified. All toads for all anaesthetics lost righting
      reflex. The median and range loss of righting reflex was 4:00 (3:00-5:30) minutes
      for isoflurane, 4:45 (3:30-7:00) minutes for sevoflurane, and 4:15 (4:00-5:30)
      minutes for desflurane and was not different between anaesthetics. Time to return
      of righting reflex was 175 (123-211) minutes for isoflurane, 192 (116-383)
      minutes for sevoflurane and 74 (52-220) minutes for desflurane. Time to return of
      righting reflex was significantly shorter for desflurane compared with isoflurane
      or sevoflurane. The use of isoflurane, sevoflurane or desflurane can be used to
      provide immobilisation to cane toads and potentially other anurans. Induction
      times are likely similar when using an anaesthetic chamber to provide
      anaesthesia. However recovery time may take twice as long when utilising
      isoflurane or sevoflurane over desflurane. 

PMID- 27651915
TI  - Streptococcus equi subspecies equi in horses in Israel: seroprevalence and strain
      types.
AB  - The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the seroprevalence of
      Streptococcus equi in Israel, to monitor seropositive horses over time and to
      identify archived strains that were recovered from Israeli horses. A serological
      survey of 200 healthy horses on 20 farms throughout Israel was performed to
      detect recent exposure to S equi antigens A and C via indirect ELISA.
      Seroprevalence was 9.5 per cent (19/200) and positive horses were found in 30 per
      cent (6/20) of the farms. Sixteen horses that returned a positive serology result
      were retested three and six months later. Most (12/16) positive horses remained
      positive, which suggests the presence of animals with persistent infection.
      Molecular characterisation of S equi strains by sequencing of the SeM gene of 16
      archived isolates of S equi that were recovered from clinical cases of strangles
      between 2008 and 2012 identified two strains: SeM-2 and SeM-28. 

PMID- 27651916
TI  - QTL analysis of soft scald in two apple populations.
AB  - The apple (Malus*domestica Borkh.) is one of the world's most widely grown and
      valuable fruit crops. With demand for apples year round, storability has emerged
      as an important consideration for apple breeding programs. Soft scald is a cold
      storage-related disorder that results in sunken, darkened tissue on the fruit
      surface. Apple breeders are keen to generate new cultivars that do not suffer
      from soft scald and can thus be marketed year round. Traditional breeding
      approaches are protracted and labor intensive, and therefore marker-assisted
      selection (MAS) is a valuable tool for breeders. To advance MAS for storage
      disorders in apple, we used genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) to generate high
      density genetic maps in two F1 apple populations, which were then used for
      quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of soft scald. In total, 900 million DNA
      sequence reads were generated, but after several data filtering steps, only 2% of
      reads were ultimately used to create two genetic maps that included 1918 and 2818
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Two QTL associated with soft scald were
      identified in one of the bi-parental populations originating from parent 11W-12
      11, an advanced breeding line. This study demonstrates the utility of next
      generation DNA sequencing technologies for QTL mapping in F1 populations, and
      provides a basis for the advancement of MAS to improve storability of apples. 

PMID- 27651917
TI  - Case report of EUS-guided endoscopic transduodenal necrosectomy in a patient with
      sleeve gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: After an acute attack of pancreatitis, walled-off pancreatic fluid
      collections (PFC) occur in approximately 10 % of cases. Drainage of the cavity is
      recommended when specific indications are met. Endoscopic drainage has been
      adopted as the main intervention for symptomatic walled-off PFC. Altered gastric
      anatomy in these patients poses an interesting challenge. We present the first
      case of a patient with sleeve gastrectomy who underwent successful endoscopic
      transduodenal necrosectomy (TDN). CASE PRESENTATION: Forty year old woman with
      history of morbid obesity status post sleeve gastrectomy in 2009 was found to
      have symptomatic gallstone disease complicated by severe necrotizing gallstone
      pancreatitis and further complicated by symptomatic walled off pancreatic
      necrosis (WOPN). Imaging significant for 10.8 * 7.6 cm fluid collection with
      necrotic debris in the body and tail of the pancreas and endoscopic necrosectomy
      was attempted. EGD showed tubular gastric body and antrum, with extrinsic
      compression in the antrum and duodenal bulb from the pancreatic cyst. Duodenal
      bulb was selected as the preferred fistula site due to sleeve gastrectomy.
      Patient underwent successful TDN in two sessions. Patient had symptomatic
      improvement at follow-up with resolution of WOPN. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge,
      this is the first reported case of EUS-guided endoscopic necrosectomy in a
      patient with sleeve gastrectomy. The duodenal approach was used in our patient
      due to history of sleeve gastrectomy.

PMID- 27651919
TI  - Increased von Willebrand factor levels in patients with systemic lupus
      erythematosus reflect inflammation rather than increased propensity for platelet
      activation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: von Willebrand factor (VWF) is involved in platelet plug formation
      and protein transport. Increased VWF levels in systemic lupus erythematous (SLE)
      are considered risk factors for vascular events. VWF protein levels, however, do
      not accurately reflect its platelet-aggregating function, which has not been
      examined in SLE. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with clinical and laboratory data
      obtained in patients with SLE (n=92) from a regional lupus registry. VWF function
      was determined by ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation (VWF ristocetin
      cofactor, VWF:RCo) and VWF levels by turbidimetric assay (VWF antigen, VWF:Ag).
      The platelet-aggregating activity per VWF unit was estimated by the VWF RCo/Ag
      ratio. Healthy controls served as comparators and associations were evaluated by
      non-parametric methods. RESULTS: VWF:Ag (142% vs 107%, p=0.001) and VWF:RCo
      levels (123% vs 78%, p<0.041) were increased in patients with SLE, but VWF RCo/Ag
      ratio was similar as in controls (0.83 vs 0.82, p=0.8). VWF:Ag levels were higher
      in patients experiencing serositis but unrelated to other manifestations,
      thrombotic disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematous Disease Activity Index 2000 or
      Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics-Damage Index. VWF:Ag levels
      correlated significantly with VWF:RCo levels (Rs 0.8, p<0.001), erythrocyte
      sedimentation rate (ESR) (Rs 0.32, p<0.01), anti-dsDNA Ab (Rs 0.27, p<0.01),
      total IgG (Rs 0.33 p<0.01), fibrinogen (Rs 0.28, p<0.01) and ceruloplasmin (Rs
      0.367, p<0.01) levels. VWF:RCo levels were not related to clinical findings but
      were correlated with ESR, anti-dsDNA and transferrin levels. No serological
      associations existed for VWF RCo/Ag ratio (all p>0.2). CONCLUSIONS: In this SLE
      cohort, VWF:Ag behaved similarly to acute-phase reactants, but VWF:Ag increases
      were not matched by increases in functional activity per unit of VWF. Thus, more
      VWF did not increase the propensity for platelet aggregation in SLE.

PMID- 27651918
TI  - I too, am America: a review of research on systemic lupus erythematosus in
      African-Americans.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-organ autoimmune disorder that can
      cause significant morbidity and mortality. A large body of evidence has shown
      that African-Americans experience the disease more severely than other racial
      ethnic groups. Relevant literature for the years 2000 to August 2015 were
      obtained from systematic searches of PubMed, Scopus, and the EBSCOHost platform
      that includes MEDLINE, CINAHL, etc. to evaluate research focused on SLE in
      African-Americans. Thirty-six of the 1502 articles were classified according to
      their level of evidence. The systematic review of the literature reported a wide
      range of adverse outcomes in African-American SLE patients and risk factors
      observed in other mono and multi-ethnic investigations. Studies limited to
      African-Americans with SLE identified novel methods for more precise
      ascertainment of risk and observed novel findings that hadn't been previously
      reported in African-Americans with SLE. Both environmental and genetic studies
      included in this review have highlighted unique African-American populations in
      an attempt to isolate risk attributable to African ancestry and observed
      increased genetic influence on overall disease in this cohort. The review also
      revealed emerging research in areas of quality of life, race-tailored
      interventions, and self-management. This review reemphasizes the importance of
      additional studies to better elucidate the natural history of SLE in African
      Americans and optimize therapeutic strategies for those who are identified as
      being at high risk. 

PMID- 27651923
TI  - Costs of drugs for treatment of rheumatic diseases.
AB  - The cost of drugs is becoming an issue worldwide, in particular for inflammatory
      rheumatic diseases. In the current review, an overview of the scene is given with
      a specific emphasis on accessibility for those patients in real need of the
      available expensive treatments. The authors propose 7 principles for discussion
      that need to be addressed and are a responsibility for all stakeholders in
      rheumatology. 

PMID- 27651920
TI  - Off-label use of rituximab for systemic lupus erythematosus in Europe.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Rituximab (RTX) is a biological treatment used off-label in patients
      with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This survey aimed to investigate the off
      label use of RTX in Europe and compare the characteristics of patients receiving
      RTX with those receiving conventional therapy. METHODS: Data on patients with SLE
      receiving RTX were taken from the International Registry for Biologics in SLE
      retrospective registry and complemented with data on patients with SLE treated
      with conventional therapy. For nationwide estimates of RTX use in patients with
      SLE, investigators were asked to provide data through case report forms (CRFs).
      Countries for which no data were submitted through CRFs, published literature
      and/or personal communication were used, and for European countries where no data
      were available, estimates were made on the assumption of similarities with
      neighbouring countries. RESULTS: The estimated off-label use of RTX in Europe was
      0.5%-1.5% of all patients with SLE. In comparison with patients with SLE on
      conventional therapy, patients treated with RTX had longer disease duration,
      higher disease activity and were more often treated with immunosuppressives. The
      most frequent organ manifestations for which either RTX or conventional therapy
      was initiated were lupus nephritis followed by musculoskeletal and
      haematological. The reason for treatment was, besides disease control,
      corticosteroid-sparing for patients treated with conventional therapy.
      CONCLUSIONS: RTX use for SLE in Europe is restrictive and appears to be used as a
      last resort in patients for whom other reasonable options have been exhausted.

PMID- 27651922
TI  - Association between RANK, RANKL and OPG polymorphisms with ACPA and erosions in
      rheumatoid arthritis: results from a meta-analysis involving three French
      cohorts.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The RANK/RANKL/osteoprotegerin (OPG) system plays a central role in
      the pathogenesis of bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this
      study was to test the association between 11 single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) located on RANK, RANKL and OPG genes and anticitrullinated peptide
      antibody (ACPA) presence or erosions in RA. METHODS:  PATIENTS: This work was
      performed on three independent samples of French patients with RA: the Etude de
      Suivi des PolyArthrites Indifferenciees Recentes (ESPOIR) (n=632), Rangueil Midi
      Pyrenees (RMP) (n=249) and French Rheumatoid Arthritis Genetic Consortium (FRAGC)
      (n=590) cohorts. Genotyping: the genotyping of 11 SNPs located on RANK, RANKL and
      OPG were performed by PCR. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: The association between the
      genotypes with ACPA or erosions was first tested in the ESPOIR cohort using a
      chi(2) test and, in the case of significant association, replicated in the RMP
      and FRACG cohorts. A meta-analysis on the three cohorts was performed using the
      Mantel-Haenszel method. RESULTS: One SNP on RANK (rs8086340) and three SNPs on
      RANKL (rs7984870, rs7325635, rs1054016) were significantly associated with ACPA
      presence, while one SNP on OPG (rs2073618) and one SNP on RANKL (rs7325635) were
      significantly associated with erosions in the ESPOIR cohort. Following meta
      analysis performed on the three samples, the SNP on RANK and the GGG haplotype of
      the three SNPs located on RANKL were both significantly associated with ACPA
      presence, while only the SNP on OPG remained significantly associated with
      erosions. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified one SNP located on RANK, one
      haplotype on RANKL associated with ACPA presence, and one SNP located on OPG
      associated with erosions in three different samples of French patients with RA.

PMID- 27651921
TI  - Systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for assessing
      disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Patient assessment of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be useful
      in clinical practice, offering a patient-friendly, location independent, and a
      time-efficient and cost-efficient means of monitoring the disease. The objective
      of this study was to identify patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to assess
      disease activity in RA and to evaluate the measurement properties of these
      measures. Systematic literature searches were performed in the PubMed and EMBASE
      databases to identify articles reporting on clinimetric development or evaluation
      of PROM-based instruments to monitor disease activity in patients with RA. 2
      reviewers independently selected articles for review and assessed their
      methodological quality based on the Consensus-based Standards for the selection
      of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) recommendations. A total of 424
      abstracts were retrieved for review. Of these abstracts, 56 were selected for
      reviewing the full article and 34 articles, presenting 17 different PROMs, were
      finally included. Identified were: Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index
      (RADAI), RADAI-5, Patient-based Disease Activity Score (PDAS) I & II, Patient
      derived Disease Activity Score with 28-joint counts (Pt-DAS28), Patient-derived
      Simplified Disease Activity Index (Pt-SDAI), Global Arthritis Score (GAS),
      Patient Activity Score (PAS) I & II, Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data
      (RAPID) 2-5, Patient Reported Outcome-index (PRO-index) continuous (C) & majority
      (M), Patient Reported Outcome CLinical ARthritis Activity (PRO-CLARA). The
      quality of reports varied from poor to good. Typically 5 out of 10 clinimetric
      domains were covered in the validations of the different instruments. The quality
      and extent of clinimetric validation varied among PROMs of RA disease activity.
      The Pt-DAS28, RADAI, RADAI-5 and RAPID 3 had the strongest and most extensive
      validation. The measurement properties least reported and in need of more
      evidence were: reliability, measurement error, cross-cultural validity and
      interpretability of measures. 

PMID- 27651924
TI  - Impact of intensive treatment and remission on health-related quality of life in
      early and established rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To establish if using intensive treatment to reduce synovitis and
      attain remission in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improves all aspects of
      health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: A secondary analysis of two
      randomised clinical trials (CARDERA and TACIT) was undertaken. CARDERA randomised
      467 patients with early active RA to different disease-modifying antirheumatic
      drug (DMARD) regimens, including high-dose tapering corticosteroids. TACIT
      randomised 205 established patients with active RA to combination DMARDs
      (cDMARDs) or tumour necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (TNFis). Short-Form 36 (SF
      36) measured HRQoL across eight domains, generating physical (PCS) and mental
      (MCS) component summary scores. Linear regression evaluated 6-month intensive
      treatment impacts. Mean SF-36 scores, stratified by end point disease activity
      category, were compared with age/gender-matched population scores. RESULTS: In
      CARDERA, intensive corticosteroid treatment gave significantly greater
      improvements in PCS but not MCS scores relative to placebo. In TACIT, all eight
      SF-36 domains had improvements from baseline exceeding minimal clinically
      important differences with cDMARDs and TNFis. Significantly greater improvements
      with TNFi relative to cDMARDs were reported in PCS only (p=0.034), after
      adjusting for covariates. Remission provided the best SF-36 profiles, but scores
      in physical functioning, role physical and general health in both trials remained
      below normative values. Patient global assessment of disease activity had a
      greater association with HRQoL than other disease activity score (DAS28)
      components. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive corticosteroid treatment in early RA improves
      physical but not mental health, relative to placebo. In established RA, cDMARDs
      and TNFi provide similar improvements in HRQoL. As remission optimises but fails
      to normalise HRQoL, a focus on treatment strategies targeting HRQoL is required.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: CARDERA was registered as ISRCTN 32484878. TACIT was
      registered as ISRCTN 37438295; pre-results.

PMID- 27651926
TI  - Metabolomic profiling predicts outcome of rituximab therapy in rheumatoid
      arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether characterisation of patients' metabolic profiles,
      utilising nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS), could
      predict response to rituximab therapy. 23 patients with active, seropositive
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on concomitant methotrexate were treated with
      rituximab. Patients were grouped into responders and non-responders according to
      the American College of Rheumatology improvement criteria, at a 20% level at 6
      months. A Bruker Avance 700 MHz spectrometer and a Thermo Scientific Q Exactive
      Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer were used to acquire (1)H-NMR and
      ultra high pressure liquid chromatography (UPLC)-MS/MS spectra, respectively, of
      serum samples before and after rituximab therapy. Data processing and statistical
      analysis were performed in MATLAB. 14 patients were characterised as responders,
      and 9 patients were considered non-responders. 7 polar metabolites
      (phenylalanine, 2-hydroxyvalerate, succinate, choline, glycine, acetoacetate and
      tyrosine) and 15 lipid species were different between responders and non
      responders at baseline. Phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidyserines and
      phosphatidylglycerols were downregulated in responders. An opposite trend was
      observed in phosphatidylinositols. At 6 months, 5 polar metabolites (succinate,
      taurine, lactate, pyruvate and aspartate) and 37 lipids were different between
      groups. The relationship between serum metabolic profiles and clinical response
      to rituximab suggests that (1)H-NMR and UPLC-MS/MS may be promising tools for
      predicting response to rituximab.

PMID- 27651927
TI  - Orthopaedic interventions in patients with psoriatic arthritis: a descriptive
      report from the SPAR cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the current needs for joint surgery in patients with
      psoriatic arthritis (PsA). METHODS: The patient database at the Rheumatology
      Department of the University Hospitals Leuven, was cross-sectionally analysed
      using demographic, medical, laboratory, radiological and surgical data of 269
      patients with PsA. Patients were grouped by the presence or absence of
      orthopaedic surgery and compared for gender, age, mean health assessment
      questionnaire (HAQ) score, current medication and disease duration. The data were
      assessed using descriptive statistics and Student's t-tests. RESULTS: Overall
      48.33% of the patients underwent 1 or more orthopaedic surgeries at some point of
      time. A total of 280 surgical interventions were flagged in the database,
      including both joint sacrificing and non-joint sacrificing procedures. Mean
      disease duration+/-SD at the time of surgery was 1.58 years+/-12.05. Age of the
      patients with surgeries was 54.13 years+/-11.03 SD and not different from those
      without surgeries (53.73 years+/-12.81 SD; p=0.78). 41.54% of the patients
      underwent a single surgery while 58.46% had multiple surgeries. A significant
      difference in the mean HAQ score was observed among the patients with and without
      surgeries (p<0.001). Of all the surgeries 63.92% were performed after diagnosis
      whereas 36.07% were performed before a diagnosis of PsA was made. Among the
      surgeries performed before diagnosis 40.59% were arthroscopies including 9.90% of
      diagnostic arthroscopies. CONCLUSIONS: The number of surgical interventions has
      significantly increased in patients with PsA compared with historical cohorts
      even with a relatively shorter disease duration. There was a significant
      difference in HAQ score between the patients with or without surgeries.

PMID- 27651925
TI  - Post-traumatic arthritis: overview on pathogenic mechanisms and role of
      inflammation.
AB  - Post-traumatic arthritis (PTA) develops after an acute direct trauma to the
      joints. PTA causes about 12% of all osteoarthritis cases, and a history of
      physical trauma may also be found in patients with chronic inflammatory
      arthritis. Symptoms include swelling, synovial effusion, pain and sometimes intra
      articular bleeding. Usually, PTA recoveries spontaneously, but the persistence of
      symptoms after 6 months may be considered pathological and so-called chronic PTA.
      A variety of molecular, mechanobiological and cellular events involved in the
      pathogenesis and the progression of PTA have been identified. The activation of
      inflammatory mechanisms during the PTA acute phase appears to play a critical
      role in the chronic disease onset. Human studies and experimental models have
      revealed that a series of inflammatory mediators are released in synovial fluid
      immediately after the joint trauma. These molecules have been proposed as markers
      of disease and as a potential target for the development of specific and
      preventative interventions. Currently, chronic PTA cannot be prevented, although
      a large number of agents have been tested in preclinical studies. Given the
      relevance of inflammatory reaction, anticytokines therapy, in particular the
      inhibition of interleukin 1 (IL-1), seems to be the most promising strategy. At
      the present time, intra-articular injection of IL-1 receptor antagonist is the
      only anticytokine approach that has been used in a human study of PTA. Despite
      the fact that knowledge in this area has increased in the past years, the
      identification of more specific disease markers and new therapeutic opportunities
      are needed. 

PMID- 27651928
TI  - One-year effects of glucocorticoids on bone density: a meta-analysis in cohorts
      on high and low-dose therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bone loss during glucocorticoid (GC) therapy is poorly quantified.
      OBJECTIVE: Quantification of bone loss in GC-treated patients with chronic
      inflammatory diseases (CID; low dose) and transplants (high dose). METHODS: Meta
      analysis of cohorts: PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE and bibliographic searches (1995
      2012). Eligible studies prospectively included GC-treated patients with two dual
      X-ray absorptiometry measurements of spine or hip over a period of at least 12
      months. Only supplementation with calcium or vitamin D3 was allowed. 5602 titles
      yielded 285 articles: 51 study arms in CID (N=1565), 18 study arms in
      transplantation (N=571). Prednisone-equivalent GC doses and inverse variance
      weighted mean bone changes were used in a random effects model. RESULTS: In CID,
      the mean GC dose was 8.7 mg/day (range 1.2-16.4). The mean 1-year bone loss in
      the lumbar spine was -1.7% (95% CI -2.2% to -1.2%); in the femoral neck: -1.3 (
      1.8 to -0.7). In transplantation, the mean GC dose was 18.9 mg/day (range 6.0
      52.7). Bone loss in the lumbar spine was -3.6% (-5.2% to -2.0%); in the femoral
      neck: -3.1% (-5.1% to -1.1%). Within the two groups, bone loss was not related to
      GC dose. CONCLUSION: In CID, GC-related bone loss appears limited and manageable
      if current anti-osteoporotic strategies are fully implemented. In
      transplantation, and probably also other high-dose settings, bone loss is
      considerable and represents unmet need. The heterogeneity probably reflects the
      important influence of other factors, most notably the underlying disease and the
      efficacy of GC treatment.

PMID- 27651929
TI  - Induction maintenance with tumour necrosis factor-inhibitor combination therapy
      with discontinuation versus methotrexate monotherapy in early rheumatoid
      arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy in randomised
      controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether an induction-maintenance strategy of combined
      therapy (methotrexate (MTX)+tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor (TNFi))
      followed by withdrawal of TNFi could yield better long-term results than a
      strategy with MTX monotherapy, since it is unclear if the benefits from an
      induction phase with combined therapy are sustained if TNFi is withdrawn.
      METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of trials using the initial combination of
      MTX+TNFi in conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naive
      patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A systematic literature search was
      performed for induction-maintenance randomised controlled trials (RCTs) where
      initial combination therapy was compared with MTX monotherapy in patients with
      clinically active early RA. Our primary outcome was the proportion of patients
      who achieved low disease activity (LDA; Disease Activity Score (DAS)28<3.2)
      and/or remission (DAS28<2.6) at 12-76 weeks of follow-up. A random-effects model
      was used to pool the risk ratio (RR) for LDA and remission and heterogeneity was
      explored by subgroup analyses. RESULTS: We identified 6 published RCTs, 4 of them
      where MTX+adalimumab was given as initial therapy and where adalimumab was
      withdrawn in a subset of patients after LDA/remission had been achieved. 2
      additional trials used MTX+infliximab as combination therapy. The pooled RRs for
      achieving LDA and clinical remission at follow-up after withdrawal of TNFi were
      1.41 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.89) and 1.34 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.89), respectively. There
      was significant heterogeneity between trials due to different treatment
      strategies, which was a limitation to this study. CONCLUSIONS: Initial therapy
      with MTX+TNFi is associated with a higher chance of retaining LDA and/or
      remission even after discontinuation of TNFi.

PMID- 27651930
TI  - Combination therapy using PSE and TIO ameliorates hepatic encephalopathy due to
      intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunt in idiopathic portal hypertension.
AB  - A 64-year-old woman treated for anemia and ascites exhibited hepatic
      encephalopathy. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) showed
      communication between the portal vein and the middle hepatic vein, indicating an
      intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunt (PSS). Since hepatic encephalopathy of
      the patient was resistant to medical treatment, interventional radiology was
      performed for the treatment of shunt obliteration. Hepatic venography showed
      anastomosis between the hepatic vein branches, supporting the diagnosis of
      idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH). To minimize the increase in portal vein
      pressure after shunt obliteration, partial splenic artery embolization (PSE) was
      first performed to reduce portal vein blood flow. Transileocolic venous
      obliteration (TIO) was then performed, and intrahepatic PSS was successfully
      obliterated using coils with n-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA). In the present case,
      hepatic encephalopathy due to intrahepatic PSS in the patient with IPH was
      successfully treated by combination therapy using PSE and TIO. 

PMID- 27651932
TI  - Trends and current status of general thoracic surgery in Japan revealed by review
      of nationwide databases.
AB  - Nationwide databases of cases treated for thoracic disease have been established
      by several academic associations in Japan, which contain information showing
      trends and current status in regard to surgical treatment. The Japanese
      Association of Thoracic Surgery (JATS), Japanese Association of Chest Surgery
      (JACS), Japan Lung Cancer Society (JLCS), Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS), and
      Japan Society for Respiratory Endoscopy (JSRE) have maintained databases of lung
      cancer cases treated in Japan. In 1986, the number of general thoracic surgery
      cases was 15,544, which increased to 75,306 in 2013. Furthermore, the number of
      lung cancer operations performed in 2013 was 37,008, occupying 49.1% of all
      general thoracic operations. Also, the proportions of adenocarcinoma, female
      patients, aged patients, stage I disease, and limited resection procedures are
      increasing in lung cancer surgery cases. While the 5-year overall post-operative
      survival rate of lung cancer patients was 47.8% in those undergoing surgery in
      1989, it was 69.6% in those of 2004, which means 22% increase during 15 years.
      JATS, JACS, and the Japanese Association for Research of the Thymus (JART) have
      maintained retrospective databases of thymic epithelial tumor cases. The number
      of mediastinal tumors surgically treated is also increasing and was 4,780 in
      2013, among which thymoma was the most prevalent. The Japanese Association for
      Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation has developed a prospective nationwide
      database of lung transplantation cases in Japan, which contains clinical data for
      466 patients who received lung transplantation or heart-lung transplantation from
      1998 to 2015. Nationwide databases are currently being utilized for clinical
      studies and will also contribute to international projects related to the Union
      for International Cancer Control (UICC) tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM)
      classification system. 

PMID- 27651933
TI  - Thoracic surgery in India: challenges and opportunities.
AB  - India has the dubitable honor of being ranked first in the world with regards to
      lung disease burden. A good proportion of this disease burden is amenable to
      surgical treatment. However, patients have limited access to quality thoracic
      surgical care due to a number of obstacles. This review article summarizes these
      obstacles and the implied opportunities that exist in this nascent surgical
      discipline in the world's second most populous country. 

PMID- 27651931
TI  - Magnetization transfer imaging reveals geniculocalcarine and striate area
      degeneration in primary glaucoma: a preliminary study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that affects both the retina
      and central visual pathway. Magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) is a sensitive
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that can detect degenerative changes
      in the brain. PURPOSE: To investigate the geniculocalcarine (GCT) and striate
      areas in primary glaucoma patients using region of interest (ROI) analysis of
      magnetization transfer ratio (MTR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty patients with
      primary glaucoma in both eyes were compared with 31 healthy control patients. All
      of the participants were examined on a 3.0 T scanner using a three-dimensional T1
      weighted spoiled gradient recalled acquisition (SPGR) with and without a MT
      saturation pulse. A two-sample t-test was used to evaluate the MTR difference
      between the groups. P < 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.
      RESULTS: The MTR of the glaucoma group was lower than the healthy controls in
      both the bilateral GCT (t = 3.781, P = 0.001) and striate areas (t = 4.177, P =
      0.000). CONCLUSION: The MTR reductions in the bilateral GCT and striate areas
      suggest that there is GCT demyelination and striate area degeneration in primary
      glaucoma. These neurodegenerative effects may be induced as a direct effect of
      retrograde axonal degeneration along with the indirect effect of anterograde
      trans-synaptic degeneration.

PMID- 27651934
TI  - Asian perspective in surgery: thoracic surgery in Turkey.
AB  - Turkey with a population of 78 million is located between Asia and Europe
      geographically and culturally. There are 577 active pure thoracic surgeon and 37
      thoracic surgery teaching units. Thoracic surgeons usually deal with lung cancer
      patients due to relatively higher rate of tobacco usage as well as inflammatory
      diseases such as pulmonary hydatid disease, bronchiectasis and empyema. Minimally
      invasive thoracic surgery has been a new approach which is being adapted by
      increasingly more surgeons. There are a number of reasons to predict that the
      number of thoracic surgical cases will be increased and new generation of
      thoracic surgeons will be operating more minimally invasive resectional surgeries
      for most lung cancer in future. 

PMID- 27651935
TI  - Asian perspectives in thoracic surgery: clinical innovation in Taiwan.
AB  - The development of minimally-invasive surgery of the thorax began in the 1990s,
      but not until the recent decade did we see dramatic improvements in patient care
      and refinement of technique. The current generation has witnessed the evolution
      from traditional thoracotomy, to a single-port, non-intubated thoracoscopic
      approach. The investigation of subxiphoid single-port, transumbilical approach,
      and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) in animal model are
      also undergoing. In Taiwan, several talented young surgeons have vigorously
      devoted their ideas and innovations to this field, making the Taiwan surgical
      society vivid and prosperous. The desire to improve, and willingness to change
      are the foundation of those surgeons. Providing better patient care is their
      impetus to strive for improvement. This article provides an account of how
      minimally-invasive thoracic surgery has evolved in recent years, and what
      clinical innovations have been developed by the Taiwan surgical society. 

PMID- 27651936
TI  - Clinical innovations in Philippine thoracic surgery.
AB  - Thoracic surgery in the Philippines followed the development of thoracic surgery
      in the United States and Europe. With better understanding of the physiology of
      the open chest and refinements in thoracic anesthetic and surgical approaches,
      Filipino surgeons began performing thoracoplasties, then lung resections for
      pulmonary tuberculosis and later for lung cancer in specialty hospitals dealing
      with pulmonary diseases-first at the Quezon Institute (QI) and presently at the
      Lung Center of the Philippines although some university and private hospitals
      made occasional forays into the chest. Esophageal surgery began its early
      attempts during the post-World War II era at the Philippine General Hospital
      (PGH), a university hospital affiliated with the University of the Philippines.
      With the introduction of minimally invasive thoracic surgical approaches,
      Filipino thoracic surgeons have managed to keep up with their Asian counterparts
      although the problems of financial reimbursement typical of a developing country
      remain. The need for creative innovative approaches of a focused
      multidisciplinary team will advance the boundaries of thoracic surgery in the
      Philippines. 

PMID- 27651937
TI  - Recent clinical innovations in thoracic surgery in Hong Kong.
AB  - The concept of personalized medicine, which aims to provide patients with
      targeted therapies while greatly reducing surgical trauma, is gaining popularity
      among Asian clinicians. Single port video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has
      rapidly gained popularity in Hong Kong for major lung resections, despite
      bringing new challenges such as interference between surgical instruments and
      insertion of the optical source through a single incision. Novel types of
      endocutters and thoracoscopes can help reduce the difficulties commonly
      encountered during single-port VATS. Our region has been the testing ground and
      has led the development of many of these innovations. Performing VATS, in
      particular single-port VATS in hybrid operating theatre helps to localise small
      pulmonary lesions with real-time images, thus increasing surgical accuracy and
      pushes the boundaries in treating subcentimeter diseases. Such approach may be
      assisted by use of electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy in the same setting.
      In addition, sublobar resection can also be more individualised according to
      pathologic tumour subtype that require rapid intraoperative diagnostic test to
      guide appropriate surgical therapy. A focus on technology and innovation for
      large tumours that require chest wall resection and reconstructions have also
      been on going, with new materials and prostheses that may be tailored to each
      individual needs. The current paper reviews the literature pertaining to the
      above topics and discusses recent related innovations in Hong Kong, highlighting
      the study results and future perspectives. 

PMID- 27651938
TI  - Clinical innovations in minimally invasive surgery in Korea.
AB  - Over the past decade, the surgical approach to treating thoracic disease has
      shifted to minimally invasive surgery. Without compromising the outcomes, this
      approach may lead to fewer resections and fewer incisions for those resections.
      Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a recent but major advancement
      that has become an established approach for major thoracic surgery. More
      recently, robotic surgery has been gaining recognition because it can overcome
      the limitations of VATS and encourage a minimally invasive approach. Indications
      and applications of many other innovative surgical techniques and strategies to
      improve overall survival have expanded rapidly. In this article, we do not
      represent all thoracic surgeries occurring in Korea and do not reflect the large
      active centers in the country. However, as one of the most innovative and active
      Korean centers for thoracic surgery and research, we reviewed our procedures and
      programs for thoracic surgery. 

PMID- 27651939
TI  - Current status and problems of lung transplantation in Japan.
AB  - Lung transplantation has been performed worldwide and recognized as an effective
      treatment for patients with various end-stage lung diseases. Shortage of lung
      donors is one of the main obstacles in most of the countries, especially in
      Japan. Every effort has been made to promote organ donation during the past 20
      years. In 2010, Japanese transplant low was revised so that the family of the
      brain dead donors can make a decision for organ donation. Since then, the number
      of cadaveric lung donor has increased by 5-fold. However, the average waiting
      time is still more than 800 days resulting in considerable number of deaths on
      the waiting list. Lung transplantation in the use of donation after cardiac death
      (DCD) has now been increasingly performed in Europe, Australia and North America
      with promising results. However, controlled death is not permitted in Japan
      making it difficult to accept this strategy. Use of marginal donors is one of the
      strategies for organ shortage. In Japan, the rate of lung usage is now well over
      60% because of careful donor management by medical consultants and aggressive use
      of marginal donors. Living-donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT) has been
      developed to offset the mismatch between supply and demand for those patients
      awaiting cadaveric lung transplantation (CLT) and it is often the most realistic
      option for very ill patients. Between 1998 and 2015, lung transplantation has
      been performed in 464 patients (55 children, 419 adults) at 9 lung transplant
      centers in Japan. CLT was performed in 283 patients (61%) and LDLLT was performed
      in 181 patients (39%). The 5-year survival was 72.3% and 71.6%, respectively. Of
      note, only seven children received CLT. In conclusion, lung transplantation in
      Japan has grown significantly with excellent results but the shortage of
      cadaveric lung donor remains to be an important unsolved problem. LDLLT is often
      the only realistic option for very ill patients especially for children. 

PMID- 27651940
TI  - Hospital information systems: experience at the fully digitized Seoul National
      University Bundang Hospital.
AB  - The different levels of health information technology (IT) adoption and its
      integration into hospital workflow can affect the maximization of the benefits of
      using of health IT. We aimed at sharing our experiences and the journey to the
      successful adoption of health IT over 13 years at a tertiary university hospital
      in South Korea. The integrated system of comprehensive applications for direct
      care, support care, and smart care has been implemented with the latest IT and a
      rich user information platform, achieving the fully digitized hospital. The users
      experience design methodology, barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID)
      technologies, smartphone and mobile technologies, and data analytics were
      integrated into hospital workflow. Applications for user-centered electronic
      medical record (EMR) and clinical decision support (CDS), closed loop medication
      administration (CLMA), mobile EMR and dashboard system for care coordination,
      clinical data warehouse (CDW) system, and patient engagement solutions were
      designed and developed to improve quality of care, work efficiency, and patient
      safety. We believe that comprehensive electronic health record systems and
      patient-centered smart hospital applications will go a long way in ensuring
      seamless patient care and experience. 

PMID- 27651941
TI  - Translational research in thoracic surgery-the National Taiwan University
      Hospital experience.
AB  - Thoracic surgeons should be more aware of the latest information about
      histopathological, genetic and epigenetic alterations that may influence
      treatment policy and patient outcome in the biomolecular era. Translational
      research studies often produce a promising diagnostic tool or new treatment that
      can be used clinically. The results of these translational studies may even
      change the practical guidelines and current staging system in thoracic
      malignancies. The following article summarizes the experiences of translational
      research in esophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at National
      Taiwan University Hospital in Taiwan. 

PMID- 27651942
TI  - Prevalence of Sleep Disorders Among Children 4 - 6 Years Old in Tehran Province,
      Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep patterns may change over a person's lifetime; however, the
      quantity and quality of sleep always depend on individual factors such as age,
      sex, and psychological and environmental factors. In children, sleep is as
      important as development. Quantitative sleep problems related to sleep onset and
      qualitative sleep disorders such as frequent awakenings may lead to insufficient
      sleep. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of sleep disorders
      among children 4 - 6 years old attending the health centers of Shahid Beheshti
      University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2013. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      was a cross-sectional study on 400 children selected using a multistage sampling
      method. Data were collected by interviews. The questionnaire included two
      sections: a demographic section with questions about the demographic
      characteristics of the children and parents and a children's sleep habit
      questionnaire (CSHQ). Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 and different statistical
      tests were used (P < 0.05). RESULTS: The mean age of the children was 64.27 +/-
      9.3 months. The prevalence of sleep disorders was 36.25%. Sleep disorders were
      significantly associated with age, height, body mass index, residence of
      children, father's occupation, mother's diseases, father's drug abuse, and
      parents' marital status (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Sleep disorders in children
      threaten growth and development, and are dangerous for their health. Sleep
      disorders should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children's
      learning and behavioral problems.

PMID- 27651943
TI  - Solitary Plasmacytoma of the Mandible: An Uncommon Entity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Plasma cell dyscrasias are characterized by a monoclonal neoplastic
      proliferation of plasma cells. Solitary bone plasmacytoma (SBP) is a local form
      of the disease with the vertebrae and long bones being the most frequently
      encountered sites. Its prevalence in the maxillofacial area is extremely rare.
      CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year-old Caucasian male patient was referred for the
      extraction of his mobile premolar tooth with a poorly-defined radiolucent lesion.
      Histopathological analysis revealed an SBP and no distant lesion or serum M
      protein was noted on radiological and hematological examinations. The patient was
      under follow-up care with no recurrence at 2 years of follow up. CONCLUSIONS:
      Diagnosis of an SBP is based on local radiological and neurological symptoms and
      similar systemic manifestations of multiple myeloma that are also distinctive for
      SBP. Skeletal radiological analysis including CT and PET-CT, bone marrow biopsy,
      and serum protein electrophoresis are essential for confirmation of the
      diagnosis. Although surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, or a combination of
      these modalities, have been successfully used in the treatment of SBP, it should
      be managed in relation to its possible long-term evolution.

PMID- 27651944
TI  - Hypnotic Effect of Ocimum basilicum on Pentobarbital-Induced Sleep in Mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep disorders are accompanied by several complications, and
      currently used soporific drugs can induce unwanted effects such as psychomotor
      impairment, tolerance, amnesia, and rebound insomnia. OBJECTIVES: The present
      study was carried out to investigate if Ocimum basilicum has a sleep-prolonging
      effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This work was an experimental study on 72 mice
      which were randomly divided into 9 groups: saline (control); diazepam (3 mg/kg,
      positive control); hydro-alcoholic extract (HAE) of Ocimum basilicum (25, 50, or
      100 mg/kg); ethyl acetate fraction (EAF, 50 mg/kg); n-butanol fraction (NBF, 50
      mg/kg); water fraction (WF, 50 mg/kg); and saline containing 10% DMSO (vehicle
      for EAF and NBF). All the test compounds were injected intraperitoneally (IP) 30
      minutes before pentobarbital administration (30 mg/kg). Duration and latency of
      pentobarbital-induced sleep were recorded. Also, LD50 of HAE was determined and
      the cytotoxicity of HAE was tested on neural and fibroblast cells using the MTT
      assay. RESULTS: HAE increased the duration of pentobarbital-induced sleep at
      doses of 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg (P < 0.001). The hypnotic effect of HAE was
      comparable to that induced by diazepam. Similarly, WF, EAF, and NBF at 50 mg/kg
      could increase sleep duration. The sleep latency was decreased by HAE (P < 0.01 -
      P < 0.001) and NBF (P < 0.001), but not by WF and EAF. The LD50 value for HAE was
      found to be 2.4 g/kg. HAE had no effect on the viability of neuronal PC12 cells
      and L929 fibroblast cells. CONCLUSIONS: The present data demonstrated that Ocimum
      basilicum potentiates sleeping behaviors without any cytotoxicity. The main
      component (s) responsible for the hypnotic effects of this plant is most likely a
      non-polar agent (s) which is found in NBF. Isolation of the active constituents
      may yield a novel sedative drug.

PMID- 27651945
TI  - The Effects of Methanolic Extract of Melissa officinalis on Experimental Gastric
      Ulcers in Rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Melissa officinalis (MO) has potent antioxidant activity. Recent
      research has demonstrated the anti-ulcer properties of some medicinal plants
      through their antioxidant properties. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the effects of methanolic extracts of MO on experimental gastric ulcers
      in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats (200 - 250 g) were starved for
      24 hours prior to the induction of gastric ulceration by either indomethacin (48
      mg/kg/oral) or water immersion restraint (WIR) stress. Experimental rats received
      either ranitidine (25 mg/kg) or MO extract (150, 300 and 450mg/kg) orally 2 hours
      prior to WIR stress or indomethacin treatment, for the evaluation of their
      gastroprotective effects. The control group received the same volume of saline.
      Gastric lesions were scored according to the surface of lesions on the ulcer
      index. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were
      determined as measures of antioxidant defense, and malondialdehyde (MDA) was
      determined to measure tissue oxidation. RESULTS: MO extract (150 and 300 mg/kg)
      significantly decreased the ulcer index in both the indomethacin (1.3 +/- 0.09
      and 1.5 +/- 0.19, respectively) and WIR stress groups (1.5 +/- 0.17 and 1.5 +/-
      0.22, respectively), as compared to the control rats (2.5 +/- 0.28) (P < 0.01).
      MO extract (450 mg/kg) significantly reduced ulcer index readings in WIR stress
      rats (1.8 +/- 0.31 vs. 2.4 +/- 0.15 in the WIR group), however, MO extract at a
      dose of 450 mg/kg did not prevent indomethacin-induced gastric ulceration (2.4 +/
      0.26). There was no significant difference in the ulcer index for MO extract-
      (150 and 300 mg/kg) and ranitidine-treated rats (P > 0.05). Also, MO extract (150
      and 300 mg/kg) significantly reduced MDA serum levels (0.69 +/- 0.6 umol/L and
      0.85 +/- 0.24 umol/L, respectively, vs. 4.5 +/- 1.9 umol/L in the saline group)
      and significantly increased antioxidants' SOD activities (296.3 +/- 146.4 U/mL
      and 561.4 +/- 120 U/mL, respectively, vs. 190.2 +/- 63.8U/mL in the control
      group) and GPX levels (8273 +/- 3049 U/mL and 14574 +/- 5012 U/mL, respectively),
      compared to the control (3236 +/- 1699 U/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed
      that MO extract may have a gastroprotective effect against experimental gastric
      ulcers in rats. The exact mechanism has not yet been determined, but it may be
      due to enhancing enzymatic antioxidant defenses and inhibiting lipid
      peroxidation.

PMID- 27651946
TI  - The Combined Use of Inhaled and Intravenous Steroids for Children With Chemical
      Pneumonitis After Ingestion of Paint Thinner.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some studies in the literature support the use of either inhaled or
      systemic steroids for the treatment of chemical pneumonitis; however, no data
      have been published on the combined use of inhaled and intravenous (IV) steroids.
      OBJECTIVES: This brief report describes the effective use of inhaled plus
      systemic steroids in managing six critical pediatric patients. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Medical records of patients were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of
      the six patients, 83.3% (n = 5) were male and 16.7% (n = 1) were female, with a
      mean age of 2.1 +/- 0.49 years. The most common clinical signs were dyspnea
      (83.3%), fever (66.6%), and vomiting (66.6%). Owing to supportive treatments and
      the combined steroid treatment, respiratory distress diminished and there was no
      need for oxygen in any of the patients after 5 days. All patients were discharged
      without any sequelae. CONCLUSIONS: The use of steroids in treating hydrocarbon
      pneumonias is still controversial. However, we suggest that the combined use of
      inhaled and intravenous steroids had positive effects on the clinical and
      radiological recovery of our patients.

PMID- 27651947
TI  - Association Between Complete Blood Count Parameters and Urinary Stone Disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complete blood count (CBC) parameters may associated with multiple
      diseases. Urinary stone disease is common public problem. Predictive value of CBC
      parameters may be associated with urinary stone disease. OBJECTIVES: To analyze
      the association between complete blood count (CBC) parameters and urinary stone
      disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective observational study
      of 3,099 patients who were admitted to the urology outpatient clinic or diagnosed
      with urinary stone disease in the emergency services department. There were 353
      patients included in the study that had ultrasonography (USG) and/or non-contrast
      computerized tomography (NCCT) and a CBC. Patients who had non-urinary system
      inflammatory disease in USG or NCCT, had fever, non-urinary system infection,
      anemia or diagnosed hematologic malignancy were excluded (n = 27). Patients were
      divided into two groups: a stone group (n = 74) and a control group (n = 252).
      Data of patients were retrieved from the hospital database and statistical
      analysis was performed. RESULTS: An increase in RDW, MPV, PDW, WBC, granulocyte
      percentage and a decrease in lymphocyte percentage is statistically associated
      with urinary stone disease (P < 0,001, P < 0.001, P = 0.006, P < 0.001, P =
      0.003, P = 0.034, respectively). Microscopic hematuria is associated with urinary
      stone disease and the odds ratio for urinary stone prediction is 67.7 (P <
      0.001). In addition, none of the CBC parameters were associated with stone
      burden. CONCLUSIONS: When evaluating flank pain in patients, it is important to
      remember that CBC parameters may support urinary stone disease, and considering
      CBC results may be useful in the diagnosis of urinary stone disease.

PMID- 27651948
TI  - Radon Concentration in the Drinking Water of Aliabad Katoul, Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: According to the world health organization, radon is a leading cause
      of cancer in various internal organs and should be regarded with concern.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate the concentration of soluble
      radon in the drinking water of the city of Aliabad Katoul, Iran. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The radon concentration was measured by using a radon meter, SARAD(TM)
      model RTM 1688-2, according to accepted standards of evaluation. RESULTS: The
      mean radon concentration in the drinking water of Aliabad Katoul is 2.90 +/- 0.57
      Bq/L. CONCLUSIONS: The radon concentration in Aliabad Katoul is below the limit
      for hazardous levels, but some precautions will make conditions even safer for
      the local populace.

PMID- 27651949
TI  - General and Central Obesity in Two Iranian Ethnic Groups Living in Urmia, West
      Azerbaijan, Iran: Effect of the Neighborhood Environment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence suggests that neighborhood characteristics can have
      direct and indirect effects on the weight status of the residents. OBJECTIVES: To
      assess the relationship between general and central obesity and the neighborhood
      environment in two ethnic groups (Azeri Turks and Kurds) living in Urmia city,
      Northwestern Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 723
      participants (427 women and 296 men) aged 20 - 64 years from two ethnic groups
      (Azeri Turks, n = 445; Kurds, n = 278) were selected from 38 neighborhoods using
      a combination of cluster, random, and systematic sampling methods. Neighborhood
      characteristics were obtained by a validated 22-item neighborhood and a health
      observational checklist. General and central obesity were measured and evaluated
      using standard methods. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to define the
      dominant neighborhood environment. The association of neighborhood
      characteristics with general and central obesity was analyzed by a logistic
      regression model. RESULTS: Three common neighborhood environments were
      identified: 1) modern-affluent, 2) central-high access and 3) marginal. These
      three factors explained 73.2% of the total variance. Overall, the participants
      living in a higher tertile of the central-high access neighborhoods had an
      increased chance of central obesity (OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.13 - 2.34). Azeri Turks
      living in the highest tertile of the modern-affluent neighborhoods had a
      significantly higher likelihood of having general obesity (OR = 2.49, 95% CI:
      1.37 - 4.01). Adjustment for age, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status
      (SES), energy intake, and physical activity did not change the results. However,
      after adjustment for educational level, the association was not significant.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings point to a relationship between neighborhood
      characteristics and obesity only in the Azeri Turks. However, educational level
      was more important than neighborhood quality in predicting the risk of obesity.

PMID- 27651950
TI  - Health-Related Quality of Life With Regard to Smoking, Consumption of Alcohol,
      and Sports Participation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important determinant in
      a person's life. OBJECTIVES: In this study aimed at physical education students,
      alcohol consumption and smoking as risk factors and sports as a healthy factor
      could affect HRQoL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was an analytical cross
      sectional study. For our purpose, the subjects (n = 519) were asked to answer the
      SF-36 questionnaire (short form health survey for HRQOL). To analyze the data,
      two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), one-way analysis of variance
      (ANOVA), the independent-samples t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were
      conducted. In this study, the P < 0.05 was considered a significant difference,
      and due to a Bonferroni correction, for ANOVAs tests, a P < 0.0125 was considered
      a significant difference. RESULTS: The results suggest that statistically
      significant differences for alcohol consumption were only obtained from the role
      emotional (RE) scale, in which drinkers had lower mean scores than nondrinkers.
      For smoking, significant differences were obtained from the scales of RE,
      vitality (VT), emotional well-being (EW), social functioning (SF), and general
      health (GH), in which nonsmokers outdid smokers. The combination of alcohol
      drinking and smoking led to statistically significant lower scores on the RE
      scale and strongly destroyed the role-emotional part of HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS: It
      can be concluded that smoking and alcohol consumption may be related to poor
      HRQOL in physical education and sports students despite the fact that they
      regularly engage in sports programs that could positively affect their HRQOL.

PMID- 27651951
TI  - Influence of Electromagnetic Fields on Lead Toxicity: A Study of Conformational
      Changes in Human Blood Proteins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are associated with oxidative stress,
      which is in turn associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS), anemia, and
      hypoxia. OBJECTIVES: This study focused on the synergistic effects of lead ions
      and EMF on oxidative modifications in hemoglobin (Hb) and plasma proteins.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, the blood samples were obtained
      from age- and sex-matched healthy subjects at Arak University of Medical
      Sciences, Arak, Iran. The collected bloods were prepared as 55 samples and then
      divided into different groups for incubating with 0 to 100 uM of lead ions in 2
      mT and 50 Hz of EMF for 120 minutes. The carbonyl group was determined to be an
      oxidative biomarker in plasma proteins. The ferric reducing ability of plasma
      (FRAP) was considered to be an antioxidant power of human plasma. The
      conformational changes in hemoglobin, met-Hb, and hemichrome were considered to
      be oxidative markers in red blood cells. To predict the factors affecting the
      oxyHb, the artificial neural network (MLP: 11,2,2,1) in SPSS software was
      applied. RESULTS: The test subjects showed increased concentrations of metHb (1.8
      +/- 0.19 vs. 1.36 +/- 0.25) and hemichrome (6.01 +/- 0.57) in relation to the
      control subjects. The decreased absorbance at 340 nm (0.88 +/- 0.09 vs. 1.07 +/-
      0.08) demonstrated the reduced interaction between the globin chain and the heme
      ring. The decreased absorbance at 420 nm (Soret band) (2.96 +/- 0.13) and the
      increased absorbance at 630 nm (0.07 +/- 0.002 vs. 0.064 +/- 0.005) indicated the
      conversion of oxyHb to metHb, which confirmed the oxidative damage to the
      erythrocytes. The linear regression analysis showed significant positive
      correlations between lead concentration and the percentage of plasma carbonyl
      content (R2 = 0.96), the relation of plasma carbonyl content to Hb absorbance at
      630 nm (R2 = 0.97), and the relation of plasma carbonyl content to metHb
      concentration (R2 = 0.95) after 120 minutes incubation with lead ions in 20
      millitesla and 50 hertz EMF. The artificial neural network analysis showed the
      significant importance of hemichrome, PCO, metHb, and lead concentration to the
      oxyHb content of erythrocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Lead contamination in the presence of
      an EMF exacerbates the oxidative damage to plasma proteins as well as the
      conformational changes in Hb. An artificial neural network can be used as a
      predictive tool for the oxidative danger posed to workers in industrial fields,
      battery manufacturing companies, and power plants.

PMID- 27651952
TI  - Quantitative Analysis of Lens Nuclear Density Using Optical Coherence Tomography
      (OCT) with a Liquid Optics Interface: Correlation between OCT Images and LOCS III
      Grading.
AB  - Purpose. To quantify whole lens and nuclear lens densities using anterior-segment
      optical coherence tomography (OCT) with a liquid optics interface and evaluate
      their correlation with Lens Opacities Classification System III (LOCS III) lens
      grading and corrected distance visual acuity (BCVA). Methods. OCT images of the
      whole lens and lens nucleus of eyes with age-related nuclear cataract were
      analyzed using ImageJ software. The lens grade and nuclear density were
      represented in pixel intensity units (PIU) and correlations between PIU, BCVA,
      and LOCS III were assessed. Results. Forty-seven eyes were analyzed. The mean
      whole lens and lens nuclear densities were 26.99 +/- 5.23 and 19.43 +/- 6.15 PIU,
      respectively. A positive linear correlation was observed between lens opacities
      (R (2) = 0.187, p < 0.01) and nuclear density (R (2) = 0.316, p < 0.01) obtained
      from OCT images and LOCS III. Preoperative BCVA and LOCS III were also positively
      correlated (R (2) = 0.454, p < 0.01). Conclusions. Whole lens and lens nuclear
      densities obtained from OCT correlated with LOCS III. Nuclear density showed a
      higher positive correlation with LOCS III than whole lens density. OCT with a
      liquid optics interface is a potential quantitative method for lens grading and
      can aid in monitoring and managing age-related cataracts. 

PMID- 27651953
TI  - Retention in Care among HIV-Infected Pregnant Women in Haiti with PMTCT Option B.
AB  - Background. Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV relies on engagement
      in care during the prenatal, peripartum, and postpartum periods. Under PMTCT
      Option B, pregnant women with elevated CD4 counts are provided with
      antiretroviral prophylaxis until cessation of breastfeeding. Methods.
      Retrospective analysis of retention in care among HIV-infected pregnant women in
      Haiti was performed. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors
      associated with loss to follow-up (LFU) defined as no medical visit for at least
      6 months and Kaplan-Meier curves were created to show LFU timing. Results. Women
      in the cohort had 463 pregnancies between 2009 and 2012 with retention rates of
      80% at delivery, 67% at one year, and 59% at 2 years. Among those who were LFU,
      the highest risk period was during pregnancy (60%) or shortly afterwards (24.4%
      by 12 months). Never starting on antiretroviral therapy (aRR 2.29, 95% CI 1.4
      3.8) was associated with loss to follow-up. Conclusions. Loss to follow-up during
      and after pregnancy was common in HIV-infected women in Haiti under PMTCT Option
      B. Since sociodemographic factors and distance from home to facility did not
      predict LFU, future work should elicit and address barriers to retention at the
      initial prenatal care visit in all women. Better tracking systems to capture
      engagement in care in the wider network are needed. 

PMID- 27651954
TI  - Melanoma Disparities among US Hispanics: Use of the Social Ecological Model to
      Contextualize Reasons for Inequitable Outcomes and Frame a Research Agenda.
AB  - Cutaneous melanoma is a significant public health concern, accounting for
      thousands of deaths annually in the US. Early detection and diagnosis are
      critical given the poor prognosis and limited treatment options of advanced-stage
      disease. While non-Hispanic whites have higher incidence rates of melanoma,
      Hispanics are typically diagnosed at later disease stages and suffer higher
      morbidity and mortality. Currently, there is a paucity of literature
      investigating the root causes underlying these trends among Hispanics. Given that
      Hispanics are the most rapidly expanding demographic segment in the US, it is
      essential for cancer control efforts to elucidate the major determinants of their
      poor melanoma outcomes. Herein, we use the social ecological model as a framework
      to explore the multitude of influences on melanoma disparities among Hispanics
      and provide recommendations for planning future studies and interventions. 

PMID- 27651956
TI  - Epidural Anesthesia Complicated by Subdural Hygromas and a Subdural Hematoma.
AB  - Inadvertent dural puncture during epidural anesthesia leads to intracranial
      hypotension, which if left unnoticed can cause life-threatening subdural
      hematomas or cerebellar tonsillar herniation. The highly variable presentation of
      intracranial hypotension hinders timely diagnosis and treatment. We present the
      case of a young laboring adult female, who developed subdural hygromas and a
      subdural hematoma following unintentional dural puncture during initiation of
      epidural anesthesia. 

PMID- 27651955
TI  - Kinematic and EMG Responses to Pelvis and Leg Assistance Force during Treadmill
      Walking in Children with Cerebral Palsy.
AB  - Treadmill training has been used for improving locomotor function in children
      with cerebral palsy (CP), but the functional gains are relatively small,
      suggesting a need to improve current paradigms. The understanding of the
      kinematic and EMG responses to forces applied to the body of subjects during
      treadmill walking is crucial for improving current paradigms. The objective of
      this study was to determine the kinematics and EMG responses to the pelvis and/or
      leg assistance force. Ten children with spastic CP were recruited to participate
      in this study. A controlled assistance force was applied to the pelvis and/or
      legs during stance and swing phase of gait through a custom designed robotic
      system during walking. Muscle activities and spatial-temporal gait parameters
      were measured at different loading conditions during walking. In addition, the
      spatial-temporal gait parameters during overground walking before and after
      treadmill training were also collected. Applying pelvis assistance improved step
      height and applying leg assistance improved step length during walking, but
      applying leg assistance also reduced muscle activation of ankle flexor during the
      swing phase of gait. In addition, step length and self-selected walking speed
      significantly improved after one session of treadmill training with combined
      pelvis and leg assistance.

PMID- 27651957
TI  - Delayed Tamponade after Traumatic Wound with Left Ventricular Compression.
AB  - Delayed cardiac tamponade after a penetrating chest injury is a rare
      complication. The clinical diagnosis of tamponade is facilitated with imaging. We
      present a case report of a 23-year-old male who was brought to emergency after
      multiple stab wounds to the chest. After resuscitation and repair of laceration
      of right internal mammary artery and right ventricle, he was discharged but later
      returned with shortness of breath. Echocardiography revealed a rare case of
      delayed pericardial tamponade causing left ventricular collapse. The pericardial
      effusion was treated with emergent pericardiocentesis and later required a
      thoracoscopy guided pericardial window for definitive management. 

PMID- 27651958
TI  - Spider Bite: A Rare Case of Acute Necrotic Arachnidism with Rapid and Fatal
      Evolution.
AB  - The spider bites are quite frequent and often resolve quickly without leaving
      outcomes; only some species are capable of causing necrotic and systematic
      lesions in humans. Among them, we should mention the genus Loxosceles. The venom
      released from the spider bite of Loxosceles species is composed of proteins,
      enzymes, and nonenzymatic polypeptides. The phospholipase D family was identified
      as the active component of the venom. This family of enzymes is responsible for
      the local and systemic effects observed in loxoscelism. Phospholipases D interact
      with cell membranes triggering alterations which involve the complement system
      and activation of neutrophils and they cause the dermonecrotic skin lesions and
      systemic effects. We describe a fatal case of acute intoxication caused by a
      spider bite probably belonging to the species Loxosceles. The initial lesion was
      localized to a finger of a hand. Clinical course was worsening with deep necrotic
      lesions on limb, shock, hemolysis, acute kidney failure, and disseminated
      intravascular coagulation. All therapies were ineffective. This is the first
      fatal case described in Europe. 

PMID- 27651959
TI  - Bilateral Carotid-Cavernous Fistulas: An Uncommon Cause of Pituitary Enlargement
      and Hypopituitarism.
AB  - Carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs) are rare, pathologic communications of the
      carotid artery and the venous plexus of the cavernous sinus. They can develop
      spontaneously in certain at risk individuals or following traumatic head injury.
      Typical clinical manifestations include headache, proptosis, orbital pain, and
      diplopia. We report a case of bilateral carotid-cavernous fistulas associated
      with these symptoms and also with pituitary enlargement and hypopituitarism,
      which improved following surgical intervention. Arterialization of the cavernous
      sinus and elevated portal pressure may interfere with normal venous drainage and
      the conveyance of inhibiting and releasing hormones from the hypothalamus,
      resulting in pituitary enlargement and hypopituitarism. This condition should be
      considered in the differential diagnosis of hypopituitarism associated with
      anterior pituitary enlargement. 

PMID- 27651960
TI  - Primary versus Metastatic Gastrointestinal Melanoma: A Rare Case and Review of
      Current Literature.
AB  - Gastrointestinal (GI) melanomas are a rare diagnostic entity. Although there have
      been cases of melanomas solely in the GI tract, many debate their true origin:
      the gut versus a distant, undetected primary lesion that regressed known as
      melanoma of unknown primary. We present a case that involved diagnosing a GI
      melanoma and then backtracking to find a possible primary source. We review the
      most recent literature regarding possible etiologies of primary GI melanomas and
      how to differentiate whether it has a primary, metastatic, or unknown origin. 

PMID- 27651962
TI  - Listeria Rhombencephalitis Complicating Anti-TNF Treatment during an Acute Flare
      of Crohn's Colitis.
AB  - Patients with Crohn's disease often require the use of immunosuppressant drugs to
      control disease activity. Such medication includes steroids, azathioprine, and
      biologic therapy. These suppress the immune response, and the patient is more
      susceptible to infection. We present a case of a 69-year-old gentleman with a
      history of Crohn's colitis who had ongoing symptoms of diarrhoea in spite of
      standard treatment. Biologic therapy was considered to be the next step, and
      screening for infection was undertaken prior to use. Three days following anti
      TNF treatment, he became drowsy, and examination revealed pyrexia, slurred
      speech, and nystagmus. Investigation revealed presence of Listeria
      rhombencephalitis. He demonstrated poor neurological recovery. Listeria
      monocytogenes is an infection commonly associated with food sources. Some
      patients develop a self-limiting diarrhoeal illness, but in the immunosuppressed
      population, the clinical features may be more sinister. Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis
      is already recommended for those on triple immunosuppression. We propose the
      early initiation of this treatment, including where biologic use is anticipated.
      In those on multiple immunosuppressants, a diet similar to that followed in
      pregnancy may minimise risk of acquiring this infection. Clinicians must always
      have a high index of suspicion for opportunistic infection in such
      immunocompromised patients. 

PMID- 27651961
TI  - Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: A Case
      Report and Review of 39 Japanese Cases.
AB  - Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is a rare gastrointestinal complication
      of systemic sclerosis (SSc) characterized by intramural accumulation of gas
      within thin-walled cysts. We report the case of an 82-year-old female patient
      with pneumoperitoneum due to PCI associated with SSc and review the features of
      the 39 Japanese cases. The median patient age was 57 years (range 24-83 years)
      and the male/female ratio was 1 : 12. In the recent decade, 14 out of 15 cases
      (93.3%) evaluated with CT scans were diagnosed with PCI. The results suggest that
      CT scan may be a useful diagnostic tool for detecting PCI. PCI in patients with
      SSc is usually benign and requires only conservative therapy. However, two
      patients (5.1%) with signs of peritoneal irritation required surgery. When
      peritoneal irritation secondary to additional pathology is observed, surgical
      treatment may be warranted; a precise diagnosis for this condition is therefore
      essential. 

PMID- 27651963
TI  - An Atypical Presentation of a Male with Oral-Facial-Digital Syndrome Type 1
      Related Ciliopathy.
AB  - Background. Oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1) is a rare condition with X
      linked dominant inheritance caused by mutations in the Cxorf5 (OFD1) gene. This
      gene encodes the OFD1 protein located within centrosomes and basal bodies of
      primary cilia. Approximately 15-50% of patients with OFD1 progress to end-stage
      kidney disease following development of polycystic changes within the kidneys.
      This condition almost always causes intrauterine lethality in males. Description
      of Case Diagnosis and Treatment. A Caucasian male aged 9 years and 9 months
      presented with increased urinary frequency, increased thirst, and decreased
      appetite. Physical examination demonstrated short stature, hearing loss,
      photophobia, murmur, and hypogonadism. He had no other dysmorphic features.
      Laboratory results revealed anemia, renal insufficiency, and dilute urine with
      microscopic hematuria but no proteinuria. Ultrasound showed small kidneys with
      increased echogenicity but no evidence of cystic changes. A Ciliopathy Panel
      showed a novel and likely pathogenic deletion, approximately 7.9 kb, in the OFD1
      gene encompassing exons 16, 17, and 19 (c.1654+833_2599+423del). Brain MRI did
      not demonstrate typical OFD1 findings. He is currently on chronic hemodialysis
      awaiting transplant from a living donor. Conclusions. We present a male patient
      with OFD1 mutation who lacks the classic OFD1 phenotype who presented with end
      stage renal disease without evidence of polycystic changes within the kidneys. 

PMID- 27651965
TI  - Sacral Emphysematous Osteomyelitis Caused by Escherichia coli after Arthroscopy
      of the Knee.
AB  - Emphysematous osteomyelitis is a rare but serious condition which is often
      associated with a fatal outcome. The typical appearances of emphysematous
      osteomyelitis are clusters of small gas bubbles within the medullary cavity. We
      report a case of a 62-year-old male who presented with emphysematous
      osteomyelitis due to hematogenous spread of Escherichia coli from the knee after
      arthroscopy. 

PMID- 27651964
TI  - Vaginal Hysterectomy with Anterior Four-Arm Mesh Implant Technique in the
      Surgical Treatment of a Woman with Total Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Urinary
      Incontinence: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Purpose. We present a case report of a woman with total POP and SUI who was
      treated with a technique utilizing vaginal hysterectomy followed by the placement
      of a four-arm synthetic polypropylene mesh implant system. Methods. An 81-year
      old grand-multiparous woman presented to our clinic complaining of a vaginally
      protruding mass and urinary incontinence. A surgical approach including vaginal
      hysterectomy, anterior four-arm mesh implant, posterior large segment vaginal
      enterocele repair, and perineoplasty with levator ani fixation was planned.
      Results. The patient was discharged home at the second postoperative day. Follow
      up visits at the first, 3rd, and 6th months were normal. There was complete
      symptomatic relief and objective cure of the POP and urinary incontinence
      symptoms. Conclusion. We believe that anterior four-arm mesh implant and large
      posterior repair should be considered after vaginal hysterectomy. Future studies
      are needed to evaluate the utility of this technique for treatment of POP. 

PMID- 27651966
TI  - Thumb Reconstruction with Arthrodesis to the Second Metacarpal following Sarcoma
      Excision.
AB  - Primary sarcomas of the thumb metacarpal are rare malignant lesions. Surgical
      treatment involves amputation versus tumor resection with thumb reconstruction.
      If complete tumor resection is possible, thumb preservation may be considered, as
      the thumb is vital to hand function. Following tumor resection, previous reports
      have described graft reconstruction with fusion to the trapezium or scaphoid. We
      present two cases of sarcoma necessitating resection of the thumb metacarpal that
      were reconstructed with an arthrodesis of the proximal phalanx to the second
      metacarpal shaft. Arthrodesis to the second metacarpal allows robust bony contact
      for fusion as well as improved resting position of the thumb. At 2- and 4-year
      follow-up, both patients have a stable, pain-free thumb without evidence of local
      recurrence. 

PMID- 27651967
TI  - Varicella Infection Complicated by Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcal
      Retropharyngeal Abscess.
AB  - An unimmunized 19-month-old child presented with a retropharyngeal abscess and
      coincident varicella infection. The abscess resolved with operative drainage.
      This is the first published report of this connection, although varicella is
      known to be associated with abscesses in general. Practitioners should be aware
      that cervical abscesses may complicate varicella infections. 

PMID- 27651968
TI  - Congenital Malaria due to Plasmodium Vivax Infection in a Neonate.
AB  - Although malaria is endemic in India, congenital malaria is not very common.
      Congenital malaria is a very rare condition in both endemic and nonendemic areas.
      We report a case of congenital malaria in a six-day-old neonate with fever and
      splenomegaly. The diagnosis was picked up accidentally on a peripheral smear
      examination. Congenital malaria should be kept as differential diagnosis of
      neonatal sepsis. Timely detection of this condition could lead to early diagnosis
      and treatment, thereby preventing neonatal mortality. 

PMID- 27651969
TI  - Medial Cranial Fossa Meningioma Diagnosed as Mixed Anxiety Disorder with
      Dissociative Symptoms and Vertigo.
AB  - Meningiomas are mostly benign tumors of the meninges that may stay clinically
      silent or present first with psychiatric symptoms only. We present a case of
      medial cranial fossa meningioma that was first diagnosed as mixed anxiety
      disorder with dissociative symptoms and vertigo. In light of the intact
      neurological and vestibular system examination, our patient's vertigo and
      depersonalization were firstly addressed as psychosomatic symptoms of the
      psychiatric syndrome. Despite decreased anxiety and improved mood, dissociative
      symptoms and vertigo were resistant to treatment which prompted further research
      yielding a left hemisphere localized meningioma. Resection of meningioma resulted
      in full remission of the patient proving it to be responsible for the etiology of
      the psychiatric syndrome and vertigo. We suggest that brain imaging should be
      performed for patients with late-onset (>50 years) psychiatric symptoms and those
      with treatment resistance. It is important to keep in mind always that medically
      unexplained symptoms may become explicable with detailed assessment and regular
      follow-up of the patient. 

PMID- 27651970
TI  - Mediastinal Hibernoma: A Rare Case with Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation.
AB  - Hibernomas, especially located in the mediastinum, are extremely rare benign
      tumors, which are important to consider in the differential diagnosis of a
      heterogeneously enhancing mass with areas of fat attenuation on imaging of an
      often incidentally discovered mass. Other common possibilities in the
      differential include malignant tumors, such as liposarcoma, hence histopathology
      is usually required to confirm the diagnosis. Hibernomas often follow the
      distribution of sites of persistence of brown fat in adults, and intrathoracic
      locations are unusual. We present a very rare case of a mediastinal hibernoma in
      a 53-year-old woman. She presented to the emergency department with severe,
      progressive right neck and shoulder pain with radiation down her arm and was
      found to have a right apical posterior mediastinal mass on imaging. Initial
      radiographs of the shoulder showed a soft tissue mass within the apical right
      hemithorax. Further imaging with CT revealed a well circumscribed,
      heterogeneously enhancing mass with areas of fat attenuation. Pathology confirmed
      the diagnosis of mediastinal hibernoma, and the mass was completely excised.
      Fourteen months after surgery, the patient had a normal chest radiograph, and
      thirty-two months after surgery, she remains asymptomatic. 

PMID- 27651971
TI  - Severe Primary Raynaud's Disease Treated with Rituximab.
AB  - Raynaud's phenomenon refers to reversible spasms of the peripheral arterioles
      that can be primary Raynaud's phenomenon (PRP) or secondary Raynaud's phenomenon
      (SRP) to underlying connective tissue disease, both of which are characterized by
      a triphasic color response triggered by cold exposure or stress. PRP is typically
      a benign disease, whereas SRP may progress into digital ulcers and/or gangrene.
      Here, we report a case of a 55-year-old female diagnosed with PRP 7 years ago.
      Treatment with first-line agents, including calcium channel blocker, aspirin, and
      phosphodiesterase inhibitor, did not control her symptoms, which progressed to
      digital ulceration and gangrene. There were no symptoms of underlying autoimmune
      disease or malignancy, and autoimmune, serology, and immunology test results were
      normal; a biopsy of her left little finger was negative for vasculitis.
      Development to critical digital ischemia necessitated treatment with intravenous
      iloprost and heparin infusion followed by angioplasty, which led to a partial
      improvement. Due to persistent symptoms, rituximab therapy was initiated and two
      cycles induced a complete resolution of symptoms. 

PMID- 27651973
TI  - Primary Splenic Angiosarcoma Presenting as Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: A
      Case Report and Review of the Literature.
AB  - Angiosarcoma of the spleen is a rare malignancy that arises from vascular
      endothelial origin. This neoplasm is highly malignant and diagnosis is often
      delayed due to the vague presentation of clinical symptoms. A case report and
      concise review of the current diagnostic criteria and surgical treatment are
      provided to aid in the detection and treatment of this malignancy. We present a
      case of a 56-year-old female who presented with massive splenomegaly secondary to
      angiosarcoma of the spleen. The patient suffered from longstanding symptomatic
      anemia and thrombocytopenia. Diagnosis of a splenic angiosarcoma can be difficult
      due to the vague presentation and lack of concrete risk factors. Early
      identification and splenectomy are paramount. However, it is an aggressive
      malignancy with poor prognosis. We reviewed the literature of the current
      diagnostic and surgical treatment of primary splenic angiosarcoma. 

PMID- 27651972
TI  - Perforated Carcinoma in the Gastric Remnant: A Case of Conservative Treatment
      Prior to Successful Curative R0 Resection.
AB  - An 80-year-old man who had undergone distal gastrectomy and Billroth-II
      gastrojejunostomy 38 years previously, for a benign gastric ulcer, was diagnosed
      with remnant gastric cancer based on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy findings.
      He presented at our emergency department with acute-onset epigastric pain due to
      perforated remnant gastric cancer. Conservative medical management was selected,
      including nasogastric tube insertion, antibiotics, and proton pump inhibitors,
      because his peritonitis was limited to his epigastrium and his general condition
      was stable. Twenty-one days after the perforation occurred, curative total
      remnant gastrectomy and D2 lymphadenectomy were performed. Adhesion between the
      lateral segment of the liver and the dissected lesser curvature of the gastric
      remnant may have contributed to the peritonitis in this case, which was limited
      to the epigastrium. This is the first report of perforated remnant gastric cancer
      in which conservative treatment was effective prior to curative resection. The
      protocol reported here may be of use to other clinicians who may encounter this
      clinical entity in their practices. 

PMID- 27651974
TI  - Successful Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap Harvest despite Preoperative
      Therapeutic Subcutaneous Heparin Administration into the Abdominal Pannus.
AB  - Abdominal free flaps for microsurgical breast reconstruction are most commonly
      harvested based on the deep inferior epigastric vessels that supply skin and fat
      via perforators through the rectus muscle and sheath. Intact perforator anatomy
      and connections are vital for subsequent optimal flap perfusion and avoidance of
      necrosis, be it partial or total. The intraflap vessels are delicate and easily
      damaged and it is generally advised that patients should avoid heparin injection
      into the abdominal pannus preoperatively as this may compromise the vascular
      perforators through direct needle laceration, pressure from bruising, haematoma
      formation, or perforator thrombosis secondary to external compression. We report
      three cases of successful deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap harvest
      despite patients injecting therapeutic doses of low molecular weight heparin into
      their abdomens for thrombosed central venous lines (portacathsTM) used for
      administering primary chemotherapy in breast cancer. 

PMID- 27651975
TI  - Outlining a Population "at Risk" of Parkinson's Disease: Evidence from a Case
      Control Study.
AB  - The multifactorial pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease (PD) requires a careful
      identification of populations "at risk" of developing the disease. In this case
      control study we analyzed a large Italian population, in an attempt to outline
      general criteria to define a population "at risk" of PD. We enrolled 300 PD
      patients and 300 controls, gender and age matched, from the same urban
      geographical area. All subjects were interviewed on demographics, family history
      of PD, occupational and environmental toxicants exposure, smoking status, and
      alcohol consumption. A sample of 65 patients and 65 controls also underwent serum
      dosing of iron, copper, mercury, and manganese by means of Inductively Coupled
      Plasma-Mass-Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Positive family history, toxicants exposure,
      non-current-smoker, and alcohol nonconsumer status occurred as significant risk
      factors in our population. The number of concurring risk factors overlapping in
      the same subject impressively increased the overall risk. No significant
      differences were measured in the metal serum levels. Our findings indicate that
      combination of three to four concurrent PD-risk factors defines a condition "at
      risk" of PD. A simple stratification, based on these questionnaires, might be of
      help in identifying subjects suitable for neuroprotective strategies. 

PMID- 27651976
TI  - Efficacy of Hi-Lo Evac Endotracheal Tube in Prevention of Ventilator-Associated
      Pneumonia in Mechanically Ventilated Poisoned Patients.
AB  - Background. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common health care
      associated infection. To prevent this complication, aspiration of subglottic
      secretions using Hi-Lo Evac endotracheal tube (Evac ETT) is a recommended
      intervention. However, there are some reports on Evac ETT dysfunction. We aimed
      to compare the incidence of VAP (per ventilated patients) in severely ill
      poisoned patients who were intubated using Evac ETT versus conventional
      endotracheal tubes (C-ETT) in our toxicology ICU. Materials and Methods. In this
      clinical randomized trial, 91 eligible patients with an expected duration of
      mechanical ventilation of more than 48 hours were recruited and randomly assigned
      into two groups: (1) subglottic secretion drainage (SSD) group who were intubated
      by Evac ETT (n = 43) and (2) control group who were intubated by C-ETT (n = 48).
      Results. Of the 91 eligible patients, 56 (61.5%) were male. VAP was detected in
      24 of 43 (55.8%) patients in the case group and 23 of 48 (47.9%) patients in the
      control group (P = 0.45). The most frequently isolated microorganisms were S.
      aureus (54.10%) and Acinetobacter spp. (19.68%). The incidence of VAP and ICU
      length of stay were not significantly different between the two groups, but
      duration of intubation was statistically different and was longer in the SSD
      group. Mortality rate was less in SSD group but without a significant difference
      (P = 0.68). Conclusion. The SSD procedure was performed intermittently with one
      hour intervals using 10 mL syringe. Subglottic secretion drainage does not
      significantly reduce the incidence of VAP in patients receiving MV. This strategy
      appears to be ineffective in preventing VAP among ICU patients. 

PMID- 27651978
TI  - The Effect of Emotional Closeness and Exchanges of Support Among Family Members
      on Residents' Positive and Negative Psychological Responses After Hurricane
      Sandy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study examines how changes in emotional closeness and
      exchanges of support among family members after Hurricane Sandy affected
      residents' psychological outcomes both positively and negatively. METHODS: The
      working sample included 130 family ties reported by 85 respondents recruited from
      community and shelter residents on Staten Island after it was seriously damaged
      by the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. Regression with robust standard errors was used to
      examine how changes in emotional closeness and exchanges of support with adult
      family members affected respondents' posttraumatic psychological distress and
      posttraumatic growth. RESULTS: Results showed psychological distress was
      significantly increased with higher levels of instrumental support received from
      family members; whereas posttraumatic growth was significantly increased with
      greater improved emotional closeness with family members. In addition, having
      higher levels of education was associated with lower levels of psychological
      distress and respondents from shelters showed higher levels of posttraumatic
      growth than those who were from the community. DISCUSSION: It is suggested that
      after a significant disaster, although a family may be the best to take care of
      its members' emotional needs, it should not be expected to satisfy the
      instrumental needs of its members. In addition, posttraumatic psychological
      distress and growth are not necessarily opposite to each other; the psychological
      well- being of residents after a disaster needs to be carefully examined from
      both perspectives.

PMID- 27651977
TI  - Lessons from Ebola: Sources of Outbreak Information and the Associated Impact on
      UC Irvine and Ohio University College Students.
AB  - Objectives. We examined the role of outbreak information sources through four
      domains: knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and stigma related to the 2014 Ebola
      virus disease (EVD) outbreak. Methods. We conducted an online survey of 797
      undergraduates at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and Ohio University
      (OU) during the peak of the outbreak. We calculated individual scores for domains
      and analyzed associations to demographic variables and news sources. Results.
      Knowledge of EVD was low and misinformation was prevalent. News media (34%) and
      social media (19%) were the most used sources of EVD information while official
      government websites (OGW) were among the least used (11%). Students who acquired
      information through OGW had higher knowledge, more positive attitudes towards
      those infected, a higher belief in the government, and were less likely to
      stigmatize Ebola victims. Conclusions. Information sources are likely to
      influence students' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and stigma relating to EVD.
      This study contains crucial insight for those tasked with risk communication to
      college students. Emphasis should be given to developing effective strategies to
      achieve a comprehensive knowledge of EVD and future public health threats. 

PMID- 27651979
TI  - Qualitative Analysis of Surveyed Emergency Responders and the Identified Factors
      That Affect First Stage of Primary Triage Decision-Making of Mass Casualty
      Incidents.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: After all large-scale disasters multiple papers are published
      describing the shortcomings of the triage methods utilized. This paper uses
      medical provider input to help describe attributes and patient characteristics
      that impact triage decisions. METHODS: A survey distributed electronically to
      medical providers with and without disaster experience. Questions asked included
      what disaster experiences they had, and to rank six attributes in order of
      importance regarding triage. RESULTS: 403 unique completed surveys were analyzed.
      92% practiced a structural triage approach with the rest reporting they used
      "gestalt".(gut feeling) Twelve per cent were identified as having placed patients
      in an expectant category during triage. Respiratory status, ability to speak,
      perfusion/pulse were all ranked in the top three. Gut feeling regardless of
      statistical analysis was fourth. Supplies were ranked in the top four when
      analyzed for those who had placed patients in the expectant category. CONCLUSION:
      Primary triage decisions in a mass casualty scenario are multifactorial and
      encompass patient mobility, life saving interventions, situational instincts, and
      logistics.

PMID- 27651980
TI  - Spontaneous Rectus Sheath Hematoma in Pregnancy Complicated by the Development of
      Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury: A Case Report and Review of the
      Literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rectus sheath hematoma (RSH) represents a rare, but serious cause of
      abdominal pain. CASE: Here we discuss the case of a healthy multigravida female
      who presented at 28 weeks gestation with spontaneous RSH. Conservative management
      with multiple blood transfusions led to the development of transfusion related
      acute lung injury (TRALI) and intensive care unit admission. She was managed with
      noninvasive ventilatory support, gradually improved, and was weaned of
      ventilation. After hospital discharge, she progressed to full term and delivered
      a viable male infant vaginally at 37 weeks gestation. CONCLUSION: Review of the
      literature demonstrates 13 cases of RSH in pregnancy, including our own. No other
      cases were complicated by transfusion related morbidity. RSH and TRALI are rare,
      but life threatening entities that can complicate pregnancy.

PMID- 27651982
TI  - The influence of temperament and character profiles on specialty choice and well
      being in medical residents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple factors influence the decision to enter a career in medicine
      and choose a specialty. Previous studies have looked at personality differences
      in medicine but often were unable to describe the heterogeneity that exists
      within each specialty. Our study used a person-centered approach to characterize
      the complex relations between the personality profiles of resident physicians and
      their choice of specialty. METHODS: 169 resident physicians at a large Midwestern
      US training hospital completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and
      the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Clusters of personality profiles were
      identified without regard to medical specialty, and then the personality clusters
      were tested for association with their choice of specialty by co-clustering
      analysis. Life satisfaction was tested for association with personality traits
      and medical specialty by linear regression and analysis of variance. RESULTS: We
      identified five clusters of people with distinct personality profiles, and found
      that these were associated with particular medical specialties Physicians with an
      "investigative" personality profile often chose pathology or internal medicine,
      those with a "commanding" personality often chose general surgery, "rescuers"
      often chose emergency medicine, the "dependable" often chose pediatrics, and the
      "compassionate" often chose psychiatry. Life satisfaction scores were not
      enhanced by personality-specialty congruence, but were related strongly to self
      directedness regardless of specialty. CONCLUSIONS: The personality profiles of
      physicians were strongly associated with their medical specialty choices.
      Nevertheless, the relationships were complex: physicians with each personality
      profile went into a variety of medical specialties, and physicians in each
      medical specialty had variable personality profiles. The plasticity and
      resilience of physicians were more important for their life satisfaction than was
      matching personality to the prototype of a particular specialty.

PMID- 27651981
TI  - Improved cartilage regeneration by implantation of acellular biomaterials after
      bone marrow stimulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies.
AB  - Microfracture surgery may be applied to treat cartilage defects. During the
      procedure the subchondral bone is penetrated, allowing bone marrow-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells to migrate towards the defect site and form new cartilage
      tissue. Microfracture surgery generally results in the formation of mechanically
      inferior fibrocartilage. As a result, this technique offers only temporary
      clinical improvement. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine may improve
      the outcome of microfracture surgery. Filling the subchondral defect with a
      biomaterial may provide a template for the formation of new hyaline cartilage
      tissue. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to
      assess the current evidence for the efficacy of cartilage regeneration in
      preclinical models using acellular biomaterials implanted after marrow
      stimulating techniques (microfracturing and subchondral drilling) compared to the
      natural healing response of defects. The review aims to provide new insights into
      the most effective biomaterials, to provide an overview of currently existing
      knowledge, and to identify potential lacunae in current studies to direct future
      research. A comprehensive search was systematically performed in PubMed and
      EMBASE (via OvidSP) using search terms related to tissue engineering, cartilage
      and animals. Primary studies in which acellular biomaterials were implanted in
      osteochondral defects in the knee or ankle joint in healthy animals were included
      and study characteristics tabulated (283 studies out of 6,688 studies found). For
      studies comparing non-treated empty defects to defects containing implanted
      biomaterials and using semi-quantitative histology as outcome measure, the risk
      of bias (135 studies) was assessed and outcome data were collected for meta
      analysis (151 studies). Random-effects meta-analyses were performed, using
      cartilage regeneration as outcome measure on an absolute 0-100% scale.
      Implantation of acellular biomaterials significantly improved cartilage
      regeneration by 15.6% compared to non-treated empty defect controls. The addition
      of biologics to biomaterials significantly improved cartilage regeneration by
      7.6% compared to control biomaterials. No significant differences were found
      between biomaterials from natural or synthetic origin or between scaffolds,
      hydrogels and blends. No noticeable differences were found in outcome between
      animal models. The risk of bias assessment indicated poor reporting for the
      majority of studies, impeding an assessment of the actual risk of bias. In
      conclusion, implantation of biomaterials in osteochondral defects improves
      cartilage regeneration compared to natural healing, which is further improved by
      the incorporation of biologics. 

PMID- 27651983
TI  - A new rauisuchid (Archosauria, Pseudosuchia) from the Upper Triassic (Norian) of
      New Mexico increases the diversity and temporal range of the clade.
AB  - Rauisuchids are large (2-6 m in length), carnivorous, and quadrupedal
      pseudosuchian archosaurs closely related to crocodylomorphs. Though
      geographically widespread, fossils of this clade are relatively rare in Late
      Triassic assemblages. The middle Norian (~212 Ma) Hayden Quarry of northern New
      Mexico, USA, in the Petrified Forest Member of the Chinle Formation, has yielded
      isolated postcranial elements and associated skull elements of a new species of
      rauisuchid. Vivaron haydeni gen. et. sp. nov. is diagnosed by the presence of two
      posteriorly directed prongs at the posterior end of the maxilla for articulation
      with the jugal. The holotype maxilla and referred elements are similar to those
      of the rauisuchid Postosuchus kirkpatricki from the southwestern United States,
      but V. haydeni shares several maxillary apomorphies (e.g., a distinct dropoff to
      the antorbital fossa that is not a ridge, a straight ventral margin, and a well
      defined dental groove) with the rauisuchid Teratosaurus suevicus from the Norian
      of Germany. Despite their geographic separation, this morphological evidence
      implies a close phylogenetic relationship between V. haydeni and T. suevicus. The
      morphology preserved in the new Hayden Quarry rauisuchid V. haydeni supports
      previously proposed and new synapomorphies for nodes within Rauisuchidae. The
      discovery of Vivaron haydeni reveals an increased range of morphological
      disparity for rauisuchids from the low-paleolatitude Chinle Formation and a clear
      biogeographic connection with high paleolatitude Pangea. 

PMID- 27651985
TI  - Seasonal changes in fish assemblage structure at a shallow seamount in the Gulf
      of California.
AB  - Seamounts have generally been identified as locations that can promote elevated
      productivity, biomass and predator biodiversity. These properties attract
      seamount-associated fisheries where elevated harvests can be obtained relative to
      surrounding areas. There exists large variation in the geological and
      oceanographic environment among the thousands of locations that fall within the
      broad definition of seamount. Global seamount surveys have revealed that not all
      seamounts are hotspots of biodiversity, and there remains a strong need to
      understand the mechanisms that underlie variation in species richness observed.
      We examined the process of fish species assembly at El Bajo Espiritu Santo (EBES)
      seamount in the Gulf of California over a five-year study period. To effectively
      quantify the relative abundance of fast-moving and schooling fishes in a 'blue
      water' habitat, we developed a simplified underwater visual census (UVC)
      methodology and analysis framework suitable for this setting and applicable to
      future studies in similar environments. We found correlations between seasonally
      changing community structure and variability in oceanographic conditions.
      Individual species responses to thermal habitat at EBES revealed three distinct
      assemblages, a 'fall assemblage' tracking warmer overall temperature, a 'spring
      assemblage' correlated with cooler temperature, and a 'year-round assemblage'
      with no significant response to temperature. Species richness was greatest in
      spring, when cool and warm water masses stratified the water column and a greater
      number of species from all three assemblages co-occurred. We discuss our findings
      in the context of potential mechanisms that could account for predator
      biodiversity at shallow seamounts. 

PMID- 27651984
TI  - Platelet-rich concentrate in serum free medium enhances osteogenic
      differentiation of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stromal cells.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that platelet concentrates used in conjunction with
      appropriate growth media enhance osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal
      stromal cells (hMSCs). However, their potential in inducing osteogenesis of hMSCs
      when cultured in serum free medium has not been explored. Furthermore, the
      resulting osteogenic molecular signatures of the hMSCs have not been compared to
      standard osteogenic medium. We studied the effect of infrequent supplementation
      (8-day interval) of 15% non-activated platelet-rich concentrate (PRC) in serum
      free medium on hMSCs proliferation and differentiation throughout a course of 24
      days, and compared the effect with those cultured in a standard osteogenic medium
      (OM). Cell proliferation was analyzed by alamar blue assay. Gene expression of
      osteogenic markers (Runx2, Collagen1, Alkaline Phosphatase, Bone morphogenetic
      protein 2, Osteopontin, Osteocalcin, Osteonectin) were analyzed using Q-PCR.
      Immunocytochemical staining for osteocalcin, osteopontin and transcription factor
      Runx2 were done at 8, 16 and 24 days. Biochemical assays for the expression of
      ALP and osteocalcin were also performed at these time-points. Osteogenic
      differentiation was further confirmed qualitatively by Alizarin Red S staining
      that was quantified using cetylpyridinium chloride. Results showed that PRC
      supplemented in serum free medium enhanced hMSC proliferation, which peaked at
      day 16. The temporal pattern of gene expression of hMSCs under the influence of
      PRC was comparable to that of the osteogenic media, but at a greater extent at
      specific time points. Immunocytochemical staining revealed stronger staining for
      Runx2 in the PRC-treated group compared to OM, while the staining for Osteocalcin
      and Osteopontin were comparable in both groups. ALP activity and Osteocalcin/DNA
      level were higher in the PRC group. Cells in the PRC group had similar level of
      bone mineralization as those cultured in OM, as reflected by the intensity of
      Alizarin red stain. Collectively, these results demonstrate a great potential of
      PRC alone in inducing proliferation of hMSCs without any influence from other
      lineage-specific growth media. PRC alone has similar capacity to enhance hMSC
      osteogenic differentiation as a standard OM, without changing the temporal
      profile of the differentiation process. Thus, PRC could be used as a substitute
      medium to provide sufficient pool of pre-differentiated hMSCs for potential
      clinical application in bone regeneration. 

PMID- 27651986
TI  - Digital Accessible Knowledge and well-inventoried sites for birds in Mexico:
      baseline sites for measuring faunistic change.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Faunal change is a basic and fundamental element in ecology,
      biogeography, and conservation biology, yet vanishingly few detailed studies have
      documented such changes rigorously over decadal time scales. This study responds
      to that gap in knowledge, providing a detailed analysis of Digital Accessible
      Knowledge of the birds of Mexico, designed to marshal DAK to identify sites that
      were sampled and inventoried rigorously prior to the beginning of major global
      climate change (1980). METHODS: We accumulated DAK records for Mexican birds from
      all relevant online biodiversity data portals. After extensive cleaning steps, we
      calculated completeness indices for each 0.05 degrees  pixel across the country;
      we also detected 'hotspots' of sampling, and calculated completeness indices for
      these broader areas as well. Sites were designated as well-sampled if they had
      completeness indices above 80% and >200 associated DAK records. RESULTS: We
      identified 100 individual pixels and 20 broader 'hotspots' of sampling that were
      demonstrably well-inventoried prior to 1980. These sites are catalogued and
      documented to promote and enable resurvey efforts that can document events of
      avifaunal change (and non-change) across the country on decadal time scales.
      CONCLUSIONS: Development of repeated surveys for many sites across Mexico, and
      particularly for sites for which historical surveys document their avifaunas
      prior to major climate change processes, would pay rich rewards in information
      about distributional dynamics of Mexican birds.

PMID- 27651987
TI  - Bioavailability of D-methionine relative to L-methionine for nursery pigs using
      the slope-ratio assay.
AB  - This experiment was conducted to determine the bioavailability of D-methionine
      (Met) relative to L-Met for nursery pigs using the slope-ratio assay. A total of
      50 crossbred barrows with an initial BW of 13.5 kg (SD = 1.0) were used in an N
      balance study. A Met-deficient basal diet (BD) was formulated to contain an
      adequate amount of all amino acids (AA) for 10-20 kg pigs except for Met. The two
      reference diets were prepared by supplementing the BD with 0.4 or 0.8 g L-Met/kg
      at the expense of corn starch, and an equivalent concentration of D-Met was added
      to the BD for the two test diets. The pigs were adapted to the experimental diets
      for 5 d and then total but separated collection of feces and urine was conducted
      for 4 d according to the marker-to-marker procedure. Nitrogen intakes were
      similar across the treatments. Fecal N output was not affected by Met
      supplementation regardless of source and consequently apparent N digestibility
      did not change. Conversely, there was a negative linear response (P < 0.01) to
      Met supplementation with both Met isomers in urinary N output, which resulted in
      increased retained N (g/4 d) and N retention (% of intake). No quadratic response
      was observed in any of the N balance criteria. The estimated bioavailability of D
      Met relative to L-Met from urinary N output (g/4 d) and N retention (% of intake)
      as dependent variables using supplemental Met intake (g/4 d) as an independent
      variable were 87.6% and 89.6%, respectively; however, approximately 95% of the
      fiducial limits for the relative bioavailability estimates included 100%. In
      conclusion, with an absence of statistical significance, the present study
      indicated that the mean relative bioequivalence of D- to L-Met was 87.6% based on
      urinary N output or 89.6% based on N retention. 

PMID- 27651988
TI  - Is there any effect of pneumoperitoneum pressure on coagulation and fibrinolysis
      during laparoscopic cholecystectomy?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LC) are generally performed in a 12
      mmHg-pressured pneumoperitoneum in a slight sitting position. Considerable
      thromboembolism risk arises in this operation due to pneumoperitoneum, operation
      position and risk factors of patients. We aim to investigate the effect of
      pneumoperitoneum pressure on coagulation and fibrinolysis under general
      anesthesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty American Society of Anesthesiologist
      (ASA) I-III patients who underwent elective LC without thromboprophlaxis were
      enrolled in this prospective study. The patients were randomly divided into two
      groups according to the pneumoperitoneum pressure during LC: the 10 mmHg group (n
      = 25) and the 14 mmHg group. Prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT),
      International Normalized Ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time
      (aPTT) and blood levels of d-dimer and fibrinogen were measured preoperatively
      (pre), one hour (post1) and 24 h (post24) after the surgery. Moreover, alanine
      amino transferase, aspartate amino transferase and lactate dehydrogenase were
      measured before and after the surgery. These parameters were compared between and
      within the groups. RESULTS: PT, TT, aPTT, INR, and D-dimer and fibrinogen levels
      significantly increased after the surgery in both of the groups. D-dimer level
      was significantly higher in 14-mmHg group at post24. CONCLUSION: Both the 10-mmHg
      and 14-mmHg pressure of pneumoperitoneum may lead to affect coagulation tests and
      fibrinogen and D-dimer levels without any occurrence of deep vein thrombosis, but
      14-mmHg pressure of pneumoperitoneum has a greater effect on D-dimer. However,
      lower pneumoperitoneum pressure may be useful for the prevention of deep vein
      thrombosis.

PMID- 27651989
TI  - A limitation of the Cognitive Reflection Test: familiarity.
AB  - The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Frederick, 2005) is a frequently used measure
      of cognitive vs. intuitive reflection. It is also a frequently found entertaining
      'test' on the Internet. In a large age-stratified community-based sample (N =
      2,272), we analyzed the impact of having already performed the CRT or any similar
      task in the past. Indeed, we found that 44% of participants had experiences with
      these tasks, which was reflected in higher CRT scores (Cohen's d = 0.41).
      Furthermore, experienced participants were different from naive participants in
      regard to their socio-demographics (younger, higher educated, fewer siblings,
      more likely single or in a relationship than married, having no children). The
      best predictors of a high CRT score were the highest educational qualification
      (4.62% explained variance) followed by the experience with the task (3.06%).
      Therefore, we suggest using more recent multi-item CRTs with newer items and a
      more elaborated test construction. 

PMID- 27651990
TI  - Patchiness of forest landscape can predict species distribution better than
      abundance: the case of a forest-dwelling passerine, the short-toed treecreeper,
      in central Italy.
AB  - Environmental heterogeneity affects not only the distribution of a species but
      also its local abundance. High heterogeneity due to habitat alteration and
      fragmentation can influence the realized niche of a species, lowering habitat
      suitability as well as reducing local abundance. We investigate whether a
      relationship exists between habitat suitability and abundance and whether both
      are affected by fragmentation. Our aim was to assess the predictive power of such
      a relationship to derive advice for environmental management. As a model species
      we used a forest specialist, the short-toed treecreeper (Family: Certhiidae;
      Certhia brachydactyla Brehm, 1820), and sampled it in central Italy. Species
      distribution was modelled as a function of forest structure, productivity and
      fragmentation, while abundance was directly estimated in two central Italian
      forest stands. Different algorithms were implemented to model species
      distribution, employing 170 occurrence points provided mostly by the MITO2000
      database: an artificial neural network, classification tree analysis, flexible
      discriminant analysis, generalized boosting models, generalized linear models,
      multivariate additive regression splines, maximum entropy and random forests.
      Abundance was estimated also considering detectability, through N-mixture models.
      Differences between forest stands in both abundance and habitat suitability were
      assessed as well as the existence of a relationship. Simpler algorithms resulted
      in higher goodness of fit than complex ones. Fragmentation was highly influential
      in determining potential distribution. Local abundance and habitat suitability
      differed significantly between the two forest stands, which were also
      significantly different in the degree of fragmentation. Regression showed that
      suitability has a weak significant effect in explaining increasing value of
      abundance. In particular, local abundances varied both at low and high
      suitability values. The study lends support to the concept that the degree of
      fragmentation can contribute to alter not only the suitability of an area for a
      species, but also its abundance. Even if the relationship between suitability and
      abundance can be used as an early warning of habitat deterioration, its weak
      predictive power needs further research. However, we define relationships between
      a species and some landscape features (i.e., fragmentation, extensive
      rejuvenation of forests and tree plantations) which could be easily controlled by
      appropriate forest management planning to enhance environmental suitability, at
      least in an area possessing high conservation and biodiversity values. 

PMID- 27651991
TI  - Evolutionary patterns of range size, abundance and species richness in Amazonian
      angiosperm trees.
AB  - Amazonian tree species vary enormously in their total abundance and range size,
      while Amazonian tree genera vary greatly in species richness. The drivers of this
      variation are not well understood. Here, we construct a phylogenetic hypothesis
      that represents half of Amazonian tree genera in order to contribute to
      explaining the variation. We find several clear, broad-scale patterns. Firstly,
      there is significant phylogenetic signal for all three characteristics; closely
      related genera tend to have similar numbers of species and similar mean range
      size and abundance. Additionally, the species richness of genera shows a
      significant, negative relationship with the mean range size and abundance of
      their constituent species. Our results suggest that phylogenetically correlated
      intrinsic factors, namely traits of the genera themselves, shape among lineage
      variation in range size, abundance and species richness. We postulate that tree
      stature may be one particularly relevant trait. However, other traits may also be
      relevant, and our study reinforces the need for ambitious compilations of trait
      data for Amazonian trees. In the meantime, our study shows how large-scale
      phylogenies can help to elucidate, and contribute to explaining, macroecological
      and macroevolutionary patterns in hyperdiverse, yet poorly understood regions
      like the Amazon Basin. 

PMID- 27651992
TI  - Phylogeography by diffusion on a sphere: whole world phylogeography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Techniques for reconstructing geographical history along a phylogeny
      can answer many questions of interest about the geographical origins of species.
      Bayesian models based on the assumption that taxa move through a diffusion
      process have found many applications. However, these methods rely on diffusion
      processes on a plane, and do not take the spherical nature of our planet in
      account. Performing an analysis that covers the whole world thus does not take in
      account the distortions caused by projections like the Mercator projection.
      RESULTS: In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian phylogeographical method based on
      diffusion on a sphere. When the area where taxa are sampled from is small, a
      sphere can be approximated by a plane and the model results in the same
      inferences as with models using diffusion on a plane. For taxa sampled from the
      whole world, we obtain substantial differences. We present an efficient algorithm
      for performing inference in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm, and show
      applications to small and large samples areas. We compare results between planar
      and spherical diffusion in a simulation study and apply the method by inferring
      the origin of Hepatitis B based on sequences sampled from Eurasia and Africa.
      CONCLUSIONS: We describe a framework for performing phylogeographical inference,
      which is suitable when the distortion introduced by map projections is large, but
      works well on a smaller scale as well. The framework allows sampling tips from
      regions, which is useful when the exact sample location is unknown, and placing
      prior information on locations of clades in the tree. The method is implemented
      in the GEO_SPHERE package in BEAST 2, which is open source licensed under LGPL
      and allows joint tree and geography inference under a wide range of models.

PMID- 27651993
TI  - Genetic structure and diversity of the selfing model grass Brachypodium stacei
      (Poaceae) in Western Mediterranean: out of the Iberian Peninsula and into the
      islands.
AB  - Annual Mediterranean species of the genus Brachypodium are promising model plants
      for energy crops since their selfing nature and short-life cycles are an
      advantage in breeding programs. The false brome, B. distachyon, has already been
      sequenced and new genomic initiatives have triggered the de-novo genome
      sequencing of its close relatives such as B. stacei, a species that was until
      recently mistaken for B. distachyon. However, the success of these initiatives
      hinges on detailed knowledge about the distribution of genetic variation within
      and among populations for the effective use of germplasm in a breeding program.
      Understanding population genetic diversity and genetic structure is also an
      important prerequisite for designing effective experimental populations for
      genomic wide studies. However, population genetic data are still limited in B.
      stacei. We therefore selected and amplified 10 nuclear microsatellite markers to
      depict patterns of population structure and genetic variation among 181
      individuals from 19 populations of B. stacei occurring in its predominant range,
      the western Mediterranean area: mainland Iberian Peninsula, continental Balearic
      Islands and oceanic Canary Islands. Our genetic results support the occurrence of
      a predominant selfing system with extremely high levels of homozygosity across
      the analyzed populations. Despite the low level of genetic variation found, two
      different genetic clusters were retrieved, one clustering all SE Iberian mainland
      populations and the island of Minorca and another one grouping all S Iberian
      mainland populations, the Canary Islands and all Majorcan populations except one
      that clustered with the former group. These results, together with a high sharing
      of alleles (89%) suggest different colonization routes from the mainland Iberian
      Peninsula into the islands. A recent colonization scenario could explain the
      relatively low levels of genetic diversity and low number of alleles found in the
      Canary Islands populations while older colonization events are hypothesized to
      explain the high genetic diversity values found in the Majorcan populations. Our
      study provides widely applicable information about geographical patterns of
      genetic variation in B. stacei. Among others, the genetic pattern and the
      existence of local alleles will need to be adequately reflected in the germplasm
      collection of B. stacei for efficient genome wide association studies. 

PMID- 27651994
TI  - Testing the link between genome size and growth rate in maize.
AB  - Little is known about the factors driving within species Genome Size (GS)
      variation. GS may be shaped indirectly by natural selection on development and
      adaptative traits. Because GS variation is particularly pronounced in maize, we
      have sampled 83 maize inbred lines from three well described genetic groups
      adapted to contrasted climate conditions: inbreds of tropical origin, Flint
      inbreds grown in temperate climates, and Dent inbreds distributed in the Corn
      Belt. As a proxy for growth rate, we measured the Leaf Elongation Rate maximum
      during nighttime (LERmax) as well as GS in all inbred lines. In addition we
      combined available and new nucleotide polymorphism data at 29,090 sites to
      characterize the genetic structure of our panel. We found significant variation
      for both LERmax and GS among groups defined by our genetic structuring. Tropicals
      displayed larger GS than Flints while Dents exhibited intermediate values. LERmax
      followed the opposite trend with greater growth rate in Flints than in Tropicals.
      In other words, LERmax and GS exhibited a significantly negative correlation (r =
      - 0.27). However, this correlation was driven by among-group variation rather
      than within-group variation-it was no longer significant after controlling for
      structure and kinship among inbreds. Our results indicate that selection on GS
      may have accompanied ancient maize diffusion from its center of origin, with
      large DNA content excluded from temperate areas. Whether GS has been targeted by
      more intense selection during modern breeding within groups remains an open
      question. 

PMID- 27651995
TI  - Rhodopsin 7-The unusual Rhodopsin in Drosophila.
AB  - Rhodopsins are the major photopigments in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
      Drosophila express six well-characterized Rhodopsins (Rh1-Rh6) with distinct
      absorption maxima and expression pattern. In 2000, when the Drosophila genome was
      published, a novel Rhodopsin gene was discovered: Rhodopsin 7 (Rh7). Rh7 is
      highly conserved among the Drosophila genus and is also found in other
      arthropods. Phylogenetic trees based on protein sequences suggest that the seven
      Drosophila Rhodopsins cluster in three different groups. While Rh1, Rh2 and Rh6
      form a "vertebrate-melanopsin-type"-cluster, and Rh3, Rh4 and Rh5 form an "insect
      type"-Rhodopsin cluster, Rh7 seem to form its own cluster. Although Rh7 has
      nearly all important features of a functional Rhodopsin, it differs from other
      Rhodopsins in its genomic and structural properties, suggesting it might have an
      overall different role than other known Rhodopsins. 

PMID- 27651996
TI  - MxaY regulates the lanthanide-mediated methanol dehydrogenase switch in
      Methylomicrobium buryatense.
AB  - Many methylotrophs, microorganisms that consume carbon compounds lacking carbon
      carbon bonds, use two different systems to oxidize methanol for energy production
      and biomass accumulation. The MxaFI methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) contains calcium
      in its active site, while the XoxF enzyme contains a lanthanide in its active
      site. The genes encoding the MDH enzymes are differentially regulated by the
      presence of lanthanides. In this study, we found that the histidine kinase MxaY
      controls the lanthanide-mediated switch in Methylomicrobium buryatense 5GB1C.
      MxaY controls the transcription of genes encoding MxaFI and XoxF at least
      partially by controlling the transcript levels of the orphan response regulator
      MxaB. We identify a constitutively active version of MxaY, and identify the
      mutated residue that may be involved in lanthanide sensing. Lastly, we find
      evidence to suggest that tight control of active MDH production is required for
      wild-type growth rates. 

PMID- 27651999
TI  - The HOSPITAL score as a predictor of 30 day readmission in a retrospective study
      at a university affiliated community hospital.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hospital readmissions are common, expensive, and a key target of
      the Medicare Value Based Purchasing (VBP) program. Risk assessment tools have
      been developed to identify patients at high risk of hospital readmission so they
      can be targeted for interventions aimed at reducing the rate of readmission. One
      such tool is the HOSPITAL score that uses seven readily available clinical
      variables to predict the risk of readmission within 30 days of discharge. The
      HOSPITAL score has been internationally validated in large academic medical
      centers. This study aims to determine if the HOSPITAL score is similarly useful
      in a moderate sized university affiliated hospital in the midwestern United
      States. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All adult medical patients discharged from the SIU
      SOM Hospitalist service from Memorial Medical Center (MMC) from October 15, 2015
      to March 16, 2016, were studied retrospectively to determine if the HOSPITAL
      score was a significant predictor of hospital readmission within 30 days.
      RESULTS: During the study period, 998 discharges were recorded for the
      hospitalist service. The analysis includes data for the 931 discharges. Patients
      who died during the hospital stay, were transferred to another hospital, or left
      against medical advice were excluded. Of these patients, 109 (12%) were
      readmitted to the same hospital within 30 days. The patients who were readmitted
      were more likely to have a length of stay greater than or equal to 5 days (55%
      vs. 41%, p = 0.005) and were more likely to have been admitted more than once to
      the hospital within the last year (100% vs. 49%, p < 0.001). A receiver operating
      characteristic evaluation of the HOSPITAL score for this patient population shows
      a C statistic of 0.77 (95% CI [0.73-0.81]), indicating good discrimination for
      hospital readmission. The Brier score for the HOSPITAL score in this setting was
      0.10, indicating good overall performance. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit
      test shows a chi (2) value of 1.63 with a p value of 0.20. DISCUSSION: This
      single center retrospective study indicates that the HOSPITAL score has good
      discriminatory ability to predict hospital readmissions within 30 days for a
      medical hospitalist service at a university-affiliated hospital. This data for
      all causes of hospital readmission is comparable to the discriminatory ability of
      the HOSPITAL score in the international validation study (C statistics of 0.72
      vs. 0.77) conducted at considerably larger hospitals (975 average beds vs. 507 at
      MMC) for potentially avoidable hospital readmissions. CONCLUSIONS: The
      internationally validated HOSPITAL score may be a useful tool in moderate sized
      community hospitals to identify patients at high risk of hospital readmission
      within 30 days. This easy to use scoring system using readily available data can
      be used as part of interventional strategies to reduce the rate of hospital
      readmission.

PMID- 27651998
TI  - ECG is an inefficient screening-tool for left ventricular hypertrophy in
      normotensive African children population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a marker of pediatric
      hypertension and predicts development of cardiovascular events.
      Electrocardiography (ECG) screening is used in pediatrics to detect LVH thanks to
      major accessibility, reproducibility and easy to use compared to transthoracic
      echocardiography (TTE), that remains the standard technique. Several diseases
      were previously investigated, but no data exists regarding our study population.
      The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between
      electrocardiographic and echocardiographic criteria of LVH in normotensive
      African children. METHODS: We studied 313 children (mean age 7,8 +/- 3 yo), in
      north-Madagascar. They underwent ECG and TTE. Sokolow-Lyon index was calculated
      to identify ECG-LVH (>35 mm). Left ventricle mass (LVM) with TTE was calculated
      and indexed by height(2.7) (LVMI(2.7)) and weight (LVMI(w)). We report the
      prevalence of TTE-LVH using three methods: (1) calculating percentiles age- and
      sex- specific with values >95th percentile identifying LVH; (2) LVMI(2.7) >51
      g/m(2.7); (3) LVMI(w) >3.4 g/weight. RESULTS: 40 (13%) children showed LVMI
      values >95th percentile, 24 children (8%) an LVMI(2.7) >51 g/m(2.7) while 19
      children (6%) an LVMI(w) >3.4 g/kg. LVH-ECG by Sokolow-Lyon index was present in
      five, three and three children respectively, with poor values of sensitivity
      (ranging from 13 to 16%), positive predictive value (from 11 to 18%) and high
      values of specificity (up to 92%). The effects of anthropometrics parameters on
      Sokolow-Lyon were analyzed and showed poor correlation. CONCLUSION: ECG is a poor
      screening test for detecting LVH in children. In clinical practice, TTE remains
      the only tool to be used to exclude LVH.

PMID- 27651997
TI  - Genome-wide identification and characterization of WRKY gene family in Salix
      suchowensis.
AB  - WRKY proteins are the zinc finger transcription factors that were first
      identified in plants. They can specifically interact with the W-box, which can be
      found in the promoter region of a large number of plant target genes, to regulate
      the expressions of downstream target genes. They also participate in diverse
      physiological and growing processes in plants. Prior to this study, a plenty of
      WRKY genes have been identified and characterized in herbaceous species, but
      there is no large-scale study of WRKY genes in willow. With the whole genome
      sequencing of Salix suchowensis, we have the opportunity to conduct the genome
      wide research for willow WRKY gene family. In this study, we identified 85 WRKY
      genes in the willow genome and renamed them from SsWRKY1 to SsWRKY85 on the basis
      of their specific distributions on chromosomes. Due to their diverse structural
      features, the 85 willow WRKY genes could be further classified into three main
      groups (group I-III), with five subgroups (IIa-IIe) in group II. With the
      multiple sequence alignment and the manual search, we found three variations of
      the WRKYGQK heptapeptide: WRKYGRK, WKKYGQK and WRKYGKK, and four variations of
      the normal zinc finger motif, which might execute some new biological functions.
      In addition, the SsWRKY genes from the same subgroup share the similar exon
      intron structures and conserved motif domains. Further studies of SsWRKY genes
      revealed that segmental duplication events (SDs) played a more prominent role in
      the expansion of SsWRKY genes. Distinct expression profiles of SsWRKY genes with
      RNA sequencing data revealed that diverse expression patterns among five tissues,
      including tender roots, young leaves, vegetative buds, non-lignified stems and
      barks. With the analyses of WRKY gene family in willow, it is not only beneficial
      to complete the functional and annotation information of WRKY genes family in
      woody plants, but also provide important references to investigate the expansion
      and evolution of this gene family in flowering plants. 

PMID- 27652000
TI  - Impact of exposure to tobacco smoke, arsenic, and phthalates on locally advanced
      cervical cancer treatment-preliminary results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer research is a national and international priority, with the
      efficiency and effectiveness of current anti-tumor therapies being one of the
      major challenges with which physicians are faced. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact
      of exposure to tobacco smoke, arsenic, and phthalates on cervical cancer
      treatment. METHODS: We investigated 37 patients with locally advanced cervical
      carcinoma who underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We determined cotinine and
      five phthalate metabolites in urine samples collected prior to cancer treatment,
      by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and urinary total arsenic by
      atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation. We used linear regression
      to evaluate the effects of cotinine, arsenic, and phthalates on the change in
      tumor size after treatment, adjusted for confounding variables. RESULTS: We
      detected no significant associations between urinary cotinine, arsenic, or
      phthalate monoesters on change in tumor size after treatment, adjusted for urine
      creatinine, age, baseline tumor size, and cotinine (for arsenic and phthalates).
      However, higher %mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (%MEHP), a putative indicator of
      phthalate diester metabolism, was associated with a larger change in tumor size
      (beta = 0.015, 95% CI [0.003-0.03], P = 0.019). CONCLUSION: We found no
      statistically significant association between the urinary levels of arsenic,
      cotinine, and phthalates metabolites and the response to cervical cancer
      treatment as measured by the change in tumor size. Still, our results suggested
      that phthalates metabolism may be associated with response to treatment for
      locally advanced cervical cancer. However, these observations are preliminary and
      will require confirmation in a larger, more definitive investigation.

PMID- 27652002
TI  - CrossDocker: a tool for performing cross-docking using Autodock Vina.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cross-docking is an approach to find the best holo structures among
      multiple structures available for a target protein. RESULTS: CrossDocker
      significantly decreases the time needed for setting parameters and inputs for
      performing multiple dockings, data collection and subsequent analysis.
      CONCLUSION: CrossDocker was written in Python language and is available as
      executable binary for Windows operating system. It is available at
      http://www.pharm-sbg.com. Some example data sets were also provided.

PMID- 27652001
TI  - Spatial heterogeneity of physicochemical properties explains differences in
      microbial composition in arid soils from Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico.
AB  - Arid ecosystems are characterized by high spatial heterogeneity, and the
      variation among vegetation patches is a clear example. Soil biotic and abiotic
      factors associated with these patches have also been well documented as highly
      heterogeneous in space. Given the low vegetation cover and little precipitation
      in arid ecosystems, soil microorganisms are the main drivers of nutrient cycling.
      Nonetheless, little is known about the spatial distribution of microorganisms and
      the relationship that their diversity holds with nutrients and other
      physicochemical gradients in arid soils. In this study, we evaluated the spatial
      variability of soil microbial diversity and chemical parameters (nutrients and
      ion content) at local scale (meters) occurring in a gypsum-based desert soil, to
      gain knowledge on what soil abiotic factors control the distribution of microbes
      in arid ecosystems. We analyzed 32 soil samples within a 64 m(2) plot and: (a)
      characterized microbial diversity using T-RFLPs of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene,
      (b) determined soil chemical parameters, and (c) identified relationships between
      microbial diversity and chemical properties. Overall, we found a strong
      correlation between microbial composition heterogeneity and spatial variation of
      cations (Ca(2), K(+)) and anions (HCO[Formula: see text], Cl(-), SO[Formula: see
      text]) content in this small plot. Our results could be attributable to spatial
      differences of soil saline content, favoring the patchy emergence of salt and
      soil microbial communities. 

PMID- 27652004
TI  - The effect of cadmium on the growth and antioxidant response for freshwater algae
      Chlorella vulgaris.
AB  - The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of exogenously
      applied cadmium on the physiological response of green algae Chlorella vulgaris.
      The study investigated the long-term effect (18 days) of cadmium on the levels of
      algae biomass, assimilation pigment composition, soluble protein, oxidative
      status (production of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion), antioxidant
      enzymes (such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase and glutathione
      reductase enzyme) in C. vulgaris. The results showed that growth, the amount of
      chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b) and carotenoids gradually decreased
      with increasing cadmium over 18 days exposure. Cadmium at concentration of 7 mg
      L(-1) inhibited algal growth expressed as the number of cells. Our research found
      that C. vulgaris has a high tolerance to cadmium. Contents of chlorophylls (Chl a
      and Chl b) and carotenoids (Car) of C. vulgaris was significantly decline with
      rising concentration of cadmium (p < 0.05). The decrease of 54.04 and 93.37 % in
      Chl a, 60.65 and 74.32 % in Chl b, 50.00 and 71.88 % in total carotenoids was
      noticed following the treatment with 3 and 7 mg L(-1) cadmium doses compared with
      control treatment, respectively. Cadmium treatments caused a significant change
      in the physiological competence (calculated as chlorophyll a/b) which increased
      with increasing Cd(II) doses up to 1 mg L(-1) but decreased at 3 mg L(-1). While
      accumulation of soluble protein was enhanced by presence of cadmium, the
      treatment with cadmium at 3 and 7 mg L(-1) increased the concentration of soluble
      proteins by 88, 95.8 % in C. vulgaris, respectively. Moreover, low doses of
      cadmium stimulated enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione
      reductase) in C. vulgaris, The content of peroxidase increased with the
      increasing cadmium concentration, and had slightly decreased at the concentration
      of 7 mg L(-1), but was still higher than control group, which showed that cadmium
      stress at high concentration mainly peroxidase works in C. vulgaris. And
      therefore, suppressed reactive oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide and superoxide)
      accumulated. The present study also showed that cadmium increased oxidative
      stress and induced antioxidant defense systems against reactive oxygen species.
      The observation in here analyzed C. vulgaris after exposure to cadmium indicate
      that hydrogen peroxide, superoxide and peroxidase in the alga with exposure to
      Cd(II) seemed to be parameters as biomarkers for metal-induced oxidative stress. 

PMID- 27652003
TI  - Long-term poor rapport, lack of spontaneity and passive social withdrawal related
      to acute post-infectious encephalitis: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Post-infectious encephalitis/encephalopathy is a neurological
      syndrome that sometimes develops following common viral or bacterial infections.
      The most common form is acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). ADEM is a
      demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that typically presents as a
      monophasic disorder associated with multifocal neurologic symptoms and
      encephalitis. Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is
      another type of severe autoimmune disorder, characterized by seizures, movement
      disorders and psychiatric symptoms. In general, the prognosis and long-term
      outcomes of both ADEM and anti-NMDAR encephalitis are favorable. Most patients
      show complete, albeit slow recovery over a period of one to 2 years. There are
      few reports of patients with these disorders showing long-term residual
      psychiatric symptoms. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 16-year-old
      Japanese male who suffered from acute post-infectious encephalitis. The patient
      followed an atypical recovery course, in that he showed poor rapport, lack of
      spontaneity and passive social withdrawal for more than 2 years after the initial
      symptoms. While treatment with small doses of antipsychotic drugs at the hospital
      had no effect on the symptoms, the patient recovered gradually over a prolonged
      period of five or so years. CONCLUSIONS: This case report suggests that a type of
      acute post-infectious encephalitis with demyelinating features, possibly ADEM or
      anti-NMDAR encephalitis, or an overlap between the two, can cause a prodrome of
      behavioral changes and long-term residual psychiatric symptoms for many months,
      although it is eventually associated with a good prognosis.

PMID- 27652005
TI  - Anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects of a squalene synthase inhibitor,
      TAK-475 active metabolite-I, in immune cells simulating mevalonate kinase
      deficiency (MKD)-like condition.
AB  - TAK-475 (lapaquistat acetate) and its active metabolite-I (TAK-475 M-I) inhibit
      squalene synthase, which catalyzes the conversion of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP)
      to squalene. FPP is a substrate for synthesis of other mevalonate-derived
      isoprenoids (MDIs) such as farnesol (FOH), geranlygeranyl diphosphate (GGPP), and
      geranylgeraniol. In patients with MKD, a rare autosomal recessive disorder,
      defective activity of mevalonate kinase leads to a shortage of MDIs. MDIs
      especially GGPP are required for prenylation of proteins, which is a
      posttranslation modification necessary for proper functioning of proteins like
      small guanosine triphosphatases. Malfunction of prenylation of proteins results
      in upregulation of the inflammatory cascade, leading to increased production of
      proinflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), eventually leading
      to episodic febrile attacks. In vitro, TAK-475 M-I incubation in a concentration
      dependent manner increased levels of FPP, GGPP, and FOH in human monocytic THP-1
      cells. In subsequent experiments, THP-1 cells or human peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were incubated with simvastatin, which inhibits
      hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase and thereby decreases levels of the
      precursors of MDIs, leading to the depletion of MDIs as expected in MKD patients.
      Increased levels of GGPP and FPP attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IL
      1beta production in THP-1 cells and human PBMCs in statin-treated conditions. The
      MDIs also significantly reduced the damaged cell ratio in this active MKD-like
      condition. Moreover, TAK-475 M-I directly inhibited LPS-induced IL-1beta
      production from statin-treated THP-1 cells. These results show anti-inflammatory
      and cytoprotective effects of MDIs via TAK-475 M-I treatment in statin-treated
      immune cells, suggesting that possible therapeutic effects of TAK-475 treatment
      in MKD patients. 

PMID- 27652006
TI  - Delayed active bleeding after radical evacuation of injected polyacrylamide
      hydrogel and immediate implant based breast reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG) was used in breast augmentation
      surgery in China during 1997-2006. Its application has led to increasing
      complications such as localized lumps, asymmetry, diffuse stiffness, infections,
      and localized tenderness or myalgia. Hence, many patients have sought for
      surgical gel evacuation in the following years. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old
      G2P0A2 slim (BMI = 18.3) woman who had received injected PAAG bilateral breast
      augmentation in China 15 years ago, visited our hospital for gel removal due to
      left upper quadrant breast tenderness with burning sensation. We performed simple
      mastectomy and immediate breast augmentation with silicone prostheses. Her
      postoperative course was uneventful. However, subcutaneous hematoma formed right
      after she started breast massage on the day 14 post operatively. The patient
      promptly received a CT-guided drainage followed by exploratory surgery with
      coagulation of the lesion located at the second intercostal space 2 cm to the
      right of the sternum. DISCUSSION: Delayed bleeding in our patient might be
      contributed to below reasons. First, the usage of PAAG might cause degeneration
      of muscle tissue structure which made it more fragile than normal muscle tissue.
      Secondly, the lack of sufficient coverage, cushion and protection of the muscle
      tissue in slim patient in addition to the external compression and shearing force
      of massage. CONCLUSION: In slim patients, we suggest that the postoperative
      breast massage should be postponed for months until the tissue is recovered, or
      delayed breast reconstruction could also be considered.

PMID- 27652007
TI  - Variations in basic demographics consequential to population size of governorate
      in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - Saudi Arabia, divided into 5 planning regions, 13 administrative regions and
      further to 118 governorates (administrative units), has diverse demographic
      characteristics from one region to another and from one governorate to another.
      Rural to urban migration and an exodus of immigrants characterize the Kingdom,
      where development planning depend largely upon local level requirements based on
      economic activities. An attempt was made to analyze the population
      characteristics, such as population size, sex ratio, native to foreigner ratio,
      and households and persons per households by keeping governorate as unit of
      analysis. Data of two census period (2004 and 2010) was used in order to explore
      the situation and track the intercensal changes. Large variations in population
      were observed between governorates and it varied from 3686 to 5,007,886 in 2010.
      Governorates are divided according to the number of native population demarcating
      urbanization, modernization and infrastructure. During the intercensal period,
      the number of small governorates reduced and medium and large sized governorates
      increased mainly due to population growth. The average population in governorates
      was increased in total and in the larger governorates during the period. However,
      we noticed a reduction in the average population size in the small and medium
      sized governorates. The size of native population in a governorate influences the
      sex ratio, the native-foreigner ratio and the persons per household as well as
      the variations within the group of governorates. Analyses of lower level data
      shall aid not only to understand the situation but also to support local
      development policies. 

PMID- 27652008
TI  - Multi-objective flexible job-shop scheduling problem using modified discrete
      particle swarm optimization.
AB  - Taking resource allocation into account, flexible job shop problem (FJSP) is a
      class of complex scheduling problem in manufacturing system. In order to utilize
      the machine resources rationally, multi-objective particle swarm optimization
      (MOPSO) integrating with variable neighborhood search is introduced to address
      FJSP efficiently. Firstly, the assignment rules (AL) and dispatching rules (DR)
      are provided to initialize the population. And then special discrete operators
      are designed to produce new individuals and earliest completion machine (ECM) is
      adopted in the disturbance operator to escape the optima. Secondly, personal-best
      archives (cognitive memories) and global-best archive (social memory), which are
      updated by the predefined non-dominated archive update strategy, are
      simultaneously designed to preserve non-dominated individuals and select personal
      best positions and the global-best position. Finally, three neighborhoods are
      provided to search the neighborhoods of global-best archive for enhancing local
      search ability. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by using Kacem instances and
      Brdata instances, and a comparison with other approaches shows the effectiveness
      of the proposed algorithm for FJSP. 

PMID- 27652009
TI  - More efficient approaches to the exponentiated half-logistic distribution based
      on record values.
AB  - The exponentiated half-logistic distribution has various shapes depending on its
      shape parameter. Therefore, this paper proposes more efficient approach methods
      for estimating shape parameters in the presence of a nuisance parameter, that is,
      a scale parameter, from Bayesian and non-Bayesian perspectives if record values
      have an exponentiated half-logistic distribution. In the frequentist approach,
      estimation methods based on pivotal quantities are proposed which require no
      complex computation unlike the maximum likelihood method. In the Bayesian
      approach, a robust estimation method is developed by constructing a hierarchical
      structure of the parameter of interest. In addition, two approaches address how
      the nuisance parameter can be dealt with and verifies that the proposed methods
      are more efficient than existing methods through Monte Carlo simulations and
      analyses based on real data. 

PMID- 27652010
TI  - Vertical parasagittal hemispherotomy for Sturge-Weber syndrome in early infancy:
      case report and literature review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The authors here present a rare case of a 3-month-old infant with
      unilateral Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) who had excellent seizure control and no
      aggravation of previous existed neurological deficits after vertical parasagittal
      hemispherotomy (VPH). To our knowledge, this patient with SWS was the youngest
      one who received VPH. CASE DESCRIPTION: The use of VPH results in a successful
      treatment of intractable epilepsy in a patient with seizure onset in early
      infancy. At follow-up, the patient's neurodevelopmental status has been improved
      since the surgery. DISCUSSION: It is generally accepted that early-onset seizures
      in children with SWS are associated with worse neurological and developmental
      outcomes. However, when surgical treatment should be considered and how it should
      be performed remain a longstanding controversy. We promote early surgery in
      children with SWS and early-onset epilepsy. CONCLUSION: We suggest that VPH may
      be a useful adjuvant in the management of SWS with refractory epilepsy in early
      infancy and this procedure carries low neurological risk.

PMID- 27652011
TI  - Multidisciplinary approach to improve spontaneous ADR reporting in the pediatric
      outpatient setting: a single-institute experience in Korea.
AB  - In order to improve the reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) as part of the
      routine practice at the pediatric outpatient department (OPD), we modified our
      ADR reporting strategy into one that facilitates the reporting process by means
      of a multi-disciplinary approach. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed ADR
      records during the period from March to September 2014 when we changed our
      reporting process as a part of institutional quality assurance (QA) activity.
      Yearly differences in the number and composition of ADRs were compared, and the
      descriptive analyses were done for cases reported from OPD during the QA activity
      in terms of the suspected drugs, type, causality, and severity of ADRs. There
      were 1211 pediatric ADR reports including 520 cases with underlying hemato
      oncologic diseases during the period of 2014. Among the 691 non-oncologic cases,
      76 were reported from the OPD, which was a significant increase (347 %) from the
      17 cases reported during the previous year. Further analyses of these 76 cases
      revealed that the caregivers (47.4 %) initiated about half of the reports, the
      most frequently affected organ was the skin (32.9 %), and the most frequent
      suspected drugs were anticonvulsants (14.5 %). In contrast to the in-ward system,
      moderate cases were more frequent (51.3 %) than mild ones. In conclusion, this
      study provides a profile of pediatric ADRs in the OPD, which were largely under
      reported during the usual clinical practice. A multi-disciplinary approach would
      improve spontaneous ADR reporting at the pediatric OPD. 

PMID- 27652012
TI  - Niclosamide suppresses renal cell carcinoma by inhibiting Wnt/beta-catenin and
      inducing mitochondrial dysfunctions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of anthelminthic drug niclosamide in renal
      cell carcinoma (RCC) and the underlying mechanisms of its action. METHODS: The
      effects of niclosamide on the proliferation and apoptosis of RCC cells were
      examined in vitro and in vivo by using MTS, colony formation assay, flow
      cytometry and xenograft cancer mouse model. Mechanism studies were performed by
      analyzing Wnt/beta-catenin signaling and mitochondrial functions in a panel of
      RCC cell lines. RESULTS: We show that niclosamide effectively targets two RCC
      cell lines through inhibiting proliferation and anchorage-independent colony
      formation, and inducing apoptosis. It also enhances the inhibitory effects of
      chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin in two independent in vivo RCC xenograft mouse
      models. Mechanistically, niclosamide decreases beta-catenin levels and therefore
      suppresses Wnt/beta-catenin activities. Overexpression of beta-catenin partially
      reverses the inhibitory effects of niclosamide in RCC cells, demonstrating that
      besides beta-catenin, other mechanisms are involved in niclosamide's anti-cancer
      activity. Indeed, we further show that niclosamide induces mitochondrial
      dysfunctions as shown by the decreased level of mitochondrial membrane potential
      and respiration, resulting in decreased ATP levels and increased reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the inhibitory effects of
      niclosamide in cancer and provide better understanding on its underlying
      mechanism. Our data suggests that niclosamide is a useful addition to the
      treatment armamentarium for RCC.

PMID- 27652013
TI  - Breastfeeding practices, timing of introduction of complementary beverages and
      foods and weight status in infants and toddlers participants of a WIC clinic in
      Puerto Rico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is associated with lower rates of obesity; in addition,
      it is also associated with later introduction of beverages and foods; however,
      this has not been well studied among Hispanics. The objective was to assess
      breastfeeding practices and timing of introduction of beverages and solid foods
      in a sample of Hispanic infants and their association with weight status. SUBJECT
      AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study in 296 caregivers of infants and toddlers 0-24
      months of age participants of a WIC clinic in Puerto Rico. Participants completed
      several questionnaires and anthropometrics were taken in infants and toddlers.
      Statistical analysis included correlations, comparison between groups and
      logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 189 participants older than 6 months
      completed the study. Most infants were breastfed immediately after birth (63.5
      %), at the hospital (80.0 %), and at least once (92.3 %) but only 31 % were
      exclusively breastfed. Median duration of any breastfeeding was 5.0 months and
      exclusive breastfeeding was 0 months. Excessive weight was found in 22.8 %.
      Breastfeeding duration was positively associated with caregiver's educational
      level and age of introduction of water, formula, juice and cow's milk (p < 0.05).
      Exclusively breastfed infants were introduced water and formula at a later age
      compared to non-exclusively breastfed and never breastfed infants (p < 0.01). No
      significant associations were found between breastfeeding practices and duration
      or age of introduction of beverages and foods with weight status, even after
      adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding duration was in
      general low. Water, formula and juice were introduced later in breastfed infants
      compared to non-exclusively breastfed or never breastfed infants. Breastfeeding
      practices or timing of introduction of beverages and solid foods were not
      significantly associated with weight status. Strategies to support mothers on
      continuing breastfeeding beyond the hospital and for longer periods are needed
      among WIC participants to benefit of the protective effect on childhood obesity.

PMID- 27652014
TI  - Chemical and pharmacological evaluations on the extract of Scutellaria
      baicalensis Georgi (Huang-Qin) prepared by various extraction methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study reported a comprehensive approach (comparing the
      extraction yields, chemical profiles, antioxidant properties and CYP450
      inhibitory effects) to evaluated the effectiveness of various extraction methods
      [microwave-assisted extraction using water (MAE-W), heat reflux extraction using
      water (HRE-W), ultrasonic extraction using 70 % ethanol and ultrasonic extraction
      using ethanol (UE-E)] for Huang-Qin (HQ), the dried root of Scutellaria
      baicalensis Georgi. RESULTS: The HQ extraction efficiency by MAE-W was the best.
      The chemical profiles of extracts obtained using HRE-W and MAE-W were similar;
      whereas more flavones but less flavone glycosides were detected in the UE-E
      extract. There was no difference in the antioxidant properties among different
      extracts. In vitro human liver microsome assays illustrated that all extracts
      possessed herb-drug interaction potentials but the UE-E extract are shown with a
      potent interaction with CYP3A4-metabolized drugs. CONCLUSION: MAE-W is a
      favorable method for the preparation of HQ extracts based on extraction yield,
      pharmacological properties and safety.

PMID- 27652015
TI  - Evaluation of fetal subarachnoid space using transabdominal ultrasonography and
      normal values during pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility of evaluating the subarachnoid space by
      measuring two novel sonographic parameters in axial section using transabdominal
      ultrasound, in addition to the parameters previously defined in coronal section,
      and to construct a normal range for the subarachnoid space width in singleton
      healthy fetuses. METHODS: Healthy pregnant women between 20 and 29 weeks were
      scanned using transabdominal ultrasound. Four variables were measured for the
      evaluation of subarachnoid space width; sinocortical width and anterior
      craniocortical width in coronal plane, and lateral and posterior craniocortical
      width in axial plane. RESULT: The data of 154 patients were recorded. SCW could
      be measured in 87.6 % (135) of fetuses, while the same figure was 77.9 % (120),
      96.1 % (151) and 98.1 % (148) for anterior, lateral and posterolateral CCW,
      respectively. The SCW and anterior CCW did not display a significant correlation
      with gestational age and head circumference. The mean of SCW was 1.55 +/- 0.41 mm
      with a range of 0.85-3.87 mm. The mean anterior CCW was 1.63 +/- 0.39 mm with a
      range of 0.85-2.82 mm. A linear regression line was plotted between gestational
      age and lateral CCW (r = 0.707; p < 0.0001) and posterolateral CCW (r = 0.437; p
      < 0.0001), and nomograms for these parameters are constructed. CONCLUSION: This
      study presents a novel approach for the in utero evaluation of the subarachnoid
      space with two measurements in axial plane using transabdominal ultrasound. The
      nomograms will be helpful when there is a suspicion of subarachnoid space
      dilatation during routine cranial scan.

PMID- 27652016
TI  - Wildlife laws monitoring as an adaptive management tool in protected area
      management in Ghana: a case of Kakum Conservation Area.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The wildlife laws of Ghana alienated the rural communities from
      forests and material well-being depended upon for their livelihood and this
      manifests itself in the progressive conflict between the park patrol staff and
      poachers from the fringes of the protected areas. CASE DESCRIPTION: The main aim
      of this study was to determine the impact of quantification of patrol efforts on
      indicators of illegal hunting activities that occur in rainforest protected
      areas, as a result of monitoring patrol operations and modifying the original
      plan. The specific objectives were to determine the optimal patrol efforts
      necessary to reduce illegal wildlife use to minimal; and the influence of the
      rainfall and seasonal activities on illegal wildlife use. DISCUSSION AND
      EVALUATION: The results indicated that as the patrol efforts increased the
      encounter with illegal wildlife use also increased until a certain point that the
      encounter rates started decreasing. Neither rainfall nor seasonal activities
      influenced the illegal activities and the patrol efforts. The protection staff of
      rainforest protected areas would work effectively to bring down illegal wildlife
      off-take to the barest minimum if monitored, quantified and provide feed-back.
      CONCLUSIONS: Illegal wildlife off-take can also be reduced by the protection
      staff if the original plans are made flexible to be adjusted. Recommendations for
      further studies have been made.

PMID- 27652017
TI  - Effect of different levels of Lepidium sativum L. on growth performance, carcass
      characteristics, hematology and serum biochemical parameters of broilers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frequent use of antibiotics to stimulate growth and health of animals
      leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant populations of microorganisms.
      In this context, alternatives like herbs and spices to antibiotics are of
      importance, as they are natural products. Therefore, the present experiment was
      designed to evaluate the performance, carcass traits, hematology and serum
      biochemical parameters of broilers fed ration containing varying levels of
      Lepidium satvium (Garden cress) seed powder as feed additive up to the age of 42
      days. METHODS: A total of 204 Cobb-500 day-old broiler chicks were randomly
      distributed into four treatments with three replicates of 17 chicks each. Garden
      cress (GC) was included in the ration at 0 (0GC), 0.75 (0.75GC), 1.50 (1.5GC) and
      2.25 % (2.25GC) in each treatments. Growth performance, carcass characteristics,
      heamatology, serum biochemical and economic efficiency parameters were observed.
      RESULTS: The crude protein, ether extract and crude fiber content of GC were
      22.4, 25.7 and 10.5 %, respectively. Daily dry matter intake and average daily
      gain during the entire experimental period were affected (p < 0.01) by the
      treatment diet. Dry matter intake increased with increasing GC level in the
      ration. Average daily gain for the entire period was greater (p < 0.005) for 0.75
      and 1.5GC than 0 and 2.25GC. Groups consumed GC containing ration had better (p <
      0.004) drumstick percentage. However, most carcass parts and giblet weight were
      not affected (p > 0.05). Sex differences were significant for eviscerated,
      carcass and kidney percentages with greater values for females than males. All
      hematological parameters were within the normal range. However, inclusion of GC
      improved (p < 0.05) hemoglobin, packed cell volume and red blood cell count.
      Group consumed GC containing ration exhibited significant decrease in serum
      glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol concentration. CONCLUSION: Inclusion of GC
      up to 2.25 % result in no any adverse effect on the health of broilers. Based on
      the production parameters used in the study, GC can be included as feed additive
      at a level of 0.75 % in the total ration for better and positive results on
      biological performance and health status of broilers.

PMID- 27652018
TI  - Development of a fast and economical genotyping protocol for bovine leukocyte
      adhesion deficiency (BLAD) in cattle.
AB  - Fast and economical means of assaying SNP's are important in diagnostic assays,
      especially when a large number of animals have to be screened for a genetic
      disease. This study was aimed at the development of a fast and economical
      screening assay for bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD) which is an
      important genetic disease of cattle industry. Four primers were designed where
      the outer primers amplify a 354 bp amplicon of CD18 gene carrying the
      polymorphism responsible for BLAD. The specifically designed inner primers in
      conjunction with the modified reaction mixture and cyclic conditions ensured
      amplification of either of wild or mutated alleles. Together with outer primers,
      the inner primers generated typical banding pattern in agarose gel which
      discriminated the normal animal against the carrier. We successfully used this
      protocol in 200 bulls for genotyping the BLAD allele which confirmed by
      sequencing, showing a cent percentage concordance. With the developed assay the
      need for restriction digestion or use of costly equipment viz. real time PCR was
      eliminated. This genotyping assay ensured fast and economical genotyping and
      could be adopted in every laboratory with a minimum equipment requirement of
      thermocycler and gel documentation system. 

PMID- 27652019
TI  - Giant fibrovascular polyp in the hypopharynx: a case report and review of the
      literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fibrovascular polyps (FVPs) are benign tumors that commonly occur
      in the cervical esophagus. Few cases of FVPs of the hypopharynx have been
      reported, but there has been no English review concerning hypopharyngeal FVPs
      (hFVPs). Here, we report a case of a vast hFVP, and we also review 13 hFVP cases
      found in the English literature (PubMed search) including our case. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 41-year-old man with respiratory distress and regurgitation of a
      mass was referred to our hospital. Endoscopic and radiographic evaluations were
      required for diagnosis. The tumor originated from the hypopharynx and covered
      almost the entire larynx, which caused the airway to narrow. An emergency
      surgical removal was performed under general anesthesia with orotracheal
      intubation, and the tumor was completely removed transorally using a laryngeal
      endoscope. Pathological examination revealed that the mass was a FVP. DISCUSSION
      AND EVALUATION: We investigated patient characteristics, symptoms, polyp size,
      treatments, and recurrence of 13 hFVP cases. Regurgitation of a mass, dyspnea,
      and dysphagia were frequently reported symptoms at presentation. All patients
      were treated by surgical excision with no recurrence. Airway management is
      critical and tracheotomies were needed in some cases. CONCLUSIONS: FVPs are often
      asymptomatic, and they can suddenly cause respiratory distress from laryngeal
      blockage. Therefore, we emphasize that when such cases are encountered, airway
      management and surgical treatment should be considered as early as possible.

PMID- 27652020
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging features of massive ovarian edema in pregnancy:
      utility for decisions in expectant management.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Massive ovarian edema (MOE) is a rare disease and few reports have
      described the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging manifestations in pregnancy. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: We report here a case of MOE in a patient at 12 weeks' gestation.
      Abdominal T2-weighted MR images showed asymmetric ovarian enlargement in a
      teardrop configuration, hyperintense peripherally displaced follicles, and
      twisting of the vascular pedicle between the enlarged ovary and uterus. The
      diagnosis of MOE due to ovarian torsion was confirmed by exploratory laparotomy.
      Preoperative imaging, especially the MR imaging could distinguish MOE from other
      conditions and demonstrate the relations of adjunct organ, and allowed for
      untwisting during laparotomy with successful preservation of the ovary.
      DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: Ultrasonography is important in detecting, evaluating,
      and determining the malignant potential of adnexal masses in pregnancy, but its
      findings may be nonspecific and then MR may assist characterization. This case
      was tentatively diagnosed as typical MOE by preoperative imaging, but the shape
      and location of the hugely enlarged ovarian mass suggested torsion of the ovarian
      pedicle. In our case, the diagnosis was confirmed by exploratory laparotomy and
      the pedicle was successfully untwisted. CONCLUSION: MR imaging proved useful for
      decisions on expectant management of MOE in pregnancy, and the patient's affected
      ovary could be preserved.

PMID- 27652021
TI  - Ultra-high definition (8K UHD) endoscope: our first clinical success.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have started clinical application of 8K ultra-high definition
      (UHD; 7680 * 4320 pixels) imaging technology, which is a 16-fold higher
      resolution than the current 2K high-definition (HD; 1920 * 1080 pixels)
      technology, to an endoscope for advanced laparoscopic surgery. RESULTS: Based on
      preliminary testing experience and with subsequent technical and system
      improvements, we then proceeded to perform two cases of cholecystectomy and were
      able to achieve clinical success with an 8K UHD endoscopic system, which
      consisted of an 8K camera, a 30-degrees angled rigid endoscope with a lens
      adapter, a pair of 300-W xenon light sources, an 85-inch 8K LCD and an 8K video
      recorder. These experimental and clinical studies revealed the engineering and
      clinical feasibility of the 8K UHD endoscope, enabling us to have a positive
      outlook on its prospective use in clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: The 8K UHD
      endoscopy promises to open up new possibilities for intricate procedures
      including anastomoses of thin nerves and blood vessels as well as more confident
      surgical resections of a diversity of cancer tissues. 8K endoscopic imaging,
      compared to imaging by the current 2K imaging technology, is very likely to lead
      to major changes in the future of medical practice.

PMID- 27652022
TI  - Decrease of DHEA-S concentration succeeding a micro-dose thumb exertion: mood
      state determinants reflect stress-biomarker responses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study examined the effect of a micro-dose of resistance
      exercise on serum DHEA-S, IL-6 and mood-state determinants. Potential
      relationships between mood and the biomarkers were also studied with the aim of
      directing research on non-invasive exercise-monitoring methods. METHODS: 30 male
      participants (20 weightlifting-trained; 10 untrained) were separated into 3
      groups of 10: weightlifting experimental (WLEXP); untrained experimental (UTEXP);
      weightlifting placebo (WLPLA). WLEXP and UTEXP performed four 60-s isometric
      thumb exertions separated by 60-s rest intervals in a single-blinded placebo
      controlled study. Participants were assessed over a 60-min post-intervention
      recovery period for changes in serum DHEA-S and IL-6, and mood-state determinants
      (vigour, tension, fatigue). RESULTS: DHEA-S changed in UTEXP only; a decrease
      from 20- to 60-min post-exercise (Delta36.9 %, p < 0.01). DHEA-S remained below
      baseline at the final time-point (Delta35.3 %, p = 0.012). Tension decreased
      immediately post-exercise in WLEXP (Delta86.7 %, p = 0.022), whereas UTEXP showed
      a delayed decrease which continued up to 60-min post-intervention (Delta100 %, p
      < 0.01). Relative to fatigue scores recorded immediately post-exercise, WLEXP
      decreased within the first 10-min post-intervention (Delta22.2 %, p < 0.01)
      whereas UTEXP showed a delayed decrease evident at 20-min post-intervention
      (Delta25 %, p < 0.01). Serum IL-6 and vigour scores remained unchanged across
      groups (p > 0.05) and WLPLA did not change for any measured variable (p > 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: The authors conclude that a micro-dose of resistance-exercise can
      reduce serological DHEA-S concentration within 60-min of exercise cessation.
      Additionally, mood-state assessment in untrained individuals can be considered
      for non-invasively indicating exercise-induced concentration changes in the
      stress biomarker, DHEA-S, providing prospects for the development of safer, more
      sophisticated exercise-monitoring practice.

PMID- 27652023
TI  - Designing a multiple dependent state sampling plan based on the coefficient of
      variation.
AB  - A multiple dependent state (MDS) sampling plan is developed based on the
      coefficient of variation of the quality characteristic which follows a normal
      distribution with unknown mean and variance. The optimal plan parameters of the
      proposed plan are solved by a nonlinear optimization model, which satisfies the
      given producer's risk and consumer's risk at the same time and minimizes the
      sample size required for inspection. The advantages of the proposed MDS sampling
      plan over the existing single sampling plan are discussed. Finally an example is
      given to illustrate the proposed plan. 

PMID- 27652024
TI  - On m-polar fuzzy graph structures.
AB  - Sometimes information in a network model is based on multi-agent, multi
      attribute, multi-object, multi-polar information or uncertainty rather than a
      single bit. An m-polar fuzzy model is useful for such network models which gives
      more and more precision, flexibility, and comparability to the system as compared
      to the classical, fuzzy and bipolar fuzzy models. In this research article, we
      introduce the notion of m-polar fuzzy graph structure and present various
      operations, including Cartesian product, strong product, cross product,
      lexicographic product, composition, union and join of m-polar fuzzy graph
      structures. We illustrate these operations by several examples. We also
      investigate some of their related properties. 

PMID- 27652025
TI  - Trypophobia is predicted by disgust sensitivity, empathic traits, and visual
      discomfort.
AB  - Trypophobia refers to disgust for a cluster of objects, and is considered an
      extension of disgust for dangerous objects. Furthermore, trypophobic images
      possess certain spatial properties that can induce perceptually unpleasant states
      (i.e., visual discomfort). We examined whether trypophobia is associated with
      disgust sensitivity, empathic traits, and visual discomfort. Japanese adults (n =
      126) completed four scales: the Trypophobia Questionnaire, which measures
      trypophobia proneness; the Disgust Scale-Revised, which measures disgust
      sensitivity; the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which measures empathic traits;
      and the Visual Discomfort Scale, which measures proneness to visual discomfort.
      Trypophobia proneness was found to be predicted by Core disgust sensitivity
      (i.e., threat of disease), Personal Distress (i.e., the empathic trait of self
      oriented emotional distress), and proneness to visual discomfort. We suggest a
      number of potential factors relating to individual differences in trypophobia and
      the possible cognitive and perceptual mechanisms underlying trypophobia. 

PMID- 27652026
TI  - Vitor Quality of Life Scale for the Elderly: evidence of validity and
      reliability.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess validity and reliability of the Vitor Quality of Life Scale
      for the Elderly (VITOR QLSE). METHODS: A sociodemographic questionnaire, a mental
      status questionnaire, the VITOR QLSE, the World Health Organization Quality of
      Life Instrument old module (WHOQOL-OLD), and the Baptista Depression Scale adult
      version (EBADEP-A) were administered to a non-probabilistic sample of 617 elderly
      persons living in Brazil. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to reduce the
      70 items of the first version of the VITOR QLSE. Construct validity was then
      evaluated; the VITOR QLSE was tested against the WHOQOL-OLD and EBADEP-A. One
      hundred and ninety-two randomly selected participants completed the instrument
      again 7-15 days after the first interview, providing a test-retest reliability
      estimate. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis reduced the 70 items to 48 items
      grouped into six domains: autonomy and psychological, environment, physical
      independence, family, health, and social domains. The total explained variance
      was 39.46 %. Cronbach's alpha for overall reliability was 0.93 and ranged from
      0.79 for health to 0.90 for physical independence. Pearson's correlation
      coefficient (r) was 0.76 for test-retest reliability, and 0.56 and -0.57 for the
      correlation of VITOR QLSE scores with those of the WHOQOL-OLD and EBADEP-A,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The final version of the VITOR QLSE has 48 items
      grouped into six domains and shows adequate validity and reliability. The rapid
      aging of the population and reduced number of instruments in the Latin America,
      and more specifically in Brazil, assessing quality of life in the elderly justify
      the development of a valid and reliable tool.

PMID- 27652027
TI  - The semantics of person and de se effects in free indirect discourse.
AB  - In this contribution we will address the main puzzling empirical issues that have
      been formulated around Free Indirect Discourse (FID): the constraints on the use
      of first person pronouns and of proper names (as well as of definite
      descriptions), the reasons why different grammatical features (person, gender,
      number) give rise to presuppositions that must be resolved at different levels of
      interpretation in FID, the factors that account for the observation that person
      and tense behave similarly in FID. At the same time, we will also discuss the
      main controversies to which the ongoing debate on FID has given rise in the
      literature, showing that Schlenker (Mind Lang 19(3):279-304, 2004)'s distinction
      between a Context of Thought (CT) and a Context of Utterance (CU) still provides
      a fundamentally valid insight into the nature of FID, in spite of many
      qualifications that are necessary and some well-motivated criticism. However, our
      main task here is more ambitious than simply taking a stand on the many unsettled
      controversies surrounding FID. In fact, we claim that Schlenker's split between
      CU and CT can be derived in a principled way from the inner nature of FID as a
      linguistic process of 'phenomenal identification', whereby a Higher Experiencer
      attempts at reproducing (at a distinct time) the phenomenal experience proper to
      a Lower Experiencer. This distinction between qualitatively identified but
      numerically distinct experiences provides the conceptual basis for the derivation
      of virtually all remarkable properties of FID (including its somehow intermediate
      status between Direct and Indirect Discourse), while connecting, at the same
      time, with some intriguing semantic properties of first-person pronouns, such as
      the different varieties of de se readings. 

PMID- 27652028
TI  - Protoplasts: a friendly tool to study aluminum toxicity and coffee cell
      viability.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aluminum toxicity is a major limiting factor with regard to crop
      production and quality in most acidic soils around the world. We propose the use
      of C. arabica L. protoplasts to evaluate the toxic effects of aluminum, the
      nuclear localization of aluminum and propensity of aluminum to cause DNA damage.
      RESULTS: After protoplasts were exposed to aluminum (Al) for varying periods of
      time (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 min), we detected a reduction in protoplast viability.
      Additionally, we observed a rapid decline in the ability of protoplasts to
      synthesize DNA following exposure to Al for 30 min. Furthermore, DNA damage was
      observed after 10 min of treatment with Al. CONCLUSIONS: Protoplasts can be used
      to evaluate the effects of Al upon entry into the cell, which affects the
      structure of the nucleus. These results indicate that protoplasts provide a
      useful model for the study Al toxicity at the cellular level.

PMID- 27652029
TI  - Cross-cultural adaptation of VISA-P score for patellar tendinopathy in Turkish
      population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: VISA-P questionnaire assesses to severity of symptoms
      and treatment effects in athletes with patellar tendinopathy. The purpose of this
      study was to translated VISA-P questionnaire into Turkish language and to
      determine its validity and reliability. METHODS: The English version of VISA-P
      questionnaire was translated into Turkish according to the internationally
      recommended guidelines. Test-retest reliability was determined on 89 participants
      with time interval 24 h. To determine validity of Turkish VISA-P, 31 (17 male, 14
      female) healthy students, 34 (20 male, 14 female) patients with patellar
      tendinopathy (diagnosed by physical examination and ultrasonography) and 24 (16
      male, 8 female) volleyball players (at risk populations) were completed VISA-P
      Tr. Internal consistency was determined with Cronbach's alpha. Intraclass
      correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to analyse test-retest
      reliability. To assessment of discrimination, VISA-P-Tr scores compared all
      groups using the Mann-Whitney-U test. RESULTS: The VISA-P-Tr questionnaire showed
      good test-retest reliability (The Cronbach's alpha was 0.79 and 0.78 respectively
      and ICC was 0.96). The VISA-P-Tr score (mean +/- SD) were 93.7 +/- 8.9 and 94.0
      +/- 8.1 for healthy students, 81.1 +/- 13.7 and 80.7 +/- 13.4 for volleyball
      players, 58.8 +/- 12.1 and 58.5 +/- 11.0 for athletes with patellar tendinopathy.
      CONCLUSION: The translated Turkish version of VISA-P has good internal
      consistency and good reliability and validity. Therefore VISA-P-Tr is useful to
      evaluate symptoms and follow the treatment effect in athletes with patellar
      tendinopathy.

PMID- 27652030
TI  - Evaluation and implementation of QR Code Identity Tag system for Healthcare in
      Turkey.
AB  - For this study, we designed a QR Code Identity Tag system to integrate into the
      Turkish healthcare system. This system provides QR code-based medical
      identification alerts and an in-hospital patient identification system. Every
      member of the medical system is assigned a unique QR Code Tag; to facilitate
      medical identification alerts, the QR Code Identity Tag can be worn as a bracelet
      or necklace or carried as an ID card. Patients must always possess the QR Code
      Identity bracelets within hospital grounds. These QR code bracelets link to the
      QR Code Identity website, where detailed information is stored; a smartphone or
      standalone QR code scanner can be used to scan the code. The design of this
      system allows authorized personnel (e.g., paramedics, firefighters, or police) to
      access more detailed patient information than the average smartphone user:
      emergency service professionals are authorized to access patient medical
      histories to improve the accuracy of medical treatment. In Istanbul, we tested
      the self-designed system with 174 participants. To analyze the QR Code Identity
      Tag system's usability, the participants completed the System Usability Scale
      questionnaire after using the system. 

PMID- 27652031
TI  - Acute effects of concentric and eccentric exercise matched for energy expenditure
      on glucose metabolism in healthy females: a randomized crossover trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single bouts of muscle damaging eccentric exercise (EE) affect
      glucose metabolism negatively while single bouts of concentric (CE) and not
      muscle damaging eccentric exercise have positive acute short-term effects on
      glucose metabolism. It has been proposed that long-term endurance EE might be
      more effective in improving glucose metabolism than long-term CE when adjusted
      for energy expenditure. This would imply that adaptations of glucose metabolism
      are dependent on the type of exercise. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) released from the
      exercising muscles may be involved in and could therefore explain acute
      adaptations on glucose metabolism. The aim of the study was to investigate the
      effects of a single bout of CE and a single bout of EE inducing no or just mild
      muscle damage, matched for energy expenditure, on glucose metabolism. METHODS: 7
      healthy but sedentary female participants (age 20.7 +/- 2.9 years; BMI 22.45 +/-
      1.66 kg m(-2); VO2peak 39.0 +/- 4.5 ml kg(-1) min(-1)) took part in a randomized
      cross over trial consisting of 1 h uphill (CE) respectively downhill (EE) walking
      on a treadmill. Venous blood samples were drawn before, directly after and 24 h
      after exercise. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed before and 24
      h after exercise. RESULTS: CE and EE lead to comparable changes of glucose
      tolerance (area under the curve of the OGTT) (-16.0 +/- 25.81 vs. -6.3 +/- 45.26
      mg dl(-1) h(-1), p = 1.000) and HOMA insulin resistance (-0.16 +/- 1.53 vs. -0.08
      +/- 0.75, p = 0.753). Compared to baseline, IL-6 concentration increased
      significantly immediately after EE (1.07 +/- 0.67 vs. 1.32 +/- 0.60 pg ml(-1), p
      = 0.028) and tended to increase immediately after CE (0.75 +/- 0.29 vs. 1.03 +/-
      0.21 pg ml(-1), p = 0.058). TNF-alpha concentration decreased significantly
      immediately after EE (1.47 +/- 0.19 vs. 1.06 +/- 0.29 pg ml(-1), p = 0.046) but
      not after CE (1.27 +/- 0.43 vs. 1.24 +/- 0.43 pg ml(-1), p = 0.686) compared to
      baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Acute effects of a single bout of exercise inducing no or
      just mild muscle damage on glucose tolerance and insulin resistance seem to be
      primarily energy expenditure dependent whereas acute anti-inflammatory activity
      induced by a single bout of exercise appears to be rather exercise type
      dependent. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01890876, clinicaltrials.gov,
      https://clinicaltrials.gov/.

PMID- 27652032
TI  - Single punch, double biopsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In lethal primary metastatic prostate cancer, biopsy material is often
      the only accessible cancer tissue. Lack of tissue quantity limited the use of
      biopsy cores for analyzing higher numbers of molecular markers and standard
      histopathologic evaluation for clinical diagnosis simultaneously. Recent advances
      in single cell analytics have paved the way to characterize a tumor in more depth
      from minute input material such as biopsies. We therefore aimed to develop a
      biopsy needle, which generates two cores side by side from the same punch: one
      for standard histopathologic analysis to allow for routine diagnostics and the
      second one for single cell analytics. METHODS: On the basis of a conventional
      punch biopsy needle we have milled two parallel longitudinal rifts into the
      needles shat which are separated by a 100 um thick metal sheet. Each rift can
      harbor a single tissue core. RESULTS: Two cores from the same punch were
      generated reproducibly from a radical prostatectomy specimen and showed congruent
      results in histopathologic analysis. Both cores yielded equally sufficient
      material for standard H&E staining and histopathological evaluation. CONCLUSION:
      Our modified biopsy system will allow for simultaneous acquisition of tissue
      cores for diagnostic and scientific analysis from solid tumors or metastatic
      sites.

PMID- 27652033
TI  - A preliminary clinical study of endoscopic minimally-invasive surgery in urethral
      stricture complicated with false passage.
AB  - The aim of this study was to explore the clinical effect of endoscopic minimal
      invasive surgery on posterior urethral stricture with false passage. Twenty-one
      patients suffering from posterior urethral stricture with false passage were
      involved in the study. All the patients received pre-operative urethrography and
      flexible cystoscopy to make sure that the distance between the blind end of the
      proximal normal urethra and the distal urethra was <1 cm. Ten patients received
      open operation and eleven patients underwent endoscopic minimally-invasive
      surgery. All the patients in both groups had their catheters removed 4 weeks
      after operations, and improvements in urination and incontinence were observed.
      Urethrography was performed and urine flow rate was measured 1 month after
      catheter removal. In the open-operation group, nine patients showed unobstructed
      urinary tracts in the urethrography, and one, after his catheter removal,
      experienced dysuresia, which was improved after urethral dilatation. In the
      minimally-invasive operation group, nine patients showed patent urinary tracts in
      the urethrography, and two experienced post-operation dysuresia, of whom, open
      operation treatment and urethral dilatation were performed respectively. In the
      minimally-invasive operation group, the average urine flow rate was significantly
      increased. Patients in both groups obtained obvious improvement in post-operation
      urinary incontinence, and there was no statistically significant difference
      between the two groups in urine flow rate and index for urinary incontinence.
      Endoscopic minimally-invasive operation had similar effects to open operation in
      treatment of posterior urethra stricture with <1 cm in length and false passage. 

PMID- 27652035
TI  - [Formula: see text]-regularized recursive total least squares based sparse system
      identification for the error-in-variables.
AB  - In this paper an [Formula: see text]-regularized recursive total least squares
      (RTLS) algorithm is considered for the sparse system identification. Although
      recursive least squares (RLS) has been successfully applied in sparse system
      identification, the estimation performance in RLS based algorithms becomes worse,
      when both input and output are contaminated by noise (the error-in-variables
      problem). We proposed an algorithm to handle the error-in-variables problem. The
      proposed [Formula: see text]-RTLS algorithm is an RLS like iteration using the
      [Formula: see text] regularization. The proposed algorithm not only gives
      excellent performance but also reduces the required complexity through the
      effective inversion matrix handling. Simulations demonstrate the superiority of
      the proposed [Formula: see text]-regularized RTLS for the sparse system
      identification setting. 

PMID- 27652034
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiotherapy controls nasopharyngeal carcinoma distant
      metastasis and improves survival of patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the distant metastatic outcomes in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT) plus chemotherapy. METHODS: 530 Non-metastatic NPC patients
      were retrospectively collected and reviewed after receiving IMRT with or without
      chemotherapy between June 2006 and December 2011. Patients were treated with one
      fraction of IMRT daily for 5 days a week for 69.96-74.09 Gy, while 473 (89.2 %)
      of patients also received chemotherapy. RESULTS: Patients were followed up for a
      median follow-up duration of 49 months (range from 5 to 98 months). After
      treatment, 91 (17.3 %) patients developed distant metastasis. Distant metastasis
      after treatment was significantly associated with advanced 2010 Union for
      International Cancer Control (UICC)/American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T
      staging (p = 0.034), N stage (p < 0.001), 2010 UICC/AJCC stage (p < 0.001), and
      tumor recurrence (p = 0.029). However, chemotherapy failed to reduce cancer
      distant metastasis in early stage patients, the distant metastasis rate was 17.5
      % in stage III and 24.2 % in stage IVA-B diseases, after IMRT and chemotherapy.
      The multivariate analysis showed that cancer remission duration, treatment
      modality, and metastatic site (p < 0.001, p = 0.027 and p = 0.022, respectively)
      were all independent predictors for overall survival of NPC patients after IMRT
      and chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided insight into the effects of
      IMRT plus chemotherapy in the treatment of NPC. Future studies will explore the
      efficacy of more aggressive systemic therapies for high-risk patients with
      distant metastasis.

PMID- 27652036
TI  - In vitro culture of rat hair follicle stem cells on rabbit bladder acellular
      matrix.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to create a xenogeneic cell scaffold complex
      with rabbit bladder acellular matrix and rat hair follicle stem cells, to study
      the feasibility of construct tissue engineer bladder through biocompatibility of
      hair follicle stem cells and heterogeneous bladder acellular matrix. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: New Zealand rabbit bladder acellular matrix was prepared. Scanning
      electron microscope and Masson staining were used to analyse the acellular
      material. Two-steps precipitation method was used to place the third generation
      of hair follicle stem cells onto the surface of the bladder acellular matrix. The
      in vitro cell growth on the scaffold complex was regularly monitored through an
      inverted microscope. Cell growth curve was established and histological
      examination and scanning electron microscopic were used to analyse the progresses
      of the cell growth on the matrix material. RESULTS: The prepared bladder
      acellular matrix was white, translucent and membranous. It possessed a fibrous
      network and collagen structure without any significant cell residues as displayed
      by the scanning electron microscope, and Masson staining. After 48 h of culture,
      observation by inverted microscope showed that the hair follicle stem cells grew
      well around the bladder acellular matrix. After 1 week of culture, scanning
      electron microscopy showed that the hair follicle stem cells spread and adhered
      on the surface of the scaffold. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro culture of rat hair
      follicle stem cells and the rabbit bladder acellular matrix possessed a good
      biocompatibility, which provides a good experiment support for hair follicle stem
      cells to repair the bladder defects disease.

PMID- 27652037
TI  - Social customer relationship management: taking advantage of Web 2.0 and Big Data
      technologies.
AB  - The emergence of Web 2.0 and Big Data technologies has allowed a new customer
      relationship strategy based on interactivity and collaboration called Social
      Customer Relationship Management (Social CRM) to be created. This enhances
      customer engagement and satisfaction. The implementation of Social CRM is a
      complex task that involves different organisational, human and technological
      aspects. However, there is a lack of methodologies to assist companies in these
      processes. This paper shows a novel methodology that helps companies to implement
      Social CRM, taking into account different aspects such as social customer
      strategy, the Social CRM performance measurement system, the Social CRM business
      processes, or the Social CRM computer system. The methodology was applied to one
      company in order to validate and refine it. 

PMID- 27652038
TI  - An effective encoding scheme of obtaining radial topology structures in
      distribution networks.
AB  - The structure of a distribution network has great effects on economy, power
      supply reliability and investment of a power system. To obtain an optimal
      topology from possible topologies, we need to solve an optimisation problem which
      aims to find a radial structure satisfying operating constraints. As a basis of
      solving this optimisation problem, the encoding scheme, is to represent the
      candidate configurations by a series of codes. Numerical candidate topologies and
      unfeasible codes would lead low efficiency or premature convergence. This paper
      presents an effective scheme which can rapidly produce all radial configurations
      of a distribution network. In order to reduce the computational requirement of
      solution space, initial network is simplified as a topological graph which
      reserves loop branches and T-nodes. And a loop-branch chain incidence matrix is
      derived from analyzing the relationship between any two loops. Then the
      principles of selecting switches of each variable are designed to determine the
      ranges of the variables. All radial candidate solutions are available rapidly
      through applying the theory of combination. The scheme presented minimizes the
      number of solutions and avoids tedious radial checking procedure in view of
      avoiding any infeasible solutions. The validity of the proposed scheme is
      verified by illustrative examples. 

PMID- 27652039
TI  - Subacute intestinal obstruction by enterolith: a case study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Enteroliths are an uncommon entity in humans and form a rare cause
      of subacute intestinal obstruction. They occur proximal to stricture or in a
      diverticulum or a blind loop due to stasis. CASE DESCRIPTION: 40 years male
      presenting with intermittent right lower abdominal pain since 1 year. Barium meal
      follow-through and CT abdomen diagnosed as a case of subacute intestinal
      obstruction with an enterolith in the distal ileal segment. On exploratory
      laparotomy multiple ileal strictures with mesenteric adhesions were noted. An
      enterolith was delivered from one of the segments between two strictures followed
      by segmental resection of the pathological ileal segment with ileo-ileal
      anastomoses. Histopathology of the ileal segment showed inflammatory infiltrates.
      DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: It was a case of a primary enterolith formed due to
      stasis between ileal strictures causing subacute intestinal obstruction.
      CONCLUSION: An enterolith should also be considered while evaluating a case of
      intestinal obstruction as one of the rare differentials.

PMID- 27652040
TI  - Evolutionary analyses of mitochondrial carrier family of dictyostelids.
AB  - The transportation of solutes across the inner membrane of the mitochondria is
      catalyzed by a nuclear-coded family of transport proteins called mitochondrial
      carriers (MCs). Sequences from dictyostelid genome projects have facilitated
      analysis of the evolution of the dictyostelid mitochondrial carrier family (MCF).
      The average evolutionary distances between various regions in the MCF shows that
      the transmembrane region (TR) and conical pit region (CPR) are the only two
      conserved structural regions. A phylogenetic tree built using the concatenated
      orthologous TR and CPR sequences of 7 MCs showed that dictyostelids are similar
      to metazoans in this way. A close evolutionary relationship was observed between
      dictyostelids and metazoans in 4 MCs known to be related to ADP/ATP transport
      (MAA). This was further evidenced by the fact that dictyostelids have undergone
      gene expansion similar to that of metazoans during the evolution of MAA. Sequence
      logo analysis of CPR in MAA showed that dictyostelids have motifs similar to
      those of Metazoa. Combined with the conserved substrate binding site of 7 MCs in
      eukaryotes, it is postulated that dictyostelids are closely related to Metazoa
      with respect to the evolution of MAA. 

PMID- 27652041
TI  - Clinical re-evaluation of removing blood stasis therapy in treating acute
      intracerebral hemorrhage safety and efficacy: a protocol for a randomized,
      controlled, multicenter study (CRRICH Trial).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH) is one of the most
      devastating forms of stroke. Currently, no specific therapies for HICH except
      general medical care. However, in China, medicine of promoting blood circulation
      (PBC) and removing blood stasis (RBS) are widely and efficiently used to treat
      HICH and become a potentially effective treatment for the secondary effects of
      HICH to alleviate brain injury, accelerate neuronal recovery, and improve the
      prognosis. In order to evaluate the safety and effect of PBC and RBS herbal
      drugs, we design a prospective, randomized, open, double-blind controlled
      clinical trial on the hematoma enlargement in HICH patients treating with PBC and
      RBS herbal medicine within 6 h time window from the symptom onset.
      METHODS/DESIGN: A multicenter, three-group, prospective, randomized, double
      blinded and placebo-controlled clinical trial. Patients aged 18 or older with
      HICH confirmed by CT scan within 6 h from the onset are included. 360 patients
      will be randomized to 3 groups (PBC & RBS & Placebo) within 6 h of ictus.
      Stratified block randomization is undertaken using a sequentially numbered and
      opaque envelope. All subjects must take medicine within 6 h of ictus and have
      another CT scan at about 24 h to confirm hematoma expansion. A postal
      questionnaire to the patients to evaluate their recorvery at 3 months. Primary
      outcome is the percent change in the volume of hematoma at 24 h. Secondary
      outcomes include: mortality, disability, serious adverse events, etc.
      CONCLUSIONS: The CRRICH Trial is expected to confirm the safety and effect of
      acute intracerebral hemorrhage treated within 6 h of ictus with "RBS" therapy and
      to determine whether the traditional therapy can cause hematoma growth after
      intracerebral hemorrhage. DISCUSSIONS: This is the first  prospective,
      multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to investigate herbal
      medicine whether can induce the incidence of hematoma enlargement of AICH patient
      within the 6 h time window from onset. We need the data to keep the herbal
      clinical usage safety. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01918722.

PMID- 27652042
TI  - Evaluation of eating habits and lifestyle in patients with obesity before and
      after bariatric surgery: a single Italian center experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The study evaluated and compared the eating habits and lifestyle of
      patients with moderate to severe obesity who have undergone Roux-en-Y Gastric
      Bypass (RYGB) and Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG). METHODS: Food frequency (FF), food
      habits (FH), physical activity and life style (PA) as well as smoking habits (SH)
      were analyzed in 50 RYGB (25 M; aged: 24-64) and 50 SG patients (25 M; aged: 22
      63) by means of a validated questionnaire, before (T0) and 6 months (T1) post
      bariatric surgery. A score for each section (FF, FH, PA, SH) was calculated.
      RESULTS: ANOVA analysis (age/sex adjusted): FF and FH scores improved at T1 (RYGB
      and SG: p < 0.001); PA score improved but not significantly; SH score did not
      change at T1 neither in RYGB nor in SG. Mixed models: FF and PA scores did not
      correlate with age, gender, weight, BMI, neither in RYGB nor in SG; FH score was
      negatively correlated both with weight (RYGB: p = 0.002) and BMI (SG: p = 0.003);
      SH score was positively correlated with age, in SG (p = 0.002); the correlation
      was stronger in females than in males (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Although dietary
      habits improved, patients did not change their physical activity level or their
      smoking habits. Patients should receive adequate lifestyle counseling to ensure
      the maximal benefit from bariatric surgery.

PMID- 27652043
TI  - Bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) in osteoporotic males.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical
      characteristics of bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) in
      osteoporotic males. METHODS: The medical records of BRONJ patients from 2007 to
      2014 were reviewed. The data from only the male patients was extracted, and
      demographic data was collected and biochemical markers were measured. RESULTS: 11
      Patients out of 210 (5 %) being males. Among the 11 patients, the indication of
      bisphosphonate (BP) was osteoporosis in 9 patients, and cancer in two. In one of
      the osteoporosis patients, osteoporosis was thought to be secondary to
      hypogonadism after testicular tumor resection. Serum c-terminal telopetide
      crosslink of type I collagen (s-CTX) values ranged from 60 to 165 pg/mL (mean:
      84.6 +/- 36.8, median: 70). Serum osteocalcin (s-OC) ranged from 0 to 5.06 ng/mL
      (mean: 1.83 +/- 1.66, median: 1.5) and vitamin D ranged from 0 to 11.9 (mean:
      5.02 +/- 4.92, median: 3.5). CONCLUSION: BRONJ can be overlooked in male patients
      with osteoporosis. Although the incidence of BRONJ in males may be low, dentists
      should also check if their male patients are on osteoporosis treatment since
      osteoporosis in males can be manifested as a secondary disease to hypogonadism.

PMID- 27652044
TI  - Lyapunov-type inequality for a higher order dynamic equation on time scales.
AB  - The purpose of this work is to establish a Lyapunov-type inequality for the
      following dynamic equation [Formula: see text]on some time scale T under the anti
      periodic boundary conditions [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] for
      [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] with [Formula:
      see text] and [Formula: see text], p is the quotient of two odd positive integers
      and [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]. 

PMID- 27652045
TI  - Optical coherence tomography based microangiography as a non-invasive imaging
      modality for early detection of choroido-neovascular membrane in choroidal
      rupture.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To evaluate and identify early microvascular changes in patient
      with choroidal rupture using optical coherence tomography (OCT) based
      microangiography (OMAG). CASE DESCRIPTION: One patient (one eye) with confirmed
      diagnosis of choroidal rupture after sustained ocular blunt trauma underwent OMAG
      imaging. OMAG was performed by Zeiss spectral domain OCT-angiography prototype
      using a "6.5 mm * 6.5 mm" field of view around macular region. The resulting
      images were presented into bilayers: the retinal layer and the choroidal layer.
      DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: Choroidal rupture sites were easily shown on OMAG
      images with clear evidence of multiple breaks in Bruch's membrane involving
      macula and the region superior to nerve. OMAG provided detailed vascular network
      patterns in the areas of choroidal rupture, showing a concern for choroidal
      neovascularization (CNV). The OMAG demonstrated cross sectional area to visualize
      CNV location relative to the other layers of the retina, identifying functional
      blood vessels through the lesion. The patient's progress was followed using OMAG.
      CONCLUSION: The images provided by OMAG give detailed microvascular findings
      about the macula and adjacent retinal region along with the underlying choroidal
      alternations. In our case, details of the architecture and vascular flow of CNVM
      in choroidal rupture was delivered by OMAG, which were used to follow the
      progression of the disease progression. Further studies are needed to assess the
      role of quantitative and qualitative OCT microangiography in the evaluation and
      treatment of choroidal rupture.

PMID- 27652046
TI  - A case of unilateral and spontaneously resolving posterior uveitis with
      overlapping features of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and Acute Posterior
      Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: VKH disease is a chronic, bilateral, granulomatous panuveitis with
      potential involvement of neurological, auditory and integumentary systems. On the
      other hand, APMPPE is believed to be an immune-driven chorioretinal vascular
      disease characterized by multifocal, flat, grey-white placoid lesions at the
      level of the RPE. We describe a case with overlapping figures of both conditions.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: A 19-year-old female presented with unilateral blurry vision
      and was found to have clinical and IVFA findings consistent with APMPPE. Her OCT
      study demonstrated typical VKH findings with large areas of serous neurosensory
      retinal detachment and intra-retinal cystoid spaces with enclosed membranous
      structures. She was closely followed but was not treated with high dose
      corticosteroid. Spontaneous and complete resolution of her symptoms and clinical,
      IVFA and OCT findings were achieved by day 25. DISCUSSION: This is the first
      reported case of spontaneously resolving, unilateral VKH disease in the absence
      of high dose corticosteroid treatment with overlapping features of APMPPE.
      CONCLUSIONS: The imaging and clinical findings of both VKH disease and APMPPE
      raise the notion that VKH disease and APMPPE could be an overlapping spectrum of
      inflammatory processes, rather than distinct disease entities.

PMID- 27652047
TI  - Revision rhinoplasty: measurement of patient-reported outcomes and analysis of
      predictive factors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Considering that revision rhinoplasty is one of the most difficult
      plastic surgical procedures, evaluating patient satisfaction is fundamental in
      order to determine success and identify variables that may affect the outcomes.
      Our first study objective was to determine satisfaction levels in revision
      patients and to compare results with those obtained in primary rhinoplasty
      patients. Second, we sought to identify factors that may influence the degree of
      satisfaction. METHODS: Satisfaction was evaluated in 54 revision and 54 primary
      rhinoplasty patients using the rhinoplasty outcome evaluation questionnaire. To
      identify associated factors, patients were assessed for demographic
      characteristics, medical history, follow-up time, reason for revision, graft
      usage, the severity of nasal deformity, and satisfaction with the provided care
      and information given before the surgery. RESULTS: All revision and primary
      rhinoplasty patients experienced improvements in satisfaction scores. Although
      the improvements were higher in primary rhinoplasty patients, the levels obtained
      in revision patients can be considered high. We found that young and male
      patients tend to have less satisfaction increment after the surgery. Patients who
      underwent revision for aesthetic reasons had higher improvements in satisfaction
      scores when compared to those patients who underwent revision for a combination
      of aesthetic and functional reasons. The improvement in satisfaction scores in
      patients who were satisfied with the information given before surgery was higher.
      CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that significant patient satisfaction is achieved
      after revision rhinoplasty and highlight the importance of the informed consent
      process when planning revision, especially on young and male patients. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: III.

PMID- 27652048
TI  - Modified homotopy perturbation method for solving hypersingular integral
      equations of the first kind.
AB  - Modified homotopy perturbation method (HPM) was used to solve the hypersingular
      integral equations (HSIEs) of the first kind on the interval [-1,1] with the
      assumption that the kernel of the hypersingular integral is constant on the
      diagonal of the domain. Existence of inverse of hypersingular integral operator
      leads to the convergence of HPM in certain cases. Modified HPM and its norm
      convergence are obtained in Hilbert space. Comparisons between modified HPM,
      standard HPM, Bernstein polynomials approach Mandal and Bhattacharya (Appl Math
      Comput 190:1707-1716, 2007), Chebyshev expansion method Mahiub et al. (Int J Pure
      Appl Math 69(3):265-274, 2011) and reproducing kernel Chen and Zhou (Appl Math
      Lett 24:636-641, 2011) are made by solving five examples. Theoretical and
      practical examples revealed that the modified HPM dominates the standard HPM and
      others. Finally, it is found that the modified HPM is exact, if the solution of
      the problem is a product of weights and polynomial functions. For rational
      solution the absolute error decreases very fast by increasing the number of
      collocation points. 

PMID- 27652049
TI  - Asymmetrical and smaller size of trunk muscles in combat sports athletes with
      lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration (LDD) frequently occurs in
      athletes. Associations between LDD and trunk muscles still remain unclear.
      PURPOSE: This study examined whether there is an association between the
      prevalence of LDD and the symmetry and size of the cross-sectional areas (CSAs)
      of the trunk muscles in combat sports athletes. METHODS: Participants in this
      study were 151 collegiate male combat sports athletes. A total of 755 lumbar
      intervertebral discs from L1-2 to L5-S1 in 151 athletes were assessed using
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a comprehensive grading system of LDD
      (grades I-V). All 151 athletes were divided into 2 groups: LDD and non-LDD. CSAs
      of trunk muscles at the L3-4 disc level were measured using MRI. RESULTS: Sixty
      nine athletes had LDD at 1 or more disc levels (45.7 %). The LDD grade for the
      lower 2 disc levels was significantly higher than that for the other disc levels
      (p < 0.001). The CSAs of the left and right sides in trunk muscles were
      significantly asymmetrical, independent of the LDD which was prevalent in the
      disc levels (obliques: p = 0.040; quadratus lumborum: p < 0.001). The relative
      CSAs of trunk muscles to their body weight in the LDD group were significantly
      smaller than those in the non-LDD group (rectus abdominis: p = 0.011; obliques: p
      = 0.024; quadratus lumborum: p = 0.006; lumbar erector spinae plus multifidus: p
      = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the prevalence of LDD is
      associated with asymmetrical and relatively smaller CSAs of trunk muscles in
      combat sports athletes.

PMID- 27652051
TI  - Role of exponential type random invexities for asymptotically sufficient
      efficiency conditions in semi-infinite multi-objective fractional programming.
AB  - First a new notion of the random exponential Hanson-Antczak type [Formula: see
      text]-V-invexity is introduced, which generalizes most of the existing notions in
      the literature, second a random function [Formula: see text] of the second order
      is defined, and finally a class of asymptotically sufficient efficiency
      conditions in semi-infinite multi-objective fractional programming is
      established. Furthermore, several sets of asymptotic sufficiency results in which
      various generalized exponential type [Formula: see text]-V-invexity assumptions
      are imposed on certain vector functions whose components are the individual as
      well as some combinations of the problem functions are examined and proved. To
      the best of our knowledge, all the established results on the semi-infinite
      aspects of the multi-objective fractional programming are new, which is a
      significantly new emerging field of the interdisciplinary research in nature. We
      also observed that the investigated results can be modified and applied to
      several special classes of nonlinear programming problems. 

PMID- 27652050
TI  - Water temperature induces jaw deformity and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)
      gene expression in golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus larvae.
AB  - Golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus larvae were kept at 26, 29 and 33  degrees C
      for 15 days from 3-day post hatching (DPH) to 18 DPH to test temperature
      dependent growth and jaw malformation. The growth, survival, jaw deformity and
      the gene expressions of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) were used as criteria
      to examine the fish response to temperature manipulation. The growth rate of fish
      at 29 or 33  degrees C was significantly faster than fish at 26  degrees C, while
      fish survival at 29  degrees C was significantly higher than fish at 33  degrees
      C. Jaw deformity was significantly affected by water temperature. The highest jaw
      deformity occurred on fish at 33  degrees C, and the lowest jaw deformity was at
      26  degrees C. The expressions of all BMP genes except BMP10 were significantly
      affected by water temperature. The highest gene expression of BMP2 was on fish at
      29  degrees C, and the lowest expression was at 33  degrees C. For the BMP4 gene,
      the highest and lowest expressions were found on fish at 33 and 26  degrees C,
      respectively. The present study indicates that jaw deformity of golden pompano
      larvae increases with increasing temperature, and the gene expression of BMP4
      proteins coincides with high jaw deformity and water temperature elevation. 

PMID- 27652052
TI  - On optimal fuzzy best proximity coincidence points of fuzzy order preserving
      proximal Psi(sigma, alpha)-lower-bounding asymptotically contractive mappings in
      non-Archimedean fuzzy metric spaces
AB  - This paper discusses some convergence properties in fuzzy ordered proximal
      approaches defined by {(gn,Tn)}-sequences of pairs, where g:A->A is a surjective
      self-mapping and T:A->B, where Aand Bare nonempty subsets of and abstract
      nonempty set X and (X,M,*,?) is a partially ordered non-Archimedean fuzzy metric
      space which is endowed with a fuzzy metric M, a triangular norm * and an ordering
      ?. The fuzzy set M takes values in a sequence or set {Msigman} where the elements
      of the so-called switching rule {sigman}?Z+ are defined from X*X*Z0+ to a subset
      of Z+. Such a switching rule selects a particular realization of M at the nth
      iteration and it is parameterized by a growth evolution sequence {alphan} and a
      sequence or set {psisigman} which belongs to the so-called Psi(sigma,alpha)-lower
      bounding mappings which are defined from [0, 1] to [0, 1]. Some application
      examples concerning discrete systems under switching rules and best approximation
      solvability of algebraic equations are discussed.

PMID- 27652053
TI  - Haematology and serum biochemistry in captive Australian native murids: black
      footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii) and greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus
      conditor).
AB  - The black-footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii) and greater stick-nest rat
      (Leporillus conditor) are near threatened and vulnerable native Australian
      murids. There is a paucity of health and welfare knowledge for these species and
      native murids in general. In this paper we aimed to address this deficiency in
      knowledge by describing some key haematological and blood biochemistry parameters
      for these species. Haematology and blood biochemistry data were obtained from
      clinical histories of the two murid species held in captivity at Taronga
      Zoological Park, Mosman, Australia. The data were analysed to establish
      confidence intervals for each parameter available and leukocyte morphology
      described. White blood cell counts were higher in females than males. Both
      species also had high neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios (tree-rat ratios were almost
      even). Haematocrit was higher in male stick-nest rats than females. Differential
      leukocyte counts and leukocyte morphology was consistent with previous
      descriptions in other murids and between individuals. Blood biochemistry values
      were unremarkable except for the high level of globulin in stick-nest rats. The
      values provided in the study will add to the knowledge of health data for murids
      in captivity and aid captive and natural management of Australian native murids. 

PMID- 27652054
TI  - Bibliometric profile of the global scientific research on autism spectrum
      disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group conditions classified as
      neuro-developmental disorders. Research activity on ASD is important for all
      countries since such disorders have both social and health consequences. The
      objective of this study was to analyze research output on ASD during the period
      2005-2014. METHODS: All articles relevant to ASD plus all articles published in
      autism journals were retrieved using Scopus database. VOSviewer software was used
      to create density and network visualization maps. Bibliometric indicators were
      investigated by analyzing annual research output, languages, countries,
      institutions, journals, title terms, highly cited articles, and co-authorship
      relations. RESULTS: A progressive annual growth of ASD research was observed from
      2005 to 2014. During this period, a total of 18,490 articles were retrieved. The
      majority of these articles was published in Journal of Autism and Developmental
      Disorders with 48,416 citations and an average citation of 23.59 citations per
      article. The countries that published the largest number of articles were the
      United States (US) (n = 8594; 46.48 %), United Kingdom (n = 2430; 13.14 %) and
      Canada (n = 1077; 5.8 %). International collaborations produced 30.18 % of the
      articles published by top 10 productive countries. King's College London (UK)
      ranked first in number of publications and total citations. The top 10 list of
      productive institutions was dominated by US academic and research institutions.
      More than half of the highly cited articles were in the field of molecular
      genetics. Articles with more than 50 citations were published mainly by authors
      from USA, UK and Canada. CONCLUSIONS: There is a worldwide growth of publications
      on ASD led by countries in Northern America and Europe. Retrieved articles were
      published in a wide range of journals. Molecular genetics of ASD is the primary
      hot topic on ASD. For some leading countries, intra country collaboration is
      dominant.

PMID- 27652055
TI  - The myth of oral hygiene using synthetic mouthwash products.
AB  - The synthetic oral cleansing and teeth whitening products like mouthwashes exert
      adverse effects on teeth, gums and mucous membrane of oral cavity and their
      extensive use is being criticized. Determining the effect of frequent use of
      mouthwashes, human cheek cells and their DNA have been studied. Five mouthwash
      brands were tested and their effects were examined on membrane and DNA of human
      cheek cells which were found to be very expressive and severe. The DNA, also,
      received severe damage and breaks developed in its double stranded structure
      resulting in detachment of small fragments from DNA. The statistical analysis,
      also, showed significant difference P < 0.005 between the values obtained for DNA
      double strand breaks for different mouthwashes (and standard mutagen) as compared
      to untreated control. The study revealed that damage to DNA increases many folds
      when different mouthwashes are combined. Essential oils of six spice plants
      (black pepper, clove, black seasam, cinamon, carom seeds and cumin) were
      evaluated for possessing anti-mutagenic property. These essential oils were found
      effectively protective against the DNA damaging effect of mouthwashes but could
      not inhibit it completely. Black pepper, clove, black seasam, cinamon, and cumin
      were stronger protective as compared to carom seeds. 

PMID- 27652056
TI  - The bearing capacity factor N gamma of strip footings on c-phi-gamma soil using
      the method of characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The method of characteristics (also called as the slip-line method)
      is used to calculate the bearing capacity of strip footings on ponderable soil.
      The soil is assumed to be a rigid plastic that conforms to the Mohr-Coulomb
      criterion. The solution procedures proposed in this paper is implemented using a
      finite difference method and suitable for both smooth and rough footings. By
      accounting for the influence of the cohesion c, the friction angle phi and the
      unit weight gamma of the soil in one failure mechanism, the solution can strictly
      satisfy the required boundary conditions. RESULTS: The numerical solution of N
      gamma are consistent with published complete solutions based on cohesionless soil
      with no surcharge load. The relationship of N gamma between smooth and rough
      foundations is discussed which indicates that the value of N gamma for a smooth
      footing is only half or more of that for a rough footing. The influence of lambda
      (lambda = (q + ccot phi)/gammaB) on N gamma is studied. Finally, a curve-fitting
      formula that simultaneously considers both phi and lambda is proposed and is used
      to produce a series of N gamma versus lambda curves. CONCLUSIONS: The surcharge
      ratio lambda and roughness of the footing base both have significant impacts on N
      gamma . The formula for the bearing capacity on c-phi-gamma soil can be still
      expressed by Terzaghi's equation except that the bearing capacity factor N gamma
      depends on the surcharge ratio lambda in addition to the friction angle phi.
      Comparisons with the exact solutions obtained from numerical results indicate
      that the proposed formula is able to provide an accurate approximation with an
      error of no more than +/-2 %.

PMID- 27652057
TI  - Laparoendoscopic single-site varicocelectomy compared with conventional
      laparoscopic surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing
      laparoendoscopics single-site varicocelectomy (LESS-V) versus conventional
      laparoscopic surgery (CTL-V). METHODS: A literature search was performed using
      The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded and Google
      Scholar. Literature reviewed included meta-analyses, and randomized and
      nonrandomized prospective studies. We utilized weight mean difference (WMD) to
      measure hospital stay, time to return normal activity, postoperative pain and
      improvement of semen parameters and odds ratio (OR) to postoperative
      complications and cosmetic satisfaction. We used the Cochrane Collaboration's
      Review Manager 5.1 software for statistical analysis. RESULTS: We identified six
      publications which strictly met our eligibility criteria. Meta-analysis of
      extractable data showed that LESS-V was better than CTL-V in postoperative pain
      (WMD: -0.46; 95 % CI -0.75 to -0.17; p = 0.002), time to convalescence (WMD: -1.4
      days; 95 % CI -2.55 to -0.25; p = 0.02) and cosmetic satisfaction (OR 6.86; 95 %
      CI 2.89-16.28; p < 0.00001). However, CTL-V was better than LESS-V in operative
      time (WMD 1.96 min, 95 % CI 0.96-2.96; p = 0.0001). There were no differences
      between LESS-V and CTL-V in hospital stay (WMD: -0.02 days, 95 % CI -0.39 to
      0.35; p = 0.92) and postoperative complications (OR 1.13, 95 % CI 0.57-2.21; p =
      0.73). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis comparing the efficacy of LESS-V and CTL-V
      showed that LESS-V was safe, with significantly reduced postoperative pain,
      shorter recovery time, and better cosmetic outcome.

PMID- 27652058
TI  - Developing a new score system for patients with PSA ranging from 4 to 20 ng/mL to
      improve the accuracy of PCa detection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a new score system for patients with prostate specific
      antigen (PSA) ranging from 4 to 20 ng/mL to improve the accuracy of prostate
      cancer (PCa) detection, and to evaluate it with receiver operating characteristic
      curve. METHODS: A total of 797 patients (208 with prostate cancer) with total PSA
      4-20 ng/mL who had undergone transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided 12 + 1-core
      prostate biopsy during Sept. 2009-Jan. 2013 were retrospectively evaluated in the
      study. Age, PSA, fPSA, PV, f/T, PSAD, DRE findings and ultrasound findings were
      considered as predictive factors and tested by logistic regression. Predictors
      with P < 0.05 were selected to develop a new score system. RESULTS: Age, PSA, PV,
      f/T, DRE findings, and hypoechoic in ultrasound were selected in our new score
      system. The risk of PCa increased with the score. From 0 to 6, the risk was 2.0,
      8.4, 13.9, 33.5, 63.8, 75.0 and 100.0 % respectively. Area under curve (AUC) of
      our new score system was 0.804, which was significantly higher than The Prostate
      Cancer Risk Calculator by Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Prostaatkanker
      (SWOP) (0.720, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: We developed a new simple score system
      for patients with PSA ranging from 4 to 20 ng/mL to improve the accuracy of PCa
      detection.

PMID- 27652059
TI  - Portmanteau test statistics for seasonal serial correlation in time series
      models.
AB  - The seasonal autoregressive moving average SARMA models have been widely adopted
      for modeling many time series encountered in economic, hydrology, meteorological,
      and environmental studies which exhibited strong seasonal behavior with a period
      s. If the model is adequate, the autocorrelations in the errors at the seasonal
      and the nonseasonal lags will be zero. Despite the popularity uses of the
      portmanteau tests for the SARMA models, the diagnostic checking at the seasonal
      lags [Formula: see text], where m is the largest lag considered for
      autocorrelation and s is the seasonal period, has not yet received as much
      attention as it deserves. In this paper, we devise seasonal portmanteau test
      statistics to test whether the seasonal autocorrelations at multiple lags s of
      time series are different from zero. Simulation studies are performed to assess
      the performance of the asymptotic distribution results of the proposed statistics
      in finite samples. Results suggest to use the proposed tests as complementary to
      those classical tests found in literature. An illustrative application is given
      to demonstrate the usefulness of this test. 

PMID- 27652060
TI  - In silico analysis of aqueous root extract of Rotula aquatica Lour for docking
      analysis of the compound 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid contents.
AB  - Molecular docking is a bioinformatics tool used to study and analyse ligand
      receptor interactions. This helps in identifying the receptors (molecular
      targets) for different ligands. Using these technologies, compound isolation and
      drug discovery from herbals is achieved. Herbs are widely used in treatment of
      various ailments from time immemorial. Phytochemists and drug developers are now
      interestingly working in developing new molecules that can act effectively than
      conventional drugs. As they are developing it mostly from herbs they are found to
      be effective and safer drugs and quantity to be used become minimum. Rotula
      aquatica Lour is a plant distributed widely in India and used for urinary
      disorders. The plant root was extracted and studied for its active compounds that
      possess antiurolithiatic activity. After performing various preliminary
      phytochemical studies and applying chromatographic methods, molecular docking was
      carried out with isolated bioactive compound and Tamm-Horsfall protein (THP). By
      docking analysis the bioactive compound 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid
      interacted with THP and it may inhibit calcium oxalate crystallization. 

PMID- 27652061
TI  - Role of ligninolytic enzymes of white rot fungi (Pleurotus spp.) grown with azo
      dyes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Total three Pleurotus species (P. ostreatus, P. sapidus, P. florida)
      was compared for ligninolytic enzyme production grown with Coralene Golden
      Yellow, Coralene Navy Blue and Coralene Dark Red azo dyes in liquid medium under
      shaking condition. RESULTS: The biodegradation competency varied from species to
      species and it was found that P. ostreatus, P. sapidus and P. florida to 20 ppm
      dye concentration shows 88, 92 and 98 % decolorization, respectively for all
      three dyes. Production pattern of laccase, manganese dependent peroxidase and
      lignin peroxidase were studied during the growth of the organisms for 10 days.
      Laccase was found to be the major extracellular ligninolytic enzyme produced by
      fungus with negligible detection of lignin peroxidases. In all concentration of
      three dye studied, maximum laccase activity was observed on day 8, for 20 mg/l of
      dye laccase specific activity was 1-1.58 U/mg in P. ostreatus, 0.5-0.78 U/mg in
      P. sapidus and 1-1.92 U/mg in P. florida. Different factors (dye concentration,
      pH, protein and sugar estimation) influencing the ability of Pleurotus species to
      degrade dyes is documented and degradation was attributed to microbial action
      irrespective of pH change. HPTLC analysis of samples indicated degradation of
      dyes into intermediate products. CONCLUSION: Level of ligninolytic enzymes is
      playing a major role in degradation of dye, which is dependent on time of
      incubation and species of fungi.

PMID- 27652062
TI  - Secure multiparty computation of a comparison problem.
AB  - Private comparison is fundamental to secure multiparty computation. In this
      study, we propose novel protocols to privately determine [Formula: see text], or
      [Formula: see text] in one execution. First, a 0-1-vector encoding method is
      introduced to encode a number into a vector, and the Goldwasser-Micali encryption
      scheme is used to compare integers privately. Then, we propose a protocol by
      using a geometric method to compare rational numbers privately, and the protocol
      is information-theoretical secure. Using the simulation paradigm, we prove the
      privacy-preserving property of our protocols in the semi-honest model. The
      complexity analysis shows that our protocols are more efficient than previous
      solutions. 

PMID- 27652063
TI  - Interface crack between different orthotropic media under uniform heat flow.
AB  - In this paper, plane thermo-elastic solutions are presented for the problem of a
      crack in two bonded homogeneous orthotropic media with a graded interfacial zone.
      The graded interfacial zone is treated as a nonhomogeneous interlayer having
      spatially varying thermo-elastic moduli between dissimilar, homogeneous
      orthotropic half-planes, which is assumed to vary exponentially in the direction
      perpendicular to the crack surface. Using singular integral equation method, the
      mixed boundary value conditions with respect to the temperature field and those
      with respect to the stress field are reduced to a system of singular integral
      equations and solved numerically. Numerical results are obtained to show the
      influence of non-homogeneity parameters of the material thermo-elastic
      properties, the orthotropy parameters and the dimensionless thermal resistance on
      the temperature distribution and the thermal stress intensity factors. 

PMID- 27652064
TI  - HDL-c levels predict the presence of pleural effusion and the clinical outcome of
      community-acquired pneumonia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate if HDL cholesterol (HDL-c) could be a biomarker of the
      degree of severity according to prognostic prediction scores in community
      acquired pneumonia (CAP) or the development of clinical complications such as
      pleural effusion. METHODS: We included in a retrospective study 107 patients
      admitted to the hospital that fulfilled diagnostic criteria for CAP between the
      30th October 2011 and 1st September 2012. HDL-c levels at admission, CAP
      prognosis scores (PSI and CURB65) and clinical outcomes were recorded for the
      study. RESULTS: Basal HDL-c levels were not statistically different according to
      prognostics scores neither PSI nor CURB-65. Significantly lower levels of HDL-c
      were also associated to the development of septic shock and admission to the
      intensive care unit. HDL-c were inversely correlated with acute phase reactants
      CRP (r = -0.585, P < 0.001), ESR (r = -0.477, P < 0.001), and leukocytes cell
      count (r = -0.254, P < 0.009). Patients with pleural effusion showed significant
      lower levels of HDL-c [28.9 (15.5) mg/dl vs. 44.6 (21.1) mg/dl]; P = 0.007. HDL-c
      is a good predictor of the presence of pleural effusion in multivariate analyses
      and using ROC analyses [AUC = 0.712 (0.591-0.834), P = 0.006]. HDL-c levels of 10
      mg/dl showed a sensitivity of 97.6 % and a specificity of 82.4 % for the presence
      of pleural effusion. CONCLUSION: Monitoring HDL-c in CAP is an useful serum
      marker of acute phase response, clinical outcome and the presence of pleural
      effusion.

PMID- 27652066
TI  - Engineering images designed by fractal subdivision scheme.
AB  - This paper is concerned with the modeling of engineering images by the fractal
      properties of 6-point binary interpolating scheme. Association between the
      fractal behavior of the limit curve/surface and the parameter is obtained. The
      relationship between the subdivision parameter and the fractal dimension of the
      limit fractal curve of subdivision fractal is also presented. Numerical examples
      and visual demonstrations show that 6-point scheme is good choice for the
      generation of fractals for the modeling of fractal antennas, bearings, garari's
      and rock etc. 

PMID- 27652067
TI  - Quantum exhaustive key search with simplified-DES as a case study.
AB  - To evaluate the security of a symmetric cryptosystem against any quantum attack,
      the symmetric algorithm must be first implemented on a quantum platform. In this
      study, a quantum implementation of a classical block cipher is presented. A
      quantum circuit for a classical block cipher of a polynomial size of quantum
      gates is proposed. The entire work has been tested on a quantum mechanics
      simulator called libquantum. First, the functionality of the proposed quantum
      cipher is verified and the experimental results are compared with those of the
      original classical version. Then, quantum attacks are conducted by using Grover's
      algorithm to recover the secret key. The proposed quantum cipher is used as a
      black box for the quantum search. The quantum oracle is then queried over the
      produced ciphertext to mark the quantum state, which consists of plaintext and
      key qubits. The experimental results show that for a key of n-bit size and key
      space of N such that [Formula: see text], the key can be recovered in [Formula:
      see text] computational steps. 

PMID- 27652065
TI  - Microbial diversity in various types of paper mill sludge: identification of
      enzyme activities with potential industrial applications.
AB  - This study is the first comprehensive investigation of enzyme-producing bacteria
      isolated from four sludge samples (primary, secondary, press and machine)
      collected in a Kraft paper mill. Overall, 41 strains encompassing 11 different
      genera were identified by 16S rRNA gene analysis and biochemical testing. Both
      biodiversity and enzymatic activities were correlated with sludge composition.
      Press sludge hosted the largest variety of bacterial strains and enzymatic
      activities, which included hydrolytic enzymes and ligninolytic enzymes. In
      contrast, strains isolated from secondary sludge were devoid of several enzymatic
      activities. Most strains were found to metabolize Kraft liquor at its alkaline pH
      and to decolorize industrial lignin-mimicking dyes. Resistance to lignin or the
      ability to metabolize this substrate is a prerequisite to survival in any paper
      mill sludge type. We demonstrate here that the bacterial strains found in a
      typical Kraft paper mill represent a source of potential novel enzymes for both
      industrial applications and bioremediation. 

PMID- 27652068
TI  - Visual saliency models for summarization of diagnostic hysteroscopy videos in
      healthcare systems.
AB  - In clinical practice, diagnostic hysteroscopy (DH) videos are recorded in full
      which are stored in long-term video libraries for later inspection of previous
      diagnosis, research and training, and as an evidence for patients' complaints.
      However, a limited number of frames are required for actual diagnosis, which can
      be extracted using video summarization (VS). Unfortunately, the general-purpose
      VS methods are not much effective for DH videos due to their significant level of
      similarity in terms of color and texture, unedited contents, and lack of shot
      boundaries. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate visual saliency models for
      effective abstraction of DH videos by extracting the diagnostically important
      frames. The objective of this study is to analyze the performance of various
      visual saliency models with consideration of domain knowledge and nominate the
      best saliency model for DH video summarization in healthcare systems. Our
      experimental results indicate that a hybrid saliency model, comprising of motion,
      contrast, texture, and curvature saliency, is the more suitable saliency model
      for summarization of DH videos in terms of extracted keyframes and accuracy. 

PMID- 27652069
TI  - Evaluation of the effects of sedation administered via three different routes on
      the procedure, child and parent satisfaction during cystometry.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, we retrospectively investigated case reports with and
      without midazolam administration via oral, intranasal and rectal before
      cystometry procedure. We aimed to compare the data to evaluate the effects of
      sedation before cystometry on the pediatric patients and parents' satisfaction.
      METHODS: A total of 124 ASA I-II pediatric cases aged 5-14 years were
      retrospectively investigated from the hospital records. One of the three
      administration routes was chosen; oral midazolam at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg and nasal
      or rectal midazolam at a dose of 0.3 mg/kg (maximum 15 mg). Heart rate, blood
      pressure, oxygen saturation, the Wisconsin Hospital of Children Sedation Scale
      (CHWSS) score and the Groningen Distress Rating Scale (GDRS) score were recorded.
      Cystometry measurement values, diagnoses of the cases and procedure durations
      were recorded from the urodynamic laboratory records. RESULTS: 80 female, 44 male
      cases were evaluated. The CHWSS score at the 10th and 20th minutes after the drug
      administeration was higher in the oral group than the others (p = 0.001). The
      duration between the administration of the drug and the start of the procedure
      was shorter in the nasal group (p = 0.01). Parents satisfaction for sedation was
      77 % when comparison of the cystometry with and without sedation. Comparison of
      the cystometry results with or without sedation no significant difference was
      found between all parameters (p > 0.01). CONCLUSION: We believe that sedation
      with midazolam administered through all three routes is a safe, effective and
      convenient option during cystometry, especially in the young age group.

PMID- 27652070
TI  - Local and distant trauma after hypervelocity ballistic impact to the pig hind
      limb.
AB  - The development of high-energy weapons could increase the velocity of projectiles
      to well over 1000 m/s. The nature of the injuries caused by the ballistic impact
      of projectiles at velocities much faster than 1000 m/s is unclear. This study
      characterizes the mechanical and biochemical alterations caused by high-speed
      ballistic impact generated by spherical steel ball to the hind limbs of the pig.
      That the local and distal injuries caused by hypervelocity ballistic impact to
      the living body are also identified. It is showed that the severity of the injury
      was positively correlated with the velocity of the projectile. And 4000 m/s seems
      to be the critical velocity for the 5.6 mm spherical steel ball, which would
      cause severe damage to either local or distal organs, as below that speed the
      projectile penetrated the body while above that speed it caused severe damage to
      the body. In addition, vaporization prevented the projectile from penetrating the
      body and the consequent pressure wave seems to be the causal factor for the
      distant damage. 

PMID- 27652071
TI  - A survey on the disposal of blood-contaminated tampon after dental extraction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This paper was to assess the risk for cross infection caused by blood
      contaminated tampon after dental extraction and whether this risk was reduced
      after relevant education towards both dentists and patients. METHODS: From
      December 2014 to April 2015, a survey was conducted in dentists and patients
      randomly before and after relevant education. The questionnaire is being revised
      for this survey based on learning from Chatzoudi and Franklin' survey. This
      survey was approved by the institutional review board, and all participants were
      voluntary and all responses were anonymous. RESULTS: Only 2.82 % of dentists
      provided patients with the postoperative-advices regarding how to dispose of
      blood-contaminated tampon at the first time and 47.10 % at the second time (P <
      0.01). Only 1.41 % of dentists given special postoperative-advices regarding
      disposal of tampon to patients with blood-transmitted diseases at the first time
      and 24.64 % at the second time (P < 0.01). Before education, most patients were
      lack of nosocomial infection knowledge. After education, 22.4 % of patients threw
      the blood-contaminated tampon away in a proper way (P < 0.01). 66.67 % of them
      washed hands immediately and thoroughly after they touched the tampon (P < 0.05),
      92.71 % knew the blood-contaminated tampon can cause cross-infection (P < 0.01),
      and 80.21 % knew how to dispose of the blood-contaminated tampon correctly (P <
      0.01). CONCLUSION: The high risk of cross infection caused by blood-contaminated
      tampon is evident, and a series of measures is proposed to control it. There is a
      need to improve both dentists' and patients' awareness, enhance the education of
      doctors and perfect the policies and guidelines.

PMID- 27652072
TI  - Strawberry milk-like blood in a subject with diabetic lipemia: dramatic change to
      transparent color after insulin therapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is known that chylomicronemia is caused by several pathologies
      and is classified as primary and secondary chylomicronemia. Since
      hypertriglycemia is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease
      and severe pancreatitis, it is very important to make a proper diagnosis of the
      cause of hypertriglycemia. CASE DESCRIPTION: We herein present the case of a 40
      year-old male who developed severe hypertriglycemia accompanied with acute
      exacerbation of type 2 diabetes mellitus. On admission, his blood glucose level
      was 306 mg/dl and HbA1c was 12.5 %. Moreover, serum triglyceride level was
      elevated up to 5661 mg/dl. When blood was drawn, it presented strawberry milk
      like color. After receiving insulin treatment, he obtained good glycemic control
      and the serum became back to normal transparent color. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION:
      Insulin resistance reduces triglyceride clearance and also increases triglyceride
      release from adipocyte. It is known that glucose toxicity and strong insulin
      resistance induce inactivation of LPL, which results in chylomicronemia.
      CONCLUSION: This case report suggests that when serum triglyceride level is
      markedly elevated due to diabetic lipemia, it is extremely important to obtain
      good glycemic control.

PMID- 27652073
TI  - Patellar malalignment: a new method on knee MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: The medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFLL)/lateral patellar retinaculum
      (LPR) ratio were assessed in knees as a means to detect patellar malalignment. We
      also aimed to evaluate the prevalence of the various types of trochlear dysplasia
      in patients with patellar malalignment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After approval of
      our institutional ethics committee, we conducted a retrospective study that
      included 450 consecutive patients to evaluate them for the presence of patellar
      malalignment. Parameters investigated were the trochlear type, sulcus angle,
      presence of a supratrochlear spur, MPFLL, LPR, patella alta, and patella baja by
      means of 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Overall, 133 patients were
      excluded because of the presence of major trauma, multiple ligament injuries,
      bipartite patella, and/or previous knee surgery. The Dejour classification was
      used to assess trochlear dysplasia. Two experienced radiologists (HKY, EEE)
      evaluated the images. Their concordance was assessed using the kappa (kappa)
      test. RESULTS: The frequencies of patellar malalignment and trochlear dysplasia
      were 34.7 and 63.7 %, respectively. The frequency of trochlear dysplasia
      associated with patellar malalignment was 97.2 %. An MPFLL/LPR ratio of 1.033
      1.041 had high sensitivity and specificity for malalignment. The researchers'
      concordance was good (kappa = 0.89, SE = 0.034, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Trochlear
      dysplasia is frequently associated with patellar malalignment. An increased
      MPFLL/LPR ratio is useful for detecting patellar malalignment on knee MRI, which
      is a novel quantitative method based on ligament length.

PMID- 27652074
TI  - Study on quantitative expression of PPARgamma and ADRP in muscle and its
      association with intramuscular fat deposition of pig.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intramuscular fat (intramuscular fat, IMF) is one of the important
      traits of pork quality. How to reasonably improve the intramuscular fat content
      is the most focus researchers. Some possible regulation of intramuscular fat
      deposition of candidate genes to cause the attention of people. The objective of
      this study was to elucidate the relationship between peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) and adipose differentiation-related protein
      (ADRP) mRNA expression and intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition in the muscle
      tissue of three breeds of pig: Laiwu (LW), Lulai Black (LL), and Large White
      (LY). RESULTS: qPCR analysis of the PPARgamma and ADRP genes in the three breeds
      of pig revealed PPARgamma and ADRP mRNA expression profiles of LW > LL > LY and
      LL > LW > LY, respectively. PPARgamma mRNA expression was significantly and
      positively correlated with IMF deposition (p < 0.05). There were significant
      correlations between PPARgamma and ADRP mRNA expression levels (p < 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest correlations between PPARgamma and ADRP in fat
      deposition and regulation in pigs, PPARgamma gene may be a main effector of IMF
      content and play an important role during adipocyte differentiation in pigs,
      thereby providing new information to further elucidate molecular mechanisms
      associated with intramuscular fat deposition in Laiwu pigs and provides new data
      for further molecular studies of mechanisms underlying intramuscular fat
      deposition in human obesity. The continued elucidation of specific genetic
      mechanisms between PPARgamma and ADRP warrants further studies.

PMID- 27652076
TI  - Assessing potential impacts of the EVFTA on Vietnam's pharmaceutical imports from
      the EU: an application of SMART analysis.
AB  - This paper by adopting the Software on Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade
      assessed the ex-ante impact of tariff elimination under the European-Vietnam free
      trade agreement (EVFTA) on Vietnam's pharmaceutical imports from the EU based on
      two scenarios. The results showed that although Vietnam's tariff removal for the
      EU's medicines would not result in a significant increase in Vietnam's imports
      from the EU, Vietnam's deeper integration with ASEAN + 3 and TPP (the Trans
      Pacific Partnership) nations would affect quite slightly on its imports from the
      EU. Therefore, the EU would be still the most important and biggest source of
      pharmaceuticals for Vietnam in the near future. In addition, there might be an
      uneven distribution in Vietnam's import increases by the EU nation,
      pharmaceutical group and product. The simulation results also pointed out that
      the EVFTA's trade creation effect would be higher than trade diversion effect and
      therefore the agreement would improve welfare of Vietnam. When Vietnam extends
      its coverage of tariff elimination to also TPP and ASEAN + 3, Vietnam's welfare
      would potentially increase more but Vietnam would face with the relatively high
      increases of pharmaceutical imports from not only the EU but also the US,
      Australia, South Korea, Thailand and China. Bases on these results, the paper
      argued that both the Vietnamese government and pharmaceutical enterprises should
      not neglect the EVFTA and its impacts on the pharmaceutical sector, and perceive
      clearly the uneven distribution of Vietnam's import changes from the EU by nation
      and by product to design appropriate business and investment strategy. In
      addition, Vietnam should take measures to diversify its European import markets
      to be less dependent on the traditional ones in the current context of the EU.
      Finally, Vietnam should promote the integration in the pharmaceutical sector with
      all three groups of nations, especially ASEAN and ASEAN's key partners, to reduce
      trade diversion effect and raise the welfare of Vietnam, given that Vietnam
      should consider carefully the point of time to remove tariff for each group to
      avoid the sudden increase in its pharmaceutical imports. 

PMID- 27652075
TI  - Human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B genotype G/A2 recombinant co
      infection: a case study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes have distinct geographical
      distributions and are associated with different clinical courses. HBV genotype G
      (HBV/G) is extremely rare among Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected
      populations in Japan. Genetic analysis and clinical course of recombinant forms
      with HBV/G infection are seldom reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A
      36-year old homosexual man with HIV infection was referred to a general hospital
      for assessment of chronic HBV infection. We cloned full-length HBV isolates and
      determined the complete genome sequences of 2 obtained clones, although mixture
      of multiple variant with different length is detected by HBV-DNA genotyping. The
      Bootscaning analysis using a full-length HBV genome revealed the clones
      represented as the HBV/A2 and the HBV/G/A2 recombinant strain. The HBV-DNA
      decreased from >9.1 to 2.5 log copies/mL after 24 months of antiretroviral
      therapy. CONCLUSIONS: This patient was co-infected with HBV/A2 and HBV/G/A2
      recombinant strain. This recombinant strain was not identical to HBV/G/A2 strains
      previously reported from Japan. Recombination with other genotypes could alter
      the clinical manifestations of chronic hepatitis B in people living with HIV.

PMID- 27652077
TI  - Solvability of a boundary value problem at resonance.
AB  - This paper concerns the solvability of a nonlinear fractional boundary value
      problem at resonance. By using fixed point theorems we prove that the perturbed
      problem has a solution, then by some ideas from analysis we show that the
      original problem is solvable. An example is given to illustrate the obatined
      results. 

PMID- 27652078
TI  - Effectiveness of computerized point-of-care reminders on adherence with multiple
      clinical recommendations by primary health care providers: protocol for a cluster
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the effectiveness of reminders compared to no reminders
      in improving adherence to multiple clinical recommendations measured as the
      resolution of the clinical condition that motivated the reminder, in a primary
      care setting with a well-established feedback system. METHODS/DESIGN: A 12-month,
      cluster-randomized, controlled clinical trial was designed (randomized by primary
      care team) to evaluate the impact of computerized reminders. All study
      participants will continue to receive the usual feedback from the electronic
      health records system. The control group (well-established feedback) will be
      compared with reminders and a well-established feedback system. The study will
      include all general practitioners (3425) and nurses (3262) providing primary care
      for a population aged 14 years or older in the 282 primary care teams reporting
      to the Catalan Institute of Health. Up to 10 clinical reminders are offered for
      each patient, recommending action related to at least one of nine clinical
      conditions: arterial hypertension, elevated cardiovascular risk, type 2 diabetes
      mellitus, cerebrovascular accident, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, atrial
      fibrillation, smoking habit, and hepatitis C. The outcomes are the resolution of
      the clinical condition that motivated the reminder and the time elapsed between
      the first reminder message and implementation of the recommended action (months).
      Due to the obvious correlation between reminders about the same patient, the
      profile of patients assigned to a particular professional, and the professionals
      assigned to a particular centre, hierarchical modelling will be used to
      simultaneously estimate the effect of the study variables at these different
      levels of analysis. To estimate the impact of the intervention arm, an analysis
      of adherence to each type of reminder will be carried out, using multi-level
      logistical regression models at level of the primary care centre. Time to
      adherence will be estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and comparisons will be
      done using the log-rank test. DISCUSSION: The results of this study could provide
      new evidence on the impact of computerized reminders at the point of care on
      adherence to clinical guidelines in primary care with an established feedback
      system. Trial registration ISRCTN42391639. October 8, 2012.

PMID- 27652080
TI  - Anesthetic management of a patient with localised scleroderma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Scleroderma is a progressive fibrotic disorder of connective tissue
      which can present multiple anesthetic challenges to anesthetists, especially
      airway management. Awake intubation with fiberoptic bronchoscope is widely
      accepted and implemented for progressive systematic scleroderma patients. With
      the development and improvement of intubation devices these years, there is no
      report addressing other intubation methods for sclerotic patients. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 47 year-old, 42-kg man with 1-year history of localized
      scleroderma was scheduled for the operation of inner fixation after 6 days of his
      acetabular fracture. With careful pre-anesthesia assessment, we chose general
      anesthesia and intubated the patient with Shikani optical stylet under rapid
      sequence introduction successfully. DISCUSSION: Scleroderma is a multisystem
      disease that can affect every aspect of anesthesia especially airway management,
      which can pose a significant challenge for anesthesiologists. As a result,
      understanding its pathophysiological changes and implementing a meticulous pre
      anesthesia check-up are essential when making an anesthetic plan. CONCLUSION:
      Anesthetists should have a thorough consideration of all the patho-physiological
      changes in patients with scleroderma, so as to make a full preparation peri
      operatively. Shikani optical stylet may become an alternation for difficult
      airway in patients with scleroderma.

PMID- 27652079
TI  - Risk of spontaneous pneumothorax due to air travel and diving in patients with
      Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome is an autosomal dominant
      disorder characterized by skin fibrofolliculomas, lung cysts, spontaneous
      pneumothorax and renal cell cancer due to germline folliculin (FLCN) mutations
      (Menko et al. in Lancet Oncol 10(12):1199-1206, 2009). The aim of this study was
      to evaluate the incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with BHD during
      or shortly after air travel and diving. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to a
      cohort of 190 BHD patients and the medical files of these patients were
      evaluated. The diagnosis of BHD was confirmed by FLCN mutations analysis in all
      patients. We assessed how many spontaneous pneumothoraces (SP) occurred within 1
      month after air travel or diving. RESULTS: In total 158 (83.2 %) patients
      returned the completed questionnaire. A total of 145 patients had a history of
      air travel. Sixty-one of them had a history of SP (42.1 %), with a mean of 2.48
      episodes (range 1-10). Twenty-four (35.8 %) patients had a history of
      pneumothorax on both sides. Thirteen patients developed SP < 1 month after air
      travel (9.0 %) and two patients developed a SP < 1 month after diving (3.7 %). We
      found in this population of BHD patients a pneumothorax risk of 0.63 % per flight
      and a risk of 0.33 % per episode of diving. Symptoms possible related to SP were
      perceived in 30 patients (20.7 %) after air travel, respectively in ten patients
      (18.5 %) after diving. CONCLUSION: Based on the results presented in this
      retrospective study, exposure of BHD patients to considerable changes in
      atmospheric pressure associated with flying and diving may be related to an
      increased risk for developing a symptomatic pneumothorax. Symptoms reported
      during or shortly after flying and diving might be related to the early phase of
      pneumothorax. An individualized advice should be given, taking also into account
      patients' preferences and needs.

PMID- 27652082
TI  - Flow behind an exponential shock wave in a rotational axisymmetric perfect gas
      with magnetic field and variable density.
AB  - A self-similar model for one-dimensional unsteady isothermal and adiabatic flows
      behind a strong exponential shock wave driven out by a cylindrical piston moving
      with time according to an exponential law in an ideal gas in the presence of
      azimuthal magnetic field and variable density is discussed in a rotating
      atmosphere. The ambient medium is assumed to possess radial, axial and azimuthal
      component of fluid velocities. The initial density, the fluid velocities and
      magnetic field of the ambient medium are assumed to be varying with time
      according to an exponential law. The gas is taken to be non-viscous having
      infinite electrical conductivity. Solutions are obtained, in both the cases, when
      the flow between the shock and the piston is isothermal or adiabatic by taking
      into account the components of vorticity vector. The effects of the variation of
      the initial density index, adiabatic exponent of the gas and the Alfven-Mach
      number on the flow-field behind the shock wave are investigated. It is found that
      the presence of the magnetic field have decaying effects on the shock wave. Also,
      it is observed that the effect of an increase in the magnetic field strength is
      more impressive in the case of adiabatic flow than in the case of isothermal
      flow. The assumption of zero temperature gradient brings a profound change in the
      density, non-dimensional azimuthal and axial components of vorticity vector
      distributions in comparison to those in the case of adiabatic flow. A comparison
      is made between isothermal and adiabatic flows. It is obtained that an increase
      in the initial density variation index, adiabatic exponent and strength of the
      magnetic field decrease the shock strength. 

PMID- 27652081
TI  - TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms and expression.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is a proinflammatory cytokine with an
      important role in the pathogenesis of several diseases. Its encoding gene is
      located in the short arm of chromosome 6 in the major histocompatibility complex
      class III region. Most of the TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms are located in its
      promoter region and they are thought to affect the susceptibility and/or severity
      of different human diseases. This review summarizes the data related to the
      association between TNF-alpha gene and its receptor polymorphisms, and the
      development of autoimmune diseases. Among these polymorphisms the -308G/A TNF
      alpha promotor polymorphism has been associated several times with the the
      development of autoimmune diseases, however some discrepant results have been
      recorded. The other TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms had little or no association
      with autoimmune diseases. Current results about the molecules controlling TNF
      alpha expression are also presented. The discrepancy between different records
      could be related partly to either the differences in the ethnic origin or number
      of the studied individuals, or the abundance and activation of other molecules
      that interact with the TNF-alpha promotor region or other elements. 

PMID- 27652084
TI  - Chrestenson transform FPGA embedded factorizations.
AB  - Chrestenson generalized Walsh transform factorizations for parallel processing
      imbedded implementations on field programmable gate arrays are presented. This
      general base transform, sometimes referred to as the Discrete Chrestenson
      transform, has received special attention in recent years. In fact, the Discrete
      Fourier transform and Walsh-Hadamard transform are but special cases of the
      Chrestenson generalized Walsh transform. Rotations of a base-p hypercube, where p
      is an arbitrary integer, are shown to produce dynamic contention-free memory
      allocation, in processor architecture. The approach is illustrated by
      factorizations involving the processing of matrices of the transform which are
      function of four variables. Parallel operations are implemented matrix
      multiplications. Each matrix, of dimension N * N, where N = p (n) , n integer,
      has a structure that depends on a variable parameter k that denotes the iteration
      number in the factorization process. The level of parallelism, in the form of M =
      p (m) processors can be chosen arbitrarily by varying m between zero to its
      maximum value of n - 1. The result is an equation describing the generalised
      parallelism factorization as a function of the four variables n, p, k and m.
      Applications of the approach are shown in relation to configuring field
      programmable gate arrays for digital signal processing applications. 

PMID- 27652083
TI  - A synthetic biology standard for Chinese Hamster Ovary cell genome monitoring and
      contaminant detection by polymerase chain reaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are the current industry standard
      for production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies at commercial scales.
      Production optimisation in CHO cells hinges on analytical technologies such as
      the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to quantify genetic factors within
      the CHO genome and to detect the presence of contaminant organisms. PCR-based
      assays, whilst sensitive and accurate, are limited by (i) requiring lengthy
      sample preparation and (ii) a lack of standardisation. RESULTS: In this study we
      directly assess for the first time the effect of CHO cellular material on
      quantitative PCR (qPCR) and end-point PCR (e-pPCR) when used to measure and
      detect copies of a CHO genomic locus and a mycoplasma sequence. We also perform
      the first head-to-head comparison of the performance of a conventional qPCR
      method to that of the novel linear regression of efficiency (LRE) method when
      used to perform absolute qPCR on CHO-derived material. LRE qPCR features the
      putatively universal 'CAL1' standard. CONCLUSIONS: We find that sample
      preparation is required for accurate quantitation of a genomic target locus, but
      mycoplasma DNA sequences can be detected in the presence of high concentrations
      of CHO cellular material. The LRE qPCR method matches performance of a
      conventional qPCR approach and as such we invite the synthetic biology community
      to adopt CAL1 as a synthetic biology calibration standard for qPCR.

PMID- 27652085
TI  - The choice of internal fixator for fractures around the femoral trochanter
      depends on area classification.
AB  - PURPOSE: In femoral trochanteric fractures, fractures whose fracture lines extend
      to the basal neck or to the subtrochanteric part have high instability. Area
      classification can identify such instable fractures. The best choices of internal
      fixators for femoral trochanteric fractures were investigated according to area
      classification. METHODS: Femoral trochanteric fractures were investigated with
      respect to area classification. In area classification, the proximal femur is
      divided into 4 areas with 3 boundary lines: Line-1 is the center of the neck;
      Line-2 is the border between the neck and the trochanteric zone; and Line-3 links
      the inferior borders of the greater and lesser trochanters. A fracture in only
      the third area was classified as type 3; one in the second and third areas was
      classified as type 2-3. RESULTS: Of 284 femoral trochanteric fractures, 50.0 %
      were type 3, 21 % were type 2-3, 22 % were type 3-4, and 7.4 % were type 2-3-4.
      Cases with cut-out or excessive telescoping of the internal fixator were defined
      as the Failure-group; 5.3 % of type 3 and 10.9 % of type 2-3 were in the Failure
      group only when short femoral nails with a single rag screw were used. On the
      other hand, there were no Failure-group cases of type 2-3 with double rag screws.
      Only 1 case involved a long nail for type 3, while a long nail was used in about
      half of type 3-4 cases (Chi square test: P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: A double rag
      screw should be considered for type 2-3. A long nail should be considered for
      type 3-4.

PMID- 27652087
TI  - Discriminant analysis of farmers adoption of improved maize varieties in Wa
      Municipality, Upper West Region of Ghana.
AB  - This study employed the quadratic classification function analysis to examine the
      influence of farmer's socio-demographic and varietal characteristics of maize on
      adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs) in the Wa Municipality of the Upper
      West region of Ghana. The results showed that, farm labour, information
      availability about the variety, weed resistance, low yielding variety, early
      maturity and water stress resistance are the major discriminating variables in
      classifying farmers in the Municipality. The study however revealed that maize
      experience, low yield, information availability and cost of variety were the most
      influential discriminating variables between adopters and non-adopters of IMVs.
      The study recommended the need to improve on the level of farmers' education,
      ensure steady access to extension services and improvement in varietal
      characteristics identified in the study. 

PMID- 27652086
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B virus isolated from Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly contagious and causes liver
      diseases. Globally more than 350 million people are chronically infected and
      among them above 80 % are from developing countries like Bangladesh. Resistance
      to existing drugs and vaccines are common phenomenon due to mutations in HBsAg
      'a' determinant. Due to lack of data about mutations and subtypes of HBV in
      Bangladesh, this study strongly demands to be documented. Here, we determined the
      genotypes and subtypes of HBV prevalent in Bangladesh, and their genomic
      mutations associated with vaccine and drug resistance. RESULTS: Among 385
      samples, a total of 54 (14 %) were found HBV positive, of which 19 samples were
      subjected to be sequenced. After bioinformatic analysis, we found Genotype D as
      predominant genotype (73.7 %) with subtypes ayw3 (64.3 %) and ayw2 (35.7 %),
      followed by genotype A with subtype adw2 (15.8 %), and then genotype C with
      subtype adr (10.5 %). A significant number of mutations (Thr118Val, Thr125Met,
      Thr126Ile, Pro127Thr, Ala128Val, Thr131Asn/Ser, Thr/Ser143Leu/Met) were found in
      'a' determinant region which may admit resistance to the available vaccines and
      failure of HBsAg detection. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive study have clinical
      importance like disease diagnosis and treatment. It emphasizes HBV infected
      patients to do molecular diagnosis for choice of anti-viral drugs and
      effectiveness of vaccines for proper treatment.

PMID- 27652089
TI  - A technique to determine the fastest age-adjusted masters marathon world records.
AB  - INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: This study's purpose was to develop and employ a technique
      to determine the fastest masters marathon world records (WR), ages 35-79 years,
      adjusted for age (WRadj). METHODS: From single-age WR data, a best-fit polynomial
      curve (WRpred1) was developed for the larger age range of 29-80 years for women
      and 30-80 years for men to improve curve stability in the 35-79 years range. Due
      to the relatively large degree of data scatter about the curve and the resultant
      age bias in favor of older runners, a subsample was constituted consisting of
      those with the lowest WR/WRpred1 ratio within each five-year age group (N = 11).
      A new polynomial best-fit curve (WRpred2) was developed from this subsample to
      become the standard against which WR would be compared across age. WRadj was
      computed from WR/WRpred2 for all runners, 35-79 years, from which the top ten
      fastest were then determined. RESULTS: The WRpred2 model reduced data scatter and
      eliminated the age bias. Tatyana Pozdniakova, 50 years, WR = 2:31:05, WRadj =
      2:12:40; and Ed Whitlock, 73 years, WR = 2:54:48, WRadj = 1:59:57, had the
      fastest WRadj for women and men, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This technique of
      iterative curve-fitting may be an optimal way of determining the fastest masters
      WRadj and may also be useful in better understanding the upper limits of human
      performance by age.

PMID- 27652090
TI  - An analysis model of torque dependence of critical current in a Bi2223/Ag
      composite concentric cylinder.
AB  - In this paper, a model of torque dependence of critical current in a Bi2223/Ag
      composite concentric cylinder is analyzed. Based on the hypothesis of planar
      section and elastic linear strengthening constitutive theory, the relation
      between torque and shear strain is firstly obtained. Then a linear weakening
      relation between critical current density and shear strain are put forward.
      Finally the effects of the applied torque together with the mechanical properties
      of superconducting core on the degradation behavior of critical current are
      calculated and discussed. The results and conclusions should be helpful to the
      application of superconducting materials subjected to elastic-plastic torsional
      deformation. 

PMID- 27652088
TI  - Molecular identification of human enteroviruses associated with aseptic
      meningitis in Yunnan province, Southwest China.
AB  - Human enteroviruses (EVs) are the major causative agents of aseptic meningitis.
      In this study, a total of 524 children were admitted to the children Kunming
      hospital (continental China) for aseptic meningitis manifestations in 2009 and
      2010. An EV infection was diagnosed in 85/524 children (16.2 %) and the viruses
      detected were assigned to 16 serotypes. Most serotypes belonged to the
      enterovirus B species. Echovirus 9 was predominant (24.7 %), followed by
      coxsackievirus B5 (23.5 %) and then echovirus 30 (16.5 %). Echovirus 9 was
      firstly identified as the predominant serotype in sporadic aseptic meningitis
      which occurred in Yunnan, Southwest China. This work indicates the need to
      perform large-scale surveillance to gain a better insight into the epidemiology
      of enteroviruses associated with aseptic meningitis in China. 

PMID- 27652091
TI  - Effects and mechanisms of docosahexaenoic acid on the generation of angiopoietin
      2 by rat brain microvascular endothelial cells under an oxygen- and glucose
      deprivation environment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the generation of angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) by rat
      brain microvascular endothelial cells under an oxygen- and glucose-deprivation
      environment (OGD), and its relationship, if any, with cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2)
      expression. METHODS: Annexin V and propidium iodide apoptosis assay was used to
      detect apoptosis. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect Ang-2,
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and
      prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) content. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction
      (RT-PCR) was used to detect Ang-2 and VEGF mRNA expression. Western blot was used
      to detect expression of COX-2 protein. RESULTS: DHA reduced the apoptosis rate (P
      = 0.026) and decreased the secretion of Ang-2, VEGF, PGE2, and PGI2 (P = 0.006, P
      = 0.000, P = 0.002, P = 0.004 respectively). The relative expression of Ang2 and
      Vegf mRNA, as well as COX-2 expression, also decreased (P = 0.000, P = 0.005, P =
      0.007 respectively). These effects were antagonized by GW9662 (peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-gamma antagonist). COX-2 protein expression
      levels were positively correlated with Ang2 and Vegf mRNA expression levels
      (gamma = 0.69, P = 0.038 and gamma = 0.76, P = 0.032, respectively). Ang-2 and
      VEGF mRNA levels were positively correlated with Ang-2 (gamma = 0.84, P = 0.012)
      and VEGF (gamma = 0.71, P = 0.036) secretion levels respectively. CONCLUSION: DHA
      reduced apoptosis induced by an OGD environment, thus decreasing Ang-2 and VEGF
      synthesis. This phenomenon was associated with a decrease in COX-2 protein
      expression, PGE2 and PGI2 secretion, and generation regulation via intracellular
      transcriptional pathways.

PMID- 27652092
TI  - Automated detection of glaucoma using structural and non structural features.
AB  - Glaucoma is a chronic disease often called "silent thief of sight" as it has no
      symptoms and if not detected at an early stage it may cause permanent blindness.
      Glaucoma progression precedes some structural changes in the retina which aid
      ophthalmologists to detect glaucoma at an early stage and stop its progression.
      Fundoscopy is among one of the biomedical imaging techniques to analyze the
      internal structure of retina. Our proposed technique provides a novel algorithm
      to detect glaucoma from digital fundus image using a hybrid feature set. This
      paper proposes a novel combination of structural (cup to disc ratio) and non
      structural (texture and intensity) features to improve the accuracy of automated
      diagnosis of glaucoma. The proposed method introduces a suspect class in
      automated diagnosis in case of any conflict in decision from structural and non
      structural features. The evaluation of proposed algorithm is performed using a
      local database containing fundus images from 100 patients. This system is
      designed to refer glaucoma cases from rural areas to specialists and the
      motivation behind introducing suspect class is to ensure high sensitivity of
      proposed system. The average sensitivity and specificity of proposed system are
      100 and 87 % respectively. 

PMID- 27652093
TI  - The study of knowledge management capability and organizational effectiveness in
      Taiwanese public utility: the mediator role of organizational commitment.
AB  - Many studies on the significance of knowledge management (KM) in the business
      world have been performed in recent years. Public sector KM is a research area of
      growing importance. Findings show that few authors specialize in the field and
      there are several obstacles to developing a cohesive body of literature. In order
      to examine their effect of the knowledge management capability [which consists of
      knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) and knowledge process capability (KPC)]
      and organizational effectiveness (OE), this study conducted structural equation
      modeling to test the hypotheses with 302 questionnaires of Taipei Water
      Department staffs in Taiwan. In exploring the model developed in this study, the
      findings show that there exists a significant relationship between KPC and OE,
      while KIC and OE are insignificant. These results are different from earlier
      findings in the literature. Furthermore, this research proposed organizational
      commitment (OC) as the mediator role. The findings suggest that only OC has
      significant mediating effects between KPC and OE, whereas this is not the case
      for KIC and OE. It is noteworthy that the above findings inspired managers, in
      addition to construct the knowledge infrastructure more than focus on social
      media tools on the Internet, which engage knowledge workers in "peer-to-peer"
      knowledge sharing across organizational and company boundaries. The results are
      likely to help organizations (particularly public utilities) sharpen their
      knowledge management strategies. Academic and practical implications were drawn
      based on the findings. 

PMID- 27652095
TI  - Voiceless Bangla vowel recognition using sEMG signal.
AB  - Some people cannot produce sound although their facial muscles work properly due
      to having problem in their vocal cords. Therefore, recognition of alphabets as
      well as sentences uttered by these voiceless people is a complex task. This paper
      proposes a novel method to solve this problem using non-invasive surface
      Electromyogram (sEMG). Firstly, eleven Bangla vowels are pronounced and sEMG
      signals are recorded at the same time. Different features are extracted and mRMR
      feature selection algorithm is then applied to select prominent feature subset
      from the large feature vector. After that, these prominent features subset is
      applied in the Artificial Neural Network for vowel classification. This novel
      Bangla vowel classification method can offer a significant contribution in voice
      synthesis as well as in speech communication. The result of this experiment shows
      an overall accuracy of 82.3 % with fewer features compared to other studies in
      different languages. 

PMID- 27652096
TI  - Tributyltin-mediated hepatic, renal and testicular tissue damage in male Syrian
      hamster (Mesocricetus auratus): a study on impact of oxidative stress.
AB  - Organotin compounds are a versatile group of organometallic chemicals that are
      used in a variety of industrial and agricultural applications. Tributyltin (TBT),
      a common organotin, brings about severe spermatotoxic and organotoxic effects.
      However, information about the adverse effects of TBT on liver, kidney and testis
      is scanty. Hence, the present study was undertaken to elucidate the TBT-mediated
      oxidative stress-induced impairments in these organs. Administration of TBT
      through oral route at increasing doses of 50, 100 and 150 ppm for 65 days to male
      Syrian hamsters resulted in drastically decreased activities of antioxidant
      enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and decreased
      mean levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants (reduced glutathione, vitamin C, and
      vitamin E) followed by a dramatic increase in the levels of lipid peroxidation in
      the liver, kidney and testis as compared to the control animals. Significantly
      high levels of serum urea, creatinine, uric acid and bilirubin were observed in
      TBT-treated hamsters. Also, TBT treatment induced drastic histopathological
      changes in the liver, kidney and testis combined with remarkable changes in serum
      levels of tissue injury marker enzymes Aspartate transaminases, Alkaline
      phosphatase and Alanine transaminase. These data affirm that exposure to TBT can
      lead to oxidative stress-induced damage to liver, kidney and testis. 

PMID- 27652094
TI  - CRISPR-Cas9 directed knock-out of a constitutively expressed gene using lance
      array nanoinjection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and labeling has emerged as an important
      tool in biologic research, particularly in regards to potential transgenic and
      gene therapy applications. Delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 plasmids to target cells is
      typically done by non-viral methods (chemical, physical, and/or electrical),
      which are limited by low transfection efficiencies or with viral vectors, which
      are limited by safety and restricted volume size. In this work, a non-viral
      transfection technology, named lance array nanoinjection (LAN), utilizes a
      microfabricated silicon chip to physically and electrically deliver genetic
      material to large numbers of target cells. To demonstrate its utility, we used
      the CRISPR-Cas9 system to edit the genome of isogenic cells. Two variables
      related to the LAN process were tested which include the magnitude of current
      used during plasmid attraction to the silicon lance array (1.5, 4.5, or 6.0 mA)
      and the number of times cells were injected (one or three times). RESULTS:
      Results indicate that most successful genome editing occurred after injecting
      three times at a current control setting of 4.5 mA, reaching a median level of
      93.77 % modification. Furthermore, we found that genome editing using LAN follows
      a non-linear injection-dose response, meaning samples injected three times had
      modification rates as high as nearly 12 times analogously treated single injected
      samples. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the LAN's ability to deliver
      genetic material to cells and indicate that successful alteration of the genome
      is influenced by a serial injection method as well as the electrical current
      settings.

PMID- 27652097
TI  - Availability and use of public access defibrillators in Busan Metropolitan City,
      South Korea.
AB  - Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is considered an important health issue
      worldwide, and early defibrillation is a key element for a favourable prognosis.
      In South Korea, public access defibrillation (PAD) programmes were initiated in
      2007. However, the impact of PAD programmes on OHCA survival rates remains
      unclear. This study evaluated the deployment and maintenance status of public
      automatic external defibrillators (AED), including how frequently they were used,
      in Busan Metropolitan City, South Korea. Managers of possible AED sites were
      first contacted by telephone and asked to confirm the possession of an AED. AED
      suppliers were contacted for AED sales records to identify missing AED sites.
      AEDs located in ambulances and medical institutions were not included.
      Investigators visited confirmed AED sites and completed a checklist on AED
      maintenance and use. In total, 206 AEDs were located, indicative of an AED
      density of 0.268 AED/km(2) and a prevalence of 6.07 per 100,000 in Busan
      Metropolitan City. We found that public AEDs had been used for resuscitation only
      15 times, an average rate of use of once every 26.3 years. Our results indicate
      that AEDs in Busan Metropolitan City are underused according to the guidelines,
      and several are in low-priority locations. We believe that AED deployment based
      on cardiac arrest statistics is important to optimise layperson AED training and
      utilisation. 

PMID- 27652100
TI  - Management practices and performance of mergers and acquisitions in Pakistan:
      mediating role of psychological contract.
AB  - The objective of this study is to examine the direct and indirect effect of
      management practices (procedural justice, coordination approach, communication
      system, integration strategy, and coping programs) on merger and acquisition
      (M&A) performance in the Pakistan banking industry. Psychological contract (PC)
      acts as a mediator between Management practices and M&A performance. The Present
      study distributes a structured questionnaire to 700 bank employees of different
      management cadres. The useful response rate is 76 % (536 employees). It uses PLS
      SEM technique for data analysis. FINDINGS: (1) procedural justice is a key
      strategy which has highly significant direct and indirect effect on M&A
      performance; however integration strategy and the communication system have an
      only direct effect. (2) PC performs partial mediation at different levels between
      management practices and M&A financial and non-financial performance. This study
      provides an effective solution to solve the soft issues during and post-M&A
      process. This is one of the few studies which effectively integrate the five
      constructs into a single framework to study their effects on M&A performance.
      Limitations and future research directions are presented in the last section of
      the study.

PMID- 27652099
TI  - Inhibitory activity of monoacylglycerols on biofilm formation in Aeromonas
      hydrophila, Streptococcus mutans, Xanthomonas oryzae, and Yersinia
      enterocolitica.
AB  - Biofilm provides a bacterial hiding place by forming a physical barrier and
      causing physiological changes in cells. The elimination of biofilm is the main
      goal of hygiene. Chemicals that are inhibitory to biofilm formation have been
      developed for use in food, personal hygiene products, and medical instruments.
      Monoacylglycerols are recognized as safe and are used in food as emulsifiers. In
      this study, the inhibitory activity of monoacylglycerols on bacterial biofilm
      formation was evaluated systematically with four bacterial strains, Aeromonas
      hydrophila, Streptococcus mutans, Xanthomonas oryzae, and Yersinia
      enterocolitica. Monoacylglycerols with two specific lengths of fatty acid moiety,
      monolaurin and monobehenin, were found to have strong inhibitory activity toward
      bacterial biofilm formation of S. mutans, X. oryzae, and Y. enterocolitica in a
      strain specific manner. First, this result suggested that biofilm formation was
      not inhibited by the detergent characteristics of monoacylglycerols. This
      suggestion was supported by the inhibitory action of monolaurin on biofilm
      development but not on the initial cell attachment of Y. enterocolitica in flow
      cytometric observation. Second, it was also suggested that two distinct response
      mechanisms to monoacylglycerols existed in bacteria. The existence of these two
      inhibitory response mechanisms was bacterial strain specific. 

PMID- 27652098
TI  - Anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase activity of extract, fractions and
      five compounds isolated from the leaves and twigs of Artemisia annua growing in
      Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natural products, including those derived from higher plants have,
      over the years, contributed greatly to the development of modern therapeutic
      drugs. Due to the medicinal importance in traditional practice and the
      diversified biology and chemistry of the constituents from Artemisia spp., the
      genus has been receiving growing attention. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the ability of the ethanol extract, four fractions (F1-F4) and five
      compounds namely artemisinin (1), scopoletin (2), chrysosplenetin (3), eupatin
      (4) and 3-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside of sitosterol (5) isolated from A. annua to
      modulate the activity of anticholinesterase (AchE) and the production of nitric
      oxide (NO) in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages. RESULTS: At the lowest
      concentration tested (6.25 ug/mL), the crude extract and fraction F2 had the
      highest NO inhibitory activity (72.39 and 71.00 % inhibition respectively)
      without significant toxicity on the viability of macrophage cells (93.86 and
      79.87 % of cell viability respectively). The crude extract inhibited AchE
      activity by 71.83 % (at 1 mg/mL) with an IC50 value of 87.43 ug/mL while F2 and
      F4 were the most active fractions (IC50 values of 36.75 and 28.82 ug/mL).
      Artemisinin (1) and chrysosplenetin (3) had the highest AChE activity with 71.67
      and 80.00 % inhibition (at 0.1 mg/mL) and IC50 values of 29.34 and 27.14 ug/mL,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results validate the traditional use of A. annua
      and could help to support the usefulness of this plant in the treatment of
      inflammatory and neurological disorders especially where nitric oxide and a
      cholinesterase are involved.

PMID- 27652101
TI  - Splitting failure in side walls of a large-scale underground cavern group: a
      numerical modelling and a field study.
AB  - Vertical splitting cracks often appear in side walls of large-scale underground
      caverns during excavations owing to the brittle characteristics of surrounding
      rock mass, especially under the conditions of high in situ stress and great
      overburden depth. This phenomenon greatly affects the integral safety and
      stability of the underground caverns. In this paper, a transverse isotropic
      constitutive model and a splitting failure criterion are simultaneously proposed
      and secondly programmed in FLAC3D to numerically simulate the integral stability
      of the underground caverns during excavations in Dagangshan hydropower station in
      Sichuan province, China. Meanwhile, an in situ monitoring study on the
      displacement of the key points of the underground caverns has also been carried
      out, and the monitoring results are compared with the numerical results. From the
      comparative analysis, it can be concluded that the depths of splitting relaxation
      area obtained by numerical simulation are almost consistent with the actual in
      situ monitoring values, as well as the trend of the displacement curves, which
      shows that the transverse isotropic constitutive model combining with the
      splitting failure criterion is appropriate for investigating the splitting
      failure in side walls of large-scale underground caverns and it will be a helpful
      guidance of predicting the depths of splitting relaxation area in surrounding
      rock mass. 

PMID- 27652102
TI  - The shortest path problem in the stochastic networks with unstable topology.
AB  - The stochastic shortest path length is defined as the arrival probability from a
      given source node to a given destination node in the stochastic networks. We
      consider the topological changes and their effects on the arrival probability in
      directed acyclic networks. There is a stable topology which shows the physical
      connections of nodes; however, the communication between nodes does not stable
      and that is defined as the unstable topology where arcs may be congested. A
      discrete time Markov chain with an absorbing state is established in the network
      according to the unstable topological changes. Then, the arrival probability to
      the destination node from the source node in the network is computed as the multi
      step transition probability of the absorption in the final state of the
      established Markov chain. It is assumed to have some wait states, whenever there
      is a physical connection but it is not possible to communicate between nodes
      immediately. The proposed method is illustrated by different numerical examples,
      and the results can be used to anticipate the probable congestion along some
      critical arcs in the delay sensitive networks. 

PMID- 27652103
TI  - Asymptotic performance of the quadratic discriminant function to skewed training
      samples.
AB  - This study investigates the asymptotic performance of the quadratic discriminant
      function (QDF) under skewed training samples. The main objective of this study is
      to evaluate the performance of the QDF under skewed distribution considering
      different sample size ratios, varying the group centroid separators and the
      number of variables. Three populations [Formula: see text] with increasing group
      centroid separator function were considered. A multivariate normal distributed
      data was simulated with MatLab R2009a. There was an increase in the average error
      rates of the sample size ratios 1:2:2 and 1:2:3 as the total sample size
      increased asymptotically in the skewed distribution when the centroid separator
      increased from 1 to 3. The QDF under the skewed distribution performed better for
      the sample size ratio 1:1:1 as compared to the other sampling ratios and under
      centroid separator [Formula: see text]. 

PMID- 27652104
TI  - Novel Ag/Si composite particles through galvanic displacement and its conductive
      application.
AB  - Here we synthesized a novel Ag/Si composite sub-micro particle using galvanic
      displacement by capitalizing on the active chemical surface of Si particles
      sludge from wafer-slicing process. Si works as chemical reactant, as well as
      reaction site to form composite particles. Sequent structural characterizations
      and analysis which include X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy,
      scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray and electrical properties
      of this composite particle were done. A well-proved hetero-epitaxial growth
      mechanism could explain Ag nano-island/layer with a satisfactory bond property
      deposited on the Si surface. Since these Si are mechanically cleaved from
      crystal, formed conductive Ag/Si composites retain the flake shape from Si sludge
      particles, and narrow size distribution. They are preferred as conductive
      fillers, an Ag/Si composite-based conductive ink was prepared, its conductance
      was tested through screen printing, film thickness and resistivity were measured.
      The resistivity reached the uOmega cm level, even without optimizing the ink
      formulation. Our methods not only convert this Si sludge into highly conductive
      composite particles as filler for applications, but also considerably reduce the
      consumption of precious metal. 

PMID- 27652105
TI  - Exploring the nature of science through courage and purpose: a case study of
      Charles Darwin's way of knowing.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In 1836, Charles Darwin returned to England with finches classified
      and seemingly showing little resemblance. However, subsequent examination by John
      Gould revealed 13 closely related species endemic to the Galapagos Islands.
      Despite initial confusion, and Darwin's overlooking to label these birds by
      island, some 100 years later they had become evolution's icon. The same could be
      said of Darwin's education and scientific pursuits, beginning in a rough, trial
      and error manner, lacking direction, but eventually benefitting from an
      unexpected opportunity that would lead to his theory of natural selection. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: This case study examines Darwin's way of learning and the reserve of
      courage and perseverance that he would need to see his treatise on evolution and
      natural selection published. To do this, themes from studying the "Nature of
      Science" are used to examine how Darwin's "way of knowing" advanced before and
      after his voyage upon HMS Beagle. Five themes from the "Nature of Science" were
      selected to illustrate Darwin's struggles and triumph: creating scientific
      knowledge is a human endeavor, such knowledge can explain an order and
      consistency in natural systems, knowledge comes from a scientist's way of
      knowing, is open to revision, and based on empirical evidence. DISCUSSION AND
      EVALUATION: The "Nature of Science" as applied to Charles Darwin is explored
      through the three above mentioned themes identified by the Next Generation
      Science Standards. Together, the themes help explain Darwin's way of knowing,
      from boyhood to manhood. This explanation helps humanize Darwin, allows students
      to see how he arrived at his theories, how the time taken to do so wore on his
      health and safety, and the risk Darwin had to weigh from their eventual
      publication. CONCLUSIONS: Each theme ends with a summary and related extension
      questions to draw students into the case, and facilitate inquiry. They relate
      Darwin's way of learning from the 1800s and his commitment to see his work
      published, to the learning environment of students today.

PMID- 27652106
TI  - Genetic association of Toll-like receptor 4 gene and coronary artery disease in a
      Chinese Han population.
AB  - PURPOSE: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is known to be involved in innate immunity
      and inflammatory responses that play important roles in the pathogenesis of
      coronary artery disease (CAD). But the relationship between TLR4 gene and CAD has
      yet to be investigated. The present study aimed to evaluate the association of
      TLR4 gene polymorphisms with CAD susceptibility in a Chinese Han population.
      METHODS: A total of 1094 subjects (577 unrelated patients with CAD and 517
      controls) were recruited between 2008 and 2012. Three tag SNPs (rs1927907,
      rs1927911 and rs11536889) present in the TLR4 gene were genotyped using Sequenom
      Mass-ARRAY system. RESULTS: The genotypic distributions of the three SNPs were
      not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. There was no significant difference
      in distributions of allelic frequencies of each SNPs between healthy controls and
      CAD patients (P > 0.05). Genotype frequencies of TLR4 gene did not show any
      statistically significant difference between the two groups in co-dominant,
      dominant or recessive genetic models (P > 0.05). The frequency of haplotypes in
      the case group was similar to that in the control group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      TLR4 gene do not relate to genetic susceptibility of CAD in the Chinese Han
      population.

PMID- 27652108
TI  - Determination of collective behavior of the financial market.
AB  - In this paper, we adopt the network synchronization to measure the collective
      behavior in the financial market, and then analyze the factors that affect the
      collective behavior. Based on the data from the Chinese financial market, we find
      that the clustering coefficient, the average shortest path length and the
      volatility fluctuation have a positive effect on the collective behavior
      respectively, while the average return has a negative effect on it; the effect of
      the average shortest path length on the collective behavior is the greatest in
      the above four variables; the above results are robust against the window size
      and the time interval between adjacent windows of the stock network; the effect
      of network structures and stock market properties on the collective behavior
      during the financial crisis is the same as those during other periods. 

PMID- 27652109
TI  - Measuring the globalization of cities from the new regionalism perspective.
AB  - The study aims to analyze the export performance of countries and of cities
      within them to identify synchronized or unsynchronized movement between them. In
      the empirical part of the study, the measurements used to analyze the export
      performance of the countries included in the literature are applied to establish
      the export performance of a single city-Sakarya, Turkey. These measurements
      include the Herfindahl-Hirchman product and market concentration indices, the
      Lawrence index, the trade complementarity index, and the Grubel-Lloyd intra
      industry index, as well as additional indicators with local or regional contexts.
      The limited number of studies analyzing the export competitiveness of a single
      city with relevant formats in the literature reveal the significance of the
      study. 

PMID- 27652110
TI  - The influence of corporate social responsibility, ability, reputation, and
      transparency on hotel customer loyalty in the U.S.: a gender-based approach.
AB  - This research explored a conceptual framework incorporating interrelationships
      among corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate ability (CA), corporate
      reputation (CR), and CSR-related transparency on customer loyalty within the
      hotel context. In this study, we also analyzed consumers' propensity to support
      CSR initiatives through the socio-demographic indicator of gender. We used
      independent sample t test and multiple regression analysis to test hypotheses
      based on 487 responses from American participants. Four antecedents (i.e., CSR,
      CA, CR, and transparency) exhibited favorable effects on customer loyalty. Among
      these four factors, the positively perceived CSR initiatives had a greater impact
      on customer loyalty. In addition, according to our findings, female participants
      were more likely to have a positive perception of the four antecedents than
      males. 

PMID- 27652107
TI  - The 100 most influential publications in paracetamol poisoning treatment: a
      bibliometric analysis of human studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Analysis of the most influential publications within paracetamol
      poisoning treatment can be helpful in recognizing main and novel treatment issues
      within the field of toxicology. The current study was performed to recognize and
      describe the most highly cited articles related to paracetamol poisoning
      treatment. METHODS: The 100 most highly cited articles in paracetamol poisoning
      treatment were identified from the Scopus database in November 2015. All eligible
      articles were read for basic information, including total number of citations,
      average citations per year, authors' names, journal name, impact factors,
      document types and countries of authors of publications. RESULTS: The median
      number of citations was 75 (interquartile range 56-137). These publications were
      published between 1974 and 2013. The average number of years since publication
      was 17.6 years, and 45 of the publications were from the 2000s. A significant,
      modest positive correlation was found between years since publication and the
      number of citations among the top 100 cited articles (r = 0.316; p = 0.001). A
      total of 55 journals published these 100 most cited articles. Nine documents were
      published in Clinical Toxicology, whereas eight documents were published in
      Annals of Emergency Medicine. Citations per year since publication for the top
      100 most-cited articles ranged from 1.5 to 42.6 and had a mean of 8.5 citations
      per year and a median of 5.9 with an interquartile range of 3.75-10.35. In
      relation to the origin of the research publications, they were from 8 countries.
      The USA had the largest number of articles, 47, followed by the UK and Australia
      with 38 and nine articles respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first
      bibliometric assessment of the top 100 cited articles in toxicology literature.
      Interest in paracetamol poisoning as a serious clinical problem continues to
      grow. Research published in high-impact journals and from high income countries
      is most likely to be cited in published paracetamol research.

PMID- 27652112
TI  - Improvement of vibrodamping properties of polyvinyl acetate-graphite composites
      by electron beam processing of the filler.
AB  - The effect of electron beam processing (energy 900 keV, absorbed dose in the
      range from 25 to 600 kGy) of graphite upon the efficiency of its use as a filler
      in polyvinyl acetate (PVA) based vibrodamping composites is studied. Graphite
      treatment at optimal doses above 200 kGy is found to provide a significant
      increase of damping loss factor for these composites at ambient and especially at
      elevated temperatures. The observed improvement of vibrodamping properties
      correlates with the increase in the content of Broensted centers (hydroxyl
      groups) on modified graphite surface probably due to the additional bonding of
      the filler particles with each other and PVA binder. 

PMID- 27652111
TI  - Prognostic role of microRNA-203 in various carcinomas: evidence from a meta
      analysis involving 13 studies.
AB  - Growing evidence from recent studies has revealed that microRNA-203 (miR-203)
      might be an attractive prognostic biomarker for cancer. But controversy still
      remains. The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarize available evidences and
      clarify the preliminary predictive value of miR-203 for prognosis in cancer
      patients. Eligible studies were identified through multiple research strategies
      in PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science up to October 2015. Key statistics such as
      pooled hazard ratios (HR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were utilized to
      calculate patient survival. 13 eligible studies with 1600 patients were
      ultimately enrolled in this meta-analysis. Our results failed to show a
      significant relation between upregulated miR-203 expression and a favorable
      overall survival (OS) (HR 1.00, 95 % CI 0.65-1.36) in a random effect model.
      However, in subgroup analysis, we found that high expression of miR-203 was
      significantly associated with poor OS in Caucasian patients (HR 1.31, 95 % CI
      1.06-1.55). In contrast, for Asian patients, over-expression of miR-203 was an
      independent prognostic factor for better and OS (HR 0.59, 95 % CI 0.22-0.96). It
      also suggested that cancer types and miRNA assay method were significant
      associated with prognosis. The over-expression of miR-203 was effectively
      predictive of worse prognosis in breast cancer (HR 6.35, 95 % CI 1.34-11.36),
      pancreatic cancer (HR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.08-1.30), ependymoma (HR 1.35, 95 % CI 1.10
      1.61), but for glioma patients, elevated miR-203 is a potential biomarker for
      predicting better progression of cancer (HR 0.26, 95 % CI -0.02 to 0.54).
      Besides, for direct miRNA profiling studies, over-expression of miR-203 was an
      independent prognostic factor for worse OS (HR 6.35, 95 % CI 1.34-11.36). This
      meta-analysis indicated that ethnicity, tumor type and miRNA assay method mainly
      contributed to heterogeneity. Considering the insufficient evidence, further
      relevant studies are warranted. 

PMID- 27652113
TI  - Vulnerable parenting among mothers with substance abuse in their family of
      origin: a cross-sectional comparative study of mothers in an infant and toddler
      program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether women raised in a family with substance abuse
      constitute a particularly vulnerable group of patients in an infant psychiatry
      setting and to identify the risk factors of suspected parental malfunctioning in
      women referred to treatment in an infant and toddler intervention program.
      BACKGROUND: A history of family substance abuse can severely disrupt the
      caretaking abilities of parents in ways that can have far-reaching consequences,
      and children growing up with insufficient parental care may incorporate this
      deficiency into their own parental behavior. METHODS: In total, 126 mothers
      completed self-report questionnaires assessing their substance abuse and health
      problems as well as problems in their family of origin. The index group was
      defined as women who reported substance abuse in their family of origin (n = 35).
      The comparison group was defined as women who denied substance abuse in their
      family of origin (n = 91). RESULTS: Symptoms of depression and anxiety were
      overrepresented in the total group of mothers compared with the Swedish norm. The
      index group had experienced parental divorce and traumatic life events more often
      and reported earlier substance abuse of their own. They had significantly more
      depression and ADHD symptoms and were more often single parents. All these
      factors can have a negative influence, separately or in combination, on the
      ability to practice sensitive parenting. CONCLUSIONS: Female offspring of
      substance-abusing parents are an especially vulnerable group of patients. To
      prevent the intergenerational transmission of alcohol and drug abuse, it is
      important to identify parents with specific needs and to administer targeted
      treatment and support at primary health care centers and child psychiatric
      clinics.

PMID- 27652115
TI  - Identification and tissue expression profiling of odorant binding protein genes
      in the red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is a lethal pest of
      the palms. The identification of odorant binding protein (OBP) genes will be
      helpful for clarifing the mechanism of odorant detection of this pest. By
      sequencing the full length cDNA library of its antenne, 11 OBP genes (RferOBP1
      11) were identified. FINDINGS: The result showed RferOBP1-7 and RferOBP8-11
      belonged to the minus-C and classic family, respectively qPCR revealed that
      RferOBP1-10 highly transcribed in the antennae, of which RferOBP1, RferOBP4,
      RferOBP8 and RferOBP10 were obviously male-biased expression. RferOBP7 and
      RferOBP11 exhibited highly expression in female head and male thorax. RferOBP2,
      RferOBP5 and RferOBP6 were highly expressed in the female thorax, leg and abdomen
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results paved the way towards a future
      understanding of the olfaction in this species.

PMID- 27652114
TI  - Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in patients undergoing abdominal and pelvic
      cancer surgery: adherence and compliance to ACCP guidelines in DIONYS registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major health care problem resulting
      in significant mortality, morbidity and increase in medical expenses. Patients
      with malignant diseases represent a high risk population for VTE. The American
      College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) proposed, since 1986, prophylaxis guidelines
      that are unequally respected in surgical practice. METHODS: DIONYS is a
      multinational, longitudinal and non-interventional registry including patients
      having undergone abdominal or pelvic surgery for cancer in Latin America, Africa
      and the Middle East. Patients were evaluated with regard to VTE prophylaxis,
      during three consecutive visits, for their adherence to ACCP 2008 guidelines.
      Data were collected on type and duration of VTE prophylaxis, adherence to
      guidelines, and compliance with prescriptions, complications and possible reasons
      for omission of prophylaxis. RESULTS: Between 2011 and June 2012, 921 adult
      patients were included and divided into abdominal (435), pelvic (390) and
      combined abdominal and pelvic surgery (96), 65.4 % being females. VTE prophylaxis
      was prescribed to 90 % of patients during hospitalization and to 28.3 % after
      hospital discharge. Prescriptions adhered to ACCP guidelines in 73.9 % of
      patients during hospitalization and 18.9 % after discharge. The reason of non
      adherence was mainly the clinical judgment by the physician that the patient did
      not need a prophylaxis. The most commonly prescribed type of prophylaxis was
      pharmacological (low molecular weight heparin). CONCLUSION: A wide gap exists
      between VTE prophylaxis in daily practice and the ACCP 2008 guidelines, in
      abdominal and pelvic cancer surgery. A better awareness of surgeons is probably
      the best guarantee for improvement of VTE prophylaxis in surgical wards.

PMID- 27652116
TI  - Predictive factors for cosmetic surgery: a hospital-based investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly popular in China. However,
      reports on the predictive factors for cosmetic surgery in Chinese individuals are
      scarce in the literature. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 4550 cosmetic
      surgeries performed from January 2010 to December 2014 at a single center in
      China. Data collection included patient demographics and type of cosmetic
      surgery. Predictive factors were age, sex, marital status, occupational status,
      educational degree, and having had children. Predictive factors for the three
      major cosmetic surgeries were determined using a logistic regression analysis.
      RESULTS: Patients aged 19-34 years accounted for the most popular surgical
      procedures (76.9 %). The most commonly requested procedures were eye surgery,
      Botox injection, and nevus removal. Logistic regression analysis showed that
      higher education level (college, P = 0.01, OR 1.21) was predictive for eye
      surgery. Age (19-34 years, P = 0.00, OR 33.39; 35-50, P = 0.00, OR 31.34; >=51, P
      = 0.00, OR 16.42), female sex (P = 0.00, OR 9.19), employment (service
      occupations, P = 0.00, OR 2.31; non-service occupations, P = 0.00, OR 1.76), and
      higher education level (college, P = 0.00, OR 1.39) were independent predictive
      factors for Botox injection. Married status (P = 0.00, OR 1.57), employment (non
      service occupations, P = 0.00, OR 1.50), higher education level (masters, P =
      0.00, OR 6.61), and having children (P = 0.00, OR 1.45) were independent
      predictive factors for nevus removal. CONCLUSIONS: The principal three cosmetic
      surgeries (eye surgery, Botox injection, and nevus removal) were associated with
      multiple variables. Patients employed in non-service occupations were more
      inclined to undergo Botox injection and nevus removal. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Cohort
      study, Level III.

PMID- 27652117
TI  - Evaluation of different digital elevation models for analyzing drainage
      morphometric parameters in a mountainous terrain: a case study of the Supin-Upper
      Tons Basin, Indian Himalayas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With myriad geospatial datasets now available for terrain information
      extraction and particularly streamline demarcation, there arises questions
      regarding the scale, accuracy and sensitivity of the initial dataset from which
      these aspects are derived, as they influence all other parameters computed
      subsequently. In this study, digital elevation models (DEM) derived from Advanced
      Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER V2), Shuttle Radar
      Topography Mission (SRTM V4, C-Band, 3 arc-second), Cartosat -1 (CartoDEM 1.0)
      and topographical maps (R.F. 1:250,000 and 1:50,000), have been used to
      individually extract and analyze the relief, surface, size, shape and texture
      properties of a mountainous drainage basin. RESULTS: Nestled inside a mountainous
      setting, the basin is a semi-elongated one with high relief ratio (>90), steep
      slopes (25 degrees -30 degrees ) and high drainage density (>3.5 km/sq km), as
      computed from the different DEMs. The basin terrain and stream network is
      extracted from each DEM, whose morphometric attributes are compared with the
      surveyed stream networks present in the topographical maps, with resampling of
      finer DEM datasets to coarser resolutions, to reduce scale-implications during
      the delineation process. Ground truth verifications for altitudinal accuracy have
      also been done by a GPS survey. CONCLUSIONS: DEMs derived from the 1:50,000
      topographical map and ASTER GDEM V2 data are found to be more accurate and
      consistent in terms of absolute accuracy, than the other generated or available
      DEM data products, on basis of the morphometric parameters extracted from each.
      They also exhibit a certain degree of proximity to the surveyed topographical
      map.

PMID- 27652118
TI  - Enhanced bioethanol production from wheat straw hemicellulose by mutant strains
      of pentose fermenting organisms Pichia stipitis and Candida shehatae.
AB  - The main aim of the present study was to mutate yeast strains, Pichia stipitis
      NCIM 3498 and Candida shehatae NCIM 3501 and assess the mutant's ability to
      utilize, ferment wheat straw hemicellulose with enhanced ethanol yield. The
      organisms were subjected to random mutagenesis using physical (ultraviolet
      radiation) and chemical (ethidium bromide) mutagens. The mutant and wild strains
      were used to ferment the hemicellulosic hydrolysates of wheat straw obtained by 2
      % dilute sulphuric acid and enzymatic hydrolysis by crude xylanase separately.
      Among all the mutant strains, PSUV9 and CSEB7 showed enhanced ethanol production
      (12.15 +/- 0.57, 9.55 +/- 0.47 g/L and yield 0.450 +/- 0.009, 0.440 +/- 0.001
      g/g) as compared to the wild strains (8.28 +/- 0.54, 7.92 +/- 0.89 g/L and yield
      0.380 +/- 0.006 and 0.370 +/- 0.002 g/g) in both the hydrolysates. The mutant
      strains were also checked for their consistency in ethanol production and found
      stable for 19 cycles in hemicellulosic hydrolysates of wheat straw. A novel
      element in the present study was introduction of chemical mutagenesis in wild
      type as well as UV induced mutants. This combination of treatments i.e., UV
      followed by chemical mutagenesis was practically successful. 

PMID- 27652120
TI  - A new intuitionistic fuzzy rule-based decision-making system for an operating
      system process scheduler.
AB  - We present a new intuitionistic fuzzy rule-based decision-making system based on
      intuitionistic fuzzy sets for a process scheduler of a batch operating system.
      Our proposed intuitionistic fuzzy scheduling algorithm, inputs the nice value and
      burst time of all available processes in the ready queue, intuitionistically
      fuzzify the input values, triggers appropriate rules of our intuitionistic fuzzy
      inference engine and finally calculates the dynamic priority (dp) of all the
      processes in the ready queue. Once the dp of every process is calculated the
      ready queue is sorted in decreasing order of dp of every process. The process
      with maximum dp value is sent to the central processing unit for execution.
      Finally, we show complete working of our algorithm on two different data sets and
      give comparisons with some standard non-preemptive process schedulers. 

PMID- 27652119
TI  - Air quality index from charcoal production sites, carboxyheamoglobin and lung
      function among occupationally exposed charcoal workers in South Western Nigeria.
AB  - Charcoal production is often accompanied with gaseous and particulate emission
      into the atmosphere and occupationally exposed workers could be affected. This
      cross sectional comparative study was carried out to assess the levels of carbon
      monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide
      (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5) generated during the phases of charcoal
      production and their relationship with certain biomarkers among charcoal workers
      (subjects) and non-charcoal workers (controls) such as carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb),
      forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration (FEV1), peak
      expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and body mass index (BMI) in Igbo-Ora, Oyo State and
      Alabata, Ogun State, which are two of the major hubs of charcoal production in
      South Western Nigeria. Four communities in Igbo-Ora and six communities in
      Alabata were purposively selected and levels of pollutant gases were assessed
      using appropriate gas meters, PM2.5 was assessed with Thermo Scientific MIE pDR
      1500, FEV1 and PEFR were measured with Piko-1 spirometer while COHb was assessed
      using non-invasive pulse CO-oximeter (Rad 57). Data were statistically analyzed
      and results were compared with recommended guidelines. The mean FEV1, PEFR, COHb
      and BMI for subjects and controls were 2.35 +/- 0.73 and 2.69 +/- 0.56, 253.72 +/
      103.45 and 330.02 +/- 94.61 (p < 0.01), 13.28 +/- 3.91 and 8.50 +/- 3.68 (p <
      0.01) and 21.97 +/- 2.19 and 23.36 +/- 3.74 (p < 0.05) respectively. There was a
      statistically significant difference between actual and expected values of FEV1
      (p < 0.01) and PEFR (p < 0.01) among charcoal workers. There existed a positive
      correlation between CO and COHb while FEV1 and PEFR correlated negatively with
      PM2.5. The study showed that charcoal workers are exposed to high levels of CO
      and PM2.5, contributing to lowered respiratory functions for FEV1 and PEFR and
      high levels of COHb compared to the control group. Routine respiratory and
      carboxyheamoglobin assessment of persons involved in charcoal production is also
      recommended. 

PMID- 27652122
TI  - Chest wall schwannoma presenting as a solitary malignant lesion: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chest wall schwannomas are rare tumors arising from the intercostals
      nerves. Schwannomas are lobulated, encapsulated spherical masses, different from
      neurofibromas in that matter. Men and women are equally affected in their third
      and fourth decades. CASE PRESENTATION: A 42 year old female presented with a 6
      month history of progressively worsening pain over the right shoulder and chest
      wall, aggravated by movement and with associated right arm oedema and
      paraesthesia. She believed mild symptoms began 2 years prior to presentation. The
      histopathological examination revealed a benign lesion; a schwannoma with
      degenerative changes. The section revealed a benign nerve sheath tumor
      characterized by a proliferation of band spindle cells arranged in fascicles and
      variable cellularity and associated with dilated and think walled blood vessels.
      CONCLUSION: Chest wall schwannomas are rare; they mimic chest wall malignant
      lesions.

PMID- 27652121
TI  - Diabetes and mortality in patients with prostate cancer: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are conflicting results as to the association between pre
      existing diabetes and the risk of mortality in patients with prostate cancer. The
      purpose of this study is to estimate the influence of pre-existing diabetes on
      prostate cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality. METHODS: We searched
      PubMed and Embase to identify studies that investigated the association between
      pre-existing diabetes and risk of death among men with prostate cancer. Pooled
      risk estimates and 95 % confidence intervals were calculated using fixed-effects
      models or random-effects models. Heterogeneity tests were conducted between
      studies. Publication bias was analyzed by using the Egger's test, Begg's test,
      and the trim and fill method. RESULTS: Of the 733 articles identified, 17 cohort
      studies that had 274,677 male patients were included in this meta-analysis. Pre
      existing diabetes was associated with a 29 % increase in prostate cancer-specific
      mortality [relative risk (RR) 1.29, 95 % CI 1.22-1.38, I(2) = 66.68 %], and with
      a 37 % increase in all-cause mortality (RR 1.37, 95 % CI 1.29-1.45, p < 0.01,
      I(2) = 90.26 %). Additionally, in a subgroup analysis that was a type specific
      analysis focusing on type 2 diabetes and was conducted only with three cohort
      studies, pre-existing type 2 diabetes was associated with all-cause mortality (RR
      2.01, 95 % CI 1.37-2.96, I(2) = 95.55 %) and no significant association with
      prostate cancer-specific mortality was detected (RR 1.17, 95 % CI 0.96-1.42, I(2)
      = 75.59 %). There was significant heterogeneity between studies and no
      publication bias was found. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests diabetes may
      result in a worse prognosis for men with prostate cancer. Considering
      heterogeneity between studies, additional studies should be conducted to confirm
      these findings, and to allow generalization regarding the influence that each
      type of diabetes has on prostate cancer mortality.

PMID- 27652123
TI  - Dimensionality of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in the collegiate young
      adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore and validate the factor structure of the Pittsburgh Sleep
      Quality Index (PSQI) in the collegiate young adults. METHODS: Six hundred
      university students were initially contacted and invited to participate in a
      survey of their sleep experience and history. Of this preliminary sample 418 of
      the students (age = 20.92 +/- 1.81 years, BMI = 23.30 +/- 2.57 kg/m(2)) fulfilled
      the screening criteria and ultimately completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality
      Index (PSQI), a self-report survey of respondents' sleep habits and sleep
      quality. The students were enrolled in various undergraduate and postgraduate
      programs at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. Exploratory factor analysis
      (EFA) investigated the latent factor structure of the scale. Confirmatory factor
      analysis evaluated both of the models found by EFA. RESULTS: The Kaiser's
      criteria, the Scree test, and the cumulative variance rule revealed that a 2
      factor model accounted for most of the variability in the data. However, a follow
      up Parallel Analysis found a 1-factor model. The high correlation coefficient (r
      = 0.91) between the two factors of the 2-factor model and almost similar values
      of the fit indices supports the inference that the PSQI is a unidimensional
      scale. CONCLUSIONS: The findings validate the 1-factor model of the PSQI in the
      collegiate young adults.

PMID- 27652124
TI  - Is it bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome induced by small intestinal
      bacteria overgrowth?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome is rare systemic
      diseases characterized by a prodrome of fever, chills, and influenza-like
      symptoms with subsequent skin eruptions, myalgias, and polyarthralgias. It is
      reported to be occurred in Intestinal bypass surgery and inflammatory bowel
      disease. CASE DESCRIPTION: Herein, we described a 29-years-old man with Bowel
      associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome. He had no history of gastrointestinal
      surgery and inflammatory bowel disease. Distribution of the gut bacterial flora
      showed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: It is
      rarely form as Non-intestinal bypass road and non-inflammatory bowel disease was
      induced by small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that
      Immuno-inflammatory response to overgrowth of intestinal bacterial antigen induce
      the clinical symptoms of bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome.

PMID- 27652126
TI  - Carotid blowout syndrome after nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy: successful
      treatment by internal carotid artery occlusion after stent implantation failure.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Carotid blowout syndrome (CBS) secondary to radiation therapy is
      life-threatening and requires emergency treatment. More recently, endovascular
      treatment has provided an effective way to control CBS-related bleeding. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: We present a case of CBS with a rupture of the internal carotid
      artery (ICA) pseudo-aneurysm after Gamma Knife radiation therapy for
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The patient was a 55-year-old man who was
      transferred to our hospital with severe repetitive epistaxis. He had a history of
      NPC and had been treated with Gamma Knife radiation therapy 7 months prior, with
      a central dose of 32 Gy and marginal dose of 16 Gy. As CBS was confirmed by
      angiography, and the affected part of the ICA lumen exhibited moderate stenosis,
      the patient was successfully treated by ICA occlusion after stent implantation
      failure. The patient died 40 months after this operation from tumor recurrence,
      but without epistaxis during follow up. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: Quick
      selection of an appropriate treatment method is very important for an acute CBS
      patient. CONCLUSION: ICA occlusion can be directly considered for an acute CBS
      patient, if the affected ICA exhibits stenosis that is moderate or above.

PMID- 27652125
TI  - Identification of QTLs associated with tissue culture response of mature wheat
      embryos.
AB  - Mature embryo is an excellent explant for tissue culture as it is convenient to
      be obtained without limitation of growing seasons and development stages.
      However, regeneration ability of the calli from wheat mature embryos is limited,
      thus hindering its application. To identify genes associated with the tissue
      culture response (TCR) of wheat, QTLs for callus induction from mature embryos
      and callus regeneration were detected using a recombinant inbred lines (RILs)
      population derived from the cross between a synthetic hexaploid wheat genotype,
      SHW-L1 and a commercial cultivar Chuanmai 32. Three QTLs for callus rate were
      identified and they were located on chromosomes 1D, 5A, and 6D, respectively,
      with explained phenotypic variation ranging from 10.16 to 11.82 %. One QTL for
      differentiation rate was detected only with 10.96 % of the phenotypic variation
      explained. Two QTLs for emergence rate were identified and they were located on
      3B and 4A, respectively, with 9.88 and 10.30 % of phenotypic variation. The
      results presented in this study with those reported previously indicated that
      group 1, 3, and 5 chromosomes are likely to play important roles in TCR of wheat.

PMID- 27652127
TI  - Assessment of mangroves from Goa, west coast India using DNA barcode.
AB  - Mangroves are salt-tolerant forest ecosystems of tropical and subtropical
      intertidal regions. They are among most productive, diverse, biologically
      important ecosystem and inclined toward threatened system. Identification of
      mangrove species is of critical importance in conserving and utilizing
      biodiversity, which apparently hindered by a lack of taxonomic expertise. In
      recent years, DNA barcoding using plastid markers rbcL and matK has been
      suggested as an effective method to enrich traditional taxonomic expertise for
      rapid species identification and biodiversity inventories. In the present study,
      we performed assessment of available 14 mangrove species of Goa, west coast India
      based on core DNA barcode markers, rbcL and matK. PCR amplification success rate,
      intra- and inter-specific genetic distance variation and the correct
      identification percentage were taken into account to assess candidate barcode
      regions. PCR and sequence success rate were high in rbcL (97.7 %) and matK (95.5
      %) region. The two candidate chloroplast barcoding regions (rbcL, matK) yielded
      barcode gaps. Our results clearly demonstrated that matK locus assigned highest
      correct identification rates (72.09 %) based on TaxonDNA Best Match criteria. The
      concatenated rbcL + matK loci were able to adequately discriminate all mangrove
      genera and species to some extent except those in Rhizophora, Sonneratia and
      Avicennia. Our study provides the first endorsement of the species resolution
      among mangroves using plastid genes with few exceptions. Our future work will be
      focused on evaluation of other barcode markers to delineate complete resolution
      of mangrove species and identification of putative hybrids. 

PMID- 27652128
TI  - Analysis of Poyang Lake water balance and its indication of river-lake
      interaction.
AB  - In recent years, water shortage is becoming one of the most serious problems in
      the Poyang Lake. In this paper, the long-term water balance items of the Poyang
      Lake have been analyzed to reveal the coupling effects of Three Gorges Dam (TGD)
      and droughts on the water balance of Poyang Lake. The results indicate that: (1)
      the water balance items of Poyang Lake vary greatly, e.g. lake precipitation and
      inflow decrease during the past several decades while evaporation and water
      consumption increase significantly; (2) the water balance of Poyang Lake has been
      affected by the operation of TGD. Negative lake water balance in recent years
      leads to a serious water shortage problem in the Poyang Lake. Moreover, the
      operation of TGD also changed the river-lake relationship in the lower Yangtze
      River basin; (3) the coupling effects of drought and TGD on the lake water
      balance has been analyzed by using composite analysis method and it can be found
      that the operation of TGD has significantly altered the lake water balance. But
      it is not the only factor that affects the lake water balance, and the droughts
      might cause their relations to be much more complicated. 

PMID- 27652129
TI  - Effects of dietary supplementation of golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata)
      egg on survival, pigmentation and antioxidant activity of Blood parrot.
AB  - This study aims to evaluate the effects of supplementing golden apple snail
      (Pomacea canaliculata) eggs powder (EP) in the diet as a source of natural
      carotenoids on survival, pigmentation and antioxidant activity of Blood parrot. A
      total of 90 fish were divided into three treatment groups with three replicates
      per treatment. Blood parrot were fed with diets containing 0 (control), 5 % (EP 5
      %), and 15 % (EP 15 %) dry powder of golden apple snail egg for 60 days, and nine
      fish per group were sampled at 20, 40, and 60 days. No differences in survival of
      the fish among treatments were found throughout the experiment. The body
      coloration of Blood parrot was enhanced in the skin and caudal fin with
      increasing content of golden apple snail egg powder in the diet. At the end of
      the experiment, the carotenoid content in the caudal fin and the number of scale
      chromatophores of the fish fed dietary with EP were higher (P < 0.05) than those
      of the control group. The EP 15 % treated fishes showed a significant higher (P <
      0.05) in the activities of SOD after 60 days, but we could not observe
      significant changes (P > 0.05) in CAT activities. Results demonstrated that
      golden apple snail eggs can be used as a colorant to promote the pigmentation
      efficacy of Blood parrot. 

PMID- 27652130
TI  - Age and gender distribution of Hepatitis C virus prevalence and genotypes of
      individuals of physical examination in WuHan, Central China.
AB  - Approximately 170 million people in the world are infected with Hepatitis C virus
      (HCV). There are no published population based studies about the prevalence of
      HCV genotypes and the associations of genotype and Infection frequency with
      gender and age in WuHan. We aimed to investigate the distribution of HCV
      prevalence and genotypes among different gender and age patients with chronic HCV
      infection in WuHan from 2011 to 2015. A total of 2685 anti-HCV positive serum
      samples from individuals of physical examinationwere recruited from the Renmin
      Hospital of WuHan University, Hubei Province in China from January 2011 to
      December 2015. From these 2685 anti-HCV positive serum samples, 496 samples were
      with a positive PCR for HCV RNA. The number of HCV infection showed an increase
      with year, but the annual infection rate has remained similar (chi(2) = 2.94, P =
      0.568). 2685 cases were infected with HCV from 2011 to 2015 in WuHan city of
      China. Blood transfusion (18.14 %) was the main routs of transmission, followed
      by Surgery (8.94 %). The highest prevalence of HCV infection was at the age group
      50-59 (25.85 % of 2685) and the lowest prevalence was 0-9 (0.93 % of 2685). HCV
      genotype 1 was the most prevalent (73.39 %), followed by genotypes 2 (17.14 %), 3
      (5.25 %) and 6 (3.22 %). Genotype 4 and 5 was not detected in these patients. The
      most prevalent subtype was subtype 1b (71.98 %), followed by genotypes 2a (17.14
      %). Five patients had mixed infection across the HCV subtypes. Among all
      genotypes, genotype 1 was highest in both male (73.27 %) and female (73.47 %)
      patients, followed by genotype 2. Genotype 1 (male: 29.84 % of 496, vs female:
      43.55 % of 496, chi(2) = 20.07, P < 0.0001), genotype 2 (male: 6.25 % of 496, vs
      female: 10.89 % of 496, chi(2) = 6.81, P = 0.009), and 6 (male: 1.41 % of 496, vs
      female: 1.81 % of 496, chi(2) = 0.626, P = 0.401) were more common in female
      patients than males, while no significant gender differences were observed for
      genotype 6. Among age group 50-59 years Genotype 1 was most common in male
      patients (29.05 % of 148) followed in 20-29 years (23.65 % of 148), genotype 2 in
      the age group 60-69 (12 cases of 31) and genotype 3 in the age group 50-59 (4
      cases of 13) and genotype 6 was most frequent in the age group 30-39 (4 cases of
      7). The frequency of HCV prevalence was significantly higher in female patients
      compared to males before ages 60, while the opposite result was observed after 60
      years. The most common HCV genotype in WuHan was subtype 1b followed by 2a and
      more common among women than males patients. Further studies are needed to
      collect a large number of samples to estimate the different epidemiology of the
      HCV genotypes, because the sample size of non-genotype 1b and 2a is not large
      enough and other factors like disease history/monthly income/etc. are not
      included in our study. 

PMID- 27652131
TI  - Financial contributions to global surgery: an analysis of 160 international
      charitable organizations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The non-profit and volunteer sector has made notable contributions to
      delivering surgical services in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). As an
      estimated 55 % of surgical care delivered in some LMICs is via charitable
      organizations; the financial contributions of this sector provides valuable
      insight into understanding financing priorities in global surgery. METHODS:
      Databases of registered charitable organizations in five high-income nations
      (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) were searched
      to identify organizations committed exclusively to surgery in LMICs and their
      financial data. For each organization, we categorized the surgical specialty and
      calculated revenues and expenditures. All foreign currency was converted to U.S.
      dollars based on historical yearly average conversion rates. All dollars were
      adjusted for inflation by converting to 2014 U.S. dollars. RESULTS: One hundred
      sixty organizations representing 15 specialties were identified. Adjusting for
      inflation, in 2014 U.S. dollars (US$), total aggregated revenue over the years
      2008-2013 was $3.4 billion and total aggregated expenses were $3.1 billion.
      Twenty-eight ophthalmology organizations accounted for 45 % of revenue and 49 %
      of expenses. Fifteen cleft lip/palate organizations totaled 26 % of both revenue
      and expenses. The remaining 117 organizations, representing a variety of
      specialties, accounted for 29 % of revenue and 25 % of expenses. In comparison,
      from 2008 to 2013, charitable organizations provided nearly $27 billion for
      global health, meaning an estimated 11.5 % went towards surgery. CONCLUSION:
      Charitable organizations that exclusively provide surgery in LMICs primarily
      focus on elective surgeries, which cover many subspecialties, and often fill deep
      gaps in care. The largest funding flows are directed at ophthalmology, followed
      by cleft lip and palate surgery. Despite the number of contributing
      organizations, there is a clear need for improvement and increased transparency
      in tracking of funds to global surgery via charitable organizations.

PMID- 27652132
TI  - The role of anterior segment optical coherence tomography in the management of an
      intra-corneal foreign body.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Corneal foreign bodies are reported to be the second most common
      type of ocular injury. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) is
      a valuable tool for the early diagnosis and monitoring the progress of treatment
      in cases of ocular trauma. Herein we aimed to report on a patient with an intra
      corneal foreign body and the role of AS-OCT in management. CASE PRESENTATION: A
      34-year-old male presented with foreign body sensation in his left eye. Slit-lamp
      biomicroscopic examination revealed a peripherally located intrastromally
      embedded foreign body with a free anterior edge extending outwards from the
      cornea. It was not possible to visualize the foreign body's entire route through
      the cornea because of localized corneal edema. AS-OCT showed shadowing of the
      corneal layers corresponding to the location of the corneal foreign body. A hyper
      reflective lesion was observed close to the inside edge of the foreign body in
      the cornea, indicating that the foreign body had not completely penetrated the
      cornea. The foreign body was removed via the external route, as it had not
      completely penetrated the cornea. During the postoperative period the patient was
      asymptomatic, although the left eye's cornea healed with scar tissue. DISCUSSION
      AND EVALUATION: AS-OCT facilitates non-invasive rapid imaging of ocular tissue at
      va rious depths, thereby providing accurate assessment of foreign body
      characteristics.The location of an intracorneal foreign body and the status of
      the surrounding ocular structure dictate the optimal surgical technique to be
      employed. CONCLUSIONS: AS-OCT in the present case facilitated localization and
      determination of the size of a corneal foreign body. In addition, AS-OCT findings
      assisted in selection of the appropriate surgical intervention.

PMID- 27652133
TI  - Intraspecific variations in cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton): assessment of
      genomic diversity by flow cytometry, cytological studies and ISSR analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main goal of the work was to analyse intraspecific variation in
      Elettaria cardamomum Maton (cardamom) using genome size, cytological studies and
      molecular marker data. Nuclear DNA content and molecular marker details furnish
      data on genome size and genetic diversity respectively among the studied
      accessions and both complement each other for evolutionary and taxonomic studies.
      RESULTS: The relative 2C genome size and total number of base pairs of cardamom
      was determined through flow cytometric analysis using propidium iodide staining.
      The nuclear DNA content was estimated in various sections of the species
      representing individuals from wild and cultivar genotypes following Zea mays L.
      CE-777 (2C = 5.43 pg) as internal reference standard. Chromosome number from
      growing root tip was examined following standard protocols. Twenty-six ISSR
      primers that generated polymorphic bands were used for genetic diversity analysis
      of the thirty accessions of cardamom. Estimated nuclear 2C DNA content ranged
      from 2.57 to 3.22 pg demonstrating 1.25-fold variation. The mean amount of 2C
      nuclear DNA of the cardamom was calculated as 2.87 pg which is equivalent of 2806
      Mbp as the diploid genome size. The chromosome number was found to be 2n = 48.
      Among the thirty accessions of cardamom studied using ISSR markers, C53 (feral
      from Bonacaud) showed a very prominent level of genetic diversity and was lowest
      for C96 (Avinash-I, a released variety from Indian Institute of Spices Research,
      Kozhikode). CONCLUSION: These analyses revealed the existence of genetic
      variability within the studied cardamom accessions. The plant specimens also
      differed significantly in their genome size. However, the genetic variability
      parameters did not show any correlation with genome size.

PMID- 27652134
TI  - Right posterior diaphragmatic hernia (Bochdalek) with liver involvement and
      alteration of hepatic outflow in adult: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Posterior right diaphragmatic hernia is rare in newborn patients
      but when present, is accompanied by high mortality. Pulmonary hypoplasia seems to
      be the main cause of death but the presence of liver involvement remains one of
      the reasons for poor prognosis even when intrauterine surgery is performed. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: In this article, we will present a rare case that was diagnosed by
      chance in a 65-year old adult presenting with an adenocarcinoma of the
      rectosigmoid junction and a right Bochdalek hernia with liver herniation and
      modification of the hepatic vein outflow with a natural right to left shunt.
      DISCUSSION: Diaphragmatic repair was performed on the patient with a mash and
      simultaneous colorectal resection. Intraoperatively, the exceptional natural
      modification of the hepatic outflow and alteration of the caval system was
      evident. CONCLUSION: This case report represent an extremely rare anatomic
      variation and could be useful to give new important information on the evolution
      that occur in foetal life.

PMID- 27652135
TI  - The molecular characterization by SSRs reveals a new South Italian kinship and
      the origin of the cultivar Uva di Troia.
AB  - Vitis vinifera L. varieties were spread through cuttings following historic
      migrations of people, trades, or after biological crises due to pests outbreaks.
      Some today's varieties could be more than a 1000 years old and, although over the
      centuries these varieties generated most of the remaining cultivars, their origin
      could be impossible to track back. The Italian grapevine biodiversity is one of
      most important, most likely due to its strategic position in the middle of the
      Mediterranean sea. Unravelling of its structure is challenging because of its
      complexity and the lack of historical documentation. In this paper molecular data
      are compared with historical documentations. Simple Sequence Repeats
      fingerprinting are molecular markers best suited to investigate genetic
      relationships and identify pedigrees. South-Italian germplasm was studied with 54
      nuclear microsatellites. A family was identified, consisting of two parents and
      three siblings and further genetically characterized with six nuclear and five
      chloroplast microsatellites and described with ampelographic and phylometric
      analysis. Although these latter were not informative for the kinship
      identification. The common Bombino bianco was the female parent and the
      previously unknown Uva rosa antica was the male parent. Bombino nero, Impigno and
      the popular Uva di Troia, all typical of the south-east Italy, were the
      offspring. Further research showed that the Uva rosa antica was a synonym of
      Quagliano and Bouteillan noir, both minor varieties. Quagliano was considered to
      be autochthonous of some alpine valleys in the north-west of Italy and Bouteillan
      noir is a neglected variety of Vancluse in France. This finding uncovers the
      intricate nature of Italian grape cultivars, considered peculiar of an area, but
      possibly being the remains of ancient latin founding varieties. Consequently,
      intriguing new hypotheses are discussed and some conclusions are drawn, based on
      the peculiar geographical origin of the parents, on the distribution of the
      offspring, on the chance of a single, and perhaps intentional, crossing event. 

PMID- 27652136
TI  - Distance-based topological polynomials and indices of friendship graphs.
AB  - Drugs and chemical compounds are often modeled as graphs in which the each vertex
      of the graph expresses an atom of molecule and covalent bounds between atoms are
      represented by the edges between their corresponding vertices. The topological
      indicators defined over this molecular graph have been shown to be strongly
      correlated to various chemical properties of the compounds. In this article, by
      means of graph structure analysis, we determine several distance based
      topological indices of friendship graph [Formula: see text] which is widely
      appeared in various classes of new nanomaterials, drugs and chemical compounds. 

PMID- 27652137
TI  - R&D on glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites for superconducting Tokamak.
AB  - The glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites play an important role in
      superconducting Tokamak, which are used to insulate the metal components, such as
      superconducting winding, cooling pipes, metal electrodes and so on. For the
      components made of metal and glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites,
      thermal shrinkage leads to non-ignorable thermal stress, therefore, much
      attention should be paid on the thermal shrinkage rate of glass fiber reinforced
      epoxy resin composites. The structural design of glass fiber reinforced epoxy
      resin composites should aim at reducing thermal stress. In this paper, the
      density, glass fiber content and thermal shrinkage rate of five insulation tubes
      were tested. The testing results will be applied in structural design and
      mechanical analysis of isolators for superconducting Tokamak. 

PMID- 27652138
TI  - Exploring trauma associated appraisals in trauma survivors from collectivistic
      cultures.
AB  - Appraisals are a key feature in understanding an individual's experience; this is
      especially important when the experience is a traumatic one. However, research is
      diminutive when looking at the interaction between trauma appraisals and culture
      in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder using qualitative methodologies.
      This study explored cultural differences in perceptions and appraisals of trauma
      using three qualitative focus groups with community members (n = 11) from
      collectivistic cultures who had experienced a traumatic event and three
      qualitative individual key informant interviews with mental health practitioners
      (n = 3) routinely working with trauma survivors. Using template analysis, eight
      emergent themes were highlighted from the data sets [(1) trauma and adjustment;
      (2) cultural and social roles; (3) traumatised self; (4) relationships; (5)
      external attribution; (6) future; (7) education; (8) language] that potentially
      have significant consequences for posttrauma psychological adjustment and
      recovery. Cumulatively, while a number of themes are similar to that which is
      emphasised in current literature (e.g. damaged self, negative appraisals of the
      world, others, future) a number of themes were also resonant and warrant further
      scrutiny. For instance, the importance and interconnectedness of the group to the
      individual and the impact trauma has on this; the importance of social roles,
      cultural appropriateness and violations of cultural values and norms; findings
      and implications are discussed. 

PMID- 27652139
TI  - Altitudinal patterns of plant diversity on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain,
      southwestern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Understanding altitudinal patterns of biological diversity and their
      underlying mechanisms is critically important for biodiversity conservation in
      mountainous regions. The contribution of area to plant diversity patterns is
      widely acknowledged and may mask the effects of other determinant factors. In
      this context, it is important to examine altitudinal patterns of corrected taxon
      richness by eliminating the area effect. Here we adopt two methods to correct
      observed taxon richness: a power-law relationship between richness and area,
      hereafter "method 1"; and richness counted in equal-area altitudinal bands,
      hereafter "method 2". We compare these two methods on the Jade Dragon Snow
      Mountain, which is the nearest large-scale altitudinal gradient to the Equator in
      the Northern Hemisphere. RESULTS: We find that seed plant species richness, genus
      richness, family richness, and species richness of trees, shrubs, herbs and
      Groups I-III (species with elevational range size <150, between 150 and 500, and
      >500 m, respectively) display distinct hump-shaped patterns along the equal
      elevation altitudinal gradient. The corrected taxon richness based on method 2
      (TRcor2) also shows hump-shaped patterns for all plant groups, while the one
      based on method 1 (TRcor1) does not. As for the abiotic factors influencing the
      patterns, mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and mid-domain
      effect explain a larger part of the variation in TRcor2 than in TRcor1.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, for biodiversity patterns on the Jade Dragon Snow
      Mountain, method 2 preserves the significant influences of abiotic factors to the
      greatest degree while eliminating the area effect. Our results thus reveal that
      although the classical method 1 has earned more attention and approval in
      previous research, method 2 can perform better under certain circumstances. We
      not only confirm the essential contribution of method 1 in community ecology, but
      also highlight the significant role of method 2 in eliminating the area effect,
      and call for more application of method 2 in further macroecological studies.

PMID- 27652140
TI  - Recurrence relations for orthogonal polynomials for PDEs in polar and cylindrical
      geometries.
AB  - This paper introduces two families of orthogonal polynomials on the interval (
      1,1), with weight function [Formula: see text]. The first family satisfies the
      boundary condition [Formula: see text], and the second one satisfies the boundary
      conditions [Formula: see text]. These boundary conditions arise naturally from
      PDEs defined on a disk with Dirichlet boundary conditions and the requirement of
      regularity in Cartesian coordinates. The families of orthogonal polynomials are
      obtained by orthogonalizing short linear combinations of Legendre polynomials
      that satisfy the same boundary conditions. Then, the three-term recurrence
      relations are derived. Finally, it is shown that from these recurrence relations,
      one can efficiently compute the corresponding recurrences for generalized Jacobi
      polynomials that satisfy the same boundary conditions. 

PMID- 27652141
TI  - The effect of long-term amiodarone administration on myocardial fibrosis and
      evolution of left ventricular remodeling in a porcine model of ischemic
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Amiodarone is effective in suppressing arrhythmias in heart failure patients. We
      investigated the effect of long-term amiodarone administration on myocardial
      fibrosis and left ventricular (LV) remodeling in a porcine model of ischemic
      cardiomyopathy. Eighteen infarcted farm pigs were randomized to receive long-term
      amiodarone administration for 3 months (n = 9) or conventional follow-up (n = 9).
      Evolution of LV remodeling over 3 months post-myocardial infarction was examined
      at tissue level (myocyte size, myocardial fibrosis and vascular density assessed
      by whole-field digital histopathology), organ level (LV structure and function
      assessed by echocardiography), and systemic level (BNP and MMP-9 levels). Long
      term administration of the standard anti-arrhythmic doses of amiodarone was not
      associated with adverse effects on myocardial fibrosis and other features of
      adverse cardiac remodeling. This favorable safety profile suggests that long-term
      anti-arrhythmic therapy with amiodarone warrants further clinical investigation
      in the subpopulation of heart failure patients with significantly increased
      burden of arrhythmias. 

PMID- 27652142
TI  - Daclatasvir combined with peginterferon-alpha and ribavirin for the treatment of
      chronic hepatitis C: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Daclatasvir, a HCV NS5A inhibitor, is a new direct-acting antiviral drug for
      chronic hepatitis C (CHC). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety
      of daclatasvir combined with peginterferon-alpha (pegIFN-alpha) and ribavirin
      (RBV) for the treatment of CHC. The databases of PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANE,
      WANFANG, and CNKI were retrieved to identify eligible studies. Pooled risk ratio
      (RR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated using random or fixed
      models. A total of six RCTs including 1100 adult patients with CHC met the
      inclusion criteria and the patients were infected with HCV genotype 1-4, with the
      genotype 1 infection accounting for 73.1 %. Meta-analysis showed daclatasvir
      based combination therapy yielded a significantly higher probability of achieving
      the overall RVR (46.43 vs. 18.97 %) with pooled RR of 3.77 (95 % CI 1.95-7.28, p
      < 0.0001) and a slightly higher probability of achieving the overall SVR24 (65.08
      vs. 47.77 %) with pooled RR of 1.41 (95 % CI 1.18-1.68, p < 0.0001), and did not
      show increased adverse events compared with the pegIFN-alpha/RBV regimen (control
      group). Subgroup analysis showed the rate of RVR and SVR24 in high-dose
      daclatasvir (60 mg/day) group were slightly higher than the overall results; the
      rate of RVR in low-dose daclatasvir (10 mg/day) group was also higher than the
      control group, but its SVR24 rate was similar between the two groups. Daclatasvir
      combined with pegIFN-alpha/RBV is effective and safe in treating adult patients
      with CHC, especially HCV genotype 1 infection, and daclatasvir (60 mg/day) is a
      better choice as compared with daclatasvir (10 mg/day). 

PMID- 27652143
TI  - Economic returns in forming stable R&D networks.
AB  - The aim of this paper is to study the individual and social benefits behind
      constructing stable R&D networks. We find that the equilibrium outcomes of a
      stable network are related to the number of competitors. As they increase, the
      individual outcomes and the total welfare decrease. This implies that in the
      individual and social perspectives, small stable networks are more desirable than
      the large ones. Furthermore, when comparing the stability of the components of a
      network with a complete network, we conclude two main observations. The first
      observation shows that the stability of the components of a network does not
      necessarily guarantee a stable overall network. The second observation suggests
      that firms prefer to be part of a complete network rather than part of a stable
      component of a network. This preference depends on the profit of firms where it
      is maximized when firms are belong to the complete network. 

PMID- 27652144
TI  - Gain enhancement for wideband end-fire antenna design with artificial material.
AB  - Gain enhancement wideband end-fire antenna is proposed in this paper. The
      proposed antenna can achieve gain enhancement by loading novel artificial
      materials structures (Split-ring Resonators) in the end-fire direction while
      broad bandwidth is realized by using elliptic dipole elements and a microstrip to
      coplanar balun. The measurements show that the proposed antenna have around 5-8
      dB gain in the working band (5-11 GHz), which is around 2 dB more than the
      unloaded one. This antenna can be used in target recognition systems for its
      advantages of end-fire radiation broad bandwidth and high gain. 

PMID- 27652145
TI  - The use of vanishing spray reduces the extent of rule violations in soccer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More and more sport associations introduce innovative devices to
      support referees and umpires respectively, affecting a strong need for the
      evaluation of these devices. This study evaluates the use of the new vanishing
      spray for free kicks in the German Bundesliga. In more detail, the aim of the
      study is to investigate if the spray reduces violations of the required minimum
      distance and consequently the respective punishments, if it reduces errors
      concerning the distance set by the referee and if it leads to a higher success
      rate of free kicks. METHODS: Therefore, 1833 free kicks of the 2013/2014 and
      2014/2015 season of the German Bundesliga were screened using a self-designed
      observational system. For the statistical analysis two parallel samples were
      built of 299 free kicks each. RESULTS: The results showed no decrease of free
      kicks with distance violations but a significantly lower extent of these
      violations (chi(2) = 4.58; p < .05). However, none of these violations were
      punished appropriately. Concerning the success of free kicks, no significant
      impact was found neither for shots nor for crosses. In addition, no influence on
      the distance set by the referee could be identified. CONCLUSIONS: The main
      objective of the vanishing spray was basically realized, but the use didn't lead
      to any further positive (side) effects. Due to the lack of punishment, the
      authors raise concerns about the current application of the minimum distance
      rule.

PMID- 27652146
TI  - Fluid-structure interaction analysis of the drop impact test for helicopter fuel
      tank.
AB  - The crashworthiness of helicopter fuel tank is vital to the survivability of the
      passengers and structures. In order to understand and improve the crashworthiness
      of the soft fuel tank of helicopter during the crash, this paper investigated the
      dynamic behavior of the nylon woven fabric composite fuel tank striking on the
      ground. A fluid-structure interaction finite element model of the fuel tank based
      on the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method was constructed to elucidate the
      dynamic failure behavior. The drop impact tests were conducted to validate the
      accuracy of the numerical simulation. Good agreement was achieved between the
      experimental and numerical results of the impact force with the ground. The
      influences of the impact velocity, the impact angle, the thickness of the fuel
      tank wall and the volume fraction of water on the dynamic responses of the
      dropped fuel tank were studied. The results indicated that the corner of the fuel
      tank is the most vulnerable location during the impact with ground. 

PMID- 27652148
TI  - Dysfunctional pulmonary artery conduit and co-existing large pseudoaneurysm: well
      suited for a percutaneous approach with the Melody valve?
AB  - Pseudoaneurysm formation is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication
      after surgical repair of congenital heart disease. We present a boy with truncus
      arteriosus communis 14 years after homograft placement in pulmonary position. On
      follow-up, he presented progressive chronic homograft degeneration. Moreover, a
      large pseudoaneurysm in the right ventricular outflow tract was surprisingly
      depicted. We opted for a two-stage interventional approach. 

PMID- 27652147
TI  - Crop management as a driving force of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria
      physiology.
AB  - Crop management systems influence plant productivity and nutrient use efficiency,
      as well as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), which are known to
      influence the growth of plants via phytohormone production, phosphate
      solubilization, nitrogen (N) fixation and antimicrobial activity. The objective
      of this study was to compare the influence of two crop management system on
      microbial PGPR features. PGPR isolated from the rhizospheres of Carica papaya L.
      grown under two distinct management systems (conventional and organic) were
      identified and characterized. The 12 strains most efficient in solubilizing
      inorganic phosphate belonged to the genera Burkholderia, Klebsiella, and
      Leclercia. N fixation was observed in the strains B. vietnamiensis from the
      conventional farming system and B. vietnamiensis, B. cepacia and Leclercia sp.
      from the organic farming system. The B. vietnamiensis, B. cepacia, Klebsiella sp.
      and Klebsiella sp. isolates showed antifungal activity, while Leclercia sp. did
      not. The strains B. vietnamiensis and Enterobcter sp. (isolated from the
      conventional farming system) and Klebsiella sp. (isolated from the organic
      farming system) were efficient at solubilizing phosphate, producing phytohormones
      and siderophores, and inhibiting the mycelial growth of various phytopathogenic
      fungi (Botrytis cinerea, Pestalotia sp., Alternaria sp., Phoma sp., Fusarium
      culmorum, Geotrichum candidum). Physiological differences between the isolates
      from the two crop management regimes were distinguishable after 10 years of
      distinct management. 

PMID- 27652149
TI  - Self-perceived health and quality of life among Azorean deportees: a cross
      sectional descriptive study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immigration policies can cause significant public health
      consequences, posing detrimental social and health effects for migrants, their
      families and communities. Migrants often face obstacles to health due to access,
      discrimination, language and cultural barriers, legal status, economic
      difficulties, social isolation, and fear of deportation. The process of
      deportation has become more rapid and frequent in the U.S. with inadequate health
      information in the literature regarding this relocated population post
      deportation. The PROMIS((r)) Global Health Short Form was used to measure the
      self-reported QOL, physical and mental health of male deportees from the US to
      Portugal from 2009 to 2013. FINDINGS: Twenty five males aged 28-64 years who had
      been deported from the US to Portugal participated in the study. Overall, their
      EuroQol, Global Physical Health and Global Mental Health Scores were below the
      established tool mean, with self-reported mental health having the lowest score.
      Age, marital status, length of time in the US prior to deportation, and length of
      time since deportation may impact the well-being of deportees post deportation.
      CONCLUSIONS: Study results suggest the deportees in this study were less healthy
      than the general population. Future research and tailored initiatives regarding
      the overall health of deportees, with a focus on quality of life and mental
      health should be conducted to better understand their impact on reintegration.
      Overall study scores were lower than mean tool scores indicating the need for
      more research in this vulnerable group to support clinical practice and health
      policy to improve their overall QOL and health through intervention work.

PMID- 27652150
TI  - An empirical research on customer satisfaction study: a consideration of
      different levels of performance.
AB  - Customer satisfaction is the key factor for successful and depends highly on the
      behaviors of frontline service providers. Customers should be managed as assets,
      and that customers vary in their needs, preferences, and buying behavior. This
      study applied the Taiwan Customer Satisfaction Index model to a tourism factory
      to analyze customer satisfaction and loyalty. We surveyed 242 customers served by
      one tourism factory organizations in Taiwan. A partial least squares was
      performed to analyze and test the theoretical model. The results show that
      perceived quality had the greatest influence on the customer satisfaction for
      satisfied and dissatisfied customers. In addition, in terms of customer loyalty,
      the customer satisfaction is more important than image for satisfied and
      dissatisfied customers. The contribution of this paper is to propose two
      satisfaction levels of CSI models for analyzing customer satisfaction and
      loyalty, thereby helping tourism factory managers improve customer satisfaction
      effectively. Compared with traditional techniques, we believe that our method is
      more appropriate for making decisions about allocating resources and for
      assisting managers in establishing appropriate priorities in customer
      satisfaction management. 

PMID- 27652151
TI  - Low sensitivity of needle aspiration cultures in patients with
      cellulitis/erysipelas.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cellulitis is normally treated without knowledge of the responsible
      pathogen. Blood cultures are positive in about 2-4 %, and superficial swabs are
      of no value. Needle aspiration has been proposed with identifying the likely
      pathogen in up to 29 %, but these studies are of older date and the technique is
      not widely used. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated the sensitivity of needle
      aspiration cultures in all patients with erysipelas/cellulitis. Diagnosis was
      made clinically by the treating physician. Needle aspiration was done with a 1 ml
      syringe and a 26G needle. The needle was removed and the syringe brought to the
      microbiological laboratory and analysed according to standard procedures.
      RESULTS: 95 Patients were seen during a period of 22 month. 4 Patients were
      excluded, as diagnosis was not confirmed. Cellulitis was present in 10/91 and
      erysipelas in 81/91 patients. In the first 25 patients with needle aspiration
      from the margin, none was positive. In 8/66 (12 %) patients where needle
      aspiration was done at the site of maximum inflammation, the pathogen was
      identified. 4/8 Cultures were positive for S. aureus, 2/8 for streptococci and
      2/8 for other bacteria. In 11/66 (16.6 %) patients, skin colonisation flora was
      detected. In the subgroup of patients without prior antibiotic treatment and
      needle aspiration from the site of maximum inflammation, sensitivity was slightly
      better 8/55 (14.5 %; 95 % CI 7.5-25.8 %). CONCLUSIONS: Needle aspiration culture
      had a low sensitivity for detecting responsible pathogen in patients with
      cellulitis/erysipelas. No impact in antibiotic treatment could be observed.

PMID- 27652152
TI  - The relationship between high residential density in student dormitories and
      anxiety, binge eating and Internet addiction: a study of Chinese college
      students.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although various studies have indicated that high residential density
      may affect health and psychological outcomes, to our knowledge, there have been
      no studies regarding the predictive nature of crowded living conditions on binge
      eating and the use of the Internet as coping strategies. METHODS: A total of 1048
      Chinese college students (540 males and 508 females) were randomly selected and
      asked to complete a battery of questionnaires that included the Zung's Self
      Rating Anxiety Scale, the Internet Addiction Test, and Rosenbaum's Self-Control
      Scale. Binge eating behaviors and compensatory behaviors were also reported, and
      variables about residential density were measured. RESULTS: Among female
      participants, binge eating scores were significantly predicted by anxiety caused
      by high-density living conditions (P = 0.008), and similarly, the frequency of
      compensatory behaviors was significantly predicted by anxiety caused by high
      density living conditions (P = 0.000) and self-control (P = 0.003). Furthermore,
      the Internet Addiction Test scores were significantly predicted by the anxiety
      caused by high -density living conditions (P = 0.000) and self-control (P =
      0.000). Among male participants, not only were the binge eating scores
      significantly predicted by the anxiety caused by high-density living conditions
      (P = 0.000) and self-control (P = 0.000), but the frequency of compensatory
      behaviors was also significantly predicted by the anxiety caused by high-density
      living conditions (P = 0.000) and self-control (P = 0.01). Furthermore, Internet
      Addiction Test scores were significantly predicted by anxiety caused by high
      density living conditions (P = 0.000) and self-control (P = 0.000). It was
      further found that for both genders, subjective factors such as self-control, and
      the anxiety caused by high-density living conditions had a stronger impact on
      Internet addiction than objective factors, such as the size of the student's
      dormitory room. Moreover, self-control was found to act as a moderator in the
      relationship between anxiety and Internet addiction among male participants.
      CONCLUSION: Binge eating and Internet use could be considered coping strategies
      for Chinese college students facing high residential density in their
      dormitories.

PMID- 27652153
TI  - Feature selection using angle modulated simulated Kalman filter for peak
      classification of EEG signals.
AB  - In the existing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals peak classification research,
      the existing models, such as Dumpala, Acir, Liu, and Dingle peak models, employ
      different set of features. However, all these models may not be able to offer
      good performance for various applications and it is found to be problem
      dependent. Therefore, the objective of this study is to combine all the
      associated features from the existing models before selecting the best
      combination of features. A new optimization algorithm, namely as angle modulated
      simulated Kalman filter (AMSKF) will be employed as feature selector. Also, the
      neural network random weight method is utilized in the proposed AMSKF technique
      as a classifier. In the conducted experiment, 11,781 samples of peak candidate
      are employed in this study for the validation purpose. The samples are collected
      from three different peak event-related EEG signals of 30 healthy subjects; (1)
      single eye blink, (2) double eye blink, and (3) eye movement signals. The
      experimental results have shown that the proposed AMSKF feature selector is able
      to find the best combination of features and performs at par with the existing
      related studies of epileptic EEG events classification. 

PMID- 27652154
TI  - Design and application of a CA-BDI model to determine farmers' land-use behavior.
AB  - The belief-desire-intention (BDI) model has been widely used to construct
      reasoning systems for complex tasks in dynamic environments. We have designed a
      capabilities and abilities (CA)-BDI farmer decision-making model, which is an
      extension of the BDI architecture and includes internal representations for
      farmer household Capabilities and Abilities. This model is used to explore farmer
      learning mechanisms and to simulate the bounded rational decisions made by farmer
      households. Our case study focuses on the Gaoqu Commune of Mizhi County, Shaanxi
      Province, China, where scallion is one of the main cash crops. After comparing
      the differences between actual land-use changes from 2007 to 2009 and the
      simulation results, we analyze the validity of the model and discuss the
      potential and limitations of the farmer land-use decision-making model under
      three scenarios. Based on the design and implementation of the model, the
      following conclusions can be drawn: (1) the CA-BDI framework is an appropriate
      model for exploring learning mechanisms and simulating bounded rational
      decisions; and (2) local governments should encourage scallion planting by
      assisting scallion farmer cooperatives and farmers to understand the market risk,
      standardize the rules of their cooperation, and supervise the contracts made
      between scallion cooperatives and farmers. 

PMID- 27652155
TI  - Imatinib could be a new strategy for pulmonary hypertension caused by pulmonary
      tumor thrombotic microangiopathy in metastatic breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is rare, cancer
      related pulmonary complication leading to hypoxia, pulmonary hypertension, and
      heart failure. The standard treatment for PTTM is not established. However,
      imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of the PDGF receptor, may cause regression
      of pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary artery remodeling in PTTM. CASE
      DESCRIPTIONS: We report two cases of PTTM who received an anti-PDGF agent of
      imatinib for PTTM developed during chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.
      Case 1: 61-year-old woman who underwent resection of the left breast and axillary
      lymph node dissection and received adjuvant chemotherapy (CAF followed by
      docetaxel), then endocrine therapy for 5 years. Twelve years after surgery,
      multiple bone and mediastinal lymph node metastases occurred. She was under
      treatment with eribulin for one year but admitted because of rapid progressing
      dyspnea. Case 2: 45-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer in multiple
      bones was under treatment for 5 years. Receiving capecitabine, she suffered from
      dyspnea for 2 months, she was admitted to our hospital with diagnosis of severe
      hypoxia. In both cases, the wedged pulmonary arterial blood cell sampling
      revealed cytologically malignant cells which confirmed the diagnosis of PTTM.
      They were treated with imatinib, which alleviated pulmonary hypertension.
      However, they died due to progression of metastatic breast cancer. DISCUSSION AND
      EVALUATION: Single use of imatinib did not showed sufficient efficacy. It is
      necessary to conduct a well-designed clinical trial using chemotherapies combined
      with imatinib for PTTM. CONCLUSIONS: Imatinib, which alleviated pulmonary
      hypertension, could be a new strategy for pulmonary tumor thrombotic
      microangiopathy in patient with metastatic breast cancer.

PMID- 27652156
TI  - Pediatric coronary artery fistula: echocardiographic case reports and literature
      review of treatment strategy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare cardiac anomaly. Application
      of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is not fully illustrated in pediatric
      period. Meanwhile, the treatment strategy of CAF is still a controversial issue.
      CASE PRESENTATION: Five cases of CAF with different types were presented. We also
      retrospectively reviewed 32 records of CAF in our institution from May 2001 to
      January 2015, including cardiac murmurs, symptoms, TTE diagnoses, complications,
      other anomalies, treatment and outcome. We summarized the most acceptable
      treatment strategy for pediatric patients. 71.9 % of all (23/32) had murmurs,
      15.6 % of all (5/32) had symptoms. 24 patients received surgery or other imaging
      examination after TTE. 87.5 % of all (21/24) were correctly and accurately
      diagnosed by echocardiography, including pointing out the origin and outlet of
      CAF and complication. During the followup of all 32 patients, there was no
      spontaneous closure, heart failure, infective endocarditis or death case.
      CONCLUSIONS: TTE is a useful method that should be considered in the
      investigation and follow up of pediatric coronary artery fistula. The treatment
      strategy for pediatric patients should be individuation.

PMID- 27652157
TI  - Design of a stable cell line producing a recombinant monoclonal anti-TNFalpha
      antibody based on a CHO cell line.
AB  - Recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against tumor necrosis factor alpha are
      widely used in the biopharmaceutical therapy of autoimmune diseases. Currently, a
      large number of drugs based on these antibodies are available. Accordingly, the
      development of these products for the Russian market is an important goal. The
      aim of the current study is to describe the development of one such technology.
      CHO-DG44-derived cell lines producing mAb were developed using two strategies,
      one based on individual clones and the other based on cell pools. To obtain
      recombinant cell lines with highly amplified genes of interest, the clones
      underwent dihydrofolate reductase-mediated gene amplification. Using the best
      strategy for the selection and amplification of mAb-producing clones, we achieved
      the production of more than 1 g/L in small scale, non-optimized conditions. 

PMID- 27652158
TI  - A very interesting traditional method in the treatment of skin lesions: aqua
      regia and related complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aqua regia, a highly corrosive mixture of concentrated nitric acid
      and hydrochloric acid, is used to dissolve various metals such as gold and
      platinum that are not soluble in other types of acids. For the first time in the
      literature, we report the adverse effects that were observed following the
      utilization of this strong acid solution in the treatment of various skin
      lesions. METHODS: Between 2010 and 2013, 43 patients (55.8 % female) with a mean
      age of 40.2 years, were admitted to our hospital for scars, wounds or malign
      lesions related to the use of aqua regia on skin lesions. Sixteen patients
      reported to use aqua regia for treating wounds and 27 of them used it for their
      scars. RESULTS: Out of 43 patients, 9 patients developed necrosis, 12 had
      hypertrophic scars, 15 had scars and 7 had non-healing wounds resembling
      malignant lesions. The non-healing wounds were located in the facial region in
      five patients, in the cervical region in one and on the finger-tip in another.
      Histopathological examination of these non-healing wounds revealed basal and
      squamous cell carcinoma. The patients were admitted to the plastic surgery
      department approximately 6-24 months after aqua regia application with complaints
      of growing lesions. Secondary healing in the lesions with scar development in 55
      % of the patients is an acceptable result. However, 27 % of the patients with
      hypertrophic scars and 16 % of the patients with malignant lesions required
      intervention. CONCLUSION: This present study showed that non-medical alternative
      treatments have major risks. Aqua regia application might have resulted in the
      development or rapid progression of malignant tumours in seven patients. In the
      literature, it has been reported that a number of physical traumas may cause skin
      cancer. Based on this information, the possibility of such an effect of aqua
      regia cannot be excluded.

PMID- 27652159
TI  - Prevalence of amebiasis in inflammatory bowel disease in University Clinical
      Hospital Mostar.
AB  - AIM: To explore the prevalence of amebiasis in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD),
      Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, in patients in Clinical hospital Mostar
      (Bosnia and Herzegovina, region of Herzegovina). METHODS: In this study,
      Entamoeba histolytica/dispar prevalence was investigated in fresh faeces by
      native microscopy and immunochromatographic rapid assay "RIDA((r))QUICK Entamoeba
      test", in 119 cases of new found IBD patients, 84 of ulcerative colitis and 35 of
      Crohn's disease and in control group who had also 119 patients who didn't have
      any gastrointestinal complaints. IBD diagnosis was established by standard
      diagnostic procedures (anamnesis, clinical manifestations, laboratory, endoscopy
      and biopsy). RESULTS: Entamoeba histolytica/dispar were found in 19 (16.0 %) of a
      total of 119 cases, 12 (14.3 %) of the 84 patients with ulcerative colitis and 7
      (20.0 %) of the 35 patients with Crohn's disease. As for the 119 patients in the
      control group who had not any gastrointestinal complaints, 2 (1.7 %) patients
      were found to have E. histolytica/dispar in their faeces. Amoeba prevalence in
      the patient group was determined to be significantly higher in group with Crohn's
      disease, ulcerative colitis and IBD total than in the control group (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Ameba infections in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative
      colitis, have a greater prevalence compared to the normal population.

PMID- 27652160
TI  - Analysis of sea use landscape pattern based on GIS: a case study in Huludao,
      China.
AB  - This study aims to analyse sea use landscape patterns on a regional scale based
      on methods of landscape ecology integrated with sea use spatial characteristics.
      Several landscape-level analysis indices, such as the dominance index, complex
      index, intensivity index, diversity index and sea congruency index, were
      established using Geographic Information System (GIS) and applied in Huludao,
      China. The results indicated that sea use landscape analysis indices, which were
      created based on the characteristics of sea use spatial patterns using GIS, are
      suitable to quantitatively describe the landscape patterns of sea use. They are
      operable tools for the landscape analysis of sea use. The sea use landscape in
      Huludao was dominated by fishing use with a landscape dominance index of 0.724.
      The sea use landscape is a complex mosaic with high diversity and plenty of
      fishing areas, as shown by the landscape complex index of 27.21 and the landscape
      diversity index of 1.25. Most sea use patches correspond to the marine functional
      zonation plan and the sea use congruency index is 0.89 in the fishing zone and
      0.92 in the transportation zone. 

PMID- 27652162
TI  - A dynamic novel approach for bid/no-bid decision-making.
AB  - The process of bid/no-bid decision-making is su bjected to uncertainty and
      influence of complex criteria. This paper proposed an application of the
      integration of rough sets (RS) and improved general regression neural network
      (GRNN) based on niche particle swarm optimization (NPSO) algorithm for tendering
      decision making. The decision table of RS and the attribution reduction was
      processed by MIBARK algorithm to simply the samples of GRNN. In order to improve
      the general regression neural network (GRNN) network performance, the niche
      particle swarm optimization (NPSO) was used to optimize the spread parameter
      sigma of GRNN neural network, then a novel Bid/no-bid decision model was
      established based on RS and NPSO-GRNN neural network algorithm. The applicability
      of the proposed model was tested using real cases in Beijing. The results
      indicate that NPSO-GRNN algorithm has an advantage such as in prediction accuracy
      and generalization ability. The proposed decision support system approach is
      useful to help manager to make better Bid/no-bid decisions in uncertain
      construction markets, so they can take steps to prevent bid distress. 

PMID- 27652161
TI  - Epidemiological and clinical aspects of ulcerative colitis in west of Iran: a
      cross sectional study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: One of the forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes
      inflammation and ulcers in colon is ulcerative colitis (UC). This study was aimed
      to determine the epidemiological and clinical aspects of patients with ulcerative
      colitis in the west of Iran. METHODS: In this cross sectional study, we evaluated
      150 patients with definite diagnosis of UC who referred to a subspecialty
      gastroenterology clinic in Khorramabad, Iran. The study was performed from May
      2014 to August 2015 by using census method. Demographic characteristics as well
      as patients' clinical profiles were extracted using a checklist. Disease severity
      was determined by the Truelove and Witt's classification of ulcerative colitis
      (UC). Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 17 for windows (IBM Inc.,
      NY, US). RESULTS: A total of 150 patients with definite diagnosis of UC were
      analyzed, including 84 (56 %) women and 66 (44 %) men (male/female ratio = 1.27).
      The mean age of patients was 33.7 +/- 12.5 years with an age range of 17-98
      years. The age of the majority of patients was 20-29 and most of them (56 %) were
      women and living in urban areas (70.7 %). The most common site of the involvement
      in colon was rectosigmoid (66 patients, 44 %). Severity of the disease was mild
      in 36 patients (24.1 %), moderate and severe in 74 and 40 patients (49.3 and 26.6
      %), respectively. The most common clinical manifestation of the patients was
      dysentery (68 %) and then rectorrhagia (60 %). Only 12 of all patients (7.8 %)
      mentioned a positive family history of IBD in their first degree kinfolks. Ten
      patients (6.7 %) had a history of regular smoking and four of them (2.6 %)
      mentioned a history of appendectomy. Four patients (5.3 %) had a positive history
      of smoking by their mothers during their pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The results of
      this study demonstrate differences and similarities in demographic and clinical
      characteristics of UC in this part of Iran in comparison to other parts of the
      country.

PMID- 27652163
TI  - Enhancing mathematics teachers' quality through Lesson Study.
AB  - The efficiency and effectivity of the learning experience is dependent on the
      teacher quality, thus, enhancing teacher's quality is vital in improving the
      students learning outcome. Since, the usual top-down one-shot cascading model
      practice for teachers' professional development in Philippines has been observed
      to have much information dilution, and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education
      Organization demanded the need to develop mathematics teachers' quality standards
      through the Southeast Asia Regional Standards for Mathematics Teachers (SEARS
      MT), thus, an intensive, ongoing professional development model should be
      provided to teachers. This study was undertaken to determine the impact of Lesson
      Study on Bulua National High School mathematics teachers' quality level in terms
      of SEARS-MT dimensions. A mixed method of quantitative-qualitative research
      design was employed. Results of the analysis revealed that Lesson Study
      effectively enhanced mathematics teachers' quality and promoted teachers
      professional development. Teachers positively perceived Lesson Study to be
      beneficial for them to become a better mathematics teacher. 

PMID- 27652164
TI  - Identifying attachment ruptures underlying severe music performance anxiety in a
      professional musician undertaking an assessment and trial therapy of Intensive
      Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Kenny has proposed that severe music performance anxiety that is
      unresponsive to usual treatments such as cognitive-behaviour therapy may be one
      manifestation of unresolved attachment ruptures in early life. Intensive Short
      Term Dynamic Psychotherapy specifically targets early relationship trauma.
      Accordingly, a trial of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy with severely
      anxious musicians was implemented to assess whether resolution of attachment
      ruptures resulted in clinically significant relief from music performance
      anxiety. METHODS: Volunteer musicians participating in a nationally funded study
      were screened for MPA severity. Those meeting the critical cut-off score on the
      Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory were offered a trial of Intensive Short
      Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. In this paper, we present the theoretical foundations
      and rationale for the treatment approach, followed by sections of a verbatim
      transcript and process analysis of the assessment phase of treatment that
      comprised a 3-h trial therapy session. CASE DESCRIPTION: The 'case' was a
      professional orchestral musician (male, aged 55) who had suffered severe music
      performance anxiety over the course of his entire career, which spanned more than
      30 years at the time he presented for treatment following his failure to secure a
      position at audition. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: The participant was able to
      access the pain, rage and grief associated with unresolved attachment ruptures
      with both parents that demonstrated the likely nexus between early attachment
      trauma and severe music performance anxiety. CONCLUSION: Intensive Short-Term
      Dynamic Psychotherapy is a potentially cost-effective treatment for severe music
      performance anxiety. Further research using designs with higher levels of
      evidence are required before clinical recommendations can be made for the use of
      this therapy with this population.

PMID- 27652165
TI  - Integrating climate-smart rice agriculture into secondary-level curriculum:
      lessons from three high schools in the Philippines.
AB  - Climate change (CC) is an urgent and highly relevant topic that must be
      integrated into the school curriculum. Literature on CC integration, however, is
      scarce, let alone literature on integrating climate-smart rice agriculture
      (CSRA). Bringing CSRA lessons into the classroom means the chance is higher that
      climate-smart technologies on rice will reach even the most far-flung areas of
      the Philippines, which stand to be among the most vulnerable as regards the
      negative impacts of CC. This paper shares experiences drawn from three high
      schools in the Philippines on integrating CSRA into their curriculum. The
      research centers on appropriate teaching tools/strategies, push and exogenous
      factors in CSRA integration, and the types of information that are likely to be
      shared by the students with their farmer-parents or other farmers in their
      communities. Surveys among participating students (n = 155) and three focus group
      discussions among key school officials were conducted. Different teaching methods
      and/or tools were found to be generally useful in various contexts. Photos and
      videos, however, emerged as the most effective tools across sites. The livelihood
      source of the students does have a bearing on the complexity of messages that
      they can convey. Students from rice-farming households can competently discuss
      even highly complex adaptation and mitigation information with their farmer
      parents or other farmers. Thorough message-framing is necessary to maximize
      student involvement as well as to increase production of education-entertainment
      (edutainment) materials to be utilized in teaching. This study, in general,
      contributes to CC education by bringing in best-fit practices in teaching tools
      and strategies to mobilize students to act on urgent matters relating to the
      impacts of CC. It also advises on considering exogenous factors that might affect
      CC education by taking into account those that are equally capable of shaping
      students' perception and knowledge. 

PMID- 27652166
TI  - Hybrid Pareto artificial bee colony algorithm for multi-objective single machine
      group scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times and learning
      effects.
AB  - Group scheduling is significant for efficient and cost effective production
      system. However, there exist setup times between the groups, which require to
      decrease it by sequencing groups in an efficient way. Current research is focused
      on a sequence dependent group scheduling problem with an aim to minimize the
      makespan in addition to minimize the total weighted tardiness simultaneously. In
      most of the production scheduling problems, the processing time of jobs is
      assumed as fixed. However, the actual processing time of jobs may be reduced due
      to "learning effect". The integration of sequence dependent group scheduling
      problem with learning effects has been rarely considered in literature.
      Therefore, current research considers a single machine group scheduling problem
      with sequence dependent setup times and learning effects simultaneously. A novel
      hybrid Pareto artificial bee colony algorithm (HPABC) with some steps of genetic
      algorithm is proposed for current problem to get Pareto solutions. Furthermore,
      five different sizes of test problems (small, small medium, medium, large medium,
      large) are tested using proposed HPABC. Taguchi method is used to tune the
      effective parameters of the proposed HPABC for each problem category. The
      performance of HPABC is compared with three famous multi objective optimization
      algorithms, improved strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2), non
      dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGAII) and particle swarm optimization
      algorithm (PSO). Results indicate that HPABC outperforms SPEA2, NSGAII and PSO
      and gives better Pareto optimal solutions in terms of diversity and quality for
      almost all the instances of the different sizes of problems. 

PMID- 27652167
TI  - Atmospheric phase screen correction in ground-based SAR with PS technique.
AB  - Ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GBSAR) is a powerful tool used in
      monitoring structures, such as bridges and dams. However, despite the extremely
      short range of GBSAR interferometry, the atmosphere effects cannot be neglected.
      The permanent scatterer technique is an effective operational tool that utilizes
      a long series of SAR data and detects information with high accuracy. An
      algorithm based on the permanent scatterer technique is developed in accordance
      with the phase model used in GBSAR interferometry. In this study, atmospheric
      correction is carried out on a real campaign (Geheyan Dam, China). The atmosphere
      effects created using this method, which utilizes SAR data, can be reduced
      effectively compared to when plumb line data are used. 

PMID- 27652168
TI  - Servant leadership and employee voice behavior: a cross-level investigation in
      China.
AB  - This study tested the influence and mechanisms of servant leadership on voice
      behavior, including the mediating role of psychological safety, and the
      moderating role of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi. Data were collected from 430
      civil servants and their immediate supervisors in Changsha, China. Cross-Level
      investigation revealed that servant leadership had a significant influence on
      voice behavior, psychological safety mediated the relationship between servant
      leadership and voice behavior, while supervisor-subordinate Guanxi negatively
      moderated the relationship between servant leadership and voice behavior. 

PMID- 27652170
TI  - The derivative-free Fourier shell identity for photoacoustics.
AB  - In X-ray tomography, the Fourier slice theorem provides a relationship between
      the Fourier components of the object being imaged and the measured projection
      data. The Fourier slice theorem is the basis for X-ray Fourier-based tomographic
      inversion techniques. A similar relationship, referred to as the 'Fourier shell
      identity' has been previously derived for photoacoustic applications. However,
      this identity relates the pressure wavefield data function and its normal
      derivative measured on an arbitrary enclosing aperture to the three-dimensional
      Fourier transform of the enclosed object evaluated on a sphere. Since the normal
      derivative of pressure is not normally measured, the applicability of the
      formulation is limited in this form. In this paper, alternative derivations of
      the Fourier shell identity in 1D, 2D polar and 3D spherical polar coordinates are
      presented. The presented formulations do not require the normal derivative of
      pressure, thereby lending the formulas directly adaptable for Fourier based
      absorber reconstructions. 

PMID- 27652169
TI  - Microbial nitrification in throughfall of a Japanese cedar associated with
      archaea from the tree canopy.
AB  - To investigate the nitrification potential of phyllospheric microbes, we
      incubated throughfall samples collected under the canopies of Japanese cedar
      (Cryptomeria japonica) and analyzed the transformation of inorganic nitrogen in
      the samples. Nitrate concentration increased in the unfiltered throughfall after
      4 weeks of incubation, but remained nearly constant in the filtered samples (pore
      size: 0.2 and 0.4 um). In the unfiltered samples, delta(18)O and delta(15)N
      values of nitrate decreased during incubation. In addition, archaeal ammonia
      monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) genes, which participate in the oxidation of
      ammonia, were found in the throughfall samples, although betaproteobacterial amoA
      genes were not detected. The amoA genes recovered from the leaf surface of C.
      japonica were also from archaea. Conversely, nitrate production, decreased
      isotope ratios of nitrate, and the presence of amoA genes was not observed in
      rainfall samples collected from an open area. Thus, the microbial nitrification
      that occurred in the incubated throughfall is likely due to ammonia-oxidizing
      archaea that were washed off the tree canopy by precipitation. 

PMID- 27652171
TI  - Double-balloon endoscopy WAS effective in diagnosing small intestinal
      duplication: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ileal duplications are encountered infrequently in adults, because
      symptoms including abdominal pain, intussusception, hemorrhage, and perforation
      usually present in early childhood. In this report, we present an adult case of
      ileal duplication that was revealed by double-balloon endoscopy (DBE). CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A 73-year-old Japanese man presented with anemia and melena. Anal
      DBE detected the narrow opening of an extra lumen in the ileum about 100 cm
      proximal to the ileocecal valve. Enteroclysis via DBE showed a 5-cm-long ileal
      diverticulum-like structure at the mesenteric side of the ileum. No ectopic
      gastric mucosa was detected by technetium-99m pertechnetate scintigraphy. The
      final diagnosis was ileal duplication. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: This is the
      first report of tubular ileal duplication diagnosed by using DBE. The small
      intestinal duplication opening was not detected by using VCE and plane CT in this
      case, but was found by using DBE. CONCLUSIONS: The present case demonstrates that
      DBE was useful in the diagnosis of an adult small intestinal duplication that was
      not visualized by other modalities.

PMID- 27652172
TI  - Fractional-order PI based STATCOM and UPFC controller to diminish subsynchronous
      resonance.
AB  - This research article proposes a powerful fractional-order PI controller to
      mitigate the subsynchronous oscillations in turbine-generator shaft due to
      subsynchronous resonance (SSR) with flexible AC transmission system devices such
      as static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) and unified power flow controller
      (UPFC). The diminution of SSR is achieved by the raising of network damping at
      those frequencies which are proximate to the torsional mode frequency of the
      turbine-generator shaft. The increase of network damping is obtained with the
      injection of subsynchronous frequency component of current and both current and
      voltage into the line. The subsynchronous component of current and voltage are
      derived from the measured signal of the system and further the same amount of
      shunt current is injected with STATCOM and simultaneous injection of current and
      voltage with UPFC into the transmission line to make the subsynchronous current
      to zero which is the prime source of turbine shaft oscillations. The insertion
      and proper tuning of Fractional-order PI controller in the control scheme, the
      subsynchronous oscillations are reduced to 92 % in case of STATCOM and 98 % in
      case of UPFC as compared to without controller and 14 % as compared with the
      results of conventional PI controller. The IEEE first benchmark model has adopted
      for analyze the effectiveness and speed of the proposed control scheme using
      MATLAB-Simulink and the corresponding results illustrates the precision and
      robustness of the proposed controller. 

PMID- 27652173
TI  - Some new inequalities for continuous fusion frames and fusion pairs.
AB  - This paper addresses continuous fusion frames and fusion pairs which are
      extensions of discrete fusion frames and continuous frames. The study of
      equalities and inequalities for various frames has seen great achievements. In
      this paper, using operator methods we establish some new inequalities for
      continuous fusion frames and fusion pairs. Our results extend and improve ones
      obtained by Balan, Casazza and Gavruta. 

PMID- 27652174
TI  - Downward trend in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infections and
      corresponding frequent upper gastrointestinal diseases profile changes in
      Southeastern China between 2003 and 2012.
AB  - This present study aims to determine trends in the prevalence of H. pylori
      infections in Southeastern China between 2003 and 2012, and investigate
      corresponding changes in the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal diseases. This
      retrospective study screened 196,442 patients with a mean age of 47.49 +/- 14.47
      years (age range 5-100 years) in Southeastern China, and a total of 134,812 cases
      of an endoscopy-referral patient population with digestive symptoms between 2003
      and 2012 were enrolled. Based on esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and pathology,
      patients diagnosed with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer or reflux
      esophagitis were included in this study. Basic demographic and clinical
      characteristics such as H. pylori infection status and endoscopic findings were
      collected and analyzed. Among the 134,812 subjects, mean prevalence of H. pylori
      infection was 31.97 %; which demonstrated a linear downward trend from 42.40 to
      23.82 % (P < 0.001) at an annual rate of 2 % from 2003 to 2012. Similarly, the
      prevalence of duodenal and gastric ulcer rapidly decreased from 12.65 to 6.57 %
      and from 7.51 to 3.78 %, respectively; while the prevalence of gastric cancer
      (from 3.76 to 2.34 %) did not significantly change in the same time period. In
      contrast, the prevalence of reflux esophagitis increased from 6.19 to 12.80 %.
      The progressively decreasing prevalence of H. pylori infections from 2003 to 2012
      in Southeastern China appears to be linked with the decline of related upper
      gastrointestinal diseases and increase of some gastrointestinal motility
      diseases. 

PMID- 27652175
TI  - Modified ilioinguinal approach in combined surgical exposures for displaced
      acetabular fractures involving two columns.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to assess the advantages of modified ilioinguinal
      approach in combined surgical exposures for displaced acetabular fractures
      involving two columns management. 73 patients with displaced acetabular fractures
      involving two columns underwent open reduction and internal fixation through
      combined surgical approaches between 2006 and 2014 in our hospital. The modified
      ilioinguinal approach combined with Kocher-Langenbeck approach group (group A)
      included 46 patients. The standard ilioinguinal approach combined with Kocher
      Langenbeck approach group (group B) included 27 patients. Outcome was assessed in
      operative time, blood loss, function outcomes and complications. In group A, the
      average operative time was 123.2 min, and the average blood loss was 586.2 ml.
      Anatomic reduction was achieved in 39 patients (84.8 %). The functional recovery
      was good in 37 patients (80.4 %). Complications related to the approach were
      observed in 10 patients (21.7 %). In group B, the average operative time was
      161.5 min, and the average blood loss was 830 ml. Anatomic reduction was achieved
      in 24 patients (88.9 %). The functional recovery was good in 22 patients (81.5
      %). Complications related to the approach were observed in 9 patients (33.3 %).
      This study demonstrates that both combined approaches permits good postoperative
      function results for treatment of acetabular fractures involving two columns.
      However, the modified ilioinguinal approach combined with Kocher-Langenbeck
      approach provides less operative time, blood loss and complications. 

PMID- 27652176
TI  - Segmentation of skin lesion using Cohen-Daubechies-Feauveau biorthogonal wavelet.
AB  - This paper presents a novel technique for segmentation of skin lesion in
      dermoscopic images based on wavelet transform along with morphological
      operations. The acquired dermoscopic images may include artifacts inform of gel,
      dense hairs and water bubble which make accurate segmentation more challenging.
      We have also embodied an efficient approach for artifacts removal and hair
      inpainting, to enhance the overall segmentation results. In proposed research,
      color space is also analyzed and selection of blue channel for lesion
      segmentation have confirmed better performance than techniques which utilizes
      gray scale conversion. We tackle the problem by finding the most suitable mother
      wavelet for skin lesion segmentation. The performance achieved with 'bior6.8'
      Cohen-Daubechies-Feauveau biorthogonal wavelet is found to be superior as
      compared to other wavelet family. The proposed methodology achieves 93.87 %
      accuracy on dermoscopic images of PH2 dataset acquired at Dermatology Service of
      Hospital Pedro Hispano, Matosinhos, Portugal. 

PMID- 27652177
TI  - Towards an agent based traffic regulation and recommendation system for the on
      road air quality control.
AB  - This paper presents an integrated and adaptive problem-solving approach to
      control the on-road air quality by modeling the road infrastructure, managing
      traffic based on pollution level and generating recommendations for road users.
      The aim is to reduce vehicle emissions in the most polluted road segments and
      optimizing the pollution levels. For this we propose the use of historical and
      real time pollution records and contextual data to calculate the air quality
      index on road networks and generate recommendations for reassigning traffic flow
      in order to improve the on-road air quality. The resulting air quality indexes
      are used in the system's traffic network generation, which the cartography is
      represented by a weighted graph. The weights evolve according to the pollution
      indexes and path properties and the graph is therefore dynamic. Furthermore, the
      systems use the available pollution data and meteorological records in order to
      predict the on-road pollutant levels by using an artificial neural network based
      prediction model. The proposed approach combines the benefits of multi-agent
      systems, Big data technology, machine learning tools and the available data
      sources. For the shortest path searching in the road network, we use the Dijkstra
      algorithm over Hadoop MapReduce framework. The use Hadoop framework in the data
      retrieve and analysis process has significantly improved the performance of the
      proposed system. Also, the agent technology allowed proposing a suitable solution
      in terms of robustness and agility. 

PMID- 27652178
TI  - Decompressive craniectomy for severe traumatic brain injury: clinical study,
      literature review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the clinical and neurological outcome of patients who
      sustained a severe non-penetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI) and underwent
      unilateral decompressive craniectomy (DC) for refractory intracranial
      hypertension. DESIGN: Single center, retrospective, observational. SETTING: Level
      I Trauma Center in Portland, Maine. PATIENTS: 31 patients aged 16-72 of either
      sex who sustained a severe, non-penetrating TBI and underwent a unilateral DC for
      evacuation of parenchymal or extra-axial hematoma or for failure of medical
      therapy to control intracranial pressure (ICP). INTERVENTIONS: Review of the
      electronic medical record of patients undergoing DC for severe TBI and assessment
      of extended Glasgow Outcome Score (e-GOS) at 6-months following DC. MEASUREMENTS
      AND MAIN RESULTS: The mean age was 39.3y +/- 14.5. The initial GCS was 5.8 +/-
      3.2, and the ISS was 29.7 +/- 6.3. Twenty-two patients underwent DC within the
      first 24 h, two within the next 24 h and seven between the 3rd and 7th day post
      injury. The pre-DC ICP was 30.7 +/- 10.3 and the ICP was 12.1 +/- 6.2 post-DC.
      Cranioplasty was performed in all surviving patients 1-4 months post-DC. Of the
      29 survivors following DC, the e-GOS was 8 in seven patients, and 7 in ten
      patients. The e-GOS was 5-6 in 6 others. Of the 6 survivors with poor outcomes (e
      GOS = 2-4), five were the initial patients in the series. CONCLUSIONS: In
      patients with intractable cerebral hypertension following TBI, unilateral DC in
      concert with practice guideline directed brain resuscitation is associated with
      good functional outcome and acceptable-mortality.

PMID- 27652179
TI  - Knee arthrodesis: procedures and perspectives in the US from 1993 to 2011.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence and prevalence of knee arthrodesis (fusion) in the
      United States is largely unknown, in spite of numerous case reports and review
      articles that have called attention to this life altering procedure. PURPOSE:
      This study was conducted to determine long-term knee arthrodesis incidence and
      patient populations, and to characterize the associated healthcare burden.
      METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to evaluate knee arthrodesis
      procedures performed in the United States between 1993 and 2011. Patient age,
      sex, and reimbursement method were evaluated along with hospital attributes.
      Procedural rates for individual demographics were calculated using population
      data from the US Census. Commonly occurring diagnoses and procedures in knee
      arthrodesis were compiled. RESULTS: The annual number of reported knee
      arthrodesis procedures remained relatively unchanged between 1993 and 2011 (Mean
      1014, Standard Deviation 113), but there was a small but significant decrease in
      the procedure rate when taking population changes into account. Over 80 % of
      patients were aged 45 or above. Approximately 65 % of patients utilized
      governmental payers for reimbursement. Nearly all of the procedures were
      performed in metropolitan area hospitals (92.5 %), and a significant majority
      performed in teaching hospitals (62 %). CONCLUSIONS: The low incidence of knee
      arthrodesis procedures reflects both clinician and patient antipathy for this
      undesirable surgery. Case studies continue to reflect an interest to improve
      methodology, but also suggest a significant number of patients that go untreated
      given the current state of the art. Future work should seek to quantify the
      prevalence of patients with a severely dysfunctional knee who might otherwise
      undergo arthrodesis, but opt against it given the significant quality of life
      issues associated with the procedure.

PMID- 27652180
TI  - Methanol contamination in traditionally fermented alcoholic beverages: the
      microbial dimension.
AB  - Incidence of methanol contamination of traditionally fermented beverages is
      increasing globally resulting in the death of several persons. The source of
      methanol contamination has not been clearly established in most countries. While
      there were speculations that unscrupulous vendors might have deliberately spiked
      the beverages with methanol, it is more likely that the methanol might have been
      produced by contaminating microbes during traditional ethanol fermentation, which
      is often inoculated spontaneously by mixed microbes, with a potential to produce
      mixed alcohols. Methanol production in traditionally fermented beverages can be
      linked to the activities of pectinase producing yeast, fungi and bacteria. This
      study assessed some traditional fermented beverages and found that some beverages
      are prone to methanol contamination including cachaca, cholai, agave, arak, plum
      and grape wines. Possible microbial role in the production of methanol and other
      volatile congeners in these fermented beverages were discussed. The study
      concluded by suggesting that contaminated alcoholic beverages be converted for
      fuel use rather than out rightly banning the age-long traditional alcohol
      fermentation. 

PMID- 27652181
TI  - An overview of topic modeling and its current applications in bioinformatics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the rapid accumulation of biological datasets, machine learning
      methods designed to automate data analysis are urgently needed. In recent years,
      so-called topic models that originated from the field of natural language
      processing have been receiving much attention in bioinformatics because of their
      interpretability. Our aim was to review the application and development of topic
      models for bioinformatics. DESCRIPTION: This paper starts with the description of
      a topic model, with a focus on the understanding of topic modeling. A general
      outline is provided on how to build an application in a topic model and how to
      develop a topic model. Meanwhile, the literature on application of topic models
      to biological data was searched and analyzed in depth. According to the types of
      models and the analogy between the concept of document-topic-word and a
      biological object (as well as the tasks of a topic model), we categorized the
      related studies and provided an outlook on the use of topic models for the
      development of bioinformatics applications. CONCLUSION: Topic modeling is a
      useful method (in contrast to the traditional means of data reduction in
      bioinformatics) and enhances researchers' ability to interpret biological
      information. Nevertheless, due to the lack of topic models optimized for specific
      biological data, the studies on topic modeling in biological data still have a
      long and challenging road ahead. We believe that topic models are a promising
      method for various applications in bioinformatics research.

PMID- 27652183
TI  - On the embedding of convex spaces in stratified L-convex spaces.
AB  - Consider L being a continuous lattice, two functors from the category of convex
      spaces (denoted by CS) to the category of stratified L-convex spaces (denoted by
      SL-CS) are defined. The first functor enables us to prove that the category CS
      can be embedded in the category SL-CS as a reflective subcategory. The second
      functor enables us to prove that the category CS can be embedded in the category
      SL-CS as a coreflective subcategory when L satisfying a multiplicative condition.
      By comparing the two functors and the well known Lowen functor (between
      topological spaces and stratified L-topological spaces), we exhibit the
      difference between (stratified L-)topological spaces and (stratified L-)convex
      spaces. 

PMID- 27652182
TI  - Gill monogeneans of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and red hybrid tilapia
      (Oreochromis spp.) from the wild and fish farms in Perak, Malaysia: infection
      dynamics and spatial distribution.
AB  - Tilapia is one of the commercially important fish in Malaysia as well as in other
      parts of the world. An understanding of monogenean infection dynamics in tilapia
      fish may assist us in searching for some intervention measures in reducing the
      loss of fish caused by parasitic diseases. The present study aimed (1) to compare
      infection level of monogeneans between the wild and cultured Oreochromis
      niloticus, and between the cultured O. niloticus and cultured red hybrid tilapia,
      and (2) to examine the spatial distribution of monogenean species over the gills
      of the different host species. From a total of 75 fish specimens, six species of
      monogeneans from two genera: Cichlidogyrus (C. halli, C. mbirizei, C. sclerosus,
      C. thurstonae, C. tilapiae) and Scutogyrus (S. longicornis) were identified. Data
      showed that the infection level of cultured O. niloticus was higher than that of
      the wild O. niloticus, however, the former was lower than that of the cultured
      red hybrid tilapia. Higher species richness of monogeneans was observed in the
      cultured red hybrid tilapia as compared to the others. Results for spatial
      distribution showed that the monogeneans have no preference on the left or right
      sides of the gills. However, C. halli, C. mbirizei, and C. tilapiae showed
      preferences on specific gill arches in the cultured O. niloticus and red hybrid
      tilapia. In general, the gill arch IV harboured the least number of monogeneans.
      The susceptibility of monogenean infection between the different types of tilapia
      is discussed. 

PMID- 27652184
TI  - Strata behavior at fully-mechanized coal mining and solid backfilling face.
AB  - Taking Ping Dingshan Coal Mine Group 12 as an example, this paper explains the
      system layout, key equipment and backfilling technology in detail. It probes into
      the characteristic of rock strata movement behavior and surface deformation above
      the gob area through in-site measurement method. The results show that as the
      overburden strata are effectively supported by the backfill body in mined out
      areas, there were no evident phenomena as first weighting or periodic weighting
      during mining process. Besides, influencing scope of advanced support pressure
      and the strata behavior degree were much smaller than that of the traditional
      methods of caving mining. Since overburden strata had been well supported by
      backfill body, it shows the posture of sinking slowly, only resulting in bending
      zone and minor fracture zone. 

PMID- 27652185
TI  - Transforming the canonical piecewise-linear model into a smooth-piecewise
      representation.
AB  - A smoothed representation (based on natural exponential and logarithmic
      functions) for the canonical piecewise-linear model, is presented. The result is
      a completely differentiable formulation that exhibits interesting properties,
      like preserving the parameters of the original piecewise-linear model in such a
      way that they can be directly inherited to the smooth model in order to determine
      their parameters, the capability of controlling not only the smoothness grade,
      but also the approximation accuracy at specific breakpoint locations, a lower or
      equal overshooting for high order derivatives in comparison with other
      approaches, and the additional advantage of being expressed in a reduced
      mathematical form with only two types of inverse functions (logarithmic and
      exponential). By numerical simulation examples, this proposal is verified and
      well-illustrated. 

PMID- 27652186
TI  - Effect of shrouding CH4 flow rate on flow field and stirring ability of coherent
      jet in steelmaking process.
AB  - Characteristics of flow field and stirring ability of coherent jet with various
      shrouding CH4 flow rates on the molten bath were studied by combustion experiment
      and numerical simulation. The axial velocity and total temperature distributions
      of coherent jet under hot (1700 K) and cold (298 K) ambient condition were
      analyzed. The Eddy Dissipation Concept model was used in simulation with detail
      chemical kinetic mechanisms, and the numerical simulation results were agreed
      well with the combustion experiment in this research. Based on the simulation and
      experiment results, when the CH4 rate was 230, 207 and 184 Nm(3)/h, their
      disparity rate of average velocity and total temperature was small than 5 and 6
      %, respectively, at high ambient temperature. Hence, the same stirring effect
      might be achieved by those three kinds of CH4 flow rates in EAF steelmaking
      process. According to the industrial application research, the best CH4 flow rate
      is 184 Nm(3)/h, which could stir molten bath well and reduce energy consumption
      in steelmaking process. 

PMID- 27652188
TI  - Realizing IoT service's policy privacy over publish/subscribe-based middleware.
AB  - The publish/subscribe paradigm makes IoT service collaborations more scalable and
      flexible, due to the space, time and control decoupling of event producers and
      consumers. Thus, the paradigm can be used to establish large-scale IoT service
      communication infrastructures such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
      systems. However, preserving IoT service's policy privacy is difficult in this
      paradigm, because a classical publisher has little control of its own event after
      being published; and a subscriber has to accept all the events from the
      subscribed event type with no choice. Few existing publish/subscribe middleware
      have built-in mechanisms to address the above issues. In this paper, we present a
      novel access control framework, which is capable of preserving IoT service's
      policy privacy. In particular, we adopt the publish/subscribe paradigm as the IoT
      service communication infrastructure to facilitate the protection of IoT services
      policy privacy. The key idea in our policy-privacy solution is using a two-layer
      cooperating method to match bi-directional privacy control requirements: (a) data
      layer for protecting IoT events; and (b) application layer for preserving the
      privacy of service policy. Furthermore, the anonymous-set-based principle is
      adopted to realize the functionalities of the framework, including policy
      embedding and policy encoding as well as policy matching. Our security analysis
      shows that the policy privacy framework is Chosen-Plaintext Attack secure. We
      extend the open source Apache ActiveMQ broker by building into a policy-based
      authorization mechanism to enforce the privacy policy. The performance evaluation
      results indicate that our approach is scalable with reasonable overheads. 

PMID- 27652187
TI  - Traumatic diaphragmatic injuries: epidemiological, diagnostic and therapeutic
      aspects.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Diaphragmatic injuries include wounds and diaphragm ruptures, due
      to a thoracoabdominal blunt or penetrating traumas. Their incidence ranges
      between 0.8 and 15 %. The diagnosis is often delayed, despite several medical
      imaging techniques. The surgical management remains controversal, particularly
      for the choice of the surgical approach and technique. The mortality is mainly
      related to associated injuries. The aim of our study was to evaluate the
      incidence of diaphragmatic injuries occuring in thoraco-abdominal traumas, and to
      discuss their epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      performed a retrospective study over a period of 21 years, between January 1994
      and June 2015 at the Department of General Surgery of the Aristide Le Dantec
      hospital in Dakar, Senegal. All patients diagnosed with diaphragmatic injuries
      were included in the study. RESULTS: Over the study period, 1535 patients had a
      thoraco-abdominal trauma. There were 859 cases of blunt trauma, and 676
      penetrating chest or abdominal trauma. Our study involved 20 cases of
      diaphragmatic injuries (1.3 %). The sex-ratio was 4. The mean age was 33 years.
      Brawls represented 83.3 % (17 cases). Stab attacks represented 60 % (12 cases).
      The incidence of diaphragmatic injury was 2.6 %. The wound was in the thorax in
      60 % (seven cases). Chest radiography was contributory in 45 % (nine cases). The
      diagnosis of wounds or ruptures of the diaphragm was done preoperatively in 45 %
      (nine cases). The diaphragmatic wound was on the left side in 90 % (18 cases) and
      its mean size was 4.3 cm. The surgical procedure involved a reduction of
      herniated viscera and a suture of the diaphragm by "X" non absorbable points in
      85 % (17 cases). A thoracic aspiration was performed in all patients. Morbidity
      rate was 10 % and mortality rate 5 %. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of diaphragmatic
      rupture and wounds remains difficult and often delayed. They should be kept in
      mind in any blunt or penetrating thoraco-abdominal trauma. Diaphragmatic lesions
      are usually located on the left side. Surgery is an efficient treatment.

PMID- 27652189
TI  - On different results for new three step iteration process in Banach spaces.
AB  - In this paper we propose a new iteration process, called AK iteration process,
      for approximation of fixed points for contraction mappings. We show that our
      iteration process is faster than the leading Vatan Two-step iteration process for
      contraction mappings. Numerical examples are given to support the analytic
      proofs. Stability of AK iteration process and data dependence result for
      contraction mappings by employing AK iteration process are also discussed. 

PMID- 27652190
TI  - In search of a principled theory of the 'value' of knowledge.
AB  - A theory of the Value/Utility of information and knowledge (K) is not really
      there. This would require a theory of the centrality of Goals in minds, and of
      the role of K relative to Goals and their dynamics. K value is a notion relative
      to Goal value. Inf/K is precisely a resource, a means and the value of means
      depends on the value of their possible functions and uses. The claim of this
      paper is that Ks have a Value and Utility, they can be more or less 'precious';
      they have a cost and imply some risks; they can be not only useful but negative
      and dangerous. We also examine the 'quality' of this resource: its reliability;
      and its crucial role in goal processing: activating goals, abandoning, choosing,
      planning, formulating intentions, decide to act. 'Relevance theory', Information
      theory, Epistemic Utility theory, etc. are not enough for providing a theory of
      the Value/Utility of K. And also truthfulness is not 'the' Value of K. Even true
      information can be noxious for the subject. 

PMID- 27652191
TI  - Natural flavonoids silymarin and quercetin improve the brain distribution of co
      administered P-gp substrate drugs.
AB  - P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a well known efflux transporter in the blood brain barrier
      inhibits the uptake of substrate drugs into brain. The main aim of this study is
      to evaluate the effect of natural product based P-gp inhibitors on brain
      penetration of various CNS drugs which are P-gp substrates. In this study, we
      have evaluated the inhibitory effects of natural bioflavonoids (quercetin and
      silymarin) on P-gp by using digoxin and quinidine as model P-gp model substrate
      drugs. In vitro inhibitory effects were evaluated in Caco-2 cell lines using
      digoxin as a model drug and in vivo P-gp inhibiting effect was evaluated in mice
      model using quinidine as model drug. The accumulation and bidirectional transport
      of digoxin in Caco-2 cells was determined in presence and absence of quercetin
      and silymarin. Elacridar was used as standard P-gp inhibitor and used to compare
      the inhibitory effects of test compounds. The apical to basolateral transport of
      digoxin was increased where as basolateral to apical transport of digoxin was
      decreased in concentration dependent manner in the presence of elacridar,
      quercetin and silymarin. After intravenous administration of P-gp inhibitors,
      brain levels of quinidine were estimated using LC-MS method. Increased brain
      uptake was observed with quercetin (2.5-fold) and silymarin (3.5-fold). Though
      the brain penetration potential of P-gp substrates was lower than that observed
      in elacridar, both quercetin and silymarin improved plasma quinidine levels. Caco
      2 permeability studies and brain uptake indicate that both quercetin and
      silymarin can inhibit P-gp mediated efflux of drug into brain. Our results
      suggest that both silymarin and quercetin could potentially increase the brain
      distribution of co-administered drugs that are P-gp substrates. 

PMID- 27652192
TI  - Laying performance, digestibility and plasma hormones in laying hens exposed to
      chronic heat stress as affected by betaine, vitamin C, and/or vitamin E
      supplementation.
AB  - Heat stress had a negative effect on laying hens' performance, thus this research
      was to study the influences of betaine (Bet, 1000 mg/kg betaine), vitamin C (VC,
      200 mg/kg ascorbic acid), and vitamin E (VE, 150 mg/kg alpha-Tocopherol acetate)
      and their possible combinations on egg production, digestibility of nutrients,
      plasma hormones and reproductive organs of dual-purpose hens exposed to chronic
      heat stress. Two hundred and eighty eight hens and thirty-six cocks from 32 to 48
      weeks of age were divided into nine treatment groups of four replicates, each
      containing eight hens and one cock. One group was kept under thermo-natural
      condition and the eight others were kept under chronic heat stress (CHS). One of
      these eight was used as a negative control, while the others were supplemented
      with VC, VE and/or betaine and their possible combinations. Body weights, laying
      rate, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio in hens reared under CHS rooster
      without any supplementation during 32 to 48 weeks of impairment (P = 0.0052) were
      recorded. Hens reared under heat stress and fed a diet supplemented with either
      Bet, VC, VE or combination of the supplements increased production traits.
      However, hens supplemented with VC showed the greatest production traits. Plasma
      glucose, estradiol-17 (E2), progesterone (P4), tri-iodothyronine (T3) and
      thyroxine (T4) decreased in hens reared under CHS and fed a diet with no
      supplementation compared to the other treatments (P = 0.001). Liver weights,
      spleen weights, thyroid gland weights, ovary weights, oviduct weights and oviduct
      lengths were lowest in hens reared under CHS and fed a diet with no
      supplementation (P = 0.0480). In conclusion, dual purpose hens reared under CHS
      and supplemented with VC at 200 mg/kg diet and Bet at 1000 mg/kg enhanced the
      laying performance and combated CHS. 

PMID- 27652193
TI  - Implication of Paris Agreement in the context of long-term climate mitigation
      goals.
AB  - The Paris Agreement confirmed the global aim to achieve a long-term climate goal,
      in which the global increase in mean temperature is kept below 2  degrees C
      compared to the preindustrial level. We investigated the implications of the near
      term emissions targets (for around the year 2030) in the context of the long-term
      climate mitigation goal using the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model framework. To
      achieve the 2  degrees C goal, a large greenhouse gas emissions reduction is
      required, either in the early or latter half of this century. In the mid-term
      (from 2030 to 2050), it may be necessary to consider rapid changes to the
      existing energy or socioeconomic systems, while long-term measures (after 2050)
      will rely on the substantial use of biomass combined with carbon capture and
      storage technology or afforestation, which will eventually realize so-called
      negative CO2 emissions. With respect to the policy context, two suggestions are
      provided here. The first is the review and revision of the nationally determined
      contributions (NDCs) in 2020, with an additional reduction target to the current
      NDCs being one workable alternative. The second suggestion is a concrete and
      numerical mid-term emissions reduction target, for example to be met by 2040 or
      2050, which could also help to achieve the long-term climate goal. 

PMID- 27652194
TI  - An analysis of the entrainment effect of dry debris avalanches on loose bed
      materials.
AB  - Substrate entrainment can greatly influence the mass movement process of a debris
      avalanche because it can enlarge the landslide volume and change the motion
      characteristics of the sliding masses. To study the interaction between debris
      avalanches and erodible substrate, physical modeling experiments varying in the
      mass of granular flow and substrate thickness were performed. The experimental
      results show that both the entrained materials and the maximum erosion depth are
      increased with increasing mass of the debris avalanche and decreasing substrate
      thickness. During the experiment, several tests were recorded using a high-speed
      digital camera with a frequency of 500 frames per second, so that the process of
      entrainment could be clearly observed. Combined with the experiment result and
      results of previous studies from predecessors, the entrainment mechanism during
      debris avalanches are analyzed and discussed. The entrainment effect of the
      sliding masses on the loose bed materials include basal abrasion and impact
      erosion of the avalanche front, the latter of which can contribute to the former
      by failing or yielding the erodible bed. 

PMID- 27652195
TI  - Direct Tumor Embolization of Sinonasal Unclassified Spindle Cell Sarcoma with
      Onyx.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the use of a new tumor embolization agent, Onyx
      (Covidien, Dublin, Ireland), for the use of intraoperative embolization of a
      sinonasal unclassified spindle cell sarcoma. METHODS: A 45-year-old female
      patient presented to the rhinology clinic with a nasal mass. A biopsy revealed a
      highly vascular mass consistent with a sinonasal unclassified spindle cell
      sarcoma. Secondary to its extensive vascularity, the patient underwent
      preoperative transarterial embolization (TAE) before definitive resection. Due to
      complex vascular anatomy including feeding vessels emanating from intracranial
      circulation, incomplete embolization was achieved. Subsequently, intraoperative
      embolization with Onyx at the time of resection was performed. RESULTS:
      Intraoperative Onyx use resulted in almost complete devascularization of the
      tumor with decreased risk of intracranial embolization. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intraoperative embolization with Onyx after an incomplete TAE can be a safe and
      effective method of achieving near-total embolization of sinonasal tumors.

PMID- 27652196
TI  - A case report of extramedullary haematopoeisis in lumbosacral region presenting
      as cauda equina syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Extramedullary hematopoeisis (EMH) is defined as formation of blood
      cells outside the bone marrow. It occurs most commonly in the liver and spleen in
      patients having disorders that lead to chronic anaemia. EMH in spinal canal is a
      very rare site and cauda equina syndrome due to EMH has very few cases presented
      in literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 28 year old male patient presented with
      complain of incontinenance of bladder and bowel along with saddle anaesthesia
      from 10 days. Patient was a known case of beta-thalassemia intermedia. And MRI
      scan of the spine showed multiple well circumscribed, enhancing lesions in the
      epidural space extending from L5 to S3 and resulting in compression of the cauda
      equina. Patient underwent posterior neural decompression by a laminectomy from L5
      to S3. At 3 months follow up patient had partial recovery of his bladder control
      and complete recovery of sensation. CONCLUSION: EMH should be recognized early on
      the basis of clinical features and MRI findings. The various modalities available
      for treatment of such cases includes blood transfusion, low dose radiotherapy,
      hydroxyurea and surgical decompression. There are very few cases noted in the
      literature of such phenomenon in the lumbosacral spine. In cases of acute
      presentations like cauda equine surgical decompression is a treatment modality of
      choice.

PMID- 27652197
TI  - ISASS Policy 2016 Update - Minimally Invasive Sacroiliac Joint Fusion.
AB  - The index 2014 ISASS Policy Statement - Minimally Invasive Sacroiliac Joint
      Fusion was generated out of necessity to provide an ICD9-based background and
      emphasize tools to ensure correct diagnosis. A timely ICD10-based 2016 Update
      provides a granular threshold selection with improved level of evidence and a
      more robust, relevant database. 

PMID- 27652198
TI  - Pre-Operative Autologous Blood Donation Does Not Affect Pre-Incision Hematocrit
      in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients. A Retrospective Cohort of a
      Prospective Randomized Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pre-donation of autologous blood prior to spine fusion for adolescent
      idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) has been used in deformity surgery. The effect of pre
      donation on pre-operative hematocrit (Hct) remains debated. Multiple factors may
      influence pre-operative Hct including intravascular volume status, patient
      factors, and timing of pre-operative blood donation. The purpose of this study
      was to determine if pre-donation significantly lowers pre-incision Hct in AIS
      patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of a Level-1 prospective
      randomized trial was conducted. 125 patients from the homogeneous population were
      included. AIS patients undergoing a posterior only spinal fusion for AIS were
      separated into two groups based on their pre-operative blood donation history.
      Demographic variables, pre-incision Hct, and transfusion rates were compared
      between the two groups using the Student's T-test. RESULTS: Pre-donation and non
      pre-donation groups had 28 and 97 patients, respectively. Pre-donation group was
      75% female (21F, 7M) and non pre-donation group was 78% female (76F, 21M). There
      was no difference between pre-donation and non pre-donation groups in mean age
      (15.6 +/- 2.2 vs 14.8 +/- 2.2, p = 0.081), BMI (23.1 +/- 4.2 vs 21.7 +/- 5.3, p =
      0.219), and pre-incision Hct (32.8 +/- 3.4 vs 33.8 +/- 3.1, p = 0.628). The
      overall transfusion rates were equivalent (32.1+/- 48.0% vs 25.8 +/- 44.0%, p =
      0.509), however, the rate of allogenic transfusion for the pre-donation group was
      significantly lower (3.6 +/- 18.9% vs 25.8 +/- 44.0%, p = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS:
      This study supports the use of pre-donation for AIS, without a significant drop
      in pre-incision Hct. Patients that donate are also much less likely to be exposed
      to allogenic blood. There may be a surgeon bias to recommend pre-donation in
      patients with a larger BMI and older age. Future studies are needed from a larger
      population of patients including those with non-AIS pathology. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level III.

PMID- 27652200
TI  - Sagittal Balance Correction in Lateral Interbody Fusion for Degenerative
      Scoliosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sagittal balance restoration has been shown to be an important
      determinant of outcomes in corrective surgery for degenerative scoliosis. Lateral
      interbody fusion (LIF) is a less-invasive technique which permits the placement
      of a high lordosis interbody cage without risks associated with traditional
      anterior or transforaminal interbody techniques. Studies have shown improvement
      in lumbar lordosis following LIF, but only one other study has assessed sagittal
      balance in this population. The objective of this study is to evaluate the
      ability of LIF to restore sagittal balance in degenerative lumbar scoliosis.
      METHODS: Thirty-five patients who underwent LIF for degenerative thoracolumbar
      scoliosis from July 2013 to March 2014 by a single surgeon were included. Outcome
      measures included sagittal balance, lumbar lordosis, Cobb Angle, and segmental
      lordosis. Measures were evaluated pre-operative, immediately post-operatively,
      and at their last clinical follow-up. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to
      assess the differences between pre-operative, first postoperative, and a follow
      up visit. RESULTS: The average sagittal balance correction was not significantly
      different: 1.06cm from 5.79cm to 4.74cm forward. The average Cobb angle
      correction was 14.1 degrees from 21.6 to 5.5 degrees. The average change in
      global lumbar lordosis was found to be significantly different: 6.3 degrees from
      28.9 to 35.2 degrees. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that LIF reliably
      restores lordosis, but does not significantly improve sagittal balance. Despite
      this, patients had reliable improvement in pain and functionality suggesting that
      sagittal balance correction may not be as critical in scoliosis correction as
      previous studies have indicated. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: LIF does not significantly
      change sagittal balance; however, clinical improvement does not seem to be
      contingent upon sagittal balance correction in the degenerative scoliosis
      population. The DUHS IRB has determined this study meets criteria for an IRB
      waiver.

PMID- 27652199
TI  - Two-Year Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial of Minimally Invasive
      Sacroiliac Joint Fusion vs. Non-Surgical Management for Sacroiliac Joint
      Dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction is an important and
      underappreciated cause of chronic low back pain. OBJECTIVE: To prospectively and
      concurrently compare outcomes after surgical and non-surgical treatment for
      chronic SIJ dysfunction. METHODS: One hundred and forty-eight subjects with SIJ
      dysfunction were randomly assigned to minimally invasive SIJ fusion with
      triangular titanium implants (SIJF, n = 102) or non-surgical management (NSM, n =
      46). SIJ pain (measured with a 100-point visual analog scale, VAS), disability
      (measured with Oswestry Disability Index, ODI) and quality of life scores were
      collected at baseline and at scheduled visits to 24 months. Crossover from non
      surgical to surgical care was allowed after the 6-month study visit was complete.
      Improvements in continuous measures were compared using repeated measures
      analysis of variance. The proportions of subjects with clinical improvement (SIJ
      pain improvement >=20 points, ODI >=15 points) and substantial clinical benefit
      (SIJ pain improvement >=25 points or SIJ pain rating <=35, ODI >=18.8 points)
      were compared. RESULTS: In the SIJF group, mean SIJ pain improved rapidly and was
      sustained (mean improvement of 55.4 points) at month 24. The 6-month mean change
      in the NSM group (12.2 points) was substantially smaller than that in the SIJF
      group (by 38.3 points, p<.0001 for superiority). By month 24, 83.1% and 82.0%
      received either clinical improvement or substantial clinical benefit in VAS SIJ
      pain score. Similarly, 68.2% and 65.9% had received clinical improvement or
      substantial clinical benefit in ODI score at month 24. In the NSM group, these
      proportions were <10% with non-surgical treatment only. Parallel changes were
      seen for EQ-5D and SF-36, with larger changes in the surgery group at 6 months
      compared to NSM. The rate of adverse events related to SIJF was low and only 3
      subjects assigned to SIJF underwent revision surgery within the 24-month follow
      up period. CONCLUSIONS: In this Level 1 multicenter prospective randomized
      controlled trial, minimally invasive SIJF with triangular titanium implants
      provided larger improvements in pain, disability and quality of life compared to
      NSM. Improvements after SIJF persisted to 24 months. This study was approved by a
      local or central IRB before any subjects were enrolled. All patients provided
      study-specific informed consent prior to participation.

PMID- 27652201
TI  - Improved overall survival following tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment in
      NSCLC-are we making progress?

PMID- 27652202
TI  - From diagnosis to therapy in lung cancer: management of CT detected pulmonary
      nodules, a summary of the 2015 Chinese-German Lung Cancer Expert Panel.
AB  - The first Chinese-German Lung Cancer Expert Panel was held in November 2015 one
      day after the 7th Chinese-German Lung Cancer Forum, Shanghai. The intention of
      the meeting was to discuss strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of lung
      cancer within the context of lung cancer screening. Improved risk classification
      criteria and novel imaging approaches for screening populations are highly
      required as more than half of lung cancer cases are false positive during the
      initial screening round if the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) demographic
      criteria [>=30 pack years (PY) of cigarettes, age >=55 years] are applied.
      Moreover, if the NLST criteria are applied to the Chinese population a high
      number of lung cancer patients are not diagnosed due to non-smoking related risk
      factors in China. The primary goal in the evaluation of pulmonary nodules (PN) is
      to determine whether they are malignant or benign. Volumetric based screening
      concepts such as investigated in the Dutch-Belgian randomized lung cancer
      screening trial (NELSON) seem to achieve higher specificity. Chest CT is the best
      imaging technique to identify the origin and location of the nodule since 20% of
      suspected PN found on chest X-ray turn out to be non-pulmonary lesions. Moreover,
      novel state-of-the-art CT systems can reduce the radiation dose for lung cancer
      screening acquisitions down to a level of 0.1 mSv with improved image quality to
      novel reconstruction techniques and thus reduce concerns related to chest CT as
      the primary screening technology. The aim of the first part of this manuscript
      was to summarize the current status of novel diagnostic techniques used for lung
      cancer screening and minimally invasive treatment techniques for progressive PNs
      that were discussed during the first Chinese-German Lung Cancer. This part should
      serve as an educational part for the readership of the techniques that were
      discussed during the Expert Panel. The second part summarizes the consensus
      recommendations that were interdisciplinary discussed by the Expert Panel. 

PMID- 27652203
TI  - Targeting angiogenesis in small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive and lethal malignancy.
      Despite high initial response rates to systemic chemotherapy, the disease
      eventually relapses; further treatment only modestly improves outcomes and
      overall survival (OS) for patients with extensive stage disease is less than one
      year. Little progress has been made during the past decades, with no new drugs
      approved. Consequently, the development of novel strategies is an unmet need. The
      inhibition of angiogenesis, a defining characteristic of cancer, has demonstrated
      modest efficacy in several human malignancies, including non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). However, results from clinical trials in SCLC have been
      disappointing, and no anti-angiogenic agent has received regulatory approval due
      to lack of clinical efficacy. The elucidation of underlying mechanisms
      responsible for tumor resistance to angiogenic therapy and the simultaneous
      blockade of multiple elements that play a role in angiogenesis need to be further
      explored. 

PMID- 27652205
TI  - S100B and S100B autoantibody as biomarkers for early detection of brain
      metastases in lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: S100B is an astrocytic protein that enters the blood stream when
      there is disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Over time, antibodies
      against S100B develop in the sera of patients who experience persistent or
      repeated BBB disruptions. We explored the use of serum S100B protein and S100B
      autoantibodies for the detection of brain metastasis in patients with lung
      cancer. METHODS: One hundred and twenty eight untreated patients with lung cancer
      who had brain imaging performed as part of their routine evaluation,
      participated. Serum S100B protein levels were measured by direct ELISA and S100B
      autoantibody levels by reverse ELISA. These levels in patients with brain
      metastases were compared alone and in combination to those without brain
      metastases. RESULTS: Eighteen (14%) patients had brain metastasis at the time of
      lung cancer diagnosis. An S100B cutoff of 0.058 ng/mL had a sensitivity of 89%
      and specificity of 43% for brain metastasis. When an autoantibody threshold of
      <2.00 absorbance units was used in conjunction with S100B, the sensitivity
      remained at 89%, and the specificity increased to 58%. The overall accuracy was
      51% with S100B alone, improving to 62.5% when combined with autoantibodies.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum S100B and S100B autoantibody levels may help to identify which
      lung cancer patients have brain metastases.

PMID- 27652204
TI  - Histopathological transformation to small-cell lung carcinoma in non-small cell
      lung carcinoma tumors.
AB  - Lung cancer is the principal cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The use of
      targeted therapies, especially tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), in specific
      groups of patients has dramatically improved the prognosis of this disease,
      although inevitably some patients will develop resistance to these drugs during
      active treatment. The most common cancer-associated acquired mutation is the
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) Thr790Met (T790M) mutation. During active
      treatment with targeted therapies, histopathological transformation to small-cell
      lung carcinoma (SCLC) can occur in 3-15% of patients with non-small-cell lung
      carcinoma (NSCLC) tumors. By definition, SCLC is a high-grade tumor with specific
      histological and genetic characteristics. In the majority of cases, a good
      quality hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain is enough to establish a diagnosis.
      Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used to confirm the diagnosis and exclude other
      neoplasia such as sarcomatoid carcinomas, large-cell carcinoma, basaloid squamous
      cell carcinoma, chronic inflammation, malignant melanoma, metastatic carcinoma,
      sarcoma, and lymphoma. A loss of the tumor-suppressor protein retinoblastoma 1
      (RB1) is found in 100% of human SCLC tumors; therefore, it has an essential role
      in tumorigenesis and tumor development. Other genetic pathways probably involved
      in the histopathological transformation include neurogenic locus notch homolog
      (NOTCH) and achaete-scute homolog 1 (ASCL1). Histological transformation to SCLC
      can be suspected in NSCLC patients who clinically deteriorate during active
      treatment. Biopsy of any new lesion in this clinical setting is highly
      recommended to rule out a SCLC transformation. New studies are trying to assess
      this histological transformation by noninvasive measures such as measuring the
      concentration of serum neuron-specific enolase. 

PMID- 27652206
TI  - Prognostic value of wingless-type proteins in non-small cell lung cancer
      patients: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Wingless-type protein (Wnt) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in
      the development of human malignancies, such as epithelial-to-mesenchymal
      transition (EMT) and the maintenance of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Several studies
      have shown that the expression levels of Wnt proteins, ligands of Wnt signaling
      pathway, are related to clinical outcomes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
      patients. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the prognostic value of Wnts
      proteins in patients with NSCLC. METHODS: A multiple electronic literature search
      was conducted to identify all articles referring to the prognostic value of Wnt
      proteins in patients of NSCLC up to July 2016. Eligible studies were included in
      a meta-analysis in order to summarize the extracted data in terms of pooled
      hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). RESULTS: Ten
      studies published between 2005 and 2015 were eligible for this meta-analysis. The
      total number of patients included was 1,805. The combined HR for all eligible
      studies evaluating the overall survival (OS) of NSCLC patients with positive Wnt
      expression was 1.60 (95% CI: 1.39-1.84). The subgroup analysis showed both Wnt1
      and Wnt5a are associated with clinical outcome of NSCLC patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Overexpression of Wnt proteins, as well as Wnt1 or Wnt5a alone, was markedly
      associated with adverse OS in lung cancer patients, suggesting that Wnts may act
      as a prognostic marker among NSCLCs.

PMID- 27652207
TI  - Integrative physicians and an herbal cancer "cure".
AB  - Oncologists are frequently asked about herbal remedies claiming to "cure" cancer,
      or at least delay its progression. While complementary and integrative medicine
      (CIM) should be aimed primarily at improving quality-of-life (QOL) related
      concerns, "wonder cures" are part of an alternative health belief model providing
      hope for a "miracle" where conventional treatment has failed. We describe a
      physician with extensive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) undergoing chemotherapy,
      with significant toxicities and impaired daily function. He had come for an
      integrative physician (IP) consultation, provided by a medical doctor dually
      trained in CIM and supportive cancer care, taking place in a conventional
      supportive cancer care service. We describe the IP consultation in general and
      regarding an herbal remedy which was being promoted as a "cure" for cancer. The
      subsequent patient-tailored CIM treatment process, in which patients receive
      evidence-based guidance on treatments which address QOL-related concerns, are
      presented. 

PMID- 27652209
TI  - Enteral nutrition administration in a surgical intensive care unit: Achieving
      goals with better strategies.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the impact of an enteral feeding protocol on administration of
      nutrition to surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review was conducted on patients initiated on enteral
      nutrition (EN) support during their stay in a 14 bed SICU. Data collected over a
      seven-day period included date of tube feed initiation, rate initiated,
      subsequent hourly rates, volume provided daily, and the nature and length of
      interruptions. The six months prior to implementation of the feeding protocol
      (pre-intervention) and six months after implementation (post-intervention) were
      compared. One hundred and four patients met criteria for inclusion; 53 were pre
      intervention and 51 post-intervention. RESULTS: Of the 624 patients who received
      nutrition support during the review period, 104 met the criteria for inclusion in
      the study. Of the 104 patients who met criteria outlined for inclusion, 64
      reached the calculated goal rate (pre = 28 and post = 36). The median time to
      achieve the goal rate was significantly shorter in the post-intervention phase (3
      d vs 6 d; P = 0.01). The time to achieve the total recommended daily volume
      showed a non-significant decline in the post-intervention phase (P = 0.24) and
      the overall volume administered daily was higher in the post-intervention phase
      (61.6% vs 53.5%; P = 0.07). While the overall interruptions data did not reach
      statistical significance, undocumented interruptions (interruptions for unknown
      reasons) were lower in the post-intervention phase (pre = 23/124, post = 9/96; P
      = 0.06). CONCLUSION: A protocol delineating the initiation and advancement of EN
      support coupled with ongoing education can improve administration of nutrition to
      SICU patients.

PMID- 27652208
TI  - Ethical publishing in intensive care medicine: A narrative review.
AB  - Ethical standards in the context of scientific publications are increasingly
      gaining attention. A narrative review of the literature concerning publication
      ethics was conducted as found in PubMed, Google Scholar, relevant news articles,
      position papers, websites and other sources. The Committee on Publication Ethics
      has produced guidelines and schedules for the handling of problem situations that
      have been adopted by professional journals and publishers worldwide as guidelines
      to authors. The defined requirements go beyond the disclosure of conflicts of
      interest or the prior registration of clinical trials. Recommendations to
      authors, editors and publishers of journals and research institutions were
      formulated with regard to issues of authorship, double publications, plagiarism,
      and conflicts of interest, with special attention being paid to unethical
      research behavior and data falsification. This narrative review focusses on
      ethical publishing in intensive care medicine. As scientific misconduct with data
      falsification damage patients and society, especially if fraudulent studies are
      considered important or favor certain therapies and downplay their side effects,
      it is important to ensure that only studies are published that have been carried
      out with highest integrity according to predefined criteria. For that also the
      peer review process has to be conducted in accordance with the highest possible
      scientific standards and making use of available modern information technology.
      The review provides the current state of recommendations that are considered to
      be most relevant particularly in the field of intensive care medicine. 

PMID- 27652211
TI  - Ejaculatory dysfunction.

PMID- 27652210
TI  - Predictive value of cytokines for developing complications after polytrauma.
AB  - AIM: To investigate posttraumatic cytokine alterations and their value for
      predicting complications and mortality in polytraumatized patients. METHODS:
      Studies on the use of specific cytokines to predict the development of
      complications and mortality were identified in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science
      and the Cochrane Library. Of included studies, relevant data were extracted and
      study quality was scored. RESULTS: Forty-two studies published between 1988 and
      2015 were identified, including 28 cohort studies and 14 "nested" case-control
      studies. Most studies investigated the cytokines interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10
      and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha). IL-6 seems related to muliorgan
      dysfunction syndrome, multiorgan failure (MOF) and mortality; IL-8 appears
      altered in acute respiratory distress syndrome, MOF and mortality; IL-10
      alterations seem to precede sepsis and MOF; and TNF-alpha seems related to MOF.
      CONCLUSION: Cytokine secretion patterns appear to be different for patients
      developing complications when compared to patients with uneventful posttraumatic
      course. More research is needed to strengthen the evidence for clinical relevance
      of these cytokines.

PMID- 27652212
TI  - Ejaculatory dysfunction-the evolution of a new understanding.
AB  - As long as man has breathed, his fascination, pursuit and quest for the perfect
      sexual experience have remained one of his principal raisons d'etre. After
      thousands of years, millions of words and pictures, and billions of attempts, he
      still often finds the goal largely unobtainable. Until recently, our
      understanding of premature ejaculation (PE) was an eclectic mix and
      homogenization of ancient historical and culturally diverse influences. However,
      recent basic and clinical research has resulted in a new understanding and a
      paradigm shift in the way we classify, define, evaluate, diagnose and treat PE. 

PMID- 27652213
TI  - The epidemiology of premature ejaculation.
AB  - Vast advances have occurred over the past decade with regards to understanding
      the epidemiology, pathophysiology and management of premature ejaculation (PE);
      however, we still have much to learn about this common sexual problem. As a
      standardized evidence-based definition of PE has only recently been established,
      the reported prevalence rates of PE prior to this definition have been difficult
      to interpret. As a result, a large range of conflicting prevalence rates have
      been reported. In addition to the lack of a standardized definition and
      operational criteria, the method of recruitment for study participation and
      method of data collection have obviously contributed to the broad range of
      reported prevalence rates. The new criteria and classification of PE will allow
      for continued research into the diverse phenomenology, etiology and pathogenesis
      of the disease to be conducted. While the absolute pathophysiology and true
      prevalence of PE remains unclear, developing a better understanding of the true
      prevalence of the disease will allow for the completion of more accurate analysis
      and treatment of the disease. 

PMID- 27652214
TI  - Classification and definition of premature ejaculation.
AB  - Premature ejaculation (PE) is a poorly understood condition and is considered as
      the most common sexual disorder in men. The ambiguity surrounding PE is in part
      due to the difficulty in conducting and interpreting research in the absence of a
      standardised definition that adequately encompasses the characteristics of these
      patients. An enhanced awareness of sexual dysfunctions in the recent decades has
      lead to an increase in scientific research that has challenged the traditional
      paradigm regarding PE. This has also enabled to establish a universal definition
      and classification of the disease. A move to a more evidence based approach has
      improved the clinicians' ability to define those who need medical treatment, as
      well as perform further research in this complex condition. 

PMID- 27652215
TI  - The pathophysiology of lifelong premature ejaculation.
AB  - For many decades it has been thought that lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) is
      only characterized by persistent early ejaculations. Despite enormous progress of
      in vivo animal research, and neurobiological, genetic and pharmacological
      research in men with lifelong PE, our current understanding of the mechanisms
      behind early ejaculations is far from complete. The new classification of PE into
      four PE subtypes has shown that the symptomatology of lifelong PE strongly
      differs from acquired PE, subjective PE and variable PE. The phenotype of
      lifelong PE and therefore also the pathophysiology of lifelong PE is much more
      complex. A substantial number of men with lifelong PE not only have PE, but also
      premature erection and premature penile detumescence as part of an acute
      hypertonic or hypererotic state when engaged in an erotic situation or when
      making love. As both erectio praecox, ejaculatio praecox, detumescentia praecox,
      and the hypererotic state are part of the phenotype lifelong PE, it is argued
      that lifelong PE is not only a disturbance of the timing of ejaculation but also
      a disturbance of the timing of erection, detumescence and arousal. Since 1998,
      the pathophysiology of lifelong PE was thought to be mainly mediated by the
      central serotonergic system in line with genetic polymorphisms of specific
      serotonergic genes. However, by accepting that lifelong PE is characterized by
      the reversible hypertonic state the hypothesis of mainly serotonergic dysfunction
      is no longer tenable. Instead, it has been postulated that the pathophysiology of
      lifelong PE is mediated by a very complex interplay of central and peripheral
      serotonergic, dopaminergic, oxytocinergic, endocrinological, genetic and probably
      also epigenetic factors. Progress in research of lifelong PE can only be
      accomplished when a stopwatch is used to measure the IELT and the cut-off point
      of 1 minute for the definition of lifelong PE is maintained. Current use of
      validated questionnaires, neglect of stopwatch research, clinically inexperienced
      investigators and inclusion of anonymous men in a study performed by the Internet
      endanger the continuation of objective research of lifelong PE. 

PMID- 27652219
TI  - Patient reported outcomes in the assessment of premature ejaculation.
AB  - The term 'Patient Reported Outcome', abbreviated as PRO, was introduced by the US
      Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which proposed guidance on the development and
      validation of PROs. Previously PROs were known as self-report diaries, event
      logs, self-administered questionnaires, and clinician administered rating scales.
      PROs seek to capture the subjective perceptions of patients and/or partner's
      related to their specific symptoms, degree of bother, efficacy of a medication or
      psychotherapy intervention, and quality of life issues related to a specific
      condition. This article reviews the essential psychometric and regulatory agency
      requirements in the development of PROs. The constructs of reliability, various
      forms of validity, sensitivity, and specificity as well as concerns with
      translating a PRO into a different language are reviewed. Three PROs, the
      Premature Ejaculation Profile (PEP), the Index of Premature Ejaculation (IPE) and
      the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) all used in the assessment of
      premature ejaculation (PE) are discussed. These questionnaires meet or exceed all
      the psychometric requirements and have been employed in clinical trials and
      observational studies of men with PE. The article concludes on discussing some of
      the limitations of PRO use and recommendations for the future. 

PMID- 27652218
TI  - The impact of ejaculatory dysfunction upon the sufferer and his partner.
AB  - Ejaculatory function cannot be evaluated outside the dyadic process and without
      taking into account the men's and women's cognition of the condition and how
      their subjective perception impacts on the evaluation of the relationship and
      sexual quality. Although the distress of the sufferer and his partner has been a
      motivating factor in leading men with ejaculatory dysfunction to seek medical
      help, few objective or prospective evaluations of the effects on the couple have
      been reported. Specialized literature has been dealing with ejaculatory disorders
      in a heterogeneous manner. Comparatively, there are far more studies on premature
      ejaculation (PE) than on delayed ejaculation (DE) and even fewer studies on other
      male orgasm disorders. Therefore, the review focuses on the literature of the two
      most studied ejaculatory disorders. The matter presented in this article can also
      be considered for other ejaculatory disorders, since all of them relate to a
      failure of control, changing the intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT),
      with consequences for men and their partners. There are multiple psychological
      explanations as to why a man develops PE or DE. Unfortunately, none of the
      theories evolve from evidence-based studies. The common final pathway of these
      factors is the irrational fear of ejaculating intravaginally. These sexual
      disorders may also cause personal distress for the sexual partner and decreased
      sexual satisfaction for the couple. An association between pre-existing anxiety
      disorders and sexual performance anxiety has been found in men and couples with
      ejaculatory dysfunction. This could reflect a process in which pre-existing
      anxiety triggers sexual dysfunction, causing performance anxiety and leading to a
      vicious cycle: anxiety, sexual dysfunction, more anxiety. Men with DE are similar
      to men with other sexual dysfunctions. They show the same elevated level of
      sexual dissatisfaction and they also show lower levels of coital frequency. To a
      lower extent, they use more masturbatory activity relative to controls. The
      burden of PE for the patient is revealed in three different levels: the emotional
      burden, the health burden, and the burden on the relationship. In terms of the
      emotional burden, there is often a sense of embarrassment and shame at not being
      able to satisfy their partner, and patients often have low self-esteem, feelings
      of inferiority, anxiety, anger, and disappointment. Men feel frustrated about
      their PE and how it affects their intimacy with their partners and the sexual
      relationship. In conclusion, ejaculatory dysfunction has a negative impact on
      both the man and his female partner and, consequently, it has implications for
      the couple as a whole. Additionally, ejaculatory dysfunction extending beyond a
      year elevates the risk of depression in these patients. Although partner
      perceptions of PE generally indicated less dysfunction than those of subjects,
      partner outcomes measures play a part in the assessment of PE. Ejaculatory
      dysfunction involves the integration of physiological, psychobehavioral,
      cultural, and relationship dimensions. All these elements need to be considered
      in the treatment. 

PMID- 27652216
TI  - The pathophysiology of acquired premature ejaculation.
AB  - The second Ad Hoc International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) Committee for
      the Definition of Premature Ejaculation defined acquired premature ejaculation
      (PE) as a male sexual dysfunction characterized by a the development of a
      clinically significant and bothersome reduction in ejaculation latency time in
      men with previous normal ejaculatory experiences, often to about 3 minutes or
      less, the inability to delay ejaculation on all or nearly all vaginal
      penetrations, and the presence of negative personal consequences, such as
      distress, bother, frustration and/or the avoidance of sexual intimacy. The
      literature contains a diverse range of biological and psychological etiological
      theories. Acquired PE is commonly due to sexual performance anxiety,
      psychological or relationship problems, erectile dysfunction (ED), and
      occasionally prostatitis and hyperthyroidism, consistent with the predominant
      organic etiology of acquired PE, men with this complaint are usually older, have
      a higher mean BMI and a greater incidence of comorbid disease including
      hypertension, sexual desire disorder, diabetes mellitus, chronic prostatitis, and
      ED compared to lifelong, variable and subjective PE. 

PMID- 27652217
TI  - Ejaculatory dysfunction in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms.
AB  - The link between lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign
      prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and sexual dysfunction is well established. Sexual
      dysfunction can encompass both ejaculatory dysfunction (EjD) and erectile
      dysfunction (ED). Ejaculatory dysfunction can consist of premature ejaculation,
      delayed ejaculation, retrograde ejaculation, anejaculation, decreased force of
      ejaculation and pain upon ejaculation. The impact of different medical and
      surgical therapies on ejaculatory function will be reviewed. We reviewed the
      various categories of LUTS treatment including the canonical epidemiology and
      pathophysiology as well as the surgical and medical treatments for LUTS/BPH. We
      note that most surgeries and several medical treatments have a certain but ill
      defined negative impact on ejaculatory function. Several MISTs and selected
      medical therapies appear to have little impact on EjD. Both EjD and BPH are very
      common disorders in men under the care of an urologist. It is well documented
      that there is a clinical association between these two entities. Unfortunately
      many of the medical treatments and almost all surgical treatment impact the
      ejaculatory function of the patient. The surgical treatment of BPH often leads to
      retrograde ejaculation while medical treatment leads to anejaculation. 

PMID- 27652220
TI  - Psychosexual therapy for premature ejaculation.
AB  - Premature ejaculation (PE) is a male sexual dysfunction that creates considerable
      anguish for the man, his partner and their relationship. PE is not one disorder
      but includes the four subtypes (lifelong, acquired, natural and subjective) each
      with unique psychological concerns and issues. Psychological treatment for men
      and couples with PE addresses sexual skills/techniques but also focuses on issues
      of self-esteem, performance anxiety and interpersonal conflict. The outcome
      studies for psychotherapy alone are difficult to interpret and compare because of
      poor methodological design (lack of control groups, small sample size, poor
      outcome measures and lack of follow-up). However, the few studies that surmount
      these methodological hurdles suggest that psychological intervention offers men
      and couples a promising treatment option. Combination pharmaco- and psychotherapy
      is the most promising intervention for lifelong and acquired PE and offers
      superior efficacy to drug alone. This is because men and couples learn sexual
      skills, address the intrapsychic, interpersonal and cognitive issues that
      precipitate and maintain the dysfunction. 

PMID- 27652221
TI  - The drug treatment of premature ejaculation.
AB  - The management recommendation for both acquired premature ejaculation (APE) and
      lifelong PE (LPE) are similar, such as a behavioral/psychotherapy, a
      pharmacotherapy and a combination of these treatments. For the drug treatment for
      PE, gold standard is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) including
      dapoxetine or paroxetine. The drug treatment for PE is still developing and some
      new promising therapeutic options have been proposed. Topical anesthetics,
      tramadol, and alpha-1 blockers will be the next strategies of the drug treatment
      for PE in the future. 

PMID- 27652223
TI  - Is there a place for surgical treatment of premature ejaculation?
AB  - Management of premature ejaculation (PE) has evolved tremandoulsy over the last
      20 years. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and local
      anesthetics are the most and best studied treatments. This evidence has led to
      the establishment of an evidence-based definition of PE and the International
      Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of
      PE. The current treatment of choice for PE according to the ISSM guidelines is a
      centrally acting SSRI or peripherally acting topical anesthetics. Despite the
      progress in threating PE, the drawbacks of these medical treatments are
      controversial. Before the ISSM guidelines were established, selective dorsal
      neurectomy (SDN) and glans penis augmentation (GPA) using a hyaluronic acid (HA)
      gel were developed to decrease sensitivity of the glans penis but later ISSM
      guidelines do not recommend surgical treatment because of possible permanent loss
      of sexual function and insufficient reliable data. Despite the drawbacks of
      medical treatments and debates about the ISSM guideline, surgical treatment for
      PE has increased continuously in Asian countries for non-responders to medical
      treatment. In contrast to the concerns outlined in the ISSM guidelines, SDN has
      been reported as effective and safe with rare sensory loss. Percutaneous computed
      tomography-guided cryoablation of the dorsal penile nerve and neuromodulation of
      the dorsal penile nerve by pulsed radiofrequency are reported as effective and
      safe for PE. It is time to re-evaluate rather than ignore surgical treatments for
      PE because doctors and patients need surgical alternatives for patients with PE
      who are not satisfied with medical treatment. SDN has a definite role in the
      efficacy but needs more safety data to be used as standard surgical treatment for
      PE. SDN must be performed carefully and more well-designed studies are needed.
      GPA with a HA gel does not induce serious sensory loss in patients with ED
      erectile dysfunction and the recommendation should be re-evaluated by the ISSM
      after additional reliable studies are performed. 

PMID- 27652224
TI  - The design and methodology of premature ejaculation interventional studies.
AB  - Large well-designed clinical efficacy and safety randomized clinical trials
      (RCTs) are required to achieve regulatory approval of new drug treatments. The
      objective of this article is to make recommendations for the criteria for
      defining and selecting the clinical trial study population, design and efficacy
      outcomes measures which comprise ideal premature ejaculation (PE) interventional
      trial methodology. Data on clinical trial design, epidemiology, definitions,
      dimensions and psychological impact of PE was reviewed, critiqued and
      incorporated into a series of recommendations for standardisation of PE clinical
      trial design, outcome measures and reporting using the principles of evidence
      based medicine. Data from PE interventional studies are only reliable,
      interpretable and capable of being generalised to patients with PE, when study
      populations are defined by the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM)
      multivariate definition of PE. PE intervention trials should employ a double
      blind RCT methodology and include placebo control, active standard drug control,
      and/or dose comparison trials. Ejaculatory latency time (ELT) and subject/partner
      outcome measures of control, personal/partner/relationship distress and other
      study-specific outcome measures should be used as outcome measures. There is
      currently no published literature which identifies a clinically significant
      threshold response to intervention. The ISSM definition of PE reflects the
      contemporary understanding of PE and represents the state-of-the-art multi
      dimensional definition of PE and is recommended as the basis of diagnosis of PE
      for all PE clinical trials. 

PMID- 27652226
TI  - Epidemiology of delayed ejaculation.
AB  - A large body of literature on diminished ejaculatory disorders has been generated
      without the use of a clear diagnostic definition. Many studies have not
      distinguished between the orgasm and ejaculation disorders leading to doubtful
      results. Delayed ejaculation (DE) is one of the diminished ejaculatory disorders,
      which range from varying delays in ejaculatory latency to a complete inability to
      ejaculate. The present review is aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of
      the current knowledge on the definition and epidemiology of diminished
      ejaculatory disorders. We focus on the acquired diseases, such as benign
      prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and specific drug regimens that may cause an
      iatrogenic form of ejaculatory disorder. In addition, the impact of aging is
      discussed since the prevalence of DE appears to be moderately but positively
      related to age. Finally, we also focus on the importance of the hormonal milieu
      on male ejaculation. To date, evidence on the endocrine control of ejaculation is
      derived from small clinical trials, but the evidence suggests that hormones
      modulate the ejaculatory process by altering its overall latency. 

PMID- 27652225
TI  - The office management of ejaculatory disorders.
AB  - Premature ejaculation (PE), delayed ejaculation (DE), anejaculation (AE) and
      retrograde ejaculation (RE) are four main ejaculatory disorders (EjDs) observed
      in clinical practice. Despite their high prevalence, EjDs remain underdiagnosed
      and undertreated. Primary care physicians should incorporate the discussion of
      sexual health topics into routine visits to facilitate EjD diagnosis and
      treatment. Because the causes of EjDs are multifactorial, the management of EjDs
      is etiology-specific and may require a holistic approach. Dapoxetine, a selective
      serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is the only drug approved for on-demand treatment
      of lifelong and acquired PE. In clinical practice, scheduled follow-up visits,
      risk factor treatment, appropriate dose escalation, adequate sexual attempts,
      patient education, and partner involvement are critical factors responsible for
      optimal overall management of PE and dapoxetine treatment outcomes. 

PMID- 27652222
TI  - Emerging and investigational drugs for premature ejaculation.
AB  - Over the past 20-30 years, the premature ejaculation (PE) treatment paradigm,
      previously limited to behavioural psychotherapy, has expanded to include drug
      treatment. Pharmacotherapy for PE predominantly targets the multiple
      neurotransmitters and receptors involved in the control of ejaculation which
      include serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, norepinephrine, gamma amino-butyric acid
      (GABA) and nitric oxide (NO). The objective of this article is to review emerging
      PE interventions contemporary data on the treatment of PE was reviewed and
      critiqued using the principles of evidence-based medicine. Multiple well
      controlled evidence-based studies have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of
      selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in delaying ejaculation,
      confirming their role as first-line agents for the medical treatment of lifelong
      and acquired PE. Daily dosing of SSRIs is likely to be associated with superior
      fold increases in IELT compared to on-demand SSRIs. On-demand SSRIs are less
      effective but may fulfill the treatment goals of many patients. Integrated
      pharmacotherapy and CBT may achieve superior treatment outcomes in some patients.
      PDE-5 inhibitors alone or in combination with SSRIs should be limited to men with
      acquired PE secondary to co-morbid ED. New on-demand rapid acting SSRIs, oxytocin
      receptor antagonists, or single agents that target multiple receptors may form
      the foundation of more effective future on-demand medication. Current evidence
      confirms the efficacy and safety of dapoxetine, off-label SSRI drugs, tramadol
      and topical anaesthetics drugs. Treatment with alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonists
      cannot be recommended until the results of large well-designed RCTs are published
      in major international peer-reviewed medical journals. As our understanding of
      the neurochemical control of ejaculation improves, new therapeutic targets and
      candidate molecules will be identified which may increase our pharmacotherapeutic
      armamentarium. 

PMID- 27652227
TI  - The pathophysiology of delayed ejaculation.
AB  - Delayed ejaculation (DE) is probably least studied, and least understood of male
      sexual dysfunctions, with an estimated prevalence of 1-4% of the male population.
      Pathophysiology of DE is multifactorial and including psychosexual-behavioral and
      cultural factors, disruption of ejaculatory apparatus, central and peripheral
      neurotransmitters, hormonal or neurochemical ejaculatory control and psychosocial
      factors. Although knowledge of the physiology of the DE has increased in the last
      two decade, our understanding of the different pathophysiological process of the
      causes of DE remains limited. To provide a systematic update on the
      pathophysiology of DE. A systematic review of Medline and PubMed for relevant
      publications on ejaculatory dysfunction (EjD), DE, retarded ejaculation,
      inhibited ejaculation, and climax was performed. The search was limited to the
      articles published between the January 1960 and December 2015 in English. Of 178
      articles, 105 were selected for this review. Only those publications relevant to
      the pathophysiology, epidemiology and prevalence of DE were included. The
      pathophysiology of DE involves cerebral sensory areas, motor centers, and several
      spinal nuclei that are tightly interconnected. The biogenic, psychogenic and
      other factors strongly affect the pathophysiology of DE. Despite the many
      publications on this disorder, there still is a paucity of publications dedicated
      to the subject. 

PMID- 27652228
TI  - Psychosexual therapy for delayed ejaculation based on the Sexual Tipping Point
      model.
AB  - The Sexual Tipping Point((r)) (STP) model is an integrated approach to the
      etiology, diagnosis and treatment of men with delayed ejaculation (DE), including
      all subtypes manifesting ejaculatory delay or absence [registered trademark owned
      by the MAP Educational Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity]. A single pathogenetic
      pathway does not exist for sexual disorders generally and that is also true for
      DE specifically. Men with DE have various bio-psychosocial-behavioral & cultural
      predisposing, precipitating, maintaining, and contextual factors which trigger,
      reinforce, or worsen the probability of DE occurring. Regardless of the degree of
      organic etiology present, DE is exacerbated by insufficient stimulation: an
      inadequate combination of "friction and fantasy". High frequency negative
      thoughts may neutralize erotic cognitions (fantasy) and subsequently delay,
      ameliorate, or inhibit ejaculation, while partner stimulation (friction) may
      prove unsatisfying. Assessment requires a thorough sexual history including
      inquiry into masturbatory methods. Many men with DE engage in an idiosyncratic
      masturbatory style, defined as a masturbation technique not easily duplicated by
      the partner's hand, mouth, or vagina. The clinician's most valuable diagnostic
      tool is a focused sex history (sex status). Differentiate DE from other sexual
      problems and review the conditions under which the man can ejaculate. Perceived
      partner attractiveness, the use of fantasy during sex, anxiety-surrounding coitus
      and masturbatory patterns require meticulous exploration. Identify important DE
      causes by juxtaposing an awareness of his cognitions and the sexual stimulation
      experienced during masturbation, versus a partnered experience. Assist the man in
      identifying behaviors that enhance immersion in excitation and minimize
      inhibiting thoughts, in order to reach ejaculation in his preferred manner.
      Discontinuing, reducing or altering masturbation is often required, which evokes
      patient resistance. Coaching tips are offered on how to ensure adherence to this
      suspension, manage resistance and facilitate success. Depending on motivation
      level, masturbation interruption may be compromised and negotiated. Encourage a
      man who continues to masturbate to alter style ("switch hands") and to
      approximate the stimulation likely to be experienced with his partner. Success
      will require most men to be taught to learn bodily movements and fantasies that
      approximate the thoughts and sensations experienced in masturbation. Fertility
      issues, as well as patient/partner anger are important causational factors, which
      often require individual and/or conjoint consultation. Drug treatment would
      benefit men particularly with severe DE, regardless of concomitant psychosocial
      behavioral and cultural complications. When and if a safe effective medication
      for DE becomes available, this author's transdisciplinary perspective supports
      appropriate medication use when integrated with counseling. This approach
      emphasizes the utility of a biopsychosocial-cultural perspective combined with
      special attention to the patient's narrative. Treatment is patient-centered,
      holistic and integrates a variety of therapies as needed. 

PMID- 27652231
TI  - Post orgasmic illness syndrome (POIS).
AB  - Men with post orgasmic illness syndrome (POIS) become ill rather immediately
      after ejaculation, whether spontaneously at night, during sexual intercourse or
      masturbation. Two subtypes are distinguished: primary and secondary POIS. It also
      occurs before or after a man has been sterilized. POIS is an invalidating most
      probably auto-immune disease leading to much distress in males and their
      partners. It is characterized by five criteria. Its symptoms are described by
      seven clusters. However, the manifestation of these symptoms varies from one male
      to the other but is relatively constant in the person himself. Among men the
      symptoms vary in intensity, durations and sort of symptoms. POIS is a chronic
      disorder that manifests itself in POIS "attacks" that occur within a few minutes
      to a few hours after ejaculation, and disappear spontaneously after 3 to 7 days.
      POIS is not associated with increased total serum IgE concentrations. On the
      contrary, there are indications that POIS is triggered by specific cytokines that
      are released by an auto-immune reaction to the man's seminal fluid. Indirect
      clinical evidence suggests that the antigen (Ag) triggering the POIS systemic
      reaction is not bound to spermatozoa but to seminal fluid produced by prostatic
      tissue. In addition, POIS may also occur-although rarely-in females. In those
      cases, it is hypothesized that the Ag is associated with female prostatic tissue
      around the vagina. 

PMID- 27652232
TI  - Surgery is not indicated for the treatment of premature ejaculation.
AB  - Premature ejaculation (PE) is considered the most common male sexual disorder,
      affecting up to 75% of men at some point in their lives. While medical management
      is the mainstay of therapy, surgical options such as dorsal nerve neurectomy
      (DNN), hyaluronic acid (HA) gel glans penis augmentation, and circumcision have
      been studied as alternative forms of treatment. Preliminary studies have
      suggested that DNN and HA gel glans penis augmentation are relatively safe and
      effective, but due to a lack of large, multicenter, randomized-control trials
      with long-term follow-up, the International Society of Sexual Medicine (ISSM) has
      been unable to endorse DNN or HA gel glans penis augmentation as options in the
      treatment of PE. Conflicting data regarding the efficacy and safety of
      circumcision has similarly led to its exclusion from ISSM recommendations for the
      treatment of PE. Ethical concerns, particularly the fundamental concept of non
      maleficence, are also barriers to the implementation of surgery for PE. 

PMID- 27652230
TI  - Retrograde ejaculation, painful ejaculation and hematospermia.
AB  - Although there has been an increased interest on premature ejaculation in the
      recent years, our understanding regarding the disorders of retrograde
      ejaculation, painful ejaculation and hematospermia remain limited. All three of
      these conditions require a keen clinical acumen and willingness to engage in
      thinking outside of the standard established treatment paradigm. The development
      of novel investigational techniques and treatments has led to progress in the
      management of these conditions symptoms; however, the literature almost uniformly
      is limited to small series and rare randomised trials. Further investigation and
      randomised controlled trials are needed for progress in these often challenging
      cases. 

PMID- 27652233
TI  - Professor Larry I. Lipshultz: genetic research in male infertility.

PMID- 27652234
TI  - Prof. Eric A. Klein: genomic research in prostate cancer.

PMID- 27652229
TI  - The drug treatment of delayed ejaculation.
AB  - Delayed ejaculation (DE) is an uncommon and a challenging disorder to treat. It
      is often quite concerning to patients and it can affect psychosocial well-being.
      Here we reviewed how DE is treated pharmacologically .We also highlighted
      specific settings where drugs could be introduced to medical practice. Electronic
      databases were searched from 1966 to February 2016, including PubMed MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, EBCSO Academic Search Complete, Cochrane Systematic Reviews Database, and
      Google Scholar using key words; delayed ejaculation, retarded ejaculation,
      inhibited ejaculation, drugs, treatment, or pharmacology. To achieve the maximum
      sensitivity of the search strategy and to identify all studies, we combined
      "delayed ejaculation" as Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms or keywords with
      each of "testosterone" or "cabergoline" or "bupropion" or "amantadine" or
      "cyproheptadine" or "midodrine" or "imipramine" or "ephedrine" or
      "pseudoephedrine" or "yohimbine" or "buspirone" or "oxytocin" or "bethanechol" as
      MeSH terms or keywords. There are a number of drugs to treat patients with DE
      including: testosterone, cabergoline, bupropion, amantadine, cyproheptadine,
      midodrine, imipramine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, yohimbine, buspirone,
      oxytocin, and bethanechol. Although there are many pharmacological treatment
      options, the evidence is still limited to small trials, case series or case
      reports. Review of literature showed that evidence level 1 (Double blind
      randomized clinical trial) studies were performed with testosterone, oxytocin,
      buspirone or bethanechol treatment. It is concluded that successful drug
      treatment of DE is still in its infancy. The clinicians need to be aware of the
      pathogenesis of DE and the pharmacological basis underlying the use of different
      drugs to extend better care for these patients. Various drugs are available to
      address such problem, however their evidence of efficacy is still limited and
      their choice needs to be individualized to each specific case. 

PMID- 27652235
TI  - Prof. Allen Seftel: be part of new innovations.

PMID- 27652236
TI  - Dr. Jeffrey Tomaszewski: the application of prostate cancer genomic tests.

PMID- 27652238
TI  - Prof. Rajeev Kumar: adrenal masses.

PMID- 27652237
TI  - Dr. Ryan P. Smith: management of chronic orchialgia.

PMID- 27652239
TI  - Erratum to comprehensive characterization of the perioperative morbidity of
      cytoreductive nephrectomy.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.21037/tau.2016.03.21.]. 

PMID- 27652240
TI  - Assessment of dental caries prevention program applied to a cohort of elementary
      school children of Kebemer, a city in Senegal.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Dental caries is frequently observed in children, particularly among
      those residing in developing countries. The most adapted strategies against this
      pathology remains prevention based on information, education, and communication
      (IEC), as well as on early diagnosis and treatment. We carried out a study that
      aimed to analyze the development of dental caries in a cohort of school children
      followed during their primary education. The objective was to assess the
      evolution of the dental status of a cohort of students during their elementary
      curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cohort of school children was followed
      during 6 years from the first grade to the sixth grade. Monitoring of these
      school children focused every year on IEC based on learning methods of brushing
      messages, dietary advice, systematic visits, fluoride use, and primary dental
      care. During the school year, the students were periodically subjected to
      education and communication briefings (IEC). Primary care consisted of extracting
      and descaling rhizalyzed teeth in the same period. The data from this review were
      collected using the World Health Organization questionnaire, and statistical
      analysis was performed with the software Epi-info version 6.04 d. RESULTS: The
      mean age of the 171 school children was 6 years in the first grade and 11 years
      in the sixth grade. In the first grade, the decayed permanent teeth prevalence
      was 31.6% and the In permanent teeth: Decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMF/T)
      was 0.47. The decayed primary teeth prevalence was 75% and the in primary teeth:
      decayed or filled teeth (df/t) 2.23. In the sixth year, the prevalence of decayed
      permanent teeth was 51% and DMF/T 0.36 whereas the decayed primary teeth
      prevalence was 12% and the df/t was 0.19. The prevalence of decayed permanent
      teeth increased from 31.6 to 51% whereas the mean DMF/T was not statistically
      different between school children of the first and sixth grade class. CONCLUSION:
      The promotion of oral health by IEC messages and monitoring of children
      constitute an effective preventive method for children's oral care.

PMID- 27652241
TI  - In vitro evaluation of shear bond strength and microleakage of different pit and
      fissure sealants.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: Fissure caries is most common in children due to deep pit and
      fissures. Pit and fissure areas on the occlusal surface of the teeth make them
      susceptible to dental caries, which need to be prevented or restored. Fissures
      sealant reduces the risk of occlusal caries. The present study was done to
      evaluate microleakage and shear bond strength of various fissure sealants.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six extracted molars were randomly allocated
      equally (n = 12) into three groups with three different sealants to evaluate
      shear bond strength and microleakage at sealant space. The shear bond strengths
      was evaluated with one-way analysis of variance and microleakage by Kruskal
      Wallis nonparametric test using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
      version 18.0 (Chicago: SPSS Inc, 2009). RESULTS: Tetric flow (16.8 MPa) recorded
      the highest shear bond strength and the difference was statistically significant
      with enamel loc (12.8 MPa). There was no statistically significant difference in
      relation to microleakage (P > 0.05) in the tested groups. CONCLUSIONS: Tetric
      flow recorded the highest shear bond strength and the difference was
      statistically significant with enamel loc. However, there was no statistically
      significant difference among the groups regarding microleakage.

PMID- 27652242
TI  - Gaps in need, demand, and effective demand for dental care utilization among
      residents of Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India.
AB  - AIMS: To identify the relation between need, demand, and effective demand for
      dental services in Andhra Pradesh, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross
      sectional study performed among populations residing in the rural and urban areas
      of Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Data were collected from 3102
      individuals who were selected through multiphase random sampling. Data regarding
      self-perceived dental need, dental service utilization, and barriers for
      utilization were collected through s pretested questionnaire followed by type-III
      clinical examination to assess the normative need of the individuals. Chi-square
      test was used to compare independent and dependent variables, and further
      comparison was done with multivariate logistic regression analysis for
      significant variables. RESULTS: Less than half (40%) of the participants
      perceived a need for dental care. Among the people who perceived need for care,
      only 21.4% utilized dental care and 78.6% of them had unmet dental needs. The two
      main reasons for not seeking dental care was lack of money, i.e., unaffordable
      dental treatment (48%) and having the perception that they do not have any dental
      problem (19.4%). CONCLUSIONS: There is an enormous difference between normative
      need, demand, and actual utilization rates in dental care, and hindrances for
      effective demand need to be addressed to improve dental care delivery system.

PMID- 27652243
TI  - The prevalence of pathologic tooth migration with respect to the severity of
      periodontitis.
AB  - AIM: Pathologic tooth migration (PTM) has been defined as tooth displacement that
      occurs when the balance among the factors that maintain physiologic tooth
      position is disturbed by periodontal disease. The aim of this cross-sectional
      epidemiological study was to determine the prevalence of pathologic tooth
      migration among patients with periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Recorded
      documents of 370 patients (72.4% females, 27.6% males) within the age range of 17
      to 70 years (mean 37.77 +/- 11.46) were studied. Statistical analysis was carried
      out using t-test and Chi-square test. RESULTS: Pathologic migration prevalence
      was 11.4% (35/314 patients), however, there was no pathologic migration in
      patients with mild chronic periodontitis. The Chi-square test showed that there
      was no statistically significant difference between males and females.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm that pathologic tooth migration is
      relatively common among periodontal patients and its prevalence is increased by
      the severity of periodontal disease.

PMID- 27652244
TI  - Prevalence of prematurely lost primary teeth in 5-10-year-old children in Thamar
      city, Yemen: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The premature loss of primary teeth is a potential risk factor for
      poor arch length development. Adequate arch length is important to the
      progression of the permanent teeth. Poor arch length can lead to crowding,
      ectopic eruption, or impaction of these teeth. This study is designed to assess
      the prevalence of premature loss of primary teeth in the 5-10-year-old age group.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group included 185 children, that is, 91 boys
      and 94 girls. The dental examination was conducted by an experienced examiner
      under sufficient artificial light. Data including patient age and missing teeth
      were collected. Descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis, and from
      the results, Chi-square tests were used at a level of significance of 5% (P <
      0.05). RESULTS: We observed a 40.54% prevalence of premature loss of primary
      teeth with no statistically significant difference between genders. The lower
      left primary second molar was the most commonly absent tooth in the dental arch
      (13.5%). CONCLUSION: The status of premature loss of primary teeth was high in
      the study group. Implementation of efficient educational and preventive programs
      to promote oral health would help children maintain a healthy primary dentition
      and eventually prevent the disturbances in the future development of normal
      occlusion. Early detection and management of the space problems associated with
      the early loss of primary teeth would help in reducing malocclusion problems.

PMID- 27652245
TI  - A comparative evaluation of two rotary Ni-Ti instruments in the removal of gutta
      percha during retreatment.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study is to achieve an effective method to remove root
      canal filling material from the root canal system. The study, thus, aims to
      evaluate the efficacy of the cleaning ability of two different rotary Ni-Ti
      systems; ProTaper Retreatment files and RaCe System compared to hand
      instrumentation with Hedstrom files for the removal of gutta-percha during
      retreatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty mandibular premolars with one single
      straight canal were decoronated and instrumented with ProTaper files and filled
      with thermoplastic gutta-percha. After 30 days, the samples were divided into
      three groups and gutta-percha was removed with the test instruments. The
      postoperative radiographs were evaluated with known criteria by dividing the root
      into cervical third, middle third, and apical third. The results were tabulated
      and Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (IBM Corporation) was used
      for analysis. RESULTS: The mean deviation of the results were first calculated
      and then t-test and analysis of variance test (two-tailed P value) were evaluated
      for establishing significant differences. The rotary instruments were effective
      in removing the gutta-percha from the canals. Therefore, significant difference
      was observed between the efficacies of the two rotary systems used. The rotary
      instruments showed effective gutta-percha removal in the cervical and middle one
      third. (P > 0.05). However, apical debridement was effective with Hedstrom files.
      CONCLUSION: The study concluded the use of both rotary and hand instrumentation
      for effective removal of gutta-percha for retreatment.

PMID- 27652247
TI  - Assessment of micronuclei frequency in individuals with a habit of tobacco by
      means of exfoliated oral buccal cells.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the genotoxic effects of tobacco on the exfoliated
      buccal epithelial cells in patients with oral precancerous lesions (OPLs) and
      Patients with tobacco habit but without oral precancerous lesion(habit controls)
      by using micronucleus assay as well as the quantification and detection of the
      biomarkers in these premalignant lesions which will be helpful in finding those
      patients who are at higher risk for malignant transformation. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Forty samples were collected from the right and left side of buccal
      epithelial cells obtained from 20 individuals, i.e., 10 patients with habit
      control and 10 patients with OPLs. Statistical analysis was performed by the
      Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21.0 Unpaired t-test was
      performed to determine the micronucleated cell (MNC) and micronuclei (MN)
      frequencies in individuals; significance was set at P > 0.05. RESULTS: There was
      an increase in both the MNC and MN frequency from habit controls to OPLs,
      indicating that the number of cells with chromosomal damage and extent of
      chromosomal damage in each cell was high in OPLs. CONCLUSION: The MN count can be
      used as a noninvasive tool for early detection, educating patients, screening a
      large population, and to check the risk for malignancy, which in turn may help in
      treatment planning.

PMID- 27652246
TI  - Perception of Dental Public Health Competency among recent graduates.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess how competent the recent dental
      graduates perceive themselves to be in Dental Public Health. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A 21-item structured, close-ended questionnaire study was carried out at
      the KLEVK Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, India. Students assessed their
      competencies using a three-point ordinal scale. One hundred and thirty-three
      students were asked to rate their proficiency on a 21-item matrix of the dental
      public health program. The responses were grouped using the Likert-type scale.
      Frequencies descriptive data were generated, and statistical analysis of examined
      variables was carried out using the Chi-square test. Mann-Whitney test was
      conducted to identify the correlation between variables. RESULTS: The overall
      mean score was 22.61 +/- 10.94, highlighting confidence of the graduates in
      managing the oral health problems at the community level. Females showed higher
      competencies in functions related "to develop activities to motivate the
      community development," "to motivate health and oral health through health
      education," and "to motivate health and oral health through the creation of
      healthy settings." While males reported greater competency for the function "to
      adjust the dental practice to situations of restrictions that limits it."
      CONCLUSION: Recent dental graduates at the Institute perceived themselves
      competent in managing oral and dental health problems at the public level.
      Additional countrywide evidence regarding teaching and learning of public health
      dentistry is essential to compare the current experiences of dental graduates and
      ultimately enhance patient care.

PMID- 27652248
TI  - Objective assessment of the influence of the parental presence on the fear and
      behavior of anxious children during their first restorative dental visit.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Parents play an important role in the dental behavior of a
      child patient. This study aimed to assess the effect of parental presence on the
      behavior of the child and objectively measure the behavior using pulse oximetry.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was registered with the clinical trials registry
      of the National Institutes of Health (NCT02619981). The children were divided
      into three groups, those who had no accompanying parent, those accompanied by
      their fathers, and those accompanied by their mothers. The Venham anxiety and
      behavior scores were used for subjective measurements whereas the objective
      measurement of fear was done by measuring the heart rate using a portable pulse
      oximeter at six critical clinical situations. Statistical analysis was carried
      out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21 (IBM corp.
      Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: One hundred and twenty two children aged between 6
      years and 8 years completed the study. Most of the children accompanied by
      fathers were males while most of the children accompanied by their mother were
      females. It was seen that females showed a higher mean heart rate than males at
      all steps. Children who had their parents outside the operatory exhibited lower
      anxiety and behavior scores than those whose parents were present; however, they
      showed a significantly higher pulse rate at all procedures. Boys had higher
      anxiety and behavior scores than girls, however, these differences were not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the
      presence of the parent in the operatory reduces the physiological manifestations
      of anxiety in children in their first restorative dental visit.

PMID- 27652249
TI  - Efficacy of platelet rich fibrin in the treatment of human intrabony defects with
      or without bone graft: A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of platelet rich fibrin (PRF) with or without bone
      graft [demineralized bone matrix (DBM) graft] in the treatment of intrabony
      defects based on clinical and radiographic parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Thirty six intrabony defects in 36 patients were randomly divided into three
      different groups and were treated with group A (PRF with DBM) or group B (PRF
      alone) or group C [open flap debridement (OFD)]. Clinical parameters such as
      plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), relative attachment
      level (RAL), and gingival recession (GR) were assessed at baseline and 9 months
      postoperatively; radiographic parameters such as linear bone growth (LBG) and
      percentage in bone fill (%BF) were calculated by using the image analysis
      software. Comparisons of groups were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis analysis of
      variance test. Pair-wise comparison of groups was done by Mann-Whitney U test.
      RESULTS: Mean PD reduction and RAL gain were greater in group A (4.25 +/- 1.48,
      3.92 +/- 0.90) and group B (3.82 +/- 0.75, 3.27 +/- 0.65) than control (3.00 +/-
      1.21, 2.25 +/- 0.62). Furthermore, statistically significant improvement in LBG
      and %BF was found in group A (3.47 +/- 0.53, 61.53 +/- 4.54) compared to group B
      (2.55 +/- 0.61, 49.60 +/- 14.08) and group C (1.21 +/- 0.80, 24.69 +/- 15.59).
      CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that PRF improves clinical and radiological
      parameters compared to OFD alone in intrabony defects. Addition of DBM enhances
      the effects of PRF in RAL gain and radiographic defect fill.

PMID- 27652250
TI  - Comparative analysis of endodontic smear layer removal efficacy of 17%
      ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, 7% maleic acid, and 2% chlorhexidine using
      scanning electron microscope: An in vitro study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of different
      endodontic irrigants in the removal of smear layer through scanning electron
      microscopic image analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present in vitro study was
      carried out on 45 single-rooted extracted human mandibular premolar teeth with
      single canal and complete root formation. Teeth were randomly assigned to three
      groups with 15 teeth in each group. Group I samples were irrigated with 17%
      ethylenediaminetetraacetic (EDTA) irrigation, Group II with 7% maleic acid
      irrigation, and Group III with 2% chlorhexidine irrigation. Scanning electron
      microscope evaluation was done for the assessment of smear layer removal in the
      coronal, middle, and apical thirds. Comparison of the smear layer removal between
      the three different groups was done by Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by Mann
      Whitney U test for comparing individual groups. A P value less than 0.05 was
      considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: Statistically significant
      difference was seen between the two test groups (17% EDTA vs. 7% maleic acid and
      17% EDTA vs. 2% chlorhexidine) in smear layer removal at coronal, middle, and
      apical thirds of the root canal. The most efficient smear layer removal was seen
      in Group I with 17% EDTA irrigation compared with other groups (P < 0.05) and the
      least by 2% chlorhexidine. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that 17% EDTA
      efficiently removes the smear layer from root canal walls.

PMID- 27652251
TI  - Comparative evaluation of effect of different polishing systems on surface
      roughness of composite resin: An in vitro study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Satisfactory composite restoration depends upon its smooth
      finish, quality of polishing agents, type of composite material used, and its
      composition. The present study evaluated the effect of different polishing
      systems on the surface roughness of composite resin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty
      discs of composite were prepared and equally subjected to different finishing and
      polishing procedures; (i) unpolished control group, (ii) sof-lex discs, (iii)
      diamond tips, and (iv) Astrobrush groups. Later, the surface roughness for the
      entire specimen was evaluated using Profilomotor. Data were tabulated and
      statistically analyzed using analysis of variance and Tukey's test at
      significance level of 0.001. RESULTS: Composite surface roughness after polishing
      was statistically significant between the groups. Sof-lex group produced lesser
      surface roughness compared to control, Astrobrush, and diamond group. CONCLUSION:
      The present study indicated that diamond tips can be used to remove rough surface
      whereas sof-lex can be used for final finish and polish of the composite
      restoration.

PMID- 27652252
TI  - Osteosarcoma of the posterior maxilla.
AB  - Osteosarcoma is a very uncommon tumor of the maxillofacial region. Due to the
      occurrence of the tumor at a young age and its aggressive nature, radical surgery
      forms the only modality of treatment. A combination of radiotherapy and
      postoperative chemotherapy has been used for the management of this tumor. A case
      report of osteosarcoma of the posterior maxilla in an adolescent with a 1-year
      disease-free follow-up is presented in this report. 

PMID- 27652253
TI  - Computed tomography: Will the slices reveal the truth.
AB  - With the advances in the field of imaging sciences, new methods have been
      developed in dental radiology. These include digital radiography, density
      analyzing methods, cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), magnetic resonance
      imaging, ultrasound, and nuclear imaging techniques, which provide high
      resolution detailed images of oral structures. The current review aims to
      critically elaborate the use of CBCT in endodontics. 

PMID- 27652254
TI  - Vertical root fracture: Biological effects and accuracy of diagnostic imaging
      methods.
AB  - This review assessed the most up-to-date literature on the accuracy of detecting
      vertical root fractures (VRFs] using the currently available diagnostic imaging
      methods. In addition, an overview of the biological and clinical aspects of VRFs
      will also be discussed. A systematic review of the literature was initiated in
      December of 2015 and then updated in May of 2016. The electronic databases
      searched included PubMed, Emabse, Ovid, and Google Scholar. An assessment of the
      methodological quality was performed using a modified version of the quality
      assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies tool. Twenty-two studies were included
      in this systematic review after applying specific inclusion and exclusion
      criteria. Of those, 12 favored using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for
      detecting VRF as compared to periapical radiographs, whereas 5 reported no
      differences between the two methods. The remaining 5 studies confirmed the
      advantages associated with using CBCT when diagnosing VRF and described the
      parameters and limitations associated with this method, but they were not
      comparative studies. In conclusion, overwhelming evidence suggests that the use
      of CBCT is a preferred method for detecting VRFs. Nevertheless, additional well
      controlled and high quality studies are needed to produce solid evidence and
      guidelines to support the routine use of CBCT in the diagnosis of VRFs as a
      standard of care. 

PMID- 27652255
TI  - Genetic Contribution of Ningmai 9 Wheat to Its Derivatives Evaluated by Using SNP
      Markers.
AB  - Founder parent usually plays an important role in wheat breeding. Ningmai 9 is a
      soft wheat variety with good performance in yield, quality, and resistance to
      wheat disease. Therefore it serves as an important commercial variety and founder
      parent in middle and lower Yangtze River of China. To date, 20 new cultivars have
      been developed from Ningmai 9 and released to wheat production in the last 10
      years. In this study, the 90K iSELECT ILLUMINA chip was used to analyze the
      genotype of Ningmai 9 and its 17 derivatives. The genetic similarity coefficients
      between Ningmai 9 and its derivatives were more than 0.7 except for Yangfumai 4.
      Neighbor-Joining analysis showed that Yangfumai 4 had the largest genetic
      distance from Ningmai 9 in all derivatives. There was a great difference for the
      same allele ratio in either derivatives or chromosomes, though the average values
      of the same allele ratio in genomes A, B, and D were close to each other. The
      phenotypic difference in Ningmai 9, Ningmai 13, and Yangfumai 4 was consistent
      with their difference in genetic background by comparing previous reported QTLs.
      Some hot chromosome regions were found and might be used for marker assisted
      selection in wheat breeding. 

PMID- 27652256
TI  - Transcriptome Analyses Reveal Lipid Metabolic Process in Liver Related to the
      Difference of Carcass Fat Content in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
AB  - Excessive accumulation of carcass fat in farm animals, including fish, has a
      significant impact on meat quality and on the cost of feeding. Similar to farmed
      animals and humans, the liver can be considered one of the most important organs
      involved in lipid metabolism in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). RNA-seq
      based whole transcriptome sequencing was performed to liver tissue of rainbow
      trout with high and low carcass fat content in this study. In total 1,694
      differentially expressed transcripts were identified, including many genes
      involved in lipid metabolism, such as L-FABP, adiponectin, PPAR-alpha, PPAR-beta,
      and IGFBP1a. Evidence presented in this study indicated that lipid metabolic
      process in liver may be related to the difference of carcass fat content. The
      relevance of PPAR-alpha and PPAR-beta as molecular markers for fat storage in
      liver should be worthy of further investigation. 

PMID- 27652257
TI  - The Effect of Esmolol on Tissue Perfusion and Clinical Prognosis of Patients with
      Severe Sepsis: A Prospective Cohort Study.
AB  - Purpose. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of esmolol on tissue
      perfusion and the clinical prognosis of patients with severe sepsis. Materials
      and Methods. One hundred fifty-one patients with severe sepsis were selected and
      divided into the esmolol group (n = 75) or the control group (n = 76), who
      received conventional antiseptic shock treatment. The esmolol group received a
      continuous infusion of esmolol via a central venous catheter, and their heart
      rate (HR) was maintained at 70-100 bpm over 72 hours. Results. The HR of all
      patients reached the target level within 72 hours of treatment for both groups.
      The effect of esmolol on PvaCO2 was only significant at 48 hours (P < 0.05).
      ScvO2 increased in the esmolol group and decreased in the control group (P <
      0.01). Lac showed a linear downward trend over the treatment time, but the
      reduction was more significant in the control group at 48 hours (P < 0.05)
      between the two groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significantly shorter
      duration of mechanical ventilation in the esmolol group than in the control group
      (P < 0.05). Conclusions. Esmolol reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation
      in patients with severe sepsis, with no significant effect on circulatory
      function or tissue perfusion. 

PMID- 27652258
TI  - Myokines in Response to a Tournament Season among Young Tennis Players.
AB  - The study investigated changes in myokines, heat shock proteins, and growth
      factors in highly ranked, young, male tennis players in response to physical
      workload during the competitive season and their potential correlations with
      match scores. Blood collections were carried out at the beginning, the midpoint,
      and the end of the tournament season. Data analysis revealed a significant
      increase in interleukin 6 and its inverse correlation with the number of lost
      games (r = -0.45; 90% CI -0.06 to 0.77). Neither the irisin nor BDNF level
      changed notably, yet delta changes of irisin across the season significantly
      correlated with the number of games won. The concentration of HSP27 recorded a
      small increase (31.2%; 90% CI 10.7 to 55.5, most likely). A negative correlation
      was noted between IGF-1 and HSP27 concentration at baseline (-0.70 very high; 90%
      CI -0.89 to -0.31, very likely). At the end of the season IGF-1 correlated
      positively with the number of games won (r = 0.37 moderate, 90% CI -0.16 to 0.73,
      likely) but negatively with the number of games lost (r = -0.39, 90% CI -0.14 to 
      0.74, likely). In conclusion our data indicated that Il-6, irisin, and growth
      factor IGF-1 may modify overall performance during a long lasting season,
      expressed in the amount of games won or lost. 

PMID- 27652259
TI  - Functional Assessment of the Foot Undergoing Percutaneous Achilles Tenotomy in
      Term of Gait Analysis.
AB  - Background. This study was designed to evaluate the function of the foot
      undergoing the procedure of percutaneous Achilles tenotomy (PAT) in case of
      clubfoot management in terms of gait analysis. Methods. Nineteen patients with
      unilateral clubfeet were retrospectively reviewed from our database from July
      2012 to June 2016. The result in all the cases was rated as excellent according
      to the scale of International Clubfoot Study Group (ICSG). The affected sides
      were taken as Group CF and the contralateral sides as Group CL. Three-dimensional
      gait analysis was applied for the functional evaluation of the involved foot.
      Results. Statistical difference was found in physical parameters of passive ankle
      dorsiflexion and plantar-flexion. No statistical difference was found in temporal
      spatial parameters. There was statistical difference in kinematic parameters of
      total ankle rotation, ankle range of motion, and internal foot progression angle
      and in kinetic parameters of peak ankle power. No statistical difference was
      found in other kinematic and kinetic parameters. Conclusions. It is demonstrated
      that the procedure of PAT is safe and efficient for correcting the equinus
      deformity in case of clubfoot management and preserving the main function of
      Achilles tendon at the minimum of four-year follow-up. 

PMID- 27652260
TI  - Resistance to Second-Line Antituberculosis Drugs and Delay in Drug Susceptibility
      Testing among Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients in Shanghai.
AB  - Introduction. Second-line antituberculosis drugs (SLDs) are used for treating
      multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Prolonged delays before confirming MDR
      TB with drug susceptibility testing (DST) could result in transmission of drug
      resistant strains and inappropriate use of SLDs, thereby increasing the risk of
      resistance to SLDs. This study investigated the diagnostic delay in DST and
      prevalence of baseline SLD resistance in Shanghai and described the distribution
      of SLD resistance with varied delays to DST. Methods. All registered patients
      from 2011 to 2013 in Shanghai were enrolled. Susceptibility to ofloxacin,
      amikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin was tested. Total delay in DST completion
      was measured from the onset of symptoms to reporting DST results. Results.
      Resistance to SLDs was tested in 217 of the 276 MDR-TB strains, with 118 (54.4%)
      being resistant to at least one of the four SLDs. The median total delay in DST
      was 136 days. Patients with delay longer than median days were roughly twice more
      likely to have resistance to at least one SLD (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.19-4.11).
      Conclusions. During prolonged delay in DST, primary and acquired resistance to
      SLDs might occur more frequently. Rapid diagnosis of MDR-TB, improved nosocomial
      infection controls, and regulated treatment are imperative to prevent SLD
      resistance. 

PMID- 27652261
TI  - Immediate Adverse Reactions to Gadolinium-Based MR Contrast Media: A
      Retrospective Analysis on 10,608 Examinations.
AB  - Background and Purpose. Contrast media (CM) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      may determine the development of acute adverse reactions. Objective was to
      retrospectively assess the frequency and severity of adverse reactions associated
      with gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) injection in patients who underwent
      MRI. Material and Methods. At our center 10608 MRI examinations with CM were
      performed using five different GBCAs: Gd-BOPTA (MultiHance), Gd-DTPA (Magnevist),
      Gd-EOBDTPA (Primovist), Gd-DOTA (Dotarem), and Gd-BTDO3A (Gadovist). Results. 32
      acute adverse reactions occurred, accounting for 0.3% of all administration.
      Twelve reactions were associated with Gd-DOTA injection (0.11%), 9 with Gd-BOPTA
      injection (0.08%), 6 with Gd-BTDO3A (0.056%), 3 with Gd-EOB-DTPA (0.028%), and 2
      with Gd-DTPA (0.018%). Twenty-four reactions (75.0%) were mild, four (12.5%)
      moderate, and four (12.5%) severe. The most severe reactions were seen associated
      with use of Gd-BOPTA, with 3 severe reactions in 32 total reactions. Conclusion.
      Acute adverse reactions are generally rare with the overall adverse reaction rate
      of 0.3%. The most common adverse reactions were not severe, consisting in skin
      rash and hives. 

PMID- 27652263
TI  - Molecular Imaging for Personalized Medicine.

PMID- 27652262
TI  - Independent and Combined Effects of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and
      Gestational Weight Gain on Offspring Growth at 0-3 Years of Age.
AB  - Background. The objective of this study was to investigate the independent and
      combined effects of maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational
      weight gain (GWG) on offspring growth at 0-3 years old. Methods. A total of 826
      pairs of nondiabetic mothers and their offspring were recruited in this study.
      Maternal information was abstracted from medical records and questionnaires.
      Offspring growth trajectories of weights and BMIs were depicted based on
      anthropometric measurements. Results. Offspring of mothers who were prepregnancy
      overweight/obese or obtained excessive GWGs continuously had greater weight and
      BMI Z-scores throughout the first 3 years of life. Children of prepregnancy
      overweight/obese mothers with excessive GWGs had a phenotype of higher weight and
      BMI Z-scores than those prepregnancy overweight/obese ones with nonexcessive GWGs
      from birth to 18 months. Maternal excessive GWGs increased offspring's risk of
      overweight/obesity at 12 months (AOR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.03-2.00) and 24 months
      (AOR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.02-2.25). Combination of excessive prepregnancy BMIs and
      GWGs was significantly associated with offspring's overweight/obesity at 30
      months (AOR = 2.98, 95% CI: 1.36-6.53). Conclusions. Maternal prepregnancy
      overweight/obesity and excessive GWG are both significantly associated with rapid
      offspring growth from birth to 3 years old. Excessive GWGs strengthen the effects
      of high maternal prepregnancy BMIs on excessive offspring growth during their
      early life. 

PMID- 27652264
TI  - Biosynthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles by Aspergillus Species.
AB  - Currently, researchers turn to natural processes such as using biological
      microorganisms in order to develop reliable and ecofriendly methods for the
      synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. In this study, we have investigated
      extracellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using four Aspergillus species
      including A. fumigatus, A. clavatus, A. niger, and A. flavus. We have also
      analyzed nitrate reductase activity in the studied species in order to determine
      the probable role of this enzyme in the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. The
      formation of silver nanoparticles in the cell filtrates was confirmed by the
      passage of laser light, change in the color of cell filtrates, absorption peak at
      430 nm in UV-Vis spectra, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). There was a logical
      relationship between the efficiencies of studied Aspergillus species in the
      production of silver nanoparticles and their nitrate reductase activity. A.
      fumigatus as the most efficient species showed the highest nitrate reductase
      activity among the studied species while A. flavus exhibited the lowest capacity
      in the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles which was in accord with its low
      nitrate reductase activity. The present study showed that Aspergillus species had
      potential for the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles depending on their nitrate
      reductase activity. 

PMID- 27652265
TI  - Preparation and Characterization of Novel Perfluorooctyl Bromide Nanoparticle as
      Ultrasound Contrast Agent via Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembly for Folate-Receptor
      Mediated Tumor Imaging.
AB  - A folate-polyethylene glycol-chitosan derivative was synthesized and its
      structure was characterized. An optimal perfluorooctyl bromide nanocore template
      was obtained via utilizing the ultrasonic emulsification method combining with
      orthogonal design. The targeted nanoparticles containing targeted shell of folate
      polyethylene glycol-chitosan derivative and perfluorooctyl bromide nanocore
      template of ultrasound imaging were prepared successfully by exploiting layer-by
      layer self-assembly as contrast agent for ultrasound. Properties of the novel
      perfluorooctyl bromide nanoparticle were extensively studied by Dynamic Light
      Scattering and Transmission Electron Microscopy. The targeted nanoparticle
      diameter, polydispersity, and zeta potential are around 229.5 nm, 0.205, and 44.7
      +/- 0.6 mV, respectively. The study revealed that spherical core-shell morphology
      was preserved. Excellent stability of targeted nanoparticle is evidenced by two
      weeks of room temperature stability tests. The results of the cell viability
      assay and the hemolysis test confirmed that the targeted nanoparticle has an
      excellent biocompatibility for using in cell studies and ultrasound imaging in
      vivo. Most importantly, in vitro cell experiments demonstrated that an increased
      amount of targeted nanoparticles was accumulated in hepatocellular carcinoma cell
      line Bel7402 relative to hepatoma cell line L02. And targeted nanoparticles had
      also shown better ultrasound imaging abilities in vitro. The data suggest that
      the novel targeted nanoparticle may be applicable to ultrasonic molecular imaging
      of folate-receptor overexpressed tumor. 

PMID- 27652266
TI  - Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Carbonic Anhydrase IX in Athymic Mice
      Bearing HT-29 Tumor Xenografts.
AB  - Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging technology is a highly sensitive
      imaging modality and has been widely used in noninvasively studying the status of
      receptor expression in small animal models, with an appropriate NIRF probe
      targeting a specific receptor. In this report, Cy5.5-conjugated anti-CAIX
      monoclonal antibody (Mab-Cy5.5) was evaluated in athymic mice bearing HT-29 tumor
      xenografts in order to investigate the effect of conjugate on tumor targeting
      efficacy. In vitro binding studies showed that Mab-Cy5.5 could specifically bind
      to the cells which expressed CAIX. Results from in vivo imaging showed that HT-29
      tumor xenografts can be clearly visualized at 48 h after injection of Mab-Cy5.5,
      and in the blocking experiment, free anti-CAIX antibody effectively blocked the
      concentration of Mab-Cy5.5 in the tumors. Western blotting and
      immunohistochemistry analysis of HT-29 tumor xenografts verified the expression
      of CAIX in HT-29 tumors. Mab-Cy5.5 could specifically bind to the tumors which
      expressed CAIX. These results suggested that Mab-Cy5.5 was suitable for CAIX
      expression imaging in the preclinical research. 

PMID- 27652267
TI  - Treatment of Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinoma with 3 mm Surgical Margin in Asians.
AB  - Background. In Asians, most basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are pigmented with clear
      borders. The consensus of 4 mm surgical margin for BCC largely depends on studies
      in nonpigmented BCCs in Caucasians. However, little is known about recurrences of
      pigmented BCCs with a narrower surgical margin. We aimed to investigate 5-year
      recurrence of BCCs, either pigmented or nonpigmented, in Taiwanese with 3 mm
      surgical margin. Materials and Methods. 143 patients with BCC (M/F = 66/77,
      average 64 years) were confirmed pathologically from 2002 to 2013. Based on the
      pathological margin (>1 mm, <=1 mm, and involved), patients were categorized into
      the complete excision group (n = 77), histology with close proximity group (n =
      43), and unclear surgical margin group (n = 23). Results. Among 143 cases, 105
      were pigmented. With standard 3 mm excision, there were 7 recurrences, with 6 of
      them from nonpigmented BCC group. Logistic regression showed that pigmentation
      was associated with lower recurrence. Interestingly, 5-year recurrence of
      completely excised and histology with close proximity BCC (0/77 versus 1/43) was
      not different statistically. Conclusions. A 3 mm surgical margin is adequate for
      pigmented BCC. A "wait and see" approach rather than further wide excision is
      appropriate for BCC with <1 mm free margin. 

PMID- 27652268
TI  - Association between Toll-Like Receptor 4 Polymorphisms and Systemic Lupus
      Erythematosus Susceptibility: A Meta-Analysis.
AB  - Family aggregation was observed among systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cases,
      suggesting the genetic factor may contribute to the susceptibility. Toll-like
      receptors (TLR) play key role in human immune system; in order to gain better
      insight on the association between TLR4 polymorphisms and SLE risk, a meta
      analysis was conducted. In total 4 case-control studies have been included,
      involving 503 SLE cases and 636 healthy controls. The association between TLR4
      polymorphisms and SLE risk was evaluated by calculating pooled odd ratio (OR) and
      its 95% confidential interval (CI). The Q-test and I (2) statistic were used to
      estimate the degree of heterogeneity. Publication bias among enrolled studies was
      examined by using Egger's test and Begg's test. Overall, there was no evidence of
      positive association between SLE risk and D299G and T399I polymorphisms in TLR4.
      The meta-analysis reported a null association between TLR4 polymorphisms and SLE
      risk in included study populations, but the role of TLR4 polymorphisms in
      developing SLE among other populations remains undetermined. Moreover, some
      laboratory studies still discovered the involvement of TLR4 in SLE process.
      Therefore, the association between TLR4 polymorphisms and SLE risk requires
      further investigation both in laboratory and in epidemiological efforts. 

PMID- 27652269
TI  - Synergistic Effect of Mesoporous Silica and Hydroxyapatite in Loaded Poly(DL
      lactic-co-glycolic acid) Microspheres on the Regeneration of Bone Defects.
AB  - A microsphere composite made of poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA),
      mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN), and nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) (PLGA-MSN/nHA)
      was prepared and evaluated as bone tissue engineering materials. The objective of
      this study was to investigate the synergistic effect of MSN/nHA on
      biocompatibility as well as its potential ability for bone formation. First, we
      found that this PLGA-MSN/nHA composite performed good characteristics on
      microstructure, mechanical strength, and wettability. By cell culture
      experiments, the adhesion and proliferation rate of the cells seeded on PLGA
      MSN/nHA composite was higher than those of the controls and high levels of
      osteogenetic factors such as ALP and Runx-2 were detected by reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Finally, this PLGA-MSN/nHA composite was
      implanted into the femur bone defect in a rabbit model, and its ability to induce
      bone regeneration was observed by histological examinations. Twelve weeks after
      implantation, the bone defects had significantly more formation of mature bone
      and less residual materials than in the controls. These results demonstrate that
      this PLGA-MSN/nHA composite, introducing both MSN and nHA into PLGA microspheres,
      can improve the biocompatibility and osteoinductivity of composite in vitro and
      in vivo and had potential application in bone regeneration. 

PMID- 27652270
TI  - Teneligliptin Decreases Uric Acid Levels by Reducing Xanthine Dehydrogenase
      Expression in White Adipose Tissue of Male Wistar Rats.
AB  - We investigated the effects of teneligliptin on uric acid metabolism in male
      Wistar rats and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The rats were fed with a normal chow diet
      (NCD) or a 60% high-fat diet (HFD) with or without teneligliptin for 4 weeks. The
      plasma uric acid level was not significantly different between the control and
      teneligliptin groups under the NCD condition. However, the plasma uric acid level
      was significantly decreased in the HFD-fed teneligliptin treated rats compared to
      the HFD-fed control rats. The expression levels of xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh)
      mRNA in liver and epididymal adipose tissue of NCD-fed rats were not altered by
      teneligliptin treatment. On the other hand, Xdh expression was reduced
      significantly in the epididymal adipose tissue of the HFD-fed teneligliptin
      treated rats compared with that of HFD-fed control rats, whereas Xdh expression
      in liver did not change significantly in either group. Furthermore, teneligliptin
      significantly decreased Xdh expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. DPP-4 treatment
      significantly increased Xdh expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. With DPP-4
      pretreatment, teneligliptin significantly decreased Xdh mRNA expression compared
      to the DPP-4-treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In conclusion, our studies suggest that
      teneligliptin reduces uric acid levels by suppressing Xdh expression in
      epididymal adipose tissue of obese subjects. 

PMID- 27652271
TI  - Involvement of Histone Lysine Methylation in p21 Gene Expression in Rat Kidney In
      Vivo and Rat Mesangial Cells In Vitro under Diabetic Conditions.
AB  - Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a common complication associated with type 1 and type
      2 diabetes mellitus (DM), characterized by glomerular mesangial expansion,
      inflammation, accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, and
      hypertrophy, is the major cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Increasing
      evidence suggested that p21-dependent glomerular and mesangial cell (MC)
      hypertrophy play key roles in the pathogenesis of DN. Recently,
      posttranscriptional modifications (PTMs) have uncovered novel molecular
      mechanisms involved in DN. However, precise regulatory mechanism of histone
      lysine methylation (HKme) mediating p21 related hypertrophy associated with DN is
      not clear. We evaluated the roles of HKme and histone methyltransferase (HMT)
      SET7/9 in p21 gene expression in glomeruli of diabetic rats and in high glucose-
      (HG-) treated rat mesangial cells (RMCs). p21 gene expression was upregulated in
      diabetic rats glomeruli; chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays showed
      decreased histone H3-lysine9-dimethylation (H3K9me2) accompanied with enhanced
      histone H3-lysine4-methylation (H3K4me1/3) and SET7/9 occupancies at the p21
      promoter. HG-treated RMCs exhibited increased p21 mRNA, H3K4me level, SET7/9
      recruitment, and inverse H3K9me, which were reversed by TGF-beta1 antibody. These
      data uncovered key roles of H3Kme and SET7/9 responsible for p21 gene expression
      in vivo and in vitro under diabetic conditions and confirmed preventive effect of
      TGF-beta1 antibody on DN. 

PMID- 27652276
TI  - Mentors without Borders.
AB  - Mentors without Borders is a proposed international mentoring network that allows
      trainee geneticists to identify mentors from a list of volunteers who are not at
      one's own institution. It is an experiment, a matchmaker between a junior and a
      senior professional. These mentors do not replace the mentors at the home
      institution but allow the mentee, if desired, to identify mentors outside of
      their own institution. We envision that different ways of communicating and/or
      different mentor-mentee relationships may prove beneficial to the trainee and the
      mentor. 

PMID- 27652273
TI  - Recent Advances in Our Understanding of HLA-G Biology: Lessons from a Wide
      Spectrum of Human Diseases.
AB  - HLA-G is a HLA-class Ib molecule with potent immunomodulatory activities, which
      is expressed in physiological conditions, where modulation of the immune response
      is required to avoid allograft recognition (i.e., maternal-fetal interface or
      transplanted patients). However, HLA-G can be expressed de novo at high levels in
      several pathological conditions, including solid and hematological tumors and
      during microbial or viral infections, leading to the impairment of the immune
      response against tumor cells or pathogens, respectively. On the other hand, the
      loss of HLA-G mediated control of the immune responses may lead to the onset of
      autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, caused by an uncontrolled activation of the
      immune effector cells. Here, we have reviewed novel findings on HLA-G functions
      in different physiological and pathological settings, which have been published
      in the last two years. These studies further confirmed the important role of this
      molecule in the modulation of the immune system. 

PMID- 27652275
TI  - Unusual Presentation of Central Diabetes Insipidus in a Patient With
      Neurosarcoidosis.
AB  - Hypernatremia is a frequent cause of intensive care unit admission. The patient
      presented in this article had hypernatremia refractory to D5W (dextrose 5% water)
      therapy, which led to a complex investigation. Workup revealed central diabetes
      insipidus most likely secondary to flare up of neurosarcoidosis. The challenge in
      terms of diagnosis was a presentation with low urine output in the setting of
      hypernatremia resistant to treatment with desmopressin. This case unfolded the
      role of hypothyroidism causing secondary renal dysfunction and hence needed
      continued treatment with thyroxine in addition to treatment for hypernatremia. 

PMID- 27652277
TI  - Genetics and genomic medicine in the Philippines.
AB  - Genetics and genomic medicine in the Philippines. 

PMID- 27652274
TI  - Recent Advances of the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Central Nervous System Disorders.
AB  - Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that trigger the activation of caspases
      1 and subsequently the maturation of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta
      and interleukin-18. These cytokines play a critical role in mediating
      inflammation and innate immunity response. Among various inflammasome complexes,
      the NLRP3 inflammasome is the best characterized, which has been demonstrated as
      a crucial role in various diseases. Here, we review recently described mechanisms
      that are involved in the activation and regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome. In
      addition, we summarize the recent researches on the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in
      central nervous system (CNS) diseases, including traumatic brain injury, ischemic
      stroke and hemorrhagic stroke, brain tumor, neurodegenerative diseases, and other
      CNS diseases. In conclusion, the NLRP3 inflammasome may be a promising
      therapeutic target for these CNS diseases. 

PMID- 27652272
TI  - Update on RAAS Modulation for the Treatment of Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease.
AB  - Since the advent of insulin, the improvements in diabetes detection and the
      therapies to treat hyperglycemia have reduced the mortality of acute metabolic
      emergencies, such that today chronic complications are the major cause of
      morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients. More than half of the mortality
      that is seen in the diabetic population can be ascribed to cardiovascular disease
      (CVD), which includes not only myocardial infarction due to premature
      atherosclerosis but also diabetic cardiomyopathy. The importance of renin
      angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) antagonism in the prevention of diabetic
      CVD has demonstrated the key role that the RAAS plays in diabetic CVD onset and
      development. Today, ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers represent
      the first line therapy for primary and secondary CVD prevention in patients with
      diabetes. Recent research has uncovered new dimensions of the RAAS and,
      therefore, new potential therapeutic targets against diabetic CVD. Here we
      describe the timeline of paradigm shifts in RAAS understanding, how diabetes
      modifies the RAAS, and what new parts of the RAAS pathway could be targeted in
      order to achieve RAAS modulation against diabetic CVD. 

PMID- 27652278
TI  - Concordance between whole-exome sequencing and clinical Sanger sequencing:
      implications for patient care.
AB  - The clinical translation of next-generation sequencing has created a paradigm
      shift in the diagnostic assessment of individuals with suspected rare genetic
      diseases. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) simultaneously examines the majority of
      the coding portion of the genome and is rapidly becoming accepted as an efficient
      alternative to clinical Sanger sequencing for diagnosing genetically
      heterogeneous disorders. Among reports of the clinical and diagnostic utility of
      WES, few studies to date have directly compared its concordance to Sanger
      sequencing, which is considered the clinical "gold standard". We performed a
      direct comparison of 391 coding and noncoding polymorphisms and variants of
      unknown significance identified by clinical Sanger sequencing to the WES results
      of 26 patients. Of the 150 well-covered coding variants identified by Sanger
      sequencing, 146 (97.3%) were also reported by WES. Nine genes were excluded from
      the comparison due to consistently low coverage in WES, which might be attributed
      to the use of older exome capture kits. We performed confirmatory Sanger
      sequencing of discordant variants; including five variants with discordant bases
      and four with discordant zygosity. Confirmatory Sanger sequencing supported the
      original Sanger report for three of the five discordant bases, one was shown to
      be a false positive supporting the WES data, and one result differed from both
      the Sanger and WES data. Two of the discordant zygosity results supported Sanger
      and the other two supported WES data. We report high concordance for well-covered
      coding variants, supporting the use of WES as a screening tool for heterogeneous
      disorders, and recommend the use of supplementary Sanger sequencing for poorly
      covered genes when the clinical suspicion is high. Importantly, despite remaining
      difficulties with achieving complete coverage of the whole exome, 10 (38.5%) of
      the 26 compared patients were diagnosed through WES. 

PMID- 27652279
TI  - Population-specific single-nucleotide polymorphism confers increased risk of
      venous thromboembolism in African Americans.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: African Americans have a higher incidence of venous thromboembolism
      (VTE) than European descent individuals. However, the typical genetic risk
      factors in populations of European descent are nearly absent in African
      Americans, and population-specific genetic factors influencing the higher VTE
      rate are not well characterized. METHODS: We performed a candidate gene analysis
      on an exome-sequenced African American family with recurrent VTE and identified a
      variant in Protein S (PROS1) V510M (rs138925964). We assessed the population
      impact of PROS1 V510M using a multicenter African American cohort of 306 cases
      with VTE compared to 370 controls. Additionally, we compared our case cohort to a
      background population cohort of 2203 African Americans in the NHLBI GO Exome
      Sequencing Project (ESP). RESULTS: In the African American family with recurrent
      VTE, we found prior laboratories for our cases indicating low free Protein S
      levels, providing functional support for PROS1 V510M as the causative mutation.
      Additionally, this variant was significantly enriched in the VTE cases of our
      multicenter case-control study (Fisher's Exact Test, P = 0.0041, OR = 4.62, 95%
      CI: 1.51-15.20; allele frequencies - cases: 2.45%, controls: 0.54%). Similarly,
      PROS1 V510M was also enriched in our VTE case cohort compared to African
      Americans in the ESP cohort (Fisher's Exact Test, P = 0.010, OR = 2.28, 95% CI:
      1.26-4.10). CONCLUSIONS: We found a variant, PROS1 V510M, in an African American
      family with VTE and clinical laboratory abnormalities in Protein S. Additionally,
      we found that this variant conferred increased risk of VTE in a case-control
      study of African Americans. In the ESP cohort, the variant is nearly absent in
      ESP European descent subjects (n = 3, allele frequency: 0.03%). Additionally, in
      1000 Genomes Phase 3 data, the variant only appears in African descent
      populations. Thus, PROS1 V510M is a population-specific genetic risk factor for
      VTE in African Americans.

PMID- 27652281
TI  - ADGRL3 (LPHN3) variants are associated with a refined phenotype of ADHD in the
      MTA study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: ADHD is the most common neuropsychiatric condition affecting
      individuals of all ages. Long-term outcomes of affected individuals and
      association with severe comorbidities as SUD or conduct disorders are the main
      concern. Genetic associations have been extensively described. Multiple studies
      show that intronic variants harbored in the ADGRL3 (LPHN3) gene are associated
      with ADHD, especially associated with poor outcomes. METHODS: In this study, we
      evaluated this association in the Multimodal Treatment Study of children with
      ADHD (MTA), initiated as a 14-month randomized clinical trial of 579 children
      diagnosed with DSM-IV ADHD-Combined Type (ADHD-C), that transitioned to a 16-year
      prospective observational follow-up, and 289 classmates added at the 2-year
      assessment to serve as a local normative comparison group (LNCG). Diagnostic
      evaluations at entry were based on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children
      Parent (DISC-P), which was repeated at several points over the years. For an add
      on genetic study, blood samples were collected from 232 in the MTA group and 139
      in the LNCG. RESULTS: For the 205 MTA participants, 14.6% retained the DISC-P
      diagnosis of ADHD-C in adolescence. For 127 LNCG participants, 88.2% remained
      undiagnosed by the DISC-P. We genotyped 15 polymorphic SNP markers harbored in
      the ADGRL3 gene, and compared allele frequencies for the 30 cases with continued
      diagnosis of ADHD-C in adolescence to the other participants. Replication of the
      association of rs2345039 ADGRL3 variant was observed (P value = 0.004, FDR
      corrected = 0.03; Odds ratio = 2.25, upper CI 1.28-3.97). CONCLUSION: The
      detection of susceptibility conferred by ADGRL3 variants in the extreme phenotype
      of continued diagnosis of ADHD-C from childhood to adolescence provides
      additional support that the association of ADGRL3 and ADHD is not spurious.
      Exploring genetic effects in longitudinal cohorts, in which refined, age
      dependent phenotypes are documented, is crucial to understand the natural history
      of ADHD.

PMID- 27652280
TI  - Founder mutation in KCNJ10 in Pakistani patients with EAST syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: EAST syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by loss-of
      function mutations in the gene KCNJ10. Among the 14 pathogenic mutations
      described so far, the p.R65P mutation stands out as the most frequent one and is
      particularly associated with patients of Pakistani origin. As a result we aimed
      to establish the existence of a potential founder effect in the Pakistani
      population. METHODS: To this end, we genotyped 12 patients from seven families
      and we compared disease haplotypes with ethnically matched control chromosomes.
      This haplotype was used together with demographic data for Pakistan to estimate
      the age of this founder mutation. RESULTS: We identified a small homozygous 0.694
      Mb region around the KCNJ10 p.R65P mutation that had identical haplotypes in all
      of the patients which were completely absent in the control sample. Based on
      current demographic data and knowledge about disease frequency, we estimate that
      this particular p.R65P mutation arose 20 generations (about 500 years) ago.
      CONCLUSION: By knowing the prevalent mutation in a given population more
      efficient diagnostics can be performed and the families can benefit from specific
      counseling.

PMID- 27652282
TI  - The prevalence and distribution of the amyloidogenic transthyretin (TTR) V122I
      allele in Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transthyretin (TTR) pV142I (rs76992529-A) is one of the 113 variants
      in the human TTR gene associated with systemic amyloidosis. It results from a G
      to A transition at a CG dinucleotide in the codon for amino acid 122 of the
      mature protein (TTR V122I). The allele frequency is 0.0173 in African Americans.
      METHODS: PCR-based assays to genotype 2767 DNA samples obtained from participants
      in genetic studies from various African populations supplemented with sequencing
      data from 529 samples within the 1000 Genomes Project. RESULTS: The rs76992529-A
      variant allele was most prevalent (allele frequency 0.0253) in the contiguous
      West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana,
      and Nigeria. In other African countries, the mean allele frequency was 0.011.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data are consistent with a small number of founder carriers of
      the amyloidogenic TTR V122I (p.Val142Ile) allele in southern West Africa, with no
      apparent advantage or disadvantage of an allele carrying newborn reaching
      adulthood. In U.S. African Americans, the allele represents a significant risk
      for congestive heart failure late in life. If clinical penetrance is similar in
      African countries with high allele frequencies, then cardiac amyloidosis could
      also represent a significant cause of heart disease in the elderly in those
      populations.

PMID- 27652283
TI  - A novel de novo TBX5 mutation in a patient with Holt-Oram syndrome leading to a
      dramatically reduced biological function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) is an autosomal dominant disorder
      affecting 1/100.000 live births. It is defined by upper limb anomalies and
      congenital heart defects with variable severity. We describe a dramatic phenotype
      of a male, 15-month-old patient being investigated for strict diagnostic criteria
      of HOS. METHODS AND RESULTS: Genetic analysis revealed a so far unpublished TBX5
      mutation, which occurs de novo in the patient with healthy parents. TBX5 belongs
      to the large family of T-box transcription factors playing major roles in
      morphogenesis and cell-type specification. The mutation located in the DNA
      binding domain at position 920 (C->A) leads to an amino acid change at position
      85 (proline -> threonine). Three-dimensional analysis of the protein structure
      predicted a cis to trans change in the respective peptide bond, thereby probably
      provoking major conformational and functional alterations of the protein. The
      p.Pro85Thr mutation showed a dramatically reduced activation (97%) of the NPPA
      promoter in luciferase assays and failed to induce NPPA expression in HEK 293
      cells compared to wild-type TBX5 protein. The mutation did not interfere with the
      nuclear localization of the protein. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the
      dramatic functional alteration of the p.Pro85Thr mutation leads to the
      distinctive phenotype of the patient.

PMID- 27652285
TI  - Endoscopic Extra-articular Surgical Removal of Heterotopic Ossification of the
      Rectus Femoris Tendon in a Series of Athletes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Calcific deposits in tendon, muscles, and periarticular areas are
      very common. Heterotopic ossification of the rectus femoris (HORF) is a rare
      condition, and several theories exist regarding the etiopathogenesis, which
      appears to be multifactorial with traumatic, genetic, and local metabolic factors
      involved. Although HORF typically responds to nonoperative treatment, when this
      approach fails, endoscopic treatment is a minimally invasive technique to address
      the pathology. PURPOSE: To report the clinical and radiological outcomes of 9
      athletes with HORF who underwent endoscopic resection. STUDY DESIGN: Case series;
      Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: Nine male athletes were treated with endoscopic
      extra-articular resection of HORF after failure of a 6-month course of
      nonoperative treatment. All patients were studied with radiographs, computed
      tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Outcomes were assessed clinically
      using the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), a visual analog scale for sport
      activity-related pain (VAS-SRP), patient satisfaction, and ability and time to
      return to the preoperative sport level. Radiographic assessment was performed to
      determine recurrence. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 32 years (range,
      23-47 years). Mean follow-up was 44 months (range, 14-73 months). All patients
      had improved mHHS scores from a mean preoperative of 65.6 (SD, 8.2) to 93.9 (SD,
      3.6). Pain decreased from a mean 8.2 preoperatively (SD, 0.9) to 0.4 (SD, 0.7) at
      last follow-up. There were no complications, and all patients were able to return
      to their previous sports at the same level except for 1 recreational athlete.
      There was only 1 radiological recurrence at last follow-up in an asymptomatic
      patient. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the largest case series of
      athletes with HORF treated with endoscopic resection. We found this extra
      articular endoscopic technique to be safe and effective, showing clinical outcome
      improvement and 90% chance of return to full activity. We also found 10%
      recurrence rate of asymptomatic heterotopic ossification.

PMID- 27652286
TI  - Dorsal Defect of the Patella in a Teenage Male Football Player: A Case Report and
      Differential Diagnosis of Lytic Patellar Lesion.

PMID- 27652287
TI  - Regenerating white matter using human iPSC-derived immature astroglia.
AB  - Astrocytes traditionally were thought to have merely a support function, but are
      now understood to be important regulators of neural development and function. The
      immature and mature astrocytes have stage-specific roles in neuronal development.
      However, it is largely unclear whether human astrocytes also serve stage-specific
      roles in oligodendroglial development. Owing to the broad and diverse roles of
      astroglia in the central nervous system, transplantation of astroglia also could
      be of therapeutic value in promoting regeneration after CNS injury or disease.
      Our recent study (Jiang et al., 2016) explores the developmental interactions
      between astroglia and oligodendroglia, using a human induced pluripotent stem
      cell (hiPSC) model. By generating immature and mature human astrocytes from
      hiPSCs, we reveal previously unrecognized effects of immature human astrocytes on
      oligodendrocyte development. Notably, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1
      (TIMP-1) is differentially expressed in the immature and mature human astrocytes,
      and mediates at least in part the effects of immature human astrocytes on
      oligodendroglial differentiation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that hiPSC-derived
      astroglial transplants promote cerebral white matter regeneration and behavioral
      recovery in a neonatal mouse model of hypoxic-ischemic injury. Our study provides
      novel insights into the astro-oligodendroglial cell interaction and has important
      implications for possible therapeutic interventions for human white matter
      diseases. 

PMID- 27652284
TI  - Targeted sequencing of 351 candidate genes for epileptic encephalopathy in a
      large cohort of patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many genes are candidates for involvement in epileptic encephalopathy
      (EE) because one or a few possibly pathogenic variants have been found in
      patients, but insufficient genetic or functional evidence exists for a definite
      annotation. METHODS: To increase the number of validated EE genes, we sequenced
      26 known and 351 candidate genes for EE in 360 patients. Variants in 25 genes
      known to be involved in EE or related phenotypes were followed up in 41 patients.
      We prioritized the candidate genes, and followed up 31 variants in this
      prioritized subset of candidate genes. RESULTS: Twenty-nine genotypes in known
      genes for EE (19) or related diseases (10), dominant as well as recessive or X
      linked, were classified as likely pathogenic variants. Among those, likely
      pathogenic de novo variants were found in EE genes that act dominantly, including
      the recently identified genes EEF1A2, KCNB1 and the X-linked gene IQSEC2. A de
      novo frameshift variant in candidate gene HNRNPU was the only de novo variant
      found among the followed-up candidate genes, and the patient's phenotype was
      similar to a few recent publications. CONCLUSION: Mutations in genes described in
      OMIM as, for example, intellectual disability gene can lead to phenotypes that
      get classified as EE in the clinic. We confirmed existing literature reports that
      de novo loss-of-function HNRNPUmutations lead to severe developmental delay and
      febrile seizures in the first year of life.

PMID- 27652288
TI  - Total body irradiation must be delivered at high dose for efficient engraftment
      and tolerance in a rhesus stem cell gene therapy model.
AB  - Reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) is desirable for hematopoietic stem cell
      (HSC) gene therapy applications. However, low gene marking was previously
      observed in gene therapy trials, suggesting that RIC might be insufficient for
      (i) opening niches for efficient engraftment and/or (ii) inducing immunological
      tolerance for transgene-encoded proteins. Therefore, we evaluated both
      engraftment and tolerance for gene-modified cells using our rhesus HSC gene
      therapy model following RIC. We investigated a dose de-escalation of total body
      irradiation (TBI) from our standard dose of 10Gy (10, 8, 6, and 4Gy), in which
      rhesus CD34(+) cells were transduced with a VSVG-pseudotyped chimeric HIV-1
      vector encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) (or enhanced yellow
      fluorescent protein (YFP)). At ~6 months after transplantation, higher-dose TBI
      resulted in higher gene marking with logarithmic regression in peripheral blood
      cells. We then evaluated immunological tolerance for gene-modified cells, and
      found that lower-dose TBI allowed vigorous anti-GFP antibody production with
      logarithmic regression, while no significant anti-VSVG antibody formation was
      observed among all TBI groups. These data suggest that higher-dose TBI improves
      both engraftment and immunological tolerance for gene-modified cells. Additional
      immunosuppression might be required in RIC to induce tolerance for transgene
      products. Our findings should be valuable for developing conditioning regimens
      for HSC gene therapy applications. 

PMID- 27652290
TI  - Cats in Positive Energy Balance Have Lower Rates of Adipose Gain When Fed Diets
      Containing 188 versus 121 ppm L-Carnitine.
AB  - L-carnitine (LC) is included in select adult feline diets for weight management.
      This study investigated whether feeding adult cats with diets containing either
      188 ppm of LC (LC188) or 121 ppm of LC (LC121) and feeding them 120% of
      maintenance energy requirement (MER) resulted in differences in total energy
      expenditure (EE), metabolic fuel selection, BW, body composition, and behavior.
      Cats (n = 20, 4 +/- 1.2 yrs) were stratified for BCS and randomly assigned to one
      of two dietary treatments and fed for 16 weeks. BW was measured weekly, and
      indirect calorimetry, body composition, physical activity, play motivation, and
      cognition were measured at baseline and throughout the study. A mixed, repeated
      measures, ANCOVA model was used. Cats in both treatments gained BW (P < 0.05)
      throughout the study, with no differences between treatments at any time point (P
      > 0.05). There were no differences in body composition between groups at
      baseline; however, body fat (g) and body fat : lean mass ratio were greater in
      cats fed LC121 in contrast to cats fed LC188 (P < 0.05) on week 16. No other
      outcomes differed between treatments (P > 0.05). Supplying dietary LC at a dose
      of at least 188 ppm may be beneficial for the health and well-being of cats fed
      above MER.

PMID- 27652289
TI  - Efficacy and biodistribution analysis of intracerebroventricular administration
      of an optimized scAAV9-SMN1 vector in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy.
AB  - Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disease of variable
      severity caused by mutations in the SMN1 gene. Deficiency of the ubiquitous SMN
      function results in spinal cord alpha-motor neuron degeneration and proximal
      muscle weakness. Gene replacement therapy with recombinant adeno-associated viral
      (AAV) vectors showed therapeutic efficacy in several animal models of SMA. Here,
      we report a study aimed at analyzing the efficacy and biodistribution of a
      serotype-9, self-complementary AAV vector expressing a codon-optimized human SMN1
      coding sequence (coSMN1) under the control of the constitutive phosphoglycerate
      kinase (PGK) promoter in neonatal SMNDelta7 mice, a severe animal model of the
      disease. We administered the scAAV9-coSMN1 vector in the intracerebroventricular
      (ICV) space in a dose-escalating mode, and analyzed survival, vector
      biodistribution and SMN protein expression in the spinal cord and peripheral
      tissues. All treated mice showed a significant, dose-dependent rescue of lifespan
      and growth with a median survival of 346 days. Additional administration of
      vector by an intravenous route (ICV+IV) did not improve survival, and vector
      biodistribution analysis 90 days postinjection indicated that diffusion from the
      cerebrospinal fluid to the periphery was sufficient to rescue the SMA phenotype.
      These results support the preclinical development of SMN1 gene therapy by CSF
      vector delivery. 

PMID- 27652291
TI  - CYP4F2 (rs2108622) Gene Polymorphism Association with Age-Related Macular
      Degeneration.
AB  - Background. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in
      elderly individuals where aetiology and pathophysiology of age-related macular
      degeneration are not absolutely clear. Purpose. To determine the frequency of the
      genotype of rs2108622 in patients with early and exudative age-related macular
      degeneration. Methods. The study enrolled 190 patients with early age-related
      macular degeneration, 181 patients with exudative age-related macular
      degeneration (eAMD), and a random sample of 210 subjects from the general
      population (control group). The genotyping of rs2108622 was carried out using the
      real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Results. The analysis of rs2108622
      gene polymorphism did not reveal any differences in the distribution of C/C, C/T,
      and T/T genotypes between the early AMD group, the eAMD group, and the control
      group. The CYP4F2 (1347C>T) T/T genotype was more frequent in males with eAMD
      compared to females (10.2% versus 0.8%; p = 0.0052); also T/T genotype was less
      frequently present in eAMD females compared to healthy control females (0.8%
      versus 6.2%; p = 0.027). Conclusion. Rs2108622 gene polymorphism had no
      predominant effect on the development of early AMD and eAMD. The T/T genotype was
      more frequent in males with eAMD compared to females and less frequently present
      in eAMD females compared to healthy females. 

PMID- 27652292
TI  - Validation of a realistic, simple, and inexpensive EUS-FNA training model using
      isolated porcine stomach.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Trainees are required to learn EUS-FNA using a model
      before working with a patient. The aim of the current study was to validate a new
      training model developed for EUS-FNA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Several fresh chicken
      tenderloins were embedded as target lesions in the submucosal layer of an
      isolated porcine stomach. The stomach was fixed to a plate with nails, and was
      placed in a tub filled with water. The primary endpoint was feasibility of the
      newly developed model for EUS-FNA training, evaluated as follows: 1)
      visualization of the target lesion with blinding for lesion location; 2)
      penetrability of the needle; 3) sampling rate of macroscopic specimen; and 4)
      ROSE capability. Secondary endpoints were its durability and utility for multiple
      EUS-FNA procedures during EUS-FNA training, and the ease and cost of preparing
      the model. RESULTS: Six endoscopists (1 expert, 5 trainees) attempted EUS-FNA
      procedures using this model. The target lesion could be identified clearly, and
      EUS-FNA could be performed with realistic resistance felt. In addition, rapid on
      site evaluation could be easily achieved. Based on 10 needlings by each
      endoscopist, adequate specimens for histology could be macroscopically taken with
      an average 85 % success rate. Visibility and maneuverability were maintained
      throughout all needlings. Preparation time for this model was less than 30
      minutes with a total cost of $ 22. CONCLUSIONS: An easy-to-use and inexpensive
      training model with a realistic feel of needling was created. This model can
      potentially enable beginners to practice safe and effective EUS-FNA procedures.

PMID- 27652293
TI  - The role of endoscopy in pediatric gastrointestinal bleeding.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Gastrointestinal bleeding in children and adolescents
      accounts for up to 20 % of referrals to gastroenterologists. Detailed management
      guidelines exist for gastrointestinal bleeding in adults, but they do not
      encompass children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess
      gastrointestinal bleeding in pediatric patients and to determine an investigative
      management algorithm accounting for the specifics of children and adolescents.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Pediatric patients with gastrointestinal bleeding admitted
      to our endoscopy unit from 2001 to 2009 (n = 154) were identified. Retrospective
      statistical and neural network analysis was used to assess outcome and to
      determine an investigative management algorithm. RESULTS: The source of bleeding
      could be identified in 81 % (n = 124/154). Gastrointestinal bleeding was
      predominantly lower gastrointestinal bleeding (66 %, n = 101); upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding was much less common (14 %, n = 21). Hematochezia was
      observed in 94 % of the patients with lower gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 95 of
      101). Hematemesis (67 %, n = 14 of 21) and melena (48 %, n = 10 of 21) were
      associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The sensitivity and specificity
      of a neural network to predict lower gastrointestinal bleeding were 98 % and 63.6
      %, respectively and to predict upper gastrointestinal bleeding were 75 % and 96 %
      respectively. The sensitivity and specifity of hematochezia alone to predict
      lower gastrointestinal bleeding were 94.2 % and 85.7 %, respectively. The
      sensitivity and specificity for hematemesis and melena to predict upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding were 82.6 % and 94 %, respectively. We then developed
      an investigative management algorithm based on the presence of hematochezia and
      hematemesis or melena. CONCLUSIONS: Hematochezia should prompt colonoscopy and
      hematemesis or melena should prompt esophagogastroduodenoscopy. If no source of
      bleeding is found, additional procedures are often non-diagnostic.

PMID- 27652294
TI  - Hybrid therapy with locoregional steroid injection and polyglycolic acid sheets
      to prevent stricture after esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM: The incidence of stricture formation caused by
      endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for widespread lesions is high, and
      stricture formation can reduce quality of life. We evaluated the prophylactic
      efficacy of hybrid therapy using a locoregional steroid injection and
      polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheets with fibrin glue to prevent stricture formation
      after esophageal ESD in high risk patients in whom we predicted stricture
      formation would be difficult to prevent with a single prophylactic steroid
      injection. METHODS: Ten patients who underwent esophageal ESD were enrolled
      (entire-circumference: n = 6; sub-circumference, more than 5/6 of the
      circumference: n = 4). A single locoregional steroid injection and PGA sheets
      with fibrin glue were used after ESD. We evaluated the incidence of stricture
      formation, the number of endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) procedures needed to
      treat the stricture formation, and adverse events of the therapy. RESULTS:
      Esophageal stricture formation occurred in 50.0 % of patients (5/10) (median EBD
      sessions 0.5, range 0 - 16). Subanalysis showed that stricture formation occurred
      in 37.5 % of patients (3/8) excluded the lesions located near a previous scar
      from ESD or surgical anastomosis site (median EBD sessions 0, range 0 - 4).
      CONCLUSION: Hybrid therapy using a locoregional steroid injection and PGA sheets
      with fibrin glue may have the potential to prevent esophageal stricture formation
      after esophageal ESD in high risk patients.

PMID- 27652295
TI  - Clinicopathologic characteristics and management of minute esophageal lesions
      diagnosed by narrow-band imaging endoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Magnifying narrow-band imaging (NBI) endoscopy enables
      the diagnosis of minute esophageal neoplasia. We aimed to evaluate
      clinicopathological diagnosis of minute esophageal neoplasia by using magnifying
      NBI endoscopy and biopsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In total, 309 patients (127 men
      and 182 women) with minute esophageal lesions of intrapapillary capillary loop
      (IPCL) type IV were enrolled. Of these patients, 249 underwent biopsy for
      histologic diagnosis and also for treatment. Of the 249 patients, 123 underwent
      follow-up with endoscopy. We analyzed the clinicopathologic characteristics and
      prognosis of these lesions after biopsy. RESULTS: Of the 249 biopsied lesions, we
      histologically diagnosed 11 as high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), 41 as
      low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), and 197 as non-neoplasia (Non-N)
      including inflammation. Six of the 11 HGINs and 11 of the 41 LGINs showed slight
      elevation. Background coloration was observed in 9 of 11 HGINs, 34 of 41 LGINs,
      and 33 of 197 Non-Ns. Of the 249 biopsied lesions, 147 were microscopically
      measurable. The average diameter was 1.4 mm for HGINs and 0.8 mm for LGINs. Of
      the 123 patients who underwent post-biopsy follow-up, 93 (76 %) showed no lesions
      at the biopsied sites during the NBI examinations and were suspected to have
      undergone complete resection by biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: Biopsy was useful for
      diagnosis and treatment of minute esophageal lesions, diagnosed as IPCL type IV
      by magnifying NBI endoscopy.

PMID- 27652296
TI  - The efficacy of Hemospray in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding from
      tumor.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Currently, conventional endoscopic treatments provide
      an unsatisfactory hemostatic outcome in upper gastrointestinal bleeding from
      tumor. Hemospray has been shown to be useful in many active gastrointestinal
      bleeding conditions. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of Hemospray and
      conventional endoscopic hemostasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fourteen patients with
      active upper gastrointestinal bleeding from tumor were recruited. Hemospray was
      applied at the bleeding site until hemostasis was achieved. Four patients were
      excluded because they prematurely received definitive therapy to prevent further
      bleeding within 48 hours. Another 10 patients from historical control were
      matched based on the type of gastrointestinal tumors. The 14-day rebleeding
      rates, length of hospital stay (LOS) and mortality rate at 30-day follow up were
      assessed. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics including age, stage of tumor, and
      Blatchford score did not differ between the two groups. The 14-day rebleeding
      rate in the Hemospray group was 3 times lower than the control group but not
      statistically significant (10 % vs. 30 %; P = 0.60). LOS was no different between
      the 2 groups (28.2 +/- 21.2 vs. 23.8 +/- 12.5 days; P = 0.26). The 30-day
      mortality rate in the Hemospray group was 3 times lower than that of in the
      conventional therapy group but not significant (10 % vs. 30 %, P = 0.7).
      CONCLUSIONS: Hemospray is a promising therapy for initial hemostasis in upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding from tumor because it can achieve hemostasis during the
      first 14 days, thus potentially allowing sufficient time before appropriate
      definitive intervention is considered.

PMID- 27652297
TI  - Two-sided sponge (TSS) treatment: Description of a novel device and technique for
      endoscopic vacuum treatment (EVT) in the upper gastrointestinal tract.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Endoscopic vacuum treatment (EVT) is increasingly used
      in the treatment of anastomotic leakages and perforations in the upper
      gastrointestinal tract. However, sponges often have to be mounted individually on
      a gastric tube and endoscopic introduction of the latter into an infected
      extraluminal cavity is challenging. In order to facilitate this procedure in some
      anatomical situations, we developed the prototype of a new sponge for EVT called
      a two-side sponge (TSS).

PMID- 27652298
TI  - Wide disparities in attitudes and practices regarding Type II sphincter of Oddi
      dysfunction: a survey of expert U.S. endoscopists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sphincter of Oddi manometry (SOM) is recommended in the evaluation of
      suspected Type II sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD2), though its utility is
      uncertain. Little is known about the practice of expert endoscopists in the
      United States regarding SOD2. METHODS: An anonymous electronic survey was
      distributed to 128 expert biliary endoscopists identified from U.S. advanced
      endoscopy training programs. RESULTS: The response rate was 46.1 % (59/128). Only
      55.6 % received training in SOM, and 49.2 % currently perform SOM. For biliary
      SOD2, 33.3 % routinely obtain SOM, 33.3 % perform empiric sphincterotomy, and
      26.3 % perform single session endoscopic ultrasound/endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography (EUS/ERCP). In contrast, an equal number (35.1 %) favor
      SOM or single session EUS/ERCP for suspected acute idiopathic recurrent
      pancreatitis, while 19.3 % would perform empiric sphincterotomy. Those who
      perform SOM believe it to be important in predicting response to treatment
      compared with those who do not (71.8 % vs 23.1 %, P = 0.01). Yet only 51.7 % of
      this group performs SOM for suspected SOD2. Most (78.6 %) believe that < 50 % of
      patients report improvement in symptoms after sphincterotomy. Common reasons for
      not obtaining SOM included unreliable results (50 %), and procedure-related risks
      (39.3 %). Most (59.3 %) believe SOD2 is at least in part a functional disorder;
      only 3.7 % felt SOD is a legitimate disorder of the sphincter of Oddi.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our survey of U.S. expert endoscopists suggests that SOM is not
      routinely performed for SOD2 and concerns regarding its associated risks and
      validity persist. Most endoscopists believe SOD2 is at least in part a functional
      disorder that will not respond to sphincterotomy in the majority of cases.

PMID- 27652299
TI  - Colonoscopy with polypectomy is associated with a low rate of complications in
      patients with cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Cirrhotic patients are at a theoretically increased
      risk of bleeding. The safety of polypectomy in cirrhosis is poorly defined.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients with
      cirrhosis who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy at a tertiary-care hospital.
      Patient characteristics and polyp data were collected. Development of
      complications including immediate bleeding, delayed bleeding, hospitalization,
      blood transfusion, perforation, and death were recorded to 30-day follow-up.
      Clinical characteristics between bleeders and non-bleeders were compared, and
      predictors of bleeding were determined. RESULTS: A total of 307 colonoscopies
      with 638 polypectomies were identified. Immediate bleeding occurred in 7.5 % (95
      % CI 4.6 % - 10.4 %) and delayed bleeding occurred in 0.3 % (95 % CI 0.0 % - 0.9
      %) of colonoscopies. All cases of immediate bleeding were controlled
      endoscopically and none resulted in serious complication. The rate of
      hospitalization was 0.7 % (95 % CI 0.0 % - 1.6 %) and repeat colonoscopy 0.3 %
      (95 % CI 0.0 % - 0.9 %); no cases of perforation, blood transfusion, or death
      occurred. Lower platelet count, higher INR, presence of ascites, and presence of
      esophageal varices were associated with increased risk of bleeding. Use of
      electrocautery was associated with a lower risk of immediate bleeding. There was
      no significant difference between bleeding and non-bleeding polyps with regard to
      size, morphology, and histology. CONCLUSIONS: Colonoscopy with polypectomy
      appears safe in patients with cirrhosis. There is a low risk of major
      complications. The risk of immediate bleeding appears higher than an average risk
      population; however, most bleeding is self-limited or can be controlled
      endoscopically. Bleeding tends to occur with more advanced liver disease. Both
      the sequelae of portal hypertension and coagulation abnormalities are predictive
      of bleeding.

PMID- 27652300
TI  - Impact and safety of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration on
      patients with cirrhosis and pyrexia of unknown origin in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Etiologic diagnosis of pyrexia of unknown origin is
      important in patients with cirrhosis for optimal management and to prevent flare
      up of infectious disease after liver transplantation. However, there is very
      limited literature available on this subject. The present study aimed to examine
      the safety and impact of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided fine needle
      aspiration (FNA) in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: The study was conducted
      between January 2014 and January 2016 at a tertiary care center. A total of 50
      (47 lymph nodes, 3 adrenal) EUS guided FNAs were performed in 46 patients. Data
      are presented as median (25 - 75 IQR). RESULTS: The study included 46 patients
      (40 males) whose mean age was 47.9 +/- 11.1 (SD) years; mean Child-Turcotte-Pugh
      (CTP) score and mean MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) score were 10 (8 -
      11) and 18 (12 - 20), respectively. The Child Pugh class was A in 4, B in 14, and
      C in 28 (including three patients with adrenal FNAs). Indications for FNA were
      pyrexia of unknown origin and lymphadenopathy on CT imaging. The cytopathological
      diagnoses were metastatic disease in 1 (adrenal), granulomatous change in 10 (6
      positive with acid fast bacilli stain), histoplasmosis in three (two adrenals,
      one lymph node), 32 lymph nodes were reactive and four lymph node FNAs showed
      inadequate cellularity. The pathologic nodes had significantly lower long-to
      short axis ratio [1.25 (1.09 - 1.28) versus 1.46 (1.22 - 1.87), P = 0.020]; a
      higher proportion of hypoechoic echotexture (5 versus 3, P = 0.017), and sharply
      defined borders (4 versus 2, P = 0.029). Complications included mild hepatic
      encephalopathy related to sedation in two patients with Child's C status.
      CONCLUSION: EUS guided FNA is safe in patients with cirrhosis and modified the
      management in 14/46 (30.4 %) patients.

PMID- 27652301
TI  - Temporary duodenal stenting as a bridge to ERCP for inaccessible papilla due to
      duodenal obstruction: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Duodenal obstruction may prevent performance of
      endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Percutaneous transhepatic
      biliary drainage (PTBD) or Endoscopic ultrasonograhy-guided biliary access (EUS
      BD) are alternative treatments but are associated with a higher morbidity and
      mortality rate. The aim of the study is to report overall technical success rate
      and clinical outcome with deployment of temporary fully or partially covered self
      expanding duodenal stent (pc/fcSEMS) as a bridge to ERCP in case of inaccessible
      papilla due to duodenal strictures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective
      study included 66 consecutive patients presenting with a duodenal stricture
      impeding the ability to perform an ERCP. Provisional duodenal stenting was
      performed as a bridge to ERCP. A second endoscopic session was performed to
      remove the provisional stent and to perform an ERCP. Afterward, a permanent
      duodenal stent was delivered if necessary. RESULTS: Sixty-six duodenal stents (17
      pcSEMS and 49 fcSEMS) were delivered with a median indwelling time of 3.15 (1 -
      7) days. Two migrations occurred in the pcSEMS group, 1 of which required lower
      endoscopy for retrieval. No other procedure-related complications were observed.
      At second endoscopy a successful ERCP was performed in 56 patients (85 %); 10
      patients (15 %) with endoscopic failure underwent PTBD or EUS-BD. Forty patients
      needed permanent duodenal stenting. CONCLUSIONS: Provisional removable covered
      duodenal stenting as a bridge to ERCP for duodenal obstruction is safe procedure
      and in most cases allows successful performance of therapeutic ERCP. This
      technique could be a sound option as a step up approach before referring such
      cases for more complex techniques such as EUS-BD or PTBD.

PMID- 27652302
TI  - Symptomatic retention of the patency capsule: a multicenter real life case
      series.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The patency capsule is designed to evaluate the patency of
      the small bowel before administration of small-bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) in
      patients at high risk of retention. The utilization of a patency capsule may be
      associated with a risk of symptomatic retention, but very few cases have been
      reported to date. The aim of our study was to describe our experience with this
      rare complication of a patency capsule. METHODS: This was a multicenter
      retrospective case series. The medical records of patients who underwent a
      patency capsule test were scanned and all cases of symptomatic retention were
      collected. RESULTS: In total, 20 symptomatic cases of retention out of 1615 (1.2
      %) patency capsule tests were identified; in one patient, the patency capsule was
      retained in the esophagus, in the rest, the capsule was detected in the small
      bowel resulting in abdominal pain or small-bowel obstruction. One patient (5 %)
      required surgery; all other patients resolved spontaneously or after
      corticosteroid therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic patency capsule retention is a
      very rare complication with a favorable prognosis. It should be recognized but
      its use in patients with suspected small-bowel stenosis should not be
      discouraged.

PMID- 27652303
TI  - Three cases of endoscopic resection for synchronous early colon cancers after
      self-expandable metallic stent placement for obstructive colon cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: The feasibility of endoscopic resection for
      synchronous early colon cancer after placement of self-expandable metallic stents
      (SEMS) for malignant colorectal obstruction is unknown. Herein we evaluated 3
      cases of endoscopic resection for synchronous early colorectal cancers after SEMS
      placement. Patient 1 was an 82-year-old man with obstructive sigmoid colon
      cancer. We curatively treated the synchronous descending colon cancer with
      endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and the rectal cancer with endoscopic
      mucosal resection (EMR) after SEMS placement. This is the first reported case of
      a successful ESD for synchronous early colon cancer via the use of a colonic
      stent. Patient 2 was an 81-year-old man with obstructive ascending colon cancer.
      We resected the synchronous transverse colon cancer via ESD. Histologic findings
      indicated that the carcinoma cells had invaded the submucosal layer. Therefore,
      we immediately performed expanded right-hemicolectomy. Patient 3 was an 81-year
      old man with obstructive sigmoid colon cancer. We curatively treated the
      synchronous transverse colon cancer with EMR after SEMS placement. There were no
      complications associated with the endoscopic treatments in any of the cases. Our
      results indicate that preoperative endoscopic resection combined with the ESD
      technique for synchronous colorectal cancer after SEMS placement could be
      effective as a surgical strategy for patients with malignant colorectal
      obstruction.

PMID- 27652305
TI  - A comparison between endoscopic ultrasound-guided rendezvous and percutaneous
      biliary drainage after failed ERCP for malignant distal biliary obstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Selective biliary cannulation is unsuccessful in 5 %
      to 10 % of patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
      (ERCP) for malignant distal biliary obstruction (MDBO). Percutaneous biliary
      drainage (PBD) has been the gold standard, but endoscopic ultrasound guided
      rendezvous (EUSr) have been increasingly used for biliary decompression in this
      patient population. Our aim was to compare the initial success rate, long-term
      efficacy, and safety of PBD and EUSr in relieving MDBO after failed ERC Patients
      and methods: A retrospective study involving 50 consecutive patients who had an
      initial failed ERCP for MDBO. Twenty-five patients undergoing EUSr between 2008 -
      2014 were compared to 25 patients who underwent PBD immediately prior to the
      introduction of EUSr at our center (2002 - 2008). Comparisons were made between
      the two groups with regard to technical success, duration of hospital stay and
      adverse event rates after biliary decompression. RESULTS: The mean age at
      presentation was 66.5 (+/- 12.6 years), 28 patients (54.9 %) were female. The
      etiology of MDBO was pancreaticobiliary malignancy in 44 (88 %) and metastatic
      disease in 6 (12 %) cases. Biliary drainage was technically successful by EUSr in
      19 (76 %) cases and by PBD in 25 (100 %) (P = 0.002). Median length of hospital
      stay after initial drainage was 1 day in the EUSr group vs 5 days in PBD group (P
      = 0.02). Repeat biliary intervention was required for 4 patients in the EUSr
      group and 15 in the PBD group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Initial technical success
      with EUSr was significantly lower than with PBD, however when EUSr was
      successful, patients had a significantly shorter post-procedure hospital stay and
      required fewer follow-up biliary interventions. Meeting presentations: Annual
      Digestive Diseases Week 2015.

PMID- 27652306
TI  - Helicobacter pylori-negative intestinal-type gastric adenoma successfully treated
      by endoscopic submucosal dissection: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: A 49-year-old woman underwent an
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy as part of a health check at our hospital. Endoscopic
      observation revealed a flat elevated lesion 6 mm in diameter in the gastric
      antrum (Paris Classification type IIa). Magnifying endoscopy using narrow-band
      imaging showed a slightly irregular micro-surface pattern with round and oval
      pits, as well as a regular micro-vascular pattern without a demarcation line.
      Atrophy and intestinal metaplasia were not recognized in the background gastric
      mucosa. Furthermore, Helicobacter pylori infection was not detected by
      histologic, serologic, and urea breath test results. Endoscopic resection was
      performed for histologic evaluation, and a pathologic diagnosis of intestinal
      type gastric adenoma occurring in pyloric mucosa without atrophy or metaplasia
      was established. Immunohistochemistry findings of the lesion showed the
      intestinal epithelium phenotype with positive staining for MUC2, CD10, and CDX2.
      Furthermore, irregular distribution with a higher positive proportion of Ki-67
      was found in the lesion, indicating its malignant potential. We report here a
      rare case of gastric adenoma without surrounding intestinal metaplasia occurring
      in a Helicobacter pylori-negative patient.

PMID- 27652304
TI  - Initial experience with a novel EUS-guided core biopsy needle (SharkCore):
      results of a large North American multicenter study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The ability to safely and effectively obtain sufficient
      tissue for pathologic evaluation by using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guidance
      remains a challenge. Novel designs in EUS needles may provide for improved
      ability to obtain such core biopsies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      diagnostic yield of core biopsy specimens obtained using a novel EUS needle
      specifically designed to obtain core biopsies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Multicenter
      retrospective review of all EUS-guided fine-needle biopsies obtained using a
      novel biopsy needle (SharkCore FNB needle, Medtronic, Dublin, Ireland). Data
      regarding patient demographics, lesion type/location, technical parameters, and
      diagnostic yield was obtained. RESULTS: A total of 250 lesions were biopsied in
      226 patients (Median age 66 years; 113 (50 %) male). Median size of all lesions
      (mm): 26 (2 - 150). Overall, a cytologic diagnosis was rendered in 81 % specimens
      with a median number of 3 passes. When rapid onsite cytologic evaluation (ROSE)
      was used, cytologic diagnostic yield was 126/149 (85 %) with a median number of 3
      passes; without ROSE, cytologic diagnostic yield was 31/45 (69 %, P = 0.03) with
      a median number of 3 passes. Overall, a pathologic diagnosis was rendered in
      130/147 (88 %) specimens with a median number of 2 passes. Pathologic diagnostic
      yield for specific lesion types: pancreas 70/81 (86 %), subepithelial lesion
      13/15 (87 %), lymph node 26/28 (93 %). Ten patients (10/226, 4 %) experienced
      adverse events: 4 acute pancreatitis, 5 pain, 1 fever/cholangitis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Initial experience with a novel EUS core biopsy needle demonstrates excellent
      pathologic diagnostic yield with a minimum number of passes.

PMID- 27652307
TI  - Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) using a novel large-caliber introducer
      technique kit: a retrospective analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) using the
      introducer technique is not only useful in patients with upper digestive tract
      stenosis but has been shown to reduce peristomal infection. In this study, we
      evaluated the safety and utility of a novel large-caliber introducer PEG kit
      (using 20 Fr size tube) compared with a push kit of similar size. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: One hundred and thirty-six patients who received PEG at our hospital
      between January 2014 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Baseline
      characteristics, laboratory biomarkers, hemodynamic changes, postoperative
      adverse events and clinical outcomes with both kits were compared. RESULTS: The
      new introducer PEG kit was used in 61 patients while the remaining 75 patients
      received tube placement using a push technique PEG kit. Except for the prevalence
      of dementia, which was lower in the introducer PEG kit group, baseline
      characteristics were similar in both groups. Tube placements were 100 %
      successful with both PEG kits and there were no significant differences in the
      change of postoperative hemodynamic or laboratory biomarkers. The Introducer PEG
      kit group experienced fewer incidence of feeding-related aspiration pneumonia
      (8.2 % vs. 24 %, P = 0.02), lower peristomal infection scores (1.2 vs. 1.6, P <
      0.01), shorter postoperative length of stay (16 days vs. 23.7 days, P = 0.01) and
      fewer deaths at day 60 (3.3 % vs. 16 %, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Gastrostomy using
      the new large-caliber introducer PEG kit is safe and produced non-inferior (with
      some favourable) results when compared to the push technique using similar size
      tubes.

PMID- 27652308
TI  - Performance of bile aspiration plus brushing to diagnose malignant biliary
      strictures during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Endobiliary brushing during endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the main technique used to diagnose a
      malignant stricture, but has a poor sensitivity. This study evaluated the
      diagnostic performance of bile aspiration associated with biliary brushing during
      ERCP to diagnose a malignant stricture, compared to brushing alone. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Between January 2007 and December 2012, all consecutive patients
      undergoing ERCP to treat a biliary stricture were included. After a biliary
      sphincterotomy, 3 mL to 10 mL of bile was aspirated into the brush catheter and
      collected in a dry sterile tube before and after brushing (to yield three
      samples). Brushing was performed as commonly recommended. RESULTS: One hundred
      eleven patients (68 males, 43 females) were included; mean age 67 +/- 15.4 years.
      A final diagnosis of malignant stricture was established in 51 patients,
      including 43 cholangiocarcinomas; 60 patients had benign strictures. Specificity
      (Sp) and positive predictive values were 100% for all samples. The diagnostic
      performance of the three-sample combination of bile aspiration + brushing + bile
      aspiration was significantly greater than brushing alone (P = 0.004): sensitivity
      (Se) = 84.3 % vs. Se = 66.7 %. The three-sample combination gave a negative
      predictive value of 88.2 %, and a diagnostic accuracy of 92.8 %. When suspicious
      results were added to malignant results as positive results, the three-sample
      combination gave Sp = 91.7 % and Se = 94.1 %. CONCLUSIONS: In cases of biliary
      stricture, conducting bile aspiration before and after brushing significantly
      increased the ability to diagnose a malignant stricture with a sensitivity of
      84.3 % (P = 0.004).

PMID- 27652309
TI  - Drug targets evolve, and so should the methods.
AB  - Design of specific kinase inhibitors is an appealing approach for developing new
      anticancer treatments. However, only a few success stories have been reported to
      date. Here we demonstrate how the combination of old-fashioned and new
      biophysical tools together with recent advances in genomics and molecular
      evolution can aid in overcoming existing limitations. 

PMID- 27652310
TI  - Translating the molecular diversity of hepatocellular carcinoma into clinical
      practice.
AB  - Deciphering genomic diversity could improve clinical care for patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma. Recently, our study group identified 161 putative
      driver genes and 2 new mutational signatures, and demonstrated that 28% of
      patients harbor targetable alterations. This could be the first promising step in
      the development of genome-based clinical trials. 

PMID- 27652311
TI  - Co-activation of AMPK and mTORC1 as a new therapeutic option for acute myeloid
      leukemia.
AB  - We report the therapeutic potential of GSK621, an AMP-activated protein kinase
      (AMPK) agonist, in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). GSK621-induced cytotoxicity is
      restricted to AML cells compared to normal hematopoietic progenitors due to a
      unique synthetic lethal interaction of co-activation of AMPK and mammalian target
      of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) that involves the stress response pathway. AMPK
      activation thus represents an attractive perspective for cancer therapy. 

PMID- 27652312
TI  - miR-15/miR-16 loss, miR-21 upregulation, or deregulation of their target genes
      predicts poor prognosis in prostate cancer patients.
AB  - It is clear that several prostate cancers remain indolent whereas others develop
      into advanced forms. There is a need to improve patient management by identifying
      biomarkers for personalized treatment. We demonstrated that miR-15/miR-16 loss,
      miR-21 upregulation, and deregulation of their target genes represent a promising
      predictive signature of poor patient prognosis. 

PMID- 27652313
TI  - Mutational landscape and underlying mutational processes in chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia.
AB  - Sequencing studies have been instrumental in understanding the genetic basis of
      chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Our recent whole-genome sequencing study
      focusing on lower cytogenetic risk CLL demonstrated that CLL mutations can be
      attributed to 3 key mutational processes-2 types of activation induced-cytidine
      deaminase (AID) signatures and an aging signature-that operate at different times
      throughout CLL evolution. 

PMID- 27652314
TI  - A new mechanism of regulation of p21 by the mTORC1/4E-BP1 pathway predicts
      clinical outcome of head and neck cancer.
AB  - We have identified a novel mechanism of regulation of the protein CDKN1A (also
      known as p21) by the serine/threonine kinase complex mammalian target of
      rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). Our results demonstrate that the mTORC1 substrate
      EIF4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) in its non-phosphorylated state interacts with
      p21 and promotes p21 degradation. In addition, we demonstrate the prevalence of
      this mechanism in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and show that it
      strongly and significantly associates with improved disease-specific survival,
      providing evidence for its clinical relevance. 

PMID- 27652315
TI  - Demystifying the role of mitochondria in senescence.
AB  - In a study published in The EMBO Journal, we demonstrated that mitochondria are
      necessary for the proinflammatory phenotype of senescence. Furthermore, we
      identified a new senescence-regulatory pathway involving mTOR-dependent
      mitochondrial biogenesis. These data highlight mitochondria as targets for
      interventions that counteract the pro-aging effects of senescence while
      preserving tumor suppression. 

PMID- 27652316
TI  - Functional versus non-functional intratumor heterogeneity in cancer.
AB  - Next-generation sequencing data from human cancers are often difficult to
      interpret within the context of tumor evolution. We developed a mathematical
      model describing the accumulation of mutations under neutral evolutionary
      dynamics and showed that 323/904 cancers (~30%) from multiple types were
      consistent with the neutral model of tumor evolution. 

PMID- 27652317
TI  - Exercise: A new role for an old tool.
AB  - We recently demonstrated that voluntary exercise leads to an influx of immune
      cells in tumors and a greater than 60% reduction in tumor incidence and growth
      across several mouse models. Improved immunological control of tumor progression
      may have important clinical implications in the prevention and treatment of
      cancer in humans. 

PMID- 27652318
TI  - Asymmetric division: An antitumor player?
AB  - miR-34a-mediated asymmetric cell division reins in excessive stem cell expansion
      during tissue regeneration in the intestine and colon. Loss of miR-34a switches
      asymmetric division to symmetric division and enhances stem cell proliferation.
      Asymmetric division also occurs in the early stages of colon cancer stem cells.
      Mechanistically, miR-34a, Numb, and Notch form a feed-forward loop that specifies
      cell fate when stem cells divide. 

PMID- 27652319
TI  - A novel small-molecule inhibitor of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase.
AB  - Serine metabolism is likely to play a critical role in cancer cell growth. A
      recent study reports the identification of a novel small-molecule inhibitor of
      serine synthesis that targets 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), the first
      enzyme of the serine synthesis pathway, and selectively abrogates the
      proliferation of PHGDH overexpressing breast cancer cells. 

PMID- 27652320
TI  - The interplay between lnRNAs, SNPs, and protein complexes - what does it mean for
      cancer metabolism?
AB  - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) exert most of their functions through protein
      interactions. A better understanding of these interactions will facilitate the
      development of novel therapeutics. Recently, we described how the lncRNA CCAT2
      located at the 8q24 cancer amplicon reprograms cancer metabolism by directly
      interacting in an allele-specific manner with a protein complex. 

PMID- 27652321
TI  - BRCA1-CtIP interaction in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks.
AB  - DNA termini at double-strand breaks are often chemically heterogeneous and
      require processing before initiation of repair. In a recent report, we
      demonstrated that CtIP and the MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN) nuclease complex cooperate
      with BRCA1 to specifically repair topoisomerase II-DNA adducted breaks. In
      contrast, BRCA1 is dispensable for repair of restriction endonuclease-generated
      double-strand breaks. 

PMID- 27652322
TI  - A link between TP53 polymorphisms and metabolism.
AB  - Besides being a critical tumor suppressor, the TP53 gene also plays a role in
      metabolism and recent studies in humans have implicated the codon 72 polymorphism
      of TP53 in this role. Using a humanized knock-in mouse model for these TP53
      variants, we show that this polymorphism has a significant impact on the
      metabolic response to a high-fat diet. 

PMID- 27652323
TI  - HMGB1: The metabolic weapon in the arsenal of NK cells.
AB  - Targeting tumor glycolysis would hit the main energy source of cancer. We show
      that natural killer (NK) cells pursue this strategy by employing high mobility
      group box 1 (HMGB1) protein-a well-known proinflammatory cytokine-to specifically
      target glycolysis in cancer cells. This opens up new perspectives for cancer
      immunotherapy. 

PMID- 27652324
TI  - Stress-driven lymphatic dissemination: An unanticipated consequence of
      communication between the sympathetic nervous system and lymphatic vasculature.
AB  - Chronic stress drives cancer progression, but the routes of metastasis are
      unclear. We recently demonstrated that chronic stress activates a neural
      inflammatory signaling axis to remodel lymphatic vasculature and increase lymph
      flow. This unanticipated crosstalk between stress and the lymphatic system
      provides pathways of tumor cell dissemination and accelerates metastasis. 

PMID- 27652325
TI  - Mitochondrial biogenesis meets chemoresistance in BRAF-mutant melanoma.
AB  - The acquisition of resistance to current mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)
      inhibitors in B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase (BRAF) mutant
      melanoma is almost inevitable. Our recent findings identify therapy-induced
      mitochondrial biogenesis (MitoBiogenesis) and aberrant tumor bioenergetics as
      therapeutic escape mechanisms and offer a rational combinatorial strategy to
      further improve the efficacy of MAPK inhibitors. 

PMID- 27652326
TI  - Vesicular trafficking regulators are new players in breast cancer progression:
      Role of TOM1L1 in ERBB2-dependent invasion.
AB  - ERBB2 (v-erb-b2 avian erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2)
      amplification is associated with invasive breast cancer. We discovered that
      TOM1L1 (target of myb1-like 1) and ERBB2 co-amplification defines a novel
      mechanism involved in breast cancer metastatic progression. Upregulation of the
      vesicular trafficking protein TOM1L1 enhances plasma membrane delivery of
      membrane-type 1 matrix metalloprotease (MT1-MMP) for efficient extracellular
      matrix degradation and tumor cell dissemination. 

PMID- 27652327
TI  - Continuous chromosomal instability in human pluripotent stem cells - the role of
      DNA replication.
AB  - Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) frequently acquire chromosomal aberrations,
      including aneuploidy, during culture. Recently, we identified a replication
      stress-based mechanism leading to ongoing chromosomal instability in aneuploid
      hPSCs that may also operate during the initiation of instability in diploid
      cells. 

PMID- 27652328
TI  - InsP3R, the calcium whisperer: Maintaining mitochondrial function in cancer.
AB  - Mitochondrial metabolism is essential to fulfill the large demand for
      macromolecule biosynthesis in cancer. We recently identified low-level InsP3R
      mediated Ca(2+) transfer to mitochondria as an unexpected requirement for
      mitochondrial function. Here we reveal that its absence specifically targets
      cancer cells and causes necrosis at daughter cell separation during ongoing
      proliferation. 

PMID- 27652329
TI  - Tumor responsiveness to statins requires overexpression of the ARF6 pathway.
AB  - The mevalonate pathway results in the prenylation of small GTPases, which are
      pivotal for oncogenesis and cancer malignancies. However, inhibitors of this
      pathway, such as statins, have not necessarily produced favorable results in
      clinical trials. We recently identified properties of statin responders, together
      with the underlying molecular mechanisms and simple biomarkers to predict these
      responders. 

PMID- 27652330
TI  - NBR2: A former junk gene emerges as a key player in tumor suppression.
AB  - NBR2 (neighbor of BRCA1 gene 2) is a non-protein coding gene that resides
      adjacent to tumor suppressor gene BRCA1, but its role in cancer biology has
      remained unknown. Our recent study showed that NBR2 encodes a long non-coding RNA
      and suppresses tumor development through regulation of adenosine monophosphate
      activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation. 

PMID- 27652331
TI  - The inheritance of centromere identity.
AB  - CENP-A (Centromere protein A) is a histone H3 variant that epigenetically
      determines the centromere position, but the mechanism of its centromere
      inheritance is obscure. We propose that CENP-A ubiquitylation, which is inherited
      through dimerization between rounds of cell division, is a candidate for the
      epigenetic mark of centromere identity. 

PMID- 27652332
TI  - Maybe we don't know JAK?
AB  - The cornerstone for precision medicine is the development of robust biomarkers
      that reflect molecular phenotypes and therapeutic vulnerabilities in disease. We
      recently described Janus kinase-2 (JAK2)-specific inhibition as a therapeutic
      opportunity in triple negative breast cancers with 9p24 amplification. Here, we
      comment on this work and discuss the challenges of targeting this amplicon. 

PMID- 27652333
TI  - Erratum.
AB  - [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1080/23723556.2015.1033588.]. 

PMID- 27652334
TI  - Tree growth acceleration and expansion of alpine forests: The synergistic effect
      of atmospheric and edaphic change.
AB  - Many forest ecosystems have experienced recent declines in productivity; however,
      in some alpine regions, tree growth and forest expansion are increasing at marked
      rates. Dendrochronological analyses at the upper limit of alpine forests in the
      Tibetan Plateau show a steady increase in tree growth since the early 1900s,
      which intensified during the 1930s and 1960s, and have reached unprecedented
      levels since 1760. This recent growth acceleration was observed in small/young
      and large/old trees and coincided with the establishment of trees outside the
      forest range, reflecting a connection between the physiological performance of
      dominant species and shifts in forest distribution. Measurements of stable
      isotopes (carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen) in tree rings indicate that tree growth
      has been stimulated by the synergistic effect of rising atmospheric CO2 and a
      warming-induced increase in water and nutrient availability from thawing
      permafrost. These findings illustrate the importance of considering soil-plant
      atmosphere interactions to understand current and anticipate future changes in
      productivity and distribution of forest ecosystems.

PMID- 27652335
TI  - Genetically engineered crops and pesticide use in U.S. maize and soybeans.
AB  - The widespread adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crops has clearly led to
      changes in pesticide use, but the nature and extent of these impacts remain open
      questions. We study this issue with a unique, large, and representative sample of
      plot-level choices made by U.S. maize and soybean farmers from 1998 to 2011. On
      average, adopters of GE glyphosate-tolerant (GT) soybeans used 28% (0.30 kg/ha)
      more herbicide than nonadopters, adopters of GT maize used 1.2% (0.03 kg/ha) less
      herbicide than nonadopters, and adopters of GE insect-resistant (IR) maize used
      11.2% (0.013 kg/ha) less insecticide than nonadopters. When pesticides are
      weighted by the environmental impact quotient, however, we find that (relative to
      nonadopters) GE adopters used about the same amount of soybean herbicides, 9.8%
      less of maize herbicides, and 10.4% less of maize insecticides. In addition, the
      results indicate that the difference in pesticide use between GE and non-GE
      adopters has changed significantly over time. For both soybean and maize, GT
      adopters used increasingly more herbicides relative to nonadopters, whereas
      adopters of IR maize used increasingly less insecticides. The estimated pattern
      of change in herbicide use over time is consistent with the emergence of
      glyphosate weed resistance.

PMID- 27652336
TI  - Assessing the land resource-food price nexus of the Sustainable Development
      Goals.
AB  - The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for a comprehensive new approach
      to development rooted in planetary boundaries, equity, and inclusivity. The wide
      scope of the SDGs will necessitate unprecedented integration of siloed policy
      portfolios to work at international, regional, and national levels toward
      multiple goals and mitigate the conflicts that arise from competing resource
      demands. In this analysis, we adopt a comprehensive modeling approach to
      understand how coherent policy combinations can manage trade-offs among
      environmental conservation initiatives and food prices. Our scenario results
      indicate that SDG strategies constructed around Sustainable Consumption and
      Production policies can minimize problem-shifting, which has long placed global
      development and conservation agendas at odds. We conclude that Sustainable
      Consumption and Production policies (goal 12) are most effective at minimizing
      trade-offs and argue for their centrality to the formulation of coherent SDG
      strategies. We also find that alternative socioeconomic futures-mainly,
      population and economic growth pathways-generate smaller impacts on the eventual
      achievement of land resource-related SDGs than do resource-use and management
      policies. We expect that this and future systems analyses will allow policy
      makers to negotiate trade-offs and exploit synergies as they assemble sustainable
      development strategies equal in scope to the ambition of the SDGs.

PMID- 27652337
TI  - Early pre-Hispanic use of indigo blue in Peru.
AB  - Archaeological research has identified the use of cultivated cotton (Gossypium
      barbadense) in the ancient Andes dating back to at least 7800 years ago. Because
      of unusual circumstances of preservation, 6000-year-old cotton fabrics from the
      Preceramic site of Huaca Prieta on the north coast of Peru retained traces of a
      blue pigment that was analyzed and positively identified as an indigoid dye
      (indigotin), making it the earliest known use of indigo in the world, derived
      most likely from Indigofera spp. native to South America. This predates by ~1500
      years the earliest reported use of indigo in the Old World, from Fifth Dynasty
      Egypt [ca. 4400 BP (before present)]. Indigo is one of the most valued and most
      globally widespread dyes of antiquity and of the present era (it being the blue
      of blue jeans).

PMID- 27652338
TI  - Giant electromechanical coupling of relaxor ferroelectrics controlled by polar
      nanoregion vibrations.
AB  - Relaxor-based ferroelectrics are prized for their giant electromechanical
      coupling and have revolutionized sensor and ultrasound applications. A long
      standing challenge for piezoelectric materials has been to understand how these
      ultrahigh electromechanical responses occur when the polar atomic displacements
      underlying the response are partially broken into polar nanoregions (PNRs) in
      relaxor-based ferroelectrics. Given the complex inhomogeneous nanostructure of
      these materials, it has generally been assumed that this enhanced response must
      involve complicated interactions. By using neutron scattering measurements of
      lattice dynamics and local structure, we show that the vibrational modes of the
      PNRs enable giant coupling by softening the underlying macrodomain polarization
      rotations in relaxor-based ferroelectric PMN-xPT {(1 - x)[Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3] -
      xPbTiO3} (x = 30%). The mechanism involves the collective motion of the PNRs with
      transverse acoustic phonons and results in two hybrid modes, one softer and one
      stiffer than the bare acoustic phonon. The softer mode is the origin of
      macroscopic shear softening. Furthermore, a PNR mode and a component of the local
      structure align in an electric field; this further enhances shear softening,
      revealing a way to tune the ultrahigh piezoelectric response by engineering
      elastic shear softening.

PMID- 27652339
TI  - The elementary representation of spatial and color vision in the human retina.
AB  - The retina is the most accessible element of the central nervous system for
      linking behavior to the activity of isolated neurons. We unraveled behavior at
      the elementary level of single input units-the visual sensation generated by
      stimulating individual long (L), middle (M), and short (S) wavelength-sensitive
      cones with light. Spectrally identified cones near the fovea of human observers
      were targeted with small spots of light, and the type, proportion, and
      repeatability of the elicited sensations were recorded. Two distinct populations
      of cones were observed: a smaller group predominantly associated with signaling
      chromatic sensations and a second, more numerous population linked to achromatic
      percepts. Red and green sensations were mainly driven by L- and M-cones,
      respectively, although both cone types elicited achromatic percepts. Sensations
      generated by cones were rarely stochastic; rather, they were consistent over many
      months and were dominated by one specific perceptual category. Cones lying in the
      midst of a pure spectrally opponent neighborhood, an arrangement purported to be
      most efficient in producing chromatic signals in downstream neurons, were no more
      likely to signal chromatic percepts. Overall, the results are consistent with the
      idea that the nervous system encodes high-resolution achromatic information and
      lower-resolution color signals in separate pathways that emerge as early as the
      first synapse. The lower proportion of cones eliciting color sensations may
      reflect a lack of evolutionary pressure for the chromatic system to be as fine
      grained as the high-acuity achromatic system.

PMID- 27652340
TI  - Somatic cell reprogramming-free generation of genetically modified pigs.
AB  - Genetically modified pigs for biomedical applications have been mainly generated
      using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique; however, this approach
      requires complex micromanipulation techniques and sometimes increases the risks
      of both prenatal and postnatal death by faulty epigenetic reprogramming of a
      donor somatic cell nucleus. As a result, the production of genetically modified
      pigs has not been widely applied. We provide a simple method for CRISPR
      (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 gene editing in
      pigs that involves the introduction of Cas9 protein and single-guide RNA into in
      vitro fertilized zygotes by electroporation. The use of gene editing by
      electroporation of Cas9 protein (GEEP) resulted in highly efficient targeted gene
      disruption and was validated by the efficient production of Myostatin mutant
      pigs. Because GEEP does not require the complex methods associated with
      micromanipulation for somatic reprogramming, it has the potential for
      facilitating the genetic modification of pigs.

PMID- 27652341
TI  - Cyclic di-GMP mediates a histidine kinase/phosphatase switch by noncovalent
      domain cross-linking.
AB  - Histidine kinases are key components of regulatory networks in bacteria. Although
      many of these enzymes are bifunctional, mediating both phosphorylation and
      dephosphorylation of downstream targets, the molecular details of this central
      regulatory switch are unclear. We showed recently that the universal second
      messenger cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) drives Caulobacter
      crescentus cell cycle progression by forcing the cell cycle kinase CckA from its
      default kinase into phosphatase mode. We use a combination of structure
      determination, modeling, and functional analysis to demonstrate that c-di-GMP
      reciprocally regulates the two antagonistic CckA activities through noncovalent
      cross-linking of the catalytic domain with the dimerization histidine
      phosphotransfer (DHp) domain. We demonstrate that both c-di-GMP and ADP
      (adenosine diphosphate) promote phosphatase activity and propose that c-di-GMP
      stabilizes the ADP-bound quaternary structure, which allows the receiver domain
      to access the dimeric DHp stem for dephosphorylation. In silico analyses predict
      that c-di-GMP control is widespread among bacterial histidine kinases, arguing
      that it can replace or modulate canonical transmembrane signaling.

PMID- 27652342
TI  - Consensus and experience trump leadership, suppressing individual personality
      during social foraging.
AB  - Whether individual behavior in social settings correlates with behavior when
      individuals are alone is a fundamental question in collective behavior. However,
      evidence for whether behavior correlates across asocial and social settings is
      mixed, and no study has linked observed trends with underlying mechanisms.
      Consistent differences between individuals in boldness, which describes
      willingness to accept reward over risk, are likely to be under strong selection
      pressure. By testing three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in a
      risky foraging task alone and repeatedly in shoals, we demonstrate that the
      expression of boldness in groups is context-specific. Whereas personality is
      repeatable in a low-risk behavior (leaving a refuge), the collectively made
      consensus decision to then cross the arena outweighs leadership by bolder
      individuals, explaining the suppression of personality in this context. However,
      despite this social coordination, bolder individuals were still more likely to
      feed. Habituation and satiation over repeated trials degrade the effect of
      personality on leaving the refuge and also whether crossing the arena is a
      collective decision. The suppression of personality in groups suggests that
      individual risk-taking tendency may rarely represent actual risk in social
      settings, with implications for the evolution and ecology of personality
      variation.

PMID- 27652343
TI  - Control of colloidal placement by modulated molecular orientation in nematic
      cells.
AB  - Colloids self-assemble into various organized superstructures determined by
      particle interactions. There is tremendous progress in both the scientific
      understanding and the applications of self-assemblies of single-type identical
      particles. Forming superstructures in which the colloidal particles occupy
      predesigned sites and remain in these sites despite thermal fluctuations
      represents a major challenge of the current state of the art. We propose a
      versatile approach to directing placement of colloids using nematic liquid
      crystals with spatially varying molecular orientation preimposed by substrate
      photoalignment. Colloidal particles in a nematic environment are subject to the
      long-range elastic forces originating in the orientational order of the nematic.
      Gradients of the orientational order create an elastic energy landscape that
      drives the colloids into locations with preferred type of deformations. As an
      example, we demonstrate that colloidal spheres with perpendicular surface
      anchoring are driven into the regions of maximum splay, whereas spheres with
      tangential surface anchoring settle into the regions of bend. Elastic forces
      responsible for preferential placement are measured by exploring overdamped
      dynamics of the colloids. Control of colloidal self-assembly through patterned
      molecular orientation opens new opportunities for designing materials and devices
      in which particles should be placed in predesigned locations.

PMID- 27652344
TI  - Anthropocene rockfalls travel farther than prehistoric predecessors.
AB  - Human modification of natural landscapes has influenced surface processes in many
      settings on Earth. Quantitative data comparing the distribution and behavior of
      geologic phenomena before and after human arrival are sparse but urgently
      required to evaluate possible anthropogenic influences on geologic hazards. We
      conduct field and imagery-based mapping, statistical analysis, and numerical
      modeling of rockfall boulders triggered by the fatal 2011 Christchurch
      earthquakes (n = 285) and newly identified prehistoric (Holocene and Pleistocene)
      boulders (n = 1049). Prehistoric and modern boulders are lithologically
      equivalent, derived from the same source cliff, and yield consistent power-law
      frequency-volume distributions. However, a significant population of modern
      boulders (n = 26) traveled farther downslope (>150 m) than their most-traveled
      prehistoric counterparts, causing extensive damage to residential dwellings at
      the foot of the hillslope. Replication of prehistoric boulder distributions using
      three-dimensional rigid-body numerical models that incorporate lidar-derived
      digital topography and realistic boulder trajectories and volumes requires the
      application of a drag coefficient, attributed to moderate to dense slope
      vegetation, to account for their spatial distribution. Incorporating a spatially
      variable native forest into the models successfully predicts prehistoric rockfall
      distributions. Radiocarbon dating provides evidence for 17th to early 20th
      century deforestation at the study site during Polynesian and European
      colonization and after emplacement of prehistoric rockfall. Anthropocene
      deforestation enabled modern rockfalls to exceed the limits of their prehistoric
      predecessors, highlighting a shift in the geologic expression of rockfalls due to
      anthropogenic activity. Reforestation of hillslopes by mature native vegetation
      could help reduce future rockfall hazard.

PMID- 27652346
TI  - Mendelian randomization shows a causal effect of low vitamin D on multiple
      sclerosis risk.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate the causal effect of low serum 25(OH)D on
      multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility that is not confounded by environmental or
      lifestyle factors or subject to reverse causality. METHODS: We conducted
      mendelian randomization (MR) analyses using an instrumental variable (IV)
      comprising 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms found to be associated with serum
      25(OH)D levels at genome-wide significance. We analyzed the effect of the IV on
      MS risk and both age at onset and disease severity in 2 separate populations
      using logistic regression models that controlled for sex, year of birth, smoking,
      education, genetic ancestry, body mass index at age 18-20 years or in 20s, a
      weighted genetic risk score for 110 known MS-associated variants, and the
      presence of one or more HLA-DRB1*15:01 alleles. RESULTS: Findings from MR
      analyses using the IV showed increasing levels of 25(OH)D are associated with a
      decreased risk of MS in both populations. In white, non-Hispanic members of
      Kaiser Permanente Northern California (1,056 MS cases and 9,015 controls), the
      odds ratio (OR) was 0.79 (p = 0.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64-0.99). In
      members of a Swedish population from the Epidemiological Investigation of
      Multiple Sclerosis and Genes and Environment in Multiple Sclerosis MS case
      control studies (6,335 cases and 5,762 controls), the OR was 0.86 (p = 0.03, 95%
      CI: 0.76-0.98). A meta-analysis of the 2 populations gave a combined OR of 0.85
      (p = 0.003, 95% CI: 0.76-0.94). No association was observed for age at onset or
      disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide strong evidence that low
      serum 25(OH)D concentration is a cause of MS, independent of established risk
      factors.

PMID- 27652354
TI  - Do statins really cause diabetes? A meta-analysis of major randomized controlled
      clinical trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate and establish the relationship between the use of
      statin therapy and the risk of development of diabetes.  METHODS: PubMed and the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was searched for randomized
      controlled end-point trials of statins, with more than 1000 subjects and a
      minimum of one-year follow-up period, published until August 2015. The odds ratio
      (OR) of diabetes incidence with overall statin therapy as well as with different
      statins in question was calculated through random effect meta-analysis model. 
      RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included in the analysis with a total of 94,943
      participants. Of these, 2392 subjects developed incident diabetes in the statin
      and 2167 in the placebo groups during a 4-year follow-up. The OR of diabetes
      incidence with statin therapy was significantly higher as compared with the
      placebo group (OR=1.11; 95% confidence interval = 1.0 to 1.2; p=0.007). There was
      an insignificant level of heterogeneity between the included trials (Cochran Q=
      19.463, p=0.109, I2=33.20). Subgroup analysis showed that only 2 statins namely,
      atorvastatin (OR= 1.29; p=0.042) and rosuvastatin (OR = 1.17; p=0.01) were
      significantly associated.   CONCLUSION: Statin therapy can slightly increase risk
      of incident diabetes in subjects with hypercholesterolemia.

PMID- 27652355
TI  - Leaders produce leaders and managers produce followers. A systematic review of
      the desired competencies and standard settings for physicians' leadership.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To elaborate the desired qualities, traits, and styles of physician's
      leadership with a deep insight into the recommended measures to inculcate
      leadership skills in physicians.   METHODS: The databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library were searched for the full-text English-language
      articles published during the period 2000-2015. Further search, including manual
      search of grey literature, was conducted from the bibliographic list of all
      included articles. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords "Leadership" AND
      "Leadership traits" AND "Leadership styles" AND "Physicians' leadership" AND
      "Tomorrow's doctors" were used for the literature search. This search followed a
      step-wise approach defined by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic
      Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The retrieved bibliographic list was analyzed
      and non-relevant material such as abstracts, conference proceedings, letters to
      editor, and short communications were excluded. Finally, 21 articles were
      selected for this review.  RESULTS: The literature search showed a number of
      leadership courses and formal training programs that can transform doctors to
      physician leaders. Leaders can inculcate confidence by integrating diverse views
      and listening; supporting skillful conversations through dialogue and helping
      others assess their influence and expertise. In addition to their clinical
      competence, physician leaders need to acquire the industry knowledge (clinical
      processes, health-care trends, budget), problem-solving skills, and emotional
      intelligence.    CONCLUSION: This review emphasizes the need for embedding formal
      leadership courses in the medical curricula for fostering tomorrow doctors'
      leadership and organizational skills. The in-house and off-campus training
      programs and workshops should be arranged for grooming the potential candidates
      for effective leadership.

PMID- 27652345
TI  - Direct carbon-carbon coupling of furanics with acetic acid over Bronsted
      zeolites.
AB  - Effective carbon-carbon coupling of acetic acid to form larger products while
      minimizing CO2 emissions is critical to achieving a step change in efficiency for
      the production of transportation fuels from sustainable biomass. We report the
      direct acylation of methylfuran with acetic acid in the presence of water, all of
      which can be readily produced from biomass. This direct coupling limits unwanted
      polymerization of furanics while producing acetyl methylfuran. Reaction kinetics
      and density functional theory calculations illustrate that the calculated
      apparent barrier for the dehydration of the acid to form surface acyl species is
      similar to the experimentally measured barrier, implying that this step plays a
      significant role in determining the net reaction rate. Water inhibits the overall
      rate, but selectivity to acylated products is not affected. We show that furanic
      species effectively stabilize the charge of the transition state, therefore
      lowering the overall activation barrier. These results demonstrate a promising
      new route to C-C bond-forming reactions for the production of higher-value
      products from biomass.

PMID- 27652356
TI  - A novel missense mutation in the C2C domain of otoferlin causes profound hearing
      impairment in an Omani family with auditory neuropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify genetic defects in an Omani family diagnosed with
      deafness.  METHODS: A cross-sectional association study was conducted at the
      Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan
      Qaboos University, Al-Khoud, Oman and the Centre of Medical Genetics, University
      of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium between August 2010 and September 2014.
      Microsatellites markers for nine non-syndromic genes were used to genotype the
      defective locus using the extracted DNA from family members. Sanger sequencing
      method was used to identify the disease causative mutation. Eazy linkage 5.05 was
      used to calculate the logarithm of odds score. Lasergene suite was used to detect
      the mutation position, and Phyre2, SMART, Rasmol, and GOR IV were used to predict
      the effects of the defect on protein structure and function.  RESULTS: The
      disease was linked to markers located on chromosome-2 and covering the OTOF
      (DFNB9) gene. A novel missense mutation that changed nucleotide C to G at
      position c.1469 and consequently the amino acid Proline to Arginine (P490R) on
      exon 15 was detected. Protein modeling analysis revealed the impact of the
      mutation on protein structure and the relevant C2C domain. The mutation seems to
      create a new protein isoform homologous to the complement component C1q. 
      CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the mutation found in C2C domain of the
      OTOF gene is likely to cause deafness in the studied family reflecting the
      importance of C2 domains of otoferlin in hearing loss.

PMID- 27652357
TI  - Evaluation of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay for direct diagnosis of pulmonary
      tuberculosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay for direct
      diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).   METHODS: This is a cross-sectional
      study conducted between October 2013 and February 2016 at Abbassaia Chest
      Hospital and Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. Inclusion criteria were
      adults between 18 and 60 years with suspected PTB and classified into 5 clinical
      categories based on their clinical, radiological, and laboratory findings: 
      confirmed TB, probable TB, possible TB, unlikely TB, and not TB. Two sputum
      samples from each participant were analyzed by GX and the results were compared
      by conventional culture. RESULTS: In total, 218 participants were enrolled: 71
      had confirmed TB; 112, highly probable TB; 20, probable TB; 10, unlikely TB; and
      5, no TB. The sensitivity and specificity of the GX assay were 93% and 98.3%
      respectively. GeneXpert was positive in 93% of confirmed TB and 2.2% of probable
      TB cases.  CONCLUSIONS: GeneXpert is a rapid and promising technique with good
      sensitivity (93%) and specificity (98.3%), but it cannot be used as a standalone
      PTB diagnostic tool. There is a need for more GX evaluation studies in countries
      with low TB incidence.

PMID- 27652358
TI  - The role of platelet count, mean platelet volume, and the mean platelet
      volume/platelet count ratio in predicting postoperative vomiting in children
      after deep sedation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the role of hemogram parameters such as platelet count
      (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), and the MPV/PLT ratio in predicting the risk
      of postoperative vomiting (POV) in children after tooth extraction under deep
      sedation. METHODS: A total of 100 American Society of Anesthesiology
      Classification I and II pediatric patients who underwent tooth extraction
      procedures under a standard anesthetic method were included in the study between
      2012 and 2014. The study took place at the Faculty of Dentistry, Department of
      Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Erciyes University, Erciyes, Turkey Fifty
      patients without POV (group 1) and 50 patients with POV (group 2) were
      retrospectively selected randomly from the records of 885 consecutive patients.
      Age, gender, duration of the operation, and preoperative hemogram findings were
      recorded. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the 2
      groups in terms of MPV (p less than 0.001), PLT (p=0.006), and MPV/PLT (p less
      than 0.001) ratio. Mean platelet volume and MPV/PLT ratio were higher in group 2,
      whereas PLT was higher in group 1. CONCLUSION: The PLT count, MPV, and MPV/PLT
      ratio may be used to predict POV in children.

PMID- 27652359
TI  - Primary experience of bariatric surgery in a newly established private obesity
      center.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the outcomes of different types of bariatric surgeries in a
      single newly established private obesity center. METHODS: Retrospectively, we
      included patients who were entered in the registry for bariatric surgeries in the
      Obesity Unit, Riyadh National Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between January 2013
      and September 2014, and completed one year of follow up. Baseline
      characteristics, percent excess weight loss, and safety data were collected and
      analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 79 patients were included. Based on the type of
      surgery, patients were divided into 3 groups: laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric
      bypass (RYGB), laparoscopic minigastric bypass (MGBP), and laparoscopic vertical
      sleeve gastrectomy (SG). After one year, RYGB and MGB patients lost more weight
      than SG patients. No mortality, or leak were reported and one patient had
      reoperation after revision laparoscopic RYGB for bleeding. There was one
      readmission, while 4 patients visited the emergency room for vomiting and
      dehydration (2 patients), anemia (one patient), and port site infection (one
      patient). CONCLUSION: Bariatric surgeries are safe when carried out by an
      experienced bariatric surgeon in the private sector. The outcome of this series
      is similar to the published results from large international obesity databases.

PMID- 27652360
TI  - Prevalence of inner ear anomalies among cochlear implant candidates.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of inner ear anomalies and the frequency
      of different anomaly types among cochlear implant recipients. METHODS: This study
      included a retrospective chart review of all patients who received cochlear
      implants between January 2009 and January 2013 in King Abdulaziz University
      Hospital cochlear implant program in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All subjects underwent
      thin-cut CT of the temporal bone and MRI. The collected data included age,
      gender, and CT and MRI findings regarding temporal bone anomalies. Patients with
      any identified congenital inner ear anomalies were included in the study. 
      RESULTS: In total, 316 patients' cases were reviewed. Inner ear malformations
      were identified in 24 patients, which represented a prevalence of 7.5%. Among
      these 24 patients, 8 (33.3%) presented with a large vestibular aqueduct (LVA), 8
      (33.3%) semicircular canal (SCC) dysplasia, 7 (29.1%) classical Mondini
      deformity, and one (4.1%) cochlear hypoplasia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of
      inner ear anomalies among cochlear implant recipients was 7.5%. This result is
      consistent with findings worldwide. The most common anomalies were LVA and SCC
      hypoplasia; by contrast, in other regions, the most common anomaly is either the
      Mondini deformity, or LVA.

PMID- 27652362
TI  - Impact of rehabilitation programs on dependency and functional performance of
      patients with major lower limb amputations. A retrospective chart review in
      western Saudi Arabia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine pattern and impact of physical rehabilitation on
      dependency and functional performance of patients.  METHODS: This retrospective
      chart review was carried out between July and August 2012 at King Abdulaziz
      Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using demographic,
      clinical, and dependency assessment checklists.  RESULTS: Patients who underwent
      major lower limb amputations between January 2007 and April 2012 (n=121) were
      included in the study. There were 84 (69.4%) male and 37 (30.6%) female patients
      with a mean +/- standard deviation of 63.3  +/- 17.4 years old. Diabetes mellitus
      was the most frequent cause in 63.6% of patients. Only one-third of the amputees
      (32.2%) have records of completion of their rehabilitation programs, although
      20.7% of them completed the less than 50% of the scheduled rehabilitation
      sessions, 17.2% attended between 50% and 80%, and the remaining 62.1% attended
      more than 80% of the scheduled sessions. Muscle power scores in each side of the
      upper and lower limbs were significantly better following rehabilitation (p less
      than 0.0001). Basic functions of mobility and transfer have also significantly
      improved (p less than 0.05).  CONCLUSIONS: Overall dependency and functional
      performance were significantly better following implementation of the physical
      rehabilitation programs. A multidisciplinary team approach is mandatory to
      improve compliance of patients toward the rehabilitation programs.

PMID- 27652361
TI  - The role of geriatric assessment tests and anthropometric measurements in
      identifying the risk of falls in elderly nursing home residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the relation among the risk of falls, geriatric
      assessment, and anthropometric measurements, including the mini mental state
      examination, geriatric depression scale, handgrip test, and key pinch test.
      METHODS: This prospective study included 89 residents hospitalized between May
      2014 and September 2015 in the geriatric care unit of the Istanbul Balikli Rum
      Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Patients were followed-up for one year, and their
      falls were recorded. Medical records of the included patients were retrieved and
      analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 89 patients, comprising 37 men and 52 women with an
      average age of 75.8 +/- 8.2 years were included in the study. The residents'
      annual falling averages were 1.0 +/- 1.5. The most significant factors were
      identified to be predicted muscle mass, skeletal muscle index, whole body
      bioimpedance, dominant arm muscle strength, dominant arm bioimpedance, and free
      fat mass.  CONCLUSIONS: The mini mental test, geriatric depression scale and
      lawton-brody scale combined with the handgrip, 6-meters walking, and bioimpedance
      tests are favorable for detecting the risk of falls and recurrent falls in
      vulnerable elderly nursing home residents.

PMID- 27652363
TI  - Prevalence and characterization of occult hepatitis B infection among blood
      donors in central Saudi Arabia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of occult hepatitis B viral infections
      (OBIs)  among blood donors considering the clinical and epidemiological
      importance of identifying OBIs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted at
      King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between January 2011 and
      January 2012. Blood donors (n=8501) were screened for Hepatitis B virus surface
      antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antibodies (HBcAb). All HBsAg-negative and
      HBcAb-positive samples were tested further for hepatitis B surface antibodies
      (HBsAb), hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA, and HBV genotyping.   RESULTS: Of the 8501
      serum samples tested, 56 (0.7%) were positive and 8445 (99.3%) were negative for
      HBsAg. Among the HBsAg-negative samples, 198 (2.3%) were positive for HBcAb and
      these patients were suspected to have OBIs. Among the HBcAb-positive samples, 119
      (60.1%) were positive while 79 (39.9%) were negative for HBsAb. Analysis of HBV
      DNA for the suspected OBIs showed that 17 out of 198 samples (8.6%) yielded
      positive results, and all of them were HBsAb-negative. The viral load was low
      (less than 20-186 IU/mL) in all OBIs. Hepatitis B virus genotyping showed that 15
      out of 17 samples (88.2%) were genotype D, and the other 2 samples (11.8%) were
      genotype E.  CONCLUSION: The prevalence of OBIs among blood donors in Riyadh was
      0.2%. Therefore, it is recommended that HBV molecular testing should be
      incorporated with serological assays for screening of blood donors.

PMID- 27652365
TI  - Effects of nicotine on bone during orthodontic tooth movement in male rats.
      Histological and immunohistochemical study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of nicotine on orthodontic tooth movement
      and accompanying histological and immunohistochemical changes in rats. METHODS:
      An experimental study conducted at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi
      Arabia between 2013 and 2014. Thirty-two rats randomly divided into 4 groups.
      Three were experimental, received daily nicotine injections: group A: 0.37 mg/kg,
      group B: 0.57 mg/kg, and group C: 0.93 mg/kg. The control group  (group D)
      received a daily injection of 0.5 mL saline. All rats were subjected to 30 g of
      orthodontic force on the maxillary left first molars and incisors using a nickel
      titanium closed-coil spring. The distance between the 2 teeth was assessed before
      and after 14 days of force application. Histological, immunohistochemical, and
      histomorphometric assessments were performed on sections from groups C and D. 
      RESULTS: Groups C (p less than 0.001) and D (p less than 0.001) showed the
      significantly greatest and least amounts of tooth movement . The results were
      statistically dose-dependent. Unbalanced resorption-apposition bone remodeling
      patterns and increased osteoclast cell distribution were observed in the nicotine
      group with significantly smaller percentages of bone surface areas mesially and
      distally (p less than 0.05). Immunohistochemical stains showed low alkaline
      phosphatase activity and intense tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity in
      the nicotine group.  CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine accelerated orthodontic tooth movement
      with unbalanced bone resorption and apposition patterns around the moving teeth.

PMID- 27652366
TI  - Asymptomatic inhaled foreign body. A bullet in the lung for 2 years.
AB  - It is very rare to have a big foreign body in the lungs without any complications
      or symptoms for 2 years. A 14-year-old male with episodes of minor hemoptysis for
      4 weeks had a history of inhalation of a bullet 2 years earlier. He had
      asymptomatic for lung complications for 2 years. The bullet was removed by right
      thoracotomy and  non-anatomical wedge stapled resection, and he followed an
      uneventful recovery. An aspirated foreign body although big can remain
      asymptomatic for a long time, especially if it has migrated to the periphery. 

PMID- 27652364
TI  - Prevalence of hypertension, obesity, hematuria and proteinuria amongst healthy
      adolescents living in Western Saudi Arabia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of hypertension, obesity, hematuria, and
      proteinuria among healthy adolescents and to determine the associated risk
      factors. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 8 intermediate schools in
      Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between March 2015 and June 2015. Samples were selected
      randomly and equal proportions from each school for both genders were ensured.
      Both blood pressure and body mass index were measured and a brief questionnaire
      was filled out for the specified studied group. Urine dipstick analysis was
      carried out for 294 children. A second questionnaire was completed for
      hypertensive and obese subjects in addition to those with hematuria and
      proteinuria. RESULTS: A total of 401 children (200 males) with a mean (SD) age of
      13.87 (1.27) were included. Hypertension was found in 17.2% with a male to female
      ratio of 1.4:1. Pre-hypertension was found in 4.2% of our sample with a male to
      female ratio of 2.1:1. Obesity was found in 19.2% with a male to female ratio of
      1.5:1. Obesity was found to be the most significant risk factor for hypertension
      with  a related risk: 2.87, 95% and confidence interval: 1.9-4.3. For urine
      abnormalities, 10.2% of samples were positive for proteinuria, 17% for hematuria,
      and 3.1% for both.  CONCLUSION: It was found that there is a positive correlation
      between the incidence of obesity and hypertension in adolescents. Hematuria and
      proteinuria were also found to be high. Screening and prevention programs are
      therefore recommended.

PMID- 27652367
TI  - The superior gluteal artery perforator flap for reconstruction of sacral sores.
AB  - This report describes our experiences using the superior gluteal artery
      perforator (SGAP) flaps for reconstruction of 2 sacral sore cases. A 47-year-old
      female patient and a  38-year-old man with sacral sores were treated in our unit.
      The size of the defects were approximately 5*6 cm2  and 8*9 cm2, the  defects
      were repaired by SGAP flaps. The size of designed was  SGAP flaps varied from 
      7*20 to 9*16 cm2. All flaps survived and healed primary, the texture, functions,
      and appearance of flaps were satisfactory, and also without region dysfunction of
      donor and recipient sites. The SGAP flap, which has reliable blood supply, 
      preserves the gluteus maximus muscle and could be transferred simply and safely,
      is an ideal and reusable method to reconstruct sacral sores with low rate of
      postoperative recurrence and satisfactory appearance. 

PMID- 27652368
TI  - Rehospitalization for heart failure in the elderly.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the burden of preventable rehospitalization for
      decompensated heart failure in the elderly.  METHODS: This was a retrospective
      study performed in a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital,.   Demographic
      variables, etiology, and participants of heart failure were retrieved from data
      of elderly patients with heart failure admitted between January 2014 and December
      2015. The participants were classified and described as either preventable, or
      unpreventable to determine whether the hospitalizations were preventable or not.
      The frequency of the groups with preventable participants (hospitalization) was
      derived.   RESULTS: Five groups of participants were preventable (55.5%), while 4
      groups (44.5%) were unpreventable. The preventable participants were poor drug
      compliance (24 [23.4%]), uncontrolled hypertension (7 [6.9%]), infectious (34
      [33.3%]), pulmonary thromboembolism (1 [1%]), and anemia (1 [1%]).The
      unpreventable participants include arrhythmias (19 [18.6%]), acute kidney injury
      (2 [2%]), acute coronary syndrome (1 [1%]), and progressive ventricular
      dysfunction (13 [12.7%]).  CONCLUSION: Multiple rehospitalization for heart
      failure is a challenge for the elderly, but 55.5% of these readmissions are
      preventable. Poor drug compliance and pulmonary infections were the most common
      preventable participants. Multidisciplinary measures involving patient education,
      home based care, and physician training will reduce the number of
      hospitalizations for heart failure in the elderly.

PMID- 27652369
TI  - Chronic pain along the lateral condyle of humerus.
AB  - [No Abstract Available]. 

PMID- 27652371
TI  - Spontaneous ileostomy closure.
AB  - [No Abstract Available]. 

PMID- 27652370
TI  - The Saudi clinical practice guideline for the management of overweight and
      obesity in adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assist healthcare providers in evidence-based clinical decision
      making for the management of overweight and obese adults in Saudi Arabia.
      METHODS: The Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia assembled an
      expert Saudi panel to produce this clinical practice guideline in 2015. In
      collaboration with the methodological working group from McMaster University,
      Hamilton, Canada, using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development
      and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, which describes both the strength of
      recommendation and the quality of evidence  RESULTS: After identifying 11
      questions, corresponding recommendations were agreed upon as guidance for the
      management of overweight and obese adults. These included strong recommendations
      in support of lifestyle interventions rather than usual care alone,
      individualized counseling interventions rather than generic educational
      pamphlets, physical activity rather than no physical activity, and physical
      activity in addition to diet rather than diet alone. Metformin and orlistat were
      suggested as conditional recommendations for the management of overweight and
      obesity in adults. Bariatric surgery was recommended, conditionally, for the
      management of obese adults (body mass index of >=40 or >=35 kg/m2 with
      comorbidities).  CONCLUSIONS: The current guideline includes recommendation for
      the non-pharmacological, pharmacological, and surgical management of overweight
      and obese adults. In addition, the panel recommends conducting research
      priorities regarding lifestyle interventions and economic analysis of drug
      therapy within the Saudi context, as well as long term benefits and harms of
      bariatric surgery.

PMID- 27652372
TI  - Prevention of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy - Is heparin a novel option?
      A case report.
AB  - Equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) is a severe manifestation of equine
      herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) infection. Prevention and treatment of EHM during EHV-1
      outbreaks is critical, but no reliable and tested specific medication is
      available. Due to the thromboischemic nature of EHM and due to the fact that EHV
      1 entry in cells is blocked by heparin, it was hypothesized that this compound
      may be useful in reduction of EHM incidence and severity. Therefore, during an
      acute EHV-1 outbreak with the neuropathogenic G2254/D752 Pol variant,
      metaphylactic treatment with heparin to prevent EHM was initiated. Clinical signs
      were present in 61 horses (fever n = 55; EHM n = 8; abortion n = 6). Heparin
      (25000 IU subcutaneously twice daily for 3 days) was given to 31 febrile horses
      from day 10 of the outbreak, while the first 30 horses exhibiting fever remained
      untreated. Treatment outcome was analyzed retrospectively. Heparin-treated horses
      showed a lower EHM incidence (1/31; 3.2%) than untreated horses (7/30; 23.3%; p =
      0.03). Results indicate that heparin may be useful for prevention of EHM during
      an EHV-1 outbreak. These promising data highlight the need for randomized and
      possibly blinded studies for the use of heparin in EHV-1 outbreaks.

PMID- 27652373
TI  - Sertoli cell tumour in a neonate calf: an unusual congenital tumour. A case
      report.
AB  - Congenital testicular tumours are seldom reported in bovine species. This case
      report describes the clinical, sonographical, haematological, pathomorphological
      and immunohistological features of a Sertoli cell tumour in a neonatal German
      Holstein calf. Microscopically, the enlarged testicle was composed of neoplastic
      cells, which were packed in well-formed tubules. The mostly polygonal shaped
      cells had round to elongated nuclei and a scanty eosinophilic cytoplasm. Some
      cells were arranged perpendicularly to the light PAS-positive basement membrane.
      These cells were packed in broad sheets separated by dense fibrous stroma.
      Mitotic figures were present. The features described above are indicative of a
      Sertoli cell tumour. The contralateral testicle showed a well formed rete testis,
      fusiform cells and a dense central capillary convolute and haemorrhagic foci. The
      features are indicative of an extensive fibrosis and older haemorrhage. The
      neoplasia was immunopositive for vimentin, alpha-oestrogen receptor, alpha
      inhibin and S-100 protein, but immunonegative for cytokeratine, CD30,
      progesterone receptor, alpha-fetoprotein, SALL4, OCT4 and glypican-3. The
      mycotoxicological investigations revealed the presence of residues of
      zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin, HT2 toxin and their metabolites in feeds
      and urine of heavily pregnant cows of the herd. Furthermore, information is
      provided about oestrogen and testosterone levels of the affected and healthy
      neonatal calves. A possible influence of mycotoxins on the cancerogenesis is
      discussed.

PMID- 27652376
TI  - Human error and surgical complications.

PMID- 27652375
TI  - Optimizing Clinical Decision Support in the Electronic Health Record. Clinical
      Characteristics Associated with the Use of a Decision Tool for Disposition of ED
      Patients with Pulmonary Embolism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Adoption of clinical decision support (CDS) tools by clinicians is
      often limited by workflow barriers. We sought to assess characteristics
      associated with clinician use of an electronic health record-embedded clinical
      decision support system (CDSS). METHODS: In a prospective study on emergency
      department (ED) activation of a CDSS tool across 14 hospitals between 9/1/14 to
      4/30/15, the CDSS was deployed at 10 active sites with an on-site champion,
      education sessions, iterative feedback, and up to 3 gift cards/clinician as an
      incentive. The tool was also deployed at 4 passive sites that received only an
      introductory educational session. Activation of the CDSS - which calculated the
      Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) score and provided guidance - and
      associated clinical data were collected prospectively. We used multivariable
      logistic regression with random effects at provider/facility levels to assess the
      association between activation of the CDSS tool and characteristics at: 1)
      patient level (PESI score), 2) provider level (demographics and clinical load at
      time of activation opportunity), and 3) facility level (active vs. passive site,
      facility ED volume, and ED acuity at time of activation opportunity). RESULTS:
      Out of 662 eligible patient encounters, the CDSS was activated in 55%: active
      sites: 68% (346/512); passive sites 13% (20/150). In bivariate analysis, active
      sites had an increase in activation rates based on the number of prior gift cards
      the physician had received (96% if 3 prior cards versus 60% if 0, p<0.0001). At
      passive sites, physicians < age 40 had higher rates of activation (p=0.03). In
      multivariable analysis, active site status, low ED volume at the time of
      diagnosis and PESI scores I or II (compared to III or higher) were associated
      with higher likelihood of CDSS activation. CONCLUSIONS: Performing on-site tool
      promotion significantly increased odds of CDSS activation. Optimizing CDSS
      adoption requires active education.

PMID- 27652374
TI  - Practical considerations for implementing genomic information resources.
      Experiences from eMERGE and CSER.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To understand opinions and perceptions on the state of information
      resources specifically targeted to genomics, and approaches to delivery in
      clinical practice. METHODS: We conducted a survey of genomic content use and its
      clinical delivery from representatives across eight institutions in the
      electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) network and two institutions in
      the Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research (CSER) consortium in 2014. RESULTS:
      Eleven responses representing distinct projects across ten sites showed
      heterogeneity in how content is being delivered, with provider-facing content
      primarily delivered via the electronic health record (EHR) (n=10), and
      paper/pamphlets as the leading mode for patient-facing content (n=9). There was
      general agreement (91%) that new content is needed for patients and providers
      specific to genomics, and that while aspects of this content could be shared
      across institutions there remain site-specific needs (73% in agreement).
      CONCLUSION: This work identifies a need for the improved access to and expansion
      of information resources to support genomic medicine, and opportunities for
      content developers and EHR vendors to partner with institutions to develop needed
      resources, and streamline their use - such as a central content site in multiple
      modalities while implementing approaches to allow for site-specific
      customization.

PMID- 27652377
TI  - Human gammadelta T cells augment antigen presentation in Listeria Monocytogenes
      infection.
AB  - Circulating gammadelta T cells in healthy individuals rapidly respond to
      bacterial and viral pathogens. Many studies have demonstrated that gammadelta T
      cells are activated and expanded by Listeria monocytogenes (L.monocytogenes), a
      foodborne bacterial pathogen with high fatality rates. However, the roles of
      gammadelta T cells during L.monocytogenes infection are not clear. In the present
      study, we characterized the morphological characteristics of phagocytosis in
      gammadelta T cells after L.monocytogenes infection using transmission electron
      microscopy. Results show activation markers including HLA-DR and lymph node
      homing receptor CCR7 on gammadelta T cells were upregulated after stimulation via
      L.monocytogenes. Significant proliferation and differentiation of primary
      alphabeta T cells was also observed after co-culture of peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells with gammadelta T cells anteriorly stimulated by
      L.monocytogenes. L.monocytogenes infection decreased the percentage of gammadelta
      T cells in mouse IELs and increased MHC-II expression on the surface of
      gammadelta T cells in vivo. Our findings shed light on antigen presentation of
      gammadelta T cells during L.monocytogenes infection.

PMID- 27652379
TI  - MAVS is not a Likely Susceptibility Locus for Addison's Disease and Type 1
      Diabetes.
AB  - Mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) protein is an intracellular adaptor
      molecule, downstream of viral sensors, retinoid acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)
      like receptors (RLRs). Impaired antiviral cell signaling might contribute to
      autoimmunity. Studies have recently shown variations in genes encoding RLRs as
      risk factors for autoimmune diseases. We investigated whether MAVS coding
      polymorphisms are associated with Addison's disease (AD) and type 1 diabetes
      (T1D) in Polish population. We genotyped 140 AD, 532 T1D patients and 600 healthy
      controls for MAVS rs17857295, rs7262903, rs45437096 and rs7269320. Genotyping was
      performed by TaqMan assays. Distribution of the MAVS genotypes and alleles did
      not reveal significant differences between patients and controls (p > 0.05). This
      analysis did not indicate the association of the MAVS locus with susceptibility
      to AD and T1D.

PMID- 27652378
TI  - A Journey in Science: The Privilege of Exploring the Brain and the Immune System.
AB  - Real innovations in medicine and science are historic and singular; the stories
      behind each occurrence are precious. At Molecular Medicine we have established
      the Anthony Cerami Award in Translational Medicine to document and preserve these
      histories. The monographs recount the seminal events as told in the voice of the
      original investigators who provided the crucial early insight. These essays
      capture the essence of discovery, chronicling the birth of ideas that created new
      fields of research; and launched trajectories that persisted and ultimately
      influenced how disease is prevented, diagnosed, and treated. In this volume, the
      Cerami Award Monograph is by Lawrence Steinman, MD, of Stanford University in
      California. A visionary in the field of neurology, this is the story of Dr.
      Steinman's scientific journey.

PMID- 27652380
TI  - The Impact of Sex and Age on the Prevalence of Clinically Relevant Sensitization
      and Asymptomatic Sensitization in the General Population.
AB  - The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of sex and age on the
      prevalence of sensitization to inhalant allergens. The study was performed as a
      part of Polish Epidemiology of Allergic Diseases study, and data concerning
      citizens of Wroclaw were analyzed. The participants were divided into three age
      groups (6-7, 13-14, and 20-44 years) with a subdivision according to sex. We
      randomly selected 1409 individuals, 439 people complied; the complete set of
      tests was performed on 421 of them. We found that 37.7 % of the study population
      demonstrated sensitization to at least one of the allergens tested. Positive skin
      tests were found more frequently in males than in females (p = 0.003); among 6-7
      year-old children, the sensitization was independent of sex (p = 0.26), while in
      two other groups, it was higher in males (p = 0.002 and p = 0.03, respectively).
      Clinically asymptomatic sensitization (AS) was found more often in females than
      in males (p = 0.04). The higher rate of AS in women was observed only in the two
      younger age groups, while in the 20-44-year-old group AS did not differ between
      the sexes (p = 0.72). Female sex hormones may contribute to a later change in the
      nature of sensitization from clinically asymptomatic to symptomatic. Further
      studies are needed to confirm the results of our study.

PMID- 27652381
TI  - P2Y2 receptor modulates shear stress-induced cell alignment and actin stress
      fibers in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
AB  - Endothelial cells release ATP in response to fluid shear stress, which activates
      purinergic (P2) receptor-mediated signaling molecules including endothelial
      nitric oxide (eNOS), a regulator of vascular tone. While P2 receptor-mediated
      signaling in the vasculature is well studied, the role of P2Y2 receptors in shear
      stress-associated endothelial cell alignment, cytoskeletal alterations, and wound
      repair remains ill defined. To address these aspects, human umbilical vein
      endothelial cell (HUVEC) monolayers were cultured on gelatin-coated dishes and
      subjected to a shear stress of 1 Pa. HUVECs exposed to either P2Y2 receptor
      antagonists or siRNA showed impaired fluid shear stress-induced cell alignment,
      and actin stress fiber formation as early as 6 h. Similarly, when compared to
      cells expressing the P2Y2 Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) wild-type receptors, HUVECs
      transiently expressing the P2Y2 Arg-Gly-Glu (RGE) mutant receptors showed reduced
      cell alignment and actin stress fiber formation in response to shear stress as
      well as to P2Y2 receptor agonists in static cultures. Additionally, we observed
      reduced shear stress-induced phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (Y397), and
      cofilin-1 (S3) with receptor knockdown as well as in cells expressing the P2Y2
      RGE mutant receptors. Consistent with the role of P2Y2 receptors in vasodilation,
      receptor knockdown and overexpression of P2Y2 RGE mutant receptors reduced shear
      stress-induced phosphorylation of AKT (S473), and eNOS (S1177). Furthermore, in a
      scratched wound assay, shear stress-induced cell migration was reduced by both
      pharmacological inhibition and receptor knockdown. Together, our results suggest
      a novel role for P2Y2 receptor in shear stress-induced cytoskeletal alterations
      in HUVECs.

PMID- 27652384
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 27652386
TI  - ?

PMID- 27652385
TI  - [Rectocele : Symptoms, diagnostics and therapy concepts from a coloproctological
      viewpoint].
AB  - Anterior rectocele is a common morphological condition in patients with
      obstructive defecation syndrome. Typical symptoms include incomplete evacuation,
      transanal or transvaginal digitation and soiling, which is frequently interpreted
      as fecal incontinence. Diagnosis of rectocele is made clinically and functional
      assessment of rectocele can be performed by dynamic imaging, e.g. by magnetic
      resonance (MR) defecography. Primary treatment should be conservative. Concerning
      surgical treatment, transanal, transperineal, transvaginal and transabdominal
      procedures are available. Evidence-based guidelines for surgical treatment are
      still lacking. The question whether rectocele is a cause or a consequence of
      obstructive defecation syndrome remains controversial. Accordingly, indications
      for surgical correction of rectocele should be considered with caution.

PMID- 27652387
TI  - Laboratory versus Farm: The Triumph of Laboratory Science in Belgian Agriculture
      at the End of the Nineteenth Century .
AB  - During the 1870s Belgium followed the path of other European countries and
      created its first public agricultural laboratories under the direction of Arthur
      Petermann, a young German agricultural scientist. Petermann had been trained in
      the well-established European stations of renowned chemists such as Wilhelm
      Henneberg and Louis Grandeau. The mission of these laboratories was to acquaint
      the local farming community with the new scientific approach to farming, which
      included the use of chemical fertilizers. The laboratory scientists hoped to
      achieve this through education, information dissemination, and regulating
      chemical fertilizers. But farmers and fertilizer traders, whose practices relied
      on age-old family tradition, commonsense, and mutuality, were not pleased with
      this interference. Therefore, the scientists had to develop strategies to
      establish their authority.

PMID- 27652388
TI  - "Selling" the Farm: New Frontier Conservation and the USDA Farm Recreation
      Policies of the 1960s.
AB  - In May 1962 leaders from a variety of federal agencies and independent
      organizations gathered to "exchange ideas about the future course of American
      conservation policy." Central to the agenda discussed were certain Kennedy
      administration agricultural conservation programs that sought to apply the
      ideology of multiple use, which formed the heart of public land conservation
      policy for private lands. Key policymakers, most notably Agriculture Secretary
      Orville Freeman, used the conference and the subsequent years to argue that
      adjusting agricultural lands to new uses that still retained an agrarian
      foundation, such as on-farm recreation, would solve multiple societal problems,
      including rural poverty, the disappearance of the small farm, agricultural
      surplus, lack of outdoor recreational space for urban and suburban Americans, and
      urban blight. This article explains how and why federal policymakers during the
      1960s attempted to transform private agricultural lands to meet these diverse,
      and at times competing, societal goals.

PMID- 27652389
TI  - Supply and Demand: The Mutual Dependency of Children's Institutions and The
      American Farmer .
AB  - The family farm played an important role in the development of a welfare system
      for dependent children in the United States. This became increasingly true in the
      second half of the nineteenth century as the population of institutionalized
      children grew alongside the desire to place those children into the homes of
      families. Farm families, which held a special place in the ideology of a self
      sufficient United States, partnered with institutions and child-placing agencies
      to house tens of thousands of dependent children. Those involved in child welfare
      believed that they could reverse the trend of dependency by placing children with
      Americans of high esteem. Farmers, for their part, could expect labor from their
      placement children in exchange for care. The availability of dependent children
      filled an important farm labor need while attempting to satisfy the goals of
      reformers.

PMID- 27652391
TI  - Civil War Nurse, Civil War Nursing: Rebecca Usher of Maine.

PMID- 27652390
TI  - The Life and Work of Dr. Beadie Eugene Conner: An African American Physician in
      Jim Crow Texas.
AB  - [[On a bright, sunny day in late May 1980, commencement exercises were underway
      at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. More than 250 physicians,
      dentists, nurses, candidates in health administration, dental hygienists, and
      medical technicians prepared to receive their certifications from the second
      oldest historically black medical school in the country. Wearing a brown
      gabardine suit, Dr. Beadie Eugene Conner prepared to be called up to the podium
      along with some former classmates of Meharry's class of 1930 to receive a plaque
      commemorating fifty years of public service. As he made his way up to the podium,
      tears began to well up in his eyes as he thought about his mother who would be so
      proud of him, his deceased wife, Willie Ruel, their daughter, Georgia, and the
      many years that had passed since he received his medical degree. The event
      contributed to the retired doctor's desire to write an autobiography. Though
      never completed, rough drafts of the manuscript's early chapters (along with
      other existing personal documents) provide an invaluable window into the
      interesting life of an important African American physician in twentieth-century
      Texas.1 The Conner family's emphasis on education started long before Beadie was
      born. The earliest relatives of Dr. Conner so far identified are William Conner
      and Rachel Sterling Conner of Blount County, in eastern Tennessee. Family records
      indicate that William was born a slave in Knox County, Tennessee, sometime in
      1814. He had already purchased his freedom by 1843 when he married Rachel
      Sterling, a woman born in 1829 into a free black family. William and Rachel lived
      on a Blount County farm through the Civil War years, raising six boys and one
      girl. Beadie Conner's father, David Alexander Conner, was the fourth oldest son,
      born in 1859. After William died in 1866, Rachel moved the family to Louisville
      (a community in Blount County not to be confused with the city in Kentucky),
      where she kept house while David and his two youngest brothers attended school.
      By the late 1870s, the family had relocated to Knoxville before breaking up and
      going their separate ways. Among David's siblings, his sister became a
      schoolteacher, two brothers served as ministers, one brother became a successful
      mortician, and his youngest brother, George Sherman Conner (destined to become a
      role model for young Beadie), started out as a teacher in Paris, Texas, before
      becoming a physician and important community leader in Waco.2 Much had transpired
      in David Alexander Conner's life by the time his twin children Beadie and
      Beatrice were born on July 8, 1902, in Miller County, Arkansas, on a farm along
      the banks of the Red River. A widower living with six children from his previous
      marriage, he had met Queen Fowler Newlin, a short, beautiful woman of French and
      Choctaw extraction while attending a Baptist convention in Hope, Arkansas, in
      1900. After a brief correspondence and courtship, the two married in 1901. Queen
      had five children from her previous marriage, thus Beadie and Beatrice became the
      youngest additions to a family already containing eleven brothers and
      sisters...]]

PMID- 27652392
TI  - Lincoln and the Marfan Syndrome: The Medical Diagnosis of a Historical Figure.

PMID- 27652382
TI  - A historical and evolutionary perspective on the biological significance of
      circulating DNA and extracellular vesicles.
AB  - The discovery of quantitative and qualitative differences of the circulating DNA
      (cirDNA) between healthy and diseased individuals inclined researchers to
      investigate these molecules as potential biomarkers for non-invasive diagnosis
      and prognosis of various pathologies. However, except for some prenatal tests,
      cirDNA analyses have not been readily translated to clinical practice due to a
      lack of knowledge regarding its composition, function, and biological and
      evolutionary origins. We believe that, to fully grasp the nature of cirDNA and
      the extracellular vesicles (EVs) and protein complexes with which it is
      associated, it is necessary to probe the early and badly neglected work that
      contributed to the discovery and development of these concepts. Accordingly, this
      review consists of a schematic summary of the major events that developed and
      integrated the concepts of heredity, genetic information, cirDNA, EVs, and
      protein complexes. CirDNA enters target cells and provokes a myriad of gene
      regulatory effects associated with the messaging functions of various natures,
      disease progression, somatic genome variation, and transgenerational inheritance.
      This challenges the traditional views on each of the former topics. All of these
      discoveries can be traced directly back to the iconic works of Darwin, Lamarck,
      and their followers. The history of cirDNA that has been revisited here is rich
      in information that should be considered in clinical practice, when designing new
      experiments, and should be very useful for generating an empirically up-to-date
      view of cirDNA and EVs. Furthermore, we hope that it will invite many flights of
      speculation and stimulate further inquiry into its biological and evolutionary
      origins.

PMID- 27652394
TI  - Samuel Preston Moore: Confederate Surgeon General.

PMID- 27652393
TI  - "I Do Not Suppose That Uncle Sam Looks at the Skin": African Americans and the
      Civil War Pension System, 1865-1934.

PMID- 27652395
TI  - Women and Temperance in Antebellum America, 1830-1860.

PMID- 27652396
TI  - The Western Sanitary Commission.

PMID- 27652397
TI  - Marse Robert and the Fevers: A Note on the General as Strategist and on Medical
      Ideas as a Factor in Civil War Decision Making.

PMID- 27652398
TI  - "We Will All Be Lost And Destroyed": Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Civil
      War.

PMID- 27652399
TI  - "To Increase the Efficiency of the Medical Department": A New Approach to U.S.
      Civil War Medicine.

PMID- 27652400
TI  - Boston's Black Brahmin: Dr. John S. Rock.

PMID- 27652402
TI  - "Happy" Marriages in Early Nineteenth-Century France.
AB  - [[marriageemotionhappinessFrancebourgeoisie ]] This article uses familial
      correspondence to examine how bourgeois families conceived of marriage in the
      early nineteenth-century France. It argues that the companionate model of
      marriage, which was gaining influence during these years, did not replace the
      earlier model of the arranged marriage but rather was integrated into it.
      Marriages continued to be arranged by families but bourgeois couples also sought
      love and companionship in marriage. Their sense of "happiness" was a very
      bourgeois kind of happiness, however, based on economic security and domestic
      peace within the constraints of familial obligations.

PMID- 27652401
TI  - Reconceiving Motherhood: Infanticide and Abortion in Colonial Mexico.
AB  - Colonial authorities prosecuted surprisingly few women for the crimes of abortion
      and infanticide in viceregal Mexico. Although criminal courts tried hundreds of
      such cases in the nineteenth century, only a handful of trials survive from
      Mexico's colonial era. This article examines criminal and inquisition records,
      jurisprudence, and medical texts to try to explain this discrepancy. The
      available evidence suggests that women in colonial Mexico did commit infanticide
      and abortion much more frequently than the surviving documentary record implies
      but that neither their peers nor courts viewed the crimes as harshly as they
      would in later periods. Women successfully concealed the crimes, the public
      declined to view these acts as criminal, and criminal courts treated them with
      leniency. Justices, members of the public, and mothers themselves privileged
      other factors, particularly fiscal concerns and the maintenance of codes of
      female honor, above a concern with the crimes of infanticide and abortion.

PMID- 27652403
TI  - "I Dream of Them Almost Every Night": Working-Class Fathers and Orphanages in
      Pittsburgh, 1878-1929.
AB  - [[fatherhoodchild careworking-class menorphanageswidowersemotion ]] This article
      reconceptualizes orphanages as child care, exploring the ways in which working
      class fathers used institutions in times of family crisis to meet their child
      care needs. By examining the white, largely widowed men who placed their children
      in the United Presbyterian Orphan's Home in Pittsburgh from the 1880s through the
      1920s, the study sheds light on working-class fatherhood, a little understood
      aspect of family history. Using rich new sources not previously available to
      scholars, the article incorporates rigorous quantitative analysis of the records
      of 590 children at the institution, providing new insight into the lives of
      working-class fathers struggling to balance their labor and parenting
      responsibilities as they used the orphanage as a strategy for family survival.

PMID- 27652404
TI  - Household Composition and the Well-Being of Rural Serbia in the Second Half of
      the Nineteenth Century.
AB  - [Serbiahousehold sizehousehold structurehousehold propertyhousehold incomeold-age
      security strategy ]] This article uses the population census of 1863 in order to
      compare relations between household size and household structure (according to
      Cambridge group typology), on one side, and the amount of household property per
      capita and household monthly income per capita, on the other. In terms of
      household size, a clear bimodal curve is visible in case of both: a steady
      decline to household size of five to seven members and undisturbed increase after
      that level up to eleven members. In terms of household structure, the amount of
      household property per capita generally declines from smaller to larger household
      structure, but the household monthly income per capita is similar among household
      classes. The old-age security strategy of peasants is the main driving force
      behind the paradox that majority of households are located within the poorest
      composition. Throughout his or her lifetime, an individual passes through several
      classes, and with the passage of time his or her well-being changes.

PMID- 27652405
TI  - The Decline of Indivisible Inheritance in Catalonia: Artisans, Sailors, and
      Merchants in Two Catalan Towns (1780-1860).
AB  - [[succession practicesindivisible inheritancemarriage
      contractstestamentsemigrationCatalonia ]] This article studies the decline of the
      traditional primogeniture-based Catalan inheritance system. The analysis of
      marriage contracts and testaments from two towns and their hinterland between
      1780 and 1860 shows the variation in the succession practices among different
      sociooccupational groups. The study reveals that the decline of the indivisible
      inheritance started in the towns, whose inhabitants were mainly artisans,
      merchants, or sailors, a lot earlier than in the rural world. These
      transformations of traditional succession practices were fuelled by structural
      changes of the crafts and by the increasing emigration to America.

PMID- 27652406
TI  - "Glittering Mockery": Twentieth-Century Leap Year Marriage Proposals.
AB  - [[ courtshippostcardadvicegenderhumorpower ]] This article considers the
      unconventional and chimerical custom of women proposing to men during a leap
      year. Capturing the imagination of Americans from 1904 into the 1960s, shame and
      ridicule made it difficult for women to take advantage of the opportunity to
      propose to men. Critics held that women who asked men to marry them were
      desperate, aggressive, and unfeminine. Considering postcards, advertisements, and
      newspaper columns, this article concludes that the leap year tradition promised
      real power for courting women but ultimately delivered false empowerment and
      reinforced traditional courtship practices.

PMID- 27652407
TI  - Stem Families, Joint Families, and the European Pattern: What Kind of a
      Reconsideration Do We Need?
AB  - [[family systemsliving arrangementsdemographic variationstem familyjoint
      familyelderly ]] This article makes a new contribution to the discussion of
      historical European family forms. Its starting points are two recent
      contributions by Steven Ruggles in which the author discussed the historical
      appearances of stem and joint families across the globe. Drawing on most recent
      developments in census microdata infrastructure from historical Eastern, Central,
      and Southeastern Europe, the authors pinpoint limitations pertaining to the usage
      of IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series) and NAPP (North Atlantic
      Population Project) collections for the investigation of European family systems.
      Using newly acquired materials and refined conceptual tools, they enhance the
      knowledge about the spatiotemporal distribution of stem- and joint-family
      arrangements in a broader European context. As the frequency of joint families in
      the regions under study cannot be fully accounted for by referring to measures of
      economic conditions and demographic structures alone, the authors speculate about
      some additional factors which may explain the observed differences in joint
      family coresidence across historic Eastern Europe.

PMID- 27652408
TI  - Female Shame, Male Honor: The Chastity Code in Juan Luis Vives' De institutione
      feminae Christianae.
AB  - [[honor culturefemale chastityfemale seclusiongender orderRenaissanceJuan Luis
      Vives ]] In the light of some key concepts from the chastity codes described by
      anthropological research for honor societies in the Mediterranean region and the
      Middle East, this article examines the chastity code for women that the Spanish
      Renaissance humanist Juan Luis Vives (1492/3-1540) advocated in his work De
      institutione feminae Christianae (1524/1538). Aspects, such as gender order,
      restrictions on women's physical freedom of movement, regulations and
      instructions regarding women's clothing, and various rules for women's outward
      conduct, are studied. It can be established that Vives advocated a very
      traditional, patriarchal view of women, exhorting very strict gender segregation
      and female seclusion. He prescribed very tight restrictions on women's freedom,
      with a view to controlling female sexuality, an aspect of Vives that previous
      research has not paid full attention to.

PMID- 27652409
TI  - That Fierce Edge: Sibling Conflict and Politics in Georgian England.
AB  - [[siblingsbrotherssistersEnglandbirth ordermarital status ]] Using a combination
      of brief case studies and statistical analysis of probate disputes in eighteenth
      century England, this article argues for an expanded interpretation of Georgian
      family life-an interpretation that understands the tugs and pulls of siblinghood.
      In the eighteenth century, emerging ideas about social equality based on
      idealized siblinghood tangled with engrained family hierarchies to produce messy,
      constantly shifting, sibling politics. Confronting competing social expectations
      that classified them as equals yet ranked them hierarchically by gender, birth
      order, and marital status, Georgian sisters and brothers fiercely wrestled over
      material and emotional investments from their parents and from one another.
      Sibling conflict was most common when reality sharply diverged from expectations
      of equality, such as between older sisters and younger brothers or between men
      and their brothers' widows.

PMID- 27652410
TI  - Elderly, Family, and Age Support in Rural Galicia at the End of the Ancien
      Regime.
AB  - [elderlyold agefamily and age supportsocial and family reproduction ]] The
      attempt to ascertain the form and nature of familial age support in the past or,
      what comes to the same thing, the real degree of dependence or independence of
      the elderly vis-a-vis their families, relatives, and close ones, has led to a
      huge controversy among historians. But, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth
      centuries in rural areas otherwise as disparate as those of Galicia, inland
      Spain, Navarre, south Italy, preindustrial England or rural Belgium, the social,
      and economic functions in relation to age support within the household showed
      themselves capable of adapting to suit the particular needs of the different type
      of families prevailing in each one. This adaptation capacity in turn bore a close
      relationship to the greater or lesser role played by elderly household heads in
      the social and familial reproduction processes occurring in their home areas.

PMID- 27652411
TI  - Hiring Help for the Home: Household Services in the Twentieth Century.
AB  - [outsourcinghousehold laborcommodificationservicespaid labor ]] The division
      between home and market has long been a key dimension of family life and shifts
      across the home/market boundary are important for both gender inequality and the
      family. Two shifts across this boundary occurred in the twentieth century:
      women's movement into paid labor and a decline in household labor. One stylized
      conception suggests that as women moved into paid labor, they used their new
      resources to purchase replacements. This article takes up this question, asking
      whether women's movement into market labor led to the commodification of the
      home. It does so by combining evidence from primary and secondary sources about
      women's reliance on services to offer a picture of how services have been used.
      The article argues that household labor is infused with emotional and relational
      content which has made it difficult to replace.

PMID- 27652412
TI  - French Settlers, Familial Suffrage, and Citizenship in 1920s Tunisia.
AB  - [[FranceTunisiacitizenshipsettler colonialismgenderpronatalism ]] After the First
      World War, many politicians sought, and ultimately failed, to replace universal
      suffrage with familial suffrage in French elections. This article analyzes how
      this new effort to think of French citizens in terms of gender and familial
      identities extended to the empire with the 1922 introduction of familial suffrage
      in Tunisia. This reform redefined the relationship between French settlers and
      their government. It also shows that Tunisia, which has thus far been absent from
      the developing literature on settler citizenship in the empire, represents a
      particularly compelling case study of the intersection of gender and familial
      status with definitions of citizenship.

PMID- 27652413
TI  - Surnames and Gender in Japan: Women's Challenges in Seeking Own Identity.
AB  - [[Japansurnamefamilygendermarriagelaw ]] Strongly influenced by the previous
      Meiji Civil Code that shaped people's perceptions about the traditional Japanese
      family, postwar Japanese society has not fully guaranteed gender equality, and
      whether to legally allow the dual-surname system is one of the major legal and
      political debates in Japanese society. To understand the tension between the
      traditional Japanese family emphasized in the previous Meiji Civil Code and
      gender equality emphasized in the current Japanese law, this study explored the
      surname system in Japan by reviewing historical trends, recent surveys, political
      debates, and comparing with other nations. This study illustrated that the
      surname was not attached to the family lineage and membership as today in the
      past, and symbolic significance of the surname has changed through the course of
      Japanese history.

PMID- 27652414
TI  - Information, Education, and Indoctrination: The Federation of American Scientists
      and Public Communication Strategies in the Atomic Age.
AB  - [[ KEYWORDS: atomic energy, public relations, indoctrination, education,
      scientists' movement, social science]] Immediately following World War II, atomic
      scientists and their colleagues in other disciplines formed the Federation of
      American Scientists (FAS) and dedicated themselves to increasing public knowledge
      about atomic energy and the need for international control. FAS scientists began
      their campaign with faith in the role a well-informed public could play in a
      democracy. Recognizing their inexperience in public relations, scientists sought
      the assistance of social scientists and PR experts to help them communicate their
      message effectively. Confronting in their advisors' recommendations a radically
      different conception of how to reach the public, FAS scientists faced a choice:
      relinquish their cherished self-image as objective experts and embrace techniques
      of indoctrination, or maintain their focus on informing or educating the public.
      Examining the Federation's dilemma sheds new light upon the changing motivations
      and public communication strategies of scientists in post-World War II America.

PMID- 27652415
TI  - Endangered Science: The Regulation of Research by the U.S. Marine Mammal
      Protection and Endangered Species Acts.
AB  - [[ KEYWORDS: environmental regulation, wildlife conservation, research freedom,
      United States, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, marine
      mammalogy, ornithology, zoology, ecology]] The Marine Mammal Protection Act and
      the Endangered Species Act have been cornerstones of federal wildlife
      conservation policy in the United States since their enactment in the early
      1970s. These laws prohibited the taking of members of protected populations
      without a permit, where "taking" was defined so broadly as to include harassment
      or disturbance, as well as capture or killing. Because most forms of biological
      research on protected species involved some sort of taking, and because such
      research was deemed vital to the achievement of conservation goals and the
      advancement of human knowledge, the laws established procedures under which
      proposed scientific takes could be permitted after review by federal regulators,
      scientists, the public, and, in some cases, the courts. Although there was
      relatively little controversy over the need for or nature of these permit
      procedures during the debates leading up to the enactment of the laws, they
      became the source of concern on the part of many zoologists, biologists, and
      ecologists as soon as federal agencies began to implement them. From these
      scientists' perspective, certain forms of environmental regulation undermined
      their professional autonomy and threatened to hamper the production of the very
      knowledge necessary for effective environmental protection. Their efforts to
      block, weaken, or work around such regulation brought them into conflict with
      environmental and animal rights activists, regulators, and other members of the
      scientific community and resonated with a broader backlash against environmental
      regulation.

PMID- 27652416
TI  - A Rediscovered Friendship in the Republic of Letters: The Unpublished
      Correspondence of Arcangela Tarabotti and Ismael Boulliau.
AB  - The correspondence between the radical Venetian pro-female polemicist and nun
      Arcangela Tarabotti (1604-52) and the Copernican French astronomer Ismael
      Boulliau (1605-94) - here published for the first time - shows how one of
      Tarabotti's most controversial works made it to press. She had long and
      unsuccessfully sought in Italy and in France to print the work, which was,
      puzzlingly, published two years after her death in Holland. It was subsequently
      placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. Charting the explosive work's journey to
      France and its later arrival and reception in Holland, the Tarabotti-Boulliau
      correspondence provides a case study in the circulation of unorthodox ideas in
      seventeenth-century Europe. By showing Tarabotti's firm inscription in the well
      connected scientist's intellectual circle, the letter exchange furthermore
      contributes to our expanding notions of women's participation in the Republic of
      Letters, while also suggesting a confluence of radical scientific and social
      views.

PMID- 27652417
TI  - The Journal of James Wilson: An Insight into Life in North East Scotland Toward
      the End of the Nineteenth Century .
AB  - In the nineteenth century many farmers kept a diary of the farming year to record
      such features as the weather, crop yields, animal husbandry, and prices. Research
      into church and people in the parishes of Fordyce and Portsoy in North East
      Scotland led to the discovery of a four-volume journal kept by James Wilson, a
      farmer in the Banffshire Parish of Deskford between 1879 and 1892. This journal
      provides a detailed picture of many aspects of rural life including farming,
      family, neighbors, religion, friends, and entertainment. Moreover, Wilson wrote
      poetry and kept a record of his lectures given to the local Mutual Improvement
      Associations. Taken together, the journal, poems, and lectures provide a
      significant body of literature giving insights into rural society. The journal
      also covers an important period in farming at the nexus between a time of "high
      farming" and the agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century.

PMID- 27652418
TI  - Dubious Heritage: Tobacco, History, and the Perils of Remembering the Rural Past
      .
AB  - In 1994 the Virginia legislature created a vehicle license plate to memorialize
      the state's long history of tobacco agriculture. Other states have likewise
      created plates to allow drivers to voice support for farmers. Like Virginia's
      "Tobacco Heritage" plate, many use traditional imagery and direct appeals to the
      history of agriculture. Given the United States' automobile culture, the plates
      are prominent, if small, works of public history that offer official sanction to
      a particular view of agriculture's past. In creating the license plate, the
      Virginia legislature valorized a particular telling of tobacco's past and is best
      understood as part of a much larger effort to employ history to deflect criticism
      of the tobacco industry. This effort, like the license plate, relied on
      simplified imagery that elided the complex history of tobacco in Virginia

PMID- 27652420
TI  - "It was a Long Way from Perfect, but it was Working": The Canning and Home
      Production Initiatives in Greene County, Georgia, 1940-1942 .
AB  - During the early 1940s Greene County, Georgia's, Unified Farm Program, a model
      undertaking coordinating the efforts of federal, state, and local agencies,
      attracted national attention, largely through the work of sociologist Arthur
      Raper. At the core of the program was the effort to raise the standard of living
      for the county's rural poor through increasing home-farm production and improving
      diet. The initiative entailed active intervention by Farm Security Administration
      farm and home supervisors and illustrates the tension between the desire to
      promote independence among poor farmers and the impulse to closely supervise and
      monitor them. This treatment contributes to the discussion of modernism during
      the late rural New Deal.

PMID- 27652419
TI  - The Role of Blacks in Establishing Cattle Ranching in Louisiana in the Eighteenth
      Century .
AB  - A longstanding assumption posits that white ranchers from the French Caribbean
      colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, provided the knowledge to establish the
      first cattle ranches in Louisiana in the mid-eighteenth century, that blacks
      merely provided the labor, and that the herding ecology involved was the same as
      that of the Acadian ranchers who followed. Reconstruction of the locations of the
      first major ranches and the backgrounds of their owners and slaves, however,
      reveals that none of them came to Louisiana from Saint-Domingue and that the
      ranches occupied the western margin of the Atchafalaya basin, an environment
      quite different than the prairies of southwestern Louisiana later inhabited by
      Acadian ranchers. While the sources cannot yield a complete account of the
      process through which cattle ranching became established, they do suggest that
      none of the white ranchers brought relevant experience from the Caribbean or
      France, that some of the blacks might have brought such experience from Africa,
      and that people of African, European, native, and mixed origins all contributed
      knowledge and creativity, as well as labor, in founding a distinctive herding
      ecology that differed substantially from that of the subsequent Acadian ranches

PMID- 27652421
TI  - Collections-Based Research at Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
AB  - [[ KEYWORDS: Alden Holmes Miller, natural history, collections, museum,
      ornithology, evolution, fieldwork, Berkeley, collections-based research, Museum
      of Vertebrate Zoology ]] Recognizing natural history collections as dynamic
      scientific tools that enable unique forms of comparative analysis, theorizing,
      and questioning offers a new perspective on the history of the life sciences in
      the twentieth century that emphasizes the important role that collections played
      in the transformation of biology. To build an understanding of "collections-based
      research," this paper focuses on the career of Alden Holmes Miller, who led the
      Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley through
      significant institutional, disciplinary, and technological changes (1940-1965).
      This paper examines how Miller's efforts as researcher, administrator, and
      teacher enabled him to foster collections-based research. Miller's own research
      into speciation and reproductive physiology are examples of collectionsbased
      work, incorporating concepts, theories, practices, and tools from the laboratory,
      museum, and field.

PMID- 27652422
TI  - Technoscience and politics in Korea in the 1970s: "Scientification of All People
      Movement" and the "Saemaul Technical Service Corps".

PMID- 27652423
TI  - Yokkaichi asthma and building the system of certification of pollution-related
      patients in the 1960s.

PMID- 27652425
TI  - Update on pre-exposure prophylaxis.

PMID- 27652424
TI  - Report from the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

PMID- 27652426
TI  - Searching for a cure.

PMID- 27652427
TI  - TB and advanced HIV: start ART early.

PMID- 27652428
TI  - Investigational antiretrovirals--the pipeline is not dry.

PMID- 27652429
TI  - New Raltegravir studies disappoint.

PMID- 27652430
TI  - New HCV treatment paradigms--now also for patients with HIV.

PMID- 27652431
TI  - PIs may lead to premature delivery.

PMID- 27652432
TI  - Inflammation and HIV--a complex tango.

PMID- 27652433
TI  - Drug watch.  Once-daily Nevirapine approved by FDA.

PMID- 27652434
TI  - Race and response to HIV treatment.

PMID- 27652435
TI  - Afterbirth considerations.

PMID- 27652436
TI  - The renaissance of postnatal care?.

PMID- 27652437
TI  - Detecting fetal compromise during active labour and managing neonatal after
      effects.
AB  - Evaluating fetal wellbeing during the intrapartum period to detect fetal
      compromise and hypoxia is a topic of considerable importance to midwives. In part
      this is because the events during this time can have profound significance for
      the physical and emotional wellbeing of all those involved, including the infant,
      mother and midwife. This article explores the ways midwives can detect fetal
      compromise, what they can do to limit the effects of cerebral hypoxic-ischaemia,
      and reviews neonatal treatments that,can optimise infant neurological outcome.

PMID- 27652438
TI  - Concealed pregnancy and newborn abandonment: a contemporary 21st century issue
      Part 2.
AB  - This second of a two-part article explores the consequences of concealed
      pregnancy and the association with newborn abandonment, with reference to recent
      cases of public interest. Concealed pregnancy is a complex process which involves
      hiding a pregnancy, and can lead to tragic consequences, such as maternal or
      neonatal morbidity or mortality (Murphy Tighe and Lalor 2016; Chen et al
      2007).The psychosocial issues involved will also be explored and points for
      midwifery practice are presented and considered (Murphy Tighe and Lalor 2016).

PMID- 27652439
TI  - [Not Available].
AB  - Postnatal care differs around the world and, in many Western countries, the
      debate involves optimum hospital stay after birth and the required visits
      afterwards, if any. Whilst UK postnatal care is at breaking point and struggling,
      in the Netherlands, they think they have had the answer to good postnatal care
      for centuries: the 'Kraamverzorgster' - or specialised maternity care assistant.
      Providing family-centred care in the woman's home, between 24-49 hours, divided
      into several hours per day in the first 10 days postpartum, the kraamverzorgster
      is in the unique position of making a difference for mothers and babies and
      picking up on any pathology that may arise early on. Whilst kraamzorg seems like
      an obvious answer to improve postnatal care, there is a surprising lack of
      evidence on the benefits that kraamzorg can offer. Nevertheless the Dutch are
      convinced, and see kraamzorg as essential for every mother and baby.

PMID- 27652441
TI  - Tell me your story: recovering from a difficult birth.
AB  - The authors discuss their experience of running after birth workshops as an
      intervention for women struggling to come to terms with a difficult birth
      experience. Midwives can use this approach in their practice with women in the
      postnatal period and also when preparing for a subsequent birth or even during a
      labour that follows a challenging experience. This article explores the value of
      supporting women to tell their story and how to do that with suggestions to build
      on listening skills. It also offers suggestions for self care, so that midwives
      can be well resourced for emotional support.

PMID- 27652440
TI  - Breaking taboos about bodily fluids: how midwives can help.
AB  - Woman-centred maternity care involves empowering the mother at a time when she
      may feel physically vulnerable. Bodily fluids can create inhibitions during
      pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. This article explores the background
      to such stigma and suggests ways midwives might address these issues to create
      confidence and promote normality.

PMID- 27652442
TI  - Postnatal care from an international perspective.
AB  - The postnatal period, defined as beginning with birth and ending after six weeks,
      is a time of major adaptation at all levels physically, emotionally, socially and
      psychologically. In the United Kingdom (UK), we put a lot of emphasis on birth
      preparation and how to look after yourself optimally before the birth, but once
      the new baby has arrived there is little support or emphasis on self-care. The
      focus after childbirth is primarily on the baby, with not much thought given to
      the mother, who is usually discharged from midwifery care on day 10, and whose
      partner is often back at work after a week or two. In other cultures there is
      much more emphasis on caring for new mothers, and this article will explore some
      of the different attitudes and approaches to postnatal care around the world,
      exploring the postnatal period from an international perspective.

PMID- 27652443
TI  - Understanding eating disorders in midwifery practice.
AB  - Eating disorders (ED) are characterised as a severe disturbance in an
      individual's eating behaviours and are one of the most misdiagnosed and
      overlooked mental health conditions in the United Kingdom. Six- eight per cent of
      the general population are reported to be affected by an ED, although the number
      is rising. There are two main diagnostic categories of ED: anorexia nervosa and
      bulimia nervosa, though those that do not meet the specific criteria are
      categorised as having an'eating disorder not otherwise specified' (Dooner 2015).
      Eating disorders predominantly present in women of childbearing age and, although
      many women experience alleviation of their symptoms during pregnancy, they are at
      significant risk of relapse in the postpartum period. This article aims to
      explore the impact that an eating disorder has on the woman and her family, with
      a focus on the postnatal period, as well as the challenges that midwives may face
      in identifying and caring for women with the condition.

PMID- 27652444
TI  - Induction of labour for suspected fetal macrosomia, Boulvain et al (2016).

PMID- 27652445
TI  - Reflections on the review.

PMID- 27652446
TI  - Questioning induction of labour in older women Part 1.
AB  - In this column, Sara Wickham takes a sideways look at issues relevant to
      midwives, students, women and families, inviting us to sit down with a cup of tea
      and ponder what we think we know. There is a growing trend towards recommending
      induction of labour in older women. This is the first part of a two-part article
      in which Sara asks whether this recommendation is supported by the available
      evidence and asks us to consider how such policies are affecting women.

PMID- 27652447
TI  - Midwifery Unit Network launch.

PMID- 27652448
TI  - Ti3+ Self-Doped Blue TiO2(B) Single-Crystalline Nanorods for Efficient Solar
      Driven Photocatalytic Performance.
AB  - Ti3+ self-doped blue TiO2(B) single-crystalline nanorods (b-TR) are fabricated
      via a simple sol-gelation method, cooperated with hydro-thermal treatment and
      subsequent in situ treatment method, and afterward annealed at 350  degrees C in
      Ar. The structures are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis),
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
      The prepared b-TR with narrow band gap possesses single-crystalline TiO2(B)
      phase, Ti3+ self-doping, and one-dimensional (1D) rodlike nanostructure. In
      addition, the improved photocatalytic performance is studied by decomposition of
      Rhodamine B (RhB) and hydrogen evolution. The degradation rate of RhB by Ti3+
      self-doped blue TiO2(B) single-crystalline nanorods is ~6.9- and 2.1-times higher
      compared with the rates of titanium dioxide nanoparticles and pristine TiO2(B)
      nanorods under visible light illumination, respectively. The hydrogen evolution
      rate of b-TR is 26.6 times higher compared with that of titanium dioxide
      nanoparticles under AM 1.5 irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic performances
      arise from the synergetic action of the special TiO2(B) phase, Ti3+ self-doping,
      and the 1D rod-shaped single-crystalline nanostructure, favoring the visible
      light utilization and the separation and transportation of photogenerated charge
      carriers.

PMID- 27652449
TI  - Haptic Neurorehabilitation and Virtual Reality for Upper Limb Paralysis: A
      Review.
AB  - Motor and sensory loss or dysfunction affects the quality of life for thousands
      of individuals daily. The upper limb, and especially the hand, are important for
      a person's ability to complete activities of daily living. Traditional therapy
      methods focus on motor recovery, but future methods should include sensory
      recovery and should promote the use of the affected limb(s) at home. In this
      review, we highlight the current state-of-art robotic devices for the upper limb,
      and we discuss benefits of including haptic feedback and virtual reality
      environments during neurorehabilitation. Robotic devices, such as end-effector
      devices, grounded and ungrounded exoskeletons, have been developed to assist with
      various functions including individual finger, whole hand, and shoulder
      movements. Many robots highlighted in this paper are inexpensive and are small
      enough to be in a patient's home, or allow for telerehabilitation. Virtual
      reality creates safe environments for patients to practice motor movements and
      interactive games improve enjoyment of therapy. Haptic feedback creates more
      immersive virtual reality, and contributes to the recovery of sensory function.
      Physiological studies conducted after brain trauma and with robotic devices
      contribute to the understanding of brain plasticity, and illustrate the efficacy
      of these technologies. We conclude by addressing the future direction of
      neurorehabilitation research. 

PMID- 27652450
TI  - Neural Correlates of Cognitive Modulation of Pain Perception in the Human
      Brainstem and Cervical Spinal Cord using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A
      Review.
AB  - Pain is a multifaceted and malleable sensory experience that is processed at all
      levels of the central nervous system (CNS). The experience of pain can vary
      widely across a healthy population and even within an individual and can be
      influenced by cognitive factors such as attention, expectation, suggestion, and
      attitudes. The neurophysiological role of attention in cognitive modulation of
      pain is the focus for the work presented in this review. Behavioral studies show
      that pain perception was reduced under cognitive loads that placed a continuous
      demand on executive functions such as working memory. Neuroimaging,
      pharmacological studies, and electrophysiological studies provide evidence that
      the underpinnings of cognitive modulation of pain involve a network of descending
      modulation of pain among cortical and brainstem structures. However, the role and
      relationship of subcortical regions in the brainstem and spinal cord during
      cognitive modulation of pain are not well understood. This review examines the
      neurophysiology of pain, processing in the CNS, and how cognitive factors such as
      attention can modulate nociceptive signaling and alter the perception of pain,
      especially at the subcortical level. 

PMID- 27652451
TI  - Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Human Brainstem and Cervical Spinal
      Cord during Cognitive Modulation of Pain.
AB  - Pain is a complex sensory experience, and cognitive factors such as attention can
      influence its perception. Modulation of pain involves a network of subcortical
      structures; however, the role and relationship of these regions in cognitive
      modulation of pain are not well understood. The aims of this research were to
      evaluate the behavioral effect of cognitive modulation of pain and investigate
      the neural correlates of this mechanism in the brainstem and cervical spinal cord
      (SC), using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and structural equation
      modeling (SEM). We applied noxious thermal stimulation on the C6 dermatome to 12
      healthy female participants while they performed the n-Back task. Our findings
      demonstrate a significant attenuation in pain perception across the group as a
      result of the task, along with high intersubject variability in the degree of
      modulation. Using fMRI, our studies characterize neural responses in subcortical
      regions that are involved in the modulation of pain. SEM analysis reveals
      connectivity between the brainstem and SC at the group and individual levels,
      depending on cognitive load and degree of pain modulation, respectively. All
      together, our research demonstrates the behavioral effect of cognitive modulation
      on pain and provides insight into the subcortical neural response to the process.

PMID- 27652452
TI  - Opportunities and Challenges of 7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review.
AB  - The desire to achieve clinical ultra-high magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      systems stems from the fact that higher field strength leads to higher signal-to
      noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and spatial resolution. During
      last few years 7T MRI systems have become a quasi standard for ultra-high field
      MRI (UhFMRI) systems. This review presents a detailed account of opportunities
      and challenges associated with a clinical 7T MRI system for cranial and
      extracranial imaging. As with all of the previous transitions to higher field
      strengths, the switch from high to UhFMRI is not easy. The engineering and
      scientific community have to overcome challenges like magnetic field
      inhomogeneity, patient safety and comfort issues, and cost and related problems
      in order to achieve a clinically viable UhFMRI system. In addition, a large
      number of clinical studies are still required to show the improvements in quality
      of diagnostics that would come with 7T MRI, in order to bring such a research
      tool to the clinic. 

PMID- 27652453
TI  - Hydrocephalus and Ventriculoperitoneal Shunts: Modes of Failure and Opportunities
      for Improvement.
AB  - Between 0.5 and 4 of every 1000 children are born with hydrocephalus.
      Hydrocephalus is an over-accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the
      ventricles of the brain, which can affect cognitive function, vision, appetite,
      and cranial nerve function. Left untreated, hydrocephalus can result in death.
      The current treatment for hydrocephalus uses ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts
      with valves to redirect CSF from the ventricles into the peritoneum. Shunt
      technology is limited by a number of complications, which include infection after
      implantation, shunt obstruction due to clot formation or catheter obstruction by
      scar tissue or choroid plexus, disconnection and tubing migration, and
      overdrainage or underdrainage of CSF due to valve malfunction. While
      modifications to surgical procedures and shunt design have been introduced, only
      modest improvements in outcomes have been observed. Here we provide an overview
      of hydrocephalus, VP shunts, and their modes of failure, and we identify numerous
      areas of opportunity for biomedical engineers and physicians to collaborate to
      improve the performance of VP shunts. 

PMID- 27652454
TI  - Electrophysiological Cardiac Modeling: A Review.
AB  - Cardiac electrophysiological modeling in conjunction with experimental and
      clinical findings has contributed to better understanding of electrophysiological
      phenomena in various species. As our knowledge on underlying electrical,
      mechanical, and chemical processes has improved over time, mathematical models of
      the cardiac electrophysiology have become more realistic and detailed. These
      models have provided a testbed for various hypotheses and conditions that may not
      be easy to implement experimentally. In addition to the limitations in
      experimentally validating various scenarios implemented by the models, one of the
      major obstacles for these models is computational complexity. However, the ever
      increasing computational power of supercomputers facilitates the clinical
      application of cardiac electrophysiological models. The potential clinical
      applications include testing and predicting effects of pharmaceutical agents and
      performing patient-specific ablation and defibrillation. A review of studies
      involving these models and their major findings are provided. 

PMID- 27652457
TI  - Vision for the future.
AB  - What is a personal professional development profile? If you don't yet know, you
      soon will. Last week, the United Kingdom Central Council received a report on the
      progress of its anxiously- awaited Post-registration Education and Practice
      Project (PREPP). In January of this year the Council launched its discussion
      paper on the Project's proposals which affect every single registered nurse in
      the UK.

PMID- 27652459
TI  - Neonatal screening leads to concern.
AB  - Nurse leaders have expressed their concern over reports that extensive HIV
      screening programmes of neonates are underway in Scotland and at least two of the
      Thames regions. At last week's Council meeting of the RCN, Council member Stephen
      Wright said that in Scotland particularly, no public information appeared to be
      available.

PMID- 27652460
TI  - Task force to tackle 'enormous frustration'.
AB  - Royal College of Nursing Council members approved the launch of a task force last
      week with the aim of ending the stalemate for enrolled nurses. Describing the
      'enormous frustration' of enrolled nurses, General Secretary Christine Hancock
      said: 'They need to flourish either to first level registration or in their
      existing enrolled nurse posts but not left to stagnate, undeveloped and treated
      as second class nurses.'

PMID- 27652456
TI  - Raf-kinase inhibitor GW5074 shows antibacterial activity against methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus and potentiates the activity of gentamicin.
AB  - AIM: Increasing antimicrobial resistance has compromised the effectiveness of
      many antibiotics, including those used to treat staphylococcal infections like
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The development of combination
      therapies, where antimicrobial agents are used with compounds that inhibit
      resistance pathways is a promising strategy. Results/methodology: The Raf kinase
      inhibitor GW5074 exhibited selective in vitro activity against Gram-positive
      bacteria, including clinical isolates of S. aureus with a minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) of 2-8 ug/ml. GW5074 was effective in vivo in the Galleria
      mellonella infection model. The compound showed synergy with gentamicin by
      lowering MIC by fourfold, compared with gentamicin MIC alone. CONCLUSION: This
      work demonstrates the antimicrobial properties of GW5074 and supports further
      investigation of the kinase inhibitors as antibiotic adjuvants.

PMID- 27652461
TI  - Unions demand above-inflation rises.
AB  - Nurses' unions last week demanded above-inflation pay rises for all staff and
      condemned local pay deals as 'blind alleys' in their evidence for next year's
      settlement.

PMID- 27652463
TI  - Clarke looks forward to opt outs for all units.
AB  - Nurses' hopes of blocking hospital opt outs suffered a serious blow last week
      when Health Secretary Kenneth Clarke declared that all eligible hospitals should
      become Trusts.

PMID- 27652464
TI  - Nurses given power to veto patient discharges.
AB  - Community nurses can now veto patient discharges from mental health units if they
      feel community services cannot support them, new Government instructions have
      decreed.

PMID- 27652465
TI  - ?

PMID- 27652466
TI  - 'Steamrollering' charge over RMI computerisation.
AB  - The Government's 'steamroller' decision to extend hospital computerisation is
      cutting nurses' caring time and lowering care quality, community health councils
      have warned.

PMID- 27652468
TI  - RCN issues call for a new political alliance.
AB  - Royal College of Nursing General Secretary Christine Hancock has issued a call
      for a new political alliance between health professionals and their patients.

PMID- 27652469
TI  - Health research 'lacks statutory controls'.
AB  - The lack of statutory mechanisms to control health research in the United Kingdom
      is 'pathetic', delegates at the first national conference on nursing ethics heard
      recently.

PMID- 27652455
TI  - The Evolution of Neuroprosthetic Interfaces.
AB  - The ideal neuroprosthetic interface permits high-quality neural recording and
      stimulation of the nervous system while reliably providing clinical benefits over
      chronic periods. Although current technologies have made notable strides in this
      direction, significant improvements must be made to better achieve these design
      goals and satisfy clinical needs. This article provides an overview of the state
      of neuroprosthetic interfaces, starting with the design and placement of these
      interfaces before exploring the stimulation and recording platforms yielded from
      contemporary research. Finally, we outline emerging research trends in an effort
      to explore the potential next generation of neuroprosthetic interfaces. 

PMID- 27652470
TI  - ?
AB  - Creative process: Artist Marilyn Rogers pictured with one of the exhibits at the
      Art of Birth exhibition, which runs until September 29 at Brixton Art Gallery.
      Marilyn says pregnancy made her work more colourful and meaningful'.

PMID- 27652471
TI  - Third generation oral cephalosporin launched.
AB  - The first oral third generation cephalosporin is now available in the United
      Kingdom and a new' antibiotic, developed for the treatment of respiratory
      infections, should be on the market early next year.

PMID- 27652473
TI  - Erythropoietin in multiple myeloma.
AB  - Erythropoietin might be useful in the treatment of patients with severe anaemia
      resulting from renal impairment associated with multiple myeloma.

PMID- 27652474
TI  - Gene manipulation success reported.
AB  - For the first time foreign genes have been inserted into the human body.

PMID- 27652475
TI  - New hepatitis virus officially confirmed.
AB  - A new type of hepatitis virus, hepatitis E, has been officially confirmed by the
      Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

PMID- 27652476
TI  - Practising to win.
AB  - Professor Jenifer Wilson-Barnett, head of department at King's College,
      University of London, proposed the motion, which read: 'This House believes that
      higher education is the route to nursing excellence.'

PMID- 27652477
TI  - The winning nursesHundreds of Britain's leading nurses gathered for the Nursing
      Standard/BUPA Nursing Nurse 90 Awards, but the stars of the evening were the four
      award winners, as Jackie O'Byrne reports.
AB  - Many of those who gathered at the prestigious Nurse 90 Awards dinner in London
      last week were well-known figures whose faces are familiar to most of the
      profession. But the real stars were four nurses who have been working in relative
      obscurity, quietly raising the standard of care their patients receive.

PMID- 27652478
TI  - Another 'Catch 22' conversion hitch.
AB  - In response to the letter: 'Desperate attempt to Convert to RGN' (Nursing
      Standard August 29-September 4), I can sympathise with D A Hamilton's
      frustrations, bur from a different viewpoint.

PMID- 27652479
TI  - Trusts require careful scrutiny.
AB  - According to John Naish in his article 'Parcels in the air?' (Nursing Standard
      August 29), the applications produced by the 66 different National Health Service
      Trust promoters have a similarity to holiday brochures because of their so-called
      glossy and best-of-everything approach.

PMID- 27652480
TI  - Surprise at over 75s referral rate.
AB  - I read with interest the letter from a practice SEN (Assessing the Over 75s,
      Nursing Standard, September 12).

PMID- 27652482
TI  - Fiction file.

PMID- 27652481
TI  - Information exchange.
AB  - I am currently collating information on positive monitoring systems developed for
      use in the field of community nursing.

PMID- 27652483
TI  - Answers to last week's crossword.
AB  - Across: 1 Feverish, 5 Yaws, 8 Clinical, 9 Scar, 11 Convulsion, 14 Rapier, 15
      Stress, 17 Salmonella, 20 Impi, 21 Shin-bone, 22, Goya, 23 Ulcerate.

PMID- 27652484
TI  - Leading the way.
AB  - Four hundred nurses gathered at Wembley Conference Centre this month to share
      their experience of working to implement the 'Strategy for nursing'.

PMID- 27652485
TI  - Presidential elections.
AB  - RCN Deputy President Professor June Clark has been elected unopposed as President
      of the Royal College of Nursing. She will take up office at the Annual General
      Meeting in November, succeeding Maude Storey who retires after a second two year
      term.

PMID- 27652486
TI  - Meet the primary health care team.
AB  - Mark Jones has been a RCN Primary Health Care Adviser for the past 18 months.

PMID- 27652487
TI  - At your service.

PMID- 27652488
TI  - The latest news and views from home and abroad.

PMID- 27652490
TI  - Conference special.
AB  - This November sees a major conference for students of mental handicap nursing.
      The RCN Association of Nursing Students and Tradimus magazine are offering a free
      funded place for the conference in a special prize draw.

PMID- 27652492
TI  - Discovery of 3alpha,7alpha,11beta-Trihydroxy-6alpha-ethyl-5beta-cholan-24-oic
      Acid (TC-100), a Novel Bile Acid as Potent and Highly Selective FXR Agonist for
      Enterohepatic Disorders.
AB  - As a continuation of previous efforts in mapping functional hot spots on the bile
      acid scaffold, we here demonstrate that the introduction of a hydroxy group at
      the C11beta position affords high selectivity for FXR. In particular, the
      synthesis and FXR/TGR5 activity of novel bile acids bearing different
      hydroxylation patterns at the C ring are reported and discussed from a structure
      activity standpoint. The results obtained led us to discover the first bile acid
      derivative endowed with high potency and selectivity at the FXR receptor,
      3alpha,7alpha,11beta-trihydroxy-6alpha-ethyl-5beta-cholan-24-oic acid (TC-100, 7)
      which also shows a remarkable physicochemical and pharmacological profile.
      Compound 7 combines the excellent physicochemical properties of hydrophilic bile
      acids such as ursodeoxycholic acid, with the distinct ability to specifically
      bind and regulate FXR activity in vivo, thus providing a bona fide novel
      therapeutic agent to treat enterohepatic disorders such as cholestasis, NASH, and
      inflammatory bowel disease.

PMID- 27652493
TI  - Catalytic C-H Arylation of Aliphatic Aldehydes Enabled by a Transient Ligand.
AB  - The direct arylation of aliphatic aldehydes has been established via Pd-catalyzed
      sp3 C-H bond functionalization in the presence of 3-aminopropanoic acids as
      transient directing groups. The reaction showed excellent functional group
      compatibility and chemoselectivity in which a predominant preference for
      functionalizing unactivated beta-C-H bonds of methyl groups over others was
      achieved. In addition, C-H bonds of unactivated secondary sp3 carbons can also be
      functionalized. The extreme popularity and importance of aliphatic aldehydes
      would result in broad applications of this novel method in organic chemistry and
      medicinal sciences.

PMID- 27652491
TI  - Sleep Moderates the Association Between Response Inhibition and Self-Regulation
      in Early Childhood.
AB  - Early childhood is a time of rapid developmental changes in sleep, cognitive
      control processes, and the regulation of emotion and behavior. This experimental
      study examined sleep-dependent effects on response inhibition and self
      regulation, as well as whether acute sleep restriction moderated the association
      between these processes. Preschool children (N = 19; 45.6 +/- 2.2 months; 11
      female) followed a strict sleep schedule for at least 3 days before each of 2
      morning behavior assessments: baseline (habitual nap/night sleep) and sleep
      restriction (missed nap/delayed bedtime). Response inhibition was evaluated via a
      go/no-go task. Twelve self-regulation strategies were coded from videotapes of
      children while attempting an unsolvable puzzle. We then created composite
      variables representing adaptive and maladaptive self-regulation strategies.
      Although we found no sleep-dependent effects on response inhibition or self
      regulation measures, linear mixed-effects regression showed that acute sleep
      restriction moderated the relationship between these processes. At baseline,
      children with better response inhibition were more likely to use adaptive self
      regulation strategies (e.g., self-talk, alternate strategies), and those with
      poorer response inhibition showed increased use of maladaptive self-regulation
      strategies (e.g., perseveration, fidgeting); however, response inhibition was not
      related to self-regulation strategies following sleep restriction. Our results
      showing a sleep-dependent effect on the associations between response inhibition
      and self-regulation strategies indicate that adequate sleep facilitates synergy
      between processes supporting optimal social-emotional functioning in early
      childhood. Although replication studies are needed, findings suggest that sleep
      may alter connections between maturing emotional and cognitive systems, which
      have important implications for understanding risk for or resilience to
      developmental psychopathology.

PMID- 27652494
TI  - Recovery opportunities, work-home conflict, and emotional exhaustion among
      hematologists and oncologists in private practice.
AB  - Hematologists and oncologists in private practice play a central role in the care
      provided for cancer patients. The present study analyzes stress and relaxation
      aspects in the work of hematologists and oncologists in private practice in
      Germany in relation to emotional exhaustion, as a core dimension of burnout
      syndrome. The study focuses on the opportunities for internal recovery using
      breaks and time out during the working day, the frequency of working on weekends
      and on vacation, and the physician's work-home and home-work conflict. Postulated
      associations between the constructs were analyzed using a structural equation
      model. If work leads to conflicts in private life (work-home conflict), it is
      associated with greater emotional exhaustion. Working frequently at the weekend
      is associated with greater work-home conflict and indirectly with greater
      emotional exhaustion. By contrast, the availability of opportunities to relax and
      recover during the working day is associated with less work-home conflict and
      indirectly with less emotional exhaustion. These results underline the importance
      of internal recovery opportunities during the working day and a successful
      interplay between working and private life for the health of outpatient
      hematologists and oncologists.

PMID- 27652495
TI  - Air-Quality Impacts and Intake Fraction of PM2.5 during the 2013 Rim Megafire.
AB  - The 2013 Rim Fire was the third largest wildfire in California history and burned
      257 314 acres in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We evaluated air-quality impacts of
      PM2.5 from smoke from the Rim Fire on receptor areas in California and Nevada. We
      employed two approaches to examine the air-quality impacts: (1) an evaluation of
      PM2.5 concentration data collected by temporary and permanent air-monitoring
      sites and (2) an estimation of intake fraction (iF) of PM2.5 from smoke. The Rim
      Fire impacted locations in the central Sierra nearest to the fire and extended to
      the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and Nevada monitoring sites.
      Daily 24-h average PM2.5 concentrations measured at 22 air monitors had an
      average concentration of 20 MUg/m3 and ranged from 0 to 450 MUg/m3. The iF for
      PM2.5 from smoke during the active fire period was 7.4 per million, which is
      slightly higher than representative iF values for PM2.5 in rural areas and much
      lower than for urban areas. This study is a unique application of intake fraction
      to examine emissions-to-exposure for wildfires and emphasizes that air-quality
      impacts are not only localized to communities near large fires but can extend
      long distances and affect larger urban areas.

PMID- 27652497
TI  - Value of the oxygenation index during 1-lung ventilation for predicting
      respiratory complications after thoracic surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Thoracic surgery requiring 1-lung ventilation (OLV) is associated with
      significant postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) due to patient- and
      surgery-specific risk factors. The aim of this study is to determine whether the
      oxygenation index (OI) (fraction of inspired oxygen * mean airway
      pressure/partial pressure of oxygen) during OLV predicts the development of PPC.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery
      Database at the University of Virginia was used to identify all thoracic cases in
      2012 to 2014. All subjects requiring OLV and in whom a blood gas was available
      for analysis were included. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed
      to determine whether the OI predicted the development of PPC. RESULTS: A total of
      296 subjects had OLV with a calculable OI during the study period. Composite PPC
      were identified in 97 (33%) of subjects. In the PPC group, mortality at 30 days
      was 7.2%, whereas no deaths were identified in the non-PPC group. In both
      univariate and multivariate analyses, OI was not predictive of PPC analysis (odds
      ratio [OR], 1.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9-1.1; P = .8). The only
      predictors of mortality were forced expiratory volume (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96
      0.99; P = .03) and diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96
      0.99; P = .03). CONCLUSION: The calculated OI during OLV is not predictive of PPC
      in our sample. Additional studies in a larger cohort of patients are needed to
      identify intraoperative ventilation parameters during OLV that can predict the
      risk of PPC.

PMID- 27652496
TI  - The relationship between executive dysfunction, depression, and mental health
      related quality of life in survivors of critical illness: Results from the BRAIN
      ICU investigation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although executive dysfunction and depression are common among intensive
      care unit (ICU) survivors, their relationship has not been evaluated in this
      population. We sought to determine (1) if executive dysfunction is independently
      associated with severity of depressive symptoms or worse mental health-related
      quality of life (HRQOL) in ICU survivors, and (2) if age modifies these
      associations. METHODS: In a prospective cohort (n=136), we measured executive
      dysfunction by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult,
      depression by the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and mental HRQOL by the Short
      Form 36. We used multiple linear regression models, adjusting for potential
      confounders. We included age as an interaction term to test for effect
      modification. RESULTS: Executive dysfunction 3 months post-ICU was independently
      associated with more depressive symptoms and worse mental HRQOL 12 months post
      ICU (25th vs 75th percentile of executive functioning scored 4.3 points worse on
      the depression scale [95% confidence interval, 1.3-7.4; P=.015] and 5 points
      worse on the Short-Form 36 [95% confidence interval, 1.7-8.3; P=.006]). Age did
      not modify these associations (depression: P=.12; mental HRQOL: P=.80).
      CONCLUSION: Regardless of age, executive dysfunction was independently associated
      with subsequent worse severity of depressive symptoms and worse mental HRQOL.
      Executive dysfunction may have a key role in the development of depression.

PMID- 27652498
TI  - Optimizing removal of arsenic, chromium, copper, pentachlorophenol and
      polychlorodibenzo-dioxins/furans from the 1-4 mm fraction of polluted soil using
      an attrition process.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate, at a pilot scale, the performance of
      an attrition process for removing As, Cr, Cu, pentachlorophenol (PCP) and
      polychlorodibenzodioxins and furans (PCDDF) from a 1-4 mm soil fraction. A Box
      Behnken experimental design was utilized to evaluate the influence of several
      parameters (temperature, surfactant concentration and pulp density) and to
      optimize the main operating parameters of this attrition process. According to
      the results, the concentration of surfactant (cocamidopropylbetaine-BW) was the
      main parameter influencing both PCP and PCDDF removal from the 1-4 mm soil
      fraction by attrition. The behavior of each 2,3,7,8-PCDD/F congener during the
      attrition process was studied. The results indicated that the concentration of
      surfactant had a significant and positive effect on the removal of almost all of
      the dioxin and furan. The removal of 56%, 55%, 50%, 67% and 62% of the
      contaminants were obtained for As, Cr, Cu, PCP and PCDDF, respectively, using the
      optimized conditions ([BW]= 2% (w.w-1), T = 25 degrees C and PD = 40% (w.w-1)).
      These results showed that attrition in the presence of a surfactant can be
      efficiently used to remediate the coarse fractions of soil contaminated by As,
      Cr, Cu, PCP and PCDDF.

PMID- 27652500
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis: Local versus systemic treatment for tenosynovitis.

PMID- 27652501
TI  - Comorbidities: Stroke risk increased after herpes zoster infection.

PMID- 27652502
TI  - Systemic lupus erythematosus: Leptin linked to SLE.

PMID- 27652504
TI  - Enhancing translational research in paediatric rheumatology through
      standardization.
AB  - The past decade has seen many successes in translational rheumatology, from
      dramatic improvements in outcomes brought about by novel biologic therapies, to
      the discovery of new monogenic inflammatory disorders. Advances in molecular
      medicine, combined with progress towards precision care, provide an excellent
      opportunity to accelerate the translation of biological understanding to the
      bedside. However, although the field of rheumatology is a leader in the
      standardization of data collection and measures of disease activity, it lags
      behind in standardization of biological sample collection and assay performance.
      Uniform approaches are necessary for robust collaborative research, particularly
      in rare diseases. Standardization is also critical to increase reproducibility
      between centres, a prerequisite for clinical implementation of translational
      research. This Perspectives article emphasizes the need for standardization and
      implementation of best practices, presented in the context of lessons learned
      from international biorepository networks.

PMID- 27652499
TI  - Changes in the osteochondral unit during osteoarthritis: structure, function and
      cartilage-bone crosstalk.
AB  - In diarthrodial joints, the articular cartilage, calcified cartilage, and
      subchondral cortical and trabecular bone form a biocomposite - referred to as the
      osteochondral unit - that is uniquely adapted to the transfer of load. During the
      evolution of the osteoarthritic process the compositions, functional properties,
      and structures of these tissues undergo marked alterations. Although pathological
      processes might selectively target a single joint tissue, ultimately all of the
      components of the osteochondral unit will be affected because of their intimate
      association, and thus the biological and physical crosstalk among them is of
      great importance. The development of targeted therapies against the
      osteoarthritic processes in cartilage or bone will, therefore, require an
      understanding of the state of these joint tissues at the time of the
      intervention. Importantly, these interventions will not be successful unless they
      are applied at the early stages of disease before considerable structural and
      functional alterations occur in the osteochondral unit. This Review describes the
      changes that occur in bone and cartilage during the osteoarthritic process, and
      highlights strategies for how this knowledge could be applied to develop new
      therapeutic interventions for osteoarthritis.

PMID- 27652505
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis: Smoking influences autoimmunity to vimentin.

PMID- 27652506
TI  - Systemic lupus erythematosus: Epratuzumab not effective in phase III trials.

PMID- 27652503
TI  - Altered dendritic cell functions in autoimmune diseases: distinct and overlapping
      profiles.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are central regulators of the balance between immunity and
      tolerance, and alteration of the specialized DC system is a common feature of
      both systemic and tissue-specific autoimmune diseases. Increasing evidence
      indicates that the heterogeneity and the remarkable functional diversity of DC
      subsets might be differentially affected in autoimmune disorders, which accounts
      for different pathologies. This Review discusses recent findings that support
      this concept and provides a new conceptual overview of the altered function and
      distribution of DCs in autoimmune disorders. The discussion will focus on
      systemic lupus erythematosus - a prototype of a multi-organ disease - as well as
      rheumatoid arthritis and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, pathologies
      characterized by tissue-specific lesions. Studies on these diseases have revealed
      common and disease-specific changes in DC distribution and in critical DC
      functions, such as phagocytosis, cytokine secretion and migration. An improved
      understanding of the roles of altered DC distribution and/or disturbed key
      functions in these autoimmune diseases will pave the way for the development of
      new therapies aiming at reducing immunogenicity and at enhancing the tolerogenic
      capacity of DCs. Although some tolerogenic DCs have already been introduced in
      the clinic, the successful translation of other DC-based therapies will require
      considerable research efforts.

PMID- 27652507
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis: Tipping the balance towards resolution.

PMID- 27652508
TI  - Analysis of in vitro follicle development during the onset of premature ovarian
      insufficiency in a mouse model.
AB  - Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) occurs in 1% of women under 40 years of age
      and is predominantly idiopathic. In a transgenic mouse model of follicular POI,
      the Double Mutant (DM), female mice are fertile at 6 weeks of age, become
      infertile by 9 weeks and exhibit POI by 3 months. DM female mice generate oocytes
      lacking mucin O-glycans and complex N-glycans due to deletion of core 1 synthase,
      glycoprotein-N-acetylgalactosamine 3-beta-galactosyltransferase 1 (C1galt1) and
      mannoside acetylglucosaminyltransferase 1 (Mgat1) respectively (DM,
      C1galt1F/FMgat1F/F:ZP3Cre; Control, C1galt1F/FMgat1F/F). To determine whether DM
      follicle development could be improved in a controlled environment, follicles
      from DM and Control mice were cultured individually and follicle growth,
      morphology, survival and antrum formation were evaluated. DM ovaries were more
      rigid than Control ovaries at 3, 6 and 9 weeks, which was exacerbated with age,
      resulting in a failure to isolate follicles from 9 week-old DM females. DM
      follicles had decreased survival compared with Control follicles from females at
      3 and 6 weeks of age. Furthermore, survival rate of DM follicles decreased with
      age between 3 and 6 weeks. DM follicles at both 3 and 6 weeks had accelerated
      follicle growth and altered antrum formation during the first few days of culture
      but, after 6 days, follicles were equivalent in size to the Controls. In
      conclusion, a population of DM follicles retain the potential to develop in
      vitro, and therefore follicle culture offers a reliable method to generate antral
      follicles from preantral follicles after the onset of POI in these female mice.

PMID- 27652509
TI  - Patients' Attitudes Regarding Lung Cancer Screening and Decision Aids. A Survey
      and Focus Group Study.
AB  - RATIONALE: Little is known about vulnerable patients' perceptions and
      understanding of, and preferences for, lung cancer screening decision aids.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine, in a low-income, racially diverse population, (1)
      participants' experience, preferences, and reactions to web-based and paper
      decision aids, and (2) their understanding of harms and benefits of lung cancer
      screening. METHODS: We enrolled outpatients at an urban county hospital in six
      focus group discussions that included review of a web-based and a paper-based
      lung-cancer screening decision aid. Participants completed surveys before and
      after the focus groups. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Forty-five patients
      participated (mean age, 61 yr; 76% current smokers; 24% former smokers); 27% had
      not completed high school; 50% had an annual income not exceeding $15,000; 42%
      were nonwhite; and 96% reported chronic illness requiring at least three health
      care visits yearly. Comparing the proportion with correct answers on pre- and
      postsurveys, participants' understanding of lung cancer screening increased,
      particularly of the harms of screening including the potential for false
      positives, extra testing, and complications. However, after conclusion of the
      focus groups, more than 50% believed that screening lowered the chance of getting
      lung cancer. Five major themes emerged from qualitative analyses. Participants
      (1) were not aware of the purpose of lung cancer screening; (2) wanted to know
      about the benefits and harms; (3) believed physicians need to communicate more
      effectively; (4) found decision aids helpful and influential for decision-making
      about screening; and (5) wanted the discussion to be personalized and tailored.
      Participants expressed surprise that the magnitude of their lung cancer risk and
      benefits of screening were lower than anticipated. CONCLUSIONS: Vulnerable
      patients find lung cancer screening decision aids helpful and generally show
      increased knowledge after reviewing decision aids, particularly of harms. Our
      results can inform future implementation efforts.

PMID- 27652510
TI  - Morphology of four cyrtophorian ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) from Yangtze
      Delta, China, with notes on the phylogeny of the genus Phascolodon.
AB  - The morphology of four cyrtophorian ciliates, Dysteria ovalis, D. semilunaris,
      Phascolodon vorticella, and Chlamydonellopsis calkinsi, were investigated using
      living observation and protargol-staining. The morphology of D. ovalis is
      revealed in detail for the first time, and it is characterized by the following
      combination of features: size 40-50*20-30MUm in vivo; oval in outline; four right
      kineties, including two frontoventral kineties and one shortened leftmost right
      kinety; three left frontal kineties; two ventrally located contractile vacuoles;
      marine habitat. New Chinese populations of three other species correspond well
      with previous descriptions, but a well-developed alveolar layer on the cell
      surface of P. vorticella is reported for the first time. Phylogenetic analyses
      based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences clustered Dysteria ovalis with
      Mirodysteria decora, whereas D. semilunaris is grouped with D. lanceolata.
      Although Phascolodon appeared as sister to Pseudochilodonopsis in the present
      work, its accurate phylogenetic position is still uncertain because AU test did
      not reject the possibility that it clustered with Odontochlamys and Chilodonella.

PMID- 27652512
TI  - Isomorphic coalescence of aster cores formed in vitro from microtubules and
      kinesin motors.
AB  - We report fluorescence microscopy studies of the formation of aster-like
      structures emerging from a cellular element-based active system and a novel
      analysis of the aster condensation. The system consists of rhodamine labeled
      microtubules which are dynamically coupled by functionalized kinesin motor
      proteins cross-linked via streptavidin-coated quantum dots (QDs). The aster
      shaped objects contain core structures. The cores are aggregates of the QD-motor
      protein complexes, and result from the dynamic condensation of sub-clusters that
      are connected to each other randomly. The structural specificity of the aster
      core reflects a configuration of the initial connectivity between sub-clusters.
      Detailed image analysis allows us to extract a novel correlation between the
      condensation speed and the sub-cluster separation. The size of the core is scaled
      down during the condensation process, following a power law dependence on the
      distance between sub-clusters. The exponent of the power law is close to two, as
      expected from a geometric model. This single exponent common to all the
      contractile lines implies that there exists a time regime during which an
      isomorphic contraction of the aster core continues during the condensation
      process. We analyze the observed contraction by using a model system with
      potential applicability in a wide range of emergent phenomena in randomly coupled
      active networks, which are prevalent in the cellular environment.

PMID- 27652511
TI  - Food swamps and food deserts in Baltimore City, MD, USA: associations with
      dietary behaviours among urban adolescent girls.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether living in a food swamp (>=4 corner stores within
      0.40 km (0.25 miles) of home) or a food desert (generally, no supermarket or
      access to healthy foods) is associated with consumption of snacks/desserts or
      fruits/vegetables, and if neighbourhood-level socio-economic status (SES)
      confounds relationships. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. Assessments included diet
      (Youth/Adolescent FFQ, skewed dietary variables normalized) and measured
      height/weight (BMI-for-age percentiles/Z-scores calculated). A geographic
      information system geocoded home addresses and mapped food deserts/food swamps.
      Associations examined using multiple linear regression (MLR) models adjusting for
      age and BMI-for-age Z-score. SETTING: Baltimore City, MD, USA. SUBJECTS: Early
      adolescent girls (6th/7th grade, n 634; mean age 12.1 years; 90.7 % African
      American; 52.4 % overweight/obese), recruited from twenty-two urban, low-income
      schools. RESULTS: Girls' consumption of fruit, vegetables and snacks/desserts:
      1.2, 1.7 and 3.4 servings/d, respectively. Girls' food environment: 10.4 % food
      desert only, 19.1 % food swamp only, 16.1 % both food desert/swamp and 54.4 %
      neither food desert/swamp. Average median neighbourhood-level household income:
      $US 35 298. In MLR models, girls living in both food deserts/swamps consumed
      additional servings of snacks/desserts v. girls living in neither (beta=0.13,
      P=0.029; 3.8 v. 3.2 servings/d). Specifically, girls living in food swamps
      consumed more snacks/desserts than girls who did not (beta=0.16, P=0.003; 3.7 v.
      3.1 servings/d), with no confounding effect of neighbourhood-level SES. No
      associations were identified with food deserts or consumption of
      fruits/vegetables. CONCLUSIONS: Early adolescent girls living in food swamps
      consumed more snacks/desserts than girls not living in food swamps. Dietary
      interventions should consider the built environment/food access when addressing
      adolescent dietary behaviours.

PMID- 27652513
TI  - Ultrasound-guided ophthalmic regional anesthesia.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Needle-based and cannula-based eye blocks are 'blind'
      techniques prone to rare but serious complications. Ultrasound, an established
      adjunct for peripheral nerve block, may be beneficial for ophthalmic anesthesia
      application. The present review details the evolution of ultrasound-guided eye
      blocks, outlines safety issues, and reviews recent studies and editorial
      opinions. RECENT FINDINGS: Ultrasound-assisted ophthalmic regional anesthesia
      allows imaging of key structures such as the globe, orbit, and optic nerve.
      Recent findings reveal that needle path is not reliably predictable by clinical
      evaluation. Needle tips are frequently found to be intraconal, extraconal, or
      transfixed in the muscle cone independent of the intended type of block. In
      addition, contemporary human and animal studies confirm that real-time
      observation of local anesthetic spread inside of the muscle cone correlates
      directly with block success. SUMMARY: Ultrasound-guided ophthalmic regional
      anesthesia is evolving beyond simple visualization of the anatomy. Recent
      research emphasizes the imprecision of needle tip location without ultrasound and
      the key role of imaging local anesthetic dispersion. There is ongoing debate in
      the literature regarding the utility of routine ultrasound for eye blocks.

PMID- 27652514
TI  - Enhanced recovery after surgery, perioperative medicine, and the perioperative
      surgical home: current state and future implications for education and training.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to summarize the current state
      of perioperative medicine, including the perioperative surgical home (PSH) and
      enhanced recovery after surgery pathways (ERAS) as well as the educational
      implications of these concepts for current and future anesthesiology trainees.
      RECENT FINDINGS: Although there is significant, ongoing discussion surrounding
      the structural concept of the PSH, there remains little clinical evidence to
      support its development. On the other hand, publications surrounding ERAS
      principles continue to show clinical benefit in reducing length of stay, cost,
      and perioperative complications for a variety of surgical populations. In this
      milieu, perioperative medicine is increasingly being recognized as its own
      specialty in perioperative care that encompasses, but is larger than, ERAS.
      SUMMARY: There is sufficient evidence to support widespread adoption of ERAS
      principles, although the specifics of local implementation may vary from site to
      site. There is significant uncertainty as to what the PSH actually is. However,
      perioperative medicine is a defined specialty in medicine that overlaps
      significantly with anesthesiology core training and practice and will be a
      significant focus in future education, research, and clinical care provided by
      anesthesiologists.

PMID- 27652515
TI  - Prevention of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is a
      frequently occurring complication. It carries the risks of increasing mortality
      and development of chronic kidney disease. The complex pathophysiologic
      mechanisms still remain unexplained to a large extent. As a result, there is a
      considerable lack of sufficient therapeutic strategies with renal replacement
      therapy still representing the cornerstone for the treatment of severe AKI.
      RECENT FINDINGS: The identification of patients at high risk for the development
      of CSA-AKI and the implementation of new biomarkers are the initial steps to be
      taken toward the prevention of AKI. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes
      guidelines make appropriate recommendations to alleviate the risk of AKI,
      including the avoidance of nephrotoxins, the application of certain therapeutic
      measures for rapid initial hemodynamic stabilization and tight control of blood
      glucose levels. Complement-balanced crystalloids should be used instead of
      physiologic saline solutions to reduce the occurrence of CSA-AKI. Moreover,
      several recent studies have demonstrated protective effects as well as improved
      patient outcomes of remote ischemic preconditioning in high-risk patients. On the
      other hand, up to now, the perioperative use of statins for renal protection
      lacks the scientific basis. SUMMARY: The identification of high-risk patients for
      AKI and the adherence to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines
      constitute the mainstays in the management of CSA-AKI. It is of paramount
      importance to always maintain a sufficient perfusion pressure throughout the
      perioperative period. In patients at high risk, the use of new biomarkers and
      remote ischemic preconditioning should be considered.

PMID- 27652516
TI  - Key issues review: numerical studies of turbulence in stars.
AB  - Three major problems of single-star astrophysics are convection, magnetic fields
      and rotation. Numerical simulations of convection in stars now have sufficient
      resolution to be truly turbulent, with effective Reynolds numbers of [Formula:
      see text], and some turbulent boundary layers have been resolved. Implications of
      these developments are discussed for stellar structure, evolution and explosion
      as supernovae. Methods for three-dimensional (3D) simulations of stars are
      compared and discussed for 3D atmospheres, solar rotation, core-collapse and
      stellar boundary layers. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) analysis of the
      numerical simulations has been shown to provide a novel and quantitative estimate
      of resolution errors. Present treatments of stellar boundaries require revision,
      even for early burning stages (e.g. for mixing regions during He-burning). As
      stellar core-collapse is approached, asymmetry and fluctuations grow, rendering
      spherically symmetric models of progenitors more unrealistic. Numerical
      resolution of several different types of three-dimensional (3D) stellar
      simulations are compared; it is suggested that core-collapse simulations may be
      under-resolved. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability in explosions has a deep
      connection to convection, for which the abundance structure in supernova remnants
      may provide evidence.

PMID- 27652517
TI  - Ordinary and Hot Electroluminescence from Single-Molecule Devices: Controlling
      the Emission Color by Chemical Engineering.
AB  - Single-molecule junctions specifically designed for their optical properties are
      operated as light-emitting devices using a cryogenic scanning tunneling
      microscope. They are composed of an emitting unit-a molecular chromophore
      suspended between a Au(111) surface and the tip of the microscope by organic
      linkers. Tunneling electrons flowing through these junctions generate a narrow
      line emission of light whose color is controlled by carefully selecting the
      chemical structure of the emitting unit. Besides the main emission line, red and
      blue-shifted vibronic features of low intensity are also detected. While the red
      shifted features provide a spectroscopic fingerprint of the emitting unit, the
      blue-shifted ones are interpreted in terms of hot luminescence from vibrationally
      excited states of the molecule.

PMID- 27652519
TI  - A Quality Improvement Program for Recognition and Treatment of Inpatient ST
      Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarctions.

PMID- 27652520
TI  - Medicare's Bundled Payment Program for Joint Replacement: Promise and Peril?

PMID- 27652518
TI  - Three-dimensional Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound in Response Assessment for Breast
      Cancer: A Comparison with Dynamic Contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging
      and Pathology.
AB  - To compare the capabilities of three-dimensional contrast enhanced ultrasound (3D
      CEUS) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE-MRI) in predicting
      the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) among breast cancer patients, 48
      patients with unilateral breast cancer were recruited for 3D-CEUS and DCE-MRI
      examinations both before and after NAC; pathology was used to validate the
      results. This study was approved by the institutional review board, and written
      informed consent was obtained from each patient. Imaging feature changes and
      pathological vascularity response, including microvessel density (MVD) and
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), were calculated. Pathological complete
      response (pCR) and major histological response (MHR) were used as references. The
      3D-CEUS score, DCE-MRI score, MVD and VEGF significantly decreased (P < 0.0001)
      after NAC. The correlations between Delta3D-CEUS and DeltaDCE-MRI with pCR (r =
      0.649, P < 0.0001; r = 0.639, P < 0.0001) and MHR (r = 0.863, P < 0.0001; r =
      0.836, P < 0.0001) were significant. All scores showed significant differences
      between the pCR and non-pCR groups with folder changes of 0.1, 0.1, 2.4, and 2.3,
      respectively (P = 0.0001, <0.0001, <0.0001 and <0.0001). In conclusion, 3D-CEUS
      is effective in assessing the response of breast cancer patients undergoing NAC.

PMID- 27652521
TI  - Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Drug-Dye Conjugates into Nanoparticles for Imaging
      and Chemotherapy.
AB  - An amphiphilic drug-dye conjugate (PTX-Pt-BDP) was designed and synthesized with
      a platinum compound as the hydrophilic head. The precursor of PTX-Pt-BDP was
      obtained under mild conditions by means of a three-component Passerini reaction.
      PTX-Pt-BDP could self-assemble into nanoparticles (PTX-Pt-BDP NPs) in aqueous
      solution via a nanoprecipitation method. The obtained nanoparticles exhibited
      favorable structural stability in both water and physiological environment. PTX
      Pt-BDP NPs could be endocytosed by cancer cells as revealed by confocal laser
      scanning microscopy and exert potent cytotoxicity. This work highlights the
      potential of nanomedicines from amphiphilic drug-dye conjugates for cancer cell
      imaging and chemotherapy.

PMID- 27652522
TI  - A retrospective analysis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis
      treated with corticosteroids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)
      are severe mucocutaneous reactions that incur high mortality, and in which the
      systemic application of corticosteroids remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: This
      study aimed to determine the optimal protocols for the use of corticosteroids and
      treatment measures. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 70 patients
      with SJS/TEN who were hospitalized between January 2008 and May 2015 in the
      Department of Dermatology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, and treated with
      corticosteroids. Expected and actual mortality rates in patients treated with
      different doses of corticosteroids, according to SCORTEN, were compared. RESULTS:
      The diagnoses associated with initial corticosteroid use differed significantly
      between the low- and high-dose groups (P = 0.041). There were significant
      differences between expected and actual mortality rates according to the use of
      corticosteroid therapy (P = 0.0168, standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 0.30).
      There was a statistical difference between expected and actual mortality rates in
      the low-dose group (P = 0.0145, SMR = 0.20). Serum albumin levels were
      significantly lower in patients administered corticosteroids additive therapy
      (31.12 +/- 8.32 g/l vs. 35.54 +/- 5.82 g/l; P = 0.016), and the rate of use of
      antibiotics was higher among patients in the additive therapy group than in the
      non-additive group (94.7% vs. 60.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Our research supports the use
      of corticosteroids for the systemic treatment of SJS/TEN. Corticosteroids should
      be used in a timely manner and in accordance with disease severity, age,
      underlying diseases, serum albumin level, and concurrent treatment with
      antimicrobial therapy.

PMID- 27652523
TI  - Trust, but verify: social media models for disaster management.
AB  - A lack of trust in the information exchanged via social media may significantly
      hinder decisionmaking by community members and emergency services during
      disasters. The need for timely information at such times, though, challenges
      traditional ways of establishing trust. This paper, building on a multi-year
      research project that combined social media data analysis and participant
      observation within an emergency management organisation and in-depth engagement
      with stakeholders across the sector, pinpoints and examines assumptions governing
      trust and trusting relationships in social media disaster management. It assesses
      three models for using social media in disaster management-information gathering,
      quasi-journalistic verification, and crowdsourcing-in relation to the
      guardianship of trust to highlight the verification process for content and
      source and to identify the role of power and responsibilities. The conclusions
      contain important implications for emergency management organisations seeking to
      enhance their mechanisms for incorporating user-generated information from social
      media sources in their disaster response efforts.

PMID- 27652524
TI  - IL-22 is rapidly induced by Pathogen Recognition Receptors Stimulation in Bone
      Marrow-derived Dendritic Cells in the Absence of IL-23.
AB  - In vertebrates, microorganisms are recognized by pathogen recognition receptors
      (PRRs). Exposure of immune cells to the ligands of these receptors activates
      intracellular signaling cascades that rapidly induce the expression of a variety
      of genes. Within these genes, the cytokines family plays a crucial function
      because of its role in adaptive immunity induction and in tissue-specific
      functional regulation, such as tissue repair and tissue homeostasis during steady
      state conditions. Within the myeloid compartment, dendritic cells (DCs) release a
      variety of inflammatory cytokines in response to microbes. In this study, we show
      that BMDCs release IL-22 directly upon PRRs activation without the need of IL-23
      signaling as reported for other IL22-producing cells. Moreover, we demonstrate
      that cytokine IL-22 is rapidly released in a cell-specific manner as macrophages
      are not able to produce IL-22 through the same PRRs system. In addition, we
      characterize the intracellular signaling cascade required for IL-22 release in
      BMDCs. Myd88, MEK1/2, NFkb and AhR, but not p38, NFAT, and RORgt, were found to
      be involved in IL-22 regulation in DCs. Our study suggests that BMDCs possess a
      unique intracellular molecular plasticity which, once activated, directs
      different BMDCs functions in a cell-specific manner.

PMID- 27652526
TI  - More accountability for big-data algorithms.

PMID- 27652525
TI  - Overweight, obesity and foot posture in children: A cross-sectional study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between obesity and
      foot posture in children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study is based on a
      sample population of 1798 schoolchildren (873 boys and 925 girls) aged between 6
      and 12 years. The height and weight of each subject was measured and the body
      mass index (BMI) was calculated. Foot posture was described by means of the foot
      posture index (FPI). The differences among various foot postures in relation to
      BMI, for the total sample, were tested using the Games-Howell test. In addition,
      cross tabulation for different gender groups and BMI categories was applied and
      tested using chi2 . RESULTS: The mean BMI was 18.94 (standard deviation (SD) 3.65
      kg/m2 ) in the boys and 18.90 (SD 3.64 kg/m2 ) in the girls, and the FPI was 3.97
      (SD 2.98) in the boys and 3.68 (SD 2.86) in the girls. The FPI results show that
      among the boys aged 6 years, the right foot was more pronated than among the
      girls (FPI 4.8-4.1, P = 0.034), while among the boys aged 7 years, this was true
      for the left foot (4.4-3.7, P = 0.049). For the other ages, there were no
      significant differences in the FPI between the sexes. There were no significant
      differences between the value, or categories, of BMI and the FPI in the different
      age groups. CONCLUSION: In children aged between 6 and 12 years, body mass does
      not appear to have an important bearing on static foot posture. Furthermore, the
      variables gender and age are of scant importance in determining foot posture in
      children.

PMID- 27652527
TI  - Socio-economic inequality in science is on the rise.

PMID- 27652528
TI  - US clampdown on clinical-trial reporting is long overdue.

PMID- 27652529
TI  - Religion and science can have a true dialogue.

PMID- 27652530
TI  - Conservation: Legal ivory trade would be unsustainable.

PMID- 27652531
TI  - Bioengineering: Yeast makes diesel-like fuels.

PMID- 27652532
TI  - Anthropology: Same sounds for similar meanings.

PMID- 27652533
TI  - Neuroscience: Neurons' roles vary by sex.

PMID- 27652535
TI  - Climate-change ecology: Australian tree range threatened.

PMID- 27652534
TI  - Particle physics: Two mesons make an exotic atom.

PMID- 27652536
TI  - Neuroscience: Cone cells see white too.

PMID- 27652537
TI  - Quantum physics: City-wide teleportation.

PMID- 27652538
TI  - Evolution: How snakes lost venom genes.

PMID- 27652539
TI  - Astronomy: Universe much richer in galaxies.

PMID- 27652540
TI  - Low Arctic ice, Monsanto takeover, and the longest lightning strike.

PMID- 27652541
TI  - Geneticists attempt to heal rifts with Aboriginal communities.

PMID- 27652542
TI  - US sharpens surveillance of crippling solar storms.

PMID- 27652543
TI  - Detailed map shows Milky Way is bigger than we thought.

PMID- 27652544
TI  - Titanic clash over CRISPR patents turns ugly.

PMID- 27652545
TI  - Human skeleton found on famed Antikythera shipwreck.

PMID- 27652547
TI  - Science and inequality.

PMID- 27652548
TI  - Is science only for the rich?

PMID- 27652549
TI  - Science's 1%: How income inequality is getting worse in research.

PMID- 27652550
TI  - End class wars.

PMID- 27652551
TI  - Income inequality is cyclical.

PMID- 27652554
TI  - Health research: Africa-India health-science partnerships.

PMID- 27652555
TI  - Species loss: lack of data leaves a gap.

PMID- 27652556
TI  - Pollution: Do microplastics spill on to farm soils?

PMID- 27652557
TI  - Geoengineering: Code of conduct for geoengineering.

PMID- 27652558
TI  - Wildlife monitoring: Lure gamers into citizen science.

PMID- 27652559
TI  - James Cronin (1931-2016).

PMID- 27652560
TI  - Acoustics: Motion controlled by sound.

PMID- 27652562
TI  - Condensed-matter physics: Multitasking materials from atomic templates.

PMID- 27652563
TI  - Holograms for acoustics.
AB  - Holographic techniques are fundamental to applications such as volumetric
      displays, high-density data storage and optical tweezers that require spatial
      control of intricate optical or acoustic fields within a three-dimensional
      volume. The basis of holography is spatial storage of the phase and/or amplitude
      profile of the desired wavefront in a manner that allows that wavefront to be
      reconstructed by interference when the hologram is illuminated with a suitable
      coherent source. Modern computer-generated holography skips the process of
      recording a hologram from a physical scene, and instead calculates the required
      phase profile before rendering it for reconstruction. In ultrasound applications,
      the phase profile is typically generated by discrete and independently driven
      ultrasound sources; however, these can only be used in small numbers, which
      limits the complexity or degrees of freedom that can be attained in the
      wavefront. Here we introduce monolithic acoustic holograms, which can reconstruct
      diffraction-limited acoustic pressure fields and thus arbitrary ultrasound beams.
      We use rapid fabrication to craft the holograms and achieve reconstruction
      degrees of freedom two orders of magnitude higher than commercial phased array
      sources. The technique is inexpensive, appropriate for both transmission and
      reflection elements, and scales well to higher information content, larger
      aperture size and higher power. The complex three-dimensional pressure and phase
      distributions produced by these acoustic holograms allow us to demonstrate new
      approaches to controlled ultrasonic manipulation of solids in water, and of
      liquids and solids in air. We expect that acoustic holograms will enable new
      capabilities in beam-steering and the contactless transfer of power, improve
      medical imaging, and drive new applications of ultrasound.

PMID- 27652566
TI  - Royalactin is not a royal making of a queen.

PMID- 27652567
TI  - Kamakura replies.

PMID- 27652564
TI  - Atomically engineered ferroic layers yield a room-temperature magnetoelectric
      multiferroic.
AB  - Materials that exhibit simultaneous order in their electric and magnetic ground
      states hold promise for use in next-generation memory devices in which electric
      fields control magnetism. Such materials are exceedingly rare, however, owing to
      competing requirements for displacive ferroelectricity and magnetism. Despite the
      recent identification of several new multiferroic materials and magnetoelectric
      coupling mechanisms, known single-phase multiferroics remain limited by
      antiferromagnetic or weak ferromagnetic alignments, by a lack of coupling between
      the order parameters, or by having properties that emerge only well below room
      temperature, precluding device applications. Here we present a methodology for
      constructing single-phase multiferroic materials in which ferroelectricity and
      strong magnetic ordering are coupled near room temperature. Starting with
      hexagonal LuFeO3-the geometric ferroelectric with the greatest known planar
      rumpling-we introduce individual monolayers of FeO during growth to construct
      formula-unit-thick syntactic layers of ferrimagnetic LuFe2O4 (refs 17, 18) within
      the LuFeO3 matrix, that is, (LuFeO3)m/(LuFe2O4)1 superlattices. The severe
      rumpling imposed by the neighbouring LuFeO3 drives the ferrimagnetic LuFe2O4 into
      a simultaneously ferroelectric state, while also reducing the LuFe2O4 spin
      frustration. This increases the magnetic transition temperature substantially
      from 240 kelvin for LuFe2O4 (ref. 18) to 281 kelvin for (LuFeO3)9/(LuFe2O4)1.
      Moreover, the ferroelectric order couples to the ferrimagnetism, enabling direct
      electric-field control of magnetism at 200 kelvin. Our results demonstrate a
      design methodology for creating higher-temperature magnetoelectric multiferroics
      by exploiting a combination of geometric frustration, lattice distortions and
      epitaxial engineering.

PMID- 27652568
TI  - The role of irisin in the relationship between psoriasis and insulin resistance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Irisin, a hormone like myokine, is identified to the relation with
      insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome recently. In the literature to date,
      there are no studies evaluating serum irisin levels in psoriasis patients. We
      aimed to elucidate the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in psoriasis patients
      by evaluating serum irisin levels and metabolic parameters associated with
      insulin resistance in patients with plaque-type psoriasis vulgaris. METHODS: The
      study included 40 patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque-type psoriasis
      vulgaris and 37 healthy subjects. Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference
      were measured, and serum irisin, fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipid profile, high
      sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) and insulin levels were assessed. To evaluate insulin
      resistance, the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR) and triglyceride/HDL
      (TG/HDL) ratio were used. RESULTS: Serum irisin and HDL levels were significantly
      lower in patients than the control group (P<0.001, P=0.024). Within the patient
      group, there was a significant negative correlation between serum irisin and
      serum TG, LDL, and TG/HDL levels (P=0.041, P=0.022, P=0.025), and a positive
      correlation with HDL levels (P=0.036). The PASI scores and serum irisin levels
      were significantly positively correlated. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we observed
      that serum irisin levels were significantly lower in patients with psoriasis, and
      associated with serum lipid levels and disease activity in our study. These
      results can be interpreted that irisin is involved in the disease pathogenesis of
      patients with psoriasis in relation to metabolic dysregulation.

PMID- 27652569
TI  - Point-of-Care Reference Materials Increase Practice Compliance With Societal
      Guidelines for Incidental Findings in Emergency Imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of an educational
      framework encouraging the systematic application of national societal
      recommendations regarding the imaging evaluation and follow-up of incidental
      findings (IFs) in the emergency department. METHODS: After institutional review
      board approval was received, consecutive CT and ultrasonographic examinations
      from the emergency department over a 2-month period were collected. Examination
      reports were categorized by study type and evaluated individually for the
      presence of IFs that fit into the following core categories: solid or subsolid
      pulmonary nodules, liver lesions, splenic lesions, gallbladder polyps, pancreatic
      cystic lesions, adrenal nodules, adnexal cysts on CT or ultrasonography, thyroid
      nodules (CT), and abnormal lymph nodes. Subsequently, after an educational
      intervention consisting of printed and electronic references, e-mail, and verbal
      communication detailing societal guidelines and the introduction of voice
      recognition macros, data were recollected in the same fashion for an additional 2
      month period. RESULTS: A total of 3,131 imaging events occurred in the 2-month
      preintervention period, yielding 514 total incidental findings. Of these 514
      findings, 67.5% were correctly managed and 32.5% were incorrectly managed
      according to societal recommendations. In the postintervention period, 3,793
      imaging events yielded 499 total incidental findings. Of these 499 findings,
      80.2% were correctly managed and 19.8% were incorrectly managed. The increased
      rate of reporting incidental findings in concordance with societal guidelines was
      statistically significant (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Point-of-care decision
      support reference materials increase radiologist compliance with societal
      guidelines for incidental findings. Compliance with societal guidelines improves
      patient care and has cost-saving implications.

PMID- 27652570
TI  - Educational Impact of a Structured Radiation Oncology Clerkship Curriculum: An
      Interinstitutional Comparison.
AB  - PURPOSE: Many medical school clerkships have structured curricula; however, most
      radiation oncology clerkships do not. The Radiation Oncology Education
      Collaborative Study Group (ROECSG) implemented a curriculum for fourth-year
      radiation oncology clerkships at 14 institutions. We hypothesized that students
      completing clerkships with the curriculum would report greater subjective
      knowledge and comfort to function as a radiation oncology resident compared with
      students completing clerkships without the curriculum. METHODS: The ROECSG
      curriculum included three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour hands-on radiation
      treatment planning workshop. Applicants to a single radiation oncology residency
      program in the 2014-2015 academic year were sent an anonymous, validated
      clerkship experience survey. Students indicated if clerkships were completed at a
      curriculum site. Likert-type data (1 = not at all, 5 = extremely) are reported as
      median (interquartile range). RESULTS: Respondents described 276 clerkship
      experiences, of which 64 (23.2%) were completed at a curriculum site. Students
      whose first clerkship was at a curriculum site perceived greater postclerkship
      confidence in knowledge of radiation biology (3 [3-4] versus 2 [2-3], P < .01),
      treatment setup/positioning (3 [2-3] versus 2 [2-3], P < .05), treatment planning
      (3 [2-3] versus 2 [2-3], P < .01), and ability to integrate evidence-based
      medicine into treatment (4 [2-4] versus 3 [2-4], P < .05). Students who completed
      any clerkship with the curriculum had greater postclerkship confidence to
      function as a radiation oncology resident (3 [3-4] versus 3 [2-3], P < .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results support the curriculum's ability to increase student
      knowledge in radiation oncology, especially in the students' first clerkship.
      Further, these findings suggest that expanded implementation of such curricula
      may ensure a rewarding educational experience during radiation oncology
      clerkships.

PMID- 27652571
TI  - Tumor Board Shadowing for Medical Students as a Means of Early Exposure to
      Multidisciplinary Oncology Education.

PMID- 27652572
TI  - The End of Radiology? Three Threats to the Future Practice of Radiology.
AB  - Radiology faces at least three major, potentially fatal, threats. First, as care
      moves out of the hospital, there will be a decrease in demand for imaging. More
      care in patients' homes and in other nonhospital settings means fewer medical
      tests, including imaging. Second, payment reform and, in particular, bundled
      payments and capitation mean that imaging will become a cost rather than a profit
      center. These shifts in provider payment will decrease the demand for imaging and
      disrupt the practice of radiology. Potentially, the ultimate threat to radiology
      is machine learning. Machine learning will become a powerful force in radiology
      in the next 5 to 10 years and could end radiology as a thriving specialty.

PMID- 27652573
TI  - Engineering anisotropic biphasic Janus-type polymer nanofiber scaffold networks
      via centrifugal jet spinning.
AB  - Biphasic materials, comprised of an ordered arrangement of two different material
      phases within a material, have the potential for a wide variety of applications
      including filtration, protective clothing and tissue engineering. This study
      reports for the first time, a process for engineering biphasic Janus-type
      polymeric nanofiber (BJPNF) networks via the centrifugal jet spinning technique.
      BJPNF alignment and fiber diameter was dependent on fabrication rotational speed
      as well as solution composition. The biphasic character of these BJPNFs, which
      was controlled via the rotational speed of fabrication, was confirmed at the
      individual nanofiber scale using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and at the
      bulk, macro-scale using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy. Biphasic character was also demonstrated at the functional level
      via differing affinities on either side of the BJPNF for cell attachment. Our
      work thus presents a method for fabricating BJPNF scaffold networks where there
      might be a need for different properties on either side of a material. (c) 2016
      Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 2455
      2464, 2017.

PMID- 27652574
TI  - ENsCOPE: Scoping the Practice of Enrolled Nurses in an Australian Community
      Health Setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A continuing shift of healthcare delivery from hospital to the
      community has increased the acuity and complexity of care provided in the home.
      Global financial crises and nursing shortages have prompted policies supporting
      two tiers of nursing and expansion of the licensed practical nurse, second level
      or enrolled nurse role and evoked debate surrounding roles traditionally
      undertaken by registered nurses. Community nursing offers unique challenges for
      enrolled nurses wanting to enact their full scope of practice. AIM: To compare
      and describe registered and enrolled nurse opinions of their current and
      potential enrolled nurse scope of practice in the community health setting.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 136 nurses (115 registered and 21 enrolled
      nurses) was undertaken within a large community nursing team in Australia.
      Participants reported their opinions of enrolled nurse scope of practice based on
      27 core community nursing skills. RESULTS: Although substantial agreement was
      evident, there were statistically significant differences between registered
      nurse and enrolled nurse opinions in core skill areas; 'Patient Education' and
      'Clinical Observation'. Registered nurses identified some specialized skills
      catheter and gastrostomy care-that could be undertaken by enrolled nurses with
      further education. CONCLUSION: We confirm that registered nurses do agree with
      extending the skills of enrolled nurses. Education approaches that build shared
      confidence in enrolled nurse advanced skills are recommended. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: The future supply of nurses is at risk. There are
      limited resources and increasing demand for quality health care where people live
      and work. While there may be opportunities internationally to improve
      productivity through advanced nursing roles, these policies should prioritize
      efficiency by firstly promoting the full enactment of nursing skills in these
      settings.

PMID- 27652575
TI  - High throughput sequencing analysis of RNA libraries reveals the influences of
      initial library and PCR methods on SELEX efficiency.
AB  - The systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) technique is
      a powerful and effective aptamer-selection procedure. However, modifications to
      the process can dramatically improve selection efficiency and aptamer
      performance. For example, droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) has been recently
      incorporated into SELEX selection protocols to putatively reduce the propagation
      of byproducts and avoid selection bias that result from differences in PCR
      efficiency of sequences within the random library. However, a detailed, parallel
      comparison of the efficacy of conventional solution PCR versus the ddPCR
      modification in the RNA aptamer-selection process is needed to understand effects
      on overall SELEX performance. In the present study, we took advantage of powerful
      high throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics analysis coupled with
      SELEX (HT-SELEX) to thoroughly investigate the effects of initial library and PCR
      methods in the RNA aptamer identification. Our analysis revealed that distinct
      "biased sequences" and nucleotide composition existed in the initial, unselected
      libraries purchased from two different manufacturers and that the fate of the
      "biased sequences" was target-dependent during selection. Our comparison of
      solution PCR- and ddPCR-driven HT-SELEX demonstrated that PCR method affected not
      only the nucleotide composition of the enriched sequences, but also the overall
      SELEX efficiency and aptamer efficacy.

PMID- 27652576
TI  - Natural remedies for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced toxicity.
AB  - The liver is an important organ of the body, which has a vital role in metabolic
      functions. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), diclofenac causes
      hepato-renal toxicity and gastric ulcers. NSAIDs are noted to be an agent for the
      toxicity of body organs. This review has elaborated various scientific
      perspectives of the toxicity caused by diclofenac and its mechanistic action in
      affecting the vital organ. This review suggests natural products are better
      remedies than current clinical drugs against the toxicity caused by NSAIDs.
      Natural products are known for their minimal side effects, low cost and
      availability. On the other hand, synthetic drugs pose the danger of adverse
      effects if used frequently or over a long period. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley &
      Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 27652577
TI  - Synthesis of a Ferrolite: A Zeolitic All-Iron Framework.
AB  - Crystals of the first sodalite-type zeolite containing an all-iron framework, a
      ferrolite, Ba8 (Fe12 O24 )Nay (OH)6 ?x H2 O, were synthesized using the hydroflux
      method in nearly quantitative yield. Ba8 (Fe12 O24 )Nay (OH)6 ?x H2 O
      crystallizes in the cubic space group Pm3?m with a=10.0476(1) A. Slightly
      distorted FeO4 tetrahedra are linked to form Fe4 O4 and Fe6 O6 rings, which in
      turn yield channels and internal cavities that are characteristic of the sodalite
      structure. Barium, sodium, and hydroxide ions and water molecules are found in
      the channels and provide charge balance. Magnetic measurements indicate that the
      ferrolite exhibits magnetic order up to at least 700 K, with the field-cooled and
      zero-field-cooled curves diverging. Analysis of the 57 Fe Mossbauer spectra
      revealed two spectral components that have equal spectral areas, indicating the
      presence of two subsets of iron centers in the structure. Dehydrated versions of
      the ferrolite were also prepared by heating the sample.

PMID- 27652578
TI  - Vergisson 4: a left-handed Neandertal.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Handedness is an important marker for lateralization of humans in the
      modern and fossil record. For the most part, Neandertals and their ancestors are
      strongly right-handed. We describe a single tooth from a Neandertal level at
      Vergisson 4 (Vg 4-83). This left upper central incisor shows all the features
      typical of Neandertal incisors. It also exhibits a predominance of left-handed
      striations. METHODS: Striations on the incisor's labial surface were mapped at
      20x magnification using Photoshop. Angulations of the striations were determined
      from their deviation from the maximum mesio-distal line and were analyzed using
      NIH's freeware, Image J. RESULTS: Of the 60 labial surface striations, Vg 4-83
      shows a strong predominance of left-handed striations (46; 76.7%), which are
      statistically significantly different (p < .001 with a two-tailed chi2 test) from
      the small number (3) of right-handed striations. DISCUSSION: The identification
      of another left-handed Neandertal adds to our understanding about handedness
      variation in this fossil hominin. Given the high frequency of right-handed
      Neandertals, the 90: 10 modern ratio is still preserved in this group.

PMID- 27652579
TI  - Investigation of adsorption of Rhodamine B onto a natural adsorbent Argemone
      mexicana.
AB  - The present study aims at exploring the potential of the seeds of a tropical
      weed, Argemone mexicana (AM), for the removal of a toxic xanthene textile dye,
      Rhodamine B (RHB), from waste water. Impact of pH, adsorbent dosage, particle
      size, contact time and dye concentration have been assessed during adsorption.
      The weed has been well characterized by several latest techniques thereby
      providing an indepth information of the mechanism during adsorption. About 80%
      removal has been attained with 0.06 g of adsorbent over the studied system.
      Thermodynamic and kinetic studies, followed by second order kinetic model,
      directed towards the endothermic nature of adsorption. The results obtained from
      batch experiments were modelled using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm and were
      analysed on the basis of R2 and six error functions for selection of appropriate
      model. Langmuir isotherm was found to be best fitted to the experimental data
      with high values of R2 and lower values of error functions. Adsorption study
      revealed the affinity of AM seeds for the dye ions present in waste water,
      introducing a novel adsorbent in field of waste water treatment.

PMID- 27652580
TI  - Forecasting urban water demand: A meta-regression analysis.
AB  - Water managers and planners require accurate water demand forecasts over the
      short-, medium- and long-term for many purposes. These range from assessing water
      supply needs over spatial and temporal patterns to optimizing future investments
      and planning future allocations across competing sectors. This study surveys the
      empirical literature on the urban water demand forecasting using the meta
      analytical approach. Specifically, using more than 600 estimates, a meta
      regression analysis is conducted to identify explanations of cross-studies
      variation in accuracy of urban water demand forecasting. Our study finds that
      accuracy depends significantly on study characteristics, including demand
      periodicity, modeling method, forecasting horizon, model specification and sample
      size. The meta-regression results remain robust to different estimators employed
      as well as to a series of sensitivity checks performed. The importance of these
      findings lies in the conclusions and implications drawn out for regulators and
      policymakers and for academics alike.

PMID- 27652581
TI  - Recovering lead from cupel waste generated in gold analysis by Pb-Fire assay.
AB  - Because of its precision and accuracy, Pb-Fire assay is the most employed method
      for gold analysis in geological materials. At the second stage of the method,
      namely cupellation, lead is oxidized to PbO which is absorbed by the cupel,
      leading to metallic gold as a tiny bend at the bottom of the recipient. After
      cupellation, cupel becomes highly contaminated with lead, making its disposal a
      serious risk of environmental contamination. In the present work, a leaching
      process for removing lead from cupel waste is proposed, which allowed for
      removing 96% of PbO by weight. After a precipitation step, 92.0% of lead was
      recovered from leachates in the form of PbSO4. Lead in the solid wastes left by
      the extraction was above the limit established by Brazilian legislation and these
      were classified as non-hazardous. Finally, secondary effluents generated after
      the precipitation step presented lead content more than twenty times lower than
      that of leachates from cupel waste. Tons of cupel waste are annually generated
      from gold analysis by Pb-Fire assay. Thus, the proposed method can contribute to
      prevent the discharge of high amounts of lead into the environment. Also,
      recovery of lead can help to partially meet the industrial demand for lead
      compounds.

PMID- 27652582
TI  - Ag2O and Fe2O3 modified oxides on the photocatalytic treatment of pulp and paper
      wastewater.
AB  - The effects of doping of ZnO and Nb2O5 solids with Fe2O3 (1.4 wt%) and Ag2O (1.4
      wt%) on its surface and catalytic properties were investigated, as well as its
      photocatalytic performance on the degradation of a pulp and paper wastewater
      (PPW). The catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, photoacoustic spectroscopy
      (PAS), NH3-TPD and textural analysis. The results obtained revealed that Fe2O3
      doping of Nb2O5 conducted at 500  degrees C resulted in an increase of about 116%
      for SBET while Ag2O treatment exerted a decrease of 33% for SBET of the doped
      adsorbents. Doping ZnO with Fe2O3 or Ag2O led to an increase of 80% for SBET.
      Iron and silver doping also led to a decrease in band gap energy of at least 6%.
      The addition of 1.4 wt% Ag2O on ZnO followed by calcination at 500  degrees C
      resulted in an increase of 11% in the value of the reaction rate constant (kap)
      for COD reduction under UV radiation. The treatment of Nb2O5 with 1.4 wt% Ag2O
      increased by a factor of 2.04 the value of kap for the reaction taking place
      under VIS radiation. The catalysts partially reduced the organic load and the
      real colour of the wastewater, allowing the achievement of the specifications for
      release into rivers, so photocatalysis could be an alternative for pulp and paper
      wastewater final polishing.

PMID- 27652583
TI  - [German Validation of the "King's Brief Interstitial Lung Disease (K-Bild) Health
      Status Questionnaire"].
AB  - Background: Health status and quality of life are impaired in patients with
      interstitial lung disease (ILD). To assess these parameters in ILD patients no
      valid and reliable questionnaire exists in German language so far. The K-BILD
      questionnaire is a brief and valid tool to evaluate health status in ILD
      patients, with no validated German version. Method: The linguistic validation of
      K-BILD was carried out in a multistage process in collaboration with the
      developer of the questionnaire and bilingual, professional translators. Review by
      the developers and back translations as well as clinical assessment by ILD
      patients ensured that the translated questionnaire reflected the intention of the
      original K-BILD. Results: A German version of K-BILD with 15 questions concerning
      the health status was composed. The questions cover the three domains
      breathlessness and activities, psychological aspects and chest symptoms. Problems
      in understanding or difficulties in replying to the questions were not stated by
      the ILD patients. Conclusion: The German version of the K-BILD questionnaire
      allows the clinical and scientific use to measure reliable health quality in ILD
      patients.

PMID- 27652584
TI  - The distribution of near point of convergence and its association with age,
      gender and refractive error: a population-based study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim was to determine the distribution of the near point of
      convergence (NPC) and its association with age, gender and refractive errors
      through a population-based study. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, samples
      were randomly selected from the population of Mashhad city in the northeast of
      Iran through stratified cluster sampling. In each of the 120 randomly selected
      clusters, 10 households were systematically chosen. Examinations included visual
      acuity testing, refractive and binocular vision examination. NPC was measured
      using a 6/12 single target on a Gulden fixation stick. Positive and negative
      fusional vergences were measured by the step method at far and near fixation
      distances. RESULTS: Of the 4,453 invitees, 3,132 people participated (response
      rate of 70.4 per cent) and after applying the exclusion criteria, analysis was
      conducted on data from 2,433 individuals whose mean age was 31.2 +/- 15.1 years
      (range: 10 to 86 years). Mean NPC was 8.59 +/- 4.82 cm (range: 2 to 40 cm) in the
      total sample, 6.95 +/- 3.87 cm in the 10-19 years age group and 13.06 +/- 5.2 cm
      in those over 70 years. The relationships of NPC with the variables ages, gender
      and refractive errors (spherical equivalent) was assessed in a multiple linear
      regression model. Based on this model, older age (p < 0.001, coefficient =
      0.106), male gender (p = 0.002, coefficient = 0.608) maintained a significant
      correlation with NPC, while the association with refractive error was no longer
      significant (p = 0.109, coefficient = 0.128) after adjusting for age and gender.
      CONCLUSION: This is the first population-based study to examine the normal ranges
      of NPC and also the first to describe normal values in a presbyopic population.
      The results of this study indicate an age-related change in NPC. These changes
      should be noted in the interpretation of tests for the diagnosis and treatment of
      problems with binocular vision.

PMID- 27652585
TI  - Effect of sham feeding with gum chewing on postoperative ileus after liver
      transplantation-a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Postoperative ileus (POI) is a common complication after major abdominal surgery.
      Gum chewing has been shown to stimulate bowel motility and decrease duration of
      POI after abdominal surgery. We evaluated the effect of gum chewing in reducing
      the time to first flatus and on oral calorie intake in patients undergoing living
      or deceased donor liver transplantation. Patients were randomized into the sham
      feeding group or the control group. The sham feeding group chewed two pieces of
      xylitol flavored gum for 15 minutes, three times a day after extubation until
      oral nutrition was tolerated. The control group received the same routine care
      except for the gum chewing. Fifty-nine patients were randomized into the sham
      feeding group (n=30) or the control group (n=29). There was no difference in the
      time to first flatus (72 [66.1-82.9] hours vs 69.0 [57.6-77.2] hours, P=.422).
      Cumulative energy intake (2.8 [5.8-23.2] % vs 10.0 [8.5-15.9] %, P=.695) and
      length of intensive care unit stay (4.2 [3.9-5.3] days vs 4.0 [6.7-4.5] days,
      P=.077) were also similar. In conclusion, sham feeding with gum chewing did not
      shorten the duration of POI nor facilitate oral intake after liver
      transplantation. (Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT 01956643).

PMID- 27652586
TI  - Prurigo Pigmentosa: An under-recognized inflammatory dermatosis characterized by
      an evolution of distinctive clinicopathological features.

PMID- 27652587
TI  - N-acetyl cysteine in liver resection.

PMID- 27652588
TI  - Fatty Tumor Compressing the Heart.

PMID- 27652589
TI  - Platelet Aggregation Inhibitory Effects and Pharmacokinetics of Prasugrel Used in
      Combination With Aspirin in Healthy Japanese Subjects.
AB  - We evaluated the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of prasugrel used in
      combination with aspirin in healthy Japanese subjects. All subjects received
      aspirin 100 mg/day. Subsequently, in the single-administration study, 23 subjects
      also received prasugrel 20 or 30 mg, and in the multiple-administration study, 20
      subjects received a loading dose of prasugrel 20 or 30 mg on day 1, followed by a
      maintenance dose of prasugrel 5 or 7.5 mg/day, respectively, on days 2-5. In both
      studies, the plasma concentration of the active metabolite of prasugrel, R
      138727, reached a maximum 0.5 hours after administration and rapidly decreased
      within 4 hours. In the single-administration study, the inhibitory effect on
      adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation was significantly higher in
      the prasugrel 20- and 30-mg groups than in the placebo group at all times (1-144
      hours) after administration. In the multiple-administration study, a similar
      antiplatelet effect was found after both the loading dose and the maintenance
      dose and was maintained for 3-6 days after the last administration. There were
      study drug-related adverse events; however, all were mild, and none was
      clinically significant.

PMID- 27652591
TI  - Effects of fatigue on corticospinal excitability of the human knee extensors.
AB  - NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? Do group III and IV
      muscle afferents act at the spinal or cortical level to affect the ability of the
      central nervous system to drive quadriceps muscles during fatiguing exercise?
      What is the main finding and its importance? The excitability of the motoneurone
      pool of vastus lateralis was unchanged by feedback from group III and IV muscle
      afferents. In contrast, feedback from these afferents may contribute to
      inhibition at the cortex. However, the excitability of the corticospinal pathway
      was not directly affected by feedback from these afferents. These findings are
      important for understanding neural processes during fatiguing exercise. In upper
      limb muscles, changes in afferent feedback, motoneurone excitability, and motor
      cortical output can contribute to failure of the central nervous system to
      recruit muscles fully during fatigue. It is not known whether similar changes
      occur with fatigue of muscles in the lower limb. We assessed the corticospinal
      pathway to vastus lateralis during fatiguing sustained maximal voluntary
      contractions (MVCs) of the knee extensors and during firing of fatigue-sensitive
      group III/IV muscle afferents maintained by postexercise ischaemia after
      fatiguing MVCs of the knee extensors and, separately, the flexors. In two
      experiments, subjects (n = 9) performed brief knee extensor MVCs before and after
      2-min sustained MVCs of the knee extensors (experiment 1) or knee flexors
      (experiment 2). During MVCs, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were elicited by
      transcranial magnetic stimulation over the motor cortex and thoracic motor evoked
      potentials (TMEPs) by electrical stimulation over the thoracic spine. During the
      2-min extensor contraction, the size of vastus lateralis MEPs normalized to the
      maximal M-wave increased (P < 0.05), but normalized TMEPs were unchanged (P =
      0.16). After the 2-min MVC, maintained firing of group III/IV muscle afferents
      had no effect on vastus lateralis MEPs or TMEPs (P = 0.18 and P = 0.50,
      respectively). Likewise, after the 2-min knee flexor MVC, maintained firing of
      these afferents showed no effect on vastus lateralis MEPs or TMEPs (P = 0.69 and
      P = 0.34, respectively). Motoneurones of vastus lateralis do not become less
      excitable during fatiguing isometric MVCs. Moreover, fatigue-sensitive group
      III/IV muscle afferents fail to affect the overall excitability of vastus
      lateralis motoneurones during MVCs.

PMID- 27652590
TI  - Dopamine enhances duodenal epithelial permeability via the dopamine D5 receptor
      in rodent.
AB  - AIM: The intestinal barrier is made up of epithelial cells and intercellular
      junctional complexes to regulate epithelial ion transport and permeability.
      Dopamine (DA) is able to promote duodenal epithelial ion transport through D1
      like receptors, which includes subtypes of D1 (D1 R) and D5 (D5 R), but whether
      D1-like receptors influence the duodenal permeability is unclear. METHODS: FITC
      dextran permeability, short-circuit current (ISC ), Western blot,
      immunohistochemistry and ELISA were used in human D5 R transgenic mice and
      hyperendogenous enteric DA (HEnD) rats in this study. RESULTS: Dopamine induced a
      downward deflection in ISC and an increase in FITC-dextran permeability of
      control rat duodenum, which were inhibited by the D1-like receptor antagonist,
      SCH-23390. However, DA decreased duodenal transepithelial resistance (TER), an
      effect also reversed by SCH-23390. A strong immunofluorescence signal for D5 R,
      but not D1 R, was observed in the duodenum of control rat. In human D5 R knock-in
      transgenic mice, duodenal mucosa displayed an increased basal ISC with high FITC
      dextran permeability and decreased TER with a lowered expression of tight
      junction proteins, suggesting attenuated duodenal barrier function in these
      transgenic mice. D5 R knock-down transgenic mice manifested a decreased basal ISC
      with lowered FITC-dextran permeability. Moreover, an increased FITC-dextran
      permeability combined with decreased TER and tight junction protein expression in
      duodenal mucosa were also observed in HEnD rats. CONCLUSION: This study
      demonstrates, for the first time, that DA enhances duodenal permeability of
      control rat via D5 R, which provides new experimental and theoretical evidence
      for the influence of DA on duodenal epithelial barrier function.

PMID- 27652594
TI  - Evaluating realist evaluation: a response to Pawson's reply.

PMID- 27652593
TI  - Bleeding complications and mortality in warfarin-treated VTE patients, dependence
      of INR variability and iTTR.
AB  - High quality of warfarin treatment is important to prevent recurrence of venous
      thromboembolism (VTE) without bleeding complications. The aim of this study was
      to examine the effect of individual time in therapeutic range (iTTR) and
      International Normalised Ratio (INR) variability on bleeding risk and mortality
      in a large cohort of well-managed patients with warfarin due to VTE. A cohort of
      16612 patients corresponding to 19502 treatment periods with warfarin due to VTE
      between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2011 was retrieved from the Swedish
      national quality register AuriculA and matched with the Swedish National Patient
      Register for bleeding complications and background characteristics and the Cause
      of death register for occurrence and date of death. The rate of bleeding was 1.79
      (confidence interval (CI) 95 % 1.66-1.93) per 100 treatment years among all
      patients. Those with poor warfarin treatment quality had a higher rate of
      clinically relevant bleeding, both when measured as iTTR below 70 %, 2.91 (CI 95
      % 2.61-3.21) or as INR variability over the mean value 0.85, 2.61 (CI 95 % 2.36
      2.86). Among those with both high INR variability and low iTTR the risk of
      clinically relevant bleeding was clearly increased hazard ratio (HR) 3.47 (CI 95
      % 2.89-4.17). A similar result was found for all-cause mortality with a HR of
      3.67 (CI 95 % 3.02-4.47). Both a low iTTR and a high INR variability increase the
      risk of bleeding complications or mortality. When combining the two treatment
      quality indicators patients at particular high risk of bleeding or death can be
      identified.

PMID- 27652592
TI  - Boosting the signal: Endothelial inward rectifier K+ channels.
AB  - Endothelial cells express a diverse array of ion channels including members of
      the strong inward rectifier family composed of KIR 2 subunits. These two-membrane
      spanning domain channels are modulated by their lipid environment, and exist in
      macromolecular signaling complexes with receptors, protein kinases and other ion
      channels. Inward rectifier K+ channel (KIR ) currents display a region of
      negative slope conductance at membrane potentials positive to the K+ equilibrium
      potential that allows outward current through the channels to be activated by
      membrane hyperpolarization, permitting KIR to amplify hyperpolarization induced
      by other K+ channels and ion transporters. Increases in extracellular K+
      concentration activate KIR allowing them to sense extracellular K+ concentration
      and transduce this change into membrane hyperpolarization. These properties
      position KIR to participate in the mechanism of action of hyperpolarizing
      vasodilators and contribute to cell-cell conduction of hyperpolarization along
      the wall of microvessels. The expression of KIR in capillaries in electrically
      active tissues may allow KIR to sense extracellular K+ , contributing to
      functional hyperemia. Understanding the regulation of expression and function of
      microvascular endothelial KIR will improve our understanding of the control of
      blood flow in the microcirculation in health and disease and may provide new
      targets for the development of therapeutics in the future.

PMID- 27652595
TI  - A novel adaptation of a parent-child observational assessment tool for appraisals
      and coping in children exposed to acute trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Millions of children worldwide are exposed to acute potentially
      traumatic events (PTEs) annually. Many children and their families experience
      significant emotional distress and/or functional impairment following PTEs. While
      current research has begun to highlight a role for early appraisals and coping in
      promoting or preventing full recovery from PTEs, the exact nature of the
      relationships among appraisals, coping, and traumatic stress reactions as well as
      how appraisals and coping behaviors are influenced by the child's environment
      (e.g., parents) remains unclear; assessment tools that reach beyond self-report
      are needed to improve this understanding. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the current
      study is to describe the newly created Trauma Ambiguous Situations Tool (TAST;
      i.e., an observational child-parent interview and discussion task that allows
      assessment of appraisals, coping, and parent-child processes) and to report on
      initial feasibility and validation of TAST implemented with child-parent dyads in
      which children were exposed to a PTE. METHOD: As part of a larger study on the
      role of biopsychosocial factors in posttraumatic stress reactions, children (aged
      8-13) and parents (n=25 child-parent dyads) completed the TAST during the child's
      hospitalization for injury. RESULTS: Children and parents engaged well with the
      TAST. The time to administer the TAST was feasible, even in a peri-trauma
      context. The TAST solicited a wide array of appraisals (threat and neutral) and
      coping solutions (proactive and avoidant). Forced-choice and open-ended appraisal
      assessments provided unique information. The parent-child discussion portion of
      the TAST allowed for direct observation of parent-child processes and
      demonstrated parental influence on children's appraisals and coping solutions.
      CONCLUSIONS: The TAST is a promising new research tool, which may help to
      explicate how parents influence their child's developing appraisals and coping
      solutions following a PTE. More research should examine the relationships of
      appraisals, coping, and parent-child processes assessed by the TAST with
      traumatic stress outcomes.

PMID- 27652597
TI  - The developmental case for adopting children from care.

PMID- 27652596
TI  - Phosphorylation of STAT3 in Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma Is Correlated
      with a Favorable Prognosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of
      transcription (STAT) pathway plays a role in various biological processes.
      Phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) functions as a transcriptional factor, and
      suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is a potential inhibitor of STAT3.
      Here, we analyzed the status of the JAK-STAT pathway in undifferentiated
      pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS). METHODS: We performed immunohistochemistry in 79
      samples of UPS and Western blotting in 10 frozen samples. We also examined
      alterations in protein expression in the JAK-STAT pathway after the inhibition of
      phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) or extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-Erk) in
      vitro. RESULTS: Immunohistochemically, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 were positive in 59.7
      and 55.8%, respectively. Positivity for p-STAT3 was significantly correlated with
      a better prognosis (p = 0.0006) and negatively with SOCS3 expression (p =
      0.0223). Positivity for SOCS3 was significantly correlated with a worse prognosis
      (p = 0.0001). Western blotting analysis revealed that p-STAT3 expression was
      lower in tumor than in normal tissue. In vitro results demonstrated that there
      was no detectable change in the expression of p-STAT3 regardless of the status of
      p-Akt or p-Erk. CONCLUSION: p-STAT3 may be a useful prognostic factor for UPS.

PMID- 27652598
TI  - Lentibacillus populi sp. nov., a moderately halophilic, endophytic bacterium
      isolated from a poplar tree, and emended description of the genus Lentibacillus.
AB  - A Gram-staining-positive, moderately halophilic, aerobic, endospore-forming, rod
      shaped bacterial strain, designated WD4L-1T was isolated from surface-sterilized
      stem tissue of a poplar tree planted in the Wudalianchi National Geopark of
      Heilongjiang province, PR China. This novel isolate grew in the presence of 0-15
      % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 6.0-9.0 and 15-50  degrees C; optimum growth was observed
      with 7-8 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 7.0 and 30  degrees C. The 16S rRNA gene sequence
      analysis indicated that the strain WD4L-1T belonged to the genus Lentibacillus,
      and was most closely related to Lentibacillus garicola SL-MJ1T with a sequence
      similarity of 96.1 %. The DNA G+C content of strain WD4L-1T was determined to be
      36.9 mol%. The respiratory quinone was identified as menaquinone-7 (MK-7) and the
      major lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol and one
      unidentified phospholipid. The major fatty acids of strain WD4L-1T were anteiso
      C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0. The results of the physiological and
      biochemical tests and the minor differences in the fatty acid profiles allowed a
      clear phenotypic differentiation of strain WD4L-1T from the closely related
      Lentibacillus garicola JCM 30131T. Thus, strain WD4L-1T represents a novel
      species of the genus Lentibacillus, for which the name Lentibacillus populi sp.
      nov. is proposed. The type strain is WD4L-1T (=CGMCC 1.15454T=DSM 101738T). An
      emended description of the genus Lentibacillus is also provided.

PMID- 27652599
TI  - Antenatal oral glucose tolerance test in women with gestational diabetes
      mellitus: fasting plasma glucose is the best predictor of both large for
      gestational-age newborns and postpartum glucose tolerance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have evaluated the predictors of large-for
      gestational-age newborns (LGA) as well as abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT) after
      delivery in women with gestational diabetes mellitus, one at a time. The present
      study assesses the ability of glucose values on the antenatal oral glucose
      tolerance test (OGTT) to predict both outcomes. METHODS: Retrospective analysis
      of a prospectively collected database. Gestational diabetes was diagnosed with a
      two-step approach. After delivery, reevaluation was performed using 2006 WHO
      definition of glucose tolerance. SELECTION CRITERIA: 1) singleton pregnancies; 2)
      available information on: offspring weight for age, antenatal and follow-up OGTT
      and additional potential predictors of LGA and AGT. The study included 1241
      women. Data were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression and ROC analyses.
      Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted and unadjusted odds
      ratios and corresponding 95% CI for 1 mmol/L increase in each glucose value (FPG,
      1 h, 2 h, 3 h) of the diagnostic 100-g OGTT, associated to the main outcomes LGA
      and postpartum AGT. RESULTS: Analyzing each glucose value on antenatal OGTT,
      fasting plasma glucose (FPG) showed the highest OR for both outcomes: LGA (1.537,
      95% CI 1.237-1.910) and AGT (2.288, 95% CI 1.869-2.801). On the adjusted analysis
      the association was attenuated, but FPG continued to be the best predictor for
      both outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In women with gestational diabetes mellitus, FPG on
      the diagnostic OGTT was the glycemic value that best predicted both LGA and after
      delivery AGT.

PMID- 27652600
TI  - Classic and Global Hemostasis Testing in Pregnancy and during Pregnancy
      Complications.
AB  - Pregnancy is associated with a significant procoagulant shift in the hemostatic
      system balance as well as other metabolic changes. Pregnancy can thereby provoke
      manifestation of otherwise dormant disorders of hemostasis (e.g., thrombophilia),
      or even cause new, pregnancy-specific disorders (e.g., HELLP syndrome).
      Application and interpretation of laboratory assays of hemostasis in pregnancy is
      particularly challenging, because normal physiological ranges are no longer
      applicable, and because the most dangerous and complex changes are not detected
      by classic routine coagulation/platelet assays. New global assays of coagulation
      and of platelet-dependent hemostasis appear to be promising in this respect, but
      are still far from clinical practice and rarely appear in current patient
      management guidelines. These global assays require a high level of research to
      identify their relationship to clinically significant outcomes. Here, we review
      the state-of-the-art knowledge of the molecular changes in the hemostatic system
      in normal pregnancy and during pregnancy-related complications (preeclampsia,
      thrombotic microangiopathies, antiphospholipid syndrome, etc.). We also discuss
      the sensitivity of various classic and innovative assays to these pregnancy
      associated changes, and describe current and potential future applications of
      these assays in meeting specific clinical needs.

PMID- 27652601
TI  - Pregnancy and Antiphospholipid Syndrome.
AB  - Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is classified as the association of thrombotic
      events and/or obstetric morbidity in patients persistently positive for
      antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). APS is also the most frequently acquired risk
      factor for a treatable cause of recurrent pregnancy loss and increases the risk
      of conditions associated with ischemic placental dysfunction, such as stillbirth,
      intrauterine death, preeclampsia, premature birth, and fetal growth restriction.
      The use of low-dose aspirin and heparin has improved the pregnancy outcome in
      obstetric APS and approximately 70% of pregnant women with APS will deliver a
      viable live infant. However, current management does not prevent all maternal,
      fetal, and neonatal complications of APS and the current treatment fails in 20 to
      30% of APS pregnancies, raising the need to explore other treatments to improve
      obstetrical outcome. Two clinical studies of retrospective design have suggested
      that the immunomodulator hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) may play a role in the
      prevention of pregnancy complications in women with aPL and APS. The randomized
      controlled multicenter trial of hydroxychloroquine versus placebo during
      pregnancy in women with antiphospholipid antibodies (HYPATIA) of HCQ versus
      placebo will provide scientific evidence on the use of HCQ in pregnant women with
      aPL.

PMID- 27652602
TI  - Remarkable Enhancement of Chemiluminescent Signal by Dioxetane-Fluorophore
      Conjugates: Turn-ON Chemiluminescence Probes with Color Modulation for Sensing
      and Imaging.
AB  - Chemiluminescence is among the most sensitive methods for achieving a high signal
      to-noise ratio in various chemical and biological applications. We have developed
      a modular practical synthetic route for preparation of turn-ON fluorophore
      tethered dioxetane chemiluminescent probes. The chemiluminescent emission of the
      probes was significantly amplified through an energy-transfer mechanism under
      physiological conditions. Two probes were composed with green and near-infrared
      (NIR) fluorescent dyes tethered to Schaap's dioxetane. While both probes were
      able to provide chemiluminescence in vivo images following subcutaneous
      injection, only the NIR probe could provide a chemiluminescence image following
      intraperitoneal injection. These are the first in vivo images produced by
      Schaap's dioxetane chemiluminescence probes with no need of an enhancer.
      Previously, chemiluminescence cell images could only be obtained with a luciferin
      based probe. Our NIR probe was able to image cells transfected with beta
      galactosidase gene by chemiluminescence microscopy. We also report, for the first
      time, the instability of dioxetane-fluorophore conjugates to ambient light. Our
      synthetic route effectively overcomes this limitation through a late-stage
      functionalization of the dioxetane intermediate. We anticipate that our practical
      synthetic methodology will be useful for preparation of various chemiluminescent
      probes for numerous applications.

PMID- 27652603
TI  - Synthesis of Highly Porous Coordination Polymers with Open Metal Sites for
      Enhanced Gas Uptake and Separation.
AB  - Metal-containing amorphous microporous polymers are an emerging class of
      functional porous materials in which the surface properties and functions of
      polymers are dictated by the nature of the metal ions incorporated into the
      framework. In an effort to introduce coordinatively unsaturated metal sites into
      the porous polymers, we demonstrate herein an aqueous-phase synthesis of porous
      coordination polymers (PCPs) incorporating bis(o-diiminobenzosemiquinonato)
      Cu(II) or -Ni(II) bridges by simply reacting hexaminotriptycene with CuSO4.5H2O
      [Cu(II)-PCP] or NiCl2.6H2O [Ni(II)-PCP] in H2O. The resulting polymers showed
      surface areas of up to 489 m2 g-1 along with a narrow pore size distribution. The
      presence of open metal sites significantly improved the gas affinity of these
      frameworks, leading to an exceptional isosteric heat of adsorption of 10.3 kJ.mol
      1 for H2 at zero coverage. The high affinities of Cu(II)- and Ni(II)-PCPs toward
      CO2 prompted us to investigate the removal of CO2 from natural and landfill gas
      conditions. We found that the higher affinity of Cu(II)-PCP compared to that of
      Ni(II)-PCP not only allowed for the tuning of the affinity of CO2 molecules
      toward the sorbent, but also led to an exceptional CO2/CH4 selectivity of 35.1
      for landfill gas and 20.7 for natural gas at 298 K. These high selectivities were
      further verified by breakthrough measurements under the simulated natural and
      landfill gas conditions, in which both Cu(II)- and Ni(II)-PCPs showed complete
      removal of CO2. These results clearly demonstrate the promising attributes of
      metal-containing porous polymers for gas storage and separation applications.

PMID- 27652604
TI  - Nanoparticle Trapping and Characterization Using Open Microcavities.
AB  - Characterization and trapping of nanoparticles in solution is of great importance
      for lab-on-a-chip applications in biomedical, environmental, and materials
      sciences. Devices are now starting to emerge allowing such manipulations and
      investigations in real-time. Better insights into the interaction between the
      nanoparticle and the optical trap is therefore necessary in order to move forward
      in this field. In this work, we present a new kind of nanotweezers based on open
      microcavities. We show that by monitoring the cavity mode wavelength shift as the
      particle diffuses through the cavity, it is possible to establish both the
      nanoparticle polarizability and its coefficient of friction. Additionally, our
      experiment provides a deep insight in the interaction between the nanoparticle
      and the cavity mode. The technique has built-in calibration of the trap strength
      and spring constant, making it attractive for practical applications. This work
      illustrates the potential of such optical microcavities for future developments
      in nanoparticle sensors and lab-on-a-chip devices.

PMID- 27652606
TI  - Adsorption Behavior of Rare Earth Metal Cations in the Interlayer Space of gamma
      ZrP.
AB  - Adsorption competencies of rare earth metal cations in gamma-zirconium phosphate
      were examined by ICP, synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), and ab initio
      simulation. The adsorption amounts are around 0.06-0.10 per zirconium phosphate.
      From the SXRD patterns of the adsorbed samples, the basal spacing estimated by c
      sin beta increased linearly with an increasing ionic radius of rare earth metal
      cation, though a and b lattice constants show no change. These SXRD patterns can
      be classified into four groups that have different super lattices. The four
      superlattices have multiplicities of x131, x241, and x221 for the xabc axis, and
      the location of the rare earth metal cation in the original unit cell changes
      depending on the superlattice cell. In the x131 superlattice, Yb and Er occupied
      the site near the zirconium phosphate layer, though La and Ce in the x221
      superlattice remained in the center position between the phosphate sheet. For the
      ab initio simulation of gamma-ZrP with the typical rare earth metal cations (Tb,
      Eu, Dy, and La), the results of simulation show a similar tendency of the
      position estimated by SXRD refinements.

PMID- 27652605
TI  - Bioorthogonal Strategy for Bioprocessing of Specific-Site-Functionalized
      Enveloped Influenza-Virus-Like Particles.
AB  - Virus-like particles (VLPs) constitute a promising platform in vaccine
      development and targeted drug delivery. To date, most applications use simple
      nonenveloped VLPs as human papillomavirus or hepatitis B vaccines, even though
      the envelope is known to be critical to retain the native protein folding and
      biological function. Here, we present tagged enveloped VLPs (TagE-VLPs) as a
      valuable strategy for the downstream processing and monitoring of the in vivo
      production of specific-site-functionalized enveloped influenza VLPs. This two
      step procedure allows bioorthogonal functionalization of azide-tagged nascent
      influenza type A hemagglutinin proteins in the envelope of VLPs through a strain
      promoted [3 + 2] alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction. Importantly, labeling does
      not influence VLP production and allows for construction of functionalized VLPs
      without deleterious effects on their biological function. Refined discrimination
      and separation between VLP and baculovirus, the major impurity of the process, is
      achieved when this technique is combined with flow cytometry analysis, as
      demonstrated by atomic force microscopy. TagE-VLPs is a versatile tool broadly
      applicable to the production, monitoring, and purification of functionalized
      enveloped VLPs for vaccine design trial runs, targeted drug delivery, and
      molecular imaging.

PMID- 27652607
TI  - Deriving High-Resolution Emission Inventory of Open Biomass Burning in China
      based on Satellite Observations.
AB  - Open biomass burning plays an important role in atmospheric pollution and in
      climate change. However, the current emission inventory of open biomass burning
      is generally of highly uncertainty because of missing small fire data and limited
      resolution because of the lack of localized vegetation data. In this study, the
      MODIS (MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) burned area product MCD64Al
      combined with the active fire product MCD14 ML, as well as a high-resolution land
      cover data set, were applied to develop a high-resolution emission inventory of
      open biomass burning in China in 2013. Total CO, CH4, NOx, NMVOC (nonmethane
      volatile organic compounds), SO2, NH3, PM2.5, PM10, OC (organic carbon), BC
      (black carbon), and CO2 emissions were estimated to be 1.03 * 104, 666, 536, 1.91
      * 103, 87, 138, 1.45 * 103, 2.09 * 103, 741, 137, and 2.45 * 105 Gg,
      respectively. The provinces that contributed the most emissions included
      Heilongjiang, Henan, Shandong, and Jilin. The major source for all pollutants was
      cropland burning, whereas Xizang, Xinjiang, and Heilongjiang had greater
      emissions from natural vegetation. The temporal distribution of average
      provincial emissions showed that the peaks were in June and October. This study
      updated the emission information that may support future research and policy
      making on air pollution control and GHG emission abatement.

PMID- 27652608
TI  - Effects of Elevated Temperature and Food Supply on the Termination of Over
      Summering and Subsequent Development of the Calanoid Copepod Calanus sinicus:
      Morphology, Physiology and Gene Expression.
AB  - The copepod Calanus sinicus Brodsky dominates the zooplankton in the Yellow Sea,
      China, and undergoes over-summering within the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass
      (YSCWM). Termination of over-summering and subsequent development are regarded as
      key processes in population recruitment, and are probably linked to environmental
      variations in the YSCWM. In this study, we examined the effects of temperature (9
      and 18 degrees C) and food conditions (0.1 MUg C mL-1 and unfed) on metabolic
      rates, morphological characteristics, and relative gene expressions of six genes
      involved in molting, gonad development, lipid catabolism, and stress tolerance
      processes of C. sinicus during termination of over-summering and subsequent
      development. Both elevated temperature and external food supply rapidly ended
      over-summering of C. sinicus, accompanied by up-regulation of the ecdysteroid
      receptor (EcR) gene expression and increased metabolic rates. These environmental
      conditions resulted in irreversible termination of over-summering and ensure the
      success of molting. During subsequent development, the lipid reserve in oil sacs
      could permit only early gonad development. The food supply might be a trigger to
      activate the final maturity of gonad by up-regulating expression of the
      vitellogenin receptor (VgR) gene. Thus, food played an indispensable role in
      population recruitment after termination of over-summering, whereas the elevated
      temperature accelerated these physiological processes. This study revealed the
      first dynamic profiles of physiological processes involved in over-summering
      termination and the subsequent development of C. sinicus using morphological,
      physiological and molecular methods simultaneously, confirmed the quiescent state
      of over-summering C5 copepodites, detected the effects of environmental changes
      on over-summering termination and subsequent development, and provided a
      foundation for future investigations of the mechanisms involved in over-summering
      in YSCWM.

PMID- 27652609
TI  - Associations between the gut microbiota and host immune markers in pediatric
      multiple sclerosis and controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As little is known of association(s) between gut microbiota profiles
      and host immunological markers, we explored these in children with and without
      multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Children <=18 years provided stool and blood.
      MS cases were within 2-years of onset. Fecal 16S rRNA gene profiles were
      generated on an Illumina Miseq platform. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were
      isolated, and Treg (CD4+CD25hiCD127lowFoxP3+) frequency and CD4+ T-cell
      intracellular cytokine production evaluated by flow cytometry. Associations
      between microbiota diversity, phylum-level abundances and immune markers were
      explored using Pearson's correlation and adjusted linear regression. RESULTS:
      Twenty-four children (15 relapsing-remitting, nine controls), averaging 12.6
      years were included. Seven were on a disease-modifying drug (DMD) at sample
      collection. Although immune markers (e.g. Th2, Th17, Tregs) did not differ
      between cases and controls (p > 0.05), divergent gut microbiota associations
      occurred; richness correlated positively with Th17 for cases (r = +0.665, p =
      0.018), not controls (r = -0.644, p = 0.061). Bacteroidetes inversely associated
      with Th17 for cases (r = -0.719, p = 0.008), not controls (r = +0.320, p =
      0.401). Fusobacteria correlated with Tregs for controls (r = +0.829, p = 0.006),
      not cases (r = -0.069, p = 0.808). CONCLUSIONS: Our observations motivate further
      exploration to understand disruption of the microbiota-immune balance so early in
      the MS course.

PMID- 27652611
TI  - Natural Compounds for Overcoming Multidrug Resistance in Mycobacteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is currently
      a major health concern due to its growing mortality rates around the world. The
      known anti-TB drugs although are available for the treatment but it produces
      adverse side effects on the human health and are also not very cost effective.
      Moreover, emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) phenomenon has also compromised
      their activities. OBJECTIVE: Hence there is an urgent need to search novel drugs
      and compounds from natural sources having lesser side effects which have proved
      to be vital and widely used nowadays. Many recent studies have been established
      which show promising antimycobacterial activities against MTB. RESULT: This
      review summarizes the various naturally occurring active compounds acting on
      different targets against MTB. Moreover, it also deals with the compounds having
      patent perspective. CONCLUSION: Together, the article laid emphasis on reverting
      towards the natural compounds so that further work is carried out to exploit
      their therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 27652612
TI  - Bacteriophage for Mitigation of Multiple Drug Resistant Biofilm Forming
      Pathogens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microbial communities encased in exopolymeric substances (EPS)
      attached to suitable substrate as biofilms show heightened resistance to multiple
      drugs including antibiotics. One promising control strategy in dealing with the
      ever mounting problem of antibiotic resistance amongst biofilm forming bacterial
      pathogens is the use of biological agents. OBJECTIVE: This review focuses on the
      development of bacteriophages as means of disrupting biofilm forming pathogens
      and hence mitigation of multiple drug resistant organisms. RESULTS:
      Bacteriophages are obligatory viral intracellular parasites that can cause lytic
      infection of their bacterial hosts. Bacteriophage (Phage) therapy is advantageous
      in being highly host specific, safe and non-toxic to humans and hence
      environmental friendly. Bacteriophage induced lysis of cells within the biofilm
      is aided by the production of penetrating enzymes such as endolysins and EPS
      depolymerases as well quorum sensing inhibitors such as lactonases. CONCLUSION:
      Phages are a promising alternative therapy for the control of multiple drug
      resistant (MDR) pathogens. Several phage (indigenous and engineered)/ phage
      products are currently being patented and developed as commercial biological
      control agents.

PMID- 27652613
TI  - Targeting MYC: is it getting any easier?

PMID- 27652614
TI  - A review on locomotion robophysics: the study of movement at the intersection of
      robotics, soft matter and dynamical systems.
AB  - Discovery of fundamental principles which govern and limit effective locomotion
      (self-propulsion) is of intellectual interest and practical importance. Human
      technology has created robotic moving systems that excel in movement on and
      within environments of societal interest: paved roads, open air and water.
      However, such devices cannot yet robustly and efficiently navigate (as animals
      do) the enormous diversity of natural environments which might be of future
      interest for autonomous robots; examples include vertical surfaces like trees and
      cliffs, heterogeneous ground like desert rubble and brush, turbulent flows found
      near seashores, and deformable/flowable substrates like sand, mud and soil. In
      this review we argue for the creation of a physics of moving systems-a
      'locomotion robophysics'-which we define as the pursuit of principles of self
      generated motion. Robophysics can provide an important intellectual complement to
      the discipline of robotics, largely the domain of researchers from engineering
      and computer science. The essential idea is that we must complement the study of
      complex robots in complex situations with systematic study of simplified robotic
      devices in controlled laboratory settings and in simplified theoretical models.
      We must thus use the methods of physics to examine both locomotor successes and
      failures using parameter space exploration, systematic control, and techniques
      from dynamical systems. Using examples from our and others' research, we will
      discuss how such robophysical studies have begun to aid engineers in the creation
      of devices that have begun to achieve life-like locomotor abilities on and within
      complex environments, have inspired interesting physics questions in low
      dimensional dynamical systems, geometric mechanics and soft matter physics, and
      have been useful to develop models for biological locomotion in complex terrain.
      The rapidly decreasing cost of constructing robot models with easy access to
      significant computational power bodes well for scientists and engineers to engage
      in a discipline which can readily integrate experiment, theory and computation.

PMID- 27652610
TI  - A randomised trial on platelet function-guided de-escalation of antiplatelet
      treatment in ACS patients undergoing PCI. Rationale and design of the Testing
      Responsiveness to Platelet Inhibition on Chronic Antiplatelet Treatment for Acute
      Coronary Syndromes (TROPICAL-ACS) Trial.
AB  - Outcomes of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients undergoing percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI) have been significantly improved with the use of
      potent P2Y12 receptor inhibitors like prasugrel. While most of the ischaemic risk
      reduction for prasugrel versus clopidogrel was demonstrated in the early
      treatment period, the risk of bleeding became particularly prominent during the
      chronic course of therapy. It may therefore be a valid approach to substitute
      prasugrel for clopidogrel in the early phase of chronic antiplatelet treatment
      after PCI. In the Testing Responsiveness To Platelet Inhibition On Chronic
      Antiplatelet Treatment For Acute Coronary Syndromes (TROPICAL-ACS) trial, we aim
      to compare standard prasugrel therapy with a de-escalating antiplatelet treatment
      approach guided by platelet function testing (PFT). The study is an investigator
      initiated European multicentre, randomised clinical trial in biomarker-positive
      ACS patients after successful PCI. Two thousand six hundred patients will be
      randomised prior to hospital discharge in a 1:1 fashion to either receive
      standard prasugrel therapy (control group) or de-escalating therapy (one-week
      prasugrel followed by one-week clopidogrel and PFT-guided maintenance therapy
      from day 14 after hospital discharge, monitoring group). Patients of the
      monitoring group with high on-clopidogrel platelet reactivity (HPR) based on
      Multiplate analyzer testing (HPR: >= 46U per consensus definition) will be
      switched back to prasugrel, whereas those without HPR (<46 U) will continue
      clopidogrel treatment. The overall study treatment duration will be one year in
      both groups. The primary endpoint of the study is net clinical benefit (combined
      incidence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke and bleeding >=
      grade 2 according to BARC criteria) one-year after randomisation. TROPICAL-ACS is
      the first large-scale, randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical value
      of a PFT-guided de-escalation of antiplatelet treatment in biomarker positive ACS
      patients undergoing PCI.

PMID- 27652615
TI  - Comparative study of hostility in depressive patients with and without a suicide
      attempt history.
AB  - Hostility in association with depression seems to be connected to suicidal
      behavior. This study aimed to evaluate hostility and its dimensions in relation
      to depression in patients who suffered from diagnosed depression with and without
      a suicide attempt history. The study included 168 participants; 58 patients with
      depression and suicide attempt history, 55 patients with depression without a
      suicide attempt history and 55 healthy controls. Hostility was assessed with the
      Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, while depression with the
      Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Patients with depression and a suicide attempt
      history compared with the patients without attempt history presented
      statistically significantly higher total hostility (28.71 +/- 6.43 vs 24.20 +/-
      7.66), extroverted hostility (17.16 +/- 4.37 vs 14.15 +/- 4.63), acting out
      hostility (6.03 +/- 2.09 vs 4.73 +/- 1.93), and self criticism (6.95 +/- 2.12 vs
      5.89 +/- 2.32). No statistically significant differences were found between the
      two clinical groups in depression according to the BDI. Moreover depressive
      patients with suicide attempt history scored higher in all the hostility
      dimensions than the controls. Therefore, it could be suggested that hostility and
      especially its extrapunitive dimensions are associated with suicidal behavior,
      since no differences in depression were recorded between the two clinical groups.

PMID- 27652618
TI  - Born to write.
AB  - While it sometimes appears that the skills of nurses are tenfold, it doesn't
      always follow that they are the greatest writers of our time. Nor should it be
      assumed that having something worthwhile to say is a sufficient credential for
      excellence in writing.

PMID- 27652619
TI  - Call to increase security after nurses attacked.
AB  - Brighton nurses are demanding better security at local hospitals and nurses'
      homes following a spate of attacks against staff returning from late shifts.

PMID- 27652616
TI  - Sucralose Non-Carcinogenicity: A Review of the Scientific and Regulatory
      Rationale.
AB  - Regulatory authorities worldwide have found the nonnutritive sweetener,
      sucralose, to be noncarcinogenic, based on a range of studies. A review of these
      and other studies found through a comprehensive search of electronic databases,
      using appropriate key terms, was conducted and results of that review are
      reported here. An overview of the types of studies relied upon by regulatory
      agencies to assess carcinogenicity potential is also provided as context.
      Physiochemical and pharmacokinetic/toxicokinetic studies confirm stability under
      conditions of use and reveal no metabolites of carcinogenic potential. In vitro
      and in vivo assays reveal no confirmed genotoxic activity. Long-term
      carcinogenicity studies in animal models provide no evidence of carcinogenic
      potential for sucralose. In studies in healthy adults, sucralose was well
      tolerated and without evidence of toxicity or other changes that might suggest a
      potential for carcinogenic effects. In summary, sucralose does not demonstrate
      carcinogenic activity even when exposure levels are several orders of magnitude
      greater than the range of anticipated daily ingestion levels.

PMID- 27652620
TI  - Parliamentary support for Lothian nurses.
AB  - Lothian health chiefs have been urged not to make Edinburgh nurses pay the price
      of other people's blunders.

PMID- 27652621
TI  - ?
AB  - Triple trouble. The first ever helpline for families with twins or larger
      multiple births is to be set up by the Twins and Multiple Births Association. The
      National Tamba Twinline Appeal was launched in London last week.

PMID- 27652617
TI  - Cardiovascular safety of therapies for type 2 diabetes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1
      (GLP-1) analogs and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are
      relatively new therapies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Given the
      high prevalence of cardiovascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes
      and recent concerns questioning CV safety of newer antidiabetic medications,
      cardiovascular safety of these medications requires evaluation. Areas covered:
      Cardiovascular effects of these drug classes from preclinical and clinical data
      as well as non-cardiovascular safety issues are delineated from literature
      searches covering the last decade and up to June 2016. Major clinical trials
      assessing the cardiovascular safety of GLP-1 agonists (ELIXA and LEADER), DPP-4
      inhibitors (SAVOR-TIMI 53, EXAMINE, and TECOS) and SGLT2 inhibitors (EMPA-REG
      OUTCOME) are reviewed and interpreted. Expert opinion: Based on review of the
      present evidence, these 3 classes of antihyperglycemic therapies have acceptably
      safe CV safety profiles for patients with type 2 diabetes. The latest evidence
      from LEADER and EMPA-REG OUTCOME trials indicate that liraglutide and
      empagliflozin have cardiovascular benefits that may prove to be of clinical
      importance in the management of type 2 DM.

PMID- 27652622
TI  - Walk out over Project 2000 'shambles'.
AB  - Angry student nurses in Manchester have staged a walk out in protest at a Project
      2000 course they describe as a 'shambles'.

PMID- 27652623
TI  - Court case to settle grading appeal?
AB  - Two nurses who are challenging Enfield Health Authority's decision to downgrade
      them are taking their case to the High Court, with the backing of the Royal
      College of Nursing.

PMID- 27652624
TI  - Gulf-bound nurses could be armed.
AB  - British Army nurses heading for service in the Gulf may be issued with guns to
      protect themselves.

PMID- 27652625
TI  - ?
AB  - Hat trick: Natural childbirth pioneer Dr Grantly Dick-Read looks down on author
      Sheila Kitzinger as she addresses a National Childbirth Trust conference in
      London last week, to celebrate his centenary.

PMID- 27652626
TI  - Haemophiliacs will win compensation battle.
AB  - Haemophiliacs who became HIV positive from infected blood products will win their
      their case against the Government for compensation, a barrister told a conference
      last week.

PMID- 27652628
TI  - Patient crimes: RCN seek rule amendment.
AB  - The RCN is to seek an amendment to rules which prevent nurses from reporting
      crimes committed against them by patients attending special clinics.

PMID- 27652630
TI  - Labour promises non-market NHS.
AB  - The National Health Service could face a further four years of reorganisation if
      Labour wins the next election, Shadow Health Secretary Robin Cook warned last
      week.

PMID- 27652629
TI  - ?
AB  - MP Sam Galbraith tests his lung power at the RCN's stand in Blackpool last week.

PMID- 27652631
TI  - Health service 'ignores safety laws'.
AB  - The NHS is still not obeying the law in relation to providing safe working
      premises, despite the removal of Crown immunity, John Goodlad, RCN Labour
      Relations Officer, warned last week.

PMID- 27652633
TI  - Peak flow meters now on prescription.
AB  - Life-saving peak flow meters which help asthmatics monitor their condition and
      warn them of an impending attack are now available on prescription.

PMID- 27652634
TI  - 'Political will needed' to ensure nurse prescribing.
AB  - Nurses must put pressure on the Government to give its response to the nurse
      prescribing proposals, the Chair of the Nurse Prescribing Working Party has
      urged.

PMID- 27652636
TI  - ?
AB  - On call: Julia Cairns (left) and her team of six experts will be hiking calls on
      the new Cerebal Palsy Helpline (freephone 0800 626216) every day from 1pm-10pm.
      Julia is pictured with Agony Aunt Claire Rayner at the Helpline launch in London.

PMID- 27652635
TI  - New guide to healthy lifestyles launched.
AB  - A new healthy lifestyles guide has been launched in a joint project between the
      Royal College of Nursing and the National Dairy Council.

PMID- 27652638
TI  - World news.
AB  - Eastern Europe Coronary heart disease (CHD) is set to become one of the major
      killers in East European countries, a survey comparing attitudes to health and
      diet between the UK and Eastern Europe has shown.

PMID- 27652639
TI  - ?
AB  - A new rehabilitation unit, offering holistic treatment for drug addicts, has
      opened in London. The CORE Trust Day Centre's rehabilitation programme includes
      acupuncture, herbal remedies and meditation alongside more traditional methods of
      detoxification.

PMID- 27652641
TI  - 'Caring for Romania Appeal'.
AB  - A cheque for L4,000 was presented to the 'Caring for Romania Appeal' by the
      Federation of Piling Specialists, a group representing the piling industry in
      construction.

PMID- 27652642
TI  - National chest week to raise public awareness.
AB  - Respiratory disease is responsible for the loss of more working days than any
      other single cause in this country according to the Chest, Heart and Stroke
      Association.

PMID- 27652643
TI  - Syphilis cases are increasing in the US.
AB  - Rising numbers of syphilis cases in the United States have led to fears that
      safer sexual practices are still being rejected by certain groups.

PMID- 27652644
TI  - Dyskaryosis tests find a high cancer risk.
AB  - Women found to have mild or moderate dyskaryosis in cervical smears should be
      kept under regular surveillance, according to a recent study.

PMID- 27652645
TI  - Call for better data on low-weight births.
AB  - A new registration system for classifying very low-birth-weight babies should be
      adopted so the effect of changes in practice can be monitored, a European
      Community working group said last week.

PMID- 27652646
TI  - Treating hypertension during pregnancy.
AB  - There is unlikely to be any benefit from treating mild essential hypertension in
      pregnancy, Glasgow researchers say.

PMID- 27652647
TI  - Effects on platelet count with interleukin.
AB  - Interleukin-1 might be useful in the treatment of thrombocytopenic disorders
      associated with haematological conditions and chemotherapy treatment.

PMID- 27652648
TI  - Pulling the plug on hair loss for men.
AB  - Researchers claim to have found a method for controlling hair loss and restoring
      thinning thatches in 'male pattern' baldness.

PMID- 27652649
TI  - Reducing risk of herpes in infants.
AB  - Acyclovir given antepartum might prevent shedding of herpes simplex virus at the
      time of delivery and thus reduce the risk of infant exposure to the virus.

PMID- 27652650
TI  - Asthma treatment by ambulance crews.
AB  - Nebulised salbutamol can be given safely by ambulance crews to patients with
      acute asthma, and should be available in all ambulances used to transport such
      patients to hospital.

PMID- 27652651
TI  - My escape from Kuwait.
AB  - British nurse Teresa Fannon found herself sitting at gunpoint in a corridor when
      Iraqi soldiers stormed Kuwait's Ahmadi Hospital in the middle of the night.

PMID- 27652652
TI  - Looking for the right candidate.
AB  - June Clark's unopposed election as President of the Royal College of Nursing
      leaves her successor as Deputy President with a formidable act to follow - but
      the candidates have the bonus of knowing that their term of office as her deputy
      is likely to be highly stimulating.

PMID- 27652653
TI  - Courses outweigh job performance.
AB  - With reference to your editorial "Vision for the future' (Nursing Standard
      September 26 1990), on the United Kingdom Central ( Council s Post Registration
      Education and Practice Project (PREPP).

PMID- 27652655
TI  - Answers to last week's crossword.

PMID- 27652654
TI  - Midwives can afford bank.
AB  - Further to your editorial and news story 'Midwife couldn't afford to work on
      bank' (Nursing Standard September 19).

PMID- 27652657
TI  - Making sense.
AB  - Nursing Standard would like to apologise to Dr Elizabeth Clark for errors which
      appeared in the published article in the issue dated August 8, 1990 titled
      'Making sense of descriptive statistics'.

PMID- 27652658
TI  - Foot note.
AB  - In reference to Alethea Foster's article 'Clinical Chiropody' (Nursing Standard
      July 11).

PMID- 27652656
TI  - Information exchange.
AB  - We are thinking of starting a pre-retirement group with the onus on health care
      and prevention and would like to hear from anyone who has initiated a similar
      group for information/advice.

PMID- 27652660
TI  - Support for the non-graduate.
AB  - As a nurse in my fifties, with 30 years' experience under my belt, (pace the anti
      uniform lobby) I am prompted to write in response to your news item on one of The
      Royal Marsden debates (Nursing Standard September 5-12 1990). How reassuring it
      is to know that there are still people in the profession who are willing to
      defend the status of the non-graduate, clinically experienced nurse.

PMID- 27652659
TI  - Teamwork carries the ball.
AB  - I, too, found Trevor Clay's first column interesting, in particular his comments
      regarding the Lancet editorial about the changing relationships between doctors
      and nurses.

PMID- 27652661
TI  - Springhouse Drug Reference Loeb S Springhouse Drug Reference Springhouse 1392pp
      L19.95 0-87434-180-9 [Formula: see text].
AB  - My first impression of Springhouse Drug Reference was that its size and its price
      would restrict it to the reference section of a nursing library. On further
      inspection, I felt that it covered in a thorough, methodical way the mechanics
      and effects ol drug information by both trade and generic names.

PMID- 27652662
TI  - Nurse Education Burnard P and Chapman C Nurse Education Scutari 152pp ?10.95 1
      871364-34-5 [Formula: see text].
AB  - Clear and factual, Nurse Education contains much that its title does not
      indicate. Philip Burnard and Christine Chapman, two well-known nurse educators,
      collaborated to write a concise book about nurse education in the past, present
      and future.

PMID- 27652663
TI  - Nursing Research: A Skills-Based Introduction Nursing Research: A Skills-Based
      Introduction Clifford C and Gough S Presentice Hall 12.95 0-13-629114-7 [Formula:
      see text].
AB  - Clifford and Stephen Gough offer Nursing Research as an 'easy to read' guide to
      research, based on their experience in introducing students and trained staff to
      the 'mysteries' of research over several years. I found it very easy to read.

PMID- 27652664
TI  - Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: 'a procedure of choice'.
AB  - Over half a million open cholecystectomies are performed on American patients
      each year. However, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is becoming increasingly common
      after first being used by Saye and McKernan in 1988. Contraindications to the
      procedure may be previous extensive abdominal surgery, jaundice secondary to
      common duct stones and abdominal malignancy.

PMID- 27652665
TI  - Theatre Nursing Adams A Theatre Nursing Heinemann Nursing 212pp L10.95 0-433
      00074-0 [Formula: see text].
AB  - Theatre Nursing is an excellent book. It's compact, very easy to read, light and
      at times humorous, while still being informative. It is addressed mainly to
      student nurses and aims to demystify 'this strange environment'.

PMID- 27652666
TI  - Disposal of medical waste: the problems continue to increase.
AB  - More than 3 million metric tons of medical waste is produced in the United States
      each year. Its disposal costs in excess of 3 billion dollars according to one
      estimate, reported in an American nursing journal.

PMID- 27652667
TI  - Dedication of Special Issue on Purinergic Regulation in the Eye to Mortimer M.
      Civan.

PMID- 27652668
TI  - Total reconstruction of giant congenital circumferential nevi of the upper limb
      using a large pedicle expanded flank flap: A brief report.
AB  - Tissue expansion is an invaluable reconstructive strategy after surgical excision
      of a congenital naevus. However, reducing the number of operations is very
      important for patients with a giant congenital naevus. We used a large pedicle
      expanded flank flap to successfully treat a giant circumferential naevus that
      extended from the left upper arm to the wrist, which also provided excellent
      contour and colour match. We consider this an effective and convenient method to
      treat a circumferential naevus covering almost the entire upper limb of the
      paediatric patient.

PMID- 27652670
TI  - Four categories of LEEP for CIN of various areas: a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness and safety of loop electrosurgical excision
      procedures (LEEP) with four different excisions in treating cervical
      intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) of different areas. METHODS: Four hundred and
      sixty-six cases of CIN were treated with different types of LEEP. Following
      visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol's iodine, LEEP were performed to
      excise the transformation zone to a 20-25 mm depth with a 2-3 mm margin. Four
      categories of procedures are described below: (i) LEEP-A for lesion >=2/3 of
      cervical area: conization of >=2/3 of cervical tissue. (ii) LEEP-B for >=1/3 but
      <2/3: conization of 1/3 to <2/3. (iii) LEEP-C for <1/3: conization of <1/3. (iv)
      LEEP-D: endocervical canal resection. RESULTS: The cases included 108 of CIN I,
      232 of CIN II, and 106 of CIN III (not including carcinoma in situ) patients. No
      positive margin was found in any specimens. The cure rates for LEEP-A, B, C, and
      D were 99.1%, 98.5%, 100.0%, and 93.2%, respectively (p > .05). The pregnancy
      rate at two years after LEEP was significantly higher in groups C and D compared
      to group A (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Four categories of LEEP are highly effective
      in the treatment of CIN when appropriately applied. However, large loop excision
      may lead to adverse obstetric outcomes in pregnancy.

PMID- 27652669
TI  - In silico analysis of the transportome in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - The altered expression and/or activity of ion channels and transporters
      (transportome) have been associated with malignant behavior of cancer cells and
      were proposed to be a hallmark of cancer. However, the impact of altered
      transportome in epithelial cancers, such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
      (PDAC), as well as its pathophysiological consequences, still remains unclear.
      Here, we report the in silico analysis of 840 transportome genes in PDAC
      patients' tissues. Our study was focused on the transportome changes and their
      correlation with functional and behavioral responses in PDAC tumor and stromal
      compartments. The dysregulated gene expression datasets were filtered using a cut
      off of fold-change values <=-2 or >=2 (adjusted p value <=0.05). The dysregulated
      transportome genes were clearly associated with impaired physiological secretory
      mechanisms and/or pH regulation, control of cell volume, and cell polarity.
      Additionally, some down-regulated transportome genes were found to be closely
      linked to epithelial cell differentiation. Furthermore, the observed decrease in
      genes coding for calcium and chloride transport might be a mechanism for evasion
      of apoptosis. In conclusion, the current work provides a comprehensive overview
      of the altered transportome expression and its association with predicted PDAC
      malignancy with special focus on the epithelial compartment.

PMID- 27652672
TI  - Conducting questionnaire surveys in the community.

PMID- 27652673
TI  - Answer to the Letter to the Editor of J. Huang et al. concerning "Risk factors
      for surgical site infection and urinary tract infection after spine surgery" by
      Tominaga H, Setoguchi T, Ishidou Y, Nagano S, Yamamoto T, and Komiya S (2016) Eur
      Spine J; DOI 10.1007/s00586-016-4674-2.

PMID- 27652671
TI  - Variation of Burkholderia cenocepacia virulence potential during cystic fibrosis
      chronic lung infection.
AB  - During long-term lung infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, Burkholderia
      cenocepacia faces multiple selective pressures in this highly stressful and
      fluctuating environment. As a consequence, the initial infecting strain undergoes
      genetic changes that result in the diversification of genotypes and phenotypes.
      Whether this clonal expansion influences the pathogenic potential is unclear. The
      virulence potential of 39 sequential B. cenocepacia (recA lineage IIIA) isolates,
      corresponding to 3 different clones retrieved from 3 chronically infected CF
      patients was compared in this study using the non-mammalian infection hosts
      Galleria mellonella and Caenorhabditis elegans. The isolates used in this
      retrospective study were picked randomly from selective agar plates as part of a
      CF Center routine, from the onset of infection until patients' death after 3.5
      and 7.5 y or the more recent isolation date after 12.5 y of chronic infection.
      The infection models proved useful to assess virulence potential diversification,
      but for some isolates the relative values diverged in C. elegans and G.
      mellonella. Results also reinforce the concept of the occurrence of clonal
      diversification and co-existence of multiple phenotypes within the CF lungs, also
      with respect to pathogenicity. No clear trend of decrease (or increase) of the
      virulence potential throughout long-term infection was found but there is an
      apparent tendency for a clone/patient-dependent decrease of virulence when the G.
      mellonella model was used. The sole avirulent variant in both infection hosts was
      found to lack the small third replicon previously associated to virulence.
      Although possible, the in vivo loss of this nonessential megaplasmid was found to
      be a rare event (1 among a total of 64 isolates examined).

PMID- 27652674
TI  - Increased intrathecal pressure after traumatic spinal cord injury: an
      illustrative case presentation and a review of the literature.
AB  - PURPOSE: Early surgical management after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is
      nowadays recommended. Since posttraumatic ischemia is an important sequel after
      SCI, maintenance of an adequate mean arterial pressure (MAP) within the first
      week remains crucial in order to warrant sufficient spinal cord perfusion.
      However, the contribution of raised intraparenchymal and consecutively increased
      intrathecal pressure has not been implemented in treatment strategies. METHODS:
      Case report and review of the literature. RESULTS: Here we report a case of a 54
      year old man who experienced a thoracic spinal cord injury after a fall. CT
      examination revealed complex fractures of the thoracic spine. The patient
      underwent prompt surgical intervention. Intraoperatively, fractured parts of the
      ascending Th5 facet joint were displaced into the spinal cord itself. Upon
      removal, excessive protruding of medullary tissue was observed over several
      minutes. This demonstrates the clinical relevance of increased intrathecal
      pressure in some patients. CONCLUSION: Monitoring and counteracting raised
      intrathecal pressure should guide clinical decision-making in the future in order
      to ensure optimal spinal cord perfusion pressure for every affected individual.

PMID- 27652675
TI  - Radiation exposure using the O-arm(r) surgical imaging system.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was conducted to characterise the O-arm(r) surgical imaging
      system in terms of patient organ doses and medical staff occupational exposure
      during three-dimensional thoracic spine and pelvic examinations. METHODS: An
      anthropomorphic phantom was used to evaluate absorbed organ doses during a three
      dimensional thoracic spine scan and a three-dimensional pelvic scan with the O
      arm(r). Staff occupational exposure was evaluated by constructing an ambient dose
      cartography of the operating theatre during a three-dimensional pelvic scan as
      well as using an anthropomorphic phantom to simulate the O-arm(r) operator.
      RESULTS: Patient organ doses ranged from 30 +/- 4 MUGy to 20.0 +/- 3.0 mGy and 4
      +/- 1 MUGy to 6.7 +/- 1.0 mGy for a three-dimensional thoracic spine and pelvic
      examination, respectively. For a single three-dimensional acquisition, the
      maximum ambient equivalent dose at 2 m from the iso-centre was 11 +/- 1 MUSv.
      CONCLUSION: Doses delivered to the patient during a three-dimensional thoracic
      spine image acquisition were found to be significant with the O-arm(r), but lower
      than those observed with a standard computed tomography examination. The detailed
      dose cartography allows for the optimisation of medical staff positioning within
      the operating theatre while imaging with the O-arm(r).

PMID- 27652676
TI  - Letter to the Editor concerning "Risk factors for surgical site infection and
      urinary tract infection after spine surgery" by Tominaga, H, Setoguchi, T,
      Ishidou, Y, Nagano, S, Yamamoto, T, Komiya S (2016) Eur Spine J;
      doi:10.1007/s00586-016-4674-2.

PMID- 27652677
TI  - Serous degeneration of bone marrow mimics spinal tumor.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present a rare case of serous degeneration of bone marrow which
      resembles primary spinal tumor or bony metastasis to spine. Serous degeneration
      of bone marrow or gelatinous marrow transformation is a rare disease
      characterized by focal marrow hypoplasia, fat atrophy, and accumulation of
      extracellular mucopolysaccharides abundant in hyaluronic acid. Few literature was
      reviewed and few clinical case was presented. METHODS: Two cases of serous marrow
      transformation were reported. RESULTS: In the first case, a 29-year-old man
      suffered from severe left buttock pain. Bone metastasis was impressed in
      radiology examinations. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy was performed
      along with bone biopsy. In the second case, a 49-year-old man presented lower
      back pain with radiation to bilateral lower legs. Magnetic resonance imaging
      revealed a water-like signal lesion in sacrum. Serous marrow transformation was
      confirmed pathologically in both cases. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge,
      a case of serous degeneration of bone marrow resembling malignancy has not been
      reported in the literature. In this report, two cases demonstrate serous
      transformation of bone marrow mimics spinal tumor.

PMID- 27652678
TI  - Biomechanical consideration of prosthesis selection in hybrid surgery for bi
      level cervical disc degenerative diseases.
AB  - PURPOSE: Hybrid surgery (HS) coupling total disc replacement and fusion has been
      increasingly applied for multilevel cervical disc diseases (CDD). However,
      selection of the optimal disc prosthesis for HS in an individual patient has not
      been investigated. This study aimed to distinguish the biomechanical performances
      of five widely used prostheses (Bryan, ProDisc-C, PCM, Mobi-C, and Discover) in
      HS for the treatment of bi-level CDD. METHODS: A finite element model of healthy
      cervical spine (C3-C7) was developed, and five HS models using different disc
      prostheses were constructed by arthrodesis at C4-C5 and by arthroplasty at C5-C6.
      First, the rotational displacements in flexion (Fl), extension, axial rotation,
      and lateral bending in the healthy model under 1.0 Nm moments combined with 73.6
      N follower load were achieved, and then the maximum rotations in each direction
      combined with the same follower load were applied in the surgical models
      following displacement control testing protocols. RESULTS: The range of motion
      (ROM) of the entire operative and adjacent levels was close to that of the
      healthy spine for ball-in-socket prostheses, that is, ProDisc-C, Mobi-C, and
      Discover, in Fl. For Bryan and PCM, the ROM of the operative levels was less than
      that of the healthy spine in Fl and resulted in the increase in ROMs at the
      adjacent levels. Ball-in-socket prostheses produced similar reaction moments (92
      99 %) in Fl, which were close to that of the healthy spine. Meanwhile, Bryan and
      PCM required greater moments (>130 %). The adjacent intradiscal pressures (IDPs)
      in the models of ball-in-socket prostheses were close to that of the healthy
      spine. Meanwhile, in the models of Bryan and PCM, the adjacent IDPs were 25 %
      higher than that of the ball-in-socket models. The maximum facet stress in the
      model of Mobi-C was the greatest among all prostheses, which was approximately
      two times that of the healthy spine. Moreover, Bryan produced the largest stress
      on the bone-implant interface, followed by PCM, Mobi-C, ProDisc-C, and Discover.
      CONCLUSION: Each disc prosthesis has its biomechanical advantages and
      disadvantages in HS and should be selected on an individual patient basis. In
      general, ProDisc-C, Mobi-C, and Discover produced similar performances in terms
      of spinal motions, adjacent IDPs, and driving moments, whereas Bryan and PCM
      produced similar biomechanical performances. Therefore, HS with Discover, Bryan,
      and PCM may be suitable for patients with potential risk of facet joint
      degeneration, whereas HS with ProDisc-C, Mobi-C, and Discover may be suitable for
      patients with potential risk of vertebral osteoporosis.

PMID- 27652679
TI  - The economic burden of guideline-recommended first line care for acute low back
      pain.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report health care costs and the factors associated with such costs
      in people with acute low back pain receiving guideline-recommended first line
      care. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a trial which found no difference
      in clinical outcomes. Participants with acute low back pain received reassurance
      and advice, and either paracetamol (taken regularly or as needed) or placebo for
      up to 4 weeks and followed up for 12 weeks. Data on health service utilisation
      were collected by self-report. A health sector perspective was adopted to report
      all direct costs incurred (in 2015 AUD, 1 AUD = 0.53 Euro). Costs were reported
      for the entire study cohort and for each group. Various baseline clinical,
      demographic, work-related and socioeconomic factors were investigated for their
      association with increased costs using generalised linear models. RESULTS: The
      mean cost per participant was AUD167.74 (SD = 427.24) for the entire cohort (n =
      1365). Most of these costs were incurred in primary care through visits to a
      general practitioner or physiotherapist. Compared to the placebo group, there was
      an increase in cost when paracetamol was taken. Multivariate analysis showed that
      disability, symptom duration and compensation were associated with costs.
      Receiving compensation was associated with a twofold increase compared to not
      receiving compensation. CONCLUSIONS: Taking paracetamol as part of first line
      care for acute low back pain increased the economic burden. Higher disability,
      longer symptom duration and receiving compensation were independently associated
      with increased health care costs.

PMID- 27652680
TI  - Accidental or linked: separated odontoid process fused to the enlarged anterior
      arch of the atlas associated with atlantoaxial subluxation in a Kashin-Beck
      disease patient.
AB  - PURPOSE: KBD is an endemic disease affecting the epiphyseal growth plate and
      articular cartilage of multiple joints, resulting in extremities' deformation and
      skeletal dysplasia. More attention has been paid to the visible deformed
      extremities instead of inconspicuous spinal condition. There is a lack of reports
      concerning the spinal radiological features, especially for the atlantoaxial
      joint. The aim of this paper is to report a case of a Kashin-Beck disease (KBD)
      patient diagnosed with atlantoaxial subluxation, concomitant with separated
      odontoid process fused to the enlarged anterior arch of the atlas. METHODS: We
      report the case of a 60-year-old woman with 54 years' history of KBD complaining
      of occipitocervical pain, decreasing motor strength and sensory function of both
      upper and lower extremities. Subsequent radiological examinations of lateral
      plain radiography, computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging were
      performed to reveal these rare characteristics of atlantoaxial joint in this
      patient. Then, we review the associated articles to postulate whether this
      anomaly is accidental or linked in a KBD patient. RESULTS: She had an extremely
      rare variant with three aspects of characteristics: atlantoaxial subluxation
      concurrent with severe spinal canal stenosis and spinal cord compression,
      odontoid process separating from the body of axis, and the enlarged anterior arch
      of the atlas fusion with odontoid process. Comparing with the congenital anomaly
      of atlantoaxial joint, we postulated that this aetiology of anomaly might be
      linked to the acquired form attributed to the histopathology of KBD, rather than
      an accidental event. CONCLUSIONS: The anomaly of atlantoaxial joint might occur
      in KBD patients. Larger numbers of KBD candidates with earlier symptoms are
      recommended for radiological examinations of atlantoaxial joint, especially for
      the adolescents. Spinal surgeons are suggested to involve the research of the
      spinal anatomy and variation for the prevention and earlier therapy for KBD
      patients.

PMID- 27652681
TI  - Resection of giant invasive sacral schwannoma using image-based customized
      osteotomy tools.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Giant invasive sacral schwannomas are rare tumors. Surgical excision
      is the standard treatment and total resection is performed if feasible. Advances
      in three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology have facilitated treatment designs
      of complex surgical procedures. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate virtual
      surgical planning, computer-aided design (CAD), and manufacturing with 3D
      printing technology of the customized osteotomy guiding device in giant invasive
      sacral schwannoma resection. METHODS: A digital 3D model of the sacrum, including
      the giant invasive sacral schwannoma, was rendered from patient computer
      tomography (CT) images. The surgeon chose excision margins of the tumor. Based on
      the virtual surgical planning, the customized guiding tool for osteotomy was
      designed and manufactured using the CAD and 3D printing. RESULTS: We used the
      guiding block to successfully excise a giant sacral schwannoma using only a
      posterior approach to achieve gross total resection. No augmented spinal
      instrumentation was used to prevent iatrogenic spinal instability. Clinical
      symptoms resolved dramatically after operation. No spinal instability occurred
      during follow-up. CONCLUSION: With the assistance of an image-based customized
      osteotomy guiding device, we achieved both goals of tumor resection and bone
      preservation in giant sacral schwannoma resection. With thorough surgical
      planning, this technology can be applied to the complex surgical procedures
      easily and reliably.

PMID- 27652682
TI  - Autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis in chinese: a study of 320 patients at
      a large tertiary medical center.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis (AMAG) is an uncommon
      disease worldwide and may predispose to gastric carcinoid tumors or
      adenocarcinomas. The aims of this study were to outline the clinical
      characteristics of Chinese AMAG patients, including demographic pattern,
      hematologic features, and gastroscopic and histopathologic findings. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A total of 320 Chinese patients with AMAG, from January 2007 to December
      2014, were reviewed in a regional hospital of China. RESULTS: Of the 320 AMAG
      patients, the mean age was 60.6 +/- 12.3 years [range 26-86; 206 (64.4%) women].
      The coarse annual detection rate was 0.9%. Anemia was present in only 19.3%
      patients (53/275) and 3.5% (11/315) AMAG patients also had primary biliary
      cirrhosis. One hundred and thirty-six had endoscopically identifiable lesions.
      These lesions consisted of 130 polypoid lesions (63 hyperplastic polyps, 2
      oxyntic mucosa pseudopolyps, 2 intestinal-type gastric adenomas, 2 fundic gland
      polyps, 5 concurrent polyps, 14 well-differentiated neuroendocrine neoplasms, 7
      submucosal tumors and 35 chronic gastritis), 6 adenocarcinomas. The detection
      rate of atrophy and intestinal metaplasia in antral mucosa were 47.2 and 37.5%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: AMAG is more frequent than expected in China and
      display a female predominance, accompanied with other autoimmune disorders. AMAG
      should be paid more attention by clinicians through a multidisciplinary team
      approach.

PMID- 27652683
TI  - Endoscopic resection for patients with mucosal adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.
AB  - Due to its rapidly increasing incidence in the last decade, esophageal
      adenocarcinoma has been attracting widespread interest among gastroenterologists
      all over the world. Advanced adenocarcinomas arising from intestinal metaplasia
      in the esophagus (Barrett's esophagus, BE) are associated with a poor prognosis
      when esophagectomy is required. In addition to high mortality rates, there is a
      significant morbidity rate among patients who undergo surgery. However, if cancer
      can be diagnosed at an early stage, the endoscopic treatment options that are
      available significantly reduce the mortality rates. International guidelines
      recommend that endoscopic treatment should be carried out in all patients with
      mucosal cancer and low-risk criteria, but the method of choice for resection has
      been a matter of continuing debate. Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and
      endoscopic submucosal dissection are the main techniques competing in this field.
      Endoscopists also have to be able to manage potential complications and need to
      know how to deal with recurrences. Finally, it is essential to treat
      nondysplastic BE as an important part of the treatment, in order to avoid
      metachronous neoplasia. Different methods of ablative treatment, such as argon
      plasma coagulation and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), have been included in the
      subsequent treatment after resection. This review introduces and evaluates the
      different resection methods and discusses ablative therapy and surveillance
      protocols. The major scientific databases (Medline / PubMed) were searched for
      diagnoses and treatment in early esophageal adenocarcinoma. The current
      literature and the latest national and international guidelines were also
      included in order to obtain a good overview of the field. In areas in which there
      is a low quality of evidence, such as poor healing after endoscopic treatment,
      the authors offer recommendations based on their own experience in this field.

PMID- 27652684
TI  - Correlates of fruit, vegetable, soft drink, and snack intake among adolescents:
      the ESSENS study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identifying modifiable correlates of dietary behaviors is of utmost
      importance for the promotion of healthy dietary behaviors. OBJECTIVE: This study
      explores individual, home, and school/neighborhood environmental correlates of
      dietary behaviors (intake of fruits, vegetables, soft drinks, and unhealthy
      snacks) among adolescents. METHODS: In total, 742 adolescents with a mean age of
      13.6 (SD=0.3) were included in this cross-sectional study conducted in 11
      secondary schools located in the eastern part of Norway. A web-based
      questionnaire was used to collect data. Univariable and multivariable linear
      regression analyses were used to explore factors associated with the dietary
      behaviors included. RESULTS: A higher frequency of food/drink purchase in the
      school canteen was related to a higher consumption of soft drinks and snacks. A
      higher frequency of food/drink purchase in shops around schools during break or
      recess was related to a higher consumption of snacks. A higher frequency of
      food/drink purchase in shops around the neighborhood on the way to and from
      school was related to a higher consumption of soft drinks. Perceived parental
      modeling and perceived accessibility at home were found to be positively
      associated with all dietary behaviors. Perceived parental rules were inversely
      associated with soft drink and snack consumption; self-efficacy related to
      healthy eating was positively associated with fruit and vegetable consumption.
      Other included school and neighborhood environmental correlates were not
      associated with the dietary behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to address
      the food purchasing behavior of the adolescents using different approaches. The
      findings also highlight the important role of parents and the home environment
      for healthy and unhealthy dietary behaviors of adolescents.

PMID- 27652685
TI  - Thermal cooking changes the profile of phenolic compounds, but does not attenuate
      the anti-inflammatory activities of black rice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence on biological activities of cooked black rice is limited.
      This study examined the effects of washing and cooking on the bioactive
      ingredients and biological activities of black rice. METHODS: Cooked rice was
      prepared by washing 0-3 times followed by cooking in a rice cooker. The acidic
      methanol extracts of raw and cooked rice were used for the analyses. RESULTS: Raw
      black rice, both washed and unwashed, had higher contents of polyphenols,
      anthocyanins, and cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), but lower protocatechuic acid (PA),
      than did cooked samples. Similarly, raw rice extracts were higher in ferric
      reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) activities than extracts of cooked samples.
      Nonetheless, extracts of raw and cooked rice showed similar inhibitory potencies
      on nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-6 productions in
      lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages, whereas equivalent amounts of C3G and
      PA did not possess such inhibitory effects. CONCLUSIONS: Thermal cooking
      decreased total anthocyanin and C3G contents and the FRAP antioxidative capacity,
      but did not affect anti-inflammatory activities of black rice. Neither C3G nor PA
      contributed to the anti-inflammatory activity of black rice.

PMID- 27652686
TI  - Innovative Multimodal Physical Therapy Reduces Incidence of Repeat Manipulation
      under Anesthesia in Post-Total Knee Arthroplasty Patients Who Had an Initial
      Manipulation under Anesthesia.
AB  - Manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) is performed for knee stiffness following a
      total knee arthroplasty (TKA) when nonoperative treatments fail. It is important
      to develop an optimal outpatient physical therapy protocol following an MUA, to
      avoid a repeat procedure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare:
      (1) range of motion and (2) the rate of repeat MUA in patients who either
      underwent innovative multimodal physical therapy (IMMPT) or standard-of-care
      physical therapy (standard) following an MUA after a TKA. We performed a
      retrospective database study of patients who underwent an MUA following a TKA
      between January 2013 to December 2014 (N = 57). There were 16 (28%) men and 41
      (72%) women who had a mean age of 59 years (range, 32-81 years). The patients
      were stratified into those who underwent IMMPT (n = 22) and those who underwent
      standard physical therapy (n = 35). The 6-month range of motion and rate of
      repeat manipulation between the two cohorts was analyzed by using Student t-test
      and Chi-square tests. In addition, we performed a Kaplan-Meier analysis of time
      to repeat MUA. The IMMPT cohort had a statistically significant higher proportion
      of TKAs with an optimal range of motion as compared with the standard cohort.
      There was statistically significant lower proportion of patients who underwent a
      repeat MUA in the IMMPT as compared with the standard cohort. There was also a
      significantly lower incidence and longer time to MUA in the IMMPT cohort as
      compared with the standard cohort in the Kaplan-Meier analysis. The group who
      underwent IMMPT utilizing Astym therapy had a significantly higher proportion of
      patients with optimal range of motion, which implies the potential efficacy of
      this regimen to improve range of motion. Furthermore, the IMMPT cohort had a
      significantly lower proportion of repeat manipulations as compared with the
      standard cohort, which implies that an IMMPT approach could potentially reduce
      the need for a repeat MUA. These findings warrant further investigation into
      outcomes of different rehab approaches.

PMID- 27652687
TI  - Blood Loss in Total Knee Arthroplasty.
AB  - Patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) have expected blood loss during
      and after surgery. The morbidity associated with blood loss and the burden of
      blood transfusions in adult arthroplasty necessitates preoperative optimization
      as routine practice. Current literature remains inconclusive on which TKA
      surgical instrumentation techniques are effective in minimizing perioperative
      blood loss, and consequently lower transfusion rates. The primary objective of
      this retrospective review, of a prospective randomized cohort study, was to
      compare surgical and patient factors, and their influence on blood loss and
      transfusions rates, between one type of patient-specific instrumentation (PSI),
      navigated computer-assisted surgery (CAS), and conventional TKA surgical
      techniques.A cohort of 128 matched patients (38 PSI, 44 CAS, 46 conventional
      surgeries) were compared. Preoperative factors analyzed included; age, gender,
      body mass index, preoperative hemoglobin (Hb) (g/L), international normalized
      ratio, use of anticoagulants and comorbid bleeding diathesis. Maximal Hb drop and
      transfusion requirements were compared on day 1 to 3. Perioperative factors
      collected included: surgical time, tourniquet time, drain output, in situ drain
      time, order of tibia or femoral cut, and intraoperative loss from suction.The
      three groups did not differ on the preoperative patient demographics examined.
      The difference between preoperative Hb and the lowest postoperative Hb readings
      did not differ between study groups (p = 0.39).There are no statistically
      significant differences in blood loss when comparing PSI versus CAS versus
      conventional TKA. Although emerging evidence on PSI is encouraging, the PSI
      technique for TKA does not result in reduced blood loss. The study was registered
      with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01145157.

PMID- 27652688
TI  - Clinical Efficacy of an Arthroscopic Surgery in Open Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy.
AB  - Few studies have identified the effects of arthroscopic surgery on the clinical
      outcomes when open wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) and arthroscopic surgery
      were performed together. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical
      efficacy of arthroscopic surgery in patients who had varus osteoarthritic knee
      and were treated with OWHTO combined with arthroscopic surgery. Among the 98
      knees (88 patients) who underwent OWHTO between January 2008 and March 2013, 79
      knees (71 patients) with more than 2 years of follow-up were reviewed
      retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 (24 knees)
      underwent only OWHTO and Group 2 (55 knees) underwent OWHTO combined with
      arthroscopic surgery. For clinical evaluation, the range of motion (ROM), pain
      visual analog scale, Knee Society knee score, Knee Society function score, and
      complication were used. For radiologic evaluation, Kellgren-Lawrence grade,
      mechanical femorotibial angle, and posterior tibial slope were used. The average
      follow-up period was 29.1 months. Group 2 showed a significant increase in the
      ROM at the last follow-up (133.2  +/- 6.0 degrees) compared with the preoperative
      time point (128.3 +/- 7.7 degrees) (p < 0.001). In the comparison of radiologic
      parameters between Groups 1 and 2, there was no significant difference. In the
      minimum 24-month follow-up, when OWHTO combined with arthroscopic surgery was
      performed, arthroscopic surgery helped increase the ROM of patients with
      mechanical symptoms. However, the amount of the ROM increase of 4.9 degrees was
      of unknown clinical significance.

PMID- 27652689
TI  - Multicolor Photoluminescence Including White-Light Emission by a Single Host
      Guest Complex.
AB  - Achieving multicolor photoluminescence, especially white-light emission, under
      mild conditions based on a single fluorescent compound is a great challenge.
      Herein, we report a novel colorful-emission host-guest complex BPCY, which is
      composed of a two-arm fluorescent guest molecule (BPC) and gamma-cyclodextrin
      (gamma-CD) as the host molecule. BPC bears a unique asymmetrical donor-acceptor
      donor (D1-A+~D2)-type structure, where D1, A+, and D2 stand for the binaphthol
      electron donor, pyridinium electron acceptor, and coumarin electron donor,
      respectively. The luminescence property of BPC shows dual-sensitivity, i.e.,
      toward the excitation wavelength and the cyclodextrin host molecule. Under
      certain conditions, the complex shows three different emission wavelengths,
      allowing the realization of multicolor photoluminescence, including red (R),
      green (G), and blue (B) as well as various intermediate colors by orthogonally
      modulating these two stimuli. In this way, nearly pure white-light emission with
      CIE coordinates (0.33, 0.34) could be generated. A combination of structural,
      spectroscopic, and computational simulation studies revealed the occurrence of
      synergetic mechanistic processes for the stimuli-responsive multicolor
      luminescence of the BPCY complex, namely, host-enhanced intramolecular charge
      transfer (ICT) and host-induced restriction of intramolecular rotation (RIR).
      This new supramolecular complex with superior multicolor emission abilities may
      find wide applications in the fields of information processing and display media.
      Furthermore, the molecular design rationale presented here may provide a new
      design strategy for the development of high performance optical materials using a
      single supramolecular platform.

PMID- 27652690
TI  - Chiral Chemistry of Homochiral Porous Thin Film with Different Growth
      Orientations.
AB  - Chirality is one of the essential features in our living life and exerts a wide
      variety of applications in enantio-adsorption/separation. However, the mechanism
      between chirality and enantio-adsorption/separation is very significant in
      homochiral porous materials; in particular, the understanding of the relationship
      between crystalline orientations and chiral behavior is a challenging but
      important mechanism. In this work, homochiral porous crystalline metal organic
      framework (MOF) materials were grown on hydroxyl- and carboxyl-functionalized
      substrates, resulting in homochiral porous thin films with different
      orientations. The enantioselectivity and adsorption rates in two different
      oriented homochiral porous thin films were studied by using gas-phase quartz
      crystal microbalance (QCM) experiment of chiral probe molecules. The different
      mass uptake and time constant showed that the chiral behavior can be obviously
      influenced by the crystalline orientations on the same homochiral porous thin
      films. This study will not only offer a good model to understand the mechanism of
      chiral behavior in homochiral porous materials but also provide guidance for
      developing new homochiral-oriented porous thin films with high enantioselectivity
      or enantioseparation.

PMID- 27652691
TI  - Bisbenzylisoquinoline Alkaloids--A Review.

PMID- 27652693
TI  - Synthesis of Enantioenriched Pyrrolidines via Gold-Catalyzed Tandem
      Cycloisomerization/Hydrogenation of Chiral Homopropargyl Sulfonamides.
AB  - A novel gold-catalyzed tandem cycloisomerization/hydrogenation of chiral
      homopropargyl sulfonamides has been developed. Various enantioenriched
      pyrrolidines can be obtained in excellent yields and excellent
      enantioselectivities by combination of chiral tert-butylsulfinimine chemistry
      with gold catalysis. Importantly, this represents the first example of a
      pyrrolidine synthesis from homopropargyl sulfonamide.

PMID- 27652692
TI  - Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes with Phosphorus- and Nitrogen-Containing Agents:
      Effective Reinforcer for Thermal, Mechanical, and Flame-Retardant Properties of
      Polystyrene Nanocomposites.
AB  - Aminated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (A-MWCNT) were reacted with
      diphenylphosphinic chloride (DPP-Cl) to prepare the functionalized MWCNT (DPPA
      MWCNT). A-MWCNT and DPPA-MWCNT were respectively mixed with polystyrene (PS) to
      obtain composites through the melt compounding method. SEM observations
      demonstrated that the DPPA-MWCNT nanofillers were more uniformly distributed
      within the PS matrix than A-MWCNT. PS/DPPA-MWCNT showed improved thermal
      stability, glass transition temperature, and tensile strength in comparison with
      PS/A-MWCNT, resulting from good dispersion and interfacial interactions between
      DPPA-MWCNT and PS matrix. The incorporation of DPPA-MWCNT to PS significantly
      reduced peak heat release rate, smoke production rate, and carbon monoxide and
      carbon dioxide release in cone calorimeter tests. The enhanced fire-retardant
      properties should be ascribed to the barrier effect of carbon nanotubes, which
      could provide enough time for DPPA-MWCNT and its functionalized groups to trap
      the degrading polymer radicals to catalyze char formation. The char layer served
      as an efficient insulating barrier to reduce the exposure of polymer matrix to an
      external heat source as well as retarding the flammable gases from feeding the
      flame.

PMID- 27652694
TI  - What Controls the Sign and Magnitude of Magnetic Anisotropy in Tetrahedral
      Cobalt(II) Single-Ion Magnets?
AB  - A family of mononuclear tetrahedral cobalt(II) thiourea complexes,
      [Co(L1)4](NO3)2 (1) and [Co(Lx)4](ClO4)2 where x = 2 (2), 3 (3), 4 (4) (where L1
      = thiourea, L2 = 1,3-dibutylthiourea, L3 = 1,3-phenylethylthiourea, and L4 =
      1,1,3,3-tetramethylthiourea), has been synthesized using a rationally designed
      synthetic approach, with the aim of stabilizing an Ising-type magnetic anisotropy
      (-D). On the basis of direct-current, alternating-current, and hysteresis
      magnetic measurements and theoretical calculations, we have identified the
      factors that govern the sign and magnitude of D and ultimately the ability to
      design a single-ion magnet for a tetrahedral cobalt(II) ion. To better understand
      the magnetization relaxation dynamics, particularly for complexes 1 and 2,
      dilution experiments were performed using their diamagnetic analogues, which are
      characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction with the general molecular
      formulas of [Zn(L1)4](NO3)2 (5) and [Zn(L2)4](ClO4)2 (6). Interestingly,
      intermolecular interactions are shown to play a role in quenching the quantum
      tunneling of magnetization in zero field, as evidenced in the hysteresis loop of
      1. Complex 2 exhibits the largest Ueff value of 62 cm-1 and reveals open
      hysteresis loops below 4 K. Furthermore, the influence of the hyperfine
      interaction on the magnetization relaxation dynamics is witnessed in the
      hysteresis loops, allowing us to determine the electron/nuclear spin S(Co) =
      3/2/I(Co) = 7/2 hyperfine coupling constant of 550 MHz, a method ideally suited
      to determine the hyperfine coupling constant of highly anisotropic metal ions
      stabilized with large D value, which are otherwise hard to determine by
      conventional methods such as electron paramagnetic resonance.

PMID- 27652696
TI  - Red LED Photobiomodulates the Metabolic Activity of Odontoblast-Like Cells.
AB  - Phototherapy has been indicated as an adjunctive treatment for tissue repair,
      including the pulp tissue. However, there are no defined irradiation parameters,
      which is a great challenge to the clinical use of phototherapy. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the effect of phototherapy with red LED on odontoblast-like
      MDPC-23 cells, using different parameter settings. Cells were seeded (104
      cells/cm2), incubated for 12 h in complete DMEM and then the culture medium was
      replaced by DMEM supplemented with 0.5% FBS. After 12 h incubation, irradiations
      were performed (630+/-10 nm) using a LEDTable device with a 20 or 40 mW/cm2 power
      density and 2 J/cm2 energy dose. The cells were irradiated 1 or 3 times, at 1 min
      intervals. Non-irradiated cells served as control. The cells were evaluated for
      viability (MTT assay), total protein dosage (Lowry method) and number of viable
      cells (Trypan blue). The data (n=12 per group) were submitted to Kruskal-Wallis
      and Mann-Whitney tests (p=0.05). A single irradiation with 20 or 40 mW/cm2
      enhanced cell viability, which was negatively affected after 3 consecutive
      irradiations. Cells irradiated only once with 20 mW/cm2 produced more proteins
      compared with those irradiated with 40 mW/cm2. Reduction in the number of viable
      cells occurred only after 3 consecutive irradiations with 40 mW/cm2. In
      conclusion, red LED was capable of biomodulating the metabolic activities of
      cultured MDPC-23 odontoblast-like cells. The best cell biostimulation was
      obtained when a single irradiation with 2 J/cm2 energy dose and 20 mW/cm2 power
      density was delivered to the pulp cells. 

PMID- 27652695
TI  - Haplotypes in BMP4 and FGF Genes Increase the Risk of Peri-Implantitis.
AB  - Despite the success of osseointegrated implants, failures have increased
      significantly, associated with development of peri-implantitis. Multiple factors
      influence the peri-implant bone loss, including environmental and genetic causes.
      BMPs (Bone morphogenetic proteins) are growth factors that induce bone formation.
      FGF (fibroblast growth factors) and their receptors (FGFRs) play important roles
      by controlling the levels of cell proliferation, differentiation and migration.
      BMP/FGF relationship is responsible for promoting bone regeneration and bone
      loss. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between BMP4, FGF3,
      FGF10 and FGFR1 genes and peri-implant bone loss. Two hundred and fifteen
      volunteers, with 754 dental implants, were submitted to oral examination and
      divided in healthy group (n=129) and peri-implantitis group (n=86). Thirteen
      polymorphisms in BMP4, FGF3, FGF10 and FGFR1 genes were analyzed individually and
      in haplotype. The chi-square test correlated genotypes, allelic and haplotype
      frequencies. Values of p<0.05 were considered significant. Volunteers with peri
      implantitis demonstrated high incidence of total edentulism (p<0.0001) and thin
      peri-implant phenotype (p<0.04). Higher incidence of spontaneous bleeding, plaque
      and implant mobility was observed in peri-implantitis group (p<0.0001 for all).
      The TT polymorphic genotype for BMP4 rs2761884 was associated with healthy peri
      implant (p=0.01). FGF3 rs4631909 (TT+CT genotype) also showed association with
      the control group (p=0.04). The frequency of C allele for FGF3 rs4631909 showed a
      tendency for association with peri-implantitis (p=0.08). FGF10 CCTG (p=0.03),
      BMP4 GAAA (p=0.05) and GGGA (p=0.02) haplotypes were associated with peri
      implantitis (p=0.03). Therefore, it may be concluded that BMP4 and FGF10
      haplotypes are associated with peri-implantitis. 

PMID- 27652697
TI  - Anesthetic Efficacy in Irreversible Pulpitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - Inferior alveolar nerve block has a high failure rate in the treatment of
      mandibular posterior teeth with irreversible pulpitis. The aim of this study was
      to compare the anesthetic efficacy of 4% articaine, 2% lidocaine and 2%
      mepivacaine, all in combination with 1:100,000 epinephrine, in patients with
      irreversible pulpitis of permanent mandibular molars during a pulpectomy
      procedure. Sixty-six volunteers from the Emergency Center of the School of
      Dentistry, University of Sao Paulo, randomly received 3.6 mL of local anesthetic
      as a conventional inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB). The subjective signal of
      lip numbness, pulpal anesthesia and absence of pain during the pulpectomy
      procedure were evaluated respectively, by questioning the patient, stimulation
      using an electric pulp tester and a verbal analogue scale. All patients reported
      the subjective signal of lip numbness. Regarding pulpal anesthesia success as
      measured with the pulp tester, the success rate was respectively 68.2% for
      mepivacaine, 63.6% for articaine and 63.6% for lidocaine. Regarding patients who
      reported no pain or mild pain during the pulpectomy, the success rate was,
      respectively 72.7% for mepivacaine, 63.6% for articaine and 54.5% for lidocaine.
      These differences were not statistically significant. Neither of the solutions
      resulted in 100% anesthetic success in patients with irreversible pulpitis of
      mandibular molars. 

PMID- 27652698
TI  - Eugenia uniflora Dentifrice for Treating Gingivitis in Children: Antibacterial
      Assay and Randomized Clinical Trial.
AB  - School-age children are frequently at high risk for the onset of biofilm
      dependent conditions, including dental caries and periodontal diseases. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a dentifrice
      containing Eugenia uniflora Linn. (Surinam cherry) extract versus a triclosan
      based comparator in treating gingivitis in children aged 10-12 years. The in
      vitro antibacterial potential of the dentifrice was tested against oral pathogens
      (Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus oralis and Lactobacillus casei). Then a
      phase-II clinical trial was conducted with 50 subjects aged 10-12 years, with
      clinical signs of gingivitis. The subjects were randomly assigned to the
      experimental group (n=25) and control group (n=25), in which participants used
      the experimental dentifrice and a triclosan-based fluoridated dentifrice (Colgate
      Total 12(r)), respectively. Clinical examinations assessed the presence of
      gingivitis (primary outcome) and biofilm accumulation (secondary outcome) using
      the Gingival-Bleeding Index (GBI) and Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S),
      respectively, at baseline and after seven days of tooth brushing 3x/day. The data
      were analyzed using paired and unpaired t-test (GBI) and Wilcoxon and Mann
      Whitney (OHI-S), with p<=0.05. The experimental dentifrice showed efficient
      antibacterial activity in vitro. In the clinical trial, a significant reduction
      in gingival bleeding was observed in both experimental and control groups
      (p<0.0001), with no statistical difference between them (p=0.178), although a
      small size effect was observed. Biofilm accumulation was only reduced in the
      control group (p=0.0039). In conclusion, E. uniflora dentifrice showed anti
      gingivitis properties in children aged 10-12 years. Thus, it may be a potentially
      efficient and safe product to be used alternatively in preventive dental
      practice. 

PMID- 27652699
TI  - Effect of Fluoride Concentration on Reduction of Enamel Demineralization
      According to the Cariogenic Challenge.
AB  - Fluoride present in toothpaste at 1,100 ug/g is considered effective on caries
      control. However, under high cariogenic challenge due to increasing sugar
      exposure, higher fluoride concentration (5,000 ug/g) could be necessary to
      compensate the unbalance on caries process. This was tested in a pH-cycling
      regimen, which evaluated the effect of fluoride concentration relative to
      toothpaste on reduction of enamel demineralization under conditions of two levels
      of cariogenic challenge. Enamel slabs (n=20) were subjected to two pH-cycling
      regimens, simulating 8x and 16x/day sugar exposure and were treated with
      solutions containing: 0 (no fluoride), 275 or 1,250 ug F/mL, resulting in 6
      treatment groups: 4-h/0-F; 8-h/0-F; 4-h/275-F; 8-h/275-F; 4-h/1,250-F and 8
      h/1,250-F. The 275 and 1,250 ug F/mL concentrations simulate mouth salivary
      dilution when 1,100 and 5,000 ug/g toothpastes are used. Enamel demineralization
      was assessed by surface (%SHL) and cross-sectional hardness. Fluoride taken up by
      enamel was also evaluated. Data were analyzed by ANOVA one-way and Tukey's test.
      The treatment with 1,250 ug F/mL significantly reduced %SHL compared with 275 ug
      F/mL (p<0.05), irrespective the level of cariogenic challenge (4-h/1,250-F vs. 4
      h/275-F and 8-h/1,250-F vs 8-h/275-F comparisons, respectively). These data were
      supported by fluoride concentration found in enamel. These findings suggest that
      higher fluoride concentrations could partly compensate the greater caries risk
      under higher cariogenic challenge due to increasing sugar exposure. 

PMID- 27652701
TI  - Fibroblast Viability after Storage at 20  degrees C in Milk, Hank's Balanced Salt
      Solution and Coconut Water.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various storage
      media at 20  degrees C in maintaining the viability of human periodontal ligament
      fibroblasts (HPLF) over time. HPLF were maintained at 20  degrees C in skim milk
      (SM), whole milk (WM), freshly prepared Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS),
      Save-A-Tooth(r), natural coconut water (NCW), coconut water industrialized (ICW)
      and tap water (negative control) for 3, 6, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h. Cells
      maintained in Minimal Essential Medium (MEM-37) at 37  degrees C served as a
      positive control. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Statistical
      analysis was performed by Kruskal-Wallis test and Scheffe test (alpha = 5%). From
      24 h, NCW was significantly better in maintaining cell viability than all other
      tested storage media (p<0.05). SM and WM were significantly better than HBSS for
      up to 72 h. Save-A-Tooth(r) and ICW were the worst conservation storage media. In
      conclusion, the effectiveness of the tested storage media to maintain the
      viability of the periodontal ligament cells was as follows, in a descending
      order: NCW > MEM-37> SM and IM> HBSS> ICW > Save-A-Tooth(r)> tap water. 

PMID- 27652702
TI  - In Vitro Periodontal Ligament Cell Viability in Different Storage Media.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the viability of periodontal ligament cells
      of avulsed teeth in three different storage media. Forty-five mature premolars
      extracted for orthodontic therapeutic purposes were randomly and equally divided
      into three groups according to the storage medium: milk (control), rice water and
      egg white. After placing extracted teeth for 30 min in storage media, the
      scrapings of the periodontal ligament (PDL) were collected in Falcon tubes
      containing collagenase in 2.5 mL of phosphate buffer saline and were incubated
      for 30 min and centrifuged for 5 min at 800 rpm. Cell viability was analyzed by
      Trypan blue exclusion. Rice water had a significantly higher number of viable
      cells compared to egg white and milk. There was no statistically significant
      difference between egg white and milk. Rice water may be able to maintain PDL
      cell viability of avulsed teeth better than egg white or milk. 

PMID- 27652700
TI  - Effect of Dental Pigmentation Intensity on the Transenamel and Transdentinal
      Penetration of Hydrogen Peroxide.
AB  - Abastract This study aimed to evaluate the transenamel and transdentinal
      penetration of hydrogen peroxide (H202) applied to bovine teeth pigmented with
      black tea at different intensities. The following groups were formed DW:
      immersion in distilled water; BT100: immersion in an infusion of 1.6 g of black
      tea per 100 mL distilled water; BT10: immersion in an infusion of 1.6 g black tea
      per 10 mL distilled water. All groups were immersed for 6 days. To quantify the
      penetration of H202, the specimens were placed in artificial pulp chambers (APCs)
      and subjected to bleaching treatment with 38% H2O2 once per week for 3 weeks.
      After bleaching treatment, the acetate buffer solution of APCs with peroxidase
      enzyme was evaluated in a reflection spectrophotometer. The transenamel and
      transdentinal penetration of H2O2 and the L* values obtained at T1, T2 and T3
      were subjected to Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman statistical tests. At T1, the H2O2
      diffusion in DW was higher than that in BT100 and BT10. At the other evaluation
      times, the penetration values in BT100 and BT10 increased and remained similar.
      The L* values increased significantly in all groups at T1. At T2, the L* values
      were higher in DW, while the values in BT100 and BT10 were similar to each other.
      At the end of the experiment, BT10 showed the lowest L* values. The pigmentation
      level did not affect the penetration of H2O2 through the enamel and dentin and
      the bleaching agent effectively changed the color of the teeth. 

PMID- 27652703
TI  - Investigation of Bacterial Contents From Persistent Endodontic Infection and
      Evaluation of Their Inflammatory Potential.
AB  - This clinical study investigated and quantified cultivable bacteria and their
      levels of endotoxins in persistent endodontic infection, determining their
      antigenicity against macrophages and fibroblast cells by IL-1beta and TNF-alpha
      secretion and evaluating their relationship with clinical and radiographic
      features. Samples from the root canals were obtained after root filling removal.
      Culture techniques were used to determine the bacterial count and the endotoxins
      were determined by LAL-assay. PCR analysis (16S rDNA) was used for bacterial
      detection. Raw 264.5 macrophages and V79 fibroblast were stimulated with
      endodontic contents. ELISA assay measured the amounts of IL-1beta/TNF-?#61537;
      secretion. Bacteria and endotoxin medians were 1.24x105 CFU/mL and 9.62 EU/mL,
      respectively. Porphyromonas endodontalis was the most frequently detected
      species. Higher levels of endotoxins were found in teeth with pain on palpation
      (23.56 EU/mL) rather than in its absence (8.21 EU/mL). Larger areas of bone
      destruction were related to higher levels of endotoxins and IL-1beta and TNF
      alpha secretion. The study findings revealed the presence of Gram-negative
      bacteria species in persistent endodontic infection, with their endotoxins
      related to both severity of bone destruction and development of symptomatology.
      Moreover, larger areas of bone destruction were related to higher levels of IL
      1beta and TNF-alpha secreted by macrophages and fibroblast cells. 

PMID- 27652704
TI  - Long-Term Cytotoxicity, pH and Dissolution Rate of AH Plus and MTA Fillapex.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to verify the long-term cytotoxic effects of the
      MTA Fillapex and to compare them with AH Plus. Dissolution rate and pH were also
      evaluated. Human osteoblast cells were incubated with elutes of fresh specimens
      from AH Plus and MTA Fillapex, and with elutes of the same specimens for 4
      successive weeks. Elute's pH was evaluated at each time point. A multiparametric
      cell viability assay was performed. For dissolution rate, ISO methodology was
      used. The results were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, complemented
      with the Tukey post-test (p<0.05). No significant difference was found among the
      materials when fresh mixed (p>0.05). After 1 week, AH Plus became non-cytotoxic
      on all three evaluated parameters. Conversely, MTA Fillapex remained severely and
      mildly cytotoxic over the entire experimental period (p<0.05). The dissolution
      rate of AH Plus was significantly lower than MTA Fillapex at all time points
      (p>0.05). The pH of AH Plus was significantly lower than MTA Fillapex at the
      second and third week (p<0.05). In the other tested time points no statistical
      difference was observed. In conclusion, MTA Fillapex remained cytotoxic after 4
      weeks and its cytotoxicity may be related to the high dissolution rate of this
      material. 

PMID- 27652706
TI  - Influence of Sealer and Light-Curing Units on Push-Out Bond Strength Of Composite
      Resin to Weakened Roots.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the influence of sealer and light-curing unit
      on regional bond strength of resin composite to the weakened roots. Ninety roots
      of incisors were experimentally weakened, subjected to biomechanical preparation
      and filled with either Endofill, AH Plus or MTA Fillapex The roots were
      desobturated e reinforced with resin composite and fiber post light-activated
      with one of the light sources: halogen at 600 mW/ cm2 (QTH-600), LED at 800 mW/
      cm2 (LED-800) and LED at 1500 mW/ cm2 (LED-1500). The roots were sectioned in
      slices from cervical, middle and apical root-reinforcement regions and analyzed
      by push out test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning
      microscopy (CLSM). Bond strength data were analyzed using three-way ANOVA and
      Tukey's test (alpha=0.05). Specimens filled with AH Plus had higher bond
      strength, followed by MTA Fillapex and Endofill (p<0.05). For light-curing unit,
      LED-1500 presented superior bond strength than LED-800, which was higher than QTH
      600 (p<0.05). The cervical region had the greatest mean values (p<0.05) while
      apical part showed the lowest bond strength (p<0.05). CLMS revealed remaining
      filling material in the dentinal tubules for all groups. The eugenol-containing
      sealer (Endofill) compromised the push-out bond strength of composite resin to
      the root dentin. Bond strength was favored in the cervical region, and when LED
      1500 was used. 

PMID- 27652707
TI  - Finite Element Study on Continuous Rotating versus Reciprocating Nickel-Titanium
      Instruments.
AB  - In the present study, GTX and ProTaper as continuous rotating endodontic files
      were numerically compared with WaveOne reciprocating file using finite element
      analysis, aiming at having a low cost, accurate/trustworthy comparison as well as
      finding out the effect of instrument design and manufacturing material on its
      lifespan. Two 3D finite element models were especially prepared for this
      comparison. Commercial engineering CAD/CAM package was used to model full
      detailed flute geometries of the instruments. Multi-linear materials were defined
      in analysis by using real strain-stress data of NiTi and M-Wire. Non-linear
      static analysis was performed to simulate the instrument inside root canal at a
      45 degrees  angle in the apical portion and subjected to 0.3 N.cm torsion. The
      three simulations in this study showed that M-Wire is slightly more resistant to
      failure than conventional NiTi. On the other hand, both materials are fairly
      similar in case of severe locking conditions. For the same instrument geometry, M
      Wire instruments may have longer lifespan than the conventional NiTi ones. In
      case of severe locking conditions both materials will fail similarly. Larger
      cross sectional area (function of instrument taper) resisted better to failure
      than the smaller ones, while the cross sectional shape and its cutting angles
      could affect instrument cutting efficiency. 

PMID- 27652705
TI  - 1064-nm Nd:YAG and 980-nm Diode Laser EDTA Agitation on the Retention of an Epoxy
      Based Sealer to Root Dentin.
AB  - Root canal irrigants are used to minimize the negative effects of smear layer on
      endodontic sealer retention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy
      of agitation of 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) with ultrasonic, 1064
      nm Nd:YAG and 980-nm diode laser on the retention of an epoxy-based sealer to the
      root canal walls. Forty single-rooted bovine teeth were instrumented with
      ProTaper rotary system and divided into four groups according to the final
      irrigation protocol (n = 10): (1) 17% EDTA (control); (2) 17% EDTA with 50-s
      ultrasonic agitation; (3) 17% EDTA with 50-s diode laser (2-W) agitation; and (4)
      17% EDTA with 50-s Nd:YAG (1.5-W) laser agitation. After endodontic filling with
      gutta-percha F5 master cone and Sealer 26, the roots were sectioned at the
      cervical, middle, and apical root thirds to obtain 1.5-mm slices. Push-out tests
      were performed using a universal testing machine at a 1 mm/min crosshead speed.
      Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and Tukey's tests (alpha=0.05). Apical
      root thirds had significant higher retention values than cervical and middle
      thirds (p < 0.05). EDTA with 1064-nm Nd:YAG or 980-nm diode laser presented the
      highest retention values and was significantly different from EDTA with
      ultrasonic agitation and EDTA only (p < 0.05). Adhesive failures were predominant
      to EDTA only group. Mixed failures were predominant to all agitation groups. 1064
      nm Nd:YAG and 980-nm diode laser EDTA agitation enhanced the retention of the
      epoxy-based sealer to the root canal walls compared with that due to EDTA only or
      EDTA with ultrasonic agitation. 

PMID- 27652708
TI  - Effect of Metalloproteinase Inhibitors on the Microtensile Bond Strength of
      Composite Resin to Er:YAG Laser-Irradiated Dentin.
AB  - This study evaluated the effect of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors - 2%
      (CHX) and sodium fluoride (NaF) (5000 ppm) - on microtensile bond strength
      (MUTBS) of composite resin to Er:YAG laser-irradiated dentin after chemical
      degradation of the bond interface. The occlusal surface of forty sound human
      molars was removed exposing the dentin surface (n=10), which was polished,
      irradiated with Er:YAG laser, acid etched and dried. Twenty specimens were
      rewetted with 2% CHX (control group) and 20 were rewetted with NaF (5000 ppm).
      The adhesive system was applied and a 4-mm-high plateau of light-cured composite
      resin was built up. Resin-dentin sticks were obtained with a rectangular cross
      sectional area (0.8-1 mm2) and were either stored in water at 37 ?#61616;C for 24
      h or submitted to chemical degradation. For chemical degradation, they were
      immersed in 10% NaOCl aqueous solution for 5 h and rinsed in water for 1 h. The
      sticks were submitted to microtensile test in a mechanical testing machine at 0.5
      mm/min until failure. Fracture pattern was analyzed using SEM. MUTBS values were
      calculated in MPa and submitted to analysis of variance ANOVA (alpha=0.05). The
      variance analysis showed that the 'MMP inhibitor' and 'degradation' factors
      (p=0.214 and p=0.093, respectively) and interaction between the factors were not
      statistically significant (p=0.143). Mixed failure predominated in all groups. In
      conclusion, the 2% CHX and NaF 5000 ppm presented similar MUTBS of composite
      resin to laser-irradiated dentin before and after chemical degradation. 

PMID- 27652709
TI  - Effect of Non-Thermal Argon Plasma on Bond Strength of a Self-Etch Adhesive
      System to NaOCl-Treated Dentin.
AB  - Studies have been showing a decrease of bond strength in dentin treated with
      sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of
      non-thermal argon plasma on the bond strength of a self-etch adhesive system to
      dentin exposed to NaOCl. Thirty-two flat dentin surfaces of bovine incisors were
      immersed in 2.5% NaOCl for 30 min to simulate the irrigation step during
      endodontic treatment. The specimens were divided into four groups (n=8),
      according to the surface treatment: Control (without plasma treatment), AR15
      (argon plasma for 15 s), AR30 (argon plasma for 30 s) and AR45 (argon plasma for
      45 s). For microtensile bond strength test, 5 specimens were used per group. In
      each group, the specimens were hybridized with a self-etch adhesive system
      (Clearfil SE Bond) and resin composite buildups were constructed. After 48 h of
      water storage, specimens were sectioned into sticks (5 per tooth, 25 per group)
      and subjected to microtensile bond strength test (MUTBS) until failure,
      evaluating failure mode. Three specimens per group were analyzed under FTIR
      spectroscopy to verify the chemical modifications produced in dentin. MUTBS data
      were analyzed using ANOVA and Tamhane tests (p<0.05). AR30 showed the highest
      MUTBS (20.86+/-9.0). AR15 (13.81+/-6.4) and AR45 (11.51+/-6.8) were statistically
      similar to control (13.67+/-8.1). FTIR spectroscopy showed that argon plasma
      treatment produced chemical modifications in dentin. In conclusion, non-thermal
      argon plasma treatment for 30 s produced chemical changes in dentin and improved
      the MUTBs of Clearfil SE Bond to NaOCl-treated dentin. 

PMID- 27652710
TI  - In Vitro Fatigue Resistance of Teeth Restored With Bulk Fill versus Conventional
      Composite Resin.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the fatigue resistance of restored teeth
      with bulk fill composite resin, conventional composite resin with incremental
      insertion and unprepared sound teeth. Twenty-eight extracted maxillary premolars
      were selected and divided into 4 groups based on composite resin and insertion
      technique: control (C), conventional composite resin with incremental insertion
      (I) and bulk fill composite resin with three (BF3) or single increment (BF1). The
      restored specimens were submitted to fatigue resistance test with a 5 Hz
      frequency. An initial application of 5,000 sinusoidal load cycles with a minimum
      force of 50 N and a maximum force of 200 N was used. Next, were applied stages of
      30,000 load cycles with the maximum force increasing gradually: 400, 600, 800,
      1000, 1200 and 1400 N. The test was concluded when 185,000 load cycles were
      achieved or the specimen failed. The fatigue resistance data were recorded for
      comparison, using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and analyzed by log-rank test
      at 0.05 significance. Fractures were classified based on the position of the
      failure - above or below the cementoenamel junction (CEJ). Statistical analysis
      of the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test showed a significant
      difference between groups (p=0.001). The fracture analysis demonstrated that only
      28.58% of failures were below the CEJ in group C, while for groups I, BF1 and BF3
      they were 42.85%, 85.71% and 85.71%, respectively. Teeth restored with composite
      bulk fill in both techniques present similar fatigue resistance values compared
      with those restored with a conventional incremental insertion of composite, while
      the fatigue strength values of unprepared sound teeth were higher. Furthermore,
      unprepared sound teeth showed a lower percentage of fractures below the CEJ. 

PMID- 27652711
TI  - Influence of Surface Treatments and Adhesive Systems on Lithium Disilicate
      Microshear Bond Strength.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the microshear bond strength of ceramic
      prosthetic structures reinforced by lithium disilicate cemented with resin cement
      under conditions of different surface treatments and adhesive systems. Seventy
      two rectangular blocks of lithium disilicate (6.5 mm long * 5 mm wide * 1 mm
      thick) were fabricated, air abraded with 50-MUm Al2O3 particles and divided into
      six groups (n=12) depending on the surface pretreatments. The groups were as
      follows: 10HF/S/SBM: 10% hydrofluoric acid etched for 20 s (10HF) + silane (S) +
      Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose (SBM); 10HF/S/SB: 10HF + S + Single Bond Universal
      (SB); 10HF/SBM; 10HF/SB; S/SBM and S/SB. Two 1-mm-long plastic tubes were placed
      on the specimens, filled with RelyX ARC resin cement and cured for 20 s per tube.
      The plastic tube was removed, and the microshear bond strength was tested. Data
      were submitted to analysis of variance and Tukey's tests (alpha=0.05). Fractured
      specimens were observed under optical microscopy. For both adhesives, the bond
      strengths (MPa) of groups treated with acid-etching and silane (10HF/S/SB: 24.82,
      10HF/S/SBM: 24.90) were higher (p<0.001) than those of groups treated with acid
      etching (10HF/SB: 16.47, 10HF/SBM: 19.94) only or only silane (S/SB: 18.42,
      S/SBM: 13.24). All groups showed a predominance of failure adhesive. The
      silanization should be a clinical step in cementing ceramic structures reinforced
      by lithium disilicate, even with the application of universal adhesive that
      contains silane in its formulation. 

PMID- 27652712
TI  - Repair Strength in Simulated Restorations of Methacrylate- or Silorane-Based
      Composite Resins.
AB  - The study verified the bond strength in simulated dental restorations of silorane
      or methacrylate-based composites repaired with methacrylate-based composite.
      Methacrylate- (P60) or silorane-based (P90) composites were used associated with
      adhesive (Adper Single Bond 2). Twenty-four hemi-hourglass-shaped samples were
      repaired with each composite (n=12). Samples were divided according to groups:
      G1= P60 + Adper Single Bond 2+ P60; G2= P60 + Adper Single Bond 2 + P60 +
      thermocycling; G3= P90 + Adper Single Bond 2 + P60; and G4= P90 + Adper Single
      Bond 2 + P60 + thermocycling. G1 and G3 were submitted to tensile test 24 h after
      repair procedure, and G2 and G4 after submitted to 5,000 thermocycles at 5 and 55
      ?#61616;C for 30 s in each bath. Tensile bond strength test was accomplished in
      an universal testing machine at crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Data (MPa) were
      analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (5%). Sample failure pattern
      (adhesive, cohesive in resin or mixed) was evaluated by stereomicroscope at
      30?#61655; and images were obtained in SEM. Bond strength values of methacrylate
      based composite samples repaired with methacrylate-based composite (G1 and G2)
      were greater than for silorane-based samples (G3 and G4). Thermocycling decreased
      the bond strength values for both composites. All groups showed predominance of
      adhesive failures and no cohesive failure in composite resin was observed. In
      conclusion, higher bond strength values were observed in methacrylate-based resin
      samples and greater percentage of adhesive failures in silorane-based resin
      samples, both composites repaired with methacrylate-based resin. 

PMID- 27652713
TI  - Effect of Grinding and Resintering on the Fatigue Limit and Surface
      Characterization of a Y-TZP Ceramic.
AB  - This study evaluated the effect of grinding protocols and resintering on flexural
      fatigue limit and surface characterization of LavaTM Y-TZP. Bar-shaped specimens
      (20*4.0*1.2 mm, n=40; 20*4.0*1.5 mm, n=80) were obtained. Half of the thinner
      specimens (1.2 mm) constituted the as-sintered group (AS), while the thicker ones
      (1.5 mm) were ground with diamond burs under irrigation (WG) or not (G). The
      other half of thinner and half of ground specimens were resintered (1000 oC, 30
      min), forming the groups ASR, WGR and GR. Fatigue limit (500,000 cycles, 10 Hz)
      was evaluated by staircase method in a 4-point flexural fixture. Data were
      analyzed by 2-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (alpha=0.05). Surface topography (n=3)
      and fracture area (n=3) were evaluated by SEM. X-ray diffraction data (n=1) was
      analyzed by Rietveld refinement. ANOVA revealed significant differences (p<0.001)
      for the grinding protocol, resintering and their interaction. Grinding increased
      the fatigue limit of non-resintered groups. There was no significant difference
      among the resintered groups. Resintering significantly increased the fatigue
      limit of the AS group only. Both protocols created evident grooves on zirconia
      surface. The failures initiated at the tensile side of all specimens. The
      percentages (wt%) of monoclinic phase were AS (8.6), ASR (1.2), G (1.8), GR
      (0.0), WG (8.2), WGR (0.0) before, and AS (7.4), ASR (6.5), G (3.2), GR (0.2), WG
      (4.6), WGR (1.1) after cyclic loading. Grinding increased the fatigue limit of
      non-resintered Y-TZP and formed evident grooves on its surface. Resintering
      provided significant increase in the fatigue limit of as-sintered specimens. In
      general, grinding and resintering decreased or zeroed the monoclinic phase. 

PMID- 27652715
TI  - Repurposing Escherichia coli antiadhesives in Crohn's disease.

PMID- 27652714
TI  - CBCT Post-Processing Tools to Manage the Progression of Invasive Cervical
      Resorption: A Case Report.
AB  - This case report aimed to highlight the usefulness of cone beam computed
      tomography (CBCT) and its post-processing tools for the diagnosis, follow-up and
      treatment planning of invasive cervical resorption (ICR). A 16-year-old female
      patient was referred for periapical radiographic examination, which revealed an
      irregular but well demarcated radiolucency in the mandibular right central
      incisor. In addition, CBCT scanning was performed to distinguish between ICR and
      internal root resorption. After the diagnosis of ICR, the patient was advised to
      return shortly but did so only six years later. At that time, another CBCT scan
      was performed and CBCT registration and subtraction were done to document lesion
      progress. These imaging tools were able to show lesion progress and extent
      clearly and were fundamental for differential diagnosis and treatment decision. 

PMID- 27652716
TI  - Vortices in high-performance high-temperature superconductors.
AB  - The behavior of vortex matter in high-temperature superconductors (HTS) controls
      the entire electromagnetic response of the material, including its current
      carrying capacity. Here, we review the basic concepts of vortex pinning and its
      application to a complex mixed pinning landscape to enhance the critical current
      and to reduce its anisotropy. We focus on recent scientific advances that have
      resulted in large enhancements of the in-field critical current in state-of-the
      art second generation (2G) YBCO coated conductors and on the prospect of an
      isotropic, high-critical current superconductor in the iron-based
      superconductors. Lastly, we discuss an emerging new paradigm of critical current
      by design-a drive to achieve a quantitative correlation between the observed
      critical current density and mesoscale mixed pinning landscapes by using
      realistic input parameters in an innovative and powerful large-scale time
      dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach to simulating vortex dynamics.

PMID- 27652717
TI  - Validity of an automated algorithm to identify waking and in-bed wear time in hip
      worn accelerometer data collected with a 24 h wear protocol in young adults.
AB  - Researchers are increasingly using 24 h accelerometer wear protocols. No
      automated method has been published that accurately distinguishes 'waking' wear
      time from other data ('in-bed', non-wear, invalid days) in young adults. This
      study examined the validity of an automated algorithm developed to achieve this
      for hip-worn Actigraph GT3X  +  60 s epoch data. We compared the algorithm
      against a referent method ('into-bed' and 'out-of-bed' times visually identified
      by two independent raters) and benchmarked against two published algorithms. All
      methods used the same non-wear rules. The development sample (n  =  11) and
      validation sample (n  =  95) were Australian young adults from the Raine
      pregnancy cohort (54% female), all aged approximately 22 years. The agreement
      with Rater 1 in each minute's classification (yes/no) of waking wear time was
      examined as kappa (kappa), limited to valid days (?10 h waking wear time per day)
      according to the algorithm and Rater 1. Bland-Altman methods assessed agreement
      in daily totals of waking wear and in-bed wear time. Excellent agreement (kappa 
      >  0.75) was obtained between the raters for 80% of participants (median kappa  =
      0.94). The algorithm showed excellent agreement with Rater 1 (kappa  >  0.75)
      for 89% of participants and poor agreement (kappa  <  0.40) for 1%. In this
      sample, the algorithm (median kappa  =  0.86) performed better than algorithms
      validated in children (median kappa  =  0.77) and adolescents (median kappa  = 
      0.66). The mean difference (95% limits of agreement) between Rater 1 and the
      algorithm was 7 (-220, 234) min d-1 for waking wear time on valid days and  -41 (
      309, 228) min d-1 for in-bed wear time. In this population, the automated
      algorithm's validity for identifying waking wear time was mostly good, not worse
      than inter-rater agreement, and better than the evaluated published alternatives.
      However, the algorithm requires improvement to better identify in-bed wear time.

PMID- 27652718
TI  - Randomized Trial of Long-Acting Insulin Glargine Titration Web Tool (LTHome)
      Versus Enhanced Usual Therapy of Glargine Titration (INNOVATE Trial).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Basal insulin titration in the real world is often unsuccessful.
      LTHome, a web tool, applies a rules engine-based algorithm providing insulin
      titration advice directly to the patient. METHODS: This pilot, randomized trial
      evaluates basal insulin glargine titration by LTHome compared to enhanced usual
      therapy ([EUT]-diabetes education program) over 12 weeks. Important inclusion
      criteria: 18-75 years, type 2 diabetes, computer literacy, and HbA1c >7.0%. Trial
      protocol was approved by ethics board. RESULTS: We randomized 139 subjects. The
      achievement of primary composite outcome (four out of seven fasting plasma
      glucose [FPG] within 5-7.2 mmol/L + mean for three consecutive FPG within 5-7.2
      mmol/L + no severe hypoglycemia) was 15% in LTHome versus 41% in EUT
      (noninferiority not met, P-value = 0.92). Other outcomes were similar between the
      LTHome and EUT arms: alternate composite outcome achievement (last five FPG mean
      within the range of 5-7.2 mmol/L + no hypoglycemia, 47% and 51%, P = 0.73); A1c
      reduction (-1.0% and -1.1%, P = 0.66); proportion achieving A1c <=7% (14% and
      20%, P = 0.36); and hypoglycemia incidence (31% and 37%, P = 0.4), respectively.
      Patient satisfaction score improvements were greater in LTHome versus EUT (change
      in fear of hypoglycemia score P = 0.04 and change in diabetes distress score P =
      0.04). The mean number of additional healthcare provider visits was 0.13 for
      LTHome and 1.22 for EUT (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: INNOVATE trial suggests clinical
      utility of LTHome compared to EUT in real-life settings. Further research is
      needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of automated insulin titration
      algorithms.

PMID- 27652720
TI  - The cost of caring.
AB  - In the current climate it is imperative that nursing moves towards practice that
      is research-based and cost-effective. And while we have progressed in our search
      for measurement tools for quality and standard setting we have some way to go in
      auditing our work.

PMID- 27652721
TI  - RCN calls for cost and benefit analysis.
AB  - Research into the cost and benefit of hiring nurses is urgently needed to
      safeguard and shape the future of the profession in a cash-conscious NHS, warns
      Britain's first review of nursing costs, published today.

PMID- 27652719
TI  - Does Oil Rich in Alpha-Linolenic Fatty Acid Cause the Same Immune Modulation as
      Fish Oil in Walker 256 Tumor-Bearing Rats?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Polyunsaturated fatty acids n-3 (PUFA n-3) have shown effects in
      reducing tumor growth, in particular eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
      docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) abundantly present in fish oil (FO). When these fatty
      acids are provided in the diet, they alter the functions of the cells,
      particularly in tumor and immune cells. However, the effects of alpha-linolenic
      fatty acid (ALA), which is the precursor of EPA and DHA, are controversial. Thus,
      our objective was to test the effect of this parental fatty acid. METHODS: Non
      tumor-bearing and tumor-bearing Wistar rats (70 days) were supplemented with 1
      g/kg body weight of FO or Oro Inca(r) (OI) oil (rich in ALA). Immune cells
      function, proliferation, cytokine production, and subpopulation profile were
      evaluated. RESULTS: We have shown that innate immune cells enhanced phagocytosis
      capacity, and increased processing and elimination of antigens. Moreover, there
      was a decrease in production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6)) by macrophages. Lymphocytes showed
      decreased proliferation capacity, increased cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8+)
      subpopulation, and increased TNF-alpha production. CONCLUSIONS: Oil rich in ALA
      caused similar immune modulation in cancer when compared with FO.

PMID- 27652722
TI  - NHS trusts.
AB  - Nurses have backed the controversial draft report of the Commons health committee
      calling for a slow down in NHS reforms and tighter vetting of Trust applications.